The Book of Impressions

CONTENTS
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PART I.
JUSTIN MOREWARD HAIG.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Man Himself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
II. The Wise Innocent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
III. The Second Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
IV. The Conventions of Mrs. Darnley . . . . . . . . . . . 19
V. The Garden Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
VI. The Figure in the Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
VII. Daisy Templemore’s Rebuff . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
VIII. The Unchristian piety of Archdeacon Wilton . . . . . . . . . 38
IX. The Philosophy of Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
X. The Chagrin of Major Buckingham . . . . . . . . . . . 47
XI. The Triumph of Nobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
XII. The Strange Alteration in Justin Moreward Haig . . . . . . . . 60
XIII. My Sister’s Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
XIV. The Re-Meeting of Gordon and Gladys . . . . . . . . . 69
XV. The Self-Imprisonment of Mrs. Burton . . . . . . . . . 75
XVI. The Conversion of Flossie Macdonald . . . . . . . . . 82
XVII. The Prelude to the Story . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
XVIII. The Departure of Justin Moreward Haig . . . . . . . . . 93
PART II.
THE CIRCUITOUS JOURNEY . . . . . . . . . . 97
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
The Initiate by His Pupil
5
INTRODUCTORY
ON INITIATES, ADEPTS, AND MASTERS
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THE story, if so it can be called, of Justin Moreward Haig is a true one, in so far that
such a person does exist, although, as explained later, I have been compelled for many
reasons to conceal his identity. And I emphasise the fact of his existence because there
are a number of people who may doubt the possibility of attaining to that degree of
perfection which he undubitably manifested, thus crediting me with writing romance
instead of fact. And yet he does not by any means stand alone at his stage of spiritual
evolutio n, for not only are there many more like him living amongst us at the present
time, but if world -history is to be accredited with truth, there have been hundreds as
great as and greater than he in the past. True it is that the so –called enlightenment of
our twentieth century civilization seeks to negate or explain away the unusual powers
of these men, but deeper thinkers who have taken the trouble to penetrate behind the
veil of superficial knowledge are coming to the conclusion that the old truism“where
there is smoke there must also be fire” is applicable to the case in point, and that this
negation and explaining away on the part of so-called civilization is not the result of
real knowledge, but of ignorance instead, Nor must we leave aside the contributions
which Romance from the most ancient of times has afforded in this connection; dating
from before the period of Kalidisa to the latest works of fiction published in the present
year, we have novels, stories, and dramas dealing with mysterious and marvelous
beings so far above the ordinary“man in the street” almost as a human soul is above an
animal. Indeed, seeing this is so, are we not forced to ask the pertinent question
whether the imagination of creative genius has not somewhere its foundation in Truth?
Can all these poets, dramatists, and writers really be weaving the fanciful web of mere
fable, and nothing beyond? For if so, why do they still persist, in the face of scientific
ridicule, and thus continue to fill the public mind with falsehood and unsubstantiality?
And the answer to this question is, consciously or unconsciously, they are stating the
truth, and their subjective mind is aware of facts which their objective mind is ignorant
of; for these Adepts, Sages, and Masters do exist, and he who knows how to search can
find them and become convinced of their reality once and for all.
Now, although I have inferred that Romance is correct as far as the fundamentals
are concerned, yet as a matter of truth it is very often incorrect in its details, or at any
rate very misleading, in that it blends allegory with fact without notifying the dividing
line between the one and the other. And to begin with, these great Adepts of Spiritual
Science are not quite as mysterious as writers of fiction and even supposed fact would
have us believe. Although I am aware that two such Masters (or Mahatmas, as they are
often called) reside in the far distant fastnesses of Thibet, yet to suppose they all follow
this example is to suppose a fallacy; for I know there are several such Masters living in
England at the present moment, as well as in America and in almost all countries of the
world. Nor do they remain in one locality, but often travel from place to place as any
The Initiate by His Pupil
6
ordinary mortal might, being to all outward appearance perfectly human, nay, perfectly
normal. They may not cruise about the world in a marvelous yacht, as Marie Corelli
would have us believe (if that be her object), nor are they the “morally dried-up
mummies” which Bulwer Lytton depicts in his prototype Mejnour, to be found in
Zanoni, his occult novel; but as Romance permits itself, and quite naturally the
indulgence of“romancing,” we must not expect accuracy from its writers any more than
we must expect it from impressionist painters.
I have said that to all outward appearance these Adepts are perfectly normal,
perfectly human; but it is to outward appearance only, and the result of a closer
relationship with them, and their minds and faculties. To the casual acquaintance, apart
from an appearance of unusual health, calm, dignity, and force, there is nothing which
might awaken the suspicion that they possessed powers of whose existence he was
entirely unaware. Dressing neither in strange garments nor living in ghost-haunted
castles, these men, far from wishing to awaken the curiosity or admiration of their
fellows, seek to render themselves as ordinary to the casual observer as they possibly
can. Many of them even affect some harmless vice of their fellows-such as smoking for
instance -in order the more to normalize themselves in the eyes of the world. But this is
indeed only to the world, for those who come to them, seeking with the necessary....