Chapter VIII: Precept Upon Precept (2)

The sapling bends to the breeze, while the sturdy oak, with form and inclination fixed, breasts the tornado. It is easier to incline the early thought rightly, than the biased mind. Children not mistaught, naturally love [20] God; for they are pure-minded, affectionate, and gen- erally brave. Passions, appetites, pride, selfishness, have slight sway over the fresh, unbiased thought.

Teach the children early self-government, and teach them nothing that is wrong. If they see their father with [25] a cigarette in his mouth—suggest to them that the habit of smoking is not nice, and that nothing but a loathsome worm _naturally_ chews tobacco. Likewise soberly inform them that “Battle-Axe Plug” takes off men’s heads; or, leaving these on, that it takes from their bodies a sweet [30] something which belongs to nature,—namely, pure odors.

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From a religious point of view, the faith of both youth [1] and adult should centre as steadfastly in God to benefit the body, as to benefit the mind. Body and mind are correlated in man’s salvation; for man will no more enter heaven sick than as a sinner, and Christ’s Christi- [5] anity casts out sickness as well as sin of every sort.

Test, if you will, metaphysical healing on two patients: one having morals to be healed, the other having a physi- cal ailment. Use as your medicine the great alterative, Truth: give to the immoralist a mental dose that says, [10] “You have no pleasure in sin,” and witness the effects.

Either he will hate you, and try to make others do like- wise, so taking a dose of error big enough apparently to neutralize your Truth, else he will doubtingly await the result; during which interim, by constant combat and [15] direful struggles, you get the victory and Truth heals him of the moral malady.

On the other hand, to the bedridden sufferer admin- ister this alternative Truth: “God never made you sick: there is no necessity for pain; and Truth destroys the [20] error that insists on the necessity of any man’s bondage to sin and sickness. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ ”

Then, like blind Bartimeus, the doubting heart looks up through faith, and your patient rejoices in the gospel [25] of health.

Thus, you see, it is easier to heal the physical than the moral ailment. When divine Truth and Love heal, of sin, the sinner who is at ease in sin, how much more should these heal, of sickness, the sick who are dis-eased, dis- [30] comforted, and who long for relief!

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“Prayer And Healing”

The article of Professor T——, having the above cap- [1] tion, published in _Zion’s Herald_, December third, came not to my notice until January ninth. In it the Professor offered me, as President of the Metaphysical College in Boston, or one of my students, the liberal sum of one [5] thousand dollars if either would reset certain dislocations without the use of hands, and two thousand dollars if either would give sight to one born blind.

Will the gentleman accept my thanks due to his gener- [10] osity; for, if I should accept his bid on Christianity, he would lose his money.

Why?

Because I performed more difficult tasks fifteen years ago. At present, I am in another department of Christian [15] work, “where there shall no signs be given them,” for they shall be instructed in the Principle of Christian Science that furnishes its own proof.

But, to reward his liberality, I offer him three thou- sand dollars if he will heal one single case of opium-eating [20] where the patient is very low and taking morphine powder in its most concentrated form, at the rate of one ounce in two weeks,—having taken it twenty years; and he is to cure that habit in three days, leaving the patient well. I cured precisely such a case in 1869. [25]

Also, Mr. C. M. H——, of Boston, formerly partner of George T. Brown, pharmacist, No. 5 Beacon St., will tell you that he was my student in December, 1884; and that before leaving the class he took a patient thoroughly addicted to the use of opium—if she went without it [30]

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twenty-four hours she would have delirium—and in [1] forty-eight hours cured her perfectly of this habit, with no bad results, but with decided improvement in health.

I have not yet made surgery one of the mental branches [5] taught in my college; although students treat sprains, contusions, etc., successfully. In the case of sprain of the wrist-joint, where the regular doctor had put on splints and bandages to remain six weeks, a student of mine removed these appliances the same day and effected the [10] cure in less than one week. Reference, Mrs. M. A. F——, 107 Eutaw Street, East Boston.

I agree with the Professor, that every system of medi- cine claims more than it practises. If the system is Science, it includes of necessity the Principle, which the learner [15] can demonstrate only in proportion as he understands it. Boasting is unbecoming a mortal’s poor performances. My Christian students are proverbially modest: their works alone should declare them, since my system of medi- cine is not generally understood. There are charlatans [20] in “mind-cure,” who practise on the basis of matter, or human will, not Mind.

The Professor alludes to Paul’s advice to Timothy. Did he refer to that questionable counsel, “Take a little wine for thy stomach’s sake”? Even doctors disagree [25] on that prescription: some of the medical faculty will tell you that alcoholic drinks cause the coats of the stomach to thicken and the organ to contract; will prevent the secretions of the gastric juice, and induce ulceration, bleeding, vomiting, death. [30]

Again, the Professor quotes, in justification of material methods, and as veritable: “He took a bone from the

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side of Adam, closed up the wound thereof, and builded [1] up the woman.” (Gen. ii. 21.)

Here we have the Professor on the platform of Christian Science! even a “surgical operation” that he says was performed by divine power,—Mind alone constructing [5] the human system, before surgical instruments were invented, and closing the incisions of the flesh.

