Pulpit and Press (6th Edition) - Mary Baker Eddy
Several years ago Mrs. Eddy removed from Columbus to Commonwealth
avenue, where, just beyond Massachusetts avenue, at the entrance to the
Back Bay Park, she bought one of the most beautiful residences in
Boston. The interior is one of the utmost taste and luxury, and the
house is now occupied by Judge and Mrs. Hanna, who are the editors of
the _Christian Science Journal_, a monthly publication, and to whose
courtesy I am much indebted for some of the data of this paper. "It is a
pleasure to give any information for _The Inter-Ocean_," remarked Mrs.
Hanna, "for it is the great daily that is so fair and so just in its
attitude toward all questions."
The increasing demands of the public on Mrs. Eddy have been, it may be,
one factor in her removal to Concord, N.H., where she has a beautiful
residence, called Pleasant View. Her health is excellent, and although
her hair is white, she retains in a great degree her energy and power;
she takes a daily walk and drives in the afternoon. She personally
attends to a vast correspondence; superintends the church in Boston, and
is engaged on further writings on Christian Science. In every sense she
is the recognized head of the Christian Science Church. At the same time
it is her most earnest aim to eliminate the element of personality from
the faith. "On this point, Mrs. Eddy feels very strongly," said a
gentleman to me on Christmas eve, as I sat in the beautiful drawing
room, where Judge and Mrs. Hanna, Miss Elsie Lincoln, the soprano for
the choir of the new church, and one or two other friends were gathered.
"Mother feels very strongly," he continued, "the danger and the
misfortune of a church depending on any one personality. It is difficult
not to centre too closely around a highly gifted personality."
THE FIRST ASSOCIATION.
The first Christian Scientist Association was organized on July 4, 1876,
by seven persons, including Mrs. Eddy. In April, 1879, the church was
founded with twenty-six members, and its charter obtained the following
June. Mrs. Eddy had preached in other parishes for five years before
being ordained in this church, which ceremony took place in 1881.
The first edition of Mrs. Eddy's book, SCIENCE AND HEALTH, was issued in
1875. During these succeeding twenty years it has been greatly revised
and enlarged, and it is now in its ninety-first edition. It consists of
fourteen chapters, whose titles are as follows: "Science, Theology,
Medicine," "Physiology," "Footsteps of Truth," "Creation," "Science of
Being," "Christian Science and Spiritualism," "Marriage," "Animal
Magnetism," "Some Objections Answered," "Prayer," "Atonement and
Eucharist," "Christian Science Practice," "Teaching Christian Science,"
"Recapitulation." Key to the Scriptures, Genesis, Apocalypse, and
Glossary.
The Christian Scientists do not accept the belief we call spiritualism.
They believe those who have passed the change of death are in so
entirely different a plane of consciousness that between the embodied
and disembodied there is no possibility of communication.
They are diametrically opposed to the philosophy of Karma and of
reincarnation, which are the tenets of theosophy. They hold with strict
fidelity to what they believe to be the literal teachings of Christ.
Yet each and all these movements, however they may differ among
themselves, are phases of idealism and manifestations of a higher
spirituality seeking expression.
It is good that each and all shall prosper, serving those who find in
one form of belief or another their best aid and guidance, and that all
meet on common ground in the great essentials of love to God and love to
man as a signal proof of the divine origin of humanity which finds no
rest until it finds the peace of the Lord in spirituality. They all
teach that one great truth that:
God's greatness flows around our incompleteness,
Round our restlessness, his rest.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING.
I add on the following page a little poem that I consider superbly
sweet--from my friend, Miss Whiting, the talented author of "THE WORLD
BEAUTIFUL."--M.B. EDDY.
AT THE WINDOW.
[_Written for the Traveller_.]
The sunset, burning low,
Throws o'er the Charles its flood of golden light.
Dimly, as in a dream, I watch the flow
Of waves of light.
The splendor of the sky
Repeats its glory in the river's flow;
And sculptured angels, on the gray church tower,
Gaze on the world below.
Dimly, as in a dream,
I see the hurrying throng before me pass,
But 'mid them all I only see _one_ face
Under the meadow grass.
Ah, love! I only know
How thoughts of you forever cling to me:
I wonder how the seasons come and go
Beyond the sapphire sea?
