Retrospection
and
Introspection
by
Mary Baker Eddy
Author of Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures
Published by the
Trustees under the Will of Mary Baker G. Eddy
Boston, U.S.A.
Copyright, 1891, 1892
By Mary Baker G. Eddy
Copyright renewed, 1919
Copyright renewed, 1920
_____________
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Page 1
Retrospection and Introspection
ANCESTRAL SHADOWS
| 1 | MY ancestors, according to the flesh, were from both Scotland and England, my great-grandfather, on |
| 3 | my father's side, being John McNeil of Edinburgh. His wife, my great-grandmother, was Marion Moor, |
| 6 | to Hannah More, the pious and popular English authoress I remember reading, in my childhood, certain manu- |
| 9 | scripts containing Scriptural sonnets, besides other verses and enigmas which my grandmother said were written by my great-grandmother. But because my great-grand- |
| 12 | mother wrote a stray sonnet and an occasional riddle, it was no sign that she inherited a spark from Hannah More, or was her relative. |
| 15 | John and Marion Moor McNeil had a daughter, who perpetuated her mother's name. This second Marion McNeil in due time was married to an Englishman, |
| 18 | named Joseph Baker, and so became my paternal grand- Page 2 |
| 1 | Mrs. Marion McNeil Baker was reared among the Scotch Covenanters, and had in her character that sturdy |
| 3 | Calvinistic devotion to Protestant liberty which gave those religionists the poetic daring and pious picturesqueness which we find so graphically set forth in the pages of Sir |
| 6 | Walter Scott and in John Wilson's sketches. Joseph Baker and his wife, Marion McNeil, came
to |
| 9 | they could hardly have crossed the Atlantic more than a With them they brought to New England a heavy sword, |
| 12 | encased in a brass scabbard, on which was inscribed the name of a kinsman upon whom the weapon had been bestowed by Sir William Wallace, from whose patriotism |
| 15 | and bravery comes that heart-stirring air, "Scots wha hae My childhood was also gladdened by one of my Grand- |
| 18 | mother Baker's books, printed in olden type and replete with the phraseology current in the seventeenth and eigh- teenth centuries. |
| 21 | Among grandmother's treasures were some newspapers, yellow with age. Some of these, however, were not very ancient, nor had they crossed the ocean; for they were |
| 24 | American newspapers, one of which contained a full ac- A relative of my Grandfather Baker was General Henry |
| 27 | Knox of Revolutionary fame. I was fond of listening, when a child, to grandmother's stories about General Knox, for whom she cherished a high regard. |
| 30 | In the line of my Grandmother Baker's family was the Page 3 |
| 1 | late Sir John Macneill, a Scotch knight, who was promi- nent in British politics, and at one time held the position |
| 3 | of ambassador to Persia. My grandparents were likewise connected with Capt. |
| 6 | gallant leadership and death, in the Indian troubles of 1722-1725, caused that prolonged contest to be known historically as Lovewell's War. |
| 9 | A cousin of my grandmother was John Macneil, the New Hampshire general who fought at Lundy's Lane, and won distinction in 1814 at the neighboring battle of |
| 12 | Chippewa, towards the close of the War of 1812. Page 4
AUTOBIOGRAPHIC REMINISCENCES |
| 1 | THIS venerable grandmother had thirteen children, the youngest of whom was my father, Mark Baker, |
| 3 | who inherited the homestead, and with his brother, James Baker, he inherited my grandfather's farm of about five hundred acres, lying in the adjoining towns of Concord |
| 6 | and Bow, in the State of New Hampshire. One hundred acres of the old farm are still cultivated |
| 9 | the Hon. Henry Moore Baker of Washington, D. C. The farm-house, situated on the summit of a hill,
com- |
| 12 | and the undulating lands of three townships. But change has been busy. Where once stretched broad fields of bending grain waving gracefully in the sunlight, and |
| 15 | orchards of apples, peaches, pears, and cherries shone richly in the mellow hues of autumn, - now the lone night- bird cries, the crow caws cautiously, and wandering winds |
| 18 | sigh low requiems through dark pine groves. Where green pastures bright with berries, singing brooklets, beautiful wild flowers, and flecked with large flocks and |
| 21 | herds, covered areas of rich acres, - now the scrub-oak, The wife of Mark Baker was Abigail Barnard Ambrose, |
| 24 | daughter of Deacon Nathaniel Ambrose of Pembroke, a Page 5 |
| 1 | small town situated near Concord, just across the bridge, on the left bank of the Merrimac River. |
| 3 | Grandfather Ambrose was a very religious man, and gave the money for erecting the first Congregational Church in Pembroke. |
| 6 | In the Baker homestead at Bow I was born, the young- est of my parents' six children and the object of their tender solicitude. |
| 9 | During my childhood my parents removed to Tilton, eighteen miles from Concord, and there the family re- mained until the names of both father and mother were |
| 12 | inscribed on the stone memorials in the Park Cemetery My father possessed a strong intellect and an iron will. |
| 15 | Of my mother I cannot speak as I would, for memory recalls qualities to which the pen can never do justice. The following is a brief extract from the eulogy of the Rev. |
| 18 | Richard S. Rust, D. D., who for many years had re- sided in Tilton and knew my sainted mother in all the walks of life. |
| 21 | The character of Mrs. Abigail Ambrose Baker was distin- guished for numerous excellences. She possessed a strong intellect, a sympathizing heart, and a placid spirit. Her |
| 24 | presence, like the gentle dew and cheerful light, was felt by all around her. She gave an elevated character to the tone of conversation in the circles in which she moved, and directed |
| 27 | attention to themes at once pleasing and profitable. As a mother, she was untiring in her efforts to
secure the |
| 30 | of the parental obligation, especially in regard to the educa- Page 6 |
| 1 | tion of her children. The oft-repeated impressions of that sainted spirit, on the hearts of those especially entrusted to her |
| 3 | watch-care, can never be effaced, and can hardly fail to induce them to follow her to the brighter world. Her life was a living illustration of Christian faith. |
| 6 | My childhood's home I remember as one with the open hand. The needy were ever welcome, and to the clergy were accorded special household privileges. |
| 9 | Among the treasured reminiscences of my much re- spected parents, brothers, and sisters, is the memory of my second brother, Albert Baker, who was, next to my |
| 12 | mother, the very dearest of my kindred. To speak of his beautiful character as I cherish it, would require more space than this little book can afford. |
| 15 | My brother Albert was graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1834 and was reputed one of the most talented, close, and thorough scholars ever connected with that |
| 18 | institution. For two or three years he read law at Hills- borough, in the office of Franklin Pierce, afterwards Presi- dent of the United States; but later Albert spent a year |
| 21 | in the office of the Hon. Richard Fletcher of Boston. He was consequently admitted to the bar in two States, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1837 he suc- |
| 24 | ceeded to the law-office which Mr. Pierce had occupied, and was soon elected to the Legislature of his native State, where he served the public interests faithfully for two |
| 27 | consecutive years. Among other important bills which were carried through the Legislature by his persistent en- ergy was one for the abolition of imprisonment for debt. |
| 30 | In 1841 he received further political preferment, by Page 7 |
| 1 | nomination to Congress on a majority vote of seven thousand, - it was the largest vote of the State; but he |
| 3 | passed away at the age of thirty-one, after a short illness, before his election. His noble political antagonist, the Hon. Isaac Hill, of Concord, wrote of my brother as |
| 6 | follows: - Albert Baker was a young man of uncommon promise.
