The San Francisco call., 1896-04-03
DR. BUCKS FIRST LETTER HER IDEA OF GENEROSITY
The Successor of William @.
Judge to the Order in
America.
Communication Received in This CITY
From the New Theosophical
Leader.

]. D. Buck, MD, vice-president of the
Theosophical Society in America, and
VINO. it is confidently expected, will succeed
to the presidency left vacant by the late
William @. Judge, has issued his first
document as head of the Theosophists of
America.
The document in question has just been
received in this City. 1t is written in
mastery style and is fair specimen of
the literary excellence that prevails
throughout all the writings of DIR. Buck
1t treats directly of the death of Mr.. Judge
and reads as follows:
To the Theosophicat Society in America and its
Frdters throughout the Worid-BRoTHERs: Our
leader has disappeared from the field of con-
fict. With courage undaunted, with will un-
conquered, with zeal unabated, with devotion
undiminished-the vehicle failed. The chariot
went to pieces on the field of battle and the
charioteer is lost from the sight of men. Will
liam Quan Judge has finished the work given
him to do for this generation and reserving
scarcely time from his great work in which to
die has left us only memories and the record
and power of his example. The influence of
these has extended around the globe and will
help to mold the thought of the coming
century. Energy, steadfastness and devotion
were the characteristics of his life, while be-
meath the sometimes stern exterior, impatient
at folly and triviality that wasted time and de-
fected energy from work and duty, there beat
a ''warm Irish heart as gentle as womans
and as tender childs. Those who saw
him most appreciated him most; those who
knew him best loved and trusted him unre-
servedly. And why all this confidence and
love? Simply because he was the soul of de-
votion; because he utterly sank self and sacri-
feed everything to the work he had undertaken;
the spread of truth and the permanency of
the T. S. There was an undercurrent in his
life like that of the deep sea, and this never
ceased its flow or lost its source for an instant.
His resources seemed ineXhaustible and his
judgment of men and measures wonderfully
exact In ten years of very intimate associa-
tion have never once discovered purpose
outside his beloved T. S. Night and day, in
sickness and health, racked with pain or in
the pleasant hours of social intercourse, YOU
could detect but one only motive and aim; and
when the veil of silence fell over his spoken
words his busy pen ignored the pain, and sent
scores of messagesand words of advice and en-
couragement all over the world. never be-
fore witnessed such determination to live,
such Inconsistencies of possible defeat, such
unwillipgness to stop work. / tried last De-
cember to get him to stop work and use his
And so he worked on to the last, and only de-
sisted when he could neither walk nor stand;
and when from choking cough and weariness
he could scarcely lie down or sleep. He was in
deed the lion-hearted and worthy successor of
his great teacher H. P. B.
feel sure that am voicing the thought of
thousands in this estimate of the character
and lifework of our champion and leader.
The application is plain. His lifework and
sacrifice must not be in vain, his example
must not be lost "Those who are wise in
spiritual things grieve neither for the living
nor for the dead" Steadfastness, devotion
and workl should be our motto, no less than
the text and the sermon, on this occasion.
"Deeds, not words, are what we want" once
wrote a master. Mourning and sorrow may be
in all ous hearts, and the gentleness and ten
derness thus engendered should only enrich
and make more fruitful the soul of our own
lives and the blossom and the fruit be for the
healing OF the nations. The century draws
near its close; our annual convention is near
at hand. Let us show by greater devotion,
more courage and deeper sense of brother
hood that the sacrifice of our brother, William
O. Judge, has not been in vain, but that he
still lives and works in us; and SO there can be
no death, but transition only; no destruction,
but rejuvenescence, and no defeat to him "who
realizes that be is one with the Supreme Spirit"
]. D. BUCK, vice-President T. s. in A.
The death of Mr.. Judge has made it ad-
visable to change the meeting place of the
National Theosophical Convention from
Chicago to New York, and an order to
this effect has already been promulgated
by the executive committee. The date of
the convention is April g.