Annie Besant — 21 - THROUGH STORM TO PEACE part 2

On June 23rd, in a review of "The Secret Doctrine" in the _National Reformer,_ the following passages occur, and show how swiftly some of the main points of the teaching had been grasped.

(There is a blunder in the statement that of the seven modifications of Matter Science knows only four, and till lately knew only three; these four are sub-states only, sub-divisions of the lowest plane.

) After saying that the nineteenth-century Englishman would be but too likely to be repelled if he only skimmed the book, I went on: "With telescope and with microscope, with scalpel and with battery, Western Science interrogates nature, adding fact to fact, storing experience after experience, but coming ever to gulfs unfathomable by its plummets, to heights unscalable by its ladders.

Wide and masterful in its answers to the 'How?'

the 'Why?'

ever eludes it, and causes remain enwrapped in gloom.

Eastern Science uses as its scientific instrument the penetrating faculties of the mind alone, and regarding the material plane as _Maya_--illusion--seeks in the mental and spiritual planes of being the causes of the material effects.

There, too, is the only reality; there the true existence of which the visible universe is but the shadow.

"It is clear that from such investigations some further mental equipment is necessary than that normally afforded by the human body.

And here comes the parting of the ways between East and West.

For the study of the material universe, our five senses, aided by the instruments invented by Science, may suffice.

For all we can hear and see, taste and handle, these accustomed servitors, though often blundering, are the best available guides to knowledge.

But it lies in the nature of the case that they are useless when the investigation is to be into modes of existence which cannot impress themselves on our nerve-ends.

For instance, what we know as colour is the vibration frequency of etheric waves striking on the retina of the eye, between certain definite limits--759 trillions of blows from the maximum, 436 trillions from the minimum--these waves give rise in us to the sensation which the brain translates into colour.

(Why the 436 trillion blows at one end of a nerve become 'Red' at the other end we do not know; we chronicle the fact but cannot explain it.

) But our capacity to respond to the vibration cannot limit the vibrational capacity of the ether; to _us_ the higher and lower rates of vibration do not exist, but if our sense of vision were more sensitive we should see where now we are blind.

Following this line of thought we realise that matter may exist in forms unknown to us, in modifications to which our senses are unable to respond.

Now steps in the Eastern Sage and says: 'That which you say _may_ be, _is_; we have developed and cultivated senses as much superior to yours as your eye is superior to that of the jelly-fish; we have evolved mental and spiritual faculties which enable us to investigate on the higher planes of being with as much certainty as you are investigating on the physical plane; there is nothing _supernatural_ in the business, any more than your knowledge is supernatural, though much above that accessible to the fish; we do not speculate on these higher forms of existence; we _know_ them by personal study, just as you know the fauna and flora of your world.

The powers we possess are not supernatural, they are latent in every human being, and will be evolved as the race progresses.

All that we have done is to evolve them more rapidly than our neighbours, by a procedure as open to you as it was to us.

Matter is everywhere, but it exists in seven modifications of which you only know four, and until lately only knew three; in those higher forms reside the causes of which you see the effects in the lower, and to know these causes you must develop the capacity to take cognisance of the higher planes.'

" Then followed a brief outline of the cycle of evolution, and I went on: "What part does man play in this vast drama of a universe?

Needless to say, he is not the only living form in a Cosmos, which for the most part is uninhabitable by him.

As Science has shown living forms everywhere on the material plane, races in each drop of water, life throbbing in every leaf and blade, so the 'Secret Doctrine' points to living forms on higher planes of existence, each suited to its environment, till all space thrills with life, and nowhere is there death, but only change.

Amid these myriads are some evolving towards humanity, some evolving away from humanity as we know it, divesting themselves of its grosser parts.

For man is regarded as a sevenfold being, four of these parts belonging to the animal body, and perishing at, or soon after, death; while three form his higher self, his true individuality, and these persist and are immortal.

These form the Ego, and it is this which passes through many incarnations, learning life's lesson as it goes, working out its own redemption within the limits of an inexorable law, sowing seeds of which it ever reaps the harvest, building its own fate with tireless fingers, and finding nowhere in the measureless time and space around it any that can lift for it one weight it has created, one burden it has gathered, unravel for it one tangle it has twisted, close for it one gulf it has digged."

