Ruth, the Christian Scientist, 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN CHKSTKR, M.D., D.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "EARTHLY WATCHERS AT THE HEAVENLY GATES. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 H. H. CARTER & KARRICK, PUBLISHERS, 
 3 BEACON STREET, 
 1888. 
 
Copyright, 1888, by JOHN CHESTER. 
 
 PRESSWORK BY BERWICK * SMITH, BOSTON. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 When Sir William Hamilton wrote on the walls of 
 his class-room, "On earth there is nothing great but 
 man, in man there is nothing great but mind," he 
 affirmed what few will dispute, yet what few appreciate. 
 Nor is there any mental phenomena more interesting 
 than those connected with the relations of the mind to 
 the body. Our leading physiologists freely admit that 
 the power of the mind in preventing, or even curing 
 disease, has not yet been fully ascertained. 
 
 One of the latest theories, on the influence of certain 
 moral and mental conditions on the body, is a form 
 of mental Therapeutics for which its votaries claim the 
 name of Christian Science. This at the present time is 
 attracting a wide-spread attention in this country. In 
 an age in which Materialism has boldly proclaimed 
 thought to be merely an exudation from the brain, and 
 in a country which, as an acknowledged medical 
 authority declares, is the most drug-consuming nation 
 on earth, it is not surprising that many are attracted by 
 a theory which exalts the spiritual over the material, 
 and proposes to emancipate the race from pills and 
 powders, bleedings and blisterings. 
 
 This " Christian Science " has usually been treated 
 with ill-advised panegyric or bitter ridicule. The author 
 
 936716 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 desires to avoid both these extremes. While giving it 
 credit for directing attention to a field of thought de 
 serving careful investigation, and for striving to connect 
 suffering humanity with the Source of all Life, he is not 
 prepared to admit that it can be so generally applied 
 that mankind will no longer need healing drugs or 
 surgical appliances. That the "Christian Scientists" 
 have wrought wonderful cures can be substantiated by 
 examples from the living, but that they have sometimes 
 failed can be equally substantiated by examples from 
 the dead ; this, however, is true of all systems of 
 medicine. The vital questions suggested by what de 
 serves the name of Christian Science are, whether an 
 intelligent Christian faith could not be more utilized in 
 the healing of the body, and whether a large class of 
 diseases, now treated wholly with drugs, could not be 
 better treated by the practitioner availing himself of 
 that wonderful power of mind over body, which the 
 Creator has Himself established. Indeed, the works of 
 physiologists, who are considered standard authorities 
 in all medical schools, record cases of physical cure 
 through mental action that equal any cures claimed 
 by Christian Scientists. Some of these have suggested 
 the incidents related in this novel, and, as they may tax 
 the faith of the reader, the author has fortified them by 
 references to foot-notes, where parallel cases are cited 
 from Carpenter, Tuke, Abercrombie, etc., and where 
 similar principles are expounded by Sir Benjamin 
 Brodie, Sir William Hamilton and Dr. Hammond. The 
 largest draft on the reader s faith will probably be the 
 case of Stigmatization (Chap. 20). The possibility of 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 this, however, he will find sustained by like cases 
 reported by some of the ablest physiologists of America 
 and Europe. 
 
 In " Ruth " the author has striven to represent fairly 
 the views of Christian Scientists ; indeed, the words put 
 in her mouth have been largely taken from their most 
 accepted writers. In " Esther " is represented the 
 views of a kindred belief, Faith Healing; in "Dr. 
 Strong " the ultra-materialists of the medical profession. 
 If the mind of the reader should be set a-thinking about 
 these wonderful relations of mind to body, and the 
 power of the Great Physician, our novel may not be 
 without its mission. 
 
RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PECULIAR CASE OF MISS ALICE DUPONT. 
 
 " I really must do something desperate," cried Alice, 
 as, looking into the glass, she beheld a reflection of 
 herself which wounded her vanity and awakened her 
 fears. 
 
 " Do something desperate ! " exclaimed her father, 
 " why, Alice, you have been doing something desperate 
 long enough ; now, I propose to do something sensible, 
 that is, to have a consultation of four of our ablest 
 physicians, and let them determine what really is the 
 matter with you." 
 
 " You had better summon twelve at once," answered 
 Alice, cynically, " for, after passing through their hands, 
 they will only need to constitute themselves into a jury 
 and hold a post-mortem. Why, father, remember my 
 past experience with medicine. Have I not compassed 
 sea and land in search of health? Have I not given a 
 patient trial to allopathy, homoeopathy and all other 
 pathys ever invented by man ? have I not visited every 
 American Spa, from Saratoga to Colorado Springs? 
 Have I not covered my body, from the crown of my 
 head to the soles of my feet, with porous plasters 
 and blisters, until I am really in doubt whether my 
 
8 , , atrti^j ;T,H>: CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 mortal frame be arc animated apothecary shop or a 
 well wrapped mummy?" 
 
 Mr. Dupont answered not a word ; he was so used 
 to the saucy petulance of his spoiled child that he knew 
 argument to be useless. He quietly summoned the 
 physicians, and Miss Alice had, as she expressed it, 
 "to submit again to the tortures of the Medical In 
 quisition." The doctors, after diagnosing her case, 
 found themselves puzzled by the fact that a body with 
 such apparently sound organs should suffer such 
 innumerable pains as Miss Dupont affirmed pertained 
 to her own. In their dilemma they added to their con 
 sultation Dr. Bangs, the leading physician of the city, 
 and a specialist in cases of diseases among fashionable 
 circles. Dr. Bangs examined the case, enquired into 
 Alice s former history, then shook his head. " Doctor, 
 do you think the case serious?" inquired Dr. Roons. 
 " Not at all," replied Dr. Bangs, " If only the proper 
 treatment be applied." "What is that treatment?" 
 anxiously asked his consulting brethren. The doctor 
 sentoriously answered, " Send her to the workhouse." 
 
 " Send the daughter of Ernest Dupont, triple million 
 aire, to the workhouse ! " exclaimed the doctors, " surely, 
 Dr. Bangs, you are joking." " Yes, gentlemen, answered 
 the doctor, "joking as to the possibility of such a 
 proceeding, but not as to its wisdom. Let Miss Dupont 
 be sent to the workhouse, where she will exchange her 
 rich living for the plainest diet, where she will doff her 
 cold-inviting garb, and don plain woollen frocks, where 
 she will exchange her feather bed for a straw pallet, 
 and her midnight oil for early candle-light bedtime, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. g 
 
 where, above all, she will be compelled to leave off 
 dancing in overheated rooms and go to hard work in 
 the open air, and I will stake my reputation on her 
 recovery." 
 
 This sally of Dr. Bangs was answered by a chorus of 
 laughter, in which the doctor himself joined. For let 
 it not be supposed that physicians are too much 
 wrapped in professional dignity to enjoy a good laugh. 
 Verily, among the best natured, most sacrificing men 
 are physicians. They have their hobbies (who has 
 not?), they may be wedded to their peculiar views of 
 practice, may even sometimes make mistakes in their 
 treatment, but their highest aim is their patients wel 
 fare. You cavil at their fees, why, reader, they give 
 more in free advice than you do in your charity. If a 
 man rang your bell at night, as often as you do theirs, 
 you would be tempted to shoot him. You would 
 quarrel with the dearest friend, from whom you have to 
 take as much censure, impatience, disobedience to 
 counsels, as they receive while treating your chronic 
 complaints. You order your carriage and flee the 
 town when you hear that cholera or yellow fever has 
 broken out therein ; the doctor orders his carriage and 
 drives, like Tennyson s faithful Six Hundred, " right 
 into the jaws of death." Oh, ye workers in brass and 
 marble, who adorn our parks with statues of heroes who 
 have won their fame with the sword, why not with those 
 who have won it with the scapel? Which is the loftiest 
 hero, the one who wins fame by shedding other men s 
 blood, or the one who wins it by saving other men s 
 lives? Talk of "the hero of a hundred battle fields," 
 
IO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 why, every good physician is the hero of a thousand 
 battle fields, among which, perchance, may be found 
 his struggle to wrest for thee the victory from death. 
 Our book shall not join in the hue and cry of miserable 
 charlatans, who criticise a profession they have not 
 brains or morals enough to appreciate. Even if it 
 gives some good-natured pokes under the fifth rib 
 to the materialistic portion of the medical profession, 
 even if it attempts to anoint the eyes of such with a 
 little mind-cure ointment, yet let it here throw down its 
 gauntlet and challenge any one who does not acknowl 
 edge that a good physician is one of the noblest works 
 of God. 
 
 The doctors having had their laugh out settled down 
 to the question, what to do with Miss Alice Dupont. 
 Finally they agreed to act on the very principle under 
 lying Dr. Bangs "workhouse treatment" by sending 
 her to Europe, with the following conditions : 
 
 First, she must go directly to Switzerland, not stopping 
 at Paris, Baden Baden, or any like places. 
 
 Second, in Switzerland she was to avoid hotels, and 
 make her permanent abode in some plain chalet, where 
 plenty of milk, fresh meats and vegetables could be 
 procured. Her bill of fare, carefully written out by 
 Dr. Bangs, would have made even an anchorite tremble. 
 
 Third, the usual thin apparel of Miss Dupont was to 
 be exchanged for thick woollens, and her arms and 
 bosom were henceforth to be hid from admiring eyes. 
 
 Fourth, she was to be kept as much as possible in 
 the open air, in all weathers (except great extremes of 
 heat or cold), and especially (Dr. Bangs underscored 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. II 
 
 especially) is all conversation on her complaints to be 
 discouraged. 
 
 " But, doctor," said Mrs. Dupont, when the above 
 plan of treatment was made known to her, " I notice 
 you have not left any prescription papers for my 
 daughter. Shall we not take a case of medicines along, 
 for Alice is very dependent on her pepsin, ammonia, 
 chloral, etc.?" "Madam," answered Dr. Bangs, with 
 that courtesy which always feathered his arrows, " I 
 appreciate your motherly solicitude for the highest 
 interests of your charming daughter, but I think it will 
 commend itself to your judgment that Miss Alice is 
 now old enough to be weaned from bottles of medicine, 
 the weaning process generally makes the child cry, but," 
 he added with a significant look, " the true mother shuts 
 her ears to those cries, because she knows they 
 will soon be exchanged for the smiles of a vigorous 
 youth." 
 
 Be it said to the credit of Mrs. Dupont that the 
 doctor s orders were carried out to the letter, and at the 
 end of four months one would have scarcely recognized 
 in the blooming Swiss peasant girl the former sickly 
 habitue of the New York drawing rooms. It was at 
 this period in Alice Dupont s history that she first met 
 William Mortimer. 
 
12 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 WILLIAM MORTIMER S FIRST LOVE EXPERIENCES. 
 
 " In receiving knowledge into the mind," says Plato, 
 " it is necessary that the receptacle which is destined 
 to receive all possible forms should itself be destitute of 
 every form. Just as those who wish to impress certain 
 figures in a soft and yielding substance (as a wax 
 tablet) are careful that it may not appear impressed 
 with any previous figure." Such at least was the state 
 of William Mortimer s heart when he first met Alice 
 Dupont, it had not been " impressed with any previous 
 figure." 
 
 Who was this William Mortimer? This was a 
 question frequently asked, for suddenly had he risen 
 upon New York legal circles, as a star of the first 
 magnitude. It is one peculiarity of that city that men 
 coming to it from the country, either suddenly disappear 
 from public notice, so that the hero of some village 
 becomes an unknown New Yorker, or else the unknown 
 man of some village develops into a leading banker, 
 politician, or merchant. Mortimer belonged to the 
 latter class. He had never been heard of until he 
 appeared in the celebrated case of Perkins vs. Perkins. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGKIA. 13 
 
 It was a divorce case, in which Henry Perkins, a man 
 of great wealth, tried to shake off Henrietta Perkins, his 
 lawfully married wife, with the generally believed object 
 of marrying an actress with whom he had become 
 infatuated, and she with his wealth. Mortimer appeared 
 for Mrs. Perkins. He had been so quiet during the 
 testimony-taking part of the hearing that the counsel 
 for Mr. Perkins treated him with silent contempt. 
 When he rose to make the closing argument scarcely 
 anyone paid him attention, but, though hesitating a 
 little in the start, when he got fairly launched, the judge, 
 jury and spectators began to listen, first with wonder at 
 the amount of legal acumen he displayed, then with 
 admiration at his thorough sifting of the testimony and 
 the logical precision with which he conducted his 
 argument. When he came to his peroration, there 
 flashed scintillations of wit, and poured forth such 
 a stream of eloquence, there was such pathos in his 
 description of the wrongs endured by the wife, and 
 biting sarcasm at the nefarious conspiracy of the 
 husband, that he held judge and jury in breathless 
 attention. It was one of those mental triumphs, where 
 a single mind holds captive at its will the minds of 
 others. Before he sat down, one could have read in 
 the faces of the jury that their verdict would be on the 
 side of Mortimer s client. 
 
 Who is that young man? where did he come from? 
 was the general inquiry. No one seemed to know, but 
 Briggs, the wag of the court room, said, " He is a male 
 Minerva, sprung from the head of some legal Jupiter, 
 I guess he will cleave open a good many heads and 
 
14 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 hearts before he ends his career." Which remark, as 
 his future history will show, was decidedly prophetic. 
 From that day Mortimer s legal reputation was made 
 and his social position established. There was still 
 some mystery about his origin, but when it was 
 ascertained that he was the son of Eugene Mortimer, a 
 wealthy retired New York merchant, whose firm had 
 been marked A I by Bradstreet, no further investigation 
 was demanded. For be he Mormon or Mahometan, 
 saint or sinner, that was sufficient to establish his 
 character on Change. 
 
 Eugene Mortimer had left a large fortune to his son, 
 who spent it not in riotous living, but in acquiring a 
 good education, and was now able to start a good 
 pedigree for his descendants. Miss Violet Montgomery 
 declared that Mortimer was the biggest catch in New 
 York society. Miss Montgomery angled for him, and 
 was assisted by enough females to have made up a 
 good-sized fishing excursion, but either the fishers had 
 not the right kind of bait, or the fish they were after 
 did not swim by their hooks ; they failed to get even a 
 nibble from Mortimer, wherefore we will now disclose. 
 
 Mortimer s highest ideal of earthly happiness was a 
 happy home. Left an orphan in infancy, brought up 
 by stiff, solemn-faced aunts, living in boarding houses, 
 hotels and flats, he acted as the human mind always 
 does in forming its ideals, by making them just the 
 reverse of former experiences. Of course the central 
 figure in this picture of a home was a wife, and this was 
 Mortimer s ideal : First, she must be a child of nature ; 
 he had seen in New York society so many daughters 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 15 
 
 of art, affected, made up, padded intellectually and 
 morally, that he said " he wanted a wife who was a God- 
 made woman, not a fashionable boarding school and 
 society production." Of course, she must be intelligent, 
 entirely respectable, amiable, possessing good looks, 
 these, however, were minor considerations, but one thing 
 was essential, she must have a nature so responsive to his 
 own that they were to fall in love at first sight. No 
 wonder that with such an ideal, Miss Violet Montgomery 
 and her companions failed to put the right bait on their 
 hooks to catch William Mortimer, but wonder of 
 wonders, the first person whom he met filling this ideal 
 (at least Mortimer at the time thought so) was Miss 
 Alice Dupont. 
 
 And thus came it to pass. Mortimer s large practice 
 broke down his health and he went to Europe soon 
 after Alice s departure for Switzerland. After travelling 
 through the continent for four months, he landed in the 
 very village where the Duponts were sojourning. Their 
 first meeting was rather romantic. Mortimer in 
 walking over the hills and vales lost his way ; seeing at 
 a distance a Swiss peasant girl, as he supposed, he bent 
 his steps thitherward. Alice looked very charming 
 that morning, the Swiss air had painted her cheeks with 
 rosy tints, her complexion under the simple regimen 
 enforced by Dr. Bangs had become as fair as a child s, 
 her form emancipated from fashionable fetters had 
 regained its flowing outlines. 
 
 When Alice saw a handsome gentleman approaching, 
 whom she recognized as an American, she posed in a 
 most graceful attitude, making a tableau vivant of a 
 
l6 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 beautiful Swiss peasant girl. Mortimer s admiring gaze 
 was not unnoticed by Alice, while his handsome face 
 and gentlemanly bearing impressed her own heart. 
 
 Mortimer, supposing he was addressing a Swiss girl, 
 said, " Est-ce id le chemin qui conduit a le village" 
 With a roguish smile, Alice answered, "Yes, sir, and if 
 my countryman will keep straight on, turning neither to 
 the right nor the left, he will soon find himself at the 
 village." Mortimer, overwhelmed with astonishment, 
 exclaimed, "Is it possible that I am addressing an 
 American lady?" Mutual explanations followed, mu 
 tual acquaintances were recognized, and it was not long 
 before Mortimer discovered that he was talking to the 
 daughter of a rich New York banker, and Alice, that 
 she was facing the man whom she had often said " she 
 was dying to meet," William Mortimer. The result 
 was that Miss Dupont accompanied Mr. Mortimer on 
 his way to the village, and continued to be his guide in 
 his daily rambles. 
 
 Alice was wiser than Miss Montgomery, she herself 
 used no hook, the fish would have been scared at the 
 sight of a hook, she let Mortimer do the angling. 
 Alice was on her good behavior, so sweet, so gentle, 
 so perfectly good-natured. She had quietly drawn 
 from Mortimer his ideal, she was now doing her best 
 to reproduce it. She kept her peasant garb, she flashed 
 her eyes at him under her jaunty Swiss hat, she bounded 
 over the rocks like a roe; it is true she sometimes 
 condescended to let Mortimer take her hand to assist 
 her over some dangerous place, and, Oh, how her 
 little hand trembled as it touched his. Thus it went on 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. If 
 
 for some weeks, when to Alice s joy the nibbles became 
 a decided bite ; still she showed no anxiety to haul in 
 her prize ; even after being persuaded she had him on 
 her hook, she let him play with her line. But the 
 moment came when she felt she should wait no longer. 
 
 They were engaged in earnest conversation, Mortimer 
 being so engrossed that he did not notice a precipice 
 over which he came near falling. A shriek from Alice, 
 a sudden grasp by her fair hands, then a clinging to 
 him till she had drawn him to a place of safety, when 
 she sank down entirely overcome. How she blushed 
 and trembled, yea, actually wept with mortification to 
 think that she had so betrayed herself. Mortimer 
 undertook to dry Alice s tears, a very dangerous 
 operation, as it only gave Alice the opportunity of 
 flashing her eyes into his. 
 
 He began to be sentimental, Alice at once checked 
 him. " Mr. Mortimer," she said with great dignity, 
 " you are too much of a gentleman to betray to others 
 the agitation I have exhibited this morning, I beg you 
 to bury it in oblivion," then with a sigh, " I only wish I 
 could," then hurriedly rising and dashing a tear away, 
 she said, " let us return at once to the village, I think I 
 shall leave Switzerland to-morrow." But Mortimer 
 gently detained her, "Why Miss Dupont, you must 
 not leave me till I have at least the opportunity of 
 thanking you for saving my life." Alice sank again 
 into a seat by Mortimer s side, though with a resigned 
 air as if doing it merely out of polite consideration for 
 his request. 
 
 " Miss Dupont," began Mortimer, "I I really can- 
 
l8 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 not thank you enough for your timely aid, it may have 
 saved my life, would that I might hope that it might 
 result in bringing our lives nearer together." Alice 
 looked up with an air as of most innocent bewilderment. 
 " Ah," thought Mortimer, "what a child of nature, she 
 does not understand the ways of man or the strategy of 
 lovers." 
 
 As Alice said nothing but continued her bewildered 
 gaze, Mortimer proceeded. "I see that you do not 
 quite understand me, permit me to speak to you 
 plainly." " Certainly," said Alice, " for Mr. Mortimer 
 is too much of a gentleman to say anything that any 
 lady could not hear, besides if there is anything I 
 despise it is the circumlocution of fashionable society. 
 Now tell me, Mr. Mortimer, plainly, what in the world 
 could / do to aid your life, a man of such genius as 
 yourself, of such fame, why," and she gave one of those 
 happy laughs which warbled so sweetly from her lips, 
 " do you want me to write a brief for your next case ? " 
 
 "What a charming, innocent creature," thought 
 Mortimer, " how shall I make her understand the state 
 of my heart." " No, not that, Miss Dupont," he answered, 
 " I do not need any one to aid me in writing briefs, but 
 I sadly need some one to give me a happy home." 
 Alice sprang to her feet and with a mock courtesy said, 
 " Does Mr. Mortimer need a cook, maid or waitress, if 
 so, let me recommend him to apply to John Smith, 250 
 Broadway, New York, who will for a very small fee 
 supply one ; but come, Mr. Mortimer, let us return to 
 the village." " Alas," thought Mortimer, " if she does 
 now understand me, she does not reciprocate my love, 
 but I will try again." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. \g 
 
 "Miss Dupont," said Mortimer, "why treat me thus, 
 you do understand me, you must see that I do not want 
 to banter, but to reveal the state of my heart and lay it 
 at your feet." "Why, Mr. Mortimer !" (tableaux vivant 
 again, Alice posing as an affrighted doe startled by the 
 hunter), then, as if perfectly overcome with her emotions, 
 she sank down into her seat by Mortimer s side, and 
 put her hands to her face (not, however, covering it 
 enough to hide the tears which moistened her eyes). 
 
 " Why, Miss Dupont, what have I done," exclaimed 
 Mortimer, " I certainly did not mean to grieve you 
 thus, I only wanted to express my admiration my 
 love to offer you my hand and heart." 
 
 "Ah, Mr. Mortimer," she said, looking up in his 
 face with the most tender* of expressions, "I do under 
 stand you now, but I feel that I am so unworthy of you 
 you so pure, so good, so noble, and I " For the 
 first time in the whole interview, Alice s conscience had 
 control of her mind ; that conscience smote her, 
 for she knew here was a noble-hearted man being 
 befooled by her low comedy and high tragedy. But 
 when she came to the " I," another tableaux vivant 
 took place in which Mortimer was the impetuous, pro 
 testing, urgent suitor, and Alice the coy maiden, yielding 
 at last to his earnest pleading. 
 
 When the news of Alice Dupont s engagement to 
 William Mortimer reached New York, it made a great 
 stir in circles where they were both well known. " The 
 funniest match I ever heard of," said Edgar Cooley, 
 "that legal prude Mortimer engaged to that society 
 butterfly, Alice Dupont ! verily, he will have to send 
 
2O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 her to the House of Correction, during the courtship, to 
 prepare her for the marriage." Edward Spangler de 
 clared Mortimer s case to be a striking illustration of 
 the injury a city man does himself by staying out of 
 society. "If William Mortimer had gone more into 
 society/ said Edgar, " he would have learned from its 
 gossip all the past history of his destined bride." He 
 added, " Some decry society s gossip, but after all it 
 serves the useful purpose of an intelligence office, 
 where the character of people can be ascertained." 
 Anson Stefman, an admirer of Mortimer, lost his 
 patience and exclaimed, " It s a mystery to me how an 
 acute mind like William Mortimer s could be bewitched 
 with such an empty-headed girl." But here Dr. Strong, 
 another friend of Mortimer s interposed, " You are 
 making a great mistake, Mr. Stefman, in your estimate 
 of Miss Dupont s mental ability; even granting that 
 she has hitherto led a useless life, there is no reason to 
 think her a fool. It takes a smart man to be a great 
 rogue, and it requires a smart woman for a successful 
 coquette. Why, think what Miss Dupont has had to 
 accomplish to conquer Mortimer s will, convert his 
 judgment, and elicit his affection. We wonder at the 
 sage Pericles consorting with Aspasia ; at Caesar, after 
 conquering whole nations, being led captive by Cleo 
 patra ; of cardinals and bishops dallying with Lucrezia 
 Borgia; but each of these women must have had 
 something besides their personal charms, each possessed 
 mental ability ; indeed, Aspasia almost controlled the 
 politics of Athens, Cleopatra held her queenship in 
 the face of able foes, and Lucrezia Borgia was a born 
 
21 
 
 diplomat. I grant you/ added Dr. Strong, "that this 
 use of mental power is a prostitution of its noblest 
 faculties, and that such triumphs of mind are but 
 transient, but if Miss Dupont fails in holding her 
 captive, it will not be from lack of mind but from want 
 of character. Yet even here the power of a dominant 
 idea may convert Miss Alice into a new character; I 
 have known many an apparently light-headed, fashion 
 able society girl to settle down after marriage and 
 become a very devoted wife." 
 
 It might be supposed from this talk of Dr. 
 Strong, that he had perused some of Alice s letters to 
 her friends, announcing her engagement, for they were 
 filled with declarations of her purpose to forsake fashion 
 able gaities and settle down as a faithful helpmeet to 
 " her dear William." She made more resolutions than 
 were required by the moral law. In theory she became 
 an extremest in prudery, Mortimer had even to argue 
 with her against her resolution " To never set her foot 
 in society again." "Why," he said, "Alice, I do not 
 want my wife to be an Anchoress, we have means, let 
 us enjoy them, let us keep open house where our 
 friends can have a good time." " Oh, no," answered 
 Alice, " dear William, your heart is all the home an-d 
 your company all the pleasure I need." 
 
 This reaction, however, was too violent to last long. 
 Alice could not always keep a watch over herself, and 
 when it was relaxed the old Alice would persist in 
 coming to the surface. It was not long before William 
 Mortimer discovered that his " child of nature " had 
 many of the elements of a child of the world. Though 
 
22 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 lovers are proverbially blind, yet even the blind some 
 times see more with their mental vision than others do 
 with their eyes. Alice had little ebullitions of temper 
 the volcano though silent would occasionally rumble ; 
 she demanded a good deal of petting, was imperious, 
 self-willed. Mortimer also began to see traces of 
 duplicity, caught her several times in lies, only white 
 ones it was true, not very black, but sufficiently so to 
 be rather startling to a man possessing a high sense of 
 honor. Unconsciously there grew up a feeling that 
 there was a lack of sympathy in their views, tastes and 
 principles ; they were not, as the French would say, 
 en rapport. Still Mortimer could but see that Alice 
 was trying to please him, which made him thankful ; or 
 rather he tried to be thankful, and harder still, to be 
 happy. 
 
 At last, after three months courtship, Mortimer re 
 turned to America leaving Alice behind. This was the 
 happiest part of their engagement; for, Oh, what 
 beautiful letters she wrote him, in such a delicate, female 
 hand, with such effusions of love, " Their separation was 
 almost killing her, Oh, for one moment of happiness by 
 his side ! " 
 
 Two months passed and Alice returned home. It was 
 the winter season, parties were in full blast, theatres 
 and operas peculiarly inviting, the old tastes returned 
 when the tempting meats met her eyes. She plead with 
 Mortimer to just go out a little into society, then a 
 little more, until before he knew it he was actually be 
 coming one of the society men of New York. " Why, 
 what has so changed you, Alice," asked Mortimer, " I 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 23 
 
 heard you once vow never to put your foot in society 
 again. " " You, you dear love," said Alice, " I find 
 that you are always right, you remember how you 
 argued against that resolution and I am converted to 
 your views ; yes, love, I want always to be governed by 
 your superior wisdom." 
 
 Mortimer kissed the uplifted lips, and determined to 
 let Alice have all the enjoyment she wanted. But that 
 became impossible ; being engaged to Alice, Mortimer 
 had to accompany her through her round of pleasures, 
 and soon his head, stomach and conscience joined in 
 rebellion. At last he had a plain talk with Alice, and 
 told her that he would have to either give up this round 
 of pleasure or his practice, and hinted rather strongly 
 that he would give up both the pleasure and herself 
 rather than his practice. There was first a fight, but 
 when Alice saw that Mortimer meant what he said, she 
 succumbed, and it ended, as their quarrels usually did, 
 with fresh protestations of mutual affection. 
 
 Things went on swimmingly for a season, but though 
 Alice gave up public balls she frequented ladies social 
 parties. Her long abstinence in Switzerland seemed to 
 have had the effect that prolonged fasts have on their 
 subjects they become perfectly ravenous at the close. 
 Debarred from public dissipations she made up for it 
 by private feasts, gorging herself with high-seasoned 
 food and rich wines ; instead of keeping late hours at 
 the opera, she sat up late in her room reading French 
 novels; she still affected simplicity in her outward 
 dress, but was perpetually shopping, and like the king s 
 daughter of the scriptures, was " clothed beautifully 
 within." 
 
24 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Again her health began to give way, the Swiss 
 peasant girl s blooming cheeks were pinched and faded. 
 She became hysterical, moody, complaining ; Mortimer 
 could not visit her without hearing of her headaches, 
 pains, etc. Again a consultation of doctors was sum 
 moned. Again the gamut was run on allopathy, 
 homoeopathy and hydropathy. Again she grew dissi 
 pated on patent medicines. Mortimer stood it bravely ; 
 "he had passed his word," that was what he often 
 muttered to himself. He tried to sympathize and cheer, 
 even bought some medical books, and studied the rules 
 of hygiene and the best methods of cure. 
 
 Mortimer was getting restive, his own health began 
 to fail ; he was ashamed to find how nervously he wrote 
 his briefs, how he hesitated in his arguments. He 
 consulted with his friends, they only shook their heads 
 and said little. Finally one day he almost bounded 
 into Alice s room, exclaiming, " I have just met a friend 
 who told me of an entirely new plan of treatment, 
 which has worked wonderful cures." "What is it?" 
 eagerly asked Alice. " Why, it is something," answered 
 Mortimer, " which is called the Mind-Cure." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 RUTH, "THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST." 
 
 It was with some difficulty that Mortimer persuaded 
 his betrothed to let him even have an interview with a 
 mind-curer about her case. The fact was, he himself 
 knew little about this new treatment; he could only 
 describe it as " something which worked through the 
 imagination on the body." This brought on him a 
 shower of reproaches from Alice, who, with pouting 
 lips and tearful eyes, protested against his imputation 
 that her disease was the effect of imagination. 
 
 Mrs. Dupont, however, became deeply interested in 
 the wonderful accounts Mortimer gave of the cures 
 wrought by this treatment. One woman, who had 
 been bedridden for years, had in a few weeks taken up 
 her bed and walked. Another had been cured of 
 asthma, others of neuralgia, several of tumors, etc., etc. 
 Alice listened with wondering eyes, as Mortimer skilfully 
 detailed the cure of several cases resembling her own, 
 and finally said, " Well, William, if father and mother 
 are agreed, I will try this new treatment." 
 
 Mr. Dupont came in just then, and, being informed 
 of the project, inquired, " Do you know, Mr. Mortimer, 
 whether this Mind-Curer can cure malaria? for I notice 
 
20 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the doctors now-a-days ascribe so many diseases to 
 malaria, it seems, like charity, to cover many 
 physical sins. " 
 
 " Yes," said Mortimer, trying to keep his countenance 
 straight and stretching his conscience a little, " yes, 
 my friend told me of a lady who had malaria for 
 years. She tried Allopathy, Homoeopathy, Hydro 
 pathy, and every other pathy, all in vain, but was 
 finally cured by this mind-cure treatment. 
 
 " Telephone for him at once," said Mr. Dupont. 
 
 " It s not a he, but a she," replied Mortimer. 
 
 " A lady doctor ! " exclaimed Mrs. Dupont. " Oh, 
 then I don t want anything to do with her." 
 
 " Queer, isn t it, Mr. Mortimer," said Mr. Dupont, 
 " that women are always the hardest on their own sex ? 
 Why, what matters it, wife, whether the mind-curer be 
 male or female, so that our daughter is cured?" 
 
 "Well," answered Mrs. Dupont, rather reluctantly, " I 
 agree to try her, if you think, Mr. Dupont, that she s 
 a respectable person." 
 
 " Oh, she must be that, Mrs. Dupont," interposed 
 Mortimer, " for my friend Simmons would have none 
 other attend his family. Besides, I find that one 
 feature of this mind-cure is the high mental and 
 Christian character of its practitioners. Indeed, it 
 enters into the very best circles of society. Why, it s 
 the very rage of Fifth and Madison avenues. One can 
 hardly go to a fashionable party, or tony church 
 sociable, or literary soiree, but you hear it talked 
 about. I am told that the ladies who practise it have 
 to take a very thorough course in what they call meta- 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 2f 
 
 physical colleges. This lady," looking at a card he 
 held in his hand," is named Ruth Page. I expect she 
 is a Quakeress, perhaps some motherly looking woman, 
 who, with that quiet refinement which always charac 
 terizes the Friends, will come as a sort of ministering 
 angel." 
 
 Now, the fact was, this climax of Mortimer s descrip 
 tion was wholly drawn from his imagination, and 
 suggested by his experience as a lawyer in painting 
 enchanting mind-pictures to gain the verdict of juries. 
 Who Ruth Page was he knew not, only that she was 
 what his friend termed a mind-curer. But the idea of 
 this matronly Quakeress, in her beautifully simple 
 garb, coming in as a ministering angel, took Alice s 
 fancy, and she determined at once that Ruth Page 
 should be summoned to her bedside ; and when an only 
 daughter, and she an invalid, determines anything, 
 who can gainsay? 
 
 It was but an hour after, that Mortimer stood on the 
 steps of a house in the upper part of New York city. 
 On the door was simply the name, " Page." Nothing 
 would indicate that it was the abode of a physician. 
 It corresponded to the number of the card, and 
 Mortimer felt sure that it was the home of the person 
 he sought. So he simply handed his card to the 
 servant and asked whether he could see Mrs. Page. 
 The servant hesitated a moment, and asked, " Do you 
 wish to see Mrs. or Miss Page? " 
 
 Mortimer produced the card with " Ruth Page " on 
 it and said, " This is the lady I want to see." 
 
 " It is then Miss Page," replied the servant. 
 
28 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 "Alas for the picture I drew of that Quakeress," 
 thought Mortimer. " I suppose, however, I am going 
 to meet some antiquated spinster." 
 
 On being ushered into the parlor, Mortimer was 
 surprised at its quiet tone of elegance. " This can be 
 no Quakeress home, either," said he, still more 
 puzzled. But soon his attention was attracted by the 
 rustling of a silk dress. The door opened and in 
 walked a young woman of rare beauty. Indeed, she 
 burst upon Mortimer as a vision of incarnate loveli 
 ness. Her form, though slight, was graceful ; her 
 face, shaded by rich tresses of auburn hair, was painted 
 with the bloom of health ; her whole countenance was 
 lit up with an intelligence evidently the effect of high 
 culture. The only thing which would indicate pecu 
 liarity in her mental bias was a sort of reverie in her 
 soft blue eyes, as if she was one who dwelt much in 
 thought. As she stood there before Mortimer, he 
 inwardly exclaimed, even at the risk of fealty to Alice, 
 " The most lovely woman I ever beheld ! " 
 
 Mortimer s look of astonishment was too pronounced 
 to escape the eyes of Miss Page. A look of quiet 
 satisfaction played for a moment over her face, for he 
 was not the first one who had come expecting to see 
 some cranky, angular female hobbyist. But a suspicion 
 began to dawn on Mortimer s mind that he might be 
 addressing some one else than " Ruth Page." With 
 some hesitation he said : 
 
 " I came to consult a lady, whom I learned resides 
 here, about a sick friend in whom I am especially 
 interested. Am I right in supposing I am addressing 
 
2 9 
 
 Miss Page?" "Yes," said Ruth, trying to suppress a 
 smile, " but please, sir, be seated." 
 
 Mortimer seated himself and began, " I have learned 
 through a friend that you have the power to heal the 
 sick." 
 
 " I do not claim," answered Ruth, " to heal the 
 sick by any power that is in myself, only to induce them 
 to appreciate the power that is in God." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Mortimer, " I understand, you rely 
 on faith and prayer, that is," (hesitating as if trying to 
 feel his way), "you practice what they call Faith 
 Healing." 
 
 " No," answered Ruth, with a pleasant smile, " for 
 while we respect those who believe in what you call Faith 
 Healing, we differ from them in one important point. 
 They regard faith as the great instrument ; we rely on 
 truth." 
 
 "What?" said Mortimer, completely perplexed, 
 " please explain further this distinction." 
 
 " Perhaps I can best state it thus," replied Ruth, 
 evidently becoming interested at the inquiring state of 
 her visitor s mind, " it is the truth which faith lays hold 
 of, and not the faith itself which works the cure. All 
 disease we believe to be the result of error, as this error 
 is purely mental we address our treatment to the mind, 
 and when it comes into a right condition the result must 
 be the cure of the body." 
 
 " Oh, yes," exclaimed Mortimer, " I understand now; 
 your treatment is therefore rightly named the mind- 
 cure." 
 
 " No, we do not like to have that term applied to it, 
 
30 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the proper name for our healing art is Christian 
 Science." 
 
 Mortimer felt completely bewildered. Ruth, noticing 
 it, said, " It would need sometime to explain fully to 
 you the nature of our science, but if you will tell me 
 the nature of the case I may be able to advise about it." 
 
 Mortimer was now still more perplexed. How could 
 he talk over with this young beauty what he supposed 
 to be the ailments of Alice? He paused a moment 
 and answered, " I have so little knowledge of disease, 
 being myself a lawyer and not a physician, that I fear I 
 should misstate the case. Indeed, my object in calling 
 was to ask you to do us the great favor of seeing my 
 friend and trying your skill upon her." 
 
 "What is her name and where does she live?" 
 inquired Ruth. Mortimer gave Alice s address. 
 
 " Could she not come to me? " 
 
 "No, she is, or thinks herself, to ill to leave the 
 house." 
 
 " Well, I will call and see her in an hour." 
 
 The thought flashed across Mortimer would he not, 
 before bringing Ruth and Alice in contact, have to 
 prepare Alice for meeting a beautiful young girl instead 
 of his pictured demure old Quakeress. He feared, too, 
 exciting Alice s jealousy, a trait which had lately been 
 much developed. Indeed, Alice was becoming a fearful 
 tyrant in her demands of having Mortimer entirely for 
 herself. He began to fret under the yoke he was 
 wearing, and sometimes almost wished it could be lifted. 
 But what was he to do? He had come to invite Miss 
 Page to see Alice. Yet if she came there might be a 
 scene. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 3! 
 
 " Miss Page," he began, with rather a hesitating air, 
 " I appreciate very much your prompt consent to see 
 my friend, but knowing as I do her state of mind, will 
 you permit me to first prepare her for the interview ; 
 the fact is, this plan is my own, and my friend s faith 
 in this new treatment needs a little strengthening. I 
 know we ought to consult your convenience and not 
 our own, but if you would permit me to see my friend 
 before a definite appointment is made, I shall feel 
 greatly obliged." 
 
 Ruth smiled and replied, " If you only knew, sir, our 
 experience with new patients, you .would not hesitate 
 to ask such a favor. We are generally sent for as the 
 last resort, after the doctors have given up the patient; 
 we are only looked upon as a sort of forlorn hope ; " 
 then with a sigh she added, " but this is our mission. 
 It was very much in this way they brought the sick to 
 Jesus, yet he healed them. Therefore, we, Christian 
 scientists, are not willing to refuse any such call." 
 
 Mortimer hurried back to the Duponts, and as he 
 anticipated, a storm burst when he told Alice that the 
 mind doctress was a young girl. " Some particular 
 friend of yours, I suppose," said Alice, with a contemp 
 tuous air. Mortimer answered with some spirit, " I 
 give you my word, Alice, I never heard of Miss Page 
 until yesterday, and never saw her before to-day. I 
 am trying to show my love for you, and feel hurt that 
 you repay it with such suspicions. I have done all that 
 I intend to do in this matter. You can see or refuse 
 to see this lady, but please, at least, tell me your 
 decision." 
 
32 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Alice s curiosity had been too much excited to give 
 up trying the mind-cure and she replied, " Excuse me, 
 William, I know I am foolish, but you know I am 
 weak, my nerves are unstrung, and my very love for 
 you makes me fearfully jealous. Now, bring this Miss 
 Page and I will promise to behave myself and give her 
 treatment a fair trial." 
 
 Mortimer hastened back to the fair doctress and 
 made an appointment for her to visit Alice. 
 
 " Shall I send a carriage for you? " he asked. " No, 
 thank you," said Ruth, " I will come in my own," and, 
 seeing the evident surprise of Mortimer, she added, 
 " We professors of Christian science are not angels who 
 fly nor mortals too poor to ride. We are simply the 
 children of the Heavenly Father, who try to lead His 
 other children to see and take the good things He has 
 in store for them." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE FIRST TRIAL ON ALICE DUPONT OF RUTH S 
 TREATMENT. 
 
 At the appointed hour a rather stylish doctor s 
 carriage stopped at the Duponts home. Mrs. Dupont, 
 who had been watching from the window, gave an 
 exclamation of surprise as she saw alight from it a very 
 well dressed young lady. " Well, we are committed to 
 the experiment," she said to herself, " and we must see 
 it through." So she went down to the parlor, and 
 having courteously welcomed Miss Page, escorted her 
 to Alice s room. Alice had insisted that Mortimer 
 should be present. The fact was, she had not quite 
 got over her suspicion. She would like to see how he 
 met this mind-doctress. Her jealousy was rather 
 stimulated by Ruth s appearance, for though Mortimer 
 had prepared her for the youth of Ruth, he had not for 
 her beauty. She shot an angry glance at Mortimer, 
 who, however, pretended to be perfectly unconscious 
 of it, and having merely bowed to Ruth, took his seat 
 in the further part of the room. Ruth seemed a little 
 disconcerted by Alice s cool reception, but with quiet 
 dignity she took her seat by her side, and soon 
 
34 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 succeeded in drawing her into conversation. To Alice s 
 surprise, the doctoress did not inquire after her pains or 
 probe her physical condition. Ruth addressed herself 
 to the morale of her patient, inquired what she had 
 been doing, how spending her time, what was her main 
 purpose in life. Alice began to be interested by the 
 very novelty of the whole affair. "Why, you re a 
 strange doctoress," she said pleasantly. " I expected 
 you would diagnose me nearly to death, but you are 
 trying to heal me simply by talking to me." 
 
 " No," said Ruth, " I have not begun my treatment 
 yet." 
 
 "Well, anyway," said Alice, " I feel better already." 
 
 " Certainly, because you are drawing off your thoughts 
 from that body of yours. You have been regarding it 
 as the seat of what you call disease, when all disease 
 exists in the mind as disturbed or inverted thought/ " * 
 Alice looked as if she did not grasp fully Ruth s 
 meaning, and the latter added, "What is this body 
 which you think is sick? It is non-sentient matter 
 which reflects the thought of disease existing in your 
 mind. Man was made in the image of God, and since 
 God is a spirit and cannot be sick, therefore, man, his 
 reflection, cannot be sick all disease in an error." 
 
 "Why, Miss Page!" exclaimed Alice, "Do you 
 mean to say that all the aches, pains, inflammations, 
 which I have experienced for these many years, are 
 simply the effect of imagination, why, my five senses 
 testify against such a theory." 
 
 " I acknowledge," answered Ruth, " that as long as 
 
 * Marston s Essentials of Mental Healing, Page 73. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 35 
 
 you rest on the testimony of your senses you cannot 
 realize the fact that disease is an error ; but is there 
 not a higher testimony than that of our senses, and one 
 more reliable that is, truth. To your eye this earth 
 is flat. Truth demonstrates it to be round. To your 
 eye the sun moves from east to west, while the fact is 
 the earth on which you stand is moving." 
 
 "Well, what do you want me to believe in?" said 
 Alice, completely bewildered. 
 
 "Just remain quiet and listen and try to fix your 
 mind on these truths. Remember that God is love, 
 that he has the most sincere interest in the welfare of 
 his creatures, that he does not want them to be sick, 
 but well and happy, so that they may enjoy the good 
 things he has so liberally provided for them. Remem 
 ber how Jesus, when on earth, cured the sick. It is 
 said that they were possessed with divers diseases, 
 now it would not be wonderful if some were affected 
 like yourself. Try to take your thoughts off your 
 body, your mind is all right, and your mind is what 
 really rules the body, why should it not command the 
 body, thus making it yield obedience to its lawful 
 sovereign? In thinking of God, remember that we 
 are his offspring, for Paul quotes this saying of a 
 heathen poet, and commends it: * The offspring must 
 be like the parent. What is the great Father of us all, 
 a spirit. Does not the Bible say, God is a spirit? 
 Why, then, regard your pains as the production of 
 diseased matter, even if there were such a thing as 
 matter it would have to be subordinate to spirit. Shall 
 the servant command the master or the master the 
 
3 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 servant? Think of God, of how he loves you, and 
 desires you to be well, so that you can yield your 
 powers to his service. All disease is in the mind, 
 change the thought, and let your mind be filled with 
 the truth of God." 
 
 Alice listened at first carelessly, but soon became 
 deeply interested. Whether she could understand it 
 or not, here was something entirely new. Instead of 
 feeling her pulse, looking at her tongue, and poking 
 her ribs, here was a doctress who laid her hand on her 
 mental faculties, inspected her heart, and drew her out 
 of herself. She tried to follow the leadings of her 
 teacher, for she realized she was being taught, not 
 dosed. Ruth having secured her attention held it by 
 turning over and over these truths, presenting them 
 now in one light, then in another, illustrating them by 
 apt similes and metaphors, till at last when Alice had 
 completely forgotten herself, Ruth asked Mrs. Dupont to 
 permit her to be alone with her daughter for a quarter 
 of an hour. Mrs. Dupont and Mortimer instantly 
 retired. On their return she found Alice sitting up 
 and looking quite bright. " Oh, mother," she exclaimed, 
 " I feel better already, Miss Page has done me a world 
 of good ! I believe my aches and pains are all gone. 
 Why, I nearly forgot that I had a body." 
 
 " Keep on, then, forgetting," said Ruth, " and please 
 excuse me now, for I have another engagement." 
 
 " Oh, no, don t go yet," said Alice, and forgetting 
 her supposed invalid condition she actually rose from 
 her couch as Ruth herself rose to leave. 
 
 Mortimer and Mrs. Dupont exchanged glances of 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 37 
 
 satisfaction when they saw this wonderful change in 
 Alice. Mrs. Dupont, stepping forward, courteously 
 said, " I cannot thank you enough, Miss Page, for your 
 kindness in coming, and for the good you have already 
 done my daughter. I hope you will take her case in 
 hand and continue visiting her until she is entirely 
 well." 
 
 "Have you any other physician in attendance?" 
 asked Ruth. 
 
 " Our doctor is at present out of the city, and he 
 told us that he would not call again until sent for," 
 answered Mrs. Dupont. 
 
 Ruth replied, " Excuse me for my frankness, Mrs. 
 Dupont, but I cannot attend your daughter unless I 
 have the case alone. Our science discards the use of 
 medicine, and it s only fair that we should not be 
 interfered with by having medicine given to our patients 
 while we are treating them." 
 
 " But you will let me take my chloral," said Alice, 
 " I do not think I can sleep without it." 
 
 "Have you been taking chloral?" said Ruth, " no 
 wonder that you have headaches. If I treat you, you 
 must agree to bid good-bye to chloral, and trust to Him 
 who giveth His beloved sleep/ When you retire 
 to-night, try to banish all thoughts of headache, 
 chloral, etc., and just believe that you will and must 
 sleep. It s God s provision for his creatures, it s your 
 right to claim it as such." 
 
 " But how about the malaria," asked Alice, " Dr. 
 Mortar says I am poisoned with malaria, and Oh, Miss 
 Page, if you only knew what I have suffered from that 
 awful disease !" 
 
38 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Ruth tried to suppress a smile while she answered, 
 " Our science does not believe in the existence of 
 malaria." 
 
 " Blessed science ! " exclaimed Mr. Dupont, who had 
 unobserved entered the room. " Blessed science ! If 
 you can do away with malaria, Miss Page, you will 
 deserve a monument higher than the one erected to 
 Dr. Jenner. You will depopulate the hospitals, ruin 
 the Atlantic steamship companies, burst up the apothe 
 caries and save me from bankruptcy." 
 
 Ruth, who had not before met Mr. Dupont, and 
 knew nothing of his family experiences, looked puzzled. 
 Alice felt deeply mortified, and walking up to her 
 father, said, " Father, you forget that this lady is a 
 stranger to us. Miss Page, let me introduce you to 
 my father. He no doubt appreciates your skill though 
 he takes this mode of expressing it." 
 
 " Appreciate Miss Page!" exclaimed Mr. Dupont, 
 " certainly I ought to, for I left you, Alice, this 
 morning, in bed with a raging headache, talking of 
 nothing but dying, and here you are on you feet 
 walking around the room and looking as if you had 
 experienced a resurrection. Miss Page, please put my 
 daughter on your visiting list and send me the bill, and 
 if she continues to improve as she has begun, it will be 
 the most satisfactory bill I have ever settled." 
 
 Ruth simply bowed and took her departure. Morti 
 mer had said nothing, but as Ruth turned to leave the 
 room their eyes met. Mortimer gave her a look of 
 grateful appreciation. Alice, who had turned to look 
 for Mortimer, caught the expression of his face. She 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 39 
 
 appeared very much disturbed. " I believe," she said, 
 " my pains are coming back." 
 
 " Oh, don t think that," said Mortimer, you are so 
 much better, Alice, that I can now leave you for a little 
 while. I want to take a trip to the Catskills with 
 my friend, Arthur Strong, and then visit a friend at 
 Falkill-on-the-Hudson. In the meanwhile, you can try 
 this mind-cure treatment." 
 
 Alice somehow felt relieved at Mortimers proposed 
 absence, and as he fulfilled his promise to write her 
 every day, and packed his letters full of the most 
 tender sentiments, she forgot her jealousy and yielded 
 herself implicitly to Ruth s treatment, who succeeded 
 also in making Alice forget herself. 
 
 After the others had left, Mrs. Dupont said, " Alice, 
 what did Miss Page do to you while we were out of 
 the room?" 
 
 " Why, nothing particular, she simply bade me put 
 myself in a receptive attitude and sat near me resting 
 her arm on the table and shading her eyes with her 
 hand. But somehow I thought I was being healed, 
 and, really, after she got through her prayer or medita 
 tion or whatever else it might have been, I felt quite 
 well. Queer, isn t it mother? " 
 
 " Decidedly so," answered Mrs. Dupont with a 
 rather dubious smile. 
 
4O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A MATERIALIST TRIES TO EXPLAIN THE MIND-CURE. 
 
 If you want to find wisdom personified, at least in 
 the person s estimation of himself, seek a young man 
 who has passed through the following experiences 
 let him stand first in his preparatory school, then 
 graduate as the honor-man in a college, which is 
 regarded as the ultima thule of scientific and literary 
 knowledge. Let his specialty be the department of 
 philosophy, he having dipped deeply into psychology, 
 ethics, and mental science. Let him write his thesis 
 on the philosophy of Mills and Spencer, and receive 
 for it the flattering comment of his president and 
 professors. Then let him be sent to Germany to 
 pursue a post graduate course, in which he mounts his 
 favorite hobby and rides it for a couple of years, 
 winning at last his degree by some metaphysical 
 discussion on the cognative powers, or if he be 
 medically inclined, on some subject in physiological 
 psychology, for example, " The General Problems of 
 the origin and transmission of Nervous Force and the 
 Functions of the Peripheral Nerves." 
 
 Now let him return to his native land with a conviction 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 41 
 
 of the vast advancement of the German metaphysical 
 mind over the dull, money-making brain of the Yankee. 
 In short, let him be ground between this upper mill 
 stone of psychological learning and the lower one of 
 inordinate self-esteem and there will come out the 
 finest of the wheat in the shape of a self-opinionated 
 oracle. Take this mental photograph and hang it up* 
 in the chambers of memory, for we want it to aid you 
 in recognising Mortimer s friend, Arthur Strong. 
 
 Let justice, however, be done to Dr. Strong by 
 stating that, owing to his sedulous attention to study 
 and practice, he lacked that contact with the world 
 which helps take a man s conceit out of him, by its 
 matter-of-fact view of things, philosophy and psychology 
 included. Let it be added though occasionally he 
 exchanged his quiet student ways for glimpses of life, 
 high and low, his morals were intact even if his mind 
 was skeptical, for his was that skepticism which shows 
 itself, not so much in direct antagonism to religion, as 
 in the patronizing air with which it regards the Supreme 
 Being. Dr. Strong was too much of a gentleman to 
 swear, but too much of an embryo scientist not to 
 scoff. He was not exactly the companion one would 
 have chosen for Mortimer, in the inquiring state of the 
 latter s mind. But they were old college chums, and 
 college friendships often ignore the matter of a man s 
 belief, so that he only be congenial. 
 
 The doctor was beginning to gather patients for his 
 visiting list, but as yet was not so overburdened with 
 them but that he could allow himself a short vacation. 
 He, therefore, at once fell in with Mortimer s plan of 
 
42 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 spending a few weeks in some quiet place in the 
 Catskills. Mortimer, who had great respect for Dr. 
 Strong s metaphysical knowledge, was glad of this op 
 portunity of sounding him on the subject of the mind- 
 cure. So after they got fairly settled down in their 
 quiet country home, Mortimer told his friend about the 
 experiment of the mind-cure on Alice. He gave a 
 vivid account of his interview with Ruth, ending with a 
 panegyric on her beauty, which led the doctor to say, 
 " Look out, young fellow, else Alice may have to keep 
 a careful look on you." 
 
 " Oh, no," said Mortimer with a laugh, " I am 
 interested in this doctoress only so far as she may 
 benefit Miss Dupont; but tell me frankly what you 
 think of this mind-cure or Christian Science." 
 
 The doctor, assuming a thoughtful mien and pausing 
 to knock the ashes out of his German student s pipe, 
 answered, " There is nothing remarkable in this case or 
 in this treatment. It is simply utilizing a subjective 
 mental state, in which the attention is called off from 
 the disease and concentrated on some other object, 
 which has for the time a greater power than the disease. 
 Fichte and Hegel, whom I regard as the best German 
 metaphysicians, hold that the notion we have of 
 external things is purely subjective " 
 
 " Now do come down from your pedestal," interrupted 
 Mortimer. "You must remember I know nothing 
 about German metaphysics. Talk of something I can 
 comprehend." 
 
 "Well," said the doctor, condescendingly, evidently 
 pleased with what he considered an acknowledgment of 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 43 
 
 his superior learning, " I will try to make it as plain to 
 you as A, B, C. The mind, you know, is a great 
 power in man. I use the term mind in a general 
 sense, as comprehending the will, affections, and what 
 men call the soul. This is not strictly correct, but it 
 will serve the purpose of bringing the subject within 
 your comprehension. Now, the mind can act on itself 
 in normal relations and this we term reason ; or it can 
 act abnormally, exceeding the bounds of reason, under 
 this we would class imaginations, hallucinations, etc. 
 Then the mind can act on other minds and can convey 
 its power of imagination to them a sort of mental 
 contagion, so to speak, and often as deleterious to 
 other minds as the leper s touch to the body. That is, 
 when the mind thus acting is itself in an abnormal 
 condition." 
 
 " But will imagination cure a headache? " 
 
 " Certainly," said the doctor. 
 
 " Yes," argued Mortimer, " but would it make a girl, 
 who has been sick for months, sit up and even walk 
 down stairs, after a week s treatment, for I received a 
 letter from Alice to-day saying she is now able to go 
 down to dinner." 
 
 ! " Ah, my friend," said the doctor, condescendingly, 
 "If you had studied mental physiology as thoroughly 
 as I have, you would not ask what imagination could 
 do, but rather what it cannot do. Faith is more 
 powerful than physic. A bread pill has often been as 
 efficacious as. a dose of castor-oil. Still, we materialists 
 hold that the mind cannot act except under the laws 
 of nature ; for example, the bread pill to purge must, 
 
44 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 like the oil, excite the peristaltic action of the bowels. 
 So with many other wonderful cures wrought through 
 the mind ; you can trace them all up to the laws of 
 nature. Take this illustration, Holding a ruler in my 
 hand I point it to a certain part of a person s body 
 where pain is located. I first impress the patient with 
 the idea that there s a certain healing virtue in that ruler. 
 I have thus stimulated four mental faculties, each of 
 which is able to produce great effects on the body: 
 First, attention; this can direct the nervous force and 
 blood to the affected part. Second, expectation, which 
 enlists the strong power of the will. Third, emotion, 
 the awakening of which is like Eolus opening his cave 
 of winds, sweeping everything before it. Fourth (if 
 the man be a Christian theist), I have appealed to his 
 faith and hope. We will suppose the man cured but 
 by what? Not by any virtue in that ruler, but by 
 utilizing certain elements in his nature. The performer 
 has simply played on the man s physical make-up, and 
 by certain skilful combinations of cords has produced 
 a new air. Thus the mind-curers, after all, use the old 
 instrument the body. I give them credit for pro 
 ducing a new operetta." 
 
 " It seems to me, then," said Mortimer, " that the 
 question is not whether the mind acts on the body, but 
 how it acts on the body. I do not see, even according 
 to your own reasoning, but that the mind might so 
 assert its power as to hold the body completely under 
 its control." 
 
 " Not quite that," replied the doctor, " because there 
 are certain points beyond which the mind cannot go in 
 
OR, THK NEW HYGEIA. 45 
 
 its control over the body. This is a point you have 
 got to keep in view, Mortimer, in weighing testimony 
 about the mind-cure. Allow all the power you choose 
 to the mind, but remember it is enshrined in a human 
 body which can assert its own power." 
 
 " True," said Mortimer, laughing, " for that sourkrout 
 which our landlady foisted on me at dinner makes it 
 impossible for me to grasp all the intricate distinctions 
 of your superior mind, which, luckily, has not to 
 wrestle with a disordered stomach. But let us come 
 to the point. What power has imagination over the 
 body, is it purely deceptive, or is it strong enough to 
 accomplish a real result from an imaginary cause ? " 
 
 " Certainly the latter," answered Arthur, " I could 
 spend the evening in citing cases where pure imagination 
 has worked the most wonderful effects on the body. 
 There was that well authenticated experiment in France 
 on a man condemned to die. The doctors first tied 
 the man down and proceeded ostensibly to bleed him 
 to death. Placing his arm in a position where he could 
 not see it, they pricked it with a lancet, taking care not 
 to bring any blood, still, by letting a stream of warm 
 water trickle down the arm, they produced the im 
 pression on the man s mind that they had actually 
 opened a vein. Then with their hands on his pulse 
 they pretended to note the gradual outflow of his life s 
 blood. They occasionally made such remarks as these, 
 See ! he is gradually growing weaker/ Guess he will 
 not live much longer/ See ! he is almost gone/ and go 
 the man did, at least his life went, for he gradually 
 sank and died." 
 
46 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 "Well, I think," said Mortimer, "that the Coroner s 
 verdict ought to have been, Died by the hands of the 
 doctors. " 
 
 " Yes," answered Strong, " nevertheless it is true that 
 the instrument they used for their professional murder 
 was simply the man s imagination. Then, there s a 
 similar case narrated in the London Medical Times. 
 Some convicts were permitted to occupy beds in a 
 prison hospital previously occupied by patients who 
 had died of cholera. None of them knew of this fact 
 and none of them died. They put other convicts in 
 new beds, in which no one ever slept, but informed the 
 patients that they had been previously occupied by 
 cholera patients. The Medical Times states that three 
 of the four convicts immediately were seized with 
 cholera in its most malignant form and died within four 
 hours. I have also seen somewhere an account of a 
 man who was led forth to be shot. The soldiers aimed 
 at him and he fell dead at the discharge of their guns, 
 but not a ball was in one of those guns, only blank 
 cartridges. Dr. Moore, in his treatise on the soul and 
 body, mentions the case of a woman, who had a dress 
 torn by a dog, she imagined the animal had the 
 hydrophobia and that the virus had been communicated 
 to her person. She died a short time after with all the 
 symptoms of hydrophobia, though it was clearly proven 
 that the teeth of the dog never touched her person, 
 and, indeed, that the dog was not mad. Now, you see 
 that all these cases were connected with the imagination, 
 an abnormal condition of which accomplished even the 
 death of the body." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 47 
 
 "It seems to me, however," said Mortimer, "that 
 your argument either proves too much, or else supports 
 the very theory of the mind-curers; for if certain 
 passions of the mind, like fear and hatred, can produce 
 deleterious effects on the body, why may not what may 
 be called the good passions of the mind, such as hope 
 and love and faith, produce good effects. I believe 
 that some of the grandest deeds in human history have 
 been accomplished by the supremacy of the mental 
 over the corporeal. Look, for example, at the fortitude 
 displayed by our Arctic explorers in resisting cold, or 
 the African explorers in resisting heat. If history is 
 worthy of belief, Cranmer first held the hand which had 
 signed his recantation in the flame, which was kindling 
 about his body, saying, * This hand first offended and it 
 shall first suffer. Another martyr, in a voice which 
 indicated the strength of his will-power and the sub 
 jection of the corporeal to the spiritual, exclaimed, 
 while standing in the midst of flames which were 
 consuming his body, This fire is a bed of roses to 
 me. " 
 
 " Still," answered Dr. Strong, " there s a point where 
 the mind cannot go beyond the limits of nature. No 
 power of the mind can keep the body from starving 
 when deprived for a long time of food. No power of 
 the mind can make the Ethiopian change his skin. 
 Besides, the mind itself is sometimes rendered powerless 
 through the state of the brain. The most skilful mind- 
 curer could not rouse a patient out of the stupor of a 
 brain poisoned with opium, or appeal to the moral 
 instincts of a raving maniac." 
 
