Theosophical Society,
Miscellaneous
Letters (Part 1)
H P Blavatsky
THE
LETTERS OF
H.P.BLAVATSKY
to
A. P. SINNETT
and other
miscellaneous letters transcribed, compiled,
with an
introduction
By
A. Trevor
Barker
Section 4 Page 265 - 303
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS 1
I.—Countess
Wachimeiste,
LETTERS
No. CXXI-CLIV. . . 265/303
A
Scandalous Statement. . . 267
Trials
and Difficulties . . . . 269
The
Sancharacharya and the T.S. . . . 271
A
Chela’s Thanks . . . 273
The
“ Russian Spy” Calumny. . . 275
Perfection
is to be found Nowhere. . . 277
Babaji’s Frenzy . . . 279
Criminal
Charges . . . 281
Babaji and Hatha Yog . . . 283
H.
P. B.’s Enemies . . . . 285
H.
P. B.’s Second Marriage . . . 287
Continuous
Persecutions . . . 289
Professor
Selin makes Mischief . . . 291
H.
P. B.’s Indiscretions . . . 293
H.
P. B. must not be left alone. . . . 295
Personal
Feelings must go . . . 297
The
Cause of Walter Gebhard’s Death. . . 299
Foolish
Credulity. . . 301
The
T.S. throwing off its Linga Sarira
. . . 303
—•—
265 I. —COUNTESS WACHTMEISTER
—•—
LETTER
No. CXXI
Private.
13th December.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
Yesterday
evening a loud rap was suddenly heard and Jual Kool was with us. He
signified
his intention of writing through my hand. I saw him close to me
indistinctly,
felt the influence, heard the few words he said to me, and wrote
the
following: --
Let
Mohini be saved at all costs, write to Sinnett this, a conspiracy is being
formed
to over-throw the Society and disgrace Mohini. No
delay, but act
promptly,
form your Committee quickly, get all possible evidence together, and
find
out all you can about Miss L.’s antecedents.
J.
K. told me that you have a very difficult task before youNow
I will tell you plainly what I think in this affair. I believe that Miss L. has
been a paid agent from the first to endeavour through
Mohini’s disgrace to harm the T.S. I believe that the
Doctor was taken to Madame De M. simply to psychologise
her, in which he succeeded, and that she is now unknowingly under his
influence.
If
a good Roman Catholic could offer Madame 25,000 fcs. down simply to omit the name of Christ in her S.D. believe
me they can do a great deal more. They are fighting for life, for the S.D. has
that which will give them their death blow,
they
may be a long time in expiring, but they surely will in time. The S.D.
contains
a translation of the Secret Book.
The
public at present will have but a faint idea of its real meaning, but as
years
roll by—it will penetrate deeper into the hearts of men and then the death
knell
will be sounded.
Will
you kindly try and get me a copy of Hargrave
Jennings’ Phallicism? I want
Madame
to see some passages in it. George Redway has it, but
he asks 30/-. It
was
published at £1. Do try and get it for me as cheaply as you can, and send it
as
soon
—•—
266 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
as
possible. Will you beg Mohini to write out the
esoteric meaning of some of
Shakespeare’s
plays. Madame wants it for the S.D. and will put it in Mohini’s
name.
I am sorry to trouble you so much.
Yours truly,
C. W.
LETTER
No. CXXII
16th December.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
Madame
is so miserable at the thought of the enclosed slander that it will most
probably
shut India on her, that I have been thinking that as a slander it
should
be refuted for you see, indirectly it concerns us all. I give you the
following
my own idea and leave it to your own superior judgment to act on it or
not
as you think best. I think the Editor of Vanity Fair would at once insert
the
article if threatened with Law, for Editors are rather chary of inserting
libels;
Modern Society had to pay £1,000 -- for that little game not long ago.
