Zirkoff B. - H.P.B. on the Coulomb Forged Letters: Difference between revisions

  | alternatives = [http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v6/y1884_053.htm KH]

{{HPB-CW-comment|[In the September 1884 issue of the Madras Christian College Magazine, which was published on the 11th of the month, there appeared the first of two installments of an article entitled “The Collapse of Koot Hoomi,” written by the Editor, Rev. George Patterson. This installment was based mainly on fifteen letters (or parts thereof), some in French and some in English, alleged by the Coulombs to have been written to them by H. P. B., during her absence from the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society, at Bombay and Adyar, giving them instruction to produce “occult” phenomena fraudulently. Another batch of similar correspondence appeared in the October issue of the same periodical. Parts of this so-called correspondence have also been published in Richard Hodgson’s “Report” concerning the phenomena connected with The Theosophical Society, which appeared in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research (Vol. III, Part IX, December, 1885, pp. 201-400). Hodgson, however, does not give any English translation of the French letters, and has corrected some of the French versions and tampered with others. A substantial analysis of these alleged letters from H. P. B.’ s pen has been made by K. F. Vania in his recently published work, Madame H. P. Blavatsky: Her Occult Phenomena and the Society for Psychical Research, pp. 259-300.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|In a very rare pamphlet issued in October 1884 by the Council of the London Lodge under the title of The Latest Attack on The Theosophical Society, there appeared a brief statement by H. P. B. concerning the alleged letters, which is reproduced below.}}

{{HPB-CW-comment|It has been thought advisable to include also the text of the forged letters, as they appeared in the Madras Christian College Magazine for September 1884, so as to make H. P. B.’s remarks thereon more intelligible. These letters follow immediately after H. P. B.’s remarks, and correspond to the superior numbers in the text below.—Compiler.]}}

The first letter is supposed to be written in 1880 or 1881.1 It seems to contain in its first portion the original of a note I wrote to the woman Coulomb, from Simla, and which was shown to Colonel Olcott and others. She was asked to go and see whether the cigarette had not fallen in some crevice. She answered there had been a storm, rain and wind that night, and that probably the cigarette was destroyed. As it is so long ago, I could not swear to the words; it is possible that down to the signature the letter is mine. But the flyleaf spoken of in the editor’s note, {{Page aside|296}}and the words quoted in the footnote, I pronounce to be a forgery.

The second letter may the mine,2 or a reproduction of a portion of one of mine, as far as the first paragraph is concerned. The rest is either greatly altered or an entire fabrication. I vaguely remember the letter; what I said was, that if any fresh slanders should be trumped up at Bombay it would be dreadful. That Damodar should, if possible, see one of the Brothers, and that I was going to write to him. Who “King” is I do not know. I never called Padshah by that name. As Damodar had at the time quarrels with his relatives, I said that I would beg of Master K. H. to write to him.—“Lui tomber sur la tête means simply that the letter ought to stun him; “tomber sur la tête comme une tuile,” a common French expression, which does not mean most certainly that the letter should fall physically on his head! Again, the original letter says, “il doit battre le fer,” etc., and the translation alters this to “We must strike while the iron is hot,” etc. “Il,” if I really wrote this sentence, would have meant Damodar, but “we” means quite another thing. A request to Mr. Coulomb to “save the situation” and do what he was asked, might have referred, if written, to a lawsuit then going on in which Damodar was interested, certainly not to any phenomena. This letter, in fact, is either a forgery altogether or is full of interpolation.

The third letter, supposed to be written from Poona, is an entire fabrication.3 I remember the letter I wrote to her from Poona. It asked her to send me immediately the telegram contained in a note from Ramalinga, if he brought or sent her one. I wrote to Colonel Olcott about the experiment. He thinks he can find my letter at Madras. I hope to either get back Ramalinga’s note to me or obtain a statement of the whole matter from him. How could I make a mistake in writing, however hurriedly, about the name of one of my best friends? The forgers make me address him—“care of H. Khandalawalla”—when there is no such man. The real name is N. D. Khandalawala.

