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Blavatsky H.P. - The Collapse of Koot Hoomi (view source)
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{{Style P-Title|THE COLLAPSE OF KOOT HOOMI}} | {{Style P-Title|THE COLLAPSE OF KOOT HOOMI}} | ||
{{Style P-Subtitle|{{Style S-Small capitals|An Interview with Madame Bkavatsky}}}} | |||
{{HPB-CW-comment|view=center|[''Pall Mall Gazette'', London, October 23, 1884]}} | |||
{{Vertical space|}} | {{Vertical space|}} | ||
{{HPB-CW-comment|[This interview with H. P. B. in London, at a very critical time in her career, is published here because it contains a very clear statement of the Coulomb-trouble and a succinct appraisal of the whole situation, as viewed by H. P. B. herself. Her reported words may not be verbatim, but are unquestionably close to being so and are corroborated by her elsewhere. | {{HPB-CW-comment|[This interview with H. P. B. in London, at a very critical time in her career, is published here because it contains a very clear statement of the Coulomb-trouble and a succinct appraisal of the whole situation, as viewed by H. P. B. herself. Her reported words may not be ''verbatim'', but are unquestionably close to being so and are corroborated by her elsewhere.—''Compiler''.]}} | ||
Madame Blavatsky leaves London for India today (Friday). Last night she took farewell of the faithful at a great reception of the Theosophists in the drawing-room of Mrs. Sinnett. Before leaving she was interviewed by a representative of this journal, who was instructed to ascertain what the authoress of Isis Unveiled had to say concerning the unveiling of the mysteries of the Theosophical Society by Madame Coulomb in the columns of the Christian College Magazine of Madras. This is his report of the conversation:— | Madame Blavatsky leaves London for India today (Friday). Last night she took farewell of the faithful at a great reception of the Theosophists in the drawing-room of Mrs. Sinnett. Before leaving she was interviewed by a representative of this journal, who was instructed to ascertain what the authoress of ''Isis Unveiled'' had to say concerning the unveiling of the mysteries of the Theosophical Society by Madame Coulomb in the columns of the ''Christian College Magazine'' of Madras. This is his report of the conversation:— | ||
“I have come to hear,” I said, “what Madame Blavatsky, the prophetess of the Theosophists, has to say concerning the alleged revelations that the famous Mahatmas had been proved to be nothing but cunningly devised arrangements of muslin, bladders, and masks.” Without attempting to reproduce in its original vivacity this remarkable woman’s explanation of the exposure which has taken place in Madras, the following may be accepted as the substance of her case. “The whole story,” she said, “is very simple. Madame Coulomb was a woman whom I had {{Page aside|309}}befriended, and whose avarice I had checked. She professed to be a sincere Theosophist, and notwithstanding many shortcomings on her part, I bore with her chiefly in deference to Colonel Olcott’s belief in her sincerity. She was in the habit of professing to discover hidden treasures. She may have believed in her ability to find hidden gold, but she never found any; and I interfered on two occasions to prevent her taking money from persons whom she had persuaded that she could reveal hidden deposits of treasure in their land. I said that it was little better than receiving money under false pretences, and from that moment she vowed revenge. Not knowing, however, the malignity of thwarted avarice, I left her and her husband in charge of all my papers, correspondence, and documents, nor did I dream that she would abuse her trust. When we had reached Europe we were warned by the Mahatma that mischief was brewing. We communicated with the Coulombs and the Board of Control concerning these communications from our Masters. We received in reply a letter from the Coulombs, dated only two days before their so-called revelations, in which they professed most emphatically their devotion to the Theosophical Society, and indignantly repudiated any suspicion that they were not faithful to the cause. Two days afterwards came a telegram announcing their expulsion by the Board of Control and Council for dishonesty; then four months later the ‘exposure’ which is foolishly believed to have extinguished the Society. At first it created some uneasiness among those who did not know the Coulombs and whose faith was but weak; as soon, however, as the full details of the so-called revelation reached us we exploded with laughter; the fraud was too silly to deceive anyone who has the most elementary acquaintance with the teachings of the Society. | “I have come to hear,” I said, “what Madame Blavatsky, the prophetess of the Theosophists, has to say concerning the alleged revelations that the famous Mahatmas had been proved to be nothing but cunningly devised arrangements of muslin, bladders, and masks.” Without attempting to reproduce in its original vivacity this remarkable woman’s explanation of the exposure which has taken place in Madras, the following may be accepted as the substance of her case. “The whole story,” she said, “is very simple. Madame Coulomb was a woman whom I had {{Page aside|309}}befriended, and whose avarice I had checked. She professed to be a sincere Theosophist, and notwithstanding many shortcomings on her part, I bore with her chiefly in deference to Colonel Olcott’s belief in her sincerity. She was in the habit of professing to discover hidden treasures. She may have believed in her ability to find hidden gold, but she never found any; and I interfered on two occasions to prevent her taking money from persons whom she had persuaded that she