Then after noting the approaches of Western Science to Eastern, came the final words: "it is of curious interest to note how some of the latest theories seem to catch glimpses of the occult Doctrines, as though Science were standing on the very threshold of knowledge which shall make all her past seem small.

Already her hand is trembling towards the grasp of forces beside which all those now at her command are insignificant.

How soon will her grip fasten on them?

Let us hope not until social order has been transformed, lest they should only give more to those who have, and leave the wretched still wretcheder by force of contrast.

Knowledge used by selfishness widens the gulf that divides man from man and race from race, and we may well shrink from the idea of new powers in Nature being yoked to the car of Greed.

Hence the wisdom of those 'Masters,' in whose name Madame Blavatsky speaks, has ever denied the knowledge which is power until Love's lesson has been learned, and has given only into the hands of the selfless the control of those natural forces which, misused, would wreck society."

This review, and the public announcement, demanded by honesty, that I had joined the Theosophical Society, naturally raised somewhat of a storm of criticism, and the _National Reformer_ of June 30th contained the following: "The review of Madame Blavatsky's book in the last _National Reformer_, and an announcement in the _Star_, have brought me several letters on the subject of Theosophy.

I am asked for an explanation as to what Theosophy is, and as to my own opinion on Theosophy--the word 'theosoph' is old, and was used among the Neo-platonists.

From the dictionary its new meaning appears to be, 'one who claims to have a knowledge of God, or of the laws of nature by means of internal illumination.'

An Atheist certainly cannot be a Theosophist.

A Deist might be a Theosophist.

A Monist cannot be a Theosophist.

Theosophy must at least involve Dualism.

Modern Theosophy, according to Madame Blavatsky, as set out in last week's issue, asserts much that I do not believe, and alleges some things that, to me, are certainly not true.

I have not had the opportunity of reading Madame Blavatsky's two volumes, but I have read during the past ten years many publications from the pen of herself, Colonel Olcott, and of other Theosophists.

They appear to me to have sought to rehabilitate a kind of Spiritualism in Eastern phraseology.

I think many of their allegations utterly erroneous, and their reasonings wholly unsound.

I very deeply regret indeed that my colleague and co-worker has, with somewhat of suddenness, and without any interchange of ideas with myself, adopted as facts matters which seem to me to be as unreal as it is possible for any fiction to be.

My regret is greater as I know Mrs. Besant's devotion to any course she believes to be true.

I know that she will always be earnest in the advocacy of any views she undertakes to defend, and I look to possible developments of her Theosophic views with the very gravest misgiving.

The editorial policy of this paper is unchanged, and is directly antagonistic to all forms of Theosophy.

I would have preferred on this subject to have held my peace, for the public disagreeing with Mrs. Besant on her adoption of Socialism has caused pain to both; but on reading her article and taking the public announcement made of her having joined the Theosophical organisation, I owe it to those who look to me for guidance to say this with clearness.

"CHARLES BRADLAUGH."

"It is not possible for me here to state fully my reasons for joining the Theosophical Society, the three objects of which are: To found a Universal Brotherhood without distinction of race or creed; to forward the study of Aryan literature and philosophy; to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the physical powers latent in man.

On matters of religious opinion the members are absolutely free.

The founders of the society deny a personal God, and a somewhat subtle form of Pantheism is taught as the Theosophic view of the universe, though even this is not forced on members of the society.

I have no desire to hide the fact that this form of Pantheism appears to me to promise solution of some problems, especially problems in psychology, which Atheism leaves untouched.

"ANNIE BESANT."

Theosophy, as its students well know, so far from involving Dualism, is based on the One, which becomes Two on manifestation, just as Atheism posits one existence, only cognisable in the duality force and matter, and as philosophic--though not popular--Theism teaches one Deity whereof are spirit and matter.

Mr. Bradlaugh's temperate disapproval was not copied in its temperance by some other Freethought leaders, and Mr. Foote especially distinguished himself by the bitterness of his attacks.

In the midst of the whirl I was called away to Paris to attend, with Herbert Burrows, the great Labour Congress held there from July 15th to July 20th, and spent a day or two at Fontainebleau with H. P.

