THE RECEPTION BLAVATSKY RECEIVED IN INDIA AFTER HER TOUR OF EUROPE IN 1884

(The following article was published in The Madras Mail newspaper, December 23, 1884, p. 5.)

ARRIVAL OF THEOSOPHISTS

After an absence of over ten months in Europe, Madame Blavatsky, Founder and Corresponding Secretary of the Theosophical Society, returned to Madras Sunday afternoon, by the s.s. Navarino.

She was accompanied by Colonel Olcott (who had gone to Ceylon to report to the Sinhalese the result of his mission for them to Europe), Dr. F. Hartmann, Mrs. Cooper Oakley (a graduate of the Cambridge University), Rev. Mr. Ledbeater (from the London Lodge) and three delegates from Ceylon.

Two of the leading Theosophists went to meet the party on board the steamer, and when the boat containing the party reached the companion ladder, a band of Tanjore minstrels stationed on the pier, commenced to play, and there was a round of applause.

After shaking hands and briefly conversing with a few of the gentlemen present, Madame Blavatsky was conveyed, with her party, in one of the pier carriages to the shore and of the pier. They drove to Pacheappah’s Hall, where Madame Blavatsky met with an ovation. A large crowd of gentlemen and students had assembled there.

Mr. C. Ramiah, Tahsildar, welcomed Madame Blavatsky and her friends on behalf of the Madras Branch. Mr. P. Streenevasa Row said that the students of all the Colleges of Madras, and of the Christian College in particular, were very desirous of presenting the Founder with an address of welcome.

Her permission being granted, A. G. Krishnasawmy Iyer, a student of the Christian College, read the following address, which was received with loud applause:

« Dear and Reverend Madame,

In according to you this our heartiest of welcomes on your return from the intellectual campaigns which you have so successfully waged in the West, we are conscious we are giving but a feeble expression to the “debt immense of endless gratitude” which India lies under to you.

You have dedicated your very valuable life to the eminently disinterested services of disseminating the truths of Occult Philosophy. Upon the sacred mysteries of our hoary religion and philosophies you have thrown such a flood of light by sending into the world that marvellous production of yours, the “Isis Unveiled.”

By your exposition, has our beloved Colonel been induced to undertake that gigantic labour of love — the vivifying on the altars of Aryavarta the dying flames of religion and spirituality.

Your labours have so grandly supplemented the researches of comparative philology by establishing the community of mankind upon a commonality of religious beliefs.

The very breath of life animating that colossal parent of incalculable good —the Theosophical Society— has been breathed into its nostrils by your much honored self. And now, you have increased a thousand fold the weight of those blessings by your recent personal exertions in Europe, whereby you have demonstrated to the West that the true tree of knowledge flourishes but in the East.

You have procured for oriental metaphysics a reverential hearing and acceptation in Germany — the nursery ground of philosophy.

You have introduced the torch of eastern wisdom into the West End of London, and in the stream of its radiance shown to the pick and flower of English society, that the philosophy they were content to look upon as the crown and consummation of grandeur, should “hide its diminished head” in view of that of another hemisphere.

Flippant France has thrown open to you her grandest saloons, and even the usually apathetic savants of Paris have been persuaded to receive at your hands the cup of oriental wisdom.

While at one quarter of the globe you had been with all your heart and soul addressing yourself to the work of propagating eternal truth, your enemies on this side have been equally industrious in the shameless cause of suffocating the same. We allude to the recent scandalous events at Madras, in which an expelled domestic of yours has been made a convenient cat’s paw of.

While looking upon such futilities with the indignant scorn which they certainly deserve, we beg to assure you that our affection and admiration, earned by the loftiness of your soul, the nobility of your aspirations and the matchless sacrifices you have made, have become too deeply rooted to be shaken off their ground by the rude blasts of spite, spleen and slander, which however, are no uncommon occurrences in the history of Theosophy.

