reams and metaphysical speculations,
have here succeeded in expressing their ideals in concrete form.

Why postpone the paradise promised by Karma, the fundamental law of
life? Why not seek to enjoy it now, without delay? So a number of the
scattered disciples of Madame Blavatsky, following their new guide,
Catherine Tingley, set to work to construct their holy city in
California, on the shores of the Pacific, like the Jews who followed
Moses to the Promised Land.

These teachings, handed down through untold ages, rejoice to-day in a
setting that would surely have astonished their Hindu or Egyptian
progenitors; and the revelations which came to Madame Blavatsky after
her discovery of the forgotten truths of a dim and distant past bid
fair to revivify our time-worn planet. Since the war there has been a
tremendous revival of theosophical propaganda in allied and neutral
countries, in the Old World and in the New, and without doubt
Theosophy, together with Christian Science--to which it is in many ways
opposed--is destined to undergo striking developments.

The new theory of metempsychosis saw the light about fifty years ago.
It was brought to the United States by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a
Russian lady of noble birth and high educational attainments, whose
thought had been influenced partly by the esoteric wisdom of the past
and partly by the religious unrest of her native land.

The doctrine of reincarnation has been accepted in India and Egypt for
at least three thousand years. It was taught secretly in the
Eleusinian mysteries. The philosophy of Pythagoras and of Plato is
deeply impregnated with it. The Early Christian Church, as well as the
Gnostics, admitted it tacitly, but in the fourth century it was
condemned by the Fathers of the Church and banished from orthodox
Christianity. Nevertheless it has always had an irresistible
attraction for thoughtful minds, and many of the greatest thinkers,
artists and poets of all ages have been firmly convinced of its truth.

Once installed in New York the Russian prophetess sowed far and wide
the seeds of her new faith, whose consolatory doctrine attracted many
who were saddened by the phenomenon of death, while at the same time it
brought her many enemies.

After a time she departed for India, where her teachings became
considerably enriched and widened by local and historical influences.
She died in London in 1891.

We will pass in silence over the calumni