a language all can
understand. Who can wonder that individuals perish and are forgotten,
when the entire population of a great, imperial metropolis thus
vanish, while their noblest and most enduring works crumble into dust?
The significance of such instances should humble the proudest mortal
who walks the earth. The spot where the Brazen Palace, so-called, once
stood in the ancient capital still shows scores of granite columns in
the shape of undressed monoliths, projecting about twelve feet above
the level of the ground, upon some of which there exist the remains of
elaborate capitals, closely resembling the Grecian Corinthian order.
This edifice, dating about two hundred years before Christ, was not
the royal residence, but a palace devoted to accommodation of the
priesthood, and was originally nine stories in height, covering a
square of ground measuring two hundred and thirty feet each way. "The
roof," according to native chronicles, "was of brass, and its great
hall, which was supported by golden pillars, also contained a throne
of solid ivory," though what the Buddhist priesthood required of a
"throne" we are not informed.

This description of the great hall with its golden pillars sounds
perhaps like an oriental exaggeration, but the people of those days
came originally from India, where such examples of extravagance were
by no means unknown during the Mogul dynasty. The probability is that
the Brazen Palace was in reality the royal residence. Speaking of
Indian extravagance, we all remember the peacock throne of the king of
Delhi,--a throne of solid gold, six feet long and four feet broad,
surmounted by a canopy of gold, and supported by twelve pillars
composed of the same precious material. The back of this costly
structure was made to represent a peacock with its tail-feathers
expanded, hence the name. The natural colors of the feathers were
closely imitated with rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and other precious
stones. The total value of the whole exceeded thirty million dollars.
The author has stood within this royal chamber at Delhi, but the
gorgeous throne has long since disappeared. Enough, however, still
remains to show what regal splendor must have existed in this
marvelous palace. These Mogul rulers used costly gems, gold and
silver, together with precious marbles and rarest stones, as freely as
modern potentates employ granite, combined with bricks and mortar. The
wealth of the then known world was in