THIS month will ever be memorable in our annals, for it saw the long illness of our beloved President-Founder ended by gentle Death. His faithful physician, Dr. Nanjunda Row, almost in despair, on February 1st, called in the leading English physicians in Madras, Lieutenant-Colonel Browning and Major Robertson. They declared the patient's case to be hopeless, symptoms of heart-failure being present; he might die at any moment by a sudden movement, or he might linger till his vitality was exhausted.

From January 14th, his descent was unbroken, though very slow; every day saw him a little weaker, and the fits of panting, which threatened immediate dissolution, became more frequent. He could not sleep, for, if he laid himself down, he choked, and from January 14th to February 11th, he did not have one full hour of unbroken sleep. His courage, patience and endurance never wavered, and he even preserved a gentle gaiety, which deceived those who only saw him rarely, into the idea that he was not so ill as the constant watchers by his side knew him to be.

His joy in the Masters' presence and in that of H.P.B. gave to Death the appearance of a longed-for friend : "Let me go," he would whisper softly; “Brothers, let me join your glorious company, and join in your work. God bless us all." And as the weariness grew deeper: “Oh! take me away; Master, take me home." His room became as a Temple, a peaceful vestibule to the Holy Âshrama he longed to enter.

At last, from sheer sleeplessness, his mind began to wander, and he would murmur sentences in many languages, think himself on board ship, long to be at Adyar. But from time to time, he would become lucid, and through all knew those dearest to him. But on the evening of February 11th, he began to sink into definite unconsciousness, and his words became almost inaudible. In all his wanderings, the work, the Society, were uppermost. And in his deeper unconsciousness, a watcher heard him murmuring : “I bless Annie. I bless Annie," as though his thoughts clustered lovingly round the one to whom he had bequeathed his sacred work.

The unconsciousness deepened day by day, and on Saturday, February 16th, the last signs of the dissolution of the body appeared; Saturday night was quiet, and I left him at 5-30 A.M., to bathe. At 6-30 I looked in, and found him much the same, and left to take my morning coffee, but a little before 7 the nurse summoned me, and said he had had two violent convulsions, and she thought he was dying. There was another slight convulsion, and seeing the end was close at hand, I sent for Mrs. Russak and Miss Renda, who came at once. We sat quietly beside him, an occasional long breath being taken, till 7-15. A slight shiver ran through the body two minutes later, and he was gone. The three Masters to whom he had been nearest during his life, and his old comrade H.P.B., were there in astral presence, and at 7-27 H.P.B, said "The cord is broken." He was free.

Thanks be to the Blessed Ones, who have taken their faithful tired servant home.

We ourselves performed, with his devoted night nurse-Miss Smart, to whom we all feel profoundly grateful-the last offices, and prepared him for the bier, while the arrangements previously made for notifying his passing were carried out by Miss Willson. At 12-30 he was placed on the bier, and carried down to the large hall, where he lay in front of the statue of H P.B. Small tables, bearing the scriptures of Hindus, Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Christians, Muhammadans, Sikhs and Jains, stood at the east end of the space, and a censer burning incense was at his head; the space around was ringed in with flowering plants, and his body was covered with his own national flag and the Buddhist flag, with many flowers. There it lay in peace, while Theosophists from Madras, and from all the country round-present in consequence of a conference here to which they had come-gathered to take a last look at the loved body of their friend and father. Thereto also came the teachers of his Panchama Schools, his good work for the degraded and oppressed, and many of the very poor, men, women and children. It was a truly Theosophical sight to see the long string of people, easterns and westerns, proud Brâhmanas and humble pariahs, each casting a few flowers on the body, till it was covered with blossoms, and only the white head and beard were visible. The members, after passing him, sat round, chanting and meditating.