48 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " There is another objection," continued Dr. Strong, 
 " to all this class of beliefs, namely, that they always 
 try to ascribe a supernatural element to natural causes. 
 In Germany I heard much of the career of Prince 
 Hohenloke, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Sardica, 
 who claims to have cured paralytics by his prayers. 
 I ve also seen peddled about the streets of Germany 
 bottles of water from the famous grotto of Massausa- 
 velle at Lourdes, France, where, in 1858, the Virgin 
 Mary is believed by some to have revealed herself 
 repeatedly to a peasant girl. I have seen crutches and 
 canes at the shrine of saints who have cured persons of 
 lameness. I know these are called by different names, 
 faith cures, but after all, their basis is in the mind, 
 and the difficulty is to handle the mind-cure without 
 running into superstition or fanaticism. If your mind- 
 cure doctoress can do this, she will be a greater prodigy 
 than Joan of Arc, who, by the by, I wonder that the 
 mind-curers do not adopt as their patron saint, for the 
 wonders she accomplished were largely due to the hold 
 she obtained on the minds of the French people." 
 
 " I confess," said Mortimer, " that my acquaintance 
 with Miss Ruth Page has been so brief that I am not 
 able to state clearly her theory of healing, though I 
 know she claims a distinction between it and cither faith 
 healing or mind-cure. What do you say to visiting 
 her yourself? " 
 
 " Well, I think I will, on my return to New York, if 
 you will give me a letter of introduction. I confess 
 I have a curiosity to see this beautiful priestess who sits 
 at the door of the temple of Christian Science. " 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MORTIMER ATTENDS A FAITH HEALING MEETING, AND 
 MEETS MRS. ESTHER BATES. 
 
 It was with mingled feelings that William Mortimer 
 found himself in the village of Falkill-on-the-Hudson. 
 He had stopped there to hunt up some facts about 
 his father, Eugene Mortimer. Since Mortimer had 
 become a lawyer he had carefully gone over his father s 
 papers. He knew little of that father for he died when 
 Mortimer was about two years old. The aunts who 
 educated him spoke little about his parents, but 
 Mortimer inferred, from some hints they let drop, 
 there had been family jars over his father s second 
 marriage. 
 
 He was surprised, in examining some of his father s 
 papers, to find in an old account book this entry: 
 "Paid to Mary Mortimer, my first wife, $50,000." 
 "Why so large a sum?" thought Mortimer. This set 
 him to investigating further, and he found that the 
 divorce granted Eugene Mortimer from this Mary 
 Mortimer had been obtained in Chicago. He sent to 
 Chicago and found that the $50,000 was paid Mary 
 Mortimer at the time of the divorce. " Did he buy her 
 
JO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 off with this ? " queried Mortimer. There was some 
 thing mysterious about that $50,000, the mystery 
 deepened his interest. He tried to track up this first 
 Mrs. Mortimer, but no one knew her ; she had disap 
 peared immediately after the divorce. Mortimer s father 
 had married again within a year, and in less than a year 
 after that marriage the second wife died in child-birth, 
 William being the son then born ; two years more and 
 Eugene Mortimer followed his second wife to the 
 grave. 
 
 The reason why Mortimer came to Falkill was that 
 his father had resided on a handsome country seat in 
 that neighborhood many years previous to his second 
 marriage ; perchance he might find some one there 
 who knew his father s history. Mortimer wanted these 
 things cleared up before his marriage with Alice, for 
 he desired no family ghosts to haunt his domestic 
 hearth. Having put up at the quiet tavern in Falkill, 
 with a lawyer s ingenuity he began to question the 
 tavern-keeper about the former inhabitants of the 
 neighborhood. This man, however, could only tell 
 the history of the present inhabitants for he had 
 recently moved there himself. But he said to Mortimer, 
 " There is old Squire Hubbard who has lived here 
 for over a half century, he knows all about the old 
 families." 
 
 Mortimer hired a boy to drive over to the Squire s, 
 who lived with his son, John Hubbard, whose home 
 was a sort of cross between a rural boarding-house and 
 a farm. The family consisted of the old Squire, his 
 son John and Rachael his wife, and two young children, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 51 
 
 Reuben and Sarah. The Hubbards were Methodists, 
 good disciples of John Wesley, holding strictly to the 
 faith which they regarded as the one " first delivered to 
 the saints." Hence they had cleanliness both in their 
 hearts and home. It was just the spot where a lawyer, 
 used to the whirl and sin of a great city like New York, 
 was glad to rest both mind and body. 
 
 The day after his arrival Mortimer seated himself by 
 the side of the old Squire, who was smoking his pipe 
 on the front porch, and engaged him in conversation. 
 "Your name be s Mortimer, I understand," said the 
 Squire, " well, be you any relation to Eugene Mortimer 
 who used to live at Grasslands? " 
 
 " Yes," said Mortimer, " I believe I am, did you 
 know Eugene Mortimer? " 
 
 " Ah, well," answered the old man, " he was a money- 
 making fellow, rather close-fisted. I remember selling 
 him a cow," and then Mortimer had to listen to a 
 long story about the bickering of the Squire with his 
 father about that cow. After the Squire had got all 
 through it, Mortimer said, " Did you know his wife? " 
 
 " Yes," said the Squire, " and she was a lovely lady." 
 
 " Which wife was it," asked Mortimer, " the first or 
 the second?" The old man at once became confused. 
 He could tell all about Eugene Mortimer s early life, 
 but he could tell nothing about his marriages only 
 knew that " Mrs. Mortimer was a very fine woman." 
 
 Mortimer thought to himself, " Here, in the impair 
 ment of this old man s mind, is certainly an argument 
 for Dr. Strong s theory that there is a relation between 
 the mind and the state of the substance of the brain, 
 
52 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 for the changes in the brain through old age certainly 
 affect the mind." * 
 
 Mortimer was in despair of finding out any 
 thing about his father from the old Squire, when the 
 latter remarked, as if in a sort of dream, " Esther 
 Bates used to live at Eugene Mortimer s." 
 
 "Who is she?" asked Mortimer, eagerly. 
 
 " She be s the faith-healer." 
 
 "Where does she live?" But again the old man s 
 memory failed, "he disremembered." "Mrs. Hub- 
 bard," said Mortimer, when they were seated at the 
 tea-table, " do you know a lady by the name of Esther 
 Bates?" 
 
 * Dr. Carpenter s explanation of the impairment of memory in old age is as 
 follows: "This is in precise accordance with the physiological facts that decline 
 essentially consists in the diminution of the formative activity of the organism, 
 which no longer serves even for the maintenance of the cerebrum, according to the 
 model into which it has gradually shaped itself, so that while new modifications of 
 the acquired type are scarcely possible, even those of long standing tend to fade 
 away, the original type being the most enduring (Carpenter, page 347). It is when 
 the brain is growing? that a definite direction can be most strongly and persistently 
 given to its structure. * * * But as the nutritive activity diminishes, the waste 
 becomes more active than the renovation, and it would seem that while (to use a 
 commercial analogy) the old established houses keep their ground, these later 
 firms whose basis is less secure are the first to crumble away, the nutritive activity 
 which yet suffices to maintain the original structure not being capable of keeping 
 the subsequent additions to it in working force, (idem., page 442.) " 
 
 The connection between the memory of a particular class of ideas and the 
 structural soundness of the brain is illustrated by many examples of persons losing 
 their memory after a blow on the head. Thus a case was recorded by Dr. Beattie, 
 of a gentleman who, after a blow on the head, found that he had lost his knowledge 
 of Greek, though his memory did not appear to have suffered in any other 
 particular. A similar case is recorded by Dr. Carpenter, in which "a lad who lay 
 for three days insensible, in consequence of a severe blow on the head, found 
 himself on recovering to have lost all the music he had learned, though nothing 
 else had been thus knocked out of him." 
 
 Several other similar cases might be adduced, which all seem to prove that the 
 faculties of the mind have intimate connection with the state of the substance of the 
 brain. 
 
 * Principles of Mental Physiology, William B. Carpenter, M. D., LL. D., etc., 
 Registrar of the University of London. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 53 
 
 " Yes, if you mean Esther Bates, the faith-healer." 
 
 " Where does she live?" asked Mortimer. 
 
 " Why, she is in our neighborhood now, attending 
 the camp-meeting at Pine Grove." 
 
 " Oh, yes," interrupted the old man, " Esther Bates ! 
 why, she called here yesterday, she s been exhorting at 
 the camp-meeting." 
 
 The association of thought between Esther and the 
 camp-meeting had furnished a clue for the brain to 
 work again in the track of memory. * 
 
 "How far is Pine Grove?" asked Mortimer of Mrs. 
 Hubbard. 
 
 " Only a mile distant." 
 
 "Well," said Mortimer, carelessly, "I think I will go 
 over there to-night ; will you also attend, Mr. Hubbard ? " 
 
 " No, we cannot go to-night, but Reubie will show 
 you the way." 
 
 So that evening Mortimer sauntered over to the 
 camp-meeting, taking as his guide the ten-year-old boy 
 Reuben. He soon found himself in the sacred precincts 
 of their rustic tabernacle, which was a simple structure, 
 open on all sides to the weather, with a rude covering 
 of pine branches. At one end was a platform on which 
 were seated some ministers and lay preachers, and in 
 their midst a sweet faced woman of about fifty. " Is 
 that Esther Bates?" whispered Mortimer to young 
 Reuben. 
 
 * This sudden reproduction of lost ideas is one of the most curious phenomena 
 in man s nature. It seems to be owing to one of two causes, either the mind is 
 weary and has to rest to regain its power of recollection ; or the automatic cerebral 
 action is excited by an idea, which by the law of association calls up and supplies 
 the " missing link " in the chain of memory. Thus we often feel mortified at not 
 being able to speak the name of the person we meet, but while conversing some 
 word spoken will recall, " all of a sudden " as we say, the person s name. 
 
54 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Yes," answered Reuben at the top of his voice and 
 pointing with his hand, " there she is in the centre of 
 the men on the stand !" Reuben s rejoinder was 
 evidently heard by Sister Bates, for she looked fixedly 
 at Mortimer, as if inferring Reubie s inquiry to be 
 prompted by Mortimer s anxiety about his own soul. 
 Mortimer was exceedingly annoyed, the more so, as he 
 discovered Reubie s loud whisper had drawn upon 
 himself general attention. " Well, thought Mortimer, 
 "I am fated; I have just been patronizing the mind- 
 cure and now I am considered a hopeful subject of 
 faith-healing. " But he settled down resignedly to 
 listen to what might be said. 
 
 After the usual preliminary exercises of prayer and 
 praise Esther arose. Her motherly, benevolent face, 
 the kind accents of her voice, soon won Mortimer s 
 attention, and unconsciously he became one of her 
 most interested auditors. 
 
 She began her talk by saying in an easy conversational 
 tone, " I want, my friends, to speak to you of the Great 
 Physician. Some of you have already been made well 
 by him, some of you are coming to place yourselves 
 under his treatment, perhaps there are others," 
 here she paused, and Mortimer thought her eye rested 
 on him, "who are sick, yet think they are well, who 
 need to be convinced of their leprosy of sin, so that, 
 like the lepers of old, they may cry, * Lord, if Thou wilt, 
 Thou canst make me clean. To the first class, those 
 who have been made whole, I would only say, it is 
 your duty to witness for the Lord; go, then, as did the 
 woman of Samaria and bid your companions come 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 55 
 
 and see this blessed Savior who has cleansed you from 
 your sins. To the second class, the inquirers, I would 
 say, as did Christ s disciples to the blind man, * Be of 
 good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. Jesus with out 
 stretched arms (and she stretched out her own arms 
 and looked at her audience with intense feeling) is 
 waiting for you to come and cast yourself with your 
 sins on him." 
 
 Several left their seats and came forward and were 
 immediately surrounded by the brethren, who seemed 
 to be trying to counsel their anxious hearts. Esther, 
 without pausing to notice these, proceeded: " But my 
 chief errand here to-day is to speak to the third class ; 
 those who are sick in heart, and, perhaps, also sick in 
 body. You have come here to-day, led by an influence 
 which you feel but cannot describe. I will tell you 
 what it is : it is the Spirit of God trying to lead you to 
 the Savior. Yet, strange, is it not, you hesitate to 
 come to Christ, though you know you are sick in heart 
 and perhaps in body? Strange, is it not, for even the 
 Jews, without a New Testament, like you have, to tell 
 them of Christ, the Great Physician, yet brought their 
 sick to Him, and the record tells us that He healed 
 them all 
 
 " Now let me ask you to look with me into this Bible 
 and see what power this Great Physician has. I will 
 turn to the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew and read 
 His own words, All power/ notice, all, is given to me 
 in heaven and in earth. There is nothing, then, that 
 He is not able to do. Think of this, ye that have 
 sin-sick souls and bodies, all power ! No minister of 
 
56 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the Gospel, however good, no priest can say this, no 
 physician who uses medicine can say this. The doctor 
 often has to say, This is a case beyond the reach of 
 my skill. But Jesus says that nothing is beyond the 
 reach of his skill, for he declares, * All power is given 
 to me in heaven and in earth. 
 
 " Now, you may ask what must a person do to get 
 Christ to exert this power? I turn to my Bible again 
 and find everywhere written over it this single command 
 Believe. Hear what Christ himself says about this, 
 * He that believeth shall be saved. See what power 
 faith has in the curing of the body, for we are told that 
 a father brought his sick child to Christ. Jesus said to 
 that father, If thou canst believe, all things are possible 
 to him that believeth. Notice again all things. Well, 
 then, if this father could only exercise faith the child 
 would be healed. He did try to exercise it, for we are 
 told that straightway the father of the child cried out 
 and said with tears, see how in earnest that father 
 was, Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief; and 
 observe, immediately Christ healed that man s child. 
 
 "Now, my friends, that Great Physician is here to-day, 
 for has he not said, * Where two or three are gathered 
 together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 
 He is here to heal the sick in soul and in body. He 
 can say to the former, Go in peace, thy sins, though 
 many, are all forgiven thee, and to the latter, * Rise, 
 take up thy bed and walk. " Then, with an earnestness 
 and pathos which brought tears to many eyes, she 
 pictured the Savior entering that very meeting and 
 stopping before the seat of each person, saying, " What 
 wilt thou that I shall do unto thee ? " 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 57 
 
 Mortimer had been so much interested in Esther s 
 discourse that he gazed steadily on her while speaking. 
 This attracted the attention of the speaker, and she 
 concluded that Mortimer was in an " inquiring state." 
 After she had closed her exhortation she nodded to 
 some one to commence a hymn. Soon from a hundred 
 voices went up the strain : 
 
 " Come, humble sinner, in whose breast 
 
 A thousand thoughts revolve, 
 Come with thy sins and fears oppressed, 
 
 And make this last resolve." 
 
 While the singing went on, Esther stepped from the 
 platform and walked down the aisle. Mortimer s eye 
 followed with curiosity to see what she would do next. 
 To his utter surprise she halted at his seat, laid her 
 hand upon his shoulder and fixing on him a searching 
 gaze, said, " Young man, wilt thou be made whole by 
 Jesus to-day?" Mortimer was so taken aback that he 
 hardly knew what to say. His face reddened as he 
 found himself the subject of gaze of those around him. 
 Esther interpreting this as " conviction," said tenderly, 
 " Ah, my friend, I see your conscience echoes the call 
 of Jesus." 
 
 Mortimer drew himself up and answered firmly, 
 though kindly, " Madam, I am much obliged for your 
 interest in me, but I must frankly tell you I came here 
 simply to study your faith-cure ; I am not what you 
 would call an * inquirer. " 
 
 Esther looked disappointed, but said in a gentle tone, 
 " Perhaps, then, you have some bodily ailment that has 
 led you to come here." 
 
58 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Mortimer, repressing a smile, answered, " No, madam, 
 I believe I am perfectly well ; indeed, I am here more 
 out of curiosity than anything else." 
 
 " That may be," answered Esther, " but we find 
 many who come to our camp-meeting merely from 
 curiosity do not leave without having a sincere desire 
 to find the Great Physician." Then fixing a searching 
 glance on him, she added, " Cannot I induce you, my 
 young friend, to now attend to the great question of 
 your soul s salvation? " 
 
 Mortimer began to feel very uncomfortable. He did 
 not want to appear rude enough to break away from 
 her, but he longed to leave the camp-meeting. Fortun 
 ately, as it seemed to him, just then his young companion 
 furnished a means of escape. For Reubie had fallen 
 fast asleep and was beginning to disturb the meeting 
 by snores which almost drowned the singing. Morti 
 mer woke up the youthful disturber of the peace, but 
 in such an abrupt manner that the child was terrified 
 and set up a loud cry. This gave Mortimer an excuse 
 for leading him out of the meeting. Esther looked 
 very much disappointed as Mortimer rose to go, but 
 her face brightened as he turned and whispered to her, 
 " I want to see you again. Could I trouble you to call 
 on me at Squire Hubbard s." 
 
 " Certainly," said Esther, " I will be there to-morrow 
 morning." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 59 
 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ESTHER S REVELATIONS ABOUT MORTIMER S PARENT 
 AGE. 
 
 The next morning Mortimer was on the outlook for 
 Esther Bates, as he wanted to meet her before she had 
 the opportunity of learning from the Hubbards his 
 name. Soon he spied her coming up the lane ; strolling 
 down to meet her, he asked her to be seated on a bench 
 under a wide-spreading oak. Esther, not waiting for 
 Mortimer to begin the conversation, asked, " How do 
 you feel this morning?" 
 
 " Very well, I thank you," said Mortimer. 
 
 Esther, perceiving that Mortimer did not appreciate 
 the spiritual application of her inquiry, said, " I had 
 hoped from your request for me to come and see you 
 this morning that the Lord had touched your heart last 
 night." And she continued eagerly, "Young man, I 
 have been praying for you almost the whole night ; I 
 don t know why it is, but I have a feeling in my heart 
 that the Lord has a special mission on my part to your 
 soul ; there is something in your face that haunts me." 
 
 "Well, my good friend," answered Mortimer, "I do 
 not want to play the hypocrite and will tell you frankly 
 
6O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 that it is not about my soul I wanted to see you. I 
 learned from Squire Hubbard that you formerly lived 
 with a family by the name of Mortimer, who lived at 
 Grasslands; I am a lawyer and am here to make 
 inquiries about some matters concerning Eugene 
 Mortimer." 
 
 " Is that all? " said Esther, with an air of disappoint 
 ment, " Well, all I know is there w r as no class which 
 our Savior so denounced as the lawyers, they were 
 always trying to catch him in his words. I don t 
 want you to catch me and then use me as a witness in 
 some lawsuit, I have better things to attend to, young 
 man," and she rose to go. 
 
 But Mortimer gently detained her with " Nay, stop, 
 my good friend, I do not come with such purpose as 
 you suspect, I only wanted to find out something about 
 my father, for I am Eugene Mortimer s son." 
 
 " You the son of Eugene Mortimer ! " exclaimed 
 Esther, now becoming very much excited, " Is your 
 name William?" "Yes." She caught hold of him, 
 held him out at arm s length and gazed intently into 
 his face. " Bless the Lord ! " she exclaimed, " Now I 
 see my prayer is answered, the Lord has indeed a 
 mission from me to you. Why, William Mortimer, I 
 was your mother s nurse, these arms were the ones in 
 which you first rested, and e er your mother expired, 
 she said, Esther, follow this child with your prayers. 
 Oh, you dear soul ! " and Esther fairly flung her arms 
 around Mortimer s neck and wept on his breast. 
 Mortimer was himself deeply moved ; here was indeed 
 a link between himself and a knowledge of his mother. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 6 1 
 
 They sat and talked long about his mother ; how he 
 questioned Esther, and what precious links of memory 
 were reknit! One thing he noticed, Esther spoke 
 very little about his father. Indeed, whenever he turned 
 the conversation on him, Esther appeared to be very 
 careful of her speech. Several times she seemed on 
 the eve of telling him something, then caught herself as 
 if having something to suppress. At last, seeing that 
 the best way to deal with her was to frankly disclose 
 his errand to Falkill, he said, " Esther, I want to tell 
 you what brought me here, but you must first promise 
 not to mention what I am about to communicate." 
 
 " I will only promise," said Esther, " if, after hearing 
 it, I find I can rightly do so, for you know nothing 
 wrong can be hidden ; has not the Lord said He will 
 bring every secret thing to judgment/ " 
 
 " Fortunately, my friend," said Mortimer, " there is 
 nothing here which will hurt your conscience. I will 
 tell you now what I want to find out. I never knew 
 until recently that my father was twice married." Then 
 Mortimer detailed his discovery of that fact and his 
 perplexity on finding his father paid his first wife 
 $50,000 at the time of their divorce. 
 
 " I knew very little about the first Mrs. Mortimer," 
 answered Esther, guardedly, " for she had left your 
 father s roof a year before I entered it." 
 
 "But did you never hear my mother say anything 
 about her?" 
 
 Esther hesitated. " William," said she, " for I must 
 call you by your first name, it reminds me of the dear 
 little Willie I used to nurse, William, I have some 
 
62 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 doubt whether I ought to answer that question, for is a 
 child to know about his mother s private sorrows ? " 
 
 " Well, Esther, I revere my mother as much as you 
 do, but is there not something in this providence of our 
 being thrown together which seems to indicate that you 
 ought to tell me frankly about my mother, was she 
 not what you would call a Christian ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Esther, " she became such shortly 
 before she died, her sorrows drove her to the Lord." 
 
 "Well, what were her sorrows?" asked Mortimer, 
 eagerly. 
 
 Esther paused and said, "William, let me have a 
 time for silent prayer; I want to ask counsel of the 
 Lord." 
 
 Mortimer withdrew and loitered for some time in a 
 neighboring grove. On returning, he noticed Esther s 
 countenance wore a very solemn look. It was really 
 with a spirit of reverence that he approached her, for 
 he felt he was indeed talking with one who had been in 
 communion with her God. 
 
 Beckoning Mortimer to take a seat by her side, she 
 began, "William, I think God has shown me that it 
 is my duty to tell you all I know. When he sent 
 you to me I thought it was for a very different purpose, 
 but God s ways are not as our ways. I felt I had a 
 message for you and this must be it, to tell you what 
 I know about your mother s sorrow." 
 
 Then she began : " I entered your father s family 
 about a month before your mother s death. He was a 
 very stern man, and grew to dislike me because he 
 thought I made a Christian of your mother ; and from 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 63 
 
 the first she seemed to take to me, as I did to her. 
 She was a very lovely lady, but rather sad-faced, she 
 evidently had something on her heart. One day, while 
 we were alone, she said, Esther, I notice you read the 
 Bible a great deal, I want to ask your opinion about 
 this passage, and she handed me the Bible opened at 
 that verse where Christ says, It hath been said, who 
 soever shall put away his wife, let him give her a 
 writing of divorcement; but I say unto you, that 
 whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause 
 of fornication, causes her to commit adultery. Now, 
 added she, Esther, I want to tell you something, I 
 have found out, since my marriage to my husband, 
 namely, that he put away his first wife simply because 
 he did not like her. They never lived happily together, 
 she was very strong-willed, and you know how strong- 
 willed he is; they had frequent quarrels and finally 
 separated, and he got a divorce on the ground of what 
 they term mutual incompatibility. Now, Esther, if 
 you will turn to the eighteenth verse of the sixteenth 
 chapter of Luke, you will find that Christ said again, 
 Whosoever putteth away his wife and marrieth another 
 committeth adultery. You see, Esther, where that 
 places both Mr. Mortimer and myself, and the poor 
 lady," added Esther, " burst into a flood of tears and 
 cried as if her heart would break. 
 
 " Well, William, I did not know what to say, but I 
 could not help asking your mother whether she did not 
 know all this when she married your father. She said, 
 No, God is my witness, Mr. Mortimer deceived me on 
 that point, he told me that his first wife was a very bad 
 
64 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 woman and left the impression on my mind that she 
 was immoral. But since our marriage he has acknowl 
 edged that she was perfectly pure, and that it was only 
 her provoking obstinate disposition which made him 
 separate from her. I have bitterly reproached him, 
 and confess that I cannot feel to him as I once did, 
 and then she said to me, with tears in her soft blue 
 eyes, Esther, I have gone to Christ in prayer about 
 this matter, and I want to know whether you think he 
 will forgive me. 
 
 " Well, William, I tried to comfort the dear lady. I 
 told her that under the Old Testament dispensation 
 there was a special offering provided for sins of 
 ignorance ; I reminded her that Jesus had used these 
 words for his crucifiers, Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do ; and that Peter had said to 
 the Jews, who handed Christ to the Romans to be 
 crucified, And now, brethren, I wot that through 
 ignorance ye did it, and then Peter added, Repent ye, 
 therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be 
 blotted out. When I repeated these passages the dear 
 lady looked up with joy and said, Esther, you have 
 given me a great deal of comfort ; now pray for me as I 
 shall for myself. Some days after she spake to me 
 again and said, Esther, I feel that God has forgiven 
 me, for he knows that through ignorance I did it, but 
 what am I to do about that first wife? I said, Mrs. 
 Mortimer, you can do nothing at present/ so we let the 
 subject drop ; but the loving Lord did not give your 
 mother any opportunity to do anything concerning 
 that first wife of Eugene Mortimer, for God soon took 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 65 
 
 your mother to himself, and I believe she is with Him 
 in heaven to-day." 
 
 Mortimer was so much moved by this recital that he 
 could not speak for some time. After a while he said, 
 " Esther, I thank you for what you have told me about 
 my mother, it has only made me the more revere her 
 memory ; still, it does not throw any light on the point 
 I am investigating, namely, the payment of that 
 $50,000. If this first wife was as high spirited a lady 
 as you represent her, I can hardly imagine why she 
 would take $50,000 ; she could not merely have been 
 bought off." Then he paused and said, " Esther, the 
 thought has sometimes occurred to me that she might 
 have had a child, and that this sum was given for its 
 maintenance and education." 
 
 " I never heard of Eugene Mortimer s first wife 
 having a child, if she had one I think I should have 
 known it," said Esther. 
 
 " Well, then, we must leave it as a mystery, which, 
 perhaps, will never be solved," said Mortimer, despair 
 ingly. 
 
 " You will be sure to find it out, William," exclaimed 
 Esther, " if it be the Lord s will, for He can bring 
 hidden things to light. If it is any matter of importance 
 to you, why don t you ask the Lord to direct you so 
 you can find it out?" 
 
 " Well, I confess it is more a matter of curiosity than 
 importance, but as a lawyer my curiosity is excited to 
 know why my father paid her so much." 
 
 "Your curiosity had better be excited about how 
 you can get your soul saved," said Esther, with her 
 conscientious fidelity to her mission. 
 
66 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Mortimer turned the conversation to Esther s own 
 history. He quietly drew out of her the facts that a 
 few weeks after his mother s death she left his father s 
 home and went with a gentleman s family to Europe. 
 While in Germany she visited the famous Faith-Cure 
 Home of Franke, and witnessed so many faith cures, 
 " that she could no longer doubt that Jesus was willing 
 and able to heal both body and soul, just as- he did 
 while on earth." After her return to America she had 
 married, but her husband was now dead, and this 
 bereavement, she said, " the good Lord had overruled to 
 her sanctification, so that henceforth she resolved to 
 devote her life to telling others of the Great Physician." 
 She had used the little estate left by her husband 
 in improving her education so that she could speak 
 correct English, and, having " learned to talk in public 
 in the strength of the Lord," was now devoting her 
 whole life " to her mission." 
 
 Mortimer became deeply interested in Esther s 
 accounts of instances of " faith-healing" she had 
 witnessed. Noticing this, Esther said, " Now, William, 
 come and attend our prayer-meeting in the camp- 
 meeting tent at Piney Grove, and see for yourself how 
 the blessed Lord heals souls and bodies." 
 
 " I cannot do that now," said Mortimer, " for I must 
 return to New York to-night, but I promise to investi 
 gate this matter when more at leisure. I have been 
 looking into the mind-cure lately and would like to 
 study the faith-cure also." 
 
 Esther at once brightened up. " I wish," she said, 
 " on your return to New York, that you would visit my 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 67 
 
 friend, Dr. Lawtell, at his Faith Home. I will send 
 you a letter of introduction to him." 
 
 " Do so," said Mortimer. So they parted, Esther to 
 pray for Mortimer, Mortimer to think over all that 
 Esther had told him. 
 
68 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MATERIALIST HAS A TUSSLE WITH THE CHRIS 
 TIAN SCIENTIST. 
 
 A few days after Dr. Strong s return to the city he 
 called on Ruth Page. These few days were occupied 
 in giving a presentable appearance to both his mind 
 and body. He " crammed " the former by reading 
 Spencer, Mills and his favorite Harriet Martineau ; he 
 adorned the latter by the aid of barber and tailor. The 
 fact was the doctor being a consistent materialist, 
 in believing that matter held supremacy over mind, 
 proposed to subject the intellectual and volitional 
 powers of Miss Page by the beauty of his person. For 
 this latter device, however, we give the materialistic 
 philosophy no credit, for did not the Greeks thousands 
 of years ago picture Venus as captivated by Adonis? 
 Poor Miss Page little knew of the Goliah that was 
 coming against her, whose only weapon of defence was 
 the sling of the mind-curer. When, therefore, the 
 doctor sent up his card, accompanied with his letter of 
 introduction from Mortimer, the young girl came 
 tripping down the stairs, and greeted him with a frank, 
 simple cordiality which rather disconcerted him. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 69 
 
 Ruth looked very lovely. Her simple white dress, 
 whose only ornament was a spray of violets pinned 
 under her chin, her bright, rosy face, and gentle, 
 childlike manner all seemed to betoken purity and 
 sweetness. Indeed, this picture of loveliness impressed 
 the doctor more than his suit of clothes, or scented 
 hair, or dignified bearing impressed Ruth. She entered 
 the room accompanied by her mother, whose sad 
 expression formed quite a contrast to the vivacious 
 countenance of the daughter. Extending her hand in 
 a cordial greeting, Ruth said, " I am glad to meet you, 
 Dr. Strong, for I learn from Mr. Mortimer s note that 
 you are an earnest student of medical science. The 
 Christian scientist appreciates the influence of the 
 medical profession, and, in turn, desires it to appre 
 ciate Christian science, but I only regret that you have 
 not gone to some of our learned professors who could 
 instruct you better than I." 
 
 " I am quite content with my teacher," said Dr. 
 Strong, with a look of admiration at the fair doctoress. 
 
 Ruth seemed a little annoyed, and said, " I will have 
 to ask you to come at once to the points of your 
 inquiry, as I have some patients to attend this 
 morning." 
 
 " I hardly know where to commence my inquiries," 
 answered the doctor. " Will you kindly state the main 
 points of your science?" 
 
 "They are very few," said Ruth. "We simply try 
 to lead the patient to right views of God and of 
 himself." 
 
 "Well, what are your views of God?" 
 
70 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " We affirm that God is the power who * moves what 
 ever acts and produces force wherever it is felt. As 
 no wheel or belt in the machinery of a great factory is 
 able to start itself, but each and all are kept in motion 
 by power communicated from the engine that drives 
 the mill, so every movement in nature and every 
 volition of man or animal is God acting through the 
 thing that moves." * 
 
 " Well," said Dr. Strong, " I would not quite agree 
 with your definition of God, but I should think most 
 believers in the Bible would, unless you mean it in a 
 pantheistic sense." 
 
 Ruth answered, " There are different shades of 
 belief among Christian scientists, but we all believe in a 
 God, as you do, Dr. Strong." 
 
 The doctor tried to repress the annoyance he felt at 
 being taken for a believer, but there is something in 
 woman s nature which detects by a subtile instinct 
 whether other natures respond or not to her own. 
 Perhaps the cultivation of the mind under Christian 
 science is not unfavorable to mind-reading. The 
 barometer, which tells us what the weather is to be, is 
 generally accompanied with a thermometer, which 
 states its temperature. The weather bureau uses both. 
 May there not be a power in the mind-cure to gauge 
 the moral temperature? Anyway, Ruth was more 
 reserved after this. The doctor, in turn, felt that he 
 must appear better than he really was, and so, assuming 
 an air of interest, said, " I confess I am attracted by 
 your science, and can see how it might be a benefit to 
 a certain class of minds." 
 
 * Marston, page 22. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. ^1 
 
 "One of its principles," answered Ruth, "which I 
 infer from your last remark you do not yet appreciate, 
 is its applicability to all classes of minds, if they will 
 only receive it. Mental healing is based entirely on 
 our relation to God. The more we approximate to the 
 image of God, the more we are emptied of self and 
 filled with God, the more we approach in moral 
 likeness to God and the more God s truth fills our 
 minds, is error expelled, for error is but another name 
 for disease." 
 
 "You do not mean to say that all disease is an 
 error?" asked the doctor. 
 
 " Yes," answered Ruth. " Some one has used this 
 illustration of our theory of disease, the mental 
 processes are compared to a magic lantern. The 
 lantern itself is the mind, the light in the lantern is 
 truth, the screen is the body, and the slide which 
 contains the picture is thought. Whatever picture you 
 put on the slide of thought is thrown by the light on 
 the screen of the body. Change the thought and the 
 picture on the screen is changed. If the picture on 
 the slide is that of disease, it will be thrown on the 
 screen of the body. Change the slide to a picture 
 of health and the screen of the body will receive it as 
 well." 
 
 "A very ingenious comparison," said the doctor, 
 " but it seems to me to ignore the existence of matter. 
 You cannot separate thought from the substance of the 
 brain. For example, I am thinking of you now because 
 your image is thrown on the retina of my eye, just as it 
 would be on a sensitive photographic plate. This, in 
 
72 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 turn, excites the action of the optic nerve, through 
 which an active condition is excited in the optic 
 ganglion. So what sight amounts to is simply setting 
 in operation a physiological mechanism." 
 
 "Is that all?" said Ruth. "Why, then, don t dead 
 men see? " 
 
 " Because the mechanism is not in working order," 
 answered the doctor. 
 
 "Yes, but why not in working order? Is it not 
 simply because the spirit has fled? You see, then, 
 doctor, that it is the psychical power behind the physical 
 which determines whether the man sees or not." 
 
 "Then," said Dr. Strong, avoiding the issue, "you 
 regard man as simply psychical ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and here we believe is the great mission of 
 our Christian science, to bring the age out of its 
 materialistic tendency. The age believes in the reality 
 of lands and merchandise, and trusts its five senses to 
 the last. We dispute the evidence of the senses. We 
 plant ourselves on the centre of being and account for 
 the effect by the cause. As long as the age regards 
 the human body as matter, it will depend on material 
 agents like medicine to heal its diseases. But when 
 it recognizes that man is but mind and that mind the 
 reflection of God himself, it will rely on mind to cure 
 mind." * 
 
 "Why, Miss Page, you certainly do not mean to 
 assert that you do not believe in the existence of 
 matter?" 
 
 Ruth hesitated, but said, " There are different schools 
 in our Christian science just as there are in your medical 
 
 * Marston, page 19. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 73 
 
 science, yet it seems to me that the most consistent 
 view from our standpoint is the one taught by my great 
 professor in Boston, that there is no such thing as 
 matter, all is mind." 
 
 " Plague the girl," thought Dr. Strong, " I d like to 
 fling this stool at her head and see whether she believes 
 in the existence of matter, only she is too beautiful a 
 temple to treat with such violence. I ll try another 
 method." " Miss Page, I suppose you have studied 
 anatomy and physiology." 
 
 " No," said the doctoress, " we confine our study to 
 the mental and moral make-up of mankind." 
 
 " Well, let me then state to you a fact which can be 
 easily verified. There is a nerve which runs from the 
 brain to the lungs, called the Pneumogastric nerve ; if 
 this nerve be cut the man at once dies. Now, nerve is 
 certainly matter ; how, then, do you reconcile this with 
 your theory that man is not dependent on his material 
 composition for his life?" 
 
 "Because, as I stated," answered Ruth, "we believe 
 what you call matter to be simply a reflection of God, 
 and as God is a spirit, we believe it to be but a 
 reflection of spirit." 
 
 "What we, then, call mind, you would call spirit?" 
 said the doctor. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Now," thought Dr. Strong, " I ve got this fair girl 
 into a corner," so he asked, " Please, Miss Page, give 
 me some illustration of this." 
 
 "Well, doctor, there is your arm, that you believe to 
 be matter. But cut off that arm and you will still feel 
 
74 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the pain in the place it occupied. You know, doctor, 
 many amputations have shown this to be the case. 
 Many think this strange, it has puzzled medical scientists 
 for ages to explain it. But Christian science explains 
 it. That arm was simply a reflection of the mind, and 
 as you cannot destroy the mind by any amputation, it 
 remains in its place even after the surgeon s knife has 
 done its work." 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the doctor, pretending to be con 
 vinced, but still weaving his meshes to entangle his fair 
 opponent, " I understand, the mind and the arm are 
 identical. Well, then, Miss Page, has not your science 
 found out that there s a communication between one 
 mind and another?" 
 
 " Certainly," said Ruth. 
 
 " I agree with you fully," said the doctor, still weaving 
 his meshes, " and now, Miss Page, let us try to demon 
 strate this ; " slipping something into his hand he 
 stretched out his arm, with his tightly clenched fist, 
 before Ruth, and said, with a mock air of belief, " Miss 
 Page, will you let your mind (that is, your hand) read 
 what is in my mind (that is, in my hand)." 
 
 Ruth hesitated and became very much confused. 
 She looked piteously at her mother, who rose and said, 
 "Dr. Strong, I did not think you came here to insult 
 my daughter by trying to catch her in such a trap, I 
 must beg you not to prolong your visit." 
 
 But Ruth interposed, " No, mother, I should feel 
 ashamed to turn a gentleman out of our house, because 
 we cannot answer his arguments." Then turning to 
 the doctor she said, " I will frankly confess that I am 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 75 
 
 not able to answer that argument, but I am so convinced 
 of the truth of my system that I know my lack of 
 answering is owing to my want of knowledge of it, not 
 to the falsity of Christian science." 
 
 Dr. Strong himself perceived he had gone too far, 
 and said, courteously, " Miss Page, to tell you the truth 
 I do believe in much of your system, and beg your 
 pardon for my rudeness in our first interview in thus 
 trying to entrap you in an argument." 
 
 " Certainly I pardon you," said Ruth, very meekly, 
 " and to show you how sincere I am, I will invite you 
 to attend the next lecture of my class." 
 
 " And to show how sincerely penitent I am," said 
 the doctor, " I will certainly be there." 
 
 Dr. Strong rose to go, but Ruth beckoned him to be 
 seated again. " Doctor," she said, " I have tried to 
 answer your questions, may I ask you one? " 
 
 " Certainly. " 
 
 " What is your belief concerning God and matter? " 
 
 " Well," he answered, " concerning God, I will state 
 frankly that I am in doubt about the proper definition. 
 I recognize, however, that there is what might be called 
 a divine force permeating the universe." 
 
 " What are your views about man s relations to this 
 force?" 
 
 "Well, I can perhaps best answer a lady s question 
 by a lady s definition. Miss Harriet Martineau ex 
 presses exactly my belief when she says, All causes 
 are material causes. In material conditions I find the 
 origin of all religions, all philosophies, all opinions, all 
 spiritual conditions and influences, in the same manner 
 
76 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 that I find the origin of all diseases, of all insanities in 
 material conditions and causes." * 
 
 " Will you please repeat that again," said Ruth. 
 
 Dr. Strong repeated it. " I thought it was familiar to 
 me," said Ruth, " I think I can turn to the very page 
 in the book you refer to," and going to the library she 
 took it down. " Yes, here it is, doctor, and here is the 
 logical sequence of this theory, as stated by your own 
 oracle." Ruth read from Miss Martineau s letters as 
 follows: "I am what I am; a creature of necessity; 
 I claim neither merit nor demerit ; I feel that I am as 
 completely the result of my nature and impelled to do 
 what I do, as the needle to point to the north, or the 
 puppet to move according as the string is pulled." 
 Then opening a drawer, she added, " I believe I have 
 here the very toy from which Miss Martineau draws her 
 simile," and taking out a jumping-jack, she held it up 
 before the doctor, with a roguish smile upon her face, 
 and drawing the string which made the arms and legs 
 jerk, she said, with a bow of mock reverence, " Behold 
 Dr. Strong according to his own philosophy." 
 
 It was now Dr. Strong s turn to redden and become 
 confused. He was overwhelmed with astonishment. 
 He thought he had been talking to some simple-minded 
 girl, who had taken up with an enthusiastic ideal, but 
 he had found one who could assert her rights even in 
 arguing on his own premises. He could not even 
 retain his anger, for a merry laugh broke from Ruth as 
 she said, "A Roland for an Oliver, doctor. You 
 cannot get angry with me, for according to the logic of 
 
 * Letters on the laws of man s nature and development. Henry G. Atkinson 
 and Harriet Martineau. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 77 
 
 your own oracle Miss Martineau notions of duty 
 and responsibility have no real foundation/ therefore, 
 I am not responsible for my impolite behavior." 
 
 Angry ! The doctor was captivated. He went 
 away thinking of nothing but Ruth Page. 
 
 After Dr. Strong left, Mrs. Page turned to her 
 daughter, and with some severity in her tone, said, 
 " Ruth, I think it is time for me to interpose my 
 authority and say that this must be stopped." 
 
 "What do you mean, mother? " exclaimed Ruth. 
 
 "Your receiving gentlemen here and having these 
 talks with them." 
 
 " Why, mother, I have had no gentleman call on me 
 but this one, Mr. Mortimer simply came to ask me to 
 attend his betrothed, Miss Dupont; he has never 
 called since. This friend of his is evidently a gentleman, 
 a physician, too, and if I can influence a physician to 
 see the folly of his materialism, am I not in the very 
 line of my work? " 
 
 " But he is no gentleman," said Mrs. Page, " see how 
 he tried to catch you in that trap of an argument." 
 
 "Well, did not I catch him, too?" said Ruth 
 triumphantly, " and certainly, mother, we cannot refuse 
 to admit a gentleman to our home, because we have 
 been worsted in an argument with him." 
 
 " I have other reasons, Ruth," said her mother, with 
 a determined air. 
 
 " Well, mother, I think I have a right to know them 
 before shutting our door against this gentleman." 
 
 " I cannot state them now," said Mrs. Page, " I insist 
 on your obeying me." 
 
78 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 A sudden transformation took place in Ruth which 
 startled her mother ; the quiet, placid face was full of 
 stormy passion, the yielding, submissive air of the 
 young beauty was changed to one of haughty defiance. 
 " Mother," Ruth said, " I have always obeyed you, but 
 I am not called to obey you when you virtually require 
 me to insult a gentleman." 
 
 Mrs. Page was alarmed, overwhelmed, at Ruth s 
 appearance and attitude. She could not for some time 
 control herself sufficiently to speak. Finally she said, 
 " Ruth, I hoped you had confidence enough in your 
 mother to obey her without forcing her to give reasons 
 for her commands ; but never mind, do as you please," 
 and Mrs. Page turned to leave the room. 
 
 Ruth sprang after her. " No, mother, forgive me," 
 she said, throwing her arms around Mrs. Page s neck, 
 " I was too wicked. But, mother, I do long for some 
 companions. We have been so isolated since we came 
 to New York, I know no one but my few lady patients ; 
 how often I have longed for a brother, or some 
 gentleman whom I could have as a friend and not as a 
 lover. But I know you love me too much to ask 
 anything of me unless you have a good reason." 
 
 " Well, Ruth," said her mother, returning her warm 
 embrace, " I do realize how you feel ; we are too 
 isolated, you are young and ought to see some society; 
 suppose we go back to Boston." 
 
 " No, mother, not yet, I want to try another 
 winter in this city. I am making a start and getting a 
 few influential friends ; I have only one more lecture to 
 give to my class, and then we will go to some quiet 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. ^9 
 
 country place, where I can spend the summer in further 
 study on Christian science, for I don t want to be caught 
 again in argument, as I was by Dr. Strong to-day. 
 And now it s all settled, mother, and you have forgiven 
 me, haven t you ? " said Ruth. 
 
 " Forgive you, my child," answered her mother, and 
 giving Ruth a passionate embrace, she added, " I have 
 nothing to forgive in you, but, oh, how much you have 
 to forgive in me ! " 
 
So RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER IX.* 
 RUTH S LECTURE. 
 
 Dr. Strong, bent on further investigation of the 
 mind-cure and its beautiful priestess, visited Miss Page s 
 lecture class the next week. He was a little embarrassed 
 on entering the room to find himself the only gentleman 
 present. Among the ladies he recognized many who 
 moved in the best circles of society. To his surprise 
 he saw two young ladies with whom he was well 
 acquainted, but whom he would rather expect to meet 
 at a ball than at such a lecture, they were the Misses 
 Deveraux. " What in the world brought you here, 
 doctor? " whispered Rose, the younger and prettier one 
 of the two, as the doctor glided into a seat by her side. 
 
 " Beauty and curiosity," replied the doctor. Rose 
 smiled graciously, for the first part she applied to 
 herself, the second to Miss Page. 
 
 Just then the door of a side room opened and Ruth 
 entered. She looked the picture of health and inno- 
 
 * It will be understood by the reader of this chapter that the author intends to 
 represent but not endorse the views of Christian scientists, as herein expressed by 
 Ruth. It should also be stated that some classes of Christian scientists avoid 
 many of the manifest errors of Ruth as regards her pantheistic views of Deity, 
 while agreeing- with her in the main point of the domination of the spiritual and 
 mental over the physical nature of man. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 8 1 
 
 cence, her countenance, however, was not as vivacious 
 as usual. Dr. Strong whispered to Rose, "Your 
 preceptress looks very enchanting. I will have to look 
 out for my heart rather than for my mind this morning." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Rose, looking decidedly annoyed, " if 
 you talk in meeting you will be put out." 
 
 Seating herself behind the table on the slightly 
 raised platform, Ruth bowed to her audience, and said, 
 by way of preface, " As this is the last lecture in my 
 course, I will briefly review the main points we have 
 gone over in the previous lectures." Dr. Strong secretly 
 flattered himself that this was done partly for his benefit, 
 and he gave her strict attention. 
 
 Ruth proceeded, "Our science starts with the 
 proper idea of God. He is the Supreme Being, per 
 vading everything. As Paul said on Mars Hill, In 
 Him we live and move and have our being. He is the 
 divine principle pervading what men call nature, the 
 embodiment and fountain of life, truth, love. He has 
 all power, nothing can resist him ; therefore, what men 
 call disease is powerless before Him, just as it was 
 before his Son, Jesus Christ, who rebuked diseases and 
 they fled before Him, as the devils also fled from His 
 presence. All we have to do is to give ourselves up to 
 be filled with God, and disease will flee from us. I say 
 disease, in order to accommodate the truth to the 
 comprehension of those not yet perfectly acquainted 
 with Christian science. But strictly speaking there is 
 no such thing as disease; what men imagine to be 
 disease is the error of their own minds, an illusion, with 
 which God s creatures cheat themselves, because they 
 
82 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 refuse to come into harmony with the mind of God. 
 Therefore, the way to deal with this illusion is to have 
 the mind filled with the truth, this occupying the mind 
 expels error, resist evil (or disease) in this manner 
 and it will flee from you. 
 
 " The reason why men have not perceived these 
 truths before is that ever since the race was created it 
 has gone further and further into materialism. It has 
 disobeyed the first precept of religion, namely, * Thou 
 shalt have no other God before me. It has worshipped 
 the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore has it 
 forgotten that man was made in the image and likeness 
 of God, and that God being a spirit, man must be the 
 expression of spirit, and not, therefore, matter, but 
 simply the reflection of the mind of God. When Jesus 
 came to earth, he came to remove these false views 
 from men s minds, to lead them out of the darkness of 
 materialism to the light of spirituality. He is the way, 
 the truth, and the life ; and he said, He that is of the 
 truth heareth my voice. If we, then, have our minds 
 filled with truth, error, that is, disease, can find no 
 entrance. These are the basic truths of our science of 
 healing, just as men realize them will they bruise Satan, 
 that is, all forms of error, under their feet. 
 
 " From these truths about God flow the right view of 
 man. Since God is not matter, but mind, and as man 
 is made in the image of God, man is not matter, but 
 mind. What men term the body is really a reflection 
 of the human mind. Take, for example, the human 
 face, it reflects but the mind within ; the mind experi 
 ences pleasure, and the muscles of the face express 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 83 
 
 that pleasure in a smile ; if grief, the lachrymal ducts 
 pour out their tears ; if fear, the heart throbs and the 
 limbs tremble. Does not this prove that every part of 
 the body is but the expression of some mental faculty. 
 
 "This enables us to proceed another step, and 
 examine further the nature of what mankind terms 
 disease. They refer it to matter and say that the 
 solids or fluids or nerves of the body are out of order. 
 Strange that they cannot see that disease is a suffering 
 of the mortal mind. It is of no avail to apply chemical 
 preparations to a cause that chemistry cannot reach. 
 It is of no use to put poultices on the body, when, as 
 Shakespeare well expresses it, there needs to be 
 plucked out of the heart a rooted sorrow. Drugs heal, 
 or rather are thought to heal, only by exchanging one 
 disease for another. This is the confessed use of 
 mercury and opium. They cure by poisoning the 
 system with a worse poison than the one they pretend 
 to relieve. We Christian Scientists recognizing this 
 apply our treatment to the mind. We remove the 
 cause and the disease disappears. 
 
 " Your treatment," said Ruth, looking at her audience, 
 " for I suppose I am addressing mostly those striving 
 to understand our science so that they may devote their 
 lives to relieving mankind, your treatment must be first 
 directed to bringing your own mind into correspondence 
 with God s. Pause for a moment before treating your 
 patient and reflect as follows : There is no such thing 
 in the economy of God as disease ; God is love and 
 does not wish his children to suffer; God is truth, 
 disease is but error, God does not wish error to exist. 
 
84 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Now, in the strength of God proceed to cast out this 
 error. Has He not given, through His Son, to His 
 disciples this commission, * Heal the sick. With your 
 mind in correspondence with God s mind, address the 
 patient mentally, since the power of truth reflected 
 through your mind is always sufficient. But in some 
 cases you may have to prepare the mind by rousing it 
 with a shock from its lethargy of sin. Or you may 
 have to calm it by drawing off its thoughts from its 
 ailments. Be careful, whatever you do, to destroy the 
 moral evil in the patient, while you are curing the 
 physical one, for, after all, disease is moral evil; if 
 people will not give up their sins they cannot experience 
 the power of God. Thus will you keep in harmony 
 with the divine mind, and the healing touch of His 
 hand will suffice to cure all manner of disease." 
 
 " A theory as beautiful as its prophetess, but, alas, as 
 mortal ! " whispered Dr. Strong to Rose. 
 
 " Hush ! " said Rose, impatiently, " she is about to 
 open the question drawer. Let us listen." 
 
 Ruth took from the drawer slips of paper which she 
 read and answered as follows : 
 
 Question. " You speak of disease as sinful error ; is 
 there no sin?" 
 
 Answer. " The only reality of sin is the awful fact 
 that unrealities seem real." 
 
 Question. " You say man is all mind ; is there not a 
 nervous system, through which the brain acts on the 
 body?" 
 
 Answer. "The nerves are nothing without the 
 brain, and the brain is nothing without the mind; 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 85 
 
 destroy both nerves and brain and the mind still exists." 
 
 Question. " Do you mean by the mind, the soul or 
 spirit?" 
 
 Answer. " No ; the term soul is used in our system 
 in a different sense from what it is by those who call 
 themselves theologians. We mean by it simply the 
 reflection of God in man. There is no distinct part of 
 man called his soul; the term soul or spirit is 
 applicable to but one, that is, God. God is not in 
 man, for the greater cannot be in the less, but man is a 
 reflection of God." 
 
 Question. " What stress do you put on faith in your 
 system ? " 
 
 Answer. " We regard it as important, but we view 
 faith as a quality of the mind; remember in our 
 system all is mind. Faith and truth are correlatives, 
 the highest faith is the acceptance of the truth." 
 
 Question. " Do you believe, then, in exercising 
 faith in Christ as a personal Savior? " 
 
 Answer. "Yes, if it be accompanied with works. 
 One kind of faith trusts all to another ; it says, Lord, I 
 would believe, help Thou my unbelief; this is a blind 
 faith, for it lacks the chief element of true faith, which 
 is self-reliance, which is expressed in the command, 
 Believe and thou shalt be saved. " 
 
 Question. " Does the faith you exercise in healing 
 differ from the idea of the faith-curers ? " 
 
 Answer. "Yes, materially. They depend on the 
 faith of the person healed, and therefore appeal to the 
 sick to exercise faith. We depend on the faith of the 
 person healing, as Christ exemplified in the healing of 
 
86 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the paralytic, Seeing their faith (that is, of the 
 persons who brought the paralytic), Jesus said, Take 
 up thy bed and walk. We differ also in our view of 
 God. The faith-healers rely much on prayer, they 
 plead with God, wrestle like Jacob did. We 
 believe that God needs no persuasion to induce him to 
 heal the sick ; that was the very mission on which He 
 sent His Son to earth, The spirit of the Lord hath 
 anointed me to heal the sick. This certainly applies 
 to man s body, as well as to his soul. Therefore, we 
 simply strive to bring man into correspondence with 
 God, if man will only relinquish his materialistic views, 
 cease regarding his body as matter, and recognize that 
 it is but the reflection of God s mind, and then strive to 
 bring his mind into harmony with the mind of God, 
 disease would flee away like the shadows of the night 
 before the rising sun." 
 
 Dr. Strong slipped into Rose s hand two questions 
 he had written, and asked her to pass them up to Miss 
 Page. Ruth looked at them for a moment and without 
 any hesitancy answered as follows : 
 
 Question. " What relation, if any, does your system 
 of healing hold to medical science? " 
 
 Answer. " Our system is but the culmination of all 
 true medical science. Man, in studying how to cure, 
 started on the low plane of materialism. He used 
 drugs, as he thought, to cure the ills of a material 
 body. That was allopathy. When Hahnemann arose 
 a step forward was taken, for homoeopathy takes the 
 mental symptoms into consideration. In the high 
 attenuation of their medicines there is a greater oppor- 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 87 
 
 tunity for nature to work her own cure. Christian 
 science, recognizing the fact that nature is but another 
 name for mind, rises a step higher and discards even 
 the pellet of the homceopathists, and brings mind to 
 cure mind. Since God is the source of all mind, it 
 brings God to cure the diseased mind of man, and thus 
 returns to the simple faith of those who lived in Christ s 
 time, who brought their sick and laid them down at 
 Jesus feet." 
 
 Question. " Are there not cases where the sick get 
 well by the use of drugs? For example, the many 
 that are treated in hospitals." 
 
 Answer. " Yes. I grant there are such cases, but 
 it is simply the belief or faith in the remedy, which 
 heals them, or the faith in the person administering it. 
 For years physicians have held the belief that certain 
 remedies have certain curative effects. Indeed, the 
 public mind gets so accustomed to these beliefs that it 
 becomes a part of its faith that opium causes sleep and 
 coffee keeps a person awake. How foolish are these 
 beliefs, how entirely dependent on the state of the 
 mind is shown by the fact that homceopathists use 
 coffee to put patients to sleep, while allopathists use it 
 to rouse them from stupor. Here you find the mind of 
 the two schools, acting in opposite directions, produce 
 with the same so-called medicine two opposite effects. 
 You see, then, that the cure was not in the medicine, 
 but in the state of mind." 
 
 Miss Page then returned to the questions in the 
 drawer : 
 
 Question. " Do you not think a great deal of disease 
 is owing to sin? For example, drunkenness, etc." 
 
50 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Answer. " I would say the sin is owing to a diseased 
 mind, for what sin is there but first originates in 
 thought? If you master the thought, you then master 
 the sin. Jesus put great stress on the actions of the 
 human mind. He said that before the overt act was 
 performed, the sin was committed in the mind. (See 
 His Sermon on the Mount.) So again He says, As a 
 man thinketh in his heart, so is he. I may illustrate 
 this thus: The sculptor works his model out of his 
 mind. If in his mind has been the conception of an 
 angel, there it stands in the marble ; if in his mind the 
 conception of a devil, there it stands in the marble. 
 We look at the piece of marble and say it is a statue. 
 No, it is only the reflection of the mind of the artist. 
 So are we working out in our mind our lives. Men, as 
 they see our actions, read the mind underneath. We 
 talk of mind-reading, but the fact is our minds are in 
 our lives, known and read of all men. " 
 
 As Ruth concluded, her face lit up with the enthu 
 siasm of her belief, and, as for a moment her eye rested 
 on Dr. Strong, he was conscious of a sort of mental 
 shock, not altogether unpleasant to experience. He 
 whispered to Rose, " There must be a very fine mind 
 under that beautiful exterior, but I d like to know how 
 much heart there is. I notice she makes everything to 
 be mind. She seems to totally ignore the heart. 
 I wish I had an opportunity to have a flirtation with 
 that girl and find out whether she has any heart." 
 
 " What vain mortals you men are ! " said Rose, 
 poutingly. " I believe you think that a woman has 
 only to look at you to fall in love with you." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 89 
 
 " Certainly," said Dr. Strong. "We believe in the 
 power of mind over mind. I have only to think I can 
 make a conquest and of course the conquest is made." 
 
 Dr. Strong wanted very much to linger and talk with 
 Ruth, but, as her table was surrounded with a number 
 of her scholars, he merely made her a polite bow, 
 which was acknowledged by a sweet smile. The doctor 
 then left the hall and walked up the street with the 
 Deveraux girls. He had hardly got out of the door 
 before Ethel Deveraux began, " Oh, Dr. Strong, how 
 glad I am we met you here ! Do tell me, who is this 
 Miss Page? " 
 
 " I have never met her but once before," said the 
 doctor. " I merely called as a scientist to investigate 
 this mind-cure." (And the doctor seemed to stretch 
 himself an inch taller when he uttered that word, 
 " scientist." ) " She referred me to her lecture for 
 information, and therefore I came hither to-day." 
 
 The reader will notice that the doctor also stretched 
 the truth a little, but, amid the many phases of the 
 mind, there is none more curious than the selection 
 of persons to whom it entrusts its secret thoughts. 
 There is a sort of natural affinity, or what Darwin calls 
 " natural selection," about this matter. Men rarely 
 make women the repository of their hearts secrets, and 
 never a gossipy woman. The doctor, therefore, was 
 mum, but he knew he had only to touch the spring and 
 set Ethel s tongue going, and he would soon find out 
 all she knew about Miss Page, and probably much 
 more. So he bowed and said, " You must know about 
 this young lady, for you seem to have faith enough in 
 her to become one of her scholars." 
 
90 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Faith did not bring me here," said Ethel, sneer- 
 ingly, " simply ennui. I got tired of balls and prayer- 
 meetings and needed a change of thought, so, happening 
 to hear of this Miss Page, I thought I would attend a 
 course of lectures and get posted on this new craze, 
 the mind-cure. But," said she, lowering her voice, 
 " I suspect there is something wrong about that girl." 
 
 "What do you know about Miss Page?" asked the 
 doctor of Rose. 
 