Now
this is my idea, do with it what you please. Madame Blavatsky has read with astonishment
in Vanity Fair the following, “that carefully worded proclamations calling upon
the people in
“Madame
Blavatsky denies absolutely having in any way used her influence among the
People of India to induce them to rise and proclaim their political rights; she
denies absolutely having distributed any worded documents to that effect and she
also denies having meddled with Politics in any way whatsoever during her sojourn
in India. On her return to
I
feel that this step ought really to be taken. We are getting into such a
tangle
of troubles on all sides—that where we can protest with truth we should
do
so. And Madame swears the truth of what is written here. I am so sorry to
trouble
you again,
—•—
267 A
SCANDALOUS STATEMENT —•—
it
seems to me that I am always troubling you, but you are a man whereas I am
only
a helpless woman.
My
love to Mrs. Sinnett.
Much from Madame to you both.
Yours sincerely,
C.
WACHTMEISTER.
I
enclose the slip, but please return it and let me know in your next letter
whether
you will take this matter into your hands. Madame says that however much they
may slander her she has only contempt for the same, but that this is too serious
an affair to let pass, as it closes
Cutting
and Extract front the “Times of India.”
Vanity
Fair publishes the following cock and bull story, which will doubtless
amuse Mr. Hume, General Morgan, and other “amiable
enthusiasts” who dabble in Theosophy: -- Strange rumours
of Russian intrigue and political propaganda under the guise of religious
research reach me from
Esoteric
Buddhism, who left
There
is, I believe, no direct evidence of any communication between
LETTER
No. CXXIII
28th December.
MY
DEAR MR. SINNETT,
Madame
begs me to write and thank you for your kind letter which she was
delighted
to get and hopes you will kindly send her as many stamps as you
possibly
can. It is a real pleasure to her to receive them and is always most
eager
to know how many there are, she is as careful of them as if they were
precious
stones. In a letter to Miss A. I have told her all about Madame.
A
letter came yesterday from Lady Caithness, kind, warm
and loving, it did the
Old
Lady’s heart good and gave it a little cheerful spark of warmth for a few
minutes.
You will be amused to hear that Lady C. was enchanted with Mr.
Sinnett’s paper on “the higher life” particularly
as it was Marie Stuart who
inspired
him
—•—
268 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
to
write it. Fancy Mr. Sinnett becoming a medium!!! I
heard in a round about way the other day (not through Theosophists) that Lady Caithness had been holding seances
in Nice, and that the King of Spain came to her and said that he was very happy
now, because where he now is there are no women; I wonder whether he was as
tormented with them as Mohini is. No news to give
you, the days glide away very smoothly and Madame says the S.D. goes on wheels.
Madame
would be very glad if Mr. Sinnett would kindly begin
to make enquiries
about
publication, etc., with prices, she would like the pamphlet to be about
the
size of the Platonist, different from ordinary magazines—there will be two
chapters
each month every chapter containing about 90 of her written sheets. She wishes
the type to be a large and distinct one. Madame hopes shortly to send the Preface
with 1st Chapter to Mr. Sinnett. I am very glad to be
here with Madame for I feel that I am a comfort and of use to her. I also
consider it a great
privilege
to be allowed to witness the marvellous way in which
this book is
being
written. Madame sends much love to you and Mr. Sinnett
and she hopes you will pardon her for not writing. May this New Year be a happy
and prosperous one to you both is the sincere wish of
Yrs.
very sincerely,
CONSTANCE WACHTMEISTER.
Do
not trouble to answer this letter but write instead to Madame for she loves
getting
nice letters though she cannot now answer them.
LETTER
No. CXXIV
Private.
29th Dec.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
I
feel that I have no right to offer you any advice, but as we all have at heart
the
welfare of the one and same cause I hope you will not think it interference
on my part, or mind my telling you a few thoughts
which have come to me since my stay here.
Watching
Madame as I do every day writing her S.D. and seeing how thoroughly absorbed
she is in her work, it seems to me a sad pity that anything should come to
disturb her and I have often asked myself whether it would not be advisable to
crush all these slanders against Madame with the supreme contempt of silence.
