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Title: Pulpit and Press
Author: Eddy, Mary Baker, 1821-1910
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Pulpit and Press" ***
PULPIT AND PRESS
BY
MARY BAKER EDDY
DISCOVERER AND FOUNDER OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND AUTHOR OF SCIENCE AND
HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES
Registered
U.S. Patent Office
Published by The
Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker G. Eddy
BOSTON, U.S.A.
Authorized Literature of
THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST
in Boston, Massachusetts
_Copyright, 1895_
BY MARY BAKER EDDY
_Copyright renewed, 1923_
* * * * *
_All rights reserved_
* * * * *
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO
THE DEAR TWO THOUSAND AND SIX HUNDRED CHILDREN
WHOSE CONTRIBUTIONS OF $4,460[A] WERE DEVOTED TO THE MOTHER'S ROOM IN THE
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, BOSTON, THIS UNIQUE BOOK IS TENDERLY
DEDICATED BY
MARY BAKER EDDY
PREFACE
This volume contains scintillations from press and pulpit--utterances which
epitomize the story of the birth of Christian Science, in 1866, and its
progress during the ensuing thirty years. Three quarters of a century
hence, when the children of to-day are the elders of the twentieth century,
it will be interesting to have not only a record of the inclination given
their own thoughts in the latter half of the nineteenth century, but also a
registry of the rise of the mercury in the glass of the world's opinion.
It will then be instructive to turn backward the telescope of that advanced
age, with its lenses of more spiritual mentality, indicating the gain of
intellectual momentum, on the early footsteps of Christian Science as
planted in the pathway of this generation; to note the impetus thereby
given to Christianity; to con the facts surrounding the cradle of this
grand verity--that the sick are healed and sinners saved, not by matter,
but by Mind; and to scan further the features of the vast problem of
eternal life, as expressed in the absolute power of Truth and the actual
bliss of man's existence in Science.
MARY BAKER EDDY
February, 1895
CONTENTS
DEDICATORY SERMON
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEXTBOOK
HYMNS
_Laying the Corner-stone_
"_Feed My Sheep_"
_Christ My Refuge_
NOTE
CLIPPINGS FROM NEWSPAPERS
CHICAGO INTER-OCEAN
BOSTON HERALD
BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE
BOSTON TRANSCRIPT
JACKSON PATRIOT
OUTLOOK
AMERICAN ART JOURNAL
BOSTON JOURNAL
REPUBLIC (WASHINGTON, D.C.)
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
KANSAS CITY JOURNAL
MONTREAL HERALD
BALTIMORE AMERICAN
REPORTER (LEBANON, IND.)
NEW YORK COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER
SYRACUSE POST
NEW YORK HERALD
TORONTO GLOBE
CONCORD MONITOR
PEOPLE AND PATRIOT
UNION SIGNAL
NEW CENTURY
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE JOURNAL
CONCORD MONITOR
PULPIT AND PRESS
DEDICATORY SERMON
BY REV. MARY BAKER EDDY
First Pastor of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass.
Delivered January 6, 1895
TEXT: _They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy
house; and Thou shall make them drink of the river of Thy
pleasures._--Psalms xxxvi. 8.
A new year is a nursling, a babe of time, a prophecy and promise clad in
white raiment, kissed--and encumbered with greetings--redolent with grief
and gratitude.
An old year is time's adult, and 1893 was a distinguished character,
notable for good and evil. Time past and time present, both, may pain us,
but time _improved_ is eloquent in God's praise. For due refreshment garner
the memory of 1894; for if wiser by reason of its large lessons, and
records deeply engraven, great is the value thereof.
Pass on, returnless year!
The path behind thee is with glory crowned;
This spot whereon thou troddest was holy ground;
Pass proudly to thy bier!
To-day, being with you in spirit, what need that I should be present _in
propria persona?_ Were I present, methinks I should be much like the Queen
of Sheba, when she saw the house Solomon had erected. In the expressive
language of Holy Writ, "There was no more spirit in her;" and she said,
"Behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the
fame which I heard." Both without and within, the spirit of beauty
dominates The Mother Church, from its mosaic flooring to the soft shimmer
of its starlit dome.
Nevertheless, there is a thought higher and deeper than the edifice.
Material light and shade are temporal, not eternal. Turning the attention
from sublunary views, however enchanting, think for a moment with me of the
house wherewith "they shall be abundantly satisfied,"--even the "house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." With the mind's eye glance at the
direful scenes of the war between China and Japan. Imagine yourselves in a
poorly barricaded fort, fiercely besieged by the enemy. Would you rush
forth single-handed to combat the foe? Nay, would you not rather strengthen
your citadel by every means in your power, and remain within the walls for
its defense? Likewise should we do as metaphysicians and Christian
Scientists. The real house in which "we live, and move, and have our being"
is Spirit, God, the eternal harmony of infinite Soul. The enemy we confront
would overthrow this sublime fortress, and it behooves us to defend our
heritage.
How can we do this Christianly scientific work? By intrenching ourselves in
the knowledge that our true temple is no human fabrication, but the
superstructure of Truth, reared on the foundation of Love, and pinnacled
in Life. Such being its nature, how can our godly temple possibly be
demolished, or even disturbed? Can eternity end? Can Life die? Can Truth be
uncertain? Can Love be less than boundless? Referring to this temple, our
Master said: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
He also said: "The kingdom of God is within you." Know, then, that you
possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can
dispossess you of this heritage and trespass on Love. If you maintain this
position, who or what can cause you to sin or suffer? Our surety is in our
confidence that we are indeed dwellers in Truth and Love, man's eternal
mansion. Such a heavenly assurance ends all warfare, and bids tumult cease,
for the good fight we have waged is over, and divine Love gives us the true
sense of victory. "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of
Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures."
No longer are we of the church militant, but of the church triumphant; and
with Job of old we exclaim, "Yet in my flesh shall I see God." The river of
His pleasures is a tributary of divine Love, whose living waters have their
source in God, and flow into everlasting Life. We drink of this river when
all human desires are quenched, satisfied with what is pleasing to the
divine Mind.
Perchance some one of you may say, "The evidence of spiritual verity in me
is so small that I am afraid. I feel so far from victory over the flesh
that to reach out for a present realization of my hope savors of temerity.
Because of my own unfitness for such a spiritual animus my strength is
naught and my faith fails." O thou "weak and infirm of purpose." Jesus
said, "Be not afraid"!
"What if the little rain should say,
'So small a drop as I
Can ne'er refresh a drooping earth,
I'll tarry in the sky.'"
Is not a man metaphysically and mathematically number one, a unit, and
therefore whole number, governed and protected by his divine Principle,
God? You have simply to preserve a scientific, positive sense of unity with
your divine source, and daily demonstrate this. Then you will find that one
is as important a factor as duodecillions in being and doing right, and
thus demonstrating deific Principle. A dewdrop reflects the sun. Each of
Christ's little ones reflects the infinite One, and therefore is the seer's
declaration true, that "one on God's side is a majority."
A single drop of water may help to hide the stars, or crown the tree with
blossoms.
Who lives in good, lives also in God,--lives in all Life, through all
space. His is an individual kingdom, his diadem a crown of crowns. His
existence is deathless, forever unfolding its eternal Principle. Wait
patiently on illimitable Love, the lord and giver of Life. _Reflect this
Life_, and with it cometh the full power of being. "They shall be
abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house."
In 1893 the World's Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago, used, in all
its public sessions, my form of prayer since 1866; and one of the very
clergymen who had publicly proclaimed me "the prayerless Mrs. Eddy,"
offered his audible adoration in the words I use, besides listening to an
address on Christian Science from my pen, read by Judge S.J. Hanna, in that
unique assembly.
When the light of one friendship after another passes from earth to heaven,
we kindle in place thereof the glow of some deathless reality. Memory,
faithful to goodness, holds in her secret chambers those characters of
holiest sort, bravest to endure, firmest to suffer, soonest to renounce.
Such was the founder of the Concord School of Philosophy--the late A.
Bronson Alcott.
After the publication of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,"
his athletic mind, scholarly and serene, was the first to bedew my hope
with a drop of humanity. When the press and pulpit cannonaded this book, he
introduced himself to its author by saying, "I have come to comfort you."
Then eloquently paraphrasing it, and prophesying its prosperity, his
conversation with a beauty all its own reassured me. _That prophecy is
fulfilled._
This book, in 1895, is in its ninety-first edition of one thousand copies.
It is in the public libraries of the principal cities, colleges, and
universities of America; also the same in Great Britain, France, Germany,
Russia, Italy, Greece, Japan, India, and China; in the Oxford University
and the Victoria Institute, England; in the Academy of Greece, and the
Vatican at Rome.
This book is the leaven fermenting religion; it is palpably working in the
sermons, Sunday Schools, and literature of our and other lands. This
spiritual chemicalization is the upheaval produced when Truth is
neutralizing error and impurities are passing off. And it will continue
till the antithesis of Christianity, engendering the limited forms of a
national or tyrannical religion, yields to the church established by the
Nazarene Prophet and maintained on the spiritual foundation of Christ's
healing.
Good, the Anglo-Saxon term for God, unites Science to Christianity. It
presents to the understanding, not matter, but Mind; not the deified drug,
but the goodness of God--healing and saving mankind.
The author of "Marriage of the Lamb," who made the mistake of thinking she
caught her notions from my book, wrote to me in 1894, "Six months ago your
book, Science and Health, was put into my hands. I had not read three pages
before I realized I had found that for which I had hungered since girlhood,
and was healed instantaneously of an ailment of seven years' standing. I
cast from me the false remedy I had vainly used, and turned to the 'great
Physician.' I went with my husband, a missionary to China, in 1884. He went
out under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. I feel the truth
is leading us to return to Japan."
Another brilliant enunciator, seeker, and servant of Truth, the Rev.
William R. Alger of Boston, signalled me kindly as my lone bark rose and
fell and rode the rough sea. At a _conversazione_ in Boston, he said, "You
may find in Mrs. Eddy's metaphysical teachings more than is dreamt of in
your philosophy."
Also that renowned apostle of anti-slavery, Wendell Phillips, the native
course of whose mind never swerved from the chariot-paths of justice,
speaking of my work, said: "Had I young blood in my veins, I would help
that woman."
I love Boston, and especially the laws of the State whereof this city is
the capital. To-day, as of yore, her laws have befriended progress.
Yet when I recall the past,--how the gospel of healing was simultaneously
praised and persecuted in Boston,--and remember also that God is just, I
wonder whether, were our dear Master in our New England metropolis at this
hour, he would not weep over it, as he wept over Jerusalem! O ye tears! Not
in vain did ye flow. Those sacred drops were but enshrined for future use,
and God has now unsealed their receptacle with His outstretched arm. Those
crystal globes made morals for mankind. They will rise with joy, and with
power to wash away, in floods of forgiveness, every crime, even when
mistakenly committed in the name of religion.
An unjust, unmerciful, and oppressive priesthood must perish, for false
prophets in the present as in the past stumble onward to their doom; while
their tabernacles crumble with dry rot. "God is not mocked," and "the word
of the Lord endureth forever."
I have ordained the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, "Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures," as pastor of The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Boston,--so long as this church is satisfied with
this pastor. This is my first ordination. "They shall be abundantly
satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of
the river of Thy pleasures."
All praise to the press of America's Athens,--and throughout our land the
press has spoken out historically, impartially. Like the winds telling
tales through the leaves of an ancient oak, unfallen, may our church chimes
repeat my thanks to the press.
Notwithstanding the perplexed condition of our nation's finances, the want
and woe with millions of dollars unemployed in our money centres, the
Christian Scientists, within fourteen months, responded to the call for
this church with $191,012. Not a mortgage was given nor a loan solicited,
and the donors all touchingly told their privileged joy at helping to build
The Mother Church. There was no urging, begging, or borrowing; only the
need made known, and forth came the money, or diamonds, which served to
erect this "miracle in stone."
Even the children vied with their parents to meet the demand. Little hands,
never before devoted to menial services, shoveled snow, and babes gave
kisses to earn a few pence toward this consummation. Some of these lambs my
prayers had christened, but Christ will rechristen them with his own new
name. "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected
praise." The resident youthful workers were called "Busy Bees."
Sweet society, precious children, your loving hearts and deft fingers
distilled the nectar and painted the finest flowers in the fabric of this
history,--even its centre-piece,--Mother's Room in The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Boston. The children are destined to witness results
which will eclipse Oriental dreams. They belong to the twentieth century.
By juvenile aid, into the building fund have come $4,460.[B] Ah, children,
you are the bulwarks of freedom, the cement of society, the hope of our
race!
Brothers of the Christian Science Board of Directors, when your tireless
tasks are done--well done--no Delphian lyre could break the full chords of
such a rest. May the altar you have built never be shattered in our hearts,
but justice, mercy, and love kindle perpetually its fires.
It was well that the brother whose appliances warm this house, warmed also
our perishless hope, and nerved its grand fulfilment. Woman, true to her
instinct, came to the rescue as sunshine from the clouds; so, when man
quibbled over an architectural exigency, a woman climbed with feet and
hands to the top of the tower, and helped settle the subject.