LILLIAN WHITING.
April 15, 1888.
(_Boston Herald_, January 7, 1895.)
EXTRACT.
A TEMPLE GIVEN TO GOD.--DEDICATION OF THE MOTHER CHURCH OF CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE.
Novel Method of Enabling Six Thousand Believers to Attend the
Exercises--The Service Repeated Four Times--Sermon by Rev. Mary Baker
Eddy, Founder of the Denomination--Beautiful Room Which the Children
Built.
With simple ceremonies, four times repeated, in the presence of four
different congregations, aggregating nearly 6,000 persons, the unique
and costly edifice erected in Boston at Norway and Falmouth streets as a
home for The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and a testimonial to the
discoverer and founder of Christian Science, Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, was
yesterday dedicated to the worship of God.
The structure came forth from the hands of the artisans with every stone
paid for--with an appeal, not for more money, but for a cessation of the
tide of contributions which continued to flow in after the full amount
needed was received. From every state in the Union and from many lands,
the love offerings of the disciples of Christian Science came to help
erect this beautiful structure, and more than 4,000 of these
contributors came to Boston from the far-off Pacific coast and the Gulf
states and all the territory that lies between, to view the new-built
temple and to listen to the message sent them by the teacher they
revere.
From all New England the members of the denomination gathered; New York
sent its hundreds, and even from the distant states came parties of 40
and 50. The large auditorium, with its capacity for holding 1,400 or
1,500 persons, was hopelessly incapable of receiving this vast throng,
to say nothing of the nearly 1,000 local believers. Hence the service
was repeated until all who wished had heard and seen; and each of the
four vast congregations filled the church to repletion.
At 7:30 a.m. the chimes in the great stone tower, which rises 126 feet
above the earth, rung out their message of "Peace on earth and good will
to men."
Old familiar hymns--"All Hail the Power of Jesus's Name," and others
such--were chimed until the hour for the dedication service had come.
At 9 a.m. the first congregation gathered. Before this service had
closed the large vestry room and the spacious lobbies and the sidewalks
around the church were all filled with a waiting multitude. At 10:30
o'clock another service began, and at noon still another. Then there was
an intermission, and at 3 p.m. the service was repeated for the last
time.
There was scarcely even a minor variation in the exercises at any one of
these services. At 10:30 a.m., however, the scene was rendered
particularly interesting by the presence of several hundred children in
the central pews. These were the little contributors to the building
fund, whose money was devoted to the "Mother's room," a superb apartment
intended for the sole use of Mrs. Eddy. These children are known in the
church as the "Busy Bees," and each of them wore a white satin badge
with a golden beehive stamped upon it, and beneath the beehive the words
"Mother's Room," in gilt letters.
The pulpit end of the auditorium was rich with the adornment of flowers.
On the wall of the choir gallery above the platform, where the organ is
to be hereafter placed, a huge seven pointed star was hung--a star of
lilies resting on palms, with a centre of white immortelles, upon which
in letters of red were the words: "Love-Children's Offering--1894."
In the choir and the steps of the platform were potted palms and ferns
and Easter lilies. The desk was wreathed with ferns and pure white roses
fastened with a broad ribbon bow. On its right was a large basket of
white carnations resting on a mat of palms, and on its left a vase
filled with beautiful pink roses.
Two combined choirs--that of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, of
New York, and the choir of the home church, numbering thirty-five
singers in all--led the singing, under the direction, respectively, of
Mr. Henry Lincoln Case, and Miss Elsie Lincoln.
Judge S.J. Hanna, editor of the _Christian Science Journal_, presided
over the exercises. On the platform with him were Messrs. Ira O. Knapp,
Joseph Armstrong, Stephen A. Chase, and William B. Johnson, who compose
the board of directors, and Mrs. Henrietta Clark Bemis, a distinguished
elocutionist, and a native of Concord, New Hampshire.
The utmost simplicity marked the exercises. After an organ voluntary,
the hymn, "Laus Deo, It Is Done," written by Mrs. Eddy for the
corner-stone laying last spring, was sung by the congregation.
Selections from the Scriptures and from SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO
THE SCRIPTURES, were read by Judge Hanna and Dr. Eddy.
A few minutes of silent prayer came next, followed by the recitation of
the Lord's prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the
Christian Science text-book.