He further states that God cannot save the soul without compliance to ordained conditions. But, we ask, have those conditions named in Genesis been perpetuated in [10] the multiplication of mankind? And, are the conditions of salvation mental, or physical; are they bodily penance and torture, or repentance and reform, which are the action of mind?

He asks, “Has the law been abrogated that demands [15] the employment of visible agencies for specific ends?”

Will he accept my reply as derived from the life and teachings of Jesus?—who annulled the so-called laws of matter by the higher law of Spirit, causing him to walk the wave, turn the water into wine, make the blind to see, [20] the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to be raised without matter-agencies. And he did this for man’s example; not to teach himself, but others, the way of healing and salvation. He said, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.” [25]

The teachings and demonstration of Jesus were for all peoples and for all time; not for a privileged class or a restricted period, but for as many as should believe in him.

Are the discoverers of quinine, cocaine, etc., espe- [30] cially the children of our Lord because of their medical discoveries?

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We have no record showing that our Master ever used, [1] or recommended others to use, drugs; but we have his words, and the prophet’s, as follows: “Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?” “And Asa ... sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. [5] And Asa slept with his fathers.”

Veritas Odium Parit

The combined efforts of the materialistic portion of the pulpit and press in 1885, to retard by misrepresen- tation the stately goings of Christian Science, are giving [10] it new impetus and energy; calling forth the _vox populi_ and directing more critical observation to its uplifting influence upon the health, morals, and spirituality of mankind.

Their movements indicate fear and weakness, a physi- [15] cal and spiritual need that Christian Science should re- move with glorious results. The conclusion cannot now be pushed, that women have no rights that man is bound to respect. This is woman’s hour, in all the good tend- encies, charities, and reforms of to-day. It is difficult [20] to say which may be most mischievous to the human heart, the praise or the dispraise of men.

I have loved the Church and followed it, thinking that it was following Christ; but, if the pulpit allows the people to go no further in the direction of Christlikeness, and [25] rejects apostolic Christianity, seeking to stereotype infinite Truth, it is a thing to be thankful for that one can walk alone the straight and narrow way; that, in the words of Wendell Phillips, “one with God is a majority.”

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It is the pulpit and press, clerical robes and the pro- [1] hibiting of free speech, that cradles and covers the sins of the world,—all unmitigated systems of crime; and it requires the enlightenment of these worthies, through civil and religious reform, to blot out all inhuman codes. [5] It was the Southern pulpit and press that influenced the people to wrench from man both human and divine rights, in order to subserve the interests of wealth, religious caste, civil and political power. And the pulpit had to be purged of that sin by human gore,—when the love of [10] Christ would have washed it divinely away in Christian Science!

The cry of the colored slave has scarcely been heard and hushed, when from another direction there comes another sharp cry of oppression. Another form of inhumanity [15] lifts its hydra head to forge anew the old fetters; to shackle conscience, stop free speech, slander, vilify; to invite its prey, then turn and refuse the victim a solitary vindication in this most unprecedented warfare.

A conflict more terrible than the battle of Gettysburg [20] awaits the crouching wrong that refused to yield its prey the peace of a desert, when a voice was heard crying in the wilderness,—the spiritual famine of 1866, —“Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” [25]

Shall religious intolerance, arrayed against the rights of man, again deluge the earth in blood? The question at issue with mankind is: Shall we have a spiritual Chris- tianity and a spiritual healing, or a materialistic religion and a _materia medica_? [30]

The advancing faith and hope of Christianity, the earnest seeking after practical truth that shall cast out

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error and heal the sick, wisely demand for man his God- [1] given heritage, both human and divine rights; namely, that his honest convictions and _proofs_ of advancing truth be allowed due consideration, and treated not as pearls trampled upon. [5]

Those familiar with my history are more tolerant; those who know me, know that I found health in just what I teach. I have professed Christianity a half-century; and now I calmly challenge the world, upon fair investigation, to furnish a single instance of departure in one of my [10] works from the highest possible ethics.

The charges against my views are false, but natural, since those bringing them do not understand my state- ment of the Science I introduce, and are unwilling to be taught it, even gratuitously. If they did understand it, they [15] could demonstrate this Science by healing the sick; hence the injustice of their interpretations.

To many, the healing force developed by Christian Science seems a mystery, because they do not understand that Spirit controls body. They acknowledge the exist- [20] ence of mortal mind, but believe it to reside in matter of the brain; but that man is the idea of infinite Mind, is not so easily accepted. That which is temporary seems, to the common estimate, solid and substantial. It is much easier for people to believe that the body [25] affects mind, than that the body is an expression of mind, and reflects harmony or discord according to thought.

Everything that God created, He pronounced good. He never made sickness. Hence _that_ is only an evil belief [30] of mortal mind, which must be met, in every instance, with a denial by Truth.

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This is the “new tongue,” the language of them that [1] “lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,” whose spiritual interpretation they refuse to hear. For instance: the literal meaning of the passage “lay hands on the sick” would be manipulation; its moral meaning, found in the [5] “new tongue,” is spiritual power,—as, in another Scripture, “I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.”

