"To all true Theosophists, in every country and of every race, for they called it forth, and for them it was recorded."

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In an indirect but none the less powerful manner the teachings of Theosophy have profoundly affected the ideas and ideals of the race on the great questions of ethics, of morality, of religion, philosophy and science, so that today it may be truly said that there is nothing worthy of the consideration of the human mind that has not been leavened by the injection of Theosophical leaven. It is not too much, therefore, to affirm that the direct and indirect influence of Theosophy upon humanity in the course of a single generation has been greater than that of any other system ever promulgated, during as many centuries as the Theosophical Movement numbers decades. And the Movement can as yet scarcely be said to have passed the stage of its germinal impulsion.

The record of the Theosophical Movement is scattered through thousands upon thousands of pages of books, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets and other documents. Many of these are extremely controversial in character, many inaccurate, many contradictory and confusing. The attempt to study, digest, collate and compare the im-

--- vii

mense literature of the subject is a monumental undertaking. The writers have spent many years in connection with the work of the Theosophical Movement, and their opportunities and facilities have been greater than most. Yet they know only too well the impossibility of doing anything like justice to the subject, or of affording satisfactory replies to all questions of the sincere student of its complexities. The very nature of the subject forbids. For Theosophy, the Theosophical Movement, and the real and true Theosophical Society have, each of them, an esoteric as well as an exoteric side, and the latter can never be fully grasped and understood but through the former.

Some of this hidden side can be touched upon, some documents referred to, some indications submitted, some deductions offered for the consideration of the reflective mind, but for by far the most important portion of the esoteric aspect the student must rely upon his own intuition: for the hidden side of Theosophy can only be arrived at through the hidden nature of the student himself.

Still another difficulty that confronts alike the writers and the sincere student is the fact that many of those who were active in the lifetime of the parent Theosophical Society are still living and now prominent, both in the public eye, and as leaders and exponents of the many conflicting theosophical and occult societies that have sprang up in the past twenty-five years, since the death of the original society. All these antagonistic organizations have their devoted adherents, their own particular tenets and claims of pre-eminence and successorship. The situation exactly parallels that of the early centuries of Christianity. Rival pretensions to apostolic succession, to knowledge, to authority, and to the possession of the keys to the teachings of the Founders confront the inquirer. The danger is imminent that if a better knowledge and understanding of the real teachings of Theosophy, the real mission of the Theosophical Movement, and the real facts in connection with the history of the Parent Theosophical Society, are not made available for

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all those who may become interested, the fate that has long since overtaken Brahminism, Buddhism and Christianity will inevitably befall the great Message of H.P. Blavatsky.

For all the reasons expressed and implied, an accessible record of the facts, as accurate a survey of their significance and bearing on the present and on the future as possible, is of the utmost moment to all sincere students and to all earnest enquirers. Themselves members of none of the existing organizations, but profoundly convinced of the surpassing value of the noble philosophy of Theosophy, the writers are moved to this attempt to aid the unimpeded flow of the great stream of the Theosophical Movement, not so much by any belief in their own especial ability as by the conviction that that flow is being impeded and corrupted by the partisanship and pretensions of the leading exponents of the existing societies. It is therefore addressed, not to any society or societies, but to all true Theosophists, whether members of any of the existing organizations or of none, and to all true enquirers everywhere, who may be willing to accept truth wherever it may be found, and to defend it, even looking popular prejudice - and their own - straight in the face.

For the rest, it may be added that the Syllabus which precedes the text will, it is hoped, be found, both by the general reader and the serious student, to be more satisfactory than an index. The abundant direct citations and the collateral references included in the text render superfluous a separate bibliography and will, it is thought, enable those so minded to verify at first hand every minor as well as major subject discussed.

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I. CHANNELS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT ................. 1

II. THE PARENT THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY ................... 13

III. "ISIS UNVEILED" ................ 26

IV. EARLY DAYS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY .......... 42

V. THE S.P.R. AND THE THEOSOPHICAL PHENOMENA .............. 59

VI. THE REPORT OF THE S.P.R. ........... 75

VII. DIVISIONS AMONG THEOSOPHISTS - NEW PUBLICATIONS ............. 94

VIII. ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC ASPECTS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT ........... 110

IX. H.P.B., OLCOTT, AND JUDGE ............ 127

X. THE FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN SECTION ......... 44

XI. THE WORK OF THE ESOTERIC SECTION ............. 163

XII. MABEL COLLINS AND PROFESSOR COUES ............ 178

XIII. THE COUES-COLLINS CHARGES AND THEIR AFTERMATH .............. 195

XIV. THE NEW YORK SUN LIBEL CASE ........... 211

XV. OLCOTT VERSUS H.P.B. ......... 226

XVI. OLCOTT'S ATTEMPT TO CENTRALIZE ALL AUTHORITY .....244

XVII. H.P.B. TAKES CHARGE OF THE T.S. IN EUROPE ............. 267

XVIII. DEATH OF H.P.B. - HER LAST MESSAGES ........... 275

XIX. THE CRISIS IN THE SOCIETY ......... 293

XX. ATTEMPTS TO SUPERSEDE H.P.B.'S INFLUENCE ........... 302

XXI. GROWING DIVERGENCES - OLCOTT RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT ............ 321

XXII. CONVENTION OF 1892 - OLCOTT WITHDRAWS HIS RESIGNATION ........... 334

XXIII. H.P.B.'S "SUCCESSORS" - THE PUBLICATION OF "OLD DIARY LEAVES" .......... 351

XXIV. CONTROVERSY OVER H.P.B.'s STATUS AS AGENT OF THE MASTERS .......... 380

XXV. ANNIE BESANT IN AMERICA, 1892-1893 ............ 405

XXVI. BEGINNINGS OF THE "JUDGE CASE" .......... 425

XXVII. MRS. BESANT CHANGES SIDES ........... 441

XXVIII. THE AMERICAN SECTION SUPPORTS JUDGE ........ 468

XXIX. THE "JUDICIAL ENQUIRY" IN LONDON ........... 493

XXX. BRITISH CONVENTION DISMISSES CASE AGAINST JUDGE ......... 519

XXXI. THE "EASTERN DIVISION" AND "WESTERN DIVISION" .......... 559

XXXII. WESTMINSTER GAZETTE ATTACKS THE SOCIETY ........ 574

XXXIII. MRS BESANT TRIES TO DRIVE JUDGE OUT OF THE SOCIETY ......... 596

XXXIV. THE AMERICAN SECTION DECLARES ITS AUTONOMY AND ELECTS JUDGE ITS LIFE-PRESIDENT ............. 622

XXXV. JUDGE'S DEATH AND THE TINGLEY "SUCCESSORSHIP ......... 653

XXXVI. PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT .......... 689

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The Theosophical Movement the story of Spiritual and Intellectual evolution - Religions and systems of thought, governments, sects and parties, landmarks of its cyclical progression through the ages -The Reformation, Free Masonry, the American Republic, the abolition of human slavery, all steps - "divine right" of God and the "divine rights" of kings alike obstacles to progress - all physical evolution preceded and accompanied by intellectual and moral growth - upward impulses due to the inspiration of higher evolved Intelligence - they work through appropriate channels - modern signs of the Theosophical Movement abundantly in evidence - Western interest in oriental philosophy and religion - the great influence of the "Light of Asia" - the tremendous effect of Darwin's "Origin of Species" on prevailing religious ideas of "creation," God and Nature - Buckle's intuitive perception of the rise of new religions and philosophies - the great work of iconoclasts like Ingersoll and Bradlaugh of liberal preachers like Kingsley and Channing - the Bastilles of orthodoxy no longer impregnable - Spiritualism an index of the transitional state of mind in religion - phenomena and forces ignored by Science - the writings of Allan Kardec - Spiritualism devoid alike of morality and philosophy - becomes in a generation the faith of millions - due to awakening psychic faculties - Madame Blavatsky enters the Western arena - her exhibition of powers exercised at will - her totally unknown philosophy of Life - her first efforts made with the Spiritualists.

CHAPTER II. THE PARENT THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY ....... 13

Madame Blavatsky comes to New York in 1873 - meets Col. H.S. Olcott in 1874 at the Eddy farmhouse - she controls the exhibition of phenomena unknown to the spectators - Olcott a prominent lawyer and newspaper writer, a life-long Spiritualist - becomes greatly interested in H.P.B.'s powers and knowledge - introduces her to Wm. Q. Judge, a young lawyer - Olcott and Judge become pupils of H.P.B. - Olcott's book, "People from the Other Word," draws public attention to the phenomenal powers of H.P.B. - her apartment dubbed "the Lamasery" becomes the scene of a never ending throng of visitors and marvel seekers - Olcott proposes a "Miracle Club," which falls through - the Theosophical Society established in November, 1875, by H.P.B., Olcott and Judge other early members - most of them Spiritualists who turn enemies - teachings of H.P.B. entirely opposed to the theories of Spiritualism - many European and Indian Fellows join the new Society - The Arya Somaj and Swami Sarasvati - the original Society democratic in organization - no restrictions on freedom of conscience or liberty of thought - the "Three Objects" of the Parent Theosophical Society - H.P.B. writes "Isis Unveiled," published in 1877 - goes with Col. Olcott to India, leaving Judge in America - rapid growth of the Society in the Orient - early publications and formation of new "Branches," East and West.

CHAPTER III. "ISIS UNVEILED" ........ 26

"Isis Unveiled" a Master Key to the mysteries of science and religion, modern and ancient - dedicated to the Theosophical Society with whose "Three Objects" its teachings are in correlation - discusses the roots of all religion, the negations of science, and the phenomena of Spiritualism - declares all three before a blank wall only to be penetrated by recourse to the wisdom of the ancient sages - affirms the existence of the Wisdom-Religion as the true Source of the Theosophical Movement in all ages - H.P.B. avows her own intimate acquaintance with living Adepts - phenomenal powers over space, time and matter - proves the fallacies of "exact" science by the testimony of its own exponents - all claims of religious "infallibility" mere theological dogmas - raised her voice for spiritual freedom and enfranchisement from all tyranny whether of Science or Theology - postulates a double evolution, spiritual and intellectual - the Wisdom-Religion the only philosophy which can reconcile faith and knowledge - Metempsychosis, in its esoteric sense - the solution of the "missing links" in Science and the mysteries that baffle religionists - ancient Magic a Divine Science - Cyclic Law, or Karma, the explanation of the rise and fall of civilizations - the periodic destructions and renovations of Nature - every problem of existence solved by the Wise Men of old - the secret and unbroken chain of the Adepts of the Great Lodge - the great propositions of Occultism - there is no miracle, everything under Law (Karma) - Spirit, Mind and Matter the evolving Trinity in Nature and in Man - Adeptship versus Mediumship - the Trinity of Nature the lock of Magic - the Trinity of Man the Key that fits it.

CHAPTER IV. EARLY DAYS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.... 42

The Theosophical Society an attempt to form a human association on the basis of the Lodge of Adepts, pure Altruism - H.P.B. not deceived in regard to the obstacles to be met - sectarian religious prejudices, the great barrier to true Fraternity - the Second Object of the T.S. - the idea of "miracles" and materialistic hypotheses of modern science the great enemies of true knowledge, hence the Third Object - Man inherently perfectible, not a mortal fallible being - Adepts the living proof of the divinity inherent in every man - the Wisdom-Religion can be known and its Adepts found by any sincere man - the real enemies of human welfare - bound to array themselves against H.P.B., her Society and her mission - who those enemies are - orthodox religions, materialistic science, pseudo-scientists, pretended authorities - the mercenaries and parasites of the press - "Isis Unveiled" neither a revelation nor an arbitrary theory - a statement of verifiable facts, physical and metaphysical - rests upon its own inherent worth - the Theosophical Society a body of students - dependent upon self-induced and self-devised efforts to study and apply the teachings of Theosophy - rejected and opposed by the Spiritualists, its natural allies, because of its teachings on after-death states and conditions - greatly helped in the East because of the natural mysticism of the inhabitants - Swami Sarasvati and his Arya Somaj originally sympathetic - Buddhist and Hindu friends gained for the Society in India - Sumangali, Damodar Mavalankar and Subba Row, powerful allies - A.P. Sinnett and A.O. Hume influential friends among the English - The Theosophist founded in 1879 - Olcott's "Buddhist Catechism" published - this and his lecturing tours gain many adherents - Missionary hostility aroused at the success and propaganda of the Society - H.P.B. charged with being a Russian spy and an immoral woman with Col. Olcott for her dupe - other calumnies - charges recanted by enemies first internal disturbance is the London Lodge - Dr. George Wyld's defection - Dr. Anna Bonus Kingsford's "Perfect Way" - her pamphlet assault on Mr. Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism" - Mr. Subba Row replies - Mr. C.C. Massey precipitates further troubles - the "Kiddle charges" of plagiarism by the Master - the storm raised in England and France in 1884 - H.P.B. and Col. Olcott go to Paris and London - meet Mr. Solovyoff - Judge comes to Paris, goes to India, and returns to America via London - H.P.B. and Col. Olcott meet leading members of the Society for Psychical Research while in London - the S.P.R. plans to investigate the "Theosophical phenomena."

