82 
BENARES. 
INFANTICID E. 
Hear it not ye stars ! 
And thou pale moon! turn paler at the sound. 
Young. 
The great and holy city of Benares has been too 
frequently, and too ably described, to require in these 
pages any detailed account, of its character and general 
appearance. Aurungzebe’s towering mosque, out-top- 
ping the thousand Hindoo temples, the gilded domes, 
the painted cupolas, and strangely diverse forms of 
spire and turret, together with the noble flights of 
steps, the hanging balconies and terraced ghats , have 
been the favourite theme of each successive traveller 
who has visited this famous spot. Benares is the 
centre point of Hindoo wealth, of Hindoo traffic, of 
Hindoo learning and science, of Hindoo display, 
and of Hindoo superstition, fanaticism, and crime. 
All these are here made to assume the most imposing 
forms, and are calculated to astonish and disgust the 
European, no less than they delude the credulous 
Hindoo. I remember to have seen in the writings 
