Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-01-23
REV. DR. TALMAGE
EHE BROOKLYH DIVINE,S afu.
DAY ARRRON.
Subject: esTomb and Temple"

TEXT: From India even unto Ethiopia.
Esther l.. !.
In all the Bible this Is the only book IN
| which the word India occurs, but it standi
| Tor n realm OF vast interest in the time o
| Esther. as in our time. It yielded then, al
now, spices and silks and cotton and ric1
and indigo and ores of all richness and
precious stones of all sparkle and had &
| civilization OF its own as marked as EgyP
| tfan or Grecian or Roman civilization. i
holds the eostliest tomb ever built and tn
| most unique and wonderful idolatrous tenn
pie ever opened. For practical lessons IL
this, my sixth discourse in round the worlt
| series, show you that tomb and temple o
India.
In journey around the world 1t may 10,
be easy to tell the exact point which divides
the pilgrimage into halves. Tut there Wal
| one structure toward which We were all the
time travelling, and having seen that We felt
| that II We saw nothing more our expedition
would be a success. That one object was the
Tai Mahal OF India. 1t is the crown OF the
whole earth. The spirits OF architecture
| met to enthrone king, and tho spirit Of the
Parthenon Of Athen, WIS there. and tho spirit
| OF st. Sophia OF Constantinople was there,
| and tho spirit OF st. Izaak of St. Petersburg
was there, AM tho spirit Of the Baptistery OF
Pisa was there, and the spirits OF tho pyramid
| and OF Luxor obelisk, and Of tho Porcelain
| tower OF Nankin, and of St, Marks OF
Venice, and the sp rits OF all the great towers,
great cathedrals, great mausoleuns, great
| sarcophagi, great capito!s for the living and
| OF great necropoises for the dead wsro II ere.
And the presiding genius of the throng with
gavcl OF farinn marble snote the table OF
Russian malachite, and called the throng OF
spirits to order. AMI called for vote
| as TO which spirit should wear the
| chief crown, and mount the chief throne,
and wave tho chief scelter, and by unani-
nous acclaim the cry was: sLoug live the
spirit OF Tai. king OF all the spirits OF archi-
| lecture! Thine is the Tai Mahal Of India II
The building Is about six miles from Agra,
and AS We rode out in the early dawn we
heard nothing but the hoofs and wheels that
pulled and turned US along the road, at every
yard OF which our expectations rose until
We had some thought that We might be d.s-
appointed at the first glimpse, rs some say
| they were disappointed. But how can any
| one be disappointed with tho Tai is almost rs
great n wonder to me as tho Tai itself.
There are some people always disappointed,
and who knows but that having entered
heaven they may criticise the architecture OF
the temple and the cut OF the white robes,
and say that the River OF Life is not quite up
10 their expectations, ami that the white
horses on which the conquerors ride ssem
little spring halt or spawned?
My son said, There it is!' I said,
'Where?" For that which he saw to be the
building seemed to me to be more like the
morning cloud blushing under the stare of
the rising sun. 1t seemed not so much built
up from earth as let down from heaven.
Fortunately you stop at an elaborated gate
way OF red sandstone one-eighth o. a mile
from the Tai. an entrance so high, so arched,
so graceful, so four domed, so painted and
chiseled and scrolied that you come very
gradually upon the Tai which structure ia
enough to intoxicate the eye and stun thss
imagination and entrance the soul. We Cd
up the winding stairs OF this majestic en-
trance OF the gateway, and buy a few pic
lures. and examine a few curios and from
II look of upon the Tai, and descend to the
pavement of the garden that rap;urss every
thing between the gateway and the ecstacy
OF marble and precious stones. You pass
along a deep stream of water in which all
manner of brilliant fins swirl and float
There are eiShty-four fountains that spout
and bend and arch themselves to fall in
showers OF pearl in basins OF snowy white
ness. Beds OF all imaginable flors greet the
nosiril before they do the eye and seem to
roll in waves OF color as you advance toward
the vision you are soon to have of what hui
man genius did when it did its best; moon
flowers, lilacs, marigolds, tulips and almost
everywhere the lotus thickets OF bewilder-
ing bloom; on either side trees from many
lands bend their arborescence over your
head or seem with convoluted branches to
reach out their arms toward you In welcome
On and or you go amid lamar nd and cy-
press and poplar and oleander and yew and
sycamore and banyan and palm and trees
OF such novel branch and leaf and girth yea
cease TO ask their name or nativity.