Blavatsky, who had gone abroad for a few weeks' rest.

There I found her translating the wonderful fragments from "The Book of the Golden Precepts," now so widely known under the name of "The Voice of the Silence."

She wrote it swiftly, without any material copy before her, and in the evening made me read it aloud to see if the "English was decent."

Herbert Burrows was there, and Mrs. Candler, a staunch American Theosophist, and we sat round H. P.

B.

while I read.

The translation was in perfect and beautiful English, flowing and musical; only a word or two could we find to alter, and she looked at us like a startled child, wondering at our praises--praises that any one with the literary sense would endorse if they read that exquisite prose poem.

A little earlier in the same day I had asked her as to the agencies at work in producing the taps so constantly heard at Spiritualistic _Séances_.

"You don't use spirits to produce taps," she said; "see here."

She put her hand over my head, not touching it, and I heard and felt slight taps on the bone of my skull, each sending a little electric thrill down the spine.

She then carefully explained how such taps were producible at any point desired by the operator, and how interplay of the currents to which they were due might be caused otherwise than by conscious human volition.

It was in this fashion that she would illustrate her verbal teachings, proving by experiment the statements made as to the existence of subtle forces controllable by the trained mind.

The phenomena all belonged to the scientific side of her teaching, and she never committed the folly of claiming authority for her philosophic doctrines on the ground that she was a wonder-worker.

And constantly she would remind us that there was no such thing as "miracle"; that all the phenomena she had produced were worked by virtue of a knowledge of nature deeper than that of average people, and by the force of a well-trained mind and will; some of them were what she would describe as "psychological tricks," the creation of images by force of imagination, and in pressing them on others as a "collective hallucination"; others, such as the moving of solid articles, either by an astral hand projected to draw them towards her, or by using an Elemental; others by reading in the Astral Light, and so on.

But the proof of the reality of her mission from those whom she spoke of as Masters lay not in these comparatively trivial physical and mental phenomena, but in the splendour of her heroic endurance, the depth of her knowledge, the selflessness of her character, the lofty spirituality of her teaching, the untiring passion of her devotion, the incessant ardour of her work for the enlightening of men.

It was these, and not her phenomena, that won for her our faith and confidence--we who lived beside her, knowing her daily life--and we gratefully accepted her teaching not because she claimed any authority, but because it woke in us powers, the possibility of which in ourselves we had not dreamed of, energies of the Soul that demonstrated their own existence.

Returning to London from Paris, it became necessary to make a very clear and definite presentment of my change of views, and in the _Reformer_ of August 4th I find the following: "Many statements are being made just now about me and my beliefs, some of which are absurdly, and some of which are maliciously, untrue.

I must ask my friends not to give credence to them.

It would not be fair to my friend Mr. Bradlaugh to ask him to open the columns of this Journal to an exposition of Theosophy from my pen, and so bring about a long controversy on a subject which would not interest the majority of the readers of the _National Reformer_.

This being so I cannot here answer the attacks made on me.

I feel, however, that the party with which I have worked for so long has a right to demand of me some explanation of the step I have taken, and I am therefore preparing a pamphlet dealing fully with the question.

Further, I have arranged with Mr. R.

O.

Smith to take as subject of the lectures to be delivered by me at the Hall of Science on August 4th and 11th 'Why I became a Theosophist.'

Meanwhile I think that my years of service in the ranks of the Freethought party give me the right to ask that I should not be condemned unheard, and I even venture to suggest, in view of the praises bestowed on me by Freethinkers in the past, that it is possible that there may be something to be said, from the intellectual standpoint, in favour of Theosophy.

The caricatures of it which have appeared from some Freethinkers' pens represent it about as accurately as the Christian Evidence caricatures of Atheism represent that dignified philosophy of life; and, remembering how much they are themselves misrepresented, I ask them to wait before they judge."

The lectures were delivered, and were condensed into a pamphlet bearing the same title, which has had a very great circulation.

It closed as follows:-- "There remains a great stumblingblock in the minds of many Freethinkers which is certain to prejudice them against Theosophy, and which offers to opponents a cheap subject for sarcasm--the assertion that there exist other living beings than the men and animals found on our own globe.

