EVOLUTION AND ETHICS. December, 1906. This meeting likely occurred on December 19, 1906, a week prior to the meeting of the American Philosophical Association on December 26, 1906. ⸻ “In the discussion following Percy’s talk at our last meeting,” said Mitchell, “the question arose as to the propriety of attributing any moral element to nature. Man finds within his own heart certain ethical standards and moral ideals. Are these only the expression in him of a moral law... Read more
CHRISTIANITY AND NATURE. November 21, 1906. A month had passed since the first Talk. On November 21, 1906, everyone returned except Farrand, who elected to no longer participate in the discussions. In the intervening days Crampton’s first son, Henry Crampton Jr., was born. Montague and his family moved into their quarters at the Helicon Home Colony. Johnston concluded a lecture series at the Astoria Assembly Rooms, and was preparing for a new series of talks on “The Renascent... Read more
THE NATURE OF THE INQUIRY October 24, 1906. On October 19 and October 21, just before these talks, Dewey dined with Montague. On October 23 Dewey went to Englewood, New Jersey, (presumably accompanying Montague to Upton Sinclair’s new Helicon Home Colony.) On October 20, 1906, Percy Grant was called to Brookline, Massachusetts, by the sudden death of his father, Stephen M. Grant, a prominent merchant of Boston. He remained there until after the funeral on October 22. This first... Read more
PREFACE During the academic year of 1906-1907, Henry Bedinger Mitchell, president of the New York Branch (NYB) of the Griscom Theosophical Society (GTS,) hosted a series of monthly meetings in his rooms at The Benedick Apartments (80 Washington Square East, New York) to discuss the intersection of science, philosophy, and religion. Being an adjunct professor of mathematics at Columbia University, the participants of these talks were largely pooled from Mitchell’s colleagues in the various departments of Columbia. These talks... Read more
“NOW, AND FOREVER.” ACT III. II. ⸻ “Did Bert tell you the colors I have selected for the cover of the Secret Doctrine?” asked Judge.[1] “Dark brown and dark blue?” replied Arch. “Right,” Judge nodded. “I cannot, with my limited help, see to all the unattended work, and so have agreed with the binder that he is to wrap up some 300 copies ready to be sent out.” Judge was talking with Dr. Archibald “Arch” Keightley as they... Read more
SPIRITS BRIGHT AND AIRY ACT II. XIV. ⸻ Judge took one last look around the rooms of 10 Talbot Street. Before the home passed on to his late uncle, Samuel Quan, it belonged to the man whose namesake he bore, his maternal grandfather, William Quan, the coachmaker. Closing the door, Judge walked into a morning saturated with mist. He glanced north in the direction of the Docklands, and briefly considered visiting his childhood home at 36 Seville Place. “I have... Read more
THE SILENT PASSENGER ACT II. XII. ⸻ A dense mass of low-hanging fog enveloped the R.M.S. Umbria. It had done so ever since leaving the dock in New York, on the morning of November 11, 1888. It was 1 p.m. Most of the passengers were in the dining-salon for lunch. Though anxious to reach Ireland as soon as possible, most agreed that Captain McMickan was running the ship at a reckless speed—far too dangerous for such black weather. The crew of... Read more
[Previously.] The S.S. Großer Kurfürst left Bremen, Germany, on April 29, 1905. There were several clocks on board the steamer which indicated the time of the major world cities, the ship had only been out to sea for a day, and Ernest Temple Hargrove was unsure if they were still in German waters. Ernest Temple Hargrove. For the efficacy of the ritual to work, each of the seven members belonging to the Inner Court of the Esoteric Section had to... Read more
Just before noon on Saturday, March 28, New York’s unemployed laborers, socialists, anarchists, communists, and the “broadly discontented,” swarmed upon Union Square. The mob, numbering seven thousand, grew so dense that a person could lift their feet off the ground and easily be upheld by the press of the bodies about them. It looked like Trafalgar Square the night of the Relief of Ladysmith. Plains-clothed police began to cut out small parties and redirect them down the side streets,... Read more
In the summer of 1896, Robert Shackleton, a New York reporter, was led through a huddled gauntlet of men and women in the labyrinthine hallway of a rear tenement on Orchard Street. Shackleton continued up the shaky stairs until he entered a crowded, poorly-lit room, where a tall, “broom-bearded” man hovered over the girl like the wings of a mother hen. Singed into the flesh of the girl were the letters I.O.D.E. “Iesus Omnium Dominus Est—Jesus is the... Read more
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