Falsehood

The Greeks showed a just estimate of the person they called slanderer, when they made the word synonymous [10] with devil. If the simple falsehoods uttered about me were compounded, the mixture would be labelled thus: “Religionists’ mistaken views of Mrs. Eddy’s book, ‘Sci- ence and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” and the malice aforethought of sinners.” [15]

That I take opium; that I am an infidel, a mesmerist, a medium, a “pantheist;” or that my hourly life is prayerless, or not in strict obedience to the Mosaic Decalogue,— is not more true than that I am dead, as is oft reported. The _St. Louis Democrat_ is alleged to have reported my [20] demise, and to have said that I died of poison, and bequeathed my property to Susan Anthony.

The opium falsehood has only this to it: Many years ago my regular physician prescribed morphine, which I took, when he could do no more for me. Afterwards, [25] the glorious revelations of Christian Science saved me from that necessity and made me well, since which time I have not taken drugs, with the following exception: When the mental malpractice of poisoning people was

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first undertaken by a mesmerist, to test that malprac- [1] tice I experimented by taking some large doses of mor- phine, to see if Christian Science could not obviate its effect; and I say with tearful thanks, “The drug had no effect upon me whatever.” The hour has struck, [5] —“If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.”

The false report that I have appropriated other people’s manuscripts in my works, has been met and answered _legally_. Both in private and public life, and especially [10] through my teachings, it is well known that I am not a spiritualist, a pantheist, or prayerless. The most devout members of evangelical churches will say this, as well as my intimate acquaintances. None are permitted to re- main in my College building whose morals are not un- [15] questionable. I have neither purchased nor ordered a drug since my residence in Boston; and to my knowledge, not one has been sent to my house, unless it was something to remove stains or vermin.

The report that I was dead arose no doubt from the [20] combined efforts of some malignant students, expelled from my College for immorality, to kill me: of their mental design to do this I have proof, but no fear. My heavenly Father will never leave me comfortless, in the amplitude of His love; coming nearer in my need, more tenderly to [25] save and bless.

Love

What a word! I am in awe before it. Over what worlds on worlds it hath range and is sovereign! the un-

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derived, the incomparable, the infinite All of good, the [1] _alone_ God, is Love.

By what strange perversity is the best become the most abused,—either as a quality or as an entity? Mortals misrepresent and miscall affection; they make it what [5] it is not, and doubt what it is. The so-called affection pursuing its victim is a butcher fattening the lamb to slay it. What the lower propensities express, should be repressed by the sentiments. No word is more mis- construed; no sentiment less understood. The divine [10] significance of Love is distorted into human qualities, which in their human abandon become jealousy and hate.

Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a [15] rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results. Unless these appear, I cast aside the word as a sham and counterfeit, having no ring of the true metal. Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or [20] goodness without activity and power. As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection is more than words: it is the tender, unselfish deed done in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows; the veiled form stealing on an errand of mercy, out of a [25] side door; the little feet tripping along the sidewalk; the gentle hand opening the door that turns toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow, and thus lighting the dark places of earth.

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Address On The Fourth Of July At Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., Before 2,500 Members Of The Mother Church, 1897

My beloved brethren, who have come all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic shore, from the Palmetto to the [5] Pine Tree State, I greet you; my hand may not touch yours to-day, but my heart will with tenderness untalkable.

His Honor, Mayor Woodworth, has welcomed you to Concord most graciously, voicing the friendship of this city and of my native State—loyal to the heart’s core to [10] religion, home, friends, and country.

To-day we commemorate not only our nation’s civil and religious freedom, but a greater even, the liberty of the sons of God, the inalienable rights and radiant reality of Christianity, whereof our Master said: “The works [15] that I do shall he do;” and, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (with knowledge obtained from the senses), but “the kingdom of God is within you,”— within the present possibilities of mankind.

Think of this inheritance! Heaven right here, where [20] angels are as men, clothed more lightly, and men as angels who, burdened for an hour, spring into liberty, and the good they would do, that they do, and the evil they would not do, that they do not.

From the falling leaves of old-time faiths men learn a [25] parable of the period, that all error, physical, moral, or religious, will fall before Truth demonstrated, even as dry leaves fall to enrich the soil for fruitage.

Sin, sickness, and disease flee before the evangel of Truth as the mountain mists before the sun. Truth is [30]

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the tonic for the sick, and this medicine of Mind is not [1] necessarily infinitesimal but infinite. Herein the mental medicine of divine metaphysics and the medical systems of allopathy and homœopathy differ. Mental medi- cine gains no potency by attenuation, and its largest [5] dose is never dangerous, but the more the better in every case.

Christian Science classifies thought thus: Right thoughts are reality and power; wrong thoughts are unreality and powerless, possessing the nature of dreams. Good thoughts [10] are potent; evil thoughts are impotent, and they should appear thus. Continuing this category, we learn that sick thoughts are unreality and weakness; while healthy thoughts are reality and strength. My proof of these novel propositions is demonstration, whereby any man [15] can satisfy himself of their verity.

Christian Science is not only the acme of Science but the crown of Christianity. It is universal. It ap- peals to man as man; to the whole and not to a por- tion; to man physically, as well as spiritually, and to all [20] mankind.