It may be well for people who at once turn away when such an assertion is made to stop and ask themselves whether they really and seriously believe that throughout this mighty universe, in which our little planet is but as a tiny speck of sand in the Sahara, this one planet only is inhabited by living things?

Is all the universe dumb save for _our_ voices?

eyeless save for _our_ vision?

dead save for _our_ life?

Such a preposterous belief was well enough in the days when Christianity regarded our world as the centre of the universe, the human race as the one for which the Creator had deigned to die.

But now that we are placed in our proper position, one among countless myriads of worlds, what ground is there for the preposterous conceit which arrogates as ours all sentient existence?

Earth, air, water, all are teeming with living things suited to their environment;

our globe is overflowing with life.

But the moment we pass in thought beyond our atmosphere everything is to be changed.

Neither reason nor analogy support such a supposition.

It was one of Bruno's crimes that he dared to teach that other worlds than ours were inhabited; but he was wiser than the monks who burned him.

All the Theosophists aver is that each phase of matter has living things suited to it, and that all the universe is pulsing with life.

'Superstition!'

shriek the bigoted.

It is no more superstition than the belief in Bacteria, or in any other living thing invisible to the ordinary human eye.

'Spirit' is a misleading word, for, historically, it connotes immateriality and a supernatural kind of existence, and the Theosophist believes neither in the one nor the other.

With him all living things act in and through a material basis, and 'matter' and 'spirit' are not found dissociated.

But he alleges that matter exists in states other than those at present known to science.

To deny this is to be about as sensible as was the Hindû prince who denied the existence of ice because water, in his experience, never became solid.

Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.

"One last word to my Secularist friends.

If you say to me, 'Leave our ranks,' I will leave them; I force myself on no party, and the moment I feel myself unwelcome I will go.

[29] It has cost me pain enough and to spare to admit that the Materialism from which I hoped all has failed me, and by such admission to bring on myself the disapproval of some of my nearest friends.

But here, as at other times in my life, I dare not purchase peace with a lie.

An imperious necessity forces me to speak the truth, as I see it, whether the speech please or displease, whether it bring praise or blame.

That one loyalty to Truth I must keep stainless, whatever friendships fail me or human ties be broken.

She may lead me into the wilderness, yet I must follow her;

she may strip me of all love, yet I must pursue her; though she slay me, yet will I trust in her; and I ask no other epitaph on my tomb but "'SHE TRIED TO FOLLOW TRUTH.'

" Meanwhile, with this new controversy on my hands, the School Board work went on, rendered possible, I ought to say, by the generous assistance of friends unknown to me, who sent me, £150 a year during the last year and a half.

So also went on the vigorous Socialist work, and the continual championship of struggling labour movements, prominent here being the organisation of the South London fur-pullers into a union, and the aiding of the movement for shortening the hours of tram and 'bus men, the meetings for which had to be held after midnight.

The feeding and clothing of children also occupied much time and attention, for the little ones in my district were, thousands of them, desperately poor.

My studies I pursued as best I could, reading in railway carriages, tramcars, omnibuses, and stealing hours for listening to H. P.

B.

by shortening the nights.

In October, Mr. Bradlaugh's shaken strength received its death-blow, though he was to live yet another fifteen months.

He collapsed suddenly under a most severe attack of congestion and lay in imminent peril, devotedly nursed by his only remaining child, Mrs. Bonner, his elder daughter having died the preceding autumn.

Slowly he struggled back to life, after four weeks in bed, and, ordered by his physician to take rest and if possible a sea voyage, he sailed for India on November 28th, to attend the National Congress, where he was enthusiastically acclaimed as "Member for India."

In November I argued a libel suit, brought by me against the Rev. Mr. Hoskyns, vicar of Stepney, who had selected some vile passages from a book which was not mine and had circulated them as representing my views, during the School Board election of 1888. I had against me the Solicitor-General, Sir Edward Clarke, at the bar, and Baron Huddleston on the bench; both counsel and judge did their best to browbeat me and to use the coarsest language, endeavouring to prove that by advocating the limitation of the family I had condemned chastity as a crime.

