William Quan Judge, son of Alice Mary Quan and Frederick H. Judge,
was born at Dublin, Ireland, on April 13th, 1851. His mother died in
early life at the birth of her seventh child. The lad was brought up
in Dublin until his thirteenth year, when the father removed to the
United States with his motherless children, taking passage on the
Inman Liner, "City of Limerick," which arrived in New York harbour
on July 14th, 1864. Of the years of his childhood there is little to
be said, though we hear of a memorable illness of his seventh year;
an illness supposed to be mortal. The physician declared the small
sufferer to be dying, then dead; but in the outburst of grief which
followed the announcement, it was discovered that the child had
revived, and that all was well with him. During convalescence the
boy shewed aptitudes and knowledge never before displayed, exciting
wonderment and questioning among his elders as to when and how he had
learned all these new things. He seemed the same, and yet not the
same; had to be studied anew by his family, and while no one knew that
he had ever learned to read, from his recovery in his eighth year we
find him devouring the contents of all the books he could obtain,
relating to Mesmerism, Phrenology, Character-Reading, Religion, Magic,
Rosicrucianism, and deeply absorbed in the Book of Revelation, trying
to discover its real meaning. The elder Judge, with his children, lived
for a brief period at the old Merchants' Hotel, in Cortland Street,
New York: then in Tenth Street, and afterward settled in Brooklyn.
William began work in New York as a clerk, afterwards entering the
Law Office of George P. Andrews, who afterwards became Judge of the
Supreme Court of New York. There the lad studied law, living with his
father, who died soon after. On coming of age, William Q. Judge was
naturalised a citizen of the United States, in April, 1872. In May
of that year he was admitted to the Bar of New York. His conspicuous
traits as a lawyer, in the practice of Commercial Law, which became his
specialty, were his thoroughness, his inflexible persistence, and his
industry, which won the respect of employers and clients alike. As was
said of him, then and later: "Judge would walk over hot ploughshares
from here to India to do his duty." In 1874 he married Ella M. Smith,
of Brooklyn, by whom he had one child, a daughter, whose death in early
childhood was long a source of deep, though quiet, sorrow to both.
Mr. Judge in especial was a great lover of children, and had the gift
of attracting them around him, whether in public--as on the steamer
deck--or in private, and this without any apparent notice or effort on
his part. Wherever he went, one would see the children begin to sidle
up to him, soon absorbed in the new friend.
Living in Brooklyn until 1893, Mr. and Mrs. Judge then removed to New
York in order to be nearer to the Theosophical Headquarters, Mr. Judge
at that date, and for the first time, giving up his arduous labours at
the law, in order to devote himself wholly to Theosophical work.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Judge heard of Madame Blavatsky in this
wise. He came across a book which greatly interested him. This was
_People from the Other World_, by H. S. Olcott. Mr. Judge wrote to
Colonel Olcott, asking for the address of a good medium, for at this
time the tide of occult inquiry and speculation had just set in,
and the experiences of numbers of people, including those of Madame
Blavatsky, at the "Eddy Homestead," were the talk of all the world.
Mr. Judge was invited to call upon H. P. B. while no medium was
forthcoming, and thus the conjunction was formed, in this incarnation,
which H. P. B. later on declared to have existed "for æons past."
Henceforward, Mr. Judge spent much of his time with H. P. B. at Irving
Place, New York: he was one of a number of people present at her rooms
one evening when she turned to him, saying: "Ask Col. Olcott to form
a Society." This was done at once. Mr. Judge was called to the Chair,
nominating Col. Olcott as permanent Chairman, and was himself nominated
as Secretary. This was the beginning of the Theosophical Society, on
the date of 7th September, 1875.
When Madame Blavatsky went to India, Mr. Judge was left to carry on
the T.S. in New York as best he could; a difficult task indeed when
she who was then the one great exponent had left the field, and the
curiosity and interest excited by her original and striking mission
had died down. The T.S. was henceforth to subsist on its philosophical
basis, and this, after long years of toil and unyielding persistence,
was the point attained by Mr. Judge. From his twenty-third year until
his death, his best efforts and all the fiery energies of his undaunted
soul were given to this Work. We have a word picture of him, opening
meetings, reading a chapter of the _Bhagavat Gîtâ_, entering the
Minutes, and carrying on all the details of the same, as if he were not
the only person present; and this he did time after time, determined
to have a Society. Little by little he gathered about him a number of
earnest seekers, some of whom still work in the New York and other
Branches, and through his unremitting labour he built up the T.S. in
America, aiding the Movement as well in all parts of the world, and
winning from The Master the name of "Resuscitator of Theosophy in
America." His motto in those days was, "Promulgation, not Speculation."