It has one God. It demonstrates the divine Principle, rules and practice of the great healer and master of meta- physics, Jesus of Nazareth. It spiritualizes religion and restores its lost element, namely, healing the sick. It [25] consecrates and inspires the teacher and preacher; it equips the doctor with safe and sure medicine; it en- courages and empowers the business man and secures the success of honesty. It is the dear children’s toy and strong tower; the wise man’s spiritual dictionary; the [30] poor man’s money; yea, it is the pearl priceless whereof our Master said, if a man findeth, he goeth and selleth

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all that he hath and buyeth it. Buyeth it! Note the [1] scope of that saying, even that Christianity is not merely a gift, as St. Paul avers, but is bought with a price, a great price; and what man knoweth as did our Master its value, and the price that he paid for it? [5]

Friends, I am not enough the new woman of the period for outdoor speaking, and the incidental platform is not broad enough for me, but the speakers that will now ad- dress you—one a congressman—may improve our platforms; and make amends for the nothingness of [10] matter with the allness of Mind.

Well Doinge Is The Fruite Of Doinge Well

HERRICK

This period is big with events. Fraught with history, it repeats the past and portends much for the future. [15]

The Scriptural metaphors,—of the woman in travail, the great red dragon that stood ready to devour the child as soon as it was born, and the husbandmen that said, “This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the in- heritance may be ours,”—are type and shadow of this [20] hour.

A mother’s love touches the heart of God, and should it not appeal to human sympathy? Can a mother tell her child one tithe of the agonies that gave that child birth? Can that child conceive of the anguish, until she [25] herself is become a mother?

Do the children of this period dream of the spiritual Mother’s sore travail, through the long night, that has opened their eyes to the light of Christian Science? Cherish

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these new-born children that filial obedience to which the [1] Decalogue points with promise of prosperity? Should not the loving warning, the far-seeing wisdom, the gentle entreaty, the stern rebuke have been heeded, in return for all that love which brooded tireless over their tender [5] years? for all that love that hath fed them with Truth,— even the bread that cometh down from heaven,—as the mother-bird tendeth her young in the rock-ribbed nest of the raven’s callow brood!

And what of the hope of that parent whose children [10] rise up against her; when brother slays brother, and the strength of union grows weak with wickedness? The victim of mad ambition that saith, “This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours,” goes on to learn that he must at last [15] kill this evil in “self” in order to gain the kingdom of God.

Envy, the great red dragon of this hour, would obscure the light of Science, take away a third part of the stars from the spiritual heavens, and cast them to the earth. [20] This is not Science. _Per contra_, it is the mortal mind sense—mental healing on a material basis—hurling its so-called healing at random, filling with hate its deluded victims, or resting in silly peace upon the laurels of headlong human will. “What shall, therefore, [25] the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.”

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Little Gods

It is sometimes said, cynically, that Christian Scien- tists set themselves on pedestals, as so many petty deities; but there is no fairness or propriety in the aspersion.

Man is not equal to his Maker. That which is formed [5] is not cause, but effect; and has no underived power. But it is possible, and dutiful, to throw the weight of thought and action on the side of right, and to be thus lifted up.

Man should be found not claiming equality with, but [10] growing into, that altitude of Mind which was in Christ Jesus. He should comprehend, in divine Science, a recognition of what the apostle meant when he said: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; [15] heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”

Advantage Of Mind-Healing

It is sometimes asked, What are the advantages of your system of healing?

I claim for healing by Christian Science the following [20] advantages:—

_First:_ It does away with material medicine, and rec- ognizes the fact that the antidote for sickness, as well as for sin, may be found in God, the divine Mind.

_Second:_ It is more effectual than drugs, and cures [25] where they fail, because it is this divine antidote, and metaphysics is above physics.

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_Third:_ Persons who have been healed by Christian [1] Science are not only cured of their belief in disease, but they are at the same time improved morally. The body is governed by Mind, and mortal mind must be corrected in order to make the body harmonious. [5]

A Card

While gratefully acknowledging the public confidence manifested in daily letters that protest against receiving instruction in the Massachusetts Metaphysical College from any other than Mrs. Eddy, I feel, deeply, that of [10] necessity this imposes on me the severe task of remaining at present a public servant: also, that this must prevent my classes from forming as frequently as was an- nounced in the October number of the _Journal_, and necessitates receiving but a select number of students. [15] To meet the old impediment, lack of time, that has oc- casioned the irregular intervals between my class terms, I shall continue to send to each applicant a notice from one to two weeks previous to the opening term.

MARY BAKER G. EDDY

Spirit And Law

We are accustomed to think and to speak of gravitation as a law of matter; while every quality of matter, in and of itself, is inert, inanimate, and non-intelligent. The assertion that matter is a law, or a lawgiver, is [25] anomalous. Wherever law is, Mind is; and the notion

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that Mind can be in matter is rank infidelity, which either [1] excludes God from the universe, or includes Him in every mode and form of evil. Pantheism presupposes that God sleeps in the mineral, dreams in the animal, and wakes in a wicked man. [5]

The distinction between that which is and that which is not law, must be made by Mind and as Mind. Law is either a moral or an immoral force. The law of God is the law of Spirit, a moral and spiritual force of immor- tal and divine Mind. The so-called law of matter is an [10] immoral force of erring mortal mind, _alias_ the minds of mortals. This so-called force, or law, at work in nature as a power, prohibition, or license, is cruel and merciless. It punishes the innocent, and repays our best deeds with sacrifice and suffering. It is a code whose modes [15] trifle with joy, and lead to immediate or ultimate death. It fosters suspicion where confidence is due, fear where courage is requisite, reliance where there should be avoidance, a belief in safety where there is most danger. Our Master called it “a murderer from the [20] beginning.”

