Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/350

 THE GATE OF JUSTICE Photograph by Harlow D. Higinbotham

I find myself next morning mounting the silent height of the Alhambra, as the first rays of the sun are saluting it. I approach the massive Gate of Justice, and look upon the famous symbols carved above its archways. There is the mystic hand,—symbol of Power and Providence,—then on the inner arch the key,—the key of knowledge wherewith God opens the hearts of true believers. "When the hand shall reach down and grasp the key, then, and then only shall Granada fall a prey to Christian hosts," had been the oft-repeated boast of Moorish kings. The hand is still an empty hand with fingers outstretched, and the key remains ungrasped—yet the power of the Moors is vanished. Passing the gateway I discover