New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-12-05
From the National Intelligence.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE PAPERS.
Il Letter from the Hon. Caleb Cushing.


DEAR SIR: I have put up for the Institute a
specimen Of the rock of which the Pillars of Her
cules consist. Though 1t is, in neurological
point of view, but common rock, namely, lime
stone, yet it is peculiar variety OF limestone, OF
reddish hue. and fine and compact formation,
which is susceptible Of polish, and is made into
tasteful ornaments, and if not sufficiently inter-
cstng on this account, 1t is abundantly So from
the Old historical fame and the present political
Importance of the site from which II Is taken.
When the anccnts-as, from their relation 10
our civilization we denomlnate the Phenlcians,
Greeks, and Romans, and the other nations who
dwelt Of old on the shores of the Mediterranean
when they sailed on to the west towards the
ulcrmost limits Of that glorious sea, they found,
at the entrance of the narrow strait by which
they were 10 pass out into the ocean, on either
hand, lofty promontory OF rock stretching forth
from the respective continents OF Europe and
Africa, the great monuments which Nature herself
had placed there as if to mark the spot, and
which, in their mythologlca language, they styled
the Pillars of Hercules. For long time they
constituted the term Of the navigation OF the
anccnts, when, by their troWnlng aspect they
seemed to warn of terrors and dangers OF the un-
known cxpanse of waters beyond the gate which
they stood 10 guard. And afterwards, when the
adventurous Phenicians had ventured forth INTO
the wide Atlantic Ocean, even as far as the LIN
Islands, still the dread Of wha. lay beyond the
Pillars of Capc and Abyla did not cease, MAN.
tanned, perhaps, by those who then enjoyed excu-
sively the lucretiyc commerce OF the Cassterldes
Calpe and Abyla still tower in all their antique
majasty oyer the strait which divides the Medl-
tcrrancan from the Atlantic but armed with
real tcrrors far beyond those OF the fabulous time.
~, &c min IllfrI'
of human knowledge; for the brave and devout
Gcnocse has changed all that, and enabled the
monarchs of Spain to place Oh their CONS and
their escutcheons-and for a while, with Just
pride-the Pillars of Hercules, but with their old
inscriptions ctfaced and reversed, and bearing IN
stead the aspiring pIus oultre Of the Emperor
Charles 1t remained for modern courage, and
modern art, and modern ambition to dlsslpatc the
imaginary terrors of the Pillars OF Hercules, and
to substitute most substantial ones IN their place J;
for military science has avaled Itself OF the unc
oualled advantages which Nature prottered, and
out of the rocks of Abyla and Cape Great Brit
ain and Spain have constructed the mpregnapie
iorresses of Gibraltar and Ceuta.
There is much of similitude in the political as
well as in the natural position OF Gibraltar and
Ceuta Geographically, Gibraltar should belong
to Span and Ceuta to Barbary. But while Spain
has fortified the promontory on one side against
the Moors, who have united themselves IN vain
beneath its walls in rage as impotent as that OF
the waves which dash ceaselessly around Its base,
on the other side is England in like manner en-
trenched upon the sister rock to defy the power
of Spain.
To America, however, and to Europe, It Is
Gibraltar which is OF PRIMARY importance; not
so much because of Its Notifications being OF SUI
perior strength to those Of Cueta, but III the flTst
place, because in the Bay of Glbratarls the snip
harboT of the straits, which are, therefore, called
the Straits OF Gibraltar and, In the second place,
because Gibraltar is III the hands OF the greatest
naval Power Of Chrstendom.
Regard for a moment the geographical position
and conformation Of Gibraltar, and then LOOK at
the nature of It's Qualifications. II you follow the
coast of Spain toward the Strait, you ind that,
about FIVE miles before you reach Iarlta- Whlch
is at the narowes part Of the Strait, there STANDS
ledge OF limestone rock, rising abruptly from
the fiat sand of the beach to the hight of fifteen
hundred feet and upward, and extending OUT
three miles into the sea toward Africa lhis Is
the Rock OF Gibraltar. Its extreme point, crowned
with lighthouse, is Point Europa. Between this
Point and Tarifa is the Bay, about miles across
having on one side the city of Gibraltar, built al
the foot Of the western side OF the Rock, ana on
the other side the Spanish city OF Ageslras and
at the bottom of the Bay, perched on the summit
of a hill, the little Spanish town OF San Rogue
On its eastery side the Rock rlses up almost per
pendicularly to its extreme hight from the hsuis
errauean, and needs no cannon to defend 1t from
the approach of an enemy. Nature has done I'M:
50 etfectually as to leave nothing for the hana o.
man. But from the Neutral Ground, when sepa
rates Gibraltar from Spain, along the Bay to rom
Europa, arc lines piled upon lines OF batteries, con
structed of solid masonry, for which the Limestone
of the rock forms the best Of materials; not con