"Theosophy," said he, "is a cry of the Soul."
The Work went slowly at first, and the eager disciple passed through
even more than the usual suffering, sense of loneliness and desolation,
as we see H. P. B. pointing out in regard to him that "he of all
chelas, suffers most, and asks, or even expects, the least." But the
shadow lifted, and in 1888 we find H. P. B. writing of him as being
then "a chela of thirteen years' standing," with "trust reposed in
him"; and as "the chief and sole Agent of The Dzyan in America." (This
is the Thibetan name of what we call The Lodge.)
Mr. Judge also went to South America, where he saw many strange things,
and contracted Chagres fever, that terrible scourge whose effects dog
the victim through a lifetime. To India as well, where he was for some
time with H. P. B. Later on he was with her in France and in England,
always intent on the Work of the T.S. He lectured in both countries;
instituted _The Path_ magazine, meeting all its deficits and carrying
on its various activities, as well as those of the T.S. He wrote
incessantly; opened the doors of the Press at length to a serious
consideration of Theosophy; he lectured all over the States and did
the work of several men. His health was frail; a day free from pain
was a very rare thing with him. He had his sorrows too, of which the
death of his only child was the deepest. But the cheerfulness of his
aspect, his undaunted energy, never failed him, and he was the cause
of activity among all his fellow members. To those who would ask his
advice in the crises which were wont to shake the tree of the T.S. he
would make answer: "Work! Work! Work for Theosophy!" And when at last
the Great Betrayal came to him, and some of those whom he had lifted
and served and taught _how_ to work, strove to cast him down and out of
the Society, in their ignorance of their own limitations, he kept the
due silence of the Initiate; he bowed his defenceless head to The Will
and The Law, and passing with sweet and serene heart through the waters
of bitterness, consoled by the respect and trust of the Community in
which his life had been spent, and by the thousands of students who
knew and loved him: he exhorted all to forgiveness and renewed effort:
he reminded us that there were many committed by the unbrotherliness of
his opponents who would in time come themselves to see and comprehend
the wrong done to the Work by action taken which they did not at the
time understand in all its bearings; he begged us to be ready to meet
that day and to take the extended hands which would then be held out to
us by those who ignorantly shared the wrong done to him, and through
him, to us all. In this trust he passed behind the veil. On the 21st of
March, 1896, he encountered "Eloquent, Just and Mighty Death."
* * * * *
So much for the open and material facts of his life. There is much more
that must be left unsaid. His claim upon us was that of The Work. The
Work was his Ideal. He valued men and women only by their theosophical
Work, and the right spirit in which that Work was done. He held Right
Thought to be of the best Work. He worked with anyone who was willing
to do Work in the real sense, careless whether such were personal
friends, strangers, or active or secret foes. Many a time he was known
to be energetically working with those who were attacking him, or
planning attack in supposed concealment, and his smile, as this was
commented upon, was a thing to be always remembered; that whimsical and
quaint smile, followed by some Irish drollery. But in order to leave
behind us some adequate idea of the broadness and the catholicity of
his nature, it seems best to append to this brief and unworthy sketch,
some few of the thoughts of his life-long friends, nearly all published
soon after he had left us.
* * * * *
On page 75 of the first volume of _Letters_ is a letter from an Adept,
from which a certain portion ("private instruction") is omitted. That
omitted portion runs as follows:
"_Is the choice made? Then Y. will do well to see W. Q. J. and to
acquaint him with this letter. For the first year or two no better
guide can be had._ For when the 'PRESENCE' _is upon him, he knows
well that which others only suspect and 'divine.' ... is useful to
'Path,' but greater services may be rendered to him, who, of all
chêlas, suffers most and demands, or even expects the least._"
(If this extract be fitted into the original letter its immense
importance in respect to Mr. Judge may be realised by the intuitive
student.)
"In answer to your letter I can only say as follows: If W. Q. Judge,
the man who has done most for Theosophy in America, who has worked most
unselfishly in your country, and has ever done the biddings of Master,
the best he knew how, is left alone in ... and if the ... Society in
general and its Esotericists especially leave him alone, without their
unanimous _moral support_, which is much more than their money--then I
say--let them go! They are no theosophists;--and if such a thing should
happen, and Judge be left to fight his battles alone, then shall I
bid all of them an eternal good-bye. I swear on MASTER'S holy name to
shake off the dust of my feet from everyone of them.... I am unable to
realise that at the hour of trouble and supreme fight ... any _true_
theosophist should hesitate for one moment to back W. Q. J. _publicly_
and lodge in his or her protest. Let them read Master's letter in the
preliminary----. All that which I said about W. Q. J. was from HIS
words in HIS letter to me.... Do with this letter what you like. Show
it to anyone you please as my firm determination...."--H. P. B.
