Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-02
MADAME BLAvATSKY,
The Woman and Her Work Described by MI
G. X. y. Mead.

Last evening, at the hall of the local Theo-
sophical Society. Mr. G. r. s. Mead Of London,
Eng, spoke Of Madame Blavatsky, the founder
OF the theosophicai movement Mr. Mead was
the private secretary Of the famous woman,
and is now associated with Annie Besant in the
editorship of Lucifer. the theosophical maya
zine IN London. He is of medium height,
thoroughly English in his appearance ard a
man Of rare intelligence. He attended the
late convention Of American theosophists at
Chicago as the delegate of the English branch,
and tonight lectures at the Universalist Church
on ''Reincarnation and Rebirth." Mr.. Mead
| talked of Madame Blavatsky last evening in an
easy conversational way, and his remarks were
heard with the greatest interest,
Helena Petrovna Bavatsky, said Mr.. Mead,
was born in southern Russia in 1881. She was
the daughter OF Col Peter Hahn, and, when
but sixteen years OF age, married Gen. Nice
pEore V. BayatsKy. She was engaged but
two days and only married because some one
told her that she was too ugly to get married.
She lived with her husband but three months
and her married life was an unhappy one.
Leaving Russia she visited America before tho
days OF railroads and travelled through the
country very extensively. She then travelled
all over the world and no one knew definitely
OF her travels. She never spoke OF
them except in broken, disconnected way.
Her travels were not for pleasure, they were
for the purpose of fathoming the occult powers
These powers she knew existed and had existed
for ages She understood many languages and
loved to study the folk lore of every country
she visited. Here a strange life for u wo-
man to lead. yet it had but one object-the
demonstration of truth. From childhood her
life was u double one, natural and seemingly
unnatural. The medical fraternity said Of her
that she lived under Authorization, but they
did not understand her. Few, IL any, ever did
understand her.
In India said Mr.. Mead, Madame Blavatsky
learned of the wonders Of hypnotism and the
transferrence of thought She could foretell
the Nture and do many other seemingly i'm
possible things. Yet she never paraded her
powers. In 1874 she again visited America OF
which country she was citizen, for the pur.
pose of investigating spritualism. She met Col.
Fredk. L. Olcott at the home of the Eddy
brothers IN Vermont. and convinced him that
the phenomena OF splrisualism were known
and undstood by the ancients. The next year
she and Col. Olcott founded at New York the
first branch of the Theosophical Society. Little
was done, however. until she and Col Olcott
went to Bombay. where they started a theo-
sophical journal. There she was watched by
the British government as a spy in the inter-
ests Of Russia. but nothing was ever detected,
for the simple reason that tine charge was q
most absurd one.
Mr.. Mead then spoke of the way Madame
Blavatsky had been villifed by scientific
people and the press throughout the world
Nothing. he said, was too vile to be said of her
But she needed them not, and calmly pursued
her labor of writing the great theosophical
works she produced and those which are now
being prepared. She read little and often de-
clared that her friends throughout the world
helped to write her works by the means of
occult power. In 1887 she invited to Lon
don, where she founded the Lucifer, the
theosophicai journal. During the later years
OF her life she suffered intense physical pain,
yet she hourly held to her life work She was
a most loving woman, a most charitable one
and one of the best beings that ever lived.
MIR. Mead closed his remarks by speaking of
the growth of theosophy throughout the world
and said that 1t had passed the laughing stage
That people now realized what it really was.