The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-06-12


who am more than thrice her age, and do
vote even more time and thought to prep
aration Even Miriam nnl Julian excel me
In communion with the occult"
@The Brethren in ThibetT l repeated, in
quiringly. May ask the meaning OF that
termp
at Is the term" replied DIR. Hathaway,
1by which we distinguish that august fra
ternity Of Oriental sages In which Is CEN
tered all that is possible for man to know OF
the inner workings Of nature The Brethren
are the repositories of this secret lore. They
.orin college, resident In Thibet, ON the
They are GRe tRe 4 shs HRaavsr Or Sea
wisdom. They cherish and keep alive the
ethereal fame of that knowledge which was
once-immem mortal ages ago-the birth
right Of the human race, but which, through
those successive cosmical convulsions which
have, over and over again, whelmed the
earth and itI races In ruin, bestializing man
and perverting his noblest instincts, has
long since passed into forgotten dream.
This knowledge which really controls na-
ture, rendering man superior to the ordi-
nary laws of matter, they are willing to con-
file to such as render themselves, by purity
of life and exaltation over the debasing
thraldom of sense fitting recipients for 1t.
II is only after probation extending over
years that they permit initiation into the
more profound mysteries of natural law,
rightly holding that no one is competent to
control nature who can not first control him.
self The wisdom of such a provision IL
obvious, as who cal say what evil might not
result from abuse of such control over laws
Of such far-reaching energy"
THE tenets of the Theosophists," prss-
emily remarked, seem to bear some SINH
larity to what l have read about the Rosi-
crucians OF the middle ageI"
"They are one and the same" answered
the doctor. "The Rosicrucians or Brethren
of the Rosy Cross, were an off-shoot Of the
au :ust Oriental brotherhood Whatever Of
practical value or actual power over the
forces Of nature they possessed was derived
from the eastern sages.
At this moment clock upon the mantel
ti:ked forth the hour OF nine. Agatha
Howard who had been playing the piano,
stopped short. The others rose. Doctor
Hathaway also rose, and simply requesting
me to follow, led the way to the door. The
party passed out into the corridor and thence
into another chamber completely hung with
black. Even the carpet was Of q black and
gray geonetrical pattern. and the ceiling
was ornamented with dark mosaic From
the center Of the ceiling depended a single
bronze lamp, or cresset, OF antique design
The chamber was destitute of ornament Of
any kind, its only furniture being five chairs
Of some dark -colored wood and q small cir
cular ebony table. Standing out In
bold relief from the black background Of
one OF the walls, and covering nearly
its whole area, was figure Of the pentacle
In red. Ali took their seats in silence and
remained seemingly buried In profound
meditation. Five minutes had so elapsed
when became aware Of a change going on
within the periphery Of the pentacle. Tomy
surprise, within the central space bounded
BY the interlacing triangles, q name was be-
ing written in the same crimson coloring Of
which the pentacle itself was composed. Had
Il been the vertable handwriting on the
wall of Belshazzar's palace the effect could
not have been more vivid or real. Letter
a.ter letter formed itself successfully, rs
though under the touch of an invisible
brush, until the name Agatha" filed the
spac, At the same moment little folded
slip OF white paper came futtering down
slowly from above and rested on the ebony
table felt positive that the futtering
paper had not fallen from the roof, but that
it had formed itself by some unseen agency,
as il from the air. at distance Of few
feet from the table. DIR. Hathaway spoke.
at is a communication for Agatha" he
said, "from one Of the Brothers in Thibet
She has asked question and now receives a
reply"
Agatha rose, went to the table, unfolded
and read the contents of the paper, while O
deep blush overspread her fair features.
Was IL fancy supcrinduced by my mysteri-
Gus surroundings, or did really see upon
Miriam Hathaway's beautiful face an ex-
preston of dark and peculiar import as she
concentrated her gazs upon the paper her
cousin was readings Agatha Howard put
the mssive into her pocket and resumed her
s,a'. Again the company relapsed into 81
! nee and meditation. Ten minutes more
may have pas sed when bouquet of beautiful
flow tulips, roses, magn llias and ferns
among others-suddenly appeared Oh the
center of the little ebony table, as il laid
there by an invisibls hand.
THAT /, the sign" said DR.. Hathaway,
turning to me, while the rest of the party
rose and Miriam took NJ ths touqu,t "that
we shall receive no more communications
tonight. The leaving Of these flowers is al
ways the intimation of farewell You have
now had a personal experience, though .
slight one, Of the results which the subtitle
natural agencies we aim to control can
effect Space, time, and matter are, in
effect held In subordination to that won.
drous fluid which pervadss nasure, and
which Is itself subordinate to the mind power
Of those who control it. Tho flowers you
have just seen mysteriously produced in this
chamber grew probably 10000 miles from
urL- l-AAm s~Lx
doubtless penned among the mountains Of
Thibet They were not, however, trans
mitted here bodily, and in the same form as
they appeared to your eyes They were re-
solved into their elemental forms by the
mighty mind-power Of ons Of the Brethren,
transmitted In this form through the medium
Of the all ll-pervading ether, and reproduced
here as IL created on the spot" ..
We had by this time reached the recep-
tion-room which I had first entered, and as
! saw Armitage bidding goodnight to tho
! ladies, did likewise, and. after q cordial in
vitation to repeat my visit, accompanied
my artist friend into the street.
Six weeks had elapsed since my first intro
duction to the Theosophical society. / had
been present upon several occasions at their
ssmi-weelkjy reunions for 'Smmunicating
with the occult world. had been witness
of occurrences and manifestations even
more extraordinary and perplexing than
those I have already described. had even
gone so far as 10 intimate desire to be ad-
mitted Is regular member, though nothing
definite had as yet been done on that point
Meantime my observations OF what was go.
ing on around me had not been idle. ]
fancied detected q certain tenderness In
the natural relations Of Julian Ar
mitage and Agatha Howard be-
yond what was called for by the
mere fortuitous belonging Of both to the same
society. also fancied that the attentions
bestowed upon her cousin by tho handsome
artist were not pleasing to Miriam Hatha.
way, and on more than one occasion
thought detected the same dark and pecul.
lar expression that Observed when Agaths
received tho l etter, on my first night in the
black-drapsd chamber, overlooking he's
beautiful features Could 1t be possible,
thought, that such earthly passions - love
and Jealousy could have entered into this
little family circ.e. and, IL 50, would they
not sap the foundations OF those virtues by
| which alone the disciples Of Theosophy could
hope to arrive at the exalted knowlsdgs
which they aimed att Old DIR. Hathaway
remained tranquil and serene. presiding with
dignity both at the musical recitals and the
mystic and select meetings In the black
| draped chamber.
/ found myself, one Monday afternoon,
at the house on Van Ness avsnua Ihe
semi-weekly rsunions. should hsre remark,
took place upon Thursdays and Sundays,
and II was consequently an unusual thing fos
Il ~. A<~ss<