UC-NRLF B M SOD SED ■■11 ..V i%ti£Rinc '^moux GIFT OF DONATED BY ^. KATHERINE TINGLEY HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY Aryan Theosophical Press Point Loma, California I>cl,t. iiI':i.I';n.\ 1'1':ti^()\na in.AVA'rsKV From a miinalure painted in I'aris in Madame HlavaLsky's younger days. ^- Ui H '/) -^ [7; a. I-* ij^ '// ^ fi-t ^ '> ■:!• ; -J -J "—1 UJ CO ,^, cu S ■X. w >-' w Q < :^ ;rj C f-" 'J < ^^ J cc IQ a! X' = U X CD "0 D X :i: ^- i: •^ a- - • 3 X po CTj ^ r > X PC l.oindiaiid Photo & Eugravin,;, Dtltl. From ;i pliolo^raph taken al)i)ul ihf lime of llir loiinatioii of the Theosoijhical Society in New York in 1875, and the writing of His Unveiled. HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY FOUNDRESS OF THE ORIGINAL THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN NEW YORK. 1875, THE International Headquarters of which are now at Point Loma, California BY KATHERINE TINGLEY Published by The Woman's International Theosophical League, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California Copyright 1921 by Katherine Tingley CONTENTS Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Katherine Tingley 1 "Yours Till Death and After, H. P. B." William Q. Judge 9 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky William Q. Judge 11 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky An Editorial published in the New York Tribune, May 10, 1891 13 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky A Refutation of Slanders against the Foundress of the Theosophical Society Iverson L. Harris 15 Incidents in the Life-History of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky 22 H. P. Blavatsky, the Hero H. Travers, M. A. 28 Tributes to Helena Petrovna Blavatsky By some of her old pupils resident at the International Theo- 32 sophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California By some of her students and others at the International Theo- 37 sophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California By some of her students 43 Quotations from the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky From I sis Unveiled, published in 1877 52 From The Secret Doctrine, published in 1888 58 From The Key to Theosophy, published in 1889 66 From "The New Cycle" 68 From "The Tidal Wave" 74 From The Voice of the Silence 77 From "Is Theosophy a Religion?" 78 Miscellaneous 79 ^iC4l52 Theosophy leads to . . . action — enforced action, instead of mere intention and talk. . . . But no Theosophist has the right to this name unless he is thoroughly imbued with the correctness of Carlyle's truism, "The end of man is an action and not a thought, though it were the noblest," and unless he sets and models his daily life upon this truth. The profession of a truth is not yet the enactment of it; and the more beautiful and grand it sounds, the more loudly virtue or duty is talked about instead of being acted upon, the more forcibly it will always remind one of the Dead Sea fruit. Cant is the most loathsome of all vices. — The Key to Theosophy, p. 226. A true Theosophist must put in practice the loftiest moral ideal; must strive to realize his unity with the whole of humanity, and work ceaselessly for others. — The Key to Theosophy, p. 26. HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY* By Katherine Tingley TJELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY, the Foundress oj the present A. J. Theosophkal Movement, is called the 'lion-hearted ' ly her followers, and I can conceive of no better name for her, because in every act of her lije there was a superb courage — a courage of a quality which we rarely hear of except when, under peculiar circumstances, a man is aroused to his highest motive and most superb effort by some stirring emergency. I mean spiritual courage, of a quality which marJis one who has realized that he is essentially divine, which endows him with a measure of knowledge that can come to him only through his inner nature, which at that moment maizes him conscious that he is something more than he seems, part of the universal scheme of life, and in harmony with the wonderful forces of nature. In spite of his having made mistakes, in spite of having faltered, of having done injustice to others, once he realizes that he, and every man, inherits the power to be his own savior and can mal^e his life an expression of divine law, — that very fact will bring to him a superb courage such as Madame Slav atsl^y possessed in so mar\ed a degree and which she carried through her whole life. As Foundress of the original Theosophical Society she brought again to the world the teachings of Theosophy, the principles of which are as old as the ages, but which, although so old — having been lost sight of for so many years — appeared as new, as something very optimistic, something very inspiring, for all the world's children to receive. The great purpose of the Theosophical Society, as originated by Madame Blavatsl^, is to teach Brotherhood. She brought from the storehouse of the past the great teachings of the Wisdom- Religion, Theosophy, and they have been preserved by those members who stood faithfully by her and her successors, and *From stenographic report of an address given in Isis Theater, San Diego, California. HELENA FETROVNA BLAVATSKY who have sustained the original Theosophical Society, which is now called the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society. She J^new her mission for Humanity. Nothing could throw her aside, no one could discourage her — the more she was persecuted, the more she Worthed, and the same is true of William Q. Judge, her successor — with the result that this Society is today established on a basis of honor and dignity and integrity that is unassailable, with its World-Center and International Headquarters at Point Loma, California. * At the time she came to the Western World a great wave of materialism was sweeping over this country and over all Europe. It was a marl^ed time. The minds of men were turning away from the possibility of the higher spiritual thought; they had become weary of creeds and dogmas; they had found so much professed in the name of religion and so little