Arnold White, C.J.

1. I have already dealt with the question whether the learned Judge had jurisdiction to grant the relief which he has given in this suit. The question remains whether his judgment should be upheld. The more important dates are as follow:

The defendant is the President of the Theosophical Society and the plaintiff has been a member of the Society since 1882. About the end of 1908 the plaintiff was appointed Assistant Corresponding Secretary of the Esoteric Section of the Society and he and his family took up their residence at the headquarters of the Society, Adyar, in a house which he occupied rent free. In September 1909 he removed his two minor cons, Krishnamoorti and Nityananda from school, and they received gratuitous instruction at Adyar from one Mr. C.W. Leadbeater and others. The boys were then aged about 14 and 11 The defendant first became acquainted with them in December 1909. On the 6th March 1910, the plaintiff signed a letter (Ex. A.) by which he constituted the defendant the guardian of his minor sons. The plaintiff alleges in the particulars which he was ordered to deliver that in April 1910 he witnessed the incident which is described in paragraph 1 of the particulars. He also alleges that between December 1910 and February 1911 and on later dates he was told by certain parties that they had seen the incident mentioned in paragraph 2 of the particulars. In March 1911 the defendant took the boys to Benares and thence to England. In October 1911 they returned to Adyar and remained there until December 1911. Mr. Leadbaater, who had been at Adyar throughout, then took them to Benares. On the 31st December 1911, the plaintiff informed Mrs. Van Hook at Benares of the incident described in paragraph 1 of the particulars, and on the same day the plaintiff went to the defendant and demanded that the boys should be separated from Mr. Leadbeater, and referred her to Mrs. Van Hook for the reason. The defendant refused the plaintiffs request. The plaintiff returned to Adyar at the beginning of January 1912 and made complaints to various persons. On the 19th January 1912 there was an interview at Adyar between the plaintiff and the defendant and several members of the Society. A note of the proceedings at the interview was taken down by the defendant. The note is to the effect that the plaintiff stated he had no objection to the boys being taken to England and that the defendant said that she had separated the boys from Mr. Leadbeater. Mr. Leadbeater had left India about January 13, 1912. On January 26, 1912, the defendant left Adyar with the two boys for Benares and shortly afterwards took them to England. The boys were left with Mr. Leadbeater and others for a short time in Sicily, the defendant being in England. The boys then followed the defendant to England, Mr. Leadbeater accompanying them to Genoa. It having come to the knowledge of the defendant that the plaintiff had been making enquiries with respect to the charge against Mr. Leadbeater contained in the second paragraph of the particulars, she wrote to him a letter on February 7,1912, (L L) in which she dismissed him from his office of Secretary. On 11th July 1912 the plaintiff wrote to the defendant a letter (Ex. AA. 6) in which he purported to cancel the letter Ex. A and asked her to hand over to him his two sons. In October 1912 the defendant returned to Adyar leaving the boys in England and the plaintiff instituted this suit.

2. I propose, first, to state what appears to me to be the law as to the rights of a father to the control and custody of his minor children. I do not think it has been suggested that the exposition of the law relating to this matter contained in the judgment of Vice-Chancellor Kindersley in re Curtis (1859) 28 L.J. Ch. 458 at 460 is not still the law of England. It is there laid down that the Court of Chancery cannot decide upon the custody of infants simply with reference to what is most for their benefit and cann