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Miscellaneous Writings | Part 5

A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE STATUTE

I hereby state, in unmistakable language, the follow-
ing statute in the morale of Christian Science: -

18 A man or woman, having voluntarily entered into
wedlock, and accepted the claims of the marriage cove-
nant, is held in Christian Science as morally bound to
21 fulfil all the claims growing out of this contract, unless
such claims are relinquished by mutual consent of both
parties, or this contract is legally dissolved. If the man
24 is dominant over the animal, he will count the conse-
quences of his own conduct; will consider the effects,
on himself and his progeny, of selfishness, unmerciful-
27

ness, tyranny, or lust.

Trust Truth, not error; and Truth will give you all
that belongs to the rights of freedom. The Hebrew bard

Page 298

1 wrote, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding." Nothing is gained
3 by wrong-doing. St. Paul's words take in the situation:
"Not . . . (as we be slanderously reported, and as some
affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come?
6

whose damnation is just."

When causing others to go astray, we also are wan-
derers. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be meas-

9 ured to you again." Ask yourself: Under the same
circumstances, in the same spiritual ignorance and power
of passion, would I be strengthened by having my best
12 friend break troth with me? These words of St. Matthew
have special application to Christian Scientists; namely,
"It is not good to marry."
15 To build on selfishness is to build on sand. When
Jesus received the material rite of water baptism, he did
not say that it was God's command; but implied that
18 the period demanded it. Trials purify mortals and deliver
them from themselves, - all the claims of sensuality.
Abide by the morale of absolute Christian Science, -
21

self-abnegation and purity; then Truth delivers you from
the seeming power of error, and faith vested in righteous-
ness triumphs!

ADVICE TO STUDENTS

The true consciousness is the true health. One says,
"I find relief from pain in unconscious sleep." I say,

27 You mistake; through unconsciousness one no more
gains freedom from pain than immunity from evil. When
unconscious of a mistake, one thinks he is not mistaken;
30

but this false consciousness does not change the fact, or

Page 299

1 its results; suffering and mistakes recur until one is awake
to their cause and character. To know the what, when,
3 and how of error, destroys error. The error that is seen
aright as error, has received its death-blow; but never
until then.
6 Let us look through the lens of Christian Science,
not of "self," at the following mistake, which demands
our present attention. I have no time for detailed report
9 of this matter, but simply answer the following question
sent to me; glad, indeed, that this query has finally come
with the courage of conviction to the minds of many
12

students.

"Is it right to copy your works and read them for our
public services?"

15 The good which the material senses see not is the only
absolute good; the evil which these senses see not is the
only absolute evil.
18 If I enter Mr. Smith's store and take from it his gar-
ments that are on sale, array myself in them, and put
myself and them on exhibition, can I make this right
21 by saying, These garments are Mr. Smith's; he manu-
factured them and owns them, but you must pay me,
not him, for this exhibit?
24 The spectators may ask, Did he give you permission
to do this, did he sell them or loan them to you? No.
Then have you asked yourself this question on the sub-
27 ject, namely, What right have I to do this? True, it
saves your purchasing these garments, and gives to the
public new patterns which are useful to them; but does
30

this silence your conscience? or, because you have con-
fessed that they are the property of a noted firm, and
you wished to handle them, does it justify you in appro-

Page 300

1 priating them, and so avoiding the cost of hiring or
purchasing?
3 Copying my published works verbatim, compiling them
in connection with the Scriptures, taking this copy into
the pulpit, announcing the author's name, then reading
6

it publicly as your own compilation, is - what?

We answer, It is a mistake; in common parlance, it
is an ignorant wrong.

9 If you should print and publish your copy of my works,
you would be liable to arrest for infringement of copy-
right, which the law defines and punishes as theft. Read-
12 ing in the pulpit from copies of my publications gives
you the clergyman's salary and spares you the printer's
bill, but does it spare you our Master's condemnation?
15 You literally publish my works through the pulpit, instead
of the press, and thus evade the law, but not the gospel.
When I consent to this act, you will then be justified
18

in it.

Your manuscript copy is liable, in some way, to be
printed as your original writings, thus incurring the pen-

21

alty of the law, and increasing the record of theft in the
United States Circuit Court.

To The Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, which I

24 had organized and of which I had for many years been
pastor, I gave permission to cite, in the Christian Science
Quarterly
, from my work Science and Health, passages
27

giving the spiritual meaning of Bible texts; but this was
a special privilege, and the author's gift.

Christian Science demonstrates that the patient who

30

pays whatever he is able to pay for being healed, is more
apt to recover than he who withholds a slight equiva-
lent for health. Healing morally and physically are one.

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1 Then, is compiling and delivering that sermon for which
you pay nothing, and which you deliver without the
3 author's consent, and receive pay therefor, the precedent
for preaching Christian Science, - and are you doing
to the author of the above-named book as you would
6

have others do unto you?

Those authors and editors of pamphlets and periodi-
cals whose substance is made up of my publications, are

9 morally responsible for what the law construes as crime.
There are startling instances of the above-named law-
breaking and gospel-opposing system of authorship, which
12 characterize the writings of a few professed Christian
Scientists. My Christian students who have read copies
of my works in the pulpit require only a word to be wise;
15 too sincere and morally statuesque are they to be long
led into temptation; but I must not leave persistent
plagiarists without this word of warning in public, since
18

my private counsel they disregard.

To the question of my true-hearted students, "Is it
right to copy your works and read them for our public

21 services?" I answer: It is not right to copy my book
and read it publicly without my consent. My reasons are
as follows: -
24

First: This method is an unseen form of injustice
standing in a holy place.

Second: It breaks the Golden Rule, - a divine rule

27

for human conduct.

Third: All error tends to harden the heart, blind
the eyes, stop the ears of understanding, and inflate

30

self; counter to the commands of our hillside Priest, to
whom Isaiah alluded thus: "I have trodden the wine-
press alone; and of the people there was none with me."

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1 Behind the scenes lurks an evil which you can prevent
it is a purpose to kill the reformation begun and increas-
3 ing through the instructions of "Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures;" it encourages infringement of my
copyright, and seeks again to "cast lots for his vesture,"
6 - while the perverter preserves in his own consciousness
and teaching the name without the Spirit, the skeleton
without the heart, the form without the comeliness, the
9 sense without the Science, of Christ's healing. My stu-
dents are expected to know the teaching of Christian Sci-
ence sufficiently to discriminate between error and Truth,
12

thus sparing their teacher a task and themselves the
temptation to be misled.

Much good has been accomplished through Christian

15 Science Sunday services. If Christian Scientists occasion-
ally mistake in interpreting revealed Truth, of two evils
the less would be not to leave the Word unspoken and
18 untaught. I allowed, till this permission was withdrawn,
students working faithfully for Christ's cause on earth,
the privilege of copying and reading my works for Sunday
21 service; provided, they each and all destroyed the copies
at once after said service. When I should so elect and
give suitable notice, they were to desist from further copy-
24

ing of my writings as aforesaid.

This injunction did not curtail the benefit which the
student derived from making his copy, nor detract from

27 the good that his hearers received from his reading thereof;
but it was intended to forestall the possible evil of putting
the divine teachings contained in "Science and Health
30

with Key to the Scriptures" into human hands, to sub-
vert or to liquidate.

I recommend that students stay within their own fields

Page 303

1 of labor, to work for the race; they are lights that can-
not be hid, and need only to shine from their home sum-
3

mits to be sought and found as healers physical and
moral.

The kindly shepherd has his own fold and tends his

6 own flock. Christian students should have their own
institutes and, unmolested, be governed by divine Love
alone in teaching and guiding their students. When
9 wisdom garrisons these strongholds of Christian Science,
peace and joy, the fruits of Spirit, will rest upon us all.
We are brethren in the fullest sense of that word; there-
12 fore no queries should arise as to "who shall be great-
est." Let us serve instead of rule, knock instead of
push at the door of human hearts, and allow to each
15 and every one the same rights and privileges that we
claim for ourselves. If ever I wear out from serving
students, it shall be in the effort to help them to obey
18

the Ten Commandments and imbibe the spirit of Christ's
Beatitudes.

NOTICE

21 Editor of Christian Science Journal: - You will oblige
me by giving place in your Journal to the following notice.
The idea and purpose of a Liberty Bell is pleasing, and
24 can be made profitable to the heart of our country. I feel
assured that many Christian Scientists will respond to this
letter by contributions.
27

MARY BAKER EDDY

Page 304

1

COLUMBIAN LIBERTY BELL COMMITTEE,

1505 PENNA. AVE., WASHINGTON, D. C.

3

TO THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: -

It has been determined to create a Columbian Liberty
Bell, to be placed by the lovers of liberty and peace in

6 the most appropriate place in the coming World's Expo-
sition at Chicago. After the close of the Exhibition this
bell will pass from place to place throughout the world
9

as a missionary of freedom, coming first to the capital
of the nation under the care of our society.

Then it will go to Bunker Hill or Liberty Island, to

12 the battle-field of New Orleans ( 1812), to San Francisco,
to the place where any great patriotic celebration is being
held, until 1900, when it will be sent to the next World's
15

Exhibition, which takes place at Paris, France. There it
will continue until that Exhibition closes.

When not in use in other places, it will return to Wash-

18 ington under the care of the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Washington will be its home, and from there
it will journey from place to place, fulfilling its mission
21

throughout the world.

The following is the proposed use of the bell: It shall
ring at sunrise and sunset; at nine o'clock in the morn-

24 ing on the anniversaries of the days on which great events
have occurred marking the world's progress toward liberty;
at twelve o'clock on the birthdays of the "creators of
27 liberty;" and at four o'clock it will toll on the anniver-
saries of their death. (It will always ring at nine o'clock
on October 11th, in recognition of the organization on
30

that day of the Daughters of the American Revolution.)
. . The responsibility of its production, and the direc-
tion of its use, have been placed in the hands of a

Page 305

1 committee of women representing each State and Ter-
ritory, one representative from each Republic in the
3 world, and a representative from the patriotic societies,
- Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution,
the Lyceum League of America, the Society of Ger-
6

man Patriots, the Human Freedom League, and kindred
organizations.

The National Board of Management has placed upon

9 me the responsibility of representing the National Society
of the Daughters of the American Revolution upon the
General Committee, and this circular is sent to every
12 member of the society, asking for her personal coopera-
tion in making the undertaking successful. In creating
the bell it is particularly desired that the largest number
15 of persons possible shall have a part in it. For this reason
small contributions from many persons are to be asked
for, rather than large contributions from a few. They
18

are to be of two kinds: -

First: Material that can be made a part of the bell;
articles of historic interest will be particularly appre-

21

ciated - gold, silver, bronze, copper, and nickel can be
fused.

Second: Of money with which to pay for the bell.

24 Each member of the society is asked to contribute one
cent to be fused into the bell, and twenty-five cents to
pay for it. She is also asked to collect two dollars from
27 others, in pennies, if possible, and send with the amount
the name of each contributor. In order that the bell
shall be cast April 30th, the anniversary of the inaugu-
30

ration of George Washington as the first President of
the United States, we ask every one receiving this cir-
cular to act at once.

Page 306

1 In forwarding material to be melted into the bell, please
send fullest historical description. This will be entered
3

carefully in a book which will accompany the bell wherever
it goes.

. . . As the motto has not yet been decided upon, any

6 ideas on that subject will be gratefully received; we will
also welcome suggestions of events to be celebrated and
names to be commemorated.
9 Very cordially yours,
MARY DESHA,
ex-Vice-President General, D. A. R.
12 Contributions should be sent to the Liberty National
Bank, corner Liberty and West Streets, New York, and
a duplicate letter written, as a notification of the same,
15

to Miss Mary Desha, 1505 Penna. Ave., Washington,
D. C., or to Miss Minnie F. Mickley, Mickleys, Pa.

We would add, as being of interest, that Mrs. Eddy is

18 a member of the above organization, having been made
such by the special request of the late Mrs. Harrison,
wife of the ex-President, who was at that time the Presi-
21

dent thereof. - ED.

ANGELS

When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings,

24 nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but
we know their presence by the love they create in our
hearts. Oh, may you feel this touch, - it is not the
27

clasping of hands, nor a loved person present; it is more
than this: it is a spiritual idea that lights your path!
The Psalmist saith: "He shall give His angels charge

Page 307

1 over thee." God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in
turn, they give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-
3 morrow: it is enough that divine Love is an ever-present
help; and if you wait, never doubting, you will have
all you need every moment. What a glorious inheritance
6 is given to us through the understanding of omnipresent
Love! More we cannot ask: more we do not want:
more we cannot have. This sweet assurance is the
9

"Peace, be still" to all human fears, to suffering of every
sort.

DEIFICATION OF PERSONALITY

12 Notwithstanding the rapid sale already of two editions
of "Christ and Christmas," and many orders on hand, I
have thought best to stop its publication.
15 In this revolutionary religious period, the increasing
inquiry of mankind as to Christianity and its unity -
and above all, God's love opening the eyes of the blind
18

- is fast fitting all minds for the proper reception of
Christian Science healing.

But I must stand on this absolute basis of Christian

21 Science; namely, Cast not pearls before the unprepared
thought. Idolatry is an easily-besetting sin of all peoples.
The apostle saith, "Little children, keep yourselves from
24

idols."

The illustrations were not intended for a golden calf,
at which the sick may look and be healed. Christian

27 Scientists should beware of unseen snares, and adhere
to the divine Principle and rules for demonstration.
They must guard against the deification of finite person-
30

ality. Every human thought must turn instinctively to

Page 308

1 the divine Mind as its sole centre and intelligence. Until
this be done, man will never be found harmonious and
3

immortal.

Whosoever looks to me personally for his health or
holiness, mistakes. He that by reason of human love or

6 hatred or any other cause clings to my material per-
sonality, greatly errs, stops his own progress, and loses
the path to health, happiness, and heaven. The Scrip-
9 tures and Christian Science reveal "the way," and per-
sonal revelators will take their proper place in history,
but will not be deified.
12 Advanced scientific students are ready for "Christ
and Christmas;" but those are a minority of its readers,
and even they know its practicality only by healing
15 the sick on its divine Principle. In the words of the
prophet, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one
Lord."
18 Friends, strangers, and Christian Scientists, I thank
you, each and all, for your liberal patronage and scholarly,
artistic, and scientific notices of my book. This little
21 messenger has done its work, fulfilled its mission, retired
with honor (and mayhap taught me more than it has
others), only to reappear in due season. The knowledge
24 that I have gleaned from its fruitage is, that intensely
contemplating personality impedes spiritual growth; even
as holding in mind the consciousness of disease prevents
27

the recovery of the sick.