After the loss of our late lamented pastor, Rev. D.A. Easton, the church
services were maintained by excellent sermons from the editor of _The
Christian Science Journal_ (who, with his better half, is a very whole
man), together with the Sunday School giving this flock "drink from the
river of His pleasures." O glorious hope and blessed assurance, "it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Christians rejoice in
secret, they have a bounty hidden from the world. Self-forgetfulness,
purity, and love are treasures untold--constant prayers, prophecies, and
anointings. Practice, not profession,--goodness, not doctrines,--spiritual
understanding, not mere belief, gain the ear and right hand of omnipotence,
and call down blessings infinite. "Faith without works is dead." The
foundation of enlightened faith is Christ's teachings and _practice_. It
was our Master's self-immolation, his life-giving love, healing both mind
and body, that raised the deadened conscience, paralyzed by inactive faith,
to a quickened sense of mortal's necessities,--and God's power and purpose
to supply them. It was, in the words of the Psalmist, He "who forgiveth all
thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases."
Rome's fallen fanes and silent Aventine is glory's tomb; her pomp and power
lie low in dust. Our land, more favored, had its Pilgrim Fathers. On shores
of solitude, at Plymouth Rock, they planted a nation's heart,--the rights
of conscience, imperishable glory. No dream of avarice or ambition broke
their exalted purpose, theirs was the wish to reign in hope's reality--the
realm of Love.
Christian Scientists, you have planted your standard on the rock of Christ,
the true, the spiritual idea,--the chief corner-stone in the house of our
God. And our Master said: "The stone which the builders rejected, the same
is become the head of the corner." If you are less appreciated to-day than
your forefathers, wait--for if you are as devout as they, and more
scientific, as progress certainly demands, your plant is immortal. Let us
rejoice that chill vicissitudes have not withheld the timely shelter of
this house, which descended like day-spring from on high.
Divine presence, breathe Thou Thy blessing on every heart in this house.
Speak out, O soul! This is the newborn of Spirit, this is His redeemed;
this, His beloved. May the kingdom of God within you,--with you
alway,--reascending, bear you outward, upward, heavenward. May the sweet
song of silver-throated singers, making melody more real, and the organ's
voice, as the sound of many waters, and the Word spoken in this sacred
temple dedicated to the ever-present God--mingle with the joy of angels and
rehearse your hearts' holy intents. May all whose means, energies, and
prayers helped erect The Mother Church, find within it home, and _heaven_.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEXTBOOK
The following selections from "Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures," pages 568-571, were read from the platform. The impressive
stillness of the audience indicated close attention.
_Revelation_ xii. 10-12. And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and
night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil
is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that
he hath but a short time.
For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of
Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder
song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer
and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and
Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain. Self-abnegation, by
which we lay down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error,
is a rule in Christian Science. This rule clearly interprets God as divine
Principle,--as Life, represented by the Father; as Truth, represented by
the Son; as Love, represented by the Mother. Every mortal at some period,
here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a
power opposed to God.
The Scripture, "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many," is literally fulfilled, when we are conscious of the
supremacy of Truth, by which the nothingness of error is seen; and we know
that the nothingness of error is in proportion to its wickedness. He that
touches the hem of Christ's robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality,
and hate, rejoices in the proof of healing,--in a sweet and certain sense
that God is Love. Alas for those who break faith with divine Science and
fail to strangle the serpent of sin as well as of sickness! They are
dwellers still in the deep darkness of belief. They are in the surging sea
of error, not struggling to lift their heads above the drowning wave.
What must the end be? They must eventually expiate their sin through
suffering. The sin, which one has made his bosom companion, comes back to
him at last with accelerated force, for the devil knoweth his time is
short. Here the Scriptures declare that evil is temporal, not eternal. The
dragon is at last stung to death by his own malice; but how many periods of
torture it may take to remove all sin, must depend upon sin's obduracy.
_Revelation_ xii. 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast
unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man child.
The march of mind and of honest investigation will bring the hour when the
people will chain, with fetters of some sort, the growing occultism of this
period. The present apathy as to the tendency of certain active yet unseen
mental agencies will finally be shocked into another extreme mortal
mood,--into human indignation; for one extreme follows another.
_Revelation_ xii. 15, 16. And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be
carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the
earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the
dragon cast out of his mouth.
Millions of unprejudiced minds--simple seekers for Truth, weary wanderers,
athirst in the desert--are waiting and watching for rest and drink. Give
them a cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences.
What if the old dragon should send forth a new flood to drown the
Christ-idea? He can neither drown your voice with its roar, nor again sink
the world into the deep waters of chaos and old night. In this age the
earth will help the woman; the spiritual idea will be understood. Those
ready for the blessing you impart will give thanks. The waters will be
pacified, and Christ will command the wave.
When God heals the sick or the sinning, they should know the great benefit
which Mind has wrought. They should also know the great delusion of mortal
mind, when it makes them sick or sinful. Many are willing to open the eyes
of the people to the power of good resident in divine Mind, but they are
not so willing to point out the evil in human thought, and expose evil's
hidden mental ways of accomplishing iniquity.
Why this backwardness, since exposure is necessary to ensure the avoidance
of the evil? Because people like you better when you tell them their
virtues than when you tell them their vices. It requires the spirit of our
blessed Master to tell a man his faults, and so risk human displeasure for
the sake of doing right and benefiting our race. Who is telling mankind of
the foe in ambush? Is the informer one who sees the foe? If so, listen and
be wise. Escape from evil, and designate those as unfaithful stewards who
have seen the danger and yet have given no warning.
At all times and under all circumstances, overcome evil with good. Know
thyself, and God will supply the wisdom and the occasion for a victory over
evil. Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The
cement of a higher humanity will unite all interests in the one divinity.
HYMNS
BY REV. MARY BAKER EDDY
[Set to the Church Chimes and Sung on This Occasion]
LAYING THE CORNER-STONE
_Laus Deo_, it is done!
Rolled away from loving heart
Is a stone.
Joyous, risen, we depart
Having one.
_Laus Deo_,--on this rock
(Heaven chiselled squarely good)
Stands His church,--
God is Love, and understood
By His flock.
_Laus Deo_, night starlit
Slumbers not in God's embrace;
Then, O man!
Like this stone, be in thy place;
Stand, not sit.
Cold, silent, stately stone,
Dirge and song and shoutings low,
In thy heart
Dwell serene,--and sorrow? No,
It has none,
_Laus Deo!_
"FEED MY SHEEP"
Shepherd, show me how to go
O'er the hillside steep,
How to gather, how to sow,--
How to feed Thy sheep;
I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps stray;
I will follow and rejoice
All the rugged way.
Thou wilt bind the stubborn will,
Wound the callous breast,
Make self-righteousness be still,
Break earth's stupid rest.
Strangers on a barren shore,
Lab'ring long and lone--
We would enter by the door,
And Thou know'st Thine own.
So, when day grows dark and cold,
Tear or triumph harms,
Lead Thy lambkins to the fold,
Take them in Thine arms;
Feed the hungry, heal the heart,
Till the morning's beam;
White as wool, ere they depart--
Shepherd, wash them clean.
CHRIST MY REFUGE
O'er waiting harpstrings of the mind
There sweeps a strain,
Low, sad, and sweet, whose measures bind
The power of pain.
And wake a white-winged angel throng
Of thoughts, illumed
By faith, and breathed in raptured song,
With love perfumed.
Then his unveiled, sweet mercies show
Life's burdens light.
I kiss the cross, and wake to know
A world more bright.
And o'er earth's troubled, angry sea
I see Christ walk,
And come to me, and tenderly,
Divinely talk.
Thus Truth engrounds me on the rock,
Upon Life's shore;
'Gainst which the winds and waves can shock,
Oh, nevermore!
From tired joy and grief afar,
And nearer Thee,--
Father, where Thine own children are,
I love to be.
My prayer, some daily good to do
To Thine, for Thee;
An offering pure of Love, whereto
God leadeth me.
NOTE
BY REV. MARY BAKER EDDY
The land whereon stands The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston,
was first purchased by the church and society. Owing to a heavy loss, they
were unable to pay the mortgage; therefore I paid it, and through trustees
gave back the land to the church.
In 1892 I had to recover the land from the trustees, reorganize the church,
and reobtain its charter--not, however, through the State Commissioner, who
refused to grant it, but by means of a statute of the State, and through
Directors regive the land to the church. In 1895 I reconstructed my
original system of ministry and church government. Thus committed to the
providence of God, the prosperity of this church is unsurpassed.
From first to last The Mother Church seemed type and shadow of the warfare
between the flesh and Spirit, even that shadow whose substance is the
divine Spirit, imperatively propelling the greatest moral, physical, civil,
and religious reform ever known on earth. In the words of the prophet: "The
shadow of a great rock in a weary land."
This church was dedicated on January 6, anciently one of the many dates
selected and observed in the East as the day of the birth and baptism of
our master Metaphysician, Jesus of Nazareth.
Christian Scientists, their children and grandchildren to the latest
generations, inevitably love one another with that love wherewith Christ
loveth us; a love unselfish, unambitious, impartial, universal,--that loves
only because it _is_ Love. Moreover, they love their enemies, even those
that hate them. This we all must do to be Christian Scientists in spirit
and in truth. I long, and live, to see this love demonstrated. I am seeking
and praying for it to inhabit my own heart and to be made manifest in my
life. Who will unite with me in this pure purpose, and faithfully struggle
till it be accomplished? Let this be our Christian endeavor society, which
Christ organizes and blesses.
While we entertain due respect and fellowship for what is good and doing
good in all denominations of religion, and shun whatever would isolate us
from a true sense of goodness in others, we cannot serve mammon.
Christian Scientists are really united to only that which is Christlike,
but they are not indifferent to the welfare of any one. To perpetuate a
cold distance between our denomination and other sects, and close the door
on church or individuals--however much this is done to us--is not Christian
Science. Go not into the way of the unchristly, but wheresoever you
recognize a clear expression of God's likeness, there abide in confidence
and hope.
Our unity with churches of other denominations must rest on the spirit of
Christ calling us together. It cannot come from any other source.
Popularity, self-aggrandizement, aught that can darken in any degree our
spirituality, must be set aside. Only what feeds and fills the sentiment
with unworldliness, can give peace and good will towards men.
All Christian churches have one bond of unity, one nucleus or point of
convergence, one prayer,--the Lord's Prayer. It is matter for rejoicing
that we unite in love, and in this sacred petition with every praying
assembly on earth,--"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is
in heaven."
If the lives of Christian Scientists attest their fidelity to Truth, I
predict that in the twentieth century every Christian church in our land,
and a few in far-off lands, will approximate the understanding of Christian
Science sufficiently to heal the sick in his name. Christ will give to
Christianity his new name, and Christendom will be classified as Christian
Scientists.
When the doctrinal barriers between the churches are broken, and the bonds
of peace are cemented by spiritual understanding and Love, there will be
unity of spirit, and the healing power of Christ will prevail. Then shall
Zion have put on her most beautiful garments, and her waste places budded
and blossomed as the rose.
CLIPPINGS FROM NEWSPAPERS
* * * * *
[_Daily Inter-Ocean_, Chicago, December 31, 1894]
MARY BAKER EDDY
COMPLETION OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST,
BOSTON--"OUR PRAYER IN STONE"--DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST UNIQUE
STRUCTURE IN ANY CITY--A BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE AND ITS
FURNISHINGS--MRS. EDDY'S WORK AND HER INFLUENCE
Boston, Mass., December 28.--_Special Correspondence_.--The "great
awakening" of the time of Jonathan Edwards has been paralleled during the
last decade by a wave of idealism that has swept over the country,
manifesting itself under several different aspects and under various names,
but each having the common identity of spiritual demand. This movement,
under the guise of Christian Science, and ingenuously calling out a closer
inquiry into Oriental philosophy, prefigures itself to us as one of the
most potent factors in the social evolution of the last quarter of the
nineteenth century. History shows the curious fact that the closing years
of every century are years of more intense life, manifested in unrest or in
aspiration, and scholars of special research, like Prof. Max Muller, assert
that the end of a cycle, as is the latter part of the present century, is
marked by peculiar intimations of man's immortal life.
The completion of the first Christian Science church erected in Boston
strikes a keynote of definite attention. This church is in the fashionable
Back Bay, between Commonwealth and Huntington Avenues. It is one of the
most beautiful, and is certainly the most unique structure in any city. The
First Church of Christ, Scientist, as it is officially called, is termed by
its Founder, "Our prayer in stone." It is located at the intersection of
Norway and Falmouth Streets, on a triangular plot of ground, the design a
Romanesque tower with a circular front and an octagonal form, accented by
stone porticos and turreted corners. On the front is a marble tablet, with
the following inscription carved in bold relief:--
"The First Church of Christ, Scientist, erected Anno Domini 1894. A
testimonial to our beloved teacher, the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer
and Founder of Christian Science; author of "Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures;" president of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and
the first pastor of this denomination."
