and dragged after it to ruin cooks, coaches, me;" and the hands she laid on his forehead and all. 66 "What can be done?" said Mr. and Mrs. Dexter. And, of course, the conclusion was any thing but coming down. Truth must be smothered and credit kept good. So thousands were borrowed, and sent searching after the lost thousands, and for awhile the Dexters moved in splendor and gayety, and were, to outward appearances, greatly to be envied; but in their hearts they felt very much as if standing on dry boards that for a moment suppressed the fires of an earthquake. "What shall we do?" said both Mr. and Mrs. Dexter, when no more money could be borrowed. They did not know; they only felt any thing, any thing but coming down. What would all their fashionable friends say, and how they would be avoided!-that was what they dreaded more than any privation they would have to endure. They could devise no plan of action; but in their effort to keep up yet a little longer there came a season of dodging and hiding, of promising and postponing, of evasion and of almost secret starvation. They grew thin and haggard; their fine clothes looked like fine rags, or nearly so, and the pinch of penury showed so plainly in their faces that any further attempt at concealment was hopeless. Poor Mrs. Dexter looked like a little white paper woman, with a kind of smile painted on her lips, for you might see plainly enough it did not spring from her heart; and it seemed that a breath of wind would drift her away as easily as the froth from a milk-pail. Half a dozen scantily fed fires were burning in the house, when Mrs. Dexter seated herself by one of them in mute and helpless despiar. Night fell, and the heavy curtains made it doubly night within the room. The door opened stealthily, and her husband, like a snow-drift, still and cold, came to her side. "My dear wife," he said presently, "I would not mind this terrible calamity but for you." His voice faltered, and he put his arm about her neck with a tenderness of manner that she was not at all used to, though he had been always kind and indulgent. Her heart had never stirred as it then did when she heard him say, "Here is a thousand dollars, my dear." There actually came a faint color to her cheek, and a real smile to the lip where the false one had been so long. The happiness of that moment was worth all the lost fortune. "My good, noble husband," she said, "you must not suffer on my account. I am equal to any fortune so long as you love were like a pleasant healing dew, and her kiss on his cheek made him richer than he had ever been. The shell of a fortune in which they had been living was broken, and they saw, for the first time, that there was a great world outside of it. The anticipated misery of coming down lessened wonderfully when they stood up together and faced it. All the fine furniture was sold, the French cooks were dismissed, dressing-maids and chamber-maids were sent away, Mrs. Dexter herself took charge of the baby, and half the house was let. One servant and a small open carriage were all the luxuries they reserved for themselves. All the day after the coming down Mr. Dexter kept out of the house; he could not bear to see his wife deprived of the elegances to which she had been used; he could not bear to see her tears-to hear, perhaps, her reproaches. With a slow and heavy step he approached his home, like him who "Lingering raised his latch at eve, Though tired in heart and limb; Two or three times he passed and repassed his own door without courage to enter; but seeing one of his former friends approaching, he chose the least of two evils, and went in. Along the dark hall and up the stairs he groped his way; opened the door of his wife's chamber, approached the bed, and, parting the curtains, passed his hand softly along it, for he expected to find his wife ill and weeping; he had found her so many a time in consequence of the failing of a new dress or hat to come home at a certain hour. She was not there, however, and, half afraid that she had gone home to her mother, he descended to the little back room which was now parlor, sitting-room, eating-room, and all. Feeling for the latch of the door, he groaned audibly, and as by magic the door flew open, and his wife stood before him, smiling and bright-cheeked, and with such sweet words of welcome as he had never heard her speak till then. The baby sat crowing his gladness in the cradle, and the fire threw its bright gleam over the pretty china of the table-all was neat and orderly, even tastefully arranged; and as Mr. Dexter looked around, he felt all the pride and happiness of a young husband on coming into his own house for the first time. To the plain but good and sufficient supper both did ample justice; the husband had not eaten the accustomed luncheon that day, and the wife had been busy and earned what she had seldom had before-an appetite. about his neat, well-ordered house, as he sat The next day came a new trial-some trifling articles must be bought, and Mr. Dexter must drive the small open carriage himself. "I will wear my morning dress and vail," said Mrs. Dexter, for she saw that her husband was mortified for her sake; so they set forth together. The sun shone brightly, and the fresh air and various shows of the streets and windows were so exhilarating in their effect, that Mrs. Dexter soon threw back her vail, quite regardless of the astonished looks of the ladies she might meet. It was a new sensation of delight to the husband to manage the horses, and both felt what superfluities coach and coachman had been. Affairs went on very well for a time; they felt as if rid of a great burden, and in earnest and hopeful labor experienced no depression and no pain. But so deeply involved were they that even another coming down must be made. Horses, and carriage, and house must be sold, and