BERHAMPORE Charles Johnston Late December 1888-Early January 1889. It was at the junction of the Nalhati State railway, amid the illimitable rice fields of Lower Bengal, where I was waiting, far on in the night, for a train that was to take me to my first post. The engine driver had some doubt as to his skill, so he spent an hour or two practicing, running his little train back and forward a hundred yards or so, and whistling... Read more
Nikolai Ivanovich Achinov (1856-1902,) whom the press described as a “personage something after the type of the redoubtable [Nikolai Notovitch,]” was a Cossack born in Terek, in the Chechen lowlands.[1] At the time, the Cossacks were divided into three tribes: the Cossacks of the Don, the Cossacks of the Islands of the Dnieper, and the Free Cossacks. The last of these tribes, the Free Cossacks, being the tribe into which Achinov was born, were composed of descendants of emigrants... Read more
GHOST MOSUKE ACT III. X. ⸻ “I belong to the Society because of my personal affection for Madame Blavatsky and Olcott,” Balwantrao told Verochka. They were sitting on the verandah with Noguchi Zenshirō, and Dharmapala, while Charley, Olcott, Harte, and the other administrators were conducting a meeting, or “Council of the Wicked,” as Verochka termed it. It was December 24, exactly seven years since Balwantrao joined the Society, and his mood was somewhat reflective.[1] “What Colonel Olcott takes... Read more
Marie Sinclair. (wiki) Marie Sinclair (1830-1895) was the only surviving daughter of Don José de Mariategui, of Santa Catalina, the dealer of precious gems, by which “she came in possession of […] marvelous jewels which [were] the wonder of all Europe.”[1] From an early age Marie was interested in occult subjects, beginning with Mesmerism and Clairvoyance, and later gravitating toward Spiritualism.[2] In 1853 she married General Conde de Medina Pomar, with whom she had one child, a... Read more
Throughout the nineteenth century, policy-makers in Britain maintained that the preservation of the Ottoman Empire was necessary to the balance of European power and was a sine qua non for British interests in India. The image of Turkey as the brave ally of Britain against Russia in the Crimea was actively cultivated. The successive British governments (Whig, Tory and Liberal,) however, impressed upon the sultans a need for reforming the entire structure of Ottoman government. One primary concern was... Read more
THE FENIAN ACT III. IX. ⸻ “Maud Gonne wants to meet John O’Leary,” said Oldham, introducing Maud to the Club. “I thought you would all like to meet Maud Gonne.” Maud glanced round the room, where a dozen men sat smoking and drinking tea. She had her doubts about the last part of Oldham’s introduction, as no women were admitted to the Club. A tall, thin, handsome older man rose from his armchair by the fire. With a quizzical frown... Read more
Sylvester Baxter, 1889.[1] Sylvester Baxter (1850-1927,) a New Englander with a pedigree on both side which stretched back to the original Puritan settlers, was born on February 6, 1850, in Yarmouth, Massachusetts.[2] Though he would spend most of his life in Malden, Massachusetts, he always regarded himself a “son of the Cape.” When Baxter was born, his father was an active Freemason.[3] He attended several schools on the Cape (public and private) until he turned seventeen. When he... Read more
Hiram Erastus Butler (1841-1916.)[1] Butler was born in Pennsylvania in 1841, was never attracted to “book learning,” and had a deep affinity for nature. In personal appearance Butler had nothing particularly striking, but there was in his manner a “peculiar fascination” which grew on acquaintance. He did not possess the gift of language, or a felicity of expression, and one always left his presence with the suspicion that that there was a great deal more to him than one... Read more
Progressivism is a theology. It is a truth-claim. It is not a synonym for “good.” It belongs to catechists. It was the prevailing belief of the classical world that human nature was unchangeable, and that the historical process (as observed in nature) was cyclical. Christian scholars, having little hope for temporal improvement, subjected everything to the will of God. This changed during the Protestant Reformation with its challenge to ancient authority. Progress, simply put, was a doctrinal innovation... Read more
To understand the origins of “Anti-Semitism” we must first find the origins of “Semitism.” We find the first use of the term semitic in a 1781 work about the Chaldeans by the German historian, August Schlözer. The word was derived from the presumed ancestor for the “Semites,” Shem, one of the three sons of Noah.[1] The prevailing opinion among western scholars at the time was that Hebrew was the original language of mankind, and that all European languages... Read more
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