THE CHURCH EDIFICE
The church is built of Concord granite in light gray, with trimmings of the
pink granite of New Hampshire, Mrs. Eddy's native State. The architecture
is Romanesque throughout. The tower is one hundred and twenty feet in
height and twenty-one and one half feet square. The entrances are of
marble, with doors of antique oak richly carved. The windows of stained
glass are very rich in pictorial effect. The lighting and cooling of the
church--for cooling is a recognized feature as well as heating--are done by
electricity, and the heat generated by two large boilers in the basement is
distributed by the four systems with motor electric power. The partitions
are of iron; the floors of marble in mosaic work, and the edifice is
therefore as literally fire-proof as is conceivable. The principal features
are the auditorium, seating eleven hundred people and capable of holding
fifteen hundred; the "Mother's Room," designed for the exclusive use of
Mrs. Eddy; the "directors' room," and the vestry. The girders are all of
iron, the roof is of terra cotta tiles, the galleries are in plaster
relief, the window frames are of iron, coated with plaster; the staircases
are of iron, with marble stairs of rose pink, and marble approaches.
The vestibule is a fitting entrance to this magnificent temple. In the
ceiling is a sunburst with a seven-pointed star, which illuminates it. From
this are the entrances leading to the auditorium, the "Mother's Room," and
the directors' room.
The auditorium is seated with pews of curly birch, upholstered in old rose
plush. The floor is in white Italian mosaic, with frieze of the old rose,
and the wainscoting repeats the same tints. The base and cap are of pink
Tennessee marble. On the walls are bracketed oxidized silver lamps of Roman
design, and there are frequent illuminated texts from the Bible and from
Mrs. Eddy's "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" impanelled. A
sunburst in the centre of the ceiling takes the place of chandeliers. There
is a disc of cut glass in decorative designs, covering one hundred and
forty-four electric lights in the form of a star, which is twenty-one
inches from point to point, the centre being of pure white light, and each
ray under prisms which reflect the rainbow tints. The galleries are richly
panelled in relief work. The organ and choir gallery is spacious and rich
beyond the power of words to depict. The platform--corresponding to the
chancel of an Episcopal church--is a mosaic work, with richly carved seats
following the sweep of its curve, with a lamp stand of the Renaissance
period on either end, bearing six richly wrought oxidized silver lamps,
eight feet in height. The great organ comes from Detroit. It is one of vast
compass, with Æolian attachment, and cost eleven thousand dollars. It is
the gift of a single individual--a votive offering of gratitude for the
healing of the wife of the donor.
The chime of bells includes fifteen, of fine range and perfect tone.
THE "MOTHER'S ROOM"
The "Mother's Room" is approached by an entrance of Italian marble, and
over the door, in large golden letters on a marble tablet, is the word
"Love." In this room the mosaic marble floor of white has a Romanesque
border and is decorated with sprays of fig leaves bearing fruit. The room
is toned in pale green with relief in old rose. The mantel is of onyx and
gold. Before the great bay window hangs an Athenian lamp over two hundred
years old, which will be kept always burning day and night. Leading off
the "Mother's Room" are toilet apartments, with full-length French mirrors
and every convenience.
The directors' room is very beautiful in marble approaches and rich
carving, and off this is a vault for the safe preservation of papers.
The vestry seats eight hundred people, and opening from it are three large
class-rooms and the pastor's study.
The windows are a remarkable feature of this temple. There are no
"memorial" windows; the entire church is a testimonial, not a memorial--a
point that the members strongly insist upon.
In the auditorium are two rose windows--one representing the heavenly city
which "cometh down from God out of heaven," with six small windows beneath,
emblematic of the six water-pots referred to in John ii. 6. The other rose
window represents the raising of the daughter of Jairus. Beneath are two
small windows bearing palms of victory, and others with lamps, typical of
Science and Health.
Another great window tells its pictorial story of the four Marys--the
mother of Jesus, Mary anointing the head of Jesus, Mary washing the feet of
Jesus, Mary at the resurrection; and the woman spoken of in the Apocalypse,
chapter 12, God-crowned.
One more window in the auditorium represents the raising of Lazarus.
In the gallery are windows representing John on the Isle of Patmos, and
others of pictorial significance. In the "Mother's Room" the windows are of
still more unique interest. A large bay window, composed of three separate
panels, is designed to be wholly typical of the work of Mrs. Eddy. The
central panel represents her in solitude and meditation, searching the
Scriptures by the light of a single candle, while the star of Bethlehem
shines down from above. Above this is a panel containing the Christian
Science seal, and other panels are decorated with emblematic designs, with
the legends, "Heal the Sick," "Raise the Dead," "Cleanse the Lepers," and
"Cast out Demons."
The cross and the crown and the star are presented in appropriate
decorative effect. The cost of this church is two hundred and twenty-one
thousand dollars, exclusive of the land--a gift from Mrs. Eddy--which is
valued at some forty thousand dollars.
THE ORDER OF SERVICE
The order of service in the Christian Science Church does not differ widely
from that of any other sect, save that its service includes the use of Mrs.
Eddy's book, entitled "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in
perhaps equal measure to its use of the Bible. The reading is from the two
alternately; the singing is from a compilation called the "Christian
Science Hymnal," but its songs are for the most part those devotional hymns
from Herbert, Faber, Robertson, Wesley, Bowring, and other recognized
devotional poets, with selections from Whittier and Lowell, as are found in
the hymn-books of the Unitarian churches. For the past year or two Judge
Hanna, formerly of Chicago, has filled the office of pastor to the church
in this city, which held its meetings in Chickering Hall, and later in
Copley Hall, in the new Grundmann Studio Building on Copley Square.
Preceding Judge Hanna were Rev. D.A. Easton and Rev. L.P. Norcross, both of
whom had formerly been Congregational clergymen. The organizer and first
pastor of the church here was Mrs. Eddy herself, of whose work I shall
venture to speak, a little later, in this article.
Last Sunday I gave myself the pleasure of attending the service held in
Copley Hall. The spacious apartment was thronged with a congregation whose
remarkable earnestness impressed the observer. There was no straggling of
late-comers. Before the appointed hour every seat in the hall was filled
and a large number of chairs pressed into service for the overflowing
throng. The music was spirited, and the selections from the Bible and from
Science and Health were finely read by Judge Hanna. Then came his sermon,
which dealt directly with the command of Christ to "heal the sick, raise
the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." In his admirable discourse
Judge Hanna said that while all these injunctions could, under certain
conditions, be interpreted and fulfilled literally, the special lesson was
to be taken spiritually--to cleanse the leprosy of sin, to cast out the
demons of evil thought. The discourse was able, and helpful in its
suggestive interpretation.
THE CHURCH MEMBERS
Later I was told that almost the entire congregation was composed of
persons who had either been themselves, or had seen members of their own
families, healed by Christian Science treatment; and I was further told
that once when a Boston clergyman remonstrated with Judge Hanna for
enticing a separate congregation rather than offering their strength to
unite with churches already established--I was told he replied that the
Christian Science Church did not recruit itself from other churches, but
from the graveyards! The church numbers now four thousand members; but this
estimate, as I understand, is not limited to the Boston adherents, but
includes those all over the country. The ceremonial of uniting is to sign a
brief "confession of faith," written by Mrs. Eddy, and to unite in
communion, which is not celebrated by outward symbols of bread and wine,
but by uniting in silent prayer.
The "confession of faith" includes the declaration that the Scriptures are
the guide to eternal Life; that there is a Supreme Being, and His Son, and
the Holy Ghost, and that man is made in His image. It affirms the
atonement; it recognizes Jesus as the teacher and guide to salvation; the
forgiveness of sin by God, and affirms the power of Truth over error, and
the need of living faith at the moment to realize the possibilities of the
divine Life. The entire membership of Christian Scientists throughout the
world now exceeds two hundred thousand people. The church in Boston was
organized by Mrs. Eddy, and the first meeting held on April 19, 1879. It
opened with twenty-six members, and within fifteen years it has grown to
its present impressive proportions, and has now its own magnificent church
building, costing over two hundred thousand dollars, and entirely paid for
when its consecration service on January 6 shall be celebrated. This is
certainly a very remarkable retrospect.
Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of this denomination and Discoverer of
Christian Science, as they term her work in affirming the present
application of the principles asserted by Jesus, is a most interesting
personality. At the risk of colloquialism, I am tempted to "begin at the
beginning" of my own knowledge of Mrs. Eddy, and take, as the point of
departure, my first meeting with her and the subsequent development of some
degree of familiarity with the work of her life which that meeting
inaugurated for me.
MRS. EDDY
It was during some year in the early '80's that I became aware--from that
close contact with public feeling resulting from editorial work in daily
journalism--that the Boston atmosphere was largely thrilled and pervaded by
a new and increasing interest in the dominance of mind over matter, and
that the central figure in all this agitation was Mrs. Eddy. To a note
which I wrote her, begging the favor of an interview for press use, she
most kindly replied, naming an evening on which she would receive me. At
the hour named I rang the bell at a spacious house on Columbus Avenue, and
I was hardly more than seated before Mrs. Eddy entered the room. She
impressed me as singularly graceful and winning in bearing and manner, and
with great claim to personal beauty. Her figure was tall, slender, and as
flexible in movement as that of a Delsarte disciple; her face, framed in
dark hair and lighted by luminous blue eyes, had the transparency and
rose-flush of tint so often seen in New England, and she was magnetic,
earnest, impassioned. No photographs can do the least justice to Mrs. Eddy,
as her beautiful complexion and changeful expression cannot thus be
reproduced. At once one would perceive that she had the temperament to
dominate, to lead, to control, not by any crude self-assertion, but a
spiritual animus. Of course such a personality, with the wonderful tumult
in the air that her large and enthusiastic following excited, fascinated
the imagination. What had she originated? I mentally questioned this modern
St. Catherine, who was dominating her followers like any abbess of old. She
told me the story of her life, so far as outward events may translate those
inner experiences which alone are significant.
Mary Baker was the daughter of Mark and Abigail (Ambrose) Baker, and was
born in Concord, N.H., somewhere in the early decade of 1820-'30. At the
time I met her she must have been some sixty years of age, yet she had the
coloring and the elastic bearing of a woman of thirty, and this, she told
me, was due to the principles of Christian Science. On her father's side
Mrs. Eddy came from Scotch and English ancestry, and Hannah More was a
relative of her grandmother. Deacon Ambrose, her maternal grandfather, was
known as a "godly man," and her mother was a religious enthusiast, a
saintly and consecrated character. One of her brothers, Albert Baker,
graduated at Dartmouth and achieved eminence as a lawyer.
MRS. EDDY AS A CHILD
As a child Mary Baker saw visions and dreamed dreams. When eight years of
age she began, like Jeanne d'Arc, to hear "voices," and for a year she
heard her name called distinctly, and would often run to her mother
questioning if she were wanted. One night the mother related to her the
story of Samuel, and bade her, if she heard the voice again to reply as he
did: "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." The call came, but the little
maid was afraid and did not reply. This caused her tears of remorse and she
prayed for forgiveness, and promised to reply if the call came again. It
came, and she answered as her mother had bidden her, and after that it
ceased.
These experiences, of which Catholic biographies are full, and which
history not infrequently emphasizes, certainly offer food for meditation.
Theodore Parker related that when he was a lad, at work in a field one day
on his father's farm at Lexington, an old man with a snowy beard suddenly
appeared at his side, and walked with him as he worked, giving him high
counsel and serious thought. All inquiry in the neighborhood as to whence
the stranger came or whither he went was fruitless; no one else had seen
him, and Mr. Parker always believed, so a friend has told me, that his
visitor was a spiritual form from another world. It is certainly true that
many and many persons, whose life has been destined to more than ordinary
achievement, have had experiences of voices or visions in their early
youth.
At an early age Miss Baker was married to Colonel Glover, of Charleston,
S.C., who lived only a year. She returned to her father's home--in
1844--and from that time until 1866 no special record is to be made.
In 1866, while living in Lynn, Mass., Mrs. Eddy (then Mrs. Glover) met with
a severe accident, and her case was pronounced hopeless by the physicians.
There came a Sunday morning when her pastor came to bid her good-by before
proceeding to his morning service, as there was no probability that she
would be alive at its close. During this time she suddenly became aware of
a divine illumination and ministration. She requested those with her to
withdraw, and reluctantly they did so, believing her delirious. Soon, to
their bewilderment and fright, she walked into the adjoining room, "and
they thought I had died, and that it was my apparition," she said.
THE PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE HEALING
From that hour dated her conviction of the Principle of divine healing, and
that it is as true to-day as it was in the days when Jesus of Nazareth
walked the earth. "I felt that the divine Spirit had wrought a miracle,"
she said, in reference to this experience. "How, I could not tell, but
later I found it to be in perfect scientific accord with the divine law."
From 1866-'69 Mrs. Eddy withdrew from the world to meditate, to pray, to
search the Scriptures.
"During this time," she said, in reply to my questions, "the Bible was my
only textbook. It answered my questions as to the process by which I was
restored to health; it came to me with a new meaning, and suddenly I
apprehended the spiritual meaning of the teaching of Jesus and the
Principle and the law involved in spiritual Science and metaphysical
healing--in a word--Christian Science."
Mrs. Eddy came to perceive that Christ's healing was not miraculous, but
was simply a natural fulfilment of divine law--a law as operative in the
world to-day as it was nineteen hundred years ago. "Divine Science is
begotten of spirituality," she says, "since only the 'pure in heart' can
see God."
In writing of this experience, Mrs. Eddy has said:--
"I had learned that thought must be spiritualized in order to apprehend
Spirit. It must become honest, unselfish, and pure, in order to have the
least understanding of God in divine Science. The first must become last.
