BOOK "OLD DIARY LEAVES VI" - CHAPTER 20: REVISION OF T.HEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY RULES

 

(This is the chapter 4 of Henry Olcott book "Old Diary Leaves" Volume 6.)

  

REVISION OF THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY RULES

(1896)

The next evening I presided at the Blavatsky Lodge where Mrs. Besant gave a superb lecture on “Evolution as Seen by Occultists”. There was a reception given at our headquarters on Friday; the 3rd (July), to delegates who had come to the Convention. The Convention met the next morning and everything passed off quietly, my Address being delivered and the Agenda being all disposed of. A tricky letter from the Judge party was handed in but, seeing that it was but a thinly-veiled repetition of the attempt to put us in a false position, I simply laid it upon the table. In the evening there was a public meeting at Queen’s Hall at which addresses were made by Messrs. Mead and Keightley, Mrs. Besant and myself. The Convention finished its business the next day, after suggesting certain revisions of the T.S. Rules. There was a garden-party at Headquarters on the afternoon of the 6th, and on the 8th I went with Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Faulding, whose guest I had now become, to a meeting of the London Lodge, at Mr. Sinnett’s house, at which he lectured on the subject of “Alchemy,” showing us that there was a great deal more in the teachings and writings of the Alchemists than a mere search after the gold-making mystery. After the meeting he took us into his laboratory and showed us, in many cases for the first time, experiments with the Röntgen Rays.

A General Council meeting was held on the 9th at which the various suggestions from Sections, Branches, and individuals for a revision of the Society’s Rules were patiently examined and carefully considered in the light of their bearing on the peculiar circumstances of the whole Society. When several amendments touched the same clause, the various improvements were incorporated in the form finally adopted. Only one important recommendation was rejected—that of removing the President and Vice-President of the Society for cause shown. On mature consideration, and in view of the circumstances attending the Judge secession, it was decided that no Rule could be of use if such an emergency arose. If a majority, or even a strong minority, desired to dispossess one of these officers, while he retained the confidence of a large number of members, a split in the Society would result, let the Rule be what it might. It was therefore thought better to leave the Society free, under the powers vested in the General Council, to deal with any serious case if unfavorable circumstances should arise. At the meeting in question the following members were present, viz., the President, the Vice-President, the General Secretaries of the European and Indian Sections, Mr. C. W. Leadbeater, as proxy (under specific instructions) for the General Secretary of the Scandinavian Section, and Mrs. Besant as proxy for the General Secretary of the American Section. The Australasian Section’s views were represented in the official Report of the General Secretary, and the New Zealand Section had been so recently chartered that it had not had time to submit its wishes for the consideration of the General Council. In publishing, for the information of the members of the Society, the text of the revised Rules, in an Executive Notice of date, London, 9th July, 18961 I made the following explanatory remarks:

The undersigned takes this opportunity of correcting the mistaken idea, which prevails in some

RULES OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

As Revised in General Council, July 9, 1896

CONSTITUTION

1. The title of this Society, which was formed at New York, United States of America, on the 17th of November, 1875, is the “Theosophical Society”. quarters, that the T.S. Rules and the wording of its “Declared Objects” are substantially what they

2. The objects of the Theosophical Society are:

I. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.

II. To encourage study of comparative religion, philosophy and science.

III. To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.

3. The Theosophical Society has no concern with politics, caste rules, and social observances. It is unsectarian, and demands no assent to any formula of belief as a qualification of membership.

MEMBERSHIP

4. Every application for membership must be made on an authorized form, and must be endorsed by two members of the Society and signed by the applicant; but no person under age shall be admitted without the consent of their guardians.

5. Admission to membership may be obtained through the President of a Branch, the General Secretary of a Section, or the Recording Secretary; and a certificate of membership shall be issued to the member, bearing the signature of the President-Founder and the seal of the Society, and countersigned by either the General Secretary of the Section or the Recording Secretary of the T.S., according as the applicant resides within a sectionalized or non-sectionalized territory.

OFFICERS

6. The Society shall have a President, a Vice-President, a Recording Secretary, and a Treasurer.

7. The President-Founder, Colonel H. S. Olcott, holds the office of President of the Theosophical Society for life, and has the right of nominating his successor, subject to the ratification of the Society.

8. The term of the presidency is seven years (subject to the exception named in Rule 7).

9. The President shall nominate the Vice-President subject to election by the Society. The Vice-President’s term of office shall expire upon the election of a new President.

10. The appointments to the offices of the Recording Secretary and the Treasurer shall be vested in the President.

[50] have been from the commencement and therefore entitled to some special immunity from change. So

11. The President shall be the custodian of all the archives and records of the Society, and shall be one of the Trustees and administrators for property of all kinds, of which the Society as a whole is possessed.

12. The President shall have the power to make provisional appointments to fill all vacancies that occur in the offices of the Society, and shall have discretionary powers in all matters not specifically provided for in these Rules.

13. On the death or resignation of the President, the Vice-President shall perform the presidential duties until a successor takes office.

ORGANIZATlON

14. Any seven members may apply to be chartered as a Branch, the application to be forwarded to the President through the Secretary of the nearest Section.

15. The President shall have authority to grant or refuse applications for charters, which, if issued, must bear his signature and the seal of the Society, and be recorded at the Headquarters of the Society.

16. A Section may be formed by the President of the Society, upon the application of seven or more chartered Branches.

17. All Charters of Sections or Branches, and all certificates of membership, derive their authority from the President, and may be cancelled by the same authority.

18. Each Branch and Section shall have the power of making its own Rules, provided they do not conflict with the general rules of the Society, and the Rules shall become valid unless their confirmation be refused by the President.

19. Every Section must appoint a General Secretary who shall be the channel of communication between the President and the Section.

20. The General Secretary of each Section shall forward to the President, annually not later than the 1st day of November, a report of the work of his Section up to that date, and at any time furnish any further information the President may desire.

ADMINISTRATION

21. The General control and administration of the Society is vested in a General Council, consisting of the President, VicePresident and the General Secretaries.

[51] far is this from true, that the objects have been re-stated and the Rules altered several times, as the

22. No person can hold two offices in the General Council.

ELECTION OF PRESIDENT

23. Six months before the expiration of a President’s term of office his successor shall be nominated by the General Council, and the nomination shall be sent out by the Vice-President to the General Secretaries and Recording Secretary. Each General Secretary shall take the votes of his Section according to its rules, and the Recording Secretary shall take those of the remaining members of the Society. A majority of two-thirds on the recorded votes shall be necessary for election.

HEADQUARTERS

24. The Headquarters of the Society are established at Adyar, Madras, India.

25. The Headquarters and all other property of the Society, including the Adyar Library, the permanent and other Funds, are vested in the Trustees, for the time being, of the Theosophical Society, appointed or acting under a Deed of Trust, dated the 14th day of December, 1892, and recorded in the Chingleput District Office, Madras, India.

FINANCE

26. The fees payable to the General Treasury by Branches not comprised within the limits of any Section are as follow: For Charter £1: for each certificate of Membership 5s.; for the Annual Subscription of each member, 5s.; or equivalents.

27. Unattached Members not belonging to any Section or Branch shall pay the usual 5s. Entrance Fee and an annual Subscription of £1 to the General Treasury.

28. Each Section shall pay into the General Treasury one-fourth of the total amount received by it from annual dues and entrance fees.

29. The Treasurer’s accounts shall be yearly certified as correct, by qualified auditors appointed by the President.

MEETINGS

30. The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held at Adyar and Benares alternately, in the month of December.

