diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:20:41 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:20:41 -0700 |
| commit | d12348a8d9c733bbfa5e2a7028d82872cee6d3f3 (patch) | |
| tree | c7b90276608ec037e299057a8bf6496cc2d14486 /3187-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '3187-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 3187-h/3187-h.htm | 8626 |
1 files changed, 8626 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/3187-h/3187-h.htm b/3187-h/3187-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15b3dc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/3187-h/3187-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8626 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Christian Science, by Mark Twain + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +Project Gutenberg's Christian Science, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christian Science + +Author: Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +Release Date: August 19, 2006 [EBook #3187] +Last Updated: February 24, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SCIENCE *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + CHRISTIAN SCIENCE + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + by Mark Twain + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>BOOK I. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> <b>BOOK II.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> POSTSCRIPT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_SUMM"> SUMMARY </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> <b>CHAPTER VI</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> THE PASTOR EMERITUS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> THE PRESIDENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> TREASURER AND CLERK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> BOARD OF TRUSTEES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> READERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> ELECTION OF READERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> THE ARISTOCRACY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> CHURCH MEMBERSHIP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> AND SOME ENGLISH REQUIRED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> “READERS” AGAIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> MONOPOLY OF SPIRITUAL BREAD </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> <b>CHAPTER VII.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> THE NEW INFALLIBILITY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> THE SACRED POEMS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> THE CHURCH EDIFICE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> PRAYER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> THE LORD'S PRAYER-AMENDED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> THE NEW UNPARDONABLE SIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> AXE AND BLOCK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> READING LETTERS AT MEETINGS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> HONESTY REQUISITE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> FURTHER APPLICATIONS OF THE AXE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> MORE SELF-PROTECTIONS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> BOARD OF EDUCATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> PUBLIC TEACHERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> BOARD OF LECTURESHIP </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> MISSIONARIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> THE BY-LAWS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> THE CREED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> <b>CHAPTER VIII</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> “MOTHER-CHURCH UNIQUE” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> “NO FIRST MEMBERS” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> “THE” </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> A LIFE-TERM MONOPOLY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> A PERPETUAL ONE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> THE SANCTUM SANCTORUM AND SACRED CHAIR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PASTOR-UNIVERSAL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> PRICE OF THE PASTOR-UNIVERSAL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> SEVEN HUNDRED PER CENT. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XV </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPEA"> APPENDIX A </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPEB"> APPENDIX B </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPEC"> APPENDIX C </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPED"> APPENDIX D </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPEE"> APPENDIX E </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPEF"> APPENDIX F </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0076"> MRS. EDDY IN ERROR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0077"> MAIN PARTS OF THE MACHINE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0078"> DISTRIBUTION OF THE MACHINE'S POWERS AND + DIGNITIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_CONC"> CONCLUSION </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + Book I of this volume occupies a quarter or a third of the volume, and + consists of matter written about four years ago, but not hitherto + published in book form. It contained errors of judgment and of fact. I + have now corrected these to the best of my ability and later knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Book II was written at the beginning of 1903, and has not until now + appeared in any form. In it my purpose has been to present a + character-portrait of Mrs. Eddy, drawn from her own acts and words solely, + not from hearsay and rumor; and to explain the nature and scope of her + Monarchy, as revealed in the Laws by which she governs it, and which she + wrote herself. + </p> + <p> + MARK TWAIN + </p> + <p> + NEW YORK. January, 1907. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + BOOK I CHRISTIAN SCIENCE + </h1> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “It is the first time since the dawn-days of Creation that + a Voice has gone crashing through space with such + placid and complacent confidence and command.” + </pre> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + VIENNA 1899. + </h3> + <p> + This last summer, when I was on my way back to Vienna from the + Appetite-Cure in the mountains, I fell over a cliff in the twilight, and + broke some arms and legs and one thing or another, and by good luck was + found by some peasants who had lost an ass, and they carried me to the + nearest habitation, which was one of those large, low, thatch-roofed + farm-houses, with apartments in the garret for the family, and a cunning + little porch under the deep gable decorated with boxes of bright colored + flowers and cats; on the ground floor a large and light sitting-room, + separated from the milch-cattle apartment by a partition; and in the front + yard rose stately and fine the wealth and pride of the house, the + manure-pile. That sentence is Germanic, and shows that I am acquiring that + sort of mastery of the art and spirit of the language which enables a man + to travel all day in one sentence without changing cars. + </p> + <p> + There was a village a mile away, and a horse doctor lived there, but there + was no surgeon. It seemed a bad outlook; mine was distinctly a surgery + case. Then it was remembered that a lady from Boston was summering in that + village, and she was a Christian Science doctor and could cure anything. + So she was sent for. It was night by this time, and she could not + conveniently come, but sent word that it was no matter, there was no + hurry, she would give me “absent treatment” now, and come in the morning; + meantime she begged me to make myself tranquil and comfortable and + remember that there was nothing the matter with me. I thought there must + be some mistake. + </p> + <p> + “Did you tell her I walked off a cliff seventy-five feet high?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “And struck a boulder at the bottom and bounced?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “And struck another one and bounced again?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “And struck another one and bounced yet again?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “And broke the boulders?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “That accounts for it; she is thinking of the boulders. Why didn't you + tell her I got hurt, too?” + </p> + <p> + “I did. I told her what you told me to tell her: that you were now but an + incoherent series of compound fractures extending from your scalp-lock to + your heels, and that the comminuted projections caused you to look like a + hat-rack.” + </p> + <p> + “And it was after this that she wished me to remember that there was + nothing the matter with me?” + </p> + <p> + “Those were her words.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not understand it. I believe she has not diagnosed the case with + sufficient care. Did she look like a person who was theorizing, or did she + look like one who has fallen off precipices herself and brings to the aid + of abstract science the confirmations of personal experience?” + </p> + <p> + “Bitte?” + </p> + <p> + It was too large a contract for the Stubenmadchen's vocabulary; she + couldn't call the hand. I allowed the subject to rest there, and asked for + something to eat and smoke, and something hot to drink, and a basket to + pile my legs in; but I could not have any of these things. + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “She said you would need nothing at all.” + </p> + <p> + “But I am hungry and thirsty, and in desperate pain.” + </p> + <p> + “She said you would have these delusions, but must pay no attention to + them. She wants you to particularly remember that there are no such things + as hunger and thirst and pain.'' + </p> + <p> + “She does does she?” + </p> + <p> + “It is what she said.” + </p> + <p> + “Does she seem to be in full and functionable possession of her + intellectual plant, such as it is?” + </p> + <p> + “Bitte?” + </p> + <p> + “Do they let her run at large, or do they tie her up?” + </p> + <p> + “Tie her up?” + </p> + <p> + “There, good-night, run along, you are a good girl, but your mental + Geschirr is not arranged for light and airy conversation. Leave me to my + delusions.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + It was a night of anguish, of course—at least, I supposed it was, + for it had all the symptoms of it—but it passed at last, and the + Christian Scientist came, and I was glad She was middle-aged, and large + and bony, and erect, and had an austere face and a resolute jaw and a + Roman beak and was a widow in the third degree, and her name was Fuller. I + was eager to get to business and find relief, but she was distressingly + deliberate. She unpinned and unhooked and uncoupled her upholsteries one + by one, abolished the wrinkles with a flirt of her hand, and hung the + articles up; peeled off her gloves and disposed of them, got a book out of + her hand-bag, then drew a chair to the bedside, descended into it without + hurry, and I hung out my tongue. She said, with pity but without passion: + </p> + <p> + “Return it to its receptacle. We deal with the mind only, not with its + dumb servants.” + </p> + <p> + I could not offer my pulse, because the connection was broken; but she + detected the apology before I could word it, and indicated by a negative + tilt of her head that the pulse was another dumb servant that she had no + use for. Then I thought I would tell her my symptoms and how I felt, so + that she would understand the case; but that was another inconsequence, + she did not need to know those things; moreover, my remark about how I + felt was an abuse of language, a misapplication of terms. + </p> + <p> + “One does not feel,” she explained; “there is no such thing as feeling: + therefore, to speak of a non-existent thing as existent is a + contradiction. Matter has no existence; nothing exists but mind; the mind + cannot feel pain, it can only imagine it.” + </p> + <p> + “But if it hurts, just the same—” + </p> + <p> + “It doesn't. A thing which is unreal cannot exercise the functions of + reality. Pain is unreal; hence, pain cannot hurt.” + </p> + <p> + In making a sweeping gesture to indicate the act of shooing the illusion + of pain out of the mind, she raked her hand on a pin in her dress, said + “Ouch!” and went tranquilly on with her talk. “You should never allow + yourself to speak of how you feel, nor permit others to ask you how you + are feeling; you should never concede that you are ill, nor permit others + to talk about disease or pain or death or similar nonexistences in your + presence. Such talk only encourages the mind to continue its empty + imaginings.” Just at that point the Stuben-madchen trod on the cat's tail, + and the cat let fly a frenzy of cat-profanity. I asked, with caution: + </p> + <p> + “Is a cat's opinion about pain valuable?” + </p> + <p> + “A cat has no opinion; opinions proceed from mind only; the lower animals, + being eternally perishable, have not been granted mind; without mind, + opinion is impossible.” + </p> + <p> + “She merely imagined she felt a pain—the cat?” + </p> + <p> + “She cannot imagine a pain, for imagining is an effect of mind; without + mind, there is no imagination. A cat has no imagination.” + </p> + <p> + “Then she had a real pain?” + </p> + <p> + “I have already told you there is no such thing as real pain.” + </p> + <p> + “It is strange and interesting. I do wonder what was the matter with the + cat. Because, there being no such thing as a real pain, and she not being + able to imagine an imaginary one, it would seem that God in His pity has + compensated the cat with some kind of a mysterious emotion usable when her + tail is trodden on which, for the moment, joins cat and Christian in one + common brotherhood of—” + </p> + <p> + She broke in with an irritated— + </p> + <p> + “Peace! The cat feels nothing, the Christian feels nothing. Your empty and + foolish imaginings are profanation and blasphemy, and can do you an + injury. It is wiser and better and holier to recognize and confess that + there is no such thing as disease or pain or death.” + </p> + <p> + “I am full of imaginary tortures,” I said, “but I do not think I could be + any more uncomfortable if they were real ones. What must I do to get rid + of them?” + </p> + <p> + “There is no occasion to get rid of them since they do not exist. They are + illusions propagated by matter, and matter has no existence; there is no + such thing as matter.” + </p> + <p> + “It sounds right and clear, but yet it seems in a degree elusive; it seems + to slip through, just when you think you are getting a grip on it.” + </p> + <p> + “Explain.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, for instance: if there is no such thing as matter, how can matter + propagate things?” + </p> + <p> + In her compassion she almost smiled. She would have smiled if there were + any such thing as a smile. + </p> + <p> + “It is quite simple,” she said; “the fundamental propositions of Christian + Science explain it, and they are summarized in the four following + self-evident propositions: 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. + </p> + <p> + “There—now you see.” + </p> + <p> + It seemed nebulous; it did not seem to say anything about the difficulty + in hand—how non-existent matter can propagate illusions I said, with + some hesitancy: + </p> + <p> + “Does—does it explain?” + </p> + <p> + “Doesn't it? Even if read backward it will do it.” + </p> + <p> + With a budding hope, I asked her to do it backwards. + </p> + <p> + “Very well. Disease sin evil death deny Good omnipotent God life matter is + nothing all being Spirit God Mind is Good good is God all in All is God. + There do you understand now? + </p> + <p> + “It—it—well, it is plainer than it was before; still—” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “Could you try it some more ways?” + </p> + <p> + “As many as you like; it always means the same. Interchanged in any way + you please it cannot be made to mean anything different from what it means + when put in any other way. Because it is perfect. You can jumble it all + up, and it makes no difference: it always comes out the way it was before. + It was a marvelous mind that produced it. As a mental tour de force it is + without a mate, it defies alike the simple, the concrete, and the occult.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems to be a corker.” + </p> + <p> + I blushed for the word, but it was out before I could stop it. + </p> + <p> + “A what?” + </p> + <p> + “A—wonderful structure—combination, so to speak, of profound + thoughts—unthinkable ones—um—” + </p> + <p> + “It is true. Read backward, or forward, or perpendicularly, or at any + given angle, these four propositions will always be found to agree in + statement and proof.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah—proof. Now we are coming at it. The statements agree; they agree + with—with—anyway, they agree; I noticed that; but what is it + they prove I mean, in particular?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, nothing could be clearer. They prove: + </p> + <p> + “1. GOD—Principle, Life, Truth, Love, Soul, Spirit, Mind. Do you get + that?” + </p> + <p> + “I—well, I seem to. Go on, please.” + </p> + <p> + “2. MAN—God's universal idea, individual, perfect, eternal. Is it + clear?” + </p> + <p> + “It—I think so. Continue.” + </p> + <p> + “3. IDEA—An image in Mind; the immediate object of understanding. + There it is—the whole sublime Arcana of Christian Science in a + nutshell. Do you find a weak place in it anywhere?” + </p> + <p> + “Well—no; it seems strong.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well There is more. Those three constitute the Scientific Definition + of Immortal Mind. Next, we have the Scientific Definition of Mortal Mind. + Thus. FIRST DEGREE: Depravity I. Physical-Passions and appetites, fear, + depraved will, pride, envy, deceit, hatred, revenge, sin, disease, death.” + </p> + <p> + “Phantasms, madam—unrealities, as I understand it.” + </p> + <p> + “Every one. SECOND DEGREE: Evil Disappearing. I. Moral-Honesty, affection, + compassion, hope, faith, meekness, temperance. Is it clear?” + </p> + <p> + “Crystal.” + </p> + <p> + “THIRD DEGREE: Spiritual Salvation. I. Spiritual-Faith, wisdom, power, + purity, understanding, health, love. You see how searchingly and + co-ordinately interdependent and anthropomorphous it all is. In this Third + Degree, as we know by the revelations of Christian Science, mortal mind + disappears.” + </p> + <p> + “Not earlier?” + </p> + <p> + “No, not until the teaching and preparation for the Third Degree are + completed.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not until then that one is enabled to take hold of Christian + Science effectively, and with the right sense of sympathy and kinship, as + I understand you. That is to say, it could not succeed during the + processes of the Second Degree, because there would still be remains of + mind left; and therefore—but I interrupted you. You were about to + further explain the good results proceeding from the erosions and + disintegrations effected by the Third Degree. It is very interesting; go + on, please.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, as I was saying, in this Third Degree mortal mind disappears. + Science so reverses the evidence before the corporeal human senses as to + make this scriptural testimony true in our hearts, 'the last shall be + first and the first shall be last,' that God and His idea may be to us—what + divinity really is, and must of necessity be all-inclusive.” + </p> + <p> + “It is beautiful. And with what exhaustive exactness your choice and + arrangement of words confirm and establish what you have claimed for the + powers and functions of the Third Degree. The Second could probably + produce only temporary absence of mind; it is reserved to the Third to + make it permanent. A sentence framed under the auspices of the Second + could have a kind of meaning—a sort of deceptive semblance of it—whereas + it is only under the magic of the Third that that defect would disappear. + Also, without doubt, it is the Third Degree that contributes another + remarkable specialty to Christian Science—viz., ease and flow and + lavishness of words, and rhythm and swing and smoothness. There must be a + special reason for this?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—God—all, all—God, good God, non-Matter, + Matteration, Spirit, Bones, Truth.” + </p> + <p> + “That explains it.” + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing in Christian Science that is not explicable; for God is + one, Time is one, Individuality is one, and may be one of a series, one of + many, as an individual man, individual horse; whereas God is one, not one + of a series, but one alone and without an equal.” + </p> + <p> + “These are noble thoughts. They make one burn to know more. How does + Christian Science explain the spiritual relation of systematic duality to + incidental deflection?” + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science reverses the seeming relation of Soul and body—as + astronomy reverses the human perception of the movement of the solar + system—and makes body tributary to the Mind. As it is the earth + which is in motion, While the sun is at rest, though in viewing the sun + rise one finds it impossible to believe the sun not to be really rising, + so the body is but the humble servant of the restful Mind, though it seems + otherwise to finite sense; but we shall never understand this while we + admit that soul is in body, or mind in matter, and that man is included in + non-intelligence. Soul is God, unchangeable and eternal; and man coexists + with and reflects Soul, for the All-in-all is the Altogether, and the + Altogether embraces the All-one, Soul-Mind, Mind-Soul, Love, Spirit, + Bones, Liver, one of a series, alone and without an equal.” + </p> + <p> + “What is the origin of Christian Science? Is it a gift of God, or did it + just happen?” + </p> + <p> + “In a sense, it is a gift of God. That is to say, its powers are from Him, + but the credit of the discovery of the powers and what they are for is due + to an American lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed? When did this occur?” + </p> + <p> + “In 1866. That is the immortal date when pain and disease and death + disappeared from the earth to return no more forever. That is, the fancies + for which those terms stand disappeared. The things themselves had never + existed; therefore, as soon as it was perceived that there were no such + things, they were easily banished. The history and nature of the great + discovery are set down in the book here, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Did the lady write the book?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, she wrote it all, herself. The title is Science and Health, with Key + to the Scriptures—for she explains the Scriptures; they were not + understood before. Not even by the twelve Disciples. She begins thus—I + will read it to you.” + </p> + <p> + But she had forgotten to bring her glasses. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it is no matter,” she said. “I remember the words—indeed, all + Christian Scientists know the book by heart; it is necessary in our + practice. We should otherwise make mistakes and do harm. She begins thus: + 'In the year 1866 I discovered the Science of Metaphysical Healing, and + named it Christian Science.' And She says quite beautifully, I think—'Through + Christian Science, religion and medicine are inspired with a diviner + nature and essence, fresh pinions are given to faith and understanding, + and thoughts acquaint themselves intelligently with God.' Her very words.” + </p> + <p> + “It is elegant. And it is a fine thought, too—marrying religion to + medicine, instead of medicine to the undertaker in the old way; for + religion and medicine properly belong together, they being the basis of + all spiritual and physical health. What kind of medicine do you give for + the ordinary diseases, such as—” + </p> + <p> + “We never give medicine in any circumstances whatever! We—” + </p> + <p> + “But, madam, it says—” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care what it says, and I don't wish to talk about it.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry if I have offended, but you see the mention seemed in some way + inconsistent, and—” + </p> + <p> + “There are no inconsistencies in Christian Science. The thing is + impossible, for the Science is absolute. It cannot be otherwise, since it + proceeds directly from the All-in-all and the Everything-in-Which, also + Soul, Bones, Truth, one of a series, alone and without equal. It is + Mathematics purified from material dross and made spiritual.” + </p> + <p> + “I can see that, but—” + </p> + <p> + “It rests upon the immovable basis of an Apodictical Principle.” + </p> + <p> + The word flattened itself against my mind in trying to get in, and + disordered me a little, and before I could inquire into its pertinency, + she was already throwing the needed light: + </p> + <p> + “This Apodictical Principle is the absolute Principle of Scientific + Mind-healing, the sovereign Omnipotence which delivers the children of men + from pain, disease, decay, and every ill that flesh is heir to.” + </p> + <p> + “Surely not every ill, every decay?” + </p> + <p> + “Every one; there are no exceptions; there is no such thing as decay—it + is an unreality, it has no existence.” + </p> + <p> + “But without your glasses your failing eyesight does not permit you to—” + </p> + <p> + “My eyesight cannot fail; nothing can fail; the Mind is master, and the + Mind permits no retrogression.” + </p> + <p> + She was under the inspiration of the Third Degree, therefore there could + be no profit in continuing this part of the subject. I shifted to other + ground and inquired further concerning the Discoverer of the Science. + </p> + <p> + “Did the discovery come suddenly, like Klondike, or after long study and + calculation, like America?” + </p> + <p> + “The comparisons are not respectful, since they refer to trivialities—but + let it pass. I will answer in the Discoverer's own words: 'God had been + graciously fitting me, during many years, for the reception of a final + revelation of the absolute Principle of Scientific Mind-healing.'” + </p> + <p> + “Many years. How many?” + </p> + <p> + “Eighteen centuries!” + </p> + <p> + “All—God, God—good, good—God, Truth, Bones, Liver, one + of a series, alone and without equal—it is amazing!” + </p> + <p> + “You may well say it, sir. Yet it is but the truth This American lady, our + revered and sacred Founder, is distinctly referred to, and her coming + prophesied, in the twelfth chapter of the Apocalypse; she could not have + been more plainly indicated by St. John without actually mentioning her + name.” + </p> + <p> + “How strange, how wonderful!” + </p> + <p> + “I will quote her own words, from her Key to the Scriptures: 'The twelfth + chapter of the Apocalypse has a special suggestiveness in connection with + this nineteenth century.' There—do you note that? Think—note + it well.” + </p> + <p> + “But—what does it mean?” + </p> + <p> + “Listen, and you will know. I quote her inspired words again: 'In the + opening of the Sixth Seal, typical of six thousand years since Adam, there + is one distinctive feature which has special reference to the present age. + Thus: + </p> + <p> + “'Revelation xii. I. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven—a + woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head + a crown of twelve stars.' + </p> + <p> + “That is our Head, our Chief, our Discoverer of Christian Science—nothing + can be plainer, nothing surer. And note this: + </p> + <p> + “'Revelation xii. 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had + a place prepared of God.' + </p> + <p> + “That is Boston. I recognize it, madam. These are sublime things, and + impressive; I never understood these passages before; please go on with + the—with the—proofs.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well. Listen: + </p> + <p> + “'And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a + cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the + sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he held in his hand a little + book.' + </p> + <p> + “A little book, merely a little book—could words be modester? Yet + how stupendous its importance! Do you know what book that was?” + </p> + <p> + “Was it—” + </p> + <p> + “I hold it in my hand—Christian Science!” + </p> + <p> + “Love, Livers, Lights, Bones, Truth, Kidneys, one of a series, alone and + without equal—it is beyond imagination for wonder!” + </p> + <p> + “Hear our Founder's eloquent words: 'Then will a voice from harmony cry, + “Go and take the little book: take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy + belly bitter; but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” Mortal, obey + the heavenly evangel. Take up Divine Science. Read it from beginning to + end. Study it, ponder it. It will be, indeed, sweet at its first taste, + when it heals you; but murmur not over Truth, if you find its digestion + bitter.' You now know the history of our dear and holy Science, sir, and + that its origin is not of this earth, but only its discovery. I will leave + the book with you and will go, now; but give yourself no uneasiness—I + will give you absent treatment from now till I go to bed.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + Under the powerful influence of the near treatment and the absent + treatment together, my bones were gradually retreating inward and + disappearing from view. The good work took a brisk start, now, and went on + swiftly. My body was diligently straining and stretching, this way and + that, to accommodate the processes of restoration, and every minute or two + I heard a dull click inside and knew that the two ends of a fracture had + been successfully joined. This muffled clicking and gritting and grinding + and rasping continued during the next three hours, and then stopped—the + connections had all been made. All except dislocations; there were only + seven of these: hips, shoulders, knees, neck; so that was soon over; one + after another they slipped into their sockets with a sound like pulling a + distant cork, and I jumped up as good as new, as to framework, and sent + for the horse-doctor. + </p> + <p> + I was obliged to do this because I had a stomach-ache and a cold in the + head, and I was not willing to trust these things any longer in the hands + of a woman whom I did not know, and whose ability to successfully treat + mere disease I had lost all confidence. My position was justified by the + fact that the cold and the ache had been in her charge from the first, + along with the fractures, but had experienced not a shade of relief; and, + indeed, the ache was even growing worse and worse, and more and more + bitter, now, probably on account of the protracted abstention from food + and drink. + </p> + <p> + The horse-doctor came, a pleasant man and full of hope and professional + interest in the case. In the matter of smell he was pretty aromatic—in + fact, quite horsy—and I tried to arrange with him for absent + treatment, but it was not in his line, so, out of delicacy, I did not + press it. He looked at my teeth and examined my hock, and said my age and + general condition were favorable to energetic measures; therefore he would + give me something to turn the stomach-ache into the botts and the cold in + the head into the blind staggers; then he should be on his own beat and + would know what to do. He made up a bucket of bran-mash, and said a + dipperful of it every two hours, alternated with a drench with turpentine + and axle-grease in it, would either knock my ailments out of me in + twenty-four hours, or so interest me in other ways as to make me forget + they were on the premises. He administered my first dose himself, then + took his leave, saying I was free to eat and drink anything I pleased and + in any quantity I liked. But I was not hungry any more, and did not care + for food. + </p> + <p> + I took up the Christian Science book and read half of it, then took a + dipperful of drench and read the other half. The resulting experiences + were full of interest and adventure. All through the rumblings and + grindings and quakings and effervescings accompanying the evolution of the + ache into the botts and the cold into the blind staggers I could note the + generous struggle for mastery going on between the mash and the drench and + the literature; and often I could tell which was ahead, and could easily + distinguish the literature from the others when the others were separate, + though not when they were mixed; for when a bran-mash and an eclectic + drench are mixed together they look just like the Apodictical Principle + out on a lark, and no one can tell it from that. The finish was reached at + last, the evolutions were complete, and a fine success, but I think that + this result could have been achieved with fewer materials. I believe the + mash was necessary to the conversion of the stomach-ache into the botts, + but I think one could develop the blind staggers out of the literature by + itself; also, that blind staggers produced in this way would be of a + better quality and more lasting than any produced by the artificial + processes of the horse-doctor. + </p> + <p> + For of all the strange and frantic and incomprehensible and + uninterpretable books which the imagination of man has created, surely + this one is the prize sample. It is written with a limitless confidence + and complacency, and with a dash and stir and earnestness which often + compel the effects of eloquence, even when the words do not seem to have + any traceable meaning. There are plenty of people who imagine they + understand the book; I know this, for I have talked with them; but in all + cases they were people who also imagined that there were no such things as + pain, sickness, and death, and no realities in the world; nothing actually + existent but Mind. It seems to me to modify the value of their testimony. + When these people talk about Christian Science they do as Mrs. Fuller did: + they do not use their own language, but the book's; they pour out the + book's showy incoherences, and leave you to find out later that they were + not originating, but merely quoting; they seem to know the volume by + heart, and to revere it as they would a Bible—another Bible, perhaps + I ought to say. Plainly the book was written under the mental desolations + of the Third Degree, and I feel sure that none but the membership of that + Degree can discover meanings in it. When you read it you seem to be + listening to a lively and aggressive and oracular speech delivered in an + unknown tongue, a speech whose spirit you get but not the particulars; or, + to change the figure, you seem to be listening to a vigorous instrument + which is making a noise which it thinks is a tune, but which, to persons + not members of the band, is only the martial tooting of a trombone, and + merrily stirs the soul through the noise, but does not convey a meaning. + </p> + <p> + The book's serenities of self-satisfaction do almost seem to smack of a + heavenly origin—they have no blood-kin in the earth. It is more than + human to be so placidly certain about things, and so finely superior, and + so airily content with one's performance. Without ever presenting anything + which may rightfully be called by the strong name of Evidence, and + sometimes without even mentioning a reason for a deduction at all, it + thunders out the startling words, “I have Proved” so and so. It takes the + Pope and all the great guns of his Church in battery assembled to + authoritatively settle and establish the meaning of a sole and single + unclarified passage of Scripture, and this at vast cost of time and study + and reflection, but the author of this work is superior to all that: she + finds the whole Bible in an unclarified audition, and at small expense of + time and no expense of mental effort she clarifies it from lid to lid, + reorganizes and improves the meanings, then authoritatively settles and + establishes them with formulas which you cannot tell from “Let there be + light!” and “Here you have it!” It is the first time since the dawn-days + of Creation that a Voice has gone crashing through space with such placid + and complacent confidence and command. + </p> + <p> + [January, 1903. The first reading of any book whose terminology is new and + strange is nearly sure to leave the reader in a bewildered and sarcastic + state of mind. But now that, during the past two months, I have, by + diligence gained a fair acquaintanceship with Science and Health + technicalities, I no longer find the bulk of that work hard to understand.—M. + T.] + </p> + <p> + P.S. The wisdom harvested from the foregoing thoughts has already done me + a service and saved me a sorrow. Nearly a month ago there came to me from + one of the universities a tract by Dr. Edward Anthony Spitzka on the + “Encephalic Anatomy of the Races.” I judged that my opinion was desired by + the university, and I was greatly pleased with this attention and wrote + and said I would furnish it as soon as I could. That night I put my + plodding and disheartening Christian Science mining aside and took hold of + the matter. I wrote an eager chapter, and was expecting to finish my + opinion the next day, but was called away for a week, and my mind was soon + charged with other interests. It was not until to-day, after the lapse of + nearly a month, that I happened upon my Encephalic chapter again. + Meantime, the new wisdom had come to me, and I read it with shame. I + recognized that I had entered upon that work in far from the right temper—far + from the respectful and judicial spirit which was its due of reverence. I + had begun upon it with the following paragraph for fuel: + </p> + <p> + “FISSURES OF THE PARIETAL AND OCCIPITAL LOBES (LATERAL SURFACE).—The + Postcentral Fissural Complex—In this hemicerebrum, the postcentral + and subcentral are combined to form a continuous fissure, attaining a + length of 8.5 cm. Dorsally, the fissure bifurcates, embracing the gyre + indented by the caudal limb of the paracentral. The caudal limb of the + postcentral is joined by a transparietal piece. In all, five additional + rami spring from the combined fissure. A vadum separates it from the + parietal; another from the central.” + </p> + <p> + It humiliates me, now, to see how angry I got over that; and how scornful. + I said that the style was disgraceful; that it was labored and tumultuous, + and in places violent, that the treatment was involved and erratic, and + almost, as a rule, bewildering; that to lack of simplicity was added a + lack of vocabulary; that there was quite too much feeling shown; that if I + had a dog that would get so excited and incoherent over a tranquil subject + like Encephalic Anatomy I would not pay his tax; and at that point I got + excited myself and spoke bitterly of these mongrel insanities, and said a + person might as well try to understand Science and Health. + </p> + <p> + [I know, now, where the trouble was, and am glad of the interruption that + saved me from sending my verdict to the university. It makes me cold to + think what those people might have thought of me.—M. T.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + No one doubts—certainly not I—that the mind exercises a + powerful influence over the body. From the beginning of time, the + sorcerer, the interpreter of dreams, the fortune-teller, the charlatan, + the quack, the wild medicine-man, the educated physician, the mesmerist, + and the hypnotist have made use of the client's imagination to help them + in their work. They have all recognized the potency and availability of + that force. Physicians cure many patients with a bread pill; they know + that where the disease is only a fancy, the patient's confidence in the + doctor will make the bread pill effective. + </p> + <p> + Faith in the doctor. Perhaps that is the entire thing. It seems to look + like it. In old times the King cured the king's evil by the touch of the + royal hand. He frequently made extraordinary cures. Could his footman have + done it? No—not in his own clothes. Disguised as the King, could he + have done it? I think we may not doubt it. I think we may feel sure that + it was not the King's touch that made the cure in any instance, but the + patient's faith in the efficacy of a King's touch. Genuine and remarkable + cures have been achieved through contact with the relics of a saint. Is it + not likely that any other bones would have done as well if the + substitution had been concealed from the patient? When I was a boy a + farmer's wife who lived five miles from our village had great fame as a + faith-doctor—that was what she called herself. Sufferers came to her + from all around, and she laid her hand upon them and said, “Have faith—it + is all that is necessary,” and they went away well of their ailments. She + was not a religious woman, and pretended to no occult powers. She said + that the patient's faith in her did the work. Several times I saw her make + immediate cures of severe toothaches. My mother was the patient. In + Austria there is a peasant who drives a great trade in this sort of + industry, and has both the high and the low for patients. He gets into + prison every now and then for practising without a diploma, but his + business is as brisk as ever when he gets out, for his work is + unquestionably successful and keeps his reputation high. In Bavaria there + is a man who performed so many great cures that he had to retire from his + profession of stage-carpentering in order to meet the demand of his + constantly increasing body of customers. He goes on from year to year + doing his miracles, and has become very rich. He pretends to no religious + helps, no supernatural aids, but thinks there is something in his make-up + which inspires the confidence of his patients, and that it is this + confidence which does the work, and not some mysterious power issuing from + himself. + </p> + <p> + Within the last quarter of a century, in America, several sects of curers + have appeared under various names and have done notable things in the way + of healing ailments without the use of medicines. There are the Mind Cure + the Faith Cure, the Prayer Cure, the Mental Science Cure, and the + Christian-Science Cure; and apparently they all do their miracles with the + same old, powerful instrument—the patient's imagination. Differing + names, but no difference in the process. But they do not give that + instrument the credit; each sect claims that its way differs from the ways + of the others. + </p> + <p> + They all achieve some cures, there is no question about it; and the Faith + Cure and the Prayer Cure probably do no harm when they do no good, since + they do not forbid the patient to help out the cure with medicines if he + wants to; but the others bar medicines, and claim ability to cure every + conceivable human ailment through the application of their mental forces + alone. There would seem to be an element of danger here. It has the look + of claiming too much, I think. Public confidence would probably be + increased if less were claimed. + </p> + <p> + The Christian Scientist was not able to cure my stomach-ache and my cold; + but the horse-doctor did it. This convinces me that Christian Science + claims too much. In my opinion it ought to let diseases alone and confine + itself to surgery. There it would have everything its own way. + </p> + <p> + The horse-doctor charged me thirty kreutzers, and I paid him; in fact, I + doubled it and gave him a shilling. Mrs. Fuller brought in an itemized + bill for a crate of broken bones mended in two hundred and thirty-four + places—one dollar per fracture. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing exists but Mind?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” she answered. “All else is substanceless, all else is + imaginary.” + </p> + <p> + I gave her an imaginary check, and now she is suing me for substantial + dollars. It looks inconsistent. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + Let us consider that we are all partially insane. It will explain us to + each other; it will unriddle many riddles; it will make clear and simple + many things which are involved in haunting and harassing difficulties and + obscurities now. + </p> + <p> + Those of us who are not in the asylum, and not demonstrably due there, are + nevertheless, no doubt, insane in one or two particulars. I think we must + admit this; but I think that we are otherwise healthy-minded. I think that + when we all see one thing alike, it is evidence that, as regards that one + thing, our minds are perfectly sound. Now there are really several things + which we do all see alike; things which we all accept, and about which we + do not dispute. For instance, we who are outside of the asylum all agree + that water seeks its level; that the sun gives light and heat; that fire + consumes; that fog is damp; that six times six are thirty-six, that two + from ten leaves eight; that eight and seven are fifteen. These are, + perhaps, the only things we are agreed about; but, although they are so + few, they are of inestimable value, because they make an infallible + standard of sanity. Whosoever accepts them him we know to be substantially + sane; sufficiently sane; in the working essentials, sane. Whoever disputes + a single one of them him we know to be wholly insane, and qualified for + the asylum. + </p> + <p> + Very well, the man who disputes none of them we concede to be entitled to + go at large. But that is concession enough. We cannot go any further than + that; for we know that in all matters of mere opinion that same man is + insane—just as insane as we are; just as insane as Shakespeare was. + We know exactly where to put our finger upon his insanity: it is where his + opinion differs from ours. + </p> + <p> + That is a simple rule, and easy to remember. When I, a thoughtful and + unblessed Presbyterian, examine the Koran, I know that beyond any question + every Mohammedan is insane; not in all things, but in religious matters. + When a thoughtful and unblessed Mohammedan examines the Westminster + Catechism, he knows that beyond any question I am spiritually insane. I + cannot prove to him that he is insane, because you never can prove + anything to a lunatic—for that is a part of his insanity and the + evidence of it. He cannot prove to me that I am insane, for my mind has + the same defect that afflicts his. All Democrats are insane, but not one + of them knows it; none but the Republicans and Mugwumps know it. All the + Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats and Mugwumps can perceive + it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are + insane. When I look around me, I am often troubled to see how many people + are mad. To mention only a few: + </p> + <p> + The Atheist, The Theosophists, The Infidel, The Swedenborgians, The + Agnostic, The Shakers, The Baptist, The Millerites, The Methodist, The + Mormons, The Christian Scientist, The Laurence Oliphant Harrisites, The + Catholic, and the 115 Christian sects, the Presbyterian excepted, The + Grand Lama's people, The Monarchists, The Imperialists, The 72 Mohammedan + sects, The Democrats, The Republicans (but not the Mugwumps), The + Buddhist, The Blavatsky-Buddhist, The Mind-Curists, The Faith-Curists, The + Nationalist, The Mental Scientists, The Confucian, The Spiritualist, The + Allopaths, The 2000 East Indian sects, The Homeopaths, The Electropaths, + The Peculiar People, The— + </p> + <p> + But there's no end to the list; there are millions of them! And all + insane; each in his own way; insane as to his pet fad or opinion, but + otherwise sane and rational. This should move us to be charitable towards + one another's lunacies. I recognize that in his special belief the + Christian Scientist is insane, because he does not believe as I do; but I + hail him as my mate and fellow, because I am as insane as he insane from + his point of view, and his point of view is as authoritative as mine and + worth as much. That is to say, worth a brass farthing. Upon a great + religious or political question, the opinion of the dullest head in the + world is worth the same as the opinion of the brightest head in the world—a + brass farthing. How do we arrive at this? It is simple. The affirmative + opinion of a stupid man is neutralized by the negative opinion of his + stupid neighbor no decision is reached; the affirmative opinion of the + intellectual giant Gladstone is neutralized by the negative opinion of the + intellectual giant Newman—no decision is reached. Opinions that + prove nothing are, of course, without value any but a dead person knows + that much. This obliges us to admit the truth of the unpalatable + proposition just mentioned above—that, in disputed matters political + and religious, one man's opinion is worth no more than his peer's, and + hence it followers that no man's opinion possesses any real value. It is a + humbling thought, but there is no way to get around it: all opinions upon + these great subjects are brass-farthing opinions. + </p> + <p> + It is a mere plain, simple fact—as clear and as certain as that + eight and seven make fifteen. And by it we recognize that we are all + insane, as concerns those matters. If we were sane, we should all see a + political or religious doctrine alike; there would be no dispute: it would + be a case of eight and seven—just as it is in heaven, where all are + sane and none insane. There there is but one religion, one belief; the + harmony is perfect; there is never a discordant note. + </p> + <p> + Under protection of these preliminaries, I suppose I may now repeat + without offence that the Christian Scientist is insane. I mean him no + discourtesy, and I am not charging—nor even imagining—that he + is insaner than the rest of the human race. I think he is more + picturesquely insane than some of us. At the same time, I am quite sure + that in one important and splendid particular he is much saner than is the + vast bulk of the race. + </p> + <p> + Why is he insane? I told you before: it is because his opinions are not + ours. I know of no other reason, and I do not need any other; it is the + only way we have of discovering insanity when it is not violent. It is + merely the picturesqueness of his insanity that makes it more interesting + than my kind or yours. For instance, consider his “little book”; the + “little book” exposed in the sky eighteen centuries ago by the flaming + angel of the Apocalypse, and handed down in our day to Mrs. Mary Baker G. + Eddy, of New Hampshire, and translated by her, word for word, into English + (with help of a polisher), and now published and distributed in hundreds + of editions by her at a clear profit per volume, above cost, of seven + hundred per cent.!—a profit which distinctly belongs to the angel of + the Apocalypse, and let him collect it if he can; a “little book” which + the C.S. very frequently calls by just that name, and always enclosed in + quotation-marks to keep its high origin exultantly in mind; a “little + book” which “explains” and reconstructs and new-paints and decorates the + Bible, and puts a mansard roof on it and a lightning-rod and all the other + modern improvements; a “little book” which for the present affects to + travel in yoke with the Bible and be friendly to it, and within half a + century will hitch the Bible in the rear and thenceforth travel tandem, + itself in the lead, in the coming great march of Christian Scientism + through the Protestant dominions of the planet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + “Hungry ones throng to hear the Bible read in connection with the + text-book of Christian Science, Science and Health, with Key to the + Scriptures, by Mary Baker G. Eddy. These are our only preachers. They are + the word of God.” “Christian Science Journal”, October, 1898. + </p> + <p> + Is that picturesque? A lady has told me that in a chapel of the Mosque in + Boston there is a picture or image of Mrs. Eddy, and that before it burns + a never-extinguished light. Is that picturesque? How long do you think it + will be before the Christian Scientist will be worshipping that picture or + image and praying to it? How long do you think it will be before it is + claimed that Mrs. Eddy is a Redeemer, a Christ, and Christ's equal? + Already her army of disciples speak of her reverently as “Our Mother.” + </p> + <p> + How long will it be before they place her on the steps of the Throne + beside the Virgin—and, later, a step higher? First, Mary the Virgin + and Mary the Matron; later, with a change of precedence, Mary the Matron + and Mary the Virgin. Let the artist get ready with his canvas and his + brushes; the new Renaissance is on its way, and there will be money in + altar-canvases—a thousand times as much as the Popes and their + Church ever spent on the Old Masters; for their riches were poverty as + compared with what is going to pour into the treasure-chest of the + Christian-Scientist Papacy by-and-by, let us not doubt it. We will examine + the financial outlook presently and see what it promises. A favorite + subject of the new Old Master will be the first verse of the twelfth + chapter of Revelation—a verse which Mrs. Eddy says (in her Annex to + the Scriptures) has “one distinctive feature which has special reference + to the present age”—and to her, as is rather pointedly indicated: + </p> + <p> + “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the + sun, and the moon under her feet,” etc. + </p> + <p> + The woman clothed with the sun will be a portrait of Mrs. Eddy. + </p> + <p> + Is it insanity to believe that Christian-Scientism is destined to make the + most formidable show that any new religion has made in the world since the + birth and spread of Mohammedanism, and that within a century from now it + may stand second to Rome only, in numbers and power in Christendom? + </p> + <p> + If this is a wild dream it will not be easy to prove it so just yet, I + think. There seems argument that it may come true. The Christian-Science + “boom,” proper, is not yet five years old; yet already it has two hundred + and fifty churches. + </p> + <p> + It has its start, you see, and it is a phenomenally good one. Moreover, it + is latterly spreading with a constantly accelerating swiftness. It has a + better chance to grow and prosper and achieve permanency than any other + existing “ism”; for it has more to offer than any other. The past teaches + us that in order to succeed, a movement like this must not be a mere + philosophy, it must be a religion; also, that it must not claim entire + originality, but content itself with passing for an improvement on an + existing religion, and show its hand later, when strong and prosperous—like + Mohammedanism. + </p> + <p> + Next, there must be money—and plenty of it. + </p> + <p> + Next, the power and authority and capital must be concentrated in the grip + of a small and irresponsible clique, with nobody outside privileged to ask + questions or find fault. + </p> + <p> + Next, as before remarked, it must bait its hook with some new and + attractive advantages over the baits offered by its competitors. A new + movement equipped with some of these endowments—like spiritualism, + for instance may count upon a considerable success; a new movement + equipped with the bulk of them—like Mohammedanism, for instance—may + count upon a widely extended conquest. Mormonism had all the requisites + but one it had nothing new and nothing valuable to bait with. Spiritualism + lacked the important detail of concentration of money and authority in the + hands of an irresponsible clique. + </p> + <p> + The above equipment is excellent, admirable, powerful, but not perfect. + There is yet another detail which is worth the whole of it put together + and more; a detail which has never been joined (in the beginning of a + religious movement) to a supremely good working equipment since the world + began, until now: a new personage to worship. Christianity had the + Saviour, but at first and for generations it lacked money and concentrated + power. In Mrs. Eddy, Christian Science possesses the new personage for + worship, and in addition—here in the very beginning—a working + equipment that has not a flaw in it. In the beginning, Mohammedanism had + no money; and it has never had anything to offer its client but heaven—nothing + here below that was valuable. In addition to heaven hereafter, Christian + Science has present health and a cheerful spirit to offer; and in + comparison with this bribe all other this-world bribes are poor and cheap. + You recognize that this estimate is admissible, do you not? + </p> + <p> + To whom does Bellamy's “Nationalism” appeal? Necessarily to the few: + people who read and dream, and are compassionate, and troubled for the + poor and the hard-driven. To whom does Spiritualism appeal? Necessarily to + the few; its “boom” has lasted for half a century, and I believe it claims + short of four millions of adherents in America. Who are attracted by + Swedenborgianism and some of the other fine and delicate “isms”? The few + again: educated people, sensitively organized, with superior mental + endowments, who seek lofty planes of thought and find their contentment + there. And who are attracted by Christian Science? There is no limit; its + field is horizonless; its appeal is as universal as is the appeal of + Christianity itself. It appeals to the rich, the poor, the high, the low, + the cultured, the ignorant, the gifted, the stupid, the modest, the vain, + the wise, the silly, the soldier, the civilian, the hero, the coward, the + idler, the worker, the godly, the godless, the freeman, the slave, the + adult, the child; they who are ailing in body or mind, they who have + friends that are ailing in body or mind. To mass it in a phrase, its + clientage is the Human Race. Will it march? I think so. + </p> + <p> + Remember its principal great offer: to rid the Race of pain and disease. + Can it do so? In large measure, yes. How much of the pain and disease in + the world is created by the imaginations of the sufferers, and then kept + alive by those same imaginations? Four-fifths? Not anything short of that, + I should think. Can Christian Science banish that four-fifths? I think so. + Can any other (organized) force do it? None that I know of. Would this be + a new world when that was accomplished? And a pleasanter one—for us + well people, as well as for those fussy and fretting sick ones? Would it + seem as if there was not as much gloomy weather as there used to be? I + think so. + </p> + <p> + In the mean time, would the Scientist kill off a good many patients? I + think so. More than get killed off now by the legalized methods? I will + take up that question presently. + </p> + <p> + At present, I wish to ask you to examine some of the Scientist's + performances, as registered in his magazine, The Christian Science Journal—October + number, 1898. First, a Baptist clergyman gives us this true picture of + “the average orthodox Christian”—and he could have added that it is + a true picture of the average (civilized) human being: + </p> + <p> + “He is a worried and fretted and fearful man; afraid of himself and his + propensities, afraid of colds and fevers, afraid of treading on serpents + or drinking deadly things.” + </p> + <p> + Then he gives us this contrast: + </p> + <p> + “The average Christian Scientist has put all anxiety and fretting under + his feet. He does have a victory over fear and care that is not achieved + by the average orthodox Christian.” + </p> + <p> + He has put all anxiety and fretting under his feet. What proportion of + your earnings or income would you be willing to pay for that frame of + mind, year in, year out? It really outvalues any price that can be put + upon it. Where can you purchase it, at any outlay of any sort, in any + Church or out of it, except the Scientist's? + </p> + <p> + Well, it is the anxiety and fretting about colds, and fevers, and + draughts, and getting our feet wet, and about forbidden food eaten in + terror of indigestion, that brings on the cold and the fever and the + indigestion and the most of our other ailments; and so, if the Science can + banish that anxiety from the world I think it can reduce the world's + disease and pain about four-fifths. + </p> + <p> + In this October number many of the redeemed testify and give thanks; and + not coldly, but with passionate gratitude. As a rule they seem drunk with + health, and with the surprise of it, the wonder of it, the unspeakable + glory and splendor of it, after a long, sober spell spent in inventing + imaginary diseases and concreting them with doctor-stuff. The first + witness testifies that when “this most beautiful Truth first dawned on + him” he had “nearly all the ills that flesh is heir to”; that those he did + not have he thought he had—and this made the tale about complete. + What was the natural result? Why, he was a dump-pit “for all the doctors, + druggists, and patent medicines of the country.” Christian Science came to + his help, and “the old sick conditions passed away,” and along with them + the “dismal forebodings” which he had been accustomed to employ in + conjuring up ailments. And so he was a healthy and cheerful man, now, and + astonished. + </p> + <p> + But I am not astonished, for from other sources I know what must have been + his method of applying Christian Science. If I am in the right, he + watchfully and diligently diverted his mind from unhealthy channels and + compelled it to travel in healthy ones. Nothing contrivable by human + invention could be more formidably effective than that, in banishing + imaginary ailments and in closing the entrances against sub-sequent + applicants of their breed. I think his method was to keep saying, “I am + well! I am sound!—sound and well! well and sound! Perfectly sound, + perfectly well! I have no pain; there's no such thing as pain! I have no + disease; there's no such thing as disease! Nothing is real but Mind; all + is Mind, All-Good Good-Good, Life, Soul, Liver, Bones, one of a series, + ante and pass the buck!” + </p> + <p> + I do not mean that that was exactly the formula used, but that it + doubtless contains the spirit of it. The Scientist would attach value to + the exact formula, no doubt, and to the religious spirit in which it was + used. I should think that any formula that would divert the mind from + unwholesome channels and force it into healthy ones would answer every + purpose with some people, though not with all. I think it most likely that + a very religious man would find the addition of the religious spirit a + powerful reinforcement in his case. + </p> + <p> + The second witness testifies that the Science banished “an old organic + trouble,” which the doctor and the surgeon had been nursing with drugs and + the knife for seven years. + </p> + <p> + He calls it his “claim.” A surface-miner would think it was not his claim + at all, but the property of the doctor and his pal the surgeon—for + he would be misled by that word, which is Christian-Science slang for + “ailment.” The Christian Scientist has no ailment; to him there is no such + thing, and he will not use the hateful word. All that happens to him is + that upon his attention an imaginary disturbance sometimes obtrudes itself + which claims to be an ailment but isn't. + </p> + <p> + This witness offers testimony for a clergyman seventy years old who had + preached forty years in a Christian church, and has now gone over to the + new sect. He was “almost blind and deaf.” He was treated by the C. S. + method, and “when he heard the voice of Truth he saw spiritually.” Saw + spiritually? It is a little indefinite; they had better treat him again. + Indefinite testimonies might properly be waste-basketed, since there is + evidently no lack of definite ones procurable; but this C. S. magazine is + poorly edited, and so mistakes of this kind must be expected. + </p> + <p> + The next witness is a soldier of the Civil War. When Christian Science + found him, he had in stock the following claims: + </p> + <p> + Indigestion, Rheumatism, Catarrh, Chalky deposits in Shoulder-joints, + Arm-joints, Hand-joints, Insomnia, Atrophy of the muscles of Arms. + Shoulders, Stiffness of all those joints, Excruciating pains most of the + time. + </p> + <p> + These claims have a very substantial sound. They came of exposure in the + campaigns. The doctors did all they could, but it was little. Prayers were + tried, but “I never realized any physical relief from that source.” After + thirty years of torture, he went to a Christian Scientist and took an + hour's treatment and went home painless. Two days later, he “began to eat + like a well man.” Then “the claims vanished—some at once, others + more gradually”; finally, “they have almost entirely disappeared.” And—a + thing which is of still greater value—he is now “contented and + happy.” That is a detail which, as earlier remarked, is a Scientist Church + specialty. And, indeed, one may go further and assert with little or no + exaggeration that it is a Christian-Science monopoly. With thirty-one + years' effort, the Methodist Church had not succeeded in furnishing it to + this harassed soldier. + </p> + <p> + And so the tale goes on. Witness after witness bulletins his claims, + declares their prompt abolishment, and gives Mrs. Eddy's Discovery the + praise. Milk-leg is cured; nervous prostration is cured; consumption is + cured; and St. Vitus's dance is made a pastime. Even without a fiddle. And + now and then an interesting new addition to the Science slang appears on + the page. We have “demonstrations over chilblains” and such things. It + seems to be a curtailed way of saying “demonstrations of the power of + Christian-Science Truth over the fiction which masquerades under the name + of Chilblains.” The children, as well as the adults, share in the + blessings of the Science. “Through the study of the 'little book' they are + learning how to be healthful, peaceful, and wise.” Sometimes they are + cured of their little claims by the professional healer, and sometimes + more advanced children say over the formula and cure themselves. + </p> + <p> + A little Far-Western girl of nine, equipped with an adult vocabulary, + states her age and says, “I thought I would write a demonstration to you.” + She had a claim, derived from getting flung over a pony's head and landed + on a rockpile. She saved herself from disaster by remembering to say “God + is All” while she was in the air. I couldn't have done it. I shouldn't + even have thought of it. I should have been too excited. Nothing but + Christian Science could have enabled that child to do that calm and + thoughtful and judicious thing in those circumstances. She came down on + her head, and by all the rules she should have broken it; but the + intervention of the formula prevented that, so the only claim resulting + was a blackened eye. Monday morning it was still swollen and shut. At + school “it hurt pretty badly—that is, it seemed to.” So “I was + excused, and went down to the basement and said, 'Now I am depending on + mamma instead of God, and I will depend on God instead of mamma.'” No + doubt this would have answered; but, to make sure, she added Mrs. Eddy to + the team and recited “the Scientific Statement of Being,” which is one of + the principal incantations, I judge. Then “I felt my eye opening.” Why, + dear, it would have opened an oyster. I think it is one of the touchingest + things in child-history, that pious little rat down cellar pumping away at + the Scientific Statement of Being. + </p> + <p> + There is a page about another good child—little Gordon. Little + Gordon “came into the world without the assistance of surgery or + anaesthetics.” He was a “demonstration.” A painless one; therefore, his + coming evoked “joy and thankfulness to God and the Discoverer of Christian + Science.” It is a noticeable feature of this literature—the so + frequent linking together of the Two Beings in an equal bond; also of + Their Two Bibles. When little Gordon was two years old, “he was playing + horse on the bed, where I had left my 'little book.' I noticed him stop in + his play, take the book carefully in his little hands, kiss it softly, + then look about for the highest place of safety his arms could reach, and + put it there.” This pious act filled the mother “with such a train of + thought as I had never experienced before. I thought of the sweet mother + of long ago who kept things in her heart,” etc. It is a bold comparison; + however, unconscious profanations are about as common in the mouths of the + lay member ship of the new Church as are frank and open ones in the mouths + of its consecrated chiefs. + </p> + <p> + Some days later, the family library—Christian-Science books—was + lying in a deep-seated window. This was another chance for the holy child + to show off. He left his play and went there and pushed all the books to + one side, except the Annex “It he took in both hands, slowly raised it to + his lips, then removed it carefully, and seated himself in the window.” It + had seemed to the mother too wonderful to be true, that first time; but + now she was convinced that “neither imagination nor accident had anything + to do with it.” Later, little Gordon let the author of his being see him + do it. After that he did it frequently; probably every time anybody was + looking. I would rather have that child than a chromo. If this tale has + any object, it is to intimate that the inspired book was supernaturally + able to convey a sense of its sacred and awful character to this innocent + little creature, without the intervention of outside aids. The magazine is + not edited with high-priced discretion. The editor has a “claim,” and he + ought to get it treated. + </p> + <p> + Among other witnesses there is one who had a “jumping toothache,” which + several times tempted her to “believe that there was sensation in matter, + but each time it was overcome by the power of Truth.” She would not allow + the dentist to use cocaine, but sat there and let him punch and drill and + split and crush the tooth, and tear and slash its ulcerations, and pull + out the nerve, and dig out fragments of bone; and she wouldn't once + confess that it hurt. And to this day she thinks it didn't, and I have not + a doubt that she is nine-tenths right, and that her Christian Science + faith did her better service than she could have gotten out of cocaine. + </p> + <p> + There is an account of a boy who got broken all up into small bits by an + accident, but said over the Scientific Statement of Being, or some of the + other incantations, and got well and sound without having suffered any + real pain and without the intrusion of a surgeon. + </p> + <p> + Also, there is an account of the restoration to perfect health, in a + single night, of a fatally injured horse, by the application of Christian + Science. I can stand a good deal, but I recognize that the ice is getting + thin, here. That horse had as many as fifty claims; how could he + demonstrate over them? Could he do the All-Good, Good-Good, Good-Gracious, + Liver, Bones, Truth, All down but Nine, Set them up on the Other Alley? + Could he intone the Scientific Statement of Being? Now, could he? Wouldn't + it give him a relapse? Let us draw the line at horses. Horses and + furniture. + </p> + <p> + There is plenty of other testimonies in the magazine, but these quoted + samples will answer. They show the kind of trade the Science is driving. + Now we come back to the question, Does the Science kill a patient here and + there and now and then? We must concede it. Does it compensate for this? I + am persuaded that it can make a plausible showing in that direction. For + instance: when it lays its hand upon a soldier who has suffered thirty + years of helpless torture and makes him whole in body and mind, what is + the actual sum of that achievement? This, I think: that it has restored to + life a subject who had essentially died ten deaths a year for thirty + years, and each of them a long and painful one. But for its interference + that man in the three years which have since elapsed, would have + essentially died thirty times more. There are thousands of young people in + the land who are now ready to enter upon a life-long death similar to that + man's. Every time the Science captures one of these and secures to him + life-long immunity from imagination-manufactured disease, it may plausibly + claim that in his person it has saved three hundred lives. Meantime, it + will kill a man every now and then. But no matter, it will still be ahead + on the credit side. + </p> + <p> + [NOTE.—I have received several letters (two from educated and + ostensibly intelligent persons), which contained, in substance, this + protest: “I don't object to men and women chancing their lives with these + people, but it is a burning shame that the law should allow them to trust + their helpless little children in their deadly hands.” Isn't it touching? + Isn't it deep? Isn't it modest? It is as if the person said: “I know that + to a parent his child is the core of his heart, the apple of his eye, a + possession so dear, so precious that he will trust its life in no hands + but those which he believes, with all his soul, to be the very best and + the very safest, but it is a burning shame that the law does not require + him to come to me to ask what kind of healer I will allow him to call.” + The public is merely a multiplied “me.”—M.T.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + “We consciously declare that Science and Health, with Key to the + Scriptures, was foretold, as well as its author, Mary Baker Eddy, in + Revelation x. She is the 'mighty angel,' or God's highest thought to this + age (verse 1), giving us the spiritual interpretation of the Bible in the + 'little book open' (verse 2). Thus we prove that Christian Science is the + second coming of Christ-Truth-Spirit.”—Lecture by Dr. George + Tomkins, D.D. C.S. + </p> + <p> + There you have it in plain speech. She is the mighty angel; she is the + divinely and officially sent bearer of God's highest thought. For the + present, she brings the Second Advent. We must expect that before she has + been in her grave fifty years she will be regarded by her following as + having been herself the Second Advent. She is already worshiped, and we + must expect this feeling to spread, territorially, and also to deepen in + intensity. + </p> + <p> + Particularly after her death; for then, as any one can foresee, + Eddy-Worship will be taught in the Sunday-schools and pulpits of the cult. + Already whatever she puts her trade-mark on, though it be only a + memorial-spoon, is holy and is eagerly and gratefully bought by the + disciple, and becomes a fetish in his house. I say bought, for the Boston + Christian-Science Trust gives nothing away; everything it has is for sale. + And the terms are cash; and not only cash, but cash in advance. Its god is + Mrs. Eddy first, then the Dollar. Not a spiritual Dollar, but a real one. + From end to end of the Christian Science literature not a single + (material) thing in the world is conceded to be real, except the Dollar. + But all through and through its advertisements that reality is eagerly and + persistently recognized. + </p> + <p> + The Dollar is hunted down in all sorts of ways; the Christian-Science + Mother-Church and Bargain-Counter in Boston peddles all kinds of spiritual + wares to the faithful, and always on the one condition—cash, cash in + advance. The Angel of the Apocalypse could not go there and get a copy of + his own pirated book on credit. Many, many precious Christian Science + things are to be had there for cash: Bible Lessons; Church Manual; C. S. + Hymnal; History of the building of the Mother-Church; lot of Sermons; + Communion Hymn, “Saw Ye My Saviour,” by Mrs. Eddy, half a dollar a copy, + “words used by special permission of Mrs. Eddy.” Also we have Mrs. Eddy's + and the Angel's little Blue-Annex in eight styles of binding at eight + kinds of war-prices; among these a sweet thing in “levant, divinity + circuit, leather lined to edge, round corners, gold edge, silk sewed, + each, prepaid, $6,” and if you take a million you get them a shilling + cheaper—that is to say, “prepaid, $5.75.” Also we have Mrs. Eddy's + Miscellaneous Writings, at 'andsome big prices, the divinity-circuit style + heading the exertions, shilling discount where you take an edition Next + comes Christ and Christmas, by the fertile Mrs. Eddy—a poem—would + God I could see it!—price $3, cash in advance. Then follow five more + books by Mrs. Eddy, at highwayman's rates, some of them in “leatherette + covers,” some of them in “pebble cloth,” with divinity-circuit, + compensation-balance, twin-screw, and the other modern improvements; and + at the same bargain-counter can be had The Christian Science Journal. + </p> + <p> + Christian-Science literary discharges are a monopoly of the Mother-Church + Headquarters Factory in Boston; none genuine without the trade-mark of the + Trust. You must apply there and not elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + One hundred dollars for it. And I have a case among my statistics where + the student had a three weeks' course and paid three hundred for it. + </p> + <p> + The Trust does love the Dollar, when it isn't a spiritual one. + </p> + <p> + In order to force the sale of Mrs Eddy's Bible-Annex, no healer, + Metaphysical-College-bred or other, is allowed to practice the game unless + he possesses a copy of that book. That means a large and constantly + augmenting income for the Trust. No C.S. family would consider itself + loyal or pious or pain-proof without an Annex or two in the house. That + means an income for the Trust, in the near future, of millions; not + thousands-millions a year. + </p> + <p> + No member, young or old, of a branch Christian-Scientist church can + acquire and retain membership in the Mother-Church unless he pay + “capitation tax” (of “not less than a dollar,” say the By-Laws) to the + Boston Trust every year. That means an income for the Trust, in the near + future, of—let us venture to say—millions more per year. + </p> + <p> + It is a reasonably safe guess that in America in 1920 there will be ten + million Christian Scientists, and three millions in Great Britain; that + these figures will be trebled in 1930; that in America in 1920 the + Christian Scientists will be a political force, in 1930 politically + formidable, and in 1940 the governing power in the Republic—to + remain that, permanently. And I think it a reasonable guess that the Trust + (which is already in our day pretty brusque in its ways) will then be the + most insolent and unscrupulous and tyrannical politico-religious master + that has dominated a people since the palmy days of the Inquisition. And a + stronger master than the strongest of bygone times, because this one will + have a financial strength not dreamed of by any predecessor; as effective + a concentration of irresponsible power as any predecessor has had; in the + railway, the telegraph, and the subsidized newspaper, better facilities + for watching and managing his empire than any predecessor has had; and, + after a generation or two, he will probably divide Christendom with the + Catholic Church. + </p> + <p> + The Roman Church has a perfect organization, and it has an effective + centralization of power—but not of its cash. Its multitude of + Bishops are rich, but their riches remain in large measure in their own + hands. They collect from two hundred millions of people, but they keep the + bulk of the result at home. The Boston Pope of by-and-by will draw his + dollar-a-head capitation-tax from three hundred millions of the human + race, and the Annex and the rest of his book-shop stock will fetch in as + much more; and his Metaphysical Colleges, the annual Pilgrimage to Mrs. + Eddy's tomb, from all over the world-admission, the Christian-Science + Dollar (payable in advance)—purchases of consecrated glass beads, + candles, memorial spoons, aureoled chrome-portraits and bogus autographs + of Mrs. Eddy; cash offerings at her shrine no crutches of cured cripples + received, and no imitations of miraculously restored broken legs and necks + allowed to be hung up except when made out of the Holy Metal and proved by + fire-assay; cash for miracles worked at the tomb: these money-sources, + with a thousand to be yet invented and ambushed upon the devotee, will + bring the annual increment well up above a billion. And nobody but the + Trust will have the handling of it. In that day, the Trust will monopolize + the manufacture and sale of the Old and New Testaments as well as the + Annex, and raise their price to Annex rates, and compel the devotee to buy + (for even to-day a healer has to have the Annex and the Scriptures or he + is not allowed to work the game), and that will bring several hundred + million dollars more. In those days, the Trust will have an income + approaching five million dollars a day, and no expenses to be taken out of + it; no taxes to pay, and no charities to support. That last detail should + not be lightly passed over by the reader; it is well entitled to + attention. + </p> + <p> + No charities to support. No, nor even to contribute to. One searches in + vain the Trust's advertisements and the utterances of its organs for any + suggestion that it spends a penny on orphans, widows, discharged + prisoners, hospitals, ragged schools, night missions, city missions, + libraries, old people's homes, or any other object that appeals to a human + being's purse through his heart. + </p> + <p> + I have hunted, hunted, and hunted, by correspondence and otherwise, and + have not yet got upon the track of a farthing that the Trust has spent + upon any worthy object. Nothing makes a Scientist so uncomfortable as to + ask him if he knows of a case where Christian Science has spent money on a + benevolence, either among its own adherents or elsewhere. He is obliged to + say “No” And then one discovers that the person questioned has been asked + the question many times before, and that it is getting to be a sore + subject with him. Why a sore subject? Because he has written his chiefs + and asked with high confidence for an answer that will confound these + questioners—and the chiefs did not reply. He has written again, and + then again—not with confidence, but humbly, now—and has begged + for defensive ammunition in the voice of supplication. A reply does at + last come to this effect: “We must have faith in Our Mother, and rest + content in the conviction that whatever She does with the money it is in + accordance with orders from Heaven, for She does no act of any kind + without first 'demonstrating over' it.” + </p> + <p> + That settles it—as far as the disciple is concerned. His mind is + satisfied with that answer; he gets down his Annex and does an incantation + or two, and that mesmerizes his spirit and puts that to sleep—brings + it peace. Peace and comfort and joy, until some inquirer punctures the old + sore again. + </p> + <p> + Through friends in America I asked some questions, and in some cases got + definite and informing answers; in other cases the answers were not + definite and not valuable. To the question, “Does any of the money go to + charities?” the answer from an authoritative source was: “No, not in the + sense usually conveyed by this word.” (The italics are mine.) That answer + is cautious. But definite, I think—utterly and unassailably definite—although + quite Christian-Scientifically foggy in its phrasing. Christian-Science + testimony is generally foggy, generally diffuse, generally garrulous. The + writer was aware that the first word in his phrase answered the question + which I was asking, but he could not help adding nine dark words. + Meaningless ones, unless explained by him. It is quite likely, as + intimated by him, that Christian Science has invented a new class of + objects to apply the word “charity” to, but without an explanation we + cannot know what they are. We quite easily and naturally and confidently + guess that they are in all cases objects which will return five hundred + per cent. on the Trust's investment in them, but guessing is not + knowledge; it is merely, in this case, a sort of nine-tenths certainty + deducible from what we think we know of the Trust's trade principles and + its sly and furtive and shifty ways. + </p> + <p> + Sly? Deep? Judicious? The Trust understands its business. The Trust does + not give itself away. It defeats all the attempts of us impertinents to + get at its trade secrets. To this day, after all our diligence, we have + not been able to get it to confess what it does with the money. It does + not even let its own disciples find out. All it says is, that the matter + has been “demonstrated over.” Now and then a lay Scientist says, with a + grateful exultation, that Mrs. Eddy is enormously rich, but he stops + there; as to whether any of the money goes to other charities or not, he + is obliged to admit that he does not know. However, the Trust is composed + of human beings; and this justifies the conjecture that if it had a + charity on its list which it was proud of, we should soon hear of it. + </p> + <p> + “Without money and without price.” Those used to be the terms. Mrs. Eddy's + Annex cancels them. The motto of Christian Science is, “The laborer is + worthy of his hire.” And now that it has been “demonstrated over,” we find + its spiritual meaning to be, “Do anything and everything your hand may + find to do; and charge cash for it, and collect the money in advance.” The + Scientist has on his tongue's end a cut-and-dried, Boston-supplied set of + rather lean arguments, whose function is to show that it is a + Heaven-commanded duty to do this, and that the croupiers of the game have + no choice but to obey. + </p> + <p> + The Trust seems to be a reincarnation. Exodus xxxii. 4. + </p> + <p> + I have no reverence for the Trust, but I am not lacking in reverence for + the sincerities of the lay membership of the new Church. There is every + evidence that the lay members are entirely sincere in their faith, and I + think sincerity is always entitled to honor and respect, let the + inspiration of the sincerity be what it may. Zeal and sincerity can carry + a new religion further than any other missionary except fire and sword, + and I believe that the new religion will conquer the half of Christendom + in a hundred years. I am not intending this as a compliment to the human + race; I am merely stating an opinion. And yet I think that perhaps it is a + compliment to the race. I keep in mind that saying of an orthodox preacher—quoted + further back. He conceded that this new Christianity frees its possessor's + life from frets, fears, vexations, bitterness, and all sorts of + imagination-propagated maladies and pains, and fills his world with + sunshine and his heart with gladness. If Christian Science, with this + stupendous equipment—and final salvation added—cannot win half + the Christian globe, I must be badly mistaken in the make-up of the human + race. + </p> + <p> + I think the Trust will be handed down like the other Papacy, and will + always know how to handle its limitless cash. It will press the button; + the zeal, the energy, the sincerity, the enthusiasm of its countless + vassals will do the rest. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + The power which a man's imagination has over his body to heal it or make + it sick is a force which none of us is born without. The first man had it, + the last one will possess it. If left to himself, a man is most likely to + use only the mischievous half of the force—the half which invents + imaginary ailments for him and cultivates them; and if he is one of these—very + wise people, he is quite likely to scoff at the beneficent half of the + force and deny its existence. And so, to heal or help that man, two + imaginations are required: his own and some outsider's. The outsider, B, + must imagine that his incantations are the healing-power that is curing A, + and A must imagine that this is so. I think it is not so, at all; but no + matter, the cure is effected, and that is the main thing. The outsider's + work is unquestionably valuable; so valuable that it may fairly be likened + to the essential work performed by the engineer when he handles the + throttle and turns on the steam; the actual power is lodged exclusively in + the engine, but if the engine were left alone it would never start of + itself. Whether the engineer be named Jim, or Bob, or Tom, it is all one—his + services are necessary, and he is entitled to such wage as he can get you + to pay. Whether he be named Christian Scientist, or Mental Scientist, or + Mind Curist, or King's-Evil Expert, or Hypnotist, it is all one; he is + merely the Engineer; he simply turns on the same old steam and the engine + does the whole work. + </p> + <p> + The Christian-Scientist engineer drives exactly the same trade as the + other engineers, yet he out-prospers the whole of them put together. + </p> + <p> + Is it because he has captured the takingest name? I think that that is + only a small part of it. I think that the secret of his high prosperity + lies elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The Christian Scientist has organized the business. Now that was certainly + a gigantic idea. Electricity, in limitless volume, has existed in the air + and the rocks and the earth and everywhere since time began—and was + going to waste all the while. In our time we have organized that scattered + and wandering force and set it to work, and backed the business with + capital, and concentrated it in few and competent hands, and the results + are as we see. + </p> + <p> + The Christian Scientist has taken a force which has been lying idle in + every member of the human race since time began, and has organized it, and + backed the business with capital, and concentrated it at Boston + headquarters in the hands of a small and very competent Trust, and there + are results. + </p> + <p> + Therein lies the promise that this monopoly is going to extend its + commerce wide in the earth. I think that if the business were conducted in + the loose and disconnected fashion customary with such things, it would + achieve but little more than the modest prosperity usually secured by + unorganized great moral and commercial ventures; but I believe that so + long as this one remains compactly organized and closely concentrated in a + Trust, the spread of its dominion will continue. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + Four years ago I wrote the preceding chapters. I was assured by the wise + that Christian Science was a fleeting craze and would soon perish. This + prompt and all-competent stripe of prophet is always to be had in the + market at ground-floor rates. He does not stop to load, or consider, or + take aim, but lets fly just as he stands. Facts are nothing to him, he has + no use for such things; he works wholly by inspiration. And so, when he is + asked why he considers a new movement a passing fad and quickly + perishable, he finds himself unprepared with a reason and is more or less + embarrassed. For a moment. Only for a moment. Then he waylays the first + spectre of a reason that goes flitting through the desert places of his + mind, and is at once serene again and ready for conflict. Serene and + confident. Yet he should not be so, since he has had no chance to examine + his catch, and cannot know whether it is going to help his contention or + damage it. + </p> + <p> + The impromptu reason furnished by the early prophets of whom I have spoken + was this: + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing to Christian Science; there is nothing about it that + appeals to the intellect; its market will be restricted to the + unintelligent, the mentally inferior, the people who do not think.” + </p> + <p> + They called that a reason why the cult would not flourish and endure. It + seems the equivalent of saying: + </p> + <p> + “There is no money in tinware; there is nothing about it that appeals to + the rich; its market will be restricted to the poor.” + </p> + <p> + It is like bringing forward the best reason in the world why Christian + Science should flourish and live, and then blandly offering it as a reason + why it should sicken and die. + </p> + <p> + That reason was furnished me by the complacent and unfrightened prophets + four years ago, and it has been furnished me again to-day. If conversions + to new religions or to old ones were in any considerable degree achieved + through the intellect, the aforesaid reason would be sound and sufficient, + no doubt; the inquirer into Christian Science might go away unconvinced + and unconverted. But we all know that conversions are seldom made in that + way; that such a thing as a serious and painstaking and fairly competent + inquiry into the claims of a religion or of a political dogma is a rare + occurrence; and that the vast mass of men and women are far from being + capable of making such an examination. They are not capable, for the + reason that their minds, howsoever good they may be, are not trained for + such examinations. The mind not trained for that work is no more competent + to do it than are lawyers and farmers competent to make successful clothes + without learning the tailor's trade. There are seventy-five million men + and women among us who do not know how to cut out and make a dress-suit, + and they would not think of trying; yet they all think they can + competently think out a political or religious scheme without any + apprenticeship to the business, and many of them believe they have + actually worked that miracle. But, indeed, the truth is, almost all the + men and women of our nation or of any other get their religion and their + politics where they get their astronomy—entirely at second hand. + Being untrained, they are no more able to intelligently examine a dogma or + a policy than they are to calculate an eclipse. + </p> + <p> + Men are usually competent thinkers along the lines of their specialized + training only. Within these limits alone are their opinions and judgments + valuable; outside of these limits they grope and are lost—usually + without knowing it. In a church assemblage of five hundred persons, there + will be a man or two whose trained minds can seize upon each detail of a + great manufacturing scheme and recognize its value or its lack of value + promptly; and can pass the details in intelligent review, section by + section, and finally as a whole, and then deliver a verdict upon the + scheme which cannot be flippantly set aside nor easily answered. And there + will be one or two other men there who can do the same thing with a great + and complicated educational project; and one or two others who can do the + like with a large scheme for applying electricity in a new and unheard-of + way; and one or two others who can do it with a showy scheme for + revolutionizing the scientific world's accepted notions regarding geology. + And so on, and so on. But the manufacturing experts will not be competent + to examine the educational scheme intelligently, and their opinion about + it would not be valuable; neither of these two groups will be able to + understand and pass upon the electrical scheme; none of these three + batches of experts will be able to understand and pass upon the geological + revolution; and probably not one man in the entire lot will be competent + to examine, capably, the intricacies of a political or religious scheme, + new or old, and deliver a judgment upon it which any one need regard as + precious. + </p> + <p> + There you have the top crust. There will be four hundred and seventy-five + men and women present who can draw upon their training and deliver + incontrovertible judgments concerning cheese, and leather, and cattle, and + hardware, and soap, and tar, and candles, and patent medicines, and + dreams, and apparitions, and garden trucks, and cats, and baby food, and + warts, and hymns, and time-tables, and freight-rates, and summer resorts, + and whiskey, and law, and surgery, and dentistry, and blacksmithing, and + shoemaking, and dancing, and Huyler's candy, and mathematics, and dog + fights, and obstetrics, and music, and sausages, and dry goods, and + molasses, and railroad stocks, and horses, and literature, and labor + unions, and vegetables, and morals, and lamb's fries, and etiquette, and + agriculture. And not ten among the five hundred—let their minds be + ever so good and bright—will be competent, by grace of the requisite + specialized mental training, to take hold of a complex abstraction of any + kind and make head or tail of it. + </p> + <p> + The whole five hundred are thinkers, and they are all capable thinkers—but + only within the narrow limits of their specialized trainings. Four hundred + and ninety of them cannot competently examine either a religious plan or a + political one. A scattering few of them do examine both—that is, + they think they do. With results as precious as when I examine the nebular + theory and explain it to myself. + </p> + <p> + If the four hundred and ninety got their religion through their minds, and + by weighed and measured detail, Christian Science would not be a scary + apparition. But they don't; they get a little of it through their minds, + more of it through their feelings, and the overwhelming bulk of it through + their environment. + </p> + <p> + Environment is the chief thing to be considered when one is proposing to + predict the future of Christian Science. It is not the ability to reason + that makes the Presbyterian, or the Baptist, or the Methodist, or the + Catholic, or the Mohammedan, or the Buddhist, or the Mormon; it is + environment. If religions were got by reasoning, we should have the + extraordinary spectacle of an American family with a Presbyterian in it, + and a Baptist, a Methodist, a Catholic, a Mohammedan, a Buddhist, and a + Mormon. A Presbyterian family does not produce Catholic families or other + religious brands, it produces its own kind; and not by intellectual + processes, but by association. And so also with Mohammedanism, the cult + which in our day is spreading with the sweep of a world-conflagration + through the Orient, that native home of profound thought and of subtle + intellectual fence, that fertile womb whence has sprung every great + religion that exists. Including our own; for with all our brains we cannot + invent a religion and market it. + </p> + <p> + The language of my quoted prophets recurs to us now, and we wonder to + think how small a space in the world the mighty Mohammedan Church would be + occupying now, if a successful trade in its line of goods had been + conditioned upon an exhibit that would “appeal to the intellect” instead + of to “the unintelligent, the mentally inferior, the people who do not + think.” + </p> + <p> + The Christian Science Church, like the Mohammedan Church, makes no + embarrassing appeal to the intellect, has no occasion to do it, and can + get along quite well without it. + </p> + <p> + Provided. Provided what? That it can secure that thing which is worth two + or three hundred thousand times more than an “appeal to the intellect”—an + environment. Can it get that? Will it be a menace to regular Christianity + if it gets that? Is it time for regular Christianity to get alarmed? Or + shall regular Christianity smile a smile and turn over and take another + nap? Won't it be wise and proper for regular Christianity to do the old + way, Me customary way, the historical way—lock the stable-door after + the horse is gone? Just as Protestantism has smiled and nodded this long + time (while the alert and diligent Catholic was slipping in and capturing + the public schools), and is now beginning to hunt around for the key when + it is too late? + </p> + <p> + Will Christian Science get a chance to show its wares? It has already + secured that chance. Will it flourish and spread and prosper if it shall + create for itself the one thing essential to those conditions—an + environment? It has already created an environment. There are families of + Christian Scientists in every community in America, and each family is a + factory; each family turns out a Christian Science product at the + customary intervals, and contributes it to the Cause in the only way in + which contributions of recruits to Churches are ever made on a large scale—by + the puissant forces of personal contact and association. Each family is an + agency for the Cause, and makes converts among the neighbors, and starts + some more factories. + </p> + <p> + Four years ago there were six Christian Scientists in a certain town that + I am acquainted with; a year ago there were two hundred and fifty there; + they have built a church, and its membership now numbers four hundred. + This has all been quietly done; done without frenzied revivals, without + uniforms, brass bands, street parades, corner oratory, or any of the other + customary persuasions to a godly life. Christian Science, like + Mohammedanism, is “restricted” to the “unintelligent, the people who do + not think.” There lies the danger. It makes Christian Science formidable. + It is “restricted” to ninety-nine one-hundredths of the human race, and + must be reckoned with by regular Christianity. And will be, as soon as it + is too late. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK II + </h2> + <p> + “There were remarkable things about the stranger called the Man—Mystery-things + so very extraordinary that they monopolized attention and made all of him + seem extraordinary; but this was not so, the most of his qualities being + of the common, every-day size and like anybody else's. It was curious. He + was of the ordinary stature, and had the ordinary aspects; yet in him were + hidden such strange contradictions and disproportions! He was majestically + fearless and heroic; he had the strength of thirty men and the daring of + thirty thousand; handling armies, organizing states, administering + governments—these were pastimes to him; he publicly and + ostentatiously accepted the human race at its own valuation—as + demigods—and privately and successfully dealt with it at quite + another and juster valuation—as children and slaves; his ambitions + were stupendous, and his dreams had no commerce with the humble plain, but + moved with the cloud-rack among the snow-summits. These features of him + were, indeed, extraordinary, but the rest of him was ordinary and usual. + He was so mean-minded, in the matter of jealousy, that it was thought he + was descended from a god; he was vain in little ways, and had a pride in + trivialities; he doted on ballads about moonshine and bruised hearts; in + education he was deficient, he was indifferent to literature, and knew + nothing of art; he was dumb upon all subjects but one, indifferent to all + except that one—the Nebular Theory. Upon that one his flow of words + was full and free, he was a geyser. The official astronomers disputed his + facts and deeded his views, and said that he had invented both, they not + being findable in any of the books. But many of the laity, who wanted + their nebulosities fresh, admired his doctrine and adopted it, and it + attained to great prosperity in spite of the hostility of the experts.”—The + Legend of the Man-Mystery, ch. i. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + JANUARY, 1903. When we do not know a public man personally, we guess him + out by the facts of his career. When it is Washington, we all arrive at + about one and the same result. We agree that his words and his acts + clearly interpret his character to us, and that they never leave us in + doubt as to the motives whence the words and acts proceeded. It is the + same with Joan of Arc, it is the same with two or three or five or six + others among the immortals. But in the matter of motives and of a few + details of character we agree to disagree upon Napoleon, Cromwell, and all + the rest; and to this list we must add Mrs. Eddy. I think we can + peacefully agree as to two or three extraordinary features of her make-up, + but not upon the other features of it. We cannot peacefully agree as to + her motives, therefore her character must remain crooked to some of us and + straight to the others. + </p> + <p> + No matter, she is interesting enough without an amicable agreement. In + several ways she is the most interesting woman that ever lived, and the + most extraordinary. The same may be said of her career, and the same may + be said of its chief result. She started from nothing. Her enemies charge + that she surreptitiously took from Quimby a peculiar system of healing + which was mind-cure with a Biblical basis. She and her friends deny that + she took anything from him. This is a matter which we can discuss + by-and-by. Whether she took it or invented it, it was—materially—a + sawdust mine when she got it, and she has turned it into a Klondike; its + spiritual dock had next to no custom, if any at all: from it she has + launched a world-religion which has now six hundred and sixty-three + churches, and she charters a new one every four days. When we do not know + a person—and also when we do—we have to judge his size by the + size and nature of his achievements, as compared with the achievements of + others in his special line of business—there is no other way. + Measured by this standard, it is thirteen hundred years since the world + has produced any one who could reach up to Mrs. Eddy's waistbelt. + </p> + <p> + Figuratively speaking, Mrs. Eddy is already as tall as the Eiffel tower. + She is adding surprisingly to her stature every day. It is quite within + the probabilities that a century hence she will be the most imposing + figure that has cast its shadow across the globe since the inauguration of + our era. I grant that after saying these strong things, it is necessary + that I offer some details calculated to satisfactorily demonstrate the + proportions which I have claimed for her. I will do that presently; but + before exhibiting the matured sequoia gigantea, I believe it will be best + to exhibit the sprout from which it sprang. It may save the reader from + making miscalculations. The person who imagines that a Big Tree sprout is + bigger than other kinds of sprouts is quite mistaken. It is the ordinary + thing; it makes no show, it compels no notice, it hasn't a detectible + quality in it that entitles it to attention, or suggests the future giant + its sap is suckling. That is the kind of sprout Mrs. Eddy was. + </p> + <p> + From her childhood days up to where she was running a half-century a close + race and gaining on it, she was most humanly commonplace. + </p> + <p> + She is the witness I am drawing this from. She has revealed it in her + autobiography not intentionally, of course—I am not claiming that. + An autobiography is the most treacherous thing there is. It lets out every + secret its author is trying to keep; it lets the truth shine unobstructed + through every harmless little deception he tries to play; it pitilessly + exposes him as a tin hero worshipping himself as Big Metal every time he + tries to do the modest-unconsciousness act before the reader. This is not + guessing; I am speaking from autobiographical personal experience; I was + never able to refrain from mentioning, with a studied casualness that + could deceive none but the most incautious reader, that an ancestor of + mine was sent ambassador to Spain by Charles I., nor that in a remote + branch of my family there exists a claimant to an earldom, nor that an + uncle of mine used to own a dog that was descended from the dog that was + in the Ark; and at the same time I was never able to persuade myself to + call a gibbet by its right name when accounting for other ancestors of + mine, but always spoke of it as the “platform”—puerilely intimating + that they were out lecturing when it happened. + </p> + <p> + It is Mrs. Eddy over again. As regards her minor half, she is as + commonplace as the rest of us. Vain of trivial things all the first half + of her life, and still vain of them at seventy and recording them with + naive satisfaction—even rescuing some early rhymes of hers of the + sort that we all scribble in the innocent days of our youth—rescuing + them and printing them without pity or apology, just as the weakest and + commonest of us do in our gray age. More—she still frankly admires + them; and in her introduction of them profanely confers upon them the holy + name of “poetry.” Sample: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “And laud the land whose talents rock + The cradle of her power, + And wreaths are twined round Plymouth Rock + From erudition's bower.” + + “Minerva's silver sandals still + Are loosed and not effete.” + </pre> + <p> + You note it is not a shade above the thing which all human beings churn + out in their youth. + </p> + <p> + You would not think that in a little wee primer—for that is what the + Autobiography is—a person with a tumultuous career of seventy years + behind her could find room for two or three pages of padding of this kind, + but such is the case. She evidently puts narrative together with + difficulty and is not at home in it, and is glad to have something + ready-made to fill in with. Another sample: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Here fame-honored Hickory rears his bold form, + And bears a brave breast to the lightning and storm, + While Palm, Bay, and Laurel in classical glee, + Chase Tulip, Magnolia, and fragrant Fringe-tree.” + </pre> + <p> + Vivid? You can fairly see those trees galloping around. That she could + still treasure up, and print, and manifestly admire those Poems, indicates + that the most daring and masculine and masterful woman that has appeared + in the earth in centuries has the same soft, girly-girly places in her + that the rest of us have. + </p> + <p> + When it comes to selecting her ancestors she is still human, natural, + vain, commonplace—as commonplace as I am myself when I am sorting + ancestors for my autobiography. She combs out some creditable Scots, and + labels them and sets them aside for use, not overlooking the one to whom + Sir William Wallace gave “a heavy sword encased in a brass scabbard,” and + naively explaining which Sir William Wallace it was, lest we get the wrong + one by the hassock; this is the one “from whose patriotism and bravery + comes that heart-stirring air, 'Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled.'” Hannah + More was related to her ancestors. She explains who Hannah More was. + </p> + <p> + Whenever a person informs us who Sir William Wallace was, or who wrote + “Hamlet,” or where the Declaration of Independence was fought, it fills us + with a suspicion wellnigh amounting to conviction, that that person would + not suspect us of being so empty of knowledge if he wasn't suffering from + the same “claim” himself. Then we turn to page 20 of the Autobiography and + happen upon this passage, and that hasty suspicion stands rebuked: + </p> + <p> + “I gained book-knowledge with far less labor than is usually requisite. At + ten years of age I was as familiar with Lindley Murray's Grammar as with + the Westminster Catechism; and the latter I had to repeat every Sunday. My + favorite studies were Natural Philosophy, Logic, and Moral Science. From + my brother Albert I received lessons in the ancient tongues, Hebrew, + Greek, and Latin.” + </p> + <p> + You catch your breath in astonishment, and feel again and still again the + pang of that rebuke. But then your eye falls upon the next sentence but + one, and the pain passes away and you set up the suspicion again with evil + satisfaction: + </p> + <p> + “After my discovery of Christian Science, most of the knowledge I had + gleaned from school-books vanished like a dream.” + </p> + <p> + That disappearance accounts for much in her miscellaneous writings. As I + was saying, she handles her “ancestral shadows,” as she calls them, just + as I do mine. It is remarkable. When she runs across “a relative of my + Grandfather Baker, General Henry Knox, of Revolutionary fame,” she sets + him down; when she finds another good one, “the late Sir John Macneill, in + the line of my Grandfather Baker's family,” she sets him down, and + remembers that he “was prominent in British politics, and at one time held + the position of ambassador to Persia”; when she discovers that her + grandparents “were likewise connected with Captain John Lovewell, whose + gallant leadership and death in the Indian troubles of 1722-25 caused that + prolonged contest to be known historically as Lovewell's War,” she sets + the Captain down; when it turns out that a cousin of her grandmother “was + John Macneill, the New Hampshire general, who fought at Lundy's Lane and + won distinction in 1814 at the battle of Chippewa,” she catalogues the + General. (And tells where Chippewa was.) And then she skips all her + platform people; never mentions one of them. It shows that she is just as + human as any of us. + </p> + <p> + Yet, after all, there is something very touching in her pride in these + worthy small-fry, and something large and fine in her modesty in not + caring to remember that their kinship to her can confer no distinction + upon her, whereas her mere mention of their names has conferred upon them + a faceless earthly immortality. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + When she wrote this little biography her great life-work had already been + achieved, she was become renowned; to multitudes of reverent disciples she + was a sacred personage, a familiar of God, and His inspired channel of + communication with the human race. Also, to them these following things + were facts, and not doubted: + </p> + <p> + She had written a Bible in middle age, and had published it; she had + recast it, enlarged it, and published it again; she had not stopped there, + but had enlarged it further, polished its phrasing, improved its form, and + published it yet again. It was at last become a compact, grammatical, + dignified, and workman-like body of literature. This was good training, + persistent training; and in all arts it is training that brings the art to + perfection. We are now confronted with one of the most teasing and + baffling riddles of Mrs. Eddy's history—a riddle which may be + formulated thus: + </p> + <p> + How is it that a primitive literary gun which began as a hundred-yard + flint-lock smooth-bore muzzle-loader, and in the course of forty years has + acquired one notable improvement after another—percussion cap; fixed + cartridge; rifled barrel; efficiency at half a mile how is it that such a + gun, sufficiently good on an elephant hunt (Christian Science) from the + beginning, and growing better and better all the time during forty years, + has always collapsed back to its original flint-lock estate the moment the + huntress trained it on any other creature than an elephant? + </p> + <p> + Something more than a generation ago Mrs. Eddy went out with her + flint-lock on the rabbit range; and this was a part of the result: + </p> + <p> + “After his decease, and a severe casualty deemed fatal by skilful + physicians, we discovered that the Principle of all healing and the law + that governs it is God, a divine Principle, and a spiritual not material + law, and regained health.”—Preface to Science and Health, first + revision, 1883. + </p> + <p> + N.B. Not from the book itself; from the Preface. + </p> + <p> + You will notice the awkwardness of that English. If you should carry that + paragraph up to the Supreme Court of the United States in order to find + out for good and all whether the fatal casualty happened to the dead man—as + the paragraph almost asserts—or to some person or persons not even + hinted at in the paragraph, the Supreme Court would be obliged to say that + the evidence established nothing with certainty except that there had been + a casualty—victim not known. + </p> + <p> + The context thinks it explains who the victim was, but it does nothing of + the kind. It furnishes some guessing-material of a sort which enables you + to infer that it was “we” that suffered the mentioned injury, but if you + should carry the language to a court you would not be able to prove that + it necessarily meant that. “We” are Mrs. Eddy; a funny little affectation. + She replaced it later with the more dignified third person. + </p> + <p> + The quoted paragraph is from Mrs. Eddy's preface to the first revision of + Science and Health (1883). Sixty-four pages further along—in the + body of the book (the elephant-range), she went out with that same + flint-lock and got this following result. Its English is very nearly as + straight and clean and competent as is the English of the latest revision + of Science and Health after the gun has been improved from smooth-bore + musket up to globe-sighted, long distance rifle: + </p> + <p> + “Man controlled by his Maker has no physical suffering. His body is + harmonious, his days are multiplying instead of diminishing, he is + journeying towards Life instead of death, and bringing out the new man and + crucifying the old affections, cutting them off in every material + direction until he learns the utter supremacy of Spirit and yields + obedience thereto.” + </p> + <p> + In the latest revision of Science and Health (1902), the perfected gun + furnishes the following. The English is clean, compact, dignified, almost + perfect. But it is observable that it is not prominently better than it is + in the above paragraph, which was a product of the primitive flint-lock: + </p> + <p> + “How unreasonable is the belief that we are wearing out life and hastening + to death, and at the same time we are communing with immortality? If the + departed are in rapport with mortality, or matter, they are not spiritual, + but must still be mortal, sinful, suffering, and dying. Then wherefore + look to them—even were communication possible—for proofs of + immortality and accept them as oracles?” —Edition of 1902, page 78. + </p> + <p> + With the above paragraphs compare these that follow. It is Mrs. Eddy + writing—after a good long twenty years of pen-practice. Compare also + with the alleged Poems already quoted. The prominent characteristic of the + Poems is affectation, artificiality; their makeup is a complacent and + pretentious outpour of false figures and fine writing, in the sophomoric + style. The same qualities and the same style will be found, unchanged, + unbettered, in these following paragraphs—after a lapse of more than + fifty years, and after—as aforesaid—long literary training. + The italics are mine: + </p> + <p> + 1. “What plague spot or bacilli were [sic] gnawing [sic] at the heart of + this metropolis... and bringing it [the heart] on bended knee? Why, it was + an institute that had entered its vitals—that, among other things, + taught games,” et cetera.—C.S. Journal, p. 670, article entitled “A + Narrative—by Mary Baker G. Eddy.” + </p> + <p> + 2. “Parks sprang up [sic]... electric-cars run [sic] merrily through + several streets, concrete sidewalks and macadamized roads dotted [sic] the + place,” et cetera.—Ibid. + </p> + <p> + 3. “Shorn [sic] of its suburbs it had indeed little left to admire, save + to [sic] such as fancy a skeleton above ground breathing [sic] slowly + through a barren [sic] breast.”—Ibid. + </p> + <p> + This is not English—I mean, grown-up English. But it is + fifteen-year-old English, and has not grown a month since the same mind + produced the Poems. The standard of the Poems and of the + plague-spot-and-bacilli effort is exactly the same. It is most strange + that the same intellect that worded the simple and self-contained and + clean-cut paragraph beginning with “How unreasonable is the belief,” + should in the very same lustrum discharge upon the world such a verbal + chaos as the utterance concerning that plague-spot or bacilli which were + gnawing at the insides of the metropolis and bringing its heart on bended + knee, thus exposing to the eye the rest of the skeleton breathing slowly + through a barren breast. + </p> + <p> + The immense contrast between the legitimate English of Science and Health + and the bastard English of Mrs. Eddy's miscellaneous work, and between the + maturity of the one diction and the juvenility of the other, suggests—compels—the + question, Are there two guns? It would seem so. Is there a poor, foolish, + old, scattering flint-lock for rabbit, and a long-range, centre-driving, + up-to-date Mauser-magazine for elephant? It looks like it. For it is + observable that in Science and Health (the elephant-ground) the practice + was good at the start and has remained so, and that the practice in the + miscellaneous, outside, small-game field was very bad at the start and was + never less bad at any later time. + </p> + <p> + I wish to say that of Mrs. Eddy I am not requiring perfect English, but + only good English. No one can write perfect English and keep it up through + a stretch of ten chapters. It has never been done. It was approached in + the “well of English undefiled”; it has been approached in Mrs. Eddy's + Annex to that Book; it has been approached in several English grammars; I + have even approached it myself; but none of us has made port. + </p> + <p> + Now, the English of Science and Health is good. In passages to be found in + Mrs. Eddy's Autobiography (on pages 53, 57, 101, and 113), and on page 6 + of her squalid preface to Science and Health, first revision, she seems to + me to claim the whole and sole authorship of the book. That she wrote the + Autobiography, and that preface, and the Poems, and the + Plague-spot-Bacilli, we are not permitted to doubt. Indeed, we know she + wrote them. But the very certainty that she wrote these things compels a + doubt that she wrote Science and Health. She is guilty of little + awkwardnesses of expression in the Autobiography which a practiced pen + would hardly allow to go uncorrected in even a hasty private letter, and + could not dream of passing by uncorrected in passages intended for print. + But she passes them placidly by; as placidly as if she did not suspect + that they were offenses against third-class English. I think that that + placidity was born of that very unawareness, so to speak. I will cite a + few instances from the Autobiography. The italics are mine: + </p> + <p> + “I remember reading in my childhood certain manuscripts containing + Scriptural Sonnets, besides other verses and enigmas,” etc. Page 7. + </p> + <p> + [On page 27.] “Many pale cripples went into the Church leaning on crutches + who came out carrying them on their shoulders.” + </p> + <p> + It is awkward, because at the first glance it seems to say that the + cripples went in leaning on crutches which went out carrying the cripples + on their shoulders. It would have cost her no trouble to put her “who” + after her “cripples.” I blame her a little; I think her proof-reader + should have been shot. We may let her capital C pass, but it is another + awkwardness, for she is talking about a building, not about a religious + society. + </p> + <p> + “Marriage and Parentage” [Chapter-heading. Page 30]. You imagine that she + is going to begin a talk about her marriage and finish with some account + of her father and mother. And so you will be deceived. “Marriage” was + right, but “Parentage” was not the best word for the rest of the record. + It refers to the birth of her own child. After a certain period of time + “my babe was born.” Marriage and Motherhood—Marriage and Maternity—Marriage + and Product—Marriage and Dividend—either of these would have + fitted the facts and made the matter clear. + </p> + <p> + “Without my knowledge he was appointed a guardian.” Page 32. + </p> + <p> + She is speaking of her child. She means that a guardian for her child was + appointed, but that isn't what she says. + </p> + <p> + “If spiritual conclusions are separated from their premises, the nexus is + lost, and the argument with its rightful conclusions, becomes + correspondingly obscure.” Page 34. + </p> + <p> + We shall never know why she put the word “correspondingly” in there. Any + fine, large word would have answered just as well: psychosuperintangibly—electroincandescently—oligarcheologically— + sanchrosynchro-stereoptically—any of these would have answered, any + of these would have filled the void. + </p> + <p> + “His spiritual noumenon and phenomenon silenced portraiture.” Page 34. + </p> + <p> + Yet she says she forgot everything she knew, when she discovered Christian + Science. I realize that noumenon is a daisy; and I will not deny that I + shall use it whenever I am in a company which I think I can embarrass with + it; but, at the same time, I think it is out of place among friends in an + autobiography. There, I think a person ought not to have anything up his + sleeve. It undermines confidence. But my dissatisfaction with the quoted + passage is not on account of noumenon; it is on account of the misuse of + the word “silenced.” You cannot silence portraiture with a noumenon; if + portraiture should make a noise, a way could be found to silence it, but + even then it could not be done with a noumenon. Not even with a brick, + some authorities think. + </p> + <p> + “It may be that the mortal life-battle still wages,” etc. Page 35. + </p> + <p> + That is clumsy. Battles do not wage, battles are waged. Mrs. Eddy has one + very curious and interesting peculiarity: whenever she notices that she is + chortling along without saying anything, she pulls up with a sudden “God + is over us all,” or some other sounding irrelevancy, and for the moment it + seems to light up the whole district; then, before you can recover from + the shock, she goes flitting pleasantly and meaninglessly along again, and + you hurry hopefully after her, thinking you are going to get something + this time; but as soon as she has led you far enough away from her turkey + lot she takes to a tree. Whenever she discovers that she is getting pretty + disconnected, she couples-up with an ostentatious “But” which has nothing + to do with anything that went before or is to come after, then she hitches + some empties to the train-unrelated verses from the Bible, usually—and + steams out of sight and leaves you wondering how she did that clever + thing. For striking instances, see bottom paragraph on page 34 and the + paragraph on page 35 of her Autobiography. She has a purpose—a deep + and dark and artful purpose—in what she is saying in the first + paragraph, and you guess what it is, but that is due to your own talent, + not hers; she has made it as obscure as language could do it. The other + paragraph has no meaning and no discoverable intention. It is merely one + of her God-over-alls. I cannot spare room for it in this place. + </p> + <p> + “I beheld with ineffable awe our great Master's marvelous skill in + demanding neither obedience to hygienic laws nor,” etc. Page 41. + </p> + <p> + The word is loosely chosen-skill. She probably meant judgment, intuition, + penetration, or wisdom. + </p> + <p> + “Naturally, my first jottings were but efforts to express in feeble + diction Truth's ultimate.” Page 42. + </p> + <p> + One understands what she means, but she should have been able to say what + she meant—at any time before she discovered Christian Science and + forgot everything she knew—and after it, too. If she had put + “feeble” in front of “efforts” and then left out “in” and “diction,” she + would have scored. + </p> + <p> + “... its written expression increases in perfection under the guidance of + the great Master.” Page 43. + </p> + <p> + It is an error. Not even in those advantageous circumstances can increase + be added to perfection. + </p> + <p> + “Evil is not mastered by evil; it can only be overcome with Good. This + brings out the nothingness of evil, and the eternal Somethingness + vindicates the Divine Principle and improves the race of Adam.” Page 76. + </p> + <p> + This is too extraneous for me. That is the trouble with Mrs. Eddy when she + sets out to explain an over-large exhibit: the minute you think the light + is bursting upon you the candle goes out and your mind begins to wander. + </p> + <p> + “No one else can drain the cup which I have drunk to the dregs, as the + discoverer and teacher of Christian Science” Page 47. + </p> + <p> + That is saying we cannot empty an empty cup. We knew it before; and we + know she meant to tell us that that particular cup is going to remain + empty. That is, we think that that was the idea, but we cannot be sure. + She has a perfectly astonishing talent for putting words together in such + a way as to make successful inquiry into their intention impossible. + </p> + <p> + She generally makes us uneasy when she begins to tune up on her + fine-writing timbrel. It carries me back to her Plague-Spot and Poetry + days, and I just dread those: + </p> + <p> + “Into mortal mind's material obliquity I gazed and stood abashed. Blanched + was the cheek of pride. My heart bent low before the omnipotence of + Spirit, and a tint of humility soft as the heart of a moonbeam mantled the + earth. Bethlehem and Bethany, Gethsemane and Calvary, spoke to my + chastened sense as by the tearful lips of a babe.” Page 48. + </p> + <p> + The heart of a moonbeam is a pretty enough Friendship's-Album expression—let + it pass, though I do think the figure a little strained; but humility has + no tint, humility has no complexion, and if it had it could not mantle the + earth. A moonbeam might—I do not know—but she did not say it + was the moonbeam. But let it go, I cannot decide it, she mixes me up so. A + babe hasn't “tearful lips,” it's its eyes. You find none of Mrs. Eddy's + kind of English in Science and Health—not a line of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + Setting aside title-page, index, etc., the little Autobiography begins on + page 7 and ends on page 130. My quotations are from the first forty pages. + They seem to me to prove the presence of the 'prentice hand. The style of + the forty pages is loose and feeble and 'prentice-like. The movement of + the narrative is not orderly and sequential, but rambles around, and skips + forward and back and here and there and yonder, 'prentice-fashion. Many a + journeyman has broken up his narrative and skipped about and rambled + around, but he did it for a purpose, for an advantage; there was art in + it, and points to be scored by it; the observant reader perceived the + game, and enjoyed it and respected it, if it was well played. But Mrs. + Eddy's performance was without intention, and destitute of art. She could + score no points by it on those terms, and almost any reader can see that + her work was the uncalculated puttering of a novice. + </p> + <p> + In the above paragraph I have described the first third of the booklet. + That third being completed, Mrs. Eddy leaves the rabbit-range, crosses the + frontier, and steps out upon her far-spreading big-game territory—Christian + Science and there is an instant change! The style smartly improves; and + the clumsy little technical offenses disappear. In these two-thirds of the + booklet I find only one such offence, and it has the look of being a + printer's error. + </p> + <p> + I leave the riddle with the reader. Perhaps he can explain how it is that + a person-trained or untrained—who on the one day can write nothing + better than Plague-Spot-Bacilli and feeble and stumbling and wandering + personal history littered with false figures and obscurities and technical + blunders, can on the next day sit down and write fluently, smoothly, + compactly, capably, and confidently on a great big thundering subject, and + do it as easily and comfortably as a whale paddles around the globe. + </p> + <p> + As for me, I have scribbled so much in fifty years that I have become + saturated with convictions of one sort and another concerning a + scribbler's limitations; and these are so strong that when I am familiar + with a literary person's work I feel perfectly sure that I know enough + about his limitations to know what he can not do. If Mr. Howells should + pretend to me that he wrote the Plague-Spot Bacilli rhapsody, I should + receive the statement courteously; but I should know it for a—well, + for a perversion. If the late Josh Billings should rise up and tell me + that he wrote Herbert Spencer's philosophies; I should answer and say that + the spelling casts a doubt upon his claim. If the late Jonathan Edwards + should rise up and tell me he wrote Mr. Dooley's books, I should answer + and say that the marked difference between his style and Dooley's is + argument against the soundness of his statement. You see how much I think + of circumstantial evidence. In literary matters—in my belief—it + is often better than any person's word, better than any shady character's + oath. It is difficult for me to believe that the same hand that wrote the + Plague-Spot-Bacilli and the first third of the little Eddy biography wrote + also Science and Health. Indeed, it is more than difficult, it is + impossible. + </p> + <p> + Largely speaking, I have read acres of what purported to be Mrs. Eddy's + writings, in the past two months. I cannot know, but I am convinced, that + the circumstantial evidence shows that her actual share in the work of + composing and phrasing these things was so slight as to be + inconsequential. Where she puts her literary foot down, her trail across + her paid polisher's page is as plain as the elephant's in a Sunday-school + procession. Her verbal output, when left undoctored by her clerks, is + quite unmistakable It always exhibits the strongly distinctive features + observable in the virgin passages from her pen already quoted by me: + </p> + <p> + Desert vacancy, as regards thought. Self-complacency. Puerility. + Sentimentality. Affectations of scholarly learning. Lust after eloquent + and flowery expression. Repetition of pet poetic picturesquenesses. + Confused and wandering statement. Metaphor gone insane. Meaningless words, + used because they are pretty, or showy, or unusual. Sorrowful attempts at + the epigrammatic. Destitution of originality. + </p> + <p> + The fat volume called Miscellaneous Writings of Mrs. Eddy contains several + hundred pages. Of the five hundred and fifty-four pages of prose in it I + find ten lines, on page 319, to be Mrs. Eddy's; also about a page of the + preface or “Prospectus”; also about fifteen pages scattered along through + the book. If she wrote any of the rest of the prose, it was rewritten + after her by another hand. Here I will insert two-thirds of her page of + the prospectus. It is evident that whenever, under the inspiration of the + Deity, she turns out a book, she is always allowed to do some of the + preface. I wonder why that is? It always mars the work. I think it is done + in humorous malice I think the clerks like to see her give herself away. + They know she will, her stock of usable materials being limited and her + procedure in employing them always the same, substantially. They know that + when the initiated come upon her first erudite allusion, or upon any one + of her other stage-properties, they can shut their eyes and tell what will + follow. She usually throws off an easy remark all sodden with Greek or + Hebrew or Latin learning; she usually has a person watching for a star—she + can seldom get away from that poetic idea—sometimes it is a Chaldee, + sometimes a Walking Delegate, sometimes an entire stranger, but be he what + he may, he is generally there when the train is ready to move, and has his + pass in his hat-band; she generally has a Being with a Dome on him, or + some other cover that is unusual and out of the fashion; she likes to fire + off a Scripture-verse where it will make the handsomest noise and come + nearest to breaking the connection; she often throws out a Forefelt, or a + Foresplendor, or a Foreslander where it will have a fine nautical + foreto'gallant sound and make the sentence sing; after which she is nearly + sure to throw discretion away and take to her deadly passion, Intoxicated + Metaphor. At such a time the Mrs. Eddy that does not hesitate is lost: + </p> + <p> + “The ancient Greek looked longingly for the Olympiad. The Chaldee watched + the appearing of a star; to him no higher destiny dawned on the dome of + being than that foreshadowed by signs in the heavens. The meek Nazarene, + the scoffed of all scoffers, said, 'Ye can discern the face of the sky; + but can ye not discern the signs of the times?'—for He forefelt and + foresaw the ordeal of a perfect Christianity, hated by sinners. + </p> + <p> + “To kindle all minds with a gleam of gratitude, the new idea that comes + welling up from infinite Truth needs to be understood. The seer of this + age should be a sage. + </p> + <p> + “Humility is the stepping-stone to a higher recognition of Deity. The + mounting sense gathers fresh forms and strange fire from the ashes of + dissolving self, and drops the world. Meekness heightens immortal + attributes, only by removing the dust that dims them. Goodness reveals + another scene and another self seemingly rolled up in shades, but brought + to light by the evolutions of advancing thought, whereby we discern the + power of Truth and Love to heal the sick. + </p> + <p> + “Pride is ignorance; those assume most who have the least wisdom or + experience; and they steal from their neighbor, because they have so + little of their own.”—Miscellaneous Writings, page 1, and six lines + at top of page 2. + </p> + <p> + It is not believable that the hand that wrote those clumsy and affected + sentences wrote the smooth English of Science and Health. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + It is often said in print that Mrs. Eddy claims that God was the Author of + Science and Health. Mr. Peabody states in his pamphlet that “she says not + she but God was the Author.” I cannot find that in her autobiography she + makes this transference of the authorship, but I think that in it she + definitely claims that she did her work under His inspiration—definitely + for her; for as a rule she is not a very definite person, even when she + seems to be trying her best to be clear and positive. Speaking of the + early days when her Science was beginning to unfold itself and gather form + in her mind, she says (Autobiography, page 43): + </p> + <p> + “The divine hand led me into a new world of light and Life, a fresh + universe—old to God, but new to His 'little one.'” + </p> + <p> + She being His little one, as I understand it. + </p> + <p> + The divine hand led her. It seems to mean “God inspired me”; but when a + person uses metaphors instead of statistics—and that is Mrs. Eddy's + common fashion—one cannot always feel sure about the intention. + </p> + <p> + [Page 56.] “Even the Scripture gave no direct interpretation of the + Scientific basis for demonstrating the spiritual Principle of healing, + until our Heavenly Father saw fit, through the Key to the Scriptures, in + Science and Health, to unlock this 'mystery of godliness.'” + </p> + <p> + Another baffling metaphor. If she had used plain forecastle English, and + said “God wrote the Key and I put it in my book”; or if she had said “God + furnished me the solution of the mystery and I put it on paper”; or if she + had said “God did it all,” then we should understand; but her phrase is + open to any and all of those translations, and is a Key which unlocks + nothing—for us. However, it seems to at least mean “God inspired + me,” if nothing more. + </p> + <p> + There was personal and intimate communion, at any rate we get that much + out of the riddles. The connection extended to business, after the + establishment of the teaching and healing industry. + </p> + <p> + [Page 71.] “When God impelled me to set a price on my instruction,” etc. + Further down: “God has since shown me, in multitudinous ways, the wisdom + of this decision.” + </p> + <p> + She was not able to think of a “financial equivalent”—meaning a + pecuniary equivalent—for her “instruction in Christian Science + Mind-healing.” In this emergency she was “led” to charge three hundred + dollars for a term of “twelve half-days.” She does not say who led her, + she only says that the amount greatly troubled her. I think it means that + the price was suggested from above, “led” being a theological term + identical with our commercial phrase “personally conducted.” She “shrank + from asking it, but was finally led, by a strange providence, to accept + this fee.” “Providence” is another theological term. Two leds and a + providence, taken together, make a pretty strong argument for inspiration. + I think that these statistics make it clear that the price was arranged + above. This view is constructively supported by the fact, already quoted, + that God afterwards approved, “in multitudinous ways,” her wisdom in + accepting the mentioned fee. “Multitudinous ways”—multitudinous + encoring—suggests enthusiasm. Business enthusiasm. And it suggests + nearness. God's nearness to his “little one.” Nearness, and a watchful + personal interest. A warm, palpitating, Standard-Oil interest, so to + speak. All this indicates inspiration. We may assume, then, two + inspirations: one for the book, the other for the business. + </p> + <p> + The evidence for inspiration is further augmented by the testimony of Rev. + George Tomkins, D.D., already quoted, that Mrs. Eddy and her book were + foretold in Revelation, and that Mrs. Eddy “is God's brightest thought to + this age, giving us the spiritual interpretation of the Bible in the + 'little book'” of the Angel. + </p> + <p> + I am aware that it is not Mr. Tomkins that is speaking, but Mrs. Eddy. The + commissioned lecturers of the Christian Science Church have to be members + of the Board of Lectureship. (By-laws Sec. 2, p. 70.) The Board of + Lectureship is selected by the Board of Directors of the Church. (By-laws, + Sec. 3, p. 70.) The Board of Directors of the Church is the property of + Mrs. Eddy. (By-laws, p. 22.) Mr. Tomkins did not make that statement + without authorization from headquarters. He necessarily got it from the + Board of Directors, the Board of Directors from Mrs. Eddy, Mrs. Eddy from + the Deity. Mr. Tomkins would have been turned down by that procession if + his remarks had been unsatisfactory to it. + </p> + <p> + It may be that there is evidence somewhere—as has been claimed—that + Mrs. Eddy has charged upon the Deity the verbal authorship of Science and + Health. But if she ever made the charge, she has withdrawn it (as it seems + to me), and in the most formal and unqualified; of all ways. See + Autobiography, page 57: + </p> + <p> + “When the demand for this book increased... the copyright was infringed. I + entered a suit at Law, and my copyright was protected.” + </p> + <p> + Thus it is plain that she did not plead that the Deity was the (verbal) + Author; for if she had done that, she would have lost her case—and + with rude promptness. It was in the old days before the Berne Convention + and before the passage of our amended law of 1891, and the court would + have quoted the following stern clause from the existing statute and + frowned her out of the place: + </p> + <p> + “No Foreigner can acquire copyright in the United States.” + </p> + <p> + To sum up. The evidence before me indicates three things: + </p> + <p> + 1. That Mrs. Eddy claims the verbal author ship for herself. 2. That she + denies it to the Deity. 3. That—in her belief—she wrote the + book under the inspiration of the Deity, but furnished the language + herself. + </p> + <p> + In one place in the Autobiography she claims both the language and the + ideas; but when this witness is testifying, one must draw the line + somewhere, or she will prove both sides of her case-nine sides, if + desired. + </p> + <p> + It is too true. Much too true. Many, many times too true. She is a most + trying witness—the most trying witness that ever kissed the Book, I + am sure. There is no keeping up with her erratic testimony. As soon as you + have got her share of the authorship nailed where you half hope and half + believe it will stay and cannot be joggled loose any more, she joggles it + loose again—or seems to; you cannot be sure, for her habit of + dealing in meaningless metaphors instead of in plain, straightforward + statistics, makes it nearly always impossible to tell just what it is she + is trying to say. She was definite when she claimed both the language and + the ideas of the book. That seemed to settle the matter. It seemed to + distribute the percentages of credit with precision between the + collaborators: ninety-two per cent. to Mrs. Eddy, who did all the work, + and eight per cent. to the Deity, who furnished the inspiration not enough + of it to damage the copyright in a country closed against Foreigners, and + yet plenty to advertise the book and market it at famine rates. Then Mrs. + Eddy does not keep still, but fetches around and comes forward and + testifies again. It is most injudicious. For she resorts to metaphor this + time, and it makes trouble, for she seems to reverse the percentages and + claim only the eight per cent. for her self. I quote from Mr. Peabody's + book (Eddyism, or Christian Science. Boston: 15 Court Square, price + twenty-five cents): + </p> + <p> + “Speaking of this book, Mrs. Eddy, in January last (1901) said: 'I should + blush to write of Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures, as I + have, were it of human origin, and I, apart from God, its author; but as I + was only a scribe echoing the harmonies of Heaven in divine metaphysics, I + cannot be supermodest of the Christian Science text-book.”' + </p> + <p> + Mr. Peabody's comment: + </p> + <p> + “Nothing could be plainer than that. Here is a distinct avowal that the + book entitled Science and Health was the work of Almighty God.” + </p> + <p> + It does seem to amount to that. She was only a “scribe.” Confound the + word, it is just a confusion, it has no determinable meaning there, it + leaves us in the air. A scribe is merely a person who writes. He may be a + copyist, he may be an amanuensis, he may be a writer of originals, and + furnish both the language and the ideas. As usual with Mrs. Eddy, the + connection affords no help—“echoing” throws no light upon “scribe.” + A rock can reflect an echo, a wall can do it, a mountain can do it, many + things can do it, but a scribe can't. A scribe that could reflect an echo + could get over thirty dollars a week in a side-show. Many impresarios + would rather have him than a cow with four tails. If we allow that this + present scribe was setting down the “harmonies of Heaven”—and + certainly that seems to have been the case then there was only one way to + do it that I can think of: listen to the music and put down the notes one + after another as they fell. In that case Mrs. Eddy did not invent the + tune, she only entered it on paper. Therefore dropping the metaphor—she + was merely an amanuensis, and furnished neither the language of Science + and Health nor the ideas. It reduces her to eight per cent. (and the + dividends on that and the rest). + </p> + <p> + Is that it? We shall never know. For Mrs. Eddy is liable to testify again + at any time. But until she does it, I think we must conclude that the + Deity was Author of the whole book, and Mrs. Eddy merely His telephone and + stenographer. Granting this, her claim as the Voice of God stands-for the + present—justified and established. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + POSTSCRIPT + </h2> + <p> + I overlooked something. It appears that there was more of that utterance + than Mr. Peabody has quoted in the above paragraph. It will be found in + Mrs. Eddy's organ, the Christian Science Journal (January, 1901) and reads + as follows: + </p> + <p> + “It was not myself... which dictated Science and Health, with Key to the + Scriptures.” + </p> + <p> + That is certainly clear enough. The words which I have removed from that + important sentence explain Who it was that did the dictating. It was done + by + </p> + <p> + “the divine power of Truth and Love, infinitely above me.” + </p> + <p> + Certainly that is definite. At last, through her personal testimony, we + have a sure grip upon the following vital facts, and they settle the + authorship of Science and Health beyond peradventure: + </p> + <p> + 1. Mrs. Eddy furnished “the ideas and the language.” 2. God furnished the + ideas and the language. + </p> + <p> + It is a great comfort to have the matter authoritatively settled. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + It is hard to locate her, she shifts about so much. She is a shining drop + of quicksilver which you put your finger on and it isn't there. There is a + paragraph in the Autobiography (page 96) which places in seemingly darkly + significant procession three Personages: + </p> + <p> + 1. The Virgin Mary 2. Jesus of Nazareth. 3. Mrs. Eddy. + </p> + <p> + This is the paragraph referred to: + </p> + <p> + “No person can take the individual place of the Virgin Mary. No person can + compass or fulfil the individual mission of Jesus of Nazareth. No person + can take the place of the author of Science and Health, the discoverer and + founder of Christian Science. Each individual must fill his own niche in + time and eternity.” + </p> + <p> + I have read it many times, but I still cannot be sure that I rightly + understand it. If the Saviour's name had been placed first and the Virgin + Mary's second and Mrs. Eddy's third, I should draw the inference that a + descending scale from First Importance to Second Importance and then to + Small Importance was indicated; but to place the Virgin first, the Saviour + second, and Mrs. Eddy third, seems to turn the scale the other way and + make it an ascending scale of Importances, with Mrs. Eddy ranking the + other two and holding first place. + </p> + <p> + I think that that was perhaps the intention, but none but a seasoned + Christian Scientist can examine a literary animal of Mrs. Eddy's creation + and tell which end of it the tail is on. She is easily the most baffling + and bewildering writer in the literary trade. + </p> + <p> + Eddy is a commonplace name, and would have an unimpressive aspect in the + list of the reformed Holy Family. She has thought of that. In the book of + By-laws written by her—“impelled by a power not one's own”—there + is a paragraph which explains how and when her disciples came to confer a + title upon her; and this explanation is followed by a warning as to what + will happen to any female Scientist who shall desecrate it: + </p> + <p> + “The title of Mother. Therefore if a student of Christian Science shall + apply this title, either to herself or to others, except as the term for + kinship according to the flesh, it shall be regarded by the Church as an + indication of disrespect for their Pastor Emeritus, and unfitness to be a + member of the Mother-Church.” + </p> + <p> + She is the Pastor Emeritus. + </p> + <p> + While the quoted paragraph about the Procession seems to indicate that + Mrs. Eddy is expecting to occupy the First Place in it, that expectation + is not definitely avowed. In an earlier utterance of hers she is clearer—clearer, + and does not claim the first place all to herself, but only the half of + it. I quote from Mr. Peabody's book again: + </p> + <p> + “In the Christian Science Journal for April, 1889, when it was her + property, and published by her, it was claimed for her, and with her + sanction, that she was equal with Jesus, and elaborate effort was made to + establish the claim. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Eddy has distinctly authorized the claim in her behalf that she + herself was the chosen successor to and equal of Jesus.” + </p> + <p> + In her Miscellaneous Writings (using her once favorite “We” for “I”) she + says that “While we entertain decided views... and shall express them as + duty demands, we shall claim no especial gift from our divine origin,” + etc. + </p> + <p> + Our divine origin. It suggests Equal again. It is inferable, then, that in + the near by-and-by the new Church will officially rank the Holy Family in + the following order: + </p> + <p> + 1. Jesus of Nazareth.—1. Our Mother. 2. The Virgin Mary. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_SUMM" id="link2H_SUMM"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SUMMARY + </h2> + <p> + I am not playing with Christian Science and its founder, I am examining + them; and I am doing it because of the interest I feel in the inquiry. My + results may seem inadequate to the reader, but they have for me clarified + a muddle and brought a sort of order out of a chaos, and so I value them. + </p> + <p> + My readings of Mrs. Eddy's uninspired miscellaneous literary efforts have + convinced me of several things: + </p> + <p> + 1. That she did not write Science and Health. 2. That the Deity did (or + did not) write it. 3. That She thinks She wrote it. 4. That She believes + She wrote it under the Deity's inspiration. 5. That She believes She is a + Member of the Holy Family. 6. That She believes She is the equal of the + Head of it. + </p> + <p> + Finally, I think She is now entitled to the capital S—on her own + evidence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + Thus far we have a part of Mrs. Eddy's portrait. Not made of fictions, + surmises, reports, rumors, innuendoes, dropped by her enemies; no, she has + furnished all of the materials herself, and laid them on the canvas, under + my general superintendence and direction. As far as she has gone with it, + it is the presentation of a complacent, commonplace, illiterate New + England woman who “forgot everything she knew” when she discovered her + discovery, then wrote a Bible in good English under the inspiration of + God, and climbed up it to the supremest summit of earthly grandeur + attainable by man—where she sits serene to-day, beloved and + worshiped by a multitude of human beings of as good average intelligence + as is possessed by those that march under the banner of any competing + cult. This is not intended to flatter the competing cults, it is merely a + statement of cold fact. + </p> + <p> + That a commonplace person should go climbing aloft and become a god or a + half-god or a quarter-god and be worshiped by men and women of average + intelligence, is nothing. It has happened a million times, it will happen + a hundred million more. It has been millions of years since the first of + these supernaturals appeared, and by the time the last one in that + inconceivably remote future shall have performed his solemn little + high-jinks on the stage and closed the business, there will be enough of + them accumulated in the museum on the Other Side to start a heaven of + their own-and jam it. + </p> + <p> + Each in his turn those little supernaturals of our by-gone ages and aeons + joined the monster procession of his predecessors and marched horizonward, + disappeared, and was forgotten. They changed nothing, they built nothing, + they left nothing behind them to remember them by, nothing to hold their + disciples together, nothing to solidify their work and enable it to defy + the assaults of time and the weather. They passed, and left a vacancy. + They made one fatal mistake; they all made it, each in his turn: they + failed to organize their forces, they failed to centralize their strength, + they failed to provide a fresh Bible and a sure and perpetual cash income + for business, and often they failed to provide a new and accepted Divine + Personage to worship. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is not of that small fry. The materials that go to the making of + the rest of her portrait will prove it. She will furnish them herself: + </p> + <p> + She published her book. She copyrighted it. She copyrights everything. If + she should say, “Good-morning; how do you do?” she would copyright it; for + she is a careful person, and knows the value of small things. + </p> + <p> + She began to teach her Science, she began to heal, she began to gather + converts to her new religion—fervent, sincere, devoted, grateful + people. A year or two later she organized her first Christian Science + “Association,” with six of her disciples on the roster. + </p> + <p> + She continued to teach and heal. She was charging nothing, she says, + although she was very poor. She taught and healed gratis four years + altogether, she says. + </p> + <p> + Then, in 1879-81 she was become strong enough, and well enough + established, to venture a couple of impressively important moves. The + first of these moves was to aggrandize the “Association” to a “Church.” + Brave? It is the right name for it, I think. The former name suggests + nothing, invited no remark, no criticism, no inquiry, no hostility; the + new name invited them all. She must have made this intrepid venture on her + own motion. She could have had no important advisers at that early day. If + we accept it as her own idea and her own act—and I think we must—we + have one key to her character. And it will explain subsequent acts of hers + that would merely stun us and stupefy us without it. Shall we call it + courage? Or shall we call it recklessness? Courage observes; reflects; + calculates; surveys the whole situation; counts the cost, estimates the + odds, makes up its mind; then goes at the enterprise resolute to win or + perish. Recklessness does not reflect, it plunges fearlessly in with a + hurrah, and takes the risks, whatever they may be, regardless of expense. + Recklessness often fails, Mrs. Eddy has never failed—from the point + of view of her followers. The point of view of other people is naturally + not a matter of weighty importance to her. + </p> + <p> + The new Church was not born loose-jointed and featureless, but had a + defined plan, a definite character, definite aims, and a name which was a + challenge, and defied all comers. It was “a Mind-healing Church.” It was + “without a creed.” Its name, “The Church of Christ, Scientist.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy could not copyright her Church, but she chartered it, which was + the same thing and relieved the pain. It had twenty-six charter members. + Mrs. Eddy was at once installed as its pastor. + </p> + <p> + The other venture, above referred to, was Mrs. Eddy's Massachusetts + Metaphysical College, in which was taught “the pathology of spiritual + power.” She could not copyright it, but she got it chartered. For faculty + it had herself, her husband of the period (Dr. Eddy), and her adopted son, + Dr. Foster-Eddy. The college term was “barely three weeks,” she says. + Again she was bold, brave, rash, reckless—choose for yourself—for + she not only began to charge the student, but charged him a hundred + dollars a week for the enlightenments. And got it? some may ask. Easily. + Pupils flocked from far and near. They came by the hundred. Presently the + term was cut down nearly half, but the price remained as before. To be + exact, the term-cut was to seven lessons—price, three hundred + dollars. The college “yielded a large income.” This is believable. In + seven years Mrs. Eddy taught, as she avers, over four thousand students in + it. (Preface to 1902 edition of Science and Health.) Three hundred times + four thousand is—but perhaps you can cipher it yourself. I could do + it ordinarily, but I fell down yesterday and hurt my leg. Cipher it; you + will see that it is a grand sum for a woman to earn in seven years. Yet + that was not all she got out of her college in the seven. + </p> + <p> + At the time that she was charging the primary student three hundred + dollars for twelve lessons she was not content with this tidy assessment, + but had other ways of plundering him. By advertisement she offered him + privileges whereby he could add eighteen lessons to his store for five + hundred dollars more. That is to say, he could get a total of thirty + lessons in her college for eight hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + Four thousand times eight hundred is—but it is a difficult sum for a + cripple who has not been “demonstrated over” to cipher; let it go. She + taught “over” four thousand students in seven years. “Over” is not + definite, but it probably represents a non-paying surplus of learners over + and above the paying four thousand. Charity students, doubtless. I think + that as interesting an advertisement as has been printed since the + romantic old days of the other buccaneers is this one from the Christian + Science Journal for September, 1886: + </p> + <p> + “MASSACHUSETTS METAPHYSICAL COLLEGE + </p> + <p> + “Rev. MARY BAKER G. EDDY, PRESIDENT + </p> + <p> + “571 Columbus Avenue, Boston + </p> + <p> + “The collegiate course in Christian Science metaphysical healing includes + twelve lessons. Tuition, three hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + “Course in metaphysical obstetrics includes six daily lectures, and is + open only to students from this college. Tuition, one hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + “Class in theology, open (like the above) to graduates, receives six + additional lectures on the Scriptures, and summary of the principle and + practice of Christian Science, two hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + “Normal class is open to those who have taken the first course at this + college; six daily lectures complete the Normal course. Tuition, two + hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + “No invalids, and only persons of good moral character, are accepted as + students. All students are subject to examination and rejection; and they + are liable to leave the class if found unfit to remain in it. + </p> + <p> + “A limited number of clergymen received free of charge. + </p> + <p> + “Largest discount to indigent students, one hundred dollars on the first + course. + </p> + <p> + “No deduction on the others. + </p> + <p> + “Husband and wife, entered together, three hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + “Tuition for all strictly in advance.” + </p> + <p> + There it is—the horse-leech's daughter alive again, after a + three-century vacation. Fifty or sixty hours' lecturing for eight hundred + dollars. + </p> + <p> + I was in error as to one matter: there are no charity students. + Gratis-taught clergymen must not be placed under that head; they are + merely an advertisement. Pauper students can get into the infant class on + a two-third rate (cash in advance), but not even an archangel can get into + the rest of the game at anything short of par, cash down. For it is “in + the spirit of Christ's charity, as one who is joyful to hear healing to + the sick” that Mrs. Eddy is working the game. She sends the healing to + them outside. She cannot bear it to them inside the college, for the + reason that she does not allow a sick candidate to get in. It is true that + this smells of inconsistency, but that is nothing; Mrs. Eddy would not be + Mrs. Eddy if she should ever chance to be consistent about anything two + days running. + </p> + <p> + Except in the matter of the Dollar. The Dollar, and appetite for power and + notoriety. English must also be added; she is always consistent, she is + always Mrs. Eddy, in her English: it is always and consistently confused + and crippled and poor. She wrote the Advertisement; her literary + trade-marks are there. When she says all “students” are subject to + examination, she does not mean students, she means candidates for that + lofty place When she says students are “liable” to leave the class if + found unfit to remain in it, she does not mean that if they find + themselves unfit, or be found unfit by others, they will be likely to ask + permission to leave the class; she means that if she finds them unfit she + will be “liable” to fire them out. When she nobly offers “tuition for all + strictly in advance,” she does not mean “instruction for all in + advance-payment for it later.” No, that is only what she says, it is not + what she means. If she had written Science and Health, the oldest man in + the world would not be able to tell with certainty what any passage in it + was intended to mean. + </p> + <p> + Her Church was on its legs. + </p> + <p> + She was its pastor. It was prospering. + </p> + <p> + She was appointed one of a committee to draught By-laws for its + government. It may be observed, without overplus of irreverence, that this + was larks for her. She did all of the draughting herself. From the very + beginning she was always in the front seat when there was business to be + done; in the front seat, with both eyes open, and looking sharply out for + Number One; in the front seat, working Mortal Mind with fine effectiveness + and giving Immortal Mind a rest for Sunday. When her Church was + reorganized, by-and-by, the By-laws were retained. She saw to that. In + these Laws for the government of her Church, her empire, her despotism, + Mrs. Eddy's character is embalmed for good and all. I think a + particularized examination of these Church-laws will be found interesting. + And not the less so if we keep in mind that they were “impelled by a power + not one's own,” as she says—Anglice—the inspiration of God. + </p> + <p> + It is a Church “without a creed.” Still, it has one. Mrs. Eddy draughted + it—and copyrighted it. In her own name. You cannot become a member + of the Mother-Church (nor of any Christian Science Church) without signing + it. It forms the first chapter of the By-laws, and is called “Tenets.” + “Tenets of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist.” It + has no hell in it—it throws it overboard. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PASTOR EMERITUS + </h2> + <p> + About the time of the reorganization, Mrs. Eddy retired from her position + of pastor of her Church, abolished the office of pastor in all branch + Churches, and appointed her book, Science and Health, to be + pastor-universal. Mrs. Eddy did not disconnect herself from the office + entirely, when she retired, but appointed herself Pastor Emeritus. It is a + misleading title, and belongs to the family of that phrase “without a + creed.” It advertises her as being a merely honorary official, with + nothing to do, and no authority. The Czar of Russia is Emperor Emeritus on + the same terms. Mrs. Eddy was Autocrat of the Church before, with + limitless authority, and she kept her grip on that limitless authority + when she took that fictitious title. + </p> + <p> + It is curious and interesting to note with what an unerring instinct the + Pastor Emeritus has thought out and forecast all possible encroachments + upon her planned autocracy, and barred the way against them, in the + By-laws which she framed and copyrighted—under the guidance of the + Supreme Being. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS + </h2> + <p> + For instance, when Article I. speaks of a President and Board of + Directors, you think you have discovered a formidable check upon the + powers and ambitions of the honorary pastor, the ornamental pastor, the + functionless pastor, the Pastor Emeritus, but it is a mistake. These great + officials are of the phrase—family of the Church-Without-a-Creed and + the Pastor-With-Nothing-to-Do; that is to say, of the family of + Large-Names-Which-Mean-Nothing. The Board is of so little consequence that + the By-laws do not state how it is chosen, nor who does it; but they do + state, most definitely, that the Board cannot fill a vacancy in its number + “except the candidate is approved by the Pastor Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + The “candidate.” The Board cannot even proceed to an election until the + Pastor Emeritus has examined the list and squelched such candidates as are + not satisfactory to her. + </p> + <p> + Whether the original first Board began as the personal property of Mrs. + Eddy or not, it is foreseeable that in time, under this By-law, she would + own it. Such a first Board might chafe under such a rule as that, and try + to legislate it out of existence some day. But Mrs. Eddy was awake. She + foresaw that danger, and added this ingenious and effective clause: + </p> + <p> + “This By-law can neither be amended nor annulled, except by consent of + Mrs. Eddy, the Pastor Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE PRESIDENT + </h2> + <h3> + The Board of Directors, or Serfs, or Ciphers, elects the President. + </h3> + <p> + On these clearly worded terms: “Subject to the approval of the Pastor + Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + Therefore She elects him. + </p> + <p> + A long term can invest a high official with influence and power, and make + him dangerous. Mrs. Eddy reflected upon that; so she limits the + President's term to a year. She has a capable commercial head, an + organizing head, a head for government. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TREASURER AND CLERK + </h2> + <p> + There are a Treasurer and a Clerk. They are elected by the Board of + Directors. That is to say, by Mrs. Eddy. + </p> + <p> + Their terms of office expire on the first Tuesday in June of each year, + “or upon the election of their successors.” They must be watchfully + obedient and satisfactory to her, or she will elect and install their + successors with a suddenness that can be unpleasant to them. It goes + without saying that the Treasurer manages the Treasury to suit Mrs. Eddy, + and is in fact merely Temporary Deputy Treasurer. + </p> + <p> + Apparently the Clerk has but two duties to perform: to read messages from + Mrs. Eddy to First Members assembled in solemn Council, and provide lists + of candidates for Church membership. The select body entitled First + Members are the aristocracy of the Mother-Church, the Charter Members, the + Aborigines, a sort of stylish but unsalaried little College of Cardinals, + good for show, but not indispensable. Nobody is indispensable in Mrs. + Eddy's empire; she sees to that. + </p> + <p> + When the Pastor Emeritus sends a letter or message to that little + Sanhedrin, it is the Clerk's “imperative duty” to read it “at the place + and time specified.” Otherwise, the world might come to an end. These are + fine, large frills, and remind us of the ways of emperors and such. Such + do not use the penny-post, they send a gilded and painted special + messenger, and he strides into the Parliament, and business comes to a + sudden and solemn and awful stop; and in the impressive hush that follows, + the Chief Clerk reads the document. It is his “imperative duty.” If he + should neglect it, his official life would end. It is the same with this + Mother-Church Clerk; “if he fail to perform this important function of his + office,” certain majestic and unshirkable solemnities must follow: a + special meeting “shall” be called; a member of the Church “shall” make + formal complaint; then the Clerk “shall” be “removed from office.” + Complaint is sufficient, no trial is necessary. + </p> + <p> + There is something very sweet and juvenile and innocent and pretty about + these little tinsel vanities, these grave apings of monarchical fuss and + feathers and ceremony, here on our ostentatiously democratic soil. She is + the same lady that we found in the Autobiography, who was so naively vain + of all that little ancestral military riffraff that she had dug up and + annexed. A person's nature never changes. What it is in childhood, it + remains. Under pressure, or a change of interest, it can partially or + wholly disappear from sight, and for considerable stretches of time, but + nothing can ever permanently modify it, nothing can ever remove it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOARD OF TRUSTEES + </h2> + <p> + There isn't any—now. But with power and money piling up higher and + higher every day and the Church's dominion spreading daily wider and + farther, a time could come when the envious and ambitious could start the + idea that it would be wise and well to put a watch upon these assets—a + watch equipped with properly large authority. By custom, a Board of + Trustees. Mrs. Eddy has foreseen that probability—for she is a woman + with a long, long look ahead, the longest look ahead that ever a woman had—and + she has provided for that emergency. In Art. I., Sec. 5, she has decreed + that no Board of Trustees shall ever exist in the Mother-Church “except it + be constituted by the Pastor Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + The magnificence of it, the daring of it! Thus far, she is: + </p> + <p> + The Massachusetts Metaphysical College; Pastor Emeritus; President; Board + of Directors; Treasurer; Clerk; and future Board of Trustees; + </p> + <p> + and is still moving onward, ever onward. When I contemplate her from a + commercial point of view, there are no words that can convey my admiration + of her. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + READERS + </h2> + <p> + These are a feature of first importance in the church-machinery of + Christian Science. For they occupy the pulpit. They hold the place that + the preacher holds in the other Christian Churches. They hold that place, + but they do not preach. Two of them are on duty at a time—a man and + a woman. One reads a passage from the Bible, the other reads the + explanation of it from Science and Health—and so they go on + alternating. This constitutes the service—this, with choir-music. + They utter no word of their own. Art. IV., Sec. 6, closes their mouths + with this uncompromising gag: + </p> + <p> + “They shall make no remarks explanatory of the Lesson-Sermon at any time + during the service.” + </p> + <p> + It seems a simple little thing. One is not startled by it at a first + reading of it; nor at the second, nor the third. One may have to read it a + dozen times before the whole magnitude of it rises before the mind. It far + and away oversizes and outclasses the best business-idea yet invented for + the safe-guarding and perpetuating of a religion. If it had been thought + of and put in force eighteen hundred and seventy years ago, there would be + but one Christian sect in the world now, instead of ten dozens of them. + </p> + <p> + There are many varieties of men in the world, consequently there are many + varieties of minds in its pulpits. This insures many differing + interpretations of important Scripture texts, and this in turn insures the + splitting up of a religion into many sects. It is what has happened; it + was sure to happen. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy has noted this disastrous result of preaching, and has put up + the bars. She will have no preaching in her Church. She has explained all + essential Scriptures, and set the explanations down in her book. In her + belief her underlings cannot improve upon those explanations, and in that + stern sentence “they shall make no explanatory remarks” she has barred + them for all time from trying. She will be obeyed; there is no question + about that. + </p> + <p> + In arranging her government she has borrowed ideas from various sources—not + poor ones, but the best in the governmental market—but this one is + new, this one came out of no ordinary business-head, this one must have + come out of her own, there has been no other commercial skull in a + thousand centuries that was equal to it. She has borrowed freely and + wisely, but I am sure that this idea is many times larger than all her + borrowings bulked together. One must respect the business-brain that + produced it—the splendid pluck and impudence that ventured to + promulgate it, anyway. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ELECTION OF READERS + </h2> + <p> + Readers are not taken at hap-hazard, any more than preachers are taken at + hap-hazard for the pulpits of other sects. No, Readers are elected by the + Board of Directors. But— + </p> + <p> + “Section 3. The Board shall inform the Pas. for Emeritus of the names of + candidates for Readers before they are elected, and if she objects to the + nomination, said candidates shall not be chosen.” + </p> + <p> + Is that an election—by the Board? Thus far I have not been able to + find out what that Board of Spectres is for. It certainly has no real + function, no duty which the hired girl could not perform, no office beyond + the mere recording of the autocrat's decrees. + </p> + <p> + There are no dangerously long office-terms in Mrs. Eddy's government. The + Readers are elected for but one year. This insures their subserviency to + their proprietor. + </p> + <p> + Readers are not allowed to copy out passages and read them from the + manuscript in the pulpit; they must read from Mrs. Eddy's book itself. She + is right. Slight changes could be slyly made, repeated, and in time get + acceptance with congregations. Branch sects could grow out of these + practices. Mrs. Eddy knows the human race, and how far to trust it. Her + limit is not over a quarter of an inch. It is all that a wise person will + risk. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy's inborn disposition to copyright everything, charter + everything, secure the rightful and proper credit to herself for + everything she does, and everything she thinks she does, and everything + she thinks, and everything she thinks she thinks or has thought or intends + to think, is illustrated in Sec. 5 of Art. IV., defining the duties of + official Readers—in church: + </p> + <p> + “Naming Book and Author. The Reader of Science and Health, with Key to the + Scriptures, before commencing to read from this book, shall distinctly + announce its full title and give the author's name.” + </p> + <p> + Otherwise the congregation might get the habit of forgetting who + (ostensibly) wrote the book. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ARISTOCRACY + </h2> + <p> + This consists of First Members and their apostolic succession. It is a + close corporation, and its membership limit is one hundred. Forty will + answer, but if the number fall below that, there must be an election, to + fill the grand quorum. + </p> + <p> + This Sanhedrin can't do anything of the slightest importance, but it can + talk. It can “discuss.” That is, it can discuss “important questions + relative to Church members”, evidently persons who are already Church + members. This affords it amusement, and does no harm. + </p> + <p> + It can “fix the salaries of the Readers.” + </p> + <p> + Twice a year it “votes on” admitting candidates. That is, for Church + membership. But its work is cut out for it beforehand, by Art. IX.: + </p> + <p> + “Every recommendation for membership In the Church 'shall be countersigned + by a loyal student of Mrs. Eddy's, by a Director of this Church, or by a + First Member.'” + </p> + <p> + All these three classes of beings are the personal property of Mrs. Eddy. + She has absolute control of the elections. + </p> + <p> + Also it must “transact any Church business that may properly come before + it.” + </p> + <p> + “Properly” is a thoughtful word. No important business can come before it. + The By laws have attended to that. No important business goes before any + one for the final word except Mrs. Eddy. She has looked to that. + </p> + <p> + The Sanhedrin “votes on” candidates for admission to its own body. But is + its vote worth any more than mine would be? No, it isn't. Sec. 4, of Art. + V.—Election of First Members—makes this quite plain: + </p> + <p> + “Before being elected, the candidates for First Members shall be approved + by the Pastor Emeritus over her own signature.” + </p> + <p> + Thus the Sanhedrin is the personal property of Mrs. Eddy. She owns it. It + has no functions, no authority, no real existence. It is another Board of + Shadows. Mrs. Eddy is the Sanhedrin herself. + </p> + <p> + But it is time to foot up again and “see where we are at.” Thus far, Mrs. + Eddy is: + </p> + <p> + The Massachusetts Metaphysical College; Pastor Emeritus, President; Board + of Directors; Treasurer; Clerk; Future Board of Trustees; Proprietor of + the Priesthood: Dictator of the Services; Proprietor of the Sanhedrin. She + has come far, and is still on her way. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHURCH MEMBERSHIP + </h2> + <p> + In this Article there is another exhibition of a couple of the large + features of Mrs. Eddy's remarkable make-up: her business-talent and her + knowledge of human nature. + </p> + <p> + She does not beseech and implore people to join her Church. She knows the + human race better than that. She gravely goes through the motions of + reluctantly granting admission to the applicant as a favor to him. The + idea is worth untold shekels. She does not stand at the gate of the fold + with welcoming arms spread, and receive the lost sheep with glad emotion + and set up the fatted calf and invite the neighbor and have a time. No, + she looks upon him coldly, she snubs him, she says: + </p> + <p> + “Who are you? Who is your sponsor? Who asked you to come here? Go away, + and don't come again until you are invited.” + </p> + <p> + It is calculated to strikingly impress a person accustomed to Moody and + Sankey and Sam Jones revivals; accustomed to brain-turning appeals to the + unknown and unendorsed sinner to come forward and enter into the joy, etc.—“just + as he is”; accustomed to seeing him do it; accustomed to seeing him pass + up the aisle through sobbing seas of welcome, and love, and + congratulation, and arrive at the mourner's bench and be received like a + long-lost government bond. + </p> + <p> + No, there is nothing of that kind in Mrs. Eddy's system. She knows that if + you wish to confer upon a human being something which he is not sure he + wants, the best way is to make it apparently difficult for him to get it—then + he is no son of Adam if that apple does not assume an interest in his eyes + which it lacked before. In time this interest can grow into desire. Mrs. + Eddy knows that when you cannot get a man to try—free of cost—a + new and effective remedy for a disease he is afflicted with, you can + generally sell it to him if you will put a price upon it which he cannot + afford. When, in the beginning, she taught Christian Science gratis (for + good reasons), pupils were few and reluctant, and required persuasion; it + was when she raised the limit to three hundred dollars for a dollar's + worth that she could not find standing room for the invasion of pupils + that followed. + </p> + <p> + With fine astuteness she goes through the motions of making it difficult + to get membership in her Church. There is a twofold value in this system: + it gives membership a high value in the eyes of the applicant; and at the + same time the requirements exacted enable Mrs. Eddy to keep him out if she + has doubts about his value to her. A word further as to applications for + membership: + </p> + <p> + “Applications of students of the Metaphysical College must be signed by + the Board of Directors.” + </p> + <p> + That is safe. Mrs. Eddy is proprietor of that Board. + </p> + <p> + Children of twelve may be admitted if invited by “one of Mrs. Eddy's loyal + students, or by a First Member, or by a Director.” + </p> + <p> + These sponsors are the property of Mrs. Eddy, therefore her Church is + safeguarded from the intrusion of undesirable children. + </p> + <p> + Other Students. Applicants who have not studied with Mrs. Eddy can get in + only “by invitation and recommendation from students of Mrs. Eddy.... or + from members of the Mother-Church.” + </p> + <p> + Other paragraphs explain how two or three other varieties of applicants + are to be challenged and obstructed, and tell us who is authorized to + invite them, recommend them endorse them, and all that. + </p> + <p> + The safeguards are definite, and would seem to be sufficiently strenuous—to + Mr. Sam Jones, at any rate. Not for Mrs. Eddy. She adds this clincher: + </p> + <p> + “The candidates be elected by a majority vote of the First Members + present.” + </p> + <p> + That is the aristocracy, the aborigines, the Sanhedrin. It is Mrs. Eddy's + property. She herself is the Sanhedrin. No one can get into the Church if + she wishes to keep him out. + </p> + <p> + This veto power could some time or other have a large value for her, + therefore she was wise to reserve it. + </p> + <p> + It is likely that it is not frequently used. It is also probable that the + difficulties attendant upon getting admission to membership have been + instituted more to invite than to deter, more to enhance the value of + membership and make people long for it than to make it really difficult to + get. I think so, because the Mother. Church has many thousands of members + more than its building can accommodate. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AND SOME ENGLISH REQUIRED + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is very particular as regards one detail curiously so, for her, + all things considered. The Church Readers must be “good English scholars”; + they must be “thorough English scholars.” + </p> + <p> + She is thus sensitive about the English of her subordinates for cause, + possibly. In her chapter defining the duties of the Clerk there is an + indication that she harbors resentful memories of an occasion when the + hazy quality of her own English made unforeseen and mortifying trouble: + </p> + <p> + “Understanding Communications. Sec. 2. If the Clerk of this Church shall + receive a communication from the Pastor Emeritus which he does not fully + understand, he shall inform her of this fact before presenting it to the + Church, and obtain a clear understanding of the matter—then act in + accordance therewith.” + </p> + <p> + She should have waited to calm down, then, but instead she added this, + which lacks sugar: + </p> + <p> + “Failing to adhere to this By-law, the Clerk must resign.” + </p> + <p> + I wish I could see that communication that broke the camel's back. It was + probably the one beginning: “What plague spot or bacilli were gnawing at + the heart of this metropolis and bringing it on bended knee?” and I think + it likely that the kindly disposed Clerk tried to translate it into + English and lost his mind and had to go to the hospital. That Bylaw was + not the offspring of a forecast, an intuition, it was certainly born of a + sorrowful experience. Its temper gives the fact away. + </p> + <p> + The little book of By-laws has manifestly been tinkered by one of Mrs. + Eddy's “thorough English scholars,” for in the majority of cases its + meanings are clear. The book is not even marred by Mrs. Eddy's peculiar + specialty—lumbering clumsinesses of speech. I believe the salaried + polisher has weeded them all out but one. In one place, after referring to + Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy goes on to say “the Bible and the + above-named book, with other works by the same author,” etc. + </p> + <p> + It is an unfortunate sentence, for it could mislead a hasty or careless + reader for a moment. Mrs. Eddy framed it—it is her very own—it + bears her trade-mark. “The Bible and Science and Health, with other works + by the same author,” could have come from no literary vacuum but the one + which produced the remark (in the Autobiography): “I remember reading, in + my childhood, certain manuscripts containing Scriptural Sonnets, besides + other verses and enigmas.” + </p> + <p> + We know what she means, in both instances, but a low-priced Clerk would + not necessarily know, and on a salary like his he could quite excusably + aver that the Pastor Emeritus had commanded him to come and make + proclamation that she was author of the Bible, and that she was thinking + of discharging some Scriptural sonnets and other enigmas upon the + congregation. It could lose him his place, but it would not be fair, if it + happened before the edict about “Understanding Communications” was + promulgated. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “READERS” AGAIN + </h2> + <p> + The By-law book makes a showy pretence of orderliness and system, but it + is only a pretence. I will not go so far as to say it is a harum-scarum + jumble, for it is not that, but I think it fair to say it is at least + jumbulacious in places. For instance, Articles III. and IV. set forth in + much detail the qualifications and duties of Readers, she then skips some + thirty pages and takes up the subject again. It looks like slovenliness, + but it may be only art. The belated By-law has a sufficiently quiet look, + but it has a ton of dynamite in it. It makes all the Christian Science + Church Readers on the globe the personal chattels of Mrs. Eddy. Whenever + she chooses, she can stretch her long arm around the world's fat belly and + flirt a Reader out of his pulpit, though he be tucked away in seeming + safety and obscurity in a lost village in the middle of China: + </p> + <p> + “In any Church. Sec. 2. The Pastor Emeritus of the Mother-Church shall + have the right (through a letter addressed to the individual and Church of + which he is the Reader) to remove a Reader from this office in any Church + of Christ, Scientist, both in America and in foreign nations; or to + appoint the Reader to fill any office belonging to the Christian Science + denomination.” + </p> + <p> + She does not have to prefer charges against him, she does not have to find + him lazy, careless, incompetent, untidy, ill-mannered, unholy, dishonest, + she does not have to discover a fault of any kind in him, she does not + have to tell him nor his congregation why she dismisses and disgraces him + and insults his meek flock, she does not have to explain to his family why + she takes the bread out of their mouths and turns them out-of-doors + homeless and ashamed in a strange land; she does not have to do anything + but send a letter and say: “Pack!—and ask no questions!” + </p> + <p> + Has the Pope this power?—the other Pope—the one in Rome. Has + he anything approaching it? Can he turn a priest out of his pulpit and + strip him of his office and his livelihood just upon a whim, a caprice, + and meanwhile furnishing no reasons to the parish? Not in America. And not + elsewhere, we may believe. + </p> + <p> + It is odd and strange, to see intelligent and educated people among us + worshipping this self-seeking and remorseless tyrant as a God. This + worship is denied—by persons who are themselves worshippers of Mrs. + Eddy. I feel quite sure that it is a worship which will continue during + ages. + </p> + <p> + That Mrs. Eddy wrote that amazing By-law with her own hand we have much + better evidence than her word. We have her English. It is there. It cannot + be imitated. She ought never to go to the expense of copyrighting her + verbal discharges. When any one tries to claim them she should call me; I + can always tell them from any other literary apprentice's at a glance. It + was like her to call America a “nation”; she would call a sand-bar a + nation if it should fall into a sentence in which she was speaking of + peoples, for she would not know how to untangle it and get it out and + classify it by itself. And the closing arrangement of that By-law is in + true Eddysonian form, too. In it she reserves authority to make a Reader + fill any office connected with a Science church-sexton, grave-digger, + advertising-agent, Annex-polisher, leader of the choir, President, + Director, Treasurer, Clerk, etc. She did not mean that. She already + possessed that authority. She meant to clothe herself with power, despotic + and unchallengeable, to appoint all Science Readers to their offices, both + at home and abroad. The phrase “or to appoint” is another miscarriage of + intention; she did not mean “or,” she meant “and.” + </p> + <p> + That By-law puts into Mrs. Eddy's hands absolute command over the most + formidable force and influence existent in the Christian Science kingdom + outside of herself, and it does this unconditionally and (by auxiliary + force of Laws already quoted) irrevocably. Still, she is not quite + satisfied. Something might happen, she doesn't know what. Therefore she + drives in one more nail, to make sure, and drives it deep: + </p> + <p> + “This By-law can neither be amended nor annulled, except by consent of the + Pastor Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + Let some one with a wild and delirious fancy try and see if he can imagine + her furnishing that consent. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MONOPOLY OF SPIRITUAL BREAD + </h2> + <p> + Very properly, the first qualification for membership in the Mother-Church + is belief in the doctrines of Christian Science. + </p> + <p> + But these doctrines must not be gathered from secondary sources. There is + but one recognized source. The candidate must be a believer in the + doctrines of Christian Science “according to the platform and teaching + contained in the Christian Science text-book, 'Science and Health, with + Key to the Scriptures,' by Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy.” + </p> + <p> + That is definite, and is final. There are to be no commentaries, no + labored volumes of exposition and explanation by anybody except Mrs. Eddy. + Because such things could sow error, create warring opinions, split the + religion into sects, and disastrously cripple its power. Mrs. Eddy will do + the whole of the explaining, Herself—has done it, in fact. She has + written several books. They are to be had (for cash in advance), they are + all sacred; additions to them can never be needed and will never be + permitted. They tell the candidate how to instruct himself, how to teach + others, how to do all things comprised in the business—and they + close the door against all would-be competitors, and monopolize the trade: + </p> + <p> + “The Bible and the above—named book [Science and Health], with other + works by the same author,” must be his only text-books for the commerce—he + cannot forage outside. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy's words are to be the sole elucidators of the Bible and Science + and Health—forever. Throughout the ages, whenever there is doubt as + to the meaning of a passage in either of these books the inquirer will not + dream of trying to explain it to himself; he would shudder at the thought + of such temerity, such profanity, he would be haled to the Inquisition and + thence to the public square and the stake if he should be caught studying + into text-meanings on his own hook; he will be prudent and seek the + meanings at the only permitted source, Mrs. Eddy's commentaries. + </p> + <p> + Value of this Strait-jacket. One must not underrate the magnificence of + this long-headed idea, one must not underestimate its giant possibilities + in the matter of trooping the Church solidly together and keeping it so. + It squelches independent inquiry, and makes such a thing impossible, + profane, criminal, it authoritatively settles every dispute that can + arise. It starts with finality—a point which the Roman Church has + travelled towards fifteen or sixteen centuries, stage by stage, and has + not yet reached. The matter of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin + Mary was not authoritatively settled until the days of Pius IX.—yesterday, + so to speak. + </p> + <p> + As already noticed, the Protestants are broken up into a long array of + sects, a result of disputes about the meanings of texts, disputes made + unavoidable by the absence of an infallible authority to submit doubtful + passages to. A week or two ago (I am writing in the middle of January, + 1903), the clergy and others hereabouts had a warm dispute in the papers + over this question: Did Jesus anywhere claim to be God? It seemed an easy + question, but it turned out to be a hard one. It was ably and elaborately + discussed, by learned men of several denominations, but in the end it + remained unsettled. + </p> + <p> + A week ago, another discussion broke out. It was over this text: + </p> + <p> + “Sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor.” + </p> + <p> + One verdict was worded as follows: + </p> + <p> + “When Christ answered the rich young man and said for him to give to the + poor all he possessed or he could not gain everlasting life, He did not + mean it in the literal sense. My interpretation of His words is that we + should part with what comes between us and Christ. + </p> + <p> + “There is no doubt that Jesus believed that the rich young man thought + more of his wealth than he did of his soul, and, such being the case, it + was his duty to give up the wealth. + </p> + <p> + “Every one of us knows that there is something we should give up for + Christ. Those who are true believers and followers know what they have + given up, and those who are not yet followers know down in their hearts + what they must give up.” + </p> + <p> + Ten clergymen of various denominations were interviewed, and nine of them + agreed with that verdict. That did not settle the matter, because the + tenth said the language of Jesus was so strait and definite that it + explained itself: “Sell all,” not a percentage. + </p> + <p> + There is a most unusual feature about that dispute: the nine persons who + decided alike, quoted not a single authority in support of their position. + I do not know when I have seen trained disputants do the like of that + before. The nine merely furnished their own opinions, founded upon—nothing + at all. In the other dispute (“Did Jesus anywhere claim to be God?”) the + same kind of men—trained and learned clergymen—backed up their + arguments with chapter and verse. On both sides. Plenty of verses. Were no + reinforcing verses to be found in the present case? It looks that way. + </p> + <p> + The opinion of the nine seems strange to me, for it is unsupported by + authority, while there was at least constructive authority for the + opposite view. + </p> + <p> + It is hair-splitting differences of opinion over disputed text-meanings + that have divided into many sects a once united Church. One may infer from + some of the names in the following list that some of the differences are + very slight—so slight as to be not distinctly important, perhaps—yet + they have moved groups to withdraw from communions to which they belonged + and set up a sect of their own. The list—accompanied by various + Church statistics for 1902, compiled by Rev. Dr. H. K. Carroll—was + published, January 8, 1903, in the New York Christian Advocate: + </p> + <p> + Adventists (6 bodies), Baptists (13 bodies), Brethren (Plymouth) (4 + bodies), Brethren (River) (3 bodies), Catholics (8 bodies), Catholic + Apostolic, Christadelphians, Christian Connection, Christian Catholics, + Christian Missionary Association, Christian Scientists, Church of God + (Wine-brennarian), Church of the New Jerusalem, Congregationalists, + Disciples of Christ, Dunkards (4 bodies), Evangelical (2 bodies), Friends + (4 bodies), Friends of the Temple, German Evangelical Protestant, German + Evangelical Synod, Independent congregations, Jews (2 bodies), Latter-day + Saints (2 bodies), Lutherans (22 bodies), Mennonites (12 bodies), + Methodists (17 bodies), Moravians, Presbyterians (12 bodies), Protestant + Episcopal (2 bodies), Reformed (3 bodies), Schwenkfeldians, Social + Brethren, Spiritualists, Swedish Evangelical Miss. Covenant + (Waldenstromians), Unitarians, United Brethren (2 bodies), Universalists. + </p> + <p> + Total of sects and splits—139. + </p> + <p> + In the present month (February), Mr. E. I. Lindh, A.M., has communicated + to the Boston Transcript a hopeful article on the solution of the problem + of the “divided church.” Divided is not too violent a term. Subdivided + could have been permitted if he had thought of it. He came near thinking + of it, for he mentions some of the subdivisions himself: “the 12 kinds of + Presbyterians, the 17 kinds of Methodists, the 13 kinds of Baptists, etc.” + He overlooked the 12 kinds of Mennonites and the 22 kinds of Lutherans, + but they are in Rev. Mr. Carroll's list. Altogether, 76 splits under 5 + flags. The Literary Digest (February 14th) is pleased with Mr. Lindh's + optimistic article, and also with the signs of the times, and perceives + that “the idea of Church unity is in the air.” + </p> + <p> + Now, then, is not Mrs. Eddy profoundly wise in forbidding, for all time, + all explanations of her religion except such as she shall let on to be her + own? + </p> + <p> + I think so. I think there can be no doubt of it. In a way, they will be + her own; for, no matter which member of her clerical staff shall furnish + the explanations, not a line of them will she ever allow to be printed + until she shall have approved it, accepted it, copyrighted it, cabbaged + it. We may depend on that with a four-ace confidence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE NEW INFALLIBILITY + </h2> + <p> + All in proper time Mrs. Eddy's factory will take hold of that Commandment, + and explain it for good and all. It may be that one member of the shift + will vote that the word “all” means all; it may be that ten members of the + shift will vote that “all” means only a percentage; but it is Mrs. Eddy, + not the eleven, who will do the deciding. And if she says it is + percentage, then percentage it is, forevermore—and that is what I am + expecting, for she doesn't sell all herself, nor any considerable part of + it, and as regards the poor, she doesn't declare any dividend; but if she + says “all” means all, then all it is, to the end of time, and no follower + of hers will ever be allowed to reconstruct that text, or shrink it, or + inflate it, or meddle with it in any way at all. Even to-day—right + here in the beginning—she is the sole person who, in the matter of + Christian Science exegesis, is privileged to exploit the Spiral Twist. The + Christian world has two Infallibles now. + </p> + <p> + Of equal power? For the present only. When Leo XIII. passes to his rest + another Infallible will ascend his throne; others, and yet others, and + still others will follow him, and be as infallible as he, and decide + questions of doctrine as long as they may come up, all down the far + future; but Mary Baker G. Eddy is the only Infallible that will ever + occupy the Science throne. Many a Science Pope will succeed her, but she + has closed their mouths; they will repeat and reverently praise and adore + her infallibilities, but venture none themselves. In her grave she will + still outrank all other Popes, be they of what Church they may. She will + hold the supremest of earthly titles, The Infallible—with a capital + T. Many in the world's history have had a hunger for such nuggets and + slices of power as they might reasonably hope to grab out of an empire's + or a religion's assets, but Mrs. Eddy is the only person alive or dead who + has ever struck for the whole of them. For small things she has the eye of + a microscope, for large ones the eye of a telescope, and whatever she + sees, she wants. Wants it all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SACRED POEMS + </h2> + <p> + When Mrs. Eddy's “sacred revelations” (that is the language of the + By-laws) are read in public, their authorship must be named. The By-laws + twice command this, therefore we mention it twice, to be fair. + </p> + <p> + But it is also commanded that when a member publicly quotes “from the + poems of our Pastor Emeritus” the authorship shall be named. For these are + sacred, too. There are kindly people who may suspect a hidden generosity + in that By-law; they may think it is there to protect the Official Reader + from the suspicion of having written the poems himself. Such do not know + Mrs. Eddy. She does an inordinate deal of protecting, but in no distinctly + named and specified case in her history has Number Two been the object of + it. Instances have been claimed, but they have failed of proof, and even + of plausibility. + </p> + <p> + “Members shall also instruct their students” to look out and advertise the + authorship when they read those poems and things. Not on Mrs. Eddy's + account, but “for the good of our Cause.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CHURCH EDIFICE + </h2> + <p> + 1. Mrs. Eddy gave the land. It was not of much value at the time, but it + is very valuable now. 2. Her people built the Mother-Church edifice on it, + at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 3. Then they gave the + whole property to her. 4. Then she gave it to the Board of Directors. She + is the Board of Directors. She took it out of one pocket and put it in the + other. 5. Sec. 10 (of the deed). “Whenever said Directors shall determine + that it is inexpedient to maintain preaching, reading, or speaking in said + church in accordance with the terms of this deed, they are authorized and + required to reconvey forthwith said lot of land with the building thereon + to Mary Baker G. Eddy, her heirs and assigns forever, by a proper deed of + conveyance.” + </p> + <p> + She is never careless, never slipshod, about a matter of business. Owning + the property through her Board of Waxworks was safe enough, still it was + sound business to set another grip on it to cover accidents, and she did + it. Her barkers (what a curious name; I wonder if it is copyrighted); her + barkers persistently advertise to the public her generosity in giving away + a piece of land which cost her a trifle, and a two—hundred—and—fifty—thousand—dollar + church which cost her nothing; and they can hardly speak of the + unselfishness of it without breaking down and crying; yet they know she + gave nothing away, and never intended to. However, such is the human race. + Often it does seem such a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the + boat. + </p> + <p> + Some of the hostiles think that Mrs. Eddy's idea in protecting this + property in the interest of her heirs, and in accumulating a great money + fortune, is, that she may leave her natural heirs well provided for when + she goes. I think it is a mistake. I think she is of late years giving + herself large concern about only one interest-her power and glory, and the + perpetuation and worship of her Name—with a capital N. Her Church is + her pet heir, and I think it will get her wealth. It is the torch which is + to light the world and the ages with her glory. + </p> + <p> + I think she once prized money for the ease and comfort it could bring, the + showy vanities it could furnish, and the social promotion it could + command; for we have seen that she was born into the world with little + ways and instincts and aspirations and affectations that are duplicates of + our own. I do not think her money-passion has ever diminished in ferocity, + I do not think that she has ever allowed a dollar that had no friends to + get by her alive, but I think her reason for wanting it has changed. I + think she wants it now to increase and establish and perpetuate her power + and glory with, not to add to her comforts and luxuries, not to furnish + paint and fuss and feathers for vain display. I think her ambitions have + soared away above the fuss-and-feather stage. She still likes the little + shows and vanities—a fact which she exposed in a public utterance + two or three days ago when she was not noticing—but I think she does + not place a large value upon them now. She could build a mighty and + far-shining brass-mounted palace if she wanted to, but she does not do it. + She would have had that kind of an ambition in the early scrabbling times. + She could go to England to-day and be worshiped by earls, and get a + comet's attention from the million, if she cared for such things. She + would have gone in the early scrabbling days for much less than an earl, + and been vain of it, and glad to show off before the remains of the Scotch + kin. But those things are very small to her now—next to invisible, + observed through the cloud-rack from the dizzy summit where she perches in + these great days. She does not want that church property for herself. It + is worth but a quarter of a million—a sum she could call in from her + far-spread flocks to-morrow with a lift of her hand. Not a squeeze of it, + just a lift. It would come without a murmur; come gratefully, come gladly. + And if her glory stood in more need of the money in Boston than it does + where her flocks are propagating it, she would lift the hand, I think. + </p> + <p> + She is still reaching for the Dollar, she will continue to reach for it; + but not that she may spend it upon herself; not that she may spend it upon + charities; not that she may indemnify an early deprivation and clothe + herself in a blaze of North Adams gauds; not that she may have nine breeds + of pie for breakfast, as only the rich New-Englander can; not that she may + indulge any petty material vanity or appetite that once was hers and + prized and nursed, but that she may apply that Dollar to statelier uses, + and place it where it may cast the metallic sheen of her glory farthest + across the receding expanses of the globe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PRAYER + </h2> + <p> + A brief and good one is furnished in the book of By-laws. The Scientist is + required to pray it every day. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LORD'S PRAYER-AMENDED + </h2> + <p> + This is not in the By-laws, it is in the first chapter of Science and + Health, edition of 1902. I do not find it in the edition of 1884. It is + probable that it had not at that time been handed down. Science and + Health's (latest) rendering of its “spiritual sense” is as follows: + </p> + <p> + “Our Father-Mother God' all-harmonious, adorable One. Thy kingdom is + within us, Thou art ever-present. Enable us to know—as in heaven, so + on earth—God is supreme. Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished + affections. And infinite Love is reflected in love. And Love leadeth us + not into temptation, but delivereth from sin, disease, and death. For God + is now and forever all Life, Truth, and Love.” + </p> + <p> + If I thought my opinion was desired and would be properly revered, I + should say that in my judgment that is as good a piece of carpentering as + any of those eleven Commandment—experts could do with the material + after all their practice. I notice only one doubtful place. “Lead us not + into temptation” seems to me to be a very definite request, and that the + new rendering turns the definite request into a definite assertion. I + shall be glad to have that turned back to the old way and the marks of the + Spiral Twist removed, or varnished over; then I shall be satisfied, and + will do the best I can with what is left. At the same time, I do feel that + the shrinkage in our spiritual assets is getting serious. First the + Commandments, now the Prayer. I never expected to see these steady old + reliable securities watered down to this. And this is not the whole of it. + Last summer the Presbyterians extended the Calling and Election suffrage + to nearly everybody entitled to salvation. They did not even stop there, + but let out all the unbaptized American infants we had been accumulating + for two hundred years and more. There are some that believe they would + have let the Scotch ones out, too, if they could have done it. Everything + is going to ruin; in no long time we shall have nothing left but the love + of God. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE NEW UNPARDONABLE SIN + </h2> + <p> + “Working Against the Cause. Sec. 2. If a member of this Church shall work + against the accomplishment of what the Discoverer and Founder of Christian + Science understands is advantageous to the individual, to this Church, and + to the Cause of Christian Science”—out he goes. Forever. + </p> + <p> + The member may think that what he is doing will advance the Cause, but he + is not invited to do any thinking. More than that, he is not permitted to + do any—as he will clearly gather from this By-law. When a person + joins Mrs. Eddy's Church he must leave his thinker at home. Leave it + permanently. To make sure that it will not go off some time or other when + he is not watching, it will be safest for him to spike it. If he should + forget himself and think just once, the By-law provides that he shall be + fired out-instantly-forever-no return. + </p> + <p> + “It shall be the duty of this Church immediately to call a meeting, and + drop forever the name of this member from its records.” + </p> + <p> + My, but it breathes a towering indignation! + </p> + <p> + There are forgivable offenses, but this is not one of them; there are + admonitions, probations, suspensions, in several minor cases; mercy is + shown the derelict, in those cases he is gently used, and in time he can + get back into the fold—even when he has repeated his offence. But + let him think, just once, without getting his thinker set to Eddy time, + and that is enough; his head comes off. There is no second offence, and + there is no gate open to that lost sheep, ever again. + </p> + <p> + “This rule cannot be changed, amended, or annulled, except by unanimous + vote of all the First Members.” + </p> + <p> + The same being Mrs. Eddy. It is naively sly and pretty to see her keep + putting forward First Members, and Boards of This and That, and other + broideries and ruffles of her raiment, as if they were independent + entities, instead of a part of her clothes, and could do things all by + themselves when she was outside of them. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy did not need to copyright the sentence just quoted, its English + would protect it. None but she would have shovelled that comically + superfluous “all” in there. + </p> + <p> + The former Unpardonable Sin has gone out of service. We may frame the new + Christian Science one thus: + </p> + <p> + “Whatsoever Member shall think, and without Our Mother's permission act + upon his think, the same shall be cut off from the Church forever.” + </p> + <p> + It has been said that I make many mistakes about Christian Science through + being ignorant of the spiritual meanings of its terminology. I believe it + is true. I have been misled all this time by that word Member, because + there was no one to tell me that its spiritual meaning was Slave. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AXE AND BLOCK + </h2> + <p> + There is a By-law which forbids Members to practice hypnotism; the penalty + is excommunication. + </p> + <p> + 1. If a member is found to be a mental practitioner—2. Complaint is + to be entered against him—3. By the Pastor Emeritus, and by none + else; 4. No member is allowed to make complaint to her in the matter; 5. + Upon Mrs. Eddy's mere “complaint”—unbacked by evidence or proof, and + without giving the accused a chance to be heard—his name shall be + dropped from this Church. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy has only to say a member is guilty—that is all. That ends + it. It is not a case of he “may” be cut off from Christian Science + salvation, it is a case of he “shall” be. Her serfs must see to it, and + not say a word. + </p> + <p> + Does the other Pope possess this prodigious and irresponsible power? + Certainly not in our day. + </p> + <p> + Some may be curious to know how Mrs. Eddy finds out that a member is + practicing hypnotism, since no one is allowed to come before her throne + and accuse him. She has explained this in Christian Science History, first + and second editions, page 16: + </p> + <p> + “I possess a spiritual sense of what the malicious mental practitioner is + mentally arguing which cannot be deceived; I can discern in the human mind + thoughts, motives, and purposes, and neither mental arguments nor psychic + power can affect this spiritual insight.” + </p> + <p> + A marvelous woman; with a hunger for power such as has never been seen in + the world before. No thing, little or big, that contains any seed or + suggestion of power escapes her avaricious eye; and when once she gets + that eye on it, her remorseless grip follows. There isn't a Christian + Scientist who isn't ecclesiastically as much her property as if she had + bought him and paid for him, and copyrighted him and got a charter. She + cannot be satisfied when she has handcuffed a member, and put a leg-chain + and ball on him and plugged his ears and removed his thinker, she goes on + wrapping needless chains round and round him, just as a spider would. For + she trusts no one, believes in no one's honesty, judges every one by + herself. Although we have seen that she has absolute and irresponsible + command over her spectral Boards and over every official and servant of + her Church, at home and abroad, over every minute detail of her Church's + government, present and future, and can purge her membership of guilty or + suspected persons by various plausible formalities and whenever she will, + she is still not content, but must set her queer mind to work and invent a + way by which she can take a member—any member—by neck and crop + and fling him out without anything resembling a formality at all. + </p> + <p> + She is sole accuser and sole witness, and her testimony is final and + carries uncompromising and irremediable doom with it. + </p> + <p> + The Sole-Witness Court! It should make the Council of Ten and the Council + of Three turn in their graves for shame, to see how little they knew about + satanic concentrations of irresponsible power. Here we have one Accuser, + one Witness, one Judge, one Headsman—and all four bunched together + in Mrs. Eddy, the Inspired of God, His Latest Thought to His People, New + Member of the Holy Family, the Equal of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + When a Member is not satisfactory to Mrs. Eddy, and yet is blameless in + his life and faultless in his membership and in his Christian Science walk + and conversation, shall he hold up his head and tilt his hat over one ear + and imagine himself safe because of these perfections? Why, in that very + moment Mrs. Eddy will cast that spiritual X-ray of hers through his + dungarees and say: + </p> + <p> + “I see his hypnotism working, among his insides—remove him to the + block!” + </p> + <p> + What shall it profit him to know it isn't so? Nothing. His testimony is of + no value. No one wants it, no one will ask for it. He is not present to + offer it (he does not know he has been accused), and if he were there to + offer it, it would not be listened to. + </p> + <p> + It was out of powers approaching Mrs. Eddy's—though not equalling + them—that the Inquisition and the devastations of the Interdict + grew. She will transmit hers. The man born two centuries from now will + think he has arrived in hell; and all in good time he will think he knows + it. Vast concentrations of irresponsible power have never in any age been + used mercifully, and there is nothing to suggest that the Christian + Science Papacy is going to spend money on novelties. + </p> + <p> + Several Christian Scientists have asked me to refrain from prophecy. There + is no prophecy in our day but history. But history is a trustworthy + prophet. History is always repeating itself, because conditions are always + repeating themselves. Out of duplicated conditions history always gets a + duplicate product. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + READING LETTERS AT MEETINGS + </h2> + <p> + I wonder if there is anything a Member can do that will not raise Mrs. + Eddy's jealousy? The By-laws seem to hunt him from pillar to post all the + time, and turn all his thoughts and acts and words into sins against the + meek and lowly new deity of his worship. Apparently her jealousy never + sleeps. Apparently any trifle can offend it, and but one penalty appease + it—excommunication. The By-laws might properly and reasonably be + entitled Laws for the Coddling and Comforting of Our Mother's Petty + Jealousies. The By-law named at the head of this paragraph reads its + transgressor out of the Church if he shall carry a letter from Mrs. Eddy + to the congregation and forget to read it or fail to read the whole of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HONESTY REQUISITE + </h2> + <p> + Dishonest members are to be admonished; if they continue in dishonest + practices, excommunication follows. Considering who it is that draughted + this law, there is a certain amount of humor in it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FURTHER APPLICATIONS OF THE AXE + </h2> + <p> + Here follow the titles of some more By-laws whose infringement is + punishable by excommunication: + </p> + <p> + Silence Enjoined. Misteaching. Departure from Tenets. Violation of + Christian Fellowship. Moral Offences. Illegal Adoption. Broken By-laws. + Violation of By-laws. (What is the difference?) Formulas Forbidden. + Official Advice. (Forbids Tom, Dick, and Harry's clack.) Unworthy of + Membership. Final Excommunication. Organizing Churches. + </p> + <p> + This looks as if Mrs. Eddy had devoted a large share of her time and + talent to inventing ways to get rid of her Church members. Yet in another + place she seems to invite membership. Not in any urgent way, it is true, + still she throws out a bait to such as like notice and distinction (in + other words, the Human Race). Page 82: + </p> + <p> + “It is important that these seemingly strict conditions be complied with, + as the names of the Members of the Mother-Church will be recorded in the + history of the Church and become a part thereof.” + </p> + <p> + We all want to be historical. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MORE SELF-PROTECTIONS + </h2> + <p> + The Hymnal. There is a Christian Science Hymnal. Entrance to it was closed + in 1898. Christian Science students who make hymns nowadays may possibly + get them sung in the Mother-Church, “but not unless approved by the Pastor + Emeritus.” Art. XXVII, Sec. 2. + </p> + <p> + Solo Singers. Mrs. Eddy has contributed the words of three of the hymns in + the Hymnal. Two of them appear in it six times altogether, each of them + being set to three original forms of musical anguish. Mrs. Eddy, always + thoughtful, has promulgated a By-law requiring the singing of one of her + three hymns in the Mother Church “as often as once each month.” It is a + good idea. A congregation could get tired of even Mrs. Eddy's muse in the + course of time, without the cordializing incentive of compulsion. We all + know how wearisome the sweetest and touchingest things can become, through + rep-rep-repetition, and still rep-rep-repetition, and more + rep-rep-repetition-like “the sweet by-and-by, in the sweet by-and-by,” for + instance, and “Tah-rah-rah boom-de-aye”; and surely it is not likely that + Mrs. Eddy's machine has turned out goods that could outwear those great + heart-stirrers, without the assistance of the lash. “O'er Waiting + Harpstrings of the Mind” is pretty good, quite fair to middling—the + whole seven of the stanzas—but repetition would be certain to take + the excitement out of it in the course of time, even if there were + fourteen, and then it would sound like the multiplication table, and would + cease to save. The congregation would be perfectly sure to get tired; in + fact, did get tired—hence the compulsory By-law. It is a measure + born of experience, not foresight. + </p> + <p> + The By-laws say that “if a solo singer shall neglect or refuse to sing + alone” one of those three hymns as often as once a month, and oftener if + so directed by the Board of Directors—which is Mrs. Eddy—the + singer's salary shall be stopped. It is circumstantial evidence that some + soloists neglected this sacrament and others refused it. At least that is + the charitable view to take of it. There is only one other view to take: + that Mrs. Eddy did really foresee that there would be singers who would + some day get tired of doing her hymns and proclaiming the authorship, + unless persuaded by a Bylaw, with a penalty attached. The idea could of + course occur to her wise head, for she would know that a seven-stanza + break might well be a calamitous strain upon a soloist, and that he might + therefore avoid it if unwatched. He could not curtail it, for the whole of + anything that Mrs. Eddy does is sacred, and cannot be cut. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOARD OF EDUCATION + </h2> + <p> + It consists of four members, one of whom is President of it. Its members + are elected annually. Subject to Mrs. Eddy's approval. Art. XXX., Sec. 2. + </p> + <p> + She owns the Board—is the Board. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is President of the Metaphysical College. If at any time she + shall vacate that office, the Directors of the College (that is to say, + Mrs. Eddy) “shall” elect to the vacancy the President of the Board of + Education (which is merely re-electing herself). + </p> + <p> + It is another case of “Pastor Emeritus.” She gives up the shadow of + authority, but keeps a good firm hold on the substance. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PUBLIC TEACHERS + </h2> + <p> + Applicants for admission to this industry must pass a thorough three days' + examination before the Board of Education “in Science and Health, chapter + on 'Recapitulation'; the Platform of Christian Science; page 403 of + Christian Science Practice, from line second to the second paragraph of + page 405; and page 488, second and third paragraphs.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOARD OF LECTURESHIP + </h2> + <p> + The lecturers are exceedingly important servants of Mrs. Eddy, and she + chooses them with great care. Each of them has an appointed territory in + which to perform his duties—in the North, the South, the East, the + West, in Canada, in Great Britain, and so on—and each must stick to + his own territory and not forage beyond its boundaries. I think it goes + without saying—from what we have seen of Mrs. Eddy—that no + lecture is delivered until she has examined and approved it, and that the + lecturer is not allowed to change it afterwards. + </p> + <p> + The members of the Board of Lectureship are elected annually— + </p> + <p> + “Subject to the approval of Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MISSIONARIES + </h2> + <p> + There are but four. They are elected—like the rest of the domestics—annually. + So far as I can discover, not a single servant of the Sacred Household has + a steady job except Mrs. Eddy. It is plain that she trusts no human being + but herself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE BY-LAWS + </h2> + <h3> + The branch Churches are strictly forbidden to use them. + </h3> + <p> + So far as I can see, they could not do it if they wanted to. The By-laws + are merely the voice of the master issuing commands to the servants. There + is nothing and nobody for the servants to re-utter them to. + </p> + <p> + That useless edict is repeated in the little book, a few pages farther on. + There are several other repetitions of prohibitions in the book that could + be spared-they only take up room for nothing. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CREED + </h2> + <p> + It is copyrighted. I do not know why, but I suppose it is to keep + adventurers from some day claiming that they invented it, and not Mrs. + Eddy and that “strange Providence” that has suggested so many clever + things to her. + </p> + <p> + No Change. It is forbidden to change the Creed. That is important, at any + rate. + </p> + <p> + COPYRIGHT + </p> + <p> + I can understand why Mrs. Eddy copyrighted the early editions and + revisions of Science and Health, and why she had a mania for copyrighting + every scrap of every sort that came from her pen in those jejune days when + to be in print probably seemed a wonderful distinction to her in her + provincial obscurity, but why she should continue this delirium in these + days of her godship and her far-spread fame, I cannot explain to myself. + And particularly as regards Science and Health. She knows, now, that that + Annex is going to live for many centuries; and so, what good is a fleeting + forty-two-year copyright going to do it? + </p> + <p> + Now a perpetual copyright would be quite another matter. I would like to + give her a hint. Let her strike for a perpetual copyright on that book. + There is precedent for it. There is one book in the world which bears the + charmed life of perpetual copyright (a fact not known to twenty people in + the world). By a hardy perversion of privilege on the part of the + lawmaking power the Bible has perpetual copyright in Great Britain. There + is no justification for it in fairness, and no explanation of it except + that the Church is strong enough there to have its way, right or wrong. + The recent Revised Version enjoys perpetual copyright, too—a + stronger precedent, even, than the other one. + </p> + <p> + Now, then, what is the Annex but a Revised Version itself? Which of course + it is—Lord's Prayer and all. With that pair of formidable British + precedents to proceed upon, what Congress of ours— + </p> + <p> + But how short-sighted I am. Mrs. Eddy has thought of it long ago. She + thinks of everything. She knows she has only to keep her copyright of 1902 + alive through its first stage of twenty-eight years, and perpetuity is + assured. A Christian Science Congress will reign in the Capitol then. She + probably attaches small value to the first edition (1875). Although it was + a Revelation from on high, it was slim, lank, incomplete, padded with + bales of refuse rags, and puffs from lassoed celebrities to fill it out, + an uncreditable book, a book easily sparable, a book not to be mentioned + in the same year with the sleek, fat, concise, compact, compressed, and + competent Annex of to-day, in its dainty flexible covers, gilt—edges, + rounded corners, twin screw, spiral twist, compensation balance, + Testament-counterfeit, and all that; a book just born to curl up on the + hymn-book-shelf in church and look just too sweet and holy for anything. + Yes, I see now what she was copyrighting that child for. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION + </h2> + <p> + It is true in matters of business Mrs. Eddy thinks of everything. She + thought of an organ, to disseminate the Truth as it was in Mrs. Eddy. + Straightway she started one—the Christian Science Journal. + </p> + <p> + It is true—in matters of business Mrs. Eddy thinks of everything. As + soon as she had got the Christian Science Journal sufficiently in debt to + make its presence on the premises disagreeable to her, it occurred to her + to make somebody a present of it. Which she did, along with its debts. It + was in the summer of 1889. The victim selected was her Church—called, + in those days, The National Christian Scientist Association. + </p> + <p> + She delivered this sorrow to those lambs as a “gift” in consideration of + their “loyalty to our great cause.” + </p> + <p> + Also—still thinking of everything—she told them to retain Mr. + Bailey in the editorship and make Mr. Nixon publisher. We do not know what + it was she had against those men; neither do we know whether she scored on + Bailey or not, we only know that God protected Nixon, and for that I am + sincerely glad, although I do not know Nixon and have never even seen him. + </p> + <p> + Nixon took the Journal and the rest of the Publishing Society's + liabilities, and demonstrated over them during three years, then brought + in his report: + </p> + <p> + “On assuming my duties as publisher, there was not a dollar in the + treasury; but on the contrary the Society owed unpaid printing and paper + bills to the amount of several hundred dollars, not to mention a + contingent liability of many more hundreds”—represented by advance—subscriptions + paid for the Journal and the “Series,” the which goods Mrs. Eddy had not + delivered. And couldn't, very well, perhaps, on a Metaphysical College + income of but a few thousand dollars a day, or a week, or whatever it was + in those magnificently flourishing times. The struggling Journal had + swallowed up those advance-payments, but its “claim” was a severe one and + they had failed to cure it. But Nixon cured it in his diligent three + years, and joyously reported the news that he had cleared off all the + debts and now had a fat six thousand dollars in the bank. + </p> + <p> + It made Mrs. Eddy's mouth water. + </p> + <p> + At the time that Mrs. Eddy had unloaded that dismal gift on to her + National Association, she had followed her inveterate custom: she had tied + a string to its hind leg, and kept one end of it hitched to her belt. We + have seen her do that in the case of the Boston Mosque. When she deeds + property, she puts in that string-clause. It provides that under certain + conditions she can pull the string and land the property in the cherished + home of its happy youth. In the present case she believed that she had + made provision that if at any time the National Christian Science + Association should dissolve itself by a formal vote, she could pull. + </p> + <p> + A year after Nixon's handsome report, she writes the Association that she + has a “unique request to lay before it.” It has dissolved, and she is not + quite sure that the Christian Science Journal has “already fallen into her + hands” by that act, though it “seems” to her to have met with that + accident; so she would like to have the matter decided by a formal vote. + But whether there is a doubt or not, “I see the wisdom,” she says, “of + again owning this Christian Science waif.” + </p> + <p> + I think that that is unassailable evidence that the waif was making money, + hands down. + </p> + <p> + She pulled her gift in. A few years later she donated the Publishing + Society, along with its real estate, its buildings, its plant, its + publications, and its money—the whole worth twenty—two + thousand dollars, and free of debt—to—Well, to the + Mother-Church! + </p> + <p> + That is to say, to herself. There is an account of it in the Christian + Science Journal, and of how she had already made some other handsome gifts—to + her Church—and others to—to her Cause besides “an almost + countless number of private charities” of cloudy amount and otherwise + indefinite. This landslide of generosities overwhelmed one of her literary + domestics. While he was in that condition he tried to express what he + felt: + </p> + <p> + “Let us endeavor to lift up our hearts in thankfulness to... our Mother in + Israel for these evidences of generosity and self-sacrifice that appeal to + our deepest sense of gratitude, even while surpassing our comprehension.” + </p> + <p> + A year or two later, Mrs. Eddy promulgated some By-laws of a + self-sacrificing sort which assuaged him, perhaps, and perhaps enabled his + surpassed comprehension to make a sprint and catch up. These are to be + found in Art. XII., entitled. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY + </h2> + <p> + This Article puts the whole publishing business into the hands of a + publishing Board—special. Mrs. Eddy appoints to its vacancies. + </p> + <p> + The profits go semi-annually to the Treasurer of the Mother-Church. Mrs. + Eddy owns the Treasurer. + </p> + <p> + Editors and publishers of the Christian Science Journal cannot be elected + or removed without Mrs. Eddy's knowledge and consent. + </p> + <p> + Every candidate for employment in a high capacity or a low one, on the + other periodicals or in the publishing house, must first be “accepted by + Mrs. Eddy as suitable.” And “by the Board of Directors”—which is + surplusage, since Mrs. Eddy owns the Board. + </p> + <p> + If at any time a weekly shall be started, “it shall be owned by The First + Church of Christ, Scientist”—which is Mrs. Eddy. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + I think that any one who will carefully examine the By-laws (I have placed + all of the important ones before the reader), will arrive at the + conclusion that of late years the master-passion in Mrs. Eddy's heart is a + hunger for power and glory; and that while her hunger for money still + remains, she wants it now for the expansion and extension it can furnish + to that power and glory, rather than what it can do for her towards + satisfying minor and meaner ambitions. + </p> + <p> + I wish to enlarge a little upon this matter. I think it is quite clear + that the reason why Mrs. Eddy has concentrated in herself all powers, all + distinctions, all revenues that are within the command of the Christian + Science Church Universal is that she desires and intends to devote them to + the purpose just suggested—the upbuilding of her personal glory—hers, + and no one else's; that, and the continuing of her name's glory after she + shall have passed away. If she has overlooked a single power, howsoever + minute, I cannot discover it. If she has found one, large or small, which + she has not seized and made her own, there is no record of it, no trace of + it. In her foragings and depredations she usually puts forward the + Mother-Church—a lay figure—and hides behind it. Whereas, she + is in manifest reality the Mother-Church herself. It has an impressive + array of officials, and committees, and Boards of Direction, of Education, + of Lectureship, and so on—geldings, every one, shadows, spectres, + apparitions, wax-figures: she is supreme over them all, she can abolish + them when she will; blow them out as she would a candle. She is herself + the Mother-Church. Now there is one By-law which says that the + Mother-Church: + </p> + <p> + “shall be officially controlled by no other church.” + </p> + <p> + That does not surprise us—we know by the rest of the By-laws that + that is a quite irrelevant remark. Yet we do vaguely and hazily wonder why + she takes the trouble to say it; why she wastes the words; what her object + can be—seeing that that emergency has been in so many, many ways, + and so effectively and drastically barred off and made impossible. Then + presently the object begins to dawn upon us. That is, it does after we + have read the rest of the By-law three or four times, wondering and + admiring to see Mrs. Eddy—Mrs. Eddy—Mrs. Eddy, of all persons—throwing + away power!—making a fair exchange—doing a fair thing for once + more, an almost generous thing! Then we look it through yet once more + unsatisfied, a little suspicious—and find that it is nothing but a + sly, thin make-believe, and that even the very title of it is a sarcasm + and embodies a falsehood—“self” government: + </p> + <p> + “Local Self-Government. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, + Massachusetts, shall assume no official control of other churches of this + denomination. It shall be officially controlled by no other church.” + </p> + <p> + It has a most pious and deceptive give-and-take air of perfect fairness, + unselfishness, magnanimity—almost godliness, indeed. But it is all + art. + </p> + <p> + In the By-laws, Mrs. Eddy, speaking by the mouth of her other self, the + Mother-Church, proclaims that she will assume no official control of other + churches-branch churches. We examine the other By-laws, and they answer + some important questions for us: + </p> + <p> + 1. What is a branch Church? It is a body of Christian Scientists, + organized in the one and only permissible way—by a member, in good + standing, of the Mother-Church, and who is also a pupil of one of Mrs. + Eddy's accredited students. That is to say, one of her properties. No + other can do it. There are other indispensable requisites; what are they? + </p> + <p> + 2. The new Church cannot enter upon its functions until its members have + individually signed, and pledged allegiance to, a Creed furnished by Mrs. + Eddy. + </p> + <p> + 3. They are obliged to study her books, and order their lives by them. And + they must read no outside religious works. + </p> + <p> + 4. They must sing the hymns and pray the prayers provided by her, and use + no others in the services, except by her permission. + </p> + <p> + 5. They cannot have preachers and pastors. Her law. + </p> + <p> + 6. In their Church they must have two Readers—a man and a woman. + </p> + <p> + 7. They must read the services framed and appointed by her. + </p> + <p> + 8. She—not the branch Church—appoints those Readers. + </p> + <p> + 9. She—not the branch Church—dismisses them and fills the + vacancies. + </p> + <p> + 10. She can do this without consulting the branch Church, and without + explaining. + </p> + <p> + 11. The branch Church can have a religious lecture from time to time. By + applying to Mrs. Eddy. There is no other way. + </p> + <p> + 12. But the branch Church cannot select the lecturer. Mrs. Eddy does it. + </p> + <p> + 13. The branch Church pays his fee. + </p> + <p> + 14. The harnessing of all Christian Science wedding-teams, members of the + branch Church, must be done by duly authorized and consecrated Christian + Science functionaries. Her factory is the only one that makes and licenses + them. + </p> + <p> + [15. Nothing is said about christenings. It is inferable from this that a + Christian Science child is born a Christian Scientist and requires no + tinkering.] + </p> + <p> + [16. Nothing is said about funerals. It is inferable, then, that a branch + Church is privileged to do in that matter as it may choose.] + </p> + <p> + To sum up. Are any important Church-functions absent from the list? I + cannot call any to mind. Are there any lacking ones whose exercise could + make the branch in any noticeable way independent of the Mother. Church?—even + in any trifling degree? I think of none. If the named functions were + abolished would there still be a Church left? Would there be even a shadow + of a Church left? Would there be anything at all left? even the bare name? + </p> + <p> + Manifestly not. There isn't a single vital and essential Church-function + of any kind, that is not named in the list. And over every one of them the + Mother-Church has permanent and unchallengeable control, upon every one of + them Mrs. Eddy has set her irremovable grip. She holds, in perpetuity, + autocratic and indisputable sovereignty and control over every branch + Church in the earth; and yet says, in that sugary, naive, angel-beguiling + way of hers, that the Mother-Church: + </p> + <p> + “shall assume no official control of other churches of this denomination.” + </p> + <p> + Whereas in truth the unmeddled-with liberties of a branch Christian + Science Church are but very, very few in number, and are these: + </p> + <p> + 1. It can appoint its own furnace-stoker, winters. 2. It can appoint its + own fan-distributors, summers. 3. It can, in accordance with its own + choice in the matter, burn, bury, or preserve members who are pretending + to be dead—whereas there is no such thing as death. 4. It can take + up a collection. + </p> + <p> + The branch Churches have no important liberties, none that give them an + important voice in their own affairs. Those are all locked up, and Mrs. + Eddy has the key. “Local Self-Government” is a large name and sounds well; + but the branch Churches have no more of it than have the privates in the + King of Dahomey's army. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “MOTHER-CHURCH UNIQUE” + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy, with an envious and admiring eye upon the solitary and + rivalless and world-shadowing majesty of St. Peter's, reveals in her + By-laws her purpose to set the Mother-Church apart by itself in a stately + seclusion and make it duplicate that lone sublimity under the Western sky. + The By-law headed “Mother-Church Unique” says— + </p> + <p> + “In its relation to other Christian Science churches, the Mother-Church + stands alone. + </p> + <p> + “It occupies a position that no other Church can fill. + </p> + <p> + “Then for a branch Church to assume such position would be disastrous to + Christian Science, + </p> + <p> + “Therefore—” + </p> + <p> + Therefore no branch Church is allowed to have branches. There shall be no + Christian Science St. Peter's in the earth but just one—the + Mother-Church in Boston. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “NO FIRST MEMBERS” + </h2> + <p> + But for the thoughtful By-law thus entitled, every Science branch in the + earth would imitate the Mother-Church and set up an aristocracy. Every + little group of ground-floor Smiths and Furgusons and Shadwells and + Simpsons that organized a branch would assume that great title, of “First + Members,” along with its vast privileges of “discussing” the weather and + casting blank ballots, and soon there would be such a locust-plague of + them burdening the globe that the title would lose its value and have to + be abolished. + </p> + <p> + But where business and glory are concerned, Mrs. Eddy thinks of + everything, and so she did not fail to take care of her Aborigines, her + stately and exclusive One Hundred, her college of functionless cardinals, + her Sanhedrin of Privileged Talkers (Limited). After taking away all the + liberties of the branch Churches, and in the same breath disclaiming all + official control over their affairs, she smites them on the mouth with + this—the very mouth that was watering for those nobby ground-floor + honors— + </p> + <p> + “No First Members. Branch Churches shall not organize with First Members, + that special method of organization being adapted to the Mother-Church + alone.” + </p> + <p> + And so, first members being prohibited, we pierce through the cloud of + Mrs. Eddy's English and perceive that they must then necessarily organize + with Subsequent Members. There is no other way. It will occur to them + by-and-by to found an aristocracy of Early Subsequent Members. There is no + By-law against it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + “THE” + </h2> + <p> + I uncover to that imperial word. And to the mind, too, that conceived the + idea of seizing and monopolizing it as a title. I believe it is Mrs. + Eddy's dazzlingest invention. For show, and style, and grandeur, and + thunder and lightning and fireworks it outclasses all the previous + inventions of man, and raises the limit on the Pope. He can never put his + avid hand on that word of words—it is pre-empted. And copyrighted, + of course. It lifts the Mother-Church away up in the sky, and fellowships + it with the rare and select and exclusive little company of the THE's of + deathless glory—persons and things whereof history and the ages + could furnish only single examples, not two: the Saviour, the Virgin, the + Milky Way, the Bible, the Earth, the Equator, the Devil, the Missing Link—and + now The First Church, Scientist. And by clamor of edict and By-law Mrs. + Eddy gives personal notice to all branch Scientist Churches on this planet + to leave that THE alone. + </p> + <p> + She has demonstrated over it and made it sacred to the Mother-Church: + </p> + <p> + “The article 'The' must not be used before the titles of branch Churches— + </p> + <p> + “Nor written on applications for membership in naming such churches.” + </p> + <p> + Those are the terms. There can and will be a million First Churches of + Christ, Scientist, scattered over the world, in a million towns and + villages and hamlets and cities, and each may call itself (suppressing the + article), “First Church of Christ. Scientist”—it is permissible, and + no harm; but there is only one The Church of Christ, Scientist, and there + will never be another. And whether that great word fall in the middle of a + sentence or at the beginning of it, it must always have its capital T. + </p> + <p> + I do not suppose that a juvenile passion for fussy little worldly shows + and vanities can furnish a match to this, anywhere in the history of the + nursery. Mrs. Eddy does seem to be a shade fonder of little special + distinctions and pomps than is usual with human beings. + </p> + <p> + She instituted that immodest “The” with her own hand; she did not wait for + somebody else to think of it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A LIFE-TERM MONOPOLY + </h2> + <p> + There is but one human Pastor in the whole Christian Science world; she + reserves that exalted place to herself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A PERPETUAL ONE + </h2> + <p> + There is but one other object in the whole Christian Science world honored + with that title and holding that office: it is her book, the Annex—permanent + Pastor of The First Church, and of all branch Churches. + </p> + <p> + With her own hand she draughted the By-laws which make her the only really + absolute sovereign that lives to-day in Christendom. + </p> + <p> + She does not allow any objectionable pictures to be exhibited in the room + where her book is sold, nor any indulgence in idle gossip there; and from + the general look of that By-law I judge that a lightsome and improper + person can be as uncomfortable in that place as he could be in heaven. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE SANCTUM SANCTORUM AND SACRED CHAIR + </h2> + <p> + In a room in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, there is a museum of + objects which have attained to holiness through contact with Mrs. Eddy—among + them an electrically lighted oil-picture of a chair which she used to sit + in—and disciples from all about the world go softly in there, in + restricted groups, under proper guard, and reverently gaze upon those + relics. It is worship. Mrs. Eddy could stop it if she was not fond of it, + for her sovereignty over that temple is supreme. + </p> + <p> + The fitting-up of that place as a shrine is not an accident, nor a casual, + unweighed idea; it is imitated from age—old religious custom. In + Treves the pilgrim reverently gazes upon the Seamless Robe, and humbly + worships; and does the same in that other continental church where they + keep a duplicate; and does likewise in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, + in Jerusalem, where memorials of the Crucifixion are preserved; and now, + by good fortune we have our Holy Chair and things, and a market for our + adorations nearer home. + </p> + <p> + But is there not a detail that is new, fresh, original? Yes, whatever old + thing Mrs. Eddy touches gets something new by the contact—something + not thought of before by any one—something original, all her own, + and copyrightable. The new feature is self worship—exhibited in + permitting this shrine to be installed during her lifetime, and winking + her sacred eye at it. + </p> + <p> + A prominent Christian Scientist has assured me that the Scientists do not + worship Mrs. Eddy, and I think it likely that there may be five or six of + the cult in the world who do not worship her, but she herself is certainly + not of that company. Any healthy-minded person who will examine Mrs. + Eddy's little Autobiography and the Manual of By-laws written by her will + be convinced that she worships herself; and that she brings to this + service a fervor of devotion surpassing even that which she formerly laid + at the feet of the Dollar, and equalling any which rises to the Throne of + Grace from any quarter. + </p> + <p> + I think this is as good a place as any to salve a hurt which I was the + means of inflicting upon a Christian Scientist lately. The first third of + this book was written in 1899 in Vienna. Until last summer I had supposed + that that third had been printed in a book which I published about a year + later—a hap which had not happened. I then sent the chapters + composing it to the North American Review, but failed in one instance, to + date them. And so, in an undated chapter I said a lady told me “last + night” so and so. There was nothing to indicate to the reader that that + “last night” was several years old, therefore the phrase seemed to refer + to a night of very recent date. What the lady had told me was, that in a + part of the Mother-Church in Boston she had seen Scientists worshipping a + portrait of Mrs. Eddy before which a light was kept constantly burning. + </p> + <p> + A Scientist came to me and wished me to retract that “untruth.” He said + there was no such portrait, and that if I wanted to be sure of it I could + go to Boston and see for myself. I explained that my “last night” meant a + good while ago; that I did not doubt his assertion that there was no such + portrait there now, but that I should continue to believe it had been + there at the time of the lady's visit until she should retract her + statement herself. I was at no time vouching for the truth of the remark, + nevertheless I considered it worth par. + </p> + <p> + And yet I am sorry the lady told me, since a wound which brings me no + happiness has resulted. I am most willing to apply such salve as I can. + The best way to set the matter right and make everything pleasant and + agreeable all around will be to print in this place a description of the + shrine as it appeared to a recent visitor, Mr. Frederick W. Peabody, of + Boston. I will copy his newspaper account, and the reader will see that + Mrs. Eddy's portrait is not there now: + </p> + <p> + “We lately stood on the threshold of the Holy of Holies of the + Mother-Church, and with a crowd of worshippers patiently waited for + admittance to the hallowed precincts of the 'Mother's Room.' Over the + doorway was a sign informing us that but four persons at a time would be + admitted; that they would be permitted to remain but five minutes only, + and would please retire from the 'Mother's Room' at the ringing of the + bell. Entering with three of the faithful, we looked with profane eyes + upon the consecrated furnishings. A show-woman in attendance monotonously + announced the character of the different appointments. Set in a recess of + the wall and illumined with electric light was an oil-painting the + show-woman seriously declared to be a lifelike and realistic picture of + the Chair in which the Mother sat when she composed her 'inspired' work. + It was a picture of an old-fashioned? country, hair cloth rocking-chair, + and an exceedingly commonplace-looking table with a pile of manuscript, an + ink-bottle, and pen conspicuously upon it. On the floor were sheets of + manuscript. 'The mantel-piece is of pure onyx,' continued the show-woman, + 'and the beehive upon the window-sill is made from one solid block of + onyx; the rug is made of a hundred breasts of eider-down ducks, and the + toilet-room you see in the corner is of the latest design, with + gold-plated drain-pipes; the painted windows are from the Mother's poem, + “Christ and Christmas,” and that case contains complete copies of all the + Mother's books.' The chairs upon which the sacred person of the Mother had + reposed were protected from sacrilegious touch by a broad band of satin + ribbon. My companions expressed their admiration in subdued and reverent + tones, and at the tinkling of the bell we reverently tiptoed out of the + room to admit another delegation of the patient waiters at the door.” + </p> + <p> + Now, then, I hope the wound is healed. I am willing to relinquish the + portrait, and compromise on the Chair. At the same time, if I were going + to worship either, I should not choose the Chair. + </p> + <p> + As a picturesquely and persistently interesting personage, there is no + mate to Mrs. Eddy, the accepted Equal of the Saviour. But some of her + tastes are so different from His! I find it quite impossible to imagine + Him, in life, standing sponsor for that museum there, and taking pleasure + in its sumptuous shows. I believe He would put that Chair in the fire, and + the bell along with it; and I think He would make the show-woman go away. + I think He would break those electric bulbs, and the “mantel-piece of pure + onyx,” and say reproachful things about the golden drain-pipes of the + lavatory, and give the costly rug of duck-breasts to the poor, and sever + the satin ribbon and invite the weary to rest and ease their aches in the + consecrated chairs. What He would do with the painted windows we can + better conjecture when we come presently to examine their peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PASTOR-UNIVERSAL + </h2> + <p> + When Mrs. Eddy turned the pastors out of all the Christian Science + churches and abolished the office for all time as far as human occupancy + is concerned—she appointed the Holy Ghost to fill their place. If + this language be blasphemous, I did not invent the blasphemy, I am merely + stating a fact. I will quote from page 227 of Science and Health (edition + 1899), as a first step towards an explanation of this startling matter—a + passage which sets forth and classifies the Christian Science Trinity: + </p> + <p> + “Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune God, or triply divine + Principle. They represent a trinity in unity, three in one—the same + in essence, though multiform in office: God the Father; Christ the type of + Sonship; Divine Science, or the Holy Comforter.... + </p> + <p> + “The Holy Ghost, or Spirit, reveals this triune Principle, and (the Holy + Ghost) is expressed in Divine Science, which is the Comforter, leading + into all Truth, and revealing the divine Principle of the universe—universal + and perpetual harmony.” + </p> + <p> + I will cite another passage. Speaking of Jesus— + </p> + <p> + “His students then received the Holy Ghost. By this is meant, that by all + they had witnessed and suffered they were roused to an enlarged + understanding of Divine Science, even to the spiritual interpretation.. + ... of His teachings,” etc. + </p> + <p> + Also, page 579, in the chapter called the Glossary: + </p> + <p> + “HOLY GHOST. Divine Science; the developments of Life, Truth, and Love.” + </p> + <p> + The Holy Ghost reveals the massed spirit of the fused trinity; this massed + spirit is expressed in Divine Science, and is the Comforter; Divine + Science conveys to men the “spiritual interpretation” of the Saviour's + teachings. That seems to be the meaning of the quoted passages. + </p> + <p> + Divine Science is Christian Science; the book “Science and Health” is a + “revelation” of the whole spirit of the Trinity, and is therefore “The + Holy Ghost”; it conveys to men the “spiritual interpretation” of the + Bible's teachings and therefore is “the Comforter.” + </p> + <p> + I do not find this analyzing work easy, I would rather saw wood; and a + person can never tell whether he has added up a Science and Health sum + right or not, anyway, after all his trouble. Neither can he easily find + out whether the texts are still on the market or have been discarded from + the Book; for two hundred and fifty-eight editions of it have been issued, + and no two editions seem to be alike. The annual changes—in + technical terminology; in matter and wording; in transpositions of + chapters and verses; in leaving out old chapters and verses and putting in + new ones—seem to be next to innumerable, and as there is no index, + there is no way to find a thing one wants without reading the book + through. If ever I inspire a Bible-Annex I will not rush at it in a + half-digested, helter-skelter way and have to put in thirty-eight years + trying to get some of it the way I want it, I will sit down and think it + out and know what it is I want to say before I begin. An inspirer cannot + inspire for Mrs. Eddy and keep his reputation. I have never seen such + slipshod work, bar the ten that interpreted for the home market the “sell + all thou hast.” I have quoted one “spiritual” rendering of the Lord's + Prayer, I have seen one other one, and am told there are five more. Yet + the inspirer of Mrs. Eddy the new Infallible casts a complacent critical + stone at the other Infallible for being unable to make up its mind about + such things. Science and Health, edition 1899, page 33: + </p> + <p> + “The decisions, by vote of Church Councils, as to what should and should + not be considered Holy Writ, the manifest mistakes in the ancient + versions: the thirty thousand different readings in the Old Testament and + the three hundred thousand in the New—these facts show how a mortal + and material sense stole into the divine record, darkening, to some + extent, the inspired pages with its own hue.” + </p> + <p> + To some extent, yes—speaking cautiously. But it is nothing, really + nothing; Mrs. Eddy is only a little way behind, and if her inspirer lives + to get her Annex to suit him that Catholic record will have to “go 'way + back and set down,” as the ballad says. Listen to the boastful song of + Mrs. Eddy's organ, the Christian Science Journal for March, 1902, about + that year's revamping and half-soling of Science and Health, whose + official name is the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and who is now the + Official Pastor and Infallible and Unerring Guide of every Christian + Science church in the two hemispheres, hear Simple Simon that met the + pieman brag of the Infallible's fallibility: + </p> + <p> + “Throughout the entire book the verbal changes are so numerous as to + indicate the vast amount of time and labor Mrs. Eddy has devoted to this + revision. The time and labor thus bestowed is relatively as great as that + of—the committee who revised the Bible.... Thus we have additional + evidence of the herculean efforts our beloved Leader has made and is + constantly making for the promulgation of Truth and the furtherance of her + divinely bestowed mission,” etc. + </p> + <p> + It is a steady job. I could help inspire if desired; I am not doing much + now, and would work for half-price, and should not object to the country. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PRICE OF THE PASTOR-UNIVERSAL + </h2> + <p> + The price of the Pastor-Universal, Science and Health, called in Science + literature the Comforter—and by that other sacred Name—is + three dollars in cloth, as heretofore, six when it is finely bound, and + shaped to imitate the Testament, and is broken into verses. Margin of + profit above cost of manufacture, from five hundred to seven hundred per + cent., as already noted In the profane subscription-trade, it costs the + publisher heavily to canvass a three-dollar book; he must pay the general + agent sixty per cent. commission—that is to say, one dollar and + eighty-cents. Mrs. Eddy escapes this blistering tax, because she owns the + Christian Science canvasser, and can compel him to work for nothing. Read + the following command—not request—fulminated by Mrs. Eddy, + over her signature, in the Christian Science Journal for March, 1897, and + quoted by Mr. Peabody in his book. The book referred to is Science and + Health: + </p> + <p> + “It shall be the duty of all Christian Scientists to circulate and to sell + as many of these books as they can.” + </p> + <p> + That is flung at all the elect, everywhere that the sun shines, but no + penalty is shaken over their heads to scare them. The same command was + issued to the members (numbering to-day twenty-five thousand) of The + Mother-Church, also, but with it went a threat, of the infliction, in case + of disobedience, of the most dreaded punishment that has a place in the + Church's list of penalties for transgressions of Mrs. Eddy's edicts—excommunication: + </p> + <p> + “If a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, shall fail to obey + this injunction, it will render him liable to lose his membership in this + Church. MARY BAKER EDDY.” + </p> + <p> + It is the spirit of the Spanish Inquisition. + </p> + <p> + None but accepted and well established gods can venture an affront like + that and do it with confidence. But the human race will take anything from + that class. Mrs. Eddy knows the human race; knows it better than any mere + human being has known it in a thousand centuries. My confidence in her + human-beingship is getting shaken, my confidence in her godship is + stiffening. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SEVEN HUNDRED PER CENT. + </h2> + <p> + A Scientist out West has visited a bookseller—with intent to find + fault with me—and has brought away the information that the price at + which Mrs. Eddy sells Science and Health is not an unusually high one for + the size and make of the book. That is true. But in the book-trade—that + profit-devourer unknown to Mrs. Eddy's book—a three-dollar book that + is made for thirty-five or forty cents in large editions is put at three + dollars because the publisher has to pay author, middleman, and + advertising, and if the price were much below three the profit accruing + would not pay him fairly for his time and labor. At the same time, if he + could get ten dollars for the book he would take it, and his morals would + not fall under criticism. + </p> + <p> + But if he were an inspired person commissioned by the Deity to receive and + print and spread broadcast among sorrowing and suffering and poor men a + precious message of healing and cheer and salvation, he would have to do + as Bible Societies do—sell the book at a pinched margin above cost + to such as could pay, and give it free to all that couldn't; and his name + would be praised. But if he sold it at seven hundred per cent. profit and + put the money in his pocket, his name would be mocked and derided. Just as + Mrs. Eddy's is. And most justifiably, as it seems to me. + </p> + <p> + The complete Bible contains one million words. The New Testament by itself + contains two hundred and forty thousand words. + </p> + <p> + My '84 edition of Science and Health contains one hundred and twenty + thousand words—just half as many as the New Testament. + </p> + <p> + Science and Health has since been so inflated by later inspirations that + the 1902 edition contains one hundred and eighty thousand words—not + counting the thirty thousand at the back, devoted by Mrs. Eddy to + advertising the book's healing abilities—and the inspiring continues + right along. + </p> + <p> + If you have a book whose market is so sure and so great that you can give + a printer an everlasting order for thirty or forty or fifty thousand + copies a year he will furnish them at a cheap rate, because whenever there + is a slack time in his press-room and bindery he can fill the idle + intervals on your book and be making something instead of losing. That is + the kind of contract that can be let on Science and Health every year. I + am obliged to doubt that the three-dollar Science and Health costs Mrs. + Eddy above fifteen cents, or that the six dollar copy costs her above + eighty cents. I feel quite sure that the average profit to her on these + books, above cost of manufacture, is all of seven hundred per cent. + </p> + <p> + Every proper Christian Scientist has to buy and own (and canvass for) + Science and Health (one hundred and eighty thousand words), and he must + also own a Bible (one million words). He can buy the one for from three to + six dollars, and the other for fifteen cents. Or, if three dollars is all + the money he has, he can get his Bible for nothing. When the Supreme Being + disseminates a saving Message through uninspired agents—the New + Testament, for instance—it can be done for five cents a copy, but + when He sends one containing only two-thirds as many words through the + shop of a Divine Personage, it costs sixty times as much. I think that in + matters of such importance it is bad economy to employ a wild-cat agency. + </p> + <p> + Here are some figures which are perfectly authentic, and which seem to + justify my opinion. + </p> + <p> + “These [Bible] societies, inspired only by a sense of religious duty, are + issuing the Bible at a price so small that they have made it the cheapest + book printed. For example, the American Bible Society offers an edition of + the whole Bible as low as fifteen cents and the New Testament at five + cents, and the British Society at sixpence and one penny, respectively. + These low prices, made possible by their policy of selling the books at + cost or below cost,” etc.—New York Sun, February 25, 1903. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + We may now make a final footing-up of Mrs. Eddy, and see what she is, in + the fulness of her powers. She is: + </p> + <p> + The Massachusetts Metaphysical College Pastor Emeritus; President; Board + of Directors; Board of Education; Board of Lectureships; Future Board of + Trustees, Proprietor of the Publishing-House and Periodicals; Treasurer; + Clerk; Proprietor of the Teachers; Proprietor of the Lecturers; Proprietor + of the Missionaries; Proprietor of the Readers; Dictator of the Services; + sole Voice of the Pulpit; Proprietor of the Sanhedrin; Sole Proprietor of + the Creed. (Copyrighted.); Indisputable Autocrat of the Branch Churches, + with their life and death in her hands; Sole Thinker for The First Church + (and the others); Sole and Infallible Expounder of Doctrine, in life and + in death; Sole permissible Discoverer, Denouncer, Judge, and Executioner + of Ostensible Hypnotists; Fifty-handed God of Excommunication—with a + thunderbolt in every hand; Appointer and Installer of the Pastor of all + the Churches—the Perpetual Pastor-Universal, Science and Health, + “the Comforter.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <p> + There she stands-painted by herself. No witness but herself has been + allowed to testify. She stands there painted by her acts, and decorated by + her words. When she talks, she has only a decorative value as a witness, + either for or against herself, for she deals mainly in unsupported + assertion; and in the rare cases where she puts forward a verifiable fact + she gets out of it a meaning which it refuses to furnish to anybody else. + Also, when she talks, she is unstable, she wanders, she is incurably + inconsistent; what she says to-day she contradicts tomorrow. + </p> + <p> + But her acts are consistent. They are always faithful to her, they never + misinterpret her, they are a mirror which always reflects her exactly, + precisely, minutely, unerringly, and always the same, to date, with only + those progressive little natural changes in stature, dress, complexion, + mood, and carriage that mark—exteriorly—the march of the years + and record the accumulations of experience, while—interiorly—through + all this steady drift of evolution the one essential detail, the + commanding detail, the master detail of the make-up remains as it was in + the beginning, suffers no change and can suffer none; the basis of the + character; the temperament, the disposition, that indestructible iron + framework upon which the character is built, and whose shape it must take, + and keep, throughout life. We call it a person's nature. + </p> + <p> + The man who is born stingy can be taught to give liberally—with his + hands; but not with his heart. The man born kind and compassionate can + have that disposition crushed down out of sight by embittering experience; + but if it were an organ the post-mortem would find it still in his corpse. + The man born ambitious of power and glory may live long without finding it + out, but when the opportunity comes he will know, will strike for the + largest thing within the limit of his chances at the time-constable, + perhaps—and will be glad and proud when he gets it, and will write + home about it. But he will not stop with that start; his appetite will + come again; and by-and-by again, and yet again; and when he has climbed to + police commissioner it will at last begin to dawn upon him that what his + Napoleon soul wants and was born for is something away higher up—he + does not quite know what, but Circumstance and Opportunity will indicate + the direction and he will cut a road through and find out. + </p> + <p> + I think Mrs. Eddy was born with a far-seeing business-eye, but did not + know it; and with a great organizing and executive talent, and did not + know it; and with a large appetite for power and distinction, and did not + know it. I think the reason that her make did not show up until middle + life was that she had General Grant's luck—Circumstance and + Opportunity did not come her way when she was younger. The qualities that + were born in her had to wait for circumstance and opportunity—but + they were there: they were there to stay, whether they ever got a chance + to fructify or not. If they had come early, they would have found her + ready and competent. And they—not she—would have determined + what they would set her at and what they would make of her. If they had + elected to commission her as second-assistant cook in a bankrupt + boarding-house, I know the rest of it—I know what would have + happened. She would have owned the boarding-house within six months; she + would have had the late proprietor on salary and humping himself, as the + worldly say; she would have had that boarding-house spewing money like a + mint; she would have worked the servants and the late landlord up to the + limit; she would have squeezed the boarders till they wailed, and by some + mysterious quality born in her she would have kept the affections of + certain of the lot whose love and esteem she valued, and flung the others + down the back area; in two years she would own all the boarding-houses in + the town, in five all the boarding-houses in the State, in twenty all the + hotels in America, in forty all the hotels on the planet, and would sit at + home with her finger on a button and govern the whole combination as + easily as a bench-manager governs a dog-show. + </p> + <p> + It would be a grand thing to see, and I feel a kind of disappointment—but + never mind, a religion is better and larger; and there is more to it. And + I have not been steeping myself in Christian Science all these weeks + without finding out that the one sensible thing to do with a + disappointment is to put it out of your mind and think of something + cheerfuler. + </p> + <p> + We outsiders cannot conceive of Mrs. Eddy's Christian Science Religion as + being a sudden and miraculous birth, but only as a growth from a seed + planted by circumstances, and developed stage by stage by command and + compulsion of the same force. What the stages were we cannot know, but are + privileged to guess. She may have gotten the mental-healing idea from + Quimby—it had been experimented with for ages, and was no one's + special property. [For the present, for convenience' sake, let us proceed + upon the hypothesis that that was all she got of him, and that she put up + the rest of the assets herself. This will strain us, but let us try it.] + In each and all its forms and under all its many names, mental healing had + had limits, always, and they were rather narrow ones—Mrs. Eddy, let + us imagine, removed the fence, abolished the frontiers. Not by expanding + mental-healing, but by absorbing its small bulk into the vaster bulk of + Christian Science—Divine Science, The Holy Ghost, the Comforter—which + was a quite different and sublimer force, and one which had long lain + dormant and unemployed. + </p> + <p> + The Christian Scientist believes that the Spirit of God (life and love) + pervades the universe like an atmosphere; that whoso will study Science + and Health can get from it the secret of how to inhale that transforming + air; that to breathe it is to be made new; that from the new man all + sorrow, all care, all miseries of the mind vanish away, for that only + peace, contentment and measureless joy can live in that divine fluid; that + it purifies the body from disease, which is a vicious creation of the + gross human mind, and cannot continue to exist in the presence of the + Immortal Mind, the renewing Spirit of God. + </p> + <p> + The Scientist finds this reasonable, natural, and not harder to believe + than that the disease germ, a creature of darkness, perishes when exposed + to the light of the great sun—a new revelation of profane science + which no one doubts. He reminds us that the actinic ray, shining upon + lupus, cures it—a horrible disease which was incurable fifteen years + ago, and had been incurable for ten million years before; that this + wonder, unbelievable by the physicians at first, is believed by them now; + and so he is tranquilly confident that the time is coming when the world + will be educated up to a point where it will comprehend and grant that the + light of the Spirit of God, shining unobstructed upon the soul, is an + actinic ray which can purge both mind and body from disease and set them + free and make them whole. + </p> + <p> + It is apparent, then, that in Christian Science it is not one man's mind + acting upon another man's mind that heals; that it is solely the Spirit of + God that heals; that the healer's mind performs no office but to convey + that force to the patient; that it is merely the wire which carries the + electric fluid, so to speak, and delivers the message. Therefore, if these + things be true, mental-healing and Science-healing are separate and + distinct processes, and no kinship exists between them. + </p> + <p> + To heal the body of its ills and pains is a mighty benefaction, but in our + day our physicians and surgeons work a thousand miracles—prodigies + which would have ranked as miracles fifty years ago—and they have so + greatly extended their domination over disease that we feel so well + protected that we are able to look with a good deal of composure and + absence of hysterics upon the claims of new competitors in that field. + </p> + <p> + But there is a mightier benefaction than the healing of the body, and that + is the healing of the spirit—which is Christian Science's other + claim. So far as I know, so far as I can find out, it makes it good. + Personally I have not known a Scientist who did not seem serene, + contented, unharassed. I have not found an outsider whose observation of + Scientists furnished him a view that differed from my own. Buoyant + spirits, comfort of mind, freedom from care these happinesses we all have, + at intervals; but in the spaces between, dear me, the black hours! They + have put a curse upon the life of every human being I have ever known, + young or old. I concede not a single exception. Unless it might be those + Scientists just referred to. They may have been playing a part with me; I + hope they were not, and I believe they were not. + </p> + <p> + Time will test the Science's claim. If time shall make it good; if time + shall prove that the Science can heal the persecuted spirit of man and + banish its troubles and keep it serene and sunny and content—why, + then Mrs. Eddy will have a monument that will reach above the clouds. For + if she did not hit upon that imperial idea and evolve it and deliver it, + its discoverer can never be identified with certainty, now, I think. It is + the giant feature, it is the sun that rides in the zenith of Christian + Science, the auxiliary features are of minor consequence [Let us still + leave the large “if” aside, for the present, and proceed as if it had no + existence.] + </p> + <p> + It is not supposable that Mrs. Eddy realized, at first, the size of her + plunder. (No, find—that is the word; she did not realize the size of + her find, at first.) It had to grow upon her, by degrees, in accordance + with the inalterable custom of Circumstance, which works by stages, and by + stages only, and never furnishes any mind with all the materials for a + large idea at one time. + </p> + <p> + In the beginning, Mrs. Eddy was probably interested merely in the + mental-healing detail, and perhaps mainly interested in it pecuniary, for + she was poor. + </p> + <p> + She would succeed in anything she undertook. She would attract pupils, and + her commerce would grow. She would inspire in patient and pupil confidence + in her earnestness, her history is evidence that she would not fail of + that. + </p> + <p> + There probably came a time, in due course, when her students began to + think there was something deeper in her teachings than they had been + suspecting—a mystery beyond mental-healing, and higher. It is + conceivable that by consequence their manner towards her changed little by + little, and from respectful became reverent. It is conceivable that this + would have an influence upon her; that it would incline her to wonder if + their secret thought—that she was inspired—might not be a + well-grounded guess. It is conceivable that as time went on the thought in + their minds and its reflection in hers might solidify into conviction. + </p> + <p> + She would remember, then, that as a child she had been called, more than + once, by a mysterious voice—just as had happened to little Samuel. + (Mentioned in her Autobiography.) She would be impressed by that ancient + reminiscence, now, and it could have a prophetic meaning for her. + </p> + <p> + It is conceivable that the persuasive influences around her and within her + would give a new and powerful impulse to her philosophizings, and that + from this, in time, would result that great birth, the healing of body and + mind by the inpouring of the Spirit of God—the central and dominant + idea of Christian Science—and that when this idea came she would not + doubt that it was an inspiration direct from Heaven. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <p> + [I must rest a little, now. To sit here and painstakingly spin out a + scheme which imagines Mrs. Eddy, of all people, working her mind on a + plane above commercialism; imagines her thinking, philosophizing, + discovering majestic things; and even imagines her dealing in sincerities—to + be frank, I find it a large contract But I have begun it, and I will go + through with it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <p> + It is evident that she made disciples fast, and that their belief in her + and in the authenticity of her heavenly ambassadorship was not of the + lukewarm and half-way sort, but was profoundly earnest and sincere. Her + book was issued from the press in 1875, it began its work of + convert-making, and within six years she had successfully launched a new + Religion and a new system of healing, and was teaching them to crowds of + eager students in a College of her own, at prices so extraordinary that we + are almost compelled to accept her statement (no, her guarded intimation) + that the rates were arranged on high, since a mere human being + unacquainted with commerce and accustomed to think in pennies could hardly + put up such a hand as that without supernatural help. + </p> + <p> + From this stage onward—Mrs. Eddy being what she was—the rest + of the development—stages would follow naturally and inevitably. + </p> + <p> + But if she had been anybody else, there would have been a different + arrangement of them, with different results. Being the extraordinary + person she was, she realized her position and its possibilities; realized + the possibilities, and had the daring to use them for all they were worth. + </p> + <p> + We have seen what her methods were after she passed the stage where her + divine ambassadorship was granted its executer in the hearts and minds of + her followers; we have seen how steady and fearless and calculated and + orderly was her march thenceforth from conquest to conquest; we have seen + her strike dead, without hesitancy, any hostile or questionable force that + rose in her path: first, the horde of pretenders that sprang up and tried + to take her Science and its market away from her—she crushed them, + she obliterated them; when her own National Christian Science Association + became great in numbers and influence, and loosely and dangerously + garrulous, and began to expound the doctrines according to its own + uninspired notions, she took up her sponge without a tremor of fear and + wiped that Association out; when she perceived that the preachers in her + pulpits were becoming afflicted with doctrine-tinkering, she recognized + the danger of it, and did not hesitate nor temporize, but promptly + dismissed the whole of them in a day, and abolished their office + permanently; we have seen that, as fast as her power grew, she was + competent to take the measure of it, and that as fast as its expansion + suggested to her gradually awakening native ambition a higher step she + took it; and so, by this evolutionary process, we have seen the gross + money-lust relegated to second place, and the lust of empire and glory + rise above it. A splendid dream; and by force of the qualities born in her + she is making it come true. + </p> + <p> + These qualities—and the capacities growing out of them by the + nurturing influences of training, observation, and experience seem to be + clearly indicated by the character of her career and its achievements. + They seem to be: + </p> + <p> + A clear head for business, and a phenomenally long one; Clear + understanding of business situations; Accuracy in estimating the + opportunities they offer; Intelligence in planning a business move; + Firmness in sticking to it after it has been decided upon; Extraordinary + daring; Indestructible persistency; Devouring ambition; Limitless + selfishness; A knowledge of the weaknesses and poverties and docilities of + human nature and how to turn them to account which has never been + surpassed, if ever equalled. + </p> + <p> + And—necessarily—the foundation-stone of Mrs. Eddy's character + is a never-wavering confidence in herself. + </p> + <p> + It is a granite character. And—quite naturally—a measure of + the talc of smallnesses common to human nature is mixed up in it and + distributed through it. When Mrs. Eddy is not dictating servilities from + her throne in the clouds to her official domestics in Boston or to her + far-spread subjects round about the planet, but is down on the ground, she + is kin to us and one of us: sentimental as a girl, garrulous, + ungrammatical, incomprehensible, affected, vain of her little human + ancestry, unstable, inconsistent, unreliable in statement, and naively and + everlastingly self-contradictory-oh, trivial and common and commonplace as + the commonest of us! just a Napoleon as Madame de Remusat saw him, a brass + god with clay legs. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <p> + In drawing Mrs. Eddy's portrait it has been my purpose to restrict myself + to materials furnished by herself, and I believe I have done that. If I + have misinterpreted any of her acts, it was not done intentionally. + </p> + <p> + It will be noticed that in skeletonizing a list of the qualities which + have carried her to the dizzy summit which she occupies, I have not + mentioned the power which was the commanding force employed in achieving + that lofty flight. It did not belong in that list; it was a force that was + not a detail of her character, but was an outside one. It was the power + which proceeded from her people's recognition of her as a supernatural + personage, conveyer of the Latest Word, and divinely commissioned to + deliver it to the world. The form which such a recognition takes, + consciously or unconsciously, is worship; and worship does not question + nor criticize, it obeys. The object of it does not need to coddle it, + bribe it, beguile it, reason with it, convince it—it commands it; + that is sufficient; the obedience rendered is not reluctant, but prompt + and whole-hearted. Admiration for a Napoleon, confidence in him, pride in + him, affection for him, can lift him high and carry him far; and these are + forms of worship, and are strong forces, but they are worship of a mere + human being, after all, and are infinitely feeble, as compared with those + that are generated by that other worship, the worship of a divine + personage. Mrs. Eddy has this efficient worship, this massed and + centralized force, this force which is indifferent to opposition, + untroubled by fear, and goes to battle singing, like Cromwell's soldiers; + and while she has it she can command and it will obey, and maintain her on + her throne, and extend her empire. + </p> + <p> + She will have it until she dies; and then we shall see a curious and + interesting further development of her revolutionary work begin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <p> + The President and Board of Directors will succeed her, and the government + will go on without a hitch. The By-laws will bear that interpretation. All + the Mother-Church's vast powers are concentrated in that Board. Mrs. + Eddy's unlimited personal reservations make the Board's ostensible + supremacy, during her life, a sham, and the Board itself a shadow. But + Mrs. Eddy has not made those reservations for any one but herself—they + are distinctly personal, they bear her name, they are not usable by + another individual. When she dies her reservations die, and the Board's + shadow-powers become real powers, without the change of any important + By-law, and the Board sits in her place as absolute and irresponsible a + sovereign as she was. + </p> + <p> + It consists of but five persons, a much more manageable Cardinalate than + the Roman Pope's. I think it will elect its Pope from its own body, and + that it will fill its own vacancies. An elective Papacy is a safe and wise + system, and a long-liver. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + We may take that up now. + </h3> + <p> + It is not a single if, but a several-jointed one; not an oyster, but a + vertebrate. + </p> + <p> + 1. Did Mrs. Eddy borrow from Quimby the Great Idea, or only the little + one, the old-timer, the ordinary mental-healing-healing by “mortal” mind? + </p> + <p> + 2. If she borrowed the Great Idea, did she carry it away in her head, or + in manuscript? + </p> + <p> + 3. Did she hit upon the Great Idea herself? By the Great Idea I mean, of + course, the conviction that the Force involved was still existent, and + could be applied now just as it was applied by Christ's Disciples and + their converts, and as successfully. + </p> + <p> + 4. Did she philosophize it, systematize it, and write it down in a book? + </p> + <p> + 5. Was it she, and not another, that built a new Religion upon the book + and organized it? + </p> + <p> + I think No. 5 can be answered with a Yes, and dismissed from the + controversy. And I think that the Great Idea, great as it was, would have + enjoyed but a brief activity, and would then have gone to sleep again for + some more centuries, but for the perpetuating impulse it got from that + organized and tremendous force. + </p> + <p> + As for Nos. 1, 2, and 4, the hostiles contend that Mrs. Eddy got the Great + Idea from Quimby and carried it off in manuscript. But their testimony, + while of consequence, lacks the most important detail; so far as my + information goes, the Quimby manuscript has not been produced. I think we + cannot discuss No. 1 and No. 2 profitably. Let them go. + </p> + <p> + For me, No. 3 has a mild interest, and No. 4 a violent one. + </p> + <p> + As regards No. 3, Mrs. Eddy was brought up, from the cradle, an old-time, + boiler-iron, Westminster-Catechism Christian, and knew her Bible as well + as Captain Kydd knew his, “when he sailed, when he sailed,” and perhaps as + sympathetically. The Great Idea had struck a million Bible-readers before + her as being possible of resurrection and application—it must have + struck as many as that, and been cogitated, indolently, doubtingly, then + dropped and forgotten—and it could have struck her, in due course. + But how it could interest her, how it could appeal to her—with her + make this a thing that is difficult to understand. + </p> + <p> + For the thing back of it is wholly gracious and beautiful: the power, + through loving mercifulness and compassion, to heal fleshly ills and pains + and grief—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 exercised for generations afterwards. Any + Christian who was in 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 to + satisfactorily explain why or how or by what argument that power should be + nonexistent in Christians now. + </p> + <p> + To wish to exercise it could occur to Mrs. Eddy—but would it? + </p> + <p> + Grasping, sordid, penurious, famishing for everything she sees—money, + power, glory—vain, untruthful, jealous, despotic, arrogant, + insolent, pitiless where thinkers and hypnotists are concerned, + illiterate, shallow, incapable of reasoning outside of commercial lines, + immeasurably selfish— + </p> + <p> + Of course the Great Idea could strike her, we have to grant that, but why + it should interest her is a question which can easily overstrain the + imagination and bring on nervous prostration, or something like that, and + is better left alone by the judicious, it seems to me— + </p> + <p> + Unless we call to our help the alleged other side of Mrs. Eddy's make and + character the side which her multitude of followers see, and sincerely + believe in. Fairness requires that their view be stated here. It is the + opposite of the one which I have drawn from Mrs. Eddy's history and from + her By-laws. To her followers she is this: + </p> + <p> + Patient, gentle, loving, compassionate, noble hearted, unselfish, sinless, + widely cultured, splendidly equipped mentally, a profound thinker, an able + writer, a divine personage, an inspired messenger whose acts are dictated + from the Throne, and whose every utterance is the Voice of God. + </p> + <p> + She has delivered to them a religion which has revolutionized their lives, + banished the glooms that shadowed them, and filled them and flooded them + with sunshine and gladness and peace; a religion which has no hell; a + religion whose heaven is not put off to another time, with a break and a + gulf between, but begins here and now, and melts into eternity as fancies + of the waking day melt into the dreams of sleep. + </p> + <p> + They believe it is a Christianity that is in the New Testament; that it + has always been there, that in the drift of ages it was lost through + disuse and neglect, and that this benefactor has found it and given it + back to men, turning the night of life into day, its terrors into myths, + its lamentations into songs of emancipation and rejoicing. + </p> + <p> + There we have Mrs. Eddy as her followers see her. She has lifted them out + of grief and care and doubt and fear, and made their lives beautiful; she + found them wandering forlorn in a wintry wilderness, and has led them to a + tropic paradise like that of which the poet sings: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O, islands there are on the face of the deep + Where the leaves never fade and the skies never weep.” + </pre> + <p> + To ask them to examine with a microscope the character of such a + benefactor; to ask them to examine it at all; to ask them to look at a + blemish which another person believes he has found in it—well, in + their place could you do it? Would you do it? Wouldn't you be ashamed to + do it? If a tramp had rescued your child from fire and death, and saved + its mother's heart from breaking, could you see his rags? Could you smell + his breath? Mrs. Eddy has done more than that for these people. + </p> + <p> + They are prejudiced witnesses. To the credit of human nature it is not + possible that they should be otherwise. They sincerely believe that Mrs. + Eddy's character is pure and perfect and beautiful, and her history + without stain or blot or blemish. But that does not settle it. They + sincerely believe she did not borrow the Great Idea from Quimby, but hit + upon it herself. It may be so, and it could be so. Let it go—there + is no way to settle it. They believe she carried away no Quimby + manuscripts. Let that go, too—there is no way to settle it. They + believe that she, and not another, built the Religion upon the book, and + organized it. I believe it, too. + </p> + <p> + Finally, they believe that she philosophized Christian Science, explained + it, systematized it, and wrote it all out with her own hand in the book + Science and Health. + </p> + <p> + I am not able to believe that. Let us draw the line there. The known and + undisputed products of her pen are a formidable witness against her. They + do seem to me to prove, quite clearly and conclusively, that writing, upon + even simple subjects, is a difficult labor for her: that she has never + been able to write anything above third-rate English; that she is weak in + the matter of grammar; that she has but a rude and dull sense of the + values of words; that she so lacks in the matter of literary precision + that she can seldom put a thought into words that express it lucidly to + the reader and leave no doubts in his mind as to whether he has rightly + understood or not; that she cannot even draught a Preface that a person + can fully comprehend, nor one which can by any art be translated into a + fully understandable form; that she can seldom inject into a Preface even + single sentences whose meaning is uncompromisingly clear—yet + Prefaces are her specialty, if she has one. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy's known and undisputed writings are very limited in bulk; they + exhibit no depth, no analytical quality, no thought above school + composition size, and but juvenile ability in handling thoughts of even + that modest magnitude. She has a fine commercial ability, and could govern + a vast railway system in great style; she could draught a set of rules + that Satan himself would say could not be improved on—for devilish + effectiveness—by his staff; but we know, by our excursions among the + Mother-Church's By-laws, that their English would discredit the deputy + baggage-smasher. I am quite sure that Mrs. Eddy cannot write well upon any + subject, even a commercial one. + </p> + <p> + In the very first revision of Science and Health (1883), Mrs. Eddy wrote a + Preface which is an unimpeachable witness that the rest of the book was + written by somebody else. I have put it in the Appendix along with a page + or two taken from the body of the book, and will ask the reader to compare + the labored and lumbering and confused gropings of this Preface with the + easy and flowing and direct English of the other exhibit, and see if he + can believe that the one hand and brain produced both. + </p> + <p> + And let him take the Preface apart, sentence by sentence, and searchingly + examine each sentence word by word, and see if he can find half a dozen + sentences whose meanings he is so sure of that he can rephrase them—in + words of his own—and reproduce what he takes to be those meanings. + Money can be lost on this game. I know, for I am the one that lost it. + </p> + <p> + Now let the reader turn to the excerpt which I have made from the chapter + on “Prayer” (last year's edition of Science and Health), and compare that + wise and sane and elevated and lucid and compact piece of work with the + aforesaid Preface, and with Mrs. Eddy's poetry concerning the gymnastic + trees, and Minerva's not yet effete sandals, and the wreaths imported from + Erudition's bower for the decoration of Plymouth Rock, and the Plague-spot + and Bacilli, and my other exhibits (turn back to my Chapters I. and II.) + from the Autobiography, and finally with the late Communication concerning + me, and see if he thinks anybody's affirmation, or anybody's sworn + testimony, or any other testimony of any imaginable kind would ever be + likely to convince him that Mrs. Eddy wrote that chapter on Prayer. + </p> + <p> + I do not wish to impose my opinion on any one who will not permit it, but + such as it is I offer it here for what it is worth. I cannot believe, and + I do not believe, that Mrs. Eddy originated any of the thoughts and + reasonings out of which the book Science and Health is constructed; and I + cannot believe, and do not believe that she ever wrote any part of that + book. + </p> + <p> + I think that if anything in the world stands proven, and well and solidly + proven, by unimpeachable testimony—the treacherous testimony of her + own pen in her known and undisputed literary productions—it is that + Mrs. Eddy is not capable of thinking upon high planes, nor of reasoning + clearly nor writing intelligently upon low ones. + </p> + <p> + Inasmuch as—in my belief—the very first editions of the book + Science and Health were far above the reach of Mrs. Eddy's mental and + literary abilities, I think she has from the very beginning been claiming + as her own another person's book, and wearing as her own property laurels + rightfully belonging to that person—the real author of Science and + Health. And I think the reason—and the only reason—that he has + not protested is because his work was not exposed to print until after he + was safely dead. + </p> + <p> + That with an eye to business, and by grace of her business talent, she has + restored to the world neglected and abandoned features of the Christian + religion which her thousands of followers find gracious and blessed and + contenting, I recognize and confess; but I am convinced that every single + detail of the work except just that one—the delivery of the Product + to the world—was conceived and performed by another. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEA" id="link2H_APPEA"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX A + </h2> + <h3> + ORIGINAL FIRST PREFACE TO SCIENCE AND HEALTH + </h3> + <p> + There seems a Christian necessity of learning God's power and purpose to + heal both mind and body. This thought grew out of our early seeking Him in + all our ways, and a hopeless as singular invalidism that drugs increased + instead of diminished, and hygiene benefited only for a season. By degrees + we have drifted into more spiritual latitudes of thought, and experimented + as we advanced until demonstrating fully the power of mind over the body. + About the year 1862, having heard of a mesmerist in Portland who was + treating the sick by manipulation, we visited him; he helped us for a + time, then we relapsed somewhat. After his decease, and a severe casualty + deemed fatal by skilful physicians, we discovered that the Principle of + all healing and the law that governs it is God, a divine Principle, and a + spiritual not material law, and regained health. + </p> + <p> + It was not an individual or mortal mind acting upon another so-called mind + that healed us. It was the glorious truths of Christian Science that we + discovered as we neared that verge of so-called material life named death; + yea, it was the great Shekinah, the spirit of Life, Truth, and Love + illuminating our understanding of the action and might of Omnipotence! The + old gentleman to whom we have referred had some very advanced views on + healing, but he was not avowedly religious neither scholarly. We + interchanged thoughts on the subject of healing the sick. I restored some + patients of his that he failed to heal, and left in his possession some + manuscripts of mine containing corrections of his desultory pennings, + which I am informed at his decease passed into the hands of a patient of + his, now residing in Scotland. He died in 1865 and left no published + works. The only 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. He manipulated the sick; hence his ostensible method of healing + was physical instead of mental. + </p> + <p> + We helped him in the esteem of the public by our writings, but never knew + of his stating orally or in writing that he treated his patients mentally; + never heard him give any directions to that effect; and have it from one + of his patients, who now asserts that he was the founder of mental + healing, that he never revealed to anyone his method. We refer to these + facts simply to refute the calumnies and false claims of our enemies, that + we are preferring dishonest claims to the discovery and founding at this + period of Metaphysical Healing or Christian Science. + </p> + <p> + The Science and laws of a purely mental healing and their method of + application through spiritual power alone, else a mental argument against + disease, are our own discovery at this date. True, the Principle is divine + and eternal, but the application of it to heal the sick had been lost + sight of, and required to be again spiritually discerned and its science + discovered, that man might retain it through the understanding. Since our + discovery in 1866 of the divine science of Christian Healing, we have + labored with tongue and pen to found this system. In this endeavor every + obstacle has been thrown in our path that the envy and revenge of a few + disaffected students could devise. The superstition and ignorance of even + this period have not failed to contribute their mite towards misjudging + us, while its Christian advancement and scientific research have helped + sustain our feeble efforts. + </p> + <p> + Since our first Edition of Science and Health, published in 1875, two of + the aforesaid students have plagiarized and pirated our works. In the + issues of E. J. A., almost exclusively ours, were thirteen paragraphs, + without credit, taken verbatim from our books. + </p> + <p> + Not one of our printed works was ever copied or abstracted from the + published or from the unpublished writings of anyone. Throughout our + publications of Metaphysical Healing or Christian Science, when writing or + dictating them, we have given ourselves to contemplation wholly apart from + the observation of the material senses: to look upon a copy would have + distracted our thoughts from the subject before us. We were seldom able to + copy our own compositions, and have employed an amanuensis for the last + six years. Every work that we have had published has been extemporaneously + written; and out of fifty lectures and sermons that we have delivered the + last year, forty-four have been extemporaneous. We have distributed many + of our unpublished manuscripts; loaned to one of our youngest students, R. + K————y, between three and four hundred pages, of + which we were sole author—giving him liberty to copy but not to + publish them. + </p> + <p> + Leaning on the sustaining Infinite with loving trust, the trials of to-day + grow brief, and to-morrow is big with blessings. + </p> + <p> + The wakeful shepherd, tending his flocks, beholds from the mountain's top + the first faint morning beam ere cometh the risen day. So from Soul's + loftier summits shines the pale star to prophet-shepherd, and it traverses + night, over to where the young child lies, in cradled obscurity, that + shall waken a world. Over the night of error dawn the morning beams and + guiding star of Truth, and “the wise men” are led by it to Science, which + repeats the eternal harmony that it reproduced, in proof of immortality. + The time for thinkers has come; and the time for revolutions, + ecclesiastical and civil, must come. Truth, independent of doctrines or + time-honored systems, stands at the threshold of history. Contentment with + the past, or the cold conventionality of custom, may no longer shut the + door on science; though empires fall, “He whose right it is shall reign.” + Ignorance of God should no longer be the stepping-stone to faith; + understanding Him, “whom to know aright is Life eternal,” is the only + guaranty of obedience. + </p> + <p> + This volume may not open a new thought, and make it at once familiar. It + has the sturdy task of a pioneer, to hack away at the tall oaks and cut + the rough granite, leaving future ages to declare what it has done. We + made our first discovery of the adaptation of metaphysics to the treatment + of disease in the winter of 1866; since then we have tested the Principle + on ourselves and others, and never found it to fail to prove the + statements herein made of it. We must learn the science of Life, to reach + the perfection of man. To understand God as the Principle of all being, + and to live in accordance with this Principle, is the Science of Life. But + to reproduce this harmony of being, the error of personal sense must yield + to science, even as the science of music corrects tones caught from the + ear, and gives the sweet concord of sound. There are many theories of + physic and theology, and many calls in each of their directions for the + right way; but we propose to settle the question of “What is Truth?” on + the ground of proof, and let that method of healing the sick and + establishing Christianity be adopted that is found to give the most health + and to make the best Christians; science will then have a fair field, in + which case we are assured of its triumph over all opinions and beliefs. + Sickness and sin have ever had their doctors; but the question is, Have + they become less because of them? The longevity of our antediluvians would + say, No! and the criminal records of today utter their voices little in + favor of such a conclusion. Not that we would deny to Caesar the things + that are his, but that we ask for the things that belong to Truth; and + safely affirm, from the demonstrations we have been able to make, that the + science of man understood would have eradicated sin, sickness, and death, + in a less period than six thousand years. We find great difficulties in + starting this work right. Some shockingly false claims are already made to + a metaphysical practice; mesmerism, its very antipodes, is one of them. + Hitherto we have never, in a single instance of our discovery, found the + slightest resemblance between mesmerism and metaphysics. No especial + idiosyncrasy is requisite to acquire a knowledge of metaphysical healing; + spiritual sense is more important to its discernment than the intellect; + and those who would learn this science without a high moral standard of + thought and action, will fail to understand it until they go up higher. + Owing to our explanations constantly vibrating between the same points, an + irksome repetition of words must occur; also the use of capital letters, + genders, and technicalities peculiar to the science. Variety of language, + or beauty of diction, must give place to close analysis and unembellished + thought. “Hoping all things, enduring all things,” to do good to our + enemies, to bless them that curse us, and to bear to the sorrowing and the + sick consolation and healing, we commit these pages to posterity. + </p> + <p> + MARY BAKER G. EDDY. <a name="link2H_APPEB" id="link2H_APPEB"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX B + </h2> + <p> + The Gospel narratives bear brief testimony even to the life of our great + Master. His spiritual noumenon and phenomenon, silenced portraiture. + Writers, less wise than the Apostles, essayed in the Apocryphal New + Testament, a legendary and traditional history of the early life of Jesus. + But Saint Paul summarized the character of Jesus as the model of + Christianity, in these words: “Consider Him who endured such + contradictions of sinners against Himself. Who for the joy that was set + before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the + right hand of the throne of God.” + </p> + <p> + It may be that the mortal life battle still wages, and must continue till + its involved errors are vanquished by victory-bringing Science; but this + triumph will come! God is over all. He alone is our origin, aim, and + Being. The real man is not of the dust, nor is he ever created through the + flesh; for his father and mother are the one Spirit, and his brethren are + all the children of one parent, the eternal Good. + </p> + <p> + Any kind of literary composition was excessively difficult for Mrs. Eddy. + She found it grinding hard work to dig out anything to say. She realized, + at the above stage in her life, that with all her trouble she had not been + able to scratch together even material enough for a child's Autobiography, + and also that what she had secured was in the main not valuable, not + important, considering the age and the fame of the person she was writing + about; and so it occurred to her to attempt, in that paragraph, to excuse + the meagreness and poor quality of the feast she was spreading, by letting + on that she could do ever so much better if she wanted to, but was under + constraint of Divine etiquette. To feed with more than a few indifferent + crumbs a plebeian appetite for personal details about Personages in her + class was not the correct thing, and she blandly points out that there is + Precedent for this reserve. When Mrs. Eddy tries to be artful—in + literature—it is generally after the manner of the ostrich; and with + the ostrich's luck. Please try to find the connection between the two + paragraphs.—M. T. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEC" id="link2H_APPEC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX C + </h2> + <h3> + The following is the spiritual signification of the Lord's Prayer: + </h3> + <p> + Principle, eternal and harmonious, Nameless and adorable Intelligence, + Thou art ever present and supreme. And when this supremacy of Spirit shall + appear, the dream of matter will disappear. Give us the understanding of + Truth and Love. And loving we shall learn God, and Truth will destroy all + error. And lead us unto the Life that is Soul, and deliver us from the + errors of sense, sin, sickness, and death, For God is Life, Truth, and + Love for ever.—Science and Health, edition of 1881. + </p> + <p> + It seems to me that this one is distinctly superior to the one that was + inspired for last year's edition. It is strange, but to my mind plain, + that inspiring is an art which does not improve with practice.—M. T. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPED" id="link2H_APPED"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX D + </h2> + <p> + “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, + Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his + heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to + pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What + things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye + shall have them. + </p> + <p> + “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.”—CHRIST + JESUS. + </p> + <p> + The prayer that reclaims the sinner and heals the sick, is an absolute + faith that all things are possible to God—a spiritual understanding + of Him—an unselfed love. Regardless of what another may say or think + on this subject, I speak from experience. This prayer, combined with + self-sacrifice and toil, is the means whereby God has enabled me to do + what I have done for the religion and health of mankind. + </p> + <p> + Thoughts unspoken are not unknown to the divine Mind. Desire is prayer; + and no less can occur from trusting God with our desires, that they may be + moulded and exalted before they take form in audible word, and in deeds. + </p> + <p> + What are the motives for prayer? Do we pray to make ourselves better, or + to benefit those that hear us; to enlighten the Infinite, or to be heard + of men? Are we benefited by praying? Yes, the desire which goes forth + hungering after righteousness is blessed of our Father, and it does not + return unto us void. + </p> + <p> + God is not moved by the breath of praise to do more than He has already + done; nor can the Infinite do less than bestow all good, since He is + unchanging Wisdom and Love. We can do more for ourselves by humble fervent + petitions; but the All-loving does not grant them simply on the ground of + lip-service, for He already knows all. + </p> + <p> + Prayer cannot change the Science of Being, but it does bring us into + harmony with it. Goodness reaches the demonstration of Truth. A request + that another may work for us never does our work. The habit of pleading + with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the + belief in God as humanly circumscribed—an error which impedes + spiritual growth. + </p> + <p> + God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? God is Intelligence. Can we inform + the infinite Mind, or tell Him anything He does not already comprehend? Do + we hope to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount, + which always pours forth more than we receive? The unspoken prayer does + bring us nearer the Source of all existence and blessedness. + </p> + <p> + Asking God to be God is a “vain repetition.” God is “the same yesterday, + and to-day, and forever”; and He who is immutably right will do right, + without being reminded of His province. The wisdom of man is not + sufficient to warrant him in advising God. + </p> + <p> + Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics + to work out the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our + task to work out the solution. Shall we ask the divine Principle of all + goodness to do His own work? His work is done; and we have only to avail + ourselves of God's rule, in order to receive the blessing thereof. + </p> + <p> + The divine Being must be reflected by man—else man is not the image + and likeness of the patient, tender, and true, the one “altogether + lovely”; but to understand God is the work of eternity, and demands + absolute concentration of thought and energy. + </p> + <p> + How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit theoretically that God is + good, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, and then we try to give + information to this infinite Mind; and plead for unmerited pardon, and a + liberal outpouring of benefactions. Are we really grateful for the good + already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, + and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal + expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech. + </p> + <p> + If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and yet return thanks to + God for all blessings, we are insincere; and incur the sharp censure our + Master pronounces on hypocrites. In such a case the only acceptable prayer + is to put the finger on the lips and remember our blessings. While the + heart is far from divine Truth and Love, we cannot conceal the ingratitude + of barren lives, for God knoweth all things. + </p> + <p> + What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, + expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds. To keep the + commandments of our Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to + Him, and the only worthy evidence of our gratitude for all He has done. + Outward worship is not of itself sufficient to express loyal and heartfelt + gratitude, since He has said: “If ye love Me, keep My Commandments.” + </p> + <p> + The habitual struggle to be always good, is unceasing prayer. Its motives + are made manifest in the blessings they bring—which, if not + acknowledged in audible words, attest our worthiness to be made partakers + of Love. + </p> + <p> + Simply asking that we may love God will never make us love Him; but the + longing to be better and holier—expressed in daily watchfulness, and + in striving to assimilate more of the divine character—this will + mould and fashion us anew, until we awake in His likeness. We reach the + Science of Christianity through demonstration of the divine nature; but in + this wicked world goodness will “be evil spoken of,” and patience must + work experience. + </p> + <p> + Audible prayer can never do the works of spiritual understanding, which + regenerates; but silent prayer, watchfulness, and devout obedience, enable + us to follow Jesus' example. Long prayers, ecclesiasticism, and creeds, + have clipped the divine pinions of Love, and clad religion in human robes. + They materialize worship, hinder the Spirit, and keep man from + demonstrating his power over error. + </p> + <p> + Sorrow for wrong-doing is but one step towards reform, and the very + easiest step. The next and great step required by Wisdom is the test of + our sincerity—namely, reformation. To this end we are placed under + the stress of circumstances. Temptation bids us repeat the offence, and + woe comes in return for what is done. So it will ever be, till we learn + that there is no discount in the law of justice, and that we must pay “the + uttermost farthing.” The measure ye mete “shall be measured to you again,” + and it will be full “and running over.” + </p> + <p> + Saints and sinners get their full award, but not always in this world. The + followers of Christ drank His cup. Ingratitude and persecution filled it + to the brim; but God pours the riches of His love into the understanding + and affections, giving us strength according to our day. Sinners flourish + “like a green bay-tree”; but, looking farther, the Psalmist could see + their end—namely, the destruction of sin through suffering. + </p> + <p> + Prayer is sometimes used, as a confessional to cancel sin. This error + impedes true religion. Sin is forgiven, only as it is destroyed by + Christ-Truth and Life. If prayer nourishes the belief that sin is + cancelled, and that man is made better by merely praying, it is an evil. + He grows worse who continues in sin because he thinks himself forgiven. + </p> + <p> + An apostle says that the Son of God (Christ) came to “destroy the works of + the devil.” We should follow our divine Exemplar, and seek the destruction + of all evil works, error and disease included. We cannot escape the + penalty due for sin. The Scriptures say, that if we deny Christ, “He also + will deny us.” + </p> + <p> + The divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine + Principle alone reforms the sinner. God is not separate from the wisdom He + bestows. The talents He gives we must improve. Calling on Him to forgive + our work, badly done or left undone, implies the vain supposition that we + have nothing to do but to ask pardon, and that afterwards we shall be free + to repeat the offence. + </p> + <p> + To cause suffering, as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin. + Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of + pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed. To reach heaven, + the harmony of Being, we must understand the divine Principle of Being. + </p> + <p> + “God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask; higher we cannot look; + farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin, + according as His mercy is sought or unsought, is to misunderstand Love and + make prayer the safety-valve for wrong-doing. + </p> + <p> + Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before He cast it out. Of a sick woman He + said that Satan had bound her; and to Peter He said, “Thou art an offense + unto me.” He came teaching and showing men how to destroy sin, sickness, + and death. He said of the fruitless tree, “It is hewn down.” + </p> + <p> + It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, who lived in the time of + Jesus, left this record: “His rebuke is fearful.” The strong language of + our Master confirms this description. + </p> + <p> + The only civil sentence which He had for error was, “Get thee behind Me, + Satan.” Still stronger evidence that Jesus' reproof was pointed and + pungent is in His own words—showing the necessity for such forcible + utterance, when He cast out devils and healed the sick and sinful. The + relinquishment of error deprives material sense of its false claims. + </p> + <p> + Audible prayer is impressive; it gives momentary solemnity and elevation + to thought; but does it produce any lasting benefit? Looking deeply into + these things, we find that “a zeal... not according to knowledge,” gives + occasion for reaction unfavorable to spiritual growth, sober resolve, and + wholesome perception of God's requirements. The motives for verbal prayer + may embrace too much love of applause to induce or encourage Christian + sentiment. + </p> + <p> + Physical sensation, not Soul, produces material ecstasy, and emotions. If + spiritual sense always guided men at such times, there would grow out of + those ecstatic moments a higher experience and a better life, with more + devout self-abnegation, and purity. A self-satisfied ventilation of + fervent sentiments never makes a Christian. God is not influenced by man. + The “divine ear” is not an auditorial nerve. It is the all-hearing and + all-knowing Mind, to whom each want of man is always known, and by whom it + will be supplied. + </p> + <p> + The danger from audible prayer is, that it may lead us into temptation. By + it we may become involuntary hypocrites, uttering desires which are not + real, and consoling ourselves in the midst of sin, with the recollection + that we have prayed over it—or mean to ask forgiveness at some later + day. Hypocrisy is fatal to religion. + </p> + <p> + A wordy prayer may afford a quiet sense of self-justification, though it + makes the sinner a hypocrite. We never need despair of an honest heart, + but there is little hope for those who only come spasmodically face to + face with their wickedness, and then seek to hide it. Their prayers are + indexes which do not correspond with their character. They hold secret + fellowship with sin; and such externals are spoken of by Jesus as “like + unto whited sepulchres... full of all uncleanness.” + </p> + <p> + If a man, though apparently fervent and prayerful, is impure, and + therefore insincere, what must be the comment upon him? If he had reached + the loftiness of his prayer, there would be no occasion for such comment. + If we feel the aspiration, humility, gratitude, and love which our words + express—this God accepts; and it is wise not to try to deceive + ourselves or others, for “there is nothing covered that shall not be + revealed.” Professions and audible prayers are like charity in one respect—they + “cover a multitude of sins.” Praying for humility, with whatever fervency + of expression, does not always mean a desire for it. If we turn away from + the poor, we are not ready to receive the reward of Him who blesses the + poor. We confess to having a very wicked heart, and ask that it may be + laid bare before us; but do we not already know more of this heart than we + are willing to have our neighbor see? + </p> + <p> + We ought to examine ourselves, and learn what is the affection and purpose + of the heart; for this alone can show us what we honestly are. If a friend + informs us of a fault, do we listen to the rebuke patiently, and credit + what is said? Do we not rather give thanks that we are “not as other men?” + During many years the author has been most grateful for merited rebuke. + The sting lies in unmerited censure—in the falsehood which does no + one any good. + </p> + <p> + The test of all prayer lies in the answer to these questions: Do we love + our neighbor better because of this asking? Do we pursue the old + selfishness, satisfied with having prayed for something better, though we + give no evidence of the sincerity of our requests by living consistently + with our prayer? If selfishness has given place to kindness, we shall + regard our neighbor unselfishly, and bless them that curse us; but we + shall never meet this great duty by simply asking that it may be done. + There is a cross to be taken up, before we can enjoy the fruition of our + hope and faith. + </p> + <p> + Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy + soul, and with all thy mind?” This command includes much—even the + surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship. This + is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and + recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, wherein Soul is our master, + and material sense and human will have no place. + </p> + <p> + Are you willing to leave all for Christ, for Truth, and so be counted + among sinners? No! Do you really desire to attain this point? No! Then why + make long prayers about it, and ask to be Christians, since you care not + to tread in the footsteps of our dear Master? If unwilling to follow His + example, wherefore pray with the lips that you may be partakers of His + nature? Consistent prayer is the desire to do right. Prayer means that we + desire to, and will, walk in the light so far as we receive it, even + though with bleeding footsteps, and waiting patiently on the Lord, will + leave our real desires to be rewarded by Him. + </p> + <p> + The world must grow to the spiritual understanding of prayer. If good + enough to profit by Jesus' cup of earthly sorrows, God will sustain us + under these sorrows. Until we are thus divinely qualified, and willing to + drink His cup, millions of vain repetitions will never pour into prayer + the unction of Spirit, in demonstration of power, and “with signs + following.” Christian Science reveals a necessity for overcoming the + world, the flesh and evil, and thus destroying all error. + </p> + <p> + Seeking is not sufficient. It is striving which enables us to enter. + Spiritual attainments open the door to a higher understanding of the + divine Life. + </p> + <p> + One of the forms of worship in Thibet is to carry a praying-machine + through the streets, and stop at the doors to earn a penny by grinding out + a prayer; whereas civilization pays for clerical prayers, in lofty + edifices. Is the difference very great, after all? + </p> + <p> + Experience teaches us that we do not always receive the blessings we ask + for in prayer. + </p> + <p> + There is some misapprehension of the source and means of all goodness and + blessedness, or we should certainly receive what we ask for. The + Scriptures say: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye + may consume it upon your lusts.” What we desire and ask for it is not + always best for us to receive. In this case infinite Love will not grant + the request. Do you ask Wisdom to be merciful and not punish sin? Then “ye + ask amiss.” Without punishment, sin would multiply. Jesus' prayer, + “forgive us our debts,” specified also the terms of forgiveness. When + forgiving the adulterous woman He said, “Go, and sin no more.” + </p> + <p> + A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this may be no moral + benefit to the criminal; and at best, it only saves him from one form of + punishment. The moral law, which has the right to acquit or condemn, + always demands restitution, before mortals can “go up higher.” Broken law + brings penalty, in order to compel this progress. + </p> + <p> + Mere legal pardon (and there is no other, for divine Principle never + pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected) leaves the offender + free to repeat the offense; if, indeed, he has not already suffered + sufficiently from vice to make him turn from it with loathing. Truth + bestows no pardon upon error, but wipes it out in the most effectual + manner. Jesus suffered for our sins, not to annul the divine sentence + against an individual's sin, but to show that sin must bring inevitable + suffering. + </p> + <p> + Petitions only bring to mortals the results of their own faith. We know + that a desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain it; but if we + desire holiness above all else, we shall sacrifice everything for it. We + must be willing to do this, that we may walk securely in the only + practical road to holiness. Prayer alone cannot change the unalterable + Truth, or give us an understanding of it; but prayer coupled with a + fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God will bring us into + all Truth. Such a desire has little need of audible expression. It is best + expressed in thought and life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEE" id="link2H_APPEE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX E + </h2> + <h3> + Reverend Heber Newton on Christian Science: + </h3> + <p> + To begin, then, at the beginning, Christian Science accepts the work of + healing sickness as an integral part of the discipleship of Jesus Christ. + In Christ it finds, what the Church has always recognized, theoretically, + though it has practically ignored the fact—the Great Physician. That + Christ healed the sick, we none of us question. It stands plainly upon the + record. This ministry of healing was too large a part of His work to be + left out from any picture of that life. Such service was not an incident + of His career—it was an essential element of that career. It was an + integral factor in His mission. The Evangelists leave us no possibility of + confusion on this point. Co-equal with his work of instruction and + inspiration was His work of healing. + </p> + <p> + The records make it equally clear that the Master laid His charge upon His + disciples to do as He had done. “When He had called unto Him His twelve + disciples, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and + to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” In sending them + forth, “He commanded them, saying,... As ye go, preach, saying, The + kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the + dead, cast out demons.” + </p> + <p> + That the twelve disciples undertook to do the Master's work of healing, + and that they, in their measure, succeeded, seems beyond question. They + found in themselves the same power that the Master found in Himself, and + they used it as He had used His power. The record of The Acts of the + Apostles, if at all trustworthy history, shows that they, too, healed the + sick. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the circle of the original twelve, it is equally clear that the + early disciples believed themselves charged with the same mission, and + that they sought to fulfil it. The records of the early Church make it + indisputable that powers of healing were recognized as among the gifts of + the Spirit. St. Paul's letters render it certain that these gifts were not + a privilege of the original twelve, merely, but that they were the + heritage into which all the disciples entered. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the era of the primitive Church, through several generations, the + early Christians felt themselves called to the same ministry of healing, + and enabled with the same secret of power. Through wellnigh three + centuries, the gifts of healing appear to have been, more or less, + recognized and exercised in the Church. Through those generations, + however, there was a gradual disuse of this power, following upon a + failing recognition of its possession. That which was originally the rule + became the exception. By degrees, the sense of authority and power to heal + passed out from the consciousness of the Church. It ceased to be a sign of + the indwelling Spirit. For fifteen centuries, the recognition of this + authority and power has been altogether exceptional. Here and there, + through the history of these centuries, there have been those who have + entered into this belief of their own privilege and duty, and have used + the gift which they recognized. The Church has never been left without a + line of witnesses to this aspect of the discipleship of Christ. But she + has come to accept it as the normal order of things that what was once the + rule in the Christian Church should be now only the exception. Orthodoxy + has framed a theory of the words of Jesus to account for this strange + departure of His Church from them. It teaches us to believe that His + example was not meant to be followed, in this respect, by all His + disciples. The power of healing which was in Him was a purely exceptional + power. It was used as an evidence of His divine mission. It was a + miraculous gift. The gift of working miracles was not bestowed upon His + Church at large. His original disciples, the twelve apostles, received + this gift, as a necessity of the critical epoch of Christianity—the + founding of the Church. Traces of the power lingered on, in weakening + activity, until they gradually ceased, and the normal condition of the + Church was entered upon, in which miracles are no longer possible. + </p> + <p> + We accept this, unconsciously, as the true state of things in + Christianity. But it is a conception which will not bear a moment's + examination. There is not the slightest suggestion upon record that Christ + set any limit to this charge which He gave His disciples. On the contrary, + there are not lacking hints that He looked for the possession and exercise + of this power wherever His spirit breathed in men. + </p> + <p> + Even if the concluding paragraph of St. Mark's Gospel were a later + appendix, it may none the less have been a faithful echo of words of the + Master, as it certainly is a trustworthy record of the belief of the early + Christians as to the thought of Jesus concerning His followers. In that + interesting passage, Jesus, after His death, appeared to the eleven, and + formally commissioned them, again, to take up His work in the world; + bidding them, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every + creature.” “And these signs,” He tells them, “shall follow them that + believe”—not the apostles only, but “them that believe,” without + limit of time; “in My name they shall cast out devils... they shall lay + hands on the sick and they shall recover.” The concluding discourse to the + disciples, recorded in the Gospel according to St. John, affirms the same + expectation on the part of Jesus; emphasizing it in His solemn way: + “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I + do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPEF" id="link2H_APPEF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX F + </h2> + <p> + Few will deny that an intelligence apart from man formed and governs the + spiritual universe and man; and this intelligence is the eternal Mind, and + neither matter nor man created this intelligence and divine Principle; nor + can this Principle produce aught unlike itself. All that we term sin, + sickness, and death is comprised in the belief of matter. The realm of the + real is spiritual; the opposite of Spirit is matter; and the opposite of + the real is unreal or material. Matter is an error of statement, for there + is no matter. This error of premises leads to error of conclusion in every + statement of matter as a basis. Nothing we can say or believe regarding + matter is true, except that matter is unreal, simply a belief that has its + beginning and ending. + </p> + <p> + The conservative firm called matter and mind God never formed. The + unerring and eternal Mind destroys this imaginary copartnership, formed + only to be dissolved in a manner and at a period unknown. This + copartnership is obsolete. Placed under the microscope of metaphysics + matter disappears. Only by understanding there are not two, matter and + mind, is a logical and correct conclusion obtained by either one. Science + gathers not grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. Intelligence never + produced non-intelligence, such as matter: the immortal never produced + mortality, good never resulted in evil. The science of Mind shows + conclusively that matter is a myth. Metaphysics are above physics, and + drag not matter, or what is termed that, into one of its premises or + conclusions. Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the + objects of sense for the ideas of Soul. These ideas are perfectly tangible + and real to consciousness, and they have this advantage—they are + eternal. Mind and its thoughts comprise the whole of God, the universe, + and of man. Reason and revelation coincide with this statement, and + support its proof every hour, for nothing is harmonious or eternal that is + not spiritual: the realization of this will bring out objects from a + higher source of thought; hence more beautiful and immortal. + </p> + <p> + The fact of spiritualization produces results in striking contrast to the + farce of materialization: the one produces the results of chastity and + purity, the other the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of + sensualism and impurity. + </p> + <p> + The exalting and healing effects of metaphysics show their fountain. + Nothing in pathology has exceeded the application of metaphysics. Through + mind alone we have prevented disease and preserved health. In cases of + chronic and acute diseases, in their severest forms, we have changed the + secretions, renewed structure, and restored health; have elongated + shortened limbs, relaxed rigid muscles, made cicatrized joints supple; + restored carious bones to healthy conditions, renewed that which is termed + the lost substance of the lungs; and restored healthy organizations where + disease was organic instead of functional. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0076" id="link2H_4_0076"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MRS. EDDY IN ERROR + </h2> + <p> + I feel almost sure that Mrs. Eddy's inspiration—works are getting + out of repair. I think so because they made some errors in a statement + which she uttered through the press on the 17th of January. Not large + ones, perhaps, still it is a friend's duty to straighten such things out + and get them right when he can. Therefore I will put my other duties aside + for a moment and undertake this helpful service. She said as follows: + </p> + <p> + “In view of the circulation of certain criticisms from the pen of Mark + Twain, I submit the following statement: + </p> + <p> + “It is a fact, well understood, that I begged the students who first gave + me the endearing appellative 'mother' not to name me thus. But, without my + consent, that word spread like wildfire. I still must think the name is + not applicable to me. I stand in relation to this century as a Christian + discoverer, founder, and leader. I regard self-deification as blasphemous; + I may be more loved, but I am less lauded, pampered, provided for, and + cheered than others before me—and wherefore? Because Christian + Science is not yet popular, and I refuse adulation. + </p> + <p> + “My visit to the Mother-Church after it was built and dedicated pleased + me, and the situation was satisfactory. The dear members wanted to greet + me with escort and the ringing of bells, but I declined, and went alone in + my carriage to the church, entered it, and knelt in thanks upon the steps + of its altar. There the foresplendor of the beginnings of truth fell + mysteriously upon my spirit. I believe in one Christ, teach one Christ, + know of but one Christ. I believe in but one incarnation, one Mother Mary, + and know I am not that one, and never claimed to be. It suffices me to + learn the Science of the Scriptures relative to this subject. + </p> + <p> + “Christian Scientists have no quarrel with Protestants, Catholics, or any + other sect. They need to be understood as following the divine Principle + God, Love and not imagined to be unscientific worshippers of a human + being. + </p> + <p> + “In the aforesaid article, of which I have seen only extracts, Mark + Twain's wit was not wasted In certain directions. Christian Science + eschews divine rights in human beings. If the individual governed human + consciousness, my statement of Christian Science would be disproved, but + to understand the spiritual idea is essential to demonstrate Science and + its pure monotheism—one God, one Christ, no idolatry, no human + propaganda. Jesus taught and proved that what feeds a few feeds all. His + life-work subordinated the material to the spiritual, and He left this + legacy of truth to mankind. His metaphysics is not the sport of + philosophy, religion, or Science; rather it is the pith and finale of them + all. + </p> + <p> + “I have not the inspiration or aspiration to be a first or second + Virgin-Mother—her duplicate, antecedent, or subsequent. What I am + remains to be proved by the good I do. We need much humility, wisdom, and + love to perform the functions of foreshadowing and foretasting heaven + within us. This glory is molten in the furnace of affliction.” + </p> + <p> + She still thinks the name of Our Mother not applicable to her; and she is + also able to remember that it distressed her when it was conferred upon + her, and that she begged to have it suppressed. Her memory is at fault + here. If she will take her By-laws, and refer to Section 1 of Article + XXII., written with her own hand—she will find that she has reserved + that title to herself, and is so pleased with it, and so—may we say + jealous?—about it, that she threatens with excommunication any + sister Scientist who shall call herself by it. This is that Section 1: + </p> + <p> + “The Title of Mother. In the year 1895 loyal Christian Scientists had + given to the author of their text-book, the Founder of Christian Science, + the individual, endearing term of Mother. Therefore, if a student of + Christian Science shall apply this title, either to herself or to others, + except as the term for kinship according to the flesh, it shall be + regarded by the Church as an indication of disrespect for their Pastor + Emeritus, and unfitness to be a member of the Mother-Church.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is herself the Mother-Church—its powers and authorities + are in her possession solely—and she can abolish that title whenever + it may please her to do so. She has only to command her people, wherever + they may be in the earth, to use it no more, and it will never be uttered + again. She is aware of this. + </p> + <p> + It may be that she “refuses adulation” when she is not awake, but when she + is awake she encourages it and propagates it in that museum called “Our + Mother's Room,” in her Church in Boston. She could abolish that + institution with a word, if she wanted to. She is aware of that. I will + say a further word about the museum presently. + </p> + <p> + Further down the column, her memory is unfaithful again: + </p> + <p> + “I believe in... but one Mother Mary, and know I am not that one, and + never claimed to be.” + </p> + <p> + At a session of the National Christian Science Association, held in the + city of New York on the 27th of May, 1890, the secretary was “instructed + to send to our Mother greetings and words of affection from her assembled + children.” + </p> + <p> + Her telegraphic response was read to the Association at next day's + meeting: + </p> + <p> + “All hail! He hath filled the hungry with good things and the sick hath He + not sent empty away.—MOTHER MARY.” + </p> + <p> + Which Mother Mary is this one? Are there two? If so, she is both of them; + for, when she signed this telegram in this satisfied and unprotesting way, + the Mother-title which she was going to so strenuously object to, and put + from her with humility, and seize with both hands, and reserve as her sole + property, and protect her monopoly of it with a stern By-law, while + recognizing with diffidence that it was “not applicable” to her (then and + to-day)—that Mother—title was not yet born, and would not be + offered to her until five years later. The date of the above “Mother Mary” + is 1890; the “individual, endearing title of Mother” was given her “in + 1895”—according to her own testimony. See her By-law quoted above. + </p> + <p> + In his opening Address to that Convention of 1890, the President + recognized this Mary—our Mary-and abolished all previous ones. He + said: + </p> + <p> + “There is but one Moses, one Jesus; and there is but one Mary.” + </p> + <p> + The confusions being now dispersed, we have this clarified result: + </p> + <p> + There had been a Moses at one time, and only one; there had been a Jesus at + one time, and only one; there is a Mary and “only one.” She is not a Has + Been, she is an Is—the “Author of Science and Health; and we cannot + ignore her.” + </p> + <p> + 1. In 1890, there was but one Mother Mary. The President said so. 2. Mrs. + Eddy was that one. She said so, in signing the telegram. 3. Mrs. Eddy was + not that one for she says so, in her Associated Press utterance of January + 17th. 4. And has “never claimed to be that one”—unless the signature + to the telegram is a claim. + </p> + <p> + Thus it stands proven and established that she is that Mary and isn't, and + thought she was and knows she wasn't. That much is clear. + </p> + <p> + She is also “The Mother,” by the election of 1895, and did not want the + title, and thinks it is not applicable to her, and will excommunicate any + one that tries to take it away from her. So that is clear. + </p> + <p> + I think that the only really troublesome confusion connected with these + particular matters has arisen from the name Mary. Much vexation, much + misunderstanding, could have been avoided if Mrs. Eddy had used some of + her other names in place of that one. “Mother Mary” was certain to stir up + discussion. It would have been much better if she had signed the telegram + “Mother Baker”; then there would have been no Biblical competition, and, + of course, that is a thing to avoid. But it is not too late, yet. + </p> + <p> + I wish to break in here with a parenthesis, and then take up this + examination of Mrs. Eddy's Claim of January 17th again. + </p> + <p> + The history of her “Mother Mary” telegram—as told to me by one who + ought to be a very good authority—is curious and interesting. The + telegram ostensibly quotes verse 53 from the “Magnificat,” but really + makes some pretty formidable changes in it. This is St. Luke's version: + </p> + <p> + “He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent + empty away.” + </p> + <p> + This is “Mother Mary's” telegraphed version: + </p> + <p> + “He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the sick hath He not sent + empty away.” + </p> + <p> + To judge by the Official Report, the bursting of this bombshell in that + massed convention of trained Christians created no astonishment, since it + caused no remark, and the business of the convention went tranquilly on, + thereafter, as if nothing had happened. + </p> + <p> + Did those people detect those changes? We cannot know. I think they must + have noticed them, the wording of St. Luke's verse being as familiar to + all Christians as is the wording of the Beatitudes; and I think that the + reason the new version provoked no surprise and no comment was, that the + assemblage took it for a “Key”—a spiritualized explanation of verse + 53, newly sent down from heaven through Mrs. Eddy. For all Scientists + study their Bibles diligently, and they know their Magnificat. I believe + that their confidence in the authenticity of Mrs. Eddy's inspirations is + so limitless and so firmly established that no change, however violent, + which she might make in a Bible text could disturb their composure or + provoke from them a protest. + </p> + <p> + Her improved rendition of verse 53 went into the convention's report and + appeared in a New York paper the next day. The (at that time) Scientist + whom I mentioned a minute ago, and who had not been present at the + convention, saw it and marvelled; marvelled and was indignant—indignant + with the printer or the telegrapher, for making so careless and so + dreadful an error. And greatly distressed, too; for, of course, the + newspaper people would fall foul of it, and be sarcastic, and make fun of + it, and have a blithe time over it, and be properly thankful for the + chance. It shows how innocent he was; it shows that he did not know the + limitations of newspaper men in the matter of Biblical knowledge. The new + verse 53 raised no insurrection in the press; in fact, it was not even + remarked upon; I could have told him the boys would not know there was + anything the matter with it. I have been a newspaper man myself, and in + those days I had my limitations like the others. + </p> + <p> + The Scientist hastened to Concord and told Mrs. Eddy what a disastrous + mistake had been made, but he found to his bewilderment that she was + tranquil about it, and was not proposing to correct it. He was not able to + get her to promise to make a correction. He asked her secretary if he had + heard aright when the telegram was dictated to him; the secretary said he + had, and took the filed copy of it and verified its authenticity by + comparing it with the stenographic notes. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy did make the correction, two months later, in her official + organ. It attracted no attention among the Scientists; and, naturally, + none elsewhere, for that periodical's circulation was practically confined + to disciples of the cult. + </p> + <p> + That is the tale as it was told to me by an ex-Scientist. Verse 53—renovated + and spiritualized—had a narrow escape from a tremendous celebrity. + The newspaper men would have made it as famous as the assassination of + Caesar, but for their limitations. + </p> + <p> + To return to the Claim. I find myself greatly embarrassed by Mrs. Eddy's + remark: “I regard self-deification as blasphemous.” If she is right about + that, I have written a half-ream of manuscript this past week which I must + not print, either in the book which I am writing, or elsewhere: for it + goes into that very matter with extensive elaboration, citing, in detail, + words and acts of Mrs. Eddy's which seem to me to prove that she is a + faithful and untiring worshipper of herself, and has carried + self-deification to a length which has not been before ventured in ages. + If ever. There is not room enough in this chapter for that Survey, but I + can epitomize a portion of it here. + </p> + <p> + With her own untaught and untrained mind, and without outside help, she + has erected upon a firm and lasting foundation the most minutely perfect, + and wonderful, and smoothly and exactly working, and best safe-guarded + system of government that has yet been devised in the world, as I believe, + and as I am sure I could prove if I had room for my documentary evidences + here. + </p> + <p> + It is a despotism (on this democratic soil); a sovereignty more absolute + than the Roman Papacy, more absolute than the Russian Czarship; it has not + a single power, not a shred of authority, legislative or executive, which + is not lodged solely in the sovereign; all its dreams, its functions, its + energies, have a single object, a single reason for existing, and only the + one—to build to the sky the glory of the sovereign, and keep it + bright to the end of time. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is the sovereign; she devised that great place for herself, she + occupies that throne. + </p> + <p> + In 1895, she wrote a little primer, a little body of autocratic laws, + called the Manual of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and put those + laws in force, in permanence. Her government is all there; all in that + deceptively innocent-looking little book, that cunning little devilish + book, that slumbering little brown volcano, with hell in its bowels. In + that book she has planned out her system, and classified and defined its + purposes and powers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0077" id="link2H_4_0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MAIN PARTS OF THE MACHINE + </h2> + <p> + A Supreme Church. At Boston. Branch Churches. All over the world One + Pastor for the whole of them: to wit, her book, Science and Health. Term + of the book's office—forever. + </p> + <p> + In every C.S. pulpit, two “Readers,” a man and a woman. No talkers, no + preachers, in any Church-readers only. Readers of the Bible and her books—no + others. No commentators allowed to write or print. + </p> + <p> + A Church Service. She has framed it—for all the C.S. Churches—selected + its readings, its prayers, and the hymns to be used, and has appointed the + order of procedure. No changes permitted. + </p> + <p> + A Creed. She wrote it. All C.S. Churches must subscribe to it. No other + permitted. + </p> + <p> + A Treasury. At Boston. She carries the key. + </p> + <p> + A C.S. Book—Publishing House. For books approved by her. No others + permitted. + </p> + <p> + Journals and Magazines. These are organs of hers, and are controlled by + her. + </p> + <p> + A College. For teaching C.S. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0078" id="link2H_4_0078"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DISTRIBUTION OF THE MACHINE'S POWERS AND DIGNITIES + </h2> + <p> + Supreme Church. Pastor Emeritus—Mrs. Eddy. Board of Directors. Board + of Education. Board of Finance. College Faculty. Various Committees. + Treasurer. Clerk. First Members (of the Supreme Church). Members of the + Supreme Church. + </p> + <p> + It looks fair, it looks real, but it is all a fiction. + </p> + <p> + Even the little “Pastor Emeritus” is a fiction. Instead of being merely an + honorary and ornamental official, Mrs. Eddy is the only official in the + entire body that has the slightest power. In her Manual, she has provided + a prodigality of ways and forms whereby she can rid herself of any + functionary in the government whenever she wants to. The officials are all + shadows, save herself; she is the only reality. She allows no one to hold + office more than a year—no one gets a chance to become over-popular + or over-useful, and dangerous. “Excommunication” is the favorite + penalty-it is threatened at every turn. It is evidently the pet dread and + terror of the Church's membership. + </p> + <p> + The member who thinks, without getting his thought from Mrs. Eddy before + uttering it, is banished permanently. One or two kinds of sinners can + plead their way back into the fold, but this one, never. To think—in + the Supreme Church—is the New Unpardonable Sin. + </p> + <p> + To nearly every severe and fierce rule, Mrs. Eddy adds this rivet: “This + By-law shall not be changed without the consent of the Pastor Emeritus.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy is the entire Supreme Church, in her own person, in the matter + of powers and authorities. + </p> + <p> + Although she has provided so many ways of getting rid of unsatisfactory + members and officials, she was still afraid she might have left a + life-preserver lying around somewhere, therefore she devised a rule to + cover that defect. By applying it, she can excommunicate (and this is + perpetual again) every functionary connected with the Supreme Church, and + every one of the twenty-five thousand members of that Church, at an hour's + notice—and do it all by herself without anybody's help. + </p> + <p> + By authority of this astonishing By-law, she has only to say a person + connected with that Church is secretly practicing hypnotism or mesmerism; + whereupon, immediate excommunication, without a hearing, is his portion! + She does not have to order a trial and produce evidence—her + accusation is all that is necessary. + </p> + <p> + Where is the Pope? and where the Czar? As the ballad says: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ask of the winds that far away + With fragments strewed the sea!” + </pre> + <p> + The Branch Church's pulpit is occupied by two “Readers.” Without them the + Branch Church is as dead as if its throat had been cut. To have control, + then, of the Readers, is to have control of the Branch Churches. Mrs. Eddy + has that control—a control wholly without limit, a control shared + with no one. + </p> + <p> + 1. No Reader can be appointed to any Church in the Christian Science world + without her express approval. + </p> + <p> + 2. She can summarily expel from his or her place any Reader, at home or + abroad, by a mere letter of dismissal, over her signature, and without + furnishing any reason for it, to either the congregation or the Reader. + </p> + <p> + Thus she has as absolute control over all Branch Churches as she has over + the Supreme Church. This power exceeds the Pope's. + </p> + <p> + In simple truth, she is the only absolute sovereign in all Christendom. + The authority of the other sovereigns has limits, hers has none, none + whatever. And her yoke does not fret, does not offend. Many of the + subjects of the other monarchs feel their yoke, and are restive under it; + their loyalty is insincere. It is not so with this one's human property; + their loyalty is genuine, earnest, sincere, enthusiastic. The sentiment + which they feel for her is one which goes out in sheer perfection to no + other occupant of a throne; for it is love, pure from doubt, envy, + exaction, fault-seeking, a love whose sun has no spot—that form of + love, strong, great, uplifting, limitless, whose vast proportions are + compassable by no word but one, the prodigious word, Worship. And it is + not as a human being that her subjects worship her, but as a supernatural + one, a divine one, one who has comradeship with God, and speaks by His + voice. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy has herself created all these personal grandeurs and autocracies—with + others which I have not (in this article) mentioned. They place her upon + an Alpine solitude and supremacy of power and spectacular show not + hitherto attained by any other self-seeking enslaver disguised in the + Christian name, and they persuade me that, although she may regard + “self-deification as blasphemous,” she is as fond of it as I am of pie. + </p> + <p> + She knows about “Our Mother's Room” in the Supreme Church in Boston—above + referred to—for she has been in it. In a recently published North + American Review article, I quoted a lady as saying Mrs. Eddy's portrait + could be seen there in a shrine, lit by always-burning lights, and that + C.S. disciples came and worshiped it. That remark hurt the feelings of + more than one Scientist. They said it was not true, and asked me to + correct it. I comply with pleasure. Whether the portrait was there four + years ago or not, it is not there now, for I have inquired. The only + object in the shrine now, and lit by electrics—and worshiped—is + an oil-portrait of the horse-hair chair Mrs. Eddy used to sit in when she + was writing Science and Health! It seems to me that adulation has struck + bottom, here. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Eddy knows about that. She has been there, she has seen it, she has + seen the worshippers. She could abolish that sarcasm with a word. She + withholds the word. Once more I seem to recognize in her exactly the same + appetite for self-deification that I have for pie. We seem to be curiously + alike; for the love of self-deification is really only the spiritual form + of the material appetite for pie, and nothing could be more strikingly + Christian-Scientifically “harmonious.” + </p> + <p> + I note this phrase: + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science eschews divine rights in human beings.” + </p> + <p> + “Rights” is vague; I do not know what it means there. Mrs. Eddy is not + well acquainted with the English language, and she is seldom able to say + in it what she is trying to say. She has no ear for the exact word, and + does not often get it. “Rights.” Does it mean “honors?” “attributes?” + </p> + <p> + “Eschews.” This is another umbrella where there should be a torch; it does + not illumine the sentence, it only deepens the shadows. Does she mean + “denies?” “refuses?” “forbids?” or something in that line? Does she mean: + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science denies divine honors to human beings?” Or: + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science refuses to recognize divine attributes in human + beings?” Or: + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science forbids the worship of human beings?” + </p> + <p> + The bulk of the succeeding sentence is to me a tunnel, but, when I emerge + at this end of it, I seem to come into daylight. Then I seem to understand + both sentences—with this result: + </p> + <p> + “Christian Science recognizes but one God, forbids the worship of human + beings, and refuses to recognize the possession of divine attributes by + any member of the race.” + </p> + <p> + I am subject to correction, but I think that that is about what Mrs. Eddy + was intending to convey. Has her English—which is always difficult + to me—beguiled me into misunderstanding the following remark, which + she makes (calling herself “we,” after an old regal fashion of hers) in + her preface to her Miscellaneous Writings? + </p> + <p> + “While we entertain decided views as to the best method for elevating the + race physically, morally, and spiritually, and shall express these views + as duty demands, we shall claim no especial gift from our divine organ, no + supernatural power.” + </p> + <p> + Was she meaning to say: + </p> + <p> + “Although I am of divine origin and gifted with supernatural power, I + shall not draw upon these resources in determining the best method of + elevating the race?” + </p> + <p> + If she had left out the word “our,” she might then seem to say: + </p> + <p> + “I claim no especial or unusual degree of divine origin—” + </p> + <p> + Which is awkward—most awkward; for one either has a divine origin or + hasn't; shares in it, degrees of it, are surely impossible. The idea of + crossed breeds in cattle is a thing we can entertain, for we are used to + it, and it is possible; but the idea of a divine mongrel is unthinkable. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, what does she mean? I am sure I do not know, for certain. It + is the word “our” that makes all the trouble. With the “our” in, she is + plainly saying “my divine origin.” The word “from” seems to be intended to + mean “on account of.” It has to mean that or nothing, if “our” is allowed + to stay. The clause then says: + </p> + <p> + “I shall claim no especial gift on account of my divine origin.” + </p> + <p> + And I think that the full sentence was intended to mean what I have + already suggested: + </p> + <p> + “Although I am of divine origin, and gifted with supernatural power, I + shall not draw upon these resources in determining the best method of + elevating the race.” + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Eddy copyrighted that Preface seven years ago, she had long been + used to regarding herself as a divine personage. I quote from Mr. F. W. + Peabody's book: + </p> + <p> + “In the Christian Science Journal for April, 1889, when it was her + property, and published by her, it was claimed for her, and with her + sanction, that she was equal with Jesus, and elaborate effort was made to + establish the claim.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Eddy has distinctly authorized the claim in her behalf, that she + herself was the chosen successor to and equal of Jesus.” + </p> + <p> + The following remark in that April number, quoted by Mr. Peabody, + indicates that her claim had been previously made, and had excited + “horror” among some “good people”: + </p> + <p> + “Now, a word about the horror many good people have of our making the + Author of Science and Health 'equal with Jesus.'” + </p> + <p> + Surely, if it had excited horror in Mrs. Eddy also, she would have + published a disclaimer. She owned the paper; she could say what she + pleased in its columns. Instead of rebuking her editor, she lets him + rebuke those “good people” for objecting to the claim. + </p> + <p> + These things seem to throw light upon those words, “our [my] divine + origin.” + </p> + <p> + It may be that “Christian Science eschews divine rights in human beings,” + and forbids worship of any but “one God, one Christ”; but, if that is the + case, it looks as if Mrs. Eddy is a very unsound Christian Scientist, and + needs disciplining. I believe she has a serious malady—“self-deification”; + and that it will be well to have one of the experts demonstrate over it. + </p> + <p> + Meantime, let her go on living—for my sake. Closely examined, + painstakingly studied, she is easily the most interesting person on the + planet, and, in several ways, as easily the most extraordinary woman that + was ever born upon it. + </p> + <p> + P.S.—Since I wrote the foregoing, Mr. McCrackan's article appeared + (in the March number of the North American Review). Before his article + appeared—that is to say, during December, January, and February—I + had written a new book, a character-portrait of Mrs. Eddy, drawn from her + own acts and words, and it was then—together with the three brief + articles previously published in the North American Review—ready to + be delivered to the printer for issue in book form. In that book, by + accident and good luck, I have answered the objections made by Mr. + McCrackan to my views, and therefore do not need to add an answer here. + Also, in it I have corrected certain misstatements of mine which he has + noticed, and several others which he has not referred to. There are one or + two important matters of opinion upon which he and I are not in + disagreement; but there are others upon which we must continue to + disagree, I suppose; indeed, I know we must; for instance, he believes + Mrs. Eddy wrote Science and Health, whereas I am quite sure I can convince + a person unhampered by predilections that she did not. + </p> + <p> + As concerns one considerable matter I hope to convert him. He believes + Mrs. Eddy's word; in his article he cites her as a witness, and takes her + testimony at par; but if he will make an excursion through my book when it + comes out, and will dispassionately examine her testimonies as there + accumulated, I think he will in candor concede that she is by a large + percentage the most erratic and contradictory and untrustworthy witness + that has occupied the stand since the days of the lamented Ananias. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_CONC" id="link2H_CONC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONCLUSION + </h2> + <p> + Broadly speaking, the hostiles reject and repudiate all the pretensions of + Christian Science Christianity. They affirm that it has added nothing new + to Christianity; that it can do nothing that Christianity could not do and + was not doing before Christian Science was born. + </p> + <p> + In that case is there no field for the new Christianity, no opportunity + for usefulness, precious usefulness, great and distinguished usefulness? I + think there is. I am far from being confident that it can fill it, but I + will indicate that unoccupied field—without charge—and if it + can conquer it, it will deserve the praise and gratitude of the Christian + world, and will get it, I am sure. + </p> + <p> + The present Christianity makes an excellent private Christian, but its + endeavors to make an excellent public one go for nothing, substantially. + </p> + <p> + This is an honest nation—in private life. The American Christian is + a straight and clean and honest man, and in his private commerce with his + fellows can be trusted to stand faithfully by the principles of honor and + honesty imposed upon him by his religion. But the moment he comes forward + to exercise a public trust he can be confidently counted upon to betray + that trust in nine cases out of ten, if “party loyalty” shall require it. + </p> + <p> + If there are two tickets in the field in his city, one composed of honest + men and the other of notorious blatherskites and criminals, he will not + hesitate to lay his private Christian honor aside and vote for the + blatherskites if his “party honor” shall exact it. His Christianity is of + no use to him and has no influence upon him when he is acting in a public + capacity. He has sound and sturdy private morals, but he has no public + ones. In the last great municipal election in New York, almost a complete + one-half of the votes representing 3,500,000 Christians were cast for a + ticket that had hardly a man on it whose earned and proper place was + outside of a jail. But that vote was present at church next Sunday the + same as ever, and as unconscious of its perfidy as if nothing had + happened. + </p> + <p> + Our Congresses consist of Christians. In their private life they are true + to every obligation of honor; yet in every session they violate them all, + and do it without shame; because honor to party is above honor to + themselves. It is an accepted law of public life that in it a man may soil + his honor in the interest of party expediency—must do it when party + expediency requires it. In private life those men would bitterly resent—and + justly—any insinuation that it would not be safe to leave unwatched + money within their reach; yet you could not wound their feelings by + reminding them that every time they vote ten dollars to the pension + appropriation nine of it is stolen money and they the marauders. They have + filched the money to take care of the party; they believe it was right to + do it; they do not see how their private honor is affected; therefore + their consciences are clear and at rest. By vote they do wrongful things + every day, in the party interest, which they could not be persuaded to do + in private life. In the interest of party expediency they give solemn + pledges, they make solemn compacts; in the interest of party expediency + they repudiate them without a blush. They would not dream of committing + these strange crimes in private life. + </p> + <p> + Now then, can Christian Science introduce the Congressional Blush? There + are Christian Private Morals, but there are no Christian Public Morals, at + the polls, or in Congress or anywhere else—except here and there and + scattered around like lost comets in the solar system. Can Christian + Science persuade the nation and Congress to throw away their public morals + and use none but their private ones henceforth in all their activities, + both public and private? + </p> + <p> + I do not think so; but no matter about me: there is the field—a + grand one, a splendid one, a sublime one, and absolutely unoccupied. Has + Christian Science confidence enough in itself to undertake to enter in and + try to possess it? + </p> + <p> + Make the effort, Christian Science; it is a most noble cause, and it might + succeed. It could succeed. Then we should have a new literature, with + romances entitled, How To Be an Honest Congressman Though a Christian; How + To Be a Creditable Citizen Though a Christian. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Christian Science, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTIAN SCIENCE *** + +***** This file should be named 3187-h.htm or 3187-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/8/3187/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” + or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.” + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +“Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + </body> +</html> |