WASHING THE DISCIPLES’ FEET

[The Sun, New York, Vol. XLIV, No. 350, August 16, 1877]

To the Editor of The Sun:

Sir: At the ceremony of “feet-washing” which occurred at Limwood Camp ground, August 8th, and is described in The Sun of today, Elder Jones, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., professed to give the history of this ancient custom. The report says:

He claimed that its origin did not date anterior to the coming of Christ; neither was the matter of cleanliness to be thought of in this connection. Its observance was due exclusively to the fact that it was a scriptural injunction; it originated in Christ’s example, and it devolved upon his hearers to follow this example. Numerous scriptural passages were quoted in support of this argument.

The reverend gentleman is in error. The ceremony was first performed by the Hindoo Christna (or Krishna), who washed the feet of the Brahmins, as an example of humility, many thousand years anterior to the Christian era. Chapter and verse will be given, if required, from the Brahmanical books. Meanwhile, the reader is referred to the Rev. John P. Lundy’s Monumental Christianity, p. 154.

H. P. BLAVATSKY.
New York, August 12th.

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