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A LIFE Sl^r PORTRAIT

DR. LYMAN P. POWELL

JLhis is an authentic story of the life
and work of Mary Baker Eddy, the Dis
coverer and Founder of Christian Sci
ence as written by Dr. Lyman P. Powell
while he was actively serving as a rector
of a Protestant Episcopal church in New
York City. For many years prior to the
writing of this book, which was origi
nally published in 1930, Dr. Powell had
been collecting material both favorable
and adverse to Mrs. Eddy and the
Church she founded. In addition, The
Christian Science Board of Directors of
The Mother Church, The First Church
of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massa
chusetts made available for Dr. Powell s
study, thousands of papers and letters
to which no biographer had previously
had access. The result is u sympathetic
study, notable for its honesty and sin
cere appreciation of this remarkable re
ligious leader.

KANSAS CITY, MO. PUBLIC LIBRARY

92
Powell

Baker Eddy

60-165*1-5

SEP J960
"IT?/

MARY BAKER EDDY

Used by permission.

Mary Baker Eddy

A Life Size Portrait

LYMAN P. POWELL

The Christian Science Publishing Society
Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A.

The Christian Science Publishing Society

Boston, Massachusetts

All quotations in this book are duly copyrighted in the
United States of America, Canada, England, France, and
other foreign countries and are used by permission of the
copyright owners: namely, The Christian Science Board
of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, Massachusetts; the Trustees under the Will of
Mary Baker G. Eddy; and the Board of Trustees of The
Christian Science Publishing Society.

Library of Congress Catalogue Card No. 51-544
Printed in U. S. A.

MY MOTHER

MARY ANN POWELL
1829-1906

6 1 6 b -1 b

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free. John 8:32

And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for
that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ
Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do
unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.

Mary Baker Eddy

I love the prosperity of Zion, be it promoted by
Catholic, by Protestant, or by Christian Science.
... I would no more quarrel with a man because
of his religion than I would because of his art.

Mary Baker Eddy

If this . . . work be of men, it will come to nought:
But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.

Acts 5:38, 39

This biography of Mary Baker Eddy by Dr.
Lyman P. Powell has been approved by The
Christian Science Board of Directors for sale
or use in Christian Science Reading Rooms. It
is a fair and intelligent account of Mrs.
Eddy s life and an estimate of her work by
an author who is not a Christian Scientist
but who, as a minister of another Christian
denomination^ has observed her career and
the development of its results for many
years. Such a book by an independent bi
ographer, who has sought information at its
natural sozirces, should be of particular in
terest to persons who have heard or read ac
counts of Mrs. Eddy by speakers or writen
who were not correctly informed or were
actuated by hostility. Dr. Powell s con
clusions as well as his narrations are en^
tirely his own.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Prologue 1

CHAPTER

I A Challenge 25

II A Rich Girlhood 52

III Finding Herself 72

IV Building the Book 106

V Founder 140

VI At Pleasant View 170

VII "The Full Grain in the Ear" . . . . 211

VIII "By Their Fruits" 244

Twenty Years After 266

Notes 273

Index 319

ILLUSTRATIONS
Mary Baker Eddy Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Dedicated in 1895 30

The Mother Church 46

Sunrise at Bow 62

Earliest Known Picture of Mrs. Eddy ... 78

Mary Baker Eddy 94

Mrs. Eddy as She Looked at Lynn and Stoughton

About 1867 110

Number 8, Broad Street, Lynn 126

Mrs. Eddy in the Early Days at Boston . . . 142
The Portrait of Mrs. Eddy Painted in Her Latest

Years 158

Mrs. Eddy Speaking, June, 1903, from the Balcony

of Pleasant View to 10,000 Christian Scientists 174
Mrs. Eddy Leaving Pleasant View for Her Daily

Drive 190

Returning to Pleasant View 206

The Chestnut Hill Residence 222

Mrs. Eddy s Study, Chestnut Hill 238

The Leader in Her Chestnut Hill Days . . . 254

MARY BAKER EDDY

PROLOGUE

NOWHERE is Thanksgiving Day so meaningful as
in New England where the day originated. To
the Rector of St. John s Episcopal Church in
Northampton, Massachusetts, Thanksgiving Day, 1906,
proved to be unwontedly significant. Long more or less
interested in Christian Science, this interest had a year
before been accentuated by the discovery, which many
other clergymen were making, that as a rule conventional
Christians who came under the influence of Christian
Science were likely to fall away from whatever church to
which they might previously have been more or less at
tached, in order to give full allegiance to the new faith.

In American religious life there was then nothing
quite so puzzling as this new phenomenon. Few outside
Christian Science knew how to account for it, and not
all within, even with the best intentions, appeared able
to interpret it with understanding to the average man.
The vocabulary of Christian Science sounded strange in
his ears. Its teachings required closer consideration than
he could give them. The problems it presented were
more intellectual than emotional. They had to be thought
out, and of course no clergyman could shift his thinking
to anybody else.

In many a pulpit, sermons in explanation were preached
which did not explain. The pulpit did perhaps the best
it could in such a novel situation. But it rarely knew
enough, and did not know it did not know. About
the only thing concerning which the more thoughtful

2 MARY BAKER EDDY

preachers agreed was that there were certain differences
of opinion between Christian Science and other folds in
regard to philosophy and theology; and between Christian
Science and medicine radical differences in theory and
practice which it appeared useless to attempt to reconcile.

The Rector of St. John s preached no specific sermon
on Christian Science. When in the pulpit he mentioned
it at all, it was usually in casual praise. He had another
way in his opinion more effective of dealing with a
situation for which nothing in his theological training
could prepare a minister in that day to deal. Having a
church at the center of the biggest woman s college in
the world, and a considerable representation of "gown"
as well as "town" in his congregation, the Rector of
St. John s wrote for his flock alone, a booklet in which
he set forth what he believed to be the virtues as well
as the defects of a faith which, for practical purposes,
had suddenly emerged above the American horizon.

The booklet appeared on November 15, 1906. It
began with the comparison, which the author still deems
sound, of Christian Scientists with Apostolic Christians:

Some of the purest souls alive today are Christian Scientists.
They have done much good. They have helped the sick,
reclaimed the prodigal, brought surcease to many a sorrow, tem
pered men s asperities and given a sense of unity and harmony
where before were disunity and discord. To an age grown
weary and impatient of dogmatism, . . . Christian Scientists have
brought something of the warmth and glow, the freshness and
the spontaneity, the poise and the sincerity, the gladness and the
otherworldliness which suffused the Apostolic age and made it
all alive with spiritual power. If Christianity is true, it is joyously,
stupendously true. It is so true that all other truths in life seem
but partial or secondary by its side.

PROLOGUE 3

The early Christians gave proof at every turn that theirs was
a faith somewhat like this. They "did eat their meat with glad
ness and singleness of heart." They lived above life s fret and
turmoil. They won and kept the peace which passeth knowledge.
They endured whatever came their way, as seeing Him who is
invisible. They lived for Jesus Christ, and him alone. Knit
together "in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and
charity," they went out to win the world to Christ. . . .

Christian Scientists have many of the marks of Apostolic days
upon them. Some of them are a protest . . . against the world-
liness and the ecclesiasticism which afflict the church, and the
materialism and meanness which constitute a continuous menace
to the world. They furnish men proof positive and peace-
bringing, that where there is a will there is a way to live the
spirit s life against all odds.

In response to a copy of the booklet sent in courtesy
to the Committee on Publication 1 of The First Church
of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, a letter of acknowledgment
written in a kindly spirit was received in Northampton,
on Thanksgiving morning. Its closing paragraph begins:
"It is a mystery why you clergymen do not recognize
the beauty of Christian Science and recommend it unre
servedly to your followers."

Scarcely had the Rector finished his Thanksgiving
dinner before he was dictating an eight-page letter in
reply so indicative of the author s attitude at the time
that it is here quoted freely:

To say that I am interested in your letter is to speak with
moderation. I am delighted with it because its friendliness and
open-mindedness make it possible for me to hope that you and
I may have a freer and a franker talk about the subject . . . than
newspaper columns permit.

... I do believe that the spokesmen for Christian Science are
trying to make their position clear to the great world. ... I

4 MARY BAKER EDDY

gladly express abhorrence of all that business of a month ago
when an aged woman s privacy was so rudely invaded to make
newspaper "copy." I ... yield to no one in my admiration
for the singular purity and nobility of many Christian Science
characters, and in my sincere gratitude for the great good that
has been done. May I go farther and say that every day my
conviction deepens that God has called Christian Science to do
a work of more significance than can possibly be foreseen?

There are three contributions Christian Science is making to
the world . . . :

1. It is turning the thoughts of men back to the power the
mind spiritualized has over the body. The doctors have neglected
this truth to a great extent, the Christian Churches almost alto
gether. Christian Science is forcing the truth on the minds of
men, and in another decade, I believe, thanks largely to Christian
Science, every church will emphasize what it now neglects.

2. It is turning men and women into Bible readers and thus
bringing them as no other set of people are to the very source
of spiritual life. Nothing can be more important than that, and
no later than last Sunday I paid glad tribute in my pulpit to
Christian Science for this service and called my people to a new
and more devout reading of the Bible every day.

3. It is restoring something of Apostolic spontaneity and
serenity and devotion to an ideal and of attendance on church
services to our time sadly in need of it; and of this too I spoke
last Sunday to my people. It is this especially that makes me
feel that God has a good and great work for Christian Science
in this land.

Why then do we clergymen, as you inquire, "not recognize
the beauty of Christian Science and recommend it unreservedly"
to our followers? I will tell you ... in the same friendliness
and frankness which characterize your good letter.

Then follows a detailed statement of the honest differ
ences of opinion, as the Rector understood them, between
the orthodox church and Christian Science in regard to
the inner meanings of philosophy, the essentials of theol-

PROLOGUE 5

ogy, and the significance of the sacramental system to
which Episcopalians are committed. But points of agree
ment may, on wiser reflection, claim and reward close
examination far more than absorption in dispute over
differences. It was for these the Rector looked. He said,
"I want to praise. I want to find some common ground
on which we both can stand."

As the Rector was then writing much on new develop
ments in religion for the Review of Reviews, Good
Housekeeping, and also various weekly joarnals, he
expressed the hope that it might be made possible for
him to interpret Christian Science aright to the general
reading public at a time when snap judgments were per
haps too frequent.

No more courteous reply could have been made to
this overture than the one received from the Committee
on Publication on December 5, 1906, and the friendly
relationship then begun has proved, at least to the author,
advantageous, as through the years he has been making
preparations, unconsciously but nevertheless steadily, for
the writing of the present book.

That winter the McClure^s articles on Mary Baker
Eddy began to appear. On their face, they seemed to
bear evidence of the same will to investigate which
characterized the serials running, during the first years
of this century, in the magazines, concerning the past
of big business and big business men. "Debunking" was
the order of the day, and for a time few knew but that
it might be their turn next. The Rector s interest in
Christian Science, already keen, was further whetted by
a publisher s suggestion that he prepare a volume which
would answer some of the questions which he had raised

6 MARY BAKER EDDY

in his parish booklet, at a time when the average reader
had little choice between books of adulation and of con
demnation. He accepted the commission with a strong
desire to produce something which would deserve the
judgment actually accorded his work, when it finally
appeared, by the Springfield Republican: "A fair-minded
and judicial interpretation of Christian Science by one
who is neither its assailant nor its defender."

In the course of his preparation for the writing of the
book, he tried to check up by interviews and letters as
many of the statements as possible then appearing in the
press. On his quest he visited various places. The corre
spondence which, in some cases, he started, continued
after the book was published, and today constitutes evi
dence the more convincing because the letters were sent
avowedly to help the author to write with understanding.
His correspondents expressed themselves the more spon
taneously and freely because never once were they asked
to make affidavits.

As a critic has written the author, much of the testimony
of that period was one-sided. Out of the obscurity of
small-town life, some of the witnesses not all emerged
into a nation-wide notoriety, the enjoyment of which
they made no effort to conceal. Not in every instance,
dryly observes a critic, were "they the kind of sources
we would have chosen." Such as seemed accessible were
reported to have been interviewed; sometimes also their
affidavits were taken.

Just as the author was wondering how he could possibly
discover witnesses closer to Mrs. Eddy and more compe
tent to testify, he received on May 4, 1907, a courteous
letter from the Committee on Publication in Boston,

PROLOGUE 7

which opened the way for a discussion of some of the
problems involved.

But the summer of 1907 was not a favorable time for
the author to collect material. Growth within and public
clamor without had thrust so many new and unexpected
duties upon all persons in any way engaged in Christian
Science work, that granting to such an insistent investi
gator as the author all the time and help he wished was
physically impossible.

Besides, most of the materials now available were yet
to be collected; for it was not until the latter part of 1907,
that there began the systematic and comprehensive mobi
lizing of the data, which at first consisted of Mrs. Eddy s
letters to church officers. No special need for the materials
had been foreseen; or, for that matter, could have been.
As always Mrs. Eddy s attention was concentrated on
things she counted of more spiritual import than the
compilation of information concerning herself. Some of
the letters, which perhaps the author might have seen,
had come without expectation of their publication; and
the mere routine of getting from various quarters per
mission for their use in a book would have taken time
and care not then available to a staff already overworked. 2

Although the "Next Friends Suit" did not come up in
court until August, 1907, the action had months before
been brought, and through the entire spring preparation
to meet it was taxing every heart and mind in any way
concerned. Owing to complete and inevitable failure to
understand the conditions surrounding Mrs. Eddy, the
author was persistently pressing her people for definite,
even documentary, information; to which he added the
request that, in company with the venerable Edward

8 MARY BAKER EDDY

Everett Hale, he be allowed at her convenience to pay a
call on Mrs. Eddy.

The hesitation and reluctance which the Committee
on Publication showed to take steps for the granting of
a request which seemed to the author altogether reasonable,
he did not understand. In his much writing, his habit
had always been to go in every instance to the supreme
source. Diplomatists and United States Senators, Presi
dents and Prime Ministers had opened wide their doors
to him. In preparing, shortly before, his Historic Towns
of New England,, such men as President Charles William
Eliot, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Edward
Everett Hale, and a score of other eminent New Eng-
landers had personally assisted him. Why Mrs. Eddy s
door should be the only one in all New England which
would not open to him, puzzled the author.

Now he understands. The circumstances that year
were beyond even Mrs. Eddy s control. Long one of
the busiest women in the world, Mrs. Eddy had already
been obliged to write her Boston representative, "I shall
not be subject to interviews and you must not subject
me to them. My time is worth more for good than to risk
its misuse or to be so used by others." 3

In due season, the author s book appeared. The preface
opened:

Christian Science has long engaged my interest. For years I
discouraged none who sought its healing ministry. The undis-
criminating censure visited upon it in apparent ignorance or
prejudice made no impression on me. The desire Christian Scien
tists were constantly expressing to be judged by their fruits
seemed to me to be both Christian and scientific.

In the copious notes of reference to his sources at the

PROLOGUE 9

end of the book, the statement was inserted that he had
"spared no effort to find all the evidence there is." He
took pains also to announce that he would stand ready
to revise the book, should new evidence come to light
at any time to make revision necessary in the interest
of truth.

During the years that followed, his appreciation of
Christian Science grew, along with his amazement that
no presentation, fully documented and satisfying to critic
as to public, was in print touching a woman who had a
record to her credit of more extraordinary and benignant
things in life than any other woman in the history of
the world. He had in fact to wait until 1930 to find that
Mrs. Eddy, with characteristic wisdom, had once observed
that neither the time nor the person had come to write
her life story.

The year 1910 brought to the author s eye many edi
torial appreciations which were evoked by Mrs. Eddy s
passing. As he now looks back across the twenty years
which have since intervened, he believes he then took
a distinct step forward in understanding her personality
and achievements.

Selected the next year by the editors of the Schaff-
Herzog Encyclopaedia of Religious Literature to write a
judicial estimate, to be published midway between articles
of commendation and of criticism of Mrs. Eddy and her
faith, his article closed with this paragraph:

The public has no longer any disposition to deny that from
the standpoint of achievement Mrs. Eddy stood alone among the
women of the world. . . . Mrs. Eddy and her followers have
identified themselves as have no others in the world with the
religious and the philosophical revolt against materialism.

10 MARY BAKER EDDY

The World War broke and furnished the most con
vincing demonstration in the history of the world of the
unspeakable ravages to which wrong thinking may lead.
More people than ever began to realize that there is
something in Christian Science, as one critic had observed,
"wholly gracious and beautiful." Significantly enough
he added: "It would be difficult satisfactorily to explain
why or how or by what argument that power should
be nonexistent in Christians now."

As America in 1917 was on the brink of the World
War, the author again wrote for publication:

In the last ten years Christian Science has certainly encouraged
daily Bible reading, until now Christian Scientists are probably
the most assiduous Bible readers in the world. They still avoid
antagonisms. They keep singularly serene. They average high
in otherworldliness. It looks as though . . . they were .endeav
oring to make the most of the spiritual reality which those who
study far into the movement easily discover.

While overseas, a little later, to observe the effect of
the war on English and French educational institutions,
and during the two or three years that followed speaking
in hundreds of places throughout the land, the author
never lost a chance to add new impressions to the old of
Christian Science. Everywhere he found the same devo
tion to things of the spirit, the same inconspicuous
efficiency, and the same loyalty to the woman of their
love and faith.

Moreover, his community contacts in such places as
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, where he had a suburban
home, taught him to expect Christian Scientists to be
found on the right side of public questions, from the
education of the young to the reclamation of the old.

PROLOGUE 11

In fact, more than once he had hearty co-operation from
individual Christian Scientists in what are ordinarily
termed ministerial duties, complicated in those days by
the social dislocations and the family smash-ups which
the War had brought.

By 1921 when he received an invitation to contribute
the article on "Science and Health" to the Cambridge
History o] American Literature^ he had become convinced
that there was too much constructive achievement to the
credit of Mrs. Eddy to withhold full credit from her
longer. "Christian Science," he therefore wrote, "is really
its founder s creation. Where she got this idea, or where
that, little matters. As a whole the system described in
Science and Health is hers, and nothing that can ever
happen will make it less than hers." 4

Of Christian Scientists his closing words ran thus:

With allowance for those in every religion who do not try to
live up to its highest teachings, they measurably avoid friction
and irritation and preserve considerable serenity and otherworld-
liness amid temptations which many of us seem unable to resist.
They have to their credit a widely read daily paper which for
editorial ability as well as excellent news service ranks among the
best journals in the country. Finally, as the years go by, it is
thought by many that Christian Scientists seem to be increasingly
disposed to emphasize only the outstanding virtues which their
book teaches, and in consequence to bring forth "the fruit of the
spirit love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." 5

During the decade which opened with the appearance
of the Cambridge History ^ America soared to the pinnacle
of material achievement. Power both to earn and to enjoy
was increased. The hours of labor were reduced. Com
forts multiplied. The so-called hostilities of nature shrank,

12 MARY BAKER EDDY

and her benevolences increased. The standard of physical
fitness rose until it became bad form to enjoy ill health,
or even to talk of being sick. Speaking of symptoms
ceased to be an indoor sport except in institutions tarrying
overlong in the past. Death lost much of its terror. Too
ostentatious mourning gravitated into the discard. The
Christian Science phrase "to pass on" began to dispute
popularity with the word "dying," long associated, too
long indeed, with the dark and dismal.

Developments during this same decade in the academic
world of science took place, which, to say the least, were
hardly anticipated. Millikan began to strip the "atom"
of its coating. 6 Eddington denied "actuality" apart from
consciousness. Haldane made the individual mind a part
of that "absolute or unconditioned mind," which was in
the thought of St. Paul when he stated that "in him we
live, and move, and have our being." Kirtley F. Mather
of Harvard observed last April, as reported in The
Churchman, in a Boston parish meeting, that "scientists
are more and more coming not only to acknowledge the
existence of spiritual forces, but to give all phenomena
a spiritual interpretation." But Christian Scientists had
long been holding to the familiar phrase of Mrs. Eddy:
"There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in
matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation,
for God is All-in-all." 7

For better or for worse, religion, as well as science,
began to feel the urge to restate its position. Defining
God went on as energetically as ever. If God has not
at last been defined to death in many a theological camp,
most of us may perhaps take to heart the warning which
Goethe gave to Eckermann:

PROLOGUE 13

Dear boy, what do we know of the idea of the Divine; and
what can our narrow conceptions presume to tell of the Supreme
Being? If I called him by a hundred names like a Turk, I should
yet fall short and have said nothing in comparison to the bound
lessness of his attributes. 8

Two preachers who grew so discouraged that they
left the ministry this year past would seem to illustrate
some adverse consequences of these unsettled conditions.
One is a Presbyterian, two years out of seminary and
still in the middle of his twenties. The other is an Episco
palian in the maturity of middle life and, until the other
day, rector of a conspicuous church in New York City.
The reasons for their withdrawal appeared in two popular
magazines. 9

After one year in the ministry, the younger man
withdraws because, to cite some of his words:

I am muckle sick of the optimistic slush with which the pastors
are lulling their congregations to sleep by congratulating them
upon their Christian piety and assuring them that God loves
them. I am also sick of all this talk about the hunger of the
human heart for "pure religion and undefiled." The attempt to
interest men in the church by feeding them chicken dinners
belies this theory. Why can t we say quite frankly that the
great majority of moderns care nothing about the church or
Him it represents? Why don t we confess that the statistics
showing forty million Christians in this country are a monu
mental joke? The religious longing is ineradicably carved upon
the human heart, say the philosophers. Very beautiful, but untrue.
I fear it is a desire for "weenie" roasts and bowling-alleys rather
than for religion.

The more mature man has become convinced that the
Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century blundered
in substituting preaching for worship; that the recent
rapid subsidence of church going leads logically to the

14 MARY BAKER EDDY

closing of the churches; and that, with little prospect
of developing a spiritual technique, which will help the
individual every day as well as Sunday to be aware of
God, Protestantism will soon be over the abyss.

As between the two diagnoses submitted, the author
is unable to accept either. Anxious about many things,
he is not anxious about God. Conscious of human limita
tions, to the author every new problem is nothing more
than a new challenge to wrest a solution out of the
unknown; to find in an enlarging understanding of the
revelation which Christ Jesus gave of God the solution
of all problems, old and new. 10

But, no matter what the risk in too elaborate defining,
each mind must still give its account of God. It must
state the reason for the faith within it. The ability to
do so always depends on having first-hand faith, on
knowing God first-hand. Many of our intellectual inter
ests we may pass on to others. Some we may refer to a
"Committee of the Whole." But, in the higher life, each
must know God with the heart. If we doubt we have
a heart, we have to grow a heart to know God, to know
God intimately near as well as infinitely far. The business,
therefore, of growing a heart is always pressing. Nobody
can grow a heart for anybody else. The only way to
prove that we have grown a heart is to submit to the
universal test found in Edna St. Vincent Millay s verse:

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;

PROLOGUE 15

The soul can split the sky in two
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That cannot keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat the sky
Will close in on him by and by. 11

Divisions among Christians have lost God from many
a heart. That is why men like Bishops Brent and Manning,
Doctors Burris Jenkins and Macfarland (the latter having
recently rounded out twenty years of executive direction
of the Federal Council of Churches), in season and out,
have called Christendom to get together on at least a
working basis. That is why as long ago as November 12,
1906, Mrs. Eddy wrote Dr. Hamilton Holt, then Editor
of The Independent^ now President of Rollins College,
Florida: "I love the prosperity of Zion, be it promoted
by Catholic, by Protestant, or by Christian Science, which
anoints with Truth, opening the eyes of the blind and
healing the sick. I would no more quarrel with a man
because of his religion than I would because of his art."

History has been a succession of revelations of the
Highest, flashing forth when the night looked blackest.
And so today as yesterday:

I know of lands that are sunk in shame,

And hearts that faint and tire;

And I know of men who ask not fame

Who would give their lives for the fire.

I know of hearts that despair of help

And lives that could kindle to flame,

And I know a Name, a Name, a Name

Can set these lives on fire.

Its soul is a brand, its letters flame;

I know a Name, a Name, a Name

Twill set these lives on fire. 13

16 MARY BAKER EDDY

When the resurgence of critical interest in Christian
Science came a year ago, the author was invited, at a
New York luncheon table, to speak out his opinion of
the situation. His reply to the friends who made the
request, one of whom had been editor of the Christian
Science periodicals and was himself the writer of several
books, was an outright declaration that the time had come
for the spokesmen of Christian Science effectively and
finally to lift discussion out of the lowlands of controversy,
to the heights of general understanding. To one he
observed:

You ought to write a book based on the hitherto unused mate
rials which your church must have, and for all time lay some of
the smaller bothers and misapprehensions which every little while
reappear. The climate has changed. The public is weary of con
troversy. Christian Scientists have done too many fine things to
be disturbed so often by vexatious disputation. Bring it to an
end the only way you can.

Almost chapter by chapter, the author blocked out the
book he thought the times require. As the group broke
up, each going his own way, it was assumed that such a
book would soon be written by some one belonging to
the fold with access to the abundant sources, which have
of late been assembled by the authorities of the church.
In due season, arrangements were made for a conference
between the author and The Christian Science Board of
Directors in Boston, consisting of Mr. Edward A. Merritt,
Mr. William R. Rathvon, Mrs. Annie M. Knott, Mr.
George Wendell Adams, and Mr. Charles E. Heitman.
His vision of the book which he believed should be
written could now be thrown on a somewhat larger canvas
than was possible at a luncheon table. After several dis-

PROLOGUE 17

cussions, in which all present shared, agreement seemed
to be general that the time at last had come to supplement
the writings of the generation past, based on partial
knowledge as they had to be, by a life-size portrait of
Mrs. Eddy, for which the many new facts available might
furnish the material. Such a book would have to be free
from pettiness. Controversy would not be sought. It
ought not merely to be based on original sources but also
to be written with such simplicity and engaging freshness
as would make it readable to all.

While humanizing Mrs. Eddy, this book would nat
urally not neglect to make much of the extraordinary
foresight shown in her constructive work of instituting,
organizing, and administering a movement which grew
so fast as to attract the world s attention in her lifetime
and to hold it since her passing on. Every incident
accepted for inclusion would be chosen with relationship
to this larger purpose, and nothing intentionally over
looked which would help to give Mrs. Eddy her proper
place among world builders.

As the discussions developed, the conclusion slowly
emerged that in order to interest and inform the public
outside, in addition to those within Christian Science, the
book would better be written by one without the fold
and yet who had given proof that he possessed a good
general understanding both of the movement and of its
originator.

By a process of elimination, finally the task fell to this
author. The Board of Directors generously promised him
free access to the rich sources committed to their care, and
also to respond to any proper requests for assistance that
might be necessary in the execution of the task. No pledge

18 MARY BAKER EDDY

was asked by the Directors of him, and he gave none.

Before reaching a final decision, he talked over the
matter with friends in New York and elsewhere. They
agreed with him as to the desirability of such a book, and
predicted general interest on the part of the public in it.
Dr. Albert Shaw, whose monumental life of Lincoln
now appearing is a model, tersely advised, "Tell the
story as though it never had been told before."

As, at last, the author approached his task, he felt that
his background of twenty-five years of deepening appre
ciation of the significance of Christian Science and of
the personality of Mrs. Eddy should be an asset. On the
other hand, his conviction seemed warranted that, with
access granted to the colossal collection of original mate
rials the most valuable part of which, for the author s
purpose, had been collected in the last few years the
hour had struck for the life-size portrait of Mary Baker
Eddy to be made.

On both sides, there was risk. The author might dis
appoint the Board of Directors. Every writer knows that
between having a vision and projecting it on paper, a
wide gulf yawns. Almost anything can happen to obscure
a writer s insight, or to divert him from his course. Many
a book has been marred by listening overmuch to counsel
in its preparation. Many a book has been dwarfed by
refusing counsel altogether. Even after investigation
begins, conditions may not prove as favorable as they
at first appeared. Sometimes the sources disappoint. They
prove less important on close inspection than they prom
ised in the distance, or they turn out so amorphous, so
unordered, so impossible to classify, that they are unwork
able. But whatever difficulties arise, once an author

PROLOGUE 19

assumes his task, his is the inescapable responsibility to
see it through in his own way.

On the other hand, the Board of Directors, through no
fault of its own, might disappoint the author. More
than once Mrs. Eddy herself had been misunderstood.
Starting out possibly with good intentions members of
her own household had, now and then, turned into foes.
Furthermore, a part of the failure in those early days to
grasp her meaning, was due to the novelty of her teaching.
She humorously reported that on one occasion asking all
those in her audience to stand up who had understood
what she said, not one stood up. Since Mrs. Eddy passed
on, the directorate, now representing her, have not always
found their course clear or their task easy. The responsi
bility to direct the movement, to care for the flock which
Mrs. Eddy mothered so wisely, rests upon their shoulders,
and they must take no unnecessary risks.

But, if the task could be performed with the under
standing of all concerned, it might be worth doing. The
book would then, perhaps, do its bit to instill public
confidence in a group which too few outsiders realize
train themselves with the same meticulous care to live the
higher life as the "track" man trains for his "meet," or
the pianist practices for his concert appearances.

Certain conditions, on both sides, would naturally be
observed. The author must be left untrammeled in his
work. His habits of intellectual creativeness which for
years had been developing must be respected. His time
must be conserved. In spite of his marked social instincts,
he had for a season to deny them indulgence. Financially,
he had to be independent. The book was to be his book.
If evidently official or inspired, his chief purpose in writing

20 MARY BAKER EDDY

it might be defeated. On these terms the author set about
his task; and as he nears its close, he gladly testifies that
the faith pledged to him has been kept. He has been
permitted to consult everything necessary to the under
standing of the subject. Nothing has been withheld to
which he sought access. By day as well as night, he has
come and gone, as suited his convenience, on these errands
of research. Unvarying courtesy has been shown him.
There has been no infringement of his personal integrity
or of his financial independence. All necessary aids have
been at hand.

Being somewhat familiar with some of the greater
libraries of the world, from the British Museum to the
Library of Congress, the author cannot speak too highly
of the originality, resourcefulness, efficiency, and unselfish
service rendered by the Christian Science staff. No place
does he know where a book of this type could have been
done with such ease. In many excellent libraries, an
investigator counts it no hardship sometimes to wait long
for an important document to be placed before him. In
the preparation of this book, the author cannot recall an
instance in which what he has required has not been,
without delay, forthcoming, so excellently organized is
the entire department, so carefully ordered are the rich
materials of which they take tender and intelligent care.

Since a biography is rarely written as completely as
this from original sources, the reader may care to hear
something of them. He will recall if he has read to
this point in the Prologue that it is almost a quarter
of a century since the author began without prevision to
collect the materials out of which this book has grown.

Obviously his acquaintance, at first, was confined to

PROLOGUE 21

those not close to Mrs. Eddy. No others then appeared
accessible. As the years elapsed, his acquaintance widened,
his correspondence increased with those who could speak
with much authority, and the source of the materials
grew on which to base the judgment which he was
gradually forming. Now, as he nears the completion of
a task which he began a quarter of a century ago, he
finds that, in all probability, he has known, in one way
or another, more of those on both sides qualified to testify
concerning Mrs. Eddy than anybody else in the same
period. All this time the author has been an ordained
Episcopal minister, intensely interested in his Church, and
with voice and pen often speaking for it beyond the
range of his own parish.

His more immediate approach to the task began by
making the personal acquaintance of The Christian Science
Board of Directors, their many helpers, and also others
able and ready to assist him. Many who knew Mrs. Eddy
in the last years of her life, or their descendants, or even
their neighbors, furnished him much information not
before available.

The more important places where Mrs. Eddy lived
were visited, and of her last home at Chestnut Hill a
somewhat careful study was made. The many books she
read, and marked, were examined; and the more important
of them for his purpose were turned into abstracts for
effective use.

Written recollections from almost all who ever knew
her well were supplemented by talks in person with
many of them, some of whom by request came from
afar to see the author. Judged by the standard which
courts apply to human testimony, these new witnesses

22 MARY BAKER EDDY

have proved trustworthy. Intellectually alert, as those
associated with Mrs. Eddy had to be, they are naively
loyal to her memory. Yet without collusion, often indeed
never having met or corresponded, their testimony is
substantially free from contradictions.

The general correspondence of the movement, the
copies of Mrs. Eddy s letters, the letters others wrote to
her, and the multitudinous other materials occupy large
fireproof vaults.

Her original letters, amounting to more than eight
thousand, a large proportion of them written with her
own hand and many of special value only recently added,
are mounted in fifty-seven large volumes having a general
index, cross references, and a subject index in concordance
style. Bound in fine leather, specially imported from
England, the volumes are approximately fifteen inches by
twelve inches in size. They are kept in a moisture-proof
vault, specially fitted for them. The temperature of the
vault is maintained at from sixty-six degrees to sixty-eight
degrees in summer as well as in winter, and all other
known precautions to safeguard such treasures are taken.

The preserving of the letters is done by a special process,
in some respects original. Before its mounting, each letter
is placed in a bowl of water and thoroughly soaked. Then
it is stretched out even on a zinc board and covered with
a coating of paste. Next it is set in a large sheet of special
grade paper cut out to form a frame. Then it is hung up
on a line like clothes to dry.

After drying, the letters are put under a heavy press
with wax paper between the sheets to keep them from
adhering to each other, and large pasteboards beneath
them for protection. Then the press is clamped down

PROLOGUE 23

and they are left there for twenty-four hours. Upon
removal silk sheets are placed on either side of the letters,
and, to prevent fraying, tissue strips are used to cover
the edges where silk and paper meet. Once more they
are dampened and pressed until they remain absolutely
flat. Afterwards they are assembled in signatures, sewn
to make volumes each of about one-hundred pages, and
are ready for the binder, who comes to the church offices
to do his work.

The leather for the binding is of the best blue-black
levant, and the volumes are hand-tooled.

Approaching the volumes in The Mother Church vault,
the designation on the back reads as follows:

MARY BAKER EDDY MARY BAKER EDDY

Letters and Miscellany Letters and Miscellany

Vol. 54 Vol. 55

Nos. 7526-7652 Nos. 7653-7824

Looking back with reverent appreciation of this rare
privilege of studying the life of a notable religious leader,
as reflected in this mass of unusual detail over which he
has pored both day and night, the author vividly realizes
how necessary such sources are in any writing on this
theme.

In fact, to attempt to do a biography of Mary Baker
Eddy without steeping the mind in this material would
seem as futile as to attempt a biography of George
Washington, without recourse to the Library of Congress
and the fourteen volumes of letters edited by Ford and
containing the recollections of Washington s friends.

In the nineties at Johns Hopkins University, the author
had the good fortune to hear Woodrow Wilson give the

24 MARY BAKER EDDY

material in lecture form of more than one book which
he was afterward to publish. He recalls with special
vividness his many talks with Woodrow Wilson about
the materials for Division and Reunion, which covers our
national history beginning with Andrew Jackson and
ending with the close of the first century under the Con
stitution. Woodrow Wilson still a boy in the South was
a loyal Southerner when the war was on between the
States. In the course, however, of spending his college
days in the North and later, after he took his Ph.D. at
Johns Hopkins, of teaching successively at Bryn Mawr,
Wesleyan, and Princeton, with six weeks of lecturing
every winter at Johns Hopkins, many of his earlier preju
dices against the North died out. Without the loss of
his love for the Southland, he thought and spoke and
wrote increasingly in terms national, once calling his
students to:

Be strong-backed, brown-handed, upright as your pines;
By the scale of a hemisphere shape your designs.

Writing his preface after he had finished work on the
manuscript of Division and Reunion, Woodrow Wilson
showed that he was keenly sensible of both the advantages
and disadvantages which lay in his Southern bringing up
and his Northern contacts. In the closing sentence of
that preface, after a modest admission that his work might
contain imperfections, he stoutly laid claim to impartiality;
for, he said, "Impartiality is a matter of the heart, and
I know with what disposition I have written."

LYMAN P. POWELL
1930

Chapter I
A CHALLENGE

JESUS brought the undistinguished and the handi
capped good news. "The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the
deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the
gospel preached to them." 1

No news could then have been more welcome to these
millions, ever with us, of neglected ones. All the cen
turies up from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, that earliest
religious book in history, to Nietzsche, contempt for the
average man and fawning deference for the inhumanly
unhampered superman have been the rule. Rarely have
the sick, the sinful, and the dying heard any good news
other than the good tidings which Jesus brought of a
heavenly Father who cares 2 for every one of us, poor
as well as rich, young as well as old, who numbers every
hair in every head, and lets no sparrow, however tiny,
fall unnoticed to the ground.

To the early Christians this radically different under
standing of themselves which Jesus brought to them was
news too good to keep. They simply had to pass it on.
They had no time to stop for argument. To every
challenge to engage in disputation they turned a deaf ear.
Served with a summons to explain, they quoted the man
after his sight had been restored who ended inquiry with
the reply, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind,
now I see." 3

26 MARY BAKER EDDY

Christian Science proclaims itself a be;arer of the same
good news. Christian Scientists could not keep it to
themselves if they would and would not if they could;
for many of them have experienced in their own persons
transformations similar to those of apostolic experience.
They have been emancipated from grievous illnesses
not only physical, but also moral and mental. If they
were to hold their peace, it seems to them as if "the stones
would immediately cry out." 4 That is why their Wednes
day evening service is anticipated by them weekly with
delight and attended with singukr devotion at a time
when midweek services in other churches are either
struggling for existence or have expired altogether.

There is a challenge here which Christian Science offers
to the world, and no longer can it be evaded. In fact,
ridicule, flaw picking in this tenet or in that of Christian
Science, sometimes tumultuous controversy spiced with
outworn gibes, no longer satisfy a reading public every
day growing more sophisticated and also better informed.

The sincere testimony offered by thousands and thou
sands of responsible people the whole world round that
they have found joy and peace, healing and a higher
aim in life in consequence of their adherence to this
faith must now be regarded seriously. Whatever opinion
the reader may hold of the theology of Christian Science,
the evidence is now overwhelming that for innumerably
many, Christian Science works. It meets for them the
pragmatic test which Professor William James in 1907
set up that "True ideas are those that we can assimilate,
validate, corroborate, and verify."

It would be a poor compliment, indeed, to the reader
if the author did not invite him in this noncontroversial

A CHALLENGE 27

book, written by one not a member of the Christian
Science church, to join in a clear-eyed look on at least
a few representative testimonies out of the many now
available. No other course is open. The evidence is not
to be dismissed. It is not negligible. The witnesses are
people of social, intellectual, and spiritual significance.

Dr. Laurence McK. Gould, who was second in com
mand to Rear Admiral Byrd in the recent Antarctic
Expedition, sent these arresting words:

In the physical world one may endure the hardships of explora
tion with some confidence that he will receive at least a modicum
of approval and appreciation. In the world of things not material
this is much less likely to be true. Too often the explorer or
pioneer here receives but scant sympathy and seldom lives to see
his visions become realities. Probably no person who pioneered
or explored beyond the margin of the conventional in this world
ever lived to see such abundant and widespread fruitage as did
the Founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy. And each
day finds this movement just a little bit at least more widespread
than it was on the preceding day.

Christian Science is an incontrovertible fact and no one can
think to interpret or even understand the trends of modern
religious thought without giving serious attention to it. To
accurately appraise anything is in part to delimit it and that can
scarcely be even attempted in the case of Christian Science. The
Christian Science church with all its affiliated institutions com
prehends this movement only in part. The essential philosophy
of this faith has found its way into the thought and attitude of
many Protestant churches and there is no measuring its bound
aries. This widespread and lasting fruitage is the greatest evi
dence of the essential soundness of Christian Science teachings.

The next is Philip Kerr, sometime secretary to Lloyd
George and now Marquis of Lothian, who has recently
written for this book: 5

28 MARY BAKER EDDY

Many spiritually minded men and women throughout the ages
have found their way to the direct knowledge of God and have
taught that knowledge to their fellow men. But Mary Baker
Eddy has done something in the field of religion which is unique.
Through her study of the Bible and of the words and works of
Christ Jesus she has not only given us the full definition of the
nature of the living God but she has also analyzed the origin and
character of that evil or materialism from which humanity has
never yet been able to escape and has shown us how we can
destroy it and so prove our birthright as the children of God.
Later ages will recognize that the writing of Science and Health,
after Mrs. Eddy had demonstrated the truth of the teachings it
contains by healing the sick, redeeming the sinner, and raising the
dead as no one had done since the days of Jesus, was the turning
point in human history. For it has given to mankind in a form
which all can understand the v Science which will enable it to
destroy utterly every phase of evil, sin, sorrow, sickness and death
and thereby bring into our experience in all its purity, beauty
and loveliness that perfect world which Jesus described as the
Kingdom of God. In this age of preoccupation with the cares
and pleasures of mortal existence the unique significance of Mrs.
Eddy may not be generally discerned. But posterity will recog
nize her as the greatest woman who ever lived upon this planet.

Next is a word sent in June, 1930, by Viscount Astor,
of interest on its own account and also because of the
admiration felt for Lady Astor in her own land:

Youth, science, intellectualism, modernism, challenge theology;
and theologians are not able to give a satisfying answer to the
very reasonable questions the world of today insists upon putting.
As a result Christianity has lost both adherents and influence.

Compared with this admitted loss the growth and the in
creasing membership of Christian Science is phenomenal. This is
doubly remarkable in a conservative country like Britain with
its Established and Free Churches and their great position and
tradition. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

Christian Science is logical. Given certain premises which are

A CHALLENGE 29

accepted by all Christians the conclusions of Christian Science are
inevitable. The natural scientist, too, who is not an atheist can
find in Christian Science a philosophy which fits in with many
modern views of the Universe. Lastly, suffering humanity finds
in Christian Science a remedy.

Across the years comes drifting the memorable testi
mony of the Seventh Earl of Dunmore, written in 1907:

I never knew the meaning of real happiness until I became a
Christian Scientist. Amusements, relaxations, tastes, and pursuits
that seemed to me in the old days the only things that made life
worth living, I now know had never the true ring of happiness
about them; they afforded me but a spurious kind of satisfaction,
which I, in my ignorance of what life really means, mistook for
happiness. The world that one day appeared to me so full of
what I mistook for happiness and joy, would the very next day
appear to me to be gloomy and miserable, full of doubt and
discord; whereas today there is no shadow of uncertainty over
the world as revealed to me in Christian Science, but a lasting
sense of peace, sunshine, happiness, and love. Even money troubles
can have no power to disturb the equanimity of the Christian
Scientist, once he has brought himself to realize that God and
not man is the source of all supply.

American visitors to Cambridge remember well the
distinguished Master of Trinity College, Dr. Montagu
Butler. His widow, daughter of the late Sir James Ramsay,
is the next witness:

Every day they live, Christian Scientists are indebted to Mrs.
Eddy. Through her writings their whole outlook on life and
experience of life has been changed. She has enabled them to
find convincing proof of the truth of Christianity as taught by
Christ Jesus, and has shown them how it may be applied and
lived today. She has solved enigmas, for an answer to which
they had searched in vain in other directions.

30 MARY BAKER EDDY

Count Helmuth von Moltke, of Berlin, expressed himself
as confident that "the Christian Science movement is
safely anchored through God s protecting wisdom and
bve."

Up in Sweden, where Christian Science is growing
apace, Count Sigge Cronstedt, of Stockholm, adds his
voice:

The more I have the privilege to study Christian Science and
to practice what I have learned therefrom, the more I humbly
and gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the immense impor
tance of the life work of Mary Baker Eddy.

There is a plentiful supply of impressive confessions
from American sources which vie in appreciation with
these European ones. As a business man Mr. J. M. Stude-
baker, Jr., of the Studebaker Corporation says:

Although I am not as yet a member of the Christian Science
church, I have for many years seen members of my family bene
fited by the teachings of this wonderful work. I sincerely feel
that Mary Baker Eddy, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian
Science, has given to the world through Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures and her other writings, a complete state
ment of truth which is healing and bringing comfort to every
sincere thinker.

For men who "go down to the sea in ships," Commo
dore John M. Orchard speaks:

Our Master s message, "Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see," impels this witness to my grateful
appreciation of the work of our revered Leader, Mary Baker
Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science and author
of its textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

In my own experience, simply through earnest study of the
Bible in connection with Science and Health, old age glasses were
permanently discarded.

A CHALLENGE 31

At one time the ship under my command was enabled to carry
out instructions which necessitated entering a harbor through a
channel having outlying rocks and no navigating aids, in spite of
dense fog and strong irregular currents.

More than all this is the peace and poise with which Science
touches every phase of right endeavor and points it to higher,
happier attainment.

Among educators Professor Hermann S. Hering, 6
sometime on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University:

Christian healing is an essential element in Christian living,
although not generally so considered. From the inception of
Christianity, however, only a few have accepted fully our Mas
ter s teachings, caught their spirit, and manifested this Christ-
spirit in healing works, notably the early Christians who, during
the first three centuries of the Christian era, did such marvelous
healing, and led such self-sacrificing and consecrated lives.

Dean William E. Masterson, of the College of Law,
University of Idaho, arrests attention with his words:

A thorough and unbiased study of the life of Mrs. Eddy reveals
a woman of great personal charm, rare culture and learning, a
purity of life and purpose, unsurpassed unselfishness, and the
profoundest wisdom and spiritual discernment and understanding.
She is, doubtless, the greatest prophet and benefactor that man
kind has ever had, with the exception of Christ Jesus. I am
convinced that she came according to prophecy and that through
her there has been revealed and restored to humanity the com
forter which St. John declared would be sent "from the Father."
Such a revelation could come only through the noblest and purest
type of womanhood. Subsequent to this discovery, which she
later named Christian Science, her life was one unselfish and
tireless effort to reduce to human comprehension and to establish
among men this Science as a practical and healing religion. This
she did by means of her teaching, her writings, and her church
and the manifold channels of its activity. Such was her un
swerving devotion to a cause in which her faith remained fixed

32 MARY BAKER EDDY

and unshaken. Only those who have observed the beneficial
effects of the application of this science to the lives of others or
felt its benign influence in their own lives can properly appre
ciate Mrs. Eddy and her mission and justly appraise her work in
its relation to human welfare.

A former physician, Dr. Walton Hubbard, of Los
Angeles, California:

My experience covering a period of nine years in the practice
of medicine, followed by the practice of Christian Science, has
proved to me that the results following Christian Science treat
ment are incomparably better than those following the use of
material means.

For the stage, Mary Pickford:

We are adjured to count our blessings and I count among my
greatest, the clearer spiritual vision that has come to us in the
light of Mary Baker Eddy s interpretations of the teachings of
Christ Jesus. Facing a material world and preaching a doctrine
of spiritual thought, she stood practically alone and matched her
humanity and vision with a high courage that, in itself, should
be an inspiration to all of us.

Corinne Griffith:

Mary Baker Eddy is the greatest benefactress the world has
ever known, and even to those not interested in Christian Science,
the clean-minded, honest influence of her life and works is bound
to be felt.

Conrad Nagel:

Mary Baker Eddy has given to the world a religion that is
demonstrable and practical, and offers every human being a
thorough and complete solution to any and all problems that may
present themselves. I have many times discussed Christian Science
and Mrs. Eddy with most of the foremost people in the motion
picture industry, and find that they all have the greatest admira-

A CHALLENGE 33

tion for her and for her teachings. I have found that, while not
members of any Science church or even avowed Christian Scien
tists, the heads of several of the biggest organizations in the motion
picture industry have many times turned for help to her teachings.

Religious people outside of Christian Science, and
naturally differing widely from those inside, are more
and more bestowing upon the good news which Christian
Science proclaims appreciative recognition. A few of
the more commanding out of a multitude of such tributes
are selected for citation here.

In one of the Encyclical letters issued to the Bishops
and Clergy of the Anglican Church by the late Arch
bishop of Canterbury, Dr. Randall Davidson, to begin
again overseas, one finds the sentence:

There is much in Christian Science which ought to be found
within the Church, where it would be supplemented by truths
which in Christian Science are neglected. 7

The new Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend and
Rt. Hon. William Temple, in his book entitled, Essays
in Christian Politics:

There is no doubt that we have in the church neglected the
connection that does exist between faith and health, and it is
largely because of that that Christian Science, for example, has
been able to gain so many adherents; for the practice of Christian
Science has brought incalculable benefit to many people.

One of two London clergymen who have spoken with
unusual clearness, the Reverend Edward T. Vernon:

God used Mrs. Eddy for a special revelation, and there is,
indeed, no reason why this should not be so. No just person can
fail to admire her as a religious leader. She has founded a great
church, and, let us say it frankly, brought great blessing on
countless lives.

34 MARY BAKER EDDY

The second, Dr. John Shaw:

I am not a Christian Scientist, but I believe in what I should
regard as the essential tenet of their creed, and which I might
sum up in the words, "The Lord s hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save."

Ireland will be represented by the Reverend Richard
W. Seaver of Belfast:

We owe much to Christian Science for emphasizing the fact
that "thoughts are things," and insisting upon our power and our
duty to manage thought as the root of action.

Returning to the United States, the following admis
sion is made by the new Episcopal Bishop Coadjutor of
St. Louis, the Right Reverend William Scarlett:

Christian Science has made the church aware it has overlooked
a great power and it has set the church to thinking of healing.

But even more to the point are the words of the Rev
erend Dr. Elwood Worcester because he established the
Emmanuel Movement, which is largely responsible for
the development of the new interest in spiritual healing
observable in the Episcopal Church: 8

The doctrines of Christian Science, for example, have been
denounced, ridiculed, exploited times without number, apparently
with as much effect as throwing pebbles at the sea checks the
rising of the tide. Preachers, physicians, editors of powerful
journals, philosophers, humorists, unite in pouring contempt upon
this despicable superstition, very much as Juvenal, Tacitus, and
Celsus mocked at nascent Christianity, but in spite of them it
lives. While most other religious bodies are declining or barely
holding their own, it grows by leaps and bounds. All over this
country solid and enduring temples are reared by grateful hands
and consecrated to the ideal and name of Mrs. Eddy. And this
strange phenomenon has occurred in the full light of day, at the

A CHALLENGE 35

end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth cen
tury, and these extraordinary doctrines have propagated them
selves not in obscure corners of the earth, among an illiterate
and a fanatical populace, but in the chief centers of American
civilization.

The Reverend Dr. Charles F. Potter describes Mrs.
Eddy as "the most compelling figure in American religious
history."

The late President Charles William Eliot, eminent in
the field of education, in his customary downright and
forthright way once observed that "Christian Science is
good Christianity."

President Edward S. Parsons, of Marietta (Ohio) Col
lege, gives this explanation of his good opinion:

The Christian Science churches have been crowded because
they have been in a real sense the church of the living God.
They have somehow persuaded people that there is a living God,
whose strength is in a real way at their command; that not merely
the past, but the present and the future, are the field of God s
control and action, and that because He is, there can be nothing
fundamentally wrong with the world.

Doctors, too, are beginning to show less reluctance in
admitting that Christian Science has good undeniable to
its credit:

Dr. William Mayo, of Rochester, Minnesota:

I have sent people to Christian Scientists and they have got
relief.

Dr. Copeland Smith, of Chicago, in a radio sermon
described Christian Science as:

The opening of a window to the winds of Heaven. It is the
mightiest protest yet made by the human spirit against the blatant
materialism of the present age.

36 MARY BAKER EDDY

Dr. Richard C. Cabot, of Boston:
Christian Science has done a great deal of good.

The attitude of the press is no longer so adversely
critical as it used to be. Even twenty years ago, Isaac
Marcosson could describe Mrs. Eddy as "a striking char
acter, who must be reckoned with in any estimate of
the women who have made history."

Thomas L. Masson:

They pay their bills, erect beautiful edifices . . . heal diseases
according to the teaching of Christ, and, owing to the strict
discipline of keeping their minds pure, are exceedingly prosperous.

The Editor of the Daily Journal-Press, of St. Cloud,
Minnesota:

Whatever opinions one may have had regarding the doctrine
of this church, it must be admitted that its members are splendid,
patriotic, law-respecting people.

Judge William G. Ewing:

Christian Science is the Christian religion pure and simple, a
religion of works, a nearer approach to the ministering religion
that Jesus taught and practised in the accomplishment of his
mission to the world than men have known for seventeen hun
dred years.

Many of the women who have made places for them
selves since the freer entrance of their sex into American
public life are giving serious thought to Christian Science.

Mrs. Alvin T. Hert, sometime Vice Chairman of the
National Republican Committee:

The constantly increasing preaching of health by various reli
gions is proof of the truth of what Mary Baker Eddy taught.
The lives of Christian Scientists expressing this truth are a benefit
to mankind which people generally must acknowledge.

A CHALLENGE 37

Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, recently Assistant
Attorney General of the United States:

The world is now far enough removed from controversy over
Mrs. Eddy as a personality to recognize her wholly spiritual
conception of the universe and human personality as a world
force making toward the betterment and happiness of individual
lives, control over adverse environment, and the purification and
elevation of even material and human aims and activities.

The Editor of the Christian Herald, Stanley High, who
was once a member of the staff of The Christian Science
Monitor:

From my own observation and my own contact with these
friends, I am convinced of the very rich fruitage that Christian
Science is bringing about in the lives of many people.

Cecil B. DeMille, of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Stu
dios, Hollywood, California, who is not himself a Christian
Scientist:

Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy is one of the great benefactors of
mankind. She has given to the world one of the great religions.
She has interpreted the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in
a manner to prove a blessing to many hundreds of thousands of
souls. She has carried the light of truth into many dark places.
She has perhaps done more to fulfill the words of the Great
Master, himself, than any individual of recent centuries.

Mark Twain s final reversal of his previous judgment
may come as news to many:

Christian Science is humanity s boon. Mother Eddy deserves a
place in the Trinity as much as any member of it. She has
organized and made available a healing principle that for two
thousand years has never been employed except as the merest
kind of guesswork. She is the benefactor of the age. 9

38 MARY BAKER EDDY

Although subject all through its history to ridicule and
criticism so unreasonable as sometimes to cross the line of
persecution, Christian Science has gone steadily on its
way. In fact, opposition at the fiercest has stimulated its
growth. In three years alone, following the hue and cry
of 1907, the Christian Science churches built and paid
for almost doubled. The following dates are stepping-
stones in its development:

1875, Science and Health was published.

1875-1876, The Christian Scientist Association was organized
and services were held under its auspices in Lynn.

1879, church organized in Boston under a charter.

1892, church organized under unique statute of Massachusetts
and with twelve First Members.

1892, the number of churches and societies was 155.

1907, the number of churches and societies was 646.

1910, the number of churches and societies was 1212.

1930, the number of churches and societies is 2451, as well as

39 university organizations.

Those who expected that when Mrs. Eddy passed on
(in 1910) Christian Science would soon begin to dwindle
and in the end disappear will note that, from 1910 to
1930, the increase in the number of churches, societies,
and university organizations has averaged between five
and six a month, and that for ten years past one new
church has been dedicated, and paid for, every week.

To those who ask in good faith, "What are repre
sentative Christian Scientists like?" the answer is, "Quite
like other people." They smile, but not vacuously.
Recruited some may be from the discard and the grave
yard as well as from the membership rolls of the churches
but they never laugh unnaturally like Lazarus in O NeilPs

A CHALLENGE 39

play. They seek peace with all men, because they start
with peace in their own hearts. If they look prosperous
that can scarcely be surprising since poverty, like sin and
sickness, is to them an illusion and, in accordance with
Professor William James well-known law, they tend to
become what they believe they are. Christian Scientists
are so busy minding their own business that they do not
have, and show no disposition to make, any time to inter
fere with the business of their neighbors. Taught by their
faith that "the powers that be are ordained of God," they
of course obey their country s laws. Such bad habits as
have not already been crowded out by the adoption of
this new interest, the economy of Christian Science is
designed to correct.

Moderate tasks and moderate leisure,
Quiet living, strict-kept measure,

it is this which Scientists desire. Never are they noisy or
disorderly. They do not fret, nor cry aloud. Drink they
regard as an evil, and fleshly. Tobacco is also taboo.
Many of them shun coffee and tea. To Christian Scientists
the inner dynamo of the God-life furnishes all the ener
gizing man requires. That without any official compulsion
they vote "dry" goes without saying. Contact with the
sensational in the newspapers is avoided by the habitual
reading of their own dignified daily, which the Rt. Hon.
H. A. L. Fisher calls "one of the best-informed journals
of our time."

In books ephemeral in content, they take little interest.
Their reading taste is kept fine by employment upon a
literature of lasting worth. None show more liking for
good music than Christian Scientists. They travel, and

40 MARY BAKER EDDY

enjoy it, as do others. For small-town gossip, they substi
tute an interest in world affairs by which they have
become internationally minded and intelligent friends of
world peace. 10 While the difference between Christian
Scientists and other Christians may appear slight, what
difference there is matters. It is often an actual redistri
bution of the emphasis in human relationships.

Dr. Joseph Wood Krutch 11 observes that, with some
of the main trends of scientific thought now headed
toward religion and of theological thought toward science,
the two may pass each other on the road and not know
it. But Christian Scientists believe they have the answer
to the riddle. They are openly committed to a mutual
and peaceful interpenetration of religion by science, and
science by religion, and they would gladly see all Christians
of whatever fold commit themselves to the same.

"The love of Christ in the human heart . . . creates a
new, vast world," says the Reverend John S. Bunting, 12 "in
which the spirit of man may live and move." Christian
Scientists make such constant daily endeavors to live in
that world that many of them, with St. Paul, might say
without exaggeration, Tor to me to live is Christ."

All this awareness of God, this demonstration of the
power of God to transform, this devotion to the Bible,
this absorption in the Christ, is the product of what may
perhaps be called a priesthood of democracy, fostere d
now through almost three generations. Christian Science
makes every man responsible for his own inner life. Helps
he may have, not substitutes. If he is to attain the higher
salvation which expresses itself in perfect health of body
and mind, he must "work out (his) own salvation." 13

Never can the dubious privilege be his of referring

A CHALLENGE 41

back to a date, immediate or remote, when he was con
verted, and of letting it go at that. He cannot live on
a mere date. The manna on which his inner life is fed
has to be gathered fresh every day. Nor has he any
preacher to whom he can look to keep up his morale.
For there is no place in Christian Science for any human
preacher. "The Bible and the Christian Science textbook
are our only preachers," states the Christian Science
Quarterly. The Readers appointed to read the Bible and
the textbook at the Sunday services hold office as a rule
no longer than three years. No Christian Science church
is given any chance to grow dependent on the personal
popularity of any man, or any woman. A reminder to
"have no ambition, affection, nor aim apart from holi
ness" 14 rings ever through the teachings of Christian
Science. The springs of its democratic priesthood must
be replenished from the everlasting hills.

Nor can the Christian Scientist shoulder off his personal
responsibility on to any "group." The obligation Jesus
laid on Nicodemus rests likewise on him. "Ye must be
born again" is an experience every Christian Scientist
must undergo. Everyone must heed this necessity, or
forfeit his Christian Science birthright.

Has one a bad temper? He must conquer it. Is his
mind unclean? He must clean it out. Is he inordinately
ambitious? He is the one to use the curb. Is he avaricious?
That is an obnoxious form of selfishness which is taboo.
A Christian Scientist supports his church whether or not
he can afford to keep a car, to have a radio, or even to
go much to the movies.

Without pulpit "begging," without resort to church
suppers, without any kind of money-raising by indirection,

42 MARY BAKER EDDY

Christian Science has solved the problem of church sup
port. Its members give to their church for but one reason,
gratitude. The loosening of the purse strings has some
times been called the test of faith most commonly in
college student parlance "flunked." Christian Scientists
when subjected to this test one of several rarely fail
to pass it. Loyal Scientists give generously to their church
because of an almost universal belief that their church
has bestowed upon them something beyond money,
beyond price. The love of Christ constraineth them. 15

But the method used in raising the budget by The
Mother Church is businesslike. The revenues needed are
obtained from a nominal per capita tax of not less than
one dollar a year, paid by each member; from the Sunday
offerings; from the net profits of The Christian Science
Publishing Society; and in part from the profits on the
Founder s writings which go for special expenses in pro
moting the Cause of Christian Science. In addition, the
Board of Directors invites contributions for the support
of the remarkable philanthropic institutions 16 in operation
under Christian Science auspices and for other benevolent
causes such as co-operation in relieving distress of famine,
fire, or flood. But in no case is the need felt of any
strident call for aid; a simple announcement in its peri
odicals suffices. The money required comes. Indeed, the
amount desired is often oversubscribed.

The grateful show their gratitude in every way they
can. Christian Scientists are thankful for the healing
which soul and mind and body usually receive. Sharing
in the expenses of carrying on its enterprises is to them
the most natural thing in the world. The Christian Science
priesthood of democracy are glad to accept the full

A CHALLENGE 43

measure of their responsibility, and by their gratitude to
let the world perceive that they lay it on themselves.

Simplicity is the outstanding characteristic of the
Christian Science organization. The Mother Church
(The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston) is the
hub. Out from the hub radiate spokes so numerous that
the organization may appear complex to some outside
who do not understand the centralizing character of
the hub.

The organization consists of The Mother Church and
its branches either churches, or societies located at all
points where enough Christian Scientists have collected
to be organizable. A group few in number is formed into
a society, and then when its growth warrants, into a
church. At colleges and universities the members of
the faculty and the students who are Christian Scientists
may form and conduct an organization. The rank and
file of the membership are protected from all sense of
isolation by the dual privilege habitually exercised of
membership at the same time in both The Mother Church
and the branch church near which they chance to live.
To insure this amalgamated dualism, but even more to
sustain the vital relationship of branch to vine in full
vigor, no branch church or society can be formed until
a certain number of the petitioners for the establishment
of a local organization have already become members of
The Mother Church.

The Manual of The Mother Church, which contains its
By-Laws and related deeds and documents, is both the
Constitution and the fundamental law of the denomi
nation. The Directors act within its scope. It sets forth
the constituent departments and agencies of The Mother

44 MARY BAKER EDDY

Church, including The Christian Science Publishing
Society, and provides briefly for the conduct thereof.
Branch churches and societies are formed under the
Manual, which gives general directions for their govern
ment. From first to last, however, each church is a
democracy, and makes its own by-laws. Provision for
the discipline, if need arises, of a member of The Mother
Church, also, is made in the Manual.

The Founder of Christian Science specifically provided
the method to be used for the general supervision of her
church, after she should pass on. In accordance with the
provisions of the Manual^ which she prepared, the affairs
of The Mother Church are in the hands of The Christian
Science Board of Directors. In Mrs. Eddy s lifetime the
Directors were nominated by her, elected by the Board,
and finally accepted by her; now the Board fills its own
vacancies. Besides exercising full administrative responsi
bility over the congregation of The Mother Church in
Boston, comfortably filling an edifice which will seat about
five thousand, and over a large local Sunday School, the
Board oversees the business of the denomination as a whole,
taking final action on all applications for Mother Church
membership from the entire field, appointing or electing
the officers of The Mother Church and the editors and
manager of The Christian Science Publishing Society.
They certify the accuracy of the list of those qualified
to act as practitioners, published in The Christian Science
Joiirnal, appoint the lecturers, edit their lectures and
supervise their work. In the largest sense theirs is the
responsibility to guard the integrity of Christian Science
and to take whatever measures they consider best, always
in line with Mrs. Eddy s instructions, to make it known

A CHALLENGE 45

to the public. Almost identical in personnel with the
Trustees under Mrs. Eddy s will, who pass on all questions
relating to the issuance of her writings, the Directors
establish the policies and exercise a close supervision over
all the other literature of Christian Science published by
The Christian Science Publishing Society, including its
daily newspaper. William P. McKenzie, Fred M. Lamson,
and James E. Patton are now serving as the Trustees of
The Christian Science Publishing Society, created by a
Deed of Trust executed by Mrs. Eddy in 1898 to carry
on the business of the Publishing Society. It regularly
publishes the Christian Science Quarterly^ The Christian
Science Journal (monthly) , the Christian Science Sentinel
(weekly), and The Christian Science Monitor (daily),
besides several periodicals in other languages.

Every Christian Science church has a Sunday School
which is carefully conducted. The large enrollment
which is the rule is to the outsider one of the surprises
of Christian Science. The teaching adheres strictly to the
fundamental principles enunciated in the Ten Command
ments and the Sermon on the Mount, and does this so
intelligently that parents not interested in Christian Science
or for that matter in any religion send their children
as years go by in increasing numbers to Christian Science
Sunday Schools solely for the effective spiritual training
they receive under teachers above the average.

The work of instruction for adults is so regulated as
to make it available to all interested. There is a Board
of Education which selects, instructs, and certifies author
ized teachers, subject to the approval of The Christian
Science Board of Directors. Selections from the lists of
the qualified are made somewhat on a geographical basis

46 MARY BAKER EDDY

so that in all countries there may be teachers conveniently
situated to respond to every call for class instruction in
Christian Science. Class teaching is particularly desirable
for Christian Scientists who wish to practice healing as
a vocation. The relation between teacher and pupil usually
becomes close, and is strengthened by the annual associa
tion meetings and by the opportunities afforded for special
consultations.

The Christian Science Board of Lectureship is composed
of men and women of culture and distinction. They can
hold their own in any company. Dignified, gracious,
immaculately dressed, they speak with a serious effective
ness, which is free from all strenuousness and emotion.
They do not extemporize. Every lecture, before it is given,
has to be approved by the Board of Directors. They
interest. They instruct. Year by year their work has
grown, until today it covers not only the English-speaking
world but also the Continents of Europe, Africa, South
America, Australia, portions of Japan and China, and
many islands of the sea. During the past year two hundred
twenty-eight lectures were given in Great Britain and
Ireland to 262,000 people; on the Continent to 75,500
people, eighty-seven lectures of which fifty-eight were in
German, five in French, and four in Dutch. In Australia,
New Zealand, Tasmania, China, Japan, and the Philippine
Islands and Hawaii, sixty-four lectures were delivered to
53,000 people. In the United States, Canada, Mexico,
West Indies, Bermuda, and the Canal Zone, 3412 lectures
to 2,829,000 people. For the first time, a beginning was
made also in South America. A total of eight lectures
with an attendance of 1920 were delivered in the larger
cities of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.

A CHALLENGE 47

In general, attendance on the lectures and enthusiasm
for them increase as the following typical report would
seem to indicate:

I have just returned from a lecture tour of four months which
has taken me all over England, Scotland, and Ireland, Paris,
Geneva, Zurich, and Berne, Switzerland. . . .

The audiences throughout Great Britain, with possibly two or
three exceptions, have been the largest the Scientists have ever
known. An idea as to the numbers of non-Scientists attending
the lectures can be gained from the following: in the city of
Birmingham we had at the lecture twenty-three hundred people.
Certainly not more than eight or nine hundred in that audience
were students of Christian Science and the rest were, therefore,
inquirers.

The crowds in London were so great and so many people
were unable to gain admission to the lectures that six of the
churches decided to give a joint lecture in the Royal Albert Hall.
I lectured there in 1920 to an audience of six or seven thousand
people which only comfortably filled the great auditorium. At
the recent lecture the place was packed to the roof with an
audience estimated between nine and ten thousand and a thou
sand or more were said to have been turned away. It was a
most inspiring experience.

The Committee on Publication has grown from one,
functioning from Boston as a center, until now every
state, every country, where there are Christian Science
organizations has its committee. Their responsibility is
to give correct information through the press concerning
Christian Science, and also to correct misapprehensions
proceeding from other authorship appearing in print. It
would be impossible to over-estimate the service to
Christian Science rendered by these committees. De
veloped for educational purposes, the Committees on
Publication have become the medium of better un-

48 MARY BAKER EDDY

derstanding between the public and Christian Scientists.

Much missionary work is done through literature dis
tribution committees, maintained by the local churches
and societies. Copies of periodicals used and new are
donated by Christian Scientists and are dispensed in various
ways. They penetrate to parts of the world where human
missionaries could not travel. Railway stations, fire sta
tions, hotels, theaters, and other public places are equipped
with containers kept supplied with literature, which thus
falls under the eyes of those interested who might not
always care to be interviewed. Quantities of Christian
Science Monitors are put on board ships for the crews at
the large ports.

To overpraise The Christian Science Monitor would
be difficult. It never exploits crime or scandal. Disaster
is only an incident in its reports of the day s news.
Unhampered by partisan politics or by fear of financial
losses, the Monitor acts as the purveyor of world infor
mation to its readers with such a fine sense of proportion
as to be substantially accurate and informing without
becoming dull. Nearly half of its readers live two thou
sand miles and more from Boston, where the Monitor is
published. The teeming highways of the world are
rapidly becoming the streets where dwell its subscribers
as well as the channels of its news. 17

The establishment of the Christian Science Benevolent
Association Sanatorium in Chestnut Hill 1S marked a step
of policy in advance of larger import than at the time
could have been foreseen. Mrs. Mary Beecher Longyear,
of Brookline, Massachusetts, generously presented to the
church, of which she has long been a member, a tract
of twenty acres on beautiful Single Tree Hill; and the

A CHALLENGE 49

Directors, in accepting the gift, announced the enterprise
in the Christian Science Sentinel of October 7, 1916. The
characteristically modest notice that funds were needed
met with an immediate response from all parts of the
world. This enabled the sanatorium to be ready for its
first guests on October 1, 1919. Approximately one hun
dred sixty-five can be cared for besides the necessary
attendants or associates, including the staff of Christian
Science nurses for whom a training school is maintained.
The Assembly Hall, where services are held on Sunday
morning and Wednesday evening, seats three hundred
people. A temporary haven which offers practical assist
ance toward the healing of sickness and the removal of
distress, it has brought peace in a genuine Christian spirit
to thousands of deserving people from all corners of the
earth. And this year a similar institution has been estab
lished on the Pacific Coast.

The same benevolent purpose of looking after Christian
Scientists in need and providing a proper environment
for them which led to the establishment of the sanatorium
at Chestnut Hill has inspired the Directors of The Mother
Church to provide a home for elderly Christian Scientists,
whose length of service in the Cause, good works, or
other special circumstances furnish good reason for giving
them a comfortable home. Pleasant View, where Mrs.
Eddy lived from 1892 to 1908 at Concord, New Hamp
shire, was chosen for the site Mrs. Eddy s home having
been torn down years before. Again Christian Scientists
were informed through the church s literature about the
plan. Again the responses were adequate. The building,
which was ready for use on July 15, 1927, is a beautiful
structure of Georgian architecture, containing one hun-

50 MARY BAKER EDDY

dred forty-four bedrooms, and is now occupied by more
than one hundred residents from various places.

Like the sanatorium, the Pleasant View Home has
beautiful reception rooms, sun parlors, and assembly hall,
a well-equipped library, and besides all this some sixty
acres of farm land. Farm buildings also and a commodious
dairy have been erected and equipped; and milk, as well
as vegetables and fruit in season, is thus supplied. This
Pleasant View Home does a great deal more than simply
shelter some aged members of the Cause. It supplies them
also with discriminating care and comfort, artistic sur
roundings productive of such a happy spirit that they
live together like one big harmonious household. Its table
and the same is true of the sanatorium would do credit
to the best hotel.

With no paid preachers, Christian Science does a suc
cessful pastoral work. The Readers preach the only
Christian Science sermon heard, when on Sundays they
read aloud the Scriptures and their textbook. The lec
turers aim to explain the larger meaning of the movement
and its message to honest inquirers outside, as well as
seekers of a still better understanding within Christian
Science. It is the office of the teachers to train the smaller
groups. The practitioners treat those sick in mind as well
as body. They carry everywhere they go the comfort
and the consolation of a faith which makes God real to
men, leads many to the way-showing Jesus, and turns
them into daily Bible readers.

To many now starting on pilgrimage through this vol
ume, Christian Science may already appear to be as it
actually is simply a reassertion of Christ s teaching that
God is Love and Spirit; and that Love and Spirit are

A CHALLENGE 51

adequate to master sickness, sin, and death. All that
Christian Scientists have to do is to live up to the teachings
to which they are committed and to be loyal to the
Founder, a woman who never rose too high to pray in
all humility:

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. 19

Chapter 11
A RICH GIRLHOOD

NAPOLEON had gone at last beyond ambition s
lure, and family talk in many a New England
home was turning toward the slavery issue just
emerging above the horizon, when Mary Morse Baker
was born to Mark and Abigail Ambrose Baker on July 16,
1821, at Bow, New Hampshire. 1

More farm than village, Bow, five miles from Concord,
then had its own schools and its meetinghouse. As else
where in New England, home was reinforced by school
and church, as it rarely is in these days when the com
munity bus carries children from many a mile round to
the central school of the township, and the Sunday paper
keeps at home most of those whom the automobile does
not whisk entirely out of range of worship.

Mary Baker s parentage was New England to the
backbone, substantial, intelligent, and very religious. The
devout mother 2 was preparing both in mind and soul for
the coming of her baby girl, and an understanding
neighbor joined her in frequent prayer and Bible reading
all through the months before the birth of Mary Morse
Baker. 3

Mark Baker, 4 on his part, led his family in daily devo
tions and in energetic argument for the church, then
over-inclined to Calvinism. It is, therefore, not surprising
that in her mature years Mrs. Eddy should have written:

From my very childhood I was impelled, by a hunger and

A RICH GIRLHOOD 53

thirst after divine things, a desire for something higher and
better than matter, and apart from it, to seek diligently for
the knowledge of God as the one great and ever-present relief
from human woe. 5

It was altogether natural too that in her more intimate
talks with friends in later years she should indicate that
the goodness and mercy which followed her all the days
of her life manifested their presence so early that memory
all but failed her when she endeavored to recall their
first consoling ministries. 6

One dedicated, like Mary Baker, from her birth to the
religious life, would early learn to pray; and when her
mother read to her from the Bible that Daniel prayed
three times a day, for spiritual good count she prayed
seven times a day, chalking down on the shed wall each
prayer in succession, for a while as a settled habit. 7 When
as young as Samuel, she, like Joan of Arc, heard voices; 8
and only those will minimize the incident who fail to
catch the purport of the reply of Joan to the question
put by King Charles, "Oh, your voices, your voices. Why
don t the voices come to me? I am king, not you."

Joan: "They do come to you; but you do not hear
them. You have not sat in the field in the evening
listening for them. When the angelus rings you cross
yourself and have done with it; but if you prayed from
your heart, and listened to the thrilling of the bells in
the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices
as well as I do."