The sermon prepared for the occasion by Mrs. Eddy, which was looked
forward to as the chief feature of the dedication, was then read by Mrs.
Bemis. Mrs. Eddy remained at her home in Concord, N.H., during the day,
because, as heretofore stated in _The Herald_, it is her custom to
discourage among her followers that sort of personal worship which
religious teachers so often receive.
Before presenting the sermon, Mrs. Bemis read the following letter from
a former pastor of the church:
_Rev. Mary Baker Eddy_--Dear Teacher, Leader,
Guide: Laus Deo. It is done. At last you begin to
see the fruition of that you have worked, toiled,
prayed for. The prayer in stone is accomplished.
Across 2,000 miles of space, as mortal sense puts
it, I send my hearty congratulations. You are
fully occupied, but I thought you would willingly
pause for an instant to receive this brief message
of congratulation. Surely it marks an era in the
blessed onward work of Christian Science. It is a
most auspicious hour in your eventful career.
While we all rejoice, yet the mother in Israel,
alone of us all, comprehends its full significance.
Yours lovingly,
LANSON P. NORCROSS.
(_Boston Sunday Globe_, January 6, 1895.)
EXTRACT.
Stately Home for Believers in Gospel Healing.--A Woman of Wealth Who
Devotes All to Her Church Work.
Christian Science has shown its power over its students, as they are
called, by building a church by voluntary contribution, the first of its
kind, a church which will be dedicated to-day, with a quarter of a
million dollars expended and free of debt.
The money has flowed in from all parts of the United States and Canada
without any special appeal, and it kept coming until the custodian of
funds cried "enough" and refused to accept any further checks by mail or
otherwise. Men, women, and children lent a helping hand, some giving a
mite and some substantial sums. Sacrifices were made in many an instance
which will never be known in this world.
Christian Scientists not only say that they can effect cures of disease
and erect churches, but add that they can get their buildings finished
on time even when the feat seems impossible to mortal senses. Read the
following from a publication of the new denomination:
One of the grandest and most helpful features of
this glorious consummation is this: that one month
before the close of the year every evidence of
material sense declared that the church's completion
within the year 1894 transcended human possibility.
The predictions of workman and onlooker alike were
that it could not be completed before April or May
of 1895.
Much was the ridicule heaped upon the hopeful, trustful ones, who
declared and repeatedly asseverated to the contrary. This is indeed,
then, a scientific demonstration. It has proved, in most striking
manner, the oft-repeated declarations of our text-books, that the
evidence of the mortal senses is unreliable.
A week ago Judge Hanna withdrew from the pastorate of the church, saying
he gladly laid down his responsibilities to be succeeded by the grandest
of ministers--the Bible and "SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE
SCRIPTURES." This action it appears, was the result of rules made by
Mrs. Eddy. The sermons hereafter will consist of passages read from the
two books by readers, who will be elected each year by the congregation.
A story has been abroad that Judge Hanna was so eloquent and magnetic
that he was attracting listeners who came to hear him preach rather than
in search of the truth as taught. Consequently the new rules were
formulated.
But at Christian Science headquarters this is denied; Mrs. Eddy says the
words of the judge speak to the point, and that no such inference is to
be drawn therefrom.
In Mrs. Eddy's personal reminiscences, which are published under the
title of "Retrospection and Introspection," much is told of herself in
detail that can only be touched upon in this brief sketch.
Aristocratic to the backbone, Mrs. Eddy takes delight in going back to
the ancestral tree and in tracing those branches which are identified
with good and great names both in Scotland and England.
Her family came to this country not long before the Revolution. Among
the many souvenirs that Mrs. Eddy remembers as belonging to her
grandparents was a heavy sword, encased in a brass scabbard, upon which
had been inscribed the name of the kinsman upon whom the sword had been
bestowed by Sir William Wallace of mighty Scottish fame.
Mrs. Eddy applied herself, like other girls, to her studies, though
perhaps with an unusual zest, delighting in philosophy, logic, and moral
science, as well as looking into the ancient languages, Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin.
Her last marriage was in the spring of 1877, when, at Lynn, Mass., she
became the wife of Asa Gilbert Eddy. He was the first organizer of a
Christian Science Sunday-School, of which he was the superintendent, and
later he attracted the attention of many clergymen of other denominations
by his able lectures upon scriptural topics. He died in 1882.
