Middletown transcript., 1883-11-16

HdHudFlnS Oh Cn6 court. among Jn0
ornaments of these beautiful pleasure
grounds are small, transparent lakes,
filed with gold and silver fishes, and
broad canal on which are several is
is lands adorned with pagodas and sum-
warehouses; of various forms, sheltered
by groves of trees and fragrant shrubs.
All Chinese buildings of this descrip-
tion are highly decorated, and generally
bear some resemblance to a tent,
which is evidently the model from
which the architecture of China was
originally designed. The gilded pago-
das and temples rising among the green
trees, the flashing of fountains, and the
tapping of countless sails on the canals
combine to make this celestial paradise
garden of delight.
A flavor of Oriental romance is con-
nected with the gardens of Shalimar,
celebrated in Moore's g Lalla Rooke..a
There was never a more eplendid en-
pire than that of the Mogols at Delhi,
and of all Mogols no prince was more
fond of luxurious pleasures than the
Emperor Shan Jehan. Every summer
he passed several months in the lovely
vale of Cashmere, where, with music,
dancing, feasting, and excursions by
land and water, he beguiled the time in
a constant succession of varied enjoy
ments. In this favorite retreat he laid
out the gardens so famous in song
and story. No expense was spared in
the establishment of these grounds,
The gardens were intersected by canals,
all flowing from a fairy lake in the
centre, and erected on arches; over
these were several elegant saloons, to
which the ladies of the court resorted
to take sherbet, coffee, and other re-
freshments. Here the radient, dark
eyed Moslemans wandered with their
turbaned lords among the bending
trees, OF rowed upon the fairy lake
amid countless Rose leaves, while the
bowers echoed to the music of
harp and dulcimer and the soft voices
of graceful dancing girls. The once
beautiful gardens have gone to decay
like most other monuments of the for
mer wealth and grandeur of Hindoo-
stan, but the memories of the charming
Mogol princesses, Moor Mahal, MOom-
,asee and Lalla Rookh, still haunt the
place, and Moore's musical lines recall
he vanished magnifcence
Who has not heard of the vale of Cashmere,
With its Roses the fairest that earth ever
gave,
is temples and grottos and fountains as
clear
Is the love-lighted eyes that hang over their
EaYe?"
Famous in English History are the
.ardens Of Woodstock; where Henry,
I. kept his fair Rosamond, and where
he jealous and cruel Queen Eleanor
Ound her beautiful rival and forced
er to take her choice of death either
rom the poisoned chalice or the jew
led dagger. Near London were the
ardens of the Temple where, accord
lg to tradition, the famous dispute
Dok place between Somerset and York
1 the wars of the Roses, the latter cry
lg in his hot rivalry:
Let him who is a true-born gentleman.
nd stands upon the honor of his birth,
he supposes have pleaded truth,
rom of this briar pluck white Rose with
me-
To which Somerset answers
Let him who is no coward nor no fiatterer,
ut dare maintain the party of the truth,
luck a red Rose from off this thorn with
me-"
About this time John Morton,
'ishop of Ely, had garden at Holborn,
here he grew excellent strawberries.
hakespeare commentaries the good
ishop's garden in his tragedy of Rich
making his dWarfed, misshapen
ero speak after this wise:
My Lord of Ely, when was last at Holborn,
saw good strawberries in your garden there,
do beseech you, send for some of them"
Sir Thomas More had a fine garden
t Chelsea, which was a place of resort
D princes and learned men, and
licited praise from Erasmus. Here
Tenry VIII. used to walk with the
laster of the beautiful grounds, with
n arm around More's neck but when
few years later the Lord Chancellor
Iould not sanction his divorce and his
marriage with Anne Boleyn, this same
ing had Sir Thomas's head cut off at
ne Tower.
There are many other gardens of note
nd interest mentioned in history,
the of which we have not time to
anne. Even as we write there comes to
5 the scent of the fruit trees that
-enry ", planted at Montpelier, and
the aromatic herbs in the botanical
ardens of Alphonse d'Este, Duke of
errara. Who would not like to have
andered with Pope through his at
active garden at TWickenham, or to
ave seen Swift cutting Asparagus in
le garden of Sir William Temple F? As
e glance down through the ages it
most seems as if the best part of his
ry had been enacted in a garden, at
asst its most social and gossippy feat
'es. Solomon woOed his dusky, dark
essed bride in a garden; and on the
of Assyria, King Senna-
erib is represented drinking wine
ith his queen under flower arbor in
spacious pleasance. So love and
e have moved on, while their bright
splendor seems to hover around the
alks and terraces, the arbors and
untains of these earthly paradises.
1t us obey the behest of the wise caliph,
bderahman, and plant gardens.-F.
Colby, IN Ladies' FIoridI Cabinet.
JUDGE N. BANNING NORTON, of
alias, Texas, has hair that flows in
owy waves over his shoulders.