, 1879-05-29

<sGE9 hH uA1l EI0hu u P1OCGbs@0u*
TIE IDEA or THE TAI.
The principle which inspires these magnificent
and useless totnbA Is OF Tartar origin. Tile Tar
tars, VIC arc told, built their tombs In aucf, a
n'a'!ner as to "scrye for places OF enjoyment
fnr themselves and their triontta during their
building as houaa Of recreation. receives bis
fricnds, gives entertainments. Wheu he dies
ho In buried within tic walls, and from thht
hour the building Is abandoned. 1t ID ever
dead. rheru IL something Egyptian III this
ldca Ut fsoasc Of feastng becoming tomb:
ot great rr1uce. a. he walks amid crowds nf
rctaiucra and fricntta, knowing that the walls
his dust. This will account for 60 many stu
pentlolta tnnbs that you ind IN Upper India.
Happily, It docs nut account for the Taj. ftl,a
Tai had bes. u 'fartan tdcn-a house Of merrl-
would nuyc lost something Of the poetry wlItcl
adds to !ts beauty: The Tai Is the a1nresa!on of
the grief VI tie Emperor, Shah Jehan for his
wife. who was knos In her day us Muultaz-1-
was herself Of Royal blood, with Perstan m
csstrs lnterminglco. She wnA married III 1flT
TO shal JGflar, then heir 10 the thr0nc. mud,
having borne oI1n sever children, died ~ li29 IN
Giving birth to the eighth child. 1!erllfc, there
fore, wna IN the hlEhuat sense cousecratct'. for
she gavo y up In Tie ful|'llnient of q supreme
AMI holy t.uty, N ttaelf consecseat!on Of wom-
anhoui. Tile husband brought The body Of tho
vile md mother to tlsuso gardens nnd cn-
t0rnl,c1 II until the mot,umert uf htE grief
SHOULD be done. It was sevehteen years before
tie work Hnt finished. The cost is unknown.
she best authorities tatt,E Il At rnore than TWO
millions Of dollars. Two millions ut dollars iu
the time 81 Shall 'iehat. Will lubor for the ask
lug. would be wnrtn as much ns twenty tnll1lons
in olr ttar. For seventeen years .A)000 men
worked on the 'Taj, aid their wages was daily
portion 0f corn.
TIE GENERAL EFfEcT or THE MAusoLEUN.
Tie effect OF the Tat a. seen frum the gate,
looking down tie Rrcnuc nf trces, is grand.
The dune md towers .eem to rest In tho air,
Hrl,i II would not surprise you II they became
clouds and vanished tnto ratu. The gardens aro
the perfection Of horticulture, aMl you seu here,
wealth at.d beauty of Nature IN Hlndostas,.
The landscapc scctIls to DO flushed witt roscs,
with all variciies of tho rose, nnd that
must sunny anu qucenly Of !lowcTs lcefns
10 H:rcw your path a'Id bid yon welcome as you
snunter duwn the avenues and up the
nsceAdIng slnDo tlmt leads to the shrine
uf husbands lore and n mothers consecra-
toll Tl,ero Is row Of fountains which throw
out spray anl cout the air, anu when YOU
building It's greatness comes upon you-lts
GREATNESS uil It's beauty. sfr. keenc touk us
to varlous parts Of the garden, that VIC might
SEQ It from different po!nts Of rleE, l could
sec 10 value fH onc vlrw bcyuud tte other.
Aud when our friend, IN tho spirit Ut courteous
kindness, polluted out tic deiGcts Of the bulEl-
ins,-tllat It WAS too much this, Or too much
that, or would hnvc been perfect II It had been
little less of something rlse,-there was Just
the least disposition to resent criticism and to
echo tic opinion Of Mr. uurlc, who, as he stool
looking At the exquisite towers and soletnn
%af'o q,o T2 sa T's s, woEth Som,E TO
becousc 1t is tl.at of II practical business man,
concerned With affairs, and not disposed 10 sec
d poetic side to n,ly subject. What hc saw In
tl,r TaB WIS tile idea that Its founder ,t1nt TO
cnnVey,-tt,G idea Of solemn, oyerpoWerinE, nl,d
unapproaehable beauty.