Christian Science is taught through its divine Prin-
ciple, which is invisible to corporeal sense. A material

30 human likeness is the antipode of man in the image and
likeness of God. Hence, a finite person is not the model
for a metaphysician. I earnestly advise all Christian
33

Scientists to remove from their observation or study

Page 309

1 the personal sense of any one, and not to dwell in thought
upon their own or others' corporeality, either as good or
3

evil.

According to Christian Science, material personality is
an error in premise, and must result in erroneous con-

6 clusions. All will agree with me that material portraiture
often fails to express even mortal man, and this declares
its unfitness for fable or fact to build upon.
9 The face of Jesus has uniformly been so unnaturally
delineated that it has turned many from the true con-
templation of his character. He advances most in divine
12 Science who meditates most on infinite spiritual sub-
stance and intelligence. Experience proves this true.
Pondering on the finite personality of Jesus, the son of
15 man, is not the channel through which we reach the
Christ, or Son of God, the true idea of man's divine
Principle.
18 I warn students against falling into the error of anti-
Christ. The consciousness of corporeality, and what-
ever is connected therewith, must be outgrown. Corporeal
21 falsities include all obstacles to health, holiness, and
heaven. Man's individual life is infinitely above a
bodily form of existence, and the human concept an-
24 tagonizes the divine. "Science and Health with Key
to the Scriptures," on page 229, third and fourth para-
graphs, elucidates this topic.(l)
27 My Christmas poem and its illustrations are not a text-
book. Scientists sometimes take things too intensely.
Let them soberly adhere to the Bible and Science and
30

Health, which contain all and much more than they
have yet learned. We should prohibit ourselves the

(1) See the revised edition of 1890, or page 334, in editions

subsequent to 1902.

Page 310

1 childish pleasure of studying Truth through the senses,
for this is neither the intent of my works nor possible
3

in Science.

Even the teachings of Jesus would be misused by sub-
stituting personality for the Christ, or the impersonal

6 form of Truth, amplified in this age by the discovery of
Christian Science. To impersonalize scientifically the
material sense of existence - rather than cling to per-
9

sonality - is the lesson of to-day.

A CARD

My answer to manifold letters relative to the return

12 of members that have gone out of The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Boston, is this: While my affec-
tions plead for all and every one, and my desire is that
15 all shall be redeemed, I am not unmindful that the Scrip-
tures enjoin, "Let all things be done decently and in
order."
18 To continue one's connection with this church, or to
regain it, one must comply with the church rules. All
who desire its fellowship, and to become members of it,
21 must send in their petitions to this effect to the Clerk
of the church; and upon a meeting being called, the
First Members will determine the action of the church
24

on this subject.

OVERFLOWING THOUGHTS

In this receding year of religious jubilee, 1894, I as

27

an individual would cordially invite all persons who
have left our fold, together with those who never have

Page 311

1 been in it, - all who love God and keep His command-
ments, - to come and unite with The Mother Church in
3 Boston. The true Christian Scientists will be welcomed,
greeted as brethren endeavoring to walk with us hand
in hand, as we journey to the celestial city.
6 Also, I would extend a tender invitation to Christian
Scientists' students, those who are ready for the table of
our Lord: so, should we follow Christ's teachings; so,
9 bury the dead past; so, loving one another, go forth to
the full vintage-time, exemplifying what we profess. But
some of the older members are not quite ready to take
12 this advanced step in the full spirit of that charity which
thinketh no evil; and if it be not taken thus, it is impracti-
cal, unfruitful, Soul-less.
15 My deepest desires and daily labors go to prove that
I love my enemies and would help all to gain the abiding
consciousness of health, happiness, and heaven.
18 I hate no one; and love others more than they can
love me. As I now understand Christian Science, I would
as soon harm myself as another; since by breaking
21

Christ's command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself," I should lose my hope of heaven.

The works I have written on Christian Science con-

24 tain absolute Truth, and my necessity was to tell it;
therefore I did this even as a surgeon who wounds
to heal. I was a scribe under orders; and who can
27 refrain from transcribing what God indites, and ought
not that one to take the cup, drink all of it, and give
thanks?
30

Being often reported as saying what never escaped
from my lips, when rehearsing facts concerning others
who were reporting false charges, I have been sorry that

Page 312

1 I spoke at all, and wished I were wise enough to guard
against that temptation. Oh, may the love that is talked,
3 be felt! and so lived, that when weighed in the scale of
God we be not found wanting. Love is consistent, uni-
form, sympathetic, self-sacrificing, unutterably kind; even
6 that which lays all upon the altar, and, speechless and
alone, bears all burdens, suffers all inflictions, endures
all piercing for the sake of others, and for the kingdom
9

of heaven's sake.

A GREAT MAN AND HIS SAYING

Hon. Charles Carrol Bonney, President of the World's

12 Congress Auxiliary, in his remarks before that body,
said, "No more striking manifestation of the interposi-
tion of divine Providence in human affairs has come in
15 recent years, than that shown in the raising up of the
body of people known as Christian Scientists, who are
called to declare the real harmony between religion and
18

Science, and to restore the waning faith of many in the
verities of the sacred Scriptures."

In honest utterance of veritable history, and his own

21 spiritual discernment, this man must have risen above
worldly schemes, human theorems or hypotheses, to
conclusions which reason too supine or misemployed
24 cannot fasten upon. He spake inspired; he touched a
tone of Truth that will continue to reverberate and renew
its emphasis throughout the entire centuries, into the vast
27

forever.

Page 313

WORDS OF COMMENDATION

Editor of The Christian Science Journal: - Permit me

3

to say that your editorial in the August number is par
excellence
.

It is a digest of good manners, morals, methods, and

6 means. It points to the scientific spiritual molecule,
pearl, and pinnacle, that everybody needs. May the
Christlikeness it reflects rest on the dear readers, and
9 throw the light of penetration on the page; even as the
dawn, kindling its glories in the east, lightens earth's
landscape.
12 I thank the contributors to The Christian Science
Journal
for their jewels of thought, so adapted to the
hour, and without ill-humor or hyperbolic tumor. I
15 was impressed by the articles entitled "The New Pas-
tor," by Rev. Lanson P. Norcross, "The Lamp," by
Walter Church, "The Temptation," a poem by J. J.
18

Rome, etc.

The field waves its white ensign, the reapers are strong,
the rich sheaves are ripe, the storehouse is ready: pray

21

ye therefore the God of harvest to send forth more
laborers of the excellent sort, and garner the supplies
for a world.

CHURCH AND SCHOOL

Humbly, and, as I believe, divinely directed, I hereby
ordain the Bible, and "Science and Health with Key

27

to the Scriptures," to be hereafter the only pastor of

Page 314

1 The Church of Christ, Scientist, throughout our land
and in other lands.
3 From this date the Sunday services of our denomina-
tion shall be conducted by Readers in lieu of pastors.
Each church, or society formed for Sunday worship,
6 shall elect two Readers: a male, and a female. One of
these individuals shall open the meeting by reading the
hymns, and chapter (or portion of the chapter) in the
9 Bible, lead in silent prayer, and repeat in concert with
the congregation the Lord's Prayer. Also, this First
Reader shall give out any notices from the pulpit, shall
12 read the Scriptures indicated in the Sunday School Les-
son of the Christian Science Quarterly, and shall pro-
nounce the benediction.
15 The First Reader shall read from my book, "Science
and Health with Key to the Scriptures," alternately in
response to the congregation, the spiritual interpreta-
18 tion of the Lord's Prayer; also, shall read all the selec-
tions from Science and Health referred to in the Sunday
Lessons.
21 The Reader of the Scriptures shall name, at each
reading, the book, chapter, and verses. The Reader of
"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" shall
24 commence by announcing the full title of this book, with
the name of its author, and add to this announcement,
"the Christian Science textbook." It is unnecessary to
27 repeat the title or page. This form shall also be observed
at the Communion service; the selections from both the
Bible and the Christian Science textbook shall be taken
30

from the Quarterly, as heretofore, and this Lesson shall
be such as is adapted to that service. On the first Sunday
of each month, except Communion Sunday, a sermon

Page 315

1 shall be preached to the children, from selections taken
from the Scriptures and Science and Health, especially
3 adapted to the occasion, and read after the manner of
the Sunday service. The children's service shall be
held on the Sunday following Communion Day.
6 No copies from my books are allowed to be written,
and read from manuscripts, either in private or in pub-
lic assemblies, except by their author.
9 Christian Scientists, all over the world, who are let-
terly fit and specially spiritually fitted for teachers, can
teach annually three classes only. They shall teach
12 from the Christian Science textbook. Each class shall
consist of not over thirty-three students, carefully selected,
and only of such as have promising proclivities toward
15 Christian Science. The teacher shall hold himself mor-
ally obligated to look after the welfare of his students,
not only through class term, but after it; and to watch
18

well that they prove sound in sentiment, health, and
practical Christian Science.

Teaching Christian Science shall be no question of

21 money, but of morals and of uplifting the race. Teachers
shall form associations for this purpose; and for the
first few years, convene as often as once in three months.
24 Teachers shall not silently mentally address the thought,
to handle it, nor allow their students to do thus, except
the individual needing it asks for mental treatment.
27 They shall steadily and patiently strive to educate their
students in conformity to the unerring wisdom and law
of God, and shall enjoin upon them habitually to study
30

His revealed Word, the Scriptures, and "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures."

They shall teach their students how to defend them-

Page 316

1 selves against mental malpractice, but never to return
evil for evil; never to attack the malpractitioner, but
3

to know the truth that makes free, - and so to be a law
not unto others, but themselves.

CLASS, PULPIT, STUDENTS' STUDENTS

6

When will you take a class in Christian Science or
speak to your church in Boston? is often asked.

I shall speak to my dear church at Boston very seldom.

9 The Mother Church must be self-sustained by God.
The date of a class in Christian Science should depend
on the fitness of things, the tide which flows heavenward,
12 the hour best for the student. Until minds become less
worldly-minded, and depart farther from the primitives
of the race, and have profited up to their present capac-
15

ity from the written word, they are not ready for the
word spoken at this date.

My juniors can tell others what they know, and turn

18 them slowly toward the haven. Imperative, accumula-
tive, sweet demands rest on my retirement from life's
bustle. What, then, of continual recapitulation of tired
21 aphorisms and disappointed ethics; of patching breaches
widened the next hour; of pounding wisdom and love
into sounding brass; of warming marble and quench-
24 ing volcanoes! Before entering the Massachusetts Meta-
physical College, had my students achieved the point
whence they could have derived most benefit from their
27

pupilage, to-day there would be on earth paragons of
Christianity, patterns of humility, wisdom, and might
for the world.

Page 317

1 To the students whom I have not seen that ask, "May
I call you mother?" my heart replies, Yes, if you are
3

doing God's work. When born of Truth and Love, we
are all of one kindred.

The hour has struck for Christian Scientists to do their

6 own work; to appreciate the signs of the times; to dem-
onstrate self-knowledge and self-government; and to
demonstrate, as this period demands, over all sin, disease,
9 and death. The dear ones whom I would have great
pleasure in instructing, know that the door to my teaching
was shut when my College closed.
12 Again, it is not absolutely requisite for some people
to be taught in a class, for they can learn by spiritual
growth and by the study of what is written. Scarcely a
15 moiety, compared with the whole of the Scriptures and
the Christian Science textbook, is yet assimilated spirit-
ually by the most faithful seekers; yet this assimilation is
18 indispensable to the progress of every Christian Scientist.
These considerations prompt my answers to the above
questions. Human desire is inadequate to adjust the
21 balance on subjects of such earnest import. These
words of our Master explain this hour: "What I do
thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."
24 My sympathies are deeply enlisted for the students
of students; having already seen in many instances their
talents, culture, and singleness of purpose to uplift the
27 race. Such students should not pay the penalty for
other people's faults; and divine Love will open the
way for them. My soul abhors injustice, and loves
30

mercy. St. John writes: "Whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by meas-
ure unto him."

Page 318

MY STUDENTS AND THY STUDENTS

Mine and thine are obsolete terms in absolute Christian

3 Science, wherein and whereby the universal brotherhood
of man is stated and demands to be demonstrated. I have
a large affection, not alone for my students, but for thy
6 students, - for students of the second generation. I can-
not but love some of those devoted students better than
some of mine who are less lovable or Christly. This
9 natural affection for goodness must go on ad libitum unto
the third and fourth and final generation of those who
love God and keep His commandments. Hence the
12

following is an amendment of the paragraph on page 47 (1)
of "Retrospection and Introspection": -

Any student, having received instructions in a Primary

15 class from me, or from a loyal student of Christian Science,
and afterwards studied thoroughly "Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures," can enter upon the gospel
18 work of teaching Christian Science, and so fulfil the com-
mand of Christ. Before entering this sacred field of labor,
the student must have studied faithfully the latest edi-
21 tions of my works, and be a good Bible scholar and a
devout, consecrated Christian.
These are the indispensable demands on all those who
24

become teachers.

UNSEEN SIN

Two points of danger beset mankind; namely, making

27

sin seem either too large or too little: if too large, we

(1) See edition of 1909.

Page 319

1 are in the darkness of all the ages, wherein the true sense
of the unity of good and the unreality of evil is lost.
3 If good is God, even as God is good, then good and
evil can neither be coeval nor coequal, for God is All-in-
all. This closes the argument of aught besides Him, aught
6

else than good.

If the sense of sin is too little, mortals are in danger
of not seeing their own belief in sin, but of seeing too

9 keenly their neighbor's. Then they are beset with
egotism and hypocrisy. Here Christian Scientists must
be most watchful. Their habit of mental and audible
12 protest against the reality of sin, tends to make sin less
or more to them than to other people. They must either
be overcoming sin in themselves, or they must not lose
15

sight of sin; else they are self-deceived sinners of the
worst sort.

A WORD TO THE WISE

18 Will all the dear Christian Scientists accept my tender
greetings for the forthcoming holidays, and grant me
this request, - let the present season pass without one
21

gift to me.

Our church edifice must be built in 1894. Take thither
thy saintly offerings, and lay them in the outstretched

24 hand of God. The object to be won affords ample oppor-
tunity for the grandest achievement to which Christian
Scientists can direct attention, and feel themselves alone
27

among the stars.

No doubt must intervene between the promise and
event; faith and resolve are friends to Truth; seize them,

Page 320

1

trust the divine Providence, push upward our prayer in
stone, - and God will give the benediction.

CHRISTMAS

This interesting day, crowned with the history of
Truth's idea, - its earthly advent and nativity, - is

6 especially dear to the heart of Christian Scientists; to
whom Christ's appearing in a fuller sense is so precious,
and fraught with divine benedictions for mankind.
9 The star that looked lovingly down on the manger of
our Lord, lends its resplendent light to this hour: the
light of Truth, to cheer, guide, and bless man as he
12 reaches forth for the infant idea of divine perfection
dawning upon human imperfection, - that calms man's
fears, bears his burdens, beckons him on to Truth and
15

Love and the sweet immunity these bring from sin, sick-
ness, and death.

