It having been affirmed by some French members of the Theosophical Society (in the Bulletin d’Isis), as well as some in England, that the undersigned had exceeded her constitutional powers as Corresponding Secretary and Co-Founder of the Theosophical Society, in issuing an emergent order dissolving the Bureau [Staff] of the “Isis” Branch of the Theosophical Society in Paris, and its bylaws, and authorizing Mr. F. K. Gaboriau to reconstitute it ad interim, until the pleasure of the President in Council could be ascertained, the following extracts from the official “Decision” (officially published) of Colonel Olcott, sitting in arbitration at Paris, on the 17th of September last, will be read with interest and profit.
“Mme. Blavatsky, having learned that Mr. Froment would not accept the Presidency (to which he was entitled as Vice-President to succeed upon the death of the President, Mr. Louis Dramard, under the bylaws of ‘Isis’), and seeing the branch upon the point of falling into anarchy, issued ad interim (and despite the protestations of Mr. Gaboriau, who preferred to remain secretary), an order by which the Bureau (Council/Staff) of ‘Isis’ was dissolved, its bylaws cancelled; at the same time she named as President of the Branch, Mr. Gaboriau, one of its founders, who had given many proofs of his devotion to the theosophical cause. Moreover, Mr. Gaboriau was commissioned to compile new bylaws. The branch continued to exist, and the rights of its members were maintained pending the adoption of the new bylaws. It has been objected that Madame Blavatsky had not the right to act in this manner; that her interference was illegal according to the Rules of the Theosophical Society, because ‘she is not a member of the Isis Branch,’ but member of the ‘Blavatsky Lodge,’ of London, and that no branch has right of jurisdiction outside the limits prescribed in its charter. But, in point of fact, Madame Blavatsky is member of no Branch. She is with me co-Founder of the Society, and Corresponding Secretary and, ex officio, member of the General Council, of the Executive Council, and of the Annual Convention, a sort of Parliament held at Adyar by delegates from all countries (vide Art. 17b of the Rules of the Theosophical Society).
“She was, then, perfectly entitled [authorized, competente] to issue the order in question as a temporary measure, an order which must be finally submitted for approbation to the President in Council. The Executive Council in its Session of 14th July, formerly ratified the measure taken by Mdme. Blavatsky, a measure which was urgent and which I declare to have been legal.”
This settles the question of the right of the Corresponding Secretary––one of the Founders––to interfere in such exceptional cases, and when the welfare and the reputation of the Theosophical Society are at stake. In no other except such a case would the undersigned have consented to take upon herself the right of interfering. Moreover, the extent and limits of such interference are very succinctly and clearly defined in the letter from a Master quoted below.
And to remove further misconceptions, it is as well—of course, only for the information of members of the Society—to add that, while still at sea on board the “Shannon,” on his way from Bombay to Brindisi, and on the day before arriving at port, the President received in his cabin a long and important letter from the said Master, generally called “K.H.” Besides general instructions respecting the policy the President should pursue in the present crisis, there were the following special paragraphs relating to his colleague, the undersigned. Colonel Olcott’s sense of justice is so strong, that although some of the passages in the letter have a tone of reproach for his having permitted himself to think too harshly of his old and tried friend and co-worker, he has unreservedly given permission to copy the passages in extenso, in the hope that the warning conveyed may prove profitable to others who find themselves in a hostile mood toward the undersigned.
These passages are as follows:
“Put all needed restraint upon your feelings, so that you may do the right thing in this Western imbroglio. Watch your first impressions. The mistakes you make spring from failure to do this. Let neither your personal predilections, affections, suspicions nor antipathies affect your action.
“Misunderstandings have grown up between Fellows, both in London and Paris, which imperil the interests of the movement. You will be told that the chief originator of most, if not of all these disturbances is H.P.B. This is not so; though her presence in England has, of course, a share in them. But the largest share rests with others, whose serene unconsciousness of their own defects is very marked, and much to be blamed. One of the most valuable effects of Upasika’s mission is that it drives men to self-study, and destroys in them blind servility for persons. Observe your own case for example. But your revolt, good friend, against her ‘infallibility’—as you once thought it—has gone too far, and you have been unjust to her, for which I am sorry to say you will have to suffer hereafter along with others. Just now, on deck, your thoughts about her were dark and sinful, and so I find the moment a fitting one to put you on your guard.
“Try to remove such misconceptions as you will find, by kind persuasion and an appeal to the feelings of loyalty to the cause of truth, if not to us. Make all these men feel that we have no favourites, nor affections for persons, but only for their good acts and humanity as a whole. But we employ agents—the best available. Of these, for the last thirty years, the chief has been the personality known as H.P.B. to the world (but otherwise to us). Imperfect and very ‘troublesome,’ no doubt, she proves to some; nevertheless, there is no likelihood of our finding a better one for years to come, and your Theosophists should be made to understand it.
“Since 1885 I have not written, nor caused to be written, save through her agency, direct or remote, a letter or a line to anybody in Europe or America, nor communicated orally with or through any third party. Theosophists should learn it. You will understand later the significance of this declaration, so keep it in mind. Her fidelity to our work being constant, and her sufferings having come upon her through it, neither I nor either of my Brother Associates will desert or supplant her. As I once before remarked, ingratitude is not among our vices. . . . . To help you in your present perplexity, H.P.B. has next to no concern with administrative details, and should be kept clear of them so far as her strong nature can be controlled. But this you must tell to all; with occult matters she has everything to do. We have not abandoned her; she is not ‘given over to chelas.’ She is our direct agent. I warn you against permitting your suspicions and resentment against ‘her many follies’ to bias your intuitive loyalty to her. In the adjustment of this European business, you will have two things to consider—the external and administrative, and the internal and psychical. Keep the former under your control and that of your most prudent associates, jointly; leave the latter to her. You are left to devise the practical details with your usual ingenuity. Only be careful, I say, to discriminate when some emergent interference of hers in practical affairs is referred to you on appeal, between that which is merely exoteric in origin and effects, and that which, beginning on the practical, tends to beget consequences on the spiritual plane. As to the former, you are the best judge; as to the latter, she.
“I have also noted your thoughts about the ‘Secret Doctrine.’ Be assured that what she has not annotated from scientific and other works we have given or suggested to her. Every mistake or erroneous notion corrected and explained by her from the works of other theosophists, was corrected by me, or under my instruction. It is a more valuable work than its predecessor—an epitome of occult truths that will make it a source of information and instruction for the earnest student for long years to come.
“. . . [This letter] . . . is merely given you as a warning and a guide; to others, as a warning only; for you may use it discreetly, if needs be. . . . Prepare, however, to have the authenticity of the present denied in certain quarters.
(Signed) K. H.”
(Extracts correctly copied.—H. S. Olcott.)
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No use repeating over and over again, that neither this “Master” nor any other, Colonel Olcott and I know of, are “Spirits.” They are living and mortal men, whose great wisdom and occult knowledge have won the profound reverence of all those who know them.
Those who do not, are welcome to spin out any theory they like about the “Adepts”—even to denying point blank their existence. Meanwhile the incessant charges and denunciations, the idle gossip and the uncharitable constructions to which the President-Founder and myself have been subjected for the last three years, force us now to make the declaration which follows.
H. P. Blavatsky.
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A Joint Note.
To dispel a misconception that has been engendered by mischief-makers, we, the undersigned, Founders of the Theosophical Society, declare that there is no enmity, rivalry, strife, or even coldness, between us, nor ever was; nor any weakening of our joint devotion to the Masters or to our work, with the execution of which they have honoured us. Widely dissimilar in temperament and mental characteristics, and differing sometimes in views as to methods of propagandism, we are yet of absolutely one mind as to that work. As we have been from the first, so we are now, united in purpose and zeal, and ready to sacrifice all, even life, for the promotion of Theosophical knowledge, for the succour of mankind from the miseries which spring from ignorance.
H. S. Olcott,
H. P. Blavatsky.