That the revered masters whose hearts are overflowing with love for humanity will continue as ever to help you and our esteemed Colonel in the discovery of truth and the dissemination of the same, is the earnest prayer of, dear and revered Madame, your affectionate servants, students of the College of Madras. »

Madame Blavatsky replied that, unaccustomed as she was to public speaking, she could not make a speech like any of Colonel Olcott’s.

With regard to the amiable conspiracy which had been going on here during her absence, she would only say that of all the letters published, not a single one, as it stood, had been written by her. She would deny them all in toto.

A man might, in an unguarded and mad moment suddenly become a thief, a forger, or any other sort of criminal; but that he should become such a fool as to send letters to others and put his signature to them, —letters such as would convict him of fraud— was a thing which one would find it very difficult to conceive.

She would be the greatest fool in the world to commit herself so that she might be fairly accused of such vile, disgusting and stupid things. She had been a good deal accustomed to calumny, persecution and slanders, and was therefore much hardened by them. She did not care much for the opinions of Europeans or Anglo-Indians; what she really cared for was the good opinion of her Hindu brothers.

And what was the greatest crime she had committed to merit all that persecution?

It was her caring more for India than for any other country in the world, and more earnestly for Heathendom than for the so-called Christendom.

She next referred to her accusers, the Coulombs. She stated that the Colonel [and] herself had treated them with all possible kindness, and what could she say of their going over to the enemies’ camp, when her back was turned, and selling her like Judas Iscariot?

In conclusion, she hoped to spend every moment of her life for the benefit of India, and to deserve the confidence which they so generously reposed in her. She had not done anything against India of which she should be ashamed, and she was determined to work for India while there was health in her.

(Loud applause.)

Mr. Ramiah rose once more and welcomed the delegates on behalf of the Madras Branch.

Colonel Olcott, in replying on behalf of the delegates, said that Mrs. Cooper Oakley and Mr. Ledbeater came to Madras to labour on behalf of Theosophy. He felt called upon to assure the meeting that they were highly pleased with the reception, and that they hoped to become better acquainted with the Hindus.

The Colonel then remarked that in Mr. Ledbeater they had a gentleman of the Christian Ministry who came to work here in the cause of Theosophy. The speaker said that there were padris in India who worked against themselves and against the Hindus; but there was one who had thrown aside his cassock and gown that he might devote his entire energies to the cause of Theosophy.

The Theosophical movement, the Colonel said, had the soul of the Rishis in it, and its current, he would assure them, would spread itself over the face of the whole world.

Mrs. Cooper Oakley and her sister were graduates of the Girton College, Cambridge (the celebrated College for the higher education of women,) and the former had made herself conspicuous in the agitation set on foot to extend the Franchise to females.

He concluded by saying that she was going to learn the vernaculars of this country, and would bring into the families of the Hindus all the comforts which Theosophy held out. This, he hoped, would be the beginning of the real Zenana mission for India.

(Loud applause)

Mrs. Oakley expressed her inability to describe adequately how deeply gratified she felt at the hearty welcome given to her respected friend and sister, Madame Blavatsky. As coming from the London Lodge, she would assure them that the recent calumnies had not produced the slightest effect there; on the contrary, Madame Blavatsky was respected and loved all the more.

(Applause)

Garlands of flowers and bouquets were then presented to Madame Blavatsky and others, and the assembly dispersed.

THE TALK GIVEN BY EMMA COULOMB AGAINST BLAVATSKY AT THE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE OF MADRAS

(This article was published in The Madras Mail newspaper, October 20, 1884, page 5; and I added my comments in purple.)

MADAME COULOMB AT THE COLLEGE HALL

On Saturday night the College Hall, Madras, was half filled by an audience comprised of all classes of the community, including many natives, on the occasion of an “entertainment” given by Madame Coulomb, formerly on the staff of the Theosophical Society.  As an entertainment it can hardly be said to have been successful, and as an exposure of Madame Blavatsky we know that many of the audience were rather disappointed. 