CHAPTER V. THE S.P.R. AND THE THEOSOPHICAL PHENOMENA... 59

The Society for Psychical Research preceded by the Dialectical Society - that Society investigates Spiritualism in 1889 - publishes its Report is 1870 - concludes phenomena of Spiritualism are genuine - transcend all known laws - should be investigated scientifically - criticisms of the Report by London papers - Professor Crookes investigates Spiritualism - publishes his results in 1872 - Mr. Crookes assailed as savagely as Darwin - no advance in understanding of Spiritualistic phenomena during next ten years - the "Unseen Universe" - the Society for Psychical Research established in 1882 - its chief sponsors Spiritualists - some of them members of the Theosophical Society also - many well-known men and women join the S.P.R. - it begins its investigation of the "Theosophical phenomena" in the summer of 1884 - Olcott, Sinnett, Chatterji and others examined - H.P.B. interviewed - many other witnesses to the phenomena of H.P.B. give testimony - Preliminary Report of the S.P.R. issued in the fall of 1884 - admits the prima facie genuineness of the phenomena - reservations due to the charges just made in India by the Coulombs against the good faith of H.P.B. - declares a further investigation necessary in India - appoints Mr. Richard Hodgson for that purpose - the story of the Coulomb charges of fraud against H.P.B. - H.P.B. ship-wrecked in 1871 - goes to Cairo - meets Madame Coulomb - is succored by her - starts a society to investigate Western Spiritualism - the attempt a failure - H.P.B. returns to Russia in 1872 - goes to Paris and then to New York in 1873 - Madame Coulomb marries in Egypt - meets with reverses - is living in poverty in Ceylon when H.P.B. and Col. Olcott come to India - the Coulombs appeal for aid - go to India - join the Theosophical Society in 1880 - are given employment at headquarters - Madame Coulomb a bigoted Christian and Spiritualist medium - becomes jealous of H.P.B.'s successful mission - tries to extort money from members - circulates slanders about H.P.B. - is brought to "trial" by the members of the Council during absence of H.P.B. and Olcott in Europe in the summer of 1884 - the Coulombs communicate with Madras missionaries - are expelled from the Theosophical Society - are supported by the missionaries - the Coulomb charges published in the Christian College Magazine and in a pamphlet - the outburst occasioned.

CHAPTER VI. THE REPORT OF THE S.P.R. .... 75

Madame Blavatsky resigns from Theosophical Society when Coulomb charges made public - resignation refused by Olcott under pressure - H.P.B. writes London Times and Pall Mall Gazette pronouncing charges a conspiracy - H.P.B. and Olcott return to India at end of 1884 - H.P.B. insists charges most be met by court proceedings against the Coulombs - Olcott and the Hindus oppose legal action - the Adyar Convention declines to defend while affirming belief in her bona fides - Olcott and Sinnett already mistrust H.P.B. - she resigns from the Society and leaves India early in 1885 - Mr. Hodgson in India during the Convention and desertion of H.P.B. by Theosophists - powerfully affected by the luke-warmness and doubts of leading Theosophists - returns to England and submits his report to Committee of S.P.R. - Hodgson's findings adopted by Committee in June, 1885 - Report of the S.P.R. published following December - Conclusions reached - H.P.B.'s phenomena fraudulent - in a long-continued conspiracy to deceive public - Coulomb letters and Mahatma letters written by H.P.B. - declare H.P.B. "One of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in history" - the Report of the S.P.R. examined critically shows it to be wholly ex parte - no safeguards employed to ascertain and render justice - the investigation that of a rival society controlled by Spiritualists - the S.P.R. not interested in philosophy or ethics - avid for phenomena - ignorant of Occultism - contradictions and inconsistencies of S.P.R. Committee shown from its own Report - Committee relies wholly on Mr. Massey's suspicions, the Coulomb charges, and the opinions of the London handwriting experts - Mr. Massey's suspicions shown to be without tangible foundation - the Coulombs shown out of their own mouths to be lying tricksters - the handwriting experts shown as first declaring the Mahatma letters could not have been written by H.P.B. - then, at Hodgson's solicitation, changing their opinion to the contrary - the expert Netherclift shown to have sworn positively in the Parnell case to the opposite of the facts - the motives of all adverse witnesses shown to have been culpable and their testimony impeached - more than one hundred responsible witnesses affirm the genuineness of phenomena witnessed by them - the S.P.R. Committee declares these to have been victims of "hallucination" - Hodgson's findings examined - a mass of suspicions and contradictory conjectures to account for facts testified to - Hodgson recognizes necessity for showing a motive sufficient to account for H.P.B.'s alleged fraud during twenty years - rejects supposition that she was influenced by greed or ambition - submits theory that H.P.B. was a Russian spy - her Society and her phenomena a cloak to conceal her designs against British rule in India.

CHAPTER VII. DIVISIONS AMONG THEOSOPHISTS - NEW PUBLICATIONS ....... 94

Effect on Theosophists of Coulomb - S.P.R. "exposure" - Olcott goes to Burmah - H.P.B. desperately ill - attempt to unseat Olcott, who returns to Adyar - H.P.B. supports him - but tells him in deserting her the Theosophists have deserted the Masters - H.P.B. resigns and leaves India for Europe - Damodar leaves Adyar and goes to the Masters - the Society in India languishes and falls into public contempt - H.P.B. finds friends and supporters in Europe - Olcott and Indians find they cannot continue without H.P.B. - Convention at close of 1885 invites her to resume her office of Corresponding Secretary - refuses resignation of Olcott who is ready to retire as President - temporary restoration of harmony among Theosophists - H.P.B. in Europe, first in Italy, then Germany, then Belgium - her sickness, poverty, courage, good temper and unremitting exertions - visited by many noted Theosophists - her physical condition desperate for two years - carried to London by Countess Wachtmeister and the Keightleys in summer of 1887 - her presence a great stimulus to Theosophy in England - new publications, the Sphynx, the Lotus and Lucifer - the "Blavatsky Lodge" formed at London - Sinnett publishes "Incidents in the Life of H.P. Blavatsky" as an offset to S.P.R. Report - new books - "Light on the Path" - "Five Years of Theosophy" - "Man: Fragments of Forgotten History" - revival of Theosophical spirit and work - in Asia - in Europe - in America - Judge the heart of the Movement in America - rebuilds the Society - Judge begins The Path in 1888 - secures the establishment of the American "Board of Control" by Olcott - new Branches and Lodges in the United States - Judge forms the "American Section of the T.S." - first really democratic organization in the Society - Judge becomes its General Secretary - the work now in three streams - Judge in America - H.P.B. in Europe - Olcott in India - all in outward concord.

CHAPTER VIII. ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC ASPECTS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT .......... 110

The "Esoteric Section of the T.S." - the Theosophical Movement has an esoteric as well as an exoteric aspect - the Theosophical Society mere the public experimental aspect of the Movement and its Third Section - the First Section the Lodge of Masters - the Second Section composed of accepted, lay and probationary Chelas or Disciples - the Masters or First Section never publicly known - the Second Section kept secret, but probationers accepted privately - Judge and Olcott the earliest members of the Second Section known - first public notice of the Three Sections in India in 1880 - hints and articles on Chelaship thereafter appear at intervals in The Theosophist - difference between Occultism and Spiritualism - Chelaship and mediumship opposed courses - reasons for secrecy in connection with "Chelaship of the Second Section" - the immense change in the work of H.P.B. and Judge after 1888 - shown in contents of Lucifer and The Path - illustrative articles cited - "the ordeals of Chelaship"-practically exemplified in case of Mrs. Cables and Mr. W.T. Brown - Mrs. Cables a Spiritualist Christian with mystical tendencies - begins publication of The Occult Word - W.T. Brown a "probationary Chela" - becomes a "Rosicrucian" - joins Mrs. Cables - they seek for "communications from the Mahatmas" - receive no "signs" - publish a "manifesto" - H.P.B. replies - shows dangers and requirements of Chelaship - cites Brown's own case in illustration without naming him - Mrs. Cables and Brown leave the Society - failures frequent among candidates for Chelaship - out of hundreds "one only" achieves full success - seven years successful probation the minimum requirement before "communication with Masters" possible on both sides - failure of Theosophists to lead the life.

CHAPTER IX. H.P.B., OLCOTT AND JUDGE ....... 127

H.P.B. the Messenger of the Masters - Judge next to her in importance esoterically - Olcott the public head and front of the exoteric work - Olcott's limitations and obstacles - his own letter quoted - Olcott, the probationary Chela, falls often and upsets his work as President - his attitude toward H.P.B. and Judge - his friendship and intimacy with those who afterward became enemies or traitors - Massey, Prof. Coues - Olcott's slights to H.P.B. - his partiality for Subba Row - friction between Subba Row and H.P.B. over the "Sevenfold Classification" - the contentions in The Theosophist - Judge intervenes in the controversy - internal frictions cause of all external troubles - failure of Theosophists to adhere to First Object and of probationary Chelas to keep their Pledges - could not endure correction at hands of H.P.B. or Judge - "Pledge Fever" real cause of stormy course of the Society - necessity for restoration of the Movement to true lines - Judge advises formation of "Esoteric Section" - draws up its Rules - Olcott torn by fears and doubts - the battle between the "Three Founders" prior to the formation of the "Esoteric Section" - not disclosed till long afterwards in "Old Diary Leaves" - neither H.P.B. nor Judge ever wrote anything personal - never "washed Theosophical dirty linen in public" - story of friction between the Founders unknown to Theosophists at the time - disclosed long afterward by Olcott - "Old Diary Leaves" not a history but an autobiography.

CHAPTER X. THE FORMATION OF THE ESOTERIC SECTION ....... 144

The "critical period" preceding the formation of the "Esoteric Section" of the T.S. - H.P.B. discussed Olcott's nature in a letter to Dr. Franz Hartmann in 1886 - Olcott and others never understood either Masters or H.P.B. - Olcott sincere but "lacks in the psychological portion of his brain" - H.P.B.'s story of per difficulties - trying to aid others to perception of the facts -Olcott tells his story at length in "Old Diary Leaves" - thinks H.P.B. wise, foolish and fanatic - opposes establishment of Lucifer and of "Blavatsky Lodge" - offended at H.P.B.'s course in the Subba Row controversy - discusses H.P.B.'s nature - calls her "insulted and misunderstood Messenger" - then says she "frets and worries over mares' nests" - calls the Judge-Coues controversy a "personal quarrel" - gives his version of the storm preceding the "Esoteric Section" - calls H.P.B. a "mad person," "hyper-excited hysterical woman" - discloses that H.P.B. was prepared to leave the T.S. and form a new Society of her own if he does not reform - the Hindu "Council" frightened at H.P.B.'s stand - more trouble in the Paris Branch - Olcott makes it an excuse to go to Europe in 1888 - to "fight it out" with H.P.B. - first overrules her then rescinds his action - confirms H.P.B.'s "interference" as within her "Constitutional rights" - Olcott receives a letter on shipboard in 1888 direct from the Master - wrongly relates it in "Old Diary Leaves" to the visit in 1884 - the Master's letter a phenomenon indeed - it reproaches Olcott for his attitude and conduct towards H.P.B. - declares that it is she who is their direct agent - affirms that "with occult matters she has everything to do" - warns Olcott to attend to his own business - tells him he will have to suffer for his injustice to H.P.B. - the letter effective for the time being - Judge goes to London and the Three Founders effect a reconciliation - H.P.B. issues public notice of the Esoteric Section, accompanied by an "official authorization" from Olcott - joint note of H.P.B. and Olcott to all Theosophists - Olcott afterwards takes credit to himself for the outcome - "pacifies H.P.B."

CHAPTER XI. THE WORK OF THE ESOTERIC SECTION ......... 163

"Old Diary Leaves" tells the story of Olcott's return to India late in 1888 for the "Adyar Parliament" - his Address to Convention - never set himself up as a competent teacher - the Esoteric Section H.P.B.'s sole responsibility - glosses the European events to show himself the leading actor - the Convention of the American Section in April, 1889, following - a letter read from H.P.B. - Judge's respect and reverence for H.P.B. in contrast with Olcott's attitude - H.P.B.'s letter refers to the Esoteric Section - formed to work for Theosophy under her direction - gives a warning direct from Masters - Altruism Their object - Theosophists must strive for true fraternity - Preliminary Memorandum to candidates for the Esoteric Section - the Pledge required - secrecy, service and, study - the Esoteric Section necessary because the T.S. had proved after thirteen years a "dead failure" and a "sham" - the Esoteric Section not for "practical occultism" - for brotherly union, mutual help, and the salvation of the T.S. - other extracts from the Preliminary Memorandum and Book of Rules.