Five hours of brutal cross-examination left my denial of such teachings unshaken, and even the pleadings of the judge for the clergyman, defending his parishioners against an unbeliever and his laying down as law that the statement was privileged, did not avail to win a verdict.

The jury disagreed, not, as one of them told me afterwards, on the question of the libel, but on some feeling that a clergyman ought not to be mulcted in damages for his over-zeal in defence of his faith against the ravening wolf of unbelief, while others, regarding the libel as a very cruel one, would not agree to a verdict that did not carry substantial damages.

I did not carry the case to a new trial, feeling that it was not worth while to waste time over it further, my innocence of the charge itself having been fully proved.

Busily the months rolled on, and early in the year 1890 H. P.

Blavatsky had given to her £1,000, to use in her discretion for human service, and if she thought well, in the service of women.

After a good deal of discussion she fixed on the establishment of a club in East London for working girls, and with her approval Miss Laura Cooper and I hunted for a suitable place.

Finally we fixed on a very large and old house, 193, Bow Road, and some months went in its complete renovation and the building of a hall attached to it.

On August 15th it was opened by Madame Blavatsky, and dedicated by her to the brightening of the lot of hardworking and underpaid girls.

It has nobly fulfilled its mission for the last three years.

Very tender was H. P.

B.'

s heart to human suffering, especially to that of women and children.

She was very poor towards the end of her earthly life, having spent all on her mission, and refusing to take time from her Theosophical work to write for the Russian papers which were ready to pay highly for her pen.

But her slender purse was swiftly emptied when any human pain that money could relieve came in her way.

One day I wrote a letter to a comrade that was shown to her, about some little children to whom I had carried a quantity of country flowers, and I had spoken of their faces pinched with want.

The following characteristic note came to me:-- "MY DEAREST FRIEND,--I have just read your letter to ---- and my heart is sick for the poor little ones!

Look here; I have but 30s.

of _my own money_ of which I can dispose (for as you know I am a pauper, and proud of it), but I want you to take them and _not say a word_.

This may buy thirty dinners for thirty poor little starving wretches, and I may feel happier for thirty minutes at the thought.

Now don't say a word, and do it; take them to those unfortunate babies who loved your flowers and felt happy.

Forgive your old uncouth friend, _useless_ in this world!

"Ever yours, "H. P.

B."

It was this tenderness of hers that led us, after she had gone, to found the "H. P.

B.

Home for little children," and one day we hope to fulfil her expressed desire that a large but homelike Refuge for outcast children should be opened under the auspices of the Theosophical Society.

The lease of 17, Lansdowne Road expiring in the early summer of 1890, it was decided that 19, Avenue Road should be turned into the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Europe.

A hall was built for the meetings of the Blavatsky Lodge--the lodge founded by her--and various alterations made.

In July her staff of workers was united under one roof; thither came Archibald and Bertram Keightley, who had devoted themselves to her service years before, and the Countess Wachtmeister, who had thrown aside all the luxuries of wealth and of high social rank to give all to the cause she served and the friend she loved with deep and faithful loyajty; and George Mead, her secretary and earnest disciple, a man of strong brain and strong character, a fine scholar and untiring worker; thither, too, Claude Wright, most lovable of Irishmen, with keen insight underlying a bright and sunny nature, careless on the surface, and Walter Old, dreamy and sensitive, a born psychic, and, like many such, easily swayed by those around him; Emily Kislingbury also, a studious and earnest woman; Isabel Cooper Oakley, intuitional and studious, a rare combination, and a most devoted pupil in Occult studies; James Pryse, an American, than whom none is more devoted, bringing practical knowledge to the help of the work, and making possible the large development of our printing department.

These, with myself, were at first the resident staff, Miss Cooper and Herbert Burrows, who were also identified with the work, being prevented by other obligations from living always as part of the household.

The rules of the house were--and are--very simple, but H. P.

B.

insisted on great regularity of life; we breakfasted at 8 a. m.

, worked till lunch at 1, then again till dinner at 7. After dinner the outer work for the Society was put aside, and we gathered in H.

P.

B.'

s room where we would sit talking over plans, receiving instructions, listening to her explanation of knotty points.

