"On the 17th November next the Septenary term of trial given the Society at its foundation in which to discreetly 'preach us' will expire. One or two of us hoped that the world had so far advanced intellectually, if not intuitionally, that the Occult doctrine might gain an intellectual acceptance, and the impulse given for a new cycle of occult research. Others —wiser as it would now seem —held differently, but consent was given for the trial. It was stipulated, however, that the experiment should be made independently of our personal management; that there should be no abnormal interference by ourselves. ...we found in America the man to stand as leader —a man of great moral courage, unselfish, and having other good qualities. He was far from being the best, but ...he was the best one available. With him we associated a woman of most exceptional and wonderful endowments... she had strong personal defects, but just as she was, there was no second to her living fit for this work... Their success has not equaled the hopes of their original backers, phenomenal as it has been in certain directions. In a few more months the term of probation will end. If by that time the status of the Society as regards ourselves —the question of the "Brothers" be not definitely settled (either dropped out of the Society's programme or accepted on our own terms)... We will subside out of public view like a vapour into the ocean. 263-264."