also, she has contributed somevaluable arguments against the worship of the fetish vaccination. Dr. Appel's wide knowledge and varied medical experience make her aid invaluable in the war waged by occult science against the unnatural and dangerous poisons with which modern medicine is now afflicting humanity. Dr. Appel is the more useful in that she never hides her theosophical colors. She writes and speaks always as a Theosophist.

Another interesting Congress was that for The History of Religions, meeting at Oxford. Sir A. Lyall, in his presidential address, made some points that have often been urged on theosophical platforms religious wars were "unknown on any great scale to the ancient civilisations;" under Hinduism and Buddhism governments have been absolute and personal; the religions have been popular and democratic ;" the tenets of Hinduism "have never been circumscribed by a creed; its free play has never been checked or regulated by State authority." Dr. G. A. Grierson slew once more the false idea that Hindus do not recognise the unity of God; he pointed out that "the cult of the millions of minor 'Gods'......... corresponds to the dulia, or secondary veneration paid to saints and angels as the servants of God. Even the unlearned Hindu keeps this polytheistic mask to the worship of the one God on a different plane of thought." Every one who knows anything of Hindu life is well aware of this, but, in view of the presentation by some missionaries of the "poor heathen," it is well that it should be stated authoritatively.

The Rev. Gibson Smith is being persecuted in New Zealand for his theory of the atonement, as set forth in his book, The Christ of the Cross. In a sermon lately preached at Wellington, he gave an account of the genesis of the book. The most interesting part was as follows (he was in great mental distress at the time, and was thinking of giving up the ministry):

I was sitting at my desk writing to a friend, when suddenly it seemed as though the little room were filled with light inexpressibly soft and beautiful. I knew perfectly well that there was no real light there, yet I found myself looking up to the roof as if to trace its source. It seemed as though a beam of this spiritual light pierced straight into my heart, and struck upon something

there which immediately glowed into a similar light and began to show full beams of shining, dazzling radiance. At the same time, though no words were spoken, this meaning was revealed to my soul just as though it had been attired in actual words, "God loves you for the Christ within you." Ineffable heavenly love flowed in upon my soul, and more than satisfied its hunger, and with the love itself came also the truth. Above love there was a message to my understanding as well as my heart. That the spiritual world, which formerly had seemed almost a chaos of perplexities, was revealed to me as a world of holy and beautiful law, in which nothing happened by chance or without a reason, and with a quiet, inexpressible joy I saw all the dark things grow plain and clear, and testify to the reasonableness of the truth of God.

Theosophists will joyfully recognise the reality of this beautiful experience, and will be glad that Mr Gibson has the courage to be faithful to the light he has received. He says, with quiet dignity, that he has given in his book the very best he had to give, and that, if the Presbyterian pulpit is closed to him, he must go elsewhere, so that he may be able to say: "I have not been disobedient to the Heavenly Vision." May his church be wise enough not to drive him out. It is a joyous thing to notice how the avenues of communication between the worlds are being opened once more.

It may interest friends to know the financial side of the Australian and New Zealand tour. The receipts at the lectures for which a charge was made at Perth, Fremantle, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Launceston amounted to £1,501-19-3. Out of this were paid all local expenses, leaving a total profit of £1,064-8-0. Travelling expenses to and from India for myself, and rail and other expenses within Australia for Mrs. John and myself, amounted to £156-18-5, leaving £907-9-7 to be divided between the Section and myself, representing Indian work, in the proportion of one to two ; so the Section has £302-9-10 and myself £604-19-9. I have not yet received the New Zealand details, but the General Secretary writes me that my share is £140, raising the total in my hands to £744-19-9.

When I know how much I am liable for for building at Adyar, for oil-engines for pumping water, and other expenses already incurred, and not chargeable under the T.S. budget, I shall be able to allocate the money. The Sections and India have all profited by the admirable business arrangements carried out by the General Secretaries and their bands of voluntary workers. Without this, no financial success could have been secured.

IT

MUSIC AND THEOSOPHY.

A FEW THOUGHTS.

T has occurred to me as a student of the one and the other to jot down a few of many useful analogies which may be drawn between the study and application of Music, the Art of Divine Sound, and the study and application of Theosophy, the Art of Divine Wisdom.

The Divine Sound and the Divine Wisdom are both eternal verities beyond our capacities of comprehension; but in our efforts to unfold ourselves, in our puny attempts to realise things in their essence, we examine the fringe of each of these subjects, according to our capacities, and bring them down into the intellectual world, where the one is studied as Music and the other as Theosophy-both labels meaning widely different things, according to the relative capacities and the development of each student.

At the root of Theosophy is the Logos; at the root of Music is His uttered Word. Certainly the former comprehends the latter, but it is by means of the latter, the art of sounds as we know them down here, that I want to draw a few analogies, which may broaden our conceptions as regards the former, namely Theosophy, when it also is brought down to the limitations of our every-day life.

So let us leave the high latitudes of abstractions and come to earth.

There is a very real bond of brotherhood among artists-it is true of all arts, but I am confining myself to music. Strangers meet and on this subject fraternise at once. They sink all differences of caste, race, creed, etc., and become fellow-worshippers at the shrine of the muse. The bond of sympathy is strong in the love for the Art. In the Theosophical Society it is the same very nearly; but we are children as yet in the present incarnation of Theosophy, and are apt to behave differently when views clash.

Except where professional interests are concerned, and where material ends are the source of contention, two musicians meeting by chance will soon exchange views, and the greater of the two will at once understand the point to which the other has attained, and, unless the former is a mere fool trying to show off his superiority, he will confine his conversation to those subjects that the other is