|
| 9 | and schooled them by intense and almost incessant study throughout his short life. He was fond of investigating ab- struse and metaphysical principles, and he never forsook |
| 12 | them until he had explored their every nook and corner, however hidden and remote. Had life and health been spared to him, he would have made himself one of the most distin- |
| 15 | guished men in the country. As a lawyer he was able and learned, and in the successful practice of a very large business. He was noted for his boldness and firmness, and for his power- |
| 18 | ful advocacy of the side he deemed right. His death will be deplored, with the most poignant grief, by a large number of friends, who expected no more than they realized from his |
| 21 | talents and acquirements. This sad event will not be soon Page 8
VOICES NOT OUR OWN |
| 1 | MANY peculiar circumstances and events connected with my childhood throng the chambers of memory. |
| 3 | For some twelve months, when I was about eight years old, I repeatedly heard a voice, calling me distinctly by name, three times, in an ascending scale. I thought this |
| 6 | was my mother's voice, and sometimes went to her, be- seeching her to tell me what she wanted. Her answer was always, "Nothing, child! What do you mean?" Then |
| 9 | I would say, "Mother, who did call me? I heard some- body call Mary, three times!" This continued until I grew discouraged, and my mother was perplexed and |
| 12 | anxious. One day, when my cousin, Mehitable Huntoon, was |
| 15 | same room with grandmother, - the call again came, so loud that Mehitable heard it, though I had ceased to notice it. Greatly surprised, my cousin turned to me and |
| 18 | said, "Your mother is calling you!" but I answered not, till again the same call was thrice repeated. Mehitable then said sharply, "Why don't you go? your mother is |
| 21 | calling you!" I then left the room, went to my mother, and once more asked her if she had summoned me? She answered as always before. Then I earnestly declared |
| 24 | my cousin had heard the voice, and said that mother Page 9 |
| 1 | wanted me. Accordingly she returned with me to grand- mother's room, and led my cousin into an adjoining apart- |
| 3 | ment. The door was ajar, and I listened with bated breath. Mother told Mehitable all about this mysterious voice, and asked if she really did hear Mary's name pro- |
| 6 | nounced in audible tones. My cousin answered quickly, That night, before going to rest, my mother read to me |
| 9 | the Scriptural narrative of little Samuel, and bade me, when the voice called again, to reply as he did, "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth." The voice came; but |
| 12 | I was afraid, and did not answer. Afterward I wept, and prayed that God would forgive me, resolving to do, next time, as my mother had bidden me. When the call came |
| 15 | again I did answer, in the words of Samuel, but never again to the material senses was that mysterious call repeated. |
| 18 | Is it not much that I may worship Him, With naught my spirit's breathings to control, And feel His presence in the vast and dim |
| 21 | And whispering woods, where dying thunders
roll From the far cataracts? Shall I not rejoice That I have learned at last to know His voice |
| 24 | From man's? - I will rejoice! My soaring soul Now hath redeemed her birthright of the day, And won, through clouds, to Him, her own unfettered way! |
| 27 | - MRS. HEMANS Page 10 EARLY STUDIES |
| 1 | MY father was taught to believe that my brain was too large for my body and so kept me much out of |
| 3 | school, but 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 |
| 6 | Westminster Catechism; and the latter I had to repeat every Sunday. My favorite studies were natural philoso- phy, logic, and moral science. From my brother Al- |
| 9 | bert I received lessons in the ancient tongues, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. My brother studied Hebrew during his college vacations. After my discovery of Christian |
| 12 | Science, most of the knowledge I had gleaned from Learning was so illumined, that grammar was eclipsed. |
| 15 | Etymology was divine history, voicing the idea of God in man's origin and signification. Syntax was spiritual order and unity. Prosody, the song of angels, and no earthly |
| 18 | or inglorious theme. Page 11
GIRLHOOD COMPOSITION |
| 1 | FROM childhood I was a verse-maker. Poetry suited my emotions better than prose. The following is |
| 3 | one of my girlhood productions. ALPHABET AND BAYONET If fancy plumes aerial flight, |
| 6 | Go fix thy restless mind On learning's lore and wisdom's might, And live to bless mankind. |
| 9 | The sword is sheathed, 't is freedom's hour, No despot bears misrule, Where knowledge plants the foot of power |
| 12 | In our God-blessed free school. Forth from this fount the streamlets flow, |
| 15 | Hero and sage arise to show Science the mighty source, And laud the land whose talents rock |
| 18 | The cradle of her power, And wreaths are twined round Plymouth Rock, From erudition's bower. |
| 21 | Farther than feet of chamois fall, Page 12 |
| 1 | Strains nobler far than clarion call Wake freedom's welcome, where |
| 3 | Minerva's silver sandals still Are loosed, and not effete; Where echoes still my day-dreams thrill, |
| 6 | Woke by her fancied feet. Page 13 THEOLOGICAL REMINISCENCE |
| 1 | AT the age of twelve (1) I was admitted to the Congre- gational (Trinitarian) Church, my parents having |
| 3 | been members of that body for a half-century. In connec- tion with this event, some circumstances are noteworthy. Before this step was taken, the doctrine of unconditional |
| 6 | election, or predestination, greatly troubled me; for I was unwilling to be saved, if my brothers and sisters were to be numbered among those who were doomed to per- |
| 9 | petual banishment from God. So perturbed was I by the thoughts aroused by this erroneous doctrine, that the family doctor was summoned, and pronounced me stricken |
| 12 | with fever. My father's relentless theology emphasized belief
in a |
| 15 | and in a Jehovah merciless towards unbelievers; and of these things he now spoke, hoping to win me from dreaded heresy. |
| 18 | My mother, as she bathed my burning temples, bade me lean on God's love, which would give me rest, if I went to Him in prayer, as I was wont to do, seeking His |
| 21 | guidance. I prayed; and a soft glow of ineffable joy came over me. The fever was gone, and I rose and dressed myself, in a normal condition of health. Mother saw this, |
| 24 | and was glad. The physician marvelled; and the "hor- (1) See Page 311, Lines 12 to 17, "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany." Page 14 |
| 1 | rible decree" of predestination - as John Calvin rightly called his own tenet - forever lost its power over me. |
| 3 | When the meeting was held for the examination of can- didates for membership, I was of course present. The pastor was an old-school expounder of the strictest Pres- |
| 6 | byterian doctrines. He was apparently as eager to have unbelievers in these dogmas lost, as he was to have elect believers converted and rescued from perdition; for both |
| 9 | salvation and condemnation depended, according to his views, upon the good pleasure of infinite Love. However, I was ready for his doleful questions, which I answered with- |
| 12 | out a tremor, declaring that never could I unite with the Distinctly do I recall what followed. I stoutly main- |
| 15 | tained that I was willing to trust God, and take my chance of spiritual safety with my brothers and sisters, - not one of whom had then made any profession of religion, - |
| 18 | even if my creedal doubts left me outside the doors. The minister then wished me to tell him when I had experi- enced a change of heart; but tearfully I had to respond |
| 21 | that I could not designate any precise time. Nevertheless, he persisted in the assertion that I had been truly regene- rated, and asked me to say how I felt when the new light |
| 24 | dawned within me. I replied that I could only answer him in the words of the Psalmist: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: |
| 27 | and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in This was so earnestly said, that even the oldest church- |
| 30 | members wept. After the meeting was over they came Page 15 |
| 1 | and kissed me. To the astonishment of many, the good clergyman's heart also melted, and he received me into |
| 3 | their communion, and my protest along with me. My con- nection with this religious body was retained till I founded a church of my own, built on the basis of Christian Science, |
| 6 | "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." In confidence of faith, I could say in David's
words, |
| 9 | mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth: and hith- erto have I declared Thy wondrous works." (Psalms lxxi. |
| 12 | 16, 17.) In the year 1878 I was called to preach in Boston