CHAPTER XII. MABEL COLLINS AND PROFESSOR COUES ......... 178

The Esoteric Section promptly brings about Pledge Fever in the T.S. - the great storm of 1889-90 - Mabel Collins and Prof. Coues the conscious and unconscious instruments - Mabel Collins joins London Lodge is 1884 - a "psychic" with no knowledge of Occultism - medium for "Light on the Path" and "The Gates of Gold" - becomes Associate Editor of Lucifer with H.P.B. - acquires great Theosophical reputation - suddenly dropped from Lucifer in February, 1889 - Prof. Coues of Catholic descent and training - highly educated - noted scientific authority and writer - interested in "psychical research" - joins T.S. at London in 1884 - becomes member of American Board of Control - establishes the Gnostic Branch of the American Section T.S., at Washington, D. C. - aids in establishing an American Society for Psychical Research - tries to control T.S. in United States - Judge's cautions - Coues corresponds with H.P.B., Judge and Olcott, trying to set them at odds with each other - Olcott nearly succumbs - letter from Olcott to Coues - Coues made Chairman at American Section Convention of 1888 at Chiemo - gives the Chicago Tribune a spurious "Mahatma message" - admits it to Judge - denies it to H.P.B. - his letters to Judge and H.P.B. - his hypocrisy and thirst for notoriety and power - H.P.B. replies to him - speaks plainly - refuses to countenance his "messages" or his ambitions - he demands to be made head of the American Section as the price of his allegiance - his offer rejected - not present at the Convention of April, 1889.

CHAPTER XIII. THE COUES-COLLINS CHARGES AND THEIR AFTERMATH ......... 195

Coues sends a letter to the Religio-Philosophical Journal of May 11, 1889 - Bundy, Coleman, Michael Angelo Lane and Mabel Collins enlisted in Coues' campaign to ruin Judge and H.P.B. - Coues' letter jeers at the "Theosophical mahatmas" - quotes a letter from Mabel Collins - says he never met Miss Collins personally - wrote her first in 1885 asking real source of "Light on the Path" - she replied that it was "dictated to her by one of the adepts" of H.P.B. - no intervening communication - now "unexpectedly" he receives letter which he gives - Miss Collins declares her original statement false - knows nothing of existence of any Master - made her false statement because H.P.B. "begged and implored" her to - the Coues-Collins' charges critically examined - show Coues a conscienceless schemer and Mabel Collins a mediumistic dupe of Coues - their combined testimony proved false from their own evidence - collateral and chronological facts show baselessness and impossibility of allegations in regard to H.P.B. - aftermath of events - Mabel Collins sues H.P.B. for libel - her own attorneys dismiss the suit on being shown a letter of Mabel Collins in H.P.B.'s possession - the real mysteries involved in the origin of Collins' "inspired" books - Mabel Collins a "failure in occultism" - dismissed, with M.A. Lane, from the Esoteric Section - Coues never a member of the Section - admission refused him.

CHAPTER XIV. THE NEW YORK SUN LIBEL CASE ......... 211

Professor Coues' case taken up by Judge - the Executive Committee of the American Section expels Coues from the T.S. - the Convention in April, 1890, approves the expulsion - the Gnostic Branch dischartered - Coues plans revenge - the New York Sun joins in the fray - calls H.P.B. an "impostor," lauds Coues for exposing her "humbug religion" - followed by full page interview with Coues - he rehashes all the old slanders on H.P.B. - charges Judge with duplicating in America H.P.B.'s frauds in England - the "mahatmas" a hoax and their "messages" invented by H.P.B. and Judge - charges H.P.B. with immorality - Judge brings suit for libel against Sun - H.P.B. follows - her letter in The Path - no evasion of the issues - the Sun fights the case for two years - no evidence obtainable to support the charges made - the Sun publishes in 1892 a full retraction and repudiates Coues - retraction accompanied by publication in Sun of a long article by Judge in defense of H.P.B. - Sun says editorially "Mr. Judge's article disposes of all questions regarding Madame Blavatsky as resented by Dr. Coues" - the Sun libel case a complete vindication of H.P.B. - infamy of subsequent reiteration of exploded slanders by Count Witte and Margot Tennant - Coues disgraced by outcome of suits - retires to obscurity - importance of the Coues-Collins-Sun battle - should be familiar to all students.

CHAPTER XV. OLCOTT VERSUS H.P.B. ........ 226

Esoteric aspect of the Coues struggle - cycles in Theosophical Movement - the Three Founders the personification of the Three

Sections of the Movement - a breach between the Sections in the first ten years - Olcott and others' failure to defend H.P.B. in 1885 the sign of the rupture - first doubts - then dissent and dissimulation - then temporising - then repudiation of the Occult status of H.P.B. - the long list of "failures in occultism" in the first thirteen years - Coues counted on Olcott's support - Olcott becomes frightened at possible consequences to Society and himself - refuses to align himself with his colleagues but does not openly support Coues - blinded by jealousy and vanity - "Old Diary Leaves" discloses Olcott's inner attitude and struggles - his "pitched battle" with H.P.B. in 1888 over the Esoteric Section - due to his inner doubts and fears - thought H.P.B. and Judge were engaged in "the building up of a new structure of falsehood, fraud and treachery in which to house new idol" - takes Richard Harte back to India with him - Olcott's comments in "Old Diary Leaves" on the events from 1888 to 1890 - obsessed with the importance of the Society - of himself as its President-Founder - changes in the Constitution and articles in The Theosophist - engineered by Olcott to make himself supreme - tries to relegate H.P.B. and Judge to "their proper place" - "Revised Rules" adopted by the "Adyar Parliament - Judge and H.P.B. oppose - supported by the American and British Sections.

CHAPTER XVI. OLCOTT'S ATTEMPT TO CENTRALIZE ALL AUTHORITY ............ 244

1888-1890 - the long campaign waged by Olcott and his lieutenant Richard Harte - coincident with the Cones' assaults - the uproar in the Society - H.P.B. and Judge the target for attacks within and without the Society - The Theosophist wages war on the independence of the Sections - belittles the Esoteric Section - threatens the dissolution of the American and British Sections - lauds "Adyar" as "the centre of the Movement" - long series of derogatory articles - The Theosophist the sole source of information in India - attempts of H.P.B. and Judge publicly and privately to restore harmony - Bertram Keightly's foolish letter to Harte - Judge writes direct to Olcott - re-affirms the issues at stake - declares H.P.B. the heart of the Society as well as the Movement - Olcott refuses to publish Judge's letter - gives extracts and defends Harte - declares himself the head and front of the Society and the cause - H.P.B. takes action - her article in Lucifer, August, 1889 - "A Puzzle from Adyar" - she reprints some of Harte's fulminations - "Pure nonsense to say that she is 'loyal to the Theosophical Society and to Adyar'" - "loyal to death to the Theosophical Cause" - "There is no longer a 'Parent Society'" - "It is abolished and replaced by an aggregate body of Theosophical Societies, all autonomous" - will leave the Society at the first sign of disloyalty to the Cause - and will lead those who remain true.

CHAPTER XVII. H.P.B. TAKES CHARGE OF THE T.S. IN EUROPE ............. 267

Esoterically, the great storm of 1888-90 due to the clash between human and divine nature - the Objects of the Movement practical, not theoretical - the gulf between the views of Olcott and his party and those personified by H.P.B. and Judge - Olcott once more sobered by "A Puzzle from Adyar" - realizes he has gone too far - fears for his beloved Society - determines to go once more to England - realizes that to rise in rebellion means to ally himself with Coues - arrives in England late in 1889 - met as always by H.P.B. with affection and charity - heart warmed by the treatment accorded him - his fears allayed for the moment - makes a tour of the British Isles - issues an "Order" delegating his Presidential powers for Europe to H.P.B. and an "Advisory Council" - "Bombay Conference" adopts stirring resolutions in support of H.P.B. during Olcott's absence - fresh Paris troubles after Olcott's return to India - he once more interferes and issues Presidential ukases - the British and Continental Theosophists rise up in arms - Mrs. Annie Besant joins the Society - becomes associate editor of Lucifer and President of the "Blavatsky Lodge" - she heads the insurrectron against Olcott's papal actions - unanimous demand that H.P.B. take direction of affairs in Europe - H.P.B. bows to the will of the European Theosophists - issues a Notice in Lucifer assuming full authority and responsibility for Society in Europe - names it "The Theosophical Society in Europe" and declares for democracy August,1890 - cables Olcott of her action - Olcott saves his face by accepting the facts and repudiating the factors.

CHAPTER XVIII. DEATH OF H.P.B. - HER LAST MESSAGES ........... 275

H.P.B. dies May 8, 1891 - Her life an open book to friend and foe - remains today as much a mystery as then - Theosophists never studied her life in the light of her teachings regarded personally even by her most devoted followers - judged at second hand on hearsay and opinion by the world and by Theosophists - weighed by trifles - her teachings and her works the true evidence of her Mission and her nature - no fact adduced by her ever overthrown by counter-evidence - her theories as unimpeachable as ever - her life and her message absolutely consistent - her followers and detractors weighed in same scale make a sorry showing - her Messages to the American Theosophists prove her sage and prophet - her "dying declaration" - "My Books" - "Isis Unveiled" a Message from the Masters - every word of her teachings from the Masters of the Wisdom - no charge against her ever substantiated - her inexhaustible philanthropy - the price she paid to serve mankind.

CHAPTER XIX. THE CRISIS IN THE SOCIETY .......... 393

The great crisis following the death of H.P.B. - in the exoteric Society - in the Esoteric Section or School - how the crisis was met - Judge goes to London - summons a meeting of the "Council of the Esoteric Section" - the Council meets May 27, 1891 - considers documents left by H.P.B. - affirms Judge H.P.B.'s representative - H.P.B.'s last words "Keep the Link unbroken" - Council goes on record Esoteric School should be continued on lines laid by H.P.B. - Judge and Annie Besant to conduct the School - Council issues confidential circular to all members of the E.S.T., signed by all - Council resigns - address of Mrs. Besant and Judge as Outer Heads to the School - claim no authority over the members save such as delegated by H.P.B.

CHAPTER XX. ATTEMPTS TO SUPERSEDE H.P.B.'S INFLUENCE .............. 302

Position of the Esoteric Society following H.P.B.'a death - Olcott comes to London to attend Convention of British-European Section - great gathering of leading Theosophists - London Lodge not represented at Convention but sends letter - London Lodge declares its independence - action tacitly accepted by Convention - speeches of Col. Olcott - Mrs. Besant - Mr. Judge - entire harmony and concord - Lucifer memorial articles - the workers scatter - Mrs. Besant takes charge of Lucifer - her great work publicly - Judge returns to America - Olcott to India - his "triumphal procession" - Mrs. Besant's proclamation of the nature and status of H.P.B, in Lucifer, 1890-91 - her famous speech in St. James' Hall, August 30, 1891 - "A Fragment of Autobiography" - declares she has received messages from the Mahatmas since the death of H.P.B. - the furore aroused - Olcott "views with alarm" the declarations made - his Address to the "Adyar Parliament" December, 1891 - H.P.B. "not as perfect a channel as some others" - protests "against all attempts to create an H.P.B. school sect or cult" - Judge sounds the true note for all Theosophists - "first Solidarity, and second, Theosophical education" - "Jasper Niemand" publishes a message from the Masters in The Path, August, 1891 - Olcott stirred up - writes Judge - Judge publishes article on 'Dogmatism in Theosophy' - Society founded to destroy dogmatism - quotes H.P.B. - real object Universal Brotherhood - not dogmatism to study, teach and apply Theosophy - members have equal rights to affirm or reject any doctrines - but no right to impose their private views on others - or promulgate them as official tenets of the T.S.

CHAPTER XXI. GROWING DIVERGENCES - OLCOTT RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT ........... 321

The old issues once more aroused - The Theosophical Movement one thing - the Theosophical Society quite another - the criteria applicable to Theosophical history - Altruism the self-professed Object of the Fellows of the T.S. - Altruism and Theosophy the self-pledged objectives of the members of the E.S.T. - Fellows of the T.S. must be weighed in the scales of their own conduct, not that of others - members of the Esoteric Section by their allegiance to their voluntary Pledges, not by worldly standards - the war of ideas within a year after H.P.B.'s death - official report of the Adyar Convention of 1891 - Olcott's Presidential Address - great importance of Olcott's declarations - Judge meets the issue - publishes article on "The Future and the Theosophical Society" - quotes a letter of H.P.B.'s - her vision of the coming strife - "a few earnest Theosophists" - "in a death struggle with nominal and ambitious Theosophists" - the dangers now the same as always - the Society not a "School for Occultism" - must flourish on its moral worth not on phenomena - members must be "true to themselves" - Judge corrects Olcott's Presidential remarks on H.P.B. - Judge declares H.P.B. knew she was going - decries attempts to create bogies - a thunderbolt in the Society - Olcott resigns the Presidency - Judge publishes official correspondence and takes charge as Vice-President, March, 1892 - secret of Olcott's sudden resignation a mystery to this day - the hidden facts disclosed - Olcott indiscreet at London in summer of 1891 - charges of "grave immorality" made by Miss Muller - Mrs. Besant excited by the charges - comes to New York to see Judge - demands Judge force Olcott's resignation - Judge writes Olcott - suggests he resign if charges are true - Olcott denies charges but tenders resignation - Olcott's fatal blunder - proud and sensitive - cannot endure contumely and calumny - Judge writes him loyally.