themselves be left with nothing in the world but their hearts and hands. "Coming down, indeed!" she replied, and, putting down the smoking teapot, she wiped the happy tears from her eyes; "I was never so happy in my life. It is as if we had removed a great heap of rubbish, and had struck a vein of pure gold; for what were all our useless forms, all our servants and equipages, but so many obstacles in the way of our knowing each other? Then there was nothing that I could do for you— now I can do every thing;" and almost sobbing, she continued, "if you call this coming down, I thank God for it, for it has, in truth, been coming down to usefulness and happiness. With what our friends called misfortunes, we were the gainers every time. Was it not pleasanter to ride in the open carriage, to see what was about us, and feel the air and sunshine, than to be shut up in the old, lumbering coach? And then "I am glad to hear it," said Mrs. Dexter laugh- to walk, and have the advantage of exercise ing outright; "for as nothing remains stationary as well as air, was better still; and now to work, in this world, our affairs must grow better from and so get air and exercise, and be useful at necessity." the same time, is best of all. One room dark"But, my dear, what can we do?" sorrowfully ened another when we had a great house; now ejaculated the husband. "My dear sweet wife, what can I say to comfort you?" said Mr. Dexter when he had made the confession of their extreme poverty. And he added, sighing and sinking down helplessly, "Things could not be worse than they are." "Why," she replied, "begin to live, independent of burdens and restrictions. For my part, I just begin to see something to live for." And drawing the easy chair to the fire, and placing the baby on his knee, she proposed to make for her husband cup of tea and a piece of toast, in the hope of reviving his spirits. the light and sunshine comes in all round. Our There was no bread nor tea in the house, and, worse than all, no money. "Surely, then," said Mrs. Dexter, looking earnestly in the sad face of her husband, "there is no time to be lost;" and putting on shawl and bonnet she was presently gone from the house. When she returned, it was with a glow on her cheek that hightened her beauty far more than paint or powder had ever "You are the best and noblest woman in the done. She had been selling her diamonds, and world," exclaimed the husband, interrupting her, had brought home money enough to buy a cot-"and but for you I should have come down in tage and ten acres of land within a few miles of the city where they had always lived. verity. Now I am convinced that, while we A year went by, and as Mr. Dexter looked is impossible." It is sad to think of the great fine rooms, piled one over another, and darkening one against another too costly for use, and too elegant for the free tread and merry laughter of inartificial joy-growing damp and moldy, and sending to the hearts of their inmates heaviness or stupidity, when we know they might be set up separately in bright green spots here and there, and make such little worlds of comforts. Pity it is that false notions of life, or, perhaps, the absence of any notions at all, are so enfeebling and degenerating our men and women! How shall I spend the time? and by what process shall I beat out my little gold so that it shall display the most glittering surface? are the first questions of the day. THE GREAT SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. HE rock of Gibraltar, which among military I men is as the key the ranean, has been in the hands of the British for the period of one hundred and fifty years. It was in the year 1704 that the English, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, besieged and conquered it from the Spaniards, with the loss of about sixty killed and two hundred wounded. In the following year the Spaniards attempted to retake it, but in vain; they again attacked the fortress in 1727, when they lost three thousand men in an attempt equally futile. The great siege, however, which drew the attention of the whole world, owing to the magnitude of the operations carried on, and which by its result established the high reputation of the British as garrison soldiers, commenced in 1779, and endured till February, 1783. The celebrated rock of Gibraltar-ancient Mons Calpe, one of the "pillars of Hercules"-forms a promontory connected with the continent by an isthmus of sand, and consists of a mass of gray limestone or marble, containing numerous caves, and about three miles in length, north to south, by from one-half to three-quarters of a mile in breadth; it rises abruptly to sixteen hundred feet above the sea, on all sides except the west, on which the town of Gibraltar is built. It is every-where fortified by works of amazing strength and extent; and besides these there are two galleries excavated in the rock, two miles in length, and of sufficient width to admit carriages; at its southern extremity-Europa Point-are a signal-house and a new light-house. Surface parched in dry weather, but after rain covered with vegetation. The town is built on the west side, which shelves down to the bay; and here the fortifications have latterly been greatly improved and strengthened. Population-excluding garrison-about sixteen thousand. The principal street is one mile in length, well built, paved, and lighted, and many other thoroughfares have been widened of late; but the houses generally are unsuited to the climate, being constructed like those of England, and unfurnished with open courts and galleries, as in the Spanish town San Roque, five miles north-west. Principal edifices are the governor's house-attached to which are gardens--the admiralty, naval hospital, victualing office, barracks, cathedral, a modern semiMoorish structure; and in the market-place, the