Milford chronicle., 1895-01-04
The AIOeuI Palace.

The MORul Palace
Another thing you must see If you go
to Delhi, though you leave many things
unseen, is the palace of the moguls. 1t
is an inclosure 1000 yards by 500. You
enter through vaulted hall nearly 400
feet long Floors of Florentine mosaic
and walls once emeralded and sapphired
and carbunoled and diamonded. / said to
the guide, Show us where once stood the
peacock throne F" "Here it was, he re
sponded All the thrones Of the earth put
together would not equal that for costli-
ness and brilliance 1t had steps of silver,
and the seat and arms were of solid gold
1t cost about $3.50, 900, 900. 1t stood be-
tween two peacOcks, the feathers and
plumes of which were fashioned out Of
colored stones. Above the throne was a
life size parrot cut out of one emerald.
Above all was canopy resting on 12 col
umns Of gold, the canopy frtnged with
pearls Seated here, the emperor on pub
lie occasions wore a crown containing
among other things the kOhinoor dia-
mond, and the entire blaze of coronet
cost $40 $50 600. This superb and once
almost supernaturally beautiful room has
imbcdded i'll she white marble wall letters
of black marble, which woro translated to
me from Persian into English as mean
ing
If on the ealth there be an 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 mar
hle floors were reddened with slaughter,
and those bathrooms ran with blood, and
that Eden Of which the Persian couplet
on the walls spake has had its flowers
withcr and it's fruits decay, and 1 thought
while looking at the brilliant desolation
and standing amid the vanished glories
of thnt throneroom that some one had bet
ter change a little that Persian cOuplet on
the wall and make it read
II there be a place whore much you miss,
That place is this, is this, is this is this.
As came out Of the palace into the
street of Delhi / thought to myself Para
discs are not built out of stone, are not
cut in sculpture, are not painted on walls,
are not fashioned out of precious stones,
do not spray the check with fountains, do
not offer thrones or crowns. Paradises are
built out of natures uplifted and ennobled,
and what architects compass may not
sweep, and sculptor's chisel may not cut,
and printers pencil may not sketch, and
gardeners skill may not lay out, the grace
Of God can achieve, and If the heart be
tight al is right, and if the heart be
wrong all is wrong. Here endeth the sec
ond lesson.
But J win 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 Jumma Musud 1t
is the grandest mosque ever saw except
ST. Sophia at Constantinople, but it sur
passes that III some respects, for St. So
phia was originally a Christian church
and changed into a mosque, while this Of
Delhi was originally built for the Moslems.
Heathen Worship.
As Il entered ,0OO or more Mohamme-
dams wcro Frustrated in worship. There
are times when :, coo may be seen here in
the same attitude Each stone Of the floor
is feet long by y wide and each wor-
shipper has one Of these slabs for himself
while bneeling The erection of this
building required g. 600 laborers for six
years It is on a plateau Of rock, has four
towers rising far into the heavens, three
great gateways inviting the world to. come
IN and honor the memory Of the prophet
of many wives, Is domes, with spires gold
tipped, and ninarets What built UP
immensity Of white marble and red sand
stonel we descended the 40 marble ssnps
by which we ascended and took another
look at this wonder of the world As {
thought what q brain the architect mus
have had who first built thar mosque in
bis own Imagination, and as ! thought
what an opuIent ruler that must have
been who gave the orddF for such yastness
and symmetry, ] was reminded Of that
which perfectly explained all. The afchi-
tect who planned this was the same man
who planned the Taj-namely, Austin dc
Bordeau-and the king who ordered the
mosque constructed was the king who or
dered the Taj--namely, Shah Jehan. As
this grand mogul ordered built the most
splendid palace for the dead when he bnilt
the Tai at Agra, be here ordered 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 SUCCESS
fully defy time. Two hundred and eighty
years ago Austin de Bordeau and Shah
Jehan quit this life, but their work lives
and bids fair to stand until the continents
crack open and hemispheres go down and T