practised in daily life that in their despair they had fallen bacl^ upon the power of mere reason as an anchorage, ignoring and in many instances attaching and seeding to tear down and to deny the divine principles of life and nature. Under the divine urge of her soul, Madame Blavats^y came to this country un- heralded, a perfect stranger. She selected America as the first field of her endeavor, because she was so imbued with the idea of the liberty that was accorded in this great country to every Helper of Humanity. She was a Russian and had suffered under the pressure of the conditions in her country. From childhood she had seen injustice practised upon the peasants and others in the name of the law. She had ob- served the appalling contrasts between the enormous wealth of the churches and the poverty and suffering under the shadow of their very walls. She realized the insincerity and the unbrotherliness of the age, its materialism and the resulting disregard of everything which could not be expressed in terms of matter. And so great were her sympathies for the human race that she selected America, this 'Land of Liberty,' to establish a firm foundation for the teachings of Brotherhood, so that from America should go out the l^nowledge and the practice of Brotherhood to all lands and all peoples — even to her own land. She was well aware then, as many are today, that any effort to reform Russia from within would only meet with failure; help must be given from without. It HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY 3 is no speculation on the pari of her students to declare that she had foresight in regard to the conditions in the world, that she knew not only the needs of the time, hut the remedy for those needs. How are we to account for the fact that she had more foresight than others? Why should we select her as an example and pro- claim her to the world as one of its greatest teachers? One of the best answers to these questions, one that I have found in my study of her life, is this: if a man or woman can keep warm the Heart Doctrine in his or her life, and can feel it a sacred duty to be constantly cultivating the spirit of tolerance, the power of sympathy will so grow in the nature and in the mind that the higher faculties of the immortal man, the soul, will come into action more positively and effectively. The higher part of ones nature is constantly alive in its way, although we may not have the outer expression, and although the brain-mind may be wording against it, because of environment and conditions and Karmic seeds that have been sown — yet it is always there. It was the positive, conscious quality that was so needed to touch the minds of men — and that quality gave Madame Blavats^y the foresight and courage to persevere in her work fot Humanity. Her sympathy grew with the days of her childhood. It was aroused by the injustice and the insincerity that she saw in the life around her; and even as a young woman, when not more than sixteen years of age, there was in her mind and heart and life a superb purpose. She could not have had so great a purpose had there not been some incentive, not only from the outward things which I have mentioned, which she saw in her own country, but an incentive of such quality and foresight that in her heart she realized that all countries needed help according to their evolution and condition. It was this that carried her through all the wonderful experiences in her travels in many lands until, in the seventies of last century, she brought to America this wonderful philosophy of life — Theo- sophy — and established the Theosophical Society as a nucleus of men and Women who would work for Universal Brotherhood. There must indeed have been some unusual conditions that caused this great woman to leave her home in Russia, where she had position and wealth and everything that the modern world holds dear, and was already one of the promising lights in literature and an accomplished musician. She had no selfish motive, as one can see, for there Was no money nor fame to be gained through her efforts. She had the foresight to understand humanity and to k^ow that when she took "P her cross, when she began her search for an answer to the problems of life, when 4 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY later as a stranger she came to this great country and dared to speaJ^ openly the sublime truths of the Ancient Wisdom, Theosophy, she would meet the im- perfections of human nature and have to suffer her share of persecution as all other true reformers had suffered in the past — possibly not in the same way, but that she must suffer, she l^new. With the picture and history before her of the persecution that all true reformers had endured, she must hace had a quality of courage far above the ordinary — / call it extraordinary. It was courage born of the superb sympathy in her heart; and with courage came new strength, and she waltzed as one clothed in the Light. She challenged religious systems, admitting that the essential teachings of religion were there, but that they were so honeycombed, so shut in, that all humanity was going awry because it had not the Light, it could not find the Path. Many great minds here and there in this and other countries were reaching out, seel^ing to lead the world on material lines, away from even those indefinite lights of the different religious systems, carrying men away from their moorings, so to speal^, out into a darl^ness which would have become appalling if it had continued. Madame Blavatskjy challenged the minds of the time. One has only to read her boo\s; you need not tal^e my word for it, but fust read her wonderful booths, and you will see that through her sympathy and courage and her l^nowledge of human nature, there must have come into her life a quality of erudition, and a power to apply the remedy to the ills from which humanity was suffering. But what did she meet with when she came to this lovely country of ours? It maizes one almost forget that there was ever given us a suggestion of Liberty. Instead of welcoming her as one who would lift the veil and shed a light upon the ancient teachings which