The Rev. Mr. Goudie presided, and introduced Madame Coulomb, who, he said, had no quarrel with occult science.  Her motive was, in the interest of truth, the exposure of certain false phenomena which had been displayed as belonging to the occult world, and used spiritually.

This was her first appearance as a lecturer.

Madame Coulomb now commenced her “entertainment,” which mainly consisted of a lecture directed chiefly, in a sarcastic vein throughout, against Madame Blavatsky.  It was partially inaudible, even to reserved-seat holders.

She said that necessity compelled her to take the course she was now pursuing.  The fable of Koot Hoomi was not suitable for the nineteenth century.  Reason should accompany our researches after truth.  We should see whether these phenomena of the Mahatmas were possible.

Was there a law in chemistry, or any other branch of science, by which a letter could be written by a Mahatma, and then travel instantly hundreds of miles to Madras, appearing here on ordinary paper and exactly as written in the Himalayas?

(Science has not yet discovered all the mysteries of nature.)

The Mahatmas had been described by Mr. Srinavassa Row, a Judge of Madras.  (Here the Chairman read Mr. Srinavassa Row’s description.)

The Mahatmas, as believed in by the Hindus, said Madame Coulomb, were real flesh and blood; Madame Blavatsky’s Mahatmas were made of bladders and masks.  To the sham Mahatmas the Hindus bowed their heads to the ground.  Blind faith had even made them confess their weaknesses, and state their wants.

The Hindus, she admitted, entered into the matter bona fide and did not suppose they were being made dupes of.  How much better would it have been for them to look into the matter scientifically.

Why did those blessed Masters, the Mahatmas, who had left aside all worldly cares to contemplate the Supreme Being, select a Russian lady and an American gentleman, as their means of communication with the outer world?  Why were not the natives of the country given the preference?

(Because, as Master Morya indicated: Blavatsky and Olcott, despite their faults, were the best prospects they had found to lead the Theosophical Society.)

If the Mahatmas had such power as was claimed for them, why need Madame Blavatsky have recourse to masks and bladders, paper and sliding panels?

(Those contraptions are a lie invented by Mrs. Coulomb.)

One real phenomenon recently would have convinced a whole audience of the truth of Theosophy; but immediately that was demanded, of course it was found that the Mahatmas would not work.

She appealed to her Hindu friends not to be misled.  The Hindus had accepted the Theosophical doctrine blindly.  They had no idea of where they were going; and because a few of their community joined the Theosophists hundreds followed.

Who were these Mahatmas?  Would a Mahatma, who had given up all worldly things to the contemplation of the Supreme Being, descend to such nonsense as boring holes in coins just to please Rajahs and other dupes of Madame Blavatsky?

(The Mahatmas had to produce these phenomena to draw people's attention to theosophy.)

Madame Coulomb then proceeded to explain the “phenomena,” confining herself, she said, to the truth.

She first called upon the Chairman to read, from a Theosophical pamphlet, some reasons why so many precautions were taken in selecting houses for the head quarters of the Theosophists.

Madame Blavatsky and her servants were necessary for all the phenomena, and there was another person in the secret ready at hand.

I was requisite to “specially magnetise the house” all persons being sent out excepting Madame Blavatsky and her servant; of course Madame Blavatsky, as priestess, must be present, as there were certain arrangements to be made in fixing up the panels and masks, etc.

(This aseveration is a lie, and the proof is that Mrs. Coulomb could not demonstrate that she could magnetize.)

Allusion was next made to Mr. Sinnett’s conversion to Theosophy, and an extract was read from his book giving a description of the phenomena of the falling of a letter from a Mahatma on to his table at Bombay.

This phenomenon, said Madame Coulomb, was performed by means of an ingenious trap fixed in the ceiling of the room in which Mr. Sinnett sat.

