Christian morality; there is little scope for audacious speculation in a system whose prime requisite is that the recipient should become as a little child. There may too be attractions in doctrines which postpone Christianity to what are held to be the more venerable claims of Hinduism and Buddhism. All this to sceptical and unregenerate minds, demoralized by the secular teaching in Indian universities, and cast adrift without rudder or compass upon an endless sea of vague inquiry, may well, unless the grace of God be given, be considered preferable to the stern and uncompromising dogmatism of Christianity. Few probably will stop to consider how much there may be of vulgar charlatancy in the mere system propounded. The Hindu, in matters of this description, would be quite prepared to give and take. He has a large appetite for the marvellous. Theosophism appeals to his fancy, his imagination, his supposed learning, his vague aspirations, his conceit and his learned ignorance. The caste question, too, is not in the way. Much prudence and vigilance will be required on the part of our missionaries to encounter this growing evil, and to expose the true nature of it. In the meantime it is a curious outcome of the study of the Vedas and similar works which learned men have been fostering with so much satisfaction for some years past, as though they were seriously adding to the stock of human knowledge, to find a Russian princess and an American colonel circulating throughout India and ostentatiously inculcating the most astounding vagaries which even the annals of human credulity can produce. It might be a curious question for those who do not place reliance upon direct supernatural intervention in such a case as the present to surmise whence the means arise which enable the propagators of the new creed to travel throughout India for a prolonged period without any tangible resources. hope our readers will not be repelled by the tone of the New York newspaper, but will remember that strange as it is, it does bear witness in its own way to a very serious evil. THEOSOPHICAL DEAD-HEADS. K. We There is danger that the American public may forget the American Theosophical Society, since the better part of this organization has been transplanted to India. The Theosophical Society, it should be said, is composed of people who have become dissatisfied with the Christian religion as being too modern, too common-place, and too easily understood. The Theosophists desire something more bric-a-brakish and rococo. They seek the attainment of superhuman knowledge by physical process. They aim to secure a direct insight into the processes of the divine mind and the interior relations of the divine nature. The chief, or "Boss," of the mysterious order is known as the hierophant. At last accounts, Colonel H. S. Olcott was the hierophant. One of the shining lights of the Theosophical Society was Baron Palm, a rich and eccentric nobleman, who made large investments in Chicago real estate and Nevada mining stocks. In the midst of a search for the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life, Baron Palm died, leaving his real estate and his mining stocks to Col. H. S. Olcott, in behalf of theosophy, to be used by him in the discovery of the true religion of humanity. Baron Palm was buried according to theosophical notions, the ceremonies performed over his remains being an eclectic mixture of Christian, Egyptian, and Brahminic rites.* It was generally supposed that At This sort of mingle-mangle is very common in Unitarian chapels even in London. the worship in them extracts are read from the Bible, the Vedas, the writings of Confucius, &c., with hymns about " Old Dan Chaucer," and so on.-K. the bequest of Baron Palm enabled Col.Olcott and his comrades to set up in business as explorers of the great central thought of the universe. So, mining shares being depressed and Chicago real estate inactive, the Theosophists determined to find out God. Joined to Col. Olcott was Mme. Blavatsky, a Russian Princess, a person addicted to sitting cross-legged and to cigarettes. These two having run the gamut from Calvinism and Socinianism, through the Greek Church into Spiritism and the revelation of the oversoul decided that they must go back to the Christian era if they would discover the secret of the supernatural in the universe. They argued that we get further away from the great central soul of the creation as we travel down the ages. The new is to be rejected as shoddy. The older a thing is, the nearer it is to the centrality of nature. This is the way in which the Theosophists argue. And it must be admitted that they have practised what they have taught. They have gone to India to study the oldest of faiths. Unhappily, several months were wasted in the study of Hindustanee.* Mme. Blavatsky being a Russian Princess, was naturally polyglot. But Hindustanee, it must be admitted in the language of the worldly," rather got her," when she was forced to study this difficult language in company with Col. Olcott, whose lingual achievements had been confined to a mastery of North American English, with a strong nasal accent due to the east winds and catarrhal influences of the North American climate. 