Evening star., 1933-10-02
Mrs. Besant Is Remembered
For Worldwide Influence

Death recently brought to a close
In India the career Of woman whom
George Bernard Shaw once called the
most wonderful woman of the age"
In her eighty-SiXth year. when she died
Mrs. Annie Besant had lived a long
ano varied life. known throughout the
world as the leader of the Theosophical
Society, she was also revered for her
lifelong attachment to the cause of
India and for her championship of a
number OF social reform movements in
London while still young woman.
The Youngstown Vindicator speaks
Of Mrs. Besant as "a figure whose name
has been household word for nearly
two-thirds of century," and adds that
probably her chief claim to be remem-
bered will be as the successor to Nine.
Blavatsky as leader of the Theosophists,
the cult which has done most in our
time to make the Western World ac-
Quainted with the Buddhist doctrine Of
reincarnation. She grew up in an age
when people were quick to take up
with new and strange religions. and.
once inspired with fervor for the be-
lief that human beings are continually
reborn, she made it her principal in
terest.
In so far as Theosophy can be popu-
| larized.' says the Hartford Daily Times,
Mrs Besant was probably the out
standing interpreter to Occidental read
ers." This paper regards her "striv-
ing for the uplift of India's depressed
masses" however, as "a more practical
side Of her crusading effort" and be-
lieves that! "in that her leadership
won respect far beyond Theosophical
circles" 1t is the opinion Of the Dan
bury News-Times that her religion was
rather of the reason than of the heart" :"
and that it was "ineXtricably entangled
with the beliefs of India" Doubt
less some men and women were enabled
to improve their lives" continues the
same paper, but the pulling power of
Theosophy has been small among Eng
disappearing peoples
On the other hand, while granting
that Mrs. Besant and Gandhi and
their type are in some degree, at least
fanatics" the Des Moines Register
feels that their basic PHILOSOPHERS
represent, none the less, fundamental
conviction among spiritual leaders. even
in this country. And that conviction is
that people can only be permanently
improved, not by the compulsion of
laws and physical force. but by their
determination to live unselfishly."
OF her work for social reform in
England. the Asbury Park Press has
the following to say: Few sterner tests
can be imposed upon any thinker than
that their recommendations are at first
rejected and then accepted by later
generation. When this attribute pre-
walls, foresight and wisdom are evi-
dent. And Mrs. Besant fulfilled the
test. Free press. equal suffrage for
women, divorce, birth control and other
social reforms with which she shocked
the stodgy Victorian set are accepted
today Even as she died. Mrs. Besant's
place as an advanced thinker and lead
e. was assured Unlike so many with
her ability to see beyond the mental
horizons of her own age, she lived to
see the world agree with many of her
teachings.
A dissenting mind and great gifts
Of magnetism, Of oratory, Of initiative,
organization and leadership" are at
| tributed to Mrs. Besant by the Newark
Evening News. "She employed them,"
afirms this paper. Ito improve women's
working conditions. in the suffrage
movement, for birth control and finally
for the youth of India. Freedom and
independence in all their phases were
a passion with her. She had the
intellectual, physical and moral cour-