[52] growth of the Society and its altered conditions rendered the same necessary. The version now adopted is, apparently, the best and most comprehensive that we have had for years, and in the expression of the Objects, the line traced out in the minds of the Founders is strictly followed. The form given to the second Object has been adopted to meet an almost general view that all religions, etc., deserve study, as being based on the same general principles. In this, in her Isis Unveiled Madame Blavatsky led the way, which is now traced out for all future students of Theosophy and sympathisers with our work.”

In practical working these Rules have proved to be good and no important modifications have been found necessary. In some minor matters the President-Founder has used the “discretionary powers in all matters not specifically provided for in these Rules,” and in a few instances the votes.

31. The President also have the power to convene special meetings at discretion.

32. The Rules of the Society remain in force until amended by the General Council.

Official.

(True Copy)

H.S.OLCOTT, P.T.S.

C. W. LEADBEATER.

Secretary to the Meeting of Council.

[53] of members of Council have been taken through the medium of circulars sent around to them from Headquarters. This, however, is a very dilatory process, the time required for collecting the votes being ordinarily as much as six months, and even at the present writing all the General Secretaries have not yet voted upon some questions propounded by the General Secretary of the French Section a year ago.

The next few days were occupied with matters of minor importance, except that on the evening of the 9th, Swami Vivekananda lectured at the Blavatsky Lodge on the subject of “Bhakti,” and Mrs. Besant spoke at the same place on the evening of the 12th on “Karma”. It has always struck me as one of the most wonderful facts of our movement that the reading public of, we may say, the whole world, has been made acquainted with this profoundly important philosophical and ethical teaching. In my opinion it has done more to strengthen our movement and recommend it to thoughtful persons than anything else, for it is the enunciation of the grand truth that human experiences are the outcome of human actions, and that a law of universal and inflexible justice rules throughout the universe.

BOOK "OLD DIARY LEAVES VI" - CHAPTER 5: PARSI ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH

 

(This is the chapter 5 of Henry Olcott book "Old Diary Leaves" Volume 6.)

  

PARSI ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH

(1896)

On the 17th of the month (July) I presented the letter of Dr. Jivanji to Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie of University College, together with a memorandum from myself summarizing the points which it was desirable that the Parsi community of Bombay should be informed upon. As my latest advices are to the effect that this idea of Parsi Archæological research will before long take a practical shape and these preliminary enquiries will then acquire some historical importance, I think it best to print the correspondence between the Secretary of the Parsi Panchayet, Prof. Flinders Petrie and myself. It is as follows:

(From Ervad Jivanji J. Modi, to Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie)

BOMBAY, 29th April, 1896.

TO PROFESSOR FLINDERS PETRIE,

University College, London.

SIR,

You know that the regions of Central Asia were once either inhabited by the ancient Zoroastrians or were under their direct or indirect influence. So the Parsis or the modern Zoroastrians, being the descendents of those ancient Zoroastrians, take an interest in these regions. They would welcome any information obtained in these regions that would throw some light on their ancient literature and on the manners, customs and history of their ancient Fatherland of Iran.

I was directed by the Trustees of the Parsi Panchayet to request the different Asiatic Societies of Europe to be good enough to bring the above-mentioned matter to the notice of their Oriental scholars travelling through, and taking interest in, Central Asia.

Now I write this to you as a well-known Archæologist and organiser of exploration parties, to enlist your sympathy in the above matter. If you, or your brother explorers, scholars, or travellers, will in the course of your explorations pay some attention to the above matter, and will put yourself in literary communication in English with us, your contributions on these subjects will be very gratefully received. The Trustees will be glad to patronise any publications in English treating of the researches in these regions from an Iranian point of view.

This will be kindly handed to you by Colonel Olcott, who takes a great interest in our religion and in the past and present history of our community. He is of opinion that there is still a good deal to be done in Central Asia in archæological and literary researches from our Iranian point of view. We shall be glad if you will kindly exchange your views with this good-hearted gentleman on the subject and make us any definite, practical suggestion.

Yours Faithfully,

ERVAD JIVANJI J. MODI.

(From H. S. Olcott, to the same)

Memorandum—

The Secretary of the Parsi Central Committee (Panchayet) of Bombay wants practical advice as to what can be done—

(a) Towards proving the antiquity of the Zoroastrian religion;

(b) Its relationship with other religions;

(c) Recovering any fragments of its lost Scriptures.

Presumably, the only available methods are:—

1. Excavations.

2. Search in old libraries of Oriental countries.

3. Search in Western libraries.

Professor Flinders Petrie is respectfully asked—

I. To indicate where excavations should begin.

II. Whether he can say in which countries and libraries search

should be begun.

III. Whether he has reason to believe that such search would be

fruitful.

IV. If he will kindly say what sums should be annually provided for each

of the two departments of research.

V. Whether he can recommend any pupil of his own whom he thinks

conspicuously competent to take charge of either the one or the other of the departments of research.

VI. What salary such person would expect. Professor Petrie’s own

Egyptian experience fits him admirably to give the required information, and his help will be highly valued by the Secretary of the Panchayet and his Colleagues.

H. S. OLCOTT.

LONDON, 15th July, 1896.

(From Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie, to H. S. Olcott)

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, 25th, July 1896.

DEAR SIR,

In reply to your request for the practical details of what seems most promising for research in early Persia, I would say—

1. Excavation is certain to yield results in any country which held a great civilization, if properly carried out.

2. The cost of the whole work of one explorer might be reasonably put at about

£1,000 a year. Everything included, £ 1,500, should be plenty. More than this cannot be spent by one man, with proper supervision.

3. The localities I can say nothing about, they should be best settled by a preliminary study of Persian history and a visit to the country working on other excavations. The general considerations are to avoid places which have been occupied in late times, and to trust to extensive clearance in suitable sites. Three-fourths of my best results come from wide clearances, and not from following special clues.

4. Whoever goes for such work should spend some months on practical excavations for antiquities first, so as to learn the methods and indications. I will gladly have such a student with me in Egypt.

The best practical course would be to get the Indian Government to move for permission from the Shah, after the country has been examined, to send out a trained Englishman who knows the East, and is practised in excavating (one student of mine might be suitable), and might well be associated with some energetic young Parsi who was trained in literature and well known in the Indian community, and who should form a close link between Bombay and the work.

For the literary research one suitable person might be Professor Ross, who is just appointed as the best Persian scholar available for this College. He is young, active and fond of travelling; and is familiar with Persian, Arabic, Russian and with Oriental ways. He could not have leave long enough for excavation, but for literary work that can be done within a fixed time, he might do well. I do not know him personally, as he has not yet entered on his work here.

Yours truly,

W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE.

(From Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie, to the Secretary, Parsi Panchayet)

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON, 9th July, 1896.

SIR,

I need hardly say how gladly I should do anything I could to forward research in the Iranian regions; and what satisfaction it is to see the able descendents of so noble a race turning their attention to research in their history and origins.

My own work, however, lies so entirely in Egypt, I see in that country so very much more than I can ever hope to explore, that it is hopeless for me to think of taking an active part in the work in other lands. There is however one line in which I might perhaps assist you. If you should ever intend to excavate any ancient sites of Persian cities, it would be a great pleasure to me to receive at my work in Egypt any students who may wish to undertake such work, and to give them such training in the methods of accurate research and record in excavation, as might increase the value and certainty of any exploration that they might undertake. Beyond this I fear that my good will is all that I can offer to such research.