This polar star, fixed in the heavens of divine Science,

18 shall be the sign of his appearing who "healeth all our
diseases;" it hath traversed night, wading through
darkness and gloom, on to glory. It doth meet the
21

antagonism of error; addressing to dull ears and undis-
ciplined beliefs words of Truth and Life.

The star of Bethlehem is the star of Boston, high in

24 the zenith of Truth's domain, that looketh down on the
long night of human beliefs, to pierce the darkness and
melt into dawn.
27 The star of Bethlehem is the light of all ages; is the
light of Love, to-day christening religion undefiled, divine
Science; giving to it a new name, and the white stone in
30

token of purity and permanence.

Page 321

1 The wise men follow this guiding star; the watchful
shepherd chants his welcome over the cradle of a great
3 truth, and saith, "Unto us a child is born," whose birth
is less of a miracle than eighteen centuries ago; and "his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
6

God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

My heart is filled with joy, that each receding year sees
the steady gain of Truth's idea in Christian Science; that

9 each recurring year witnesses the balance adjusted more
on the side of God, the supremacy of Spirit; as shown
by the triumphs of Truth over error, of health over sick-
12

ness, of Life over death, and of Soul over sense.

"The hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor-
shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth."

15 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death." "Fear not, little
flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you
18

the kingdom."

Press on, press on! ye sons of light,
Untiring in your holy fight,

21

Still treading each temptation down,
And battling for a brighter crown.

CARD

24 In reply to all invitations from Chicago to share the
hospitality of their beautiful homes at any time during
the great wonder of the world, the World's Fair, I say,
27

Do not expect me. I have no desire to see or to hear
what is to be offered upon this approaching occasion.

I have a world of wisdom and Love to contemplate,

30

that concerns me, and you, infinitely beyond all earthly

Page 322

1 expositions or exhibitions. In return for your kindness,
I earnestly invite you to its contemplation with me, and
3

to preparation to behold it.

MESSAGE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH

Beloved Brethren: - People coming from a distance

6 expecting to hear me speak in The Mother Church,
are frequently disappointed. To avoid this, I may here-
after notify the Directors when I shall be present to
9 address this congregation, and the Clerk of the church
can inform correspondents. Your dual and impersonal
pastor, the Bible, and "Science and Health with Key to
12 the Scriptures," is with you; and the Life these give, the
Truth they illustrate, the Love they demonstrate, is
the great Shepherd that feedeth my flock, and leadeth
15 them "beside the still waters." By any personal pres-
ence, or word of mine, your thought must not be diverted
or diverged, your senses satisfied, or self be justified.
18 Therefore, beloved, my often-coming is unnecessary;
for, though I be present or absent, it is God that feed-
eth the hungry heart, that giveth grace for grace, that
21 healeth the sick and cleanseth the sinner. For this
consummation He hath given you Christian Science,
and my past poor labors and love. He hath shown you
24 the amplitude of His mercy, the justice of His judgment,
the omnipotence of His love; and this, to compensate
your zealous affection for seeking good, and for labor-
27

ing in its widening grooves from the infinitesimal to the
infinite.

Page 323

CHAPTER IX - THE FRUIT OF SPIRIT

AN ALLEGORY

PICTURE to yourself "a city set upon a hill," a

3 celestial city above all clouds, in serene azure and
unfathomable glory: having no temple therein, for God is
the temple thereof; nor need of the sun, neither of the
6 moon, for God doth lighten it. Then from this sacred
summit behold a Stranger wending his way downward,
to where a few laborers in a valley at the foot of the moun-
9

tain are working and watching for his coming.

The descent and ascent are beset with peril, priva-
tion, temptation, toil, suffering. Venomous serpents hide

12 among the rocks, beasts of prey prowl in the path, wolves
in sheep's clothing are ready to devour; but the Stranger
meets and masters their secret and open attacks with
15

serene confidence.

The Stranger eventually stands in the valley at the
foot of the mountain. He saith unto the patient toilers

18 therein: "What do ye here? Would ye ascend the moun-
tain, - climbing its rough cliffs, hushing the hissing
serpents, taming the beasts of prey, -and bathe in its
21 streams, rest in its cool grottos, and drink from its living
fountains? The way winds and widens in the valley;
up the hill it is straight and narrow, and few there be that
24

find it."

Page 324

1 His converse with the watchers and workers in the
valley closes, and he makes his way into the streets of a
3

city made with hands.

Pausing at the threshold of a palatial dwelling, he
knocks and waits. The door is shut. He hears the

6 sounds of festivity and mirth; youth, manhood, and age
gayly tread the gorgeously tapestried parlors, dancing-
halls, and banquet-rooms. But a little while, and the
9 music is dull, the wine is unsipped, the footfalls abate,
the laughter ceases. Then from the window of this dwel-
ling a face looks out, anxiously surveying him who waiteth
12

at the door.

Within this mortal mansion are adulterers, fornicators,
idolaters; drunkenness, witchcraft, variance, envy, emu-

15 lation, hatred, wrath, murder. Appetites and passions
have so dimmed their sight that he alone who looks from
that dwelling, through the clearer pane of his own heart
18

tired of sin, can see the Stranger.

Startled beyond measure at beholding him, this mortal
inmate withdraws; but growing more and more troubled,

21 he seeks to leave the odious company and the cruel walls,
and to find the Stranger. Stealing cautiously away from
his comrades, he departs; then turns back, - he is afraid
24 to go on and to meet the Stranger. So he returns to the
house, only to find the lights all wasted and the music
fled. Finding no happiness within, he rushes again
27 into the lonely streets, seeking peace but finding none.
Naked, hungry, athirst, this time he struggles on, and
at length reaches the pleasant path of the valley at the
30

foot of the mountain, whence he may hopefully look for
the reappearance of the Stranger, and receive his heavenly
guidance.

Page 325

1 The Stranger enters a massive carved stone mansion,
and saith unto the dwellers therein, "Blessed are the
3

poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." But
they understand not his saying.

These are believers of different sects, and of no sect;

6 some, so-called Christian Scientists in sheep's clothing;
and all "drunken without wine." They have small con-
ceptions of spiritual riches, few cravings for the immortal,
9 but are puffed up with the applause of the world: they
have plenty of pelf, and fear not to fall upon the Stranger,
seize his pearls, throw them away, and afterwards try to
12

kill him.

Somewhat disheartened, he patiently seeks another
dwelling, - only to find its inmates asleep at noontide!

15 Robust forms, with manly brow nodding on cushioned
chairs, their feet resting on footstools, or, flat on their
backs, lie stretched on the floor, dreaming away the
18 hours. Balancing on one foot, with eyes half open,
the porter starts up in blank amazement and looks at
the Stranger, calls out, rubs his eyes, - amazed beyond
21

measure that anybody is animated with a purpose, and
seen working for it!

They in this house are those that "provoke Him in

24 the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert." Away
from this charnel-house of the so-called living, the Stranger
turns quickly, and wipes off the dust from his feet as a
27 testimony against sensualism in its myriad forms. As
he departs, he sees robbers finding ready ingress to that
dwelling of sleepers in the midst of murderous hordes,
30

without watchers and the doors unbarred!

Next he enters a place of worship, and saith unto them,
"Go ye into all the world; preach the gospel, heal the

Page 326

1 sick, cast out devils, raise the dead; for the Scripture
saith the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
3

made you free from the law of sin and death." And they
cast him out
.

Once more he seeks the dwelling-place of mortals and

6 knocks loudly. The door is burst open, and sufferers
shriek for help: that house is on fire! The flames caught
in the dwelling of luxury, where the blind saw them not,
9 but the flesh at length did feel them; thence they spread
to the house of slumberers who heeded them not, until
they became unmanageable; fed by the fat of hypocrisy
12 and vainglory, they consumed the next dwelling; then
crept unseen into the synagogue, licking up the blood
of martyrs and wrapping their altars in ruins. "God is a
15

consuming fire."

Thus are all mortals, under every hue of circumstances,
driven out of their houses of clay and, homeless wan-

18 derers in a beleaguered city, forced to seek the Father's
house, if they would be led to the valley and up the
mount.
21 Seeing the wisdom of withdrawing from those who
persistently rejected him, the Stranger returned to the
valley; first, to meet with joy his own, to wash their
24 feet, and take them up the mountain. Well might this
heavenly messenger exclaim, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which
27

are sent unto thee, . . . Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate."

Discerning in his path the penitent one who had groped

30

his way from the dwelling of luxury, the Stranger saith
unto him, "Wherefore comest thou hither?"

He answered, "The sight of thee unveiled my sins, and

Page 327

1 turned my misnamed joys to sorrow. When I went back
into the house to take something out of it, my misery
3 increased; so I came hither, hoping that I might follow
thee whithersoever thou goest."
And the Stranger saith unto him, "Wilt thou climb
6

the mountain, and take nothing of thine own with thee?"

He answered, "I will."

"Then," saith the Stranger, "thou hast chosen the

9 good part; follow me."
Many there were who had entered the valley to specu-
late in worldly policy, religion, politics, finance, and to
12 search for wealth and fame. These had heavy baggage
of their own, and insisted upon taking all of it with them,
which must greatly hinder their ascent.
15 The journey commences. The encumbered travellers
halt and disagree. They stoutly belay those who, hav-
ing less baggage, ascend faster than themselves, and
18 betimes burden them with their own. Despairing of
gaining the summit, loaded as they are, they conclude to
stop and lay down a few of the heavy weights, - but
21

only to take them up again, more than ever determined
not to part with their baggage.

All this time the Stranger is pointing the way, show-

24 ing them their folly, rebuking their pride, consoling their
afflictions, and helping them on, saying, "He that loseth
his life for my sake, shall find it."
27 Obstinately holding themselves back, and sore-footed,
they fall behind and lose sight of their guide; when,
stumbling and grumbling, and fighting each other, they
30

plunge headlong over the jagged rocks.

Then he who has no baggage goes back and kindly
binds up their wounds, wipes away the blood stains, and

Page 328

1 would help them on; but suddenly the Stranger shouts,
"Let them alone; they must learn from the things they
3 suffer. Make thine own way; and if thou strayest, listen
for the mountain-horn, and it will call thee back to the
path that goeth upward."
6 Dear reader, dost thou suspect that the valley is hu-
mility, that the mountain is heaven-crowned Christianity,
and the Stranger the ever-present Christ, the spiritual
9 idea which from the summit of bliss surveys the vale of
the flesh, to burst the bubbles of earth with a breath of
heaven, and acquaint sensual mortals with the mystery
12 of godliness, - unchanging, unquenchable Love? Hast
not thou heard this Christ knock at the door of thine own
heart, and closed it against Truth, to "eat and drink
15 with the drunken"? Hast thou been driven by suffer-
ing to the foot of the mount, but earth-bound, burdened
by pride, sin, and self, hast thou turned back, stumbled,
18 and wandered away? Or hast thou tarried in the habita-
tion of the senses, pleased and stupefied, until wakened
through the baptism of fire?
21 He alone ascends the hill of Christian Science who
follows the Way-shower, the spiritual presence and idea
of God. Whatever obstructs the way, - causing to
24 stumble, fall, or faint, those mortals who are striving
to enter the path, - divine Love will remove; and up-
lift the fallen and strengthen the weak. Therefore, give
27 up thy earth-weights; and observe the apostle's admoni-
tion, "Forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those which are before." Then,
30

loving God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself, thou
wilt safely bear thy cross up to the throne of everlasting
glory.

Page 329

VOICES OF SPRING

Mine is an obstinate penchant for nature in all her

3 moods and forms, a satisfaction with whatever is hers.
And what shall this be named, a weakness, or a -
virtue?
6 In spring, nature like a thrifty housewife sets the earth
in order; and between taking up the white carpets and
putting down the green ones, her various apartments are
9

dismally dirty.

Spring is my sweetheart, whose voices are sad or glad,
even as the heart may be; restoring in memory the sweet

12

rhythm of unforgotten harmonies, or touching tenderly
its tearful tones.

Spring passes over mountain and meadow, waking up

15 the world; weaving the wavy grass, nursing the timid
spray, stirring the soft breeze; rippling all nature in
ceaseless flow, with "breath all odor and cheek all bloom."
18 Whatever else droops, spring is gay: her little feet trip
lightly on, turning up the daisies, paddling the water-
cresses, rocking the oriole's cradle; challenging the sed-
21 entary shadows to activity, and the streams to race for the
sea. Her dainty fingers put the fur cap on pussy-willow,
paint in pink the petals of arbutus, and sweep in soft
24 strains her Orphean lyre. "The voice of the turtle is
heard in our land." The snow-bird that tarried through
the storm, now chirps to the breeze; the cuckoo sounds
27 her invisible lute, calling the feathered tribe back to their
summer homes. Old robin, though stricken to the heart
with winter's snow, prophesies of fair earth and sunny
30

skies. The brooklet sings melting murmurs to merry

Page 330

1 meadows; the leaves clap their hands, and the winds
make melody through dark pine groves.
3

What is the anthem of human life?

Has love ceased to moan over the new-made grave,
and, looking upward, does it patiently pray for the per-

6 petual springtide wherein no arrow wounds the dove?
Human hope and faith should join in nature's grand har-
mony, and, if on minor key, make music in the heart.
9 And man, more friendly, should call his race as gently
to the springtide of Christ's dear love. St. Paul wrote,
"Rejoice in the Lord always." And why not, since man's
12

possibilities are infinite, bliss is eternal, and the conscious-
ness thereof is here and now?

The alders bend over the streams to shake out their

15 tresses in the water-mirrors; let mortals bow before the
creator, and, looking through Love's transparency, behold
man in God's own image and likeness, arranging in the
18 beauty of holiness each budding thought. It is good to
talk with our past hours, and learn what report they
bear, and how they might have reported more spirit-
21 ual growth. With each returning year, higher joys,
holier aims, a purer peace and diviner energy, should
freshen the fragrance of being. Nature's first and last
24 lessons teach man to be kind, and even pride should
sanction what our natures need. Popularity, - what is
it? A mere mendicant that boasts and begs, and God
27

denies charity.

When gentle violet lifts its blue eye to heaven, and
crown imperial unveils its regal splendor to the sun;

30

when the modest grass, inhabiting the whole earth, stoops
meekly before the blast; when the patient corn waits
on the elements to put forth its slender blade, construct

Page 331

1 the stalk, instruct the ear, and crown the full corn in the
ear, - then, are mortals looking up, waiting on God,
3 and committing their way unto Him who tosses earth's
mass of wonders into their hands? When downtrodden
like the grass, did it make them humble, loving, obedi-
6 ent, full of good odor, and cause them to wait patiently
on God for man's rich heritage, - "dominion over all
the earth"? Thus abiding in Truth, the warmth and
9 sunlight of prayer and praise and understanding will
ripen the fruits of Spirit, and goodness will have its spring-
tide of freedom and greatness.
12 When the white-winged dove feeds her callow brood,
nestles them under her wings, and, in tones tremulous
with tenderness, calls them to her breast, do mortals
15 remember their cradle hymns, and thank God for those
redemptive words from a mother's lips which taught
them the Lord's Prayer?
18 O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour;
Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!
21 Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.