 " Well," said Rose, " I must confess I know very 
 little about her. I first heard of her through my friend, 
 Mrs. Black, whom she certainly cured of a cancer. 
 Miss Page impresses me as a modest girl of bright 
 mind and a perfect enthusiast in her profession." 
 
 " Well, it seems to me," said the doctor, laughingly, 
 " we are all the three blind mice as far as Miss Ruth 
 Page is concerned." 
 
 " I am not, I thank you," said Ethel, with a toss of 
 her head. "I can see something with my eyes shut. 
 No young girl of that age would appear in public 
 unless she were driven to it by poverty or by desire for 
 notoriety. I tell you, Dr. Strong, nothing disgusts me 
 so much as to see my own sex thrust themselves on 
 the public gaze." 
 
 "Just what I thought," said the doctor, "when I 
 attended with you Miss Highflier s ball and saw the 
 dressing of some of the ladies." 
 
 Ethel gave a furtive glance at the doctor to see how 
 he meant this last remark, but his countenance was 
 very non-committal. He bowed, and, leaving the 
 ladies, returned to his office to meditate on Christian 
 science and Miss Ruth Page. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HYSTERIA NEUTRALIZES THE MIND-CURE AND PUTS 
 CUPID TO FLIGHT. 
 
 It was with rather mixed feelings that Mortimer, on 
 his return to New York, started for the home of his 
 betrothed. Somehow he felt like a man slipping his 
 head again into a yoke. His walks and talks with Dr. 
 Strong, in the free air of the mountains, his association 
 with the godly Hubbards and the motherly Esther, had 
 been a sort of oasis ; he was now to return to the desert 
 of office duties and an association with a rather whimsical 
 girl. There was a skeleton, too, to be brought out of 
 its closet, to be shaken with all its jangling articulations 
 before this sensitive girl s eyes. Mortimer realized that 
 sooner or later Alice would find out about his father s 
 marriages. When Mortimer was accepted by Alice, 
 her father had made some inquiries, but only pursued 
 them far enough to satisfy himself that Mortimer was a 
 promising young lawyer with a large inherited fortune. 
 Mr. Dupont cared not to inquire about family skeletons, 
 so that they are only well gilded. 
 
 Mortimer s views of marriage had rather changed ; 
 at first he regarded it as wholly a matter of love, but 
 
92 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 he had come to look upon it more as a matter of duty. 
 But love and duty are either the happiest allies or the 
 most uncongenial companions. Mortimer in his talk 
 with Dr. Strong about the mind-cure naturally touched 
 on the subject of will power. They had many dis 
 cussions on the relation of the will to the affections, the 
 doctor contending that the affections controlled the 
 will; Mortimer, that the will controlled the affections. 
 Once when the argument waxed warm, the doctor 
 brought what he termed a "clincher" in saying, 
 "William, do you suppose that you love Alice Dupont 
 simply because you have willed to do so? Trace back 
 the history of your heart experience and you will find 
 (that is, if you are like most lovers) that your affections 
 were first enlisted, then so completely did they control 
 your will that you decided to win her for yourself." 
 
 " I cannot deny the accuracy of your description of 
 my love experience at its commencement," answered 
 Mortimer, " but I can see that the continuation of my 
 affection for Alice depends on my will. I fell in love 
 with her ; she yielding her will to mine agreed to marry 
 me ; now I exercise my will to keep my affection for 
 her." 
 
 The doctor gave a searching glance at Mortimer and 
 said, "William, if I believed you really understood 
 what you are asserting, I would have very little faith in 
 your ever marrying Alice Dupont." 
 
 " Oh," answered Mortimer, carelessly, " you are 
 always looking at these things from a philosophic 
 standpoint ; love cannot be analyzed in the crucible of 
 German metaphysics ; wait till you get in love yourself, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 93 
 
 and you will find something which overthrows all 
 philosophy." 
 
 Singularly, though this conversation had passed from 
 Mortimer s mind, yet, when he started for the Duponts 
 that morning, it came back like a flash. 
 
 At the Duponts door he met Ruth just leaving; he 
 assisted her to enter her carriage, and pausiug at its 
 open window, asked, " How is your patient?" 
 
 Ruth answered courteously, " I think much improved, 
 though not as much as I hoped." 
 
 "Why so?" inquired Mortimer. 
 
 Ruth hesitated as if at a loss to express what she 
 desired, but said, " Our treatment depends on the 
 patient being in a receptive state. This receptive state is 
 much interfered with by the patient s mind being in a 
 disturbed condition; there is something evidently 
 worrying Miss Dupont, which I have not been able to 
 discover ; but," she added with a pleasant smile, " you 
 will be the best physician for this, I am so glad you 
 have returned." 
 
 " Well, we will have to try to treat the case together/ 
 replied Mortimer. 
 
 " No," said Ruth, " I will have to relinquish it to 
 some other Christian scientist, for I start to-morrow for 
 the country." 
 
 Mortimer entered the house and found Alice in the 
 parlor. She looked better and stronger and very 
 beautiful, indeed there was an animation in her counte 
 nance which Mortimer had never before witnessed ; 
 her eyes sparkled with almost an unnatural brilliancy. 
 After the usual greetings, in which lovers are supposed 
 
94 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 to engage after temporary absences, which on Alice s 
 part were unusually demonstrative, Mortimer said, " I 
 met your physician at the door, and she seems to think 
 you lack one thing to complete your recovery." 
 
 " What is that? " said Alice. 
 
 "Why, Miss Page says you seem to have something 
 on your mind that worries you." 
 
 To Mortimer s surprise, Alice s manner at once 
 changed, and with a haughty repellent air she exclaimed, 
 " I do not know what business Miss Page has with my 
 private affairs ; if she would attend to her own business 
 and not interfere with mine, I might indeed feel better." 
 
 " Why, Alice," said Mortimer, surprised and con 
 founded, " I have given you a wrong impression. 
 Miss Page spoke very kindly of you and behaved like a 
 lady." 
 
 " Behaved like a lady ! " said Alice, with a scornful 
 look, " yes, courting my lover under my very eyes, for 
 did not I see her just now flirting with you? " 
 
 Mortimer s anger began to rise. "Alice," he said, 
 "I will not hear such talk; your accusations involve 
 myself as much as they do Miss Page. It has come to 
 a pretty pass if I cannot make an inquiry as to the 
 state of your health from your physician, without being 
 taxed with a flirtation." 
 
 Another change came over Alice. She threw herself 
 into Mortimer s arms, wept like a child on his neck, and 
 said, " Oh, William, I know I am too foolish, but I do 
 love you so much. I cannot account for my actions, 
 they are as strange to me as to yourself; I think I am 
 going crazy." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 95 
 
 Mortimer was partly propitiated, still the feeling 
 deepened of wearing a chain, and even the soft arms 
 around his neck seemed like fetters. " Alice," he said, 
 " let us agree to understand each other better ; I tell 
 you frankly there is no girl in this whole world to 
 whom my heart has gone out but to you, now let it 
 stay there, don t strain the bond which binds us ; as for 
 Miss Page, God is my witness that I have never seen 
 her but thrice, twice when I went to consult her 
 about yourself, and this once, when I made a brief 
 inquiry as to your state of health." 
 
 Another change came over Alice. She slunk away to 
 the other end of the sofa, and with pouting lips looked 
 steadfastly away from Mortimer. Mortimer was both 
 perplexed and indignant. "Alice," he said, "this is 
 altogether a queer reception to give a lover. What is 
 the matter with you? I see Miss Page is right, there is 
 something on your mind." 
 
 Tears burst from Alice ; she sobbed as if her heart 
 would break. Mortimer, like most men, could not 
 withstand a woman s tears. He approached with a 
 view of soothing her, when she sprang from him, and 
 bursting into a fit of laughter, exclaimed, " The biggest 
 joke of the season ! You don t care for Miss Page ! 
 Ha, ha, ha ! Queer, you can t be .away from her two 
 weeks without writing to her." 
 
 " Writing to her ! " exclaimed Mortimer, now 
 thoroughly angered, " I demand of you, Alice, an 
 explanation ; I have borne this behavior long enough." 
 
 "Well," said Alice, with an impudent air, " I don t 
 see why I need to explain ; you know as well as I do 
 that you wrote a letter to Miss Page." 
 
96 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Did Miss Page say I wrote her a letter? if so, she 
 lied," said Mortimer, now furious. 
 
 "Yes, that is, she said you sent her a note 
 introducing Dr. Strong." 
 
 "Ah! that is a different matter, so I did; but I 
 demand to know whether she indicated that I wrote 
 anything else. If so, I shall see Miss Page immediately." 
 
 " No," said Alice, with provoking calmness, " she 
 merely said that Dr. Strong had come to her with a 
 card of introduction from you." Then Alice began to 
 laugh again. Then again flinging her arms around 
 Mortimer s neck, and bursting into tears, she said, " Oh, 
 William, I don t know why I am so foolish. Pardon 
 me, I do love you so." 
 
 But Mortimer freed himself from her embrace, and, 
 rising up with a determined look, said, " Alice, I have 
 had enough of this comedy and am now prepared for 
 the tragedy. You profess with one breath to love me 
 and with the next taunt me, even with laughter, about 
 my behavior to Miss Page. You evidently have very 
 little respect for, or confidence in, my fidelity to yourself. 
 I, also, in our absence from each other, have been 
 reviewing our relations, and the memory of our frequent 
 quarrels in the past, with the experiences of this present 
 moment, makes me feel as if the chain binding us 
 together must be sooner or later snapped." 
 
 "Chain," said Alice, springing to her feet with 
 flashing eye and quivering in every limb, " chain ! has 
 it come to this, that you speak of what binds you to 
 me as a chain? Perhaps, Mr. Mortimer, you would 
 then like to have it broken." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 97 
 
 Mortimer hesitated; it was a turning point. The 
 chain did indeed seem heavy just then, but could he 
 lightly break it? He walked up and down the room, 
 then halting at the sofa on which Alice sat (she being 
 again in a flood of tears), said, "We both should 
 try to get into a better frame of mind before we talk 
 more." 
 
 " Now that is too hard," sobbed Alice, " I am not in 
 a bad frame of mind ; it is only you who persist in 
 worrying me nearly to death." 
 
 "Well," said Mortimer, cynically, "I had better 
 abbreviate my call, then, for I may injure your mind so 
 much that a hundred mind-curers cannot heal it." 
 
 Alice immediately stopped crying, and then with a 
 laugh put out her hands, saying, " Come, William, let 
 us make up. I will try to do better; I am really 
 ashamed of myself." 
 
 But Mortimer did not stretch out his hand. He 
 took another turn around the room, then, with a 
 determined air, planting himself in front of Alice, said, 
 " I may have spoken too hastily, but I confess I cannot 
 bear to be treated as I have been by you to-day, 
 especially as the cause of it all is your taxing me with 
 an interest in a lady in whom I have never felt the 
 slightest interest except as your physician." 
 
 Alice again burst into tears and said, " I did not tax 
 you. I only noticed how affectionately you regarded 
 her when I caught you talking with her at her carriage 
 window." 
 
 " Caught me ! Miss Dupont," exclaimed Mortimer, 
 " I will not submit to such insinuations, nor keep you 
 
98 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 bound to one whom you think is liable to be * caught 
 in self-compromising actions." And before Alice 
 could answer he strode out of the room, shut the door 
 after him with such a slam that the waiter hurried to 
 see what was the matter. To his surprise he found his 
 mistress lying fainting on the floor. 
 
 A loud call brought her mother. Alice was taken 
 to her room, where she repeatedly swooned. Mrs. 
 Dupont in great alarm sent for the nearest doctor. 
 One was found but a few doors distant, who had heard 
 the neighborhood talk of the wonderful cure of Mr. 
 Dupont s daughter by the mind doctress. Dr. Dissle 
 was therefore surprised to be summoned to the house ; 
 but as doctors do not hesitate over rich patients he 
 immediately came. His first question was, what brought 
 on the trouble ? No one knew. Mrs. Dupont suspected, 
 from the servant s account of the slamming of the door, 
 Mortimer must have taken his departure after some 
 quarrel between him and Alice. This she could not 
 tell the doctor, who, however, perceiving the hysterical 
 condition of his patient, administered a nervous sedative 
 and soon had the satisfaction of seeing Alice sink into 
 a gentle slumber, then he took his departure, having 
 warned her mother to abstain from all conversation 
 with her daughter. 
 
 It was only on the third day, when Alice was able to 
 sit up, that Mrs. Dupont quietly extracted from her 
 some confirmations of her suspicion, yet, as to the cause 
 of her quarrel with Mortimer, Alice was dumb. No 
 questioning could wrest the secret from her. But what 
 worried her mother most was, there were no signs 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 99 
 
 of Mortimer s return. Day after day passed, and 
 though Alice was frequently at the window looking out, 
 yet no call or even inquiry after her health came from 
 Mortimer. At last Mrs. Dupont said to her husband, 
 " I think it is due to Alice that you should hunt up 
 Mr. Mortimer and demand why he so neglects his 
 betrothed." 
 
 " Oh," said Mr. Dupont, carelessly, " there are as 
 good fish in the sea as out of it. If William Mortimer 
 does not want to marry my daughter, I do not propose 
 to drag him into the marriage." 
 
 " No," said Mrs. Dupont, " that is not what I mean ; 
 but I do not wish Alice to go on wearing the engage 
 ment ring of a man who treats her so shamefully." 
 
 We left Mortimer hurrying from the Dupont 
 mansion. He repaired to his bachelor lodgings, locked 
 the door, sat down and meditated. He was reviewing 
 his past with Alice and taking an introspection of his 
 own heart. " Well," he said, " somehow I feel as if 
 at last a chain is broken that has been binding me, 
 and," clenching his fist and bringing it down on his 
 knee, " I will not have it riveted again. I will break 
 off this engagement now and forever." Pulling out a 
 secret drawer he took therefrom a miniature, a lock of 
 hair, a package of letters, and, wrapping them up in a 
 neat bundle, rang the bell. His valet appeared. "John," 
 said he, "take this card to Mr. Dupont s, ask to see 
 Miss Alice, and hand her this package. If you cannot 
 see her alone, bring it back to me." 
 
 After an hour John returned. " Master," he said, 
 " I saw the butler and he said that Miss Alice was sick 
 
lOO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and a doctor attending her, and he knew I could not 
 see her alone." 
 
 "Well, what did you do with the package?" 
 
 " Brought it back, sir." 
 
 Mortimer taking the bundle tossed it into the drawer. 
 " Perhaps it s as well," he said. " I will wait first to 
 hear from Alice." 
 
 But day after day passed, at last came a note 
 from Mrs. Dupont, saying she thought that Mr. 
 Mortimer ought to know that since his last visit her 
 daughter had been very sick. At first some feelings 
 of compunction rose in Mortimer s heart, but then 
 again returned the feeling of impatience to have the 
 chain loosened. He answered Mrs. Dupont very coolly, 
 saying that " he was extremely sorry to hear of her 
 daughter s illness, but, as Mrs. Dupont had not stated 
 that Miss Dupont desired to see him, he felt that it 
 would be presumptuous to call." 
 
 Mrs. Dupont was now in a strait. She had written 
 to Mortimer without her husband s knowledge. She 
 did not want to confess that to him. She could not 
 read the note to Alice, because Alice had not asked 
 her to write to Mortimer. But she must do something, 
 so she told her husband on his return. 
 
 Mr. Dupont read the note and then said, "Well, 
 this is a pretty muss. But one thing is apparent to 
 me. This man wants his engagement with our daughter 
 broken. Now, wife, I beg you to let Alice be the first 
 to break it." 
 
 " But how can it be done ? " said Mrs. Dupont. " She 
 is too weak to speak about it." 
 
 " Well, anyway, ask Dr. Dissle." 
 
OR, THE NEW ttYGEIA. 
 
 " Oh, I can t mention such a matter to a person out 
 of our family." 
 
 " Pshaw ! A doctor is father-confessor for everyone. 
 He knows all the love secrets and other secrets of his 
 patients. Leave it to me ; I ll have a talk with the 
 doctor." 
 
 Dr. Dissle, on being consulted, said, " Mr. Dupont, 
 I would have this matter settled some way. It will 
 do your daughter more harm to be kept in a state of 
 suspense than to have the thing decided either way." 
 
 Mr. Dupont acted on the advice. He took the first 
 opportunity to break to Alice the state of affairs. At 
 first Alice was hysterical, but this was controlled by a 
 dose of assafetida. Then she was disconsolate ; then 
 she was mad, at least mad enough to say that if 
 Mr. Mortimer had not wished to see her as soon as he 
 heard of her extreme illness he might go. 
 
 "Well," said her father, seizing the opportunity, 
 " suppose you let your mother tell him so." 
 
 " No, not yet. Suppose we wait a day or two." 
 
 Mr. Dupont waited, though with great reluctance. 
 By this time Alice was beginning to feel the tonic 
 effects of wounded pride. " Let him go," said she. 
 " Take this ring and send it to him, with this message : 
 * Miss Dupont cannot but gather from Mr. Mortimer s 
 utter neglect of her that his feelings have changed. 
 She therefore places this ring at his disposal. " 
 
 When Alice s letter and ring were received by 
 Mortimer, the flame of love seemed to flicker for a 
 moment in his heart, but it was like the last flickering 
 in the socket before the candle goes out. He waited 
 
JQ2 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 for an hour, meditated, then rose and took the package 
 he had previously prepared, put his hand on the bell- 
 handle, then stopped, went back, and attempted to 
 write a letter. He wrote one, then tore it up ; wrote 
 another, tore it up, then another, tore it up ; then, 
 gathering all the fragments together, threw them into 
 the fire and rang the bell. Handing the package to 
 his servant, he said, "John, leave this at Mr. Dupont s 
 door." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 103 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE MATERIALIST HOLDS A PHILOSOPHICAL POST 
 MORTEM ON MORTIMER S LOVE AFFAIRS. 
 
 Dr. Strong did not know of Mortimer s return to the 
 city until the day after the latter s final break with 
 Alice. The doctor had been longing to have a talk 
 with Mortimer about Ruth, for somehow he could not 
 keep her out of his thoughts. So, like a man who 
 wishes to conceal the state of his own heart affairs, he 
 was no sooner seated in Mortimer s room than he began 
 inquiring particularly after Alice. " How is your 
 charming fiancee f " asked the doctor, as he took down 
 a pipe always kept for him on Mortimer s mantel ; 
 " has the fair mind-curer healed Alice s mental and 
 physical woes? " 
 
 " I know very little about Miss Dupont," said Morti 
 mer, doggedly. 
 
 "Miss Dupont / has it come to that, why, what s 
 the matter? Have you been indulging in a love 
 quarrel, so as to enjoy the deliciousness of a make 
 up?" 
 
 " It will never be a make-up," said Mortimer, 
 solemnly. 
 
IO4 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Dr. Strong was about t<? laugh at the solemnity of 
 his friend s tone, when turning and catching Mortimer s 
 eye he saw it was no time for jesting. He therefore 
 said kindly, " Well, William, I don t want to interfere 
 with your love affairs, for I have a great respect for both 
 yourself and Miss Dupont, who with all her eccentricities 
 is a noble girl." 
 
 " Doctor," said Mortimer, " the fact is I have found 
 out that your theory is the correct one, the will cannot 
 control the affections. I believe I did once love Alice, 
 but my affection began to weaken under her peculiar 
 eccentricities. Still, I would have done my part if she 
 had not in our last interview behaved like a a fiend ! " 
 gasped out Mortimer. 
 
 " A fiend ! why, that s a very hard word to apply to 
 any woman." 
 
 " Well, hear the story, then, Doctor," and Mortimer 
 proceeded to narrate the events of which the reader 
 has been informed in the last chapter. 
 
 Dr. Strong heard him calmly through, though when 
 Mortimer mentioned Alice s jealousy of his letter 
 introducing the doctor to Ruth, the doctor puffed 
 his pipe very vigorously. Still, he heard Mortimer 
 patiently through, and then turning to him said, 
 " William, I expect you will break with me now, 
 as you have with Alice Dupont, but I must clear my 
 conscience by telling you that you have acted like a 
 fool." 
 
 Mortimer s face flushed. " Look here, Strong," he 
 said, " I can stand a great deal from you, but I won t 
 stand that." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. IC>5 
 
 " Yes," said the doctor calmly, rising and refilling his 
 pipe, "you will not only have to stand it, but your 
 conscience will yet force you to indorse it. Now hear 
 me. I have never inquired particularly about the 
 symptoms of your betrothed. It was none of my 
 business. I was not her physician. But I can tell you 
 this, and any physician will confirm it, that you have 
 quarrelled with Miss Dupont simply because you 
 happened to meet her when the poor girl was suffering 
 from a fit of hysteria." 
 
 " Hysteria, fiddlesticks ! " said Mortimer, " it was 
 insane and unwarranted jealousy. Besides, am I to 
 keep an engagement with a girl who goes off in what 
 you call hysteria, because I simply write a card of 
 introduction for a friend, or talk ten minutes with her 
 female physician? " 
 
 " I grant you," replied Dr. Strong, " that it is both 
 insane and unwarranted conduct in Miss Dupont, but 
 still there would not have been this jealousy had she 
 not have been in this hysterical state of body." 
 
 " There is your cursed materialism again," said 
 Mortimer, " you would have me believe that the 
 character of a woman is dependent on her state of body. 
 I suppose, then, you would think that my duty was, 
 when Miss Dupont behaved so, to have simply bid her 
 good morning." 
 
 " Certainly," said the doctor, " what the girl needed 
 at that time was not a lover but a physician." 
 
 Mortimer broke out into a fit of laughter. Dr. 
 Strong knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and said with 
 evident annoyance, " Well, William, I guess you have 
 got the hysterics yourself now." 
 
106 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Oh, no," said Mortimer, " you ought as a doctor to 
 know that the other sex have the monopoly of that 
 disease." 
 
 " I know no such thing. All the best medical 
 writers hold that this peculiar morbid excitement of the 
 nervous system, showing itself in occasional convulsive 
 paroxysms and diversified functional disorder, occurs in 
 men as well as in women, though of course it is a 
 misnomer to name it hysteria. But, Mortimer, what 
 do you find to excite your mirth in my simple propo 
 sition that what Miss Dupont needed was medicine." 
 
 " I was thinking," said Mortimer laughingly, " how 
 beautiful it would be to test your theory by a practical 
 application, and what a wonderful change it would thus 
 introduce into the methods of courtship. For example, 
 a man prepares himself to propose to the girl he loves. 
 Since, as you say, men can have the hysterics, he first 
 fortifies himself by filling his pockets with a sort of 
 travelling drug store. He puts therein a box of 
 assafetida, a phial of Hoffman s anodyne, another 
 of fluid extract of valerian, another of camphor water. 
 When ringing the door-bell of his fair one s home, on 
 the momentous evening which is to decide his fate, he 
 finds his hand trembles ; down goes that hand into his 
 pocket, and he takes two or three assafetida pills. On 
 meeting his beloved in the parlor, his heart begins to 
 palpitate, he quietly turns his head and takes a swallow 
 of valerian ; when he comes to the fatal moment, he 
 discovers some hesitancy in his speech, awful thought, 
 incipient paralysis may be setting in ! he immediately 
 swallows a pill of strychnine. We will suppose he gets 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 107 
 
 through his part of the love scene, having thus success 
 fully warded off the hysterics. Now, he is to be equally 
 careful lest he may cause too great nervous excitement 
 in his beloved, which might develope into hysteria. 
 He says, Irene, I love you. Irene begins to tremble, 
 her face flushes, tears start in her eyes, she becomes 
 wildly agitated. The kind and judicious materialistic 
 lover takes in the situation. He says, Stop, my dear, 
 don t answer me until you have swallowed this, and he 
 gently presses to her sweet lips his bottle of Hoff 
 man s anodyne. She takes a draught, and oh ! blessed 
 effect of matter over mind, she becomes calm, and like a 
 cooing dove sweetly whispers, Alphonso, I am thine 
 forever. " 
 
 Dr. Strong could not help joining in the hearty laugh 
 of Mortimer, and the laugh restored the entente cordiale 
 between the two friends. 
 
 "But now, seriously speaking," said Mortimer, 
 " doctor, is there not to be taken into account in such 
 nervous disorders the moral condition of the patient? 
 Suppose, for example, there had not been jealousy in 
 Alice Dupont s heart, would she have had what you 
 deem a fit of hysteria? It is this point which confounds 
 me when I attempt to view man only from the stand 
 point of his material organism ; there seems always to 
 lie behind the material the spiritual, or as the mind- 
 curers would say, the fixity of thought in proper or 
 improper directions. " 
 
 The doctor answered, " There is, undoubtedly, behind 
 the body a mind, and that I have never denied. The 
 only thing where we seem to differ is whether there is 
 
108 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 behind the mind a body. Take, for example, this very 
 disease, hysteria. Physicians often resort to shocks on 
 the mind to relieve its paroxysms. One of our best 
 medical writers, Dr. Wood, * says, It will sometimes 
 be advisable to speak in a decided tone in the presence 
 of the patient, of the necessity of shaving the head and 
 applying a blister should she not be soon relieved. 
 Strong mental impressions have a powerful influence 
 over the disease; and sufficient consciousness often 
 remains during the apparent coma to appreciate an 
 observation of this kind. It does not follow that 
 because such a mental impression may prove useful 
 the patient has been counterfeiting illness. It acts by 
 replacing one impression by another more powerful for 
 a time. " Where I differ," continued the doctor, " from 
 our fair mind^curer is that she would ascribe this to the 
 shock produced on the moral sensibilities of the patient ; 
 I would ascribe it to a strong impression made on the 
 nervous centres, and as hysteria is often accompanied 
 with tenderness of the spine, this strong impression on 
 the emotional centres may act revulsively upon the 
 cerebro-spinal cavity by calling off irritation from those 
 centres which give convulsive movements." 
 
 "Well, doctor," said Mortimer, "when you get into 
 your medical metaphysics I cannot follow you, but I 
 would ask you this question, do you not acknowledge 
 that the will has much to do with hysteria? the very 
 example you cite of conquering it by threatening to 
 shave the patient s head is really rousing the patient, 
 through fear, to exert her will power." 
 
 * A treatise on the Practice of Medicine, Geo. W. Wood, M. D. Article, 
 Hysteria. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 The doctor answered, " As an ultra-materialist I do 
 not believe much in will power, but I acknowledge that 
 some of the ablest physiologists hold that the patient 
 may herself do much in controlling the tendency to the 
 hysterical paroxysm by a determined act of the will." 
 
 "Well, doctor, you have converted me to believe 
 that the affections control the will ; therefore, according 
 to these medical authorities, diseases like hysteria have 
 an intimate connection with the moral character of the 
 patient." 
 
 " Well, I acknowledge," answered the doctor, " that 
 from this standpoint your logic is conclusive, but as a 
 consistent materialist I would drop out one of the 
 premises in your argument; I do not view as you do 
 the will as a moral faculty. I believe the will is part of 
 the mind, and that thought is but a secretion or nerve 
 movement of the brain." 
 
 " May God have mercy on your soul, 1 as the judge 
 says when he condemns a man to be hung," replied 
 Mortimer. " I would like to ask you one more 
 question. If thought is only the secretion of the brain, 
 what secretion or vibration of the brain gives the I 
 the thinker himself the one person who remains the 
 same through his whole life amid the thousand changes 
 of thoughts and feelings? You coolly try, doctor, to 
 take one link out of my argument; I do not take any 
 out of yours, for you have yourself confessedly left out 
 one which renders your materialistic theory utterly 
 useless. Yours is the tumbling arch because it lacks 
 a keystone ; there is nothing to bridge the space 
 between the man, the Ego, and his physical 
 make-up." 
 
IIO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Dr. Strong did not answer his friend. He sat and 
 puffed away at his pipe, but at last said, " Mortimer, 
 since we are having a very confidential talk together, I 
 will say to you that this Miss Page has set me to 
 thinking. I, of course, do not accept her theory, for it 
 is nonsensical ; but the fact that a young, beautiful girl, 
 who might shine in the highest circles of society, should 
 voluntarily give up her life to proclaiming a theory 
 which she believes will benefit the human race, is an 
 enigma to me," and he added with a sigh, " that fact 
 itself is the severest blow my materialism has ever 
 received. Here is something more than matter, here is 
 soul. Now, I am going to make another confession to 
 you ; I find this heart of mine beats pretty rapidly 
 when I come in contact with Miss Page. I acknowledge 
 that your project of dosing it, even with assafetida, 
 would not keep it quiet in her presence ; now what do 
 you advise me to do ? " 
 
 " Let it beat on, my good fellow," said Mortimer, 
 slapping his friend on his back, " and I will warrant 
 that if her heart only responds, it will be the best case 
 of mind-healing that Miss Page ever effected." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. Ill 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MRS. DUPONT PERFORMS A WONDERFUL MIND-CURE 
 ON HER DAUGHTER. 
 
 Lest the cure about to be narrated should tax 
 the reader s faith, it may be well to premise some 
 quotations from high medical authorities. To the 
 exclamation (!) of the reader we oppose the quota 
 tion ("), a mode of argument even older than the 
 Socratic, for did not Herodotus, the " father of 
 history," defend his toughest statements by his oft 
 repeated "they say?" What is most history, after all, 
 but respectable gossip? and what would the lawyer, 
 doctor, and, for all that, the minister, do without his 
 " they say ? " But to the " s. 
 
 Sir John Hunter, the celebrated English surgeon, 
 once wrote, "As one state of the mind is capable of 
 producing a disease, another state of it may effect a 
 cure." Daniel Hack Tuke, M. D., M. R. C. P., etc., etc., 
 whose work on the " Influence of the Mind on the Body" 
 is considered a standard one, accepts this statement of 
 Hunter s with one modification, namely, that the same 
 emotion may effect different results on the body, thus 
 he says, " Fear may heal as well as cause disease." 
 
112 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Sir Benjamin Brodie records a case which illustrates 
 both Hunter s aphorism and the experience of Alice 
 Dupont. He says that a young lady, who had long 
 labored under hysterical neuralgia of the hip and thigh, 
 immediately lost all her symptoms by being thrown from 
 a donkey she was riding. On this incident related by 
 Brodie, Dr. Tuke remarks, " When we see the mental 
 emotions caused by the fall from a donkey cure a 
 disorder, of which Dr. Copeland says, There are few 
 diseases less under the control of medical treatment/ 
 we can scarcely exaggerate the importance of attacking 
 disease psycologically." 
 
 Dr. Rush, who, in his day, was regarded the apostle 
 of American medical science, gives in his "Letters" 
 many remarkable cases of cures effected by emotions 
 awakened in patriotic breasts during the war of the 
 Revolution. He affirms, " This was the case in a more 
 especial manner with hysterical women, who were much 
 interested in the successful issue of the contest." The 
 same effects on hysterical patients were observed by 
 Dr. Cullen in Scotland during the war of 17456. 
 
 Now, the author does not wish to compare the state 
 of Alice Dupont to the case above mentioned, a 
 woman cured of hysteria by a fall from a donkey 
 for that would be a reflection on our hero, William 
 Mortimer; but he humbly submits to the skeptical 
 reader whether, in face of the opinions and facts above 
 quoted, he is to be doubted when asserting that Alice 
 Dupont s break with Mortimer, instead of killing her, 
 actually cured her. But to the facts of the case. 
 
 When Alice returned her engagement ring, she sent 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 113 
 
 with it a picture of herself, and the note she then wrote 
 had this equivocal phrase, " she placed the ring at 
 Mr. Mortimer s disposal." Alice secretly hoped the 
 disposal Mortimer would make of said ring would be to 
 bring it back, and kneel at her feet in penitent adora 
 tion. Mrs. Dupont saw the state of affairs, and, 
 realizing that the very uncertainty in Alice s mind was 
 retarding her recovery, concluded that the bridges must 
 be burned behind her daughter before she could win 
 a victory over herself. When the package came back 
 from Mortimer Mrs. Dupont opened it, and, discovering 
 it contained all that Mortimer possessed of Alice s love 
 tokens, wisely conjectured it was intended to express 
 the final break of their engagement. She determined 
 to utilize this returned package for a final break-off of 
 Alice s heart from Mortimer, but, with the wisdom of 
 the serpent combined with the harmlessness of the 
 dove, she calmly waited an opportunity to make a 
 coup de main. The opportunity soon came. They 
 were alone, Alice being in a quiescent but pensive 
 state. Suddenly Alice broke out with the exclamation, 
 " I cannot stand this suspense any longer. Mr. 
 Mortimer has not even noticed my note. I wonder 
 whether he is out of town." 
 
 " No," said her mother. * I have reason to know he 
 is in the city." 
 
 "Are you sure of that?" said Alice. 
 
 " Perfectly sure. I suppose he is happy now, when 
 he finds the chain broken which bound him to you." 
 
 " Oh," said Alice, unconsciously divulging the subject 
 of their love-quarrel, " that is the very expression he 
 used." 
 
114 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " He called his engagement to you a chain, did he?" 
 exclaimed her mother. " And now in his utter heart- 
 lessness he hurls back in your face the last links of that 
 chain. I knew it was too heavy a blow, my daughter, 
 to have it suddenly come upon you, so I have not 
 before given you this package. Open it and see what 
 it contains." 
 
 Alice slowly opened and inspected its contents, then 
 began to cry. 
 
 " You might as well save your tears," said Mrs. 
 Dupont. " They are certainly wasted on such a hard 
 hearted wretch as that Mortimer. Why, you ought to 
 rejoice that you have escaped marriage with such a 
 man." 
 
 " Ah, mother, somehow I cannot," said Alice. 
 
 " Well, cry on, then," said Mrs. Dupont. " How 
 it would natter William Mortimer s pride if he saw 
 those tears." 
 
 Alice stopped crying, but still whimpered, " Anyway, 
 mother, there is nothing left for me but a blighted life." 
 
 " Pshaw," said Mrs. Dupont. 
 
 Alice was enraged at the unsympathetic behavior of 
 her parent. " I tell you what it is, mother," she said 
 with vehemence, " there is nothing left of life for me to 
 enjoy, I shall retire from the world and go into a 
 convent." 
 
 " Just what William Mortimer would like," said Mrs. 
 Dupont. " How agreeable to him your being where 
 the sight of you will not trouble him again." 
 
 Alice pondered ; she began to feel she must do 
 something desperate to avenge herself. With a tragic 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. II*, 
 
 air she rose and said, " I believe I will commit suicide ; 
 how William will feel when he finds he is my murderer ! " 
 
 " Relieved," calmly answered Mrs. Dupont. 
 
 " Why, what do you mean, mother ? " exclaimed Alice. 
 
 "Just what I said, for he has broken this engagement 
 on the plea that you are a poor, hysterical girl, whose 
 physical condition is such that no man could live with 
 her. Now, if you will only go and commit suicide you 
 will furnish him one of the best proofs of the truth of 
 his assertion. Society, instead of saying, poor Alice ! 
 will say, poor Mortimer ! " 
 
 "Well," said Alice, despairingly, " mother, what would 
 you advise me to do? " 
 
 " Be yourself, that is all ; avenge yourself on Morti 
 mer by showing society your own noble nature. Let it 
 know that Mortimer lies when he pictures you as a 
 poor, weak, hysterical creature ; yea, let him see what 
 a noble prize he has lost, and lost forever." 
 
 Alice began involuntarily to straighten herself up. 
 Had not her mother s hand touched the right cords? 
 But conscience also began to work in Alice. She 
 remembered that the real cause of their quarrel was 
 Ruth Page. She said hesitatingly, " Mother, I ought 
 to tell you something, because it might change your 
 opinion about this matter. The cause of our quarrel 
 was that I blamed William with showing too much 
 affection for Miss Page." 
 
 " And did he get angry when you taxed him with 
 this?" answered Mrs. Dupont, "then he must have 
 been guilty, for he would have only laughed at your 
 suspicions had he been innocent." 
 
 "Yes, he got fearfully angry." 
 
Il6 . RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 "Has it come to that?" exclaimed Mrs. Dupont, 
 "that Mortimer could be engaged to you and be 
 flirting with another girl whom he actually introduces 
 into our family as your doctress ; why, what a deliver 
 ance you have had, Alice. But remember this, that 
 society with its hundred gossipy tongues will soon be 
 discussing this affair. Mortimer will not dare to allude 
 to Miss Page, he will throw the whole blame on your 
 hysterical, unreasonable disposition, will picture you as 
 a mere show card in society s windows, which drew him 
 into a bad bargain. What you really need is to put 
 forth every effort to show how physically strong you 
 are." 
 
 " And I am strong," said Alice, rising and pacing the 
 room, " I feel I can conquer this disease. I will let 
 William Mortimer know that I am not the weak 
 creature he claims; mother, where is our carriage? I 
 want to ride out in the park this afternoon." 
 
 Mrs. Dupont was about to utter an exclamation of 
 surprise and caution, but wisely judging that it was a 
 crisis which ought to be utilized she rang the bell for 
 the carriage. While it was coming she kept Alice 
 actively at work in arraying herself so that she might 
 make a good appearance. When the carriage came 
 Mrs. Dupont could hardly suppress a smile as she saw 
 her daughter sweep majestically down the stairs, and 
 that unsupported. The girl was transformed. A look 
 of strong determination took the place of her former 
 vacillation. Their carriage swept up the grand drive 
 of Central Park. Every one who knew the Duponts 
 stared with evident surprise at Alice, who, in turn, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. Il7 
 
 realized that gossip had already been busy. This only 
 nerved her the more. Suddenly Mrs. Dupont called to 
 her driver to stop, at the same time beckoning to a gen 
 tleman passing in another carriage. It was Dr. Strong, 
 Mortimer s friend. "Glad to meet you, Dr. Strong," 
 said Mrs. Dupont, " I know you are well acquainted 
 with the best hotels in Austria, which one in Vienna 
 would you recommend?" 
 
 Dr. Strong was immensely flattered, and named a 
 few, but added, glancing at Alice, " If you are taking a 
 trip for health, you had better board in some quiet 
 family." 
 
 "We are not going for health, only for pleasure," 
 responded Mrs. Dupont, " Alice, you know, used to be 
 an invalid, but that is all passed now." 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed Dr. Strong, " why, I am glad 
 to know it; I heard" and the doctor just caught 
 himself in time not to betray Mortimer s confidence, " I 
 heard that you were going to the German Spas." 
 
 " Don t believe all you hear," said Mrs. Dupont, with 
 a significant look at the doctor, " there are always two 
 sides to a story; good morning, doctor, come and 
 see us soon, glad to hear you are succeeding so well in 
 your practice ; we do not expect to be troubled with 
 sickness again, since Alice has been relieved of her 
 worries, but if we are we may ring your door-bell." 
 
 "Good gracious!" thought Dr. Strong, "that was 
 the most fortunate thing which ever happened to me 
 for there right in the midst of the fashion of New York 
 City was my doctor s carriage stopped by Mrs. Dupont. 
 I noticed what an impression it made on the Joneses 
 
Il8 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and Smiths, when they drove past; they will, of course, 
 think Mrs. Dupont stopped me to consult about her 
 daughter. But how well Alice looks, what does 
 Mortimer mean by flinging such a beautiful girl? 
 What lies he told me about her health, why, she looked 
 as blooming as a peach." And so she did, for the 
 fresh, crisp air had painted Alice s fair skin with a 
 lovely hue. 
 
 " Alice," said her mother, " there could not have 
 happened anything more fortunate. Did you see how 
 admiringly and astonished Dr. Strong gazed at you? 
 he has evidently heard one side of the story, now he is 
 converted to the opposite. All this will go back to 
 Mortimer, and he will find himself deserted by his very 
 friends ; besides, there were the Smiths and Joneses, 
 who heard you laughing and talking with Dr. Strong, 
 and saw how happy you looked. The Smiths and 
 Joneses will tell everyone that it is you who flung 
 Mortimer. Now let us go home, and we will take this 
 ride every day." 
 
 But "the wisdom of the serpent" did not stop here. 
 Before the carriage reached their home Mrs. Dupont 
 stopped at Tiffany s, making the excuse of getting her 
 watch repaired, and while there despatched a note to 
 Mr. Dupont. It ran thus : " Have just had a ride 
 with Alice in the park. She is as happy and healthy 
 as a lark. Be sure to bring Mr. Parks home to dinner 
 with you." Now, Mr. John Parks was a junior member 
 of the firm, and a former admirer of Alice. Having 
 business to transact for the firm in Europe, Mr. Parks 
 had timed his voyage so as to accompany Mrs. and 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 119 
 
 Miss Dupont on their last European tour as far as 
 London. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dupont hoped it would 
 make a match between the young people ; but, alas ! 
 though young Parks, on the first day out lost his heart, 
 on the second day Alice lost her dinner, and continued 
 losing it all the way over, so that Cupid had no chance 
 of shooting his darts ; all the love projects of Dupont, 
 Parks & Co. were thus upset by unsentimental Neptune, 
 who is no respecter of persons, lovers included. All 
 the recollections Alice had of Mr. Parks, was a handsome 
 young man whom she did not love, yet found to be a 
 convenient companion de voyage. However, when Mrs. 
 Dupont said to her daugher, " I have just received a 
 note from your father, saying that Mr. Parks is to dine 
 with us to-day," Alice busied herself in putting on her 
 best apparel. 
 
 Mr. John Parks tried very hard to play the agreeable, 
 he had a good fund of anecdote and repartee, they had 
 a merry time at dinner, and in the evening Alice sang 
 and Mr. Parks hung over her in admiration. As he 
 rose to go he said, " Miss Dupont, I noticed you riding 
 in the Park to-day." 
 
 " Did you?" said Alice, flattered at the thought that 
 she must have attracted general attention. 
 
 " Have you lately tried horseback riding?" asked Mr. 
 Parks. 
 
 " No, but I am very fond of it." 
 
 " Well, may I venture to ask you to ride with me?" 
 
 Alice looked at her mother, who said, " How kind of 
 you, Mr. Parks, to propose it. Alice used to ride much 
 in Europe, but since her return to this country you are 
 
I3O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the first gentleman who has been thoughtful enough to 
 extend her this invitation." The invitation was ac 
 cepted. 
 
 But this was not all. Saturday came, and Mrs. 
 Dupont said to her husband, " I want you to go with 
 me and Alice to church to-morrow." 
 
 " Go to church !" exclaimed Mr. Dupont, " why, wife, 
 if you want to go to Coney Island I am ready ; but after 
 the fatigues of a business week to have to endure " 
 
 " The fatigue of worshipping God," interrupted Mrs. 
 Dupont. " Husband, arn t you ashamed of yourself? 
 I tell you this, if you will ease your body more by 
 resting it in your church pew you will have a healthier 
 as well as a happier family." 
 
 " How do you make that out?" asked Mr. Dupont. 
 
 " By the history of our family in the past. What has 
 it been but a record of worldly dissipation, balls, dinner 
 parties, theatres, trips to the seashore, ostensibly for rest, 
 but really for a greater round of pleasure. Why, no 
 wonder that Alice is broken down, we must call a halt, 
 and have a change. The greatest change I can 
 conceive of is to cease being fashionable heathen and 
 become respectable Christians." 
 
 " Why, wife, what has come over you ? I wish you 
 had only found this out long ago, it would have saved 
 me a great deal of money," said Mr. Dupont. 
 
 " Well, now since I have found it out, I want you and 
 Alice to support me in it ; you have a pew in Dr. Gos 
 peller s church, which you have not entered for a year. 
 Let us all be in that pew to-morrow morning." 
 
 If the Duponts made a sensation in Central Park, they 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 121 
 
 made a greater one by their appearance in church, for 
 who but knows that a fashionable church is sometimes 
 quite as much a centre for society gossip as are the 
 parlors of Fifth Avenue. Dr. Gospeller preached that 
 morning on " Cast your burden on the Lord." Mr. 
 Dupont heard very little of it. He was settling in his 
 mind whether he would offer the next day to buy some 
 stock of Mr. Van Hilter, who sat in the next pew. 
 Mrs. Dupont had a general notion that it was a good 
 sermon, that she ought to be a better mother in her 
 spiritual relations to Alice, and she filled up the time 
 with making good resolutions. But Alice sat with her 
 eyes so intently fixed on Dr. Gospeller as to attract 
 his attention. By that peculiar faculty of the mind, 
 which physiologists, for lack of a better name, have 
 baptized " Unconscious Cerebration," while the doctor 
 was fervently delivering his sermon, he at the same time 
 was considering the case of his interested auditor. In 
 one of his most effective passages, while the audience 
 was rivetted on the speaker, supposing that his atten 
 tion was rivetted on his discourse, Dr. Gospeller was 
 thinking to himself, " I wonder what has brought those 
 worldly Duponts to church again. Ah ! I remember 
 hearing their daughter has had a love scrape. Guess 
 the poor thing has been driven by her afflictions to the 
 Lord. Notice how intently she is listening. I think I 
 will call at the Duponts to-morrow and have a talk with 
 Miss Alice on the subject of religion." 
 
 And what was Alice Dupont thinking of, with her 
 attention so rivetted on the doctor s discourse that she 
 heard almost every word of it, that she took in and 
 
122 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 applied it to her own case, having her heart fairly 
 touched by its spiritual applications? What was she 
 thinking of? Ruth Page. That power of association, 
 which starts a current of thought by some suggestion 
 eliminated from another current and yet lets the two 
 currents flow on side by side, had started up from the very 
 similarity of the doctor s theme, to themes dwelt on by 
 Ruth in her past conversations with Alice, the remem 
 brance of Ruth herself, then naturally of Mortimer, and 
 then of their love-quarrel. Thus side by side ran on 
 Alice s meditation on the doctor s sermon and on Ruth 
 and Mortimer. Yet, somehow, when the doctor con 
 cluded his last prayer with the petition " that if any 
 heart had come there that morning with a burden, they 
 might cast it on the Lord," Alice s mind converged 
 both lines of thought in one, and, casting her burden 
 on the Lord, she left the church strengthened in both 
 soul and body. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FAITH-HEALER WRESTLES WITH OLD SI. 
 
 Old Si was a character, and a very holy one too, 
 like Enoch, he had walked with God. The neighbor 
 hood was full of anecdotes of the humble, sincere faith 
 of the old saint ; of how he had dedicated one-fifth of 
 his scanty earnings to the Lord, and worn his coat one 
 year longer than it ought to have been worn, so as to 
 give some garment to the poor ; of how he sat up late 
 at nights studying his Bible, and then wrestled with the 
 Lord in prayer, like Jacob of old, till the morning 
 broke. But now Si s faith was sorely tried. His 
 grandson, aged five, the only son of his only son, " a 
 chile uv de cuv nant," as Si called him, dedicated to 
 the Lord from his birth, for whom Si had prayed " dat 
 de chile might be like John de Baptizer, filled wid de 
 Holy Ghost," this child, so dear to the old man, lay 
 very sick. Nights of prayer had been spent by the 
 grandfather, but the child grew worse. Si s faith 
 was sorely tried, yet he prayed on, struggled on, 
 apparently hoping against hope. 
 
 Esther, in one of her walks to the camp-meeting 
 happened to pass Si s cottage. The door was open, 
 
124 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and she saw the figure of Si s wife, Chloe, bending over 
 the bed, and heard her cry out with a pathos of 
 entreaty, " O, gud Lawd, spar de chile, spar de chile." 
 The interest of Esther was at once aroused. She 
 passed in the open door, and said kindly to Chloe, " Is 
 the child sick?" 
 
 Chloe was touched by the evident sympathy of 
 Esther and answered, " Es, Misses, bery sick, I be s 
 fraid its gwine to die." 
 
 " Don t say fraid, Chloe," said a voice from the 
 chimney corner, " remember what de Shoemite (Shu- 
 namite) wumen sed when her chile wus ded, It be s 
 well wid de chile. " 
 
 Esther started, and looking round beheld the vener 
 able form of old Si. She had often heard of him, and 
 her interest was awakened to talk with one who bore 
 such a character for sanctity. " You are, I see, a firm 
 believer in the wisdom of God," said Esther. 
 
 " Es, Missus," said Si, " an so does I b leeve in Is 
 lub ; I b lieve he lubs me so strong dat he will not act 
 to me or to de chile unadvisedly. Bles d be Is grate an 
 oly name ! " 
 
 " But you believe also that God will be influenced by 
 our prayers? " said Esther. 
 
 "Sartinly, I have blessM prufifs uv dat fact in Is 
 dealings wid ole Si fur three score yars and ten." 
 
 "Well, you know the Bible says Whatsoever we 
 ask believing we shall receive. " 
 
 " Es," said Si, " I jes b lieve all dat." 
 
 "Well, if you then have faith enough to believe 
 that God can heal the child and ask Him to heal it He 
 will do so." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 125 
 
 " Don t no bout dat," said Si, " de gud Book tells 
 us, Dabid besot de gud Lawd fur is chile, an Dabid 
 farsted an went in an lay all de nite on de grund an 
 wrestled wid de Lawd, yet de Lawd did not spar dat 
 chile." 
 
 "Ah," said Esther, "there was a special reason in 
 that case, the Lord had made up His mind that that 
 child must die." 
 
 " How do me no den but de Lawd has sorter made 
 up Is mind dat dis er chile mus die, fur, as Paul sez, 
 1 Who hath known de mind uv de Lawd, or who hath 
 bin Is coun-seller. " 
 
 " But, my friend, how do you know but the Lord has 
 made up His* mind that this child shall live, and 
 therefore you can pray for it? " 
 
 " Es, and me will pray for it," said Si, determinedly. 
 
 " But you have not been praying with faith enough," 
 said Esther. 
 
 " Meh lady, dat all may be troo, fur I fess my 
 stronges faith be s but as a gran uv mustard seed ; it 
 seems to me, howsomever, dat de faith I mos need jes 
 at present be s dat which wud nable ole Si to say, * Not 
 my will but Thine be done. " 
 
 " But it is not the will of God that any sick ones should 
 die," said Esther, " if we only pray for their recovery 
 with faith ; do you not know what the Apostle James 
 says, The prayer of faith shall heal the sick? 
 
 " Es, dat is tooly so," said Si, but fixing a searching 
 glance on Esther he asked, " does not you be s expectin 
 sum time to die? " 
 
 Esther hesitated and said, "Yes, I confess I do; 
 
126 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 but here is a young child just starting life who might 
 do so much good if he was spared to grow up as a 
 Christian." 
 
 " Ah, dat is jes de rub," said Si, " p r aps de gud 
 Marster sees it be better fur de little un to go to heben 
 jes now, while it wud be sartin of gwine dar, than fur it 
 to grow up an wander as a prodigal from de Fader s 
 home. Dar wuz my son, Jeems, de fader uv dis chile, 
 de Lawd taught ole Si a lesson on dis particler pint in 
 de hist ry of dat son uv mine. When Jeems wuz a 
 baby he wuz close to deth, how we prayed den fur dat 
 chile ; I felt de Lawd mus spar him ; I pleaded dat 
 bery varse you spoke uv bout de pra r of faith healing 
 de sick. I besot de Lawd to gib me dat faith as wud 
 move de bery mountins. Well, He answered my 
 pra r zactly as me asked; but, my friend," and Si 
 looked solemnly at Esther, "Jeems growed up an 
 wandered away from de Lawd, an I shud feel sorter uv 
 surer bout is salvation, if de Lawd had had Is own 
 way an taken Jeems den to His blessed self. So, while 
 ole Si be s praying honesly fur de chile s recuv ry, he 
 be s tryin to feel dat de gud Lawd knows de bes ." 
 
 Esther s warm heart was touched, but she did not 
 want her theory to be so easily demolished, and she 
 said kindly, " Well, my friend, I do not wish to shake 
 your resignation to God s will, but I think if you will 
 remember what great promises the Bible makes to the 
 prayer of faith, you would find sufficient encouragement 
 to pray for the child s recovery and expect it." 
 
 " I have thot uv all de many promises uv de gud Lawd, 
 an I intend to keep up a heap uv prayin , an I wud be 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 127 
 
 right glad ter have your pra rs jined to mine fur de 
 chile s recuv ry, an dat jes now." 
 
 " Well," said Esther hesitatingly, " I will willingly 
 join in prayer with you for the child, but you know the 
 Bible says we must anoint the sick before we pray for 
 them. " 
 
 "Be s you a Cat lick? " inquired Si, anxiously, for he 
 had a dread of the holy oil of the Romanists. 
 
 " Oh, no, I am a Protestant. I anoint with oil 
 because the Apostle James says we must pray for the 
 sick, anointing them with oil in the name of the 
 Lord. " 
 
 " Dat be troo, but dat varse can t mean dat de 
 anointin be s essentialer to de cure, for we neber read 
 uv de blessed Jesus anointin de sick wid ile before 
 he healed dem." 
 
 " Yes," answered Esther, " but he told his disciples 
 to do so." 
 
 "Whar?" asked Si. 
 
 Esther answered somewhat severely, " Si, don t you 
 believe that the Apostle James wrote under the 
 direction of the spirit, and that Jesus spoke through 
 him?" 
 
 " Sartinly, Missus, but I se only thought dat you 
 said de Lawd spoke it by de word uv Is own mouth. 
 De Tostle Jeems wuz an experienced postle, but I 
 don t see how dat postle could have intended it as a 
 gin ral rule, fur de t other postles prayed fur de sick an 
 healed dem widout anointin dem. Dar wuz Paul dat 
 raised de young man dat fell asleep under is preachin, 
 and den felr out uv de winder case. De account don t 
 
I2S RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 say nothin* bout Paul s anointin im fust wid ile. Dar 
 agin wuz Pub lus (Publius) who done lie sick wid a 
 bloody flux. De postle prayed fur dat sick man, but 
 didn t noint him." 
 
 " Still, Si," said Esther, " anointing must have been 
 common in those days for the Apostle James speaks of 
 it as a direction all would understand." 
 
 " Dat may be," said Si, " but many things common 
 in days uv postles are not common now. De Acts uv 
 de Postles tells us dat de sick wuz healed by de 
 shader uv Peter fallin on dem, guess even your shader, 
 Missus, couldn t heal de sick. We be told, also, dat 
 hand chifs an apons took from de body uv Paul wuz 
 brought to de sick an de diseases wuz taken straight 
 away; guess your hand chif, Missus, wouldn t help any 
 more than your bottle uv ile, kase it be written, God 
 wrot special miraculars by de hands uv de postles ; 
 guess dese healins by hand chifs, apons an ile, de Lawd 
 intended to be special to dose days." 
 
 " But, Si, the apostles did heal the sick, and this 
 shows that the sick can be healed by God s people." 
 
 " Es, ma am, but dey did not allers do, it." 
 
 "Why, Si, what do you mean?" 
 
 "Jes what I asarted, Missus, does not Paul say to 
 Timothy, Trol mus (Trophimus) have I lef sick at 
 Letum (Miletum) ; its mighty sartin dat Paul had to 
 leave Trof mus sick ; he didn t heal im wid is prayer 
 and faith." 
 
 "But there may have been some special reason in 
 Trophimus case." 
 
 " Don t know bout dat, only know it s mighty sartin 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 129 
 
 dat de postle lef is friend sick. Den dar wuz 
 Pafroditorus (Epaphroditus) whom Paul says wuz his n 
 panion in labor and feller soljur; he wuz nigh unto 
 death, but de Lawd had marcy on im." 
 
 " Ah," said Esther, glad of an opportunity to corner 
 Si, " does not that show that the Lord must have had 
 mercy on him on account of Paul s prayer of faith? " 
 
 " Dat may be and may not be," said Si, " I stick to 
 de record; it don t say nuthin bout Paul s havin 
 anythin to do wid Pafroditorus recuv ry, only sez God 
 had. Den agin if de pra r uv eben de postles allers 
 healed de sick, why didn t der pra rs heal der own 
 diseases?" 
 
 " Why, undoubtedly they did," said Esther. 
 
 " Couldn t be so allers," said Si, " dar wuz dat thorn 
 in de flesh uv Paul ; he couldn t git rid uv it though he 
 prayed an besot de Lawd hones ly three times." 
 
 " Yes, Si, but the Lord kept it there for the apostle s 
 spiritual benefit." 
 
 "Ah, Missus," said Si, "dat is jes de pint; so de 
 Lawd keep dem thorns uv sicknesses in Is people s 
 flesh for der benefit. Dars my ole wife, Chloe, an a 
 godly, prayin woman she be s, but de Lawd has kept 
 a thorn uv rheumatiz in her legs for de las twenty 
 yars." 
 
 " Ah, Si," said Esther, " you re a good man, but I m 
 afraid you don t live up to your privileges ; you forget 
 that the blessed Lord came to earth to bear our 
 sicknesses. " 
 
 " Yes," said Si, " but not alwus to take dem away, 
 fur ef I read my Bible rite, we ll have more or less 
 
130 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 uv sickness till we departure dis life. I don t find it 
 written dat dar will be no more sick on earth. We will 
 av to wait till we he s come to de bles d Emanuel s 
 land, whar only de habitant shall say, I be s no more 
 sick ; and to dat heben whar de Lawd makes all t ings 
 new, before we cum to dat state whar dar be s no more 
 pain. I tank you fur your n kindness, Missus, but if 
 you will plaze put dat little vial uv ile in your pocket 
 an jes fall on your knees an pray fur de Holy Ghost, 
 which be s de only kind uv healin ile we need, to come 
 strait down into our inmust hearts, so that we git 
 both faith in de gud Lawd, an s mission to Is will, den 
 Missus, whether de chile lib or die, we ll be s able to 
 say, as Jesus did, Not my will but thine be done. " 
 
 It was some comfort to Esther and a greater one 
 still to Si that the baby was finally restored to health. 
 Esther could not forego stopping at Si s cottage a few 
 weeks after and saying, " Well, Si, the prayer of faith 
 has cured the sick, after all." 
 
 " Es," said Si, " Missus, de gud Lawd has indeed 
 heard our feeble titions, but it minds me uv a sayin uv 
 my ole mudder bout de babes, she says, * Sum babes 
 av to be rized wid de bottle, but de way uv natur is de 
 bes arter all. Now, it may be, Missus, dat sum 
 babes av to be rized frum sickness by your n bottle uv 
 ile, but I tink de ole-fashun d, nat ral way be s by 
 pra r and s^mission." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ESTHER AND RUTH MEET. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 
 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND FAITH-HEALING VIEWS. 
 
 How strangely are people brought together in this 
 world ! Ruth Page is a mind-curer living in New York, 
 Esther Bates is a faith-healer attending a camp-meeting 
 on the Hudson. Neither has heard of the other, neither 
 sets out to meet the other, yet, as the stone carried by 
 the iceberg from polar regions meets sand swept out 
 from the Hudson, and both lie side by side at the 
 bottom of the Atlantic, so two lives, starting from 
 different points, with different aims, often come together 
 and remain side by side for life. By a very simple 
 train of events Esther and Ruth were brought together. 
 Mrs. Page had heard that Falkill-on-the-Hudson was a 
 healthy, restful place ; she proposed to Ruth to go 
 there for the summer and Ruth acquiesced. They 
 stopped at the village hotel to look around for a quiet 
 boarding-place. The landlord argued that the Pages 
 were pious folk, that pious folk liked good and clean 
 meals, and since Squire Hubbard had both, the Pages 
 ought to go to the Hubbards. In this logic the 
 Pages concurred and the Hubbards recognized their 
 
132 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 coming as a special providence. Mr. Mortimer s 
 room had remained vacant since he left. Like all 
 boarding-house keepers they would have preferred 
 gentlemen, but Mrs. Page was so quiet and Miss Ruth 
 so lovely that they might be entertaining angels 
 unawares. Rubie soon made friends with Ruth, and 
 in his childish confidence told her all about his 
 friend Mortimer, described his many virtues, and 
 showed with triumph the presents Mortimer had 
 given him. 
 
 The Hubbards also were full of praises of Mortimer, 
 and of hopes that Sister Bates influence had been 
 beneficial to his soul. Ruth would hold Rubie in her 
 lap and quietly listen while he told his long story about 
 Mr. Mortimer. Mrs. Page, however, as soon as she 
 found Mortimer had been there, held a hurried consul 
 tation with Ruth. She proposed to leave the house 
 and neighborhood, but Ruth contended there was no 
 probability of Mortimer s returning, as he had told 
 Rubie he would not for that summer at least. Mrs. 
 Page was not quite satisfied with Ruth s reasoning, but 
 letting the subject drop waited for further developments. 
 