at the |
| 15 | the pastor of this church. I accepted the invitation and The congregation so increased in number the pews were |
| 18 | not sufficient to seat the audience and benches were used in the aisles. At the close of my engagement we parted in Christian fellowship, if not in full unity of doctrine. |
| 21 | Our last vestry meeting was made memorable by elo- quent addresses from persons who feelingly testified to having been healed through my preaching. Among other |
| 24 | diseases cured they specified cancers. The cases described had been treated and given over by physicians of the popu- lar schools of medicine, but I had not heard of these cases |
| 27 | till the persons who divulged their secret joy were healed. A prominent churchman agreeably informed the congre- gation that many others present had been healed under |
| 30 | my preaching, but were too timid to testify in public. Page 16 |
| 1 | One memorable Sunday afternoon, a soprano, - clear, strong, sympathetic, - floating up from the pews, caught |
| 3 | my ear. When the meeting was over, two ladies pushing their way through the crowd reached the platform. With tears of joy flooding her eyes - for she was a mother - |
| 6 | one of them said, "Did you hear my daughter sing? Why, she has not sung before since she left the choir and was in consumption! When she entered this church one hour |
| 9 | ago she could not speak a loud word, and now, oh, thank It was not an uncommon occurrence in my own church |
| 12 | for the sick to be healed by my sermon. Many pale cripples went into the church leaning on crutches who went out carrying them on their shoulders. "And these signs shall |
| 15 | follow them that believe." The charter for The Mother Church in Boston was
ob- |
| 18 | twenty-six in number, extended a call to Mary B. G. Eddy to become their pastor. She accepted the call, and was ordained A. D. 1881. |
| 21 | (1)This statement appears to be based upon the Annual Report of
the Secretary of The Christian Scientist Association, read at its
meeting, January 15, 1880, in which June is named
as the month in which the charter for The Mother
Church was obtained, instead of August 23,
1879, the correct date. Page 17
THE COUNTRY-SEAT |
| 1 | Written in youth, while visiting a family
friend in the beautiful suburbs of Boston |
| 3 | WILD spirit of song, - midst the zephyrs at play In bowers of beauty, - I bend to thy lay, And woo, while I worship in deep sylvan spot, |
| 6 | The Muses' soft echoes to kindle the grot. Wake chords of my lyre, with musical kiss, To vibrate and tremble with accents of bliss. |
| 9 | Here morning peers out, from her crimson repose, On proud Prairie Queen and the modest Moss-rose; And vesper reclines - when the dewdrop is shed |
| 12 | On the heart of the pink - in its odorous bed; But Flora has stolen the rainbow and sky, To sprinkle the flowers with exquisite dye. |
| 15 | Here fame-honored hickory rears his bold form, And bares a brave breast to the lightning and storm, While palm, bay, and laurel, in classical glee, |
| 18 | Chase tulip, magnolia, and fragrant fringe-tree; Page 18 |
| 1 | Here is life! Here is youth! Here the poet's world- wish, - |
| 3 | Cool waters at play with the gold-gleaming fish; While cactus a mellower glory receives From light colored softly by blossom and leaves; |
| 6 | And nestling alder is whispering low, Dark sentinel hedgerow is guarding repose, |
| 9 | Midst grotto and songlet and streamlet that flows Where beauty and perfume from buds burst away, And ope their closed cells to the bright, laughing day; |
| 12 | Yet, dwellers in Eden, earth yields you her tear, - Earth's beauty and glory delude as the shrine |
| 15 | Or fount of real joy and of visions divine; But hope, as the eaglet that spurneth the sod, May soar above matter, to fasten on God, |
| 18 | And freely adore all His spirit hath made, Oh, give me the spot where affection may dwell |
| 21 | In sacred communion with home's magic spell! Where flowers of feeling are fragrant and fair, And those we most love find a happiness rare; |
| 24 | But clouds are a presage, - they darken my lay: (1)An alder growing from the bent branch of a pear-tree. Page 19
MARRIAGE AND PARENTAGE |
| 1 | IN 1843 I was united to my first husband, Colonel George Washington Glover of Charleston, South Carolina, |
| 3 | the ceremony taking place under the paternal roof in After parting with the dear home circle I went with |
| 6 | him to the South; but he was spared to me for only one brief year. He was in Wilmington, North Carolina, on business, when the yellow-fever raged in that city, and was |
| 9 | suddenly attacked by this insidious disease, which in his My husband was a freemason, being a member in Saint |
| 12 | Andrew's Lodge, Number 10 and of Union Chapter, Num- ber 3, of Royal Arch masons. He was highly esteemed and sincerely lamented by a large circle of friends and ac- |
| 15 | quaintances, whose kindness and sympathy helped to sup- port me in this terrible bereavement. A month later I returned to New Hampshire, where, at the end of four |
| 18 | months, my babe was born. Colonel Glover's tender devotion to his young bride |
| 21 | he gave pathetic directions to his brother masons about accompanying her on her sad journey to the North. Here it is but justice to record, they performed their obligations |
| 24 | most faithfully. Page 20 |
| 1 | After returning to the paternal roof I lost all my hus- band's property, except what money I had brought with |
| 3 | me; and remained with my parents until after my mother's A few months before my father's second marriage, to |
| 6 | Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson Duncan, sister of Lieutenant- Governor George W. Patterson of New York, my little son, about four years of age, was sent away from me, and |
| 9 | put under the care of our family nurse, who had married, and resided in the northern part of New Hampshire. I had no training for self-support, and my home I regarded |
| 12 | as very precious. The night before my child was taken from me, I knelt by his side throughout the dark hours, hoping for a vision of relief from this trial. The follow- |
| 15 | ing lines are taken from my poem, "Mother's Darling," Thy smile through tears, as sunshine o'er the sea, |
| 18 | Awoke new beauty in the surge's roll! Oh, life is dead, bereft of all, with thee, - Star of my earthly hope, babe of my soul. |
| 21 | My second marriage was very unfortunate, and from it I was compelled to ask for a bill of divorce, which was granted me in the city of Salem, Massachusetts. |
| 24 | My dominant thought in marrying again was to get back my child, but after our marriage his stepfather was not willing he should have a home with me. A plot was |
| 27 | consummated for keeping us apart. The family to whose Page 21 |
| 1 | After his removal a letter was read to my little son, informing him that his mother was dead and buried. |
| 3 | Without my knowledge a guardian was appointed him, and I was then informed that my son was lost. Every means within my power was employed to find him, but without |
| 6 | success. We never met again until he had reached the age of thirty-four, had a wife and two children, and by a strange providence had learned that his mother still lived, |
| 9 | and came to see me in Massachusetts. Meanwhile he had served as a volunteer throughout
|
| 12 | United States Marshal of the Territory of Dakota. It is well to know, dear reader, that our material,
mortal |
| 15 | istence, and the dream has no place in the Science of being. It is "as a tale that is told," and "as the shadow when it declineth." The heavenly intent of earth's shadows is to |
| 18 | chasten the affections, to rebuke human consciousness and turn it gladly from a material, false sense of life and happi- ness, to spiritual joy and true estimate of being. |
| 21 | The awakening from a false sense of life, substance, and mind in matter, is as yet imperfect; but for those lucid and enduring lessons of Love which tend to this result, |
| 24 | I bless God. Mere historic incidents and personal events are
frivo- |
| 27 | Truth. To this end, but only to this end, such narrations may be admissible and advisable; but if spiritual con- clusions are separated from their premises, the nexus is |
| 30 | lost, and the argument, with its rightful conclusions, be- Page 22 |
| 1 | comes correspondingly obscure. The human history needs to be revised, and the material record expunged. |
| 3 | 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 |
| 6 | the apostles essayed in the Apocryphal New Testament a legendary and traditional history of the early life of Jesus. But St. Paul summarized the character of Jesus |
| 9 | as the model of Christianity, in these words: "Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself." "Who for the joy that was set before him en- |
| 12 | dured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down It may be that the mortal life-battle still wages, and |