Midst the falling leaves of old-time faiths, above the
frozen crust of creed and dogma, the divine Mind-force,
24 filling all space and having all power, upheaves the earth.
In sacred solitude divine Science evolved nature as thought,
and thought as things. This supreme potential Principle
27

reigns in the realm of the real, and is "God with us,"
the I AM.

As mortals awake from their dream of material sen-

30

sation, this adorable, all-inclusive God, and all earth's
hieroglyphics of Love, are understood; and infinite Mind

Page 332

1 is seen kindling the stars, rolling the worlds, reflecting
all space and Life, - but not life in matter. Wisely
3 governing, informing the universe, this Mind is Truth, -
not laws of matter. Infinitely just, merciful, and wise,
this Mind is Love, - but not fallible love.
6 Spring is here! and doors that closed on Christian
Science in "the long winter of our discontent," are open
flung. Its seedtime has come to enrich earth and en-
9

robe man in righteousness; may its sober-suited autumn
follow with hues of heaven, ripened sheaves, and harvest
songs.

"WHERE ART THOU?"

In the allegory of Genesis, third chapter and ninth
verse, two mortals, walking in the cool of the day midst

15 the stately palms, many-hued blossoms, perfume-laden
breezes, and crystal streams of the Orient, pondered the
things of man and God.
18 A sense of evil is supposed to have spoken, been listened
to, and afterwards to have formed an evil sense that
blinded the eyes of reason, masked with deformity the
21

glories of revelation, and shamed the face of mortals.

What was this sense? Error versus Truth: first, a
supposition; second, a false belief; third, suffering;

24 fourth, death.
Is man the supposer, false believer, sufferer?
Not man, but a mortal - the antipode of immortal
27 man. Supposing, false believing, suffering are not fac-
ulties of Mind, but are qualities of error.
The supposition is, that God and His idea are not all-
30

power; that there is something besides Him; that this

Page 333

1 something is intelligent matter; that sin - yea, self-
hood - is apart from God, where pleasure and pain,
3 good and evil, life and death, commingle, and are for-
ever at strife; even that every ray of Truth, of infinity,
omnipotence, omnipresence, goodness, could be absorbed
6 in error! God cannot be obscured, and this renders error
a palpable falsity, yea, nothingness; on the basis that
black is not a color because it absorbs all the rays of
9

light.

The "Alpha and Omega" of Christian Science voices
this question: Where do we hold intelligence to be? Is

12 it in both evil and good, in matter as well as Spirit?
If so, we are literally and practically denying that God,
good, is supreme, all power and presence, and are turn-
15

ing away from the only living and true God, to "lords
many and gods many."

Where art thou, O mortal! who turnest away from

18 the divine source of being, - calling on matter to work
out the problem of Mind, to aid in understanding and
securing the sweet harmonies of Spirit that relate to the
21

universe, including man?

Paul asked: "What communion hath light with dark-
ness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" The

24 worshippers of Baal worshipped the sun. They believed
that something besides God had authority and power,
could heal and bless; that God wrought through matter
27 - by means of that which does not reflect Him in a single
quality or quantity! - the grand realities of Mind, thus
to exemplify the power of Truth and Love.
30

The ancient Chaldee hung his destiny out upon the
heavens; but ancient or modern Christians, instructed in
divine Science, know that the prophet better understood

Page 334

1 Him who said: "He doeth according to His will in the
army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth;
3

and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest
Thou?"

Astrology is well in its place, but this place is second-

6 ary. Necromancy has no foundation, - in fact, no
intelligence; and the belief that it has, deceives itself.
Whatever simulates power and Truth in matter, does this
9 as a lie declaring itself, that mortals' faith in matter may
have the effect of power; but when the whole fabrication
is found to be a lie, away goes all its supposed power and
12

prestige.

Why do Christian Scientists treat disease as disease,
since there is no disease?

15 This is done only as one gives the lie to a lie; because
it is a lie, without one word of Truth in it. You must
find error to be nothing: then, and only then, do you
18 handle it in Science. The diabolism of suppositional
evil at work in the name of good, is a lie of the highest
degree of nothingness: just reduce this falsity to its proper
21

denomination, and you have done with it.

How shall we treat a negation, or error - by means
of matter, or Mind? Is matter Truth? No! Then it

24

cannot antidote error.

Can belief destroy belief? No: understanding is re-
quired to do this. By the substitution of Truth demon-

27

strated, Science remedies the ills of material beliefs.

Because I have uncovered evil, and dis-covered for
you divine Science, which saith, "Be not overcome of

30

evil, but overcome evil with good," and you have not
loved sufficiently to understand this Golden Rule and
demonstrate the might of perfect Love that casteth out

Page 335

1 all fear, shall you turn away from this divine Principle
to graven images? Remember the Scripture: -
3

"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming;

"And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to

6

eat and drink with the drunken;

"The lord of that servant shall come in a day when
he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not

9

aware of,

"And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his por-
tion with the hypocrites."

12 One mercilessly assails me for opposing the subtle lie,
others charge upon me with full-fledged invective for, as
they say, having too much charity; but neither moves
15

me from the path made luminous by divine Love.

In my public works I lay bare the ability, in belief, of
evil to break the Decalogue, - to murder, steal, commit

18 adultery, and so on. Those who deny my wisdom or
right to expose error, are either willing participants in
wrong, afraid of its supposed power, or ignorant of it.
21 The notion that one is covering iniquity by asserting
its nothingness, is a fault of zealots, who, like Peter,
sleep when the Watcher bids them watch, and when the
24 hour of trial comes would cut off somebody's ears. Such
people say, "Would you have me get out of a burning
house, or stay in it?"
27 I would have you already out, and know that you are
out; also, to remember the Scripture concerning those
who do evil that good may come, - "whose damnation
30

is just;" and that whoso departeth from divine Science,
seeking power or good aside from God, has done himself
harm.

Page 336

1 Mind is supreme: Love is the master of hate; Truth,
the victor over a lie. Hath not Science voiced this les-
3 son to you, - that evil is powerless, that a lie is never
true? It is your province to wrestle with error, to handle
the serpent and bruise its head; but you cannot, as a
6

Christian Scientist, resort to stones and clubs,-yea, to
matter, - to kill the serpent of a material mind.

Do you love that which represents God most, His high-

9

est idea as seen to-day? No!

Then you would hate Jesus if you saw him personally,
and knew your right obligations towards him. He would

12 insist on the rule and demonstration of divine Science:
even that you first cast out your own dislike and hatred
of God's idea, - the beam in your own eye that hinders
15 your seeing clearly how to cast the mote of evil out of
other eyes. You cannot demonstrate the Principle of
Christian Science and not love its idea: we gather not
18

grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.

Where art thou?

DIVINE SCIENCE

21 What is it but another name for Christian Science,
the cognomen of all true religion, the quintessence of
Christianity, that heals disease and sin and destroys
24 death! Part and parcel of Truth and Love, wherever
one ray of its effulgence looks in upon the heart, behold
a better man, woman, or child.
27 Science is the fiat of divine intelligence, which, hoary
with eternity, touches time only to take away its frailty.
That it rests on everlasting foundations, the sequence
30

proves.

Page 337

1 Have I discovered and founded at this period Chris-
tian Science, that which reveals the truth of Love, - is
3

the question.

And how can you be certain of so momentous an
affirmative? By proving its effect on yourself to be -

6

divine.

What is the Principle and rule of Christian Science?

Infinite query! Wonder in heaven and on earth, -

9 who shall say? The immaculate Son of the Blessed
has spoken of them as the Golden Rule and its Principle,
God who is Love. Listen, and he illustrates the rule:
12 "Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the
midst of them, and said, . . . Whosoever . . . shall
humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest
15

in the kingdom of heaven."

Harmony is heaven. Science brings out harmony;
but this harmony is not understood unless it produces a

18 growing affection for all good, and consequent disaffec-
tion for all evil, hypocrisy, evil-speaking, lust, envy, hate.
Where these exist, Christian Science has no sure foot-
21 hold: they obscure its divine element, and thus seem
to extinguish it. Even the life of Jesus was belittled
and belied by personalities possessing these defacing de-
24 formities. Only the devout Marys, and such as lived
according to his precepts, understood the concrete char-
acter of him who taught - by the wayside, in humble
27

homes, to itching ears and to dull disciples - the words
of Life.

The ineffable Life and light which he reflected through

30

divine Science is again reproduced in the character which
sensualism, as heretofore, would hide or besmear. Sin
of any sort tends to hide from an individual this grand

Page 338

1 verity in Science, that the appearing of good in an in-
dividual involves the disappearing of evil. He who first
3 brings to humanity some great good, must have gained
its height beforehand, to be able to lift others toward
it. I first proved to myself, not by "words," - these
6 afford no proof, - but by demonstration of Christian
Science, that its Principle is divine. All must go and do
likewise.
9 Faith illumined by works; the spiritual understanding
which cannot choose but to labor and love; hope hold-
ing steadfastly to good in the midst of seething evil;
12 charity that suffereth long and is kind, but cancels not
sin until it be destroyed, - these afford the only rule I
have found which demonstrates Christian Science.
15 And remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject
one to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil;
and calm strength will enrage evil. But the very heavens
18 shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your de-
fense when the armies of earth press hard upon you.

"Thou must be true thyself,
21 If thou the truth wouldst teach;
Thy soul must overflow, if thou
Another's soul wouldst reach;
24

It needs the overflow of heart,
To give the lips full speech.

"Think truly, and thy thoughts

27 Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
30

Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed."

Page 339

FIDELITY

If people would confine their talk to subjects that are

3 profitable, that which St. John informs us took place
once in heaven, would happen very frequently on earth,
- silence for the space of half an hour.
6 Experience is victor, never the vanquished; and out
of defeat comes the secret of victory. That to-morrow
starts from to-day and is one day beyond it, robes the
9

future with hope's rainbow hues.

In the battle of life, good is made more industrious
and persistent because of the supposed activity of evil.

12 The elbowing of the crowd plants our feet more firmly.
In the mental collisions of mortals and the strain of in-
tellectual wrestlings, moral tension is tested, and, if it
15 yields not, grows stronger. The past admonishes us:
with finger grim and cold it points to every mortal mistake;
or smiling saith, "Thou hast been faithful over a few
18

things."

Art thou a child, and hast added one furrow to the
brow of care? Art thou a husband, and hast pierced

21 the heart venturing its all of happiness to thy keeping?
Art thou a wife, and hast bowed the o'erburdened head
of thy husband? Hast thou a friend, and forgettest to be
24 grateful? Remember, that for all this thou alone canst
and must atone. Carelessly or remorselessly thou mayest
have sent along the ocean of events a wave that will some
27

time flood thy memory, surge dolefully at the door of con-
science, and pour forth the unavailing tear.

Change and the grave may part us; the wisdom that

30

might have blessed the past may come too late. One

Page 340

1 backward step, one relinquishment of right in an evil
hour, one faithless tarrying, has torn the laurel from many
3

a brow and repose from many a heart. Good is never
the reward of evil, and vice versa.

There is no excellence without labor; and the time to

6 work, is now. Only by persistent, unremitting, straight-
forward toil; by turning neither to the right nor to the
left, seeking no other pursuit or pleasure than that which
9

cometh from God, can you win and wear the crown of the
faithful.

That law-school is not at fault which sends forth a

12 barrister who never brings out a brief. Why? Because
he followed agriculture instead of litigation, forsook
Blackstone for gray stone, dug into soils instead of delv-
15 ing into suits, raised potatoes instead of pleas, and drew
up logs instead of leases. He has not been faithful over
a few things.
18 Is a musician made by his teacher? He makes him-
self a musician by practising what he was taught. The
conscientious are successful. They follow faithfully;
21 through evil or through good report, they work on to the
achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the prom-
ise. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure:
24

toil is triumph; and - thou hast been faithful over a few
things.

The lives of great men and women are miracles of pa-

27 tience and perseverance. Every luminary in the constel-
lation of human greatness, like the stars, comes out in
the darkness to shine with the reflected light of God.
30

Material philosophy, human ethics, scholastic theology,
and physics have not sufficiently enlightened mankind.
Human wrong, sickness, sin, and death still appear in

Page 341

1 mortal belief, and they never bring out the right action
of mind or body. When will the whole human race have
3 one God, - an undivided affection that leaves the unreal
material basis of things, for the spiritual foundation and
superstructure that is real, right, and eternal?
6 First purify thought, then put thought into words,
and words into deeds; and after much slipping and
clambering, you will go up the scale of Science to the
9 second rule, and be made ruler over many things. Fidelity
finds its reward and its strength in exalted purpose. Seek-
ing is not sufficient whereby to arrive at the results of
12

Science: you must strive; and the glory of the strife
comes of honesty and humility.

Do human hopes deceive? is joy a trembler? Then,

15 weary pilgrim, unloose the latchet of thy sandals; for the
place whereon thou standest is sacred. By that, you may
know you are parting with a material sense of life and
18 happiness to win the spiritual sense of good. O learn to
lose with God! and you find Life eternal: you gain all.
To doubt this is implicit treason to divine decree.
21 The parable of "the ten virgins" serves to illustrate
the evil of inaction and delay. This parable is drawn
from the sad history of Vesta, - a little girl of eight
24 years, who takes the most solemn vow of celibacy for thirty
years, and is subject to terrible torture if the lamp she
tends is not replenished with oil day and night, so that the
27

flame never expires. The moral of the parable is pointed,
and the diction purely Oriental.

We learn from this parable that neither the cares of

30

this world nor the so-called pleasures or pains of mate-
rial sense are adequate to plead for the neglect of spiritual
light, that must be tended to keep aglow the flame of

Page 342

1 devotion whereby to enter into the joy of divine Science
demonstrated.
3 The foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps: their
way was material; thus they were in doubt and dark-
ness. They heeded not their sloth, their fading warmth
6 of action; hence the steady decline of spiritual light,
until, the midnight gloom upon them, they must borrow
the better-tended lamps of the faithful. By entering
9 the guest-chamber of Truth, and beholding the bridal
of Life and Love, they would be wedded to a higher
understanding of God. Each moment's fair expect-
12

ancy was to behold the bridegroom, the One "altogether
lovely."

