Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt01415)

Apl 21 2005

Dear K:

May I break in? 

I would ask you to look at The THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT (875-1925) published
in 1925. It is a history book based on actual documents, not opinions.

I will make a few extracts (sorry -- longer than expected) here but they
are broken and incomplete due to gaps.

====================

THE S.P.R. AND THE THEOSOPHICAL PHENOMENA (p. 59...)

The first serious modern attempt to investigate metaphysical phenomena in a
quasi-scientific spirit was that made by the London Dialectical Society. At
a meeting of the Council of that Society in January, 1869, a Committee was
appointed "to investigate the Phenomena alleged to be Spiritual
Manifestations, and to report thereon.

The Committee, composed of thirty-four well-known persons, passed nearly
eighteen months in its investigations. It held fifteen sittings of the full
Committee, received testimony from thirty-three persons who described
phenomena occurring within their own personal experience, and procured
written statements from thirty-one others. The Committee also appointed from
its membership six subcommittees who undertook first-hand investigations by
experiments and tests. The Committee sent out letters inviting the
attendance, co-operation, and advice of scientific men who had expressed
opinions, favorable or adverse, on the genuineness of Spiritualistic
phenomena.

On July 20, 1870, the full Committee rendered its unanimous Report to the
Council, with request for publication of the Report under the approval of
the Society. The Council received and filed the Report, discharged its
Committee with a vote of thanks, but declined to accede to the request for
publication of the Report. In consequence the Committee unanimously resolved
to publish its Report on its own responsibility. Two editions of the Report
were printed to supply the demand for copies, and at the time caused a very
great discussion.
The Report is drawn with great conservatism. The 

--- 60

statement of facts ascertained and conclusions reached by the Committee is,
condensed, as follows:

The Committee specially invited the attendance of persons who had publicly
ascribed the phenomena to imposture or delusion. On this the Report says:

"Your Committee, while successful in procuring the evidence of believers in
the phenomena and in their supernatural origin, almost wholly failed to
obtain evidence from those who attributed them to fraud or delusion. A large
majority of the members of your Committee have become actual witnesses to
several phases of the phenomena without the aid or presence of any
professional medium, although the greater part of them commenced their
investigations in an avowedly sceptical spirit.".....

The Report concludes:

"Your Committee, taking into consideration the high character and great
intelligence of many of the witnesses to the more extraordinary facts, the
extent to which their testimony is supported by the reports of the
subcommittees, and the absence of any proof of imposture or delusion as
regards a large portion of the phenomena, the large number of persons in
every grade of society and over the whole civilized world who are more or
less influenced by a belief in their supernatural origin, and the fact that
no philosophical explanation of them has yet been arrived at, deem it
incumbent upon them to state their conviction that the subject is worthy of
more serious attention and careful investigation than it has hitherto
received." 

It has been fifty years since the above Report was issued. In that period
unnumbered thousands have 

--- 61 

repeated the investigations of "the phenomena alleged to be spiritual
manifestations," great numbers of books have been issued, arguments and
theories pro and con have been multiplied, but no advance whatever in actual
knowledge has been gained. It remains today, as it remained then, that "no
philosophical explanation of them has been arrived at" outside the [10]
propositions advanced by H.P. Blavatsky in "Isis Unveiled." [ I U II
587-590]

---------------------------------------

The formation of the Theosophical Society and its rapid progress was like a
Gulf stream in the vast ocean of public discussion. The teachings embodied
in "Isis Unveiled" and The Theosophist and put in popular form in "The
Occult World" and "Esoteric Buddhism" might be likened to the sudden
upheaval of a new land in the midst of that ocean, offering its compelling
attraction to adventurous explorers.

================================================


It was in such circumstances that the Society for Psychical Research was
established early in 1882 by a number of well-known persons, among them
Prof. F. W. H. Myers, Mr. W. Stainton Moses (M. A. Oxon), and Mr. C. C.
Massey, all members of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society. The
preliminary announcement of the new Society declared that "the present is an
opportune time for making an organized and systematic attempt to investigate
that large group of debatable phenomena designated by such terms as
mesmeric, psychical, and Spiritualistic." Committees were to be appointed to
investigate and report upon such subjects as telepathy, hypnotism, trance,
clairvoyance, sensitives, apparitions, etc. The announcement stated that
"the aim of the Society will be to approach these various problems without
prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same spirit of exact and
unimpassioned inquiry which has enabled science to solve so many problems,
once not less obscure nor less hotly debated."
With such a broad and just prospectus and such an inviting field for its
efforts, the new Society almost immediately attracted to its Fellowship some
hundreds of men and women of reputation and ability in their several fields.


By 1884 the Society had made numerous investigations, had begun the
publication of the voluminous reports of its Proceedings, and was firmly
established in the public confidence as a serious scientific body engaged in
the methodical and unbiased investigation of the disputed phenomena.

-------------------------------------------

Meantime Mr. Sinnett had removed to London, his published books had been
read by thousands, he had been elected Vice-President of the London Lodge,
and was
--- 64
the center and inspiration of eager investigations and experiments in the
line of the Third Object of the Theosophical Society. Rumors and
circumstantial stories were afloat regarding "astral appearances," "Occult
letters" and other phenomena connected with the mysterious "Brothers"
supposed to be the invisible directors behind the Theosophical activities. 

====================================================

S P R HOLDS MEETINGS TO INVESTIGATE REPORTS

1884

When Col. Olcott arrived in London early in the summer of 1884, followed a
little later by H.P.B., interest rose to a genuine excitement. This
excitement, coupled with the fact that a number of members of the Society
for Psychical Research were also Fellows of the Theosophical Society, made
it natural and plausible for the S.P.R. to turn its attention to the new and
inviting possibilities at hand.


Accordingly, on May 2, 1884, the Council of the S.P.R. appointed a
"Committee for the purpose of taking such evidence as to the alleged
phenomena connected with the Theosophical Society as might be offered by
members of that body at the time in England, or as could be collected
elsewhere." Out of this beginning grew the famous "exposure" that for a time
threatened the rain of the Theosophical Society.

The S.P.R. Committee as originally constituted consisted of Profs. E.
Gurney, F. W. H. Myers, F. Podmore, and J. H. Stack. To these were
subsequently added Prof. H. Sidgwick, Mrs. Sidgwick, and Mr. Richard
Hodgson, a young University graduate.

===============

1884 May 11, 27

The Committee held meetings on May 11 and 27 [1884] at which COL. OLCOTT was
present and replied to numerous questions, narrating the details of various
phenomena of which he had been witness during the years of his connection
with H.P.B. MOHINI M. CHATTERJI, a young Hindu who had accompanied the
Founders from India, was questioned on June 10. 

On June 13 MR. SINNETT repeated to the Committee his observations on the
phenomena described in his "Occult World." 

During the summer the meetings of the Cambridge Branch of the S.P.R. were
attended on several occasions, by invitation, by COL. OLCOTT, CHATTERJI, AND
MADAME BLAVATSKY. On these occasions, says the preliminary Report, "the

--- 65 

visitors permitted themselves to be questioned on many topics." 