Our reliance upon material things must be transferred to a perception of
and dependence on spiritual things. For Spirit to be supreme in
demonstration, it must be supreme in our affections, and we must be clad
with divine power. I had learned that Mind reconstructed the body, and that
nothing else could. All Science is a revelation."
Through homoeopathy, too, Mrs. Eddy became convinced of the Principle of
Mind-healing, discovering that the more attenuated the drug, the more
potent was its effects.
In 1877 Mrs. Glover married Dr. Asa Gilbert Eddy, of Londonderry, Vermont,
a physician who had come into sympathy with her own views, and who was the
first to place "Christian Scientist" on the sign at his door. Dr. Eddy
died in 1882, a year after her founding of the Metaphysical College in
Boston, in which he taught.
The work in the Metaphysical College lasted nine years, and it was closed
(in 1889) in the very zenith of its prosperity, as Mrs. Eddy felt it
essential to the deeper foundation of her religious work to retire from
active contact with the world. To this College came hundreds and hundreds
of students, from Europe as well as this country. I was present at the
class lectures now and then, by Mrs. Eddy's kind invitation, and such
earnestness of attention as was given to her morning talks by the men and
women present I never saw equalled.
MRS. EDDY'S PERSONALITY
On the evening that I first met Mrs. Eddy by her hospitable courtesy, I
went to her peculiarly fatigued. I came away in a state of exhilaration and
energy that made me feel I could have walked any conceivable distance. I
have met Mrs. Eddy many times since then, and always with this experience
repeated.
Several years ago Mrs. Eddy removed from Columbus to Commonwealth Avenue,
where, just beyond Massachusetts Avenue, at the entrance to the Back Bay
Park, she bought one of the most beautiful residences in Boston. The
interior is one of the utmost taste and luxury, and the house is now
occupied by Judge and Mrs. Hanna, who are the editors of _The Christian
Science Journal_, a monthly publication, and to whose courtesy I am much
indebted for some of the data of this paper. "It is a pleasure to give any
information for _The Inter-Ocean_," remarked Mrs. Hanna, "for it is the
great daily that is so fair and so just in its attitude toward all
questions."
The increasing demands of the public on Mrs. Eddy have been, it may be, one
factor in her removal to Concord, N.H., where she has a beautiful
residence, called Pleasant View. Her health is excellent, and although her
hair is white, she retains in a great degree her energy and power; she
takes a daily walk and drives in the afternoon. She personally attends to a
vast correspondence; superintends the church in Boston, and is engaged on
further writings on Christian Science. In every sense she is the recognized
head of the Christian Science Church. At the same time it is her most
earnest aim to eliminate the element of personality from the faith. "On
this point, Mrs. Eddy feels very strongly," said a gentleman to me on
Christmas eve, as I sat in the beautiful drawing-room, where Judge and Mrs.
Hanna, Miss Elsie Lincoln, the soprano for the choir of the new church, and
one or two other friends were gathered.
"Mother feels very strongly," he continued, "the danger and the misfortune
of a church depending on any one personality. It is difficult not to centre
too closely around a highly gifted personality."
THE FIRST ASSOCIATION
The first Christian Scientist Association was organized on July 4, 1876, by
seven persons, including Mrs. Eddy. In April, 1879, the church was founded
with twenty-six members, and its charter obtained the following June.[C]
Mrs. Eddy had preached in other parishes for five years before being
ordained in this church, which ceremony took place in 1881.
The first edition of Mrs. Eddy's book, Science and Health, was issued in
1875. During these succeeding twenty years it has been greatly revised and
enlarged, and it is now in its ninety-first edition. It consists of
fourteen chapters, whose titles are as follows: "Science, Theology,
Medicine," "Physiology," "Footsteps of Truth," "Creation," "Science of
Being," "Christian Science and Spiritualism," "Marriage," "Animal
Magnetism," "Some Objections Answered," "Prayer," "Atonement and
Eucharist," "Christian Science Practice," "Teaching Christian Science,"
"Recapitulation." Key to the Scriptures, Genesis, Apocalypse, and Glossary.
The Christian Scientists do not accept the belief we call spiritualism.
They believe those who have passed the change of death are in so entirely
different a plane of consciousness that between the embodied and
disembodied there is no possibility of communication.
They are diametrically opposed to the philosophy of Karma and of
reincarnation, which are the tenets of theosophy. They hold with strict
fidelity to what they believe to be the literal teachings of Christ.
Yet each and all these movements, however they may differ among themselves,
are phases of idealism and manifestations of a higher spirituality seeking
expression.
It is good that each and all shall prosper, serving those who find in one
form of belief or another their best aid and guidance, and that all meet
on common ground in the great essentials of love to God and love to man as
a signal proof of the divine origin of humanity which finds no rest until
it finds the peace of the Lord in spirituality. They all teach that one
great truth, that
God's greatness flows around our incompleteness,
Round our restlessness, His rest.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
* * * * *
I add on the following page a little poem that I consider superbly
sweet--from my friend, Miss Whiting, the talented author of "The World
Beautiful."--M.B. EDDY.
AT THE WINDOW
[Written for the _Traveller_]
The sunset, burning low,
Throws o'er the Charles its flood of golden light.
Dimly, as in a dream, I watch the flow
Of waves of light.
The splendor of the sky
Repeats its glory in the river's flow;
And sculptured angels, on the gray church tower,
Gaze on the world below.
Dimly, as in a dream,
I see the hurrying throng before me pass,
But 'mid them all I only see _one_ face,
Under the meadow grass.
Ah, love! I only know
How thoughts of you forever cling to me:
I wonder how the seasons come and go
Beyond the sapphire sea?
LILIAN WHITING.
April 15, 1888.
* * * * *
[_Boston Herald_, January 7, 1895]
[Extract]
A TEMPLE GIVEN TO GOD--DEDICATION OF THE MOTHER CHURCH OF CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE
NOVEL METHOD OF ENABLING SIX THOUSAND BELIEVERS TO ATTEND THE
EXERCISES--THE SERVICE REPEATED FOUR
TIMES--SERMON BY REV. MARY BAKER EDDY, FOUNDER OF THE
DENOMINATION--BEAUTIFUL ROOM WHICH THE CHILDREN
BUILT
With simple ceremonies, four times repeated, in the presence of four
different congregations, aggregating nearly six thousand persons, the
unique and costly edifice erected in Boston at Norway and Falmouth Streets
as a home for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and a testimonial to
the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, was
yesterday dedicated to the worship of God.
The structure came forth from the hands of the artisans with every stone
paid for--with an appeal, not for more money, but for a cessation of the
tide of contributions which continued to flow in after the full amount
needed was received. From every State in the Union, and from many lands,
the love-offerings of the disciples of Christian Science came to help erect
this beautiful structure, and more than four thousand of these contributors
came to Boston, from the far-off Pacific coast and the Gulf States and all
the territory that lies between, to view the new-built temple and to listen
to the Message sent them by the teacher they revere.
From all New England the members of the denomination gathered; New York
sent its hundreds, and even from the distant States came parties of forty
and fifty. The large auditorium, with its capacity for holding from
fourteen hundred to fifteen hundred persons, was hopelessly incapable of
receiving this vast throng, to say nothing of nearly a thousand local
believers. Hence the service was repeated until all who wished had heard
and seen; and each of the four vast congregations filled the church to
repletion.
At 7:30 a.m. the chimes in the great stone tower, which rises one hundred
and twenty-six feet above the earth, rung out their message of "On earth
peace, good will toward men."
Old familiar hymns--"All hail the power of Jesus' name," and others
such--were chimed until the hour for the dedication service had come.
At 9 a.m. the first congregation gathered. Before this service had closed
the large vestry room and the spacious lobbies and the sidewalks around the
church were all filled with a waiting multitude. At 10:30 o'clock another
service began, and at noon still another. Then there was an intermission,
and at 3 p.m. the service was repeated for the last time.
There was scarcely even a minor variation in the exercises at any one of
these services. At 10:30 a.m., however, the scene was rendered particularly
interesting by the presence of several hundred children in the central
pews. These were the little contributors to the building fund, whose money
was devoted to the "Mother's Room," a superb apartment intended for the
sole use of Mrs. Eddy. These children are known in the church as the "Busy
Bees," and each of them wore a white satin badge with a golden beehive
stamped upon it, and beneath the beehive the words, "Mother's Room," in
gilt letters.
The pulpit end of the auditorium was rich with the adornment of flowers. On
the wall of the choir gallery above the platform, where the organ is to be
hereafter placed, a huge seven-pointed star was hung--a star of lilies
resting on palms, with a centre of white immortelles, upon which in letters
of red were the words: "Love-Children's Offering--1894."
In the choir and the steps of the platform were potted palms and ferns and
Easter lilies. The desk was wreathed with ferns and pure white roses
fastened with a broad ribbon bow. On its right was a large basket of white
carnations resting on a mat of palms, and on its left a vase filled with
beautiful pink roses.
Two combined choirs--that of First Church of Christ, Scientist, of New
York, and the choir of the home church, numbering thirty-five singers in
all--led the singing, under the direction, respectively, of Mr. Henry
Lincoln Case and Miss Elsie Lincoln.
Judge S.J. Hanna, editor of _The Christian Science Journal_, presided over
the exercises. On the platform with him were Messrs. Ira O. Knapp, Joseph
Armstrong, Stephen A. Chase, and William B. Johnson, who compose the Board
of Directors, and Mrs. Henrietta Clark Bemis, a distinguished elocutionist,
and a native of Concord, New Hampshire.
The utmost simplicity marked the exercises. After an organ voluntary, the
hymn, "_Laus Deo_, it is done!" written by Mrs. Eddy for the corner-stone
laying last spring, was sung by the congregation. Selections from the
Scriptures and from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," were
read by Judge Hanna and Dr. Eddy.
A few minutes of silent prayer came next, followed by the recitation of the
Lord's Prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian
Science textbook.
The sermon prepared for the occasion by Mrs. Eddy, which was looked forward
to as the chief feature of the dedication, was then read by Mrs. Bemis.
Mrs. Eddy remained at her home in Concord, N.H., during the day, because,
as heretofore stated in _The Herald_, it is her custom to discourage among
her followers that sort of personal worship which religious teachers so
often receive.
Before presenting the sermon, Mrs. Bemis read the following letter from a
former pastor of the church:--
"To Rev. Mary Baker Eddy.
"_Dear Teacher, Leader, Guide_:--'_Laus Deo_, it is done!' At last
you begin to see the fruition of that you have worked, toiled,
prayed for. The 'prayer in stone' is accomplished. Across two
thousand miles of space, as mortal sense puts it, I send my hearty
congratulations. You are fully occupied, but I thought you would
willingly pause for an instant to receive this brief message of
congratulation. Surely it marks an era in the blessed onward work
of Christian Science. It is a most auspicious hour in your
eventful career. While we all rejoice, yet the mother in Israel,
alone of us all, comprehends its full significance.
"Yours lovingly,
"LANSON P. NORCROSS."
* * * * *
[_Boston Sunday Globe_, January 6, 1895]
[Extract]
STATELY HOME FOR BELIEVERS IN GOSPEL HEALING--A WOMAN OF
WEALTH WHO DEVOTES ALL TO HER CHURCH WORK
Christian Science has shown its power over its students, as they are
called, by building a church by voluntary contributions, the first of its
kind; a church which will be dedicated to-day with a quarter of a million
dollars expended and free of debt.
The money has flowed in from all parts of the United States and Canada
without any special appeal, and it kept coming until the custodian of funds
cried "enough" and refused to accept any further checks by mail or
otherwise. Men, women, and children lent a helping hand, some giving a
mite and some substantial sums. Sacrifices were made in many an instance
which will never be known in this world.
Christian Scientists not only say that they can effect cures of disease and
erect churches, but add that they can get their buildings finished on time,
even when the feat seems impossible to mortal senses. Read the following,
from a publication of the new denomination:--
"One of the grandest and most helpful features of this glorious
consummation is this: that one month before the close of the year every
evidence of material sense declared that the church's completion within the
year 1894 transcended human possibility. The predictions of workman and
onlooker alike were that it could not be completed before April or May of
1895. Much was the ridicule heaped upon the hopeful, trustful ones, who
declared and repeatedly asseverated to the contrary. This is indeed, then,
a scientific demonstration. It has proved, in most striking manner, the
oft-repeated declarations of our textbooks, that the evidence of the mortal
senses is unreliable."
A week ago Judge Hanna withdrew from the pastorate of the church, saying he
gladly laid down his responsibilities to be succeeded by the grandest of
ministers--the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
This action, it appears, was the result of rules made by Mrs. Eddy. The
sermons hereafter will consist of passages read from the two books by
Readers, who will be elected each year by the congregation.
A story has been abroad that Judge Hanna was so eloquent and magnetic that
he was attracting listeners who came to hear him preach, rather than in
search of the truth as taught. Consequently the new rules were formulated.
But at Christian Science headquarters this is denied; Mrs. Eddy says the
words of the judge speak to the point, and that no such inference is to be
drawn therefrom.
In Mrs. Eddy's personal reminiscences, which are published under the title
of "Retrospection and Introspection," much is told of herself in detail
that can only be touched upon in this brief sketch.