It was midnight: darkness profound brooded over

15 earth's lazy sleepers. With no oil in their lamps, no
spiritual illumination to look upon him whom they had
pierced, they heard the shout, "The bridegroom cometh!"
18 But how could they behold him? Hear that human
cry: "Oh, lend us your oil! our lamps have gone out,
- no light! earth's fables flee, and heaven is afar
21

off."

The door is shut. The wise virgins had no oil to spare,
and they said to the foolish, "Go to them that sell, and

24 buy for yourselves." Seek Truth, and pursue it. It should
cost you something: you are willing to pay for error
and receive nothing in return; but if you pay the price of
27

Truth, you shall receive all.

"The children of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light;" they watch the market,

30

acquaint themselves with the etiquette of the exchange,
and are ready for the next move. How much more should
we be faithful over the few things of Spirit, that are able

Page 343

1 to make us wise unto salvation! Let us watch and pray
that we enter not into the temptation of ease in sin; and
3 let us not forget that others before us have laid upon the
altar all that we have to sacrifice, and have passed to
their reward. Too soon we cannot turn from disease
6 in the body to find disease in the mortal mind, and its cure,
in working for God. Thought must be made better, and
human life more fruitful, for the divine energy to move
9

it onward and upward.

Warmed by the sunshine of Truth, watered by the
heavenly dews of Love, the fruits of Christian Science

12 spring upward, and away from the sordid soil of self and
matter. Are we clearing the gardens of thought by up-
rooting the noxious weeds of passion, malice, envy, and
15 strife? Are we picking away the cold, hard pebbles of
selfishness, uncovering the secrets of sin and burnishing
anew the hidden gems of Love, that their pure perfection
18

shall appear? Are we feeling the vernal freshness and
sunshine of enlightened faith?

The weeds of mortal mind are not always destroyed

21 by the first uprooting; they reappear, like devastating
witch-grass, to choke the coming clover. O stupid gar-
dener ! watch their reappearing, and tear them away from
24

their native soil, until no seedling be left to propagate -
and rot.

Among the manifold soft chimes that will fill the haunted

27

chambers of memory, this is the sweetest: "Thou hast
been faithful !"

Page 344

TRUE PHILOSOPHY AND COMMUNION

It is related of Justin Martyr that, hearing of a Pythag-

3 orean professor of ethics, he expressed the wish to be-
come one of his disciples. "Very well," the teacher
replied; "but have you studied music, astronomy, and
6 geometry, and do you think it possible for you to under-
stand aught of that which leads to bliss, without hav-
ing mastered the sciences that disengage the soul from
9 objects of sense, so rendering it a fit habitation for
the intelligences?" On Justin's confessing that he had
not studied those branches, he was dismissed by the
12

professor.

Alas for such a material science of life! Of what
avail would geometry be to a poor sinner struggling with

15

temptation, or to a man with the smallpox?

Ancient and modern philosophies are spoiled by lack
of Science. They would place Soul wholly inside of body,

18 intelligence in matter; and from error of premise would
seek a correct conclusion. Such philosophy can never
demonstrate the Science of Life, - the Science which
21 Paul understood when he spoke of willingness "to be
absent from the body, and present with the Lord." Such
philosophy is far from the rules of the mighty Nazarene
24 Prophet. His words, living in our hearts, were these:
"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as
a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." Not through
27

astronomy did he point out the way to heaven and the
reign of harmony.

We need the spirit of St. Paul, when he stood on Mars'

30

hill at Athens, bringing Christianity for the first time

Page 345

1 into Europe. The Spirit bestows spiritual gifts, God's
presence and providence. St. Paul stood where Socrates
3 had stood four hundred years before, defending himself
against the charge of atheism; in the place where De-
mosthenes had pleaded for freedom in immortal strains
6

of eloquence.

We need the spirit of the pious Polycarp, who, when
the proconsul said to him, "I will set the beasts upon

9 you, unless you yield your religion," replied: "Let them
come; I cannot change from good to bad." Then they
bound him to the stake, set fire to the fagots, and his
12

pure and strong faith rose higher through the baptism
of flame.

Methinks the infidel was blind who said, "Christianity

15 is fit only for women and weak men;" but even infidels
may disagree. Bonaparte declared, "Ever since the
reign of Christianity began the loftiest intellects have had
18 a practical faith in God." Daniel Webster said, "My
heart has always assured and reassured me that Chris-
tianity must be a divine reality."
21 To turn the popular indignation against an advanced
form of religion, the pagan slanderers affirmed that
Christians took their infants to a place of worship in
24 order to offer them in sacrifice, - a baptism not of
water but of blood, thus distorting or misapprehending
the purpose of Christian sacraments. Christians met
27 in midnight feasts in the early days, and talked of the
crucified Saviour; thence arose the rumor that it was
a part of Christian worship to kill and eat a human
30

being.

Really, Christianity turned men away from the thought
of fleshly sacrifice, and directed them to spiritual attain-

Page 346

1 ments. Life, not death, was and is the very centre of
its faith. Christian Science carries this thought even
3

higher, and insists on the demonstration of moral and
spiritual healing as eminent proof that God is understood
and illustrated.

ORIGIN OF EVIL

The origin of evil is the problem of ages. It confronts
each generation anew. It confronts Christian Science.

9

The question is often asked, If God created only the
good, whence comes the evil?

To this question Christian Science replies: Evil never

12 did exist as an entity. It is but a belief that there is an
opposite intelligence to God. This belief is a species of
idolatry, and is not more true or real than that an image
15

graven on wood or stone is God.

The mortal admission of the reality of evil perpetuates
faith in evil; and the Scriptures declare that "to whom

18 ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are." This leading, self-evident proposition of Christian
Science, that, good being real, its opposite is necessarily
21

unreal, needs to be grasped in all its divine requirements.

TRUTH VERSUS ERROR

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures

24

of silver." It is a rule in Christian Science never to re-
peat error unless it becomes requisite to bring out Truth.
Then lift the curtain, let in the light, and countermand

Page 347

1 this first command of Solomon, "Answer not a fool accord-
ing to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him."
3 A distant rumbling and quivering of the earth foretell
the internal action of pent-up gas. To avoid danger from
this source people have to escape from their houses to the
6 open space. A conical cloud, hanging like a horoscope
in the air, foreshadows a cyclone. To escape from this
calamity people prepare shelter in caves of the earth.
9 They who discern the face of the skies cannot always
discern the mental signs of these times, and peer through
the opaque error. Where my vision begins and is clear,
12

theirs grows indistinct and ends.

There are diversities of operation by the same spirit.
Two individuals, with all the goodness of generous na-

15 tures, advise me. One says, Go this way; the other
says, Take the opposite direction! Between the two I
stand still; or, accepting the premonition of one of them,
18 I follow his counsel, take a few steps, then halt. A true
sense not unfamiliar has been awakened. I see the way
now. The guardians of His presence go before me. I
21 enter the path. It may be smooth, or it may be rugged;
but it is always straight and narrow; and if it be up-
hill all the way, the ascent is easy and the summit can
24

be gained.

God is responsible for the mission of those whom He
has anointed. Those who know no will but His take

27

His hand, and from the night He leads to light. None
can say unto Him, What doest Thou?

The Christian Science Journal was the oldest and

30

only authenticated organ of Christian Science up to
1898. Loyal Scientists are targets for envy, rivalry,
slander; and whoever hits this mark is well paid by the

Page 348

1 umpire. But the Scientists aim highest. They press for-
ward towards the mark of a high calling. They recog-
3 nize the claims of the law and the gospel. They know
that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. They
infringe neither the books nor the business of others; and
6

with hearts overflowing with love for God, they help on the
brotherhood of men. It is not mine but Thine they seek.

When God bids one uncover iniquity, in order to

9 exterminate it, one should lay it bare; and divine Love
will bless this endeavor and those whom it reaches.
"Nothing is hid that shall not be revealed."
12 It is only a question of time when God shall reveal His
rod, and show the plan of battle. Error, left to itself,
accumulates. Hence, Solomon's transverse command:
15

"Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in
his own conceit."

To quench the growing flames of falsehood, once in

18 about seven years I have to repeat this, - that I use no
drugs whatever, not even coffea (coffee), thea (tea), cap-
sicum (red pepper); though every day, and especially at
21

dinner, I indulge in homoeopathic doses of Natrum muri-
aticum
(common salt).

When I found myself under this new régime of medi-

24 cine, the medicine of Mind, I wanted to satisfy my curi-
osity as to the effect of drugs on one who had lost all
faith in them. Hence I tried several doses of medicine,
27

and so proved to myself that drugs have no beneficial
effect on an individual in a proper state of mind.

I have by no means encouraged students of the Massa-

30

chusetts Metaphysical College to enter medical schools,
and afterwards denied this and objected to their entering
those schools. A student who consulted me on this sub-

Page 349

1 ject, received my consent and even the offer of pecuniary
assistance to take lessons outside of my College, provided
3 he received these lessons of a certain regular-school physi-
cian, whose instructions included about twelve lessons,
three weeks' time, and the surgical part of midwifery. I
6 have students with the degree of M. D., who are skilful
obstetricians. Such a course with such a teacher would
not necessitate essential materialization of a student's
9

thought, nor detract from the metaphysical mode of
obstetrics taught in my College.

This student had taken the above-named course in

12 obstetrics when he consulted me on the feasibility of enter-
ing a medical school; and to this I objected on the ground
that it was inconsistent with Christian Science, which he
15 claimed to be practising; but I was willing, and said
so, that, notwithstanding my objection, he should do as
he deemed best, for I claim no jurisdiction over any stu-
18 dents. He entered the medical school, and several other
students with him. My counsel to all of them was in
substance the same as the foregoing, and some of these
21

students have openly acknowledged this.

In answer to a question on the following subject, I
will state that I preached four years, and built up the

24 church, before I would accept the slightest remuneration.
When the church had sufficient members and means to
pay a salary, and refused to give me up or to receive my
27 gratuitous services, I accepted, for a time, fifteen dollars
each Sunday when I preached. I never received more
than this; and the contributions, when I preached,
30

doubled that amount. I have accepted no pay from my
church for about three years, and believe that I have
put into the church-fund about two thousand dollars of

Page 350

1 my own contributions. I hold receipts for $1,489.50 paid
in, and the balance was never receipted for.
3 I temporarily organized a secret society known as the
P. M., the workings whereof were not "terrible and too
shocking to relate." By and with advice of the very
6 student who brings up the question of this society, it
was formed. The P. M. (Private Meeting) Society met
only twice. The first subject given out for considera-
9 tion was this: "There is no Animal Magnetism." There
was no advice given, no mental work, and there were
no transactions at those meetings which I would hesi-
12 tate to have known. On the contrary, our deliberations
were, as usual, Christian, and like my public instruction.
The second P. M. convened in about one week from the
15 first. The subject given out at that meeting was, in sub-
stance, "God is All; there is none beside Him." This
proved to be our last meeting. I dissolved the society,
18 and we have not met since. If harm could come from
the consideration of these two topics, it was because of
the misconception of those subjects in the mind that
21 handled them. An individual state of mind sometimes
occasions effects on patients which are not in harmony
with Science and the soundness of the argument used.
24

Hence it prevents the normal action, and the benefit that
would otherwise accrue.

I issue no arguments, and cause none to be used in

27 mental practice, which consign people to suffering. On
the contrary, I cannot serve two masters; therefore I
teach the use of such arguments only as promote health
30

and spiritual growth. My life, consecrated to humanity
through nameless suffering and sacrifice, furnishes its
own proof of my practice.

Page 351

1 I have sometimes called on students to test their ability
and meet the mental malpractice, so as to lift the burdens
3

imposed by students.

The fact is, that for want of time, and for the purpose
of blessing even my enemies, I neglect myself. I never

6 have practised by arguments which, perverted, are the
weapons of the silent mental malpractice. I have no skill
in occultism; and I could not if I would, and would not
9

if I could, harm any one through the mental method of
Mind-healing, or in any manner.

The late much-ado-about-nothing arose solely from

12 mental malicious practice, and the audible falsehood
designed to stir up strife between brethren, for the purpose
of placing Christian Science in the hands of aspirants
15 for place and power. These repeated attempts of mad
ambition may retard our Cause, but they never can place
it in the wrong hands and hold it there, nor benefit
18

mankind by such endeavors.

FALLIBILITY OF HUMAN CONCEPTS

Evil counterfeits good: it says, "I am Truth," though

21 it is a lie; it says, "I am Love," - but Love is spirit-
ual, and sensuous love is material, wherefore it is hate
instead of Love; for the five senses give to mortals pain,
24 sickness, sin, and death, - pleasure that is false, life that
leads unto death, joy that becomes sorrow. Love that is
not the procurator of happiness, declares itself the anti-
27 pode of Love; and Love divine punishes the joys of this
false sense of love, chastens its affection, purifies it, and
turns it into the opposite channels.
30

Material life is the antipode of spiritual life; it mocks

Page 352

1 the bliss of spiritual being; it is bereft of permanence and
peace.
3 When human sense is quickened to behold aright the
error, - the error of regarding Life, Truth, Love as
material and not spiritual, or as both material and spir-
6 itual, - it is able for the first time to discern the Science
of good. But it must first see the error of its present
erroneous course, to be able to behold the facts of Truth
9 outside of the error; and, vice versa, when it discovers
the truth, this uncovers the error and quickens the true
consciousness of God, good. May the human shadows of
12

thought lengthen as they approach the light, until they
are lost in light and no night is there!

In Science, sickness is healed upon the same Principle

15 and by the same rule that sin is healed. To know the
supposed bodily belief of the patient and what has claimed
to produce it, enables the practitioner to act more under-
18 standingly in destroying this belief. Thus it is in heal-
ing the moral sickness; the malicious mental operation
must be understood in order to enable one to destroy
21 it and its effects. There is not sufficient spiritual power
in the human thought to heal the sick or the sinful.
Through the divine energies alone one must either get
24 out of himself and into God so far that his consciousness
is the reflection of the divine, or he must, through argu-
ment and the human consciousness of both evil and good,
27

overcome evil.

The only difference between the healing of sin and the
healing of sickness is, that sin must be uncovered before

30

it can be destroyed, and the moral sense be aroused to
reject the sense of error; while sickness must be cov-
ered with the veil of harmony, and the consciousness be

Page 353

1 allowed to rejoice in the sense that it has nothing to mourn
over, but something to forget.
3 Human concepts run in extremes; they are like the
action of sickness, which is either an excess of action or
not action enough; they are fallible; they are neither
6

standards nor models.

If one asks me, Is my concept of you right? I reply, The
human concept is always imperfect; relinquish your human

9 concept of me, or of any one, and find the divine, and you
have gained the right one - and never until then. People
give me too much attention of the misguided, fallible sort,
12

and this misrepresents one through malice or ignorance.