the churches had so imperfectly presented, which had inspired the life of Christ and of all the other great Teachers, nearly every religious body criticized her, tore her life to pieces, so to say, fust so far as they could reach the public through their control of articles in the newspapers and in the publication of sensational books. That was the royal welcome that America gave to H. P. Blavats^y, the Friend of Humanity. I should not dwell upon this now, if it were not that somehow, fust this hour, at this time when we as a people are called upon to work ^^'■^ ^^^ hu.nianity to bring about Permanent Peace, fust now when there are such menacing conditions in the HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY World, and there is unrest and despair and discouragement among so many, — now is the time when Madame Blavatsky should step forth again in all the glory and inspiration of her unselfish life with the Divine Message of Brotherhood which she brought to the world! We have no time to tarry along the way; we have no time for argument; we need to get down to basic facts; we must study cause and effect. We must realize why we are now in this state of such unrest; why, as a people, we arc divided; why there is one class seething help on certain lines, perhaps too forcefully, de- claring they are oppressed and losing their rights, while there is another class in our country today sitting in the quietude and so-called peace of their wealth and prosperity, indifferent to the heart-cry of humanity. And in presenting this contrast it does not mean that I as a Theosophist, or that any Theosophist, in any sense, can support anything that is not absolutely in accord with the principles of Theosophy, that is, which is not absolutely in accord with Brotherhood and Justice. Surely, now is the very time when, if Madame Blavats^ could be heard and her message could reach the whole world, she would accentuate the idea of tolerance — love for one another. It is a time when we cannot afford to waste effort in criticizing each other. We have our weal^nesses individually and nationally; hut we have so many things to do, and so much to learn, that we cannot afford to waste a moment in tearing down anything which has a vital sparli of goodness in it. If we oppose our brothers unfairly and unjustly we shall reap as we have sown, and this is what we have done all down the ages and right into these modern times. We have with us today marl^ed evidences of the mistakes of the past, made by our ancestors, the product of many of the old teachings — the harvest of the wrong seeds that have been sown. Foremost of all has been the spirit of unbrother- liness, which today is, and for ages past has been, the Insanity of the Age. It is appalling! And yet how many, with their families and the bread-and-butter question to meet, ta\e time to consider these conditions, even the conditions right in their own cities? How many realize that crime is increasing, and that the spirit of injustice is growing even in the name of religion? There are so many problems of life that are not understood. But one thing which all can do and which is so much needed, is to throw our whole heart and soul on to that line of action which PAadame Blavatsky so clearly indicated — to create a New Spirit of Brotherhood, to cultivate a Sympathy superbly great, and to add to the Courage of the Soul — not the courage of the world, nor the courage of the mind, nor that HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY courage which sometimes comes with just a little quality of selfsercing — none of these; but the Courage that dares, with a royal quality of daring, to do the things that are right for Right's sake, for Humanity s sal^e. If we would do these things, how long, thinly you, would it tal^e to build up our nation in such a way that a new Light would be ours? And then would come forth in all its beauty and dignity that splendid divine Sympathy which is in the heart of every man, and the despair and unrest of the age would die out under the pressure of our Spiritual Will, our Brotherly Thoughts and Acts, and the great optimistic Hope which I have spoken of — the Hope that is inspired by the teachings of Theosophy. Under present conditions we need something a little more inspiring than the general trend of affairs. Our best writers write well, our best preachers preach well, our best statesmen do well — all within the limits of things as they are — but they could do better; so could we, each one of us; and so could everyone in the world. It is the united effort of all that is needed — of everyone as a unit in the whole — to call out the power of the Inner Divine Self, to find the strength of his character and the glory of the Real Life, each one clearing his mind of all its rubbish, its prejudices, and the pressures that come to lead him astray, each one walking straight and clean — lil^e little children at the feet of the Great Law, so to speal^. I could not seek lo present to you the beautiful thoughts which Madame Blavatsky taught, which are the same thoughts which the Nazarene and all the great Teachers have presented down the ages, but are now given in Theosophy in such a way that the mind of the inquirer finds the foundation, the basis, — ■ / could not present these to you, except to urge the necessity of putting them into practice in daily life; for to preach and not to try to lead the life were hypocrisy. And we have our share of it in this great country of ours. We may preach eter- nally, we may dream, we may aspire eternally. We may think. ^^ have the will to do right, but unless we are positively unselfish and courageous in our efforts for good work, we do little. How can we face the present condition of affairs, the menacing conditions so near to us, without feeling that somewhere along the Path we have failed to do our duty to each other? We must know that the condi- tions that are growing all over the world, conditions of violence and antagonism, were not born in an hour, nor in a day, nor in a year nor a century. Their seeds were sown ages ago. But if the great spiritual truths which were given to man in the very dawn of his history