3-30 P.M. was the time appointed for the simple funeral ceremony, and those who were to take an active part in it stepped within the flower-ringed space. The place of honor was given to the representatives of Buddhism, as the Colonel was a professed Buddhist, and Messrs. K. George, B. M. de Silva, D. G. P, de Silva, H. L. Don Charles and Pandit C. Iyodhi Doss opened the proceedings by chanting softly and sweetly some Pâli shlokas on the transitoriness of earthly life; Brother H. L. Don Charles then said :

"Brothers, I shall try to give just a brief explanation of the verses we repeated in this ceremony, according to our Lord Buddha's teachings about the uncertainty of this life. Things born have their death, therefore nothing is eternal. Death comes with birth, and it is in search of an opportunity to overcome, just as an executor ready to execute his orders. The life stops not even for a moment, and it is always passing as the sun. This life is not certain, it passes away as a lightning-flash, as a water-bubble, as a dew-drop at the end of a weed. Death cannot be checked or stopped; it goes always after him as an enemy ready for taking away one's life. This death overcame our Lord Buddha, whose wealth, strength, merits, charities, power and wisdom were the greatest and the highest. Therefore what is it for him to overcome with all the others in this world?

Through the virtues of the merits we have just gathered let the deceased, our beloved Col. Olcott, attain to heaven without any evil obstacles, and let all the Gods partake of the merits and protect the Religion, the Teachings, and the world.

We express our deep sorrow about this great benefactor's death, and congratulate him for his great works for the Buddhists by opening schools, &c., after he published himself as a Buddhist, by taking Panchaseela at Galle, Ceylon, in June 1880."

Two Brâhmanas, Brothers P. Nârâyana Aiyar and Shrînîvasa Rao, then chanted some splendid shlokas from the Taittirîyopanishat, and Judge Sir S. Subramania Iyer spoke thus of the services he had rendered to Hinduism:

“Brothers, on behalf of the numerous members of the T.S. whose faith is that mirrored in the Upanishat, the solemn sounds whereof are till resonant in our ears, it becomes my duty to give humble expression to the profound gratitude they one and all entertain towards our beloved President-Founder, who in the fullness of time has this day quitted his earthly tenement. Nor should I omit to say that I myself am under very special obligations to him. For, now more than a quarter of a century ago, when under the stress of circumstances of my life I came to look less without and more within, it was my good fortune to peruse a small collection of the addresses which this new-comer from the West had been delivering in this, his land of adoption. And a little later that good fortune was enhanced by the opportunities I had of hearing him with my own ears. The stirring appeal he made to my co-religionists in favor of their paying a more intelligent attention to the great truths they had inherited, and the transcendent philosophy they possessed, made so strong an impression upon me, as to give to my whole life a course which has never since been deflected. Passing from my insignificant self to the millions that share in that priceless heritage, I say without fear of contradiction that the discriminative study of our Scriptures, and the revival in practice of some of their dictates as to the leading of a true life, which have now replaced the contempt for them that prevailed, are entirely due to the work of the Society which it was the rare privilege of the now departed President to found, with the colleague who can never be thought of by us without the utmost veneration. Brethren, I am sure you will agree with me when I say that the labours of the revered Founders, and of those who have been working under their valiant generalship, are destined to exert on the Indian people a beneficial influence on an immeasurable scale. Though at the present moment many may not he able to see and appreciate this, I have no doubt that when the history of these times in India comes to be written, the impartial historian will not fail to point out and acknowledge that the spiritual progress of the people, with its many-sided advantages in store for us, was the harvest of the seed planted by the revered Founders, the growth of which it was given to one of them to promote for so long a time with infinite pains. This is not the hour for me to speak in detail and it is meet that I should not detain you more than to say: May the Rshis of Âryâvaría, as our departed friend was wont to refer to them, and whose existence he strove to bring back to the memory of a generation which was becoming almost oblivious of the fact, continue to grant Their protection to the cause to which he was so deeply attached and which he so nobly served."