| 15 | 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. |
| 18 | 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, |
| 21 | the eternal good. Page 23
EMERGENCE INTO LIGHT |
| 1 | THE trend of human life was too eventful to leave me undisturbed in the illusion that this so-called life |
| 3 | could be a real and abiding rest. All things earthly must ultimately yield to the irony of fate, or else be merged into the one infinite Love. |
| 6 | As these pungent lessons became clearer, they grew sterner. Previously the cloud of mortal mind seemed to have a silver lining; but now it was not even fringed with |
| 9 | light. Matter was no longer spanned with its rainbow of promise. The world was dark. The oncoming hours were indicated by no floral dial. The senses could not |
| 12 | prophesy sunrise or starlight. Thus it was when the moment arrived of the heart's |
| 15 | I was waiting and watching; and, lo, the bridegroom came! The character of the Christ was illuminated by the midnight torches of Spirit. My heart knew its Re- |
| 18 | deemer. He whom my affections had diligently sought was as the One "altogether lovely," as "the chiefest," the only, "among ten thousand." Soulless famine had |
| 21 | fled. Agnosticism, pantheism, and theosophy were void. Being was beautiful, its substance, cause, and currents were God and His idea. I had touched the hem of Chris- |
| 24 | tian Science. Page 24
THE GREAT DISCOVERY |
| 1 | IT was in Massachusetts, in February, 1866, and after the death of the magnetic doctor, Mr. P. P. Quimby, |
| 3 | whom spiritualists would associate therewith, but who was in no wise connected with this event, that I discov- ered the Science of divine metaphysical healing which I |
| 6 | afterwards named Christian Science. The discovery came to pass in this way. During twenty years prior to my discovery I had been trying to trace all physical effects to |
| 9 | a mental cause; and in the latter part of 1866 I gained the scientific certainty that all causation was Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon. |
| 12 | My immediate recovery from the effects of an injury caused by an accident, an injury that neither medicine nor surgery could reach, was the falling apple that led me to |
| 15 | the discovery how to be well myself, and how to make Even to the homoeopathic physician who attended me, |
| 18 | and rejoiced in my recovery, I could not then explain the modus of my relief. I could only assure him that the divine Spirit had wrought the miracle - a miracle which later |
| 21 | I found to be in perfect scientific accord with divine law. I then withdrew from society about three years,
- to |
| 24 | Science of Mind that should take the things of God and Page 25 |
| 1 | show them to the creature, and reveal the great curative Principle, - Deity. |
| 3 | The Bible was my textbook. It answered my questions as to how I was healed; but the Scriptures had to me a new meaning, a new tongue. Their spiritual significa- |
| 6 | tion appeared; and I apprehended for the first time, in their spiritual meaning, Jesus' teaching and demonstra- tion, and the Principle and rule of spiritual Science and |
| 9 | metaphysical healing, - in a word, Christian Science. I named it Christian, because it is compassionate, |
| 12 | which sins, suffers, and dies, I named mortal mind. The physical senses, or sensuous nature, I called error and shadow. Soul I denominated substance, because Soul |
| 15 | alone is truly substantial. God I characterized as individ- ual entity, but His corporeality I denied. The real I claimed as eternal; and its antipodes, or the temporal, |
| 18 | I described as unreal. Spirit I called the reality; and I knew the human conception of God to be that He was |
| 21 | a physically personal being, like unto man; and that the five physical senses are so many witnesses to the physical personality of mind and the real existence of matter; but |
| 24 | I learned that these material senses testify falsely, that matter neither sees, hears, nor feels Spirit, and is therefore inadequate to form any proper conception of the infinite |
| 27 | Mind. "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not I beheld with ineffable awe our great Master's purpose |
| 30 | in not questioning those he healed as to their disease or Page 26 |
| 1 | its symptoms, and his marvellous skill in demanding neither obedience to hygienic laws, nor prescribing drugs |
| 3 | to support the divine power which heals. Adoringly I discerned the Principle of his holy heroism and Christian example on the cross, when he refused to drink the "vine- |
| 6 | gar and gall," a preparation of poppy, or aconite, to allay Our great Way-shower, steadfast to the end in his obedi- |
| 9 | ence to God's laws, demonstrated for all time and peoples the supremacy of good over evil, and the superiority of Spirit over matter. |
| 12 | The miracles recorded in the Bible, which had before seemed to me supernatural, grew divinely natural and ap- prehensible; though uninspired interpreters ignorantly |
| 15 | pronounce Christ's healing miraculous, instead of seeing Jesus of Nazareth was a natural and divine Scientist. |
| 18 | He was so before the material world saw him. He who antedated Abraham, and gave the world a new date in the Christian era, was a Christian Scientist, who needed no |
| 21 | discovery of the Science of being in order to rebuke the evidence. To one "born of the flesh," however, divine Science must be a discovery. Woman must give it birth. |
| 24 | It must be begotten of spirituality, since none but the pure in heart can see God, - the Principle of all things pure; and none but the "poor in spirit" could first state this |
| 27 | Principle, could know yet more of the nothingness of mat- ter and the allness of Spirit, could utilize Truth, and ab- solutely reduce the demonstration of being, in Science, to |
| 30 | the apprehension of the age. Page 27 |
| 1 | I wrote also, at this period, comments on the Scriptures, setting forth their spiritual interpretation, the Science of |
| 3 | the Bible, and so laid the foundation of my work called If these notes and comments, which have never been |
| 6 | read by any one but myself, were published, it would show that after my discovery of the absolute Science of Mind-healing, like all great truths, this spiritual |
| 9 | Science developed itself to me until Science and Health was written. These early comments are valu- able to me as waymarks of progress, which I would not |
| 12 | have effaced. Up to that time I had not fully voiced my discov- |
| 15 | express in feeble diction Truth's ultimate. In Longfellow's But the feeble hands and helpless, |
| 18 | Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch God's right hand in that darkness, And are lifted up and strengthened. |
| 21 | As sweet music ripples in one's first thoughts of it like the brooklet in its meandering midst pebbles and rocks, before the mind can duly express it to the ear, - so the |
| 24 | harmony of divine Science first broke upon my sense, before gathering experience and confidence to articulate it. Its natural manifestation is beautiful and euphonious, |
| 27 | but its written expression increases in power and perfection The divine hand led me into a new world of light and |
| 30 | Life, a fresh universe - old to God, but new to His "little Page 28 |
| 1 | one." It became evident that the divine Mind alone must answer, and be found as the Life, or Principle, of all being; |
| 3 | and that one must acquaint himself with God, if he would be at peace. He must be ours practically, guiding our every thought and action; else we cannot understand |
| 6 | the omnipresence of good sufficiently to demonstrate, even in part, the Science of the perfect Mind and divine healing. |
| 9 | I had learned that thought must be spiritualized, in order to apprehend Spirit. It must become honest, un- selfish, and pure, in order to have the least understanding |
| 12 | of God in divine Science. The first must become last. Our reliance upon material things must be transferred to a perception of and dependence on spiritual things. For |
| 15 | Spirit to be supreme in demonstration, it must be supreme in our affections, and we must be clad with divine power. Purity, self-renunciation, faith, and understanding must |
| 18 | reduce all things real to their own mental denomina- tion, Mind, which divides, subdivides, increases, dimin- ishes, constitutes, and sustains, according to the law of |
| 21 | God. I had learned that Mind reconstructed the body,
and |
| 24 | Science of Mind must reveal. It was a mystery to me then, but I have since understood it. All Science is a revelation. Its Principle is divine, not human, reaching |
| 27 | higher than the stars of heaven. Am I a believer in spiritualism? I believe in no
ism. |
| 30 | character and practice of the anointed; and no motive Page 29 |