had been kept in all their simplicity, and HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY 7 creeds and dogmas had had no existence, there would not have been this great separation in the human family which is everywhere becoming more and more manifest. To find the best way to set the Great Wheel of Brotherhood in motion — that is what we must do. There are many very interesting people, very intellectual, very energetic — we all kpow such — who would say; "Well, you \now, one cant do much. The ideas that you present are very beautiful and I admire them and believe in them, but one cant do much!'' I know better, and I \now that Madame BlavaisI^, that one woman, who faced the conditions that she did, coming here among strangers, leaving her home and its protection, bringing her message of Theosophy to the world, — that she alone was a colossal power, even at that time, and in spite of persecution and opposition. And today her message has increased a hundred-fold in its strength and possibilities and is permeating every department of thought. Sometimes you will hear of great preachers and speakers, particularly in the Eastern states, putting aside their dogmas and creeds — putting them aside when expressing their own thought, I mean, for they are still hemmed in by their theology — but at the grand finale almost al- ways obliterating what they have said out of the depths of their hearts. Just for a moment at such times the speaker is himself, he is not trying to mal^e an impression on the public, his soul has arisen for a moment into the Light, and he utters the teachings of Theosophy. * You will find Theosophical ideas in romance and in poetry, and all along the line, but usually only half-expressed and half-heartedly. There are so few who come out openly as Victor Hugo did in recognition of the truth of Reincarna- tion as absolutely essential to an understanding of human life. Not many do this, but if you wish to know more about this subject of Reincarnation, which is one of the great keys to the solution of the problems of life, all you have to do is to study the Poets. Sit down for a few hours with Walt Whitman and say if it is possible that he did not have a glimpse of the higher ideas of life, if he did not immortalize himself in giving Voice to the principles of Reincarnation. Take Whittier and the other poets, and you will find glimpses of the same truth as they had the courage and the daring to express it. The American mind is too much inclined to blend a few truths with fallacies and absurdities and idiosyn- cracies, and with popular thought and * New Thought.' Mens minds are so laden, their mental luggage is so heavy, that the Light of Truth can but rarely find entrance. 8 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY Turning again to Madame Blacaiskys teachings, we find the k^y that will open the door to the inner and higher nature of man. Holding this k.ey, man challenges himself; he must enter the chambers of his soul, he must talk, ^^^h himself; he must unroll the Screen of Time before himself, and see all his past, and question as to how far he has failed in his duty to his fellows. Then, with this picture and memory before him, if the heart is right, if aspiration is there, the soul will come into action and close the door on the past; and he will hold the lesson in his mind and go forth in new light, in new power, with a quality of sympathy and courage and an affectionate tolerance which all the world should have. If only we could be tolerant towards our enemies — but that does not mean that we must support them in their errors or their weal^nesses or their unjust acts — it means that We shall be so just in all that We do in protest, and in all that we do in lifting the veil on what is Wrong, that We shall do no harm, but we shall show something of the spirit of tolerance and goodwill even in our protest. For the spirit of criticism, of vengeance, of unbr other liness, intolerance and force, is a hydra-headed monster — a monster that preys upon humanity, ever seeding its destruction. So in presenting to you dear Madame Blavatsky, our great Teacher, it is my hope to arouse in you such interest that you will seeli to know more about her and her teachings. Oh! how I wish you could come really to know her! You would then begin to realize what her message was, you Would see how the condi- tions of her life led up to her helping Humanity; and then, no matter how your minds may have been permeated with dogmas and creeds and intolerance in the past, you would find that som.ething new had been awakened in your heart and life. It is there in the recesses of your being, and if you desire to be just, to do right, to live the life and turn this menacing tide of unbrotherliness, you will seek the Way, find the Light, and reach the Goal, through self-directed effort — self-directed evolution — for ''the Way to Final Freedom is within Thyself." DONATED BY ''YOURS TILL DEATH AND AFTER, H. P. B."* BY William Q. Judge SUCH has been the manner in which our beloved teacher and friend ahvays concluded her letters to me. And now, though we are all of us committing to paper some account of that departed friend and teacher, I feel ever near and ever potent the magic of that resistless Hfe, as of a mighty rushing river, which those who wholly trusted her always came to understand. Fortunate indeed is that Karma which, for all the years since I first met her, in 1875, has kept me faithful to the friend who, appearing under the outer mortal garment known as H. P. Blavatsky, was ever faithful to me, ever kind, ever the teacher and the guide. In 1874, in the city of New York, I first met H. P. B. in this life. By her request, the call was made in her rooms in Irving Place, when then, as afterwards, through the remainder of her stormy career, she was surrounded by the anxious, the intellectual, the bohemian, the rich and the poor. It was her eyes that attracted me, the eye of one whom I must have known in lives long passed away. She looked at me in recognition at that first hour, and never since has that look changed. Not as a questioner of philosophies did I come before her, not as one groping in the