The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-02-08

Il #
i5 the cradle OF her power.
And wreaths are twlllcd rou uiiN - -" -
s Rock
IRON erudition's bower
.Minerya's silver sandals stu
Ara loosed and not effete.
...,,ora f,ne -honorcd Hickory rears his
And bears ears - : brave breast to the lightning
and storm, j, .,.s,,,,,
While Palm, Bay, and Laurel IN c'0s''e'
Chase tulip. Magnolia and fragrant fragrant /,
Fringetree.
He sums up the qualities Of those VIII
.ings which he considers Mrs Eody > own
thus:
Puedillty;
Affectations OF scholarly learning;
Lust after eloquent and flowery express
sion;
Confused and wandering statement;
Metaphor gone insane;
Meaningless words, used because thes
are pretty. or snowy, or unusuaA'
sorrowful, attempts at the eplBra NJ mate n'
Destitution OF originality.
Evidence Against Mrs. Eddy.
Twain is not able to agree with Chris
tan Scientists that; Mrs. EDDY philos-
ophized, systemntized, and explained
Christian Science and wrote 1t all out
with her own hand In the book Science
and HEALTH He says:
The known and undispted products
Of her pen are g. formidable witness
against her. They do not seem to me TO
prove, quite clearly and conclusively,
that writing, upon even simple SUBJECTS
Is a difficult labor for her; that she mas
never been able to write anything above
third rate English; that she Is weak In
the matter OF grammar; that she has but
rude and, dull sense OF the values OF
words; that she SO lacks In the matter
OF literary precision that she can seldom
put thought into words that express
It lucidly to the reader and leave no
doubts in his mind as to whether he has
rightly understood or not; that she can
not even draught a preface that q per-
! son can fully comprehend nor one which
! can by an art be translated into fully
understandable form; that she can seldom
Inject into preface even single sem
| fences whose meaning Is uncomproms-
ingly clear-yet prefaces are her speciality,
| II she has one.
\ Mrs Eddy's known and undisputed
! writings are very limited In bulk; they
exhibit no depth, no analytical quality,
4 no thought above school composition Hize,
/ and but Juvenile ability in handling
i thoughts OF even that modest magnitude.
She has q fine commercial ability, and
could govern a vast railway system in
l great style; she could draught a set Of
rules that Satan himself would say could
/ not be improved on-for devilsh effec-
tiveness-by his staff-but we know, by
our excursions among the Mother Church's
l bylaws that their English would dis
credit the deputy baggage -smasher.
Finally Mark Twain winds up his work
with these statements:
Beyond Her Mental Ability.
4 do not wish to impose my opinion
on any one who will not permit 1t, but
such as 1t Is offer it here for what it
is worth I cannot believe, and do
. not believe, that Mrs. Eddy originated
+ any OF the thoughts and reasonlngs out
4 Of which the book Science and Health.
Z do not believe, that she ever wrote any
part. OF that book.
n i think that II anything III the world
stands proven, and i well and solidly
proven, by unimpeachable testlmony-the
treacherous testimony Of her own pen in
her known and undisputed literary pro-
ductions-lt Is that Mrs. Eddy is not
capable Oh Thinking upOu Ill6ll
nor OF reasoning clearly nor writing in
diligently upon low ones.
Il Inasmuch as--in my bclief-the very
first editions Of the book Science and
Health" were far above the reach Of
Mrs. Eddy's mental and literary abilities.
I think she has from the very Begin
ming been claiming as her own another
persons book, and wearing as her own
q property laurels rightfully belonging to
4 nj
and HEALTH" And think the reason
and the only rcason--that he has not
protested Is because his work was not
exposed 10 print until after ho was safely
dead.
That with an eye to business, and by
grace Of her business talent, she has re-
stored to the world neglected and aban-
doned features OF the Christian religion
which her thousands OF followers fird
gracious and blessed and contenting,
recognize and confess; but ! am con-
WINGED that every single detail OF the
work except Just that one-the delivery
of the product of the world-was cons
coived and performed by another.
. A Passion for Power.
Soma Of Mark Twain's comments on
Mrs. Eddy and her followers run as fol-
lows: N
1 OF all the strange and frantic and In
. l.cnmprehensible and uninterpretable books
which the Imagination OF man hns crn.
ated surely this ono is tho prize sample
C'science and Healthy
Nothing makes a Scientist so uncom'
Portable as to ask him II he knows OF Z
case where Christian Science has spen
money on benovolence either among
4 Its own ndhercnts or elsewhere
In several ways she Is tho most In
terestng woman that ever lived. and thu
most extraordinary.
If she should say "Good morning: how
do you do?" she would copyright 1t.
/ do not think her money passion ha:
ever diminished In feroclty. do no
think that she has over allowed u dollar
that had no friends to get by her alive
! hat think her reason for wanting 1t hal
changed.
: A marvellous woman. with a hunger To-
, power such as has never been seen II
i, the world before
There isn't Christian Scientist VIII,
isn't enthusiastically us much her pro
perty as IL she had bought him and PAID
for him and copyrighted him and got {
! charter.
think it likely that there may BIZ
five or six Of the cult In the world VIII
| IT,. har I,Vf cha hap