Yours very truly,

W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE.

On the day after my interview with Professor Flinders Petrie I went to the British Museum and handed over to Dr. Garnett one of those wonderful pictures of Buddha painted by a Japanese priest on single grains of raw rice, of which I have preserved three specimens for the Adyar Library. They are really great curiosities, for the paintings are so minute that very few persons can see them without the help of a magnifying glass. The wonder is that my friend the Japanese priest painted them on the rice-grains with the naked eye, using a camel’s-hair pencil and Indian ink. One of the paintings that I kept has on it a picture of the Buddha with his two favorite disciples at his right and left hand, and in front of him a group of five disciples seated on the ground and listening to his discourse. Fancy all this clearly depicted on a single grain of rice and you may be ready to suggest a modification of Pope’s couplet:

“Why has not man a microscopic eye?

“For this plain reason, man is not a fly.”

Among the visits to the country that I made was one to Margate, Ramsgate and Herne Bay to see Theosophical friends and to hold conversation meetings. While at Margate some years before, Mr. Clough, Superintendent of the School of Fine Arts, showed me a remarkable stone image that had been confided to him for sale by some North Sea fishermen who had fished it up from the bottom of the ocean in their nets. It was made of grey sandstone and represented a woman’s head which, upon close examination, was found to embody a number of small heads, some full-length figures and some reptilian forms. Of course no one had the slightest clue to its identity, but as it seemed to be rather ancient and to be an attempt to depict a number of elemental spirits of sorts, I bought it to put among our curios in the Adyar Library. It being inconvenient for me to bring it out to India, I left it in charge of Miss Ward, the Manager of the T.P.S., and there I presume it is to this day.

On my return to London I had the honor of making the acquaintance of Miss Ada Goodrich Freer, the famous “Miss X” of the Society for Psychical Research, and one of the most cultured and agreeable ladies I ever met. Possessed of certain psychical gifts herself, which she keeps always under subordination to her strong intellect, she has been an eager student of psychical phenomena and a very active member of the Society in question. I passed a delightful day with her, discussing various branches of occult science.

Up to the 30th of July I had been the guest of those most hospitable friends, Mr. and Mrs. Faulding, but on the date in question removed to our headquarters, 19, Avenue Road, where I was given the room of one of the inmates who was temporarily absent. On the 1st of August I went to the British Museum again and discussed Zoroastrianism with Mr. Ellis and Dr. Bendall of the Oriental Department. I gave the Museum another oriental curiosity in the form of a copy of that tiny book containing manuscript extracts from the Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs, which was given me on the occasion of one of my visits to the Golden Temple at Amritsar. These little books, in size no larger than a postage stamp, and said to be “the smallest book in the world,” are regarded by the Sikhs as very precious and are worn, suspended from the neck in an ornamental silver receptacle, as talismans. At a subsequent visit to the Museum I have seen my miniature gift attached by drawing-pins to a card the size of a quarto volume and deposited, I think, in the King’s Gallery.

At the time in question Mrs. Besant was giving a course of thirteen lectures on different Theosophical subjects, and on the evening of Sunday, August 2nd (my birthday) I presided at the last one of the series. On the 4th Mrs. Besant and I went to see Dr. Carter Blake, the learned specialist in Zoology, whose name figured so extensively in our movement at the time of the formation of our first European Branch, the British Theosophical Society. We found him lying abed with a paralytic stroke, a melancholy sight. But although a Jesuit and scarcely able to speak he showed a great interest in all things concerning our Society.

I went to Herne Bay on the 5th to make a visit to our colleague, Mr. F. J. Johnson, and during the three days that I spent there was kept busy seeing people and holding conversation meetings.

Returning to London, I went on the evening of the 9th with friends to Exeter Hall where there was a Salvation Army meeting, presided over by General Booth. I was glad of the opportunity to see this marvellous man at his work and study his method of “conversion”. It presented no mystery whatever to the student of hypnotism: it was from first to last an hypnotic séance at which the brass band played a conspicuous part. I think I have mentioned this elsewhere but it will bear repetition for it furnishes the key to the whole subject of the results of “revival meetings”. People who are naturally sensitive go there, steep themselves in the psychical emanations of the place, gradually succumb to the powerful influence, little by little are worked up to the crisis known among Continental psychologists as an hysteric explosion, and then, according to their temperaments, more or less extravagantly shout, sing, pass into convulsions, are taken out to the special room provided for such cases, and there enroll their names as postulants; and after they have become somewhat quieted they are re-conducted into the meeting and take their places in front of the platform. However it may be elsewhere, I can affirm that the rhythmic playing of the Exeter Hall band was identical in character with that of other musical soloists or bands whose object is to lift the hearer, or at any rate the participant, up to the condition of hypnosis. It is late in the day for us to begin saying that sound-vibrations, as well as color-vibrations, powerfully affect not only man but animals; that by both, the emotions of sublimity, hatred, love and fear may be excited; everyone knows the specific effects of a military march played by a regimental band, of dance music played by an orchestra, and of the sublime notes of the Gregorian Chant when played on the organ. According to temperament again, listeners are either mildly or powerfully affected, sometimes driven to extreme degrees of excitement; and, lastly, veteran investigators of mediumistic phenomena know that from the first the company attending a circle are asked to sing so as to “harmonise the conditions”. The snake-charmer of India, with his tom-tom and pipe, draws the serpent out of his hole and makes him balance on his coil, and sway to the rhythm of the music; and then there are those wonderful Aissouas, of Tunis and Algeria, who are thrown into a state of hypnosis by monotonous beating on their huge tambourines, in which state they can stand unharmed on braziers of burning coals, chew up and swallow lamp-chimneys and tumblers, and inflict upon themselves the most cruel wounds, which do not bleed, and instantly close when the Sheikh of the company lays his powerfully mesmeric hand upon them. In truth, I might devote many chapters to illustrations of this subject but the only object of this passing notice is to call attention to the fact that the mystery of religious revivals and conversions is to be found explained in the demonstrations of hypnotic science. On the evening in question I saw more than sixty persons “saved”.

By one of those ever-recurring “coincidences”, on the day when the above was being written there came to my hand a leading Indian paper containing an article entitled “Study in Ecstasy”, describing a recent monster Congress of Salvationists at London. An episode of the Congress was an hypnotic interlude called, “Two days with God”. The reporter says of the second day’s climax:

“The three meetings of yesterday were marked by the irrepressible fervour common to all the warriors, black, white, and yellow, who march under the ‘Blood and Fire’ banner.”

General Booth unwearied and indomitable, presided at the International Congress Hall. It was impossible to detect in the keen face, the lithe elastic figure, a trace of fatigue. He stood on the platform, behind him in serried ranks soldiers and bandsmen representing half Europe and Asia, before him a hall packed to overflowing with enthusiasts who hung on his words.

At first the general led the assembly in fiery appeals for salvation. Then turning to the band he signalled the music, and a well-known melody burst forth. The audience caught the air, and a hymn was sung with full-throated energy by the multi-colored throng.

The general was not satisfied. “Clap hands” he cried, and again the verse was sung to an accompanying fusillade of hand-claps.

Again the verse was called for, and again hundreds of lusty lungs filled the vast hall with sound, while those whose tongues could not compass the English words beat time with hands and feet and added to the volume of “glories” and “hallelujahs”.

A burly Australian told the story of his conversion. The listening soldiers broke in ever and anon with cries of “Praise the Lord”, “It’s true”, “I believe it”. Each nation, after its kind, showed its joy in the recital.

