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firm stand against him. As a result of this disagreement, Mr. Hargrove resigned
the presidency of the Theosophical Society in America, and Dr. Keightley
resigned the presidency of the affiliated Theosophical Society in England. In
January, 1898, Mrs. Tingley called representatives of the Theosophical Society
from different parts of the United States to her home, and they drew up and
adopted the Constitution of The Universal Brotherhood Organization. Meanwhile
some of the friends of Mr. Hargrove proposed a rival plan calling for the
election of Mr. Hargrove as President and Mrs. Tingley as "Corresponding
Secretary" (H.P.B.'s former title). But Mrs. Tingley repudiated this scheme and
in return Mr. Hargrove and his friends rejected Mrs. Tingley's leadership.
At the Annual Convention in Chicago, February, 1898, the whole issue was
decided. Mrs. Tingley proceeded aggressively with her plans for The Universal
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Brotherhood, which she wished to absorb the Theosophic Society in America. Mr.
Hargrove and his friends, on the other hand, refused to recognize the legitimacy
of the new organization. When the issue was put to a vote, over ninety per cent
of the delegates followed Mrs. Tingley.
Thereupon Mr. Hargrove and his associates withdrew with a few dozen delegates to
another hall, declared the action of the majority to be illegal, and agreed to
maintain the Theosophical Society as a distinct body. A month later they
formally announced Mrs. Tingley's removal as Outer Head on the grounds that by
slandering fellow members she had violated her vows and conducted her
organization on policies unworthy of Theosophy.9 Several E.S.T. pamphlets were
issued explaining the causes of their repudiation of Mrs. Tingley and
incidentally throwing additional light on the circumstances of Mrs. Tingley's
coming into power. This body then published The Theosophical Forum, in which it
further defined its stand and claimed to be the legitimate continuation of
Judge's work and organization. Legal proceedings were begun to recover the
membership lists and archives of the Society from The Universal Brother-
hood, but this move was unsuccessful. During the next few months several hundred
Theosophists expressed their adherence to this Society. This group, now known
simply as The Theosophical Society, with headquarters in the New York Branch,
continues to carry on its work through local branches. It publishes The
Theosophic Quarterly, to which Mrs. Charles Johnston has contributed
extensively. It naturally has its own Esoteric Section and has made many
scholarly contributions to Theosophic research and literature. True to the
spirit of Judge, it has emphasized Western rather than Oriental esoteric
traditions, emphasizing the mystic elements in Christianity. It venerates the
wisdom of the Master, Jesus, and some of the Christian Saints, but it has no
ecclesiastical tendencies. It refuses to commit its members to any Theosophic
creed, to any official pronouncements on the subject of "phenomena," or in
general to any matters which concern personalities and personal beliefs. Its
meetings are devoted largely to study, discussion, and meditation upon the
writings of H.P.B. and other Theosophic classics. It remains a small but
distinguished group.
After the Chicago Convention of 1898, the vast majority of American Theosophists
followed Mrs. Tingley in The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society,
with headquarters at Point Loma. Its official organ, The Searchlight, conducted
a vigorous campaign and under the leadership of Mrs. Tingley, the organization
flourished for several years. Through Mr. A. G. Spalding, of baseball fame, Ex-
Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage, and others, sufficient funds were
secured to establish permanent headquarters at Point Loma, a beautiful site
overlooking the Pacific. The place became a colony, where new ventures in the
education of children according to Theosophic ideas were embarked on, with
results said to be exceptional. In 1900 the Râja-Yoga School was founded which
was later expanded into the Theosophical University. An Aryan Memorial Temple
was erected, now known as the Temple of Peace; and a Greek theatre was built,
the first in the country, where Greek and Shakespearean dramas have been
performed. The Headquarters are now conducted under the direction of Dr.
Gottfried de Purucker and Mr. J. H. Fussell, both of whom were associated with
Mrs. Tingley from 1898.
Mrs. Tingley lived until July 11, 1929, when her death was announced from
Visingso, Sweden, where she had gone to a Theosophic community to recover from
an automobile accident suffered in Germany.10 She had done much work of a
humanitarian nature. Besides the School of Antiquity at Point Loma she had
founded an International Brotherhood League, a summer home for children at
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Spring Valley, New York, and a home for orphan children at Buffalo. She had
opened three schools in Cuba.
Another group of Theosophists in 1899 drifted into "The Temple of the People,"
sponsored by Dr. W. H. Dower and Frances J. Meyers, of Syracuse, New York.
Messages coming through a Mrs. Francia A. La Due, known mediumistically as "Blue
Star," were its inspiration until her death in 1923. A remnant of this group is
established in a colony at Halcyon, California.
In 1899 another offshoot came to growth in "The Theosophical Society of New
York," which is to be distinguished from "The New York Branch of the
Theosophical Society" mentioned above. Dr. H. H. Salisbury, long a friend of Mr.
Judge, Mr. Donald Nicholson, editor of the New York Tribune, also a friend of
Judge and H.P.B., and Mr. Harold W. Percival, headed a group which numbered Dr.
Alexander Wilder and Mrs. Laura Langford among its adherents. Mr. Percival for
years edited a successful magazine, The Word.
Dr. J. D. Buck, of Cincinnati, an early member of the American Section and
devoted supporter of Judge, later threw his strong influence on the side of the
claims of a Mr. Richardson-known as "T.K."-and Mrs. Florence Huntley, to
represent the Masters. Some of his friends went with him in this allegiance, but
the exposure of "T.K." undermined his movement and he died shortly afterward.
Mrs. Alice L. Cleather, one of the inner group of students around Madame
Blavatsky during the years preceding her death, formed a "Blavatsky
Association," organized to combat the successorship of Mrs. Besant in
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