66 L Nothing more bric-a-brac and antique than the religion of the Hindus can anywhere be found. The mere fact that this is the oldest religion on the face of the earth would seem to establish its genuineness as the fundamental faith of the human race. Confucius, Mohammed, and Jesus Christ, according to these searchers after truth, were too modern, too recently invented, to be of any practical value to mankind. The central sun must be sought somewhere in the dawning twilight of human history. So Col. Olcott and Mme. Blavatsky went to India to study the Vedas, the Shasters, and the seven occult books of Sakyamuni. It is hardly necessary to add that in this dusty and moth-eaten religion they found something which, when they had mastered the Hindustanee and the Sanskrit, was truly soul-filling. But the legacy of Baron Palm gave out in course of time, and these earnest seekers after truth found themselves, to use a nautical phrase, "on their beam-ends "in the matter of finances. Rents and marketing are cheap in India, and our searchers after truth had, moreover, accustomed themselves to the vegetable diet which is enjoined upon the Hindu, however distasteful it may have have been to a gentleman who had been accustomed to the chops and steaks of Fulton Market. In this emergency, if we may believe the report of Colonel Olcott, recently sent to his fellowtheosophists in this city, supernatural powers intervened. Things are booming," wrote the hierophant, "and we travel for nothing." Explanation being sought upon this point, it was said that when the hierophant and his companion desired to travel conveyances were found waiting at their door. Mysterious messengers appeared laden with free passes. Although the seekers after truth never made known to any human being their wishes and plans, they could not move in the direction of the fulfilment of these without being intercepted by silent and irresponsive emissaries, who sped them on their way without money and without price. On one occasion Col. Olcott started from Bombay to a distant city to deliver a message which he did not understand to a man whose name he did not know. On his arrival, a messenger appeared at the station and demanded and received the message. The wants of Col. Olcott and Mme. Blavatsky are met in the most mysterious manner and as satisfactorily as the most exacting frequenter of American boarding-houses could wish. Elijah fed by the ravens was nothing to these two pilgrims. Food, raiment, railway passes, and free tickets to the circus are all showered upon the devoted seekers after truth in a way which proves that theosophy is its own reward. This brief narration sufficiently points its own moral. Let those of us who are weary of the Christian religion, weary of delving and grubbing in the vulgar soil of America, weary of earning our own living, hie us away to the sunny plains of Hindustan. There the seeker after truth is supernaturally cared for, Elijah was fed by the ravens, and a fish miraculously brought the Apostles money to pay their taxes. Theosophical inquirers in India are dead-headed everywhere.-New York Times. * Sanscrit ? RETRENCHMENT AND EXTENSION. A FEW WORDS ON THE SOCIETY'S FINANCIAL POSITION. AST year the key-note of the Church Missionary Society's Report to its friends and supporters was the painful word RETRENCHMENT. It can hardly be said that the key-note this year is EXTENSION; yet the very fact that an Extension and Enlargement Fund has been started, and has received in less than twelve months special gifts amounting to more than 16,000l., will mark the year as one in which, after a period of anxiety and depression, it has pleased God to give His servants fresh tokens for good and fresh encouragement to go forward. It is our impression that the present hopeful position of the Society's funds is scarcely realized by our friends generally. The financial statement at the beginning of the Report read in Exeter Hall on May 3rd states it with perfect accuracy; but its succinct and necessarily technical language may perhaps deserve some expansion and annotation. This we propose to attempt briefly to supply, and also to indicate, what could not be indicated on the first Tuesday in May, the plans which the Committee have formed since the Anniversary in view of the more favourable outlook. Let us go back a little. Two years ago, how did the Society stand? An excess of expenditure over income in three successive years had resulted in a deficit of almost 25,000l. The Society's long-tried friend, the Rev. V. J. Stanton of Halesworth, at once headed a deficiency fund with a gift of 1000l., and in a few weeks one half the adverse balance was wiped off. Then the contributions flagged; and at the close of 1879 it seemed likely that when the accounts should be closed on March 31st, 1880, there would be a heavier deficit than ever; for not only was 10,000l. out of the 25,000l. still wanting, but the expenditure of the current year promised to exceed the income considerably. Another faithful friend now came forward, the Rev. E. H. Bickersteth, and called for a "spurt "to clear off the 10,000l. at all events. His letter, and a statement of the whole position which appeared in our own pages in January, 1880, under the title of "The Outlook," were circulated by many thousands over the country; and the response was a signal rebuke to half-heartedness and despondency. In the three months between Jan. 1st and March 31st, 13,000l. was sent in for the Deficiency Fund, or 3000l. more than was asked for. The surplus, however, was more than wanted for the then current year, the expenditure having again exceeded the income by 6000l.; so that the new financial year (the year recently closed, 1880-81) began with a balance on the wrong side of 33421. In the meantime, while the result of Mr. Bickersteth's appeal