,,told ,,from ,,sources ,,isis ,,mainly ,,very ,,theosophical1 ,,much ,,by ,,unveiled1 ,,edmund ,,being ,,garrett1 ,,the ,,author ,,story ,illustration ,,of ,,of 8,,in ,,the ,,afrikander ,,great ,,land10 ,,mahatma 8,,ibsen',s ,,hoax4 ,,brand ,,in ,,english ,,verse10 c4 ,,london3 8,,westminster ,,gazette0 ,all ,rights ,reserved4 ,,office1 ,,tudor ,,street1 ,e4,c4 ,,index4 ,,page4 ,,part ,i4--,,the ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,great ,,mahatma ,,hoax4 ,chapter ,i4-- ,introduction #e ,,ii4-- ,no ,mahatmas1 no ,members6 #h ,,iii4-- ,mystification under ,madame ,blavatsky #ac ,,iv4-- ,the ,psychical ,research ,exposure #ag ,v4-- ,mystification under ,mrs4 ,besant #bb ,,vi4-- ,enter the ,mahatma #bg ,,vii4-- ,every ,man his own ,mahatma #cb ,,viii4-- ,the ,adventures of a ,seal #cf ,,ix4-- ,the ,climax of ,theosophic ,brotherhood #db ,x4-- ,the ,mahatma ,tries ,threats #dh ,,xi4-- ,mrs4 ,besant's coup de main #ee ,,xii4-- ,a ,meeting of the 7,theosophical7 ,pickwick ,club #fj ,,xiii4-- ,questions and ,challenges #fg ,,part ,,ii--,,answers ,,and ,,theosophistries4 ,i4-- ,from ,officials #ge ,,ii4-- ,from ,prominent ,theosophists #hj ,,iii4-- ,from ,private ,members #ic ,,part ,,iii4--,a ,,general ,,rejoinder4 ,last ,shreds of the ,veil of ,isis #ii ,,postscript4 ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma at ,bay #ajh ,l',envoi3 8,the ,society upon the ,himalay0 #aag ,a ,reply from ,mr4 ,w4 ,q4 ,judge #aba ,an ,appreciation of ,mr4 ,judge's 8,reply0 #acc ,,illustrations ,,and ,,facsimiles4 ,frontispiece1 ,portrait of ,mme4 ,blavatsky #a ,portrait of ,mrs4 ,besant #hj-ha ,portrait of ,colonel ,olcott #cb-cc ,the 8,mahatma's ,seal0 #bh ,the ,envelope ,trick #ce ,facsimiles of ,mahatma ,missives1 of ,mr4 ,judge's #bj1 #cc1 #cg1 #ch1 ,handwriting1 c4 #ej1 #eb1 #ed1 #aae ,portrait ,cartoon3 8,when ,augur meets ,augur0 #aai ,illustration3 ,,madame ,,blavatsky 7,from a photograph by ,messrs4 ,elliott ,fry1 ,baker-street1 ,w47 ,,preface4 ,tourists at ,pompeii are shown a temple of ,isis4 ,the impartial cinders have preserved for us there1 not only the temple1 but the secret passage which the priests used in the production of what are nowadays called 8phenomena40 ,the following pages are designed to show the secret passage in the temple of the ,theosophic ,isis1 the goddess of ,madame ,blavatsky's 8,isis ,unveiled40 ,instead of having to wait on the pleasure of ,vesuvius1 ,i am enabled to act as cicerone while the temple is still 7for the present7 a going concern4 ,the important difference between the exposure of ,madame ,blavatsky's box of tricks by the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 and the present exposure of her successors is1 that in this case we have the high-priesthood giving evidence against itself4 ,my own part in the business is merely the humble one of seeing that they shall all satisfactorily 8get at0 one another4 ,in redacting1 out of the mass of various testimony which has fallen into my hands as clear and readable a story as ,i could present1 my main care has been to tone down the mutual insinuations4 ,talk about augur meeting augur with a smile6 ,it is the snarl which these augurs cannot disguise4 ,as for myself1 ,i have tried to render a service to truth2 but ,i cannot see1 with some good people1 that a sense of truth necessarily excludes a sense of humour4 ,mrs4 ,besant is a lady whose character ,i have often defended in the press though ,i have not always been able to accept the extremer estimates of her intellectual power4 ,she is about the only one of my dramatis person in whom the public at large 7like myself7 feel any personal interest whatever4 ,she is1 therefore1 the strongest buttress of a fabric which she has now for some time known to be rotten at the base4 ,that is why ,i have dealt more seriously with her than with these ,olcotts and ,judges4 ,the ,president is too flabby to be worth fighting2 the ,vice-,president is already thrown over by all the shrewder and honester members2 even ,mrs4 ,besant herself has now cabled her refusal to accept his latest revelation1 and discovered that his ,mahatma is indeed a fraud--when he 8deposes0 ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,my pity is saved for those humbler dupes of the rank-and-file who have trusted these others not wisely but too well4 ,from some of them ,i have seen pathetic letters2 and if any gall has got upon my pen1 it is the gall of the bitterness of their disillusion4 ,they are more widely spread1 and more worth saving from the quagmire of shams than most people suspect4 ,i need hardly remark that ,i was never a ,theosophist myself4 ,but my ,theosophical sources of information1 referred to in the course of the story1 have been growing within the ,society week by week ever since the exposure began4 ,there are no signs at present of any intention on the part of the three ,theosophic chiefs to return from the various continents to which they departed last ,july--departed simultaneously with the issue of that 8,report of an ,inquiry0 7so-called7 which is the starting-point of these chapters4 ,mrs4 ,besant has left ,australia to join ,colonel ,olcott in ,india2 ,mr4 ,judge remains just five days hence at ,new ,york4 ,and so1 taking a cue from ,mahomet and the ,mountain1 8,isis ,very much ,unveiled0 will now1 in booklet form1 go out to them4 ,f4 ,,edmund ,,garrett4 ,,isis ,,very ,,much ,,unveiled4 ,,part ,i4 ,,the ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,great ,,mahatma ,,hoax4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,introductory4 8,o my ,theosophists4444 ,what a pack of fools you are60--,,madame ,,blavatsky4 ,this will be one of the queerest stories ever unfolded in a newspaper4 ,truth1 as worshipped by the ,theosophists1 is indeed stranger than fiction4 ,but it is not here told merely for entertainment4 ,it has also a degree of importance and instructiveness measured by the growing wealth and numbers of the ,theosophical ,society1 and the personal influence of ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,to-day the ,theosophical ,society numbers some three or four thousand members in ,europe1 ,india1 and ,america4 ,it supports two or three publishing businesses and several score of magazines in various languages4 ,it boasts offices and house property in ,london1 ,new ,york1 and ,adyar4 ,it attracts donations and bequests4 ,it numbers a title or two and some money-bags4 ,it consists almost entirely of educated or semi-educated people1 many of whom are intelligent1 many sincere2 a few both4 ,and it is likely1 amid that debauch of sign-seeking and marvel-mongering into which a century rationalistic in its youth has plunged in its dotage1 to captivate an increasing number of those who are bored with the old religions and yet agog for a new4 ,it is especially to these that ,i dedicate the singular narrative which these articles are to unfold4 ,it may save them betimes a painful disillusionment1 such as it will1 ,i fear1 inflict on many who are as yet numbered among the faithful4 ,what is the situation at present8 ,everybody knows that ,madame ,blavatsky1 the original founder of the society1 supported its pretensions to an occult origin by the production of phenomena which were pronounced by careful investigators to be due to systematic trickery2 but which are still believed by the faithful to have been produced at ,madame's request1 and in support of the ,theosophic movement1 by certain ,eastern sages possessed of transcendental powers over mind and matter4 ,everybody will remember that ,mrs4 ,besant1 on whom the mantle of ,madame ,blavatsky has fallen1 made a sensational public assertion1 some time after her teacher's death1 to the effect that those 8powers0 were still at work 7they were indeed671 and that she was herself now the recipient of similar 8communications0 from the 8,mahatmas40 ,a few people are aware that as the result of a sort of split among prominent members of the society1 there was recently a ,theosophic meeting at which ,mrs4 ,besant confessed to her friends that there had been something wrong with the 8communications0 which she had been in such a hurry to announce to the public2 made certain ,theosophically obscure charges against a brother official of the society2 but persuaded those assembled to rest content with a general statement and not to inquire into the facts further--in short1 generally to hush the matter up4 ,this the ,theosophists1 being a docile folk1 conscientiously did2 and as the accused proceeded with ,mrs4 ,besant's sanction to deny1 still in general terms1 what little assertion of fact ,mrs4 ,besant herself had appeared to convey1 after which there was an affecting reconciliation3 it is not surprising that to the outside public the mystery remains exactly where it was4 ,even of the ,theosophists themselves the full facts are only known at present to a few of the inner ring4 ,in view of what has gone before1 this reticence appears misplaced2 and as circumstances have put me in possession of the facts1 ,i propose to give them the same publicity as was enjoyed by ,mrs4 ,besant's original statement4 ,i propose to show3-- ,that ,mrs4 ,besant has been bamboozled for years by bogus 8communications0 of the most childish kind1 and in so ludicrous a fashion as to deprive of all value any future evidence of hers on any question calling for the smallest exercise of observation and common sense4 ,that she would in all probability be firmly believing in the bogus documents in question to this day1 but for the growing and at last irresistible protests of some less greedily gullible ,theosophists4 ,that the bamboozling in question has been practised widely and systematically1 ever since ,madame ,blavatsky's death1 pretty much as it used to be during her lifetime4 ,that official acts of the society1 as well as those of individual members1 have been guided by these bogus messages from ,mahatmas4 ,that the exposure of them leaves the society absolutely destitute of any objective communication with the ,mahatmas who are alleged to have founded and to watch over it1 and of all other evidence of their existence4 ,that ,mrs4 ,besant has taken a leading part in hushing up the facts of this exposure1 and so securing the person whom she believes to have written the bogus documents in his tenure of the highest office but one in the society4 ,and that therefore ,mrs4 ,besant herself and all her colleagues are in so far in the position of condoning the hoax1 and are benefiting in one sense or another by the popular delusion which they have helped to propagate4 ,i shall show1 finally1 that the only alternative to this set of conclusions is another which would be even more discreditable to the personnel of the society1 and even more fatal to its continued existence on its present basis4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,no ,,mahatmas1 ,,no ,,members6 8,if there are no ,mahatmas the ,theosophical ,society is an absurdity1 and there is no use in keeping it up40--,,mrs4 ,,besant1 in ,lucifer1 ,december #ae1 #ahij4 ,before going any further ,i wish to emphasise one point4 ,this society1 as such1 must stand or fall with its 8,mahatmas40 ,it should be realised how consistent1 in one sense1 this miracle-mongering side of the ,theosophical movement has been throughout the society's history2 what an important part it has played and continues to play in attracting popular interest2 and how closely1 along one of the versatile thaumaturgist's many lines1 ,madame ,blavatsky has been followed by her present-day imitator4 ,i say this in justice to the latter1 who1 ,i think1 may fairly complain of the unkind criticisms passed on his ,mahatma-missives by colleagues who still cherish those produced under the auspices of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,it is true that the society does not officially vouch for ,mahatmas4 ,it is careful not to demand belief in them as a condition of membership2 and the shrewder members are put into a panic by anything which tends to compromise its boasted 8neutrality0 on this tender subject4 ,but we shall soon see what this 8neutrality0 is worth4 ,madame ,blavatsky taught that 8the ,masters0 are certain sages1 several hundred years old or so1 who by steeping themselves in the immemorial lore of the ,east have attained powers transcending time1 space1 and the other puny limits of ,western science4 ,by profound solitary meditation on ,things in ,general1 these old gentlemen have arrived at a sort of ,fourth ,dimension1 in which a ,soul and a ,saucer come to very much the same thing4 ,their residence was shrouded in a judicious mystery1 which ,madame declared herself under a solemn oath to preserve4 ,she at first located them in the recesses of the ,himalayas2 but one of her most zealous disciples lately stated in the ,daily ,chronicle that 8the two principal ,mahatmas now reside in an oasis of the ,desert of ,gobi40 ,at any rate1 these 8adepts0 prefer a sequestered spot1 and remain occult in the strictest sense of the word4 ,but on some points ,madame was unequivocal about them4 ,she declared that she had sat at the feet of one of them as his chela 7pupil72 that the ,theosophical ,society was founded under his distinct inspiration2 and that he and his brothers continued to intervene in its affairs4 ,the original draft of the ,society's constitution1 in fact1 like a more authentic ,veda straight from heaven1 had been 8precipitated0 in ,new ,york by an exertion of the ,masters' psychic force from ,tibet4 ,hesitating converts and dubious subscribers were determined by the same form of interposition2 and somebody or other has taken steps1 at all times of the society's history1 to ensure that the more faithful of the 8chelas0 should be comforted and encouraged as need arose1 by missives from their invisible 8guru40 7,a good1 imposing word1 8guru40 ,do you remember the terrible old man by the road in 8,david ,copperfield10 who scared ,david almost out of his wits by running out on him1 and shouting 8,guroo1 guroo1 guroo087 ,mrs4 ,besant herself has admitted that ,theosophy is to be regarded in the light of a 8revelation0 from these exalted beings1 as well as in that of a science or philosophy which can be arrived at by more ordinary means4 ,in a word1 ,theosophy without ,mahatmas would be 8,hamlet0 without the ,prince of ,denmark4 8,isis ,unveiled0 and 8,the ,secret ,doctrine0 are works which few would be found to wade through if their verbose pages were not lightened by associations of that ,white ,magic which lends a creepy interest even to such avowed works of fiction as 8,zanoni0 and 8,mr4 ,isaacs40 ,with belief in the ,mahatmas must go any believing of 8,h4,p4,b410 who swore to them2 and with 8,h4,p4,b40 and her authorities must go those two volumes of solemn farrago1 which remain the society's only contribution to philosophical knowledge4 ,for all that is new in them1 if there is anything new except the blunders1 is explicitly given on the authority of 8the ,masters40 ,the published 8,objects0 of the society run thus3-- 7#a7 ,to form the nucleus of a ,universal ,brotherhood of ,humanity without distinction of race1 creed1 sex1 caste1 or colour4 7#b7 ,to promote the study of ,aryan and other ,eastern literatures1 religions1 and sciences4 7#c7 ,a third object--pursued by a portion only of the members of the ,society--is to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the psychical powers of man4 ,it will thus be seen that the 8phenomenal0 side of the society's activities has all along had a place1 though guardedly1 even in its published ,objects4 ,in point of fact1 as ,i have elsewhere insisted1 this third ,object is the only one in pursuit of which the society has any substantial achievement to point to4 ,as to the first ,object1 my narrative will presently suggest the same sort of remark on the brotherliness of the ,universal ,brothers as has sometimes been made by scoffers on the sociability of ,socialists4 ,as to the second ,object1 it is observed that there are people who study ,oriental literatures1 and there are people who belong to the ,theosophical ,society2 but they are not the same people4 ,professor ,max ,mller has edited the only series of ,english translations of the ,sacred ,books of the ,east with which ,i am acquainted1 and ,professor ,max ,mller lately published some ,university lectures under the title of ,theosophy4 ,but his preface explained that he did so in order to rescue that respectable and ancient philosophical term from the associations of sciolism and miracle-mongering with which the ,theosophical ,society have linked it in the public mind4 ,in point of fact1 there is no reason to believe that any member of the society in ,europe could pass an examination in any ,oriental language whatever4 ,the third ,object1 on the other hand1 has led to some real achievements4 ,the society has not1 perhaps1 done much in the 8investigation0 line itself2 but members of it have certainly supplied the most astonishing 8unexplained laws of nature0 and 8psychical powers0 for investigation by other people4 ,it is this which has given it its success1 its growth1 its world-wide notoriety4 ,it is this which first attracted and convinced its best-known converts1 and it is this which has created the successive 8booms0 7as they would be called in a more purely commercial connexion7 which have produced the biggest crops of entrance subscriptions from the wonder-loving public4 ,i lay stress on this because the ,theosophists have shown a good deal of inconstancy in their treatment of the third ,object4 ,they have always worked a given marvel for all it was worth until it got somehow blown upon2 then they turn round and remark that mere material phenomena are1 after all1 of no great importance3 the thing is the study of those great spiritual ideas which1 c41 c4 ,in fact1 they want to have it both ways4 ,mr4 ,sinnett1 however1 whose 8,occult ,world0 remains the classic description of ,madame ,blavatsky as a wonder-worker1 confesses candidly in a memorial sketch of her which appeared in the ,review of ,reviews how much stress she herself laid on such things1 as long as she could get anyone to believe in them3-- ,one could no more write a memoir on trigonometry and say nothing about triangles1 than survey the strange career just concluded and ignore the marvels coruscating through it4 ,and at this early period of her enterprise he means1 before the ,psychical ,research exposure she seems to have depended more on the startling effect of surprising powers she was enabled to exhibit than on the philosophical teaching 444 which became the burden of her later utterances4 ,just so4 ,it is easy to hold your miracles cheap--after they have been found out4 ,madame ,blavatsky fell back on ,object ,two--when ,object ,three was discredited4 ,but the taste for such things1 even when it is de rigueur to describe them as 8occult applications of strictly natural laws10 is apt to grow upon any religious sect which once dabbles in them4 ,mrs4 ,besant1 too1 in due course fell a victim to the temptation to make capital out of the marvellous2 and my readers will now be prepared to put their proper value on the deprecating expressions in this connexion which now1 on the inevitable turn of the wheel1 once more begin to be heard1 and which will be redoubled1 no doubt1 when this narrative is fully before the public4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,mystification ,,under ,,madame ,,blavatsky4 8,now1 dear1 let us change the programme4444 ,he is willing to give #aj1jjj rupees 444 if only he saw a little #8phenomenon'60--,,blavatsky-,,coulomb ,,letters4 ,it is no part of my present object to enter at length into the history and character of the late ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,but a comparison of the earlier phase of the ,theosophical ,society with that of to-day is so indispensable to the right appreciation of both1 that a brief rsum 7borrowed mainly from previous sketches of my own elsewhere7 may be welcome at this point1 even to readers already familiar with the subject4 ,the ,theosophical ,society was born in ,america of ,russo-,yankee parentage4 ,helena ,petrovna ,blavatsky founded it at ,new ,york in #ahgd1 with the aid first of ,colonel ,olcott1 then a kind of journalist1 who became1 and still is1 the president1 and soon afterwards of ,william ,q4 ,judge1 then a lawyer's clerk in ,olcott's brother's office1 who became1 and still is1 the vice-president4 ,the previous career of the ,foundress had been remarkable enough1 if we accept hostile accounts of it--still more remarkable if we accept her own2 but with this ,i am not concerned4 ,from #ahgd ,madame ,blavatsky's history and that of the ,theosophical ,society are one4 ,in #ahgh the society moved its headquarters to ,india1 and in the congenial atmosphere of the mysterious ,east launched into marvels4 ,eked out by performances not unlike a drawing-room ,maskelyne and ,cook1 ,madame's rehash of ,neo-platonist and ,kabbalistic mysticism with ,buddhist terminology soon 8caught on0 with the impressionable natives4 ,it had especial attraction for the educated and ardent young ,babu1 that typical product of ,british ,india whom ,mr4 ,rudyard ,kipling has so often drawn for us4 ,but it also carried away1 thanks to ,madame's intense personality--half repulsion1 half charm--editors and officials of mark in the sceptical circles of ,anglo-,india4 ,it made ,mr4 ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett 7then editor of the ,pioneer7 turn evangelist in 8,the ,occult ,world10 and ,mr4 ,a4 ,o4 ,hume 7then ,government ,secretary7 follow suit with 8,hints on ,esoteric ,philosophy40 ,and no wonder4 ,never was a new religion more industriously supplied with miracles--those coups de main clestes1 as a witty ,frenchman has defined them4 ,wherever ,madame happened to be with a select circle of friends1 disciples1 or laymen worth impressing1 but especially in and about the bungalow at ,adyar1 near ,madras1 the society's headquarters1 the invisible ,mahatmas were never tired of exhibiting their astonishing psychic powers over ponderable matter4 ,the two who were especially at ,madame's disposal went by the names 7reverently breathed7 of ,mahatma ,morya and ,mahatma ,koot ,hoomi ,lal ,sing4 ,in the region of ,white ,magic they could do almost anything--any feat which an adroitly led-up conversation might happen to suggest4 ,but the particular lines of business 7if ,i may be allowed the phrase7 of which they made a speciality were making objects appear and disappear3 in ,madame's jargon1 integrating and disintegrating them by a psychical command over astral vortices of atoms4 ,sitting in their studies #b1jjj miles away in ,tibet1 they could1 by a mere effort of will1 project an astral epistle1 or an astral body1 or an astral cup and saucer1 into the middle of an applauding circle at afternoon tea or picnic in ,madras or ,bombay4 ,showers of roses fluttered down from the ceiling4 ,invisible bells tinkled from none knew where4 ,all kinds of tricks were played with ,madame's interminable cigarettes4 ,sketches and treatises were psychically 8precipitated0 on to blank paper1 nay1 sometimes the very stationery was created out of nothing to receive them4 ,such inferior sketches1 too1 and such twaddling1 such very twaddling1 treatises6 ,one disciple--,damodar ,k4 ,mavalankar1 a youth passionately ambitious of fame--even advanced to the acquirement of some of these extraordinary powers in his own person4 ,merely to have seen the astral body of a ,mahatma became in a manner a cheap accomplishment4 ,damodar boasted that he had once or twice projected his own--slipping spook-like through a brick wall4 ,most of these marvels1 as ,i have hinted1 required the mise en scne of the ,adyar bungalow4 ,here ,madame and the ,colonel1 and a few favoured chelas1 had apartments4 8,our domestic imbeciles0 and 8our familiar muffs0 the latter are termed in one of the letters attributed to ,madame4 ,here1 too1 in the 8,occult ,room0 adjoining ,madame's bed-chamber1 hung the famous 8,shrine10 a sort of cupboard containing a fancy portrait in oils of the condescending ,koot4 ,this became associated with as many marvels as the image of a medival saint4 ,suppose you are an intending ,theosophist--a hesitating convert1 especially a moneyed one1 like ,mr4 ,jacob ,sassoon4 ,you call at headquarters4 ,you are shown round by ,damodar1 or by ,m4 or ,madame ,coulomb1 librarian and secretary4 ,with natural curiosity you ask to gaze upon the ,master's features4 ,you are told of his indulgent concessions to deserving neophytes seeking for a sign4 ,when the cupboard has been shut again1 you are asked if there is anything you particularly desire from the ,master4 ,you indicate1 not unnaturally1 a message4 ,it is about even chances whether the said message--reading generally not unlike ,mr4 ,martin ,tupper in his more oracular vein--is discovered in the cupboard immediately on reopening the door1 or descends from the ceiling on to the top of your head4 ,the fame of these things1 set out in the driest possible detail in the pages of 8,the ,occult ,world10 aroused a furore of curiosity in this country1 where people were just beginning to take a new interest in questions of psychical research4 ,it was about the time when family circles played the 8willing game10 and sat in the dark trying to see purple flames coming out of a magnet4 ,quick to seize the psychological moment1 ,madame ,blavatsky came to ,england and 8starred0 ,london in the season of #ahhd4 ,in her train came ,colonel ,olcott and ,mohini ,l4 ,chatterji4 ,mohini1 a ,brahmin graduate of the ,university of ,calcutta1 shone like ,damodar with a lustre not all reflected4 ,he1 it was whispered1 was a chela of some attainments4 ,he was not to be touched4 ,he held his hands politely behind him when being introduced4 ,there was a splendour as of some astral oil about his dusky countenance and thick black locks2 while his big1 dark eyes were as piercing as those of ,madame herself4 ,men gazed on ,mohini with awe1 and ladies with enthusiasm4 ,in the background hovered the recording ,sinnett4 ,in spite of the disappointing fact that the ,london air proved unfavourable to miracles1 the tale of the ,indian ones was greedily drunk in1 and ,theosophy became the fashionable fad4 ,society people took to calling themselves ,esoteric ,buddhists3 some were enrolled as chelas at short notice4 ,the ,theosophists went the round of the ,london drawing-rooms1 penetrated to provincial towns1 were not unheard of at the ,universities4 ,madame rolled cigarettes and swore and talked black magic in the rooms of well-known ,cambridge dons1 till the hair of undergraduate listeners stood on end4 ,those were the days when a set of enthusiastic pass-men lived 8the higher life0 on a course of ,turkish baths and a date diet2 while three unlucky youths at ,trinity nearly poisoned themselves with hasheesh in an attempt to project their astral bodies1 and were only recovered at midnight by a relentless tutor armed with the college authority and a stomach-pump4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,the ,,psychical ,,research ,,exposure4 8,either she is a messenger from the ,mahatmas or else she is a fraud4 ,in either case the ,theosophical ,society would have had no existence without her40--,,mrs4 ,,besant in ,lucifer1 ,december #ae1 #ahij4 ,at the time of the ,blavatsky season in ,london and ,cambridge1 the lately-founded ,psychical ,research ,society1 which had close connexion with the ,university town1 was spoiling for something to investigate1 and it decided to investigate ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,madame and her friends were delighted with this testimony to the stir which they had made1 and entered into the thing with every hope of converting the ,researchers4 ,were they not all ready to asseverate that such-and-such things had indeed happened----in ,india8 ,whatever ,theosophists may now say1 the #8,s4,p4,r4' was certainly not a hostile tribunal4 ,its very existence and objects were a challenge to the average educated prejudice which assumes that nothing can ever happen in nature which is not accounted for in current scientific textbooks4 ,the society had itself vouched for 8telepathy10 and coquetted with 8phantasms of the living02 it has since bestowed a statistical respectability on the common ghost4 ,to the miracles of ,adyar some of its members had lent a more than friendly ear4 ,one of the most prominent had actually been dubbed a chela4 ,dr4 ,hodgson 7now secretary of the ,s4,p4,r4 ,american ,branch71 who conducted the ,indian part of the inquiry1 declared that whatever prepossessions he may have had 8were distinctly in favour of occultism and ,madame ,blavatsky40 ,when ,mr4 ,hodgson got to ,india he found people very much excited over some highly suspicious and suggestive letters which had just appeared in a ,madras paper1 communicated by the ,madame ,coulomb already spoken of1 and alleged by her to have been written by ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,mr4 ,hodgson had to inquire on the spot3 first1 into the genuineness of these letters2 secondly1 into that of the missives alleged to have been precipitated by ,mahatmas2 thirdly1 into the credibility of the evidence about other marvels given before the ,psychical ,committee by ,madame herself1 ,colonel ,olcott1 ,mr4 ,sinnett1 and ,mohini4 ,he inquired and investigated for three months2 and his report1 with copious facsimiles and plans1 is on record in ,part ,,ix4 of the ,s4,p4,r4 ,proceedings 7,december1 #ahhe74 ,the allegation of the ,coulombs was that the whole series of miracles had been a matter of vulgar trickery1 some of which they had been employed to carry out for ,madame4 ,during ,madame's absence in ,europe1 the people at ,adyar had quarrelled with them and dismissed the pair1 partly for having at various times hinted to outsiders the secrets which they now proceeded to make a clean breast of4 ,the origin of their close relationship with ,madame ,blavatsky is obscure4 ,she and ,madame ,coulomb had been associated at ,cairo in the seventies in some 8page0 which the foundress of ,theosophy had expressed a wish to have 8torn out of the book of my life40 ,by the foundress's own account1 this torn-out page was such as made it odd that she should pitch on the ,coulombs when in want of fit guardians for the sacred ,shrine4 ,mrs4 ,besant once expounded to me a theory that ,madame did this1 with the full foreknowledge that frauds would follow and would discredit her and her ,masters1 partly from a sublime benevolence towards the wicked ,coulombs1 partly because it was necessary that she should herself 8have her ,calvary40 ,it was the same combined motives1 no doubt1 which led ,madame ,blavatsky to act more than once exactly as if ,madame ,coulomb had some secret hold over her4 ,an agitated telegram from ,paris1 however1 failed to heal the present rupture2 and the result was the giving to the press of a long series of letters in ,madame's hand1 teeming with veiled instructions to the ,coulombs which fitted in at every point with their accounts of jugglery at ,adyar4 ,the ,coulomb story tallied also with equal accuracy with such outside circumstantial evidence as happened to touch it4 ,did ,madame ,coulomb allege that a 8miracle0 was worked by the substitution of one vase for another exactly similar1 the shop she named proved to have record of the purchase of just such an exact pair just before the date of the miracle4 ,did she make a similar statement about a 8miraculous0 shower of roses1 the like corroboration would be forthcoming4 ,did her husband describe the famous 8,shrine0 cupboard as a trick-cabinet with three sliding panels in the back1 the panels had to be admitted1 and explained by ,madame as 8for convenience of packing in case of removal40 ,it had hung against a hidden recess in the wall--there was the recess1 the coincidence had to be deplored as unfortunate4 ,on the other side of that recess1 in ,madame's bedroom1 the sideboard had a false back--that1 too1 was to be seen1 and the ,theosophists must content themselves with alleging that ,m4 ,coulomb had made it so after the miracles1 and in the nick of time for the inquiry4 ,as for the scribbled instructions and letters in which some of these arrangements were clearly hinted at1 ,madame was driven to the peculiar course of admitting some letters and even parts of letters and denying the rest4 ,this1 by the way1 was exactly what she had done about a similar incriminating letter on the subject of a trick 8missive10 which was planted on ,mr4 ,c4 ,c4 ,massey1 in #ahhb2 the discovery of which led to the resignation of that gentleman and others from the ,society4 ,as for the evidence of ,madame and her friends about special 8phenomena0 it had already so melted away under the application of ordinary evidential canons as to leave the field clear for the ,coulomb theory4 ,the 8tests0 with which in some cases the ,mahatmas had insisted on supplementing the credibility of their witnesses were as worthless and disingenuous as all the rest4 ,last1 what of the ,mahatma missives8--precipitated from the ,himalayas1 speaking in the persons and signed with the superscriptions of ,mahatma ,morya and ,koot ,hoomi ,lal ,sing4 ,these precious documents1 which had been rained among the faithful with a copiousness almost amounting to garrulity1 had been a little discredited already4 ,the prosy and sometimes illiterate verbiage of the ,tibetan sages was a severe trial to the enthusiasm of the more critical ,theosophists even where it was apparently original4 ,but it was too much of a good thing when a long doctrinal treatise1 which ,koot ,hoomi had addressed to ,mr4 ,sinnett1 was found to be a gross plagiarism from a lecture by an ,american gentleman which had been reported in a ,spiritualist paper a few months before4 ,nor did it mend matters when1 after considerable delay1 the illustrious ,koot condescended to the newspaper arena1 and wrote--we mean precipitated--an explanation which for its evasiveness and general 8thinness0 is probably unique even in the records of convicted plagiarists4 ,but now came worse4 ,for the same scrutiny which had identified ,madame ,blavatsky as the writer of the unblushing letters to ,madame ,coulomb now found exactly the same characteristics of expression1 turns of phrase1 and solecisms in spelling in the compositions of ,koot ,hoomi ,lal ,sing4 ,as to handwriting1 it was shown that the styles of the two august correspondents had been evolved gradually by differentiation from ,madame's ordinary hand4 ,the facsimiles in the report deal only with 8,k4,h40 