WILLIAM JUDGE BY ORDER OF THE MASTER DISMISSES ANNIE BESANT

On November 3, 1894, William Judge issued a memorandum sent from New York to the members of the Esoteric Section (E.S.), also known as the Eastern School of Theosophy (E.S.O.).

Until then, this School had been co-directed by William Judge in America and by Annie Besant in Europe.

However, by order of the Master (I suppose Master Morya), this document declared that co-direction terminated, and William Judge assumed command of this School.

William Judge also gives a brief history of this School and warns of the existence of a plot by Black Magicians against the Theosophical Society and the Esoteric Section, which was hatched by certain Brahmins in India.

--oOo--

BY MASTER’S DIRECTION

STRICTLY PRIVATE AND ONLY FOR E.S.T. MEMBERS.

I now send you this, all of it being either direct quotations from the messages to me, or else in substance what I am directed to say to you, the different details and elaborations being my own. I had hoped that no such statement would be necessary, but the hope was vain. I have put off writing it since March, 1894, when I issued a circular to the Theosophical Society regarding certain charges which were made against me; but now I am obliged to send this or else to fail in the performance of my duty to you and to the whole Theosophical Society movement, of which the E.S.T. is the real heart. In March this letter seemed to me to be as necessary as it is now, but I was then directed to wait for the conclusion of the matter of the charges made against me, as those had to be first settled and disposed of for the benefit of the constitutional organization. I have since seen the wisdom of this direction, for had I said then what I say now the whole matter would have been mixed up in every way. We have now to deal with the E.S.T. and with our duty to it and to each other; and among those others, to Mrs. Besant.

This is issued in the E.S.T. under the protection of the pledges made by all its members. It is impossible to see them and converse with them, and I have to take the risk of print. If the matter becomes public it will be the fault of those who are not able to keep their pledges, and not my fault nor Karma.

First let me tell you briefly of the E.S.T. foundation and history, and of the Inner Group.

I am not a pledged member of the E.S.T. and never made a pledge in it, as my pledges were long before to the Master direct; I was one of its founders, with H.P.B., and she at the beginning made me manager and teacher in it from the first, under her, for the American part especially. You can remember all she said of that. I wrote the rules of the E.S.T. myself in London in 1888 at H.P.B.’s request and under the direction of the Master. Those were not altered by her, but after reading them and further consulting the Master she added some general paragraphs. I am the only one standing in that position. Mrs. Besant and all other members are pledged and certified in the ordinary way. The E.S. was started in November, 1888. In May, 1887, I sent the following to H.P.B. from New York:

 

       "18th May.

     Dear H.P.B.

     Please reply to this. So many people are beginning to ask me to be Chelas that I must do something, so I have drawn up the enclosed paper which you can send me with some formalities on it as you think right to do so — or whatever I ought to have. If you do not think so, then please tell me in what way I had best proceed.

    I know a good many good ones who will do well and who will form a rock on which the enemy will founder, and this plan would encourage them. So fiat something.

   As ever,

   

   WILLIAM Q. JUDGE."

Enclosed paper:

 

        "To William Q. Judge:

     You are directed to draw together all those persons, members of the Theosophical Society in the U.S., who have or express the desire to serve the cause of the Blessed Masters. This you are to do with the understanding in writing in every case that the persons taken are not thereby made Chelas of the Masters, but simply that they are thus given a chance to make a preliminary trial of themselves, and in each case you will take from the applicant an expression in writing, before making your private register of the names, that they well understand the basis on which you thus take them. Nothing is promised; each will have just what he or she deserves — no more, no less. And all must be faithful to the Cause, to Masters, and to the founders of the Theosophical Society.

    Given [etc.]"

H.P.B. replied that I might go ahead without the paper and soon she would do something else. Later, at the time she was explaining in London the plan of the E.S.T., I telegraphed her asking her to “make public the Inner Section”. That telegram was received in the presence of Dr. Keightley and others. She then told me to come to London and help, which I did. The E.S. was founded on the exact lines of the above papers.

I do not wish to place myself on the high level of H.P.B., but in Occultism of Master’s Lodge a lower Chela is often used as the instrument for pointing out even to such a great character as H.P.B. the times and seasons and sometimes the plan. That I did in this case, and by the direction of the Master. H.P.B’s promulgations followed the ideas and also the words in part of my paper.

An Inner Group was later on formed by H.P.B. at London, so that she might give out teachings to be recorded by the members, and, if possible, teach them practical occultism. Of this Mrs. Besant, with George Mead to help her, was made the Secretary, because she had great ability in a literary way, was wholly devoted, and perfectly fit for the task. But this did not make her a Teacher.

And even when she bid adieu to H.P.B. on her leaving Europe for America in April, 1891, the very last thing H.P.B. put into her hands as she left her presence, into which she never again entered, was the sealed statement that made her Recorder of the teachings.

H.P.B. knew that she would not live to see Annie Besant again, and if she were to have been constituted a “Teacher”, that would have been the time to give her the position. But she did not. The death of H.P.B. destroyed of course any further value in the office of “Recorder”.

I am a member of the Inner Group, and have been since 1891. It was needless to speak of this before now.

The conversations of H.P.B. with the Inner Group were taken down in a more or less fragmentary form by the different members in notes, and later Mrs. Besant and George Mead wrote them out as Secretaries.

I have a complete copy of these, and so has each member of the Inner Group, and those copies comprise all the “Instructions” left in the possession of Mrs. Besant or the Inner Group.

In my possession and within my control is a large body of Instructions given to me all the time from 1875, which I shall give out and have given out, as far as I am directed.

Read page xix of Secret Doctrine (Introduction to vol. I), where H.P.B. says she taught Colonel Olcott and two Europeans. I am one of the latter.

Colonel Olcott is the old standard-bearer, and has been the medium for teaching, himself having Chelas whom he has instructed, but always on the lines laid down by the Master through H.P.B.

He was selected by the Master to do a certain and valuable work not possible for anyone else, and he was never taken into the E.S. by a pledge, for, like myself, be was in the very beginning pledged directly to the Master.

