what ability and shrewdness may accomplish even against the
greatest obstacles of fortune.

THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.

The great Mediterranean Sea has its gate-way, nine miles wide, opening
into the Atlantic, the gate-posts being the headland of Ceuta, on the
African coast, and the famous rock of Gibraltar, in southwestern Spain,
two natural fortresses facing each other across the sea. It is a singular
fact that the African headland is held by Spain, and the Spanish headland
by Great Britain,--this being a result of the wars of the eighteenth
century. Gibraltar, in fact, has had a striking history, one worth the
telling.

This towering mass of rock rises in solitary grandeur at the extremity of
a sandy level, reaching upward to a height of fourteen hundred and eight
feet, while it is three miles long and three-fourths of a mile in average
width. It forms a stronghold of nature which attracted attention at an
early date. To the Greeks it was one of the Pillars of Hercules,--Abyla
(now Ceuta) being the other,--and formed the supposed western boundary of
the world. Tarik, the Arab, landed here in 711, fortified the rock, and
made it his base of operations against Gothic Spain. From him it received
its name, Gebel el Tarik (Hill of Tarik), now corrupted into Gibraltar.
For seven centuries it remained in Moorish hands, except for a short
interval after 1302, when it was taken by Ferdinand II. of Castile. The
king of Granada soon recaptured it; from him it was taken by treachery by
the king of Fez in 1333; Alfonso XI. of Castile vigorously besieged it,
but in vain; the king of Granada mastered it again in 1410; and it finally
fell into the hands of Spain in 1462.

A formidable attempt was made by the Moors for its recovery in 1540, it
being vigorously attacked by the pirates of Algiers, who fought fiercely
to win the rock, but were finally repulsed.

For the next event in the history of this much-coveted rock we must go on
to the year 1704, when the celebrated war of the Succession was in full
play. Louis XIV. of France supported his grandson Philip V. as the
successor to the throne of Spain. The Archduke Charles of Austria was
supported by England, Portugal, and Holland, and was conveyed to the
Peninsula and landed at Lisbon by an English fleet under Admiral Rorke.
The admiral, having disposed of the would-be king, sailed for Barcelona,
which he was told was a ripe plum, ready to fall into his mouth. He was
disa