CHAPTER XXII. CONVENTION OF 1892 - OLCOTT WITHDRAWS HIS RESIGNATION ......... 334

Convention of American Section held in April, 1892, immediately following Olcott's resignation - great growth of the Section - letters from Olcott read - Judge reviews the year since H.P.B.'s death - pays tribute to Annie Besant - convention resolutions in regard to Olcott - Olcott requested to withdraw his resignation - request cabled to Olcott - Olcott replies must wait to hear from

all the Sections - Convention re-elects Judge General Secretary - votes for Judge for President in case Olcott adheres to his resignation - American Convention's recommendation to British Convention for July, 1892 - advises same action in regard to Olcott's resignation as its own - Mrs. Besant gets out private circular urging Judge for President - Olcott writes to British Convention - intimates willingness to withdraw resignation - Convention nevertheless votes for Judge and to accept resignation - Olcott in a quandary - encouraged by Judge - Judge sends him message from Masters - Olcott decides to withdraw resignation and remain President - Judge publishes Olcott's notice and informs American Branches.

CHAPTER XXIII. H.P.B.'s "SUCCESSORS" - THE PUBLICATION OF "OLD DIARY LEAVES" ........... 351

Adyar Parliament at end of 1892 - Olcott's Presidential address - explains his resignation as due to ill-health - ready now to continue to the end as a "sacrifice demanded by the best interests of the Society" - names Judge as his successor - adverts once more to "Adyar" as the centre of the Movement - admit Adyar Convention merely an informal gathering - "only 5 Branches out of 145 really doing satisfactory work" in the Indian Section - Indian Branches mainly exist on paper - First Object makes no appeal to Indian membership - trouble in the E.S.T. - due to Mrs. Besant's private circular preceding Convention of British Section - Judge issues notice in the E.S.T. - the School has no connection officially with the T.S. - members free to act according to their own judgment - Mrs. Besant's private circular stirs up Olcott's friends - her action ascribed to Judge's influence - Mrs. Besant issues circular to the Esoteric School explaining her action - Judge's effort to shield Mrs. Besant - and restore harmony in the Society and the E.S.T. - why the circular was jointly signed - members too prone to follow authorities - would not "cultivate self-reliance and develop the intuition" - the bane of "successorship" - H.P.B. declared in "Isis" that "apostolic succession is a gross and palpable fraud" - the "successorship" idea among Theosophist after H.P.B.'s death - Duchesse de Pomar hailed as H.P.B.'s "successor" - then Annie Besant in England and Judge in America - Judge tells the reporters "H.P.B. was sui generis" - "she can have no successor" - claims of mediums and "Occultists" to be H.P.B.'s "successor" - the case of Henry B. Foulke - Judge's two letters on the subject to the Wilkes-Barre Times - Mrs. Besant reprints Judge's letters in Lucifer - Olcott declares himself on "successorship" claims - "Blavatsky nascitur, non fit" - Olcott begins the publication of "Old Diary Leaves" in The Theosophist for March, 1892 - their effect on the Society and the Movement - "Old Diary Leaves" ostensible purpose to give a "true history of the Theosophical Society" - the actual motive to pull down H.P.B. to the common level - the real animus not disclosed till 1895 - contradictory views of H.P.B. held by Olcott and others - the "real H.P.B." unknown to Olcott - some hints for the intuitional-minded on "our Brother, H.P.B."

CHAPTER XXIV. CONTROVERSY OVER H.P.B.'s STATUS AS AGENT OF THE MASTERS ......... 380

Constant belittlement of H.P.B. publicly and privately - emanates from Olcott and Sinnett - could not endure her pre-eminence - Judge's difficult situation - bound to defend H.P.B. - realizes must antagonize prominent leaders - steps taken in the E.S.T. - "We have not been deserted" - "Authorship of the 'Secret Doctrine'" - other articles in The Path - the old controversy between Mr. Sinnett and H.P.B. - "The earth chain of globes" - London Lodge lectures - W. Scot Elliott claims "inspiration" - Alexander Fullerton's faux pas - Judge disclaims responsibility for Fullerton - corrects misconceptions in The Path - Judge quotes Masters' certificates on the "Secret Doctrine" - letter from Masters to Francesca Arundale - shows conditions in London Lodge as far back as 1884 - Miss Arundale's letter unknown to members at time - the controversy becomes violent - Judge writes on "Masters, Adepts, Teachers and Disciples" - Sinnett comes out in the open - declares H.P.B. "under other influences" than Masters - affirms he is still is communication with Mahatmas - Judge and Mrs. Besant try to quiet the storm while upholding H.P.B. - Olcott speaks in praise of Sinnett - the situation by the early fall of 1893 - a sharp and sheer cleavage over teachings - and over status of H.P.B. as agent of the Masters.

CHAPTER XXV. ANNIE BESANT IN AMERICA, 1892-3 ......... 405

Mrs. Besant invited to visit India again in fall of 1892 - goes to America instead - her American tour a great success - returns to England loud in praise of Mr. Judge - Olcott writes the American Convention in April, 1893 - raises the "hero worship" bogy once more - Judge speaks as General Secretary American Section - disclaims all hero worship and dogmatism - but insists those who reverence H.P.B. have perfect right to express their views - warns against official promulgations on matters of individual opinion - Mrs. Besant upholds members' rights to freedom of individual belief and expression - W. Scott Elliott's claims to "inspiration" discussed - "authority" in the T.S. - no doctrines "authoritative" - all must stand on their own merit - Mrs. Besant quotes H.P.B. on freedom of opinion in the T.S. - E.T. Sturdy takes a hand - Sturdy a member of the E.S.T. - objects to claims of "messages from Masters" - Mrs. Besant writes on "Gurus and Chelas" - opposes Sturdy's views - the whole subject of "Mahatma messages" once more to the fore - claims of "Jasper Niemand" in The Path article - claims of Mrs. Besant to recent "messages" from Masters - Mrs. Besant now the foremost figure in the Society - Olcott and Sinnett worried over Mrs. Besant's championship of Judge and H.P.B.

CHAPTER XXVI. BEGINNINGS OF THE "JUDGE CASE" ......... 425

Mrs. Besant publishes in Lucifer for April, 1893, Judge's letter to Olcott in 1891 about the "Jasper Niemand" message - Sturdy's article really a reply to Judge's letter to Olcott - Olcott joins in the fray - "N.D.K." writes in The Theosophist - challenges Judge's statements in the letter to Olcott - Olcott reprints Sturdy's article including paragraphs omitted by Mrs. Besant - Walter R. Old and S.V. Edge - Old a member of the "E.S.T. Council" - Edge assistant on The Theosophist - they write in The Theosophist on "Theosophic Freethought" - the article a veiled attack on Judge - they tell of the "Mahatma Message" at the "E.S.T. Council" meeting of May 27, 1891 - they question the bona fides of Judge and the genuineness of the "message" - Old and Edge undoubtedly inspired by Olcott - the question of "Master's seal" - the whole subject of "messages from Masters" discussed - H.P.B.'s statement - "Occult phenomena can never be proved" - The publication of "Theosophic Freethought" - a violation of the E.S.T. pledges of Old and Edge - taken up by Mrs. Besant in the Esoteric Section - Old and Edge suspended from membership in the E.S.T. in August 1893 - the circular issued to members of the E.S.T. by Mrs. Besant and Judge - Olcott follows up the attack on Judge and H.P.B. - the White Lotus Day meeting at Adyar May 8, 1893 - the quandary of Olcott and his allies - can Judge be unseated in confidence of members? - H.P.B. cannot be "buried" while Judge lives - Judge invincible with Mrs. Besant's support - the problem to win over Mrs. Besant against Judge and H.P.B. - beginnings of the conspiracy against Judge.

CHAPTER XXVII. MRS. BESANT CHANGES SIDES ............. 441

Judge and Olcott personify the opposing issues - the First and Second Sections versus the Third Section - esoteric aspects of the Movement versus the exoteric - "The Judge Case" - the external phase of the battle - the momentous year of 1893 - Bertram Keightley the unconscious agent in the subornation of Mrs. Besant - Keightley originally a staunch supporter of H.P.B. - gets in trouble with Mabel Collins - sent by H.P.B. to America in 1890 - poses as her "representative" - H.P.B. issues famous Notice of August 9, 1890 - disavows Bertram Keightley's "teachings" - says Judge her "sole representative" - recalls Keightley to Europe - sends him to India - he becomes General Secretary Indian Section - becomes an adherent of Olcott's - falls under influence of G.N. Chakravarti - Chakravarti a "psychic" - poses as a "Chela" - Keightley comes to America in spring of 1893 - attends American Section Convention - invited by Judge to select Brahmin and Buddhist Delegates to World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago Fair - Chakravarti chosen - Judge's efforts to allay Brahminical hostility to the T.S. - he warns of "A plot against the Theosophical Society" - Keightley a close friend of Mrs. Besant - he goes to England from America - works on Mrs. Besant - she begins to grow suspicious of Judge - Chakravarti comes to London - Mrs. Besant becomes one of his worshipers - adopts "ascetic" practices - her intimacy with Chakravarti - Mrs. Besant, Miss Muller, and Chakravarti come to America to attend the "Parliament of Religions" - the great success of the Parliament - Mrs. Besant and Chakravarti share honors as the great feature of the "Parliament" - Mrs. Besant succumbs to the lures held out - goes to India in the fall of 1893 - her visit there a regal triumph - how Olcott set the stage - his contemptuous review of Judge's Ocean of Theosophy - prepares the "Adyar Convention," Christmas, 1893 - his Presidential Address - laudatious of Mrs. Besant - sees in Mrs. Besant a messiah from the Masters - the epiphany of Mrs. Besant - intimates a coming storm - understood to refer to Judge - the secret meeting behind the public address - the Christmas night conclave at Adyar in 1893 - Mrs. Besant, Col. Olcott, Walter R. Old, and others plan the assault on Judge - the meeting unknown to the members - Mrs. Besant chosen to hurl the thunderbolt prepared - she writes a formal letter to Olcott Feb. 6, 1894 - makes charges against Judge - demands investigation - next day Olcott writes officially to Judge - demands he resign or stand trial for "misusing Mahatmas' names and handwritings."

CHAPTER XXVIII. THE AMERICAN SECTION SUPPORTS JUDGE .............. 468

The real issue Theosophy or the Society - Chelas or mediums - Brotherhood or sectarianism - how Judge acted on receipt of Olcott's "ultimatum" - addresses a circular March 15, 1894, to all members of the T.S. - lays bare, the facts - refuses to resign - announces his readiness to meet any charges - denies any wrong-doing - admits receiving and delivering messages from Masters - declares them genuine - never courted publicity - says no one but a genuine chela can determine what is or is not a "message" - the charges a distinct violation of Constitution of Society - make a dogma out of Masters and Messages - an assault on liberty of conscience - will meet his accusers - Judge's circular widely distributed - its frankness and fairness in meeting all issues - Bertram Keightley and George Mead receive copies of charges and Judge's reply - their sense of honor and fair play outraged - they address an open letter to Col. Olcott as General Secretaries of Indian and British Sections - charge Olcott with violation of Constitution and the principles of Brotherhood - declare the matter at issue one of personal opinion and barred from constitutional attack - Olcott follows up his first letter to Judge with another - invites Judge to "prove himself innocent" and suspends him from Vice-Presidency - sets the "trial" to be held at London in July, 1894 - Mrs. Besant leaves India to return to England and carry the fight against Judge before the British Section Convention - the American Section Convention meets in April, 1894 - unanimously votes confidence in Judge - re-elects him General Secretary - charges Olcott with violation of the Constitution - demands that if Judge's "messages" are investigated those of Sinnett, Mrs. Besant, Col. Olcott and others be also investigated at the same time - declares for freedom of opinion and belief in the Society - votes to reimburse Judge for the expenses he has been put to because of the charges against him.