His main work has been that great and far-reaching work in the world, among not only ordinary people, but with kings and rulers, for the sake of this cause which the Masters knew he was to do for them.

Mrs. Annie Besant has been but five years in this work, and not all of that time engaged in occult study and practice. Her abilities as a writer and speaker are rare and high for either man or woman, her devotion and sincerity of purpose cannot be doubted.

She gave many years of her life to the cause of the oppressed as she understood it: against the dread blight of materialistic belief in herself, she worked thus without hope in a future life and in every way proved her altruistic purpose and aim.

Since 1889 she has done great service to the Theosophical Society and devoted herself to it. But all this does not prevent a sincere person from making errors in Occultism, especially when he, as Mrs. Besant did, tries to force himself along the path of practical work in that field. Sincerity does not confer of itself knowledge, much less wisdom.

H.P.B. and all the history of occultism say that seven years of training and trial at the very least are needed. Mrs. Besant has had but five.

Mistakes made by such a disciple will ultimately be turned to the advantage of the movement, and their immediate results will be mitigated to the person making them, provided they are not inspired by an evil intention on the person’s part.

And I wish it to be clearly understood that Mrs. Besant has had herself no conscious evil intention: she has simply gone for awhile outside the line of her Guru (H.P.B.), begun work with others, and fallen under their influence. We should not push her farther down, but neither will the true sympathy we have blind our eyes so as to let her go on, to the detriment of the movement.

I could easily retire from the whole Theosophical Society, but my conceptions of duty are different, although the personal cost to myself in this work is heavy, and as I am ordered to stay I will stay and try my best to aid her and everyone else as much as possible.

And the same authority tells me that “could she open her eyes and see her real line of work, and correct the present condition in herself as well as the one she has helped to make in the Theosophical Society and E.S.T., she would find herself in mental, physical and spiritual conditions of a kind much better than ever before, for her present state is due to the attacks of the dark powers, unconsciously to her”.

And now it becomes necessary under instructions received to give the members of the School some account of the things behind the scenes in connection with the recent investigation attempted at London upon the charges against me.

The two persons around whom its noise arose are Mrs. Besant and myself. Prior to that in 1891, after the death of H.P.B., Col. H.S. Olcott, the President, was the center of a disturbance due to his resignation, and that disturbance was due to the same forces working from behind to try and disintegrate the Theosophical Society by causing its old-time President to leave office before his death.

The recent troubles centered around us because I was made the object of an attack in the guise of an attempt to purify the Society, and Mrs. Besant was thrown forward as the official accuser of myself — a friend who was certified to her by H.P.B., her teacher, and well known as working for the Theosophical Society for many years.

All this needs light, and the best interests of Mrs. Besant and of the E.S.T. demand that some of the secret history shall be given out, however disagreeable it may be, in order that the very purgation which was improperly directed to the wrong quarter shall take place now.

The difficulty arose when in January or February Annie Besant finally lent herself unconsciously to the plot which I detail herein; but prior to that (from August, 1893), those managing that plot had begun to work upon her.

The plot exists among the Black Magicians, who ever war against the White, and against those Black ones we were constantly warned by H.P.B. This is no fiction, but a very substantial fact. I have seen and also been shown the chief entity among those who thus work against us and who desire to destroy the whole movement and especially to nullify the great work which H.P.B. began for the Western nations.

These Black Magicians have succeeded in influencing certain Brahmans in India through race-pride and ambition, so that these, for their own advantage, desire to control and manage the Theosophical Society through some agent and also through the E.S.T.

They of course have sought, if possible, to use one of our body, and have picked out Mrs. Besant as a possible vehicle. One object of the plot is to stop the current of information and influence started by H.P.B. by deflecting thought back to modern India.

To accomplish this it is absolutely necessary to tear down the tradition clustering around the work of H.P.B.; her powers and knowledge have to be derogated from; her right to speak for the Masters has to be impugned; those Masters have to be made a cold abstraction; her staunch friends who wish to see the real work and objects carried on have to be put in such a position as to be tied hand and foot so as not to be able to interfere with the plans of the plotters; it has to be shown that H.P.B. was a fraud and forger also. These men are not the Chelas of our Masters.

The name of the person who was worked upon so as to, if possible, use him as a minor agent of the Black Magicians and for the influencing of Mrs. Besant is Gyanendra N. Chakravarti, a Brahman of Allahabad, India, who came to America on our invitation to the Religious Parliament in 1893.

At the first sincerely desirous of helping the race by bringing to the American people the old truths of his forefathers, he nevertheless, like so many before him, permitted ambition to take subtle root in his heart. Fired with the ambition of taking position in the world as a Guru, though doubtless believing himself still a follower of the White Brotherhood, he is no longer in our lines; on the contrary, his mediumship and weakness leave him a vehicle for other influences also.

He was then a Chela of a minor Indian Guru and was directed to come to America by that Guru who had been impressed to so direct him by our Master. That he was not a Chela of our Master he distinctly admitted to several persons, among others to me. While in that relation he was telepathically impressed in Chicago with some of the contents of a message received by me from the Master.

It corroborated outwardly what I had myself received. It was however but a part and was moreover deficient in matter, Chakravarti himself being only aware of it as a mental impression, and I am informed that at the time he was not fully aware of what he was doing.

His ability to be used as an unconscious vehicle was made known to me when he was made to receive the message. Although he was not fully aware of it, not only was the whole of his tour here well guarded and arranged, but he was personally watched by agents of the Masters scattered through the country unknown to him, who reported to me.

On several occasions he has taken people into his confidence, believing that he was instructing them, when in fact they were observing him closely for the Lodge, helping him where right, and noting him fully, though they did not tell him so. This was also so in those parts of his tour when he believed himself alone or only with Mrs. Besant. His report of the message is as follows:

 

-        “You should tell Judge that we are satisfied with his work in America. He has our best thanks for his exertions in the field of Theosophy. He should try his best to keep always in the light of his higher nature, and thus alone he will be able to find out truth from its shadow. Thus alone he will be able to shut out the powers of darkness that every now and again try to smother his true and noble self which is pure and sincerely devoted to us.”