documents2 but the case against those of 8,m40 is just as strong4 ,i showed a mass of 8,m40 script1 which lies before me as ,i write1 belonging to the earliest period1 to a ,theosophist well acquainted with ,madame's writing1 and in perfect innocence he at once took it for hers4 ,at that time almost the only difference between the two ,mahatma scripts was that one affected red pencil or ink1 and the other blue4 ,illustration3 ,,facsimile ,,of ,,mahatma ,m4',s ,,signature4 ,,from ,,an ,,early ,,blavatsky ,,missive4 ,in a word1 it was declared that ,koot ,hoomi ,lal ,sing and ,mahatma ,morya were the same person1 and that person ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,when a missive from the ,himalayas floated down into the neophyte's lap1 it was ,madame's own hand which had prepared it1 though it was the no less useful if humbler function of ,m4 ,coulomb to jerk it from the ceiling at the critical moment with a string1 or deftly pass it through the sliding panel into the closed ,shrine4 ,passing by the committee's report on ,madame ,blavatsky herself1 what of her leading disciples8 ,of ,colonel ,olcott it was declared proven that in a ,theosophical connexion he was either unable to describe anything as he really saw it1 or else to see anything as it really was4 ,mohini and ,mr4 ,sinnett were disposed of in much the same way4 ,damodar--the astral ,damodar--was charged explicitly as a confederate of ,madame in missive-manufacturing4 ,mohini1 the fascinating saint1 hurried back to ,india with a damaged halo4 ,mr4 ,sinnett has since sprung to fame as a director--not of the regeneration of mankind1 but of the ,hansard ,union4 ,damodar announced that he was off to find his guru in the ,himalayas1 disappeared1 and has not been seen since by his friends4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 having been left out in the cold when the hegira to ,india took place1 lived to fight another day1 as we shall see4 ,mrs4 ,besant had not yet loomed on the ,theosophical horizon4 ,madame ,blavatsky herself left ,england and travelled till the storm had blown over4 ,to the ,s4,p4,r4 ,report no serious answer has ever appeared from that day to this2 and it fairly killed the miraculous phenomena4 ,one class of them has reappeared under the gis of ,mrs4 ,besant2 but poor indeed1 as we shall see1 is the ,late ,besantine period of mythological architecture beside its gorgeous predecessor4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,mystification ,,under ,,mrs4 ,,besant4 8,i look to possible developments of her ,theosophic views with the very gravest misgiving40--,,charles ,,bradlaugh1 ,national ,reformer1 ,june1 #ahhi4 8,the lady doth protest too much1 methinks40--,,hamlet4 ,i have said that the ,psychical ,research ,report put a stop to most of the ,theosophic miracles4 ,but there were obvious reasons why the ,mahatmas should continue to 8precipitate0 letters1 even when the scoffs of a hard1 cold world drove them to restrain their wonder-working propensities in other respects4 ,the business was so beautifully safe and simple4 ,it defied 8tests40 ,the task of proving that a scribble in red chalk on a scrap of paper found in a disciple's pocket is not the authentic handwriting of an inaccessible teacher1 whose devotees have doubtless the best reason for knowing that he can never be produced as a witness--this is a task from which the boldest sceptic might well recoil4 ,but what of the actual process of 8precipitation08 ,alas1 it appears to be surrounded by disappointingly obscure conditions4 ,it is not given to see the scrap of psychically-manufactured notepaper glimmer into being and become cream-laid out of nothing before one's eyes1 nor to watch the mystic characters form themselves in lines along it like the writing on ,belshazzar's wall4 ,it is always the finished result that is discovered ready-made1 and this precisely resembles what is produced if you or ,i write it in the ordinary way4 ,the 8precipitation10 in fact1 is a deed of darkness1 and can only be done concealed from view1 just as mediums are wont to declare at a sance that the spirits are prevented from manifesting themselves by the mere presence of a sceptical inquirer with a box of wax vestas4 ,perhaps it is another side of the same retiring instinct which impels the ,mahatmas to live only in parts of the earth not penetrated to by vulgar explorers4 ,theosophists sometimes speak as if they had seen the actual precipitation2 but cross-examine any credible witness1 and he will reluctantly admit that he has not4 ,this is a point to note and bear in mind4 ,the ,mahatma missive only becomes a matter of difficulty when it has to be made to drop from the ceiling into the recipient's hands1 or spirited into a cupboard found one moment before to be as empty as ,mother ,hubbard's4 ,those were stirring days for ,theosophic neophytes when that kind of thing was a common incident4 ,but1 ichabod6 that glory is departed6 ,its departure precisely synchronised with that of the nimble-fingered ,coulombs4 ,their graceless avowal that both special plant and skilful confederates were required for this kind of miracle may have been a gross calumny on their employer2 but the fact remains that with the removal of the panel-backed ,shrine at ,adyar and the dismissal of its custodians1 the ,masters abruptly ceased to resort to these more surprising methods of arial post4 ,occasionally they would make the assurance of the faithful doubly sure by artlessly 8precipitating0 the message inside a sealed envelope 7a species of 8test0 of which more anon72 but for the most part they were content to endorse letters passing through the ordinary post or discovered by the recipient in his blotting-pad under circumstances equally consistent with a commonplace human agency4 ,such was the state of things till ,madame ,blavatsky's death4 ,but then came the rub4 ,what the ,psychical ,research ,committee held to be proven was that ,madame had written practically the whole body of these documents with her own hand4 ,what1 then1 if after her decease in ,may1 #ahia1 the same missives continued to be received8 ,before the controversy which sprang up again over her ashes had well died down1 the public was asked to believe that this was indeed the case1 on the word of a woman whom it believed incapable of making a statement of the kind without having first proved it to the uttermost and found it true4 ,speaking in the ,hall of ,science on ,august #cj1 #ahia1 three months after ,madame ,blavatsky's death1 ,mrs4 ,besant said3-- 8,you have known me in this hall for sixteen and a half years4 ,you have never known me tell a lie4 7#8,no1 never1' and loud cheers47 ,i tell you that since ,madame ,blavatsky left ,i have had letters in the same handwriting as the letters which she received4 7,sensation47 ,unless you think dead persons can write1 surely that is a remarkable fact4 ,you are surprised2 ,i do not ask you to believe me2 but ,i tell you it is so4 ,all the evidence ,i had of the existence of ,madame ,blavatsky's teachers of the so-called abnormal powers came through her4 ,it is not so now4 ,unless even sense can at the same time deceive me1 unless a person can at the same time be sane and insane1 ,i have exactly the same certainty for the truth of the statements ,i have made as ,i know that you are here4 ,i refuse to be false to the knowledge of my intellect and the perceptions of my reasoning faculties40 ,it is no wonder that the reporter had to interpolate the word 8,sensation40 ,the audience was one rather of ,freethinkers than of ,theosophists2 the hall itself was identified with previous rhetorical successes of ,mrs4 ,besant as the prophetess of ,materialism4 ,the thing was dramatically done1 and was well calculated to impress on the outside public the fact that the personal reputation of ,mrs4 ,besant for intelligence and honesty was now pledged to the genuineness of ,theosophical wonder-working4 ,in an interview in the ,pall ,mall ,gazette of ,september #a1 #ahia1 ,mrs4 ,besant carried her statement still further1 and pledged herself definitely to 8precipitation03-- 8#8,these letters are from a ,mahatma whose pupil you are8' 8,mrs4 ,besant nodded assent4 8#8,did they just come through the post8' our representative asked4 8,but here he had hit the mystery4 8#8,no1 ,i did not receive the letters through the post1' the lady replied4 #8,they did come in what some would call a miraculous fashion1 though to us ,theosophists it is perfectly natural4 ,the letters ,i receive from the ,mahatmas are 8precipitated40' 8#8,how 8precipitated08' 444 8,mrs4 ,besant was quite ready to explain4 8#8,well1' she said1 #8you can hear voices by means of the telephone1 and receive a telegram which is actually written by the needle1 not merely indicated by its ticks4 ,the ,mahatmas go a step further4 ,with their great knowledge of natural laws they are able to communicate with us without using any apparatus at all4' 8#8,but can you give me any details of the precipitation8' 8#8,no2 the ,mahatmas only communicate with pupils who will not unwisely divulge anything4 ,you can easily imagine the reason why this knowledge should be kept so secret4 ,were it possessed by a criminal it might be put to dreadful purposes4' 444 8,mrs4 ,besant repeated that she had made her startling statement in the lecture deliberately1 adding that there were many persons who knew her and would accept her statements as true1 but who might not believe in ,madame ,blavatsky1 because1 ,mrs4 ,besant was careful to add1 they had not enjoyed the advantage of knowing that lady40 99 99 99 99 99 ,mrs4 ,besant did not overrate the extent of her public credit4 ,she was implicitly believed by many who would not have troubled their heads at all over an assertion of ,madame ,blavatsky's4 ,a 8boom0 was the immediate result--the second big boom in the society's history4 ,mrs4 ,besant had the satisfaction of seeing her statement honoured with a salvo of leading articles4 8,can it be10 the ,daily ,chronicle exclaimed1 8that there are things in heaven and earth which philosophy and science have not yet dreamed of80--7,daily ,chronicle1 ,august #ca47 ,and it opened its columns to a flood of correspondence on ,theosophy and things occult4 ,day after day a crop of letters attested the public appetite for the marvellous4 ,the ,theosophical ,society has a sort of ,press department1 the business of which is to get up sham fights in newspapers in order to advertise the society2 and whenever the excitement seemed to flag some member or other contributed a screed which revived it4 ,the time was well chosen4 ,it was the 8silly season10 and under cover of ,mrs4 ,besant more cautious papers than the ,chronicle were glad to let the ,mahatma divide attention with the sea-serpent and the giant gooseberry4 ,the ,theosophical ,society reaped a fine harvest2 though some complaints were heard that the new inquirers after truth addressed themselves more to the marvels which had attracted them than to the philosophisings to which ,mrs4 ,besant had designed the marvels as a bait4 ,however1 if their interest was tepid on this side of ,theosophy1 their curiosity on the other side achieved small gratification4 ,in ,mrs4 ,besant's words1 8,the ,mahatmas only communicate with pupils who will not unduly divulge anything40 ,but1 as we have seen1 what ,mrs4 ,besant did divulge was enough to convey to the public certain definite impressions3 to wit1 that she had received letters in a certain handwriting1 which did not come through the post1 but 8in what some would call a miraculous fashion10 and that these letters were1 in fact1 8precipitated0 by the ,mahatmas out of thin air4 ,also that she had satisfied herself of the above propositions by evidential processes as certain as the assurance of her own 8sense0 and 8reasoning faculty0 that her audience were before her as she spoke4 ,and now let us see what were the facts on the strength of which ,mrs4 ,besant made these astonishing statements4 ,so far1 ,i have been occupied necessarily with putting on record matters of history open to any careful student of the subject4 ,from this point ,i shall be dealing with a side of ,isis which up to this moment has been kept closely veiled indeed4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,enter ,,the ,,mahatma4 8,answer the question ,i've put you so oft4444 ,give us a colloquy1 something to quote4 ,make the world prick up its ear60--,,master ,,hugues1 of ,saxegotha4 8,thus has a ,master spoken1 and 444 the word of a guardian of the ,esoteric ,philosophy is authoritative40--8,introduction to ,theosophy10 by ,,annie ,,besant4 ,madame ,blavatsky died ,may #h1 #ahia4 ,who was to succeed her as hierophant of the mysteries of ,tibet8 ,there was none among her disciples who could aspire to fill that rle with anything resembling the hierophantine proportions of ,madame herself4 ,but ,mrs4 ,besant1 whose conversion had been much advertised to the public1 was undoubtedly more fitted to pass muster as a prophetess than any of the others4 ,the brief and late character of her acquaintance with ,madame was rather in her favour than otherwise1 since it had left undisturbed in her ardent mind a loftier conception of ,madame's ethical character than had been affected for some time past by some who had known her longer4 ,mrs4 ,besant was even understood to be in some sense designate for the succession4 ,officially1 however1 she was subordinate to ,colonel ,olcott1 the president1 then in ,india1 and to ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 vice-president1 and head of the faithful in ,america4 ,it soon appeared that the latter gentleman1 at any rate1 did not mean his claims to ,theosophical prominence to be ignored4 ,in reply to the announcement of 8,h4,p4,b4's0 death 7,theosophists are wont to refer to their foundress1 as the ancient ,hebrews to the ,deity1 under the guise of initials7 ,mr4 ,judge promptly cabled to 8,do nothing till ,i come40 ,avenue-road was at first inclined to resent this ukase4 ,but ,mr4 ,judge soon put a new face on matters when he arrived4 ,that was a time of sore searchings of heart4 ,with 8,h4,p4,b4's0 death the society's one link with its unseen guides was broken1 and 8,masters0 had let a fortnight elapse without giving any sign that they survived the decease of their high-priestess4 ,william ,q4 ,judge was to change all that4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,cabinet0 ,,missive4 ,on the evening of ,may #bc 7he lost no time after his arrival71 ,mr4 ,judge suggested to ,mrs4 ,besant that as they were in sore need of some assurance from ,masters1 they should repeat an old recipe of ,madame ,blavatsky's for bringing those august beings to a point4 ,he proposed that they should write a certain question on paper1 put it in an envelope1 shut that into a certain cabinet in 8,h4,p4,b4's0 room at ,avenue-road1 and invite the ,masters to 8precipitate0 replies4 ,mrs4 ,besant agreed4 ,mr4 ,judge himself wrote the question and closed the envelope1 and put it into the cabinet4 ,mrs4 ,besant did not stay in the room through the process of incubation4 ,for 8,he that hath ears to hear1 let him hear10 the ,theosophic scripture reads1 8,he that hath eyes to see1 let him put his ,head in a ,bag40 ,after due delay1 ,mr4 ,judge took the letter out again4 ,on his showing it to ,mrs4 ,besant1 judge of that lady's emotion at the discovery that at the end of the question stood the word 8,,yes0 traced apparently in red chalk2 also1 a little lower down1 the words 8,,and ,,hope10 with the impression1 in black carbon1 of a peculiar seal1 representing a cryptograph ,m4 7,a simple way to produce this appearance is to hold a seal in candle-smoke and impress with that47 ,illustration ,illustration ,,the 8,,mahatma',s ,,seal40 ,,impression ,,showing ,,cryptograph4 ,what need of further witness that the thing was the result of psychic 8precipitation0 from ,madame ,blavatsky's 8,mahatma ,m10 away in ,tibet8 ,if that gentleman had not1 in his communications to ,madame1 been observed to use a seal1 still he certainly used to scribble them in the same sort of red chalk1 and he certainly used to sign himself similarly ,m4 ,note one point here4 ,it was not ,mahatma ,m1 but ,mahatma ,k4,h41 who used to be the more prolix correspondent in ,madame ,blavatsky's time1 and whose handwriting appeared accordingly in copious specimens and comparisons with her own1 in the published ,report of the ,psychical ,research ,committee4 ,no specimens were there given of the writing which ,madame called ,mahatma ,m's3 there were but a few scraps of it available4 ,when1 therefore1 ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge conjured a letter from him 7,i use 8conjure0 in its old-fashioned sense1 of course71 it was not possible for ,mrs4 ,besant to compare it with any published specimens of the same script 7with private specimens ,i fancy she had never been favoured71 even if the extremely scanty and hurried nature of the message1 and the temper of ,mrs4 ,besant's mind had not in themselves forbidden any such partial measure of verification4 ,it is true that a few months later ,mrs4 ,besant felt able to affirm with the utmost confidence 7as we have seen7 that the handwriting was 8the same as that which ,madame ,blavatsky was accused of producing10 and this at first sight appears to refer to the 8,k4,h40 script1 which afforded the gravamen of ,mr4 ,hodgson's ,report4 ,in that case what ,mrs4 ,besant asserted was that the writing was the same as that which was not even supposed to be by the same person4 99 99 99 99 99 ,next morning1 there was a meeting of the 8,inner ,group10 at which ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge at once took up that position of ,senior ,chela to which his services as postman of the ,mahatmas so well entitled him4 ,there is some oath or other of equality with fellow-members and of obedience to its head which members of this ,esoteric ,section have to take3 ,mr4 ,judge pointed out that it was quite unnecessary for him to take this oath4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,note ,,the ,,seal0 ,,missive4 ,to which end he produced not only a letter from ,madame ,blavatsky1 but one from ,mahatma ,m1 which he had personally received in ,america1 he said4 ,its contents he did not feel able to communicate to others who could not yet aspire to be on corresponding terms with the ,great ,unseen3 what he did show was the signature and seal impression 7which exactly resembled that 8precipitated0 in the cabinet overnight74 ,he specially begged those present to take note of the seal2 8for10 said ,mr4 ,judge1 8they might have need to recognise it on some future occasion40 ,with eager eyes they all obeyed2 each aspiring young chela fluttered with the hope 7for ,mrs4 ,besant had noised the cabinet business about1 and it seemed to rain missives7 that he too might soon be blest with one4 ,mr4 ,judge is a man of some foresight4 ,but that was not precisely what he had in his mind when he bade them note the seal4 99 99 99 99 99 ,three days after this 7,may #bg7 there was a meeting of the ,esoteric ,section ,council1 to decide how the section should in future be governed1 its head being gone4 ,it had been expected that ,mrs4 ,besant1 having assumed the rle of ,teacher and ,expounder in succession to her friend1 would succeed her also as official head of the ,esoteric ,section ,council4 ,but ,william ,q4 ,judge had drafted a plan under which the ,council was to dissolve1 and its powers be delegated to ,mrs4 ,besant and himself as joint 8,outer ,heads0--the ,inner ,heads being1 of course1 ,mr4 ,judge's august correspondents in the ,himalayas4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,judge',s ,,plan ,,is ,,right0 ,,missive4 ,mrs4 ,besant1 it seems1 was more than content1 in view of ,mr4 ,judge's newly-developed occult powers1 with a position of 8high collateral glory40 ,but it was hardly to be expected that the scheme should not be exposed to some discussion and criticism from other members of the ,council4 ,at any rate1 the ,mahatma evidently deemed the occasion to be a dignus vindice nodus4 ,for what happened8 ,as ,mrs4 ,besant1 who took the chair and expounded the new scheme1 was turning over her papers on the table1 there fluttered out a little slip of paper1 at which she just glanced1 and was about to put it by1 when ,william ,q4 ,judge pointedly asked her what it was8 ,the slip of paper bore the words in red pencil-- 8,,judge',s ,,plan ,,is ,,right40 ,signature and seal as before4 ,tableau6 ,round it went from hand to hand4 ,none questioned that paper and script alike had just been 8precipitated0 into their midst by 8the ,master40 ,thanks to ,mr4 ,judge's foresight1 as we have just seen1 all were in a position to recognise the seal4 ,under these circumstances discussion was obviously out of place4 ,william ,q4 ,judge at once went and took his seat at ,mrs4 ,besant's side1 and 8,judge's plan0 was unanimously adopted6 99 99 99 99 99 ,it will hardly be believed1 but it is1 nevertheless1 a fact1 which ,i challenge ,mrs4 ,besant to contradict1 that when that lady1 on a public platform1 pledged the evidence of her senses1 her sanity1 and her reasoning faculties1 c41 c41 to having received messages from the ,mahatmas--messages which1 as she assured the subsequent interviewer1 came 8not through the post0 but by 8precipitation0 8in a way which some people would call miraculous0--these two documents1 produced as has been described1 and only these1 were all the pices justificatives that she had to go upon4 ,but the vice-president's ,mahatma had only made a beginning4 ,there was more1 much more1 to come4 ,it will be my privilege to present the reader1 in succeeding ,chapters1 with facsimiles of several of his more interesting compositions4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,every ,,man ,,his ,,own ,,mahatma4 8,the ,t4,s4 is the agency chosen by the ,masters 444 but ,they do not directly guide1 save where guidance is strenuously sought and eagerly obeyed40--8,introduction to ,theosophy10 by ,,annie ,,besant4 ,it was not surprising that the ,vice-,president1 finding the ,mahatma so complaisant1 should hasten to exploit him to the utmost4 ,the resumption of the broken communication could not fail to restore the confidence of doubting disciples both in the society itself and in the favoured chela1 who could not only1 ,glendower-like1 8call spirits from the vasty deep10 but also1 to the satisfaction of ,theosophic ,hotspurs1 8make them come40 ,forthwith letters began to be showered about among such persons as it was considered desirable to keep up to the mark1 in which the sentiments of ,william ,q4 ,judge were endorsed by the ,mahatma4 ,of those two it might truly be said that 8their unanimity was wonderful40 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,masters ,,watch ,,us0 ,,missive4 ,one of the first recipients was ,mr4 ,bertram ,keightley1 a gentleman whose services to ,theosophy have been of a material kind1 and whose zeal has been rewarded more than once by gratifying marks of approbation from ,tibet4 ,in fact1 his experience1 like that of ,countess ,wachtmeister and some other liberal friends of the society1 suggests the formula3 8,put a donation in the slot and you will receive a revelation40 ,for the ,mahatma obligingly honours the bills of the society4 ,illustration3 ,,colonel ,h4 ,s4 ,,olcott4 7,from a photograph by ,messrs4 ,elliott ,fry1 ,baker-street1 ,w47 ,under date ,may #bi1 #ahia1 the ,vice-,president wrote to ,mr4 ,keightley from ,avenue-road a ,pauline epistle1 in which he says3-- ,fear not1 ,bert6 ,masters watch us1 and since ,may #h have sent word here in writing4 ,close beside the signature of 8,william ,q4 ,judge0 appeared in solemn confirmation the ,m signature and seal impression--8precipitated10 doubtless1 during transit among ,her ,majesty's mails4 ,as the recipient was at ,adyar1 ,madras1 and therefore1 some thousands of miles nearer the home of the ,mahatmas than ,mr4 ,judge1 it will be seen to what roundabout methods the ,master was compelled in order to maintain his determination to have his messages ushered into the world in some connexion or other with the one favoured disciple4 99 99 99 99 99 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,judge ,,is ,,the ,,friend0 ,,missive4 ,another recipient was important for other reasons than ,mr4 ,keightley4 ,babula1 a low-caste ,hindu1 formerly ,madame ,blavatsky's personal servant1 was at this time in a position of trust at the ,theosophic quarters at ,adyar4 ,since then he has got into trouble with his employers1 like others of ,madame's former confidants4 ,but in ,july1 #ahia1 ,babula was still in authority at ,adyar1 and the vice-president thought it worth while to convince him that he1 ,judge1 was his friend4 ,a letter1 dated some weeks later than ,mr4 ,keightley's1 from ,avenue-road1 terminated with the signature1 ,your friend1 ,,william ,q4 ,,judge4 ,illustration ,under the words 8,your friend10 the ever-officious ,mahatma has drawn a line1 at the end of which he has solemnly inscribed 8,,yes10 and his signature and seal4 ,the seal is1 as usual1 impressed in black carbon2 the writing is in red pencil2 and ,judge's signature is in ordinary ink4 ,pity that the famous ,mr4 ,codlin had not a ,mahatma to back him thus conveniently in his asseverations that 8,codlin's the friend1 not ,short40 99 99 99 99 99 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,master ,,agrees0 ,,missive4 ,parallel to this corroborative use of the ,mahatma's seal1 though belonging to a different period of the story1 was the case of another letter of ,mr4 ,judge's to a brother official1 in which1 after expressing certain views1 ,mr4 ,judge used these words3-- ,i believe the ,master agrees with me1 in which case ,i will ask him to put his seal here4 ,plump on the written word came the seal4 ,inimitable ,mahatma6 99 99 99 99 99 ,mrs4 ,besant's previous 8communications10 as we have seen1 did not come through the post4 ,but during that ,july ,mr4 ,judge seems to have left ,mrs4 ,besant's side for the express purpose of enabling his ,mahatma to give her an exhibition of his powers in this special line of 8precipitation0 during postal transit4 ,july #ba1 #ahia1 was the date of one such performance2 which included signature and seal complete4 ,i pass over this and some equally commonplace missives1 which ,mrs4 ,besant received at various dates1 all equally under ,mr4 ,judge's auspices1 in order to deal more fully with one particular one in which she was favoured with a 8test condition40 ,for lo6 on cutting the envelope open in the usual way1 along the top edge1 ,mrs4 ,besant observed a line or so of pencilling inside written partly on the upper flap1 partly on the under flaps1 of the adhesive part of the envelope4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,envelope ,,trick0 ,,missive4 ,here was proof indeed of powers occult6 ,for this must obviously have been written or 8precipitated0 after the envelope was stuck up3 and there it was inside6 ,for a ,mahatma1 of course1 it was as easy to produce it so as in any other way4 ,he might do it in mere artless absence of mind4 ,ingenuous ,mrs4 ,besant6 ,unfortunately for the test1 the feat is equally easy for any commonplace mortal--though in his case it would hardly be done quite artlessly4 ,the trick was first shown me by a student of 8occultism0--a ,theosophist1 in fact4 ,but it is a very old affair1 and can be found in any book of parlour magic4 ,it might be called 8,every ,man his own ,mahatma40 ,an envelope has four flaps4 ,three of these are stuck together in manufacture1 but with a much less adhesive sort of gum than that which is put on the remaining flap to be stuck up by the user4 ,illustration ,illustration ,,envelope1 ,,inside ,,view4 ,,outside ,,view1 ,,showing ,,insertion4 ,it is generally quite easy to insert a penknife behind the bottom flap1 as in the accompanying cut1 and so make entrance and exit for a slip of paper4 ,on this slip you write the words backwards1 as they would appear in a looking-glass1 using a black pencil of the 8copying0 kind4 ,you then pass the slip in1 push and shake it into the right position1 press till you feel sure the inside flaps have taken the impression1 and then out with your slip by the door it came in at4 ,moisten and fix the flap again1 and the 8precipitation0 is complete4 ,a child can do it4 ,a ,mahatma1 of course1 produces the result by mere psychic effort4 ,but it is a curious coincidence that ,m on this occasion abandoned his usual red pencil for the black one which you or ,i would use if we were playing just the trick described4 ,no doubt he felt that a more satisfactory test would have been wasted on ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,others1 however1 were a little more exacting4 ,the story enters here on a less smooth course4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,the ,,adventures ,,of ,a ,,seal4 8,o that ,heaven had set a seal upon men1 that we might know them1 honest from dishonest60--,,euripides4 ,from the previous record of ,colonel ,olcott--described by ,madame ,blavatsky herself1 in an epigrammatically candid moment1 as 8a psychologised baby0--he is almost the last person whom one would have expected to lead the way in any sceptical examination of 8miracles40 ,and no doubt he might have been content1 like ,mrs4 ,besant1 to open his mouth and shut his eyes and take whatever ,mr4 ,judge should send him1 so long as that gentleman's thaumaturgy was confined to benefiting the common cause4 ,but it was another matter when the vice-president's ,mahatma showed a tendency to favour the vice-president1 and that at the expense of the president himself4 ,had the oracle said 8,olcott's plan is right10 and declared that ,olcott was the 8friend10 8not ,lancelot nor another02 had it made ,olcott1 and not ,judge1 ,outer ,head with ,mrs4 ,besant--the president's ears might have been an inch longer1 and the course of ,theosophic history have been changed4 ,but there was1 from the first1 about ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma a certain crudity1 a lack of tact in dissembling favouritism1 which was bound1 human nature being what it is1 to make enemies4 ,on the decease of 8,h4,p4,b410 ,president ,olcott1 like ,vice-,president ,judge1 had hurried to the headquarters at ,avenue-road4 ,he had to come from ,india1 however1 and the ,american disciple naturally out-ran him4 ,when the former arrived1 the latter's ,mahatma was already in full swing4 ,on hearing of his performances with the seal1 a look of more than usual intelligence may have crossed the president's mild and venerable features2 but1 like ,brer ,rabbit1 he wasn't 8sayin' nuffin10 8he just lay low40 ,that busy ,july1 '#ia1 the period of ,mahatma ,m's greatest activity1 was also marked by the assembling at ,avenue-road of one of the periodical conventions of ,theosophic ,europe4 ,some conversation occurred between the president and vice-president about the expenses of this convention1 and the former1 being 8,h4,p4,b4's0 legatee1 mentioned a happy thought of his1 of selling some of the jewels that lady had left behind her1 and giving the proceeds as her posthumous contribution to the expenses4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,withold0 ,,missive4 ,but here1 too1 ,mr4 ,judge was prepared to 8go one better10 as his countrymen say1 than the president-legatee4 ,he responded airily that ,colonel ,olcott need not trouble himself about it1 as 8,master0 had promised him 7,judge7 that the cash should be forthcoming1 and also that he would convey a 8message0 on the subject to ,olcott himself4 ,the ,colonel waited for his message4 ,none came4 ,the ,colonel jogged ,mr4 ,judge's memory4 ,mr4 ,judge said he had no more to tell4 ,but that very day1 on sitting down at his writing-table1 and lifting up a piece of blotting-paper1 the ,colonel found under it a piece of peculiar paper1 reading as in the following facsimile 7reds and blacks as per former samples73-- ,illustration ,now1 ,colonel ,olcott thought he recognised that particular quality of paper1 and also1 so far as it was legible1 that seal-impression4 ,the facsimile here necessarily makes it much clearer4 ,in the original the impression was curiously faint and vague1 as if the ,master did not wish1 in the ,colonel's case1 to burst that seal upon him all at once2 but preferred the manner of ,tennyson's ,freedom1 who 8part by part to men revealed ,the fulness of her face40 ,so ,brer ,rabbit continued to say nuffin'1 and to lie low4 ,presently ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge left on the same writing-table the following note 7being scribbled on a torn-off scrap of paper1 it also has rather a ,mahatmic look4 ,but that is accidental73-- ,illustration 8,dear ,olcott0 8looked0 accordingly2 and sure enough1 in the ordinary envelope of a letter1 previously opened and put by on the table1 there was a piece of paper bearing a message with all the proper ,mahatma-marks about it4 ,and this time the ,mahatma had taken heart and 8precipitated0 a decently clear impression of the seal4 ,and then the ,colonel 8smiled a sorter sickly smile40 ,for now he did recognise that seal4 ,and this is its story4 99 99 99 99 99 ,back in the palmy days of #ahhc1 or ever the marvels of 8,h4,p4,b40 were besmirched by slanderous tongues1 the ,colonel was in a certain city of the ,panjab4 ,passing an ,urdu seal-engraver's shop in the bazaar1 he turned in and ordered the man to make a seal bearing the cryptograph signature which 8,h4,p4,b40 identified as that of the 8,master of ,wisdom10 ,mahatma ,morya4 ,what did the ,colonel want the seal for8 ,let him explain himself3-- ,an idea occurred to me 7he writes7 of sending through 8,h4,p4,b410 as a playful present to my ,master ,m1 a seal bearing a facsimile of his cryptograph4 ,an odd idea1 this 8playful present0 of the ,colonel's4 ,had the seal been intended for use by an ordinary person--by 8,h4,p4,b40 herself1 for instance--there would have been some sense in it4 ,but the ,mahatma1 of course1 who 8precipitated0 his letters and his signature psychically1 might just as well 8precipitate0 the latter in the shape of a seal impression as otherwise1 if he wanted to2 and where1 then1 should the use of a brass seal come in8 ,however1 as the ,colonel says1 the present was merely 8playful40 ,back went the ,colonel to ,madras1 where ,madame was1 and presented the seal to her1 with a 8jocular remark0 7,i am again quoting his own account74 ,madame's keen eye dwelt on it a moment1 and then she pointed out that the ,colonel1 in his jocularly playful mood1 had made a slight mistake4 8,the ,master's