The blacks swayed to and fro in ecstasy, the soberer Teutons beamed, the United States delegates laughed aloud, and one and all at the close sent up a thunderclap of “I’m saved”.

The indefatigable general is here and there. Now he lays an arm around the speaker’s shoulder; now he leads a pæan of triumph; now he nods to the drummer to bang his hardest.

Does anybody wish to know what is the “Power” behind this mystic frenzy? Let them ask the nearest physician who has studied Hysteria or consult the work of any recognized authority.

I went the next day to see a magnificent collection, 365 in number, of water-color paintings illustrative of the life of Christ, by that fine French artist, Tissot. To make these he had travelled much in the Holy Land and made his sketches on the spot; which one could see plainly enough in the minute accuracy of his work both as regards the people and their environment. If the old proverb “All paths lead to Rome” be true, it is equally so that the resident of London has the opportunity of seeing, one time or another, almost everything that travellers go to search for in distant countries; I was going to except landscapes, but even those are, as in the case of the present collection, depicted so faithfully that one need not leave home to get an idea as to what distant countries look like.

My business in London being finished I left it on the 14th (August) for Paris via Boulogne, a very cheap and pleasant method of crossing. The Fauldings and I had a smooth passage and fine weather. Boulogne was very full of travellers and we got the last two rooms at the Hotel Louvre. In the evening we visited the Casino and looked on at the gambling. This is something for which I never had the least taste; I never played for even a penny stake in my life, and standing back, as on this occasion, and seeing the fierce eagerness with which people play the games of chance, it almost seemed as though they were a company of lunatics. The next day we went to the Cathedral to attend the High Mass and hear the music, and then to an old château where we visited the dungeons and saw the terrible oubliettes underground. On the following day, Sunday, I left for Paris and that evening dined with M. Jules Bois, the author. My Spanish friend, Xifré, was in Paris at that time, at the house of his cousin, Mme. Savalle, at Nanterre, a suburb of the capital. Of course, I spent the greater part of my time with him, there being a strong tie of affection between us. We went together to call on M. Burnouf, the Orientalist, whose great love for Sanskrit literature and the services he has rendered to make it known in France, are well understood.

The so-called “Crusade of American Theosophists around the World”, headed by Mrs. Tingley, the self-styled “Leader of the Theosophical Movement”, were in Paris at the time. One of their sympathisers sent me a copy of their handbill with a written note asking me to attend the meeting. This I did not do as I did not care to have my name circulated about America as a friend, perhaps a follower, of the female successor to Mr. Judge but I sent Xifré, and two other gentlemen, MM. Bailly and Mesnard, to attend the meeting and report the facts to me. Mrs. Tingley’s handbill was worded as follows:

CRUSADE OF AMERICAN THEOSOPHISTS AROUND THE WORLD.

The Crusade, which started from New York in June last, having reached Paris will meet the public in the

PETITE SALE, Hotel Continental,

Entree Rue Rouget-De-Lisle,

On Thursday Evening, 20th August 1896, at 8.30 o’clock.

When the members will give addresses on Brotherhood, Toleration, Rebirth, and kindred theosophical subjects.

The Crusade consists of:

Mr. E. T. Hargrove, President of the Theosophical Society in America.

Mr. Claude Falls Wright, President of the New York Theosophical Society, and Secretary to the late Madame Blavatsky, and to William Q.Judge.

Mr. H. T. Patterson, President of the Brooklyn Theosophical Society.

Mrs. C. F. Wright, Lecturer to the New England States Theosophical Societies.

Mr. F. M. Pierce, Representative of the School for the Revival of the Lost Mysteries of Antiquity; and Mrs. KATHARINE A. TINGLEY,

Leader of the Theosophical Movement.

_____

THE ABOVE MEETING IS FREE

Addresses in French and in English. Musical Selections.”

_____

The Hotel Continental where this meeting was held is one of the most expensive in Paris, the charges for rooms are enormous; it is chiefly patronised by Americans and Englishmen. The Crusaders must have paid a pretty figure for their meeting-hall. My representatives reported that a few people in evening dress sauntered in from the dining room, stayed awhile and then sauntered out again. At the time when the attendance was largest there were about forty persons in the room, including the Crusaders: at the close there were seven in the audience. Mrs. Tingley’s organ, however, reported the meeting as follows:

“The result of the work in Paris was the formation of the French division of the Theosophical Society in Europe on August 21st, at 8.30 p.m., in a large parlor at the Hotel St. Petersburg. Public meetings at the same hotel, on the evenings of the 16th, 18th, and 19th, and a larger gathering at the Hotel Continental on the evening of the 20th, led up to this farewell meeting on the 21st.”

Comments are superfluous.

BOOK "OLD DIARY LEAVES VI" - CHAPTER 6: PROPHECIES ABOUT THE SOCIETY

 

(This is the chapter 6 of Henry Olcott book "Old Diary Leaves" Volume 6.)

  

PROPHECIES ABOUT THE SOCIETY

(1896)

My present visit in Paris, covering a period of seventeen days, was devoted to Theosophical business and to the consultations with learned men above mentioned on the subject of Zoroastrianism. At the Bibliothéque Nationale, in the absence of M. Feré, Director of the Oriental Manuscript Department, my talks about the Parsi sacred literature were held with his junior, M. E. Blochet, to whom reference has been made above.

There was in Paris at the time a smooth-speaking young Bengali Babu who claimed to have been a pupil of the respected Sivanath Sastri, the erudite and respected leader of one of the three divisions of the Brahmo Samaj which were caused by an excited controversy which had resulted from the marriage of Keshub Chandra Sen’s daughter to the young Maharaja of Cooch Behar at an immature age and in violation of the terms of the Brahmo Marriage Act, which he, himself, had persuaded the Government of India to pass. The young Bengali in question came and made a piteous appeal for my help because of his alleged impecuniosity, offering his services as a teacher of Sanskrit for any pupils that I might be able to find. Believing his statements, and always anxious to give a helping hand to stray Indians encountered in foreign countries, I introduced him to Señor Xifré, M. Gaillard, Jules Bois and others; the latter gentleman interviewing him for one of the Paris papers with which he was connected. Many of our Western colleagues are so imbued with a sentimental love for India, and have formed such exalted notions of the noble character of the Hindu, that they eagerly stretch out the welcoming hand to members of the race whom they may meet. Among our French friends were a number of this class and I had very little difficulty in arranging for this Bengali gentleman’s comfort and profit at Paris. I am very sorry to say, however, that he did not wear well on close acquaintance, became entangled discreditably with a French girl and ultimately cast her off to bear her shame as best she might, borrowed money from our Theosophists, and took himself off to fresh fields of exploitation. I am pained to say that of the travelling Indians who have been in Europe and America only a minority have deserved the kind treatment so generously given out to them. As to our Theosophists they need not run the least risk of being swindled if they would only demand of the Indian visitor a certificate from myself or the General Secretary of the Indian Section that they are to be trusted.

I left Paris on the 3rd of September for Margate via Boulogne, reached the former place at 7 and Herne Bay at 8 that same evening; my host was again Mr. F. J. Johnson. In that part of Kent along the coast there were even then quite a number of highly intelligent persons interested in Theosophy, and at Mr. Johnson’s bidding a number of these came to see me to talk about it. I remember among them a charming literary lady, the mother of some pretty children, who had passed through sad domestic experiences, had reached almost the point of despair, and who put to me numberless questions about the Eastern teachings. She seemed comforted by my explanations and I hoped that I had aided her in regaining the courage to struggle against her hard lot. But alas! the clouds had gathered too thickly about her to allow rays of light and hope to penetrate into her troubled mind, and with inexpressible sorrow I heard some time afterward that she had taken her own life.