Additional evidences were obtained by the Committee from many sources,
testifying to a wide range and variety of phenomena through the preceding
ten years, in America and Europe as well as in India. 

All the witnesses were persons of repute and some of them well known in
England and on the Continent. 

In the autumn of 1884 the Committee published "FOR PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
USE" the "FIRST REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE." ....

=====================

The phenomena investigated by the Committee were chiefly: (1) "astral
appearances" of living men; (2) the transportation by "Occult" means of
physical substances; (3) the "precipitation" of letters and other messages;
(4) "Occult" sounds and voices. The appendices contain the details of
numerous occurrences of the kinds indicated, the sources of the testimony
and the names of the scores of witnesses, with comments of the Committee on
the character and validity of the testimony as to its sufficiency and
bearing, and not upon the good faith of the witnesses themselves, all of
whom are regarded as reputable. 

In the earlier portion of the Report the Committee says that in considering
evidences of abnormal occurrences it "has altogether declined to accept the
evidence of a paid medium as to any abnormal event." It goes on to say, "in
dealing with these matters, it is admitted that special stringency is
necessary, and one obvious precaution lies in the exclusion of all the
commoner and baser motives to fraud or exaggeration." 

But with regard to the Theosophical exponents it says,
--- 66 
"we may say at once that no trustworthy evidence supporting such a view has
been brought to our notice." 

==============================

Although the witnesses expressly state that the Theosophical phenomena are
not of the kind familiarly known as mediumistic, and although 

MADAME BLAVATSKY EXPRESSLY DECLINED TO PRODUCE ANY PHENOMENA FOR THE
CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE AS 

HER PURPOSE WAS TO PROMULGATE CERTAIN DOCTRINES, NOT TO PROVE HER POSSESSION
OF OCCULT POWERS, THE COMMITTEE'S BASIS OF TREATMENT OF THE PHENOMENA, AND
ITS THEORIES TO ACCOUNT FOR THEM, WERE THE FAMILIAR ONES EMPLOYED IN
SPIRITUALISTIC INVESTIGATIONS. 

----------------------------------------

Nevertheless, the Committee recognized that there were three points calling
for the greatest care on its part. The first of these is "that it is certain
that fraud has been practiced by persons connected with the Society." 

==========================

This refers to the charges brought by the 

[1] Coulombs, who were members of the Theosophical Society, against Madame
Blavatsky; to the 

[2] "Kiddie incident," and to certain 

[3] "evidence privately brought before us by Mr. C.C. Massey." On this
matter the Committee says that it suggests, "to the Western mind at any
rate, that no amount of caution can be excessive in dealing with evidence of
this kind."

The second point raised by the Committee is that

"Theosophy appeals to Occult persons and methods." 

Accustomed to dealing with mediums and mediumistic manifestations, where the
moral and philosophical factors have no bearing, accustomed to believe that
where there is reticence there must be fraud, 

-------------------------------------------------


THE COMMITTEE DOES NOT LIKE THE IDEA MADE PLAIN AT ALL TIMES BY H.P.B. THAT
THE SUBJECT OF OCCULT PHENOMENA, THEIR PRODUCTION AND LAWS, WILL NOT BE
SUBMITTED TO SCIENTIFIC EXPLOITATION, BUT WILL ONLY BE MADE KNOWN TO THOSE
WHO QUALIFY THEMSELVES UNDER THE STRICTEST PLEDGES OF SECRECY AND
DISCIPLESHIP.


---------------------------------------------------

Finally, the Committee recognizes that:


"Theosophy makes claims which, though avowedly based on occult science, do,
in fact,
--- 67 
ultimately cover much more than a merely scientific field."



This, also, is not agreeable to the Committee, which remarks:

"The history of religions would have been written in vain if we still
fancied that a Judas or a Joe Smith was the only kind of apostle who needed
watching.... Suspicions of this kind are necessarily somewhat vague; but it
is not our place to give them definiteness. 

WHAT WE HAVE TO POINT OUT IS THAT IT IS OUR DUTY, AS INVESTIGATORS, IN
EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE FOR THEOSOPHIC MARVELS, TO SUPPOSE THE POSSIBILITY OF
A DELIBERATE COMBINATION TO DECEIVE ON THE PART OF CERTAIN THEOSOPHISTS. WE
CANNOT REGARD THIS POSSIBILITY AS EXCLUDED BY THE FACT THAT WE FIND NO
REASON TO ATTRIBUTE TO ANY OF THE PERSONS WHOSE EVIDENCE WE HAVE TO
CONSIDER, ANY VULGAR OR SORDID MOTIVE FOR SUCH COMBINATION."

These frank expressions of the Committee are illuminating as to its own
basis and motives, and equally illuminating when contrasted with the fair
promises made in the preliminary announcement of the formation of the S.P.R.
They become still more clear when viewed in the light of the Preface to
"ISIS UNVEILED," with its STATEMENT IN ADVANCE OF THE KIND OF OPPOSITION its
author would be called upon to face.


---------------------------------------------------

In spite of its suspicions, its doubts, its fears, its mental reservations
occasioned by its own ignorance of the laws governing metaphysical
phenomena; BY THE ABSOLUTE REFUSAL OF H.P.B. TO DISCLOSE THE PROCESSES OF
PRACTICAL OCCULTISM; BY THE ATMOSPHERE OF MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE WHOLE
SUBJECT OF THE HIDDEN "BROTHERS" AND THEIR POWERS; BY THE CHARGES OF FRAUD
LAID BY THE COULOMBS AT THE DOOR OF H.P.B.; BY THE UNDISCLOSED "EVIDENCE
PRIVATELY BROUGHT BEFORE US BY MR. C.C. MASSEY"-

--- 68 

- in spite of all these disturbing equations, the testimony amassed by the
Committee was so absolutely overwhelming as to the fact of the alleged
phenomena that the Committee found itself compelled to make certain
admissions, as follows:

"It is obvious that if we could account for all the phenomena described by
the mere assumption of clever conjuring on the part of Madame Blavatsky and
the Coulombs, assisted by any number of Hindu servants, we could hardly,
under present circumstances, regard ourselves as having adequate ground for
further inquiry. But this assumption would by no means meet the case. The
statements of the Coulombs implicate no one in the alleged fraud except
Madame Blavatsky.

The other Theosophists, according to them, are all dupes. 

Now the evidence given in the Appendix in our opinion renders it impossible
to avoid one or other of two alternative conclusions: 

Either that some of the phenomena recorded are genuine, or that other
persons of good standing in society, and with characters to lose, have taken
part in deliberate imposture."

=================================

Accordingly, the Committee expressed the following conclusions:

"On the whole, however (though with some serious reserves), it seems
undeniable that there is a prima facie case, for some part at least of the
claim made, which, at the point which the investigations of the Society of
Psychical Research have now reached, cannot, with consistency, be ignored."


