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by David Green
The following documents (which will be completely referenced in later postings) clearly
show that during the years 1896-1904-----
(a) Mr Robert Crosbie fully accepted Mrs Katherine Tingley as the true
successor to William Quan Judge;
(b) Mr Crosbie asserted that Mr Judge had high praise for Mrs Tingley;
(c) Mr Crosbie truly believed & made public pronouncements to that
effect that Mr Judge had appointed Mrs Tingley as his successor.
(d) Mr Crosbie was "heart and soul" with and for Mrs Tingley.
(e) Mr Crosbie personally knew Mrs Tingley, worked closely with her and
wrote warm, devoted & personal letters to Mrs Tingley.
(f) Mr Crosbie vigorously defended in no uncertain terms Mrs Tingley
against the attacks of various "wayward" theosophists (such as Ernest T.
Hargrove, Alexander Spencer and C.A. Griscom, Jr. in 1898).
These documents by Mr Crosbie *sharply contrast & contradict* the false,
revisionistic account of Mr Crosbie's association with Mrs Tingley
published by the United Lodge of Theosophists in their 1923 pamphlet
"The United Lodge of Theosophists, Its Mission and Its Future." The
U.L.T. version was that Mr Crosbie was "half-hearted" in his support of
Mrs Tingley or remained in Mrs Tingley's Society from 1896-1904 for
"reasons of expediency." The documents below clearly indicate how
misleading & false such U.L.T. claims were.
[1] A PLEDGE (dated May 22, 1897) TO MRS KATHERINE TINGLEY SIGNED BY MR ROBERT CROSBIE
"I . . . recognizing the person called Purple [Mrs Tingley] as being the
agent of the Master I serve . . . do hereby unreservedly pledge myself,
by my Higher Self, to unquestioning loyalty, devotion and obedience to
her and to her support and defence as such agent, under any and all
circumstances and conditions to the extent of my available means, utmost
exertion, and with my life if need be. . . .
So Help me my Higher Self. (Signed) Robert Crosbie
Witness my hand, this 22d day of May, Eighteen hundred and
Ninety-seven."
[2] A LETTER (dated Feb. 2d 1898) FROM MR ROBERT CROSBIE TO MRS KATHERINE TINGLEY
"ROBERT CROSBIE
24 MOUNT VERNON STREET
BOSTON, MASS. Feb. 2d 1898
Dear P[Purple, Mrs Tingley]:
I received your good long letter of Sunday, it was a good one indeed. .
. .
I will arrange a "Friends in Counsel" for Boston, and have them get to
work along the lines suggested and hope to start on Saturday. . . .
I remember that the day I first saw you, I recognized you as the
O[outer] H[ead] without hint or instruction as such, and in spite of the
fact that I was not looking for a woman's form in that connection.
During that day you and I were the only ones in the E.S. room, and you
came and sat down at the table at which I was working, and told me a
great many things, saying that you did not know why you told me these
things but that it was doubtless for some purpose. . . .
All is well here. We are steady, confident and patient, yet ready to
act at the word.
With heart's love yours
as ever
Robert"
[3] EXCERPTS FROM AN ARTICLE (dated April, 1898) BY ROBERT CROSBIE
DEFENDING MRS TINGLEY FROM THE 1898 ATTACKS BY ERNEST T. HARGROVE, ALEXANDER H. SPENCER
AND C.A. GRISCOM
"THE SIFTING PROCESS
by Robert Crosbie
. . . The first great Leader . . . [was] H.P. Blavatsky. . . . The
second great Leader . . . [was] Wm. Q. Judge. . . .
The third great Leader, Katherine A. Tingley, established [February
1898] the organization called 'Universal Brotherhood,' or 'The
Brotherhood of Humanity,'. . . .
It is not difficult to see what 'An Ark of Safety' the Universal
Brotherhood is for the work, and to realize the wisdom of the Leader
[Mrs Tingley] in sounding the key-note, when it was not generally known
that the dark forces of disintegration were so close to us, and which
aroused us to action, and disclosed the imminent danger. . . .
Foolish are those who are attempting by legal technicalities to hinder
the work. . . who never were workers in the true sense; for all who know
the Leader [Mrs Tingley] best, who have worked the closest to her, are
the ones who are most energetic in carrying on the work at Headquarters,
and the most unswerving in their allegiance to the Leader, and certainly
their judgment is worthy of the most weighty consideration, for no
others are so well qualified to judge.
Some names, like those of Messrs. Spencer and Griscom, Jr., have
appeared in print so often in connection with the New York activities,
that it might be supposed that they were workers of the Headquarters'
staff, and being now connected with the disintegrating faction, it might
appear that the staff was weakened by their disaffection, but they were
not part of the staff, nor were they workers in the true sense,
especially since the return of the Leader [Mrs Tingley] from the Crusade
[around the world]. . . . It seems necessary to call attention to this
point, for the part taken by them in the attack upon our Leader, (for no
matter how much it is disguised, that is the real issue), might lead
members to suppose that they were very essential to the work, and person
whose opinions might appear to be of more weight than they really are. .
. ."
(4) AN APRIL 1901 ADDRESS BY ROBERT CROSBIE IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA IN WHICH MRS TINGLEY
IS HIGHLY PRAISED
". . . Mme. Blavatsky was the first leader, by the force of her wisdom
and power of leadership, and all the true students of Theosophy accept
her as such. And when she appointed William Q. Judge as her successor,
his leadership was accepted for the same reason---and so, too, with
Katherine Tingley, who was appointed by William Q. Judge as his
successor.
. . . These [theosophical] results . . . will continue to grow, and
remain as lasting monuments to the life-work of the immortal
three---H.P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge and Katherine Tingley."
(5) ADDRESS (published May 1902) OF ROBERT CROSBIE AT A POINT LOMA CELEBRATION IN WHICH
MRS TINGLEY IS AGAIN HIGHLY PRAISED
". . . we who have the privilege of assembling at this place and taking
part in this ceremony of sweet and grateful remembrance---know that the
establishment of this great Center [by Mrs Tingley at Point Loma,
Calfornia] is a realization of what William Q. Judge lived for, worked
for, hoped for, and we cannot but feel deep in our hearts that he knows
and rejoices with us today.
We feel that he knows of the self-sacrificing efforts made by the
faithful ones, and that those efforts have been called forth by his
chosen successor [Mrs Tingley], of whom he said, "she is true as steel,
as clear as diamond, and as lasting as time."
By her work has she [Mrs Tingley] shown to all men her fitness to
demonstrate the principles laid down by H.P. Blavatsky and W.Q. Judge,
by making them pratical in the daily life of mankind.
Her [Mrs Tingley's] work and our work stand today as an offering of
gratitude and love to that noble soul and loving human heart, whom we
knew as W.Q. Judge."
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