The brief note which is fourth in the series has no {{Page aside|297}}significance, except for the words “in a miraculous way,” which assuredly are not mine. I have no recollection of the note at all, which is given without any date.4

The fifth letter I never wrote at all.5 All about a handkerchief is pure nonsense. There is no “Maharajah of Lahore,” hence I could not have spoken of such a person, nor have been attempting mock phenomena for his deception. If such a sentence as “do something for the old man, Damodar’s father,” was ever written by me, it would have referred to a wound in his leg, of which he afterwards died. Madame C. boasted that she could cure him; at any rate, she nursed him, for I asked her to.

The sixth letter is a pure forgery.6 The phrase “the Adyar saucer will become historical like the Simla cup,” is a phrase first pronounced by Madame Coulomb, as Colonel Olcott may remember, and I have used it since. I do not know any “Soobroya”—perhaps “Soubaya” is meant.

The seventh and eighth letters are forgeries again.7 I could never, in writing to her who saw the man every day, use all his names and titles. I should simply have said “Dewan Bahadur,” without adding “Ragoonath Rao, the President of the Society,” as if introducing to her one she did not know. The whole name is evidently put in now, to make it clear who is meant. The ninth letter, if possible, is worse nonsense yet.8 I never called anyone “Christophe.” That was a name given by Madame Coulomb to her husband behind his neck, and “Christopholo” was a name by which she called an absurd little figure, or image, of hers. She gave nicknames to everything.

Letter 10: fabrication again. Letter 11. A letter was written by me from the Nilghiris to introduce the General, but it was not this letter, which appears to be altogether a fabrication.9 Letter 12 is the only clearly genuine letter of the series.10 Letter 13 may have been written by me.11 All depends upon knowing who is “Christopholo”—a little ridiculous figure in rags, about three inches high; she wrote to say it had accidentally been destroyed. She joked over it, and I too.

{{Page aside|298}}<center>TEXT OF FORCED LETTERS AND COMPILER’S NOTES</center>

1In numbering the letters, H. P. B. uses the order in which they appeared in the Christian College Magazine. This first letter reads:

My dear Mme. Coulomb,

Last night, Sunday, I wanted to show my friends a phenomenon and sent a cigarette tied up with my hair to be placed opposite Watson’s hotel in the coat-of-arms (under the Prince of Wales’ statue) under the horn of the Unicorn. Captain Maitland had himself chosen the town and named the place. He spent 13 Rs. for a telegram to Police-Commissioner Grant, his brother-in-law. The latter went the moment he received it and—found NOTHING. It is a dead failure but I do not believe it, for I saw it there clearly at 3 in the morning. I am sorry for it for Captain Maitland is a Theosophist and spent money over it. They want to tear the cigarette paper in two and keep one half. And I will choose the same places with the exception of the Prince’s statue for our enemies might watch and see the cigarette fall and destroy it. I enclose an envelope with a cigarette paper in it. I will drop another half of a cigarette behind the Queen’s head where I dropped my hair the same day or Saturday. Is the hair still there? and a cigarette still under the cover? Oh Dio Dio! What a pity . . . .

{{Style P-Signature|H. P. B.}}

(Note on the flyleaf) Make a half cigarette of this. Take care of the edges.

2This second letter is in French, and its text is as follows:

Au nom du ciel ne croyez pas que je vous oublie. Je n’ai pas le temps matériel pour respirer—voilà tout! Nous sommes dans la plus grande crise, et je ne dois pas PERDRE LA TÊTE.

Je ne puis ni ose rien vous écrire. Mais vous devez comprendre qu’il est absolument nécessaire que quelque chose arrive à Bombay tant que je suis ici. Le Roi et Dam. doivent voir et recevoir la visite d’un de nos Fréres et—s’il est possible que le premier reçoive une lettre que j’enverrai. Mais les voir il est plus nécessaire encore. Elle devrait lui tomber sur la tête comme la première et je suis en train de supplier «Koothoomi» de la lui envoyer. Il doit battre le fer tant qu’il est chaud. Agissez indépendamment de moi, mais dans les habitudes et customs des Frères. S’il pouvait arriver quelque chose à Bombay qui fasse parler tout le monde—ce serait merveilleux. Mais quoi! Les Frères sont inexorables. Oh cher M. Coulomb, sauvez la situation et faites ce qu’ils vous demandent

<center>Standing: M. Krishnamachari (known also as Dharbagiri Nath and Bawaji), and Col. H. S. Olcott.</center>

<center>Seated, from left to right:</center>

<center>Back row: Major-General Henry Rodes Morgan; William Tournay Brown; T. Subba Row (with turban); H. P. Blavatsky; Dr. Franz Hartmann; Rudolf Gebhard.</center>