The Committee decided to send one of its members to India to investigate the
charges made by the Coulombs, to interview the numerous witnesses to
phenomena testified to by Hindus and Europeans in India, and report

--- 69 

on the results of such examination. Mr. Richard Hodgson was the member
chosen. His report is the foundation and superstructure of the celebrated
"exposure" embodied in Volume 3 of the Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research. Before considering Mr. Hodgson's report, it is necessary
to review the antecedent and surrounding circumstances and events, the main
features of which are wrapped up in the connection of the Coulombs with the
Theosophical Society.


===================================================

IN INDIA -- MISSIONARIES -- COULOMBS


The facts, so far as publicly disclosed, may be found as represented by the
various interests involved, 

in the Christian College Magazine articles entitled "The Collapse of Koot
Hoomi"; 

in Madame Coulomb's pamphlet issued at the time in India and republished in
London by Elliott Stock "for the proprietors of the Madras Christian College
Magazine," under the title "Some Account of My Intercourse with Madame
Blavatsky from 1872 to 1884, by Madame Coulomb"; 

in Dr. Franz Hartmann's pamphlet, "Observations During a Nine Months' Stay
at the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society, Madras, India," published
in the fall of 1884; in the "Report of the Result of an Investigation into
the Charges against Madame Blavatsky," by the Committee of the Indian
Convention; in the Report of the Indian Convention of the Theosophists held
at the close of December, 1884; 

in Mr. Sinnett's book, "Incidents in the Life of H.P. Blavatsky"; 

in Col. Olcott's "Old Diary Leaves," and in numerous articles pro and con at
the time and during succeeding years in many Theosophical, Spiritualist,
Christian, and secular publications. 

The facts as herein given are those derived from the immense accumulation of
literature on the subject, after the most careful and painstaking comparison
and weighing.

---------------------------------


Chapter VI

THE REPORT OF THE S.P.R. 


The Preliminary Report of the Committee of the Society for Psychical
Research was drawn up in the midst of the excitement occasioned by the
Coulomb accusations and the missionary attacks in the Christian College
Magazine of Madras, India.

Immediately the charges were cabled to England Madame Blavatsky took steps
to protect the good name of the Theosophical Society. 

On September 27, 1884, she handed to Col. Olcott as President her
resignation as Corresponding Secretary, but under pressure from leading
members of the Society in England Col. Olcott refused to accept her
withdrawal. 

At the same time H.P.B. addressed a letter to the London Times which was
published in that paper in its issue of October 9. 

The letter follows:

"Sir, - With reference to the alleged exposure at Madras of a dishonourable
conspiracy between myself and two persons of the name of Coulomb to deceive
the public with occult phenomena, I have to say that the letters purporting
to have been written by me are certainly not mine. Sentences here and there
I recognise, taken from old notes of mine on different matters, but they are
mingled with interpolations that entirely pervert their meaning. With these
exceptions the whole of the letters are a fabrication.
"The fabricators must have been grossly ignorant of Indian affairs, since
they make me speak of a "Maharajah of Lahore," when every 

--- 76 

Indian schoolboy knows that no such person exists.

With regard to the suggestion that I attempted to promote the "financial
prosperity" of the Theosophical Society by means of occult phenomena, I say
that I have never at any time received, or attempted to obtain, from any
person any money either for myself or for the Society by any such means. I
defy anyone to come forward and prove the contrary. Such money as I have
received has been earned by literary work of my own, and these earnings, and
what remained of my inherited property when I went to India, have been
devoted to the Theosophical Society. I am a poorer woman to-day than I was
when, with others, I founded the Society. - Your obedient Servant,

H.P. Blavatsky "


On October 23, the Pall Mall Gazette published a long interview with H.P.B.
in which her denial of the authorship of the letters attributed to her by
the Coulombs is reiterated, the facts of the Coulombs' bad faith given and
attention called to the further fact that two letters attributed by the
Coulombs to Gen. Morgan and Mr. Bassoon had already been conclusively proved
to be forgeries.


On the opposing side the attack was pressed with vigor and all possible
capital made of the Coulomb accusations, with, of course, a renewal of every
old and exploded charge against H.P.B., her teachings, and her Society. The
Christian sects, the Spiritualist publications, the space writers in the
daily press to whom any sensation was so much material for "copy,"
regardless of the merits of the case, all joined in the fray. 

Immediate preparations were made by the Founders to return to India. Colonel
Olcott arrived at headquarters in November. [1884] H.P.B. stopped off in
Egypt to obtain information in regard to the Coulombs and did not reach
India till December [1884] On her arrival she was

--- 77 

met and presented with an Address signed by some three hundred of the native
students of the Christian College, expressing gratitude for what she had
done for India, and disclaiming any part or sympathy in the attacks of the
Christian College Magazine.

The Convention of the Society in India met at headquarters near the end of
December. [1884]


FROM THE FIRST H.P.B. HAD INSISTED THAT THE COULOMBS AND THE PROPRIETORS OF
THE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE MUST BE MET IN COURT BY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS FOR
LIBEL. 


The future of the Society, the bona fides of her teachings, she declared
were wrapped up in the assaults made upon her own reputation, and if her
good name were destroyed both the Society and Theosophy would suffer
irreparable injury. 

For herself, she avowed, she cared nothing personally, but the fierce onset
was in reality directed against her work, and that work could not be
separated in the public mind from herself as its leading exponent. To
destroy the one was to inflict disaster on the other.


DOUBTS AROSE

Colonel Olcott was between Scylla and Charybdis, both in himself and in
relation to the Society to which he was wholly devoted. 

His close and long personal friendship and spiritualistic relations with Mr.
W. Stainton Moses and Mr. C. C. Massey, both of whom believed that H.P.B.
had been the agency both for genuine and spurious phenomena, undoubtedly
affected him powerfully. 

His relations with Mr. Sinnett were concordant in Theosophical views, and he
knew that Mr. Sinnett had similar ideas to his own regarding the nature of
H.P.B. 

On his return to India he found that Mr. A. O. Hume, formerly a responsible
Government official and, next to Mr. Sinnett, the most influential friend of
the Society in India, had become infected with doubts and suspicions and
believed that, while some of H.P.B.'s phenomena were undoubtedly genuine,
others had been produced by collusion with the Coulombs. 

Colonel Olcott speedily found, also, that the more prominent Hindu members
of the Society, while willing to speak politely in favor of H.P.B., were a
unit in opposition to legal proceedings in which religious convictions and
subjects sacred to
--- 78
them would be dragged in the mire of merciless treatment by the defendants'
attorneys in an alien Court. 

On every hand he was urged to consider that psychical powers and principles
COULD BE PROVED ONLY BY ACTUAL PRODUCTION OF PHENOMENA IN COURT - A THING
FORBIDDEN ALIKE BY THEIR RELIGIOUS TRAINING AND THE RULES OF OCCULTISM. 

Others argued that a judgment, even if obtained, would be valueless before
the world, since the mischief was already done; those who believed the
phenomena fraudulent would still think so, judgment or no judgment; those
who believed them genuine would continue to hold that view if the matter
were allowed to drop; while an adverse judgment would forever brand H.P.B.
and destroy the Society beyond any hope of resuscitation.