My brother was a manufacturer; and one day a work-
man in his mills, a practical joker, set a man who applied

15 for work, in the overseer's absence, to pour a bucket of
water every ten minutes on the regulator. When my
brother returned and saw it, he said to the jester, "You
18 must pay that man." Some people try to tend folks, as
if they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes
us pay for tending the action that He adjusts.
21 The regulator is governed by the principle that makes
the machinery work rightly; and because it is thus gov-
erned, the folly of tending it is no mere jest. The divine
24

Principle carries on His harmony.

Now turn from the metaphor of the mill to the Mother's
four thousand children, most of whom, at about three

27 years of scientific age, setup housekeeping alone. Certain
students, being too much interested in themselves to think
of helping others, go their way. They do not love Mother,
30

but pretend to; they constantly go to her for help, interrupt
the home-harmony, criticise and disobey her; then "return
to their vomit," - world worship, pleasure seeking, and

Page 354

1 sense indulgence, - meantime declaring they "never dis-
obey Mother"! It exceeds my conception of human
3 nature. Sin in its very nature is marvellous ! Who but a
moral idiot, sanguine of success in sin, can steal, and lie
and lie, and lead the innocent to doom? History needs it,
6

and it has the grandeur of the loyal, self-forgetful, faith-
ful Christian Scientists to overbalance this foul stuff.

When the Mother's love can no longer promote peace

9 in the family, wisdom is not "justified of her children."
When depraved reason is preferred to revelation, error
to Truth, and evil to good, and sense seems sounder than
12 Soul, the children are tending the regulator; they are
indeed losing the knowledge of the divine Principle and
rules of Christian Science, whose fruits prove the nature
15 of their source. A little more grace, a motive made pure,
a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character
subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action
18

of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the move-
ment of body and soul in accord with God.

Instead of relying on the Principle of all that really

21 exists, - to govern His own creation, - self-conceit, igno-
rance, and pride would regulate God's action. Expe-
rience shows that humility is the first step in Christian
24

Science, wherein all is controlled, not by man or laws
material, but by wisdom, Truth, and Love.

Go gaze on the eagle, his eye on the sun,

27 Fast gathering strength for a flight well begun,
As rising he rests in a liberty higher
Than genius inflated with worldly desire.
30 No tear dims his eye, nor his pinions lose power
To gaze on the lark in her emerald bower -
Whenever he soareth to fashion his nest,
33

No vision more bright than the dream in his breast.

Page 355

THE WAY

The present stage of progress in Christian Science pre-

3 sents two opposite aspects, - a full-orbed promise, and
a gaunt want. The need, however, is not of the letter,
but the spirit.
6 Less teaching and good healing is to-day the acme of
"well done;" a healing that is not guesswork, - chronic
recovery ebbing and flowing, - but instantaneous cure.
9 This absolute demonstration of Science must be revived.
To consummate this desideratum, mortal mind must pass
through three stages of growth.
12 First, self-knowledge. The physician must know him-
self and understand the mental state of his patient. Error
found out is two-thirds destroyed, and the last third
15 pierces itself, for the remainder only stimulates and gives
scope to higher demonstration. To strike out right and
left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift
18 your head above it, is a sovereign panacea. Mental dark-
ness is senseless error, neither intelligence nor power, and
its victim is responsible for its supposititious presence.
21 "Cast the beam out of thine own eye." Learn what in
thine own mentality is unlike "the anointed," and cast
it out; then thou wilt discern the error in thy patient's
24

mind that makes his body sick, and remove it, and rest
like the dove from the deluge.

"Physician, heal thyself." Let no clouds of sin gather

27 and fall in mist and showers from thine own mental
atmosphere. Hold thy gaze to the light, and the iris of
faith, more beautiful than the rainbow seen from my
30

window at the close of a balmy autumnal day, will span
thy heavens of thought.

Page 356

1 A radiant sunset, beautiful as blessings when they take
their flight, dilates and kindles into rest. Thus will a
3

life corrected illumine its own atmosphere with spiritual
glow and understanding.

The pent-up elements of mortal mind need no terrible

6 detonation to free them. Envy, rivalry, hate need no
temporary indulgence that they be destroyed through
suffering; they should be stifled from lack of air and
9

freedom.

My students, with cultured intellects, chastened affec-
tions, and costly hopes, give promise of grand careers.

12 But they must remember that the seedtime is passed,
the harvest hour has come; and songs should ascend
from the mount of revelation, sweeter than the sound of
15

vintage bells.

The seed of Christian Science, which when sown was
"the least of all seeds," has sprung up, borne fruit, and

18 the birds of the air, the uplifted desires of the human
heart, have lodged in its branches. Now let my faithful
students carry the fruit of this tree into the rock-ribbed
21

nests of the raven's callow brood.

The second stage of mental development is humility.
This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius of

24 Christian Science. One can never go up, until one has
gone down in his own esteem. Humility is lens and
prism to the understanding of Mind-healing; it must be
27 had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to
personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine
Principle and rule of practice.
30

Cherish humility, "watch," and "pray without ceas-
ing," or you will miss the way of Truth and Love. Hu-
mility is no busybody: it has no moments for trafficking

Page 357

1 in other people's business, no place for envy, no time for
idle words, vain amusements, and all the et cetera of the
3

ways and means of personal sense.

Let Christian Scientists minister to the sick; the school-
room is the dernier ressort. Let them seek the lost sheep

6 who, having strayed from the true fold, have lost their
great Shepherd and yearn to find living pastures and
rest beside still waters. These long for the Christlike-
9 ness that is above the present status of religion and be-
yond the walks of common life, quite on the verge of
heaven. Without the cross and healing, Christianity has
12

no central emblem, no history.

The seeds of Truth fall by the wayside, on artless
listeners. They fall on stony ground and shallow soil.

15 The fowls of the air pick them up. Much of what has
been sown has withered away, but what remaineth has
fallen into the good and honest hearts and is bearing
18

fruit.

The third stage of mental growth is manifested in love,
the greatest of all stages and states of being; love that

21 is irrespective of self, rank, or following. For some time
it has been clear to my thought that those students of
Christian Science whose Christian characters and lives
24 recommend them, should receive full fellowship from us,
no matter who has taught them. If they have been taught
wrongly, they are not morally responsible for this, and
27 need special help. They are as lambs that have sought
the true fold and the great Shepherd, and strayed inno-
cently; hence we should be ready and glad to help them
30

and point the way.

Divine Love is the substance of Christian Science, the
basis of its demonstration, yea, its foundation and super-

Page 358

1 structure. Love impels good works. Love is greatly
needed, and must be had to mark the way in divine
3

Science.

The student who heals by teaching and teaches by
healing, will graduate under divine honors, which are

6 the only appropriate seals for Christian Science. State
honors perish, and their gain is loss to the Christian
Scientist. They include for him at present naught but
9 tardy justice, hounded footsteps, false laurels. God
alone is his help, his shield and great reward. He that
seeketh aught besides God, loseth in Life, Truth, and
12 Love. All men shall be satisfied when they "awake in
His likeness," and they never should be until then. Hu-
man pride is human weakness. Self-knowledge, humility,
15 and love are divine strength. Christ's vestures are put
on only when mortals are "washed in the blood of the
Lamb;" we must walk in the way which Jesus marked
18

out, if we would reach the heaven-crowned summit of
Christian Science.

Be it understood that I do not require Christian Sci-

21

entists to stop teaching, to dissolve their organizations,
or to desist from organizing churches and associations.

The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, the first

24 and only College for teaching Christian Science Mind-
healing, after accomplishing the greatest work of the
ages, and at the pinnacle of prosperity, is closed. Let
27 Scientists who have grown to self-sacrifice do their
present work, awaiting, with staff in hand, God's
commands.
30

When students have fulfilled all the good ends of
organization, and are convinced that by leaving the
material forms thereof a higher spiritual unity is won,

Page 359

1 then is the time to follow the example of the Alma Mater.
Material organization is requisite in the beginning; but
3 when it has done its work, the purely Christly method
of teaching and preaching must be adopted. On the same
principle, you continue the mental argument in the prac-
6

tice of Christian healing until you can cure without it
instantaneously, and through Spirit alone.

St. Paul says: "When I was a child, I spake as a

9 child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but
when I became a man, I put away childish things. For
now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
12 face." Growth is restricted by forcing humanity out of
the proper channels for development, or by holding it in
fetters.
15 For Jesus to walk the water was scientific, insomuch
as he was able to do this; but it is neither wisdom nor
Science for poor humanity to step upon the Atlantic until
18

we can walk on the water.

Peter's impetuosity was rebuked. He had to learn
from experience; so have we. The methods of our

21 Master were in advance of the period in which he per-
sonally appeared; but his example was right, and is
available at the right time. The way is absolute divine
24

Science: walk ye in it; but remember that Science is
demonstrated by degrees, and our demonstration rises
only as we rise in the scale of being.

SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Men give counsel; but they give not the wisdom to
profit by it. To ask wisdom of God, is the beginning of

30

wisdom.

Page 360

1 Meekness, moderating human desire, inspires wisdom
and procures divine power. Human lives are yet un-
3 carved, - in the rough marble, encumbered with crude,
rude fragments, and awaiting the hammering, chiselling,
and transfiguration from His hand.
6 Great only as good, because fashioned divinely, were
those unpretentious yet colossal characters, Paul and
Jesus. Theirs were modes of mind cast in the moulds
9 of Christian Science: Paul's, by the supremely natural
transforming power of Truth; and the character of
Jesus, by his original scientific sonship with God. Phi-
12 losophy never has produced, nor can it reproduce, these
stars of the first magnitude - fixed stars in the heavens
of Soul. When shall earth be crowned with the true
15

knowledge of Christ?

When Christian Science has melted away the cloud of
false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace, fall-

18 sing upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall
lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and "Israel after
the flesh," who partaketh of its own altars, shall be
21 no more, - then, "the Israel according to Spirit"
shall fill earth with the divine energies, understanding,
and ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and con-
24

sciousness.

When mortal mind is silenced by the "still, small voice"
of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic; and

27 Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore saying
to sensitive ears and dark disciples, "I came from the
Father," "Before Abraham was, I am," coexistent and
30

coeternal with God, - and this idea is understood, -
then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of
Christ. No advancing modes of human mind made

Page 361

1 Jesus; rather was it their subjugation, and the pure
heart that sees God.
3 When the belief in material origin, mortal mind, sen-
sual conception, dissolves through self-imposed suffering,
and its substances are found substanceless, - then its
6 miscalled life ends in death, and death itself is swallowed
up in Life, - spiritual Life, whose myriad forms are
neither material nor mortal.
9 When every form and mode of evil disappear to hu-
man thought, and mollusk and radiate are spiritual con-
cepts testifying to one creator, - then, earth is full of
12 His glory, and Christian Science has overshadowed all
human philosophy, and being is understood in startling
contradiction of human hypotheses; and Socrates, Plato,
15

Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Tyndall, Darwin, and Spencer
sit at the feet of Jesus.

To this great end, Paul admonished, "Let us lay aside

18 every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
21 faith." So shall mortals soar to final freedom, and rest
from the subtlety of speculative wisdom and human
woe.
24 God is the only Mind, and His manifestation is the
spiritual universe, including man and all eternal indi-
viduality. God, the only substance and divine Principle
27 of creation, is by no means a creative partner in the firm
of error, named matter, or mortal mind. He elucidates
His own idea, wherein Principle and idea, God and man,
30

are not one, but are inseparable as cause and effect. If
one, who could say which that "one" was?

His ways are not as our ways. The divine modes

Page 362

1 and manifestations are not those of the material senses;
for instance, intelligent matter, or mortal mind, material
3 birth, growth, and decay: they are the forever-existing
realities of divine Science; wherein God and man are
perfect, and man's reason is at rest in God's wisdom, -
6

who comprehends and reflects all real mode, form, indi-
viduality, identity.

Scholastic dogma has made men blind. Christ's logos

9 gives sight to these blind, ears to these deaf, feet to these
lame, - physically, morally, spiritually. Theologians
make the mortal mistake of believing that God, having
12 made all, made evil; but the Scriptures declare that all
that He made was good. Then, was evil part and parcel
of His creation?
15 Philosophy hypothetically regards creation as its own
creator, puts cause into effect, and out of nothing would
create something, whose noumenon is mortal mind,
18 with its phenomenon matter, - an evil mind already
doomed, whose modes are material manifestations of
evil, and that continually, until self-extinguished by
21

suffering!

Here revelation must come to the rescue of mortals,
to remove this mental millstone that is dragging them

24 downward, and refute erring reason with the spiritual
cosmos and Science of Soul. We all must find shelter
from the storm and tempest in the tabernacle of Spirit.
27 Truth is won through Science or suffering: O vain mor-
tals! which shall it be? And suffering has no reward,
except when it is necessary to prevent sin or reform
30

the sinner. And pleasure is no crime except when it
strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens
the activities of virtue. The more nearly an erring so-

Page 363

1 called mind approaches purity, the more conscious it
becomes of its own unreality, and of the great reality of
3

divine Mind and true happiness.

The "ego" that claims selfhood in error, and passes
from molecule and monkey up to man, is no ego, but is

6 simply the supposition that the absence of good is mind
and makes men, - when its greatest flatterer, identifica-
tion, is piqued by Him who compensateth vanity with
9

nothingness, dust with dust!

The mythology of evil and mortality is but the ma-
terial mode of a suppositional mind; while the immortal

12 modes of Mind are spiritual, and pass through none of
the changes of matter, or evil. Truth said, and said from
the beginning, "Let us [Spirit] make man perfect;" and
15 there is no other Maker: a perfect man would not desire
to make himself imperfect, and God is not chargeable
with imperfection. His modes declare the beauty of holi-
18 ness, and His manifold wisdom shines through the visible
world in glimpses of the eternal verities. Even through
the mists of mortality is seen the brightness of His
21

coming.

We must avoid the shoals of a sensual religion or
philosophy that misguides reason and affection, and

24 hold fast to the Principle of Christian Science as the
Word that is God, Spirit, and Truth. This Word cor-
rects the philosopher, confutes the astronomer, exposes
27 the subtle sophist, and drives diviners mad. The Bible
is the learned man's masterpiece, the ignorant man's
dictionary, the wise man's directory.
30

I foresee and foresay that every advancing epoch of
Truth will be characterized by a more spiritual appre-
hension of the Scriptures, that will show their marked

Page 364

1 consonance with the textbook of Christian Science Mind-
healing, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
3 Interpreting the Word in the "new tongue," whereby
the sick are healed, naturally evokes new paraphrase
from the world of letters. "Wait patiently on the Lord,
6 and He will renew your strength." In return for indi-
vidual sacrifice, what a recompense to have healed, through
Truth, the sick and sinful, made the public your friend,
9

and posterity your familiar!

