The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-19
Mrs. Eddy Ms m Author.

Some time ago the Christian Scientists
of this country held a big meeting in
Boston. and an annual message from Mrs.
Mary Baker Eddy was read there. AS this
message is a fairly good example of the
rhetorical and intellectual powers of tine
mother of Christian Science, 1t should
be spread broadcast throughout the land,
and thoroughly discussed that refined and
intelligent people may know just what
they are called upon to admire. The
message begins with this remarkable
burst of eloquence:
MY beloved brethren: Methinks even 1 am
touched with the tone of your happy hearts, and
can your glad faces, aglow with gratitude,
chinked within the stored walls OF the Mother
Church. II indeed. may he absent from tie
body and present with the eyer-present love filling
all space, time. and inlmor;ality-then 1 am with
thee, heart answering 10 heart and mine To thine
il the glow of divine reflection.
There is a delicious vagueness about
this language which is impressive, espe-
cially in the def and skillful mixture of
the modern you" and the Scriptura1
thou" The rules of grammar would
probably forbid the use of thee and
thou in referring to a concourse of six
thousand people, but Mrs. Eddy's intel
lectual as well as her moral development
transcends the ordinary laws which gov
ern human nature. She says a little later
on.
Mot madness but might and majesty attend
every footstep of Christian Science There i no
inperfection. no lack. in the principle and rules
which demonstrate it,. Only the demonstiator can
mistake or fail in proving lis power and divinity"
We are then told that Christian Science
is so simple that child can understand it,
and practice 1t much more readily than
adults. When Mrs. Eddy can exhibit be-
fore a large audience a child of six years
which does not howl when it has a burnt
finger or bumped head. because it has
taken in her doctrines through the "spir-
itual sense.i' the mothers of the country
may be convinced that those doctrines are
helpful in nursery government. A little
later We are informed:
However TO a. man who uses tobacco. is pro-
fame. liccntious. AIrd breaks Gods commandments.
that which destroys his false appetites and lifts
lin from the stubborn thrall Of sin TO q meek
and loving disciple of Christ, clothed and in his
right mind, is not darkness but light"
The grouping of mortal sins in this
paragraph is interesting and instructive.
But the cream of the whole remarkable
literary concocton is in the latter part
Of the message. and one can scarcely tell
whether to admire most the apocryphll
character of the story or the serene sat-
isfaction with which it is told. Mrs Eddy
says:
OIL, las foty. -
unsettled manhood from person | never saw
first lieutenant Of the United States Infantry the
Philippine Islands sent me-whai? Why this: Thee
cakes Of Pears soap and snugly stuck in them
were ten fvc-dollar gold pieces When the package
was opened ] stared in wondenment, and said
1T were enough for a soldier serving his country
in that torid zone to part with his soap, hut
for him to send me some OF his h2rd-carnod money
costs me te1ri'
When the amount of money earned by
a lieutenant in the United States Army.
and also the very keen sense of humor
possessed by the average American SOL
der, are considered, one is convinced that
this particular officer must have been a
perfectly unique specimen. There is prob
ably no other man in the whole army
who would have sent Mrs. Eddy fifty dol
lars, and there is certainly no other who
would have thought of embedding the
coins in a cake of soap. Moreover, Pears
soap is the kind of substance In which
1t would be hard TO insert coins or any
thing else. 1t is a pity that the name of
this remarkable man Is not given. He
could earn his living after the cruel war
is over as a specimen In freak museum,
or as a monologue artist in a vaudeville
show, the recitation 10 be entitled Soap
and Science: Or, Cleanliness Less Impor