itting serenely on the
throne of life and ruling his Kingdom with justice, wisdom and paternal
love, the king joins the melee of acrobats and dancing girls, encourages
the orchestra till, in a pandemonium of revelry, he puts out the lights,
or in wild frenzy fires the building.

Sometimes it claims to "command success" by _demanding_ it; or wealth
without earning it; or health without regard to hygienic law; or by
"taking a Mantram" to open the gates of heaven. Or again, by servile
obedience to the freaks or dogmas of a "Leader" or "Official Head" and
adulation _ad nauseam_, to gain admission to the "Elect."

One and all of these, from first to last, tend toward Devolution. They are
destructive, not constructive, in building character and true manhood and
womanhood.

Again, the Monk or the devotee abandons society, becomes a recluse, flees
into the desert or the mountain, subsists upon roots or herbs, sits in one
posture till the joints of the body become fixed, holds the arms above the
head till they become immovable, and the finger nails _turn and grow
through the palms of the hands_; or sits gazing at the navel and repeating
the word _Om_.

Indeed, it would seem that the ways and means to stop normal growth,
constructive evolution and healthy living, had been well-nigh exhausted.

The enthusiast, the fanatic and the "easy mark" of to-day are seldom aware
of any of these things, and so they are bled, fleeced, and exploited
accordingly. "All is Mind!" "Great is Elijah!" or "Mrs." Elijah, and
Oahspe is his Prophet! while Babel reigns in the place of Natural
Science.

The Theosophical Movement inaugurated in this country by H. P. Blavatsky
in 1875, differed essentially and radically from all others; first, in
placing ethics as the first stone in the foundation of a real knowledge of
the nature of man. Its objects as concisely stated at the time were--

First: To establish a _nucleus_ for a Universal Brotherhood of Man.

Second: To study ancient religions, philosophies and sciences, and
determine their relations and values.

Third: To investigate the Psychical Powers latent in Man.

Hospitality to Truth from any source and under any name, was
characteristic of the movement during the entire lifetime of the
Founders.

Dogma was eliminated, Authority beyond facts and demonstrated truth
denied, and Superstition regarded as only another name for ignorance.

While the facts and the demonstrations of Science were