Then a Zoroastrian brother, J. R. Aria of Bombay, chanted from the Zendavesta some shlokas full of mântric power, and he said:

“Brothers, it is through Their divine grace that I have been made an instrument to represent the Zoroastrian Community, for whose religious revival our dear and revered President-Founder did such signal service. It would be nothing short of ingratitude if I were to let go this opportunity without tendering my deepest gratitude and heartfelt love, on behalf of the Parsî Community, to our much respected and beloved President, and I cannot do better, at this juncture, than invoke the grace of the Holy Zarathushtra to descend upon him, by fervently praying that his passage into the higher worlds may be facilitated, and that he may pass in perfect peace into the higher realms.

May also the Peace and Blessings of the Holy Masters, whom he served so faithfully and loyally for the last one-and-thirty years, with unswerving devotion and perseverance, rest upon him, and may he rest enshrouded under their protecting care in their holy Âshrama.-SHANTI.”

Then came some fine verses from the Christian Bible, Wisdom II., 1-5, 21-24, and III., 1-9. read by Mrs. Russak. Mr. Urquhart followed, and said:

"As a Christian member of the Theosophical Society I deem it a great privilege to be present to bid farewell to the mortal remains of this faithful servant of all religions, who saw in each world-faith a branch of the one Tree of Wisdom; who looked on his own Eastern Master and the great Western Master, Jesus Christ, as Brothers in one Lodge, Brothers in the service of humanity. To him, after his long life of untiring energy and zeal, it must have been a source of satisfaction to see the fruit of his labours in the great strides that have taken place within recent years towards the realisation of his ideals. He has now gone to Those whom he served so well; and while our loving thoughts and blessings follow him, may his noble record of unselfish service in the cause of humanity be an example to each of us. May he enter into the Peace Eternal, and may perpetual Light shine on him."

Mrs. Besant then said :

“Brothers, we are here to-day not to bid farewell to our dear President, for there is no farewell between spirit and spirit, but to bid farewell to this cast-off garment of his, in which for the last 31 years he has so bravely striven to serve humanity. We are here to take, with all love and reverence, this cast-off garment to the fire, which shall give back to the elements that which is theirs, so that Nature, the Mother, may use again these elements for new forms of beauty and of life.

You heard our Buddhist brethren chant their loving farewell, and you heard Buddhist lips, with faltering tongue, say words of gratitude for what this man, their co-religionist, had done for Buddhism.

Then came the solemn rhythm of the familiar Samskrt, and Hindu lips spoke the same deep gratitude for what he had wrought for Hinduism. For he found these two ancient faiths despised, he found the men belonging to them ashamed of them; and he so laboured, that the youth of both faiths now respect their Scriptures, are proud of their Dharma, and with, uplifted heads declare their fealty to the faith of their fathers.

Then Zoroastrianism spoke, and even though you may not have understood the language, you must have been conscious of the power of the chanted words of blessing, and our Parsî brother told Zoroastrian gratitude to him who had worked so nobly for their ancient faith, so that in each Parsî community to-day words of benediction will follow him who loved their faith, and loved its people too.

Next came a noble passage from the Christian Bible, telling of man as the image of God's eternity, and Christian lips added their testimony to the Brotherhood of religions, and prayed that light might rest on him who served the light.

One faith was missing, of the world faiths; not unwilling, I fain would hope, but only coming too late, to speak Islâm's thanks to one who spoke so well for Islâm that one of her Moulvis, hearing him, declared that he expounded her faith better than one of themselves.