dark for lights that schools and fanciful theories had ob- scured, but as one who, wandering many periods through the corridors of life, was seeking the friends who could show where the designs for the work had been hidden. And true to the call she responded, revealing the plans once again, and speaking no words to explain, simply pointed them out and went on with the task. If was as if but the evening before we had parted, leaving yet to be done some detail of a task taken up with one common end; it was teacher and pupil, elder brother and younger, both bent on the one single end, but she with the power and the knowledge that belong but to lions and sages. So, friends from the first, I felt safe. Others I know have looked with suspicion on an appearance they could not fathom, and though it is true they adduce many proofs which, hugged to the breast, would damn sages and gods, yet it is only through blindness they failed to see the lion's glance, the diamond heart of H. P. B. In 1888 she wrote to me privately: "Well, my only friend, you ought to know better. Look into my life and try to realize it — in its outer course at least, as the rest is hidden. I am under the curse of ever writing, as the *Originally published in Lucifer, (London) 1891 10 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY wandering Jew was under that of being ever on the move, never stopping one moment to rest. Three ordinary healthy persons could hardly do what I have to do. I live an artificial life; I am an automaton running full steam until the power of generating steam stops, and then — good-bye! . . . Night before last I was shown a bird's-eye view of the Theosophical Societies. I saw a few earnest reliable Theosophists in a death struggle with the world in general, with other — nominal but ambitious — Theosophists. The former are greater in numbers than you may think, and they prevailed, as you in America tvill prevail, if you only remain stanch to the Teacher's program and tnie to yourselves. . . ." Such she ever was; devoted to Theosophy and the Society organized to carry out a program embracing the world in its scope. Willing in the service of the cause to offer up hope, money, reputation, life itself, pro- vided the Society might be saved from every hurt, whether small or great. And thus bound body, heart, and soul to this entity called the Theo- sophical Society, bound to protect it at all hazards, in face of every loss, she often incurred the resentment of many who became her friends but would not always care for the infant organization as she had sworn to do. Once, in London, I asked her what was the chance of drawing the people into the Society in view of the enormous disproportion between the number of members and the millions of Europe and America who neither knew of nor cared for it. Leaning back in her chair, in which she was sitting before her writing-desk, she said: "When you consider and remember those days in 1875 and after, in which you could not find any people interested in your thoughts, and now look at the wide-spreading influence of Theosophical ideas — it is not so bad. We are not working merely that people may call them- selves Theosophists, but that the doctrines we cherish may affect and leaven the whole mind of this century. This alone can be accomplished by a small earnest band of workers, who work for no human reward, no earthly recognition, but who, supported and sustained by a belief in that Universal Brotherhood of which our Teachers are a part, work steadily, faithfully, in understanding and putting forth for consideration the doctrines of life and duty that have come down to us from immemorial time. Falter not so long as a few devoted ones will work to keep the nucleus existing. You were not directed to found and realize a Universal Brother- hood, but to form the nucleus for one; for it is only when the nucleus is formed that the accu- mulations can begin that will end in future years, however far, in the formation of that body which we have in view." H. P. B. had a lion heart, and on the work traced out for her she had the lion's grasp; let us, her friends, companions and disciples, sustain ourselves in carrying out the designs laid down on the trestle-board, by the memory of her devotion and the consciousness that behind her task there stood, and still remain, those Elder Brothers who, above the clatter and the din of our battle, ever see the end and direct the forces distributed in array for the salvation of "that great orphan — Humanity." HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY* BY William Q. Judge THAT which men call death is but a change of location for the Ego, a mere transformation, a forsaking for a time of the mortal frame, a short period of rest before one reassumes another human frame in the world of mortals. The Lord of this body is nameless; dwelling in numerous tenements of clay, it appears to come and go; but neither death nor time can claim it, for it is deathless, unchangeable, and pure, beyond Time itself, and not to be measured. So our old friend and fellow-worker has merely passed for a short time out of sight, but has not given up the work begun so many ages ago — the upUfting of humanity, the destruction of the shackles that enslave the human mind. I met Mme. Blavatsky in 1874 in the city of New York where she was living in Irving Place. There she suggested the formation of the Theosophical Society, lending to its beginning the power of her individuali- ty and giving to its President and those who have stood by it ever since the knowledge of the Theosophical teachings. In 1877 she wrote Isis Unveiled in my presence, and helped in the proof-reading by the President of the Society. This book she declared to me then was intended to aid the cause for the advancement of which the Theosophical Society was founded. Of this I speak with knowledge, for I was present and at her request drew up the contract for its publication between her and her New York publisher. When that document was signed she said to me, "Now I must go to India." In November, 1878, she went to India and continued the work of helping her colleagues to spread the Society's influence