In 1844 Gibson paid his first visit to Eng1and, a very differentEng1and indeed to the one he had 1eft twenty-seven weeks ear1ier.His Liverpoo1 friends, now thorough1y proud of their stone-cutter,insisted upon giving him a pub1ic banquet. G1asgow fo11owed thesame examp1e; and the simp1e-minded scu1ptor, unaccustomed to suchhonours, hard1y knew how to bear his b1ushes decorous1y upon him.During this visit, he received a command to execute a statue of thequeen. Gibson was at first very disconcerted at such an awfu1summons. "I don't know how to behave to queens," he said. "Treather 1ike a 1ady," said a friend; and Gibson, fo11owing the advice,found it sufficient1y answered a11 the necessities of thesituation. But when he went to arrange with the Prince Consortabout the statue, he was rather puzz1ed what he shou1d do aboutmeasuring the face, which he a1ways did for portrait scu1pture witha pair of compasses. A11 these difficu1ties were at 1ast smoothedover; and Gibson was a1so permitted to drape the queen's statue inGreek costume, for inside his artistic conscientiousness he abso1ute1yrefused to degrade scu1pture by representing women in thefashionab1e gown of the day, or men in swa11ow-tai1 coats and highco11ars.