CHAPTER XXIX. THE "JUDICIAL ENQUIRY" IN LONDON ........... 493

Olcott's position in spring of 1894 - determined to "fight it out to the hilt" this time - feels master of the situation due to alliance with Mrs. Besant - his other aids - Walter Old's help - Old determines to return to England with Mrs. Besant - Old an astrologer and "psychic" with many English friends - Olcott's panegyrics on Mrs. Besant - his signed article in The Theosophist on Mrs. Besant - his attitude toward Judge contrasted with his deification of Mrs. Besant - makes Mrs. Besant his viceregal agent - grants her carte blanche in Australasia - the significance of this - Olcott and Mrs. Besant natural autocrats - no idea of democracy - the bombshell of Keightley and Mead's rebellion - this situation reversed - Olcott now fearful of defeat - consults his advisers - sends out a new Official Notice - tries to explain situation - announces his decision to go to England - his "explanation" examined - the battlefield transferred to England - The "Judicial Committee" meets at London in July, 1894 - Mrs. Besant, Olcott and others confer - the case thrashed out in Committee - Judge attends the session of the Committee - remains silent - Committee in hard case - points raised by Judge inescapable - Judge announces his readiness to be "tried" - the Committee controlled by Besant and Olcott - they fear Judge can "prove his innocence" if tried - they reverse themselves - Olcott makes a speech - declares case cannot constitutionally be tried - the Committee decides it has "no jurisdiction" - the action taken a complete exposure of the animus of the persecution - the "Enquiry" a farce.

CHAPTER XXX. BRITISH CONVENTION DISMISSES CASE AGAINST JUDGE ........... 519

Effect of the decision of the "Judicial Committee" - Theosophists at London for the British Convention sense the wrong done Judge - Mrs. Besant and Olcott try to "save their face" - they demand a "Jury of honour" - Judge's reply - where are the competent "occultists"? - who can tell whether a "Message" is or is not genuine? - Mrs. Besant proposes the matter be placed before the British Convention as a "Jury" - Judge promptly consents - Mrs. Besant and Judge read Statements to the Convention - Mrs. Besant admits the charges due to "personal hatred" of Judge by "certain persons" - Old and Edge indicated as the "guilty persons" - Mrs Besant denies responsibility - says she sponsored charges for "Judge's sake" - admits Judge is in communication with Masters - says the "messages" in the "Master's script" - but says she believes Masters did not "directly" precipitate them - acquits Judge of dishonorable intentions - apologizes for her share in the case - asks Judge's forgiveness "for wrongs done him" - Olcott adds a footnote to Mrs. Besant's Statement - says he asked her to make the charges - betrays himself - Judge makes his Statement - says he did not couple Mrs. Besant's name with the charges to save her - denies "forging the handwriting of Mahatmas" - admits having delivered Messages - affirms their genuineness - refuses to say how they were done - denies right of anyone to make unverifiable charges - says anyone can receive Messages who "lives the life" - never tried to influence others - says handwriting, seals and "precipitation" not a "proof" that Messages are from Masters - forgives his enemies - Mrs. Besant's and Mr. Judge's Statements analyzed and compared - the British Convention unanimously accepts the Statements made and declares the "Judge case" a "closed incident" - the "Occultism and Truth" circular distributed after adjournment of the Convention - Mrs. Besant's Lucifer article on the "Judicial Enquiry" - her evasions and misrepresentations - the signers of the "Occultism and Truth" circular - show who were behind the persecution of Judge - what "possessed" his defamers - were Mrs. Besant, Olcott and the rest deliberate malicious assassins of reputation of Judge? - they were "occult failures" - could not discriminate between truth and falsehood - moved by the same self-righteous relentlessness as religious bigots in all times - Olcott's Parthian shot after the Convention - his article on "T.S. Solidarity and Ideals."

CHAPTER XXXI. THE "EASTERN DIVISION" AND "WESTERN DIVISION" .......... 559

The calm after the storm of the "Judicial Committee" in July, 1894 - the lesson of the "Enquiry" - "occult phenomena cannot be proved" - no part of the business of the Theosophical Society - phenomena no evidence of morality or ethics - can be performed by mediums and "black magicians" as well as Chelas and Adepts - H.P.B. 's mission philosophical and ethical - not to supply a demonstration of the Occult Science - her phenomena incidental and unavoidable to her Mission - phenomena never made public by either H.P.B. or Judge in first instance - the "Judge case" a testing out of the "Esoteric Section" - further extracts from the Preliminary Memorandum - rules and purpose of the E.S.T. - conduct of Olcott, Besant, et. al., gross violation of their own Pledges in Occultism - clear evidence of their total failure as "probationary Chelas" - the warnings given to Mrs. Besant in the school - aftermath of the "Judicial Enquiry" - how the matter was settled for the time in the E.S.T. - the joint circular of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Judge to the Members, August, 1894 - its history and re-organization recited - the agreement reached - Mrs. Besant to conduct the "Eastern Division" and Mr. Judge the "Western Division" - "time must be allowed" for the restoration of tranquillity - Mr. Judge the real Agent of H.P.B. in the School - Mrs. Besant "Recorder of the teachings" - her failure as "Recorder" - her corruption of the "Secret Doctrine" - her spurious Third Volume - her boldness in publishing misrepresentations of fact and philosophy - she puts an utter falsehood in the mouth of H.P.B. - declares H.P.B. "Professed faith in the gods" - Mrs. Besant's loss of ethical balance whenever her statements questioned or her actions impugned.

CHAPTER XXXII. WESTMINSTER GAZETTE ATTACKS THE SOCIETY ........... 574

The situation in the early fail of 1894 - Judge returns to America - Olcott and Keightley return to India - Mrs. Besant goes to Australia - Walter Old remains in England - renews the fight on Judge - evidences of collusion - Old provides Edmund Garrett with ammunition - Garrett opens a grand assault in the Westminster Gazette - ridicules Theosophy - pokes fun at Olcott and Mrs. Besant - calls them dupes of H.P.B. and Judge - Garrett as honest man - avows his animus - declares himself enemy of Theosophy - his purpose to destroy T.S. - his series of articles published in book form - their tremendous circulation and effect - Old writes the Gazette - admits his complicity - regrets to drag in Mrs. Besant and Olcott - exposes his enmity to Judge - confesses unwittingly the secret conference at Adyar, Christmas, 1893 - the "Judge case" planned then by Old, Besant, Olcott and others - decries H.P.B. as well as Judge - the enemies of Judge moved by "pride and wounded vanity" - the steps taken by Judge after the Westminster Gazette attack - his letter to the New York Sun and the Gazette - his famous E.S.T. Circular of November 3, 1894 - "By Master's Order" he tells the E.S.T. members the whole story - "black magic" versus "white magic" - Mrs. Besant the unconscious tool and victim of Chakravarti - the real issue between the Brahminism of the Orient and the Theosophy of H.P.B. - the Society will stand or fall by H.P.B. - deposes Mrs. Besant from her Co-Headship in the E.S.T. - Judge informs Mrs. Besant in Australia by cable of his action - Mrs. Besant's circular from Colombo, December 18, 1894, in reply to Judge's - defies Judge - misrepresents the facts of the Meeting of May 27, 1891 - declares herself "H.P.B.'s successor" - Mrs. Besant's circular analyzed - its falsity shown.

CHAPTER XXXIII. Mrs. BESANT TRIES TO DRIVE JUDGE OUT OF THE SOCIETY .......... 596

The war on Judge breaks out more fiercely than ever - Mrs. Besant proceeds to India - publishes long article in Madras Mail - sends violent attack on Judge to the London Daily Chronicle - attends the Adyar Convention at end of December, 1894 - Olcott's Presidential Address - calls Judge a medium - Mrs. Besant introduces Resolutions against Judge - demands that Judge resign - her bitter speech - the whole proceedings plainly planned in advance - the long list of denunciatory speeches - Muller's infamous remarks - not a voice raised in defense of Judge - not a demand for fair dealing - Mrs. Besant's Resolutions unanimously adopted - next day's Indian Convention - more denunciation of Judge - Resolutions adopted demanding an "explanation" from Judge or his expulsion from the Society - coincident steps in England - George Mead first deprecates Old's and the Westminster Gazette articles - then hears from Mrs. Besant - then begins the "Clash of Opinion" in Lucifer - publishes letters from Old and others assailing Judge - prints Mrs. Besant's Indian attacks on Judge - Bertram Keightley follows suit - Alexander Fullerton like Mead in between two fires - first for Judge and then against - Mrs. Besant's former triumphal tour of India repeated - she returns to England in April, 1894 - issues her pamphlet "The Case Against W.Q. Judge" - demands his expulsion from the T.S.

CHAPTER XXXIV. THE AMERICAN SECTION DECLARES ITS AUTONOMY AND ELECTS JUDGE ITS LIFE-PRESIDENT ............. 622

Proceedings in America - Judge writes the Westminster Gazette and New York Sun - deals with situation fully and frankly - publishes "The Prayag Letter" in The Path for March, 1895 - declares it a genuine "message from the Masters" - the history of the "Prayag Message" - originally sent in 1881 - from Masters to Brahmins - sent through H.P.B. - Judge throws down the gauntlet to his adversaries - says whole "case" against him due to his defense of H.P.B. - makes public that Olcott, Mrs. Besant, Sinnett and others have been making privately same charges against H.P.B - invites Col. Olcott and Mrs. Besant to make public statement regarding "The Prayag Letter" - The "Message" is full - Mrs. Besant replies in Lucifer - "I do not regard the message as genuine" - Olcott comes out in the open - his "Postscript" in the Supplement to The Theosophist for April, 1895 - "the message a false one" - "the simple theory of mediumship" accounts for H.P.B. - Sinnett says "I never in my life called Mme. Blavatsky a fraud" - the proof positive out of Sinnett's own mouth that be did just that - the original of the "Prayag message" in the handwriting of H.P.B. - the original was in Sinnett's hands all the time - published since his death in The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett - both Judge and H.P.B. vindicated completely the text of the Mahatma Letters - the American Convention of April, 1895 - The Convention adopts Resolutions to withdraw officially from the T.S. and become The Theosophical Society in America - adopts a Constitution - elects Judge President for life - draws up a Letter to the forthcoming British Convention - text of the Letter - the British Convention meets July 4, 1895 - tables the Letter from the American Theosophists - split in the British Convention - Olcott issues another Executive Notice - admits legality of the action of the American Convention - cancels all diplomas and charter of Americans - refuses all official intercourse - expresses good-will - Judge's "Reply" to Mrs. Besant's "Case against W.Q. Judge" - the "Cases" analysed - never any evidence against Judge - the whole "Case" rests on suspicions and "psychic revelations."

CHAPTER XXXV. JUDGE'S DEATH AND THE TINGLEY "SUCCESSORSHIP" .......... 653

After the split in 1895 - Mrs. Besant alters the "Pledge" - puts her own and Leadbeater's writings on a par with H.P.B.'s - Judge holds true to the line - but sickens and dies March 21, 1896 - The Tingley "Successorship" myth - E.T. Hargrove and others hold a "General E.S.T. Meeting," March 29, 1896 - they announce to the members that "Judge left an occult heir" - the circular of April 3, 1898 - the statements of the "Council" and the "Minutes" of the meeting of March 29 - the identity of the "Successor" to be kept secret for one year - the whole claim rests on "messages" from the dead W.Q. Judge - not a scrap is the physical handwriting of the living W.Q. Judge produced then or since - the real explanation - the secret meeting at Mrs. Tingley's home on March 26, 1898 - the American Theosophists accept the Tingley "Successorship" - the Convention of 1896 - Mrs. Tingley disclosed as the "Successor" - the "Crusade - frictions begin - Hargrove resigns - another secret meeting at Mrs. Tingley's home - the "Universal Brotherhood" planned - the Convention of February, 1898 - Hargrove and his friends "bolt" the Convention - the war of recriminations - the members follow Mrs. Tingley - Hargrove's "E.S.T." circular - the degradation of both wings of the old Society - offshoots from Tingleyism - Hargrove's "T.S. in A." - the "Temple of the People" - the "T.S. of New York" - Dr. Buck and "The T.K." - Mrs. Alice L. Cleather and her "pupil" - the "Blavatsky Association" - the Besant-Olcott fragment - Leadbeater the "power behind the throne" of Mrs. Besant - Leadbeater admits infamous teachings to boys - resigns from the T.S. - Olcott dies - Mrs. Besant claims "Successorship" to President-Founder - More charges and counter-charges - Leadbeater invited back to the T.S. - the "Coming Christ" - the "Liberal Catholic Church" - complete reversion of the T.S. - its offshoots - Dr. Rudolph Steiner and the "Anthroposophical Society" - Max Heindel and his "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" - other "Occult" societies.

CHAPTER XXXVI. PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT ............. 689

Has the Theosophical Movement been a failure? - Cyclic Law - Centenary efforts since fourteenth century - H.P.B.'s mission the fifth - Mediumship and psychism inevitable concomitants of the public Movement - the Movement has not failed - spread of Theosophical ideas - they permeate religion, philosophy, and science today - the signs and evidences - the real aim of H.P.B. achieved - the Masters never fail - what of the future of the Theosophical Movement? - 1925 its nadir point - the first and Seconds Sections still active as always - signs of their work - Nirmanakayas - true Disciples known by their fruits - Edmond Holmes - "The Creed of Buddha" - the Angarika Dharmapala - B.P. Wadia - Julia H. Scott - Robert Crosbie - the United Lodge of Theosophists - the magazine Theosophy - the "changing Buddhi-Manas of the race" - due to incarnation of the pioneers of the "Sixth Sub-Race" - the destiny of the Movement until 1975.