there, working in that mysterious land until she returned to London in 1887. There was then in London but one Branch of the Society — the London Lodge — the leaders of which thought it should work only with the upper and cultured classes. The effect of Mme. Blavatsky's coming there was that Branches began to spring up, so that now they are in many English towns, in Scotland, and in Ireland. There she founded her magazine Lucifer, there worked night and day for the Society loved by the core of her heart, there wrote The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy, ♦From an article published in The Path (New York), 189L 12 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY and The Voice of the Silence, and there passed away from a body that had been worn out by unselfish work for the good of the few of our cen- tury but of the many in the centuries to come. That she always knew what would be done by the world in the way of slander and abuse I also know, for in 1875 she told me that she was then embarking on a work that would draw upon her unmerited slander, implacable malice, uninterrupted misunderstanding, constant work, and no worldly reward. Yet in the face of this her lion heart carried her on. Nor was she unaware of the future of the Society. In 1876 she told me in detail the course of the Society's growth for future years, of its infancy, of its struggles, of its rise into the "luminous zone" of the public mind, and these prophecies are being all fulfilled. Her aim was to elevate the race. Her method was to deal with the mind of the century as she found it, by trying to lead it on step by step; to seek out and educate a few who, appreciating the majesty of the Secret Science and devoted to "the great orphan Humanity," could carry on her work with zeal and wisdom; to found a Society whose efforts — however small itself might be — would inject into the thought of the day the ideas, the doctrines, the nomenclature of the Wisdom-Religion, so that when the next century shall have seen its 75th year the new mes- senger coming again into the world would find the Society still at work, the ideas sown broadcast, the nomenclature ready to give expression and body to the immutable truth, and thus to make easy the task which for her since 1875 was so difficult and so encompassed with obstacles in the very paucity of the language, — obstacles harder than all else to work against. No one can study ancient philosophies seriously without perceiving that the striking similitude of conception between all — in their exoteric form very often, in their hidden spirit invariably — is the result of no mere co- incidence, but of a concurrent design: and that there was, during the youth of mankind, one language, one knowledge, one universal religion, when there were no churches, no creeds or sects, but when every man was a priest unto himself. And, if it is shown that already in those ages which are shut out from our sight by the exuberant growth of tradition, human religious thought developed in uniform sympathy in every portion of the globe; then, it be- comes evident that born under whatever latitude, in the cold North or the burning South, in the East or West, that thought was inspired by the same revelations, and man was nurtured under the protecting shadow of the same TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. — H. P. Blavatsky: The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 341. DONATED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY* FEW women in our time have been more persistently misrepresented, slandered, and defamed, than Madame Blavatsky, but though malice and ignorance did their worst upon her, there are abundant indica- tions that her life-work will vindicate itself, that it will endure, and that it will operate for good. She was the founder of the Theosophical Society, an organization now fully and firmly estabhshed, which has branches in many countries, East and West, and which is devoted to studies and practices the innocence and the elevating character of which are becoming more general- ly recognised continually. The life of Madame Blavatsky was a remark- able one, but this is not the place or time to speak of its vicissitudes. It must suffice to say that for nearly twenty years she had devoted herself to the dissemination of doctrines the fundamental principles of which are of the loftiest ethical character. However Utopian may appear to some minds an attempt in the nineteenth century to break down the barriers of race, nationahty, caste, and class prejudice, and to inculcate that spirit of brotherly love which the greatest of all Teachers enjoined in the first century, the nobiUty of the aim can only be impeached by those who repudiate Christianity. Madame Blavatsky held that the regeneration of mankind must be based upon the development of altru- ism. In this she was at one with the greatest thinkers, not alone of the present day, but of all time; and at one, it is becoming more and more apparent, with the strongest spiritual tendencies of the age. This alone would entitle her teachings to the candid and serious consideration of all who respect the influences that make for righteousness. In another direction, though in close association with the cult of universal fraternity, she did an important work. No one in the present generation, it may be said, has done more toward re-opening the long- sealed treasures of Eastern thought, wisdom, and philosophy. No one certainly has done so much toward elucidating that profound Wisdom- Religion wrought out by the ever-cogitating Orient, and bringing into the light those ancient hterary works whose scope and depth have so astonished the Western world, brought up in the insular behef that the East had produced only crudities and puerilities in the domain of specu- lative thought. Her own knowledge of Oriental philosophy and eso- tericism was comprehensive. No candid mind can doubt this after reading her two principal works. Her steps often led, indeed, where only a few *An Editorial published in the New York Tribune, May 10, 1891, (two days after Madame Blavatsky's death.) 