te finish of
adornment. A beautiful mosque commemorated the good deeds of the saint,
and provided a place of prayer for those of the Moslem faith. In the
palace of the Emperor was a magnificent audience hall, with marble
columns and stone-carved galleries, in the centre of which stood the
throne of gold sprinkled with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, surrounded
by a silver railing, and covered by a canopy of rich crimson brocade.
In this audience hall the great and good Akbar was wont to receive not
only his subjects, rich and poor, the former assembled to pay their
court, the latter to lay their grievances before the Imperial judge; but
he also extended welcome to strangers from afar. On the question of
religion his mind was at this period in a state of change, for he had
broken from the strict faith of the Moslem, had publicly announced that
there was good in all beliefs, had overthrown ceremonial rules, whether
of Islam or of Hinduism, and had proclaimed all things lawful except
excess. His thoughts thus drifting toward a new religion, a divine faith
that would bring into one fold the votaries of all religions, he was
glad at his court to give audience to learned doctors from distant lands
as well as from every part of India. All were welcome--Brahmins and
Buddhists, Moslem schoolmen, Hindu fanatics, pantheists, the worshippers
of fire, the Jews whose prophets are Abraham and Moses, even Christian
padres from far-off Europe. It was Akbar's delight to listen to their
expositions and discussions, and to the defence of their varied dogmas.

Thus did the fame of the king for tolerance, benevolence and wisdom
become noised abroad far and wide, so that visitors flocked in
ever-increasing numbers to the beautiful city. At our caravanserai
without the gate there would often, in the cool of an evening, be
gathered together on the shaded veranda a group of travellers
representing diverse races and classes. Some of the town-dwellers, too,
would be there, resting and refreshing themselves after their walk to
the city walls, while from the near-by camp of the Rajputs, who formed a
portion of the royal bodyguard, there would oftentimes stroll over a few
men-at-arms.

On such occasions it would generally happen that the debates recently
listened to in the Imperial Hall of Assembly would be subjected to
comment. And from discussion of this kind the conversation would quite
frequently change to story-telling, dear to the hearts of al