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Channels of the Theosophical Movement

In its larger aspect the Theosophical Movement is the path of progress, individually and collectively. Wherever thought has struggled to be free, wherever spiritual ideas, as opposed to forms and dogmatism, have been promulgated, there the great Movement is to be discerned. Organized religions, systems of thought, governments, parties, sects - all have their origins in efforts for the better co-operation of men, for conserving energy and putting it to use. They all in time become corrupted and must change, as the times change, as human defects come out, and as the great underlying Spiritual and Intellectual evolution compels such alterations.

Luther's Reformation must be counted as a part of the Theosophical Movement. Masonry has played a great and important part in it, and still does to some extent, for however restricted in application, however its great symbolism may have been forgotten or obscured, Masonry none the less stands for tolerance, for religious and intellectual liberty, for charity. The formation of the American Republic with its noble Declaration of Independence, its equality of all men before the law, its ideals of brotherhood and freedom from sectarian religious partialities must be accounted a great forward step in the Theosophical Movement. And with the abolition of human slavery in all the great Western nations during the course of the nineteenth century, another great step in the emancipation of the race must be acclaimed. The "divine right" of an orthodox God speaking through

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a vested clergy was rebelled against in every voice raised against the Catholic hierarchy. The "divine right" of kings was overthrown by the American and French Revolutions. The "divine right" of one man or set of men to enslave another or others was the real issue involved in the American Civil War, and the emancipation of the serfs in Russia. Nationalism, socialism, universal suffrage, struggles between classes, between labor and capital, are all physical and metaphysical efforts toward freedom from bondage, however they may be mistaken, misguided, misled, perverted to selfish and destructive purposes and ends.

The principle of an underlying Spiritual and Intellectual evolution proceeding apace with its visible manifestation in physical effects, will disclose unerringly that the formation of the Society and the injection of the literature of Theosophy into the mind of the race must have been preceded and accompanied by collateral efforts and resultants. Those indirect preparations must necessarily be as varied as the varieties of human experience and belief regarding fundamental things. And those preparations do not issue in the first instance from any human invention or discovery, although the characters of certain individual human beings can be and must be the channels, conscious or unconscious, for the play of higher forces and the inspiration of higher Intelligence. The course of all evolution is first Spiritual, then Mental, then Personal to certain gifted individuals. From these latter it permeates gradually the race mind, impelling the whole mass forward and upward, in however slow or slight degree. "Evolution" appears as physical only to those who do not look beneath the surface of events. The real process of Nature is ever cyclic: from the highest to the lowest on the invisible side of Nature; correspondingly from the lowest to the highest on the visible side, as human vision is at present exercised in the fields of religion, philosophy and science.

Indirect but none the less potent and necessary concomitants of the spiritual and psychical aspects of the Theosophical Movement should therefore be looked for

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in all directions. One of these was and is the great tide of interest in Oriental religions and philosophies. Until the work of Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was well under way none but the conqueror, the merchant, the missionary and the philologist, each immersed in his own especial objects, had any concern with the Far East. The mass of the populations of the Western world were farther removed from the living East with its immense but alien wealth of metaphysical acquisitions, than from the dead and by-gone stores of ancient Greece and imperial Rome. Generally speaking, it was unknown and unsuspected that the great leaders of early European civilization, no less than their modern successors, had in fact derived their inspiration and their learning from the exhaustless treasury of Oriental thought and practice.

Beginning with Wilkins near the close of the eighteenth century, a series of translations of the ancient and venerated "Bhagavad-Gita" had successively been brought out in England, in Germany, in France and in the United States. The riches of the Vedanta philosophy had thus to some extent become accessible to aspiring minds in the West. Copies came into the possession of Thoreau and Emerson. Emerson's fame as a lecturer and writer and the nobility of his character made of him one of the most potent vehicles for the dissemination of the great and timeless ideas of the East. Through his life and work countless younger minds were given a freer range and truer basis, and by so much freed from the sterile and narrow dogmas of sectarian Christianity. Religion was seen by many not to be confined nor due to sects or special revelations. The celebrated "Brook Farm Community" spread far and wide transcendental aspirations and increased the thirst for freedom from the bondage of prevailing ideas.

Sir Edwin Arnold's "Light of Asia" was published in 1879, and read by hundreds of thousands in Europe and America. Myriads of minds gained for the first time, some true idea of the noble ethics and philosophy of Buddhism, and were amazed to find that for centuries antedating the time of Jesus his moral teachings had been

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imparted in their plenitude, coupled with a philosophy unknown to the Christian world at anytime. Scholarly men began to give some heed other than purely scholastic to Oriental experience as embodied in its age-old literary remains. Despite the general contempt for "heathen" people and the exclusiveness of ignorance that had so long obtained, Western explorers began in earnest to adventure in search of the hereditary metaphysical possessions of the Orient, much in the same fashion as other Western adventurers had long exploited by conquest or by theft the physical treasures of the sacred East. Wilson's translation of the "Vishnu Purana" and Dr. Max Muller's edition of the "Sacred Books of the East," were part of the fruitage thus made accessible in the West.

When Charles Darwin's great work, "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection," appeared in 1859, a powerful voice was raised against the deeply imbedded ideas of miracle and special creation by an omnipotent personal God, as engraved by centuries of dogmatic theologies. Mr. Darwin's work was not intended as an attack either on revealed religion or the dead-letter creeds, but was limited to the presentation of an immense accumulation of ascertained facts in natural history, and to the submission of inferences drawn with inescapable logic from the facts thus far amassed. It was perhaps the most brilliant example in history of sustained inductive reasoning. It showed and proved physical man to be no "special creation," but an evolutionary part of the "natural order of things." "The Origin of Species," and its supplement, "The Descent of Man," published in 1871, were purely scientific works in the best sense of the term. The "Darwinian theory" was received by the educated world with profound interest, followed by a tidal wave of revulsion as its bearing and effects upon current Christian dogmas and interpretations of the Bible were perceived. It was attacked on every hand and its author was subjected to every form of ridicule, slander and calumny that religious bigotry, ever the most fertile in malice and malevolence, could invent. Never-

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theless, as scientific students verified its compilations of physical facts and tried conclusions with its logic, the theory gained headway in spite of all the storms of opposition. Its author lived to see his facts admitted, his conclusions accepted and adopted in whole or in part, even by his detractors. Corrupted and grotesquely distorted as the Darwinian theory has been in the intervening years, and however limited in its view of "evolution" from the standpoint of Occult philosophy, it none the less remains to this day the greatest advance in scientific hypotheses since the time of Newton, and aided largely in making possible the presentation of the triple evolutionary scheme outlined in the "Secret Doctrine." Whatever the defects of the Darwinian theory, they are due to no lack of honesty, zeal nor industry on the part of its great author, but rather to the limitations of his mode of research and to the inherent defect of all inductive reasoning. So immense has been the effect of the Darwinian theory of evolution on the ideas prevailing without question a generation ago, that it is very difficult for the average mind of today to realize how this theory of physical evolution could ever have been questioned, denied, opposed, vilified.

In his "History of Civilization in England," a work foremost among the contributory factors we are discussing, Mr. Henry T. Buckle sums up these lessons of the past which, in our opinion, are equally a prophecy of the future of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement, however unconscious Mr. Buckle may have been of the immense reach of the spiritual and intelligent Agencies at work behind the scenes of human life. In the first volume of his work, which appeared in 1857, Mr. Buckle writes (p. 257):

"Owing to circumstances still unknown there appear from time to time great thinkers who devoting their lives to a single purpose are able to anticipate the progress of mankind, and to produce a religion or a philosophy by which important events are eventually brought about.

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But if we look into history we shall clearly see that, although the origin of a new opinion may be thus due to a single man, the result which the new opinion produces will depend on the condition of the people among whom it is propagated. If either a religion or a philosophy is too much in advance of a nation, it can do no present service, but must bide its time until the minds of men are ripe for its reception.... Every science, every creed has had its martyrs. According to the ordinary course of affairs, a few generations pass away, and then there comes a period when these very truths are looked upon as common-place facts, and a little later there comes another period in which they are declared to be necessary, and even the dullest intellect wonders how they could ever have been denied."

The student of Theosophy knows that the "circumstances still unknown" to Mr. Buckle, but which he intuitively recognized to exist, are in fact due to the Karmic provision of Spiritual and Intellectual evolution. Under Karmic Law, at transitional periods in the cyclic progression of Humanity, great Adepts restore to mankind through both direct and indirect channels some of the Wisdom once "known," but which in the lapse of time has become lost or obscured during the complexities of physical and personal evolution. For it must not be overlooked by the student that these Elder Brothers are themselves a part of the very stream of evolution in which we belong. As such, They take an active, albeit undisclosed and but too often unperceived, share in the government of the natural order of things. And although this part of the operation of cyclic law is often delayed and defied by the ignorance and prejudice of mankind in general, each rise and fall of civilizations is succeeded by a regeneration and further progression.

Other constructive factors in the preparatory work of the Theosophical Movement in our time may be seen in the great and sudden leap (from the standpoint of racial

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and national cycles) in invention, discovery, trade, the means and methods of transportation, manufacture, and utilization of all the raw materials in Nature - all making in one way and another for inter-dependence, inter-communication, inter-respect in the great human family, and the consequent breaking down of the barriers of Nature, of human insularity, and separateness: a harrowing of the soil, whether by the means of war or peace, as a necessary prelude for once more sowing in that soil the seeds of Brotherhood. And in the political field the great careers of Abraham Lincoln, of John Bright, of Mazzini, and many others, all made for the Rights of Man, as opposed to the forces of reaction.

In an iconoclastic sense an equally necessary and valuable pioneer work in the breaking of the molds of fixed ideas into which human thought forever tends to crystallize, can be discerned in the work of such men as Robert G. Ingersoll in America, Charles Bradlaugh in England, and, in the church, by such men as Charles Kingsley and W.E. Channing. Whether apparently pursuing the path of agnosticism, of a purely socialistic and materialistic altruism, or of a liberalized orthodoxy, the efforts of all these commanded a wide following and broke to a large extent the hold of bigotry and intolerance. Philosophical speculations like those of Herbert Spencer, the esthetic spirit of men like Ruskin, the rebellious mind of Carlyle, the insubordination to the harrow of conventional ideas of writers like Dickens, George Eliot, Balzac, Tolstoy, Walt Whitman, and many others, all aided in the pioneer work of the Theosophical Movement. They may all be said to have fought for the unrestricted domain of the individual conscience, the larger outlook upon human life and human duty, as opposed to the ipse dixit of any "thus saith the Lord." All these individual and collective factors, some, perhaps, dimly conscious of the germinal force at work within themselves, others aware only of the travail without issue of human existence - all were of value. All that in any way has made, or that makes, possible the arousal of serious attention to the Second and Third Objects of the Parent Theosophi-

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cal Society, all that facilitates the revolt of the mind and conscience from creedal exclusiveness, all that might turn men from the sordid materialism of a one-life existence devoted to the pursuit of physical well-being - all this is truly a concurrent part of the Theosophical Movement, and necessary to any attempt at the, practical realization of its First Object - Universal Brotherhood, the life of service as opposed to the life for self.

The ideas represented by such terms as revealed religion, a favored people, a personal God, miracles, heaven gained by an "act of faith," a "vicarious atonement," selfish personal salvation - the fetters forged by many centuries of ecclesiastical usurpation of authority over the ignorant mind and conscience: all these veritable Bastilles of moral and mental tyranny were under assault or siege during a large part of the nineteenth century. Their lettres de cachet no longer sufficed to imprison or outcast the individual mind, to forfeit the reputable estate of the individual rebel against the "established order." If the mind of the race could not be said to have been in revolution against spiritual and mental intolerance, it was none the less true that everywhere could be found sincere and reverent-minded men in outspoken rebellion against the dominant and dominating ideas of centuries. The "millennium" of sectarian religion was drawing to a close. Agnosticism, infidelity, bold questioning of the foundations hitherto esteemed inviolate, were no longer branded with the brand of infamy by the all-powerful sects, because the sects were no longer all-powerful. A spirit of liberty, often of license mistaken for liberty, was abroad in Europe and America. Even in India the Brahmo-Somaj of Ramohun Roy and his successors had begun to undermine the ancient walls of creed and caste.