 Esther, since Mortimer s departure, had been a very 
 frequent visitor at the Hubbards . She had endeavored 
 to lead the old squire to a higher faith, to cast on 
 the Lord his bodily ailments, which in his case were 
 frequent attacks of rheumatism. The squire, however, 
 proved a constant backslider. He would embrace 
 Sister Bates belief in dry weather, but, in wet, the squire 
 backslid to coal oil and old women s teas. 
 
 A few evenings after the arrival of the Pages, Esther 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 133 
 
 came up the lane, with a bunch of wild flowers gathered 
 for Rubie, singing her favorite hymn, 
 
 " Am I a soldier of the cross." 
 
 Ruth was attracted by the sweet countenance and 
 voice of the singer, who, unconscious of her auditor, 
 passing round the side of the house entered by the 
 dining-room door. Not rinding the Hubbards, Esther 
 was about to leave, when Rubie spying her, ran and 
 taking her by the hand, dragged her to the front porch 
 to see his friend, Miss Ruth Page. Esther, supposing 
 she was one of the camp-meeting folk, followed Rubie, 
 and to her surprise found a young lady, who, from her 
 dress, she set down as " belonging to the fashionable 
 city folk." She was about to retire, when Ruth, who 
 at once recognized in Esther the one she had heard so 
 much of from the Hubbards, stepped forward and said, 
 " I suppose you are looking for Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard, 
 they have gone to the lower part of the farm to look after 
 a sick lamb in their flock, will you not rest a little 
 while with me till they return? " 
 
 Esther was attracted by the kind manner of Ruth. 
 She thought, " Here is one of those fashionable New 
 York beauties ; her heart is in the world, I must try to 
 do her some good." 
 
 " You re a new boarder here, I suppose," said Esther. 
 
 " Yes, I came here with my mother to find a quiet 
 place in the country, and God has directed us to this 
 sweet Christian home." 
 
 The surprise in Esther s honest face was so evident 
 that Ruth, thinking it indicated some doubt about that 
 
134 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 being a Christian home, said, as if inquiringly, " The 
 Hubbards are of your persuasion, are they not?" 
 
 " Yes," said Esther, " but I did not suppose you were 
 a Methodist." 
 
 " I am not," said Ruth, " though I have a great 
 respect for that denomination." 
 
 "What church do you belong to?" 
 
 " I do not belong to any church. At the West we 
 attended the Congregational church, in Boston the 
 Unitarian, and in New York we did not attend any 
 particular church." 
 
 " Very bad for the health of your soul," said Esther, 
 " these folks who are always going from one church to 
 another are like rolling stones, they do not gather much 
 of the gospel moss." 
 
 " I think you are about right," answered Ruth, 
 "judging from my own experience; I have often 
 wished that I had some church connection, for there 
 are some things in religion I would like counsel about 
 from a pastor." 
 
 Esther immediately became interested ; here was an 
 opportunity to do good. She looked at the fair face 
 of Ruth, and thought of the angels, but then with a 
 sigh, of the bad angels. " My young frienH," she said; 
 " I see you believe in a God, do you believe in a 
 Savior?" 
 
 " Why, certainly," said Ruth, " I am devoting my 
 life to Christian Science." 
 
 " Christian Science ! " exclaimed Esther, " I thought 
 science was opposed to Christianity." 
 
 "Not necessarily," said Ruth, "for when the Bible 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 135 
 
 speaks of the * oppositions of science/ it says it is 
 science falsely so-called. " 
 
 " Why, you seem to have read the Bible," said Esther. 
 
 " Yes," answered Ruth, with a smile, " and studied 
 it; it is in the Bible that I learn of the Great Physician, 
 to whom I am trying to }ead others for tlie healing of 
 their bodies." 
 
 "Why, you can t mean that you re a faith-healer 
 like myself," said Esther, completely bewildered. 
 
 " No," said Ruth, (i I practise what is commonly 
 known as the mind-cure, though this is not the right 
 name for our science." 
 
 The mention of the " mind-cure" brought up at 
 once to Esther s mind the idea of his majesty who is 
 represented with hoofs and horns. She had heard 
 at the camp-meeting of this new doctrine that had 
 appeared in New York, and which was regarded by 
 many of the sisters as a snare and delusion of the devil. 
 Some of said sisters had special cause for disliking it ; 
 as it had lost them many of their converts, who professed 
 to find this Abana and Pharpar of Christian Science 
 better than the Jordan of the faith-curers. 
 
 Esther was about to depart and shake the dust from 
 off her feet against Ruth, when the latter gently 
 detained her. " Don t go yet," she said, " I want you 
 to talk longer with me. I believe you can do me 
 good." The fact was, Ruth s heart was longing for 
 just such a friend as Esther; that good, motherly heart, 
 that strong purpose to do her duty which characterized 
 Esther Bates seemed to be the prop which Ruth needed 
 for her own soul s support. So Ruth determined to 
 
136 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 make friends with the faith-healer, in spite of the 
 latter s seeming repugnance. Moving her seat nearer 
 Esther, and taking her hand in her own, she said, " My 
 friend, I believe there are a great many things about 
 which we believe alike, perhaps there are others you 
 can instruct me in, let us be friends, I do need a good, 
 Christian friend." 
 
 Esther s kind heart could not resist the appeal. " My 
 dear child," said she, grasping Ruth s hand, " I do want 
 to be a friend to all mankind, especially to those to 
 whom I can do good ; but, speaking plainly, I fear you 
 have never been converted." 
 
 " Well, then, help convert me now," said Ruth, " but 
 first let me tell you what I am already converted to. 
 I believe in God as the good, heavenly Father, and in 
 Jesus Christ His Son as the Savior both for the soul 
 and body; I believe in living a good life and thus 
 at last dying a happy death and going to heaven." 
 
 "Why, do you believe all that? " said Esther. 
 
 " Yes," said Ruth, " and therefore I am trying to 
 lead people to go to God for the healing of their 
 bodies." 
 
 " Why, then, do you call it mind-cure, and not as we 
 do, faith-healing?" 
 
 "Because we believe that faith is a quality of the 
 mind." 
 
 " Of the mind ! " said Esther, "why, daughter, faith 
 comes from the heart ; does not the Bible say, With 
 the heart man believeth unto righteousness? don t you 
 believe, daughter, that all men need converting in their 
 hearts?" 
 
 " Yes," said Ruth, " converting to the truth." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. l$J 
 
 Esther was puzzled. The distinctions of the mind- 
 curer were too metaphysical for her understanding. 
 " Tell me, then, plainly," said she, " do you believe in 
 revivals of religion, where people are converted by the 
 Holy Ghost?" 
 
 " I believe there s a psychological phenomena in 
 revivals. The penitent comes into the idea or belief 
 that he is condemned of God, and is burdened with the 
 sense of guilt which is called conviction. He is now 
 willing and desirous to be saved, and is taught to 
 believe that he is to think or imagine that God now 
 forgives or saves him." * 
 
 " It is then, after all, an impression made on his 
 heart" said Esther. 
 
 " Well, call it either mind or heart," answered Ruth, 
 " I am willing to admit that God uses this impression 
 for conversion ; indeed, I have seen men thus impressed. 
 
 " Still, it seems to me," said Esther, " that there s a 
 very wide difference between our views on this subject. 
 You regard this whole matter of conversion as a sort 
 of what is that big name you called it by?" 
 
 " Psychological phenomena," answered Ruth. 
 
 " Yes," said Esther, " but you thus mean to explain 
 it on natural laws." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Ruth, "we believe in faith. Read 
 our best writers and you will see they exalt faith as 
 much as Jesus did. We believe with you all things 
 are possible to him that believeth. " 
 
 " Yes, but you do not recognize the Holy Ghost as 
 the producer of that faith," said Esther. 
 
 * Evan s Divine Law of Cure, page 215. 
 
138 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " That depends," answered Ruth. " Some of our 
 Christian Scientists recognize the Holy Ghost as a 
 divine being, others as a divine influence." 
 
 "Well, which view do you hold?" asked Esther. 
 
 " I have not," answered Ruth, " paid enough attention 
 to this point to decide it. My study of the Bible has 
 rather centred my mind on God as the Father of us all, 
 and in His fatherly love I find the encouragement and 
 aid for my work." 
 
 " But," said Esther, " the highest display of God s 
 love is His so loving the world as to give His only 
 begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins." 
 
 " True," answered Ruth, " but it is rather to Christ 
 as the Great Physician that my thoughts go out." 
 
 "Ah ! my daughter," said Esther, solemnly, "where 
 there is need of a physician there is some disease to 
 cure." 
 
 " Yes, and do we not exalt Jesus as a curer of disease 
 through the mind?" replied Ruth. "Is not our very 
 science named Christian Science?" 
 
 " But," said Esther, there is a worse disease than 
 that of the body the disease of the soul, which I call 
 by the plain name of sin ; have you never, my daughter, 
 realized that by nature you are a sinner?" 
 
 " I cannot say that I have," answered Ruth, " except 
 when I felt sick ; then I tried to realize that all disease 
 is an error, and I blamed myself for entertaining this 
 error as being a sin on my part." 
 
 "What would you do, then," asked Esther, "with 
 those cases in the Bible of whom Christ said, l Ye shall 
 die in your sins? " 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 139 
 
 " I should ascribe, as He does, their state to sin, and 
 their sin to spring from an error, namely, that there is 
 a profit in sin. Is this not so especially with all classes 
 of vice? Does not the drunkard drink because of the 
 erroneous impression that drink makes him happy, the 
 gambler gambles with the error that cards or dice 
 afford him gain? " 
 
 Esther looked pained. " My daughter," she said, " I 
 am not able to argue with you, for you are a much 
 better educated person than I, but I think you will find 
 God s word teaches a very different idea of sin than you 
 hold, and that the experience of mankind endorses 
 God s view of sin." 
 
 "Well, what is that view?" asked Ruth. " I really 
 do want to believe as God wants me to." 
 
 Esther answered, " It seems to me that both the 
 Bible and human experience teach that the root of sin 
 is in the hatred of the heart against God and His holy 
 law, also in the love of what is evil. You know what 
 Christ said to Nicodemus, Ye must be born again. 
 A man must have a new heart before he can live a new 
 life." 
 
 "Ah, yes," said Ruth, "and we believe that truth 
 can give him that new heart ; you know what Christ 
 says, Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make 
 you free." 
 
 "Yes," answered Esther, "but the heart must be 
 prepared for the reception of that truth as the ground 
 is for the seed." 
 
 Ruth answered, " I don t think that we are as far 
 apart as you suppose, for many of our writers hold that 
 
140 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 sin is a moral evil or disorder, but we do hold that 
 Jesus introduced into this world a cure for all evils or 
 disorders." 
 
 " I agree with you there," said Esther, " for that is 
 the creed of the faith-healers. But I ask you to think 
 of this, all men do not come to Christ for the cure of 
 their bodies, nor for the cure of their souls ; now, the 
 heart that will not come to Christ must be as the Bible 
 states at enmity against God. The sinner loves sin, 
 rolls it as a sweet morsel under his tongue ; he must, 
 then, need a change of his nature before he can become 
 a good man. I think, my young friend, if you will 
 reflect on this, you will see that something more is 
 needed than a mental influence to make a man good." 
 
 " But," said Ruth, " by * mental influence we mean 
 the power of the divine mind which must change man s 
 heart, his appetites, his aims, " 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Esther, " man must be made all 
 over again ; he then becomes what the Bible terms, a 
 new creature in Christ Jesus ; yea, he needs in effecting 
 this a provision for the guilt of his past sins." 
 
 " Oh, that is supplied," said Ruth, " by his abandoning 
 those sins and leading a better life." 
 
 Esther looked searchingly at Ruth and asked, " Would 
 the judge remit the guilt of the murderer s sin because 
 he promised to stop murdering his fellow men and lead 
 a better life? Would not punishment for his past sin 
 be still meted out to him? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Ruth, " in that case it would be so, 
 because murder is an awful crime." 
 
 " But," said Esther, " is it not an awful crime to 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 141 
 
 disobey the commands of a good and holy God?" 
 
 " True," answered Ruth, thoughtfully. 
 
 " What, then," continued Esther, " must the sinner 
 do? not only get his mind in a better state, as you 
 would say, but he needs an atonement for his sins, and 
 he must avail himself of that atonement." 
 
 "Then," said Ruth, now deeply interested, "as I 
 understand you, he is to go to Christ as the Great 
 Physician to heal him of his sin." 
 
 " Yes," answered Esther, " but also to have the guilt 
 of those sins atoned for, and to receive the regeneration 
 of the Holy Spirit." * 
 
 Ruth had drawn nearer to Esther, and as she con 
 cluded her little sermon, Ruth put her arms around her 
 neck and said, "Sister Esther may I not call you 
 such you are the very friend I would like to have ; I 
 think when you understand my views, you will find in 
 many points we agree, will you be my friend and 
 help me know Christ better?" 
 
 Esther s warm heart was touched, and she responded, 
 " Ruth, I do like you, and I want to be your friend." 
 And from that hour the heart of Ruth clave to Esther 
 as the heart of Jonathan to David. 
 
 * For further differences between "Christian Science" and "Healing by 
 Faith," see Chap. IX, "Ruth s Lecture." 
 
142 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ESTHER S SUSPICIONS AROUSED ABOUT MRS. PAGE, 
 WITH A TERRIBLE DENOUEMENT. 
 
 Who can explain the magnetism of some persons 
 which attracts others to them, as the magnet does the 
 iron? this, however, is an illustration, not an explan 
 ation. Persons possess magnetism who have neither 
 goodness, beauty, nor intellect. There, for example, is 
 that good man, Mr. Lawful ; you believe him to be a 
 saint, yet he does not attract you half as much as that 
 worthless scapegrace, Tom Lawless. You would like 
 to give Tom a good shaking for his deviltries ; indeed, 
 you resolve to give him the downright cut when you 
 next meet; but Tom comes to you holding out his 
 hand, and out goes your heart. There are people you 
 cannot help liking in spite of their many faults ; others 
 who have no personal magnetism, notwithstanding their 
 many virtues. You may wonder at Beauty marrying 
 the Beast, but somehow the Beast had a personal 
 magnetism for Beauty. Who can analyze this subtile 
 attractive influence which goes out from some persons. 
 
 The Christian Scientists denounce any attempts to 
 exert influence over others by what is called animal 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 143 
 
 magnetism. Neither do they believe in personal contact 
 such as laying hands on persons. Let their views in 
 this respect have the credit they deserve of tending to 
 morality, which cannot be said of all the other isms of 
 the present day. 
 
 Now there are some things in the theory of the 
 mind-curer, as to mental and moral influence, with 
 which we can all agree. To the fundamental principle 
 that the mind of man has power over other minds we 
 heartily say amen; but they also claim that God, 
 behind the mind of A and acting through it, will 
 influence the mind of B, so as to cast out disease, to 
 which we are partly converted, but not wholly. In the 
 view of the author, it makes a great difference what the 
 disease is ; be it a bad case of colic, caused by acidity 
 of the stomach, the branch to be thrown into this bitter 
 Marah is not the mind of another, but a good antacid. 
 Magnesia in this case would be more potent than 
 prayers or mental influence, because the antacid is 
 God s provision for neutralizing the acid ; the same 
 remark applies to many other diseases, for which God 
 has provided healing medicines. But is there not a 
 class of cases, perhaps the largest, in which physical 
 disorders are connected with mental states ? What do 
 you propose to put back of these mentally connected 
 diseases? The materialistic physician points to the 
 apothecary s shop, the Christian Scientist to God. He 
 claims that a man full of God and truth can influence 
 that mind, and through it that body for its healing. 
 Well, why not let us all say amen, for though some 
 may have made fools of themselves by the applications 
 
144 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 they have given to this truth, the truth remains. The 
 mind-curer is also right in asserting that the whole 
 tendency of medical science has been towards material 
 ism. Allopathy and homoeopathy virtually hold that 
 the body is matter and must be cured by matter. Is it 
 not time to call a halt, and inquire whether God cannot 
 use something besides matter to cure? Has God so 
 utterly handed over the healing art to M. D. s that no 
 room is left for prayer to the great I AM ? The savage 
 always invokes the Great Spirit before attempting the 
 healing of the body. According to * Eber, the ancient 
 Egyptians always repeated pious maxims while com 
 pounding and administering medicines. Thus is it with 
 the savage and the heathen, how is it to-day with 
 the civilized and the Christian? More honored, we 
 fear, in its breach than in its practise. If mind-cureism 
 will refresh our minds with the fact that there is a 
 divine influence, let us therein rejoice. 
 
 But to the case in question, the influence of one 
 person over another. Here were two women, one 
 young, the other old ; each having theories of their 
 own ; neither possessing any points of mutual attraction ; 
 yet insensibly Esther was dominated by Ruth. Ac 
 cording to the law of gravitation, the larger body 
 attracts the smaller, in this case it was the reverse, 
 little Ruth attracted Esther. Yet the babe Moses 
 attracted the Princess of Egypt; and when another 
 babe slept in Bethlehem s manger He drew to Him 
 even wise men from the East. Anyway, however you 
 may explain it, Ruth was an irresistible attraction to 
 
 * Preface to fifth edition of" Egyptian Princess." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 145 
 
 Esther. Esther would go to the camp-meeting and 
 pray " that God would keep her heart from going out 
 too much to that dear but misguided girl, until she was 
 soundly converted ; " but then next morning, Esther 
 would go back to said misguided girl, and spend a 
 whole day by her side. Only occasionally Mrs. Page 
 appeared. Once or twice Esther met her walking to 
 the village. 
 
 One day, while Esther was taking her customary 
 morning walk to the Hubbards , she met Ruth watching 
 for her at the outskirts of a thick wood. Ruth s usually 
 placid face was much disturbed. " Esther," she 
 abruptly began, " I came to meet you so that we can 
 talk together about my mother. I scarcely know 
 how to commence, for I m afraid of giving you a 
 wrong impression ; she is a dear, loving mother, and is 
 always planning how to please me ; indeed, I fear she 
 has indulged me so much that I cannot bear to be 
 disappointed." 
 
 "Well, what is the disappointment this time? " asked 
 Esther. 
 
 " I want to remain here all summer, but my mother 
 wants me to leave immediately." 
 
 "To leave here?" exclaimed Esther, "why, Ruth, 
 why should you? You cannot find a healthier, sweeter 
 spot on earth." And then with a sigh she added, 
 " How can I do without you ? " 
 
 " I must confess," said Ruth, " that my mother for 
 the first time in her life seems to act unreasonably 
 toward me." 
 
 " But she must have some reason," said Esther, " is 
 
l46 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 she dissatisfied with the Hubbards or their table?" 
 
 " No," answered Ruth, " she likes both. The true 
 reason, at least the one I suspect, is so involved in 
 mystery that I hesitate to mention it, but I must tell 
 you my suspicions, so that you can advise me. I 
 suspect it is all about Mr. Mortimer." 
 
 " About Mr. Mortimer ! " exclaimed Esther, " what 
 Mr. Mortimer?" 
 
 " That William Mortimer who stayed at the Hub- 
 bards , you must know him, for the Hubbards say he 
 met you while here." 
 
 "Do you also know William Mortimer?" exclaimed 
 Esther. 
 
 " Yes, but very slightly." And then Ruth detailed 
 how he came for her to attend a lady to whom he was 
 engaged, and how Mrs. Page tried to prevent her from 
 seeing him again. 
 
 " What was the cause of your mother s objection to 
 your acquaintance with William Mortimer? " 
 
 " That is just the mystery," answered Ruth. " Mother 
 put it on the ground of the impropriety of my receiving 
 young men at our house; but I did not receive him as 
 a friend; indeed, I never expect to meet him again, 
 and why mother is so worried about this Mr. Mortimer 
 I cannot imagine." Ruth spoke all this in her artless 
 manner, but Esther found herself strongly moved. Is 
 it not strange how suspicions sometimes arise in one s 
 mind, often apparently unconnected with any reason 
 for them; you feel things sometimes, they seem to 
 proceed from something else than your reasoning 
 powers ? 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 147 
 
 " Ruth," said Esther, " are you sure that you have 
 never seen or heard of Mr. Mortimer before? " 
 
 " Perfectly sure," said Ruth. " I never remember 
 even hearing of him." 
 
 " Or of the name? " inquired Esther. 
 
 Ruth waited and pondered. At last she said, " Your 
 question brings up an incident in my childhood that I 
 had entirely forgotten. I once found a book in my 
 mother s library. On the title-page was written the 
 name Eugene Mortimer; my mother gave me a hard 
 scolding for taking that book from the library, for she 
 said it did not belong to us." 
 
 "Ruth," said Esther, "when did your father die?" 
 
 " When I was a babe," answered Ruth. 
 
 " How old are you now? " 
 
 " I am just twenty-six." 
 
 Esther sat and pondered a long time. At last she 
 asked, " Ruth, where were you born? " 
 
 " Well, now," said Ruth, laughing, " I must have 
 been born in two places. I always supposed that San 
 Francisco was my birthplace ; that was the impression 
 I got from my mother. But lately I happened to find 
 an old Bible, and in it was written, Ruth M. Page, 
 born in Chicago. I asked mother about it, and she 
 said that she was passing through Chicago for San 
 Francisco at the time of my birth. I asked her what 
 the M. in my name stood for, and she said there was a 
 relative, then living but now dead, whom she named 
 me after, but that he turned out to be so bad a man 
 that she dropped his name from mine. Indeed, she 
 asked me never to mention the subject again, as it 
 
148 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 would be a lifelong worry to me to know that I had 
 ever borne his name." 
 
 Esther began to fairly tremble, for the suspicions 
 which had been aroused in her mind were deepened by 
 Ruth s words ; but, containing herself, she asked care 
 lessly, " Ruth, how came you to be living in New 
 York?" 
 
 Ruth answered, " When I finished my education in 
 San Francisco, which, thanks to the liberality of my 
 mother, was a very thorough one, I met a lady from 
 Boston who gave me such an interesting account of 
 Christian Science and the wonders it had wrought that 
 I induced mother to go to Boston and let me take a 
 full course therein. After spending two winters, I 
 formed the purpose of devoting my life to healing the 
 sick. I did not want to attempt it where I was known, 
 because, you know, Esther, Christ said, A prophet is 
 not without honor except in his own country, so I 
 urged mother to let me practise my healing art in New 
 York City. I had heard of the great success of other 
 Christian Scientists there. Mother seemed very un 
 willing to go to New York, but I teased her so much 
 that she finally agreed to let me try just one winter 
 there and then return to San Francisco. Mother has 
 never been well since we went to New York; she 
 keeps herself so secluded that it is wearing on her 
 health. I think she would never have thought of Mr. 
 Mortimer had it not been for the excitable state she 
 has got into, this is getting worse every day, and I 
 begin to fear for her reason." 
 
 " Ruth, one question more, I do not want to pry into 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 149 
 
 your private matters, but for a certain reason I would 
 like to know whether you are comfortably off? " 
 
 " Perfectly so," said Ruth. " My mother invested the 
 money my father left her in San Francisco, and it 
 rolled over ; I suppose mother is worth about $75,000." 
 All this was told in so artless a manner that Esther saw 
 not a shadow of suspicion, about her mother, rested in 
 Ruth s mind. 
 
 " Well, now," said Esther, " since you have mentioned 
 the name of Mr. Mortimer, I will tell you how I came 
 to know him." She then related to Ruth how Mortimer 
 had sought her out, hoping to find something about the 
 $50,000 paid to his father s first wife ; also about the 
 mystery of that father s divorce. While Esther was 
 telling the story she watched Ruth narrowly, but though 
 Ruth appeared very much interested, she evidently had 
 not the slightest suspicion that Esther thought she was 
 somehow connected with that story. At last in despair 
 of thus getting a clew, Esther said, " Ruth, you have 
 studied the mind more than I, and are far better 
 educated ; do you think that God ever puts into the 
 mind impressions without affording facts to refer them 
 to?" 
 
 " I don t exactly understand you," said Ruth. 
 
 " Well, what I mean is this ; suppose I should have 
 a strong impression made on my mind that certain 
 things had occurred which ought to be brought to light 
 for the good of certain parties, and yet had not a 
 single proof on which to establish my impression ; 
 what ought I to do about it, let it drop or pursue it? " 
 
 "That, of course, would depend on a great many 
 
150 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 circumstances," said Ruth. " One thing, however, I 
 am fully convinced of; that is, that God often gives to 
 the mind impressions before he furnishes a single fact 
 to establish them. God has so made the body that 
 certain of its vital functions are performed without any 
 conscious effort on our part ; thus the heart beats, the 
 lungs inhale and exhale, the stomach digests its food. 
 So also there seems to be in the mind powers which 
 act independently of our own volition ; the physiologists 
 term this unconscious cerebration/ but this expresses 
 the effect, not the cause. Now, Esther, I cannot see 
 why God should not by a simple impression on the 
 mind direct us as to our duty; indeed, there sometimes 
 seems to be in man a sort of divine intuition which 
 leads him to right conclusions, as the instinct of an 
 animal guides it to proper actions. I love," continued 
 Ruth, " to think of God s control over me as utilizing 
 something more than my natural faculties ; that He can 
 through His Spirit develop new faculties to meet 
 special emergencies of my being. Hence, if an emer 
 gency should arise where I found an impression on my 
 mind that certain things had important relations to 
 myself or others, I should carefully weigh that im 
 pression as a possible guide to my duty." 
 
 " You could not have expressed better," said Esther, 
 " the answer I needed to my inquiry. I have, Ruth, 
 an impression about you. If you should ask me why, 
 I might not furnish what might seem a valid reason ; if 
 you ask for facts, I cannot produce a single one, unless 
 it be my inference from the facts you have just stated." 
 
 " Well, tell me frankly what that impression is," said 
 Ruth. 
 
OR, THE NEW IIYGEIA. 151 
 
 " Are you willing to hear it? if so, calm yourself, for 
 it may startle you." 
 
 " Oh, no," said Ruth, laughingly, " nothing you 
 could say would startle me, I have such confidence in 
 you, Esther." 
 
 Esther paused, and, shading her eyes with her hand 
 as if in prayerful meditation, waited for a moment and 
 then said, with suppressed emotion, " Ruth Page, I have 
 an impression that your right name is Ruth Mortimer, 
 and that you are the half-sister of William Mortimer." 
 
 " Of William Mortimer ! " shrieked out Ruth, starting 
 to her feet and quivering in every limb, " why, Esther 
 Bates, are you crazy?" 
 
 " Perhaps I am," said Esther, " but according to 
 your own reasoning we should not scorn impressions." 
 
 " Tell me, then, right off, where you got that im 
 pression," said Ruth. 
 
 " That is the remarkable thing about it," answered 
 Esther. " It has been in my mind some time, even 
 before you mentioned the facts which you have just 
 stated, and which would seem only to confirm it. I 
 had prayed over this matter of William Mortimer s 
 sometime before I met you ; but somehow, at our first 
 meeting, an impression came to my mind that the Lord 
 sent you here to aid me in finding out this mystery 
 connected with William Mortimer." 
 
 " What would I give," said Ruth, " if your impressions 
 could only be turned into realities ; but, Esther, we are 
 treading on very dangerous ground, let us try to 
 dismiss this subject ; indeed, I wish you had not spoken 
 to me about it ; it seems to reflect on my mother, and 
 
152 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 I cannot believe my mother would have kept her 
 daughter in ignorance of such a fact." 
 
 Esther began to see she had gone too far. Her 
 inherent sense of right chided her for doing anything 
 that would weaken a daughter s confidence in her 
 mother; she said to Ruth, "You are right, let us try to 
 drop this matter." 
 
 Ruth tried to do so, but in vain. It began to work 
 on her mind. She could not drive it from her thoughts, 
 it followed her in her waking and sleeping hours. At 
 last she went to Esther and said, " You must have a 
 talk with mother over this matter ; I cannot drive out 
 of my mind the suspicions you have awakened, and 
 since you started them, it is due that you should strive 
 to have them removed." 
 
 So Esther went to talk with Mrs. Page. Esther was 
 a poor person to manage such an affair, she was too 
 honest, she could not for the life of her approach a 
 subject by tortuous ways ; when, therefore, she went to 
 Mrs. Page, she told her right out all her suspicions. 
 " I had rather, madam, be honest with you," said 
 Esther, " it may, indeed, make you despise me, if my 
 suspicions are unjust, but I unfold every thought of my 
 heart to you, as I desire to do to my God." 
 
 At first Mrs. Page was deeply agitated, which only 
 tended to confirm Esther s suspicions ; but by the time 
 Esther had finished, Mrs. Page regained her composure 
 and said, "Now, my friend, since you have tried to 
 meddle with my affairs I will prove how foolish and 
 sinful you have acted. I will tell you the cause for my 
 dislike of Mr. Mortimer, I know a fact which Ruth 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 153 
 
 does not know or even suspect. This same William 
 Mortimer has broken off his engagement with Miss 
 Alice Dupont because she accused him of an attachment 
 to my daughter. This has come to my ears, how, I 
 will not tell you ; but do you wonder, under these 
 circumstances, that I do not want Ruth to meet Mr. 
 Mortimer, and thus perhaps furnish a confirmation of 
 Miss Dupont s slander." 
 
 Esther felt as if she should sink through the floor. 
 " I beg your pardon, Mrs. Page," she said, " I see now 
 how unfounded my suspicions were, and I regret the 
 wrong I have done in suggesting them to your daughter s 
 mind. Please pardon me," and Esther wept tears of 
 penitence. 
 
 " I pardon you," said Mrs. Page, " but I think you 
 will see now that your duty is to aid me in inducing 
 Ruth to leave before Mr. Mortimer appears on the 
 scene." 
 
 " Mrs. Page, may I state this to Ruth? " 
 
 "Yes, I wish you would; I have tried to bring 
 myself to do it, but somehow I could not." 
 
 Esther sought out Ruth, and with many supplications 
 for her pardon told her all ; indeed, she humbled her 
 self in the dust before her. " Oh, Ruth," she said, 
 "what have I done; here I might have caused bad 
 feeling between you and your mother." 
 
 Ruth heard Esther calmly through and then said, 
 " Esther, you have, indeed, put my confidence in my 
 mother to a sore strain." 
 
 " Oh, do not say that," said Esther, " you know what 
 the Bible says, honor your father and mother." 
 
154 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " God knows I want so to do," said Ruth, " but I 
 confess that my faith in my mother s veracity is sorely 
 taxed ; this is the most surprising story I ever heard 
 that Miss Dupont, who always treated me so kindly, 
 should quarrel with her lover about myself; he never 
 visited me but twice, and then to consult me about her 
 health. God knows that there never rose a feeling in 
 my heart to William Mortimer, except that of respect 
 for a man who seemed to be a gentleman, and not one 
 act of his ever betokened the slightest regard for me, 
 except as a healer of his betrothed. I believe it is all 
 a hallucination in my mother s mind, and it only con 
 firms my suspicion that her mind is becoming affected. 
 But this is not all, said Ruth, looking at Esther, earnestly, 
 " there are some things still left unexplained ; I demand 
 that you shall now go with me and hear my mother 
 explain them, as I believe she can." 
 
 " Oh, excuse me, Ruth. I have already done mischief 
 enough. I know your mother does not want to see me 
 again." 
 
 " Come with me," said Ruth, with an authoritative 
 air, "you have started in my mind suspicions; you 
 must not leave me till they are removed or con 
 firmed." 
 
 Mrs. Page was sitting by the window with her head 
 resting on her arm. She lifted it up as Ruth and 
 Esther entered, and there was a frightened expression 
 on her face. Ruth went right to her mother, and said, 
 " Esther has told me all you told her. I firmly believe 
 you are mistaken about Mr. Mortimer s having quar 
 relled with Miss Dupont." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 155 
 
 " No," said Mrs. Page, firmly, " I am sure of it and 
 can prove it to you." 
 
 " Then," said Ruth, " it is only more important that 
 some things should be cleared up. Mother, I never 
 before asked you this question, but I must ask it now. 
 Am I your own daughter, or did you adopt me when I 
 was a babe?" 
 
 " Why, Ruth ! Why do you ask me such a question? 
 Certainly you are my own daughter." 
 
 But Ruth did not yet seem satisfied. " Then please 
 tell me who was my father what was his name. 
 You have always led me to believe it was Page." 
 
 " I refuse to answer that question," said Mrs. Page, 
 doggedly. " It is one you would never have thought 
 of asking had not that wretched woman there filled 
 your mind with suspicions about your mother." 
 
 " Esther Bates has not filled my mind with suspi 
 cions," said Ruth, becoming somewhat excited, " and I 
 don t want to think that one whom I have always loved 
 as my mother has reason to fear the suspicions of any 
 woman. I want, yea, demand, that you shall now 
 explain this fact. You doubtless remember I once 
 found a Bible with my name written Ruth M. Page. 
 You told me that M. stood for the name of a person 
 who had turned out so badly that you did not want me 
 to know who he was, but I demand now to know 
 whether that M. stood for Mortimer." 
 
 " Ruth, I am getting very weak and you are getting 
 very excited. I beg you to stop this foolish ques 
 tioning." 
 
 " I will not stop," said Ruth. " My whole reputation 
 
156 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 is at stake. If there is any mystery about my birth, I 
 demand that now, having become of age, I shall be 
 informed of it." 
 
 " There is none," said Mrs. Page. " As I have just 
 assured you, Ruth, you are my lawfully-born daughter." 
 
 " Was my father alive when I was born? " 
 
 " Yes," answered Mrs. Page. 
 
 " Were you living with him then? " 
 
 " No, I was traveling, and passing through Chicago." 
 
 " Were you divorced from him at the time I was 
 born? Now, answer me, mother, for if you do not 
 inform me about this, I declare that I will have it 
 looked up. I have a right to know who my father 
 really was." 
 
 Mrs. Page rose from her chair, her face pale but 
 determined. " Ruth," she said, " you have forced your 
 mother to divulge a secret which she has tried to keep 
 for your sake, as well as for her own. You shall have 
 it now, since you thus wrest it from me. You are the 
 daughter of myself and Eugene Mortimer. He wanted 
 to get rid of me because he hated me and loved another 
 woman. I found this out, and, in my indignation, I 
 scorned him, yea, left him, demanding my rights in 
 only one respect, namely, that out of his vast wealth he 
 should make a liberal allowance for our yet unborn 
 child. He gave me that $50,000. How faithfully I 
 have kept it, how lavishly I have spent it on you, how 
 fully I have gratified your every desire, you well know. 
 I hate the very name of Mortimer, and I did not want 
 you to ever bear that accursed name. My maiden name 
 was Page. I retook this after my divorce, though you 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 157 
 
 were baptized Ruth Mortimer Page because I wanted 
 your legal rights guarded. Yet I tried to obliterate 
 that hated name from my memory and keep it from 
 your knowledge. And there is another reason which 
 made me careful to keep these things from you. I 
 have not a single paper to establish the facts which 
 I have just stated. The divorce record only shows 
 that the $50,000 was paid to myself. Your name was 
 not mentioned in the proceedings. I had a secret paper 
 drawn up by a lawyer, in which your father, Eugene 
 Mortimer, owns you as his child, but, unfortunately, I 
 have lost that paper. I kept it in my bosom, traveled 
 with it, but while in New York mislaid it. I came here 
 this summer with the very purpose of hunting up the 
 lawyer who drew up that paper, but I find he is dead. 
 I cannot even remember the names of the witnesses. 
 The paper was drawn up the night I left Grasslands ; I 
 only remember that one of the witnesses signed it with 
 his mark. Now, Ruth, this secret has so long rankled 
 in my breast that it has almost crazed me," and the 
 poor woman, pressing her hand to her brow, added, 
 " My head throbs so that I can hardly say more, but I 
 must say this to you : Never expect any recognition 
 from William Mortimer, for to recognize you is to 
 condemn his own father. He will rather spurn you. 
 He is the son of a faithless father and of a woman to 
 whom, if God s Bible be true, Eugene Mortimer was 
 never lawfully married. William Mortimer is in God s 
 sight to-day the bastard ; Ruth Mortimer is the only 
 rightful child of Eugene Mortimer. I know that human 
 laws would not regard it so, and that William Mortimer, 
 
158 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 as a lawyer, will care very little for divine laws. He will 
 spurn you as his father did me, and try to defame my 
 character to shield his father s reputation." And then 
 her mother added in trembling tones, " I am through, 
 Ruth. I may have been wrong in deceiving you as to 
 your parentage. God forgive me if I have been, but 
 He knows that it was for your good I tried to keep you 
 in ignorance of these facts. I shall still love you, 
 Ruth, even if you hate me." 
 
 " Hate you ! " said Ruth, as she sprang forward to 
 clasp her mother to her heart. But before Ruth 
 reached her, with a shriek Mrs. Page fell to the floor. 
 " Oh, my mother, my mother ! I have killed you ! " 
 cried Ruth, and it did seem as if Mrs. Page was dead, 
 for she lay there perfectly motionless and totally 
 unconscious. 
 
OR* THE NEW HYGE1A. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MORTIMER MAKES HIS REPUTATION AS A LAWYER IN 
 THE CELEBRATED CASE OF SIMPKINS VS. SIMPKINS. 
 
 When we left Mortimer, Mrs. Dupont was striving to 
 put him in the pillory of public derision. After the 
 re-entrance of her daughter into society, in apparently 
 perfect health, Mortimer was regarded as a hard-hearted 
 Turk. He was pointed at as a Bluebeard in training for 
 cutting off his wives heads by practising on the hearts of 
 his sweethearts. Wise mammas warned their daughters 
 against him, nevertheless, strange to relate, these 
 daughters treated Mortimer as if they would like to 
 run the risk of having their fair heads decapitated. 
 But society did not stop here the story grew by 
 endless enlargement. First, gossip had it that the 
 engagement was broken off by Mortimer s becoming 
 tired of Alice Dupont, then, just the reverse, Alice 
 had got tired of Mortimer. Then gossip s curiosity 
 was excited why did a good girl like Alice Dupont, 
 who was now so regularly at church, sewing bees and 
 missionary societies, have to break her engagement 
 with Mortimer? "Ah!" said Mrs. Tonguey to Mrs. 
 Peeping, " don t tell, but I ve discovered there was a 
 
l6o RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 woman in the case" how that woman changed 
 chameleon-like with the character of every woman 
 who discussed her; first, she was a mind-curer, then a 
 faith-healer, then a spiritualist, then, oh, something 
 awfully bad. Talk of the heartlessness of surgeons, as 
 they carve up human bodies, thrusting their sharp 
 knives into tender parts and severing sensitive nerves ; 
 but the surgeon never equals the skill and delight with 
 which a female gossip amputates and dissects human 
 character, there was nothing left of Mortimer after 
 he had been under the surgery of these gossips ; poor 
 fellow ! his reputation could not even be cremated, for 
 there was nothing left of it to cremate. 
 
 Mortimer stood it calmly and bravely, but when his 
 friend, Dr. Strong, after meeting Alice in the park, 
 bounded in his room and began echoing the hue and 
 cry, Mortimer s patience broke down. He thereupon 
 told the doctor the whole story of his final interview 
 with Alice. It was now the doctor s turn to wince, 
 while Mortimer detailed how his simple letter of intro 
 duction, for the doctor, was the spark which ignited the 
 flame of Alice s jealousy. He wound up by saying, 
 " Doctor, I challenge you to find in any action of mine 
 to Miss Page anything but what would betoken merely 
 respect. You know the merits of Miss Page." 
 
 " Indeed I do," said Dr. Strong, " and though I 
 think you should have made more allowance for Alice s 
 hysterical condition, yet I confess I would have broken 
 an engagement with any girl who used me as a target 
 for such unjust accusations ; Mortimer, give me your 
 hand, I beg your pardon ; I will stand by you, old boy, 
 
OR, THE NEW PIYGEIA. l6l 
 
 even if I earn the enmity of the Duponts and lose the 
 chance of having them as my patients." But Mortimer 
 acted still more wisely ; he withdrew from society and 
 devoted himself to his practice. Dr. Strong advised 
 Mortimer to take as his specialty Medical Jurisprudence. 
 " It s a rich field and a lucrative one," said the doctor, 
 " and one you may succeed in, since you have studied 
 so much on the mind. You will be surprised to find 
 how many legal cases are connected with mental 
 physiology." 
 
 Mortimer took his friend s advice. Soon a case 
 occurred which drew to him much attention. It was 
 reported in the newspapers, discussed in medical and 
 legal circles. 
 
 The case was as follows : Mr. Simpkins a man of 
 great wealth had suddenly exhibited signs of insanity, 
 at least so his family contended. Singularly, Mr. 
 Simpkins had always ready at hand a good reason for 
 his seemingly mad freaks. He first showed his mental 
 disturbance by his peculiar attire ; he would appear at 
 parties with a sky-blue coat covered with stars, white 
 vest, and red pants. His wife and family tried to 
 dissuade him from wearing this rather striking garb, 
 but he persisted in so doing. He said, " Look at my 
 dress and compare it with the attire of that English 
 lord s, whom all you ladies are going wild over, or with 
 that American dude s, whom I saw my daughter walking 
 with yesterday, which is the most sensible dress of the 
 two? My dress at least preaches patriotism, while that 
 of your friend the lord or the American dude only 
 tends to prove the Darwinian theory. I know it looks 
 
l62 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 ridiculously, but that s my very purpose in wearing it, I 
 want to show the ridiculousness of any departure from 
 common usages in dress. I expect to be laughed at, 
 for every one must be laughed at who attempts a public 
 reform, especially in dress ; I am rich and independent 
 and can stand the laugh of fashionable boobies." The 
 result was that Mrs. and Miss Simpkins withdrew from 
 society and let the star-spangled-banner-suit wave. 
 But soon what they regarded as another freak appeared. 
 One day, to their consternation, Mr. Simpkins sent for 
 a number of furniture wagons, and into them was piled 
 a very valuable library of novels which adorned their 
 parlor, Mr. Simpkins avowed purpose being to make 
 an auto de fe of them all. His family protested and 
 wrung their hands. They even sent for a doctor to 
 examine their father to see whether his mind was 
 unbalanced. Mr. Simpkins answered calmly to the 
 doctor s questions, but when the doctor tried to convince 
 him that this holocaust w T as unnecessary, the latter 
 stooped down and taking up one of the novels read a 
 passage from it, then said, " Doctor, would you like 
 your own daughter s mind to be exposed to such a 
 picture of vice? Please say nothing more; I know 
 what these novels contain. They ought to be in the 
 fire, or they will kindle the fire of hell in my daughter s 
 heart." 
 
 The doctor heard the passage read, and turning on 
 his heels exclaimed, " If it be insanity to burn such 
 books, I wish every father in this city would become 
 insane." 
 
 But another incident occurred which threw Mr. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 163 
 
 Simpkins family into perfect terror. They discovered 
 that he was constantly visiting cutlery shops, and 
 bringing mysterious bundles therefrom. They inspected 
 his room while he was away, and the drawers, closets 
 and book-cases disclosed a sight which made their 
 blood fairly curdle, knives, daggers, dirks and stilet 
 tos of all kinds lay there in abundance enough to 
 murder a whole regiment. Then the patience of the 
 family broke down, and a writ of de lunatico inquerindo 
 was sued out. The family had heard of William Morti 
 mer s skill in a former case, and they retained him as 
 their counsel. Mr. Simpkins with his wealth was able 
 to retain Mr. Coke, one of the ablest lawyers at the bar. 
 The trial came off, and it was a great one ; the court 
 room, as the newspapers said, "was crowded with the 
 female aristocracy of New York." William Mortimer 
 coolly surveyed his fair audience, and in turn was 
 earnestly surveyed by them. He was really to them a 
 greater object of curiosity than Mr. Simpkins, for had 
 not Mortimer plunged a dagger into Alice s heart, while 
 as yet Mr. Simpkins with all his knives and daggers 
 had not decapitated even a cat. 
 
 The counsel for Mr. Simpkins took the ground that 
 his client was the victim of a most villainous domestic 
 conspiracy ; that his wife and children only desired to 
 get possession of his money, therefore were trying to 
 have him adjudged non compos mentis; that Mr. Simp- 
 kins was acting from the highest motives in using his 
 large fortune to correct the evils of society, and instead 
 of being sent to Bloomingdale, ought to have a 
 monument erected to him in Central Park. As to his 
 
164 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 peculiar dress showing insanity, Mr. Coke laughed at 
 the idea. He had procured a photograph of the dress 
 worn by a noted society swell. This he put by the 
 side of Mr. Simpkins photograph, arrayed in his 
 star-spangled-banner-suit, and asked, amid a chorus 
 of laughter from both jury and spectators, which of 
 the two men was the most sensibly dressed. As to 
 the novels, Mr. Coke had one rescued from the burning 
 pile, from which he read a certain passage in open 
 court, under which reading the ladies hid their faces 
 behind their fans, and the judge had to interrupt the 
 reading. " You are perfectly right, your Honor, in 
 interrupting the reading," said Mr. Coke, " I beg your 
 pardon and that of the ladies present for reading that 
 passage ; I only wanted to prove, what the moral sense 
 of yourself, the jury and the virtuous spectators here 
 present must agree to, that a father does not show 
 insanity by burning such books." When, however, the 
 learned counsel came to the question of the knives, 
 daggers, etc., he evidently appreciated he had a more 
 difficult point to explain. But Mr. Coke had so well 
 paved his way to the sympathy of jury and spectators 
 that they were disposed to look more leniently on this 
 matter. Mr. Coke had quietly subpoenaed a few 
 millionaires, they all knew Mr. Simpkins and liked him 
 for his many good traits, and had a sort of sympathy 
 with him from the fact that millionaires are very subject 
 to be " persecuted for righteousness sake " in the way 
 of being sent to insane asylums, or having their wills 
 contested, by their relations. * 
 
 Mr. Mahemay was first summoned. " Mr. Mahemay," 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 165 
 
 said Lawyer Coke, " how long have you known Mr. 
 Simpkins? " 
 
 " For over thirty years." 
 
 "What is your opinion of his judgment in financial 
 affairs?" 
 
 " A man of rare judgment and of sound mind in all 
 things pertaining to money." 
 
 " Would you take his opinion to-day on an investment 
 of a half million dollars?" 
 
 " Yes, and of a million." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Mahemay, what do you think about his 
 investing so much in these weapons? Do you regard 
 it as a sign of insanity? " 
 
 " No, sir, for then we would have to erect in 
 Wall street the largest insane asylum that was ever 
 built." 
 
 " Why do you assert that so confidently, Mr. Mahe 
 may?" 
 
 " Because there are hundreds of men wasting their 
 money on much less useful articles." 
 
 " Relate a few examples, if you please." 
 
 " It would be impossible to enumerate one-tenth of 
 the instances where men are annually spending small 
 fortunes in bric-a-brac, ceramics and knick-knacks. 
 You, of course," said Mr. Mahemay, with a smile, " have 
 heard of a certain peach-blow vase, for which it is 
 rumored a check of a round $30,000 was handed over. 
 And as for bronzes, the money annually invested in 
 them is probably millions. I do not wish to call names, 
 but I know of one man who has spent tens of thousands 
 on guns, his house is a perfect armory; another, on 
 
1 66 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 fishing-tackle, his mansion looks like a whaling ware 
 house. Another has ransacked all lands for different 
 kinds of pottery ; another has nearly ruined himself on 
 a collection of pocket-knives; another will soon be 
 bankrupt if he don t stop buying clocks ; " and, casting a 
 glance at the fair spectators, Mr. Mahemay dryly added, 
 " I know of one lady who has spent thousands on an 
 asylum for cats, and as for poodles, they have ruined 
 many a family." 
 
 The audience here laughed, the judge rapped and 
 said, "The witness will please confine himself to the 
 evidence." 
 
 " That is just what my witness is trying to do, your 
 honor," said Lawyer Coke, " I might have asked him 
 about fast horses and yachts; you, yourself, know, 
 your honor, how many by these ruin themselves and 
 their families yet no one thinks of putting them in 
 an insane asylum." * 
 
 Mr. Coke then summoned a noted apothecary; " Mr. 
 Pepper," he asked, " have you among your customers 
 any who spend large sums on narcotics? " 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Pepper. 
 
 " How much is the highest amount you have ever 
 sold to a single person in a year? " 
 
 " Well, take all narcotics, opium, chloral, and the 
 different bromides, I should say about a thousand 
 dollars worth." 
 
 * Appleton s Art Journal states that " Nearly $40,000 were paid recently for a 
 pair of vases eleven and a half inches high, and of rare though not aesthetically 
 beautiful form; and still more recently, a bureau, inlaid with celebrated Sevies 
 plaques, brought $100,000. The sum of $250,000 has been expended during the last 
 ten years by an English collector in the purchase of a marvellous and inordinate 
 hoard of old pottery and porcelain of all shapes, sizes, ages, nations and dates." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 167 
 
 " Has that customer ever been judged insane, Mr. 
 Pepper?" 
 
 " No, not that I ever heard of." 
 
 " Mr. Pepper, what is your candid opinion about the 
 use of narcotics in what are called the best circles of 
 society? " 
 
 Mr. Pepper looked inquiringly at the judge and said, 
 "Am I compelled to answer that question; it may 
 injure my business." 
 
 " Your honor," interposed Mr. Coke, " permit me to 
 state my reason for that question. I am trying to prove 
 that men and women regarded as sane are spending their 
 money on what tends to produce insanity, and yet no 
 one ever thinks of depriving these of their liberty, 
 while here is my client, whom his family want to shut 
 up in an insane asylum because he is simply making a 
 good collection of cutlery." 
 
 " Mr. Pepper, you can answer," said the judge. 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Pepper, "I should judge that the 
 use of narcotics in what are called good circles of 
 society is very large." 
 
 " Do you judge it is larger than the use of intoxicating 
 liquors? " 
 
 " I would not say larger, but I am convinced it is 
 more general." 
 
 Mr. Coke then summoned witnesses on all sorts of 
 human quirks, indeed, before he got through, it seemed 
 as if he had proven one-half of New York City to be in 
 a state of insanity, that is, if his much injured client 
 had to be judged insane. 
 
 All this time the tide of sentiment was strongly set 
 
1 68 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 against Mortimer s side of the case. Mrs. Simpkins 
 and her daughter sat with their faces veiled; they 
 could not stand the glances of contempt hurled at them 
 by their female acquaintances. Mortimer sat very 
 composedly, he rarely put any questions to Mr. Coke s 
 witnesses. 
 
 On the second day Mortimer opened his side of the 
 case. The court-room was densely packed ; among 
 the auditors were many well-known physicians, and 
 the fashionable circles were represented by women 
 who pushed and shoved for a place in a way that would 
 have disgraced the frequenters of a prize ring. Morti 
 mer opened his case with a brief argument. He simply 
 claimed that though the opposing counsel had very 
 ingeniously shown the vagaries of other people they 
 had not accounted for the object of their client in 
 possessing so many daggers, stilettos, etc. Mortimer 
 said he would confine himself to two points, namely, to 
 prove that Mr. Simpkins was insane, and that the 
 direction of his insanity was so dangerous that he could 
 not be safely left at large. The first witness he called 
 was Mrs. Simpkins. She testified that one night before 
 retiring she found under the pillow in the bed, which 
 she and her husband occupied, a dagger. This caused 
 a thrill in the female portion of the audience. Mr. 
 Coke tried to break down this testimony by severe 
 cross-examination, but Mortimer was ready for the 
 emergency. He called the daughter, who testified that 
 her mother had shown her the dagger under the pillow. 
 But in his cross-examination, Mr. Coke asked, " How 
 do you know, Miss Simpkins, but that your mother put 
 it there herself? " 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 169 
 
 Miss Simpkins burst into tears and exclaimed, " Do 
 you think my mother wants to prove anything false 
 about my father? " 
 
 Mr. Coke looked triumphantly at the jury, as much 
 as to say, " Ah ! you see how this matter stands. It is 
 a conspiracy between mother and daughter." 
 
 But Mortimer further proved that when Mrs. Simpkins 
 came to advise with him on this case he had counselled 
 her to have other witnesses to the daggers; these 
 witnesses were summoned, and they testified that on a 
 certain night they inspected Mr. Simpkins bedroom, 
 and there found a dagger, stiletto and dirk under Mr. 
 Simpkins pillow. The only loophole left was the 
 question, "Who put them there?" but this was closed 
 by Mortimer s producing witnesses who testified that no 
 one had been in the room that day but Mr. Simpkins, 
 and that in the morning the weapons were not there. 
 Still, the question recurred, " What did he want to do 
 with those weapons?" and over this the opposing 
 counsel wrangled the rest of the second day. 
 
 On the third day, Mortimer called Mr. Simpkins 
 himself to the witness stand. As he stepped into the 
 witness box arrayed in his star-spangled-banner-suit, 
 there was a general smile, which was responded to by 
 Mr. Simpkins, who looked around on the audience 
 with perfect good nature, and who answered Mortimer s 
 questions with perfect composure. " Mr. Simpkins," 
 said Mortimer, " did you put any daggers and dirks 
 under your pillow in the bed which you and your wife 
 generally occupy?" 
 
 " Certainly," said Mr. Simpkins, " I could have spared 
 
170 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 all of your yesterday s questioning and cross-questioning 
 if you had only summoned me. I freely acknowledge 
 that I have several times put daggers, dirks and stilettos 
 under my pillow." 
 
 "Why, Mr. Simpkins, have you done this?" 
 
 " For the same reason, Mr. Mortimer, that I suppose 
 you have often slept with a pistol under you pillow ; 
 you know there have been some fearful murders and 
 robberies in our city lately, and I wanted to be ready 
 to protect my family." 
 
 "Why did you choose daggers instead of a pistol? " 
 
 " Because pistols may miss fire, but a dagger is 
 always reliable." 
 
 " Why did you have so many, then? " 
 
 " Because I thought if I was attacked, while I used 
 one weapon, my wife could seize another, and our cry 
 for help would bring our servants who could use the 
 others." Mr. Coke looked with a self-satisfied air at 
 the judge and jury, while his client was giving such 
 logical testimony. 
 
 Mortimer, however, without being at all discouraged, 
 went on. He questioned Mr. Simpkins about different 
 kinds of weapons, their effectiveness, cost and so forth; 
 every question was correctly answered ; indeed, it 
 seemed that Mortimer s questioning was rather proving 
 Mr. Simpkins sanity. At last Mortimer abruptly asked, 
 " Mr. Simpkins, what do you think of the Fenians? " 
 
 " I object to that question," said Mr. Coke, hastily 
 springing to his feet, " it has nothing to do with the 
 case in hand." 
 
 "Your honor," said Mr. Mortimer, "I beg to differ 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 171 
 
 from my learned friend ; I think I can prove that it has 
 much to do with the case in hand." 
 
 "Well, proceed, Mr. Mortimer," said the judge, " and 
 we will see where you come out." 
 
 " Mr. Simpkins," asked Mortimer again, "what do 
 you think of the Fenians?" 
 
 For the first time Mr. Simpkins showed excitement, 
 and he answered in thundering tones, " I think they are 
 a pack of robbers and ought to be hung." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Simpkins," said Mortimer, soothingly, 
 " they are a pretty hard crowd, but why do you dislike 
 them so particularly?" 
 
 " Because they want to take away a part of my 
 Dominion." 
 
 "Ah, yes, Mr. Simpkins, I understand, you own 
 Canada and all Great Britain, don t you? " 
 
 " Certainly I do." 
 
 "Well, how did it come into your possession? " 
 
 " Through my marriage with the Queen of England." 
 
 " She is, then, your lawful wife?" 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Simpkins, with a majestic wave of 
 his hand. 
 
 Mr. Coke here became excited himself and called 
 out, "Be careful, Mr. Simpkins, how you joke about 
 this matter. I, of course, understand you as joking, 
 but the jury may not." Mr. Simpkins gave a look of 
 intense scorn at Mr. Coke. 
 
 "Your honor," said Mr. Mortimer, " I hope you will 
 allow me to proceed with my own witness without 
 interruption." 
 
 " Mr. Mortimer will proceed," said the judge. 
 
172 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Mr. Simpkins, of course you are right," said 
 Mortimer, " but why don t you go to England and 
 claim your wife? " 
 
 " Why, don t you know there s a woman sitting there 
 near you who says she is my wife?" answered Mr. 
 Simpkins. " My Vic won t acknowledge me as long as 
 that woman is living." 
 
 " It s a hard case," said Mortimer in sympathetic 
 tones, " but I suppose when that woman there (pointing 
 to Mrs. Simpkins) dies, the Queen will at once acknowl 
 edge you as her husband." 
 
 " I am certain of it," said Mr. Simpkins, triumphantly. 
 
 " Well, now, tell me, Mr. Simpkins," said Mortimer, 
 in a confidential tone, " is there not some connection 
 between that suit of clothes you wear and this fact that 
 Victoria is your wife? " 
 
 " Certainly there is, I embody the United States 
 Government, and my rightful wife embodies Great 
 Britain ; she has her royal crown, and I have my 
 star-spangled-banner-suit ; won t it be a magnificent 
 sight when we sit on the throne together Brother 
 Jonathan and Queen Vic, I in this suit and Vic in 
 her royal robes, why, it will usher in the millenium," 
 and Mr. Simpkins chuckled with satisfaction. 
 
 " I agree with you perfectly," said Mortimer, " but 
 why don t you try to get a divorce from this woman in 
 America, who thinks she is your wife, and then marry 
 the queen?" 
 
 " I proposed it, but she refused to accede to it." 
 
 " Then you will have to wait till she dies, will you 
 not?" 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 1^3 
 
 "Yes, sir," answered Simpkins with a sigh, " and I 
 wish she would hurry up and do so." 
 
 " Your honor," said Mortimer, " I here rest my case." 
 
 Mr. Coke then took the witness and examined him 
 on many other points, carefully keeping him off the 
 subject of the Queen. Mr. Simpkins answers were 
 perfectly correct on finance, politics, and a score of 
 other subjects ; indeed, they showed an unusually good 
 judgment. When Mr. Coke began his closing speech 
 he used these answers of Mr. Simpkins to the best 
 effect, and contended that it was sheer madness to shut 
 a man up in a mad-house because he had the single 
 harmless delusion that he was the husband of the Queen 
 of England. This was Mr. Coke s main point, we 
 need not detain the reader with the variations he played 
 on that single cord. 
 
 Mortimer began his argument with a careful analysis 
 of hallucination. He drew a distinction between 
 hallucinations arising from false perception of the 
 senses, as, for example, a person believing that he had 
 seen a ghost, which hallucination is harmless except to 
 himself, and the hallucinations arising from derange 
 ments of the brain which impel the person to wrong 
 actions, such as murders, theft, etc. He cited many 
 examples to prove that the mind might apparently 
 reason correctly in certain train of ideas, but be 
 completely deranged on others, which derangement 
 was often the beginning of chronic mania. Mortimer 
 cited two cases recorded by that learned English jurist, 
 Lord Erskine ; one, of a man who indicted Dr. Munro 
 for confining him without cause in a mad-house. This 
 
1 74 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 man underwent a most rigid examination by the counsel 
 of the defendant without discovering any appearance 
 of insanity, until a gentleman came into court who 
 desired a question to be put to him respecting a 
 princess with whom he had corresponded in cherry- 
 juice. He immediately talked about the princess in 
 the most insane manner, and the cause was at an end. 
 But this having taken place in Westminster, he com 
 menced another action in the city of London, and on 
 this occasion no effort could induce him to expose his 
 insanity, so that the cause was dismissed only by 
 bringing against him the evidence taken at Westminster. 
 On another occasion, Lord Erskine examined a gentle 
 man who had indicted his brother for confining him as 
 a maniac, and the examination had gone on for a great 
 part of a day without discovering any trace of insanity. 
 Dr. Sims then came into court and informed the counsel 
 that the gentleman considered himself to be the Savior 
 of the world. A single observation addressed to him 
 in this character showed his insanity and put an end to 
 the cause. Several years ago a gentleman in Edinburgh, 
 who was brought before a jury to be " cognosced," 
 defeated every attempt of the opposite counsel to 
 discover any trace of insanity, until a gentleman came 
 into court who ought to have been present at the 
 beginning of the case, but had been accidentally 
 detained. He immediately addressed the patient by 
 asking him what were his latest accounts from the 
 planet Saturn, and speedily elicited proofs of his 
 insanity. * 
 
 * Abercrombie s Intellectual Philosophy, page 233. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. I J$ 
 
 " I need not stop to prove," said Mortimer, " that 
 the case on trial here is one of hallucination ; even my 
 learned brother, the opposing counsel, has virtually 
 admitted it. But, unfortunately, it belongs to the most 
 dangerous class. It is one of those cases, which you 
 will find treated of in medical works, which often 
 develops into confirmed insanity. Some writers say 
 that in hallucination the mind reasons correctly but 
 on unsound data, this, however, is not a fair statement. 
 The maniac reasons plausibly and ingeniously ; that is, 
 he catches incidental and partial relations and so 
 rapidly does his mind do this that it may at first be 
 difficult to detect their fallacy. But, as in this case, 
 strike his hobby and reason at once flies off at a 
 tangent. The man is deranged on one point, while 
 his wit, acuteness and versatility of talent makes him 
 appear sane on all others. Smartness is no sign of 
 sanity, some of the smartest men and women in this 
 country are to-day in insane hospitals. Still, this 
 peculiar case is one of the most dangerous ones to be 
 left at large, because it lies in the line of homicidal 
 tendencies. Who can doubt but that in this man s 
 mind there is a firm purpose to get his wife out of the 
 way so that he may marry Victoria. You might laugh 
 at his delusion on this point, as you do at his clothes, 
 were it not that, while the wearing of such clothes will 
 never lead to murder, the concealment of daggers 
 under his pillow will undoubtedly cost his wife s life. 
 I acknowledge that Mr. Simpkins may be what one 
 witness affirms, a good judge of investments ; he may, 
 as my learned brother has proven, have been no more 
 
176 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 extravagant in the purchase of daggers than men who 
 buy bric-a-brac; but the point is this, his peculiar 
 monomania is of such a nature that it is dangerous for 
 him to be left at large. He needs to be placed where 
 he will be safe from harm to himself or others. It is 
 not merely the law of self-preservation, but love for her 
 husband and desire for his proper care, which has led 
 this devoted wife to ask that his sanity may be inquired 
 into and that he may be placed in Bloomingdale until 
 his malady shall be healed, or alas ! as I fear, develop 
 into chronic insanity." The jury returned a verdict 
 finding lunacy. 
 
