Theos-Talk Archives (March 2002 Message tt00178)

A. P. Sinnett wrote:

"If the phenomenon was not what it appeared to be—a
most wonderful display of a power of which the modern
scientific world has no comprehension whatever—it was,
of course, an elaborate fraud. That supposition will
only bear to be talked of vaguely. The cup and saucer
were assuredly dug up in the way I describe. If they
were not deposited there by occult agency, they must
have been buried there beforehand. Now, I have
described the character of the ground from which they
were dug up; assuredly that had been undisturbed for
years by the character of the vegetation upon it. But
it may be urged that from some other part of the
sloping ground a sort of tunnel may have been
excavated in the first instance through which the cup
and saucer could have been thrust into the place where
they were found. If the tunnel had been big enough for
the purpose, it would have left traces, which were not
perceptible on the ground—which were not even
discoverable when the ground was searched shortly
afterwards [by Mr. Henderson and Judge M.] with a view
to that hypothesis .
. . .[Mr. Henderson]. . . afterwards changed
his mind about the satisfactory character of the cup
phenomenon, and said he thought it vitiated as a
scientific proof by the interposition of the theory
that the cup and saucer MIGHT HAVE BEEN thrust up into
their places by means of a tunnel cut from a lower
part of the bank. I have discussed that hypothesis
already, and mention the fact of [Mr. Henderson’s]
change of opinion, which does not affect any of the
circumstances I have narrated, merely to avoid the
chance that readers might think I was treating the
change of opinion in question as something which it
was worth while to disguise." Caps added
Quoted from:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UniversalSeekers/message/3035

Notice the reference to Henderson's
"possibility/plausibility" argument [a
Step 2 argument]. But Henderson and Judge M. found no
evidence [step 3] of any "tunnel". No evidence was
ever brought forward to show how the "fraud" was
committed.

Compare the above to Olcott's account:

"She [Blavatsky] consented; and, looking about the
ground here and there, finally called Major Henderson
to bring a knife and dig in a spot she pointed to. He
found the ground hard and full of small roots of a
young cedar tree near by. These he cut through and
pulled up to a depth of say 6 inches, when something
white was seen in the black soil; it was dug out, and
lo! a cup decorated in green and gold, exactly
matching the others Mrs. Sinnett's servants had
brought. Madame told the Major to dig more; he did
so, and at last found a saucer to match the cup! They
were imbedded in the ground like stones naturally
there, and the cedar roots grew all around them
like a net work, and one root as large as your little
finger had to be cut away to get at the saucer."

Quoted from:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UniversalSeekers/message/2930

Compare also the above with one of Henderson's replies
in the newspaper:

". . . I am not a theosophist, nor a believer in the
phenomena of theosophy, which I entirely discredit. .
. ."

Here was Henderson's chance to give evidence [step
3]that would show fraud in the cup and saucer incident
but nothing was given.

Quoted from:
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/henderson1880.htm

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://blavatskyarchives.com/introduction.htm
"...Contrast alone can enable us to appreciate things
at their right value; and unless a judge compares
notes and hears both sides he can hardly come to a
correct decision."
H.P. Blavatsky. The Theosophist, July, 1881, p. 218.


=====
Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://blavatskyarchives.com/introduction.htm
"...Contrast alone can enable us to appreciate things at
their right value; and unless a judge compares notes and
hears both sides he can hardly come to a correct decision."
H.P. Blavatsky. The Theosophist, July, 1881, p. 218.

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