Aristocratic to the backbone, Mrs. Eddy takes delight in going back to the
ancestral tree and in tracing those branches which are identified with good
and great names both in Scotland and England.
Her family came to this country not long before the Revolution. Among the
many souvenirs that Mrs. Eddy remembers as belonging to her grandparents
was a heavy sword, encased in a brass scabbard, upon which had been
inscribed the name of the kinsman upon whom the sword had been bestowed by
Sir William Wallace of mighty Scottish fame.
Mrs. Eddy applied herself, like other girls, to her studies, though perhaps
with an unusual zest, delighting in philosophy, logic, and moral science,
as well as looking into the ancient languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
Her last marriage was in the spring of 1877, when, at Lynn, Mass., she
became the wife of Asa Gilbert Eddy. He was the first organizer of a
Christian Science Sunday School, of which he was the superintendent, and
later he attracted the attention of many clergymen of other denominations
by his able lectures upon Scriptural topics. He died in 1882.
Mrs. Eddy is known to her circle of pupils and admirers as the editor and
publisher of the first official organ of this sect. It was called the
_Journal of Christian Science_, and has had great circulation with the
members of this fast-increasing faith.
In recounting her experiences as the pioneer of Christian Science, she
states that she sought knowledge concerning the physical side in this
research through the different schools of allopathy, homoeopathy, and so
forth, without receiving any real satisfaction. No ancient or modern
philosophy gave her any distinct statement of the Science of Mind-healing.
She claims that no human reason has been equal to the question. And she
also defines carefully the difference in the theories between faith-cure
and Christian Science, dwelling particularly upon the terms belief and
understanding, which are the key words respectively used in the definitions
of these two healing arts.
Besides her Boston home, Mrs. Eddy has a delightful country home one mile
from the State House of New Hampshire's quiet capital, an easy driving
distance for her when she wishes to catch a glimpse of the world. But for
the most part she lives very much retired, driving rather into the country,
which is so picturesque all about Concord and its surrounding villages.
The big house, so delightfully remodelled and modernized from a primitive
homestead that nothing is left excepting the angles and pitch of the roof,
is remarkably well placed upon a terrace that slopes behind the buildings,
while they themselves are in the midst of green stretches of lawns, dotted
with beds of flowering shrubs, with here and there a fountain or
summer-house.
Mrs. Eddy took the writer straight to her beloved "lookout"--a broad piazza
on the south side of the second story of the house, where she can sit in
her swinging chair, revelling in the lights and shades of spring and summer
greenness. Or, as just then, in the gorgeous October coloring of the whole
landscape that lies below, across the farm, which stretches on through an
intervale of beautiful meadows and pastures to the woods that skirt the
valley of the little truant river, as it wanders eastward.
It pleased her to point out her own birthplace. Straight as the crow flies,
from her piazza, does it lie on the brow of Bow hill, and then she paused
and reminded the reporter that Congressman Baker from New Hampshire, her
cousin, was born and bred in that same neighborhood. The photograph of Hon.
Hoke Smith, another distinguished relative, adorned the mantel.
Then my eye caught her family coat of arms and the diploma given her by the
Society of the Daughters of the Revolution.
The natural and lawful pride that comes with a tincture of blue and brave
blood, is perhaps one of her characteristics, as is many another well-born
woman's. She had a long list of worthy ancestors in Colonial and
Revolutionary days, and the McNeils and General Knox figure largely in her
genealogy, as well as the hero who killed the ill-starred Paugus.
This big, sunny room which Mrs. Eddy calls her den--or sometimes "Mother's
room," when speaking of her many followers who consider her their spiritual
Leader--has the air of hospitality that marks its hostess herself. Mrs.
Eddy has hung its walls with reproductions of some of Europe's
masterpieces, a few of which had been the gifts of her loving pupils.
Looking down from the windows upon the tree-tops on the lower terrace, the
reporter exclaimed: "You have lived here only four years, and yet from a
barren waste of most unpromising ground has come forth all this beauty!"
"Four years!" she ejaculated; "two and a half, only two and a half years."
Then, touching my sleeve and pointing, she continued: "Look at those big
elms! I had them brought here in warm weather, almost as big as they are
now, and not one died."
Mrs. Eddy talked earnestly of her friendships.... She told something of her
domestic arrangements, of how she had long wished to get away from her busy
career in Boston, and return to her native granite hills, there to build a
substantial home that should do honor to that precinct of Concord.
She chose the stubbly old farm on the road from Concord, within one mile of
the "Eton of America," St. Paul's School. Once bought, the will of the
woman set at work, and to-day a strikingly well-kept estate is the first
impression given to the visitor as he approaches Pleasant View.
She employs a number of men to keep the grounds and farm in perfect order,
and it was pleasing to learn that this rich woman is using her money to
promote the welfare of industrious workmen, in whom she takes a vital
interest.
Mrs. Eddy believes that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and, moreover,
that he deserves to have a home and family of his own. Indeed, one of her
motives in buying so large an estate was that she might do something for
the toilers, and thus add her influence toward the advancement of better
home life and citizenship.
* * * * *
[_Boston Transcript_, December 31, 1894]
[Extract]
The growth of Christian Science is properly marked by the erection of a
visible house of worship in this city, which will be dedicated to-morrow.
It has cost two hundred thousand dollars, and no additional sums outside of
the subscriptions are asked for. This particular phase of religious belief
has impressed itself upon a large and increasing number of Christian
people, who have been tempted to examine its principles, and doubtless have
been comforted and strengthened by them. Any new movement will awaken some
sort of interest. There are many who have worn off the novelty and are
thoroughly carried away with the requirements, simple and direct as they
are, of Christian Science. The opposition against it from the so-called
orthodox religious bodies keeps up a while, but after a little skirmishing,
finally subsides. No one religious body holds the whole of truth, and
whatever is likely to show even some one side of it will gain followers and
live down any attempted repression.
Christian Science does not strike all as a system of truth. If it did, it
would be a prodigy. Neither does the Christian faith produce the same
impressions upon all. Freedom to believe or to dissent is a great privilege
in these days. So when a number of conscientious followers apply themselves
to a matter like Christian Science, they are enjoying that liberty which is
their inherent right as human beings, and though they cannot escape
censure, yet they are to be numbered among the many pioneers who are
searching after religious truth. There is really nothing settled. Every
truth is more or less in a state of agitation. The many who have worked in
the mine of knowledge are glad to welcome others who have different
methods, and with them bring different ideas.
It is too early to predict where this movement will go, and how greatly it
will affect the well-established methods. That it has produced a sensation
in religious circles, and called forth the implements of theological
warfare, is very well known. While it has done this, it may, on the other
hand, have brought a benefit. Ere this many a new project in religious
belief has stirred up feeling, but as time has gone on, compromises have
been welcomed.
The erection of this temple will doubtless help on the growth of its
principles. Pilgrims from everywhere will go there in search of truth, and
some may be satisfied and some will not. Christian Science cannot absorb
the world's thought. It may get the share of attention it deserves, but it
can only aspire to take its place alongside other great demonstrations of
religious belief which have done something good for the sake of humanity.
Wonders will never cease. Here is a church whose treasurer has to send out
word that no sums except those already subscribed can be received! The
Christian Scientists have a faith of the mustard-seed variety. What a pity
some of our practical Christian folk have not a faith approximate to that
of these "impractical" Christian Scientists.
* * * * *
[_Jackson Patriot_, Jackson, Mich., January 20, 1895]
[Extract]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
The erection of a massive temple in Boston by Christian Scientists, at a
cost of over two hundred thousand dollars, love-offerings of the disciples
of Mary Baker Eddy, reviver of the ancient faith and author of the textbook
from which, with the New Testament at the foundation, believers receive
light, health, and strength, is evidence of the rapid growth of the new
movement. We call it new. It is not. The name Christian Science alone is
new. At the beginning of Christianity it was taught and practised by Jesus
and his disciples. The Master was the great healer. But the wave of
materialism and bigotry that swept over the world for fifteen centuries,
covering it with the blackness of the Dark Ages, nearly obliterated all
vital belief in his teachings. The Bible was a sealed book. Recently a
revived belief in what he taught is manifest, and Christian Science is one
result. No new doctrine is proclaimed, but there is the fresh development
of a Principle that was put into practice by the Founder of Christianity
nineteen hundred years ago, though practised in other countries at an
earlier date. "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and
that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing
under the sun."
The condition which Jesus of Nazareth, on various occasions during the
three years of his ministry on earth, declared to be essential, in the mind
of both healer and patient, is contained in the one word--_faith_. Can
drugs suddenly cure leprosy? When the ten lepers were cleansed and one
returned to give thanks in Oriental phrase, Jesus said to him: "Arise, go
thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole." That was Christian Science. In
his "Law of Psychic Phenomena" Hudson says: "That word, more than any
other, expresses the whole law of human felicity and power in this world,
and of salvation in the world to come. It is that attribute of mind which
elevates man above the level of the brute, and gives dominion over the
physical world. It is the essential element of success in every field of
human endeavor. It constitutes the power of the human soul. When Jesus of
Nazareth proclaimed its potency from the hilltops of Palestine, he gave to
mankind the key to health and heaven, and earned the title of Saviour of
the World." Whittier, grandest of mystic poets, saw the truth:--
That healing gift he lends to them
Who use it in his name;
The power that filled his garment's hem
Is evermore the same.
Again, in a poem entitled "The Master," he wrote:--
The healing of his seamless dress
Is by our beds of pain;
We touch him in life's throng and press,
And we are whole again.[D]
That Jesus operated in perfect harmony with natural law, not in defiance,
suppression, or violation of it, we cannot doubt. The perfectly natural is
the perfectly spiritual. Jesus enunciated and exemplified the Principle;
and, obviously, the conditions requisite in psychic healing to-day are the
same as were necessary in apostolic times. We accept the statement of
Hudson: "There was no law of nature violated or transcended. On the
contrary, the whole transaction was in perfect obedience to the laws of
nature. He understood the law perfectly, as no one before him understood
it; and in the plenitude of his power he applied it where the greatest good
could be accomplished." A careful reading of the accounts of his healings,
in the light of modern science, shows that he observed, in his practice of
mental therapeutics, the conditions of environment and harmonious influence
that are essential to success. In the case of Jairus' daughter they are
fully set forth. He kept the unbelievers away, "put them all out," and
permitting only the father and mother, with his closest friends and
followers, Peter, James, and John, in the chamber with him, and having thus
the most perfect obtainable environment, he raised the daughter to life.
"Not in blind caprice of will,
Not in cunning sleight of skill,
Not for show of power, was wrought
Nature's marvel in thy thought."
In a previous article we have referred to cyclic changes that came during
the last quarter of preceding centuries. Of our remarkable nineteenth
century not the least eventful circumstance is the advent of Christian
Science. That it should be the work of a woman is the natural outcome of a
period notable for her emancipation from many of the thraldoms, prejudices,
and oppressions of the past. We do not, therefore, regard it as a mere
coincidence that the first edition of Mrs. Eddy's Science and Health should
have been published in 1875. Since then she has revised it many times, and
the ninety-first edition is announced. Her discovery was first called, "The
Science of Divine Metaphysical Healing." Afterward she selected the name
Christian Science. It is based upon what is held to be scientific
certainty, namely,--that all causation is of Mind, every effect has its
origin in desire and thought. The theology--if we may use the word--of
Christian Science is contained in the volume entitled "Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures."
The present Boston congregation was organized April 19, 1879, and has now
over four thousand members. It is regarded as the parent organization, all
others being branches, though each is entirely independent in the
management of its own affairs. Truth is the sole recognized authority. Of
actual members of different congregations there are between one hundred
thousand and two hundred thousand. One or more organized societies have
sprung up in New York, Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Philadelphia, Detroit, Toledo, Milwaukee, Madison, Scranton, Peoria,
Atlanta, Toronto, and nearly every other centre of population, besides a
large and growing number of receivers of the faith among the members of all
the churches and non-church-going people. In some churches a majority of
the members are Christian Scientists, and, as a rule, are the most
intelligent.
Space does not admit of an elaborate presentation on the occasion of the
erection of the temple, in Boston, the dedication taking place on the 6th
of January, of one of the most remarkable, helpful, and powerful movements
of the last quarter of the century. Christian Science has brought hope and
comfort to many weary souls. It makes people better and happier. Welding
Christianity and Science, hitherto divorced because dogma and truth could
not unite, was a happy inspiration.
"And still we love the evil cause,
And of the just effect complain;
We tread upon life's broken laws,
And mourn our self-inflicted pain."
* * * * *
[_The Outlook_, New York, January 19, 1895]
A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH
A great Christian Science church was dedicated in Boston on Sunday, the 6th
inst. It is located at Norway and Falmouth Streets, and is intended to be a
testimonial to the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, the Rev.
Mary Baker Eddy. The building is fire-proof, and cost over two hundred
thousand dollars. It is entirely paid for, and contributions for its
erection came from every State in the Union, and from many lands. The
auditorium is said to seat between fourteen and fifteen hundred, and was
thronged at the four services on the day of dedication. The sermon,
prepared by Mrs. Eddy, was read by Mrs. Bemis. It rehearsed the
significance of the building, and reenunciated the truths which will find
emphasis there. From the description we judge that it is one of the most
beautiful buildings in Boston, and, indeed, in all New England. Whatever
may be thought of the peculiar tenets of the Christian Scientists, and
whatever difference of opinion there may be concerning the organization of
such a church, there can be no question but that the adherents of this
church have proved their faith by their works.