 Mortimer thus won his case and made his reputation, 
 then society turned round and voted him a marvel. 
 Mothers who had warned their daughters against him 
 plied him with invitations to their homes. At the 
 conclusion of the trial Dr. Strong took Mortimer in his 
 carriage to his lodgings, and, grasping his hand, said, 
 " Old fellow, I am proud of you." 
 
 " Well, doctor," said Mortimer, " I am only ashamed 
 of my ignorance, for the more I study the mind, the 
 more I realize how little science has fathomed its 
 depths. But, I confess, this case of Simpkins leads 
 me to think that the mind-cure rightly used might be 
 of great avail in some forms of insanity. What is this 
 monomania but the domination of the will and reason 
 by some strong mental impulse, which sometimes 
 drives the patient to even murder? Yet so learned a 
 physiologist as Dr. Carpenter* contends that whilst 
 the disordered physical state of the brain, when once 
 
 * Carpenter s Mental Physiology, page 674. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 1^7 
 
 established, puts the mind beyond the control of the 
 person, yet that in the incipient stages, or in the 
 convalescence of patients, much can be done by 
 influencing him to exert his own volition. 
 
 " Thus, adds Dr. Carpenter,* the judicious physi 
 cian, when endeavoring either to ward off or to cure 
 mental disorder, brings to bear upon the patient exactly 
 the same power as that which is exerted by an educator 
 of the highest type. Dr. Carpenter further states that 
 while going through the wards on the female side of 
 the lunatic asylum at Hanwell, England, Dr. Connoly, 
 the physician in charge, remarked to him It is my 
 belief that two-thirds of the women here have come to 
 require restraint through the habitual indulgence of an 
 originally bad temper. " f 
 
 " Now," said Mortimer, " it seems to me that the 
 mind-cure, in laying its axe at the root of moral 
 disorder, is one of the most efficient instruments that 
 could be employed in certain cases of mental aberation. 
 If Drs. Carpenter and Connoly are right, and certainly 
 they are high authorities, right impressions on the mind 
 are both preventive and curative of insanity. As I 
 understand the mind-cure, it proposes to bring to bear 
 on the mind the love, truth and light of God. If these 
 are not healing powers, what are? I can see that in 
 structural disorder of the brain there is no opportunity 
 for these to act on the mind as the mind-curer 
 would say, " it is not in a receptive state " but in 
 that large class of mental disorders which are unaccom- 
 
 * Carpenter s Mental Physiology, page 675. 
 f Idem, page 663. 
 
i 7 8 
 
 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST. 
 
 panied with change of the substance of the brain, why 
 would not this kind of treatment be beneficial? " * 
 
 * Since writing the above the author has met with the following account, which 
 so endorses the views above suggested, that some cases of insanity might be cured 
 by a purely mental treatment, that it is here appended. He found it copied in the 
 Nantucket Journal, July 28, 1887. 
 
 11 A female inmate of the Dearborn County (Ind.) Asylum has, according to the 
 Cincinnati Enquirer, been cured of a strange hallucination in a rather singular 
 manner. The patient was a middle aged lady by the name of Coloway, who be 
 lieved she had a pup in her stomach, and while reasonably intelligent upon every 
 other subject vehemently insisted that a young dog had taken up its abode in 
 her stomach, and the presence of the unwelcome animal was the cause of all 
 her physical ailments. The insane idea caused her to be extremely troublesome 
 to her keepers, as she governed herself according to the supposed whims of 
 her internal companion, and at certain times must have certain kinds of food 
 and certain kinds of drink, because the pup within her wanted that kind of 
 nourishment, and nothing else would appease its supposed viciousness. If her 
 whims were not complied with she would become almost ungovernable, and her 
 annoyances of that character caused her to be a sorce of constant trouble. Nothing 
 had ever been said or done that could remove these vagaries from the mind of this 
 unfortunate woman, who would bark like a dog and in other ways attempt to imi 
 tate the actions of such animals. Having repeatedly asserted that if the pup 
 could be removed from her stomach she knew she would recover health, the 
 superintendent resolved to work a plan that might convince her that the cruel 
 creature that had troubled her had been taken away. A physician was consulted 
 and thought the scheme could do no harm, and it might do good. The patient was 
 visited, and after listening to the proposition of an attempt to relieve her of her 
 affliction, she consented to undergo the experiment, and agreed upon a future day 
 when the doctor should attempt and make the trial. In the meantime a pup was 
 procured and everything got in readiness, the woman being led to regard the un 
 dertaking as a very serious and important one. She was placed under the influence 
 of a narcotic, and the pup that had been secured for the occasion was given a suffi 
 cient quantity to keep it quiet. Soon as the patient began to recover from the in 
 fluence of the drug she vomited, and at the opportune moment the pupwas dropped 
 into the vessel which received the contents of her stomach. The woman beheld the 
 animal and firmly believed she had thrown it up, and speedily reviving from the 
 effects of the narcotic, she wanted to feel and examine the creature that had been, 
 as she supposed, ejected from her stomach. The animal recovering from the stupor 
 became quite frisky, much to the surprise and delight of the poor patient, who 
 insisted on fondling and caressing it, while expressing herself as feeling wonder 
 fully relieved by its removal and perfectly restored to health. She had ceased to com 
 plain, and is entirely free from the peculiar hallucination that possessed her, and 
 is now as pleasant and quiet as any inmate in the Asylum. She guards with most 
 jealous care the pup that had so long, as she imagined, dwelt within her, fearing 
 that if it is not kindly treated it might weary of its acquired freedom and manage 
 to return to its human abode, and then all her pain and suffering would come back. 
 The cure that has thus been effected is the subject of much comment among those 
 acquainted with the history of the affair." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 179 
 
 " Well," said Dr. Strong, " our best authorities on 
 insanity are more and more leaning to moral treatment." 
 
 " Doctor," said Mortimer, " to change the subject, I 
 think you will have to put me under treatment. 
 Istudied too hard on this case. My head throbs just 
 now as if it would burst." 
 
 " Stop, right off, then," said Dr. Strong, " and take a 
 vacation." 
 
 Mortimer answered, " I guess I will do so, and I 
 don t know of any better place than that quiet home of 
 the Hubbards ." 
 
ISO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 MORTIMER S REVERIE AND THE SPECTRE HE BEHELD. 
 
 Mortimer was arranging his private papers before 
 going into the country. In looking them over he came 
 across a package returned by Alice after the final 
 break of their engagement. On receiving it Mortimer 
 had simply thrown it into a drawer, he being then very 
 busy with a legal case. As the package again met his 
 eye he took it out, and, while opening it, a box dropped 
 out on the floor. It was a small box of sandal-wood, 
 exquisitely carved, evidently costly. Round it was 
 bound a blue ribbon, to which was tied its tiny key. 
 
 "Why," exclaimed Mortimer,"! do not remember 
 ever giving this to Alice, but I gave her so many 
 things I could easily have forgotten this one." He 
 turned it carefully over in his hand, holding it before 
 the fire, and the flames, kindled afresh from the letters 
 he had thrown therein, cast a lurid glow over its 
 polished surface. " Queer, isn t it," thought Mortimer, 
 " that I cannot remember ever giving such a beautiful 
 gift to Alice. Verily, here one of the laws of the 
 mind seems to fail, that is, the power of association in 
 refreshing the memory. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. iSl 
 
 " Ah, how our old professor of mental science used to 
 harp on that point. I can remember to-day his pet 
 definition as freshly as if I had just heard it from his 
 lips. Gentlemen, he used to say, * the principle of 
 association is founded upon a remarkable tendency, by 
 which two or more facts or conceptions, which have 
 been contemplated together, or in immediate succession, 
 become so connected in the mind that one of them at a 
 future time recalls the others, or introduces a train of 
 thoughts, which, without any mental effort, follow each 
 other in the order in which they were originally associ 
 ated. * I can see the old Prex rolling that off with 
 a look as wise as Solomon, and then adding, Gentle 
 men, this is called the association of ideas, and various 
 phenomena of a very interesting kind are connected 
 with it. Phenomena of a very interesting kind will 
 doubtless be connected with the opening of this box. 
 Let me see." 
 
 Mortimer unlocked the box and found a package 
 wrapped round with silver foil. Within was a card, on 
 which were some pressed forget-me-nots. On the 
 back of the card wa*s written in Alice s handwriting, 
 " Geneva, July 6, 1875." 
 
 "Why, what occurred then at Geneva?" said Morti 
 mer, thoughtfully. " Oh, I remember now. It was the 
 week after I was accepted by Alice ; when we visited 
 Geneva. I purchased a bunch of forget-me-nots and 
 pinned them on her bosom, but I did not think she 
 cared enough for me to preserve so carefully to this 
 day that little gift." He held the card in his hand for 
 
 * Abercrombie s Intellectual Philosophy, page 83. 
 
1 82 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 some time. " Somehow," he said, " I cannot throw 
 these into the fire. It does seem sacrilege." Carefully 
 wrapping them up again and locking the box, he 
 opened a secret drawer in his writing-desk. While 
 doing so something rattled in the drawer. He put in 
 his hand, and, taking it out, found it to be a photograph 
 of Alice. " How came I to overlook this in making up 
 that bundle I sent back to her? How provoking ! " 
 
 He took it out and gazed at it. Alice was then in 
 full health, her face was lit up with the vivacity of 
 youth. Her ruddy face, her soft blue eyes, the tresses 
 falling over her fair neck, all combined to make a 
 fascinating picture. Mortimer gazed intently at it. 
 The fire again flickered and threw weird shadows 
 around the room. Mortimer rose and paced up and 
 down. 
 
 " I declare," he exclaimed, " some evil spell is upon 
 my mind. Here is a girl that I have given up, given 
 up entirely and yet as I look at that face to-day I 
 believe I would not dare to meet her again for my own 
 safety. But that was Alice Dupont when I first knew her. 
 Well, she was indeed lovely then, and, if she had only 
 character behind that lovely face, I might still love her. 
 But Alice Dupont is a very changed girl ; now she is a 
 peevish, moping, inert bundle of flesh and bones." 
 The flame on the hearth flickered a little again. " Still, 
 she has been sick. Perhaps I ought to have exercised 
 more forbearance. It was rather hard to break off our 
 engagement when she was so weak." 
 
 Mortimer walked to the door to see that it was 
 securely locked, then, as if addressing himself, said, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 183 
 
 " William Mortimer, this thing must stop ! This is 
 sheer weakness and folly. I believe I will hurl this 
 photograph into the fire," his hand was upraised 
 " but let me take another look. Why, there on Alice s 
 bosom are the forget-me-nots which she has now 
 returned. Oh, yes, that brings it all back again. I 
 remember now, after purchasing them at the market, 
 we passed a photograph gallery, and Alice looked so 
 radiant that morning I begged her to have her picture 
 taken. We could not wait for it to be finished ; it was 
 sent to me afterward, and, in the hurry of unpacking, 
 I thrust it into that drawer. It does seem too bad to 
 make a holocaust of these old love-tokens. But I 
 must keep them out of my sight. Ah, here I have it ! " 
 and, taking an old cigar-box, he constructed in the 
 back of the drawer a separate apartment, in which he 
 put the photograph and flowers. 
 
 " Now," he said, " I have buried Alice Dupont. 
 Perchance, if I should die, some one may find these old 
 love-tokens, but who cares? Dead men tell no tales, 
 and dead men don t care what tales are told about 
 them. But I must have some fresh air. This room is 
 intolerably hot, and here I have been steaming over 
 this matter for an hour." 
 
 He put everything carefully to rights, donned his 
 summer overcoat, and was starting out, when he 
 exclaimed, " I wonder whether I did put those forget- 
 me-nots in with the package." 
 
 So he unscrewed the partition, took out the photo 
 graph, and, sitting down again, gazed at it, how long 
 he perhaps did not realize but, as he rose to put the 
 
184 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 package again in the drawer, he glanced to the other 
 side of the room and there was Alice Dupont ! not 
 exactly in material form, but there was a sort of imma 
 terial image just like the one in the photograph. 
 Mortimer almost shouted aloud. He pressed his hand 
 to his brow. " I am," he exclaimed, " either in the 
 spirit world or out of my head." He looked again, 
 there was the image still, but fast fading away. He 
 rushed to the other end of the room to see it more 
 distinctly, but when he got there it had disappeared ! 
 
 Just then a knock came at the door, and in walked 
 Dr. Strong. " Why, Mortimer, what is the matter with 
 you ? " exclaimed the doctor, as he noticed the wild 
 look and pale face of his friend. 
 
 "Nothing," said Mortimer, doggedly. 
 
 " Oh, yes, old fellow, something s up. Your mind is 
 hung outside your face to-day." 
 
 " Doctor," said Mortimer, throwing himself on a 
 lounge and pressing his hands to his brow, " I do not 
 know what to make of what I have just seen." 
 
 "When? what?" asked the doctor, getting excited 
 himself at the manifest excitement of his friend. 
 
 " Doctor," said Mortimer, with a solemn face, " you 
 may not believe me, but I am willing to swear on the 
 Bible that I have just seen standing in that corner of the 
 room Alice Dupont." 
 
 Dr. Strong threw himself back in the chair, and said, 
 with a burst of laughter, "Ah, is that the state of 
 affairs? Why, I thought you were cured of Alice 
 Dupont, but, poor fellow, you have had a relapse. You, 
 of course, mean that you saw her with your mind, not 
 with your eyes." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 185 
 
 " No," said Mortimer, earnestly, " I saw Alice 
 Dupont herself standing there in that corner." 
 
 Dr. Strong cast an anxious glance at Mortimer and 
 said, " Tell me frankly, had you been looking at some 
 picture of her?" 
 
 " Yes, I confess I had." 
 
 " For how long a time ? " 
 
 " Only for a few minutes." 
 
 " That could not have been. Let us see, when did 
 you begin to look at that picture? " 
 
 "Well, about nine o clock." 
 
 " Just as I thought," said the doctor, pulling out his 
 watch. " It s now about half past ten. Probably you 
 were gazing at it for an hour." 
 
 " Well, how do you account for this, anyway? " asked 
 Mortimer, impatiently. 
 
 " Why, old fellow, you have simply here what would 
 largely account for all the ghosts which have ever been 
 seen by mankind. But first," said the doctor, " let me 
 examine your eyes." 
 
 After inspecting them the doctor remarked, " There 
 is no trouble there, but the reason I examined them 
 was that illusions of this kind are sometimes due to 
 some cause destroying the parallelism of the visual 
 axes, like a tumor of the orbit, thus making a person 
 see two images instead of one. * But your delusion," 
 said the doctor, "belongs to the class of false perceptions 
 which you spoke of in your argument in the Simpkins 
 case ; that is, by looking long at any object, and then 
 turning the eye in another direction, the eye in certain 
 
 * Hammond, on Nervous Diseases, page 325. 
 
l86 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 states will reproduce that object. Dr. Darwin made 
 various experiments of this kind. One he thus relates : 
 I covered a paper about four inches square with 
 yellow, and, with a pen filled with a blue color, wrote 
 upon the middle of it the word BANKS in capitals ; 
 and sitting with my back to the sun, fixed my eyes for a 
 minute exactly on the centre of the letter N in the word. 
 After shutting my eyes, and shading them somewhat 
 with my hand, the word was distinctly seen in the 
 spectrum in yellow colors on a blue ground ; and then 
 on opening my eyes on a yellowish wall at twenty feet 
 distance the magnified name of BANKS appeared on 
 the wall written in golden characters. Abercrombie 
 mentions a case almost exactly similar to yours. He 
 says a friend of his was one day looking intensely at a 
 small print of the Virgin and Child, and had sat bending 
 over it for some time. On raising his head he was 
 startled by perceiving, at the farther end of the apart 
 ment, a female figure, the size of life, with a child in 
 her arms. The illusion continued distinct for about 
 two minutes. 
 
 " But there s another class of these spectral illusions, 
 where through unconscious construction of the mind such 
 spectres are spontaneously produced. Sir John Her- 
 schel, in his Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects, 
 states that he was subject to the involuntary occurrence 
 of visual impressions, into which geometrical regularity 
 of forms entered as the leading character. The fact is, 
 Herschel was reproducing the subject of his studies. 
 Sir Isaac Newton affirms that he was able to recall a 
 spectrum of the sun by going into the dark and directing 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 187 
 
 his mind intensely, as when a man looks earnestly to 
 see a thing which is difficult to be seen. Sir John 
 Brodie, in his Psychological Inquiries/ gives many 
 instances of these spectres produced almost at will. 
 Here we have the explanation of all that is real in 
 spiritualism. For example, a mother has lost a child ; 
 she broods over its image and finally gets it so photo 
 graphed on her mind that she really sees the image, as 
 Sir Walter Scott saw that of Lord Byron. Scott, in his 
 Demonology and Witchcraft/ writes that having been 
 engaged in reading with much interest, soon after the 
 death of Lord Byron, an account of his habits and 
 opinions, he was the subject of the following illusion : 
 Passing from his sitting-room into the entrance-hall, 
 fitted up with the skins of wild beasts, armour, etc., he 
 saw right before him, and in a standing posture, the 
 exact representation of his departed friend, whose 
 recollection had been so strongly brought to his imagi 
 nation. He stopped for a single moment, so as to 
 notice the wonderful accuracy with which fancy had 
 impressed upon the bodily eye the peculiarities of dress 
 and posture of the illustrious poet. Sensible, however, 
 of the delusion, he felt no sentiment save that of wonder 
 at the extraordinary accuracy of the resemblance, and 
 stepped onward toward the figure, which resolved 
 itself, as he approached, into the various materials 
 of which it was composed. These were merely a screen 
 occupied by great-coats, shawls, plaids, and such other 
 articles as are usually found in a country entrance-hall. 
 " Dr. Hibbert, the well-known psychologist, relates 
 the following anecdote in his Treatise on Apparitions : 
 
l88 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 A whole ship s company was thrown into the utmost 
 consternation by the apparition of a cook who had died 
 a few days before. He was distinctly seen walking 
 ahead of the ship, with a peculiar gait by which he was 
 distinguished when alive, owing to one of his legs 
 being shorter than the other. On steering the ship 
 towards the object, it was found to be a piece of floating 
 wreck. " 
 
 " Do you think that this betokens any serious disease 
 of my brain?" asked Mortimer, anxiously. 
 
 " No," said the doctor, " but it shows your brain 
 needs rest." 
 
 " Well, I am just waiting for an answer from Esther 
 Bates as to whether the Hubbards can give me a room. 
 If so I shall spend some weeks with them." 
 
 The next day Mortimer received the following letter: 
 
 WILLIAM MORTIMER, ESQ.: 
 
 My dear friend : I beseech you not to come to this neighbor 
 hood now; I cannot give you the reason, but I know if you knew 
 it you would agree with me. It is connected with something I 
 have found out about your father s first wife and the $50,000, at 
 least I think I have found out something very important. I will 
 write you soon again or come to New York and explain. 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 ESTHER BATES. 
 
 " How provoking!" exclaimed Mortimer, "what is 
 the matter with Esther, she has written just enough to 
 raise my curiosity. Well, I don t want to offend so 
 good a friend as Esther ; I will wait for a few days, and 
 in the meanwhile take a trip to the seashore." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE CURIOUS CASE OF MRS. PAGE AND ITS MORE 
 CURIOUS TREATMENT. 
 
 When Mrs. Page swooned, she was at once lifted to 
 her bed by Ruth and Esther. At first she seemed 
 to be entirely unconscious, indeed, Esther thought 
 she was dead but a slight twitching of the face and 
 movement of the arm gave assurance that she was still 
 alive. Then she passed into a convulsion, then into a 
 stupor. After her mother had come out of the stupor, 
 Ruth made the terrible discovery that the mental 
 faculties were entirely suspended, her only medium 
 of communication with the external world being 
 through the senses of sight and touch, yet, unless 
 touched by some person or thing, she seemed lost to 
 everything passing around her. Mrs. Page had evidently 
 no knowledge where she was; she did not recognize 
 even her own daughter.* Her appetite was good, but 
 she ate indifferently whatever was offered her, as both 
 taste and smell seemed to be dormant. From the first 
 moment of her attack she lost her speech. 
 
 When this unexpected blow came upon Ruth, she 
 
 * For a similar case to this see London Lancet, Nov., 1845, 
 
190 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 seemed utterly bewildered, but, soon regaining her 
 composure, devoted herself unremittingly to her mother. 
 It was well that Ruth s attention was thus absorbed, for 
 it kept her ignorant of a storm of criticism which was 
 raging around her. 
 
 As soon as the news of Mrs. Page s swoon came to the 
 ears of Mr. Hubbard, he saddled his horse and prepared 
 to go to the village for a doctor. Esther, happening 
 to see him, ran out and said, "Where are you going?" 
 
 "To the village for a doctor," answered Mr. 
 Hubbard. 
 
 " Well, let me first ask Miss Ruth what doctor she 
 would prefer." 
 
 When the question was put to Ruth, she promptly 
 answered, " None ; but please ask Mr. Hubbard to 
 take this telegram to the village, and I will not trouble 
 him further." 
 
 The telegram was directed to a mind-cure physician 
 in Boston, requesting his immediate presence. Mr. 
 Hubbard flew off with the telegram, and the next 
 morning the mind-cure doctor arrived. He was a 
 very gentlemanly, quiet man, but it surprised the 
 Hubbards that he brought no medicines. His only 
 treatment of Mrs. Page was to sit by her side, though 
 he was careful that she should be kept perfectly quiet 
 and that the food prepared for her should be simple 
 and nutritious. 
 
 Esther drew Ruth aside, and said, " I hope you are 
 praying for your mother, as I am, for the prayer 
 of faith shall heal the sick. " 
 
 " I am much in prayer," answered Ruth, " but it is 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 191 
 
 rather to bring my own heart into communion with 
 God than to direct Him about his treatment of this 
 case. I still believe that God can cure the sick without 
 the use of medicines." 
 
 The Hubbards were all up in arms. " I never saw 
 such an inhuman act," exclaimed Mrs. Hubbard, in great 
 wrath. " The idea of a daughter permitting her mother 
 to remain in such a state without medical treatment ; 
 for I do not call it medical treatment for a man to just 
 sit by the bedside of a dangerously sick woman and 
 look as wise as Solomon. Why doesn t Miss Page send 
 for one of the celebrated physicians of New York? " 
 
 "You are right, Rachel," chimed in her husband, 
 " and I think also that we, who pretend to be good 
 Methodists, ought not to harbor such people under our 
 roof. As soon as Mrs. Page is able to be moved, I 
 shall clear them out." 
 
 Then, to the astonishment of all, the old squire 
 spoke up. The squire rarely said anything ; he usually 
 sat in his chair and meditated on his Bible, or else took 
 a stroll over the farm. To the astonishment of the 
 whole family, the squire burst out with, " You ought 
 to be ashamed of yourselves. Leave that girl alone ; 
 she s a better Christian than you, judging from the 
 spirit you have just manifested. That girl loves her 
 mother ; she is trying to do what she thinks is best for 
 that mother. Leave that girl alone, I tell you," said 
 the squire, in authoritative tones. 
 
 " But, father," interposed Mrs. Hubbard, "does not 
 the Bible say that faith without works is dead, and did 
 not John Wesley teach that doctrine ? Now, where are 
 
192 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the works in this case ? Ought not Miss Ruth to send for 
 a doctor who would give her mother some medicine?" 
 
 The squire answered, " She is showing both her faith 
 and works by relying on God as the Great Physician, 
 and I am willing to let her try the experiment of relying 
 on God. As for your human doctors," continued the 
 squire, "what do they, after all, know about the brain? 
 Why, I believe there are many cases where doctors 
 hasten the patient to the grave, when, if nature had 
 been left to take its course, he might have recovered. 
 There was Sallie Jones ; she went crazy. The doctors 
 came and shaved her head and blistered her body till 
 she looked like a plucked chicken and a roasted one, 
 too. And where is she now? In the lunatic asylum. 
 There was Tim Sparks; he had fits, they bled and 
 dosed him, and now he wriggles worse than an eel with 
 shaking palsy. 
 
 " Do not misunderstand me," said the squire. " I 
 recognize medicines as a provision of God for the 
 healing of the body, and, when properly used, they 
 often save life, but I tell you that the tendency of even 
 you Christians is to make an apothecary s shop of your 
 stomachs, and not use your bodies as temples of the 
 Holy Ghost, and I further tell you," said the squire, 
 now becoming somewhat excited, " that when a good 
 girl like that Ruth Page wants to try God as her doctor 
 she shall try him, and, if you dare to turn her out of 
 this house, you will have to turn me out with her." 
 
 The Htibbards were perfectly astonished, for they 
 had never heard their old father talk in such a strain. 
 They began to think that either he was becoming crazy 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 193 
 
 or had lost his heart with Ruth, but, as the squire 
 held the purse-strings, they wisely held their peace. 
 
 After all, the squire was not as illogical as he seemed. 
 Had he only known, he might have quoted some ac 
 knowledged medical authorities to sustain his point 
 that nature herself often works a cure. Dr. Carpenter, 
 the noted physiologist of England, says that " expectant 
 attention has been known to arrest the disorganization 
 of tissue and restore healthful action." Dr. LaRoche of 
 Philadelphia, in a paper which attracted great attention 
 from American physiologists, showed how common it 
 was, in cases where delirium, lethargy, etc., had occurred, 
 and had been diagnosed as owing to disturbance of 
 the function of the brain through disorganization, 
 etc., for the mind to become clear, even "when the 
 brain is greatly diseased, when inflammation of the 
 coverings is present, even when there is change in the 
 brain substance itself." 
 
 As already stated, Mrs. Page s mind seemed to 
 remain in vacuity. She would open her eyes and gaze 
 around with an idiotic stare. After a few days, the 
 mind-doctor had the windows thrown open, and the 
 sudden light made Mrs. Page close her eyelids. He 
 rang the dinner-bell near her bed, and it seemed to 
 disturb her. He loudly called her by name, and her 
 lips moved, though without articulation. These are 
 hopeful signs," said the doctor. " Her mind is regaining 
 its power." 
 
 But when her mind came out of this state of idiocy, 
 she passed into a state of second-childhood. She had 
 to be fed with a spoon, though gradually she learned 
 
194 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 to feed herself. She would look intently at Ruth, and 
 then feel her, as a blind person feels an object he is 
 trying to investigate. 
 
 On the tenth day Esther asked for a few moments 
 private conversation with the mind-cure doctor. 
 4< Doctor," she said, " I am anxious to know what you 
 think of the chances of Mrs. Page s recovery, and do 
 you think she will recover her mind? It is of vital 
 importance to her and others that, even if she dies, she 
 should come to her senses sufficiently to answer some 
 questions." 
 
 " I will tell you frankly how the case stands," 
 answered the doctor. " Mrs. Page is now in a state of 
 imbecility. Her brain is in what we call suspended 
 action. She has lost her memory, or, rather, it is so 
 impaired that she cannot recollect anything. But 
 cases are not rare where the former vigor of the mind 
 has returned, even when the patient has been for 
 months destitute of reasoning powers. Some have so 
 completely lost what they knew before, that they had to 
 commence their education over again, even from the 
 alphabet. There is, however, this singular phenomenon 
 accompanying such conditions, namely, that after slowly 
 acquiring partial knowledge, the former knowledge will 
 come back as in an instant.* Give her anything she 
 desires in the line of food." 
 
 Fortunately, Esther followed the doctor s suggestion 
 as to nourishment. While she had little confidence 
 in medicine, she had much in food, " for," she, argued 
 " after Christ had healed the daughter of the ruler of 
 
 * See numerous examples of this in Carpenter, Tuke, Brodie and Abercrombie. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 195 
 
 the synagogue, he commanded that something should 
 be given her to eat." So Esther and Ruth devoted 
 themselves to nourishing Mrs. Page, even if they 
 did not give her medicine. 
 
 It was a study in psychology to watch the different 
 faculties of the mind gradually wheeling into line, and 
 resuming their normal positions, as if awaiting its final 
 rally for the great effort to reconquer health. The first 
 to wheel into line was the power of association. Mrs. 
 Page made no effort to feed herself, until Ruth, who 
 always showed her mother the spoon before feeding 
 her, fixed in her mind the idea of feeding one s self. * 
 At first, Mrs. Page tore in pieces all the flowers they 
 gave her, then she began to arrange them in patterns. 
 They then gave her patchwork, and she gradually fell 
 into the habit of assorting the colors. These little 
 incidents greatly pleased the doctor. He said they 
 showed that the mind was beginning to act normally, 
 for here were exhibited attention, discrimination and a 
 slight degree of order. When she regained strength 
 enough to walk around the room, she was much enter 
 tained by examining the pictures on the wall. The 
 doctor noticed this and procured a series of colored 
 views. As he sat by his patient, turning them over 
 one by one, she became as interested as a child in its 
 picture-book. When her gaze fell on one of the pic 
 tures, she became violently agitated and passed into a fit 
 of spasmodic rigidity. A smile of satisfaction was on 
 the doctor s face. " I thought so," said he, " the cloud 
 on her mind is lifting. You will soon find her better." 
 
 * See similar case in L,ondon Lancet, Nov., 1845. 
 
196 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 The doctor beckoned Ruth apart and said, " I have 
 tried an experiment which has resulted as I anticipated," 
 and he showed her the picture which had so affected 
 her mother. It was that of a mother and her daughter. 
 " I noticed," added the doctor, " the intense affection 
 you have for your mother, and had no doubt that it 
 was fully reciprocated. I have touched the spring and 
 the mind responds." 
 
 The doctor s prognosis proved correct. Mrs. Page 
 gradually improved until she was herself again, with one 
 exception she did not remember anything connected 
 with the commencement of her attack. Ruth gently 
 hinted at the subject of their previous conversation, but 
 her mother did not seem to remember it. She only 
 remembered being taken sick while talking with Ruth. 
 She even forgot that Esther was then with them. " This 
 is not at all wonderful," said the doctor, " many similar 
 cases are on record. But," added he, " I think it is 
 necessary to give her a shock of some kind, for then 
 one of two effects will result either it will plunge her 
 into delirium, or else recall the whole past." 
 
 "Would you think it wise, then," inquired Ruth 
 anxiously, " to now try the experiment of a shock? " 
 
 " I would wait a little while," answered the doctor, 
 " something may occur in the providence of God to 
 produce this shock." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 MORTIMER S SUDDEN APPEARANCE ON THE SCENE. 
 
 Mortimer, after his trip to the seashore, had spent a 
 month in the Adirondacks. All this time he was burning 
 with impatience to hear from Esther, for not a single 
 line had she written to him. At last he determined, 
 notwithstanding Esther s injunction to the contrary, 
 to stop at Falkill on his return home. 
 
 The Pages and Esther were sitting on the porch 
 Mrs. Page having recovered sufficiently to leave her 
 sick-room, though her memory was not yet regained. 
 While engaged in conversation, a boy from the village 
 appeared, with a note for Esther. It was from Mor 
 timer, saying that he was at the village hotel and 
 must see Esther at once. Before starting for the village, 
 Esther drew Ruth aside and told her of Mortimer s 
 being there. " How unfortunate ! " exclaimed Ruth. 
 
 " Not at all," answered Esther, " I tried to keep him 
 from coming here, but God knew better; and, Ruth," 
 she added, " suppose I have to tell all that we have 
 discovered to Mr. Mortimer, what are your own desires 
 about being recognized by him as his half-sister?" 
 
 Ruth drew herself up with dignity and said, " I will 
 
198 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 never ask Mr. Mortimer to acknowledge me as a 
 relation ; I am too proud to ask any favors of him." 
 
 " Ruth," said Esther, " pride is a very great sin ; I 
 do not blame you for self-respect, but I do for talking 
 about being too proud. As soon as you get proud, 
 God will humble you." 
 
 "Well," said Ruth, with a sigh, "I am sure I have had 
 enough to humble me, and to make me lie low at His 
 feet ; here am I without a relative, except my mother, 
 and I sometimes fear she will not be long spared ; the 
 only friend I can lean on is yourself, Esther." 
 
 " Then lean on me in this matter," said Esther, " I 
 will tell Mr. Mortimer all, but you can trust me not to 
 sacrifice any interest of yours." 
 
 " I do not object," said Ruth, " to this, but there is 
 one point in regard to which my purpose is immovable, 
 namely, to have no personal communication with Mr. 
 Mortimer until I have found legal proofs that I am 
 his half-sister, and, even then, he must be the first to 
 propose a recognition of the relationship ; and, Esther, 
 promise me solemnly this, that you will use every 
 means to keep Mr. Mortimer from meeting me till those 
 proofs are afforded." 
 
 " I promise," said Esther, and sealing her promise 
 with a kiss she left Ruth and sped to the village. 
 
 "Esther, what does all this mean?" demanded 
 Mortimer, as he met her in the private parlor of the 
 hotel ; " I have waited two months, and though you 
 have excited my curiosity you have not appeased it by 
 even one line." 
 
 " William," said Esther, calmly, " I did write you a 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 199 
 
 month ago, and asked you to make an appointment to 
 meet me in New York." 
 
 " I never received the letter," said Mortimer, now a 
 little mollified. 
 
 " Then it was simply through God s providence that 
 you did not," said Esther, " He wanted you to come 
 here just at this time and in this way; I already see an 
 answer to my prayers." 
 
 " Well, then, do not keep me in suspense, but tell all 
 you know about this supposed discovery of yours." 
 
 Now occurred one of those singular freaks of the 
 mind which often perplex us, yet which prove how 
 completely we are at the mercy of our mind s condition. 
 Before Esther met Mortimer, she had carefully planned 
 out what she wanted to say, had it all arranged, even 
 to the wording of the final sentence. But, to her 
 surprise, as in a moment, it fled from her memory, or 
 rather, it lay there in such a jumbled condition that she 
 could not arrange it in any logical order. Esther 
 looked so helpless that Mortimer, realizing he must 
 come to her aid, kindly said, " Sister Esther, I see 
 it all ; you have something to tell me which you are 
 afraid to divulge lest it should distress me. Now, don t 
 be afraid to tell me all." 
 
 " I am not afraid to tell you all," said Esther, dole 
 fully, " if I only knew how to go about it. I suppose 
 you will hardly believe me, William, but I have 
 forgotten just what I wanted to say." 
 
 Mortimer took in the situation and answered, " Esther, 
 let me give you a starting-point. You remember that 
 you wrote about having discovered the reason of the 
 payment of that $50,000." 
 
2OO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 "Ah, yes," said Esther, pressing her hand to her 
 brow, " now I have it," for somehow the missing link 
 reunited the whole chain of memory, and her plan for 
 divulging the secret to Mortimer came back with 
 orderly precision. 
 
 " William," she began, " I want you. to listen to me 
 calmly, as I have something to divulge which affects 
 not only yourself but others. You already know that 
 your father had another wife, that he was divorced from 
 her, and that he paid her at the time of her divorce 
 $50,000." 
 
 "Yes," said Mortimer, "these facts seem clearly 
 established." 
 
 " I have now found out," continued Esther, " that 
 first wife is still living." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " exclaimed Mortimer, " I hope you are 
 deceived, Esther." 
 
 "Wait and hear me," said Esther, "I have not only 
 found this out, but have met her." 
 
 "When?" 
 
 "Wait, you promised to let me tell my story in 
 my own way." 
 
 "Well, tell it then," said Mortimer, with a sigh, 
 settling himself down into forced composure. 
 
 " This first wife," continued Esther, " left your father 
 in great wrath ; indeed, they parted with such mutual 
 dislike that each tried to blot out the knowledge of the 
 other s existence ; she went to San Francisco and stayed 
 there till a few years ago, and has lately come back 
 here." 
 
 " Oh, Esther," broke in Mortimer, " your kind heart 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 2OI 
 
 has been imposed on, some miserable creature has 
 found out about this first marriage of my father, and is 
 planning to extort money from me, by personating his 
 first wife." 
 
 "You there very much mistake," replied Esther, 
 "this lady is independently rich, and, so far from 
 wanting to have anything to do with you, would like to 
 put the ocean between you and herself for the rest of 
 her life." 
 
 "Well, why not let her do it, then? " said Mortimer. 
 
 Esther paused and put her hand to her eyes, as if in 
 prayer. Mortimer watched her. He saw there was 
 something yet to come, and he waited impatiently for 
 Esther to go on. At last she said, " There is some one 
 else in this case, for I have found out that this first Mrs. 
 Mortimer had a child by your father, and that the 
 child still lives." 
 
 " Impossible ! " burst in Mortimer, " I tell you, 
 Esther, some one has been imposing on you ; don t you 
 know how carefully I inquired about that very point? 
 every one who knew my father, said he had no child by 
 his first wife." 
 
 " The reason of that impression," said Esther, " was 
 this the child was not born until five months after the 
 first Mrs. Mortimer left Grasslands; it was born in 
 Chicago, and it was to support that very child that your 
 father gave that $50,000 to Mrs. Mortimer." 
 
 " Why was it not, then, so stated in the writ of 
 divorce ? " asked Mortimer. 
 
 " Because Mrs. Mortimer wanted, as I told you, to 
 blot out the memory of your father, so she retook her 
 
2O2 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 maiden name, and the child was called by that name, 
 and until lately never knew that its father was also your 
 father." 
 
 " Is this child a son or a daughter? " asked Mortimer. 
 
 " A daughter." 
 
 " Oh, how unfortunate ! " exclaimed Mortimer, " here 
 is some miserable woman who will be claiming me as 
 her half-brother; Esther, cannot you get them to go 
 away? I do not want this thing to be the subject of 
 gossip, I have suffered enough already from gossips." 
 
 " William Mortimer," said Esther, " you might well 
 be proud to own that daughter as your half-sister; 
 indeed, she is the one who should rather scorn you." 
 
 " Scorn me ! " exclaimed Mortimer, " why, what 
 have I ever done to her? " 
 
 " Nothing," answered Esther, " but your father put 
 away her mother for a cause which the Bible does not 
 recognize as a just cause for divorce, and the Bible says 
 that whosoever thus putteth away his wife and marrieth 
 another himself commits adultery; according then to 
 the Bible, this daughter is the only lawfully born child 
 of your father." 
 
 " Esther," said Mortimer, now thoroughly angry, " I 
 won t take that, even from you." 
 
 " Then take it from God," answered Esther. 
 
 If she had been a man, Mortimer would have felled 
 her to the floor, but though thus outraged in feeling he 
 could not help respecting Esther s evident conscien 
 tiousness. Restraining himself, he said, coldly, " I 
 have no doubt of your intention to act rightly in all 
 this, but I do believe you have been grievously 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 203 
 
 deceived, and had I known that all this mystery was 
 about so ridiculous a story I would not have come hither. 
 I will now have to ask you to leave me, Esther, I shall 
 have nothing more to do with this matter. I defy this 
 woman and her daughter to worm money out of me on 
 such a flimsy yarn; I am a lawyer and can defend 
 myself and my father s memory from their outrageous 
 insinuations. You can go, Esther; good-bye." 
 
 But Esther Bates calmly kept her seat. "William 
 Mortimer," she said, " I am here to induce you to do 
 your duty, and if you kill me I will not depart. I don t 
 care for your hating me, so that your soul is saved ; 
 but I tell you, you cannot have your soul saved if you 
 propose to neglect any claim on you, which God has in 
 His providence established. You utterly mistake this 
 mother and daughter, if you think they have any 
 blackmailing scheme. I have just left the daughter; 
 she refuses even to see you until her relationship can 
 be established by legal proofs, and even then she 
 refuses to see you unless you shall make the first 
 advance to have that relationship recognized." 
 
 " Refuses even to see me," said Mortimer, now be 
 coming interested, " why, she must be a highflier." 
 
 " I don t know what you mean by that word," said 
 Esther, " but when I tell you who that daughter is, I 
 think, from what you know of her already, you will 
 see " 
 
 "Why, Esther, do you mean that I have ever met 
 her, tell me at once her name." 
 
 "You have not only met her, but admired her; 
 thank God, not as a lover, but as a lady you could not 
 help respecting." 
 
204 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Why, Esther Bates, I believe you are crazy, what 
 has come over you, and why don t you tell me her 
 name at once? " 
 
 " Because," said Esther, with provoking coolness, " I 
 want you first to solemnly promise that you will not 
 attempt to discover her until she is able to produce 
 legal proofs of her relationship to you." 
 
 " I will promise no such thing," said Mortimer, " I 
 want to know who this woman and her daughter are." 
 
 " Well, then, good-bye," said Esther, rising to leave. 
 
 But now Mortimer was as anxious to keep Esther as 
 he had been to expel her from his presence. Planting 
 himself between her and the door he said, " Esther 
 Bates, you shall not leave this room till you have told 
 me that girl s name." 
 
 " Then," said Esther, calmly taking her seat, " I will 
 stay here all night." 
 
 But Mortimer knew that would never do. He tried 
 to coax Esther, but she was firm. At last Mortimer 
 said, " Esther, I surrender, I will solemnly promise 
 what you ask." 
 
 " Solemnly, in the sight of God? " asked Esther. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then be seated, for I want you to calm yourself." 
 
 " Oh, you provoking woman, tell me quickly." 
 
 "Well," said Esther, slowly and deliberately, " the 
 name of that daughter is Ruth." 
 
 " Ruth ! " said Mortimer, pondering, " whom have I 
 ever known by that name? Why, Esther," and he 
 looked wildly at her, " you certainly don t mean Miss 
 Ruth Page?" 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 205 
 
 "Yes, though her right name is Ruth Mortimer." 
 
 " My God ! " exclaimed Mortimer, completely over 
 whelmed. He covered his face and bowed his head. 
 When he lifted it up again he found Esther on her 
 knees in prayer. 
 
 She remained thus some time, finally rose, and, going 
 to Mortimer, put her hand on his shoulder, and said, 
 " William Mortimer, what do you propose to do about 
 all this?" 
 
 Mortimer answered, " In such an important matter I 
 must have time to think." 
 
 " Yes," added Esther, " and to pray. And now, 
 William, let me ask you to leave here immediately. 
 Miss Ruth is in this neighborhood, and I am afraid that 
 you might accidentally meet." 
 
 " I ll take the early morning train," said Mortimer, 
 " but before we part, Esther, tell me frankly and truly 
 all you think you have found out about this matter." 
 
 Esther then detailed every circumstance connected 
 with the discovery of the relationship, with which the 
 reader has been already informed. Mortimer was 
 deeply interested, but he said, and evidently with 
 feelings of regret, " If Mrs. Page has lost that paper, 
 I am afraid this can never be established. Still, Esther, 
 you are right; it was a providence that brought me 
 here. I will at once search out this matter, and, as a 
 lawyer, I know how to go about it better than the 
 ladies. I do not give up hope of finding at least one 
 of the witnesses. But before we part, Esther, I want 
 to beg your pardon for the way I have behaved." 
 
 " No need of that, William ; it was all very natural, 
 
206 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and I knew God could make you behave right at last," 
 and she folded Mortimer in her motherly embrace and 
 gave him the kiss of peace. 
 
 Mortimer did not sleep much that night. He was 
 struggling as a man struggles with various inclina 
 tions. The more he thought about Ruth, the more he 
 felt inclined to acknowledge the relationship. How 
 he would like to have just such a sister to counsel and 
 cheer him, now that he was without father or mother, 
 and now that his former ties with Alice Dupont were 
 broken ! He could then spend the rest of his life 
 unmarried, for his sister could keep house for him, and 
 what a pleasant home they might have together ! But 
 then, there was Mrs. Page. He would probably have 
 to take her also to his home. He knew nothing of this 
 lady; she might prove the most disagreeable of 
 acquaintances. Then, what would society say? It 
 would be inclined to regard this story of their lately 
 discovered relationship as an incredible romance, and 
 so many explanations would have to be made. Still, 
 Ruth was a sister of whom any man might be proud, 
 and her whole position in this matter only increased 
 Mortimer s respect for her, and made him believe there 
 might be something in this story. Mortimer tossed on 
 his bed while balancing in his mind the pros and cons 
 of the whole affair. At last he exclaimed, " I solemnly 
 vow before God that I will use every means to inves 
 tigate this matter, and, if this story be proven to be 
 true, I will own Ruth as my sister." Then, for the first 
 time, for hours, his mind became calm and he fell 
 asleep. 
 
OR THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ALICE DUPONT APPEARS WITH A NEW CHARACTER. 
 
 What has become of Alice Dupont? Perchance the 
 reader has asked that question, wondering that some 
 hints were not given of the fate of this harshly treated, 
 badly used and sorrowful young lady. A pause must 
 then be made here to give a few chapters in her 
 biography, lest the reader s mind should publish a 
 wrong edition. For, mark you, gentle reader, this 
 psychological fact, that while perusing a story you 
 unconsciously pirate the author s copyright, by forming 
 in your mind a picture of what the actors in the plot 
 ought to do, and you get very angry with the author if 
 in the denouement he does not treat them as you have 
 in your piratical edition. This peculiar action of the 
 mind has been named by our physiologists, "Un 
 conscious Action of Mechanism of Thought," which 
 sheds as much light on the subject, as a tallow candle 
 in the hand of " Liberty Enlightening the World " 
 would on the harbor of New York. The truth is that 
 no one can think for another ; here the creating divinity 
 of thought within us asserts its prerogative. One mind 
 can indeed suggest to another mind, but there it stops ; 
 
2O8 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 the individual mind may, indeed, chameleon-like, take 
 a momentary color from surrounding objects, but 
 sooner or later will return to its individuality of thought. 
 Hence, however the mind-curer may influence for a 
 time another mind, by the purity and intelligence of his 
 own, yet he cannot produce a permanent effect, unless 
 the mind of the patient is in a proper sanitary condition. 
 As we understand Christian Science, its true apostles 
 recognize this fact. 
 
 But to return to the case of Miss Alice Dupont. 
 One might have supposed that the mind-cure treatment 
 of her mother would prove but temporary in its 
 benefits. This is the great argument of the anti-mind- 
 curers. " Allow," they say, " that the power of an idea 
 can be correlated into a physical force, and the lame 
 be thus made to walk, yet after the excitement of the 
 new idea subsides the patient must relapse, just as the 
 idea that a house is on fire may stimulate a bed-ridden 
 patient to run out of the door, but as soon as his fears 
 are relieved he becomes bed-ridden again." Now, as 
 the author is not defending mind-cureism, he might 
 safely leave this argument to be answered by its modern 
 apostles. But, as to the ability of a strong mental 
 impression to produce a permanent cure, he calls 
 attention to the fact that such physiologists, as Carpenter 
 and Tuke, cite many cases where a strong mental 
 impression, once directed to the body, has resulted in a 
 permanent cure of the disease with which that body 
 was then affected. 
 
 Please, then, gentle reader, before you paint your 
 own mental picture of Miss Alice Dupont s future, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 209 
 
 allow yourself to be introduced to a blooming young 
 lady, " a fair and radiant maiden," riding over the hills 
 and valleys of Scotland, accompanied by a bright, 
 dashing, Scottish lord of interminable pedigree, said to 
 be the heir of a Lord Dalrousie; said heir being very 
 anxious to ally his name and title to the rich daughter 
 of the several-times-millionaire, Mr. Dupont. If Wil 
 liam Mortimer could see Alice Dupont now, with those 
 sparkling eyes and that sweet face which has turned 
 many a Scottish laddie s heart, he might experience 
 feelings of regret that he had been so hasty. Well, 
 not to detain the reader, let it be stated that after 
 Mrs. Dupont s judicious mind-cure treatment of her 
 daughter, as narrated in a previous chapter, Alice 
 became a new girl. One taunt hurled at her by 
 Mortimer, in their parting interview, was, " that she 
 lacked in character" (which, unhappily, was backed 
 by her own behavior on that memorable occasion), had 
 been like the setting up in her brain of an electric 
 battery, electrifying her mind with the current of a new 
 purpose, which gave forth its healing shocks whenever 
 memory re-established the circuit. One dominant idea 
 took possession of Alice, namely, to prove to society in 
 general, and William Mortimer in particular, that she 
 was not a weak, hysterical girl that she had character. 
 If some one had appeared and offered Alice the chance 
 of going as a missionary to the Cannibal Islands, or 
 had even presented a martyr s pile for her to mount, 
 she would have deemed herself equal to the occasion. 
 But as neither Cannibal Islands nor martyr piles offered 
 themselves, she did a much more sensible thing 
 
2IO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 devote herself to being as useful and agreeable as 
 possible. Her flirtation with Mr. John Parks, however, 
 was soon ended. Mr. Parks proved rather insipid, 
 while Miss Alice so visibly revealed her ennui that his 
 pride became offended, and as is usually the case with 
 matches prearranged by parents, the very efforts to 
 foster, tend to prevention. 
 
 Mr. Dupont, having occasion to visit Paris, invited 
 his wife and daughter to accompany him, which 
 invitation was promptly accepted, since they were glad 
 for the present to be out of the gossip of New York. 
 Having met a young lord Dalrousie, on the steamer, 
 and the father of said lord having ascertained that 
 Mr. Dupont was one of the rich men of New York, he 
 therefore encouraged his son and only heir, Robert, to 
 pay attention to Miss Dupont. The son was red-headed, 
 gawky, and altogether rude of speech, yet he was 
 rather an agreeable change to Alice from Mr. Parks. 
 When, however, the heir of Dalrousie fell desperately 
 in love with the American heiress and began to give 
 some hints thereof, Alice shook him off as a lady would 
 brush a fly from her dress ; she no longer needed any 
 one to lean upon, she could manage her own affairs, 
 even those of the heart. " Beside," she said to herself, 
 "have I not had enough of men, they are all vanity 
 and vexation of spirit ; I will remain fancy-free for the 
 present at least." But Mr. Dupont and the Lord 
 of Dalrousie thought differently; they had laid their 
 heads together Mr. Dupont being perfectly willing 
 that his daughter should marry a prospective lord, and 
 the lord that his son should marry an American heiress 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 211 
 
 Mr. Dupont accepted the invitation of Lord Dalrousie 
 to visit him at Balnagorwan Castle. This was rather 
 premature, as Mr. Dupont had not consulted either 
 wife or daughter. The former at once acquiesced, the 
 latter decidedly demurred. " Why," said Mr. Dupont, 
 speaking of it to his wife, " I never saw such a change 
 as has passed over Alice. I formerly needed only to 
 say, Alice, my love, do so-and-so and she would 
 yield at once to my wishes. Now she is as stubborn as 
 possible, I really believe she will not go with us to 
 Balnagorwan Castle." 
 
 " She is not stubborn," replied Mrs. Dupont, " Alice 
 has refused the young lord, this makes it extremely 
 awkward for her to visit under his father s roof; could 
 we not compromise the matter by staying at the Inn in 
 the neighboring town?" 
 
 Thus it was arranged. The young laird persisted in 
 his attentions, which gave Alice a difficult role to fill, 
 but she managed not to offend the young suitor, yet at 
 the same time accepted so many invitations from other 
 lairds that she had a bevy of admirers. The beautiful 
 young heiress from America became the cause of 
 several encounters among her rival suitors. Somehow 
 Alice began to tire of the attention of the Scottish 
 youths, and, when Lord Dalrousie and Mr. Dupont 
 discovered there was no prospect of success to their 
 match-making, Mr. Dupont hurried on to Paris, leaving 
 as the only memorial of his family s visit several 
 broken-hearted young men who took vows of perpetual 
 celibacy, which, however, they soon forgot and ignored, 
 as is the manner of all youths, whether they be Scotch 
 men or Yankees. 
 
212 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 So much for the mental transformation of Alice 
 Dupont ; now for the moral. The only thing for which 
 Alice remembered Ruth gratefully was the new view 
 Ruth had given her of the love of God. Over this 
 Alice pondered until she saw that here was a power 
 she had little understood and still less utilized. In 
 reflecting over the time wasted on flirtations in the 
 Scottish highlands, she realized that, to redeem her 
 reputation for character, she must first reform her 
 do-nothing, self-pleasing and insipid methods of exist 
 ence. While, therefore, Miss Alice Dupont left some 
 broken hearts behind her in Scotland, she herself 
 carried to Paris a burdened conscience. 
 
 At this juncture she fell in with a pious American 
 girl who was deeply interested in the McCall mission. 
 This companion, Miss Constance Savage, induced 
 Alice to visit one of their meeting-places. Here 
 Alice beheld with wonder and interest the humble 
 workmen listening to the story of the cross and the 
 wonderful effect it had on their hearts and lives. She 
 frequently slipped off with Miss Savage to attend 
 these meetings. One day the subject of the speaker s 
 discourse was " The Love of God in Christ Jesus, our 
 Lord." As he spoke of the manifestation of that love 
 in God sending His Son, and of the Saviour s love in 
 dying for our redemption, of His infinite compassion to 
 the sin-burdened and heart-sore, Alice broke down and 
 wept like a child. To the surprise of Constance, she 
 remained behind when an invitation was given to 
 any who wished to talk with the minister about the 
 salvation of their souls. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 213 
 
 Alice took her seat between a poor fishwoman 
 and flower girl, and waited to be talked with by the 
 minister. The minister himself was surprised to see 
 this richly dressed American lady in that place, but 
 with a wise tact, having first conversed with the fish- 
 woman and flower girl, and sent them away, he entered 
 into conversation with Alice. He talked with her kindly 
 and she to him freely, and, as she poured out the 
 penitence of her heart for what she considered her past 
 useless life, guided her to Him who could not only 
 sympathize but regenerate. 
 
 Her parents soon noticed a change in their daughter ; 
 she lost her taste for the grand opera. What was the 
 matter? Mr. Dupont made a quiet investigation and 
 tracked his daughter to the McCall mission, where, to his 
 horror, he found her among its most active workers. 
 A scene ensued. Mr. Dupont for the first time swore 
 at Alice (though he had often practised before on his 
 clerks.) " I will stand anything from you," he said, 
 "except this. I did not object even to your being 
 intimate with a mind-curer, but this consorting with the 
 very canaille, who pray and sing psalms and claim to 
 be converted, this is the last straw to break the camel s 
 back. Alice, pack your trunk immediately; we return 
 home to-morrow, via London." 
 
 Alice answered not a word, though her face flushed 
 at the oath. With a quiet dignity she left her father s 
 presence, went to her room and began packing her 
 trunk. 
 
 Mr. Dupont, having fumed for two hours and worked 
 off his bile, began to feel worried, then penitent. " I 
 
214 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 am ashamed of myself," he said, " for swearing at my 
 own dear daughter. I will go and beg her pardon." 
 Mr. Dupont knocked at Alice s door no response; 
 he pushed it open Alice was not there; he looked 
 for her trunk it was gone. " Sacristie!" exclaimed 
 Mr. Dupont, for even his profanity had become French- 
 ised, "what has happened?" The femme-de-chambre 
 appearing at the time, Mr. Dupont demanded, "Where 
 is mademoiselle?" 
 
 " She left by the train for London," answered the 
 servant. 
 
 " Mon Dieti!" ejaculated the father. It was but a 
 moment until he was in a voiture, flying to the station. 
 Fortunately he arrived before the train started, and 
 found his daughter. "Alice, what does this mean?" 
 demanded her father. 
 
 Alice calmly replied, " It simply means, that while I 
 am willing to obey my parents in the Lord, I am not 
 called to live with a father who has so little love or 
 respect for his daughter that he calls on God to damn 
 her. I am of age and fortunately have sufficient money 
 in my own right to live independently of my parents." 
 
 Explanations and apologies followed from Dupont 
 pere, reinforced by the entreaties of Dupont mere, who 
 had now arrived on the scene. There was a general 
 make-up, in which Alice came out victor. There was 
 a little stiffness between parents and daughter, some 
 readjustment of their strained relations was needed, 
 yet Alice behaved so well and with such quiet, righteous 
 self-assertion, that her parents found out that at last 
 Alice Dupont had obtained a character. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 WONDERS OF THE MIND SEEN BY ALICE DUPONT IN 
 PARIS. STIGMATIZATION. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dupont came to the conclusion that 
 the only thing was to get their daughter home as soon 
 as possible. " I don t want to even visit London," said 
 her father, " for who knows but Alice may take up 
 there with the Salvation Army." So, finding that a 
 steamer of the " Compagnie Generate Tran sail antique" 
 sailed in two days for Havre, he engaged passage 
 therein. That left them a day in Paris, and Mr. 
 Dupont, not wishing to leave Alice out of his sight, 
 accepted an invitation from his friend, Dr. Soupe, to visit 
 a hospital, under the charge of the Sisters of Charity, to 
 see a remarkable case of religious ecstasy. As this 
 combined religion with entertainment, Mr. Dupont 
 judged it would meet the different tastes of his family. 
 Alice rather demurred, on learning that the ecstatic 
 passed through a condition which claimed to reproduce 
 on her body the sufferings of the Savior on the Cross. 
 " Oh, doctor," she said, " does this not savor of 
 blasphemy? " 
 
 " No, mademoiselle, you non-comprehend. This 
 
2l6 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 female has no idea of doing anything irreverent; in 
 deed, it is her very desire to honor her Savior, by 
 imitating him in his Passion, which leads her into these 
 experiences." 
 
 Female curiosity surmounted any remaining qualms 
 of conscience, and Alice set out with her father and 
 the doctor to visit the Convent to which this ecstatic 
 belonged. Dr. Soupe knew the Mother Superior in 
 charge, and as Paris Catholics have no qualms of 
 conscience about proselyting wealthy Americans, she 
 treated the Duponts with great consideration. She led 
 them into a room where, on a plain pallet, lay a young 
 girl, evidently of highly wrought nervous temperament. 
 She was lying on her back, her arms being extended 
 outward, and her feet close together, in the position 
 a person would be if nailed to a cross ; the face was 
 turned upward, the eyes expressing the most profound 
 absorption in thought. All the time Alice was gazing 
 at her, there was no movement of her person, except 
 that produced by slight respiration. The " Mother " 
 explained that she had for a long time been in a state 
 of ecstasy. As Alice s look showed she did not 
 understand what was meant by that state, the " Mother" 
 went on to say, " For some months past Sister Louise 
 has, on every Friday, been visited with a celestial 
 vision, which brings before her vividly the scene of the 
 Crucifixion ; she sees the blessed Savior nailed to the 
 cross, and while beholding the incidents of his cruci 
 fixion, finds them repeated in her own body. Our 
 attention was first called to this miracle by the rigid 
 state of her limbs and her unconsciousness to external 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 21 7 
 
 impressions ; when we spoke to her she answered not, 
 but kept her eyes fixed, as if gazing into heaven. We 
 watched her carefully, thinking that she might be about 
 to pass to Paradise. But how astonished were we to 
 find, coming out on her hands and feet, exactly in the 
 place where the nails would be driven, livid spots, and 
 from these spots issuing blood ; also on her side, over 
 the region of the heart, where the spear pierced the 
 Savior s side, another spot, from which also issued 
 blood. The bleeding ceased as soon as her repetition 
 of her Savior s crucifixion was over, but the spots 
 remained, as you can see for yourself." Alice bent 
 over the extended hands and feet, and there were the 
 spots, just as the " Mother " had described. " It is a 
 remarkable fact," she added, " that on Fridays, about 
 noon, the time our Savior was probably nailed to the 
 cross, the bleeding returns, and about three o clock 
 this sister repeats the death-scene of the crucifixion. 
 It is now," said the " Mother," " about eleven o clock, 
 and if you will visit with me some other points of 
 interest in the Convent, we can return about twelve, and 
 see whether the miracle is repeated." 
 