| 1 | can cause a surrender of this effort. As I understand it, spiritualism is the antipode of Christian Science. I esteem |
| 3 | all honest people, and love them, and hold to loving our Page 30
FOUNDATION WORK |
| 1 | AS the pioneer of Christian Science I stood alone in this conflict, endeavoring to smite error with the |
| 3 | falchion of Truth. The rare bequests of Christian Science are costly, and they have won fields of battle from which the dainty borrower would have fled. Ceaseless toil, self- |
| 6 | renunciation, and love, have cleared its pathway. The motive of my earliest labors has never changed. |
| 9 | system that should include all moral and religious reform. It is often asked why Christian Science was revealed
to |
| 12 | lating the false testimony of the physical senses. Why was this conviction necessary to the right apprehension of the invincible and infinite energies of Truth and Love, as con- |
| 15 | trasted with the foibles and fables of finite mind and ma- The answer is plain. St. Paul declared that the law |
| 18 | was the schoolmaster, to bring him to Christ. Even so was I led into the mazes of divine metaphysics through the gospel of suffering, the providence of God, and the |
| 21 | cross of Christ. No one else can drain the cup which I have drunk to the dregs as the Discoverer and teacher of Christian Science; neither can its inspiration be gained |
| 24 | without tasting this cup. Page 31 |
| 1 | The loss of material objects of affection sunders the dominant ties of earth and points to heaven. Nothing |
| 3 | can compete with Christian Science, and its demonstra- tion, in showing this solemn certainty in growing freedom and vindicating "the ways of God" to man. The abso- |
| 6 | lute proof and self-evident propositions of Truth are im- measurably paramount to rubric and dogma in proving the Christ. |
| 9 | From my very childhood I was impelled, by a hunger and thirst after divine things, - a desire for something higher and better than matter, and apart from it, - to |
| 12 | seek diligently for the knowledge of God as the one great and ever-present relief from human woe. The first spon- taneous motion of Truth and Love, acting through Chris- |
| 15 | tian Science on my roused consciousness, banished at once and forever the fundamental error of faith in things ma- terial; for this trust is the unseen sin, the unknown foe, - |
| 18 | the heart's untamed desire which breaketh the divine com- mandments. As says St. James: "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty |
| 21 | of all." Into mortal mind's material obliquity I gazed,
and stood |
| 24 | 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, |
| 27 | spoke to my chastened sense as by the tearful lips of a babe. Frozen fountains were unsealed. Erudite systems of philosophy and religion melted, for Love unveiled the |
| 30 | healing promise and potency of a present spiritual afflatus. Page 32 |
| 1 | It was the gospel of healing, on its divinely appointed human mission, bearing on its white wings, to my appre- |
| 3 | hension, "the beauty of holiness," - even the possibili- Early had I learned that whatever is loved materially, |
| 6 | as mere corporeal personality, is eventually lost. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it," saith the Master. Exultant hope, if tinged with earthliness, is crushed as the |
| 9 | moth. What is termed mortal and material existence is
graph- |
| 12 | wrote, - What is life? 'T is but a madness. |
| 15 | Fleeting pleasure, fond delusion, Short-lived joy, that ends in sadness, Whose most constant substance seems |
| 18 | But the dream of other dreams. Page 33 MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS |
| 1 | THE physical side of this research was aided by hints from homoeopathy, sustaining my final conclusion |
| 3 | that mortal belief, instead of the drug, governed the action I wandered through the dim mazes of materia medica, |
| 6 | till I was weary of "scientific guessing," as it has been well called. I sought knowledge from the different schools, - allopathy, homoeopathy, hydropathy, electricity, and from |
| 9 | various humbugs, - but without receiving satisfaction. I found, in the two hundred and sixty-two remedies |
| 12 | the less material medicine we have, and the more Mind, the better the work is done; a fact which seems to prove the Principle of Mind-healing. One drop of the thirtieth |
| 15 | attenuation of Natrum muriaticum, in a tumbler-full of water, and one teaspoonful of the water mixed with the faith of ages, would cure patients not affected by a |
| 18 | larger dose. The drug disappears in the higher attenua- tions of homoeopathy, and matter is thereby rarefied to its fatal essence, mortal mind; but immortal Mind, the |
| 21 | curative Principle, remains, and is found to be even more The mental virtues of the material methods of medicine, |
| 24 | when understood, were insufficient to satisfy my doubts Page 34 |
| 1 | as to the honesty or utility of using a material curative. I must know more of the unmixed, unerring source, in order |
| 3 | to gain the Science of Mind, the All-in-all of Spirit, in which matter is obsolete. Nothing less could solve the mental problem. If I sought an answer from the medical |
| 6 | schools, the reply was dark and contradictory. Neither ancient nor modern philosophy could clear the clouds, or give me one distinct statement of the spiritual Science of |
| 9 | Mind-healing Human reason was not equal to it. I claim for healing scientifically the following
advan- |
| 12 | and recognizes the antidote for all sickness, as well as sin, in the immortal Mind; and mortal mind as the source of all the ills which befall mortals. Second: It is more effec- |
| 15 | tual than drugs, and cures when they fail, or only relieve; thus proving the superiority of metaphysics over physics. Third: A person healed by Christian Science is not only |
| 18 | healed of his disease, but he is advanced morally and spiritually. The mortal body being but the objective state of the mortal mind, this mind must be renovated to im- |
| 21 | prove the body. Page 35
FIRST PUBLICATION |
| 1 | IN 1870 I copyrighted the first publication on spirit- ual, scientific Mind-healing, entitled "The Science of |
| 3 | Man." This little book is converted into the chapter on Recapitulation in Science and Health. It was so new - the basis it laid down for physical and moral health was |
| 6 | so hopelessly original, and men were so unfamiliar with the subject - that I did not venture upon its publication until later, having learned that the merits of Christian |
| 9 | Science must be proven before a work on this subject The truths of Christian Science are not interpolations |
| 12 | of the Scriptures, but the spiritual interpretations thereof. Science is the prism of Truth, which divides its rays and brings out the hues of Deity. Human hypotheses have |
| 15 | darkened the glow and grandeur of evangelical religion. When speaking of his true followers in every period, Jesus said, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall |
| 18 | recover." There is no authority for querying the authen- ticity of this declaration, for it already was and is demon- strated as practical, and its claim is substantiated, - a |
| 18 | claim too immanent to fall to the ground beneath the stroke Though a man were girt with the Urim and Thummim |
| 21 | of priestly office, and denied the perpetuity of Jesus' com- Page 36 |
| 1 | mand, "Heal the sick," or its application in all time to those who understand Christ as the Truth and the Life, |
| 3 | that man would not expound the gospel according to Five years after taking out my first copyright, I taught |
| 6 | the Science of Mind-healing, alias Christian Science, by writing out my manuscripts for students and distribut- ing them unsparingly. This will account for certain pub- |
| 9 | lished and unpublished manuscripts extant, which the Page 37
THE PRECIOUS VOLUME |
| 1 | THE first edition of my most important work, Science and Health, containing the complete statement of |
| 3 | Christian Science, - the term employed by me to express the divine, or spiritual, Science of Mind-healing, was pub- lished in 1875. |
| 6 | When it was first printed, the critics took pleasure in saying, "This book is indeed wholly original, but it will never be read." |
| 9 | The first edition numbered one thousand copies. In Those who formerly sneered at it, as foolish and ec- |
| 12 | centric, now declare Bishop Berkeley, David Hume, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or certain German philosophers, to have been the originators of the Science of Mind-healing as |
| 15 | therein stated. Even the Scriptures gave no direct interpretation
of the |
| 18 | of healing, until our heavenly Father saw fit, through the Key to the Scriptures, in Science and Health, to unlock this "mystery of godliness." |
| 21 | My reluctance to give the public, in my first edition of Science and Health, the chapter on Animal Magnetism, and the divine purpose that this should be done, may |