But Mary Morse Baker was never a theorizer, even
while still in pinafores. She was practical as a little girl,
and there is on record an early instance of her putting
to quick test the immediate availability of prayer. As

54 MARY BAKER EDDY

her mother was bathing Mary s temples to allay the suf
fering from a fever, she bade Mary pray. The prayerful
obedience was followed by "a soft glow of ineffable joy,"
and the fever quickly subsided. 9

From the first little Mary Baker wanted and expected
to become "somebody." There is evidence that a sense
of mission early lodged in her consciousness. As in the
cool of many a summer evening in her latter years, she
loved to recall for those whom she knew best treasured
incidents of the past, she once half humorously described
how her sisters used to take her when a tiny child to
school with them, and how they would set her during
the luncheon hour on a table and would say, "Mary what
are you going to do when you grow up?", to which she
would reply, "I will write a book." 10

Not merely did the little girl with blue eyes and
chestnut curls say that she expected some day to write
a book, she also began to make ready for the task by
reading and by thinking. To her most brilliant brother
she said, "I must be wise to do it"; and her pastor, evi
dently a man of insight, predicted for her "some great
future." 11

Evidence abounds that from the first her mind was
quick and active. At a time when social usage encouraged
girls to be frail of body, or at any rate to appear to be
ready on occasion to faint in full accord with all the
proprieties, patterns of "the lass with the delicate air,"
such an alive and acquisitive mind as Mary Baker s was
apt to overtax the body. Nor was the strain lightened by
her habit of taking her books home from school and
putting them under the pillow in her little trundle bed. 12

In later years she often referred to these disturbances

A RICH GIRLHOOD 55

of her childhood. Whether they indicated an inherent
delicacy or the wideness of margin in vigor between mind
and body which made her an easy victim to casual dis
comforts, it was soon found that the noise and confine
ment of the country school, which she attended with
her sisters, wore on her so seriously that her father
promptly heeded the family physician who advised, "Do
not doctor your child, she has got too much brains for
her body; keep her out of doors, keep her in exercise, and
keep her away from school all you can, and do not give
her much medicine." 13

Although as a rule mention of her health was incidental
with her, as in a letter written at the age of fourteen to
her brother George, always there hovered in the back
ground of her thinking an oppressive sense of the
precarious equilibrium of adolescent life which had to
wait for larger understanding of ways and means of
stabilizing till the coming of such men as G. Stanley Hall
and S. Weir Mitchell. In Doctor and Patient., published
in 1888, Dr. Mitchell, already foremost nerve specialist in
the land, wrote that "no one knows women who does not
know sick women"; and to the end of his distinguished
life, he sometimes seemed anxious lest colleges for women
should one day prove over-hazardous to their nerves. 14

The mind of little Mary actively responded to its first
strong stimulus when only nine years old. Her brother
Albert was home from Dartmouth College from which
he was to graduate in 1834 on his first vacation. Mary
adored Albert. He was her knight without fear, above
reproach. Nor was she the only one to find in Albert
Baker a youth of unusual promise. A political rival later
said of him that "gifted with the highest order of intel-

56 MARY BAKER EDDY

lectual powers, he trained and schooled them by intense
and almost incessant study throughout his short life." 15

The Dartmouth freshman of twenty and his sister of
nine found each other on his first vacation. He knew
things and books as yet beyond her reach. Her girlhood
ecstasy spared no words to make him understand her
joyous pride in him, her purpose to deserve his pride in
her. "I must be," she said, "as great a scholar as you or
Mr. Franklin Pierce." 16 But there is some reason to believe
the brother received as well as bestowed. One of Mrs.
Eddy s girlhood friends at least implied in a letter written
years later that Albert early shared his sister s feeling
about the supremacy of the spiritual. 17

No wonder then that Albert s good-by to Mary as he
turned back to college should take the form of earnest
counsel to apply herself to her Lindley Murray Reader,
with which she was later to become as familiar as with
the Westminster Catechism, which her orthodox father
and her godly pastor would make sure she learned. 18

Before me as I write are the very copies of Lindley
Murray s Introduction to the English Reader and the
English Reader itself, which Mary Baker read and marked
and inwardly digested at the early age of nine.

While eighteenth century writing is admittedly inferior
to Elizabethan literature, it is at least serious and sub
stantial, more worth while than much of the bad art and
worse ethics which compel attention today on every
news stand, in every railway train. Even in these high
days of up-to-dateness, many a boy and girl could fare
worse than at the hands of Lindley Murray.

Going with Mary Morse Baker on the journey she took
when she was only nine years old through Lindley

A RICH GIRLHOOD 57

Murray s books one finds much of interest. These books
which were published respectively in 1803 and 1813 at
Alexandria, Virginia, open with Rules and Observations
for Assisting Children to Read with Propriety/ Then
follow select sentences, some of them expressing senti
ments as wise as those of Francis Bacon. Interesting
narration, sound moralizing, vivid description, sustained
dialogue, and "promiscuous" pieces make up the rest.

For those expecting to find little Mary at the age of
nine an infant prodigy moping over the pages of Spinoza
and Leibnitz, it is perhaps worth while to recall that
Emma Willard was only that very year making her first
trip to Europe to get acquainted with the old world
thinkers, and that Mary Lyon s dream of a real school
for girls was not to take form for some six years yet in
Mount Holyoke Seminary, in turn waiting more than
fifty years to become Mount Holyoke College. Mary
might perhaps have been reading Emerson; but Emerson
was still young and too busy getting married and starting
his preaching career at the Second Church in Boston to
be writing anything. 19

On closer inspection the author notes in these two
books of Lindley Murray s, no fewer than forty of the
better known writers of the eighteenth century quoted,
sometimes at great length. Out of a total of four hundred
thirty-eight pages in the two books, Goldsmith has twenty
and one-half pages, Addison twenty-one, Pope nine and
one-half, Cowper seven, Hume five and one-fourth,
Thomson ten and one-half, Cotton eleven and one-half,
Milton four and one-half, Samuel Johnson seven and
one-half, Young four, Wordsworth three, More three,
Lord Chesterfield three, Benjamin Franklin two, Robert-

58 MARY BAKER EDDY

son four; with some shorter contributions from Socrates,
Horace, Sallust, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Plato. 20 All
through the two books the Bible appears in the King
James Version or in paraphrase.

In these sophisticated days the choice might fall on
more diversified passages from eighteenth century litera
ture than little Mary Baker read; but they would not
perhaps be more representative of eighteenth century
writing. Most significant is the evidence that she did read
and reread them until they were so deeply embedded in
her memory that sometimes they reappeared automatically
in her own later speech and writing, possibly, as is familiar
to all acquainted with modern psychology, unconsciously
to point a moral or adorn a tale. 21

Her marginal markings in the books reveal three of
her girlhood tastes in reading:

First, she was always interested in everything about
the social niceties. She dwells much on Chesterfield s
canons of good breeding. Her pencil often marks such
sentences as "Awkwardness can proceed but from two
causes; either from not having kept good company, or
from not having attended to it." 22 Her love of preciseness
in speech, which several near her in later years have
emphasized to the author and her many letters before
him as he writes confirm, appears in this passage:

To begin a story or narration, when you are not perfect in it,
and cannot go through with it, but are forced, possibly, to say
in the middle of it, "I have forgotten the rest," is very unpleasant
and bungling. One must be extremely exact, clear, and per
spicuous, in everything one says; otherwise, instead of enter
taining or informing others, one only tires and puzzles them.
The voice and manner of speaking, too, are not to be neglected.
Some people almost shut their mouths when they speak, and

A RICH GIRLHOOD 59

mutter so, that they are not to be understood; others speak so
fast, and sputter, that they are equally unintelligible. Some always
speak as loud as if they were talking to deaf people; and others
so low that one cannot hear them. All these, and many other
habits, are awkward and disagreeable, and are to be avoided by
attention. You cannot imagine how necessary it is to mind all
these things. I have seen many people, with great talents too;
and others well received, only from their little talents, and who
had no great ones. 23

Second, a fine balance of interest in the moral and the
spiritual at the early age of nine is one of the surprises
which her copies of Lindley Murray give us. Already
the Bible was the Book of Books to her. It furnished her
many a precept on which she relied for self -direction in
her personal contacts. The sentences from Proverbs
which follow, not merely marked, but also numbered
with her pencil, are commended to the consideration of
the adolescent of today:

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is
broken down, and without walls.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom. Length of days is in
her right hand; and in her left hand, riches and honor. Her ways
are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy
are deceitful. Open rebuke is better than secret love.

Third, at an age when a girl s interest is usually confined
to dolls, little Mary was beginning to take a lively interest
in patriotic matters. Lindley Murray goes back to the
time in which the Louisiana Purchase was sowing the
seeds of discord over slavery. It was a year before Abigail
Ambrose Baker was praying for her unborn baby that
Maine, neighbor to New Hampshire, was admitted to the
union as a "free state" and Missouri also came in, but on

MARY BAKER EDDY

IBENNING WENTWORTH, Ef q;

\ Oaptain-Generaland GOVERNOUR in Chief, hand over His
^ MAJESTY S Province of New-HampJb tre in NEW-ENGLAND, &e.

gY Virtue of the Power and Authority, in and by His Majefty*s Royal CommifljOft
** to Me granted, to be Captain-General, &c, over this Hu, Majefty s Province of
Ntw-HampJbtrf, aforefeid j I do (by thefe Prefcnts) repofing efpecial Tnift and
Confidence in your Loyalty, Courage and good Conduct, ~ A: - ..... J * : -*
You the &d -

and

appoint

^ You are therefore carefully and diligently t^.difcharge the Duty of a "^fyfi 2 -"*-
3n leading, ordering and exercifing (aid s fayt/** ^ in Arms bot\mferjour Officers and
Soldiers, and to keep them in good Ord&and DHciplme $ hereby commanding them to obey
you as their ^ f 6%&*. -^. and your felf to obferve and follow fuch Orders and

Jnftruions, as yWftyljrom Time to Time receive from Me, or the Commander m Chief for
the Time being, or other your fuperiour Officers for His Majefty s Service, according to Military
Rules and Difciplioe, purfuant to the Truft repofed in You.

Qken under my Hand and Seal at j4rms&gt; at Portfmouth, /^^ SE^d-
Day ofrf?2#y In tfa&fc&ffi+t^tar of the Reign ofHts

Majefly Ktng GEORGE the Sdond, Annoq; Domini, i ;

GOVERNOR BENNING WENTWORTH APPOINTS JOSEPH

BAKER CAPTAIN OF THE FOOT COMPANY OF SUNCOOK,

NOW PEMBROKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Joseph Baker was Mrs. Eddy s great grandfather. He married

Hannah Lovewell, daughter of the famous Indian fighter,

John Lovewell.

A RICH GIRLHOOD 61

terms so questionable that John Quincy Adams read in
the historic Compromise of 1820 the "title page to a
great tragic volume."

A family of consequence, 24 the Bakers read the papers
of the day, particularly the New Hampshire Patriot and
State Gazette and talked over what they read in the living
room. 25 Mary listened in and also joined in. Young as
she was, she read the papers both for herself and also to
the household. From her little trundle bed at night, as
Mark Baker puzzled over the latest news from Wash
ington, Mary would call out, "Father, I know what you
are doing: You are reading the newspaper," to which he
would reply, "Hush, child, and go to sleep." Then she
would say, "I ll read it to you," and though she could
not yet pronounce the longer words, she satisfied her
father. 26

These two books of Lindley Murray have much to
say concerning slavery of every sort. The verses of
Cowper and of Addison on the subject are elaborately
marked by this little girl. For books published in Alexan
dria, Virginia, before the Missouri Compromise, the four
articles Lindley Murray quotes on slavery, significant
enough in themselves, become more so as one reads the
following paragraph with the marginal pencilings of
Mark Baker s daughter:

It may not be improper to remind the young reader, that the
anguish of the unhappy negroes, on being separated for ever
from their country and dearest connections, with the dreadful
prospects of perpetual slavery, frequently becomes so exquisite
as to produce derangement of mind, and suicide.

If already, as she tells us in her writings, Mrs. Eddy
took to verse more readily than to prose and thus laid

62 MARY BAKER EDDY

herself open to the criticism that her verse was stilted
and bathetic, it may not be amiss to remind ourselves that
the same things are still said of Dryden and of Pope, whose
"couplet," however, was to remain the model for imitation
by succeeding poets until well along in the nineteenth
century. All through her life, the strong impression which
measured speech thus early made on the girl s mind
endured. But it was John Dryden, and not Mrs. Eddy,
who wrote such couplets as:

Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense
Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence.

It was Alexander Pope, and not Mrs. Eddy, to whom
belongs the couplet:

His soul proud Science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk or milky way.

The conclusion to which these small particulars cumu
latively point is that Mary Morse Baker was having a
normal girlhood. She was the social center in every
youthful neighborhood gathering. She loved and quar
reled and made up with her sisters and brothers, and with
her other boy and girl companions. She read much, and
often "took her pen in hand." One of her first written
verses was occasioned by the removal of her family from
Bow to Sanbornton Bridge. She found parting with her
young friend, Andrew Gault, 27 such sweet sorrow that
in Popean style she left for him this farewell verse:

Hard is the task to take a final leave
Of friends whom we shall see ah! never
With unaccustomed grief my bosom heaves
And burns with latent fire forever.

A RICH GIRLHOOD 63

A vernal feeling thrills my very breast
And scarce the accustomed word is spoken
We firmer grasp the hand still loath to part
And wish that grasp might never be broken.

But go those finer feelings riven
Which through my bosom shot
And with the take this flower of Heaven
The flower forget-me-not. 28

In letter writing more clearly than in verse making,
Mary Baker revealed her girlhood self. The earlier letters,
in common with other letters of the time, appear somewhat
self-conscious here and there. The spelling at the first
is markedly informal, as is evident; so too was the spelling
of George Washington until the end. 29 Now and then
the characteristic sense of more or less complete isolation
apt to be the experience of the sensitive adolescent is
revealed along with its conventional concern about her
health. But taken in their entirety, the letters which she
wrote between her fourteenth and her sixteenth year
throw sufficient light on that formative period in her life
to convince a keen appraiser like Isaac F. Marcosson that
they represent a "find of genuine historic value." 30

Her first letter extant the second she says she ever
composed was written September 7, 1835, at Bow to
her brother, George Sullivan Baker, whom she loved to
call "Sullivan/ then living at Wethersfield, Connecticut.
It simply expresses the affection of a fourteen-year-old
girl for an older brother and her eagerness to have his
counsel in all her concerns.

There is one thing if I have not improved it aright I have
lerned from expperience to prize more perhaps than ever I did
before that is Dear brother the friendly advice and council you

64 MARY BAKER EDDY

was ever giving me and the lively interest you ever manifested
in my welfare but now when I sit down to my lonely meal I have
no brother Sullivan to encourage me as formerly but there is
no philosophy in repining I must extend the thought of benevo
lence farther than selfishness would permit. 31

The next letter, dated May 2, 1836, from their new
home (then Sanbornton Bridge, renamed Tilton in 1869)
to the same brother refers to him as "brother S. at Conn."
and also makes mention of the more gifted Albert:

My Dear brother

We have just finished our morning vocations, and I am en
gaged in the sweet emplyment of writing (or rather talking) to
brother S. at Conn, and to comply with good ton, I shall first
enquire for your health, spirits, and the like of that, hopeing time
sill continues to glide smoothly as in former years, it continues
to do so with us only when we are obligeed to ride in a ivagon
and then it is rough. ... I hope after I read the book you sent
us, I shal becom some what more civilized in my presant state of
ignorance I cannot express the gratitude I feell for the presants
you sent us by Mr. C., they meet a weelcom recepttion you may
depend, although I should much rather have seen the original.
You cannot imagin the disappointment I felt on receiveing your
letter that you should not return, but I hope it will not be long
before I shal again see you, do not disappoint me but come and
see us if you cannot stay. We received a letter from Albert not
long seince, he informed us he had written to you but had
received no answer. Mother wishes to be remembered to you
with all the kindness of parental love, but none more sincerely
than your Sister

Mary. 32

Another letter which was written to "Sullivan," Decem
ber 20, 1836, is alive with happy references to those she
loves. The election of Franklin Pierce to the United
States Senate calls forth proud comment on the prospect

A RICH GIRLHOOD 65

of even closer relations between Albert and the future
President. After a reference to the illness of her "Uncle
Baker," she runs on about affairs in this fashion:

We attended a party of young Ladies at Miss Hayes last eve
ning she was truly sorry our Brother from Conn, was not there,
but she is soon to be married and then the dilemma will close as
it is your fortune to have some opposeing obstacle to extricate
you. Oh brother I wish I could see you, and I hdly think Abby
and I would be as sleepy as we wer the last night you spent with
us; but could amuse ourselvs (if not you) by telling you things
that would excite laughter if nothing more, but when are we to
realize this this happiness? I am impatient to learn soon verry soon
I hope: but if we are not to see you soon, to hear of your health
and prosperity is a pleasure that none but those to whom we are
most nearly can experience. But I must obey Mothers motto to
be spry and hasten to a close with executing her commissions
to give her love to Sulivan hoping you will receive the same
from us all not forgetting to tender it to Mr. Cutchins.

Write soon Dear brother and excuse the unpardonable sin of
our writing so often but do retaliate if you have any resentment
in writing to us. Pardon all mistakes for I am in hast and accept
the well wishes of yours truly

Mary M. Baker. 33

Spring was in the air when April 17, 1837, Mary, now
near sixteen, writes "Sullivan" a long letter, more illus
trative than ever of her widening interests and her growing
sense of humor. She says:

It is a little funny, I will give you an abridged sketch of a gen
tleman recently from Boston, now reading medicine with a doctor
of this town, a perfect complet gentleman I met him a number
of times at parties last winter he inviteed me to go to the shakers 34
with him but my superiors thought it would be a profanation
of the sabbathe; and I accordingly did not go. But I have since
then attended a wedding with a Mr. Bartlett he was goomsman
and I bridsmaid; we had a fine time I assure you.

66 MARY BAKER EDDY

Referring to her sister Martha s illness she adds as
though foreseeing later years, "I should think her in a
confirmed consumption if I would admit the idea, but it
may not be so, at least I hope not."

To "Sullivan" the news may not be altogether welcome
that "Father has been speculating of late, ... he has
swaped your favourite horse with Mr. Rogers. And he
thinks it a fine trade."

The writing master is urging the Baker girls to join
his village class, writes Mary, "but Martha is not able and
7 have not wherewith." And she closes her long letter
thus:

Write soon dear Brother and give me all the good advice you
can for yours is the genuine growth of experience don t forget
but remember the solicitation of your affectionate

Mary 35

The letter which she wrote home when she was paying
her first real visit to another town, Haverhill, evidently
belongs to her sixteenth year. She was then, as a friend
in later years recalled, frail and fair with "brilliant blue
eyes, cheerful, hopeful, and enthusiastic," 3G as this letter s
account of the many impressions made on her will show:

My dear Brother:

Since I left you I have made it a religious duty to obey you in
all things. And today, according to promise, write you the order
of exercises since Wednsday I reached here about 6 o clock
p. M. was the only passenger inside, and such a sky-rocket adven
ture I never had; some times I really thought I was at least midway
betwen heaven and earth, till the driver s shrill whistle, or a more
tolerable road would restore my senses; Mr. Hale is the very
most polite good natured driver in the whole world (As I have
seen it all} and was very kind to me on your account I suppose
-You cannot know how lame and unwell I felt yesterday;

A RICH GIRLHOOD 67

Augusta would sleep with me the first night, and kept me awake
so long after we retired, I did not rest much, if any, that night.
Yesterday in the afternoon, we both took off our dresses and
went to bed I rested some, and to-day am as well as usual
have not been any where. Augusta and all want me to stay here
until commencement And then attend with them, but there is so
much to excite me here, and such a teazing etiquette in this vill.
it is not best for my health And I go to L. to-night Go d
bless you

Mary 37

G. Stanley Hall s words,

that bright gkls of good environment of eighteen or nineteen,
or even seventeen, have already reached the above-mentioned
peculiar stage of first maturity, when they see the world at first
hand, when the senses are at their very best, their susceptibilities
and their insights the keenest, tension at its highest, plasticity and
all-sided interests most developed,

would appear from the letters 38 to be presented next an
almost photographic likeness of Mary Baker at that age.

Her interest in books is now spreading and deepening.
She writes her friend, Augusta Holmes: 39

My dear Augusta, Have you Surwalt s gramar? If so, would
you do me the favour to loan it to me for a short time? I am
told it is easier than Levizac s at least if it is not I shall have
the horrors worse than last evening after you left are you well,
and did you return safely? but answering echo must reply to this.
Much love to Abi- As ever your aff

Mary

P.S. In looking over some books yesterday I spied an essay I think
must be yours will forward it the first opportunity.

Even in inviting Augusta to a "party" Mary s eagerness
for books vies with her enthusiasm for the party. In a
postscript longer than the invitation she writes: "You

68 MARY BAKER EDDY

will please to bring along with you that favourite book
of mine, entitled, Forget me not, I have not had an
opportunity to send to Concord for one yet."

A few weeks later Mary Baker is reading Byron s
Corsair and Manfred; but not as yet, she says, The Prisoner
of Chilian. Incidentally she wonders if her friend ever
sees (Godey s) Lady s Book, forerunner of The Ladies
Home Journal, and sharing with Graham s Magazine the
interest of young women of about that day. 40

Illness almost drops out of this buoyant correspondence
with Augusta. Even the occasional "molting" spells by
which girls up to the nineteenth century often sought to
win attention are dismissed with the remark, "I am
low spirited occasionally, as you know I am subject to
such fits !"

At a Methodist revival, which lasted five long weeks
at Sanbornton Bridge, while Mary Baker was interested,
she evidently had her doubts in some instances as to
whether conversion had gone beyond the talking stage,
for she wrote:

the marvelous James Smith! Your crazy correspondent was
correct, so far as pretensions warrant; he professes to have religion,
and so far succeeded in exhausting that interesting and exalted
subject, I grew weary and retired.

She hastens to describe the meetings themselves as
Very interesting." Entertaining friends and relatives
the Bakers had many who drove in from miles around
to attend the daily services, involved Mary and her family
in much "extra labor." She hopes Augusta will forgive
her for neglecting to write oftener, and would have her
know that almost all her acquaintances are now rejoicing
in the hope set before them of higher aims and nobler joys.

A RICH GIRLHOOD 69

The sceptic s scoff, and the ribaldry of the multitude is scarcely
left among us. I will mention some of your particular acquaint
ances who have experienced a change indeed since you were here
Esqr. Gate & wife, Mr. Curry, wife, and two daughters Mr.
Wingate. N. Atkinson. J. Tilton Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. Carr
& wife My sister, Mrs. Tilton; with a hundred of others, I cannot
mention, and with whom I am unacquainted. Would that you
were here to witness with me this changed scene! tho I fear for
some, I rejoice with many, whom I doubt not possess the "pearl"
which is priceless And do you not also rejoice with me if it
were but for one sinner that hath repented? Doubtless as you
feared, there are some who have deceived themselves by "zeal
without knowledge" But methinks we have less to fear from
fanaticism, than from stoicism; when a question is to be decided
that involves our weal, or woe, for time and eternity^

Everything of concern to Augusta is of concern to
Mary. She ardently hopes:

that the friendship which has existed between us, is founded upon
a basis too solid to be shaken by trifles. How many friendships
(so called, but sadly miscalled) have such a foundation that a
mere word is sufficient to dissolve them forever. But I hope such
will not be the case with us. If we each possess a forgiving spirit,
much pain may be spared us.

Almost a century later, reading Mrs. Eddy s own copy
of Hugh Black s Friendship, published in 1898, the author
is not surprised to find her little blue pencil underlining
the words: "friendship in its essence is spiritual. It is the
free, spontaneous outflow of the heart, and is a gift from
the great Giver."

When Augusta s father died Mary wrote April 9, 1840:

It must be a great affliction to be deprived of the watchful
care and guardianship of a kind and tender father. But Augusta,
there is one who has promised to be a "father to the fatherless,"

70 MARY BAKER EDDY

and if we go to him, we shall indeed find consolation. Have you
not been enabled in this time of sorrow and distress to cast all
your care upon Him who careth for us? I believe you once told
me that you had a hope in Christ. If so you will not need to
turn to the world for comfort, and for balm for your wounded
heart, for in Christ "all fulness dwells."

Already her love of nature leads her in visiting Boston
to single out Mount Auburn and Cushing s garden as
"delightful places." "Nahant is also a beautiful place . . .
refreshingly cool, and the prospect is certainly delightful."
Augusta s description of Haverhill is, Mary writes, "indeed
interesting to me, for I well remember your love for what
was wild or picturesque in nature."

Late in February as the sap begins to flow, Mary
facetiously promises to "magnetize a letter with *sap sugar
and send you." 42 Bits of human, harmless gossip impart
homely touches here and there to the correspondence.
Mary wrote:

I rec d letters a few weeks since from Miss Balch Greenough.
Miss G was then at Salisbury on a visit to an aunt. She thinks
of going to Ipswich this summer to school. Miss Balch expects
to go somewhere, had not decided where. I rec d a letter from
Miss Burnham in Jan. & am expecting another daily. She was
then attending school at R Miss L. Howard wrote me last week.
She has been attending a singing-school & dancing-school. She
wrote that Miss Sheed is engaged, and that Caroline Dean received
letters from George A. Merrill, who, by the way, is now at
Boston. Miss Sutherland s father has been very sick. I have heard
that Miss Delano is preparing in all possible haste to be married
next autumn. I cannot vouch for the truth of it, for I believe
but few reports that I hear "now a-days," I think if every one
would be cautious in reporting flying stories, a great deal less of
falsehood would be spoken. I have not heard from Elisabeth
Noyes for a long time. I have expected a letter for more than a

A RICH GIRLHOOD 71

week. I cannot write more now, for I must write a letter to our
daughter Betsy this P.M. I rec d one from her week before last.
Her school has closed. Please to write soon, if you can take the
trouble. I have written in great haste.

The one subject of which happy girls are sure to talk
is not absent from these letters. Mary teases Augusta
about "Enoch" "Mr. Noyes," she admits, had called on
her, but simply "to be polite." Augusta Holmes will care
to hear that "Mr. Lawrence is inquiring where Miss
Holmes is now," and Mr. L. had made "an incoherent
speech about Diana. " She would have Augusta "say
something nice" to "Mr. Dickey" in her name. She admits
she would be willing to share with her friend the high
responsibility of "making cold hearted man raise his
standard of female excelence, still higher." But "as to my
being married, I don t begin to think much of that decisive
step, neither do I intend to be married at present. I
am sure, I feel as though I should like my liberty a
while longer."

But it was to be only a little while. Mary Morse Baker
was now in her early twenties. George Washington Glover
was heading her way.

Chapter III
FINDING HERSELF

THE Christmas spirit was already in the air when
Mary Baker was given in marriage to George
Washington Glover on Sunday, December 10,
1843. The wedding guests, from Concord and Boston,
as well as from Sanbornton Bridge and from the sur
rounding country, came in sleighs to the little farmhouse,
a mile and a half from the town. All the other Baker
children were there, Samuel, George, Abigail, and Martha,
except Albert, whose lovable character and whose brief
career of rich promise had kept the family grief green
for two years.

Samuel brought with him from Boston his new wife,
previously a missionary to the Indians. From Concord
came Martha with her husband, Luther G Pilsbury.
Abigail, more sure of herself than ever because six years
before she had made the best marriage in the Baker family,
brought her husband, Alexander H. Tilton. The father s
and the mother s cup of joy was now full with the sight
of the family they had founded starting well in life.

Mary Baker looked her best. Past twenty-two, she was
drawing near to wifehood. 1 George Glover was no
stranger. Collaterally related and once of Concord, he
had learned the building trade in Boston with Samuel
Baker, and for four years had been making for himself
a place in Charleston, 2 South Carolina. On a former visit
to Boston he had run up to Tilton with his friend, Samuel,

FINDING HERSELF 73

and had left his heart with Mary Baker, who was ten
years his junior. An impetuous wooer, 3 scant delay inter
vened till the day when the long loved pastor of the Baker
family, the Reverend Corban Curtice, made the two one.

The wedding night was spent at Concord, and the next
day the bride and groom drove up to Bow for a fitting
farewell to the birthplace of the bride. 5 Then Mr. and
Mrs. George W. Glover set sail from Boston for their
new home in the South. There were no domestic storms
to mar the honeymoon, but the ship did run into heavy
weather, and on Christmas Day the gale was so severe
that even the captain became alarmed.

Mrs. Eddy in her later years related to Miss Shannon,
Mr. McKenzie, and Mr. Tomlinson this almost tragic
experience. She told them how after she and her new
husband knelt in their cabin and prayed to God to save
them, in a short time the wind subsided and she, as always
in a crisis, gave God the credit. The captain also was so
impressed with the sudden cessation of the storm that he
called it "a miracle." 6

Young Mrs. Glover was not the first bride nor yet
the last to find a sea voyage little conducive to the
happiness of the honeymoon. A penciled note in Mrs.
Eddy s handwriting on the margin of her old scrapbook
records that she "was hopelessly seasick." The letter of
counsel which her mother had given them to ponder
when halfway on their voyage, she was scarcely in a
mood to read with the storm adding its aggravation to
her discomfort. But of her husband she writes, "When I
grew better" I "saw the tears wet on his cheek," as he
read what her mother had given him under seal to be
opened "when we were midway on our journey South."

74 MARY BAKER EDDY

Normal mothers are torn between tears and smiles
when they see a daughter whom they love passing into
the most complex experience which ever comes to a
woman. But they rarely show the tender forethought of
Mrs. Glover s mother in counseling the man to whom
she gives her daughter to take heed of Mrs. Sigourney s
verse, popular in those days on both sides of the Atlantic;
and we of these more prosaic times may perhaps overlook
the sentimentality of a less sophisticated age.

Deal gently, thou, when, far away,

Mid stranger scenes her feet shall rove,
Nor let thy tender cares decay

The soul of woman lives on love;
And should st thou, wondering, mark a tear

Unconscious from her eyelid break,
Be pitiful, and soothe the fear

That man s strong heart can ne er partake.

A mother yields her gem to thee,

On the true breast to sparkle rare
She places neath thy household tree

The idol of her fondest care;
And by trust to be forgiven,

When judgment wakes in terror wild,
By all thy treasured hopes of heaven,

Deal gently with my darling child.

Then, as now, the approach from the sea to Charleston
was attractive. Josiah Quincy of Boston who made the
same trip not long before this left record in his diary:

This Town makes a beautiful appearance as you come up to
it, and in many respects a magnificent one. I can only say in
general that in grandeur, splendor of buildings, decorations,
equipages, numbers, commerce, shipping and indeed everything,
it far surpasses all I ever saw, or ever expect to see in America. 7

FINDING HERSELF 75

And the Philadelphia!!, Owen Wister, in his Lady Balti
more called Charleston "the most appealing, the most
lovely, the most wistful town in America."

Not even in Boston, or in Philadelphia, was the pursuit
of culture for its own sake keener than in Charleston,
when Mrs. Glover arrived. Had she stayed long enough,
Mrs. Glover might have been admitted to The Southern
Review, then the leading literary journal of the South.
Or she might have made the acquaintance of Edward
Malbone whose miniatures on ivory were already taking
high place in the world of art. 8 She might even, had
she remained long enough, have been invited to attend
one of the concerts of the St. Cecilia Society, the most
exclusive social club in all the land. Save for the fact
that John C. Calhoun was in that same year to leave for
Washington to become Secretary of State to President
Tyler, she might, after establishing herself securely in
Charleston society, have contemplated the possibility at
least of measuring swords over the question of slavery
with the man then dominating South Carolina.

Mary Baker Glover chose to turn as usual toward the
moral, and this meant the particular issue to which her
attention was most sharply called by her transfer to
Southern soil. Already in her Tilton life, she had observed
the slavery question dividing families. Her father was
a Northern Democrat who, like Franklin Pierce, was in
favor of letting slavery alone. Still mindful of her early
training in the Lindley Murray 9 Reader the influences
of which in her life have often been overlooked Mary
Baker Glover took a stand stoutly against slavery. As
practiced in Charleston it only deepened her conviction
that slavery was too wrong for talking to make it right.

76 MARY BAKER EDDY

The simplicity of the negroes appealed to her, and their
religious earnestness touched her heart. It is on record
that she once drove up to a little chapel where negroes
were at worship and listened to them express "their trust
in God and Jesus Christ their only Saviour from slavery." 10

There may be room for differences of opinion con
cerning some other of Mrs. Eddy s views; but nobody
who knows whereof he speaks can question that from
childhood until the day she looked out for the last time
from her Chestnut Hill window this woman believed
with all her heart and soul that "All God s Chillun s Got
Wings."

Never in her long life was Mary Baker Eddy content
to stop with anything so unaggressive as mere opinions.
Her opinions soon climbed up into convictions. Quick
to catch the point, she never remained long the non
committal spectator cautiously and objectively weighing
evidence. She soon became the passionate and prophetic
proponent of profound conviction. No grays crept into
the warp and woof of her mentality. The scarlet thread
of spiritual conviction ran conspicuously and unweariedly
through all the thinking of the fourscore years and ten
of her extraordinary life.

But there were circumstances during those first weeks
in Charleston by which the young bride from the North
was somewhat handicapped. Her husband for a newcomer
was a man of some consequence; for in barely four years
he had built up a business already past the stage of promise,
and "possessed real estate of considerable value." n Among
these assets, however, were a few slaves, readily accepted
in payment of debts at a time when slaves passed as
current coin.

FINDING HERSELF 77

His wife would have had her husband free his slaves
at once but he had lived in Charleston long enough to
be well aware of the difficulties in the way. Not only
was there local condemnation with which to reckon;
there was also a State law, passed in 1820, before Mrs.
Glover s birth, which forbade the formal freeing of slaves
except by special act of Legislature. Though the ardent
young wife could not but admit that her husband had no
power in the circumstances to do her will, one thing at
least to her seemed possible and that she did in spite of
all the admonitions of expediency. Under a pen name
she pointed out the inherent wrongness of slavery in a
local paper which drew from its rival a query, not at all
courteous, as to the identity of "that damned Yankee" 12
who had come to Charleston to rob people of their prop
erty. Thus early giving evidence in the South, as had
been her habit in the North, of living up to her convictions,
she clinched the point as soon as the passing of her husband
gave her the sole power so to do by letting her slaves
"go free without any formal act of emancipation." 13

June 1844 found her in Wilmington, North Carolina,
where she had accompanied her husband on a business
trip. There an epidemic of yellow fever was in full swing,
and George Glover was soon laid low by it. His brother
Masons for he ranked high in Masonry - attended his
sick bed, where Mrs. Glover also would have been, but
that both the doctor and the Masons forbade her, realizing
that she was soon to become a mother.

But what she could not do with loving hands she tried
to do with prayer; and to such purpose that it drew
from the doctor the remark that George Glover would
have died earlier but for his praying wife.

78 MARY BAKER EDDY

The dying man s last words were a pathetic plea to
his brother Masons to see his wife safe to her home in
the North. 14 Faithful to their trust, they laid their
brother s form to rest with the full Masonic ritual in
the cemetery of St. James Episcopal Church at Wil
mington. During the weeks that followed they gave
the grieving widow tender care while, with their counsel,
she salvaged what she could of her husband s estate,
informally allowed the slaves, now hers alone, to go
free, and under Masonic escort made the journey to
New York where her brother, George, was waiting to
greet her. 15

In August Mrs. Glover was once more under the
Baker roof. For her, romance was at an end. No care
her childhood home could give was compensation for
the piteous completeness of her loss. The tender grace
of a day that was dead would never come back to her.
In a nature so vital as Mrs. Glover s, love would awake
again. This was as inevitable as it was desirable. The life
urge was not buried. The life urge cannot be. It knows
no grave. But the men who came into her life in after
years never evoked what she gave George Glover during
those six months of happy expectation that their marriage
would run the usual appointed course, with children
playing round, with home ties growing stronger, and
sweet responsibilities heavier.

Motherhood was near. Her whole being was making
ready for it. As the autumn opened she said good-by to
that high spot which Charleston represented, in the verse:

For trials past I would not grieve,

But count my mercies o er;
And teach the heart Thou has bereaved,

EARLIEST KNOWN PICTURE OF MRS. EDDY

This picture was photographed from a daguerreotype, made in
Mrs. Eddy s young womanhood.

FINDING HERSELF 79

Thy goodness to adore,
Thou gavest me friends, in my distress.

Like manna from above;
Thy mercy ever I ll confess,

And own a Father s love. 16

Born September 12, 1844, her son was named George
Washington Glover, II, for his father. Childbirth all but
plucked life from her body. For a time her family gravely
doubted whether she would survive. Not even her stout
hearted father thought she would ever regain strength
enough to nurse her child and bring him up. In his own
arms Mark Baker carried little George to a nursing mother
at a neighbor s home, where shortly before one of twins,
newly born, had died, and Mrs. Glover s baby was there
fore welcome. 17

Recovery from this, her first and only childbirth, was
long delayed, and during this period Mary Baker Glover
herself needed as tender care as any baby. Mahala Sanborn,
the blacksmith s daughter, became her faithful nurse.
Even so, Mark Baker, whose heart was as big and active
as his mind, used for hours at a time to hold his nerve-
racked daughter in his arms and rock her gently to and
fro, enforcing silence in the house; and with rare fore
thought taking the precaution to deaden the clatter made
by passers-by, he strewed the road outside with straw
and tanbark. 18 If in her girlhood there had been clashes
of will between the strong-minded father and the even
stronger-minded daughter, now in her extremity there
was nothing left but the devotion of an anxious father
and the confident dependence of a frail daughter on a
father s strength.

The story of those years of widowhood can be quickly

80 MARY BAKER EDDY

told. Mrs. Glover, try as she would, and did, found
herself not vigorous enough to care for the little boy
she had brought into the world and always dearly loved. 19
He was left too much for his best interest to the company
of his good nurse and her indulgent associates. Attractive
and precocious, in the circumstances his spoiling was
inevitable.

Changes, too, were taking place in the Baker home.
Mark Baker, growing every year more prosperous, now
built a comfortable house in Tilton and moved his family
to town. 20 George Baker married and departed for Balti
more to start a branch of the successful mills owned by
Abigail s husband in Tilton. About the time Mrs. Glover
might have given the measure of care which one so frail
would naturally bestow on the child she loved, her mother,
whom they all adored, fell ill and after six months passed
away. Mrs. Glover sat down the morning after, Novem
ber 22, 1849, and wrote to her brother George:

My Dear Bro :

This morning looks on us bereft of a Mother! Yes, that angel
on earth is now in Heaven! I have prayed for support to write
this letter, but I find it impossible to tell you particulars at this
time. She failed rapidly from the time you saw her, but her last
struggles were most severe; her physician spoke of it as owing
to so strong a constitution. Oh! George, what is left of earth to
me! But oh, my Mother! She has suffered long with me; let me
then be willing she should now rejoice, and I bear on till I follow
her. I cannot write more. My grief overpowers me. Write to me.

Your aff ec Sister,

(Signed) Mary.

Died last night at half -past seven o clock; will be buried next
Saturday. I wish you could be here. 21

The coming into the home next year of a stepmother

FINDING HERSELF 81

left the young mother in an awkward predicament.
There was no room any longer in her own mother s house
for the frail young widow. When a stepmother comes,
even one as kindly as was Elizabeth Patterson Duncan,
there is rarely room in any home for such a charge. The
situation was not to be evaded. Something had to be
done about it. Mrs. Glover had no private means. She
had flung away her only potential assets when in Charleston
at the call of conscience she had freed her slaves. She
was not well enough to earn a living for herself. She
did the best she could. She wrote for the weekly papers;
but this, as usual, brought a precarious income. She tried
teaching, but teaching proved to be a makeshift a poor
one at that.

Her sister, Abigail, expressed a willingness to receive
Mrs. Glover into the comfortable Tilton home; but as
she had a somewhat younger boy of her own there seemed
no room even in that ample house for little George, who
had in consequence to go with Mahala Sanborn, by this
time Mrs. Russell Cheney, to live in North Groton,
forty miles away.

Mrs. Glover had no alternative. If her life with her
generous, but dominating, sister did not prove satisfactory
to either, perhaps it could not be. The situation was
impossible. No family roof is wide enough to cover long
an adult dependent of different habits and ideals. Mrs.
Glover, still frail in body, often confined to her bed,
was, however, mentally independent and spiritually
resourceful. Beholden, of necessity, for bed and board
to Abigail, who was herself under much nerve strain,
due to hernia, 22 Mrs. Glover saw no reason for subservi
ence also to her sister s intellect. There had never been

82 MARY BAKER EDDY

a time no matter how young she was when she had
not done her own thinking. She knew no reason why,
amid the new conditions, she should not continue to
think for herself.

In the nation, the irrepressible conflict was steadily
moving on to its climax. Down in Washington, Henry
Clay was now espousing the adoption of the Compromise
of 1850 to avert open war. Daniel Webster, who was
born and spent his earlier life in Salisbury, about five miles
from Tilton, threw in his lot with Clay, and made his
Seventh of March Speech not without the forlorn hope
of inducing the South to help him to the nomination for
the Presidency.

Many a substantial home became a hotbed of discussion.
The Tiltons one day turned a community reception,
given in their home, into a political discussion. Graceful
and attractive in spite of her delicate health, Mrs. Glover
assisted Mrs. Tilton in receiving. But she kept out of
the discussion until one of the guests openly insisted on
hearing what she thought concerning slavery. She replied,
with her Charleston days in mind, that the South as well
as the North suffered rather than benefited from the
continuance of slavery and its spread to other States;
that the election of Franklin Pierce would involve the
whole country in fiercer and more menacing disputes;
and that victory for him would therefore be good neither
for the North nor for the South.

With the Tiltons and the Bakers siding with the
Northern Democrats, and in a community so divided
that some of its members as late as 1865 illuminated their
homes when news came of Lincoln s assassination, Mrs.
Glover s words created consternation. Mrs. Tilton is

FINDING HERSELF 83

reported to have said in protest, "Mary, do you dare to
say that in my house?"

"I dare to speak what I believe in any house," 2Z was
the decisive reply she received, uttered with dignity.

Mrs. Tilton, with that strange disposition observable
in some families to force on blood relations the adoption
of group opinions, a policy which in friendship s circles
is tabooed by conventional courtesy, would have con
strained her sister to think as well as live like her. But
during the three years that followed, Mrs. Glover held
her own in all their repetitious discussions, even though
that course could scarcely have promoted household har
mony. Mrs. Tilton s persistence, however, lasted to the
end; for when she reached threescore years and ten she
wrote her sister, by that time famous, a letter so little
to her credit as to be hardly fair to quote, to which
Mrs. Eddy replied:

How my heart goes out to you in sorrow that you are not
filling the last pages of your life with better thoughts, motives,
and aims. May our dear Father forgive you and fill you with
the sweet peace that I find in His love.

Through the long nine years that followed the expe
rience of childbirth, Mrs. Glover suffered from ill health,
which persisted almost unbroken until she was in middle
life. The symptoms were different from the earlier
adolescent disturbances. All through her correspondence
until well on into the sixties mention of these symptoms
now and then recurs as a matter of course. The nervous
agitation which her father had quieted by taking her
into his arms, her sister endeavored to allay by ^ putting
up a swing in her bedroom, forerunner of the chair swing
in which in later years at Pleasant View she liked to sit

84 MARY BAKER EDDY

on summer evenings, rocking back and forth, while passing
in review for the entertainment of her house friends
various episodes of her earlier days.

Seldom after George was born can she be said to have
rested well. She suffered from pangs of indigestion
traceable to the stomach, as well as to the intestinal tract.
Incidentally it may be mentioned that graham bread, rye
pudding, and fruit were in those days staple foods in her
diet. 24 But it was the persistent pain she habitually located
in her spine which indicated that something may have
gone wrong when George was born.

In spite of all her physical distress, however, Mrs.
Glover often participated in church and lodge and other
social life. She prayed in public. At the lodge she was
the star speaker. She obviously had rare social charm.
Of a certain John M. Burt she had occasion to write 25
as though the coupling of his name and hers in village
gossip had gone too far to please her. James Smith 26
seemed disposed to seek her heart through the pious
pathway of the consolations of religion. But, persistent
and pervasive as he was, she never took him seriously.

John H. Bartlett, however, made more headway in his
suit. In her letters years before to Augusta Holmes, she
had habitually underscored his name. In opening his
campaign, March 21, 1846, for her heart, he presented
her with the conventional autograph album of that day,
fondly indicating in the opening pages his hope that she
will remember him "when friends near and dear are far
away." 27 Some sort of understanding between them for
a time existed, with reservations on her part. She was
not the woman to make a marriage that would leave out
of the home she craved the boy for whom the Tilton

FINDING HERSELF 85

house was never big enough. Winsome as young Bartlett
was, she never could be sure that he could furnish the
conditions necessary for the proper bringing up of her
young son. For that matter, he had doubts himself; for
in his acceptance of what looked like a dismissal, he indi
cated that he agreed with her as to his financial outlook,
and he called heaven to witness that he would insist on
nothing that did not appeal to her feelings and in addition
promise family support.

Some of the reasons why Mrs. Glover, June 21, 1853,
married Daniel Patterson are not difficult to give.

The Cheneys were, not long afterward, to take young
George far away with them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Glover,
as she found living through those days of humiliating
dependence on her strong-minded elder sister increasingly
irksome, was trying to find a way to keep her young son
at least within hailing distance. Abigail was so immersed
in her unceasing efforts to bring up her boy, Albert, to
be a "gentleman" that she felt she had no right to let
him play daily with his somewhat rougher and more
boisterous cousin. There was something to be said on
both sides. There always is. But it is scarcely open to
discussion that real home life was not to be expected in
an atmosphere too often charged with controversy and
perhaps acrimony.

That herein lay an impelling motive for Mrs. Glover s
second marriage is, also, indicated by the removal of
Dr. and Mrs. Patterson, after their first three years of
married life in Franklin, during which her invalidism
continued, to North Groton in order to be near her son.

The very happiness, in fact, of Mrs. Glover s brief
wifehood, so swiftly ended, had made her eager, as is

86 MARY BAKER EDDY

usual with normal people, for a closer comradeship and
a more intimate understanding than she was now expe
riencing in these years of isolation. Her letter about this
time to Martha D. Rand (later wife of her brother
George) speaks for itself:

Now dearest Mathy, I am alone to-day. The family are all at
church, and solitude, and silence, reign supreme, meek dwellers
in the old chateau. Two things well calculated to influence
memory to bring up the light of other days, when ^njoe tnjoo have
met" Alas! for the bye-gones in memory, would that I possessed
the power of Magic, to command the delicate spirits of fancy to
reproduce the dear reality, that would bring you to my side,
where in one fond embrace of affection I could clasp thee to my
lone heart, so weary of solitude I have half determined this very
moment to throw aside my pen and wait to weep. 28

Apparently Dr. Patterson was well equipped to comply
with some of the conditions required to satisfy the lonely
widow. He was big, handsome, healthy such a Beau
Brummel as was never seen before in Tilton. Confidence
in himself was another asset which would appeal to Mrs.
Glover s need for a strong arm on which to lean. Inci
dentally, too, he was a relative of Mark Baker s second
wife. His wooing proceeded apace. He soon convinced
her that no honor in his estimation could possibly equal
the right he craved to help her in the care of George.
To Mrs. Glover he became the one person in the world
who seemed to understand her invalidism and to be
qualified to make her well, if he might have the chance
which marriage would afford to keep her under close
professional as well as loving observation. 29 On his side,
he evidently believed that if she could once be taken out
of the depressing conditions in which she was living she
could certainly be restored to health and happiness.

FINDING HERSELF 87

He confided to Mrs. Tilton his conviction that Mrs.
Glover s suffering was due as much to separation from
her boy as to any possible organic or functional disorder.
Mrs. Tilton, therefore, had the right to feel that she was
acting in her sister s interest as well as in her own in
encouraging a marriage which would take out of her
home an invalid not of her immediate family. 30 Mrs.
Glover s father was not so easily convinced. He endeav
ored to impress on Patterson, whom he did not wholly
trust, the gravity of the double responsibility which he
would be assuming, for a wife who was a sick woman
and a stepson, self-willed like all the Bakers, and in addi
tion already showing at the age of nine, the unhappy
results that usually follow being "handed about" from
babyhood.

In this marriage Mrs. Glover s heart did not go freely
with her hand. But at last, almost desperate, her personal
tragedy deepening, she accepted the bewhiskered, broad-
clothed, silk-hatted suitor in kid gloves. Looking back in
October, 1891, across the years to this decision which she
made in 1853, and its disappointing consequences, she
wrote, "My dominant thought in marrying again was to
get back my child, but after our marriage his stepfather
was not willing he should have a home with me." 31

The years she spent as wife to Dr. Patterson proved
as drab as any years could be for a woman always virile
in mind, no matter how her body failed her. In the
three years passed at Franklin the income of the itinerant
dentist was disappointing. The two lived in a little house,
kept a cow, and a horse which, however, Dr. Patterson
needed most of the time for his tooth-pulling peregrina
tions. Neither her mind nor her body found health in

88 MARY BAKER EDDY

this second marriage. For several years her sole attendant
was a girl incapacitated by her blindness and, like herself,
unwanted in the average home. Often depressed as well
as ill, sometimes, as this companion dear to her through
many years wrote in 1911, Mrs. Patterson would grow
violently impatient under the goad of nervous irritation
with the blind girl s uncertain movements, but "imme
diately came and put her arms around my neck and said
that she was sorry." 32

She yearned more than ever for her boy; and it was
this, on her part, that took them in 1855 to live in North
Groton. 33 Now her liege lord, obliged to add the running
of a sawmill 34 to his dental work in order to make both
ends meet, showed himself more reluctant than before
to take in little George, who finally, therefore, at the
age of twelve, said farewell in 1856 to his mother and
went off to Minnesota with the Cheneys. At seventeen,
when the Civil War broke out, he joined the army and
went South to fight for the freedom which his mother
had for years been preaching both with voice and pen.

A wife s ill health and a husband s broken promises due
to his conspicuous inability to make a living, to pay even
fifty cents on the dollar of the obligation he had expressly
assumed to make a home for a stepson as well as for an
ailing wife, were not contributory to that happiness in
marriage which is dependent on generous reciprocity.
The neighbors began to talk about the inharmony in the
Patterson home, and the "blind girl," looking back long
afterwards, admitted sadly that "they often quarreled." 35

One of the many children who loved Mrs. Patterson
through all these years wrote in 1916, when she was then
an aged woman:

FINDING HERSELF 89

My blind sister Myra Smith (Myra Smith Wilson) worked for
Mrs. Patterson, consequently I was at the house two or three
times each week She was ill nearly all the time and would lie in
bed, with a book for her constant companion but when I came
up to the bedside she would lay aside her book and pat rne on
the head and say "Oh you dear little girl. You are worth your
weight in gold. I wish you were mine."

Every pleasant day my sister would wrap Mrs. Patterson up
and draw her out on the piazza and when she was too tired to
stay longer out of doors would draw her into the house & she
would retire and rest.

When she was ready for breakfast she would ring the bell
and my sister would cook a rye pudding to be eaten as a cereal.
When she ate pie it had to be made with a cream crust as she
could eat no fatty substance. One of the greatest pleasures of the
children was to carry in the earliest berries and wild flowers to
the "poor sick lady" but they did not call when Dr. Patterson
was at home for we were all afraid of him. 36

Dr. Patterson soon tired of the inconveniences to which
a husband with a wife of "nerves" must, at least, try to
grow accustomed. Nor could she on her side continue
in heart to "honor" one who kept his promises no longer
than it was convenient. There were scenes. The hus
band s absences from home grew more frequent and
lengthy than his scant business required.

Things went from bad to worse. The mortgage on
the Groton house came due, and the holder resorted both
to law and to his fists to collect his money. Mrs. Tilton
was importuned to come to her sister s rescue. The fore
closure which followed sank Mrs. Patterson into the
deepest depths of humiliation. As her sister drove her
down the mountain side while the hard-hearted holder
of the mortgage had the church bell tolled in ironic
glee, Mrs. Patterson broke into tears, and the "blind girl"

90 MARY BAKER EDDY

who stumbled after on foot wept bitterly in sympathy
for the woman whom she truly loved. 37

There followed a superficial resumption of home ties.
The doctor made some effort to keep the home together.
The unhappy couple boarded with a Mr. and Mrs. John
Herbert at Rumney Station. Mrs. Patterson turned all
but hopeless, and Dr. Patterson took her to a little house
in Rumney Village. Then, early in the Civil War, he
went off to Washington, commissioned by the Governor
of New Hampshire to distribute a fund from that state
among Union sympathizers in the South. He left his wife
without money, and also without food. Before he started
South, Mrs. Patterson wrote him:

I have had one good ride with D. Lang and Barnes. He took
us over to Franklin and I went to see E. J. Gate, stopped about
one hour. I paid, 50 cts and I cant go again for lack of money.
I felt better for the ride; twas yesterday and the air did so brace
me, and O, twas so delightful to see so much of beauty on this
earth. ... I have not had any Graham bread since you were
here, if you come by railroad I think you better bring some
wheat. 38

With customary carelessness, straying in March, 1862,
too near the Confederate lines, Dr. Patterson was cap
tured and sent to Libby Prison, from which, on April
second, he wrote his wife the following letter in which
he expresses the lively hope that God will find her food
and shelter and seems also to hope that some way may be
found to salvage for him the inconsequential boots and
traveling bag he had left behind in Washington and to
commandeer the interest of their Congressman, T. M.
Edwards, M. G, in effecting his release:

FINDING HERSELF 91

Dear Wife

You will be amazed to learn that I am in prison in the con
federate States prison, but it is so, I was taken one week ago today.
Give yourself no uneasiness about me. I have found very gentle
manly officers and friendly gentlemen as fellow prisoners, But
God alone can tell what will become of my poor sick wife with
none near to care for her "but God who tempers the wind to the
shorn lamb" will care for you, I have no care except for you
I left my travelling bag and a new pair of boots at 381 Pensyl-
vania Avenue Washington at Mrs. C. W. Hey don s perhaps
you had better write to our representative in congress T. M.
Edwards M.C. and ask him to see that I am exchanged if there
is any exchange of citizens I became somewhat acquainted with
him while in W. if you write to me direct by way of Fortress
Munroe and put on a confederate state stamp which I will enclose
if I can find one, and also a United States one, I would send you
some money if I thought it safe, and I would write more but fear
if too long it will not pass, it will have to be sent unsealed as
yours must also, write short and plain or it will be burned perhaps
instead of forwarded My anxiety for you is intense but be of
as good cheer as possible and trust in God

Your Affectionate Husband

D. Patterson, 39

To occupy her mind there was news coming almost
every day from the battlefields, and Mrs. Patterson rose
to her intellectual best in interpreting to the Kidders and
other friends the deeper meaning of the war. Then too,
spiritualism, mesmerism, and other psychical phenomena
were on the air and in town talk as much as radio today.
Mesmer had died, but mesmerists were everywhere in
evidence. A certain Charles Poyen had been talking in
places where Mrs. Patterson later was to live, of the
Tower of Mind over Matter," and had made ready for
the publication in 1837 of his book on The Progress of
Animal Magnetism in New England. What Braid had

92 MARY BAKER EDDY

done in England to make mesmerism popular, Grimes was
doing in New England, and Dods and Stone, Andrew
Jackson Davis, and Warren F. Evans were to follow him. 40

How much more widespread was the interest in these
related subjects than is now commonly believed may be
inferred from the fact that the Boston Medical Library
today contains ninety-three books dealing with animal
magnetism, and the Boston Public Library has over one
hundred, of which seventy-seven bear a date previous to
1870. Of magnetizers or mesmerists there were almost
three hundred listed in Boston, and in every New England
town lectures and seances were the "movies" of that day.
Not a few were reading The Magnet and The Mesmeric
Magazine for mesmerism had even its own magazines.

But Mrs. Patterson was too broken in body, too
wounded in spirit, too troubled in mind to find such
interests more than superficial and temporary. A lonely,
forsaken woman often too weak to stand on her feet,
confined day after day to her bed, already long suffering
from the spinal trouble which made her a "helpless
cripple," 41 needing even fifty cents to get an outing and
wheat with which to make the bread on which to keep
alive at all, Mary Glover Patterson, in the nature of the
case, was not likely to be as much occupied as some of
her neighbors with mesmerists or sitting in as often at
seances.

More likely she was praying with the Psalmist: "Out
of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord; Lord, hear
my voice." She, who in childhood at her mother s knee,
had listened with joy to the Bible stories about the healing
of the sick, was now promising God as thinking back
wards at Pleasant View she once remarked that if He

FINDING HERSELF 93

would raise her up to health she would give her life to
the help of the sick. 42

Of her mother, the Reverend Richard S. Rust wrote
that, to her entire family, Abigail Ambrose Baker was "a
living illustration of Christian faith." 43 Mrs. Eddy also
recalled to a friend that once when a heated discussion
with her father about everlasting punishment brought on
her a fever, it was her mother s comforting exhortation to
"lean upon divine Love" 44 that drove down her tem
perature. Always in her brilliant daughter s thought,
Mrs. Mark Baker was associated with God and health,
with love and goodness; and when in 1849 the mother
passed away, Mrs. Glover, following her habitual impulse
to express in verse 45 her deeper feeling, wrote:

Supporting faith be mine below,
Life s parting words to greet;
Thy mantling virtues o er me throw,
Till child and mother meet. 46

Still earlier in her teens, she sent word to a friend
bereaved of a dear father: "There is one who has promised
to be a father to the fatherless. " 47

At the time her brother George was seeking Martha
Rand in marriage, his widowed sister wrote:

Let us ever remember, there is One "who careth for us" too
wise to err, too good to be unkind. On Him may you rely, and
find a Father and a friend. Yes, dear Mathy, this is my only
consolation, unworthy as 7 am and tis the greatest I can recom
mend to those I love. 48

Later, on the eve of her marriage to Dr. Patterson, she
made it clear that what Mrs. Tilton, outclassing the new
husband in power to bend others to her will, had failed

94 MARY BAKER EDDY

utterly to do, he need not so much as try to do; for hers
was a "fixed feeling that to yield my religion to yours I
could not." 49

Throughout this period she was, says Mrs. Turner, "a
very spiritual woman." 50 In the Congregational Church
at North Groton Mrs. Patterson frequently responded to
the call to offer prayer in public, and her prayers were
long remembered as uplifting and helpful. All through
her life there surged such a tide as never seemed to ebb
of consciousness of God, a sense of absolute dependence
on Him. Her most recent critic of distinction admits that:

Prayer, meditation, eager and puzzled interrogation of the
Bible, had claimed from childhood much of her energy, so that
those who met her in later times were conscious of a certain quiet
exaltation, such as may come to a woman nursing a secret spiritual
advantage. 51

In spite of her ill health, of which the sign manual was
an evident nervousness of manner which caused some to
regard her as "peculiar," 52 Mrs. Patterson, as she came
toward forty, was a very attractive woman. 53 She had a
grace of manner the more appealing, because of her
habitual neatness and exquisite taste in choosing and in
wearing clothes. A frailness unmistakable and apparel
indicative of poverty were much in evidence, when Mrs.
Patterson came to P. P. Quimby s office in the Interna
tional Hotel at Portland, Maine, in October, 1862. The
young George Quimby he told the author so himself
in 1907 helped her up the stairs. "She was too feeble,"
wrote her sister-in-law, Mrs. Mary A. Baker, who went
with her, "to go unattended."

P. P. Quimby was Mrs. Patterson s last hope. She had
heard of him a year before, for stories were in wide cir-

MARY BAKER EDDY

From a tintype thought to belong to the period, 1864-67. Waiting to be

photographed, Mrs. Eddy quieted a crying child and then their picture

was taken together.

FINDING HERSELF 95

dilation of his magic cures. People reported that he used
no medicine and was particularly helpful in afflictions of
long standing. Her husband was so impressed that on
October 14, 1861, he wrote Quimby:

My wife has been an invalid for a number of years; is not able
to sit up but a little, and we wish to have the benefit of your
wonderful power in her case. If you are soon coming to Concord
I shall carry her up to you, and if you are not coming there we
may try to carry her to Portland if you remain there. 5 *

The next May, when her husband was in Libby Prison,
Mrs. Patterson herself wrote Quimby:

I have entire confidence in your philosophy as read in the cir
cular sent my husband Dr. Patterson. Can you, will you visit
me at once? 55

She then thought that all the ways to Portland were
closed to her. Mrs. Tilton believed Quimby to be a quack
and the reports of his cures greatly exaggerated. She
would not lift a finger to help Mrs. Patterson get to
Portland. Mrs. Tilton did, however, agree to finance
her sister if she would consent to go to Dr. VaiTs Hydro
pathic Institute at Hill, New Hampshire, and there take
the water cure. In no position to make terms, obliged to
accept the best that she could get, and therefore scarcely
in a mood to receive help from any water cure, Mrs.
Patterson arrived at Hill as summer dawned in 1862. She
found few of the patients were settling down to profit
by Dr. Vail s care. Reports of Quimby s wonderful cures
at Portland, coming day after day, sowed the seeds of
unrest and of longing in the minds of the unfortunates
at Hill. Now and then a patient would slip off to Portland
to see Quimby. When one of them, Julius Dresser,"

96 MARY BAKER EDDY

returned visibly improved, Mrs. Patterson became sure
her very life depended on seeing Quimby. A letter she
wrote to him in August, 1862, runs:

Dear Sir: I am constrained to write you, feeling as I do the
great mistake I made in not trying to reach you when I had
more strength. I have been at this Water Cure between 2 and 3
months, and when I came could walk % a mile, now I can sit
up but a few minutes at one time. Suppose I have faith sufficient
to start for you, do you think I can reach you without sinking
from the effects of die journey? I am so excitable 57 I think I
could keep alive till I reached you but then would there be
foundation sufficient for you to restore me is the question. I
should rather die with my friends at S. Bridge, hence I shall go
to you to live or to them to die very soon. Please answer this
yourself $*

The more her physical ailments challenged her reso
lution, the more determined Mrs. Patterson was to have
her way. The little sums of money which Mrs. Tilton
kindly sent her now and then for "extras" she hoarded
until she had enough to pay her fare to Portland. 59 She
came expecting much altogether overmuch and in
consequence she responded quickly to the treatment she
received. As with kindly eyes and sympathetic heart,
Quimby looked into that wan, worn face, his friendly
understanding went out to her in a consuming desire to
do all he could for her. His diagnosis in itself increased
her faith. He told her that she was "held in bondage by
the opinion of her family and physicians," and "her
animal spirit was reflecting its grief upon her body and
calling it spinal disease." 60 His assurance that she would
soon be well was accompanied by his usual manipulation
of the head to generate the flow of healthy electricity,
on which he laid great stress, 61

FINDING HERSELF 97

Encouragement to expect recovery Quimby furnished
with persuasive f orcefulness. With her flaming faith the
patient helped herself while she thought she was only
helping Quimby to help her. The change was instan
taneous. Her pain and weakness disappeared. A sense
of comfort and well-being stepped into their place. 62
Within a week she says that without help she climbed
the one hundred eighty-two steps to the dome of the
City Hall. 63 And in this whole experience she furnished,
though she was not to realize it until 1866, a new illus
tration of the words Jesus spoke to the woman healed
after twelve years illness, "Thy faith hath made thee
whole."

At last the prayers of years seemed to be answered.
Though her healing was not permanent and she soon
suffered a relapse, 64 she told others of the change that
had come over her; and to Quimby, almost two years
later, she wrote: "I have often repeated the first instance
of my salvation to wondering hearers, and if when we
are converted we should strengthen our brethren how
ought I not to preach." 65

Out of the thirty-four hundred cases 66 which Quimby
treated in those last two years at Portland only one at
once felt any obligation to pass on the healing gospel.
Mrs. Patterson did not delay. She was not content merely
to be healed. She would know how the healing was
effected. With becoming modesty and characteristic def
erence she wrote the Portland Courier that "At present I
am too much in error to elucidate the truth." 6T She would
know all before she ventured to apply any. That was
Mrs. Patterson s way. That was why at last she traveled
far in heavenly healing.

98 MARY BAKER EDDY

During those autumn weeks of 1862 she haunted
Quimby s office. She asked him questions. She read all
the notes accessible to those in whom Quimby showed
some interest. She studied his method. He was impressed
by her, as by no other patient. More than once, he
buoyantly remarked, "She is a devilish bright woman." 6S
As weeks went by, Mrs. Patterson grew greater in his
estimation, which once led him to remark to another
patient: "This is a very wonderful woman and in com
parison I am the man, but Mary is the Christ." 69

After her three weeks in Portland with her daily talks
with Quimby, she went back to her sister s home. Mrs.
Tilton was so impressed by the change in Mrs. Patterson
that she took her son Albert to Portland and put him
under Quimby s treatment for alcoholism; but to no
purpose. The boy knew not how to make himself the
vehicle of the curative forces which his aunt s faith alone
had so promptly brought to her, and which she then in
turn too generously ascribed to Quimby. But even that
benefit was only temporary. When she turned back to
Tilton, Mrs. Patterson soon grew ill again. She reported
to Quimby that the spinal trouble had returned, and
with it the chronic indigestion. 70 But faith like hers was
not readily put down. In the spirit in which the Fourth
Gospel describes Christ as "the true Light, which lighteth
every man that cometh into the world," 71 she once
inquired in print, "Is not this the Christ which is in him?"
When in January, 1866, Quimby passed away, she paid
this tribute to his memory:

Rest should reward him who hath made us whole,
Seeking, though tremblers, where his footsteps trod. 72

What Quimby by his own method did for many, none

FINDING HERSELF 99

would undervalue. Generous as usual, Mrs. Patterson
overrated his method and underrated the efficacy of her
own abounding faith. Not only did he, with his vitality,
encourage her to expect much but he also confirmed and
deepened her conviction already larger far than his, had
she only known it which she had had since 1844, that
the Christ has a message for the body as well as for the
soul, and that Jesus knew whereof he spake when he once
observed, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed . . .
nothing shall be impossible unto you." 73

But Mrs. Patterson meant much to Quimby more
perhaps than he or anybody then could be expected to
realize. Close contact of two such vivid personalities was
bound to be significant to both. She was always about.
This, George Quimby, in his early manhood, resented.
He was too young to understand; to have as yet, per
spective. To him his father was a finished product.
George was jealous for his father s reputation, and fearful
lest the most arresting personality he had ever met might
endanger it. That was the boy of it. To himself, of
course, no man is ever finished. 74

Seventeen years later, the interest which she was the
first generously to show in Quimby, others one by one
began to show. No evidence is more illustrative of her
magnanimity than her appeal, soon after Quimby s death,
to Julius Dresser with Quimby much the last few years
of Quimby s life to "step forward into the place he
had vacated. . . . You are more capable of occupying his
place than any other I know." Nor could any answer be
more illuminating than Julius Dresser s of March 2, 1866:

As to turning Dr. myself, & undertaking to fill Dr. Q s place,
and carry on his work, it is not to be thought of for a minute.

100 MARY BAKER EDDY

Can an infant do a strong man s work? Nor would I if I could.
Dr. Q gave himself away to his patients. To be sure he did a
great work, but what will it avail in fifty years from now, if his
theory does not come out, & if he & his ideas pass among the
things that were, to be forgotten? He did work some change in
the minds of the people, which will grow with the developement
& progress of the world. He helped to make them progress.
They will progress faster for his having lived & done his work.
So with Jesus. He had an .effect which was lasting & still exists.
But his great aim was a failure. He did not succeed, nor has
Dr. Q. succeeded in establishing the science he aimed to do. . . .
No I wouldn t cure if I could, not to make a practice of it, as
Dr. Q. did. 75

In the period which followed it was Mrs. Patterson
who kept green the memory of the unusual man, and
but for her supreme success Quimby would, as Dresser
in 1866 predicted, long since have joined the forgotten
failures of the world.

Mrs. Patterson went away from Quimby with the same
faith in God she had when she came to him, and which
she was in a few years to make so effective in the healing
of the sick that in retrospect Quimby became to her
scarcely more than an interesting episode.

Certain phrases which developed in their frequent
conversations were to stick in her vocabulary for a while.
Of them in February, 1899, she wrote:

Quotations have been published, purporting to be Dr. Quimby s
own words, which were written while I was his patient in Port
land and holding long conversations with him on my views of
mental therapeutics. Some words in these quotations certainly
read like words that I said to him, and which I, at his request,
had added to his copy when I corrected it. In his conversations
with me and in his scribblings, the word science was not used
at all, till one day I declared to him that back of his magnetic

FINDING HERSELF 101

treatment and manipulation of patients, there was a science, and
it was the science of mind, which had nothing to do with matter,
electricity, or physics.

After this I noticed he used that word, as well as other terms
which I employed that seemed at first new to him. He even
acknowledged this himself, and startled me by saying what I
cannot forget it was this: "I see now what you mean, and I
see that I am John, and that you are Jesus." 76

Quimby never rose to the spiritual heights scaled by
Mrs. Eddy. However, with her habit of impressing upon
other minds what was dominant in her own, she gave
Quimby credit in full measure, 77 running over, for all
she thought at the time he did for her, but which it is
now plain was the product of her own faith. But, as her
understanding grew with ripening experience, she was
soon filling old words and phrases with new meaning,
then coining her own unquestioned terms to elucidate
her system, and at last in obedience to the same persistent
urge, writing the book.

She discovered Christian Science in a larger sense than
ever Columbus discovered America. Hers was no peep
at a new world and then a scuttling back to the old.
Hers was that real discovery which consists of finding
an age-old truth, settling in it, sharing it with others, and
making the most of it for the redemption of the world
from sickness, sin, and death.

This was essentially the discovery which Shakespeare
made in drama when reading Plutarch, Holinshed, Sir
Thomas More, and even Fox s Book of Martyrs, he sent
characters singing down the ages who otherwise would
long since have faded out of memory.

This was the discovery in government which the
Fathers of the Constitution made, in 1787, when they gave

102 MARY BAKER EDDY

us what Gladstone mistakenly called "the greatest work
ever struck off at any one time by the mind and purpose
of man"; of which James Bryce was then to say "there
is little in that Constitution that is absolutely new, there
is much that is old as Magna Charta"; and of which no
less an authority than Sir Henry Sumner Maine with
veracious accuracy ultimately said: "The Constitution of
the United States of America is much the most important
political instrument of modern times."

What did Mrs. Eddy owe to those who went before
her?

The name at last she gave her church, Christian
Science? 78 As early as 1866 Abraham Coles used the
name in verse, and earlier, in 1846, an English clergyman
in a lecture published in 1847. The Episcopal Bishop of
Wisconsin, Dr. William Adams, had also, in 1850, pub
lished his addresses on Moral Philosophy under the caption,
"Elements of Christian Science." But his book was not
yet to come her way, and when it came, through the gift
of a student, the book bore no relationship to Mrs. Eddy s
faith. Two years before, a friend of Dr. Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, followed her somewhat
familiar, "Mary had a little lamb," 79 with a more ambitious
poem in which the line occurs:

Tis Christian Science makes our day.

But there is no evidence that the poem affected Mrs.
Eddy. Nor would the phrase Christian Science be now
significant if it had had only such casual launching.

Did Mrs. Eddy get the title of her book from Quimby
who once spoke of the "science of health"? 80 Again, the
evidence is lacking that Quimby s phrase ever made on

FINDING HERSELF 103

anyone a lasting impression. Of the thirty-four hundred
whom Quimby treated thirty-three hundred ninety-nine
went their way like the nine out of the ten cured of
leprosy in the New Testament. In 1902 Mrs. Eddy
wrote that the title came to her in the silence of the
night, and not till six months later did a friend find
"science and health" in John Wyclif s version of the New
Testament, and bring it to her notice. 81

God as love, spirit, truth, and life is found in one
version or another of the Bible, and they are terms used
in many a theology long before the day of Quimby and
his more famous patient. 82

As for the nothingness and erroneousness of matter,
this is an idea almost as old as human thinking. Before
ever Gautama took his seat beneath the Botree, India
was accepting it as a general concept. As early as four
hundred thirty B.C. Democritus of Abdera remarked,
"Man lives plunged in a world of illusion and of deceptive
forms which the vulgar take for reality." Plato esteemed
matter nothing, and mind everything. 83 Being without
well-being is naught, "John the Scot" was teaching
France in the ninth century.

In the years when Spinoza was resolving to remain
a materialist "until the last king had been strangled with
the entrails of priestcraft," S4 he was heading towards Mrs.
Eddy s "Infinite Mind" with his talk of "Universal Sub
stance." Berkeley came to the conclusion that apart from
some mind to perceive it, matter would be nonexistent.
Jonathan Edwards, rated by A. M. Fairbairn as "the
highest speculative genius of the eighteenth century,"
could say that the "Material Universe exists only in the
Mind." 85

104 MARY BAKER EDDY

"The laws of nature" were to Kant "creations of our
own understanding, acting upon the data of the senses."
"Man has no body," wrote William Blake, "distinct from
his soul." Lotze avowed "that matter is nothing but an
appearance for our perception." Like the morning stars,
the Transcendentalists all sang together of "the supremacy
of mind over matter"; and Emerson required no urging
to report that:

Out of thought s interior sphere
These wonders rose in upper air.

