The Florence daily tribune., 1899-04-01
" CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
From The Scientific Arena
ny rHE EDITOR.

most credulous person, to see how
easily the confidence and most inn
plicit faith is secured from those
who are SO seriously diseased, or
only temporarily ailling, when
remedy is offered.
The most self-opinionated man,
who despises doctors and inveighs
against their opinionated methods
in drug medication, falls an easy
victim to the first friend he chances
to-neet who has a cure for his cold,
or rheumatic twinges, or headache.
He will set his wife brewing nau-
senting teas, preparing hot drinks
or making poultices, or he will visit
the apothecary and swallow his
liquids and powders, not knowing
anything about their qualities. And
all this because his sympathetic
friend, who knows no more about
drugs, and less about his peculiar
ailment, than himself wisely adj
vises it, Many time have | seen
one friend take sample pill from
another's pill box, to relieve some
disorder or ache. But even fur
ther does this peculiar credulity
lead men, They purchase and
swallow panaceas, shrewdly adver-
tiscd, from any irresponsible per-
son, without any proper investiga-
tio1 into its merits, or any guaran-
tee whatever against injury, to the
delicate organization of the body.
And marvellous to say, every one of
these innumerable panaceas has
testimonials by the score from CRATE
/ full convalescents, that their health
has been restored and lives saved
by the use of your invaluable
remedy" In many cases this in
valuable remedy consists of moth
ing but common syrup disguised
by coloring matter, and favored in
"A manner TO impress its magical
qualities, with cloves, cayenne, gin
ger, or quinine. These facts, which
will be recognized as common eX-
perience, indicate that the individ-
ual who is sick and suffering is the
most gullible specimen of humani-
ty; he is casily imposed on, and an
enormous commercial activity lives
muniiicently upon his foolishness,
it is the provcrbial drowning man
clutching at the straw.
This weakness of ailing human
ity, credible to the last degree of
anything promising relief, is in my
opinion the foundation for the sue
cess of socalled Christian Sci
ence." Its popularity is enormous
ly increased by the despicable as
sociation of its methods with the
name and spirit of Christ, and it is
at once tribute to the faith and
also to the superstition of our times
that so many are entrapped by its
representations. If the name
Christian had not been pretixed
to it, this pretended science would
occupy the same plane as mesmer-
ism, animal magnetism, or hypno-
tism 1t hardly seems worth while
to argue against Christian Science
when you have read Mrs. Mary
Baker Eddy's literature on the sub
iect. Such mass of incoherent
mutterings and contradictory jar
gon i have never before seen in
print, all overlaid and underlaid
with quotations from. the Bible to
excuse and Justify its mystery.
Mrs. Eddy poses as goddess, as
part of the Divine mind, and claims
to work Just as Christ did; she
would not deny being able to per-
form any miracle He did, even to
the raising of the dead The cover
of her book gives her expectations
and claims to "heal the sick,
raise the dead. cleanse the lepers,
cast out demons" She claims pow
ers of clairvoyance, can heal at
distance from the patient as we'll
as when present; she never fails of