| 24 | have an interest for the reader, and will be seen in the fol- Page 38 |
| 1 | lowing circumstances. I had finished that edition as far as that chapter, when the printer informed me that he |
| 3 | could not go on with my work. I had already paid him seven hundred dollars, and yet he stopped my work. All efforts to persuade him to finish my book were in |
| 6 | vain. After months had passed, I yielded to a constant
con- |
| 9 | history of what I had already observed of mental mal- practice. Accordingly, I set to work, contrary to my in- clination, to fulfil this painful task, and finished my copy |
| 12 | for the book. As it afterwards appeared, although I had not thought of such a result, my printer resumed his work at the same time, finished printing the copy he had on |
| 15 | hand, and then started for Lynn to see me. The after- noon that he left Boston for Lynn, I started for Boston with my finished copy. We met at the Eastern depot in |
| 18 | Lynn, and were both surprised, - I to learn that he had printed all the copy on hand, and had come to tell me he wanted more, - he to find me en route for Boston, to give |
| 21 | him the closing chapter of my first edition of Science and Health. Not a word had passed between us, audibly or mentally, while this went on. I had grown disgusted |
| 24 | with my printer, and become silent. He had come to a standstill through motives and circumstances unknown to me. |
| 27 | Science and Health is the textbook of Christian Science. Whosoever learns the letter of this book, must also gain its spiritual significance, in order to demonstrate Christian |
| 30 | Science. Page 39 |
| 1 | When the demand for this book increased, and people were healed simply by reading it, the copyright was in- |
| 3 | fringed. I entered a suit at law, and my copyright was Page 40
RECUPERATIVE INCIDENT |
| 1 | THROUGH four successive years I healed, preached, and taught in a general way, refusing to take any |
| 3 | pay for my services and living on a small annuity. At one time I was called to speak before the Lyceum |
| 6 | hostess told me that her next-door neighbor was dying. I asked permission to see her. It was granted, and with my hostess I went to the invalid's house. |
| 9 | The physicians had given up the case and retired. I had stood by her side about fifteen minutes when the sick woman rose from her bed, dressed herself, and was well. |
| 12 | Afterwards they showed me the clothes already prepared for her burial; and told me that her physicians had said the diseased condition was caused by an injury received |
| 15 | from a surgical operation at the birth of her last babe, and that it was impossible for her to be delivered of another child. It is sufficient to add her babe was safely born, |
| 18 | and weighed twelve pounds. The mother afterwards wrote to me, "I never before suffered so little in child- birth." |
| 21 | This scientific demonstration so stirred the doctors and clergy that they had my notices for a second lecture pulled down, and refused me a hearing in their halls and churches. |
| 24 | This circumstance is cited simply to show the opposition Page 41 |
| 1 | which Christian Science encountered a quarter-century ago, as contrasted with its present welcome into the sick- |
| 3 | room. Many were the desperate cases I instantly healed, |
| 6 | without even an acknowledgment of the benefit. Page 42
A TRUE MAN |
| 1 | MY last marriage was with Asa Gilbert Eddy, and was a blessed and spiritual union, solemnized at |
| 3 | Lynn, Massachusetts, by the Rev. Samuel Barrett Stewart, in the year 1877. Dr. Eddy was the first student publicly to announce himself a Christian Scientist, and place these |
| 6 | symbolic words on his office sign. He forsook all to follow in this line of light. He was the first organizer of a Chris- tian Science Sunday School, which he superintended. He |
| 9 | also taught a special Bible-class; and he lectured so ably on Scriptural topics that clergymen of other denomina- tions listened to him with deep interest. He was remark- |
| 12 | ably successful in Mind-healing, and untiring in his chosen work. In 1882 he passed away, with a smile of peace and love resting on his serene countenance. "Mark the per- |
| 15 | fect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man Page 43
COLLEGE AND CHURCH |
| 1 | IN 1867 I introduced the first purely metaphysical sys- tem of healing since the apostolic days. I began by |
| 3 | teaching one student Christian Science Mind-healing. From this seed grew the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, chartered in 1881. No charter was |
| 6 | granted for similar purposes after 1883. It is the only College, hitherto, for teaching the pathology of spiritual power, alias the Science of Mind-healing. |
| 9 | My husband, Asa G. Eddy, taught two terms in my College. After I gave up teaching, my adopted son, Ebenezer J. Foster-Eddy, a graduate of the Hahnemann |
| 12 | Medical College of Philadelphia, and who also received a certificate from Dr. W. W. Keen's (allopathic) Philadelphia School of Anatomy and Surgery, - having renounced his |
| 15 | material method of practice and embraced the teach- ings of Christian Science, taught the Primary, Normal, and Obstetric class one term. Gen. Erastus N. Bates |
| 18 | taught one Primary class, in 1889, after which I judged it best to close the institution. These students of mine were the only assistant teachers in the College. |
| 21 | The first Christian Scientist Association was organized by myself and six of my students in 1876, on the Centen- nial Day of our nation's freedom. At a meeting of the |
| 24 | Christian Scientist Association, on April 12, 1879, it was Page 44 |
| 1 | voted to organize a church to commemorate the words and works of our Master, a Mind-healing church, without |
| 3 | a creed, to be called the Church of Christ, Scientist, the first such church ever organized. The charter for this church was obtained in June, 1879(1) and during the same |
| 6 | month the members, twenty-six in number, extended a call to me to become their pastor. I accepted the call, and was ordained in 1881, though I had preached five |
| 9 | years before being ordained. When I was its pastor, and in the pulpit every
Sunday, |
| 12 | kept pace with its increasing popularity; but when obliged, because of accumulating work in the College, to preach only occasionally, no student, at that time, was found able |
| 15 | to maintain the church in its previous harmony and Examining the situation prayerfully and carefully, noting |
| 18 | the church's need, and the predisposing and exciting cause of its condition, I saw that the crisis had come when much time and attention must be given to defend this church |
| 21 | from the envy and molestation of other churches, and from the danger to its members which must always lie in Christian warfare. At this juncture I recommended that |
| 24 | the church be dissolved. No sooner were my views made known, than the proper measures were adopted to carry them out, the votes passing without a dissenting voice. |
| 27 | This measure was immediately followed by a great re- The history of that hour holds this true record. Add- |
| 30 | ing to its ranks and influence, this spiritually organized (1) Steps were taken to promote the Church of Christ, Scientist,
in April, May, Page 45 |
| 1 | Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, still goes on. A new light broke in upon it, and more beautiful became |
| 3 | the garments of her who "bringeth good tidings, that pub- Despite the prosperity of my church, it was learned |
| 6 | that material organization has its value and peril, and that organization is requisite only in the earliest periods in Christian history. After this material form of cohesion |
| 9 | and fellowship has accomplished its end, continued organi- zation retards spiritual growth, and should be laid off, - even as the corporeal organization deemed requisite in |
| 12 | the first stages of mortal existence is finally laid off, in From careful observation and experience came my clue |
| 15 | to the uses and abuses of organization. Therefore, in ac- cord with my special request, followed that noble, un- precedented action of the Christian Scientist Association |
| 18 | connected with my College when dissolving that organiza- tion, - in forgiving enemies, returning good for evil, in following Jesus' command, "Whosoever shall smite thee |
| 21 | on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." I saw these fruits of Spirit, long-suffering and temperance, ful- fil the law of Christ in righteousness. I also saw that |
| 24 | Christianity has withstood less the temptation of popularity Page 46
"FEED MY SHEEP" |
| 1 | Lines penned when I was pastor of the Church of Christ, Scien- tist, in Boston |
| 3 | SHEPHERD show me how to go O'er the hillside steep, How to gather, how to sow, - |
