The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1875-03-04

A hundred miles from Delhi, at
Agra, rises one of the fairest monu-
men.s of selfish love aud of a crue
promise. The beautiful and beloved
wife of Shah Jehan, he mieh,iest Of
earthly kings, died in 1851, nor
could the wealth Of India or the
power of al absolute rule save the
life Of the being most dear to the
Grand Mogul, he fair Moon-taj-i-
mchal. As she died she uttered the
request that her husband wonli pro
vide for her a suitable monument.
Though,less and full Of The common
vani'ies of life, she scarcely reflected
that the execution Of her wish mus,
be paid for from the poor earnings Of
'hc mothers and daughters OF Hin
dostan, that tears would be shed in
thousands OF cottages. that children
would be pinched aud starved, and
the aged harassed and lisheartened,
TO provide for the cost Of her mar
velous tomb. Too seldom, indeed,
do any Of MS look to the results OF
our actions, or are more careful than
the dying queen 10 limit our wishes
by philanthrop;c rule. Ia his pas
sionase grief Shah Jehan pressed on
the building of a mausoleum to his
consort with barbaric indifference
to the sufierings of his people. Twen-
ty Thousand laborers, il is said, were
employed upon the work for twenty
years. All India groaned with toll
and taxation. The Tai Mahal. for
so the tomb is called, rose at last to
a wonderful perfection. Ii is the
most beautiful and the chest Of all
the testimonials of selfish affection
to its LIST object, the finest architec.
tural device Of sorrow, love and
death. A garden, Ms is usual in most
Oriental palaces aud tombs, surrounds
the spot where sleeps the Eastern
queen, the cypress waves, the or
ange, the lemon, the banyan, and the
palm spread their foliage around
fountains play along every avenue,
and glitter in the air; and all the
charms of Shiraz and Cashmere are
said t. be initiated If not surpassed
in the gardens of Tai Mahal. In the
midst el tha solemn beauty Of the
natural decorations, in front Of the
great & tie, and looking down upon
the sacred Jnmno. springs up the
mausoleum itself, A platform Of
shining marble, one minaret at each
corner of wonderful! lovelinass, and
the central shrine crowned with it's
glittering crescent two hundred aad
sixty fee, high, are wrought into that
rare perfection Of form and decora-
ton to which only Hindoo craftsmen
could attain. The marble, the gold,
the precious stones, are melted into
fruits and flowers, and woven into
designs ,ha, surpass the labors OF
the pencil or the dreams Of poetry.
Yet it is within, beneath the GENITAL
minsret, in chamber richer and
grander than royal palace ever knew,
that the Oriental fancy finds it's chief
display. The marble-lat'iced win
dows lend a pcnsivc light, the floors
are sown with jewels, and the ceno.
taph of the fair and feeble mortal fol
whom all this wasteful toll was given
rises like an apparation Of beauty
behind the lacrwork Of marble
screen. Yet in all this rich effect oi
Oriental fancy one misses perhaps
the stronger traits Of Western genius
A singI. figure on the msusoleum OF
Hal earn .s.us, cloven hy the power
full III 81 of Scopes, must surpass it
all. and all the wealth and power OF
Shah chan could not awake the i'm
mortal fire that glows in the friezes
of Phidias.-Euge'se Laurence IN
XaYer's Mdla=ine.