Mrs. Eddy is known to her circle of pupils and admirers as the editor
and publisher of the first official organ of this sect. It was called
the _Journal of Christian Science_, and has had great circulation with
the members of this fast-increasing faith.
In recounting her experiences as the pioneer of Christian Science, she
states that she sought knowledge concerning the physical side in this
research through the different schools of allopathy, homeopathy, and so
forth, without receiving any real satisfaction. No ancient or modern
philosophy gave her any distinct statement of the science of mind
healing. She claims that no human reason has been equal to the question.
And she also defines carefully the difference in the theories between
faith cure and Christian Science, dwelling particularly upon the terms
belief and understanding, which are the key words respectively used in
the definitions of these two healing arts.
Besides her Boston home, Mrs. Eddy has a delightful country home one
mile from the state house of New Hampshire's quiet capital, an easy
driving distance for her when she wishes to catch a glimpse of the
world. But for the most part she lives very much retired, driving rather
into the country, which is so picturesque all about Concord and its
surrounding villages.
The big house, so delightfully remodeled and modernized from a primitive
homestead, that nothing is left excepting the angles and pitch of the
roof, is remarkably well placed upon a terrace that slopes behind the
buildings, while they themselves are in the midst of green stretches of
lawns, dotted with beds of flowering shrubs, with here and there a
fountain or summer-house.
Mrs. Eddy took the writer straight to her beloved "lookout"--a broad
piazza on the south side of the second story of the house, where she can
sit in her swinging chair, revelling in the lights and shades of spring
and summer greenness. Or, as just then, in the gorgeous October coloring
of the whole landscape that lies below, across the farm, which stretches
on through an intervale of beautiful meadows and pastures to the woods
that skirt the valley of the little truant river, as it wanders
eastward.
It pleased her to point out her own birthplace. Straight as the crow
flies, from her piazza, does it lie on the brow of Bow hill, and then
she paused and reminded the reporter that Congressman Baker from New
Hampshire, her cousin, was born and bred in that same neighborhood. The
photograph of Hon. Hoke Smith, another distinguished relative, adorned
the mantel.
Then my eye caught her family coat of arms and the diploma given her by
the Society of the Daughters of the Revolution.
The natural and lawful pride that comes with a tincture of blue and
brave blood, is perhaps one of her characteristics, as is many another
well born woman's. She had a long list of worthy ancestors in colonial
and revolutionary days, and the McNeils, and General Knox, figure
largely in her genealogy, as well as the hero who killed the ill-starred
Paugus.
This big, sunny room which Mrs. Eddy calls her den--or sometimes
"mother's room," when speaking of her many followers who consider her
their spiritual leader--has the air of hospitality that marks its
hostess herself. Mrs. Eddy has hung its walls with reproductions of some
of Europe's masterpieces, a few of which had been the gifts of her
loving pupils.
Looking down from the windows upon the tree-tops on the lower terrace,
the reporter exclaimed: "You have lived here only four years, and yet
from a barren waste of most unpromising ground has come forth all this
beauty!"
"Four years!" she ejaculated; "two and a half, only two and a half
years." Then, touching my sleeve and pointing, she continued: "Look at
those big elms! I had them brought here in warm weather, almost as big
as they are now, and not one died."
Mrs. Eddy talked earnestly of her friendships.... She told something
of her domestic arrangements, of how she had long wished to get away
from her busy career in Boston, and return to her native granite hills,
there to build a substantial home that should do honor to that precinct
of Concord.
She chose the stubbly, old farm on the road from Concord within one mile
of the "Eton of America," St. Paul's school. Once bought, the will of
the woman set at work, and to-day a strikingly well kept estate is the
first impression given to the visitor as he approaches Pleasant View.
She employs a number of men to keep the grounds and farm in perfect
order, and it was pleasing to learn that this rich woman is using her
money to promote the welfare of industrious workmen in whom she takes a
vital interest.
Mrs. Eddy believes that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and,
moreover, that he deserves to have a home and family of his own. Indeed,
one of her motives in buying so large an estate was that she might do
something for the toilers, and thus add her influence toward the
advancement of better home life and citizenship.