I informed Mrs. Besant in September, 1893, of the message. But afterwards, when Mr. Chakravarti’s work under me was finished, and when ambition, aroused through that visit, had grown strong, he tried to destroy the effect of that message on Mrs. Besant’s mind by cunningly construing it to mean that, although I was thus in all things commended, yet the last part of it contradicted the first and supported the charge of forgery and lying.

This is madness when not deliberate. The psychological delusion of Mrs. Besant is also here shown: for she said that perhaps I would rely on that message to refute the charges, and if I should, the last paragraph of it was the part that would go to show that the Masters knew I was guilty.

She accepted the cunning construction, permitting herself to think that the Master could commend me for all the work I had done, of which the pretended acts of forgery would be a part, and at the same time send me a delusive message, part of which was to be immediately used as condemnation if brought forward by me.

If I was guilty of what I was accused, then Master would be shown as conniving at forgery and lying — a most impossible thing. The only other possibility is that Mr. Chakravarti and I “got up” the message. But he and Mrs. Besant have admitted its genuineness, although she is perfectly unable herself to decide on its genuineness or falsity. But further, Mrs. Besant admitted to several that she had seen the Master himself come and speak through my body while I was perfectly conscious. And still further, H.P.B. gave me in 1889 the Master’s picture, on which he put this message:

“To my dear and loyal colleague, W. Q. Judge.”

Now, then, either I am bringing you a true message from the Master, or the whole Theosophical Society and E.S.T. is a lie, in the ruins of which must be buried the names of H.P.B. and the Masters. All these stand together or they fall together. Let it be proved that H.P.B. is a liar and a fraud, and I will abandon the Theosophical Society and all its belongings; but until so proved I will remain where I was put.

Lastly, as final proof of the delusions worked through this man and his friends I will mention this: Many years ago (in 1881) the Masters sent to the Allahabad Brahmans (the Prayag Theosophical Society) a letter which was delivered by H.P.B. to Mr. A. P. Sinnett, who handed a copy over to them, keeping the original. It dealt very plainly with the Brahmans. This letter the Brahmans do not like, and Mr. Chakravarti tried to make me think it was a pious fraud by H.P.B.

He succeeded with Mrs. Besant in this, so that since she met him she has on various occasions said she thought it was a fraud by H.P.B., made up entirely, and not from the Master. I say now on Master’s authority that it was from the Master, and is a right letter.

Only delusion would make Mrs. Besant take this position; deliberate intention makes the others do it. It is an issue that may not be evaded, for if that letter be a fraud then all the rest sent through our old teacher, and on which Esoteric Buddhism was made, are the same. I shall rest on that issue; we all rest on it.

Mrs. Besant was then made to agree with these people under the delusion that it was approved by the Masters. She regarded herself as their servant. It was against the E.S.T. rules. When the rule is broken it is one’s duty to leave the E. S.T.; and when I got the charges from her I asked her to leave it if it did not suit her. The depth of the plot was not shown to Mrs. Besant at all, for if it had been she would have refused.

Nor was Colonel Olcott aware of it. Mrs. Besant was put in such a frightful position that while she was writing me most kindly and working with me she was all the time thinking that I was a forger and that I had blasphemed the Master.

She was made to conceal from me, when here, her thoughts about the intended charges, but was made to tell Mr. Bertram Keightley in London and possibly few others. Not until the time was ripe did she tell me, in her letter in January, from India, asking me to resign from the E.S.T. and the Theosophical Society offices, saying that if I did and would confess guilt all would be forgiven and everyone would work with me as usual. But I was directed differently and fully informed.

She was induced to believe that the Master was endorsing the persecution, that he was ordering her to do what she did. At the same time, I knew and told her that it was the plan there to have Colonel Olcott resign when I had been cut off, the presidency to be then offered to her. It was offered to her, and she was made to believe it was the Master’s wish for her “not to oppose”.

She then waited. I did not resign, and the plot so far was spoiled for the time. The delusion was so complete that she did not take the pains to contradict the rumor sent out by others, attached to her name, that Master ordered her to do as she did.

Why?

Because the Brahmans and their agents had made her silent. Showing the delusion further, note this: She wrote me that I must “resign the office of successor to the Presidency”, the hint being that this was one of the things Master wanted me to do. The fact was I had no such office and there was no such thing to resign.

The Master knew it, and hence he never ordered it. She felt and expressed to me the greatest pain to have to do such things to me. I knew she so felt, and wrote her that it was the black magicians. She replied, being still under the delusion, that I was failing to do Master’s will.

Her influencers also made her try psychic experiments on me and on two others in Europe. They failed. On me they had but a passing effect, as I was cognizant of them; on one of the others they reacted on health, although she did not desire any harm at all: she was made to think it best and for my good. She then sent word to these people that she had not succeeded.

This is all the effect of pure delusion; the variance between such things and her usual character is shown in her all the time writing me the most kind letters. In all this Mr. Chakravarti was her guide, with others. She was writing him all the time about it.

He went so far as to write me on a matter he was supposed to know nothing of: “No matter what Annie may do to you as Co-Head of the E.S., she means you no harm”. He must have known what she was doing from her. It was quite true, and I knew why it was true that she meant no harm — she was deluded.

Informed as I was of all these inside facts, I drew up under Master’s direction my circular on the charges in March, 1894, and there outlined what would be done. It was all done as I said and as the Master in March told me would be the case.

The London investigation ended as Master predicted through me in my circular, and for the benefit of the Theosophical Society But all that time the conspirators used all means against me. They had all sorts of letters sent me from India with pretended messages from the Masters asking me to resign and confess. One of those was anonymous and signed “A Brahman who loves you”.

I know the author. The object of these things was to confuse my mind if possible and render me unfit to act at all, while they went on with the plot and the influencing of Mrs. Besant. But Master kept me informed and told me what steps to take. He even told me that, much as it might seem the contrary from the official papers, Colonel Olcott would be the central figure and the one through whom the adjustment of the matter would come. This also turned out true.

