The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-01-11

the feathers and plrmes of which
were fashioned out of colored
stones. Above the throne was
life size parrot cut out of one emerald.
Above all was a canopy resting on IL
columns of gold, the canopy fringed
with sarls Seated here, the emperor
on public occasions wore a crown con-
tanning, among other things, the Koh-
moor diamond, and the entire blaze of
coronet cost $40. 100000 This superb
and once almost supernaturally beau
tiful room has imbedded in the white
marble wall letters of black marble,
which were translated to me from Per-
sian into English as meaning:
on earth there be on Eden OF bliss,
That place is this, is this is this, Is this.
But the peacocks that stood beside
the throne have flown away, taking all
the display with them, and those white
marble floors We're Redeemed with
slaughter. and those bath rooms ran
with blood, and that Eden of which the
persian couplet on the walls spake
has had it's flowers wither and its fruits
decay, and thought while looking at
the brilliant desolation and standing
amid the vanished glories of that
throne-room that some one had better
change little that Persian couplet on
the wall and make it read:
II there be a place where much you miss,
That place is this, is this, is this, is this
AS 1 came out of the palace into the
street of Delhi, 1 thought to myself
paradises are not built out of stone;
are not cut in sculpture; are not paint
ed on walls; are not fashioned out OF
precious stones; do not spray the cheek
with fountains: do not offer thrones or
crowns. Paradises are built out of ma
lures uplifted and ennobled, and what
architects compass may not sweep,
and sculptor's pencil may not sketch,
and gardeners skill may not lay out,
the grace of God can achieve, and If
the heart be right all is right, and if
the heart be wrong all is wrong. Here
endeth the second lesson.
But l will not yet allow you to leave
Delhi. The third thing you must
see, or never admit that you have been
in India, is the mosque called lumma
Musjid. 1t is the grandest mosque
ever saw except St. Sophia at Con-
stantinople, but it surpasses that in
some respects, for ST. Sophia was orig
inally Christian church and changed
into mosque, while this of Delhi was
originally built for the Moslems.
AS entered 1000 or more Moham-
medans were Frustrated in worship.
| There are times when 5000 may be
seen here in the same attitude. Each
stone of the floor is 3 feet long by q
wide, and each worshiper has one OF
these slabs for himself while kneeling.
The erection of this building required
5000 laborers for six years. 1t is on
plateau of rock; has four towers rising
far into the heavens; three great gate
ways inviting the world to come in and
honor the memory of the prophet OF
many wives; Is domes, with spires gold
tipped, and six minarets. What a
built up immensely of white marble
and red sandstone? We descend the &C
marble steps by which we assembled
and took another look at this wonder
of the world.
AS thought what brain the archi'
tect must have had who first built that
mosque in his own imagina ton, and as
l thought what an opulent ruler that
must have been who gave the order fol-
such vastness and symmetry, l was re-
minded of that which perfectly ex
planned all The architect who plan
ned this was the same man who plan
ned the Taj-namely, Austin de Bor
deau-and the king who ordered the
mosque constructed was the king who
ordered the Taj-namely, Shah Jehan
AS this grand mogul ordered built the
most splendid palace for the dead wher
he built the Tai at Agra, he here or
dered built the most splendid palace
of worship for the living at Delhi. See
here what sculpture and architecture
can accomplish. They link together
the centuries. They successfully defy
time. Two hundred and eighty year:
ago Austin de Bordeau and Shah Jehar
quit this life, but their work lives anC
bids fair to stand until the continent:
crack open, and hemispheres go down
and this planet showers other world:
with its ashes.
l rejoice in all these big buildings
whether dedicated to Mohammed Oh
Brahma or Buddha or Confucius or 10
rooster, because as st. Sophia at Con
stantinople was a Christian church
changed into a mosque and will yet bC
changed back again, so all the mosque:
and temples of superstition and sin viii
vet be turned into churches. Wher
India and Ceylon and China and JapaI
are ransomed, as we all believe they
will be, their religious structures vii
all be converted into Christian asylum:
and Christian schools and Christian Ii
braries and Christian churches. Bull