cryptograph was not correctly drawn10 according to the pattern already familiar to recipients of his precious missives4 ,there was a twiddle too much1 or a twiddle too little1 in it4 ,the ,colonel himself saw the blunder when it was pointed out1 and he now declares that he would know it anywhere4 ,for this sufficient reason the 8playful present0 was not sent on to the ,himalayas 7,heaven knows1 by the way1 by what astral form of parcels-post service the ,colonel had expected it to be sent72 neither did it appear in any of the communications vouched for by ,madame4 ,it went into ,madame's despatch-box1 along with a lot of other mystical odds and ends1 properties of the occult stage2 and among these it was remarked1 as late as #ahhh1 by the ,mr4 ,keightley already mentioned1 who was then living with her in ,lansdowne-road4 ,this gentleman asked the prophetess what the little brass seal might be8 ,madame ,blavatsky's answer--a characteristically racy 8fragment of her prophet voice0--was3-- 8,oh1 it's only a flap-doodle of ,olcott's40 ,in the same year1 at a time when ,william ,q4 ,judge was staying with ,madame1 ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma evidently determined to overlook the inaccuracy in the seal1 and to make use of it for the first time to save himself the trouble of a psychic signature4 ,he did this1 of course1 in a letter of ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge's own1 and in a sense endorsing ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge's wishes--in fact1 the letter was the one recorded in the last chapter1 in which the ,master's seal came so plump upon the disciple's prayer for a sign4 ,i have not mentioned before1 however1 that the recipient of this '#hh letter was ,colonel ,olcott4 ,he presumably recognised1 then as now1 his own 8playful present10 his own 8flap-doodle02 but he appears to have let it pass in silence4 ,from this date the seal seems to have disappeared from among ,madame ,blavatsky's belongings4 ,it was1 of course1 intrinsically valueless4 ,sidenote3 ,,the ,,telegram ,,missive4 ,but in #ahij it turned up again--in ,new ,york1 and in close contiguity with ,mr4 ,judge4 ,madame sent a message through ,mr4 ,judge to a disciple1 then in ,america1 who happened to be the ,mr4 ,keightley who had remarked the 8flap-doodle of ,olcott's0 at ,lansdowne-road4 ,the context1 which is before me as ,i write1 shows that ,madame was persuading this disciple to take some course distasteful to him4 ,judge added his persuasions to hers4 ,but what was bound to determine the disciple was the discovery on receiving the missive from ,mr4 ,judge's hands1 that the ,mahatma had added his vote in transitu by endorsing the word 8,,right10 in red pencil1 with cryptograph and impression of the ,panjab seal4 ,mr4 ,keightley1 too1 must have recognised the 8flap-doodle02 but he1 too1 like ,olcott1 said never a word4 ,he did1 indeed1 go so far as to ask ,judge if he had affixed the seal8 ,but on receiving a blandly surprised assurance that ,mr4 ,judge did not so much as know there was a seal affixed1 he let the matter drop4 ,these are1 so far as ,i know1 the only two instances in evidence of the use of this peculiar seal in ,mahatma missives during the lifetime of ,madame ,blavatsky1 and1 as was to be expected from her objection to the seal1 neither missive was among those vouched for by her1 for the message from herself to ,new ,york was telegraphed1 and it was the telegraph-form at the ,new ,york end that the ,mahatma endorsed4 ,nevertheless1 it is clear that no intimate of ,madame's would get hold of the seal and make use of it for bogus ,mahatma missives under her very nose1 unless he were under the impression either that she had it for that purpose herself1 or that she might be relied on at least not to 8peach0 on a chela who used it4 ,but why did neither ,colonel ,olcott nor ,mr4 ,keightley speak8 ,the only answer ,i can suggest is that while ,madame ,blavatsky was in the flesh the faithful thought twice before they expressed a doubt about anything or anybody4 ,they were accustomed to take their marvels as they found them1 and be thankful4 ,otherwise1 they might at least have pointed out to ,mr4 ,judge1 in order that he might in turn apprise his ,mahatma1 whose supernal knowledge seems here to have been somewhat at fault1 what a fatal blunder he was making in palming off upon the faithful a bogus edition of his own cryptograph1 known as such by three of the faithful themselves4 ,however1 there are the facts2 and but for the ,mahatma's trop de zle in pushing his favourite chela's occult claims immediately on ,madame ,blavatsky's decease1 ,i fear we should never have been vouchsafed this instructive side-light on an earlier period of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,these ,adventures of a ,seal supply the clue to the great game of bluff between the two highest ,theosophical officials which must be depicted in the next chapter4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,the ,,climax ,,of ,,theosophic ,,brotherhood4 8,to form the nucleus of a ,universal ,brotherhood of ,humanity40--,,theosophical ,,society1 ,object ,i4 8,pestling a poisoned poison behind his crimson lights60--8,,maud40 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,master ,,will ,,provide0 ,,missive4 ,we left the president of the ,theosophical ,society staring at the impression of his own 8flap-doodle0 seal on that which purported to be a missive from the ,mahatma4 ,the purport of the missive was precisely what the prescient ,judge had foretold4 ,colonel ,olcott was not to sell the ,blavatsky jewels1 as the money would be provided4 ,having shown it to a brother member1 the ,colonel replaced it in the envelope1 and went off to have a few words with ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge4 ,he remarked to ,judge that he had missed a certain brass seal from among ,madame ,blavatsky's relics1 and described the ,panjab seal and the story of its making2 not mentioning1 however1 the name of the exact city where it was made4 ,had ,judge seen the seal8 ,judge answered in the negative4 ,upon which the ,colonel remarked meaningly 7,i quote his own account7 that he 8hoped no scoundrel would get possession of it1 and use it to give colour to bogus ,mahatma messages10 adding that he would at once recognise an impression from the seal4 ,he did not mention that he had looked for and found the missive in the envelope4 ,after two days he looked into the envelope for that missive again4 ,it was gone6 ,some judicious hand had removed it4 8,judicious10 says the ,dictionary1 8literally3 of or pertaining to a ,judge40 ,colonel ,olcott concluded with some assurance that the hand which had removed that missive1 the hand which had put it there1 and the hand which had written it1 were one and the same hand1 and that hand ,william ,q4 ,judge's4 ,that is a conclusion which we must leave the two gentlemen to settle between them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but note the sequel4 ,the writer of the missive1 whoever he was1 was as good as his word4 ,when the ,convention in due course was held1 it was announced that a donation had been contributed towards the expenses in a peculiar way4 ,there had appeared to one of the brethren one afternoon a dark and mysterious ,oriental figure1 who gave no name1 but deposited two ,bank of ,england #aj notes 7from ,tibet871 which were backed with the familiar red cryptograph1 after which he1 like ,mr4 ,lewis ,carroll's ,snark1 8softly and silently vanished away40 ,it will not surprise the astute reader to learn that the brother favoured with this substantial spectre was ,william ,q4 ,judge4 ,well1 there was the #bj1 and the vice-president's reputation as an occultist stood higher than ever4 ,there was a time1 years before1 when the society had made much of a similar vision of its president's1 one which1 the ,colonel used to explain1 had first assured him of the truth of ,madame ,blavatsky's doctrines4 ,on his asking for a sign1 the ,colonel's figure1 which was1 of course1 like ,mr4 ,judge's1 the 8astral body0 of a ,mahatma1 had materialised its turban1 and disappeared into several yards of substantial textile fabric4 8,and here10 the ,colonel was wont to conclude the story1 8here1 you see1 is the turban60--whipping it from his coat-tail pocket4 ,ah6 that was in the palmy eighties4 ,but now where was he8 ,what was a chela who conjured up a turban beside one who could conjure up #bj hard cash--8on the table10 as ,hilda ,wangel would say8 ,in a word1 ,colonel ,olcott was altogether thrown into the shade by this bold stroke1 and had not even the face to suggest that perhaps ,mr4 ,judge's story was only a donor's graceful way of conveying assistance from his own pocket4 ,the ,colonel pulled rather a sour face1 however1 over the heavy sum with which the society's chest was debited when ,mr4 ,judge's expenses at the ,convention came to be paid4 ,for1 ,judge having attended in his official capacity1 it was the ,colonel's treasury at ,adyar which had to foot the bill4 ,personally1 ,i consider the miracles cheap at the price4 ,this reminds me of the matter of ,madame ,blavatsky's ,rosicrucian jewel1 in which also the ,mahatma stole an amusing march on the ,colonel4 ,this was a pendant set with gems1 which had the property of changing colour with every change in ,madame's health--so she and the faithful ,olcott used to swear4 ,the ,colonel had his own ideas about the future of this mystic gewgaw2 but what was his disgust on getting to ,avenue-road to learn that the ,master had sent a message for it to be given to ,judge1 and that ,mrs4 ,besant had accordingly handed it over6 ,nor was the ,colonel's chagrin lightened by the fact that the forgetful ,mahatma attempted 7through ,judge1 of course7 to put him off the track of the jewel by a message to quite another effect--an exceedingly misleading message4 ,for all ,i know1 the gift was as valueless intrinsically as the brass seal2 but ,theosophically it was a distinct score for ,mr4 ,judge and his ,mahatma thus to amalgamate the two mystic apparatuses in one firm's hands1 so to speak4 99 99 99 99 99 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,inner ,,group0 ,,missive4 ,after the passages described above1 ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma was chary of subjecting any more epistolary efforts to the eye of ,colonel ,olcott4 ,and he seems to have become more cautious altogether4 ,in the following ,september1 however1 he succumbed to the temptation of intervening again in the administration of the society4 ,a letter with the usual trimmings was enclosed to the ,inner ,group1 bearing upon its constitution and future changes1 in one of ,mr4 ,judge's on the same subject and in the same sense 7,september #ad74 ,just at this time ,colonel ,olcott was visiting ,america1 en route for ,japan1 where he was to teach the ,buddhists their own religion in a flying visit4 ,he took the opportunity of making some more pointed representations to ,mr4 ,judge on the vagaries of his ,master4 ,the result was prompt and significant4 ,during the very next month ,mrs4 ,besant1 then preparing for her trip to ,india1 received a cablegram from the vice-president in ,america to this effect3-- ,you are desired not to go to ,india remain where you are grave danger ,olcott await further particulars by an early mail4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,grave ,,danger ,,olcott0 ,,missive4 ,at ,avenue-road this mysterious telegram was at first read in the sense1 8,grave danger to ,olcott40 ,the president was just then due at ,tokyo1 and there was a report of an earthquake thereabouts4 ,for a while there was a great flutter over this convincing case of ,mahatmic prescience4 ,when1 however1 the 8early mail0 arrived with ,mr4 ,judge's explanatory letter1 quite a different complexion was put on the telegram4 ,after reading this letter1 and one from the inevitable ,mahatma which ,mr4 ,judge enclosed1 the conclusion of the ,inner ,group was that the 8grave danger0 against which the ,master warned ,mrs4 ,besant was 8from ,olcott40 ,the ,tibetan founder of the society1 in short1 warned ,mrs4 ,besant against imperilling her safety in the neighbourhood of its president6 ,the ,mahatma had declared war on ,colonel ,olcott4 ,this was the first shot in the campaign4 ,but what could this danger from ,colonel ,olcott be8 ,mr4 ,judge and his ,mahatma left that darkly vague4 ,some of their friends in ,england dotted the i's and crossed the t's for them4 ,it is hardly credible1 but the suggestion was nothing less preposterous than that ,colonel ,olcott intended to poison ,mrs4 ,besant6 ,i have no great veneration for ,colonel ,olcott's character1 and none at all for his intelligence2 but ,i frankly apologise to him for having to mention this astounding nonsense in connexion with his name4 ,i mention it simply in order to explain one of the documents which follow1 and to throw a light on the minds of the colleagues who made or believed the charge2 and ,i suppose ,i need scarcely add that ,i attach to it no other value whatever4 ,colonel ,olcott is about as remote as it is possible to conceive from the sort of stuff of which murderers are made4 ,i am sure he never had and never will have any more intention to poison ,mrs4 ,besant1 or anybody else1 than the ,man in the ,moon4 ,having said so much to make any misunderstanding impossible1 ,i return to the suspicions or pretended suspicions of the ,colonel's professed 8,brothers40 ,positively1 the only material which these ladies and gentlemen had to work on was an innocent conversation of the ,colonel's with a friend on the subject of poisons1 ,indian and other1 which took place at a date when ,mrs4 ,besant was not yet even a member of the society6 ,the 8evidence0--save the mark6--was such as ordinary non-,theosophical folk would not give even a dog a bad name on4 ,but ,mahatmas and their friends are different1 and ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma was well served4 ,for this trivial episode1 buzzed about from mouth to mouth in connexion with the sinister hints of 8,mahatma ,m10 sufficed to make this monstrous charge against their president currently believed at ,avenue-road1 for some weeks at least1 by the very inmost and governing circle of his colleagues1 with ,mrs4 ,besant at their head6 ,a belief once discarded1 it is easy to deny that it ever existed4 ,but this particular belief1 or half-belief1 showed itself in action4 ,mrs4 ,besant deferred her visit to ,india1 and to impatient ,indian disciples wrote that 8,master had forbidden her to come10 and 8till that order was countermanded0 she would not budge4 ,now just pause a moment1 and enjoy the exquisite irony of this unique situation4 ,the ,theosophic ,society was to be 8the nucleus of a ,universal ,brotherhood of ,mankind40 ,at this moment1 taking the three chief exponents of this new ,brotherliness1 the president believed the vice-president to be fabricating bogus documents2 the vice-president apparently believed the president to have designs to poison the high-priestess2 and the high-priestess1 having these two beliefs to choose from1 coquetted at least1 as we have seen1 with the more heinous of the two4 ,other ,theosophists appear from their course of action to have accomplished the intellectual feat of believing both4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,mahatma ,,tries ,,threats4 8,be these juggling fiends no more believed1 that palter with us in a double sense60--8,,macbeth40 8,masters1 it is proved already that you are little better than false knaves40--8,,much ,,ado ,,about ,,nothing40 ,while the ,mahatma was thus stealthily undermining the president1 he was also busy strengthening his own outworks4 ,in ,december one of the doubting ones1 the ,mr4 ,keightley who had been making up his mind whether to believe his own eyes ever since ,june1 #ahij1 received in ,india a letter from ,mr4 ,judge fortifying him against the heterodox influences to which he would be exposed on ,colonel ,olcott's return to that country4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,follow ,,judge ,,and ,,stick0 ,,missive4 ,mr4 ,judge warned his 8dear ,bert0 that ,olcott would try to shake his faith in the genuineness of ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma-missives2 that he might even have the baseness to suggest that they were fabricated by ,mr4 ,judge himself4 ,on opening this letter1 ,mr4 ,keightley found a small slip of peculiar paper1 which turned out 7on a prosaic scrutiny7 to be the sort of tissue which is used to separate the sheets of typewriting transfer paper4 ,on this slip appeared in ,mahatmic script the words3-- ,judge leads right4 ,follow him and stick6 ,there was1 however1 no seal impression4 ,the ,mahatma had grown chary of using that seal4 ,from the material of this missive we gather that the ,mahatma is not so remote from typewriters as one would expect in the ,himalayas2 from its diction we learn that1 whatever the failings of his ,english1 the august being has a racy command of ,yankee4 ,i may remark here that when ,mahatmas 8precipitate0 their own notepaper1 as well as the writing upon it1 it has always been the etiquette that the former should have an ,indian look about it1 however ,european the latter might be4 ,even tissue1 as in this case1 is considered more in keeping than commonplace stationery1 with1 perhaps1 the watermark of some ,english firm upon it4 ,but the 8make0 preferred1 alike now and in the ,blavatsky days1 is a peculiar sort of hand-made rice-paper1 which the ,psychical ,researchers had some difficulty in tracking to the maker's4 ,they were not assisted by ,colonel ,olcott4 ,but now1 the same mystic paper having turned up in the productions of ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma 7borrowed1 perhaps1 at the same time as the seal87 the ,colonel resolves the mystery at once4 ,wishing to suggest that ,mr4 ,judge got it ready-made from ,madame ,blavatsky1 he mentions that ,madame had gone about with a good supply of it1 adding that it was originally bought in ,cashmere4 ,he had bought it himself at ,jammos1 in fact1 as long ago as #ahhc1 just as he had also been the purchaser of the brass seal2 and just as he explains that the seal was got merely as a 8playful present10 so he represents the original purpose of the ,cashmere stationery as the humble one of 8packing books--it being both cheap and strong40 ,from parcels post to astral notepaper is a distinct rise4 ,but who first promoted it8 ,another side-light unintentionally thrown on the old ,blavatsky days6 ,but to return to ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma4 ,his last attempt to bring ,colonel ,olcott to a better mind by persuasion was made that autumn4 ,in ,october he had resorted to a bold device for overcoming scepticism1 which he and ,mahatma ,koot ,hoomi had patented in the early ,blavatsky days--that of waylaying 7astrally1 of course7 the post-bag of some disconnected and quite unconscious correspondent of the sceptic1 and so introducing a message through an obviously untainted channel4 ,for instance1 ,mr4 ,hume once 8got a note from ,koot ,hoomi inside a letter received through the post from a person wholly unconnected with our occult pursuits1 who was writing to him on some municipal business40 78,occult ,world10 p4 #ba47 ,the letter happened to have a large and noticeable envelope1 and long after1 in the days of disillusion1 ,mr4 ,hume discovered that ,madame's servant ,babula had carried off just such a letter from the postman for ,madame1 and then returned it to him with an apology for the mistake4 7,s4 ,p4 ,r4 ,report1 p4 #bge47 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,judge ,,is ,,not ,,the ,,forger0 ,,missive4 ,in ,october1 then1 ,colonel ,olcott1 who was just returning to ,india1 got a letter from a ,mr4 ,abbott ,clark1 of ,orange ,county1 ,california1 a gentleman who was under no sort of suspicion of having anything to do with ,mahatmas4 ,and in this1 if you please1 there had somehow found its way into the envelope a slip of paper bearing a message in the ,m script1 with signature1 but with seal too blurred to distinguish1 in facsimile as follows3-- ,illustration ,illustration ,so much is in the usual red pencil2 the part represented by shading above is smudged1 as is the red blotch which represents the seal1 apparently by being rubbed with the finger4 ,across a margin of the paper is the following postscript1 in the black carbon usually devoted to the seal impression3-- ,illustration ,rather cryptic1 this missive2 but the meaning seems to be this4 ,the ,mahatma has to explain to the suspicious ,colonel several things3 why the missives habitually come in letters from ,mr4 ,judge2 why1 nevertheless1 ,mr4 ,judge knows nothing of them2 why he1 the ,master1 has used a bogus seal which bungles his own cryptograph2 and1 above all1 why the impressions of that seal have been illegible ever since an exposure of it was threatened4 ,he hints1 accordingly1 that he 8uses0 ,mr4 ,judge to assist in some undefined psychic way in the precipitation process2 but ,judge's part in this is unconscious--it must be 8when he does not know40 ,also1 the thing precipitated 8fades out often0--and plump on the word comes an illustration4 ,in saying that 8,judge did not write ,annie0 7i4e41 ,mrs4 ,besant1 for this spirit is a familiar one71 the ,master is misinformed1 as we have seen4 ,mr4 ,judge had just 8written ,annie10 enclosing the ,master's own warning against ,colonel ,olcott4 ,lastly1 the remark about 8facit per alium0 7the ,mahatma can use a tag of lawyers' ,latin on occasion7 seems to mean that when ,colonel ,olcott had the 8flap-doodle0 seal made he was unconsciously prompted by the ,master himself1 who had now adopted it1 overlooking the blunder in engraving4 ,the prescience which foresaw that the 8precipitation0 would give out in just this letter is no less remarkable than that which provided for an unexpressed doubt by the assurance1 8,no1 it is not pencil40 ,but for ,colonel ,olcott the gem of this letter was none of these4 ,it was the reference to the ,panjab seal as the 8,lahore brass40 ,all that ,mr4 ,judge knew1 as we have seen1 was that the seal was made at a 8certain city in the ,panjab40 ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma assumes that this city was the capital of the province4 ,it was a likely guess--a good shot1 if such a phrase may be used of the mental processes of a ,tibetan sage--and one calculated to end the ,colonel's doubts--if correct4 ,but that is just what it was not4 ,the city at which the ,colonel got the seal was quite another city2 so the ,mahatma1 though he hints that he psychically presided over the purchase1 does not even know where that purchase took place6 ,the result of this unlucky lapse of memory on the part of the ,master was that the missive made bad worse4 ,despite the distance of ,california1 where ,mr4 ,clark's envelope was posted1 from ,new ,york1 and the offices of ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 the ,colonel suspected ,mr4 ,judge's hand in it4 ,he wrote to ,mr4 ,clark1 and discovered that ,judge had spent two days in ,orange ,county at the very date when the ,master availed himself of ,mr4 ,clark's envelope4 ,thereupon the ,colonel formed his own ideas as to how the ,master had 8used0 his favourite chela on that occasion4 ,sidenote3 ,,the 8,,poison-,,threat0 ,,missive4 ,can we wonder that the ,master was incensed by this incorrigible scepticism--a spirit1 as the ,colonel himself had formerly taught1 and as the event was to prove but too surely--fatal to ,theosophy8 ,persuasion failing1 the ,master resorted to threats6 ,in ,january1 #ahib1 the ,colonel received an amicable letter from ,mr4 ,judge1 reproaching him for not writing4 ,on opening it1 he found written along the margin of the first page the following laconic message in ,mahatma script 7signed1 but again no seal3 much reduced here73-- ,illustration 8,him0 presumably means ,judge4 ,the bearing of the threat will be intelligible to readers of the last ,chapter4 ,certain rumours from ,avenue-road made it intelligible also to ,colonel ,olcott4 ,the ,master of ,wisdom1 the unapproachable sage of the ,himalayas1 ,he-,who-,must-,be-,obeyed by ,mrs4 ,besant and the whole ,theosophical ,society1 had thrown off the mask of benignity4 ,here he was plainly adopting1 as a weapon against his own unlucky president1 that impossible accusation which represents the lowest point of ethical squalor yet touched1 in this story at any rate1 by ,theosophic 8brotherhood06 ,this was miching ,mallecho1 thought the ,colonel2 it meant mischief with a vengeance4 ,the voice was the voice of the ,mahatma1 but again the ,colonel thought it the hand of ,judge4 ,so he wrote with some natural heat to ask that gentleman what he meant by his 8base insinuation40 ,only to receive1 however1 the blandly innocent reply3-- ,i have puzzled my head over your reference to 8poison10 as if in one of mine2 as ,i never referred to it ,i cannot catch on1 and have given it up in despair4 ,after this the ,colonel seems to have given the ,mahatma up in despair1 too4 ,but the ,mahatma1 on his part1 was busily pushing up a column to take the ,colonel in the flank1 and bring this story to a crisis4 ,secure in the support of ,mrs4 ,besant1 he was to make the pusillanimous president resign his office1 and to enthrone ,william ,q4 ,judge in his place6 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,mrs4 ,,besant',s ,,coup ,,de ,,main4 8,i did my utmost to prevent a public ,committee of ,enquiry of an official character40--,,mrs4 ,,besant at ,t4,s4 ,convention1 ,july #ab1 #ahid4 ,how even a 8psychologised baby0 like ,colonel ,olcott came to succumb to a movement for ousting him from office1 backed by such methods as we have examined1 is to me a mystery4 ,no doubt he had his own reasons for avoiding a contest in disclosures with his old colleague ,mr4 ,judge1 who knows so much about ,theosophy ever since the days of its foundation4 ,at any rate1 succumb he did4 ,on receiving an emissary from ,avenue-road1 early in #ahib1 he threw up the cards in the unequal game with the ,mahatma1 and formally resigned his presidency4 ,then was seen a touching sight4 ,csar pushed away the crown4 ,mr4 ,judge was loth to succeed4 ,who could doubt it8 ,why1 he got a 8message0 countermanding the resignation1 and forwarded it to the ,colonel 7,march1 #ahib71 just too late to be acted on before the ,american ,convention in ,april1 which1 with decent reluctance1 acclaimed ,mr4 ,judge for the vacant office4 ,but now came a hitch4 ,colonel ,olcott took the anti-resignation message au grand srieux4 ,he forgot all his doubts about ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma missives in his simple joy at the tenor of this last one4 ,it was but a typed copy which ,mr4 ,judge sent him4 ,never mind1 it was a declaration of peace2 and if ever there was a man of peace it is the ,colonel1 despite his ,american brevet4 ,he could not disobey the ,master2 he did withdraw his resignation4 ,such was his answer to ,mr4 ,judge4 ,mr4 ,judge expressed his delight4 ,but in absence of mind--possibly excess of joy--he quite forgot to mention either the ,master's message or the ,colonel's consent at ,avenue-road when1 in the following ,july1 the time came to make his succession to the ,colonel's office definite4 ,the result was that ,mr4 ,judge was then and there elected president for life4 ,some voices were for a term2 but ,mrs4 ,besant arose in her eloquence and 8swept up the floor0 7in the phrase of one ,theosophic enthusiast71 and the election was 8for life40 ,alas6 ,contracts entered into for that period are notoriously apt to give out at an earlier date4 ,perhaps one thing which explains the ,colonel's small show of fight is the fact that he was to be consoled with an 8,olcott ,pension ,fund40 ,unhappily the treasurer defalcated some eight or nine thousand rupees1 and then committed suicide4 ,ill-luck seemed to dog the vanquished president4 ,but now came the turn of the tide4 ,on the announcement of ,judge's election1 ,colonel ,olcott indignantly wrote to ,avenue-road to point out that there was no vacancy4 ,and he printed in the ,theosophist the ,master's message which had led him to withdraw his resignation4 ,he did more4 ,the ,theosophist1 the official journal of the ,indian section1 has come to be ,colonel ,olcott's private property1 just as ,lucifer is ,mrs4 ,besant's1 and ,the ,path ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge's--an illustration of the odd mixture of private and official capacities in this society4 ,and now the ,colonel plucked up heart to publish in his paper the first note publicly heard of criticism--yes1 actual criticism--of ,mr4 ,judge's ,mahatma4 ,privately1 there had been some troubled bleatings heard already among some of the less docile of the ,theosophic sheep4 ,mr4 ,judge had been obliged to take up the cudgels for the merits of some of his ,mahatma missives as philosophic compositions4 ,i find him claiming 7in the true oracular spirit7 that3-- ,a very truism1 when uttered by a ,mahatma1 has a deeper meaning for which the student must seek1 but which he will lose if he stops to criticise and weigh the words in mere ordinary scales4 ,a sentiment printed with approbation in ,mrs4 ,besant's paper4 ,again1 he is parrying inquisitive questions about the ,master's seal4 ,he 8does not know0 what they mean4 ,an inquirer sends him a sample letter with a good impression to look at--one which had come from ,mr4 ,judge himself1 ,i presume--and gets it back with the impression rubbed out 78it fades out often10 as we have seen above71 and the puzzled remark from ,mr4 ,judge1 8,where is your seal8 ,i don't see one40 ,finally1 pressed1 ,mr4 ,judge declares that 8,whether ,he0 7the ,master7 8has a seal1 or uses one1 is something on which ,i am ignorant40 ,it was on this statement--which involves a total lapse of memory on ,mr4 ,judge's part of events narrated in ,chapter ,v4--that he was challenged in the ,theosophist of ,april1 #ahic1 in an article signed by ,messrs4 ,w4 ,r4 ,old and ,s4 ,v4 ,edge1 both ,t4,s4 officials 7secretaries1 ,indian section74 ,the article is hardly what would be called trenchant by non-,theosophical standards4 ,but it just pointed out that little discrepancy in a polite foot-note2 and that was enough4 ,if there is one thing more than another which is deemed to be bad form in circles ,theosophical1 it is to corner a ,theosophist on a definite matter of fact4 ,anything undraped in verbiage is considered nude1 even to indecency4 ,the voice of questioning has to be stifled at once4 ,by virtue of their joint position as ,outer ,heads of the ,esoteric section1 to which they were elected under warrant of the very seal in question1 ,mrs4 ,besant and ,mr4 ,judge promptly 8suspended0 ,messrs4 ,old and ,edge from their ,esoteric membership4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in ,december1 ,mrs4 ,besant went to ,india4 ,she had1 therefore1 thrown over the ,mahatma's warning4 ,but she had not thrown over the ,mahatma--not a bit4 ,she declared that nothing on earth would induce her to give up believing that the missives were indeed 8precipitated0 by ,mahatma ,m1 unless ,mahatma ,m in person appeared and repudiated them4 ,if a person who had been told that the ,man in the ,moon daily 8precipitated0 the ,times leading articles should decline to be convinced of the contrary till he heard it from the lips of the ,man in the ,moon himself he would probably be 8of the same opinion still0 for some considerable time4 ,in ,india1 ,mrs4 ,besant suddenly changed her mind4 ,had the ,master indeed appeared and fulfilled her conditions8 ,she does not say so4 ,yet it can scarcely have been on any mere1 dull ground of fact and argument4 ,she was presented with a set of depositions establishing all of the substantial facts of this narrative1 given under the names of those personally cognisant of them1 with ,colonel ,olcott at their head1 and summed up in the form of certain definite charges against ,william ,q4 ,judge4 ,but many of these facts she already knew herself1 as well as anybody1 and made naught of4 ,what did work the miracle1 then8--,as far as ,i can make out1 it was this4 ,mrs4 ,besant sat at the feet of ,g4 ,n4 ,chakravati4 ,and ,g4 ,n4 ,chakravati just mentioned that he did not believe in ,judge4 ,this is the ,hindu gentleman who was sent to represent the ,theosophical ,society at the ,chicago ,parliament of ,religions1 at an expense of #ejj4 ,this is the teacher who has made 8,annabai0 so far a ,hindu that she now protests against harsh mention even of the child-widow horrors1 the #ab1jjj temple prostitutes of ,madras1 and the other religious indecencies of ,hinduism4 ,as ,mr4 ,bradlaugh led ,mrs4 ,besant from the ,church to ,materialism1 as ,mr4 ,herbert ,burrows went hand-in-hand with her from ,materialism to ,madame ,blavatsky1 as ,judge made her believe in ,judge1 so she could only abandon ,judge with the aid of ,g4 ,n4 ,chakravati4 ,whatever the explanation1 the fact remains that1 blessed by this worthy pundit1 the case formulated against ,mr4 ,judge became strong--convincing--irresistible4 ,mrs4 ,besant's mind blossomed in a day into the full-blown view that she had been deluded1 that ,judge had himself written the missives to which she had pinned her faith--written them all with his own hand4 ,appalling bathos6--and one which an ,enquiry must needs result in publishing to all the world4 ,yet an ,enquiry there must be4 ,the ,indian section was threatening to secede from the society if ,mr4 ,judge's presidency were confirmed with the scandal unsifted4 ,judge himself1 offered the alternative by cablegram of resigning all his offices quietly or facing a 8full publication of the facts10 replied in a defiant sense which showed his conviction that there were others to whom 8full publication of the facts0 7which it was easy to threaten1 but which it has been left for an outsider to carry out7 would be more ungrateful even than to himself4 ,what was ,mrs4 ,besant to do8 ,a happy thought struck her4 ,she offered to adopt the charges1 turn prosecutor1 and conduct the case against ,mr4 ,judge herself4 ,the signatories of the evidence were delighted--especially ,colonel ,olcott1 who got behind ,mrs4 ,besant now with the same alacrity as previously behind ,messrs4 ,old and ,edge4 ,by this bold1 yet simple stroke1 the evidence1 documents1 and whole control of the case passed into ,mrs4 ,besant's hands1 where they1 as she fondly hopes1 or hoped1 now remain4 ,not altogether6 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,a ,,meeting ,,of ,,the 7,,theosophical7 ,,pickwick ,,club4 ,,the ,,chairman felt it his imperative duty to demand of the hon4 gentleman whether he had used the expression 8a humbug0 in a common sense8 ,,mr4 ,,blotton had no hesitation in saying that he had not--he had used the word in its ,pickwickian sense4 7,hear1 hear47 ,he was bound to acknowledge that personally he entertained the highest esteem for the hon4 gentleman2 he had merely considered him a humbug in a ,pickwickian point of view4 ,,mr4 ,,pickwick felt much gratified by the candid explanation of his hon4 friend4 ,he begged it to be at once understood that his own observations had been merely intended to bear a ,pickwickian construction4 7,cheers47--,the ,pickwick ,papers4 ,we have now seen how1 step by step1 as by a resistless nemesis the rival ,theosophical leaders were led on to bring their quarrel to that which neither of them had much stomach for--an inquiry into evidence4 ,bluff meeting bluff1 the thing got as far as the summoning from three continents of a ,committee of ,investigation representing both parties4 8,investigating0 hidden forces in nature1 as we saw in ,chapter ,,ii41 is one of the professed 8,objects0 of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,the present chapter is to show what the ,theosophical idea of investigating is like4 ,there lies before me a pamphlet1 reprinted from ,lucifer of ,august last1 which bears the facetious title1 8,,an ,,inquiry ,into ,certain ,charges against the ,vice-,president1 ,held in ,london1 ,july #ahid40 ,anybody is at liberty to get this publication--and make what head or tail of it he can4 ,illustration3 ,,badge ,,of ,,the ,t4,s4 ,the plain matter of fact which lay behind the proceedings in question was this4 ,mrs4 ,besant and ,colonel ,olcott had given away their friends and compromised with ,judge on the terms that he should give ,olcott back his presidency1 ,judge's election thereto being declared null and void1 while they on their part should suppress the evidence which the ,judicial ,committee had been summoned to report on4 ,mr4 ,judge had protested in a vehement circular1 when first called on by the ,president to appear before the committee1 against one of his accusers proposing to preside at his trial4 ,there was reason in the objection at the time4 ,he could not foresee that the proceedings would take the form of the presiding judge and the counsel for the prosecution combining to prevent the case from going to the jury4 ,this being the plain ,english of the affair1 let us now see how it reads translated into what ,i may call ,theosophistry4 ,the first part of the pamphlet consists of the ,judicial ,committee's minutes4 ,of this1 six-sevenths is devoted to an 8,address of the ,president-,founder0 proving that they ought to do nothing4 ,the remaining page is devoted to doing it4 ,the 8charges of misconduct preferred by ,mrs4 ,besant against the vice-president0 are nowhere formally stated at all4 ,they are incidentally summarised by the president as follows3-- 8,that he practised deception in sending false messages1 orders1 and letters1 as if sent and written by #8,masters4' 444 ,that he was untruthful in various other instances enumerated40 ,the bulk of the address is occupied in discussing with great solemnity various reasons alleged by ,mr4 ,judge why these charges should not be gone into by the committee4 ,one or two of these1 such as the vice-president's discovery that he had never been really vice-president at all1 and the contention that1 whichever way the decision went1 it must 8offend the religious feelings0 of some member or another1 and that this was against the rules of the society--these were1 after the due amount of pomposity1 declared against by the president4 ,but there were two other pleas of such irresistible force and weight that the president found himself convinced by them 8that this inquiry must go no further40 ,stripped of prolix circumlocutions1 these may be put as an alternative1 thus3-- ,either the ,mahatma missives are genuine or they are fabricated4 7a7 ,if found to be genuine1 that implies the affirmation of the existence of ,mahatmas as a ,theosophic dogma1 and the abandonment of the society's precious 8neutrality40 ,which is unconstitutional4 7b7 ,if found to be bogus missives produced by the vice-president1 then it is obvious that he must have done it in his private capacity2 the production of bogus documents being no part of his official duties4 ,therefore he cannot be tried for it by an official tribunal4 ,could anything be more delicious than this dilemma8 ,it is worthy of a trial scene in ,gilbertian comic opera4 ,mrs4 ,besant1 like the president1 was 8convinced that the point was rightly taken40 ,there was nothing more to be said4 ,the ,judicial ,committee 8resolved0 in the same sense1 without any inconvenient discussion1 and forthwith committed hara-kiri with the complaisance of a ,chinese nobleman4 ,not only had they not investigated the case1 but1 as far as ,i can make out1 they had not even heard what it was1 except in the most abstract of summaries4 ,having gravely adjusted the bandage over each other's eyes1 they separated with a good conscience4 ,for many of them--worthy investigators6--,i believe ,i am the first to remove the bandage1 and set them blinking at the truth4 ,from 7a7 it follows1 as the president pointed out en passant in the course of his ,address1 that every ,theosophist is in future free to circulate ,mahatma messages1 but no ,theosophist to test their genuineness4 ,from 7b7 it equally follows that no officer of the society is in future responsible to it for any misdeed whatever1 since such misdeed cannot well be among his official duties4 99 99 99 99 99 ,perhaps it is not very surprising that the result of the ,judicial ,committee1 which had been gathered to its task from the ends of the earth1 was received with disgust by the generality of members then met in ,london for one of their interminable conventions4 ,a demand was even heard for a private jury of honour2 or1 failing that1 for publication of the case for both sides1 the course to which one side1 as we saw1 had affected to pledge itself4 ,mr4 ,judge found himself unable to refuse his assent to the jury proposal4 ,again ,mrs4 ,besant dashed in and triumphed in the sacred cause of obscurantism4 ,at the third session of the convention she announced that she and ,mr4 ,judge had agreed upon a couple of statements representing their different points of view1 and proposed that the convention should hear these1 accept them1 and let the matter drop4 ,these two statements compose the second part of the pamphlet2 and they are at least as bewildering as the first4 8,we come to you1 our brothers1 to tell you what is in our hearts10 ,mrs4 ,besant read out4 ,her endeavour to 8tell0 fills four pages4 ,the following are the sentences which gyrate least round the point3-- ,i do not charge1 and have not charged1 ,mr4 ,judge with forgery in the ordinary sense of the term1 but with giving a misleading form to messages received psychically from the ,master in various ways4444 ,personally ,i hold that this method is illegitimate4444 ,i believe that ,mr4 ,judge wrote with his own hand1 consciously or automatically ,i do not know1 in the script adopted as that of the ,master1 messages which he received from the ,master1 or from chelas2 and ,i know that in my own case ,i believed that the messages he gave me in the well-known script were messages directly precipitated or directly written by the ,master4 ,when ,i publicly said that ,i had received1 after ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky's death1 letters in the writing that ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky had been accused of forging1 ,i referred to letters given to me by ,mr4 ,judge1 and as they were in the well-known script ,i never dreamt of challenging their source4 ,i know now that they were not written or precipitated by the ,master1 and that they were done by ,mr4 ,judge2 but ,i also believe that the gist of these messages was psychically received1 and that ,mr4 ,judge's error lay in giving them to me in a script written by himself and not saying so4444 ,having been myself mistaken1 ,i in turn misled the public4 ,the rest of ,mrs4 ,besant's statement is easily summarised4 ,part is devoted to minimising the importance of the question whether ,mr4 ,judge wrote1 or the ,mahatma precipitated1 the letters1 by remarking that after all it did not matter so very much1 as ,mahatmas sometimes communicate 7like spiritualist 8controls07 by allowing ordinary people to write for them4 8,it is important10 quoth ,mrs4 ,besant1 navely1 8that the small part generally played by ,masters in these phenomena should be understood0--a remark with which the present writer quite agrees1 and a main object of the present narrative4 ,but in the sense in which ,mrs4 ,besant meant it1 it was not very relevant to an inquiry entirely dealing with letters passed off as having been precipitated1 and precipitated without ,mr4 ,judge's knowledge1 by the ,mahatma himself4 ,beyond this1 ,mrs4 ,besant's statement consists about equally of blame directed at the untheosophical 8vindictiveness0 of ,mr4 ,judge's accusers in pressing an inquiry 8painful0 to ,mr4 ,judge1 and of laudatory tributes to the character and ,theosophical activity of ,mr4 ,judge himself4 ,down ,mrs4 ,besant sat1 and up rose ,mr4 ,judge1 and read his statement4 ,it contained the following sentences3-- ,i repeat my denial of the said rumoured charges of forging the said names and handwritings of the ,mahatmas1 or of misusing the same4444 ,i admit that ,i have received and delivered messages from the ,mahatmas 444 they were obtained through me1 but as to how they were obtained or produced ,i cannot state4444 ,my own methods may disagree from the views of others4444 ,i willingly say that which ,i never denied1 that ,i am a human being1 full of error1 liable to mistake1 not infallible1 but just the same as any other human being like to myself1 or of the class of human beings to which ,i belong4 ,and ,i freely1 fully1 and sincerely forgive anyone who may be thought to have injured or tried to injure me4 ,now1 so far as these sentences were an answer at all to such charges as ,mrs4 ,besant's statement had allowed itself to convey1 they were certainly a flat contradiction4 ,but that point was naturally overlooked by eyes moist from the affecting 8forgiveness0 of ,mr4 ,judge's peroration1 and his very handsome1 if somewhat tautologously expressed1 admission that he was only a 8human being40 ,without a word more1 nemine contradicente1 it was ,resolved3 that this meeting accepts with pleasure the adjustment arrived at by ,annie ,besant and ,william ,q4 ,judge as a final settlement of matters pending hitherto between them as prosecutor and defendant1 with a hope that it may be thus buried and forgotten1 and-- ,resolved3 that we will join hands with them to further the cause of genuine brotherhood in which we all believe4 ,these resolutions were proposed by the ,mr4 ,keightley 7,m4,a4 ,cant47 whose name has occurred so often in our story among the bamboozled ones1 and seconded by ,dr4 ,buck1 one of the nominees from ,mr4 ,judge's section to the abortive committee4 ,and there ends the ,pamphlet--and the 8,enquiry40 ,it has since appeared that the 8joining of hands0 between ,mrs4 ,besant and ,mr4 ,judge was for footlight purposes only2 for no sooner was the curtain rung down than the two joint ,outer ,heads found they could no longer work together1 and settled the matter by splitting the ,esoteric section into independent dominions1 ,mr4 ,judge taking ,america1 and ,mrs4 ,besant ,europe--to which she has since added ,india4 ,the result is one on which ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge must be congratulated4 ,he retains all his offices as head of his lodge1 of his section1 and of the ,american ,esoteric section2 retains his vice-presidency of the whole society2 retains the status of heir-presumptive1 at least1 to the presidency2 retains1 also1 ,i suppose1 either he or his ,mahatma1 the brass 8flap-doodle10 to say nothing of the ,blavatsky relic1 with full freedom to continue using the same as heretofore4 ,in a word1 the ,theosophical ,society has chosen to stand or fall with its vice-president4 99 99 99 99 99 ,theosophy is a religion as well as a philosophy1 and the ,t4,s4 masquerades as in some sort a ,church4 ,imagine the situation1 then1 in any other religious denomination4 ,suppose that the ,archbishop of ,canterbury were to put forth missives which he alleged to have fluttered down direct from ,st4 ,augustine in heaven2 and suppose after ,convocation had governed the ,church for years in conformity with directions so received1 the ,archbishop of ,york were to declare at a ,church ,congress his belief that his esteemed brother1 whose services to the ,church were beyond all praise1 had written the missives himself1 an expedient 8which ,i personally hold to be illegitimate10 but into the details of which he begged the ,congress not to pry3 suppose1 then1 that the ,archbishop of ,canterbury on his part declared himself1 like ,mr4 ,pickwick1 8much gratified with the candid explanation of his hon4 friend10 that he 8merely considered him a humbug in a ,pickwickian point of view0--supposing all this1 can you imagine the ,church ,congress rising as one man to 8bury0 the dispute1 and 8join hands0 with the embracing disputants8 ,probably not4 ,but then1 as ,mrs4 ,besant remarked1 the 8standards of the world0 are 8lower0 than those of the ,theosophical ,society--and of the 8,pickwick ,club40 ,nevertheless1 ,i must ask leave to break in on the harmonious scene with a few troublesome questions4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,questions ,,and ,,challenges4 8,hath he said anything80 8,he hath1 my lord2 but1 be you well assured1 ,no more than he'll unswear40--8,,othello40 8,next in importance1 or perhaps equal in value1 to ,devotion1 is ,truth40--,circular on 8,occultism and ,truth10 signed by ,h4 ,s4 ,,olcott1 ,,annie ,,besant1 ,b4 ,,keightley1 c41 ,july1 #ahid4 ,in my first chapter ,i set out certain conclusions4 ,in succeeding chapters ,i have given the facts on which my conclusions were based4 ,i now assert that the evidence for those facts1 be it good or bad1 is that of the ,theosophical leaders themselves1 written and signed as the case against the ,vice-,president1 and adopted by ,mrs4 ,besant as true4 ,if it be not true1 then ,colonel ,olcott1 ,mr4 ,b4 ,keightley1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,old1 and the other official witnesses must be guilty of a conspiracy1 as ,i said at the outset1 8even more discreditable to the personnel of the society40 ,it is not ,i who accuse ,mr4 ,judge4 ,it is ,mr4 ,judge and his colleagues who accuse each other4 ,the rank-and-file of the ,theosophists have paid their money2 they may now take their choice4 ,the fact is1 before ,mrs4 ,besant got hold of the evidence1 at least one set of complete and duly witnessed copies had been made1 together with facsimiles of the documents4 ,it is these which lately fell into my hands1 under circumstances which left me free to take1 as ,i do take1 the moral and legal responsibility of that publication which the president first promised and afterwards shirked4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in regard to ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 vice-president1 ,i do not feel called on to labour any theory of my own as to that gentleman's character and conduct4 ,as the ,society for ,psychical ,research long ago remarked1 the precise line between rogue and dupe in the ,theosophical ,society has never been easy to draw4 ,on any view of ,mr4 ,judge ,i have at least as much respect for him as for his virtuously vacillating superior1 whose mind seems to have been made up for him from one stage to another by whatever party happened to be at the moment nearest and most peremptory4 ,with the facts of the preceding narrative before him1 the reader can form his own opinion about both officials4 ,equally unable am ,i to state what ,mr4 ,judge's own version of ,mr4 ,judge's acts may be4 ,i have read and re-read his 8statement0 at the 8,enquiry10 and his circular issued just previously4 ,in these ,i have groped--faint1 yet pursuing--among the mazes of that ,theosophical verbiage which always seems to be coming to the point2 but for me at least it has never quite got there4 ,where the denials are most explicit1 the thing denied is vaguest2 where admission is most candid1 the thing admitted is least relevant to the issue4 ,mr4 ,judge admits1 for instance1 that he is a 8fallible human being02 he denies that he has 8forged40 ,i1 for one1 should never dream of disputing either position4 ,the verb1 to forge1 definitely connotes in ,english the imitation of the signature of a person who really exists1 and who has also an existent banking account4 ,the worst ,i should dream of imputing to ,mr4 ,judge in this connexion is the imitation of someone else's imitation of the feigned signature of somebody who never existed4 ,mr4 ,judge must see that between the mere human fallibility to which he confesses1 and the felony of which no one has accused him1 it does not need a sensitive ear to distinguish whole octaves of intervening notes4 ,thanks to ,mrs4 ,besant1 he has not yet been obliged to locate himself at any one point of the gamut4 ,but1 for all ,i know1 he may now come forward and twit his associates with deficient humour for not seeing that the whole thing was just a rollicking hoax4 ,throwing off the rle of an interpreter of ,tibet1 he may appear as ,william ,q4 ,judge1 the ,american ,humorist4 ,he might fairly claim that many have performed under a like title much less divertingly4 ,he might say that the joke was so obvious that it never struck him his colleagues would take it seriously2 that their evident determination not to spoil sport was an invitation no joker could have resisted2 and that he only kept it up so long for the fun of seeing1 through a graduated scale of absurdity1 how much they really would stand4 ,of course1 to carry through a big practical joke one may be excused a few taradiddles1 to which the moralist might apply a harsher name4 ,no doubt some might question the taste of making a friend's funeral the starting-point of even the most innocent mauvaise plaisanterie4 ,but ,american humour has never spared the cemetery4 99 99 99 99 99 ,from my own position1 then1 and ,mr4 ,judge's position1 ,i now pass to ,mrs4 ,besant's4 ,this is interesting from its bearing on the curious psychological puzzle offered by ,mrs4 ,besant's own mind1 to the study of which she herself continually invites the public4 ,let us accept the invitation for a moment4 ,i take ,mrs4 ,besant's statement at the so-called 8,enquiry10 that she believed now that ,judge wrote with his own hand the missives which he had induced her1 and she had induced the public1 to regard as precipitations from ,tibet of the kind which 8some people would call miraculous40 ,apparently ,mrs4 ,besant considers that this avowal sufficed to clear her honour towards her colleagues and the public whom she had 8misled40 ,to me it appears admirably calculated to mislead them again4 ,remember1 even those whom ,mrs4 ,besant was addressing--much more the outside public--were ignorant of the facts4 ,mrs4 ,besant had taken good care of that4 ,they did not know1 as the reader does1 the circumstances which surrounded these various missives3 ,the 8,master ,agrees0 missive1 the ,telegram missive1 the ,cabinet missive1 the 8,note the ,seal10 the 8,judge's ,plan is ,right10 the 8,judge is the ,friend10 the ,envelope ,trick1 the 8,withold10 the 8,master will ,provide10 the ,bank-note1 the ,inner ,group1 the 8,grave ,danger ,olcott10 the 8,judge is not the ,forger10 the 8,follow ,judge and ,stick10 and the ,poison ,threat missive--as ,i have severally named them4 ,referring to those circumstances1 as the reader now knows them1 ,i ask of what did and does ,mrs4 ,besant mean to convict ,mr4 ,judge8 ,if ,judge 8wrote with his own hand0 the answers got from the cabinet oracle 7,may #bc1 #ahia71 did he also use sleight-of-hand or some similar artifice to make her accept the answers as precipitated in a sealed envelope in a closed drawer8 ,if ,judge 8wrote10 c41 the slip 8,judge's plan is right10 the sudden appearance of which among ,mrs4 ,besant's papers made her and him joint officials on ,may #bg1 #ahia--;did he also place it among those papers on purpose to be so discovered8 ,if ,judge 8wrote0 c41 ,mrs4 ,besant's message of ,july #ab1 #ahia1 which was across the inside flaps of a closed envelope--did he also insert the writing by the trick described in the chapter which ,i entitled 8,every ,man his ,own ,mahatma08 ,if ,judge 8wrote10 c41 all the various letters1 notes1 and endorsements to which the 8,mahatma's0 signature and seal were attached1 missives backing ,judge's own views1 raising ,judge's own ,theosophical status1 and bluffing other 8servants0 of that 8,master10 to whom he and they cannot allude without capital letters--did he also 8with his own hand0 take and affix the seal which he has persistently denied having ever set eyes on8 ,if ,mrs4 ,besant did not mean all this1 and much more which hangs by the same logic1 then her ,statement grossly calumniated ,mr4 ,judge to the few who knew the tenor of the case against him4 ,if she did mean it1 then her ,statement completely hoodwinked her audience and the public4 ,for will anybody assert that this1 which has just been outlined1 or anything like it1 was the picture naturally called up by ,mrs4 ,besant's carefully worded description of 8,mr4 ,judge's error0 as the negative one of 8not mentioning0 certain circumstances1 her suggestion that personal opinions might reasonably differ on the 8legitimacy0 of his methods1 her laudatory allusions to his general character and ,theosophic services1 her public sanction of a statement on his part which on this theory must have been utterly misleading1 her eager lead in the attempt to cloak up for ever the ,great ,mahatma ,hoax1 and to shield the hoaxer8 ,but there is another point4 ,mrs4 ,besant professes still to cling to the belief that the ,mahatmas had something to do with the letters4 ,mr4 ,judge wrote them1 she says1 but what he wrote he had first 8received psychically from the ,master40 ,faith1 fanatic faith1 once wedded fast ,to some dear falsehood1 hugs it to the last4 ,nobody can prove that those missives1 or1 for that matter1 these articles1 or ,shakespeare's plays1 were not due to the ,master's 8psychical0 authorship4 ,mr4 ,judge and ,mrs4 ,besant are both quite free to say so4 ,but again ,i must point out to ,mrs4 ,besant the logical inferences from her position4 ,in the attempt to hold on to one spar in the general wreck1 she just says enough to inculpate the ,mahatma1 and not enough to exculpate ,mr4 ,judge4 ,for1 to apply theory once more to concrete fact3 ,does ,mrs4 ,besant attribute to the ,mahatma the preposterous insinuations against ,colonel ,olcott8 ,and does she mean that the ,mahatma made these insinuations and various direct false statements in order to co-operate with ,mr4 ,judge in shielding from discovery a prolonged use of a bogus imitation of the ,mahatma's own seal and signature8 ,in this case1 we are entitled to challenge ,mrs4 ,besant to say whether she herself now believes that the insinuations against ,colonel ,olcott were justified4 ,if yes1 then ,i can only leave her to settle that matter with the ,colonel4 ,if no1 then what becomes of the supernal wisdom and lofty character of 8,those ,who to some of us are most sacred08 ,must it not be confessed that ,they have made uncommon fools of ,themselves8--not to give a stronger name to the extremely shady methods of which ,tibetan diplomacy is thus found guilty4 ,the public will await satisfactory answers to these questions4 ,it will not1 ,i hope1 for a moment suspect ,mrs4 ,besant of conscious fraud1 or of sordid motives4 ,i most certainly do not4 ,with some of the lesser fry1 who would be bankrupt in every sense if ,theosophy failed them1 the consideration of pleasant board and lodging at other people's expense may be a governing one4 ,with ,mrs4 ,besant1 who brings far more to the organisation in the shape of gate-money1 no doubt1 than she ever condescends to accept from it1 the motives are subtler4 ,had she boldly cut herself free from the rottenness at the core of the ,theosophic movement as soon as it was shown to her1 she might have saved her reputation for straightforwardness1 if not for intelligence4 ,in choosing instead the equivocal policy of hushing up a scandal at all costs1 she doubtless convinced herself that she was acting only for the ends of edification and the good of her church4 ,that is the old1 old story of priestcraft1 and ,mrs4 ,besant has been playing the high priestess now for three years4 ,but were there not also some more personal motives at work8 ,there is one thing which even the most candid hate to confess--and that is1 that they have been thoroughly bamboozled4 ,it does not improve matters when they have themselves helped in their own bamboozlement4 ,to confess how recklessly inaccurate were her statements about 8the same handwriting10 the 8semi-miraculous precipitation10 the absolute assurance of her own senses1 and so forth2 to let the public see for itself the childish twaddle which she accepted1 and helped to force upon others1 as profound and oracular3 all this would have been a sad come-down from the ,delphic tripod4 ,i do not wonder the poor lady shrank from it4 ,i do wonder that ,mrs4 ,besant cared to evade it at the expense of a sort of confidence-trick4 ,to this has come the woman whom we once thought1 whatever her other faults1 at least fearless and open--the woman whose epitaph1 so she tells us1 is to be-- ,she ,sought ,to ,follow ,truth6 ,lastly1 a few words to the rank-and-file of the ,theosophical ,society1 a large proportion of whom are now gathering open-mouthed at ,adyar4 ,in ,madame ,blavatsky few of the better-informed of the flock nowadays affect to believe--except in public4 ,they cling to her gifts1 perhaps2 they have thrown over her morals4 ,for fresh evidence has been coming to light1 ever since that strange woman died1 as to the tricks to which she condescended1 and encouraged her chelas to condescend2 and poor ,colonel ,olcott1 though he continues to work the old gold-mine in print1 has been driven even there to enunciate the theory that ,madame ,blavatsky herself was really killed at the battle of ,mentana1 and her body thereafter occupied by seven distinct spirits who1 of course1 are not responsible for contradicting each other4 ,till ,may1 #ahia1 ,madame was the principal witness to the objective existence and attributes of ,mahatmas4 ,since that date1 the principal witness is ,william ,q4 ,judge4 ,soon the faithful at ,adyar will be filing into the ,occult ,room to gaze through peep-holes at the two ,august ,portraits1 illuminated and set off by all the artifices associated here with exhibitions by ,m4 ,jan van ,beers4 ,will they dare1 any of them1 to ask their officials plainly what evidence they can now offer that either of the subjects of those fancy portraits ever existed8 ,and if on this and other questions suggested by these chapters1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 ,president ,olcott1 and ,vice-,president ,judge do not succeed in satisfying their followers----what next8 ,no doubt each member of the trinity will sit secure in his or her autocracy in his or her own continent1 owning there1 as ,i understand1 the official organ and the publishing plant which the society as a whole has built up into prosperity4 ,yet something1 surely1 may be done by those who do not care to remain unwilling parties to the ,great ,mahatma ,hoax1 to recover their own self-respect1 if not to save the ,theosophical ,society4 ,it is for them to decide whether the society1 on its non-fraudulent side1 is worth saving4 ,it may be a kind of university extension for the popularising of ,eastern philosophies4 ,or it may be1 as some rather think1 a mere smattering of catch-words out of cribs for the use of ,mutual ,mystification clubs1 tending to a certain indigestion in the mental processes and a flatulent style of ,english composition4 ,in either case there is no reason why the organisation should revolve about a vortex of tomfoolery and legerdemain into which honest members are apt to be sucked before they realise its true nature4 ,,part ,,ii4 8,,the ,,voice ,,of ,,the ,,silence40 ,,letters ,,on ,,various ,,sides ,,from ,,theosophists4 ,the foregoing chapters appeared in the ,westminster ,gazette1 of ,october #bith1 and nine succeeding issues4 ,they attracted wide notice and comment1 and were the subject of allusion in a large part of the ,london and provincial press4 ,in accordance with their usual custom1 the official ,theosophists in ,england are said to have cabled to their leaders abroad to know what line they should take2 but1 if so1 they do not appear to have got any clear answer4 ,a mass of correspondence was addressed to the ,westminster ,gazette1 and to the author of the articles1 some of it from officials1 most of it from private members2 some admitting that 8much is1 and all may be true10 others denying everything--in general terms2 some throwing over the ,vice-,president1 others lauding him as a model of ,theosophic rectitude2 some rejoicing 78in confidence07 at the 8cleaning-out of this ,augean stable of trickery10 others declaring that1 proved or disproved1 the charges do not matter a pin4 ,in regard to the repeated accusations that the assailant of the society 8waited0 till its three ,theosophic chiefs were at a distance before challenging them on their 8,enquiry10 it was pointed out that they gave nobody any chance to wait1 the official ,report of the ,enquiry being sent round almost on the very day that ,mrs4 ,besant sailed for ,australia4 ,the following is a representative selection from the letters3-- ,i4--,,letters ,,from ,,officials4 ,,from ,,the ,,european ,,secretary3 8,,deserving ,,of ,,no ,,answer40 ,,sir1--,i have forwarded the copies of your paper containing the series of articles entitled 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled0 to my friends ,colonel ,olcott1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 and ,mr4 ,judge1 who are respectively at their posts and carrying out their engagements in ,india1 ,australia1 and the ,united ,states of ,america4 ,the mass of insinuations and misrepresentations with which these articles abound is deserving of no answer4 ,i enclose you a copy of the ,enquiry held in ,july last1 to which the full statements of ,mrs4 ,besant and ,mr4 ,judge are appended4 ,this was months ago issued to every member of the ,theosophical ,society and published in full in our magazines4 ,you can thus allow your readers to form their own opinion1 instead of relying on the insinuations of your contributor1 if you choose to do so4 ,the writer of the articles has several times made reference to a private body of students1 and endeavoured to involve it in his attack4 ,the informant of your contributor knows that he can with impunity make any allegation he likes against that body1 and that1 although it is in a position to give1 and has already given to its own members1 a denial to his allegations with regard to its council1 it must1 nevertheless1 remain silent in public because of obligations of honour4 ,for the rest1 of the truth or falsity of the most serious allegations ,i am without any knowledge1 and do not propose to enter the arena of mere opinion4 ,but of this ,i am confident--that my friends ,colonel ,olcott1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 and ,mr4 ,judge1 together with the best part of the ,theosophical ,society1 are not only ready and glad to face any obloquy in upholding their individual ideals1 but also that they are also willing to sacrifice everything for the cause they hold so dear1 except the privilege of working heart and soul for its final triumph4--,i am1 ,sir1 faithfully yours1 ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,,mead4 #ai1 ,avenue-road1 ,regent's ,park1 ,n4,w4 ,the pamphlet forwarded by ,mr4 ,mead is the so-called 8,enquiry into ,certain ,charges10 which was the starting-point of our articles1 and which was very fully dealt with in the last two of the series4--,,ed4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,from ,,the ,,vice-,,president',s ,,representatives3 8,,we ,,could ,,an ,,if ,,we ,,would40 ,,sir1--,you appear to have expected an immediate reply to the series of articles entitled 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled40 ,this expectation is astonishing in view of the fact that1 while the three persons mainly attacked by you were together in ,london for some weeks this summer1 you waited until ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant and ,colonel ,olcott are now respectively in ,australia and ,india1 and ,mr4 ,w4 ,q4 ,judge is on a lecturing tour in the ,united ,states1 as your informant knows4 ,his time for attack is well chosen1 but no just measure of surprise can be felt1 either that their replies--should they care to make any--are delayed1 or that we should have intended originally to await the close of your series before making our present brief remarks4 ,your informant holds the position held among ,freemasons by a brother who has broken his ,masonic pledge4 ,those who refuse to enter further into this subject follow the traditions of all private societies in like circumstance4 ,englishmen will take at its proper valuation all information on whatever subject from such a source4 ,we beg to take distinct issue with you on the point of the minor importance of sources of information4 ,our whole legal system is based upon the contrary fact4 ,character of witnesses has primary weight with all civilised juries4 ,the ,theosophical ,society has no concern with the beliefs of its members1 nor with questions of ,thaumaturgy4 ,the endeavour to spread a contrary belief1 to confuse the issue by slanders1 or attacks against individual members1 to belittle and misrepresent the objects and work of the society1 must alike fail in the face of general disproof4 ,the society pursues its way unaffected by all such attempts4 ,the ,committee of ,investigation appointed to consider the charges made against ,mr4 ,judge threw out the indictment on the ground that the constitution of the ,theosophical ,society rendered illegal all charges involving questions of creed or belief4 ,mr4 ,judge came from the ,united ,states in readiness for their investigation1 and his defence had to be abandoned for the preservation of the freedom of our platform4 ,we do not1 therefore1 propose to bring the case to 8trial by newspaper40 ,as representatives respectively of the ,american ,section of the ,t4,s4 and of the general secretary of that ,section on the ,committee of ,investigation1 we are aware of the rebuttal evidence held in readiness by ,mr4 ,judge4 ,he holds affidavits from persons of unblemished reputation disproving a number of the charges made then and now by you1 of which evidence detail is for the present reserved for the reasons above given4 ,we need not further emphasise the danger of conclusions formed from 8plaintiff's evidence0 only4 ,in conclusion1 we beg to state our long acquaintance with1 and our confidence in the integrity and standing of1 ,mr4 ,judge1 a confidence shared1 to our personal knowledge1 to the fullest extent by the ,american ,section of the ,t4,s41 as the reports of its last ,convention prove4 ,the ,american is the largest and the most active of our three ,sections1 one which not only carries on an enormous work1 but which also assists the other two ,sections4 ,it is in it that ,mr4 ,judge's long labour and personal sacrifices have won for him the respect of the community4--,yours very truly1 ,,archibald ,,keightley4 ,,james ,m4 ,,pryse4 #cj1 ,linden-gardens1 ,bayswater1 ,w41 ,november #f4 ,,editorial ,,note ,,appended ,,in ,westminster ,gazette4 ,in regard to ,dr4 ,keightley's remarks on 8the character of the witnesses10 from which1 in view of the law of libel1 we have had to omit one or two phrases1 it is only fair to state that this letter was received before it had been made clear in the articles that the chief witnesses were1 in fact1 not ,mr4 ,old1 who has resigned office1 but the ,president and ,dr4 ,keightley's brother1 who retain it4 ,,another ,,avenue-,,road ,,official3 8,,voluminous ,,literature0 v4 ,,hard ,,facts4 ,,sir1--,now that you have had the only answer it is possible for the present to make in connexion with that part of your articles which professes to disclose the affairs of a secret body1 ,i am at liberty to make some remarks on that part of them which deals with the public affairs of the ,theosophical ,society1 if you will grant me the opportunity of reply which1 as a member of an attacked society1 ,i have the right to demand4 ,in spite of all implications and assertions to the contrary1 ,i must emphatically assert it as my opinion that the majority of members of the society do not join on account of phenomena2 and ,i regard any attempt to prove the contrary as a conscious or unconscious misrepresentation of the actual state of affairs4 ,a large mass of the public know well by this time that the chief activity of the society consists in making known and advocating a certain system of philosophy1 and that appeals are made to the judgment and intellectual sense of the people as to whether they shall accept or reject it4 ,i do not know whether your intelligent readers will consider themselves flattered when they read your contributor's notion of the kind of procedure that is necessary to captivate them2 but ,i am inclined to think that most of them must have common-sense enough to prefer judging a philosophy by its own merits to accepting or rejecting it according to the evidence for and against phenomena wrought in connexion with it4 ,however1 if there be any who1 indifferent to all questions of ethical and philosophical truth1 choose their faith according to its thaumaturgic properties alone1 the society will not be sorry to lose them1 for such weak natures are a source of weakness to every body in which they enrol themselves4 ,while declaring here my own belief in the integrity and sincerity of the persons attacked in your articles1 and regretting my inability lo communicate all of that faith to others1 ,i maintain1 ,sir1 that ,theosophy will not stand or fall by any personal scandals1 whether true or false1 and that the ,theosophical ,society will not cease to exist in ,europe so long as there are even a few who believe as ,i do4 ,your contributor has sought to convey the impression that the ,theosophists1 or at all events those who reside at the various headquarters1 live in an atmosphere of constant thaumaturgy and intrigue2 ever in expectation of some new wonder1 ever ready to alter their deepest convictions at a moment's notice in accordance with some enigmatical message or some trumpery sign4 ,i call upon those who know the society1 are habitus at its meetings1 or have lived at headquarters1 to say whether there is a grain of truth in this1 or whether1 on the contrary1 we are a body of earnest students1 living a prosaic life1 and exhausting our energies in the endeavour to place before others the truths we have found so helpful to ourselves4 ,your contributor makes much of his contention that the adepts were invented by ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,what does he expect to gain by this8 ,if he can succeed in discrediting ,madame ,blavatsky in the eyes of a few persons1 he cannot disprove the existence of adepts for them unless he is also prepared to discredit every one of the other sources of information from which the evidence for the existence of such exalted men is drawn4 ,madame ,blavatsky has reminded the world of the reality of those beings in which the more enlightened of its denizens have always believed4 ,of the few who may have accepted the belief on her testimony alone ,i would say1 better they had taken the trouble to substantiate it from other sources4 ,whether ,madame ,blavatsky invented the adepts or not1 at all events ,i here and now advance the theory1 and refer for my evidence to the ,theosophical literature on the subject1 which is plentiful4 ,let our critics1 after reading it1 come forward and publicly refute us4 ,we await their onslaught with pleasure4 ,many points ,i am obliged to leave untouched on account of the length my letter would otherwise assume2 but ,i must just note the absolute futility of the statement that 8,max ,mller has edited the only series of ,english translations of the ,sacred ,books of the ,east with which ,i am acquainted10 and the complete falsity of the statement that 8there is no reason to believe that any member of the society in ,europe could pass an examination in any ,oriental language whatever40 ,let these serve as samples of the quality of the rest of the attack4 ,in conclusion1 sir1 ,i would call your readers' attention to the fantastically absurd position of an opponent who hopes to discredit1 by his so-called 8exposure0 of a certain group of manifestations1 the whole sacred science of true magic4 ,i maintain that such a science as magic 7in its true sense7 exists1 that it teaches the mysteries of nature and of man1 that the voice of the ages endorses it1 and that it is worthy of study to-day4 ,i am prepared to support these contentions publicly if called upon1 and can meanwhile refer your readers to the voluminous literature of the subject4--,yours truly1 ,,henry ,t4 ,,edge4 #ai1 ,avenue-road1 ,regent's ,park1 ,london1 ,n4,w41 ,november #g4 ,,ii4--,,letters ,,from ,,prominent ,,theosophists4 ,,from ,,mr4 ,,herbert ,,burrows3 8,a ,,reply ,,we ,,must ,,have1 ,,or ,i ,,leave ,,the ,,society40 8,what do you think of ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette articles8 ,what are the ,theosophical ,society and what are its members going to do about them80 ,this is the question which is asked me on all hands4 ,i recognise that not only my own personal friends but the public generally have a right to ask this question1 and to expect an answer1 and ,i have asked the permission of the ,editor to give the answer from my own point of view1 without in the smallest degree pledging anyone else4 ,without the smallest tinge of egotism1 ,i may say that1 next to ,mrs4 ,besant1 ,i am perhaps better known to the public generally than any other ,english member of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,i have tried to bring a good many people into the fold of the faith1 ,i know intimately the currents of thought inside the society1 and while no one is responsible for the opinions ,i express1 ,i believe that they represent the feelings of a large number of members4 ,the ,old 8,exposure0 and the ,new4 ,when ,i read ,mr4 ,garrett's opening chapters1 ,i said to myself1 8,chestnuts60 ,we had heard it so often before4 ,all the while ,mr4 ,garrett was writing about the 8,s4,p4,r40 he was probably asking himself1 ,how is it that this business did not kill the ,theosophical ,society8 ,the answer is1 ,because it was not conclusive4 ,when ,mrs4 ,besant and ,i joined the society1 apart from each other1 ,i joining a few days before her1 ,madame ,blavatsky said to both of us1 8,you had better read what there is against me10 and referred us to the ,psychical ,report4 ,we read it separately1 analysed it1 and joined4 ,i brought to it my ,civil ,service training1 what business faculties ,i had1 and a fair knowledge of the laws of evidence4 ,i am a sceptic by nature1 and ,i was then a materialist1 and the honest conclusion that ,i came to was that the case for the prosecution was far too weak to warrant a conviction4 ,that opinion ,i still hold4 ,if ,i thought differently ,i should be outside the ,theosophical ,society instead of in it4 ,i suppose that nine out of ten people who talk glibly about the report have never seen even the covers of it4 ,illustration3 ,,mrs4 ,,annie ,,besant4 7,from a photograph by ,messrs4 ,elliott ,fry1 ,baker-street1 ,w47 ,but ,i am bound to say that as ,mr4 ,garrett went on with this newer case the situation altered4 ,the details are too precise1 and supported by too much evidence1 for me honestly to escape from the conclusion that1 if the facts and documents are correctly set forth1 a prim facie case has been established against ,mr4 ,judge4 8,if ,mr4 ,judge declines to answer40 ,some facts in the series of articles and many of the inferences are wrong1 as ,i shall have occasion to show2 but enough is made clear to imperatively demand an answer4 ,the charge here is1 of course1 of no offence known to the law2 but were it otherwise1 many men have been found guilty on charges which were supported by less evidence than these4 ,i am quite aware that a goodly number of my fellow ,theosophists will blame me exceedingly for saying this1 especially some of our younger members1 whose moral sense seems somehow or other to have become confused over this matter4 ,let me put myself quite straight with them4 ,my mind is perfectly open on the subject4 ,i have no opinion yet one way or the other as to ,mr4 ,judge's conduct1 for ,i have not heard his defence4 ,for aught ,i know he may have a crushing1 triumphant reply1 and ,mr4 ,garrett and ,mr4 ,old 7and with them ,mrs4 ,besant67 may all have to go down on their knees to ,mr4 ,judge4 ,but that reply we must have1 and as a member of the ,theosophical ,society1 whose motto is1 8,there is no religion higher than ,truth10 and who has appealed to the public to join it because ,i believed that it was founded on truth1 and that its chief officials and leaders were upright1 honourable people1 ,i mean to use every legitimate effort to get it4 ,if ,mr4 ,judge declines to give it1 if he refuses to come out into the open fully and squarely1 or if his reply does not meet the case1 then sadly and reluctantly ,i shall have to leave the ,theosophical ,society1 for it will be impossible any longer to remain in an organisation whose vice-president is in such a position4 ,an ,appeal to all ,honest ,theosophists4 ,now it depends on the members of the society as to whether ,mr4 ,judge's reply shall be forthcoming4 ,they can make such strong representations to him as will be impossible for him to ignore1 and ,i hold that it is their duty to do so4 ,every member of the society has an indefeasible right to know what manner of man their vice-president is1 and it ought to be made perfectly clear that the morality of the organisation is at least as high as that of the best commercial morality1 and is not based on ,jabez-,balfourism4 ,if there is to be any talk1 as there is already among some members1 of 8letting by-gones be by-gones--saving the situation--ignoring the attack for the sake of ,theosophy1 safeguarding occultism10 c41 then self-respecting members will have to protest strongly1 and1 if necessary1 clear out4 ,all such talk comes from mental ostriches1 and in this matter ostrich-tactics won't work4 ,it is not a question of ,mr4 ,judge1 or of occultism1 or the ,theosophical ,society1 but what is above and beyond all these1 ,truth1 on which ,theosophy itself is based1 as ,i firmly believe4 ,if there is no religion higher than truth1 then truth must be had at all hazards4 ,for the truth we shall have to wait1 perhaps1 some months4 ,till we get it1 minds should be perfectly open and unbiassed4 ,only three people can give the truth--,mr4 ,judge1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 and ,colonel ,olcott4 ,as far as lies in my power ,i mean to see that the truth is forthcoming4 ,the ,judicial ,committee of ,inquiry4 ,over this ,mr4 ,garrett has floundered somewhat4 ,i was a member of it1 and know the facts4 ,when ,mr4 ,garrett says in his first article that 8a few people are aware 444 that there was recently a ,theosophic meeting at which ,mrs4 ,besant confessed to her friends that there had been something wrong with the #8communications1'0 and that she persuaded those assembled generally to hush the matter up1 he does not know his case4 ,this is what really happened4 ,after ,mr4 ,old had been some time in ,india he came to the conclusion that certain charges against ,mr4 ,judge1 which up to then had been vaguely floating about1 were true1 and he said so4 ,in ,england we disbelieved them1 for we had no real evidence1 but when ,mrs4 ,besant reached ,india1 and examined the evidence1 she agreed with ,mr4 ,old4 ,she formally adopted and formulated the charges1 and the fact that she had done so immediately became known all over the world4 ,there was no hole-and-corner work about it4 ,an official investigation committee met1 but found itself blocked by the constitutional difficulties with which your readers are now familiar4 ,mrs4 ,besant and the ,deadlock4 ,then ,i proposed that we should resolve ourselves into a voluntary jury of honour4 ,mr4 ,judge did not agree to this1 and so there was a deadlock4 ,the evidence had not been heard1 although ,mrs4 ,besant was ready with it1 for the inquiry had not been made1 neither had we heard ,mr4 ,judge's defence4 ,the next stage in the proceedings was the reading1 to a very full meeting of members from all parts of the world--for it was our annual convention--of the statements by ,mrs4 ,besant and ,mr4 ,judge1 to which ,mr4 ,garrett has so often referred4 ,in her statement ,mrs4 ,besant said3 8,the vital charge is that ,mr4 ,judge has issued letters and messages in the script recognisable as that adopted by a ,master with whom ,h4,p4,b4 was closely connected1 and that these letters and messages were neither written nor precipitated directly by the ,master in whose writing they appear40 ,that is pretty definite and precise4 ,these two statements by the accuser and the accused1 together with all the proceedings of the committee1 were published in ,lucifer on ,august #ae1 and they were reprinted in a pamphlet which was sent to every member of the society1 and ,i also know that the day before she sailed for ,australia ,mrs4 ,besant made arrangements for that pamphlet to be sent to all the principal papers of the ,united ,kingdom4 ,i have said all this at length in order to dispel the idea that ,mrs4 ,besant wished to bamboozle the society or hush up charges of fraud4 ,i know that it is asked why she did not publish the whole of the evidence4 ,if the official ,enquiry had been proceeded with the evidence would have been published with its other proceedings4 ,but ,mrs4 ,besant felt1 rightly or wrongly1 that it would be unfair of her to publish it without the defence1 and this there were no means of getting4 ,the ,unsatisfactory ,position of the ,society4 ,but now see the unsatisfactory position of the society4 ,the most serious charge possible had been made by its chief member against its second official1 one of its founders1 the tried and trusty friend of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,the charges were still hanging over his head1 his members in ,america thoroughly disbelieved them1 the members in ,india as thoroughly believed them1 and we in ,europe did not know what to think4 ,they had been neither proved nor disproved4 ,colonel ,olcott was going back to ,india1 ,mr4 ,judge flitted back to ,america1 and ,mrs4 ,besant rushed off to ,australia to fulfil lecturing engagements made a year previously1 and so far as regards the society generally ,mahomet's coffin was not in it for 8floating40 ,those of us who really took the thing to heart held our hands4 ,we fully recognised the gravity of the whole matter1 but we determined to wait till ,mrs4 ,besant's return before we moved1 for without the evidence we were powerless4 ,but we reckoned without our ,,westminster6 ,in concluding this article1 ,i say frankly that ,,the ,,westminster has really1 although quite unconsciously1 done ,mr4 ,judge a good turn4 ,i do not for a moment flatter myself that ,mr4 ,garrett wishes any good to ,theosophy6 ,the tone of his articles precludes that idea4 ,but his attack on ,mr4 ,judge puts the latter in this position1 that if he chooses he can defend himself without any fear whatever of pledging the ,theosophical ,society to one jot or tittle of dogma with regard to ,mahatmas4 ,he is attacked as a man1 and as a man ,i sincerely hope that he will manfully and satisfactorily reply4 ,,herbert ,,burrows4 ,,from ,,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,,old1 ,,ex-,,official3 8,a ,,thorough ,,grip ,,of ,,the ,,facts40 ,,sir1--,as my name has been publicly mentioned by ,mr4 ,mead1 general secretary of the ,european ,t4,s41 in connexion with the series of articles 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled10 ,i think it advisable to state my own position and attitude in the matter4 ,the writer of those articles has named me1 quite correctly1 as having taken the first step in forcing an inquiry into the case against ,mr4 ,judge4 ,for this act of mine1 ,i was suspended from my membership in the ,esoteric ,section1 under the authority of the joint signatures of ,william ,q4 ,judge and ,annie ,besant1 ,outer ,heads of the ,e4,s4,t41 and my name was dishonourably mentioned before the members of the ,e4,s41 among whom ,i numbered many an old colleague and friend4 ,the mandate somehow found its way into the public ,press4 ,however1 there was one advantage4 ,after her official action in suspending me from membership ,mrs4 ,besant was1 of course1 bound to hear my justification4 ,this happened at ,adyar in the winter of #ahic4 ,mrs4 ,besant's first remark to me after reading the case and examining the documents was1 8,you were perfectly justified by the facts before you40 ,,the ,,head ,,officials ,,pledged ,,to ,,publish ,,the ,,facts4 ,in the presence of the president-founder ,colonel ,olcott1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 ,countess ,wachtmeister1 ,mr4 ,e4 ,t4 ,sturdy1 together with ,mr4 ,edge and myself1 it was decided that the task of officially bringing the charges should devolve upon ,mrs4 ,besant1 and that the whole of the evidence should be published4 ,consequently1 the documents were handed over to ,mrs4 ,besant for the purpose of drawing up her charges1 and the president sent an official letter--or1 as ,colonel ,olcott now claims1 a 8private letter0 in official form--dated at ,agra1 ,february #ab1 #ahid1 to ,mr4 ,judge as vice-president1 in which he said 7,i re-quote from a circular issued by ,mr4 ,judge1 ,march #ae1 #ahid73--8;,i place before you the following options3-- #a4 ,to retire from all offices held by you in the ,t4,s41 and leave me to make a merely general public explanation2 or1 #b4 ,to have a ,judicial ,committee convened 444 and make public the whole of the proceedings in detail4 ,in either alternative1 you will observe1 a public explanation is found necessary3 in the one case1 general2 in the other1 to be full and covering all the details40 ,it was the second alternative which was adopted1 with the abortive and disingenuous result already known4 ,but what of the 8full publication of all the details08 ,what of us ,theosophists who had brought these charges against ,mr4 ,judge8 ,were we not left in the position of persons who had brought charges without proving them8 ,the position was one which ,i felt to be intolerable4 ,mrs4 ,besant had the full evidence in her hands by which to justify all the charges she had engaged to bring against ,mr4 ,judge1 but for some reason best known to herself involved the whole society in countenancing a systematic attempt to bolster up a delusion by concealment of facts4 ,mrs4 ,besant was also in honour bound to publish the facts1 to all members of the society at least1 since they were of a nature to vitally affect the beliefs of ,theosophists the world over4 ,she was1 in short1 bound to give them the same publicity as her former professions of occult intercourse obtained4 8,,morally ,,bound ,,to ,,give ,,publicity ,,to ,,the ,,truth40 ,the ,t4,s4 is an organised body with a wide system of propaganda1 and has taken the public into its confidence in cases where its special claims appear to have been supported by facts1 and while the public are invited to join the society it is only right and honest that they should know what of those claims are true and what of those 8facts0 have stood the test of inquiry4 ,this responsibility cannot be avoided1 and as ,i have personally been instrumental in the inquiry into these claims and facts1 ,i am morally bound to give what publicity ,i can to the truth when arrived at4 ,to rectify what ,i believed to be a fatal policy on the part of those concerned with the charges against ,mr4 ,judge1 ,i resigned from all offices held by me in the ,t4,s41 and left myself free to speak openly of the matter whenever occasion presented itself4 ,i do not believe that a system of truth can be raised from a fabric of fraud4 ,in the course of my travels ,i met with my friend ,mr4 ,garrett1 to whom1 upon inquiry1 ,i gave the reasons of my resignation from official connexion with the society4 ,he asked my permission to publish the facts4 ,my reply was that although ,i could not unsay what ,i had said1 ,i had not intended such publication as he contemplated1 and doubted whether the case could be put forth with sufficient clearness and fairness by a 8,philistine40 ,i soon found1 however1 that he had a thorough grip of the facts2 and on his representation1 the truth of which ,i had to admit1 that the society had closed the inquiry1 and would not open its journals to a full discussion of the evidence1 ,i let him take his own course4 ,certain persons1 who seem unable to conceive that a man may act on principle and without interested motives1 have suggested that ,i was moved by some petty personal grudge1 or even by some pecuniary inducement4 ,i repudiate both these insinuations as lies4 ,my independent action in this matter has involved certain pecuniary sacrifices2 ,i have in no way used it1 and should scorn to use it1 for pecuniary gain4 ,,mr4 ,,judge ,,and ,,mrs4 ,,besant4 ,it will1 therefore1 be clear to all members of the ,t4,s4 and the public generally that ,i am responsible for the facts occurring in ,mr4 ,garrett's articles only so far as they apply to the charges against ,mr4 ,judge1 and for these ,i have documentary evidence produced under a legal hand1 and duly witnessed4 ,with ,mr4 ,garrett's method of presenting the facts ,i am by no means in sympathy4 ,i do not lose sight of the fact that1 however mistaken or misled many of the ,theosophical ,society may be1 as regards the traditional 8,mahatmas0 and their supposed 8communications10 they are nevertheless as sincere in their beliefs as many of their more orthodox fellows1 and have as much right to respectful consideration4 ,i regret particularly that ,mrs4 ,besant should have been placed in this awkward public position by the present exposure4 ,her intention ,i believe to have been perfectly honest1 but ,i think she made a fatal mistake in avoiding the publication of the full facts1 and in allowing the misconception to endure concerning her own and ,mr4 ,judge's connexion with the ,mahatmas4 ,,mme4 ,,blavatsky ,,and ,,the ,,mahatmas4 ,of ,madame ,blavatsky ,i speak as ,i knew her4 ,at the time ,i made her acquaintance she had forsworn all 8phenomenalism10 so that ,i never saw any occult phenomena at any time4 ,i believe that for her the ,mahatmas existed1 and ,i believe she thought them to be embodied personalities4 ,colonel ,olcott has another theory1 and others have their own4 ,personally1 ,i believe in the extensibility of human faculty1 and in the existence of an order of intelligences higher than our own1 but ,i do not require that they are embodied or terrestrial in any sense of the word4 ,finally1 ,i have been through the ,theosophical ,society with my eyes open1 and for more than five years have been1 officially and unofficially1 as fully 8in the ,theosophical ,society0 as one can well be2 and while ,i am certain that many are fully convinced of the truth of their own beliefs in these matters1 ,i am also fully assured that a large number are in the position of persons self-deceived1 who have unfortunately committed themselves too far to review their position without almost disastrous consequences to themselves and others4 ,but that of which ,i have the fullest conviction and the greatest amount of presentable proof is the fact that no such thing as evidence of the existence 7in an ordinary sense7 of the ,mahatmas1 or of their connexion with the ,t4,s4 as a body or with its members individually1 is obtainable by a person pursuing ordinary methods of investigation4 ,for those who are willing to found their beliefs upon the mere statement of another1 without question of possible interestedness on the one hand1 or self-deception on the other1 the position is of course otherwise4 ,for such persons proofs have no value whatever1 what they are pleased to call their 8beliefs0 and their 8knowledge0 being determined or determinable from the moment they sign away their independence of judgment and freedom of thought4--,yours sincerely1 ,,walter ,r4 ,,old4 ,p4,s4--,one misstatement of fact appears in your issue of ,november #c4 ,what ,mr4 ,garrett refers to as 8,madame ,blavatsky's ,rosicrucian signet-ring0 was not a ring1 but a jewel1 used as a pendant4 ,also1 the 8dark gentleman0 who delivered the two #aj notes to ,mr4 ,judge made his call 7so we were told7 in the early afternoon1 not in 8the evening0 as stated in ,mr4 ,garrett's text4 ,i am bound to add that1 whatever may be my annoyance and regret at the tone of the articles and of some of the inferences1 as regards that part of the evidence which is known to myself1 ,i have noticed so far no other substantial error of fact4 99 99 99 99 99 ,these slight corrections have been made in this reprint4--,f4 ,e4 ,g4 ,,from ,,mr4 ,a4 ,p4 ,,sinnett3 8,,occultists ,,may ,,not ,,tell ,,fibs40 ,,sir1--,the circular bearing this title--referred to in your leading columns yesterday--was issued last ,july1 and directly affects some questions you have lately been discussing4 ,under the circumstances1 ,i hope you will kindly consent to give it fuller publicity4 ,it was addressed to students of ,occultism1 and ran as follows3-- ,the inevitable mystery which surrounds ,occultism and the ,occultist has given rise in the minds of many to a strange confusion between the duty of silence and the error of untruthfulness4 ,there are many things that the ,occultist may not divulge2 but equally binding is the law that he may never speak untruth4 ,and this obligation to ,truth is not confined to speech2 he may never think untruth1 nor act untruth4 ,a spurious ,occultism dallies with truth and falsehood1 and argues that deception on the illusory physical plane is consistent with purity on the loftier planes on which the ,occultist has his true life2 it speaks contemptuously of 8mere worldly morality0--a contempt that might be justified if it raised a higher standard1 but which is out of place when the phrase is used to condone acts which the 8mere worldly morality0 would disdain to practise4 ,the doctrine that the end justifies the means has proved in the past fruitful of all evil2 no means that are impure can bring about an end that is good1 else were the ,good ,law a dream and ,karma a mere delusion4 ,from these errors flows an influence mischievous to the whole ,theosophical ,society1 undermining the stern and rigid morality necessary as a foundation for ,occultism of the ,right ,hand ,path4 ,finding that this false view of ,occultism is spreading in the ,theosophical ,society1 we desire to place on record our profound aversion to it1 and our conviction that morality of the loftiest type must be striven after by every one who would tread in safety the difficult ways of the ,occult ,world4 ,only by rigid truthfulness in thought1 speech1 and act on the planes on which works our waking consciousness1 can the student hope to evolve the intuition which unerringly discerns between the true and the false in the supersensuous worlds1 which recognises truth at sight and so preserves him from fatal risks in those at first confusing regions4 ,to cloud the delicate sense of truth here is to keep it blind there2 hence every teacher of ,occultism has laid stress on truthfulness as the most necessary equipment of the would-be disciple4 ,to quote a weighty utterance of a wise ,indian disciple3-- 8,next in importance1 or perhaps equal in value1 to ,devotion is ,,truth4 ,it is simply impossible to over-estimate the efficacy of ,truth in all its phases and bearings in helping the onward evolution of the human soul4 ,we must love truth1 seek truth1 and live truth2 and thus alone can the ,divine ,light which is ,truth ,sublime be seen by the student of ,occultism4 ,when there is the slightest leaning towards falsehood in any shape1 there is shadow and ignorance1 and their child1 pain4 ,this leaning towards falsehood belongs to the lower personality without doubt4 ,it is here that our interests clash1 it is here the struggle for existence is in full swing1 and it is therefore here that cowardice and dishonesty and fraud find any scope4 ,the #8signs and symptoms' of the operations of this lower self can never remain concealed from one who sincerely loves truth and seeks truth40 ,to understand oneself1 and so escape self-deception1 ,truth must be practised2 thus only can be avoided the dangers of the 8conscious and unconscious deception0 against which a ,master warned his pupils in #ahhe4 ,virtue is the foundation of ,white ,occultism2 the ,pramits1 six and ten1 the transcendental virtues1 must be mastered1 and each of the ,seven ,portals on the ,path is a virtue1 which the ,disciple must make his own4 ,out of the soil of pure morality alone can grow the sacred flower which blossoms at length into ,arhatship1 and those who aspire to the blooming of the flower must begin by preparing the soil4 ,h4 ,s4 ,,olcott1 ,a4 ,p4 ,,sinnett1 ,,annie ,,besant1 ,,bertram ,,keightley1 ,w4 ,,wynn ,,westcott1 ,e4 ,t4 ,,sturdy1 ,c4 ,w4 ,,leadbeater4 ,i do not propose to discuss the merits of the case against ,mr4 ,judge1 but we who signed this paper--without prejudging in their personal aspect accusations which it had then been found impossible to thresh out thoroughly--conceived it desirable to remind all fellow-students of ,occultism that no beneficial results along that path could possibly be attained except by a course of life which1 whatever else it might be1 should be strictly in harmony with the dictates of ordinary morality4 ,the ,theosophical ,society has grown in a few years to such extraordinary proportions1 and is so loosely jointed1 that it cannot be correctly thought of as a homogeneous association all parts of which are equally represented by the officers nominally at its head4 ,but it ought at this crisis to be generally understood that the many persons of culture and earnest purpose to whom spiritual progress along the original lines of ,theosophic teaching is the main object of existence are guided by evidence concerning the possibilities of their higher evolution that is of a kind utterly unlike that which you not unreasonably discredit4 ,a great block of such evidence is in our possession concerning not merely the existence but also the attributes of the great initiates1 and to those of us in a position to appreciate this the foundations of ,theosophic knowledge are quite unshaken by such incidents as those on which you have been commenting4--,i am1 ,sir1 yours1 c41 ,a4 ,p4 ,,sinnett4 ,november #ag4 ,,whom ,,did ,,the ,,circular ,,refer ,,to ,in reference to the subject of ,mr4 ,sinnett's letter1 the following is an extract from the ,westminster ,gazette under the heading2--8,more ,theosophistry3 ,a ,belated ,piece of ,bluff40 ,in the current number of the ,review of ,reviews a letter appears signed by the ,dr4 ,keightley who lately wrote to ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette as a professed representative of ,mr4 ,w4 ,q4 ,judge1 ,vice-,president of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,the letter is worthy of some attention as an illustration of the tactics of ,mr4 ,judge's friends1 and of the line which they were taking towards any allusion in the ,press to certain events before the appearance of the recent exposure in this journal4 ,the letter is dated ,october #be1 and was therefore written at the time when the ,theosophists still hoped to maintain the great 8hush up0 inaugurated at the ,convention of last ,july1 and before they dreamed that all ,london would presently be discussing the facts which had been so industriously buried4 ,the occasion of the letter appears to have been a comment of ,mr4 ,stead's in the last number of the ,review on a circular lately issued under the title of 8,occultism and ,truth40 ,this circular was issued just after the so-called 8,enquiry into ,certain ,charges against the ,vice-,president10 and 7to this office1 at any rate7 it was enclosed under one cover with the pamphlet report of that 8,enquiry40 ,the substance of it is an assurance to the ,theosophical world1 on the part of some prominent ,theosophists1 that occultists have no more right than ordinary people to fib4 ,coming at the