We cannot wonder, therefore, that upon these walls was traced in exquisite mosaic a Persian verse whose meaning is as follows: -

" If there be a paradise on earth, it is here."

One is, of course, reminded by this of Moore's rendition of it in his poem, "Lalla Rookh," when he causes one of the inmates of this palace to sing: -

" Come hither, come hither - by night and by day

We linger in pleasures that never are gone; Like the waves of the summer, as one dies away

Another as sweet and as shining comes on. And the love that is o'er, in expiring, gives birth

To a new one as warm, as unequall'd in bliss; And oh! if there be an Elysium on earth,

It is this, it is this."

Pedestal Of The Peacock Throne.

But, alas! there is no Elysium on earth. This certainly was far from being one. Even its builder, Shah Jehan (dethroned by his ungrateful son), was not allowed to occupy it; and after he, the last of the illustrious three, was gone, the end was near. Sooner or later, fate invariably scatters accumulated wealth. The very richness of this Mogul capital attracted the despoiler. Tempted by such a dazzling prize, in 1738, a Shah of Persia captured Delhi and its contents, plundered this gorgeous edifice, and carried off to Teheran the Peacock Throne and more than a thousand camel-loads of gems and precious ornaments, valued, it is said, at four hundred million dollars.

Thirty years ago, after the Indian mutiny, the last of the Moguls, heir to the throne of Akbar and Shah Jehan, was tried by English officers in this glorious palace of his ancestors for treason to Great Britain. Judgment was found against him, and, having been banished forever from India, he died a few years later in the British settlement of Burma. Ironical indeed, therefore, seems the inscription on these glittering walls. The Mogul dynasty is gone forever, and in these voiceless corridors of vanished Oriental splendor our echoing footsteps seemed to murmur sadly, "Sic transit gloria mundi."

Past And Present.

Traveling As Freight.

The morning after our visit to the Mogul palace, we drove far out upon the plain surrounding Delhi. The object of this expedition was to behold a minaret built in honor of the Moslem general, Kutub, who conquered Delhi seven hundred years ago. It is called after him the Kutub Minar. I gazed upon it with astonishment. Its color was what first impressed me. It is a beautiful Pompeian red, the material being Indian sandstone. Yet, near the top, with exquisite effect, it wears a circle of white marble, like a coronet of pearls, the two combining with the sky to make the glorious tricolor we see so frequently in India - the red, white, and blue. The entire column is fluted from top to bottom, and to relieve it of monotony, it is divided into five sections, marked by projecting galleries of -the finest sculpture, so delicately carved that they may be compared to bracelets on a lady's arm. So solidly was this stupendous tower constructed, that not only are its ornamentations still perfect, but not the least crack in its masonry can be discovered, inside or out, despite the lapse of seven hundred years. Some think this to have been a monument of victory rather than a minaret, but it may well have answered both these purposes. At all events, it is the most imposing emblem of Mohammedan power that be compared to sculptured rings. They are broad bands of letters cut into the solid stone, and reproduce in well-nigh indestructible form passages from the Koran. One of them reads as follows: "Allah invites to Paradise and brings into the way of righteousness all who are willing to enter." Unutterably solemn, therefore, seems this mighty column, looking majestically down from its imposing height upon the silent desolation of the plain. For though from this, the grandest of all Moslem minarets, no voice now calls to prayer, these Arabic inscriptions still proclaim, as they have done for centuries, the mercy and the majesty of God. As I turned thoughtfully away from it, I could but ask myself: "If the Europeans were to relinquish India tomorrow, what buildings would they leave worthy to be compared for a moment either with this glorious minaret or with the peerless structures of the Great Moguls?"

In The Days Of The Moguls.