Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-01-18

higher, and that Is enameled gold. what
an anthem in eternal rhythm Lyrics anu
elegies in marble. Sculptured hossnna-
Masonry as of supernatural hands. hlsh!y
doxolol.v IN stone. 1 shall see nothing 10
equal il till see the great white throne;
and on It Him from whose face the earth anu
heavens Zee away.
Tine Tai Is the pride Of India, and especi-
ally OF AIohammedanism. An English oni-
Ger AT the fortress told Us that when during
the general muiiny In 1857 the Mohamme-
dams proposed insurrection at Agra the Eng
Iish Govsrnment aimed the guns OF the fort
at the Tai and said, You make Instruction,
and that same day We will blow your Tai TO
atoms. and that threat endei the disposition
for mutiny at Agra.
But thought while lookinsa at that palace
for the dead all this constructed to cover a
handful OF dust, but even that handful has
probably gone from the mAusoleum. How
much better IL would have been to expend
$50. 900 600, which the Tai Mahal cost, for the
living. What asylums 1t might have built
for the sick, what houses for the homeless
What improvement our century has mads
upon other centuries in lifting in honor OF
the departed memorial churches, memorial
hospitals, memorial reading rooms, me-
mortal obseryatories. By all possible means
let us keep the memory OF departed loved
ones fresh In mind, and let there be an ap-
propriate headstone or monument In the
cemetery, but there Ia a dividing line be-
tween reasonable commemoration and
wicked extravaganza. The Tai Mahal has
its uses as an architectural achievement
eclIpsing all other architecture, but as me-
mortal OF departed wife and mother IL ex-
presses no more than the plainest slab In
many a country graveyard. The best monu-
ment we can any OF us have built for us
when we are gone is In the memory OF those
whose SORROWS we have allevlated, in the
wounds We have healed, In tho klndnesses
We have done, in the ignorance We have en-
lightened, In .he recreant we have reclaimed,
in the souls We have saved. Such monu-
ment is built out OF material more lasting
than marble or bronze and will stand amid
the eternal splendors long after the Tai Ma
hal OF India shall have gone down in the
ruins OF world OF which II was the eostllest
adornmsnt. But l promised 10 show you
not only tomb OF India, but unique
heather temple, and 1t is a temple under.
ground
With miners candle we had seen some-
thing OF the underside OF Australia, as at Gim-
pie, as with guides torch we had seen at
different times something OF the underslde
OF America, ms In Mammoth cave, but we are
now to enter one OF the sacred cellars OF
India, commonly called the Elephanta caves.
We had 1t all to ourselves, the steam yacht
that was TO take US about fifteen miles over
the harbor OF Bombay and between enohant-
cd islands, and along shores whose curves
and gulches and pictured rocks gradually
prepared the mind for appreciation OF the
most unique spectacle In India. The morn.
ing had been full OF thunder and lightning
and deluge, but the atmospheric agitations
had ceased, and the cloudy ruins OF the
storm were piled up In the heavens, huge
enough and darkly purple enough TO make
the skies as grandly picturesque as the
earthly scenery amid which We moved.
After an hours outing through the water
We came TO the long pier reaching from the
island calel Elephanta. 1t Is an island small
of girth, but 600 feet high. 1t declines into
the marshes Of msngrove. But the whole
Island Is one tangle OF foliage and verdure
convolvulus creeping the ground; moses
climbing the rocks vines sleevlng the long
arms OF the trees red flowers here and there
In the woods, like incentiarys torch trying
to set the groves on iire-cactus and acacia
vying as to which can most charm the be.
holder tropical bird meeting particolored
butterfly In jungles planted the same sum
mer the world was born. We stepped out OF
the boat amid enough natives to afford all
the help we needed for landing and guild.
ance. You can be carried by coolies in an
easy chair, or you can walk, IL you are
blessed with two stout limos, which the
psalmist evidently lacked, or he would not
have so deprecated them when he said
"The Lord taketh no pleasuoe in the legs OF
man." We passed up some stone steps
and between the walls we saw awaiting US
cobra, one OF those snakes which greet the
traveller ofttimes In India, Two OF the guides
left the cobra dead by the wayslde. They
must have been Mohammeians for Hindoos
never kill that sacred reptile.
And now we come near the famous temple
| hewn from one rock OF porphyry at least 800
years ago On either side OF the chief tenn
pie is chapel, these cut out OF the same
stone. So vast was the undertaking and to
| the Hindoo was SO great the human impossi.
bility that they say the gods scooped out
| this structure from the rock and carved the
pillars and hewed its shape into gigantic
Idols and dedicated It TO all the grandeurs.
We climb many stone steps before we get to
| the gateways. The entrance to this temple
| has scuIptured doorkeepers leaning on
| sculptured devils. How strangel But /
| have seen doorkeepers OF churches and audi
forums who seemed TO be leaning on the
| demons OF bad ventilation AMI asphyxls
! Doorkeepers ought 10 be leaning on the
| angels OF health and comfort and life. All
the sections and ianitors Of the earth who
have spoiled sermons and lectures and pois-
oned the lungs OF audiences by ineficency
ought to visit this cave OF Elephanta and be-
ware Of what these doorkeepers are doing,
when instead OF leaning on the angelic they
lean on the demonac.
In these Elephanta caves everything is on
Samsonian and Titanian scale. With CHS
| els that were dropped from nerveless hands
| at least eight centuries ago, the forms OF the
gods Brahma and Vishnu and silva were cut
into the everlasting rock. silva is here rep
resented by a figure sixteen feet nine inches
| high, one-half man and one-half woman.
| Run a line from the center of the forehead
straight to the floor OF the rock, and you d.
vide this idol into masculine and feminine.
Admired as this idol Is by many, 1t was TO me
about the worst thing that was ever cut into
porphyry, perhaps because there is hardly
| anything on earth SO Objectionable as a be-
ing half man and half woman. Do be one or
other, my nearer Man is admirable and wo-
| man is admirable, but either In flesh or trap
| rock a compromise OF the two is hideous.
| Save US from effeminate men and masculine
| women
Yonder is the King Ravana worshiping.
| Yonder is the scultured representation OF
the marriage Of silva and Parhati. Yonder ID
Daksha, the son of Brahma born from the
thumb OF his right hand. He had sixty
daughters. Seventeen OF those daughters
were married to Kasyapa and became the
| mothers OF the human race. Yonder Is q
god with three heads. The center God has
crown wound with necklaces OF skulls.
The right hand god is In a paroXysm OF rage,
with forehead Of snakes and in its hand Is q
cobra. The left hand god has pleasure in all
its features, and the hand has flower. But
there are gods and goddesses in all direc-
tions. The chief temple of this rock is 1870
teet square and has twenty-six pillars rising
to the roof. After the conquerors OF
other lands and the tourists from all
lands have defaced and Clipped and blast
ed and carried away curios and mementos
for museums and homes, there
are enough entraAcements left to detain one
unless he is cautious until he is down with
some OF the malarias which encompass this
island or get bitten with some OF lite snakes.
| l.lt IN AL. IA. Of thu flana