BUT H.P.B. STOOD FIRM FOR LEGAL PROSECUTION OF THE DEFAMERS, declaring her
faith in Masters and her own innocence; that They would not countenance
disloyalty and ingratitude, and that, if worst came to worst, it were better
for the Theosophists to be destroyed fighting for what they held to be true
than to live on by an inglorious and ignominious evasion of the issues
raised. Torn by his fears and doubts, Col. Olcott took what was doubtless to
him the only possible road. 

He proposed a compromise which was in effect a betrayal; he demanded that
H.P.B. place the matter in the hands of the Convention and abide by its
decision; threatening, if this were not done, that he himself and the others
with him would abandon the Society and leave it to its fate. 

H.P.B. acceded to the demand made. Accordingly, at the Convention a
Committee was appointed, and this Committee unanimously reported as follows:

"Resolved - That the letters published in the Christian College Magazine
under the heading 'Collapse of Koot Hoomi' are only a pretext to injure the
cause of Theosophy; and as these letters necessarily appear absurd to those
who are acquainted with our philosophy and facts, and as those who are not
acquainted with those facts could not have their opinion changed, even by a
--- 79 
judicial verdict given in favour of Madame Blavatsky, therefore it is the
unanimous opinion of this Committee that Madame Blavatsky should not
prosecute her defamers in a Court of Law."


The report of the Committee was unanimously adopted by the Convention. This
action was received by the Indian press and that wedded to sectarian
interests with prolonged jeers and contumely leveled against H.P.B., her
followers and her Society. By the great majority of public journals and
intelligent minds it was considered to be the tacit admission by
Theosophists that the Coulomb charges were true.


The blow was well-nigh mortal to the body of H.P.B. Defenseless and
undefended, her life was despaired of by her physician. During the
succeeding three months she was rarely able to leave her bed. Finally,
toward the end of March, yielding to the solicitations of the few who still
remained devotedly loyal to her, she prepared to leave India and go to
Europe. On the 21st of March [1885] she addressed a formal letter to the
General Council, once more tendering her resignation as Corresponding
Secretary, and closing her communication with these words:

21st of March [1885] ....

"I leave with you, one and all, and to every one of my friends and
sympathizers, my loving farewell. Should this be my last word, I would
implore you all, as you have regard for the welfare of mankind and your own
Karma, to be true to the Society and not to permit it to be overthrown by
the enemy. Fraternally and ever yours - in life or death.

H.P. Blavatsky"


Her resignation was accepted by the Council with fulsome compliments, even
as the cowardly action of the Convention and its Committee had been
accompanied with brave words.

========================================

The [S P R] Committee took enough note of the Theosophical doctrines to
recognize at the beginning their enormous import:
--- 85 

"The teaching... comprises a cosmogony, a philosophy, a religion. With the
value of this teaching per se we are not at present concerned. But it is
obvious that were it widely accepted a great change would be induced in
human thought in almost every department. To take one point only, the
spiritual and intellectual relationship of East to West would be for the
time in great measure reversed. 'Ex Oriente Lux' would be more than a
metaphor and a memory; it would be the expression of actual contemporary
Fact."

Why was the [S P R] Committee "not concerned in the value of this teaching?"
Was it because the West or the Committee already possessed abundant
knowledge as to the existence of superphysical phenomena and the laws and
processes by which such phenomena are produced? 

Here is what was proclaimed in the prospectus of the S.P.R. in 1882:

"The founders of this Society fully recognize the exceptional difficulties
which surround this branch of research; but they nevertheless hope that by
patient and systematic effort some results of permanent value may be
attained."


==================================


S P R DID NOT WITNESS ANY PHENOMENA

It remains to be stated that neither the members of the Committee nor Mr.
Hodgson were able themselves to produce any phenomena, nor were witness of
any of the Theosophical phenomena. Nor did they claim for themselves any
knowledge of their own as to how such phenomena could or could not be
produced. All that they had originally set out to do was to secure the
testimony of witnesses who had seen phenomena. The two reports show that
with the single exception of the accusations of the Coulombs not a witness
of the more
--- 88 
than one hundred whose testimony was obtained, but testified unequivocally
and positively to the occurrence of phenomena under circumstances that for
him precluded any other conclusions but that the phenomena were genuine. So
much for the competency of the Committee to adjudge the facts as testified
to. 

Upon what, then, did the Committee rely for its conclusions? 

[1] Upon the Coulombs; [2] upon the "Kiddle incident"; [3] upon Mr. Massey's
"private evidence"; [4] upon the "expert opinions" of Mr. F. G. Netherclift
and Mr. Sims on handwritings; most of all on the "opinions" of Mr. Hodgson
and others. 

[1]	The Coulombs and their charges have already been discussed. By their
own story they were knaves, cheats, and extortioners, "accomplices" with
plainly evident evil motives, whose story had no independent corroboration
whatever outside the suspicions of Mr. Hodgson and others, and which was
denied point-blank by H.P.B., contradicted point-blank by the testimony of
scores of actual independent witnesses and investigators. 

[2]	"The Kiddle incident" has been given, (1) and whatever opinion may
be formed in regard to it, there is no evidence whatever of fraud in
connection with it, or of any bad faith on the part of Mr. Sinnett or H.P.B.
or any other Theosophist. 

[3]	Mr. Massey's "private evidence" is given at p. 397 of the Report and
anyone who reads it can determine for himself that, whatever of the
mysterious and the unexplained there may be in connection with the matter,
there is no evidence whatever of any fraud on H.P.B.'s part. As in many,
many other cases, something occurred which Mr. Massey could not understand;
his doubts were aroused; H.P.B. denied absolutely any wrong-doing, but
refused as absolutely to explain the mystery; hence she was "guilty of
fraud."

MAHATMA LETTERS 

[4]	Mr. Hodgson and the Committee reached the conclusion that the
"Mahatma letters" to Mr. Sinnett and others were in fact written by Madame
Blavatsky - a conclusion only, be it noted. To fortify this opinion some of
the letters were submitted to Mr. Sims of the British 
-------------
(1) See Chapter IV.
-------------

--- 89
Museum and to Mr. Netherclift, a London handwriting expert, along with
samples of the writing of H.P.B. In the first instance both Mr. Netherclift
and Mr. Sims independently reached the conclusion that the Mahatma letters
were not written by H.P.B. 

This is one of the "certain difficulties" already spoken of as confronting
Mr. Hodgson and the Committee. For if the Mahatma letters were not written
by H.P.B., who wrote them? 

After his return to England, therefore, Mr. Hodgson found himself in a
quandary on this phase of his report. He thereupon took the matter up again
with the experts, and agreeably they reversed their opinion and decided that
the letters were written by H.P.B.! Incredible as this may appear it is the
fact as derived from the report itself. One who is at all familiar with the
course of "expert testimony" as to handwriting knows that, at best, such
testimony is but opinion, and often erroneous, even where not formed to suit
the desires of the client. 
An example is furnished of the fallibility of "expert opinion" by this very
Mr. Netherclift himself, for, a few years later, he was called as an expert
witness in the celebrated case of Charles Stewart Parnell against the London
Times for libel. In that case Mr. Netherclift swore positively that the
signature to the famous "Pigott letters" was the handwriting of Mr. Parnell.
Later on in the case Pigott himself confessed in open court that he had
forged the signatures.