But before her views could run into a complete system
Mrs. Patterson was again in need of help. In the early
spring of 1864, she paid another visit to Quimby. As
late as 1904, Mrs. Eddy was able to recall a conversation
with a fellow patient in 1864, in which she expressed
her judgment that "Dr. Quimby is the most progressive
magnetic doctor I ever knew, and back of it all there is
a science that some day will be discovered." 86

On this visit Mrs. Patterson was keener than ever to
exhaust the possibilities in Quimby s teaching. No other
patient ever took such pains to understand him. This
was the more necessary because, as Horatio W. Dresser
says, "he could not express his thoughts accurately. One
searches his manuscripts in vain for a clear explanation of
his method of silent cure." She talked things over after
noons with Quimby and sat up "late at night" writing
down "what she had learned during the day." 87 All the
time, at first unconsciously, she was reading into Quimby s
teaching what had been growing in her own conscious
ness amid vicissitude and change, in loneliness and destitu
tion. Beginning in those early days when she was no

FINDING HERSELF 105

older than thirteen and yet used to "converse on deep
subjects" 88 with her pastor, no one can go intelligently
with her all those years from 1844 to 1866 without
hearing now and then a lonely and heroic soul singing
to herself:

I shall arrive! What time, what circuit first,
I ask not: but unless God send his hail
Or blinding fireballs, sleet or stifling snow,
In some time, his good time, I shall arrive:
He guides me and the bird. In his good time! 89

Eager to practice what she had learned and was spirit
ualizing for herself, in the spring of 1864 she went to
Warren, Maine, to try to complete the restoration, begun
in Portland weeks before, of Miss Jarvis s health. Later
in the year found her stopping at Albion, Maine, with
Mrs. Sarah G. Crosby, who in 1907 recalled to the author
that on that visit Mrs. Patterson seemed as "one fired with
the prescience of a great mission." Even in 1909, 90 as
she was near her passing, Mrs. Crosby tenderly observed:

Many months Mary Patterson was a beloved guest in my home,
for I had a most unselfish love for her and deep sympathy with
her, when in her poverty she came to me, no money, scarcely
comfortable clothing, most unhappy in her domestic relations.
Her only assets being her indomitable will and active brain. 91

This, then, was Mrs. Eddy at the age of forty-three,
her health improved but not yet all it should be; some
what better friended than before, but still hard pressed
to make a living; overrating in a grateful woman s way
what she owed to Quimby, and looking vainly for a
man to carry on his work, and, when none appeared,
carrying on herself till the hour struck when she could
write with truth: "in the year 1866, I discovered the
Christ Science." 92

Chapter IV
BUILDING THE BOOK

TWICE between 1866 and 1875, the period when
the book was building, Mrs. Eddy lived with Mr.
and Mrs. George D. Clark on Summer Street, in
Lynn. The names of the group of persons gathered round
Mrs. Eddy in the Clark home as the time drew near for
publication and even the places where they sat at table
are known, thanks to a diagram * prepared by George E.
Clark, the son.

Mrs. Eddy

Mrs. Raymond 13 1 Hiram Crafts
Minot Raymond 12 2 Mrs. Crafts
George Clark 11 3 Mrs. Brene Paine Clark

John Bogart 10 4 Charles Porter

Nathaniel Brookhouse 9 5 Mrs. Porter
John S. Keyes 8 6 Wm. Wadlin

7
Joshua Sheldon

If there were not, in that friendly circle, any fisher folk,
as among the twelve who surrounded Jesus, emphatically
there were nineteenth century equivalents workers in
the Lynn shoe factories, salesmen in shoe stores, a painter,
and a teamster.

Mrs. Eddy sat at the head of the table. Wherever
Mrs. Eddy sat, at any time, was the head of the table.
The years which followed were abundantly to justify
the soundness of judgment of Asa G. Eddy expressed in

106

BUILDING THE BOOK 107

a letter written on August 5, 1880, that, as a matter of
course, in any project success was certain only when
Mrs. Eddy led the way. 2

Records reveal to us how Mrs. Eddy looked in the
days when her book was going through its final stage
of preparation for the printer. Though entering the
fifties, she still retained the complexion of her girlhood,
the color coming and going in her fair cheeks, and her
hair falling in a shower of brown curls around her face.
Her blue eyes, as she talked, shone more brilliantly than
ever. Says Mr. Clark:

She usually wore black, but occasionally a violet or pale rose
color, and I remember well a dove-colored dress trimmed with
black velvet that she wore in the summer. She was a little above
medium height, slender and graceful. Usually she was reserved,
though her expression was never forbidding. But when she talked,
and she talked very well and convincingly, she would make a
sweeping outward gesture with her right hand as though giving
her thought from her very heart. 3

Argument was frequent at that dinner table. Wherever
fourteen New Englanders are met together serious dis
cussion, and often actual debate, is likely to spring up.
Young Clark, soon to go to sea, became at times appre
hensive lest the pitch of intensity to which discussion was
carried should lead to dissension. But courtesy invariably
tempered feeling, and saved the day, much of the credit
for which belonged to Mrs. Eddy. One of her friends
thus drew her picture from memory in later years, "I can
seem to see her now as she sat before us with that heavenly
spiritual expression which lighted her whole countenance
as she expounded the truth ... her conversation was
always an inspiration and instructive/ 4

108 MARY BAKER EDDY

Naturally, the talk sometimes turned to Quimby. At the
Wheelers his name was often on her tongue. 5 During her
stay with the Crafts family, in the winter of 1866-67,
Quimbyism was not infrequently her theme. Notes in
Mrs. Eddy s handwriting, which Hiram S. Crafts pre
served, still exist, as proof that Mrs. Eddy was already
thinking independently of Quimby, and identifying " the
whole idea man with the perfect man of God s creating." 6

At the Wentworths she took advantage of the oppor
tunity to add an introduction to Questions and Answers;
and as her two years with them drew to a close, her
incessant talk concerning mind and matter bored some
of the intellectually incurious members of the family. 7

By 1871, she was leaving Quimby far behind, and no
one was more aware of it than Mrs. Eddy herself. She
was coming to realize the full import of his admission
to her in 1864 that she had discovered something different
from anything he ever taught, which now no open-minded
investigator can doubt who has access to these compre
hensively informing sources the author has studied and
also to the author s extensive personal correspondence,
supplementing his face to face talking with Quimby s
son. During this same year, in writing to her friend, Miss
Sarah Bagley, Mrs. Eddy s reference to some unknown
person whom she described as "that half 8 scientist, a
former patient of Dr. Quimby" 9 indicates this clearer
understanding of herself. If further testimony were
needed her severest critic of a generation ago conceded
that "she had improved upon the original Quimby method
and left it behind her"; 10 while one of her most recent
critics 11 affirms that: "In those eight years Quimby had
ceased to be an entity" in her life.

BUILDING THE BOOK 109

In this connection her own observation late in life is
worth consideration that for "a time (after 1866) she
was somewhat hampered by the theories of Quimby." 12
Of aid, also, in plotting correctly the upward curve of
her development is this other later statement:

What I wrote on Christian Science some twenty-five years ago
I do not consider a precedent for a present student of this Science.
The best mathematician has not attained the full understanding
of the principle thereof, in his earliest studies or discoveries.
Hence, it were wise to accept only my teachings that I know to
be correct and adapted to the present demand. 13

The table talk at the Clarks was often of her fall in
Lynn. It was one of the most significant experiences in
Mrs. Eddy s significant career. Its consequences in dealing
with the years that followed no one will minimize who
cares to understand her extraordinary career. Starting
from Swampscott anticipating a happy evening at a tem
perance meeting in Lynn, on Thursday, February 1, 1866,
Mrs. Patterson had a hard fall on the ice, of which this
account appeared the next Saturday in the Lynn Reporter:

Mrs. Mary Patterson of Swampscott fell upon the ice near the
corner of Market and Oxford streets on Thursday evening and
was severely injured. She was taken up in an insensible condi
tion and carried into the residence of S. M. Bubier, Esq., near by,
where she was kindly cared for during the night. Dr. Gushing,
who was called, found her injuries to be internal and of a severe
nature, inducing spasms and internal suffering. She was removed
to her home in Swampscott yesterday afternoon, though in a
very critical condition. 14

Forty years later, Dr. Gushing, near fourscore years,
recalled that he found Mrs. Patterson very nervous, par
tially unconscious, semi-hysterical 15 ; symptoms not un-

110 MARY BAKER EDDY

usual in cases of profound shock. The next morning he
gave her one-eighth of a grain of morphia as a sedative.
Her response to this small dose was such as to indicate
that she was not in the least accustomed to the drug; for
she was so late in awaking frofai the profound sleep into
which she fell that the doctor feared he had given her
a larger dose than he had the night before intended.
Incidentally, once when talking to the author he observed,
"Probably one-sixteenth of a grain would have put her
sound asleep." 16

It was in the summer of 1907 that the author had a
long talk as well as correspondence with Dr. Gushing,
who was spending his last years in Springfield, near the
author s Northampton home. Across the twoscore years
he recalled with pride the days when he was a popular
doctor and a man of social consequence in Lynn. His
eyes brightened in describing the "spanking" team which
he often drove on sunny afternoons along the Lynn
speedway. He observed that one day he had prescribed
for as many at fifty-nine patients. 17

About the value of attenuated doses both of arnica and
"belladonna to the two hundredth attenuation," he spoke
with not a little gusto. Having spent a summer not many
years before with Osier, the world-eminent diagnostician,
later Sir William, of Oxford, 18 and helped him daily in
the preparation of his still world-used book on The
Practice of Medicine, and having also heard at length
his well known opinions about homeopathy, the author
was not impressed with Dr. Cushing s missionary zeal
for "attenuation" to the two hundredth degree of such
drugs as arnica and belladonna.

Although of less importance than the spiritual conse-

MRS EDDY AS SHE LOOKED AT LYNN AND STOUGHTON

ABOUT 1867

BUILDING THE BOOK 111

quences of the fall in Lynn, the former physical symptoms
soon returned. Within two weeks Mrs. Patterson was
writing Julius Dresser for mental aid to forestall a possible
return of "the terrible spinal affection from which I have
suffered so long and hopelessly." 19

On June thirtieth, the Mayor of Lynn presented to the
city government a communication from Mrs. Patterson:

in which she states that owing to the unsafe condition of that
portion of Market Street at the junction of Oxford Street, on
the first day of February last she slipped and fell, causing serious
personal injuries, from which she has little prospect of recovering,
and asking for pecuniary recompense for the injuries received. 20

But the fall did bring its spiritual revelation. She never
in the years that followed doubted that it led her farther
on the way to God. The Sunday following the fall, still
prostrate in her Swampscott home from the accident, as
she was reading the Bible narrative of how Jesus healed
the palsied man, she experienced one of those rare visita
tions reserved for the religious discoverers of the race and
thus describes it: "The lost chord of Truth (healing, as
of old) I caught consciously from the Divine Harmony.
... It was to me a revelation of Truth." 21

Her consciousness of God s power to heal, which had
been ever growing brighter with the years, and had been
enhanced by the idealizing faith which for a while she
honestly believed that Quimby also had, was now at its
full. She was sure, as the Rt. Hon. H. A. L. Fisher writes,
that "a spiritual life transcending the human formed the
ultimate basis of reality." 22 No matter what might happen
to her in the years ahead, never again would she doubt
the literal truth of the New Testament promise, "My
grace is sufficient for thee."

112 MARY BAKER EDDY

Not that she understood it all at once. She was, in
fact, to spend her life in plumbing its depths upon depths.
In the calm of eventide in her swinging chair at Pleasant
View, musing over this experience, she confided to a
friend 23 that she had come to the realization that:

She had been thinking about God, and it dawned upon her
that it was the attitude of mind which she was in that made it
possible for the divine power to heal her, that in some unknown
way she had attained unto that consciousness of the divine
Presence which heals the sick even as the natural musician without
scientific knowledge touches the harmonic chords. 24

Like Jacob at Peniel, with many a weary mile yet to
trudge before his journey s end, Mrs. Eddy always after
wards felt that she could say, "I have seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved." 25

The way now began to clear for that complete con
centration on her life work which was essential if the
goal she set before her was ever to be reached. In 1862,
poor and sick as she was, from her husband s brother 26
she borrowed thirty dollars, with which to try to bring
about the release of her blundering husband from prison.
In 1 864, an effort was made, in all good faith, to re-establish
a home in Lynn. But in his consort s dreams the husband
sought and took no lot or part; for in the summer of
1866 he eloped with the wife of another man; 27 was
divorced in 1873 for unfaithfulness; and in 1896 died at
Saco, Maine, 28 in the poorhouse. But, long before this,
he took on himself the full responsibility for the failure
of his marriage, when to a friend he described Mrs.
Patterson as "a pure, estimable and Christian woman,"
and added "that if he had done as he ought he might have
had a pleasant and happy home as one could wish for." 29

BUILDING THE BOOK 113

Already Mrs. Eddy was well along with the building
of her book. But there was other building to be finished
before the book could be completed. At this time, Mrs.
Eddy was a disadvantaged woman. Between her fall in
1866 and the appearance of her book in 1875, more than
once she lacked both friends and * Vhere to lay her head."
Her father had died in 1865. Not merely was her boy,
now a grown man, gone to war, but there were years
when she knew not so much as his whereabouts. Mrs.
Tilton s doors at last swung open very grudgingly. Ellen
Pilsbury, her own niece, had attended to that. Healed
by Mrs. Eddy of a serious illness, Ellen went with her
aunt to complete her recuperation at Taunton, where,
like a typical Baker, she reacted against the plainness of
the Crafts home and returned to Tilton with such sorry-
tales as ever after made the older aunt shut Mrs. Eddy
out of her heart. 30

There were times when Mrs. Eddy had to fight for
her personal independence. Now and then every man s
hand seemed to be against her. In 1890, she told her
good friend, Miss Shannon, that for a time, while living
in Lynn, she was annoyed almost beyond endurance. 31
No wonder that in a day when the law was often a
woman s only protection from imposition, Mrs. Eddy
sometimes felt the need of legal aid.

The situation grew acute. She was rarely free from
grave anxiety. She became sensitive even to the thoughts
which she believed were directed at her, and she wrote
one to whom she had given confidence and who was
failing her, 32 "won t you exercise reason and let me live
or will you kill me? Your mind is just what has brought
on my relapse and I shall never recover if you do not

114 MARY BAKER EDDY

govern yourself and TURN YOUR THOUGHTS wholly away
from me ... won t you quit thinking of me."

She needed at her right hand some one who would
ask nothing except the chance to help her carry out her
larger purpose. And the man was there. Asa Gilbert
Eddy was kindly, modest, unassuming, patient, sensible,
methodical, reliable, no troublemaker, and "careless in
nothing but his own comfort." 33 To some originality
and considerable ability, he added a true man s instinct
to defer to superior wisdom and to work with others.
Into the expanding life of this unusual woman Asa Gilbert
Eddy came unobtrusively. But here is her own story,
written January 12, 1877, to a friend: 34

Last Spring Dr. Eddy came to me a hopeless invalid. I saw
him then for the first time, and but twice. When his health was
so improved he next came to join my class (his residence was
South Boston). In four weeks after he came to study he was in
practice doing well, worked up an excellent reputation for healing
and at length won my affections on the ground alone of his great
goodness and strength of character.

On New Year s Day, 1877, they were married, and a
satisfying home was now hers which all her life she had
been craving and sometimes seemed destined never to
possess. Writes one who knew them well, 35 This home
in Lynn was very simple in all its arrangements, but
immaculately neat."

On the death of her husband, June 3, 1882, she wrote
to this same friend from the Vermont hills, whither she
had gone in her bereavement: *

.36

I can t yet feel much interest in anything of earth. I shall try
and eventually succeed in rising from the gloom of my irreparable
loss but it must take time. Long after I shall smile and appear

BUILDING THE BOOK 115

happy shall I have to struggle alone with my great grief that none
shall know if I can hide it. I think of you at the fort and always
as little, or rather great heroes and pray that my coming shall
be a joy and not a sorrow to you I know you will hail it but O!
I hope I shall be more useful to you all than a mourner is apt to
be. I shall never forget dear, dear Gilbert his memory is dearer
every day but not so sad I think as when I left home. It is beauti
ful here the hills vales and lakes are lovely but this was his native
state and he is not here.

More and more the truth pressed home that she could
never hope to build her book until she had first acquired
an income on which to live; a sum at least above the
margin of actual want. To this grilling task she set her
hand while her spirit ranged the skies. Who shall say
that it may not have been with these hard days in mind
that she wrote in 1893:

O, make me glad for every scalding tear,
For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!

Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear
No ill, since God is good, and loss is gain. 37

If she was to write, she had to have a roof over her
head, and food to eat. The Phillipses gave her shelter
for a while, and in the Clark home there was good food,
and happy company. Then, too, she earned a little by
her healing work. Her first student was Hiram S. Crafts,
whom she taught from the Bible and her manuscripts. 38
The pages of her notebook, which he retained, the first
two of which are now before the author, are expositions
of the first Gospel which are full of her reliance on God,
and descriptions of the harmony and healing which she
said outright would naturally result from such a faith.
He paid her while they were fellow boarders at the
Clarks; and, when he set up for himself as a practitioner,

116 MARY BAKER EDDY

she went to live with him and Mrs. Crafts, first in East
Stoughton, then in Taunton. At the Wentworths, where
she stayed two years, in exchange for her "keep" she
explained to Mrs. Wentworth her new method of healing
and also allowed her to copy Questions and Answers
together with her comments. But the time came when
that was not regarded as compensation enough; and at
last she was obliged to move on. 39 -During one of the
years of that long period while her, book was building,
she tells us that she moved eight times.

Never in the years from 1866 to 1875 was she happier
than while with the Ellises, 40 spending many an evening
with the family. Kindly Mrs. Webster at Amesbury,
who was interested in spiritualism, 41 was hospitable to Mrs.
Glover until her son-in-law came from New York and
made conditions so impossible for Mrs. Glover that she
moved to Miss Bagley s.

But always this woman of the book kept at her task.
Nothing else not even a living seemed so important
to her. Some of her students paid her one hundred dollars
for ten lessons, and promised her a commission of ten
per cent on their future earnings. 42 This arrangement
appeared necessary at the start; but it later proved to be
unwise and was discontinued. Mrs. Eddy looked upon
a contract as a contract even with her earlier students;
as is evident from a letter which she wrote one of them
July 28, 1869:

I learn from your own signature that you have retained a copy
of those MSS. This was a fraud for which I must hold you or
any other person responsible who should commit such an act.
Now if you wish for a private settlement I will spare your
feelings and charge you fifty dollars only for the copy; but if

BUILDING THE BOOK 117

you do not wish to settle in this manner I shall certainly take
measures to protect myself against such damage. 43

Once in those early days when other helpers failed,
Mrs. Eddy felt driven to invoke legal aid to protect her
teaching in the well known Arens Case, and with success.
Without her consent some suits were brought against
students. 44 Richard Kennedy, her business partner from
1870 to 1872, however, told the author in 1907 that
after their partnership was dissolved and her income was
decreased she felt the pinch, and did the best she could. 45

But her habitual policy is clearly stated in the Church
Manual:**

A member of The Mother Church shall not, under pardonable
circumstances, sue his patient for recovery of payment for said
member s practice, on penalty of discipline and liability to have
his name removed from membership. Also he shall reasonably
reduce his price in chronic cases of recovery, and in cases where
he has not effected a cure. A Christian Scientist is a humanitarian;
he is benevolent, forgiving, long-suffering, and seeks to overcome
evil with good.

Poor as she was in those days, not letting her left hand
know what her right hand generously gave, she often
helped substantially both the worthy and also the less
worthy. Mrs. Annie Macmillan Knott recalls the authentic
case of a woman who for two years was taught by Mrs.
Eddy without charge. S. P. Bancroft 47 paid his three
hundred dollars, which Mrs. Eddy promised to refund
if he found he could not "demonstrate" what she taught
him. And when James C. Howard was unable to meet
his obligation, he received from his generous teacher a
receipt in full, along with a check with which to buy
an overcoat which he conspicuously needed. 48

118 MARY BAKER EDDY

At last, after much experimenting, she came to the
conclusion, confirmed by general experience, that people
habitually value only that for which they pay. Just why
she raised her price to three hundred dollars and later

reduced her lessons from twelve to seven may never be
known in full. There is reason to believe it was a wise
decision, and that it was not made at the expense of her
high standard. In a letter which she sent to Mrs. Clara
E. Choate she declared: te l shall teach them as soon as
they will study. The taxes, coal and repairs on building,
and book have drained. But not for that would I teach
this Science." 49

Years later she wrote:

When God impelled me to set a price on my instruction in
Christian Science Mind-healing, I could think of no financial
equivalent for an impartation of a knowledge of that divine power
which heals; but I was led to name three hundred dollars as the
price for each pupil in one course of lessons at my College, a
startling sum for tuition lasting barely three weeks. This amount

BUILDING THE BOOK 119

greatly troubled me. I shrank from asking it, but was finally led,
by a strange providence, to accept this fee. 50

To the impartial observer, nothing more surely indi
cates the prevision and administrative wisdom of the
Founder than the financing of the Christian Science move
ment. The present situation in some parts of Christendom
is intolerable. The shabby money-raising devices to which
some churches resort which hark back to the time of
Jesus when a settled income was not necessary, and when
the poorest peasant in the region around Galilee, might,
like the Pilgrim Fathers, "suck of the abundance of the
seas, and of treasures hid in the sand," are out of place,
archaic, adventitious, and distinctly hurtful to the larger
cause. This is no plea to turn the minister into a man
of wealth, but to save him from deteriorating into what
a young man, who recently left the ministry at the end
of his first year, describes as "the proverbial, down-at-the-
heels, dispirited, sad-eyed parson."

Mrs. Eddy s views were products of a personal expe
rience which had cost her much travail. Her belief never
wavered that the truth she taught was for the rich, as
well as for the poor. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you," 51 was the basis of her economic counseling.
She said, "Soul has infinite resources with which to bless
mankind. 52 . . ." "We are all capable of more than we
do." 53 To one of her students, having "quite a financial
struggle," Mrs. Eddy cheeringly observed: "Keep on in
the work of Science and you will always be glad that
you did. Know that you are fed and clothed by Spirit,
and you will be fed and clothed and to the world it will
be a miracle." 5 *

120 MARY BAKER EDDY

In those dark days when, with the odds against her,
she learned to make a living, she demonstrated that those
who, in singleness of mind, seek the kingdom receive all
the human things of which they have real need. The
mind that is set on higher things draws to it the lower
if only like the sheaves in Joseph s dream to do
homage to the higher. That is why Christian Scientists
look prosperous and are often prosperous. They seek the
kingdom of God, and other things are usually added to
them. God keeps His promises.

Mrs. Eddy had to protect her spiritual morale as well
as win her economic independence. Sensitiveness over
the attitude of public opinion toward the domestic differ
ences with Dr. Patterson led her, unfriended and distressed
as she sometimes was in her Lynn days, to turn back to
the name Glover. The aloofness and censoriousness of her
relatives cut her to the heart. The one sweet note of
her earlier home was struck by her sympathetic step
mother who wrote her on a pale little postcard: 55

My own Dear Daughter

It is a long time since I have heard one word from you. Hope
you are well and enjoying the light of God s countenance and
surrounded with kind friends, a good Minister, and good society.
I know you must miss your own dear relatives and former friends.
. . . My love to yourself and all who are kind to you.

E. P. B.

How to sheathe her sensitiveness from exposure to the
world s venom took her many a year to learn. But she
learned. Richard Kennedy 56 once said: "It was an unfor
tunate fact that Mrs. Eddy with her small income was
obliged to live with people very often at this time in her
life who were without education and cultivation/

BUILDING THE BOOK 121

A woman sharing the same house with her when Mrs.
Eddy was busiest on her book, described her to Miss
Emma C. Shipman 57 as The purest minded woman I
ever knew." But she added that she thought Mrs. Eddy
a "crank." Asked to explain what she meant by "crank"
the aged woman answered, "Mrs. Eddy wished the house
kept so still," a condition essential to intellectual cre-
ativeness which every educated household, where books
are written, accepts without calling names.

But whether people understood her or not, Mrs. Eddy
lived with them. "It was never her custom to keep apart
from the family. She invariably mingled with them and
through them kept in touch with the world." Even in
what in 1869 she called her "time of severest trial," she
wrote:

My Father chastens in love, and I know if my physical frame
endures I shall rejoice here for every tear I have shed, and ere
long enter the lighted sanctuary, and cast off my crown won
from the cross at the foot of the throne, whither have gone
through great tribulation such as have washed their souls in the
blood of the Lamb which is the spirituality of truth bleeding
from the wounds of error. 58

There were, however, some to give her loving sym
pathy. That summer of 1866, which she spent with the
PhilHpses at Lynn, Grandmother "Mary" and Mary
Baker Glover many years her junior were so com
pletely one in mind and heart that one time when "Uncle
Thomas" came home and found them side by side on
the sofa talking of the higher things of life, he remarked
to his wife, "Hannah, do you see our two saints? There
they sit together, the two Marys." 59

122 MARY BAKER EDDY

Though personally and industriously building up a
growing business, George Oliver was known, when Mrs.
Eddy was at his house, deliberately and repeatedly to
overstay his luncheon hour. Returning to his office, he
never offered an excuse. One day, however, he did
casually observe, "I would rather hear (her) 60 talk than
make a big deal in business."

Hiram S. Crafts, that first student in whose home she
lived for some months, paid the last tribute to his teacher
on December 20, 1901, in a renewed confession of loyalty
to her teachings which covered all his later years. 61

The Wentworths were a large household. During the
two years from 1868 to 1870, when Mrs. Eddy lived in
their home, now and again her relationship with some
members of the family became somewhat strained a
not unusual experience. But what one of the sons, Charles
O. Wentworth, remembered in 1909, when trivialities
were fading out of mind, was that her "gentle, unassuming
nature made her a peacemaker." 62 This confirmed his
mother s judgment expressed in 1869 that "If ever there
was a saint on earth it is Mrs. Glover." 63

She had constant need of a full suit of armor for her
natural sensitiveness. No sooner was she fairly launched
upon her teaching enterprise than some of her first
students usually crude, frequently unteachable, and
sometimes merely mercenary began to make trouble for
her. When to his amazement George Tuttle, home from
a sea cruise to Calcutta, seemed easily to cure his first
patient, he fell into a panic and nothing could induce
him to try to repeat his experience. His brother-in-law,
Charles S. Stanley, gave such free vent to his argumenta
tive spirit in class that Mrs. Eddy, in the interest of her

BUILDING THE BOOK 123

other students, had to dismiss him to make him realize
that he was not the only student in the class.

A certain young bank clerk, Wallace Wright, would
not or perhaps in his crassness could not for the life
of him see how mesmerism and Mind Science differed.
With retaliatory zeal he hurried into print to attack a
teacher whom he did not understand; whereupon five of
her larger-visioned students came to her defense. In con
sequence, young Wright disappeared from public view and
also from history after making the somewhat premature
announcement, on February 24, 1872, "that Mrs. Glover
and her Science were practically dead and buried." 64

Of all those earlier students Richard Kennedy gave
most promise. From 1870 to 1872, he was in partnership
with Mrs. Eddy. Under her inspiring touch he was
from the first a growing success as a healer, which at
last left her free entirely to teach. At the end of two
years, Mrs. Eddy had six thousand dollars in the bank. 65
But young Richard found the business obtainable by
rubbing heads so satisfactory that he felt no desire to
study under Mrs. Eddy what she taught. Why bother
about theory, so long as he could make a good income
from his practice. The more he used those expert hands
of his, the more he closed his agile mind until, by mutual
consent, on May 11, 1872, the partnership was dissolved. 66

Daniel H. Spofford brought into Mrs. Eddy s life a
more mature and less ebullient personality. He won much
success at first in healing, and was also more or less
helpful for a time in the management of her growing
interests. As the months slipped by, however, his interest
in her teaching did not keep pace with her enlarging
plan. As she turned more to Asa Gilbert Eddy, she

124 MARY BAKER EDDY

depended less on Spofford. Personal difficulties arose,
and Spoiford went the way of others. 67

In 1881 eight of her students none of them at all
concerned about what she considered the real issue
openly rebelled and put her leadership to a severe test.
As usual, Mrs. Eddy made appeal to rise above the petti
ness of personalities. Getting no response, she read the
eight out of connection with the Cause, 68 rallied to her
side the better disposed members, and as the event proved
gave a conclusive demonstration that she ruled, no matter
what might happen, in the little world around her. After
that it was clear that she would be able to cope with any
crisis which might arise.

The spring before the book appeared in 1875, Mrs.
Eddy was living in a boarding house at Number 9, Broad
Street, Lynn. Still pursued by controversy and overtaken
by much contumely, she yearned even more intensely
for the quiet which a home of her own would probably
provide. Leaning one day from her window, she observed
a sign "For Sale," fastened on the two-story frame house,
with attic, at Number 8, across the street. She resolved
that this should be her haven and on March 31, 1875,
she bought the place for five thousand six hundred and
fifty dollars.

But her income was not yet adequate to maintain so
large a house. She was obliged to lease all but the front
parlor on the first floor, and on the third floor the tiny
upper bedroom under the sloping roof, in which during
the months that followed, she completed the preparation
of her book.

Number 8 was not a mansion. It, however, put a roof
over her head. Fancy perhaps might see in its modest

BUILDING THE BOOK 125

bow windows and little balconies tokens of the comforts
and the beauty to be hers. The enforced wandering,
which for years had handicapped and humiliated her, she
now believed was near an end. Status, at last, she had
the security furnished by the owning of property. It
was little enough, but that little was sweet to one who
had known less. Number 8 might possibly, she dared to
hope, one day bring her the condition "when an ounce
of sentiment may save a ton of sorrow." 69

At any rate a student of those days reports that he
"never knew her so continuously happy as in that summer
at Number 8." Sibyl Wilbur, too, says:

the litde place grew most attractive. The affectionate zeal of her
students, many of whom she had healed from serious complaints
or diseases and some of whom she had reclaimed from intemperate
lives, made her gardens bloom, kept her grass-plot like velvet, and
relieved the austerity of her parlor with decoration. Mrs. Glover s
balconies were filled with calla lilies of which she was particularly
fond, and when she stood among them tending and caring for
them with the sunlight sifting through the leaves of the elm,
making splashes of green and gold upon her cool white gown,
she made a picture of composure and purity. 70

Not only in numbers, but also in love and loyalty, her
students seemed to multiply. No service, at that time,
appeared too great for them to render. Often they antici
pated her unexpressed wish; and with them she shared
her confidences and also took them to her heart. Some
she addressed by endearing names. To many she opened
a new heaven and a new earth. Letters written by students
in their old age are on record in which words fail them
to describe all that she had meant to them in the elysian
days they spent with her.

126 MARY BAKER EDDY

To ensure her independence against all accident Mrs.
Eddy needed not merely to triumph over the sordid and
the commonplace with whom she overlong had been
obliged to associate, but also to be drawn increasingly
within range of the circles in Boston and in Concord
devoted to those higher ideals and cultural interests con
genial to her.

Certain phrases used by Emerson are faintly reminiscent
of Science and Health. Those were the days when he
was telling lecture audiences: "Mind is supreme, eternal,
and one. . . . The universe is the result of mind." But
we have Mrs. Eddy s own word dictated to a secretary
that she never read Emerson till after her book was pub
lished. 71 Between Emerson and Mrs. Eddy there was a
great gulf fixed. He was all for thought, and she for
demonstration. He never fired her imagination, or awak
ened her enthusiasm. The Reverend Thomas Van Ness
says:

I asked Mrs. Eddy one afternoon, when we were talking on
the subject of her plans, whether she cared much for the teachings
of Emerson. . . . Her reply was vague. The subject did not
interest her and we soon drifted away from it, or rather, she did. 72

But to Whittier Mrs. Eddy turned instinctively. He
was more approachable and more responsive. Nine of
his poems, in which she took a great personal interest,
were put into the Christian Science Hymnal and to the
end it was a joy to her to hear people sing:

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.

BUILDING THE BOOK 127

On one occasion when Sarah Bagley (in whose home
Mrs. Eddy stayed in Amesbury) took Mrs. Eddy to call
on Whittier, they found him "sitting before a fire in a
grate (in July) coughing incessantly with hectic flush on
his cheeks and scarce able to speak above a whisper." As
she talked and showed a sympathetic interest over his
indisposition, he brightened up and appeared to be much
better. Of her visit Mrs. Eddy writes, "When I rose to
go he came to me with both hands extended and said
C I thank thee Mary for thy call, it has done me much
good, come again. " 74

For all his kindly reserve, Bronson Alcott had a sympa
thetic nature which appealed to Mrs. Eddy. Concerning
slavery, their opinions were identical. After her book
appeared and the storm of criticism broke, he introduced
himself to her with this salutation, "I have come to com
fort you." 75 For that reason, she sent him on January 14,
1876, a copy of the book, which he acknowledged in
the pleasure-giving words:

The sacred truths which you announce sustained by facts of
the Immortal Life, give to your work the seal of inspiration
reaffirm in modern phrase, the Christian revelations. In times like
ours so sunk in sensualism, I hail with joy any voice speaking an
assured word for God and Immortality. And my joy is heightened
the more when I find the blessed words are of woman s divinings. 76

Twice he visited her in her own house at Lynn. He
showed an interest in the class work, and indicated
clearly that he had abundant reason for his confidence
in her and in her followers. 77

Again, on June 5, 1878, in company with the Reverend
J. L. Dudley, Mr. Alcott was a welcome guest at a
Christian Scientist Association meeting. Should the ques-

128 MARY BAKER EDDY

tion ever arise as to whether Mrs. Eddy borrowed from
Alcott, the author would refer inquirers to the minutes
of the meeting, now in the files of The Mother Church,
and reading thus:

After listening to questions & answers between teacher & class,
Mr. Alcott presented his argument of the working of mind from
Spirit down to atom & "vice versa." It was interesting to notice
how near some points in the argument approached to the true
argument in Science. 78

At the Emersons and elsewhere in Concord in those
days, there was much talk of Mrs. Eddy; and Mrs.
Emerson, whose time usually was altogether occupied in
balancing with her practical sense the unpracticalness of
her husband, expressed a wish to meet her. Mr. Alcott
often spoke to his daughter, Louisa M. Alcott, of Little
Women fame, to Frank Sanborn and various Concord
Brahmins of his new friend; and among them so little
opposition developed to her teachings that he evidently
believed there could be little of it also among people
worth while anywhere. 79

As the years passed Mrs. Eddy won a place in Boston
life, and met many Boston people. But by that time she
was so engrossed in writing, in teaching, in building up
her book and her church, and in multitudinous details
of administration, that she had little time to spare for
those occasions which have always given dignity and dis
tinction to Boston society, and still give it a unique place
among the cities of the land.

All those years when she was building up her health,
her income, her equilibrium, she was qualifying more
and more for building up her book. Her very hardships
lent substance to her writing. She was coming up through

BUILDING THE BOOK 129

much tribulation. As the Scriptures put it, "The earth
helped the woman." Speculation about what might have
been may be interesting, but it is scarcely worth the time
and trouble. Yet had not Mrs. Eddy been so absorbed
in building up her book from 1866 to 1875, when life
was seldom kind to her, she probably would never have
become infused with the heavenly courage to go on and
on more soundly building up her health, her income, her
equilibrium.

The work on the book, exhausting as it sometimes
must have been, was her anchorage to reality when a
lesser soul would have drifted to oblivion. Did she, like
St. Paul, have to become all things to all men that she
might save some? It was the honest toil she gave the
book which taught her tact and courage. Was it necessary
to pay attention to the spiritualistic rhapsodies of Mrs.
Webster 80 in order to keep a roof over her head? She
could bring herself to do it for the sake of the precious
hours it would give her every day to write. Did she
have to sit in at a game of cards to keep on good terms
with acquaintances, when she so begrudged every minute
stolen from her writing that to some she now and then
appeared distracted, even cross? There was sure to be
some hour of the day when, huddled in her shawl, with
the house rocking in the wintry wind, she could be
at her book. Were there times when, with children
mimicking her, with adults insulting her and even threat
ening her with harm, her pride was wounded sore, and
her heart was broken, by the cruel trivialities inflicted
upon a woman striving to establish her spiritual security?
Her book brought some relief from pain, and assistance
to forget. Who shall say that it was not this absorption

130 MARY BAKER EDDY

in the book which gave her power to rise above cold, 81
above hunger, above all the thousand stings of petty
persecution to regions where nothing counts but Spirit,
regions which sustain in the supreme conviction that
nothing exists but Spirit?

For years Mrs. Eddy was working on her book. As
her students more and more desired to see her teachings
put in writing, she first fed them the familiar Questions
and Answers, to which she was soon adding an Intro
ductionalmost immediately to find its way into the
text itself. By the summer of 1869 another booklet was
ready forerunning Science and Health which later
received the title The Science of Man, but at first evi
dently was called Science of Soul.

On June 7, 1869, from East Stoughton (now Avon)
she wrote a Tilton friend of her earlier days:

I have just sent a work to the press for publication entitled
Science of Soul I mean you shall read it sometime. I have
written this and notes to the entire book of Genesis within the
last year and this, besides laboring for clothes and other expenses
with teaching I am worn almost out, have lost my love of life
completely and want to go where the weary have a rest and
the heavy laden lay down their burdens. 82

The postscript to this letter further indicates that she
was hard pressed at the time for money:

I am anxious to know why Dr. P. (Patterson) does not send
me my annual remittance.

In February, 1872, she began to write what in her
little notebook in the author s hand she calls The
Science of Life. A little later she was putting out
Soul s Inquiries of Man, on which there are more touches

BUILDING THE BOOK 131

than ever of Mrs. Eddy s individuality. While traces
of her state of mind in the fast receding Portland
days may here have lingered on, they steadily grew
fainter until, at the very latest in 1875, she gave her
students printed instructions they could not misunder
stand to omit "manipulation"; after which Quimby s
name was very rarely mentioned by her. 88

Perhaps, therefore, the author of this book was justified
when he wrote, in 1921, for the Cambridge History of
American Literature that "As a whole the system described
in Science and Health is hers, and nothing that can ever
happen will make it less than hers." S4 As though to con
firm the author s judgment, which had for years been
growing, the New York Times 3 review in 1922 of The
Quimby Manuscripts, which appeared in 1921, adds:

It is a gigantic task which the editor of The Quimby Manu
scripts has undertaken when he offers this loosely arranged mass
of writings and reflections as not only containing the beginning
of spiritual healing but also the origin of Christian Science. . . .
Science and Health, whatever views may be held concerning it
by individuals, has served to build up a mighty organization
which could hardly have been reared on the uncertain founda
tions of the Quimby manuscripts.

Under the tiny skylight which, even in that cool
summer, 85 focused the hot rays of the sun uncomfortably
on the head of Mrs. Glover, writing her first book at
a time in life when many a writer has said farewell to
his creative power, Mrs. Glover, in 1875, put the last
touch on the first edition of Science and Health. To find
a publisher was no easy task. She had long been trying.
Nothing could be impossible to one who, more than a
half-century before had prattled in the schoolroom "I

132 MARY BAKER EDDY

will write a book," and had never quite lost sight of her
high purpose. 86

Mrs. Glover had already taken young George Clark 87
with her to Boston in search of a publisher, with no more
to show him than the prospectus which she carried with

W. #. Sf own & Cfo.,

Job, Ckfd, .kqd fiook

her. Seeing no profits in an enterprise which might even
today appear an unpromising business risk the publisher
expressed the usual regrets. To publish the book would
cost more than fifteen hundred dollars. Two of Mrs.
Glover s friends advanced the required amount, and the
first edition of one thousand copies of Science and Health
appeared on October 30, 1 875. The bill for its production,
which came the next day from the printers, W. F. Brown
& Company, of No. 50 Bromfield Street, Boston, mounted

BUILDING THE BOOK 133

to $2285.35, of which Mrs. Glover paid seven hundred
dollars. 88

The book now lies before the author, in its pale green
cover and in a style of type usual at that time. As a piece
of bookmaking it is somewhat like The Bible Looking
Glass, Fanny Fern, Nurse and Spy, and also other books
then popular. In appearance, it is no better and no worse.
No sooner was it off the press than Mrs. Glover was
visualizing, in a letter written to a student, 89 a new edition,
which she hopes will be an improvement on the first:

There are grammatical errors in Erata and some in the book
doubtless that I have not touched . . . and if you see them and
are sure of what is right in the case correct them but not otherwise
dont meddle with the punctuation but mark any doubtful cases
so you can point them out to me. Our next printer should have
a proof reader who is responsible for this. 90

If this first edition bears some marks of a first book,
Mrs. Glover at once began to remove them and continued
to improve the successive editions until at last Science
and Health became, next to the Bible, the "best seller"
among serious books.

Like the Bible, Science and Health was published as
Mrs. Glover says in her first preface "to do good to
the upright in heart, and to bless them that curse us, and
bear to the sorrowing and the sick consolation and
healing." The style is well adapted to the end in view.
Without sacrificing dignity, the language is often con
versational. Developing out of her rich experience among
plain people, the Science and Health of 1875, like the
King James Version of the Bible, is easily "understanded
of the people." Help does come to those who would be
"upright in heart" when they read, "Every pang of

134 MARY BAKER EDDY

repentance, every suffering for sin, (accompanied with
reformatory efforts) and every good deed, atones for
sin." 91 There is blessing for those whom the world
would curse in such a glowing sentence as, "Love must
triumph over hate." 92 Rightly understood, there is ample
comfort for all who sorrow and who suffer in the seven
words, "Mind, and not matter, embraces all suffering." 93

Never was Mrs. Eddy satisfied with anything she wrote.
The publication of each edition of Science and Health
was simply a new challenge to make the next edition
better. Between the table of contents of that first edition
of 1875 and the latest of 1910, 9 * there is not merely a
wide difference but also a complete reordering. The first
reads:

Natural Science; Imposition and Demonstration; Spirit and
Matter; Creation; Prayer and Atonement; Marriage; Physiology;
and Healing the Sick.

The latest edition runs as follows:

Prayer; Atonement and Eucharist; Marriage; Christian Science
versus Spiritualism; Animal Magnetism Unmasked; Science, The
ology, Medicine; Physiology; Footsteps of Truth; Creation;
Science of Being; Some Objections Answered; Christian Science
Practice; Teaching Christian Science; Recapitulation; Genesis;
The Apocalypse; Glossary; and Fruitage.

All the way through the thirty-five years which elapsed
between the first edition and the last, she was consumed
with a desire to make her book more accurately express
her meaning, more perfectly disclose the revelation she
never doubted God had given her. Never could she be
too busy and no busier woman ever lived to find
time every day to work upon the book. The story in
detail of her revisions would make a volume in itself.

BUILDING THE BOOK 135

Before the author, as he writes, are the very copies in
which her own corrections and additions are penciled
on many a page in almost bewildering abundance.

Even in 1907, when she was eighty-six years old and
the attacks upon her, culminating in the "Next Friends
Suit," were suggesting to her and to her friends that:

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions,

she was revising, and revising. Her pencilings crowd the
margins, interline the text crosswise, and all but wear
the flyleaves threadbare. Every problem then confronting
her church, and as time was to prove almost every problem
that could come, is reflected in her pencilings.

There were times, as in this 1907 period, when the
copy which she then used of Science and Health evi
dently served somewhat as a diary in which she wrote
down her inmost feeling. Did persecution strike her a
new blow? She pencils the appropriate sentence, "It is
our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which pro
duces apparent discord." 95

Was there misunderstanding of her use of the quotation:

I, I, I, I itself, I

The inside and outside, the what and the why,
The when and the where, the low and the high,

All I, I, I, I itself, I?

She substitutes for it in pencil:

O! Thou hast heard my prayer;

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

Were the "Next Friends" 97 pressing over much? In
a burst of righteous wrath, supremely justified, she cuts

136 MARY BAKER EDDY

out from page four hundred thirty of the 1907 edition,
the expression, ordinarily colorless, "next friends."

At midnight of September 25, 1907, she was reading
about death on page one hundred sixty-four, when, as
though anew to defy death, this woman, in her eighty-
seventh year, changed the subjunctive to the indicative
mood and declared that death "does not in the least dis
prove Christian Science." And then recalling St. Paul, she
joyously exclaimed, "Death is swallowed up in victory."

It was not long before Mrs. Eddy entered into those
business arrangements which were to continue for many
a year with John Wilson, 98 head of the University Press,
the artistic craftsmanship of whose books has in all the
years been matched by their intrinsic worth. With the
entire firm her relations remained until the end both
friendly and agreeable. Indeed, the story of the successive
editions of Science and Health can be traced in detail from
the letters and the memoranda of such representatives of
the University Press as John Wilson, William Dana
Orcutt, and William B. Reid." They are used here the
more lavishly because they dismiss much idle speculation
including Mark Twain s about the originality and the
orderly development of Mrs. Eddy s thinking, as revealed
from year to year in Science and Health.

From the first, Mrs. Eddy made on these substantial
men a profound impression, which they saw no reason
to change in a business and personal relationship lasting
through an entire generation. To them she seemed a
high-bred gentlewoman, to the manor born, sure of her
self and her ideas, yet considerate and courteous to all.
Upon every detail they indicate Mary Baker Eddy lavished
care constant and untiring. She moved in a large orbit.

BUILDING THE BOOK

137

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY,

30 TREMONT STREET, BOSTON.

138 MARY BAKER EDDY

She saw things whole. She saw things in their true har
mony. To all, she was an object lesson, not merely in
her penetrating insight but also in her habit of doing more
than her share of the hard work necessary for its practical
expression. 100

From the head of the firm down to the youngest office
boy, she knew them all. Her frequent visits were awaited
with pleasurable anticipation. She earned the respect they
freely gave her; and increasingly their personal affection.
As late as February 11, 1897, John Wilson, head of the
firm, after many years of business intercourse with Mrs.
Eddy spoke of her "gentleness and sweetness." 101

When she inquired where she could obtain the services
of a trained editor, the Reverend James Henry Wiggin,
staff reader for the University Press, was "detailed to the
work (punctuation, capitalization and general smoothing
out as to construction of sentences); and, as he did this
on his own time, the payment for these services was made
by Mrs. Eddy. . . . This was well known to those in our
office," says Mr. Reid, "as well as in our proof reading
department, and caused many a smile among us when we
read, from time to time, the repeated assertion that Mr.
Wiggin had written the book, and it tickled him, more
than perhaps anyone else to read that he was the author
(instead of corrector)." In later years, Mr. Wiggin once
remarked to Mr. Wilson: "Wouldn t it have been fine
if I had?" 102

Now and then some writer, unacquainted with such
convincing documentary evidence as this in the files of
The Mother Church, circulates again the overestimates
of the very helpful service which Mr. Wiggin rendered
Mrs. Eddy. It may, therefore, be worth while to quote

BUILDING THE BOOK 139

another representative of the University Press, a man of
no less standing than William Dana Orcutt, friend of
William James and Theodore Roosevelt, Bernard Shaw
and Sir Sidney Lee, who testifies:

Mr. Wiggin was still proofreader when I entered the Press,
and he always manifested great pride in having been associated
with Mrs. Eddy in the revision of this famous book. I often
heard the matter referred to, both by him and by John Wilson,
but there never was the slightest intimation that Mr. Wiggin s
services passed beyond those of an experienced editor. I have no
doubt that many of his suggestions, in his editorial capacity, were
of value and possibly accepted by the author, in fact, unless
they had been, he would not have exercised his proper function;
but had he contributed to the new edition what some have
claimed, he would certainly have given intimations of it in his
conversations with me. 103

There is finally another witness whose testimony may
be of greater value because she always held her highly es
teemed editorial assistant "in loving, grateful memory." 104
That is why these few extracts from Mrs. Eddy s letters
to Mr. Wiggin 105 may seem timely:

July 30, 1885: Never change my meaning, only bring it out.

June 14, 1886: They (your corrections) are all right in grammar
and I understood you should do no more for the proofs than to
attend to that.

July, 1886: Please send both copy and proof to me and have
no alterations made after I return the proof to press.

June 14, 1890: I shall request Mr. Wilson to send the proofs
to you and then you to me and I to him.

Years later (in 1906) recalling again Mr. Wiggin s
editorial service, Mrs. Eddy said, "In almost every case
where Mr. Wiggin added words, I have erased them in
my revisions/ 106

Chapter V
FOUNDER

IN 1882, Mrs. Eddy went to live in Boston. The
golden age had already dawned on the "Athens of
America." * The comforts of every day existence were
now matching the charm ineffable which was gathering
round the city. More and more, rich memories were
accumulating as conditions changed. Dignified amenities
were becoming social customs which Bostonians observed,
and practiced, without boasting. To the political equality
first flowering out in the Town Meeting was now added
a certain "quality," still suggested in the humorous verse:
Cabots speak only to Lowells
And the Lowells speak only to God.

Though years had passed since grand dames milked
their cows on the public street and a little boy, named
Ralph Waldo Emerson, was doing his bit to add to the
meager family income by minding his mother s cow on
the Common, Boston had retained its earlier simplicity,
and had also added to it a quality of thinking and of
writing which then made the city the undisputed literary
center of the land.

By this time Boston had produced such a crop of native
writers as no other city in the New World ever dreamed
could anywhere be raised this side of the Atlantic. It was
neither conceit nor affectation that occasioned the casual
inquiry, when friends met in Cambridge, Concord, or on
Park Street: "How is your new book coming on?"

140

FOUNDER 141

And already from states south and west, where Holmes,
Emerson, and Alcott had been lecturing, as far even as
the Mississippi Valley, pilgrims with eyes wide open for
"whole shelves of their library walking about in coats
and gowns," were reverently wending their several ways
to Boston. Some were still talking of Brook Farm with
its coterie of cultural celebrities. As in his last years
Hezekiah Butterworth showed the author over the site
of that social experiment, he told him how Margaret Fuller
came here to gaze at the stars and to her disgust discovered
that she had to "milk a kicking cow."

In 1882, Longfellow was just passing on, but Holmes
and Whittier were not yet "nearing the snow line"; and,
in addition, Lowell, Emerson, Aldrich, Whipple, Agassiz,
Francis Parkman, and Charles Eliot Norton might be
found, almost any Saturday morning, looking over the
new books at the Old Corner Book Store, and at least
once a month meeting for luncheon and high talk at the
Saturday Club.

Marion Crawford was serving his literary apprenticeship
before going to Italy. Theodore Roosevelt was graduating
from Harvard, where William James was then getting his
start as a brilliant teacher. Henry James had already
published his brief critical study of Hawthorne, shot
through with penetrating criticism and over-punctuated
with irritating condescension. Thus early, premonitory
symptoms were showing of his exclusive interest later in
things English; and it was about this time that Julia Ward
Howe, on one occasion feeling that he "professed" too
much, sharply remarked to him, "Don t lie to me, Henry."

The Globe was prospering under General Charles H.
Taylor. The Herald, Post, and Traveler, too, were

142 MARY BAKER EDDY

flourishing. With Louis Elson and Henry Austin Clapp
on the Advertiser, music and the stage were adequately
reported and interpreted. The Evening Transcript was
almost a family oracle, and in its field The Atlantic had
come to a pre-eminence which none disputed.

The cornerstone of the new Public Library on Copley
Square was laid in 1888. Those were the days when
Major Henry L. Higginson was founding the Boston
Symphony Orchestra, and the audiences were all appre
ciation as William Gericke interpreted the great masters.
Though Boston s literary lights had not been hasty to
shine on aspiring art, the School of Drawing and Painting
under the leadership of Otto Grundmann, who was called
in 1877 to be its director, was growing apace; and William
Morris Hunt was introducing Boston connoisseurs to the
Barbizon school.

Past Hawthorne Hall, where in the eighties Mrs. Eddy
won her first reputation as a preacher, Charles Sumner had
strolled with his friend, Thackeray; and James T. Fields
had taken Dickens for the daily constitutional needed to
keep him "fit" for his evening "appearance." The author,
still a Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, recalls
walking in the nineties here with youthful pride between
James Whitcomb Riley and the aged Edward Everett
Hale, down whose bearded cheek a tear trickled as, re
telling a story related to him in his boyhood by an aged
veteran of the American Revolution, Dr. Hale would have
his young friend know, "That was just three days before
the British hanged my great-uncle, Nathan Hale."

In those years Boston had arresting preachers. The
Reverends Joseph Cook and Adoniram Judson Gordon
were in fighting trim; and Phillips Brooks, rated by

From a crayon by Elizabeth S. Eaton.

MRS. EDDY IN THE EARLY DAYS AT BOSTON

This picture was made at the request of Mrs. Eddy and still hangs on the
wall of her Chestnut Hill home.

FOUNDER 143

Edwin D. Mead 2 as "the greatest preacher in the world/
was at his best.

Mrs. Eddy was outgrowing Lynn. Then as now
Lynn had people of importance. But small-town curiosity
cabined her spirit and cramped her individuality. Back
door gossip always annoyed this woman of the stars.
Through her long life, wherever she might be, Mrs. Eddy
was "news"; her every accidental utterance town talk or
"copy" for the papers. Eavesdroppers usually kept within
earshot, keen to twist any casual word to her discredit.
Sometimes she broke under the strain of keeping con
stantly on guard. Not even Red Rock, 3 with its outlook
seaward, invariably brought the quiet and the isolation
which her soul craved.

Long in need of someone more congenial than Barry,
Spofford, Kennedy, and Arens, 4 in 1877, while still living
in Lynn, she married Asa Gilbert Eddy. No easy role
awaited him. His unassuming manner some mistook for
weakness. His business, as he was well aware before his
marriage, was to be helpmate to a wife indissolubly wedded
to a public purpose akeady well defined. Amid these
difficult conditions, he did himself credit. Wise in counsel,
increasingly he won the recognition to which his sound
judgment entitled him. A man of solid parts, he wore well.
To her service he brought tact conjoined to tried efficiency
at a time when his wife was harassed by the pretentious
ness, the irresponsibility, the inefficiency, and the general
inconsequence of those around her.

Miss Julia S. Bartlett s estimate of Asa Gilbert Eddy is
reliable. Grateful for the healing which he brought her,
she was a frequent visitor in the Lynn house. As a friend
and student, who often saw him, she writes:

144 MARY BAKER EDDY

They kept no servant at that time, but Dr. Eddy did much to
help in every way for the Cause that would otherwise take her
time, and attended to business outside. He was always the kind
husband and friend and ready helper in all things. 5

Though his capacity for initiative was not extraordi
nary, he employed it when he could, and Mr. Frye, on
June 27, 1895, wrote that Mr. Eddy was "the first or
ganizer of a Christian Science Sunday School . . . also
the first individual who put onto a sign the words Christian
Scientist." 6

In a letter dated June 27, 1882, to Colonel E. J. Smith,
Mrs. Eddy said her husband had "the sweetest disposi
tion" 7 she had ever known. To Judge Hanna she wrote,
March 25, 1896, that he was "in a humorous way gentle
but firm," 8 and two years later in another heartfelt letter
to him she added, "You have said all When you touched
on the tenderest chord of my human heart in your allusion
to my late husband." 9

During their first months in Boston Mr. and Mrs. Eddy
stayed with the Choates at 551 Shawmut Avenue. In her
recollections, Mrs. Choate describes Mr. Eddy as inces
santly busy with the publishers, arranging for the Christian
Science services, the multiplying lectures, and also the
Association meetings. Mrs. Choate characterizes him "a
very gentle man, but firm & quiet." 10

The man s unapologetic understanding of his position,
his frank admission that his wife was the prime mover
and he the helper, combined with freedom from all signs
of false modesty and self-depreciation, are indicated in
the following summation of the common enterprise in
which they were all engaged: "Mrs. Eddy is the rightful
head and we have never yet succeeded unless she filled

FOUNDER 145

that place and we abided by her direction." 11 Again:

We have just been listening to the reading and explanation of
the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy as is our wont to do on the Sabbath
and from which we are refreshed; though the hour seems dark
and the exertion of the wicked great, yet in mercy and goodness
will we abide. 12

If to some Mrs. Eddy s final tribute to her husband,
"Mark the perfect man" 13 seems overstrained, perhaps
even they will admit that any man who adapts himself
perfectly to the situation in which life places him and
gets the best results attainable in the circumstances is no
failure. 14 In a period when many others were making
life almost unbearable for this woman with a vision,
Asa Gilbert Eddy moved with discretion among the con
tradictory forces that crisscrossed her plans, acting with
decision when there was need of action, and bringing to
a woman often hard pressed the peace and understanding
of which she often stood in need. When after their five
years together, he passed on, by those who knew him
best he was accredited the place Lowell allows to the
modestly efficient:

That loved heaven s silence more than fame.

The church Christ Jesus founded began, we are told,
with a membership of no more than twelve. Only eight
rallied to Mrs. Eddy s standard when, in the summer of
1875, she held her first church services in accordance
with her revelation of 1866.

The program made provision for Sunday services in
a hired hall, with Mrs. Eddy as preacher and director,
on a budget of ten dollars a week, to be paid by amounts
pledged by the charter members as follows:

146 MARY BAKER EDDY

Elizabeth M. Newhall .... $1.50

Dan l H. Spofford $2.00

George H. Allen $2.00

Dorcas B. Rawson $1.00

Asa T. N. MacDonald 50

George W. Barry 2.00

S. P. Bancroft 50

Miranda R. Rice 50 15

On July 4, 1876, Mrs. Eddy organized the larger
Christian Scientist Association, and three years later,
August 23, 1879, came the legal incorporation under the
title "Church of Christ, Scientist," with a mandatory pro
vision that the church be established in Boston.

While Mrs. Eddy gave the credit for the official or
ganization of the Sunday School to her husband, she
declared that Warren Choate, the pet of the household,
was the little child who led to the genesis of the idea
in her mind. 16

As the year 1883 drew to a close, the Sunday services
were held in Hawthorne Hall, at No. 2 Park Street,
which, with its seating capacity of two hundred and
thirty-two, seemed too big at first for that group of
twenty-six. After two brief years the services had, in
fact, to be moved to dickering Hall, which was larger
still. Mrs. Eddy was at last "arriving," and Boston was
furnishing the platform from which her message was to
cross the continent. Men and women still recall those
Sundays in Hawthorne Hall. While the attendants were,
in general, of a higher type perhaps than those at Lynn,
not all, however, who came to Hawthorne Hall remained
to pray.

At these meetings Mrs. Eddy always appeared well

FOUNDER 147

dressed. She knew by instinct how to dress becomingly.
Like many another wife who is a good manager, she
could make a good impression on a small outlay. She
wore her clothes well. She bore herself with an air of
distinction, which made everything she wore count for
more than it cost. In the hour set aside for questions from
the audience rather impertinent inquiries were sometimes
made. One Sunday she was asked: 17

"Do you think it Christian to wear purple velvet and dia
monds?" I ll never forget the sweet expression on her face while
answering. She said as near as I can remember, "There are ladies
here I presume with much more expensive dresses on, as this is
velveteen, thirty-six inches wide, and only one dollar per yard.
The cross and ring were given me by those who had been healed
in Christian Science with the request that I wear them."

Those Sunday services in Hawthorne Hall soon began
to attract public attention. In their planning and conduct
Mrs. Eddy devoted that tireless attention to detail which
today gives Christian Science services an appeal different
from others. She began, and closed, on time. Usually
she opened with a familiar hymn like "Nearer, my God,
to Thee." Then there was silent prayer ending with the
Lord s Prayer. Another hymn was sung, and next the
sermon was delivered.

Mrs. Eddy compelled interest in herself and her subject
from the start. Sometimes even when scheduled, she
would not begin because when the time came she did
not feel the inspirational surcharge on which she counted
to command her audience. She had pulpit personality.
Her dainty and engaging figure, eyes "large, deep and
soulful," waving brown hair, 18 her hands half outstretched
in irresistible appeal, all aided her voice, which none ever

148 MARY BAKER EDDY

forgot who heard it from the pulpit or the platform,
to carry home her message. With or without notes, she
spoke rapidly, and that Iowa woman, who found in
Mrs. Eddy s sermon never a trivial thought," was not
alone in her findings. No matter what her text, her
sermons all revolved around the central thought that God
is Spirit, God is All-in-all, matter is insubstantial, and
sin, sickness, and death can be vanquished by Spirit. But
no one can today read back across her printed sermons
without seeing the Way-shower in them all.

As to the content of her preaching, listeners might
differ. But in the eighties like John Wesley she was
still desiring "to have a league, offensive and defensive,
with every soldier of Christ." Once she preached for
six months in a Baptist Church, 19 without compromising
her own message. That her attitude toward others of
all types should be well understood and proper precedent
be set her followers, she placed among the By-Laws of
The Mother Church the specific admonition: "A member
of this Church shall not publish, nor cause to be published,
an article that is uncharitable or impertinent towards
religion, medicine, the courts, or the laws of our land." 20

As truly as William James, Mrs. Eddy was fitted to
teach and her talents were already trained to a fine point
by long practice when she arrived in Boston. Miss C. Lulu
Blackman, who came in 1885 all the way from Nebraska,
to join Mrs. Eddy s autumn class, wrote: 21

When she entered the classroom, I saw her for the first time.
Intuitively, the members of the class rose at her entrance, and
remained standing until she was seated. She made her way to a
slightly raised platform, turned and faced us. She wore an im
ported black satin dress heavily beaded with tiny black jet beads,

FOUNDER 149

black satin slippers, beaded, and had on her rarely beautiful
diamonds. These she spoke of in one of the later sessions. She
stood before us, seemingly slight, graceful of carriage and
exquisitely beautiful even to critical eyes. Then, still standing,
she faced her class as one who knew herself to be a teacher by
divine right. She was every inch the teacher. She turned to
the student at the end of the first row of seats and took direct
mental cognizance of this one, plainly knocked at the door of
this individual consciousness. It was as if a question had been
asked and answered and a benediction given. Then her eyes
rested on the next in order and the same recognition was made.
This continued until each member of the class had received the
same mental cognizance. No audible word voiced the purely
mental contact. Experience has been the lightning flash, that has
revealed to me something of the mass mentality she confronted.

The session began with so impressive a repetition of
the Lord s Prayer that the same student reported: 22

It was not as though she had gone to the Father in prayer, but
rather as though, because she was with the Father, she prayed.
. . . After this audible repetition of the Lord s prayer, Mrs. Eddy
took her seat and the students resumed theirs. As she began to
speak, many of the students opened notebooks, and began to
write. Instantly and peremptorily she said, "Put up your note
books." I had written but one sentence and no other was ever
added. There were others who refused to consider the command
as final and, almost at once, covertly began again to make notes.
With eagle eyes she detected the overt act, and again, repeated
the words, "Put up your notebooks." All complied, some will
ingly and some with silent but resentful protest; then she resumed
her "teaching. A little later, one student began again surrepti
tiously to make notations. Stopping her discourse, Mrs. Eddy
for the third time repeated the words emphatically and clearly
and never again was there an effort on the part of any to write
down a thought or word that came from this great Teacher.
She, at no time, made any explanation of this arbitrary require
ment, but all my days I have blessed her for this ruling, because

150 MARY BAKER EDDY

it compelled us to let the form go so that limited finite statements
of Truth might not circumscribe the pinions of her thought. Her
importations transcended the medium of words. Words served
only to convey her revelations. She gave both the letter and the
spirit, but she took away the letter, lest any should substitute it
for the wine of the Spirit.

In such teaching no incidental interruption was toler
ated. Even that bane of every classroom, noisy coughing,
once received this firm rebuke from her: "Anyone with
the least understanding of God does not cough." 23 Even
today physical distractions like coughing and sneezing,
so much a matter of course in other assemblies, are heard
less often in Christian Science meetings.

Questions, however personal, Mrs. Eddy welcomed,
and answered them without evasion. She encouraged
comments out of a conviction that they might open the
door to truth which otherwise, perhaps, would not come
through at all. When some overzealous students in the
class of 1889 volunteered the statement that they had
tried in vain to bring back some who had strayed away
and were no longer loyal to their teacher, Mrs. Eddy
advised:

"Do not try any more. The love that is going out to the world
through Christian Science is the greatest power there is and the
only thing that will change that thought" adding, "I have often
felt these hard unloving thoughts of others come about me like
dark clouds, and seem to surround me, but they never touched
me, and why? Because my thoughts were going out to them all
the time in love and with a desire to help them." 24

It was perhaps in her presentation of God, as "incor
poreal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Prin
ciple, Life, Truth, Love," 25 that Mrs. Eddy towered in

FOUNDER 151

her teaching. Sometimes, when she opened her soul
concerning prayer, her students were swept up to a
perception of the way to become a "new creature in
Christ Jesus." Referring last winter to the chapter on
Prayer in the Christian Science textbook Dr. William L.
Stidger is reported by the press to have said from a
Boston pulpit, CC I wish for my own life, and my own
home that I might have in it the beauty and power and
the spirit of prayer that is in that chapter."

In every class there were Marthas cumbered with much
care and serving, and not infrequently weighted down
with the imponderable burden of fear. Some were small
of mind, some small of soul. Mrs. Eddy understood all.
Of each she sought to make something. She gave to all
solicitude. But she kept her mental balance. First things
were put first in all her teaching; and, say what one will
about her terminology, error never deceived her into
regarding it as other than the nothingness which she
proclaimed it to be.

"What would you do," she once inquired, "if you knew that
some one was trying to kill you through mental arguments?"
With me this question created a great sense of fear and I believe
it was the same with other members of the class. After waiting
a few moments for an answer Mrs. Eddy said, "Cast it in the
waste basket." This light remark concerning the error, and her
realization of the powerlessness and nothingness of the highest
form of error, destroyed my sense of fear and left with me a
great sense of peace and fearlessness of the claim of error to harm. 26

She had a way of bringing students down out of the
clouds of vain aspiring and idle sentimentalizing. Says
Mrs. Foye: 27

One day a friend of mine, who was also a student of Mrs.

152 MARY BAKER EDDY

Eddy s, called to see her on business. As she was about to leave,
Mrs. Eddy invited her to stay for lunch, and just then the house
keeper came in, and, hearing my friend declining, said to her,
"You had better take off your wraps and stay, I ve just made a
strawberry shortcake that will melt in your mouth." Whereupon
Mrs. Eddy said, "There s a scientist that isn t soaring o er the
church steeples."

Bliss Knapp recalls that on another occasion, to a too
dreamy student, she observed, "Come down. Your head
is way up there in the stars, while the enemy is filling
your body with bullets." 28

Back of all the give and take of class contacts, back
of every word she spoke and also of every gleam in
her eyes, glowed a faith in her message, which she never
failed to impress upon her students nor allowed them to
supplant by any other interest. The correctness of her
thinking might be challenged, never her sincerity. She
was true to her conviction when she pronounced Jesus
in nothing "more divine than in his faith in the immor
tality of his words." 29

But it was not interest in sheer metaphysics which
brought those students to Mrs. Eddy s classroom. It was
eagerness to learn her method of healing. To theorizing
about healing she habitually brought the sharp test of
practice. The swift growth of Christian Science in Boston
during the eighties was due to its effective healing. Critics
might explain it as they would. There were by that time
enough well people in evidence who once were sick, to
bring of their own accord the sick of body and soul in
ever growing numbers to Christian Scientists for treat
ment and then, automatically, to enlarge the group of
prospective healers trained in Mrs. Eddy s classes.

FOUNDER 153

Her understanding of the great need of the sick and
sorrowing for healing is shown in a letter she wrote to
Calvin C. Hill at the time he was leaving business in
order to devote himself wholly to the practice of Christian
Science:

There are the sick the halt the blind to be healed. Is not this
enough to be able to accomplish? Were I to name that which is
most needed to be done of all else on .earth I should say heal
the sick, cleanse the spotted despoiled mortal; and then you are
being made whole and happy, and this is thine. "Well done good
and faithful" enter thou into all worldly worth and the joy of
thy Lord, the recompense of rightness.

By 1883 not merely were Mr. and Mrs. Dresser in
California hurrying East to have a hand in mental healing,
which they were hearing that Mrs. Eddy was conducting
with success, but pulpits also were unlimbering their big
guns on something few as yet understood. Yet before
the tumult and the shouting ceased, Mrs. Eddy was
writing tenderly of her girlhood pastor, Dr. Bouton of
Concord: "The religion that he taught and lived, I love
and honor. It was the vestibule of Christian Science."

No Boston preacher was more outspoken in censure
than the Reverend Dr. L. T. Townsend. Nevertheless
in the book which he wrote in 1887, to express his mature
judgment, he freely admitted "that this woman ... is
successful in healing disease/ Looking back today upon
those same years one critic says, "There is a central core
which is true." 30

All the while hundreds, whose health had been im
proved by Mrs. Eddy s prayers, when subjected to
cross-examination were quoting, to describe their experi
ence, the man whose sight Jesus restored, "Whether he

154 MARY BAKER EDDY

be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that,
whereas I was blind, now I see." 31

Out of many cases, a few of the more significant,
because of the high reputation of the parties concerned,
will now be cited to serve as types of healing in the
period we are considering. Miss Julia S. Bartlett, later
one of the early church officers, had for seven years been
bedridden. Physicians who had done their utmost for
her, would hold out no hope of recovery. In April, 1880,
Miss Bartlett turned as a last resort to Mrs. Eddy. Under
Asa Gilbert Eddy s care, "I began," says Miss Bartlett,
"to improve immediately. I felt like one let out of
prison. . . . The world was another world to me. All
things were seen from a different viewpoint and there
was a halo of beauty over all." 32

A son of Ira O. Knapp, Director of The Mother
Church from 1892 until 1910, relates in his privately
printed recollections 33 this family history:

Mrs. Knapp, after thirteen years of ill health, had become a
helpless invalid; the son had developed a supposedly incurable
trouble, while Mr. Knapp had a slight indisposition. The skill of
the physicians . . . had been exhausted. Her sister . . . advised
Mrs. Knapp to try Christian Science. Mr. Knapp remarked
laconically, "Well, we will try one more humbug."

Mrs. Eddy assigned one of her students to the Knapp
family; and, after absent treatment had been given, the
student was asked to visit the Knapp home. On getting
off the train, she inquired of the station agent if Mrs.
Knapp had come to meet her. Overcoming his surprise
that such a question should be asked about a woman
crippled for so many years, the agent answered gently:
"Mrs. Knapp will never come to this station again."

FOUNDER 155

Later, however, when the Christian Scientist was leaving
her hotel, "a handsome, fresh-faced young woman came
up the steps," inquiring for the guest. It was Mrs. Knapp
herself.

"The first time," says one of her sons, "she walked to
the home of her nearest neighbor, about a quarter of
a mile away, the children all went too, dancing around
her in the joy of seeing her able to walk again." S4 The
practitioner remained only four days with the Knapps.
She healed one of the sons and also the father. The Bible
promises then became in the light of Christian Science
so engrossing to the father that, as the son writes, he
literally wore out the big family Bible.

Another Director of The Mother Church (1888-
1909), William B. Johnson, became interested in Chris
tian Science after exhausting all surgical, medical, and
dietetic treatment for rupture and also for a legacy of
diseases brought on by bad food and insanitary conditions
during his three years of service in the Civil War. The
expert who, one day in 1882, was making him a special
truss, felt regretfully compelled to tell him that he could
promise him no permanent relief, except possibly in
Christian Science. In sheer despair, Mr. Johnson called
in a student of Mrs. Eddy. When she came, she found
her patient writhing on the floor in agony. His response,
however, to treatment was immediate. His wife also
was cured of tumor and catarrh.

Captain Joseph Eastaman, later a Director of The
Mother Church (1892-93), brought his wife to Christian
Science in a last effort to save her life. Boston doctors
had declined longer to give encouragement. In a desper
ate "nothing to lose and everything to gain" spirit, he

156 MARY BAKER EDDY

turned, in his discouragement, to Mrs. Eddy, who put
the unexpected and astounding question to him: "Captain,
why don t you heal your wife yourself?" Spellbound
with amazement, he entered Mrs. Eddy s class, proved
an apt student, and soon, he said, "as I understood the
rudiments, I began to treat her [his wife] ; and, so quickly
did she respond to the treatment, that she was able to
avail herself of the kind invitation of the teacher to
accompany me to the final session." 35

In a recent talk with Mr. Joseph G. Mann, for several
years at Pleasant View, the author s attention was called
to the remarkable story of his first experience with
Christian Science. He had been accidentally shot, and
the diagnosis of the four physicians, called to his bedside,
revealed the ball from the thirty-two caliber revolver
lodged in the inner layer of the pericardium of the heart.
After a final consultation, the doctors agreed that the
case was hopeless. Turning to Christian Science, his
restoration to health was almost instantaneous. 36 This
testimony would seem the more convincing because it is
credibly reported that the community then believed the
healing genuine.

But Christian Science healing, contrary to general
opinion, includes the spiritual and mental as well as physi
cal, and Mr. Albert F. Gilmore writes:

I joyously recall a testimony given in The Mother Church
one evening which appealed to me so greatly that I have since
remembered it. ... He told of having been ill, in poverty,
friendless, and hopeless, in the very depths of misery and despair.
Someone told him of Christian Science. The appeal was imme
diate and he took up the study and sought the aid of a practi
tioner, with the result that he was soon healed of disease, was

FOUNDER 157

restored to an active business, and his friends returned. In the
intervening years he had experienced a fullness and joy of life
which he had never known before; and said he, "On more than
one occasion so plentiful has been God s bounty, I have been
tempted to say, Not quite so fast, O Lord; You are giving me
more than I can take care of. " To him the regenerating truth
had been revealed; he had seen the perfect man with the result
that, in goodly measure, he had come into his own; that is, he was
laying hold and making use of the blessings which God has
bestowed upon all His beloved sons.

Almost as soon as Mrs. Eddy could get settled in her
Boston home the wisdom of her decision to locate in the
larger city was amply justified by events. To her Sunday
preaching and her Thursday lecturing, was added a cor
respondence which grew so rapidly as to become almost
unmanageable. The classes in attendance were soon over
taxing 571 Columbus Avenue, and there was continued
growth even after Mrs. Eddy moved, in 1887, to 385
Commonwealth Avenue.

As references to her in the newspapers became more
frequent people came her way more and more to see
what she was like. Casual contacts occurred with Frances
Hodgson Burnett, Louisa M. Alcott, and Rose Cleveland.
Many unacquainted or ill acquainted with her teachings
felt constrained to attack her in print; but, she was ever
ready at a moment s notice to back up the faith to which
she had given all allegiance, and it was not her wont to
delegate the business to others.

Even when she was busiest, she made time to meet
her critics face to face. A few still living recall how she
looked and acted when she appeared in person one March
Monday morning after pulpit attacks by the Reverends
A. J. Gordon, Joseph Cook, and L. T. Townsend, to

158 MARY BAKER EDDY

speak for herself in Tremont Temple where one of the
then famous Monday lectures of the Reverend Joseph
Cook was in progress. To Dr. Townsend she replied in

The Christian Science Journal of April, 1885:

Because of the great demand upon my time, consisting in part
in dictating answers through my secretary, or answering per
sonally the numerous inquiries from all quarters, having charge of
a church, editing a magazine, teaching the principles of Christian
Science, receiving calls, etc., I find it inconvenient to accept your
invitation to answer you through the media of a newspaper; but
for information as to what I believe and teach, would refer you
to the Holy Scriptures, my various publications, and my Chris
tian students.