The
more one attempts to refute the lies the more fuel one throws on the flames
and
so the scandal is kept alive. I do in my heart believe that nothing would be
so
galling to Messrs. Hodgson and Co. as allowing the whole affair to pass
without
—•—
269 TRIALS AND
DIFFICULTIES —•—
taking
any notice of it. You see this very scandal gives them notoriety and
brings
them into Public notice, they are comparatively an obscure set and if you
treat
them as such and pay no attention to their accusations, well the thing
will
be just a nine days wonder and then blow over to make room for something
else.
You have been very good to Madame for you have been one of the few who have
stood forth in her defence, but you see you cannot
really make things clear for her, for the Occult laws are not yet known, and
therefore I think it is far
better
to keep silence. No quarrel or discussion can be kept up when there is
only
one side to do all the talking, it must die out, and we Theosophists have
borne
so much already I think we can bear this too. Very few people have left
the
Society on account of this scandal and those who remain are truer than ever.
In
Germany the whole S.P.R. is very much ridiculed. Madame is now in a
philosophical
state of mind and says she does not really care what they say of
her,
she was annoyed about the Spy article for she feared it would prevent her
returning
to India, but she sees the truth of what is contained in your letter,
and
she thinks the whole thing had better be allowed to die out of itself.
The
L. affair is very provoking coming just now, try and put an end to it as
quickly
as possible and say to the Secret Committee that you are commissioned by Madame
to say to them that if Miss L. has any REAL PROOF that Madame has wrongly slandered
her, even though what she said was said privately in a private and confidential
letter, still Madame would make her every apology—but the Committee must be
fully assured of her (Miss L.’s) innocence first.
You
see Madame must have peace of mind to enable her to write this book and it is
only by ignoring or crushing scandals that this can be done. Madame sends you much love, she always speaks of you so gratefully
and kindly, and she said to me the other evening that you had been a true
friend to her and that she had a warm affection for you and Mrs. Sinnett—she said that you, the Gebhards
and D. Hubbe are her best European friends. Madame
entirely approves of all I have written for I have told her its contents, she
is in a calm and peaceful frame of mind and is perfectly happy writing the S.D.
May this New Year bring you and yours many blessings and may we at the end of
it be able to say that we have been staunch and true and have loved the Cause
better than ourselves.
Yrs. very sincerely,
C.
WACHTMEISTER.
P.S.
Madame supposes that there will be about 100 printed pages every month in the
S.D.
—•—
270 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
LETTER
No. CXXV
1st January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
Professor
Selin brought Madame yesterday evening a nice New
Year’s gift in the
shape
of the S.P.R. book. You may imagine what a lively time we had of it.
Palpitations
of the heart, digitalis, etc. I did not bless him for coming and
undoing
my work of the last few weeks. He took it very philosophically and said
it
was only right that Madame should know what it said against her. Madame
wanted
to write off letters of protest right and left, but I have prevented her
doing
so. I have told her that the only thing she could do would be to have
Hodgson
taken up for slander and libel. That in the first place this would cost
money
which she has not got. In the second place as all the jury would be
prejudiced against her, she would probably be
pronounced guilty which would make things a thousand times worse than they are
now. That if you undertake her defence that you will
only draw down more accusations and the game of battledore and shuttlecock will
go on until the whole thing becomes universally known. The only safe course to
pursue is this I think, that you and Dr. Hubbe
denounce the whole thing as slanders and lies, that the papers should be signed
by every Theosophist and copies sent to all the members of the S.P.R. Ridicule
and supreme contempt are our only weapons. The whole thing seems to me to be
based on Mr. H.’s evidence and his very sagacious
conclusions. How is it that he is infallible!
Ever yr. sincerely,
C. W.
LETTER
No. CXXVI
Private
and Confidential.
1st January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
My
note written to you this morning and sent to Franz Gebhard
to forward to you, you will probably receive at the same time as this. We have
had a terrible day and the Old Lady wanted to start off to
what
I said this morning, ridicule and contempt are our only weapons for the
scandal
must be crushed if possible and at any rate we must not feed the fire.