could reveal hidden deposits of treasure in their land. I said that it was little better than receiving money under false pretences, and from that moment she vowed revenge. Not knowing, however, the malignity of thwarted avarice, I left her and her husband in charge of all my papers, correspondence, and documents, nor did I dream that she would abuse her trust. When we had reached Europe we were warned by the Mahatma that mischief was brewing. We communicated with the Coulombs and the Board of Control concerning these communications from our Masters. We received in reply a letter from the Coulombs, dated only two days before their so-called revelations, in which they professed most emphatically their devotion to the Theosophical Society, and indignantly repudiated any suspicion that they were not faithful to the cause. Two days afterwards came a telegram announcing their expulsion by the Board of Control and Council for ''dishonesty''; then four months later the ‘exposure’ which is foolishly believed to have extinguished the Society. At first it created some uneasiness among those who did not know the Coulombs and whose faith was but weak; as soon, however, as the full details of the so-called revelation reached us we exploded with laughter; the fraud was too silly to deceive anyone who has the most elementary acquaintance with the teachings of the Society. | ||
“The Coulombs’ revelations amounted to the declaration that Madame Coulomb produced the phenomena upon which it is assumed mistakenly that the Theosophical Society is based. This she supports by the publication of letters said to have been written by me, letters in which I {{Page aside|310}}direct her to persuade the Mahatmas to secrete cigarettes and to despatch telegrams, as if they had proceeded from the occult world. Those letters are said to be in my handwriting, and one at least is unquestionably mine. Madame Coulomb having access to all my correspondence had no difficulty in copying or tracing parts of letters which I had written, and interpolating in those letters statements which I never made, and which it is quite impossible for me to have made. Hence there is a certain resemblance between those letters which are imputed to me and those which I unquestionably wrote. The only genuine letter in the whole collection is that dated, and it contains absolutely nothing in which the most suspicious could detect any fraud. The other letters represent me as having made several specific statements concerning matters of fact which are so obviously false that it is difficult to understand how Madame Coulomb could be so stupid as to impute them to me. For instance, I would never speak of the Maharajah of Lahore, as I know perfectly well what apparently Madame Coulomb does not know, that there is no such person in existence. Neither would I mistake the initials of one of my most intimate friends, as I am made to do in the letter which speaks of H. instead of N. D. Khandalavala. Then, again, I am made to announce as if it were a great thing that I had dined with the Governor. As a matter of fact, I never dined with the Governor, although I was invited—a fact which Mrs. Grant Duff, who is now in London, can verify. Ramalinga is represented as if he were a Mahatma, while everyone knows that he is only a Chela, who has as much right to send telegrams as any other subject of your Queen. Several of the letters are simply nonsense, and if I had written them they might prove that I was a silly old woman, but certainly not the astute impostor which I am represented as being. | “The Coulombs’ revelations amounted to the declaration that Madame Coulomb produced the phenomena upon which it is assumed mistakenly that the Theosophical Society is based. This she supports by the publication of letters said to have been written by me, letters in which I {{Page aside|310}}direct her to persuade the Mahatmas to secrete cigarettes and to despatch telegrams, as if they had proceeded from the occult world. Those letters are said to be in my handwriting, and one at least is unquestionably mine. Madame Coulomb having access to all my correspondence had no difficulty in copying or tracing parts of letters which I had written, and interpolating in those letters statements which I never made, and which it is quite impossible for me to have made. Hence there is a certain resemblance between those letters which are imputed to me and those which I unquestionably wrote. The only genuine letter in the whole collection is that dated, and it contains absolutely nothing in which the most suspicious could detect any fraud. The other letters represent me as having made several specific statements concerning matters of fact which are so obviously false that it is difficult to understand how Madame Coulomb could be so stupid as to impute them to me. For instance, I would never speak of the Maharajah of Lahore, as I know perfectly well what apparently Madame Coulomb does not know, that there is no such person in existence. Neither would I mistake the initials of one of my most intimate friends, as I am made to do in the letter which speaks of H. instead of N. D. Khandalavala. Then, again, I am made to announce as if it were a great thing that I had dined with the Governor. As a matter of fact, I never dined with the Governor, although I was invited—a fact which Mrs. Grant Duff, who is now in London, can verify. Ramalinga is represented as if he were a Mahatma, while everyone knows that he is only a Chela, who has as much right to send telegrams as any other subject of your Queen. Several of the letters are simply nonsense, and if I had written them they might prove that I was a silly old woman, but certainly not the astute impostor which I am represented as being. | ||