By 12 midnight all the lights had to be extinguished.

My public work took me away for many hours, unfortunately for myself, but such was the regular run of our busy lives.

She herself wrote incessantly; always suffering, but of indomitable will, she drove her body through its tasks, merciless to its weaknesses and its pains.

Her pupils she treated very variously, adapting herself with nicest accuracy to their differing natures; as a teacher she was marvellously patient, explaining a thing over and over again in different fashions, until sometimes after prolonged failure she would throw herself back in her chair: "My God!"

(the easy "Mon Dieu" of the foreigner) "am I a fool that you can't understand?

Here, So-and-so"--to some one on whose countenance a faint gleam of comprehension was discernible--"tell these flapdoodles of the ages what I mean."

With vanity, conceit, pretence of knowledge, she was merciless, if the pupil were a promising one; keen shafts of irony would pierce the sham.

With some she would get very angry, lashing them out of their lethargy with fiery scorn; and in truth she made herself a mere instrument for the training of her pupils, careless what they, or any one else thought of her, providing that the resulting benefit to them was secured.

And we, who lived around her, who in closest intimacy watched her day after day, we bear witness to the unselfish beauty of her life, the nobility of her character, and we lay at her feet our most reverent gratitude for knowledge gained, lives purified, strength developed.

O noble and heroic Soul, whom the outside purblind world misjudges, but whom your pupils partly saw, never through lives and deaths shall we repay the debt of gratitude we owe to you.

And thus I came through storm to peace, not to the peace of an untroubled sea of outer life, which no strong soul can crave, but to an inner peace that outer troubles may not avail to ruffle--a peace which belongs to the eternal not to the transitory, to the depths not to the shallows of life.

It carried me scatheless through the terrible spring of 1891, when death struck down Charles Bradlaugh in the plenitude of his usefulness, and unlocked the gateway into rest for H. P.

Blavatsky.

Through anxieties and responsibilities heavy and numerous it has borne me; every strain makes it stronger; every trial makes it serener; every assault leaves it more radiant.

Quiet confidence has taken the place of doubt; a strong security the place of anxious dread.

In life, through death, to life, I am but the servant of the great Brotherhood, and those on whose heads but for a moment the touch of the Master has rested in blessing can never again look upon the world save through eyes made luminous with the radiance of the Eternal Peace.

PEACE TO ALL BEINGS.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: This odious law has now been altered, and a married woman is a person, not a chattel.

] [Footnote 2: "The Disciples," p. 14. ] [Footnote 3: "On the Nature and Existence of God."

1874. ] [Footnote 4: "On the Nature and Existence of God."

1874. ] [Footnote 5: "The Gospel of Atheism."

1876. ] [Footnote 6: "Why I do not Believe in God."

1887. ] [Footnote 7: Ibid.

] [Footnote 8: Ibid.

] [Footnote 9: "Life, Death, and Immortality."

1886. ] [Footnote 10: "Life, Death, and Immortality."

1886. ] [Footnote 11: "Life, Death, and Immortality."

1886. ] [Footnote 12: Ibid.

] [Footnote 13: "The Gospel of Atheism."

1876. ] [Footnote 14: "On the Nature and Existence of God."

1874. ] [Footnote 15: "The True Basis of Morality."

1874. ] [Footnote 16: "Gospel of Atheism."

1876. ] [Footnote 17: "On the Nature and Existence of God."

1874. ] [Footnote 18: "A World without God."

1885. ] [Footnote 19: "The Gospel of Atheism."

1876. ] [Footnote 20: "The Gospels of Christianity and Freethought."

1874. ] [Footnote 21: "A World without God."

1885. ] [Footnote 22: "A World without God."

1885. ] [Footnote 23: "The Gospel of Atheism."

1876. ] [Footnote 24: "A World without God."

1885. ] [Footnote 25: "A World without God."

1885. ] [Footnote 26: "The Christian Creed."

1884. ] [Footnote 27: _National Reformer_, June 18, 1882] [Footnote 28: _Theosophist_, June, 1882. ] [Footnote 29: I leave these words as they were written in 1889. I

resigned my office in the N. S.