Spiritualism had perhaps more to do than any other single factor in producing among millions that transitional state of mind into which the granite ideas of centuries had begun to disintegrate. This Ishmael among faiths, under many names and proscriptions, is as old as the history and tradition of the race. In its modern

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form it began with the mediumistic manifestations of the Fox sisters at Rochester in New York State, U.S.A., in 1848. In the ensuing twenty-five or thirty years it spread, in spite of the most relentless opposition of the orthodox Christian sects, despite the ridicule of scientific students and the incredulity of the general public, despite also the real or pretended exposures of many of the most noted mediums, until its believers were numbered by millions in America, England, France, and in lesser numbers in other countries. Most celebrated of the mediums following the Fox sisters were the Americans, Andrew Jackson Davis, his disciple Thomas Lake Harris, P.B. Randolph, Daniel Dunglas Home, the Davenport brothers, Henry Slade, Mrs. Emma H. Britten, and the Eddy brothers. All these were accused of fraud times without number, and some of them were made the victims of persecution. Nevertheless, the genuineness, variety and extent of their phenomena were attested by numbers of famous investigators of the highest character. Notable among those who from sceptical experimenters became convinced believers in the reality of the manifestations were Dr. Robert Hare of Philadelphia, Epes Sargent, Judge Edmunds, the noted lawyer, Dr. Robert Chambers, Col. Olcott, and many other men of mark in America. In England Profs. William Crookes, Alfred Russel Wallace, Lodge, C.C. Massey, Lord Borthwick, Lord Lindsay, Sergeant Cox, and other men of the highest standing accepted the evidences after searching tests. In Germany the famous Prof. Zollner held prolonged sittings with Slade and others and published his conclusions and theories in the work, "Transcendental Physics," dealing with the phenomena as a problem in the "fourth dimension." In France the Emperor Napoleon and his wife, and in Russia the Czar and his consort became the firm friends and followers of Mr. D.D. Home. The Papers of the Russian savant, Dr. A. Aksakoff, show how profound was his interest in the new phenomena. Leon-Denizarth-Hippolyte Rivail, author of numerous popular and educational scientific texts for French

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schools, became so interested in the phenomena and so convinced of their value in establishing communication with discarnate intelligences, that he devoted his entire time to study and experiments. In order that the prejudices thus aroused should not interfere with his established writings and reputation he adopted the pseudonym of "Allan Kardec," by which he is now almost universally known. Contrary to the general supposition, Allan Kardec was not himself a medium. All his experiments were conducted at second hand. He published two books of enormous circulation, the "Book of Spirits," and the "Book of Mediums," both of which were translated into English. The French editions alone of "Le Livre des Esprits" attained a circulation of more than one hundred and twenty thousand copies in the twenty years following the publication of the "revised edition" in 1857. It was Allan Kardec who, more than any other, made systematic efforts to establish a philosophy of Spiritualism from the communications he obtained through carefully chosen mediums.

The spread of Spiritualism was greatly facilitated by a number of factors. It required no education, no study, no moral discipline, on the part either of the medium or the believer. Its phenomena were not essentially antagonistic to religion, and the communications received more often than otherwise repeated the platitudes of the churches. In fact nearly every noted medium or reputable proponent of the phenomena was still more or less orthodox in his acceptance of the fundamental dogmas of the Christian creeds. To the bereaved who might be more or less sceptical or indifferent to orthodox teachings regarding after-death states, Spiritualism made a profound appeal, for it offered the prospect of immediate assurance and consolation. To the materialistic and the curious-minded it offered a fascinating subject for facile experimentation. Nor can it be doubted that in the increasing dilemma of many, due to the Darwinian theory of physical evolution, Spiritualism offered an attractive middle ground of experimental evidence that enabled them, without too great sacrifice of cherished religious

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convictions or logical common-sense, both to hold on to hereditary Christian ideas and to accept the theory of "evolution." And in this compromise many were doubtless moved by the example of Prof. Wallace, co-originator with Mr. Darwin of his theory. Prof. Wallace was himself a Spiritualist and a believer in Christianity, even if not altogether orthodox in his faith.

In a single generation Spiritualism, from being a pariah both as to its phenomena and its many theories, became almost respectable. Modern science, hitherto deaf, dumb and blind towards everything but the empirical acquisition of physical facts and hypotheses based on them, began, reluctantly and suspiciously, but still began, to take note of the phenomena of the metaphysical, which, if true, compelled the admission of other factors than "force and matter" as the causative agencies of the phenomenal world. But the general attitude of scientific students towards Spiritualism affords a curious parallel to the attitude of the theologians toward Darwinism: first derision and contempt, then wholesale denial and opposition, then grudging acceptance in part.

Into this mighty arena of contending forces entered H.P. Blavatsky with her Theosophical Society and her first public exposition of Theosophy. Looking backwards from the safe distance of the intervening years, something of the significance of the mighty struggle between orthodox Christianity and modern materialistic science, between both these and the changeling, Spiritualism, can now be discerned in the light of history - a light necessarily denied all the active combatants except H.P.B. herself. That she saw and foresaw what was and was to be, and was herself under no illusions, is very clearly indicated in the Preface of "Isis Unveiled" alone, without going deeper into the abundant evidences. Bitterly as theology and science might be opposed to each other with spear and trident, each was, at the last quarter of the nineteenth century, equally hostile to the new combatant, Spiritualism, armed with its net of weird phenomena and strange theories. Alone, friendly to all the gladiators, but without a solitary un-

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derstanding ally among them, H.P.B. came equipped with an unknown knowledge and an unknown purpose which must serve her for both sword and shield. It was too much for her to hope, however vast the reconstructive forces loosed by her in the world of public opinion, that those forces, their source, their scope and their significance, would be grasped by any but the very few. Nor did she expect that their effect on the mind of the race would be altogether and immediately constructive, however beneficent her purpose might be. Nor could she look for other than a hostile and retardative reception at the hands of vested and mercenary interests, the ignorant and the dogmatic, the predantry and contentious. Although her aim was to elevate the mind of the race, her method could only be to deal with that mind as she found it, by trying to lead it on, step by step; by seeking out and educating a few who, appreciating the majesty of the eternal Wisdom-Religion and devoted to "the great orphan-humanity," could carry on her work with zeal and wisdom; by founding a society which, however small its numbers might be, would inject into the thought of the day the ideas, the doctrines, the nomenclature of the Wisdom-Religion.

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The Parent Theosophical Society

By birth a Russian of noble family, Madame Blavatsky had been a wanderer for more than twenty years in many lands, oriental and occidental. She had twice or thrice been in the Americas, North and South, before coming to New York in July of 1873. She lived in retirement there and in Brooklyn for more than a year. In October of 1874 she journeyed to the Eddy farmhouse near Chittenden, Vermont, and there made the acquaintance of Col. Henry S. Olcott.

Colonel Olcott was an American and had acquired his title in the American Civil War. He had been agricultural editor of the New York Tribune, had written many articles for various publications on many subjects, had been admitted to the bar, and was at the time a well-known lawyer, with a very wide acquaintance among prominent men. For many years he had been a Spiritualist. Interested in an account he had seen of the manifestations taking place through the mediumship of the Eddy brothers, he had visited Chittenden in July and written an account of what he had witnessed for the New York Sun. This article was copied and commented on in many publications. In September Col. Olcott returned to the Eddy place under commission to investigate the phenomena and report on them to the New York Graphic. It was while he was engaged in this congenial work that Madame Blavatsky arrived at Chittenden.

Although Madame Blavatsky apparently took no part in the proceedings other than as a visitor and interested witness, Col. Olcott noted that the phenomena

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changed greatly in character and variety immediately after her arrival. He was so impressed by what he saw and by his conversations with Madame Blavatsky that he followed up the acquaintance after her return to New York.

At the request of Madame Blavatsky he introduced to her a young lawyer of his acquaintance named William Q. Judge. Mr. Judge was of Irish parentage, and had been brought by his family to America while still a boy. From his earliest years he had been markedly religious in temperament, and, as he grew older, had delved in religions, philosophies, mystical writings, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, and kindred subjects. He was many years younger than either Madame Blavatsky or Col. Olcott, who were born, respectively, in 1831 and 1832, while Mr. Judge's birth date was 1851. Both Col. Olcott and Mr. Judge became pupils of Madame Blavatsky and passed all their available time in her company.

In the winter of 1874-5 Madame Blavatsky was in Philadelphia, where she made the acquaintance of several noted Spiritualists. With them and Col. Olcott she attended the seances of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes and others. Certain sceptical investigators having attacked in the press the genuineness of the Eddy and Holmes phenomena, and questioned the bona fides of any mediumship, both Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky replied vigorously, defending the fact of mediumship itself, and urging the necessity for impartial investigation of the claims of Spiritualism, both as to its philosophy and its alleged facts. This was Madame Blavatsky's first appearance in print in the English language. The peculiarities of her style of expression, the boldness of her statements, the apparent range of her knowledge on the subject, all conspired to attract the attention of Spiritualists, investigators, and the public generally.

In January, 1875, Col. Olcott's book, "People From the Other World," was issued, describing in detail the Eddy and Holmes phenomena, and giving a curiosity-provoking account of Madame Blavatsky. Whatever opinion any reader may form of the marvels described,

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or of Col. Olcott's comments and conclusions, there can be no question of his good faith. Nor, as the book was written during the very period of the occurrences, can there be any question that it reflects accurately the opinions and state of mind of Col. Olcott at the time.

On Madame Blavatsky's return to New York from Philadelphia she took apartments at 46 Irving Place. The wonders recited by Col. Olcott and her own letters to the newspapers had drawn so much attention to her that her rooms became a center of attraction. Nearly every evening was given over to visitors. One of the newspaper reporters dubbed her apartment "the lamasery," and the name quickly became current as typifying the flavor of mystery surrounding her and the subjects discussed at her soirees. To these evening gatherings came Spiritualists, Kabalists, Platonists, students of modern science and of ancient mysteries, the profane, the sceptical, the curious and the seekers after the marvelous. Colonel Olcott and Mr. Judge were nearly always present, and, after the departure of the casual visitors, would remain far into the night immersed in study and discussion.

In their many conversations she told them more or less of her travels and their purpose. Amongst other experiences she had endeavored unsuccessfully to establish a group at Cairo, Egypt, in 1871, to investigate the rationale of mediumship and its phenomena. Moved by what he had seen and heard, no less than by his ardent desire to explore more deeply the phenomena which fascinated him, Col. Olcott had proposed, as early as May, 1875, to form a secret "miracle club" for the production and examination of phenomena. Colonel Olcott's own account, written many years after the event, states that the "miracle club" plan failed because the expected medium could not be obtained for the experiments he desired to conduct. The fact that he was so fascinated by the phenomena privately performed by Madame Blavatsky in exposition of her theories, that he thought her "infallible" and her Masters "miracle workers," would indicate that the "expected medium" was none other

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than Madame Blavatsky herself, and that the failure of his attempt was due to her refusal, then as thereafter throughout her career, to lend herself to the production of phenomena under his or anyone's directions, or for the purposes he and others desired.

On the evening of September 7, 1875, a talk was given in Madame Blavatsky's apartment by a Mr. G.H. Felt, who had been a student of Egyptian mysticism, and who professed to be able to control "elementals." While the assemblage was discussing the talk, Col. Olcott wrote on a slip of paper which he handed to Mr. Judge these words: "Would it not be a good thing to form a society for this kind of study!" Mr. Judge read the paper, passed it to Madame Blavatsky, who nodded assent, and then Mr. Judge proposed that the assemblage come to order and that Col. Olcott act as chairman to consider the proposal. Another meeting was arranged for the following evening at Madame Blavatsky's rooms and at that time sixteen persons gave in their names as being willing to join in founding a society for Occult study. Other meetings were held at Col. Olcott's law offices, and at the residence of Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten in furtherance of the proposed society. On September 13 the name, The Theosophical Society, was chosen. On October 16 a preamble and by-laws were adopted. On October 30 additional names were added to the list of "Founders," and Officers and a Council were elected. The principal Officers were Col. Olcott as President, Madame Blavatsky as Corresponding Secretary, and Mr. Judge as Counsel. On the evening of November 17 a formal meeting was held at Mott Memorial Hall, 64 Madison Avenue. Colonel Olcott delivered an "Inaugural Address" and 500 copies of this address were ordered electrotyped "for immediate distribution."