| 6 | How to feed Thy sheep; I will listen for Thy voice, Lest my footsteps stray; |
| 9 | I will follow and rejoice Thou wilt bind the stubborn will, |
| 12 | Wound the callous breast, Make self-righteousness be still, Break earth's stupid rest. |
| 15 | Strangers on a barren shore, Lab'ring long and lone, We would enter by the door, |
| 18 | And Thou know'st Thine own. So, when day grows dark and cold, |
| 21 | Lead Thy lambkins to the fold, Take them in Thine arms; Feed the hungry, heal the heart, |
| 24 | Till the morning's beam; Page 47
COLLEGE CLOSED |
| 1 | THE apprehension of what has been, and must be, the final outcome of material organization, which wars |
| 3 | with Love's spiritual compact, caused me to dread the unprecedented popularity of my College. Students from all over our continent, and from Europe, were flooding |
| 6 | the school. At this time there were over three hundred applications from persons desiring to enter the College, and applicants were rapidly increasing. Example had |
| 9 | shown the dangers arising from being placed on earthly pinnacles, and Christian Science shuns whatever involves material means for the promotion of spiritual ends. |
| 12 | In view of all this, a meeting was called of the Board of Directors of my College, who, being informed of my intentions, unanimously voted that the school be |
| 15 | discontinued. A Primary class student, richly imbued with the
spirit |
| 18 | class student who partakes less of God's love. After hav- ing received instructions in a Primary class from me, or a loyal student, and afterwards studied thoroughly Science |
| 21 | and Health, a student can enter upon the gospel work of teaching Christian Science, and so fulfil the command of Christ. But before entering this field of labor he must |
| 24 | have studied the latest editions of my works, be a good Page 48 |
| 1 | The Massachusetts Metaphysical College drew its breath from me, but I was yearning for retirement. The |
| 3 | question was, Who else could sustain this institute, under all that was aimed at its vital purpose, the establishment of genuine Christian Science healing? My conscientious |
| 6 | scruples about diplomas, the recent experience of the church fresh in my thoughts, and the growing conviction that every one should build on his own foundation, sub- |
| 9 | ject to the one builder and maker, God, - all these con- siderations moved me to close my flourishing school, and the following resolutions were passed: - |
| 12 | At a special meeting of the Board of the Metaphysical College Corporation, Oct. 29, 1889, the following are some of the resolutions which were presented and passed |
| 15 | unanimously: - WHEREAS, The Massachusetts Metaphysical College,
|
| 18 | instruction in scientific methods of mental healing on a purely practical basis, to impart a thorough understanding of meta- physics, to restore health, hope, and harmony to man, - has |
| 21 | fulfilled its high and noble destiny, and sent to all parts of our country, and into foreign lands, students instructed in Chris- tian Science Mind-healing, to meet the demand of the age for |
| 24 | something higher than physic or drugging; and WHEREAS, The material organization was, in the
beginning |
| 27 | "Suffer it to be so now," though the teaching was a purely spiritual and scientific impartation of Truth, whose Christly spirit has led to higher ways, means, and understanding, - the |
| 30 | President, the Rev. Mary B. G. Eddy, at the height of pros- Page 49 |
| 1 | perity in the institution, which yields a large income, is willing to sacrifice all for the advancement of the world in Truth and |
| 3 | Love; and WHEREAS, Other institutions for instruction in
Christian |
| 6 | will doubtless follow the example of the Alma Mater after having accomplished the worthy purpose for which they were organized, and the hour has come wherein the great need is |
| 9 | for more of the spirit instead of the letter, and Science and WHEREAS, The fundamental principle for growth in Chris- |
| 12 | tian Science is spiritual formation first, last, and always, while WHEREAS, Mortals must learn to lose their estimate |
| 15 | of the powers that are not ordained of God, and attain the bliss of loving unselfishly, working patiently, and con- quering all that is unlike Christ and the example he gave; |
| 18 | therefore Resolved, That
we thank the State for its charter, which is |
| 21 | Science of Mind-healing; that we thank the public for its liberal patronage. And everlasting gratitude is due to the President, for her great and noble work, which we believe |
| 24 | will prove a healing for the nations, and bring all men to a knowledge of the true God, uniting them in one common brotherhood. |
| 27 | After due deliberation and earnest discussion it was unani- mously voted: That as all debts of the corporation have been paid, it is deemed best to dissolve this corporation, and the |
| 30 | same is hereby dissolved. Page 50 |
| 1 | When God impelled me to set a price on my instruction in Christian Science Mind-healing, I could think of no |
| 3 | financial equivalent for an impartation of a knowledge of that divine power which heals; but I was led to name three hundred dollars as the price for each pupil in one course |
| 6 | of lessons at my College, - a startling sum for tuition lasting barely three weeks. This amount greatly troubled me. I shrank from asking it, but was finally led, by a |
| 9 | strange providence, to accept this fee. God has since shown me, in multitudinous ways,
the |
| 12 | to ask my loyal students if they consider three hundred dollars any real equivalent for my instruction during twelve half-days, or even in half as many lessons. Never- |
| 15 | theless, my list of indigent charity scholars is very large, Loyal students speak with delight of their pupilage, |
| 18 | and of what it has done for them, and for others through them. By loyalty in students I mean this, - allegiance to God, subordination of the human to the divine, stead- |
| 21 | fast justice, and strict adherence to divine Truth and I see clearly that students in Christian Science should, |
| 24 | at present, continue to organize churches, schools, and associations for the furtherance and unfolding of Truth, and that my necessity is not necessarily theirs; but it was |
| 27 | the Father's opportunity for furnishing a new rule of order in divine Science, and the blessings which arose therefrom. Students are not environed with such obstacles as were |
| 30 | encountered in the beginning of pioneer work. Page 51 |
| 1 | In December, 1889, I gave a lot of land in Boston to my student, Mr. Ira O. Knapp of Roslindale, - valued in |
| 3 | 1892 at about twenty thousand dollars, and rising in value, - to be appropriated for the erection, and building on the premises thereby conveyed, of a church edifice to be |
| 6 | used as a temple for Christian Science worship. Page 52
GENERAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND OUR MAGAZINE |
| 1 | FOR many successive years I have endeavored to find new ways and means for the promotion and expan- |
| 3 | sion of scientific Mind-healing, seeking to broaden its channels and, if possible, to build a hedge round about it that should shelter its perfections from the contaminat- |
| 6 | ing influences of those who have a small portion of its letter and less of its spirit. At the same time I have worked to provide a home for every true seeker and honest |
| 9 | worker in this vineyard of Truth. To meet the broader wants of humanity, and provide |
| 12 | gested to my students, in 1886, the propriety of forming a National Christian Scientist Association. This was immediately done, and delegations from the Christian |
| 15 | Scientist Association of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and from branch associations in other States, met in general convention at New York City, February |
| 18 | 11, 1886. The first official organ of the Christian Scientist
Asso- |
| 21 | it, April, 1883, as editor and publisher. To the National Christian Scientist Association,
at its Page 53 |
| 1 | presenting to its loyal members The Christian Science Journal, as it was now called, and the funds belonging |
| 3 | thereto. This monthly magazine had been made success- ful and prosperous under difficult circumstances, and was designed to bear aloft the standard of genuine Christian |
| 6 | Science. Page 54
FAITH-CURE |
| 1 | IT is often asked, Why are faith-cures sometimes more speedy than some of the cures wrought through Chris- |
| 3 | tian Scientists? Because faith is belief, and not under- standing; and it is easier to believe, than to understand spiritual Truth. It demands less cross-bearing, self- |
| 6 | renunciation, and divine Science to admit the claims of the corporeal senses and appeal to God for relief through a humanized conception of His power, than to deny these |
| 9 | claims and learn the divine way, - drinking Jesus' cup, being baptized with his baptism, gaining the end through persecution and purity. |
| 12 | Millions are believing in God, or good, without bearing the fruits of goodness, not having reached its Science. Belief is virtually blindness, when it admits Truth with- |
| 15 | out understanding it. Blind belief cannot say with the apostle, "I know whom I have believed." There is danger in this mental state called belief; for if Truth is admitted, |
| 18 | but not understood, it may be lost, and error may enter through this same channel of ignorant belief. The faith- cure has devout followers, whose Christian practice is far |
| 21 | in advance of their theory. The work of healing, in the Science of Mind, is
the most |
| 24 | Christian students, impressed with the true sense of the Page 55 |
| 1 | great work before them, enter this strait and narrow path, and work conscientiously. |
| 3 | Let us follow the example of Jesus, the master Meta- physician, and gain sufficient knowledge of error to destroy it with Truth. Evil is not mastered by evil; it can only |
| 6 | be overcome with good. This brings out the nothingness Page 56
FOUNDATION-STONES |
| 1 | THE following ideas of Deity, antagonized by finite theories, doctrines, and hypotheses, I found to be |
| 3 | demonstrable rules in Christian Science, and that we Whatever diverges from the one divine Mind, or God, |
| 6 | - or divides Mind into minds, Spirit into spirits, Soul into souls, and Being into beings, - is a misstatement of the unerring divine Principle of Science, which inter- |
| 9 | rupts the meaning of the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of Spirit, and is of human instead of divine origin. |
| 12 | War is waged between the evidences of Spirit and the evidences of the five physical senses; and this contest must go on until peace be declared by the final triumph |
| 15 | of Spirit in immutable harmony. Divine Science disclaims sin, sickness, and death, on the basis of the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, or divine good. |
| 18 | All consciousness is Mind, and Mind is God. Hence there is but one Mind; and that one is the infinite good, supplying all Mind by the reflection, not the subdivision, |
| 21 | of God. Whatever else claims to be mind, or consciousness, is untrue. The sun sends forth light, but not suns; so God reflects Himself, or Mind, but does not subdivide |
| 24 | Mind, or good, into minds, good and evil. Divine Sci- Page 57 |
| 1 | ence demands mighty wrestlings with mortal beliefs, as we sail into the eternal haven over the unfathomable |
| 3 | sea of possibilities. Neither ancient nor modern philosophy furnishes
a |
| 6 | believed he had a soul, which must be doctored in order to heal his body. This would be like correcting the prin- ciple of music for the purpose of destroying discord. Prin- |
| 9 | ciple is right; it is practice that is wrong. Soul is right; it is the flesh that is evil. Soul is the synonym of Spirit, God; hence there is but one Soul, and that one is infinite. |
| 12 | If that pagan philosopher had known that physical sense, not Soul, causes all bodily ailments, his philosophy would have yielded to Science. |
| 15 | Man shines by borrowed light. He reflects God as his Mind, and this reflection is substance, - the substance of good. Matter is substance in error, Spirit is substance |
| 18 | in Truth. Evil, or error, is not Mind; but infinite Mind
is sufficient |
| 21 | of more than one Mind, or Life, is as unsatisfying as it is unscientific. All must be of God, and not our own, sepa- rated from Him. |
| 24 | Human systems of philosophy and religion are depart- ures from Christian Science. Mistaking divine Principle for corporeal personality, ingrafting upon one First Cause |
| 27 | such opposite effects as good and evil, health and sickness, life and death; making mortality the status and rule of divinity, - such methods can never reach the perfection |
| 30 | and demonstration of metaphysical, or Christian Science. Page 58 |
| 1 | Stating the divine Principle, omnipotence (omnis potens), and then departing from this statement and taking the |
| 3 | rule of finite matter, with which to work out the problem of infinity or Spirit, - all this is like trying to compensate for the absence of omnipotence by a physical, false, and |
| 6 | finite substitute. With our Master, life was not merely a sense of
exist- |
| 9 | matter and brought to light immortality, insomuch that the people "were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." |
| 12 | Life, as defined by Jesus, had no beginning; it was not Page 59
THE GREAT REVELATION |
| 1 | CHRISTIAN SCIENCE reveals the grand verity, that to believe man has a finite and erring mind, and |
| 3 | consequently a mortal mind and soul and life, is error. In Science, Life is not temporal, but eternal, without |
| 6 | beginning or ending. The word Life never means that which is the source of death, and of good and evil. Such an inference is unscientific. It is like saying that addition |
| 9 | means subtraction in one instance and addition in an- other, and then applying this rule to a demonstration of the science of numbers; even as mortals apply finite terms |
| 12 | to God, in demonstration of infinity. Life is a term used to indicate Deity; and every other name for the Supreme Being, if properly employed, has the signification of |
| 15 | Life. Whatever errs is mortal, and is the antipodes of Life, or God, and of health and holiness, both in idea and demonstration. |
| 18 | Christian Science reveals Mind, the only living and true God, and all that is made by Him, Mind, as harmonious, immortal, and spiritual: the five material senses define |
| 21 | Mind and matter as distinct, but mutually dependent, each on the other, for intelligence and existence. Science defines man as immortal, as coexistent and coeternal with |
| 24 | God, as made in His own image and likeness; material Page 60 |
| 1 | sense defines life as something apart from God, beginning and ending, and man as very far from the divine likeness. |
| 3 | Science reveals Life as a complete sphere, as eternal, self- existent Mind; material sense defines life as a broken sphere, as organized matter, and mind as something sep- |
| 6 | arate from God. Science reveals Spirit as All, averring that there is nothing beside God; material sense says that matter, His antipode, is something besides God. Material |
| 9 | sense adds that the divine Spirit created matter, and that Christian Science reveals God and His idea as the All |
| 12 | and Only. It declares that evil is the absence of good; whereas, good is God ever-present, and therefore evil is unreal and good is all that is real. Christian Science saith |
| 15 | to the wave and storm, "Be still," and there is a great calm. Material sense asks, in its ignorance of Science, "When will the raging of the material elements cease?" |
| 18 | Science saith to all manner of disease, "Know that God is all-power and all-presence, and there is nothing beside Him;" and the sick are healed. Material sense saith, |
| 21 | "Oh, when will my sufferings cease? Where is God? Sickness is something besides Him, which He cannot, or does not, heal." |
| 24 | Christian Science is the only sure basis of harmony. Material sense contradicts Science, for matter and its so-called organizations take no cognizance of the spir- |
| 27 | itual facts of the universe, or of the real man and God. Christian Science declares that there is but one Truth, Life, Love, but one Spirit, Mind, Soul. Any attempt |
| 30 | to divide these arises from the fallibility of sense, from Page 61 |
| 1 | mortal man's ignorance, from enmity to God and divine Science. |
| 3 | Christian Science declares that sickness is a belief, a latent fear, made manifest on the body in different forms of fear or disease. This fear is formed unconsciously in |
| 6 | the silent thought, as when you awaken from sleep and feel ill, experiencing the effect of a fear whose existence you do not realize; but if you fall asleep, actually con- |
| 9 | scious of the truth of Christian Science, - namely, that man's harmony is no more to be invaded than the rhythm of the universe, - you cannot awake in fear or suffering |
| 12 | of any sort. Science saith to fear, "You are the cause
of all sick- |
| 15 | darkness, nothingness. You are without 'hope, and with- out God in the world.' You do not exist, and have no right to exist, for 'perfect Love casteth out fear.'" |
| 18 | God is everywhere. "There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard;" and this voice is Truth that destroys error and Love that casts out fear. |
| 21 | Christian Science reveals the fact that, if suffering exists, it is in the mortal mind only, for matter has no sensation and cannot suffer. |
| 24 | If you rule out every sense of disease and suffering from Posterity will have the right to demand that Christian |
| 27 | Science be stated and demonstrated in its godliness and grandeur, - that however little be taught or learn |