If
all Theosophists sign a protest treating the whole thing with contempt, in
the
first place, there can be no reprisal if the document is properly worded and
in
the second it has the good object of uniting us all more closely together
—•—
271 THE SANCHARACHARYA AND
THE T. S. —•—
in
this time of trouble which is what we need. If we all keep true and firm
nothing
can really hurt us. The enclosed will show you the immense importance of keeping
cool and quiet and crushing the scandal if possible. I need not comment upon
the result of such a Presidentship in
As
this news was sent from
Think
of the magnitude and the vast proportions and importance the Society will
in
a few years have all over the world. Don’t get downhearted and rest assured
that
you have the sympathy of all your friends.
Yrs. very
sincerely,
C. WACHTMEISTER.
LETTER
No. CXXVI
6,
LUDVIG
STRASSE, WURZBURG,
4th January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
Many
thanks for your letter of the 30th received this morning.
Madame
is delighted with your proposition about the S.D. She thinks it is a most
favourable and satisfactory arrangement for
herself, but she says the journal
must
come out every month or if you think it better every three months, for if
she
lives she believes so much will, be given to her that it will last 3 years
or
more. The size of the Journal you can arrange as you think best. There will
be
no regular preface, only about 6 or 7 pages addressed to the Reader to give
them
an idea of what the book will contain, for otherwise they would be plunging
wholesale
into matter entirely unknown to them. Madame will send you shortly the Title
pages, and in a week or so the address to the Reader with first two
chapters.
From this you will be able to judge of the general purpose of the
whole
work. I wish myself that some clever theologian could be found who would read
and criticise before the book is put into print. Do
you know anyone whom you can trust. It would have to
be a man deeply read in all these particular
subjects.
Thank
you very much for sending Phallicism. As soon as I
—•—
272 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
know
the amount of my debt to Miss Arundale I will send a cheque for the amount.
Madame
is much interested to find that “Phallicism” contains
a few of the things
which
she has already written out in the S.D., only given in a Jesuitical point
of
view, and she intends to cut them up finely; it was in reading her
manuscripts
that I saw the resemblance in some points and so was anxious that
she
should see the book. Again another curious fact. Madame had written many
pages
on the signification of numbers, and that the words Jehovah and Cain are
simply algebraical numbers,
when she receives by post a book from Arthur Gebhard which
he has found in
interesting,
it corroborates and confirms all that she has previously written,
only
from a mathematical point of view. The book is by Skinner. 3,000 rupees
have
been as yet subscribed in India for the S.D. I write to Col. O. this mail
to
let us know exactly the amount. I suppose many will have subscribed now
during
the Anniversary. I will also ask how many the different branches will
require.
The O.L. says you may do anything you please with her memoirs, she
leaves
all entirely in your hands. She is terribly upset to-day, has received a
brutal
letter from Selin telling her he resigns because he
looks upon her and
the
whole Society as a fraud, that he does not believe in the Masters and that
he
thinks that “Isis” has been plagiarised from other
books.
We
are having a horrible time of it here. I thought Madame would have had an
apoplectic
fit—but fortunately a violent attack of diarrhea saved her, but I do
weary
of it all so much. I think sometimes my own strength will fail me,
physical
not moral. It is a mystery to me how all this dirt and filth seems to
surround
and oppress us. When all this has blown over if you go to America will
you
kindly let me know just before you start for I shall have something I should
then
like to say to you which will interest you much. My love to Mrs. Sinnett
and
much to you both from Madame.
Yrs.
very
sincerely,
C. WACHTMEISTER.
Madame
was delighted with the card and cried over it like a child, she also
thanks
for the stamps.
LETTER
No. CXXVIII
11th January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
I
hope you will approve of the accompanying paper, and that you will read it
aloud
at the next meeting of the L.L. If you could get many testimonies similar
to
mine, it seems to
—•—
273 A
CHELA’S THANKS —•—
me
that you could make considerable use of them in refuting the charges brought
by
the S.P.R. At any rate they would help considerably to restore the shaken
confidence
of many in the existence of the Mahatmas, and tend to prove that
Madame
has not been carrying on a systematic course of cheating for the last ten years
as alleged by Messrs. Hodgson & Co.