* * * * *
[_American Art Journal_, New York, January 26, 1895]
"OUR PRAYER IN STONE"
Such is the excellent name given to a new Boston church. Few people outside
its own circles realize how extensive is the belief in Christian Science.
There are several sects of mental healers, but this new edifice on Back
Bay, just off Huntington Avenue, not far from the big Mechanics Building
and the proposed site of the new Music Hall, belongs to the followers of
Rev. Mary Baker Glover Eddy, a lady born of an old New Hampshire family,
who, after many vicissitudes, found herself in Lynn, Mass., healed by the
power of divine Mind, and thereupon devoted herself to imparting this faith
to her fellow-beings. Coming to Boston about 1880, she began teaching,
gathered an association of students, and organized a church. For several
years past she has lived in Concord, N.H., near her birthplace, owning a
beautiful estate called Pleasant View; but thousands of believers
throughout this country have joined The Mother Church in Boston, and have
now erected this edifice at a cost of over two hundred thousand dollars,
every bill being paid.
Its appearance is shown in the pictures we are permitted to publish. In the
belfry is a set of tubular chimes. Inside is a basement room, capable of
division into seven excellent class-rooms, by the use of movable
partitions. The main auditorium has wide galleries, and will seat over a
thousand in its exceedingly comfortable pews. Scarcely any woodwork is to
be found. The floors are all mosaic, the steps marble, and the walls stone.
It is rather dark, often too much so for comfortable reading, as all the
windows are of colored glass, with pictures symbolic of the tenets of the
organization. In the ceiling is a beautiful sunburst window. Adjoining the
chancel is a pastor's study; but for an indefinite time their prime
instructor has ordained that the only pastor shall be the Bible, with her
book, called "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." In the tower
is a room devoted to her, and called "Mother's Room," furnished with all
conveniences for living, should she wish to make it a home by day or night.
Therein is a portrait of her in stained glass; and an electric light,
behind an antique lamp, kept perpetually burning[E] in her honor; though
she has not yet visited her temple, which was dedicated on New Year's
Sunday in a somewhat novel way.
There was no special sentence or prayer of consecration, but continuous
services were held from nine to four o'clock, every hour and a half, so
long as there were attendants; and some people heard these exercises four
times repeated. The printed program was for some reason not followed,
certain hymns and psalms being omitted. There was singing by a choir and
congregation. The _Pater Noster_ was repeated in the way peculiar to
Christian Scientists, the congregation repeating one sentence and the
leader responding with its parallel interpretation by Mrs. Eddy. Antiphonal
paragraphs were read from the book of Revelation and her work respectively.
The sermon, prepared by Mrs. Eddy, was well adapted for its purpose, and
read by a professional elocutionist, not an adherent of the order, Mrs.
Henrietta Clark Bemis, in a clear emphatic style. The solo singer, however,
was a Scientist, Miss Elsie Lincoln; and on the platform sat Joseph
Armstrong, formerly of Kansas, and now the business manager of the
Publishing Society, with the other members of the Christian Science Board
of Directors--Ira O. Knapp, Edward P. Bates, Stephen A. Chase,--gentlemen
officially connected with the movement. The children of believing families
collected the money for the Mother's Room, and seats were especially set
apart for them at the second dedicatory service. Before one service was
over and the auditors left by the rear doors, the front vestibule and
street (despite the snowstorm) were crowded with others, waiting for
admission.
On the next Sunday the new order of service went into operation. There was
no address of any sort, no notices, no explanation of Bible or their
textbook. Judge Hanna, who was a Colorado lawyer before coming into this
work, presided, reading in clear, manly, and intelligent tones, the
_Quarterly_ Bible Lesson, which happened that day to be on Jesus' miracle
of loaves and fishes. Each paragraph he supplemented first with
illustrative Scripture parallels, as set down for him, and then by passages
selected for him from Mrs. Eddy's book. The place was again crowded, many
having remained over a week from among the thousands of adherents who had
come to Boston for this auspicious occasion from all parts of the country.
The organ, made by Farrand & Votey in Detroit, at a cost of eleven thousand
dollars, is the gift of a wealthy Universalist gentleman, but was not ready
for the opening. It is to fill the recess behind the spacious platform, and
is described as containing pneumatic wind-chests throughout, and having an
Æolian attachment. It is of three-manual compass, C.C.C. to C.4, 61 notes;
and pedal compass, C.C.C. to F.30. The great organ has double open diapason
(stopped bass), open diapason, dulciana, viola di gamba, doppel flute, hohl
flute, octave, octave quint, superoctave, and trumpet,--61 pipes each. The
swell organ has bourdon, open diapason, salicional, æoline, stopped
diapason, gemshorn, flute harmonique, flageolet, cornet--3 ranks,
183,--cornopean, oboe, vox humana--61 pipes each. The choir organ, enclosed
in separate swell-box, has geigen principal, dolce, concert flute,
quintadena, fugara, flute d'amour, piccolo harmonique, clarinet,--61 pipes
each. The pedal organ has open diapason, bourdon, lieblich gedeckt (from
stop 10), violoncello-wood,--30 pipes each. Couplers: swell to great; choir
to great; swell to choir; swell to great octaves, swell to great
sub-octaves; choir to great sub-octaves; swell octaves; swell to pedal;
great to pedal; choir to pedal. Mechanical accessories: swell tremulant,
choir tremulant, bellows signal; wind indicator. Pedal movements: three
affecting great and pedal stops, three affecting swell and pedal stops;
great to pedal reversing pedal; crescendo and full organ pedal; balanced
great and choir pedal; balanced swell pedal.
Beautiful suggestions greet you in every part of this unique church, which
is practical as well as poetic, and justifies the name given by Mrs. Eddy,
which stands at the head of this sketch.
J.H.W.
* * * * *
[_Boston Journal_, January 7, 1895]
CHIMES RANG SWEETLY
Much admiration was expressed by all those fortunate enough to listen to
the first peal of the chimes in the tower of The First Church of Christ,
Scientist, corner of Falmouth and Norway Streets, dedicated yesterday. The
sweet, musical tones attracted quite a throng of people, who listened with
delight.
The chimes were made by the United States Tubular Bell Company, of
Methuen, Mass., and are something of a novelty in this country, though for
some time well and favorably known in the Old Country, especially in
England.
They are a substitution of tubes of drawn brass for the heavy cast bells of
old-fashioned chimes. They have the advantage of great economy of space, as
well as of cost, a chime of fifteen bells occupying a space not more than
five by eight feet.
Where the old-fashioned chimes required a strong man to ring them, these
can be rung from an electric keyboard, and even when rung by hand require
but little muscular power to manipulate them and call forth all the purity
and sweetness of their tones. The quality of tone is something superb,
being rich and mellow. The tubes are carefully tuned, so that the harmony
is perfect. They have all the beauties of a great cathedral chime, with
infinitely less expense.
There is practically no limit to the uses to which these bells may be put.
They can be called into requisition in theatres, concert halls, and public
buildings, as they range in all sizes, from those described down to little
sets of silver bells that might be placed on a small centre table.
* * * * *
[_The Republic_, Washington, D.C., February 2, 1895]
[Extract]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
MARY BAKER EDDY THE "MOTHER" OF THE IDEA--SHE HAS AN IMMENSE
FOLLOWING THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, AND A CHURCH COSTING
$250,000 WAS RECENTLY BUILT IN HER HONOR AT BOSTON
"My faith has the strength to nourish trees as well as souls," was the
remark Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, the "Mother" of Christian Science, made
recently as she pointed to a number of large elms that shade her delightful
country home in Concord, N.H. "I had them brought here in warm weather,
almost as big as they are now, and not one died." This is a remarkable
statement, but it is made by a remarkable woman, who has originated a new
phase of religious belief, and who numbers over one hundred thousand
intelligent people among her devoted followers.
The great hold she has upon this army was demonstrated in a very tangible
and material manner recently, when "The First Church of Christ, Scientist,"
erected at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, was dedicated
in Boston. This handsome edifice was paid for before it was begun, by the
voluntary contributions of Christian Scientists all over the country, and a
tablet imbedded in its wall declares that it was built as "a testimonial to
our beloved teacher, Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of
Christian Science, author of its textbook, 'Science and Health with Key to
the Scriptures,' president of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and
the first pastor of this denomination."
There is usually considerable difficulty in securing sufficient funds for
the building of a new church, but such was not the experience of Rev. Mary
Baker Eddy. Money came freely from all parts of the United States. Men,
women, and children contributed, some giving a pittance, others donating
large sums. When the necessary amount was raised, the custodian of the
funds was compelled to refuse further contributions, in order to stop the
continued inflow of money from enthusiastic Christian Scientists.
Mrs. Eddy says she discovered Christian Science in 1866. She studied the
Scriptures and the sciences, she declares, in a search for the great
curative Principle. She investigated allopathy, homoeopathy, and
electricity, without finding a clew; and modern philosophy gave her no
distinct statement of the Science of Mind-healing. After careful study she
became convinced that the curative Principle was the Deity.
* * * * *
[_New York Tribune_, February 7, 1895]
[Extract]
Boston has just dedicated the first church of the Christian Scientists, in
commemoration of the Founder of that sect, the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy,
drawing together six thousand people to participate in the ceremonies,
showing that belief in that curious creed is not confined to its original
apostles and promulgators, but that it has penetrated what is called the
New England mind to an unlooked-for extent. In inviting the Eastern
churches and the Anglican fold to unity with Rome, the Holy Father should
not overlook the Boston sect of Christian Scientists, which is rather small
and new, to be sure, but is undoubtedly an interesting faith and may have a
future before it, whatever attitude Rome may assume toward it.
* * * * *
[_Journal_, Kansas City, Mo., January 10, 1895]
[Extract]
GROWTH OF A FAITH
Attention is directed to the progress which has been made by what is called
Christian Science by the dedication at Boston of "The First Church of
Christ, Scientist." It is a most beautiful structure of gray granite, and
its builders call it their "prayer in stone," which suggests to
recollection the story of the cathedral of Amiens, whose architectural
construction and arrangement of statuary and paintings made it to be called
the Bible of that city. The Frankish church was reared upon the spot where,
in pagan times, one bitter winter day, a Roman soldier parted his mantle
with his sword and gave half of the garment to a naked beggar; and so was
memorialized in art and stone what was called the divine spirit of giving,
whose unbelieving exemplar afterward became a saint. The Boston church
similarly expresses the faith of those who believe in what they term the
divine art of healing, which, to their minds, exists as much to-day as it
did when Christ healed the sick.
The first church organization of this faith was founded fifteen years ago
with a membership of only twenty-six, and since then the number of
believers has grown with remarkable rapidity, until now there are societies
in every part of the country. This growth, it is said, proceeds more from
the graveyards than from conversions from other churches, for most of those
who embrace the faith claim to have been rescued from death miraculously
under the injunction to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,
cast out demons." They hold with strict fidelity to what they conceive to
be the literal teachings of the Bible as expressed in its poetical and
highly figurative language.
Altogether the belief and service are well suited to satisfy a taste for
the mystical which, along many lines, has shown an uncommon development in
this country during the last decade, and which is largely Oriental in its
choice. Such a rapid departure from long respected views as is marked by
the dedication of this church, and others of kindred meaning, may
reasonably excite wonder as to how radical is to be this encroachment upon
prevailing faiths, and whether some of the pre-Christian ideas of the
Asiatics are eventually to supplant those in company with which our
civilization has developed.
* * * * *
[_Montreal Daily Herald_, Saturday, February 2, 1895]
[Extract]
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
SKETCH OF ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH--THE MONTREAL BRANCH
"If you would found a new faith, go to Boston," has been said by a great
American writer. This is no idle word, but a fact borne out by
circumstances. Boston can fairly claim to be the hub of the logical
universe, and an accurate census of the religious faiths which are to be
found there to-day would probably show a greater number of them than even
Max O'Rell's famous enumeration of John Bull's creeds.
Christian Science, or the Principle of divine healing, is one of those
movements which seek to give expression to a higher spirituality. Founded
twenty-five years ago, it was still practically unknown a decade since, but
to-day it numbers over a quarter of a million of believers, the majority of
whom are in the United States, and is rapidly growing. In Canada, also,
there is a large number of members. Toronto and Montreal have strong
churches, comparatively, while in many towns and villages single believers
or little knots of them are to be found.
It was exactly one hundred years from the date of the Declaration of
Independence, when on July 4, 1876, the first Christian Scientist
Association was organized by seven persons, of whom the foremost was Mrs.
Eddy. The church was founded in April, 1879, with twenty-six members, and a
charter was obtained two months later. Mrs. Eddy assumed the pastorship of
the church during its early years, and in 1881 was ordained, being now
known as the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy.
The Massachusetts Metaphysical College was founded by Mrs. Eddy in 1881,
and here she taught the principles of the faith for nine years. Students
came to it in hundreds from all parts of the world, and many are now
pastors or in practice. The college was closed in 1889, as Mrs. Eddy felt
it necessary for the interests of her religious work to retire from active
contact with the world. She now lives in a beautiful country residence in
her native State.