 About twelve the Duponts returned. The girl had 
 apparently not moved since they last saw her, but her 
 countenance was marked by expectancy, as if she 
 herself was looking for the return of the miracle, as she 
 considered it. The spots on the hands and feet showed 
 no change, except they were redder, as if the part was 
 filled with blood; in a short time blood began to 
 exude from these spots, until sufficient was collected to 
 trickle down on the bed-clothes. The party became 
 
2l8 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 so interested that they waited till the time for the 
 death-scene. Its approach was announced by an 
 increased activity in Louise ; sighs escaped from her 
 lips, tears ran down her cheeks, her mouth opened as 
 if craving drink, her respiration became very labored, 
 the plaintive sighs changed to heavy moans, her tongue, 
 dried with thirst, seemed to adhere to the roof of her 
 mouth. Alice began to feel faint, but her intense 
 interest in the scene made her struggle to keep up, 
 especially as she saw that the ecstatic was approaching 
 the climax of her action. Suddenly, a convulsion 
 shook the ecstatic s frame, the palor of death crept over 
 her countenance, the pulse became scarcely perceptible 
 and the whole surface of her body was bedewed with a 
 cold perspiration, a loud groan issued from her lips, 
 her head dropped upon her breast, and to all appear 
 ance she was dead. Involuntarily, a cry burst from 
 Alice s lips. The " Mother " came to her and said, 
 soothingly, " Be not alarmed, Sister Louise is now 
 repeating the death of her Savior ; she will soon repeat 
 his return to life." So, indeed, it was ; for after a few 
 minutes a faint glow spread over the body, the breast 
 gently heaved, color mantled to her face, she raised her 
 head from her breast, opened her eyes, and gazed on 
 the bystanders with a look of calm satisfaction. Then, 
 as if in a transport of rapture, she threw herself on her 
 knees, and burst forth in thanksgiving for the honor 
 the Savior had conferred on her. Rising from her 
 knees, she sat on the edge of her bed, and the " Mother" 
 approaching her said, " Sister, can you give us any 
 description of what you have seen?" 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 2lp 
 
 "Words cannot express it," exclaimed Louise, "I 
 can only say that I found myself suddenly plunged 
 into a vast flood of bright light, from which more or 
 less distinct forms began to evolve themselves ; then I 
 witnessed successively the scenes of the crucifixion. I 
 beheld the cross on Calvary, and our blessed Lord 
 nailed to it; also the scenes around the cross, heard the 
 hooting of the rabble, the taunts of the Scribes and Phar 
 isees, and saw the parting of his raiment by the soldiers. 
 Christ stood so distinctly before me, that I could even 
 hear His dying cry, and could watch the gradual ebbing 
 out of His life. When He expired, I seemed myself 
 to pass from this life, and was unconscious until I 
 opened my eyes and saw you all standing around my 
 couch." 
 
 "But do you really believe you saw the Savior?" 
 inquired Alice. 
 
 " Certainly," said Louise, with an air of commiseration 
 at the weak faith of the questioner. Alice was about 
 to respond, when Mr. Dupont, fearing a theological 
 battle, hurried his daughter from the convent, having 
 first politely thanked the " Mother," and left a large 
 contribution in the box at the door. A park was near 
 and on one of its benches the party were soon seated in 
 deep conversation. 
 
 "Dr. Soup," said Mr. Dupont, "what led you to 
 ask me to witness such a confounded imposture as 
 that?" 
 
 "Not an imposture at all," said Dr. Soup, very 
 coolly, " I can show you, my friend, from medical 
 authorities, which are recognized as sound, plenty of 
 
22O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 similar cases, and that they can be accounted for on 
 natural causes." * 
 
 " Yes," interrupted Mr. Dupont, whose indignation 
 was not yet appeased, " this can be accounted for on 
 natural causes, by supposing they have beaten that 
 girl black and blue, and then stopped the bleeding 
 until the hour of twelve arrived, when they let it 
 return." 
 
 " Your theory is more miraculous than the thing 
 itself," answered Dr. Soupe, " for I have never heard 
 of any styptic which could be so timed in its effects 
 that a person should be beaten at nine, the blood from 
 the wound arrested until twelve, then let flow again 
 till four, and then again arrested in its flow." 
 
 Mr. Dupont, recognizing the force of this answer, 
 became somewhat mollified and said, "Well, then, 
 doctor, let us hear your explanation." 
 
 " I think," said the doctor, " I can explain it from 
 the effect of the mind on the body, where certain 
 states of mind produce marks on the skin and even 
 bleeding, such cases are too well established to be 
 doubted. So able a scientist as M. Alfred Maury, 
 who had no sympathy with any belief in the miraculous 
 character of these phenomena, admits that they belong 
 
 * See an exactly similar case to the one described above in the case of Louise 
 Lateau, reported in Macmillan s Magazine, April, 1871, which case Dr. Carpenter 
 says, "has undergone a scrutiny so careful, on the part of medical men, determined 
 to find out the deceit, if such should exist, that there seems no adequate reason for 
 doubting its genuineness." The various stages of the ecstatic s death and recovery 
 to life, given above, have been reproduced from the account given in Brierre de 
 Boismont s celebrated work on " Hallucination," from the part where he narrates 
 the history of the Ecstatic of Kaldern Marie de Moerl a case, the facts of which, 
 as De Boismont shows, have been attested beyond dispute. Since De Boismont 
 assigns no miraculous character to the case, his testimony to the facts are the more 
 reliable. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 221 
 
 to a certain group of psycho-physical facts. He says 
 that in these visionaries the power of imagination, 
 aided by the concentration of attention, directs the 
 blood to the place where they fancy themselves 
 affected. As for the bleeding itself, we know that the 
 transudation of blood from the skin through the 
 perspiratory ducts (apparently owing to the rupture of 
 the walls of the cutaneous capillaries) under strong 
 emotional excitement, is a well established fact. So 
 asserts Dr. Carpenter,* and this distinguished physi 
 ologist says of the case of Louise Lateau, exactly 
 similar to the case in the Convent we have just visited, 
 that there is nothing in it that the physiologists need 
 find any difficulty in accepting. " 
 
 " Well, I find difficulty in accepting it," said Mr. 
 Dupont, rather abruptly, " do you mean, doctor, to 
 assert that imagination can make a person sweat drops 
 of blood? " 
 
 "No," answered Dr. Soup6, " that is, if you mean by 
 imagination a mere phantasy of the mind, but I do 
 assert, and my assertion is sustained by examples which 
 can be cited, that when attention and expectation are 
 strongly directed to a certain part of the body, results 
 do follow in this very way. For example persons 
 have dreamed that they were beaten, and on awaking 
 have found marks of bruises on their body." 
 
 "Whew! " said Mr. Dupont. 
 
 "You may whew as much as you please at it," 
 said Dr. Soupe, " these are facts which have been 
 established by witnesses too reputable to be disputed. 
 
 * Mental Physiology, page 690. 
 
222 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 But if you want a case in point, where imagination, 
 concentrated attention and sympathy conjoined have 
 reproduced even bodily wounds, I refer you to the 
 well attested case narrated by Dr. Carter, in his work 
 on the ( Pathology and Treatment of Hysteria (page 
 24). Carter says, A lady, who was watching her 
 little child at play, saw a heavy window-sash fall upon 
 its hand, cutting off three of the fingers ; and she was 
 so much overcome by fright and distress as to be 
 unable to render it any assistance. A surgeon was 
 speedily obtained, who, having dressed the wound, 
 turned to the mother, whom he found seated, moaning, 
 and complaining of pain in her hand. On examination, 
 three fingers, corresponding to those injured in the child, 
 were discovered to be swollen and inflamed, although 
 they had ailed nothing prior to the accident. In four- 
 and-twenty hours, incisions were made into them and 
 pus was evacuated ; sloughs were afterwards discharged 
 and the wounds ultimately healed. " * 
 
 " Well, then, doctor," said Mr. Dupont, " how do 
 you explain the case we have witnessed? " 
 
 " Simply, that the girl, having her nervous system 
 wrought up to the highest tension, imagined that she 
 beheld her Savior being crucified, that her sympathetic 
 attention was strongly directed to his wounds, that she 
 repeated, through the action of her mind on the 
 muscular tissues and circulation, the vision she fancied 
 she had seen. It is, after all, but the law of sympathetic 
 action, often exhibited in certain states of the mind and 
 body, where the sight of a peculiar state in another 
 
 * See an almost similar case narrated by Dr. Tuke in his " Influence of the 
 Mind upon the Body," page 260. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 223 
 
 person will repeat that state in the spectator; just as 
 women go into hysterics or faints when they behold 
 others in these conditions. In this particular case 
 there should also be considered Sister Louise s firm 
 faith, or rather, to speak more philosophically, her 
 intense expectation, then you have the apparent miracle 
 resolved." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said Mr. Dupont, " you Frenchmen have 
 large imaginations and boundless expectations." 
 
 "Well," answered Dr. Soupe, with more politeness 
 than his accuser, " we can always give a philosophical 
 reason for our expectations." * 
 
 * In the Cyclopaedia of the Practice of Medicine, edited by Dr. H. Von 
 Ziemssen, Professor of Clinical Medicine in Munich, Bavaria (Vol. 14, page 527), 
 occurs the following judicious summing up of the false and true in Stigmatization : 
 (The italics are our own.) 
 
 " One must, therefore, constantly be on one s guard against deception. This 
 remark is still more applicable to the blood-staining of the sweat and tears some 
 times observed, and especially to those greater hemorrhages front particular 
 circumscribed portions of the skin. The latter are said to occur particularly on 
 the hands and feet and on the chest and forehead, and in such a manner that a 
 bladder-like elevation of the epidermis first takes place, when the serum in bulla, at 
 first clear, becomes of a bloody color, and then, after flattening of the skin, a flow 
 of blood takes place, often tolerably abundant and persisting for a length of time. 
 This phenomenon, described as Stigmatization, in which superstition beholds a 
 recurrence of the wounds and bleeding of Christ, has in most known cases become 
 so suspicious, from the conduct of the patients themselves, and from that of the 
 priesthood, who have derived great benefit therefrom, that it may be doubted 
 whether we have not as a rule to deal with mere fraud. At any rate, those cases 
 are not convincing in which a rigorous inspection has been avoided. . . . On 
 the other hand, the Possibility must not be denied that, under certain circumstances, 
 in consequence of the rupture of ihe smaller vessels, bloody admixtures may appear 
 in the sweat and tears, and that thus also more considerable hemorrhages may 
 occur." 
 
224 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 DR. STRONG GIVES A SHOCK TO MRS. PAGE, WHICH 
 RESTORES HER MEMORY. 
 
 On Mortimer s return to New York he sent immedi 
 ately for Dr. Strong. The latter was deeply interested 
 in his friend s account of Esther Bates supposed 
 discovery of a relationship between Ruth and Mortimer. 
 " I believe every word of it," said the doctor, enthusi 
 astically, "yes, now come to think of it, Mortimer, 
 there is some resemblance between you and Miss 
 Page." 
 
 " Oh, imagination ! " exclaimed Mortimer, " how 
 great is thy power of discovering evidence for thy 
 wildest assertions." 
 
 The doctor, rather nettled, replied, "Well, I confess 
 it is a stretch of imagination to find any resemblance 
 between you and such a good looking young lady. 
 There is one point, too, in Esther Bates theory which 
 does not seem to harmonize with the facts in the case, 
 for, according to it, since you are twenty-five, Miss 
 Page must be twenty-six; now, she does not look to 
 be a day over twenty-one." 
 
 "That does not trouble me in the least," said 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 225 
 
 Mortimer, " I have known women look younger and 
 many older than their asserted age; Miss Freduka, 
 whom the parish record proves to be thirty-five, swore 
 in court the other day that she was but twenty-five. 
 Remember, my friend, that age in the female sex is a 
 most uncertain quantity. Miss Page has, at least, 
 presumptive evidence in her favor, for she reverses the 
 usual ways of womankind by claiming to be older than 
 she looks. Besides, I can easily see how a girl who has 
 led such a quiet life, and whose mind-cure belief would 
 make her respect prudence and virtue, might preserve 
 her youthful looks. No, doctor, the matter of age is 
 not the difficulty in this case, it is rather the finding of 
 that important paper which Mrs. Page asserts she once 
 had from my father. Beside, even if such a paper be 
 produced by Mrs. Page, the witnesses to it may have 
 long since departed this life." 
 
 Dr. Strong sat some time pondering and at last said, 
 " Mortimer, what would you say to my going up to 
 Falkill and investigating this matter?" 
 
 " Just what I would like above all things," answered 
 Mortimer. " You are a disinterested party and could 
 weigh the probability of any evidence produced better 
 than Esther Bates. But would it not be a little 
 awkward for you, doctor?" 
 
 " No," he answered. " I want to converse more with 
 Miss Page about her Christian Science, and I rather 
 suspect from our last interview that she regards me as 
 a sort of materialistic heathen, so I would like to 
 improve on my past reputation." 
 
 "Well, invent any excuse you please, but don t 
 
226 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 return without some news," said Mortimer, and thus 
 they parted. 
 
 DR. STRONG S LETTER TO WILLIAM MORTIMER. 
 
 " Private and important." 
 DEAR MORTIMER : 
 
 I know you are burning with impatience to hear about my 
 meeting with the P. s. Well, to make a long story short, I 
 presented myself at the Hubbards shortly after my arrival at 
 Falkill. Mrs. P., her daughter, and E. B. were sitting on the 
 porch. As I opened the garden gate, Miss P. started up and 
 looked eagerly at me, as if to determine whether it was really 
 myself, then whispering something to E. B. she advanced to meet 
 me rather coldly did not put out her hand. Her first greeting 
 was, " Dr. S., may I ask that you proceed no further ; my mother 
 is in a very peculiar condition of mind, I am afraid to risk her 
 meeting strangers." I tell you, old fellow, that was rather a cold- 
 shower-bath sort of reception. I did not want, however, to be 
 thus shut out, especially as Miss P. looked like an angel dropped 
 from the sky. So I put on my best manners and courteously 
 answered, " Miss P., hearing of your mother s sickness, I came 
 all the way hither to see whether I could not be of some service to 
 you. I know you set no value on my medical treatment, but it is 
 not to urge this upon you that I have come, it is rather to study 
 your treatment, to learn more if I can of your Christian Science; 
 I also hoped that I could serve you as a friend, but of course I do 
 not wish to obtrude on your desired privacy." 
 
 " Did Mr. Mortimer send you here?" she asked. 
 
 " No, I can truly say he did not, it was my own proposition to 
 come hither, but when he heard of my coming, he asked me to 
 serve him by striving to find the witnesses to a certain document, 
 the truth of which he feels deeply interested in establishing." 
 
 " Then you know //, Dr. Strong? " 
 
 "Yes, Miss P., everything, and now will you not permit me 
 to be your friend ; I have no other desire than to serve you to the 
 best of my ability ; I may over-estimate that ability, but it does 
 seem to me that I could investigate this matter better than you, 
 
OR. THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 227 
 
 and could do it without attracting as much attention. It is 
 evident, Miss P., that you need at this juncture a gentleman 
 friend." 
 
 " You are right, Dr. S.," she replied, " in saying that I need 
 at this juncture a gentleman friend, and it does seem as if God 
 had sent you ; but I will be candid with you ; my mother took an 
 aversion to you at your first call at our house, which was deepened 
 by finding that you were a friend of Mr. M. s " and she paused 
 and seemed really distressed to know what to do. I saw, however, 
 that I was gaining ground, so I said, " Miss P., you now, at least, 
 know I am here, and the object of my visit; suppose you think 
 over this and I will call again to-morrow evening." 
 
 "Well, Dr. S.," she replied, thoughtfully, "I think we will 
 thus let it stand for the present." I simply bowed and was 
 leaving, when, seeming to think she had treated me rather coldly, 
 she said, "Dr. S., I hope you will not infer that I do not 
 appreciate your kind intentions, it is only my mother s feelings 
 that I am considering." 
 
 "You are perfectly right, Miss P.," I answered, " I appreciate 
 fully your wisdom in this matter." Well, somehow I slept badly 
 that night, I was in rather a nervous state, so the next day 
 determined to foot it over this lovely country and breathe its 
 invigorating air. I stopped at the house of an old colored man, 
 known here as " Old Si." He is a venerable looking negro and as 
 pious as Abraham. I undertook to run him on his faith a little, 
 but I confess he gave me back a Roland for an Oliver every time. 
 (I will tell you all the conversation when I get back). Incidentally 
 I asked him how long he had lived here. He said for over half a 
 century. The thought immediately struck me that he might know 
 something about your father; I inquired and found to my delight 
 that he had worked at Grasslands. I asked him whether he had 
 ever seen the first Mrs. M. He looked guardedly at me and said, 
 "What does you s no bout dat fust Missus M.? " 
 
 I saw that there was no use of fooling with that old darkey, 
 so after extracting from him a solemn promise not to repeat what 
 I was about to say, I told him that it was of the greatest 
 importance to one of the purest, best of women to establish some 
 thing connected with the first Mrs. M., and added, " Si, I speak 
 
228 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 to you in perfect honesty, and call upon God to witness that I am 
 trying to find out this, simply to benefit a fellow being." 
 
 " Quar you s call on de Almighty fur to be s your witness," 
 said Si, "when you s sez you s don t b lieve in an Almighty, go 
 way, you re like all des atheists, you s mighty independent uv dat 
 Almighty till you s want to use Im ; guess you ll want to use Im 
 still warse when you s come to cross de ribber uv death." 
 
 Well, M., I never met with such a case, I would have given 
 him up, but I saw I might strike some important discovery, so I 
 stuck to him, and, really, the fellow made me swear on the Bible, 
 and declare, when I did it, that I believed in a God, before he 
 would go on, and then he said, "Young man, you s does b lieve in 
 a God with you s conscience, its you s heart which be s de trubble ; 
 as de gud book sez, de fool hes sed in is heart dar is no God. " 
 
 Well, I submitted to even this verdict of Si on my moral 
 character, to get at the old darkey s information. " Si," I said, 
 "did you ever see the first Mrs. M.?" 
 
 " Offen, she wuz a lady, she alway treated ole Si berry kind, 
 she looked, howsomever, sort uv broken hearted." 
 
 " Do you know the reason, Si ? " 
 
 " No, I only knows de master and her parted." 
 
 " How did you know this ? " 
 
 "Well, I be s called to de house to witness a paper dey drew 
 up dat night dey parted " 
 
 Oh, M., how my heart jumped into my throat when I heard 
 this, but I carelessly asked, " Why, Si, how could you witness a 
 paper, can you write your name?" 
 
 " No, I jes made my mark, de lawyer-man dat drew de paper, 
 sort uv wrote his name to say dat wuz truly Si s mark, dey sed dat 
 wuz totally sufficient." 
 
 I talked more with the darkey, but that was all of importance 
 that I could find out. This, you notice, exactly corresponds with 
 Mrs P. s statement that one witness signed that paper with his 
 mark. Now, if only that paper could be found, and the other 
 witness. I send this right off, before seeing Miss P. this evening, 
 as I know how glad you will be to hear all this. I suppose Si 
 would say, if he knew how I was led to come here, " Dat wuz a 
 special prov dence." Yours as ever, 
 
 H.S. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 229 
 
 The reader can easily imagine the effect of this 
 letter on the mind of William Mortimer. Indeed, it 
 satisfied him that one-half of the evidence needed to 
 prove the truth of Mrs. Page s statement was at hand. 
 How impatiently he waited for the second letter from 
 his friend, the doctor ! It soon followed and read as 
 follows : 
 
 DEAR MORTIMER: 
 
 I take up my story where it left off. That evening I visited 
 again Miss P. (She certainly is a beautiful girl and a perfect 
 lady.) She met me this time very kindly. Indeed, she came to 
 meet me outside the gate by a bush which hid us from the sight 
 of her mother and E. B., who were again sitting on the porch. 
 She explained she did not want her mother to see me, as Mrs. P. 
 had been strangely agitated after I left, the evening before. 
 
 She said, " Dr. S., I have been thinking over this whole matter 
 and talking with E. B. about it, and, though I highly appreciate 
 your kindness, yet I will have to decline your offer. I really do 
 not think you could aid us. You are a physician ; what we need 
 at this juncture I speak plainly is a lawyer. I think I will do 
 nothing more about this matter till my mother is able to be moved 
 to New York. I will then employ a lawyer and will endeavor to 
 find the paper. You would, however, do me a favor if you will 
 inform Mr. Mortimer of this and tell him that my object in 
 employing a lawyer is not to enforce any claim on him, for I have 
 none to enforce, but only to establish my parentage. But, before 
 we part, I want to thank you, doctor, for your kindness in this 
 matter. I do appreciate it highly," and she put out her hand to 
 bid me good-bye. 
 
 But I calmly put mine behind my back and said, with a smile, 
 " Miss P., you believe in a providence, and I am now going to 
 convince you that a providence has sent me here, and I hope it 
 will convince you also that a providence must keep me here." So 
 I told her what I had found out through old Si. 
 
 I watched the effect of this on Miss P., for I wanted to see 
 whether these Christian Scientists could exercise the same control 
 
230 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 over themselves which they claim over others. Well, for a 
 moment Miss P. did seem thrown off her equilibrium, but only for 
 a moment, then, clasping her hands in prayer and looking upward 
 with a heavenly smile of perfect peace, she simply ejaculated, 
 " Thank God." 
 
 She turned and went to the porch, evidently intending to inform 
 her mother of the good news. I, being somewhat dazed, followed 
 her uninvited. As soon as Mrs. P. saw me she gave one wild 
 shriek and went off in a swoon. There was no time to parley, so 
 I lifted Mrs. P. in my arms and carried her into the parlor and 
 laid her upon a lounge, and, without asking Miss P. s permission, 
 gave her some stimulants which soon brought her too, when, 
 fearing my presence might bring on another attack, I quietly 
 withdrew. The H. s followed me to the door and said they were 
 glad that at last Mrs. P. had fallen into the hands of a regular 
 physician, for, according to their statement, the only treatment the 
 poor woman has received was that of a mind-cure doctor from 
 Boston, who simply sat by her bedside and looked wise. So I am 
 all right with the H. s, and, as far as they are concerned, will not be 
 debarred from their house. I expect, however, to return to New 
 York in a few days, but politeness will, of course, require that I 
 should call and inquire after Mrs. P. s health before leaving here. 
 
 Yours in haste, 
 
 H. S. 
 
 P. S. A messenger has just come from the H.s , saying that 
 the shock given to Mrs. P. by my sudden appearance has 
 recovered Mrs. P. s memory. 
 
 It will not do to let the doctor tell the story any 
 further. He is not a disinterested witness, for his 
 nervous system has received too great a shock from the 
 battery of Ruth s eyes. Besides, there were some facts 
 of which he was ignorant, which we will now relate. 
 
 After Ruth returned to the porch on the first evening 
 of Dr. Strong s appearance, her mother acted quite 
 wildly, and demanded to know whom she had been 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 231 
 
 talking with. Ruth had a struggle, between her con 
 science and the truth, in trying to keep her mother 
 from knowing that it was Dr. Strong. Esther Bates, 
 however, came to her aid, and they together diverted 
 Mrs. Page s attention, finally getting her to bed, where, 
 exhausted by the reaction from her mental tension, she 
 fell asleep. Then Ruth took Esther aside and told her 
 all. Now, to Esther " a medical man " was the incar 
 nation of irreligion, the more so, in this case, as she 
 had learned from Ruth that Dr. Strong was somewhat 
 of a sceptic. Esther urged upon Ruth that it would be 
 a great sin to cease relying wholly on God and to employ 
 as an ally a sceptical physician. Therefore, Ruth, to 
 allay the upbraidings of her own conscience, determined 
 to give the doctor a cold shoulder. When she met him 
 again she performed that duty somewhat with the 
 feeling of a martyr, as she had desired to cultivate his 
 acquaintance, with the hope of converting him to her 
 Christian Science. The news he had brought about 
 the discovery of one of the missing witnesses to the 
 paper, Old Si the providential effect of his pres 
 ence on the recovery of her mother s memory, con 
 spired to make Ruth feel under lasting obligations 
 to Dr. Strong. 
 
 A remarkable change had indeed passed over Mrs. 
 Page, caused by the shock received by seeing Dr. 
 Strong, for every faculty of her mind appeared now to 
 have regained its normal action. Indeed, Mrs. Page 
 was so composed that Ruth could talk freely with her 
 mother over all the events which had transpired since 
 the latter s attack of sickness. Esther Bates also told 
 
232 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Mrs. Page about her informing Mortimer of his rela 
 tionship to Ruth, and about Dr. Strong s discovering 
 the missing witness, Si. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Page, " I now recall the fact that 
 the witness who signed his mark was a colored man." 
 
 The next day Dr. Strong appeared on the scene. 
 This time he was evidently doubtful about his reception, 
 but Ruth warmly greeted him and introduced him to 
 her mother. Esther Bates, fearing the coming of this 
 medical sceptic, had betaken herself to the camp- 
 meeting. She was, however, somewhat mollified by 
 hearing from Ruth, on the next day, how kindly the 
 doctor had inquired after her, how he had praised her 
 self-possession during the scenes of the previous 
 evening, and how reverently he had spoken of Si s 
 Christian character. 
 
 " He may not be altogether given over to the devil," 
 said Esther. " Let us unitedly pray that he may be 
 converted to faith in Christ as a physician for his soul 
 and body." And she added, solemnly, " I believe, 
 Ruth, if God would thus convert some of those leading 
 New York doctors, it would produce as great effect 
 in that city as the conversion of Saul of Tarsus did in 
 Damascus." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A MENTAL TOURNAMENT, IN WHICH THE MATERIALIST 
 RECEIVES A WOUND IN HIS HEART. 
 
 The next day the doctor called on Miss Page, 
 making the double excuse of a desire to inquire 
 after her mother s health and of bidding Miss Page 
 good-bye, as he intended returning to New York. 
 Finding Ruth alone, he proposed a short walk 
 down the shady road, " as he desired the oppor 
 tunity of conversing with her about her Christian 
 Science." Little Rubie appearing on the scene, Ruth 
 graciously accepted the doctor s invitation and as 
 graciously requested that she might take the boy 
 along to gather some wild flowers, which request the 
 doctor was too polite to refuse, yet too human to 
 relish. 
 
 Dr. Strong was impressed with the fact that a change 
 had come over Miss Page, not, however, in her beauty, 
 for her face, glowing with health and freshened by the 
 country air, seemed more beautiful than ever. But, as 
 she walked by his side, dressed in a simple garb 
 of white, her very innocence so added to her seem 
 ing youth that again the doctor questioned whether 
 
234 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 this child beauty could be one year older than 
 Mortimer. 
 
 While as lovely as ever, Ruth was more sedate. 
 The vivacity which had bewildered the doctor s mind 
 at their first interview, was toned down, a natural 
 effect of the trying scenes through which she had 
 so recently passed. Her manner toward the doctor 
 was not at all constrained. Ruth had seen little of 
 gentlemen s society, and, in the purity of her own 
 nature, was happily ignorant of the total depravity 
 that is in mankind. She evidently regarded the 
 doctor as a friend, to whose kindness she was indebted, 
 her only thought concerning repaying that kindness 
 being to convert him to the truth. They had reached 
 a spot where the wild flowers were abundant, and, 
 while Rubie ran off to gather them, the doctor took 
 the opportunity to open up the subject of the mind- 
 cure. 
 
 " I have been thinking, Miss Page," he began, " of 
 our first conversation and of the points presented in 
 your interesting lecture, and, while there are many 
 things I fail to comprehend, yet on the general subject 
 of the influence of the mind over the body I have been 
 deeply interested. Indeed, our foremost physiologists 
 a?e devoting more attention to this department of 
 medical science. Perchance your Christian Science 
 deserves credit for turning public attention in this 
 direction, and there may yet be more harmony 
 between the views of the physiologist and Christian 
 scientist." 
 
 " I do not see," answered Ruth, with a simple frank- 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 235 
 
 ness which entertained rather than offended the doctor, 
 " how there can be any harmony between persons who 
 stand on the opposite sides of a gulf as impassable as 
 that between Dives and Lazarus." 
 
 " Oh, no," said the doctor, " it is not quite as bad as 
 that, Miss Page. Science does recognize a kind of 
 divinity in man, rough hew it as we may. " 
 
 "Yes, and you do indeed l rough hew it, for hear 
 how one of your scientists defines consciousness," and 
 she took a slip of paper from her pocket and read, 
 " The consciousness, when scientifically examined, 
 reveals itself as a quality of brain or mode of manifes 
 tation of molecular activities of the organized brain 
 substance. " * 
 
 But the doctor desired to avoid a discussion with 
 Ruth and therefore said, " I will not attempt to defend 
 my science, but humbly crave to be taught your 
 own." 
 
 "Now," said Ruth, playfully, "you are coming to a 
 hopeful state. Please, then, take your proper position 
 as a scholar at the feet of your teacher," and, seating 
 herself on a bench near by, the doctor being seated on 
 the ground, she began : 
 
 " Look around you, Dr. Strong, on nature arrayed in 
 all the loveliness of this fall season. Everywhere you 
 see the proofs of Christian Science, for everything on 
 
 * Quoted from Lester F. Ward, A. M., (of the Smithsonian Institute) article in 
 the Christian Register of Boston. That paper asked of leading scientists their 
 opinion on the question whether there were any positively ascertained facts which 
 make it difficult to believe in the immortality of a personal consciousness, also 
 whether the question should be considered outside the pale of science. As to the 
 first question, Mr. Ward s reply is .1 fair reflex of the average opinion in all the 
 other replies. As to the second, he answers with a decided negative. 
 
236 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 which your eye rests speaks of one Great Cause. You 
 remember those beautiful lines of Wordsworth, 
 
 "I have seen 
 
 A curious child who dwelt upon a tract 
 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 
 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell, 
 To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 
 Listened intensely, and his countenance soon 
 Brightened with joy ; for from within were heard 
 Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed 
 Mysterious union with its native sea. 
 Even such a shell the universe itself 
 Is to the ear of Faith, and there are times, 
 I doubt not, when to you it doth impart 
 Authentic tidings of invisible things; 
 Of ebb and flow, and ever during power ; 
 And central peace subsisting at the heart 
 Of endless agitation. " 
 
 As the fair girl repeated these lines her face lit up 
 with the enthusiasm of her belief, and the doctor s heart 
 unconsciously responded to the last words, "Endless 
 agitation." Ruth, however, was too much absorbed in 
 her subject to notice the doctor s countenance, for her 
 eyes were resting not on him but on that nature whose 
 every beauty led her up to nature s God, so without 
 pausing she continued, " On that nature is written 
 healing. You mow yonder grassy lawn and at once 
 nature goes to work to make the scythe-cut blades 
 spring forth again ; you hew down yonder tree and at 
 once from its stump springs up the new sapling ; you 
 wound your finger and at once nature throws out 
 healing plasms to unite the wounded part; the highest 
 power confessedly of your ablest physician is to assist 
 nature in her healing. When nature s tendencies to 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 237 
 
 heal cease, the decree goes forth that the body must 
 yield to death. These voices in which God speaks 
 through nature are but echoes of His truth. That 
 truth proclaims that there exists a divine, saving 
 principle, a universally diffused life, which seeks to 
 impart itself in healing power to everything that lives. 
 Who was it that uttered those words which contain the 
 very essence of religion, I am the Way, the Truth 
 and the Life, but He, the Christ, the life of men. I 
 beg you, Dr. Strong," and her eyes turned to him with 
 earnest look, " to ponder this fact, that nature and 
 nature s God, and Christ the Revealer of God to us, all 
 proclaim healing." 
 
 " Why, then, Miss Page," said the doctor, " are not 
 all healed. You speak of nature s proclaiming healing, 
 I grant it in the applications you have cited to support 
 your theory, but I also find written over nature and 
 man inevitable death." 
 
 " I will answer your question," said Ruth, " by 
 another is not death itself in one sense healing? 
 Look at that flower there, it has ceased blooming, its 
 stalk is withered, as you would say, * dead/ its seed 
 begins to fall to the earth, but as Paul tersely puts it, 
 in its very death is the prophecy of life, * That which 
 thou sowest is not quickened except it die ; thus even 
 death has its recuperative tendencies." 
 
 " But, Miss Page, all men do not view this matter as 
 you do; even granting the existence of a God, and 
 that the mission of His Son is in the line of healing, the 
 fact remains that many, like myself for example, are so 
 full of doubt that we never accept these truths. I 
 speak plainly, I do not wish to play the hypocrite." 
 
238 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Ruth cast a look of compassion on the doctor and 
 said, " I will answer you as frankly. If you persist in 
 standing aloof from the truth and the life, you cannot 
 be healed. This life power is embodied in Jesus, the 
 Christ. He is not only the life but the light ; In 
 Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 
 Suppose I want to get the healing power of the sun, 
 could I have it by burying myself in a cellar, or by 
 shutting out with curtains his rays. Would I not 
 rather expose myself to the sun s light? Nor would I 
 have to worry about making the sun shine, my only 
 concern would be to bask in its warm rays. So with 
 my soul, there is the sun of righteousness arising upon 
 it with healing in its beams, healing for both soul and 
 body; what am / to do, scoff at the idea of the 
 existence of that sun, or at the healing power of its 
 beams? Should I not rather open my heart to have 
 him come in and expel the darkness of sin and irradiate 
 it with his light ; yea, should I not in the silence of my 
 soul hold communion with my God, praying that His 
 life and light might make me whole? " 
 
 Dr. Strong was considerably affected by this simple 
 argument of Ruth, more so than he was willing to 
 acknowledge. When she had concluded he took his 
 eyes off her face, on which he had been intently gazing, 
 and fixed them, like her s, on the far distance, and thus 
 they both sat and pondered. But insensibly his 
 thoughts reverted from these truths to their speaker. 
 Who was this girl? he had never met her like before; 
 so pure, so guileless, so enthusiastic over her peculiar 
 belief, he could not bid down that admiration which all 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 239 
 
 men instinctively feel for a pure, spiritually minded 
 woman, unless said woman be a crank. But Ruth Page 
 could not be numbered among cranks. She was a 
 child of nature, striving to work out problems, too high, 
 perchance, for her, but problems which interested her 
 as tending to benefit humanity. Ruth did not interrupt 
 the doctor s cogitations, she sat looking at the distance, 
 and, as she had promised Esther, praying for his 
 conversion. But unfortunately for the chances of that 
 conversion, Ruth first broke the silence. The thought 
 recurred to her that she had not explained one cardinal 
 point in her Christian Science, namely, the unreality of 
 matter. Remembering, too, how she had failed to 
 answer the doctor s argument on this point at their first 
 meeting, she felt in duty bound to retrieve her failure, 
 so she broke the silence by saying, " Dr. Strong, it 
 seems to me that your difficulties would be resolved if 
 you would adopt our view of the human body." 
 
 "What is that view?" asked the doctor, as if in 
 doubt of Ruth s meaning. 
 
 Ruth replied, " What we call matter, including the 
 material body, has existence only as a false seeming. 
 The supreme reality in the universe is spirit." * 
 
 As a critical listener of a magnificent oratorio starts 
 at some false note and finds his opinion of the performer 
 at once lowered, so the doctor started and revolted 
 at this utterance of Ruth. Unfortunately, too, she had 
 now abandoned her stronghold of spiritual truth, and 
 had come out on a battle-field, where her opponent 
 was much better equipped. Before opening his 
 
 * See Evans Esoteric Christianity, page 57. 
 
240 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 batteries, the doctor drew her further on, by asking 
 with seeming humility, " What sphere, then, do you 
 assign to the senses?" 
 
 " There are no such things, strictly speaking, as 
 material senses," answered Ruth, "what people term 
 the senses are but the reflections of the mind, because 
 all is mind. If the mind be absent from the body, the 
 body has no sensation." 
 
 " True," answered the doctor, " still, if you put a 
 piece of ice before a person who had never seen ice, 
 that person s mind could not tell whether it was cold or 
 hot until he had tested it with his senses. Here is one 
 of many examples which I might cite to show that 
 mind and matter are mutually dependent." 
 
 Ruth could not answer this argument. She retreated 
 to her stronghold the spiritual side of the argument 
 but, alas, the gates had been left open and the enemy 
 could now follow her even therein. " I acknowledge," 
 she said, " I cannot answer your argument, doctor, but 
 I fall back on the truth. The Bible, which furnishes 
 the true account of man s creation, expressly states 
 that man is not matter, because it says that he was 
 made in the image and likeness of God ; it also tells 
 us that God is a spirit; therefore, man made in the 
 image and likeness of God must be spiritual, not 
 material." 
 
 " I am not very familiar with the Bible," answered 
 the doctor, " but I have read with some care the first 
 two chapters of Genesis, for they are the battle-ground 
 between us materialists and the Christian Theists. 
 Now, these chapters plainly teach that man has both a 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 24! 
 
 spiritual and material nature, for they make a clear 
 distinction between man s body * formed out of the dust 
 of the ground, and his soul, of which it says, The 
 Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life 
 and man became a living soul; besides, according to 
 the Bible account, the body was first formed as a 
 distinct entity, afterward a soul was enshrined therein. 
 If I remember aright, there is a verse in the Bible 
 which makes the same distinction in speaking of man s 
 death, the dust returns unto the earth as it was, and 
 the spirit returns unto God who gave it. I am no 
 theologian, Miss Page, but the Bible itself thus recog 
 nizes man s body as material; besides," added the 
 doctor, gallantly, " however clearly it may be proven 
 that Adam was made of matter, we might have supposed 
 that Eve, judging from her daughters, was made of 
 some finer material ; had not the Bible expressly said, 
 * that the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon 
 Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and 
 closed up the flesh instead thereof, and the rib which 
 the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman? 
 I am afraid, Miss Page, that however we may admire 
 your sex, yet we will have to catalogue even the female 
 body under matter." 
 
 Ruth was at a loss to answer the doctor, who, wise 
 enough to not press his advantage, turned the subject 
 by saying, " I confess, Miss Page, that since I first met 
 you, I have given more attention to the relation of the 
 mind to the body, and I am surprised to find how 
 much our leading physiologists and metaphysicians 
 lean to views which assimilate to your own. Take, for 
 
242 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 example, your claim that mind can act independent 
 of the senses, or that sensation can arise from within ; 
 Prof. Muller asserts that a person blind from infancy, in 
 consequence of the opacity of the transparent media of 
 the eye, may have a perfect internal conception of light 
 and color.* The Scotch metaphysician, Reid, speaking 
 of perceiving external things through the senses, 
 declares that no man can show it to be impossible for 
 the Supreme Being to have given us the power of 
 perceiving what he calls external objects without such 
 organs. Even Sir William Hamilton acknowledges 
 that however astonishing, it is now proved beyond all 
 rational doubt that in certain abnormal states of the 
 nervous organism perceptions are possible through 
 other than the ordinary channels of the senses. " 
 
 "Ah, Dr. Strong," said Ruth, "we have higher 
 authority than the names you have mentioned, for we 
 ask of you men of science what God asked of Abraham, 
 Is anything too hard for the Lord ? Can you look 
 upon the human body, and say that the Maker exhausted 
 his power of giving sight to it when he created the 
 retina, the optic nerve and its ganglionic centre? Are 
 these, after all, the real seeing power? Is there 
 not behind them all the ego, the self? This death 
 itself cannot destroy. What is that ego? Even 
 according to your own interpretation of the Bible s 
 account of man s creation, it is the spiritual part of his 
 nature, the breath of life breathed into him by God 
 himself, bestowing so divine a character that Christ 
 himself calls men gods. I acknowledge there is left a 
 
 *Muller s Elements of Physiology, pages 1059, 1060. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 243 
 
 schism in human nature, the opposition of the flesh to 
 the reign of the spirit,* but does it not seem a just 
 aim for man to strive to have this spiritual nature so in 
 harmony with God that the fleshly nature shall be 
 in submission to the spiritual? And here is the point 
 of our Christian Science," added Ruth, speaking with 
 great earnestness. " Granting for the moment that 
 I am right in this view, is it not a logical conclusion, 
 that the pervading of the soul with the presence of God 
 would tend to make the body sound? Is not the 
 presence of the Almighty a healing presence? for he 
 both ( forgiveth all our iniquities and healeth all our 
 diseases. 
 
 " Oh, doctor ! " and the tears started in her eyes from 
 her deep emotion, "when I think that One has trod 
 this earth who came from Heaven to seek and to save 
 that which was lost, and that the simple touch of the 
 hem of His garment restored health to a human body, 
 I do want to stretch out my own hand of faith to 
 touch this life-giving Christ, so that I may feel the 
 health-current flow not only into my soul but also into 
 my very body. Doctor, would you strike down that 
 outstretched hand with your philosophy? Cannot you 
 rather bring yourself to say, If I may but touch the 
 hem of His garment I shall be whole? 
 
 Ruth in her earnestness had looked right into the 
 eyes of the doctor. There was no tenderness of love in 
 that look, it was rather the gaze of conscious truth 
 fulness but under that look he seemed to stand 
 transfixed. He gazed upon her with admiration 
 
 * Esoteric Christianity, pages 41, 43. 
 
244 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 mingled with perplexity. "What is it," he asked of 
 himself, " in this young woman that so strangely moves 
 me? I sometimes feel like clasping her to my heart, 
 and then again I simply admire her as a beautiful 
 combination of purity and intellectuality. Where lies 
 her power over me? I wish I had never met her no, 
 not exactly that. I wish we could understand each 
 other better." 
 
 W T hile thus pondering Ruth interrupted his thoughts 
 by rising and saying, " I will have to return to my 
 mother, as she cannot yet be left long alone." 
 
 So they walked silently side by side. At last the 
 doctor managed to say, " Miss Page, I would very 
 much like to continue our acquaintance when you 
 return to New York." 
 
 " Certainly," said Ruth, with a frankness which 
 showed that she understood the doctor s proposal as 
 simply that of a friend. 
 
 Rubie came up and gave Ruth a bundle of wild 
 flowers. 
 
 " How beautiful they are ! " exclaimed the doctor. 
 
 " Take one, then," said Ruth, " and think of the 
 Creator." 
 
 " Yes," said the doctor, looking meaningly at Ruth, 
 " and of his creatures." 
 
 But Ruth, thinking that the doctor referred to the 
 subject of their past conversation, said, guilelessly, 
 " Yes, doctor, it is when we best understand the Creator 
 that we see his wonders in his creatures." 
 
 The doctor was not quite satisfied with this reply, and, 
 when they reached the garden gate and Ruth put out 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 
 
 245 
 
 her hand to bid him a friendly good-bye, he looked 
 steadily at her and said, " Miss Page, I must make a 
 confession ere we part. While looking at this flower I 
 will think of the Creator," Ruth s face brightened 
 " and," added the doctor, " of His relations to his 
 creatures, but there is one of his creatures whom I 
 shall think about every hour. I only wish I could 
 hope she would thus think of me." 
 
 Ruth started. The look, the tone of the doctor 
 were unmistakable. It was the first time that on the 
 ears of this young girl, kept secluded from the world, 
 had fallen the accents of love. It was a new revela 
 tion to her soul, and she received a shock greater than 
 any she had ever given her patients. She lost her 
 usual self-possession, blushed and seemed much con 
 fused, but at length said, " Dr. Strong, I shall ever 
 think of you as a friend, to whose kindness I am greatly 
 indebted and for whom I have the highest respect." 
 
 " Is it to be only this and nothing more? " pondered 
 the doctor, as he walked back to the village, 
 
246 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ALICE AND MORTIMER MEET AGAIN. 
 
 The Roman writer, Lactantius, in his treatise on 
 " The Workmanship of God or The Formation of Man," 
 says : " The mind which exercises control over the 
 body appears to be placed in the highest part of the 
 head, as God is in heaven ; but when it is engaged in 
 any reflection it appears to pass to the heart, and as it 
 were to withdraw to some secret recess, that it may 
 elicit and draw forth counsel, as it were from a hidden 
 treasury." The heathen philosopher unconsciously 
 re-echoes the phraseology of the Hebrew prophets, 
 which uniformly assigns the emotions to the heart. 
 The natural feeling of man on this subject is illustrated 
 by the gesture-language of both civilized and savage ; 
 the man of fine breeding " lays his hand upon his 
 heart," and Tyler, in his account of the Indians, states 
 that " they express fear by putting the hands to the 
 lower ribs, and by showing how the heart flutters 
 and seems to rise to the throat." To all that the 
 physiologist answers with a contemptuous smile. " Im 
 possible," says he, " that the heart can be the original 
 seat of any emotion, for it must be originated in the 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 247 
 
 brain and conveyed to the heart, through the nerves 
 supplied from the pneumogastric and sympathetic 
 systems." To all which we bow with humility, yet 
 humbly inquire, " What, sir, sets in motion the pneumo- 
 gastric and sympathetic systems ? " To which he replies, 
 " That hidden force of life the seat of which has not yet 
 been precisely located." " Exactly so," we answer, 
 " and, therefore, until you locate the seat of life, smile not 
 contemptuously at us inheritors of the pneumogastric 
 and sympathetic systems, if we believe that in the body, 
 this temple of the Holy Ghost, the Shechinah 
 reveals his glory in a Holy of Holies, whereinto the foot 
 of scientists has never entered. There are some things 
 left in the human make-up, " not dreamt of in our 
 philosophy," Oh, brother investigator of this body 
 " fearfully and wonderfully made." 
 
 After which soaring, we will descend to earth again, 
 lest, Icarius-like, our wings should get melted and our 
 pride become our ruin. On that earth we find our 
 heroes and heroines pursuing the unsentimental hum 
 drum of life. Ruth is at the Hubbards, nursing her 
 mother and packing her trunks for their return to 
 New York. Dr. Strong is driving his gig around the 
 streets of New York, and gaining reputation every day. 
 " Oh," he sighs, " I wish I was only married ; queer, 
 isn t it, that celibacy stands in the way of a physician, 
 yet aids a clergyman. There is Rev. Alphonso Spooks, 
 his church was crowded with fair listeners, and his 
 wardrobe supplied with wrappers, slippers, etc., until 
 he was married, then his audience dwindled to nothing, 
 and his apparel ceased to be an altar for the sacrifices 
 
248 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 of his fair worshippers; while I am confronted daily 
 by some mother who says, * Oh, doctor, why don t 
 you get married, we would so like to employ you, 
 but you know the girls feel a delicacy. It is all in 
 their mind," said the doctor, and this expression brought 
 to his mind Ruth Page. As for our friend Mortimer, 
 he has been busy with numerous law cases and 
 apparently forgotten that there ever existed such a 
 person as Miss Alice Dupont; the only woman now in 
 his thoughts being Ruth, whom he yearns to hail as a 
 sister, said yearning being increased by the admiration 
 Ruth excites by her firm refusal to have anything to do 
 with him until her sisterly relation is fully established. 
 Our other friend, Miss Alice Dupont, has returned to 
 New York, joined Dr. Gospeller s church, been elected 
 a member of all its missionary societies, and, in what 
 time she can spare from attending to the heathen on 
 the other side of the globe, is trying to minister to 
 those in the city of New York. Thus, you see, all our 
 characters are at the present juncture removed as far 
 from the emotional state as possible, yet, perchance, a 
 single spark falling into one heart (pardon our ignor 
 ance, Oh, physiologists, we should have said one mind) 
 may set the whole aflame ; as the historic cow, by 
 overturning a single lamp, is said to have kindled that 
 great fire in Chicago. 
 
 Mortimer was sitting in his office when a plainly 
 dressed man entered; he was a hard-faced man, one 
 of those faces which grow hard from the desperate 
 struggle of the mind over earning sustenance for the 
 body. His first salutation was, " I need some money, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 249 
 
 I think I see a chance to make it ; I hear you re a very 
 smart lawyer, I want you to take my case." 
 
 " State your case," said Mortimer, "and I ll let you 
 know whether it can be honestly made." 
 
 The man did not seem to like the emphasis Mortimer 
 put on the word " honestly." He said, as if apologeti 
 cally, " I don t want to cheat any man, I only want my 
 rights." 
 
 " Well, go on and tell me your story," said Mortimer, 
 " then I can decide whether you have any rights in this 
 case." 
 
 "Mister, the story is this: My little May was run 
 over by a carriage. She was playing in the street 
 poor child! she had nowhere else to play and a 
 carriage drove fast down the street, and, before little 
 May could get out of the road, the wheel had passed 
 over her body. Poor May ! " and the strong man 
 bowed his head and said with a sob, " The doctor says 
 she ll be a cripple for life." 
 
 "Whose carriage was it? " asked Mortimer. 
 
 " That is just what I came to you to have found out," 
 said the man, " for I want to sue its owner for damages." 
 
 " Did not the carriage stop after it ran over the 
 child?" 
 
 " No. It was driven by a darkey, and the place 
 where May was run over was just by a corner, and the 
 darkey dashed round the corner." 
 
 " Was there any one in the carriage ? " asked 
 Mortimer. 
 
 "That I don t know," said the man. " It was one of 
 those shut up carriages, and the curtains were down." 
 
250 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " It s a most inhuman act," said Mortimer, " for 
 any one to run over a child without stopping to see 
 what injury they have done. I don t so much wonder 
 at the darkey s doing it, for he had the fear both of the 
 law and loss of position, but, if the person who 
 owns that carriage is able, they ought to pay for your 
 child s injury. I will take your case." 
 
 " On how much? " said the man, " one-half of what 
 you get?" 
 
 " On nothing," said Mortimer, angrily. " I am doing 
 this not for money, but to help a poor fellow being. 
 I want, however, to know whether you are really so 
 poor as you represent," and, taking his hat, Mortimer 
 said, " I will first go with you and see the child." 
 
 The man led Mortimer to a room in the third story 
 of a tenement house. The room was scrupulously 
 clean, though bare of comfort. The mother, Mrs. 
 William Saunders, was of that honest-faced Scotch 
 peasantry which drink in the Bible and their catechism 
 with their mother s milk. On a mattress in the corner 
 lay her only child, little May, a sweet blue-eyed lassie 
 of eight years, whose bright eyes and cheerful face 
 seemed to give the lie to her father s assertion that she 
 had been seriously hurt. Saunders, seeing the look of 
 incredulity on Mortimer s face, pulled back the bed 
 clothes and pointed to the limbs of little May, which 
 were indeed paralyzed. Mrs. Saunders seemed from 
 the first to take to Mortimer. So did the child. His 
 heart went out to them in deep sympathy. He said, 
 " Mr. Saunders, I will take this case, and, if I find the 
 owner of that carriage to be a responsible person, will 
 do my best to get for you pecuniary redress." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 251 
 
 "I don t want you to do anything dishonest," said 
 the Scotch wife. " I would rather bear this cross 
 uncomplainingly." 
 
 " Hush, wife," said her more cautious spouse. " There 
 is certainly nothing dishonest in trying to get some 
 money for our little May, for, otherwise, if we should 
 die she might be sent to the poorhouse." 
 
 "Mrs. Saunders," interrupted Mortimer, "I promise 
 you I will inflict wrong on no one, but, after finding the 
 owner of the carriage, will first give them the oppor 
 tunity to do something for little May. If they refuse, 
 then will be time enough to determine whether to 
 carry this matter to the courts." 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Saunders Designedly, "you seem 
 to be an honest man, though you are a lawyer. I will 
 leave the case to your best judgment, and may the good 
 Lord direct you." 
 
 " Saunders," said Mortimer, " the first thing to do is 
 to find some competent witness who could identify that 
 carriage." 
 
 " I know one," replied Saunders, " my neighbor, 
 Tim Jones. He was coming to his dinner when May 
 was run over. He saw the carriage and driver, and 
 swears he could identify them again." 
 
 " Send him to my office," said Mortimer. 
 
 Tim came, and, after being put through a severe 
 examination, Mortimer was satisfied that Tim knew 
 enough to identify the carriage. " Now, Tim," he said, 
 " I want you to return here in an hour. In the mean 
 while, I will call a detective." 
 
 At the time appointed Tim reappeared, and said, 
 
252 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Mr. Mortimer, I saw that very carriage just now 
 standing a few doors from your office." 
 
 Hearing this, the detective hurried him away in 
 pursuit, and in a short time returned, saying, " We 
 have got the carriage and Tim has identified it and the 
 darkey. We have brought them both to your door." 
 
 Mortimer hurried down and found a coupe. Its 
 blinds were down ; Mortimer opened its door, and 
 there sat very composedly Miss Alice Dupont ! 
 Miss Dupont said nothing, but hurled a contemptuous 
 glance at Mortimer, who was completely upset. " Miss 
 Dupont," he began, " I beg your pardon. I had no 
 idea that it was your carriage which my man had 
 stopped. Please excuse me and proceed on your 
 way." 
 
 " No, Mr. Mortimer, I shall do no such thing. The 
 grave accusation has been made against my servant 
 that he ran over a child and has injured it for life. If this 
 be the case, I wish all possible reparation to be made. 
 You will oblige me if you will tell me where the child 
 lives. I will meet you there and see what reparation 
 should be made." 
 
 Mortimer gave the number, and, hailing a cab, 
 followed Alice s carriage and arrived at the Saunders 
 in time to offer to assist her in alighting. Alice 
 declined his assistance and coldly said, " If Mr. Mor 
 timer will lead the way to the child s room I will 
 follow." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders was surprised to see Mortimer enter 
 accompanied by a lady. The former was about to 
 make explanations, when Alice, stepping forward, said, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 253 
 
 " I have learned, to my great sorrow, that my servant 
 ran over and seriously injured your child. I was not 
 in my carriage at the time. Had I been I should have 
 stopped and rendered assistance. I come now to do 
 everything in my power to atone for the injury." 
 
 Mrs. Saunders heart was touched. " Sure," she said, 
 " such a fair lady as yourself would not injure any one. 
 Here is the child that was hurt," and she led her to 
 May s bedside. 
 
 " Alice stooped and kissed May. The tears started 
 in her eyes as she saw the paralyzed condition of the 
 little sufferer, and she asked, "What physician have 
 you? " 
 
 The mother answered, " The physician to the poor." 
 
 " Well," said Alice, " I will send my own physician 
 immediately. I will also see that more comfortable 
 quarters are provided for you all," and, glancing at 
 Mortimer with a look of scorn, she added, "Your 
 lawyer need not bring suit. Let him state the damages 
 expected, and, if not wholly unreasonable, they will be 
 paid." 
 
 Mortimer was stung to the quick. He stepped 
 forward and said, "Miss Dupont, Mrs. Saunders will 
 bear witness that I counselled her to make no legal 
 claim for the injury inflicted on her child until the 
 injurer should have the opportunity of offering 
 reparation." 
 
 " Yes," broke in Mrs. Saunders, whose wrath began 
 to rise at having Mortimer assailed. " Far be it from 
 me to touch one penny of your money, miss. I 
 am poor and afflicted, but I can earn my living 
 
254 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 without the help of those who have injured me." 
 
 It was now Alice s turn to feel rebuked. She saw 
 her desire to be avenged on Mortimer had carried her 
 too far. "I beg," she said, "both yours and Mr. 
 Mortimer s pardon for impugning the motives of 
 either, but I do plead for the favor of doing all I can 
 for the little sufferer. May I not, Mrs. Saunders? " and 
 she went and laid her hand affectionately on Mrs. 
 Saunders shoulder and looked up in her face with a 
 winning smile. 
 
 The mother s heart was melted, and she answered, 
 " Sure, and we will be friends, if your ladyship so 
 wish." 
 
 Alice left the room, and Mortimer, soon after, the 
 house. He was thoroughly angered. Pride added to his 
 resentment, for, just before Alice left, he had politely 
 said, " Miss Dupont will please command me in any 
 way that I can be of service to her," and Alice had 
 answered, with a supercilious air, " I cannot imagine 
 anything in which Mr. Mortimer can be of service to 
 Miss Dupont." 
 
 " I am half a mind," said Mortimer, " to enter suit 
 against Miss Alice Dupont for the injury inflicted on 
 little May. It might bring down a little the airs of 
 her ladyship." 
 
 The next day Mr. John Parks called on Mr. Mortimer 
 and handed him a check of $10,000, signed by Miss 
 Alice Dupont. " Miss Dupont," he said, " besides this, 
 agrees to pay a year s rent for the Saunders and to 
 obtain for Mr. Saunders a much better situation than 
 he at present occupies. If Mr. Mortimer does not deem 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGE1A. 255 
 
 this sufficient reparation, Miss Dupont would be glad to 
 be so informed." 
 
 " I am not the one to determine this matter/ answered 
 Mortimer. " That must be left to the parents of the 
 child, but I shall frankly tell them that, in my opinion, 
 Miss Dupont has done already more than could be 
 legally required." 
 
 " I never knew Miss Dupont to do otherwise," said 
 Mr. Parks, glad to get in a side hit at one whom he knew 
 was Alice s former lover. " Indeed, I have been very 
 much impressed in my acquaintance with Miss Dupont, 
 which, lately, I may say, has been quite intimate, that 
 she is a lady of the highest character." 
 
 Mortimer politely bowed, though he felt like pitching 
 Mr. John Parks out of his office window. 
 
 The latter rose and said, " Of course, Mr. Mortimer, 
 if you have any communication to make to Miss 
 Dupont in regard to the acceptance of her offer by 
 your clients, you will address it through me." 
 
 " I believe I understand, Mr. Parks," said Mortimer, 
 with a touch of irony in his tone, " the proprieties of 
 this matter without troubling you for further advice." 
 
 The Saunders were only too glad to accept the 
 generous provision of Alice. Mortimer took care 
 that a full release should be given by them of all claims 
 against the Duponts and even the unlucky driver. This 
 he sent not to Mr. John Parks, but to Mr. Dupont. 
 Her father was shocked at finding the sum Alice had 
 paid, and asked, " Did that rascal Mortimer wheedle 
 you out of it? " 
 
 " No," said Alice. " Mr. Mortimer had nothing to 
 
256 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 do with it, but it was worth ten thousand dollars to me to 
 have an opportunity of showing my scorn for William 
 Mortimer," which remark was decidedly unchristian, 
 coming from a lady lately professing such a change of 
 heart, but it is a remarkable fact that most men and 
 women interpret the command " to love their enemies " 
 as having one important exception, those who have 
 jilted them. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 DR. STRONG SUGGESTS A CURIOUS MENTAL METHOD 
 FOR RECOVERING THE LOST DOCUMENT. 
 
 Though Mrs. Page had recovered her memory, her 
 system remained prostrated by the mental tension she 
 had undergone. It was, therefore, late in the fall 
 before she could be removed to New York. This 
 interval was one of deep anxiety to Ruth, who was 
 impatient to return and search for the missing docu 
 ment. At last, however, with the assistance of Esther 
 (who, through Ruth s earnest entreaty, had accompanied 
 her home), Mrs. Page was safely moved to her New 
 York residence. Hardly had they got settled before 
 Dr. Strong appeared on the scene. Ruth felt a 
 mingled embarrassment and relief in the doctor s 
 presence. His words at the garden gate still rang in 
 her ears, yet she felt the need of some one to counsel 
 her in the present dilemma, and, since Dr. Strong fully 
 understood her mother s history, he seemed to Ruth a sort 
 of providential prop to lean upon. Mortimer also en 
 couraged the doctor s visits to the Pages, as they enabled 
 him to keep informed of the state of affairs in that 
 household, which, in the meanwhile, resolved itself into 
 
258 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCXE-NTIST, 
 
 an investigating committee. Ruth and Esther searched 
 every room, closet, drawer for the missing paper. 
 They took up carpets, they went over Mrs. Page s 
 private papers, but, alas ! no trace of the missing 
 document was found. Of this state of affairs Dr. Strong 
 was cognizant, and he racked his own brain for devices 
 to assist Mrs. Page s memory. Ruth appreciated the 
 doctor s kindness, but, alas ! their views were so 
 opposite on the general operations of the mind that, 
 though many plans were proposed by the doctor, none 
 seemed to impress Ruth favorably. 
 