Already with that prescience which gives her high place
among constructive organizers of all time she was reaching
out from Boston, through The Christian Science Journal,
the first issue of which appeared on April 14, 1883, 37
to the victims of failure and frustration and low vitality
on the isolated farms and in obscure communities from
coast to coast. It was plain to her that neither the austere
theology nor the periodic revivals then popular had sub
stantial significance to those in greatest need of vital and
inspiring faith.

In the opening editorial of the first issue of the Journal,
she broadcast her proclamation of comfort and release to
the drab legions for whom the Journal had a cheering
message: "The purpose of our paper is the desire of our
heart, namely, to bring to many a household hearth
health, happiness and increased power to be good, and
to do good."

Having recently studied the early issues of the Journal}
the author is convinced that but little reason exists to

From painting by Alice H. Barbour.

THE PORTRAIT OF MRS. EDDY PAINTED IN HER
LATEST YEARS

FOUNDER 159

doubt the strength of its appeal to the handicapped.
Hosts of those in trouble of soul or mind or body were
evidently helped by reading the healing testimonies
straight from the heart and also by the successful union
of Mrs. Eddy s monthly contribution of the didactic and
the practical. Her editorials are sometimes sermons,
oftener "leaders," comparable in their power to get their
message across to those which made the fame of Charles
A. Dana in the New York Sun and Horace Greeley in
the Neiv York Tribune, Lyman Abbott in the Christian
Union, and John Fulton in the Church Standard.

Both as to substance and style, Mrs. Eddy is thoroughly
at home in the good company of those who write as
freely as they talk and with the same effectiveness. Her
style has coloring too, which is rarely found elsewhere
and which makes a spiritual appeal to those outside her
circle as well as in. This extract from her fifteen hun
dred word "leader" in the Journal of September, 1886,
is illustrative and representative:

He alone ascends the hill of Christian Science who follows
Christ, the spiritual idea who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Whatever obstructs this way, causing mortals to stumble, fall, or
faint, Divine Love will remove, and uplift the fallen and strengthen
the weak, if only they will forsake their earthweights, and "leave
behind those things that are behind, and reach forward to those
that are before." Then, loving God supremely, and their neighbor
as themselves, they will safely bear the cross up the hill of Science. 38

When "Dear Gilbert," as Mrs. Eddy fondly called her
husband, passed away in 1882, like Lee when Jackson
fell at Chancellorsville, Mrs. Eddy thought she had lost
her right arm. If she had needed Asa Gilbert Eddy in
Lynn, there was more need of him than ever with the

160 MARY BAKER EDDY

increase of responsibilities in Boston. To a student of this
period, she once said, "I could be happy with him in a
hut, but God means that I shall rely on Him alone." 39

There had to be a helper at hand whom she could
trust in little things as well as great, to relieve her of
details as well as large responsibilities, to stand between
her and those who, with good intentions, would yet use
up her increasingly valuable time, and to assure her the
conditions necessary to carry on at all.

When Calvin A. Frye came in 1882 to remain as it
proved with Mrs. Eddy until the end, he was still under
forty. Reticent, retiring, devoted to what became his
life work, he went his tirelessly methodical way for
almost thirty years. Asking nothing and receiving only
modest compensation, his loyal service was beyond all
valuation to Mrs. Eddy. No one did more to ensure her
the proper conditions for successful leadership, even
protecting her from physical discomfort. He was perhaps
as nearly indispensable to Mrs. Eddy as any one could be.
No task was too large, or too small, for him to undertake
as she directed. He made her appointments for her when
she could see people, and her regrets for her when she
could not. He assisted in looking after her finances and
her mail, and also copied her priceless manuscripts.

He lived to see responsibilities overtake her beyond
his foreseeing when he joined her staff; but he never
spared himself in helping all the while. As others came
into her group, Mr. Frye maintained his habitual single-
mindedness, always doing his utmost and his best, always
illustrating the memorable words of the third Gospel:
"He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also
in much."

FOUNDER 161

The maternal instinct was always strong in Mrs. Eddy.
When definite word came of her son, a man well on in
the thirties and with a growing family in the Northwest,
she brought him East by telegram in 1879. Again in
1887, he came East with his family to see his mother.
Both tried, at that late date, to forget those years of
almost total severance and to make vital the blood rela
tionship. But it was too late. With some of the essential
characteristics of his mother, he was, however, too rough
and too undisciplined after so long a break, to fit into
her complex life. A mining prospector, with the pros
pector s instinct to venture overmuch, he was always
wanting money, not so much for his family as to sink
another shaft in search of silver and of gold. 40 Against
her will, Mrs. Eddy had at last, in 1888, to recognize that
much as she desired him by her side, she could not make
a place for him in her menage and her widening plans,
without wrecking all she had built up. He simply did
not fit, and knew not how intelligently to try to fit.

Yet she needed a son s comradeship, a son s co
operation. 41 A certain Dr. Ebenezer J. Foster, who came
her way about this time, was different from her son,
different also from Mr. Frye. Turned forty, he was a
slight man with a gentle disposition and kindly manners.
He rarely offered counsel when it was not asked. He
never interfered with what she thought or planned.
Years later for the life of him he could not remember
ever having crossed "Mother" in anything. Graduated,
some years before, from the Hahnemann Medical College
in Philadelphia, Dr. Foster represented much that she
desired. He never forgot the tenderness with which she
greeted him. Her love for him a true mother love

162 MARY BAKER EDDY

led her to desire that he become a son according to the
law. No longer young and strong, she needed such a
staff on which to lean. Those near her were not ade
quate to meet her deeper needs. From that moment his
heart instinctively went out to her, and he remained
with Mrs. Eddy until 1896.

On November 5, 1888, by legal adoption, he became
Ebenezer J. Foster-Eddy; and in her petition to the court
Mrs. Eddy touchingly divulged her maternal yearning
in the avowal "that he was associated with her in busi
ness, home life, and life work, and that she needed his
interested care and relationship." 42

Now sixty-seven years of age Mrs. Eddy depended
on her son-by-law, since her son-by-blood had not
turned out dependable. Dr. E. J. Foster-Eddy called her
"Mother." He did much for her. He taught in her
college. He succeeded William G. Nixon in looking after
certain of her publishing interests. He was given various
responsibilities. On many he made a pleasing impression.
But in a few years he disappeared from the picture to
reappear for a moment as a valuable witness for The
Mother Church in the litigation against the Board of
Directors which ended in 1922. Now in his old age living,
like many whom Mrs. Eddy loved, on a generous remem
brance, he tenderly recalls that "no one ever heard me
say one word against her." 43

As the eighties drew on towards the nineties, this in
dustrious woman was more industrious than ever. She
kept her hand on everything from the incessant revision
of her book, Science and Health,, to the production in
those years of such books as The People s Idea of
God, Christian Healing, Retrospection and Introspection,

FOUNDER 163

Unity of Good, Eudimental Divine Science, and No
and Yes.

Mrs. Eddy was always starting something new. Scarcely
was she settled at 569 Columbus Avenue, when she placed
on the front door a large silver plate, bearing the words,
"Massachusetts Metaphysical College." During the seven
years of its existence, it succeeded on a big scale, training
hundreds of students to heal the sick, and bringing in
large returns.

In those days, busy as she was, her labors on revisions
of her book were unremitting. By 1890 Science and
Health had reached its fiftieth edition. Few books ever
written reach their fiftieth printing and fewer still, per
haps none, have produced a tithe of such results in so
short a time. From the small beginnings in 1882 when
she came to Boston, and with twenty-six members held
services in a small hired hall, the movement grew till
at the end of this period it numbered two hundred and
fifty trained practitioners at work throughout the land,
twenty incorporated churches, ninety societies not yet
incorporated as churches, and thirty-three academies and
institutes.

Even before Mrs. Eddy s removal to 385 Common
wealth Avenue, Christian Science was rapidly pushing
its frontier line to the Pacific. Strong centers were de
veloping in various cities, particularly in Chicago, to
which she paid her first visit in 1884. 44

In 1888, came a pressing call to revisit Chicago, 45 which
already, as Lyman J. Gage a few years later wrote, "am
bitious to excel in everything," 46 was becoming a favorite
convention city. Thus the National Christian Scientist
Association had shown wisdom in planning for its first

164 MARY BAKER EDDY

nation-wide convention in Chicago. Delegates from every
state were sure to be present, for Mrs. Eddy had so worded
her appeal as to make it irresistible. "Let no considera
tion," she said, "bend or outweigh your purpose to be in
Chicago on June 13." 47 It was a virtual summons to
meet her there.

Thousands, who in one way or another had felt the
widening outreach of her thinking, longed inexpressibly
to go to the convention that they might look upon the
face, touch the hand, hear the voice of the one woman
in all the world whose prayer, thought, and published
words especially in Science and Health and at that time
also in the Journal had been used of God to restore
to sound health of body as well as mind many long
regarded by themselves, and often also by others, as
incurable.

As delegates began to arrive by every train headlines
in the Chicago papers greeted them with the assurance
that their "prophetess" would appear. When, on the
second day, the doors of Central Music Hall opened, eight
hundred delegates and many more were there, packed
so closely that every inch of room was taken. Impatient
to set eyes upon the woman of their dreams, many were
all but ready to greet her with such lines as Auslander s:

Balboa of your fate, you stared
On a Pacific none had dared.

When Mrs. Eddy stepped upon the platform, the
audience rose to its feet as one man. Not expecting to
speak, not specially prepared as was Bryan 4S when his
hour struck in the Democratic Convention of 1896
Mrs. Eddy hesitated for a moment. Those nearest detected

FOUNDER 165

the instinctive recoil of head and hand. Then, Mrs. Eddy
walked down to the front of the stage, at her best as
always when the unexpected challenged. A hush fell on
the crowd as, confident, serene, and smiling, she offered
as a text, extemporized for the occasion, the first verse of
the ninety-first Psalm: "He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty/ 7

Without a note to aid her, without an abstract even
in her mind, a pentecostal flow of golden eloquence began
to pour from her lips. The substance of that sermon
is in print. 49 Though superior to the published report
of Bryan s Cross of Gold speech, the report we have is
of small assistance in accounting for the effect of the
sermon on that congregation. Some still alive who heard
it become inarticulate when they attempt to describe
the occasion. The Boston Traveler s account 50 is this:

The scenes that followed when she had ceased speaking will
long be remembered by those who witnessed them. The people
were in the presence of the woman whose book had healed them,
and they knew it. Up they came in crowds to her side, begging
for one handclasp, one look, one memorial from her whose name
was a power and a sacred thing in their homes. Those whom
she had never seen before invalids raised up by her book,
Science and Health attempted hurriedly to tell the wonder
ful story.

A mother, who failed to get near, held high her babe to look
on their helper. Others touched the dress of their benefactor,
not so much as asking for more.

An aged woman, trembling with palsy, lifted her shaking hands
at Mrs. Eddy s feet, crying, "Help, help!" and the cry was
answered. Many such people were known to go away healed.
Strong men turned aside to hide their tears, as the people
thronged about Mrs. Eddy with blessings and thanks.

166 MARY BAKER EDDY

Meekly, and almost silently, she received all this homage from
the multitude, until she was led away from the place, the throng
blocking her passage from the door to the carriage.

Back to the Palmer House 51 Mrs. Eddy was taken for
a little rest and quiet. But for once she was not to have
her way. Rich and poor had preceded her and were
waiting there, bent on seeing her again. They would
not be denied. To touch that healing hand, to hear again
that captivating voice, the people hemmed her in on
every side. Crushing the flowers with which the Palmer
House had in her honor hurriedly been decorated, they
sought to press in closer to her. Heedless of torn silk
sleeves and mussed lace collars, unmindful even of the
precious jeweky they trampled under foot, the crowd
grew importunate to the point of inconsiderateness.

As usual, Mrs. Eddy was gracious. She yielded to this
astounding claim of personality. The rich wine of recog
nition of her teachings was warm and welcome after all
those arid years in Tilton and in Lynn, and the earlier
years in Boston. She was deeply gratified to have the
truth which she represented receive recognition. But,
as always in her notable career, looking ahead she feared
that in the afterglow, preoccupation with her personality
would prove to have been a disservice to the truth. 52
She foresaw some friends outside believe that the tide
of popular favor, now surging full and free, would as
likely as not a little later ebb as fast away. The situation
was not to her liking. In fact, in the Palmer House, she
was overheard to say: "Christian Science is not forwarded
by these methods." 53

On her return to Boston, Mrs. Eddy found her worst
fears justified. Dissension long growing within had at

FOUNDER 167

last turned into revolution. Outside, the Dressers, after
their return to Boston in 1883, had been developing a
mental science movement of their own, shading off into
New Thought. 54 The books of the Reverend Warren F.
Evans, more and more were being read. Arens s feeble
and impertinent attempts to build up a personal business
by displaying, as his own, goods which were really
Mrs. Eddy s, were feeding a discontent now ready to
break out. Almost under her eyes, Mrs. Sarah Crosse,
whom she had trusted, was turning to other interests.
Mrs. Gestefeld in Chicago, Mrs. Plunkett and Mrs.
Hopkins were starting something in several western cities
which they could not finish.

Before Mrs. Eddy could get back from Chicago, the
boring in" tactics of malcontents, endeavoring to dilute
the larger faith of Christian Science and divest it of its
wider implications, had turned into open rebellion already
delivering its master stroke. A little group of thirty-six
had obtained possession of the Association s books to
facilitate the break they planned with Mrs. Eddy, with
out the danger and the degradation of expulsion. The
Association s loyal Secretary, Mr. William B. Johnson,
who had Mrs. Eddy s entire confidence, endeavored to
induce the thirty-six conspirators to desist, reasoning with
them that "now is the only time for us to meet in Christian
love and adjust this great wrong done to one who has
given all the best of her years to heal and bless," Never
theless, the thirty-six would-be usurpers stood out a whole
year, won at last their letters of dismissal, and went their
way to oblivion.

But, those long and anxious months were for Mrs. Eddy
months of close thinking. She was meditating on the

168 MARY BAKER EDDY

implication of events. She was testing various inferences
which might be drawn from such occurrences. If it were
possible for a revolution of such dimensions to break out
within the camp at the moment when her movement,
far from having a setback, was becoming national in
scope, changes at least in the machinery seemed to
be indicated. The stabilizing influence of her book,
published in 1875, had saved the Cause shortly before.
More now was needed, Mrs. Eddy was convinced, to
conserve her Boston work by gearing it in irreversibly
to the developments appearing in the West. The hour
had struck to rally the far to support the near, and thus
to give the Leader the larger status obtainable only from
a Christian Science becoming nationalized, and on its
way to being internationalized.

Airs. Eddy perceived the logic of the situation. She
fearlessly accepted the facts observable at their face value.
With a courage perhaps unsurpassed in history, with an
indestructible confidence correspondingly unique in her
central conviction, this woman, sixty-seven years old,
dismantled the machinery which, out of tears as well as
hopes, she had for years been building up. She closed
her college. She gave up her active teaching. She retired
from the editorial supervision of the Journal. She dis
organized the Association. 55 Most significant of all, Mrs.
Eddy definitely, even sharply, ordered those who followed
in her train to stop their at times sentimental and often
unwise adulation of her personality. She charged them
peremptorily to turn their eyes away from her, and to
fix them on the truth. Then, to end the possibility of
her becoming a storm center, in the future more dangerous
to the Cause than to herself, she ordered published in

FOUNDER 169

The Christian Science Journal these Seven Fixed Rules. 56

1. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, as to
whose advertisement shall or shall not appear In the Christian
Science Journal.

2. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, as to
the matter that should be published in the JOURNAL and
C. S. Series.

3. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, on
marriage, divorce, or family affairs of any kind.

4. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, on the
choice of pastors for churches.

5. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, on
disaffections, if there should be any between the students of
Christian Science.

6. I shall not be consulted verbally, or through letters, on who
shall be admitted as members, or dropped from the membership
of the Christian Science Churches or Associations.

7. I am not to be consulted verbally, or through letters, on
disease and the treatment of the sick; but I shall love all mankind
and work for their welfare.

Many years had passed since that evening on the
streets of Lynn when, as though inspired, she said to
young George Clark, "I shall have a church of my own
some day." 57

Now starting life anew as she neared seventy, Mrs.
Eddy set her feet firmly on the path that led to the
organization of The Mother Church, one day to include
members from all parts of the world as well as Boston.

Chapter VI
AT PLEASANT VIEW

IT was during the sixteen years between 1892 and 1908
that Mrs. Eddy, in retirement at Pleasant View, came
to the fullness of her powers and the widening of her
influence. Freer there than in Boston from ceaseless de
mands upon her time and her vitality, Mrs. Eddy could at
last, by careful planning, obtain a larger measure of the
ordered life which she had become convinced must be
hers to discharge her rapidly expanding responsibilities.

To two of her friends, who were holding positions of
importance in the Publishing Society, she indicated in
July, 1898, that what she now was doing they too could
do if they seriously set themselves to the task, even under
less favorable conditions in Boston, of commanding the
time which real thinking requires, and also of developing
the ability to say "No" to unwarranted encroachments
on their busy lives: 1

You can take my method, bar your doors, and then hold your
solitude with moral dignity by meeting the merciless selfishness
of callers with a fixed rule and the divine imperative Principle to
be alone with God and never break this rule till you have your
interval of study and prayer. I am an exception to all peace on
earth -but not to "good will" The mail and the male and
female claim undisputed powers to break my peace and rob me
of all individual exemption from labor. But you have no need of
thus surrendering your rights for others. I have written this in
bed in the still hours while others sleep, after 3 o. c. in the

morning. 2

170

AT PLEASANT VIEW 171

No other woman so far along in life and only a few
men like Thomas A. Edison and Mr. Justice Holmes
are on record as having paid such a price for an oppor
tunity to serve the public, as Mrs. Eddy had to pay
even after she withdrew to Pleasant View on the edge
of Concord, New Hampshire. 3

Her day was laid out with precision. At six in summer
and by seven in winter, Mrs. Eddy was accustomed to
arise. Her hour for reading and for meditation she habit
ually observed. Of this one of her household tells us: 4

Often she would preface some morning Scripture-reading with
the confiding invitation: "Come and hear what God said to me
this morning," and then she would read as God s ambassador, or
as the good God speaking indeed. There was nothing of the
assumed or artificial in all her reading; she read with the unaf
fected grace of a heart overflowing with humility and under
standing, even as she spoke from demonstration, as one who
had suffered and who had a right to speak.

Another says, who was with her those ripe years: 5

It was Mrs. Eddy s custom when she came into her study in
the morning to open her Bible and Science and Health and read
the verse or paragraph on which her eyes first rested. Sometimes
after she had read aloud the selections to those in the room with
her she would call the other students and give them a little lesson
from what she had read or instruct them as to what it was
necessary to handle at that particular time. During the first days
I made a few notes of the lessons she gave which I will copy here.
They may not be her exact words as they were written after
the lesson.

July 15, 1907. Opened to Romans 14:22, "Hast thou faith?
Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in that thing which he alloweth."

Mrs. Eddy said, "We should allow nothing which we cannot
justify. He who sees sin and condemns it not will suffer for it.

172 MARY BAKER EDDY

Can we work out a problem correctly if one figure is not in
accord with the principle of mathematics? Can I enter the king
dom of heaven if I allow one sin? Will not that destroy the
whole problem?"

Meals were served on the minute, and any member of
her household who was late was invariably regretful.
Practical and artistic, Mrs. Eddy set a table well furnished
and attractive. Her standpoint in this regard is clearly
indicated in her remarks: 6 "To stop eating, drinking, or
being clothed materially before the spiritual facts of
existence are gained step by step, is not legitimate. When
we wait patiently on God and seek Truth righteously,
He directs our path."

Her attention to the kitchen 7 was as minute as that
she gave her study. On occasion she herself could cook. 8
An expert housekeeper of the best New England type,
even in her difficult days at Lynn, she was once found
by a noted visitor in dust cap and apron, doing her
housework and without apology even scrubbing down
the steps. Today the Chestnut Hill house, kept as she left
it, is a model which any housewife would approve.

Because her life was lived according to a fixed routine,
often there was time for little extras. Every morning as
she walked through her home, she had a cheery word
for everyone, for cook and laundress, maid and friends.
Sometimes she stopped a moment to rearrange some trifle
on the whatnot or the mantel. Almost till the last, Mrs.
Eddy could trip lightly down the stairs; or, as Mr, Joseph
G. Mann has told the author, "come floating through the
corridors like a young girl." In the pitch and toss of wit
and humor, she was always quick on the catch and the
return; both in hearty commendation of good works,

AT PLEASANT VIEW 173

and in the sharp reproof of slackness, she never failed.

In fair weather after an outdoor walk, sometimes around
the artificial pond which her students had caused to be
built for her, Mrs. Eddy would receive her secretary
with the morning s mail. As the years went by, larger
discretion was given him in sorting it over, with the help
of others, to decide on what, in the light of his experience,
he felt Mrs. Eddy would wish to see. Many of her letters
she wrote with her own pen; and those dealing with
the church or publishing concerns were likely to be sent
by special messenger to Boston.

Dinner was at twelve o clock, ending invariably with
ice cream which she specially liked. One at least of her
household recalls the welcome sound of the grinding of
the freezer at eleven o clock each morning, 9

The daily drive immediately followed and the coachman
reported many evidences of Concord s friendly interest
in its most distinguished citizen. For everyone, Mrs. Eddy
had a friendly greeting or a smile. They might be friends
or strangers, adults or children. In every case, she meas
ured up to the cultural test which John Cowper Powys
sets in the memorable phrase: "No one can be regarded
as cultured who does not treat every human being, without
a single exception, as of deep and startling interest." 10

Though she had left Boston, she had not forgotten
the city where she saw her work expand, and she would
have visited it more frequently had her busy life per
mitted. 11 On the visit unannounced of April 1, 1895,
she spent the night in the room designed for her in the
new church. It was on this first visit to her church that:

She asked to have the lights turned on in the auditorium; she
first walked down the center aisle and stood a little while nearly

174 MARY BAKER EDDY

under the dome. Then she came back and went down on the
right aisle to the platform and knelt on the first step for a few
moments as if in silent prayer. She arose and went to the steps
at the left and up to the first desk, where she repeated audibly
the Ninety-First Psalm, then over to the next desk and repeated:

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah!

Pilgrim through this barren land:

I am weak, but Thou art mighty,

Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven! Feed me till I want no more.

Open is the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing waters flow:

And the fiery, cloudy pillar

Leads me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer! Still Thou art my strength and shield. 12

Although before she left Boston to make her home at
Concord, New Hampshire, Mrs. Eddy had given the
land for the new church, she was as always more con
cerned to win her followers to the spiritual life. Most
of the organizations formed in early years were by this
time broken up, to encourage concentration on things
more lasting than material forms. 13

The teacher, regarding with concern the growing
tendency to give her adulation, had removed herself from
the center of activity that her teaching might be taken
at its own intrinsic value. To a student in a position of
responsibility she minced no words in indicating her
position: u

First. Let my works, and not my words, praise me if I am
worthy of praise.

Second. I always detested flattery.

Third. What is being said and written in such profusion of

MRS. EDDY SPEAKING, JUNE, 1903, FROM THE BALCONY
OF PLEASANT VIEW TO 10,000 CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS

AT PLEASANT VIEW 175

reference to, and praise of, me is not Christian Science and I
hereby forbid its publication in the Journal.

Practically Christian Science is manifested by moderation,
meekness, and love. "He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall
any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he
not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth
judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

Never did Mrs. Eddy lose her business sagacity. The
"Optimist" 15 of Philadelphia, who interviewed her in
1907, was impressed with it. Anyone who tried to outwit
her in business was not unlikely to regret his zeal. The
following incident 16 is one which Mrs. Eddy had delight
in telling; it recounts an instance of her effective dealing
with an avaricious neighbor.

With the improvement of Pleasant View in mind, Mrs. Eddy
wished to purchase a little strip of land on which stood an
unsightly barn. The old man who owned the objectionable
adjoining half-acre seemed willing to accept Mrs. Eddy s tempting
offer, but for some unknown reason raised his price as often as
Mrs. Eddy agreed to meet his advancements.

At last Mrs. Eddy divined that a crafty neighbor, for his own
benefit, was secretly manipulating the old gentleman.

She at once sent for this intriguing neighbor and, enlisting
him in her behalf, engaged him to buy the property for her.
She invited him to set his valuation on the barn in question which
he cunningly placed at two or three hundred dollars. He then
named the price for which he thought Mrs. Eddy might buy
both lot and barn.

An agreement was made whereby he was to deliver to her the
deed for the property after which she was to make him a valuable
present in lieu of commission.

The transaction went through smoothly; the deed, accurate and
safe in her hands, Mrs. Eddy said to her neighbor agent, "Now I
will make you a present of the barn, and you may move it off
as soon as you can."

176 MARY BAKER EDDY

The barn, really, was comparatively worthless, and Mrs. Eddy s
would-be deceiver had deceived himself.

Mrs. Eddy laughed heartily when she told of teaching this
schemer the lesson of his life, in letting him fall into the pit which
he had dug for her.

While still worshiping in Hawthorne Hall, some of
her students tried to raise a fund for the building of a
church. Always alert, Mrs. Eddy was as often warning
them, 17 "let there first be a Church of Christ in reality
and in the hearts of men before one is organized." As
though to justify her warning, that first small fund was
lost; but later another nucleus was raised, and a site was
chosen. Even yet the money was not adequate and a
mortgage had in consequence to be placed on the lot.
When the mortgage fell due and Mrs. Eddy found her
students could not pay it off, she bought the lot herself
and had it conveyed to the Board of Trustees to hold
for the church to be. 18

In spite of their good intentions those associated with
her in the enterprise again fell into financial difficulty,
and again she took the lot over to save the project. In
September, 1892, it was reconveyed to four of her stu
dents, "thereby constituting them the Christian Science
Board of Directors." This Board was bound by the deed
of transfer to hold the land in trust for the whole body
of Christian Scientists in accordance with a law which
had been discovered that permitted property to be held
in this way.

^ By the end of 1894, the way was open, without the
aid of church suppers or church fairs, to secure with
dignity and dispatch funds ample for the completion of
the church. Built of gray Concord granite the church

AT PLEASANT VIEW 177

seated eleven hundred people, and the first service was
held on December 30, 1894. In the next month s issue
of The Christian Science Journal (January, 1895) after
thanking all who had helped to bring the enterprise to
success, the treasurer requested that, after January, 1895,
since the fund was sure to be completed and the books
closed that month, no further contributions be sent.

In developing her great idea and adapting it to widen
ing opportunities, Mrs. Eddy more and more became a
jealous guardian of her time. Too easily accessible to
every chance inquirer while she was in Boston, at
Pleasant View, with Mount Monadnock offering in the
southwest a dim but lovely background, she found it
easier, although an honored citizen of Concord, 19 to
command the hours which she required to dream her
dreams, to see her visions, and to express them all in print,
in organization, and in stone.

To have written all she wrote between 1892 and 1907
would have taxed any genius. Few newspapers could
match her record. In addition she started, in 1898, The
Christian Science Publishing Society, perhaps the most
successful organization of its kind in the world today; in
1898 the Christian Science Sentinel, 20 which every week
continues to carry its message to many thousands; and
somewhat earlier the Christian Science Quarterly contain
ing the Lesson-Sermons which every Christian Scientist
studies daily. To this period also belongs her Miscellaneous
Writings, which for a year took the place of class teaching;
and, in addition to being a graphic guide-book, contains
the substance of such addresses as that made by her in
Chicago in 1888. As early as 1895 followed the Church
Manual, to all Christian Scientists the most vitally useful

178 MARY BAKER EDDY

book, next to Science and Health, which this woman of
"The Vision Splendid" ever wrote:

To lift to-day above the past,

To nail God s colors to the mast. 21

At Pleasant View, Mrs. Eddy also found the detach
ment she required to think ahead. As her teaching
increasingly touched the hearts of her followers every
where, her vision splendid included a larger building as
cosmic as her teaching. But she would not be hurried.
She would have her people "strong enough in God to
stand." 22

Ten years she had been living at Pleasant View before
she suggested to the Church in Boston the need of a
larger building. At the Annual Meeting in June, 1902,
on motion of Edward A. Kimball, the Church was for
mally committed to the enterprise. 23

In 1903, the land adjacent to the earlier building was
acquired. The next year the corner-stone was laid. Then,
in June, 1906, thirty thousand Christian Scientists from
many lands came to share in the dedication of a church
seating over five thousand, costing two million dollars,
paid in advance a church not incorporated by any
state law because it was designed for world use, a church
not unworthy to be compared with the cathedrals of the
Old World.

The Christian Scientists who had come to Boston to see The
Mother Church dedicated remained to attend the Wednesday
evening meeting at which testimonies of Christian Science healing
were given. The great temple was crowded from floor to dome,
and overflow meetings were held in the original Mother Church
and in four public halls. Many who were not Christian Scientists
were amazed listeners to the outpouring of testimonies from every

AT PLEASANT VIEW 179

part of the great auditorium. Men and women arose in their
places on the floor of the church and in the first and second
balconies. As each arose he called the name of his city and waited
his turn to tell of the miracle of health and virtue wrought in his
life as a result of the study of Christian Science. The names of
the cities called up the near and the far of the civilized world
Liverpool, Galveston, St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Paris, New
York, Atlanta, and Portland. There were negroes as well as white
men in that audience; there were French, German, and Scandi
navian; there were army officers from Great Britain, and members
of the British nobility, Americans of great wealth, jurists, former
doctors and clergymen, teachers, clerks, day laborers. It was like
a jubilation of an army with banners. And not only of the van-
quishment of cancers, consumption, broken limbs, malignant dis
eases, and paralysis did these votaries of Christian Science testify,
but of poverty overcome, victory gained over drunkenness, mor
phine, and immoral lives. It was a triumphant assertion of the
health and power of spiritual living. 24

Home from Cuba, with his Rough Riders, Theodore
Roosevelt had just been elected to the Governorship of
New York State and an honorable peace was being made
in Paris, after our little unpleasantness with Spain, when
Mrs. Eddy, on November 20, 1898, began to teach the
last of all her classes. 25 Its membership was of her own
choosing. Only those were admitted who were specially
invited by letter or by telegram. Before the sixty-seven
arrived, none knew who else was included each invita
tion having evidently been marked "confidential." Her
pride in them she expressed later by saying she was "glad
to give to the world such men and women to demonstrate
Christian Science." 26

The recollections, written or oral, of several members
of the class 27 are now before the author. United States
Senator George H. Moses not a Christian Scientist

180 MARY BAKER EDDY

says of the Leader, "She was exactly the sort of woman
I should have liked my grandmother to have been." 28
None have been found to diif er from Mr. George Wendell
Adams that, though well on toward eighty years of age,
Mrs. Eddy appeared much younger "a mature woman,"
vigorous, vivid, and so highly spiritual that one member
will "never forget the heavenly look upon our beloved
Leader s face." 29

"Escorted by Mr. Frye," Mrs. Eddy "came into the
Hall that Sunday afternoon with her quick, graceful,
gliding step, and took her place on the platform. She
looked from one to another over the whole class .
with the most sweet, tender and happy expression." 30
Out of the richness of her spiritual experience, now at
its maturity, Mrs. Eddy gave the Class of 98, already well
grounded in Christian Science, perhaps the best instruction
which any class received during her many years of
teaching. She increased their confidence in their power
to heal. She showed them how to improve their tech
nique. She convinced them that the Sermon on the
Mount 31 can be demonstrated in our everyday concerns.
She bade them "run and not be weary," no matter how
hard the way might seem, how baffling some of the cases
which they wished to help. She emphasized the necessity
of living the life they would have others live. The value
of humility in all their relationships, she indicated by a
personal experience which she once had at the bedside
of a sick child. "In my anguish I bowed my head until
it touched the floor, and when the assurance came again
of the loving presence and healing power of God, the
child responded instantaneously." 82

Asked by one member of this last class:

AT PLEASANT VIEW 181

"Should we ever permit ourselves to speak harshly?" "Oh,"
she replied, "there is a tight place. We must separate Truth
and error." Then slowly and sadly she said: "That has cost me
more suffering than anything else. I have had to see error when
I most wanted not to see it." 33

Their minds were every instant concentrated on her
words. Their emotions were deeply stirred. But she was
an expert. She knew how to ease the strain, as in reference
to that day, when, a tiny girl, amid the laughter of the
other school-children, she said she meant to write a book.
She knew how to use the timely story; as, at the expense
of the more austere literalists, one day she said:

Some men were employed on a farm to hoe. After working
some time one of the men laid down his hoe and started toward
the house. Another asked him why he was leaving his work, and
the reply was that the man was thirsty and was going for a drink.
"But," argued the second man, "that is not according to the
Bible." "How so?" asked the thirsty man. "Why, the Bible says,
Ho, every man that thirsteth. " 3 *

She took a humorous fling at conventional philosophy
in the story:

A tanner of hides bored a hole through his front door and put
a fox s tail through it, letting the bushy part hang outside. People
looked and wondered what it meant. One man passed the house
many times, and finally the tanner asked him: "Are you a min
ister?" "No, I am not that." "Are you a lawyer?" "No, I am
not that." "Well, may I ask what you are?" "I am a philosopher,
and I have been wondering how that fox ever went through
that hole." 35

Aware of their unusual privilege, the Class of 98
learned that, first and last:

there was but one God, and consequently, there could be but
one full reflection, which of course was the compound idea, man.

182 MARY BAKER EDDY

She dwelt at length on the point that there could be but one full
or complete reflection of one God, and that fact must be the
basis for all scientific deduction. She indicated that only as her
students grasped the fundamental fact that one God could have
but one full reflection did they have the right basic sense of
Christian Science, and know that there is no other starting point. 36

Every religion with "bite" in it reckons with the devil.
As Goethe 37 pointed out, man s way to heaven leads
through hell, and in hell he meets the devil. Men may
try to ignore the devil or to cut his acquaintance after
they have met him; but, as Faust discovered, this is a
large assignment. "The backward pull" is strong on all
of us. Honesty compels agreement with St. Paul that
"when I would do good, evil is present with me." 38 More
than once, Jesus indicated that his business here was to
beat the devil, and to transmit to his disciples the power
to do the same. 30 St. Paul s "thorn in the flesh" he once
described as "the messenger of Satan." 40 The Church
Fathers debited the devil with all their erroneous doctrines
as well as evil practices. In the Castle of Wartburg the
stain on the wall, from the ink bottle which Luther is
reported to have flung at the devil, still awes an occa
sional pilgrim.

Some of the substantial pious in the Valley of the
Connecticut were disquieted when, in 1741, in the most
telling sermon which he ever preached, Jonathan Edwards
multiplied the minions of the devil to his heart s content,
and adjured his shivering people to believe that "the devils
watch them; they are ever by them, at their right hand;
they stand watching for them like greedy, hungry lions
that see their prey and expect to have it." 41

Mrs. Eddy was not the first defiantly to face the devil,

AT PLEASANT VIEW 183

or to doubt his power over souls. Nor is it surprising
that, with the term animal magnetism" so loosely used
by many a tongue on both sides of the Atlantic that
Disraeli said London was "mad" with it, Mrs. Eddy, when
she was developing her teaching, should have coined the
special name of malicious animal magnetism," and in her
correspondence abbreviated it to "M.A.M."

It was natural for Mrs. Eddy, with her insight into
things spiritual, to understand the apparent attractiveness
of evil which she, like others, was thought at times to
personalize. There was nothing unnatural in her solici
tude in season and out, to keep those around her on their
guard against the subtlety and insidiousness of evil. Miss
Shannon 42 says:

Mother explained to us what that was, and her explanation of
evil indulged in was indeed terrifying. She showed us that, if
we neglected to do our duty and did what was wrong without
detecting, correcting and overcoming error, but continued repeat
ing the same mistakes and justifying ourselves, the suffering which
would result would be simple interest, which we would have to
pay; then, if Christian Scientists refused to see the error when it
*was shown, and wilfully or maliciously continued to repeat it,
allowing their thoughts to be governed by hate, malice, jealousy,
or any of these subtle conspirators, this would result in moral
idiocy, and would bring compound interest. Then the experience
of hell would ensue.

Miss Lucia C. Warren wrote in The Christian Science
Journal, June, 1930:

Hers was the tender sensitive consciousness of the mother who
must discipline and counsel her young, must feel responsible for
their welfare and future attainments, must guard them from out
ward and contrary influences, must fit them to encounter alone,
and without her, the billows of mortal experience, and to encoun
ter them triumphantly.

184 MARY BAKER EDDY

Jesus set the precedent. He bade his disciples avoid
the very appearance of evil. In the prayer Jesus offered
as a model for us all to use, occurs the counsel: "Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Jesus
realized that most of those with whom he had to deal
were apt to go to sleep when there was the greatest need
that they should keep awake. It was, unhappily, the three
closest to him who all but missed his transfiguration on
the Mount because they were sleepy-headed; and in Geth-
semane in spite of his pathetic plea they could not
keep awake one hour when:

Into the woods my Master went,

Clean forspent, forspent.

Into the woods my Master came,

Forspent with love and shame.

But the olives, they were not blind to Him,

The little gray leaves were kind to Him,

The thorn-tree had a mind to Him,

When into the woods He came. 43

Slow of comprehension, many associated with Mrs.
Eddy had to be treated like irresponsible children inclined
to make something out of nothing. Even that Class of 98
had the arresting question put to them by a teacher who
left nothing unsettled: "Why make so much ado about
nothing? Error is no more than a row of ciphers added
from one wall to another, unless you place a unit with
it and make something of it." 44

But she paid them the distinctive compliment of saying
nothing about M.A.M. Years later she herself wrote that
she had not referred to it in teaching them. 45 Valuing
beyond price what they had learned at Concord, the Class
of 98, from none of whom Mrs. Eddy would accept

AT PLEASANT VIEW 185

any compensation, went their way to promote harmony
among Christian Scientists and also to teach with more
authority.

At Pleasant View the days for all passed quickly.
Everyone was busy. By her own devotion to the duties
which each day brought, Mrs. Eddy furnished an example
which her household were keen to follow. Save for the
daily drive, she allowed herself no recreation. Always
engrossed in her work, she was never too engrossed to
be kind. Painters working outside in the winter might
feel the cold. Though Mrs. Eddy herself never drank
coffee, she saw to it that her workingmen had coffee in
abundance, steaming hot. 46 She expressed the tolerant
views which she illustrated with the painters in a letter
to General Charles H. Grosvenor: "Upheld by divine
Love man can make himself perfect but he must not
attempt this too rapidly with his neighbor." 4T

With many still living among those employed at Pleasant
View and later at Chestnut Hill, the author has talked.
All tell the same story of a woman unlike anyone else
whom they ever knew and indescribably attractive. Their
heartful recollections bring tears to the eyes and a sob
to the throat. Several eminent citizens of Concord not
all of her faith have put themselves on record. A former
Mayor expressed the well-considered conviction that Mrs.
Eddy was "keen of intellect and strong in memory." 48
"Reserved, deliberate, just," an editor 49 observes. And a
lawyer was impressed by her "physical activity not ordi
narily to be found in persons many years younger." 50

Even from the small details of the lives around her
she did not hold aloof. She spoke the word that helped,
whether in admiration or in admonition. Never was

186 MARY BAKER EDDY

she above the sharing with them of her intimate experi
ences, the entering fully into theirs. Says Mrs. Grace A.
Greene: 51

She would often say to me, "I make my pumpkin pies thus and
so," or "I make puddings like this." One day I said, "Mother, can
you really make pies and puddings?" She replied, "Of course I
can." And then she told me of making herself a bonnet and
dress when she was too poor to hire them done, although she
had never done such a thing in her life before. She finished by
saying, "If you are an ordinary cook, dressmaker, or milliner,
Christian Science will make you -perfect in any of these lines, and
everyone should seek to perfect himself wherever he is, or
whatever his calling."

As for her enemies, she was quick to detect and
resourceful to checkmate any move to hurt her Cause.
But the evidence abounds that her settled policy was,
"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good
to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-
fully use you, and persecute you." 52

Even those who had once been close to her, and then
went away and sometimes " willfully or mistakenly per
verted her teaching," 53 she kept on loving. But she
always drew the line between sin and the sinner, and
once with gravity and regret she indicated what might
in some cases prove the natural result of sinning: "Nothing
except sin, in the students themselves, can separate them
from me. Therefore we should guard thought and action,
keeping them in accord with Christ, and our friendship
will surely continue." 54 Because she did love humanity,
she was quick to reprove the errors which she saw in
individuals, obscuring the perfection of the real man. No
matter how she made others suffer, she suffered more

AT PLEASANT VIEW 187

herself. Hers was that vicarious suffering, more terrible
to bear than that of persons on whom, for their good,
she felt obliged to inflict pain.

Never did this woman of much loving speak more
from the heart than when she said: 55

There is a flower whose language is "I wound to heal." There
is a physician who loves those whom He chastens. There is a
woman who chastens most those whom she loves. Why? Because
like a surgeon she makes her incisions on the tender spot to
remove the cold lead that is dangerous there.

Even a small part of her letter writing at Pleasant View
would have taxed the time of the modern woman. The
collected masses of letters, mounting up into the thousands,
which she wrote with her own hand, are bewildering to
examine. Her secretaries helped her all they could in
correspondence routine; but there were many burdens
which she alone could carry, and these she carried with
dignity. As back in her girlhood, when she was writing
to Augusta Holmes about the thousand and one things
that interest young people, so in the days at Pleasant
View, her mind now teeming with projects for the
benefit of millions, Mrs. Eddy became a great as well as
a voluminous letter-writer, unsurpassed in the range of
topics covered, in the widening sweep of her vision.

Says Miss M. Louise Baum, sometime on the editorial
staff of The Christian Science Monitor:

Even as the English Bible stands as the great monument of
English style for the centuries until now, and even as Dante
made Italian speech by epitomizing it in his fervent poem, even
so the writings of Mrs. Eddy are certain to stand as models of
twentieth century style, of direct actual saying the thing itself,
with every ornament inherent in the thinking, never a piece of

188 MARY BAKER EDDY

verbal trickery or tracery added from without, with every
sweeping passage of eloquence borne on the actual high tide of
spiritual revelation. Mrs. Eddy s word is yea, yea, and nay, nay.
She is herself what she says. She has lived it out, and so it is
that her words live and kindle life in others.

All through her letters runs that Victorian disposition
to lend to duty an inexorableness for which present-day
behaviorism is a poor substitute in the conservation of
the higher things of life. Friendship-love, based on a
faith in God as well as man, which every age requires,
appears in her letter of March, 1896, to Judge Hanna: 56

Words fail to tell how much comfort your letter gives me. It
sometimes almost overcomes the sense of being to breast the
storms of mortal mind. Then to hear such a bird note, then to
see such a ray divine of light and love coming from human
pen O, is it not comforting? I thank you, God loves you, that
is enough. He will finish and furnish all that remains to be felt
and known by us and all poor sinners. Yours and Camilla s photos
are in my album side by side; but on my mantle your face and
Gen. Baker s are face to face. That is the way you are in my
heart. For I know you to be two of the most genuine characters
I have ever known, and I have known grand and glorious ones.

Though Mrs. Eddy did direct The Mother Church,
she was habitually wise in training others to bear respon
sibility. February 12, 1895, she writes: 57

My beloved Students:

I cannot conscientiously lend my counsel to direct your action
on receiving or dismissing candidates. To do this, I should need
to be with you. I cannot accept hearsay, and would need to
know the circumstances and facts regarding both sides of the
subject to form a proper judgement. This is not my present
province, hence I have hitherto declined to be consulted on these
matters, and still maintain this position.

These are matters of grave import, and you cannot be indif-

AT PLEASANT VIEW 189

ferent to this, but will give them immediate attention and be
governed therein by the spirit and the letter of this scripture:
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even
so to them."

I cannot be the conscience for this Church. But if I were I
would gather every reformed sinner that desired to come, into
its fold, and counsel and help them to walk in the footsteps of
His flock. I feel sure that as Christian Scientists you will act
relative to this matter up to your highest understanding of justice
and mercy.

Businesslike, forethought for the Church is also shown
in her constant regard for the observance of all legal
requirements. July 28, 1892, she wrote the clerk: 58

Remember dear student, that this Church must be properly
chartered, and its Constitution and Bylaws correctly made, and
accepted, and the whole proceeding be strictly legal. Then, we
have complied with civil law (and I always recommend this being
done, wisely done) and then, every Church of Christ, Scientist,
will have a precedent to follow whereby to establish the Gospel
of Christian Science.

In an emergency she took the helm, and issued com
mands too plain to be misunderstood. On September 29,
1893, with plans well along for the original edifice of The
Mother Church but one detail after another delaying the
beginning of the work, she wrote the Directors: 59

My dear Students,

Do not delay one other day to lay the foundation of our
Church, the season will shut in upon you perhaps, and the frost
hinder the work. God is with you, thrust in the spade, Oct. 1st
1893 and advertise in next No. of Journal that you have begun
to build His temple a temple for the worship and service of
Divine Love the living God.

With great love Mother
M.B.G.K

190 MARY BAKER EDDY

Man as he was, St. Paul tried to mother each little
group of converts which he left behind in town and city
on his missionary tours. When visiting in those pre-
airplane days was not practicable, he wrote them letters
aglow with mothering counsel for their nurture in the
Christian Faith.

In the Founder of Christian Science, also, that mother
instinct was strong. It included those near, those far,
and those to follow in her train in all the years to come.
There is nothing, perhaps, in all the history of woman
kind quite like Mrs. Eddy s loving forethought, flowing
out toward all her spiritual children. As she looked back
even to the sixties when she was building up her book,
she realized that it had always been the invasion of
wrong ideas, mortal mind, 60 into the circle around her
that disturbed, unsettled, detached, sometimes took from
her those who needed most the guidance which she gave.
It was specially for them that she wrote in Science and
Health:

The lame, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, the sick, the sensual,
the sinner, I wished to save from the slavery of their own beliefs. 61

It was for them she began in 1883 to publish The Christian
Science Journal, in 1898 the Christian Science Sentinel,
and in 1908 The Christian Science Monitor. Monthly,
weekly, daily, she would have the members of her church
read what she was convinced would make them immune
to error. But, besides all her many books and papers,
from Science and Health in 1875 to The Christian Science
Monitor in 1908, something was needed for the complete
mothering of her people, for the binding of them up so
closely to the church that nothing could steal from them

Used by permission

MRS. EDDY LEAVING PLEASANT VIEW FOR HER
DAILY DRIVE

Taken in June, 1900.

AT PLEASANT VIEW

191

192 MARY BAKER EDDY

her revelation of 1866, which for forty years and more
she had been emphasizing, interpreting, enlarging, and
widening as new problems came and pressed for a
solution.

That is the reason why, among Christian Scientists,
the Manual of The Mother Church today ranks next to
Science and Health. They see in it the Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science, mothering her flock long
after she had passed on, protecting them from ills when
she had gone from sight, forestalling temptation and
misunderstanding, and earnestly endeavoring to continue
in the spirit through the Manual to protect them from
their own mistakes and from the hurts which others
might inflict.

To Miss Susie M. Lang she said on August 2, 1896,
"I was compelled by a sense of responsibility to put up
the bars for my flock." 62 Miss Shannon loves to recall
that:

The first time that Mrs. Eddy saw the need of a manual for The
Mother Church was in connection with teaching, and she told
me to write to Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Webster of Chicago, whom
she used to call "the twins." She wanted to see them to explain
to them the need that she saw to preserve the teaching of Christian
Science pure and unadulterated for future generations, and the
wisest way she could see at that time was to have a Manual on
teaching Christian Science. They came, and she showed them
the right thing to do was to have a Committee of her old loyal
students, with themselves, and for them to compile a set of
by-laws in connection with teaching. This was done. Afterwards,
God showed Mother that it was wise to make by-laws to govern
all church members as well as teachers, which ultimately developed
into the present Manual of The Mother Church, which includes
articles and by-laws for teachers and teaching, as well as for
Church discipline. 63

AT PLEASANT VIEW 193

In The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany
(p. 230), we read, "Notwithstanding the sacrilegious
moth of time, eternity awaits our Church Manual, which
will maintain its rank as in the past, amid ministries
aggressive and active, and will stand when those have
passed to rest."

Rising to a more official relationship, Mrs. Eddy, on
February 27, 1903, addressed the Directors:

Beloved Students: I am not a lawyer, and do not sufficiently
comprehend the legal trend of the copy you enclosed to me to
suggest any changes therein. Upon one point however I feel
competent to advise namely: Never abandon the By-laws nor
the denominational government of the Mother Church. If I am
not personally with you, the Word of God, and my instructions
in the By-laws have led you hitherto and will remain to guide
you safely on, and the teachings of St. Paul are as useful to-day
as when they were first written.

The present and future prosperity of the cause of Christian
Science is largely due to the By-laws and government of "The
First Church of Christ, Scientist" in Boston. None but myself
can know, as I know, the importance of the combined sentiment
of this Church remaining steadfast in supporting its present
By-laws. Each of these many By-laws has met and mastered,
or forestalled some contingency, some imminent peril, and will
continue to do so. Its By-laws have preserved the sweet unity
of this large church, that has perhaps the most members and
combined influence of any other church in our country. Many
times a single By-law has cost me long nights of prayer and
struggle, but it has won the victory over some sin and saved
the walls of Zion from being torn down by disloyal students.
We have proven that "in unity there is strength." 64

With love as ever

MARY BAKER G. EDDY.

N. B. I request that you put this letter upon our church records.

M. B. E.

194

MARY BAKER EDDY

WORKS ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

REV. MART PAKER Q. E&DT.

325

T^ONG. C S. D.

M MLMOUTM rrmrr totroM

pteuant View.

CONCORD. N.H.

b. 27,1903

Dictated.

Christian Science Board of Directors.
Beloved Students*

I am not a lawyer, and do not suffic
iently comprehend the legal trend of the copy you enclosed to me to suggest any
changes therein. Upon one point however I feel competent to advise namely* Sever

change the By-laws nor the denominational government of the Mother Church,. If I

A
arc not personally with you, the TCord of God, and my instructions in the By-laws

have led you hitherto and will remain to guide you safely on, and the teachings

of St. Paul are as useful to-day as when they were first written.

prosperity
The present and future* of the cause of Christian Science is largely due

to the Sy-laws and government of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist" in Bos
ton. None .but myseH can know, as I know, the importance of the combined senti
ment of thS^emainirig steadfast in supporting its present By-laws. Each of
these many By-laws has met and mastered, or forestalled some contingency, some
imminent peril, and will continue to do so. Its By-laws have preserved the sweet
unity of this large church, that has perhaps the most members and combined influ
ence of any other church in our country. Many times a single By-law has cost roe
long nights of grayer and struggle,but it has won the victory over some sin and

(over)

AT PLEASANT VIEW

195

WORKS ON CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

REV. MART PAKER &lt;3.

325

Ad4rt Alt inqulfi** to JOSEPH ARMSTRONG. C. S. D..

T*SIT etOM HAM.

ant View.
COHCORO. N.H.

(2)

saved the walls of Zion from being torn dowi by disloyal students* "We have
proven that "in unity there is strength."

&lt;

196 MARY BAKER EDDY

The Manual was issued during the very year that her
flock began to worship in the new building of The
Mother Church. When Mrs. Eddy was no longer visible,
the Manual was her representative. Through its By-Laws
she still speaks in preservation unadulterated of her teach
ing, in the government through the Board of Directors
of her Church, and in the regulation of its services. Over
her own signature the six Tenets of The Mother Church
appear as follows:

1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the
Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.

2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God.
We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine
Comforter; and man in God s image and likeness.

3. We acknowledge God s forgiveness of sin in the destruc
tion of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as
unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.

4. We acknowledge Jesus atonement as the evidence of divine,
efficacious Love, unfolding man s unity with God through Christ
Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved
through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated
by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin
and death.

5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his
resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even
the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter.

6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that
Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others
as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just,
and pure.

MARY BAKER EDDY. 65

Before ever big business or nations, in peace or war,
had learned how to mold public opinion through the
press, Mrs. Eddy provided in her Manual for a Committee

AT PLEASANT VIEW 197

on Publication, now found in every state and every land
where Christian Science has organization, "to correct in
a Christian manner impositions on the public in regard
to Christian Science, injustices done Mrs. Eddy or mem
bers of this church by the daily press, by periodicals or
circulated literature of any sort." 66

As recently as last year the Board of Directors, with
the Manual before them, broadcast the announcement, 67
"We assert the right to defend and protect our religion
and persons connected with it from public misrepresen
tation"; and, as usual, they based their right on the specific
words of Mrs. Eddy, "A lie left to itself is not so soon
destroyed as it is with the help of truth-telling." 6S But
they also counseled discretion, using their Leader s very
language, "Meekness and temperance are the jewels of
love set in wisdom. Restrain untempered zeal." 69

It was the multitudinous contacts with the public
through the press in carrying out her mothering program,
which made Mrs. Eddy a mystery woman to many out
side her fold and at last drew upon her the light of pitiless
publicity. Democracy is impulsive. Democracy resents
privacy. Democracy wants to know it all. Regardless of
the Declaration of Independence, which declares for all
"Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" by reason
of which the United States Constitution promised for all
time to secure to us the right to worship God in our
own way democracy worked itself up into an unseemly
and even passionate curiosity to learn what Mrs. Eddy
really was like. To learn by what means she had amassed
a competence reported to be large, and how she had
built up a church which was thrusting its searchlight, as
the Marquis of Lothian has lately said, "past what all

198 MARY BAKER EDDY

the greatest teachers have recognized to be the transient
and unsubstantial phenomena of mortal existence into
the eternal reality which is the kingdom of God." 70

With the opening of the twentieth century, the big
stick was in full swing and the muckrake was plied busily,
seeking the unsavory in public life. "Tainted" money
became a slogan with professional reformers, and upon
many of them Mr. Dooley s humorous suggestion that
the final proof of tainted money with some is " taint
mine" was lost.

Any man with sufficient brains and purpose to lift
his head above the mass ran the risk of being listed with
the "scamps." Although there was much public indigna
tion at the inhuman treatment which French procedure
meted out to Dreyfus, a growing disposition was in
evidence to substitute for the Anglo-Saxon habit of
assuming innocence until guilt was proved, the French
habit of taking guilt for granted and requiring the
accused to prove his innocence.

Great things were already on record to Mrs. Eddy s
credit. Her book was long since built. Her church, too,
was built and was becoming news to the whole world.
Men of consequence, here and there, were observing
that Christian Scientists did seem to be bearing the fruits
of the spirit. Mark Twain dropped his jesting for a
moment to predict that "Christian Science is destined to
make the most formidable show that any new religion has
made since the birth and spread of Mohammedanism."

But Mrs. Eddy s withdrawal from publicity to the
privacy of Pleasant View, her success in so ordering
her life as to secure the freedom needed to carry on her
work and the quiet in which to hear the voice of God,

AT PLEASANT VIEW 199

tended to make her practically unknown, not only to
America at large, but also to many of her followers
whom she was constantly urging to put Principle before
personality, her teaching before her visible self. Nor did
the few pilgrimages, made at her invitation to Pleasant
View, alter the case, no matter how much pleasure they
brought the pilgrims. On the occasion in 1903, when ten
thousand went by special trains to Concord, Mrs. Eddy
spoke to them from the balcony outside her window.
However, rumors continued to gain credence that the
head of the Christian Science Church, overcome by
physical infirmity, had "falTn into the sere, the yellow
leaf"; that she was at last in the power of a little selfish
coterie who were managing her vast interests as they
chose and concealing her not only from the public but
even from her son, her adopted son, and her former
intimates.

Big city newspapers were beginning to wonder whether,
after all, Mrs. Eddy was still alive, whether she had not
actually passed away, and whether a substitute, her face
hidden behind a parasol, was not now in Mrs. Eddy s
stead driving out every afternoon to deceive the world.

In May, 1905, departing from her custom, Mrs. Eddy
granted an interview to a representative of the Boston
I^erald^ whose write-up of the interview seemed so
satisfying that Mrs. Eddy wrote the editor a message
of appreciation. The next year, however, America gave
an exhibition of that national inquisitiveness which Owen
Wister characterizes as "peculiarly disagreeable" and "a
perfectly unwarrantable invasion of one s privacy."

With the opening of October, reporters of a New
York daily came prepared to spend some time in Concord,

200 MARY BAKER EDDY

commissioned by their paper to find out whether Mrs.
Eddy was alive or not. A few weeks later, on Tuesday,
October 30, 1906, representatives of the Associated Press,
the Publishers Press, and all the larger daily papers of
Boston and New York numbering fifteen arrived at
Pleasant View to interview her again. The report read
that, though not conspicuously strong, Mrs. Eddy was
very much alive and evidently capable of attending to
her work.

Individual journalists, also, of the type of Arthur
Brisbane and William E. Curtis visited her soon after,
and a critical reading today of their impressions gives
them even a more convincing finality than when they
were first published. Arthur Brisbane almost naively said,
"Nobody could see this beautiful and venerable woman
and ever again speak of her except in terms of affectionate
reverence and sympathy." 71 William E. Curtis, as skillful
in his day in interviewing world celebrities as was Isaac
Marcosson later, had just returned from China. Accom
panied by Michael Meehan, a local Concord editor, he
was received by Mrs. Eddy, to whom he explained in
some detail the then recent Boxer Rebellion.

Mr. Meehan records:

In the course of preliminary remarks, he made a statement
about affairs in China, touching which Mrs; Eddy asked for more
detailed and definite information, and quite unconsciously, seem
ingly, she took the topic entirely out of his grasp, and for more
than an hour, dwelt on the details of the Chinese situation, with
such a wonderful insight and with such intimate knowledge of
its social, political and economic conditions, as to quite confound
the man.

When she had closed her quiet talk, she rose, and after answering
briefly some conventional questions, the audience was ended.

AT PLEASANT VIEW 201

As we were leaving the room, Mrs. Eddy halted us and said
facetiously,

"I hear I am not the person who goes for a short drive each
day. If you wish to remain outside for a few minutes, you will
see me enter my carriage and drive away."

We did as directed. In a short while, Mrs. Eddy stepped thru
the doorway and into her carriage, smiling recognition at us
as she passed.

As we drove from Pleasant View, Mr. Curtis marveled how
a woman who so completely excluded the world could possibly
know so much about the world s affairs, and particularly how she
could have acquired such accurate and comprehensive acquaint
ance with the history and national habits of the Chinese, a people
so little known, and with the court customs and the unpublished
intrigues of its rulers. As we parted, he said, "Just one more
surprise, one more instance of where we came to preach, and
remained to pray." 72

Through 1907 and well into 1908, magazine articles
which attracted much attention were exploiting her life
story, based on such information as could then be un
earthed and written with much journalistic skill. But
at last the most incredulous were having to admit that
Mrs. Eddy was at least alive.

However, a new flock of rumors was let loose that
she might as well be dead, that she had fallen into
unfriendly hands, and was no longer altogether capable
of caring for herself and her friends. With an adroit
change of tactics the suggestion was put forward that
it would be only kind, in the distressing circumstances,
to invoke the law in Mrs. Eddy s best interest, to bring
her legally into court that all the world might learn her
real condition and join the law in saving her from her
"household," and in turning her over to responsible
guardians, described in law as "Next Friends." Although

202 MARY BAKER EDDY

without large business experience the "Next Friends"
seemed quite willing to assume responsibilities, vast and
complex, for the management of the millions which they
appeared to hope Mrs. Eddy possessed.

Her nearest heir was her son George, who was still in
the Northwest, hoping prospector-like to strike pay-dirt
in his paternity, and thus break into the ranks indicated
in Madison Julius Cawein s line:

Some shall reap that never sow.

Without undue prodding, George s memory recalled a
letter Mrs. Eddy once wrote him in which, motherlike,
she confided, "I am as lone as a solitary star." To his
mining enterprises he had added risky building projects;
and, because of them, he more easily remembered that
her replies to some of his requests for money with which
to experiment had not been precisely what he could
have wished. He was not the first son to attempt to
cajole a mother into being too indulgent for his good,
nor the last son to turn against a mother who denied
him for his good. George W. Glover, together with
his wife, required but little coaxing to become the flying
wedge in the "Next Friends" game, the success of which
would give him, he hoped, some opportunity to share
in the handling of his mother s fortune, including
obviously valuable copyrights.

Among the increasing number of requests which came
to Mrs. Eddy for financial aid, there were letters written
by a nephew, whom she could personally have known
but little. Only son of George Sullivan Baker and his
wife, "Mathy," of whom Mrs. Eddy in her Tilton days
had been fond, George W. Baker, also, developed a

AT PLEASANT VIEW 203

grievance. His letter, offering to sell some family heir
loom to his aunt, had been answered by a secretary at
a time when the task of personally attending to her vast
correspondence was out of the question. A small-town
mind possibly could not be expected to understand how
one could be so busy; nor was it surprising that George
W. Baker was willing, at any inconvenience, to come
down from Maine and do what he could, in his small
way, to save his rich aunt from those she knew and
trusted, but who were scarcely even names to him.

With an array of notable lawyers, led by ex-United
States Senator William E. Chandler, "The petition of
Mary Baker Glover Eddy who sues by her next friends
George W. Glover, Mary Baker Glover and George W.
Baker against Calvin A. Frye, Alfred Farlow, Irving C.
Tomlinson, Ira O. Knapp, William B. Johnson, Stephen
A. Chase, Joseph Armstrong, Edward A. Kimball,
Hermann S. Hering, and Lewis C. Strang" 73 was pre
sented on March 1, 1907, to the Superior Court at
Concord, for the appointment of a receiver for Mrs.
Eddy s business interests.

The petition alleged that Mrs. Eddy was incompetent
to care for her property, and questioned the loyalty of
the "men and women near her." 74 The distinguished
chief counsel appeared to expect little difficulty in win
ning the suit. To court he brought his considerable legal
ability, wide experience, and more than local prestige.
Nevertheless, in his very opening statement, in which he
endeavored to draw a distinction between medical and
legal insanity, he fell promptly into the old pitfall of
trying to prove too much; for if in following his line
of argument he established the insanity of Mrs. Eddy,

204 MARY BAKER EDDY

he would inferentially establish the insanity of countless
thousands sharing her views. Since no court, State or
Federal, has ever yet regarded seriously any effort to
draw an indiscriminate indictment against any large
body of people in good standing, the Honorable Frank
S. Streeter, leader of the opposing counsel, had little
difficulty in persuading the court to dismiss that part of
the case during the first day s session.

Next, an effort was made to bring into court by
summons Mrs. Eddy in person possibly with the expecta
tion that her age might place her at a disadvantage. But
this scheme also failed, and the court took advantage
of the opportunity promptly to raise the level of the
proceedings by appointing three Masters to take her
testimony Dr. George F. Jelly (the noted alienist),
Judge Edgar Aldrich of the United States District Court,
and Hosea W. Parker of Claremont. By appointment,
on August 14, the Masters, with the senior counsel on
each side, came to call on Mrs. Eddy in her study at
Pleasant View.

A woman past eighty-six, her restless fingers indicating
awareness of the object of their visit and perhaps of a
situation unparalleled in American Court procedure,
received with grace and dignity her odd visitors, the
strangest, perhaps, who ever crossed her threshold.
Throughout the proceedings, the Masters were consider
ate. Lifting his kindly face a bit, Judge Aldrich at the
outset requested Mrs. Eddy to give notice if, at any
moment, she began to feel fatigued. At her best, as usual,
in a crisis, Mrs. Eddy answered, "I can work hours at
my work, day and night, without the slightest fatigue
when it is in the line of spiritual labor." ""

AT PLEASANT VIEW 205

The purpose of the visit was disclosed in the question
which needed no explanation next courteously put
by Judge Aldrich: "What would be a sound investment
of money that comes from life insurance or anything
else?" Her answer, and the succeeding questions and
answers which it called forth, made it evident to all that
Mrs. Eddy was qualified, out of court as well as in, to
make sound investments, and even to give instruction
to others in their handling. Questions and answers are
therefore given in full as contained in a volume, with
drawn without general circulation, to which the author
has had access:

Replied Mrs. Eddy: 76

Well, I should invest it in the hands, at my age, of trustees
that I could vouch for from my own knowledge. And why?
Because, when I found my church was gaining over 40,000 mem
bers, and the field demanding me all over the world, I could not
carry on the letters, make answers to inquiries that were made
of me. Then I said, "Which shall I do, carry on this business
that belongs to property, or shall I serve God?" And I said
and it came to me from the Bible "Choose ye this day whom
ye will serve. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Then I chose,
and I said, "So help me God," and I launched out, and I gave my
property I gave $913,000 to the trusteeship, to others for the
benefit of my son no, not for the benefit of my son, but
$913,000 into the trusteeship for myself. For my son I gave
$125,000 into trusteeship for himself and for his family.

Q. (By Judge Aldrich.) Where did that idea of putting your
property into the hands of trustees originate, with yourself or
somebody else?

A. Utterly with myself. It came to me in an hour in this room,
and I think the first one that I named it to was Laura Sargent,
and I said to her, "Do not speak of it, but I feel impressed that
it is my duty."

206 MARY BAKER EDDY

Q. When was that?

A. That was in February, 1907.

Q. Last winter, you mean?

A. I do.

Q. Now this is all interesting and useful, but still I have not
quite made myself understood. For instance, without regard to
your trusteeship now, if you had a hundred thousand dollars to
invest to-day, and we will lay aside for the purposes of this
question the matter of trusteeship, what kind of investments would
you consider sound, municipal bonds, or government bonds, or
bank stock, or what?

A. I prefer government bonds. I have invested largely in gov
ernment bonds, and I prefer bonds to stocks. I have not entered
into stocks.

Q. Why?

A. Because I did not think it was safe for me. I did not want
the trouble of it, that was all. Perhaps I was mistaken, but that
is my business sense of it, and the only time I took the advice
of a student and went contrary, I lost ten thousand dollars by it.

Q. What was that?

A. That was an investment that was made in property in the
West, where the land, they said, was coming up and going to
be a great advancement in value, and I lost it, and I never got
caught again. I always selected my own investments.

Q. How do you select them now?

A. Now?

Q. Yes.

A. I leave them to my trustees.

Q. Before that?

A. I will tell you. I have books that give definitely the popu
lation of the states, and their money values, and I consult those,
and when I see they are large enough in population and valuation
to warrant an investment I make it.

Q. Well, now, upon what philosophy do you base your cal
culations upon population? Why do you take population as the
standard?

A. Because I think they can sustain their debts and pay them.

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AT PLEASANT VIEW 207

Q. Well, I should think that was pretty sound. Would you
go West for municipal investments, or would you rather trust
yourself in the East, in New England we will say?

A. I would rather trust my trustees now. I do not take those
things into consideration.

Q. Dr. Jelly desires that I should ask you, laying aside for the
present the matter of trusteeship, what would be your idea,
whether there was greater security of investment in Eastern
municipalities or Western?

A. The East I should say.

After this, by request, Mrs. Eddy began to tell the
story of the rise and development, and to explain the
teachings of Christian Science. But something had hap
pened. The atmosphere had changed. Never altogether
at their ease, during an hour over long for them, though
Mrs. Eddy was, as usual, courteous and kindly, the visitors
were ready to go home. Her answers to the questions
put the "Next Friends Suit" into a parlous state. As
Senator Chandler and a friend hurried down the stairway
to the front door, the Senator was overheard, half to
himself, to say, "That woman is smarter than a steel
trap."

Through an ordeal, which perhaps few women in their
prime could undergo, Mrs. Eddy had borne herself with
engaging simplicity and sincerity. As always, she had
dressed specially for the occasion. "She wore," says
Miss Still, "a black grenadine dress with a white chiffon
vest and collar and white niching in the neck and
sleeves." 77 As she was waiting for her visitors, she was
serene, and even merry. Looking out toward Mount
Monadnock, more visible than ever on that bright August
day, Mrs. Eddy casually observed, "The Nexters have
fine weather for their trial." Miss Still, who was near

208 MARY BAKER EDDY

her at the very moment Masters, attorneys and others
came into the library, has lately told the author that "as
one looked at her that hot afternoon there was no sign
of fear expressed, but her face was calm, clear, and
confident, and the moment that the opposing lawyer
saw her sitting there in her study, he knew that he hadn t
a ghost of a chance of winning his case."

But the experience hurt to the heart a noted woman,
whom Theodore Roosevelt 7S once compared with other
religious leaders decidedly not to her discredit.

To one of her household she confided, "If I were a
man they would not treat me so." 79 Never was her
good sense more evident than when she said: "During
forty years I have had many trials and when this came
up I was not disturbed. If the world says I am a fool,
that does not make me so." 80

While the suit was still on Mrs. Hulin she tells the
author once found Mrs. Eddy looking depressed, and
heard her sadly say as if thinking aloud, "I don t know,
perhaps they will have their way." Mrs. Hulin replied,
"Mother, they will not. We love you. You will win."
Then Mrs. Eddy brightened up, and was herself again.
She was not a woman to take chances which she could
avoid, or to fail to take precautions against further
annoyances. Of one of her lawyers she inquired: 81

If you let this case remain as it now is could the "next friends"
take possession of my person? If they could not then is it not
better to let this suit stand as it is? I fear if you press it they
will get Judge ... to decide it against me and give my person
to my enemies (called "next friends") and they will take me
away from my real friends, students, and thus get rid of me by
such means, then fight over my last will.

AT PLEASANT VIEW 209

But not even this bitterest of all experiences that ever
came into that many-sided life could distract her from
her daily study and habitual revision of the book, from her
habit of meditation and persistent praying, and also from
her loving thought for others. In the midst of this strange
invasion of her busy life, she gladdened one worker, just
home from the field, by expressing the pleasure it gave
her to learn of the proposed building of his little church.
She added, "I like those small beginnings. First, the
right thought, then right words, and words proved by
the hands. 782

Michael Meehan, the capable and cultivated editor of
Concord, though of another Christian fold, was, from
the beginning, closely identified with the litigation of
1907. The participants on both sides, he personally
knew. At the request, afterwards, both of Mrs. Eddy
and of Boston friends, Mr. Meehan prepared a book for
publication intended to preserve for all time the salient
facts of a case which might one day become as famous
in legal history as that other New Hampshire suit, the
Dartmouth College case, which, some years ago, Alfred
Russell stated had been cited more frequently in judicial
decisions than any other case in American law reports.

Of Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity - a costly
book to publish five thousand copies were that next
spring off the press. The first copy was promptly sent
to Mrs. Eddy. Till far into the night she sat up read
ing it. Next day she wrote its author that she wished
the book withheld from sale and circulation. Perceiving
and accepting the moral obligation involved, she added: 83

You will render me a statement of all expenses to which you
have been put. Make liberal allowance for those who have aided

210 MARY BAKER EDDY

you in the work. Put a value upon your own time and service
while engaged on it, and when you have done this, double the
value you have placed on your own work, and double it again,
and then send me the bill.

Mr. Meehan says:

I did this, and as soon as a complete bill was rendered, she
wrote out a check in full of account, amounting to many thou
sands of dollars.

At the moment when most of us would have wanted
to put before the public a permanent vindication from
such unworthy charges as lay in the "Next Friends
Suit," Mrs. Eddy was thinking of larger and less per
sonal interests. Years before, in 1896, she had written
Mr. William P. McKenzie, "Love unselfed, love of one s
enemies, humility, moderation, strength, are the cardinals
of Christian Science." Again she was practicing what
she preached.

This book which today appears to at least one privi
leged reader to be in many respects a model of successful
refutation Mrs. Eddy feared would "keep alive a memory
of bitterness and discord, where obedience to God s law
of harmony should be the aim of all." 84

And so, under God, the "Next Friends Suit" collapsed.
And under God, Mrs. Eddy, nearing the advanced age of
eighty-seven, moved on unhindered to her next world-
vision task, the establishment of The Christian Science
Monitor.

Chapter VII
"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR"

ON Sunday afternoon, January 26, 1908, as bright
a day as ever May could bring, Mrs. Eddy with
the ease and grace of a much younger woman,
walked across the platform and stepped aboard the special
train scheduled to leave Concord at two o clock to take
her to her new home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. 1

To help a woman, even the youngest, into a railway
coach is the courtesy which gentlemen are expected
instinctively to volunteer. But Mrs. Eddy was in the car
before anyone could efficiently give aid. There was good
reason, too, why she did not desire assistance, even though
she was in her eighty-seventh year. However, the "faith
ful John" 2 was allowed to walk beside her across the
platform from the train shed. But that was all.

In defiance of the facts, rumors of infirmity and abnor
mality had long persisted; and always mentally alert,
always looking ahead, Mrs. Eddy was not the woman
to confirm erroneous accounts of her condition. What
the merely curious and irresponsible might say to injure
her, mattered less to her than the possibly evil effect of
some carelessly spoken word upon the Cause she loved.
Her concern, in consequence, was to insure that if any
thing were reported to the hurt of Christian Science, it
should have no true basis, slight as it might be; that un
truths, however studiously circulated, should without
delay be known for what they were sheer fabrications.

211

212 MARY BAKER EDDY

Besides, never, perhaps, in all history did another
woman appear to understand as clearly as Mrs. Eddy the
unreality of error, the transitory nature of untruth.
Never, could there have been a woman who looked
forward more steadily than did Mrs. Eddy past the in
dividual erroneousness of the present to the general
truthfulness of the ultimate.

