IN MEMORIAM—JOHN YARKER
defendant but for such a letter. The boys, however, continued
to live with the plaintiff.
5. In or about the latter part of March 1910 the
plaintiff discovered that his son J. Krishnamurti was being
led into improper habits by C. W. Leadbeater, who held
a very high position in the Theosophical Society; and
on one occasion the plaintiff himself saw Leadbeater com-
mitting an unnatural offence with the first minor. A few
days after, the plaintiff strongly remonstrated with Mr.
Leadbeater, and made preparations for leaving Adyar with his
sons, but on the persuasion of Sir Subramania Iyer, the
Vice-President of the Theosophical Society, to stay on until
the return of the defendant, who was then on tour, and in
deference to the request of the defendant by wire, the plaintiff
did not carry out his intentions. On her return, the plaintiff
complained to the defendant about the conduct of Leadbeater,
and she promised to keep the boys away from him, and
immediately ordered the shifting of their bathrooms and
residential rooms from the down-floor to the first-floor;
and later on, when C. W. Leadbeater shifted his own room
upstairs, the defendant arranged to take away the boys to
Benares, and assured the plaintiff that they would have
nothing to do with Leadbeater. In spite of this, they were
again being allowed to associate with the said Leadbeater,
and it was about this time that he heard from other Theoso-
phist friends that one Luxman, a personal attendant, had
seen C. W. Leadbeater and J. Krishnamurti in the defend-
ant’s room-engaged in committing an unnatural offence.
On a further remonstrance by the plaintiff, the defendant
promised to take the boys away to England, and accordingly
x c xxxiii