I
will add one more incident to my story which I know will interest you, but
this
you must if you please keep private. While writing I came to the second
chela who visited us at
Elberfeld, and this you must know was the chela who
had to do with the Kiddle affair. I was on the point
of writing his name when the
thought
struck me that it possibly [would] be unpleasant to him to be brought
again
before the public notice. I suppressed his name, as I did this I heard
plainly
the words “thank you” behind me, and on looking saw the chela
once more.
I
had not seen him since those days at Elberfeld. Do not mention this for I
should
be sorry to bring him into trouble again, but I feel sure the incident
will
interest you. I intend also writing to Petersburg to Madame Jelihovsky
I
to
add my entreaties to yours that she should send you all possible details
about
Madame’s youth; the more interesting the book can be made, the more the
public
will like it.
Not
a word has been added to the S.D. since the 31st Dec., but if we can only
get
a few days of calm and quiet I hope Madame will be able to begin writing
again.
My
love to Mrs. Sinnett,
Ever yours sincerely,
C.
WACHTMEISTER.
LETTER
No. CXXIX
15th January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
I
send you the Russian pamphlet from Madame B. She says you may take anything out
of it that you please and that if Mohini would go to
Madam Novikoff she would translate it. It would be
better to find someone else if possible, however, you
will settle that to your own satisfaction. At last Madame has settled down
again to the S.D.; a whole fortnight lost.
What
did you think of my paper with the idea of collecting the experiences of
those
who have had phenomena independently of Madame. In the Scottish Branch I believe
there are some, also Mlle. de Glinker,
a few curious facts. I do not mean when she and Solovioff
saw the Masters—but other phenomena quite
independent
of Madame B. Here the most curious phenomena
I see LETTER No. CXXX.—ED.
—•—
274 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
take place every day when Madame is fast asleep, but
as I do not care to mix any phenomena of a physical nature with the sacred name
of the Mahatmas or even their chelas, I do not speak of them, besides they are
not independent of
Madame,
as she is in the apartment. I only tell this to yourself; not to be
repeated.Madame B. thinks all your
arrangement about her memoirs a very good one and thanks you much; having taken
again to the S.D. she cannot now tear herself from it again to write to you.
The German T.S. is still alive, though entre nous very shaky, but certainly if this squall does not kill
us nothing ever will.
My
kind regards to you all,
Ever yours sincerely,
C. WACHTMEISTER.
P.S.
I have written both to Madame Fadeyeff and to Madame Jelihovsky and have told them how necessary it is for them
to clear Madame B. from all charges
brought
against her by giving all possible details about her youth.
LETTER
No. CXXX
To
C. W.
ST. PETERSBURG,
15/27 Jan., 1886.
DEAR
MADAM,
Forgive
me the long delay of my answer. My daughter’s illness as well as my
proper
disease of health and mind—are my only excuses.
I
am obliged to tell you, and ask you to kindly forward, or repeat this, my
answer
to Mr. Sinnett—that I am not able to add anything to
what I have already
written,
about all I know of my sister’s doings or movements.
As
for her childhood, I remember it but very little, being several years younger
and therefore having been bred apart from her and
our youngest aunt Miss Nadejda Fadeyeff,
who can indeed be a great deal more useful, in this matter, to your researches.
Likewise in my sister’s lifelong travels about land and sea, her
only
almost regular—mind the reticence—correspondent was this aunt and best
friend
of hers.
For
my part, I only am aware that all her life was a continual migration between
Africa,
America and Asia—which certainly is known to her a great deal better
than
Europe. In the far East, I suppose, were spent most of the ten years, from
1850
till 1860 -- that we rarely had any news from her. I, for instance, for
several
years thought her dead and duly buried.
—•—
275 THE “ RUSSIAN
SPY “ CALUMNY —•—
Now,
all that I have seen of phenomena, while Hellen lived
with me near Pskoff
(from
her return to Russia in the winter of ‘59) in my country house and lately
in
‘84 in Paris I have described minutely, and have nothing more to say: so I
pray
Mr. Sinnett if he is willing and able “to fill up” as
he says “the
deficiencies”
of my writings, to do it in his name, not in mine.
