. Christian herald and signs of our times. , andaccording to others was very bad. 1 chooseto think she was very good. At any rate, itmakesme feel better to think that this com-memorative pile was set up for the immor-talization of virtue rather than vice. TheTaj is a mountain of white marble, butnever such walls faced each other with ex-quisiteness ; never such a tomb was cutfrom block of alabaster ; never such a con-gregation of precious stones brightened,and gloomed, and blazed, and chastened,and glorified a building since sculptorschisel cut its first curve, or painters penciltraced its fir
. Christian herald and signs of our times. , andaccording to others was very bad. 1 chooseto think she was very good. At any rate, itmakesme feel better to think that this com-memorative pile was set up for the immor-talization of virtue rather than vice. TheTaj is a mountain of white marble, butnever such walls faced each other with ex-quisiteness ; never such a tomb was cutfrom block of alabaster ; never such a con-gregation of precious stones brightened,and gloomed, and blazed, and chastened,and glorified a building since sculptorschisel cut its first curve, or painters penciltraced its first figure, or masons plumb-linemeasured its first wall, or architects com-pass swept its first circle. The Taj has sixteen great arched win-dows, four at each corner. Also at each ofthe four corners of the Taj stands a minaret 137 leet high. Also at each side of this build-ing is a splendid mosque of red sandstone. I VO hundred and fifty years has the TajStood, and yet not a wall is cracked, nor amosaic loosened, nor an arch sagged, nor a. THE TAJ MAHAL NEAR AGRA, INDIA. panel dulled. The storms of 250 wintershave not marred, nor the heats of 250 sum-mers disintegrated a marble. There is nostory of age written by mosses on its whitesurface. Montaz, the queen, was beautiful,and Shah Jeiian. the king, here proposed tolet all the centuries of time know it. Shewas married at twenty years of age anddied at twenty-nine. Her life ended as an-other life began ; as the rose bloomed therose-bush perished. To adorn this dormi-tory of the dead, at the command of theking, Bagdad sent to this building its cor-nelian, and Ceylon its lapis lazuli, and Pun-jab its jasper, and Persia its amethyst, andThibet its turquoise, and Lanka its sap-phire, and Yemen its agate, and Punah itsdiamonds; and blood-stones, and sardonyx,and chalcedony, and moss agates are ascommon they were pebbles. Youfind one spray of vine beset with eighty,and another with one hundred thousand men were
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1895