As you approach the doc- OF the Tai ons
experiences a strange ssusation of awe and
tenderness and humility and worship. The
building Is only grave, but what grave
Built tor queen, who, according to some,
was very good, and according TO others very
bad. l choose to think she was very good.
At any rate, it makes me feel better 10 think
that this commemorative pile was set up for
the fnmortaliz4tion OF virtue rather than
vior. The Tai y a mountain OF white
marble. but never such walls faced each
other with eSquisiteness never such tomb
was cut from block of alabaster never such
a congregation OF precious stones frightened
and gloomed and blazed and chastened and
glorifled building since scuptor's chisel
hut its first curve, or painters pencil traced
its first figure, or mason's plumb line
measured IFS first wall, or architects com.
pass swept its first circle.
The Tai has sixteen great arched win.
dows, four at each corner also at each OF
the four corners OF the Tai stands minaret
1877 feet high also at each side ofthis build.
ing is a splendid mosque OF red sandstone.
Two hundred and fifty years has the Tai
stood, and yet not a wall is cracked, nor .
mosaic loosened, nor an arch sagged, nor a
panel dulled. The storms OF 25O winters
have not marred nor the heats OF 250 sum.
mers disintegrated a marble. There Is no
story OF age written by moses on its white
surface. Montaz, the queen, was beautiful, |
and Shah Jehan, the king. here proposed to
let all the centuries OF time know It. She
was married at twenty years or age and
died at twenty-nine. Her life ended as an |
other life began. AS the rose bloomed the |
rosebush perished.
To aAnrp fhio ~ hA |
the command OF the king, Bagdsd sent to |
this building its corneliau and Ceylon its /
lapis lazuli, and Punjab its jasper, and |
Persia its amethyst, and Thibet its turquoise, |
and Lanka its sapphire, and Yemen its agate,
and Puma its diamonds and blood stones,
agates are as common rs though they were |
pebbles You find one spray OF vine beset |
with eighty and another with 100 stones.
Twen thousand men were twenty years in /
building it, and although the labor was
slave labor, and not paid for, the building 1
cost what would be about eco, ,0O0, 600 !
Of our American money. Some Of the
Jewels have been picked out OF the
wall by iconoclasts or conquerors, and
substitutes OF less value have taken their
places, but the vines, tbs traceries, the
arabesques. the spandrels, the eniablatures
are so wondrous that you feel like dating
the rest of your life from the day you first
whole of the Koran is spelled out In and on
his august pile. The king sleeps In the
tomb beside the queen, although he intend
ed to build palace as black AZ this was
white on the opposite side OF the river for
himself to sleep in. Indeed the foundation
Of such a metropolis Of black marble is still
here, and from the white to the black tenn.
pie OF the dead q bridge was to cross, but
the son dethroned him and imprisoned him.
and 1t Is wonderful that the king had any
place at all in which to be buried. Instead
Of windows to let in the light upon the two I
ombs, there is a trellis work OF marble, |
marble cut SO delicately thin that the sur |
shines through It rs easily - through glass. |
Look the world over and find so much trans
uency, canopies, traceries. lace work. en-.
DIoideries OF stone
We had heard OF the wonderful resonance
II this Tai. and so tried 1t. I suppose
here are more sleeping echoes in that build |
n2 waiting to be wakened by the human
Toice than in any building every constructed, J
uttered one word, and there seemed de- |
scending invisible choirs in full chant, and /
here was a reverbration that kept on long /