Reincarnation | Page 2

once more into the midst of his arduous toil.

In 1903 a series of very fine articles on the Laws of Destiny appeared
in the Revue Théosophique, to be followed immediately by publication
in volume form. Two years afterwards appeared the present
volume--REINCARNATION: A STUDY IN HUMAN EVOLUTION;
a work considered the most complete of any that have so far appeared
in France on this subject, and the most popular of Dr. Pascal's
publications.
In 1906 some of the nerve centres controlling the organs of speech
became affected, but not sufficiently to compel him to remain absent
from the International Theosophical Congress held that year in Paris
under the presidency of Colonel Olcott. It was on this occasion that Dr.
Pascal received from the hands of the President-Founder the Subba Rao
medal, awarded to members of the society whose literary labours in the
promulgation of the truths of Theosophy have proved eminently useful.
Twelve months afterwards he attended the Congress at Munich, under
the presidency of Mrs. Besant, but was obliged to leave before the
termination of the meetings. This may be regarded as Dr. Pascal's last
public appearance as an active theosophist, for his subsequent
prolonged stay in the South of France effected no radical improvement
in the state of his health.
Returning to Paris in March, 1908, and realising how impossible it was
for him to fulfil the duties incumbent on a General Secretary, he
decided to resign his post. His colleagues, however, insisted on his
continuing as Honorary General Secretary. From this time onward his
health became gradually worse, and his physical life terminated on the
18th of April, 1909, his body being cremated three days afterwards at
the Cemetery of Père Lachaise.
What was most striking about Dr. Pascal, in both public and private life,
was his intense earnestness--the index of a well-grounded habit of
concentration--and the calm strength of his convictions. It was
impossible to be in his presence for any length of time without feeling
the power that emanated from him, and recognising that here was a
mighty soul struggling for expression.

Other characteristics were his extreme modesty, and his continual
endeavour to accord praise and merit to those working for the cause so
dear to his own heart. When questioned on many of the intricate points
raised in a lecture or in conversation on some abstruse theosophical
subject, he made no pretence at knowledge he did not possess; on such
occasions his confession of ignorance would be charming, even
touching in its naïveté.
But the qualities he seemed to feel it his special object to awaken in the
minds of others--as will be acknowledged, I think, by those who knew
him best--may be inferred from his continual insistence on the double
duty, incumbent on students of Theosophy, of practising on all
occasions the utmost tolerance, refusing not only to condemn but even
to judge harshly the opinions or actions of others, and of seizing every
opportunity to help another because of the recognition of the One Life
throughout the world, May we who read the following pages catch
somewhat of the deep earnestness and enthusiastic spirit breathing
through them, and may the joy of service dissipate all meaner, motives,
taking as our watchword also the only key to true growth, the very
heart of altruism, that exhortation he never wearied of repeating: Aidez!
Aidez toujours!
F. R.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE
It will soon be: 1500 years since the decision of the Council of 543
A.D.[1] condemned to oblivion sublime teachings which ought to have
been carefully preserved and handed down to future generations as a
beacon amid social reefs; teachings that would have uprooted that
frightful egoism which threatens to annihilate the world, and instilled
patience into the hearts of such as were being crushed beneath the
wheel of the cosmic law, by showing them the scales of Justice
inclining to the side filled with their iniquities of bygone times;
teachings which would have been welcomed by the masses, and the
understanding of which would not have called for any lofty intellectual

culture.
It was one of the greatest misfortunes that could have befallen the races
of the West, more especially the European, that they were thus deprived
for centuries of this indispensable knowledge. We look upon it as a
duty, following on so many others, to offer it anew, this time in the
clear, logical, illuminating form presented in theosophic teachings. The
necessity thereof is all the more imperative when we consider the
growth of scepticism and materialism amongst the more intellectual
classes, whilst the mass of the people have forsaken their blind faith
only to succumb to religious indifference.
To every awakened soul the question comes:
Why does evil exist?
So long as the enigma remains unsolved, Suffering remains a
threatening sphinx, opposing God