Seldom could death have been in Mrs. Eddy s thought.
When, on August 14, 1907, the "Next Friends Suit"
precipitated upon Pleasant View a group of unwelcome
visitors as ill at ease as they were glad at last to bring
their curious visit to a close, one of them referred to
life insurance, Mrs. Eddy promptly answered, "God
insures my life." 3

Less than the robust Gladstone, passing at eighty-eight,
did Mrs. Eddy almost as old either favor herself or ask
those near to make allowances for her. At Chestnut Hill,
she took an hour s rest each afternoon, sometimes dozing
off a bit. But she was not unlikely to awake at three
the next morning, to jot down a new idea or even to
write a confidential letter. 4 With her rapidly increasing
work, while she followed the routine approved at
Pleasant View, she was more engaged than ever. She
wasted no time on the unnecessary. She gave no thought
to curious contemplation of the future. Her faith was
reaching and outreaching, till at last in Dante s phrase
it "eternalized" her life. No one more triumphantly than
the joyous sage of Chestnut Hill agreed with St. Paul,
"Death is swallowed up in victory." 5

If, earlier, anyone had intimated that as 1908 opened
she would be saying farewell to Concord, she would
have given a retort characteristic and unmistakable.

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 213

Not all Concord citizens were Christian Scientists, but
almost all held in high esteem many in deep affection
the woman who had made the capital of New Hampshire
more widely and lastingly known than ever Emerson,
Thoreau, and the Alcotts had made the Concord of
Massachusetts. She identified herself with Concord by
little nameless deeds of kindness, timely gifts of shoes to
scores of poor children, thoughtful gifts of flowers and
fruits to neighbors and to strangers, and by a large
generosity in promoting matters of great moment to
the city, and by a liberal support of all worthy Concord
enterprises. 6

An evening or two after Mrs. Eddy said goodby to
Concord, a group of men at the Wonalancet Club as
reported in the Manchester Mirror of February 3, 1908
made an effort to determine what Mrs. Eddy s stay of
almost twenty years among them had brought financially
to Concord. The most conservative figures the evening
produced ran as follows:

The Christian Science church, - Mrs. Eddy s gift $ 225,000.00

Charitable donations 25,000.00

For good roads . . 25,000.00

Miscellaneous gifts and contributions .... 25,000.00

Pleasant View estate 40,000.00

Household expenditures 100,000.00

Income from special privileges granted to Con
cord manufacturers and business men . . . 40,000.00
Granite contracts for Christian Science churches
obtained because of Mrs. Eddy s residence and

through her influence 1,000,000.00

Other known expenditures 90,000.00

Total $1,570,000.00

214 MARY BAKER EDDY

The City Council was prompt to pass resolutions of
unfeigned regret at her departure, and Mrs. Eddy wrote
in appreciation:

To the Honorable Mayor and City Council, Concord, N. H.

GENTLEMEN: I have not only the pleasure, but the honor of
replying to the City Council of Concord, in joint convention
assembled, and to Alderman Cressy, for the kindly resolutions
passed by your honorable body, and for which I thank you
deeply. Lest I should acknowledge more than I deserve of praise,
I leave their courteous opinions to their good judgment.

My early days hold rich recollections of associations with your
churches and institutions, and memory has a distinct model in
granite of the good folk in Concord, which, like the granite of
their State, steadfast and enduring, has hinted this quality to other
states and nations all over the world.

My home influence, early education, and church experience,
have unquestionably ripened into the fruits of my present reli
gious experience, and for this I prize them. May I honor this
origin and deserve the continued friendship and esteem of the
people in my native State.

Sincerely yours,

MARY BAKER G. EDDY 7

But the hour to go had struck. Larger plans, requiring
that she be nearer Boston, engaged her interest. She was
also ill at ease about those "Next Friends," who might,
she suspected, let their chagrin lead them to make more
trouble for her. 8 Slow in getting into court, the suit was
also slow in reaching final settlement. Though she filed
no complaint, she with others felt that a grave defect
had been laid bare in the laws of her native and much
loved state, or it could not have been so easy for designing
men to persecute a citizen a woman, at that to feed
avarice, to make "news," or to satisfy a merely morbid
curiosity. Her years alone should have sufficed to protect

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 215

her. 9 Massachusetts might furnish conditions more aus
picious for her expanding usefulness. She could hope to
have more peace of mind. Whatever the reason, the hour
to go had struck.

The trip 10 from Concord to Chestnut Hill was almost
uneventful. Save her own party, none were at the station
in time to see her off . Comfortably settled in her state
room, Airs. Eddy was an interested traveler, appearing
at the journey s end as fresh and animated as when her
train pulled out of Concord.

Dr. Alpheus B. Morrill traveled with her; but as the
nearest kin at hand, rather than as her physician. Mr.
Frye and Mrs. Sargent were on duty. Mr. McLellan was
with her and also Mr. Tomlinson, who recalls her cheeri-
ness along the way. Mr. John C. Lathrop was, as usual,
ready to render such secretarial assistance as might be
needed.

Arriving at Chestnut Hill Station, one of Mrs. Eddy s
carriages, sent on ahead from Pleasant View, was awaiting
the train. As others of her party entered the "hacks"
ranged along the station platform, Mrs. Eddy walked
quietly to her carriage and at once started to drive the
last mile to the new home.

As her carriage drove into the grounds, Mrs. Eddy
detected in front of the house a group of newspaper men,
notified by telephone from Concord after she had left,
that she was on the way. In the last "hack," John Salchow
also observed them, jumped down, ran up to Mrs. Eddy s
carriage as she was ready to step out. She said, "John,
can you get me into the house?" He answered, "I
surely can."

Then, before the newspaper men could guess his inten-

216 MARY BAKER EDDY

tions, John gathered Mrs. Eddy up into his stout arms,
pressed through the bystanders, and carried her straight
into the house. Up the stairs he bore her, set her down
in a comfortable chair, and then her joyous laugh rang X1
through the hall. The only explanation of the episode
which the papers of the next day had to give was that, "A
huge Swede grabbed Mrs. Eddy and ran off with her."

The new house at Chestnut Hill had some time before
been unobtrusively bought for her by the trustees, and
remodeled to meet the needs of Mrs. Eddy and her ex
panding household. Mrs. Eddy s own suite, at her request,
had been made as like as possible to her familiar rooms at
Pleasant View. Mount Monadnock and her birthplace,
Bow, were no longer within sight; but from her sunny
study window Old Orchard Road lined with well-kept
estates was visible, and the hazy outline of Blue Hills.

At Chestnut Hill, the Pleasant View menage was
continued. If possible, however, more care than ever,
under the Manual^ was exercised in selecting those fitted
to give Mrs. Eddy the special aid she required to keep
up with the multiplying calls upon her time and strength.
By this time, it had become a highly prized distinction
to be called to spend three years in Mrs. Eddy s household.
Those summoned, eagerly, gladly, humbly complied,
although the material compensation was a mere trifle.
However, Mrs. Eddy sometimes reminded the friends near
her that "trifles make perfection, but perfection is no
trifle." There was, too, the Scriptural uplift: 13 "Every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or
father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my
name s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit
everlasting life."

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 217

Mrs. Eddy required of those nearest her a literal in
terpretation of the command of Jesus, 11 "Watch and
pray." On May 29, 1930, one 15 of them says:

With the penetrating spiritual luminosity which shone through
her as from out the heart of God s allness, Mrs. Eddy untiringly
reiterated to her household, and to a benighted world, the Master s
warning; "Watch." The Godliness of her ever alert being
exemplified her own Godly watch and she loved her household
as she loved herself by her indefatigable call to them that they
have oil in their lamps, and watch to keep them trimmed and
burning, so that evil s serpentine machinations be foreseen to
the forestalling of its workings through their sleepiness, their
unwariness, or their insufficiently spiritual aliveness.

When, now and then, Mrs. Eddy gathered her "experts"
for an intimate talk, she made short shrift of sluggards.
All were made to understand that their watching and
their praying were to be taken as seriously as Mrs. Eddy
took her own. She knew no God emeritus; and those with
her were permitted to know none. To her, as she wrote
in her textbook, "God is infinite, therefore ever present,
and there is no other power nor presence," 16 and in the
name of such a God the Only God she bade them
"Watch and pray."

"You can t alter meteorological forces by words,"
observes Dr. Shailer Mathews, 17 Dean of the Divinity
School of the University of Chicago. "I m almost sure
of that almost. ... If I were in a storm at sea, so severe
it seemed we should sink, I m pretty sure I d pray. . . .
If only to get peace, courage, inner unity."

Mrs. Eddy set no limits to prayer. She prayed as Jesus
bade us pray, with the same understanding assurance,
which Jesus had, that with God all things are possible.
She even sought through prayer, intelligently offered, to

218 MARY BAKER EDDY

bring about more harmonious weather conditions. Hers
was a deep confidence in the efficacy of prayer, God
willing, to control the weather. Perhaps it is worth noting
that prayers of the same type are still found in the
Protestant Episcopal Prayer Book, twenty years after Mrs.
Eddy has passed on. 18

The faithful Mrs. Laura Sargent specially "attended
to the weather," But Mrs. Eddy would have her entire
household understand what "attending to the weather"
involved. No nonsense would she tolerate with regard
to praying. One day she called several of them into her
sitting room, made them stand up before her like school
children, and, going down the line she asked, pointing
her finger at each in turn: 10 "Can a Christian Scientist
control the weather?" Each answered, "Yes, Mother."
Sharply, even scornfully, she said to each and all, "They
can t and they don t. They can t, but God can and
does. ... A Christian Scientist has no business attempting
to control or govern the weather any more than he has
a right to attempt to control or govern sickness, but he
does know, and must know, that God governs the weather
and no other influence can be brought to bear upon it."
Every Christian Scientist must pray in faith, and leave
the rest to God.

Years never staled her sense of humor. Even her
sharpest admonition was likely to be softened by a lovino-
smile. A playful twitching of the lips would reveal "the
funny side" of a situation, which sometimes suggested
a schoolboy frightened in the presence of his teacher.
Under severe correction, her students one day were
promising that next time they would do better when,
with a ripple of mirth, Mrs. Eddy said:

THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 219

I am afraid you are like the Irishman that used to work on my
father s farm. He was so useless about the place that my father
finally called him and said, "Mike, I shall have to let you go.
You re not earning what I am paying you and it is not right for
me to keep you under the circumstances." Rather than be dis
charged, the Irishman pleaded to be kept in my father s employ.
He said, "If you ll only keep me, sir, I will work for my week s
board." "But," replied Mr. Baker, "you don t earn your board
in a week." "Well, sir," he said, "if I can t earn it in one week, I ll
do it in two." That is what your promises sound like to me.
You are not doing your work as you should, and you protest
that if you haven t done it heretofore, you will hereafter.

Upon another occasion, seeking to illustrate the tend
ency of mortal mind to misrepresent, Mrs. Eddy spoke
of a neighbor in New Hampshire who wanted to sell
her father a horse. He represented the horse as per
fectly sound, gentle in disposition, and having all the
qualities of a family carriage horse.

My father said, "I am afraid he is too skittish for me. My
family needs a quiet animal that would not be frightened at any
thing." "Oh," replied the neighbor, "Mr. Baker, you couldn t
scare this horse, no matter what you did." My father replied,
"Why, that horse would jump if you were to say boo at him."
The man stoutly denied this and offered to put the case to a test.
The arrangement was that while Mr. Baker crouched behind a
large stump in the field, the owner was to ride the horse by the
stump, and Mr. Baker was to jump out, and shout "boo." All was
ready. The horse loped past the stump. Mr. Baker jumped out,
threw his arms up in the air and yelled a vigorous "boo." The
horse made a sudden lunge, threw his rider, and dashed across
the country. The Irishman got up, brushed the dirt from his
clothes and said, "Well, Mr. Baker, that was too big a c boo for
such a small horse."

Never was Mrs. Eddy more human than in the ordinary

220 MARY BAKER EDDY

give and take of social contact. She affected nothing.
She abhorred all stiltedness in conversation, all preten
tiousness in bearing. She put everyone at ease, and knew
how to bring out the best in those around her. With
her lovely voice often, in those later years, she joined
her household in singing such old favorite songs as "Auld
Lang Syne," "Comin Through the Rye," "Annie Laurie,"
and "The Old Oaken Bucket"; such familiar hymns as
"Nearer, my God, to Thee," "Guide me, Oh Thou Great
Jehovah," "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," and "I Love to
Tell the Story/ 20

While she was still at Pleasant View Mr. John C.
Lathrop 21 and his mother gave her that music box which
she carried with her to Chestnut Hill, and often played.
It was during the first winter there that the new Victrola
came. The superior music, which it furnished, delighted
Mrs. Eddy. Her joy was like a child s; it bubbled over.
For a time she played her Victrola every day; and, when
the new record "Home, Sweet Home" came, she had
her household accompany the Victrola in singing it for
her. As the last strain died away, playfully she addressed
the Victrola, as though it were a human being, "Thank
you, Mr. Singer Man, but I prefer my own choir to the
choir invisible." Then turning serious, she meditated
aloud to those present:

Home is not a place. It is a power. Going home is doing right.
If you cannot make home here, you cannot anywhere. I am glad
to have you, so many are going with me homeward and we will
all meet there. Blessing immortal, eternal, infinite, comes not
from personality, but through understanding of Principle. 22

Those were the days when in cities and at remote
crossroads the big news was the discovery of the North

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 221

Pole. With his right to the discovery at last confirmed,
Admiral Peary was in demand by publishers and lecture
bureaus. One description, which he gave of his expe
riences in the far North, was turned into a record. After
listening, all intent to it, Mrs. Eddy, in her inimitable
way, quietly observed, "Why, it is matter talking."

William E. Curtis was not the only globe trotter to
find Mrs. Eddy, whose travels ordinarily extended no
farther than her library, unexpectedly well-informed about
countries distant as well as places near. Other guests at
Chestnut Hill departed full of the wonder which Mr.
Curtis felt after contact with a stay-at-home mind as
accurate as it proved weU-furnished. Lady Mildred
Fitzgerald of England relates in March, 1930, that on
her several visits to Mrs. Eddy she had been specially
impressed with Mrs. Eddy s "grasp of world affairs" and
with her untiring efforts to bring England and America
together by closer bonds. But those with her every day
had the most substantial reasons for respecting her world-
mindedness. When after a time at Chestnut Hill, John
Milton s birthday came on December 9, she made Milton s
line, cc They also serve who only stand and wait," the
subject of an extemporaneous talk on "Timeliness," which
one today recalls for its vividness and impressiveness,
closing, as it did, with the unforgettable sentence, "The
right thing done at the wrong time is no longer the right
thing."

The author, in the course of his researches, has met
many of her Chestnut Hill entourage. All have added
to the totality of the steadily accumulating impressions
of Mrs. Eddy s genius for attaching the rightly disposed
to her by her unfeigned interest in human beings.

222 MARY BAKER EDDY

One of them says, "I loved to hear her laugh, a
wonderful laugh when she had time to laugh." 23 He
also recalls the physical agility of this extraordinary
woman long after she could be called young. She loved
sometimes even to slip nimbly up into her desk chair,
curl her feet under her in tailor fashion like a college
girl today, and go merrily to her work. He remembers
her intimate familiarity with the details of the life around
her, an insight into everyday existence which grew more
penetrating with the passing years. "When she looked
me in the eye," one says, "she seemed to look clear
through me." One of the faithful seemed one day a bit
depressed, and he still carries in his heart the little note
she wrote him after he had left her house:
Dear Student

You looked sad to-day. Is anything not right that troubles you?
If so what is it? I thought it might be something about Maggie s
stay here. Perhaps I can help you. With love Mother. 24

Another tells how she "scared him almost out of his
wits" when, in reply to her inquiry, "Are you doing
your work?" he answered," "I am trying to do it"; and
she came back at him with this quietus for his irresolute-
ness: "Don t try, do it." Off he hurried to his room to
attack more vigorously the work to which he had been
assigned. Within the hour, he was summoned to her
study, and was received with smiles and tenderness and
praise. She knew, before he spoke a word, that he had
pulled himself together and actually done his work.

And how she missed her loved ones when any of them
had to be away! Sometimes she felt the separation so
poignantly that she could scarcely bear it. With her,
all through her pilgrim journey, to say farewell was a

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 223

great grief. Eyes would, indeed, be dry that could not
shed a tear when told how their beloved Leader, finding
one of her helpers would have for a time to be away,
would hide her face in her hands, unable to say goodby.
On one of these occasions Mrs. Eddy called the faithful
round her and tenderly remarked, "We are all one family,
and when my parents would go away we children used
to get together and say to each other, Now you will
be good to me while they are gone, won t you? So we
must all be good to each other while one of us is away."

Her love for those who gave her help embraced all
dear to them. It extended even to the household pets
their cats, their dogs, their horses. A little note, written
shortly before to one of her faithful helpers, reads:

My Darling Son:

Pull up the strawberries they are not in the proper place.
Give my love to Pauline and greetings to Kitty. Mother. 35

Today "Sam" Shoemaker is contributing much to the
development of genuine personal religion. Perhaps no
feature of his technique is more significant than the em
phasis he places on self-disclosures in associating with those
who are hungry for the riches of the inner life. Jesus loved
to talk his heart out to his comrades by the way. He
wanted them to realize that he, like them, was human,
and had to solve the same problems which came to them.
No open-minded reader of Mrs. Eddy s writings can mis
understand either the general drift of her teaching or such
forthright and downright words as these: "To think or
speak of me in any manner as a Christ, is sacrilegious." 2Q
As early as 1902 she was counseling her people: "Follow
your Leader, only so far as she follows Christ." 27

224 MARY BAKER EDDY

Feeling the responsibility to safeguard herself against
excesses of adulation, or any other disposition to set her
apart from her fellow human beings, she was ever on
the alert. Many-sided and ample as was her personality,
there was no room in it for spiritual conceit. St. Paul
had no exclusive copyright to the thought, decidedly hers
as well as his: 28

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

But her humility found its choicest expression in the
outpouring of her heart to those who knew her best:
"Oh what a reward for the cup it is to know that God
has made me, me, so poor, so nothing in my sight the
means of telling His power and grace and glory!" 29

The final settlement of the lawsuit was not effected
until November 10, 1909. Even though the ultimate
victory, now as usual, was hers, she soliloquized, "For
every mistake Mother has ever made, she lias suffered,
and suffered, and suffered." 30

Christmas Day dawned clear and cold in 1909 in the
gray stone house on the hill. Always up by seven in
the morning, the Leader that day entered her study earlier
than usual. As, responding to her call, the happy house
hold came with a smile into the room, she greeted them
with, "A cheery, Holy Christ Mass to you all."

Never in the years that followed could they recall a
day when she seemed more alive mentally, more vigorous
physically, more gracious in manner, or more tender in
word. None needed to be told, although all were keen
to hear:

THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 225

I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence,
charity, letting good will towards man, eloquent silence, prayer,
and praise express my conception of Truth s appearing.

The splendor of this nativity of Christ reveals infinite meanings
and gives manifold blessings. Material gifts and pastimes tend to
obliterate the spiritual idea in consciousness, leaving one alone
and without His glory. 31

To turn Christmas Day into a riot of extravagant giving
never made any appeal to Mrs. Eddy. She would keep
the holy season true to its profounder meaning, and
members of her household still recall the impressiveness
with which, on that last Christmas Day, she said, "A
holy, uplifting sense of Life, Truth, and Love is the true
Christmas."

Though none foresaw that it was to be her last Christ
mas Day with them, her next word sounded grave: "By
another Christmas there will be great changes. See that
you make them for the better."

Before noon, again the faithful were called round her,
and Mrs. Sargent read to them what the beloved Leader
had just written on a sheet of letter paper lying on her desk:

My Household
Beloved:

A word to the wise is sufficient. Mother wishes you all a
happy Christmas, a feast of Soul, and a famine of sense.

Lovingly thine

MARY BAKER EDDY.

226

MARY BAKER EDDY

7*7^ -

* ~ ^9

^ . x^

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 227

To this woman of the spirit, Easter brought a happier
opportunity than Christmas Day to speak her supreme
message. The Easter couplet was of her own writing: 32

Joy not of time, nor yet by nature sown,

But the celestial seed dropped from Love s throne.

Her lifelong love of flowers reappears in her procla
mation to the children of her faith to gather "Easter
lilies of love with happy hearts and ripening goodness."
Though she discouraged careless giving, she always took
into account the motive. One of the friendliest of her
Easter messages was written to Mr. Edward A. Merritt,
a member of the Board of Directors of The Mother
Church:

Your Easter memory expressed by this most beautiful and
unique design is prized by me quite beyond words to express.
Accept my heart s thanks for this priceless pin.

I will wear it in memory of you at the throat of my best gown. 33

To Mrs. Eddy, Easter had one overwhelming meaning,
and one only: "Mortality s thick gloom is pierced. The
stone is rolled away. Death has lost its sting, and the
grave its victory. Immortal courage fills the human breast
and lights the living way of Life. 5 34

One of the faithful reports the substance of the little
Easter sermon she preached to her household. The text
has slipped from memory, but the context would indicate
it was from Ephesians 4:22-24:

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be
renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the^new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

As this member of her household noted at the time,

228 MARY BAKER EDDY

Mrs. Eddy first gave the true meaning of Easter. Next
she spoke of putting off, not keeping, "the old man."
Then she said in substance: 35

We have but one Mind; and to abide in this perfect freedom
of individuality is the resurrection, is to have risen above mate
rial or lower demands. The resurrective sense is positive; it is
"yea, yea and nay, nay." The resurrective sense does not listen
compromisingly to error. It is always about its "Father s business,"
reflecting Principle. Jesus whole life was resurrective; that is,
his life was a constant conscious rising spiritually above sin, sick
ness, death; and his resurrection from the grave was to sense a
type of divine Love s final triumph over the human belief that
matter is substance, or has power to impose limitations to Mind
or man.

Like the Manual, The Christian Science Monitor was
a product of the Leader s mothering instinct. She would
have the minds of those she loved immune every day, as
well as every week and every month, to the evil influence
which she believed newspapers exerted. Long had this
peril been in her thoughts. When as early as 1883, she
was establishing The Christian Science Journal , she wrote:

Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects
that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very
air. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted
in some future time upon the body. A periodical of our own will
counteract to some extent this public nuisance; for through our
paper, at the price at which we shall issue it, we shall be able
to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought. 36

All through that first spring at Chestnut Hill, she was
preparing to launch her daily paper. In July, she took
the Board of Directors into her confidence. Businesslike
as ever, she held back, however, until the last of the

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 229

indebtedness on the Publishing House was cleared. But
the very next month, on August 8, 1908, she wrote the
Board of Trustees: 37

It is my request that you start a daily newspaper at once, and
call it the 3S Christian Science Monitor. Let there be no delay.
The cause demands that it be issued now.

You may consult with the Board of Directors, I have notified
them of my intention.

The reply of the Trustees, dated August 11, is one of
the most important letters in the Historical Files. It runs:

Beloved Leader:

Your letter of August 8th was delivered to us yesterday. The
announcement contained in your letter is good news. We are
confident that this move is timely; that the Monitor will be a
mighty instrument for the promotion of Christian Science; and
that it will be a success from a business standpoint. We rejoice
to have this additional opportunity of assisting you in your plans
for the welfare of humanity.

As soon as we received your letter we immediately began the
work of starting the new Daily and we shall proceed with it
without delay. To-day we consulted with the Board of Directors.
To-morrow and next day we will confer with two practical
newspaper men from Pittsburgh and Chicago whom Mr. McLellan
has called here as advisers.

Gratefully and lovingly yours,
Wm. P. McKenzie
Thomas W. Hatten
Clifford P. Smith
Trustees of the Christian
Science Publishing Society.

The mere intimation that Mrs. Eddy was starting a
newspaper at once brought in almost four hundred
thousand dollars, which was enough both to buy the land
required for the enlargement of the Publishing House

230 MARY BAKER EDDY

and to construct on it the building necessary. While
the construction was still in progress and Boston reporters
were working overtime to find out what actually was
happening, the new presses were placed; and, on October
17, 1908, an editorial in the Sentinel announced that:

With the approval of our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, The Christian
Science Publishing Society will shortly issue a daily newspaper
to be known as The Christian Science Monitor. In making this
announcement we can say for the Trustees of the Society that
they confidently hope and expect to make the Monitor a worthy
addition to the list of publications issued by the Society. It is
their intention to publish a strictly up-to-date newspaper, in
which all the news of the day that should be printed will find a
place, and whose service will not be restricted to any one locality
or section, but will cover the daily activities of the entire world.

It will be the mission of the Monitor to publish the real news
of the world in a clean, wholesome manner, devoid of the sensa
tional methods employed by so many newspapers. There will
be no exploitation or illustration of vice and crime, but the aim
of the editors will be to issue a paper which will be welcomed
in every home where purity and refinement are cherished ideals.

For this new publication, Mrs. Eddy took the full
initial responsibility. No one wished to snatch it from
her, few to share it with her. No one envied her such
brave initiative. There was no precedent to guide her.
For her novel task, she had no special training. In her
eighty-seven busy years there had been no spare time to
learn to run a daily paper. No religious organization
whatever had before that made a success of a daily paper.
Most of the weekly denominational journals were then
and many still are run at a deficit when they are
not actual failures.

Some loyal Scientists, not the Trustees of the Publishing

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 231

Society, hoped that the two words "Christian Science"
would not be in the title of the new paper. Why add
to the obvious difficulties? When before its first appear
ance she named the paper The Christian Science Monitor
and even stressed the The, some had misgivings which
proved too strong to conceal. She was earnestly solicited,
at the very last, to recall her decision. When the first
copy of the Monitor came off the press, it was taken out
to Chestnut Hill for Mrs. Eddy to approve. With
trepidation, Mr. Archibald McLellan, 39 who had definite
convictions about the matter, went into the Leader s
study to make one last appeal for the abbreviated title.
Almost as soon as he disappeared, he reappeared, dis
appointment and dejection in his habitually cheerful face.
"It is no use," he said, "the name will have to remain
The Christian Science Monitor."

In spite of the counsel of some friends, and the expec
tations of some enemies, she gave her paper the name it
bears today, directed that the cover should be "illustrated
with a pretty design," and placed on the editorial page
the motto: "First the blade, then the ear, then the full
corn in the ear." 40 Even the first style type font, best
of its day for newspaper use, was of her selection. Later,
at the request of the Board of Trustees, she expressed in
print the desire that Christian Scientists should subscribe
to the new paper. Every wish of Mrs. Eddy was, and is,
a command to loyal Christian Scientists. In every detail,
her interest was constructive and constant. One of the
first editors a few years later wrote: 41

No wonder Mrs. Eddy was an ever-inspiring Leader to work
for, and no wonder there grew up around her a body of devoted
assistants. No matter how hard they might work, she worked

232 MARY BAKER EDDY

harder still; and for months and years, while they were receiving
her constant and incisive instructions, they read with mingled
amusement and amazement the stories of her mental incapacity
and the failure of the movement, which then, very much as now,
constituted in the Press the news of Christian Science.

The Christian Science Monitor made its bow on Novem
ber 25, 1908, the day before Thanksgiving. The editorial
leader was from Mrs. Eddy s pen. It struck the keynote
of a policy unchanged in all the years: "The object of the
Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind."

From that first issue, the author has made it his business
to record impressions and collect opinions about the
Monitor, in newspaper offices on either side of the ocean.
He recalls his talks, during the World War, with editors
of daily papers in London, Paris, New York, Chicago,
Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
other cities of the new world and the old, and the frequent
tributes which he heard paid by eminent newspaper men
to the Monitor. Of a certain substantial college in New
England, a representative has observed that it is the second
choice of more graduates of other colleges than any other
institution in the land. It might be first choice were some
starting new. No higher praise could be desired. Among
newspapers, the Monitor would seem to occupy somewhat
the same position as that college. Every editor is loyal first
to his own paper. Practically all the many with whom
the author has discussed the Monitor speak next for it.
Last May the Monitor was singled out by Batten, Barton,
Durstine, and Osborne for first place as a national adver
tising medium, with no other daily paper even a close
second.

There is, perhaps, no field in which success is achieved

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 233

with greater difficulty than in journalism. Certainly no
service which the Christian churches could render is
potentially superior to the establishment and the main
tenance of high-grade newspapers, standing for the best
things in public life. But the author is here but faintly
echoing professional opinion of more importance than his
own. An editorial in German in The Christian Apologist
of December 25, 1929, published by A. J. Bucher,
Methodist editor at Cincinnati, pays this impressive trib
ute to the Monitor:**

Regardless of what one may think of the health society which
terms itself The Church of Christ, Scientist, we must at least
concede them one thing, and that is they have brought forth
what all the Christian churches in the United States combined
have thus far failed to produce, namely, the publication of a daily
newspaper edited in a thoroughly Christian spirit. Their Christian
Science Monitor stands high above our American daily papers,
both as to contents and form. It carries good and dependable
information concerning the most important incidents of the day,
both domestic and foreign. Each issue contains an excellent and
dignified leading editorial on some question or topic which stands
in the foreground of public interest. Christian Science doctrine
is held entirely in the background. Shouting headlines, found on
the front pages of our daily papers, are entirely missing, as are
also the sensational and the professional newspaper fiction. Each
good reform movement is observed and is vigorously supported.
The paper takes its place resolutely on the side of law and order,
as for example, on the prohibition question. A good clean atmos
phere pervades its sections of light literature. It serves the most
varied needs and interests of an intelligent group of readers. With
its handsome proportions, excellent paper and print, the Monitor
presents a distinguished appearance.

If all those in the American Federation of Churches would lend
a hand, there is no doubt but that we could publish a Christian
daily newspaper and that, too, with a large measure of success

234 MARY BAKER EDDY

which is one of the most crying needs of the present time. This
would be a newspaper which would not consciously and delib
erately lie, but would give out the truth, which would not serve
sensation but information, which would not be in the pay of
alcohol interests nor stand in political cross currents, and which
would keep from its pages the immorality through which we
must wade in the average daily paper. It would be a newspaper
that we would not be afraid to have our children read. Here
would be an opportunity to put on record the fact, which we
stress so zealously, that we Protestants, with all our differences
in minor points, are nevertheless one in essentials. It is high time
that we had such a newspaper in America. When will it appear?

Not even those days, crowded with details necessitated
by the launching of the Monitor, were free from the
characteristic annoyances which seemed ever at the heels
of this woman of expanding interests. With opera glasses,
a young woman in the neighborhood was spying much
on her, growing bolder as Mrs. Eddy started for the
drive which she missed only once in all her days at
Chestnut Hill 43 To reprove outsiders was not Mrs. Eddy s
habit. She reserved reproof as a compliment to those for
whom she felt immediate responsibility. 44 But love, un
clouded by resentment, almost always proved effective
in her dealing with strangers. At last, when the intrusion
had degenerated into rudeness, Mrs. Eddy sent her driver
to the girl with an overflowing basket of delicious peaches
and her card on which she wrote a brief word of kindly
interest. Curiosity turned at once into respect, and the
young woman is reported to have come to like Mrs. Eddy.

Never was any Christian Scientist more assiduous in
the daily study of the Bible Lessons than was the Founder
of the faith. Each of the many thousands devoted to the
Cause has his own hour, or hours, for studying the Bible

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 235

and his textbook. Business men and women are often
up at five o clock to devote two hours before breakfast
to the study of their Bible Lessons. Some busy home-
keepers take an hour in the morning or the afternoon for
the same purpose. A few sit up late at night to do their
work. Whatever hour they choose, they study their Bible
Lessons every day. This is a spiritual phenomenon to
which Christians everywhere may well give increasing
heed, and by which there may be, as years go by, profit
beyond all estimating to the Church of Christ.

Mrs. Eddy s reliance on the Bible was absolute. The
well-thumbed and much-marked copy which she used
at Chestnut Hill, the author has had the privilege of using
in the preparation of this chapter. Out of the Old Testa
ment, she drank deep of spiritual truth. Not morbid and
yet not unmindful of the claims which advancing years
were making, the author finds her one day in 1909 medi
tating on Isaiah 46:4: "And even to your old age I am
he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made,
and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

But her favorite in those days was Philippians 4: 8-1 3 :

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and
heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your
care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful,
but ye lacked opportunity.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

236 MARY BAKER EDDY

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and
to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthened! me.

He would indeed be unresponsive who failed to feel
the uplift which this woman of large faith received as
she gave to the Scriptures such interpretations as the
following words which I find marked, in 1909, from the
last copy of Science and Health which she used:

1. God is All-in-all.

2. God is good. Good is Mind.

3. God, Spirit, being all, nothing is matter.

4. Life, God, omnipotent good, deny death, evil, sin, disease.
Disease, sin, evil, death, deny good, omnipotent God, Life. 45

Even in the gathering twilight no joy was so great to
Mrs. Eddy as studying her Bible Lessons. There were
times, indeed, when, with all her heart and soul, she
wished she could be a member of the Lesson Committee;
and thus have a larger share in the spiritual education of
the people of her heart, rather than in "settling impending
difficulties, the effects of mortal sin." 46

Until the very last, she was editing and re-editing her
book. In each new edition she made minor changes, and
occasional larger alterations, as she was convinced the
Spirit led her more deeply into the truth. Her command
of words grew. No changes except those authorized by
Mrs. Eddy have been made in the book since Mrs. Eddy
passed on. But her own copy employs a vocabulary of
ten thousand vital words, which has been assayed thus:

Every word means something. Not one is thrown in as a make
weight or as a padding. The weight and fluency of her style
inheres in her thinking. There are no extra words to veil thought

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 237

or to cover vacancy. She has achieved the great thing; her
thinking stands forth in its naked sincerity as if she had done
away with the medium of speech and had brought forth the
Word itself which is one with thought and deed.

At Chestnut Hill, while Mrs. Eddy had secretarial help,
yet with her own pen she still wrote many a letter. Ruth
less in planning the hours for those around her, Mrs. Eddy
was yet more ruthless in planning her own program so
as to insure an extra minute here and there for the work
which, in no circumstances, could she bear to neglect.
This quaint note in Mrs. Eddy s own handwriting speaks
for itself: "Maid one half hour to dine at noon. Mrs.
Eddy has twenty minutes." 47 She knew the secret of
finding time for everything important, and once observed,
"just a little duty performed each hour and each day,
and at length symmetrical unity." 48

Some of her letters bear marks of the pressure under
which they were written. But not one is recalled which
is marred by indiscretions or retaliations. What John Hay
in his advancing years admitted, there was no need for
Mrs. Eddy farther on in years to admit: "Every day I
still write notes filled with indiscretions, and I can t help
it." Mrs. Eddy could, and did help it.

Motherly in conversation with those around her, she
was as much so in correspondence:

Your sweet letter at hand. I am sensible of the zeal and good
works of dear Mrs. . . . and you. But none can know my necessity
to reprove, rebuke, exhort, but the loving Father and Mother of
us all. You all are babes in Truth and Love and the older you
are the more the Mother sees to love, and to reprove. Why?
because you attempt more, and each endeavor is an experiment
with a student; whereas it is an old and proven effort with me
and I know just how it will come out. The danger to the student

238 MARY BAKER EDDY

is popularity and power, selfseeking instead of self abasement I
have washed their feet and continue to do thus, and they must
wash one anothers feet instead of elbowing each other, or they
never can follow the example of our Exemplar. 49

How considerate she was! To the Board she wrote:

Mr. F. ... is carrying too big a burden. His salary does not
pay his rent and clerks! Please vote to amend the By-law to read
instead of three thousand dollars annually for the Pub. Com. not
less than three thousand dollars. Then vote to increase his salary
to five thousand dollars annually. 50

To sacrifice herself was an instinct:

After forty years in your service I need more of my time to
watch individually. I have neglected myself for others; now help
your Leader by helping yourself. This is all I ask of a student;
and is it too much, and will you not grant my request? 51

Mrs. Eddy was not arrogant or pretentious. When in
1907 she began to look about for another home, she wrote:

I give up the thought of the estate in ... for several reasons,
one of which is I dislike arrogant wealth, a great show of it, and
especially for one who works as well as preaches for and of the
nothingness of matter. 52

In business matters she was always strictly honest. To
a student she said:

In doing business I am careful to account for all I take or
appropriate, and I require this of my students. I may give them
all I please, and they have that privilege with me, but I demand
honesty of myself and of others and strict accounts. 53

Mrs. Eddy came even closer than that disciple who
inquired if it was his business to forgive as much as seven
times, to an understanding of the inexhaustibleness of the
Christ spirit of forgiveness. To one long dear to her,
and then for a time estranged, at last Mrs. Eddy wrote:

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 239

This lovely morning I wish I could see you and put my arms
round your neck and tell you how much I love you. I never can
feel so happy as when thinking of you in the old way and asking
God to bless my child that so many years I have been accustomed
to do, and must continue to do as long as memory lasts.

I have forgiven you in years past, and can and do again, because
I love you and I cannot hold any enmity against one who has done
the good that you have done; or even if they had done much
that was wrong I must love all, because I cannot help it. I feel
it and cannot feel otherwise. 54

She did at times grow weary. Once she wrote:

Give oh give me peace for one 24 hours in 30 years! You
dear one, are fresh in the conflict I an old soldier weary of battle. 55

But on she pressed until the very end, deserving
Chesterton s inspiring lines:

So, with the wan waste grasses on my spear,
I ride forever, seeking after God;
My hair grows whiter than my thistle plume,
And all my limbs are loose, but in my eyes
The star of an unconquerable praise;
For in my soul one hope forever sings,
That at the next white corner of a road
My eyes may look on Him!

Her foreign correspondence brought Mrs. Eddy special
joy. When The Mother Church Extension was dedicated
three years before, in June, 1906, delegates had come
from many countries, their very presence testifying that
at last Christian Science had put a girdle around the globe.
Even so, an eminent London surgeon was then predicting
that in another quarter century, the edifices of Christian
Science in London would be turned into music and lecture
halls. But he was one of many in that time who needed
to meditate upon the wisdom of the humble humorist

240 MARY BAKER EDDY

who said, "Never predict unless you know"; for in June,
1909, news came that the First Church of Christ, Scientist,
in London had not only paid for, but also dedicated, on
June 13, 1909, a new building at a cost of four hundred
thousand dollars. In addition, it had sent a thank-offering
of some seven thousand dollars to the Publishing House.

Scarcely had Mrs. Eddy s joyous letter of congratulation
gone overseas to her London followers when, in Novem
ber, Christian Scientists of Scotland announced that they
were ready to begin the building of the First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Edinburgh. To them she wrote a
letter ringing with the peculiar satisfaction which such
news as they had sent her must have brought to one
whose ancestors had been Scotch: 56

Beloved Christian Scientists:

Like the gentle dew of heaven and the refreshing breeze of
morn, comes your dear letter to my waiting heart waiting in
due expectation of just such blessedness, crowning the hope and
hour of divine Science, than which nothing can exceed its minis
trations of God to man.

I congratulate you on the prospect of erecting a church
building, wherein to gather in praise and prayer for the whole
human family.

Lovingly yours,

MARY BAKER EDDY. 57

As she drew near her earthly end, the woman of the
stars seemed to be living in two worlds at once. Day by
day she drew closer to God. At times she seemed to
think aloud to Him. She advised her maid to speak to
God about her own personal problems. 58 To one of her
secretaries she casually observed, Til tell you what God
has told me to-day." Once, after making a remark which
she wished at once to recall, she placed her finger to

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 241

her lips and said, That was Mary talking, now let God
talk." 59 In emergencies, she gave her household special
spiritual directions which they needed in their work.

Before any public appearance, however minor, she
prayed to God to use her in His own good way. Once,
at the end of a day filled with vexations, she prayed aloud,
"Oh, Father, we turn like tired children to Thee; Thou
wilt not leave us comfortless."

Mrs. Eddy accepted literally the account which Christ
Jesus gave of himself: "I and my Father are one." But
she said, "I cannot be a Christian Scientist except I leave
all for Christ." 60 She never doubted that the familiar
promise would be kept: "Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world." Jesus was her Way-shower.

Her eagerness to know what Jesus would do, if he
were in her place, was sometimes very touching. Once,
in approaching a problem, she remarked to a friend, "I
wonder what Jesus would do." On another occasion it
comforted her to observe, "Jesus would know what I am
going through." Perhaps no leader of her time had better
right to quote the lines attributed to St. Patrick:

Christ, as a light
Illumine and guide me!
Christ as a shield o er-shadow and cover me!
Christ lie under me, Christ be over me!
Christ be beside me

On left hand and right!
Christ be before me, behind me, about me,
Christ this day be within and without me!

Never had she been quite so naive, so childlike, as in
those final weeks. "One night," says one of her helpers,
"she called me to her bedside. She talked about the work.

242 MARY BAKER EDDY

At last she had me tuck her in. But somehow she was not
comfortable. She tossed about. She fussed a bit. Then
quieting down, with the smile we loved to see, she looked
at me and said: Forgive me, dear. I always was such a
Betty. " 61

Happy Pilgrim of the Infinite, Mary Baker Eddy grew
quieter as the days grew shorter. After supper, seated
in her study, she would look down the driveway, watch
the light come in the electric globes on either side the
gate; then tell out the stars as, one by one, they brightened
up the sky. Thinking of the things invisible, she would
often glance a moment at her blessed Bible or her own
Science and Health lying open on the desk.

Until the end she took her daily drive. The frosty
fingers of an early winter were, with the coming of
December, reaching out to touch the window panes, the
woods, the hills. As she stepped into her carriage on the
first afternoon in December, a heavenly smile was shining
from her face and eyes. Each happy band of children,
waiting here and there along the road to greet their "dear
old lady," waited not in vain. Returning home, she rested
a few moments in her study. Then, at her request, a
pencil and tablet were brought to her. Hesitating a
moment, Mrs. Eddy stooped slightly forward, and on
the tablet wrote these words: 62

"THE FULL GRAIN IN THE EAR" 243

Next day she was up and about. Her household gathered
in her study, and she talked with them. They realized
that she was failing. They had, however, so often seen
her rally from a weakness even greater that, though fore
boding, they were not overanxious. All through the day,
however, as they worked and prayed, they were ill at ease.

On December third, a half hour before midnight, her
faithful household group around her, Mrs. Eddy passed
quietly away. 63

The final services, on December eighth, were as she
would have had them. Across the snow-clad lawn at
Chestnut Hill came, on that Thursday morning, about
fifty guests. At eleven o clock Judge Clifford P. Smith 64
read the ninety-first Psalm, which had furnished the text
for the historic sermon in Chicago in 1888, together
with portions of the Gospel of St. John, chapters thirteen
and fourteen. Mrs. Carol Hoyt Powers, Second Reader
of The Mother Church, read Mrs. Eddy s poem, "The
Mother s Evening Prayer." 65 The Lord s Prayer was
recited in unison. Then the casket was taken up on the
shoulders of affection, borne through the open gateway,
and carried to Mount Auburn near Boston; and over the
last resting place of this woman of the stars, the stately
oaks now keep watch in solemn dignity.

Chapter VIII
"BY THEIR FRUITS"

THROUGHOUT her vivid life, Mary Baker Eddy
often figured in the news columns. She paid the
price which always must be paid for startling com
placency or for breaking with conservatism. There were
long stretches when room for some new depreciation or
disparagement was about the only space she was allotted
in the daily papers.

Only after she was gone, did Mrs. Eddy "make" the
editorial page a steeper grade to make than the news
page. At last appreciation displaced the depreciation of
earlier years. The adulation, against which in her lifetime
she never ceased to warn her chosen, won readers from
dark disparagement. Now that she was beyond the touch
of idle gossip, not a few wondered why anything but
praise could have been spoken of a woman who had
kindled in the hearts of uncounted many a spiritual fire
which showed no sign of dying out.

In her beloved Boston, the editor of the Globe, com
mented on her passing that: "Present day testimony must
be one of respect for a woman of remarkable mind and
of unusual ability." The editorial reference to her in the
Post was a tribute to her for reviving primitive Christianity
and adapting it to present day conditions. The editor of
the Evening Transcript put Mrs. Eddy in the company of
Julia Ward Howe, who some weeks before had passed
on after winning earlier in her distinguished career a

244

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 245

well-deserved immortality by the writing of her famous
patriotic poem. Mrs. Eddy s verse is sung each week by
millions around the world; her books many read; and her
newspaper no one from the first has grudged a place among
the most substantial papers of the time. Hers was a
"career," according to the editor of the conservative
Springfield Republican, "from which everyone may draw
immense inspiration . . . that must come from the spectacle
of astonishing achievement. . . . One may search history
from the beginning and have difficultynn matching Mrs.
Eddy s performance, between the ages of fifty and
eighty, in making a million people accept her at her own
valuation."

Outside of New England, where praise or blame is
more outspoken, tributes to the Leader of Christian Science
developed into such panegyrics as few persons in all
history have evoked. Editors in New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis,
Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
many other cities with one voice placed Mrs. Eddy among
those of whom it has been said that:

Never to the mansions where the mighty rest
Since their foundations, came a nobler guest.

If all such tributes to this woman who yearned more
for the praise of God than for any praise of man be ruled
out of reckoning, still no one seriously doubts that Mary
Baker Eddy was born to leadership. Scarcely one of its
essentials did she lack. When he coined his phrase "a
prodigious example of insubmission, courage, perseverance,
and ingenuity," Maeterlinck might have been painting
Mrs. Eddy s portrait. Glimpsing in her girlhood the goal

246 MARY BAKER EDDY

of her life work, she set her feet on a long trail which was
to stretch across a century, and she followed on until
the end. Her ineffable charm, which the years could
never blight, brought many to her. By a process of
careful selection and reselection, based on spiritual fitness,
she was sometimes making those changes in her entourage
which the higher interest of her Cause demanded. She let
all count with her, but as Kipling advises "none too
much." To counsel she listened, but she made her own
decisions.

When criticism seemed to her in order, she preferred
to criticize in private. To praise, when she honestly could,
she gave publicity; and never could one call it "the praise
of men s forgetting." True, there were times when some
charged that she played favorites; but none was ever bold
enough to charge that she set her own interests above the
Cause she loved and those who tried to capitalize any
distinction thus conferred upon them to the injury of the
Cause might find waiting for them around the corner
the demotion which their indiscretion merited. She always
followed through, and any in her train who failed to
follow after were one day likely to discover that they
had been left far behind.

Patient, sometimes over many a year, with the shifty
and even the disloyal, Mrs. Eddy always drew the line
the moment the good of the Cause demanded it. Insubor
dination she never tolerated. To seek a quarrel was not
her way; but, when a quarrel was thrust on her, the
regret at the outcome was rarely hers. In the life of
Mary Baker Eddy, as of Ellen Terry, 1 opposition called
out her highest fighting power. More than once, in order
to win, with one stroke of her pen she demolished old

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 247

machinery and constructed it sometimes seemed al
most over night new machinery better fitted for the
changed conditions.

Many a pitched battle she fought to gain breathing
space in which to write, to discover, to build, to organize,
to construct; and if now and then, in an almost continuous
struggle against handicaps covering some fourscore years
and ten, she was stricken, her spirit remained as unbroken
as the Scotchman s in the ballad:

Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew says,
A little I m hurt, but not yet slain;
I ll but lie down and bleed awhile,
And then I ll rise and fight again.

On the far-flung battle line of the faith she founded,
Mrs. Eddy turned a page as new in modern religion as
Einstein s page in modern science. Some doubted this
while she was here. A few were certain that her work
would not outlive her. But even fewer now worth while
think in terms of death of her extraordinary movement.
From Count Hermann Keyserling s 2 announcement that
"every spiritual American who can be considered repre
sentative, actually belongs, whether he knows it or not,
to the wider circle of Christian Science," to the admission
of Harry Emerson Fosdick, 3 "Anything that floats must
have some good timber in it, and Christian Science never
could have floated as it has if there had not been sound
wood there," agreement has become general that Christian
Science lives and grows and must be reckoned with.

Between Mrs. Eddy s discovery and Einstein s, the
likeness is amazing. Changes in men s thinking have taken
place since two centuries ago Newton conferred on space
definite physical reality. Faraday, a century later, devel-

248 MARY BAKER EDDY

oped the "ether" concept to explain the electro-magnetic
field. Within the memory of readers middle-aged, matter,
once solid as a mountain in men s thoughts, has crumbled
into molecules, the molecules into atoms, and at last the
atoms into immaterial "particles" of radiation. Yesterday
Einstein casually observed that space is "eating up
matter," 4 a concept not altogether inharmonious with
Mrs. Eddy s concept of God as good since M. K. Wisehart
on his return last season from Europe reported Professor
Einstein as now convinced that "God is as valid as a
scientific argument." 5

It is, however, in the field of imparting religion, that
Mrs. Eddy s leadership excels. She is a literalist, wherever
the spiritual teachings of Christ Jesus are involved. Hers
is a spiritual technique highly effective. She has set the
feet of millions in the path that leads up to the mount
where the Ten Commandments are thundered forth to be
obeyed and the Beatitudes break in blessings to be lived.
The religious services of the Christian Science churches
are well attended, both on Sunday and on Wednesday
evening. Weather matters little. The author has looked
in on nights when it was pouring rain, and The Mother
Church was well filled. He has made it his business to
test attendance on a very hot night in early summer, and
the people were there.

Reasons why Christian Scientists go to church as a
matter of course are as evident as they are easy to set
forth. For one thing, the details of their worship are so
designed and perfected as to hold the close attention of
the worshiper. The service is always brief. All present
on Sunday share with the two Readers in prayer and
join in the singing, which in Christian Science is as dis-

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 249

tinctive as it is truly congregational. Yet neither in the
Sunday nor the Wednesday evening service is any stress
laid upon the emotional. Nor is there any "long face"
ever in sight.

A great teacher developed the Christian Science service
to suit student worshipers. Not even Mark Hopkins on
one end, with his student on the other, of that over-ridden
log, deserves a higher place among the teachers of America
than Mary Baker Eddy. She, too, first taught one at a
time; and later, when increasing calls upon her hours
obliged her to group her students into classes, she tried
to keep the number down so as to give them the maximum
possible of individual attention. 6 For all her teaching,
she personally made careful preparation, and by the time
her Church was going strong she had a Committee at
work preparing the Bible Lessons far in advance for all
student worshipers.

One can be a Christian Scientist and little heed the
magazines and newspapers, but one cannot be a Christian
Scientist and omit the daily study of the Bible Lessons.
The world over the author knows Christian Scientists,
and he has yet to find one in good standing who cannot
quote his Bible with a readiness and an accuracy which
few outside that faith, even preachers of our day, can
match.

The study of the Lesson for the preceding six days
acts as a feeder for the Sunday service in which the same
Bible passages which have been studied through the week,
are read from the platform accompanied by correlative
sentences from the Christian Science textbook.

Every Sunday congregation, therefore, no matter where
assembled, is both a company of worshipers and a group

250 MARY BAKER EDDY

of students met together to receive more light on the
studies they have made day by day, through the preceding
week. Even in traveling, by land or sea, or in vacation
time, wherever Christian Scientists are however few
they read their Lessons. Though no Christian Science
church may be within reach many when Sunday comes
have their little service as though they were at home.
With the same Lessons studied everywhere on week days,
and on Sundays read in church throughout the world,
there is constituted a democracy, both of study and of
worship, going far to explain "the crowded churches"
which outside of Christian Science are the fascination and
despair of Christian leaders. Rarely, in fact, are they to be
found elsewhere save in the case of the few congregations
fortunate enough to have a brilliant preacher, and even he
must not often take the risk of preaching long. 7

Every religious fold has some excellence by which
other folds may profit, but the approach to it from the
outside must be with understanding and with sympathy.
Perhaps Rufus Jones 8 has stressed the greatest of all
Christian needs, in making the awareness of the presence
of God the one essential. Standing for the same eternal
principle, Mrs. Eddy worked out a technique which keeps
her followers, every one, constantly aware of God. But
to this boon, she added practical demonstration of the
intrinsic value of the Bible Lessons used daily and their
reading at the public services on Sunday and a literal
acceptance of the healing promises of Jesus.

For a discussion of healing, no apology is made. The
interest in the revival of apostolic healing is now widening.
Many years ago the late Bishop Brent, while still in the
Philippines, wrote the author in approval of Christian

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 251

healing, and immediately after, he even wrote a book for
the author s editing in explanation of what the life of God
in the soul of man can do for anyone. No later than last
May, Bishop Remington of Eastern Oregon is reported
to have summoned the church to recover the lost art of
healing. After twenty and more years of experimenting,
started most intelligently by the Emmanuel Movement,
the Protestant Episcopal Church has its Nazarene So
ciety helping many; its Commission on Healing carefully
studying with the church s approval the ways and means
of restoring what should never have been lost; and its
latest General Convention seriously agreeing that "Chris
tian healing has passed beyond the stage of experiment and
its value cannot be questioned."
Mr. Frederick Dixon wrote:

People frequently talk of Christian Science as if it were nothing
more than a mammoth dispensary; as a matter of fact, that is an
almost ludicrous misconception of what its healing means. It
means the eradication from the human consciousness of all those
mental causes which produce sin, disease, and death. It means
that in order to be healthier every patient must become a better
man. It aims not merely at the destruction of sickness and pain,
but of sorrow and want, of misery and vice. 9

The knowledge that the understanding mind does
deeply influence for good the body pathological is not
confined exclusively to the pages of Science and Health.
Three hundred years before Mrs. Eddy announced that
"Whatever is cherished in mortal mind as the physical
condition is imaged forth on the body," 10 Spenser, in his
Faerie Queene, was reminding a believing public:

For of the soule, the bodie forme doth take,
For soule is forme, and doth the bodie make.

252 MARY BAKER EDDY

Some twenty-three hundred years before Mrs. Eddy
wrote, "Moral conditions will be found always harmo
nious and health-giving," 11 Socrates said to Charmides,
"First then and above all, the soul must be treated if the
head and the rest of the body are ever to be made whole." 12

In making the observation that "When spiritual being
is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might,
then shall man be found in God s image," 13 Mrs. Eddy
was simply leading men back to the teachings of Him
whom John Charles Earl thus describes:

He pours the flood of light on darkened eyes,

He chases tears, diseases, fiends away;
His throne is raised upon those Orient skies,

His footstool is the pave whereon we pray.
Oh, tell me not of Christ in Paradise,

For He is all around us here, to-day. 14

While theologians were over-busy speculating about
the personality of Christ Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy went to
the heart of the practice of Christ Jesus and revived his
healing ministry. She never claimed to have originated,
but only to have discovered and restored, what had too
long lain dormant since the passing of our Lord, and to
have furnished a healing technique which all can learn to
practice who will take the trouble in both faith and prayer.
A study first-hand, with a mind unbiased, of her words
and works usually substantiates her claims.

"The gods give thread for a web begun." In her long
life on earth, Mrs. Eddy began a web, and in the twenty
years which since have intervened, thread has been fur
nished in abundance to those she designated to carry on
when she was gone. After the pattern she set, that web
is still aweaving. What the finished product is to be no

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 253

one as yet foresees. No prevision is adequate. Those who
understand the teachings of their Leader are content to
make the best use they can of the thread given them. The
ultimate they leave to God.

Meanwhile the world at large keeps an eye on Christian
Science. Every year it expects more of this faith. "By
their fruits" the world is judging Christian Scientists.
Some of the fruits of this new faith it is, therefore, now
in order to consider.

At first, not all the fruits of Christian Science ripened.
Not all, as early as Mr. James A. Neal, 15 of revered
memory, brought forth fruit abundantly. Many of the ear
lier Christian Scientists were plain folk. Many of the men
worked in factories, or in the field. The women were
housekeepers, often broken on the wheel of drudgery. But
they came to Mrs. Eddy. They sat at her feet. Something
told them she had a message for them; and in listening
to her words a reorientation came to them of which
through all their later years they never tired of speaking.
To some as several told and also wrote the author years
ago the days they spent in Mrs. Eddy s class opened
to them a new heaven and a new earth. Not in all cases,
however, did this entrancing experience last. The vision
which she gave was sometimes allowed to fade out. Some
of those earlier followers turned back to the trivial round
and found it as trivial as it was before, to the common
task and it seemed commoner than ever. But there were
others who conserved their vision until the end, and until
the end they testified that the healing touch which body
and mind had felt lasted, and outlasted, time.

One of the earlier Scientists testified to healing of an
illness before she ever met the woman wonderful. So

254 MARY BAKER EDDY

deeply moved was she by her experience that she packed
her bag, and hurried to Boston to see her benefactor. Not
realizing that Mrs. Eddy had already become a very
busy woman, the visitor was disappointed on ringing the
door bell to learn that Mrs. Eddy was too engrossed to
see anyone. Not to be entirely frustrated, the well-
meaning visitor begged to be shown a portrait which she
had heard hung in the parlor. Almost as soon as she was
admitted to the room she discovered herself in the pres
ence of the woman she had come to see and thank. With
both hands outstretched, Mrs. Eddy stepped forward, put
her arm around her visitor, and promptly said, "I was
in my study writing as busily as ever I wrote in my life
when suddenly I put down my pen and came to this
room. I knew not why." Before leaving the house the
visitor had become a member of Mrs. Eddy s class, and
later proved a worthy student.

Even in these sophisticated days the primitive type of
faith persists, naive and blessed in proportion to its sim
plicity. Coming down the automatic elevator in a city
office building, late one night when the street floor seemed
deserted, the author stopped a moment at the hallway
desk of the watchman who was not then in sight. But
near a low reading light a chair was drawn, and on the
chair a book lay open a little much- worn copy of
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. On soli
tary guard this faithful man, through the still watches
of the night, was seeking intently for a clearer under
standing of the truths he found in Christian Science.
With a curiosity the author hopes is not beyond all
pardon, he spied these words on the open page on which
the watchman s eyes had rested and which he had marked:

Used by permission.
From an oil painting by Margaret F. Richardson.

THE LEADER IN HER CHESTNUT HILL DAYS

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 255

Truth will be to us "the resurrection and the life" only as it
destroys all error and the belief that Mind, the only immortality
of man, can be fettered by the body, and Life be controlled by
death. A sinful, sick, and dying mortal is not the likeness of God,
the perfect and eternal. 16

Dropping in one Wednesday evening at a service in
a suburban church, the author heard a plain man tell
his story. He was all humility, although for twenty years,
as he explained, he had been a persistent student of
Christian Science. During all that time he had never
faltered, whether on the mountain top or in the valley
far below. Some small success had come his way, some
times also failure. Through the years, however, he had
stood firm, and modestly he hoped he could with truth
report some headway gained. For all that Christian
Science had done for him he was grateful, and to the
casual visitor his words rang true.

The testimony of the Christian Science lecturers is
significant because, in lecturing to groups, sometimes
numbering thousands and including many persons not
of their own faith, they have to treat their subject in
a generous spirit, of which such words as these are
representative:

Christian Science is essentially Christian. It is calm, peaceful,
serene, and divinely secure. It resorts to no emotionalism to excite
an interest in itself. On the contrary, it appeals through pure
reason and logic to the very best in one s nature. It repeats the
saying of ancient times: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters." 17

The best practitioners have stories to tell from real
life which, for spiritual insight, can scarcely be surpassed.
Their work is not perfunctory. In emergencies, they

256 MARY BAKER EDDY

remain in the sickroom day and night, denying discord
and asserting God s presence and power until the hour
strikes for the results to come. Back, therefore, of their
calm and measured words, there is a wealth of hard facts
to give weight to their words:

Christian Science is vital to men and women, because it presents
a scientific explanation by which all may work out their own
salvation. It explains all cause and effect as mental; and that sin,
disease, and death are overcome by the understanding of the same
divine Principle which enabled Jesus to heal the sick and raise
the dead. Contrary to popular opinion, this healing is achieved
not by any use of the human will or suggestion, but by the
understanding of that which is absolutely true in the sight of
God. It is indeed the "Spirit of truth," the Comforter which
Jesus promised. 18

The testimony of both the business man and business
woman is to the author all the more impressive because
he has talked with many of this type, from the expert
secretary to the big business man, although it must not
be forgotten that in Christian Science there is no small
and great. In its spiritual democracy, Kipling s millennial
lines find immediate fulfillment:

And no one shall work for money, and

no one shall work for fame;
But each for the joy of the working, and

each, in his separate star.

Of nothing in this book is the author more certain
than of business efficiency in Christian Science. Not once
has he failed to find the loyal Christian Scientist living
up to the high business ideal which insures success. That
ideal has been happily expressed by Mr. Charles E.
Heitman in the words: "Alertness, worthiness, and love

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 257

of our work determine its productive value." The
Christian Scientist s eye is never on the clock. He wastes
no time in loud or idle talk. He is never overtaken by
brainstorms. His vitality he does not waste in worry or
in hurry. Undercutting and side-stepping the true Chris
tian Scientist never practices. His single-mindedness and
happiness of spirit carry over into business life and make
his every effort count toward high success. How could
it be otherwise, when an hour, often two hours, he sets
aside each day sometimes in the early morning for
the study of the Bible Lessons, which brings the quiet
mind, the ordered energy, the poised personality?

Nor is the author without much good company in his
opinion. Years ago Michael Meehan not a Christian
Scientist confirmed it:

Christian Scientists are successful. Why? They are in harmony
with the law of the presence of God in all things, as forcibly
demonstrated by the Founder of Christian Science; their complete
acceptance of God s law makes them quickly responsive to the
laws of their country and enhances their value as citizens; they
do not gossip they have neither the time nor inclination; their
petitions over wrongs and grievances are not clogging court
records; they are never found patronizing questionable resorts,
nor are they engaged in questionable practices; they do not
meddle in the affairs of their neighbors; they avoid even the
appearances of evil. 19

Mr. Clarence H. Howard, a business man of St. Louis,
who long ago became convinced of the value of the tests
which Christian Science sets up and which Mr. Meehan
describes, successfully applied them in the development
of the manifold activities of his Commonwealth Plan,
until at last the Commonwealth Steel Company of Granite

258 MARY BAKER EDDY

City, Illinois, of which Mr. Howard was President, has
become one of the major industries of the Mississippi
Valley.

Another outstanding example of business men who
were Christian Scientists was Mr. William Delavan Bald
win, Chairman of the Board of the Otis Elevator Company,
who testified:

It is now about forty years since I first became interested in
Christian Science, and during all of this time I have been and am
a strong and devoted adherent of the teachings of Mary Baker
Eddy. Each year brings to me an ever greater appreciation of
her wonderful character and the tremendous influence for good
her revelations and teachings have had, and are now having with
ever increasing force. The world needs the higher spiritual under
standing and knowledge of spiritual healing taught by Mrs. Eddy,
to solve and heal its complex material problems. Christian Science
rests on demonstration.

No field has been more productive of a type of Christian
Scientist than the stage. Perhaps it is because stage folk
have to pay a heavier price than most of us for any
lowering of vitality. They must keep high their level of
efficiency. Competition is so keen and public censure so
immediate that if they do not give their best at every
performance, they may have to say of the audience:

They light me once,

They hurry by,

And never come again.

Twenty years ago The Music Master and The Lion
and the Mouse were crowding theaters, and winning for
their author, Charles Klein, a deserved reputation and
also a large income. He overworked. His health broke.
Life lost its zest for him. His associates believed him

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 259

through. Suddenly he snapped back into larger success
than ever. Asked to account for such an unexpected
resurgence of health and effectiveness, he replied that he
turned to Christian Science. In the Cosmopolitan for
February, 1907, he wrote:

I gradually, indeed almost immediately, recovered my health,
my peace of mind, professional and financial success, and happi
ness far beyond my wildest dream.

Since 1918, when as Vice President of the Association
of American Colleges, the author was brought close to
many an institution, he has wondered: "Does Christian
Science touch the college mind?" More recently he has
listened to many expressions of opinion, talked with rep
resentative students, and also read the files of letters
from college students received by The Christian Science
Board of Directors, while administering the late Ruggles
Educational Fund, established in 1926 under the will
of Dr. Georgia Sackett Ruggles of Los Angeles, Cali
fornia, to assist young men and women, not only in this
country but also in Canada, England, Germany, Holland,
France, Switzerland, and other lands, to complete their
education.

Among the distinguished American institutions repre
sented in these reactions to Christian Science are Harvard,
Williams, Brown, University of Chicago, Northwestern,
and University of Idaho. The author heard a young
college man, at a Wednesday evening service, express
gratitude for the help which Christian Science was
bringing to him in his college life. Not merely had his
faith equipped him, he said, to handle better the problems
of his daily living; it had also helped him through exami-

260 MARY BAKER EDDY

nations, by the elimination of fear and its replacement
by such a spirit of confidence and serenity as made it
possible for him to marshal all his resources, which else
would have been scattered.

The author was so impressed with the thoughtfulness
of a Christian Science student, senior in another college,
in which he was well regarded, that finally there was
procured from him this statement in writing:

Of course, the average college man finds his religion up against
a severe test when he first meets the cold lights of science and the
paradoxes of philosophy, and the general attitude of skepticism
which is so prevalent among undergraduates. I have seen many
of my friends enormously disturbed as they watch the founda
tions of a none too objective religious background crumble out
from under them. They often have to resort, in case belief in
religion is not swept away, to retaining a non-rational and usually
emotional faith, which is quite unsatisfactory to their reasoning
intellect. For my part, having only just acquired a really work
able knowledge of Science when I entered college, I have through
college been most interested in putting it to the test under . . .
conditions which ordinarily prove severe. I have even gone out
of my way to do this as much as possible.

I can truthfully say, Dr. Powell, that there has been no problem
that I have found in any of the departments of the college work,
which I have not been able to settle definitely by using Science.
I am constantly amazed at the completeness of Mrs. Eddy s
writing. Using the concordances carefully, the most detailed
points in such a highly complex subject as philosophy will be
explicitly decided in her writings, with the scientific logic which
characterizes the entire system. Or if there is not a direct answer
to a given problem, the student can find statements which will
enable him to decide for himself. I never have found a question
which I could not solve in a way wholly consistent with Science,
to my complete satisfaction. I cannot tell you the value of
having a firm and completely stable mental and spiritual system,

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 261

which I have never known to fail. It means a mental vigor and
decision which could come, I think, only from a consistently
inclusive Science.

On another occasion, the author was fortunate to
obtain from a Phi Beta Kappa man, ten years out of a
great university, this thought-provoking opinion:

If I could speak to the college youth of to-day I would say
this: the study and the practice of Christian Science will make
you a better student with less effort; from my own experience
in helping others I can say that there are no conditions of pain
or suffering which Christian Science cannot eliminate, that there
is no fear which it cannot cast out, no financial problem which
it cannot solve; if my words have any weight it is only because
they are backed up by proof, proof gained from such persistent
evidence that it is impossible to draw any other conclusion except
that neither luck nor human sagacity but the operation of a power
above and beyond man is responsible for the multiplicity of
harmonious results which have followed the application of the
principle and rule set forth in the Christian Science textbook,
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker
Eddy.

Out of letters in the files of the late Ruggles Educational
Fund from students at home and abroad, a few selected
sentences are submitted:

As I walked to school each morning I kept saying Divine Mind
works harmoniously. "All is infinite Mind and its infinite mani
festation." 20 By declaring this I saw that I was not doing the
work myself, but reflecting infinite Mind which neither works
too fast nor too slow. Immediately my laboratory work speeded
up and I caught up with the class and stayed with them to the end.

For the first time in my life I have reached the point where I
actually love to study and want to forge ahead and learn much
more than is actually required in the courses. I am convinced
now of the value of a college training if one really wants to get

262 MARY BAKER EDDY

all the good possible out of it, and it seems to me that my under
standing of Christian Science is being broadened rather than
confused by it. The history either of a country or a literature is
so much more explicable and meaningful in the light of Truth,
and in studying it one gets rid of false prejudices at the same time
that one sees the futility of all systems of thought or action
resting on a material basis. Involuntarily I measure any theory
or hypothesis with which I come in contact by the rule of
Christian Science and value it according as it approaches or falls
below that rule. I am all the more grateful for this absolute
standard of judgment inasmuch as several of my friends have had
their orthodox religious views completely upset in college and
are now pretty much at sea.

Through holding fast to Truth and denying error I have over
come the difficulties which confronted me. (A German student
in a German University.)

While in Berlin, I stood before an examination to last five
hours ... I made it clear to myself that the one infinite Mind
alone filled me and that God governs us all: that nothing can be
asked of me that I could not do. ... To my great joy I began
to see here too that my right thinking was victorious. (Another
translation from a German student.)

There was a time when the attitude of Christian Science
toward family life was not everywhere understood. Much
ink was spilt in criticism. The simple fact is that Mrs. Eddy
literally took her stand with Jesus, as she interpreted him.
Jesus preached purity in all the relationships of life. Mrs.
Eddy preached the same in somewhat the same language.
But she was always practical. Once she observed:

Be faithful over home relations; they lead to higher joys; obey
the Golden Rule for human life, and it will spare you much
bitterness. It is pleasanter to do right than wrong; it makes one
ruler over one s self and hallows home which is woman s
world. Please your husband, and he will be apt to please you;
preserve affection on both sides. 21

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 263

Coming over on the Olympic, Zoe Beckley found
Lady Astor with Science and Health always near her in
her daily writing and "speech-preparing." Zoe Beckley s
human interest story in the Woman s Home Companion
(August, 1930) pictures Lady Astor as charming, vital,
sensible, and adds: "She is religious, a Christian Scientist.
Motherhood is a mania with Nancy Astor. I have only
six children, she says ruefully, 1 would like a full dozen. "
Nothing could better illustrate Mrs. Eddy s practicalness
than in counseling the individual to live up to his own
understanding of the truth before he interferes with the
affairs of others. Mrs. Eddy says:

Great mischief comes from attempts to steady other people s
altars, venturing on valor without discretion, which is virtually
meddlesomeness. Even your sincere and courageous convictions
regarding what is best for others may be mistaken; you must be
demonstratively right yourself, and work out the greatest good
to the greatest number, before you are sure of being a fit
counsellor. 22

Among the many letters received by the author in
twenty-four years from men and women who had been
with Mrs. Eddy in Lynn and Boston, is one indicative of
the blending of the ideal and practical almost from the first
in her experience. In reply to the author s inquiry for the
exact truth concerning Mrs. Eddy s opinions on marriage
when, in 1875, the writer often talked with her, the word
came: "There was nothing at variance" with those lines in
her chapter on Marriage in that first edition of Science and
Health (1875): "Be not in haste to take the vow until
death do us part but consider well its obligations, respon
sibilities, and relations to all your future happiness; judge
before friendship, 23 then confide till death."

264 MARY BAKER EDDY

In the twenty years since Mrs. Eddy passed on, the
practical bearing of her teaching has become apparent
along with the lowering in the world at large of the high
standard of purity set up by her. At a time when mar
riage seems menacingly unstable, and subject to easy
dissolution, Christian Science is securing for it more
stability. Christian Science calls the entire family to rally
to the unifying standard of purity, unselfishness and
recognition of the higher rights of every member. Writes
the college-bred mother of one of the many attractive
Christian Science families, whom the author has the happy
privilege of knowing in their homes:

There has been one sentence that has been like a beacon light
to us in bringing up our three children. This was told to some
of Mrs. Eddy s students who asked her how they were to protect
their little children from aggressive propaganda of mortal mind.
The sentence is as follows: "Give the children the truth at home,
and then let them go." We have found that in so far as we have
lived up to this admonition, teaching them the moral principle
found in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount,
that we could then send them forth into their school and college
and social life, trusting them to God s care. We have tried to
instill in them the desire for obedience to the spiritual import of
the Bible, our text-book, Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, and the Manual of the Mother
Church, and to awaken in them the sense of the importance of
daily study of the lesson-sermon. They have turned to the prin
ciple of Christian Science in working out all their problems and
have found that, since each one of us must work out his own
salvation, it is wise to attempt to solve a problem first through
one s own understanding of the truth before turning to another
for help.

We are learning through the teaching of Christian Science to
treat the children as equals and to share all family problems and
experiences with them as far as is practicable. We find that

"BY THEIR FRUITS" 265

their response to this point of view is astonishing, and contributes
to their confidence in themselves, and the progress, interest, and
happiness of the home life. The children have been encouraged
to have a special interest outside their prescribed school studies,
such as athletic sports and music. Jesus prayed that his disciples
should be kept not from the world, but from the evil in the
world, and Mrs. Eddy gives us the practical application of this
principle in her admonition: "keep your minds so filled with
Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them." 24
We have tried to arouse in the children the ideal of service to
mankind in all they do. We discovered that one of them had
adopted the plan of saying to himself mentally whenever he met a
new friend: "What can I do for you?" A very important lesson
for them is obedience to the laws of the land. This obedience to
Caesar does not conflict with rendering what is due to God but
unfolds the necessary quality of self-discipline in the individual.
We have been learning as a family that happiness in the home
life is due to the exercise of certain qualities, such as honesty,
loyalty, purity, activity, charity and affection. 25

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." 26

TWENTY YEARS AFTER

ALMOST twenty years have passed since Mrs. Eddy,
on the little tablet which a member of the family
brought her, wrote her last message to the flock
she loved and was about to leave.

Since that December day in 1910, much has happened.
Recently the author was one of a little group, a member
of which, apropos of nothing, sagely observed: "Christian
Science is now on its last legs."

Unless the author has altogether misunderstood and
utterly misinterpreted the rich sources open to him first
among all investigators, and on which this is the first
book to be based, Christian Science, which has more
than doubled its churches, societies, and membership in
twenty years, far from being on "its last legs," is now
going stronger than ever.

The very reserve concerning the publication of statistics
by those responsible for the general policy of the
movement has increased the author s respect for the
management. Again and again, as he has come accidentally
upon facts and figures not officially in evidence, he has
discovered a systematic policy of understatement rather
than of overstatement, and an appropriate spiritual mod
esty which Mrs. Eddy once called the "jewel" 1 of
Christian Science.

While the author is aware that readers of this book
will give only such credence to his opinions as they
appear to deserve, he confidently believes that his general
impression of the strong and steady development these

266

TWENTY YEARS AFTER 267

twenty years past of Christian Science, will seem even
to the incredulous to be amply justified.

Mrs. Eddy never claimed to have found something
entirely new. On the other hand she said, "I have found
nothing in ancient or in modern systems on which to
found my own except the teachings and demonstrations
of our great Master." 2 What Jesus brought to light, and
then in the dark ages many lost, Mrs. Eddy brought to
light again. No religious leader in all time has ever been
more insistent than the Discoverer and Founder of Chris
tian Science that Christ Jesus kept his promise: "Lo, I am
with you alway." 8 No follower of Christ Jesus has ever
testified more convincingly than Mrs. Eddy both to the
naturalness and the effectiveness of his works.