"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; in order that we may learn that the vanishing
and dissipation of the outward, visible part, is no impairing or
detriment to the real part, which is invisible. This knowledge, and the
realising of it in our wills, are gained with the utmost difficulty,
at a cost not less than the loss of the best of our friends; yet if
the cost be great, the gain is great and beyond estimating, for it is
nothing less than a first victory over the whole universe, wherein
we come to know that there is that in us which can face and conquer
and outlast anything in the universe, and come forth radiant and
triumphant from the contest. Yet neither the universe nor death are
real antagonists, for they are but only Life everywhere, and we are
Life."--C. J.
"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. To get on with the work and forward
the movement seemed to be his only aim in life.... For myself, knowing
Mr. Judge as I did, and associating with him day after day, at home,
in the rush of work, in long days of travel over desert wastes or over
the trackless ocean, having travelled with him a distance equal to
twice around the globe, ... there is not the slightest doubt of his
connection with and service of the Great Lodge. He did the Master's
work to the best of his ability, and thus carried out the injunction of
H. P. B. to "keep the link unbroken."--J. D. BUCK.
"There is not one act in the life of William Q. Judge that has come
under my observation, that savours of selfishness or of a desire to
further any personal end.... Perhaps I am not qualified to pass on the
merits as an occultist, of the man whose memory I hold in such grateful
esteem; but I can, at least, speak of what passed before my eyes in the
ordinary affairs of life, and in these affairs I have invariably found
him to be the soul of unselfishness, honour, generosity, and all the
other virtues that men hold so dear in other men."--E. B. PAGE.
"In the summer of 1894 we were privileged to have him stay at our
house for several weeks, and since then he spent at least one evening
a week with us until his illness forced him to leave New York.... Day
after day he would come back from the office utterly exhausted in
mind and body, and night after night he would lie awake fighting the
arrows of suspicion and doubt that would come at him from all over the
world. He said they were like shafts of fire piercing him, and in the
morning he would come down stairs wan and pale and unrested, and one
step nearer the limit of his strength, but still with the same gentle
and forgiving spirit.... Perhaps the most striking evidence of his
greatness was the wisdom with which he treated different people, and
the infinite knowledge of character shown by him in his guidance of his
pupils. I do not believe he was the same to any two people.... His most
lovable trait was his exquisite sympathy and gentleness. It has been
said of him that 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. It was the good
fortune of a few of us to know something of the real Ego who used
the body known as Wm. Q. Judge. He once spent some hours describing
to my wife and me the experience the Ego had in assuming control of
the instrument it was to use for so many years. The process was not a
quick nor an easy one and indeed was never absolutely perfected, for
to Mr. Judge's dying day, the physical tendencies and heredity of the
body he used would crop up and interfere with the full expression of
the inner man's thoughts and feelings. An occasional abruptness and
coldness of manner was attributable to this lack of co-ordination. Of
course Mr. Judge was perfectly aware of this and it would trouble him
for fear his real friends would be deceived as to his real feeling. He
was always in absolute control of his thoughts and actions, but his
body would sometimes slightly modify their expression.... Mr. Judge
told me in December, 1894, that the Judge body was due by its Karma to
die the next year and that it would have to be tided over this period
by extraordinary means. He then expected this process to be entirely
successful, and that he would be able to use that body for many years,
but he did not count upon the assaults from without, and the strain and
exhaustion.... This, and the body's heredity, proved too much for even
his will and power. Two months before his death he knew he was to die,
but even then the indomitable will was hard to conquer and the poor
exhausted, pain-racked body was dragged through a miserable two months
in one final and supreme effort to stay with his friends. And when he
did decide to go, those who loved him most were the most willing for
the parting. I thank the Gods that I was privileged to know him. It was
a benediction to call him friend."--G. HIJO.
"To a greater extent than I have ever realised I know he entered into
my life and I am equally sure into the lives of thousands, and this
fact I see we are to acknowledge as time passes more and more.... 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. He was always a little
ahead of the occasion, and so was truly a leader."--E. B. RAMBO.
