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Obituary The Hodgson Report on Madame Blavatsky

By W.A. Carrithers

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The Mahatma Letters

V
 THE MAHATMA LETTERS

A major part of Dr. Hodgson's report was an attempt to prove his charge that the "Brothers" of Mme. Blavatsky, the Mahatmas K.H. and M., did not exist, and that their letters, received through the Shrine and in other ways, were mere fabrications.

1. This charge afterwards was effectively countered by Mr. C. Jinarajadasa, using the record of circumstances together with photo-facsimiles of the original handwritings. [38]

2. Furthermore, it has since been noted that, contrary to general presumption, no professional handwriting expert has ever publicly proclaimed the Mahatma letters --- or any specimen thereof --- to be forgeries or in "feigned handwriting." [39]

3. In fact, the only published professional reports concerned with this question show that H.P.B., could not have written the specimens of Mahatma calligraphy submitted for examination (the judgement after analysis by "the foremost German expert in handwriting," Herr Ernst Schutze, Calligraphist to the Court of H.M. the Emperor of Germany). [40]

4. But as if this were not enough, it is now for the first time in seventy-five years appropriate to point to the very strange fact --- scarcely to be believed by the critics of Mme. Blavatsky --- that, contrary to all previously published opinion of skeptics and believers alike,  [41] the S.P.R. Committee of 1884-5, in its official "Statement and Conclusions," did not adopt, did not approve, did not even deign to acknowledge Dr. Hodgson's charge that H.P.B. wrote or instigated the writing of Mahatma letters "in a feigned hand."  The prosecutor did not convince the jury on this one, prejudiced though it was at the last --- it doubtless had heard more from his experts, Netherclift and Sims, than the public was ever allowed to hear!

Endnotes

[38] Did Madame Blavatsky Forge the Mahatma Letters?, by C. Jinarajadasa; Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1934.

[39]  The Truth About Madame Blavatsky, An Open Letter to the Author of "Priestess of the Occult" Regarding the Charges Against H. P. Blavatsky, by Walter A. Carrithers, Jr.; The Theosophical University Press, Covina, California, 1947; p. 21.

[40]  Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky, by A. P. Sinnett; 1886, George Redway, London; pp. 323-24.

[41]  Among the latter who conceded too much on this point may be mentioned H. S. Olcott, A. P. Sinnett, A. Besant, W. Kingsland, C. Jinarajadasa, C. J. Ryan, B. Hastings, J. Ransom, K. F. Vania, V. Endersby, and the Editors of The Theosophical Movement, 1875-1950.