They are [she says] the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us,"

a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and
repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,

To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense],
And recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty them that are bruised. 4

Objectionable comparisons never interested Mrs. Eddy.
Hers was too busy a life to waste time on them. As she
came to the fullness of her powers and her fame, not
merely did she herself wish all Zion prosperity; but she
also spoke thus for her followers: "A genuine Christian
Scientist loves Protestant and Catholic, D.D. and M.D.,

loves all who love God, good." 5 Incidentally, the
author has had abundant evidence that at least once she
indicated she would rather see a good Congregationalist
than a poor Christian Scientist.

That was natural. Congregationalism had been her

268 MARY BAKER EDDY

religious training from the cradle, and she never once
denied the devoutness and democracy of the Congrega
tional denomination.

If Mrs. Eddy did not specifically praise the "Disciples"
(sometime called Campbellites) she illustrated the pos
sibility of putting the Christian fellowship they preached
above mere difference of definition.

The woman who wrote, "Divine Science derives its
sanction from the Bible," 6 was not apt to be at odds
with Lutherans, who from the first have kept the Bible
at the center of their worship.

Making for itself a large place in history by the sub
stitution of "conversion" for mere "respectability" at the
very time that Mrs. Eddy was growing up, Methodism
never emphasized "Ye must be born again" more posi
tively than Mrs. Eddy emphasized the thought in such
phrases as "The man born of Spirit is spiritual." 7

The dignity and decorum which give distinction to
Episcopal worship are matched in Christian Science
through the explicit instructions worked out in the earlier
days by its Founder.

If as Dr. J. Fort Newton believes, "something is missing
in modern religion," it is not the fault of Mrs. Eddy,
nor of those today who carry on not merely in her
spirit but also in obedience to her definite and far-reaching
instructions.

On February 27, 1903, Mrs. Eddy wrote The Christian
Science Board of Directors:

Never abandon the By-laws nor the denominational govern
ment of The Mother Church. If I am not personally with you,
the Word of God and my instructions in the By-laws have led
you hitherto and will remain to guide you safely on. 8

TWENTY YEARS AFTER 269

Mrs. Eddy was still on earth when one of her critics
who turned later to hearty appreciation said:

The power, through loving mercifulness and compassion, to
heal fleshly ills and pains and griefs all with a word, with a
touch of the hand! This power was given by the Saviour to the
Disciples, and to all the converted. All every one. It was exer
cised for generations afterwards. Any Christian who is earnest
and not a make-believe, not a policy-Christian, not a Christian for
revenue only, had that healing power, and could cure with it
any disease or any hurt or damage possible to human flesh and
bone. These things are true, or they are not. If they were true
seventeen and eighteen and nineteen centuries ago it would be
difficult satisfactorily to explain why or how or by what argu
ment that power should be non-existent in Christians now. 9

Differ as men in 1930 may about Christian Science,
all who have even scant knowledge of the organization
agree that Christian Science under the conscientious con
duct of a Board of Directors never unmindful of their
spiritual responsibility to the Founder, has lifted the blight
of poverty as well as sickness from many a life and many
a home.

Under a technique of daily Bible study of their
Leader s planning and with her still ever-present help
through her writings, Christian Scientists have developed
a habit of church attendance and of church financial sup
port which in the minds of many other Christians is
evolving out of doubt into aspiration.

Even more significant is the large percentage of
Christian Scientists who indisputably as even casual
observers testify bear those fruits of the spirit which
St. Paul listed as "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentle
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."

270 MARY BAKER EDDY

Not a few outside of Christian Science who recognize
its worth, now have little difficulty in agreeing with
"Sonny s Father" in Ruth McEnery Stuart s story:

I want to treat em white, thet s all. Any sect thet dwells upon
the beauty of holiness an thet challenges every soul to find God
in itself has got a great truth, an there s so much health an
well-bein in that one reelization thet we might forgive em ef
their heads gits turned a little an they become imbued with
the idee thet they ve got a corner on the Grace of God. 10

Most of us are quite willing that any group if they
can shall get "a corner on the Grace of God"; for the
only corner possible, in the nature of the case, on the
Grace of God is a strategic place from which the Spirit
drives us out to share the Grace of God with those who
have it not.

If, these twenty years past, under the direction of the
Board, Christian Science has actually gotten "a corner
on the Grace of God," none need be over-anxious. The
best they have Christian Scientists were never keener
than they are today to give away, without solicitation
and also without proselyting, "to them that are far off
and to them that are nigh."

What the final judgment is to be on Christian Science,
those who direct its course though giving no evidence
of concern would be the last to venture to predict.
They understand that their first responsibility and that
of all other Scientists is to live the faith to which they
bear witness. They know, too, that Clio, muse of history,
still stands, as in pre-Christian days, with judicial pen
suspended, always waiting but never over-eager to
write the last word concerning men and movements.

With persecution passing, one peril still remains. It is

TWENTY YEARS AFTER 271

the peril of prosperity. But even out of that peril, which
has proved too much for many a worthy cause, there is
a way for Christian Science. It is as the incoming
President of The Mother Church in 1924 clearly indi
catedthe way of gratitude

to the God of our fathers, who has carried us through this
desert to the promised land; to Christ Jesus, "the author and
finisher of our faith"; to our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy,
whose teachings have sustained our faith, and whose Church
Manual has kept us in the right path; and to our Board of
Directors, who, through stress and storm, have held our standard
aloft without wavering. 11

So long as Christian Scientists keep in this way, so
long also as day by day they try to live up to the teach
ings of their Leader, so long will they take no thought
for the morrow. Tor the morrow shall take thought for
the things of itself." 12

NOTES

PROLOGUE

1. Page 3. Alfred Farlow.

2. Ptfge 7. One of the staff at Christian Science headquarters, with some
pathos, then explained to the author that in order to get through even ordi
nary routine, he was coming in from the suburbs every morning to be at
his desk by seven and sometimes staying late.

3. Page 8. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 14:29:1688.

4. Page 11. Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. Ill, 526.
This passage was read at the annual meeting of The Mother Church in 1929,
by Judge Clifford P. Smith, to an audience of five thousand.

5. Page 11. Cambridge History of American Literature^ 531.

6. Page 12. Andrade s An Hour of Physics, 222.

7. Page 12. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary
Baker Eddy, 468. Hereafter when the author refers to Science and Health
it will be abbreviated thus: S. & H.

8. Page 13. Otto s The Idea of the Holy, 158.

9. Page 13. Scribner s, December, 1929; Collier s, April 19, 1930. In addi
tion, Bishop Charles Fiske of Central New York is thus quoted in The Living
Church, June 21, 1930: "Church attendance is not an infallible test of religious
reality. It is, however, a fairly accurate thermometer by which to record
the warmth of Christian loyalty. I have had a count made of the number of
worshipers present at the principal Sunday service in some of our churches.
The reports are amazing. In one city church having nearly 1,200 communi
cants, there was a Sunday morning congregation of 250. About the same
number was present in a church reporting 1,300 members. In another, with
close to a thousand communicants, the congregation numbered 225. In other
churches with communicant lists ranging from 800 to 900 and upward, the
proportion was about the same. Apparently the smaller churches showed a
better record. City and town parishes with 400 to 600 communicants, and
over, record an average attendance of about thirty-five per cent. Village
and small town churches of 200 total membership, or less, showed about
forty per cent. The count in several churches showed an appalling absence
of men about one-sixth of the congregations was all that could be mustered
in several parishes, one-seventh in others. These are the facts. I can under
stand everything about them, save that clergy and laity who know the facts
do not seem in the least anxious or concerned about them. The insoluble
mystery is that so few of our leaders show serious dissatisfaction at such
evident falling away.

"These figures do not reflect special discredit upon our own diocese. I was
led to make the count here because of the publication of certain statistics of
church attendance in New York City. Fifteen prosperous parishes, leading
churches of the city, having a total reported communicant list of 23,196 had
on a fair, cool day in summer an attendance of only 2,496 at the principal

273

274 NOTES TO PROLOGUE

Sunday morning service. Of course summer attendance is hardly a true test,
although even in New York everybody is not away for week-end holidays
or enjoying an entire season s vacation for the heated term. A survey made on
a fair Sunday at the peak of the winter season showed in the same churches
6,977 persons present, not counting the attendance at early communions,
which in several of the churches must have been considerable. Attendance
under favorable conditions, therefore, was less than one-third of the reported
membership. Unfortunately, the figures do not tell the whole story, because
five of the congregations counted were in famous metropolitan churches
where there is usually a large proportion of visitors to swell the number of
worshipers. Either parish communicant rolls are absurdly overpadded, or the
religious habits of church members are tragically lax."

10. Page 14. Everyone should read Channing Pollock s defense of the
times in The American Magazine, July, 1930. In Church Federation, June,
1930, it is recorded that Charles P. Steinmetz, the world s foremost electrical
engineer, in his last days, forecast the future in the following impressive
words: "I think the greatest discovery will be made along spiritual lines. Here
is a force which history clearly teaches has been the greatest power in the
development of men and history. Yet we have merely been playing with it
and have never seriously studied it as we have the physical forces. Some day
people will learn that material things do not bring happiness and are of
little use in making men and women creative and powerful. Then the
scientists of the world will turn their laboratories over to the study of God
and prayer and the spiritual forces which as yet have hardly been scratched.
When this day comes, the world will see more advancement in one genera
tion than it has seen in the last four."

As though to call Christians of all types to their co-operative responsibility
the Right Reverend James De Wolf Perry, Bishop of Rhode Island and
Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States,
said in Westminster Abbey August 10, 1930, in his farewell sermon to the
Lambeth Conference as reported in the New York Times, August 11, 1930:
"Hearts and minds everywhere are uniting in a demand for a way of life
to guide them and light and truth to reassure them. Here is a singleness of
need that will be satisfied only by the witness of a united voice."

11. Page 15. Renascence.

12. Page IS. The Independent, November, 1906.

13. Page 15. The Living Church, October 13, 1928.

CHAPTER I

1. Page 25. Matthew 11:5.

2. Page 25. The author was privileged in the summer of 1917 to share
with the late Baron von Hugel the gracious hospitality of the Master s Lodge
at Balliol College, Oxford, and to listen entranced to the Baron s now familiar
interpretation of "Christianity as caring" the very words the Baron uses in
his letter to his niece.

3. Page 25. John 9:25.

4. Page 26. Luke 19:40.

NOTES TO CHAPTER I 275

5. Page 27. Christian Science encircled the globe in Mrs. Eddy s time.
Since she passed on, Christian Science has grown so rapidly that twenty-six
countries besides the United States are now represented in the advertising
columns of the Monitor. In London alone there are twelve churches instead
of, as twenty years ago, only three, and in other European cities the cause
is growing at a substantial rate every year.

6. Page 31. First Reader of The Mother Church, 1902-05; First Reader
of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, New Hampshire, 1906-09; since
1905 he has been a member of The Christian Science Board of Lectureship.

7. Page 33. Quoted by Judge Clifford P. Smith, manager of Committees
on Publication, at the annual meeting of The Mother Church in June, 1921.

8. Page 34. Religion and Medicine, 10.

9. Page 37. Albert Bigelow Paine: Mark Twain, A Biography (1912),
Vol. Ill, 1271.

10. Page 40. The interest taken by Christian Scientists in other lands,
other folds, and in all who need, is of the Scriptural type. They are averse
to making the left hand acquainted with what the right hand does. Kipling s
couplet describes them:

Help me to need no help from men,
That I may help such men as need.

At a time when individual Christian Scientists were very generous to the
sufferers from the fire of 1906 in San Francisco, the church itself was criti
cized for holding aloof by some who did not understand the modesty of
Christian Science giving. The criticism was soon silenced, however, by the
relief action taken in accordance with their Leader s directions by The
Mother Church.

All through the four years of the World War names of Christian Scientists
stood high on the honor roll of war relief, not merely in the war zone lands,
but also in countries only indirectly hurt by the world tragedy. Nor was
their generosity confined to their own people. Beginning with the Red
Cross, funds of their contributing were disbursed through the Y. M. C. A.,
the Boy Scouts, and other relief committees in many lands.

When the earthquake came in 1923 to Japan, The Mother Church was
instant in relief, and the Japanese delegation which visited Boston last spring
to thank the city for its generosity, on that occasion paid a special visit to
the Directors of The Mother Church, bringing letters of appreciation from
the Mayor of Tokyo and the bureau of reconstruction of the Japanese
Government.

The author has seen letters from Episcopal, Methodist, and Baptist min
isters expressing fervent gratitude for Christian Science gifts to them when
they were overtaken by the floods, some in the Mississippi Valley, others in
Vermont.

It has been said that Christian Science has no paid missionaries and does
no systematic missionary work. Such critics, however, disregard the fact
that every Christian Scientist is ipso facto a non-proselyting missionary: and
among the most impressive data to which the author has had access are
some with illustrations from the Philippine Islands, Brazil, Argentina,
Southwest Africa, the Dutch East Indies, and other remote lands indicating

276 NOTES TO CHAPTER I

that not merely are Christian Scientists doing works of mercy, wherever
they may be, but that also in some lands notably Africa and Oriental
countries Christian Science societies and churches are in consequence
automatically resulting.

11. Page 40. The Literary Digest, April 26, 1930.

12. Page 40. The Radiant Life, 11.

13. Page 40. Philippians 2:12. The conception of the priesthood of de
mocracy grew out of a discussion with Charles E. Heitman, member of the
Board of Directors, and constructively helpful to the author.

14. Page 41. Miscellaneous Writings, 154.

15. Page 42. In the Jewish Tribune, July 26, 1929, Orwell Bradley Towne
says: "Christian Scientists do not put on revivals or conduct campaigns
openly or secretly to gain followers, or for funds with which to finance its
activities. Christian Science as a religious organization seeks only to serve
the cause of humanity as set forth in the Bible. Christian Science is not for
any particular class of people, and its membership is not made up of any
particular class of people."

16. Page 42. In the report of the United States Bureau of Labor, dated
October, 1929, on the "Care of Aged Persons in the United States," there
appears (p. 129) a table showing a census of the aged in homes of various
religious groups and also the average cost of caring for each resident.
Christian Science heads the list with an average annual expenditure on each
resident at Pleasant View of 1270 dollars, while the next nearest group is
listed as expending only a little more than one-third as much, and some
other groups below one-fifth as much.

17. Page 48. J. Roscoe Drummond.

18. Page 48. A suburb of Boston.

19. Page 51. Poems, 14.

CHAPTER II

1. Page 52. Mrs. Eddy wrote, December 28, 1899, to Rufus Baker that
"affection craves legend and relics." From collection of the Reverend Irving
C Tomlinson. For full discussion of Mrs. Eddy s pedigree, see Sibyl
Wilbur s The Life of Mary Baker Eddy, page 6, long accepted by Christian
Scientists as a standard biography. Hereafter when the author refers to this
biography it will be designated as: Wilbur. Her closing words run thus:
"It is therefore sufficient to state that Mary Baker Eddy s great-grandparents
were akin to the McNeils."

2. Page 52. After her passing Reverend Richard S. Rust, D.D., pastor of
the Baker family, wrote of Mrs. Eddy s mother: "The character of Mrs.
Baker was distinguished for numerous excellencies, and these were most
happily blended. She possessed a strong intellect, a sympathising heart, and
a placid spirit. Her presence, like the gentle dew and cheerful light, was
felt by all around her. She gave an elevated character to the tone of the
conversation in the circles in which she moved, and directed attention to
themes at once pleasing and profitable. She appeared no less lovely in the
sphere of domestic life. As a mother, she was untiring in her efforts to
secure the happiness of her family. -The oft-repeated impressions of that

NOTES TO CHAPTER II 277

sainted spirit on the hearts of those especially entrusted to her watchful care
can never be effaced, and can hardly fail to induce them to follow her to
the brighter world. No sacrifice was esteemed too great, could it subserve
their interests. She ever entertained a lively sense of the parental obligation
in regard to the education of her children." (From Mrs. Eddy s scrapbook.)
On February 28, 1891, Calvin A. Frye took down at the wish of Mrs. Eddy
some of the early memories of her mother s bedtime visits with her little
girl and how she tried to impress on her such maxims as: "Count that day
lost whose setting sun finds no good done." Also such wise counsel as:
"Now remember child that a word that s flown is in your hearer s power
and not your own." (From Historical Files of The Mother Church.) Also
this hymn the mother used with which to sing her little girl to sleep:

How can I sleep while angels sing,
And hover o er my bed;
And clap their wings in joy to Him
Who is their glorious Head?

Also the recollections of Miss Clara M. S. Shannon, 26, companion to Mrs.
Eddy for several years, for Mrs. Eddy s description of her mother s appear
ance. "Short and stout; she had golden hair, and beautiful blue eyes; she was
a blonde."

3. Page 52. Professor Hermann S. Hering s notes on Mrs. Gault in
March, 1919, and several other personal recollections of Mrs. Eddy s em
phasis on the significance of this prenatal influence on her life, March, 1930.
Also the written recollections of Miss Shannon, that "she (Mrs. Baker) was
filled with the Holy Ghost . . . and felt the quickening of the babe."

4. Page 52. Mark Baker was a vigorous and inelastic personality. He
sometimes seemed to insist upon agreement with or without understanding
in the family circle. As his little girl began early to display the instinct for
leadership which later received full expression in the founding and develop
ment of the Christian Science Church, intellectual clashes seem to have
taken place between father and daughter. But on the authority of Mrs.
Eddy s most critical biographer, we are told that her mother and her sisters
were usually on Mary s side.

5. Page 53. Retrospection and Introspection, 31; also Miss Shannon and
the written recollections of Miss Julia S. Bardett, who lived with Mrs. Eddy
at her Columbus Avenue home for several years, and William R. Rathvon,
Mrs. Eddy s corresponding secretary and member of her household from
November, 1908, until Mrs. Eddy s passing in December, 1910.

6. Page 53. Rev. I. C. Tomlinson, a member of her household at Con
cord and at Chestnut Hill, stresses Mrs. Eddy s unusual consciousness of God.

7. Page 53. Professor Hering; Wilbur, 27.

8. Page 53. Saint Joan, by Bernard Shaw, 60. Mrs. H. S. Philbrook, who
grew up with Mrs. Eddy, in a letter to her dated April 7, 1901, the original
of which the author has seen, states that she too as a child had heard voices
"scores of times" but never was impressed by them.

9. Page 54. Retrospection and Introspection, 13.

10. Page 54. Shannon, 5.

11. Page 54. Wilbur, 26.

278 NOTES TO CHAPTER II

12. Page 34. The author recalls on several visits to the Chestnut Hill
home, seeing the bed light Mrs. Eddy used until the last. Sometimes she
woke says Mr. Rathvon at three in the morning to make notes on the
pad she always kept on the little walnut table at the side of her bed, still
there in her modest sleeping room, which is unchanged like her study in
furnishings and appointments. Also Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany,
VoL 39:74:5121.

13. Page 55. Christian Science and Its Discoverer, by E. Mary Ramsay, 4.
Retrospection and Introspection, 10.

14. Page 55. That Mary Baker was already thus early in life, resourceful,
enterprising, and gifted with a sense of humor, is indicated by the following
incident she related to Mr. Rathvon in 1909: "Mark Baker was insistent that
all of the family be present at morning devotions, which he conducted by
reading from the Bible followed by extemporaneous prayer, with all present
kneeling in silence. In his fervor he would sometimes extend his prayer
beyond the limits of the little girl s endurance. On one occasion, after
standing it as long as she could, she took a long shawl pin from the pin
cushion on the table, crawled along die floor until she got behind the chair
where he was kneeling and vehemently exhorting, applied the pin at a point
where it brought immediate results, and in the confusion that followed made
her escape." Mr. Rathvon recalls that as she told him the story eighty years
after, the quiet smile, to which those near her were accustomed, lighted
up her face.

15. Page 56. Retrospection and Introspection, 7.

16. Page 56. The business card of Albert, after his admission to the Bar,
shows that he shared Mr. Pierce s office. Franklin L. Pierce was just gradu
ating from the New Hampshire House of Representatives into Congress
where he supported President Jackson. Six years later he joined Webster,
Clay, and Calhoun in the United States Senate; later served in the Mexican
War; and was elected President of the United States in 1852.

17. Page 56. August 7, 1902, the Reverend Irving C. Tomlinson wrote
Mrs. Eddy that he had learned the following fact "from your loving neighbor
and loyal follower, Mrs. Mary D. Aiken. She was telling me of her mother,
Mrs. Harriet P. Dodge, nee Dunklee, who as a girl was well acquainted
with your honored family. . . . Mrs. Dodge says, When I was quite a young
girl I cut my finger and Albert Baker tried to persuade me that it did not
hurt me any. You and your dear brother were so close that these thoughts
must have been your own." See also Mrs. Eddy s letter of April 17, 1837, in
Munsey s, April, 1911, 10.

18. Page 56. Nominated for Congress in 1841 in a district in which a
nomination insured election, Albert Baker died before the polling day at the
age of thirty-one to the grief of relatives and friends.

19. Page 57. Those inclined to think Mrs. Eddy was ever seriously influ
enced by Emerson may care to know that in her bold handwriting on the
flyleaf of her copy of Emerson s Nature, published in 1836, the author finds
the comment: "Emerson put so much reason into Mind and so much phi
losophy into Science that he lost the true sense of Spirit, God."

20. Page 58. That Mrs. Eddy was not altogether ignorant of English
parliamentary speaking a while earlier would seem to appear from a letter

NOTES TO CHAPTER II 279

she wrote to her friend, Judge Septimus J. Hanna, February 6, 1898: "You
have shown yourself our American barrister for the legal rights of C. S.
beyond the power of an English Fox that I as a child delighted to take in
when reading his eloquent pleadings for equity." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and
Miscellany, Vol. 39:225:5209.

21. Page 58, On May 5, 1907, in a talk with George H. Kinter, one of
her secretaries, she thus described her memory: "When I was a little girl
I could remember whatever I read, never forgot anything, used to be the
prompter for the entire family, my father and all of them. We had a chore
boy, a good fellow, but one who had had no advantages of books, or
schooling, so I used to read the Bible to him, a chapter at a time, and then
repeat it to him. I wanted him to go to Sunday School, and my father did
too, but he was bashful about it because he could not recite Bible verses as
the others did. I adopted this plan, but he would forget it as soon as I had
recited it to him, so I hit upon the plan of reading it aloud, and then closing
the book, I would rehearse it to him, and then he could remember and did
recite it himself in Sunday School."

22. Page 58. Lindley Murray s Introduction to the English Reader, 100.

23. Page 59. Lindley Murray s Introduction to the English Reader, 102.

24. Page 61. Plate and pictures of the Baker family shown the author
March 21, 1930, by Mr. Arthur S. Brown in his home at Tilton, New
Hampshire, give new evidence of the cultural influences playing round the
early life of Mary Baker. Mrs. Brown s father, the late Mr. Selwin B.
Peabody, was successor to Mrs. Abigail Tilton in her later years in the
management of the large business interests of the Tilton family, and received
from her many things of family value, which are now treasured by Mrs.
Brown.

25. Page 61. Many lively discussions on slavery appear in the newspapers
of the day. In 1839, Albert Baker sat with a select committee, which adopted
resolutions on non-interference of slave and non-slave states with each other,
rebuked abolition propaganda methods, recommended that Congress should
not interdict slave trade between states and expressed the opinion that the
abolition of slavery without expatriation of slaves, would prove disastrous.

26. Page 61. Shannon, 5.

27. Page 62. Andrew Gault was the grand-nephew of the unusual woman
who read and prayed much with Abigail Ambrose Baker just before the
birth of Mrs. Eddy.

28. Page 63. Historical Files of The Mother Church. These verses of
Mrs. Eddy now appear in print for the first time.

29. Page 63. Paul Leicester Ford in The True George Washington, 38,
says that Washington in writing to his London tailor for clothes in 1763
directed him to "take measure of a gentleman who wares well-made cloathes
of the following size: to wit, 6 feet high and proportionably made if any
thing rather slender than thick, for a person of that highth, with pretty long
arms and thighs. You will take care to make the breeches longer than those
you sent me last, and I would have you keep the measure of the cloaths you
now make, by you, and if any alteration is required in my next it shall be
pointed out."

Mr. Ford also says, 62: "To the end of his life, Washington spelt lie, lye;

280 NOTES TO CHAPTER II

liar, lyar; ceiling, deling; oil, oyl; and blue, blew, as in his boyhood he had
learned to do. ... It must be acknowledged that, aside from these errors
which he had been taught, through his whole life, Washington was a non
conformist as regarded the King s English."

The reader will observe in this chapter the same improvement in Mrs.
Eddy s spelling between her fourteenth and her eighteenth year as is usual
with young people still at school. Like Theodore Roosevelt, she was a
prodigious letter writer. Like him always hard pressed by her duties, she
frequently added to, subtracted from, and interlined her letters. All through
her life, she sometimes dropped her commas; sometimes she forgot her
periods; and in many letters she did not cross her t s. Once she wrote her
trusted friend, Judge Hanna: "I long to see you punctuate my matter just
as you do your own; that is the modern way but I know no rules for it,
and leave this to you. I have changed the poem a little in punctuation and
composition which greatly improves it. I wrote it so quickly I had no time
to choose words as is necessary." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany,
Vol. 39:129:5154.

30. Page 63. Marcosson in Munsey s Magazine, April, 1911, describes the
discovery of these letters in the former home of Mrs. George Sullivan Baker
at Tilton, and writes an excellent critique of them. The letters are repro
duced here through the courtesy of the Frank A. Munsey Company.

31. Page 64. Munsey s, April, 1911, 7.

32. Page 64. Munsey s, April, 1911, 8, 9.

33. Page 65. Munsey s, April, 1911, 9, 10.

34. Page 65. This appears to be the only reference in her correspondence
to the Shakers, and it indicates no special interest then in them. But it is
worth noting that it was in 1747 that a revival took place in England in the
ranks of the Quakers, out of which emerged the sect of the Shakers. At first
Jane and James Wardley were the leaders, then Ann Lee, daughter of a
blacksmith. In response to a revelation, "Mother" Ann later removed with
her followers to America where a settlement was established near Albany,
New York. The first Shaker Society in the United States was organized at
New Lebanon, New York, in 1787. As "Mother" Ann herself went about
preaching and healing by faith, so her followers made converts with the
result that sooner or later societies were established in Kentucky, Ohio,
Indiana, and Florida as well as in New England. In 1874 there were fifty-
eight Shaker communities, numbering 2,415 souls, but by 1905 the number
had shrunk to one thousand. The Shakers were celibates, living apart in
their own communities and holding property in common. According to the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, they "held that God was both male and female.
... In Mother Ann . . . the female principle in Christ was manifested, and
in her the promise of the Second Coming was fulfilled." Their lives were
of the simplest, without adornment in dress or surroundings. They were
busy always with their good works and their handicrafts, regarding physical
disease as an offense against God.

35. Page 66. Munsey s, April, 1911, 10, 11.

36. Page 66. Letter written by D. Russell Ambrose, April 9, 1876, to his
cousin, Mrs. Eddy. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

37. Page 67. Munsey s, April, 1911, 11.

NOTES TO CHAPTER II 281

38. Page 61. The letters that follow are from Mrs. Eddy s Letters and
Miscellany, Vol. 21:223-246.

39. Page 67. In the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur S. Brown of Tilton
now stands the imposing hall clock once in the Holmes residence.

40. Page 68. Though in her adult years, Mrs. Eddy was given to reading
Shakespeare as the marked copy of her Shakespeare in the author s hands
indicates and her allusions to him in her writings confirm she could
scarcely in her girlhood have done so much; for it was not then considered
proper for girls to read his plays. Indeed, on this account, Charles and
Mary Lamb, in 1807, published their interesting, but innocuous, Tales -from
Shakespeare, especially for girls. In the introduction occurs the paragraph:

For young ladies too it has been my intention chiefly to write, because
boys are generally permitted the use of their father s libraries at a
much earlier age than girls are; they frequently have the best scenes
of Shakespeare by heart, before their sisters are permitted to look into
this manly book; and, therefore, instead of recommending these tales
to the perusal of young gentlemen who can read them so much better
in the originals, I must beg their kind assistance in explaining to their
sisters such parts as are hardest for them to understand; and when
they have helped them to get over the difficulties, then perhaps they
will read to them (carefully selecting what is proper for a young
sister s ear) some passage which has pleased them. . . .
But family reading of Shakespeare at least was permitted; for Mr. S. B. G.
Corser, son of one of her early pastors speaks of dropping in sometimes "at
the Baker homestead, where Shakespeare perchance was the theme of con
versation." Quoted from personal letter dated July 17, 1902, to Mrs. Eddy.
Historical Files of The Mother Church.

Till her passing, Mrs. Eddy was an omnivorous reader. With her little
blue pencil in her hand to mark passages of special interest, and not infre
quently to insert in the margin her own original comments, Mrs. Eddy read
by day and sometimes after she had gone to bed, with her droplight illu
minating book and pillow. Scores of her books, particularly of the last third
of her life, the author has handled, and most of them can be found in many
a minister s study. They include: Amiel, Arnold (Edwin), Beecher (Henry
Ward), Black (Hugh), Browning (Robert and Elizabeth), Bunyan, Burns,
Byron, Carlyle, Channing, Conybeare & Howson s Life of St. Paul, Dickens,
Drummond, Eliot (George), Emerson, Farrar, Furness, Hillis, Hilty, Jordan
(William George), Keats, Kingsley (Charles), Longfellow, Mabie (Hamil
ton W.)i Maclaren (Ian), Markham (Edwin), Milton, Munger, Parker
(Joseph), Plato (Jowett s Translation), Pope, Ruskin, Shakespeare, Talmage
(T. DeWitt), Tennyson, Tolstoy, Trench, Trine, Van Dyke, Whittier. As
indicative of her wide ranging intellectual interests, Mrs. Eddy sent to Mr.
William Lyman Johnson on February 13, 1905, the newly published Legends
of Parsifal.

Her guest room and the room for her maid were fittingly provided with
devotional books; and to her own desk with regularity came such magazines
as Century, Christian Herald, Contemporary Review, Literary Digest, North
American Review, and The Outlook. Many numbers are still preserved.

41. Page 69. Mary Baker began her church going when as a little girl she

282 NOTES TO CHAPTER III

was taken by her parents every Sunday to the First Congregational Church
at Concord. She describes in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and
Miscellany, 147, how she spent the noon hour between the services under
"the grand old elm," which has been recently cut down. She joined the
Tilton Congregational Church when she was seventeen years old.

42. Page 70. In her scrapbook nature clippings abound and a little later
in the cycle of the seasons than maple sugar time, she once broke into a
lilt not so very different from some of Browning:

Who loves not June
Is out of tune
With love and God:
The rose his rival reigns,
The stars reject his pains,
His home the clod!

Poems, 57

CHAPTER III

1. Page 72. Mrs. Sarah C. Turner, niece of the Cheneys, in a testimony
embodied in a letter written May 5, 1907, by Albert E. Miller to Mrs. Eddy,
recalls that Mary Baker was fair to look upon. Her eyes were blue. Her
cheeks were richly red. Soft chestnut hair fell in ringlets to her shoulders.
Grace of manner and a becoming gown gave to these good looks a fascina
tion all observed and few resisted.

The color of Mrs. Eddy s eyes (like her stature, which actually was five
feet six inches) has often been the subject of discussion. The most informing
note is furnished by Miss Emma McLauthlin, her friend and household
companion at Pleasant View for several weeks late in the nineties. In her
recollections Miss McLauthlin writes: "I asked her as to the much disputed
color of her eyes; she put both her hands on my shoulders, and gently
pushed me with my back to the window while she faced the light with her
eyes looking smilingly into mine, and asked me what color I thought they
were. I said They are hazel with such large pupils that they look very
dark, I do not see a vestige of blue in them. She laughingly said that
reminded her of a disagreement between Judge and Mrs. Hanna over the
same subject. The Judge was first called to meet her personally, and when
he returned Mrs. Hanna asked him to describe her looks; in doing this he
spoke of her eyes as sky-blue. When later Mrs. Hanna had had an interview
with her, she asked her husband why he had told her Mrs. Eddy s eyes were
blue, when there wasn t a vestige of blue in them. Many years later, during
a stay with her of several weeks, one day as she sat gazing out of the
window with a far-away look, seeing visions unknown to me, standing
opposite, I noted with wonder that her eyes were blue as sapphires."

2. Page 72. Report of Charleston Committee. The Charleston Evening
Post, quoted in the Christian Science Sentinel, January 26, 1907.

3. Page 73. Gilbert C. Carpenter, once secretary to Mrs. Eddy, with
whom the author has talked, recalls that Mrs. Eddy once told him how she
first met at the age of ten her future husband: "... it was at the marriage

NOTES TO CHAPTER III 283

of her brother, Samuel Dow Baker to Maj. Glover s sister, Eliza Ann Glover,
and he took her on his knee and asked her how old she was. She told him
ten years old. He said he would come back in exactly five years, and then
said jokingly that he would make her his little wife; whereupon she jumped
off his knee and hid herself. He came again in exactly five years, -when her
sister Abigail married Alexander Tilton, manufacturer, for whom the town
of Tilton was named; she expected to see him at this wedding. The third
time was at the age of twenty-two in Tilton. She was going along the
street and thought it was her brother George, so she slapped him on the
back and said, Oh, you re dressed up, and when he looked around she
beheld to her mortification it was Maj. Glover." Recollections, 22.

4. Page 73. S. B. G. Corser, son of Dr. Corser, August 4, 1902, wrote:
"As Mrs. Eddy s pastor and for a time teacher my father held her in the
highest esteem; in fact he considered her, even at an early age, superior both
intellectually and spiritually to any other woman in Tilton, and greatly en
joyed talking with her. ... I well remember her gift of expression which
was very marked, as girls of that time were not usually possessed of so large
a vocabulary. She and my father used to converse on deep subjects fre
quently (as I recall to mind, from remarks made by my father) too deep
for me. She was always pure and good. During my residence of some years,
previous to the fall of 1843, in or near the town of Tilton, I never heard a lisp
against the good name of Miss Baker but always praise for her superior
abilities and scholarship, her depth and independence of thought, and not
least, her spiritual mindedness."

5. Page 73. Carpenter, 23.

6. Page 73. Carpenter, 23.

7. Page 14. Historic Towns of the Southern States by Powell, 259.

8. Page 15. Historic Towns of the Southern States by Powell, 275.

9. Page IS. Lindley Murray s Introduction to the English Reader, 151.

10. Page 16. Shannon 11, 12.

11. Page 16. Farlow 114, quoting U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Weather Bureau.

12. Page 11. Shannon, 11. Also William R. Rathvon s reminiscences
(1930): "On May 29, 1909, Mrs. Eddy was in a reminiscent mood and
speaking to me of her earlier experiences in Charleston, said, c We found
the people of the South generally kind and hospitable, so long as the question
of slavery was not raised. My husband had the courage or his convictions
and may not always have been discreet in voicing them. As a result he was
once challenged to a duel by one who believed the Northerner would not
fight. Being the challenged party Major Glover had the privilege of naming
the weapons and conditions. He chose pistols "toe to toe, and muzzle in the
mouth." These austere conditions settled the question of his courage for all
time, and the challenger withdrew his challenge as quickly as he could and
my husband was not again disturbed. Such performances sound strange to
us now, but this was in the days when duelling was the gentleman s test
of honor and courage and was approved by such eminent Southerners as
Clay, Jackson, Calhoun, and Benton, all of whom fought notable duels."

13. Page 11. Farlow, 115.

14. Page IS. Wilbur, 39.

284 NOTES TO CHAPTER III

15. Page 78. The following is taken from a photographic copy of a Card,
which appeared in the Wilmington Chronicle, August 21, 1844:

Through the columns of your paper, will you permit me, in behalf
of the relatives and friends of the late Maj. George W. Glover, of
Wilmington, and his bereaved lady, to return our thanks and express
the feelings of gratitude we owe and cherish toward those friends of
the deceased, who so kindly attended him during his last sickness,
and who still extended their care and sympathy to the lone, feeble,
and bereaved widow, after his decease. Much has often been said of
the high feeling of honor, and noble generosity of heart which char
acterize the people of the South, yet when we listen to Mrs. Glover,
(my sister,) whilst recounting the kind attentions paid to the deceased
during his last illness, the sympathy extended to her after his death,
and the assistance volunteered to restore her to her friends, at a dis
tance of more than a thousand miles, the power of language would
be but beggared by an attempt at expressing the feelings of the
swelling bosom. The silent gush of grateful tears alone can tell the
emotions of the thankful heart. Words are indeed but a meagre
tribute for so noble an effort in behalf of the unfortunate, yet it is all
we can award; will our friends at Wilmington accept it the tribute
of grateful hearts.

Many thanks are due Mr. Cooke, who engaged to accompany her
only to New York but did not desert her, or remit his kind attentions
until he saw her in the fond embrace of her friends.

Your friend and obedient servant,

GEORGE S. BAKER.
Sanbornton Bridge, N. H., Aug. 12, 1844.

It was the conscientious freeing of her slaves that sent her home without
an income and made her a dependent on the world. But she never counted
the cost before she did the right.

16. Page 19. Mrs. Eddy s scrapbook, 37B.

17. Page 19. Wilbur, 40.

18. Page 19. Wilbur, 41.

19. Page SO. "When a widow & I sat rocking to sleep my baby boy as
I gazed into his sweet face a big tear fell upon his soft cheek & wakened
him. Reaching up his little hand to my face & half asleep he murmured
mama not onesome Georgie is comp ny. Georgie not s eep. . . . his little
hand fell & he slept on. Those tender words comforted me." Dictated to
her secretary at Pleasant View. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

20. Page 80. Wilbur, 40.

21. Page 80. The Ladies Home Journal, June, 1911; reproduced here
through the courtesy of the editor.

22. Page 81. On January 31, 1863, Mrs. Patterson wrote to Dr. Quimby:
"My sister (Mrs. Tilton) and her son will visit you at an early period. She
has an abdominal rupture, and I am very anxious for her restoration. She
is very useful to her family and community." The Quimby Manuscripts,
1921 edition, 149.

23. Page 83. Wilbur, 51.

NOTES TO CHAPTER III 285

24. Page 84. Recollections in November, 1911, of Elmira Smith Wilson,
the blind girl, who was Mrs. Patterson s maid in North Groton and
Rumney, 1.

25. Page 84. Letter to Martha D. Rand, Munsey s, April, 1911, 12. Mary
Baker s autograph album, given her March 21, 1846, indicates many admirers,
all writing in the stilted verse of that day.

26. Page 84. James Smith s letter to Mrs. Glover, December 8, 1849. This
verse, written by James Smith and pasted in Mrs. Eddy s early scrapbook,
speaks for itself:

LINES

Written in a young lady s album.
Air- "The Bride."

I d offer thee this heart of mine,
If I could love thee less;
But hearts as warm, as soft as thine,
Should never know distress.
My fortune is too hard for thee,
Twould chill thy dearest joy;
I d rather weep to see thee free,
Than win thee to destroy.

I leave thee in thy happiness,

As one too dear to love!

As one I ll think of but to bless,

Whilst wretchedly I rove.

But oh! when sorrow s cup I drink,

All bitter though it be,

How sweet to me twill be to think

It holds no drop for thee.

Then fare thee well; an exile now,
Without a friend or home,
With anguish written on my brow,
About the world I ll roam.
For all my dreams are sadly o er
Fate bade them all depart,
And I will leave my native shore,
In brokenness of heart.

27. Page 84. See Ch. 2, p. 69. Also autograph album in Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

28. Page 86. Munsey s, April, 1911.

29. Page 86. Perhaps it was this failure of the homeopathic doses, given
by her husband to help his wife, that led at last to the sentence in her text
book (152): "Her experiments in homeopathy had made her skeptical as to
material curative methods." See also The First Church of Christ, Scientist,
and Miscellany, 345:15. The following extract from the recollections of "the

286 NOTES TO CHAPTER III

blind girl" who lived with Mrs. Patterson at North Groton and Rumney
affirms that Mrs. Patterson "read a great deal and studied a large Doctors
book on Homeopathy, and there were some of the neighbors that would
come occasionally for medicine which she would give them. She always kept
under her pillow a little bottle of pellets and one day in making up the bed
the bottle fell upon the floor and I stepped on it breaking it. While trying
to find and pick up the little pills Mrs. Patterson noticed what I had done,
but she did not scold me, but told me not to mind as they were no good any
way." Wilson 3, 4.

30. Page 81. Until the end, Mrs. Tilton s character presents a curious
combination of generosity and stiffness. In her will dated May 6, 1886, she
bequeathed the Tilton Episcopal Church five thousand dollars on condition
that a former rector whom she disliked should not be recalled. Liberal
provision was made for her many relatives including her nephew, George
W. Glover, but Mrs. Eddy was omitted. Her business associate and his
little daughter were directed to occupy the first carriage in her funeral pro
cession; "then my direct family according to their years." Of her sisters
attitude Mrs. Eddy wrote, "My oldest sister dearly loved me, but I wounded
her pride when I adopted Christian Science, and to a Baker that was a sorry
offence." Christian Science Sentinel, January 5, 1907.

31. Page 81. Retrospection and Introspection, 20.

32. Page 88. Wilson, 6.

33. Page 88. Mrs. Turner, niece of the Cheneys, stated in May, 1907, in
personal recollection of Mrs. Patterson and her little son. Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

34. Page 88. Her sister, Martha Pilsbury, loaned the thousand dollars to
buy the sawmill and some land. Wilson, 1.

35. Page 88. Wilson, 3.

36. Page 89. Mrs. Sylvester Swett s recollections in the Historical Files
of The Mother Church. See S. & H. 170 and 221 for evidence that Mrs. Eddy
early became acquainted with the Graham and Cutter cures for dyspepsia.

37. Page 90. The "blind girl" (Myra Smith Wilson) wrote November 7,
1911, when she was a very aged woman: "Mrs. Tilton, her sister, and myself
rode in the carriage with Mrs. Patterson. It was in the spring and the roads
were very bad in spots deep snow other places mud. As we were
leaving, the bell in the church was rung. It was said Joseph Wheat had his
son Charles toll the bell. I walked the greater part of the way to Rumney
and was very tired & Mrs. Tilton walking with me so that she would not
hear the moans and grief of Mrs. Eddy."

38. Page 90. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

39. Page 91. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

40. Page 92. The author s book of 1907, 43-45, 51; Haggard s Devils,
Drugs, and Doctors, 306.

Grimes was a hypnotist and left behind him some crude observations in
Electro-Biology.

John Bovee Dods, more business man than philosopher, explained his clair
voyant methods in The Philosophy of Electrical Psychology, published in
1850.

Andrew Jackson Davis, born in 1826, had extraordinary vogue before the

NOTES TO CHAPTER III 287

Civil War as a mesmerist. Elaborate pictures of his method are given in The
Magic Staff (1857). His favorite thesis was there is no mind, only matter;
and his cult faded out before he passed on.

Warren F. Evans, too, was enamored of magnetism and in his Mental
Medicine (1872) declared it to be "the torch by the light of which mankind
will explore their way to an all-satisfying faith." He was more than a
mesmerist. Having been both a Methodist and a Swedenborgian, the philoso
phy he brought to Quimby, to whom he came for treatment in 1863, was a
"blend." Quimby s chief service to Evans, in addition to the improvement
in his health, was to show Evans how definitely to heal. He described
Quimby s method as "an exhibition of the force of suggestion," laying much
stress in the last two chapters of Mental Medicine on both the value of
"psychic force" and on the specific ways of using finger pressure at various
points of the body. He began to practice mental healing after his return
to his New Hampshire home, later conducted a mind-cure sanitarium at
Salisbury, Massachusetts, and between 1869 and 1886 published several books
more lucid than The Quimby Manuscripts on mental healing, which had a
large place in the genesis and development of New Thought. No propa
gandist, Evans tried simply to give mental healing a place among the curative
agencies in life, and in his last book, Esoteric Christianity (published in
1886) he described his teaching as largely "occult" and "phrenopathic."

41. Page 92. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55: 199:7796.

42. Page 93. This is in Calvin A. Frye s handwriting. Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

43. Page 93. Retrospection and Introspection, 6.

44. Page 93. Farlow, 82,

45. Page 93. Gilbert C. Carpenter states in his recollections, 11: "To
illustrate how easily she wrote poetry, Mrs. Eddy said to me one day, 1
think in poetry, and without a moment s hesitation, she dictated a poem
to me . . . :

Guide us gently, God,
Through the cloud or on the sod;
Be our everlasting stay
Night or day.

46. Page 93. Mrs. Eddy s scrapbook, 37.

47. Page 93. Letter to E. Augusta Holmes, April, 1840. Mrs. Eddy s
Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 21:227:2681.

48. Page 93. Munsey s, April, 1911, 12.

49. Page 94. Mary B. Glover s letter to Daniel Patterson. Historical Files
of The Mother Church.

50. Page 94. Albert E. Miller s letter of May, 1907.

51. Page 94. Our New Religion, by H. A. L. Fisher, 44.

52. Page 94. Milmine, 56.

53. Page 94. Even at the age of sixty-four, as Mr. Farlow testifies in his
recollections (2), Mrs. Eddy looked about forty.

54. Page 95. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 14&lt;$.

55. Page 95. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 147.

56. Page 95. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

57. Page 96. She perhaps meant "excited."

288 NOTES TO CHAPTER III

58. Page 96. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 147-8.

59. Page 96. Milmine, 44.

60. Page 96. Wilbur, 86-7.

61. Page 96. Reports another patient: "His mode of treating the sick was
to immerse his hands in water and manipulate their heads." Miss Abigail
Dyer Thompson recollections, Historical Files of The Mother Church.

62. Page 91. Wilbur, 87. Also Matt. 9:21; and Emmanuel Movement, by
Powell, 176.

63. Page 97. The Portland Courier, 1862.

64. Page 91. Letters, January 31, 1863; March 10, 1863; September 14,
1863; May 24, (no year); May, 1864; The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edi
tion, 149-156. See also Miscellany, 307, where Mrs. Eddy wrote in later years:
"At first my case improved wonderfully under his treatment, but it
relapsed."

65. Page 91. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 156.

66. Page 91. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

67. Page 98. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 162.

68. Page 98. Milmine, 58.

69. Page 98. Abigail Dyer Thompson s letter of January 20, 1930, states:
"With regard to the statement made by Dr. Quimby in introducing Mrs.
Eddy to my mother, I have heard her tell the entire experience, including
that statement, repeatedly since my childhood; and also know that when
mother recalled it to our Leader s mind, Mrs. Eddy replied that Dr. Quimby
had paid her the same tribute many times during her stay in Portland."
Thompson recollections in the Historical Files of The Mother Church.

70. Page 98. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 149.

71. Page 98. John 1:9.

72. Page 98. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 164.

73. Page 99. Matthew 17:20. Retrospection and Introspection, 24. Also
Milmine, 61.

74. Page 99. Till the end George A. Quimby was both jealous for his
father s reputation and adverse to Christian Science, but on November 11,
1901, he wrote of Mrs. Eddy: "The religion which she teaches certainly
is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down
to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with Christian
Science. " The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 436.

75. Page 100. This letter is reproduced by permission of Mrs. Julius A.
Dresser. Historical Files of The Mother Church; which also indicate that
Julius Dresser was somewhat sensitive, and would not willingly become a
target of criticism for ministers and doctors. He spent his time for a while
in newspaper work, first in Portland, Maine, and then in Webster, Massachu
setts. As his health failed again, he went to California to remain till 1882.
Mrs. Eddy then had attracted a following in Boston, and established Christian
Science. The reason Mr. and Mrs. Julius Dresser gave in explanation of
their return in 1882 to take up "the Quimby work" was that they "had heard
what was going on in Boston" and "they believed the time was now ripe

for action."

76. Page 101. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 306,
307. In Vol. I of the 10th edition of 5. & H. Mrs. Eddy wrote: "The only

NOTES TO CHAPTER III 289

manuscript that we ever held of his, longer than to correct it, was one of
perhaps a dozen pages, most of which we had composed." 4. "Not one of
our printed works was ever copied or abstracted from the published or from
the unpublished writings of any one." 5.

77. Page 101. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, 163. In later years
she spoke of "his rare humanity and sympathy" (Miscellaneaus Writings,
379: 18), and also described him as "a remarkable man " (Miscellany, 307:22.)
Just before this chapter went to the publisher the author found by chance
that the Rt. Hon. H. A. L. Fisher (27, note) supports the author s thesis after
a study of The Quimby Manuscripts alone.

78. Page 102. The earliest names Mrs. Eddy called her teachings were
Moral Science, Christian Healing, Mental Healing, Christian Science Mind-
Healing. But we read in S. 6&gt; H., 107, that "In the year 1866, I discovered
the Christ Science or divine laws of Life, Truth, and Love, and named my
discovery Christian Science."

79. Page 102. For discussion of its authorship the reader is referred to
The Christian Science Monitor, February 25, 1927.

80. Page 102. The Quimby Manuscripts, 1921 edition, Preface VI, indi
cating that Quimby did not use the phrase "Science and Health."

81. Page 103. Message for 1902, 16.

82. Page 103. Love -II Cor. 13:11, 1 John 4: 7, 8, 16.

Spirit- Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; John 4:24; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 4:30; I John 4:13.
Truth-Deut. 32:4; Psalms 31:5; Isa. 65:16; Jer. 10:10.
Life -John 1:4; 3:26; Rom. 8:2, 10; Eph. 4:18; Col. 3:4; I John 1:2; 5:12, 20;
Rev. 11:11.

83. Page 103. Mansions of Philosophy, by Durant, 55 fT; Powell s Christian
Science, 1907, 108.

84. Page 103. Durant, 58.

85. Page 103. Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards, 51; and Heavenly Heretics,
by Powell, 22 if.

86. Page 104. Dictated memorandum of Mrs. Eddy s talk with Calvin A.
Frye in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

87. Page 104. Milmine, 62, quoting Mrs. Crosby. Also A Message to the
Well, by Dresser, 88.

88. Page 105. S. B. G. Corser s letter to Alfred Farlow, August 4, 1902.

89. Page 105. Browning s Paracelsus.

90. Page 105. Letter of December 11, 1909, in Historical Files of The
Mother Church.

91. Page 105. The author has a letter which Mrs. Crosby wrote him in
her last years, again summing up her indebtedness: "I am sure my experience
with Mrs. Eddy gave me a clearer understanding of my own capabilities as
well as a better knowledge of the world."

92. Page 105. S. & H., 107.

CHAPTER IV

1. Page 106. Human Life, July, 1907.

2. Page 101. Asa G. Eddy s letter to James C. Howard, August 5, 1880.
Historical Files of The Mother Church.

290 NOTES TO CHAPTER IV

3. Page 107. Human Life, July, 1907,

4. Page 107. Bartlett, 9, 10.

5. Page 108. McClure s, April, 1907, 613.

6. Page 108. Memorandum April 11, 1930, from executive offices of The
Mother Church.

7. Page 108. One of her hearers not a follower left this record: "She
is a woman of one idea almost to wearisomeness," Van Ness, The Religion
of New England, 168.

8. Page 108. Italics the author s.

9. Page 108. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:207:7801.

10. Page 108. McClure s, May, 1907, 113.

11. Page 109. Dakin, 96.

12. Page 109. Farlow, 88, 89.

13. Page 109, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 237,
Also the Christian Science Sentinel, July 4, 1908.

14. Page 109. Dr. Gushing wrote the author, June 17, 1907: The Reporter
is wrong, as she went home in the morning not afternoon." S&lt; & H., 3rd Ed.,
155-157, confirms Dr. Cushing s statement.

15. Page 110. Dr. Cushing s affidavit in McClure s, March, 1907, 512.

16. Page 110. McClure s, March, 1907, 512.

17. Page 110. Dr. Cushing s letter, June 17, 1907.

18. Page 110. Powell s Human Touch, 15, 16.

19. Page 111. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:199:7796. See
Miscellaneous Writings 24:7 for Mrs. Eddy s account.

20. Page 111. Lynn Reporter, June 30, 1866. However, six months later,
she withdrew her claim.

21. Page 111. The Christian Science Journal, June, 1887. Years later Mrs.
Eddy describes as follows the deeper meaning of the fall: "For three years
after my discovery, I sought the solution of this problem of Mind-healing,
searched the Scriptures and read little else, kept aloof from society, and
devoted time and energies to discovering a positive rule. The search was
sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing. I knew the
Principle of all harmonious Mind-action to be God, and that cures were
produced in primitive Christian healing by holy, uplifting faith; but I must
know the Science of this healing, and I won my way to absolute conclusions
through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration. The revelation of
Truth in the understanding came to me gradually and apparently through
divine power." S. 6&gt; H., 109.

"In following these leadings of scientific revelation, the Bible was my only
textbook. The Scriptures were illumined; reason and revelation were recon
ciled, and afterwards the truth of Christian Science was demonstrated. No
human pen nor tongue taught me the Science contained in this book,
SCIENCE AND HEALTH; and neither tongue nor pen can overthrow it. This
book may be distorted by shallow criticism or by careless or malicious
students, and its ideas may be temporarily abused and misrepresented; but
the Science and truth therein will forever remain to be discerned and demon
strated." 110.

"After a lengthy examination of my discovery and its demonstration in
healing the sick, this fact became evident to me, that Mind governs the

NOTES TO CHAPTER 291

body, not partially but wholly. I submitted my metaphysical system of
treating disease to the broadest practical tests. Since then this system has
gradually gained ground, and has proved itself, whenever scientifically em
ployed, to be the most effective curative agent in medical practice."
S. 6- H., 111. r

22. Page 111. Fisher s Our New Religion, 45.

23. Page 112. Farlow, 88.

24. Page 112. In Retrospection and Introspection, 24, 28, she calls her
experience "The Great Discovery" that "Mind reconstructed the body,
and that nothing else could. ... It was a mystery to me then, but I have
since understood it. All Science is a revelation. Its Principle is divine, not
human, reaching higher than the stars of heaven."

25. Page 112. Genesis 32:30.

26. Page 112. This she paid back with interest, amounting to ninety-six
dollars, thirty-five years later, in 1899 in reply to an appeal from John
Patterson, then eighty years old and destitute. Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

27. Page 112. Dr. Cushing wrote the author in 1907 that Dr. Patterson
was not even at home when his wife had her fall in Lynn, and had to be
brought down from New Hampshire by telegram the next day. He was
rarely where he should have been when needed.

28. Page 112. Report in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

29. Page 113. Affidavit of R. D. Rounsevel, proprietor of the White
Mountain House, Fabyans, N. H., January 18, 1902. Farlow, 119.

30. Page IB. Wilbur, 166, 167.

31. Page 113. Shannon, 26, 27.

32. Page 113. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:225:7811.
SpofTord letters in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

33. Page 114. Recollections of Mrs. Clara E. Choate, dated October 12,
1914. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

34. Page 114. Original letter to Mrs. Anna Kingsbury in Historical Files
of The Mother Church.

35. Page 114. Bartlett, 9.

36. Page 114. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:53:7691.

37. Page 115. Poems, 4.

38. Page 115. He wrote Mrs. Eddy February 24, 1902, that he had had
one sheet of the first manuscript typewritten for her that she had written
while with him. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

39. Page 116. But, as Mrs. Eddy s little notebook before the author indi
cates, neither the Crafts nor the Wentworths ever paid her any cash, though
it is evident that what they received from her came to far more than her
"keep," liberally estimated. H. S. Crafts was lifted out of the manual labor
class by her, into at least a semi-professional status with income to match.

40. Page 116. Ellis letters. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol.
43:5663-5670.

41. Page 116. H. S. Crafts wrote December 14, 1901 (Historical Files of
The Mother Church) that, though a spiritualist when he began to study
under Mrs. Eddy, her teachings changed his views and led him altogether
away from spiritualism. The author had the privilege in his youth of spend-

292 NOTES TO CHAPTER IV

ing two days in the home of the daughter of Judge Edmunds, a leader of the
spiritualistic movement in New York in Mrs. Eddy s earlier womanhood,
and of observing that the daughter, once his medium, at the time the author
in her old age met her was convinced that under emotional strain the
Edmunds family had misinterpreted their experiences. Scarcely anyone of
intelligence in the middle of the nineteenth century but had at least a passing
interest in spiritualism. In fact, with C. C. Helberg s A Book of Spirit
Writings and Mrs. M. E. Williams s article in the latest issue of Psychic
Research available, there is as reliable evidence that Abraham Lincoln was
a spiritualist as that Mrs. Eddy, with no more than gossip gathered up a
generation later to go by, ever had a profound interest in spiritualism.

42. Page 116. Not merely did many of these students receive as the
little notebook shows instruction without charge but also in some cases,
where there was actual want, she loaned them money to live on while they
studied with her, that, too, at a time when to make both ends meet she
often added to the ordinary cares of a homekeeper scrubbing the floors and
living on a meagre diet. She could never, perhaps, have gotten on at all had
she not budgeted her time and strength and means. Among the many
evidences in the little notebook that she counted her every penny is the
following memorandum:

Sept. 26, 1874 Postage 18 cts.
Sept. 26, 1874 Expressage 15 cts.

also recollections of Miss Emma C. Shipman in the Historical Files of The
Mother Church.

43. Page 111. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:205:7799.

44. Page 117. Farlow, 94-97.

45. Page 111. Mrs. Eddy s little notebook, in which she kept a careful
record of her receipts and expenditures in those days, is a touching revelation
of her serious situation. She counted every penny of outlay, as well as of
income. Early training may have been a contributory force in this respect,
for at Pleasant View she once related to a friend: "When they (the Baker
family) were children, in the winter evenings they used to shell corn for
food for the chickens, etc. On one occasion little Mary was sitting by the
fire, and as she shelled, a grain of corn fell off her lap. She pushed it with
her little foot towards the burning log. Her Mother said, Mary, get down
and pick up that corn. She answered, Oh! Mother, it is only one grain.
Never mind, said her Mother, It will help to make a meal for a little chick.
I have not forgotten that lesson." Shannon, 8.

46. Page 111. Church Manual, 46.

47. Page 111. Bancroft s Mrs. Eddy as I knew her in 1870, 2.

48. Page 118. In addition, without charge, she opened her little home in
Lynn to him and his family, setting aside five of her seven available rooms,
and unconsciously revealing the wealth of her tenderness in the words:
"Now you have a home offered you and no rent to pay for it So do not
be cast down I thank God more for this than anything that I have a shelter
if it is humble to go to in an hour of want and to welcome those who need
a little time to meet the hour." Historical Files of The Mother Church.

49. Page 118. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 20:11:2469.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV 293

50. Page 119. Retrospection and Introspection, 50.
5L Page 119. Matthew 6: 33.

52. Page 119. S. & H., 60.

53. Page 119. S. 6- H., 89.

54. Page 119. Recollections of Miss Sarah A. Farlow in the Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

55. Page 120. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

56. Page 120. Wilbur, 178. He also told the author substantially this in
1907. J

57. Page 121. Shipman recollections in Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

58. Page 121. Miss Sarah O. Bagley letter. Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

59. Page 121. Wilbur, 139.

60. Page 122. He called her Mrs. Patterson. Wilbur, 140.

61. Page 122. Crafts 7 letter in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

62. Page 122. Farlow, 106.

63. Page 122. Wilbur, 179. Of the Wentworths Mrs. Eddy wrote: "they
are very kind Don t you think they wont take a cent for board and want
me to remain as long as I live." Original letter to Sarah O. Bagley in His
torical Files of The Mother Church.

64. Page 123. McClure s, May 1907, 107.

65. Page 123. Her little notebook contains the full record of her per
centage month by month from Kennedy s healing, for a typical year:

June, 1870 $225

July, 1870 200

August, 1870 137

September, 1870 167

October, 1870 90

November, 1870 200

December, 1870 130

January, 1871 147

February, 1871 100

March, 1871 136

April, 1871 110

May, 1871 100

Total $1742

66. Page 123. Mrs. Eddy s notebook.

67. Page 124. But when personalities faded far into the past, Daniel Spof-
ford, near his threescore years and ten, once in his quiet way indicated to a
friend of the author that what Mrs. Eddy did for him was beyond all
estimation.

68. Page 124. How Mrs. Eddy made spiritual preparation to "read out
the eight" is such a revelation of her character that Miss Bartlett s personal
recollection of the extraordinary experience is given at length:

"In October, 1881, eight students who had allowed error to enter their
thought, united in writing a disloyal letter of false accusations to their
Leader and signed their names to tie same. This cruel letter was read by

294 NOTES TO CHAPTER IV

one of their number at a meeting of the Christian Scientists Association in
the presence of Mrs. Eddy who was the President of the Association. She
made no reply, and when the meeting, which was held in her house, was
closed, she went to her room and all the students went to their homes with
the exception of two. These two remained with their beloved teacher to
comfort her in her sorrow and anguish. . . . On hearing what had transpired
I took the first train for Lynn, desiring to be with my dear teacher and to
be of some service in her hour of trial. Dr. Eddy admitted me to the house.
I found Mrs. Eddy seated by the table and the two students who had spent
the night with her sitting near. I quietly took a seat near them as did
Dr. Eddy also, and listened to Mrs. Eddy who was talking with a power
such as I had never heard before. They were wonderful words she was
speaking while we young students were receiving of the great spiritual illu
mination which had come through her glorious triumph over evil.

"Just before I had entered the room she was sitting with the others and
the burden was still heavy upon her, when all at once she rose from her
chair, stepped out in the room, her face radiant and with a far-away look
as if she was beholding things the eye could not see. She began to talk and
to prophesy of the blessings which would reward the faithful while the
transgressor cannot escape the punishment which evil brings on itself. Her
language was somewhat in the style of the Scriptures. When she began, the
three with her, seeing how it was, caught up their pencils and paper and took
down what she said. When she was through speaking, she put down her
hand and said, Why, I haven t any body, and as she came back to the
thought of those about her, they were so moved by what they had seen
and heard their eyes were filled with tears and one was kneeling by the
couch sobbing. . . . Those three days were wonderful. It was as if God
was talking to her and she would come to us and tell us the wonderful
revelations that came. We were on the Mount. We felt that we must take
the shoes from off our feet, that we were standing on holy ground. What
came to me at that time will never leave me." Bartlett reminiscences, 16-18.
Also see Wilbur, 259 if.

69. Page 125. George Walter Fiske s The Changing Family , 222.

70. Page 125. Wilbur, 205, 206.

71. Page 126. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

72. Page 126. The Religion of New England by Thomas Van Ness, 166.

73. Page 126. Christian Science Hymnal (1932 Edition), 96, 142, 170, 217,
229,230,238,372.

74. Page 127. Historical Files of The Mother Church.

75. Page 121. Pulpit and Press, 5.

76. Page 121. Bronson Alcott s letter to Mrs. Eddy, January 17, 1876, in
Historical Files of The Mother Church.

77. Page 121. Alcott s letter to Mrs. Eddy, March 5, 1876, in Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

78. Page 128. Christian Scientist Association Records, Vol. 1:48.

79. Page 128. Alcott s letter to Mrs. Eddy, February 6, 1876, in Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

80. Page 129. Hiram S. Crafts letter stating that she was not a spiritualist.
Historical Files of The Mother Church.

NOTES TO CHAPTER IV 295

81. Page 13Q. Mrs. Emilie B. Hulin, often with Mrs. Eddy in her Concord
days, told the author in April, 1930, that Mrs. Eddy in speaking of this period
said that sometimes, as she wrote, her hands would grow so cold she would
go down to the kitchen to warm them over the stove.

82. Page 130. Mrs. Eddy s letter to Mrs. Miliken in Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

83. Page 231. "When," writes Mrs. Eddy in Science of Man, 1876 edition,
12, "we commenced teaching this science, we permitted students to manipu
late the head, ignorant that it could do harm, or hinder the power of mind
acting in an opposite direction, viz.: spiritually, while the hands were at
work and the mind directing material action. We regret to say it was the
sins of a young student, that called our attention to this question for the
first time, and placed it in a new moral and physical aspect. By thorough
examination and tests, we learned manipulation hinders instead of helps
mental healing."

In further confirmation of the fact that Mrs. Eddy had completely done
with Quimbyism, the author, in 1907, was informed by George A. Quimby
that he believed that Mrs. Eddy had finally landed in prayer-cure pure and
simple.

84. Page 131. Cambridge History of American Literature^ Vol. Ill, 526.

85. Page 131. The weather report, in and about Boston in 1875, indicates
an average temperature of 72 for July, and 71 for August, with a rainfall of
3.93 and 3.50 respectively.

86. Page 132. Shannon, 5.

87. Page 132. George Clark s boys story of sea life was accepted, and all
the way home Mrs. Eddy rejoiced with him, as though she, herself, had not
suffered a grievous disappointment. Wilbur, 202, 203.

88. Page 133. The bill itself is in the Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

89. Page 133. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:219:7808.

90. Page 133. In her personal notebook Mrs. Eddy records: "490 typo
graphical errors in words besides paragraphs and pages wrong and punc
tuation."

91. Page 134. S. & H., 1st edition, 300.

92. Page 134. S. & H., 43.

93. Page 134. S. & H., 1st edition, 386.

94. Page 134. Since Mrs. Eddy passed away in 1910, no changes have
appeared in Science and Health, other than those already indicated by her.

95. Page 135. S. & H., 1907 edition, 390. This quotation appears on the
same page in the present edition.

96. Page 135. Flyleaf of S. & H., 1907 edition.

97. Page 135. For account of "Next Friends" see Chapter VL

98. Page 136. Letter from John Wilson, December 18, 1896, in Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

99. Page 136. Wm. G. Nixon was her agent from 1890 to 1892, in seeing
the book through the press. Mrs. Eddy s letters to Mr. Nixon, Nos. 2242-
2282.

100. Page 138. Mrs. Eddy s letter to Mrs. A. H. Whiting in Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

296 NOTES TO CHAPTER V

101. Page 138. John Wilson s letter in Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

102. Page 138. Recollections of William B. Reid dated January 16, 1930,
in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

103. Page 139. In Quest of the Perfect Book, by William Dana Orcutt
52-54.

104. Page 139. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 319.

105. Page 139. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 18:2158-2241.

106. Page 139. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 318.

CHAPTER V

1. Page 140. The reader who cares for the information is referred to the
following descriptions of Boston:

Drake s Old Landmarks of Boston; Ticknor s Doctor Holmes s Boston;
E. M. Bacon s Rambles Round Old Boston; Shacldeton s The Book of Boston;
Powell s Historic Towns of New England. Also certain letters written to
the author, beginning in 1893, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, T. W. Higginson,
Edward Everett Hale, George P. Morris, Charles Carlton Coffin, Frank B.
Sanborn, Hezeldah Butterworth, William E. Barton, W. W. Goodwin,
Edwin D. Mead, James Schouler, James F. Rhodes, and President Charles
W. Eliot,

2. Page 143. Powell s Heavenly Heretics, 126.

3. Page 143. "A beautiful spot by the sea where sometimes she loved to
go by herself." Bartlett, 10.

4. Page 143. After going the limit in free will service for affection s
sake, Barry in a temper foolishly turned to the law to secure him repayment
in cash.

Spofford had the distinction of being the only American of his day to
have a legal action brought against him for witchcraft; then of disappearing
under circumstances so mysterious that a charge was laid against two of his
former friends that they had murdered him, which was not dropped until
Spofford reappeared in two weeks. He lived to become a kindly old man,
who left on record a final opinion that Mrs. Eddy was "the sole author of
her famous book."

Richard Kennedy became a respected Vestryman of St. Paul s Episcopal
Church in Boston and lived on into the twentieth century. In a conversa
tion with the author in his old age he deplored the pettiness of the men and
women around Mrs. Eddy those days in Lynn and observed that it all
seemed unworthy of men and women in this work-a-day world of ours.

In jauntily passing off Mrs. Eddy s writings as his own Edward J. Arens
seemed to forget what he perhaps had never learned, that they were copy
righted, and that infringement of copyright - a subject on which Asa Gilbert
Eddy had made himself an authority - is a serious matter in the eyes of the
law; but when the court so ruled, Arens had at last to quit, and dropped
into the background.

5. Page 144. Bartlett, 9.

6. Page 144. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 10:111:1138.

7. Page 144. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 17:39:2059.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V 297

8. Page 144. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 39:103:5141.

9. Page 144. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 39:229:5212.

10. Page 144. Genealogy and Life of Asa Gilbert Eddy by Mary Beecher
Longyear.

11. Page 145. Letter in the Historical Files of The Mother Church.

12. Page 145. Letter in the Historical Files of The Mother Church.

13. Page 145. "My last marriage was with Asa Gilbert Eddy, and was a
blessed and spiritual union, solemnized at Lynn, Massachusetts, by the Rev.
Samuel Barrett Stewart, in the year 1877. Dr. Eddy was the first student
publicly to announce himself a Christian Scientist, and place these symbolic
words on his office sign. He forsook all to follow in this line of light. He
was the first organizer of a Christian Science Sunday School, which he
superintended. He also taught a special Bible-class; and he lectured so ably
on Scriptural topics that clergymen of other denominations listened to him
with deep interest. He was remarkably successful in Mind-healing, and
untiring in his chosen work. In 1882 he passed away, with a smile of peace
and love resting on his serene countenance. Mark the perfect man, and
behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. (Psalms xxxvii. 37.)"
Retrospection and Introspection, 42.

14. Page 145. Professor Traquair s plea in The Atlantic, March, 1929,
for "equal rights for men" in these days when women have without the
asking the position which Mrs. Eddy won long years ago by worth and
work, finds no illustration in the career of Asa Gilbert Eddy.

15. Page 146. Original agreement in Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

16. Page 146. "After our dinner was over we assembled in the parlor for
a sing in which Mrs. Eddy joined us usually. My son, Warren, was about
5 yrs. old, & every one petted him more or less for he sang nicely and both
Dr. and Mrs. Eddy delighted to hear him. This eve Mrs. Eddy grew silent
as she often did when impressed by unusual thought arising for her con
sideration. The singing ceased, & one after another left the room for
various reasons. There seemed such good feeling, we spoke of the progress
we were making in the cause & felt this was a demonstration of the love
she was trying to establish. The boy had climbed into her lap & gave her
some caresses. She began to talk to him in something of this fashion, *Now
Warren dear you behaved splendidly today. Well, he replied, 1 know I
did for you didn t look at me any all the time you talked, & now you love
me, don t you? To this Mrs. Eddy tenderly assented, and she told him
she had a plan for him to speak on the platform with her. This greatly
interested myself of course, as well as the boy. Mrs. Eddy still embraced
with loving hugs now & then as their two heads leaned together as if in
concurring confidence. Mrs. Eddy continued, Veil, we must have a Sunday
School, Warren. You shall be the first scholar. He fell in with the plans
but immediately said, how can we have a Sunday School with only me?
Mrs. Eddy smilingly told him that was only to begin with, & soon other
little boys & girls would come & he would have them to listen to &
to play with, but he could not comprehend how so much was to follow,
tho if Mrs. Eddy said so & they must come if she told them to. I, the one
onlooker, thought it all prattle to amuse the child, & gave no serious thought

298 NOTES TO CHAPTER V

to either of them nor to what they were saying. I gave special attention
tho to Mrs, Eddy s loving tenderness with the child & it found a like
response in my own heart s love for her, & at the time she was so beset and
distracted by worldly trials & evils on every hand. The boy grew sleepy &
was soon abed, while Mrs. Eddy retired to her apartments, to no doubt
formulate plans so suddenly started then & there. The following morning
Mrs. Eddy asked Warren if he would come upstairs to her parlor awhile
to which he readily consented. We never questioned Mrs. Eddy why nor
wherefore in those days. So after Warren had an extra touch to his hair &
a general looking over of face, hands & clothes, that he might not ofTend
in any way, we kissed & he went to keep his important appointment
to explain the extra care Warren continually reminded us that Mrs. Eddy
is fttssy & won t like it so & so. After quite a stay the boy reappeared full
of enthusiasm & fun. We asked him what it meant & he mysteriously replied
Mrs. Eddy has been rehearsing me. Further questioning was for a time
useless except that some important aff air was afoot & the child was alive with
its importance. Every little while he would recite in a most dramatic way
a line from a song later another line and with each subsequent visit with
Mrs. Eddy during the next few days, new words and new lines, were
recited in all sorts of ways over & over. Then a message came from Mrs.
Eddy, thro him, she would like him to look his best for the coming Sunday,
for she was going to open her Sabbath School & he was to speak from the
platform at the Hawthorne rooms on Park St., one verse before she began
the regular services of the church. We all gladly consented and the boy s
best frock a white pique kilt with wide collar & cuffs, a wide blue sash was
all carefully attended to for Warren continued to assert Mrs. Eddy was
terrible fussy, and she told him he was just as important on the platform
as she was & must look nice & behave nice & he thought her handsome if
she was -fussy! So each day of this very important & busy week was varied
with plans & talk over the idea of a Sabbath School. Some praised & others
discouraged the project, in the meantime Mrs. Eddy with all her manifold
duties of church work, lectures forthcoming & manuscript to be revised,
found time to ^rehearse* the child in the verse he was to recite on Sunday at
3 P.M., Mrs. Eddy was as we all know quite particular in manners. She
objected to our saying thanks & felt it better manners to say *thank you if
occasion required.