exchange, with a library, club, and news-rooms. Here are a Roman Catholic church, Wesleyan chapel, and synagogue, and various subscription schools. Outside of the "south port" are the esplanade, the English cemetery, and a suburban residence of the governor. The harbor is good, dred and the other seven hundred feet in length. Gibraltar was made a free port in 1704, and its trade is still considerable, though it has latterly suffered from the rivalry of Malta, Genoa, etc. Public revenue collected in the town about £30,000. Annual expense of garrison to Great Britain £200,000. Ordinances enacted by the gov ernor alone, subject to the approval of the British sovereign through the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The salary of Governor and Commander-in-chief is £5,000, or $25,000. His residence is in the fortress. The court of Spain had never ceased to regret the loss of Gibraltar, and judging that a favorable opportunity for its recovery was presented by the war in which England was then engaged with France, they openly took part with that power, and declared hostilities by their embassador on the 16th of June, 1779, closing the communication between Spain and Gibraltar a few days later. The force of the garrison under the command of General Elliot, then governor, amounted to little more than five thousand men, who were soon to be assailed by nearly seven times their number. Every thing was immediately placed upon a war footing, and every measure that could be devised was resorted to to procure provisions, which threatened to run short. The Spanish commodore, with a superior fleet, against which the small naval force protected by the guns of the garrison could attempt but little, was continually cruising in the neighborhood; and if supplies were obtained from the usual sources, it must be by the superior navigation, gallantry, audacity, and good fortune of captains had resolved to bombard the town by means of bold enough to make the attempt. their newly erected works, in case a second relief should be attempted. The officers of the fortress placed little faith in this report, supposing humanely that, as the destruction of the town, though it would inflict indescribable calamities upon the inhabitants, who were non-combatants, would in no way assist or accelerate the fall of the place, the besiegers would from motives of mercy refrain from such an act. In this view, unhappily, they were mistaken. On the morning of the 12th of April, 1781, a fleet under the command of Admiral Darby hove in sight, leading a convoy of above a hundred vessels for the provisioning of Gibraltar. In spite of the opposition of the Spanish navy, the fleet and convoy came safe to anchor about eleven o'clock; but while the wretched and half-starved inhabitants were con the Spaniards suddenly opened a tremendous fire In Soon after the declaration of war, the Spaniards, whose design appeared at first that of compelling surrender by famine, commenced the structure of most formidable and extensive works upon the isthmus, erecting tremendous batteries which commanded the town, the inhabitants of which, anticipating a bombardment, removed their most valuable property to temporary stores erected for its reception in places of comparative safety. The stolid patience and endurance of the enemy in the preparation of their enormous batteries augured ill for the garrison. The hostile army increased in numbers as their works advanced in extent; yet still, week after week, and month after month, although annoyed day and night by the fire of the garrison, which poured shot and shell upon their working parties, and repeat-gratulating one another on this welcome supply, edly set fire to their works, they labored steadily on, in spite of the slaughter made in their ranks, without returning the fire, save in some very trifling and exceptional instances. In fact, six months passed before a single person on the rock was wounded, and, strange to relate, the first partaker of this melancholy lot was a woman. Toward the close of 1779 famine began to be felt, especially by the unfortunate townspeople, who had neglected to make provision for the siege. In January, 1780, one woman died of want; food of all kinds was sold at most extravagant prices; three hundred per cent. was the average profit reaped by the daring fellows, who, running the gauntlet of the enemy's fleet, succeeded in arriving with a cargo; but in making the attempt many lost their vessels and some their lives. About this time the Governor made experiments as to the minimum quantity of food upon which life could be sustained, and lived himself for some time on four ounces of rice daily! Fortunately toward the spring of this year, the Spaniards relaxed in their blockade, and supplies were more regularly obtained. During the whole of this year the enemy were employed in completing their works, under the occasional fire of the British, which was not continuous, from the fear entertained lest the ammunition should run short. This long interval was marked by many exploits on the part of the little navy co-operating with the Governor under the command of Admiral Duff, upon whose courage and devotion the beleaguered garrison were very greatly dependent for supplies. The garrison had been partially relieved by the arrival of Sir George Rodney, in January, 1780, and it was reported that the Spaniards Notwithstanding the bombardment, which continued from day to day, the stores were all safely landed in the course of eight or nine days. Affairs began now, however, to wear a very different aspect to what they had hitherto borne. The cannonade from the Spaniards rarely relaxed, and only ceased altogether for about a couple of hours at noon, when, indulging their national habit, they took their siesta or midday sleep-a custom they observed throughout the whole