On the 14th (September) I left Herne Bay and my hospitable friend Johnson and came up to London and was put up at the Avenue Road headquarters. On the evening of the 17th I presided at a lecture at the Blavatsky Lodge by Mr. Virchand R. Gandhi, the Jain representative at the Chicago Parliament of Religions. On the 19th I again left London for the Continent, this time for Amsterdam and without the intention of returning. The train started at 8-30 p.m. from the Liverpool Street Station for Harwich, where we embarked on the boat which makes the transit to the Hook of Holland. Mr. Leadbeater, Mr. Mead and some others were at the station to see me off. At Amsterdam the next day my time was fully occupied with receiving visitors, and in the evening there was a largely attended conversation meeting. We were all gratified the next day to see Mr. A. M. Glass, of the European Section staff, on his way home from a health-seeking visit to Germany. Mr. Glass’ modesty is so great that, although a large share of the burden of Sectional work has always been thrown upon him, yet his name is seldom mentioned in our prints. I, myself, have always held him in great esteem and regarded him as one of the most useful workers among my colleagues. On the evening of the 21st I lectured to the Amsterdam Branch on “The History of our Society.” On the same day I arranged with Mr. Fricke the preliminaries for the formation of a Dutch Section.

Naturally enough, my report of the successful search on the astral plane for the Marquis de Mores, by Mme. Mongruel, excited great wonder at Amsterdam, as elsewhere. Mr. Stark, F.T.S., having had no practical experience whatever in this direction, determined to accompany me to Paris to test her powers. Accordingly he joined me when I left the next morning for that city at 8 o’clock. After a pleasant journey of ten and a half hours we arrived there and as I wished to leave no possible ground for suspicion of any understanding between Mme. Mongruel and myself, I left him at the station to find his way alone and went to my hotel. In due time he joined me there and his report was most enthusiastic. She had answered all his questions correctly, but a test prepared by his wife without his knowledge completely won his confidence. When he was leaving his house at Amsterdam Mrs. Stark handed him a small packet and told him to give that to Mme. Mongruel and see what she would say. He put it in his pocket and thought no more of it until his séance with the seeress was proceeding. At the moment of a break in the conversation he executed his wife’s commission. Taking the packet in her hand she said: “What a charming little girl!” A remark which caused Mr. Stark much amusement, for his wife was certainly not young enough to be called a little girl. But the clairvoyant went on to describe accurately his little daughter, whom he had left suffering from some temporary illness involving, if I remember rightly, an ulcerated sore throat and pain in the head. This physical derangement was accurately diagnosed by the sleeper and he was told that he need not worry about it for it would pass away within the next day or two. Mr. Stark returned the packet to his pocket without opening it, after making a pencil note on the cover as to what had been said, as he preferred to let his wife open the packet herself in his presence and so be able to know that he, himself, had not said anything to Mme. Mongruel that would influence her remarks. When he got back to Amsterdam and handed over the packet, Mrs. Stark told him that it contained a small lock of the sick child’s hair, which she had given him to serve as a test of the Seeress’ lucidity. Needless to say they were both very much pleased with the result. Mr. Stark and I visited some of our Theosophical colleagues and went out to Nanterre to breakfast with Xifré at Mme. Savalle’s.

I called on Mme. Mongruel alone every day that I was in Paris, and on two occasions put her into the mesmeric sleep and asked her to tell me things that I wanted to know. Of her own accord, without my giving her the slightest clue she said: “You seem to be connected with a very large Society; nothing to do with business, but a sort of philanthropic and religious organisation. It seems as though it were divided into two parties or camps and that certain persons were determined to break it up, from interested motives. I think that a man and a woman are the moving spirits in this, the former actuated by vanity and ambition, the other resenting a supposed slight, which you never intended.” She then went on to give me an accurate description of Mr. Judge and a certain lady, whom I certainly had no recollection of ever having offended, but who was at the time in close relations with the leader of secession. “But you need not give yourself the least anxiety,” she went on; “I see this hostile force breaking up and dissolving away like a morning mist, and after a time you will find yourself stronger and more respected than ever.” She then, to my surprise, told me that a certain woman in our Society had the intention of bequeathing me a large sum of money, and that she had ordered her lawyer to draw up her will to that effect; that the lawyer had advised her not to dispose of her whole property to me, for family reasons. The Seeress then held my hand and seemed to be looking into my physical condition because she said presently: “How strong you are; it seems as though you were built to last a hundred years. But have you no trouble with your feet? There seems a tendency of the blood to decompose in that quarter. Do you not have pains?” I told her that she was right as there was an inherited tendency to gout and that this was the only physical derangement from which I suffered. She then advised me to follow a certain diet and take certain remedies. The next day, when again mesmerised, she reiterated energetically her prophecies about the success of our Society and the giving to me of the legacy. Both séances were interesting, because she certainly had not read in my mind thoughts which would have furnished a basis for her predictions.

On Saturday the 26th (September) I packed my trunks and left by the “Rapide” for Marseilles, reaching there the next morning. Commandant Courmes and Baron Spedalieri met me at the station and the Baron took us to his house, gave us a splendid lunch and saw me on board the Messageries steamer, Ernest Simons, which sailed for Colombo at 4 p.m. Captain Maubeuge, the Commander, was an officer of the Navy assigned, like many British Naval officers, to a merchant vessel in time of peace; he was an old friend of Commandant Courmes, who gave me such an introduction to him as to make him show me every courtesy during the voyage. A tempest had raged in the Mediterranean for several days previously, but on the day of our sailing the sea was calm and the sun smiling. The Captain talked to me a good deal about our Society, Buddhism and H.P.B., upon whom he had once called at Bombay and preserved very vivid remembrances of the interview. He showed himself to be deeply interested in the problems of karma and reincarnation, declaring his belief in the truth of the latter. The fine weather stayed with us to Port Said, to Suez, down the Red Sea to Djibouti and thence on to Colombo, where we disembarked on the 17th day after leaving Marseilles. I spent the time in calling on different friends until the afternoon when there was a T. S. meeting at Higgins’ school, for the admission of a Mr. Faber into membership. After dinner I went to our headquarters in Maliban Street and was escorted on board the Eridan, the connecting coasting steamer of the Messageries Company, which plies between Colombo and Calcutta.

In looking over the things in my cabin I found that I had left something on board the “Ernest Simons,” and as she was moored not a hundred yards away from us and was announced to sail at 10-30 that night, giving me a leeway of an hour and a half, I asked my escort, Mr. C. P. Goonewardene, Secretary of our Colombo Branch, to take our boat and go to the other steamer and bring me the missing object while I got my things to rights in the cabin. As he could not speak French I gave him a brief message in writing to the steward who had waited upon me, asking him to send me the lost article by the hand of my friend. I expected the latter back in fifteen or twenty minutes, but time passed on and he did not come. Meanwhile other friends came aboard to say good-bye and I was kept talking in the saloon so that time slipped by without my noticing it. Suddenly a steward came and told me that a boatman wanted to see me. He turned out to be the one, in charge of the boat that had brought Goonewardene and myself from shore and he said that the Ernest Simons had just sailed and carried off Mr. Goonewardene! He, the boatman, had clung to the gangway waiting for his fare until the ship’s quartermaster threatened to throw him into the water unless he let go the ship; as for the gentleman whom he had brought, he knew nothing; the boatman had finally to jump into the water because the ship had started.

