measure of Gibson's abilities, he dismissed his German artist Luge,
and put the clever boy entirely in his place. At this time, Gibson
was only receiving six shillings a week as wages; but Mr. Francis
got good prices for many of his works, and was not ashamed even to
put his own name upon the promising lad's artistic performances.

Mr. Roscoe did not merely encourage the young sculptor; he set him
also on the right road for ultimate success. He urged Gibson to
study anatomy, without which no sculpture worthy of the name is
possible. Gibson gladly complied, for he knew that Michael Angelo
had been a great anatomist, and Michael was just at that moment the
budding sculptor's idol and ideal. But how could he learn? A
certain Dr. Vose was then giving lectures on anatomy to young
surgeons at Liverpool, and on Roscoe's recommendation he kindly
admitted the eager student gratis to his dissecting-room. Gibson
dissected there with a will in all his spare moments, and as he put
his mind into the work he soon became well versed in the
construction of the human body.

From the day that Gibson arrived at man's estate, the great dream
of his life was to go to Rome. For Rome is to art what London is
to industry--the metropolis in its own way of the entire earth.
But travelling in 1810 cost a vast deal of money; and the poor
Liverpool marble-cutter (for as yet he was really nothing more)
could hardly hope to earn the immense sum that such an expedition
would necessarily cost him. So for six years more he went on
working at Liverpool in his own native untaught fashion, doing his
best to perfect himself, but feeling sadly the lack of training and
competition. One of the last works he executed while still in Mr.
Francis's service was a chimney-piece for Sir John Gladstone,