time when it did1 and signed as it was by all the principal official ,theosophists1 with the one exception of the vice-president1 the ,editor of the ,review of ,reviews very naturally interpreted it as having some connexion with the charges against the last-named gentleman1 and with what his colleagues evidently felt to be their apparent condonation of the 8occult methods0 ascribed to him4 ,the following is the substantial passage in the letter thereupon addressed to the ,review of ,reviews by ,mr4 ,judge's representatives3-- ,allow us to make a very necessary correction4444 ,mrs4 ,besant1 who originated the circular1 was asked directly whether it was connected with the charges or whether it was in any way aimed at ,mr4 ,judge4 ,she gave an emphatic denial to both questions to many who took the same view expressed by you4 ,another fact is not generally known1 and leads people--yourself among others--into unconsciously committing an injustice4 ,the charges against ,mr4 ,judge were never substantiated1 and the committee appointed to inquire into them declared that they were illegally laid4 7,the letter then concludes with a high tribute to ,mr4 ,judge's character for truthfulness and every other virtue47 ,now1 as regards the statement about the intention of the ,circular1 we will only say that one co-signatory of it at least has committed himself to the precise view of it which this letter denies4 ,nor is it obvious why the heads of any society should issue a round robin to say it is naughty to tell taradiddles1 unless some current reference were intended to the affairs of the society4 ,besides this1 however1 there is unmistakably conveyed the impression that ,mr4 ,judge's accusers failed to substantiate their case1 and that there was something actually 8illegal10 in the ordinary sense of the word1 about some part of their conduct4 ,as readers of 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled0 are aware1 both these things are absolutely untrue4 ,the simple fact was that1 owing to the objections raised by ,mr4 ,judge1 no opportunity was given for the charges to be either substantiated or the reverse2 while the only justification for the statement that they were 8illegally laid0 is such as can be squeezed out of the fact that the ,theosophical ,pickwickians were persuaded by ,mr4 ,judge that inquiry was forbidden by the constitution of their society4 ,it only remains to add1 to complete the disingenuousness of this very ,theosophistical letter1 that its signatories authenticate its statements by flaunting the title of 8,members of the ,committee of ,investigation02 the committee referred to being the one which met only to decide that it could not investigate1 and the members of it as such having no knowledge whatever of the evidence either on one side or the other6 ,,iii4--,,letters ,,from ,,minor ,,officials ,,and ,,private ,,members4 ,what matters 8,truth or ,falsehood80 ,,sir1--,my husband and myself are two of the officials in one of the local branches of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,i write in his name and my own to say that we have read with some interest your voluminous attack on the personal characters of some of our leading members4 ,we were also amused by the ingenuous surprise of your reporter1 that the ,blavatsky ,lodge meeting in ,london1 which he attended1 was spent in philosophic study1 not in the discussion of psychic phenomena or of the personal characters of members4 ,you say 7,chapter ,,ii473--8,this society as such must stand or fall with its ,mahatmas40 ,this is not so4 ,the ,theosophical ,society is entirely neutral on the question of the existence or non-existence of such beings1 and the reason why the charges1 of which you have published a more or less correct statement1 were not gone into by the authorities of the ,t4,s4 was1 that to have done so would have entailed an infringement of that neutrality4 ,the question whether ,mrs4 ,besant was misled when she made the statement at the ,secular ,hall in #ahia has been answered by her own clear withdrawal of that statement4 ,the question as to ,mr4 ,judge is entirely one as to his own truth or falsehood1 and may be well left to him to answer or not4 ,it is not necessary for the public or for the members of the ,theosophic ,society to judge him4--,faithfully yours1 ,,sarah ,,corbett4 ,manchester1 ,november #f4 ,a ,protest against 8,condoning40 ,,sir1--,having read the revelations your correspondent has been pleased to give to the public1 and presuming them to be correct1 it seems to me that there are now three parties at fault in place of two as ,i had supposed1 viz41 ,mr4 ,judge for imposing 7whether consciously as a deceiver or unconsciously7 as a medium obsessed by a spirit of ambition and the communicator of the facts 7if a member of the inner circle7 for breaking his solemn pledge not to reveal or betray the affairs of that circle4 ,the recent correspondence now adds others as condoning the offence of ,mr4 ,judge--and all this has come from the love of pre-eminence and the mere dabbling 7child's play7 with the occult4 ,clearly1 if the offence was proved1 the officers of the society were bound in truth and honour to expel the offender1 and all would then have been clear and straight4 ,my advice to the society would be to stick to their programme1 which is a highly laudable one1 and let no word from an invisible and unknown be taken as of any external value1 but judged only by its internal worth4 ,the society1 it seems to me1 can no longer pretend to condemn the communication with ,spirits as a dangerous thing1 nor cry out against the occasional frauds of mediums1 in conscious or unconscious state1 seeing how heavily they have fallen into the same snare1 nor can they point the finger to frauds or delusions in other bodies whether ,catholic or non-,catholic4 ,a greater strictness and more uniform abstinence from flesh-eating and tobacco1 as well as alcohol 7which last they eschew7 should be enjoined on all its members by their authorised officers1 and their own three objects steadily pursued--separating from the third all spurious imitations of magical wonders2 and1 above all1 the spirit of truth which accepts nothing on this or that authority without careful verification should be cultivated4 ,a want of bravery to do the right1 to tell the truth1 and face the consequences1 is the only thing that can be laid to the charge of the presiding officers of the ,indian and ,english sections4 ,are all societies and ,churches free from this8 ,has not a natural tenderness from long friendship1 and sympathy in noble and useful work1 been often the cause of much to be deplored8 ,and in this instance1 is not such over-tenderness of noble1 unsuspicious1 and honourable souls1 worthy rather of regret than of too severe censure4--,yours1 ,a ,,theosophist4 8,abandon the ,t4,s4 in ,disgust40 ,,sir1--,i see ,mr4 ,mead is reported as saying that 8what the articles in ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette would do1 if they did anything1 was to sift the society of those who had simply joined for the sake of the marvellous40 ,this remark shows the same utter oblivion of the appreciation of truth that has unhappily shown itself in the society's record before4 ,it is not a question of phenomena2 it is one of good faith2 and if this is the line taken1 not the phenomena-hunters merely1 but seekers for truth and respecters of it1 who expected to find it in the ,theosophical ,society1 will abandon that body in disgust4 ,mr4 ,mead continues3--8,theosophists could no more divulge secrets without violating every sense of honour than a ,mason could40 ,to compare the ,theosophical ,society1 as at present constituted1 with an honourable body like the ,masons1 is an insult to the latter1 goose-guzzling and luxuriant as they may have tended to become in these latter days4 ,there is a profound difference between hiding secrets1 which are entrusted to one1 and which concern certain 7perhaps7 important facts in the nature of man1 and taking part in proceedings to gull a number of fellow-students and the outside public4 ,this is practically what has been done before1 and the dissatisfied either disappeared altogether or were well howled at as traitors to 8the cause10 whereas1 in verity1 they were doing their best for the disowned cause of truth2 or1 again1 they were coerced by the solemn warning of 8your pledge1 take care of your pledge10 and thereby intimidated from seeing that they were making themselves parties to a continuous misrepresentation of facts and a deliberate fraud upon their less-informed fellow-members1 not to mention the public4 8,what have our troubles to do with the public80 has been the question4 ,i reply1 8,everything10 for it is to the public that constant appeal is made and amongst its ranks that proselytes are sought4 ,nothing has1 so far1 been exposed in these articles that any right-thinking truth-seeker would wish to have cloaked4 ,the public are not being made acquainted with any arcane wisdom2 but if one-third of the statements made in ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette are supported by documentary and other evidence1 then the world certainly ought to be warned against a society that takes as its motto1 8,there is no religion higher than ,,truth0 and forthwith allows its leading members to play such antics and engage in such grotesque jugglery without bringing them sternly to book4 ,as for continuing to work with these people in the establishment of a 8universal brotherhood10 rather will it become a universal imposture to expose which were a service to the glorious old ,wisdom of the ,venerable ,east1 which it dishonoured by its sham ,mahatmas4 ,those who are publishing the facts1 if facts they be1 are doing a service to the cause of truth1 and should have the thanks and gratitude of all of us in the ,theosophical ,society whose motive in being there is to seek ,,truth1 and to combat error and fraud in religion1 mysticism1 or anything else4--,i am1 c41 ,a ,,fellow ,,of ,,the ,,theosophical ,,society ,,and ,,member ,,of ,,the ,e4,s4,t4 8,it all comes of not ,sticking to ,vegetables40 ,,sir1--,with every word of ,brother ,old's letter of to-day's issue ,i beg to express my fullest sympathy4 ,i deprecate the tone of the 8revelations10 but of the necessity of making the public fully acquainted with the facts ,i have not the least doubt4 ,as to the existence of 8,mahatmas10 ,i can only say ,i do believe in the existence on this earth of a higher order of beings who1 by total abstinence from and abhorrence of flesh-eating1 alcohol1 and tobacco1 and other evil and impure customs1 and by adherence to a fixed rule of life1 retiring early and early rising1 with daily ablutions1 and by certain studies and training of body and mind1 have acquired certain attributes and powers so far in advance of ordinary human beings as to be regarded by them as miraculous4 ,of this ,i have had evidence1 not from ,theosophists1 but from personal friends resident in ,india before ever they heard of the name of ,theosophy4 ,whether any of these have anything to do in the direction of the ,theosophical ,society is quite another matter4 ,there is ,theosophy and ,theosophy1 and one of these ,i would rather term 8,theophilosophy10 i4e41 8the love and wisdom of ,god10 or 8love and wisdom religion0--and not wisdom only as is implied in the term 8,theosophy40 ,readers of 8,the ,perfect ,way0 and its companion volume1 8,clothed with the ,sun10 by that noble woman ,anna ,kingsford and her colleague1 will know what ,i mean4 ,now1 what about the future of the ,theosophical ,society8 ,i believe its officers may fall1 but its work must endure4 ,no doubt of that4 ,the founders have had their weaknesses and foibles like other mortals1 but ,i hope none will ever forget the gratitude they owe to ,madame ,blavatsky1 especially to the blessings she has conferred in founding the ,theosophical ,society and giving through its means to all hungry and thirsty souls such priceless stores of knowledge and suggestive thought 7from the ,oriental religions and philosophies which have made such deep impress on the millions of the ,east7 as are contained in the grand volumes of 8,the ,secret ,doctrine10 with its index and glossary1 and her other publications4 ,none can read these volumes1 but must ask themselves1 ,what manner of woman must she have been who devoted so many long years of labour1 from #g a4m4 to #g p4m4 daily1 in their production1 and that amidst incredible difficulties and opposition and worry8 ,nor must we forget the debt that we owe to ,colonel ,olcott and ,madame ,besant for having made this knowledge accessible to all minds and conditions by their lectures and booklets4 ,what can be more noble than the promotion of universal brotherhood irrespective of sex1 colour1 caste1 or creed1 united in the study of the ancient religions of ,east and ,west1 and of all that pertains to the hidden powers in man1 and their development for the good of the race8 ,but these last1 ,i say again1 will not be attained in purity but by prayer1 and abstinence from flesh meal1 alcohol1 and tobacco1 and other evil customs of society1 and the disuse of all things gotten by cruelty to1 or oppression of1 our fellow-creatures the lower animals1 and by pure surroundings4--,yours1 ,i4 ,g4 ,,ouseley1 ,o4,g4,a4 and ,f4,t4,s4 ,evelyn-terrace1 ,brighton1 ,november #i4 8,folly and ,fraud3 but of such is the ,kingdom40 ,,sir1--,no one should blame you1 or resent the publication of the facts4 ,truth is the first consideration1 and though we who have interested ourselves in the philosophy promulgated by the society may bitterly regret that folly and fraud are to be found within its fold--as elsewhere--yet we can rest assured that whatever there is in this philosophy which appeals to the enlightened intelligence of mankind will remain when the superstructure raised by designing intriguers or unwise enthusiasts shall have crumbled away4 ,it is in consequence of this belief that the writer1 with others in the society1 can read with calmness1 and not without some sense of amusement1 this unpleasant disclosure2 not doubting but that a great deal of it is true1 and that all may be so2 and while feeling unmixed contempt for the 8informer10 can acknowledge that any editor is well within his rights1 and a public benefactor1 when exposing fraud wherever it is found4 ,would that this feature were more pronounced in journalism generally1 and not indulged in only when such exposures fall in with public prejudice6 ,for several years the writer of this letter has been absent from the ,avenue-road centre3 among other reasons1 from a feeling of disapproval of certain follies which may be called incipient relic worship1 and which no sensible person could tolerate for long4 ,so it will be seen that all ,theosophists have not fallen under the spell of ,mrs4 ,besant's rash enthusiasm1 which has done1 and is doing1 so much to discredit her1 now as heretofore1 in the eyes of the world4 ,yet1 in spite of her indiscrimination and lack of sound judgment1 which has alienated many1 the writer would rather stand in the pillory of public opprobrium with her than sit at a banquet with the 8informer0 and those who can rejoice over the failings of a beautiful soul4 ,for it may be said of her1 and a few others1 8,of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven40 ,that there is to be found even one of these among ,theosophists may lead a few to suspect that there is something more in ,theosophy than can be discovered in your articles1 and that1 though fraud should be proved1 there may nevertheless be real occultists and true phenomena4 ,thus1 what at first sight appears a serious blow to our cause will perhaps induce further inquiry among your readers1 while doing useful work in destroying errors and growing superstition4 ,f4 ,t4 ,s4 ,,part ,,iii4 ,,last ,,shreds ,,of ,,the ,,veil ,,of ,,isis4 ,a ,,review ,,of ,,some ,,theosophistries4 ,as yet1 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled0 remains very much unanswered4 ,the oracles are dumb4 8,no ,dolphin rose1 no ,nereid stirred02 no ,mahatma 8precipitated0 a reply 7as one of them did with such edifying results in the case of the ,kiddle plagiarism71 nor disintegrated by psychic force the damaging documents in my possession2 ,mrs4 ,besant1 whose 8astral body0 has flitted across oceans to visit ,mr4 ,herbert ,burrows 8on pre-arranged evenings10 gave no sign from ,australia2 ,colonel ,olcott1 president1 in ,india1 disdained the more commonplace agency of the cable2 and ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 vice-president1 whose official adytum is but five days away at ,new ,york1 neglected to avail himself of the ordinary post1 whatever he may have done about the astral one4 ,moreover1 accustomed as are all these three officials to scouring the earth1 with all expenses paid1 no intimation has been made public as to the date when we may expect to receive anyone of them back from the various regions to which they sped immediately after launching the report of their peculiar 8,enquiry40 ,their colleagues in ,england continue to speak as if a trip to ,new ,york carried one to the bourn from which no traveller returns4 ,but what of these colleagues themselves8 ,where is the 8,voice of the ,silence0 of ,avenue-road1 ,st4 ,john's ,wood8 ,at point after point1 the ,story of the ,great ,mahatma ,hoax touched matters to which one or other or all of them must have been privy4 ,it told of missives which they had accepted as genuine1 orders which they had acted upon1 decisions in which they had agreed1 fact after fact of which they had full cognisance4 ,when ,mr4 ,mead1 the ,european secretary1 gave out that he did not reply because he was not attacked1 ,i did my best to oblige him2 ,i began at the beginning1 and challenged him at once as having been present and taken part in the 8,judge's-plan-is-right0 decision2 and ,i added that when he had denied my version of that ,i would supply him with further matter for denial4 ,whereupon the discreet ,european secretary subsided altogether4 ,the 8,sacred ,oath0 ,humbug4 ,of course1 some excuse had to be offered1 and we have been told that what happens at meetings of the ,esoteric ,section is sacredly secret4 ,now1 first1 that only covers a small part of my story1 some of which dealt with circumstances surrounding official acts of the society or its three sections4 ,secondly1 the excuse is eminently one that accuses1 by implying that what ,i say happened at those meetings did happen2 for presumably members take no oath to keep secret what does not occur8 ,but1 thirdly1 this alleged secrecy is a mere pretext2 else how could ,mrs4 ,besant publicly refer on platforms to 8supernatural0 experiences at those meetings2 and ,messrs4 ,old and ,edge 7the latter to this day holding office7 raise questions about one such matter in print in ,colonel ,olcott's journal2 and ,mrs4 ,besant1 the ,colonel1 and a full council of officials notify ,mr4 ,judge that in a certain eventuality 7which did afterwards occur7 they would make a 8full publication covering all the details0 of that matter1 and others concerning the sacred ,mahatma messages8 ,whatever may be the 8quasi-,masonic oath0 of which we now hear1 they evidently held that it did not bind them to conceal1 with their eyes open1 a fraud upon their fellow-members2 and those who do so interpret it only throw a very suggestive light on their own action in willingly taking such an oath4 ,was ,mrs4 ,besant quite right when she gave the public what she confesses was a 8misleading account0 of these secrets1 and only in the wrong when1 along with ,colonel ,olcott and the rest1 she proposed to give what she now knew to be the correct one8 ,is the position that a ,theosophist may 8tell0--anything he likes1 except the truth8 ,a ,survey of the ,present ,situation4 ,the absence of ,colonel ,olcott and ,mrs4 ,besant does not alter the fact that he with others made1 and she publicly adopted1 certain charges against ,mr4 ,judge1 vice-president4 ,and the silence of their colleagues in ,england does not disguise the fact that my account of the details has not been challenged as to one single event1 letter1 or facsimile4 ,the published 8,report of an ,enquiry0 cries aloud for some explanation3 the explanation of 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled0 holds the field untouched4 ,it leaves the vice-president only able to exculpate himself1 if at all1 by further inculpating them4 ,the 8full rebuttal evidence held in reserve10 therefore1 at which his professed representative in ,england hints1 can be formidable only to the ,theosophical ,society1 not to its critics4 ,i am bound to say1 however1 that if the would-be impressive fragments of it which have been privately adumbrated to me are fair samples of the rest1 it is not calculated to be formidable to anybody4 ,when the 8affidavits0 hinted at have been published1 or otherwise submitted to examination1 ,i can promise them all the attention they deserve4 ,to say that any affidavit1 until cross-examined upon1 is worth exactly as much as the paper it is written on would be an uncalled-for slight upon the paper-maker4 ,the ,excommunication of 8,brother ,old40 ,a word or two about the attempt to create a diversion by attacking the character of the one ,theosophical official who has had the honesty to resign office rather than shut his eyes to a fraud on the public4 ,the attack on ,mr4 ,old cannot in any case discredit the story ,i have narrated4 ,first1 because the largest and most important part of that story is from the undenied written evidence of persons still holding office in the society1 and especially of its 8,president-,founder40 ,secondly1 because1 even as regards ,mr4 ,old's part1 the character of a witness is only a relevant consideration where the truth of his testimony is disputed4 ,what ,i am now about to say is said1 therefore1 merely in justice to ,mr4 ,old himself4 ,the attack on him has two lines4 ,it is said that he had to perjure himself to give any information whatever4 ,it is hinted that what information he did give was given for money4 ,the former charge turns entirely on the 8sacred oath0 humbug1 which ,i have discussed already4 ,as to the latter1 it is true to my knowledge that for the part he has taken in fulfilling what he regards as a public duty to truth1 ,mr4 ,old neither asked nor received any consideration whatever4 ,my own acquaintance with ,mr4 ,old began in an odd way1 not without bearing on the question of his sincerity4 ,at the time of the ,salvation ,army riots at ,eastbourne1 a gallant old ,englishman1 who could not bear that women1 under any provocation1 should be publicly assaulted in ,english streets1 went down there to stand up for the 8,hallelujah lasses40 ,he asked1 through the ,pall ,mall ,gazette1 for five hundred ,englishmen to help4 ,he got five4 ,this ,quixotic gentleman1 this modern ,sieur de ,marsac1 was my friend ,mr4 ,charles ,money1 of ,petersfield4 ,i went myself to see that he did not get his head broken more than was necessary4 ,his company1 as seedy a lot of knights-errant as ever ,i saw1 consisted mainly of ,cockney journalists who did not believe in ,god4 ,but one--a spruce1 slight youth--declared himself a ,theosophist4 ,the adventurers spouted to a yelling mob1 got off with whole skins1 and by testimony of the local police actually achieved their end4 ,but ,mr4 ,money and one other were knocked about a bit in the crowd4 ,that other--he quitted himself like a man--was ,mr4 ,w4 ,r4 ,old1 ,theosophist4 ,i may be wrong3 it was but a street row2 but ,i regard that as a more practical service on ,mr4 ,old's part to the 8,universal ,brotherhood of ,humanity0 than all the hundredweights of vapid moralising on the subject ever vomited from 8,the ,h4,p4,b4 ,press40 ,stewing in the ,judge ,juice4 ,except ,mr4 ,old1 one prominent ,theosophist1 and one alone1 has so far publicly faced the facts4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,burrows has had the honesty and the courage to say out that this thing must be answered by ,mr4 ,judge1 and fully1 or he for one will quit the society4 ,mr4 ,burrows forgets that others besides ,mr4 ,judge have made themselves answerable4 ,other correspondents1 again1 represented other factions1 and showed how the society is seething with distrust and shame4 ,but the mass of the letters only serve to prove that1 whatever else the 8occult powers0 of the ,theosophists may be1 they do not include a command either of plain ,english or of straight argument4 ,if 8,isis0 does not yet stand before us absolutely like ,hans ,breitmann's 8maiden mit nodings on10 it is a painfully thin fabric of ,theosophistries which alone shelters her from the cold wind of public contempt4 ,let us examine it4 ,the ,theosophistry about ,proving a ,negative4 8,after all1 you have not proved that ,mahatmas do not exist1 nor that occult phenomena cannot occur40 ,certainly ,i have not1 nor did ,i ever propose to try4 ,i am quite prepared to believe in both when evidence for them has been produced1 and has stood the test of such ordinary evidential canons as have been applied to kindred subjects--for instance1 by the ,psychical ,research ,society4 ,all that ,i have said is that certain evidence on which the ,theosophical ,society has been building proves nothing whatever1 except the existence of a hotbed of humbug within the society itself4 ,as for the ,mahatmas1 there is no difficulty about conceiving that illiterate1 twaddling1 and mendacious beings of a second-rate order of intelligence1 such as those reflected in the 8missives0 which ,i have reproduced1 may exist in ,tibet as they unhappily do elsewhere4 ,but when we are told that these beings have acquired powers which rise superior to time and space1 and that they use these for communicating 8in a quasi-miraculous manner0 with the ,theosophical ,society1 we ask for facts2 and we get--such facts as were investigated by ,dr4 ,hodgson and his colleagues1 and such facts as have been exposed in 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled40 ,what else is there8 ,one ,theosophist directs me to 8our literature on the subject1 which is copious40 ,i don't doubt it2 but it is not 8literature0 that ,i am in search of4 ,another declares 8it does not all depend on ,madame ,blavatsky and ,mr4 ,judge2 others have seen ,mahatmas40 ,it seems that ,mrs4 ,besant has been telling her ,australian audiences that she herself has been so favoured 7just as she told the ,hall of ,science audience that she had been favoured with supernatural missives74 ,well1 how did ,mrs4 ,besant know her ,mahatma8 ,by his 8portrait10 ,i suppose1 as others have done4 ,and how was that portrait produced8 ,when ,madame ,blavatsky began to spell spiritualism 8,theosophy10 and turned her 8spirit-control0 8,john ,king10 of whom ,colonel ,olcott tells1 into ,master ,koot ,hoomi--whom she again subordinated1 after the ,kiddle exposure1 to ,mahatma ,morya1 whom she1 in turn1 after the ,s4,p4,r4 ,report1 left over for exploitation by ,mr4 ,judge--when ,madame started the ,mahatma on this chequered career1 it was one of her earliest steps to secure a counterfeit presentment of her creation4 ,various artists and amateurs were set to paint portraits under occult inspiration4 ,the results may all have resembled the ,protean ,mahatma2 some of them were strikingly unlike each other4 ,the two best were done by ,mr4 ,schmiechen1 now a society portrait-painter1 partly out of his head1 partly from directions given by ,madame1 and partly from a photograph of a typical ,hindu which she gave him for the purpose4 ,madame identified one as ,koot and the other as ,morya1 and declared they were speaking likenesses--an opinion which nobody else was in a position to contradict4 ,they hang to-day in the 8,occult ,room0 at ,adyar1 and are declared to have been painted from the respective 8astral bodies0 of their subjects4 ,colonel ,olcott1 president1 who knows their origin perfectly well1 exhibits them reverently to barefoot disciples doing 8puja40 ,photographs from the fancy portrait of 8,m10 in locked cases1 have been distributed to the ,esoteric few2 ,mrs4 ,besant always works with one facing her2 ,madame ,blavatsky made it part of a chela's course to spend some time daily staring at the image1 and deliberately trying to 8visualise0 it in corners of the room4 ,what wonder if some of them have succeeded8 ,it would have been contrary to all experience of the phenomena of self-hypnotic hallucination if they had not4 ,the thing only begins to call for examination when the figure thus 8visualised0 leaves something not entirely psychic behind him4 ,the ,master who left a shower of roses once at ,adyar turned out to have been ,m4 ,coulomb1 eked out with a mask1 a bladder1 and some white muslin2 and the roses were traced elsewhere than to ,tibet4 ,and the ,master who precipitated the ,judge missives8----,but perhaps the ,theosophists would prefer not to put him forward4 ,when they have something better1 ,i shall be glad to hear of it4 ,the ,theosophistry of ,throwing ,over the ,mahatmas4 8,what matter even if the ,mahatmas do not exist1 and the phenomena are frauds8 ,there still remain those sublime ideas which10 c41 c4 ,i was quite prepared for this particular ,theosophistry4 ,that was why ,i started1 at the very beginning of my story 7,chapter ,,ii471 by showing what an enormous practical part the ,mahatmas and their miracles have played in the movement4 ,it is easy for this ,theosophist or that to protest that they never attracted him4 ,the fact remains that the big accessions to the society's numbers have always followed on the miracle 8booms10 alike under ,madame ,blavatsky and under ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,moreover1 it is not possible1 even argumentatively1 to dissociate 8those sublime ideas10 c41 from the ,mahatmas on whose authority ,madame ,blavatsky gave them out4 ,if she spoke truth1 they were the real authors of 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled0 and of 8,the ,secret ,doctrine40 ,if she lied1 and the authority for those teachings is her own1 what is that lying authority worth8 ,i need not labour the point1 as it was conclusively proved long ago by ,mrs4 ,besant herself4 ,in an article in ,lucifer of ,december1 #ahij1 addressed apparently to certain ,theosophical schismatics who showed a tendency to throw over alike their foundress and her 8,masters10 ,mrs4 ,besant accomplished the easy task of showing that the society was tied hand and foot to both4 ,it was founded by ,her at the bidding of 8,them02 ,they have been the deus ex machin whenever ,she was in a fix1 and the society has so accepted ,them4 ,it can be 8neutral0 about ,them1 and ,their miracles1 and ,their prophetess1 only when an heir is neutral about his own title-deeds4 ,as ,mrs4 ,besant puts it in a nutshell3 8,if there are no ,masters1 then the ,theosophical ,society is an absurdity40 ,the ,theosophistry of ,throwing ,over the 8,inner ,group40 8,the ,esoteric ,section is a private body1 not officially connected with the ,theosophical ,society2 so the ,society is not responsible for miracle-mongering in the ,section40 ,the so-called ,esoteric ,section or ,e4,s4,t4 78,eastern ,school of ,theosophy071 of which the ,high-priesters and the ,vice-,president are now quarrelling for the headship1 and1 in the words of the latter official1 8the core of the ,theosophical ,society40 ,the ,inner ,group1 again1 is the core of the ,e4,s4,t4 ,both were the special creation of the ,society's foundress4 ,the ,group was to contain her top pupils4 ,the members of the group are almost to a man officials of the ,society1 living at the ,society's expense4 ,with the one exception of ,colonel ,olcott1 practically all the high panjandrums are included in it4 ,lastly1 if it has been the centre of the ,mahatma communications1 it is a centre that has radiated them in all directions to the society's circumference4 ,the plop of a missive sends a ripple from the ,inner ,group to the ,esoteric ,section1 from the ,esoteric ,section to the society at large1 and from the society to the public4 ,well1 the yolk of an egg is not officially connected with the outer portion2 but when the yolk is bad1 we call it a rotten egg without further parley4 ,the ,theosophistry of ,throwing ,over the ,society's ,personnel4 ,but that brings me to the most barefaced ,theosophistry of all3 8,even if all our officials be proved to have lied and cheated1 there still remains untouched their grand ethical teaching60 ,i simply state this1 and leave it4 ,like the coster when his barrow broke down1 8,friends1 ,i ain't ekal to it40 ,i cannot do justice to such colossal impudence4 8,truth survives all attacks02 she does2 she will even survive ,theosophical defences4 8,the noble religions and philosophies of the ,east exist02 they do1 as they did long centuries before the ,theosophical ,society was heard of1 and will do long centuries after it has been forgotten4 ,but when ,mahatmas1 and miracles1 and the founders1 and the officials1 and the official acts of the ,theosophical ,society are all thrown over--,what remains of the society8 8,we have absolutely no creed10 the ,european secretary told an interviewer the other day--7all unfettered by the fact that he distributes broadcast ,mrs4 ,besant's 8,introduction to ,theosophy0 with a complete pseudo-,buddhistic cosmology about the ,seven ,planes1 c41 authenticated by direct reference to the ,masters1 and particularising1 for instance1 that 8,devachan0 lasts 8for average persons some fifteen centuries067--8,absolutely no creed40 8,you would simply call yours a moral or religious society1 then80 asked the puzzled interviewer4 ,to which ,mr4 ,mead navely replies1 8,i don't exactly know what you would call it40--7,sunday ,times1 ,nov4 #aa47 ,since scholarship has opened the stores of the ,east to ,western culture1 there has been a natural awakening of popular interest in ,eastern directions4 ,while that lasts1 people discussing each other's souls will continue to sprinkle their remarks1 harmlessly enough1 with those mingled jargons which make a true ,orientalist smile4 ,if 8,theosophy0 means that1 8,theosophy0 has certainly some life before it2 but as for the ,theosophical ,society--8why cumbereth it the ground80 ,it is an organised machine for taking in the ,honest ,enthusiast at one end1 passing him through the stages of the ,willing ,dupe and the ,conscientious ,humbug1 and turning him out at the other end at worst a conscious fraud1 at best a dreary and disillusioned cynic4 ,enough of the logical and ethical fog that ,theosophy diffuses6--the ,mahatmosphere1 as one might call it4 ,it is a relief to escape from it into the fresh air of common honesty and common sense4 ,,postscript4 ,a ,,mahatma ,,at ,,bay3 ,,the ,,vice-,,president',s ,,trump ,,card4 ,the following appeared in the ,westminster ,gazette1 under the headings3 8,,open ,,split ,,between ,,theosophical ,,officials02 8,,rival ,,revelations ,,from ,,the ,,same ,,master02 8,,mr4 ,,judge ,,gets ,a ,,missive ,,deposing ,,mrs4 ,,besant03-- ,just as the ,story of the ,great ,mahatma ,hoax is going to press in its collected form1 just in the nick of time to be included1 comes the material for a new chapter of more extravagant humour than all the rest4 ,readers of the 8,isis0 chapters will recall that the ,theosophic embroglio has gone through the following stages3--7#a7 ,the vice-president's 8,mahatma0 makes reflections on the president4 7#b7 ,the president and other officials make charges of 8forging0 ,mahatma missives against the ,v4,p4 7#c7 ,mrs4 ,besant1 after some vacillation1 adopts these charges1 and joins with the others in offering the ,v4,p4 the choice of retiring quietly or an exposure4 7#d7 ,the ,v4,p4 bluffs them all into silence1 and they all join in inducing the 8,convention0 of last ,july to separate without looking further into the matter4 7#e7 ,mrs4 ,besant and the ,v4,p4 8join hands10 in public1 on her statement that though he wrote the alleged missives 8with his own hand10 yet he had 8psychically received0 their contents from the ,mahatma4 7#f7 ,in private1 ,mrs4 ,besant separates herself from the ,v4,p4 by dissolving their joint headship of the ,esoteric ,section 78the core of the ,theosophical ,society10 as ,mr4 ,judge justly calls it below73 ,mr4 ,judge1 ,v4,p41 to retain the ,american section of the section1 and she herself the ,european1 to which she has since added the ,indian4 ,now we learn ,phase #g4 ,seven is a highly ,theosophical numeral1 and this phase is certainly a rich one4 ,mr4 ,judge sends round to the ,esoteric ,section a pamphlet in which he announces that ,mrs4 ,besant is1 in effect1 possessed of a devil1 and that the ,mahatma 7under whose direction she also professes to be acting7 has ordered him to depose her altogether1 and take over the whole thing himself66 ,which1 in a formal 8,order10 he accordingly proceeds to do4 ,the pamphlet1 which among other things professes to give the ,judge version of the true inwardness of the abortive 8,enquiry0 in ,july1 has just been sent round to the ,esoteric ,theosophists4 ,copies were not sent to some who were considered dangerous2 but the recent unveiling has made a good many so who were safe enough1 from the ,judge point of view1 before1 and thanks to one of these who does not acknowledge any headship of ,mr4 ,judge over the ,european ,esotericists since ,mrs4 ,besant's dissolution thereof1 it is possible to give to mankind what was meant by ,mr4 ,judge for a party4 ,the following are the salient passages1 followed by the ,order deposing ,mrs4 ,besant 7the titles in capitals are ,mr4 ,judge's2 the paragraph headings are not73-- ,,by ,,master',s ,,direction4 ,i now send you this1 all of it being either direct quotations from the messages to me1 or else in substance what ,i am directed to say to you1 the different details and elaborations being my own4444 ,we have now to deal with the ,e4,s4,t4 and with our duty to it and to each other2 and among those others1 to ,mrs4 ,besant4444 ,the ,greatness of ,wm4 ,q4 ,judge4 ,i am not a pledged member of the ,e4,s4,t41 and never made a pledge in it1 as my pledges were long before to the ,master direct4 ,i was one of its founders1 with ,h4,p4,b41 and she1 at the beginning1 made me manager and teacher in it from the first1 under her1 for the ,american part especially4 ,you can remember all she said of that4 ,i wrote the rules of the ,e4,s4,t4 myself in ,london in #ahhh at ,h4,p4,b4's request1 and under the direction of the ,master4 ,those were not altered by her1 but after reading them and further consulting the ,master she added some general paragraphs4 ,i am the only one standing in that position4 ,mrs4 ,besant and all other members are pledged and certified in the ordinary way4444 ,an ,inner ,group was later on formed by ,h4,p4,b4 at ,london1 so that she might give out teachings to be recorded by the members1 and1 if possible1 teach them practical ,occultism4 ,of this ,mrs4 ,besant1 with ,george ,mead to help her1 was made the ,secretary1 because she had great ability in a literary way1 was wholly devoted1 and perfectly fit for the task4 ,but this did not make her a teacher4444 ,the ,littleness of ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,the death of ,h4,p4,b4 destroyed1 of course1 any further value in the office of 8,recorder40 ,the conversations of ,h4,p4,b4 with the ,inner ,group were taken down in a more or less fragmentary form by the different members1 in notes1 and later ,mrs4 ,besant and ,george ,mead wrote them out1 as ,secretaries4 ,i have a complete copy of these1 and so has each member of the ,inner ,group1 and those copies comprise all the 8,instructions0 left in the possession of ,mrs4 ,besant or the ,inner ,group4 ,in my possession1 and within my control1 is a large body of instructions given to me all the time from #ahge1 which ,i shall give out and have given out1 as far as ,i am directed4444 ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant has been but five years in this work1 and not all of that time engaged in occult study and practice4444 ,since #ahhi she has done great service to the ,t4,s4 and devoted herself to it4 ,but all this does not prevent a sincere person from making errors in ,occultism1 especially when he1 as ,mrs4 ,besant did1 tries to force himself along the path of practical work in that field4 ,sincerity does not confer of itself knowledge1 much less wisdom4444 ,singular ,disinterestedness of ,wm4 ,q4 ,judge4 ,i wish it to be clearly understood that ,mrs4 ,besant has had herself no conscious evil intention3 she has simply gone for awhile outside the line of her ,guru 7,h4,p4,b471 begun work with others1 and fallen under their influence4 ,we should not push her farther down1 but neither will the true sympathy we have blind our eyes1 so as to let her go on1 to the detriment of the movement4 ,i could easily retire from the whole ,t4,s41 but my conceptions of duty are different1 although the personal cost to myself in this work is heavy1 and as ,i am ordered to stay ,i will stay and try my best to aid her and everyone else as much as possible4 ,and the same authority tells me that 8could she open her eyes and see her real line of work1 and correct the present condition in herself as well as the one she has helped to make in the ,t4,s4 and ,e4,s4,t41 she would find herself in mental1 spiritual1 and physical conditions of a kind much better than ever before1 for her present state is due to the attacks of the dark powers1 unconsciously to her40 ,black ,magic and the ,plot ,behind the ,scenes4 ,and now it becomes necessary under instructions received to give the members of the ,school some account of the things behind the scenes in connexion with the recent investigation attempted at ,london upon the charges against me4444 ,i was made the object of an attack in the guise of an attempt to purify the ,society1 and ,mrs4 ,besant was thrown forward as the official accuser of myself--a friend who was certified to her by ,h4,p4,b41 her teacher1 well known as working for the ,t4,s4 for many years4 ,all this needs light1 and the best interests of ,mrs4 ,besant and of the ,e4,s4,t4 demand that some of the secret history shall be given out1 however disagreeable it may be1 in order that the very purgation which was improperly directed to the wrong quarter shall take place now4 ,the difficulty arose when in ,january or ,february ,annie ,besant finally lent herself unconsciously to the plot which ,i detail herein4444 ,the plot exists among the ,black ,magicians1 who ever war against the ,white1 and against those ,black ones we were constantly warned by ,h4,p4,b4 ,this is no fiction1 but a very substantial fact4 ,i have seen and also been shown the chief entity among those who thus work against us4444 ,how ,mr4 ,judge's ,master ,caught ,out ,mrs4 ,besant's ,friend4 ,the name of the person who was worked upon so as to1 if possible1 use him as a minor agent of the ,black ,magicians1 and for the influencing of ,mrs4 ,besant1 is ,gyanendra ,n4 ,chakravarti1 a ,brahman1 of ,allahabad1 ,india1 who came to ,america on our invitation to the ,religious ,parliament in #ahic4 ,he permitted ambition to take subtle root in his heart2 he is no longer in our lines4 ,he was then a ,chela of a minor ,indian ,guru1 and was directed to come to ,america by that ,guru1 who had been impressed to so direct him by our ,master4444 ,while in that relation he was telepathically impressed in ,chicago with some of the contents of a message received by me from the ,master4 ,it corroborated outwardly what ,i had myself received4 ,it was1 however1 but a part1 and was1 moreover1 deficient in matter1 ,chakravarti himself being only aware of it as a mental impression1 and ,i am informed that at the time he was not fully aware of what he was doing4 ,his ability to be used as an unconscious vehicle was made known to me when he was made to receive the message4 ,although he was not fully aware of it1 not only was the whole of his tour here well guarded and arranged1 but he was personally watched by the agents of the ,master's scattered through the country unknown to him1 who reported to me4 ,on several occasions he has taken people into his confidence1 believing that he was instructing them1 when in fact they were observing him closely from the ,lodge1 helping him where right1 and noting him fully1 though they did not tell him so4 ,this was also so in those parts of his tour when he believed himself alone or only with ,mrs4 ,besant4444 8,if ,i am a ,fraud so are ,h4,p4,b4 and the ,masters40 ,if ,i was guilty of what ,i was accused1 then ,master would be shown as conniving at forgery and lying--a most impossible thing4 ,the only other possibility is that ,mr4 ,chakravarti and ,i 8got up0 the message4 ,but he and ,mrs4 ,besant have admitted its genuineness1 although she is perfectly unable herself to decide on its genuineness or falsity2 but further1 ,mrs4 ,besant admitted to several that she had seen the ,master himself come and speak through my body while ,i was perfectly conscious4 ,and still further1 ,h4,p4,b4 gave me in #ahhi the ,master's picture1 on which he put this message1 8,to my dear and loyal colleague1 ,w4 ,q4 ,judge40 ,now1 then1 either ,i am bringing you a true message from the ,master1 or the whole ,t4,s4 and ,e4,s4,t4 is a lie1 in the ruins of which must be buried the names of ,h4,p4,b4 and the ,masters4 ,all these stand together as they fall together4444 ,how ,mrs4 ,besant ,privately ,thinks ,h4,p4,b4 a ,fraud4 ,as final proof of the delusions worked through this man and his friends1 ,i will mention this3--,many years ago--in #ahha--the ,masters sent to the ,allahabad ,brahmans 7the ,prayag ,t4,s47 a letter which was delivered by ,h4,p4,b4 to ,mr4 ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett1 who handed a copy over to them1 keeping the original2 it dealt very plainly with the ,brahmans4 ,this letter the ,brahmans do not like1 and ,mr4 ,chakravarti tried to make me think it was a pious fraud by ,h4,p4,b4 ,he succeeded with ,mrs4 ,besant in this1 so that since she met him she has on several occasions said she thought it was a fraud by ,h4,p4,b41 made up entirely1 and not from the ,master4 ,i say now on ,master's authority that it was from the ,master1 and is a right letter4 ,only delusion would make ,mrs4 ,besant take this position3 deliberate intention makes the others do it4 ,it is an issue which may not be evaded1 for if that letter be a fraud1 then all the rest sent through our old teacher1 and on which ,esoteric ,buddhism was made1 are the same4 ,i shall rest on that issue3 we all rest on it4 ,mrs4 ,besant's ,rival ,revelations4 ,mrs4 ,besant was then made to agree with these people under the delusion that it was approved by the ,masters4 ,she regarded herself as their servant4 ,it was against the ,e4,s4,t4 rules4 ,when the rule is broken it is one's duty to leave the ,e4,s4,t41 and when ,i got the charges from her ,i asked her to leave it if it did not suit her4 ,the depth of the plot was not shown to ,mrs4 ,besant at all1 for if it had been she would have refused4 ,nor was ,colonel ,olcott aware of it4 ,mrs4 ,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 ,master4 ,she was made to conceal from me1 when here1 her thoughts about the intended charges1 but was made to tell ,mr4 ,b4 ,keightley1 in ,london1 and possibly few others4 ,nor until the time was ripe did she tell me1 in her letter1 in ,january1 from ,india1 asking me to resign from the ,e4,s4,t4 and the ,t4,s4 offices1 saying that if ,i did and would confess guilt1 all would be forgiven1 and everyone would work with me as usual4 ,but ,i was directed differently1 and fully informed4 ,she was induced to believe that the ,master was endorsing the prosecution1 that he was ordering her to do what she did4 ,at the same time1 ,i knew and told her that it was the plan there to have ,colonel ,olcott resign when ,i had been cut off1 the presidency to be then offered to her4 ,it was offered to her1 and she was made to believe it was the ,master's wish for her 8not to oppose40 ,she then waited4 ,i did not resign1 and the plot so far was spoilt for the time4444 ,she felt and expressed to me the greatest pain to have to do such things to me4 ,i knew she so felt1 and wrote her that it was the ,black ,magicians4 ,she replied1 being still under the delusion1 that ,i was failing to do ,master's will4 ,how ,mrs4 ,besant ,tried ,witchcraft4 ,her influencers also made her try psychic experiments on me and on two others in ,europe4 ,they failed4 ,on me they had but a passing effect1 as ,i was cognisant of them2 on one of the others they reflected on health1 although she did not desire any harm at all2 she was made to think it best and for my good4 ,she then sent word to these people that she had not succeeded4 ,this is all the effect of pure delusion2 the variance between such things and her usual character is shown in her all the time writing me the most kind letters4 ,in all this ,mr4 ,chakravarti was her guide1 with others4 ,she was writing him all the time about it4 ,he went so far as to write me on a matter he was supposed to know nothing of3 8,no matter what ,annie may do to you as co-head of the ,e4,s4 she means you no harm40 8,every ,man ,his ,own ,mahatma40 ,informed as ,i was of these inside facts1 ,i drew up under ,master's direction my circular on the charges in ,march1 #ahid1 and there outlined what would be done4 ,it was all done as ,i said1 and as the ,master in ,march told me would be the case4 ,the ,london investigation ended as ,master predicted through me in my circular1 and for the benefit of the ,t4,s4 ,but all that time the conspirators used all means against me4 ,they had all sorts of letters sent me from ,india with pretended messages from the ,masters asking me to resign and confess4 ,but ,master kept me informed and told me what steps to take4 ,he even told me that1 much as it might seem the contrary from the official papers1 ,colonel ,olcott would be the central figure and the one through whom the adjustment would come4 ,this also turned out true4 ,migration of ,mahatmas to--,new ,york8 ,the ,master says that the ,t4,s4 movement was begun by ,them in the ,west by western people2 that cyclic law requires the work in the ,west for the benefit of the world2 that ,they do not live in ,india4 ,they also say that ,nature's laws have set apart woe for those who spit back in the face of their teacher1 for those who try to belittle her work1 and make her out to be part good and part fraud4444 ,a distinct object ,h4,p4,b4 had in view ,i will now1 on the authority of the ,master1 tell you1 unrevealed before by ,h4,p4,b4 to anyone else that ,i know of3 it is1 the establishment in the ,west of a great seat of learning1 where shall be taught and explained and demonstrated the great theories of man and nature which she has brought forward to us1 where ,western occultism1 as the essence combined out of all others1 shall be taught4 ,i also state on the same authority that ,h4,p4,b4 has not reincarnated4444 ,we are all1 therefore1 face to face with the question whether we will abide by ,masters and their ,messenger on the one hand1 or by the disrupting forces that stand on the other1 willing to destroy our great mission if we will but give them the opportunity4 8,i ,declare ,mrs4 ,besant's ,headship at an ,end60 ,the pamphlet closes with the following 8,e4,s4,t4 ,,order10 dated ,november #c1 and signed in manuscript3-- ,i now proceed a step further than the ,e4,s4,t4 decisions of #ahid1 and solely for the good of the ,e4,s4,t4 ,i resume in the ,e4,s4,t41 in full1 all the functions and powers given to me by ,h4,p4,b4 and that came to me by orderly succession after her passing from this life1 and declare myself the sole head of the ,e4,s4,t4 ,this has been done already in ,america4 ,so far as concerns the rest of the ,e4,s4,t4 ,i may have to await the action of the members1 but ,i stand ready to exercise those functions in every part of it4 ,hence1 under the authority given me by the ,master and ,h4,p4,b41 and under ,master's direction1 ,i declare ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant's headship in the ,e4,s4,t4 at an end4 ,illustration ,this1 then1 is ,mr4 ,judge's response to the case against him1 and1 as was expected1 it takes the form of attacking his colleagues1 but keeps strictly to generalities as regards the evidence against himself4 ,the date affixed is one when ,mr4 ,judge had probably heard of the articles in ,,the ,,westminster by cable1 but had no idea of the detailed nature of the attack4 ,the parts quoted throw many interesting side-lights1 but perhaps the most delightful thing is the picture presented of all the ,theosophists playing off the ,mahatma on one another3 ,mr4 ,judge1 ,mrs4 ,besant1 ,mr4 ,chakravarti1 and others1 giving the most contradictory messages from the same ,tibetan source2 and ,mr4 ,judge now finally 8going one better0 than all the rest1 for has he not1 in a very real sense1 the ,mahatma in his pocket8 ,at any rate1 the battle has now well begun4 ,the prophets of ,baal are cutting1 not themselves as of old1 but one another4 ,more power to all their elbows6 ,mrs4 ,besant was willing enough to accept ,mr4 ,judge's anti-,olcott missives as 8psychically0 from the ,mahatma2 we shall now see how it strikes her when the same weapon is turned against herself4#a ,footnote #a3 ,we have seen4 ,vide ,preface4 ,in the same issue was published a 8vote of censure passed on the ,president by one of the local #8,lodges' of the ,t4,s4 7,bournemouth71 declaring that the articles recently published in the ,westminster ,gazette disclose a prim facie case against the ,vice-,president10 8of fraud upon his fellow ,theosophists40 8,the ,vice-,president should not continue to lie10 the ,bournemouth ,lodge remarks1 8under such a charge40 ,other ,lodges have also taken one side or the other4 ,,the ,,society ,,upon ,,the ,,himalay4 7,,theosophically ,,adapted ,,from ,,bret ,,harte47 ,i reside at ,table ,mountain1 and my name is ,truthful ,james2 ,i am not fond of pious frauds or ,oriental games2 ,and ,i'll tell in simple language1 as well as ,i can say1 ,what broke up our ,society upon the ,himalay4 ,but first ,i would remark that there must needs be painful scenes ,when ,theosophic gents begin to give each other ,beans2 ,and though ,mahatma missives do pan out a little queer1 ,we should avoid disturbances in the ,mahatmosphere4#b ,now nothing could be nicer or more full of harmony ,than the first few months that followed the decease of 8,h4,p4,b402 ,till ,judge of ,calaveras produced a curious set ,of missives in red pencil what he said were from ,tibet4#c ,from these he reconstructed a ,mahatma 7very rare71 ,a ,nest of that peculiar kind pertaining to a ,mare2 ,but ,mrs4 ,besant found a rival missive on the shelf1#d ,and said she fancied ,mr4 ,judge had written his himself4#e ,then ,judge's smile took on a most unpleasant sort of curve2 ,he said he would not trespass so on ,mrs4 ,b4's preserve4 ,he was a most resourceful man1 that quiet ,mr4 ,judge2 ,he got another missive saying ,mrs4 ,b4's was fudge4#f ,now1 it is not edifying for a ,theosophic priest ,to call another one a fraud--to all intents1 at least2 ,nor should the individual who happens to be meant ,reply by throwing things about to any great extent4 ,then ,olcott1 ,h41 of ,adyar1 raised a point of order1 when ,a chunk of old red pencil took him in the abdomen2#g ,and he smiled a kind of sickly smile and curled up on the floor1 ,and the subsequent proceedings interested him no more4#h ,for1 in less time than ,i write it1 all the meeting got upset ,with 8precipitating0 missiles which did not come from ,tibet2 ,and the things they called each other in their anger were a sin-- ,till the public got disgusted1 and the temple roof caved in4 ,and this is all ,i have to say of these improper games1 ,for ,i live at ,table ,mountain and my name is ,truthful ,james2 ,and ,i've told in simple language all ,i know about the fray ,that broke up our ,society upon the ,himalay4 99 99 99 99 99 ,footnote #b3 8,any action in these controversial matters tends to set up a perfect whirlwind on other planes40--,mrs4 ,besant in ,lucifer4 ,footnote #c3 8,mahatma ,morya affects red pencil1 ,koot ,hoomi blue40--8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled40 ,footnote #d3 8,she wrote 444 it was ,master's wish 444 that ,master ordered her to do as she did40--,mr4 ,judge's circular to the ,e4,s4,t4 ,footnote #e3 8,i now know that they were written by ,mr4 ,judge40--,mrs4 ,besant1 8,report of an ,enquiry10 c4 ,footnote #f3 8,under ,master's direction1 ,i declare ,mrs4 ,besant's headship at an end40--,mr4 ,judge's circular to the ,e4,s4,t4 ,footnote #g3 8,isis10 ,chapters ,,ix41 ,x4 ,footnote #h3 8,i declare1 as my opinion1 that this ,enquiry must go no farther40--,colonel ,olcott1 8,report of an ,enquiry10 c4 ,f4 ,e4 ,g4 ,illustration3 8,,when ,,augur ,,meets ,,augur0-- 8,it is rather a squalid fight between the augurs that the curtain has been raised upon2 but it has got to be fought out now before the public1 and it is in vain to try to ring the curtain down again40 8,,isis ,,very ,,much ,,unveiled40 ,a ,,reply ,,from ,,mr4 ,,william ,q4 ,,judge4 ,to the ,,editor of ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette4 ,,sir1--,you have published slanderous articles against the ,theosophical ,society1 using me as the person2 you have asked for a reply2 ,i send it to you and ask that it be given place in your paper4--,yours truly1 ,,william ,q4 ,,judge4 ,theosophical ,society1 ,american ,section1 ,general ,secretary's ,office1 ,new ,york1 ,nov4 #bf4 ,to the ,,editor of ,,the ,,westminster ,,gazette4 ,,sir1--,at the time your articles directed against the ,theosophical ,society under the above title were appearing1 ,i was lecturing in the country1 and only within a few days have ,i seen your last numbers4 ,time is required for writing on such a subject1 and at this distance from ,london ,i cannot be accused of much delay4 ,with the greatest interest and amusement ,i have read your long series of articles4 ,the writer is an able man1 and you and he together constitute one of the advertising agencies of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,the immense range of your notices cannot be well calculated1 and very truly we could never pay for such an advertisement4 ,do you mind keeping this part of my letter as all the remuneration we can give you for the work done by you in thus advertising the movement and bringing prominently to the notice of your public the long-forgotten but true doctrine of the possible existence of such beings as ,professor ,huxley says it would be impertinent to say could not exist in the natural order of evolution8 ,and while ,i look at it all as an advertisement1 ,i cannot admire the treason developed therein1 nor the spiteful unworthy tone of it1 nor the divergence from fact in many cases when it suited the purpose1 nor the officious meddling in the private affairs of other people1 nor the ignoring and falsification in respect to possible motive1 made out by you to be gain by some of us1 when the fact is that we are all losers of money by our work4 ,that fact a candid person would have stated1 and marvelled at it that we should be willing to slave for the ,theosophical ,society1 and always spend our money4 ,such a person would have given 8the devil his due40 ,you have suppressed it and lied about it1 and hence it is not admirable in you1 but is quite mean and low4 ,you advertise us and then try to befoul us4 ,well1 we gain by the advertisement1 and the course of time will wipe off the small stain you try to paint upon us4 ,when you and your ready writer are both dead and forgotten1 and some of you probably execrated for offences not as yet exposed1 we will still live as a body and be affecting the course of modern thought1 as we have been doing for nearly twenty years4 ,i am the principal object of your attack1 though you also cruelly abuse a woman who has long enough fought the world of your conventional nation1 and perhaps you expect me to either rise and explain1 or keep silent4 ,well1 ,i will do neither4 ,i will speak1 but cannot fully explain4 ,your paper is a worldly forum1 a sort of court4 ,in it there is neither place nor credence for explanations which must include psychic things1 facts1 and laws1 as well as facts and circumstances of the ordinary sort4 ,were ,i to explain in full1 no one would believe me save those students of the occult and the psychical who know psychic law and fact4 ,those who doubt and wish all to be reduced to the level of compass and square1 of eye and word of mouth1 would still be doubters4 ,nothing would be gained at all4 ,that difficulty no intelligent person who has had psychic experience can overlook4 ,that is why you are quite safe from a suit for libel4 ,i assure you that had you published something not so inextricably tangled up with psychic phenomena ,i should be glad to have you in court1 not to soothe wounded feelings ,i have not1 but to show that our faulty law and so-called justice do sometimes right some wrongs4 ,let me first emphatically deny the inference and assertion made by you1 that ,i and my friends make money out of the ,t4,s41 or that the organisation has built up something by which we profit4 ,this is untrue1 and its untruth is known to all persons who know anything at all about the society4 ,no salaries are paid to our officers4 ,we support ourselves or privately support each other4 ,i have never had a penny from the society1 and do not want any4 ,the little magazine1 the ,path1 which ,i publish here in the interest of the society1 is not supported by subscriptions from members1 but largely by others1 and it is kept up at a loss to me which will never be repaid4 ,i publish it because ,i wish to1 and not for gain4 ,thousands of dollars are expended in the ,t4,s4 work here each year over and above what is paid in for fees and dues4 ,the dues are but four shillings a year1 and three times as much as that is expended in the work4 ,where does it come from8 ,out of our private pockets1 and if ,i had a million ,i would spend it that way4 ,my friends and myself give our money and our time to the society without hope or desire for any return4 ,we may be fanatics--probably are--but it is false and malicious to accuse us of using the society for gain4 ,the only payment we get is the seeing every day the wider and wider spread of ,theosophical theories of life1 man1 and nature4 ,i am ready to submit all our books and vouchers to any auditor to support these statements4 ,and you were in a position to find out the facts as ,i have given them4 ,it is also absolutely untrue1 as you attempt to show or infer1 that the society grows by talking of the ,mahatmas or ,masters1 or by having messages sent round from them4 ,the movement here and elsewhere is pushed along the line of philosophy1 and each one is left to decide for himself on the question of the ,mahatmas4 8,messages from the ,masters0 do not go flying round1 and the society does not flourish by any belief in those being promulgated4 ,nor am ,i1 as you hint1 in the habit of sending such messages about the society1 nor of influencing the course of affairs by using any such thing4 ,send out and ask all the members and you will find ,i am correct4 ,it is true that those ,masters tell me personally what ,i am to do1 and what is the best course to take1 as they have in respect to this very letter1 but that is solely my own affair4 ,could ,i be such a fool as to tell all others to go by what ,i get for my own guidance1 knowing how weak1 suspicious1 and malicious is the human nature of to-day8 ,you are on the wrong tack1 my friend4 ,but you were right when you say that ,mrs4 ,besant made a remarkable change in respect to me4 ,that is true1 and ,mr4 ,chakravarti whom you name is1 as you correctly say1 the person who is responsible for it4 ,before she met ,chakravarti she would not have dreamed of prosecuting me4 ,this is a matter of regret1 but while so1 ,i fail to see how you aid your case against me by dragging the thing in thus publicly1 unless1 indeed1 you intend to accuse him and her of going into a conspiracy against me4 ,there are two classes of 8messages from the ,masters0 charged to me by you and by that small section of the ,t4,s4 members who thought of trying me4 ,one class consists of notes on letters of mine to various persons2 the other of messages handed to ,mrs4 ,besant and ,colonel ,olcott and enclosure found in a letter to ,colonel ,olcott from a man in ,california4 ,i have never denied that ,i gave ,mrs4 ,besant messages from the ,masters4 ,i did so4 ,they were from the ,masters4 ,she admits that1 but simply takes on herself to say that the ,master did not personally write or precipitate them4 ,according to herself1 then1 she got from me genuine messages from the ,masters2 but she says she did not like them to be done or made in some form that she at first thought they were not in4 ,i have not admitted her contention2 ,i have simply said they were from the ,master1 and that is all ,i now say1 for ,i will not tell how or by what means they were produced4 ,the objective form in which such a message is of no consequence4 ,let it be written by your ,mr4 ,garrett1 or drop out of the misty air1 or come with a clap of thunder4 ,all that makes no difference save to the vulgar and the ignorant4 ,the reality of the message is to be tested by other means4 ,if you have not those means you are quite at sea as to the whole thing4 ,and all this ,i thought was common knowledge in the ,theosophical world4 ,it has long been published and explained4 ,one of those messages to ,mrs4 ,besant told her not to go to ,india that year4 ,i got it in ,california1 and then telegraphed it to her in substance later1 sending the paper4 ,i had no interest in not having her go to ,india1 but knew she would go later4 ,the other messages were of a personal nature4 ,they were all true and good4 ,at the time ,i gave them to her ,i did not say anything4 ,that ,i never denied4 ,it was not thought by me necessary to insult a woman of her intellectual ability1 who had read all about these things1 by explaining all she was supposed to know4 ,those who think those messages were not from the ,master are welcome to doubt it so far as ,i am concerned1 for ,i know the naturalness of that doubt4 ,when ,colonel ,olcott resigned ,i was first willing to let him stay resigned4 ,but ,i was soon directed by another 8message0 to prevent it if ,i could1 and at once cabled that to him1 and went to work to have the ,american ,section vote asking him to stay in office4 ,as ,i was the person mentioned to succeed him1 we also1 to provide for contingencies1 resolved that the choice of ,america was myself as successor4 ,but when he revoked1 then my successorship was null and void until voted on at another period not yet reached4 ,but it is absolutely false that ,i sent an emissary to him when ,i found he was minded to stay in office4 ,ask him on this and see what he says4 ,i leave that to him4 ,truly enough ,i made an error of judgment in not telling the influential ,london members of my message when ,i told ,olcott4 ,but what of that8 ,i did not tell the ,americans1 but left their action to the dictates of their sense and the trend of friendship and loyalty to our standard-bearer4 ,the ,english voted against ,olcott by doing nothing1 but ,i asked them in the same way as ,i asked the ,americans to request him to revoke4 ,they had their chance4 ,as ,india had done the same as ,america ,i saw the vote was final as my message directed1 and so ,i dropped it from my mind--one of my peculiarities4 ,i certainly did not use any pressure by way of 8messages from the ,masters0 on anyone as to that1 save on ,olcott4 ,and he reported a message to the same effect to himself4 ,did ,i invent that also8 ,my message to him was copied by me on my type-writer and sent to him4 ,i did it thus because ,i knew of spies about ,olcott1 of whom ,i had warned him to little effect4 ,one of those confessed and committed suicide1 and the other was found out4 ,a message was found in a letter from ,abbot ,clark1 a ,californian1 to ,colonel ,olcott4 ,this1 you say1 ,i made and put in the letter4 ,i have the affirmation of ,mr4 ,clark on the matter1 which ,i send you herewith to be inserted at this place if you wish4 ,it does not bear out your contention1 but shows the contrary4 ,it also shows that his letter to ,colonel ,olcott was opened in ,india by some other person before being sent on to ,colonel ,olcott4 ,you can make what inference you like from this4 ,your statement about putting a question in a cabinet for an answer when ,i stayed in the room and ,mrs4 ,besant went out is false4 ,no such thing took place4 ,i deny that there was any such thing as a reception of 8answers in a sealed envelope in a closed drawer40 ,that is supreme bosh from beginning to end1 and cannot be proved by anybody's testimony1 unless you will accept perjury4 ,at the same time ,i can now say1 as the sole authority on the point1 that several of the contested messages are genuine ones1 no matter what all and every person1 ,theosophist or not1 may say to the contrary4 ,you have much talk about what you say