Did they dread heresy after the death of Madame
Blavatsky, or had they no purpose but the greatest possible
immediate effort?
XVIII
At the British Museum reading-room I often saw a man of thirty-six
or thirty-seven, in a brown velveteen coat, with a gaunt resolute
face, and an athletic body, who seemed before I heard his name, or
knew the nature of his studies, a figure of romance. Presently I
was introduced, where or by what man or woman I do not remember.
He was Macgregor Mathers, the author of the 'Kabbalas Unveiled,' &
his studies were two only--magic and the theory of war, for he
believed himself a born commander and all but equal in wisdom and
in power to that old Jew. He had copied many manuscripts on magic
ceremonial and doctrine in the British Museum, and was to copy
many more in continental libraries, and it was through him mainly
that I began certain studies and experiences that were to convince
me that images well up before the mind's eye from a deeper source
than conscious or subconscious memory. I believe that his mind in
those early days did not belie his face and body, though in later
years it became unhinged, for he kept a proud head amid great
poverty.
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