One may imagine what my feelings were when I reflected that Goonewardene had come off with me just as he was in his office, without a change of clothing or, probably, the money for his travelling expenses: besides which he was an interpreter in one of the courts and the next day would be reported as absent without leave. My only consolation was that he was sailing in the ship of which my friend, Capt. Maubeuge, was the commander, and I felt sure that when he came to know of the circumstances he would make everything right for his unwilling passenger. I, however, cabled to the President of our Branch at Singapore--the steamer’s next port of call--to supply Goonewardene with whatever he might need and look to me for payment. I also wrote an official letter to the proper authorities at Colombo explaining the facts and asking the favor of Mr. Goonewardene’s being granted leave of absence until he could return by the next boat from Singapore. My friend, however, had a hard time of it, thanks to French red tape. Although a gentleman, he was put in the third class and on arrival at Singapore locked up in a cabin until the money for his passage was forthcoming. This was not long delayed, for my correspondent, acting on the notice by cable, came aboard, paid the passage money, took our colleague to his house, and sent him back by the next homeward-bound French steamer.

We carried the fine weather with us all the way up to Madras, which we reached on the 18th (Oct.) and I found Adyar as lovely as ever. Literary work occupied my time during the next few days, and as I had made up my mind to answer all the sophisms of the Judgeites about our Society’s history by compiling a narrative from the papers in my possession, I enlisted the help of Dr. English and my other associates in the house to rummage through the boxes of archives.

On the 27th I received from Bangkok a case of books for the Adyar Library containing the thirty-nine volumes of the Buddhist Tripitika in Siamese character, which had been sent me by His Majesty the King of Siam through his relative, Prince Chandra Dat. This edition had been prepared by command of His Majesty as a memorial of the completion of the twenty-fifth year of his reign, and each volume was stamped with the royal arms and contained the King’s portrait. As we had already complete collections of the Tripitikas in the Sinhalese and Japanese languages, this present made our collection very valuable.

At this same time the Tingley Crusaders reached Bombay on their voyage around the world and opened their proposed Indian campaign with a public meeting at the Town Hall of Bombay. In the report of this event and in the handbill which was distributed at Bombay, we see the same display of boastfulness and recklessness of statement which has been noticed in the remarks upon their doings at Paris. The handbill states that they are travelling around the world on behalf of the Theosophical Movement. “Which was begun in America by Madame H. P. Blavatsky, continued by William Q. Judge and is now under the leadership of Mrs. Katharine A. Tingley.” The purpose of the visit to India “is to organise a Theosophical Society in this country on the original lines laid down by the Founders of the Movement”. The members of the party are as announced in the Paris handbill, with the amplification that Mrs. Tingley now styles herself “Leader of the entire Theosophical Movement throughout the world.” Considering that we, leaders, had lived and worked, at Bombay four years, and that our names were familiar in Hindu households throughout the whole Continent, this vain-glorious announcement naturally provoked the mirth of the country, and the scheme to organise Theosophical Societies on an improved pattern, fell flat. The Crusaders had their journey for their pains and there remains not a trace of their passage through the country.

The Times of India, for 30th October, 1896 said:

“The above visitors to Bombay, who are stated to be travelling round the world, occupied the platform at a meeting held at the Town Hall last night, but although seating accommodation had been provided for some five hundred of the general public only about seventy-five persons, principally Parsis, attended the meeting.”

Mrs. Tingley, with an eye to the shortcomings of the Brahmins, as it would seem, said:

“Spiritual pride was one of the greatest barriers to enlightenment and the idea that some one form of religion was the oldest or the most profound in some cases blinded people to facts. The speaker did not believe that India was the source of the world’s religions, though she said that some teacher or other might flatter the Indians with that view in order to gather them into a special fold. The occult learning that India once shared in common with other nations, did not originate here and does not exist to any extent in India proper today. There was no religion now existing that had remained pure and undefiled and she urged the Hindus to seek beneath the mere external form of their religion for the deeper and grander truths underlying it. The same thing should be done by the Mohammedan and the Parsi. The first step to take was the practice of unselfishness. Work for the world should be done, for such work was of far greater importance than the mere cultivation of the intellect.”

Mr. E. J. Hargrove thought:

“the time had arrived for the West to take the lead in the higher evolution of humanity. Old souls were incarnating in America; old forces were coming up. The Theosophical Society had been founded in New York and with the impetus generated there, the movement had since spread over the entire world. The time had arrived for a new impetus to be given the movement from the same source. The present leader of the Theosophical movement, Mrs. Tingley, seemed to him like one of these old souls, grown wise in past incarnations, who had returned to carry on the work begun by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and furthered by Mr. W. Q. Judge. Mrs. Tingley’s occult powers were not only of a most remarkable and unusual character, but her brilliant leadership since Mr. Judge’s death, had more than justified her appointment to this post of grave responsibility.”

Mr. Claude Falls Wright allowed his fancy to spread its wings after the following fashion:

“When the American Theosophists went back to their own country they were to lay the foundation stone of a great School for the revival of the lost Mysteries of Antiquity. In this school would be demonstrated the workings of nature and the spiritual laws of life. The temple mysteries of the ancients would there be revived. This revival would only now take place because Western humanity had reached a point where interest was taken in the higher science. A great mystic, Mr. Wright said, had been born into the world, capable of leading humanity to an understanding of these mysteries, and the work begun by Madame Blavatsky and continued by William Q. Judge and other great souls was to find its blossoming in this great School under this great mystic: he referred to Mrs. Katharine A. Tingley. In time he hoped a branch would be started in India, when things were less disturbed than now.”

Something went wrong before the tour was finished, for Mr. Wright and his wife left Mrs. Tingley on the way home, Mrs. Cleather (another Crusader) shortly after, Mr. Hargrove likewise, and the promised School of the Ancient Mysteries has never, so far as is known, taken root or turned out a single adept or Mahatma.

BOOK "OLD DIARY LEAVES VI" - CHAPTER 7: A HISTORICAL RETROSPECT

 

(This is the chapter 7 of Henry Olcott book "Old Diary Leaves" Volume 6.)

  

A HISTORICAL RETROSPECT 

(1897)

We have seen that the passage of the Tingley crusaders left no trace behind it; in fact, since the date of our narrative (November, 1896), I do not remember to have read in an Eastern paper even the slightest allusion to her work or her society. If I am not mistaken, the same blight has fallen upon her movement in America, its whole vitality having been concentrated at Point Loma, where her palatial buildings have been erected amid lovely surroundings. Remembering that the Judge secession was based upon a platform of historical falsification and misrepresentation of individuals, one could hardly feel surprised that it should exhaust its impetus after a brief period.

As remarked in the last chapter, I felt it incumbent upon me to undertake a task until then neglected, in compiling from the heterogeneous mass of papers in my possession, a detailed history of the rise and progress of the Society, with its several changes of organisation during the quarter-century which was closing at the time of Mrs. Tingley’s visit to India. This narrative was included in my Annual Address to the Convention of 1896 and will be found in the report published in The Theosophist for January, 1897; a small edition of it was issued in pamphlet form in advance of the meeting of Convention, with the title A Historical Retrospect, 1875—1896.

