, 1894-07-18
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Times. 18Th June.

prophecy that III the year lS94-J0 the Sanctl-
tv of the GangeS would pass from her waters
to the Narbada river. Thesubject has now
been taken up by the Indian Press, and is
producing a sense Of disquiet more widely
Spread than the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in Behar.
The fact is that, what between the Indignation
meetings in every part Of the country to pro.
test against The sacrifice of Indian finance
to the Manchester vote, t'e late murderouS
feuds of the Muhamadan and Hindus, the
criminal trials for SANDER which have splung
out of missionary misrepresentation on the
opium question. and the demand for the pub
tic prosecution Of a leading missionary journal
for insulting native religious beliefs, " wave
of unrest has once again passed over India,
There j. that general looking for something
to happen which is the parent of prodi@ies.
Many diverse classes are expecting a sign,
and each is ready 10 interpret amy unusual &C.
currence as a pOrtcnt granted On It's W be-
half. In such a state Of popular feeling, the
gods are not idle =
In the air men hear their voices, their feet
on the rocks arc seen,
Yet we all say, Whence is the message
ard what may these wonders mean
The particular prophecy to which we lc-
fefred has obtained a sudden prominence
from certain changes winch are this year
taking place in the Ganges. IN It's upper
gorgcs the dammcd up witolS Of the Brh
Ganga threaten destruction to a whole series
Of PILGRIM shrines and o possible catastrophe
to the temple city Of Harlwar In ITS lower
course. 500 miles distant, II great tributary,
the Kosi, seems on the pointo breaking from
it's present bed, and Of forcing itS way back
into an ancient channel-aone of the most
remarkable changes of a delta river on
record" says the Calcutta Englishman. In
the north west it is the sacred line OF holy
places that is endangered in the southeast
it is a fourishing British town, a thlckly-
peopled British district, and a costly Brltish
railway. We cannot be surprised that i'm
Dendinp calamIties ON 50 vast II tCale should
give a new emphasis to an old prediction, Il
prediction which the Gangetic Brahmans
used to scott at as an invention by the rival
priests of the Narbada shrines, but which
now seems pregnant With fatality to their
own river.
In the magnificent volume that records the
recent travels of the CesaIeWitch through
India. a striking passage is devoted to TINS
prophecy. His Imperial Highncss was APP
parently much struck by the synchronism of
such a prediction with the mighty forces OF
disturbance, intellectual, moral, and religious,
which he saw at work around him. The
prophecy seemed merely to give 4 geogra-
phical expression to the fact that the whole
inner life of India is entering on a period of
change. In another chapter the writer dweIls
on our inability to discern the revolution that
is taking place. The fault OF our rule,
meritorious in many respects, is, in his
Judgment, its mechanical ..character-its want
of insight into, and sympathy with, those
spiritual factors which have in the long run
always determined the destiny of India.
These passages will shortly appear i'll the
English translation which Messrs. Allen and
Co. are publishing of the Cesarewitch's Ira
vels. They form u curious commentary on
the letter which we published from Sir George
Birdwood on the same subject in February,
1891. Sir George mentioned that the river
prophecy was being connected in the South
ern Presidency with a prediction of a more
political character as to the approaching
end Of British rule in India" Hepointed ont
how such q p prophecy strongly affects the ma
q~ination, and must move a PEOPLE so impress
sionable and devout as the Brahmanical Him
dus." He drew the same lesson from such
auguries as that which seems to hay~ occurred
to the mind of the Cesarewitch. "Of late
years. he said, "the reaction against Euro
pean ideas has been rapidly gathering force
in India, and it is easy to comprehend how
greatly it must be intensified by the associa-
mons connected with such a date as 1895, and
n. uloao rr:1L +bn ou,,aDt 1acodn of q GREAT