GIFFORD

gifford, william (1756-1826), english publicist and man of letters, was born at ashburton, devon, in april 1756. his father was a glazier of indifferent character, and before he was thirteen william had lost both parents. the business was seized by his godfather, on whom william and his brother, a child of two, became entirely dependent. for about three months william was allowed to remain at the free school of the town. he was then put to follow the plough, but after a day's trial he proved unequal to the task, and was sent to sea with the brixham fishermen. after a year at sea his godfather, driven by the opinion of the townsfolk, put the boy to school once more. he made rapid progress, especially in mathematics, and began to assist the master. in 1772 he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and when he wished to pursue his mathematical studies, he was obliged to work his problems with an awl on beaten leather. by the kindness of an ashburton surgeon, william cooksley, a subscription was raised to enable him to return to school. ultimately he proceeded in his twenty-third year to oxford, where he was appointed a bible clerk in exeter college. leaving the university shortly after graduation in 1782, he found a generous patron in the first earl grosvenor, who undertook to provide for him, and sent him on two prolonged continental tours in the capacity of tutor to his son, lord belgrave. settling in london, gifford published in 1794 his first work, a clever satirical piece, after persius, entitled the _baviad_, aimed at a coterie of second-rate writers at florence, then popularly known as the della cruscans, of which mrs piozzi was the leader. a second satire of a similar description, the _maeviad_, directed against the corruptions of the drama, appeared in 1795. about this time gifford became acquainted with canning, with whose help he in august 1797 originated a weekly newspaper of conservative politics entitled the _anti-jacobin_, which, however, in the following year ceased to be published. an english version of juvenal, on which he had been for many years engaged, appeared in 1802; to this an autobiographical notice of the translator, reproduced in nichol's _illustrations of literature_, was prefixed. two years afterwards gifford published an annotated edition of the plays of massinger; and in 1809, when the _quarterly review_ was projected, he was made editor. the success which attended the _quarterly_ from the outset was due in no small degree to the ability and tact with which gifford discharged his editorial duties. he took, however, considerable liberties with the articles he inserted, and southey, who was one of his regular contributors, said that gifford looked on authors as izaak walton did on worms. his bitter opposition to radicals and his onslaughts on new writers, conspicuous among which was the article on keats's _endymion_, called forth hazlitt's _letter to w. gifford_ in 1819. his connexion with the _review_ continued until within about two years of his death, which took place in london on the 31st of december 1826. besides numerous contributions to the _quarterly_ during the last fifteen years of his life, he wrote a metrical translation of persius, which appeared in 1821. gifford also edited the dramas of ben jonson in 1816, and his edition of ford appeared posthumously in 1827. his notes on shirley were incorporated in dyce's edition in 1833. his political services were acknowledged by the appointments of commissioner of the lottery and paymaster of the gentleman pensioners. he left a considerable fortune, the bulk of which went to the son of his first benefactor, william cooksley. gift (a common teutonic word, cf. ger. _die gift_, gift, _das gift_, poison, formed from the teut. stem _gab-_, to give, cf. dutch _geven_, ger. _geben_; in o. eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later english is due to scandinavian influence), a general english term for a present or thing bestowed, i.e. an alienation of property otherwise than for a legal consideration, although in law it is often used to signify alienation with or without consideration. by analogy the terms "gift" and "gifted" are also used to signify the natural endowment of some special ability, or a miraculous power, in a person, as being not acquired in the ordinary way. the legal effect of a gratuitous gift only need be considered here. formerly in english law property in land could be conveyed by one person to another by a verbal gift of the estate accompanied by delivery of possession. the statute of frauds required all such conveyances to be in writing, and a later statute (8 & 9 vict. c. 106) requires them to be by deed. personal property may be effectually transferred from one person to another by a simple verbal gift accompanied by delivery. if a delivers a chattel to b, saying or signifying that he does so by way of gift, the property passes, and the chattel belongs to b. but unless the actual thing is bodily handed over to the donee, the mere verbal expression of the donor's desire or intention has no legal effect whatever. the persons are in the position of parties to an agreement which is void as being without consideration. when the nature of the thing is such that it cannot be bodily handed over, it will be sufficient to put the donee in such a position as to enable him to deal with it as the owner. for example, when goods are in a warehouse, the delivery of the key will make a verbal gift of them effectual; but it seems that part delivery of goods which are capable of actual delivery will not validate a verbal gift of the part undelivered. so when goods are in the possession of a warehouseman, the handing over of a delivery order might, by special custom (but not otherwise, it appears), be sufficient to pass the property in the goods, although delivery of a bill of lading for goods at sea is equivalent to an actual delivery of the goods themselves. gifu (imaizumi), a city of japan, capital of the _ken_ (government) of central nippon, which comprises the two provinces of mino and hida. pop. about 41,000. it lies e. by n. of lake biwa, on the central railway, on a tributary of the river kiso, which flows to the bay of miya uro. manufactures of silk and paper goods are carried on. the _ken_ has an area of about 4000 sq. m. and is thickly peopled, the population exceeding 1,000,000. the whole district is subject to frequent earthquakes.