The Critic and record., 1891-05-14
BLAVATSKY'S THEORY.
THE WORLD A DIME MUSEUM AND SHE
THE BIGGEST FREAK IN Ir.

IfOlehsUf NOueS lhlhh iuieiChlinHlN VI
the Remarkable Woman, Blavatsky,
Who Founded Theosophy, the So
Called New Religion.
The interesting sketch of Colonel Oh
cott the venerable old gentleman who
succeeds Madam Blavatsky as the head of
the Theosophical movement, published
in Tuesdays CWTiC-REcoRp, together with
history of the new religion" was read
by Professor Eliot Coues. Professor Coues
himself, though a great aud learned man,
at one time
DALLGED WITH THEosoPHY,
but he now regards the whole thing as a
huge fake, and Grand High Prestess
Blayatsky as the monumental theological
fraud of the nineteenth century. Pro-
fessor Coues, in an hours chat with a
CRT1c- RECORD reporter this morning,
said.
"rhe great trouble with people is in
having taken Blavatsky seriously. She
should have been taken as she always
took herself, namely, as an immense
fake. She used to tell me that she dis
liked anybody who was fool enough to
believe her. Her theory was that
TIE WORLD WAS a SORT or DIME MUSEUM
in which she found herself, and proposed
to be the boss freak. flow well she has
succeeded may be inferred from the fact
that the fiery old woman could not even
die without being seriously suspected Of
putting up job or joke on the people. /
believe, however, that she is really dead,
and not III mystical but physical
sense, and the next thing you will hear
will be bogus stories of the appearance of
her astral body in various parts of the
world giving orders to the fakrs who are
conducting the organized fraud in her
name how to carry on the business, Just
as originally Colonel 0lcott and she
started the Theosophical Society in New
York, November II, 1875, under in
structions delivered in writing to Olcott
by the
ASTRAL BODY OF A nGBETAN
Mahatma named Koot- Hoomi whose
ghost was so well materialized that he left
his turban on Olcott's bed to assure that
ingenious gentleman It was not all
dream. In England and Germany | have
often heard Olcott tell this yarn, pull ont
the very turban from his coat-tail pocket,
and if you did not believe the story you
could smell the goods Take this as q
sample of the whole, huge joke on the
part of the woman, later organized by
little knaves to make money by gambling
on the credulity of the public.
But all things work for righteousness
in the hands of an inscrutible Providence,
as the clergymen say.
EVEN BLAvATsKY WAS OF USE.
Her function has been to act as a blister
on the cuticle of rather pachydermatous
public and set good many people to think
ing. You see that anybody who has been
fooled and found it out, has bought and
paid for valuable experience. 1t was Bla-
vatsky's business to throw red pepper in
peoples eyes, and when they had rubbed
it out they had experienced a sensation
and knew something they had not known
before
"Now FOR SOME FACTS.
Blavatsky was snever in Thibet. The story
that she was is a deliberately concocted
| fiction. She never had anything to do
with any llindoo adopts or so-called seers.
| Her shrine at Adijor, through which she
| professed to receive communications from
| Mahatmas, was trick cabinet with slid
| ing panels, worked just as any spiritual
stic medium would work her frauds.
Diagrams of the cabinet have been pub
| lished by DIR. Richard Hodgson, LII. D.,
of the London Society for Psychical Re
| search. The exposure was informally
| made by George Patterson, editor of the
| Christian College Magazine in Madras, India.
This was Immediately followed by COM
plete exposure by Madame Coulomb and
her husband, two disgusted eX-confeder-
ates of Blavatsky, who had
WORKED THE TRICK CABINET
for her and constructed rag dummy of
the Mahatma which used to be exhibited
in dim religious light for the ediiication
of the faithful. The Coulomb exposure
was followed up by the Yoluminous re-
port of the investigating committee sent
TO India for that purpose by the London
society above mentioned. All the orig
inal documents in this case including au-
tograph letters OF instruction from
Blavatsky to the Coulombs for working
the trick cabinet and exhibiting Koot
Hoomi.
ARE IN MY HANDS.
Subsequently in this country the
staunch and fearless Colonel John C.
Bmdy of Chicago, who has personally
known the women 10, these many years,
published the complete account of the
| fake as later worked in this country by a
little gang of scurvy knaves in New York
City, who take what money can be made
off of American idiots. Colonel Bundy's
truthful statements were partly made
by myself. But probably the most com
plete, concise and truthful account of the
great hoax is one which found myself
able to furnish to Mr.. Charles A. Dana
and which was published in the New
York Sa of July 20, 1890. This proved
THE DEATH-BLow TO BLAvATsKYIsM,
and some of the friends of the unhappy
woman say that she never recovered from
the blow, and that her death has ensueC
in consequence. II certainly reduced he
professed adherents to a mere handful o.
dupes, the two or three knavish manipu
lators of whom have since been particu
larly industrious III attempting to reinflat,
pricked bubble. We have notabl,
effort in this direction in the recent visi
of Annie Besant, sent here to boom TIN
Blavatskyites. Even she could not hell
working truly theosophical fake b,
stopping in the midst of a speech, rollins
up her eyes like a duck in thunde
shower, and protesting to have Just re
ceiyed an astral message from Blavatsk.
| in London"