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other unfortunate poor people and condemns the doctrine for its partiality to "Rajahs, Maharajahs, plutocrats, aristocrats," &c., &c., and rich Brahmins, and its want of charity towards others who constitute the greater portion of humanity. Here it is quite clear that the fallacy in Mr. Oxley's argument consists in the change of adjectives. From the main doctrine in question it follows that "life eternal is out of the question" not to plain John Brown, but to wicked and depraved John Brown; and I can hardly see any reason why the author should so bitterly lament the loss of immortality so far as utterly wicked and depraved natures are concerned. I do not think that my learned opponent will be prepared to maintain that all pariahs, vagabonds, and other poor people, are all depraved and wicked, or that all Rajahs, Maharajahs, and other rich people are always virtuous. It is my humble opinion that utterly wicked and depraved people are in the minority; and loss of immortality to such persons cannot seriously be made the ground of an objection to the Theosophical doctrine under consideration. Properly speaking theosophy teaches not "conditional immortality," as the author is pleased to state, but conditional mortality if I may be permitted to use such a phrase. According to theosophy, therefore, annihilation is not the common lot of mankind unless the learned author is in a position to state that the greater portion of the human race are wicked and depraved—beyond redemption. Theosophists have never stated, so far as I know, that adepts alone attain immortality. The condition ultimately reached by ordinary men after going through all the planetary rounds during countless number of ages in the gradually ascending order of material objective existence is reached by the adept within a comparatively shorter time, than required by the uninitiated. It is thus but a question of time; but every human being, unless he is utterly "wicked and depraved," may hope to reach that state sooner or later according to his merits and Karma.
The corresponding hierosophic doctrine is not fully and definitely stated in the article nnder review, but the views of