"So she taught the boy how to walk to the front of the platform, how to
bow to the audience, how to scrape his foot or draw it backward and the
general fine gestures before his recitation. I don t know which enjoyed
most these times, he or Mrs. Eddy. In giving these details his attention &
which he practised daily, he caused us endless amusement & many a laugh
& scream in which Dr. and Mrs. Eddy joined heartily. But the boy did
finely in them all and with watchful coaching of such a woman as Mrs.
Eddy, is it any wonder he should meet the excellence she expected. The
wonder to me is she could ever find time to attend to these details. It all
enforces the fact, however, of her thoroughness in laying foundations. In her
mind the idea of the church with a Sabbath School was a truly engrossing
affair, so she frequently said, & to this end we must help her. The starting
was not easy and numbers, or material to work with were not then plentiful.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V 299

Most of those interested or attracted to the cause were above the age
desirable for such a movement. The younger element being Miss Lilly, Miss
Potter, Mr. Orne, Mr. Bancroft, my young sister & myself. I know of only
one other child besides Warren, the son of Mrs. Rice, about my boy s age,
but he was living in Lynn & quite a care, so he did not come to the services
regularly with either his mother or his aunt, Miss Rawson, who usually
attended. I do not now remember so much of the services on this particular
Sunday only we assembled at 3 P.M. as usual, for Mrs. Eddy was very
prompt. She had taken greatest pains to look nice as an example to us, who
were not as the boy termed *so fussy. She even placed a rose in her hair to
the delight of the boy whose beaming face betrayed not the least anxiety,
but a consequential air pervaded him which pleased Mrs. Eddy, who so
wisely said to us, We don t know where this will all end do we, but we as
ever unthinkingly replied Well, it won t amount to much anyway, at least
not impressively for the church or for the cause. But Mrs. Eddy made no
reply & with undaunted quiet refrained from argument. With her reticule
containing some leaves for her sermon she entered the hall from the dressing
room in the rear, hand in hand with the boy. They ascended the few steps
at the side of the platform. With a graceful bow to an ever respectful
audience, she stepped to the front of the platform at the side of the pulpit,
and spoke of the Sabbath School in a few words, as if it already existed.
She then introduced this little boy, Warren, as one of the representatives of
the school, who would recite a short verse* He had followed in her wake
& stood deferentially quiet beside her and as she retired, with a face full of
smiles he bowed profoundly. In the most assured tones he then recited the
following verse Mrs, Eddy had taught him to say & had so often rehearsed
him, that full credit might be done to her & to the school he represented

And right is right since God is God;
And right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty,
To falter would be sin!

Then another graceful bow and he came down to sit with Dr. Eddy, who
seldom was on the platform with Mrs. Eddy, & who enjoyed the company
of the boy, relieving me of care, while I sang a solo part, or led the con-
gregational hymns with the quartette.

"The sermon was beautiful, full of the glory of Truth, the healing Truth
of Christ. She seemed inspired & it uplifted us all by her positive & explana
tory revelations. She referred to A little child shall lead them. The Dr.
looked with admiration from her to the boy, who had done so well, for
a sensitive little chap, as the Dr. said & by her directing. The singing was
fine & the contribution generous. We all felt a new era of the cause was
coming. As the audience of less than one hundred parted, more harmony
was manifest and a mutual resolution to loyally abide by Mrs. Eddy s
leadership. Upon our return at the dinner table the Dr. remarked with so
much love, Mary, you have done a great work today, a grand work, & she
turning to the boy with a smile said It is because I let this little child lead
me/ Of course we all looked the adoring love of her we could not speak,
and retired to the parlor for our singing with a God praise few companies

300 NOTES TO CHAPTER V

can ever know." Recollections of Airs. Choate in the Historical Files of The
Mother Church.

Mrs. Choate s many affectionate references, during 1914, to Mrs. Eddy are
the more informing because in the eighties Mrs. Eddy more than once
lovingly as was her lifelong habit reproved her young friend and student
in accordance with St. Paul s counsel (II Timothy 4:2) to his young friend
Timothy to "reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsufTering"; and also in
illustration of her own words in the Church Manual (Art. VIII, Sec. 1 ) : "a
Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in
true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness."

17. Page 141. Mrs. Mary Harris Curtis s recollections in the Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

18. Page 141. Before undertaking to give an impression of Mrs. Eddy s
appearance in her Boston pulpit, the author in years past talked with many
who then heard her including the late Miss Frances J. Dyer, then of
The Congregationalist. He has also read the unpublished recollections now
in the possession of The Mother Church of Mrs. Clara E. Choate, Miss
Julia S. Bartlett, Miss Mary Alice Dayton, Miss Elsie Lincoln, Miss Mary
A. Daggett, Miss Sarah A. Farlow, Mrs. Mary E. Foye, Mrs. Annie R.
Hessler, Mr. William B. Reid, and Mr. William Lyman Johnson.

On all, Mrs. Eddy, near threescore years and ten, made the impression of
eternal youth, and often imparted the impression to others. Miss Lilian
Whiting wrote in the Ohio Leader, July 2, 1885, when Mrs. Eddy was
sixty-four, that she came away from her first interview with "an utterly
unprecedented buoyancy and energy which lasted days."

Mrs. Emma Easton Newman reports in her recollections that when Mrs.
Eddy was sixty-seven, Mrs. Newman s father guessed she was about fifty-five.
Mrs. Newman s recollections in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

Mr. Farlow first met Mrs. Eddy when she was sixty-four and observed
"she might easily be taken for a lady of forty." Farlow recollections in
Historical Files of The Mother Church.

At fifty-six Mrs, Eddy looked so young that Asa Gilbert Eddy, never
once having thought to ask her age, assumed that it was forty when he
applied for the marriage license, and it was not till many years after his
passing that Mrs. Eddy ever heard of the occurrence. Farlow, 123.

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "Comeliness and grace are inde
pendent of matter. Being possesses its qualities before they are perceived
humanly. Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal
Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline,
and color. It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in
the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the
night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness." S. & H. 247.

19. Page 148. Mrs. Eddy wrote an early student: "a Baptist clergyman in
Boston (now more of an Adventist) sent for me to supply his pulpit and
I did, that gave me the opportunity for six months to keep the good tidings
circulating. I healed a large number by my sermons and they owned it at
the close of them." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 17:19:2050.

20. Page 148. Church Mamial, 48.

NOTES TO CHAPTER V 301

21. Page 148. C. Lulu Blackmail s recollections in Historical Files of The
Mother Church.

22. Page 149. Blackman recollections in Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

23. Page 150. Miss Sarah A. Farlow s recollections in Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

24. Page 150. Miss Mary Alice Dayton s recollections in Historical Files
of The Mother Church.

25. Page 150. S. & H., 465.

26. Page 151. Sarah A. Farlow.

27. Page 151. Mary E. Foye s recollections in Historical Files of The
Mother Church, 5.

28. Page 152. ha Oscar Knapp and Flavia Stickney Knapp, by Bliss
Knapp, 15. J

29. Page 152. Miscellaneous Writings, 99.

30. Page 153. Faith Work, Christian Science, and Other Cures, 46.

31. Page 154. John 9:25.

32. Page 154. Bartlett, 7, 8.

^33. Page 154. ha Oscar Knapp and Flavia Stickney Knapp, by Bliss
Knapp, 6.

34. Page 155. ha Oscar Knapp and Flavia Stickney Knapp, by Bliss
Knapp, 8, 9.

35. Page 156. The Christian Science Journal, May, 1892, 68, 71.

36. Page 156. Recollections of Joseph G. Mann in Historical Files of
The Mother Church, 69.

37. Page 158. ^ At first it was called, The Journal of Christian Science. Her
great happiness in editing the Journal is indicated in a letter written January
31, 1884, to Colonel E. J. Smith, to whom she also says "Never was a time
when the Cause was in better condition." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscel
lany, Vol. 17:51:2065.

38. Page 159. The Christian Science Journal, September, 1886, 133.

39. Page 160. The Genealogy and Life of Asa Gilbert Eddy, by Mary
Beecher Longyear.

40. Page 161. The following is an excerpt from one of George W,
Glover s letters to his mother, dated January 31, 1895:

"I have a very valuable mining property which lies next to and adjoining
the property of a company that is shipping ore. The company is anxious to
get it and have offered seven thousand five hundred dollars, but that is
only a pittance.

"If I had two thousand dollars to open it I would realize a good figure
as it is now I haven t the money and can t open it out so as to receive what
it is worth.

"I do not wish you to feel as if I was asking any thing of you for nothing
but if you can assist me at present it would be of great help and I would
secure you." Historical Files of The Mother Church.

41. Page 161. Mrs. Eddy s Petition.

42. Page 162. Wilbur, 322.

43. Page 162. Letter by Dr. Foster-Eddy February 23, 1920, in Historical
Files of The Mother Church. He passed away November 13, 1930.

44. Page 163. Of this visit she wrote Colonel E. J. Smith June 25, 1884:

302 NOTES TO CHAPTER V

"I went in May to Chicago at the imperative call of people there and my
own sense of the need. This great work had been started but my students
needed me to give it a right foundation and impulse in that city of ceaseless
enterprise. So I went, and in three weeks taught a class of 25 pupils, lectured
... to a full house, got 20 subscriptions for my Journal, sold about thirty
copies of Science and Health, etc. In the class were three M.D. s and two
clergymen one Methodist, the other Universalist both good thinkers and
scholarly." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 17:61:2069.

45. Page 163. In preparation for the meeting of 1888, Mrs. Eddy long
before in March, 1887, had called all her students who could be reached to
come to Boston in April, 1887. She was much concerned to have them do so.
She wrote Mrs. Annie Macmillan Knott as though the very life of the Cause
might depend on. this preparatory meeting. (Mrs. Knott s letter of May 16,
1930, to the author.) Mrs. Knott is a member of The Christian Science Board
of Directors of The Mother Church, and is the first woman to serve as a
member of this Board under the deed of 1892.

Mrs. Eddy never took a chance. "Accidents are unknown to God," she
said. S. & H., 424. For every important step in life she made the utmost
preparation possible.

46. Page 163. Powell s Historic Towns of the Western States, 228.

47. Page 164. Miscellaneous Writings, 134.

48. Page 164. Mark Sullivan (Our Times, I, 123-131) says that Bryan s
historic speech was extemporaneous only in its arrangement. In paragraphs
he had made the speech scores of times the two years before up and down
the Missouri Valley. Once at least on the floor of Congress he had closed a
speech with the phrase: "You shall not press down upon the brow of labor
this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold."

49. Page 165. Miscellaneous Writings, 98-106.

50. Page 165. The Christian Science Journal, July, 1888, 209.

51. Page 166. On Mrs. Eddy s visit, four years before, in 1884, to Chicago
she was refused a room at the Palmer House, and also three other places in
Chicago till someone known to the management became her sponsor. Recol
lections of Gilbert Carpenter in the Historical Files of The Mother Church.

52. Page 166. Mrs. Annie Macmillan Knott, who was present in Central
Music Hall and later attended the reception in the Palmer House, tells the
author that Mrs, Eddy remained at the hotel reception only a few minutes.
"She shrank from personal adulation and everything of that sort."

53. Page 166. Wilbur, 311.

54. Page 161. New Thought, too, is a revolt against materialism, and is
altogether idealistic. Both in theory and in practice it differs from Christian
Science.

55. Page 168. Miscellaneous Writings, 359. The following personal letter,
November 28, 1889, addressed to the Church takes us back across the years:

"The Church of Christ (Scientist) in Boston was my patient seven years.
When I would think she was well nigh healed a relapse came and a large
portion of her flock would forsake the better portion, and betake themselves
to the world s various hospitals for the cure of moral maladies. These stray
ing sheep would either ,set up claims of improvements on Christian Science
and oppose the Mother Church, or sink out of sight in religious history. This

NOTES TO CHAPTER V 3&lt;B

state of the Church has lasted ten years. It even grew rapidly worse when
about three years ago I for lack of time to adjust her continual difficulties
and a conscientious purpose to labor in higher fields and broader ways for
the advancement of the glorious hope of Christian Science put students in
my pulpit.

"As one who is treating patients without success remembers that they are
depending on material hygiene, consulting their own organizations and thus
leaning on matter instead of Spirit, saith to these relapsing patients, *now
quit your material props and leave all for Christ, spiritual power, and you
will recover. So I admonish this Church after ten years or sad experience
in material bonds to cast them off and cast her net on the spiritual side of
Christianity. To drop all material rules whereby to regulate Christ, Chris
tianity, and adopt alone the golden rule for unification, progress, and a better
example as the Mother Church." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, VoL
1:21:8.

On December 2, 1889, the Church Board at 9:30 pjn. unanimously adopted
the following resolutions:

"(!) That the time has come when this Church should free itself from the
thraldom of man-made laws, and rise into spiritual latitudes where the law
of love is the only bond of union.

(2.) That the Regulations and By-Laws of this Church be and are hereby
declared to be, in all their articles and clauses except that part of Article 1
which fixes its name, null and void.

(3.) That the Corporation be and is declared dissolved and that the present
Clerk of the Church be hereby requested to take the steps necessary to give
legal effect to this resolution.

(4.) The members of this Church hereby declare that this action is taken
in order to realize more perfectly the purposes of its institution as an organi
zation viz. growth in spiritual life and the spread of the glad tidings and
that they will continue as a Voluntary Association of Christians knowing no
law but the law of Love, and no Master but Christ in the exercise of all the
ministrations and activities heretofore performed by them as a Church of
Christ (Scientist).

(5.) That the members of this Church hereby make loving recognition of
the services and guidance of the founder and late pastor of the church, and
also the expression of their grateful thanks to those who in the capacities
of assistant pastor or otherwise have fostered its growth." From records of
the Church organized in 1879, 265.

56. Page 169. The Christian Science Journal, September, 1890. Also Mrs.
Eddy s letter to Miss Julia Bartlett of July 21, 1889:

"Now I repeat that whatever questions in any of the C. S. organizations
come up no reference be made to me, for I hereby state that I will not
entertain the question nor consider it, and why?

"Because under the counteracting mental influences, if I do this, my
counsel is liable to be either carried out too late, or misunderstood, or
carried out only in part, and because of all these things the wisdom and
necessity of it is not seen nor the good it might do accomplished, and many
will say she is a hard master. I have borne this many years and think at
this period of my retirement it should be seen that this is why I left the field.

304 NOTES TO CHAPTER VI

Again my students must learn sooner or later to guard themselves, to watch
and not be misled.

"I appreciate your tasks far more than you can mine and have rewarded
you by incessant care for you many years. It is a grave mistake not to do
quickly all that is worth doing, delay gives all away, under our circum
stances." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:61:7695.

57. Page 169. Wilbur, 203.

CHAPTER VI

1. Page 170. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 40:11:5227B.

2. Page 170. To another she wrote: "I cannot and do not receive visits
any more from any one but from those who come at my request to help
me or who are my students.

"This dear one is the reason, viz. I have so much writing and care as a
leader in a cause to which I devote my entire life that I have not time to
visit or to be visited.

"Now this is not because I would not enjoy seeing you but because I
cannot give more than one hour to any one unless it be to work with me in
my field of labor." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 17:159:2124.

3. Page 171. When Mrs. Eddy first settled, June, 1889, in Concord, she
lived at 62 North State Street. In the spring of 1891, she moved to Roslindale,
Massachusetts; but within a few weeks she returned to 62 North State Street.
In December, 1891, she bought a farm of about seventy acres beyond the city
limits, and remodeled the farmhouse which she found there into the com
fortable home to which, because of its broad and attractive outlook, she
gave the name of Pleasant View.

4. Page 111. Mann, 33.

5. Page 171. M. Adelaide Still, 1, 2.

6. Page 172. S. 6- H., 254.

7. Page 172. Miss Margaret Macdonald.

8. Page 172. Says Miss Abigail Dyer Thompson, 2: "One day when she
asked the gardener to bring a basket of vegetables, carefully packed, to send
on the train to one of her students who lived in an adjoining town . , . she
sent the gardener to the basement for a generous piece of salt pork. This
she had carefully wrapped in paper and tied to the side of the handle so it
would be held securely in the basket; she then slipped in a note expressing
her pleasure at sending the vegetables from her own garden, and added:
With the salt pork I think you have all the ingredients necessary for a
good meal.* "

9. Page 173. A member of the Chestnut Hill household tells the author
that this practice was continued at Chestnut Hill.

10. Page 173. The Meaning of Culture, 237.

11. Page 173. "The fact is I am allowed no earthly peace and it is this
that keeps me from visiting my church oftener, from not one week for
vacation, and nothing save servitude. At my age this is all wrong." Mrs.
Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 19:187:2429.

12. Page 174. Miss Shannon s recollections, confirmed bv Mr. Charles H.
Welch.

13. Page 174. The dissolution of the visible organization of the Church

NOTES TO CHAPTER VT 305

is the sequence and complement of that of the College Corporation and
Association. The College disappeared, that the spirit of Christ might have
freer course among its students and all who corne into the understanding of
Divine Science ; the bonds of organization of the Church were thrown away,
so that its members might assemble themselves together and provoke one
another to good works in the bond only of Love." The Christian Science
Journal for February, 1890, 566.

Later, however, with characteristic timeliness, Mrs. Eddy wrote a student:
"You recall his [Jesus ] . . . turning water into wine for the marriage feast,
and even being baptized to meet the necessity of suffer it to be so now for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. His age or the age in which
he lived required what he did and his wisdom caused his concession to its
requirements in some instances. Just as this age requires organization to
maintain Christian Science." Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol.
36:227:4756.

14. Page 114. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 39:231:5213.

15. Page 115. Leigh Mitchell Hodges to the author.

16. Page 115. Mann, 48.

17. Page 116. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 1:59:21.

18. Page 116. Mrs. Eddy s own story of her relationship with the building
of that earlier church is told as follows in her Message -for 1902, 13, 14:

"During the last seven years I have transferred to The Mother Church, of
my personal property and funds, to the value of about one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars; and the net profits from the business of The
Christian Science Publishing Society (which was a part of this transfer)
yield this church a liberal income. I receive no personal benefit therefrom
except the privilege of publishing my books in their publishing house, and
desire none other.

"The land on which to build The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in
Boston, had been negotiated for, and about one half the price paid, when
a loss of funds occurred, and I came to the rescue, purchased the mortgage
on the lot corner of Falmouth and Caledonia (now Norway) Streets; paying
for it the sum of $4,963.50 and interest, through my legal counsel. After the
mortgage had expired and the note therewith became due, legal proceedings
were instituted by my counsel advertising the property in the Boston news
papers, and giving opportunity for those who had previously negotiated for
the property to redeem the land by paying the amount due on the mortgage.
But no one offering the price I had paid for it, nor to take the property
off my hands, the mortgage was foreclosed, and the land legally conveyed
to me, by my counsel. This land, now valued at twenty thousand dollars, I
afterwards gave to my church through trustees, who were to be known as
The Christian Science Board of Directors. A copy of this deed is published
in our Church Manual. About five thousand dollars had been paid on the
land when I redeemed it. The only interest I retain in this property is to
save it for my church. I can neither rent, mortgage, nor sell this church
edifice nor the land whereon it stands."

19. Page 111. Concord citizens of responsibility never lost an opportunity
to express their great regard for Mrs. Eddy; and the author has before him
letters of that time from the Mayor, the Concord editors, a United States

306

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI

Senator, and others agreeing with Mr. Josiah E. Fernald s appreciation which
is the more impressive because he has never been a Christian Scientist.

20. Page 177. The Christian Science Sentinel first had the title of the
Christian Science Weekly, but received its present name January 26, 1899.

21. Page US. John Oxenham.

22. Page 118. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 26:71:3278.

23. Page US. Mrs. Eddy s Message -for 1902, 12, 13.

24. Page 119. Wilbur, 342, 343.

25. Page 119. Historical Files of The Mother Church, Recollections of
George Wendell Adams, Judge Septimus J. Hanna, Joseph G. Mann, Mary
Stewart, Mary E. Eaton, Emma C. Shipman, Lida S. Stone, Sue Harper Mims;
and U. S. Senator George H. Moses.

26. Page 119. Hanna s Christian Science History, 11.

27. Page 119.

Adams, George Wendell
Andrews, Mrs. Effie
Baker, Mrs. Anna B. White
Baker, Dr. Alfred E.
Betts, Edgar K.
Betts, Mrs. Harriet L.
Blain, Julian
Bond, Mrs. Lulu H.
Brown, Miss Alice Seward
Buswell, Ezra M.
Chamberlain, Miss Jessie C.
Chanfrau, Mrs. Henrietta E.
Clark, Joseph B.
Clarkson, Judge Joseph R.
Coates, Lewis B.
Cochrane, Mrs. E. Rose
Colles, Mrs. Marjorie
Davis, Mrs. Emma S.
Dole, Rev. Walter
Easton, Miss Emma Gould
Eaton, Miss Mary E.
Fiske, Rev. Henry S.
Foster, Mrs. Adeline
Frame, Mrs. Caroline W.
Hanna, Mrs. Camilla
Hanna, Judge Septimus J.
Higman, Mrs. Elizabeth W.
Higman, Ormond
Kent, Mrs. Rose E.
Kimball, Edward A.
Kimball, Mrs. Kate Davidson
King, Mrs. Frances J.
Knapp, Miss Daphne S.
Lathrop, John Carroll

The Class of 1898

Calvin

McBean, Mrs. Catherine
McDonald, Miss Margaret S.
McKee, David N.
McKenzie, Rev. Wm. P.
Mann, Mrs. Frances Mack
Mann, Joseph
Meehan, Albert
Metcalf, Albert
Metcalf, Mrs. Mary C.
Miller, Mrs. Frederica L.
Miller, William N.
Mims, Mrs. Sue Harper
Moore, George H.
Neal, James A.
Norton, Carol
Norwood, Edward Everett
Pearson, Charles W.
Robertson, Mrs. Annie Louise
Robertson, Miss Nemi
Shipman, Miss Emma C.
Smith, J. Edward
Smith, Richard
Speakman, Miss Rachel T.
Stewart, John H.
Stewart, Miss Mary
Stocking, Miss Daisette D.
Stone, Mrs. Lida Stocking
Sulcer, Dr. Abraham A.
Thompson, Miss Abigail Dyer
Thompson, Mrs. Emma A.
Tomlinson, Rev. Irving C.
(Representing press)
George H, Moses
Allan H. Robinson
A. Frye

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI 307

28. Page 180. Willis J. Abbot s interview with Senator Moses reported in
The Christian Science Monitor for June 19, 1929.

29. Page 180. Mrs. Lida S. Stone s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

30. Page 180. Miss Mary Stewart s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

31. Page 180. Thompson, 2.

32. Page 180. Thompson, 2.

33. Page 181. Stewart, 6.

34. Page 181. Stewart, 4.

35. Page 181. Mary E. Eaton s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

36. Page 182. Mr. George Wendell Adams recollections in the Historical
Files of The Mother Church. Mr. Adams was sometime clerk of The Mother
Church, and is now a member of The Christian Science Board of Directors.

37. Page 182. Conversations with Eckermann. Bonn s Library Transla
tion, 258, 259.

38. Page 182. Rom. 7:21.

39. Page 182. Luke 10:17-20.

40. Page 182. II Cor. 12:7.

41. Page 182. Powell s Heavenly Heretics, 7.

42. Page 183. Shannon, 50, 51.

43. Page 184. A Ballad of Trees and the Master, by Sidney Lanier.

44. Page 184. Eaton, 3.

45. Page 184. Hanna s Christian Science History, 11: Mrs. Eddy to Judge
Hanna: I did not refer to mental malpractice, its members generally had
taken the primary course, and this instruction properly comes before that
class.

46. Page 185. Mann, 11; also S. & H., 406.

47. Page 185. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 21:61:2615.

48. Page 185. Charles R. Coming s statement in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

49. Page 185. Michael Meehan s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church.

50. Page 185. General Frank S. Streeter s statement dated October 28,
1906, in Historical Files of The Mother Church.

51. Page 186. Mrs. Grace A. Greene, 3, 4.

52. Page 186. Matt. 5:44.

53. Page 186. Mann, 89.

54. Page 186. Retrospection and Introspection, 81.

55. Page 181. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 38:103:4996.

56. Page 188. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 39:101:5140.

57. Page 188. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 1:219:90.

58. Page 189. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 1:53:19.

59. Page 189. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 1:145:53.

60. Page 190. This is the Christian Science equivalent for "carnal mind,"
found in the Epistles of St. Paul. Tagore is still here, and thus he personalizes
"mortal mind":

"Who is this that follows me into the silent dark? I move aside to avoid

308 NOTES TO CHAPTER VI

his presence, but I escape him not. He makes the dust rise from the earth
with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter. He is
my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come
to thy door in his company."

61. Page 190. S. & H., 226.

62. Page 192. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 37:19:4777.

63. Page 192. Shannon, 53, 54.

64. Page 193. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 3:225:325.

65. Page 196. Church Manual, 15, 16.

66. Page 191. Church Manual, 97.

67. Page 191. Christian Science Sentinel, December 21, 1929.

68. Page 191. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 130.

69. Page 191. Retrospection and Introspection, 79.

70. Page 198. The Christian Science Monitor, January 8, 1930.

71. Page 200. What Mrs. Eddy Said to Arthur Brisbane, 41.

72. Page 201. Michael Meehan s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church, 9, 10.

73. Page 203. Michael Meehan s Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity,
25. Copyrighted and used by permission. In studying the testimony, the
author has used Mrs. Eddy s own marked copy. For various reasons the
court hearing did not occur till August 13, 1907. On March 6, 1907, Mrs.
Eddy had placed her property in trust to Archibald McLellan, Henry M.
Baker, and Josiah E. Fernald, the last two not being Christian Scien
tists at all.

Among the many outside of Christian Science to whom the author
is under greater obligation than can be described for counsel and co
operation are distinctively Mr. Talcott Powell of the New York Tele
gram, and Mr. Josiah E. Fernald of Concord, New Hampshire, who
has added to substantial assistance in procuring material for the author,
the following authentic personal recollection of Mrs. Eddy:

"After Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy came to Concord to live, she did her
banking with the National State Capital Bank, and started her account
with the bank on May 16, 1890. Mr. Fernald being Cashier at that
time, Mrs. Eddy asked him to look after some business matters for her,
and in that way he came to know her. She in turn sent for him to
come to her home to consult with him and give such directions as she
wished about the business in hand.

"It was a great pleasure to Mr. Fernald to be called upon by Mrs.
Eddy to attend to any of her business matters. He always found her
a person who knew exactly what she wanted him to do and how it
should be carried out. Mrs. Eddy signed her own checks, and ordered
such securities as she chose to purchase, having a good knowledge
of her business.

"Mr. Fernald remembers Mrs. Eddy in her office or study, which
was on the second floor of the house, and was a very bright and sunny
southeast corner room facing to the North, with her visitor in a chair
at her left in an easy speaking distance. She was always prompt, alert
and courteous.

"It was a great pleasure to Mr. Fernald to be chosen one of the three

NOTES TO CHAPTER VI 309

trustees March 6, 1907. He assisted Gen. Henry M. Baker in the settle
ment of her estate up to the time of Mr. Baker s death, and was then
appointed to complete the administration of her estate. After that,
with the Board of five Directors of The Mother Church, he was
appointed the sixth Trustee under the Will, and has served in that
capacity up to the present time. He is very glad to do all in his power
to help carry out the terms of the Trust as set forth in the Will.

"Mr. Fernald states that in his relations with his co-trustees, and with
the many Christian Science Workers, he has found some of the finest
Christian people in the world; and that it is a great joy to be asso
ciated with such people, and to be of some assistance in carrying on
a work that extends all over the world."

Another valued helper has been Miss Ida Belle Little, Scientist.

74. Page 203. Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity, by Michael
Meehan, 27.

75. Page 204. Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity., by Michael
Meehan, 153.

76. Page 205. Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity, by Michael
Meehan, 157-159.

77. Page 207. Recollections of Miss Adelaide Still, Mrs. Minnie A. Scott,
and Professor Hermann S. Hering in the Historical Files of The Mother
Church.

78. Page 208. Letter, April 20, 1908, to Hayne Davis in the Historical
Files of The Mother Church.

79. Page 208. Professor Hermann S. Hering s talk with the author.

80. Page 208. Still, 6.

81. Page 208. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany^ Vol. 21:101:2632. It is
interesting that later Mrs. Eddy thought it unnecessary to send this letter.

82. Page 209. Mann, 93.

83. Page 209. Reminiscences of Michael Meehan, 13, as well as Mrs. Eddy
and the Late Suit in Equity.

84. Page 210. Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity, by Michael
Meehan, 12.

CHAPTER VII

1. Page 211. Farmington (N. H.) News, January 31, 1908. In prepara
tion for the writing of this chapter, the author has read many recollections
in the Historical Files of The Mother Church. He has also talked with many
of the men and women still on earth who were then associated with
Mrs. Eddy. Mr. William R. Rathvon has been of special service; but the
author has also profited by the words of Mrs. Annie Macmillan Knott,
Reverend Irving C. Tomlinson, Professor Hermann S. Hering, William P.
McKenzie, Judge Clifford P. Smith, John C. Lathrop, John G. Salchow,
Joseph G. Mann, Miss M. Adelaide Still, Mrs. Emilie B. Hulin, Miss Minnie
B. Weygandt, Miss Emma H. McLauthlin, Mrs. Emma Easton Newman,
Mrs. EUa W. Hoag, Miss Sarah A. Farlow, Mrs. Lauretta W. Blish, Mrs.
Martha W. Wilcox, and Mrs, Minnie A. Scott.

310 NOTES TO CHAPTER VII

2. Page 211. John G. Salchow served a longer term of unbroken service
to Mrs. Eddy than anyone else, except Calvin A. Frye.

3. Page 212. Mrs. Eddy and the Late Sidt in Equity, by Michael
Meehan, 156.

4. Page 212. In fact Mrs. Eddy once wrote a student: "I have had no
vacation for over 30 years."

5. Page 212. I Cor. 15:54.

6. Page 213. The Portsmouth Chronicle for January 28, 1908, states:
"Mrs. Eddy was instrumental in many improvements and charity, and the
latter was very little known about for she gave quietly and her gifts were
always with the understanding that the name of the giver should not be
known."

7. Page 214. Christian Science Sentinel, February 15, 1908.

8. Page 214. Letter on this point see page 208.

9. Page 215. Arthur Brisbane thus indicated at the time.

10. Page 215. Boston Globe, January 27, 1908.

11. Page 216. John G. Salchow s account of this memorable occasion as
told to the author.

12. Page 216. "OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVING THE LEADER.
SECT. 11. At the written request of the Pastor Emeritus, Mrs. Eddy, the
Board of Directors shall immediately notify a person who has been a member
of this Church at least three years to go in ten days to her, and it shall be
the duty of the member thus notified to remain with Mrs. Eddy three years
consecutively. A member who leaves her in less time without the Directors
consent or who declines to obey this call to duty, upon Mrs. Eddy s com
plaint thereof shall be excommunicated from The Mother Church. Members
thus serving the Leader shall be paid semi-annually at the rate of one thou
sand dollars yearly in addition to rent and board. Those members whom she
teaches the course in Divinity, and who remain with her three consecutive
years, receive the degree of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College." Church
Manual, 67.

13. Page 216. Matthew 19:29.

14. Page 217. Mark 13:33.

15. Page 211. Joseph G. Mann s letter to the author,

16. Page 217. S. 6- H., 471.

17. Page 217. American Magazine, June, 1930, 51.

18. Page 218.

"For Rain

"O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ hast promised to
all those who seek thy kingdom, and the righteousness thereof, all things
necessary to their bodily sustenance; Send us, we beseech thee, in this our
necessity, such moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of
the earth to our comfort, and to thy honour; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen?

"For Fair Weather

"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech thee, of thy great
goodness to restrain those immoderate rains, wherewith, for our sins, thou
hast afflicted us. And we pray thee to send us such seasonable weather, that

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII 311

the earth may, in due time, yield her increase for our use and benefit. And
give us grace, that we may learn by thy punishments to amend our lives,
and for thy clemency to give thee thanks and praise; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen."

Other Christians besides Episcopalians still pray for rain. During the
summer drought of 1930 all Christians totalling 625,000 in Arkansas were
called to pray for rain, and notice was sent to aU the daily papers.

19. Page 218. Mr. Adam H. Dickey, a valued member of Mrs. Eddy s
household and also of The Christian Science Board of Directors from
November 21, 1910 to February 8, 1925.

20. Page 220. Through the courtesy of Mr. Rathvon, the author has
examined the song book from which Mrs. Ella S. Rathvon many times sang
to Mrs. Eddy the songs and hymns which Mrs. Eddy loved.

21. Page 220. Mr. John C. Lathrop was a trusted member of Mrs. Eddy s
household and for many years served as a member of The Christian Science
Board of Lectureship. At present he is a Christian Science teacher and
practitioner.

22. Page 220. Mr. Rathvon s recollections; also pages 221 and 223.

23. Page 222. Salchow.

24. Page 222. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 52:199:7344.

25. Page 223. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 44:53:5820.

26. Page 223. Pulpit and Press, 75.

27. Page 223. Mrs. Eddy s Message for 1902, 4.

28. Page 224. Phil. 3:13, 14. Also Mrs. Eddy s Message for 1900, 6.

29. Page 224. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 36:85:4&lt;567.

30. Page 224. Mann, 93.

31. Page 225. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 262.
Quotations that follow are from Mr. Rathvon s recollections.

32. Page 227. Poems, 30.

33. Page 227. Presented to The Mother Church by Mr. Merritt.

34. Page 227. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 191.

35. Page 228. Mann, 99.

36. Page 228. Miscellaneous Writings, 7.

37. Page 229. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 52:79:7268.

38. Page 229. Mrs. Eddy s secretary wrote November 24, 1908, to Mr.
Archibald McLellan: "Our Leader prefers the heavy style of type shown in
the title of the paper which I enclose herewith, but insists that the article
The properly belongs in the title and wishes it placed there. This will
necessitate making another design that can be as easily read as the one
enclosed." (Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 51:175:7178.) This is
another indication of Mrs. Eddy s constant oversight of details in the estab
lishment of her Cause.

39. Page 231. Mr. McLellan, a resident of Chicago, had been attorney
with R. G. Dun & Co. for eighteen years, when he was called in 1902 by Mrs.
Eddy to assume the Editorship of the Christian Science periodicals. When
The Christian Science Monitor was established, Mr. McLellan became its
Editor-in-Chief. Up to the time when Mrs. Eddy desired to make Mr.
McLellan a Director, there were but four members of the Board. She caused
the By-Law, Article I, Section 5, of the Church Manual to be amended to

312 NOTES TO CHAPTER VII

provide that the Board "shall consist of five members." Then Mr. McLellan
was elected the fifth member of the Board.

40. Page 231. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 25:203:3191.

41. Page 231. Christian Science Sentinel, March 11, 1911, 524.

42. Page 233. Translated from the German.

43. Page 234. Mrs. Minnie Scott, 12.

44. Page 234. Such an instance of reproof which Mrs. Eddy gave one of
her beloved students had to do with the student s failure to observe the
counsel of Matthew 18:15-17: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass
against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee, and him alone: if he
shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three
witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear
them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him
be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." This Scripture has been a
preliminary requirement of discipline since the early history of the Church.
Mrs. Eddy wrote: "You are committing an unpardonable sin by talking as
you do about the s. What you say against them to others you should say
to them. The Mother Church By-Laws forbid doing otherwise. . . . Un
pardonable sin means one that we are never pardoned of but taught
through suffering that it is a sin."

45. Page 236. S. & H., 113.

46. Page 236. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 38:223:5066.

47. Page 237. Mrs. Eddy s notebook.

48. Page 237. Meehan, 5.

49. Page 238. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 19:11:2345.

50. Page 238. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 3:85:258.

51. Page 238. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 36:225:4755.

52. Page 238. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 14:97:1721.

53. Page 238. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 15:99:1832.

54. Page 239. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 32:53:4095.

55. Page 239. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 19:73:2372.

56. Page 240. Wilbur, 6 note.

57. Page 240. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 55:38:7682.

58. Page 240. Miss Lydia B. Hall s recollections.

59. Page 241. Sarah A. Farlow, 2.

60. Page 241. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 138.
Perhaps nowhere has Mrs. Eddy indicated more vividly her love and loyalty
to Christ Jesus than in her poem:

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.

NOTES TO CHAPTER VII 313

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.

Poems, 12.

61. Page 242. An earlier New England village word for a little, restless
fusser.

62. Page 242. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 6:227:636.

63. Page 243. In the Historical Files of The Mother Church appears the
following statement made by the undertakers in attendance:

To Whom it may Concern:

We were called to the residence of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy in Chestnut
Hill, Mass., at 8-15 A.M., Sunday December 4, 1910, to care for her body. We
found it in an excellent state of preservation when first called, and also fifty
eight hours after death. No preserving compounds were used until that time.
The tissues were remarkedly normal; the skin was well preserved, soft,
pliable, smooth and healthy. I do not remember having found the body of a
person of such advanced age in so good a physical condition. The walls of
the arteries were unusually firm and in as healthy a state as might be
expected in the body of a young person. The usual accompaniments of age
were lacking, and no outward appearance of any disease, no lesion or other
conditions common to one having died at such an advanced age were
noticeable.

In the process of embalming we found the body at sixty hours after death,
in as good condition of preservation as we always find at twelve to twenty-
four hours after death.

This is our voluntary statement made without solicitation or influence of
any kind.

64. Page 243. Judge Smith served as First Reader of The Mother Church,
was a member of The Christian Science Board of Lectureship, for a period

314 NOTES TO CHAPTER VII

of years was Manager of Committees on Publication, and later was Editor
of the Christian Science periodicals. At present he is the Editor of the
Bureau of History and Records.
65. Page 243.

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;

O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
Thou Love that guards the nestling s faltering flight!

Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye

Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall:
His habitation high is here, and nigh,

His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear,

For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!
Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear

No ill, since God is good, and loss is gain.

Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;

In that sweet secret of the narrow way,
Seeking and finding, with the angels sing:

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

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;

No night drops down upon the troubled breast,
When heaven s aftersmile earth s tear-drops gain,

And mother funds her home and heav nly rest.

Poems, p. 40.

CHAPTER VIII

1. Page 246. Once in her old age asked by the author how she kept her
youthfulness, Ellen Terry answered:

I pray devoutly,

I hammer stoutly,

And always get my way.

POWELL S The Human Touch, 136.

2. Page 241. America Set Free, 572.

3. Page 247. Reported in Christian World, London, England, March 8
1928.

4. Page 248. Time, June 16, 1930, 21.

Compare the following editorial from The Christian Science Monitor of
June 18, 1930:

One of the most noteworthy features of many of the recent theories
of the physical scientists is the fact that their authors have recognized
the necessity of looking right through the fluctuating testimony of the

NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII 315

senses in an endeavor to reach basically correct ideas of fundamentals.
Of none can this be said more truly than of Prof. Albert Einstein, who
just the other day, before the delegates of the World Power Confer
ence in Berlin, discussed, for the first time in more or less popular
fashion, his ideas of space, time and relativity.

His opening sentence was startling in its metaphysical significance.
"Conceptions and conceptional systems," he declared, "logically re
garded, never originate from sense experiences." It is clear, therefore,
that thought must lie behind those things that seem real to human
testimony. From this point of view, Professor Einstein proceeded to
show how, through the centuries of past investigation, gradually what
he designated as "space" has obtained a foundational sense of reality.

One by one the earlier theories had been disproved or corrected
until, in his words, "space ... has swallowed up ether and time and
is about to swallow up the field theory and the corpuscular theory as
well, so that it will remain as the only theory representing reality."

"Space," however, is not used in an entirely popular sense. It refers
more to a structural framework of the universe. This, prior to the
theory of relativity, was represented as absolute in itself, "as something
the inner substance of which was not capable of being influenced and
was in no wise changeable." Later, however, as "the last bit of
substance" was removed from ether, "a structure of greater richness
of form" for space had to be sought. This was necessary to reconcile
the idea with further theories which were found to clash with the
primary space hypothesis.

Of course, it is not possible to describe the Einstein theories in a
short article. That they constitute a decided advance in the direction
of a broadening concept of the unity of power and a clearer realization
of the metaphysical nature of the universe is undeniable. It cannot
be said that they represent absolute statements of Truth, because at
best they aim simply at the explanation of the phenomena of the
physical world. Still they are, without any question, aspects of that
increase of knowledge welcomed as productive of the human invention
that will be succeeded by even more important phases of experience.

There is little doubt that the development of these theories will be
far-reaching and will greatly help in relieving mankind of its shackles
of limitation. It is important, however, that the theories be seen in
their right light, while being recognized as included among the most
important contributions to twentieth century material progress.

5. Page 248. American Magazine, June 1930, 138.

6. Page 249. The famous class of 1898 the last with its sixty-seven
members, was an exception.

7. Page 250. No preacher in Protestantism is more courageous or more
understanding of American conditions than Dr. Burns Jenkins of Kansas
City. His church is always filled; and yet in his new book, The World s Debt
to Protestantism, 248, he writes: "Dean Inge has recently said that the golden
age of preaching is past. He speaks for England, to be sure; but what
happens in England sooner or later is likely to happen in America. The

316 NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII

golden age of preaching no doubt recedes into the past in this country as
well as in the motherland. The names of commanding preachers in America
may be counted on the fingers of one hand. Country people who would
listen eagerly for an hour or two hours to a preacher have given place to
city people who will not listen with patience for twenty to thirty minutes.
It is impossible in the cities to gather evening audiences even for the most
powerful men. The foolishness of preaching no longer gathers a gaping
crowd on Sunday nights."

8. Page 250. The New Case, 220.

9. Page 251. Mary Baker Eddy, 7, 8.

10. Page 251. S. & H., 411.

11. Page 252. S. 6- H., 125.

12. Page 252. Powell s Emmanuel Movement, 154.

13. Page 252. S. 6- H., 325.

14. Page 252. Bunting s The Radiant Life, 174.

15. Page 253. In Mrs. Eddy s earlier days in Boston, Mr. Neal was a bank
cashier in a Kansas town. His attention was brought to Christian Science by
a friend. He bought a copy of Science and Health, and was soon launched
on a notable career of Christian Science healing. In 1889 he was under Mrs.
Eddy s class instruction in Boston, and from 1892 until he passed on in 1930
he practised healing in Boston and served as a member of the Board of
Directors from July 1912 to October 1929, when he resigned.

It was to Mr. Neal that Mrs. Eddy, January 28, 1897, wrote with her own
pen the following letter which is unsurpassed in its revelation of her affec
tion for the faithful and of the high value she set on healing.

My beloved Student,

Your letter is my best New Year s gift, I had felt for sometime the fitness
you possess for healing I knew it when you were a member of my College
class. It looked a waste of your talents to have you in a counting room.
Now, thank God, I have at least one student in Boston that promises to
be a Healer such I have long waited and hoped to see. Oh may the Love
that looks on you and all guide your every thought and act up to the
impersonal, spiritual model that is the only ideal and constitutes the only
scientific Healer.

To this glorious end I ask you to still press on, and have no other ambition
or aim. A real scientific Healer is the highest position attainable in this sphere
of being. Its altitude is far above a Teacher or preacher; it includes all that
is divinely high and holy. Darling James, leave behind all else and strive for
this great achievement. Mother sighs to see how much her students need
this attainment and longs to live to see one Christian Scientist attain it. Your
aid to reach this goal is spiritualization. To achieve this you must have one
God, one affection, one way, one Mind. Society, flattery, popularity are
temptations in your pursuit of growth spiritual. Avoid them as much as in
you lies. Pray daily, never miss praying, no matter how often: "Lead me not
into temptation," scientifically rendered, Lead me not to lose sight of
strict purity, clean pure thoughts; let all my thoughts and aims be high, un
selfish, charitable, meek, spiritually minded. With this altitude of thought
your mind is losing materiality and gaining spirituality and this is the state of

NOTES TO CHAPTER VIII 317

mind that heals the sick. My new book will do you much good. Do not
purchase one, Mother wants to give you one. I welcome you into the
sanctum of my fold. God bless you.

Your loving Teacher

M B Eddy
(Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 28:33:3524.)

16. Page 255. S. & H., 292.

17. Page 255. Bicknell Young of Chicago, for many years a member of
The Christian Science Board of Lectureship.

18. Page 256. Bliss Knapp, member of The Christian Science Board of
Lectureship for many years.

19. Page 251. Michael Meehan s recollections in the Historical Files of
The Mother Church, 18. See also in confirmation S. & H., 128.

20. Page 261. S. 6- H., 468.

21. Page 262. Miscellaneous Writings, 287.

22. Page 263. Miscellaneous Writings, 287.

23. Page 263. This letter is in the collection the author has presented to
the Board of Directors. The word "friendship" in the last phrase Mrs. Eddy
used, like Henry Clay Trumbull in his standard book on Friendship The
Master Passion, was thus hyphenated "friendship-love."

24. Page 265. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 210.

25. Page 265. Miss Mary Burt Messer was an authority on the family
before she wrote "The Family in the Making" (1928). At one time connected
in New York with the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor
and the Charity Organization Society, for seven years engaged in research
for Wisconsin, teacher at Stout Institute, and finally lecturer on the family
for the University of California Extension Division, she says (p. 351):

"Breaking through the entire scheme of accepted values, and carrying its
methods into all quarters of the wojld, the movement of Christian Science
stands forth as a conception of the Christian religion drawn from woman s
insight, quietly advancing women to a position of equality with man in the
Christian church, and, conceiving the spiritual or creative principle in
feminine as well as in masculine terms. The maternal attribute of the divine
is thus advanced in connection with the paternal attribute not as in the
poetic overtones of Virgin worship, but with the living potencies of an
operative truth, a conception intimately associated with the restoration to
Christianity of its lost power of healing."

26. Page 265. Matthew 7:20.

TWENTY YEARS AFTER

1. Page 266. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 357.

2. Page 261. S. & H., 126.

3. Page 261. Matt. 28:20.

4. Page 261. S. 6- H., xi. In the Christian Science Sentinel March 28,
1931, Judge Clifford P. Smith writes that Mrs. Eddy "has made Christianity
more comprehensible to modern thought, less miraculous or mysterious, and

318 NOTES

more spiritually sensible than original Christianity was known to be before
she discovered its Science."

5. Page 267. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, 4.

6. Page 268. S. & H., 146.

7. Page 268. Miscellaneous Writings, 184.

8. Page 268. Mrs. Eddy s Letters and Miscellany, Vol. 3:225:325.

9. Page 269. Mark Twain quoted in Powell s Christian Science, 1917, XV.

10. Page 270. 211.

11. Page 271. Torrance Parker in the Christian Science Sentinel, June 7,
1924.

12. Page 271. Matt. 6:34.

INDEX

ABBOT, WILLIS J., interviews Senator
Moses, 306

Abbott, Lyman, 159

Adams, George Wendell, 16; de
scribes Mrs. Eddy, 180, Class of 98,
306; Clerk and Director of The
Mother Church, 307

Adams, John Quincy, 61

Adams, Mrs. Mary M. W., called by
Mrs. Eddy to compile rules for
teachers, 192

Adams, Rt. Rev. William, published
addresses on moral philosophy un
der caption Christian Science, 102

Addison, Joseph, read by Mary
Baker, 57, 61

Africa, 46, 276

Agassiz, Louis, 141

Aiken, Mrs. Mary D., 278

Albany, N. Y., 280

Albion, Maine, Mrs. Patterson stop
ping with Sarah Crosby, 105

Alcott, A. Bronson, calls on Mrs.
Eddy and thanks her for Science
and Health, 127; visits her at Lynn,
127; at Christian Scientist Associa
tion meeting, 127, 141, 294

Alcott family, the, 213

Alcott, Louisa M., Mr. Alcott speaks
of Mrs. Eddy to, 128, meeting with
Mrs. Eddy, 157

Aldnch, Judge Edgar, "Next
Friends Suit," 204

Aldnch, Thomas Bailey, 141

Alexandria, Va, Lindley Murray s
books published in, 57, 61

Allen, George H., 146

Ambrose, Abigail (wife of Mark
Baker), birth of Mary Baker, 52,
preparation for child, 52; teaches
daughter to pray, 53, 54; slavery

question then vital, 61; sends by
Mary message to George, 64, 65;
letter of counsel to be read on
Mary s wedding journey, 73; passes
on, 80; Mrs. Glover informs
George, 80, 93; Mary at her knee
in childhood hears Bible stories of
healing, 92; Rev. Richard S. Rust s
tribute, 93 , her understanding, 276;
influence on Mary, 277; 279, 283

Ambrose, D. Russell, 280

America, 221, 315

American Federation of Churches,
233

American Magazine, The, July, 1930,
Charming Pollock s defense of the
times in, 274; 310, 315

Amesbury, 116

Amiel, Henri Frederic, 281

Andrade, An Hour of Physics, 273

Andrews, Mrs. Effie, 306

Anglican Church, 28, 33, see Episco
pal Church

Annte Laurie, 220

Antarctic Expedition, 27

Arens, Edward J., Mrs. Eddy in
vokes legal protection against, 117,
143; attempts to build personal
business, 167; infringement of Mrs.
Eddy s copyright, 296

Argentina, lectures in, 46, 275

Armstrong, Joseph, defendant in
"Next Friends Suit," 203

Arnold, Edwin, 281

Associated Press, representatives in
terview Mrs. Eddy, 200

Association, see Christian Scientist

Astor, Lady Nancy, 28, 263

Astor, Viscount, 28

Atkinson, N., convert at Methodist
revival, 69

Atlanta, Georgia, 179, 245

Atlantic, The, 142

319

320

INDEX

Auld Lang Syne, 220
Aurelius, Marcus, 58
Auslander, Joseph, quoted, 164
Australia, lectures in, 46
Author, the, see Powell
Avon, see East Stoughton, 130

BACON, E. M., 296

Bacon, Francis, 57

Bagley, Miss Sarah, Mrs. Eddy de
scribes former patient of Quimby
to, 108; 116; takes Mrs. Eddy to
call on Whittier, 127, 293

Baker, Abigail (wife of Alexander
Tilton), in Mary s letter to
George, 65; 69; at Mary s wedding
to George W. Glover, 72; hus
band s mills at Tilton, 80; receives
Mrs. Glover into her home, 81;
dominating mentality and political
views, 81; endeavors to force sister
to same thinking, 82; Mrs. Eddy s
letter to her in later years, 83; no
room for little George Glover, 84;
bringing up Albert, 85; encourages
Mrs. Glover s second marriage, 87;
removes Mrs. Patterson from
North Groton to Rumney, 89;
clash of wills, 93; considers
Quimby quack and sends sister to
water cure, 95; money she sends
her is hoarded for journey to Port
land, 96; impressed by Mary s
healing takes son Albert to
Quimby, 98; closes her doors to
Mrs. Eddy, 113; 279; she and son
visit Quimby, 284; character and
will, 286; Mrs. Eddy quoted, 286;
to Rumney with Mrs. Eddy, 286

Baker, Abigail Ambrose, see Am
brose, Abigail

Baker, Albert (brother of Mary),
Mary confides plans to him, 54;
home from Dartmouth College, 55;
close relations with Mary, 56;
Mary writes George of Albert s
absence, 64; Mary comments on

his closer relations with Franklin
Pierce, 65; child with cut finger,
278; death of, 278; on slavery, 279

Baker, Dr. Alfred E., 306

Baker, Mrs. Anna B. White, 306

Baker, Mrs. Eliza Ann, see Glover,
Eliza Ann

Baker, Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson, see
Duncan, Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson

Baker family, daily devotions, 52;
interest in political affairs, 61; at
tend Methodist revival, 68; keep
aloof from Mrs. Eddy, 120; prac
tice economy, 292

Baker, George Sullivan, Mary s let
ters to, 55, 63, 64, 65, 66; Mark
Baker swaps George s favorite
horse, 66; at Mary s wedding, 72;
meets his widowed sister in New
York, 78; marries and goes to
Baltimore, 80; Mrs. Glover writes
him of mother s death, 80; her
letter to his future wife, 86; son
joins in "Next Friends Suit," 202,
280; thanks Southern people for
kindness to sister, 284

Baker, George W., joins in "Next
Friends Suit," 202, 203

Baker, Gen. Henry M., his picture
on Mrs. Eddy s mantel, 188; one
of three trustees, 308

Baker, Joseph, 60

Baker, Mark, birth of youngest
daughter Mary Morse, 52; ardent
advocate of church, 52; gets advice
from family doctor, 55; Mary
reads newspapers, 61; swaps
George s favorite horse, 66; North
ern Democrat and attitude to
ward slavery, 75; Mrs. Glover
returns a widow to her father s
house, 78; carries little George to
neighbor, 79; cares for frail daugh
ter, 79; builds comfortable home,
80; marries Elizabeth Patterson
Duncan, 81; Dr. Patterson relative
of his second wife, 86; advice to
Dr. Patterson as to marrying
Mary, 87; in heated discussion with

INDEX

321

Mary about everlasting punish
ment, 93; dies in 1865, 113; Mrs.
Eddy tells humorous incidents of,
219; vigorous and inelastic person
ality, 277; insistent that family at
tend morning devotions, 278

Baker, Martha (married Pillsbury),
Mary writes George of Martha s
illness, 66; at Mary s wedding to
George W. Glover, 72; loaned
Patterson money for sawmill and
land, 286

Baker, Martha Rand (Mrs. George),
see Rand, Martha D.

Baker, Mrs. Mary A., accompanies
Mrs. Patterson to Quimby s office,
94

Baker, Mary Morse, see Eddy, Mary
Baker

Baker, Rufus, 276

Baker, Samuel Dow, with new wife
at Mary s wedding to George
Glover, "72; 283

Baker, Uncle, Mrs. Eddy refers to his
illness, 65

Balch, Miss, girlhood correspondent
of A4ary Baker, 70

Baldwin, William Delavan, 258

Ballad of Trees and The Master, A,
Lanier, 307

Balliol College, 274

Baltimore, Md., George Baker goes
to, 80; 245

Bancroft, Samuel P., Mrs. Eddy s
promised refund of tuition, 117;
146, 292, 299

Baptist Church, Mrs. Eddy preaches
in, 148

Barbizon School, The, 142

Barry, George W., 132, 143, 146, 296

Bartlett, John H., 65; converted at
Methodist revival, 69; suitor for
Mrs. Glover s hand, 84

Bartlett, Miss Julia S., estimate of
Asa Gilbert Eddy, 143; healed,
154; 277, 290, 291, 293, 294, 296,
300, 303

Barton, Wm. E., 296

Batten, Barton, Durstine and Os-
borne, 232

Baum, Miss M. Louise, 187

Beatitudes, 248

Beckley, Zoe, writes of Lady Astor,
263

Beecher, Henry Ward, 281

Benevolent Association, Christian
Science, proposed sanatorium an
nounced, 49; opened, 49; capacity
and purpose, 49

Benevolent Association, Christian
Science, on Pacific Coast, 49

Benton, 283

Berkeley, teaching regarding matter,
103

Bermuda, lectures in, 46

Berne, Switzerland, 47

Betts, Edgar K., 306

Betts, Mrs. Harriet L., 306

Bible, daily reading encouraged, 4,
10, 50; runs through Lindley
Murray books, 58; Book of Books
to Mary Baker, 59; "science and
health" found in Wyclif s New
Testament, 103; best seller among
serious books, 133; King James
Version, 133; engrossed Ira O.
Knapp, 155; Mrs. Eddy s morning
reading, 171; Mrs. Eddy s writing
and, 187; her study of, 234; reliance
on, 235, 242; her favorite passage,
235; interpretation of, 236; reading
of, 249; Scientists knowledge of,
249; in Lutheran worship, 268;
technique of daily study, 269;
Christian Scientists live according
to, 276

Bible Lesson Committee, Christian
Science, 236, 249

Bible Lessons, instead of personal
preaching, 41, 50; studied daily,
234, 235; Mrs. Eddy s joy in study
ing, 236; preparation of, 249; daily
study of, 250; value of, 250; re
sults, 257; importance of daily
study, 264

Bible Looking Glass, The, 133

322

INDEX

Black, Hugh, Friendship, 69, 281
Blackman, C. Lulu, joins Mrs. Eddy s

class, 148, 301
Blain, Julian, 306
Blake, William, 104
Blish, Mrs. Lauretta W., 309
Blue Hills, seen from Chestnut Hill

residence, 216

Board of Directors, The Christian
Science, conference with, and per
sonnel, 16; grant access to Church
historical files, 17; responsibility to
the flock, 19; arranging for author
contacts, 21; method of financing
organization, 42; nominated by
Mrs. Eddy in her lifetime, 44; ap
point and supervise work of Chris
tian Science lecturers, etc., 44;
pass on issuance of Mrs. Eddy s
writings, 45; select Christian Sci
ence teachers, 45; establish sanato-
riums and home for elderly
Christian Scientists, 48; Ira O.
Knapp, 154; William B. Johnson,
155; Capt. Joseph Eastaman, 155;
litigation against, 162; take land
for church, Sept. 1892, 176; Mrs.
Eddy s letter to, 188; directed to
start church, 189; Mrs. Eddy
writes "Never abandon the By-
Laws," 193, 268; defend their re
ligion, 197; Edward A. Merritt
cited, 227; directed to start a news
paper, 228; consulted as to new
daily, 229; Mrs. Eddy suggests in
crease in salary, 238; administer
Ruggles Educational Fund, 259;
conduct commended, 266; con
ducting organization according to
Leader s instructions, 269; and the
future of Christian Science, 270;
gratitude of Christian Scientists to,
271; Charles E. Heitman, 276; land
deeded to, 305; Mrs. Annie M.
Knott, 302; George Wendell
Adams, 307; Directors and Mr.
Fernald are Trustees, 309; Adam
H. Dickey, 311; Archibald McLel-
lan, 311; James A. Neal, 316

Board of Education, Christian Sci
ence, selects, instructs, and certifies
teachers of Christian Science, 45

Board of Lectureship, Christian
Science, appointed by Directors
and work supervised, 44; men and
women of culture, 46; their aim,
50; testimony of, 255

Bogart, John, at the darks table, 106

Bonn s Library Translation, 307

Bond, Mrs. Lulu H., 306

Book of Boston, The, Shackleton,
296

Book of Martyrs, Fox s, 101

Book of Spirit Writings, A, C. C.
Helberg, 292

Boston Advertiser, 142

Boston Evening Transcript, 142, 244

Boston Globe, 141, 244, 310

Boston Herald, 141, 199

Boston, Mass., The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, organized in, 38;
center of Committee on Publica
tion activities, 47; Emerson starting
career as preacher in, 57; Mary
Baker visits, 70; pursuit of culture,
75; magnetizers or mesmerists in,
92; Mrs. Eddy wins place in, 126;
128; Mrs. Eddy looks for pub
lisher in, 132; Mrs. Eddy removes
to, 140; writers, 141; Public Li
brary and Symphony Orchestra,
142; preachers, 142; swift growth
of Christian Science in, 152; ad
visability of Mrs. Eddy s settling
in, 157; 160; work taken up in Bos
ton, 163; Dressers starting mental
science movement, 167; increas
ing demands on Mrs. Eddy
cause removal, 170; Mrs. Eddy re
members, 173; Mrs. Eddy gives
land for church, 174; newspapers
sent representatives to Concord,
200; why Mrs. Eddy should be
near, 214; loved by Mrs. Eddy,
244; Japanese delegation visits, 275;
276; weather report for 1895, 295;
Mrs. Eddy preaches in Baptist
church, 300

INDEX

323

Boston Medical Library, books on
animal magnetism, 92

Boston Post, 141, 244

Boston Public Library, books on ani
mal magnetism, etc., 92; 142

Boston Traveler, 141; convention in
Chicago, 165

Bouton, Dr., 153

Bow, New Hampshire, birthplace of
Mrs. Eddy, 52; Baker family re
moves from, 62; Mary s second
letter written from, 64; Mr. and
Mrs. Glover pay visit to, 73; Mrs.
Eddy s birthplace no longer in
sight, 216

Boxer Rebellion, Mrs. Eddy s knowl
edge of, 200

Boy Scouts, 275

Braid, mesmerism in England, 91

Brazil, lectures in, 46, 275

Brent, Bishop, 15, 250

Bride, The, verse, 285

Brisbane, Arthur, tribute to Mrs.
Eddy, 200, 308

British Museum, 20

Broad St., Lynn, Mrs. Eddy s resi
dence in, 124; her purchase of
8 Broad St., 124; 125

Brook Farm, 141

Brookhouse, Nathaniel, at the Clarks
table, 106

Brooks, Phillips, 142

Brown, Miss Alice Seward, 306

Brown & Co., W. F., bill for printing
Science and Health, 132

Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur S.,
owners earliest picture of Mrs.
Eddy, 279; own clock once in
Holmes residence, 281

Brown University, 259

Browning, Elizabeth, 281

Browning, Robert, 281; Paracelsus,
289

Bryan, William Jennings, speaks at
Democratic Convention of 1896,
164; Cross of Gold speech, 165, 302

Bryce, James, estimate of U. S. Con
stitution, 102

Bryn Mawr, Woodrow Wilson

teaching at, 24
Bubier, S. M., Esq., Mrs. Patterson

carried to his home after fall on

ice, 109
Bucher, A. J., in The Christian

Apologist, 233

Bunting, Rev. John S., 40, 316
Bunyan, John, 281
Burnett, Frances Hodgson, meets

Mrs. Eddy, 157

Burnham, Miss, girlhood correspond
ent of Mary Baker, 70
Burns, Thos., 281
Burt, John M., 84
Business efficiency and Christian

Scientists, 256-258
Buswell, Ezra M., 306
Butler, Mrs. Agnata Frances, 29
Butler, Dr. Montagu, 29
Butterworth, Hezekiah, 141, 296
By-Laws, see Manual
Byrd, Rear Admiral, 27
Byron, 68, 281

CABOT, DR. RICHARD G, 36

Calcutta, 122

Calhoun, John C., 75, 278, 283

Calvinism, 52

Cambridge, Mass., 140

Cambridge History of American Lit-
erature, author s article on Science
and Health in, 11, 131; 295

Campbellite, denomination, preaches
fellowship, 268

Canada, lectures in, 46; fund admin
istered in, 259

Canal Zone, lectures in, 46

Canterbury, former Archbishop of,
33

Carlyle, Thomas, 281

Carpenter, Gilbert C., secretary to
Mrs. Eddy, 282; Mrs. Eddy writes
verse with ease, 287; 302

Carr, Mr., and wife, converted at
Methodist revival, 69

Cate,E.J.,90

324

INDEX

Gate, Esq., and wife, converted at
Methodist revival, 69

Cawein, Madison Julius, 202

Central Music Hall, 164, 302

Century Magazine, The., 281

Chamberlain, Miss Jessie, 306

Chandler, Senator Wm. E., and
"Next Friends Suit," 203; visit to
Mrs. Eddy, 207

Chanfrau, Mrs. Henrietta E., 306

Changing Family, The, G. W. Fiske,
294

Channing, Wm. E., 281

Charles, King, and Joan of Arc, 53

Charleston, South Carolina, George
W. Glover, builder in, 72; returns
with bride to, 73; attractiveness of,
74; cultural and literary center, 75;
slavery in, 75; Mrs. Glover in, 76,
77, 78, 81, 82, 283

Charleston Evening Post, The, 282

Charmides, 252

Chase, Stephen A., defendant in
"Next Friends Suit," 203

Cheney, Mrs. Russell, see Sanborn,
Mahala

Chesterfield, Lord, 57, 58

Chesterton, G. K., 239

Chestnut Hill, Mrs. Eddy s last home,
21; Benevolent Association sanato
rium established at, 48; 76; Mrs.
Eddy leaves Concord for, 211; ar
rival at, 215; life at, 212, 216, 220,
221, 228, 234, 237, 243, 278, 304, 313

Chicago, Mrs. Eddy visits, 163, 302;
National Christian Scientist Asso
ciation convention at, 163 ; Chicago
newspapers, 164; Mrs. Eddy s re
turn from, 167; 232; editors in, 245

Chickering Hall, services moved to,
146

Children, Mrs. Eddy s advice on
bringing up, 264; Christian Science
teachings on, 264, 265

Chile, lectures in, 46

China, lectures in, 46, 200; Mrs.
Eddy s knowledge of Chinese af
fairs, 200

Choate, Mrs. Clara E., Mrs. Eddy

writes her, 118; the Eddys live
with, 144; characterizes Dr. Eddy,
144; 291; recollections of, 300

Choate, Warren, first Sunday School
pupil, 146; Mr. and Mrs. Eddy s
love for, 297; speaks from platform
when Mrs. Eddy announces first
Sunday School, 297

Christ My Refuge, 312

Christian Apologist, The, 233

Christian Healing, 162, 289

Christian Herald, 37, 281

Christian Science, see Science

Christian Science and Its Discoverer,
Ramsay, 278

Christian Science Benevolent Asso
ciation, see Benevolent Association

Christian Science Benevolent Asso
ciation on Pacific Coast, see Benev
olent Association on Pacific Coast

Christian Science Board of Directors,
The, see Board

Christian Science Board of Educa
tion, see Board of Education

Christian Science Church, see
Church, Christian Science; Church
of Christ, Scientist

Christian Science Hall, 180

Christian Science History, by Hanna,
306, 307

Christian Science Mind-healing, 289

Christian Science Monitor, The, see
Monitor

Christian Science Pleasant View
Home, The, see Pleasant View
Home

Christian Science Publishing Society,
The, see Publishing House and
Publishing Society

Christian Science Quarterly, see
Quarterly

Christian Science Series, Mrs. Eddy
not to be consulted, 169

Christian Scientist, see Scientist

Christian Scientists, see Scientists

Christian Scientist Association, or
ganized, 38; Bronson Alcott and
Rev. J. L. Dudley guests at, 127;
Asa Eddy arranges for meeting of,

INDEX

325

144; organized, 146; books carried
off by disloyal students, 167; dis
organized, 168; eight disloyal stu
dents accuse Leader, 293; records,
294; disbanded, 305

Christian Scientist Association, Na
tional, first convention held in
Chicago, 163; Mrs. Eddy speaks,
164; Boston Traveler s account, 165

Christian Union, 159

Christian World, 314

Christmas, Mrs. Eddy s concept of,
225; her message to her household,
225-226

Church attendance, recent rapid sub
sidence, 13; tendency to diminish,
52; why Christian Scientists go to
church, 248; Christian Scientists
habit of, 250, 269

Church, Christian Science, not de
pendent on personal popularity of
anyone, 41; generous financial sup
port and why, 42; simplicity of,
43; formation of, with democratic
branches, 43, 44; societies in col
leges, 43; Mother Church hub with
branches, 43; Sunday Schools and
teaching system, 45; policy of un
derstatement rather than over, 266;
more than doubled in last 20
years, 266; generous in relief work
inside and outside of Christian
Science, 275; expression of Mrs.
Eddy s leadership, 277

Church of Christ, Scientist, organ
ized, 38; name for, 102; rebellious
members expelled, 124; legal in
corporation, 146; first services,
146; conduct of services, 146;
breaks up organizations, 174; dis
organization of, 303, 304.

Church of Christ, Scientist, in Con
cord, N. H., see Concord

Church, The Mother, notable in
crease, 38; method of raising bud
get, 41, 42; branch churches spokes
from hub, 43; affairs in hands of
Board of Directors, 44; member
ship in, 44; first services, 145; legal

incorporation, 146; conduct of
services, 147; preparation for or
ganization of, 169; Mrs. Eddy s su
pervision from Concord, 173; her
first visit to, 173; advises church in
hearts, 176; Trustees hold land for,
176; church built and closing of
fund, 177; Mrs. Eddy suggests
larger church, 178; purchase of
land, 178; laying corner-stone, and
dedication of extension, 178;
Wednesday evening meetings at
dedication, 178; Mrs. Eddy s coun
sel as to membership, charter, etc.,
188; she directs to lay foundation,
189; quoting Tenets, 196; Mrs.
Eddy writes of its prosperity, 193;
mentioned by Cincinnati editor,
233; dedication of Extension, for
eign attendance at, 239; Readers of,
conduct Mrs. Eddy s funeral serv
ice, 243; attendance of Scientists
at, 248, 249; Directors never to
abandon By-Laws, 268; affairs ad
ministered by Directors, 269; habit
of financial support, 269; remarks
of President on gratitude, 271; 273;
age requires organization, 305;
Mrs. Eddy transfers property to,
305; land on which to build, 305

Church edifices, dedication of, 38;
Mrs. Eddy s gift of church edifice
in Concord, 213; make granite con
tracts in Concord, N. H., 213; new
Mother Church dedicated, 239;
First Church in London, England,
dedicated, 240

Church Federation, June, 1930,
Charles P. Steinmetz quoted that
greatest discovery of future will be
along spiritual lines, 274

Church Manual, see Manual

Church membership of Christian
Science, more than doubled in
twenty years, 266

Church Standard, The, 159

Churches, Christian Science, see
Church, Christian Science

Churchman, The, 12

326

INDEX

Cicero, 58
Cincinnati, O., 233

Civil War, approaching, 82; George
W. Glover II joins army, 88; Dr.
Patterson captured and sent to
Libby Prison, 90; Mrs. Patterson
interprets deeper meaning of, 91;
William B. Johnson healed of dis
eases incurred in, 155
Clapp, Henry Austin, 142
Clark, Mr. and Mrs. (Brene Paine)
George D., Mrs. Eddy lives with,
106; table talk, 109, 115
Clark, George E., describes Mrs.
Eddy s life in his father s and
mother s home, 106; her appear
ance and manner, 107; goes to Bos
ton with Mrs. Eddy to find pub
lisher, 131; her remarks to, 169;
story of sea life, 295
Clark, Joseph B., 306
Clarkson, Judge Joseph R,, 306
Class Teaching, 45, 116
Clay, Henry, trying to avert War,

82; 278, 283
Clemens, Samuel T., see Twain,

Mark

Clergymen, attitude of toward
Christian Science, 1; one who left
ministry, 13; tributes to benefits of
Christian Science, 33; Bible and
Science and Health take place of
preaching in Christian Science
churches, 41; no paid preachers in
Christian Science, 50; financing
churches, 119; Boston s arresting
preachers, 142
Cleveland, Rose, meets Mrs. Eddy,

157

Clio, muse of history, 270
Coates, Lewis B., 306
Cochrane, Mrs. E. R., 306
Coffin, Charles Carlton, 296
Coles, Abraham, uses "Christian

Science" in verse, 102
College, see Massachusetts Meta
physical College

Colleges, see Universities, reactions
of students to Christian Science,

259; testimonies of students, 260-
263; college-bred mother describes
Christian Science in family, 264

Colles, Marjorie, 306

Collier s, April 19, 1930, 273

Columbus, 101

Columbus Avenue, Mrs. Eddy s col
lege on, 157, 163

Comiri Through the Rye, 220

Commandments, 248

Committee on Publication, author s
correspondence with, 3, 5, 6, 7;
growth and responsibility of, 47;
medium of better understanding
between public and Christian Sci
entists, 47; provided for, 196;
salary increased, 238

Commonwealth Avenue, Mrs. Eddy
removes to, 163

Commonwealth Steel Co., 257

Concord, Mass., 126, 128, 140, 213

Concord, New Hampshire, Pleasant
View Home established where
Mrs. Eddy s home torn down, 49;
Bow five miles away, 52; Mary
Baker sends to Concord for books,
68; Mrs. Eddy s removal to, 170;
Mrs. Eddy s last class in, 184;
eminent citizens regard for Mrs.
Eddy, 185; New York reporters
come to, 199; Mrs. Eddy removes
from to Mass., 211; farewell to, 212;
what Mrs. Eddy meant to Concord
financially, 213; her gift of First
Church of Christ, Scientist, in, 213;
City Council s resolution of regret
at her departure, and her acknowl
edgment thereof, 214; reasons for
leaving Concord, 214; trip from,
215; days in, 295; Mrs. Eddy buys
home and settles in, 304; citizens
express regard for Mrs. Eddy, 305
Confederate army, Dr. Patterson
captured and committed to Libby
Prison, 90; Dr. Patterson requests
steps for release, 91
Congregational Church, Mrs. Patter
son prays in church at No. Groton,
94; Mrs. Eddy s love for all who

INDEX

327

love God, 267; Mrs. Eddy s cradle,
268; preaches devoutness and de
mocracy, 268; Mary Baker joins
Tilton church, 282

Congregationalist, The, 300

Connecticut, 182

Contemporary Review, 281

Convention of 1896, Democratic, 164

Conybeare and Howson, Life of St.
Paul, 281

Cook, Rev. Joseph, 142; attacks Mrs.
Eddy from pulpit, 157

Cooke, Mr., accompanies Mrs.
Glover to N. Y., 284

Corning, Mayor Charles R., 307

Corsair, by Byron, 68

Corser, Dr. Enoch, converses with
Mary Baker on deep subjects, 105,
281, 283

Corser, S. B. G., 281, 289

Cosmopolitan, 259

Cotton, 57

Cowper, read by Mary Baker, 57, 61

Crafts, Hiram S., and Mrs., residents
of Clark home when Mrs. Eddy
there, 106; Mrs. Eddy stays with
and talks of Quimby, 108; Ellen
Pillsbury visits aunt at Taunton,
113; Mrs. Eddy s instruction to
Mr. Crafts, financial arrangements,
he begins practice of healing, 115;
lives with at E. Stoughton (Avon)
and Taunton, 116; his tributes to
Mrs. Eddy, 122; 292, 293, 294

Crawford, Marion, 141

Cressy, Alderman, of Concord,
N. H., 214

Cronstedt, Count Sigge, 30

Crosby, Mrs. Sarah, Mrs. Patterson
visits in Albion, 105; late expres
sion of affection for Mrs. Patter
son, 105, 289

Crosse, Mrs. Sarah, turns from Mrs.
Eddy, 167

Cuba, 179

Curry, Mr., wife and two daughters,
converts at Methodist revival, 69

Curtice, Rev. Corban, unites George

Washington Glover and Mary

Baker in marriage, 73
Curtis, Mrs. Mary E. Harris, 300
Curtis, William E., sees Mrs. Eddy

take daily drive, 200; interviews

Mrs. Eddy, 221
Gushing, Dr., attends Mrs. Patterson

after fall on ice, 109; describes her

case, 110; author s contacts with,

110; 290, 291
Cushing s Garden, Mary Baker visits,

70
Cutchins, Mr., brings presents from

George, 64; Mary sends message

to, 65
Cutter system, 286

DAGGETT, Miss MARY A., 300

Daily Journal Press, St. Cloud, Minn.,

Dakin, E. F., 290
Dana, Charles A., 159
Daniel, Mary Baker s example in

prayer, 53
Dante, 187, 212
Dartmouth College, Albert Baker

graduates from 1834, 55; Famous

Suit, 209

Davidson, Rt. Rev. Randall, 33
Davis, Andrew Jackson, 92, 286
Davis, Mrs. Emma S., 306
Dayton, Miss Mary Alice, 300, 301
Dean, Caroline, girlhood friend, 70
Declaration of Independence, The,

197

Delano, Miss, 70
De Mille, Cecil B., 37
Democritus of Abdera, 103
Denver, 232, 245
Devils, Drugs, and Doctors, Haggard,

286

Dickens, Charles, 142, 281
Dickey, Mr., Mary sends message to,

Dickey, Adam H., 311
Directors, see Board of
Disciples of Christ, 268
Disraeli, on animal magnetism, 183

328

INDEX

Dixon, Frederick, 251

Doctor and Patient, by Dr. S. Weir
Mitchell, 55

Dods, John Bovee, 92, 286

Dole, Rev. Walter, 306

Dooley, Mr., 198

Dr. Holmes s Boston, Ticknor, 296

Drake, 296

Dresser, Annetta (Mrs. Julius) , comes
to Boston, 153; developing a men
tal science movement, 167; 288

Dresser, Horatio W., see Qnimby
Manuscripts

Dresser, Julius A., improved by
Quimby s treatment, 95; Mrs. Pat
terson asks him to step forward
into Quimby s place and he de
clines, 99; his estimate of Quimby s
work, 100; Mrs. Patterson s request
for mental help, 111; comes to
Boston, 153; develops mental sci
ence movement, 167; his life, 288

Dreyfus, 198

Drummond, Henry, 281

Drummond, J. Roscoe, 276

Dryden, John, 62

Dudley, Rev. J. L., guest at Christian
Scientist Assn. meeting, 127

Dun & Co., R. G., 311

Duncan, Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson,
marries Mark Baker, 81; relative of
Mrs. Eddy s second husband, 86;
writes loving note to Mrs. Eddy,
120

Dunmore, Seventh Earl of, 29

Durant, Will, 289

Dutch East Indies, 275

Dyer, Miss Frances J., 300

EARL, JOHN CHARLES, 252

East Stoughton (now Avon), Mrs.