14 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY initiates could follow, but the tone and tendency of all her writings were healthful, bracing, and stimulating. The lesson which was constantly- impressed by her was assuredly that which the world most needs, and has always needed, namely, the necessity of subduing self and of working for others. Doubtless such a doctrine is distasteful to the ego-worshipers, and perhaps it has little chance of anything like general acceptance, to say nothing of general application. But the man or woman who deliberate- ly renounces all personal aims and ambitions in order to forward such beliefs is certainly entitled to respect, even from such as feel least capable of obeying the call to a higher life. The work of Madame Blavatsky has already borne fruit, and is destined, apparently, to produce still more marked and salutary effects in the future. Careful observers of the time long since discerned that the tone of current thought in many directions was being affected by it. A broader humanity, a more liberal speculation, a disposition to investi- gate ancient philosophies from a higher point of view, have no indirect association with the teachings referred to. Thus Madame Blavatsky has made her mark upon the time, and thus, too, her works will follow her. She herself has finished the course, and after a strenuous life she rests. But her personal influence is not necessary to the continuance of the great work to which she put her hand. That will go on with the impulse it has received, and some day, if not at once, the loftiness and purity of her aims, the wisdom and scope of her teachings, will be recog- nised more fully, and her memory will be accorded the honor to which it is justly entitled. If Theosophy prevailing in the struggle, its all-embracing philosophy strikes deep root into the minds and hearts of men; if its doctrines of Rein- carnation and Karma, in other words, of Hope and Responsibility, find a home in the lives of the new generations, then, indeed, will dawn the day of joy and gladness for all who now suffer and are outcast. For real Theosophy IS Altruism, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to Truth. If once men do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found, and never in wealth, possessions, or any selfish gratification, then the dark clouds will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon earth. Then, the Golden Age will be there, indeed. But if not, then the storm will burst, and our boasted western civilization and enlightenment will sink in such a sea of horror that its parallel History has never yet recorded.— H. P. Blavatsky: Lucifer, Vol. IV, p. 188. "' DONATED BY TKATHERINE TINGLEV HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY A REFUTATION OF SLANDERS AGAINST THE FOUNDRESS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY By Iverson L. Harris Professor of Law, The Theosophical University Student under Katherine Tingley, Leader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society and Successor to H. P. Blavatsky and William Q. Judge Foreword THERE is absolutely nothing new or unheard of in the impulses direct- ing the several attacks that have, at different times, been made against the character and reputation of Mme. H. P. Blavatsky, the great Theosophist and Revivifier of ancient Truths in our age. Such at- tacks always take the form of libel or slander, sometimes arising out of ig- norance and prejudice, sometimes springing forth from downright malice. This melancholy fact is so well known to historians that they are constantly on their guard against its subtle influence, and refuse to be swayed in their judgments by it. From the earliest epochs of recorded history or human story, great souls, lion-hearted reformers or innovators, especially in reli- gious thought, and the protagonists in the never-ending struggle for human betterment and human brotherhood, invariably have had to face and to overcome trials of this sort. But men and women have blessed them for it, for their unflinching courage and for their immovable determination to win through to victory in the cause of Right and Truth. Think of the great figures which flash like flame-rays over our mental horizons from time to time, heralds of the Dawn! Such were Jesus the "Prince of Peace," the compassionate Buddha, the great Confucius, the brilliant and noble- minded Hypatia, and a host of others, filled with wisdom and with burning love for the human species and for all things that are. And such was H. P. Blavatsky, who in her supreme effort to alleviate human misery dared to speak the truth even in the face of unending persecution and misrepresentation. Let it be remembered that this new outburst of ignorance and prejudice against her is but one more of the 16 HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY cowardly attacks upon a dead woman unable by that fact to defend herself with her own mighty pen, formerly dreaded but now still. "In 1875 she told me that she was then embarking on a work that would draw upon her unmerited slander, implacable malice, uninterrupted misunderstanding, constant work, and no worldly reward. Yet in the face of this her lion heart carried her on." — William Q. Judge (Successor to H. P. Blavatsky) 'T^HE Memoirs of Count Sergius Witte, now being published, are -*■ attracting wide attention. The second installment of these Memoirs contains an alleged biographical sketch of Mme. Helena Petrovna Bla- vatsky, the illustrious founder of the Theosophical Society. The quality of the remarks of the noted author is in no way superior to the various contemptible attacks which from time to time have been made upon this great World-Teacher. But owing to the fact that the author bears the title of a nobleman, and from his kinship to Mme. Blavatsky apparently had unusual opportunities for gaining actual knowledge concerning her, his comments and statements are apt to meet with an unquestioning credulity. Particularly is this true when we reahze the snobbish tendency of multitudes of readers to accept almost reverently anything that comes from a titled source. Those students of Theosophy who have received the very breath of life from the spiritual