Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-01-14

cerely respect the lawful right to ev-
cry man to his own opinion, and they
have no desire to trespass upon this
right nor to involve the public in
wearisome newspaper controversy
However, the continued sermon as
saults on Christian Science and its
Leader from the pulpit of the Chris
tian church of your city, extracts of
which have been reported in your col
Nmns, lead me to ask further indul
gence of your valued space for correcr
tion and defense, as a matter of truth
and common justice.
To Correst Miscellaneous
The unkind and discourteous re-
marks which have of late been made
relative to Mrs. Eddy, whether by
quotation or as personal opinion, not
only betraythe bitetr animus of a.
biased and intolerant attitude, but to
any unprejudiced mind such remarks
must undoubtedly neutralize any con-
viction which the words of the zeal
GUS speaker might otherwise have car
Tied. AS has been stated formerly,
the motives, life and refinement of
character of this noble and venerable
woman are so generally known today
by reason of the good she has made
possible in the lives of unnumbered
fellow-men and women that she now
needs but little defense, for the pub
lie to discredit and reject such state
ments. However, as a matter of COM
mon courtesy to Mrs. Eddy, as well
as to those of the public yet unin-
formed of her life and teaching, some
specific consideration of these recent
mis-statements seems advisable.
Attack Based Upon Malicious Slander.
The volume of violent invective
against Mrs. Eddy and Christian Sci
ence which has been given largely as
quotation from the distorted utter
anees from a .chagrined Boston attor-
ney seems at least inconsistent in one
who by reason of his righteous call
ing naturally advocates charity and
compassion rather than slander and
abuse. This man, in whom our critic
has such confidence and so freely
quotes throughout his recent sermons,
was the opposing counsel in case in
Boston several years ago in which
Mrs. Eddy was interested, and after
dismissal of the case in Mrs. Eddy
favor when this attorney had failed
to obtain judicial recognition of his
false and misleading personal charges,
he then attempted to justify his un-
enviable position by giving utterance
the Massachusetts Court had refused
to sustain. His personal attack on
Mrs. Eddy from the lecture platform
resulted, however, in miserable failure
to himself and in as emphatic disap-
proval by the people of Boston as from
the court of justice. This lecture in
pamphlet form has since been circu-
lated and occasionally quoted from by
those of the pulpit who have deemed
it their Christian duty to assail Mrs.
Eddy, but it has done little harm,
except to those unfortunate enough
to be self deceived and incensed
thereby.
Lawyers Statements Denounced.
Following the initial appearance of
the statements of this attorney rela-
tive to the life and character of Mrs.
Eddy, which included the quoted
statement Of our critic "that she be-
gan her career as a spiritualistic me-
dium," the following emphatic and
unquestioned counter er-statement was
voluntarily made by Mrs. Mary A. Ba-
ker, a much honored citizen of Boston,
and a member of the American Board
of Foreign Missions, in letter to the
Rev. Irving G. Tomlinson of Concord,
which completely refutes the SANDER
Gus assertion of this attorney In
this letter Mrs. Baker writes:
cat this time, when so much is be-
ing said in public most appreciatively
of the Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy,
discoverer and founder of Christian
Science, and also somewhat that is un-
truthful, absurd and wholly unchris-
tian, / desire to make the following
statement: First, 1 will say that
am not Christian Scientist, but am
of the Orthodox faith, and for more
than half a century have been a mem
ber of the Park street Congregational
church in Boston. My beloved hus-
band, long since passed to his rest,
was Mrs. Eddy's oldest brother, and
1 know the facts of her life as no one
can know them, who is not thus allied
in knship and family history. The