The Master says that the Theosophical Society movement was begun by Them in the West by western people, and that it is not Their desire to turn it into a solely eastern movement nor to have us run after the present East and its exoteric teachers.

They confirm the statement so often made by H.P.B. that there are not to-day in modern India any true Initiates teaching the people; that cyclic law requires the work in the West for the benefit of the world; that They do not live in India, and that They find it very hard to break down the walls of theological and other prejudices in the East; that the Egos of the West include many who helped to make the religion, the philosophy, and the civilization of the ancient East; that the new race is being prepared for in the West, and to divert thought back to the teachers of to day in the East would be dangerous; that many Initiates have remained with the West as Nirmânakâyas for its help in its destiny, and that through the great work in the West the whole East as well as West will be benefited.

And They say that if the task of raising up the almost suffocated spirituality of India could have been done by working wholly there and thus benefiting the West, the time spent by the Messengers of the Lodge in the West was wasted.

They also say that Nature’s laws have set apart woe for those who spit back in the face of their teacher, for those who try to belittle her work and make her out to be part good and part fraud; those who have started on the path through her must not try to belittle her work and aim. They do not ask for slavish idolatry of a person, but loyalty is required. They say that the Ego of that body she used was and is a great and brave servant of the Lodge, sent to the West for a mission with full knowledge of the insult and the obloquy to be surely heaped upon that devoted head; and they add:

“Those who cannot understand her had best not try to explain her; those who do not find themselves strong enough for the task she outlined from the very first had best not attempt it”. The Theosophical Society and its devoted members should so pursue the aim that the great work may at last be accomplished, so that when the next great Messenger shall arrive the obstacles that were found in 1875 will not be there, to be again overcome only through long years of effort."

A distinct object H.P.B. had in view I will now on the authority of the Master tell you. The work of the dark powers and their conscious and unconscious agents is against this object. They wish to defeat it. It is an object of the highest value and of the greatest scope, unrevealed before by H.P.B. to anyone else that I know of, though possibly there are those to whom she hinted it.

All her vast work in the West, with western people, upon western religions and modem science, was toward this end, so that when she comes again as Messenger — as hinted at in the Key to Theosophy — much of the preparatory work should have been done by us and our successors.

It is, the establishment in the West of a great seat of learning where shall be taught and explained and demonstrated the great theories of man and nature which she brought forward to us, where western occultism, as the essence combined out of all others, shall be taught.

This stupendous object the Black Lodge would prevent. And even the exoteric theological Brahman would also prevent it, because it will in the end obliterate that form of caste which depends alone on birth, for there will be developed those whose inner vision will see the real caste of the inner man and put him down in a lower one for his discipline if he is not truly in his place.

To-day the four natural castes are all confused, and those who are black within strut about as keepers of the key to the shrine of truth, when in fact they should be lower down, as learners.

Shall her great object be worked against by us and its foundations overthrown?

Never, if the vast powers of the Masters can be drawn to its support; never, if we are faithful to our pledges and to our trust.

I also state, on the same authority, that H.P.B. has not reincarnated. That Ego is quite conscious and working toward the final accomplishment of the end in view, which depends very largely upon the members of the Theosophical Society, and on their loyalty. If the plotters succeed, the Black Lodge will win by turning our thoughts to the modern East with its Yogis and Fakirs, its hide-bound castes, its subtle and magnificently intellectual theology, its Hatha Yoga and all the dangers attending that.

In some minds this question has arisen:

Why does not the Master objectively communicate directly at one and the same time with Colonel Olcott and all these others, so as to stop all trouble, and by bringing about a clear understanding smooth out all difficulties?

To do this would be contrary to the rule and dangerous for us. The force given out by doing it would allow — through the law of equal reaction — a similar amount of force to the Black Lodge, who also would be thus shown those who were involved. Greater trouble would follow.

This law is well known. How often has H.P.B. said that, while such exercise of power cannot hurt the Adept, it arouses the sentinels at the threshold, who then precipitate themselves on the unprotected neophyte. Were it now done, then all the hundreds connected with us would be targets for assaults, on this plane of desires and passions, by the dark powers.

The Masters protect us while we are still without our own weapons, by keeping themselves on the spiritual plane — save to those who have obtained the means for self-protection. And in this is much information as well as warning. It is not well to vibrate a string that you want to raise up to a high note, unless you are strong enough to stand the consequences of its inevitable vibration to one equally low.

At that low point lie the dark forces, and the vibrations rouse them up. We must be sure of the below before we try to go to the above. Practices, such as the Indian books are full of, lead to unwise vibrations, before we are ready. When we are encased in the steel of true devotion it will be time to try those experiments.

We are all therefore face to face with the question whether we will abide by Masters and their Messenger on the one hand, or by the disrupting forces that stand on the other, willing to destroy our great mission if we will but give them the opportunity.

WILLIAM Q. J UDGE.

————————

I, having read the foregoing and the order below, declare that it agrees with my knowledge of the facts (except that I know nothing about Mr. Chakravarti) and with the design of H.P.B. and the basis of the organization, and I therefore endorse it all.

J. D. BUCK, F.T.S.

Member of the Judicial Committee.

————————

3 November, 1894.

E.S.T. ORDER.

I now proceed a step further than the E.S.T. decisions of 1891*, and, solely for the good of the E.S.T., I resume in the E.S.T. in full all the functions and powers given to me by H.P.B. and that came to me by orderly succession after her passing from this life, and declare myself the sole head of the E.S.T.

This has been already done in America. So far as concerns the rest of the E.S.T. I may have to await the action of the members, but I stand ready to exercise those functions in every part of it. Hence, under the authority given me by the Master and H. P. B., and under Master’s direction, I declare Mrs. Annie Besant’s headship in the E.S.T. at an end.

But in order to preserve our solidarity as much as possible, I hereby, for the present until need for other arrangement shall arise, continue in existence under my direction for the Eastern Division of the E.S.T., the Council which was composed by Mrs. Besant in London at the time of her departure for Australia and India in August, 1894.

WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.

* In a copy of this document (probably Albert E.S. Smythe’s), 1894 has been corrected to 1891. This makes sense in view of what follows. See May 27, 1891 entry for more details.