Electricity, governed by this so-called law, sparkles on the cloud, and strikes down the hoary saint. Floods swallow up homes and households; and childhood, age, and manhood go down in the death-dealing wave. Earth- [25] quakes engulf cities, churches, schools, and mortals. Cyclones kill and destroy, desolating the green earth. This pitiless power smites with disease the good Samari- tan ministering to his neighbor’s need. Even the chamber where the good man surrenders to death is not exempt [30] from this law. Smoothing the pillow of pain may infect you with smallpox, according to this lawless law which

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dooms man to die for loving his neighbor as himself,— [1] when Christ has said that love is the fulfilling of the law.

Our great Ensample, Jesus of Nazareth, met and abol- ished this unrelenting false claim of matter with the [5] righteous scorn and power of Spirit. When, through Mind, he restored sight to the blind, he figuratively and literally spat upon matter; and, anointing the wounded spirit with the great truth that God is All, he demon- strated the healing power and supremacy of the law of [10] Life and Love.

In the spiritual Genesis of creation, all law was vested in the Lawgiver, who was a law to Himself. In divine Science, God is One and All; and, governing Himself, He governs the universe. This is the law of creation: [15] “My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.” And that infinite Mind governs all things. On this infinite Principle of freedom, God named Him- self, I AM. Error, or Adam, might give names to itself, and call Mind by the name of matter, but error could [20] neither name nor demonstrate Spirit. The name, I AM, indicated no personality that could be paralleled with it; but it did declare a mighty individuality, even the everlasting Father, as infinite consciousness, ever-presence, omnipotence; as all law, Life, Truth, and [25] Love.

God’s interpretation of Himself furnishes man with the only suitable or true idea of Him; and the divine definition of Deity differs essentially from the human. It interprets the law of Spirit, not of matter. It explains [30] the eternal dynamics of being, and shows that nature and man are as harmonious to-day as in the beginning,

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when “all things were made by Him; and without Him [1] was not any thing made.”

Whatever appears to be law, but partakes not of the nature of God, is not law, but is what Jesus declared it, “a liar, and the father of it.” God is the law of Life, [5] not of death; of health, not of sickness; of good, not of evil. It is this infinitude and oneness of good that silences the supposition that evil is a claimant or a claim. The consciousness of good has no consciousness or knowl- edge of evil; and evil is not a quality to be known or [10] eliminated by good: while iniquity, too evil to conceive of good as being unlike itself, declares that God knows iniquity!

When the Lawgiver was the only law of creation, free- dom reigned, and was the heritage of man; but this [15] freedom was the moral power of good, not of evil: it was divine Science, in which God is supreme, and the only law of being. In this eternal harmony of Science, man is not fallen: he is governed in the same rhythm that the Scripture describes, when “the morning stars [20] sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”

Truth-Healing

The spiritual elevator of the human race, physically, morally, and Christianly, is the truism that Truth dem- onstrates good, and is natural; while error, or evil, [25] is really non-existent, and must have produced its own illusion,—for it belongs not to nature nor to God. Truth is the power of God which heals the sick and the sinner, and is applicable to all the needs of man. It is the uni-

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versal, intelligent Christ-idea illustrated by the life of [1] Jesus, through whose “stripes we are healed.” By con- flicts, defeats, and triumphs, Christian Science has been reduced to the understanding of mortals, and found able to heal them. [5]

Pagan mysticism, Grecian philosophy, or Jewish reli- gion, never entered into the line of Jesus’ thought or action. His faith partook not of drugs, matter, nor of the travesties of mortal mind. The divine Mind was his only instrumentality and potency, in religion or medi- [10] cine. The Principle of his cure was God, in the laws of Spirit, not of matter; and these laws annulled all other laws.

Jesus knew that erring mortal thought holds only in itself the supposition of evil, and that sin, sickness, and [15] death are its subjective states; also, that pure Mind is the truth of being that subjugates and destroys any sup- positional or elementary opposite to Him who is All.

Truth is supreme and omnipotent. Then, whatever else seemeth to be intelligence or power is false, delud- [20] ing reason and denying revelation, and seeking to dethrone Deity. The truth of Mind-healing uplifts mankind, by acknowledging pure Mind as absolute and entire, and that evil is naught, although it seems to be.

Pure Mind gives out an atmosphere that heals and [25] saves. Words are not always the auxiliaries of Truth. The spirit, and not the letter, performs the vital func- tions of Truth and Love. Mind, imbued with this Science of healing, is a law unto itself, needing neither license nor prohibition; but lawless mind, with unseen motives, [30] and silent mental methods whereby it may injure the race, is the highest attenuation of evil.

