ABSTRACT
Annie Besant was in her eighty-third year. Five years earlier, in 1924, the fiftieth anniversary of her entry into public life had been celebrated by a great meeting in the Queen’s Hall. Lord Haldane wrote that Mrs Besant’s life had been “one of high public spirit and strenuous purpose in its execution.” Mrs Besant in her old age, with short white hair, and wearing a simple white sari, with a string of crystal beads, sat surrounded with friends, was garlanded with flowers, and spoke briefly and with emotion. Yet her remarks were typical of herself in many respects. They will serve far better than any words of mine to throw light on her outlook. She, who had hundreds of times warned her followers against imposing their own views on the World-Teacher, who had pointed to the disastrous effects of distorting the teachings of World-Teachers, she began to “interpret” the words of Mr Krishnamurti.
