Gibraltar had been taken by a combined English and Dutch fleet in 1704, and was confirmed as a British possession, in 1713, by the peace of Utrecht; but in 1779 it was assailed by the united forces of France and Spain, and the siege continued till the 2nd of February, 1783. The chief attack was made on the 13th September, 1782. On the part of the besiegers, besides stupendous batteries on the land side, mounting two hundred pieces of ordnance, there was an army of 40,000 men, under the command of the Duc de Crillon. In the bay lay the combined fleets of France and Spain, comprising forty-seven sail of the line, beside ten battering ships of powerful construction, that cost upwards of L50,000 each. From these the heaviest shells rebounded, but ultimately two of them were set on fire by red-hot shot, and the others were destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the British commander. The rest of the fleet also suffered considerably; but the defenders escaped with very little loss. In this engagement 8,300 rounds were fired by the garrison, more than half of which consisted of red-hot balls. During this memorable siege, which lasted upwards of three years, the entire expenditure of the garrison exceeded 200,000 rounds,--8,000 barrels of powder being used. The expenditure of the enemy, enormous as this quantity is, must have been much greater; for they frequently fired, from their land-batteries, 4,000 rounds in the short space of twenty-four hours. Terrific indeed must have been the spectacle as the immense fortress poured forth its tremendous volleys, and the squadron and land-batteries replied with a powerful cannonade. But all this waste of human life and of property was useless on the part of the assailants; for the place was successfully held, and Gibraltar still remains one of the principal strongholds of British power in Europe. [Illustration: Saint George's Hall, Gibraltar.] During the progress of the siege, the fortifications were considerably strengthened, and numerous galleries were excavated in the solid rock, having port-holes at which heavy guns were mounted, which, keeping up an incessant fire, proved very efficacious in destroying the enemy's encampments on the land side. Communicating with the upper tier of these galleries are two grand excavations, known as Lord Cornwallis's and St. George's Halls. The latter, which is capable of holding several hundred men, has numerous pieces of ordnance pointed in various directions, ready to deal destruction on an approaching enemy. KEEPING WHITSUNTIDE AT DURHAM CATHEDRAL.