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I am now compelled to say I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO BE SO; and, furthermore. I must add that my husband and myself, finding the reiteration of this petty but mischievous slander persisted in by whisperers who dare not openly confront us: finding, moreover, that those who enunciate it are your subscribers, and claim their authority from your correspondents, Mr. Editor, we have felt it to be our duty to lay the case before an eminent New York legal gentleman, who has instructed us to say publicly that free as this country may be to do what each one pleases, it is not free enough to allow the circulation of injurious libels, and whilst this same legal functionary has instructed us on the award which the laws of this free but JUST COUNTRY renders to the libeller, we have instructed him to proceed immediately against any oue who hereafter shal assert, publicly or privately, that the work I have undertaken—-namely, to become Secretary to the publication of Art Magic, or Mundane, Sub-Mundane, and Super-Mundane Spiritualism—has anything to do with Col. Olcott, Madame Blavatsky, the New York Theosophical Society, or any thing or person belonging to either those persons or that Society. Further, I insist that the work was prepared in Europe by a gentleman who is wholly unknown to the persons and Society named above, and that, though two or three of the Society, as individuals, have sent in their names as subscribers, they, too, are entirely ignorant of the author, his name, standing, or the character of his work.

I am now compelled to say I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO BE SO; and, furthermore. I must add that my husband and myself, finding the reiteration of this petty but mischievous slander persisted in by whisperers who dare not openly confront us: finding, moreover, that those who enunciate it are your subscribers, and claim their authority from your correspondents, Mr. Editor, we have felt it to be our duty to lay the case before an eminent New York legal gentleman, who has instructed us to say publicly that free as this country may be to do what each one pleases, it is not free enough to allow the circulation of injurious libels, and whilst this same legal functionary has instructed us on the award which the laws of this free but JUST COUNTRY renders to the libeller, we have instructed him to proceed immediately against any oue who hereafter shal assert, publicly or privately, that the work I have undertaken—-namely, to become Secretary to the publication of Art Magic, or Mundane, Sub-Mundane, and Super-Mundane Spiritualism—has anything to do with Col. Olcott, Madame Blavatsky, the New York Theosophical Society, or any thing or person belonging to either those persons or that Society. Further, I insist that the work was prepared in Europe by a gentleman who is wholly unknown to the persons and Society named above, and that, though two or three of the Society, as individuals, have sent in their names as subscribers, they, too, are entirely ignorant of the author, his name, standing, or the character of his work.

I cannot conclude this painful but necessary warning without expressing my decided opinion that persons calling themselves Spiritualists and pretending to seek for light and progress, should be ashamed of themselves thus to attack one who has spent the best years of her public and useful life in endeavoring to serve them and their cause: that they should be ashamed of the narrow-mindedness which Hies to arms the moment they hear of some one’s attempting to enlarge the borders of their knowledge, and deem every one is in a conspiracy to upset their faith, who happen to know, or think they know, a little more than themselves. I undertook to help the author of Art Magic to bring forward his magnificent work, because I had long known him in Europe as a gentleman more capable of instructing me and others on dark and occult points of our faith, and man's spiritual nature, than any other individual I had ever met with. I undertook this task with my dear husband’s help alone, because I knew that my husband’s experience in matters of book publishing would supply our foreign friend’s utter lack of knowledge on all matters of business. I also undertook it because Mr. Britten's extensive mastery of foreign languages would enable us to arrange the author’s idiomatic translation into fair, readable English.”

I cannot conclude this painful but necessary warning without expressing my decided opinion that persons calling themselves Spiritualists and pretending to seek for light and progress, should be ashamed of themselves thus to attack one who has spent the best years of her public and useful life in endeavoring to serve them and their cause: that they should be ashamed of the narrow-mindedness which Hies to arms the moment they hear of some one’s attempting to enlarge the borders of their knowledge, and deem every one is in a conspiracy to upset their faith, who happen to know, or think they know, a little more than themselves. I undertook to help the author of Art Magic to bring forward his magnificent work, because I had long known him in Europe as a gentleman more capable of instructing me and others on dark and occult points of our faith, and man's spiritual nature, than any other individual I had ever met with. I undertook this task with my dear husband’s help alone, because I knew that my husband’s experience in matters of book publishing would supply our foreign friend’s utter lack of knowledge on all matters of business. I also undertook it because Mr. Britten's

 

 

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