is called the ,master's seal4 ,you have proved by the aid of ,colonel ,olcott that the latter made an imitation in brass of the signature of the ,master and gave it to ,h4,p4,b4 as a joke4 ,you trace it to her and there you leave it1 and then you think ,i am obliged to prove ,i did not get it1 to prove negatives again1 when it has never been proved that ,i had it4 ,i have long ago denied all knowledge of ,master's seal either genuine or imitated4 ,i do not know if he has a seal2 if he has1 ,i have not yet been informed of it2 the question of a seal owned by him as well as what is his writing or signature are both still beclouded4 ,none of the members who have been in this recent trouble know what is the writing1 or the seal1 or the mark of the ,master4 ,it was long ago told by ,h4,p4,b4 that the so-called writing of the ,master was only an assumed hand1 and no real knowledge is at hand as to his having a seal4 ,i have seen impressions similar to what you have reproduced1 but it is of no consequence to me4 ,if there were a million impressions of seals on a message said to be from the ,master1 it would add nothing to the message in my eyes1 as other means must be employed for discovering what is and what is not a genuine message4 ,seals and ciphers do not validate these things4 ,unless ,i can see for myself by my inner senses that a message is genuine1 ,i will not believe it1 be it loaded with seals ,i do not know4 ,as ,i know the thousand and one magical ways by which impressions of things may be put on paper1 even unconsciously to the human channel or focus1 ,i have relied1 and ask others to rely1 on their own inner knowledge and not to trust to appearances4 ,others may think these little decorations of importance1 but ,i do not4 ,i never asked anyone at any meeting1 private or public1 to note or observe the seal-impression you give4 ,others may have done so1 but ,i did not4 ,others may have gone into laboured arguments to show the value of such a thing1 but ,i did not4 ,the whole matter of this so-called seal is so absurd and childish that it has made me laugh each time ,i have thought of it4 ,now ,i can do no more than deny1 as ,i hereby do absolutely1 all the charges you have been the means of repeating against me4 ,i have denied them very many times1 for ,i have known of them for about two years and a half4 ,my denial is of no value to you2 nor to those who think there is no supersensual world2 nor to those who think that because conjurors can imitate any psychical phenomenon1 therefore the latter has no existence2 nor to those who deny the possibility of the existence of ,mahatmas or great souls4 ,these things are all foolishness to such persons1 and ,i am willing to let it stay that way4 ,were ,i to go into all the details of all the messages you refer to1 and were ,i to get from those who know1 as ,i can1 the full relation of all that is involved in those messages on my letters which ,i saw after the ,july 8investigation0 was ended1 ,i would be opening the private doors to the secret hearts of others1 and that ,i will not do4 ,already ,i know by means not generally accessible altogether too much of the private hearts of many of these people1 and have no desire to know more4 ,some of the matters you cite are related to a private body1 once called the ,esoteric ,section1 which is protected--nominally1 so it seems1 among your informants--by a pledge4 ,the breaking of that by others gives me no right to add to their breach4 ,i cannot1 like ,mr4 ,old and others more prominent1 violate the confidences of others4 ,his revelations cannot be analysed by me in public4 ,he is in the position of those ,masons who have attempted to reveal the secrets of ,masonry2 and either the public has listened to a liar or to one who has to admit that he does not regard his solemn obligation as worth a straw when it obstructs his purposes2 in either case the information cannot be relied upon4 ,his account and yours contain so many misrepresentations that none of it has any serious consideration from me4 ,and ,mr4 ,old's revelations1 or those of any other members1 amount to nothing4 ,the real secrets have not been revealed1 for they have not been put in the hands of such people2 they have been given only to those who have shown through long trial and much labour that they are worthy to have the full relation of the plans of the master-builder exposed to their gaze4 ,let the dishonest1 the perjured1 and the vacillating go on with their revelations2 they will hurt no one but themselves4 ,now as to the ,investigation at which you have laughed4 ,i grant you it was matter for laughter from outside to see such a lot of labour and gathering from the four quarters to end in what you regard as smoke4 ,now1 my dear sir1 ,i did not call the ,inquiry ,committee4 ,i protested against it and said from the beginning it should never have been called at all4 ,must ,i bear the brunt of that which ,i did not do8 ,must ,i explain all my life to a committee which had no right to come together1 for which there was no legal basis8 ,it was called in order to make me give up an official succession ,i did not have2 months before it met ,i said it would come to nothing but a declaration written by me of the non-dogmatic character of the ,t4,s4 ,my ,master so told me and so it turned out4 ,will you give me no credit for this foreknowledge8 ,was it a guess1 or was it great ability1 or did it come about through bribery1 or what8 ,i was told to use the opportunity to procure an official declaration that belief in ,mahatmas or ,masters was not and is not one of the ,t4,s41 and ,i succeeded in so doing4 ,i might have been accused as an individual and not official member4 ,but by the influence of the ,mr4 ,chakravarti whom you mention the whole power of the society was moved against me1 so as to try and cut me down root and branch officially and privately1 so that it might thereby be made sure that ,i was not successor to the presidency4 ,this is the fact4 ,that is why ,i forgave them all2 for it is easy to forgive2 in advance ,i forgave them since they furnished such a splendid official opportunity for a decision we long had needed4 ,the odium resulting from the attempt to try occult and psychical questions under common law rules ,i am strong enough to bear2 and up to date ,i have had a large share of that4 ,i refused a committee of honour1 they say4 ,i refused the committee that was offered as it was not of persons who could judge the matter rightly4 ,they would have reached no conclusion save the one ,i now promulgate1 which is1 that the public proof regarding my real or delusive communications from the ,masters begins and ends with myself1 and that the committee could not make any decision at all1 but would have to leave all members to judge for themselves4 ,to arrive officially at this ,i would have to put many persons in positions that they could not stand1 and the result then would have been that far more bad feeling would come to the surface4 ,i have at least learned after twenty years that it is fruitless to ask judges who have no psychic development to settle questions the one half of which are in the unseen realm of the soul where the common law of ,england cannot penetrate4 ,the 8messages from the ,masters0 have not ceased4 ,they go on all the time for those who are able and fit to have them1 but no more to the doubter and the suspicious4 ,even as ,i write they have gone to some1 and in relation to this very affair1 and in relation to other revelations and pledge-breakings4 ,it is a fact in experience to me1 and to friends of mine who have not had messages from me1 that the ,masters exist and have to do with the affairs of the world and the ,theosophical movement4 ,no amount of argument or ,maskelyneish explanation will drive out that knowledge4 ,it will bear all the assaults of time and foolish men4 ,and the only basis on which ,i can place the claim of communication by the ,masters to me1 so far as the world is concerned1 is my life and acts4 ,if those for the last twenty years go to prove that ,i cannot be in communication with such beings1 then all ,i may say one way or the other must go for naught4 ,why so many educated ,englishmen reject the doctrine of the perfectibility of man1 illustrated by the fact of there now existing ,masters of wisdom1 passes my comprehension1 unless it be true1 as seems probable1 that centuries of slavery to the abominable idea of original sin as taught by theology 7and not by ,jesus7 has reduced them all to the level of those who1 being sure they will be damned any way1 are certain they cannot rise to a higher level1 or unless the great god of conventionality has them firmly in his grasp4 ,i would rather think myself a potential god and try to be1 as ,jesus commanded1 8perfect as the ,father in heaven0--which is impossible unless in us is that ,father in essence--than to remain darkened and enslaved by the doctrine of inherent original wickedness which demands a substitute for my salvation4 ,and it seems nobler to believe in that perfectibility and possible rise to the state of the ,masters than to see with science but two possible ends for all our toil3 one to be frozen up at last1 and the other to be burned up1 when the sun either goes out or pulls us into his flaming breast4--,yours truly1 ,,william ,q4 ,,judge4 ,the following is the 8affirmation0 of ,mr4 ,abbot ,clark1 enclosed with the above3-- 8,san ,francisco1 ,cal41 ,april #ba1 #ahid4 8,i1 ,abbot ,clark1 a member of the ,theosophical ,society1 do hereby state and affirm as follows3 ,i have seen it stated in the newspapers that it is charged that ,i wrote ,colonel ,h4 ,s4 ,olcott in #ahia to ,india1 and that in that letter was some message not known to me1 and that ,colonel ,olcott replied1 asking where ,william ,q4 ,judge was at the time1 and that ,i replied he was in my house4 ,the facts are3 ,that in #ahia ,w4 ,q4 ,judge was lecturing in this ,state1 and ,i was with him at ,santa ,ana1 and that ,i had no house and never had1 being too poor to have one4 ,brother ,judge stopped at the hotel in ,santa ,ana1 where he came from my home1 my father's house at ,orange1 where he had been at dinner1 and at ,santa ,ana ,i arranged his lectures and ,i stayed at my aunt's at ,santa ,ana2 while in the hotel a conversation arose with us1 in which ,i spoke of ,theosophical propaganda among the ,chinese on this coast1 and ,brother ,judge suggested that ,i write to ,colonel ,olcott1 as he knew many ,buddhists ,theosophists1 and might arrange it better than ,brother ,judge2 and ,i then myself wrote to ,colonel ,olcott on the matter1 showing the letter after it was done to ,brother ,judge to see if it should be improved or altered1 and he handed me back the letter at once4 ,i put it in my pocket and kept it there for several days waiting for a chance to buy stamps for postage as ,i was away from any post-office4 ,brother ,judge left by himself the morning after ,i wrote the letter and went to ,san ,diego1 and the only time ,i saw him again was in the train just to speak to him on his return after about four days1 and the letter was not mentioned1 thought of1 nor referred to4 8,i assert on my word of honour that ,brother ,judge said nothing to me about any message pretended to be from ,masters or otherwise1 and so far as any reports or statements have been made relating to me herein different from the above they are absolutely false4 8,from ,india ,i got a reply from ,adyar ,t4,s4 office from one ,charlu1 saying he had opened my letter in ,colonel ,olcott's absence1 and had forwarded it to him2 and ,dharmapala told me he had seen letters from me to ,colonel ,olcott on the matter received in ,india away from ,adyar4 ,the said ,charlu1 in reply1 also asked me where ,brother ,judge was when the letter was written1 and ,i wrote that he had been at my house on that date1 which is true as above stated1 ,orange being only three miles from ,santa ,ana1 as ,i thought ,charlu wished to have ,brother ,judge's dates4 ,but ,i thought also the questions put were peculiar from such a distance4 ,i never got any reply to my sincere first question in that letter about propaganda from him1 and never any reply of any sort from ,colonel ,olcott4 ,when ,dharmapala was here he did not bring any message in reply from ,colonel ,olcott1 but referred to recollecting speaking with ,olcott about a proposal from ,california to work with the ,chinese4 ,and ,charlu did not speak of any enclosure in said letter4 ,a year later ,i again wrote on the same matter to ,colonel ,olcott1 which was answered by ,gopala ,charlu1 now dead1 saying but little1 if anything1 would be done by him4 ,to all this ,i affirm on my honour4 8,,abbot ,b4 ,,clark4 8,witness3 signatures3 ,,allen ,,griffiths1 ,e4 ,b4 ,,rambo40 ,,the ,,mahatma ,,of ,,new ,,york4 ,an ,appreciation of ,mr4 ,judge's 8,reply10 by the ,author of 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled40 ,a convicted person has one last refuge4 ,he may contrive to suggest imbecility1 and so appeal from the sense of justice to that of pity4 ,to the average reader it might seem that this1 and this alone1 could be the real object of the astounding piece of self-revelation which ,i have been privileged to extract from ,mr4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 vice-president of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,but we must remember that with the ,theosophical reader it may be otherwise4 ,to the ,theosophical ,society this 8,reply0 from the man they have delighted to honour may seem1 for all ,i know1 a model of candour1 of coherence1 and of cogency4 ,that is not1 ,i confess1 what ,i hear privately2 but1 so far as any public word goes1 the good1 docile folk have evidently determined to wait till ,mrs4 ,besant comes home and tells them what to think1 and 7still more important7 what to say4 ,for their benefit1 then1 and still more for the benefit of those potential converts to ,theosophy in whom the atrophy of the mental processes is not yet complete1 ,i will1 as gravely as ,i can1 examine the vice-president's utterance4 ,how ,much is ,admitted4 ,now1 first1 let us see how many of the 8,mahatma missives0 ,mr4 ,judge directly or indirectly admits4 ,those which ,i have referred to as produced by ,mr4 ,judge included the following3-- ,the ,cabinet missive4 ,the 8,note the ,seal0 missive4 ,the 8,judge's ,plan is ,right0 missive4 ,the 8,masters ,watch us0 missive4 ,the 8,judge is the friend0 missive4 ,the 8,master agrees0 missive4 ,the ,envelope ,trick missive4 ,the 8,i withold0 missive4 ,the ,telegram missive4 ,the 8,master will ,provide0 missive4 ,the ,inner ,group missive4 ,the 8,grave ,danger ,olcott0 missive4 ,the 8,follow ,judge and ,stick0 missive4 ,the 8,judge is not the ,forger0 missive4 ,the ,poison ,threat missive4 7,besides these ,i have referred to other ,mahatma letters or endorsements on letters1 on bank-notes1 c42 but those enumerated will do for the present47 ,out of all these ,mr4 ,judge disputes only two4 ,as regards the 8,note the ,seal0 missive1 all that he denies is the statement that it was he who drew the special attention of the ,inner ,group to the seal upon it--a denial which ,i shall deal with presently4 ,he denies the whole story of the ,cabinet missive1 and in regard to the 8,judge is not the ,forger0 missive1 he denies that it was fabricated by him1 but suggests that it was fabricated by some other ,theosophist4 ,the facts about the whole of the remaining thirteen 7and more7 missives he thus implicitly admits1 using such general phrases as these3--8,several of the contested messages are genuine ones02 8they were all good and true02 8they were from the ,master02 8,i have not admitted her ,mrs4 ,besant's contention0 that they were only psychically from the ,master1 and were written in ,mahatmascript by ,judge2 and1 finally1 8,i will not tell how or by what means they were produced40 ,the 8,grave ,danger ,olcott0 missive1 by the way1 he admits explicitly4 ,it is for the ,theosophists1 therefore1 now to consider whether the substance of these admitted missives 7to say nothing of this 8,reply10 in which also ,mr4 ,judge asserts the ,master's collaboration7 squares with their conception of 8the ,master of ,wisdom10 that 8god-like0 exemplar of 8the perfectibility of man10 as his own 8,messenger0 describes him4 ,the ,two ,contested ,missives4 ,the reason why ,mr4 ,judge selected just these two for denial is1 no doubt1 the damaging suggestiveness of the contents of the one and of the circumstances under which the other was produced4 ,i for my part applaud his choice1 because it will bring him into sharp conflict1 as regards the one missive1 with ,mrs4 ,besant1 and as regards the other1 with ,colonel ,olcott4 7#a7 ,the ,cabinet ,missive3 ,judge v4 ,besant4 ,in regard to all those missives which were palmed off on ,mrs4 ,besant herself1 my account is based1 as regards generalities1 on ,mrs4 ,besant's own statements and ,mr4 ,judge's own admissions4 ,as regards details1 however1 ,i have had to rely on intimates and colleagues at ,avenue-road1 to whom ,mrs4 ,besant told the wondrous tale at the time4 ,the story of the ,cabinet missive is briefly this 7see 8,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled10 p4 #bh74 ,mr4 ,judge suggests to ,mrs4 ,besant that they should put a question to the ,masters by writing it on paper1 and placing this in a certain cabinet in 8,h4,p4,b4's0 room4 ,the result was the endorsement of the paper with the words1 8,yes10 8,and hope10 in the red script used in all these communications1 and also the impression of what ,madame ,blavatsky called the 8flap-doodle0 seal1 under circumstances which demonstrated either psychic precipitation on the part of the ,master1 or else vulgar trickery on the part of ,mr4 ,judge4 ,mr4 ,judge declares 8no such thing took place40 ,now1 on the facts stated1 it is obvious that only one person can authoritatively contradict ,mr4 ,judge here3 to wit1 ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,this ,i am bound to suppose that she will do2 for my version of the story is that given by her on the day after the occurrence to a colleague1 who quoted it from his diary4 ,mrs4 ,besant also showed what purported to be the missive1 sealed and endorsed as described1 and this to several people4 ,at ,adyar1 at the beginning of this year1 when the ,judge missives were being blown upon all round1 she repeated the story1 with only one correction--a notable one--that she had not1 as she at first implied1 stayed in the room all the time during ,mr4 ,judge's working of the ,cabinet oracle4 ,what ,mr4 ,judge will do if ,mrs4 ,besant sticks to her version of the story ,i do not know4 ,but he has already1 in the secret circular lately divulged1 disposed of the rest of her action in this matter as due to possession by a devil2 so no doubt he will say that here1 too1 it was 8the ,black ,magicians0 7per ,brother ,chakravarti7 who both imposed the delusion and manufactured the missive to fit it4 ,note that he does not appeal to ,mrs4 ,besant to bear him out1 but says3 8,it cannot be proved by anybody's testimony1 unless you will accept perjury40 ,this is not the only passage in his ,reply where ,mr4 ,judge foreshadowed his readiness to extend his accusations of lying1 pledge-breaking1 c4 7as1 indeed1 he is logically bound to71 from ,mr4 ,old to ,mr4 ,old's fellow-sinners1 ,mrs4 ,besant and ,colonel ,olcott4 7#b7 ,the 8,judge ,is not the ,forger0 ,missive3 ,judge v4 ,olcott4 ,the other missive with which ,mr4 ,judge disclaims connexion is the only one in the whole series which was apparently not produced in immediate juxtaposition with him1 and under his personal superintendence4 ,that1 indeed1 was just the point of it2 it was enclosed in a letter from another person1 with all the distance between ,new ,york and ,california to prove that ,mr4 ,judge could have had no hand in it4 ,it was1 in fact1 a last desperate attempt to lull the suspicions of the recipient1 ,colonel ,olcott1 who1 however1 discovered that ,mr4 ,judge had been in ,california1 and in the company of ,mr4 ,clark1 from whom the letter came1 at the very date of the letter4 78,isis10 pp4 #ej-eb47 ,i told this story--quoting ,colonel ,olcott's evidence--and forthwith was assured1 publicly1 in general terms 78,isis10 p4 #gf71 then specifically through a private source1 that ,mr4 ,judge could annihilate it by producing an affidavit from the ,mr4 ,clark in question4 78,abbot ,clark0--the name comically recalls that of 8,abner ,dean0 in ,bret ,harte's 8,society upon the ,stanislaus407 ,i was not much perturbed by this announcement1 as the reserve evidence in my hands happened to include the substance of a letter from ,mr4 ,abbot ,clark himself1 offering abundant material for cross-examination upon the boasted 8affidavit10 if and when this was produced4 ,and lo6 now we have this precious 8affidavit0 7which1 by the way1 turns out not to be an affidavit at all71 testifying--what8 ,why1 that ,mr4 ,judge had abundant opportunities for inserting or getting inserted any enclosure he wished in ,mr4 ,clark's letter1 and that the letter which provided the opportunity was actually written at ,mr4 ,judge's suggestion1 and passed once through ,mr4 ,judge's fingers1 besides spending several days in ,mr4 ,clark's coat pocket6 ,the guilelessness with which ,mr4 ,abner ,de--,i mean ,mr4 ,abbot ,clark--adds1 among the rest of the plaintive verbiage of his statement1 that 8on my word of honour ,brother ,judge said nothing to me about any missive10 completes the charm of this document4 ,ah6 it would be a poor world for the ,william ,q4 ,judges if it did not contain a good percentage of ,abbot ,clarks4 ,whom does ,mr4 ,judge ,accuse8 ,but now arises another point4 ,mr4 ,judge does not number this missive among the 8several genuine0 ones4 ,it was not the ,mahatma's2 it was not fabricated by ,mr4 ,judge2 therefore it must have been fabricated by somebody else4 8,you can make what inference you like10 ,mr4 ,judge liberally remarks2 but the only inferences possible from what he says are that the guilty person is ,colonel ,olcott or ,colonel ,olcott's manager at the ,theosophist office4 7,the latter1 by name ,t4 ,vijiaraghava ,charlu1 was the person who received and forwarded the letter and enclosure to ,colonel ,olcott4 ,mr4 ,judge and his satellite appear to wish to confuse this person with another ,charlu1 ,theosophical treasurer1 who committed suicide after peculation47 ,now1 as ,i have made sufficiently clear1 ,i hold no sort of brief for any ,theosophist1 and especially none for any ,theosophical official4 ,in the past1 ,mr4 ,judge has had no monopoly of the missive-manufacturing industry2 and if he can prove that there are colleagues in the business even now1 ,i shall be glad to consider the evidence4 ,but1 in this particular case1 just look at the probabilities4 ,first1 there is the handwriting1 which is apparently exactly the same in this missive as in others of the series with which1 admittedly1 these other gentlemen had nothing1 and ,mr4 ,judge had everything1 to do4 ,then there are the contents4 ,these also fit admirably into the chain4 ,the ,master is made to declare that 8,judge is not the forger0--a point of which ,mr4 ,judge was trying hard to convince the ,colonel2 also1 to provide explanations of various suspicious circumstances in other missives which tended to show that ,judge was 8the forger02 also to exculpate ,judge for various misstatements by suggesting that he was an unconscious vehicle4 ,then1 there is the description of the 8flap-doodle0 seal as 8the ,lahore brass0--a bad shot at the place of origin known to ,olcott1 but only half known to ,judge4 ,attribute this to ,mr4 ,judge trying to startle his colleague1 and it exhibits just that mixture of fatuity and cunning which appears throughout the vice-president's transactions4 ,attribute it to ,colonel ,olcott manufacturing a pretended ,judge forgery1 and it becomes a refinement of malignant ingenuity such as his worst enemy1 ,i fancy1 will not suspect ,colonel ,olcott of compassing1 either himself or through an agent4 ,it needs no ,sherlock ,holmes to point the bearing of these probabilities4 ,the ,evidence of the ,seal4 ,we have it now on ,mr4 ,judge's authority that 8the whole matter of this so-called seal 444 has made me laugh whenever ,i have thought of it40 ,if so1 it shows how much harmless mirth a trivial and apparently useless nick-nack may be the cause of4 ,throughout its history this ,mahatma-signet seems to have had a magical effect on the risible muscles4 ,we saw how ,madame ,blavatsky smiled at it as 8a flap-doodle of ,olcott's02 ,colonel ,olcott himself has told us that he had it manufactured in the first instance as 8a playful present10 and accompanied the gift with 8a jocular remark02 and there is no doubt that he has enjoyed many a quiet chuckle since over the unwary use of it by his rival1 who may yet prove to have sealed his own official death-warrant in sealing the ,mahatma's 8missives40 ,well1 since it is so provocative of pleasant emotions1 let us look again into this matter of the ,master's seal4 ,for1 indeed1 it is only since certain other things have been found out that ,mr4 ,judge has discovered how little the question of the seal's genuineness matters either way4 ,it is all very well now for him to declare that internal evidence is the only test of ,mahatmic origin3 that in a message1 for instance1 like 8,follow ,judge and stick0 78,isis10 p4 #dh71 it is the words themselves whose very sweetness giveth proof ,that they were born for immortality4 ,but that was not always ,mr4 ,judge's line4 ,after all1 somebody must have been at pains to see to the seal impression in those missives which ,mr4 ,judge vouched for--to say nothing of such other external and material things as the texture of the paper1 quite unlike any found elsewhere1 and the handwriting and signature1 all of which used to be triumphantly cited as evidence by ,mr4 ,judge's satellites 7the present quotation is from a pamphlet on 8,mahatmas10 embellished with learned references to 8,lord ,bacon10 which is by ,mr4 ,judge's private secretary1 and bears the imprimatur of ,mr4 ,judge74 ,mr4 ,judge denies that it was he who called special attention to the seal impression as authenticating his first pioneer missive in #ahia 7the 8,note the ,seal0 missive1 as ,i have called it74 ,as he does not deny my statement that he excused himself to the others present for not showing the contents of the letter1 perhaps he will explain what it was that he did call attention to1 if not the seal and signature4 ,but why labour the point1 when there is the direct evidence afforded by one of his own seal-bearing letters--one which he has not denied--in which he wrote1 8,i believe the ,master agrees with me1 in which case ,i will ask him to put his seal here0--and 8plump on the written word came the seal0 78,isis10 p4 #cd74 ,in those days at any rate ,mr4 ,judge was of those who 8think these little decorations of importance10 as he now puts it4 8,you trace it the seal to her ,h4,p4,b41 and there you leave it10 ,mr4 ,judge says2 8and then you think ,i am obliged to prove ,i did not get it--to prove negatives40 ,but ,i traced it rather farther than to ,h4,p4,b4 ,i traced the seal to ,lansdowne-road in #ahhh 7,mr4 ,b4 ,keightley's evidence74 ,i traced an impression of it on a letter from ,mr4 ,judge at ,lansdowne-road in #ahhh 7,colonel ,olcott's evidence74 ,i showed that when ,mr4 ,judge went back to ,america1 the seal went too 7telegram impression1 ,new ,york1 #ahij2 evidence of ,mr4 ,b4 ,keightley74 ,i showed that thenceforward it appeared on missives produced by ,mr4 ,judge1 and on no others1 again and again4 ,i showed how1 in the missives planted on ,colonel ,olcott1 as if dubious how far the ,colonel would carry on the complaisance of ,madame ,blavatsky1 ,mr4 ,judge's complete letter-writer tried the seal on gradually2 first1 an illegible impression1 and then a bold one2 how1 when the ,colonel threatened to 8peach10 the latter pice conviction was suddenly and stealthily removed from the spot where ,mr4 ,judge had taught the ,colonel to find it2 how1 after that1 legible impressions were reserved for others1 and the ,colonel only got illegible ones2 how1 finally 7this was after the ,colonel had threatened to reproduce any he saw anywhere1 together with the whole story of the seal1 in the ,theosophist71 seal-impressions ceased altogether2 and how ,mr4 ,judge erased such as he could get hold of1 and began quibbling and equivocating about the seal as he is doing up to the present moment4 ,these facts1 again1 ,i leave to tell their own story2 in face of which it matters little how many 8stories0 ,mr4 ,judge may tell4 ,quibbling about the ,mahatma4 ,mr4 ,judge's particular version of the old ,theosophistry about the small part played by ,mahatmas and their missives in the society is conveniently adjacent in this ,reply to statements of his own in the exactly opposite sense4 ,while in one breath he denies 8influencing the course of affairs by any such thing10 a few lines lower down he tells us how he got a message directing him to prevent the president's resignation1 8and at once cabled to him and went to work to have the ,american section vote02 and1 again1 how he stopped ,mrs4 ,besant going to ,india1 8under direction02 and1 again1 how authoritative messages are going round 8even as ,i write10 8and in relation to this very affair40 ,compare these1 too3-- ,,mr4 ,,judge ,,in ,,his 8,,reply40 ,,mr4 ,,judge ,,elsewhere4 ,it is absolutely untrue that the ,i am not acting impulsively in my society grows by talking of the many public statements as to ,mahatmas or ,masters1 or by having ,masters4444 ,experience has shown messages sent round from them4 ,the that a springing up of interest in movement here and elsewhere is ,theosophy has followed pushed along the line of declarations1 and men's minds are philosophy4444 ,messages from the more powerfully drawn4444 ,the ,masters do not go flying around1 ,masters have said1 8,it is easier to and the society does not flourish help in ,america1 because our by any belief in those being existence has been persistently promulgated4 declared40--7,mr4 ,judge1 letter in ,lucifer1 ,april1 #ahic47 ,nor am ,i1 as you hint1 in the habit ,i now send you this1 all of it of sending such messages about the being either direct quotations from society1 nor of influencing the the messages to me or else in course of affairs by using any such substance what ,i am directed to say things4 ,could ,i be such a fool as to you4444 ,we are all1 therefore1 to tell all others to go by what ,i face to face with the question get for my own guidance8 whether we will abide by ,masters and their messenger4--7,mr4 ,judge1 circular to 8the core of the ,t4,s410 deposing ,mrs4 ,besant1 ,november1 #ahid47 ,what ,mr4 ,judge ,lives ,on4 ,mr4 ,judge pretends that ,i have said that his motive is mere pecuniary gain4 ,i have throughout treated the vice-president as a spiritual ,jabez1 not a financial one2 and ,i wish him joy of the distinction4 ,but since he has raised the question at such length1 ,i will examine it a moment4 ,mr4 ,judge says3 8,no salaries are paid to our officers4 ,we support ourselves1 or privately support each other40 ,as he has elsewhere explained that he1 for one1 gives his whole time to the society1 it will be seen that the ,theosophical officials supply a parallel to those famous ,scilly ,islanders who 8eked out a precarious existence by taking in each others' washing40 ,the statement about the salaries is directly contradicted1 on turning to the #ahid ,convention ,report1 by an extra vote of #aej for the officials at ,avenue-road4 ,but ,i am well aware that the ready money of the ,t4,s4 is drawn far more from a few individuals with means and from special funds than from the small annual subscription1 and ,i have said already that the 8free board and lodging0 amid the temple groves at ,adyar1 ,avenue-road1 and ,new ,york is more than their small salary to those of 8the smaller fry0 to whom such things are a consideration4 ,as for ,mr4 ,judge1 he does not deny that it is he to whom the ,path1 and the press and publishing business connected with it1 now belong2 but he makes the curious statement that the proceeds1 whatever they may be1 come out of the pockets1 not of 8members1 but largely of others40 ,in other words1 it is not ,theosophists1 but the outside public1 who support the official organ of ,theosophy6 ,can it be that the ,path is widely taken in as a comic paper8 ,a ,few ,other ,curiosities4 ,note the information conveyed1 in this ,reply and in ,mr4 ,judge's recent ,circular1 that both ,mrs4 ,besant and ,colonel ,olcott also profess to get 8messages from the ,master40 8,if you may get messages 7he asks in effect7 why not ,i missives80 ,why1 indeed8 ,note the reproach about 8abusing a woman who has long enough fought10 c4 ,this from the man who has just issued a circular ordering the deposition of the said woman for being possessed of a devil6 ,note the threat1 addressed to me and the ,editor of ,,the ,,westminster1 that ,mr4 ,judge's ,master will get us 8execrated for offences not yet exposed10 and that he has already let ,mr4 ,judge into 8altogether too much of the secret hearts0 of his ,theosophical colleagues4 ,this is an old line which ,madame ,blavatsky used to find very effective with weak-minded disciples4 ,note the claim to prophetic 8foreknowledge10 based on the fact that ,mr4 ,judge said1 long before the ,july 8,enquiry10 that it would come to nothing4 ,it must be granted that this does imply a complete prescience on the part of ,mr4 ,judge--of the tactics which ,mr4 ,judge in due course adopted4 ,note1 lastly1 ,mr4 ,judge's plain avowal that he declines to face any inquiry of any sort or kind4 ,he declines the ,law ,courts1 which1 ,i frankly agree1 are no possible tribunal for him4 ,he declines the ,judicial ,committee of the ,t4,s41 because he1 the vice-president1 is a private member4 ,he declined a ,theosophical ,jury of ,honour in ,july1 which would have tried him as a private member1 because they1 too1 were not occult enough for him4 ,and he avows that he will decline everything and anything else1 because the 8proof0 of the ,new ,york ,mahatma 8begins and ends with myself40 ,need ,i add a word more8 ,f4 ,,edmund ,,garrett4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes #a4 ,silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling4 #b4 ,retained anachronistic1 non-standard1 and uncertain spellings as printed4 #c4 ,footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers4 #d4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 #e4 ,enclosed bold font in equals4