INSIDE Tiik PALACE.
AZ ron enter you see rast dune, every incl,
of which IL enriched with Inscriptions IN Arabic.
verses FROM tl'r kusan. engraved tnurttc, mo-
safes, decorations in agate anl jasper. ln tic
snoacstly carved. These coycr the res,ng. place
of The Emperor una his vile, whcse bodies aru
In the sunlt underneath. In other days the
Turkish prtEsts real the Koran from the gal
lave been the effect Of the words chauicd iu u
prIcstly cudeure by tho cello TINT answers and
agaiu answers the chanting Ut some tuuo by ono
of tile party. Tie more closely yon exnmlnu
wl,ctIcr It's beauty Is to be fuuntl III the general
t4rcrt Of thu design Us seen from nFar, or thu
minute und iluisncd decorations WHICH cover
every wul. Thu general idea Of thu building Ii
never lost. There Is nothing, trivial about the
Iai, no grotesaue Gothic ,lollins or lowering
CorinthiaI, colunns-ali is cold. n1Hi white, ind
cilastu anu pure. Yull luaY form MI 1lea VI tllG
slzo Of the Tai froul the tlXures Ut the
mlctsureth ont -of ~tas Roral cnG!uters, Fron.
feet. 1t stands un the bnnks Of the River
JuuIna, a,I! It Is said 0at SINH Jehau Intended
70 tu,ad counterpart IN black marble u TlIicsl
Ills own ashes should rest. BIT m!sfortunrs
came to 6hah Jellau,--ungrateiul children,
/ strife, uepositaon,-anl when hu died Ills sou
felt iisat thu Tai WIS largo enough for botlt
father n,ll n"'lier. One is almost glad that thc
black marble ilcn never EertsltlatG1. Tile Tai.
by Itself alone, II unaupruacs'nble. dnplt-
cate would have dctracted from ts peerless
beauty.
THE TAI BY NoosLzoHr.
We remained In lie gardens until the sun
went down. nld VIC had to hurry to our EAR
riages not to DO CAUGHT tn the swiftly dcscesld-
| Ing night. Thu Eardancr caGo 10 Mrs. Grant
Will, an Offering Ut roscs. Some 0f US, OH our
| rvkurn t,om Jeyporo, took htlfantuse Of The
new moon to nlakc another VISIT We ltatl bcct'
toll tl.lt tie Moonlight give new gloTyeyen "
tr Tai. It WAS The night before We tcft Agsa,
the risk of keeping sotne fricn1s waiting who had
| asked lis h uinAtr, OF a moonlight view. II
was u new 1uoon, which nlado our view, inner.
feet. I}ut such viow us was eisen ad,led to
| tic beauty Of the ra]. Il,e cnld lnes OF slu
| marble were soitcnca br tl.c sLimmcrtns silver
| light. The ininarets see'ncd to hnYe Il new
hight, a1ltl the DONE had sulculnlty ~ 6cranG
| tic rInOpY Ut tllt mother ntll queen. We
| ssrollnI buck. now md then turning for nnotlN.
| Inst rluw Of The wonderful .olnl. Tile brls
| wcrc sltSng. tho air was lItary with the udnrs
OF tl>' r,se-gartleu, mud tic stlltncss, the twl
! lght stillncss, I'LL .ultlrd ~ tho beauty of tt!l
OF ulir visit ,he most striking u!nnng tho many
| wot,tlroua things VIZ have seen IN H[nlostau.
AN EMBARRASSMENT AND FAREWELL.
Our further stay in AgIn WIS ii,mlo pleasant
hy dinner &C ts!c Agra c!lt. Il routMy husldlns
firuf