(This document was republished in Ernest Pelletier's book "The Judge Case," Appendix B, pp. 130-133)

OBSERVATION

The events that followed lead me to believe that what William Judge said in this document must have been true.

COUNTESS WACHTMEISTER ATTACKS WILLIAM JUDGE AND DEFENDS ANNIE BESANT

(Countess Wachtmeister wrote this text to defend Annie Besant against the accusation made against her by William Judge link; and I added subheadings for readability and my comments in purple.)

H.P.B. AND THE PRESENT CRISIS IN THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

About William Judge

Having with the deepest sorrow and regret read the unjustifiable attack made by W. Q. Judge on Annie Besant, Ι think it my duty, as one of the oldest members of the T.S., and as one intimately acquainted with its leaders and inner history, to come forward and place before its members a few facts known to me which I have hitherto kept to myself.

The six years spent with Madame Blavatsky, during which I lived with her in the closest intimacy, have enabled me to be cognisant of much that is unknown to others. I deeply feel the necessity of giving to the members of the Society some of Η.P.Β.’s own words to me, which may elucidate a few of the perplexities caused by recent events.

During H.P.B.’s residence in Wurzburg and Ostend she was in continual correspondence with several Europeans and Americans, who were under her tuition at that time. Ι knew that Mr. Judge was one of her pupils. I had met him for the first time at Eugbien, as mentioned in my ”Reminiscences of H.P.B.,” and feeling a personal friendship for him, I asked Η Ρ.B. whether he would be the one to replace her when she left us.

Her reply was no, he would never be her successor: she had a high opinion of his knowledge as a lawyer, also of his remarkable executive faculties and his power of organisation (all of which she sensed beforehand, because they had not yet come into play), yet, from an occult point of view he would never progress much in this life, having failed in one of the trials placed in his path on the occult road. Then she added: “Poor Judge, he is his own worst enemy.”

Another day she called me into a room and showed me a letter, written by W. Q. Judge to her. It began with his own handwriting, which suddenly changed into the handwriting of H.P.B., and so perfect was the imitation that I could not detect a single flaw; then he went on with his own handwriting again to the end of the letter.

I looked at H.P.B. aghast, and said, “But surely this is a very dangerous power to possess, “to which she replied, “Yes, but Ι do not believe Judge would use it for wrong or evil purposes.” This I have repeated to W. Q. Judge, and he has denied it.

Colonel Η. S. Olcott has said to me that he possesses a letter written by W. Q. Judge containing imitations of several signatures.

(I am suspicious of these accusations made against William Judge because he was a man of great integrity who truly sacrificed himself for the Theosophical cause.)

About Annie Besant

Η.Ρ.Β. always told me that her successor would be a woman, long before Annie Besant had become a member of the Theosophical Society. She made various attempts with different people, hoping to find one, but was quite unsuccessful, so that she became terribly depressed and downhearted, saying, “There is nobody left to take my place when I am gone.

It was only when Annie Besant joined the movement that her hopes revived, for she seemed to feel that in her she would find a successor.

Η.P.B. told me this, but I had been so discouraged by the previous failures that I was determined to be on my guard and not accept Annie Besant unless entirely convinced if her disinterestedness of purpose and of her integrity.

I thought it just possible that she might be an ambitious woman entering the Theosophical Society with the thought of governing and getting all into her own hands, so I watched her narrowly, criticising her every action from tlιat point of view.

But as I noticed her life of daily self-sacrifice and continued endeavour to overcome her failings and shortcomings, how she took herself with an iron hand to task, and how with indomitable will-power she overcame one obstacle after another, I was obliged to confess to myself that my surmises had been both unjust and wrong.

One day I saw Annie Besant enveloped in a cloud of light—Master’s colour. He was standing by her side with his hand over her head. Ι left the room, went quickly to H.P.B., and finding her alone, told her what I had witnessed, and asked her if that was a sign that Master had chosen Annie Besant as her successor.

H.P.B. replied, “Yes,” and that she was glad I had seen it.

Again, one evening I accompanied Annie Besant to a small hall in London, where she lectured to workmen, when suddenly the Master was by her side, and she spoke with an eloquence which I had never heard from her lips before; it came flowing from her like a torrent of spiritual force.

I may add that I have since then here in India had repeated proof of her being in direct communication with Master.

During the last year of H.P.B.’s life, when living in Avenue-road, Annie Besant used to spend some time every evening with H,P.B. to receive occult teachings. One day she was told by H.P.B. to go to America, and on the evening of her departure H.Ρ.Β. called me to her room. After a few words of salutary advice to myself, she informed me that Annie Besant had gone to America to bear a message from H.P.B. to the American Section, and also to become better acquainted with W. Q. Judge, as on account of his power of organisation, he would be most useful in the exoteric work of the Society, and therefore it would be well for them to work together.

H.P.B. then, turning to me, said: “Master really communicates directly with Annie Besant, her development in this life is a very rapid one, it is the sudden bursting through the shell of all the development and knowledge gained in her previous lives of occultism.” H.P.B. continued: “Annie is soon coming very near to Master, and you may rely on her.” H.P.B. then went on to speak of her other pupils, but there my lips are sealed.

In confirmation of what Ι have here stated, Ι will quote from a letter, written by H.P.B. to W. Q. Judge, dated March 27th, 1891, of which Ι have a copy in my own possession. In this letter H.P.B. speaks of Annie Besant as “the soul of honour and uncompromisingly truthful,” and describes her heart as “one single unbroken diamond, . . . transparent so that anyone can see how filled to the brim it is with pure, unadulterated theosophy and enthusiasm.”

”UNSELFISHNESS AND ALTRUISM,” continues H.P.B., “is Annie Besant’s name, but with me and for me she is Heliodore, a name given to her by a Master, and that I use with her, it has a deep meaning. It is only a few months she studies occultism with me in the innermost group of the E.S., and yet she has passed far beyond all others. She is not psychic nor spiritual in the least—all intellect, * and yet she hears Master’s voice when alone, sees His Light, and recognises His voice from that of D____. Judge, she is a most wonderful woman, my right hand, my successor, when I will be forced to leave you, my sole hope in England, as you are my sole hope in America.”