That
would not do, you see, as well for his sake, as for mine and Hellen’s.
English
is well known and much read in Russia. My name and writings are also
known
well enough. All addition to them shall be obvious and produce a bad
impression.
As
to her being a spy of the Russian Government—it’s such a gross imposture, and nonsense,
that not one sensible man in the world will pay attention to it, I am
sure.
Her opponents must surely well know that this sort of trouble is well paid
for.
If she had been in the service, she would not be obliged now, in her old
age
and illness, to labour for bread’s sake. It is a
monstrous calumny, and Mr.
Sinnett may well throw it in the face of her
stupid enemies.
I
beg you, Madam, to agree my most sincere regard and thanks for the friendship you
feel for my poor sister. May God help her in her troubles.
VERA
ZELIHOVSKY.
P.S.
Give the enclosed note to my sister if you please.
Letter
No. CXXXI
18th January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
As
Madame has sent her letter to you herself, I just add these few words.
I am not at all so sure whether it would
be advisable to publish in
Madame’s
memoirs our different testimonies of having had communications from the Mahatmas
(mine alone would be perfectly useless as people would only say that I was
either a “Medium” or “psychologised”) whether in fact
it would be advisable to bring their names into print at all. Sufficient
desecration has already been thrown at them by the public. Is
it well to give the public the opportunity of throwing more abuse at them.
It is just like throwing out a red rag to an enraged bull and will only bring
down fresh slanders and calumnies. It was right to gather these testimonies to
restore the quavering faith of many Theosophists, but pray ponder well before
you bring the Mahatmas names again before the public in connection with
phenomena. Please read out to the Council these few words and see what they
will say. Better have many opinions on such a subject than only
—•—
276 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
a
few, because if it does bring fresh trouble all will have to suffer. My own
feeling is that we should keep the Mahatmas
names sacred within our own Society and never breathe them beyond it.
Yrs. sincerely,
C. W.
LETTER
No. CXXXII
18th January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
Madame
is very much delighted, because having just been told to open her Russian paper
which otherwise she never thinks of unfastening until she is in bed at night, she finds a long article about herself and her
childhood which you can
insert
in the Memoirs, saying by whom they are written and that they are
extracted
from accompanying paper giving date etc. Nobody then can doubt their veracity.
I am glad you like my Appeal; before reading it out please add
following
words which are underlined, they will make my meaning clearer. Mme.
Gebhard writes that she has sent you her
testimony, also a letter from Professor
Coues saying that he can make the Astral bell ring—I
have forwarded your letter
to
Mme. Jelihovsky.
When
I saw Dr. Hartmann in Munich he told me that you had never answered a
letter
of his. I think this is a pity for though an eccentric man he is a very
earnest
Theosophist and devoted to H. P. B. A few words from you would I think please
him greatly and at such a crisis every effort should be made to keep
friends,
they become such inveterate foes when turned against us. I am so glad
the
O. L. is regaining her equilibrium of mind. Yesterday she was able to do
some
good work.
Ever yr.
sincerely,
C. WACHTMEISTER.
Do
you know what has become of Signor Damiani.
LETTER
No. CXXXIII
MY
DEAR MR. SINNETT,
Will
you be very kind and execute some commissions for Madame Blavatsky? Will you
purchase for her four bottles of No. 3 medicine at Mr. Wallace’s, Oxford Mansions,
Oxford Circus, and send the bottles here by post. Please do not tell the
Wallace’s that the medicine is for Madame B. or mention my name in
connection
with it. He has a most violent antipathy to her and has written to me
several
serious letters warning me against her, so I have been careful not to
let
him know that I am here or that Madame B. is taking his medicines with
decided
benefit
—•—
277 PERFECTION IS
TO BE FOUND
NOWHERE —•—
to
herself. Since last writing I have had a private talk with the Doctor, and he
says
that her general health is better than it was last autumn, but that she has
such
an accumulation of diseases within her that any day she may die suddenly.
