LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. PRESENTED BY Di.iuon...:2rP'^°\Q> Section C>^ A TRIBUTE C'^^' ' of ^^^oiQQmi%^ LOVE AND GRATITUDE to OUR FAITHFUL TEACHER AUGUSTA E. STETSON, C. S. D. Principal of the New York City Christian Science Institute Incorporated July 1891 Second Ediiion, Illustrated G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London ^be IRntcfterbocfter press 1921 Copyright, 1919 BY JAMES P. B. HYNDMAN Copyright, 192 i BY AUGUSTA E. STETSON Printed in the United States of America Jforetoorb This volume consists of letters from members of the New York City Christian Science Insti- tute, which Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., established in 1891, and of which she continues to be the Principal. In these letters, the students express deep and sincere appreciation of their teacher's pro- found understanding of divine metaphysics as taught her by her Teacher and Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and author of its textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Many hundreds of letters could be added from the thousands received. These, however, have been selected as representative of the body of students. The editors feel that a faithful presentation of an inspired and God-anointed jForetoorli teacher is herein made by loyal students, who have intelligently grasped the divine import of Mrs. Stetson's great work of teaching and demon- strating, in its essential purity, the Christianity of Christian Science, as presented to the world by Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. ^-;^.^/2-^ In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Christ Jesus, John xiv., 2-4. 0nv jForeber Heabet iJlarp Pafeer €tibp CAN our Leader cease to lead us, whom God charged to make Him known? Shall His wisdom be unjustified forever of His own? Do ye doubt her destination, witnessing the path she trod. And deny her living presence, knowing that she lives in God? Oh, awake, ye faithless-hearted, over whom the angels weep! 'Tis the hour for prayer and watching. Break your sodden, sense-lulled sleep! If ye shrink from Jordan's rising, when the tide is running slow, Can ye face the furious fear-floods, when the waters overflow? Up! What recks the ancient folk- theme, treating man as thing of dust, And his wondrous thoughts as brain-throbs, quiv'ring through a matter crust I Let it not benumb, but spur you to more fervor in the fight 'Tween the myths of death and darkness, and the truths of Life and light. There was never life in matter. Ye have said it ! It is truth ! Age and death are sense-illusions, false as sin deluded youth. 5 ^rihute of Hobe Ye acknowledged this, her teaching, who discerned the Mas- ter's word. Shall the test, then, find you wanting? Having ears, have ye not heard? She who traced the Master's footsteps from the sense-vale up to Soul Has not lost her sore- won mast'ry, has not failed to win the goal, And to count her gone and silent would Life's very law disown. Having been so long time with you, is she still so dimly known? If ye loved her voice, which called you from the valley of your pain To the hills of hope and healing, if your loving was not vain, Ye will never cease to listen for her God-inspired call. Still and small, yet, oh, so potent, "God and man is one and all."^ — Alice Morgan Harrison. » " Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipo- tent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being" {Science and Health, p. 465). ^^ "^ Taken December. 1917 Darling rise each hour; now is the resurrection mom and I want Augusta to be my Mary. Lovingly ever thine. M. B. Eddy. VHal Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, pages 402, 403. 2Co ausufiita €. ^tetsfon, C. g). ©. Love-crowned bearer of our Leader's sacred charge to feed her sheep, You have proved a faithful steward of the flock she bade you keep. You have fed our hungry longings with the substance of the Word, And we rise to call you blessed, for our hearts are deeply stirred. You have faced sin's fullest fury with a meekness so divine. That affliction's bitter waters turn to inspiration's wine. Firm you stand before your students as the "remnant of her seed," And we rise to call you faithful to your God in word and deed. You have dared to be a Daniel! When you turned your fearless face Toward the dawning demonstration of Love's all-sufficient grace, Conquered beasts of carnal concepts could not harm you in their den. And we rise to hail you victor of the fear of mortal men. Quickened by your overcoming, from our hearts we say with you: 7 la tCribute of TLobt "Father-Mother God, 'Forgive them; for they know not what they do.'" Nothing can obscure Love's allness! Earth's poor dreamers will awake ! And we praise your pure example of this faith no foe can shake. True disciple of the Master, leaving all to lift mankind, You are taking ev'ry footstep through the matter-dream to Mind, Close and closer to God's chosen, » pressing on from sense to sight, And your loyalty's bright marvel is a heaven-reaching light. Dear defender of pure Science, which our holy Leader taught, Immortality's white banner leads the good fight you have fought! Rise we to the Church Triumphant, in the light your teaching gives. For we hear your Soul-bom message that our Leader ever lives ! — Alice Morgan Harrison, November, 191 5. » Mary Baker Eddy. 8 ContentjB( Uttttvfif Cxcerptsi, 0itiia^e^, from iflarp S^afeer Clilip Dedicatory Message to First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City 13 Facsimile Letter Facing 15 August Thirtieth, 1909. (Mrs. Eddy's last letter to Mrs. Stetson) 42 "You keep the Golden Rule" 52 " Crown of Diamonds " 53 "Armaments of concealed warfare" 82 "Corner-stone" Letter 93, 186 " Mother appreciates your footsteps " 108 Dedicatory Message to First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, N. C 120 "The Way of Wisdom" 123 " One thing in my haste was forgotten " Facing 184 "My beloved Student," March 23, 1903 185 " Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C. S.D., and the practitioners of the R. R. of her church, N. Y. N. Y." 191 " What if your church edifice," November, 1903 230 Facsimile Letters Facing 242 Contents "Where Shall Wisdom be Found ? " by First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City 125 " Resolution of the Board of Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City" 218 Letter to the Board of Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, by Augusta E. Stetson. . 222 ILetterg, etc. Introductory Letter by Gertrude Lois Belser 13 Sibyl Marvin Huse 23 "Statement as to Christian Science," by James P. B. Hyndman 35 Elizabeth Hebert Childs 4^ Arnold Blome 55 Picture of Shield on Mrs. Stetson's house ; . Facing 73 Kitty Cheatham 75 Roy Holland Seward i n Ella Weill "5 George E. Armstrong I37 Mary H. Freshman I43 Alice F. Brown I59 Anna A. Holden I73 Mary E. Pearson 183 Mary Ray Pinney I95 Edwin F. Hatfield 213 Joseph B. Whitney 215 WilHam H. Taylor 221 John Franklin Crowell, Ph.D 235 Amelia S. Rowbotham, Cfatherine B. Gillpatrick, Jessie Tuttle Colton, Margaret Duncan 241 Arnold Blome 243 Sibyl Marvin Huse 261 Vida Milholland 275 10 Contents; ^oem£( anb '^tt^tsi "Our Forever Leader," by Alice Morgan Harrison 5 "To Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D.," by Alice Morgan Harrison 7 "Our America," The National Anthem (last verse), by Alice Morgan Harrison , 78 "Christ and Christmas" (one verse), "Thus olden faith's pale star now blends," by Mary Baker Eddy 85 "Spring Greeting" (one verse), "The bird of hope is singing," by Mary Baker Eddy 91 "Extempore," by Mary Baker Eddy 91. ^57 "To the Big Children," by Mary Baker Eddy 104 "The Oak on the Mountain's Summit" (one verse), "Faithful and patient be my life as thine," by Mary Baker Eddy 142 "The Harvest Song " (one verse), " Love's sweet harvest home song," by Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D 198 "Augusta E. Stetson, Our Teacher," by Alice Morgan Harrison 253 " Our Leader Lives," by Alice Morgan Harrison 255 "My Ain Countrie," by James P. B, Hyndman 257 "Laus Deo!" by Mary Baker Eddy 273 Quotations on Music from the Holy Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's Writings 199 ThefoUowing books by Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., referred to in this volume, are published by G. P. Putnam's Sons: Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence. Vital Issues in Christian Scie?ice With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy. My Spiritual Aeroplane. Poems. II 3Jntrabuctorp Hetter 401 West 118 Street, New York City. November i, 1919. Dearly beloved teacher:^ — On page 194 of The First Church of Christ, Sci- entist, and Miscellany, in a letter addressed to First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York, N. Y., our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, writes : The tender memorial engraven on your grand edifice stands for human self lost in divine light, melted into the radiance of His likeness. It stands for meekness and might, for Truth as attested * Mrs. Stetson requests her students not to use a capital T in addressing her as teacher; she desires them to use the capital T only when referring to Christ or to our great Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy. 13 a ^tribute of Hobe by the Founder of your denomination and em- blazoned on the fair escutcheon of your church. May I give you the result of a little study of these words, ''emblazoned on the fair escutcheon of your church"? The Standard Dictionary gives, as the definition of "emblazoned, — to depict, dehneate, or display heraldically, as an armorial bearing on a shield." Therefore I turn to heraldic law for information. In the Genealogical Magazine, September, 1903, — two or three months before Mrs. Eddy wrote the above mentioned letter to you and your church, — A. C. Fox-Davies wrote the fol- lowing in an article entitled, ''Heraldic Marks of Illegitimacy:** According to present law, the position of an illegitimate person heraldically is based upon the common law of the country, which practically declares that an illegitimate child has no name, no parentage, and no relations. The illegitimacy of birth is an insuperable bar to inheritance, and a person of illegitimate birth inherits no arms at 14 ^tcT;^^ /u^ O'^*^^ ^t,^>^ ^<2-^€r *!-i-dr .£^'U'<^ CA^^U' /^^ /4^1,«-z-J^^,^ ^'^^::,c^ a tribute of Hobe all, the popular idea that he inherits a right to the arms, subject to a mark of distinction, being quite incorrect. He has none at all. The following letter from Mrs. Eddy to you, which is found in Vital Issues in Christian Sci- ence With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, pages 394-396, in which she estabHshed your relation to her as a legitimate child, or student, seems proper for me to insert here. Let me continue quoting from A. C. Fox- Davies in his article, "Heraldic Marks of Illegitimacy:" If any one of illegitimate birth desires to ob- tain a right to arms, he has two courses open to him. He can either (not disclosing the fact of his illegitimacy, and not attempting to prove that he is a descendant of any kind from any one else) apply for and obtain a new grant of arms on his own basis, and worry through the [Herald's] College a grant of a coat as closely following in design that of the old family as he can get, which means that he would be treated and penalized with such alterations (not "marks of distinction") 15 ai tribute of Hobe as would be imposed upon a stranger in blood endeavouring to obtain arms founded upon a coat to which he had no right. . . . The alternative course is simple. He must avow himself a bastard, and must prove his paternity or maternity, as the case may be. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, is the only church in the w^orld, so far as I have been able to learn, to which our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in her writings, ascribes an "escutcheon." Then the question arises, whence came this "escutcheon" ? According to the law of heraldry, there are two ways of obtaining a coat of arms, — by direct descent, and by peti- tion. The direct descent must be legitimate. You, dear Mrs. Stetson, as the head of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, never made a ''petition" for an "escutcheon," but you received one from your Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy. You and your church, which are one, stand for spiritual understanding, or divine conscious- i6 a tribute of Hobe ness, and therefore are legitimate. The granite Church Edifice is but type and symbol of '*The structure of Truth and Love,"' which spiritual sense will finally reveal. Then the escutcheon must have come, by direct spiritual descent, to you and your church, our church, which is com- posed of your students, who have been born of Spirit, and therefore have continued with you in the race for immortality. It has come to you as the legitimate offspring of our Leader and her Church, The Mother Church, ''The structure of Truth and Love." With regard to the qualification ''fair," as applied to the "escutcheon," let me quote from Webster's Dictionary: Free from spots, specks, dirt or imperfections ; unblemished; clean; pure; spotless; unstained. And from the Standard Dictionary: Free from clouds, not obscure; . . . free from spot or blemish. ^ Science and Healthy page 583. 17 ^ tCribute of ILobe The spiritually minded, who have built with you, are putting the capstone of a ''wholly spiritual"' consciousness upon the Church Tri- umphant. "^ This consciousness is the legitimate offspring of Spirit. Under the heading, "Abate- ment or Rebatement," in Rothery's A B C of Heraldry, page 322, we find this definition: Marks of dishonour invented by certain writers and intended to be used in debruising coats by arms. As a matter of fact the only abatements ever adopted were those relating to illegitimacy of birth. The abatements were (i) Delf tenn^, assigned to one revoking or receding from his own challenge. (2) . . . for dishonourable con- duct to a woman. . . . (3) . . . assigned to a vainglorious boaster. (4) . . . cowardice. (5) . . . lying to prince or commander. (6) . . . slaying a prisoner after demanding quar- ter. (7) . . . for behaving in a cowardly way towards an enemy. (8) . . . adultery . . . drunkenness. (9) . . . treason. While these abatements were not officially * Miscellany, page 357. ' Manual of The Mother Church, page 19. 18 a Zvibntt of Hobe adopted, they were of sufficient importance in the eyes of some to gain consideration. Onx Leader, Mrs. Eddy, would never have called an "escutcheon" "fair" if the bearer had com- mitted such offenses, as any of these, against the moral law. Let us examine them. You have never "revoked nor receded from your challenge" to error, viz.: Dust [nothingness] thou art, and unto dust [nothingness] shalt thou return (Genesis iii., 19). This is the law of Truth to error, "Thou shalt surely die." This law is a divine energy . . . it covers all sin and its effects {Miscellaneous Writ- ings, p. 208). You never have been guilty of "dishonour- able conduct to a woman," — the great Leader, IMary Baker Eddy, the demonstrator of divine womanhood. You have defended her and her teaching against her material followers, who could not discern her spiritual individuality, but regarded her as both human and divine, which is 19 a tirifaute of ILobt not Christian Science, nor can any one demon- strate Christian Science from this premise. Neither 'Vainglorious" boasting nor "cow- ardice" have dishonoured your shield, because you have proved your spiritual power. You have not "lied to or about" your Leader, "Prince and Commander" — Christ — but you have proclaimed him, her, the compound idea, as the representative of Life, Love, and Truth. Instead of "slaying a prisoner after demand- ing quarter," you have tried to save and free him from his material bonds. Towards the "enemy of good"^ you have used "the sword of the Spirit, ... the Word of God."^ You have given us unadulterated truth, and have removed yourself far from "drunkenness." You are waking us all from the drunken sleep in the material senses. Last, but not least, you have been loyal to the ' ' Lord of lords and King of kings, "3 and no spot of "treason" stains the I Miscellany, page 358. ' Ephesians vi., 17. 3 Revelation xvii., 14. 20 a Wxihntt of TLobt "fair escutcheon" with which Mrs. Eddy sig- naHzed you and your church. Your Leader has proclaimed you her legiti- mate offspring and your students, who have stood the tests of the battle against the material world, the flesh and evil, are your spiritual off- spring and will become Christ's at his reappear- ing, when, through spiritual sense, we vis- ualize Christ, who never died nor left God's earth, the only universe, wholly spiritual and eternal. We owe you the deepest love, loyalty, and gratitude, dearest teacher, for showing us how to demonstrate the spiritual consciousness, which is objectified in First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, now seen in symbol of Church Edifice. Thus spiritual sense makes us the legitimate offspring of our Leader, Christ. May we continue in the race for immortality, until we arrive at the stature of the spiritual man in Christ, and finally find ourselves, with you, under the ''fair escutcheon" of your church, 21 a JEvihnit of Hobe safe in the haven of the Church Triumphant, The Mother Church, which is "The structure of Truth and Love," a "wholly spiritual" consciousness. Let me quote the words of our Leader in confirmation of this: The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet beholding what the eye cannot see, — that which is invisible to the uninspired thought. ... St. John's corporeal sense of the heavens and earth had vanished, and in place of this false sense was the spiritual sense, the subjective state by which he could see the new heaven and new earth, which involve the spiritual idea and con- sciousness of reality. . . . When you read this, remember Jesus' words, "The kingdom of God is within you." This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility (Science and Health, pp. 573, 574)- Ever lovingly and gratefully, Your student's student, 22 New York City. May 20, 1918. Beloved teacher: — It is recorded in the third chapter of Exodus that ''Moses kept the flock . . . and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb." You have led the flock to the ''mountain of God." From this elevation we can look back over the road to be travelled by the material organization which is yet in bondage of servi- tude to the Pharaohs of our day. Our great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, spoke to you from the burning bush. She bade you take off your shoes, leave any material sense you might have, and prove that "the enemy of good cannot separate you from your Leader and best earthly friend. ' ' ^ You are come with your flock ^ Miscellany, page 358. 23 a tKribute of Hobe upon holy ground, the consciousness where "Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all.^*^ The reaHzation of your oneness with God constitutes your commission. **I AM THAT I AM," the eternal Ego, crowns its idea with power, and you are conscious of your spiritual individuality as one with God. This ''exempli- fication of man's unity with God"^ is your part in the atonement, ''at-one-ment,''^ and we, the flock which you have led hitherto, rejoice in it. From this Horeb height we can see the journey we have taken ; we can perceive and understand the relations things bear to each other as we could not do when we were winding up the narrow, rugged sheep path. My thought goes back to the time when the Leader called you to Pleasant View to do some special work. I recall the conversation you had with her, which you recounted when you returned home. » Miscellany, page 357. ^ Science and Health, page 18. 3 Science and Health, page 19. 24 a ®rttute of ILobe *' Augusta," she said, ''do not look for me in this," putting her hands on her knees, "I have risen!" ''Then your resurrection is also my resurrection, is it not?" you replied. "Yes," she said, "it is." This conversation occurred shortly before Mrs. Eddy placed all her property in the hands of three Trustees. To quote her own words, "I have so done that I may have more peace, and time for spiritual thought and the higher criticism. ' ' ' On page 1 92 of Science and Health, she says, "We are not Christian Scientists until we leave all for Christ." Then followed in quick succession abandon- ment of Pleasant View, the disbanding of the Executive Members, the abolishing of the Com- munion in her Church, the closing of the Mother's Room. Of these events Mrs. Eddy says: When I asked you to dispense with the Execu- tive Members' meeting, the purpose of my re- ^ Miscellany, page 136. 25 a Ztibntt of ILobt quest was sacred. It was to turn your sense of worship from the material to the spiritual, the personal to the impersonal, the denomina- tional to the doctrinal, yea, from the human to the divine {Miscellany, p. 139). When abolishing the communion in her Church Mrs. Eddy said in a letter addressed to Christ- ian Scientists: Relinquishing a material form of communion ad- vances it spiritually. The material form is a "Suffer it to be so now," and is abandoned so soon as God's Way-shower, Christ, points the advanced step {Miscellany , p. 140). On closing the Mother's Room, these trench- ant words appeared in the Christian Science Senti- nel (vol. xi., p. 230) over Mrs. Eddy's signature, * ' There is nothing in this room now of any special interest. ' Let the dead bury their dead, ' and the spiritual have all place and power." A few months later, Mrs. Eddy sent this message to us : When my dear brethren in New York desire to build higher, . . . they must begin on a wholly 26 a tribute of ILobe spiritual foundation, than which there is no other. . . . Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all {Miscellany, p. 357). Beloved teacher, I feel that these two mes- sages, one in regard to the Mother's Room being closed and the other to her "dear brethren in New York," should be read in close connection. "There is nothing in this room now of any special interest. ' Let the dead bury their dead,' and the spiritual have all place and power." Beside this, place the message to her "dear brethren in New York," to "begin on a wholly spiritual foundation. . . . Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is alW^ The understanding of erection on a "wholly spiritual foundation," the understanding which would reveal "The structure of Truth and Love,"' the Church Triumphant, this under- standing our Leader perceived you possessed. This caused her to exclaim, during your last ^ Science and Healthy page 583. 27 a tCribute of ILobt visit to her, "This is the happiest day of my life on earth," and with that she ended with "God bless you, forever, and forever, and for- ever/*' Two of her household were present and heard this blessing. From the moment of our response to "The Way of Wisdom," '' followed by your sending otir so-called "Composite Letter "^ in which we clearly stated our perception of our Lead- er, of you, our teacher, and of each other as idea, from that moment, I firmly believe that Mrs. Eddy closed the material activities of her Church, The Mother Church in Boston, Mass. This is indicated in the following By-Law, Article XXIII, Section lo: "In Christian Science each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individ- ual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs." The directors have repeatedly ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page i8. ^ Miscellany, page 356. 3 Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, pages 134-156. 28 a ^tribute of Hobe transgressed this By-Law by interfering in the affairs of branch churches. Again, Article I, Section 3, requires "the con- sent of the Pastor Emeritus given in her own handwriting" before any incumbents can be re- elected or any new officers elected. Obedience to this By-Law would have arrested the func- tioning of the material organization insofar as the Church in Boston is concerned. This By- Law was utterly disregarded. The Church in Boston was kept open, offices were filled as soon as vacancies occurred and even vacancies were declared and filled without "the consent of the Pastor Emeritus given in her own hand- writing." Indeed, a few weeks after our Leader rose beyond the material vision, her name as Pastor Emeritus was removed from her Church Manual by the directors. This was a denial of her spiritual leadership and an outrage to the true members of her Church who continued to ac- knowledge that leadership and who declare that 29 tribute of ICobe their Leader lives, as she always has lived, as spiritual individuality, the ideal man or Christ, the compound manifestation of Father-Mother God. By declaring that Mrs. Eddy is dead, the directors have repudiated her teachings and thereby excommunicated themselves from The Mother Church of Christian Science, which is built on the fundamental statement, man is immortal, for God, eternal Mind, is his Life. They have declared vacant the senior office of the Church, that of the Pastor Emeritus. Article I, Section i : "The Church officers shall consist of the Pastor Emeritus, a Board of Di- rectors, a President, a Clerk, a Treasurer, and two Readers." The violation of this initial By-Law causes every subsequent act of the Board of directors to be outside the canons of the Church of Christ, Scientist. The true Church rose with the Leader above the comprehension of the materially minded. Nothing that the directors have put forth from 30 a Ztibnit of Hobe that hour has anything to do with it. There- fore the evidence is that all letters and telegrams bearing date subsequent to February, 1909, having to do with church government or dis- cipline and accredited to Mrs. Eddy, came from those who had charge of the material organiza- tion. Our Leader had called out from the ma- terial organization, those who were ready to follow her in spiritual unfoldment and you, our teacher, with some of your students, had ar- rived at the imderstanding that ''Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all,'' and were not separated from our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. Any writings, however, of a doctrinal or metaphysical nature, I as surely ascribe to her authorship, for she says in her notice to the Executive Members that her object is to turn their sense of worship from "the denomina- tional to the doctrinal . ' ' Your Leader knew that you were equal to the test of the crucible, when she said, ''This is the happiest day of my life on earth." She knew that you would pass 31 a JE'Vihntt of Hobe unharmed through the flames of aroused evil. The fiery trial has not daunted you. In the face of every possible material evidence, you have stood the test of loyal allegiance to her as your spiritual Leader and Guide. Not having seen, still you have believed and so have been blessed above your brethren. The dross has yielded to the fire of divine Love and "even the gold of human character,"' is being "melted into the radiance of His likeness."^ "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain." ^ The "Awake and arise" ^ came like the thunder of Sinai, to rouse and quicken you to greater, more selfless endeavor and delivered and con- tinues to deliver you from dead encumbering members. "All things work together for good to them that love God,"^ good. » Science and Health, page 565. 2 Miscellany, page 194. ^ Psalm Ixxvi., 10. 4 Miscellany, page 359. s Romans viii., 28. 32 a tribute of Hobe In the eternal righteousness of this un- changing law, you, beloved, are redeemed and revealed to us, as a demonstrator of genuine Christian Science, as taught by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and we are following and rejoicing as the way grows brighter "unto the perfect day."^ Loyally, faithfully, lovingly your student, <^:^£^ ^mJu*. 9<^L^ — « Proverbs iv., i8. 33 g>tatement a^ to €hvi^tian Science, 3tfi{ Smmebiate ^tmomivatitm The foundation of Christian Science is fairly and squarely stated by its Discoverer and Founder, Mary Baker Eddy, in The Christian Science Journal of February, 1909, pages 696 and 697, in the following words: Spirit is infinite ; therefore Spirit is all. * ' There is no matter" is not only the axiom of true Christian Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated. In the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 465, we read: Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe. 35 ai tltriiiute of Eobe On page 475 of the same work, Science and Health, we read : Man is spiritual and perfect; and because he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so understood in Christian Science. Because the apparent evidence presented to and cognized by the five so-called physical senses denies each and all of the propositions quoted, this seeming evidence must have its basis on that which is the opposite of the Principle of these propositions. On pages 591 and 592 of Science and Health appears the following defini- tion of mortal mind : Mortal Mind. Nothing claiming to be some- thing, for Mind is immortal; mythology; error creating other errors; a suppositional material sense, alias the belief that sensation is in matter, which is sensationless ; a belief that life, sub- stance, and intelligence are in and of matter; the opposite of Spirit, and therefore the opposite of God, or good; the belief that life has a beginning and therefore an end; the belief that man is the offspring of mortals ; the belief that there can be 36 a tribute of Hobe more than one creator; idolatry; the subjective states of error ; material senses ; that which neither exists in Science nor can be recognized by the spiritual sense; sin; sickness; death. And also on page 591 appears the following definition of matter : . . . illusion; . . . the opposite of Spirit; . . . that which mortal mind sees, feels, hears, tastes, and smells only in belief. On pages 189, 117, and 126 of Science and Health, we read: From mortal mind comes the reproduction of the species. . . . matter is the subjective condition of mortal mind. Evidence drawn from the five physical senses relates solely to human reason. Himian thought never projected the least portion of true being. Here we have two sets of three quotations each from the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by 37 ja ^tribute of Hobe Mary Baker Eddy, or from other writings by the same author. The statements in the last three quotations, beginning with Mrs. Eddy's definition of mortal mind, describe that which is the direct antipode of the three propositions first quoted; this thought is clearly and briefly expressed in Science and Health, page 191 : The Science of being reveals man and im- mortality as based on Spirit. Physical sense defines mortal man as based on matter, and from this premise infers the mortality of the body. From these quotations the following deduc- tions are clearly and logically drawn: First, that man is the reflection of Spirit, Principle, Mind, God, and is therefore spiritual and perfect. Second, that the so-called physical or material, mortal man, sick, sinning, and dying, is the expression of a false sense, named in Christian Science ''mortal mind, alias matter,"' and that both mortal mind and its expression is illusion. The fact implied in this statement requires both ' Science and Health, page 391. 