was still uncertain, a strong Special Sub-Committee had been formed, consisting of the Finance and Estimates Committees jointly (the former supplying the bankers, &c., with their financial experience, and the latter the men best acquainted with the wants of the Missions), to examine into the whole position and prospects. Through many long sittings did they patiently consider the questions submitted to them, and at length they presented an elaborate Report. They rightly attributed the difficult position the Society found itself in, not to any falling off in the income-for their estimate of receipts which might be fairly relied upon for the next three years (an estimate considered very low by some) was 185,000l., a figure higher by 30,000l. than the income of seven years before-but to the growth of the work. And this growth, they considered, had been stimulated by two causes, viz. the increased number of men offering for missionary service since the Days of Intercession were begun, and the receipt by the Society of some very large Benefactions and Legacies which had swelled the income abnormally (if the expression may be allowed) and had encouraged the Committee to respond freely to calls for extension. The Joint Committee's recommendations may be grouped as follows: (1.) Efforts to be made to bring down the expenditure for three years to 185,000l. per annum. (2.) With a view to this, various specified reductions to be made in the foreign estimates. (3.) Only five new men, and eight of those at home on sick leave or otherwise, to be sent out each year for three years, except under very special circumstances. (4.) In years when Legacies are above the average, a percentage of them to be capitalized. (5.) The Capital Fund, hitherto a variable amount from different causes, to be divided into two parts. One, to retain the same name, to stand permanently at 60,000l., and not to be chargeable with any adverse balances, but to be used only for its proper purpose of supplying the current money needful for carrying on the work during the earlier months of the financial year, before the bulk of the year's income begins to come in (when it is replaced). The other, to be called the Contingency Fund, which should, on the one hand, be used to meet deficits in years of deficit, and special expenditure on Mission buildings and the like, which ought not to fall on current income, and, on the other hand, be fed from surpluses in years of surplus and from legacies in excess of average. This Fund would naturally be variable in amount, and would be a kind of barometer to show the position of the Society. This "Joint Report," as it is called, has governed the action, and to some extent the policy, of the Society since. Its key-note was retrenchment; and retrenchment has been carried out. The proposed reductions in the Mission-field, which amounted prospectively to about 10,000l. per annum, have not all been effected, nor will they be; but a good many of them have been, particularly in India, which even now absorbs nearly half the Society's resources, both in men and in means. These, however, must not be understood as altogether to the detriment of the Missions. Retrenchment, provided it be not too severe, sometimes has its uses; and certainly in India it has spurred the energies both of the Native Christians and of English friends on the spot. A re-arrangement of the work, and the acceptance by the growing Native Churches of more responsibility, have in several cases obviated evil results. Still, no doubt the reductions have been felt in some places; and there are schools closed which might now be open, and agents disconnected who might now be at work, if the Society's friends had sooner rallied to its assistance. We at home were naturally more exercised by the results of retrenchment visible to our own eyes, in the shape of eighteen ordained men waiting to go forth into the field, but kept back under the resolution above mentioned. And it was this sight which pointed another appeal put forth by Mr. Bickersteth just a year ago, in the Intelligencer of July, 1880. His letter, and another also from Mr. Stanton, led to the opening of an Extension and Enlargement Fund, primarily for the purpose of receiving special contributions to send out some of the detained men, but also to form a nucleus for the support of future advances into the regions beyond. Between July, 1880, and March, 1881, the following special contributions were offered, and were accepted by the Committee : Rev. E. H. Bickersteth, to support a missionary to the Bheels for three St. Paul's, Cheltenham, to send the Rev. A. E. Ball out one year sooner St. John's, Hampstead, in memory of Rev. H. Wright, 6091.; St. Paul's, Mrs. Harvey, Hampstead, to support a missionary at Allahabad (Rev. F. E. A friend, per Rev. W. H. Barlow, to support two additional missionaries -and since March, 1881, A friend, to take advantage of the openings on the River Binue £1000 381 320 320 1000 1426 400 1000 640 320 1000 1000 It must be carefully borne in mind that not one of these gifts is in lieu of regular subscriptions or donations. All are over and above ordinary contributions. Also let it be noted that they are not given to Special Funds, however important, or to individual missionaries, however excellent, but distinctly to the general work of the Society carried on under the control of the Committee. They are thus in quite a different category from those private ventures which so fascinate some minds, but which may sometimes hinder rather than |