Eddy writes in, 130
Eastaman, Captain Joseph S,, enters

Mrs. Eddy s class, wife healed, 155
Eastaman, Mrs. Mary F., healed, 156
Easter, Mrs. Eddy s thought of, 227;

sermon to household, 228

Easton, Miss Emma Gould, 306

Eaton, Miss Mary E., 306, 307

Eckermann, 12, 307

Eddington, 12

Eddy, Asa G., success of any project
required Mrs. Eddy at head, 106;
a true helper, 114; healing while at
South Boston, 114; marries Mary
Baker Glover, 114, 297; Mrs. Eddy
on, 114; she turns to him for help,
123; aid to wife, 143; Miss Bart-
lett s estimate of, 143; organizer of
first Sunday School, 144; first uses
words Christian Scientist on sign,
144; Mrs. Choate describes activi
ties, etc., 144; protects Mrs. Eddy,
145; heals Miss Julia Bartlett, 154;
passes away, 159; 289, 294; author
ity on copyright laws, 296; Gene
alogy and Life of, Longyear, 297;
starts first Sunday School, 297; love
for Warren Choate, 297; mistaken
in wife s age, 300

Eddy, Dr. Ebenezer J. Foster, see
Foster-Eddy

EDDY, MARY BAKER

McClure s articles on, 5; Church
begins to assemble historical data
and letters concerning, 7; why au
thor s request for interview not
granted, 8; her attitude toward
interviews, 8; time ripe for writing
her life story, 9; editorial appre
ciations at her passing, 9; Christian
Science its Founder s creation, 11;
letter to Dr. Hamilton Holt, 15;
life-size portrait planned, 17; diffi
culties in having her message un
derstood, 19; author talks with
many who knew her, visits home,
21; process for preserving her let
ters in Church Executive Offices,
23; sources necessary for writing
her biography, 23; in her lifetime
saw abundant fruitage, 27; Mark
Twain s revised judgment of, 37;
expectations that cause would
dwindle when she passed on, 38;
provides for supervision of Church

INDEX

329

under Manual, 44; nominates Board
of Directors, 44; her deed of Trust
creates Trustees of Publishing So
ciety, 45; site of her home used for
Pleasant View Home for elderly
Christian Scientists, 49; born at
Bow, N. H., of New England par
entage, 52; dedicated to religious
life and heard "voices," 53; healed
of fever through prayer, 54; early
thought to write a book, 54; pre
dictions as to her future, 54; deli
cate health, 55; love for her brother
Albert and her Lindley Murray
books, 55, 56; choice of books, 57;
concern for social niceties, 58; in
terest in preciseness of speech, 58;
Bible her Book of Books, 59; patri
otic interest and reading news
papers, 61; early pencilings show
interest in Negroes, 61; takes to
verse more readily than prose, 61;
a normal girlhood, 62; parting
verse to Andrew Gault, 62; early
letter writing, 63; removed to San-
bornton Bridge, 62; second letter
she ever wrote, 63; letters to her
brother George, 64; bridesmaid at
a wedding, 65; without funds to
join class of village writing mas
ter, 66; first visit to Haverhill, 66;
letters to Augusta Holmes, 67;
books read at 19, 68; interest in
Methodist revival and impressions
of its effect, 68; values friendship,
69; sympathizes with Augusta on
passing of father, 69; visit to Bos
ton and Nahant, 70; writes Augusta
town news, 70; on marriage, 71;
marries George Washington
Glover, 72; their first meeting, 72;
going to South Carolina, 73; prayer
saves from shipwreck, 73; stand
against slavery, 75; frees slaves, 78;
husband s death in Wilmington,
N. C, 77; Masons care of, 78;
again in father s house, 78; son
George Washington Glover born,
79; illness, 79; mother s death, 80;

father marries again, 81; efforts at
self-support, 81; removal to sister
Abigail s home, 81; maintains intel
lectual independence, 81; views
conflict with Mrs. Tilton s, 83;
letter to Mrs. Tilton in later years,
83; participates in church in spite
of invalidism after childbirth, 84;
speaks at lodge, 84; suitors, 84;
marries Dr. Daniel Patterson, 85;
impelling motive of marriage to
get back her son, 85; residence in
Franklin and No. Groton, 85; de
scribes her solitude to Martha
Rand, 86; dominant thought in
marrying again and disappoint
ment, 87; little girl describes her,
88; husband s absences and their re
moval from No. Groton, 89; finan
cial stress in Rumney and hus
band s capture and commitment to
Libby Prison, 90; interpretation of
deeper meaning of the war, 91;
interest in mesmerism or spiritual
ism but incidental, 92; first listens
to Bible stories of healing, 92; her
promise to God, 92; mother s ex
hortation and influence, 93; verse
to her mother, 93; message to
Martha Rand bereaved of a father,
93; would not yield her religion to
Dr. Patterson, 94; prayer in church
and dependence on God, 94; ap
pearance in 1862, 94; goes to
water-cure at Hill, 95; Quimby,
96; temporary restoration and
gratitude, 97; seeks to learn basis
of Quimby s works, 98; his esti
mate of her, 98; her relapse, 98;
tribute to Quimby, 98; George A.
Quimby s attitude, 99; appeals to
Julius A. Dresser to carry on
Quimby s work, 99; but for her
Quimby would have been forgot
ten, 100; looking back after years
Quimby a mere episode, 100; de
veloping a vocabulary, 100; grow
ing away from Quimby and
discovering Christian Science, 100;

330

INDEX

debt to those before, 102; a student
presents Rt. Rev. Wm. Adams s
book, 102; naming her book, 103;
second visit to Quimby, 104; ef
forts to exhaust Quimby s methods,
104; treatment of Miss Jarvis and
visit to Mrs. Crosby, 105; at 43,
105; at darks in Lynn, 106; ap
pearance and manners, 107; at
Wheelers , Crafts , Wentworths ,
108; growing away from Quimby-
ism, 108; hampered by him for a
time, 109; fall in Lynn, 109; treat
ment by Dr. Gushing, 109; peti
tions City Council for recompense,
111; healed by reading Bible narra
tive, 111; consciousness of spiritual
healing growing, 111; analyzes her
recovery, 112; borrows money to
effect release of husband from
Libby Prison, 112; after Dr. Pat
terson s unfaithfulness divorces
him, 112; his subsequent tribute to
her, 112; handicaps while building
her book, 113; healing Ellen Pills-
bury and breach with Mrs. Tilton,
113; Asa Gilbert Eddy a true
helper, 114; describes his healing in
South Boston, 114; his death, her
retirement to Vermont, and ex
pressions of bereavement, 114;
building income, 115, 116; charges
for class instruction and insistence
on fulfillment of contract, 116;
invoking legal aid, 117; her gen
erosity, 117; writes Mrs. Choate
of charges for instruction, 118;
length of class, 118; prevision
in financial affairs, 119; takes name
Glover, 120; time of severest trial,
121; love for Grandmother
"Mary," 121; Hiram Crafts her first
student, 122; difficulties with early
students, 123; proving her leader
ship, 124; purchases 8 Broad St.,
124; difference from Emerson s
teachings, 126; calls on Whittier,
126; Alcott, Emerson, others talk
of her, 127, 128; writing book, 129;

Science of Man appears 1869, 130;
writing The Science of Life and
SouPs Inquiries of Man, 130; in
structs students to omit manipula
tion, 131; author s tribute in
Cambridge History of American
Literature, 131; last touches to
Science and Health of 1875, 131;
publishes book, 133; uses Science
and Health as diary, 135; relations
with publishers, 136; John Wilson,
appreciates gift, 137; instructions
to Wiggin, 138; removes to Boston,
140, 157; preaches in Hawthorne
Hall, 142; outgrowing Lynn, 143;
writing Col. E. J. Smith and Judge
Hanna, 144; living with Choates,
144; final tribute to husband, 145;
first services at which she preached,
145; organizing Christian Scientist
Association and church, 146; her
dress, 146; services in Hawthorne
Hall, 147; preaches in Baptist
Church, 148; a real teacher, 148;
answering questions, 150; under
standing people, 151; teaching
classes, 151, 152; rebuking dreamer,
151, 152; growing number of stu
dents, 152; helped by her prayers,
153; student to Knapp family, 154;
Capt. Eastaman, 155; moves to
Commonwealth Avenue, 157; ap
pearance in Tremont Temple, 157;
replies to Rev. L. T. Towiiscnd,
158; message in first issue of
Journal, 158, 159; need of helper
after passing of husband, 159;
Frye remains until Mrs. Eddy
passes away, 160; visits of her son,
161; adopts Dr. E. J. Foster, 162;
industry, 162; starts Massachusetts
Metaphysical College, 163; visits
Chicago, 163; invites National
Christian Scientists Association to
"convention," 163; speaks at con
vention, 164; profound impression,
165; her misgivings, 166; dealing
with disaffection, 166, 167; closes
college, disorganizes association,

INDEX

331

retires as editor of Journal, pub
lishes Seven Fixed Rules, 168; near
seventy starting life anew, 169; re
tirement to Pleasant View, 170;
routine there, 170-171; spends
night in her room in new church,
April 1, 1895, 173; breaks up or
ganizations, 174; warns against
personal adulation, 174; Optimist
interviews her, 175; business sagac
ity, 175, 176; constitutes Board of
Directors, 176; starts Publishing
Society in 1897, 177; starts Sentinel,
177; starts Quarterly, 177; Miscel
laneous Writings appears, 177;
Church Manual, 177; sees need for
larger church in Boston, 178;
teaches last class, 179-182; humor
ous stories, 181; malicious animal
magnetism, 183, 184; devotion to
duties, 185; kindness to working-
men, 185; attitude toward her
enemies, 186; letter to Judge
Hanna, 188; letter to Directors,
Feb. 12, 1895, 188, 189; observes
legal requirements, 189; requests
Board to hasten work on Church,
189; publications issued to mother
the flock, 190; statement to Miss
Lang, 192; calls Mrs. Adams and
Mrs. Webster to compile by-laws
for teachers Manual, 192; "Never
abandon By-laws," 193-194; her
Tenets, 196; provides for Commit
tee on Publication, 196; atti
tude of Press, 197; addressed
10,000 at Pleasant View, 199;
rumors, 199; grants interview to
Boston Herald, 199; reporters from
New York and Boston, 200; in
terviewed by William E. Curtis,
200; remarks about her daily drive,
201; starting of "Next Friends
Suit," 201; Masters questioning,
204-207; explains her trusteeship,
205; explains her investments, 205,
206; convinces Masters, 207; un
happy experience, 208; generously
pays Michael Meehan to withdraw

book, 209, 210; removes from Con
cord to Chestnut Hill, Mass., 211;
proves rumors of infirmity mere
fabrication, 211; hours of work,
212; financial help to Concord and
nameless kindnesses, 213; trip to
Boston and arrival at Chestnut
Hill, 215; those called to her
household, 216; counsels her help
ers, 217; relies on prayer, 217;
sense of humor, 218, 219; enjoys
old songs and hymns, 220; music
box and Victrola, 220; grasp of
world affairs, 221; talks on time
liness, 221; interest in those around
her, 221, 222; guards against adula
tion, 224; Christmas in 1909, 224;
Easter in 1909, 227; Easter sermon
to household, 227; launches The
Christian Science Monitor, 228;
initiates enlargement of Publishing
House, 229; names the Monitor
and approves first copy, 231; esti
mate as Leader, 231; courtesy and
reproof, 234; studies and interprets
Bible, 234, 235, 236; edits and re-
edits Science and Health, 236; large
vocabulary, 236; extensive letter
writing, 237; points out danger of
popularity, 237; unpretentious, 238;
honesty in business, 238; forgive
ness and endurance, 238; joy at
churches built abroad, 239, 240;
last days, 240-243; last drive, 242;
last written words, 242; funeral,
243; editorial tributes, 244; her
place, 245; attitude of newspapers
after her death, 245; her character,
245; battles she fought, ^247;
scientists approach to her views,
247; great teacher, 249; revives
Christ Jesus healing ministry, 252;
influence on her students, 252; re
ception of unexpected visitor, 254;
takes her stand with Jesus in rela
tion to marriage, 262; teachings on
marriage and home, 263265;
twenty years since she wrote last
message, 266; bases all her teach-

332

INDEX

ings on those of Christ Jesus, 267;
love for all who love God, 267;
Congregationalism her cradle, 267;
derives her Science from Bible,
268; points of agreement with
Protestant religions, 268; instruc
tions to The Mother Church, 268;
Christian Scientists gratitude to,
271; Christian Science encircles
globe in her time, 275; writes Rufus
Baker, 276; prenatal influence, 277;
displays instinct for leadership,
277; stops Mark Baker s prayer
with pin, 278; not influenced by
Emerson, 278; not ignorant of par
liamentary speaking, 278; extraor
dinary memory as child, 279; cul
tural influences in early life, 279;
improvement in spelling, 280; reads
Shakespeare in adult years, 281;
omnivorous reader, 281; books in
her library, 281; joins Tilton Con
gregational Church, 282; loves
nature, 282; color of eyes, 282;
early acquaintance with Maj.
Glover, 282; pastor describes early
years, 283; husband s courage, 283;
frees slaves, 284; widow rocks son,
284; verse written by early ad
mirer, autograph album, 285;
studies books on homeopathy and
gives medicine to neighbors, 285;
omitted from Mrs. Tilton s will
because she adopts Christian Sci
ence, 286; acquainted with Graham
and Cutter cures, 286; trip to
Rumney, 286; ease in writing
poetry, 287; health improves under
Quimby, 288; religion she teaches
is hers, 288; earlier names, 289; her
discovery, 290; withdraws claim
for damages, 290; payment to John
Patterson, 291; spiritualism, 291;
loans and generosity, 292; lesson of
economy, 292; opens house in
Lynn to students, 292; little note
book, 292, 293; discipline of "the
eight," 293; goes to kitchen to
warm hands, 295; typographical

errors, 295; "sole author," 296;
Kennedy s friendly statement, 296;
Arens pirates her works, 296; mar
ries A. G. Eddy, 297; love for
Warren Choate, and starting Sun
day School, 297; impression of
eternal youth, 300; preaches in
Baptist church in Boston, 300;
petition, 301; visits Chicago to
teach, lecture, etc., 302; types in
her class, 302; prepares for every
important step, 302; shrinks from
adulation, 302; admonition to
church members, 303; receives no
callers, 304; in Concord, and Ros-
lindale, Mass., 304; sends vegetables
and salt pork to student, 304; no
time for vacation, 304; organization
required, 305; relationship to build
ing Mother Church, 305; Concord
citizens express regard, 305; in
court, 308; deals with National
State Capital Bank at Concord, 308;
knows what she wants, 308; gives
to charity, 310; serving, 310; con
stant oversight of detail, 311; ob
serves Matthew, 312; loyalty to
Christ Jesus in poem, 312; state
ment of undertakers, 313; regard
for James A. Neal, 316; "Friend
ship," 317

Edinburgh, Mrs. Eddy s congratula
tions on first church building, 240

Edison, Thomas A., 171

Edmunds, Judge, his daughter and
spiritualism, 292

Edwards, Jonathan, 103; his sermon
of 1741, 182

Edwards, T. M. (M. C.), Dr. Patter
son wishes wife to appeal to, for
his release from Libby Prison, 91

Egyptian Book of the Dead, 25

Einstein, 247, 248, 315

Electro-Biology y Grimes, 286

Eliot, President Charles William, 8,
35, 296

Eliot, George, 281

Elizabethan literature, 56

INDEX

333

Ellis family, the, Mrs. Eddy happy
with, 116, 291

Elson, Louis, 142

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, starting
preaching career in Second Church,
57; 104; Mrs. Eddy s estimate of,
126; minding his mother s cow, 140;
lecturing and writing, 141; 213;
Mrs. Eddy not influenced by, 278;
281

Emerson, Mrs. Ralph Waldo, wishes
to meet Mrs. Eddy, 128

Emmanuel movement, 34, 251

Emmanuel Movement in a New Eng
land Town, Powell s, 288, 316

Encyclical letter of late Archbishop
of Canterbury, 33

Encyclopedia Britannica, 280

England, 47, 221, 259, 315

English Reader, Lindley Murray s,
56, 57, 59, 61

Episcopal Church, its sacramental
system, 5; spiritual healing in, 34,
251; George W. Glover laid to
rest in cemetery of St. James Epis
copal Church, Wilmington, N. C,
78; prayers for weather, 218, 311;
dignity and decorum of its wor
ship, 268; Mrs. Tilton bequeaths
$5000 with restrictions to, 286

Esoteric Christianity, by Warren F.
Evans, 287

Essays in Christian Politics, 33

Europe, lectures in, 46

Evans, Reverend Warren F., 92; his
books read, 167; more than mes
merist, 287; taught by Quimby to
heal, 287; last book Esoteric Chris
tianity, 287
Ewing, Judge William G., 36

Faerie Queene, Spenser s, 251

Fairbairn, A. M., 103

Faith Work, Christian Science, and

Other Cures, 301
Family, Christian Science and the,

262-265

Family in the Making, The, Messer,
317

Fanny Fern, 133

Faraday, 247

Farlow, Alfred, 3; defendant in
"Next Friends Suit," 203; devotion
to duty, 273; 283, 289, 290, 291, 292,
293, 300; describes Mrs. Eddy s
appearance, 287

Farlow, Miss Sarah A., 293, 300, 301,
309, 312

Farmington (N. H.) News, 309

Farrar, 281

Fernald, Josiah E., appreciation of
Mrs. Eddy, 306; Trustee for Mrs.
Eddy, 308; Mrs. Eddy consults,
308; Trustee under her Will, 308

Fields, James T., 142

First Church of Christ, Scientist, and
Miscellany, The, 193, 282, 285, 288,
290, 296, 308, 311,312, 318

Fisher, Rt. Hon. H. A. L., on
Monitor, 39; Our New Religion,
111, 287, 289, 291

Fiske, Bishop Charles, The Living
Church, 273

Fiske, George Walter, 294

Fiske, Rev. Henry S., 306

Fitzgerald, Lady Mildred, visits Mrs.
Eddy, 221

Flinn, John J., called from Chicago
to advise in starting Monitor, 229

Ford, Paul Leicester, Washington s
English, 279

Forget-me-not, 68

Fosdick, Harry Emerson, 247

Foster, Mrs. Adeline, 306

Foster-Eddy, Dr. Ebenezer J., adop
tion of, 162; taught in Mrs. Eddy s
college, 162; witness in litigation
ending 1922, 162; 301

Fox s Book of Martyrs, 101

Foye, Mrs. Mary E., 151, 300, 301

Frame, Mrs. Caroline W., 306

France, "John the Scot" teaching in,
103; 259

Franklin, Benjamin, 57

334

INDEX

Franklin, N. H., Dr. and Mrs. Patter
son live 3 years in, 85, 87; Mrs. Pat
terson visits E. J. Gate, 90

Friendship, by Hugh Black, 69

Friendship, The Master Passion, H.
C. Trumbull, 317

Frye, Calvin A., and A. G. Eddy,
144; comes to help Mrs. Eddy, 160;
remains until Mrs. Eddy passes
away, 160; escorts Mrs. Eddy to
class of 98, 180; "Next Friends
Suit," 203; on duty during removal
to Boston, 215; Mrs. Eddy s early
memories of her mother s bedside
visits, 277; 287, 289, 306, 310

Fuller, Margaret, 141

Fulton, John, 159

Furness, 281

GAGE, LYMAN J., 163

Galveston, 179

Gault, Andrew, Mary Baker writes
him parting verse when leaving
Bow, 62; 279

Gault, Mrs., 277, 279

Gautama, 103

Genealogy and Life of Asa G. Eddy,
Longyear, 297, 301

Geneva, 47

Gericke, William, 142

Germany, 259

Gestefeld, Mrs., starting own move
ment, 167

Gilmore, Albert F., reports testi
mony, 156

Gladstone, 102, 212

Glover, Eliza Ann (Mrs. Samuel
Baker), 283

Glover, Major George Washington,
71, 72; marries Mary Baker, 72;
returns to Charleston, South Caro
lina, 72; Mrs. Baker s counsel to
him, 74; his business and slaves,
76; with Mrs. Glover makes trip to
Wilmington, North Carolina, 77;
attacked by yellow fever, death,
and burial, 78; his request to
brother Masons to see his wife to

her home in the North carried out,
78; early acquaintaince with Mary
Baker, 283; courage in accepting
challenge, 283; sister Eliza marries
Samuel Baker, 283; passing on, 284
Glover, George Washington II, born
at Tilton, N. H., 79; cared for at
neighbor s home, 79; early years,
80; removes with the Cheneys to
Groton, 81; his mother s health
after his birth, 83; mother s desire
to have him with her, 84; Cheneys
take him away, 85; before marriage
Dr. Patterson craves to help restore
him to his mother, 86; his charac
teristics at nine, 87; mother s dis
appointment and stepfather s op
position, 87; goes West and joins
army, 88; for years mother knows
not his whereabouts, 113; visits
mother, 161; cannot fit into her
work, 161; nearest heir, 202; helps
in "Next Friends Suit," 202, 203;
Mrs. Eddy s trust fund for, 205;
liberal provision in Mrs. Tilton s
will, 286; writes to mother for
money, 301

Glover, Mary Baker (grandchild),
203

Glover, Mary Baker, see Eddy, Mary
Baker

Godey s Lady s Book, 68

Goethe, 12, 182

Golden Rule, and Mrs. Eddy, 262

Goldsmith, 57

Good Housekeeping, 5

Goodwin, W. W., 296

Gordon, Rev. A. J., 142; attacks Mrs.
Eddy from pulpit, 157

Gould, Dr. Lawrence McK., testifies,
27

Graham cure, 286

Graham s Magazine, 68

Great Britain, lectures in, 46, 47; 179

Greeley, Horace, 159

Greene, Mrs. Grace A., and Mrs.
Eddy s ability to cook, 186, 307

Greenough, Miss, girlhood friend of
Mary Baker, 70

INDEX

335

Griffith, Connne, 32

Grimes, 92, 286

Grosvenor, Gen. Charles H., Mrs.

Eddy s letter to, 185
Grundmann, Otto, director of school

of drawing and painting, 142
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,

174, 220

HAGGARD, 286

Hahnemann Medical College, 161

Haldane, 12

Hale, Mr., polite stage-driver, 66

Hale, Edward Everett, 8, 142, 296

Hale, Nathan, great-uncle of Edward
Everett, 142

Hale, Mrs. Sarah Josepha, uses words
"Christian Science" in poem, 102

Hall, G. Stanley, 55, 67

Hall, LydiaB., 312

Hanna, Mrs. Camilla, 188, 282, 306

Hanna, Judge, Mrs. Eddy writes to,
144, 188, 279, 282; 306

Harvard College, 259

Hatten, Thomas W., 229

Haverhill, Mary Baker s visit to, 66;
Augusta Holmes describes, 70

Hawaii, lectures in, 46

Hawthorne Hall, services in, 142,
146, 147, 176

Hay, John, 237

Hayes, Miss, Mary attends party at
home of, 65

Healing, attitude of Episcopal Bish
ops toward apostolic, 251; Com
mission on Healing in Episcopal
Church, 251; Mrs. Eddy s healing
technique, 253; power exercised by
the Disciples, 269

Heavenly Heretics, Powell, 289, 296,
307

Heitman, Charles E., Member Board
of Directors, 16, quoted, 256, con
sulted, 276

Helberg, C. C, 292

Herbert, Mr. and Mrs. John, the Pat
tersons board with, 90

Hering, Prof. Hermann S., state
ment by, 31; defendant in "Next
Friends Suit," 203, 277, 309

Hert, Mrs. Alvin T., vice-chairman
of National Republican Commit
tee, 36

Hessler, Mrs. Annie R., 300

Heydon, Mrs. C. W. and Dr. Patter
son, 91

Higginson, Colonel Thomas Went-
worth, 8, 296

Higginson, Major Henry L., founds
Boston Symphony Orchestra, 142

High, Stanley, editor of The Chris
tian Herald, 37

Higman, Mrs. Elizabeth, 306

Higman, Ormond, 306

Hill, N. H., Mrs. Patterson enters Dr.
Vail s Hydropathic Institute, 95;
some of Dr. Vail s patients go to
Qmmby, 95

Hill, Calvin C., Mrs. Eddy s letter to,
153

Hillis, N. D , 281

Hilty, Carl, 281

Historic Towns of New England,
Powell, 8, 296

Historic Towns of Southern States,
Powell, 283

Historic Towns of Western States,
Powell, 302

Historical files of The Mother
Church, author granted access to,
17, 20, excellently organized, 21,
preserving process for Mrs. Eddy s
letters, 23, 128

Hitchings, Edward, 132

Hoag, Mrs. Ella W., 309

Hodges, Leigh Mitchell, 305

Holland, 259

Hollinshed, 101

Holmes, Mr., Mary Baker writes
Augusta letter of condolence on
her father s passing on, 69

Holmes, Augusta, Mary Baker visits
her at Haverhill, 67, writes her for
books, 68; gives impressions of
Methodist revival, 69; writes on
their friendship, 69; expresses sym-

336

INDEX

pathy on passing of Augusta s
father, 69; reports things of inter
est about friends, 70; letters to, 84;
187, 281, 287

Holmes, Justice, 171

Holmes, Dr. Oliver Wendell, 102,
141, 296

Holt, Dr. Hamilton, Mrs. Eddy s
letter to, 15

Home, relation of Christian Science
to, 262-265

Home, Sweet Home, 220

Homeopathy, Mrs. Patterson reads
books on, 286

Hopkins, Mrs. Emma, starts inde
pendent movement, 167

Hopkins, Mark, 249

Horace, 58

Hour of Physics, An, Andrade, 273

Howard, Clarence H., 257

Howard, James C., Mrs. Eddy s gen
erosity to, 117; 289; 292

Howard, Miss L., girlhood friend, 70

Howe, Julia Ward, 141, 244

Hubbard, Dr. Walton, 32

Hulin, Mrs. Emilie B., reports Mrs.
Eddy depressed over suit, 208;
with her in Concord, 295; 309

Human Life, 290

Human Touch, The, Powell, 290, 314

Hume, 57

Hunt, William Morris, 142

Hydropathic Institute at Hill, N. H.,
see Vail, Dr.

Hymnal, Christian Science, 126, 294

/ Love to Tell the Story, 220

Idea of the Holy, The, Otto, 273

Immanuel, 267

In Quest of the Perfect Book,
Orcutt, 296

Independent, The, 15, 274

India, accepted nothingness of mat
ter, 103

Inge, Dean, 315

Introduction to the English Reader,
Lindley Murray, 57, 59, 61, 279,
283

Iowa woman writes of Mrs. Eddy,

148
Ira O. Knapp and Flavia Stickney

Knapp, Bliss Knapp, 301
Ireland, lectures in, 46, 47
Irishmen, Mrs. Eddy s stories of, 219

JACKSON, ANDREW, President, 24, 278,
283

Jackson, "Stonewall," 159

James, Henry, publishes study of
Hawthorne, 141

James, William, 26, 39, 139, 141, 148

Japan, lectures in, 46; delegation
thanks Directors for earthquake
relief, 275

Jarvis, Miss, at Warren, a patient of
Mrs. Patterson, 105

Jelly, Dr. George F., Master in "Next
Friends Suit," 204, 207

Jenkins, Dr. Burris, 15, 315

Jesus, Lover of My Soul, 220

Jewish Tribune, quotes O. B. Towne,
276

Joan of Arc, her voices, 53

"John the Scot," teaching in France,
103

Johns Hopkins University, 23, 31

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 57

Johnson, William B., healed, 155;
Secretary of National Assoc., had
Mrs. Eddy s confidence, 167; de
fendant in "Next Friends Suit," 203

Johnson, William Lyman, 281, 300

Jones, Rufus, 250

Jordan, William George, 281

Journal, The Christian Science, prac
titioners list in, 44, 45; reply to
attack by Rev. L. T. Townsend,
157; first issue, 158; extract from
Mrs. Eddy s "leader" in, 159; Mrs.
Eddy s writings in, 164; Mrs. Eddy
retires from editorial supervision,
168; not to be consulted, 169; Mrs.
Eddy warns against adulation in,
175; thanks donors of fund for
church, 177; brief account of Mrs.
Eddy s life in, 183; publication in

INDEX

337

1883, 190; Mrs. Eddy s article
describing need of a newspaper
published by Christian Scientists,
228; Mrs. Eddy analyzes real mean
ing of fall, 290; first use of title,
301, 302; dissolution of church or
ganization, 305
Jowett, translation of Plato, 281

KANSAS CITY, 232, 245

Kant, 104

Keats, 281

Kennedy, Richard, business partner
of Mrs. Eddy, 117; speaks of Mrs.
Eddy s early associates, 120; suc
cess in healing, 123; partnership
dissolved, 123, 143, 293; deplores
pettiness of those around Mrs.
Eddy in Lynn days, 296

Kent, Mrs. Rose E., 306

Kerr, Philip, Marquis of Lothian, 27

Keyes, John S., at the darks table,
106

Keyserling, Count Hermann, 247

Kidder family, Mrs. Patterson inter
prets deeper meaning of the Civil
War, 91

Kimball, Edward A., 178, 203; 306

Kimball, Mrs. Kate Davidson, 306

King, Mrs. Frances J., 306

Kingsbury, Mrs. Anna, 291

Kingsley, Charles, 281

Kinter, George H., Mrs. Eddy s un
usual memory, 279

Kipling, Rudyard, 246, 256, 275

Klein, Charles, 258

Knapp, Bliss, 152, 154, 301, 317

Knapp, Miss Daphne S., 306

Knapp, Mrs. Flavia S., healed by
student of Mrs. Eddy, 154

Knapp, Ira O., and family healed,
154; 203

Knott, Mrs. Annie Macmillan, 16;
relates how Mrs. Eddy taught
woman without charge, 117; first
woman to serve on Board of Di
rectors under deed, 302; 309

Krutch, Dr. Joseph Wood, 40

Ladies Home Journal, The, 68, 284

Lamb, Charles and Mary, 281

Lambeth Conference, 274

Lamson, Fred M., 45

Lang, D., and Barnes, 90

Lang, Miss Susie M., statement from
Mrs. Eddy, 192

Larder, Sidney, 307

Lathrop, John G, on Mrs. Eddy s
train to Boston, 215; with his
mother presents music box to Mrs.
Eddy, 220; 306, 309, 311

Lathrop, Mrs. Laura, 220

Law, New Hampshire, 214; obedi
ence to, taught by Christian Sci
ence, 265

Lawrence, Mr., asks Mary about
Augusta, 71

Lectures on Christian Science, Direc
tors supervision, 44; number given
in 1929, 46; increased attendance at,
47

Lecturers, Christian Science, see
Board of Lectureship

Lee, Ann, Leader of Shakers, 280

Lee, General Robert E., 159

Lee, Sir Sidney, 139

Legends of Parsifal, 281

Leibnitz, 57

Lesson-Sermons, see Bible Lessons

Letters and Miscellany (Mrs. Eddy s) ,
273, 278, 279, 280, 281, 287, 290, 291,
292, 295, 296, 297, 300, 302, 303, 304,
305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 311, 312, 313,
317, 318

Levizac s Grammar, 67

Libby Prison, and Dr. Patterson, 90,
95, 112

Library of Congress, 20, 23

Life insurance, 212

Life of Mary Baker Eddy, The, Wil
bur, see Wilbur

Life of St. Paul, Conybeare & How-
son, 281

Lilly, Miss, 299

Lincoln, Abraham, Dr. Albert Shaw s
Life of, 18; death of, 82; 292

338

INDEX

Lincoln, Miss Elsie, 300

Lion and the Mouse , The, 258

Literary Digest, The, 278, 281

Literature Distribution Committees,
48

Litigation, Arens case, 117; Dr.
Foster-Eddy witness in, 162, see
"Next Friends Suit"

Little, Miss Ida Belle, 309

Little Women, 128

Liverpool, 179

Living Churchy The, Bishop Charles
Fiske on church attendance, 273

Lloyd George, 27

London, England, lectures in, 47, 232;
Christian Science Churches in, 239;
275,314

Longfellow, 141, 281

Longyear, Mary Beecher, donates
land on Single Tree Hill, 48; 297,
301

Lord s Prayer, The, ended Mrs.
Eddy s earlier services, 147; re
peated in her classroom, 149, 184;
recited at Mrs. Eddy s funeral, 243

Los Angeles, 232, 245

Lothian, Marquis of, 27, 197

Lotze, 104

Louisiana Purchase, 59

Lowell, James Russell, 141, 145

Luther, story of the ink bottle
thrown at the devil, 182

Lutherans, Bible in worship, 268

Lynn, Mass., Christian Science serv
ices first held in, 38; Mrs. Eddy s
residence at the Clarks, 106; associ
ated with workers in shoe factories
at, 106; Mrs. Patterson s fall on the
ice in, 109; Dr. Cushing popular
doctor in, 110; consequences of
Mrs. Patterson s fall in, and petition
to Lynn council for recompense,
111; Pattersons establish a home in,
112; Mrs. Patterson alone in, 113;
the Eddy home in Lynn, 114; Mrs.
Eddy s trials in, 120; lives with
Phillipses, 121; boards at 9 Broad
Street, 124; buys 8 Broad Street,
124; A. Bronson Alcott calls on

Mrs. Eddy at, 127; outgrowing,
143; marries Asa Gilbert Eddy,
143; 159, 166; and George Clark,
169; housekeeping in, 172; fall in,
290, 297; Mrs. Eddy opens home to
students, 292

Lynn Reporter, 109, 290

Lyon, Mary, 57

MABIE, HAMILTON W., 281

MacDonald, Asa T. N., 146

Macdonald, Miss Margaret, 304

Macfarland, Dr. Charles S., 15

Maclaren, Ian, 281

Maeterlinck, 245

Magic Staff, The, publishes pictures

of Andrew J. Davis methods, 287
Magna Charta, 102
Magnet, The, 92
Magnetism, Animal, Poyen s book

on, 91; following in Boston and

New England, 92; Mrs. Patterson

says a science lay behind Quimby s

use of it, 101; 104
Maine, 203
Maine, Sir Henry Sumner, estimate

of Constitution of the United

States, 102

Malbone, Edward, 75
Malicious animal magnetism, Mrs.

Eddy coins term, 183
Manchester Mirror, 213
Manfred, 68
Manipulation, used by Quimby, 96,

101; Richard Kennedy s use of,

123

Mann, Mrs. Frances Mack, 306
Mann, Joseph G., first experience

with Christian Science, 156; 172;

Mrs. Eddy s letters to, 222; 223,

301, 304-311
Mann, Pauline, Mrs. Eddy sends love

to, 223

Manning, Rt. Rev. William T., 15
Mansions of Philosophy, Durant, 289
Manual, Church, the constitution and

law of Christian Science organ-

INDEX

339

ization, 43; branch organizations
formed under, 43; provides for
discipline, 43; policy as to suit at
law, 117; members shall not pub
lish uncharitable articles, 148; ap
peared in 1895, 177; love of, 192;
ranks next to Science and Health,
192; Mrs. Eddy explains need for,
193; issued, 196; provision for
calling aids to Mrs. Eddy, 216;
product of Mrs. Eddy s mothering
instinct, 228; mother teaches chil
dren obedience to, 264; Mrs.
Eddy s instruction never to aban
don, 268; keeps Christian Scientists
in right path, 271; 292, 300; copy of
deed published in, 305; 308, 310;
discipline according to Matthew,
312

Marcosson, Isaac F., describes Mrs.
Eddy, 36; keen appraiser of Mary
Baker s girlhood letters, 63, 200; in
Munsey s Magazine, 280

Marietta (Ohio) College, President
Edward S. Parsons of, 35

Markham, Edwin, 281

Mark Twain, A Biography, 275

Marriage, Mrs. Eddy takes her stand
with Jesus in preaching purity,
262; Christian Science views on
Mrs. Eddy s attitude, 263; Chris
tian Science securing more stabil
ity for, 264

Mary Baker G. Eddy, Arthur Bris
bane, 308, 316

Masons, George W. Glover s brother
Masons attend his sick bed and see
his widow North, 77

Massachusetts, unique statute of, pro
vides way of organizing church,
38; Mrs. Eddy removes from Con
cord, N. H., to, 211; laws, 215

Massachusetts Metaphysical College,
training teachers, 163; closes, 168;
305, 310

Masson, Thomas L., 36

Masterson, Dean William E., 31

Mather, K. F., in The Churchman, 12

Mathews, Dr. Shailer, 217

Matter, nothingness and erroneous-
ness of, admitted, 103

Mayo, Dr. William, 35

McBean, Mrs. Catherine, 306

McClure s Magazine, 5, 290, 293

McDonald, Miss Margaret S., 306

McKee, David N., 306

McKenzie, William P., present Trus
tee of Publishing Society, 45; 73;
letter from Mrs. Eddy, 210; as
Trustee writes Mrs. Eddy re
Monitor, 229; 306; 309

McLauthlin, Miss Emma, Mrs. Eddy s
companion, 282, 309

McLellan, Archibald, on Mrs. Eddy s
train to Boston, 215; calls news
paper advisers to Boston, 229; con
sults Mrs. Eddy about title of
Monitor, 231; trustee, 308; called
to editorship; later director, 312

McNeils, and Mrs. Eddy, 240, 276

Mead, Edwin D., 143, 296

Meaning of Culture, The, 304

Medicine, Dr. Walton Hubbard s ex
perience in, 32

Meehan, Albert, 306

Meehan, Michael, prepares Mrs.
Eddy and the Late Suit in Equity,
209; payment for book, 209; esti
mate of Christian Scientists, 257;
307,308,309,310,312,317

Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards, 289

Mental Healing, 289

Mental Medicine, by Warren F.
Evans, 287

Merrill, George A., writing Mary s
girlhood friend, 70

Merritt, Edward A., Member of
Board of Directors, 16; Mrs. Eddy
thanks, 227; 311

Mesmer, 91

Mesmeric Magazine, The, 92

Mesmerism, 91; practiced in England
and New England, 92; 123

Messages to The Mother Church, by
Mary Baker Eddy, 289, 305, 306,
311

Message to the Well, A, by Horatio
W. Dresser, 289

340

INDEX

Messer, Miss Mary Burt, 317

Metcalf, Albert, 306

Metcalf, Mrs. Mary C., 306

Methodism, 268

Methodist, revival at Sanbornton
Bridge, 68; editor at Cincinnati
pays tribute to Monitor, 233; 287

Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer Studios,
Cecil B. DeMille, 37

A4exico, lectures given in, 46

Miliken, Mrs., 295

Millay, Edna St. Vincent, 14

Miller, Albert E., 282, 287

Miller, Mrs. Frederica L., 306

Miller, William N., 306

Millikan, Robert A., 12

Milmine, Georgine, 287, 288, 289

Milton, John, 57, 221, 281

Mims, Mrs. Sue Harper, 306

Missouri Compromise, 61

Miscellaneous Writings, 177, 276, 289,
301,302,308,311,317,318

Mississippi Valley, Relief Work, 275

Missionaries, every Christian Scien
tist a missionary, 275

Mitchell, Dr. S. Weir, 55

Mohammedism, 198

Moltke, Count Helmuth von, 30

Monitor, The Christian Science, 37;
Fisher s estimate, 39; 45; distribu
tion, policy and accomplishment,
48; quoted, 187; first published in
1908, 190; Mrs. Eddy founds, 210;
product of her mothering instinct,
228; her directions to start it, 229;
Trustees predict it a business suc
cess, 229; Publishing House en
larged for, 230; mission and name,
231; Mrs. Eddy s contribution to
first issue, 231; newspaper and edi
torial opinions of, 232; advertising
medium, 232; Methodist editor in
The Christian Apologist pays trib
ute to, 233; twenty-six countries
represented in advertising columns,
275; 289, 308, 311, 314

Moore, George H., 306

Moral Science, 289

Morrill, Dr. Alpheus B., Mrs. Eddy s
cousin, 215

More, Sir Thomas, 57, 101

Morris, George P., 296

Moses, U. S. Senator George H., 179,
306; represents press in class of 98,
306

Mother Church, The, see Church,
The Mother

Mother s Evening Prayer, The, read
at Mrs. Eddy s funeral, 243, 314

Mount Auburn, Mary Baker s early
visit to, 70; Mrs. Eddy s remains
rest in, 243

Mount Holyoke College, 57

Mount Monadnock, seen from Pleas
ant View, 177; 207, 216

Mountain Lakes, N. J., 10

Mrs. Eddy and the Late Suit in
Equity, by Meehan, 209, 308, 309,
310

Mrs. Eddy as 1 kne&lt;w Her in 1810, by
Bancroft, 292

Munger, 281

Munsey s Magazine, 278, 280, 285, 287

Murray, Lindley, Reader, Albert s
counsel to Mary to study, 56; the
author uses Mrs. Eddy s copies, 56;
discussion of contents, 57, 58;
furnishes Mary Baker precepts for
self-direction, 59; concerning slav
ery, 61; Introduction to the Eng
lish Reader, 279, 283

Music Master, The, 258

NAGEL, CONRAD, 32

Nahant, Mary Baker visits, 70

Napoleon, 52

National Christian Scientist Associa
tion, see Christian Scientist

Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson, 278

Nazarene Society, 251

Neal, James A., 253, 306, 316

Nearer, My God, to Thee, 147, 220

Nebraska, 148

Negroes, Lindley Murray books on,
61; Mary Baker opposes slavery,
75; 77, 78, 81, 279

INDEX

341

New Case, The, 316

New England, 245, 313

New Hampshire, of "Next Friends
Suit," 209; laws, 214

New Hampshire Patriot and State
Gazette, 61

New Lebanon, N. Y., 280

New Thought, Dressers start mental
science movement shading into,
167; Evans place in development
of, 287; revolt against materialism,
302

New York, 78, 179, 200, 232, 245

New York Telegram, 308

New York Times, 131, 274

New York Tribune, 159

New York Sun, 159

New Zealand, lectures in, 46

Newhall, Elizabeth M., 146

Newman, Mrs. Emma Easton, 300,
309

Newspapers, and Mrs. Eddy, 199, 201

Newton, 247

Newton, Dr. J. Fort, 268

"Next Friends Suit," 7, 135; suit
started, 201; plaintiffs, 203; peti
tion, 203; Masters visit Mrs. Eddy,
204-207; ordeal ended, 208; Mrs.
Eddy withdraws Meehan s book
on, 209; suit collapses, 210; brings
unwelcome visitors to Pleasant
View, 212; possible relation to Mrs.
Eddy s removal to Boston, 214;
settlement, 224, 295, 308

Nicodemus, 41

Nietzsche, 25

Ninety-First Psalm, 174

Nixon, William G., 162; Mrs. Eddy s
Agent, 295

No and Yes, 163

North American Review, 281

North Groton, N. H., little George
Glover removes there with Mrs.
Russell Cheney, 81; Mr. and Mrs.
Patterson remove to, 85; Mrs. Pat
terson s disappointments there, 88;
mortgage on home foreclosed and
Pattersons remove from, 89; Mrs.

Patterson s prayers in church, 94;
285, 286

Northampton, Mass., 1, 110
North Pole, Admiral Peary discov
ers, 220, 221
Norton, Carol, 306
Norton, Charles Eliot, 141
Northwestern University, 259
Norwood, Edward Everett, 306
Noyes, Mr., calls on Mary Baker, 71
Noyes, Elizabeth, girlhood friend of

Mary Baker, 70
Nurse and Spy, 133
Nurses, Christian Science, training
course at Benevolent Association
sanatorium, 49

Ohio Leader, 300

Old Landmarks of Boston, Drake,

296

Old Oaken Bucket, The, 220
Old Orchard Road, 216
Oliver, George, 122
O Neill, his Lazarus, 38
Optimist, 175

Orchard, Commodore John M., 30
Orcutt, William Dana, of University

Press, 136; testifies Mr. Wiggin

proof reader, 139; 296
Orne, Mr. Edward A., 299
Osier (Dr.) Sir William, 110
Otis Elevator Company, 258
Otto, The Idea of the Holy, 273
Our New Religion, by Rt. Hon. H.

A. L. Fisher, 287, 291
Our Times, Sullivan, 302
Outlook, The, 281
Oxenham, John, 306
Oxford University, Sir William

Osier at, 110

PAINE, ALBERT BIGELOW, 275

Palmer House, Mrs. Eddy stays at,

166; decorated with flowers, 166
Paracelsus, Browning, 289
Paris, 47, 179, 232

342

INDEX

Park Street, 140

Parker, Hosea W., Master in "Next
Friends Suit," 204

Parker, Joseph, 281

Parker, Torrance, quoted, 271, 318

Parkman, Francis, 141

Parsons, President Edward S., of
Marietta (Ohio) College, 35

Patterson, Daniel, marriage to Mary
Baker Glover, 85; after three years
in Franklin, N. H., removes to No.
Groton, 85; wooing Mrs. Glover,
86; a disappointing stepfather, 87;
failure to make a living, 88; ab
sences and loss of home in No.
Groton, 89; commissioned by gov
ernment of N. H., goes South, is
captured, committed to Libby
Prison, writes wife, 91; directs
steps for release, 91; Mrs. Patterson
could not yield her religion to him,
94; writes Quimby in wife s behalf,
95; Mrs. Patterson borrows from
his brother to try to effect his re
lease from prison, 112; effort to re
establish a home, 112; eloped, di
vorced, and died, 112; after divorce
expressed regret at failure as hus
band, 112; domestic differences,
120; wife had not received ex
pected remittance from him, 130;
Mrs. Glover s letter to him, 287;
not in Lynn when wife fell, 291

Patterson, John, loans Mrs. Patterson
money, 112; Mrs. Eddy repays
with interest, 291

Patterson, Mary Baker, see Mary
Baker Eddy

Patton, James E., present Trustee
Publishing Society, 45

Peabody, Selwin B., 279

Pearson, Charles W., 306

Peary, Admiral, and North Pole, 221

People s Idea of God, The, 162

Perry, Rt. Rev. James DeWolf , 274

Phi Beta Kappa man, 261

Philadelphia, Pa., pursuit of culture,
75; Dr. E. J. Foster-Eddy in, 161;
175, 245

Philbrook, Mrs. H. S., grows up with
Mrs. Eddy, hears voices, 277

Philippine Islands, lectures in, 46;
250, 275

Phillips Family, the, shelter Mrs.
Eddy, 115, 121

Phillips, Hannah, 121

Phillips, Uncle Thomas, tribute to
Mrs. Eddy, 121

Philosophy of Electrical Psychology,
The, John Bovee Dods, 286

Physicians, Dr. Walton Hubbard, 32;
some admit good in Christian Sci
ence, 35; eminent London surgeon,
239

Pickford, Mary, 32

Pierce, Franklin, little Mary s esti
mate of, 56; her comments on his
election, 64, 65; attitude toward
slavery, 75; Mrs. Glover s views as
to effect of his election on contro
versy between North and South,
82; 278

Pilgrim Fathers, 119

Pilsbury, Ellen, healed by Mrs.
Eddy, and her reaction, 113

Pilsbury, Luther C, at Mary s wed
ding to George W. Glover, 72

Pilsbury, Martha, see Martha Baker

Plato, 58, 103, 281

Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., site
of Mrs. Eddy s home used, 49;
Mrs. Eddy s chair swing, 83; look
ing backwards, 92, 112; Joseph G.
Mann there, 156; retirement at, 170;
improvement of, 175; life at, 185,
187; pilgrimages to, 199; New York
and Boston Press reporters at, 199;
"Next Friends Suit" brings unwel
come visitors to, 212; value of, 213;
carriages sent ahead to Chestnut
Hill, 215; her suite at Chestnut
Hill, 216; 282, 292; buys farm and
names it, 304

Pleasant View Home, The Christian
Science, built on site of Mrs.
Eddy s home, 49; home and farm
land described, 50; cost of caring
for residents at, 276

INDEX

34?

Plunkett, Mrs., starting independent
movement, 167

Plutarch, 101

Poems, Eddy, 276, 282, 311, 312, 314

Pollock, Channing, The American
Magazine, 274

Pope, Alexander, 57, 62; Mary
Baker s verses to Andrew Gault in
Popean style, 62; 281

Porter, Charles, and Mrs., at the
darks table, 106

Portland Courier, The, 97, 288

Portland, Maine, Mrs. Patterson
comes to Quimby, 94, 95; difficul
ties in reaching, 96; climbs the one
hundred eighty-two steps to dome
of City Hall, 97; remains three
weeks in, 98; Abigail Tilton and
son, Albert, go to, 98; Mrs. Patter
son s writings in, 100, 101; Mrs.
Patterson and Miss Jarvis, 105; 131,
288

Portsmouth Chronicle, The, 310

Potter, Miss, 299

Potter, Rev. Dr. Charles F., 35

Powell, Lyman P., earlier writings on
Christian Science, 2; later studies,
6; revising book, 9; writes judicial
estimate for SchafT-Herzog Ency
clopedia, 9; 1917 tribute to daily
Bible-reading, 10; contribution to
Cambridge History of American
Literature, 11; first outlines this
book, 16; granted access to his
torical files, 17; and George A.
Quimby, 94; and Sarah G. Crosby,
105; and Sir William Osier, 110;
and Richard Kennedy, 117; Brook
Farm, 141; and Boston authors,
141, 142; talks with many who
lived with Mrs. Eddy, 185; tribute
to night watchman, 254; contacts
with college students, 259; corre-
spendence with those who knew
Mrs. Eddy, 259; estimate of Chris
tian Science group, 266; 283, 288,
289, 290, 296, 302, 307, 314, 316, 318

Powell, Talcott, advises author, 308

Powers, Mrs. Carol Hoyt, assisted in
conducting Mrs. Eddy s funeral
service, 243

Powys, John Cowper, 173
Poyen, Charles, 91

Practice of Medicine, The, Osier, 110

Practitioners of Christian Science,

their work, 50; charges, 117; 255,

256

Prayers, for rain, for fair weather,

310
Presbyterian, reasons for leaving

ministry, 13

Press, editorial appreciation at Mrs.
Eddy s passing, 9; 36, see news
papers
Princeton University, Woodrow

Wilson teaching at, 24
Prisoner of Chilian, The, 68
Protestantism, 14, 27, 29, 234
Psychic Research, 292
Publication Committees, see Com
mittee on Publication
Publishers Press, 200
Publishing House, Christian Science,
clearing of debt on, 229; enlarge
ment for Monitor, 229; contribu
tion from London to, 240
Publishing Society, The Christian
Science, net profits of, 43; Manual
provides for, 44; literature issued
by, 44, 45; 170; its periodicals, 177,
190; to start Monitor, 229; an
nounces new periodical, 230; yields
Church liberal income, 305
Pulpit and Press, 294, 311

QUAKERS, 280

Quarterly, Christian Science, 41, 45,
177, see also Bible Lessons

Questions and Answers, first given to
students, 130; in Miscellaneous
Writings, 177

Quimby, George A., helps Mrs. Pat
terson upstairs to father s office, 94;
jealous for father s reputation, 99;

344

INDEX

author talks with, 108; denies
father responsible for Christian
Science, 288; says Mrs. Eddy at
last landed in prayer-cure pure and
simple, 295

Quimby Manuscripts, The, 104; N. Y.
Times estimates, 131; 284, 287, 288,
289

Quimby, Phineas P., in 1862 Mrs.
Patterson comes to his office, 94;
Dr. Patterson writes him in 1861
but Mrs. Tilton later interposes
objection, 95; helps Julius A.
Dresser and other patients from
Dr. Vail s Hydropathic Institute,
95; Mrs. Patterson s letter and visit
to, 96; diagnoses Mrs. Patterson s
case, 96; effect upon her, 97; she
seeks basis of his healing, 97; his
estimate of her, 98; her words on
his passing, 98; she appeals to
Julius A. Dresser to carry on his
work, 99; temporary effect on
Mrs. Patterson s vocabulary, 100;
his use of words "science of
health" and scope of work, 102;
Mrs. Patterson s second visit to and
a fellow patient s estimate, 104;
again tries to understand him, 105;
at first overrates what she owed
Quimby, 105; sometimes talks of
him at Clarks in Lynn, and else
where, 108; growing away from,
108; at first hampered by his
methods, 109; for time believed in,
111; name rarely mentioned, 131;
Mrs. Patterson writes, 284; teaches
Warren F. Evans to heal, 287;
Mrs. Eddy s health improves, 288;
pays tribute to Mrs. Eddy, 288;
son states not connected with
Christian Science, 288; rare human
ity and sympathy, 289; did not use
phrase "science and health," 289;
295

Quimbyism, 108

Quincy, Josiah, describes Charleston,
S. C., 74

Radiant Life, The, Rev. John S.
Bunting, 276, 316

Rambles Round Old Boston, Bacon,
296

Ramsay, E. Mary, 278

Ramsay, Sir James, 29

Rand, Martha D., Mrs. Glover writes
her future sister-in-law, 86, 93;
wife of George Sullivan Baker,
202; 285

Rathvon, Mrs. Ella S., 311

Rathvon, William R., member of
The Christian Science Board of
Directors, 16; Mrs. Eddy s secre
tary, 283; relates incidents of Mrs.
Eddy s life, 222, 223, 225, 278, 283,
304, 309, 311

Rawson, Dorcas B., 146

Raymond, Minot, and Mrs., reside at
Clarks , 106

Readers, at Christian Science serv
ices, 41, 50, 248

Red Cross, 275

Red Rock, 143

Reid, William B., of University
Press, 136, 138, 296, 300

Relief Work, done by Christian Sci
ence Church, 275

Religion, J. Fort Newton on modern,
268

Religion and Medicine, 275

Religion of New England, The, Van
Ness, 290, 294

Remington, Bishop, 251

Renascence, 274

Retrospection and Introspection, 162,
277, 278, 286, 287, 288, 291, 293, 297,
308

Revolution, American, 142

Review of Reviews, 5

Rhodes, James F., 296

Rice, Mrs. Miranda R., 146, 299

Riley, James Whitcomb, 142

Robertson, 57

Robertson, Mrs. Annie Louise, 306

Robertson, Miss Nemi, 306

Robinson, Allan H., represents press
in class of 98, 306

INDEX

345

Roosevelt, Theodore, 139; graduating
from Harvard, 141; elected Gov
ernor of New York, 179; compares
Mrs. Eddy with other religious
leaders, 208; as letter writer, 280

Roslindale, Mass., Mrs. Eddy re
moves to, 304

Rough Riders, 179

Rounsevcl, R. D., 291

Royal Albert Hall, 47

Rudimental Divine Science, 163

Ruggles Educational Fund, 259, 261

Ruggles, Dr. Georgia Sackett, 259

Rumney, N. H., Pattersons remove
to, 90; 286

Ruskin, John, 281

Russell, Alfred, 209

Rust, Rev. Richard S., tribute to Abi
gail Ambrose Baker, 93, 276

SAGO, Maine, Dr. Patterson dies in,
112

St. Cecilia Society, Charleston, S. C.,
75

Saint Joan, Bernard Shaw, 277

St. Louis, 245

St. Patrick, lines attributed to, 241

St. Paul, quotes, 129, 136, 182, 190,
224, 269

St. Petersburg, 179

Salchow, John, accompanies Mrs.
Eddy across train platform, 211;
observes newspaper men, 215; car
ries her into Chestnut Hill home,
216; serves Mrs. Eddy longer than
anyone else except Mr. Frye, 309,
310,311

Salisbury, Mass., Warren F. Evans
conducts sanatorium in, 287

Salisbury, N. H., Daniel Webster s
birthplace, 82

Sallust, 58

Samuel, Mary Baker hears voices like,
53

Sanatoriums, see Benevolent Associa
tion

Sanborn, Frank B., Mr. Alcott men-,
tions Mrs. Eddy to, 128; 296

Sanborn, Mahala, nurses Mrs. Glo
ver, 79; as Mrs. Russell Cheney
removes to North Groton with
little George W. Glover, 81;
Cheneys take George to next home,
85; go to Minnesota and George
joins army, 88

Sanbornton Bridge, Bakers remove
from Bow to, 62; renamed Tilton
in 1869, 64; Methodist revival at,
68; Mary Baker s marriage to
George W. Glover at, 72; Mrs.
Patterson prefers Sanbornton
Bridge, 96; 284

San Francisco, 179, 232, 245, 275

Sargent, Laura E., Mrs. Eddy tells
her of plan for Trustees, 205; on
duty during removal to Boston,
215; prays for good weather, 218;
reads Mrs. Eddy s Christmas mes
sage to household, 225; 266

Scarlett, Rt. Rev. William, 34

SchaflF-Herzog Encyclopedia of Re
ligious Literature, 9

Schouler, James, 296

Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures, published in 1875, 38;
where Mrs. Eddy got title, 102;
building the book, 106, 113; income
needed, 115; residences while com
pleting, 115; quiet needed for writ
ing, 121; book finished at 9 Broad
Street, Lynn, 124; growth of, 126,
128; book brings relief to author,
129; Cambridge History article on,
11, 131; New York Times compares
Quimby Manuscript to, 131; last
touches and bill for printing, 131;
appearance of first edition in 1875
and cost, 132; errata and improve
ment in subsequent editions, 133;
best seller next to Bible, 133;
changes in revisions, 134, 135;
change in statement about death,
136; printed by University Press,
136; Mrs. Eddy s instructions to
Mr. Wiggin, 139; reaches 50th edi
tion by 1890, 163; invalids healed
by, 165; Mrs. Eddy reads it each

346

INDEX

morning, 171; most important book
to Christian Scientists, 178; early
aim to " ite a book," 181; quoted,
190; Manual next to, 192; editing
and re-editing of, 236; vocabulary
of, 236; open on Mrs. Eddy s desk
till last, 242; helps make up Bible
Lessons, 249; teaches mind influ
ences body, 251; studied by night
watchman, 254; teaching o n mar
riage and home, 263; mother
teaches children obedience to, 264;
273; writing of, 290; no changes
since Mrs. Eddy passed on, 295;
300, 304

Science, Christian, teachings require
close consideration, 1; philosophy,
theology, medicine, 2, 4; distribu
tion to the world, 4; a critic s esti
mate, 9; author s 1917 estimate,
10; teaching regarding matter, 12;
meets test, 26; testimonies and
tributes to, 26; growing steadily
through criticism and ridicule, 38;
stepping-stones in its development,
38; what it is, 50; Christian Sci
ence discovered by Mrs. Eddy,
101; how name originated, 102; Rt.
Rev. William Adams entitles his
book Christian Science, 102; phrase
used by Sarah Josepha Hale in
poem, 102; Mrs. Eddy provides for
financing, 119; explains to Masters,
207; concern for, 211; puts girdle
round the globe, 239, 275; prema
ture prediction of failure, 266;
author s findings, 266; modesty
jewel of, 266; even critics admit
some good effects, 269; perils of
prosperity, 271; her discovery,
289; advancing women to position
of equality, 317

Science of Man, The, 130, 295

Science of Soul, The, 130

Science, natural developments in, 12,
13

Scientist, Christian, Dr. Eddy first to
use words on sign, 144

Scientists, Christian, author s esti

mate of, 2; on public questions, 10;
Cambridge History of American
Literature, 11; train themselves to
live higher life, 19; bearers of good
news, 26; their lives, 38-40; salva
tion individual, 40; must conquer
personal faults, 41; method of rais
ing budget, 42; response to calls of
Board for contributions, 49; must
live up to teachings, 50; Manual s
instruction as to lawsuits, 117; some
fall away, 151; study Bible lessons
wherever they are, 249; judged by
fruits, 253; loving all, 267; bear
fruits described by St. Paul, 269;
sharing their good with others,
270; averting peril of prosperity,

Scotland, 47; first Christian Science
church edifice in, 240

Scott, Mrs. Minnie A., 309, 312

Scrapbook, Mrs. Eddy s, 277

Scribner*s Magazine, 273

Seaver, Rev. Richard W., Belfast,
Ireland, 34

Sentinel, Christian Science, 45; an
nounces proposed benevolent sana
torium, 49; Mrs. Eddy s statement
regarding Mr. Wiggin, 139; pub
lished, 177; 190; announces The
Christian Science Monitor, 230;
quoted, 282, 286, 290; first title
Christian Science Weekly, 306; 310,
312,317

Sermon, see Lesson-Sermons

Sermon on the Mount, 180

Shackleton, 296

Shakers, Mary invited to visit them,
65; not interested, 280

Shakespeare, discovery of characters,
101; Mrs. Eddy reads, 281

Shannon, Miss Clara M, S., 73, 113;
Mrs. Eddy s teachings on overcom
ing evil, 183; Mrs. Eddy sees need
of Manual, 192; describes Mrs.
Eddy s mother, 277; cited, 277; 279,
283, 291, 292, 295, 304, 307, 308

Shaw, Dr. Albert, 18

Shaw, Bernard, 139, 277

INDEX

347

Shaw, Dr. John, 34

Sheed, Miss, girlhood friend, 70

Sheldon, Joshua, at darks table, 106

Shipman, Miss Emma G, tribute to
Mrs. Eddy, 121, 292; 306

Shoemaker, "Sam," 223

Sigourney, Mrs., 74

Slavery, talk turning to, 52; Louisiana
Purchase sowing seeds of discord
over, 59; Lindley Murray books
and, 61; question vital to Mrs.
Glover, 75; opposed to, 75; tells
her views on, 82; 279

Slaves, Glovers and slavery, 75; de
sire to free slaves, 77; Mrs. Glover
allows late husband s slaves go free,
78; thus flings away potential assets,
81

Smith, Judge Clifford P., Trustee of
Publishing Society, 229; conducts
Mrs. Eddy s funeral service, 243;
quotes author in Annual Meeting,
275; 309,313,317

Smith, Dr. Copeland, of Chicago, 35

Smith, Col. E. J., 144; early student
of Mrs. Eddy, 301

Smith, J. Edward, 306

Smith, James, converted at Methodist
revival, 68; a suitor for Mrs.
Glover s hand, 84; writes verse to
Mrs. Glover, 285

Smith, Elmira (Myra), see Wilson,
Mrs. Patterson s attendant, 89;
life at No. Groton, 89; her sister s
(Mrs. Swett s) reminiscences, 89;
sympathy at Mrs. Patterson s hu
miliation, 90; blind maid, 285; in
cident of pills, 285; goes to Rum-
ney with Mrs. Patterson, 286

Smith, Richard, 306

Societies, Christian Science, growth
of, 38

Socrates, 58, 252

"Sonny s Father," 270

South America, lectures in, 46

Southern Review, The, 75

Speakman, Miss Rachel T., 306

Spenser, 251

Spinoza, 57, 103

Spiritualism, 91, 116, 129, 291

SpofTord, Daniel H., 123, 143, 146;
appreciation of Mrs. Eddy, 293;
alleged murder, 296

Springfield, Mass., 110

Springfield Republican, 6, 245

Stage, interested in Christian Science,
258

Stanley, Charles S., dismissed from
Mrs. Eddy s class, 122

Steinmetz, Charles P., on greatest dis
covery of future, 274

Stewart, John H., 306

Stewart, Miss Mary, in class of 98;
recollections, 306

Stewart, Samuel Barrett, solemnizes
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy,
297

Stidger, Dr. William L., on Mrs.
Eddy s chapter Prayer, 151

Still, Miss M. Adelaide, reports Mrs.
Eddy s readiness for interview
with Masters, 207; cited, 304; 309

Stocking, Miss Daisette D., 306

Stone, Mrs. Lida Stocking, 306

Stone, mesmerist, 92

Stoughton, East, Mrs. Eddy lives at,
with the Crafts, 116

Stout Institute, 317

Strang, Lewis C., defendant in "Next
Friends Suit," 203

Streeter, Frank S., Mrs. Eddy s coun
sel in "Next Friends Suit," 204; 307

Stuart, Ruth McEnery, 270

Studebaker, J. M., Jr., 30

Sulcer, Dr. Abraham A., 306

Sullivan, Mark, 302

Sumner, Charles, 142

Sunday School, every Christian Sci
ence church has, 45; enrollment
and instruction, 45; Asa G. Eddy
first organizer, 144

Surwalt s Grammar, 67

Sutherland, Miss, Mary Baker writes
Augusta Holmes of, 70

Swampscott, Mass., Mrs. Patterson
resides in, 109; removed to her
home in, 109; healed at, 111

Swedenborgian, 287

348

INDEX

Swett, Mrs. Sylvester, recalls child
hood contact with Mrs. Patterson,
89, 286

Switzerland, 47, 259

TAGORE, 307

Tales -from Shakespeare, 281

Talmage, Rev. T. DeWitt, 281

Tasmania, lectures in, 46

Taunton, Mass., Ellen Pilsbury visits
aunt at, 113; Mrs. Eddy lives with
Crafts at, 116

Taylor, Gen. Charles H., and Globe,
141

Teachers of Christian Science, taught
and certified by Board of Educa
tion, 45; their office, 50

Temple, Archbishop of York, 33

Tenets of Christian Science, 196

Tennyson, Alfred, 281

Terry, Ellen, 246, 314

Testimonials, at Wednesday evening
meetings, 26; contributed to this
book, 27

Testimony Meetings (Wednesday),
255

Thackeray, William Makepeace, 142

Thanksgiving Day, 1, 3, 232

Thompson, Abigail Dyer, on
Quimby s method of healing, 97,
98; 172, 179, 180; Quimby intro
duces Mrs. Eddy to Abigail s
mother, 288; 304, 306

Thompson, Mrs. Emma A., 288, 306

Thomson, 57

Thoreau, 213

Ticknor, 296

Tilton, Abigail, see Baker, Abigail

Tilton, Albert, 81, 85; put under
Quimby s treatment for alcoholism,
98

Tilton, Alexander H., husband of
Abigail, 72; owns successful mills
at Tilton, 80; 283

Tilton, J., converted at Methodist
revival, 69

Tilton, N. H. (see Sanbornton
Bridge), Sanbornton Bridge re

named Tilton, 64; Mrs. Glover
returns a widow to father s house,
78; removes to sister Abigail Til-
ton s home, 81; near Salisbury,
Daniel Webster s birthplace, 82;
houses illuminated when Lincoln
was assassinated, 82; Mrs. Patterson
returns to sister s home, 98; Ellen
Pilsbury home from visit to Taun
ton, 113; Mrs. Eddy writes friend
at, 130; spends arid years in, 166;
joins Congregational Church at,
282; Episcopal Church remem
bered in Mrs. Tilton s will, 286

Time, 3 14

Tolstoy, 281

Tomlinson, Rev. Irving G, 73; de
fendant in "Next Friends" suit, 203 ;
on Mrs. Eddy s train to Boston,
215; Mrs. Eddy s secretary, 276;
her unusual consciousness of God,
277; writes Mrs. Eddy about child
with cut finger, 278; 306, 309

Towne, Orwell Bradley, 276

Townsend, Rev. Dr. L, T., admits
Mrs. Eddy successful in healing
disease, 153; attacks Mrs. Eddy
from pulpit, 157

Transcendentalists, 104

Tremont Temple, Mrs. Eddy speaks
in, 158

Trench, 281

Trine, 281

Trinity, Mark Twain says Mrs.
Eddy deserves place in, 37

Trinity College, 29

True George Washington, The, Paul
Leicester Ford, 279

Trumbull, Henry Clay, 317

Trustees, of Publishing Society, 45;
Mrs. Eddy directs them to start
Monitor, 229; others than Trustees
wanted change in Monitor s name,
230; Mrs. Eddy s instructions to,
231

Trustees, under the Will of Mary
Baker Eddy, personnel almost
identical with Board of Directors,
45

INDEX

349

Turner, Mrs., found Mrs. Patterson
very spiritual woman, 94, 282, 286

Tuttle, George, in panic because he
cures his first patient, 122

Twain, Mark, final word regarding
Christian Science, 37, 136; his pre
diction, 198; A Biography (Paine),
275; 318

UNITED STATES, lectures in, 46
United States Bureau of Labor, 276
United States, Constitution of, 102,

197

Unity of Good, 163
Universities, Christian Science organ
izations in, 38; fund helps students
in, 259, see colleges
University of California, 317
University of Chicago, Dr. Shailer

Mathews, 217, 259
University of Idaho, 31; 259
University of Pennsylvania, 142
University Press, relations with Mis.

Eddy, 136, 139; 295
Uruguay, lectures in, 46

VAIL S HYDROPATHIC INSTITUTE, at

Hill, N. H., Mrs. Patterson enters,

95; some patients go to Quimby,

Van Dyke, Henry, 281
Van Ness, Rev. Thomas, quotes Mrs.

Eddy s attitude toward Emerson s

teachings, 126; 290, 294
Vermont, Mrs. Eddy retires to, 114;

ministers receive relief from The

Mother Church, 275
Vernon, Rev. Edward T., London

clergyman, 33
Vocabulary of Christian Science, 1,

12; Mrs. Eddy coining, 101; terms

for God, 103, 151
Voices, heard by Joan of Arc and

Mary Baker, 53
von Hiigel, Baron, 274

WADLIN, WILLIAM, at the darks
table, 106

War, The World, effects of, 10, 11;
editors tributes to Monitor during,
232, see also Civil War

War Relief, carried on extensively
by Christian Science Church, 275

Wardley, James and Jane, Shaker
leaders, 280

Warren, Maine, Mrs. Patterson prac
tices healing there, 105

Warren, Miss Lucia C., 183

Washington, D. C., Mark Baker reads
news from, 61; civil war, 82; Dr.
Patterson to collect fund for union
sympathizers, 90; hopes for recov
ery of his personal effects in, 91;
editors in, 245

Washington, George, sources neces
sary for biography of, 23; spelling
informal, 63 ; letter to London, 279,
280

Watchman, tribute to a, 254

Water-cure, 95, 96

Weather Bureau, 283, 295

Webster, Daniel, 82, 278

Webster, Mrs. Elizabeth, called by
Mrs. Eddy to compile rules for
teachers, 192

Webster family, interest in spiritual
ism and turning Mrs. Eddy out,
116, 129

Webster, Massachusetts, Julius A.
Dresser in, 288

Wednesday evening meeting, At 1906
dedication of The Mother Church,
178

Wednesday evening meetings, 26,
178, 249, 255, 259

Welch, Charles H., confirms Shan
non recollections, 304

Wentworth, Charles O., 122

Wentworth, Mrs. Sally, appreciates
Mis. Eddy, 122

Wentworth family, Mrs. Eddy lives
with, 108, 116; 122, 291, 293

Wesley, John, 148

3SO

INDEX

Wesleyan College, Woodrow Wil
son teaches at, 24

West Indies, lectures in, 46

Westminster Abbey, 274

Westminster Catechism, 56

Wethersfield, Connecticut, Mary s
letters to her brother George in, 63

Weygandt, Miss Minnie B., 309

Wheat, Charles, rings church bell
when Pattersons leave Groton, 286

Wheat, Joseph, forecloses mortgage,
286

Wheeler family, Mrs. Eddy mentions
Quimby to, 108

Whipple, 141

Whiting, Mrs. Abbie H., 295

Whiting, Miss Lilian, 300

Whittier, Mrs. Eddy s love for his
poems, 126; her call and his sub
sequent statement about her, 127;
his new books, 141, 281

Wiggin, Reverend James Henry, en
gaged for detail work on Science
and Health, 138; Mrs. Eddy s let
ters to him, 139

Wilbur, Sibyl, her book cited, 125,
276; 277, 283, 284, 288, 291, 293, 294,
295,301,302,304,306,312

Wilcox, Mrs. Martha W., 309

Willard, Emma, 57

Willebrandt, Mrs. Mabel Walker, 37

Williams College, 259

Williams, Mrs. M. E., 292

Wilmington, N. C., Maj. Glover s
business trip to, death and burial at,
77, 78; Wilmington Chronicle, 284

Wilson, Elmira Smith, see Myra
Smith

Wilson, John, Mrs. Eddy s relations
with, in University Press, 136; Mr.
Wiggin s conversation with, 138;
tributes to Mrs. Eddy, 138; 139,
295

Wilson, Woodrow, 23, 24

Wingate, Mr., convert at Methodist
revival, 69

Wisconsin, Episcopal Bishop of, Rt.
Rev. William Adams s book, 102

Wisehart, M. K., 248

Wister, Owen, 75, 199

Woman s Home Companion, 263

Wonalancet Club, members estimate
what Mrs. Eddy meant to Con
cord, 213

Worcester, Rev. Dr. Elwood, foun
der of Emmanuel Movement, 34

Wordsworth, William, 57

World Power Conference, 315

World s Debt to "Protestantism, The,
Dr. Burns Jenkins, 315

Wright, Wallace, misjudges Mrs.
Eddy, 123

Wyclif, John, "science and health"
in his translation, 103

YORK, present Archbishop of, 33

Young, 57

Young, Bicknell, 317

Young Men s Christian Association,

275

ZURICH, 47

[355-5]

106260

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