38 S ®rifeiite of Hobe a demonstrator and a demonstration. As mortal man, the illusion, is the counterfeit of the real man, and as this counterfeit is mani- fested through the concept of a so-called hu- man father and mother, so the real Fatherhood and Motherhood of God, as the only Parent of man, is exemplified in Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. But the demonstration is not complete until Spirit has manifested, through Her idea. Her first-born of spiritual conception. This also requires both a demonstrator and a demonstra- tion. This demonstration consists in the com- plete denial of the physical, mortal, so-called man, who is not a reality, but an illusion, not an entity, but an objectified false sense, which must therefore be completely and entirely dissolved in its every manifestation; and the bringing into visible, substantial, spiritual manifestation, the real man, the offspring of Spirit. This demonstration, as the natural sequence of the manifestation of the Fatherhood and 39 a tJribute of ILobe Motherhood of God, by Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, and dependent upon it, is the work of our beloved teacher, Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., who will complete in divine order, "the chain of scientific being." ^ March 19, 1918. ' Science and Health, page 271. 40 New Rochelle, N. Y. August 8, 1919. Beloved teacher: — I took up Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy to compare a few dates, and I opened to the letter Mrs. Eddy wrote you, more than a month ajter her alleged letter to the Board of directors which was read to us, at a rehearsal of our Oratorio Society' last Sunday evening. This letter to you, removed from you every obligation to the material organization and left you free to teach and demonstrate absolute Christian Science, viz., ''Spirit is infinite; there- fore Spirit is all. ' There is no matter, ' " ^ which, of course, you could not have done, while held in the bonds of material organization. I quote the entire letter : ' The Oratorio Society of the New York City Christian Science Institute. " Miscellany, page 357. 41 a Wtihutt of ILobt Box G, Brookline, Mass.^ August Thirtieth, 1909. Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D. 7 West Ninety-sixth Street, New York City. My Dear Student: Your kind letter was duly received. You know that I love you and you know that God has made, and is making His ways and works manifest through Divine Science. I trust He will direct your path in the footsteps of His flock. The Holy Bible, Science & Health and The Mother Church Manual are your safe guides, follow them. I have not the time to think of the Students in all their varied duties of life, but I have the faith to leave them in the hands of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth none. As ever yours in Christ, Mary Baker Eddy. The Leader freed you then from all material, personal domination, so that you could make » Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters oj Mary Baker Eddy, facing page 164. 42 ^ Wtihutt of ILobt your "wholly spiritual"^ demonstration to be- hold her reappearing, in her demonstration of Christian Science. In this letter you have her assurance, that she considered you a Christian Scientist, by recognizing your spiritual status in the following words, ''you know that God has made, and is making. His ways and works manifest through Divine Science," also by con- tinuing to recognize your right to the degree of C.S.D. which she conferred upon you many years ago. Only through spiritual sense could you discern the operation of Principle, Spirit, in the overturning and self-destruction of all material organization. Mrs. Eddy's prophetic words, ''you know that God has made, and is making His ways and works manifest through Divine Science," have been verified in the disturbed conditions of the material world, during the last five years. Truly has God said, ' ' I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: . . . until he come whose right ^ Miscellany, page 357. 43 a ^xibnit of Hobe it is; and I will give it him."' Our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has purchased the right to reappear, as compound idea, and rule, with Christ, all nations with the mighty power of divine Love. Her assurance, ''You know that I love you"^ doubtless gave you courage to meet your su- preme test, when excommunicated from the material organization, by the directors of the material organization. Mrs. Eddy, like her Master, Jesus Christ, loved only good, and hated, or repelled, evil. As each test of our faith and understanding is scientifically met, I am stronger and firmer in my conviction, that you are fulfilling the law of Love, which the Leader imposed upon you, when she sent you to New York City to establish **the Christianity of Christian Science."^ Your students recognize this spiritual fact, » Ezekiel xxi., 27. ' Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, facing page 164. 3 Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 14. 44 a tribute of Hobe viz., that your unswerving, unterrified allegiance to Principle, through all the trickery, "upbraid- ing"' and "sudden sallies"^ of "the enemy of good " ^ has fitted you, beyond all others, to guard the sacred trust left to us by Mrs. Eddy. She confirms the conviction of your students in her letter to you, in which she says, "mother loves you and appreciates your scientific demon- stration over my other students. ""* It is glorious to know that our years of prayer and watching with our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and with you, our teacher, in the over- coming of material sense testimony and the hourly striving to prove that, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. . . . man is not material; he is spiritual,"^ I repeat, it is glorious that during this travail from sense to Soul, Truth and Love have forced » Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, facing page 164. 2 Miscellany, page 201. 3 Miscellany, page 358. * Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, page 393. s Science and Health, page 468. 45 a tribute of ILobe the carnal mind to defend itselj against the on- coming Christ. We will not cease our warfare against the claim of evil, until the "foam and fury of illegitimate living and of fearful and doleful dying "^ cease under the law of self- extinction. I have been reading again the history of EHjah and Elisha. The story applies to you and to our Leader, Mrs. Eddy. Every time EHjah said, "Tarry here, I pray thee,"'' Elisha replied, *'As thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." And the two went on together. Elisha was confident of his ability to follow his master. You, dear teacher, have proved your spiritual ability to continue your spiritual walk with your Leader and Teacher, and as she requested, you have not been separated^ from your Leader. All this time the sons of the prophets kept telling Elisha that Elijah would leave him. But » Science and Health, page 203. =» II Kings ii., 1-16. 3 Miscellany, page 358. 46 ^ Zvihntt of Hobe Elisha bade them hold their peace; and he, alone, was able to grasp the fact, that Elijah had not died, but had only risen above Elisha 's spir- itual ability to visualize him. He continued to follow the impersonal idea, or Elijah. But until the coming of Christ Jesus, we have no evidence that prophet or seer ever reappeared, in proof that man, in God's image and likeness, is deathless. The sons of the prophets could not grasp what had taken place. Through material sense they could not visualize Elijah. They sent strong men to search the mountain tops, lest the Spirit of the Lord had taken up Elijah and ''cast him upon some mountain." And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master : lest peradven- ture the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley (II Kings ii., i6). To-day, Christian Scientists who have not even pecked the shell of material organization, 47 ai ^tribute of ILobt do not know what the Lord has done with their Leader, nor do they apprehend her reappearing, as idea, in the image and Hkeness of God. We are rejoicing that through spiritual sense we know her as the representative of the Mother- hood of God and are watching for her to reveal to us the glory of God in the second coming of the compound idea, man. The Apostle said, ''All flesh [humanity] shall see the salvation of God,"' "they also which pierced him,"'' but, only those who have built securely on a "wholly spiritual foundation " will be able to retain the spiritual concept of man in the image and likeness of God. In that day, to those who have the Mind of Christ, his words will be fulfilled: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. "^ To the materially minded will apply the words of Christ's beloved disciple, John: I Luke iii., 6. ' Revelation i., 7. 3 Matthew XXV., 34. 48 la Zxibntt of Hobe And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation vi., 15-17.) We must, therefore, have our lamps of spirit- ual sense trimmed and burning, for the Bride- groom is near and imparts to us a quickened sense of joyous expectancy. My thoughts run back over the many years I have been coming to you, as a student, often bringing you my little personal problems, which to me, at the time, were very real. I dwell on your wonderful love and continued watch-care of me in obedience to our Leader's injunction found in Science and Health, page 451 : Every Christian Scientist, every conscientious teacher of the Science of Mind-heaHng, knows 4 49 a ^tibnit of ILobe that human will is not Christian Science, and he must recognize this in order to defend himself from the influence of human will. He feels morally obligated to open the eyes of his students that they may perceive the nature and methods of error of every sort, especially any subtle degree of evil, deceived and deceiving. Also in the Manual of The Mother Church, page 83 : A teacher shall not assume personal control of, or attempt to dominate his pupils, but he shall hold himself morally obligated to promote their progress in the understanding of divine Principle, not only during the class term but after it, and to watch well that they prove sound in sentiment and practical in Christian Science. For all these years of your patient guidance my heart overflows with gratitude to you. No mother could have guided her infant's footsteps more tenderly than you have guided mine toward the goal of eternal Life and Love. A large body of grateful people are on the mental wireless, testifying on your behalf. Your 50 a Wvibntt of ILobt teaching and example followed have brought them out of great tribulation and are feeding their hungry affections with spiritual food. If all the material evidence in the world were produced in an endeavor to convince me that Mrs. Eddy hsid failed to make you a demonstra- tor of genuine Christian Science, that this Science might be preserved until her reappearing as idea, I should still know that your names were linked by her **in unity and love"' in your church. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. You are the first-born of her teaching and no material evidence can refute it. So far as I can learn, not one Christian Scien- tist has proclaimed the probability or possibility of Mrs. Eddy's demonstration of divine meta- physics, viz., ''There is No Death. "^ Only you, among all calling themselves Christian Scientists, have declared this fact to the doubt- ing disciples and blind humanity. I see a con- ^ Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page page 34. * Miscellany, page 297. 51 gi QCritiute of Hobe firmation of this in the following quotation from Mrs. Eddy's letter to you: You keep the Golden Rule in this way; and my gratitude is golden beyond words. DarHng rise each hour; now is the resurrection morn and I want Augusta to be my Mary {Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 403). I was very much interested in the words of the noted aviator, Mr. P. . ., who was present recently at a rehearsal of our Oratorio Society. You, with your Pilot, our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, are making a record height, and we in our aeroplanes, are following after you, in spiritual ''formation," as high as our in- dividual understanding, at present, permits us to do. Our wings must be tested and proved. The flight is sure. The landing on the shore of eternal Life and Love awaits demonstration. Your last book. My Spiritual Aeroplane, is an inspiration to all who read it. Dear teacher, I wish I could voice all the love 52 ja Zxibvitt of Hobe and gratitude and tenderness I feel for you, and the deep sense of my abiding consciousness of your ability to demonstrate the highest and purest Science — the fulfilment of the law of Love. Youhave taught me to see my Leader, as God's Anointed, in a measure I had never before been able to grasp. I know that she is leading us and will continue to lead us ''All the rugged way."' You once spoke to us of the "crown of dia- monds" willed to you by Mrs. Eddy. Do you recall the letter from her, on page i68, of Remi- niscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, in which she says: Even the crown of thorns that mocked the bleed- ing brow of our blessed Lord, was over-crowned with a diadem of duties done. Surely you have won that crown. Each attempted attack of the mental as- sassin only proves how strong is your armor and the blade falls at your feet, broken in its conflict against Truth. ' Miscellaneous Writings, page 398. 53 ai ^tribute of ILobe How blessed are we, your student-body, to- gether with the members of your Oratorio Society, all of whom are striving *'to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation." We must be the ''chosen generation,"' "the rem- nant of her seed."'' This I know, just as posi- tively as I know that you are the highest visible demonstrator of Truth and Love. You request us to try to be always in our places at the rehearsals. This we realize is the reward you desire for all your faithful care over us. We pray we will always be at our posts, doing God's work — reflecting infinite Love, which is the spirit of Christian Science. We are all striving earnestly to give you this reward and to be the jewels in your crown of rejoicing. With dearest love, gratefully and humbly, I sign myself. Your student, ' I Peter ii., 9. ' Revelation xii., 17, 54 448 Riverside Drive, New York City. August I, 1919. My very dear teacher: — "The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook."' As the morning Hght, which grows into noon- day glory, as the bud opens into the beauty of a rose, so is the unfolding of our holy Leader's (Mary Baker Eddy's) message entitled, ''The Way of Wisdom," which was published in The Christian Science Journal, February, 1909. Through this message, Mrs. Eddy poured forth her desire — a prayer that a response would fol- low, which would reveal the fruit of her tire- less labor, viz.. Christian Scientists who were ready to begin ''to build ... on a wholly » Proverbs xviii. , 4. 55 ^ aCriftute of ILobe spiritual foundation,"' even that laid by Christ Jesus. Thus, united in one holy purpose, Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy have presented to humanity the compound spiritual idea of God. Through spiritual sense we behold prophecy fulfilled in Christ Jesus and we find ourselves able to interpret St. John in his book of Revela- tion. The second appearing of Christ, the compound spiritual idea of God, was embodied, in this age, in a woman, the representative of the Motherhood of God. Thus the Fatherhood and Motherhood of God in Christ Jesus and Christ Mary have obtained recognition. The over- turning and final destruction of all materiality and evil, that opposes God and His infinite ideas or manifestation, is imminent. St. John saw the final warfare of Truth with error and the rapid spiritual evolution, which would lead to the full realization of ''a new heaven and a new earth. "^ This holy Jeru- ' Miscellany, page 357. » Revelation xxi., i. 56 ai ^vibntt of ILobt salem, "the glory of God," or the real universe and man in God's image and likeness, as St. John describes it in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation, may seem afar off to some and not even looked for by others, but to St. John it was revealed through spiritual sense, nearly two thousand years ago. This holy state of being, ever since, has been awaiting our ac- ceptance. Our great Leader's call for "my dear brethren in New York ... to enlarge their phylac- teries and demonstrate Christian Science to a higher extent"' was divine and timely, and her heart must have been gladdened with an im- mediate response from you and your student- body in a letter entitled, "Where Shall Wisdom Be Found. "^ Webster's Dictionary thus defines the word, "Phylacteries. ... a watcher, guard . . . to watch, guard, i. Any charm or amulet ^ Miscellany, page 357. '' The Christian Science Journal, volume xxvi., page 697. 57 a tiribute of Hobe worn as a preservative from danger or disease. 2. A small, square box, made either of parch- ment or of black calfskin, containing slips of parchment or vellum on which are written the scriptural passages, Exodus xiii.,2-io,and 11-17, Deut. vi., 4-9, 13-22." For more than fifty years our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, built on a ''wholly spiritual foundation," — the Rock — Christ and as *'a watcher, guard," she saw the dangers which are found in the material organization of her Church. Call after call came from her to her Church to look through and beyond the ''partition wall" — the image of human concep- tion and to follow her in the unfolding of spirit- ual sense and so become a conscious, living member in the Church Triumphant — "The structure of Truth and Love "^— The Mother Church. The closing of the original or material church in Boston, the organization known as "First Members" which, later, was called "Ex- ecutive Members" and later the disbanding of ^ Science and Health, page 583. 58 la Zxibutt of Hobe the ''Executive Members,"' and still later the closing of the "Mother's Room," were the pre- liminary m.oves towards the "excelsior exten- sion"^ of The Mother Church and was followed later by Mrs. Eddy's request to her "dear brethren in New York" to begin to build "on a wholly spiritual foundation, than which there is no other, and proportionably estimate their suc- cess and glory of achievement only as they build upon the rock of Christ, the spiritual foundation. This will open the way, widely and impartially, to their never-ending success, — to salvation and eternal Christian Science. "^ Regarding the closing of the ' ' Mother's Room, ' ' Mrs. Eddy says : There is nothing in this room now of any special interest. "Let the dead bury their dead," and the spiritual have all place and power {Miscellany, p. 353). Last of all we read in the By-Laws of the Manual of The Mother Church her recognition of "^ Manual of The Mother Church, page 18. 'Miscellany, page 6. ^Miscellany, page 357. 59 ^tribute of Hobe her prerogative, in regard to offices that shall not be filled without her oral or written consent. These are the signs of the times in accord with spiritual growth and they herald the second coming of Christ. This "handwriting on the wall" was read by those, who, in response to Mrs. Eddy's request were beginning "to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation." It was a clarion call to come under ' ' the divine law of Love."^ In Miscellaneous Writings, on pages 144 and 145, our Leader says: The Church, more than any other institution, at present is the cement of society, and it should be the bulwark of civil and religious liberty. But the time cometh when the religious element, or Church of Christ, shall exist alone in the affec- tions, and need no organization to express it. This our Leader said in 1894, twenty-five years ago. Spirit, the law of progress, compels respect and obedience through spirituaHzation » Science and Health, page 30. 60 a tribute of ILobe of thought and act. Again, on page 359 of Miscellaneous Writings, Mrs. Eddy states the spiritual fact, viz. : Material organization is requisite in the begin- ning; but when it has done its work, the purely Christly method of teaching and preaching must be adopted. When the brethren in First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, responded to her call to begin "to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation," the great Leader of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, witnessed their deHverance from the autocratic, ecclesiastical domination of a material organization and rejoiced in their spiritual cooperation to demon- strate spiritual man in God's image and Hkeness, and teach humanity to accept Christ's Chris- tianity, viz., "Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. 'There is no matter,"*^ "man is not material; he is spiritual."^ ' Miscellany, page 357. » Science and Health, page 468. 61 ai tltibute of Hobe Our Leader is rejoicing in the progress of Truth in universal consciousness and to-day we see Christ, walking on the sea of error and commanding the winds and waves, as they lash out their fury on the shores of time. Everywhere we recognize the manifestation of God's presence, through His ideas or spiritual man. In Science and Health, page 96, our dear Leader foresaw this day, when she stated, * ' On one side there will be discord and dismay; on the other side there will be Science and peace." As followers of Christ, on which side are we thinking and living? On whatever side we think, we live, and the phenomena of our thoughts appear. The world is our thought objectified. Mrs. Eddy says, ''all causation was Mind, and every effect a mental phenome- non."' As there is but one Mind, God, the only phenomena must be spiritual, eternal. The phenomena of so-called mortal mind there- » Retrospection and Introspection, page 24. 62 13 Wxibntt of Hobe fore, become to the Christian Scientists, shadows of a time-world — nothingness. Through spiritual sense we behold the cloud of universal chemicalization, known as the world-war, with the turbulent conditions throughout the time- world, which are the result of the warring elements in the so-called carnal mind. These phenomena reveal the ever- present Christ, destroying evil in human con- sciousness. Autocratic human will in its grossest forms, is being met on the mental battle-field, and victory will be on the side of Truth, manifesting itself in the highest form of Government, which is foretold in Isaiah : The government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- sellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The conflict in the carnal mind is expressed, at present, in deadly implements of warfare, but the power of Truth, operating through man in 63 a JDrifaute of ILobe God's image and likeness, heralds the invisible host, which is coming to proclaim Christ, "King of kings, and Lord of lords."' Lasting peace and divine democracy cannot come to individ- uals and nations, until the autocratic human will and energy, the beUef of life, truth, in- telligence, and substance in matter is de- stroyed. In looking up the Bible references that were enclosed in the "phylacteries," one thought stands out vividly in Exodus, thirteenth chap- ter, second verse, "Sanctify unto Me [God] all the first-born." The Jewish worshippers, mate- rialistic in their obedience to the law of God, sanctified the first-born of personal sense by sacrificing a lamb, a bullock, or a turtle-dove, anything but themselves, as a burnt offering to God. Abraham sacrificed himself. Spiritual sense enabled him to sacrifice himself and in obedience to God's command, he laid on the altar his only son Isaac. Christ declared, "he »ITimothy vi., 15. 64 a afrihute of Hobe that loseth his life [material sense] for my sake shall find it" ^— shall find eternal Life. Thanks to Christ Jesus and Christ Mary for giving us the ' ' Holy Ghost. Divine Science ; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love."' Through their spiritual vision and teaching we behold the ideal man— the ' ' first-born. ' ' Thanks to you, dear teacher, our heroic spiritual ''builder" toward the world of Mind and divine metaphysics, for your steadfast affirmation of our holy Leader's living presence and for your fidelity to ' ' the remnant of her seed, " ^ her sheep whom she bade you feed. "* Patient, long-suffering, loving, forgiving, faithful teacher, no human desire, no material thing can ever reward you for your loyalty to God and His Christ and for your continued fidel- ity to our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. The spirit of the Master, in you, is assimi- ^ Matthew x., 39. 2 Science and Health, page 588. 3 Revelation xii., 17. ^ Reminiscences , Sermons, and Correspondence, page 215. s 65 a tCribute of Hobe lating itself to Love and this Christly love alone has satisfied your immortal cravings and has enabled you to continue in spiritual mental ascension with your Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy. Therefore according to her injunction, you have not allowed the "enemy of good"' to "separate"' you from her. Christ Jesus prayed : " O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self."'' We, your faithful students, can help you and humanity, by follow- ing in the way of light and revelation, which will throw into your path beams of gratitude and love, and will cheer you, as you rise to the mountain heights to behold "the risen Lord." Please pardon my long letter. ". . . thoughts, illumined By faith "^ are flooding my consciousness and I enjoy, with the joy of Spirit, a chat with you in one of our Father's mansions, our spiritual consciousness. The first-born of man in God's image and likeness is "the only ^ Miscellany, page 358. ^ John xvii., 5. 3 Miscellaneous Writings, p. 396. 66 a ^rifiute of iLobe begotten Son"' — the Christ. The first-born of all, whether animal, fowl, fish, flower, mineral, or vegetable, have always existed as ideas of God and finally spiritual sense will reveal them, for God is the only creator. Here we may see how personal sense, auto- cratic domination and the claim to a material generation have attempted to counterfeit God's creation — God's ideas which have always ex- isted, therefore were the first-born, not of the flesh but the Spirit. This is the interpretation of Paul's words: ''The first-born of every crea- ture,"^ viz., through which Spirit, Mind, God, operates. Mrs. Eddy says, "Principle and its idea is one."^ Christ Jesus confirms this in his declaration, "Before Abraham was, I am."^ Thus spiritual sense reveals the fact that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. "^ Christ is bringing to an end the phenomena of "lust and hypocrisy"^ — a material, mortal ^ John iii., i8. ^ Colossians i., 15. 3 Science and Health, p. 465. 4 John viii., 58. s I Corinthians x., 26. <> Science and Health, page 567. 67 9 JTtftute of Hobe so-called man and a material universe. Glory be to God, Christ calls to-day louder than ever to the dragon and his angels, "Loose him, and let him go."' This demand of Truth is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"' and finally will awaken all to individuaHty in God — the spiritual personaHty of man. Every day we are learning wonderful lessons in the unfold- ing of Truth, from the labors of our great Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and her students who have been spiritually born through her travail from sense to Soul. The grandest, noblest and only successful work is to "be about my [our] Father's business."^ I have been reaHzing lately more than ever the necessity of spiritualization of thought. Our great Master said, "I and my Father are one. "4 He called the image of mortal mind, the mat- » John xi., 44. =" Ephesians vi., 17. 3 Luke ii., 49. " John x., 30. 68 a 5Dri6ute of Hobe ter body, "flesh and bones."' He carefully kept a wide gulf between the so-called organized matter body and himself, his ego, his reflection of the Ego — God. He never held a belief -image as himself. He never named an organ, never diagnosed the claim of organic life. He under- stood and felt his substance, his spiritual iden- tity, which he knew to be immortal and ever-present, hence his saying, ''Destroy this temple,"^ this shadow which seems to be but is not real, and I, my spiritual individuality, will manifest myself to you. The disciples recog- nized their Master but material sense soon hid him from their view. Spiritual sense would have enabled them to visualize and follow their Master. The true Christian Scientist abides in Truth and is sustained by Life and Love — God. Spiritual qualities, which compose the nature of God, blend harmoniously in the reflection of one Principle and in individual harmonious being. ^Luke xxiv., 39. 'John ii., 19. 69 a Crftute of Hobe As builders on a ''wholly spiritual founda- tion," we must live outside and above material organization and find happiness in unselfed labor for God and humanity. True happiness never comes until we find our "own in another's good."' To all I would say, forget yourself, destroy a belief that you are organized matter and find your real self in Mind. This is Christ's Christianity, divine democracy. The reading of our precious Leader's books, and the repetition of words, the letter of Chris- tian Science, will not alone give us the living presence of our Christ, Leader. We must gain both the letter and the spirit of Christian Science and possess the quaHties of Spirit, if we would walk with her and understand her words, "En- tirely separate from the beHef and dream of material Hving, is the Life divine."' Oh, my dear teacher, what it means to love divinely ! You know and have found what it * Science and Health, page 518. » Science and Health, page 14. 