(Mr. Sinnett replied that the letter did not fall from the ceiling but that he clearly saw it materialize in mid-air, and this was also confirmed by other people who received letters in this manner.)

Then followed an account of Mr. Ramaswamy’s interview with a Mahatma in Sikkim, “the same as he had seen on the balcony of the head quarters at Bombay.”

The Bombay Mahatma, Madame Coulomb averred, was none other than M. Coulomb.

(Mr. Ramaswamy stated that Mahatma Morya spoke to him in Tamil, but Mr. Coulomb did not know Tamil. And in her pamphlet, Mrs. Coulomb also asserted that the Mahatma Kuthumi who appeared to the Hindu Keshava Pillai was Mr. Coulomb, but Mr. Pillai pointed out that the Mahatma spoke to him in Telugu, and Mr. Coulomb did not know Telugu.)

The incident of the two vases of flowers which appeared in an almirah on it being opened by Colonel Olcott, was explained.  The vases had been bought for Madame Blavatsky by Madame Coulomb for Rs. 13, and were introduced into the almirah through an otherwise unused window at the back of the almirah.

The whole business was one of panels, and traps and confederates.

(Historical documentation indicates that these phenomena were most likely authentic.)

Koot Hoomi had just come. (Here some amusement was caused by the appearance on the stage of a tall figure, with a mask well surrounded with hirsute appendages, and wearing a long white robe. About 6 1/2 feet high, it slowly passed across the stage and disappeared.)

This was Koot Hoomi, who had been shown on the roof of the bungalow at head quarters.  The mask and dress formed the identical Koot Hoomi which Mr. Sinnett had done poojah to.

Madame Coulomb next produced the mask and dress, after it had been taken off the person who had worn it on the stage, pointing out that the head was made up of bullock’s bladder, while two sheep’s bladders served the Master for chest and shoulders.

She had herself helped to make it.

(In this blog I have compiled nearly a half hundred people who claimed to have met, spoken to, and even touched the masters Kuthumi and Morya, so it is grotesque that Mrs. Coulomb claims that these apparitions were made by an accomplice of Blavatsky wearing a mask made up of bullock's bladder.)

The next phenomenon was that of the musical box, which had been worked to the great wonder of credulous natives.

Madame Coulomb had her lecture written, but here departed from her notes to converse with the audience rather than lecture.

She had been blamed she said, because she did not believe all this business.  How was she to “believe” in things she made with her own hand?  How could she pretend to believe in a sort of god she sewed up herself?

(Laughter.)

The Hindus would go back a thousand centuries if they went on believing what the Theosophists told them.  The Hindus should raise themselves by education and not superstition.  She could not understand how B. A.’s and B. L.’s, and people with all the letters of the alphabet after their names, could believe in Theosophy.

She did not believe in it, and was turned out of the Society in consequence.

(This aseceration is false, the Coulombs were expelled because they built passageways to frame Blavatsky for fraud.)

The Hindus ought to be horsewhipped for being so foolish.  She apologised for the non-performance of some of the “phenomena” she had intended to include in the entertainment, as she was not so used to it as Madame Blavatsky, and some of the apparatus did not work properly.

She had hoped to show a “shrine,” but she might be able to do so on the occasion of another entertainment.

After a few words from the Chairman, the audience dispersed at 10:15 pm.

OBSERVATIONS

Madras College Hall is a Christian college that was founded by missionaries in 1837 and where they educate young people but also seek to indoctrinate them into Christianity.

This school is located in the same city as the headquarters of the Theosophical Society, which promotes Eastern teachings, and consequently spoiled the missionaries' plan to evangelize the Indians.

Therefore, the "Christian" missionaries organized this meeting so that Mrs. Coulomb, who was Blavatsky's former housekeeper, could slander her former employer, accusing her of being a liar.

But as I have detailed in this blog, there is much more evidence that indicates the contrary and shows that the Coulombs and the missionaries acted with bad intentions.