 One evening the doctor rang the door-bell so violently 
 as to astonish its inmates. Ruth, who happened to be 
 looking through the parlor blind, seeing the agitated 
 condition of her visitor, hastened to open the door 
 herself. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Page," burst out the doctor, as soon as 
 they met, " I have discovered a sure way for stimu 
 lating your mother s memory. Now please hear me 
 patiently, for I realize that I must first convince you 
 that it is not at variance with your theories of the 
 relation of the mind to the body. I have been carefully 
 studying the effects of hypnotism and of the somnam 
 bulistic state, and I find numerous examples of the 
 recovery of lost links of memory when a mind is in this 
 condition. Mr. Braid s experiments in this direction 
 are peculiarly interesting.* Mr. Braid discovered that 
 
 *See Carpenter s full endorsement of the fact of artificial somnambulism in his 
 Mental Physiology, chapter XV. Tuke, in his Influence of the Mind on the Body, 
 says, "The investigations of Mr. Braid did throw a flood of light on the influence 
 of the mind over the body." Tuke also claims that Braid s investigations were but 
 a repetition on an extensive scale of Sir John Hunter s experiments on himself. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 259 
 
 by the subject s own muscular sense, ideas could be 
 suggested to the mind of the hypnotized somnambule. 
 Thus, if the hand be placed on the top of the head, the 
 somnambule will draw himself up and assume a 
 demeanor of the most lofty pride ; or, if his head be 
 bent forward and the hands folded together, the 
 somnambule will assume the attitude of reverent 
 devotion." * 
 
 " But this looks like magnetism, Dr. Strong, and we 
 Christian Scientists will have nothing to do with 
 magnetism." 
 
 " I realize that fact," said the doctor, " and it s not 
 that phase of hypnotism that I want to utilize. All 
 you will need in your mother s case is to avail yourself 
 of one feature of the somnambulistic state, one which 
 exactly accords with your theories of Christian Science, 
 namely, the supremacy of the mind when its native 
 powers are unfettered. It is one peculiarity of som 
 nambulism that no remembrance is preserved of anything 
 that has occurred during its continuance. This state 
 is, in fact, the highest condition of mental action, for 
 the mind is not disturbed or distracted by external 
 objects. Yea, therein mind asserts its supremacy over 
 outward sensation, man is for once independent of 
 his environment, so that the sleeper clambers dizzy 
 heights, traverses narrow planks ; this the mind, 
 distracted by its waking state, would not dare to 
 attempt. I cannot see, Miss Page, a better argument 
 for the truth of your theory as to the native inde 
 pendence of the mind of all external causation than 
 
 * Carpenter, page 6oa. 
 
260 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 this experiment if it should prove successful. You 
 also can aid in this by directing the current of your 
 mother s thoughts, for it has been often noticed that if 
 the mind has been strongly impressed with a subject 
 before falling asleep it will continue that subject in its 
 sleeping hours." 
 
 "Well," said Ruth, thoughtfully, "there does seem 
 to be much in what you say, doctor. I can easily see 
 how God could use this particular state to direct my 
 mother s mind to the place where the document lies 
 hid. Besides, I can tell you something which I have 
 never before mentioned, that, since my mother s late 
 sickness, she has often walked in her sleep." 
 
 When Ruth mentioned this, the doctor was in an 
 ecstasy of delight, and said, " There is, then, a strong 
 probability of your having an opportunity to try this 
 experiment on your mother." 
 
 " Oh, how I wish that opportunity would soon come ! " 
 said Ruth, with a sigh. 
 
 "Well, Miss Ruth," said the doctor, cautiously 
 feeling his way, " one method of inducing somnam 
 bulism is by inducing the patient to maintain a fixed 
 gaze on some object, thus stimulating the faculty of 
 concentrated attention. Mr. Braid always hypnotized 
 his patients by first inducing them to maintain a fixed 
 gaze on some object." 
 
 "But, 1 * said Ruth, "this again seems to me to savor 
 of magnetism." 
 
 14 True," argued the doctor, " but all that magnetism 
 really does accomplish is through utilizing the natural 
 tendencies of the mind. We all know that a fixed 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 26l 
 
 look at anything will accelerate our falling asleep; 
 thus the auditor of a tiresome sermon finds that his 
 efforts to keep awake, by fixing his attention on the 
 speaker, only increases his sleepiness. I do not ask 
 you to abandon one of your mind-cure theories, but I 
 do plead with you to utilize this means of letting your 
 mother s mind, freed from the distractions of this 
 material earth, assert its own prerogative and develop 
 its natural powers. Let me read to you," said the 
 doctor, " a well authenticated case which is quoted in 
 Carpenter s Mental Physiology, of the wonderful 
 stimulating effect to the brain of a somnambulistic 
 state. Carpenter says : * The following was narrated 
 by the Rev. John de Liefde, as the experience of a 
 brother clergyman, on whose veracity he could fully 
 rely: 
 
 " I was a student of the Mennonite Seminary at 
 Amsterdam, and attended the mathematical lectures of 
 Prof. Van Swinden. Now, it happened that once a 
 banking-house had given the professor a question to 
 resolve, which required a difficult and prolix calculation ; 
 and often, already, had the mathematician tried to find 
 out the problem ; but as, to effect this, some sheets of 
 paper had to be covered with figures, the learned man 
 at each trial had made a mistake. Thus, not to fatigue 
 himself, he communicated the puzzle to ten of his 
 students me amongst the number and begged us 
 to attempt its unravelling at home. My ambition did 
 not allow me any delay. I set to work the same 
 evening, but without success. Another evening was 
 sacrificed to my undertaking, but fruitlessly. At last I 
 
262 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 bent over my figures for a third evening. It was 
 winter, and I calculated till half past one in the morn 
 ing all to no purpose! the product was erroneous. 
 Low at heart, I threw down my pencil, which already 
 by that time had beciphered three slates. I hesitated 
 whether I could toil the night through, and begin my 
 calculation anew, as I knew that the professor wanted 
 an answer the very same morning. But lo ! my candle 
 was already burned in the socket, and, alas, the persons 
 with whom I lived had long gone to rest. Then I also 
 went to bed, my head filled with ciphers, and tired in 
 mind I fell asleep. In the morning I awoke just early 
 enough to dress and prepare myself to go to the 
 lecture ; vexed at heart at not having been able to 
 solve the question, and at having to disappoint my 
 teacher. But, oh, wonder ! as I approached my writing 
 table, I find on it a paper, with figures in my own hand, 
 and (think of my astonishment!) the whole problem 
 on it solved quite right, and without a single blunder. 
 I wanted to ask of my hospita whether any one had 
 been in my room, but was stopped by my own writing. 
 Afterwards I told her what had occurred, and she 
 herself wondered at the event, for she assured me no 
 one had entered my apartment. Thus I must have 
 calculated the problem in my sleep, and in the dark to 
 boot; and what is most remarkable, the computation 
 was so succinct, that, what I saw now before me on a 
 single folio sheet, had required three slatefulls closely 
 beciphered on both sides during my waking state. 
 Prof. Von Swinden was quite amazed at the event, and 
 declared to me that whilst calculating the problem 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 263 
 
 himself, he had never once thought of a solution so 
 simple and concise. " * 
 
 The doctor s skilful casuistry, reinforced by this 
 example, converted Ruth to trying the experiment. 
 When Ruth communicated her purpose to Esther Bates, 
 the latter denounced it as a " delusion and a snare." 
 " You are leaving God to trust in an arm of flesh," she 
 said. 
 
 " No," answered Ruth, " dear Esther, God has often 
 used the sleeping state to communicate knowledge to 
 His people ; see how he directed by a dream the Wise 
 Men in respect to the way they should travel, also by 
 the same instrument the journeyings of the parents of 
 our Lord. Does not the Bible clearly teach that God 
 can reveal to man while in sleep knowledge which he 
 could not otherwise obtain." f 
 
 " Well," answered Esther, resignedly, " I will not 
 interfere with your expectations, for I know that God 
 can use even the foolishness of man to accomplish his 
 own purposes." 
 
 Ruth could hardly suppress a smile at the blunt 
 honestness of Esther, however uncomplimentary to 
 herself, and she answered, " Well, Esther, you pray and 
 I will watch." 
 
 * Carpenter s Principles of Mental Physiology, page 593. London edition, 
 f Job, XXXIII, 14-17. 
 
264 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 RUTH S EXPERIMENT ON HER MOTHER. A SOMNAM 
 BULISTIC FEAT. 
 
 With beating heart and hurried footsteps Ruth hied 
 to her mother s room, expecting to find her asleep, for 
 Dr. Strong had prolonged his call to a late hour. To 
 Ruth s surprise her mother was sitting, in her robe d nuit, 
 by the open grate, gazing therein in deep abstraction. 
 " A penny for your thoughts," said Ruth, as she 
 stooped over her mother s chair. 
 
 Mrs. Page raised her eyes to her daughter s and said, 
 in a tone which indicated deep agitation, " Ruth, I was 
 pondering over that lost paper. The more I think of 
 it, the more I am persuaded it is somewhere in this 
 room. I was thinking whether some one might not 
 have entered the room during our absence and 
 abstracted it." 
 
 " Mother," said Ruth, soothingly, drawing her 
 mother s head to her own bosom and gently stroking 
 her brow, " Mother, you must stop worrying about that 
 paper, because your very worry throws your mind off 
 its normal track and confuses your memory. What 
 you now need is sleep. Come, let me try to put you 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 265 
 
 to sleep, as I have often done, by passing my hand 
 lightly over your forehead." 
 
 " Well, I must lie down first," said her mother. 
 
 Mrs. Page threw herself on the bed, and Ruth, having 
 carefully arranged her mother s pillows, sat by her side 
 and gently stroked her forehead. Ruth said nothing, 
 for she did not want to interrupt the current of her 
 mother s thoughts, which had been last occupied with 
 the missing manuscript. Ruth also tried to concen 
 trate her own mind on the subject of the lost 
 manuscript, because, according to her Christian 
 Science, there is a way of communication between the 
 mind or spirit of one and the mind or spirit of another, 
 by which thought may be transmitted and an influence 
 exerted.* 
 
 It was not long before Mrs. Page sank into a gentle 
 slumber which soon passed into a deep sleep. Once 
 Mrs. Page started when a knock came on the door 
 and Esther entered, who had been spending* a night of 
 special prayer for Ruth, and, with her faith, " as large as 
 a grain of mustard-seed," had been mixed some larger 
 grains of female curiosity. Ruth motioned to Esther 
 not to disturb her mother, and, turning to the sleeping 
 one, gently stroked her forehead. Mrs. Page again 
 sank into a deep slumber. Ruth gently glided to 
 Esther s side and whispered, " I think an opportunity 
 will come to-night for testing the effect of the somnam 
 bulistic state on my mother s memory." 
 
 Esther shook her head. She had no faith in such 
 psychological experiments; she stuck to faith and 
 
 *W. T. Evans Divine Law of Cure, page 277. 
 
266 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 prayer. Still, her kind heart sympathized with the 
 anxious daughter, and, gently kissing Ruth, Esther 
 said, " I will return to my room and my knees." 
 
 So they parted, Esther for her devotions, Ruth for 
 her sentinel-like position at her mother s bedside. 
 Ruth noticed that her mother was evidently dreaming. 
 There were starts, sometimes sobs. Indeed, Mrs. Page 
 seemed so agitated by her dream that Ruth was about 
 to awaken her, when a sweet smile stole over her 
 mother s face. A suppressed sigh of relief followed. 
 Then, to the surprise of Ruth, Mrs. Page sat up, then 
 rose up. Ruth was about to place a restraining 
 hand upon her mother, when she noticed that the 
 latter was fast asleep. Her eyes were indeed open, but 
 they had that vacant look which characterizes the 
 somnambulistic state. Ruth, trembling with excite 
 ment, withdrew from her mother s side and watched. 
 
 Mrs. Page walked calmly and steadily to a chair in 
 the centre of the room. Lifting it, she took it to the 
 front of her wardrobe (which stood at the other end of 
 the room), then, mounting the chair and standing on 
 tiptoe, felt with her hand over the top of the wardrobe. 
 A look of disappointment passed over her face. Evi 
 dently she had found nothing. She halted for a 
 moment, as if in perplexity, then, descending from the 
 chair, took a higher one, and, mounting it, reached her 
 hand completely over the wardrobe, so that she could 
 pass it behind its back, then drew forth a waterproof. 
 With intense eagerness Ruth now watched every 
 movement of her mother, who first shook the water 
 proof, as if expecting something to fall from it, but, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 267 
 
 alas ! nothing fell to the ground. With a groan, Ruth 
 saw her mother again begin to fold up the waterproof. 
 
 " Alas ! " she said to herself, " the somnambulistic 
 state did indeed set my mother s mind on a track of 
 thought, but it proves, like those pursued in her 
 waking state, to be the wrong one." 
 
 But look ! Mrs. Page, after folding up the article, 
 paused, hesitated, then unfolded it again, and, putting 
 her hand into a pocket on its inside lining, drew out a 
 bundle of papers. Ruth was now so agitated that she 
 had to support herself by a chair. Mrs. Page, however, 
 seemed perfectly composed. She deliberately seated 
 herself by the centre-table, laid the package on it, 
 untied its cords, broke its seal and took out three 
 papers. The first she glanced at and laid aside ; so 
 with the second. But the third she carefully inspected, 
 then gave a nod, as if of approbation, returned to her 
 bed, carefully put it under her pillow and went on in 
 her sleep, which was as calm as that of a babe on its 
 mother s bosom. 
 
 Ruth was so agitated that she could hardly keep 
 from crying out. However, waiting quietly, until 
 persuaded that her mother would not be disturbed by 
 her movements, she glided to the bed, slipped her 
 hand under Mrs. Page s pillow and withdrew the 
 packet; then carrying it to the table, turned up the gas 
 and proceeded to inspect its contents. The first paper 
 was a letter from Eugene Mortimer to his first wife 
 acknowledging one of her s, which had stated her 
 purpose to leave Grasslands and apply for a divorce. 
 The second was a letter from Eugene Mortimer, ap- 
 
268 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 pointing a final interview with his first wife in order 
 to agree on some provision for her yet unborn child. 
 The third was a paper, from the very reading of the 
 title of which Ruth knew it was the long-sought-for 
 document, this she opened and carefully read. It 
 fully corroborated Mrs. Page s statement that Eugene 
 Mortimer had given her the $50,000, in consideration of 
 her agreeing to a divorce, and for the maintenance of 
 herself and her unborn child. 
 
 Ruth sank on her knees and uttered a fervent prayer 
 of gratitude to God. She was about to awaken her 
 mother when Esther glided into the room ; the latter, 
 while spending the night in prayer, had somehow felt, 
 about that time, that her prayers were answered. She 
 came down to reassure the anxious heart of Ruth and 
 found her with the document in her hand. It was well 
 that Esther came, for she suggested to Ruth to let her 
 mother sleep quietly on till the morning, when, refreshed 
 by her night s slumber, her train of memory could 
 better recall the history of the waterproof. Both 
 Esther and Ruth were with Mrs. Page, when, after her 
 morning breakfast, she sat down to chat with them. 
 
 " Hope you had pleasant dreams last night, mother," 
 said Ruth. 
 
 " No," answered Mrs. Page, " I really had no dreams ; 
 I fell asleep thinking about that lost document, but it 
 went out of my mind when I woke this morning." * 
 
 "Well, mother," said Ruth, "I had a sort of dream 
 about it." 
 
 * It is a remarkable fact that somnambulists never recollect on waking the 
 thoughts which have passed through their minds during previous sleep, or the 
 events with which their actions have been concerned. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 269 
 
 "What was it?" eagerly asked Mrs. Page. 
 
 "Why, I thought that you put that paper in the 
 pocket of a waterproof which you had mislaid before 
 you started for the country." 
 
 Mrs. Page thought for a moment, pressed her hand 
 to her brow, then looking wildly at Ruth, exclaimed, 
 " Oh ! it has all come back to me now. Yes, I 
 remember that in dressing for the train I took that 
 bundle of papers from my bosom and put it in the 
 pocket of a waterproof expecting to replace it in my 
 bosom. You remember, Ruth, that you looked at your 
 watch and found that we barely had time to reach the 
 train, in the hurry I forgot all about the paper until I 
 got into the train and found it was gone, then I thought 
 I would yet find it in my trunk, as that was its usual 
 depository when I removed it from my bosom. I forgot 
 all about putting it in the pocket of the waterproof." 
 Then, again pressing her hands on her brow, she 
 exclaimed, " Where could I have put that waterproof? 
 Ah, yes, I remember now, in my haste I tossed some 
 thing on the top of that wardrobe." 
 
 In a moment Mrs. Page had siezed a chair and 
 placed it by the side of the wardrobe. But Ruth 
 sprang to her side and gently folding her in her arms, 
 said, " Mother, all is well, the document is found, I 
 have it," and she drew the package from her pocket 
 and placed it in her mother s hand. 
 
270 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A LOVE-TIE BROKEN AND A RELATIONSHIP ACKNOWL 
 EDGED. 
 
 On what small hinges turn the doors of our lives ! 
 The finding of that document was, indeed, the turning 
 point in the lives of many of our characters. Esther, 
 after the scene just narrated, hurried to Mortimer s 
 office and recounted the finding of the lost paper. 
 Mortimer at once telephoned for Dr. Strong, who, on 
 hearing Esther s account, exclaimed, " Surely, William, 
 there is now sufficient proof of Mrs. Page s statement 
 to warrant you and Ruth in recognizing your relation 
 ship." 
 
 " Enough to convince my heart," said Mortimer, 
 " which has been longing to claim Ruth s sisterly 
 affection ; still, as a lawyer, I see some missing links to 
 make the chain of evidence complete, yet I am willing, 
 if Ruth is, to at once recognize our relationship. I can 
 see," he added, " some benefit in our meeting now, for 
 it will enable us to consult together concerning further 
 proofs. Besides, there may be a little awkwardness in 
 our meeting as brother and sister for the first time, but 
 if we could now become a little acquainted, when 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 2JI 
 
 further proofs arrive we would be prepared for brotherly 
 and sisterly demonstrations." 
 
 Dr. Strong smiled and said, "Well, there is some 
 thing in your view of the case, would you like me to 
 see your sister, for such I shall henceforth call her, and 
 arrange for your meeting? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Mortimer, " you could not do me a 
 greater favor." 
 
 So the doctor drove hastily to Mrs. Page s. He 
 had hardly entered the parlor when Ruth came in. 
 Her first exclamation was, " Oh, doctor, how can I 
 thank you enough for your suggestion about my mother. 
 It has resulted in the discovery of the paper," and 
 she was beginning to narrate the events of the last 
 night, when Dr. Strong interposed with, "Yes, Miss 
 Page, Esther has been to Mortimer and told him all, 
 and I come to say he thinks the time has arrived when 
 you ought to meet each other; he is sufficiently 
 persuaded of the fact of your mutual relationship." 
 
 Ruth hesitated and pondered. At last she said, 
 " Please, Dr. Strong, tell Mr. Mortimer that I shall be 
 happy to meet him." 
 
 But the doctor still lingered, a desire mounted to his 
 heart to come to some understanding with Ruth. He 
 felt sad, that in this matter of recognized relationship 
 he had no part ; he also saw that the mind of Ruth 
 would now be absorbed with her brother, and feared 
 that he himself might drift out of her thoughts. Ruth 
 was so preoccupied with her own joy that she did not 
 at first notice the doctor s melancholy, but suddenly in 
 the midst of her animated conversation, she paused and 
 
272 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 said, " Why, Dr. Strong, you do not seem to rejoice as 
 much as we do over this." Then fearing she had not 
 shown sufficient gratitude for Dr. Strong s part in the 
 happy denouement, she added, " I am afraid I have not 
 expressed fully how grateful mother and I feel to you. 
 We shall never forget your kindness." 
 
 " Don t speak of it," said the doctor, " there is nothing 
 in the world that I would not do to serve you 
 
 Ruth started, for the doctor s tone and look reminded 
 her of his parting words at the Hubbard s. Uncon 
 sciously she blushed, and ill-concealed her own agitation. 
 The doctor felt encouraged to proceed. " Miss Page," 
 he said, " I am the only one who seems to be left 
 without a newly discovered relationship ; you remember 
 my telling you at the Hubbard s gate that I should 
 keep the flower which you then gave me and always 
 think of the giver ; I confess I have been thinking so 
 much that I cannot longer keep my thoughts to myself. 
 Will you permit me to express them in words?" 
 
 Ruth now fully understood the doctor s mind, but it 
 had a very different effect than the doctor anticipated, 
 for she wanted to avoid that declaration of love which 
 she feared was pending. The concentration of her 
 mind on this point relieved her embarrassment, and, 
 with perfect kindness of manner yet with firmness, she 
 answered, " Dr. Strong, since our talk at the Hubbard s 
 I have been thinking what I would do if the relationship 
 between Mr. Mortimer and myself was established, I will 
 now confide to you my plans. I have come to the firm 
 purpose to devote my whole future life to the practice 
 of Christian Science. I feel that I owe so much to the 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 273 
 
 goodness of God, that I should devote my life to doing 
 good to others. I have some doubts whether I shall 
 ever live under the same roof with my brother, at least 
 not until he marries ; my remaining life will be quietly 
 spent with my mother and devoted to the practice of 
 my profession." 
 
 The doctor looked rather puzzled and asked, " You 
 certainly, Miss Mortimer, do not intend to commit 
 yourself to celibacy, the highest mission of woman is 
 to grace a home." 
 
 " It may be so with some," answered Ruth, " but 
 God has given me a special mission, and see, Dr. Strong, 
 how he has fortified me for it with arguments from 
 my own history; our claim for Christian Science has 
 been established by the wonderful recovery of my 
 mother s reason, under the treatment of that Christian 
 Scientist from Boston, by the recovery of her memory 
 from that mental shock, by the identification of that 
 lost paper through the somnambulistic state all these 
 have certainly proved that the mind has its own faculties 
 independent of the bodily senses." 
 
 These utterances of Ruth were very distasteful to the 
 doctor, but concealing his chagrin, he replied, " Miss 
 Mortimer, permit me to suggest whether you are not 
 seeking an ideal which you can never realize ; your 
 ideal is to guide the intellect to the appreciation of 
 truth ; it seems to me that you are better adapted to 
 guide the heart to the appreciation of love. You would 
 be a priestess in a temple of science, have you not a far 
 higher mission to grace a home?" 
 
 "Dr. Strong," said Ruth, calmly, "I see that you 
 
274 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 have not understood me, I do not dispute your view of 
 the highest mission of womanhood, but you will agree 
 with me that love must be the essential to her rightly 
 fulfilling that mission; now, I confess to you, that 
 though I have met some gentlemen whom I respect, I 
 have never yet seen one that I loved ; indeed, doctor, 
 and here I make a confession at the risk of lowering 
 myself in your opinion, I have come to the deliberate 
 conclusion that there is nothing in my own nature 
 which responds to that sentiment called love ; no, my 
 mission is to teach the mind, not to affect the heart." 
 
 " How, then," said the doctor, cynically, for Ruth s 
 words chilled his own heart, " do you anticipate any 
 pleasure from this newly discovered relationship with 
 my friend Mortimer?" 
 
 Ruth answered, " That is something entirely different, 
 I can love my mother and I think I could a brother, 
 but I have always supposed the love in relationships 
 established by God to be very different from that 
 in relationships established by ourselves; and now," 
 said Ruth, glad to have the opportunity of turning the 
 conversation, " I can see how God has prepared me for 
 sisterly affection toward Mr. Mortimer, for, ever since my 
 three brief meetings with him, he has been more or less 
 in my thoughts. Besides, he will come into my life as 
 a counsellor and protector, so that I will have no need 
 of ever marrying, and thus can devote my whole life to 
 my Christian Science." 
 
 Dr. Strong was himself surprised at the sudden 
 revulsion in his feelings towards Ruth. " Christian 
 Science be hanged," he said to himself, "why, this 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 275 
 
 girl is as much under hallucination as was Simpkins." 
 " Do I understand you, Miss Mortimer," he asked, with 
 a contempt illy concealed, " that you have come to the 
 firm purpose never to marry because you are so wedded 
 to your Christian Science?" 
 
 " Yes, doctor, God has called me to devote my life 
 to His truth, and has indicated it by never awakening 
 in my heart that love which is essential to married 
 life." 
 
 The doctor s offended pride at Ruth s tacit refusal, 
 and at her clinging to a theory against which his 
 materialism revolted, caused an entire change in his 
 feelings toward her the idol he had worshipped lay 
 shattered at his feet. " This girl," he said to himself, 
 "is all head and no heart, even her head is so turned by 
 her mind-cureism that she is merely a beautiful fanatic. 
 I have let myself be influenced by her originality and 
 her magnetism, for I grant she possesses both, but 
 I ve barely escaped a life-long folly, there could be no 
 permanent unity of soul between us." These thoughts 
 passed with lightning rapidity through the doctor s 
 mind, but feeling thankful that he had not gone too far 
 to gracefully retreat, he said, " Miss Mortimer, you, of 
 course, are the only judge in these matters, I would not 
 hinder you from achieving your aspirations ; I trust, 
 though we differ in our beliefs, we shall always continue 
 our friendship." 
 
 " Certainly, doctor," said Ruth, " I hope you under 
 stand I appreciate the great kindness you have already 
 shown me, and I trust that my brother s friend may 
 always continue my own." And so they parted. 
 
276 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Hardly had the doctor left before Mortimer entered. 
 Mortimer approached Ruth with the utmost frankness, 
 held out both his hands to grasp hers, which were as 
 cordially extended. He said, " Ruth, my sister, I thank 
 God for what he has done in proving our relationship." 
 
 " So do I," said Ruth, " and I feej. especially grateful 
 that all this comes so manifestly through His provi 
 dence." 
 
 They sat for a long time together talking over the 
 history of the past. Somehow Ruth felt at once at home 
 with her brother. After Mortimer s experience with 
 Alice, and Ruth s with Dr. Strong, it was an unspeakable 
 comfort to have a relationship established where their 
 affections could go out to each other without the 
 sentimentality which characterizes lovers. Each needed 
 a counsellor, and the mind of each seemed exactly 
 fitted to supplement the other s, for Mortimer s logical 
 mind was balanced by Ruth s quick perceptiveness, and 
 his tendency to sedateness by Ruth s vivacity. 
 
 They had not talked an hour before they realized 
 that a missing link in their lives had been supplied. 
 Each, however, silently noticed the changes that had 
 passed in the other since they last met. Mortimer had 
 grown still handsomer. His face was a little paler, but 
 its strong intellectual cast so predominated that it made 
 him, in Ruth s eyes, the very impersonation of manly 
 beauty. For the first time she realized in Mortimer 
 her ideal of a man. To Mortimer, Ruth seemed equally 
 attractive. The troubles through which she had passed 
 had taken the girlish look from her countenance, while 
 her beauty was thereby increased and the strong intellec- 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGE1A. 277 
 
 tuality of her face was softened by her very trials. She 
 still retained that simplicity of manner which had so 
 charmed Mortimer from the first. They sat for an 
 hour and talked, every moment becoming better 
 acquainted and better understanding each other. 
 
 When he rose to go, he said, " Sister Ruth, it may be 
 too soon to talk about our future plans, but the time 
 must soon or later arrive when we will live under the 
 same roof. I want you to say to your mother that I 
 will be very happy to provide a home for you both, if 
 you will let me share it with you." 
 
 " My dear brother," said Ruth, " do not worry about 
 that now. God has already done so much for us that 
 we can safely leave the future with Him. Let us 
 direct our attention to fortifying the proofs of our 
 relationship." 
 
 " But am I not to be permitted to come and visit }~ou 
 as a sister?" asked Mortimer. 
 
 " Certainly," answered Ruth, " and I want to be all 
 the comfort to you I possibly can." 
 
 Ruth, on returning to her mother s room, found 
 Mrs. Page in rather a gloomy condition. " Why, 
 mother," she exclaimed, " I expected to find your face 
 radiant with smiles this morning. You have found a 
 son and I a brother." Then she eagerly related how 
 promptly Mortimer had come to her after the discovery 
 of the document and what a delightful interview they 
 had enjoyed. 
 
 " Well, Ruth," said her mother, " I know it is wicked 
 in me, but somehow I cannot get over my feelings of 
 dislike to a son of Eugene Mortimer s, but I must 
 
278 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 confess he has treated us both very handsomely. I will 
 try to love him. I suppose my wicked heart feels 
 some jealousy that there is some one now to divide our 
 affection." 
 
 " Not to lessen it, however," answered Ruth. " I 
 shall love you just as much as a mother, though I love 
 Mr. Mortimer as a brother." 
 
 Ruth turned from her mother to search for Esther, 
 whom she found in her room in prayerful meditation. 
 " Esther," said Ruth, " I do feel that we are indebted 
 to your faith and prayer for this precious discovery, and 
 now, dear friend, since God has made you such a help 
 to us in the past, is it not an indication of his providence 
 that you should remain with us through your future 
 life? My brother has already proposed that my 
 mother and I shall live with him, but somehow I do 
 not feel like doing this. I want to keep a home of my 
 own, and, Esther, I see that what I will shortly need is 
 not a maid but a female companion, for I cannot shut 
 my eyes to the fact that my mother s health is fast 
 failing. Come and live with me and be my lifelong 
 friend and counsellor. I have abundance of means, 
 even if my mother dies, to keep up a nice home, for I 
 am her sole heir." 
 
 " Well, Ruth," answered Esther, " I realize that I am 
 growing old, and fear I shall be a burden to you." 
 
 " Never, never," said Ruth. " Now regard it as 
 settled." 
 
 " But I may want to attend camp-meetings," said 
 Esther, " and may at times be absent from you." 
 
 " Attend as many as you please," answered Ruth. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 279 
 
 " I will go with you, and we will put up a sign on our 
 tent, Esther, the Faith-Healer, and Ruth, the Christian 
 Scientist. " 
 
 " Oh, you naughty girl ! " said Esther. " But I 
 cannot help loving you, in spite of your naughtiness." 
 
 And thus it was settled, Mrs. Page herself being 
 pleased with the arrangement, since she realized her 
 failing health and was glad to have Esther left as a 
 protector to her daughter. 
 
280 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WHEREIN SOME VERY IMPORTANT EVENTS OCCUR. 
 
 As Mortimer s visits to his sister grew more frequent 
 the doctor s decreased. His pride felt wounded by 
 Ruth s tacit refusal, the more so as his theory that Ruth 
 was " all head and no heart " was rather contradicted 
 by the wealth of sisterly affection she expended on 
 Mortimer. The doctor, however, still retained his 
 affection for Mortimer and had visited Alice Dupont 
 and explained to her the discovery of the relationship. 
 Dr. Strong was surprised at the little interest Alice 
 manifested. The only remark she made was "I am 
 glad they have come together as brother and sister, for 
 I was persuaded the first time I ever saw them together 
 that William Mortimer was very much taken with the 
 mind doctress." The doctor, however, was sceptical 
 as to the complete ending of Miss Dupont s affection 
 for Mortimer. Indeed, he formed a plan of bringing 
 them again together, but gradually he became convinced 
 that his project would prove fruitless. 
 
 One surprising effect, however, was accomplished by 
 his frequent visits to Alice, the doctor gradually 
 began to see excellencies in Miss Dupont which he had 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 28 1 
 
 never before discovered. Alice began to see excel 
 lencies in Dr. Strong which she only wondered she had 
 never before realized. Mr. Parks grew still more 
 insipid and Dr. Strong still more interesting. The 
 doctor was gaining reputation as a physician, and even 
 the Duponts p"ere and mere did not regard him with an 
 unfriendly eye, the more so because they realized there 
 was no prospect of a match between their daughter and 
 Mr. Parks. The only antagonism remaining in Alice s 
 heart to Dr. Strong was to his materialistic scepticism. 
 This, however, led her to devote more attention to the 
 doctor s conversion, which the doctor rewarded by 
 more attention to Miss Dupont. Finally they became 
 so interested in these mutual benevolent intentions, that 
 it became evident to Alice s parents that the prospects 
 of the doctor s converting their daughter to his views 
 of matrimony would be carried out, before Alice s 
 conversion of the doctor to her views of religion. 
 
 Spring had now arrived, and, in the meanwhile, the 
 other witness to the paper had been found and his 
 signature attested. When Mortimer came to announce 
 this fact to Ruth, he said, " Now, sister Ruth, since the 
 evidences of our relationship are clearly established, 
 why need we live longer apart? Let me carry out my 
 cherished plan of having a home where you, your 
 mother, Esther and myself can live together. Besides, 
 I think it is due to all concerned that our relationship 
 should now be publicly announced." 
 
 " Brother," cried Ruth, " I acknowledge that all this 
 seems reasonable, but you know my Christian Science 
 makes an important distinction between what seems and 
 what is" 
 
282 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " But, my dear sister, you certainly do not now 
 doubt our relationship." 
 
 " God forbid ! " said Ruth, and the tears started in 
 her eyes. " I believe it would kill me if it should ever 
 prove to be a mistake." 
 
 Mortimer himself started and exclaimed, " I believe 
 it would kill me, too," but then, recovering himself, he 
 said, " Ruth, we both are acting foolishly ; it is estab 
 lished. Now let us plan about our future." 
 
 " But, brother," said Ruth, " do try to find some one 
 whom you can marry, and then you can have both a 
 sister and wife to care for you." 
 
 " Why, Ruth," answered Mortimer, " how can I 
 marry when I do not love? " 
 
 " But," said Ruth, " you once loved Alice Dupont." 
 
 " Yes," said Mortimer, " but somehow I do not any 
 longer. I respect Miss Dupont and acknowledge that 
 I misjudged her character, but, while I feel penitent for 
 my part in that love scrape, my penitence does not 
 revive any affection for that lady, and I will now tell 
 you a secret. I find Dr. Strong is visiting Miss Dupont 
 quite frequently. Indeed, he sounded me last night to 
 see whether I could brook his being a rival in my 
 supposed affection for Miss Alice. Dear Strong ! I 
 soon convinced him that I only wished him success." 
 
 Ruth laughed and said, " Well, I confess there is one 
 thing which is beyond the ken of even Christian 
 Science, and that is whom people will marry. Love is 
 certainly something which defies prophecy. But is 
 there not some one else, brother, whom you might 
 love?" 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 283 
 
 " No," answered Mortimer. " I have thought over 
 all my lady acquaintances and see no one who fills my 
 ideal of a woman, unless," he added, playfully, " I can 
 find some one like you, dear sister." 
 
 "Well," said Ruth, "I must then cultivate more 
 acquaintance among female Christian Scientists and try 
 to find a helpmeet for you. But now, brother," she 
 continued, " there is another matter which you must 
 bear with your sister when she speaks plainly about." 
 
 "What is it?" asked Mortimer. "I know you used 
 to give lectures, but as yet you have not tried one on 
 me. Proceed, Miss Lecturer." 
 
 " I don t want to lecture you," said Ruth, " for my 
 sisterly affection is too great to attempt that task, but I 
 do urge you to take more care of your health. You 
 are taxing it severely by your large law practice." 
 
 "You are right," said Mortimer. "I have to-day 
 had a warning in an attack of vertigo. What would 
 you advise me to do ? " 
 
 " Go out into society," said Ruth. " You need some 
 diversion, and," she added with a smile, " perhaps you 
 will thus find not only health but a wife." 
 
 " I think I ll take your advice," said Mortimer, " and 
 go in a few evenings to a party at the Descheills ." 
 
 The next day Mortimer was very busy in court. He 
 sat up late that night, rose early the next morning, was 
 kept busy all that day in his office, then ate a hasty 
 dinner, then went to his bachelor lodgings and began 
 dressing for the party. But he was again interrupted 
 by a client, who came to see him about a case he was 
 to plead on the morrow. At a late hour, jaded and 
 
284 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 worn out, Mortimer dashed away in his carriage to the 
 Descheills party. He himself noticed a little unsteadi 
 ness in his gait, and that his head swum a little, but he 
 managed to enter the parlor and salute his hostess. 
 After spending a half-hour in that light chatting with 
 the fair sex which requires no exertion of brain, 
 Mortimer, feeling oppressed by the heat of the room, 
 was thinking of returning home, when, while passing a 
 group of persons, he noticed in it Miss Alice Dupont. 
 She acknowledged his slight bow of recognition. Her 
 companion, who happened to be a society fop, Tennis 
 Doyle by name, called out, " Mr. Mortimer, you re just 
 the gentleman we need advice from at the present 
 time." 
 
 "Why so?" inquired Mortimer 
 
 " We were discussing," said Doyle, with an affected 
 drawl, " whether the man who shot Miss Dupont s cat 
 ought to be -hung or not. Now, part of the jury are 
 haters of cats and say that a man who shoots one should 
 be regarded as a public benefactor. You, we suppose, 
 are impartial on the subject of cats, and, as you are 
 certainly competent legal authority, we desire your 
 opinion on the case." 
 
 Mortimer banteringly replied, " Mr. Doyle, I believe 
 you are the descendant of an Irish lord. You must, 
 then, be acquainted with the famous verdict of the Irish 
 jury, Not guilty, but don t do it again. " 
 
 A general laugh ensued, joined in by all but Alice. 
 
 "Why don t you also laugh, Miss Dupont?" said 
 Doyle. " You seem to be taking this matter very 
 seriously." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 285 
 
 " I don t see anything to laugh at," said Alice. " If 
 a man is guilty I think he ought to be punished, so that 
 he will not have the opportunity of doing it again" 
 giving a significant look at Mortimer. 
 
 " Then you would leave no place for repentance, 
 Miss Dupont?" said Mortimer, with a significant look 
 at Alice. 
 
 Alice made no answer, but, turning to Mr. Doyle, 
 said, "Will you give me a little rest from this legal 
 knowledge and offer me your arm, as I would like to 
 see what has become of my mother." 
 
 A sudden freak seized Mortimer to have it out with 
 Alice. That determination which comes from a frenzied 
 brain, which, in its excitement, knows no barriers and 
 respects no decorum, seized Mortimer, and he said to 
 himself, " I will have an answer from that girl to my 
 question before she leaves this room." He turned and 
 followed Alice and Doyle. Soon they stopped and 
 Alice, as if weary, seated herself. She saw Mortimer 
 approaching, and the wildness in his eye made her fear 
 some catastrophe, but there was no way of escape. 
 Mortimer came up, and, perfectly regardless of the 
 many eyes that were resting upon them both, planted 
 himself in front of Alice and said, " Miss Dupont, I 
 must have an answer to my question. Is there no 
 place for repentance?" 
 
 Alice, rising up with dignity and looking Mortimer 
 steadily in the face, said, "When a man wrongs a 
 woman in private and then insults her in public, if that 
 woman feels as I do now, there would never be any 
 place for repentance for that man." 
 
286 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Mortimer turned on his heel and walked off as one 
 dazed. He started for the door, even forgetting to bid 
 his hostess good-night. He was actually going out of 
 the door without hat or coat, when the servant stepped 
 up and said, " Mr. Mortimer, are you looking for your 
 carriage? Let me call it while you are getting your 
 wraps." Mortimer had once helped this man out of a 
 legal scrape. He, seeing that something was the 
 matter with Mortimer, carefully assisted him into his 
 carriage and whispered to the coachman, " Thomas, I 
 am afraid your master has been taking something too 
 strong to-night. See that he gets into his bed safely." 
 
 The coachman, who was a pious Scotchman, was 
 shocked. " Ah," he said, " this shows what these 
 parties will bring a man to. My minister denounces 
 theatres and operas, but I believe more men and 
 women are ruined by these late suppers than by a 
 hundred theatres." 
 
 It was with great care that Thomas helped his 
 master out of the carriage and put him into the hall 
 with his hands on the banisters, but as Mortimer tried 
 to ascend the staircase he fell headlong. Thomas lifted 
 up his master, and, as he carried him to his room, 
 noticed that Mortimer s breath did not smell of drink 
 and that his arms seemed paralyzed. He ran for a 
 physician, who, on seeing Mortimer, said, "This may 
 prove a very serious case. I desire to have his regular 
 physician called ; he knows better than I the former 
 state of the patient." 
 
 Thomas immediately ran for Dr. Strong. He had 
 just returned from escorting Alice home, who had told 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 287 
 
 him of Mortimer s behavior. " He was drunk," said 
 Alice. " I never thought that William Mortimer would 
 be found in such a condition." Dr. Strong was much 
 angered by hearing of Mortimer s conduct to Miss 
 Dupont. Nevertheless, when Thomas came after him, 
 he responded to the call. 
 
 As soon as he saw Mortimer s condition his anger 
 departed. He gave Dr. Buccom, the other physician, 
 a rapid sketch of the pressure that Mortimer s brain 
 had undergone through overwork. 
 
 "Just what I supposed," said Dr. Buccom. " Here 
 is a plain case of neurasthenia, conjoined with cerebras- 
 thenia, with some tendency to myelasthenia." 
 
 These terrible names seemed to Thomas, who was 
 standing by, the death warrant of his beloved master, 
 and, knowing that an intimate friendship existed between 
 Ruth and Mortimer, and thinking she ought to be 
 informed of his approaching death, he hastened early 
 in the morning to Mrs. Page s. " Oh, Miss Page," he 
 exclaimed, with the tears running down his face, " my 
 dear master is going to die." 
 
 "You surely do not mean my brother," exclaimed 
 Ruth, forgetting in her excitement the secret of their 
 relationship. 
 
 " No," said Thomas, " not your brother, but my 
 master, Mr. Mortimer." 
 
 "Oh, tell me, Thomas," exclaimed Ruth, "what z> 
 the matter and how it happened." 
 
 Thomas rapidly detailed how Mortimer had tottled 
 to his carriage after the party and his subsequent attack. 
 
 " Who is there with him? " asked Ruth. 
 
 " Dr. Buccom and Dr. Strong." 
 
288 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Go, then, Thomas, and ask Dr. Strong to come and 
 see me. But wait, tell me why you think your 
 master is going to die." 
 
 " Oh, Miss Page, if you d only heard the awful names 
 Dr. Buccom gave to my master s disease ! He must 
 be at death s door." 
 
 An hour of the most intense anxiety passed. Fortun 
 ately Esther was near to soothe Ruth, who was in a 
 paroxysm of anguish. " Let us not despair, dear 
 Ruth," said Esther, " until we see Dr. Strong, it may 
 not be so bad as Thomas imagines." 
 
 When Dr. Strong came Ruth rushed up to him saying, 
 " Oh, doctor, tell me, is my brother living ! Oh, let 
 me go to him, I will die if he dies ! " and the poor girl 
 wrung her hands. 
 
 " Why, Miss Mortimer," said the doctor, soothingly, 
 " you re mistaken about your brother, his condition is 
 dangerous but not necessarily fatal ; indeed, he already 
 seems better, though his paralysis, which I believe to 
 be more the result of nervous exhaustion than organic 
 lesion, still continues." 
 
 " Doctor, are you telling me the truth ? Thomas has 
 just been here, he overheard the diagnosis of Dr. 
 Buccom, and he says Dr. Buccom declared my brother 
 had a complication of awful diseases." 
 
 Despite the solemnity of the occasion, Dr. Strong 
 could not help smiling. " Why, Miss Mortimer," he 
 replied, " all that Dr. Buccom meant by those medical 
 terms was that your brother is suffering from nervous 
 exhaustion, accompanied with exhaustion of the brain 
 and tending to exhaustion of the spinal cord." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 289 
 
 Ruth felt immensely relieved, but Esther, who never 
 neglected an opportunity to hit the doctors, said, " You 
 have, anyway, nearly killed Ruth with your big medical 
 terms. I don t see why you doctors complain that you 
 can t understand that simple word, faith, when you 
 expect people to understand such big Greek and Latin 
 words." 
 
 But Ruth interposed, as she always did when Esther 
 and the doctor began their wordy battles. " Doctor," 
 she said, " you can see the trying position I am placed in, 
 I want to go this very moment to my brother, but 
 would it be proper?" 
 
 "Not at all," answered the doctor, "the flat he 
 occupies is filled with gentlemen, and a young lady 
 would there be sadly out of place." 
 
 " What shall I, can I do ! " exclaimed Ruth, " to 
 think of his lying sick and I having no opportunity to 
 help him ! " 
 
 The doctor pondered and said, " Miss Mortimer, I 
 think it would not be out of place for Mrs. Bates to 
 visit him ; indeed, she might remain with him through 
 the day, I will see that he has a male nurse at night." 
 
 " But, Dr. Strong, how I wish I could try my 
 Christian healing on my brother, it is just the case my 
 science can benefit." This was too much for the 
 doctor, he turned and abruptly left. 
 
 A week of intense anxiety passed. Under the 
 influence of narcotics sleep was induced, yet it had not 
 the restfulness of natural slumber. His organs of 
 speech and arms were still partially paralyzed, though 
 the left arm had more ability to move than the right. 
 
290 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " It is," said Dr. Buccom, " what Dr. Hammond* terms 
 anapeiratic paralysis, where the organs most used are 
 the ones affected, such as writer s or telegrapher s 
 paralysis. Now, our patient has been lately using his 
 organs of speech in pleading, and his arms in writing, 
 or gesturing, hence these reflect the nervous exhaustion 
 of the brain." 
 
 But much to the puzzle of both the wise doctors, 
 though Mortimer came in his recovery up to a certain 
 point, they could not get him beyond it. Both brain 
 and body seemed to be in a state of inertia, yet by 
 smiles and frowns which passed over his face, and by 
 nods in answer to questions, the physicians saw their 
 patient s mind was still active. While reflecting on the 
 case, Dr. Strong recalled the recuperative effect of the 
 shock given to Mrs. Page by the sight of himself. " I 
 wonder," he said, " if, after all, the meeting of Ruth 
 with her brother might not have a decidedly beneficial 
 effect." 
 
 The opportunity came for him to suggest this plan 
 to Dr. Buccom, for Dr. Buccom chanced to remark, " I 
 believe we have not discovered the originating cause 
 of this attack, let me ask you frankly, Dr. Strong, was 
 our patient ever in love? " 
 
 " Yes," answered Dr. Strong. 
 
 " Did this attack come on in the presence of the 
 person he loved?" Dr. Buccom further inquired. 
 
 " No, not exactly, he met a lady whom he had 
 formerly loved, but between whom and himself all such 
 sentiment has passed, at least so Mortimer affirms." 
 
 * Diseases of the Nervous System, W. H. Hammond, M. D., page 786. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 29! 
 
 " That may all be so," said Dr. Buccom, " yet in his 
 stage of cerebral excitement the mere sight of her 
 might have been a spark to ignite the combustible 
 matter in his brain. Here," he continued, " is really 
 the secret of a large class of cases which are considered 
 new attacks. I was called the other day to a man who 
 had become crazy by having suddenly communicated 
 to him by his daughter, her secret marriage with a man 
 he disliked. Every one blamed the girl for so startling 
 her father, and called her a murderess. Now, the fact 
 is that if something else had happened to startle him 
 a vivid lightning flash, an earthquake he would as 
 easily have become deranged ; the combustible was 
 there only waiting for the igniting spark. 
 
 " I could mention a dozen business men whom I 
 meet walking around the streets of New York, they are 
 under the pressure of great mental strain; some event 
 may drop a spark into the combustible material, it may 
 be a financial loss, or a sudden shock; they may jump 
 off a ferry-boat, or cut their throats, or blow out their 
 brains. People will blame the agent which drops the 
 match, while the true cause has been the inordinate 
 previous brain pressure. Paradoxical as it may seem, 
 most men commit suicide long before they die. If our 
 medical science is to be effective it must go hand in 
 hand with moral science. We direct our efforts often 
 entirely to man s physical condition, when we ought 
 rather to be aiming at his moral regeneration; we 
 prescribe opium and chloral to make him sleep, when 
 we ought to be enforcing temperance in his brain work. 
 I could cite to-day a hundred intemperate people in 
 
292 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 brain work to one intemperate in drink. This William 
 Mortimer, as I learn from his servant Thomas, professes 
 to be a total abstainer, but I tell you he is one of the 
 most intemperate men that walk the streets of New 
 York, even though he never permits a drop of liquor to 
 pass his lips." 
 
 "You are perfectly right," responded Dr. Strong, 
 " and now we are talking about moral and mental 
 influences, I would like to suggest what has been 
 suggested to me by knowing something of Mortimer s 
 past history. He has a sister to whom he is intensely 
 attached and she to him. It was only lately through a 
 peculiar chain of circumstances that their relationship 
 was discovered. Indeed, it was this discovery, and the 
 resulting excitement of his emotional faculties, which I 
 believe greatly aided in the strain on his mind which 
 culminated in this attack. How w r ould it do, Dr. 
 Buccom, to try the effect of her presence on him? " 
 
 "Just the thing," answered Dr. Buccom, "I was 
 reading only yesterday Prof. Carpenter s explanation 
 of the curious fact that the muscles of the body may 
 be paralyzed beyond the power of the will, yet not 
 beyond the power of the emotions.* Now," added the 
 doctor, "if we could bring some power to act both on 
 the volitional and the emotional parts of this man s 
 nature, it might have the most happy result; suppose 
 you do procure the presence of his sister." 
 
 "But, Dr. Buccom, I must in candor tell you, this 
 sister of his is a mind-curer." 
 
 " Horrors ! " exclaimed Dr. Buccom. 
 
 * Carpenter s Mental Physiology, page 331. (Sec. 363.) American edition. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 293 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. Strong, " and what is worse, if her 
 presence should prove beneficial, she would ascribe it 
 to her Christian Science, as she terms it." 
 
 " Horror of horrors ! " reiterated Dr. Buccom, "yet," 
 he added, " I am not willing to grant that our medical 
 science is afraid of such a senseless vagary as the 
 mind-cure ; Dr. Strong, I am willing to try this 
 experiment of his sister s presence if you are." Dr. 
 Strong immediately waited on Ruth and proposed that 
 she should visit her brother. 
 
 Ruth was surprised at the proposition, especially 
 after the doctor s previous demonstration of the im 
 propriety of her presence in Mortimer s bedroom. 
 "What has so changed your mind?" asked Ruth. 
 
 The doctor had to explain, with many haws and 
 hems, that they hoped the sight of his sister would so 
 awake Mortimer s emotional faculties that it would aid 
 his volitional powers. Ruth said nothing, but turning 
 to conceal the smile on her countenance, hurried from 
 the room and soon reappeared ready to go to her 
 brother. As she stepped from the elevator in the flat, 
 Dr. Strong said, " Please wait here a moment till I see 
 whether your brother is in a proper state to see you ; " 
 he soon reappeared with Dr. Buccom, whom he 
 introduced to Ruth ; the latter cautioned Ruth to enter 
 the room quietly, and to be ready to leave when he 
 motioned to her to do so. 
 
 As Ruth entered the room, Mortimer was lying 
 apparently motionless, with his eyes turned upward as 
 if he was lost in thought. He did not notice Ruth s 
 entrance, and this gave her the opportunity to consider 
 
294 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 his appearance. Oh, how her heart sank as she saw 
 the pallor of his face and the evident weakness of his 
 body. But the comforting thought came to her God 
 has in His providence brought me here, He will use me 
 for my brother s healing. Dr. Buccom motioned to 
 Ruth not to say a word ; he handed her a chair, but in 
 so doing made a noise, which attracted Mortimer s 
 attention and caused him to turn his eyes towards the 
 door. When he saw Ruth, his face flushed, every 
 lineament quivered with excitement. Lo ! his mouth 
 opens, with a voice trembling with excitement he 
 exclaims, " O, Ruth, Ruth, have you come at last, 
 how I have been longing for you ! " The poor girl 
 was overcome with excitement and before Mortimer s 
 physicians could hinder her she sprang forward to him 
 the paralyzed arms stretched themselves out and 
 Mortimer clasped Ruth to his heart* 
 
 Dr. Buccom stepped forward to take her away, 
 saying, " This meeting has so far had a beneficial effect, 
 but it must not be prolonged." 
 
 "No, no, doctor," said Mortimer, "you mistake, do 
 leave my sister by my side, I feel calmer and better for 
 her very presence." So Ruth took her seat by her 
 brother s bedside, and for a long time he lay gazing at 
 her as if the very sight was a feast to his soul ; 
 gradually the eyelids began to droop and he sank into 
 a gentle slumber. When he awoke, Mortimer was a 
 new man mentally and physically; it took weeks, 
 however, for him to regain his strength. The visits of 
 
 * For cases of paralysis removed by experiencing strong emotion, see Tuke, 
 Chap. XVI, Sec. ii. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 295 
 
 Ruth proved so beneficial that she came every day 
 with Esther and spent an hour with her brother. 
 
 It was not till Mortimer was quite recovered that 
 Ruth told him of the scene at the Deschiell s party. 
 " I tell you this," said Ruth, " because I think it ought 
 to be known for the credit of Dr. Strong, who I learn 
 is engaged to Miss Dupont, and who, notwithstanding, 
 seems to have no feelings of revenge for your treatment 
 of her." 
 
 The doctor came in just then and Mortimer said, 
 " Strong, Ruth has just told me of what occurred at 
 the Deschiell s party, I beg you to make my most 
 sincere apologies to Miss Dupont, and assure her that 
 I did not know what I was doing, I was entirely out of 
 my mind." 
 
 " Both Miss Dupont and myself understand it all and 
 we have forgiven you ; " and he added laughingly, 
 " I suppose Esther Bates would call it * a special 
 providence/ for while explaining your conduct to Miss 
 Dupont, I found the opportunity to explain to her the 
 state of my own bewildered brain and heart, and now 
 Miss Dupont has calmed me as (looking at Ruth) your 
 sister s presence has calmed you, and I expect to invite 
 you both to our wedding next fall." 
 
 Mortimer and Ruth heaped sincere congratulations 
 on the doctor. " But, Mortimer," said Dr. Strong, " I 
 want you now to prove that you have renounced all 
 affection for my fiancee by surrendering that picture 
 which you once showed me." 
 
 " Certainly," said Mortimer, " I forgot I had it," and 
 as he took Alice s photograph out of the drawer, 
 
296 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Mortimer was surprised to think that the sight of that 
 face had ever affected him. 
 
 " Now, doctor," said Mortimer, " since you have the 
 prospect of a home, I want you to aid me in inducing 
 this sister of mine to give me a home. I must get out 
 of these bachelor quarters, I may have another attack 
 and the last one has proved that I need the presence 
 of my sister. Dear Ruth," he added, looking at her 
 affectionately, " I owe my life to you and we must never 
 be separated again, at least if you want my life to 
 continue." 
 
 " Brother," said Ruth, " let us not talk of that now, 
 for whatever may be in the future, the great necessity 
 for the present is your taking a trip to Europe, and 
 perhaps you may there find a bride, then, if she agrees 
 to it, your sister will come and with you spend the rest 
 of her days. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 297 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 A HORRIBLE REVELATION. 
 
 Moral insanity is the despair of medical science. 
 Look at the testimony of the medical experts in 
 the Guiteau trial, when wise men not only from the 
 East, but also from the North, West and South, 
 gathered in Washington City to decide whether the 
 assassin was sane. Any unbiased mind, viewing the 
 mass of contradictory opinions on Guiteau s mental and 
 moral condition, must come to the conclusion that 
 medical science has not yet determined how far moral 
 states are responsible for physical derangement. 
 Neither has it learned to draw the dividing line 
 between depravity and insanity. Dr. Hammond, in 
 his voluminous " Treatise on Nervous Diseases," (page 
 336) says "what Dr. Prichard formerly described as 
 moral insanity can now be classed under imbecility." 
 Since the medical profession cannot arrive at some 
 definite agreement on this point, is it to be wondered at 
 that people outside of it, are impatient at a delay which 
 makes orderly citizens timorous about being assassi 
 nated by some insane crank, so-called. Or is it to be 
 wondered at that the public outside of said medical 
 
298 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 profession has become impatient of the new-fangled 
 vocabulary, "kleptomania, dypsomania and homicidal 
 dementia" and is returning to the old terms, stealing, 
 drunkenness and murder? 
 
 Besides, that somewhat old-fashioned book (in some 
 people s opinion), the Bible, is still held in reverence 
 by many, which book has a very summary way of 
 dealing with much that now passes for insanity, by 
 ascribing it to total depravity and to the devil. " Out 
 of the heart," said the Great Teacher, " proceed 
 murders, thefts, etc." Judas, who would now stand a 
 chance of being classed by medical experts as insane 
 (indeed, as presenting an illustrious example of mania 
 combined with melancholia, the mania impelling him to 
 his betrayal, the melancholia to his suicide), this Judas 
 has his case thus summarily disposed of by the Bible, 
 " The devil entered into him." There is, however, we 
 allow, one difficulty in applying this theory about Judas 
 to the present generation; namely, that if all the 
 people in these United States whom the devil enters 
 into were adjudged to be insane, the country might be 
 bankrupted in building Insane Hospitals. But to the 
 case in hand. If, after reading it, the physician prefers 
 classifying it under monomania, let him not quarrel 
 with those who may apply to it the verdict of the Bible 
 on Judas. 
 
 After Mortimer s departure for Europe, Ruth devoted 
 herself entirely to her mother, whose rapidly failing 
 strength betokened her approaching death. The only 
 apparent thought Ruth gave to Mortimer was to write 
 him a long weekly letter, irj, which she kept him posted 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 299 
 
 on all events about which he would be interested. The 
 only by-play in her letters was the reminder that he had 
 two duties to perform, first, to regain his health ; 
 second, to bring back with him a wife. Mortimer felt at 
 first disappointed at the want of affection in Ruth s 
 letters, yet, as he read carefully between the lines, he 
 could perceive a deep undertone of love murmuring 
 through them all. 
 
 His letters, and they were more frequent than Ruth s, 
 dwelt mostly on his travels, yet incidentally mentioned 
 how constantly his sister was in his thoughts. They 
 also contained some by-play in the descriptions of 
 ladies he met and his efforts to fall in love with them, 
 so far unsuccessfully. 
 
 After Mortimer had been absent four months, all of 
 a sudden Ruth s letters stopped. He waited a week, 
 and became so anxious that he was about to engage 
 passage home, when the following despatch reached 
 him: 
 
 WILLIAM MORTIMER, 
 
 Care of American Exchange in Paris : 
 Something terrible has happened. Come right home. 
 
 (Signed) DR. STRONG. 
 
 We will leave Mortimer for the moment while we 
 investigate the cause of Dr. Strong s despatch. As 
 stated before, Mrs. Page rapidly sank, and a few months 
 after Mortimer s departure, passed from earth. Ruth 
 and Esther tenderly nursed her to the close of her 
 mortal life, which was clouded by a deep gloom. 
 Singularly, Ruth s presence seemed to annoy her, for 
 when she entered the room her mother averted her face. 
 
30O RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 It was hard for Ruth to watch anxiously at the death 
 bed of a parent, where no tenderness of love was to 
 characterize their parting, yet her noble spirit rose to 
 the emergency. She did not worry her mother with 
 her presence, but like a guardian angel saw that every 
 thing was done to ease her closing days. Esther, 
 taking in the situation, served Ruth by constantly 
 serving her mother. 
 
 At last the end came. Poor Ruth was overwhelmed 
 with a sense of loneliness. " Esther," she said, " you 
 are the only one left in the world to me ; oh, promise 
 me now that you will never leave me." 
 
 " Certainly, my dear child," said Esther, as she folded 
 Ruth in her motherly arms, " but you forget that you 
 have a brother." 
 
 " I do not forget this," said Ruth, " oh, how I praise 
 God for revealing my relationship to William Mortimer 
 before I was left an orphan ; but, Esther, I do not know 
 why it is, somehow there has been a shadow on my 
 heart ever since the sun broke through the clouds of 
 this mystery of my parentage ; I have really been 
 afraid to let my heart go out to William Mortimer 
 as a brother as I would like, yet I cannot control 
 my affection ; " and she added, " Esther Bates, as 
 much as I loved my mother, I never have loved 
 her as intensely as I do my brother, William Mor 
 timer." 
 