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Again: evil, as _mind_, is doomed, already sentenced, [1] punished; for suffering is commensurate with evil, and lasts as long as the evil. As _mind_, evil finds no escape from itself; and the sin and suffering it occasions can only be removed by reformation. [5]

According to divine law, sin and suffering are not cancelled by repentance or pardon. Christian Science not only elucidates but demonstrates this verity of be- ing; namely, that mortals suffer from the wrong they commit, whether intentionally or ignorantly; that every [10] effect and amplification of wrong will revert to the wrong- doer, until he pays his full debt to divine law, and the measure he has meted is measured to him again, full, pressed down, and running over. Surely “the way of the transgressor is hard.” [15]

In this law of justice, the atonement of Christ loses no efficacy. Justice is the handmaid of mercy, and show- eth mercy by punishing sin. Jesus said, “I came not to destroy the law,”—the divine requirements typified in the law of Moses,—“but to fulfil it” in righteousness, [20] by Truth’s destroying error. No greater type of divine Love can be presented than effecting so glorious a purpose. This spirit of sacrifice always has saved, and still saves mankind; but by mankind I mean mortals, or a kind of men after man’s own making. Man as God’s idea [25] is already saved with an everlasting salvation. It is impossible to be a Christian Scientist without apprehend- ing the moral law so clearly that, for conscience’ sake, one will either abandon his claim to even a knowledge of this Science, or else make the claim valid. All Science [30] is divine. Then, to be Science, it must produce physical and moral harmony.

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Dear readers, our _Journal_ is designed to bring health [1] and happiness to all households wherein it is permitted to enter, and to confer increased power to be good and to do good. If you wish to brighten so pure a purpose, you will aid our prospect of fulfilling it by your kind [5] patronage of _The Christian Science Journal_, now enter- ing upon its fifth volume, clad in Truth-healing’s new and costly spring dress.

Heart To Heart

When the heart speaks, however simple the words, [10] its language is always acceptable to those who have hearts.

I just want to say, I thank you, my dear students, who are at work conscientiously and assiduously, for the good you are doing. I am grateful to you for giving to the [15] sick relief from pain; for giving joy to the suffering and hope to the disconsolate; for lifting the fallen and strength- ening the weak, and encouraging the heart grown faint with hope deferred. We are made glad by the divine Love which looseth the chains of sickness and sin, open- [20] ing the prison doors to such as are bound; and we should be more grateful than words can express, even through this white-winged messenger, our _Journal_.

With all the homage beneath the skies, yet were our burdens heavy but for the Christ-love that makes them [25] light and renders the yoke easy. Having his word, you have little need of words of approval and encouragement from me. Perhaps it is even selfish in me sometimes to relieve my heart of its secrets, because I take so much

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pleasure in thus doing; but if my motives are sinister, [1] they will harm myself only, and I shall have the unself- ish joy of knowing that the wrong motives are not yours, to react on yourselves.

These two words in Scripture suggest the sweetest [5] similes to be found in any language—_rock_ and _feathers_: “Upon this rock I will build my church;” “He shall cover thee with His feathers.” How blessed it is to think of you as “beneath the shadow of a great rock in a weary land,” safe in His strength, building on His [10] foundation, and covered from the devourer by divine protection and affection. Always bear in mind that His presence, power, and peace meet all human needs and reflect all bliss.

Things To Be Thought Of

The need of their teacher’s counsel, felt by students, [16] especially by those at a distance, working assiduously for our common Cause,—and their constant petitions for the same, should be met in the most effectual way.

To be responsible for supplying this want, and poise [20] the wavering balance on the right side, is impracticable without a full knowledge of the environments. The educational system of Christian Science lacks the aid and protection of State laws. The Science is hampered by immature demonstrations, by the infancy of its dis- [25] covery, by incorrect teaching; and especially by unprin- cipled claimants, whose mad ambition drives them to appropriate my ideas and discovery, without credit, ap- preciation, or a single original conception, while they

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quote from other authors and give them credit for every [1] random thought in line with mine.

My noble students, who are loyal to Christ, Truth, and human obligations, will not be disheartened in the midst of this seething sea of sin. They build for time and eter- [5] nity. The others stumble over misdeeds, and their own unsubstantiality, without the groundwork of right, till, like camera shadows thrown upon the mists of time, they melt into darkness.

Unity is the essential nature of Christian Science. Its [10] Principle is One, and to demonstrate the divine One, demands oneness of thought and action.

Many students enter the Normal class of my College whom I have not fitted for it by the Primary course. They are taught their first lessons by my students; hence [15] the aptness to assimilate pure and abstract Science is somewhat untested.

“As the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.” As mortal mind is directed, it acts for a season. Some students leave my instructions before they are quite free from [20] the bias of their first impressions, whether those be cor- rect or incorrect. Such students are more or less subject to the future mental influence of their former teacher. Their knowledge of Mind-healing may be right theo- retically, but the moral and spiritual status of thought [25] must be right also. The tone of the teacher’s mind must be pure, grand, true, to aid the mental development of the student; for the tint of the instructor’s mind must take its hue from the divine Mind. A single mistake in metaphysics, or in ethics, is more fatal than a mistake in [30] physics.

If a teacher of Christian Science unwittingly or inten-

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tionally offers his own thought, and gives me as authority [1] for it; if he diverges from Science and knows it not, or, knowing it, makes the venture from vanity, in order to be thought original, or wiser than somebody else,—this divergence widens. He grows dark, and cannot regain, [5] at will, an upright understanding. This error in the teacher also predisposes his students to make mistakes and lose their way. Diverse opinions in Science are stultifying. All must have _one_ Principle and the same rule; and all _who follow the Principle and rule_ have but [10] one opinion of it.