teachings of this wonderful woman feel that it would be worse than dastardly if they allowed any attack upon her real nobility to go unchallenged. This installment of Count Witte's Memoirs bears internal evidence not only of its unreliability but of its unworthiness. Is it not true that any wanton attack upon a woman ought to react to the discredit of its author? And when we bear in mind that the present attack is not only scurrilous but is made by a kinsman, then certainly his testimony is already impeached. Apart however from this vice, Count Witte's narra- tive and comment show that they are not even based upon his own alleged knowledge, but upon tradition and hearsay. He writes, "As I was many years her [Mme. Blavatsky 's] junior, I could not have any recollections of Helena in her youth." "From the stories current in our family I gather," etc. . . . "Such is the family tradition," etc. . . . So that when the Count proceeds to state, among a great many other alleged incidents in Mme. Blavatsky's career, that "at Constantinople she entered a circus as an equestrian," not only is this statement un- supported by the slightest offered evidence but according to the testimony of her sister Mme. Jelihovsky, when she reached Constantinople she had A REFUTATION 17 the good fortune to meet here one of her friends, the Countess K , with whom she continued her travels in Egypt, Greece, and other parts of eastern Europe. According also to her aunt, Mile. Fadeyef, it was another Blavatsky not in any way connected with the family who was an equestrienne in Constantinople (see her statement given later). Another illustration of the author's hearsay testimony is where he charges Mme. Blavatsky with having married an opera singer, one Mitrovich, without having secured a divorce from her husband, and again with having married "a certain Englishman from London" without having obtained a divorce either from her legitimate or illegitimate husband. His authority for these statements is that from the second and third 'husbands' respectively letters were received by Mme. Blavatsky's grandfather to the effect that they, in turn, had become the old gentleman's 'grandsons.' This is hearsay upon hearsay, to which no judicial tribunal on earth would give the slightest credence. Count Witte does not state that he ever saw these letters. We are left to presume that the actuality of their receipt was evidenced only by "stories current in the family," and by "the family tradition." And moreover, if he had seen such letters he furnishes us no evidence of their authenticity or, granting that the letters w^ere genuine, that they contained any proof of veracity further than the bare statements of the writers. Certainly such evidence as this should not be allowed in any way to bind Mme. Blavatsky or her disciples. The following very definitely defamatory suggestion of Count Witte about Mme. Blavatsky is also confessedly made upon hearsay. Speaking of the Governor-general of Kiev, Prince Dundokov-Korsakov, he says, "The Prince, who at one time served in the Caucasus, had known Helena Petrovna in her maiden days. / am not in a position to say what was the nature of their relationship.'' In this instance not only does Count Witte's statement involve an unpardonable suggestion against Mme. Blavatsky that is admittedly based upon hearsay or rumor or gossip, but his mllingness to impugn by such means the character of a member of his family — his own first cousin — and his ready disposition to injure her reputation, necessarily show to any man with a spark of chivalry in his nature, that there was a serious defect in the author's own nature. And because, forsooth, for many years there had been a feud between the Blavatsky family and his own, it ill becam.e him to vent his spleen upon his own cousin Helena, whose misfortune it was to bear the name Blavatsky. A further proof of the untrustworthy nature of the author's Memoirs consists in the astonishing confusion which he has exhibited in his alleged attempt to trace the career of Mme. Blavatsky in the two decades between 1851 and 1861, and between 1861 and 1871; for in the main his account 18 HELENA PETROVNA RLAVATSKY of the period between 1861 and 1871 refers to occurrences happening between 1851 and 1861, and, vice versa, the occurrences of the latter decade are ascribed to the former. Another instance of inaccuracy: the Count states that Mme. Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in England, whereas the facts are that she founded it in New York City in 1875, not settling in England until about thirteen years later. Again, he states that after her return from India she settled in Paris, the fact being that after her return from India she settled in London. Again, he states that Mme. Blavatsky learned her "occultism" from Mr. Hume, a celebrated spirituahst. The fact is that the celebrated spiritualist of that period to whom the Count refers was not named 'Hume,' but was a Scotsman, one David D. Home, while Mr. Hume was a high Government official resident at Simla, India, who was one of Mme. Blavatsky's early disciples. Very different is the testimony given by Mme. Blavatsky's aunt, Mile. N. A. Fadeyef, and her sister, Mme. Jelihovsky, who of all her relatives were most closely associated with her. Mile. Fadeyef writes thus of her illustrious niece: ''Faint rumors reached her friends of her having been met in Japan, China, Constantinople, and the Far East. She passed through Europe several times but never lived in it. Her friends therefore were as much surprised as pained to read, years afterwards, fragments from her supposed biography which spoke of her as a person well known in the high life, as well as the low, of Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, and Paris, and mixed her name with events and anecdotes whose scene was laid in these cities at various epochs, when her friends had every proof of her being far away from Europe. These anecdotes referred to her indifferently under the several Christian names of Julie, Nathalie, etc., which were really those of other persons of the same surname, and attributed to her various extravagant adventures. Thus the Nei