* * * * *
[_The American_, Baltimore, Md., January 14, 1895]
[Extract]
MRS. EDDY'S DISCIPLES
It is not generally known that a Christian Science congregation was
organized in this city about a year ago. It now holds regular services in
the parlor of the residence of the pastor, at 1414 Linden Avenue. The
dedication in Boston last Sunday of the Christian Science church, called
The Mother Church, which cost over two hundred thousand dollars, adds
interest to the Baltimore organization. There are many other church
edifices in the United States owned by Christian Scientists. Christian
Science was founded by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. The Baltimore congregation was
organized at a meeting held at the present location on February 27, 1894.
Dr. Hammond, the pastor, came to Baltimore about three years ago to
organize this movement. Miss Cross came from Syracuse, N.Y., about eighteen
months ago. Both were under the instruction of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the
Founder of the movement.
Dr. Hammond says he was converted to Christian Science by being cured by
Mrs. Eddy of a physical ailment some twelve years ago, after several
doctors had pronounced his case incurable. He says they use no medicines,
but rely on Mind for cure, believing that disease comes from evil and
sick-producing thoughts, and that, if they can so fill the mind with good
thoughts as to leave no room there for the bad, they can work a cure. He
distinguishes Christian Science from the faith-cure, and added: "This
Christian Science really is a return to the ideas of primitive
Christianity. It would take a small book to explain fully all about it, but
I may say that the fundamental idea is that God is Mind, and we interpret
the Scriptures wholly from the spiritual or metaphysical standpoint. We
find in this view of the Bible the power fully developed to heal the sick.
It is not faith-cure, but it is an acknowledgment of certain Christian and
scientific laws, and to work a cure the practitioner must understand these
laws aright. The patient may gain a better understanding than the Church
has had in the past. All churches have prayed for the cure of disease, but
they have not done so in an intelligent manner, understanding and
demonstrating the Christ-healing."
* * * * *
[_The Reporter_, Lebanon, Ind., January 18, 1895]
[Extract]
DISCOVERED CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
REMARKABLE CAREER OF REV. MARY BAKER EDDY, WHO HAS OVER ONE HUNDRED
THOUSAND FOLLOWERS
Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, author
of its textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," president
of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and first pastor of the
Christian Science denomination, is without doubt one of the most remarkable
women in America. She has within a few years founded a sect that has over
one hundred thousand converts, and very recently saw completed in Boston,
as a testimonial to her labors, a handsome fire-proof church that cost two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars and was paid for by Christian Scientists
all over the country.
Mrs. Eddy asserts that in 1866 she became certain that "all causation was
Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon." Taking her text from the
Bible, she endeavored in vain to find the great curative Principle--the
Deity--in philosophy and schools of medicine, and she concluded that the
way of salvation demonstrated by Jesus was the power of Truth over all
error, sin, sickness, and death. Thus originated the divine or spiritual
Science of Mind-healing, which she termed Christian Science. She has a
palatial home in Boston and a country-seat in Concord, N.H. The Christian
Science Church has a membership of four thousand, and eight hundred of the
members are Bostonians.
* * * * *
[_N.Y. Commercial Advertiser_, January 9, 1895]
The idea that Christian Science has declined in popularity is not borne out
by the voluntary contribution of a quarter of a million dollars for a
memorial church for Mrs. Eddy, the inventor of this cure. The money comes
from Christian Science believers exclusively.
* * * * *
[_The Post_, Syracuse, New York, February 1, 1895]
DO NOT BELIEVE SHE WAS DEIFIED
CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS OF SYRACUSE SURPRISED AT THE NEWS ABOUT MRS. MARY
BAKER EDDY, FOUNDER OF THE FAITH
Christian Scientists in this city, and in fact all over the country, have
been startled and greatly discomfited over the announcements in New York
papers that Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, the acknowledged Christian Science
Leader, has been exalted by various dignitaries of the faith....
It is well known that Mrs. Eddy has resigned herself completely to the
study and foundation of the faith to which many thousands throughout the
United States are now so entirely devoted. By her followers and cobelievers
she is unquestionably looked upon as having a divine mission to fulfil,
and as though inspired in her great task by supernatural power.
For the purpose of learning the feeling of Scientists in this city toward
the reported deification of Mrs. Eddy, a _Post_ reporter called upon a few
of the leading members of the faith yesterday and had a number of very
interesting conversations upon the subject.
Mrs. D.W. Copeland of University Avenue was one of the first to be seen.
Mrs. Copeland is a very pleasant and agreeable lady, ready to converse, and
evidently very much absorbed in the work to which she has given so much of
her attention. Mrs. Copeland claims to have been healed a number of years
ago by Christian Scientists, after she had practically been given up by a
number of well-known physicians.
"And for the past eleven years," said Mrs. Copeland, "I have not taken any
medicine or drugs of any kind, and yet have been perfectly well."
In regard to Mrs. Eddy, Mrs. Copeland said that she was the Founder of the
faith, but that she had never claimed, nor did she believe that Mrs.
Lathrop had, that Mrs. Eddy had any power other than that which came from
God and through faith in Him and His teachings.
"The power of Christ has been dormant in mankind for ages," added the
speaker, "and it was Mrs. Eddy's mission to revive it. In our labors we
take Christ as an example, going about doing good and healing the sick.
Christ has told us to do his work, naming as one great essential that we
have faith in him.
"Did you ever hear of Jesus' taking medicine himself, or giving it to
others?" inquired the speaker. "Then why should we worry ourselves about
sickness and disease? If we become sick, God will care for us, and will
send to us those who have faith, who believe in His unlimited and divine
power. Mrs. Eddy was strictly an ardent follower after God. She had faith
in Him, and she cured herself of a deathly disease through the mediation of
her God. Then she secluded herself from the world for three years and
studied and meditated over His divine Word. She delved deep into the
Biblical passages, and at the end of the period came from her seclusion one
of the greatest Biblical scholars of the age. Her mission was then the
mission of a Christian, to do good and heal the sick, and this duty she
faithfully performed. She of herself had no power. But God has fulfilled
His promises to her and to the world. If you have faith, you can move
mountains."
Mrs. Henrietta N. Cole is also a very prominent member of the church. When
seen yesterday she emphasized herself as being of the same theory as Mrs.
Copeland. Mrs. Cole has made a careful and searching study in the beliefs
of Scientists, and is perfectly versed in all their beliefs and doctrines.
She stated that man of himself has no power, but that all comes from God.
She placed no credit whatever in the reports from New York that Mrs. Eddy
has been accredited as having been deified. She referred the reporter to
the large volume which Mrs. Eddy had herself written, and said that no more
complete and yet concise idea of her belief could be obtained than by a
perusal of it.
* * * * *
[_New York Herald_, February 6, 1895]
MRS. EDDY SHOCKED
[By Telegraph to the _Herald_]
Concord, N.H., February 4, 1895.--The article published in the _Herald_ on
January 29, regarding a statement made by Mrs. Laura Lathrop, pastor of the
Christian Science congregation that meets every Sunday in Hodgson Hall, New
York, was shown to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Christian Science
"Discoverer," to-day.
Mrs. Eddy preferred to prepare a written answer to the interrogatory, which
she did in this letter, addressed to the editor of the _Herald_:--
"A despatch is given me, calling for an interview to answer for
myself, 'Am I the second Christ?'
"Even the question shocks me. What I am is for God to declare in
His infinite mercy. As it is, I claim nothing more than what I am,
the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and the blessing
it has been to mankind which eternity enfolds.
"I think Mrs. Lathrop was not understood. If she said aught with
intention to be thus understood, it is not what I have taught her,
and not at all as I have heard her talk.
"My books and teachings maintain but one conclusion and statement
of the Christ and the deification of mortals.
"Christ is individual, and one with God, in the sense of divine
Love and its compound divine ideal.
"There was, is, and never can be but one God, one Christ, one
Jesus of Nazareth. Whoever in any age expresses most of the spirit
of Truth and Love, the Principle of God's idea, has most of the
spirit of Christ, of that Mind which was in Christ Jesus.
"If Christian Scientists find in my writings, teachings, and
example a greater degree of this spirit than in others, they can
justly declare it. But to think or speak of me in any manner as a
Christ, is sacrilegious. Such a statement would not only be false,
but the absolute antipode of Christian Science, and would savor
more of heathenism than of my doctrines.
"MARY BAKER EDDY."
* * * * *
[_The Globe_, Toronto, Canada, January 12, 1895]
[Extract]
CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS
DEDICATION TO THE FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF A BEAUTIFUL CHURCH AT
BOSTON--MANY TORONTO SCIENTISTS PRESENT
The Christian Scientists of Toronto, to the number of thirty, took part in
the ceremonies at Boston last Sunday and for the day or two following, by
which the members of that faith all over North America celebrated the
dedication of the church constructed in the great New England capital as a
testimonial to the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Rev. Mary
Baker Eddy.
The temple is believed to be the most nearly fire-proof church structure on
the continent, the only combustible material used in its construction
being that used in the doors and pews. A striking feature of the church is
a beautiful apartment known as the "Mother's Room," which is approached
through a superb archway of Italian marble set in the wall. The furnishing
of the "Mother's Room" is described as "particularly beautiful, and blends
harmoniously with the pale green and gold decoration of the walls. The
floor is of mosaic in elegant designs, and two alcoves are separated from
the apartment by rich hangings of deep green plush, which in certain lights
has a shimmer of silver. The furniture frames are of white mahogany in
special designs, elaborately carved, and the upholstery is in white and
gold tapestry. A superb mantel of Mexican onyx with gold decoration adorns
the south wall, and before the hearth is a large rug composed entirely of
skins of the eider-down duck, brought from the Arctic regions. Pictures and
bric-a-brac everywhere suggest the tribute of loving friends. One of the
two alcoves is a retiring-room and the other a lavatory in which the
plumbing is all heavily plated with gold."
* * * * *
[_Evening Monitor_, Concord, N.H., February 27, 1895]
AN ELEGANT SOUVENIR
REV. MARY BAKER EDDY MEMORIALIZED BY A CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH
Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer of Christian Science, has received from
the members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, an invitation
formally to accept the magnificent new edifice of worship which the church
has just erected.
The invitation itself is one of the most chastely elegant memorials ever
prepared, and is a scroll of solid gold, suitably engraved, and encased in
a handsome plush casket with white silk linings. Attached to the scroll is
a golden key of the church structure.
The inscription reads thus:--
_Dear Mother_:--During the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four a
church edifice was erected at the intersection of Falmouth and
Norway Streets, in the city of Boston, by the loving hands of four
thousand members. This edifice is built as a testimonial to Truth,
as revealed by divine Love through you to this age. You are hereby
most lovingly invited to visit and formally accept this
testimonial on the twentieth day of February, eighteen hundred and
ninety-five, at high noon.
"The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Boston, Mass.
"By EDWARD P. BATES,
"CAROLINE S. BATES.
"To the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy,
"Boston, January 6th, 1895."
* * * * *
[_People and Patriot_, Concord, N.H., February 27, 1895]
MAGNIFICENT TESTIMONIAL
Members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Boston, have forwarded
to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy of this city, the Founder of Christian Science, a
testimonial which is probably one of the most magnificent examples of the
goldsmith's art ever wrought in this country. It is in the form of a gold
scroll, twenty-six inches long, nine inches wide, and an eighth of an inch
thick.
It bears upon its face the following inscription, cut in script letters:--
"_Dear Mother_:--During the year 1894 a church edifice was erected
at the intersection of Falmouth and Norway Streets, in the city of
Boston, by the loving hands of four thousand members. This edifice
is built as a testimonial to Truth, as revealed by divine Love
through you to this age. You are hereby most lovingly invited to
visit and formally accept this testimonial on the 20th day of
February, 1895, at high noon.
"The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Boston, Mass.
"By EDWARD P. BATES,
"CAROLINE S. BATES.
"To the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy,
"Boston, January 6, 1895."
Attached by a white ribbon to the scroll is a gold key to the church door.
The testimonial is encased in a white satin-lined box of rich green velvet.
The scroll is on exhibition in the window of J.C. Derby's jewelry store.
* * * * *
[_The Union Signal_, Chicago]
[Extract]
THE NEW WOMAN AND THE NEW CHURCH
The dedication, in Boston, of a Christian Science temple costing over two
hundred thousand dollars, and for which the money was all paid in so that
no debt had to be taken care of on dedication day, is a notable event.
While we are not, and never have been, devotees of Christian Science, it
becomes us as students of public questions not to ignore a movement which,
starting fifteen years ago, has already gained to itself adherents in every
part of the civilized world, for it is a significant fact that one cannot
take up a daily paper in town or village--to say nothing of cities--without
seeing notices of Christian Science meetings, and in most instances they
are held at "headquarters."
We believe there are two reasons for this remarkable development, which has
shown a vitality so unexpected. The first is that a revolt was inevitable
from the crass materialism of the cruder science that had taken possession
of men's minds, for as a wicked but witty writer has said, "If there were
no God, we should be obliged to invent one." There is something in the
constitution of man that requires the religious sentiment as much as his
lungs call for breath; indeed, the breath of his soul is a belief in God.
