Quotes:Alden, William Livingston

Boris de Zirkoff

Alden, William Livingston. American author, b. at Williamstown, Mass., October 9, 1837; d. in 1908. Graduated from Jefferson College, Penna., 1858; married, 1865, Agnes M. McClure; admitted to New York Bar, 1860; practiced until 1865; leader-writer on New York World, Times, Graphic, etc., until 1885; U.S. Consul-General at Rome, 1885-89; leader-writer on Paris Herald, 1890-93; since then resided in London (61, Clondesdale Road, S.W.). Works: Canoe and Flying Proa, 1878.—Domestic Explosives, 1877.—Life of Columbus, 1881.—Cruise of the “Ghost”, 1882.—New Robinson Crusoe, 1888.—The Moral Pirates, 1904.—Told by the Colonel, 1893.

Alden was present at the meeting of September 8, 1875, when the organization of The Theosophical Society was proposed; he was also present at the meeting of October 16th. He did not remain a member for any length of time, however, and in 1881 ridiculed the Society in the newspapers. As a writer, he had considerable repute for caustic and humorous criticisms upon current topics. Consult Col. Olcott's Old Diary Leaves, I, pp. 123-24, for the account of a curious experience which Alden had at New York in 1874.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 1, p. 446-447