r with sound
doctrine, and incited her to perform tricks for the conversion of
sceptics. At New York, on the 17th of November 1875, with the aid of
Colonel Henry S. Olcott, she founded the "Theosophical Society" with the
object of (1) forming a universal brotherhood of man, (2) studying and
making known the ancient religions, philosophies and sciences, (3)
investigating the laws of nature and developing the divine powers latent
in man. The Brahmanic and Buddhistic literature supplied the society
with its terminology, and its doctrines were a curious amalgam of
Egyptian, kabbalistic, occultist, Indian and modern spiritualistic ideas
and formulas. Mme Blavatsky's principal books were _Isis Unveiled_ (New
York, 1877), _The Secret Doctrine, the Synthesis of Science, Religion
and Philosophy_ (1888), _The Key to Theosophy_ (1891). The two first of
these are a mosaic of unacknowledged quotations from such books as
K.R.H. Mackenzie's _Royal Masonic Encyclopaedia_, C.W. King's
_Gnostics_, Zeller's _Plato_, the works on magic by Dunlop, E. Salverte,
Joseph Ennemoser, and Des Mousseaux, and the mystical writings of
Eliphas Levi (L.A. Constant). _A Glossary of Theosophical Terms_
(1890-1892) was compiled for the benefit of her disciples. But the
appearance of Home's _Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism_ (1877) had a
prejudicial effect upon the propaganda, and Heliona P. Blavatsky (as she
began to style herself) retired to India. Thence she contributed some
clever papers, "From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan" (published
separately in English, London, 1892) to the _Russky Vyestnik_. Defeated
in her object of obtaining employment in the Russian secret service, she
resumed her efforts to gain converts to theosophy. For this purpose the
exhibition of "physical phenomena" was found necessary. Her jugglery was
cleverly conceived, but on three occasions was exposed in the most
conclusive manner. Nevertheless, her cleverness, volubility, energy and
will-power enabled her to maintain her ground, and when she died on the
8th of May 1891 (White Lotus Day), at the theosophical headquarters in
the Avenue Road, London, she was the acknowledged head of a community
numbering not far short of 100,000, with journalistic organs in London,
Paris, New York and Madras.

Much information respecting her will be found in V.S. Solovyov's
_Modern Priestess of Isis_, translated by Walter Leaf (1895), in
Arthur Lillie's _Madame Blavatsky and Her Theoso