|
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GENERAL MEETINGS IN
MAY AND JUNE, 1885.
The fourteenth and fifteenth General
Meetings of the Society were held at the Rooms of the Society of British
Artists, Suffolk-street, Pall Mall, on Friday, May 29th, and Friday,
June 24th.
Mr. F.W.H. Myers in the Chair
The programme on both occasions included
parts of Mr. Hodgson's account of his investigations in India, and of
the paper on "Some Higher Aspects of Mesmerism," which appear below. At
the June meeting Professor Sidgwick read the conclusions expressed by
the Committee in the following Report.
----------
I. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED
TO INVESTIGATE PHENOMENA CONNECTED WITH THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. [1]
1. STATEMENT AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE
COMMITTEE.
In May, 1884, the Council of the Society
for Psychical Research appointed a Committee for the purpose of taking
such evidence as to the alleged phenomena connected with the
Theosophical Society as might be offered by members of that body at the
time in England, or as could be collected elsewhere.
The Committee consisted of the following
members, with power to add to their number: -- Messrs. E. Gurney, F.W.H.
Myers, F. Podmore, H. Sidgwick, and J.H. Stack. They have since added
Mr. R. Hodgson and Mrs. H. Sidgwick to their number.
For the convenience of Members who may
not have followed the progress of the Theosophical Society, a few words
of preliminary explanation may be added here.
The Theosophical Society was founded in
New York, in 1875, by Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky, ostensibly
for certain philanthropic and literary purposes. Its headquarters were
removed to India in 1878, and it made considerable progress among the
Hindus and other educated natives. "The Occult World," by Mr. Sinnett, at that time
editor
of the Pioneer, introduced the Society to English readers, and that
work,
which dealt mainly with phenomena, was succeeded by "Esoteric
Buddhism," in which some tenets of the Occult doctrine, or so-called
"Wisdom-religion," were set forth. But with these doctrines the
Committee have, of course, no concern.
The Committee had the opportunity of examining Colonel Olcott
and Madame Blavatsky, who spent some months in England in
the summer of 1884, and Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji, a Brahmin
graduate of the University of Calcutta, who accompanied them. Mr.
Sinnett also gave evidence before the Committee; and they have
had before them oral and written testimony from numerous other
members of the Theosophical Society in England, India, and other
countries, besides the accounts of phenomena published in " The
Occult World," "Hints on Esoteric Theosophy," Tlie Theosophist,
and elsewhere.
According to this evidence, there exists in Thibet a brotherhood
whose members have acquired a power over nature which enables them
to perform wonders beyond the reach of ordinary men. Madame
Blavatsky asserts herself to be a Chela, or disciple of these Brothers
(spoken of also as Adepts and as Mahatnms), and they are alleged to have
interested themselves in a special way in the Theosophical Society, and
to have performed many marvels in connection with it. They are said
to be able to cause apparitions of themselves in places where their
bodies are not, and not only to appear, but to communicate intelligently
with those whom they thus visit, and themselves to perceive what is
going
on where their phantasm appears. This phantasmal appearance has
been called by Theosophists the projection of the "astral form."
The evidence before the Committee includes several cases of such
alleged appearances of two Mahatmas, Koot Hoomi and Morya. It is
further alleged that their Chelas, or disciples, are gradually taught
this
art, and that Mr. Damodar K. Mavalankar in particular, a Theosophist
residing at the headquarters of the Society, has acquired it, and has
practised it on several occasions. It may be observed that these
alleged voluntary apparitions, though carrying us considerably beyond
any evidence that has been collected from other sources, still have
much analogy with some cases that have come under the notice of the
literary Committee.
But we cannot separate the evidence offered by the Theosophists
for projections of the " astral form," from the evidence which they also
offer for a different class of phenomena, similar to some which are said
by Spiritualists to occur through the agency of mediums, and which
involve the action of " psychical " energies on ponderable matter;
since
such phenomena are usually described either as (I) accompanying
apparitions of the Mohatmas or their disciples, or (2) at auy i*ate as
carrying with them a manifest reference to their agency.
The alleged phenomena which come under this head consist — ^so far
as we need at present take them into account— in the transportation,
even through solid matter, of ponderable objects, including letters,
and of what the Theosophists regard as their duplication; together
with what is called " precipitation " of handwriting and drawings on
previously blank paper. The evocation of sound without physical means
is also said to occur.
In December, 1884, the Committee considered that the time had
come to issue a preliminary and provisional Report. This Report, on
account of its provisional character, and for other reasons, was circu-
lated among Members and Associates of the Society for Psychical
Research only, and not published. In drawing up the present Report,
therefore, the Committee have not assumed that their readers will be
acquainted with the former one. The conclusion then come to was
expressed as follows: " On the whole (though with some serious
reserves), it seems undeniable that there is a prinid fade case, for
some
part, at least, of the claim made, which, at the point which the investi-
gations of the Society for Psychical Research have now reached, cannot,
with consistency, be ignored. And it seems plain that an actual
residence for some months in India of some trusted observer — his actual
intercourse with the persons concerned, Hindu and European, so far
as may be permitted to him — is an almost necessary pre-requisite of
any more definite judgment."