The earliest known Mahatma letter was one handed to Madame Fadeef, aunt of
H.P.B. and widow of a well-known Russian General, in 1870, long before
H.P.B. was known in the world, and long before the formation of the
Theosophical Society. According to the written testimony of Madame Fadeef,
whose good character no one questioned, the letter was handed to her in
Russia by an Oriental who vanished before her eyes. 

She stated that, at the time, H.P.B. had been absent for years, no one of
the family knew of her whereabouts, all their inquiries had come to naught,
and they were ready to believe her dead when the letter relieved their
anxieties by saying that she was in the care of the Mahatmas and
--- 90
would rejoin her family within eighteen months. With regard to this first
Mahatmic letter, which is given in the preliminary report, Prof. F.W.H.
Myers, the leading member of the Committee, himself certified as follows: 

"I have seen this letter, which certainly appears to be in the K.H.
(Mahatma) handwriting. - F.W.H.M." 

Can anyone suppose that this Mahatma letter, written to relieve the pressing
anxieties of loved and loving relatives, was "due to deliberate deception
carried out by or at the instigation of Madame Blavatsky?" If not, how
account for it and the other Mahatma letters being in the same handwriting?

[5]	Remains one more question for consideration: that of the "moral
factor" of motive. The influences affecting the motives and conduct of the
Committee, Mr. Hodgson, the Coulombs and others, have been indicated. In
every case preconceptions, ignorance of Occult laws and processes;
mysterious circumstances which they could not understand and which H.P.B.
refused to elucidate; the baffling nature of the phenomena; self-interest;
popular and sectarian pressures and prejudices - all combined to create
uncertainties, doubts, suspicions, conjectures and inferences of fraud and
deception. The evidence, that which was actually testified to, was
overwhelmingly in support of the genuineness of the phenomena.

The motives of the witnesses are equally evident; they had nothing whatever
to gain and everything to lose by their testimony. They were affirming the
genuineness and reality of phenomena in which nine-tenths of humanity
disbelieves, and which, if proved and accepted, would upset and destroy
cherished and almost universally prevailing ideas in religion, science, and
"almost every department of human thought and action." The most that could
have been expected from the Committee in such circumstances was such a
conclusion as that of the London Dialectical Society on the Spiritualistic
phenomena. 

But the Theosophical principles and phenomena reach far deeper into the
foundations of human consciousness. Unlike the Spiritualist manifestations
and
--- 91 
theories, there is no room for reconciliation or compromise between
Theosophical teachings and phenomena and the "forces of reaction," the
established interests in church and science and human conduct. Bitter as was
the opposition to Darwinism, malevolent as was the antagonism to the spread
of Spiritualism and to such investigators of it as Prof. Crookes, these were
as nothing to the fear and hatred inspired by H.P.B., her teachings and her
phenomena. In the one case compromise, a middle ground, was possible. In her
case it was instinctively recognized by all that no compromise was possible.
Hence, the conclusions of the Committee were in fact foregone from the
beginning.

In no one thing, perhaps, is the weakness of the S.P.R. investigation more
fatally self-betraying than in the motives they assign to account for the
"long-continued combination and deliberate deception instigated and carried
out by Madame Blavatsky." 

That anyone, let alone a woman, should for ten or more years make endless
personal sacrifices of effort, time, money, health, and reputation in three
continents, merely to deceive those who trusted her, with no possible
benefit to herself; should succeed in so deceiving hundreds of the most
intelligent men and women of many races that they were convinced of the
reality of her powers, her teachings, her mission as well as her phenomena,
only to be unmasked by a boy of twenty-three who, by interviewing some of
the witnesses and hearing their stories, is able infallibly to see what they
could not see, is able to suspect what they could find no occasion for
suspecting, is able to detect a sufficient motive for inspiring H.P.B. to
the most monumental career of chicanery in all history - this is what one
has to swallow in order to attach credibility to the elaborate tissue of
conjecture and suspicion woven by Mr. Hodgson to offset the solid weight of
testimony that the phenomena were genuine.


============================

H.P. Blavatsky lived and died a martyr, physically, mentally, and in all
that men hold dear; she forsook relatives, friends, ease and high social
standing, became an expatriate and naturalized citizen of an alien land on
the other side of the globe; she founded a Society to which she gave
unremitting and unthanked devotion; she wrote "ISIS UNVEILED," the "SECRET
DOCTRINE," THE "VOICE OF THE SILENCE," 

all of which were PROSCRIBED IN RUSSIA; she became a veritable Wandering Jew
devoted to the propagation of teachings and ideas hateful to the world of
"reactionary forces"; she eschewed all concern with political objects of any
kind, all attachment to "race, creed, sex, caste, or color," and her
lifeblood formed and sustained a Society sworn to the same abstentions; she
lived and she died in poverty - slandered, calumniated, betrayed by
followers and foes alike; misunderstood by all; she never, from 1873 to the
day of her death, set foot on Russian soil, an exile from family and
country.

Why did she do these things? 

==================================

DIVISIONS AMONG THEOSOPHISTS - New Publications 

It will easily be understood that the opening of the year 1885 found the
Theosophists in India in the utmost disorder and disarray -- assailed on all
sides from without by triumphant enemies; prey to confusion and
recriminations within.
H.P.B. lay physically ill, wavering between life and death. Col. Olcott,
availing himself of an invitation previously extended to him in recognition
of his work for the revival of Buddhism, left almost immediately for a visit
to the Burmese capital, Mandalay. 

On his arrival at Rangoon, en route to the court of Theebaw III, he was met
by the leading Buddhist priests and dignitaries. Here he was cordially
received and remained for a considerable time, holding conferences, giving
lectures, and regaining his spirits in an atmosphere removed from the
depressing situation at headquarters. 

Just as he was on the point of proceeding to Mandalay he received a telegram
from Damodar urging his immediate return to India because of the apparently
fatal turn in the condition of H.P.B.


OLCOTT'S PRESIDENCY THREATENED ?

It can scarcely be doubted that Col. Olcott's return to headquarters was
impelled by what were to him still more urgent reasons, for he was at the
same time in receipt of advices from his Hindu intimates that affairs were
fast becoming desperate. 

He was advised that many Lodges were lapsing into dormancy, others
threatening to dissolve; his General Council divided into two camps, with
those opposed to him in the ascendant. 

The facts appear to have been that in addition to those few who had remained
steadfastly loyal to H.P.B., numerous other European and some Hindu members
had, by 
--- 95 
reaction, felt to some extent the monstrous injustice done H.P.B. and were
in the mood to make the President-Founder the scapegoat for the timidity and
the lukewarmness of all. 

The sense of present and impending loss caused many to realize the fatal
error of deserting H.P.B. and all knew that the Convention's action was
directly due to the sanction of Col. Olcott. 