The italics in the above quotation are all H.P.B.’s own and not mine. In this letter H.P.B. also thought it necessary to warn Mr. Judge when in Annie Besant’s presence against light and irreverent talk about occultism and the Masters, and generally against “the slightest exaggeration or deviation from fact,” to quote her own words.

(* H.P.B. told me that it was through the intellectual plane that Annie Besant would pass on to the spiritual plane.)

(Unfortunately, historical data shows that Annie Besant did not understand the occult lessons that Blavatsky gave her, since Besant showed herself to be quite ignorant of Theosophy; and neither did Besant truly communicate with the Masters, since she caused a lot of damage to the Theosophical Society.) 

Countess Wachtmeister's criticism of William Judge

It is strange that W. Q. Judge, having this letter in his possession, should attempt in his pamphlet to belittle the merits of Annie Besant by hinting that she has had but five years of training, when H.P.B. distinctly tells him how rapidly she has progressed, also that he lays such great stress upon her not being a teacher, whereas H.P.B. calls her her successor.

(Successor does not mean that Annie Besant was a teacher, and in this letter Blavatsky specified that Annie Besant was her successor in Europe, while William Judge was her successor in America.)

Mr. Judge at one time acknowledged this letter, having read out a portion of it to a small gathering of our members, in Avenue-road, shortly after H P.B.’s decease. Ι also know that some of the American members of the Theosophical Society are aware of the existence of this letter.

W. Q. Judge, in his pamphlet, refers to the very important part he hαs played in America in connection with the Theosophical movement, especially in the formation of the Esoteric Section (E.S.), or, as it has later been called, the Eastern School of Theosophy (E.S.T.).

Ι have in my possession the copy of a letter from Η.Ρ.Β. to an American lady, asking her if she would take the Headship of the Theosophical movement in America, because H.P.B. then feared the Society would collapse in America, as there was nobody to work for it. The lady refused the offer made to her.

Ι mention in my “Reminiscences” that H.P.B. had already spoken to me about the Esoteric Section when I was with her in Ostend; subsequently in England she asked me to draw out some rules, but finding the task a very difficult one, I advised her to apply to W. Q. Judge, as he in his capacity of lawyer would have a wide experience to help him.

She did so, and after having received the draft of the proposed rules from W. Q. Judge, H.P.B. discussed them freely with almost everybody who came to visit her; even a young member, who had just joined the Society, was asked to read them over carefully and give his opinion concerning them. He complied with her wish and made a suggestion as to the alteration of one of the rules, which H.P.Β. acted on.

Then as regards W. Q. Judge’s statement of having been a member of the Inner Group of the Ε.S. since 1891, it may be of interest to the members of the Theosophical Society to learn the circumstances under which he forced his way into that group, namely by producing one of those messages which Annie Besant has since repudiated as not being genuine, and it was on the authority of the same message, that we members of the Inner Group permitted him to enter without taking the usual Pledge.

As far as I am personally concerned, this message hαs always puzzled me, having been told by Η.Ρ.Β. of W, Q. Judge’s previous failure in occultism; and with regard to W. Q. Judge as a teacher, Ι cannot help saying that ever since I have known him I have not received any teachings from him which Ι had not previously learnt from Η.Ρ.B., whereas through Annie Besant I have learnt much that was unknown to me before.

(Unfortunately, Countess Wachtmeister did not fully understand the occult teachings either, as far as Annie Besant could impress her. But I can assure you that the teaching given by Annie Besant is full of errors and falsehoods, while the teaching given by William Judge corresponds to what the Trans-Himalayan Masters taught.)

Ι have always with pleasure listened to W. Q, Judge’s lectures, for he has a great faculty of presenting abstruse truths in a clear language, and H.P.B. had a high appreciation of his ability, as many of her letters to him bear witness, but this does not alter the facts previously mentioned.

H.P.B. had undoubtedly a sincere affection for W. Q. Judge, though he did not always prove himself worthy of it. Ι know how bitterly she felt in Wurzburg that he did not take up her defence against the attacks of the Psychical Research Society (SPR).

When he read that book in which she was so cruelly accused and trampled upon, surely, had he possessed the devotion for her which he now blazons forth before the world, he would have flown to her side, and tried through his-great ability, his devotion, and his presence, to heal some of the wounds of that bleeding heart. I can never forget those days of agony for Η.Ρ.Β., and how she felt herself deserted by all those who had professed such devotion to her.

As she pathetically said one day: “If there was only one man who had the-courage to come forward and defend me, as he would defend his own mother if thus scurrilously attacked the whole current of the Theosophical Society would be changed.”

It was a critical moment for the Society, and Η.Ρ.B. was left alone in her agony and despair. True I was with her and did the little I could for her and Η.P.Β. never forgot it. I shall always remember with gratitude the trust and confidence shown to me in so many ways, and Ι will be witness to her words and wishes as long as life is in me.

H.P.B. used to wear a signet-ring, to which she attached great importance. She had often said to me that this ring was to be handed over to her successor, and that the properties attached to it were very magnetic. When, after H.P.B.’s decease in London, I was informed that the ring had been given to Annie Besant by her express directions, I knew that Annie ;Besant was her successor.

Soon after the cremation of H.P.B.’s body I was astounded to hear that phenomena were being produced by W. Q, Judge.

H.P.B. had distinctly told me that the day for phenomena was past. I shall never forget the bright, happy expression of her face, and how glad she was to be relieved from producing phenomena; she said it was like an intolerable weight lifted from off her shoulders. She then proceeded to say that Master had explained to her that the Theosophical Society had passed through the physical phase—that of its formation; and through the psychical phase—that of occult phenomena; and was now entering into the intellectual phase, before reaching the spiritual.

I asked her: “But will the Masters, then, never communicate to persons through precipitated writing?”

And. she replied, “In some very rare cases, yes: when an order has to be given and the person is so dense that no other means of communication can be used.”

