Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-01-05

Persian couplet on the walls spake has
had its 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
a little that Persian couplct on the wall
and make it read:
II there 10 place where much you miss,
That place is this, is this, is this, is Thu.
As came out of the palace into the
street of Delhi, l thought to myself
paradises 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 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 chisel may not cut, and paint
er's pencil may not sketch, and garden
ers 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 will not yet allow you to leave
Delhi. Tho third thing you must see,
or never admit that you have been in
India, is the mosque called Iumma Mus
jid. 1t is the grandest mosque l ever
saw except st. Sophia at Constantine
pie, but it surpasses that in some re-
speots, for st. Sophia was originally 4
Christian church and changed into a
mosque, while this of Delhi was orig
inally built for the Moslems.
A Worlds Wonder.
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 feet long by -
wide, and each worshiper has one Of
these slabs for himself while kneeling
Tho erection of this building required
5000 laborers for six years. 1t is on a
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
tipped, and six minarets. What a built
up immensely of white marble and red
sandstone? We descended tho 40 mar
bic 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 Imagination, and as
| thought what an opulent ruler that
must have been who gave the order for
such vastness and symmetry, l was re.
minded of that which perfectly explain
ed all. The architect who planned this
was the same man who planned the
Taj-namely, Austin de Bordeau-and
the king who ordered the mosque con-
structed was the king who ordered tie
Taj-namely. Shah Jehan. As this
grand mogul ordered built the most
splendid palace for the dead when he
built the Tai at Agra, he here ordered
built the most splendid palace of wor-
ship for the living at Delhi Sec here
what sculpture and architecture can ac-
complish. They link together the cen
turtles. They successfully defy time.
Two hundred and eighty years ago Aus
tin 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
this planet showers other worlds with
its ashes.
] rejoice in all these big buildings,
whether dedicated to Mohammed or
Brahma or Buddha or Confucius CT 70
rooster, because as st. Sophia at Constan-
tinople was Christian church chang
ed into a mosque and will yet DO chang
ed back again, so all the mosques and
temples of superstition and sin will yet
be turned into churches. When India
and Ceylon and China and Japan are
ransomed, as we all believe they will
be, their religious structures will all be
converted into Christian asylums, and
Christian schools, and Christian libra
ries, and Christian churches. Built at
the expense of superstition and sin,
they will yet be dedicated to the Lord
Almighty. Here endeth the third lesson
Under the English Flag.
As that night we took the railroad
train from the Delhi station and rolled
out through tho city now living over
the vaster cities buried under this an
Gent capital, cities under cities, and
our travelling servant had unrolled our
bed, which consisted of a rug and two
blankets and pillow, and as we were
Worn out with the sightseeing of the
day, and We're roughly tossed on that
uneven Indian railway, l soon fell into
troubled sleep, i'll which / saw and
heard i'll q confused way the scenes and
sounds of the mutiny of 1857, which at
Delhi we had been recounting, and now
the rattle of the train seemed to turn
into tho rattle of musketry, and now
the light at the top Of the car deluded
me with the idea of burning city, and
then the loud thump of the railroad
brake was in dream mistaken for a
booming battery, and the voices at the
different stations made me think |
heard the loud cheer of the British at
the taking Of the Cashmere gate, and as
we rolled over bridges the battles be-
fore Delhi seemed going on, and rs we
went through dark tunnels seemed to
see the tomb of Humayun in which the
king of Delhi was hidden, and in my
dreams saw Lieutenant Kenny of the
artillery throwing shells which were
handed to him, their fuses burning, and
Campbell and Reid and Hope Grant
covered with blood, and Nicholson fall
ing while rallying on the wall his way
ering troops, and saw dead regiment
fallen across dead regiment, and heard
the rataplan of the hoofs of Hodgson's
horse, and the dash of tho Bengal artil-
lery, and the storming by the immortal
fourth column, and the rougher the In.
dian railway became and the darker the
night grew the more the scenes that
had been studying at Delhi came ON me
like an incubus. But the morning be-
gan to look through the window of our
jolting railcar, and the sunlight poured
in on my pillow, and in my dreams
saw the bright colors of the English
lag hoisted over Delhi, where the green
banner of the Moslem had waved, and
the voices of the wounded and diving