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474

PALACE OF ACBAR-ABDUL MUSSEEH.

fort is very large and ancient, surrounded with high walls and towers of red stone, which command some noble views of the city, its neighbourhood, and the windings of the Jumna. The principal sights, however, which it contains, are the Motee Musjeed, a beautiful mosque of white marble, carved with exquisite simplicity and elegance, and the palace built by Acbar, in a great degree of the same material, and containing some noble rooms, now sadly disfigured and destroyed by neglect, and by being used as warehouses, armories, offices, and lodging rooms for the garrison.

The hall, now used as the "Dewanny Aum," or public court of justice, is a splendid edifice, supported by pillars and arches of white marble, as large and more nobly simple than that of Delhi. The ornaments, carving, and Mosaic of the smaller apartments, in which was formerly the Zennana, are equal or superior to any thing which is described as found in the Alhambra. The view from these rooms is very fine, at the same time that there are some, adapted for the hot winds, from which light is carefully excluded. This suite is lined with small mirrors in fantastic frames; a cascade of water, also surrounded by mirrors, has been made to gush from a recess at the upper end, and marble channels, beautifully inlaid with cornelians, agates, and jasper, convey the stream to every side of the apartment. In another of the

towers are baths of equal beauty, one of which, a single block of white marble, Lord Hastings caused to be forced up from its situation, not without considerable injury both to the bath itself and the surrounding pavement, in order to carry it down to Calcutta. It was, however, too heavy for the common budgerow in use on the Jumna, and the bath remains to shame its spoliator. Should the plan, which has been often talked of, of having a separate Government for central India ever be carried into exe. cution, this would unquestionably be the Government house. It might still be restored at less expense than building a new resi dence for the Governor, and there is, at present, no architect in India able to build even a lodge in the same style. The Jumna Musjeed is not by any means so fine as that of Delhi. It is very picturesque, however, and the more so from its neglected state, and the grass and peepul trees which grow about its lofty domes. Archdeacon Corrie's celebrated convert, Abdul Musseeh, breakfasted this morning at Mr. Irving's; he is a very fine old man, with a magnificent gray beard, and much more gentlemanly manners than any Christian native whom I have seen. His rank, indeed, previous to his conversion, was rather elevated, since he was master of the jewels to the court of Oude, an appointment of higher estimation in eastern palaces than in those of Europe, and the holder of which has always a high salary. Abdul Musseeh's present appointments, as Christian missionary, are sixty

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rupees a month, and of this he gives away at least half! Who can dare to say that this man has changed his faith from any interested motives? He is a very good Hindoostanee, Persian, and Arabic scholar, but knows no English. There is a small congregation of native Christians, converted by Mr. Corrie when he was chaplain at Agra, and now kept together by Abdul Musseeh. The earnest desire of this good man is to be ordained a clergyman of the Church of England, and if God spares his life and mine, I hope, during the Ember weeks in this next autumn, to confer orders on him. He is every way fit for them, and is a most sincere Christian, quite free, so far as I could observe, from all conceit or enthusiasm. His long eastern dress, his long gray beard, and his calm, resigned countenance, give him already almost the air of an apostle.*

January 13.-I went to see the celebrated Tage-mahal, of which it is enough to say that, after hearing its praises ever since I had been in India, its beauty rather exceeded than fell short of my expectations. There was much, indeed, which I was not prepared for. The surrounding garden, which, as well as the Tage itself, is kept in excellent order by Government, with its marble fountains, beautiful cypresses and other trees, and profusion of flowering shrubs, contrasts very finely with the white marble of which the tomb itself is composed, and takes off, by partly concealing it, from that stiffness which belongs more or less to every highly finished building. The building itself is raised on an elevated terrace of white and yellow marble, and having at its angles four tall minarets of the same material. The Tage contains, as usual, a central hall about as large as the interior of the Ratcliffe library, in which, enclosed within a carved screen of elaborate tracery, are the tombs of the Begum Noor-jehan, Shahjehan's beloved wife, to whom it was erected, and by her side, but a little raised above her, of the unfortunate Emperor

* Abdul Musseeh was converted to Christianity, and baptized in the Old Church at Calcutta, when he was about forty years of age. He was, subsequently, employed for eight years by the Church Missionary Society as catechist, and received Lutheran ordination in the year 1820 from the hands of the missionaries of that society. In December, 1825, the Bishop conferred on him, together with three other missionaries, the rite of Episcopal ordination, the articles, the various oaths, and the ordination service, having been translated, for his use, into Hindoostanee. The Bishop also read a considerable part of the ceremony in that language. Abdul Musseeh, immediately after, went to Lucknow, where he resided, with, the exception of a visit to Cawnpoor, till his death, which hap-. pened on the 4th of March, 1827, occasioned by mortification proceeding from a neglected carbuncle. The Resident, Mr. Ricketts, who had always behaved to him with the utmost kindness and liberality, read the burial service at his grave, and ordered a monument to be erected to his memory, with an inscription in English and Persian. Among other bequests, Abdul Musseeh left his books to the Bible Society.--ED.

