Henry Kiddle
Henry Kiddle was an American educator with an interest in spiritualism, best known for accusing Mahatma Koot Hoomi of plagiarism. He was born on January 15, 1824 in Bath, England. During the years 1846-1856, he was principal of a grammar school. He became deputy superintendent, and later superintendent, of schools in New York City. However, in 1879, he was forced to resign due to adverse public reaction to his belief in spiritualism. He died in 1891.[1]
The Kiddle Incident
On August 15, 1880, Mr. Kiddle gave a lecture at Mount Pleasant, New York convention, entitled "The Present Outlook of Spiritualism". This speech was published in the same month in Boston in the The Banner of Light magazine.
In December 1880 certain passages from this talk appeared in one of the Mahatma Letters received by Mr. Sinnett. In 1881, the latter published his book The Occult World, in which much of this letter was reproduced verbatim. On September 1, Mr. Kiddle wrote to the editor of Light (Vol. III, No. 139, Sept. 1, 1883, p. 392), accusing Mahatma K. H. of plagiarism. This started what came to be known as "The Kiddle Incident". The Master did not give Mr. Sinnett an explanation of the matter until almost two years later.[2]
Alvin Boyd Kuhn stated:
The Master K.H. explained in a letter to Mr. Sinnett that the apparent forgery of words and ideas came about through a bit of carelessness on his part in the precipitation of his ideas through a chela. While dictating the letter to the latter, he had caught himself "listening in" on Mr. Kiddle's address being delivered at the moment in America; and as a consequence the chela took down portions of the actual lecture as reflected from the mind of K.H.[3]
Online resources
Articles
- Kiddle Incident at Theosopedia
- Have we to Lower the Flag of Truce? by H. P. Blavatsky
- "Himalayan and Other Mahatmas" by Rama Sourindro Gargya Deva
- # Letter to the Editor: Esoteric Buddhism by Henry Kiddle
Additional resources
- "The Kiddle Incident". Original articles and letters published by Blavatsky Study Center
Other resources
- Neff, Mary K. The "Brothers" of Madame Blavatsky. Adyar, Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1932. See Chapter X, pages 97-116.
Notes
- ↑ Henry Kiddle at Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography.
- ↑ George E. Linton and Virginia Hanson, eds., Readers Guide to The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett (Adyar, Chennai, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1972), 236.
- ↑ Alvin Boyd Kuhn, "The Mahatmas and Their Letters" available at Blavatsky Archives. It was originally published as Chapter VI of Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom which is available at Internet Archive.