The Washington herald., 1913-07-13
By A.. D. Jacobson.

BY A.. D. JACObSONs
REMINlsCENcIs, SERMONS. AND CoRRE
sPoNDENcE. PROVING ADHERENCE Tc
THE PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
&c. By Augusta Z. stetson. illustrated
Nev Yxk-0. p. Putnamb Soma Pncs. ~
The author. after her religious activities
during twenty-nine years under the lead
ership Of Mary Baker Eddy. the founder
Of Christian Science mind healing. con-
tributes a book of worth in the demon
stration of what IL called divine meta
physics" There 10 . valuable collection
Of sermons, addresses, and letters which
elucidate the principle OF Christs Chris
tianity."
Mrs. Stetson insists that man Ii not
material, but spiritual This basic theory
has been taught and upheld by Mrs
Eddy In "Scieree and Health" as follows:
Spirit. the one God or principle OF all
that really exists, is manifest In the
spiritual universe, which Is composed oi
individual spiritual Identities or ideas
constituting God and His Christ This
supreme mind-creative intelligence-is
the only reality of being. So-called NOR
tai man 10 a myth-nothingness
From this Mrs. Stetson, continuing th'
dogma OF her preceptress and broadening
upon IL. argues that the supremacy oi
the mind of Christ finally will destroy the
fieshly so-called mind and its effects, sin
sickness. and death.
This Is not the place to discuss the
merits-or otherwise-of the teachings OF
Mary Baker Eddy. / do not propose &c
follow Mrs. Stetson through the maze oi
her divine metaphysics" that all that
is unlike truth and love is produced BY
the '.fieshly' mind, the results Of which
ar fol diaaa n
Nor is there room for literary criticism
in a work of this description.
To the spiritually minded the book may
demonstrate a spiritual dominion over all
this earth: but / find that the author
very wisely has kept from deducting from
all her theories and hypothesis of spirit
ualism that any amount OF prayerful faith
can replace the physician at the bedside
Of the ly-bodily-suffering. or
avert death, or that State governments
are wrong when their ''neshly" mind In
terdict and punish Christian Science heal.
ing. where a physician should be called
In In time to prevent fatalities
Mrs. Stetson Is correct when she states
that human belief passes through phases
of illusion; but by what right does she
presume and try to make others presume
that all other beliefs of Christian secta-
rianism are faulty, are STEPPED in dark
ness. save the faith propagated by Mary
Baker Eddy? II requires far more than
her collected sermons and correspondence
of Mrs. Eddy. far more than her self-sat.
isfying declarations TO prove as an apostle
OF her new faith to others than herself
that her theories, hypothesis, arguments
and deductions are based upon divine
facts!
Mrs. Stetson, In giving these remin-
iscences to the world, appears to have
overlooked one quite important fact of
her religious career. There was a time
when she was not the blind follower of
Mary Baker Eddy and her teachings. The
present generation well recollects the
bitter opposition led by Mrs. StetsoE
against the founder of the Christian Sci
ence faith and the columns of interesting
news matter her actions furnished to the
newspapers when she was the "insurgent
leader" II all that she says. all that
she claims for Christian Science, its pos
itivism as to immortality, divine meta
physics. and spiritualism Is true. was 1t
not just as true when she publicly dis
avowed the great leader and founder OF
the Mother Church, Mrs. Stetson re-
fers TO this almost At the very end OF
her book Of LIS pages as her martyr
DOM" Why a martyrdom? Who tried to
cruelty the erring disciple and II all
tbdt BIC tofis Us III b-ldh khobsdhu
rsages OF alteration and culogy is divine
truth. why did she leave and even fight
Mrs Eddy and the Mother Church?
But. when all is said. the "reminiscences
are 4 contribution to the religious litera-
:ure of the times which will command
wide study and attention.
LET'S cIvILIzE THE MARRIAGE LAWS: By
Richard d. Kathrens New Yort-Broadway
Publishing Company Price. SIS.
The author evidently has courted SEN
sation more than ultimate legal result.
His strenuous mode of advertising him.
self broadcast proves this. Also he is
rather extravagant in his statements and
demands: though, of course there is some
truth underlying his not always well
chosen or fitting words. Here is an eX-
ample of his arguing.
1T is the belief Of the writer that the
ends OF Justice and the best interests of
society would be better served IL a di-
yorce were granted to any wife who was
willing to ask for ii. She should not be
required to subject herself TO the further
OF detailing for the delecta-
ton of a curious and gossipy public.
the indignities she may have endured.
or Of confessing any of her own frailties
or mistakes"
mat Is very HiCe anu even CHlNdl-
rous. but II is neither legal nor practical.
Here Is another:
II hope to show-at least inferentially-
that poverty. disease, and crime are the
legitimate. and unavoidable products OF
a system Of morals, that tolerates q
which permits the enforced
relation Of mismated and mag
repellent natures. No surpliced
or cassocked crusaders, in all the 1000
years that the church has influenced
and dominated the minds of men, has
ever lifted his voice or penned a line
In support Of any sane movement for
the prevention of these deplorable and
conditions of society that
seem to thrive most luxuriantly. 20 to
speak. in those sections of the earth
where the church enjoys the largest
measure Of temporal power"
1t 10 a puzzle how the author intended
10 prove his assertions.
ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE: AN AUToBIo-
GRAPHY; THE RED LEAVES OF HUMAN
HEART: By Amelia Z. Ban. New Yak-D.
Appleton q Co.
Looking back along the vista of more
Than eighty years through changing
'cenes and multifold experiences, such as
lew women have undergone, Mrs. Barr
has had q very full life. whose every
was crowded with events of
body and soul and of mind Gifted with
! rare sensibility. with a vivid imagina
ion, with physical alertness and intellec-
.ual vigor, and with an adaptability to
Ter surroundings that many may envy,
The was well equipped for the strange
that formed the greater part
II the FIRST forty years of her life. Even
{ she had not acquired fame as a writer