of the siege. The result of this continuous fire was a sad series of casualties, or the distribution of wounds and sudden death among the soldiers and inhabitants. The range of the enemy's guns proved upon trial far superior to the estimate the British had formed of them. Shells were thrown to the very summit of the rock from immense distances; they entered the officers' quarters, and maimed and slew them as they sat in fancied security; they penetrated the hospitals, and killed and wounded the sick in their beds; the town soon became a heap of ruins, and the townspeople were compelled to encamp in tents on the south side of the rock. To the fire of the enemy's land batteries was was not only on the land side that the Spaniards sought to increase their besieging force. In the port of Algesiras, on the opposite coast of the Bay of Gibraltar, preparations were constantly making for additional means of assault by sea, and reinforcements of war vessels arrived from time to time. New gun-boats were built, and defensive works erected on the shore. On the 23d of March, 1782, the "Vernon" store-ship arrived at Gibraltar, bringing gun-boats and ammunition for the garrison. She was followed shortly after by the Cerberus and Apollo frigates, with four transports, having the 97th regiment on board, numbering seven hundred men, a reinforcement greatly needed. During this spring and summer the bombarding on the land side abated considerably, and the Governor took advantage of this circumstance to put the whole of his defenses in an admirable condition of repair. It was evident, not merely from this comparative lull, but from the activity displayed at the port of Algesiras, that a grand and united attack was contemplated, and it behooved the British to be well prepared to meet it. They could see the large battering ships which were building, six of which were completed by the beginning of June, and others were in a state of forwardness. As they built new ships, the Governor erected new batteries, and having learned by experience the deadly effect of the enemy's fire, he caused covered ways to be constructed, now added that of a fleet of gun and mortarboats, which came regularly every evening, and for an hour or two launched their contribution of two or three hundred shot and shell against the defenses of the place. These boats were a source of perpetual annoyance and loss to the garrison, and though their fire was returned, yet from the smallness of the mark which they presented to our gunners, they are supposed to have escaped with comparative impunity. In order to retaliate effectively, and possibly with a view of deterring the boats from their daily attack, the Governor began the practice of opening a smart fire upon the camp from one of his most formidable batteries, whenever the boats began their assaults—a plan which may have avenged the sufferings they inflicted, but did not abate the annoyance. The fire of the Spaniards upon the fortress underwent every possible variation throughout the summer and autumn of this year-sometimes amounting to above fifteen hundred rounds in twenty-four hours, and sometimes consisting of only three shots. In November it was observed to slacken materially, and it soon appeared that this was owing to the erection of new works of a formidable nature, which were advancing rapidly toward completion. The Governor resolved to destroy these works by a sortie a step so audacious and apparently desperate, that the Spaniards had never conceived it practicable, and consequently were not on their guard against it. On the night of the 27th of Novem-shell-proof. On the 11th of June a shell from ber, a detachment of something over two thousand men marched out, under cover of darkness, in three columns, and preserving a rigid silence, came suddenly upon the guard, whom they assaulted with the bayonet, and, putting them to the route, took possession of the works which were the object of the attack. In less than an hour they had set fire to the whole of the works, blown up the magazines, and spiked the mortars and cannon, inflicting a loss upon the enemy of above a million of dollars, besides a considerable loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The destroyed batteries continued burning for three days, and when they ceased to smoke nothing but a heap of ruins remained. The Spaniards seemed panic-struck by this daring exploit, and made no attempt to extinguish the fire. The following month, however, they resumed their spirit, and commenced repairing the mischief, and soon after planned the construction of new works. It was their custom to labor by night, while it was that of the garrison to attempt to destroy in the daytime the work they had accomplished in the dark. It the enemy burst through the door of a magazine, which instantly blew up with an explosion so terrible as to shake the whole rock, fragments of large size being thrown by it to an incredible distance into the sea. Fourteen men were killed on the spot, and fifteen more badly wounded. A few days after this misfortune the camp of the enemy was augmented by the arrival of French regiments to the number of five thousand men, and every thing betokened the approach of an important crisis. On the 21st two Genoese prisoners escaped to the garrison, and brought news that the grand attack was fixed for September, but that all about to be engaged in it were much averse to the enterprise. On the evening of the following day, the Duc de Crillon, who had lately gained a brilliant reputation by the conquest of Minorca, arrived to take the command of the combined army, and to achieve, as was expected, the reduction of Gibraltar. The plan of attack had been contrived by M. D'Arcon, a French engineer, and it was at his suggestion that the great battering ships were constructed, upon principles supposed to be both |