Madame
is terribly nervous about herself and once when I ventured to ask her if
she
had made her will and if all her papers were in order, she got very angry
with me.Madame asks also
if you will kindly get for her from Redway the
“Vishnu Purana,” price 10/-. She cannot afford the
other volumes, she begs that you will kindly deduct
her debt to you from the money which is coming from
The
Duchess gives a sad account of the French Branch. Are Christians less
Christians
because there was once a Judas Iscariot and a Magdalene!! Immoral
Popes
and Priests! Perfection is to be found nowhere.
Yours very
sincerely,
C. W.
LETTER
NO. CXXXIV
22nd January.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
A
telegram brought me here yesterday as our kind friends were anxious to consult me
on Theosophical matters.
Being
here I have talked to Madame Gebhard about my appeal.
We have both come to the conclusion that it would be most unwise to put into
print that appeal I sent you, namely my experiences, therefore we both withdraw
our sanction to its being printed, but give you full authority to read it at
the meeting of the 27th and show it to any Theosophists you please—but to no
outsiders. I do not wish to give the name of my Master. M. Gebhard
was with me when the scene I described took place, she says I had my eyes shut
and she does not remember how long it took, we used to sit together every
evening.
I
return to Madame in two days.
In haste,
Yr. truly,
C. W.
LETTER
No. CXXXV I
WURZBURG,
Jan. 26th.
DEAR
MR. SINNETT,
My
note written from Elberfeld will have surprised you, and now that I am back
again
here and am able to assemble my thoughts
I
This letter appears to be a copy in Mrs. Sinnett’s
handwriting
of
a letter from Countess W.—ED.
—•—
278 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS
—•—
which
have been turning in a whirlpool, I think it is only right that as you are
President
of the L.L. that I should make you acquainted with the truth for your
future
guidance. The only person to whom you may show this letter is Mohini, but before doing so he must promise you on his word
of honour, that he will keep the contents secret; so much harm has come already
of gossiping that I am obliged to take this precaution. When I came here in the
beginning of December I found Babaji perfectly
miserable, he said he was contemplating running away or committing suicide. I
could see that he was wounded and jealous that Mohini
was doing so much work in
—•—
279 BABAJI’S FRENZY
—•—
knocked
about the furniture to that extent that Mr. G. who was in the drawing
room below said he thought the chandelier would come
down and every piece of furniture was being smashed upstairs; the upshot of all
this row was his intense hatred to Mme. B. He said he would draw her life’s
blood out of her, he wd. kick her out of the Society, that he wd. tear her to
pieces, that he wd. write
articles
against her, that he wd. send to the public papers in London, that he
wd.
destroy the T.S. and wd. form out of its remnants a Society for himself
where
he wd. preach only ethics. On asking why he was possessed of such a
violent
feeling against Mme. B. he said firstly because she had desecrated the
Masters
by connecting them with phenomena, and 2nd because she had insulted
himself
several times, (and I say wounded his vanity). I thought at last that
the
exhibition was sufficient, told him I was tired and then left him. We met
again
at the drawing room tea table. B. was then quiet. I asked him to state the
charges
he brought against Mme. B. and which he wd. publish, they are as
follows:
-- that Mme. B. had written to some Indian that Col. O. had never
really
seen the Masters, that she had herself pyschologised
him to see them and
that
later on when the Col. was shown this letter, for 3 days he was on the
verge
of suicide; that Mme. B. and the Col. wanting money they had written a
letter
in the Master’s name to some Indian, asking for money and promising that
if
he gave it his sick child shd. recover—the child
died, and the Indian was
furious;
-- that Mme. B. wrote you a letter about Mohini and
women in which
there
were a few words from the Master M. and that naturally such a thing was
desecration.
The Gebhards had agreed that in consideration of
these charges,
with
Hodgson’s report etc. they had determined to destroy the Society unless
Mme.
B. made a solemn promise to never mix up the Masters’ names again with
phenomena, women, or common worldly matters, that,
that must be done or either she must be turned out of the Society or the
Society cease to exist. I said I
thought
we had kept silent long enough, and that it was our silence and
screening wha