Koot Hoomi in 1870
[Reprinted from Report of the Result of an Investigation into the
Charges against Madame Blavatsky Brought by the Missionaries
of the Scottish Free Church of Madras, and Examined by a Committee
Appointed for That Purpose by the General Council of the Theosophical Society,
Madras, India, Theosophical Society, 1885, pp. 93-96.]
In the year 1870, Madame Blavatsky having disappeared from the sight and hearing of her family for so long a time that they thought her dead, and the relatives, after exhausting every source of information, having determined to go into mourning for her, news was brought to them in a most extraordinary manner. Her aunt, Madame de Fadeeff, writes as follows: -
[Translation of a letter to Col. Olcott.]
Dear Sir and Brother,
I am always ready to render service when within my power, and, above all, when, as in the present instance, it merely requires the speaking of the plain facts.
It is true that I did write to Mr. Sinnett some two or three years ago, in reply to one of his letters; and I seem to remember that I narrated to him what happened to me in connection with a certain note, received by me phenomenally when my niece was at the other side of the world, and not a soul knew where she was - which grieved us greatly. All our researches had ended in nothing. We were ready to believe her dead, when - I think it was about the year 1870, or possibly later - I received a letter from him, whom I believe you call "K. H.," which was brought to me in the most incomprehensible and mysterious manner, by a messenger of Asiatic appearance, who then disappeared before my very eyes. This letter, which begged me not to fear anything, and which announced that she was in safety - I have still at Odessa. Immediately upon my return I shall send it you, and I shall be very pleased if it can be of any use to you.
Pray excuse me, but it is difficult, not to say impossible, for me, to comprehend how there can exist people so stupid as to believe that either my niece or yourself have invented the men whom you call the Mahatmas! I am not aware if you have personally known them very long, but my niece spoke of them to me, and at great length, years ago. She wrote me that she had again met and renewed her relations with several of them, even before she wrote her Isis.(1) Why should she have invented these personages? For what end and what good could they have done her if they had no existence? * * * * If I, who have ever been, and hope ever to continue, to be a fervent Christian, believe in the existence of these men - although I may refuse to credit all the miracles they attribute to them - why should not others believe in them? For the existence of at least one of them, I can certify. Who, then, could have written me this letter to reassure me at the moment when I had the greatest need for such comfort, unless it had been one of those adepts mentioned? It is true that the handwriting is not known to me; but the manner in which it was delivered to me was so phenomenal, that none other than an adept in occult science could have so effected it. It promised me the return of my niece, - and the promise was duly fulfilled. However I shall sent it you, and in a fortnight’s time you shall receive it at London.
Accept, dear Sir and Brother, the expression of my sincere esteem.
(Signed) Nadejda Fadeeff,
Paris, 26th June, 1884. (2)
_________
Ten days later, Madame de Fadeeff having returned to her home at Odessa (Russia), she wrote as follows to Col. Olcott: -
Dear Sir: - Scarcely arrived at Odessa, I count it as my first duty to send you that which you asked of me. Although this letter enclosed is not signed, yet there is no doubt that it comes directly from one of your masters. My only fear is that it should be injured on the way, considering the brittleness of the paper upon which it is written. Accept, Sir, the assurances of high respect and consideration with which I am your very devoted friend.
(Signed) Nadejda Fadeeff.
The enclosure was a brief note written upon Chinese rice-paper, a very brittle substance, often used in China for fine paintings and formal writings. It is backed with the glassy hand-made paper one sees in Cashmere and the Punjab, and enclosed in an envelope of the same paper. The address is "To the Honorable, Very Honorable Lady Nadejda Andriewna Fadeeff, Odessa." In one corner, in the handwriting of Madame Fadeeff, is the note in the Russian language, in pencil, "Received at Odessa, November 7th, about Lelinka (H. P. B.’s pet name) probably from Tibet, November 11th, 1870. Nadejda F." The note says:
The noble relatives of Madame H. Blavatsky have no cause to mourn. Their daughter and niece has not departed from this world. She lives and wishes to make known to those she loves, that she is well and feels very happy in the distant and unknown retreat that she has chosen. ....... Let the ladies of her family comfort themselves. Before 18 new moons have risen, she will have returned to her home.
Both the note and envelope are written in the now familiar handwriting of the Mahatma K. H. So that those who pretend that Mme. Blavatsky has invented both Mahatma and writing, have to disprove the fact that both were known to the family of Madame Blavatsky fourteen years ago, and five years before the Theosophical Society was founded in America! Many persons, both in Europe and India, have carefully compared this note with others received through the Adyar shrine and in various other places phenomenally, as well as with the voluminous letters in Mr. Sinnett’s possession, and find the handwriting absolutely identical. Further comment is useless.
Notes
(1) In New York, in the year 1875.
(2) Addressed to Col. H.S. Olcott, London, and registered and stamped at the Paris P.O., June 26th, 1884.