Copyright © 1951 by Theosophical University Press (print version also available). Electronic version ISBN 1-55700-120-0. All rights reserved. This edition may be downloaded for off-line viewing without charge. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial or other use in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Theosophical University Press. For ease of searching, no diacritical marks appear in the electronic version of the text.
September 1886 - December 1887
PREFACE
As co-founder of the Theosophical Society — and successor to its first Head, H. P. Blavatsky — William Q. Judge sacrificed himself to the cause of those Masters whom he served that Their message find a rooting place in the West. There he felt the foundations of an active Universal Brotherhood must be laid for the preservation and growth of future generations.
Not content with spreading the message his constant counsel to all was to "live the life" for only thus could the message be fully understood. He was a living expression of practical occultism. This is apparent nowhere better than in his private correspondence in which he constantly referred the student to fundamental rules of esotericism, firm adherence to which was essential for the would-be disciple.
The letters in this volume were taken from his Letterbooks and other private files. It was recognized from the start that the editorial problem was one of peculiar difficulty. Not only was the material in many instances almost indecipherable, but the matter of appropriate selection of the main extracts demanded strict discrimination.
The committee which effectively worked on this assignment consisted of Hazel Minot, Grace Frances Knoche, A. Studley Hart, Lawrence Merkel and James A. Long. Kirby Van Mater rendered aid in making available this material from the Archives of the Theosophical Society.
A. L. C.
Covina, California
September, 1949
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