* * * * *
Her lectures in the Lancashire campaign and the formation of the
branches were Mrs. Besant's last contributions to the Socialist
movement. Early in November she suddenly and completely severed her
connection with the Society. She had become a convert to Theosophy,
which at that time accepted the Buddhist doctrine that spiritual
conditions alone mattered, and that spiritual life would flourish as
well in the slum amidst dirt and starvation as in the comfortable
cottage, and much better than in the luxurious mansion.
Twentieth-century theosophy has receded from that position, and now
advocates social amelioration, but Mrs. Besant thought otherwise in
1890. Some twenty years later she lectured on several occasions to the
Society, and she joined her old friends at the dinner which celebrated
the thirtieth anniversary of its foundation, but in the interval her
connection with it completely ceased.
The Fabian Society and British Socialism owe much to Mrs. Besant for the
assistance she gave it during five important years. Her splendid
eloquence, always at our service, has seldom been matched, and has never
been surpassed by any of the innumerable speakers of the movement. She
had, when she joined us, an assured position amongst the working-class
Radicals in London and throughout the country; and through her Socialism
obtained a sympathetic hearing in places where less trusted speakers
would have been neglected.
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