nation will
be an imperial nation; for Brotherhood is the strongest force on
earth.

Part IV

The Field of Work of the Theosophical Society

_The Presidential Address delivered to the Convention of the British
Section of the Theosophical Society, held in Essex Hall, London, 7th
July 1907._

The Field of Work of the Theosophical Society.

It is my duty now to bring to a close this Convention, and to bid you
all farewell, to scatter to your various places and to do, let us
hope, with fresh courage and deeper knowledge, the varied works which
you are called upon to perform. And let me, before I take up the
subject upon which I am to speak--"The Field of Work of the
Theosophical Society"--let me, ere beginning that subject, say one
word of gratitude to her without whom the Theosophical Society could
not till any field, nor sow any seed--to H.P.B., our Teacher and our
Helper, let us offer our heart's gratitude; for without her we could
not have met together, without her we could not have learned the
Theosophical teaching. It may be that many of us have learned much
since she first taught us, but she was the first Teacher, and the
Bringer of the Light. It may be that some, since they met her, have
known their Master face to face; but it was she who led them to His
presence, she to whom the possibility in this life was due. It may
well be that had she not come some other might have come to do the
work, but that matters not to us; that she did it is her claim to our
homage, and we, who live in the light she brought, may well pay
tribute of gratitude to her.

What is the Field of our Society's work? It is sketched in our Three
Objects; and those of you who have looked upon the Objects with care,
in the various recensions through which they have passed, may have
noticed that each one of them covers one of the aspects of human
consciousness. In the first, that which declares the truth of the
Universal Brotherhood, we have the field of work of the Activity
aspect, the active principle of the consciousness, of the Spirit,
which seeks expression in service to the race. In the second, the
study of the religions and the philosophies of the world, we have the
field of work for the Cognition aspect of consciousness, that which
gathers together the fruit of knowledge; it is the Knower gathering
the food by which he unfolds his powers. And in the third we have the
field of work of the Will, the Power aspect of th