70 la Zvihntt of ILobt means to love divinely, as Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy loved, viz., to love your enemies and pray for them. I pray that I may be found worthy to be called a follower and promulgator of the teach- ings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Ever your loving, grateful student, 71 The light of the body is the eye thy whole bodyfpolitjc] lam the Lord your Goo which ha ifthereforethine eye be single shall be full of light. seoarated you from other people" Ley/iicus 2 0-1* A NEW ORDCR or AGES IS BORN -"^ n'ew oVAppTnG^ Is^fT DOWN fftOM LOFTY HEAVEN- THC coming man in whom the iron age LNOS'H'f-TMe (jLlLDtN AOf ARiitS.i,N TMf WHOLE EARTH MANASSEH ^^^ BROTHtRb W'^ EPHRAIM JONATHAN AND JOHN '1 believe strictly in tiie Monroe doctrine, in oor Constitulion.and in tlie laws of muhsskr^ddy. Hail brother! fling thy banner Brave Britain, blest America! To the billows and the breeze; Unite your battle plan, We proffer thee warm welcome Yiclorlous all who live Itr With our hand, though not our knees. The love for &0D and \m^MrfBjcr[(jdY ONE GOD ONE Lu^^V DIVINE DEMOCRACY UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD The above shield, or escutcheon, arranged by Mrs. Augusta E. vStetson, C. S. D., has been upon the fagade of her house since the summer of 191 7. Definition of Shield: "The escutcheon upon which emblems of heraldry [spiritual] are depicted" (Standard Dictionary). (Reproduced by permission) la tribute of Hobe Excerpt from a letter^ sent by Mary Baker Eddy to be read at the Dedicatory service of Mrs. Stetson's church, First Church of Christ, Scien- tist, New York City, November 3, 1903, also Mrs. Eddy's reply to a telegram from the church: The tender memorial engraven on your grand edifice stands for human self lost in divine light, melted into the radiance of His likeness. It stands for meekness and might, for Truth as attested by the Founder of your denomination and emblazoned on the fair escutcheon of your church. Beloved Students: — Your telegram, in which you present to me the princely gift of your magni- ficent church edifice in New York City, is an unexpected token of your gratitude and love. I deeply appreciate it, profoundly thank you for it, and gratefully accept the spirit of it; but I must decline to receive that for which you have sacrificed so much and labored so long. May divine Love abundantly bless you, reward you according to your works, guide and guard you and your church through the depths ; and may you "Who stood the storm when seas were rough, Ne'er in a sunny hour fall off." * Miscellany f page 194. 73 Hotel Touraine, New York City. July 12, 1919. Beloved teacher: — Forgive me if I intrude upon your sacred moments of spiritual work for the relief of suffer- ing humanity. I am strongly moved to record for you, a few of the wonderful phenomena, which the recent visit of the British dirigible, R-34, expressed in the clearly defined spiritual parallel with your illumination in the uniting of America (Manasseh) and Great Britain (Eph- raim).' Only you, dear teacher, the Joseph among your brethren, perceive, as near fulfil- ment, this uniting of Manasseh and Ephraim. Spiritual definition of Joseph : ... a higher sense of Truth rebuking mortal belief, or error, and showing the immortality and 'Genesis xlviii. 75 ai V^tibntt of ILobe supremacy of Truth; pure affection blessing its enemies (Science and Health, p. 589). On Wednesday, July 2, 1919, the R-34 left Scotland with a definite destination before her, the landing at the great aviation field at Mineola, Long Island. The Indian name for Mineola is "Lovely Water.'* While we are fast dissolving all belief in ma- terial generation, every illusion of ''Ancestral Shadows,'" it is significant to remember how reverently our great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, spoke of "the Scotch and English elements," or spiritual qualities, which the Scotch Cove- nanters, or stock, from which she was descend- ed, expressed. We recall how often she speaks of and quotes from the writings of Sir Walter Scott, and how she uses his verses put in the mouth of Rebecca the Jewess, in Ivanhoe, to illustrate the spiritual guidance of the child- ren of Israel, in their triumphant passage ^Retrospection and Introspection, page i. 76 a tribute of Hobe through the Red Sea, out of the wilderness and into the promised land. The Commander of the R-34 is named Scott. On July 2nd, at the rehearsal of our Oratorio Society,' you spoke of the shepherd and the sheep, and with your inscrutable and far-seeing wisdom, beloved teacher, you read to us Eze- kiel's prophecy concerning the false shepherds of Israel.^ Mrs. Eddy's definition of ''Sheep. Inno- cence; inoffensiveness; those who follow their leader. "3 For spiritual continuity and chronological accuracy, it is necessary, just here, to relate chat immediately after our singing on Wednes- day evening of ' * Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, "4 to God and His Christ, I started for Virginia, where, on the eve of Independence Day, before the United States Marine Corps, » The Oratorio Society of the New York City Christian Science Institute. ^ Ezekiel xxxiv. 3 Science and Health, page 594 . " Colossians iii. ,16. 77 a ai:riijute of Hobe The National Anthem, "Our America,"' was sung publicly for the seventh time in fourteen days, the last verse of which rang out with enthusiasm : America, America, the God of love, Whose name is every name above, Is thy defense. 'Tis thou must lead the longing world From phantom fears to Love's unfurled Omnipotence. That evening the words of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, together with your declara- tion, "One God, One Law, Divine Democracy, Universal Brotherhood," were voiced by the Marines with repetition and listened to rever- ently. Twelve times the verses of * ' Our Amer- ica" were sung by the Marines, as well as the five verses of "Love's Lullaby."^ It was in Virginia, just three hundred years ago, that the ^ Words by Alice Morgan Harrison, music by Augusta E. Stetson, C. S. D., published by G. Schirmer, New York. ^ Words and music by Augusta E. Stetson, C. S. D,, pub- lished by G. Schirmer, New York. 78 a QCribute of Hobe first representative assembly in America was established. The mighty spiritual power of our Oratorio and Anthem rehearsal, which was sung on July 2nd, our three days of prayer to the God of Life and Love for the people, which included June 29th, July 2nd, and July 4th— these hours of prayer and fasting were followed by great spiritual illumination. The overthrow of the Peruvian government in Lima (the ancient seat of the oppressive Spanish kings) in the early morning of July 4th, indicates humanity's resistance to autocracy. At that hour, July 4th, under the law of divine direction symboHzed in the dirigible R-34, Ephraim (Great Britain) was coming to Manasseh (America) the first-born of Joseph. The affluent, protecting, godly, Joseph charac- ter which America symbolizes, was revealed in type, in the beautiful, pure white fur robe that was brought from Lima and presented to you July 4, 1919. 79 S ^tribute at Hobe To-day I turned to the momentous ''Com- posite Letter,"' and found that you had sent it to the Leader on July lo, 1908, the day preced- ing the Communion service. It was just ten years later, shortly after midnight, on her return voyage to England, July 10, 1919, that the R-34 hovered nearly ten minutes over your church and your home. In Christian Science the midnight hour will always be the bridal hour, until "no night is there." The wise will have their lamps aglow, and light will illumine the darkness {Miscel- laneous Writings, p. 276). The New York Times records that : An interesting phenomenon was observed as the dirigible ascended. The three search-lights threw the shadow of the great vessel across a bank of clouds, and it showed up like a super- colossal airship against the banks of clouds. The R-34 flew the white ensign of the British Navy, . . . and as a last graceful tribute to the United ^ Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters oj Mary Baker Eddy, pages 134-156. 80 a tKribute of Hobe States, the Stars and Stripes were broken out from her forward gondola. Your glorious example, beloved teacher, of the might, majesty, and spiritual dominion of man when governed by God ; your sending forth of the "Word" charged with the dynamic force of the reflection of Love, which is a chastening rod to the claim of sin, make you seem, to your flock, not only a tender shepherdess, for ''Ten- derness accompanies all the might imparted by Spirit,"^ but a colossal, spiritual battleship, which has risen above every wave of mortal conception, material sense. You have met and destroyed, for yourself, the claim to power, of "the prince ... of the air"^ — the belief of material generation. You are a master builder on the spiritual foundation, the Rock, Christ. You have risen above the storms and clouds of belief, through spiritualization of thought and are rising to the heights of "conception unconfined ^Science and Health, page 514. ^Ephesians ii., 2. 6 81 a Zxibntt oC Hobe . . . winged to reach the divine glory."' You are proving the power of spiritual life and love. You sent forth the Word, at the last Oratorio rehearsal, that "the press belongs to God," as do all things, for ''the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof."^ "He [God] spake, and it was done." 3 The unified unfurling of the flags of America and Great Britain, symbolizing the unity of Manasseh and Ephraim, the . . . bridal Betokened from above, "* this unified unfurling is externalized in the shield on the fagade of your house. We have our Leader's words for authority that she spake through the press. She wrote you : You will hear from me soon through the news- papers on the Episcopal Congress. It will help you dear one to meet the armaments of concealed ^ Science and Health, page 323. 3 Psalm xxiv., i. 3 Psalm xxxiii., 9. 4 "The United States to Great Britain," Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 10. S2 la tCribute of Hobe warfare (Extract from her letter to you, re- corded in Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 393). Every day we have proof that she is speaking, not only through her Monitor, but through her followers who are building on a " wholly spiritual foundation."^ Truth and Love detect and destroy "the armaments of concealed warfare," through every channel. Of this you have had incontrovertible proof. You also spoke one night, with solemn em- phasis and warning, of America's spiritual con- ception and leadership among the nations, and charged the Leader's words into universal thought three times with stupendous power, "I believe strictly in the Monroe doctrine, in our Constitution, and in the laws of God."^ The British dirigible, that which is being direct- ed, in being directed to hover over Mrs. Eddy's and your church and home (her name is in ^ Miscellany, page 357. ' Miscellany, page 282. 83 la tribute of ICobe the corner-stone with yours "in unity and love"'), was obeying a royal, spiritual mandate, thus typifying the removal of the material crown from Ephraim's brow, and fulfilling the Leader's prophecy that : They must renounce aggression, oppression and the pride of power. Christianity, with the crown of Love upon her brow, must be their queen of life {Science and Health, p. 451). In the dirigible's name the "R" signifies royalty and 3 and 4, making seven, represent completeness. The crowning, in the Holy City, of Manasseh, America, the first-born of Joseph, at the seat of spiritual sovereignty and govern- ment, symbolizes the dethronement of Israel after the flesh, material conception, and the entering into the temple of the first-born, or the "wholly spiritual" consciousness, or building, which is the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."^ ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page 34. ' II Corinthians v., i. 84 a V^xibutt of Hotie The R-34 was the new star of hope, guiding to "where the young child was,"^ the spiritual idea, and bringing the tender message, that the Church Triumphant, symboHzed by The Mother Church, "The structure of Truth and Love,"^ "Love wedded to its own spiritual idea, "3 with its true "Directors," was being revealed. Thus olden faith's pale star now blends In seven-hued white ! Life, without birth and without end, Emitting light ! (Christ and Christmas, by Rev. Mary Baker Eddy.) Her Directors, or in other words, those whom she, as Leader, directs to carry on the spiritual work in Christian Science are her Christian fol- lowers, who respond to her divine influence as impersonal idea. . . . They rise with Christ into the understanding of man's relation to eternal Life and Love and their radiation in idea ^ Matthew ii., 9. ' Science and Health, page 583. ^Science and Health, page 575. 85 a tribute of Hobe — spiritual man. These Mrs. Eddy directs. ( Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 368). "The Lady," as the British officers affection- ately label their ship (and we know that her every movement was directed by the impersonal idea, the Christ consciousness) shone with a blaze of reflected light, as she hovered over your church and home, thus typifying the Mother- love of the Leader, brooding in divine light over her first-born branch church. In divine con- tinuity, it also typified the priceless love, which alone could sustain you, beloved, in your por- tentous travail of spiritual conception for your students, the first-born of the spiritual building, who have been able to follow, with you, their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. When I returned home from last evening's rehearsal of our Oratorio Society (and it is significant that we sang for the first time the Pentecostal song from "The Redemption"), I opened to these words of our Leader : 86 a ^tribute of Hobe This period is big with events . . . and por- tends much for the future. The Scriptural metaphors, — of the woman in travail, the great red dragon that stood ready to devour the child as soon as it was born, and the husbandmen that said, "This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours," — are type and shadow of this hour. A mother's love touches the heart of God. . . . Can a mother tell her child one tithe of the agonies that gave that child birth? Can that child conceive of the anguish, until she herself is become a mother ? Do the children of this period dream of the spiritual Mother's sore travail, through the long night, that has opened their eyes to the light of Christian Science? Cherish these new-born child- ren . . . that love which brooded tireless over their tender years? for all that love that hath fed them with Truth, — even the bread that Cometh down from heaven, — as the mother-bird tendeth her young in the rock-ribbed nest of the raven's callow brood! {Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 253, 254.) When I first saw the R-34 on Monday, she was bathed in a blaze of radiant sunlight, sug- 87 aCribute of Hobe gesting a rare pearl, which shone with its own luminous lustre. A priceless pearl, fit for a royal diadem, such as our Leader describes in her letter to your church : Even the crown of thorns, which mocked the bleeding brow of our blessed Lord, was over- crowned with a diadem of duties done (Miscel- lany, p. 201). Again the Leader says: All revelation (such is the popular thought!) must come from the schools and along the line of scholarly and ecclesiastical descent, as kings are crowned from a royal dynasty. In healing the sick and sinning, Jesus elaborated the fact that the healing effect followed the understanding of the divine Principle and of the Christ-spirit which governed the corporeal Jesus. For this Prin- ciple there is no dynasty, no ecclesiastical mono- poly. Its only crowned head is immortal sovereignty. Its only priest is the spiritualized man (Science and Health, p. 141). The dirigible is contructed of ''air-craft fabric'' of finest weave, covered with aluminum gloss, and when seen in a strong light, she re- 88 ai 3Crit)Ute of Hobe fleets an indeseribably lovely blue white light. It is interesting to note that she arrived on these shores just a year after the appearance of the "new blue white eagle star (Nova Aquila — number three)." The Leader uses the word * 'fabric" in a tenderly significant way in the Dedicatory Sermon to her Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass. : "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou has perfected praise." . . . precious children, your loving hearts and deft fingers distilled the nectar and painted the finest flowers in the fabric of this history, — even its centre-piece, — Mother's Room in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston {Pulpit and Press, p. 8). Our beloved Leader, the precious, protecting "mother-bird," in type and symbol of the dirigible R-34, was brooding over her "first- born" church and child and was tenderly bear- ing her "nestling" on "upward wing,"^ in her ' Miscellaneous Writings, page 389. 89 ^ tribute of Hobe airship, constructed of the "fabric" of Love, to the Mother's Room, the full consciousness of divine Love. She was "finding," with her child, their "home and heavenly rest,"' — and the "first-born" church of this "wholly spirit- ual" conception is your church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. She seemed to be singing, with you, a universal song of Love to all who could hear its heavenly harmon- ies, and to be saying: "Welcome home! To your home in my heart!"" These were her first words spoken at the last gathering of her lambs at Pleasant View. With her dear hands extended in a world-embracing gesture, she ended with this prophetic utterance : To-day is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away " (Miscel- lany, p. 171). ^ Miscellaneous Writings, page 389. ' Miscellany, page 170. 90 a Zvibntt of ICobe She also says : The bird of hope is singing A lightsome lay, a cooing call, And in her heart is beating A love for all — " *Tis peace not power I seek, 'Tis meet that man be meek." (Miscellany, p. 341.) And again Mrs. Eddy says : Extempore January i, 19 10 O blessings infinite ! O glad New Year ! Sweet sign and substance Of God's presence here. II Give us not only angels' songs, But Science vast, to which belongs The tongue of angels And the song of songs. (Miscellany, p. 354.) 91 a ^Dtifaute of Hobe You gave us a solemn admonition recently to "rise and be willing to pay the human price of being a true Christian Scientist, which is to lay the human self on the altar and rise to a ' wholly spiritual' sense of God and man and God's universe as all that really is." The new anthems and spiritual songs which we are singing are lovely in their "fabric" of mighty power and tender harmony. As we have continued to rise spiritually we have realized the import of the following words of our Leader: ... a rare revelation of infinite Love, a new tone on the scale ascending, such as eternity is ever sounding {Miscellaneous Writings, p. 292). In our singing we "unfold"^ with a shout of victory the *' portals everlasting," to receive man, the compound idea, "who death over- came," the Christ-man in the image and likeness of God. » "Unfold Ye Portals." The Redemption. Gounod. 92 a atrffiute of ILobe Your solemn admonition to rise and be willing to pay the price of being a true Christian Scien- tist was understood to mean, that we should come out from the material senses, or material world, as fast as possible and demonstrate the power of spiritual man in God's image and likeness and the phenomena, or universe, of spiritual sense. Yours is the only church in the world in whose corner-stone Mrs. Eddy left her name ''with thine in unity and love:" Pleasant View, Concord, N. H. To Mrs. A. E. Stetson: Beneath this corner-stone, in this silent, sacred sanctuary of earth's sweet songs, paeans of praise and records of Omnipotence, I leave my name with thine in unity and love. Mary Baker G. Eddy. November 30th, 1899. (Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing p. 34.) Again permit me to refer to the dirigible. Very early on Thursday morning, after it had 93 a titribute of Hobe started on its return trip, I opened my Bible to the tenth chapter of Ezekiel, which is headed ' * The vision of the coals of fire . . . vision of the cherubims, " and my eyes fell on these words : And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims. . . . The third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. . . . And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: . . . every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. I did not know, when I read these words, that the dirigible had started on her return voyage, as her meteorological officer, Lieutenant Harris, had told me, at the field in the afternoon, that she would not start before dawn on Thursday. Do you recall that your inscription in My Spirit- ual Aeroplane, for this particular officer was, *'And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. " ' An editorial appeared at that time * Genesis i., 3. 94 a tribute of ILobt in The New York Herald, headed, "Let there be light." Beloved teacher, I saw you at Mineola, last Wednesday, sitting in your motor car, admiring what material sense calls a dirigible, R-34. Your vision of twenty-four years ago recorded in Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 164, was there fulfilled in type. During these perilous years you have never been sepa- rated from your ' 'Pilot " and "Guide" to eternal Life, nor have you been moved from her side on the rock of "spiritual foundation" which has externalized itself in the R-34, sym- bolizing man liberated from the fetters of fleshly conception. Building on the rock of Christ's teachings, we have a superstructure eternal in the heavens, omnipotent on earth, encompassing time and eternity {Message for 1901, p. 25). In Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspond- ence, page 71, you say: "When man learns his 95 a tCribute of Hobe mental spiritual dominion, how buoyant will become his step!" The Leader's words in her article on the Chris- tian Science textbook, in Miscellany, page no, come to my mind : Hidden electrical forces annihilating time and space, wireless telegraphy, navigation of the air; in fact, all the et cetera of mortal mind pressing to the front, remind me of my early dreams of flying in airy space, buoyant with liberty and the luxury of thought let loose, rising higher and for- ever higher in the boundless blue. . . . The night thought, methinks, should unfold in part the facts of day, and open the prison doors and solve the bUnd problem of matter. The night thought should show us that even mortals can mount higher in the altitude of being. Mounting higher, mortals will cease to be mortal. Christ will have "led captivity captive," and immortal- ity will have been brought to light. On Monday morning last, The New York Herald chronicled in a large headHne, these words of General Maitland, who represented the British air ministry in the flight of the R-34 : 96 a ^tribute of ILobe New York City appeared to us as we circled above it, like a FAIRY LAND OF LIGHT. The delicate, fairy-like air-craft ''fabric" with its pure, fine weave which forms the body of the R-34, is expressive of the new-bom child consciousness, in which we, her spiritual child- ren, will reveal our precious spiritual Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, as she comes forth clad in her radiant "fabric" of immortality. There seems lately to be a wonderful sense of universal spiritual pregnancy, a new-bom spiritual sense of the imminent revelation of the first-born of every idea in the body of Christ. This pervading sense of immortality is expressed in our Leader's beautiful words : As sweet music ripples in one's first thoughts of it like the brooklet in its meandering midst pebbles and rocks, before the mind can duly ex- press it to the ear, — so the harmony of divine Science first broke upon my sense. . . . The divine hand led me into a new world of light and Life, a fresh universe — old to God, but 7 97 a Zvibutt of Hotie new to His "little one" {Retrospection and Introspection, p. 27). God's little ones in this "new created world" of spiritual sense into which we are entering are joining the angelic host and singing, with them, their angel songs and anthems, which are mental spiritual messengers to hungering humanity- longing for a touch of Christly love and immu- table Truth, the fruits of which are joy and peace. It is important to remember, that the dirigi- ble, with its delicate fabric body, carries power- ful motor engines, the heart of the craft. These engines are driven by petrol. Webster's defini- tion of petrol is "petroleum spirit, such as is used in producing motive power." "God is the only generating or regenerating power."' Divine Love is this motive power that conceives, unfolds, directs, and protects its own ideas. The dirigible broke material laws in her demonstration, and proved, without ^ Message for iQOi, page 9. 98 a tE^ribute of Hobe doubt, the guiding power and presence of omni- potent Love. Every argument of "the enemy of good,"' tried to control her and force her to land at Boston, but her dauntless Commander never swerved from his course, nor lost "the way," and landed on the plains of Mineola. To human sense, twenty minutes more would have meant the end of the fuel, and failure to achieve the originally conceived plans. *'We airmen," one of the officers told me, "are constantly dealing with forces we cannot see. Perhaps that makes us somewhat con- centrated and quiet." "Spiritual forces," I replied. "Some day you will understand them and grasp their mental spiritual tangibiHty and the unfaiHng operation of spiritual law." I gave him your book, My Spiritual Aeroplane, and said, "Read this Httle book receptively, and it will be a guide for you in each flight that you take." He assured me that he would read it with great interest. I Miscellany, page 358. 99 a tlribute of Hobe Twelve copies of your precious messenger, My Spiritual Aeroplane, went back with "The Lady," and one remained here with an officer of the British air forces on land, making thirteen in all. The number twelve is not only represen- tative of America, but it is America's foundation number, and the thirteenth state was added later. Professor Totten says, "Ephraim [Great Britain] was and still is the generic name for the Ten-Tribed Israel," and he further adds that ''Manasseh . . . was forced into the last or 13th place" among the tribes, through Jacob's act in adopting Ephraim as the elder. The spiritual significance of your thirteen books is apparent. Accompanying them on the R-34, were thirteen copies of your Sun article on "Manasseh and Ephraim," and many extra copies of "Our America," and "Love's Lulla- by," not only for the officers, but for all the crew. As the R-34 descended from "the boundless blue " on the morning of July 6th, at her landing, 100 a ^tribute of Hobe a beautiful phenomenon expressed itself. "The Lady" gracefully alighted in a diamond-shaped anchorage, which had been especially prepared to receive her. One of the officers described it to me as a double, or open pyramid, whose four sides held and protected her. The straight line running through the centre of the diamond, or open pyramid, forming the common base of the double pyramid, expressed its indivisibility. Manasseh and Ephraim had united. The twain had become one in Joseph. Surrounding the pyramid were eight thousand bottles of hydro- gen gas, piled in the shape of a small pyramid. "Eight" is the resurrection number, and the gas is the essential element in the ship's ascen- sion. Love is the essential element in the ascension of the spiritual aeroplane. Your banner, or shield, in type, on the fagade of your house, has been revealed, through this phenomenon of unity. You proclaim and the wise understand it. It bears the reverse side of the seal of the United States which is a pyramid, lOI a Zvibutt of Xobe with the all-seeing eye and this inscription, "Novus Ordo Seclorum." The translation is from Virgil's Eclogue. *'A new offspring is let down from lofty heaven — the coming man in whom the iron age ends, and the golden age arises in the whole earth." Thus Prophecy is being fulfilled. The R-34 resting on her pyramid, also fulfilled Totten's prophecy regarding the day to come "when, as the nations [America and Great Britain, or Manasseh and Ephraim] typified by the cherubim, our wings may touch, over the mercy seat, and the presence of the God of our fathers return to its wonted place." Our eagle with outstretched wings, on your banner, or shield, touching the flags of both nations is the cherubim, of which Professor Totten speaks, and is described by our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, in these words, "your oracle, under the wings of the cherubim, is Truth's evangel, enunciating *God is Love.'"^ This spiritual representation ^Miscellany, page 188. 102 a tCritJUte of ILobe of your shield reminds us of Christ's words at his first appearing, "This do in remembrance of me," "till I come." Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. That Thy beloved may be delivered (Psalm Ix., 4. 5)- With this redemption of Israel, in type, your banner or shield, appears as the new seal, spirit- ually conceived, and indelibly impressed and "cut," for Israel after the Spirit. Your reflec- tion of the "love which triumphs over hate " has scientifically made you the demonstrator of true Christian Science. Love must triumph over hate. Truth and Life must seal the victory over error and death, before the thorns can be laid aside for a crown, the benediction follow, ''Well done, good and faithful servant," and the supremacy of Spirit be demonstrated (Science and Health, pp. 43, 44)- 103 a ^vihntt of Hobe On the day and almost at the hour, that the dirigible touched these shores, the Leader's words were recalled : To THE Big Children Father- Mother good, lovingly Thee I seek, — Patient, meek, In the way Thou hast, — Be it slow or fast. Up to Thee. {Miscellaneous Writings, p. 400.) Last Sunday, at the hour when the dirigible was landing in England, the parable of "the prodigal son" was sung in our church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, and the sending of Naaman to Samaria to be cleansed of the leprous qualities, of "aggression, oppression and the pride of power"' was read. He too had to become as a little child, and follow the spiritual guidance of the little maid of Israel, who led him at that hour for healing to * Science and Health, page 451. 104 ia tCtibute of Eobe the "highest visible idea"^ (EHsha). Through obedience and humility, Naaman was healed, and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean (II Kings v.). To-day I opened to your letter to your student- body on page 237, in Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, written sixteen years ago from the Hotel Touraine, Boston, on July 15, 1903: Dearly Beloved: — "Stem the tide; walk triumphant on the shores of immortal consciousness, and rest beside the still waters on the 'Plains of Peace.'" These words I saw mentally last night, and as the letters came out and I spelled them, I took them as a promise and send them to you. . . . Take care of the lambs. Let each love more and be more Chris tly-meek. This will make them mighty, and reflect omnipotent Love, which destroys all sin. One more thought. Jacob gave to Joseph this "parcel or field." There Abraham pitched * Science and Health, page 560. 105 a Zxibntt of iLobe his tent, and built an altar under an oak. Major John C. Squire, chief signal officer of the United States Army, in a recent article entitled, "Tree Telephony and Telegraphy" says: From the moment an acorn is planted in fertile soil, it becomes a "detector" and a "receiver" of electro-magnetic waves, and the marvellous properties of this receiver, through agencies at present entirely hidden from us, are such as to vitalize the acorn, and to produce in time the giant oak. The R-34, in her recent accomplishment, com- pleted the third of the great aerial flights and rose to the height of demonstration. The third stage in the order of Christian Science is an important one to the human thought, letting in the light of spiritual under- standing. This period corresponds to the resur- rection, when Spirit is discerned to be the Life of all, and the deathless Life, or Mind, dependent upon no material organization. Our Master reappeared to his students, — to their apprehen- sion he rose from the grave, — on the third day of his ascending thought, and so presented to them 106 a VCvihutt of Hobe the certain sense of eternal Life {Science and Health, pp. 508, 509). The spiritual idea, or God's man, the "King of kings, and Lord of lords" appeared to Abra- ham as an angel, as Melchizedek, ''Having neither beginning of days or end of lif e. " Moses beheld the spiritual man in the phenomenon of ''a pillar of fire." Isaiah visualized a child, whose name shall be called, "Wonderful." To Ezekiel the ideal man seemed like a "sapphire stone . . . the appearance of a throne." The "wise men" saw a "star in the east." John beheld "the Holy City . . . coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." We, the lambs of our Leader's flock, have read the "signs of the times" in the recent phenome- non of the dirigible, R-34, and we see the imminent appearing of the ideal man, Christ, once known as Jesus — in this age, known as Mary Baker Eddy. Precious teacher, I, one of the many grateful, 107 a tribute of Hobe loving students of your flock, offer you this simple tribute, letter, or recognition of your divine selfhood. I am striving "to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation." The "wise men," your faithful students, have offered rare gifts of "gold, frankincense and myrrh," to the Christ-child consciousness, the new-born of Spirit, which you represent. May I, with your loyal students, be worthy to con- tinue with you and your and our revered Leader, the ideal man of God's creating, in your "Spiritual Aeroplane." Beloved teacher, we know that we are not in the wilderness of ma- terial sense. Our spiritual sense is revealing a world which is budding and blossoming as the rose. This rose, or "smile of God," conscious- ness, which in its immortal beauty and freshness is growing on your "Plains of Peace," seems to typify itself, to-day, to me in this precious letter of our Leader to you which reads as follows : . . . darling child mother appreciates your footsteps of the flock whom the great Shepherd io8 a ^tribute of itobe are calling who hear and follow and none shall be able to pluck them out of his hands (Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 392, 393). Then again she says : Here ends the colloquy; and a voice from heaven seems to say, "Come and see." The nineteenth-century prophets repeat, "Unto us a son is given." The shepherds shout, "We behold the appear- ing of the star!" — and the pure in heart clap their hands {Miscellaneous Writings, p. 168). Your loving, grateful student, 109 Kentucky State Normal College, Bowling Green, Ky. June 3, 1919. Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., New York City. Beloved teacher: — Your beautiful and attractive book. My Spiritual Aeroplane, came in due time, but owing to my absence from the city, I received it only a day or two ago. Words are wholly inad- equate to express the feeling of gratitude and appreciation that welled up in my heart, con- sciousness, when I read the same. It is indeed a veritable thesaurus of spiritual knowledge, a genuine and trustworthy guide to the attainment of spiritual ** peace and joy and power."' The book is fine, superb ; indeed it is simplic- ity's self. You have certainly given the field food for thought, expressed in simple and in- ^ Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 4. Ill tiriljute of lLo\}t spirational language. You have expressed your- self so clearly and concisely, yet, at the same time, so emphatically and scientifically, that people, the world over, are unconsciously and without deliberate mental effort, digesting, assi- milating, and understanding the deep internal meaning of the spiritual reality concealed behind the mere material symbolism with regard to the Aeroplane in its ascension from sense to Soul. The spiritually minded know that you have been rising heavenward in the Aeroplane of Spirit for many years, but the materially minded and the inhabitants of the material world have been utterly oblivious to this spiritual ascension above material conditions, owing to their blindness to man's divine nature as God's reflected entity. It is true you have never been separated from the spiritual leadership of Mrs. Eddy's divine ego, and this at-one-ment with her ** gentle presence,"^ together with your continuous and instant recognition of her mental touch and ' Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 4. 112 ^ tE^xibntt of Hobe consequent response thereto, has enabled you to rise higher in the demonstration of divine Love than any other Christian Scientist. The field sooner or later must recognize this fact since Truth cannot remain forever concealed behind a lie, the mask of personal sense. Thus far, I have not been separated from the divine guidance and spiritual influence of your impersonal identity, God's idea, and I pray daily, hourly, that I may not be. By following your spiritual teaching and example, I am adher- ing to the present highest visible idea of Love, and cannot be separated from our Beloved Leader, known to the world as Mary Baker Eddy. The peoples of the entire world must ulti- mately realize that you are "safe above life's raging sea" of tempest-tossed human concepts. They must recognize that Christ is the Pilot of your Spiritual Aeroplane, and come into it, in order to find surcease from the discordant and destructive phenomena of ethereal vibrations, false, illusive, material thoughts. The truth is 8 113 a titribute o! ILobe that your Spiritual Aeroplane has never been out of the ''secret place of the most High," "the atmosphere of Love," but to mortal sense it appears to be in a material world, battling against the adverse winds of error, rising by degrees towards the zenith of spiritual dominion. Several have expressed a desire to secure a copy of your book, My Spiritual Aeroplane, and would like to know the price. Kindly notify me and I will inform them. With renewed assurances of my desire and purpose to continue in the upward flight from sense to Soul in the Spiritual Aeroplane in which you are soaring and which must, will, in the fulness of time, or at the expiration of time, reach the goal of immortality, eternal Life, the demonstration of absolute Science, I am, Your affectionate student, 114 Wilmington, North Carolina. September i, 1919. My beloved teacher: — To-day I feel a great desire to write you of a dream or vision, which I had some time ago. In this dream, I was walking through the streets of Wilmington, dressed as a little child and feeling that I was a child. I had on a white apron and as I walked along looking at the ground, I saw here and there bright pieces of gold. I stooped and picked up each piece, using my white apron to hold what I had found. To-day I feel that my dream has been realized. Through spiritual sense I read the guidance of the impersonal Christ, who said and continues to say to all who follow him, ''Except ye . . . become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."' « Matthew xviii., 3- 115 a ©ritiute of Hobe The pure white apron, or spiritual sense, holds the golden bits of experience, as we journey from a material sense of God, man, and God's universe, to a "wholly spiritual"' sense of the allness of God and His infinite ideas, which compose His universe or Christ. So, to-day, dear teacher, I am divinely im- pelled to tell you in this letter, of my golden op- portunities to demonstrate the teaching of our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, to which you have so strictly adhered and which, through persecution without precedent in the history of the world, you have fearlessly defended and demonstrated, never resenting personal indigni- ties and cruel wrongs, but like David with his sling and stones, you have met the Goliath of material sense and have preserved the spiritual interpretation of Christian Science as taught by Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. You have risen with your Leader and Teacher, Mrs. Eddy, to the mental "excelsior extension,"'' far above » Miscellany ^ page 357. ^ Miscellany, page 6. 116 la tKriittte of Hobe material structures and in compliance with your Leader's request, you have not been separated' from your Leader, the impersonal Christ, at his second appearing as compound idea. Do you recall how Miss Mary Bridgers and I, together with the few whom we had healed and taught Christian Science, procured the charter of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, N. C, and later, the church edifice was built? This was the first church edifice, in the State of North Carolina, that was entirely completed and paid for before it was dedicated. It was in Wilmington, that Mrs. Eddy met her first sorrow. It was Miss Bridgers* great desire to establish Christian Science in Wilmington, and to devote her wealth and her influence in her home city, to the emancipation of humanity from bondage to sin and suffering, and she decided to build a material edifice, where people who were ready to follow Christ according to Christian Science * Miscellany, page 358. 117 a Wvibntt of ILobt could congregate and ** worship the Father in spirit and in truth."' Her desires were con- veyed to her Leader, Mrs. Eddy, in letters, and the correspondence between Miss Bridgers and her Leader I saw. Miss Bridgers sent a model of a church edifice to Mrs. Eddy, which the architects. Hunt and Hunt of New York Ctiy, had produced, but this model was abandoned, as Miss Bridgers saw that our spiritual under- standing was not equal to the erection of so ex- pensive a structure and a beautiful Httle church edifice was finally erected, in which Miss Bridgers and I officiated as Readers. Shortly after our church was dedicated, we received a message from our Leader, Mrs. Eddy. We were asked to let her know how many children we had in our Sunday School. We replied at once, giving the number. In a few days a package came with another letter, written by Mr. Calvin A. Frye. In the pack- age was a card for each child. On one side was ' John iv., 23. 118 la tCribute of Uobe either the Ten Commandments, or the Lord's Prayer, with its spiritual interpretation by- Mary Baker Eddy, and on the opposite side of the page a brightly colored spray of flowers. A separate package within the larger one con- tained a card for Miss Mary Bridgers accom- panied by the Leader's visiting card. I have always felt that our Leader was urging us to see, with her, some great metaphysical fact and to-day I feel that the hour has come for us to read the lesson which she tried then to impart to us. When our church received the beautiful Estey organ, a personal gift from you and members of your Board of Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City (it was not a gift from the church), great gratitude was expressed by our members. During Miss Bridgers' and my occupancy of the pulpit, as Readers, and as your students, the organ seemed to send forth its support of the Leader's beautiful hymns, and we gained fresh inspiration to go on in 119 a tCribute of Hobe demonstration over the material senses, the material world, and the claim of evil. Let me insert here the telegram sent to us by Mrs. Eddy at the dedication of our church : First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, N. C. My Beloved Brethren: — At this dedicatory season of your church edifice in the home of my heart, I send loving congratulations, join with you in song and sermon. God will bless the work of your hearts and hands. Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., July 27, 1907. {Miscellany, p. 197.) The "Composite Letter"' which you sent to Mrs. Eddy, a copy of which you gave to Miss Bridgers and to me, opened our spiritual eyes to the great fact that you had risen to conceive man in God's image and likeness and that some of your students were developing spiritually and ^ Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, pages 134-156. 120 a Zxibntt of Hobe were beginning to behold you and each other and all as ideas of God. They were awaking to the spiritual meaning of "the scientific state- ment of being, "^ viz., that ''man is not mate- rial; he is spiritual. ""^ They began to realize the necessity of restoring their spiritual sense, through which to see all as ideas of God and to repudiate the false material image com- posed of flesh, blood, and bones as any part of God's creation. They refused to be deceived by "the image of the beast"'' and worked to reveal God's man in the "image" of Life and Love. This "Composite Letter" was given to the field and the separation between those who were in material sense and those who were unfold- ing spiritually, began. Those to whom mate- rial sense and its embodied beliefs, that mat- ter, so-called man, was real, these denounced you and cast you out of material organization. This was all in divine order and you rose with » Science and Health, page 468. ' Revelation xiii., 15. 121 a ©riliute of ILobe your Leader to see man as not material but spiritual. Our church advertisement was dropped from The Christian Science Journal because Miss Bridgers and I and others who understood the "Composite Letter," would not yield our spirit- ual convictions to the aggressive mental sug- gestions of those who had not risen to behold man, through spiritual sense, as idea. When Miss Bridgers was informed that her church card was removed from the advertising columns of The Christian Science Journal and that First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilming- ton, N. C, was refused acknowledgment as a church, she received a mental shock which, in a few days, proved fatal. Though striving faith- fully to demonstrate Christian Science and adhering to the teaching of Christian Science, trusting Truth and refusing medical aid, yet her spiritual realization was not sufficient to enable her to demonstrate over the loss of her church and in a few days she passed on. Again 122 a tCrihute of Hobe Mrs. Eddy was deprived of a faithful follower, whose spiritual understanding and social position would have proved valuable in attracting people to a religion, which Miss Bridgers had accepted and publicly endorsed. Let me here insert Mrs. Eddy's letter to her "dear brethren in New York," also your reply to her: THE WAY OF WISDOM MARY BAKER EDDY No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. — Matthew 6:24. The infinite is One, and this One is Spirit; Spirit is God, and this God is infinite good. This simple statement of oneness is the only possible correct version of Christian Science. God being infinite, He is the only basis of Science; hence materiality is wholly apart from Christian 123 a tKribute of Hobe Science, and is only a "suffer it to be so now" until we arrive at the spiritual fulness of God, Spirit, even the divine idea of Christian Science, — Christ, — born of God, — the offspring of Spirit, — wherein matter has neither part nor portion, be- cause matter is the absolute opposite of spiritual means, manifestation, and demonstration. The only incentive of a mistaken sense is malicious animal magnetism, — the name of all evil, — and this must be understood. I have crowned The Mother Church building with the spiritual modesty of Christian Science, which is its jewel. When my dear brethren in New York desire to build higher, — to enlarge their phylacteries and demonstrate Christian Science to a higher extent, — they must begin on a wholly spiritual foundation, than which there is no other, and proportionably estimate their suc- cess and glory of achievement only as they build upon the rock of Christ, the spiritual foundation. This will open the way, widely and impartially, to their never-ending success, — to salvation and eternal Christian Science. Spirit is infinite ; therefore Spirit is all. " There is no matter" is not only the axiom of true Chris- tain Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated. 124 a tKribute of Hobe "WHERE SHALL WISDOM BE FOUND?" New York, N. Y., January 17, 1909. Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Chestnut Hill, Brookline, Mass. Revered Leader: — When searching for the an- swer to Job's question, " Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? " we found it in you, our beloved Leader, who are wisdom's mouthpiece to this age. The demonstration of our church is the direct result of your instructions obeyed, and we shall continue to follow, as you forever lead on, in "The Way of Wisdom." You are continually pouring into our lamps the oil of consecration, and we are drinking of the wine of inspiration, which you provide. The word has gone forth, "Hurt not the oil and the wine." In grateful acknowledgment of the redemp- tion of the first-born, mindful of the ever-present protection of divine Love, we will enlarge our spiritual phylacteries, binding them as frontlets between our eyes, that we may "demonstrate Christian Science to a higher extent." Having completed our demonstration of the church mili- tant, we will strive more earnestly to attain the 125 a ^vihntt of ILobe higher understanding, which will reveal the Church Triumphant, where "Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. ' ' No mistaken sense, whose incentive is in malicious animal magnetism, can prevent this unfolding. The "spiritual modesty" with which you have "crowned The Mother Church building" has been and ever will be our abiding inspiration in building upon "a wholly spiritual foundation." Glorious, indeed, is it to have the horizon of our spiritual vision thus widened by virtue of your vigils on the watch-tower of Zion. Loyally yours. The Board of Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. E. F. Hatfield, Chairman, John D. Higgins, Clerk. {The Christian Science Journal, vol. xxvi., pp. 696, 697.) It is significant that her call was made to her * * dear brethren in New York ' ' and that only you and your Trustees responded to her letter. You were then fast rising out of material organi- zation, unfolding your spiritual power and from 126 a tribute of Hobe her letter to her "dear brethren in New York" and from the reply you and your Trustees sent to her, you will see, my dear teacher, that Mrs. Eddy knew that you were ready to ''begin" to build ' ' on a wholly spiritual foundation. ' ' Her prayer was answered when you sent your ''Composite Letter" to her and she understood. From that time you rose above the mental missiles which were aimed at you to "separate you from your Leader."^ You have continued to soar beyond the aim of the poison-barbed mental arrows into the spiritual atmosphere of Life and Love. Spiritual power, the reflection of Love and Truth, is enabling you to demon- strate genuine Christian Science, as taught by Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. Any element of resentment, revenge, or human pride of material place or power, or self-love, during the last ten years of continued persecution for your defence of the teaching of Mary Baker Eddy, — I repeat, any resentment, revenge, or ad- ^ Miscellany, page 358. 127 a tribute of ICobe mission of the reality of the carnal mind in any form it may assume, would have destroyed you and cast you back into material sense and material organization. You have not been separated from your Leader. You did not cling to idols, nor to any human attachment to your students, who were not ready to rise with you. You and your faithful students throughout the world have come up out of great tribulation and are now singing the song of the redeemed and are coming to Zion with everlasting joy upon their heads. Spiritual definition of Zion : ''Spiritual foundation and superstructure; in- spiration; spiritual strength."' The members of your Oratorio Society^ are blending their voices with the invisible host who are chanting: Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ : ^ Science and Health, page 599. »The Oratorio Society of the New York City Christian Science Institute. 128 a ®tftute of Eotje for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night (Revelation xii., lo). When Mrs. Eddy sent her Dedicatory Address to The Mother Church Extension, she knew that the crowning of her work in Boston was accom- pHshed. She closed in her Church the room known as "Mother's Room" and rose above material organization. She called her students to follow her into the "excelsior extension" or spiritual consciousness. Finally she will demonstrate her teaching, as did Christ Jesus. * * Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."' We are looking for the reappearing of the com- pound idea, which first appeared as Christ Jesus and in the fulness of time, as Mary Baker Eddy. Christ never left the earth and is leading us on to spiritual vision, which reveals God and His infinite manifestation, man. Let me here insert a part of Mrs. Eddy's * Hebrews ix., 28. 9 129 a aCribute of Hobe address to The Mother Church Extension, which will bring it freshly to your mind : You have dexterously and wisely provided for The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, a magnifi- cent temple wherein to enter and pray. Greatly impressed and encouraged thereby, deeply do I thank you for this proof of your progress, unity, and love. The modest edifice of The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, began with the cross; its excelsior extension is the crown. The room of your Leader remains in the beginning of this edifice, evidencing the praise of babes and the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Its crowning ultimate rises to a mental monu- ment, a superstructure high above the work of men's hands, even the outcome of their hearts, giving to the material a spiritual significance — the speed, beauty, and achievements of goodness. Methinks this church is the one edifice on earth which most prefigures self-abnegation, hope, faith; love catching a glimpse of glory {Alis- cellany, p. 6). Mrs. Eddy says "this church," this ''mental monument," rises "high above the work of 130 a ^rifiute of Hobe men's hands." Christian Science reveals to us that this "mental monument" is composed of those who are building on ''a wholly spiritual foundation," or consciousness, the Mind of Christ. It is the one spiritual edifice on earth, which was built on ''self-abnegation," leaving all for Christ, ''hope, faith; love catching a glimpse of glory." Man is God's glory, as idea. Spiritual sense only reveals this and man in God's image will be recognized, when the ma- terial structure disappears. Mrs. Eddy says the "excelsior extension is the crown." Spiritual sense crowns all who follow Christ. Webster's definition of excelsior is: "more lofty; still higher; ever upward — Excelsior State, New York; from the motto 'Excelsior' upon its coat of arms." On the great seal of the State of New York will be found one word, "Excelsior." You and your faithful students, who began and have continued "to build ... on a wholly spiritual foundation," the Mind of Christ, are in 131 a tribute of Hobe the mental "excelsior extension." You were sent to the State of New York, the Excelsior State, and your Leader put you over her branch church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. She placed her name with yours "in unity and love"' in the corner-stone of your church. You have remained at your post. You have risen and continue to rise in the "excelsior extension." Our great Leader will come and claim her redeemed. All who com- pose the "excelsior extension," "The structure of Truth and Love," the Church Triumphant, will hear, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. "^ Her gift to you, beloved teacher, was the crown, together with this message, within her message, which only the wise can read, and which was sent by her on the occasion of the 'Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page 34- 2 Matthew xxv., 34. 132 a ^tihutt of Hobe dedication of the Extension of The Mother Church. Definition of Church: The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle (Science and Health, p. 583). To you, my dear teacher, belongs this sacred legacy, given to you by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. It is you alone who have stood for the true idea of Christ, and have con- tended for the first and second appearing of the one divine individuality. It is you who have met , in this hour, the Herods of all time, in their deter- mination to destroy the spiritual idea, the ideal man. It is you and those who have stood with you, who, to-day, stand on the rock, Christ, in the "excelsior extension" of the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens " ' (harmony). When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying. Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? » II Corinthians v., i. a tCribute of ILobt And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. . . . And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel ; Which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Actsi., 6, 7, 9-ii)- Beloved, it is your understanding of the Spirit and your possession of the Mind of Christ, which has placed the crown of spiritual power upon you and which makes you an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, the compound ideal man of God's creating. You have faithfully taught others to obey the call of our beloved Leader ''to begin ... to build on a wholly spiritual foundation" and 134 a tS^ribute of Hobe your reward to-day is in your faithful students, who are built with their Leader and with you, into the ''excelsior extension," the structure of Life, Love, and Truth. Your loving student, ^&lo^ ImZjz^ 135 New York City. September lO, 19 19. To our dear teacher, Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D. The faithful and beloved disciple of Mary Baker Eddy. Dear teacher: — When, at our Oratorio rehearsal last evening, you gave us the spiritual purport of our anthem, "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,"^ and insisted upon our spiritual realization of the import of these words in this momentous hour, when Christ and they that are Christ's must arise and thresh the chaff from the wheat in individual and universal consciousness, begin- ning at one's own human belief of life and intelli- gence in matter; as you lifted us into a higher sense of our God-given dominion over the claim 'Micahiv., 13. ^ tiribute at Hobe of evil, I recalled an incident that occurred many years ago. Entering a granary, I observed a flail lying on the floor, where it had been left by a man in charge of the threshing. While I had no knowledge of how to handle a flail, I picked the instrument up and endeavored to use it. A flail is constructed of two pieces of hard, tough wood each about forty inches in length. The best wood known for the purpose is live oak, which must be split direct from the log, that is, there must be no cross-grain, which would be the case if the stick were sawn. This wondrous tree, the evergreen oak, may be justly termed the king of the forest, because of its staunch and symmetrical character. The live oak, like the eagle, is remarkable for longevity. It is admitted to be one of the most beautiful of trees, its branches being continuously clothed with foHage of a rich, deep green hue. Every tempest's blast sends its roots deeper into the 138 ^ Wxibntt of ICobe soil, and enhances its stately appearance. The live oak is symbolical of you, dear teacher. The flail is an instrument used for threshing the grain, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff — the chaff to be bundled and burned, the wheat to be garnered. The construction of the flail is as follows. The two sections of the flail are hinged together with rawhide. One piece is used as a shaft and the other for threshing. In threshing, as in the case of a woodman's axe, the blow must be struck straight from the shoulder, allowing the threshing end to drop with full force on the sheaf, otherwise the flail will double up and strike back on the operator's shoulders. This reminds me of the Scripture: The government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- lor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah ix., 6). It is evident to the Christian Scientist, that the government is upon the shoulder of Christ and that he is using "the sword of the Spirit, 139 a ©rftute of ILobe which is the word of God,"' the mental flail, with full force, stirring evil to self-destruction, as is evidenced by the chaos and confusion of the material world at this hour. Evil is loudly- proclaiming its self-annihilation. Here let me recall our great Leader's statement : The chaos of mortal mind is made the stepping- stone to the cosmos of immortal Mind {Unity of Good, p. 56.) Illustrious teacher (definition of illustrious, ** eminent by reason of genius or achievement; . . . as, an illustrious author; an illustrious soldier"), when our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, held your hand, during the rendering of this anthem by your choir at her home in Concord, N. H., a quarter of a century ago, she knew full well the sturdy oak of which you were built. She knew that the tempestuous blasts could not uproot your well grounded faith nor your understanding of Christian Science. ^Ephesians vi., 17. ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondew.e, page 31. 140 ai 5Critiute of Xobe In selecting you to preach and teach and demonstrate Christian Science in New York City, Mrs. Eddy discerned in you the reliable one, who would use the spiritual flail to separate the chaff from the wheat, who would never deviate one iota from her teaching and that you were the one against whom "the enemy of good"' could not prevail. She knew that you would "hew the tall oak and . . . cut the rough granite."^ With prophetic vision, she beheld you in the jront of battle, sounding the bugle call and preserving a "remnant of her seed."^ She knew how deeply you were rooted in Truth and Love and that you would remain steadfast to the end of the warfare between the material and the spiritual senses. She knew that you, the first-born of her spirit- ual conception, could and would demonstrate Christian Science, for yourself, and would demand strict obedience to Christian Science as » Miscellany, page 358. ' Science and Health, Preface vii. 3 Revelation xii., 17. 141 ai ^tribute of Xobe taught by her; that you would ''occupy"' till she appeared in demonstration of her teach- ing, that "man is spiritual,"^ an eternal eman- ation of infinite Spirit. ''Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all."^ Let me conclude with the last verse of **The Oak on The Mountain's Summit," from our Leader's Poems, page 20 : Faithful and patient be my life as thine ; As strong to wrestle with the storms of time; As deeply rooted in a soil of love ; As grandly rising to the heavens above. Yours to thresh the sheaves of wheat. Faithfully and gratefully your loyal student's student, » Luke xix., 13. Science and Health, page 468. 3 Miscellany, page 357. 142 The Braender, Central Park West. September 25, 1919. Beloved teacher: — Your revival, two years ago, of sacred song and Oratorio, in the worship of God and His Christ, upon the foundation of your early work in the history of First Church of Christ, Scien- tist, New York City, viz., the worship of our creator, Life, Love, and Truth, in sacred song, as well as in ''Science" and "sermon," this revival has quickened the divine activities — the Word of God, as voiced in music and in your ever-increasing spiritual inspiration, to which your advanced students respond, and confirms Mrs. Eddy's words : Whatever inspires with wisdom, Truth, or Love — be it song, sermon, or Science — blesses the himian family with crumbs of comfort from 143 a ^tribute ot ILobt Christ's table, feeding the hungry and giving living waters to the thirsty {Science and Health, p. 234)- The manifestation of man, whom God made in His own "image" and "likeness" and to whom He gave "dominion . . . over all the earth,"' means more to me than words can convey. You continue, as at the first, to praise God in the same words and music which inspired you and your students thirty years ago, but with an increase of spiritual power, which stimulates your students to fulfil the law of Love, as they herald the approaching Christ, with songs of praise and prepare to meet him, with ' * everlast- ing joy upon their heads. "^ At the first awakening of spiritual sense, the operation of Spirit, God, begins and expresses harmony, melody, rhythm, music, heaven, through God's idea, man. This divine law, in » Genesis i., 26. * Isaiah xxxv., 10. 144 a tribute of Hobe action, continually unfolds man's possibilities. Mrs. Eddy sanctions this in Miscellaneous Writ- ings, on page 183, ''Man is God's image and likeness ; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God's reflection.'* The characters and events which made his- tory in the early stage of your care of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, over which our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, placed you, prefigure, in a remarkable way, and on an ever-ascending spiritual scale, the characters and events that follow in succes- sion as manifested in your great Oratorio Society.^ Each repeats the earlier types, but in more exalted expression, proving that on our journey from sense to Soul, material concepts, material personalities, material organization, like all earthly shadows, vanish, while the spiritual man, the manifestation, or ideal man, the reflector of Life and Love, Spirit, God, 2 The Oratorio Society of the New York City Christian Science Institute. 145 a tlCritjute of Hobe Principle, appears with more effulgence, and with increased revelation that God, man, and the universe are one and all ; and that so-called evil, mortal thought, has no reaHty. "It is neither person, place, nor thing."' As the veil of belief in a power and presence opposed to eternal Life and Love grows thinner, God reveals Himself more clearly to us in differ- ing phases and forms, one of which is music. Our vision has been cleared, through piercing the clouds of material sense, which are fast dissolving under the sunUght of Truth and Love. From the beginning of your work in First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, I have walked with you, as your student, for over thirty years, and though, at first I faintly dis- cerned the spiritual import of Christian Science, at length I began the worship of God in spirit and in truth and caught and learned the meaning of Mrs. Eddy's fondness for spiritual music. She declares : 2 Science and Health, page 71. 146 a tCribute of Hobe Music is the harmony of being ; but the music of Soul affords the only strains that thrill the chords of feeling and awaken the heart's harp- strings {Miscellaneous Writings, p. io6). It is just thirty-three years since you demon- strated music in your church choir. I remem- ber when you were ordained as Pastor of your church that Mrs. Eddy gave you the title of Reverend. Mrs. Eddy considered music an important factor and established it in her Church service, in The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., and you followed in her footsteps. One of the anthems we are singing to-day, ''The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation; I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord"' was composed for Mrs. Eddy by your student, who conducted your choir at that time. Mrs. Eddy requested you to have your choir * Exodus XV., 2; Psalm cxviii., 17. ^ tBtibntt of Hobe sing this anthem' at the dedication of her Church Edifice, The Mother Church in Boston, Mass., which was dedicated on January 6, 1895. You met, from the first, from the materiaHsts, much opposition to your demand for spiritual music, as essential in revealing Truth, as taught in Christian Science, but your spiritual leadings and convictions enabled you to keep your feet upon the Rock and you never lost the chord of Christ. Permit me to quote Mrs. Eddy's reference to music : Once I was passionately fond of material music, but jarring elements among musicians weaned me from this love and wedded me to spiritual music, the music of Soul. ... I want not only quality, quantity, and variation in tone, but the unction of Love. Music is divine. Mind, not matter, makes music; and if the divine tone be lacking, the human tone has no melody for me (Message for iqoo, p. II). ^ Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 27. 148 a tlribute of Hobe Despite the opposition and injustice that seemed to hush your singing voice for a time, you continued to chant the song of the redeemed and you and your students, who have kept their eyes fixed on the goal, immortality, are now singing above the roar of the dragon, which is casting forth "a new flood" of powerless explosives — so-called human will, atomic force, or human energy, which claims to oppose itself to the divine energy — the will of Christ. Mrs. Eddy says * What if the old dragon should send forth a new flood to drown the Christ-idea? He can neither drown your voice with its roar, nor again sink the world into the deep waters of chaos and old night. In this age the earth will help the woman; the spiritual idea will be understood. Those ready for the blessing you impart will give thanks. The waters will be pacified, and Christ will command the wave {Science and Health, p. 570) . Dear teacher, you were only hidden from the "enemy of good"^ for a while, that you might ^ Miscellany, page 358. 149 tCribute of Hobe bring together, in a fuller light, all the great work you have accomplished, revealing more perfectly divine music and its power to proclaim the ever-presence, omnipotence, and allness of God and His Christ, the spiritual universe. The realization of the spiritual fact, viz., * * Spirit is infinite ; therefore Spirit is all. ' There is no matter, '"^ you have attained, to a degree of conviction which environs you in an impreg- nable fortress of divine Love. You have gained your passport to the ''new heaven" and the *'new earth"'' through self-sacrifice, unselfed love, meekness, humility, patience in tribulation and persecution, and obedience to the law of God, as voiced through your Teacher and our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. She says, "What- ever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power. "^ You have blessed your enemies, by making their injustice and cruelty unreal to yourself, ^ Miscellany, page 357. ^ Revelation xxi., i. i Science and Health, page 192. 150 a ^rftttte of ILobe and by following the example of Christ Jesus, which Mrs. Eddy explains in the following words, ' 'Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals."^ You have laid all on the altar of duty and loving obedience to a sacred charge, with which your Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, entrusted you, when she placed you over First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, and bade you feed her sheep. A ''remnant of her seed,"^ is awaiting her reappearance, the second coming of Christ, the compound idea, man. You have indeed staged important events in time's history. You have been a scribe of Spirit, and your writings may well be entitled, "The Acts and Experiences of the Apostles" of this age. We have been helped to work our spiritual problems through the records which ^ Science and Health, pages 476, 477. = Revelation xii., 17. 151 a ^riljute of Hobe the Apostles of Christ Jesus have given us in their writings. Their records of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas and the denial of Christ by his disciple Peter, together with the experiences and deflections of others, as they strove to follow their Master, have proved waymarks in our emergence out of the material into the spiritual sense, and the record of the deflection of some of your students will be a warning signal for the future students of Christian Science. The record of Mrs. Eddy's experiences with those who began to walk with her towards the goal of immortality, have proved guide posts for all Christian Scientists who have entered the race. You have recorded, for those who in the future may enHst "to lessen evil, disease, and death,"' as taught in Chistian Science, the pit- falls and danger chasms into which many of your students have fallen in the past. Paul refers to this in the following words, 'Tor this cause many are weak and sickly among you, » Science and Health, page 450. 152 ai ^^ritiute of ILobe and many sleep."' The tireless watcher in Christian Science continues with Christ and will win the prize — a ''wholly spiritual"^ con- sciousness. The intrepid soldiers of Christ, the characters in the early part of this drama, who played an active part and stood shoulder to shoul- der with you, have accomplished the defence of genuine Christian Science, which can never be lost. A scene at Mrs. Eddy's home in Concord I often recall. At a large gathering, you, with your students, entered Pleasant View at the lower gate, a type of humility. Your demon- stration, however, brought you and your stu- dents out at the front gate. I also recall a significant episode that marked that momentous occasion. Mrs. Eddy was asked if it did not make her very happy to see people from all over the world come to pay her homage in appreci- ation of the great truth she had given to the ^ I Corinthians xi., 30. ^ Miscellany, page 357. 153 a tKribute of Hobe world. Our beloved Leader replied, * ' I will be glad to have 07ie follow in my footsteps to the end — the demonstration of eternal Life." Mrs. Eddy will demonstrate, as Christ Jesus demonstrated, that man was, is, and ever will be eternal, immortal, an ever-present idea of God. Christ, the reflector of our Father- Mother God, as compound idea, is imminent. The present chaos and confusion of the material universe indicates the impending destruction of mortal so-called man and a material universe, and the revelation of the spiritual man and spiritual universe. St. John the Revelator beheld the "new heaven " and the "new earth," the spiritual man and the spiritual universe, which was, is, and ever will be the only God and His infinite ideas. The spiritual dynamics of scientific thought is the voice of Christ. Mrs. Eddy graphically portrays this in the following words : The "still, small voice" of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's 154 a 3tritiute of Hobe remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, "as when a Hon roareth." It is heard in the desert and in dark places of fear. It arouses the "seven thunders" of evil, and stirs their latent forces to utter the full diapason of secret tones. Then is the power of Truth demon- strated, — made manifest in the destruction of error {Science and Health, p. 559). This will be the dissolving and vanishing of all so-called mortal thoughts and their pheno- mena, which compose the material universe. The present condition of the so-called material world precedes the advent of Christ's second and final appearance, when he will assume, maintain, and fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah: The government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- sellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah ix., 6). I am grateful that the celestial melodies, which you and your church choir sang at 155 ja tribute of Hobe that gathering in her home in Concord, with Mrs. Eddy at your side, are still ring- ing out, gladdening the pathway of the heavenly home-seeker and giving spiritual impetus to the redeemed, who are rising in resplendent glory to the summit of divine Love. The great chorus of your Oratorio Society, of over three hundred voices, is chanting : Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down (Revelation xii., lo). Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues (Revelation xviii., 2, 4). My heart rejoices, when, at every rehearsal, you conclude our evenings of sacred song, with our beloved Leader's approval, in the following words: 156 la Wvibutt of Hotje Extempore ^ January i, 1910 O blessings infinite ! O glad New Year ! Sweet sign and substance Of God's presence here. II Give us not only angels' songs, But Science vast, to which belongs The tongue of angels And the song of songs. Mary Baker Eddy. With divine love, Your faithful student, X^^^^^^^^ — Miscellany, page 354. 9 East 39 Street, New York City. September 26, 1919. My beloved teacher: — As I sit here alone, reading and communing with God, there comes to me a clearer vision than I ever before have had — an apprehension of God and the spiritual universe, under spirit- ual law — and in deep and prayerful thought, I see my line of spiritual lineage, — Jesus the Christ representing the Fatherhood of God; Mary Baker Eddy representing the Mother- hood of God, and her first-born student, Augusta E. Stetson, born of spiritual conception. Augusta E. Stetson is Mrs. Eddy's demon- strator of genuine Christian Science. I see myself, one of the children, or students, of Mrs. Eddy's demonstrator of divine love over hate and envy, the ''enemy of good."^ 'Miscellany, page 358. a tlribute of Hobe To be born again means the understanding and realization that ' ' man is not material ; he is spiritual."^ This truth is the basis of demon- stration, and the spiritual foundation, which the so-called followers of Christ lost, until the second coming of Christ through our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, brought to sinning, suffer- ing humanity the vision of the Christ man. "Where there is no vision [spiritual sense], the people perish."^ The dream universe is represented by one so-called mortal mind, the claim of evil, or the belief of life in matter; the spiritual universe of God's creating is represented in the one Mind, God, good — the reflection being generic man, the Christ man. Truth assures us that the so-called material universe, made up of the dream and dreamers, is no thing, it has no intelligence and no life. So here I sit declaring that my life is in God^ Mind, Principle, Love, and this real reflection, ^Science and Health, -^dige 468. ' Proverbs xxix., 18. 160 a Kvibntt of Hobe my divine individuality, is most important to God, as one of His ideas, which compose His body or universe. Therefore I must honor my creator by reflecting, voicing, His power and presence. Christ Jesus understood his relation to God and his duty to his creator when he declared : The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise (John v., 19). Christ Jesus understood that He and the Father were one, as Father and Son. Our re- vered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, heard the voice of God and grasped the truth of Christ's teachings, which she has given to the world, re- veaHng the spiritual fact that God is the only creator and that we are the sons and daughters of a loving Father- Mother — eternal Mind. A seeming material personality, born of the flesh, dreams that he is a real being, until II 161 ai tlCribute of ILobt the revelation of God comes and the dream and dreamer disappear. Then the real man appears, born of Spirit, free born. This is gaining the spiritual 'Vision" — the under- standing that ''man is not material; he is spiritual." It is true, that throughout the ages and up to the present time, where there is no spiritual "vision, the people perish." I am awake to this spiritual fact and I know at this moment, as I rise to spiritual "vision," viz., that the holding to and the enlarging of this spiritual "vision" — the truth of being, is the only thing that concerns a genuine Christian Scientist — is the only way to reach the demonstration of spiritual power, which destroys the material dream and dreamers, the so-called material man and material universe and reveals a spiritual universe, peopled with God's perfect ideas, or children. Let me repeat what our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says on page 208 of Mis- cellaneous Writings: 162 ^ Wxibutt of ILobt This is the law of Truth to error, *'Thou shalt surely die. ' ' This law is a divine energy. Mortals cannot prevent the fulfilment of this law; it covers all sin and its effects. I know that I am just as important to my revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and to my teacher, Augusta E. Stetson, to promulgate Truth, the Science of being, in this age, as were any of the faithful followers of Jesus the Christ two thousand years ago, to chronicle the power of man, when governed by God. ''One with God is a majority." Those faithful disciples, particularly John the beloved disciple, kept near to Christ Jesus. They had the spiritual illumination — the understanding and convic- tion which gave them the ''vision" and they knew what he meant, when he told them that he was the ' ' Son of God. ' ' Their spiritual sight glimpsed the real man — the Christ. Sometimes they followed blindly, sometimes they had great light, but they followed. The life link was not lost. They made spiritual history 163 a Zxibnit of Hobe for us. Those who began to follow Christ, but had not sufficient oil, consecration, to keep the spiritual ''vision " and turn up the wick with full assurance of the affluence of oil (spiritual power) , perished. They went back to the beliefs of so-called matter, as possessing life and intelli- gence and that Christ was both a human and divine personality. Some very likely then, as now, felt that they knew as much, or more of God, than he. Such materialists lost the 'Vision" — and perished. They returned to material beliefs and their knowledge of the letter alone of Christian Science resulted then, as now it results, in "moral idiocy."^ In the belief -world so-called mortal man, or the belief-man, must be on the gold field with his pickaxe to get the gold, which the seeming dragon demands in exchange for the food and clothing without which so-called mortals perish. So in God's universe, at this hour, those who ^Miscellaneous Writings, page 112. 164 a tirffiute of Hobe stand for absolute Christian Science are on the field of spiritual activity and are doing the highest work with the pickaxe of Truth — the knowledge of God and His idea, spiritual man. Our beloved Leader has called you her "battle- axe." You have indeed hewn "the tall oak and . . . cut the rough granite."^ The body of workers in spiritual demon- stration sing the song of the redeemed and are the light of the world. As I sit here, I know — God tells me — and God's interpreter, Mary Baker Eddy, tells me, and you, my teacher, the "highest visible idea"'' of this hour have told me, that the proof of redemption is to leave all for Christ. Our Leader says, "We are not Christian Scientists until we leave all for Christ," 3 all belief of both a human and a divine man. There is but one — spiritual man. Without this relinquishment of the human * Science and Health, Preface vii. " Science and Health, page 560. 3 Science and Health, page 192. 165 a tBxibntt of Hobe and the apprehension that man is spiritual, no one gains "the brightness of joy." One is called to leave one idol, mortal imagery, and one another and we must demonstrate each hour, each day, life and love. Our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says, "Good demands of man every hour, in which to work out the problem of being. "^ And so this morning, I feel that I must come out of Babylon, the belief that / am or that any one is both human and divine, both material and spiritual, having a human and divine image and a material and spiritual origin. Thus coming out of Babylon — belief of material birth — we will not be "partakers of her sins," nor receive "of her plagues."^ 1 perceive that my "Babylon," at this hour of my growth, is the parental home and the belief of a material mother, to which I have clung tenaciously and idolatrously, until illumined by spiritual sense to behold her as God's perfect ^ Science and Health, pages 261, 262. 2 Revelation xviii., 4. 166 ^ ^tribute of Hobe idea, not in the flesh, not in the false ''image." I now see her divine reaHty and this will help to free her from her false sense of me. I must come out from that belief of life in matter and understand my spiritual lineage. Jesus asked: Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? . . . Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew xii., 48, 50). Jesus acknowledged but one Father and Mother and all as God's children. Therefore I must work with the first-born demonstrator of absolute Christian Science, and with those who are building with her on ''a wholly spiritual foundation."' One may have the rebirth — the spiritual ''vision" — but our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, says, "Progress is born of experience."'' Spiritual experience brings fruit, demonstration, and ' Miscellany, page 357. ' Science and Health, page 296. 167 a Zxihnit of Hobe demonstration is gaining and using our spiritual power, giving the proof that God is infinite Life and Love and the universe is His infinite manifestation. It comes to my thought now, that the teach- ing of the first few days in the last class which you, my beloved teacher, taught, before you were asked by our Leader "to build" on "a wholly spiritual foundation" — was much de- voted to the subject of choice, "Choose ye, choose ye." So all along the way, from the kindergarten to the Euclid of spiritual understanding, it is ever, "Choose ye, choose ye." Now that we know that the lie and the liars, "Babylon," are not real, it is no longer choice, it is a command to "Awake and arise"' and "come out of her." Now we see through spiritual "vision," that Babylon, the so-called material man and a material universe, never was real. There is no longer a choice. There is a command for every ^ Miscellany, page 359. 168 ^ tribute of Hobe Christian Scientist to come out of her and admit but one creator, Life and Love, and one creation composed of spiritual ideas. We are in the * ' excelsior extension . " ^ We are building ''on a wholly spiritual foundation," and you, dear teacher, to those who have the "vision " are God's ''highest visible idea" to-day, having demonstrated the power of Love over fear and hate, which has pursued you relentlessly without success. You are still the faithful shepherdess, leading your students to whom you have given spiritual birth. You are leading us to look for the second coming of Christ, in mani- festation of the Fatherhood and Motherhood of God — the compound idea. I have come to this moment when I must be radical with myself. I cannot believe in both a human and a divine person. I know that I shall be guided by Principle and do the work of a genuine Christian Scientist, which is to destroy the claim of sin, disease, and death. I shall * Miscellany f page 6. 169 a tribute of Hobe find an abiding place. Truth and Love will reveal it to me and like the Master, I, '4f I be lifted up,"' will draw to me those who desire to come out of Babylon, the belief of material birth, material generation. Christian Scientists must follow Christ, as taught in Christian Science. I have laid my all on the altar of Christ. I have declared my freedom and my spiritual dominion. Henceforth my service to my great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and to her student, my teacher, Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., will be to demonstrate Christ's teachings in the destruction of the claim of sin and the reform- ation of the sinner. My ' * vision ' ' clearly shows me that material loss is spiritual gain, while holding to the objects of material sense is spiritual oblivion. With deep appreciation and gratitude I realize the infinite blessing of the privilege of my place in your student-body — of my seat in your ^ John xii., 32. 170 la Zvibntt of Hobe Oratorio Society — of my understanding of divine Love and law and I make my demands on divine Love for more wisdom to see and to do, to leave forever material beliefs, as real, and build ''on a wholly spiritual foundation." I have no doubt of spiritual progress. I know that divine Love never fails. This I know, that before we have a right to claim and demonstrate spiritual power, we must lay all at the foot of the cross. I know also that the cross has become a crown to me, because I have the "vision," the spirit of Christian Science, not alone the cold letter that ''man is not material; he is spiritual." I know that there is but one universe — the spiritual — and that God, good, is the governor of infinite man and the indi- vidual members or ideas, which compose His universe. The Christ man and His power has been revealed at this, the second coming, in our beloved Leader, Mary, who manifests the Motherhood of God, and her demonstration of 171 a tCribute of Hobe eternal Life, her faithful followers joyfully anticipate. I rejoice that I shall henceforth ''be about my Father's business"^ with you, my faithful shepherdess and the sheep of your flock. Your grateful, loving student, » Luke ii., 49. 172 7 West 96 Street, New York City. October 19, 1919. My beloved teacher:— As you stand before your students and the world, a demonstrator of the power of Love over the "enemy of good,"' which has pursued you, step by step, during the twenty-five years since I have been your student, I am moved to write you of the gratitude and love that fill my heart and which compel utterance. I have been a member of your household for nearly ten years. Miss Sibyl M. Huse and Miss Mary Pinney have been members of your home four- teen years, or since you built and occupied your house — 7 West 96 Street. We have seen your continued efforts to follow Christ Jesus' and Mary Baker Eddy's teachings and example « Miscellany y page 358. 2Cril)ute of Hobe and your willingness to drink of their **cup" and to be baptized with their baptism. We have witnessed your scientific demon- stration of Christian Science in the building of your church, and your home, which adjoins it, and of seeing your wonderful executive ability in all your work for the Cause of Christian Science, including the healing of sin and disease. Mrs. Eddy says in Miscellaneous Writings, page 183: Man is God's image and likeness; whatever is possible to God, is possible to man as God's reflection. You continue to draw, as in the past, the heavenly homesick to seek refuge and learn of Christian Science in the church edifice, which your unselfed love and reflection of the eternal Mind has built. As your spiritual influence increases and as you rise to greater demon- stration of the Mind of Christ, you will gather all who are ready to build " on a wholly spiritual 174 la ^tribute of Hobe foundation," into the Church Triumphant where ''Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is As you have risen with your Leader, Mrs. Eddy, you have proved her words, ' ' Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. ' ' ^ Dear teacher, to-day you stand before the world a demonstrator of Christ's teachings and an honor to our great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. Your home is another proof of your spiritual possibilities and activities. This home is always under your personal super- vision and is perfect in all its appointments — a model home of neatness, meekness, and order, harmony and beauty, which all your students should strive to demonstrate in their environ- ment. Mrs. Eddy enjoined "divine economy." You have followed her example. Love governs all in your home and extends to domestic service, some having been with you nearly eleven years. I speak particularly of this as * Miscellany, page 357. » Science and Health, page 494. ^tribute of Hotie a scientific demonstration, which reaches every minutia of human Hfe. The chaos and confusion which seem to pre- vail in the business, poHtical, social, and domestic experiences, should be and can be healed, by the true demonstrators of Christian Science. But oh ! how few, who entered in the past, or are entering at the present moment, to follow ' ' the way ' ' according to Christian Science, which Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy trav- elled, are ready to drink of their "cup" and be baptized with their baptism ! Mrs. Eddy says : Again, foreseeing the persecution which would attend the Science of Spirit, Jesus said: "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service ; and these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me" {Science and Health, pp. 31, 32). This has been partly fulfilled in your experi- ence, except that error could not "kill" you, 176 9 tKritiute of Hobe because you were and continue to be enveloped in the invulnerable armor of Love. I thank God on bended mental knee, that I have been able to stand against the arguments of your persecutors, just as you have bravely stood against the persecutors and calumniators of your Teacher and Leader, Mary Baker Eddy. She dared to stand for the teachings of Christ Jesus, well knowing that she must meet what he encountered in his efforts to overcome evil — hate — lust — avarice, and so-called human will, with the law of eternal Life, God, which he came to demonstrate and which he proved to be all powerful in his victory over the claim of death and the grave. At his second appearing, which is near, he will make an end of the material world with its fleshly illusions — the phenomena of the claim of evil, which have so long defied God and His Christ. We all know of Mrs. Eddy's experience and that you have followed her teachings, regardless of the sting of ''the poison of asps [which] is 177 a tlritjute of Hobe under their lips"' — the lips of all who sought to take your life, or, having failed in that, have endeavored to destroy your spiritual influence and power over the claim of evil. You have indeed been a Joseph. Already the famished are crying out for "bread" (sub- stance) — for spiritual understanding, which Cometh down from heaven — which feeds and clothes every child or idea of God. You are able to supply their need, or reflect to them the **corn" from your abundant store of spiritual substance. I remember reading an article, in one of the daily newspapers, at the time you were dropped from membership in The Mother Church. It was from the pen of Dr. Parkhurst. He said, in substance. If these men, who declared that you were not worthy to continue in fellowship with them and denounced your teaching as "pre- tended Christian Science" — that if these per- sons believed in their doctrine, that love heals » Romans iii., 13; Miscellaneous Writings, page 368. 178 a Ztibnit of ILobe all sin and its effects, why did they not, at once, turn the thought of all the Christian Scientists in the world, towards healing you? He declared, that their treatment of you contra- dicted their profession as followers of Christ or of Mrs. Eddy. I recently heard a gentleman give an account of his experience in a Christian Science Reading Room, where he went to purchase a copy of Science and Health. The lady in charge asked if he were a Christian Scientist. He replied, "I am trying to demonstrate Truth and Love, according to Mrs. Eddy's instruction." She inquired further, as to his experience and when she learned that he was a student of yours, said, "You are in great danger. Do you not know that Mrs. Stetson is all wrong and that the entire field of Christian Scientists have been warned against her for years?" He replied that he had heard all this while he was in the material organization and that was why he left it and went to Mrs. Stetson to ascertain the 179 a tiribute of Hobe facts for himself, as he felt that his intelligence was quite equal to that of those who wanted to judge for him. He said that he had questioned, while in the material organization, whether Mrs. Eddy had any one who lived according to her teachings and that upon investigating for himself, he had succeeded in his efforts and was convinced that you were a genuine Christian Scientist and that the field of Christian Scien- tists is fast awaking to this fact. He then asked the lady if she believed in the power of thought. She replied that she did. Then he said, "So do I and when I began to realize the truth of Mrs. Eddy's teachings — the power of thought — and that I must admit and reflect only the one God thought as rea/ and when I awoke to the fact, that I had been associating with, and treated by a body of people, who held the evil, mortal thought over others, I quit that class of people and united with those who were demonstrating the power of the one thought — love and its fulfilment." He said, *'I want no greater proof of the supporting and 1 80 la tCribute of Hobe protecting power of the Christ thought, than the fact that Mrs. Stetson continues to live under the bombardment of the thoughts of the materialists, or mortals, and has never appealed to Caesar — a so-called material law — to defend her." I am writing this to you, dear teacher, in letter form, because I want to assure you, in writing, to which you can refer, if at any time you want an assurance of my fidelity to Prin- ciple, to our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and to you, her faithful student. This understanding of the spiritual facts of scientific being and your demonstration of eternal Love, will keep me ''on upward wing,"' until I reach the summit of spiritual dominion over the illusion of two pow- ers, good and evil. Life and death, and demon- strate my oneness with God as His idea or child. Lovingly, faithfully your student, ^ Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 4. 181 Hotel Colonial, New York City. October 20, 1919. Blessed teacher: — May I call your attention to an incident which stands out so vividly in my mind, in con- nection with your work in New York City, not only in healing the sick and teaching the Science of Life to mankind, but in the demon- stration and the bringing forth of your church. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. I say your church because Mrs. Eddy, in speaking of the proper designation of her Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., wrote a letter, March 22, 1903, to the Christian Science Board of Directors, — Ira O. Knapp, William B. Johnson, Joseph Armstrong, and Stephen A. Chase, — enjoining them to 183 a ^tribute of Hobe designate the Church as Mary Baker G. Eddy's Church. A facsimile excerpt of her letter is here inserted. As Mrs. Eddy was the demonstrator of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Mass., and designated the Church as her Church, she clearly set forth, in the foregoing letter, that the church demonstrated by you was your church. Additional evidence showing that Mrs. Eddy recognized the fact that the church should always stand as the work or demonstration of the individual bringing it forth, and that such individual's name should go down in history as the demonstrator of the church edifice, Mrs. Eddy wrote the following letter, of which you, your Trustees and several of your students have a certified copy. The original was brought to you by the owner, after you had been re- peatedly warned of a conspiracy on foot in Boston to dispossess you of your church and put you entirely out of the ranks of Christian Science. 184 B Wxibutt of Hobe Pleasant View, Concord, N. H. March 23 [1903]. My beloved Student : I thank God for your true sense of what I say. Yes, be sure and give my name in all the deeds not yet recorded — as you wrote it for the church Viz: Mary Baker G. Eddy's Church. Then it goes down the ages as the church which it surely is, that of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. At some date that fact will be more to the world than aught else can be apart from the spir- itual sense of things. Please accept my thanks. With love M B Eddy The above letters are your evidence and authority for declaring that First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, is your church, your fruit of love and truth, your spiritual sense actively reflected in form, color, harmony and beauty, in type and symbol until its completion. I remember that you took the spade and turned up the first stone, when you dedicated 185 a tribute of Habe the lot upon which the church edifice was to be built. I recall the laying of the corner-stone, November, 1899, Thanksgiving morning, at eight o'clock. The sun rose brightly that morn- ing, typifying the uprising, in this City, of the "Sun of righteousness . . . with healing in His wings. "^ I remember so well having in my hands, and reading, the original letter, which Mrs. Eddy sent you to be placed in the corner- stone of your church. You read this letter three times, to those present on that momentous occasion. The letter^ reads as follows: Pleasant View, Concord, N. H. To Mrs. A. E. Stetson: Beneath this corner-stone, in this silent, sacred sanctuary of earth's sweet songs, paeans of praise and records of Omnipotence, I leave my name with thine in unity and love. Mary Baker G. Eddy. November 30th, 1899. ^Malachi iv., 2. ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing pa,ge 34. 186 a tribute of Hobe One day, when the organ console was on the floor of the church and between three and four hundred workmen were eating luncheon in the unfinished auditorium, I saw a piece of brown paper which they, the men, sent to you, while you were trying the organ. On the paper, one of the men had written, ' ' Madam, will you play ' Nearer My God to Thee' for the boys ? " You replied, "I will, if you will sing it with me," which they did. I remember seeing you walk on the scaffold- ing, sixty feet or more above the ground, once with Mr. Hastings, the architect, as you went in and out of the church, day by day. I know that everything was under your personal supervision, for your Trustees were aware that you, with your Leader and Teacher, Mrs. Eddy, were building this church and they let you assume the re- sponsibility of its architecture, of its symbols, and its completion, free of debt, all of which finally rewarded them for their obedience to your spiritual guidance, in response to your 187 a tlrihute of Hobe Leader and Teacher, who placed her name with yours in "unity and love." During the great financial crisis, which oc- curred about the time you started the building of your church, there was much distress. Yet, through your faith and understanding of God, as the ever-present creative Principle, source, support and supply, the money necessary to meet every demand never failed to come in when it was needed. I recall the time when you asked your Trustees if they would let the workmen see the consummation of their combined talents and efforts in producing such results in this magni- ficent edifice. You desired to show your grati- tude to these men who had served so faithfully and satisfactorily. The Trustees agreed, and one Sunday afternoon was given to the men. Word was sent by the architects, Carrere and Hastings, to the foreman of each branch of art, inviting the men and their families to this meeting. i88 ai ^tribute of Hobe The auditorium of the church was filled and they all united with us, in singing, ''Nearer My God to Thee" and "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." The reading of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, together with the repetition of the Lord's Prayer, were listened to with much reverence. Then you made an Address of deep appreciation to the men for their services to you, to your Trustees, your students and church members, for only these contributed to the erec- tion of the edifice. During the Address you invited the men to go through the entire build- ing and see the result of the faithful work their hands had wrought. Thus you demonstrated divine democracy — love for God and man, as His sons and daughters — the ideal man. When our revered Leader requested her ''dear brethren in New York"' to begin to build "on a wholly spiritual foundation,"' you responded, together with those of your students who were ^ Miscellany, page 357. 189 a tCribute of Hobe ready to enter the race for immortality. You have met every test, every argument, every poison dart of the "mental assassin"^ with divine Love. You have fulfilled the law of Love, or you could not have demonstrated as you have — health — wholeness — nor could you have stood against such opposition from the materially minded and proved the spiritual teachings of Christian Science, "as taught by'" Mary Baker Eddy. You have won a great victory over "the enemy of good," therefore your Leader's request in Miscellany, page 358, is literally fulfilled: Beloved! you need to watch and pray that the enemy of good cannot separate you from your Leader and best earthly friend. At her request you have never been sepa- rated from your Leader's spiritual individuality, but you have ever been obedient to her divine leading anci have defended the spiritual animus I Science and Health, page 419. a See Will of Mary Baker Eddy. 190 Pleasant B.ew. J^^ ^ /^>^ Concord. NR^/^^^T^-^^ ><^z: ^/^ /^:^z^^Jh^^-^^^ i^^r^^?«<^ .a^ '-;^^, a tribute of Hobe of her teaching. In thus doing you have helped her to ''estabHsh the Christianity of Christian Science"' and have fulfilled the mission with which Mrs. Eddy entrusted you when she sent you to New York City in 1886. I esteem it a great privilege to have been a member of your household for three and a half years, and one of the twenty-five practitioners, * appointed by your Board of Trustees, to be in daily attendance at the Reading Rooms of your church, when Mrs. Eddy sent the letter ad- dressed to "Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D. and the practitioners in the R.R. of her church. N.Y.N.Y." in which she wrote, "Your love re- flects the divine Love which heals the sick, con- quers sin and the sinner." K facsimile of the letter in full is here inserted : ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 14. a At the investigation, in 1909, of your work as a teacher and practitioner of Christian Science, by the Christian Science Board of directors, Boston, Mass., nineteen of these twenty-five practitioners stood for the correct- ness of your teaching and practice. 191 a ^vibntt of Hebe When the By-Law regarding "Teachers' and Practitioners' Offices"' came out, your teaching and example of instant obedience was evidenced in the fact that, the very day the notice ap- peared in the Christian Science Sentinel, not another patient was treated in the church build- ing and in less than two days all office furniture was removed from the building. This proved later to be the beginning of our coming out of material organization. It is over a quarter of a century ago, since I went through a class in Christian Science, taught by you, dear teacher, and I feel moved to write you to-day, and recall to your mind some of the mile-stones along the way during my association with you and your work in New York City. I feel impelled to reassure you of my deep affection and loyalty to our great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, to you, the demon- strator of absolute Christian Science, and to your noble body of Christian Scientists, who ^Manual of The Mother Church, page 74. 192 ^ ^vibntt of Hobe are building ''on a wholly spiritual foundation," as fast as they can make the belief of life in matter imreal. So dear teacher, I send you this letter which but faintly expresses my love and gratitude to you, for your steadfast adherence to Prin- ciple and to the teachings of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. You are a veritable living "epistle." In the words of Saint Paul, II Corinthians iii., 2: Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men. To-day, throughout the world, the people who have spiritual discernment, are declaring for your sublime example and demonstration over the material world, the fleshly mind, and the claim of a power opposed to God and His Christ. Devotedly and loyally your student, ^ ^^^i5€Z4Lii.^^r>-x^ 13 ^ 193 a Wxibntt of ILobe P.S. — Another instance comes to my thought — the labor strikes. I well remember often be- ing with you while you talked with the walking delegates and helped to settle their difficulties. The opposition of the delegates to the men continuing their work on the church was so intense at one time, that the men feared to leave the building and you, with your Trustees, arranged for them to remain in the church building over night and you saw that they were provided with supper and breakfast. They were also provided with sleeping accommoda- tions by supplying them with the cushions which had been taken from the Forty-eighth Street church and stored in the basement of the new building. The next morning the strike was settled. Mary. 194 7 West 96 Street, New York City. September 30, 1919. My beloved teacher: — I am sending you some Bible references and some quotations from our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, which endorse your author- ity for the worship of God in music. The redeemed are they who are coming "with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads."' Wisdom guided you, when you called to you all who were willing to begin * ' to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation,"^ in response to our Leader's request. From your many stu- dents came those whose spiritual attainments and knowledge of music placed them among "the sweet singers of Israel," The Oratorio Society of your Institute.^ I Isaiah xxxv., lo. =* Miscellany, page 357. 3 New York City Christian Science Institute, incorporated July, 1 89 1. 195 a tribute of Hobe God utters His voice through man, His Word, in song and sermon. The might and power of Mind, Spirit, as voiced through the consecrated members of your Oratorio Society, reach to earth's remotest bounds and confirm the Scrip- ture, "He uttered His voice, the earth melted."^ It is evident that Christ, Truth, is dissolving the material elements, called material man, material organization, material music, and a material universe. So-called mortals express, in music, the qualities of which the human mind is composed — fear, self-love, self-will, self-justi- fication, pride, envy, jealousy, hatred, avarice, sensuality. These mental qualities do not pro- duce real music, harmony, but are the ''jarring elements"^ which Mrs. Eddy refused to accept as music. She called for music which proceeds from spiritual sense — the only music which she describes in the following words : Music is the harmony of being; but the music of Soul affords the only strains that thrill the ^ Psalm xlvi. , 6. * Message for 1900, page 1 1 . 196 a ^Tribute of Hobe chords of feeling and awaken the heart's harp- strings {Miscellaneous Writings, p. io6). Spiritual music satisfies spiritual demands. Material so-called music gratifies the sensual- ist. A wonderful spiritual power is recognized in our Oratorio music and is awaking, in thou- sands, "the heart's harpstrings" in praises to God and His Christ. Spiritualization of thought is revealing the new man and the spiritual universe of God's creating — the immortal man and the eternal universe, to which there has never been an "accuser" nor an "opposer" since the earth was, is, and ever will be God's earth, God's infinite manifestation in spiritual man and a spiritual universe. Our great Leader declared and still continues to declare, "Spirit is in- finite; therefore Spirit is all. 'There is no matter.'"^ During twenty-six years as your student and * Miscellany f page 357. 197 a tlriftute of Hobe a demonstrator of Christian Science, as taught by Mary Baker Eddy, and for many successive years the organist of your church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, I have proved that God is the life of man and that Life is the law of being. This scientific fact of being must finally be demonstrated by all, for God is all and in all and through all and there is no other power nor presence. Let me repeat a verse from your book of Poems,'' written years ago and dedicated to Mrs. Eddy: Love's sweet harvest home-song Vintage bells resound; God is in His temple, ^ And His own are crowned. Your grateful, faithful, loving student, ^Poems, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. ^ " Ye [man, spiritual consciousness] are the temple of the living God" (II Corinthians vi., i6). 198 9 tribute of Hobe QUOTATIONS MARY BAKER EDDY May those who discourse music to-day, sing as the angels heaven's symphonies that come to earth. — Miscellany, p. 155. . . . 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. — Miscellaneous Writings, p. 356. THE SCRIPTURES I will sing a new song unto Thee, O God. — Psalm cxliv., 9. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy. — Psalm Ixvii., 4. The singers were over the business of the house of God. For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day. — Nehemiah xi., 22, 23. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. — Ephesians v., 19. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. — Psalm cxlix., 5. 199 a tribute of Hobe They that carried us away captive required of us a song . . . saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. — Psalm cxxxvii., 3. Then shall . . . the tongue of the dumb sing. — Isaiah xxxv., 6. They shall come and sing in the height of Zion. — Jeremiah xxxi., 12. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. — I Corinthians xiv., 15. Is any among you afiQicted? ... let him sing psalms. — James v., 13. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne . . . and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. — Revelation xiv., 3. When David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, . . . the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing . . . and with instruments of musick. — I Samuel xviii., 6. Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord . . . with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David. — II Chronicles xxiii. , 18. 200 a Vl^tihuit of ILobe The children . . . whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem . . . . . there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women. — Ezra ii., i, 65. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet : they break forth into singing.— Isaiah xiv., 7. The wilderness . . . shall blossom abun- dantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. — Isaiah xxxv., 1,2. Sing, ye heavens . . . break forth into singing . . . for the Lord hath redeemed . . . Israel. — Isaiah xliv., 23. Go ye forth of Babylon . . . with a voice of singing declare ye . . . the Lord hath re- deemed His servant Jacob. — Isaiah xlviii., 20. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing. — Isaiah Iv., 12. Sing, O daughter of Zion . . . rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments ... He will joy over thee with singing. — Zephaniah iii., 14, 15, I7- 201 a ^tribute of Hobe MARY BAKER EDDY Give us not only angels' songs, But Science vast, to which belongs The tongue of angels And the song of songs. Miscellany, p. 354. To-day is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." — Miscellany, p. 171. To First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, N. C. . . . God grant that such great goodness, point- ing the path to heaven within you, hallow your Palmetto home with palms of victory and songs of glory. — Miscellany, p. 176. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York, N. Y. . . . "Fear not: ... I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Within its sacred walls may song and sermon generate only that 202 a tribute of ICobe which Christianity writes in broad facts over great continents — sermons that fell forests and remove mountains, songs of joy and gladness. — Miscellany, pp. 193, 194. May the sweet song of silver-throated singers, making melody more real, and the organ's voice . . . and the Word spoken . . . mingle with the joy of angels and rehearse your hearts' holy intents. — Pulpit and Press, p. 11. The song of Christian Science is, "Work — work — work — watch and prsiy."— Message for igoo, p. 2. Give us, dear God, again on earth the lost chord of Christ ; solace us with the song of angels rejoicing with them that rejoice. — Message for 1901, p. 34. Lift Thou a patient love above earth's ire, Piercing the clouds with its triumphal spire. While sacred song and loudest breath of praise Echo amid the hymning spheres of light, — With heaven's lyres and angel's loving lays. Poems, p. 30. Author of all divine Gifts, lofty, pure, and free, 203 a tribute of Hobe Temperance and truth in song sublime An offering bring to Thee ! Poems, p. 39. It may be months or years Since joyous spring was there. O come to clouds and tears With light and song and prayer ! Poems, p. 54. For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain. — Science and Health, p. 568. Pleasant View, Concord, N. H. To Mrs. A. E. Stetson:^ Beneath this corner-stone, in this silent, sacred sanctuary of earth's sweet songs, paeans of praise and records of Omnipotence, I leave my name with thine in unity and love. Mary Baker G. Eddy. November 30th, 1899. » Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page 34. 204 a SCribute of Hobe When the hearts of Christian Scientists are woven together as are their names in the web of history, earth will float majestically heaven's heraldry, and echo the song of angels: ** Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." — Miscellaneous Writings, p. 145. "Christ and Christmas" voices Christian Science through song and object-lesson. — Miscel- laneous Writings, p. 372. And wake a white- winged angel throng Of thoughts, illumed By faith, and breathed in raptured song, With love perfumed. Poems, p. 12. Syntax was spiritual order and unity. Prosody, the song of angels, and no earthly or inglorious theme. — Retrospection and Introspection, p. 10. Wild spirit of song, — midst the zephyrs at play In bowers of beauty, — I bend to thy lay. Retrospection and Introspection, p. 17. The snowbird sings and soars amid the blasts. — Science and Health, p. 220. 205 a tCribttte of Hobe Are we filling the measures of life's music aright, emphasizing its grand strains, swelling the har- mony of being with tones whence come glad echoes? As crescendo and diminuendo accent music, so the varied strains of human chords express life's loss or gain, — loss of the pleasures and pains and pride of life: gain of its sweet concord, the courage of honest convictions, and final obedience to spiritual law. — Miscellaneous Writings J p. ii6. To discern the rhythm of Spirit and to be holy, thought must be purely spiritual. — Science and Health, p. 510. Mozart experienced more than he expressed. The rapture of his grandest symphonies was never heard. He was a musician beyond what the world knew. This was even more strikingly true of Beethoven. . . . Mental melodies and strains of sweetest music supersede conscious sound. Music is the rhythm of head and heart. Mortal mind is the harp of many strings, dis- coursing either discord or harmony according as the hand, which sweeps over it, is human or divine. — Science and Health, p. 213. 206 a tCribute of Hobe When the good fight is fought, error yields up its weapons and kisses the feet of Love, while white- winged peace sings to the heart a song of angels. — Miscellaneous Writings, p. 204. The brooklet sings melting murmurs to merry- meadows; the leaves clap their hands, and the winds make melody through dark pine groves. — Miscellaneous Writings, pp. 329, 330. . . . the dove of peace sits smilingly on these branches and sings of our Redeemer. — Miscel- lany, p. 192. . . . the law of Sinai lifted thought into the song of David. — Science and Health, p. 200. May the towering top of its goodly temple — burdened with beauty, pointing to the heavens, bursting into the rapture of song — long call the worshipper to seek the haven of hope, the heaven of Soul, the sweet sense of angelic song. — Miscel- lany, pp. 162, 163. . . . my dear ones, let us together sing the old- new song of salvation, and let our measure of time and joy be spiritual, not material. — Miscel- lany, p. 166. 207 a Wxihntt of Hobe Though neither dome nor turret tells the tale of your little church, its song and sermon will touch the heart, . . . echoing the Word welling up from the infinite and swelling the loud anthem of one Father-Mother God, o'er all victorious ! — Miscellany, p. i86. My Beloved Brethren: — Your Soul-full words and song repeat my legacies in blossom. — Mis- cellany, p. 201. (Mrs. Eddy's reply to a letter from Mrs. Stetson and her Board of Trustees, November 2, 1899.) ... I still hear the harvest song of the Re- deemer awakening the nations, causing man to love his enemies. — Miscellany, p. 316. God hath thrust in the sickle, and He is sepa- rating the tares from the wheat. This hour is molten in the furnace of Soul. Its harvest song is world-wide, world-known, world-great. — Mis- cellany, p. 269. Note. — A similar list of quotations was compiled by- Amelia S. Rowbotham, one of the original practitioners in our church, and read several years ago at one of the rehearsals of The Oratorio Society of the New York City Christian Science Institute. Since we were deprived of our church edifice, our church, which is composed of those, who, in re- sponse to Mrs. Eddy's request, began to build "on a wholly 208 tCribute of Hobe spiritual foundation"^ (among them Amelia S. Rowbotham) have united on Sunday and Wednesday evenings for the pur- pose of singing praises to God, while waiting on Him, for the restoration of all things (including music) to "their rightful home and classification."* ^ Miscellany, page 357. 'Science and Health, page 124. 209 Note The four following letters are from the Trus- tees of "Mrs. Stetson's church," First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City {Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 390). 211 The New Weston, New York City. October 4, 191 9. Dear teacher: — While the peoples of the material world are awarding well-earned honors to its military heroes, who have defended the cause of freedom, it is but just to recognize the higher service which you have rendered at the post of vigilance, as a spiritual teacher and guide, watching the trend of thought, foreseeing the conflict between Truth and error, interpreting the signs of the times, and pointing to the real and enduring, amidst the unrest and confusion of temporal aims and purposes. During thirty years I have walked with you, as your student, and co- Trustee of your church. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. How steadfast and unswerving has been your allegiance to our great Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and with what courage you have upheld the 213 a tribute of Hobe standard of Christian Science in its purity and power! Such a consecrated life has a sublime influence, because of its divine commission and inspiration. To understand God, and man as His image and likeness, spiritual and not material, to know that all is Mind, and therefore there is no matter, with the comprehension of the grandeur and glory of the one spiritual universe of infinite Light and Love, is the need and destiny of all the world. In the darkness is heard the call, "Watchman, what of the night?"' and, from the outlook on the tower of Zion, your voice is heard proclaiming, "Lo! the Prince of Peace, Lo! the Son of God is come." May you continue to be abundantly blessed in blessing others, for ''Love is its own recom- pense, and exceeding great reward." Faithfully and gratefully your student, Isaiah xxi., ii. 214 114 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. October 15, 1919. Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., 7 West 96 Street, New York City. My dear teacher: — Too often we let our feelings go unexpressed, but now I want to recall, that more than twenty- five years ago I came to you in despair over my bad health. You will remember that in March, 1894, I, with my wife and father, went through one of your classes and my two little daughters were permitted to sit with us. Later, they had the privilege of class instruction with you and remain your loyal students. I came with doubts and fears to see if Chris- tian Science could help me. I found you so 215 tIDritiute of ILobe sympathetic and practical, meeting all my op- posing arguments so rationally, kindly, and scientifically, according to the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, that my ideas regarding Life and God quickly changed. Your careful guidance and watchfulness of me, as your stu- dent, drove away my fears, so that I became a well man, attending to my daily duties. You may be interested to know that I have not been obliged to remain away from my business a single day during the past year. For this I surely owe you a debt of love. Your pure, uplifting spiritual example, in holding me to Principle, the law of God, and your fidelity to Christian Science, as taught by our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has been my guide through all these years and has resulted in changing my whole character, more perhaps than even you realize. For this I am forever indebted to our beloved Leader, and to you, her faithful student. Your unswerving devotion to the Cause of 216 a tribute of Hobe Christian Science, and under all conditions and circumstances to our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, the world's spiritual Guide, has been to me a Christly example of love and sincerity of purpose. Your never swerving watchful care for your flock makes you ever ready with coun- sel, or reproof, when needed, as it invariably is, under the frailty of human nature. I have observed this never failing labor of love for others, during the whole of this long period, first as church member, and more intimately as a member of the Board of Trustees. For fifteen years before we were called, in 1909, by our Leader, to begin to build ' ' on a wholly spiritual foundation,"' I was Treasurer of your church. First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. During much of this time I served with the same Board of Trustees, who, in the fall of 1909, gave expression of their esteem for your work with them in the following Resolution pub- ' Miscellany, page 357. 217 a Zxibntt of Hobe lished in your book, Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 605, and which I now wish to recall : Resolution of the Board of Trustees OF First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City, November 24, 1909 Resolved, That we accept with unfeigned regret, and only at her urgent request, the resignation of Mrs. Augusta E. Stetson, C.S.D., as a member of this Board of Trustees. In her official relations, Mrs. Stetson has given us service for nearly a quarter of a century in the effort to further the Cause of Christian Science in this community. Whoever knows anything of the progress of the movement, in the period covered by these years, is aware that, so far as this branch church is concerned, she has been beyond all comparison the foremost contributor to the labors required for the results accomplished, and that the cardinal precept of her teaching and example has always been, as it is now, that of unswerving loyalty to our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and to her teachings. Both from the standpoint of material achieve- 218 )3 Wvibutt of ILoht ment, as well as from that of spiritual attainment, she has left the evidence of her untiring devotion, in the structure which houses this congrega- tion, in the large body of adherents which assem- bles here regularly for worship, and above all in the spiritual growth of the membership of this church. But for the inspiration of her faith and the stimulus of her high and earnest purpose, none of these results would have been attained in any such measure. For ourselves, therefore, as Trustees, we rejoice in the work which she has done, we are grateful in that we have been per- mitted to share the work with her as co-laborers, and we desire to record our recognition of the great spiritual blessings which have come to us in official association with her. E. F. Hatfield, Chairman. John D. Higgins, Clerk. This Resolution embodies my present feelings which, during all these years, have never changed. Your faithful student, 219 12 West 96 Street, New York City. October 8, 1919. Beloved teacher: — As I read your book, Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, I am deeply impressed with the continuity with which you have preached, practised, and proven to the world, up to the present time, the teaching of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, that ' * Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you,"^ and "all is Life, and there is no death. "^ In the beginning of your work in Christian Science you . . . emphatically declared [to a questioner]: '*I am not trying to demonstrate death; I am trying to make the demonstration of eternal Life. What Mrs. Eddy says is true. I am immortal, ^ Science and Health, page 571. 2 Science and Health, page 331. 221 ja SCritJute of Hobe and the mortal thought must gradually be de- stroyed." She exclaimed, "Well, you are in- sane ! " I replied : " I am not. I shall continue to declare that I am immortal and that the belief of a mortal mind must yield to Truth. There is no death. God is All" {Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, p. 13). Twenty-four years later, in 1909, under condi- tions that tested and proved your loyalty to Principle and to the "highest visible idea,"' Mary Baker Eddy, you wrote to the Trustees of your church. First Church of Christ, Scientist. New York City, as follows : 7 West 96TH Street, New York City, October 5, 1909. Trustees of First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. My trusted, faithful Students: — ^ The Word of God shall ''have free course, and he glorified.'' "Pray for us . . . that we may be ^ Science and Health, page 560. ^Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, pages 587- 589. 222 a ^riiiute of Hobe delivered from unreasonable . . . men*' (II Thess. iii., 1,2). You are the Word manifest. You are God's mouthpieces, — spiritual ideas. You must speak, and never cease speaking the Word, until you have expressed what God desires the people to know. God has given you this knowledge of the enemies' fear. Do not let the false claim of malicious animal magnetism handle you, but declare for divine democracy and for your liberty as the sons of God. Let each declare repeatedly for his loyalty to Mrs. Eddy, and to The Mother Church — "The structure of Truth and Love" {Science and Health, p. 583). Keep realizing and repeating the spiritual fact of being, that your voices may drown the false mental argu- ment that has been put into consciousness. De- fend your divine birthright, your oneness with God. You cannot lose any object in divine Mind, and there is no other mind. The church is com- posed of the people of God. Its members are not in belief, nor in matter forms of belief. God is there in His church with His people. Love is there; evil has neither place, presence, nor power. You can stand in the Christ-consciousness know- ing that God is there, and God is All. Belief, 223 a tCriljute of Hobe and its manifestation, a material man and ma- terial universe, is illusion, and its claim to a voice is not to be heard nor believed. It is neither person, man, woman, nor child. It is mortality, in all its manifested shadows, which must dis- appear as man appears and voices God, the ever- present I AM. Realize your immortal consciousness, and let God raise His own witnesses to fight the "beasts at Ephesus." Let each dare to be a Paul, and prove the power of Truth and Love. You are called, chosen, and faithful. You are God's voice expressed in individual man. He will reflect, through each of you, His intelligence. His wisdom and His love — which are able to dispel beliefs, which have no Principle, no substance, therefore no reality. Let Love's rod and Love's staff sustain you. The "great red dragon," the Adam-dream, or lie, never was, and never will be able to stand before the Christ in you, and in those who reflect Christ. There is no presence but the one God and His ideas. Let "the word of the Lord . . . have free course, and be glorified" (II Thess. iii., i). Man is God's glory. Faithfully, lovingly yours, Augusta E. Stetson. 224 a ^Tribute of ILobe The instructions therein given, breathing the spirit of genuine Christian Science, I have proven to be true. Never has a teacher of Christian Science met and overcome, with divine love, "such contradition of sinners."^ Never has there been one who could bear the heat and burden of the ''accuser"^ as you, our faithful teacher — faithful to your Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, and faithful to the trust she reposed in you, to defend the ''Chris- tianity of Christian Science,"^ to "love more for every hate," 4 "to build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation "^ and not be separated^ from her. Judging from your triumphant en- counters with the opposers of present immortal- ity, or the spiritual idea, it would seem that already you have fulfilled the law of Love. For twenty -four years Mrs. Taylor and I have been blessed by your teaching and example and I Hebrews xii., 3. ^ Revelation xii., 10. 3 Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, page 14. 4 Miscellaneous Writings, page 389. s Miscellany, page 357. ^ Miscellany, page 358. IS 225 a VLvihntt of ILobe have walked in fellowship with you. We, as students, have seen how, in a practical manner, you have demonstrated genuine Christian Science as promulgated by Mary Baker Eddy and as given by her to the field in 1910, in the following words : You can never demonstrate spirituality until you declare yourself to be immortal and under- stand that you are so. Christian Science is abso- lute; it is neither behind the point of perfection nor advancing toward it; it is at this point and must be practised therefrom. Unless you fully perceive that you are the child of God, hence perfect, you have no Principle to demonstrate and no rule for its demonstration {Christian Science Sentinel, September 3, 1910). You have demonstrated spiritual strength, wisdom, and love, with which to prove to the world the value of Christian Science — therefore : What if the old dragon should send forth a new flood to drown the Christ-idea? He can neither drown your voice with its roar, nor again sink the world into the deep waters of chaos and old 226 a Cribute of Hobe night. In this age the earth will help the woman ; the spiritual idea will be understood. Those ready for the blessing you impart will give thanks. The waters will be pacified, and Christ will com- mand the wave {Science and Health, p. 570). I have just read in Miscellany, page 175, these words of Mrs. Eddy's: I am sure that the counterfeit letters in circu- lation, purporting to have my signature, must fail to influence the minds of this dear people to conclusions the very opposite of my real senti- ments. These words are significant of the opposition Mrs. Eddy encountered from the persecutors of the Truth she was teaching and demonstrating. Right here, dear teacher, let me remind you of the time when we were deciding upon the inscription which was to go upon the tablet of our Church Edifice. You will remember that you wrote out the inscription : ^ ' Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page 34. 227 a Cribttte of Hobe FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST NEW YORK CITY ERECTED ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXCIX A TRIBUTE OF LOVE AND GRATITUDE TO OUR LEADER AND TEACHER THE REVEREND MARY BAKER EDDY DISCOVERER AND FOUNDER OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND AUTHOR OF ITS TEXT BOOK SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES 228 a Zvihntt of ILoht In talking it over with you and the rest of your Board of Trustees, I suggested that we inscribe the Tablet, "To the Glory of God." You see I had not quite outgrown my scholastic sense and thought that using Mrs. Eddy's name might be personal. You felt that you were right and said, **Let us make two plans of tablets of cardboard. Inscribe one, 'To the Glory of God' and one, 'A Tribute of Love and Gratitude to Our Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy,' and send them to Mrs. Eddy. ' ' You told us — the Trustees — that only a few weeks before, you were with Mrs. Eddy and told her that we were thinking of placing upon the Church Edifice an inscription of love and gratitude to her. You also stated, "I asked, 'Would you object to this, Mrs. Eddy?' She repHed, 'Why should I object to an expression of love and gratitude from you and your stu- dents?' 'Then I have your permission to do it,' I replied. She answered, 'You certainly have!'" Then the cardboards were prepared 229 a tribute of Hobe and sent to Mrs. Eddy. This, in your wise guidance, you did to assure us of Mrs. Eddy's approval. I have in my hand to-day a copy of an extract from the letter which Mrs. Eddy sent on the receipt of the plans which you sent to her for her decision, which reads as follows: What if your Church Edifice in the near future be desecrated and used by others? Then your inscription "To the Glory of God" would be a stumbling block. I advise you not to engrave that assertion on stone but write it on your hearts, and demonstrate it in your glorious lives. Let it be at present a silent desire and God will reward the prayer. A declaration before a preparation of the heart is a hindrance to advancement. The Scriptures say "The preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.'' Believe me, dear ones, that I am writing this from a heart overflowing with love for you and with an earnest prayer for your prosperity. As ever, Yours lovingly, Mary B. G. Eddy. 230 a tribute of ILobe This excerpt from Mrs. Eddy's letter, of which many of your students have a copy, has strengthened our endeavors to fulfil the law of Love — the key which unlocks the portals of heaven and entitles the wrestler for immortality, to the words of welcome : Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew xxv., 34). I now see the wisdom of our great Leader, Mrs. Eddy. To-day I realize that only through spiritual sense can we give God the ''Glory." The great spiritual development of the past ten years, during which we have walked closely with the impersonal idea, our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, from whom we have never been separated and to whom loving gratitude was inscribed — this wholly spiritual develop- ment or vision of reality, has entitled us to sonship with God and we have written on our "hearts," "To the Glory of God." 231 a tribute of Hobe We were, at that hour of our demonstration, prepared to give loving gratitude to our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, who was then visible to us. Having built higher on a ''wholly spiritual foundation " in response to our Leader's request, we are now enabled to inscribe mentally on the Church Triumphant,' ''The structure of Truth and Love,"' this inscription, "To the Glory of God." Man is God's "Glory." Thus the unity of God and His ideas, or sons and daughters, is attained. To-day we reahze that the "preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue is jrom the Lord'' the spiritual idea, the "Word" or the mouthpiece of God, the compound ideal man, to whom we inscribed upon our Church Tablet these words, "A Tribute of Love and Gratitude to Mary Baker Eddy," who was and is the Word of the Lord, heard and obeyed by those who have spiritual vision. » Manual oj The Mother Church, page 19. » Science and Health, page 583. 232 la JCribute of Hobe To-day we appreciate the watch-care of our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, expressed in her words, "I am writing this from a heart overflowing with love for you and with an earnest prayer for your prosperity. ' ' We also appreciate your faithful spiritual care and guidance, which have enabled us to * ' wait patiently on the Lord " until the restoration of all things. With John, the beloved disciple, we repeat, ''Come, Lord Jesus," and we hear: * Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Revelation xxii., 12). Gratefully, faithfully your student, 233 30 Church Street, New York City. October 4, 1919. My beloved teacher: — At various times during the past summer have I been moved to write you. But not until quite lately has my thought seemed to reach that clearness of realization, which compels expression. Now, however, when the world is passing through its birth-throes, of the advent of a new era, what appears more timely than to focus thought on these words of our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy: Take away wealth, fame, and social organiza- tions, which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we get clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity (Science and Healthy p. 239). 235 ai tiribute of Hobe In the world-wide chemicalization of con- temporary humanity, God is weighing human standards, relations, institutions, and ideals in His balance. He is revealing to us, that these are as nothing in the scales beside spiritual values — against the things that make for "peace on earth among men of good will" (Revised Version). The words of our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, bring home, with prophetic clearness, the truth that you, my teacher, have driven home, in season and out of season, the spiritual fact that these "clearer views of Principle" are the consciousness that absolute Spirit taber- nacles with men. Thus Principle and idea, God and man, coexist with one accord in one place. Mrs. Eddy verifies this in the following words: John saw the human and divine coincidence, shown in the man Jesus, as divinity embracing humanity in Life and its demonstration, — reduc- ing to human perception and understanding the Life which is God. In divine revelation, material and corporeal selfhood disappear, and the spirit- 236 a ^vihntt of Hobe ual idea is understood (Science and Healthy p. 561). Whenever man is conscious of his unity with Principle, omnipotent Spirit, Truth and Love, there is the Father's house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The key to the kingdom, the very gateway to the Father's house, is this recognition of the Christ — Truth — that we are the sons of God. Therefore, in that inexhaustible treasure of the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, in the Master's great heart-to-heart talk with his disciples, he bade them not to let their hearts be troubled — not to admit, as real, the surround- ing discord — but to believe in (understand) him, the exponent of Sonship, even as they believed in the Father — God. To Jesus the Christ, believing in him meant living with him — living with Christ in God — admitting only his divine selfhood as the Word of God. For what else could that climax of spiritual unity and fellow- ship mean, which says: 237 Si ^xibntt of Hobe If a man love me [live with me], he will keep [voice] my words: and my Father will love him and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him (John xiv., 23). Certainly the great need of the world to-day is "clearer views of Principle," omnipotent Mind, and ''better views of humanity." These basic requisites of the new era, where peace shall reign, can come into realization only as all things human submit themselves to the judg- ments of Spirit, Truth. Only as government comes to rest its cause on the shoulder of right- eousness, the IVEind of Christ, finding expression no longer in political, or economic, or ecclesiasti- cal oligarchies, but rather in those just judg- ments derived from the common consent of the spiritual sense of brotherhood, can we hope to find the peace, that will endure and yield the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace, for the feeding of the nations. Let me congratulate you, my dear teacher, on the thirty-three consecutive years of active 238 a tribute of Hobe service, which you have been enabled to give to this great and glorious ministry, and in defend- ing and demonstrating Christian Science, as taught by Mary Baker Eddy. God is revealing to the wise, that the ferment in things human has come from the work, which you and your Christly co-workers — who are building on a ''wholly spiritual foundation"' — have done to lead the nations to a clearer conviction of the imperative necessity of knowing and obeying God and His laws. ' ' Spirit is infinite ; therefore Spirit is all. 'There is no matter.' " ^ There is much more I should like to write, but I feel it is only just that I should say this now, in view of the great help which you have given me, in the many years past, in applying the teaching of our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, to the interpretation of public events and human movements. Truly "our God is a consuming fire"^ to all ' Miscellany, page 357. ' Miscellany, page 357. 3 Hebrews xii., 29. 239 a tCrifiute of Hobe that is unjust and evil, and a Father to all who put their trust in Him. Yours faithfully in Truth, John Franklin Crowell, Ph.D., was for years a co-Trustee with Mrs. Stetson in her church, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. 240 New York City. November 21, 19 19. Dearly beloved teacher: — We have been discussing your demonstration of the teachings of Christ Jesus and our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, and we rejoice that you have not failed in your adherence to Prin- ciple and your proof of the power of Love and Truth, as idea, or a reflector of Life, Truth, and Love, the Principle of Being. We therefore ask that you read the enclosed facsimile letter and excerpts of letters from Mrs. Eddy which we know will encourage you to continue building on *'a wholly spiritual founda- tion"' until your Leader and Teacher appears to your spirituaHzed vision, with the crown of immortality. You will recognize her immortal presence and hear again her voice saying, ' ' Well ' Miscellany, page 357. 16 241 a ^xibntt of Hobe done, thou good and faithful servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."^ Faithfully and loyally your students, ' Matthew xxv., 21. 242 /^ /^ ^^iC^^-^^-i-^^^^ ^ <^1?^^^-^ ^^_^,^%:^^ />^ — "^y^i-^^^^/^lL ^*^ ^s-r=^^^ 5— T^^^ / '^^-^"^^J^ /^^ ^tv*-:?— s 44^ Riverside Drive, New York City. November 20, 191 9. Beloved teacher: — When the heart overflows with gratitude and love it seeks to bless those dearest to its hope, those who have entered its secret. With finger pointing onward and upward, and with a devotion which is divine, you have led the throbbing desires (prayers) of your loyal students, to a living well of happiness, joy, and health in Christ. Your loyalty to our Cause and Christ, in Christian Science, has held open the door of the present day ''Ark," which our holy Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has built for the child- ren of Israel in the twentieth century. This "Ark" is spiritual consciousness lighted by divine Science and animated by the living God, Love, Life, and Truth. 243 a 2Cri6ute of ILobt ''Many are called" to enter this dwelling place, ''but few are chosen." ' Many have been led to the entrance of this holy habitation, but have turned back, when they found they had to pass in under the rod of divine Love. Only those can enter who have spiritual vision and behold the spiritual idea, for no others are able to hear the strain of heaven's music — joy, harmony, and melody, ... to which belongs The tongue of angels And the song of songs. Mary Baker Eddy. Dearest teacher, your students are loyal to Principle and idea, through purification of heart and consciousness — "the Church Uni- versal and Triumphant."'' We are under the rod in the vestibule of this "Ark," looking through the open door, while our names are being written in the book of Life, as members of ^ Matthew xxii., 14. ^ Manual of The Mother Church, page 19. 244 a tBvibntt of Hobe the household of God, the spiritual generation of eternal Life and Love. The new heaven and earth are appearing and God is indeed dwelling with His children on the earth. We behold the vision of St. John unfolding to the present day demonstrators of Truth : And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars : And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered (Revelation xii., I, 2). As far as human language can express St. John's vision, we see consciousness pregnant with spiritual conception. The obstetrician, Christ, is in evidence to deliver the Man-child in the image and likeness of God. Voices (tender mental impressions) which are ''the angels of His presence"^ are calling the wise men of to-day to attend the proper birth and to ^ Science and Health, page 174. 245 9 ^tribute of Hotje remove the after-birth — the outward and false concept — which has hid from view the spiritual idea. The prominent presence of the obstetri- cian, Christ, is uniting the members of the household of faith and understanding, to re- ceive the child, baptize it "Immanuel"^ and to sing the joyous song, Christ and they that are Christ's at his reappearance "shall reign for ever and ever."^ The womb of divine Love, the Motherhood of God, has conceived and has shielded her "Prince of Peace, "^ the spiritual idea, from Herod, the would-be mental assassin (the carnal mind) unto the fulness of this time, in which we are now waiting the deliverance of the compound, spiritual idea of Life and Love. Thus the Mother Love conceives man in the image and likeness of God, Mind, and the animating, vital- izing Fatherhood unites with the Mother Love, as compound Principle, or "the divine 'Us,"'^ ^ Science and Health, page 34. =» Revelation xi., 15. 3 Isaiah ix., 6. ^ Miscellaneous Writings, page 18. 246 la ^tribute of Hobe in expressing their infinite ideas. This is the teaching of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy. We are Hstening to the instructions of the ob- stetrician, Christ, to guard against ''wolves in sheep's clothing"' also thieves and murderers, the agents of Satan, who are ever at the heels of those who pass under the rod and are ready to ' * enter by the door " ^ of the sheepfold. Christ said, *'I am the door of the sheep. "^ Our blessed Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has sealed the remnant of her seed, the loyal Christian Scientists, who are building on "a wholly spirit- ual foundation. "4 She has sealed them with spiritual discernment. In Science and Health, page 560, Mrs. Eddy distinguishes between the Christian Science metaphysician and the so-called Scientist, who uses only the letter of Christian Science, and who is at ease with the material world. She * Science and Health, page 567. 'Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 14. 3 John X., 7. 4 Miscellany, page 357. 247 a tCrihute of Xobe says, ''without a correct sense of its highest visible idea, we can never understand the divine Principle." Hence, by the will of God, this is the present day order of the law of Light and Life — to ''know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ [and Mary, the Christ, the com- pound idea], whom thou hast sent,"' and Augusta, the Christ, "the first-born,"' of spirit- ual generation. The term Christ belongs to every child of God, and should be used before every name, since God is the only Father and Mother of man. The belief-man, or so-called man of flesh, is not the Christ idea. It will finally be understood that a belief-man is not the spiritual man. In this spiritual under- standing, your loyal students are related to each other through Principle, one Father- Mother, and must proclaim to all the world, the spiritual fact, the Day of God and His Christ, "The irradiance of Life; light "^ is come: =t John xvii., 3. =« Hebrews xii., 23. 3 Science and Health, page 584. 248 a ^Tribute of Hobe And the government shall be upon His shoul- der: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah ix., 6). Dear teacher, we realize what has made us able to discern "the signs of the times." It is your unfaltering obedience to Principle, your qualities of loyalty, love, purity, and devotion to our holy Mother in Israel, Mary Baker Eddy, the Leader of all loyal Christian Scientists. This glorious Truth is written in our hearts. We have voiced it before, but we must con- tinue to voice Christ's presence with a stronger conviction, and prepare consciousness for the recognition of the demonstration of present immortality. Christian Science will bring the visible second appearing of Christ, the ideal man of God's creating, victor over a so-called material generation, which ultimates in suffering, sorrow, illusion — nothingness. Loyal followers of our great Leader, Mrs. Eddy, must know that nothing is more vital, in this hour, than the 249 a tlCribute of Hobe thought, contemplation, and demonstration of present immortality. You, dear heart, are God appointed to demon- strate your royal birthright, the ''first-born" in spiritual generation. Your students must lis- ten for the voice of the obstetrician, Christ, the spiritual idea of all times : Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (John xiv., 9.) All Christian Scientists who to-day are build- ing with you on "a wholly spiritual foundation " may look into your dear face with love and gratitude, and be rewarded by him, Christ, who is back of the veil of the flesh and is looking through its transparency upon spiritual activity, the unfolding of spiritual ideas in the teeming universe of Life and Love. To-day let us shout, * ' Hear, O Israel : The Lord our God is one Lord, ' ' ' ' Deuteronomy vi., 4. 250 a ^xibutt of Hobe and ''Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it."^ Dearest visible guide to life in God, your stu- dents are mindful of your coming forth from the matter ''image," which was not, is not, and never can be real. It is fast dissolving under the solvent of Life and Love. Your resurrec- tion is quickening your students' vision to a speedy and happy at-one-ment with Principle and idea. This vision, completed, will rend the veil of the temple (material conception) forever, and material generation, so-called, will give place to spiritual generation and the revelation of God, eternal Love and Life, the compound Principle of all reality — infinite Life and Love, and their infinite manifestation. Thus will be proved the scientific fact of being, viz., that God creates and governs His people, who compose the only real and eternal universe. As we have no other means, as yet, to express our love and gratitude, we send you, in type, 'Psalm cxxvii., i. 251 a ^Dribute of Hobe our gold of character, and an orange tree with ripening fruit, to symbolize our consciousness, which is bearing good fruit as the result of your planting, nursing, and watering. Faithfully your student, 252 a tCribute of ILoht What have I to give you, — just a bit of gold? Nay, that is but symbol of the gifts I hold In the unseen casket of my secret thought, — Things of lasting lustre, which my heart has wrought. There is recognition of your Christly life, Of your high commission in the holy strife, Of your constant courage, won from conquered fears. Of your lonely triumphs over toils and tears. There, enwrapped in yearning, glows my gratitude For your great example, firm and faith-endued, Of the love that falters not in darkest night. But walks on, unasking either sound or sight. There, a polished jewel, shines the wonder- word, — "Loyal to your Leader." True and undeterred By the utmost efforts of the foe of good. You fulfilled her forecast. Steadfast, you have stood. Pearls of pure perception therein are enshrined, That you are her witness, who is here, in Mind, Leading you, and loving, with a love so wise, That it spared no testing, that could help you rise. 253 a tKtifaute of Hobe Praises, glad and golden, soft my thoughts enfold, That you watched like Mary, that you ran and told Those whose eyes were holden, how Love's chosen Own Was not held by matter, — nor by steel nor stone ! Then you faced the doubters, dauntless and un- moved, Keeping pure her teaching, that Life can be proved, Knowing that your Leader never was of flesh. That, as Zion's daughter, she must rise and thresh ! These, my proffered thought-gems, need the diamond dust Of diviner concepts, but my longing must Burnish them to clearness, till I grow in grace To behold and know you, even face to face. December, 19 14. 254 a ^Tribute of Hobe ©ur Heaber Hibtsi Rise with the risen Christ! Roll back the stone! Our Leader lives, and leads her faithful own. E'en though the flesh has vanished, waning night But hides her presence from our yearning sight. Put off the old beliefs of humankind. Man is the likeness of immortal Mind, Our living God; it was the Christ who said, Should one appear to die, he is not dead. ^ No monument for her, God's chosen One, Who has revealed Life's allness, and has run With clear-eyed vision of her glorious goal, The race victorious from sense to Soul ! Her Church Triumphant bodies Truth and Love, And "pinnacled in Life,"^ soars high above All fleeting fabrics; builded without hands, Eternal, on the Rock of Christ it stands. Then cease to till tradition's fruitless fields For some far time; to-day Truth's planting yields A waiting harvest for the sons of Light. Lift up your eyes ! the fields of faith are white. ^ Science and Health, page 164. ' Pulpit and PresSf pages 2,3. 255 a ^triiute of Hobe Our Leader lives ! nor stone, nor steel, nor sod Can hold her selfhood, — yea, the Christ of God, Whose angels turn us from Time's empty tomb To Life's glad garden of eternal bloom. There to behold her, — God-embodied Man. With Him coeval, ere the dream began. Lo! we are at the dawning of the Day. The Christ is here to tear the veil away From all creation. Ye shall see and hear Mind's perfect image; radiant shall appear In living glory, every God-made thing. For Love has promised. Rise ye, then, and sing ! ^^-^flLiJiS^^^^y^t^^ ■0>JLA.^t^' 256 a Zxihntt of Hotje Mv ^ivi Countrie In my Faither's hoose are mansions, an' ane was built for me, **If it werena sae," says Jesus, **I wad surely tell't tae ye. But, ye ken, I gang afore ye, tae prepare ye noo a place, That ye may behold my Faither, that ye e'en may see His face. An' where I gang, my bairns, ye ken, and ken the way, For I gang back tae my Faither, an' I can nae langer stay. But sin' I gang afore ye, I wull come again tae see That a' my sheep are wi' me in my ain countrie." Oh, the beauties o' yon bonnie Ian' are wonder- fu' tae see, For 'tis the Lan' o' Spirit, an' oor ain countrie. Noo, ye ken, he didna break his tryst that he wad come again Tae tak us tae his Faither's hoose, frae oot the lions' den, 17 257 a SDribute of Hobe But as he made us 'quented wi' his Faither wha's i' heav'n, Till oor hairts, like bread, were leav'ned wi' his spiritual leav'n, Sae he tell't us, God's oor Mither. God is Life, an' Truth, an' Love, He is a' the Being there is i' airth below and sky above. For the Buik says there's nae ither. I am God. Noo, look tae Me, An' ye'U fin' yersels transported tae your aincountrie. Oh, the beauties o' yon bonnie Ian' are wonder- fu' tae see. For 'tis the Lan' o' Spirit, an' oor ain countrie. Sae we learn that Man is image, an' that God is aye his Source, An' the Universe reflects Him, sun, moon, stars, each i' its course. An' He's Faither an' He's Mither, an' we're a' His blessed bairns; Sae let's come frae oot oor dungeons, an' oor caves an' rocks an' cairns. Dae ye ask me, "Hoo d'ye ken this?" Hoot! I tak' the word o' him Wha spake as never man spake. An' I say it noo wi' vim 258 ai tBxibntt of Hobe That he's come i' Christian Science that his sheep may a' be free, An' oor e'en wull see God's glory i' His ain countrie. Oh, the beauties o' yon bonnie Ian' are wonder- fu* tae see, For there's naething aye but Spirit, i' God's ain countrie. 259 7 West 96 Street, New York City. January 14, 1920. Beloved teacher: — In the dawn of the New Year, thought naturally entertains expectancy of the ''new heaven and . . . new earth,"' and I find myself watching for the promised appearing. As metaphysicians, we know that there is but one Mind and that this one Mind is Spirit. The real, eternal spiritual universe, including individual man, is the idea, thought, pheno- menon of the one Mind, Spirit. As Christians, or followers of Christ, we are committed to the demonstration or conception of this idea, by the complete acceptance of the one Mind as the only creative Principle, and of the idea or manifestation of Life, Truth, Love as the only presence. ^Revelation xxi., i. 261 a tJribute of Hobe Christ Jesus proved the truth and demonstra- bility of his statement, viz., that God, Spirit, Life is the only Father. The conception of the deific presence and bringing forth of the divine image could come only with the later revela- tion of God, Love, as the only Mother. This later revelation or "second coming"' of Christ is now an actuality. Our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, is proving the truth and de- monstrability of her statement that God, Love, is the only Mother. Christ, in his first appear- ing, or demonstration, denied and potentially de- stroyed material propagation. In the second ap- pearing or demonstration of God's Motherhood, represented in the woman, Mary Baker Eddy, Christ is denying and destroying material con- ception. The lie of material generation, cor- poreality, is fast ceasing to obtain any seeming credence, as reahty. Mrs. Eddy, in her great wisdom, saw the present hour. Her spiritual vision beheld the » Message for igoo, page 6. 262 a Zvibutt of Hobe cessation, the termination of so-called material production, or organization. In 1909 she wrote you: Beloved! you need to watch and pray that the enemy of good cannot separate you from your Leader and best earthly friend {Miscellany, P- 358). Those who had eyes, spiritual understanding, saw that Mrs. Eddy was asking you to handle ''animal magnetism . . . the opposite of divine Science,"^ or the belief of life in matter, which is material generation and so-called mortal existence. Mrs. Eddy had reached the point in her demonstration where, as the Revelator, she was mentally conceiving and bringing forth man and the universe as ''wholly spiritual."'' Having fully and finally taught the one Father and one Mother, as Principle, she must bring forth, in concrete being, the phenomenon, or image of this Principle, the ideal man refiect- ^ Miscellany, page 358. ' Miscellany, page 357. 263 a tKribute of ICobe ing Spirit. There is a /aw of procedure, an order in the appearing of the myriad ideas composing the eternal universe. Beloved teacher, as metaphysicians, we look for the appearing of the "new heaven and . . . new earth" in the activity of spiritual under- standing and its phenomenon, a universe peopled with God's ideas, as perfect as their Principle, Life and Love. In you, we, your students, find this under- standing and its effects, which bring in the line of spiritual generation — concepts built upon "a wholly spiritual foundation. . . . Spirit is infinite ; therefore Spirit is all. ' ' ' We see in you the first-born of the spiritual conception by our Leader. She has travailed to bring forth her ideal, which she has expounded in her great book. Science and Health. You are the first to manifest the spiritual mental power and pres- ence therein stated. You are coming forth "in maturity."^ » Miscellany, page 357. ^ Science and Health, page 583. 264 a tCribute of ILobt Our Leader's great care has been to deliver you; to call you forth from the confinement of material conditions. She knew, that only through your own understanding could you come to the birth, because the ideal man is spiritual understanding and presence. She knew your consciousness was rock sub- stance. She felt your thought and knew that it was truth. She recognized the granite structure of your church, as the evidence, the concrete expression of your thought and knew that it was the outward, visible sign, of the indestructible nature of your Christ conscious- ness embodied. Did she not write to you, ' ' I leave my name with thine in unity and love"?' This solemn declaration formed the corner-stone of your church and proved it to be a wholly mental idea, spiritually conceived and brought forth. When the pangs of her delivery were upon ' Reminiscences, Sermons, and Correspondence, facing page 34- 265 ^tihntt of Hobe her, she called upon you and your students to begin ''to build ... on a wholly spiritual foundation." You and your Board of Trustees replied to this letter. It would be well for all calling themselves Christian Scientists, to read these letters as they appear in the subsequent issue of The Christian Science Journal, volume xxvi., pp. 696, 697. They are printed on pages facing each other and are a startling evidence of your spiritual status. Had the field of Christian Scientists developed spiritual sense, they would have seen, in this correspondence, that Mrs. Eddy's vision was revealing to her the dissolution of material organization and that she was calHng you forth from the impending ruin. Those who did apprehend this formed the nucleus of spiritual building. Your Leader knew that you would stand the acid test; that you would allow everything to dissolve that could not bear the purifying fires. While the field were looking for Mrs. Eddy to 266 a 5Crftute of ILotje defend you, if you were right, and concluding, because of her non-interference, that you must be wrong, the genuine Christian Scientist believed, yes, understood, that Mrs. Eddy was taking you out of material organization and giving you freedom to rise with her into '*a wholly spiritual" consciousness. The present condition of the so-called material world, including the material organization, made up of those still remaining on a material plane, orbelief of lifein matter and obeying the demands of this so-called mind, — those claiming to be fol- lowers of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, who are under the material law, which resists the law of Spirit or Christ and those that are Christ's; this condition, I say, evidences the sudden destruction of a claim to material life and material organization. They who have followed their Leader and built on a solid foun- dation have been themselves redeemed and are redeeming those who are prepared to receive Christ, in these latter days. 267 ai ^xibntt of ILobt Already error is rushing on to self-destruction. The world is saved. We are revealing the new heaven and new earth. The corner-stone of the new creation is apparent. The understanding, which lays hold of the substance truth that man is idea is symbolized, yes, externalized in your granite church. This great rock, that shelters the seekers for Truth and spiritual substance idea, adjoins your house, and is indissolubly connected with it. Mrs. Eddy's method of bringing you out from ecclesiastical government, that you might be free to express what could never be expressed in any heretofore accepted model, or mode, was masterful and divinely inspired. Condemned by the materially minded, you were free to tread alone the unsought way. She drew you to rise with her to spiritual alti- tudes, and the demonstration of love over hate. It was imperative that the law of Love be demonstrated. The scientific statement of being, ''All is infinite Mind and its infinite 268 a tKribute of Hobe manifestation"' must be proven to be the true conception of man and the universe. You met your test, beloved. You are the living witness of the power of love over hate. You have not been separated from your Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, but are fol- lowing her closely and have demonstrated and preserved her teaching and you will continue to do so, until she manifests Christ, the com- pound idea, the image and likeness of the com- pound Principle, Life and Love. The world shall recognize that the government is upon the shoulder of Christ, who will reign forever and ever, "King of kings, and Lord of lords, "^ with all the glory and majesty of eternal man- hood and womanhood. In the locality that human sense calls New York City, our great Leader laid, with you, the corner-stone of all spiritual building in what she named, First Church of Christ, Scientist, New York City. It is the first branch of The Mother I Science and Health, page 468. =» I Timothy vi., 15. 269 a ^tribute of TLobt Church, the first shoot of the vine to appear, the first conception of Mother Love, which will bring to view, with all its fair outline, the whole structure of Truth and Love, the real universe or spiritual image, called by our Leader, generic Man. Thus, this church of your building, beloved, signalizes the first-born branch of The Mother Church. It is for this reason that our Leader, in her great letter to you and your church, authorizes the enlarging of our "phylacteries."^ We are building, in line with the corner-stone, **a wholly spiritual foundation." May I recall to your thought, that the "phy- lacteries" were instituted by Moses and were worn in symbolic acknowledgment of the redemption of the first-born of Truth and the destruction of the first-born of error. What a stupendous fact is unfolding to our spiritual vision ! Here, in this, our own city, in our day, is the first chapter of Genesis being * Miscellany, page 357. 270 a ^tribute of Hobe revealed as having been established from the beginning by the law of God. To Moses, the earth (compound spiritual idea) was without form and void. But the Spirit of God has moved on the waters of so-called mortal mind (recorded in the second chapter of Genesis): Divine Science, the Word of God, saith to the darkness upon the face of error, * ' God is All-in- all," and the light of ever-present Love illumines the universe {Science and Health, p. 503). The darkness, chaos and old night of the Adamic record, upon which is founded scholastic theology, materia medica, natural science, falsely so-called — in one word, the lying claim of material generation, is fleeing before the com- mand of God, ''Let there be light."^ The radi- ant glory of the demonstration of the statement of man and the universe, as given in the sublime precession of seven days, is bringing to light the reality of all things. ^Genesis i., 3. 271 a tribute of Hobe There is no shadow of doubt that the Christ, or ideal manifestation of God's "infinite self- containment and immortal wisdom"^ is immi- nent and is joyously anticipated by the Wisemen, the genuine Christian Scientists of to-day. No logger is Truth a cold abstraction, a generalized statement. We feel the pulsating presence of the living God. Principle is demonstrated quite to the point of appearing. Our Leader is presenting her spiritual concept, embodied in her student, thus establishing spiritual gener- ation ''without beginning of years or end of days"^ whose Father- Mother, Life and Love, God, continues to manifest His infinite ideas, fulfilling the words of our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, "Creation is ever appear- ing, and must ever continue to appear from the -nature of its inexhaustible source."^ Thus the spiritual generation is forever ^ Science and Health, page 519. 2 Science and Health, page 333. 3 Science and Health, page 507. 272 a ^tribute of ICobe established and materiality, false generation, is disappearing under the blaze of Truth and Love. The ''city [that] lieth foursquare"'*^ is here. It has no boundary, no limit, because it is spiritual. In your teaching of Christian Science the four cardinal points of this spiritual con- sciousness are understood and are being demon- strated by you and your students. The stone of belief of life in matter has been rolled away. The stone, or Rock, Christ, is for- ever revealed. The words of Mary Baker Eddy, in 1894, at "The laying of the corner-stone of The Mother Church," are as follows: LAUS DEO! 3 Laus Deo, it is done! Rolled away from loving heart Is a stone. Lifted higher, we depart, Having one. ^ Revelation xxi., 16. ^ Science and Health, page 575. 3 Poems, Mary Baker Eddy, page 76. 18 273 a Wxibntt of ILobe Laus Deo, — on this rock (Heaven chiselled squarely good) Stands His church, — God is Love, and understood By His flock. Laus Deo, night star-lit Slumbers not in God's embrace; Be awake; Like this stone, be in thy place: Stand, not sit. Grave, silent, steadfast stone, Dirge and song and shoutings low In thy heart Dwell serene, — and sorrow ? No, It has none, Laus Deo ! With loyal, deep affection, your student, 274 247 Fifth Avenue, New York City. November ii, 1920. Beloved teacher: — When I first began to study Christian Science, there was one point that I could not understand. It was in regard to the question asked you, at the time Mrs. Eddy rose beyond our vision, viz., "What would you do with the belief of a person who seemed to have died?" In one of your pamphlets. Reply to a Letter, this point comes up and you say : You ask what I ''would do with that belief?" Had the moment of Mrs. Eddy's emergence beyond our material vision found me in a so-called mate- rial sense, externalizing a material concept of Mrs. Eddy and regarding a material so-called body as real, doubtless I would have been found among those who buried the * ' belief " and would have aided in the thrilling experiences of a "tomb," and from 275 a Kvihntt of Hobe the contemplation of a "cemetery" and a "monu- ment" I would have increased a material concept of Mary Baker Eddy. I thought over this at the time, and realized that I did not grasp your meaning. It is only recently, that my divine nature has been suf- ficiently developed to understand spiritually ''the scientific statement of being,"' viz.: There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor sub- stance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual. Then it dawned upon me, that you understood the nothingness of matter and the allness of Mind, and that there was no "behef " to bury. I grasped the spiritual fact that it was only material sense which was embodied in a belief ^ Science and Health, page 468. 276 9 tCribute of Hobe of matter, and was not the real idea of God, Mary Baker Eddy. It seems to me that some of us unconsciously drift into the habit of saying rather carelessly, '"there is no matter,' but such and such seems to be the case." Thus we contradict our premise at the very outset. Dear teacher, you are continually warning us against thinking or talking from two premises. Mrs. Eddy teaches that "matter is mortal error" — nothingness. A few months ago I wrote you a comparison between Christ Jesus' experiences and your own. Carrying out that thought, may I add one or two points that have since occurred to me? Christ Jesus' demonstration of the power of spiritual sense over the illusion of death — Mrs. Eddy's discovery of the teachings of Christ Jesus in her revelation of the spiritual thought- force, by which Christ Jesus performed his mighty works and her estabHshment, in this age, of Christian Science — and your own demon- strations of the power of the Mind of Christ to 277 ^ tribute of Hobe nullify the opposition and malice of the carnally minded in their ''endeavour to crush out of a career its divine destiny,"' — these demonstra- tions are marvellous in their scientific proof of the power or ''dominion" with which God endowed man, whom He made in His own image and likeness. This "dominion" Christ Jesus proved to be the understanding and ex- ercise of spiritual thought-force, emanating from God, Life and Love, to and through man. There seem to be three great culminating steps in the completion of the proof of immortahty: I — Crucifixion. 2 — Resurrection. 3 — Ascension. As "progress is the law of infinity,"" neither of the three demonstrators produced the same phenomena as his predecessor, in working the problem of scientific being. -Christ Jesus ap- peared, to material sense, to have been nailed to a material cross. He appeared, to material I No and Yes, page 34. ^ Miscellaneous Writings, page 15. 278 ^ ^riittte of Habe sense, to have been placed in a material tomb, from which, to mortals, he seemed to have rolled away a material stone. What of our Leader's crucifixion? There was no wooden cross, no spear thrust, no thorns, no cup of wormwood and gall, but no one can more understandingly appreciate than you, the poignancy of the agony of her crucifixion, as she emerged out oi the fleshly belief of life in matter and grasped her divine individuality as God's idea. As Jesus cried out to his Father, *'My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"' so Mrs. Eddy, in the transitional moment of her emergence out of material sense, turned to Principle and declared, ''God is my life." You will remember that at one time, Mrs. Eddy wrote you, asking that you let nothing ''turn you away from me in this hour of crucifixion."^ She knew that her great work, the teaching of ^Matthew xxvii., 46. 2 Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, page 379. 279 ja tribute of Xobe demonstrable Christian Science, would have been in vain had she failed to bring forth a student-demonstrator of divine metaphysics, one who would be able to endure to the end, the fiery purification, or sin's revenge upon its destroyer. You did not fail her, beloved, but watched with her, until she rose beyond our mental vision. The Master, upon leaving his disciples, said, ''Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end."' The spiritual identity of Mary Baker Eddy never left the earth, and will reappear in the image and likeness of God, thus demonstrating the ideal man — the second coming of Christ. After the crucifixion, or fiery purification, which destroys the material senses, or the be- Hef of life in matter, the ascending state is inevitable. You will recall the following words which your Leader and Teacher addressed to you dur- ing one of your visits to her, * ' Do not look for ' Matthew xxviii., 20. 280 a tribute of Hobe me in this ' ' (pointing to her physique) . * ' I have risen." You replied, ''I do not look for you in matter, and is not your resurrection my resur- rection also?" Mrs. Eddy answered, ''Yes, it is." That statement meant exactly what the words expressed. Mary Baker Eddy was no longer in the tomb — matter. Let those who believed her to be a fleshly woman continue to do so, if they must, but to you it was given to know, that again the stone of beHef , that matter is man, had been rolled away from the sepulchre and you, through unequalled fidelity and love, were able to realize that it was "the resurrec- tion morn;"^ and following her loving desire you were her ''Mary."' The Leader says in Science and Health: They celebrate their Lord's victory over death, his probation in the flesh after death, its exemplification of human probation, and his spiritual and final ascension above matter, or the flesh, when he rose out of material sight. ^ Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, page 403. 281 a Wxibntt of Hobe The continual rising from a material, false sense of existence to the spiritual, divine and eternal consciousness of unity with Principle, or Spirit, seems to me to have been that period which Miss Huse analyzes, in such a helpful way, in one of her letters, viz.: "the abandonment of Pleasant View, the disbanding of the Execu- tive Members, the abolishing of the Communion in her Church, the closing of the Mother's Room." During this "probationary" period Jesus walked and talked with his disciples. During this transitional state from the material to the spiritual sense, Mrs. Eddy walked and talked with her disciples. How many recog- nized and acknowledged Christ at his first appearing? Christ asked, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?"^ Mrs. Eddy looked to you to be her "Mary," and you fulfilled her desire, when, at the hour she rose beyond the spiritual apprehension of her students, you declared, ' ' Mary Baker Eddy * Luke xviii., 8. 282 a ^tribute of Hobe never died, never was placed in a tomb, never was buried." How many understood Christ at his appear- ing after the crucifixion? How many under- stand Mrs. Eddy's teaching that ''man is not material ; he is spiritual ' ' ? Did they not rather see their own concept of the human Jesus? Have they not held their own material concept over Mrs. Eddy? From the time Mrs. Eddy closed, one after another, the activities which comprised the material organization, she thought and spoke from a wholly spiritual concept. I now imderstand her words to her "dear brethren in New York:" When my dear brethren in New York desire to build higher, — to enlarge their phylacteries and demonstrate Christian Science to a higher ex- tent,— they must begin on a wholly spiritual foundation, than which there is no other, and proportionately estimate their success and glory of achievement only as they build upon the rock of Christ, the spiritual foundation. This will open the way, widely and impartially, to their never- 283 l^ribute of Hobe ending success, — to salvation and eternal Christian Science. Spirit is infinite; therefore Spirit is all. "There is no matter " is not only the axiom of true Christian Science, but it is the only basis upon which this Science can be demonstrated. ^ She found you ready to respond to a higher call to come out from the material senses and material organization and build '*on a wholly spiritual foundation" or consciousness. I now see that when the ' * Composite Letter " "^ was pub- lished, which Mrs. Eddy put out to the field as a test, it was a sifting of her followers. It was the last bugle call to any in the field who might understand, to come and join those ''dear brethren in New York" who were willing and ready to begin to ''build . . . on a wholly spiritual foundation," and strive to meet the demands of absolute Christian Science and thus establish the kingdom of heaven — the ^ Miscellany^ page 357. ' Vital Issues in Christian Science With Facsimile Letters of Mary Baker Eddy, page 147. 284 a tribute of ILobe reign of Christ, Life, Truth, and Love on earth. Then came the wonder of wonders. You, dearest, had found your Leader in Mind. When the next great step was taken you were prepared and what the materialists called the death of Mrs. Eddy, you, filled with divine perception from God, proclaimed to be the Christ Mary's ascension. Her divine ever-presence remains for spiritual sense to reveal. This spiritualiza- tion of thought is the work of genuine Christian Scientists. There was nothing to bury and you understood it. Materialists buried their con- cept of the Leader. With Elijah there was nothing to bury. Take the other extreme, the carnal Jezebel. When Jehu sent to bury her, they perceived that animality (material sense) had destroyed itself, and * ' they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands."' Dear teacher, I am convinced that we, your ^ II Kings ix., 35. 285 a Zxibntt of ILobe students, must thoroughly grasp this fact, that there is no belief, no matter. At Christ Jesus' as- cension he, having ''waited until the mortal or fleshly sense had relinquished the belief of sub- stance-matter, and spiritual sense had quenched all earthly yearnings,"^ knew there was nothing but God and His ideas, in spite of the fact that a short time before he had seemed to eat material food with them. There was no belief- body and the disciples, responding to his stu- pendous reflection, were so spiritualized for a moment that their own human concept of Jesus was dissolved, and they realized that Christ, the substance idea, the Son of God, was the only reality. As the Leader tells us, they did not retain this realization, therefore they could not embody the spiritual Christ, their Master. Mary Baker Eddy knew that to complete the work, more than a brief flash of understanding would be necessary on the part of her followers, to go through this crucial period of separation I Science and Healthy page 314. 286 a ^tribute of ICobe from the material organization and the persecu- tion of the materialists or the unillumined, which would follow. So she watched and waited to develop a true disciple, one who could see the nothingness of every phase of the fleshly belief- man and the belief -world, and whose spiritual vision could never be dimmed. The test came. Could you see her as Love's idea when, to human sense, she seemed to leave you to prove your spiritual understanding of her teachings and endure the contradiction of the "blind leaders of the blind"?' She knew, and you knew, that only through your own demonstration, could you win and wear the crown of immortality. She knew that you would never yield to the persecution which must test you. You had long ceased to look for an- other to do your work. ' * Person was not in the problem. Principle must be demonstrated." And it was. So of the three steps, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, only one included any ^ Matthew xv., 14. 287 a Zvibntt of Hobe physical manifestation — the Ascension. The other two were experienced wholly mentally. Then, beloved teacher, your hour had come. Advancing from that higher vantage ground of realization to which the Leader had led you and from which she had ascended, you lifted the banner of immortality, and defying the whole belief -world, proclaimed that ' ' Mary Baker Eddy never died." Your awful crucifixion had taken place. Then came the resurrection and now is your ascension into higher spiritual illu- mination and demonstration of perfect love. The three great steps are this time taken with- out any concession to material precedent. You are revealing, for yourself, the spiritual uni- verse, and have won a signal victory over the enemy of good. Then, oh what zeal, what con- secration, what spirituaHzation of thought are necessary on our part to entitle us to be called Christian Scientists according to the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy and you, her faithful stu- dent, our teacher. 288 a ^xihntt of Hobe We must realize that there is no matter. We must realize that there is no time. We must prove the omnipotence of Love in reflection. May I tell you of a thought that has brought that sense of *'no time" to me very forcibly? Belief says that matter is evolved from slime and protoplasm and is embodied in a mortal belief -man, and that this process took about seventy million years to produce the first mani- festation, or mortal. Then, with a striking lack of logic, they go on to say, that a child, before it is born, goes through, in its embryonic state, all the stages of evolution, and in this way this is accomplished in nine months! If they can reduce a process requiring millions of years to a period of nine months, they can very quickly reduce nine months to nothing, and "blot out the material race of Adam,"^ that sins, sickens and dies. That which claims to have been evolved from dust never ^Message for igoi, page 5. 19 289 ^ ^tribute of Hobe was and never would be anything but dust — nothingness. Some of us seem to think of the ideal existence as of a sphere, or an orange, that has been cut through the middle and the two hemispheres of perfection separated by what is called time. Oh, I long to reaHze that Life is a perfect whole ! Then the sense of time dissolves and the two hemispheres come together in a beautiful unity. There is no space. I enclose a Httle article which is copied from a magazine called Popular Astronomy, which seems to me interesting because the author is trying to describe a sense of unlimited vision which the Leader predicted. In Science and Health, she says, "The astronomer will no longer look up to the stars, — he will look out from them upon the universe." Dear, patient teacher, I apologize for this long letter. Forgive me, but I am so over- whelmed with the sense of what you have done and are doing that I keep longing to express, 290 a ^xibntt of Hobe even inadequately, the appreciation, gratitude, and the boundless love I feel for your proof of the power of love over hatred, envy and all evil, which would have destroyed you, but for your impregnable armor of divine love. Faithfully your student, 19 291 DATE DUE pep (\ I 1 W5 unv JnUV Z 199b .,,^^^^^^ — ' HIGHSMITH # 45230 in'uSA