In accordance with this view, a member of the Committee, Mr. R.
Hodgson, B.A., Scholar of St. John's College, Cambridge, pro-
ceeded to India in November, 1884, and, after carrying on his
investigations for three months, returned in April, 1885.
In the Madras Christian College Magazine for September and
October, 1884, portions of certain letters were published which pur-
ported to have been written by Madame Blavatsky to a M. and
Madame Coulomb, who had occupied positions of trust at the head-
quarters of the Theosophical Society for some years,but had been
expelled
from it in May, 1884, by the General Council of that Society during
the absence of Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in Europe. These
letters, if genuine, unquestionably implicated Madame Blavatsky in a
conspiracy to produce marvellous phenomena fraudulently; but they were
declared by her to be, in whole or in part, forgeries. One important
object
of Mr. Hodgson's visit to India was to ascertain, if possible, by
examining
the letters, and by verifying facts implied or stated in them, and the
explanations of the Coulombs concerning them, whether the letters
were genuine or not. Tlie editor of the Christian College Magazitie
had already, as Mr. Hodgson found, taken considerable pains to
ascertain this; but he had not been able to obtain the judgment of
a recognised expert in handwriting. Accordingly a selection of the
letters, amply sufficient to prove the conspiracy, was entrusted by the
editor, (in whose charge Madame Coulomb had placed them,) to Mr.
Hodgson, who sent it home before his own return. These, together
with some letters undoubtedly written by Madame Blavatsky, were
submitted to the well-known expert in handwriting, Mr. Netherclift,
and also to Mr. Sims, of the British Museum. These gentlemen came
independently to the conclusion that the letters were written by
Madame Blavatsky. This opinion is entirely in accordance with the im-
pression produced on the Committee by the general aspect of the letters,
as well as by their characteristic style, and much of their contents.
The Committee further desired that Mr. Hodgson should, by cross-
examination and otherwise, obtain evidence that might assist them in
judging of the value to be attached to the testimony of some of the
principal witnesses; that he should examine localities where pheno-
mena had occurred, with a view to ascertaining whether the explanations
by trickery, that suggested themselves to the Committee, or any other
such explanations, were possible; and in particular, as already said,
that he should, as far as possible, verify the statements of the
Coulombs
with a view to judging whether their explanations of the phenomena
were plausible. For it is obvious that no value for the purposes of
psychical research can be attached to phenomena where persons like
the Coulombs have been concerned, if it can be plausibly shown that
they might themselves have produced them: while, at the same time,
their unsupported assertion that they did produce them, cannot be
taken by itself as evidence.
After hearing what Mr. Hodgson had to say on these points, and
after carefully weighing all the evidence before them, the Committee
unanimously andved at the following conclusions: —
(1) That of the letters put forward by Madame Coulomb, all those,
at least, which the Committee have had the opportunity of
themselves examining, and of submitting to the judgment of
experts, are undoubtedly written by Madame Blavatsky; and
suffice to prove that she has been engaged in a long-continued
combination with other persons to produce by ordinary means
a series of apparent marvels for the support of the Theosophio
movement
(2) That, in particular, the Shrine at Adyar, through which letters
purporting to come from Mahatmas were received, was elabo-
rately arranged with a view to the secret insertion of letters and
other objects through a sliding panel at the back, and regularly
used for this purpose by Madame Blavatsky or her agents.
(3) That there is consequently a very strong general presumption
that all the marvellous narratives put forward as evidence of
the existence and occult power of the Mahatmas are to be
explained as due either (a) to deliberate deception carried out
by or at the instigation of Madame Blavatsky, or (6) to spon-
taneous illusion, or hallucination, or unconscious misrepresen-
tation or invention on the part of the witnesses.
(4) That after examining Mr. Hodgson's report of the results of his
personal inquiries, thev are of opinion that the testimony to
these marvels is in no case sufficient, taking amount and
character together, to resist the force of the general presump-
tion above mentioned.
Accordingly, they think that it would be a waste of time to prolong
the investigation.
As to the correctness of Mr. Hodgson's explanation of particular
marvels, they do not feel called upon to express any definite
conclusion;
since on the one hand, they are not in a position to endorse every
detail
of this explanation, and on the other hand they have satisfied them-
selves as to the thoroughness of Mr. Hodgson's investigation, and have
complete reliance on his impartiality, and they recognise that his means
of arriving at a correct conclusion are far beyond any to which they can
lay claim.
There is only one special point on which the Committee tliink
themselves bound to state explicitly a modification of their original
view. They said in effect in their First Report that if certain
phenomena
were not genuine it was very difficult to suppose that Colonel Olcott
was not implicated in the fraud. But after considering the evidence that
Mr. Hodgson has laid before them as to Colonel Olcott's extraordinary
credulity, and inaccuracy in observation and inference, they desire to
disclaim any intention of imputing wilful deception to that gentleman.