Thus, imagine my utter astonishment when I heard of letters being freely received, coming like a kind of avalanche through W. Q. Judge.

It seemed to me as if a psychic whirlwind was passing through the Society, and I was powerless to do anything, and could only wait patiently and note every event as it happened, knowing that as in the past it would be in the future—that nothing wrong could ever occur in the Theosophical Society without its being brought to light; every bud must blossom out either for good or evil.

H.P.B. also seemed to have a presentiment that a crisis was coming upon the Society; she often told me that troublesome times were in store for us, and that there would probably be a general upheaval of the whole Theosophical Society not long after her death—and her prediction has now unfortunately come true.

On my way to India, in October, 1893, Annie Besant informed me on the steamer that a terrible trial was awaiting her, that Master had told her directly that the communications received by her from W. Q. Judge, and purporting to come direct from the Master, were not genuine, and that she was further told that the Theosophical Society had to be cleared of this deceit, and that she would probably have to take action in the matter.

Annie Besant felt the agony of this very much, and her whole heart went out in pity to W. Q. Judge, never upbraiding him for the deceit practised on herself, although she keenly realised the ignoble part she had been made to play, having been the channel through which others had been deluded.

(This aseveration was not told to her by Master Morya, but by the perfidious Brahmin Chakravarti, whom Besant had accepted as her new teacher.)

I asked her whether she would act at once; her reply was that her orders were to wait till she saw the evidence. We then arrived at Adyar for the Convention, and there found a few of the members in a great state of commotion. The charges were being discussed among them, and there was a general wish to make them public at once.

A committee was formed, at which I was present, and after some discussion Annie Besant said that she considered that it would not be fair to bring forward these accusations publicly against W. Q. Judge when he was not there to defend himself.

She then offered to take the matter into her own hands, Colonel Olcott urging her to do so, saying that as such serious charges were brought against the Vice-President of the Theosophical Society, it was absolutely necessary for the good repute of the Society that he should clear himself entirely of these charges.

All the members of the Theosophical Society know the result; how W. Q. Judge persuaded the Committee to dismiss the case without going into the evidence, and thus got out of the dilemma in which he had been placed, without ever clearing himself, for these charges still remain unanswered, casting a slur on the Theosophical Society, because the evasive replies he has sent to the Westminster Gazette and New York Sun can in no way be called satisfactory.

I met W. Q. Judge in New York on his return to America from the European Convention, and was shocked to see the change in his personal appearance; insomnia and suffering had left their mark on him, and he looked terribly dejected.. It seemed to me that the lesson had been such a severe one to him that spurious messages would be a thing of the past.

I told him that under these conditions I would willingly work with him in the future, and later on, when the Westminster Gazette articles first came out, I also wrote to him in this sense. I was under the impression that his object in preventing the charges being made public was that he thought it would bring about a collapse of the whole Theosophical Society.

I may probably be severely blamed for my attitude in thus submitting without protest to the hushing up of the affair, but I really believed in the sincerity of W. Q. Judge’s repentance, and, remembering all his past work and devotion to the cause, I was not going to turn my back on a brother.

Besides, I thought that the work of the Society could not be seriously affected by the failings of an individual member, and I hoped that the past experience would prove to members that without truth and honesty there is no chance of the Theosophical Society making its way in the world.

My hopes were rudely dispelled when W. Q. Judge issued his circular, accusing Annie Besant and Professor Chakravarti of the practice of black magic, and in consequence deposing the former from the headship of the Esoteric School of Theosophy.

This circular was issued to the members of the Esoteric School of Theosophy only, marked “strictly private,” and this was to my mind a not very honourable course of action, because had W. Q. Judge really believed Annie Besant guilty of such evil practices, it would have been his imperative duty as Vice-President of the Theosophical Society to warn the whole Theosophical Society and not only the members of the Esoteric School of Theosophy, and place them on their guard against two such dangerous members.

W. Q. Judge had absolutely no right in deposing Annie Besant from the headship of the Esoteric School of Theosophy, because at the Con­vention in London, July, 1894, Annie Besant, having felt that she could no longer work conscientiously with W. Q. Judge, the Esoteric School had been divided into two sections, W. Q, Judge remaining at the head of the American and Annie Besant at the head of the European and Indian Sections, with entire separation, no member being permitted to join the section outside his own country.

This was a very arbitrary arrangement, and many members expressed their dissatisfaction, some in America saying that they were no better than bales of goods to be cast whither the heads pleased to throw them.

Having once made this compact, both Annie Besant and W. Q. Judge were bound to keep it, unless through the agreement of both parties it was altered, and therefore it was distinctly a breach of faith for W. Q. Judge to send the above-mentioned circular to the members of Annie Besant’s school without her knowledge and consent, especially when she was thousands of miles away, and those members of her school who unhesitatingly accepted W. Q. Judge’s circular were not only endorsing his accusations against Annie Besant without waiting to hear what she had to say in her defence, but also acted dishonestly towards their own leader in obeying an order given by the head of another section, to which they did not belong.

I indignantly repudiated W. Q. Judge’s order as coming from Η.P.B.’s Master. The shocking charges against Annie Besant and Professor Chakravarti, for which. there is not the least shade of evidence, were very revolting to my mind, and I could hardly believe it possible that W. Q. Judge could use such an ignoble method of trying to extricate himself from his own painful position by attributing such crimes to others.

The honourable character of Professor Chakravarti is well known here in India, and defence of him is entirely superfluous. At the Indian Convention in December, 1894, a universal vote of confidence was given to him by unanimously electing him on the Council and Executive Committee of the Indian Section. W. Q. Judge’s ridiculous charges we treated with well-deserved contempt.

Still more surprising does W. Q. Judge’s reference to Mr. Chakravarti become to me when I remember that in February, 1894, at Allahabad, Annie Βesant and I both received letters from Mr. Judge advocating the nomination of Mr. Chakravarti as President of the Theosophical Society. Mr. Chakravarti himself has also received a letter from W. Q. Judge urging him to accept this important position, an offer which he immediately and entirely refused.