And I-I am Theosophist; what shall I say of him who, loving all religions, yet loved most that God-Wisdom in which all faiths are blended, from which they all proceed. How shall I speak our gratitude to him who, with his noble colleague, H. P. Blavatsky, founded this Theosophical Society for the revitalizing of religions, and the spiritual good of men. For this he laboured ceaselessly; as he lay dying, through long weeks of weariness and suffering, this was his constant thought; and even when, from excess of weariness, his thoughts began to wander, even then they ever lingered round the welfare of this movement, dearest of all to his heart. This morning came from their far-off Âshramas in the snowy Himâlayas, his own Master, wearing the Râjput form, with that other gentlest One in form of Kashmîri Brâhmana, and yet one other, Egyptian-born, who had had him also in charge, and They, with his dearest friend, H.P.B., came to fetch him to rest with Them in Their home far north. His own Gurudeva snapped the cord that bound the man to his cast-off garment, and, sleeping in His Master's arms, as it were, he passed from earth. Oh! the joy of the suffering over, the weariness at rest, the burden of the flesh laid down. (Turning to the body) : And - now, dear friend, we bear away your body; we bid you not farewell; for you, unborn, undying, perpetual, eternal, there is no such thing as death. We have served your body while we could, tended it, loved it; now we give it back to the elements whence it came. Brave soldier of Truth, striver for good, we wish you light and peace. And by this dead body we pledge you our faith-I, to hear on the standard of Theosophy, fallen from this cold hand, if the Society confirm the choice you made, along the road as you have borne it; all to serve Theosophy though life to death, as you have served it. So long as this Society endures, through the years of an unmeasured future, so long shall your name live in and with it. Here is our President's last message, signed by his own hand, on February 2nd, to be read above his body; dear friend, your lips are cold; my voice speaks your words :

'To my beloved brothers in the physical body : I bid you all farewell. In memory of me, carry on the grand work of proclaiming and living the Brotherhood of Religions.

'To my beloved Brothers on the higher planes : I greet and come to you, and implore you to help me to impress all men on earth that 'There is no Religion higher than Truth,' and that in the Brotherhood of Religions lie the peace and progress of humanity.' "

The bier was then lifted and borne to the burning-ground by six Brâhmanas and four Buddhists, the nearest friends following immediately, and the great concourse falling in behind. Soon the body was laid on its last bed and wood was piled round it, and flowers rained from all sides. Up leaped the fiery tongues of flame, flashing radiant in the sunshine, and the pyre was soon a mass of roaring flames, Agni scattering into its elements the gross body, and with it its etheric counterpart, while round the pile sat the friends of varied nations and of varied faiths. Presently the crowd dwindled, as one after another went quietly away, till at last only the watchers remained. All night long the fire smoldered, and at 6-30 A.M. on the morning of the 18th, water and milk quenched the red-hot embers, and the fragments of bone were gathered and placed in two receptacles, to carry out his wishes as to the disposal of these last remains. One casket was locked and placed in a wooden box, to be taken to Benares, and dropped in the sacred river, Gangâ, to join the ashes of H.P.B., there lying. The other was carried to the sea, at law tide, and Brother K. Nârâyanasvâmi Iyer went out beyond the farthest breakers, and cast it into the blue heaving waters. Then all returned home.

It is interesting to read the following passage, written by the President-Founder in Old Diary Leaves in the Theosophist of March, 1892. He is writing of H.P.B, and says :

"I notice in Mr. Sinnett's book the coincidence that she arrived at New York on the 7th July, 1873, that is to say on the Seventh day of the Seventh month of her forty-second year (6 x 7), and that our meeting was postponed until I should have attained my forty-second year. And, to anticipate, it must also be remarked that she died in the Seventh month of the Seventeenth year of our Theosophical relationship. Add to this the further fact, recently published by me in the Theosophist, that Mrs. Annie Besant came to H. P. B, as an applicant for membership in the Seventh month of the Seventeenth Year after her final withdrawal from the Christian communion [and when I was 42, A. B.], and we have here a pretty set of coincidences to bear in mind. My own death, when it comes, will no doubt occur on a day that would accentuate the fatefulness of the number Seven in the history of our Society and of its two founders."

How accurately the prophecy was fulfilled is shown above. It would almost seem as if the Blessed Master, with tender and perhaps amused benignity, as of mother to child, shaped the passing to please His disciple, for the etheric double separated at 7-27, and the cord snapped at 7-27, an February 17th, 1907.

The arrangements for the ceremony were placed by me in the hands of Brother K. Nârâyanasvâmi Iyer, Provincial Secretary T.S., and were all most admirably made, so that all passed without a hitch. To name others, where so many were helpful, and all were eager to help, would be invidious.