Reply of Mrs. Ygrek V. P. Zhelikhovskaya to Mr. Vs

HP BLAVATSKY AND THE MODERN PRIEST OF TRUTH. VP ZHELIKHOVSKAYA
Reply of Mrs. Ygrek (V.P. Zhelikhovskaya) to Mr. Vsevolod Solovyov


Slander, that worst of poisons, ever finds An easy entrance to ignoble minds ...

Juvenal

To hear an open slander is a curse, But not to find an answer is a worse, . . .

Ovid

The duty of defending a fellow-man stung by a poisonous tongue during his absence, and to abstain, in general, “from condemning others” is the very life and soul of practical theosophy.

Blavatskaya
I

Ygrek (Y) is a very transparent, and therefore not entirely fair and completely unnecessary pseudonym given to me by Mr. Solovyov in his interesting articles «The Modern Priestess of Isis», which were finally over in the December issue of «The Russian Herald».

If this Latin letter «Y», by means of which the witty author has covered only half of my personality, in most cases calling me directly «Zhelikhovskaya», misled anyone, then I quite willingly expose myself, removing the nickname given to me, probably, with the only purpose of presenting to the public not only my conversations, that I had eight years ago, — what a happy memory for Mr. Solovyov! — but also my letters …

Without having to hide or especially be ashamed of my words and letters — if they are conveyed in their true light — I have nothing against it; all the more, by such actions he gave me the opportunity to use, without undue hesitation, the data available to me, thus having done me a favor.

I, unfortunately, can’t restore my conversations with our glorious novelist word for word, as he does; but I, thanks my lucky stars, have the opportunity to accurately convey their essence, as I and my daughter kept diaries all the time. Thus, without claiming to struggle with Mr. Solovyov in his eloquent ability to put only his foot forward, telling so vividly and entertainingly, mixing up the true story with tall tales, that readers, for the most part searching only for entertainment, lose any desire for a critical analysis of the described «facts» (?), it is a pleasant impression of an entertaining story that remains. I will still hope that some of them will pay attention to my modest testimony in favor of the deceased sister, for whom there is no one but me to stand up for.

First of all, I’m asking all honest and fair people: what has a person who undertakes to write about another person to know first of all? .. It seems that there can be no discord in the answer. Everyone will probably agree that he needs to know this person, his activities, and if he is an author, then his writings? ..

On this here are my testimonies from which — I hope — the «writer» of the «Modern Priestess of Isis» himself will not be able to renounce:

1) Mr. Solovyov associated with my sister, Helena Petrovna Blavatskaya, for only six weeks in Paris, for the same period in W;rzburg and for a few days in Elberfeld, where he twice visited her as a friend.

2) With her practical work, he could not get acquainted at that time, because the Theosophical Society was not yet in Europe; he couldn’t read translations of the theosophical literature either except the shortened manuscript of «Isis Unveiled» [1], — the first of her works, which she herself (in printed form) certified unsatisfactory, inconsistently and unclearly written.

3) Mr. Solovyov did not read and does not know many works of the last years of her life (The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy, The Voice of the Silence, Gems from the East, The Theosophical Glossary [2] and many articles in journals and newspapers in Europe, America, India), because of the utter ignorance of the English language, for translations are still almost nowhere except theosophical journals. But now he is keeping away from a theosophical heresy (?!), according to his own statement… Yes, even if he did not keep away from it, and in it he could find all Blavatsky’s works only in English. But this language is unfamiliar to him, he himself stated more than once, as will be seen later. For example, asking my sister for instructions in case of a trip to London to visit her, he directly says: «Send me the most detailed instructions, because I’m dumb for England!». (Letter October 22, 1884), and in another letter he exclaims: «What a meanness, that I do not speak English!».

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