Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: H. P. BLAVATSKY "THE SECRET DOCTRINE." CHAPTER I. , N giving an account of the manner in which The ( Secret Doctrine was written by H. P. Blavatsky, while yet the circumstances are fresh in my memory, with memoranda and letters still available for reference, I shall not shrink from dwelling at some length on my own relations with my dear friend and teacher, and on many attendant circumstances which, while not directly connected with the actual writing of the book, will contribute, I feel sure, to an intelligent comprehension of both the author and her work. For me nothing is trivial, nothing meaningless, in the personality, in the habits, and in the environments t H.P.B., and I desire to convey to the reader, if possible, as full a knowledge as I myself possess of the difficulties and distractions that beset her during the progress of her work. The ill-health, the wandering life, the unpropitious surroundings, the lack of materials, the defection of false friends, the attacks of enemies, were obstacles that impeded her labour ; but the co-operation of willing hands, the loveand care of devoted adherents, and, above all, the support and direction of her beloved and revered Masters, rendered its completion possible. It was in the year 1884 that, having occasion to visit London, I first made acquaintance with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, at Mr. and Mrs. Sinnett's house. I well remember the feeling of pleasurable excitement with which I made that memorable call. I had previously read Isis Unveiled with wonder and admiration for the vast stores of strange knowledge contained in that remarkable work, therefore I was prepared to regard with feelings little short of reverence one who not only had founded a Society which promised to form the nucleus of a universal Brotherhood ...