Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1891-07-17
SOME WEIRD DOINGS.
The Jugglers Of India and Their
Unexplainable Tricks.

One cannot live long among the
natives Of India without seeing and
hearing things which, as Lord Dun
dreary would say, mo fellow can
understand" / mean things bordering
on the preternatural, not to say the
supernatural. know that it is the
fashion to pooh-pooh such things. But
though one may do this at distance of
thousands of miles from the place
where the things are seen or heard of
from hundreds of eye-witnesses, yet,
when one is on the spot itself, the facts
stand out SO incontestably that one Is
forced to admit them, even while one
cannot understand, much less explain
them.
People at q distance on hearing
them recounted may talk glibly and
superciliously of straightforward, OPP
teal delusion, deception of the senses,
tricks of imagination, condolences,
collision, and so forth; but / repeat
that In India such things have occurred,
Under circumstances which render it
absolutely impossible to attribute
them, reasonably, to any such causes.
Here are a few instances:
The first shall be the verification Of a
baby rajah's horoscope, which Col.
Meadows Taylor has told us was cast
in his presence, and In the events of
which he, as political resident, took
some part The horoscope was cast
and calculated by q learned "shastri"-
the Hindu equivalent of doctor In
divinity-at the request of the old
rajah, on the birth of his son and heir.
The shastri hesitated at first to tell the
result, but at length put his prognosti-
cations on paper and handed them so
the rajah. After reading the paper and
communicating It's contents to Col.
Taylor, the rajah decided to destroy 1t.
The secret thus remained known to
only three--the old rajah, Col. Taylor
and the shastri. The last had foretold
from the horoscope that the child Just
born would be cut off by q violent
death at u particular age, childless.
The old rajah died, and the lad mount
ed the throne, the shastri and the
colonel being left the sole depositaries
of the terrible secret. The mutiny
broke out, and the young rajah, now
approaching the dangerous age, took
part in 1t. He escaped the dangers OF
the battlefield; and when the mutiny
was suppressed, the active interposition
of Col. Taylor saved him, on the plea
of youth, from the more serious and
probable danger of being hanged fol-
treason. He was now just about the
fatal age; and when the good colonel
had had his doom committed to tenn.
porary detention under surveillance in
a distant fortress, he thought all dan
ger over. He spoke to the old shastri
and joked him about his prediction
but the old man shook his head ano
said: What can resist fate?'
Then touching his forehead, he
said: 1T Is written, and can
not be effaced"-alluding to the
oriental notion that ones fate Is writ.
ten by the finger of God on the fronta
bone. He turned out true prophet
Tor the young ra1ah, while on the way
to the fortress, was accidentally killeC
by the discharge of his own gun. L
was on the very day foretold by tn,
shastril Col Meadows Taylor wa,
with him on the Journey; and his We
racity Is above all suspicion. How ex
plain this case9 A singular cdinci
dence, you will say. Very well. Her
is another, where coincidence Is out O
court altogether.
Years ago was present at rar
scene, while visiting a native gentle
man of rank. He had just received tn
welcome news that he would at tn
distance of some months have anothe
olive branch Ia his home. He sent a
once for fortune-teller; and the fu
ture was forecast in my presence. Tn
man camc-one Of the class Gale,
'rammalls" that Is, tortune.telleys b,