Thus W. Q. Judge offered the Presidentship of the Theosophical Society to a man whom he alleges to be an agent of black magicians, as in his pamphlet, page 6, he asserts that “Master’s Agents” were secretly watching Mr. Chakravarti in America in the Autumn of 1893, believing him to be under evil influences.

Any sensible person reading W. Q. Judge’s circular must be struck by some startling assertiοns. I have just mentioned the agents which the Master, according to W. Q. Judge, is in the habit of using to watch suspected individuals, and then repeating to W. Q. Judge the information thus honourably acquired. I consider it sacrilege to suppose that H.P.B.’s Master can make use of spies.

On page 8, W. Q. Judge states that the plan of the Black Magicians was “to have Colonel Olcott resign when he (Judge) had been cut off, the Presidency then to be offered to her” (Annie Besant), and that “she was made to believe that it was the Master’s wish for her not to oppose.”

As a matter of fact, during last winter Ι heard Colonel Olcott offer to resign the Presidentship in favour of Annie Besant, but she positively refused to accept it.

On page 11 is the following assertion; “I also state on the same authority that H.P.B. has not reincarnated.”

(Chakravarti had a little girl and he claimed that Blavatsky had been reincarnated in his little girl, which many believed, but Master Kuthumi in a letter written in 1900 assured that Blavatsky had important matters to attend to on the subtle planes and that therefore Blavatsky would take a long time to reincarnate again.)

During the summer of 1893 W. Q. Judge informed me that he had been told by Master that H.P.B. had been reincarnated. Mrs. Archibald Keightly also confirmed this statement, telling me that she had seen and conversed with H.Ρ.B. in her new body. This autumn Mrs. Keightly said to me that she had been mistaken in her vision. Ιt is curious, however, that W. Q Judge, the great occultist he pretends to be, can have been mistaken on so important a point.

On page 7 of his pamphlet Mr. Judge further asserts: “Now, then, either I am bringing you a true message or the whole Theosophical Society and E.S.T. is a lie.”

How is it possible to believe this in face of the above contradictions?

I need not enter into further discrepancies; the whole pamphlet goes to prove that W. Q. Judge has been mainly prompted by personal ambition and desire to get the whole of the Theosophical Society into his own hands; and in order to do this he must get rid of Annie Besant; and so in his pamphlet he not only makes her out to be an irresponsible being, a victim of “Black Magicians,” but also accuses her of actually practising the black art on himself and two other persons, one of whom suffered in health thereby.

Thus he tries to incapacitate her for any further work in the Society, for what honest man or woman would consent to associate or work together with one whom they believed could be capable of such iniquity. One has only to trace out the events in the life of Annie Besant to see that she has none of the vices or failings which might attract evil forces to her, so as to influence her to practise the black arts.

Further, nobody who reads Annie Besant’s reply to these charges, and contrasts her calm and dignified behaviour with W. Q. Judge’s desperate attempts at self-enthronement, can be left in doubt which of the two has kept true to the cause to which they both have pledged themselves.

(Later events show that Annie Besant was indeed submerged by evil influences as she ended up causing much harm to the Theosophical Movement.)

If we are blindly to accept W. Q. Judge’s circular, what would be the result? That we should be expected to obey any message given to us by the Head of the E.S.T., as W. Q. Judge claims to be, without using our moral judgment as to whether it is a true message or a false one.

It must never be forgotten that in all progress in the spiritual life the faculty of discrimination is of the most vital importance, and if this be atrophied by the habit of blind obedience the aspirant will soon find himself at the mercy of varied and opposing forces between which he will be unable to distinguish.

Therefore, our common sense must never be left out in the cold, because then the door is open to all kinds of slanders, and any member may follow W. Q. Judge’s example and accuse his neighbour of black magic.

This severs the tie of brotherhood completely, for in the heart of each will lurk the thought that his fellow-member may at any moment bring up such an accusation against him. Nor can we leave the interests of the members of the Theosophical Society who are not Esotericists, and the general public out of regard, nor forget the dangers which must accrue if under a pledge of secrecy, slanders are to be circulated against individuals, of which the people concerned may perhaps never become aware.

Another result of the policy of implicit obedience to, and blindly following, a leader is that the theosophical Society, of which the E.S T. is the palpitating heart, would no longer be a free Society, it would become a church, with its dogmas, articles of faith and its pope, all liberty of action would by degrees be quelled, we should have missed our vocation, and there would only be one sect more added to the numerous sects already in existence. It would be in direct opposition to H.P.B.’s teachings, and I therefore emphatically refuse to believe that H.P.B.’s Master has issued such an order as W. Q. Judge’s circular, or worse still, that he, like a detective, uses agents to spy upon the movements of others.

It has been a most painful task to write these pages, and if W. Q. Judge had been merely a private member of the Theosophical Society Ι should never have issued. it, because in a Brotherhood like the Theosophical Society we have no right to bring the failings of a private member before the world, but W. Q. Judge holds a high official position, namely, that of Vice-President, with the possibility of being elected some day President of the whole Society. It was therefore plainly my duty to place before the public these facts, for the acts of a high official affect the whole Society, and the slightest suspicion of fraud or unfair dealing has to be cleared up or else the Society suffers.

(This text was first published in London in May 1895 in a private pamphlet, and later in the magazine “Theosophy in Australasia”, July 5, 1895, p. 5-8)

OBSERVATIONS

The crisis that the Theosophical Society suffered in 1895 occurred because two of its leaders (Colonel Henry Olcott and Annie Besant, who led the Theosophical Society in Asia and Europe respectively), with the influence of Chakravarti, wanted to expel William Judge (who led the Theosophical Society in America) from the Theosophical Society.

And to achieve this, Olcott and Besant fabricated various accusations against Judge, mainly that he falsified documents and that he fabricated his communication with the Masters.

Countess Wachtmeister was under Annie Besant's direction and that is probably why she defended Besant, but historical data shows that the good guy in this conflict was William Judge.

The Countess later became disillusioned with Annie Besant when she saw the misdeeds she was making, and that is why the Countess resigned from the Theosophical Society around 1900.