CHAPTER 1

THE MAN HIMSELF

I have before me the absorbing task of writing my impressions concerning a manwho has reached a degree of human evolution so greatly in advance of his fellow-creaturesthat one might regard him almost as a living refutation of the oldcatch-phrase: "Nobody is perfect in the whole world." The fact is, like manycatch-phrases, the assertion involved is so far incorrect that one of theobjects of this book is an attempt to prove its incorrectness.

Whether Justin Moreward Haig (I am not permitted to reveal his real name) waswhat occultists call an Adept, this I cannot say: for in all honesty I do notknow, the reason being that in matters concerning himself he was exceptionallyreticent. But I do know that if one could erase the many unsatisfactoryassociations connected with the word saint, and rid the word "Superman" of itsequally unsatisfactory ones, Justin Moreward Haig (I usually called himMoreward) might with perfect right be called either of these, or both. Indeed,my association with this truly wonderful man showed me that a saint could existwithout exhibiting an ultra-devotional temperament, carrying itself almost to adegree of unpleasantness, and a superman could exist likewise, without thatarrogant love of power which is so characteristic of the Nietzschean ideal. Butthere is one thing, however, without which neither saint nor superman could comeinto being, and that is an inherent spirituality; and although the wisdom-religionof Moreward Haig was as different from the piety of the average parsonas a genius is from a man of very meagre intelligence, to deny him a religion atall were to grossly misrepresent a certain side of his almost uniquepersonality.

All the same, in speaking of religion and perfection we must not forget thereare certain unreflective persons who imagine that to be perfect means ofnecessity to be tedious at the same time; they quite fail to realise thatdullness is an attribute of imperfection rather than perfection, and that theymight with equal lack of rectitude say that to be white is of necessity to beblack, or that to live in the Nirvana of perpetual bliss would be to live in thetedium of a perpetual hell. If there was one thing which Moreward was not, itwas tedious; such an epithet cannot apply—he was too unexpected in all hisopinions and in most of his actions. He was not a man who merely talked poetry(for true poetry always has an element of the unexpected, otherwise it would bea banality), but his life itself was a continual poem—the poem which the highestethics would demand that it should be, yet which the most exceptional humanbeing hardly ever lives up to; for really to live up to that demand, and withoutany apparent effort, would be to do one of the most unexpected things on earth.

The story, if so it can be called, then, of this so exceptional man is a trueone, in so far that such a person does exist, although, as explained later, I amcompelled for many reasons to conceal his identity. But I feel constrained toemphasise the fact of his actual existence because there are a number of peoplewho may doubt the possibility of attaining to that degree of perfection which heassuredly manifested, and so may regard him as merely another romantic andimprobable creation of mere fiction. All the same, however much an actual livingperson Justin Moreward Haig may be, I must apprise my readers at the outset thatI, on my part, am neither a species of Boswell to a present-day Dr Johnson nor aDr Watson to Sherlock Holmes; I never lived in the same house—except for a dayor two now and again—with Moreward, and therefore I could not follow him in allhis adventures—if he had any—and relate them afterwards. All I set out to do isto record his opinions, and the way he lived up to those opinions as far as Ihave come into contact with them, and no further. I cannot write the story ofhis life, for the simple reason that I do not know that story; I can onlysurmise it may have been a very remarkable one, and there the matter ends. As tothe description of the man himself: as regards personal appearance, I amrequested not to give too much detail; and apart from that request, I think itexpedient to allow the reader the full play of imagination: let him, in otherwords, form his own portrait of this remarkable man from the perusal of hissayings and actions. One has often noticed in life how many personalidiosyncrasies exist in connection with a preference for this or that physicaltype; and many a hero of a novel has been spoilt for certain people by adescription of the very type of personal physiognomy which they happen cordiallyto dislike. So that, in the present instance, I think such a thing is especiallyto be avoided; and, although I grant this course is far from usual, my plea isthat expediency is weightier than convention. It is not a very difficult matterto establish the connection between what a man is and what a man looks; and whenI present a human being who never indulged in the folly of worrying, and who wasmoderate in all things, the first supposition concerning him would be that hepresented an appearance of perfect health. In addition to this, if I say thatduring the years I have known him, not once have I seen him sorrowful exceptwith the pleasant and mild sorrow of perfect compassion, it is not difficult toimagine that his face was one of serene happiness, with that beauty ofexpression which corresponds invariably to such a state of tranquil mind. As tothe psychic element in his personality, let those who have the notion thatpsychic faculties can only exist with an unpleasant concomitant of hysteria andthe outward appearance which goes hand in hand with it, rid themselves of anotion so false; psychic faculties to be entirely reliable must be accompanied,save in very exceptional circumstances, by perfect health and by nothing shortof it.

For the rest, I would add that Justin Moreward Haig entered my life some twentyyears ago, and left it about ten years later for activities in another part ofthe world. Although I have his permission to write these impressions, yet at thesame time he requests me to refrain from any description that would disclose hisidentity and the identities of...