A determined movement had gained headway to limit his autocratic control and
direction of the society's affairs, by making the Council an actual
executive and responsible governing body, instead of as hitherto the mere
cloak and instrument of the President's wishes. 

This spontaneous feeling was placed before H.P.B., and she had given her
signature of approval in the following words: "Believing that this new
arrangement is necessary for the welfare of the Society, I approve of it, so
far as I am concerned."

Colonel Olcott, who had been foremost in the belief that it was necessary to
abandon H.P.B. "for the honor of the Society" and to preserve it from shafts
aimed at it through H.P.B., now felt himself stung to the quick by these
evidences of defection and disaffection on the part of the members towards
himself. 

After consultation with his friends he went straight to the mortally
stricken H.P.B., as all thought her, and besought her to restore him to his
former status and function. Clouded and piecemeal as are the published
fragments of information concerning the events of those trying months,
certain facts seem clear in the light of subsequent history. 

It would appear that Col. Olcott recognized and admitted his faults,
promised to take a more loyal and consistent course in the future, and
agreed to pursue a less arbitrary policy in his management of the Society. 

Knowing that his devotion to the well-being of the Society was constant and
unswerving, whatever his mistakes due to his vanity and self-sufficiency,
and always tolerant and generous to the last degree toward friend or foe, it
is clear that H.P.B. accepted his repentance and professions and once more
lent him her powerful protection. 

She withdrew her authorization of
--- 96 
the proposed changes, smoothed out the personal feelings aroused between
Col. Olcott and his partisans and those opposed to his rulership, and left
to him to make as of his own volition and accord the needful modifications
of policy and conduct. 

THIS IS THE SECRET OF THE VARIOUS NOTICES IN THE "SUPPLEMENT" TO THE
THEOSOPHIST FOR MAY, 1885, CONCERNING THE "FORMATION OF AN EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE," THE "SPECIAL NOTIFICATION," AND THE "SPECIAL ORDERS OF 1885." 


OLCOTT VISITS HODGSON

Likewise in these events will be found the explanation of Col. Olcott's
visit to Mr. Hodgson and his effort to get that gentleman to take a more
impartial if not more friendly attitude toward the Theosophical evidences
and explanations connected with the phenomena, which Mr. Hodgson was
investigating almost entirely from the standpoint of the Coulombs and the
missionaries. 

Sincere and well-intentioned as this move of Col. Olcott's undoubtedly was,
it could but serve, in view of all the circumstances, to increase and
confirm the already acute suspicions of Mr. Hodgson; and this, as we have
seen, is what in fact occurred. Col. Olcott also, in his new zeal, made
strenuous and partly successful efforts to procure the writing and
publication of articles favorable to H.P.B. and her phenomena in various
Indian papers.

But knowing well the weaknesses as well as the virtues of her colleague,
H.P.B. WAS UNDER NO ILLUSIONS AS TO THE FINAL OUTCOME. SHE KNEW COL.
OLCOTT'S SELF-ESTEEM, HIS DOUBTS, JEALOUSIES AND SUSPICIONS; KNEW ONLY TOO
WELL THE PERSONAL AMBITIONS, RIVALRIES AND ANIMOSITIES WITH WHICH THE
HEADQUARTERS WERE RIFE. 

As appeared many years later, SHE ADDRESSED ON APRIL 11, 1885, A LETTER TO
COL. OLCOTT, IN WHICH SHE TOLD HIM THAT NO PAROLE LOYALTY WOULD SUFFICE TO
REPAIR THE MISCHIEF THAT HAD BEEN DONE; THAT SHE HAD WILLINGLY BORNE AND
WOULD CONTINUE TO BEAR IN HER OWN PERSON THE EVIL KARMA ENGENDERED BY HIM
AND BY THE SOCIETY, BUT THAT IN DESERTING HER THE SOCIETY AND ITS LEADERS
WERE IN FACT DESERTING THE MASTERS WHOSE AGENT SHE WAS; THAT SHE HAD DONE
HER BEST FOR THEM ALL, BUT THAT SHE COULD NOT AVOID FOR THEM THE HARVEST OF
THEIR OWN MISTAKES AND INGRATITUDE.

--- 97 


H P B RESIGNS - OLCOTT SPLITS

This letter [April 11, 1885] was written by H.P.B. from Aden, after she had
left India. Colonel Olcott suppressed this letter and in all his voluminous
writings never referred to it. 

It was preceded by her formal letter of March 21, [1885] addressed to the
General Council, submitting her resignation, which was accepted. The
published interchange assigned the illness of H.P.B. as the cause of her
severance of relations officially with the Society in India, and the same
cause was given for her departure. 

This was all true but the deeper reason, the Occult basis, was the desertion
by Col. Olcott and his associates of the paramount objectives of her
Masters. 

This is shown by the acceptance of her resignation; by the letter of April
11, 1885, as mentioned; by the report of a conversation with one of the
Mahatmas, which report was also suppressed by Col. Olcott and never referred
to by him, though partially coming to light many years later; and by Col.
Olcott's course immediately following the resignation and departure of
H.P.B. 


OLCOTT SEEKS TO SEPARATE H P B FROM T S

He at once set actively to work to make the Society independent of H.P.B.
The June [1885] number of The THEOSOPHIST was prefaced at the head of the
text with an italic insert accompanied by a "printer's hand" and reading as
follows:

"The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or
declaration in this or any other Journal, by whomsoever expressed, unless
contained in an official document."

In the same (June 1885) number Col. Olcott published over his signature a
leading editorial on "Infallibility," devoted to a disclaimer of any
reliance by the Society on anyone's assumed powers, knowledge, or status, or
that such reliance was in any way necessary for the Society's success or
existence. 

THIS WAS ALL AIMED AT H.P.B. AND HER STATUS AS AGENT OF THE MASTERS SUPPOSED
TO BE BEHIND THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT AND THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 

Indirectly, it was at the same time an assertion 

---------------
(1) Some extracts from this letter and from the conversation mentioned are
given in The Theosophist for October, 1907, pp. 9, 10, and 78.
--------------
--- 98 

of his own pre-eminence as the Head of the Society, since the only official
documents were those issued by himself as President-Founder, or at his
instructions.

DAMODAR K. MAVALANKAR

Damodar K. Mavalankar, next to H.P.B., the most loved and the most envied of
the Theosophists in India, and, aside from her, the only one of them
generally known to be in constant active touch with the Masters, had been
her faithful and devoted servant and indefatigable worker in the Cause. 

Much of her correspondence throughout the world had been carried on by him
under her directions; visiting chelas at headquarters were largely cared for
by him; the chief burden of the getting out of The Theosophist fell upon his
shoulders; and he had shared with her the stigma of the Coulomb charges and
Mr. Hodgson's investigating suspicions. 

He remained at Adyar for some time after the departure of H.P.B., doing what
could be done for the few who possessed the elements of real loyalty and
steadfastness. 