But when Christian Science arose, the thought of the world's scientific
leaders had become materialistically "lopsided," and this condition can
never long continue. There must be a righting-up of the mind as surely as
of a ship when under stress of storm it is ready to capsize. The pendulum
that has swung to one extreme will surely find the other. The religious
sentiment in women is so strong that the revolt was headed by them; this
was inevitable in the nature of the case. It began in the most intellectual
city of the freest country in the world--that is to say, it sought the line
of least resistance. Boston is emphatically the women's
paradise,--numerically, socially, indeed every way. Here they have the
largest individuality, the most recognition, the widest outlook. Mrs. Eddy
we have never seen; her book has many a time been sent us by interested
friends, and out of respect to them we have fairly broken our mental teeth
over its granitic pebbles. That we could not understand it might be rather
to the credit of the book than otherwise. On this subject we have no
opinion to pronounce, but simply state the fact.
We do not, therefore, speak of the system it sets forth, either to praise
or blame, but this much is true: the spirit of Christian Science ideas has
caused an army of well-meaning people to believe in God and the power of
faith, who did not believe in them before. It has made a myriad of women
more thoughtful and devout; it has brought a hopeful spirit into the homes
of unnumbered invalids. The belief that "thoughts are things," that the
invisible is the only real world, that we are here to be trained into
harmony with the laws of God, and that what we are here determines where we
shall be hereafter--all these ideas are Christian.
The chimes on the Christian Science temple in Boston played "All hail the
power of Jesus' name," on the morning of the dedication. We did not attend,
but we learn that the name of Christ is nowhere spoken with more reverence
than it was during those services, and that he is set forth as the power of
God for righteousness and the express image of God for love.
* * * * *
[_The New Century_, Boston, February, 1895]
ONE POINT OF VIEW--THE NEW WOMAN
We all know her--she is simply the woman of the past with an added grace--a
newer charm. Some of her dearest ones call her "selfish" because she thinks
so much of herself she spends her whole time helping others. She represents
the composite beauty, sweetness, and nobility of all those who scorn self
for the sake of love and her handmaiden duty--of all those who seek the
brightness of truth not as the moth to be destroyed thereby, but as the
lark who soars and sings to the great sun. She is of those who have so much
to give they want no time to take, and their name is legion. She is as full
of beautiful possibilities as a perfect harp, and she realizes that all the
harmonies of the universe are in herself, while her own soul plays upon
magic strings the unwritten anthems of love. She is the apostle of the
true, the beautiful, the good, commissioned to complete all that the twelve
have left undone. Hers is the mission of missions--the highest of all--to
make the body not the prison, but the palace of the soul, with the brain
for its great white throne.
When she comes like the south wind into the cold haunts of sin and sorrow,
her words are smiles and her smiles are the sunlight which heals the
stricken soul. Her hand is tender--but steel tempered with holy resolve,
and as one whom her love had glorified once said--she is soft and gentle,
but you could no more turn her from her course than winter could stop the
coming of spring. She has long learned with patience, and to-day she knows
many things dear to the soul far better than her teachers. In olden times
the Jews claimed to be the conservators of the world's morals--they treated
woman as a chattel, and said that because she was created after man, she
was created solely for man. Too many still are Jews who never called
Abraham "Father," while the Jews themselves have long acknowledged woman as
man's proper helpmeet. In those days women had few lawful claims and no one
to urge them. True, there were Miriam and Esther, but they sang and
sacrificed for their people, not for their sex.
To-day there are ten thousand Esthers, and Miriams by the million, who sing
best by singing most for their own sex. They are demanding the right to
help make the laws, or at least to help enforce the laws upon which depends
the welfare of their husbands, their children, and themselves. Why should
our selfish self longer remain deaf to their cry? The date is no longer
B.C. Might no longer makes right, and in this fair land at least fear has
ceased to kiss the iron heel of wrong. Why then should we continue to
demand woman's love and woman's help while we recklessly promise as lover
and candidate what we never fulfil as husband and office-holder? In our
secret heart our better self is shamed and dishonored, and appeals from
Philip drunk to Philip sober, but has not yet the moral strength and
courage to prosecute the appeal. But the east is rosy, and the sunlight
cannot long be delayed. Woman must not and will not be disheartened by a
thousand denials or a million of broken pledges. With the assurance of
faith she prays, with the certainty of inspiration she works, and with the
patience of genius she waits. At last she is becoming "as fair as the morn,
as bright as the sun, and as terrible as an army with banners" to those who
march under the black flag of oppression and wield the ruthless sword of
injustice.
In olden times it was the Amazons who conquered the invincibles, and we
must look now to their daughters to overcome our own allied armies of evil
and to save us from ourselves. She must and will succeed, for as David
sang--"God shall help her, and that right early." When we try to praise her
later works it is as if we would pour incense upon the rose. It is the
proudest boast of many of us that we are "bound to her by bonds dearer than
freedom," and that we live in the reflected royalty which shines from her
brow. We rejoice with her that at last we begin to know what John on Patmos
meant--"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars." She brought to warring men the Prince of Peace, and he, departing,
left his scepter not in her hand, but in her soul. "The time of times" is
near when "the new woman" shall subdue the whole earth with the weapons of
peace. Then shall wrong be robbed of her bitterness and ingratitude of her
sting, revenge shall clasp hands with pity, and love shall dwell in the
tents of hate; while side by side, equal partners in all that is worth
living for, shall stand the new man with the new woman.
* * * * *
[_Christian Science Journal_, January, 1895]
[Extract]
THE MOTHER CHURCH
The Mother Church edifice--The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, is erected. The close of the year, Anno Domini 1894, witnessed the
completion of "our prayer in stone," all predictions and prognostications
to the contrary notwithstanding.
Of the significance of this achievement we shall not undertake to speak in
this article. It can be better felt than expressed. All who are awake
thereto have some measure of understanding of what it means. But only the
future will tell the story of its mighty meaning or unfold it to the
comprehension of mankind. It is enough for us now to know that all
obstacles to its completion have been met and overcome, and that our temple
is completed as God intended it should be.
This achievement is the result of long years of untiring, unselfish, and
zealous effort on the part of our beloved teacher and Leader, the Reverend
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who
nearly thirty years ago began to lay the foundation of this temple, and
whose devotion and consecration to God and humanity during the intervening
years have made its erection possible.
Those who now, in part, understand her mission, turn their hearts in
gratitude to her for her great work, and those who do not understand it
will, in the fulness of time, see and acknowledge it. In the measure in
which she has unfolded and demonstrated divine Love, and built up in human
consciousness a better and higher conception of God as Life, Truth, and
Love,--as the divine Principle of all things which really exist,--and in
the degree in which she has demonstrated the system of healing of Jesus and
the apostles, surely she, as the one chosen of God to this end, is entitled
to the gratitude and love of all who desire a better and grander humanity,
and who believe it to be possible to establish the kingdom of heaven upon
earth in accordance with the prayer and teachings of Jesus Christ.
* * * * *
[_Concord Evening Monitor_, March 23, 1895]
TESTIMONIAL AND GIFT
TO REV. MARY BAKER EDDY, FROM THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, IN
BOSTON
Rev. Mary Baker Eddy received Friday, from the Christian Science Board of
Directors, Boston, a beautiful and unique testimonial of the appreciation
of her labors and loving generosity in the Cause of their common faith. It
was a facsimile of the corner-stone of the new church of the Christian
Scientists, just completed, being of granite, about six inches in each
dimension, and contains a solid gold box, upon the cover of which is this
inscription:--
"To our Beloved Teacher, the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, from her affectionate Students, the Christian
Science Board of Directors."
On the under side of the cover are the facsimile signatures of the
Directors,--Ira O. Knapp, William B. Johnson, Joseph Armstrong, and Stephen
A. Chase, with the date, "1895." The beautiful souvenir is encased in an
elegant plush box.
Accompanying the stone testimonial was the following address from the Board
of Directors:--
Boston, March 20, 1895.
_To the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, our Beloved Teacher and
Leader_:--We are happy to announce to you the completion of The
First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.
In behalf of your loving students and all contributors wherever
they may be, we hereby present this church to you as a testimonial
of love and gratitude for your labors and loving sacrifice, as the
Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and the author of its
textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
We therefore respectfully extend to you the invitation to become
the permanent pastor of this church, in connection with the Bible
and the book alluded to above, which you have already ordained as
our pastor. And we most cordially invite you to be present and
take charge of any services that may be held therein. We
especially desire you to be present on the twenty-fourth day of
March, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, to accept this offering,
with our humble benediction.
Lovingly yours,
IRA O. KNAPP,
JOSEPH ARMSTRONG,
WILLIAM B. JOHNSON,
STEPHEN A. CHASE,
_The Christian Science Board of Directors_.
REV. MRS. EDDY'S REPLY
_Beloved Directors and Brethren_:--For your costly offering, and kind call
to the pastorate of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist," in
Boston--accept my profound thanks. But permit me, respectfully, to decline
their acceptance, while I fully appreciate your kind intentions. If it will
comfort you in the least, make me your _Pastor Emeritus_, nominally.
Through my book, your textbook, I already speak to you each Sunday. You ask
too much when asking me to accept your grand church edifice. I have more of
earth now, than I desire, and less of heaven; so pardon my refusal of that
as a material offering. More effectual than the forum are our states of
mind, to bless mankind. This wish stops not with my pen--God give you
grace. As our church's tall tower detains the sun, so may luminous lines
from your lives linger, a legacy to our race.
MARY BAKER EDDY.
March 25, 1895.
* * * * *
LIST OF LEADING NEWSPAPERS WHOSE ARTICLES ARE OMITTED
From Canada to New Orleans, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, the
author has received leading newspapers with uniformly kind and interesting
articles on the dedication of The Mother Church. They were, however, too
voluminous for these pages. To those which are copied she can append only a
few of the names of other prominent newspapers whose articles are
reluctantly omitted.
EASTERN STATES
_Advertiser_, Calais, Me.
_Advertiser_, Boston, Mass.
_Farmer_, Bridgeport, Conn.
_Independent_, Rockland, Mass.
_Kennebec Journal_, Augusta, Me.
_News_, New Haven, Conn.
_News_, Newport, R.I.
_Post_, Boston, Mass.
_Post_, Hartford, Conn.
_Republican_, Springfield, Mass.
_Sentinel_, Eastport, Me.
_Sun_, Attleboro, Mass.
MIDDLE STATES
_Advertiser_, New York City.
_Bulletin_, Auburn, N.Y.
_Daily_, York, Pa.
_Evening Reporter_, Lebanon, Pa.
_Farmer_, Bridgeport, Conn.
_Herald_, Rochester, N.Y.
_Independent_, Harrisburg, Pa.
_Inquirer_, Philadelphia, Pa.
_Independent_, New York City.
_Journal_, Lockport, N.Y.
_Knickerbocker_, Albany, N.Y.
_News_, Buffalo, N.Y.
_News_, Newark, N.J.
_Once A Week_, New York City.
_Post_, Pittsburgh, Pa.
_Press_, Albany, N.Y.
_Press_, New York City.
_Press_, Philadelphia, Pa.
_Saratogian_, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
_Sun_, New York City.
_Telegram_, Philadelphia, Pa.
_Telegram_, Troy, N.Y.
_Times_, Trenton, N.J.
SOUTHERN STATES
_Commercial_, Louisville, Ky.
_Journal_, Atlanta, Ga.
_Post_, Washington, D.C.
_Telegram_, New Orleans, La.
_Times_, New Orleans, La.
_Times-Herald_, Dallas, Tex.
WESTERN STATES
_Bee_, Omaha, Neb.
_Bulletin_, San Francisco, Cal.
_Chronicle_, San Francisco, Cal.
_Elite_, Chicago, Ill.
_Enquirer_, Oakland, Cal.
_Free Press_, Detroit, Mich.
_Gazette_, Burlington, Iowa.
_Herald_, Grand Rapids, Mich.
_Herald_, St. Joseph, Mo.
_Journal_, Columbus, Ohio.
_Journal_, Topeka, Kans.
_Leader_, Bloomington, Ill.
_Leader_, Cleveland, Ohio.
_News_, St. Joseph, Mo.
_News-Tribune_, Duluth, Minn.
_Pioneer-Press_, St. Paul, Minn.
_Post-Intelligencer_, Seattle, Wash.
_Salt Lake Herald_, Salt Lake City, Utah.
_Sentinel_, Indianapolis, Ind.
_Sentinel_, Milwaukee, Wis.
_Star_, Kansas City, Mo.
_Telegram_, Portland, Ore.
_Times_, Chicago, Ill.
_Times_, Minneapolis, Minn.
_Tribune_, Minneapolis, Minn.
_Tribune_, Salt Lake City, Utah.
_Free Press_, London, Can.
THE PLIMPTON PRESS NORWOOD MASS USA
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: See footnote on page nine.]
[Footnote B: This sum was increased to $5,568.51 by contributions which
reached the Treasurer after the Dedicatory Services.]
[Footnote C: Steps were taken to promote the Church of Christ Scientist in
April, May and June; formal organization was accomplished and the charter
obtained in August, 1879.]
[Footnote D: NOTE:--About 1868, the author of Science and Health
healed Mr. Whittier with one visit, at his home in Amesbury, of incipient
pulmonary consumption.--M.B. EDDY.]
[Footnote E: At Mrs. Eddy's request the lamp was not kept burning.]
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