Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt01839)

Hi Jerome
Very good email, gonna print, read and then send my comments!
So nice to hear from you.
Best wishes, so far!

Edson Krishtar









----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jerome Wheeler 
To: dalval14@earthlink.net 
Cc: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com ; krishtar_a@brturbo.com 
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: Col Olcott as a goofy?


Krishtar,
I must agree with what you say about Col. Olcott. He had no discretion in relation to events. That talk you mentioned is considered by some to have gone a long way toward poisoning any future relations with the SPR. FWH Myers had seen some phenomena, and he also was wavering back and forth, but that meeting pretty well clinched his disaffection with theosophy. This is my opinion from documents I have read.

But the real split --- AND IT WAS NOT A SPLIT --- was Col. Olcott's betrayal of Occultism and utter cowardice in the Coulomb affair. Should he and HPB have stuck together and mounted the ramparts there are good indications that they would not only have won but some few of the natives who were in deep debt to HPB would have come around. There was no need for "phenomena" in court!!! Look at HPB's behavior in her court case in America. She won it!! Her behavior was totally unorthodox and stumped the lawyers as she ignored their advice and received help in a psychic way. She would have received help here too had there been any bravery evident. As it was Col. Olcott successfully killed the T.S. occultly --- as an organization --- not so far as individuals are concerned. Until then there had been an umbrella, but the "umbrella" left (or was dismissed!!) and started a new movement in the West, which is exactly what her Master directed, and also what he warned Olcott of in one of his letters --- that if he did not get a minimum of occult obedience in his behavior he would have to "TURN KARMA IN ANOTHER DIRECTION."

In occultism there is a phrase--- PLEDGE FEVER ---- everyone comes under the GUN of a different law when they begin the spiritual Path. From an everyday profane, Yankee, point-of-view Col. Olcott's behavior prior to 1875 is exemplary and he was something of a genius in certain lines. So we must be cautious not to denounce people who are under the gun of another law of being than the everyday profane. In that sense we can be grateful for the good work that he did accomplish without in any sense whitewashing the disasterous side of his behavior. You, I, all of us, are disasters in occultism to a certain extent, but we must persevere and prepare our luggage for a future and more auspicious beginning. Indeed, the candle is worth the price!
jerome
On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 03:40:52 -0700 "W.Dallas TenBroeck" <dalval14@earthlink.net> writes:
> 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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