Christian Science refutes everything that is not a
postulate of the divine Principle, God. It is the soul of

12 divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It
is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God's
right hand grasping the universe, - all time, space,
15 immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; con-
stituting and governing all identity, individuality, law,
and power. It stands on this Scriptural platform:
18 that He made all that was made, and it is good, reflects
the divine Mind, is governed by it; and that nothing
apart from this Mind, one God, is self-created or evolves
21

the universe.

Human hypotheses predicate matter of Spirit and
evil of good; hence these opposites must either cooperate

24 or quarrel throughout time and eternity, - or until
this impossible partnership is dissolved. If Spirit is the
lawgiver to matter, and good has the same power or
27 modes as evil, it has the same consciousness, and there
is no absolute good. This error, carried to its ultimate,
would either extinguish God and His modes, or give
30

reality and power to evil ad infinitum.

Christian Science rends this veil of the temple of gods,
and reproduces the divine philosophy of Jesus and Paul.

Page 365

1 This philosophy alone will bear the strain of time and
bring out the glories of eternity; for "other founda-
3

tion can no man lay than that is laid," which is Christ,
Truth.

Human theories weighed in the balances of God are

6 found wanting; and their highest endeavors are to Science
what a child's love of pictures is to art. The school whose
schoolmaster is not Christ, gets things wrong, and is igno-
9

rant thereof.

If Christian Science lacked the proof of its goodness
and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone on

12 demonstration. Its genius is right thinking and right
acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of
its success lies in supplying the universal need of better
15

health and better men.

Good health and a more spiritual religion form the
common want, and this want has worked out a moral

18 result; namely, that mortal mind is calling for what im-
mortal Mind alone can supply. If the uniform moral
and spiritual, as well as physical, effects of divine Science
21 were lacking, the demand would diminish; but it con-
tinues, and increases, which shows the real value of
Christian Science to the race. Even doctors agree that
24

infidelity, bigotry, or sham has never met the growing
wants of humanity.

As a literature, Christian metaphysics is hampered by

27 lack of proper terms in which to express what it means.
As a Science, it is held back by the common ignorance
of what it is and of what it does, - and more than all
30

else, by the impostors that come in its name. To be
appreciated, it must be conscientiously understood and
introduced.

Page 366

1 If the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures" had in our schools the time or attention that
3 human hypotheses consume, they would advance the
world. True, it requires more study to understand and
demonstrate what they teach than to learn the doctrine
6 of theology, philosophy, or physics, because they con-
tain and offer Science, with fixed Principle, given rule,
and unmistakable proof.
9 The Scriptures give the keynote of Christian Science
from Genesis to Revelation, and this is the prolonged
tone: "For the Lord He is God, and there is
12 none beside Him." And because He is All-in-all,
He is in nothing unlike Himself; and nothing that
worketh or maketh a lie is in Him, or can be divine con-
15

sciousness.

At this date, poor jaded humanity needs to get her
eyes open to a new style of imposition in the field of

18 medicine and of religion, and to "beware of the leaven
of the scribes and Pharisees," the doctrines of men, even
as Jesus admonished. From first to last, evil insists on
21 the unity of good and evil as the purpose of God; and
on drugs, electricity, and animal magnetism as modes
of medicine. To a greater or less extent, all mortal con-
24 clusions start from this false premise, and they neces-
sarily culminate in sickness, sin, disease, and death.
Erroneous doctrines never have abated and never will
27 abate dishonesty, self-will, envy, and lust. To destroy
sin and its sequence, is the office of Christ, Truth, - ac-
cording to His mode of Christian Science; and this is
30

being done daily.

The false theories whose names are legion, gilded with
sophistry and what Jesus had not, namely, mere book-

Page 367

1 learning, - letter without law, gospel, or demonstration,
- have no place in Christian Science. This Science re-
3

quires man to be honest, just, pure; to love his neighbor
as himself, and to love God supremely.

Matter and evil are subjective states of error or mortal

6 mind. But Mind is immortal; and the fact of there
being no mortal mind, exposes the lie of suppositional
evil, showing that error is not Mind, substance, or
9 Life. Thus, whatever is wrongfully-minded will dis-
appear in the proportion that Science is understood,
and the reality of being - goodness and harmony - is
12

demonstrated.

Error says that knowing all things implies the neces-
sity of knowing evil, that it dishonors God to claim that

15 He is ignorant of anything; but God says of this fruit
of the tree of knowledge of both good and evil, "In the
day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." If
18 God is infinite good, He knows nothing but good; if He
did know aught else, He would not be infinite. Infinite
Mind knows nothing beyond Himself or Herself. To
21 good, evil is never present; for evil is a different state of
consciousness. It was not against evil, but against know-
ing evil, that God forewarned. He dwelleth in light;
24 and in the light He sees light, and cannot see darkness.
The opposite conclusion, that darkness dwelleth in light,
has neither precedent nor foundation in nature, in logic,
27

or in the character of Christ.

The senses would say that whatever saves from sin,
must know sin. Truth replies that God is too pure

30

to behold iniquity; and by virtue of His ignorance of
that which is not, He knoweth that which is, and
abideth in Himself, the only Life, Truth, and Love,

Page 368

1 - and is reflected by a universe in His own image
and likeness.
3 Even so, Father, let the light that shineth in dark-
ness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, dispel this
illusion of the senses, open the eyes of the blind, and cause
6

the deaf to hear.
"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne.

Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,

9

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own."
LOWELL

"TAKE HEED!"

12 We regret to be obliged to say that all are not meta-
physicians, or Christian Scientists, who call themselves
so. Charlatanism, fraud, and malice are getting into
15 the ranks of the good and pure, sending forth a poison
more deadly than the upas-tree in the eastern archi-
pelago. This evil obtains in the present false teaching
18 and false practice of the Science of treating disease through
Mind. The silent address of a mental malpractitioner
can only be portrayed in these words of the apostle,
21

"whisperers," and "the poison of asps is under their
tongue."

Some of the mere puppets of the hour are playing

24 only for money, and at a fearful stake. Others, from
malice and envy, are working out the destinies of the
damned. But while the best, perverted, on the mortal
27

plane may become the worst, let us not forget that the
Lord reigns, and that this earth shall some time rejoice
in His supreme rule, - that the tired watchmen on the

Page 369

1 walls of Zion, and the true Christian Scientist at the foot
of the mount of revelation, shall look up with shouts and
3

thanksgiving, - that God's law, as in divine Science,
shall be finally understood; and the gospel of glad tidings
bring "on earth peace, good will toward men."

THE CRY OF CHRISTMAS-TIDE

Metaphysics, not physics, enables us to stand erect
on sublime heights, surveying the immeasurable universe

9 of Mind, peering into the cause which governs all effects,
while we are strong in the unity of God and man. There
is "method" in the "madness" of this system, - since
12 madness it seems to many onlookers. This method sits
serene at the portals of the temple of thought, while
the leaders of materialistic schools indulge in mad
15 antics. Metaphysical healing seeks a wisdom that is
higher than a rhubarb tincture or an ipecacuanha pill.
This method is devout enough to trust Christ more than
18

it does drugs.

Meekly we kneel at our Master's feet, for even a crumb
that falleth from his table. We are hungry for Love,

21 for the white-winged charity that heals and saves; we
are tired of theoretic husks, - as tired as was the prodi-
gal son of the carobs which he shared with the swine,
24 to whom he fed that wholesome but unattractive food.
Like him, we would find our Father's house again -
the perfect and eternal Principle of man. We thirst
27

for inspiring wine from the vine which our Father tends.
We crave the privilege of saying to the sick, when their

Page 370

1 feebleness calls for help, "Rise and walk." We rejoice
to say, in the spirit of our Master, "Stretch forth thy
3

hand, and be whole!"

When the Pharisees saw Jesus do such deeds of mercy,
they went away and took counsel how they might remove

6 him. The antagonistic spirit of evil is still abroad; but
the greater spirit of Christ is also abroad, - risen from
the grave-clothes of tradition and the cave of ignorance.
9 Let the sentinels of Zion's watch-towers shout once
again, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given."
12 In different ages the divine idea assumes different
forms, according to humanity's needs. In this age it
assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form
15 of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish.
This is the babe that twines its loving arms about the
neck of omnipotence, and calls forth infinite care from
18

His loving heart.

BLIND LEADERS

What figure is less favorable than a wolf in sheep's

21 clothing? The braying donkey whose ears stick out is
less troublesome. What manner of man is it that has
discovered an improvement on Christian Science, a "met-
24 aphysical healing" by which error destroys error, and
would gather all sorts into a "national convention" by
the sophistry that such is the true fold for Christian heal-
27

ers, since the good shepherd cares for all?

Yes; the good Shepherd does care for all, and His
first care is to separate the sheep from the goats; and

Page 371

1 this is among the first lessons on healing taught by our
great Master.
3 If, as the gentleman aforesaid states, large flocks of
metaphysicians are wandering about without a leader,
what has opened his eyes to see the need of taking them
6 out of the care of the great Shepherd, and behold the
remedy, to help them by his own leadership? Is it that
he can guide Christian Scientists better than they, through
9 the guidance of our common Father, can guide them-
selves? or is it that they are incapable of helping them-
selves thus?
12 I as their teacher can say, They know far more of
Christian Science than he who deprecates their condition
appears to, and my heart pleads for them to possess
15 more and more of Truth and Love; but mixing all grades
of persons is not productive of the better sort, although
he who has self-interest in this mixing is apt to pro-
18

pose it.

Whoever desires to say, "good right, and good wrong,"
has no truth to defend. It is a wise saying that "men

21 are known by their enemies." To sympathize in any
degree with error, is not to rectify it; but error always
strives to unite, in a definition of purpose, with Truth,
24

to give it buoyancy. What is under the mask, but error
in borrowed plumes?

"CHRIST AND CHRISTMAS"

27

An Illustrated Poem

This poem and its illustrations are as hopelessly origi-
nal as is "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-

Page 372

1 tures." When the latter was first issued, critics declared
that it was incorrect, contradictory, unscientific, unchris-
3 tian; but those human opinions had not one feather's
weight in the scales of God. The fact remains, that
the textbook of Christian Science is transforming the
6

universe.

"Christ and Christmas" voices Christian Science
through song and object-lesson. In two weeks from the

9 date of its publication in December, 1893, letters extoll-
ing it were pouring in from artists and poets. A mother
wrote, "Looking at the pictures in your wonderful book
12

has healed my child."

Knowing that this book would produce a stir, I sought
the judgment of sound critics familiar with the works

15 of masters in France and Italy. From them came such
replies as the following: "The illustrations of your poem
are truly a work of art, and the artist seems quite familiar
18 with delineations from the old masters." I am delighted
to find "Christ and Christmas" in accord with the
ancient and most distinguished artists.
21 The Christian Science Journal gives no uncertain dec-
laration concerning the spirit and mission of "Christ and
Christmas."
24 I aimed to reproduce, with reverent touch, the modest
glory of divine Science. Not by aid of foreign device
or environment could I copy art, - never having seen
27 the painter's masterpieces; but the art of Christian
Science, with true hue and character of the living God,
is akin to its Science: and Science and Health gives
30

scopes and shades to the shadows of divinity, thus im-
parting to humanity the true sense of meekness and
might.

Page 373

1 One incident serves to illustrate the simple nature of
art.
3 I insisted upon placing the serpent behind the woman
in the picture "Seeking and Finding." My artist at the
easel objected, as he often did, to my sense of Soul's
6 expression through the brush; but, as usual, he finally
yielded. A few days afterward, the following from Roth-
erham's translation of the New Testament was handed
9 to me, - I had never before seen it: "And the serpent
cast out of his mouth, behind the woman, water as a
river, that he might cause her to be river-borne." Neither
12 material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the
infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide
His children.
15 One great master clearly delineates Christ's appear-
ing in the flesh, and his healing power, as clad not in
soft raiment or gorgeous apparel; and when forced out
18 of its proper channel, as living feebly, in kings' courts.
This master's thought presents a sketch of Christian-
ity's state, in the early part of the Christian era, as
21 homelessness in a wilderness. But in due time Chris-
tianity entered into synagogues, and, as St. Mark
writes, it has rich possession here, with houses and
24 lands. In Genesis we read that God gave man do-
minion over all things; and this assurance is followed
by Jesus' declaration, "All power is given unto me
27 in heaven and in earth," and by his promise that the
Christlike shall finally sit down at the right hand of the
Father.
30

Christian Science is more than a prophet or a proph-
ecy: it presents not words alone, but works, - the daily
demonstration of Truth and Love. Its healing and sav-

Page 374

1 ing power was so great a proof of Immanuel and the
realism of Christianity, that it caused even the publi-
3 cans to justify God. Although clad in panoply of power,
the Pharisees scorned the spirit of Christ in most of its
varied manifestations. To them it was cant and carica-
6 ture, - always the opposite of what it was. Keen and
alert was their indignation at whatever rebuked hypocrisy
and demanded Christianity in life and religion. In view
9

of this, Jesus said, "Wisdom is justified of all her
children."

Above the fogs of sense and storms of passion, Chris-

12 tian Science and its art will rise triumphant; ignorance,
envy, and hatred - earth's harmless thunder - pluck
not their heaven-born wings. Angels, with overtures,
15

hold charge over both, and announce their Principle and
idea.

It is most fitting that Christian Scientists memorize

18 the nativity of Jesus. To him who brought a great light
to all ages, and named his burdens light, homage is in-
deed due, - but is bankrupt. I never looked on my
21

ideal of the face of the Nazarite Prophet; but the one
illustrating my poem approximates it.

Extremists in every age either doggedly deny or fran-

24 tically affirm what is what: one renders not unto Caesar
"the things that are Caesar's;" the other sees "Helen's
beauty in a brow of Egypt."
27 Pictures are portions of one's ideal, but this ideal is
not one's personality. Looking behind the veil, he that
perceives a semblance between the thinker and his thought
30

on canvas, blames him not.

Because my ideal of an angel is a woman without
feathers on her wings, - is it less artistic or less natu-

Page 375

1 ral? Pictures which present disordered phases of ma-
terial conceptions and personality blind with animality,
3

are not my concepts of angels. What is the material ego,
but the counterfeit of the spiritual?

The truest art of Christian Science is to be a Chris-

6

tian Scientist; and it demands more than a Raphael to
delineate this art.

The following is an extract from a letter reverting to

9

the illustrations of "Christ and Christmas": -

"In my last letter, I did not utter all I felt about the
wonderful new book you have given us. Years ago,

12 while in Italy, I studied the old masters and their great
works of art thoroughly, and so got quite an idea of
what constitutes true art. Then I spent two years in
15

Paris, devoting every moment to the study of music and
art.