"Judge was the best and truest friend a man ever had. H. P. B. told
me I should find this to be so, and so it was of him whom she, too,
trusted and loved as she did no other. And 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: the immense mystery that Life is, presses home to me.
In him his foes lost their truest friend out of this life of ours in
the body, and though it was their limitations which hid him from them,
as our limitations do hide from us so much Spiritual Good, yet we must
remember, too, that these limitations have afforded to us and to the
world this wonderful example of unselfishness and forgiveness. Judge
made the life portrayed by Jesus realisable to me."--A. KEIGHTLEY.
"William Q. Judge was the nearest approach to my ideal of a MAN that
I have known. He was what I want to be. H. P. B. was something more
than human: She was a cosmic power. W. Q. J. was splendidly human:
and he manifested in a way delightfully refreshing and all his own
that most rare of human characteristics--genuineness. His influence is
continuingly present and powerful, an influence tending steadily, as
ever, in one direction--work for the Masters' Cause."--THOS. GREEN.
"His last message to us was this 'There should be calmness. Hold fast.
Go slow.' And if you take down those words and remember them, you
will find that they contain an epitome of his whole life struggle. He
believed in Theosophy and lived it. He believed because he knew that
the great Self of which he so often spoke was the eternal Self, was
himself. Therefore he was always calm. He held fast with unwavering
tenacity to his purpose and to his ideal. He went slow, and never
allowed himself to act hastily. He made time his own, and he was
justice itself on that account. And he had the power to act with the
rapidity of lightning when the time for action came. We can now afford
to console ourselves because of the life he lived, and should also
remember that this man, William Quan Judge, had more devoted friends,
I believe, than any other living man; more friends who would literally
have died for him at a moment's notice; would have gone to any part of
the world on the strength of a hint from him. And never once did he use
that power and influence for his own personal ends;--never once did he
use that power, great as it was, not only in America, but in Europe,
Australasia and elsewhere as well, for anything but the good of the
Theosophical movement.
"Poor Judge. It was not the charges that stung him, they were too
untrue to hurt. It was the fact that those who had once most loudly
proclaimed themselves his debtors and his friends were among the
first to turn against him. He had the heart of a little child and
his tenderness was only equalled by his strength.... He never cared
what people thought of him or his work so long as they would work for
brotherhood.... His wife has said that she never knew him to tell a
lie, and those most closely connected with him theosophically agree
that he was the most truthful man they ever knew."--E. T. H.
"I knew him with some degree of intimacy for the past eight years,
meeting him often and under varied conditions, and never for one moment
did he fail to command my respect and affection, and that I should have
had the privilege of his acquaintance I hold a debt to Karma. 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. The children hung about him fondly as he would sit
after dinner and draw them pictures."--A. H. SPENCER.
"His life was an example of the possibility of presenting new ideas
with emphasis, persistence and effect, without becoming eccentric or
one-sided, without losing touch with our fellows, in short, without
becoming a 'crank.'... The quality of 'common sense' was Mr. Judge's.
Those who have heard him speak, know the singular directness with which
his mind went to the marrow of a subject, the unaffected selflessness
that radiated from the man. The quality of 'common sense' was Mr.
Judge's pre-eminent characteristic."--WILLIAM MAIN.
"For to the mystical element in the personality of Mr. Judge was united
the shrewdness of the practised lawyer, the organising faculty of a
great leader, and that admirable common sense, which is so uncommon
a thing with enthusiasts.... In his teaching was embodied most
emphatically that received by the prophet Ezekiel when the Voice said
to him: 'Stand upon thy feet and I will speak to thee.' He was the
best of friends, for he held you firmly, yet apart. He realised the
beautiful description Emerson gives of the ideal friend, in whom meet
the two most essential elements of friendship, tenderness and truth.
'I am arrived at last,' says Emerson, 'in the presence of a man so
real and equal ... that I may deal with him with the simplicity and
wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another.... To a great
heart he will still be a stranger in a thousand particulars, that he
may come near in the holiest ground.' And upon that 'holiest ground' of
devotion to the highest aim, of desire alone for the welfare of others,
the Chief was always to be approached. And blended with the undaunted
courage, the keen insight, the swift judgment, the endless patience,
that made his personality so powerful, were the warm affections, the
ready wit, the almost boyish gaiety that made it so lovable.... One
of the Chief's last messages to us said: 'They must aim to develop
themselves in daily life in small duties.'... There was a beautiful
story of Rhoecus, who could not recognise in the bee that buzzed about
his head the messenger of the Dryad, and so lost her love."