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himself. Round this hall are a number of smaller apartments, corridors, &c. and the windows are carved in lattices of the same white marble with the rest of the building and the screen. The pavement is in alternate squares of white, and what is called in Europe, sienna marble; the walls, screens, and tombs are covered with flowers and inscriptions, executed in beautiful Mosaic of cornelians, lapis-lazuli, and jasper; and yet, though every thing is finished like an ornament for a drawing-room chimney-piece, the general effect produced is rather solemn and impressive than gaudy. The parts which I like least are the great dome and the minarets. The bulbous swell of the former I think clumsy, and the minarets have nothing to recommend them but their height and the beauty of their materials. But the man must have more criticism than taste or feeling about him, who could allow such imperfections to weigh against the beauties of the Tage-mahal. The Jumna washes one side of the garden, and there are some remains of a bridge which was designed by Shahjehan with the intention, as the story goes, to build a second Tage of equal beauty for his own separate place of interment, on the opposite side of the river.

On that side are some interesting ruins of other structures, more especially the tomb of Etmun ut Dowlah, prime minister of Shahjehan. It is said to be very beautiful, but I did not see it, since during the rest of my stay at Agra I was confined by a feverish cold, and was barely able to go out on Friday to hold a Confirmation, with a voice more completely lost than I ever remember happening to me before. I received very great kindness and hospitality from Mr. and Mrs. Irving, and on Sunday, though against Dr. Smith's advice, I preached and administered the Sacrament, and did not feel myself the worse for it.

The number of persons confirmed was about forty, half of whom were native Christians, mostly old persons and converts of Mr. Corrie's during his residence here. Abdul Musseeh told me there were a good many more scattered up and down in the neighbouring towns of Coel, Allyghur, and Etwah, whither he went from time to time, but who were too far off to attend on this occasion. Of several he spoke as elderly persons, who had been in the Maharatta service during Penn's time, of European extraction, but who knew no language but Hindoostanee, and were very glad to have religious instruction afforded them in that language. Many of them gladly attend on his and Mr. Irving's ministry, but others are zealous Roman Catholics, and adhere closely to the Priest of Agra.

One of these Indo-Europeans is an old Colonel of French extraction, but completely Indian in colour, dress, language, and ideas. He is rich, and has a large family of daughters, two or

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three of whom he has married, rather advantageously, to some of the wealthy country-born English. But no man is allowed to see any of these young ladies till he has had his offer accepted by the father, and till it is perfectly understood that he is pledged to marry one of them. He is then introduced behind the purdahs of the Zennana, and allowed to take his choice! The poor girls, of course, are never once consulted in the transaction. Mr. Irving celebrated one of these marriages, at which, except the bride, no female was visible, though he was told that the rest were allowed to peep from behind the curtains.

I took this opportunity of inquiring in what degree of favour the name of the French stood in this part of India, where, for so many years together, it was paramount. I was told that many people were accustomed to speak of them as often oppressive and avaricious, but as of more conciliating and popular manners than the English Sahibs. Many of them, indeed, like this old Colonel, had completely adopted the Indian dress and customs, and most of them were free from that exclusive and intolerant spirit, which makes the English, wherever they go, a caste by themselves, disliking and disliked by all their neighbours. Of this foolish, surly, national pride, I see but too many instances daily, and I am convinced it does us much harm in this country. We are not guilty of injustice or wilful oppression, but we shut out the natives from our society, and a bullying, insolent manner is continually assumed in speaking to them.

CHAPTER XXI.

AGRA TO JYEPOOR.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE INDEPENDENT STATES OF WESTERN INDIA-FUTTEHPOOR-CITY OF ACBAR-GREAT MOSQUE -PALACE-BHURTPOOR-MODE OF SINKING WELLS-LETTER FROM THE RAJA OF BHURTPOOR-GOOD STATE OF HIS COUNTRY-SIR DAVID OCHTERLONY-SIR JOHN MALCOLM-WYRE-MOWAH-FRONTIER OF JYEPOOR-IDOL CARRIED TO BINDRABUND-DEOSA-HINDOO FESTIVAL-ARRIVAL AT JYEPOOR.

JANUARY 17.-I sent off my tents this morning to a small village about nine miles from Agra, and two on the Agra side of the little town of Kerowlee, and drove over myself in the afternoon. I had found it necessary, during my stay at Agra, to make many alterations in, and some additions to my usual domestic arrangements, preparatory to leaving the Company's territory for my long journey through the independent states of Rajpootana, Meywar, &c. My tents were only adapted for cold weather, and would prove a very insufficient protection against either the sun or the storms of central India, being of European construction, and formed simply of one fold of thin canvass lined with baize. The necessity being admitted by all parties, I purchased two, which were on sale in the city, on the Company's account, there being none of any sort at the Depôt. My new lodgings were not so roomy or convenient as my old, but they answered very well, and every body tells me I shall find the advantage when the hot winds begin to blow. Another necessary was a fresh supply of live-stock. I had before been content to carry a few fowls on the back of one of the camels, and to trust to the supplies which the villages afforded for a kid or a sheep occasionally. But we were now going to countries where no Mussulmans are found, where there are few great cities, and a very scattered population of villagers, who consume no animal food themselves, who have no supplies of the kind for strangers,-and, above all, who are now in a state of absolute famine. And though by myself, it must be a desolate country indeed where I should feel want, I was bound to consider that I was not alone, and that my companions also required attention. I was advised to buy some sheep, which were to be driven with us and killed as they were wanted. These, with some salt beef and tongues, were thought

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