The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-26
THE MAY MAGAZINES.


has the following list of articles
Christopher Columbus--John s. c. Abbott
with twelve Illustrations. Magdalen-Harriet
Prescott Spofford. Gass-Blowing for Little
Folks--Louise f.. Cholet; with nine illustra-
tions. The Sacred City of the Hindus-Henry
NJ. Alden; with ten Illustrations. A Sin of Omis-
sion-MaTy N. Prescott Both Sides-Elizabeth
Stuart Phelps. Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and
jackson: How they sat for their Photographs
IN. B. Thorpe. The Plains, as / crossed them
Ten Years Ago-Horace Greeley The Work.
ingmen of the Middle Ages-Eugene Lawrence.
The Eve of st. Bartholomew; with an iustra-
ton. Ny Enemy's Daughter--Justin Mccarthy;
with an Illustration. A Brave Lady-By the
lauthor of John Halifax, Gentleman;" with two
illustrations. Evening Rest--L., d. Nichols.
5Philly and the Rest-Mary E. Dodge. Deep Sea
|Sounding--Jacob Abbott with an illustration.
Editors Easy Chair Editors Book Table. Edi-
tors Drawer
From Henry NJ. Aldens description of the
Sacred City of the Hindus we make these
|extracts:-
The Sacred City of the Hindus is a city so
|ancient that its origin is only mythically re-
|Rorded. AS the religious centre of Hinduism of
Buddhism, and then of Hinduism again, and for
long period as secondary centre of Islamism,
has Influenced the faith of more than half of
ave almost entirely obliterated its earliest
monuments; and what has not been thus oblte-
ated has become ineXtricably confused on ac-
lount of the appropriation by one conquerng
lith of the religious temples of that which
preceded Hindu writers have done little to
Relieve the difficulties of the arch1ologist
hey have shown singular neglect of
Chronology, and an utter distaste for noting
Ind recording historical facts in n simple
hid consecutive manner. This is the more
Remarkable when il is remembered that many of
|fhem have been accustomed to close thought
|4nd have prided themselves on their intellectual
8cumen; that they have originated numerous
IFystems of philosophy, and made great preten-
ions to logical accuracy; and that the habit of
|he nation generally, for thousands of years, has
een to reverence the past and to reflect upon
nd observe, with punctious nicely, its reli-
ious ceremonies and social usages They pos
ess no single record, among the ten thousand
|eparate manuscript works of which their ancient
literature is said to be composed, on the hstori-
Nal correctness of which one can place much re-
q lance. Legendary stories are so ntermlngled
with real events, and the web of the one is so
ultimately inwoyen with the wOof of the other,
~ fnd the two form so homogeneous whole that
the finest microscopic intellects of Europe after
patient and. long-continued examination, have
& een wel-nigh baffled in the attempt to discover
(which is fiction and which is fact 4 few threads
Df truth have rewarded their pains, and perhaps
few others may occasionally be drawn forth
but that the gaudy- -colored fabric of Hindu his
ory, manufactured by themselves, will ever he
satisfactorily separated into its two component
parts is as hopeless as to expect that the waters
bf the Jumna will ever cease to mingle with the
waters of the Ganges. The result is, that this
ity of Benares, whose antiquity is very great, is
obbed of much of the glory which is justly
her due.
The older temples are objects of the greatest
generation, while those recently erected, how
Bver magnificent, are stunned by the thirty-six
tastes Every one of these old temples has
ONE legend connected with its origin. Some of
hem decorated with paintings. In the
porch of the Trilochan temple is a remarkable
painting representing the punishment of sinners
n hell In the foreground is the River of
Death through which persons are seen endea-
voring to make their way to the other side.
Some are left alone to buffet with the waves in
their own strength; while others, who when
living in this world, supported Brahmans, are
lheped across by the sacred COW, who swims be-
fore and drags them along by her tail, which
lhey grasp most tenaciously. The punishmentS
represented are various In one place con-
cience-stricken sinner, who has recently emerged
rom the stream, is seen strongly resisting the
sxecutioner who is dragging him away by the leg.
n another is an enormous vessel full of clarified
butter into which the wicked are ruthlessly
plunged Here and there eXecutioners are
landing armed with prodigious clubs, with
Which they cruelty belabor their helpless VIC
1ms. One conspicuous object in this picture is
pillar of red-hot iron, on the top of which lies
writhng and agoniZing mass OF humanity
his punishment is exclusively reserved fol
dulterers.
From 'The Workingmen of the Middle Ages,
by Eugene Lawrence, we quote as follows
The industrious Arabs revived those usefu
rts which the barbarians of Europe seemed
nxious to forget. They wove the richest fabrics
IF wool, cotton, or silk; they manufactured clotl
IF gold and carpets of unequalled splendor; the
ivans were covered with satin cushions anC
elvet hangings; and muslin and lace of fairy
ike texture adorned the Mosem bride. Ii
metals the Arabs were also excellent workmen
They forged huge chains and bars of iron; III,
steel of Damascus was renowned in the cities o
Europe. Their jewelry the fairest and cost
liest of the age; they lhvished gold and silver il
decorating their mosques and their palaces; ant
their mints produced coinage that was thu
model of the European world. As architect
they invented "a strangely graceful style of build
ing, in which the fancy of the artist seemed 4
revel in new creations, and of which the lovell
ruins of the Alhambra form living example
in their private houses they gathered the riches
marbles, the costliest mosaics fountains O
dancing waters, and gardens of perpetua
beauty.
The Arab workman usually temperat
almost to austerity. Mohammed had enforce
the doctrine of total abstinence with a rigor I'M
surpassed by the most austere of modern rC
formers. He denounced temporal and eternl
woes against the Mussulman who should touc
the accursed wine. He had himself set an eS
ample of perfect abstinence, and in their pure
age his followers obeyed the precept of the
prophet 1t was only in the decline of tn
nation that the MOhammedans learned to i'm
tate the drunkenness and license of the Euro
peans. Temperate in their diet, frugal i
- their mode Of life, the Arabs possessed soun
intellects in sound bodies; they soon bega
to display an intellectual vigor that raise
them to the front of civilization They eagerl
sought for knowledge amidst the ruiz
II of Grecian literature aud the poets and philosC