(_Boston Transcript_, December 31, 1894.)
EXTRACT.
The growth of Christian Science is properly marked by the erection of a
visible house of worship in this city, which will be dedicated tomorrow.
It has cost $200,000, and no additional sums outside of the
subscriptions are asked for. This particular phase of religious belief
has impressed itself upon a large and increasing number of Christian
people, who have been tempted to examine its principles, and doubtless
have been comforted and strengthened by them. Any new movement will
awaken some sort of interest. There are many who have worn off the
novelty and are thoroughly carried away with the requirements, simple
and direct as they are, of Christian Science. The opposition against it
from the so-called orthodox religious bodies keeps up a while, but after
a little skirmishing, finally subsides. No one religious body holds the
whole of truth, and whatever is likely to show even some one side of it
will gain followers and live down any attempted repression.
Christian Science does not strike all as a system of truth. If it did,
it would be a prodigy. Neither does the Christian faith produce the
same impressions upon all. Freedom to believe or to dissent is a great
privilege in these days. So when a number of conscientious followers
apply themselves to a matter like Christian Science, they are enjoying
that liberty which is their inherent right as human beings, and though
they cannot escape censure, yet they are to be numbered among the many
pioneers who are searching after religious truth. There is really
nothing settled. Every truth is more or less in a state of agitation.
The many who have worked in the mine of knowledge are glad to welcome
others who have different methods, and with them bring different ideas.
It is too early to predict where this movement will go, and how greatly
it will affect the well established methods. That it has produced a
sensation in religious circles, and called forth the implements of
theological warfare, is very well known. While it has done this, it may,
on the other hand, have brought a benefit. Ere this many a new project
in religious belief has stirred up feeling, but as time has gone on,
compromises have been welcomed.
The erection of this temple will doubtless help on the growth of its
principles. Pilgrims from everywhere will go there in search of truth,
and some may be satisfied and some will not. Christian Science cannot
absorb the world's thought. It may get the share of attention it
deserves, but it can only aspire to take its place alongside other great
demonstrations of religious belief which have done something good for
the sake of humanity.
Wonders will never cease. Here is a church whose treasurer has to send
out word that no sums except those already subscribed can be received!
The Christian Scientists have a faith of the mustard-seed variety. What
a pity some of our practical Christian folk have not a faith approximate
to that of these "impractical" Christian Scientists.
(_Jackson Patriot_, Jackson, Mich. January 20, 1895.)
EXTRACT.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.
The erection of a massive temple in Boston by Christian Scientists, at a
cost of over $200,000, love offerings of the disciples of MARY BAKER
EDDY, reviver of the ancient faith and author of the text-book from
which, with the New Testament at the foundation, believers receive
light, health, and strength, is evidence of the rapid growth of the new
movement. We call it new. It is not. The name Christian Science alone is
new. At the beginning of Christianity it was taught and practiced by
Jesus and his disciples. The Master was the great healer. But the wave
of materialism and bigotry that swept over the world for fifteen
centuries, covering it with the blackness of the Dark Ages, nearly
obliterated all vital belief in his teachings. The Bible was a sealed
book. Recently a revived belief in what he taught is manifest, and
Christian Science is one result. No new doctrine is proclaimed, but
there is the fresh development of a principle that was put into practice
by the founder of Christianity nineteen hundred years ago, though
practiced in other countries at any earlier date. "The thing that hath
been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which
shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun."
The condition which Jesus of Nazareth, on various occasions during the
three years of his ministry on earth, declared to be essential, in the
mind of both healer and patient, is contained in the one word--FAITH.
Can drugs suddenly cure leprosy? When the ten lepers were cleansed and
one returned to give thanks in Oriental phrase, Jesus said to him:
"Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." That was Christian
Science. In his "Law of Psychic Phenomena" Hudson says: "That word, more
than any other, expresses the whole law of human felicity and power in
this world and of salvation in the world to come." It is that attribute
of mind which elevates man above the level of the brute, and gives
dominion over the physical world. It is the essential element of success
in every field of human endeavor. It constitutes the power of the human
soul. When Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed its potency from the hilltops of
Palestine he gave to mankind the key to health and heaven, and earned
the title of "Savior of the World." Whittier, grandest of mystic poets,
saw the truth: