Vol 1 Page 203

[In H.P.B.’s Scrapbook, Vol. I, p. 124, there is a cutting from the Boston Sunday Herald of March, 1876. It is a letter from Dr. G. Bloede to the Editor of the paper. Under the subtitle of “Home’s Doubts of the Mediumship of Mme. Blavatsky,” the writer quotes from Col. Olcott’s People from the Other World in which he speaks of H.P.B. as “one of the most remarkable mediums in the world,” but adds that “at the sam e time her mediumship is totally different from that of any person I ever met, for, instead of being controlled by spirits to do their will, it is she who seems to control them to do her bidding.” Dr. Bloede comments on this by saying: “If we find that Mr. Home’s opinion of that eminent foreigner essentially differs from that of Col. Olcott, in regard to her supposed mediumship as well as otherwise, we must not disregard the fact that he knew her as early as 1858.” To this H.P.B. appended the following remarks in pen and ink:]

Home doubting my mediumship proved that he is a genuine and even a reliable medium. H. P. Blavatsky was NEVER a medium except, perhaps, in her earliest youth.

[The next paragraph of the same article deals with the burying of Russian dignitaries (in this case H.P.B.’s father) with their decorations, Dr. Bloede quoting Col. Olcott again on this subject. He also quotes D. D. Home who provides the testimony that no such custom exists in Russia. The decorations are carried as far as the tomb, and are later returned to the Government. At this point, H.P.B. added the following in pen and ink :]

And who ever thought or said they were! It is not a decoration but a buckle, you Spiritualistic fool. It ought to

Page 204

be remembered also, that Mr. D. D. Home who was twice tried for swindling (Mrs. Lyon once) never—knew or even saw me in his whole life, but, has certainly gathered most carefully the dirtiest gossip possible about Nathalie Blavatsky. Home is a liar and poor Dr. Bloede was turned into a cat by this mediumistic monkey to draw the chestnuts for him out of the fire, as the Sp. Scientist says.
[In connection with another cutting on the subject of D. D Home and his relation to Spiritualism, H.P.B. makes the following brief remark in her Scrapbook:]
and Mr. Home is an irresponsible medium.

—————