The Committee have no desire that their conclusion should be
accepted without examination, and wish to afford the reader every
opportunity of forming a judgment for himself. They therefore append
Mr. Hodgson's account of his investigation, which will be found to form
by far the largest and most important part of the present Report. In
it, and the appendices to it, is incorporated enough of the evidence
given by members of the Theosophical Society to afford the reader ample
opportunity of judging of both its quantity and quality.
There is, however, evidence for certain phenomena which did not
occur in India, and are not directly dealt with in Mr. Hodgson's Report.
Accounts of these will be found at p. 382, with some remarks on them
liy Mrs. H. Sidgwick.
The report of Mr. Netherclift on the handwriting of the Blavatsky-
Coulomb letters will be found at p. 381. Extracts from the letters
themselves are given in Mr. Hodgson's Report, pp. 211-216.
The authorship of the letters attributed to Koot Hoomi, which
are very numerous, and many of them very long, is fully discussed in
Mr. Hodgson's Keport. It may be mentioned here that it is maintained
by some that the contents of these letters are such as to preclude the
possibility of their having been written by Madame Blavatsky. This
has never been the opinion of the Committee, either as regards the
published letters or those that have been privately shown to them in
manuscript. Those who wish to form an independent opinion on the
subject are referred to " The Occult World" and " Esoteric Buddhism/'
which contain many of the letters themselves, and much matter derived
from others.
In this connection may be conveniently mentioned what the Com-
mittee, in their First Report, called the most serious blot which had
then
been pointed out in the Theosophic evidence. A certain letter, in the
Koot Hoomi handwriting, and addressed avowedly by Koot Hoomi,
from Thibet, to Mr. Sinnett, in 1880, was proved by Mr. H. Kiddle,
of New York, to contain a long passage apparently plagiarised from a
speech of Mr. Kiddle's, made at Lake Pleasant, August 15th, 1880,
and reported in the Banner of Light some two months or more previous
to the date of Koot Hoomi's letter. Koot Hoomi replied (some
months later) that the passages were no doubt quotatioiu from Mr.
Kiddle's speech, which he had become cognisant of in some occult
manner, and which he had stored up in his mind, but that the appear-
ance of plagiarism was due to the imperfect precipitation of the letter
by the Chela, or disciple, charged with the task. Koot Hoomi then
gave what he asserted to be the true version of the letter as dictated
and recovered by his own scrutiny apparently from the blurred pre-
cipitation. In this fuller version the quoted passages were given as
quotations, and mixed with controversial matter. Koot Hoomi
explained the peculiar form which the error of precipitation had
assumed by saying that the quoted passages had been more distinctly
impressed on his own mind, by an effort of memory, than his own
interposed remarks; and, that inasmuch as the whole composition had
been feebly and inadequately projected, owing to his own physical
fatigue at the time, the high lights only, so to speak, had come out;
there had been many illegible passages, which the Chela had omitted.
The Chela, he said, wished to submit the letter to Koot Hoomi for
revision, but Koot Hoomi declined for want of time.
The weakness of this explanation was pointed out (in Light) by Mr.
Massey, who showed (among other points) that the quoted sentences
seemed to have been ingeniously twisted into a polemical sense,
precisely
opposite to that in which they were written.
And more lately (in Light, September 20th, 1884) Mr. Kiddle has
shown that the passage thus restored by no means comprises the whole
of the unacknowledged quotations; and, moreover, that these newly-
indicated quotations are antecedent to those already admitted by Koot
Hoomi, and described as forming the introduction to a fresh topic of
criticism. The proof of a deliberate plagiarism aggravated by a
fictitious defence, is therefore irresistible.
In conclusion, it is necessary to state that this is not the only
evidence of fraud in connection with the Theosophical Society and
Madame Blavatsky, which the Committee had before them, prior to, or
independently of, the publication of the Blavatsky-Goulomb corre-
spondence. Mr. C. C. Massey had brought before them evidence
which convinced both him and them that Madame Blavatsky had, in
1879, arranged with a medium, then in London, to cause a " Mahatma "
letter to reach him in an apparently " mysterious " way. The par-
ticulars will be found at p. 397.
It forms no part of our duty to follow Madame Blavatsky into other
fields. But with reference to the somewhat varied lines of activity
which Mr. Hodgson's Beport suggests for her, we may say that we
camiot consider any of these as beyond the range of her powers. The
homage which her immediate friends have paid to her abilities has been
for the most part of an unconscious kind; and some of them may still be
unwilling to credit her with mental resources which they have hitherto
been so far from suspecting. For our own part, we regard her neither
as the mouthpiece of hidden seers, nor as a mere vulgar adventuress;
we think that she has achieved a title to permanent remembrance as one
of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in
history.
_______________
Notes:
1. As this Committee had carried out a
large portion of its work before the appointment of the Committee of
Reference, its Report has, by exception, not been submitted to that
body.
Go to Next Page |