<center>Middle row: Norendro Nath Sen; Damodar K. Mavalankar; S. Ramaswamier; Judge P. Sreenivasa Row.</center>

<center>Front row: Bhavani Shankar; T. Vijayaraghavacharlu; Tukaram Tatya; V. Coopooswami Iyer.</center>

{{Page aside|299}}{{Style P-No indent|J’ai la fièvre toujours un peu. On l’aurait à moins! Ne voilà-t-il pas que Mr. Hume veut voir Koothoomi astralement de loin, s’il veut, pour pouvoir dire au monde qu’il sait qu’il existe et l’écrire dans tous les journaux car jusqu’à présent il ne peut dire qu’une chose c’est qu’il croit fermement et positivement mais non qu’il le sait parcequ’il a vu de ses yeux comme Damodar, Padshah, etc. Enfin en voilà d’un problème!

Comprenez donc que je deviens folle, et prenez pitié d’une pauvre veuve. Si quelque chose d’inoui arrivait à Bombay il n’y a rien que Mr. Hume ne fasse pour Koothoomi sur sa demande. Mais K. H. ne peut pas venir ici, car les lois occultes ne le lui permettent pas. Enfin, au revoir. Écrivez moi.}}

{{Style P-Signature|H. P. B.}}

Demain je vous enverrai les deux lettres. Allez les chercher à la poste à votre nom, E. Cutting=Coulomb.

The Christian College Magazine published an English translation of this letter which is somewhat faulty and inadequate. We publish our own translation thereof:

In heaven’s name do not think I am forgetting you. I have not even time to breathe––that’s all! We are in the greatest crisis and I must not LOSE MY HEAD.

I cannot and dare not write anything to you. But you must understand that it is absolutely necessary that something should happen at Bombay while I am here. The King and Dam. must see one of the Brothers and receive a visit from him, and, if possible, the first must receive a letter which I will send. But to see them, is more necessary yet. It must fall on his head [vide H. P. B.’s explanation of this expression] like the first, and I am just now begging “Koothoomi” to send it to him. We [thus in the Christ. Coll. Mag. translation] must strike while the iron is hot. Act independently of me, but according to the habits and customs of the Brothers. If something could happen at Bombay that would make everybody talk, it would be marvellous. But then! The Brothers are inexorable. Oh dear M. Coulomb, save the situation and do what they ask you to

I am always somewhat feverish. One would be so for less. And here is Mr. Hume who wants to see Koothoomi in his astral form at a distance, if he consents, so that he may be able to say to the {{Page aside|300}}world that he knows he exists, and to write it in all the papers; for at present he can say but one thing, namely, that he believes firmly and positively, but not that he knows it, because of having seen him with his own eyes, like Damodar, Padshah, etc. Well, there is a problem!

Understand then that I am going mad, and take pity on a poor widow. If something unheard of should take place at Bombay, there is nothing that Mr. Hume would not do for Koothoomi on his demand. But K. H. cannot come here, for the occult laws do not permit him to do so. Good bye. Write to me.

{{Style P-Signature|H. P. B.}}

I will send you the two letters tomorrow. Go and ask for them at the post office in your name, E. Cutting=Coulomo.

3 The text of this third letter is as follows:

Now dear, let us change the program. Whether something succeeds or not I must try. Jacob Sassoon, the happy proprietor of a crore of rupees, with whose family I dined last night, is anxious to become a Theosophist. He is ready to give 10,000 rupees to buy and repair the headquarters, he said to Colonel (Ezekiel his cousin arranged all this) if only he saw a little phenomenon, got the assurance that the Mahatmas could hear what was said, or give him some other sign of their existence (?!!). Well, this letter will reach you the 26th, Friday, will you go to the shrine and ask K. H. (or Christofolo) to send me a telegram that would reach me about 4 or 5 in the afternoon, same day, worded thus:—

<center>“RAMALINGA DEB.”</center>

If this reaches me on the 26th even in the evening, it will still produce a tremendous impression; Address care of N. Khandalawalla, Judge, Poona. JE FERAI LE RESTE. Cela coûtera quatre ou cinq roupies. Cela ne fait rien.

{{Style P-Signature|H. P. B.}}

{{Page aside|301}}4 The French text of this note is as follows: