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is seen kindling the stars, rolling the worlds, reflecting [1] all space and Life,—but not life in matter. Wisely governing, informing the universe, this Mind is Truth,— not laws of matter. Infinitely just, merciful, and wise, this Mind is Love,—but not fallible love. [5]

Spring is here! and doors that closed on Christian Science in "the long winter of our discontent," are open flung. Its seedtime has come to enrich earth and en- robe man in righteousness; may its sober-suited autumn follow with hues of heaven, ripened sheaves, and harvest [10] songs.



"Where Art Thou?"

In the allegory of Genesis, third chapter and ninth verse, two mortals, walking in the cool of the day midst the stately palms, many-hued blossoms, perfume-laden [15] breezes, and crystal streams of the Orient, pondered the things of man and God.

A sense of evil is supposed to have spoken, been listened to, and afterwards to have formed an evil sense that blinded the eyes of reason, masked with deformity the [20] glories of revelation, and shamed the face of mortals.

What was this sense? Error versus Truth: first, a supposition; second, a false belief; third, suffering; fourth, death.

Is man the supposer, false believer, sufferer? [25]

Not man, but a mortal—the antipode of immortal man. Supposing, false believing, suffering are not fac- ulties of Mind, but are qualities of error.

The supposition is, that God and His idea are not all- power; that there is something besides Him; that this [30]

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something is intelligent matter; that sin—yea, self- [1] hood—is apart from God, where pleasure and pain, good and evil, life and death, commingle, and are for- ever at strife; even that every ray of Truth, of infinity, omnipotence, omnipresence, goodness, could be absorbed [5] in error! God cannot be obscured, and this renders error a palpable falsity, yea, nothingness; on the basis that black is not a color because it absorbs all the rays of light.

The "Alpha and Omega" of Christian Science voices [10] this question: Where do we hold intelligence to be? Is it in both evil and good, in matter as well as Spirit? If so, we are literally and practically denying that God, good, is supreme, all power and presence, and are turn- ing away from the only living and true God, to "lords [15] many and gods many."

Where art thou, O mortal! who turnest away from the divine source of being,—calling on matter to work out the problem of Mind, to aid in understanding and securing the sweet harmonies of Spirit that relate to the [20] universe, including man?

Paul asked: "What communion hath light with dark- ness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?" The worshippers of Baal worshipped the sun. They believed that something besides God had authority and power, [25] could heal and bless; that God wrought through matter —by means of that which does not reflect Him in a single quality or quantity!—the grand realities of Mind, thus to exemplify the power of Truth and Love.

The ancient Chaldee hung his destiny out upon the [30] heavens; but ancient or modern Christians, instructed in divine Science, know that the prophet better understood

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Him who said: "He doeth according to His will in the [1] army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?"

Astrology is well in its place, but this place is second- [5] ary. Necromancy has no foundation,—in fact, no intelligence; and the belief that it has, deceives itself. Whatever simulates power and Truth in matter, does this as a lie declaring itself, that mortals' faith in matter may have the effect of power; but when the whole fabrication [10] is found to be a lie, away goes all its supposed power and prestige.

Why do Christian Scientists treat disease as disease, since there is no disease?

This is done only as one gives the lie to a lie; because [15] it is a lie, without one word of Truth in it. You must find error to be nothing: then, and only then, do you handle it in Science. The diabolism of suppositional evil at work in the name of good, is a lie of the highest degree of nothingness: just reduce this falsity to its proper [20] denomination, and you have done with it.

How shall we treat a negation, or error—by means of matter, or Mind? Is matter Truth? No! Then it cannot antidote error.

Can belief destroy belief? No: understanding is re- [25] quired to do this. By the substitution of Truth demon- strated, Science remedies the ills of material beliefs.

Because I have uncovered evil, and dis-covered for you divine Science, which saith, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good," and you have not loved sufficiently to understand this Golden Rule and demonstrate the might of perfect Love that casteth out

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all fear, shall you turn away from this divine Principle [1] to graven images? Remember the Scripture:—

"But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;"

"And shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to [5] eat and drink with the drunken;

"The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

"And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his por- [10] tion with the hypocrites."

One mercilessly assails me for opposing the subtle lie, others charge upon me with full-fledged invective for, as they say, having too much charity; but neither moves me from the path made luminous by divine Love. [15]

In my public works I lay bare the ability, in belief, of evil to break the Decalogue,—to murder, steal, commit adultery, and so on. Those who deny my wisdom or right to expose error, are either willing participants in wrong, afraid of its supposed power, or ignorant of it. [20]

The notion that one is covering iniquity by asserting its nothingness, is a fault of zealots, who, like Peter, sleep when the Watcher bids them watch, and when the hour of trial comes would cut off somebody's ears. Such people say, "Would you have me get out of a burning [25] house, or stay in it?"

I would have you already out, and know that you are out; also, to remember the Scripture concerning those who do evil that good may come,—"whose damnation is just;" and that whoso departeth from divine Science, [30] seeking power or good aside from God, has done himself harm.

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Mind is supreme: Love is the master of hate; Truth, [1] the victor over a lie. Hath not Science voiced this les- son to you,—that evil is powerless, that a lie is never true? It is your province to wrestle with error, to handle the serpent and bruise its head; but you cannot, as a [5] Christian Scientist, resort to stones and clubs,—yea, to matter,—to kill the serpent of a material mind.

Do you love that which represents God most, His highest idea as seen to-day? No!

Then you would hate Jesus if you saw him personally, [10] and knew your right obligations towards him. He would insist on the rule and demonstration of divine Science: even that you first cast out your own dislike and hatred of God's idea,—the beam in your own eye that hinders your seeing clearly how to cast the mote of evil out of [15] other eyes. You cannot demonstrate the Principle of Christian Science and not love its idea: we gather not grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles.

Where art thou?



Divine Science

What is it but another name for Christian Science, [21] the cognomen of all true religion, the quintessence of Christianity, that heals disease and sin and destroys death! Part and parcel of Truth and Love, wherever one ray of its effulgence looks in upon the heart, behold [25] a better man, woman, or child.

Science is the fiat of divine intelligence, which, hoary with eternity, touches time only to take away its frailty. That it rests on everlasting foundations, the sequence proves. [30]

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Have I discovered and founded at this period Chris- [1] tian Science, that which reveals the truth of Love,—is the question.

And how can you be certain of so momentous an affirmative? By proving its effect on yourself to be— [5] divine.

What is the Principle and rule of Christian Science?

Infinite query! Wonder in heaven and on earth,— who shall say? The immaculate Son of the Blessed has spoken of them as the Golden Rule and its Principle, [10] God who is Love. Listen, and he illustrates the rule: "Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said,... Whosoever ... shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." [15]

Harmony is heaven. Science brings out harmony; but this harmony is not understood unless it produces a growing affection for all good, and consequent disaffec- tion for all evil, hypocrisy, evil-speaking, lust, envy, hate. Where these exist, Christian Science has no sure foot- [20] hold: they obscure its divine element, and thus seem to extinguish it. Even the life of Jesus was belittled and belied by personalities possessing these defacing de- formities. Only the devout Marys, and such as lived according to his precepts, understood the concrete char- [25] acter of him who taught—by the wayside, in humble homes, to itching ears and to dull disciples—the words of Life.

The ineffable Life and light which he reflected through divine Science is again reproduced in the character which [30] sensualism, as heretofore, would hide or besmear. Sin of any sort tends to hide from an individual this grand

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verity in Science, that the appearing of good in an in- [1] dividual involves the disappearing of evil. He who first brings to humanity some great good, must have gained its height beforehand, to be able to lift others toward it. I first proved to myself, not by "words,"—these [5] afford no proof,—but by demonstration of Christian Science, that its Principle is divine. All must go and do likewise.

Faith illumined by works; the spiritual understanding which cannot choose but to labor and love; hope hold- [10] ing steadfastly to good in the midst of seething evil; charity that suffereth long and is kind, but cancels not sin until it be destroyed,—these afford the only rule I have found which demonstrates Christian Science.

And remember, a pure faith in humanity will subject [15] one to deception; the uses of good, to abuses from evil; and calm strength will enrage evil. But the very heavens shall laugh at them, and move majestically to your defense when the armies of earth press hard upon you.

"Thou must be true thyself, [20] If thou the truth wouldst teach; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul wouldst reach; It needs the overflow of heart, To give the lips full speech." [25]

"Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be [30] A great and noble creed."

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Fidelity

If people would confine their talk to subjects that are [2] profitable, that which St. John informs us took place once in heaven, would happen very frequently on earth,— silence for the space of half an hour. [5]

Experience is victor, never the vanquished; and out of defeat comes the secret of victory. That to-morrow starts from to-day and is one day beyond it, robes the future with hope's rainbow hues.

In the battle of life, good is made more industrious [10] and persistent because of the supposed activity of evil. The elbowing of the crowd plants our feet more firmly. In the mental collisions of mortals and the strain of in- tellectual wrestlings, moral tension is tested, and, if it yields not, grows stronger. The past admonishes us: [15] with finger grim and cold it points to every mortal mistake; or smiling saith, "Thou hast been faithful over a few things."

Art thou a child, and hast added one furrow to the brow of care? Art thou a husband, and hast pierced [20] the heart venturing its all of happiness to thy keeping? Art thou a wife, and hast bowed the o'erburdened head of thy husband? Hast thou a friend, and forgettest to be grateful? Remember, that for all this thou alone canst and must atone. Carelessly or remorselessly thou mayest [25] have sent along the ocean of events a wave that will some time flood thy memory, surge dolefully at the door of con- science, and pour forth the unavailing tear.

Change and the grave may part us; the wisdom that might have blessed the past may come too late. One [30]

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backward step, one relinquishment of right in an evil [1] hour, one faithless tarrying, has torn the laurel from many a brow and repose from many a heart. Good is never the reward of evil, and vice versa.

There is no excellence without labor; and the time to [5] work, is now. Only by persistent, unremitting, straight- forward toil; by turning neither to the right nor to the left, seeking no other pursuit or pleasure than that which cometh from God, can you win and wear the crown of the faithful. [10]

That law-school is not at fault which sends forth a barrister who never brings out a brief. Why? Because he followed agriculture instead of litigation, forsook Blackstone for gray stone, dug into soils instead of delv- ing into suits, raised potatoes instead of pleas, and drew [15] up logs instead of leases. He has not been faithful over a few things.

Is a musician made by his teacher? He makes him- self a musician by practising what he was taught. The conscientious are successful. They follow faithfully; [20] through evil or through good report, they work on to the achievement of good; by patience, they inherit the prom- ise. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure: toil is triumph; and—thou hast been faithful over a few things. [25]

The lives of great men and women are miracles of pa- tience and perseverance. Every luminary in the constel- lation of human greatness, like the stars, comes out in the darkness to shine with the reflected light of God.

Material philosophy, human ethics, scholastic theology, [30] and physics have not sufficiently enlightened mankind. Human wrong, sickness, sin, and death still appear in

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mortal belief, and they never bring out the right action [1] of mind or body. When will the whole human race have one God,—an undivided affection that leaves the unreal material basis of things, for the spiritual foundation and superstructure that is real, right, and eternal? [5]

First purify thought, then put thought into words, and words into deeds; and after much slipping and clambering, you will go up the scale of Science to the second rule, and be made ruler over many things. Fidelity finds its reward and its strength in exalted purpose. Seek- [10] ing is not sufficient whereby to arrive at the results of Science: you must strive; and the glory of the strife comes of honesty and humility.

Do human hopes deceive? is joy a trembler? Then, weary pilgrim, unloose the latchet of thy sandals; for the [15] place whereon thou standest is sacred. By that, you may know you are parting with a material sense of life and happiness to win the spiritual sense of good. O learn to lose with God! and you find Life eternal: you gain all. To doubt this is implicit treason to divine decree. [20]

The parable of "the ten virgins" serves to illustrate the evil of inaction and delay. This parable is drawn from the sad history of Vesta,—a little girl of eight years, who takes the most solemn vow of celibacy for thirty years, and is subject to terrible torture if the lamp she [25] tends is not replenished with oil day and night, so that the flame never expires. The moral of the parable is pointed, and the diction purely Oriental.

We learn from this parable that neither the cares of this world nor the so-called pleasures or pains of mate- [30] rial sense are adequate to plead for the neglect of spiritual light, that must be tended to keep aglow the flame of

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devotion whereby to enter into the joy of divine Science [1] demonstrated.

The foolish virgins had no oil in their lamps: their way was material; thus they were in doubt and dark- ness. They heeded not their sloth, their fading warmth [5] of action; hence the steady decline of spiritual light, until, the midnight gloom upon them, they must borrow the better-tended lamps of the faithful. By entering the guest-chamber of Truth, and beholding the bridal of Life and Love, they would be wedded to a higher [10] understanding of God. Each moment's fair expect- ancy was to behold the bridegroom, the One "altogether lovely."

It was midnight: darkness profound brooded over earth's lazy sleepers. With no oil in their lamps, no [15] spiritual illumination to look upon him whom they had pierced, they heard the shout, "The bridegroom cometh!" But how could they behold him? Hear that human cry: "Oh, lend us your oil! our lamps have gone out,— no light! earth's fables flee, and heaven is afar [20] off."

The door is shut. The wise virgins had no oil to spare, and they said to the foolish, "Go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." Seek Truth, and pursue it. It should cost you something: you are willing to pay for error [25] and receive nothing in return; but if you pay the price of Truth, you shall receive all.

"The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light;" they watch the market, acquaint themselves with the etiquette of the exchange, [30] and are ready for the next move. How much more should we be faithful over the few things of Spirit, that are able

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to make us wise unto salvation! Let us watch and pray [1] that we enter not into the temptation of ease in sin; and let us not forget that others before us have laid upon the altar all that we have to sacrifice, and have passed to their reward. Too soon we cannot turn from disease [5] in the body to find disease in the mortal mind, and its cure, in working for God. Thought must be made better, and human life more fruitful, for the divine energy to move it onward and upward.

Warmed by the sunshine of Truth, watered by the [10] heavenly dews of Love, the fruits of Christian Science spring upward, and away from the sordid soil of self and matter. Are we clearing the gardens of thought by up- rooting the noxious weeds of passion, malice, envy, and strife? Are we picking away the cold, hard pebbles of [15] selfishness, uncovering the secrets of sin and burnishing anew the hidden gems of Love, that their pure perfection shall appear? Are we feeling the vernal freshness and sunshine of enlightened faith?

The weeds of mortal mind are not always destroyed [20] by the first uprooting; they reappear, like devastating witch-grass, to choke the coming clover. O stupid gar- dener! watch their reappearing, and tear them away from their native soil, until no seedling be left to propagate— and rot.

Among the manifold soft chimes that will fill the haunted [25] chambers of memory, this is the sweetest: "Thou hast been faithful!"

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True Philosophy And Communion

It is related of Justin Martyr that, hearing of a Pythag- [2] orean professor of ethics, he expressed the wish to be- come one of his disciples. "Very well," the teacher replied; "but have you studied music, astronomy, and [5] geometry, and do you think it possible for you to under- stand aught of that which leads to bliss, without hav- ing mastered the sciences that disengage the soul from objects of sense, so rendering it a fit habitation for the intelligences?" On Justin's confessing that he had [10] not studied those branches, he was dismissed by the professor.

Alas for such a material science of life! Of what avail would geometry be to a poor sinner struggling with temptation, or to a man with the smallpox? [15]

Ancient and modern philosophies are spoiled by lack of Science. They would place Soul wholly inside of body, intelligence in matter; and from error of premise would seek a correct conclusion. Such philosophy can never demonstrate the Science of Life,—the Science which [20] Paul understood when he spoke of willingness "to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord." Such philosophy is far from the rules of the mighty Nazarene Prophet. His words, living in our hearts, were these: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as [25] a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." Not through astronomy did he point out the way to heaven and the reign of harmony.

We need the spirit of St. Paul, when he stood on Mars' hill at Athens, bringing Christianity for the first time [30]

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into Europe. The Spirit bestows spiritual gifts, God's [1] presence and providence. St. Paul stood where Socrates had stood four hundred years before, defending himself against the charge of atheism; in the place where De- mosthenes had pleaded for freedom in immortal strains [5] of eloquence.

We need the spirit of the pious Polycarp, who, when the proconsul said to him, "I will set the beasts upon you, unless you yield your religion," replied: "Let them come; I cannot change from good to bad." Then they [10] bound him to the stake, set fire to the fagots, and his pure and strong faith rose higher through the baptism of flame.

Methinks the infidel was blind who said, "Christianity is fit only for women and weak men;" but even infidels [15] may disagree. Bonaparte declared, "Ever since the reign of Christianity began the loftiest intellects have had a practical faith in God." Daniel Webster said, "My heart has always assured and reassured me that Chris- tianity must be a divine reality." [20]

To turn the popular indignation against an advanced form of religion, the pagan slanderers affirmed that Christians took their infants to a place of worship in order to offer them in sacrifice,—a baptism not of water but of blood, thus distorting or misapprehending [25] the purpose of Christian sacraments. Christians met in midnight feasts in the early days, and talked of the crucified Saviour; thence arose the rumor that it was a part of Christian worship to kill and eat a human being. [30]

Really, Christianity turned men away from the thought of fleshly sacrifice, and directed them to spiritual attain-

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ments. Life, not death, was and is the very centre of [1] its faith. Christian Science carries this thought even higher, and insists on the demonstration of moral and spiritual healing as eminent proof that God is understood and illustrated. [5]



Origin Of Evil

The origin of evil is the problem of ages. It confronts each generation anew. It confronts Christian Science. The question is often asked, If God created only the good, whence comes the evil? [10]

To this question Christian Science replies: Evil never did exist as an entity. It is but a belief that there is an opposite intelligence to God. This belief is a species of idolatry, and is not more true or real than that an image graven on wood or stone is God. [15]

The mortal admission of the reality of evil perpetuates faith in evil; and the Scriptures declare that "to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are." This leading, self-evident proposition of Christian Science, that, good being real, its opposite is necessarily [20] unreal, needs to be grasped in all its divine requirements.



Truth Versus Error

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." It is a rule in Christian Science never to re- peat error unless it becomes requisite to bring out Truth. [25] Then lift the curtain, let in the light, and countermand

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this first command of Solomon, "Answer not a fool accord- [1] ing to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him,"

A distant rumbling and quivering of the earth foretell the internal action of pent-up gas. To avoid danger from this source people have to escape from their houses to the [5] open space. A conical cloud, hanging like a horoscope in the air, foreshadows a cyclone. To escape from this calamity people prepare shelter in caves of the earth.

They who discern the face of the skies cannot always discern the mental signs of these times, and peer through [10] the opaque error. Where my vision begins and is clear, theirs grows indistinct and ends.

There are diversities of operation by the same spirit. Two individuals, with all the goodness of generous na- tures, advise me. One says, Go this way; the other [15] says, Take the opposite direction! Between the two I stand still; or, accepting the premonition of one of them, I follow his counsel, take a few steps, then halt. A true sense not unfamiliar has been awakened. I see the way now. The guardians of His presence go before me. I [20] enter the path. It may be smooth, or it may be rugged; but it is always straight and narrow; and if it be up- hill all the way, the ascent is easy and the summit can be gained.

God is responsible for the mission of those whom He [25] has anointed. Those who know no will but His take His hand, and from the night He leads to light. None can say unto Him, What doest Thou?

The Christian Science Journal was the oldest and only authenticated organ of Christian Science up to [30] 1898. Loyal Scientists are targets for envy, rivalry, slander; and whoever hits this mark is well paid by the

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umpire. But the Scientists aim highest. They press for- [1] ward towards the mark of a high calling. They recog- nize the claims of the law and the gospel. They know that whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. They infringe neither the books nor the business of others; and [5] with hearts overflowing with love for God, they help on the brotherhood of men. It is not mine but Thine they seek.

When God bids one uncover iniquity, in order to exterminate it, one should lay it bare; and divine Love will bless this endeavor and those whom it reaches. [10] "Nothing is hid that shall not be revealed."

It is only a question of time when God shall reveal His rod, and show the plan of battle. Error, left to itself, accumulates. Hence, Solomon's transverse command: "Answer a fool according, to his folly, lest he be wise in [15] his own conceit."

To quench the growing flames of falsehood, once in about seven years I have to repeat this,—that I use no drugs whatever, not even coffea (coffee), thea (tea), cap- sicum (red pepper); though every day, and especially at [20] dinner, I indulge in homoeopathic doses of Natrum muri- aticum (common salt).

When I found myself under this new regime of medi- cine, the medicine of Mind, I wanted to satisfy my curi- osity as to the effect of drugs on one who had lost all [25] faith in them. Hence I tried several doses of medicine, and so proved to myself that drugs have no beneficial effect on an individual in a proper state of mind.

I have by no means encouraged students of the Massa- chusetts Metaphysical College to enter medical schools, [30] and afterwards denied this and objected to their entering those schools. A student who consulted me on this sub-

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ject, received my consent and even the offer of pecuniary [1] assistance to take lessons outside of my College, provided he received these lessons of a certain regular-school physi- cian, whose instructions included about twelve lessons, three weeks' time, and the surgical part of midwifery. I [5] have students with the degree of M. D., who are skilful obstetricians. Such a course with such a teacher would not necessitate essential materialization of a student's thought, nor detract from the metaphysical mode of obstetrics taught in my College. [10]

This student had taken the above-named course in obstetrics when he consulted me on the feasibility of enter- ing a medical school; and to this I objected on the ground that it was inconsistent with Christian Science, which he claimed to be practising; but I was willing, and said [15] so, that, notwithstanding my objection, he should do as he deemed best, for I claim no jurisdiction over any stu- dents. He entered the medical school, and several other students with him. My counsel to all of them was in substance the same as the foregoing, and some of these [20] students have openly acknowledged this.

In answer to a question on the following subject, I will state that I preached four years, and built up the church, before I would accept the slightest remuneration. When the church had sufficient members and means to [25] pay a salary, and refused to give me up or to receive my gratuitous services, I accepted, for a time, fifteen dollars each Sunday when I preached. I never received more than this; and the contributions, when I preached, doubled that amount. I have accepted no pay from my [30] church for about three years, and believe that I have put into the church-fund about two thousand dollars of

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my own contributions. I hold receipts for $1,489.50 paid [1] in, and the balance was never receipted for.

I temporarily organized a secret society known as the P. M., the workings whereof were not "terrible and too shocking to relate." By and with advice of the very [5] student who brings up the question of this society, it was formed. The P. M. (Private Meeting) Society met only twice. The first subject given out for considera- tion was this: "There is no Animal Magnetism." There was no advice given, no mental work, and there were [10] no transactions at those meetings which I would hesitate to have known. On the contrary, our deliberations were, as usual, Christian, and like my public instruction. The second P. M. convened in about one week from the first. The subject given out at that meeting was, in sub- [15] stance, "God is All; there is none beside Him." This proved to be our last meeting. I dissolved the society, and we have not met since. If harm could come from the consideration of these two topics, it was because of the misconception of those subjects in the mind that [20] handled them. An individual state of mind sometimes occasions effects on patients which are not in harmony with Science and the soundness of the argument used. Hence it prevents the normal action, and the benefit that would otherwise accrue. [25]

I issue no arguments, and cause none to be used in mental practice, which consign people to suffering. On the contrary, I cannot serve two masters; therefore I teach the use of such arguments only as promote health and spiritual growth. My life, consecrated to humanity [30] through nameless suffering and sacrifice, furnishes its own proof of my practice.

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I have sometimes called on students to test their ability [1] and meet the mental malpractice, so as to lift the burdens imposed by students.

The fact is, that for want of time, and for the purpose of blessing even my enemies, I neglect myself. I never [5] have practised by arguments which, perverted, are the weapons of the silent mental malpractice. I have no skill in occultism; and I could not if I would, and would not if I could, harm any one through the mental method of Mind-healing, or in any manner. [10]

The late much-ado-about-nothing arose solely from mental malicious practice, and the audible falsehood designed to stir up strife between brethren, for the purpose of placing Christian Science in the hands of aspirants for place and power. These repeated attempts of mad [15] ambition may retard our Cause, but they never can place it in the wrong hands and hold it there, nor benefit mankind by such endeavors.



Fallibility Of Human Concepts

Evil counterfeits good: it says, "I am Truth," though [20] it is a lie; it says, "I am Love,"—but Love is spirit- ual, and sensuous love is material, wherefore it is hate instead of Love; for the five senses give to mortals pain, sickness, sin, and death,—pleasure that is false, life that leads unto death, joy that becomes sorrow. Love that is [25] not the procurator of happiness, declares itself the anti- pode of Love; and Love divine punishes the joys of this false sense of love, chastens its affection, purifies it, and turns it into the opposite channels.

Material life is the antipode of spiritual life; it mocks [30]

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the bliss of spiritual being; it is bereft of permanence and [1] peace.

When human sense is quickened to behold aright the error,—the error of regarding Life, Truth, Love as material and not spiritual, or as both material and spirit- [5] ual,—it is able for the first time to discern the Science of good. But it must first see the error of its present erroneous course, to be able to behold the facts of Truth outside of the error; and, vice versa, when it discovers the truth, this uncovers the error and quickens the true [10] consciousness of God, good. May the human shadows of thought lengthen as they approach the light, until they are lost in light and no night is there!

In Science, sickness is healed upon the same Principle and by the same rule that sin is healed. To know the [15] supposed bodily belief of the patient and what has claimed to produce it, enables the practitioner to act more under- standingly in destroying this belief. Thus it is in heal- ing the moral sickness; the malicious mental operation must be understood in order to enable one to destroy [20] it and its effects. There is not sufficient spiritual power in the human thought to heal the sick or the sinful. Through the divine energies alone one must either get out of himself and into God so far that his consciousness is the reflection of the divine, or he must, through argu- [25] ment and the human consciousness of both evil and good, overcome evil.

The only difference between the healing of sin and the healing of sickness is, that sin must be uncovered before it can be destroyed, and the moral sense be aroused to [30] reject the sense of error; while sickness must be cov- ered with the veil of harmony, and the consciousness be

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allowed to rejoice in the sense that it has nothing to mourn [1] over, but something to forget.

Human concepts run in extremes; they are like the action of sickness, which is either an excess of action or not action enough; they are fallible; they are neither [5] standards nor models.

If one asks me, Is my concept of you right? I reply, The human concept is always imperfect; relinquish your human concept of me, or of any one, and find the divine, and you have gained the right one—and never until then. People [10] give me too much attention of the misguided, fallible sort, and this misrepresents one through malice or ignorance.

My brother was a manufacturer; and one day a work- man in his mills, a practical joker, set a man who applied for work, in the overseer's absence, to pour a bucket of [15] water every ten minutes on the regulator. When my brother returned and saw it, he said to the jester, "You must pay that man." Some people try to tend folks, as if they should steer the regulator of mankind. God makes us pay for tending the action that He adjusts. [20]

The regulator is governed by the principle that makes the machinery work rightly; and because it is thus gov- erned, the folly of tending it is no mere jest. The divine Principle carries on His harmony.

Now turn from the metaphor of the mill to the Mother's [25] four thousand children, most of whom, at about three years of scientific age, set up housekeeping alone. Certain students, being too much interested in themselves to think of helping others, go their way. They do not love Mother, but pretend to; they constantly go to her for help, interrupt [30] the home-harmony, criticise and disobey her; then "return to their vomit,"—world worship, pleasure seeking, and

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sense indulgence,—meantime declaring they "never dis- [1] obey Mother"! It exceeds my conception of human nature. Sin in its very nature is marvellous! Who but a moral idiot, sanguine of success in sin, can steal, and lie and lie, and lead the innocent to doom? History needs it, [5] and it has the grandeur of the loyal, self-forgetful, faith- ful Christian Scientists to overbalance this foul stuff.

When the Mother's love can no longer promote peace in the family, wisdom is not "justified of her children." When depraved reason is preferred to revelation, error [10] to Truth, and evil to good, and sense seams sounder than Soul, the children are tending the regulator; they are indeed losing the knowledge of the divine Principle and rules of Christian Science, whose fruits prove the nature of their source. A little more grace, a motive made pure, [15] a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the move- ment of body and soul in accord with God.

Instead of relying on the Principle of all that really [20] exists,—to govern His own creation,—self-conceit, igno- rance, and pride would regulate God's action. Expe- rience shows that humility is the first step in Christian Science, wherein all is controlled, not by man or laws material, but by wisdom, Truth, and Love. [25]

Go gaze on the eagle, his eye on the sun, Fast gathering strength for a flight well begun, As rising he rests in a liberty higher Than genius inflated with worldly desire.

No tear dims his eye, nor his pinions lose power [30] To gaze on the lark in her emerald bower— Whenever he soareth to fashion his nest, No vision more bright than the dream in his breast.

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The Way

The present stage of progress in Christian Science pre- [2] sents two opposite aspects,—a full-orbed promise, and a gaunt want. The need, however, is not of the letter, but the spirit. [5]

Less teaching and good healing is to-day the acme of "well done;" a healing that is not guesswork,—chronic recovery ebbing and flowing,—but instantaneous cure. This absolute demonstration of Science must be revived. To consummate this desideratum, mortal mind must pass [10] through three stages of growth.

First, self-knowledge. The physician must know him- self and understand the mental state of his patient. Error found out is two-thirds destroyed, and the last third pierces itself, for the remainder only stimulates and gives [15] scope to higher demonstration. To strike out right and left against the mist, never clears the vision; but to lift your head above it, is a sovereign panacea. Mental dark- ness is senseless error, neither intelligence nor power, and its victim is responsible for its supposititious presence. [20] "Cast the beam out of thine own eye." Learn what in thine own mentality is unlike "the anointed," and cast it out; then thou wilt discern the error in thy patient's mind that makes his body sick, and remove it, and rest like the dove from the deluge. [25]

"Physician, heal thyself." Let no clouds of sin gather and fall in mist and showers from thine own mental atmosphere. Hold thy gaze to the light, and the iris of faith, more beautiful than the rainbow seen from my window at the close of a balmy autumnal day, will span [30] thy heavens of thought.

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A radiant sunset, beautiful as blessings when they take [1] their flight, dilates and kindles into rest. Thus will a life corrected illumine its own atmosphere with spiritual glow and understanding.

The pent-up elements of mortal mind need no terrible [5] detonation to free them. Envy, rivalry, hate need no temporary indulgence that they be destroyed through suffering; they should be stifled from lack of air and freedom.

My students, with cultured intellects, chastened affec- [10] tions, and costly hopes, give promise of grand careers. But they must remember that the seedtime is passed, the harvest hour has come; and songs should ascend from the mount of revelation, sweeter than the sound of vintage bells. [15]

The seed of Christian Science, which when sown was "the least of all seeds," has sprung up, borne fruit, and the birds of the air, the uplifted desires of the human heart, have lodged in its branches. Now let my faithful students carry the fruit of this tree into the rock-ribbed [20] nests of the raven's callow brood.

The second stage of mental development is humility. This virtue triumphs over the flesh; it is the genius of Christian Science. One can never go up, until one has gone down in his own esteem. Humility is lens and [25] prism to the understanding of Mind-healing; it must be had to understand our textbook; it is indispensable to personal growth, and points out the chart of its divine Principle and rule of practice.

Cherish humility, "watch," and "pray without ceasing," [30] or you will miss the way of Truth and Love. Humility is no busybody: it has no moments for trafficking

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in other people's business, no place for envy, no time for [1] idle words, vain amusements, and all the et cetera of the ways and means of personal sense.

Let Christian Scientists minister to the sick; the school- room is the dernier ressort. Let them seek the lost sheep [5] who, having strayed from the true fold, have lost their great Shepherd and yearn to find living pastures and rest beside still waters. These long for the Christlike- ness that is above the present status of religion and be- yond the walks of common life, quite on the verge of [10] heaven. Without the cross and healing, Christianity has no central emblem, no history.

The seeds of Truth fall by the wayside, on artless listeners. They fall on stony ground and shallow soil. The fowls of the air pick them up. Much of what has [15] been sown has withered away, but what remaineth has fallen into the good and honest hearts and is bearing fruit.

The third stage of mental growth is manifested in love, the greatest of all stages and states of being; love that [20] is irrespective of self, rank, or following. For some time it has been clear to my thought that those students of Christian Science whose Christian characters and lives recommend them, should receive full fellowship from us, no matter who has taught them. If they have been taught [25] wrongly, they are not morally responsible for this, and need special help. They are as lambs that have sought the true fold and the great Shepherd, and strayed inno- cently; hence we should be ready and glad to help them and point the way. [30]

Divine Love is the substance of Christian Science, the basis of its demonstration, yea, its foundation and super-

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structure. Love impels good works. Love is greatly [1] needed, and must be had to mark the way in divine Science.

The student who heals by teaching and teaches by healing, will graduate under divine honors, which are [5] the only appropriate seals for Christian Science. State honors perish, and their gain is loss to the Christian Scientist. They include for him at present naught but tardy justice, hounded footsteps, false laurels. God alone is his help, his shield and great reward. He that [10] seeketh aught besides God, loseth in Life, Truth, and Love. All men shall be satisfied when they "awake in His likeness," and they never should be until then. Hu- man pride is human weakness. Self-knowledge, humility, and love are divine strength. Christ's vestures are put [15] on only when mortals are "washed in the blood of the Lamb;" we must walk in the way which Jesus marked out, if we would reach the heaven-crowned summit of Christian Science.

Be it understood that I do not require Christian Sci- [20] entists to stop teaching, to dissolve their organizations, or to desist from organizing churches and associations.

The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, the first and only College for teaching Christian Science Mind- healing, after accomplishing the greatest work of the [25] ages, and at the pinnacle of prosperity, is closed. Let Scientists who have grown to self-sacrifice do their present work, awaiting, with staff in hand, God's commands.

When students have fulfilled all the good ends of [30] organization, and are convinced that by leaving the material forms thereof a higher spiritual unity is won,

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then is the time to follow the example of the Alma Mater. [1] Material organization is requisite in the beginning; but when it has done its work, the purely Christly method of teaching and preaching must be adopted. On the same principle, you continue the mental argument in the prac- [5] tice of Christian healing until you can cure without it instantaneously, and through Spirit alone.

St. Paul says: "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For [10] now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." Growth is restricted by forcing humanity out of the proper channels for development, or by holding it in fetters.

For Jesus to walk the water was scientific, insomuch [15] as he was able to do this; but it is neither wisdom nor Science for poor humanity to step upon the Atlantic until we can walk on the water.

Peter's impetuosity was rebuked. He had to learn from experience; so have we. The methods of our [20] Master were in advance of the period in which he per- sonally appeared; but his example was right, and is available at the right time. The way is absolute divine Science: walk ye in it; but remember that Science is demonstrated by degrees, and our demonstration rises [25] only as we rise in the scale of being.



Science And Philosophy

Men give counsel; but they give not the wisdom to profit by it. To ask wisdom of God, is the beginning of wisdom. [30]

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Meekness, moderating human desire, inspires wisdom [1] and procures divine power. Human lives are yet un- carved,—in the rough marble, encumbered with crude, rude fragments, and awaiting the hammering, chiselling, and transfiguration from His hand. [5]

Great only as good, because fashioned divinely, were those unpretentious yet colossal characters, Paul and Jesus. Theirs were modes of mind cast in the moulds of Christian Science: Paul's, by the supremely natural transforming power of Truth; and the character of [10] Jesus, by his original scientific sonship with God. Phi- losophy never has produced, nor can it reproduce, these stars of the first magnitude—fixed stars in the heavens of Soul. When shall earth be crowned with the true knowledge of Christ? [15]

When Christian Science has melted away the cloud of false witnesses; and the dews of divine grace, fall- ing upon the blighted flowers of fleeting joys, shall lift every thought-leaflet Spiritward; and "Israel after the flesh," who partaketh of its own altars, shall be [20] no more,—then, "the Israel according to Spirit" shall fill earth with the divine energies, understanding, and ever-flowing tides of spiritual sensation and consciousness.

When mortal mind is silenced by the "still, small voice" [25] of Truth that regenerates philosophy and logic; and Jesus, as the true idea of Him, is heard as of yore saying to sensitive ears and dark disciples, "I came from the Father," "Before Abraham was, I am," coexistent and coeternal with God,—and this idea is understood,— [30] then will the earth be filled with the true knowledge of Christ. No advancing modes of human mind made

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Jesus; rather was it their subjugation, and the pure [1] heart that sees God.

When the belief in material origin, mortal mind, sen- sual conception, dissolves through self-imposed suffering, and its substances are found substanceless,—then its [5] miscalled life ends in death, and death itself is swallowed up in Life,—spiritual Life, whose myriad forms are neither material nor mortal.

When every form and mode of evil disappear to hu- man thought, and mollusk and radiate are spiritual con- [10] cepts testifying to one creator,—then, earth is full of His glory, and Christian Science has overshadowed all human philosophy, and being is understood in startling contradiction of human hypotheses; and Socrates, Plato, Kant, Locke, Berkeley, Tyndall, Darwin, and Spencer [15] sit at the feet of Jesus.

To this great end, Paul admonished, "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our [20] faith." So shall mortals soar to final freedom, and rest from the subtlety of speculative wisdom and human woe.

God is the only Mind, and His manifestation is the spiritual universe, including man and all eternal indi- [25] viduality. God, the only substance and divine Principle of creation, is by no means a creative partner in the firm of error, named matter, or mortal mind. He elucidates His own idea, wherein Principle and idea, God and man, are not one, but are inseparable as cause and effect. If [30] one, who could say which that "one" was?

His ways are not as our ways. The divine modes

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and manifestations are not those of the material senses; [1] for instance, intelligent matter, or mortal mind, material birth, growth, and decay: they are the forever-existing realities of divine Science; wherein God and man are perfect, and man's reason is at rest in God's wisdom,— [5] who comprehends and reflects all real mode, form, indi- viduality, identity.

Scholastic dogma has made men blind. Christ's logos gives sight to these blind, ears to these deaf, feet to these lame,—physically, morally, spiritually. Theologians [10] make the mortal mistake of believing that God, having made all, made evil; but the Scriptures declare that all that He made was good. Then, was evil part and parcel of His creation?

Philosophy hypothetically regards creation as its own [15] creator, puts cause into effect, and out of nothing would create something, whose noumenon is mortal mind, with its phenomenon matter,—an evil mind already doomed, whose modes are material manifestations of evil, and that continually, until self-extinguished by [20] suffering!

Here revelation must come to the rescue of mortals, to remove this mental millstone that is dragging them downward, and refute erring reason with the spiritual cosmos and Science of Soul. We all must find shelter [25] from the storm and tempest in the tabernacle of Spirit. Truth is won through Science or suffering: O vain mor- tals! which shall it be? And suffering has no reward, except when it is necessary to prevent sin or reform the sinner. And pleasure is no crime except when it [30] strengthens the influence of bad inclinations or lessens the activities of virtue. The more nearly an erring so-

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called mind approaches purity, the more conscious it [1] becomes of its own unreality, and of the great reality of divine Mind and true happiness.

The "ego" that claims selfhood in error, and passes from molecule and monkey up to man, is no ego, but is [5] simply the supposition that the absence of good is mind and makes men,—when its greatest flatterer, identifica- tion, is piqued by Him who compensateth vanity with nothingness, dust with dust!

The mythology of evil and mortality is but the ma- [10] terial mode of a suppositional mind; while the immortal modes of Mind are spiritual, and pass through none of the changes of matter, or evil. Truth said, and said from the beginning, "Let us [Spirit] make man perfect;" and there is no other Maker: a perfect man would not desire [15] to make himself imperfect, and God is not chargeable with imperfection. His modes declare the beauty of holi- ness, and His manifold wisdom shines through the visible world in glimpses of the eternal verities. Even through the mists of mortality is seen the brightness of His [20] coming.

We must avoid the shoals of a sensual religion or philosophy that misguides reason and affection, and hold fast to the Principle of Christian Science as the Word that is God, Spirit, and Truth. This Word cor- [25] rects the philosopher, confutes the astronomer, exposes the subtle sophist, and drives diviners mad. The Bible is the learned man's masterpiece, the ignorant man's dictionary, the wise man's directory.

I foresee and foresay that every advancing epoch of so [30] Truth will be characterized by a more spiritual appre- hension of the Scriptures, that will show their marked

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consonance with the textbook of Christian Science Mind- [1] healing, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." Interpreting the Word in the "new tongue," whereby the sick are healed, naturally evokes new paraphrase from the world of letters. "Wait patiently on the Lord, [5] and He will renew your strength." In return for indi- vidual sacrifice, what a recompense to have healed, through Truth, the sick and sinful, made the public your friend, and posterity your familiar!

Christian Science refutes everything that is not a [10] postulate of the divine Principle, God. It is the soul of divine philosophy, and there is no other philosophy. It is not a search after wisdom, it is wisdom: it is God's right hand grasping the universe,—all time, space, immortality, thought, extension, cause, and effect; con- [15] stituting and governing all identity, individuality, law, and power. It stands on this Scriptural platform: that He made all that was made, and it is good, reflects the divine Mind, is governed by it; and that nothing apart from this Mind, one God, is self-created or evolves [20] the universe.

Human hypotheses predicate matter of Spirit and evil of good; hence these opposites must either cooperate or quarrel throughout time and eternity,—or until this impossible partnership is dissolved. If Spirit is the [25] lawgiver to matter, and good has the same power or modes as evil, it has the same consciousness, and there is no absolute good. This error, carried to its ultimate, would either extinguish God and His modes, or give reality and power to evil ad infinitum. [30]

Christian Science rends this veil of the temple of gods, and reproduces the divine philosophy of Jesus and Paul.

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This philosophy alone will bear the strain of time and [1] bring out the glories of eternity; for "other founda- tion can no man lay than that is laid," which is Christ, Truth.

Human theories weighed in the balances of God are [5] found wanting; and their highest endeavors are to Science what a child's love of pictures is to art. The school whose schoolmaster is not Christ, gets things wrong, and is ignorant thereof.

If Christian Science lacked the proof of its goodness [10] and utility, it would destroy itself; for it rests alone on demonstration. Its genius is right thinking and right acting, physical and moral harmony; and the secret of its success lies in supplying the universal need of better health and better men. [15]

Good health and a more spiritual religion form the common want, and this want has worked out a moral result; namely, that mortal mind is calling for what im- mortal Mind alone can supply. If the uniform moral and spiritual, as well as physical, effects of divine Science [20] were lacking, the demand would diminish; but it con- tinues, and increases, which shows the real value of Christian Science to the race. Even doctors agree that infidelity, bigotry, or sham has never met the growing wants of humanity. [25]

As a literature, Christian metaphysics is hampered by lack of proper terms in which to express what it means. As a Science, it is held back by the common ignorance of what it is and of what it does,—and more than all else, by the impostors that come in its name. To be [30] appreciated, it must be conscientiously understood and introduced.

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If the Bible and "Science and Health with Key to the [1] Scriptures" had in our schools the time or attention that human hypotheses consume, they would advance the world. True, it requires more study to understand and demonstrate what they teach than to learn the doctrine [5] of theology, philosophy, or physics, because they con- tain and offer Science, with fixed Principle, given rule, and unmistakable proof.

The Scriptures give the keynote of Christian Science from Genesis to Revelation, and this is the prolonged [10] tone: "For the Lord He is God, and there is none beside Him." And because He is All-in-all, He is in nothing unlike Himself; and nothing that worketh or maketh a lie is in Him, or can be divine con- sciousness. [15]

At this date, poor jaded humanity needs to get her eyes open to a new style of imposition in the field of medicine and of religion, and to "beware of the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees," the doctrines of men, even as Jesus admonished. From first to last, evil insists on [20] the unity of good and evil as the purpose of God; and on drugs, electricity, and animal magnetism as modes of medicine. To a greater or less extent, all mortal conclusions start from this false premise, and they necessarily culminate in sickness, sin, disease, and death. [25] Erroneous doctrines never have abated and never will abate dishonesty, self-will, envy, and lust. To destroy sin and its sequence, is the office of Christ, Truth,—ac- cording to His mode of Christian Science; and this is being done daily. [30]

The false theories whose names are legion, gilded with sophistry and what Jesus had not, namely, mere book-

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learning,—letter without law, gospel, or demonstration, [1] —have no place in Christian Science. This Science re- quires man to be honest, just, pure; to love his neighbor as himself, and to love God supremely.

Matter and evil are subjective states of error or mortal [5] mind. But Mind is immortal; and the fact of there being no mortal mind, exposes the lie of suppositional evil, showing that error is not Mind, substance, or Life. Thus, whatever is wrongfully-minded will dis- appear in the proportion that Science is understood, [10] and the reality of being—goodness and harmony—is demonstrated.

Error says that knowing all things implies the neces- sity of knowing evil, that it dishonors God to claim that He is ignorant of anything; but God says of this fruit [15] of the tree of knowledge of both good and evil, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." If God is infinite good, He knows nothing but good; if He did know aught else, He would not be infinite. Infinite Mind knows nothing beyond Himself or Herself. To [20] good, evil is never present; for evil is a different state of consciousness. It was not against evil, but against know- ing evil, that God forewarned. He dwelleth in light; and in the light He sees light, and cannot see darkness. The opposite conclusion, that darkness dwelleth in light, [25] has neither precedent nor foundation in nature, in logic, or in the character of Christ.

The senses would say that whatever saves from sin, must know sin. Truth replies that God is too pure to behold iniquity; and by virtue of His ignorance of [30] that which is not, He knoweth that which is, and abideth in Himself, the only Life, Truth, and Love,

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—and is reflected by a universe in His own image [1] and likeness.

Even so, Father, let the light that shineth in dark- ness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, dispel this illusion of the senses, open the eyes of the blind, and cause [5] the deaf to hear.

"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own." LOWELL



"Take Heed!"

We regret to be obliged to say that all are not meta- physicians, or Christian Scientists, who call themselves so. Charlatanism, fraud, and malice are getting into the ranks of the good and pure, sending forth a poison [15] more deadly than the upas-tree in the eastern archi- pelago. This evil obtains in the present false teaching and false practice of the Science of treating disease through Mind. The silent address of a mental malpractitioner can only be portrayed in these words of the apostle, [20] "whisperers," and "the poison of asps is under their tongue."

Some of the mere puppets of the hour are playing only for money, and at a fearful stake. Others, from malice and envy, are working out the destinies of the [25] damned. But while the best, perverted, on the mortal plane may become the worst, let us not forget that the Lord reigns, and that this earth shall some time rejoice in His supreme rule,—that the tired watchmen on the

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walls of Zion, and the true Christian Scientist at the foot [1] of the mount of revelation, shall look up with shouts and thanksgiving,—that God's law, as in divine Science, shall be finally understood; and the gospel of glad tidings bring "on earth peace, good will toward men." [5]



The Cry Of Christmas-Tide

Metaphysics, not physics, enables us to stand erect on sublime heights, surveying the immeasurable universe of Mind, peering into the cause which governs all effects, while we are strong in the unity of God and man. There [10] is "method" in the "madness" of this system,—since madness it seems to many onlookers. This method sits serene at the portals of the temple of thought, while the leaders of materialistic schools indulge in mad antics. Metaphysical healing seeks a wisdom that is [15] higher than a rhubarb tincture or an ipecacuanha pill. This method is devout enough to trust Christ more than it does drugs.

Meekly we kneel at our Master's feet, for even a crumb that falleth from his table. We are hungry for Love, [20] for the white-winged charity that heals and saves; we are tired of theoretic husks,—as tired as was the prodi- gal son of the carobs which he shared with the swine, to whom he fed that wholesome but unattractive food. Like him, we would find our Father's house again— [25] the perfect and eternal Principle of man. We thirst for inspiring wine from the vine which our Father tends. We crave the privilege of saying to the sick, when their

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feebleness calls for help, "Rise and walk." We rejoice [1] to say, in the spirit of our Master, "Stretch forth thy hand, and be whole!"

When the Pharisees saw Jesus do such deeds of mercy, they went away and took counsel how they might remove [5] him. The antagonistic spirit of evil is still abroad; but the greater spirit of Christ is also abroad,—risen from the grave-clothes of tradition and the cave of ignorance. Let the sentinels of Zion's watch-towers shout once again, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is [10] given."

In different ages the divine idea assumes different forms, according to humanity's needs. In this age it assumes, more intelligently than ever before, the form of Christian healing. This is the babe we are to cherish. [15] This is the babe that twines its loving arms about the neck of omnipotence, and calls forth infinite care from His loving heart.



Blind Leaders

What figure is less favorable than a wolf in sheep's [20] clothing? The braying donkey whose ears stick out is less troublesome. What manner of man is it that has discovered an improvement on Christian Science, a "met- aphysical healing" by which error destroys error, and would gather all sorts into a "national convention" by [25] the sophistry that such is the true fold for Christian heal- ers, since the good shepherd cares for all?

Yes; the good Shepherd does care for all, and His first care is to separate the sheep from the goats; and

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this is among the first lessons on healing taught by our [1] great Master.

If, as the gentleman aforesaid states, large flocks of metaphysicians are wandering about without a leader, what has opened his eyes to see the need of taking them [5] out of the care of the great Shepherd, and behold the remedy, to help them by his own leadership? Is it that he can guide Christian Scientists better than they, through the guidance of our common Father, can guide them- selves? or is it that they are incapable of helping them- [10] selves thus?

I as their teacher can say, They know far more of Christian Science than he who deprecates their condition appears to, and my heart pleads for them to possess more and more of Truth and Love; but mixing all grades [15] of persons is not productive of the better sort, although he who has self-interest in this mixing is apt to pro- pose it.

Whoever desires to say, "good right, and good wrong," has no truth to defend. It is a wise saying that "men [20] are known by their enemies." To sympathize in any degree with error, is not to rectify it; but error always strives to unite, in a definition of purpose, with Truth, to give it buoyancy. What is under the mask, but error in borrowed plumes? [25]



"Christ And Christmas"

An Illustrated Poem

This poem and its illustrations are as hopelessly origi- nal as is "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip-

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tures." When the latter was first issued, critics declared [1] that it was incorrect, contradictory, unscientific, unchris- tian; but those human opinions had not one feather's weight in the scales of God. The fact remains, that the textbook of Christian Science is transforming the [5] universe.

"Christ and Christmas" voices Christian Science through song and object-lesson. In two weeks from the date of its publication in December, 1893, letters extoll- ing it were pouring in from artists and poets. A mother [10] wrote, "Looking at the pictures in your wonderful book has healed my child."

Knowing that this book would produce a stir, I sought the judgment of sound critics familiar with the works of masters in France and Italy. From them came such [15] replies as the following: "The illustrations of your poem are truly a work of art, and the artist seems quite familiar with delineations from the old masters." I am delighted to find "Christ and Christmas" in accord with the ancient and most distinguished artists. [20]

The Christian Science Journal gives no uncertain dec- laration concerning the spirit and mission of "Christ and Christmas."

I aimed to reproduce, with reverent touch, the modest glory of divine Science. Not by aid of foreign device [25] or environment could I copy art,—never having seen the painter's masterpieces; but the art of Christian Science, with true hue and character of the living God, is akin to its Science: and Science and Health gives scopes and shades to the shadows of divinity, thus im- [30] parting to humanity the true sense of meekness and might.

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One incident serves to illustrate the simple nature of [1] art.

I insisted upon placing the serpent behind the woman in the picture "Seeking and Finding." My artist at the easel objected, as he often did, to my sense of Soul's [5] expression through the brush; but, as usual, he finally yielded. A few days afterward, the following from Roth- erham's translation of the New Testament was handed to me,—I had never before seen it: "And the serpent cast out of his mouth, behind the woman, water as a [10] river, that he might cause her to be river-borne." Neither material finesse, standpoint, nor perspective guides the infinite Mind and spiritual vision that should, does, guide His children.

One great master clearly delineates Christ's appear- [15] ing in the flesh, and his healing power, as clad not in soft raiment or gorgeous apparel; and when forced out of its proper channel, as living feebly, in kings' courts. This master's thought presents a sketch of Christian- ity's state, in the early part of the Christian era, as [20] homelessness in a wilderness. But in due time Chris- tianity entered into synagogues, and, as St. Mark writes, it has rich possession here, with houses and lands. In Genesis we read that God gave man do- minion over all things; and this assurance is followed [25] by Jesus' declaration, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," and by his promise that the Christlike shall finally sit down at the right hand of the Father.

Christian Science is more than a prophet or a proph- [30] ecy: it presents not words alone, but works,—the daily demonstration of Truth and Love. Its healing and sav-

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ing power was so great a proof of Immanuel and the [1] realism of Christianity, that it caused even the publi- cans to justify God. Although clad in panoply of power, the Pharisees scorned the spirit of Christ in most of its varied manifestations. To them it was cant and carica- [5] ture,—always the opposite of what it was. Keen and alert was their indignation at whatever rebuked hypocrisy and demanded Christianity in life and religion. In view of this, Jesus said, "Wisdom is justified of all her children." [10]

Above the fogs of sense and storms of passion, Chris- tian Science and its art will rise triumphant; ignorance, envy, and hatred—earth's harmless thunder—pluck not their heaven-born wings. Angels, with overtures, hold charge over both, and announce their Principle and [15] idea.

It is most fitting that Christian Scientists memorize the nativity of Jesus. To him who brought a great light to all ages, and named his burdens light, homage is in- deed due,—but is bankrupt. I never looked on my [20] ideal of the face of the Nazarite Prophet; but the one illustrating my poem approximates it.

Extremists in every age either doggedly deny or fran- tically affirm what is what: one renders not unto Caesar "the things that are Caesar's;" the other sees "Helen's [25] beauty in a brow of Egypt."

Pictures are portions of one's ideal, but this ideal is not one's personality. Looking behind the veil, he that perceives a semblance between the thinker and his thought on canvas, blames him not. [30]

Because my ideal of an angel is a woman without feathers on her wings,—is it less artistic or less natu-

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ral? Pictures which present disordered phases of ma- [1] terial conceptions and personality blind with animality, are not my concepts of angels. What is the material ego, but the counterfeit of the spiritual?

The truest art of Christian Science is to be a Chris- [5] tian Scientist; and it demands more than a Raphael to delineate this art.

The following is an extract from a letter reverting to the illustrations of "Christ and Christmas":—

"In my last letter, I did not utter all I felt about the [10] wonderful new book you have given us. Years ago, while in Italy, I studied the old masters and their great works of art thoroughly, and so got quite an idea of what constitutes true art. Then I spent two years in Paris, devoting every moment to the study of music and [15] art.

"The first thing that impressed me in your illustra- tions was the conscientious application to detail, which is is the foundation of true art. From that, I went on to study each illustration thoroughly, and to my amazement [20] and delight I find an almost identical resemblance, in many things, to the old masters! In other words, the art is perfect.

"The hands and feet of the figures—how many times have I seen these hands and feet in Angelico's "Jesus," [25] or Botticelli's "Madonna"!

"It gave me such a thrill of joy as no words can ex- press, to see produced to-day that art—the only true art—that we have identified with the old masters, and mourned as belonging to them exclusively,—a thing of [30] the past, impossible of reproduction.

"All that I can say to you, as one who gives no mean

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attention to such matters, is that the art is perfect. It [1] is the true art of the oldest, most revered, most authen- tic Italian school, revived. I use the words most au- thentic in the following sense: the face, figure, and drapery of Jesus, very closely resemble in detail the [5] face, figure, and drapery of that Jesus portrayed by the oldest of the old masters, and said to have been authen- tic; the face having been taken by Fra Angelico from Caesar's Cameo, the figure and garments from a descrip- tion, in The Galaxy, of a small sketch handed down [10] from the living reality. Their productions are expres- sionless copies of an engraving cut in a stone. Yours is a palpitating, living Saviour engraven on the heart. You have given us back our Jesus, and in a much better is form." [15]



Sunrise At Pleasant View

Who shall describe the brave splendor of a November sky that this morning burst through the lattice for me, on my bed? According to terrestrial calculations, above the horizon, in the east, there rose one rod of rainbow [20] hues, crowned with an acre of eldritch ebony. Little by little this topmost pall, drooping over a deeply daz- zling sunlight, softened, grew gray, then gay, and glided into a glory of mottled marvels. Fleecy, faint, fairy blue and golden flecks came out on a background of [25] cerulean hue; while the lower lines of light kindled into gold, orange, pink, crimson, violet; and diamond, topaz, opal, garnet, turquoise, and sapphire spangled the gloom in celestial space as with the brightness of His glory. Then thought I, What are we, that He who fashions for- [30]

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ever such forms and hues of heaven, should move our [1] brush or pen to paint frail fairness or to weave a web of words that glow with gladdening gleams of God, so unapproachable, and yet so near and full of radiant relief in clouds and darkness! [5]



CHAPTER X. INKLINGS HISTORIC

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About the year 1862, while the author of this work [1] was at Dr. Vail's Hydropathic Institute in New Hampshire, this occurred: A patient considered incur- able left that institution, and in a few weeks returned apparently well, having been healed, as he informed [5] the patients, by one Mr. P. P. Quimby of Portland, Maine.

After much consultation among ourselves, and a struggle with pride, the author, in company with several other patients, left the water-cure, en route for the aforesaid [10] doctor in Portland. He proved to be a magnetic practi- tioner. His treatment seemed at first to relieve her, but signally failed in healing her case.

Having practised homoeopathy, it never occurred to the author to learn his practice, but she did ask him how [15] manipulation could benefit the sick. He answered kindly and squarely, in substance, "Because it conveys electricity to them." That was the sum of what he taught her of his medical profession.

The readers of my books cannot fail to see that meta- [20] physical therapeutics, as in Christian Science, are farther removed from such thoughts than the nebulous system is from the earth.

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After treating his patients, Mr. Quimby would retire [1] to an anteroom and write at his desk. I had a curiosity to know if he indited anything pathological relative to his patients, and asked if I could see his pennings on my case. He immediately presented them. I read the [5] copy in his presence, and returned it to him. The com- position was commonplace, mostly descriptive of the gen- eral appearance, height, and complexion of the individual, and the nature of the case: it was not at all metaphysi- cal or scientific; and from his remarks I inferred that [10] his writings usually ran in the vein of thought presented by these. He was neither a scholar nor a metaphysician. I never heard him say that matter was not as real as Mind, or that electricity was not as potential or remedial, or allude to God as the divine Principle of all healing. He [15] certainly had advanced views of his own, but they com- mingled error with truth, and were not Science. On his rare humanity and sympathy one could write a sonnet.

I had already experimented in medicine beyond the [20] basis of materia medica,—up to the highest attenuation in homoeopathy, thence to a mental standpoint not un- derstood and with phenomenally good results;(7) mean- while assiduously pondering the solution of this great question: Is it matter, or is it Mind, that heals the [25] sick?

It was after Mr. Quimby's death that I discovered, in 1866, the momentous facts relating to Mind and its superiority over matter, and named my discovery Chris- tian Science. Yet, there remained the difficulty of ad- [30] justing in the scale of Science a metaphysical practice,

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and settling the question, What shall be the outward [1] sign of such a practice: if a divine Principle alone heals, what is the human modus for demonstrating this,—in short, how can sinful mortals prove that a divine Principle heals the sick, as well as governs the universe, time, [5] space, immortality, man?

When contemplating the majesty and magnitude of this query, it looked as if centuries of spiritual growth were requisite to enable me to elucidate or to dem- onstrate what I had discovered: but an unlooked-for, [10] imperative call for help impelled me to begin this stu- pendous work at once, and teach the first student in Christian Science. Even as when an accident, called fatal to life, had driven me to discover the Science of Life, I again, in faith, turned to divine help,—and com- [15] menced teaching.

My students at first practised in slightly differing forms. Although I could heal mentally, without a sign save the immediate recovery of the sick, my students' patients, and people generally, called for a sign—a ma- [20] terial evidence wherewith to satisfy the sick that something was being done for them; and I said, "Suffer it to be so now," for thus saith our Master. Experience, however, taught me the impossibility of demonstrating the Science of metaphysical healing by any outward form [25] of practice.

In April, 1883, a bill in equity was filed in the United States Circuit Court in Boston, to restrain, by decree and order of the Court, the unlawful publishing and use of an infringing pamphlet printed and issued by a student of [30] Christian Science.

Answer was filed by the defendant, alleging that the

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copyrighted works of Mrs. Eddy were not original with [1] her, but had been copied by her, or by her direction, from manuscripts originally composed by Dr. P. P. Quimby.

Testimony was taken on the part of Mrs. Eddy, the [5] defendant being present personally and by counsel. The time for taking testimony on the part of the defendant having nearly expired, he gave notice through his counsel that he should not put in testimony. Later, Mrs. Eddy requested her lawyer to inquire of defendant's [10] counsel why he did not present evidence to support his claim that Dr. Quimby was the author of her writings! Accordingly, her counsel asked the defendant's counsel this question, and he replied, in substance, "There is no evidence to present." [15]

The stipulation for a judgment and a decree in favor of Mrs. Eddy was drawn up and signed by counsel. It was ordered that the complainant (Mrs. Eddy) recover of the defendant her cost of suit, taxed at ($113.09) one hundred thirteen and 9/100 dollars. [20]

A writ of injunction was issued under the seal of the said Court, restraining the defendant from directly or indirectly printing, publishing, selling, giving away, distributing, or in any way or manner disposing of, the enjoined pamphlet, on penalty of ten thousand [25] dollars.

The infringing books, to the number of thirty-eight hundred or thereabouts, were put under the edge of the knife, and their unlawful existence destroyed, in Boston, Massachusetts. [30]

It has been written that "nobody can be both founder and discoverer of the same thing." If this declaration

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were either a truism or a rule, my experience would [1] contradict it and prove an exception.

No works on the subject of Christian Science existed, prior to my discovery of this Science. Before the publi- cation of my first work on this doctrine, a few manu- [5] scripts of mine were in circulation. The discovery and founding of Christian Science has cost more than thirty years of unremitting toil and unrest; but, comparing those with the joy of knowing that the sinner and the sick are helped thereby, that time and eternity bear witness to [10] this gift of God to the race, I am the debtor.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century I discov- ered the Science of Christianity, and restored the first patient healed in this age by Christian Science. I taught the first student in Christian Science Mind-healing; was [15] author and publisher of the first books on this subject; obtained the first charter for the first Christian Science church, originated its form of government, and was its first pastor. I donated to this church the land on which in 1894 was erected the first church edifice of this denomination [20] in Boston; obtained the first and only charter for a metaphysical medical college,—was its first and only president; was editor and proprietor of the first Christian Science periodical; organized the first Christian Scientist Association, wrote its constitution and by- [25] laws,—as also the constitution and by-laws of the National Christian Science Association; and gave it The Christian Science Journal; inaugurated our denom- inational form of Sunday services, Sunday School, and so the entire system of teaching and practising Christian [30] Science.

In 1895 I ordained that the Bible, and "Science and

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Health with Key to the Scriptures," the Christian Science [1] textbook, be the pastor, on this planet, of all the churches of the Christian Science denomination. This ordinance took effect the same year, and met with the universal ap- proval and support of Christian Scientists. Whenever [5] and wherever a church of Christian Science is established, its pastor is the Bible and my book.

In 1896 it goes without saying, preeminent over igno- rance or envy, that Christian Science is founded by its discoverer, and built upon the rock of Christ. The el- [10] ements of earth beat in vain against the immortal parapets of this Science. Erect and eternal, it will go on with the ages, go down the dim posterns of time unharmed, and on every battle-field rise higher in the estimation of thinkers and in the hearts of Christians. [15]



CHAPTER XI. POEMS

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Come Thou

Come, in the minstrel's lay; [2] When two hearts meet, And true hearts greet, And all is morn and May. [5]

Come Thou! and now, anew, To thought and deed Give sober speed, Thy will to know, and do.

Stay! till the storms are o'er— [10] The cold blasts done, The reign of heaven begun, And Love, the evermore.

Be patient, waiting heart: Light, Love divine [15] Is here, and thine; You therefore cannot part.

"The seasons come and go: Love, like the sea, Rolls on with thee,— [20] But knows no ebb and flow.

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"Faith, hope, and tears, triune, [1] Above the sod Find peace in God, And one eternal noon."

Oh, Thou hast heard my prayer; [5] And I am blest! This is Thy high behest: Thou, here and everywhere.



Meeting Of My Departed Mother And Husband

"Joy for thee, happy friend! thy bark is past [10] The dangerous sea, and safely moored at last— Beyond rough foam. Soft gales celestial, in sweet music bore— Spirit emancipate for this far shore— Thee to thy home. [15]

"You've travelled long, and far from mortal joys, To Soul's diviner sense, that spurns such toys, Brave wrestler, lone. Now see thy ever-self; Life never fled; Man is not mortal, never of the dead: [20] The dark unknown.

"When hope soared high, and joy was eagle-plumed, Thy pinions drooped; the flesh was weak, and doomed To pass away. But faith triumphant round thy death-couch shed [25] Majestic forms; and radiant glory sped The dawning day.

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"Intensely grand and glorious life's sphere,— [1] Beyond the shadow, infinite appear Life, Love divine,— Where mortal yearnings come not, sighs are stilled, And home and peace and hearts are found and filled, [5] Thine, ever thine.

"Bearest thou no tidings from our loved on earth, The toiler tireless for Truth's new birth All-unbeguiled? Our joy is gathered from her parting sigh: [10] This hour looks on her heart with pitying eye,— What of my child?"

"When, severed by death's dream, I woke to Life, She deemed I died, and could not know the strife At first to fill [15] That waking with a love that steady turns To God; a hope that ever upward yearns, Bowed to His will.

"Years had passed o'er thy broken household band, When angels beckoned me to this bright land, [20] With thee to meet. She that has wept o'er thee, kissed my cold brow, Rears the sad marble to our memory now, In lone retreat.

"By the remembrance of her loyal life, [25] And parting prayer, I only know my wife, Thy child, shall come— Where farewells cloud not o'er our ransomed rest— Hither to reap, with all the crowned and blest, Of bliss the sum. [30]

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"When Love's rapt sense the heart-strings gently sweep, [1] With joy divinely fair, the high and deep, To call her home, She shall mount upward unto purer skies; We shall be waiting, in what glad surprise, [5] Our spirits' own!"



Love

Brood o'er us with Thy shelt'ring wing, 'Neath which our spirits blend Like brother birds, that soar and sing, [10] And on the same branch bend. The arrow that doth wound the dove Darts not from those who watch and love.

If thou the bending reed wouldst break By thought or word unkind, [15] Pray that his spirit you partake, Who loved and healed mankind: Seek holy thoughts and heavenly strain, That make men one in love remain.

Learn, too, that wisdom's rod is given [20] For faith to kiss, and know; That greetings glorious from high heaven, Whence joys supernal flow, Come from that Love, divinely near, Which chastens pride and earth-born fear, [25]

[Page 388.]

Through God, who gave that word of might [1] Which swelled creation's lay: "Let there be light, and there was light." What chased the clouds away? 'Twas Love whose finger traced aloud [5] A bow of promise on the cloud.

Thou to whose power our hope we give, Free us from human strife. Fed by Thy love divine we live, [10] For Love alone is Life; And life most sweet, as heart to heart Speaks kindly when we meet and part.



Woman's Rights

Grave on her monumental pile: She won from vice, by virtue's smile, [15] Her dazzling crown, her sceptred throne, Affection's wreath, a happy home;

The right to worship deep and pure, To bless the orphan, feed the poor; Last at the cross to mourn her Lord, [20] First at the tomb to hear his word:

To fold an angel's wings below; And hover o'er the couch of woe; To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet, The right to sit at Jesus' feet; [25]

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To form the bud for bursting bloom, [1] The hoary head with joy to crown; In short, the right to work and pray, "To point to heaven and lead the way."



The Mother's Evening Prayer

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power; O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour, Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight! Keep Thou my child on upward wing to-night.

Love is our refuge; only with mine eye [10] Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall: His habitation high is here, and nigh, His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

O make me glad for every scalding tear, For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain! [15] Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear No ill,—since God is good, and loss is gain.

Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing; In that sweet secret of the narrow way, Seeking and finding, with the angels sing: [20] "Lo, I am with you alway,"—watch and pray.

No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain; No night drops down upon the troubled breast, When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear-drops gain, And mother finds her home and heavenly rest. [25]

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June

Whence are thy wooings, gentle June? Thou hast a Naiad's charm; Thy breezes scent the rose's breath; Old Time gives thee her palm. [5] The lark's shrill song doth wake the dawn; The eve-bird's forest flute Gives back some maiden melody, Too pure for aught so mute.

The fairy-peopled world of flowers, [10] Enraptured by thy spell, Looks love unto the laughing hours, Through woodland, grove, and dell; And soft thy footstep falls upon The verdant grass it weaves; [15] To melting murmurs ye have stirred The timid, trembling leaves.

When sunshine beautifies the shower, As smiles through teardrops seen, Ask of its June, the long-hushed heart, [20] What hath the record been? And thou wilt find that harmonies, In which the Soul hath part, Ne'er perish young, like things of earth, In records of the heart. [25]

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Wish And Item

Written to the Editor of the Item, Lynn, Mass.

I hope the heart that's hungry For things above the floor, Will find within its portals [5] An item rich in store;

That melancholy mortals Will count their mercies o'er, And learn that Truth and wisdom Have many items more; [10]

That when a wrong is done us, It stirs no thought of strife; And Love becomes the substance, As item, of our life;

That every ragged urchin, [15] With bare feet soiled or sore, Share God's most tender mercies,— Find items at our door.

Then if we've done to others Some good ne'er told before, [20] When angels shall repeat it, 'T will be an item more.

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The Oak On The Mountain's Summit

Oh, mountain monarch, at whose feet I stand,— Clouds to adorn thy brow, skies clasp thy hand,— Nature divine, in harmony profound, With peaceful presence hath begirt thee round. [5]

And thou, majestic oak, from yon high place Guard'st thou the earth, asleep in night's embrace,— And from thy lofty summit, pouring down Thy sheltering shade, her noonday glories crown?

Whate'er thy mission, mountain sentinel, [10] To my lone heart thou art a power and spell; A lesson grave, of life, that teacheth me To love the Hebrew figure of a tree.

Faithful and patient be my life as thine; As strong to wrestle with the storms of time; [15] As deeply rooted in a soil of love; As grandly rising to the heavens above.



Isle Of Wight

Written on receiving a painting of the Isle

Isle of beauty, thou art singing [20] To my sense a sweet refrain; To my busy mem'ry bringing Scenes that I would see again.

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Chief, the charm of thy reflecting, [1] Is the moral that it brings; Nature, with the mind connecting, Gives the artist's fancy wings.

Soul, sublime 'mid human debris, [5] Paints the limner's work, I ween, Art and Science, all unweary, Lighting up this mortal dream.

Work ill-done within the misty Mine of human thoughts, we see [10] Soon abandoned when the Master Crowns life's Cliff for such as we.

Students wise, he maketh now thus Those who fish in waters deep, When the buried Master hails us [15] From the shores afar, complete.

Art hath bathed this isthmus-lordling In a beauty strong and meek As the rock, whose upward tending Points the plane of power to seek. [20]

Isle of beauty, thou art teaching Lessons long and grand, to-night, To my heart that would be bleaching To thy whiteness, Cliff of Wight.

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Hope

'T is borne on the zephyr at eventide's hour; It falls on the heart like the dew on the flower,— An infinite essence from tropic to pole, The promise, the home, and the heaven of Soul. [5]

Hope happifies life, at the altar or bower, And loosens the fetters of pride and of power; It comes through our tears, as the soft summer rain, To beautify, bless, and make joyful again.

The harp of the minstrel, the treasure of time; [10] A rainbow of rapture, o'erarching, divine; The God-given mandate that speaks from above,— No place for earth's idols, but hope thou, and love.



Rondelet

"The flowers of June The gates of memory unbar: The flowers of June Such old-time harmonies retune, I fain would keep the gates ajar,— So full of sweet enchantment are [20] The flowers of June." JAMES T. WHITE

[Page 395.]



To Mr. James T. White

Who loves not June [2] Is out of tune With love and God; The rose his rival reigns, [5] The stars reject his pains, His home the clod!

And yet I trow, When sweet rondeau Doth play a part, [10] The curtain drops on June; Veiled is the modest moon— Hushed is the heart.



Autumn

Written in childhood, in a maple grove [15]

Quickly earth's jewels disappear; The turf, whereon I tread, Ere autumn blanch another year, May rest above my head.

Touched by the finger of decay [20] Is every earthly love; For joy, to shun my weary way, Is registered above.

The languid brooklets yield their sighs, A requiem o'er the tomb [25] Of sunny days and cloudless skies, Enhancing autumn's gloom.

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The wild winds mutter, howl, and moan, [1] To scare my woodland walk, And frightened fancy flees, to roam Where ghosts and goblins stalk.

The cricket's sharp, discordant scream [5] Fills mortal sense with dread; More sorrowful it scarce could seem; It voices beauty fled.

Yet here, upon this faded sod,— O happy hours and fleet,— [10] When songsters' matin hymns to God Are poured in strains so sweet,

My heart unbidden joins rehearse; I hope it's better made, When mingling with the universe, [15] Beneath the maple's shade.



Christ My Refuge

O'er waiting harpstrings of the mind There sweeps a strain, Low, sad, and sweet, whose measures bind [20] The power of pain,

And wake a white-winged angel throng Of thoughts, illumed By faith, and breathed in raptured song, With love perfumed. [25]

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Then His unveiled, sweet mercies show [1] Life's burdens light. I kiss the cross, and wake to know A world more bright.

And o'er earth's troubled, angry sea [5] I see Christ walk, And come to me, and tenderly, Divinely talk.

Thus Truth engrounds me on the rock, Upon Life's shore, [10] 'Gainst which the winds and waves can shock, Oh, nevermore!