Towards the latter half of the year [1885] he left headquarters on a
"pilgrimage," and was last publicly heard of near the Thibetan frontiers. By
many he was thought to have perished of exposure, but there can be little
doubt, from hints afterwards given by H.P.B. and Mr. Judge, that in fact he
was called by the Masters into Their direct service and company. He thus
received the reward of his undying devotion and his uncomplaining endurance
of the tribulations consequent upon his human defects and mistakes. 

Of him the Master K.H. wrote, "Before he could 'stand in the presence of the
Masters' he had to undergo the severest trials that a neophyte ever passed
through." 

Damodar had first met H.P.B. early in 1879, had immediately forsaken
everything that men hold dear to become her faithful servant and chela, and
in the ensuing years of his probation had remained steadfastly loyal to her
and her mission "without variableness or the shadow of turning." Of his
subsequent fortunes, his present status, his future relations with the
Theosophical Movement, the story remains untold; one of the unwritten
chapters of the Second Section.

--- 99 

As the months went by it began to be apparent that the life of the Society
in India could not be maintained by its venous circulation alone. 

The contents of The THEOSOPHIST deteriorated in quality; the circulation of
the magazine diminished; numerous branches ceased to exist except on paper,
the membership fell off in others; contributions and dues lessened; the
Society was fast falling into mere discussion of the endless metaphysics of
Hindu faiths and philosophies. 

H P B IN Europe -- 1885

On the other hand news began to permeate the Indian contingent that H.P.B.
was being visited in her European retirement by staunch friends,
corresponded with by an ever-increasing number of inquirers, supported by
the adherence of new and notable persons. 

OLCOTT -- 1885

Colonel Olcott, who had ever a weakness for the acquaintance of the great
and the near-great, began to take stock of the fortunes of war. Nor can it,
we think, be doubted that as time went on, as her absence and his sense of
loss of the old daily intimacy, the old strong and unfailing guidance of the
"lion of the Punjab" grew more keen; as the truer and nobler side of his
nature had opportunity to reassert itself - that side of his nature which
had inspired him in the beginning to do as Damodar had done, to give up all
to follow her in her unknown path - it cannot be doubted, we think, that
Col. Olcott repented him of the mistakes and lukewarmness of the recent
years, and endeavored so far as was in his power, short of a public
disavowal of his erroneous course, to remedy his mistakes. 

And in this he was strengthened by the treatment accorded him by H.P.B. She
chided him as little as might be; she continued unfailingly to send him
articles for insertion in The THEOSOPHIST; she made a will bequeathing to
him her entire interest in the magazine and making over its entire revenue
to him; she encouraged by every means in her power every good effort, every
good impulse that arose from him; she laughed at her own miseries and
misfortunes, and made light of all obstacles in the way.

Colonel Olcott was supported and encouraged also by the good-will of those
near at hand who had remained
--- 100
steadfast in devotion to H.P.B. without withdrawing their countenance from
him. 

All these factors had their compelling influence, and at the Indian
Convention at the close of 1885 his public Address as President to the
assembled delegates and visitors was marked by the expression of strong
feeling and sincere declarations in respect to H.P.B. In this mood he was
willing to retire as President to promote the solidarity and renewed life of
the Society. Says the Report of the Convention as published in the
"Supplement" to The Theosophist for January, 1886:

"The President being called away temporarily on business, and Major-General
Morgan occupying the Chair, the following resolutions ... were carried by
acclamation with great enthusiasm.

"Resolved, That in the event of the health of Madame H.P. Blavatsky being
sufficiently restored, she be requested to resume the office which she has
relinquished.

"Resolved, That the charges brought against Madame Blavatsky by her enemies
have not been proven, and that our affection and respect for her continue
unabated.

"Whereas the Convention has heard with great sorrow from the lips of the
President-Founder, Col. H.S. Olcott, the expression of his desire to retire
to private life on account of his competency for his present duty being
questioned by some, the Convention unanimously

"Resolved: 

(1) That the President-Founder has by his unremitting zeal, self-sacrifices,
courage, industry, virtuous life and intelligence, won the confidence of
members of the Society and endeared himself to them throughout the world;
and 

(2) that as this Convention cannot for one moment entertain the thought of
his retiring from the Society which he has done so much to build up, and has
conducted safely through various
--- 101 
perils by his prudence and practical wisdom, they request him to continue
his invaluable services to the Society to the last."


BROTHERHOOD -- AGAIN AND AGAIN

This approach to real union, this united aim, brotherly feeling, and mutual
support in the spirit of the First Object, as manifested by the Convention,
had its immediate beneficial effect, and for the ensuing three years the
Society in India shared in the prosperity of the Movement throughout the
world - the rising tide after the S.P.R. attempt to wreck the Society. 

It is worthwhile for students to note that every storm that ever raged about
the Society had its inception in neglect of the First Object and its
practical application, brotherly loyalty and devotion; every recovery from
wounds and losses was due to a return to the fundamental basis of the
Society and the fundamental precept of the Second Section - instant
readiness to "defend the life or honour of a brother Theosophist even at the
risk of their own lives." 

Had this been borne in mind by those who were "quick to doubt and despair,
who had worked for themselves and not for the Cause," had the consistent
example set, no less than the precepts given, by H.P.B. been made the rule
of action by those responsible for the policy and conduct of the Third
Section - the Theosophical Society proper - the "solidarity in the ranks" of
the Society would not only "have enabled it to resist all external attacks,
but also have made it possible for greater, wider, and more tangible help to
have been given it" by the First and Second Sections, "who are always ready
to give help when we are fit to receive it."


1885, April -- HPB LEAVES INDIA

H. P. Blavatsky left the headquarters and sailed from India at the beginning
of April, 1885. Such was her physical condition that she had to be carried
on board the vessel. Accompanied by her physician and an attendant she
voyaged to Naples, Italy, where she remained for some months in sickness,
poverty, and isolation. From there she removed in the summer to Wurzburg,
Germany, where she was visited and sustained by the devoted Gebhards of
Elberfeld. Thither also came
--- 102 
the Countess Wachtmeister, widow of the late Swedish Ambassador to England.
Countess Wachtmeister was an English woman by birth, a natural psychic who
had been interested in Spiritualism and then in the Theosophical phenomena.
She had become a member of the London Lodge and had met H.P.B. at London the
year before. Hearing of the distress into which H.P.B. was plunged, and
convinced by her own experiences that the phenomena of H.P.B. were genuine,
the Countess came from Sweden to visit her. What she saw and felt caused her
to remain, and from then onwards the Countess gave herself up to the service
of H.P.B., as friend, as companion, as amanuensis, as voluntary servant. 

To Wurzburg came also friends and correspondents of Dr. Franz Hartmann,
whose experience and intuition of the real nature of H.P.B. were always
strong enough to keep him loyal despite the frictions of personalities
between himself and others. 

Here came Dr. Hubbe-Schleiden, the noted German savant, who had met H.P.B.
the year before at the Gebhards and who, like Dr. Hartmann, had absorbed
enough of her philosophy to keep him energized for the remainder of his life
in channels akin to the work of the Theosophical Movement. 

Came also the Russian writer, Solovyoff the younger, who had met H.P.B. in
Paris the year before, and whose evil Karma it was subsequently to become
tool and victim of the forces opposed to her and her work. 

