Evening star., 1909-06-07
Christian Scientists Stirred by
Mrs. GiIbert'S Letter.
LEADER OF C. S. MOVEMENT
Throws Down Gauntlet to Those in
Control.
MRS. EDDY DEAD OR HELPLESS
Declares Mother Church Victim Of
Trickery, Fraud and Falsehood.
Asked to Keep Silent.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, June 7.-An open state
ment issued by Mrs. Della NJ Gilbert de-
claring that Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy 10
"either dead or a helpless. mindless puppet
in the hands Of constituencies men," ana
charging the managers of the Mother
Church with trickery. fraud and false
hood created a tremendous sensation In
Christian Science circles here today.
Mrs. Gilbert Is recognized as one of the
leaders Of the Christian Science move
ment here and has just announced her
self as the leader of campaign Of ex-
posure and publication. Her intentions
are set forth in her open letter. which is
addressed ito all Christian Scientists"
The letter says:
THE Christian Science Church is with
out a spiritual leader in the flesh.
Those in control OF the Mother Church
in Boston and Of that Aouse of mystery
| in Brookline-the falsely avowed home
of living and thriving Mary Baker G.
| Eddy-cannot successfully refute this as
sertion.
Mrs. Eddy is either dead or a help
less. mindless puppet in the hands Of con-
scienceless men.
Appeals for Cooperation.
This truth has been revealed to me.
and in humble obedience to the will OF
God / now openly declare the facts. In
this message 1 appeal 10 all honest Chris
tian Scientists to cooperate with me for
publication of our church. l am
not writing rashly or acting hastily.
Within the last three weeks 1 have been
| within the so-called home of Mrs. Eddy
and have studied at close range the
fraud the trickery and the revolving mys-
terry by which the Boston organization
l m To q DorpictOuQ fiction
of an unseen and unseeable leader.
This profane mockery will continue
indefinitely unless honest Christian Sci.
entists who worship God and not tho
bine to expose and exterminate thu
fraud. The very life Of Christian Science
is involved, and 1t is In the name OF
Christian Science-the faith which alone
can lift humanity out of the slough OF
error-that 1 call upon you to act.
| Fiction Of Leadership.
"As a preliminary step 1 ask you to
confer with me without delay either in
person or by letter. To each of you
will fully reveal every fact in my pos
session bearing upon conditions which
surround the fiction OF leadership main
| tained at Boston and Brookline.
| Il will tell you just why there is no
| Christian Science Church at the Plaza
Hotel in this city. although it's organiza-
ton had been virtually perfected.
4 will lay before you the documentary
| evidence proving that this church was
| throttled and killed by the machine at
Boston acting in the name Of Mrs. Eddy
Il will give you every detail OF my
recent Investigations in Boston and
| Brookline; of my conferences with the
directors of the Mother Church: of my
dealings with a man known as Mrs
| Eddy's private secretary. and of the
pressure which has been brought upon
1 ly44 rslD
OF an appeal made to me in the parlor
| of a leading Boston hotel by the chief
executive of the Mother Church. who
| wept like woman when l refused to
pledge myself to silence.
Must Purge of Dishonesty.
There were witnesses to this interview
4 and every word is carefully preserved.
l told that agent of the frightened trick
sters in control at Boston that to SEQ
and talk with the hidden leader was all
that l asked. 1t was then that he wept.
l had asked the one impossible thing.
| THE time has come when Christian
Science must purge itself of dishonesty.
Mary Baker G.. Eddy lives now in his
tory only. The fetish Of her name is all
| that remains.
| That name. honored by all OF us, has
| become the breastwork of falsity and
| fraud. l say this in deepest loyalty to
the cause of Christian Science and in
| trueSt devotion to the memory of the
woman through whom God revealed the
| truth and gave to the world the science
| of healing.
| But the hour is at hand for a reor-
/ ganization Of the faith on lines of hon.
esty. unity and purity. There must be
a living spiritual head, not fetish ma
nipulated by schemers working solely for
| financial results"
Mrs. Gilbert a Successful Reader.
Il
gave out the statement. Mrs. Gilbert
said that she was formerly first reader
Of the Dyker Heights Church. in the
suburbs of the city. and had been SO.
successful that she was called to Man.
haitian to act as an organizer. Last
April she organized a new Christian Sci
ence Church to meet in the Hotel Plaza
ballroom daily and to be known as the
Seventh Church. Her intention. she
said, was TO bring about unity between
the two factions in this city. one head
ed by Mrs. Lathrop Of the Second
Church and the other by Mrs. Augusta
Stetson. who planned to establish
now in the city.
Mrs. Gilbert announced that the first
service of the new church would be held
Easter Sunday.
Early on that morning she received a
special delivery letter from director
of the mother church ordering her to
abandon the new church. first. on ac-
count Of newspaper notoriety, and. sec
| ond, because the services were to be
held in a ballroom.
Mrs Gilbert said that she had to dis
miss the large assembly that gathered
at the hotel that afternoon by saying
that the opening meeting would have
| to be postponed. She then went to Bos-
ton to lay her case before the directors
| of the mother church. who informed her
| that she had left the proper field with.
out authority and ordered her to return
| to 1t at once.
Receives Message From God.
She returned to New York. she said.
and after several days OF prayer and fast
ing she received q message from God
that Mrs. Eddy lived In name only, that
the use Of her name was fraud and
that God willed her. Mrs. Gilbert. to ex-
pose the truth and bring about the purif-
| tion of the faith. She said that she then
went to Boston and after great dinculty
| succeeded in seeing Mrs. Eddy's secre-
| tary. Adam Dickey. who told her that
| TCont;ruad an Savanf Aanth K-rnN