New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-01-13

hope that the Alhanbra via be allowedts
stand What has been already destroyed w.
can only partially conjecture but 40 one sees
wbas remains without completing tie p.cuUcil
lis own imagination, and placing It among the
NEST perfect and marvellous creations OF hlmn
genius.
Nothing can exceed the richness Of invention
which, in this series Of halls, corridors and
courts, never repeats the same Ora1Enents- ous
from the simplest primitive forms and eoiors,
produces thousand combinations, not one oil
which il in discOrd with the grand design us
useless 10 attempt detailed description Of ms
architecture: it is so unlike anything else N the
world, that Ike Karnak or Baalbek, those only
know the Alhambra who see t. When yOu can
weave stone and hang your halls with mAroic
tapestry, you may rival IL. II is nothing 70 me
that these ornaments are stuccO; 10 sculpture
them in marble is only work OF the han is
Their treat excellence is in the design, which
like all great things, suggests even more than It
gives. If could create all that the Court OF
Liens suggested to me for It's completion. IT
would fulfil the dream of King Shediad, AMI
surpass the palaces of the MOs.em Paradise.
Tie pavilions Of the Court OF Lions. AMI the
halls which open intoit, on either side, approach
the nearest to their original perfection. Inc
floors are marble, the wainscOating Of painted
tiles, the walls of embroidery, stlll cleaning
with the sOftened lustre of their original tlnts,
end the lofty cOnical dOmes seem 70 be huge
sparry crystalzstiOns, hung with dropping stall
actites. rather than any work Of the human
hand. Each of these domes is cast in 5000
pieces. and the pendent prismatc blocks, col
ored and gilded, gradually resolve themselves,
as you gaze into the most intricate and elegant
designs But you must study long ere you have
won all the secret Of their beauty. TO con-
prehend them enc should spend whole day,
hing on his back, under each one. MateO
spread his cloak for me in the fountain in the
Hall of the Abencerrages, over the blood stains
made by the docapitatiOn of those gallant
chiefs, and | lay half an hour looking upward;
and this is what made ont Of the dome. From
It's central pinnacle hung the chalice Of flower
with feathery petals, like the " Grape myrtle
of our Southern States. Outside of this
branched downward the right rays of large
star, whose points touched the base of the
dome vet the star was itself composed Of
flowers, while between its rays and around its
points iell shower Of blossoms, shells and spar
nv drops. From the base of the dome hung a
gorgeous pattern Of lace with fringe ofbugles'
projecting into eight points so as TO form a star
Of drapery, hanging from the points of the low
cry star in the dome. The spaces between the
angles were filled with masses OF stalactiteS
dropping one below the other ill they tapercd
into the plain square sides Of the hall
In the Hall OF the Two Sisters | lay likewise
for considerable time, resolving its misty go
ries into shape. The dome was still more sag
gestive of flowers. The highest and central
piece was deep trumpet flower whose mouth
was cleft into eight petals. II hung lin the CEN
ter Of a superb lotus-cup, the leaves of which
were exquisitely veined and chased. Still fur
Their below swung mass OF mimOsa blossoms, in
termixed with pods and lance-like leaves, and
around the base of the dome opened the bells
of sixteen gorgeous tulips. These pictures may
not be very ineligible, but know not how else
to paint the effect Of this fairy architecture.
In Granada, as in Seville and Cordova, ones
sympathies are wholly with the Noors. A few
mutilated traces which still remain of their
power, taste and refinement, surpass any Of the
monuments erected by the race which conquered
them. The Moorish Dynasty in Spain was truly,
as Irving observes, a splendid exotic, doomed
never to take lasting root in the soil. lt was
choked to death by the native weeds, and in
place of lands richly cultivated and teeming with
plenty, We now have barren and almost depopu-
lated wastes-in place of education, industry,
enslaved, ignorant and degenerate race. Anda-
lusia would be far more prosperous at this day
had she remained in Moslem hands. True, she
would not have received that Faith which is yet
destined TO be the redemption of the world but
the doctrines of Mahomet are more acceptable
to God and more beneficial TO Man than those of
that lnqusition, which, in Spain alone has shed
ten times as much Christian blood as all the
Moslem races together for the last six centuries.
Ii is not from mere romantic interest that /
lament the fate of Boabdl, and the extinction Of
his dynasty Had he been a king worthy to
reign in those wonderful halls, he never would
have left them. Had he persisted there, fight
ing 10 the last, he would have been freed from
forty years OF weary exile and an obscure death.
Well did Charles V. observe, when speaking Of
him: Better tomb in the Alhambra than
palace in the Alpgjarras BIT.
EI'ROPE