It is shown in the above Retrospect that the history of our Society divided itself naturally into periods, as follow;—

(a) From the informal social gathering at which its formation was proposed, to the departure of the two chief founders from New York to Bombay;

(b) From their arrival in India, throughout the spread of its influence in Asiatic and Australasian countries;

(c) From the visit of the two founders to Europe, throughout the development of the movement in European countries;

(d) In America, from the departure of the founders for India, to the formation of the Board of Control;

(e) From the latter event, to the replacement of the Board by the American Section of the Theosophical Society;

(f) From the latter event, to its disruption in April, 1895;

(g) From the latter, event, to the present time (December, 1896).

The reason for the postponement of the writing of our history to this late date is not far to seek: H. P. B. and I had been so busy in making history that we had had no time for the writing of it. The field was thus left clear for the sowing of Mr. Judge’s crop of fables, and under the zealous tillage of himself, his colleagues and successors, the soil had become choked with weeds. Further delay would have been inexcusable, so the narrative in question was prepared, and so thoroughly that it is doubtful if any subsequent additions can or will ever be made. The ignorance about the evolution of the Society up to the present time among our members is, I fear it must be said, appalling; I do not suppose that one out of a hundred of those who have joined us within the past five years have any distinct notion on the subject, and not one in twenty have read any of H. P. B.’s writings. All the more reason why I should collect, so far as may be, the materials which will prove useful hereafter to the person who shall write that compendious history of the Theosophical movement of which my present work is but a forerunner.

With the valuable help of Dr. and Miss English and others in the house, the materials for the pamphlet were got together after long search and on the 7th December I began writing it out. Within a few days it was finished and sent in to the printer. The drafting of my Annual Address and other office work occupied my time pretty thoroughly throughout the second half of December. The first delegates to the Convention arrived on the 19th, from which time onward they swarmed in from all the four quarters after the usual fashion. About this time 2 Russian gentleman interested in the compilation of a Hindustani grammar and vocabulary, a Mr. Alexander Vigornitsky, brought me a letter of introduction from M. Blanc, the French explorer of Central Asia, in which he asked me to aid his friend as far as might be, in the attainment of his object. What I did was to give him my visiting-card with a few words of commendation written upon it and a printed list of our Indian Branches, telling him that he had only to present himself to any of the local representatives of our Branches, ask for what he wanted and take with confidence what might be told him. Just before the meeting of Convention he returned to Adyar and told me that my little visiting card had, he believed, been more efficacious for him than if he had had a gilded passport from a reigning king; that neither M. Blanc nor himself had had a conception of the importance of the Theosophical Society as a means of binding together the peoples of India in a great bond of sympathy and brotherhood.

The statistical returns which were read to the Convention showed a year of prosperity despite the cataclysm in America. Charters had been issued for 20 new Branches and at the close of the twelve-month we had on our Register 428 living Branches, as against 408 at the close of 1895. Of these 7 were Indian; 6 European; 3 American; 2 Australasian; 1 Scandinavian and 1 New Zealand. Miss Edger, as General Secretary of the last-named Section, made her first Annual Report. The Rules of the T. S. were carefully revised on July 9th at a Special Meeting of the General Council held at London; and these have been left unchanged up to the present time of writing (1905), excepting the slight modifications which the Incorporation of the Society made necessary. The death of Mr. W. Q. Judge on the 21st of April, less than one year after his secession, was the most striking event of 1896, in our history, but its consequences have been far less important than had been anticipated; in fact, one may fairly describe the latter circumstance as a dismal failure from the point of view of the conspirators who engineered it. For their intention was to wreck the Society, cast out its surviving founder and Mrs. Besant, and on its ruins erect their new Society with Mr. Judge as its Hierophant Ruler, the sole successor to H. P. B. and to her “twin,” as well.

Among the interesting facts given in the President’s Annual Report for 1896, are the statistics of our literary activity from 1883 to that date. During this period the Society and its individual members had published 473 books, 53 periodicals and 240 pamphlets. These not taking into account the publications in Eastern vernacular, the statistics of which were not in my possession.

Among the interesting letters received by me in connection with that year’s Convention was one from the venerable high priest Sumangala, which, in view of the nonsensical attempt recently begun by a conceited young man to falsify the history of the educational movement in Ceylon, may well be admitted into my narrative at this point:—

TO COLONEL H. S. OLCOTT,

President, T. S.

GREETING:—

Whereas, I learn that the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society for 1896 is to sit at Adyar this December, I have much pleasure in expressing, on behalf of the Buddhists of this Island, their gratitude to you in particular and to the T. S. in general, for inaugurating and encouraging the spread of education, secular and religious, among the Buddhist boys and girls in Ceylon, and for securing for the Buddhist that toleration and freedom from persecution which they did not enjoy before your first arrival in 1880.

(Sd.) H. SUMANGALA,

Pradana Nayaka Thera and

December 2nd, 1896. High Priest of Adam’s Peak.

In the course of my reading at that time I came across a highly interesting story in the Phrenological Journal for November, about a Negro whose skull had been fractured in the battle of Bull Run, in 1861, and who had remained without intelligence until 1881, when his skull was trepanned and his consciousness was restored. His first question was: “Which side licked, yesterday?” The intervening twenty years had been a total blank: his body had functioned but his brain consciousness on the physical plane had been arrested. This is an almost parallel case to that of the groom, made classical by its use in the works of several materialistic physiologists, where the unfortunate man while cleaning a horse had had his skull fractured by a kick of its hoof, had remained without consciousness until after a trepanning, when his first conscious action was to complete a sentence which he had been speaking at the time of the accident. The argument of the physiologists was briefly this: Consciousness is a function of the brain; an accident suspends it; a fatal one destroys it; therefore there is no consciousness in any entity apart from the brain. The insufficiency of this reasoning has been proved countless times by the experimenters with mesmerism and clairvoyance; but still in spite of fact and experience the old fallacious logic is still clung to by that class of persons who seem to resent as almost a personal affront the attempt to destroy scientific superstructures built upon foundations of ignorance and vanity. So much violence and bitterness do they sometimes display, that in seeking to find some term expressive of their mental condition, I invented the word "Psychophobia" and respectfully commend it to students of psychology. No victim of dog-bite shows more terror at the sight of water than does one of these ultramaterialists when asked to consider some new and extremely convincing phenomenon which goes to show' the separability of man's astral body from his physical, and his power to carry his consciousness to whatever distance he may have projected himself by the power of his will: one would think that he thought that a new thought would bite him!

The last whiff of perfume from the truthful Tingley crusaders was wafted to us about the middle of December from Colombo, where they held a meeting at Floral Hall on the 12th December, at 5 P.M. In the advertisement the public is assured that there would be nothing to pay for the intellectual symposium; they would have the “Addresses Free”; and for fear that, under a misapprehension as to the character of the party they might absent themselves and so lose the unique chance of seeing and hearing the “Leader of the Entire Theosophical Movement throughout the World,” they announced that “The Members of the Tour wish it to be distinctly understood that they have no connection with that organisation to which MRS. ANNIE BESANT is attached and of which COLONEL OLCOTT is President.” This is really very kind on the part of our gifted enemy, as it saves me the necessity of taking any further trouble to prove that neither I nor the Society has any responsibility for the harlequinade that gave the crusaders an agreeable outing at the expense of their confiding colleagues.