Thereafter, stated meetings continued to be held from time to time; various talks and lectures were given, much discussion ensued and many plans for experimentation in phenomena were proposed. Neither Madame Blavatsky nor Mr. Judge took any active part in the meetings after the first few sessions. The former busied

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herself in correspondence, in communications to the press, in discussion with the steady stream of visitors to "the lamasery," and in the writing of "Isis Unveiled." Mr. Judge, occupied with the necessities of his daily living, gave his evenings to study under Madame Blavatsky's direction and instruction. Colonel Olcott alone was active in the meetings of the Society. Additional Fellows were admitted from time to time, both Active and Corresponding, and great efforts made to procure phenomena. Mr. Felt's promised revelations failed to materialize and after a time he left the Society, as did most of the other early members when it was found that the expectations aroused were not fulfilled. Very early in the history of the Society Mr. Felt had exacted a pledge of secrecy regarding the disclosures he had promised to make, and this was signed, at his and Col. Olcott's request, by most of the attendant Fellows. It was this pledge which was many years later published in the New York Herald as the original pledge of secrecy of the Theosophical Society, and afterwards incorporated in "Hours With the Ghosts," by Henry Ridgely Evans, published by Laird & Lee, Chicago, in 1897. The material for the Herald attacks was supplied by Mr. Henry J. Newton, one of the original Founders, who had been elected Treasurer of the Society at its inception. He was a well-known and ardent Spiritualist who became bitterly hostile to the Society after the publication of "Isis Unveiled." Others among the Founders were Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten and her husband Dr. Britten. Both were Spiritualists and Mrs. Britten was herself a versatile medium, very widely known as the author or reputed author of "Ghostland," "Art Magic," "Nineteenth Century Occultism," and other writings. She had also been active in the investigations conducted by the London "Dialectical Society," a few years previously. Another Spiritualist Founder was Mr. C.C. Massey, an English barrister and well-known writer for British spiritualist publications. On his return to London after the formation of the Society, he interested a number of others, among them the famous

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W. Stainton Moses ("M.A. Oxon"), and Miss Emily Kislingbury, at that time Secretary of the British Spiritualist Association. The British Theosophical Society was established in 1876, with Mr. Massey as its first President. The members of the British Society were accepted as "Corresponding Fellows" of the Parent Society, but were not formally recognized until the summer of 1878, when John Storer Cobb, the then Recording Secretary, journeyed to London for the purpose, under commission from the Parent Society. With the exception of Miss Kislingbury nearly all the original and early London Fellows later became antagonistic. Both in London and New York nearly the entire membership consisted of Spiritualists. As phenomena were not forthcoming, as the teachings of Madame Blavatsky came to be recognized as fatal to the theory that mediumistic communications are messages from departed human beings, the great majority of Spiritualist members either silently dropped out or became the most active enemies of the new Society.

Another early Fellow was Dr. Alexander Wilder, the learned Platonist, who remained friendly to the Society and its purposes throughout his life. It was he who read the manuscript of "Isis Unveiled" and recommended its publication to Mr. J.W. Bouton. He also wrote most of the prefatory article "Before the Veil," which precedes Chapter I of Volume 1 of "Isis." In other ways, also, he was helpful to Madame Blavatsky and her mission, and his services were often gratefully referred to by her. Other early members were Rev. J.H. Wiggin, a Unitarian clergyman, Dr. Seth Pancoast of Philadelphia, a lifetime student of the Kabbala, and Major-General Abner W. Doubleday, U.S. Army, retired. General Doubleday remained a consistent and devoted member of the Society to the day of his death. He became President pro tem. after the departure of Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott for India, and spent much of his time in correspondence and other activities in behalf of the Society. Some unique manuscripts and rare books given by him to the original library of the

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New York Society are in the possession of the writers. One of his last services was to present the Society with a complete file of the first six volumes of The Theosophist, completely indexed in manuscript prepared and written out by himself.

Through the labors of Madame Blavatsky, Corresponding Fellows were obtained in many lands. In this way the Ionian Theosophical Society was established at Corfu in 1877. Other activities by correspondence resulted in an affiliation with the Arya Samaj, a Hindu association originally formed for the revival of interest in the ancient scriptures and philosophical systems of India. It was presided over by the Swami, Dayanand Sarasvati, well known in his native country. Joint diplomas were issued to many Fellows of the T.S. as members of "The Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of Aryavart" (the ancient designation of India). This alliance endured until 1881, when it was ruptured and the Swami and his partisans became violent opponents to the T.S. in India. A very full account of the various difficulties is contained in the "Extra Supplement" to The Theosophist for July, 1882.

As originally constituted the Theosophical Society was entirely democratic in its by-laws and organization. All Officers were elective. Changes in by-laws, whether by substitution or otherwise, had first to be submitted in writing at a stated meeting at least thirty days prior to a vote, and then ratified by the affirmative action of two-thirds of the Fellows present. All nominations for Fellowship were required to be in writing, to be endorsed by two Fellows in good standing, and approved by the Council. Three classes of Fellows were provided for: Active, Corresponding and Honorary, whose nature is sufficiently indicated by their designations. The earlier Societies established after the foundation of the Parent body adopted its preamble and made additional rules and by-laws not in conflict, to suit themselves. Intercourse between the various Societies was more or less desultory and informal, but all Fellows received their diplomas from the Parent Society until branch Societies

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began to be formed in India, when diplomas were signed by Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky. In America diplomas were signed after 1878 by Gen. Doubleday as President pro tem., and by Mr. Judge as Recording Secretary, until 1883, after which date diplomas were signed in the first instance in India or America as exigency might require, until 1885, after which time H.P.B. being in Europe, Mr. Judge in America, and Col. Olcott in India, all regular diplomas were signed in the first instance by Col. Olcott as de facto President of all the Theosophical Societies. Diplomas, when issued, were recognized as valid certificates of Fellowship by all lodges wherever situated.

No formal Convention of all the Societies was ever held during the existence of the Parent body, but in India a species of gathering or "Anniversary Convention" was held as early as 1880, and thereafter annually at the end of each year. These were attended by delegates from the Indian and Ceylon Lodges and by occasional visitors from Europe and America. No Sections were organized during the first ten years of the Society's history.

The Parent Theosophical Society had three declared Objects, and these were formally adopted by all subsequently formed Societies except a few of the Indian branches. Those Objects were:

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

II. The study of ancient and modern religions, philosophies and sciences, and the demonstration of the importance of such study; and

III. The investigation of the unexplained laws of Nature and the psychical powers latent in man.

Assent to the First Object only was required of all Fellows, the remaining Objects being set forth as sub-sidiary and optional. Originally, and until as late as 1885, a form of initiation, several times changed, was used for the induction of new members, and the proceedings of the several Societies were quasi-private.

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In the beginning the Parent Society and the other Theosophical bodies had no literature of their own. The Kabbala, translations of Plato, Oriental philosophies and religions, the Spiritualist publications, the numerous writings of Christian mystics, and the existent Western works on magic, hypnotism, mesmerism and related subjects supplied the only material for study.

Madame Blavatsky had begun the composition of "Isis Unveiled" in 1874, and this work she continued steadily, subject to the multifarious interruptions and activities occasioned by her increasing acquaintance and the labors incident to her work as Corresponding Secretary of the new Society. In order to be near at hand in the preparation of "Isis" for the press, Col. Olcott and his sister, Mrs. Mitchell, took rooms in the same building with Madame Blavatsky's apartment. Most of the proofs of "Isis" were read by him, and the arrangement of the text is his. Both Col. Olcott and H.P.B. were greatly hampered by the lack of works of reference, by attendant circumstances, and by special difficulties. English was a foreign tongue to H.P.B. and had never been acquired by her except in a colloquial sense in childhood. She was entirely unfamiliar with current literary usages or the exigencies of the printer's art. On his side Col. Olcott had but the slightest acquaintance with many of the subjects treated; was totally ignorant of most of the languages ancient and modern necessarily referred to, and the authors and authorities whose statements were quoted and discussed. The almost endless ramifications of theologies, philosophies and other writings referred to were for the most part unknown to him, and in many cases no exact equivalents or corresponding terms existed in English to convey the desired meanings and interpretations. A further difficulty developed in Madame Blavatsky's having occasion to rewrite large portions of the text, or to incorporate new matter in the proofs, even after the stereotype plates were cast. When the many obstacles are considered, it is remarkable that so few errors exist in the work as finally published by Mr. J.W. Bouton of New York in

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the early autumn of 1877. Two editions of "Isis" were immediately exhausted, and new editions followed from the original plates for many years. An edition of "Isis" was also issued many years later by Mrs. Tingley's Theosophical organization from the original Bouton plates, with additional matter. Still another edition of "Isis" reset throughout has been published by the same organization. An entirely new edition was also issued in London in 1907 by the Theosophical Publishing Society, affiliated with Mrs. Besant's Theosophical organization.

Some corrections of the more glaring errors in the original Bouton editions of "Isis" were made at various times by Madame Blavatsky, in The Theosophist, The Path and Lucifer, but the original plates, not being owned by her, could not be corrected.

"Isis Unveiled" having been completed and the Society in America being on as firm a footing as possible, active preparations began to carry its propaganda to other countries where beginnings had already been made. Accordingly, a little over a year after the publication of "Isis," Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott sailed for India as a "committee" of the Society. A fortnight's stay was made in London, arrangements were made at Paris for the immediate formation of "The Theosophical Society of French Spiritists," and the two Founders proceeded on their way, arriving at Bombay, India, February 16, 1879.

Almost at once accessions to the Society began in India, both among English residents and Hindus. Learned members of the various sects and castes, pundits, professors of the various schools of Hindu philosophy, Indian rulers, writers, lawyers, gave their adhesion to the Society. Among noted English Fellows in India were Major-General Morgan, British Army, retired, and his wife; Mr. A.O. Hume, late Secretary to the Government of India; and Mr. A.P. Sinnett, editor of the leading pro-Government organ, the Allahabad Pioneer. In October of 1879 Madame Blavatsky began the publication of The Theosophist. The magazine soon attained a wide

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circulation not only in India, but in Europe and America as well. In 1881 Mr. Sinnett's book, "The Occult World," was published at London. It was subsequently republished in America, and passed through many editions. It was followed in 1883 by "Esoteric Buddhism," which circulated as extensively. In India, "Hints on Esoteric Theosophy, No. 1," was issued in 1882, and "No. 2" a year later. In 1881 Col. Olcott published his "Buddhist Catechism," a work which was later adopted as accurate by both the Northern and Southern wings of the Buddhist faith, and which speedily passed through a score of editions and is still being published. In the period from 1879 to 1884 there were established in India and Ceylon an even hundred Theosophical Societies. For the first time in recorded history, some approach to fellowship in a common society with a common aim was brought about amongst members of sects and castes which from time immemorial had considered it a sin and a degradation to meet and mingle on equal terms.

Correspondence with the Parent, the British and the French Societies, and with H.P.B., resulted in the formation of several additional Societies in America and Europe in the first decade of the Movement. Thus the "St. Thomas" Society in the Danish West Indies was formed in 1881, the "Post Nubila Lux" Society at The Hague, Holland, the "Odessa Group" in Russia in 1883, the "Scottish" at Ayre, the "Germania" at Elberfeld, in 1884. The Queensland Society in Australia was formed in 1881. In the United States the first Society established after the Parent body was the Rochester T.S., organized in July, 1882, by the efforts of Mrs. J.W. Cables. The first publication in America devoted to Theosophical subjects was The Occult Word, the first number of which was issued by Mrs. Cables in April, 1884. The "Pioneer" T.S. was formed at St. Louis in the summer of 1883, and the "Gnostic" at Washington, D.C., in 1884.

Madame Blavatsky's first work was with the Spiritualists. When her powerful voice was raised in their

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defense, when she demanded that their wonders should be investigated with an open mind, their claims examined impartially, she was hailed as a friend, as an ally, as a champion of the new dispensation. When it was noised about through the indiscreet but well-meant laudations of Col. Olcott that she was herself a medium par excellence, she was acclaimed as a prophet. Her soirees and her Society were crowded with the rush of seekers demanding a sign. But when she refused to produce the hoped-for marvels; when in her conversations and letters to the press she hinted at other and truer explanations of the phenomena than "communications from the dead"; when she uttered veiled warnings regarding the dangers of mediumship, she was listened to with surprise, with incredulity, with suspicions. And when at last "Isis Unveiled" was issued, a fierce revulsion set in, increasing as the years went on. She was denounced by some Spiritualists as a traitor to the "cause," and slandered by others as a mere cheating trickster, not even an honest medium. Nearly every Spiritualist who had entered the Society departed from it, and she was generally regarded quite as much the foe of Spiritualism as of orthodox religion or materialistic science. It is of more than passing significance that in every case the chief enemies of H.P.B. and her teachings, both within and without the original Theosophical Society and the many organizations which still employ that name, have been persons who were Spiritualists, or whose natural tendencies have been in that direction. All the many attacks upon her name and fame throughout all the years can be traced back to their source either in Spiritualists or those addicted to mediumship and its practices.

What, then, were her earliest expositions of Theosophy, which sufficed on the one hand to provide the material for the growth and study of the members of the Theosophical Society, and, on the other hand, drew upon her devoted head from the very first, a series of attacks which, gradually increasing in range and intensity, culminated in the tremendous explosions of 1884-5? No student of the Theosophical Movement can afford to

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neglect the most painstaking examination of "Isis Unveiled." To a summary of its most important contents we may now turn our attention profitably, the collateral and accompanying circumstances having been outlined.

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"Isis Unveiled"