Whosoever understands a single rule in Science, and demonstrates its Principle according to rule, is master of the situation. Nobody can gainsay this. The ego- tistical theorist or shallow moralist may presume to [15] make innovations upon simple proof; but his mistake is visited upon himself and his students, whose minds are, must be, disturbed by this discord, which extends along the whole line of reciprocal thought. An error in premise can never bring forth the real fruits of Truth. [20] After thoroughly explaining spiritual Truth and its ethics to a student, I am not morally responsible for the mis- statements or misconduct of this student. My teachings are uniform. Those who abide by them do well. If others, who receive the same instruction, do ill, the fault [25] is not in the culture but the soil.

I am constantly called to settle questions and disaf- fections toward Christian Science growing out of the departures from Science of self-satisfied, unprincipled students. If impatient of the loving rebuke, the stu- [30] dent must stop at the foot of the grand ascent, and there remain until suffering compels the downfall of his self-

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conceit. Then that student must struggle up, with bleed- [1] ing footprints, to the God-crowned summit of unselfish and pure aims and affections.

To be two-sided, when these sides are moral oppo- sites, is neither politic nor scientific; and to abridge a [5] single human right or privilege is an error. Whoever does this may represent me as doing it; but he mistakes me, and the subjective state of his own mind for mine.

The true leader of a true cause is the unacknowledged servant of mankind. Stationary in the background, this [10] individual is doing the work that nobody else can or will do. An erratic career is like the comet’s course, dash- ing through space, headlong and alone. A clear-headed and honest Christian Scientist will demonstrate the Prin- ciple of Christian Science, and hold justice and mercy as [15] inseparable from the unity of God.

Unchristian Rumor

The assertion that I have said hard things about my loyal students in Chicago, New York, or any other place, is utterly false and groundless. I speak of them as I feel, [20] and I cannot find it in my heart not to love them. They are essentially dear to me, who are toiling and achieving success in unison with my own endeavors and prayers. If I correct mistakes which may be made in teaching or lecturing on Christian Science, this is in accordance with [25] my students’ desires, and thus we mutually aid each other, and obey the Golden Rule.

The spirit of lies is abroad. Because Truth has spoken aloud, error, running to and fro in the earth, is scream-

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ing, to make itself heard above Truth’s voice. The [1] audible and inaudible wail of evil never harms Scientists, steadfast in their consciousness of the nothingness of wrong and the supremacy of right.

Our worst enemies are the best friends to our growth. [5] Charity students, for whom I have sacrificed the most time,—those whose chief aim is to injure me,—have caused me to exercise most patience. When they report me as “_hating_ those whom I do not love,” let them re- member that there never was a time when I saw an op- [10] portunity really to help them and failed to improve it; and this, too, when I knew they were secretly striving to injure me.

Vainglory

_Comparisons are odorous._—SHAKESPEARE

Through all human history, the vital outcomes of [16] Truth have suffered temporary shame and loss from individual conceit, cowardice, or dishonesty. The bird whose right wing flutters to soar, while the left beats its way downward, falls to the earth. Both wings must be [20] plumed for rarefied atmospheres and upward flight.

Mankind must gravitate from sense to Soul, and human affairs should be governed by Spirit, intelligent good. The antipode of Spirit, which we name _matter_, or _non-_ _intelligent evil_, is no real aid to being. The predisposing [25] and exciting cause of all defeat and victory under the sun, rests on this scientific basis: that action, in obedi- ence to God, spiritualizes man’s motives and methods, and crowns them with success; while disobedience to

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this divine Principle materializes human modes and con- [1] sciousness, and defeats them.

Two personal queries give point to human action: Who shall be greatest? and, Who shall be best? Earthly glory is vain; but not vain enough to attempt pointing [5] the way to heaven, the harmony of being. The imaginary victories of rivalry and hypocrisy are defeats. The Holy One saith, “O that thou hadst hearkened to My com- mandments! then had thy peace been as a river.” He is unfit for Truth, and the demonstration of divine power, [10] who departs from Mind to matter, and from Truth to error, in pursuit of better means for healing the sick and casting out error.

The Christian Scientist keeps straight to the course. His whole inquiry and demonstration lie in the line of [15] Truth; hence he suffers no shipwreck in a starless night on the shoals of vainglory. His medicine is Mind— the omnipotent and ever-present good. His “help is from the Lord,” who heals body and mind, head and heart; changing the affections, enlightening the mis- [20] guided senses, and curing alike the sin and the mortal sinner. God’s preparations for the sick are potions of His own qualities. His therapeutics are antidotes for the ailments of mortal mind and body. Then let us not adulterate His preparations for the sick with material [25] means.

From lack of moral strength empires fall. Right alone is irresistible, permanent, eternal. Remember that hu- man pride forfeits spiritual power, and either vacillating good or self-assertive error dies of its own elements. [30] Through patience we must possess the sense of Truth; and Truth is used to waiting. “Commit thy way unto

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the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to [1] pass.”