As above noted, the stream of delegates flowed in as usual and on the 27th the Convention opened at its appointed time with more than the usual number of representatives of Branches. Among the pleasant incidents of the opening was the receipt of a long cablegram from the General Secretary of the Australasian Section and an equally cordial greeting from the New Zealand Section. These cables and telegrams and letters and official reports and attendances of delegates in person combine to make one realize how world-wide our movement has become. A feature of the twenty-first Anniversary was the appearance on the scene of Dr. Arthur Richardson, late of University College, Bristol, who had resigned the chair which he had occupied twelve years to come out to India and work with us without money and without price. He gave us some lectures on “Fire,” “Science and the Invisible,” and other subjects, to the great profit of his hearers. The great feature of that year’s Convention (the Twenty-first) was the course of lectures given by Mrs. Besant on Four Great Religions, a most scholarly, striking and convincing intellectual effort. So eloquent was she in her expositions of the several world faiths, so clearly did she make her points, and so ingeniously weave around them the golden web of a common parentage, that one would have thought that a learned Pandit, Mobed, Bhikshu or Bishop was in his turn expounding the mysteries of his own ancestral religion. These admirable discourses were soon after published, and together with her subsequent series, entitled The Religious Problem in India, are invaluable helps to students of Comparative Religion, to find the common. basis upon which all human creeds have been built. It is only fair to quote what she herself says about the plan pursued in the treatment of her subject. In the Foreword (Introduction) to her Four Great Religions she thus sketches her dominant idea:

“The general principles underlying these lectures are the following:

“Each religion is looked at in the light of occult knowledge, both as regards its history and its teachings. While not despising the conclusions arrived at by the patient and admirable work of European scholars, I have unhesitatingly flung them aside where they conflict with important facts preserved in occult history, whether in those imperishable records where all the past is still to be found in living pictures, or in ancient documents carefully stored up by Initiates and not wholly inaccessible. Especially is this the case with regard to the ages of Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, touching which modern scholarship is ludicrously astray. That scholarship, however, will regard the occult view as being, in its turn, grotesquely wrong. Be it so. Occultism can wait to be justified by discoveries, as so many of its much-ridiculed statements as to antiquity have already been; the earth is a faithful guardian, and as the archæologist uncovers the cities buried in her bosom many an unexpected witness will be found to justify the antiquity that is claimed.

“Secondly, each religion is treated as coming from the one great Brotherhood, which is the steward and custodian of spiritual knowledge. Each is treated as an expression, by some member or messenger of that Brotherhood, of the eternal spiritual truths, an expression suited to the needs of the time at which it was made, and of the dawning civilisation that it was intended to mould and to guide in its evolution. Each religion has its own mission in the world, is suited to the nations to whom it is given, and to the type of civilization it is to permeate, bringing it into line with the general evolution of the human family. The failure to see this leads to unjust criticism, for an ideally perfect religion would not be suitable to imperfect and partially evolved men, and environment must always be considered by the Wise when They plant a new slip of the ancient tree of wisdom.

“Thirdly, an attempt is made to distinguish the essential from the non-essential in each religion, and to treat chiefly the former. For every religion in the course of time suffers from accretions due to ignorance—not to wisdom, to blindness—not to vision. Within the brief compass of these lectures, it was not possible to distinguish in detail, nor to point out all the numerous non-essentials. But the following test may be used by anyone who desires to guide himself practically in discriminating between the permanent and the transitory elements in any religion. Is it ancient, to be found in the ancient Scriptures? Has it the authority of the Founder of the religion, or of the Sages to whom the formulation of the particular religion is due? Is it universal, found under some form in all religions? As regards spiritual truths, anyone of these tests is sufficient. As to smaller matters, matters of rites and ceremonies, observances and customs, the use or disuse of any particular practice, we may ask as to each: Is it laid down or recommended in the ancient Scriptures, by the Founder or His immediate disciples? Can its usefulness be explained or verified by those in whom occult training has developed the inner faculties which make the invisible world a region they know by their own experience? If a custom be of modern growth, with only a century, or two or three centuries, behind it; if it be local, not found in any ancient Scripture, nor justified by occult knowledge; then—however helpful it may be found by any individual in his spiritual life—it should not be imposed on any member of a particular religion as binding on him as a part of that religion, nor should a man be looked at askance for non-compliance with it. This fact especially needs enforcement in India, where customs that are entirely local, or very modern, are apt to be identified with Hinduism in the minds of their followers, and any Hindus who do not accept them are looked upon as somewhat inferior, even as unorthodox. Such customs, even if much valued and found useful by their adherents, should not be considered as generally binding, and should fall into the class of non-essentials. It has been well said that while in things essential there should be unity, in things non-essential there should be liberty, and in all things there should be charity. Were that wise rule followed by each, we should hear less of the religious antagonisms and sectarian disputes that bring shame on the very word ‘religion’. That which ought to unite has been the ever-springing source of division, until many have impatiently shaken off all religion as being man’s worst enemy, the introducer everywhere of strife and hatred.”

The audiences at Mrs. Besant’s lectures are always enthusiastic but on these four mornings they were unusually so: the crowds were tremendous, the Hall crowded to suffocation, and the applause was constant and tumultuous.

As we pass in review all the various religious systems that have been taught to humanity, including the four treated by Mrs. Besant in this course of lectures, the thoughtful mind is struck with the fact that the vulgar, or popular, aspect of each is essentially what we might call the “geocentric”, i.e., that they deal only with this planet and its inhabitants; the view of the Problem of Existence is narrow, circumscribed and insufficient to give one the smallest grasp of the great scheme of cosmic evolution. In Buddhism alone—the popular form, I mean, not the esoteric—we are taught in so many words that “there are whole Sakawalas or systems of worlds, of various kinds, higher and lower, and also that the inhabitants of each world correspond in development with itself.” ⁽¹⁾

There is nothing geocentric in such a teaching as that, it is essentially cosmical. Other religions, as interpreted by the occultist, contain the same root idea, but without the help of such an interpreter the idea lies hidden and the religion is seen only in its geocentric aspect. The supreme majesty of The Secret Doctrine lies in the fact that it makes our world and the planetary system to which it belongs the type of the general cosmical scheme; and that its expositions of that scheme are scientific, reasonable and axiomatic; that it embodies the principles of perfect justice, perfect equilibrium and—with the keys of Karma and Reincarnation—perfect comprehensibility; hence the legacy that has been bequeathed, to posterity by H. P. Blavatsky in reviving that ancient teaching is rich beyond compute ⁽²⁾. This teaching allows our awakened intelligence to soar as high as we respectively can with our developed powers, and to get at least glimpses of our kinship with all beings who inhabit the orbs of space. It was the glimmering perception of this teaching that was to come that induced the Founders of the Theosophical Society to make the corner-stone of the movement the idea of the essential brotherhood of mankind. As we have said numberless times, it never entered into our heads to imagine that there could be any perfect brotherhood of men of various races and environments on the physical plane; that was but a dream of Utopia: but we did know that, on the super-physical plane, sex, color, nationality, prejudice and religious animosities did not exist. We knew that the disturbing factors above enumerated are but the temporary obstacles begotten of physical existence, whose power would be completely lost if men could be persuaded to identify themselves with that indwelling divine entity or Higher Self, which when it mounts to its own plane, looks down upon the dash and turmoil of human society, as the soaring eagle “from his mansion in the sun” distinguishes, like multitudes of crawling ants that are moving over the earth below, within their respective barriers of limitation, the nations who fight each other for possession of its surface.

Notes

1. The Buddhist Catechism, Question 144, 37th Edition.

2. Of course, it must be said that the Spiritualists, from the time of A. J. Davis’ production of his Nature’s Divine Revelations onwards, have taught the occupancy of other worlds besides our Earth by sentient beings, but this sensible doctrine has not yet been taken into the body of Christianity; nor has Spiritualism, as such, been as yet developed into the form of a specific religion.