"The first thing that impressed me in your illustra-

18 tions was the conscientious application to detail, which
is the foundation of true art. From that, I went on to
study each illustration thoroughly, and to my amazement
21 and delight I find an almost identical resemblance, in
many things, to the old masters! In other words, the art
is perfect.
24 "The hands and feet of the figures - how many times
have I seen these-hands and feet in Angelico's 'Jesus,'
or Botticelli's 'Madonna'!
27 "It gave me such a thrill of joy as no words can ex-
press, to see produced to-day that art - the only true
art - that we have identified with the old masters, and
30

mourned as belonging to them exclusively, - a thing of
the past, impossible of reproduction.

"All that I can say to you, as one who gives no mean

Page 376

1 attention to such matters, is that the art is perfect. It
is the true art of the oldest, most revered, most authen-
3 tic Italian school, revived. I use the words most au-
thentic
in the following sense: the face, figure, and
drapery of Jesus, very closely resemble in detail the
6 face, figure, and drapery of that Jesus portrayed by the
oldest of the old masters, and said to have been authen-
tic; the face having been taken by Fra Angelico from
9 Caesar's Cameo, the figure and garments from a descrip-
tion, in The Galaxy, of a small sketch handed down
from the living reality. Their productions are expres-
12 sionless copies of an engraving cut in a stone. Yours
is a palpitating, living Saviour engraven on the heart.
You have given us back our Jesus, and in a much better
15

form."

SUNRISE AT PLEASANT VIEW

Who shall describe the brave splendor of a November

18 sky that this morning burst through the lattice for me,
on my bed? According to terrestrial calculations, above
the horizon, in the east, there rose one rod of rainbow
21 hues, crowned with an acre of eldritch ebony. Little
by little this topmost pall, drooping over a deeply daz-
zling sunlight, softened, grew gray, then gay, and glided
24 into a glory of mottled marvels. Fleecy, faint, fairy
blue and golden flecks came out on a background of
cerulean hue; while the lower lines of light kindled into
27 gold, orange, pink, crimson, violet; and diamond, topaz,
opal, garnet, turquoise, and sapphire spangled the gloom
in celestial space as with the brightness of His glory.
30

Then thought I, What are we, that He who fashions for-

Page 377

1 ever such forms and hues of heaven, should move our
brush or pen to paint frail fairness or to weave a web
3

of words that glow with gladdening gleams of God, so
unapproachable, and yet so near and full of radiant relief
in clouds and darkness!

Page 378

 

CHAPTER X

INKLINGS HISTORIC

1 ABOUT the year 1862, while the author of this work
was at Dr. Vail's Hydropathic Institute in New
3 Hampshire, this occurred: A patient considered incur-
able left that institution, and in a few weeks returned
apparently well, having been healed, as he informed
6

the patients, by one Mr. P. P. Quimby of Portland,
Maine.

After much consultation among ourselves, and a struggle

9 with pride, the author, in company with several other
patients, left the water-cure, en route for the aforesaid
doctor in Portland. He proved to be a magnetic practi-
12

tioner. His treatment seemed at first to relieve her, but
signally failed in healing her case.

Having practised homoeopathy, it never occurred to the

15 author to learn his practice, but she did ask him how
manipulation could benefit the sick. He answered kindly
and squarely, in substance, "Because it conveys electricity
18

to them." That was the sum of what he taught her of
his medical profession.

The readers of my books cannot fail to see that meta-

21

physical therapeutics, as in Christian Science, are farther
removed from such thoughts than the nebulous system
is from the earth.

Page 379

1 After treating his patients, Mr. Quimby would retire
to an anteroom and write at his desk. I had a curiosity
3 to know if he indited anything pathological relative to
his patients, and asked if I could see his pennings on
my case. He immediately presented them. I read the
6 copy in his presence, and returned it to him. The com-
position was commonplace, mostly descriptive of the gen-
eral appearance, height, and complexion of the individual,
9 and the nature of the case: it was not at all metaphysi-
cal or scientific; and from his remarks I inferred that
his writings usually ran in the vein of thought presented
12 by these. He was neither a scholar nor a metaphysician.
I never heard him say that matter was not as real as Mind,
or that electricity was not as potential or remedial, or
15 allude to God as the divine Principle of all healing. He
certainly had advanced views of his own, but they com-
mingled error with truth, and were not Science. On
18

his rare humanity and sympathy one could write a
sonnet.

I had already experimented in medicine beyond the

21 basis of materia medica, - up to the highest attenuation
in homoeopathy, thence to a mental standpoint not un-
derstood, and with phenomenally good results; (1) mean-
24 while, assiduously pondering the solution of this great
question: Is it matter, or is it Mind, that heals the
sick ?
27 It was after Mr. Quimby's death that I discovered,
in 1866, the momentous facts relating to Mind and its
superiority over matter, and named my discovery Chris-
30

tian Science. Yet, there remained the difficulty of ad-
justing in the scale of Science a metaphysical practice,

(1) See Science and Health, p. 47, revised edition of 1890, and

33

pp. 152, 153 in late editions.

Page 380

1 and settling the question, What shall be the outward
sign of such a practice: if a divine Principle alone heals,
3 what is the human modus for demonstrating this, - in
short, how can sinful mortals prove that a divine Principle
heals the sick, as well as governs the universe, time,
6

space, immortality, man?

When contemplating the majesty and magnitude of
this query, it looked as if centuries of spiritual growth

9 were requisite to enable me to elucidate or to dem-
onstrate what I had discovered: but an unlooked-for,
imperative call for help impelled me to begin this stu-
12 pendous work at once, and teach the first student in
Christian Science. Even as when an accident, called
fatal to life, had driven me to discover the Science of
15

Life, I again, in faith, turned to divine help, - and com-
menced teaching.

My students at first practised in slightly differing

18 forms. Although I could heal mentally, without a sign
save the immediate recovery of the sick, my students'
patients, and people generally, called for a sign-a ma-
21 terial evidence wherewith to satisfy the sick that some-
thing was being done for them; and I said, "Suffer it
to be so now," for thus saith our Master. Experience,
24 however, taught me the impossibility of demonstrating
the Science of metaphysical healing by any outward form
of practice.
27 In April, 1883, a bill in equity was filed in the United
States Circuit Court in Boston, to restrain, by decree and
order of the Court, the unlawful publishing and use of an
30

infringing pamphlet printed and issued by a student of
Christian Science.

Answer was filed by the defendant, alleging that the

Page 381

1 copyrighted works of Mrs. Eddy were not original with
her, but had been copied by her, or by her direction,
3

from manuscripts originally composed by Dr. P. P.
Quimby.

Testimony was taken on the part of Mrs. Eddy, the

6 defendant being present personally and by counsel. The
time for taking testimony on the part of the defendant
having nearly expired, he gave notice through his coun-
9 sel that he should not put in testimony. Later, Mrs.
Eddy requested her lawyer to inquire of defendant's
counsel why he did not present evidence to support his
12 claim that Dr. Quimby was the author of her writings !
Accordingly, her counsel asked the defendant's counsel
this question, and he replied, in substance, "There is
16

no evidence to present."

The stipulation for a judgment and a decree in favor
of Mrs. Eddy was drawn up and signed by counsel.

18 It was ordered that the complainant (Mrs. Eddy)
recover of the defendant her cost of suit, taxed at
($113.09) one hundred thirteen and 9/100 dollars.
21 A writ of injunction was issued under the seal of the
said Court, restraining the defendant from directly or
indirectly printing, publishing, selling, giving away,
24 distributing, or in any way or manner disposing of,
the enjoined pamphlet, on penalty of ten thousand
dollars.
27 The infringing books, to the number of thirty-eight
hundred or thereabouts, were put under the edge of
the knife, and their unlawful existence destroyed, in
30

Boston, Massachusetts.

It has been written that "nobody can be both founder
and discoverer of the same thing." If this declaration

Page 382

1 were either a truism or a rule, my experience would
contradict it and prove an exception.
3 No works on the subject of Christian Science existed,
prior to my discovery of this Science. Before the publi-
cation of my first work on this doctrine, a few manu-
6 scripts of mine were in circulation. The discovery and
founding of Christian Science has cost more than thirty
years of unremitting toil and unrest; but, comparing those
9 with the joy of knowing that the sinner and the sick are
helped thereby, that time and eternity bear witness to
this gift of God to the race, I am the debtor.
12 In the latter half of the nineteenth century I discov-
ered the Science of Christianity, and restored the first
patient healed in this age by Christian Science. I taught
15 the first student in Christian Science Mind-healing; was
author and publisher of the first books on this subject;
obtained the first charter for the first Christian Science
18 church, originated its form of government, and was its
first pastor. I donated to this church the land on which
in 1894 was erected the first church edifice of this de-
21 nomination in Boston; obtained the first and only charter
for a metaphysical medical college, - was its first and
only president; was editor and proprietor of the first
24 Christian Science periodical; organized the first Chris-
tian Scientist Association, wrote its constitution and by-
laws, - as also the constitution and by-laws of the
27 National Christian Science Association; and gave it
The Christian Science Journal; inaugurated our denom-
inational form of Sunday services, Sunday School, and
30

the entire system of teaching and practising Christian
Science.

In 1895 I ordained that the Bible, and "Science and

Page 383

1 Health with Key to the Scriptures," the Christian Science
textbook, be the pastor, on this planet, of all the churches
3 of the Christian Science denomination. This ordinance
took effect the same year, and met with the universal ap-
proval and support of Christian Scientists. Whenever
6

and wherever a church of Christian Science is established,
its pastor is the Bible and my book.

In 1896 it goes without saying, preeminent over igno-

9 rance or envy, that Christian Science is founded by its
discoverer
, and built upon the rock of Christ. The ele-
ments of earth beat in vain against the immortal parapets
12 of this Science. Erect and eternal, it will go on with the
ages, go down the dim posterns of time unharmed, and
on every battle-field rise higher in the estimation of
15

thinkers and in the hearts of Christians.

Page 384

 

CHAPTER XI - POEMS

COME THOU

COME, in the minstrel's lay;

3 When two hearts meet,
And true hearts greet,
And all is morn and May.
6 Come Thou! and now, anew,
To thought and deed
Give sober speed,
9

Thy will to know, and do.

Stay! till the storms are o'er -
The cold blasts done,

12

The reign of heaven begun,
And Love, the evermore.

Be patient, waiting heart:

15 Light, Love divine
Is here, and thine;
You therefore cannot part.
18 "The seasons come and go:
Love, like the sea,
Rolls on with thee, -
21

But knows no ebb and flow.

Page 385

1 "Faith, hope, and tears, triune,
Above the sod
3

Find peace in God,
And one eternal noon."

Oh, Thou hast heard my prayer;

6

And I am blest!
This is Thy high behest:
Thou, here and everywhere.

MEETING OF MY DEPARTED MOTHER AND HUSBAND

"Joy for thee, happy friend! thy bark is past
The dangerous sea, and safely moored at last -

12 Beyond rough foam.
Soft gales celestial, in sweet music bore -
Spirit emancipate for this far shore -
15

Thee to thy home.

"You've travelled long, and far from mortal joys,
To Soul's diviner sense, that spurns such toys,

18 Brave wrestler, lone.
Now see thy ever-self; Life never fled;
Man is not mortal, never of the dead:
21

The dark unknown.

"When hope soared high, and joy was eagle-plumed,
Thy pinions drooped; the flesh was weak, and doomed

24 To pass away.
But faith triumphant round thy death-couch shed
Majestic forms; and radiant glory sped
27

The dawning day.

Page 396

1 "Intensely grand and glorious life's sphere, -
Beyond the shadow, infinite appear
3 Life, Love divine, -
Where mortal yearnings come not, sighs are stilled,
And home and peace and hearts are found and filled,
6

Thine, ever thine.

"Bearest thou no tidings from our loved on earth,
The toiler tireless for Truth's new birth

9 All-unbeguiled?
Our joy is gathered from her parting sigh:
This hour looks on her heart with pitying eye, -
12

What of my child?"

"When, severed by death's dream, I woke to Life,
She deemed I died, and could not know the strife

15 At first to fill
That waking with a love that steady turns
To God; a hope that ever upward yearns,
18

Bowed to His will.

"Years had passed o'er thy broken household band,
When angels beckoned me to this bright land,

21 With thee to meet.
She that has wept o'er thee, kissed my cold brow,
Rears the sad marble to our memory now,
24

In lone retreat.

"By the remembrance of her loyal life,
And parting prayer, I only know my wife,

27 Thy child, shall come -
Where farewells cloud not o'er our ransomed rest -
Hither to reap, with all the crowned and blest,
30

Of bliss the sum.

Page 387

1 "When Love's rapt sense the heart-strings gently sweep,
With joy divinely fair, the high and deep,
3 To call her home,
She shall mount upward unto purer skies;
We shall be waiting, in what glad surprise,
6

Our spirits' own!"

LOVE

Brood o'er us with Thy shelt'ring wing,

9 'Neath which our spirits blend
Like brother birds, that soar and sing,
And on the same branch bend.
12

The arrow that doth wound the dove
Darts not from those who watch and love.

If thou the bending reed wouldst break

15 By thought or word unkind,
Pray that his spirit you partake,
Who loved and healed mankind:
18

Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain,
That make men one in love remain.

Learn, too, that wisdom's rod is given

21 For faith to kiss, and know;
That greetings glorious from high heaven,
Whence joys supernal flow,
24

Come from that Love, divinely near,
Which chastens pride and earth-born fear,

Page 388

1 Through God, who gave that word of might
Which swelled creation's lay:
3 "Let there be light, and there was light."
What chased the clouds away?
'T was Love whose finger traced aloud
6

A bow of promise on the cloud.

Thou to whose power our hope we give,
Free us from human strife.

9 Fed by Thy love divine we live,
For Love alone is Life;
And life most sweet, as heart to heart
12

Speaks kindly when we meet and part.

WOMAN'S RIGHTS

Grave on her monumental pile:

15 She won from vice, by virtue's smile,
Her dazzling crown, her sceptred throne,
Affection's wreath, a happy home;
18 The right to worship deep and pure,
To bless the orphan, feed the poor;
Last at the cross to mourn her Lord,
21

First at the tomb to hear his word:

To fold an angel's wings below;
And hover o'er the couch of woe;

24

To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet,
The right to sit at Jesus' feet;

Page 389

1 To form the bud for bursting bloom,
The hoary head with joy to crown;
3

In short, the right to work and pray,
"To point to heaven and lead the way."

THE MOTHER'S EVENING PRAYER

6 O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!
9

Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye
Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall:

12

His habitation high is here, and nigh,
His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear,

15 For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!
Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear
No ill, - since God is good, and loss is gain.
18 Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;
In that sweet secret of the narrow way,
Seeking and finding, with the angels sing:
21

"Lo, I am with you alway," - watch and pray.

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;
No night drops down upon the troubled breast,

24

When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain,
And mother finds her home and heavenly rest.

Page 390

Part Six   Table of Contents

 

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