By using falsehood to regain his liberty, Galileo vir- tually lost it. He cannot escape from barriers who commits his moral sense to a dungeon. Hear the Master [5] on this subject: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Lives there a man who can better define ethics, better [10] elucidate the Principle of being, than he who “spake as never man spake,” and whose precepts and example have a perpetual freshness in relation to human events?

Who is it that understands, unmistakably, a fraction of the actual Science of Mind-healing? [15]

It is he who has fairly proven his knowledge on a Chris- tian, mental, scientific basis; who has made his choice between matter and Mind, and proven the divine Mind to be the only physician. These are self-evident proposi- tions: That man can only be Christianized through Mind; [20] that without Mind the body is without action; that Science is a law of divine Mind. The conclusion follows that the correct Mind-healing is the proper means of Christianity, and is Science.

Christian Science may be sold in the shambles. Many [25] are bidding for it,—but are not willing to pay the price. Error is vending itself on trust, well knowing the will- ingness of mortals to buy error at par value. The Reve- lator beheld the opening of this silent mental seal, and heard the great Red Dragon _whispering_ that “no man [30] might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

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We are in the Valley of Decision. Then, let us take [1] the side of him who “overthrew the tables of the money- changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,”—of such as barter integrity and peace for money and fame. What artist would question the skill of the masters in [5] sculpture, music, or painting? Shall we depart from the example of the Master in Christian Science, Jesus of Nazareth,—than whom mankind hath no higher ideal? He who demonstrated his power over sin, disease, and death, is the master Metaphysician. [10]

To seek or employ other means than those the Master used in demonstrating Life scientifically, is to lose the priceless knowledge of his Principle and practice. He said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His right- eousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” [15] Gain a pure Christianity; for that is requisite for heal- ing the sick. Then you will need no other aid, and will have full faith in his prophecy, “And there shall be one fold, and one shepherd;” but, the Word must abide in us, if we would obtain that promise. We cannot depart [20] from his holy example,—we cannot leave Christ for the schools which crucify him, and yet follow him in heal- ing. Fidelity to his precepts and practice is the only pass- port to his power; and the pathway of goodness and greatness runs through the modes and methods of God. [25]

“He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

Compounds

Homœopathy is the last link in material medicine. The next step is Mind-medicine. Among the foremost

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virtues of homœopathy is the exclusion of compounds [1] from its pharmacy, and the attenuation of a drug up to the point of its disappearance as matter and its manifesta- tion in effect as a thought, instead of a thing.

Students of Christian Science (and many who are not [1] students) understand enough of this to keep out of their heads the notion that compounded metaphysics (so-called) is, or can be, Christian Science,—that rests on oneness; one cause and one effect.

They should take our magazine, work for it, write for [10] it, and read it. They should eschew all magazines and books which are less than the best.

“Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Cleanse your mind of the cobwebs which spurious “compounds” engender. Before considering a subject that is unworthy [15] of thought, take in this axiomatic truism: “Trust her not, she’s fooling thee;” and Longfellow is right.

Close Of The Massachusetts Metaphysical College

Much is said at this date, 1889, about Mrs. Eddy’s [20] Massachusetts Metaphysical College being the only chartered College of Metaphysics. To make this plain, the Publishing Committee of the Christian Scientist Association has published in the _Boston Traveler_ the following:— [25]

“To benefit the community, and more strongly mark the difference between true and false teachers of mental healing, the following history and statistics are officially submitted:—

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“Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy obtained a college charter [1] in January, 1881, with all the rights and privileges per- taining thereunto (_including the right to grant degrees_) under Act of 1874, Chapter 375, Section 4.

“This Act was _repealed_ from and after January 31, [5] 1882. Mrs. Eddy’s grant for a college, for metaphysical purposes _only_, is the first on record in history, and no charters were granted for similar colleges, except hers, from January, 1881, till the repealing of said Act in January, 1882. [10]

“The substance of this Act is at present incorporated in Public Statutes, Chapter 115, Section 2, with the fol- lowing important restrictions: In accordance with Statutes of 1883, Chapter 268, any officer, agent, or servant of any corporation or association, who confers, or authorizes [15] to be conferred, any diploma or degree, shall be pun- ished by a fine not less than five hundred dollars and not more than one thousand dollars.

“All the mind-healing colleges (except Rev. Mrs. Eddy’s) have simply an incorporated grant, which may [20] be called a charter, such as any stock company may ob- tain for any secular purposes; but these so-called char- ters bestow no rights to _confer degrees_. Hence to name these institutions, under such charters, _colleges_, is a fraud- ulent claim. There is but one legally chartered college [25] of metaphysics, with powers to confer diplomas and de- grees, and that is the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, of which Rev. Mrs. Eddy is founder and president.”

I have endeavored to act toward all students of Chris- tian Science with the intuition and impulse of love. If [30] certain natures have not profited by my rebukes,—

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some time, as Christian Scientists, they will know the [1] value of these rebukes. I am thankful that the neo- phyte will be benefited by experience, although it will cost him much, and in proportion to its worth.

I close my College in order to work in other directions, [5] where I now seem to be most needed, and where none other can do the work. I withdraw from an overwhelm- ing prosperity. My students have never expressed so grateful a sense of my labors with them as now, and never have been so capable of relieving my tasks as at [10] present.