S.

in 1890, feeling that the N. S.

S.

was so identified with Materialism that it had no longer place for me.

] LIST OF BOOKS QUOTED.

"Autobiography," J. S.

Mill, 184 "Christian Creed, The," 173 "Freethinkers' Text-book," 144 "Gospel of Atheism, The," 145, 152, 158, 168 "Gospels of Christianity and Freethought," 164 "Life, Death, and Immortality," 147, 149, 150 _Link_, The, 333 _National Reformer_, The, 79, 80, 280, 346-50, 354 _Our Corner, _286, 329 _Theosophist_, The, 282, 288 "True Basis of Morality," 156 "Why I do Not Believe in God," 146 "World without God," 165, 169, 172 INDEX.

Affirmation Bill brought in, 287 rejected, 299 Atheist, position as an, 139 Authorship, first attempts at, 84. Bennett, D. M.

, prosecution of, 232 Blasphemy prosecution, 283, 287, 289 Blavatsky, H. P.

, 189, 337 meeting with, 341 "Bloody Sunday," 324 Bradlaugh, Charles, first meeting with, 135 as friend, 137 in the Clock Tower, 258 and the scene in the House, 265 _v_.

Newdegate; result, 289 prosecuted for blasphemy, 283, 289 Confirmation, 51 Daughter, application to remove, 213 denied access to, 219 Death of father, 21 of mother, 126 Doubt the first, 58 "Elements of Social Science," 196 Engagement, 69 Essay, first Freethought, 113 Fenians, the, 73 _Freethinker_ prosecution, 283, 287, 296 Freethought Publishing Company, the, 285 Harrow, life at, 30 Hoskyns, Rev. E.

, libel action against, 359 Knowlton pamphlet, the, 205 prosecution, 208 trial, 210 "Law of Population, The," 212, 210 "Law and Liberty League," the, 326 Lecture, the first, 181 Linnell, the Trafalgar Square victim, 316 funeral of, 327 _Link_, founding of the, 331 Malthusian League formed, 229 Malthusianism and Theosophy, 240 Marriage, 70 tie broken, no Match-girls' strike, 335 Union, established, 336 _National Reformer,_ the, 134 first contribution to, 180 resignation of co-editorship, 320 National Secular Society joined, 135 elected vice-president of, 202 resignation of, 357 Northampton Election, 183 struggle, 253, 344 Oaths Bill, the, 314, 329 _Our Corner_, 286, 314 Political Opinions, 174 Pusey, Dr. , 109, 284 Russian politics, 311 Scientific work, 249 School Board, election to, 338 Scott, Thomas, 112, 127 Socialism, 299 debate on, between Messrs. Bradlaugh and Hyndman, 301 Socialist debates, 318, 319 Socialists and open-air speaking, 312 Defence Association, 323 Stanley, Dean, 23, 122 Theosophical Society, the, 180 joined, 344 headquarters established, 361 Theosophy and Charles Bradlaugh, 350 the National Secular Society, 357 Trafalgar Square, closing of, to the public, 323 Truelove, Edward, trial of, 225 Voysey, Rev. Charles, 106 Working Women's Club, 337, 360 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANNIE BESANT: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY *** Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U. S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!

) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties.

Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark.

Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark.

If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy.

You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.

Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U. S.

copyright law.

Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at www.

gutenberg.

org/license.

Section 1.

General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg electronic works 1. A.

By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement.

If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your possession.

If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1. E.

8. 1. B.

“Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark.

It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.

See paragraph 1. C below.

There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg electronic works.

See paragraph 1. E below.

1. C.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg electronic works.

Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States.

If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed.

Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg name associated with the work.

You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when you share it without charge with others.

1. D.

The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work.

Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change.

If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg work.

The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1. E.

Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1. E.

1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.

You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online at www.

gutenberg.

org.

If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1. E.

2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U. S.

copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.

If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.

Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1. E.

4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.

1. E.

5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1. E.

1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg License.

1. E.

6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form.

However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website (www.

gutenberg.

org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form.

Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1. E.

1. 1. E.

7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works unless you comply with paragraph 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works provided that: • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.

The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns.

Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

” • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License.

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1. F.

3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.