Book Description

William Quan Judge cast no one out of the sanctuary of his heart. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was the Knight errant, who fought amid the beating of drums, and the clash and clamour, the excitement and glory of a princely tournament. Blavatsky on Judge: · I trust Judge more than anyone in the whole world. · My heart beats only for the cause you represent so well and serve so faithfully. · He does the Master’s work to the best of his ability. · Nothing that you will do will ever be discountenanced by me, my beloved. · “Lucifer” is Theosophy militant; “Path,” the Star of Peace; the one is combative Manas; the other, shinning Buddhi. There now follow tributes to William Quan Judge by his Students and Friends. While we reverence the Adept, let us not lose sight of the Man, for even in his simplest life he was great. To the children and the humble and lowly in the society, he was a revelation. His devotion never wavered; his anchorage was sure and steadfast, and herein lay his strength. His skill in the performance of actions was marvellous, his executive ability of the highest order. He was never narrow, never selfish, never conceited. He would drop his own plan in a moment if a better were suggested, and was delighted if someone would carry on the work he had devised, and immediately inaugurate other lines of work. His demeanour was uniformly the same: kindly, considerate and self-restrained, not merely in such measure of polite self-control as might be expected of a gentleman, but as if inspired by much higher regards than mere respect for the covenances of good society. Careful deliberation upon things was one of his strongest characteristics. His mind was very active, quick and resourceful in suggestion, but I do not recall having ever known of his trusting its impulses until he had thoroughly weighed and considered them. I trusted him then, as all those whom he trusted; to me it seems that trust is the bond that binds, that makes the strength of the Movement, for it is of the heart. Judge was humble, unassuming, modest, strong, patient, meek, courageous, an organizer beyond comparison, with powers similar to those possessed by Madame Blavatsky, and never using them in any way but to smooth the path for those who desired to follow the road to knowledge. There was no difficulty he would not take infinite pains to unravel, no sore spot in the heart he did not sense and strive to heal. We mourn the tenderest of friends, the wisest of counsellors, the bravest and noblest of leaders. William Q. Judge was the nearest approach to my ideal of a man that I have known. His most lovable trait was his exquisite sympathy and gentleness. No one ever touched a sore spot with such infinite tenderness, and I know many that would rather have been scolded and corrected by Mr. Judge than praised by anyone else. I thank the gods that I was privileged to know him. It was a benediction to call him friend. He was the best of friends, for he held you firmly, yet apart. He realized the beautiful description Emerson gives of the ideal friend, in whom meet the two most essential elements of friendship — tenderness and truth. It is necessary that just those souls in whom we have felt most of reality should disappear from us into the darkness, in order that we may learn that not seeing, but inwardly touching, is the true proof that our friend is there. As I think of what those missed who persecuted him, of the loss in their lives, of the great jewel so near to them which they passed by, I turn sick with a sense of their loss. In him his foes lost their truest friend. His heart was set upon the promise of the future and the song of his soul echoed the music of cycles yet to come. We think of him not as of a man departed from our midst, but as a soul set free to work its mighty mission, rejoicing in that freedom and resplendent with compassion and power. Close up the ranks, and let Fidelity be the agent of heavenly powers. Judge’s head evidenced a high and uniform development of all the faculties, a tremendous will-power combined with gentleness; a thorough practicability and adaptability conjoined to a highly idealistic nature, and a gigantic intellect hand-in-hand with selflessness and modesty. Those who have heard him speak, know the singular directness with which his mind went to the marrow of a subject, the simplicity of his words, the unaffected selflessness that radiated from the man. His sentences were short and plain; his manner cool and quiet: but what he said was remembered, for his words appealed to the sense of truth; they seemed to “soak in,” like the showers which the farmers prize, while a “torrent of eloquence” would have run off, leaving dry ground. Judge was an Occultist. He had the power of self-control, and could subdue the turbulent wanderings of the mind, sit still in the midst of his own nature, supported by his ideal, and view any and every situation dispassionately. He was the soul of unselfishness, honour, generosity, and all the other virtues that men hold so dear in other men. He seemed never to rest, for work was his rest. He swore no one to allegiance, he asked for no one’s love or loyalty: but his disciples came to him of their own free will and accord, and then he never deserted them. but gave more freely than they asked, and often in greater measure than they could or would use. A good homely face and unpretentious manner, a loving disposition, full of kindliness and honest friendship, went with such strong common sense and knowledge of affairs that his coming was always a pleasure and his stay a delight. In other bodies, and known under other names, Judge has played an important part in the world’s history, sometimes as a conspicuous visible figure. At other times, he worked quietly behind the scenes, or, as in his last life, as a leader in a philanthropical and philosophical movement.