During her Wurzburg residence H.P.B. was also visited by Mr. and Mrs.
Sinnett and others from London and Paris. Here also came many others moved
by sympathy, by gratitude, by curiosity, by all the motives that affect
mankind.


1885-6 HPB AT WURZBURG

H.P.B. lived at Wurzburg for nearly a year, alternating between long
relapses and brief partial recoveries. During the whole period her labors
never abated. Articles for The Theosophist, miscellaneous contributions to
Russian periodicals for her daily bread, and a correspondence that daily
increased, kept her busy. Many of her letters at this period were written by
her volunteer helpers at her dictation or direction. During the
--- 103 
whole period, also, she was occupied with the vast burden of the composition
of the "SECRET DOCTRINE."


1886 -- 1887 HPB IN EUROPE

In May, 1886, her medical advisers once more insisted on a change of climate
and surroundings if her life were to be prolonged. Accordingly, she removed
to Ostend, Belgium, and here she lived in constantly increasing toil and
turmoil. 

Dr. Anna Bonus Kingsford and her associate, Mr. E. Maitland, visited her
here, and here came many English and French Theosophists for making or
renewing personal touch with her. 

Late in the winter and in the early spring of 1887, the physical state of
H.P.B. once more became so desperate that her life was despaired of. Miss
Francesca Arundale, Miss Kislingbury, the two Keightleys, Archibald and
Bertram, and other London Theosophists were anxious for her to remove to
England where she could be better cared for. 

Madame Gebhard and Dr. Ashton Ellis, a young London physician and member of
the London Lodge, were telegraphed for by Countess Wachtmeister. They came
in all haste and were assiduous in their ministrations. This unstinted
devotion once more pulled H.P.B. through the crisis. The Keightleys came
over and urged the necessities of the English Theosophists for her presence
among them. Yielding to the loving solicitations of these devoted friends
and followers, the wanderer once more took ship, carried on board as before,
and, physically a helpless and inert mass, was installed in a cottage in
Norwood, where she passed the summer of 1887. In the autumn the house at 17
Lansdowne Road, Holland Park, West, was taken by her friends and thither
H.P.B. was removed to quarters specially prepared for her in the midst of an
atmosphere of good-will and watchful consideration.

Thus surrounded and sheltered, H.P.B. measurably regained strength, though
her health never became such as to exempt her from continuous physical
suffering or to enable her to take needful exercise. It is doubtful if
during the last six years of her life she had a single waking hour of
complete relaxation, and it is certain that she rarely was able to go
outside her domicile unaided.
--- 104 
Yet these six years were the ones of her stormy career most filled, not only
with the trials and tribulations incident to the many attacks upon her name
and fame, not only with the press and demands of claimants upon her time and
attention, not only with the correspondence and work of the Theosophical
Movement from day to day, but they were, as well, the most fruitful of
enduring results for all mankind. 

It was during this period that the "SECRET DOCTRINE," the "KEY TO
THEOSOPHY," "THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE," and the "THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY" were
written; 

LUCIFER was begun with its first issue dated September 15, 1887, and its
monthly contents during the succeeding years contained a steady stream from
the inexhaustible fountain of her wisdom.

The presence of H.P.B. in Europe resulted from the first in a revival of
courage, confidence, and action on the part of those who had remained
steadfast during the Coulomb charges, the S.P.R. investigation and report,
and the succeeding blasts in the press. 

Work began in Germany and France with fresh vigor and new Lodges were formed
in addition to the existing ones. Many new Fellows entered the Society, some
of them persons of considerable reputation in other fields of effort. 

The SPHYNX was began in Germany, LE LOTUS in France, and the study and
discussion of subjects within the lines of the Three Objects went on apace. 

After the removal of H.P.B. to England, additional Lodges were established
in Ireland, Scotland, in the larger cities of England, and the Blavatsky
Lodge was formed in London. 

Here H.P.B. herself replied to questions on the "Stanzas" of the "Secret
Doctrine" at a number of sessions. These questions and answers were
stenographically reported and, when revised, were published as "TRANSACTIONS
1 AND 2 OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE."


1885 -- S.P.R. PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 3, late in 1885


When the S.P.R. Proceedings, Volume 3, were published late in 1885, Mr.
Sinnett, then President of the London Lodge, wrote a pamphlet "Reply" which
was published early in 1886. He also wrote a strong letter to LIGHT, the
leading Spiritualist publication in England. His clear statements and wide
repute went far to stem
--- 105 
the unfavorable tide of press comment consequent on the S.P.R. report. In
the summer of 1886 his 

1886 -- "INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF MADAME BLAVATSKY" 

was published by Redway. 

This book, with its partial disclosures of personal matters, its anecdotes
and narratives of the most astonishing phenomena, its mysterious hiatuses,
its pervading atmosphere of sincerity, candor, and common sense in the midst
of the well-nigh incredible marvels recited, and above all, with its
pictures of the living H.P.B. as a most fascinating and human being steadily
giving herself, soul, mind, and heart to a cause sacred to her; a
good-natured, unrevengeful fighter undismayed and undaunted by the mountains
of hatred and calumny heaped upon her -- this book created a profound
impression far and wide, and aroused a sympathy for this martyr to her
convictions, and an interest in her teachings, that brought many into the
ranks of the Society, and turned to good account the adverse findings of the
S.P.R.

"FIVE YEARS OF THEOSOPHY," made up of articles reprinted from the first five
volumes of The THEOSOPHIST,
-------------
(2) See Chapter XIII.
----------------
--- 106

and "MAN - FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY," by "Two Chelas of the
Theosophical Society," were issued in 1885 by Reeves & Turner, London, and
both passed through several editions. The "Two Chelas" are stated by Miss
Francesca Arundale to have been Mohini M. Chatterji and Mrs. L.C. Holloway
(The Theosophist, October, 1917).

Excerpted from The THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT [1875-1925]
DTB
=============================================



Of course this is not a complete answer to your questions, but it is the
best I can do for the present.

Best wishes as always,

Dallas

========================================
-----Original Message-----
From: krishtar
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 7:02 PM
To: 
Subject: Col Olcott as a goofy?


Hello Daniel

Fist of all, I want to express my thankfulness to the friends whom I
received suggestions for reconsidering my decision of going out.

Daniel I'll be brief, for my video card is having problems here and the text
is so huge that it fits the entire screen!!!

In the AP Sinnett's autobio, he describes one episode in which Col. Olcott
made extremely out of context and full of indiscretion lecture ( without
permission or necessity) when he, APS and HPB went to attend visit for the
Institute for Psychic Researches in London.

Do you know what really he said or comment that seemed to ruin the young
movement from then according many opinions at that time?

Was he acting due to grudges by the exquisite manner she always treated him?

I am aware that Blavatsky got white and ashamed at the occasion...

What did cause the break in the relationship between HPB and Olcott later?

Of course I am directing this post to you but anyone can help...
A curious interest has arisen in me on these part of T. history.

Regards

Krishtar




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