Letter by Purna Chundra Sen,
with note by the Editor of The East | Reply by H.P.B.
To the Editor of the “East.”
Sir,
With high sentiments of pleasure and gratitude to Colonel Olcott, the President of the Theosophical Society, and the zealous champion of Hindu Philosophy, I beg to inform the public of the wonderful recovery of Babu Shoshi Mohan Dass, a relative of mine and a student of the Dacca College, and his wife, from the diseases which baffled all sorts of medical treatment hitherto resorted.
Babu Soshi Mohun Dass had been suffering from an acute nervous pain on the back part of his head for the last six months, and had undergone Alleopathic, Homœpathic and Electropathic treatments to no effect. His pain recurred every day at 12 A.M., and continued till 12 o’clock night; and his wife had been suffering from malarious fever, enlarged spleen, and a pain on the left side of her chest and on the back, consequent on the functional derangment of the heart, etc., etc., for upwards of two years, and only 18 days ago she had been attacked with hysteria, with all the violent symptoms of the disease. The fits recurred 6 or 7 times in the day and 4 or 5 times in the night, and lasted every time on the average more than 1-1/2 hours or so. At the time of the fit she had spasms in all the muscles of her body, violent shaking of the head, tearing hair, biting her own arms, tongue, fingers, etc., and persons around her, screaming, howling, crying, etc. The fit was so strong that even choloroform failed to give relief even for a few minutes. She was put under the treatment of the Homœpathic doctors, whose treatment unfortunately produced very little effect; but yesterday Col. Olcott, the friend of the sufferer, compassionately visited them at nine and perfectly cured them within 20 minutes by his wonderful skilfulness in Mesmerism. The patients are not all right. Shoshi Babu’s wife, who was almost confined to the bed so long, can now walk abroad as a perfectly healthy woman.
We have been, for some time, hearing from the newspapers of Col. Olcott’s reputation and fame, of his wonderful ability, and this time we had the fortunate opportunity of seeing him in person and his wonderful skilfulness in curing diseases to the greatest astonishment of the beholders and to the heartfelt gratitude of the patients cured.
In conclusion we heartily offer our thanks to Col. Olcott and pray for his long life and sound health.
PURNA CHUNDRA SEN,
Practitioner of Hoomœpathic Medicine and Surgery.
Dated Dacca, the 18th March, 1883.
Note.—Surely our correspondent does not mean to say that miracles are possible even at this fag-end of the nineteenth century. If not, then why this attempt at ascribing these alleged cures to supernatural agencies?—Editor, the East
Mirabile dictu! The esteemed Editor of the East must surely have been labouring under a biological hallucination at the time of penning his—to say the least—ill-humoured remark. What is there in Mr. Purna Chundra Sen’s above-quoted letter to make him suspect his correspondent of making an attempt to ascribe Col. Olcott’s cures to “supernatural agencies?” Are the words:—“wonderful recovery,”—“skilfulness in Mesmerism,” “ability,” etc., etc., synonyms of “supernatural agencies?” The Theosophists do not, as a rule—least of all the Founder—believe in, or attribute anything whatsoever to “miracle” or supernaturalism; nor do they ever allow their members, if they can help it, to have any such superstitious ideas “at this fag-end of the nineteenth century.” We do not find in the above-quoted letter one word reminding in the remotest way of any “superstition.” Had Mr. Purna Chundra Sen, or the President-Founder, attributed his cures to the intervention of God or Divine Providence, then would the ill-humoured remark have indeed its raison d’etre. But we suspect that it is just because of his letter being quite innocent of any such gushy allusion—some people laying all and everything at the door of that hypothetical providence—that the Editor of the East went out of his way to send a thrust into his correspondent. Nor are Colonel Olcott’s cures likely to ever become any less bonâ-fide and real, for their being called by all the editors the world over only—“alleged” cures.—Editor, Theosophist [H.P.B.]