 This conversation took place on the evening of the 
 day in which they had buried Mrs. Page in Greenwood. 
 Esther, ascribing Ruth s gloom to the peculiar nature 
 of her parting with her mother, and the strain of the 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 3OI 
 
 day s sad scene, answered soothingly, " Ruth, let us go 
 to bed now, you are worn out, and you need to have 
 your mind clear for to-morrow, when you will have to 
 decide your plans about the future." 
 
 " Yes," said Ruth, " I must examine, to-morrow, 
 mother s papers, and see what I must do about the 
 property she has left me in her will," then added with 
 a sigh, " oh, how much I need my brother just 
 now." 
 
 " Well, forget your brother and everything else, and 
 try to rest your mind on God," said Esther. 
 
 " Ah, that is the true way," answered Ruth, and they 
 knelt together and in communion with their Elder 
 Brother found " rest for their souls." 
 
 The next morning Ruth awoke quite well and cheerful. 
 After their breakfast they went into the library, and 
 Ruth brought out the box which contained her mother s 
 will ; she was about to open it when Dr. Strong was 
 announced. " Oh, I cannot see him now," exclaimed 
 Ruth, " though I appreciate his kindness in calling ; " 
 but then she stopped and said, " Esther, I do not know 
 but this call is providential. I am little acquainted 
 with legal forms but think there ought to be a witness 
 to the opening of this will, though, after all, there can 
 be no contest about it, for I am the only daughter of 
 my mother and she has often told me she made me 
 her sole heir and executrix." 
 
 Dr. Strong having been invited up to the library, 
 Ruth unlocked the box, the key of which Mrs. Page 
 had taken from her bosom and handed to Esther the 
 day before she died, saying, " Esther, I have always 
 
3O2 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 kept my will a secret from Ruth. Why so, you will 
 understand when my papers are examined." The first 
 paper Ruth took out was Mrs. Page s will. She opened it, 
 read its first line, started to her feet, exclaiming, " Why ! 
 what does this mean? " her hand trembling so that she 
 could not hold the paper. 
 
 Dr. Strong, seeing something was wrong, motioned 
 to Esther to support Ruth, and, picking up the paper 
 from the floor, said, " Miss Mortimer, shall I read it for 
 you?" 
 
 " Thank you," said Ruth, faintly leaning her head on 
 Esther s shoulder. 
 
 Dr. Strong read Mrs. Page s will. It bequeathed all 
 her real and personal estate to her adopted daughter, 
 Ruth Morton. 
 
 At the bottom of the will was a note to the effect 
 that in another paper marked "A" in the same box 
 would be found an explanation of the name of " my 
 adopted daughter." Ruth sprang to the box, drew out 
 the next paper and tremblingly handed it to the 
 doctor. 
 
 He glanced over it, then said, "Shall I read this? 
 There seems to be something here you might wish to 
 have kept secret." 
 
 " No," said Ruth, " there is nothing I wish kept 
 secret. I only desire that every secret thing shall be 
 brought to light. If my mother has just cause for thus 
 disinheriting me, all right ; but I only wonder that she 
 kept me thus long in ignorance of this adopted daughter 
 of hers." 
 
 Dr. Strong read as follows : 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 303 
 
 " I, Mary Page, formerly the wife of Eugene 
 Mortimer, make this my last and true confession. 
 I acknowledge that I have hitherto lied in my state 
 ments about the child born to myself and Eugene 
 Mortimer, after my divorce from him. Therefore, let 
 me first state that fortunately witnesses are still living 
 and records are in existence which can prove that, 
 however I may have lied in the past, what I am now 
 about to state is absolute truth. After my separation 
 from Eugene Mortimer I went to Chicago, where a 
 child was born. This child died three years afterward. 
 I was then in California, living in a hamlet called 
 Scioto. In order to keep the money which Eugene 
 Mortimer gave me, fearing, as I did, that his 
 son William might claim the $50,000, I had the child 
 quietly buried, then left Scioto, removing to St. Louis, 
 where I obtained from an orphan asylum a female 
 infant but a year old. The parents of this child, 
 Robert and Elizabeth Morton, were descendants of a 
 good English family. They had left their native 
 country with a view of making their fortune in America. 
 Here, however, they lost all their property and died 
 within a week of each other, leaving their only child so 
 destitute and friendless that it was sent to the orphan 
 asylum. There I found it and from thence took it to 
 adopt it as my own. I gave it the name of Ruth M. 
 Page, thinking that I could use the M. either to mean 
 Mortimer or Morton, as I might find best for my 
 own interests. Do you ask why I did all this? I 
 confess before God that it was my covetous desire to 
 keep the $50,000 and my hatred of Eugene Mortimer, 
 
304 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 whose purpose for his daughter I thus delighted in 
 cheating. I did this because I loved to do it.* 
 
 " Since I have met William Mortimer and witnessed 
 his kindness to myself and Ruth, I feel that I have done 
 him a wrong and that the sin of his father ought not to 
 be visited on his head ; I realize also the wrong I have 
 done to Ruth, who has repaid my life-long injury to 
 her by a life-long devotion to me ; I can only try to 
 atone for it by beseeching William Mortimer not 
 to disturb her, a poor, lone girl, in the possession 
 of the money I leave her. I would have made this 
 confession before, but I could not bear the thought of 
 the upbraiding which would come to me from this 
 adopted daughter ; but now as my days are drawing to 
 a close, and as I believe William Mortimer will not take 
 the money from a poor, unprotected orphan, I have 
 divulged this secret, and as a slight reparation for the 
 injury I have done Ruth Morton Page, my adopted 
 daughter, I leave to her all my fortune, and I direct 
 her to these proofs for establishing her true parentage 
 First, the records of death in St. Louis will show that 
 Robert and Elizabeth Morton died there in the year 
 1840 of smallpox, within a week of each other, leaving 
 an only child a daughter. Second, the records of 
 
 * Dr. Ray in his "Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity," fifth 
 edition, Boston, 1871, (page 223), says: "I once asked a patient, who was con 
 stantly saying or doing something to annoy or disturb others, while his intellect 
 was apparently as free from delusion or any other impairment as ever, whether in 
 committing his aggressive acts he felt constrained by an irresistible impulse 
 contrary to his convictions of right, or was not aware at the moment that he was 
 doing wrong. His reply should sink deeply into the hearts of those who legislate 
 for or sit in judgment on the insane : I neither acted from an irresistible impulse 
 nor upon the belief that I was doing right. I knew perfectly well I was doing 
 wrong, and I might have refrained if I had pleased. I did thus and so because I 
 loved to do it. It gave me an indescribable pleasure to do wrong. " 
 
CR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 305 
 
 the city and of that Orphan Asylum will show that 
 said child was taken into that asylum. Third, the 
 records of that asylum will show that on such a day I 
 visited it and obtained the child of Robert and 
 Elizabeth Morton to adopt as my own, and in order to 
 identify myself I left a peculiar ring which can be 
 found in that asylum." (A discription of the ring here 
 followed). " As to the death of the child born to me 
 of Eugene Mortimer, this can be established by the 
 physician who attended it in its last illness, he, I learn, 
 is still living ; also by the undertaker who attended to 
 its burial. Its place of burial will be found in the 
 hamlet of Scioto, near the country house I then 
 occupied, with a stone on it marked Ruth Mortimer 
 Page. I have now at last told the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth. I call Almighty God 
 to witness to this, may He have mercy on my soul." 
 
 A painful silence followed the reading of this paper. 
 Ruth lay sobbing on the bosom of Esther Bates, who 
 said nothing but evidently was in earnest prayer. At 
 last Ruth got composed enough to say, " I am afraid 
 this is all true." 
 
 " It looks like it," said Dr. Strong, not knowing what 
 better to say. 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed Ruth, " what will William Morti 
 mer say, what will he think of me, I am afraid he will 
 despise me, he will never be persuaded that I knew 
 nothing of this ; oh, I can stand it all except to think 
 that he, to whom my heart has so gone out as a brother, 
 is now to be lost to me ! Oh, God ! permit me now to 
 die; why, why hast Thou inflicted on me, a poor, 
 helpless girl, such an injury ! " 
 
306 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 This woke up Esther. " Ruth," she exclaimed, 
 " lose everything, but don t lose your faith in God ; 
 His ways are not as our ways, His thoughts are not as 
 our thoughts ; there is a cloud of mercy in all this 
 which may yet break in blessings on your head." 
 
 " No, I will not lose my faith in God," said Ruth, 
 " though he slay me, yet will I trust in him ; but, Esther 
 and Dr. Strong, I do beg you to do one favor for me, it 
 is the last I shall ever ask of you ; if you believe that I 
 had not the least suspicion that such was my parentage, 
 then do try to make William Mortimer so believe. I 
 shall never see him again, I will not touch a cent of this 
 property, it belongs to him ; here, take these papers," 
 and handing them to Dr. Strong she said, " please 
 hand these to Mr. Mortimer when he returns, and bid 
 him good bye from Ruth Morton." 
 
 " No, Miss Morton," said the doctor, " I will not take 
 the papers, let Mrs. Bates keep them, Mortimer has 
 full confidence in her; but now, Miss Morton," he 
 added, " let me beg you to think this matter over, I 
 will see you again to-morrow," and handing the papers 
 to Esther, he whispered, " let me see you in the parlor." 
 Esther followed the doctor to the parlor and left Ruth 
 alone. 
 
 The moment they were alone Dr. Strong said, " Mrs. 
 Bates, I dislike to take you away one moment from 
 Ruth, for I fear she may commit suicide, she seems so 
 over-burdened with a sense of mortification and despair 
 at the effect she supposes this will have on William 
 Mortimer ; but, Mrs. Bates, I just want to say this, I 
 shall cable immediately for William Mortimer, and shall 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 307 
 
 see him on his arrival and will do my best for Ruth ; 
 she is a noble woman and entirely innocent in this 
 whole transaction ; and I tell you," said Dr. Strong, 
 with an emphasis that showed his very soul was in the 
 declaration, " if William Mortimer is not the greatest 
 fool on earth, he will see that the name of that young 
 lady becomes in truth Ruth Mortimer" 
 
 "You don t know Ruth as I do," replied Esther, 
 " there is not the slightest fear of her committing 
 suicide, she is too unselfish." 
 
 "What in the world has selfishness to do with a 
 person committing suicide?" inquired the doctor. 
 
 " Because," answered Esther, " the most selfish thing 
 a person can do is, by taking their life, to plunge others 
 into distress in order to escape distress themselves." 
 
 "Well, what do you think she will do?" asked the 
 doctor. 
 
 " I think she will refuse to ever see Mortimer again." 
 
 " That she shall not do," exclaimed the doctor, " if 
 Mortimer feels as I think he will, I shall see that they 
 meet again." 
 
 Esther went back to the room to try to comfort Ruth, 
 but the latter seemed inconsolable. " I do not care," 
 said Ruth, " about the loss of the money, but I do care 
 about the position this places me in as regards Mr. 
 Mortimer. I have tried to act in the most circumspect 
 manner towards him, for I confess that something 
 inscrutable seemed to hold me back from what might 
 be regarded as proper sisterly demonstrations ; only 
 once have I given way to my feelings, that was when 
 we parted on the steamer ; but to think that then my 
 
308 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 arms were around the neck of a gentleman to whom I 
 have not the slightest relationship and that I actually 
 kissed him ; " and poor Ruth s virgin modesty rebelled 
 at this remembrance. "Then, again, Esther," she con 
 tinued, "I cannot but blame Mortimer for not himself 
 discovering all this before. I trusted not only to his 
 affection, as a supposed brother, but to his knowledge 
 as a competent lawyer ; when he assured me that the 
 discovery of the paper and of its witnesses established 
 our relationship I was satisfied that it was established. 
 Yet," she musingly added, " I do believe he was 
 himself deceived ; he is too noble and too pure to 
 claim my sisterly affection if he did not really believe I 
 was his sister ; but one thing is certain, we must never 
 meet each other again." 
 
 " Ruth," said Esther, calmly, when she was able to 
 get in a word, " it seems to me that you overlook one 
 possibility that the love Mortimer held to you as a 
 sister may continue to you as a friend, yea, as some 
 thing more than a friend." 
 
 " Stop, Esther Bates," said Ruth, authoritatively, 
 " never dare to hint such a thing to me ; no, my peace 
 of mind will depend on my never again seeing William 
 Mortimer." 
 
 Ruth was uncommonly taciturn the rest of the day; 
 indeed, she spent most of it alone in her room. In 
 the evening, however, she came and talked calmly with 
 Esther over the subject of the wonderful ways of God s 
 providence, avoiding all mention of Mortimer. When 
 they parted that night Esther offered to sleep with 
 Ruth, but she said, " No, Esther, my mind is perfectly 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 309 
 
 calm now and I am so tired out that I shall not wake 
 till morning." 
 
 Esther, however, stole in the middle of the night into 
 Ruth s room ; she was lying in a calm slumber, though 
 her pillow showed that it had been moistened with her 
 tears; Esther felt so satisfied about Ruth s condition 
 that she went back to her own room and fell into a 
 profound slumber. It was unusually late when Esther 
 awoke ; she hurried to Ruth s room, but Ruth was not 
 there. She went through the house, but still could not 
 find Ruth. She asked the servant whether Miss Ruth 
 had gone out, " Yes," said the servant, " I saw her 
 leave the house this morning with a satchel, probably 
 she has gone on some errand." 
 
 Esther waited till noon and then went to consult Dr. 
 Strong, feeling half ashamed to confess her suspicion 
 that Ruth had left the city. The doctor advised her 
 to wait till evening, for he said, " It would be extremely 
 awkward to institute a search for Miss Morton when 
 she may have merely gone to call on a friend." 
 
 But night came, yet no Ruth. Esther then began to 
 be in great alarm ; at her earnest solicitation Dr. Strong 
 employed a detective, who, on returning the next 
 morning, reported that a lady answering to their de 
 scription of Miss Morton had been seen to take a train 
 for the North. The detective was ordered to go in 
 pursuit ; he did not return for a week and then reported 
 that after tracking the lady as far as Albany he could 
 not trace her farther. Nothing remained to do but to 
 await the return of Mortimer, who was expected in a 
 few days. 
 
JIO RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE SEARCH FOR RUTH. 
 
 When the Cunard steamer reached her dock, Morti 
 mer found Dr. Strong awaiting him. As soon as 
 Mortimer met his friend, without even stopping to pass 
 the usual greetings, he abruptly asked, " What has 
 happened ! Is Ruth dead? " 
 
 " No," said the doctor, wishing to delay the revelation 
 till he got Mortimer into Esther s presence. 
 
 " What, then, is the matter?" demanded Mortimer, 
 " I see you have some terrible revelation to make, why 
 keep me longer in suspense." 
 
 " Mortimer," answered Dr. Strong, " I certainly have 
 proved my friendship for you long enough to have you 
 now trust its wisdom ; I ask you to simply wait till we 
 get to Ruth s house, where Esther is waiting for you, 
 she will tell you all ; but, to ease somewhat your mind, 
 I will say that what you are to learn is not necessarily 
 an injury to any living soul." 
 
 Mortimer sank back in his carriage, until he reached 
 the house, then he sprang out, the doctor quickly 
 following him. Esther was standing in the parlor, he 
 fairly glared at her and trembling with excitement 
 exclaimed, "Where is my sister?" 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 311 
 
 " Sit down a moment," said Esther, gently drawing 
 him to a seat by her side while Dr. Strong took his 
 place on the other side, " I want to tell you some 
 thing." 
 
 " I won t hear anything," said Mortimer, " but about 
 Ruth, I had a horrible dream about her just two weeks 
 ago " (the doctor and Esther glanced at each other, 
 it was just the day when Ruth fled). " I saw her in my 
 dream come to me, imprint a kiss on my cheek, and 
 then say, Good bye, William, forever/ and she glided 
 from me. I demand," said he, looking sternly at 
 Esther, " an answer to my question, where is Ruth? " 
 
 " I don t know," gasped out Esther. 
 
 "Mortimer," interposed Dr. Strong, "just try to 
 quiet yourself and I will tell you all." He then began 
 and narrated the events of which the reader was 
 informed in the last chapter, he dwelt particularly on 
 the fact that the heaviest part of the blow to Ruth was 
 the termination of her supposed relationship to Morti 
 mer, and the greatest anxiety on her mind was lest 
 Mortimer should believe she had not been entirely 
 ignorant of her parentage. 
 
 Mortimer listened to the recital with moody silence, 
 then sprang to his feet saying, " Esther, come and go 
 with me." 
 
 "Where are you going?" asked Esther. 
 
 "To St. Louis; why, those detectives are a pack of 
 fools, they might have known that the first place Ruth 
 would go to would be St. Louis, to test the truth of her 
 mother s account about her parentage ; and the next 
 place would be Scioto, California, to find whether Mrs. 
 
312 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 Page s account of the death and burial of her own child 
 could be verified." 
 
 "Why, Mortimer," said Dr. Strong, "you do not 
 propose to go to California in search of Ruth." 
 
 " Yes," replied Mortimer, " and to the ends of the 
 earth rather than relinquish my search for her, I cannot 
 live without Ruth." 
 
 For the first time Dr. Strong smiled and looked at 
 Esther, whose countenance wore a look of intense 
 satisfaction. But she interposed with, "William, you 
 do not really need me, you yourself know best how to 
 search for Ruth ; besides, you must remember I am 
 growing old and cannot hurry through the world as 
 fast as yourself." 
 
 " No, no," said Mortimer, " you must go, Esther. I 
 shall need you, not only to help me find Ruth, but to 
 plead my cause with her; yes, dear friend, you who 
 have been such a friend to me thus far must not 
 forsake me now." 
 
 " I will go," said Esther. A few hurried preparations 
 were made and they started together for the West. 
 
 On their journey to St. Louis, Mortimer had the 
 opportunity to talk more calmly and fully with Esther. 
 She told him she had found that Ruth had not taken 
 anything with her, she had been careful to leave all 
 Mrs. Page s property untouched. " Indeed," added 
 Esther, " the only wonder to me is how she has money 
 sufficient for her journey." 
 
 " That gives me hope," said Mortimer, " that we may 
 overtake her ere long, her money must run out and her 
 flight be thus brought to an end ; but what a girl Ruth is, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 313 
 
 how few in like circumstances would have thought of 
 giving up Mrs. Page s money; indeed, she has a lawful 
 claim to it, for there is nothing in that agreement between 
 her and my father to bind Mrs. Page to give it only to 
 his child, but Ruth has such a high sense of honor." 
 
 " It seems to me," replied Esther, " that Ruth s real 
 reason was her fear that if she touched any of it, it 
 would make her seem to you an accomplice with her 
 mother." 
 
 " She need not have feared that," said Mortimer, " I 
 know the pure, lofty soul of Ruth too well to have a 
 shadow of such a "Suspicion. " 
 
 " But, William," asked Esther, " how was it that you 
 as a lawyer did not know that even if a paper was 
 found which established the anticipated birth of a child 
 to Mrs. Page, proof was still needed that Ruth was that 
 child." 
 
 " Esther," replied Mortimer, " I will make a con 
 fession. There has been all along a feeling in my heart 
 that the very link you mention ought to be supplied. 
 I once came near sending a lawyer to Chicago to 
 examine into this very point, but I somehow felt, I 
 cannot tell you why, that if this relationship was 
 disproved, Ruth would do this very thing, leave me, 
 and I could not brook the thought of it, I wanted her 
 at least as a sister. Esther," he added, " some may 
 laugh at it, but I assure you, for I have had it so often 
 happen in my experience that I cannot doubt it, there 
 is a power of prophecy in the human mind. People 
 sometimes are surprised, while passing through certain 
 scenes, by the impression that they have somehow 
 
314 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 been through it all before. Some explain this by 
 supposing a previous existence of the soul no, it is 
 the prophesying power of the soul which has already 
 foreshadowed the coming event." 
 
 "Well," said Esther, "that accords with my own 
 view that the spirit of God, which is also the spirit 
 of prophecy/ when it takes up its abode in a human 
 heart, does as Christ said, Show his people things to 
 come. " 
 
 On reaching St. Louis, Mortimer and Esther sought 
 out the orphan asylum ; they found that Ruth had been 
 there ; also tracked her to the health office where the 
 death of her parents was recorded ; also found that she 
 had obtained the ring Mrs. Page left at the orphan 
 asylum to identify herself, and that she had then left 
 for the West. "Just as I thought," said Mortimer, 
 " Ruth has gone to California to verify the truth of 
 Mrs. Page s story about the death and burial of her 
 own child. We will rest here for a day, for this will 
 enable me to examine the evidences of Ruth s being 
 the child of Robert and Elizabeth Morton, I want this 
 established before I meet Ruth." This was so fully 
 established that Mortimer said to Esther, " There is 
 now no doubt that Ruth Morton is not the slightest 
 relation to me thank God ! " 
 
 Esther saw the drift of Mortimer s thoughts and 
 intentions, and she began to fear he was building too 
 much on what he supposed were Ruth s feelings toward 
 him. " William," she began, " as we will in a few days 
 be at Scioto, where we may find Ruth, I want to 
 prepare you for something." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 315 
 
 "Something about Ruth?" inquired Mortimer, anx 
 iously. 
 
 "Yes," answered Esther. 
 
 "Well, speak it right out, Esther. You are a good 
 woman and I believe every word you say." 
 
 " William, I see you have so much affection for Ruth 
 that I am afraid, when you meet her, you will at once 
 propose to her." 
 
 Mortimer, amid all his gloom, could not help 
 laughing, but answered, " Well, Esther, suppose I do, 
 would that be anything wrong? There is not the 
 slightest relationship between us." 
 
 " But, William, have you ever thought that it takes 
 two to make a bargain ? " 
 
 Mortimer started, and said, "Why, Esther, do you 
 think Ruth would refuse me? I do not want to flatter 
 myself unduly, but, if I read her heart aright, she loved 
 me with intense affection." 
 
 " Yes," answered Esther, " but as a brother." 
 
 Mortimer seemed much distressed ; this was evidently 
 a new thought. He could not sleep that night. 
 Esther s suggestion had worried him more than he 
 was willing to allow, the more so because it brought to 
 his memory the caution which Ruth had exercised in 
 their personal intercourse. Still, there was one event 
 which Esther was ignorant of. This he determined to 
 tell her and let her judge whether it should afford him 
 the encouragement he hoped. 
 
 He therefore said to Esther, the next day, " You 
 seem to think it s doubtful whether Ruth loves me." 
 
 " No," said Esther^ " I did not say that. I merely 
 
316 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 said it might be doubtful whether her love was anything 
 but sisterly affection." 
 
 " Let me then tell you something, Esther. You did 
 not see our parting on the steamer." 
 
 " No," said Esther, " as you were taking leave of 
 each other, Dr. Strong hustled me away as if I was so 
 much baggage." 
 
 "Well," said Mortimer, "when you left us no one 
 was near. I longed to give Ruth a parting kiss, for I 
 somehow felt we might never meet again. She read 
 my mind, and, in bidding me good-bye, put up her 
 mouth. As I stooped to kiss her she seemed to be so 
 completely swept away from her usual self-control, that 
 she flung her arms around my neck and exclaimed, 
 with a most passionate embrace, * Oh, William, I cannot 
 let you go, my heart seems almost breaking. I can 
 not live without you. It was so different from Ruth s 
 usual reserve that in my surprise I hardly returned her 
 embrace. Then, as if recalling herself, she fairly leaped 
 from my arms, and said, Oh, what am I saying? 
 God forgive me ! and she turned and actually fled from 
 me. 
 
 " I think the very remembrance of this scene was 
 what made her so guarded in her subsequent letters to 
 me, and it is this which overwhelms her with mortifi 
 cation to think that she had poured out the wealth of 
 her heart s love on one who was no relation to her. 
 This, in one sense, encourages me ; in another it makes 
 me anxious lest she should experience that revulsion 
 of feeling which makes us sometimes hate with that 
 intensity with which we previously loved." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 317 
 
 Esther said nothing, but looked out of the car 
 window. Mortimer, half angry at her un-sympathetic 
 silence, said, " Esther, I feel so miserable that I can t 
 be made more so. Therefore, if you have any more 
 shadows to cast over my hopes, please cast them now." 
 
 " There is something else I do want to say," replied 
 Esther. " I want you to promise me one thing, that, 
 even if we find where Ruth is, you will let me be the 
 first to see her ; also that before you meet Ruth you 
 will let me say something to you." 
 
 " Horror of horrors ! " said Mortimer. " You have 
 already worked up my mind to a state of suspense, and 
 you want to prolong that suspense even after we have 
 found Ruth." 
 
 " William," quietly replied Esther, " have I not 
 already done enough to prove that my only wish and 
 aim is your highest good? " 
 
 " I beg your pardon, dear friend," said Mortimer, 
 now thoroughly ashamed of his hasty words. " Ever 
 since we first met you have shown an unselfish care for 
 my higher interests. Forgive me, I beseech you," and 
 Mortimer looked so humble and penitent that Esther 
 could but forgive, but she said, " Remember, William, 
 that you have solemnly promised me this." 
 
 At last they reached Scioto and found that Ruth had 
 been there, but had left as soon as she had proved 
 that part of Mrs. Page s confession relating to the 
 death of her own daughter. Ruth had also visited the 
 grave of Ruth Mortimer Page, had found the under 
 taker who buried the child and the physician who had 
 attended it in its last sickness. She had then left, 
 
318 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 taking the train for San Francisco. Mortimer, after 
 investigating other evidences which his legal knowledge 
 suggested the importance of to strengthen the proof that 
 Mrs. Page s first and only child was buried in Scioto, 
 hurried on to San Francisco, but there all trace of Ruth 
 vanished. He spent a week at the hotels, utilizing 
 every means to get on her track, but all in vain. A case 
 of suicide of a young woman had occurred. Mortimer 
 visited the morgue and was relieved to find that the 
 body bore not the slightest resemblance to Ruth. 
 
 Another week passed, yet no tidings of the missing 
 one. Mortimer began to feel discouraged; Esther, 
 however, felt hopeful. " Have patience, William," she 
 said. " God will yet answer our prayers." 
 
 " Well, then, Esther, you keep on praying and I will 
 keep on watching." 
 
 " I don t believe God ever intended any such parcel 
 ling out of duty, William, for he says to each person, 
 Watch and pray. " 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THREE CLERGYMEN DISCUSS CHRISTIAN HEALING, AND 
 INCIDENTALLY GIVE A CLEW TO RUTH S WHEREABOUTS. 
 
 Mortimer was resting in the reading-room of the 
 hotel, pondering what more could be done to find Ruth. 
 A gentleman attired as a clergyman sitting near him 
 noticed the anxious expression on Mortimer s face, 
 and, suspecting there was some sorrow in his heart, 
 drew him into conversation. They were beginning to 
 feel quite well acquainted, when two gentlemen entered 
 and greeted Mortimer s new acquaintance as the 
 Rev. Dr. Lockett, saying to him, "We saw your 
 arrival in the morning papers, doctor, and want to 
 engage you to speak at a grand union meeting to be 
 held to-night." 
 
 Mortimer rose to leave Dr. Lockett with his friends, 
 when the doctor gently detained him, saying, " Let me 
 introduce to you Rev. Dr. Samply and Rev. Mr. Bruce. 
 Brethren, this gentleman is, like myself, a stranger in 
 your city and probably feels lonely. Perhaps he may 
 find some cheer even in us sober-faced ministers." 
 
 Mortimer pleasantly replied, " My name is Mortimer, 
 William Mortimer of New York city. I am a lawyer 
 
320 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and always feel at home with clergymen, for while they 
 teach the principles of law, we attend to putting them 
 into our practice." 
 
 None better appreciate a pleasant hit than clergymen, 
 they shook Mortimer heartily by the hand, Dr. Lockett 
 replying, " I have some sympathy with Mr. Mortimer s 
 view, for I was a physician before becoming a minister, 
 and it has always been a consolation to me to know 
 that I was once a practitioner, even if now I am merely 
 a poor preacher." 
 
 " Speaking of practising," said Dr. Samply, " reminds 
 me that a new kind of both preaching and practice has 
 appeared here lately." 
 
 " What is this new thing under the sun?" inquired 
 Dr. Lockett. 
 
 " They call it Christian Science. You must have 
 heard of it, for it originated somewhere down East." 
 
 " Yes," answered Dr. Lockett, " I have heard of it in 
 many places." 
 
 " Well," exclaimed Dr. Samply, " did you ever hear 
 such a mess of nonsense and mixed theology? Why, 
 they actually assert that disease is an error and that 
 there is no such thing as matter." 
 
 " Have they cured any persons in your city? " asked 
 Dr. Lockett. 
 
 " They claim to have done so," answered Dr. Samply, 
 " but I think all their apparent cures are due to the 
 influence of the mind over the body." 
 
 " Perhaps so," was all the reply Dr. Lockett made. 
 
 Mr. Bruce, who had set listening intently to the 
 conversations of the other divines, here broke in with 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 321 
 
 "Dr. Lockett, if I mistake not, you have yourself 
 written something on the relation of Christianity to 
 bodily healing. Did I not see it in the Orthodox 
 Review?" 
 
 " No," said the doctor, breaking out for the first time 
 in a hearty laugh. " It was offered to that Review, but 
 they considered it so awfully un-orthodox that they sent 
 it back post haste, as if fearing it would spread conta 
 gion through their whole establishment." 
 
 "Why, Dr. Lockett," exclaimed Dr. Samply, I 
 thought you had the reputation of belonging to the 
 strictest sect of the Orthodox." 
 
 " I thought so, too, until I wrote that article. Indeed, 
 before sending it to the Orthodox Review, I read it to 
 several brethren, also considered of the strictest sect, 
 and they detected no heresy. Indeed, one of the 
 brethren was so enraged at what he termed the stupid 
 mistake of the Review people that he insisted upon my 
 sending it to the Mental Monthly. They published it 
 at once, and it has been widely copied in both religious 
 and secular papers." 
 
 " Please give us the main points of your article," 
 said Dr. Samply. 
 
 " If you have patience to hear it, I will narrate a 
 history which led to the writing of that article." 
 
 " Certainly," said Dr. Samply. " Let us hear how 
 Dr. Lockett got numbered among the heretics." 
 
 " I was one day," began Dr. Lockett, " hastily 
 summoned to visit a dying member of my church. 
 She was a devoted Christian and belonged to a family 
 of sincere Christians. I was sent for because the 
 
322 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 doctors had informed her that she could not live out 
 that day. Indeed, mortification had set in and her 
 system refused to respond to medicines. She had 
 made all her preparations for death and called me in, 
 as her pastor, simply with the view of the comfort it 
 would afford her dying hour to have prayer offered and 
 the promises of God s word repeated. With that 
 object in mind I went to visit her, and, after prayer, 
 bade her good-bye, not expecting to see her again 
 till we met in heaven. As I sat pondering the case 
 that night in my study, the thought suddenly came 
 to me, You never uttered a prayer for her recovery. 
 But why should I have done so ? I asked myself. She 
 has been attended by competent physicians and they 
 declare that her disease has reached a stage where 
 medicines cannot have the slightest effect. Is not this 
 an indication that it is God s purpose to remove her to 
 Heaven? But then the question arose, Are God s 
 purposes to be interpreted by the want of success of 
 medicines? Does it follow, because medicines will not 
 cure the sick, that prayer for their recovery can be of no 
 avail? But the thought occurred, Is it right to strive 
 to detain on earth one so well fitted for Heaven? Is it 
 not better for her to depart and be with Jesus? for I 
 recalled what Paul said to the Philippians, Having 
 a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far 
 better. Still, Paul adds, Nevertheless, to abide in the 
 flesh is more needful to you, and, having this confidence, 
 I know that I shall abide and continue for your 
 furtherance and joy of faith. Now, while it might be 
 better for this sick one to depart to Heaven, is it not 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 323 
 
 better for the furtherance and joy of faith of others 
 that she should abide in the flesh? For here is a 
 mother with two young children peculiarly dependent 
 on her care and instruction, with a husband who needs 
 her help in bringing up his family. May not we 
 assume that it might be better for her to abide longer 
 on earth? I wish, at least, I said to myself, I had 
 prayed to God to spare that woman s life. But then 
 the thought recurred, Would it not have been regarded 
 as the utmost fanaticism, when her physicians, and able 
 ones, too, declare her case beyond recovery? 
 
 " I visited the house the next morning, expecting to 
 find crape on the door-bell, but none was there, for the 
 lady whom the doctors had thought would die hours 
 before was still living. I returned to my home in a 
 fearful struggle of mind. I had not had courage that 
 morning to propose prayer for the recovery of the lady, 
 though I prayed in general terms that l if it be possible 
 this cup might pass from her. It was simply that 
 genteel mine dimittis in pace which we clergymen often 
 give to our dying parishioners. But I could not rest 
 and, on returning home, went to my closet and there did 
 most earnestly plead for her recovery, at the same time 
 confessing my sin before God, in that I had not had 
 boldness to try to induce others to pray with me for the 
 recovery of that sick one. I went down to her house 
 on the next day. The lady was still alive, but the 
 doctors said it was simply one of those cases of death 
 where the tenacity of life prolongs the dying agonies. 
 
 " I determined to wait no longer. I called the family 
 together and said, I want to know whether you are 
 
324 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 willing to join with me in prayer for the recovery of this 
 sick one. You are all the professed people of God. 
 He has told us in His Word that if two of you shall 
 agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, 
 it shall be done for them of my Father which is in 
 Heaven. He has also told us that the prayer of faith 
 shall save the sick. I want you, however, to clearly 
 understand, that, while we attempt to offer this petition 
 in faith, we should also recognize the superior wisdom of 
 God. We will therefore not attempt to dictate to Him. 
 We will lay the sick one s case before Him, stating the 
 arguments which seem to us can be urged for her 
 recovery; for example, the importance of her living 
 yet longer for the sake of her husband and children, 
 the glory which God might get to His own name by 
 showing how He could recover the sick when human 
 skill has failed, the power that lies in Christ to heal the 
 sick, which He evinced on earth, and the willingness 
 He then evinced to heal the sick when friends applied 
 to Him in their behalf. We will ask Him to spare 
 our friend, not merely to gratify our desire to retain 
 her on earth, but for the benefit her prolonged life 
 might bring to others. We will also ask God to bless 
 and direct the earthly physicians so that they may use 
 proper remedies for her recovery. 
 
 " To my surprise the family not only acceded to the 
 proposition, but seemed anxious for prayer to be thus 
 offered. I believe if ever a circle of believers lifted up 
 united prayer with fervent desire it was offered at that 
 time." 
 
 " Well, what was the result? " asked Dr. Samply. 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 325 
 
 " I can only say," replied Dr. Lockett, " that a change 
 for the better began that day. The medicines com 
 menced to have effect, and that lady is now living in 
 sound health." * 
 
 "This case set me to thinking on the whole relation 
 of a Christian faith to the diseases of the body. I 
 threw my reflections into an article, in which I attempted 
 to sustain these propositions : First, that every sick 
 person should take their case to the Heavenly Physician 
 as much as to the earthly one ; second, that if either 
 ought to have priority it should be the Maker of the 
 body over its mender; third, that Christians have so 
 unconsciously drifted toward materialism, that the first 
 thought of most when sick is to go to the drug store or 
 the physician, and often it is not until they get danger 
 ously ill that they begin to ask for the prayers of the 
 church, the Heavenly Physician being used as a sort of 
 forlorn hope. I therefore suggested whether it was not 
 well for the church to call a halt and inquire, * Is there no 
 balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Why, 
 then, is not the health of the daughter of my people 
 recovered? " f 
 
 " But what has all this to do with Christian Science ? " 
 asked Dr. Samply. 
 
 " Why, just before the event narrated I met with a 
 Christian Scientist. I paid very little attention to her 
 theories, except to study them as a matter of curiosity, 
 but. this case led me to re-examine them, and, 
 though I find in their teachings much loose theology 
 
 *The case thus described agrees in all points with one which came under my 
 own observation. THE AUTHOR. 
 f Jeremiah viii, 23. 
 
326 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 and many impracticable methods, yet I have been 
 impressed with this, that what these people are really 
 aiming at, that is, the Christ-believing portion of them, 
 is to make people realize what a power still abides in 
 Christ for the healing of both soul and body. Some of 
 them have gained, at least, a perception of what man s 
 body might be if it was only filled with the spirit of God. 
 I am inclined to treat them kindly, with the hope that 
 the attention they are calling to this subject may lead 
 men to investigate more what Christ is and what he is 
 willing to do for poor, suffering humanity. I am not 
 afraid of these Christian Scientists working harm by 
 such tenets as Disease is an error and There is no 
 such thing as matter. The stubborn facts of life give 
 abundant proof that disease is a reality and matter a 
 tangible substance. But I thank God that, while we 
 have doctors signs and drug stores on almost every 
 square, to refresh our minds with the fact that man s 
 body needs medicine, some one has arisen to jog our 
 memories with the fact, that besides and above all these 
 man needs the Great Physician." 
 
 Mr. Bruce had been listening with such intense 
 interest to Dr. Lockett that it attracted the attention of 
 Mortimer. As soon as the doctor had finished, Mr. 
 Bruce said, " Perhaps, then, you brethren will not 
 consider me unorthodox if I state a case that came 
 under my own observation. My wife was sick with Hay 
 fever, which she yearly suffers from. A Christian 
 Scientist came to my house, a young lady, a perfect 
 stranger to us, but under her treatment my wife has 
 perfectly recovered." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGE1A. 327 
 
 "What is her name ?" demanded Mortimer, becom 
 ing excited. 
 
 " Singularly, I cannot tell you," answered Mr. Brace. 
 " But why are you so interested, Mr. Mortimer? " 
 
 " Because I am here looking for a young lady who is 
 a Christian Scientist, and much depends on my finding 
 her." 
 
 " Well, I will tell you all I know about this young 
 lady. I have been compelled lately to rent a room in 
 my house, and had advertised it in the papers. A few 
 weeks ago a lady of very genteel appearance came to 
 our house and, after looking at the room, engaged it. 
 She seemed especially pleased to find it was the home 
 of a clergyman. I asked her, of course, for her refer 
 ences. She answered, I have none, for I am a perfect 
 stranger in this city. I came here on a private matter 
 of great importance to myself and had hoped to obtain 
 employment, but so far have failed, except to get some 
 copying. I have, however, money enough left to at 
 least pay room rent in advance for a month. I ask you 
 to let me stay, and give you as my only reference God. 
 If you find that He gives me strength to live as a child 
 of His, keep me ; if not, turn me out. 
 
 " I looked at the pure, innocent face of that young girl 
 and could not but feel that I was standing in the presence 
 of one whom God had given his angels charge over. 
 I consulted with my wife, and we agreed to let her stay. 
 We soon found we were indeed entertaining an angel 
 unawares. I have never met a more devoted Christian. 
 She spends all the time she can spare from her writing 
 in visiting the sick among the poor. One day, when 
 
328 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 my wife was suffering from her usual attack of Hay 
 fever, she asked permission to try what she termed a 
 silent treatment. My wife was relieved and has 
 continued since without an attack. This led us to 
 converse with her on her Christian Science " 
 
 Mortimer could stand it no longer. He rose abruptly, 
 saying, " Mr. Bruce, may I speak to you for a moment 
 in my private room? " As soon as they were alone he 
 exclaimed, " Mr. Bruce, I have no doubt but that the 
 lady you have just described is the one I am looking 
 for, but why cannot you tell me her name? " 
 
 "I was about to state," answered Mr. Bruce, "when 
 you called me aside, that she asked as a favor that we 
 should not ask her name, but simply call her Sister. 
 My wife, however, though she will give me no reason for 
 her impression, insists that her name is Ruth Morton." 
 
 "Thank God!" ejaculated Mortimer. "Ruth is 
 found at last ! " Then, grasping Mr. Bruce s hand, he 
 said, " You have indeed done one of the noblest deeds 
 of your life in giving shelter to this lady on her simple 
 reference God. I feel that a man who shows such a 
 Christian spirit can safely be trusted with my secret." 
 Mortimer then related to Mr. Bruce the whole history 
 of Ruth and himself. Mr. Bruce became deeply inter 
 ested and invited Mortimer to at once go with him to 
 his home to see Ruth. 
 
 "No," said Mortimer, "let me first call Mrs. Esther 
 Bates, a Christian lady who has accompanied me on 
 this journey. I promised her that she should see Ruth 
 first, and I now see the wisdom of this plan. She will 
 prepare Ruth for our interview." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 329 
 
 Esther was in transports of joy when Mortimer 
 announced the discovery of Ruth. " I felt all along," 
 she said, " that God would answer our prayers." Esther 
 went immediately with Mr. Bruce to his home. Finding 
 that Ruth was in her room, she went up and knocked 
 at its door. Ruth, supposing it was the servant, simply 
 responded, " Come in." Esther entered. Ruth was 
 sitting at the window in deep meditation. Ruth turned, 
 sprang to her feet and threw herself into Esther s arms. 
 Even Christian Science could not control nature s 
 emotions. She lay weeping there for some time, then 
 gasped out, " Thank God you have come ! Oh, Esther, 
 what I have gone through ! But what brought you 
 here and how did you find me? " 
 
 Esther answered, "A friend who loves you more 
 intensely than I do brought me here." 
 
 " Yes," said Ruth, " it was God. I knew He would 
 not forsake me." 
 
 " But God uses human instruments," said Esther. 
 
 Ruth looked at Esther with an anxious look, and 
 said, "You cannot mean William Mortimer sent you 
 after me. Oh, Esther, did he believe that I was 
 innocent in this whole transaction? " 
 
 " Yes, perfectly so." 
 
 " Thank God ! Then I can now die happily." 
 
 " No, no, Ruth, do not talk of dying. You may have 
 just begun the happiest part of your life." 
 
 " Ah, Esther, I have nothing now to live for. If it 
 be God s will I would rather leave this sorrowful earth, 
 but, if not, then stay with me till I can get some 
 employment." 
 
330 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 "But, Ruth," said Esther, "you have not asked me 
 about Mr. Mortimer. Are you not anxious to know 
 how he feels toward you after this discovery. ? " 
 
 " Esther Bates," said Ruth, looking sternly at her, 
 " if you be, as I believe, my true friend, never mention 
 to me again the name of William Mortimer. My only 
 anxiety is that he should not blame me in this matter. 
 I realize fully that he and I must part forever. I hope 
 it was not wrong in me that in my innocence and 
 ignorance I loved him as a brother." 
 
 " But, Ruth," said Esther, " why not continue to love 
 him? I know that he loves you just as much, yea, 
 more than he ever did before. Ruth, I sincerely believe 
 that William will himself sink into a decline if you are 
 now to be forever separated." 
 
 " Esther, stop ! " said Ruth. " I tell you I can t bear 
 one moment to think of William Mortimer. The only 
 peace I have is to banish him from my mind." 
 
 " Ruth Morton," said Esther, affectionately putting 
 her arms around her, " I want to ask one favor of you 
 in return for all I ve tried to do for you in the past. 
 Promise that you will grant it." 
 
 " But first tell me what it is," said Ruth. 
 
 " No, I feel that I am right in extracting the promise 
 first." 
 
 " Well, Esther, I have so much faith in your wisdom 
 and your love for me that I will promise you." 
 
 " Solemnly? " asked Esther. 
 
 " Yes, solemnly, in the sight of God." 
 
 " I want you, then, to promise me that you will see 
 William Mortimer before this day closes." 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 331 
 
 "Why, Esther, you are crazy. Do you realize that 
 Mr. Mortimer is in Europe and I in America?" 
 
 "No, I realize that William Mortimer is in San 
 Francisco, almost dying with impatience to see Ruth 
 Morton." 
 
 Esther then detailed the history of Mortimer s return 
 and his search for Ruth, also the proofs he had found 
 of there being no relationship between them. 
 
 "What then does he want to see me about? "said 
 Ruth. 
 
 " That he must answer for himself," said Esther, with 
 a significant smile. " Oh, you foolish girl ! do you 
 think a man would put himself to all the trouble that 
 William Mortimer has to find a young lady unless he 
 has something important to tell her? Ruth, cannot you 
 see how William Mortimer loves you?" 
 
 " Oh, Esther, don t let me meet William Mortimer. 
 I do not think I could stand it." 
 
 "But, Ruth, you have solemnly promised me to meet 
 him and I hold you to your promise, for I know he has 
 his very soul bound up in the purpose of making you 
 his wife." 
 
 " Then I must refuse him," said Ruth, decidedly. 
 
 " Well, at least see him and tell him that yourself," 
 said Esther, " for I now go to bring him." 
 
332 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 A NEW APPLICATION OF THE MIND-CURE. 
 
 Esther hurried back to the hotel and found Mortimer 
 waiting impatiently for her. " What kept you so long ? " 
 he demanded. 
 
 " I was trying to persuade Ruth to see you." 
 
 Mortimer looked disappointed, but earnestly asked, 
 " Esther, do you think Ruth would refuse me, if I now 
 ask her to become my wife ? " 
 
 " You must ask and find out for yourself," said Esther, 
 cautiously. 
 
 "Then take me to her at once." 
 
 "Wait," said Esther, "William Mortimer, you 
 made me a solemn promise that you would first let me 
 tell you something before meeting Miss Morton." 
 
 " Well, speak it out quickly," said Mortimer, " for I 
 can t stand this suspense much longer." 
 
 " Mortimer," said Esther, " I want you before having 
 a meeting with Ruth, which may result in your spending 
 the rest of your lives together, to ask yourself this 
 question, * Do I know my own heart sufficiently to thus 
 bind myself to Ruth Morton?" 
 
 " I only know," said Mortimer, solemnly, " that I 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 333 
 
 love Ruth with the most intense affection, so much so 
 that my whole future life seems suspended on her 
 consent." 
 
 " But you must remember that you once thought 
 you loved Alice Dupont with the same fervor." 
 
 " Never, never," said Mortimer, emphatically, " I 
 never felt to Alice Dupont as I do to Ruth Morton ; that 
 was a sort of first-love romance, which was only 
 nontinued afterward from a sense of duty. My love to 
 Ruth will be continued by my abiding affection." 
 
 " Why, then, were you so affected by the sight of 
 Alice s picture, and again by your meeting her at the 
 Deschiell s party?" 
 
 " Oh, you provoking woman," said Mortimer, " let 
 me go to Ruth, I will explain all this at another time." 
 
 " No," said Esther, firmly, " remember you solemnly 
 promised me not to see Ruth till I had a talk with you ; 
 answer me first, why did you have all these changeful 
 experiences with Miss Dupont and yet expect to escape 
 them with Ruth Morton ? " 
 
 " Well, if you force me to answer, you force me also 
 to confess, yet I acknowledge I cannot explain my 
 confession; but, Esther Bates, somehow since the first 
 time I met Ruth, her image has never been out of my 
 mind. I believe the paroxysm of apparently revived 
 affection for Alice Dupont was really the intense under 
 tone of love for Ruth, so that the sight of Alice s 
 picture revived not so much her memory as it did the 
 hidden current of love in my heart for Ruth. I cannot 
 tell you how impatient I felt to have that relationship 
 established, and I cannot express the secret disappoint- 
 
334 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 ment I felt that she was to be only a sister. Give 
 me Ruth, or rather let her give her heart to me, and 
 you will find that the course of our love will never be 
 interrupted." 
 
 " I am satisfied," said Esther, " come, William, and 
 meet Ruth Morton." 
 
 Ruth while awaiting Mortimer s visit had solemnly 
 determined to receive him courteously, to thank him 
 for his kindness, and then announce to him her 
 unchangeable determination to never see him again. 
 She also determined if, as Esther had hinted, Mortimer 
 made the proposal that she should become his 
 wife, to show him that it was not for his own best 
 interests, and that she was proving her unselfish regard 
 for him by refusing his offer ; for this she thought was 
 the only way to hush society s gossip, and let Mortimer 
 pursue uninterruptedly his successful career as a 
 lawyer. What a pity, she said to herself, it would be 
 to have such a noble man as William Mortimer burdened 
 with a wife whose history has already been the theme 
 of a thousand tongues. For already the story of the 
 discovery of the lost paper, and of Ruth s identification 
 as Mortimer s sister, had leaked out; Dr. Strong had 
 told it to Alice Dupont under the bond of the most 
 solemn secrecy, fortified by the fact that it was a part 
 of that solemn secrecy which always exists between 
 lovers. Alice, as a faithful daughter, not yet married 
 and therefore owing obedience first to her parents, had 
 confided it to her mother ; and her mother as a faithful 
 wife who should have no secrets from her husband had 
 confided it to Mr. Dupont, and Mr. Dupont as a faithful 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 335 
 
 partner in the firm of Dupont & Co., had confided it to 
 his firm ; and thus, dear reader, you see that through 
 the very faithfulness of mankind this secret was borne 
 on the wings of the wind and dropped, with a hundred 
 explanations, additions, subtractions and multiplications, 
 into the ears of New York society ; yet, lest that already 
 monopolizing metropolis should claim any merit in this 
 respect, let it be clearly understood that the same 
 method is practised in all other cities of the United 
 States, yea, for all that, in its villages. It was this fact, 
 as well known to Mortimer as to Ruth, that made her 
 think she could present a last and convincing argu 
 ment against their marriage. 
 
 Another thought reinforced this purpose of Ruth 
 had she not a special mission for the cause of Christian 
 Science? To it she felt indebted for the sustaining 
 power which had carried her through her late deep and 
 varied trials. " I have tested," argued Ruth, " the 
 truth of the great principle it proclaims, that He who 
 is the way, the truth and the life can so fortify the soul 
 with His abiding presence that it can triumph over all 
 evils within and without. Yes, my mission is not to be 
 the wife of William Mortimer," and she unconsciously 
 heaved a sigh, "but to be a humble teacher of 
 Christian Science." Such were Miss Ruth Morton s 
 cogitations as she awaited the coming of William 
 Mortimer. 
 
 Mortimer was occupying his mind with very different 
 thoughts, he was concocting a peculiar plan of assault 
 on Ruth s heart. He fully appreciated that heart was 
 prepared to withstand an open attack, and therefore 
 
33^ RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 quietly arranged for a flank movement. Mortimer s 
 sagacity had already served him many a good turn in 
 law, but it was now to be utilized in the rather different 
 practice of love. He walked silently by the side of 
 Esther, on their way to Dr. Bruce s, only interrupting 
 the silence by one remark " Esther, please do me 
 this favor, enter with me Ruth s room, but leave it 
 when I cough and drop my handkerchief on the floor ; 
 but, if I call, you be ready to re-enter." 
 
 " Certainly, if you so wish," said Esther. 
 
 They were met at the door by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce, 
 to whom some hint of the situation of affairs had been 
 given by Esther, and who were deeply interested in the 
 successful issue of Mortimer s suit. When Mrs. Bruce 
 saw the handsome face and noble bearing of Mortimer, 
 she became still more interested, and as Mrs. Bruce 
 afterwards confessed, "she never in her life felt so 
 tempted to play the eaves-dropper," but to her credit 
 be it said that she went instantly to work to divert her 
 mind by preparing some nourishment for Ruth, for as 
 she expressed it, " The poor child has been through a 
 severe strain already, and may utterly break down." 
 But Ruth, as she sat in the parlor awaiting Mortimer s 
 visit, did not look like breaking down. There was 
 indeed a paleness in her usually rosy cheeks, a slight 
 compression of her lips as if the spirit within was 
 nerving the body to its task of duty ; still, there was 
 that serenity of face which showed that the storm had 
 passed and there was in that soul a great calm. But 
 fidelity to the truth compels us to state that, the moment 
 Mortimer entered the room, the storm again burst over 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 337 
 
 that heart. Ruth could not but realize it herself, she 
 bent before it for the moment as the stalwart oak bends 
 before the sudden blast, but the very consciousness of 
 these feelings made her exert an almost superhuman 
 effort to collect herself. 
 
 Mortimer, on the other hand, showed no embarrass 
 ment or unusual agitation. On entering the parlor 
 with Esther, he went right up to Ruth, and with the 
 utmost nonchalance, yet with his customary politeness, 
 said, " Miss Morton, I have called as soon as I could 
 ascertain your place of residence here, for I flatter 
 myself that you might be interested to hear about my 
 trip abroad," and without waiting for a reply Mortimer 
 launched into a very graphic recital of his European 
 tour. 
 
 Ruth was completely taken by surprise. She had 
 expected that Mortimer would burst upon her with 
 protestations of affection, and overwhelm her with 
 appeals, while here he was sitting by her side, simply 
 as any friend would, and talking of such an unromantic 
 subject as a trip to Europe. Somehow a feeling of 
 disappointment rose in her heart. Mortimer, however, 
 went on to give Ruth a rapid sketch of his European 
 tour. He never even mentioned Ruth s letters, he 
 seemed to utterly ignore the very existence of such a 
 person as herself. Esther looked on in surprise, " What 
 has come over William? " she said to herself; her own 
 curiosity became excited to see how he would manage 
 when he came to the cause of his sudden return to 
 America. 
 
 Suddenly he stopped in his narration and said, 
 
338 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 " Excuse me, Miss Morton, I forgot to thank you for 
 your kind letters, I cannot express how much I enjoyed 
 them, and how I missed them when they ceased coming ; 
 I was in great anxiety when Dr. Strong s dispatch came." 
 
 " Dr. Strong s dispatch ! " exclaimed Ruth, for the 
 first time speaking, " what do you refer to ? " 
 
 Mortimer then detailed how Dr. Strong had cabled 
 him to come right home, telling him that something 
 terrible had happened. " I cannot describe to you, 
 Miss Morton," he added, " the fearful state of suspense 
 I went through on that eight days voyage, I could not 
 get out of my mind that something awful had indeed 
 happened to you." 
 
 Mortimer then graphically discribed his arrival in 
 New York and Dr. Strong s and Esther s revelation of 
 the discovery of the paper that accompanied Mrs. 
 Page s will, which explained Ruth s right name and 
 parentage. Here again Ruth forgot herself and ex 
 claimed, " Oh, Mr. Mortimer, I hope you do believe 
 that I was entirely ignorant of the facts that paper 
 disclosed; this is my only anxiety about this whole 
 matter." 
 
 "Why, Ruth," answered Mortimer, " I know you too 
 well to doubt for a moment your innocence." (She 
 started when Mortimer called her Ruth, but he acted 
 as if he was not conscious of having used that name, 
 he was now so in earnest with his account that it seemed 
 as from sheer force of habit it had dropped from his 
 lips). " I believe, yea, I know that a suspicion of this 
 fact never entered your mind, and therefore to establish 
 your innocence in the matter I immediately went to 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA 339 
 
 work to ascertain the truth of Mrs. Page s statement." 
 
 He then circumstantially detailed his search at St. 
 Louis and at Scioto for proofs of Ruth s parentage ; 
 indeed, he added many Ruth herself had not discovered, 
 and at last concluded with, "Miss Morton, I am sure 
 the most complete and satisfactory evidence is in 
 existence of your being the daughter of Robert and 
 Elizabeth Morton. I have also discovered that your 
 father was a lawyer, a cultured gentleman, and your 
 mother a refined lady; indeed, they were related to 
 one of the best families in England, and trace back 
 their lineage to the Earl of Morton. Why, Miss 
 Morton," he pleasantly added, " I should not wonder if 
 you yet find that you can claim the title of Lady 
 Morton." 
 
 " I care nothing for titles," said Ruth, " but I do 
 thank God that the respectability of my parentage is 
 so clearly established." 
 
 Mortimer had led Ruth s mind so far away from what 
 she had anticipated as the object of his visit, and so 
 absorbed her mind with the subject of her established 
 parentage, that she had insensibly relaxed the watch 
 she had set over herself, and thus it came to pass that, 
 while listening to Mortimer, her eyes gazed with a 
 wistful look of love intently into his own. This was 
 not unnoticed by Mortimer. 
 
 But he was now coming to the crisis. His courage 
 almost failed, for, though he had executed his flank 
 movement on Ruth s mind and drawn off her mental 
 forces in pursuit, yet he had not captured the citadel 
 of her will. One thing, however, he realized, there 
 
34 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 could be no pause ; he must now dash in and win or 
 lose forever. 
 
 " Miss Morton," he said, with a slight cough, and the 
 calling of her name so fixed her attention on him that 
 it enabled Mortimer to drop his handkerchief and 
 Esther to glide from the room unnoticed by Ruth. 
 
 " Miss Morton, I think that you will now admit that 
 it is fully established there is not the slightest relation 
 ship between us. I therefore come to propose one of 
 two things, which I leave to your choice. The first is 
 that we now part forever. If this be done, one thing I 
 insist on, that you retain the money Mrs. Page left 
 you. I have not the slightest moral or legal claim to 
 it, and, unless you take it, it will revert to the state. I 
 shall never touch a cent of it. I came here partly to 
 tell you this." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Ruth. " Mr. Mortimer, I do not 
 want to touch a cent of that money. Somehow it 
 seems to me cursed, there is such a history connected 
 with it." 
 
 Still Mortimer kept arguing the point with Ruth, so 
 that her mind became completely engrossed with this 
 question of the disposal of the money. All of a sudden 
 he looked into her face with the most intense affection, 
 and said, " Ruth, Ruth, don t you know William Mor 
 timer enough to know that what he wants is not your 
 money but your love? Oh, Ruth, I do love you with 
 an intensity that can brook no denial. I have proved 
 this love to myself; I cannot live without you. I have 
 come these thousands of miles to search for you and to 
 ask you to become my wife. If you refuse me, Ruth, 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 341 
 
 if you drive me away from you this day, you blast my 
 whole future life. I now bring you my second propo 
 sition that Ruth Morton shall become in truth Ruth 
 Mortimer." 
 
 Ruth was so taken by surprise that she fairly gasped 
 for breath. She became so weak that she had to cling 
 to the chair to hold herself up. Mortimer sprang to 
 her side, and, folding her in his arms, said, " Ruth, let 
 your own heart plead for me now. Why should we be 
 separated? You are the only one I love. Come, 
 dearest," and he felt encouraged by her very resistless- 
 ness, " do not try to keep asunder two hearts which 
 God has so manifestly joined together." 
 
 " Oh, William," said Ruth, hiding her face in his 
 bosom, "you are right; we cannot live without each 
 other." 
 
 Afterward, resting there calm A y, she looked up into 
 his face, and said, " I really did mean to refuse you, 
 but somehow I couldn t." 
 
 " Esther ! " called out Mortimer, and Esther, who had 
 been waiting at the door, entered. When the good 
 woman saw the situation of affairs, she for the first time 
 in her life went off in a fit of hysterics, and fell to 
 hugging alternately Ruth and Mortimer, and, at last, 
 had actually to be taken up-stairs by Mortimer, while 
 Mrs. Bruce was summoned to help Ruth, who was now 
 utterly exhausted by the conflict she had undergone in 
 both mind and heart. But, when the sun set that day, 
 a gentle calm had come over all these troubled hearts. 
 
 The next day a quiet wedding took place in the 
 Bruce home, Dr. Bruce receiving a marriage fee sur- 
 
342 RUTH, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST, 
 
 passing even those supposed to be given by California 
 millionaires at their own marriage. 
 
 It required some courage in Mortimer and Ruth to 
 face the curious gaze of society and to endure its gossip, 
 but Mortimer s past reputation as a man of high honor 
 served him in the present crisis of his history, while 
 Ruth s lovely character and useful life soon made her a 
 host of friends, whose standing in society was a support 
 to her own well merited respect. The story of the 
 curious bringing together of Mortimer and his wife soon 
 became a thing of the past, and their union proved, as 
 all unions should prove, one of happiness and affection. 
 Esther Bates continued to live with them, they trying 
 to repay her kindness by their attentions in her 
 declining years; she being surrounded with every 
 comfort which grateful love could devise. 
 
 The truthfulness of the chaste muse of history must 
 be preserved, even if human expectations are sometimes 
 disappointed. Therefore be it stated that the proposed 
 marriage of Dr. Strong to Alice Dupont never took 
 place. Alice made every effort to convert her materi 
 alistic suitor, which effort became an increasing annoy 
 ance to the doctor, and a breach was opened between 
 their hearts, widened by their frequent controversies 
 over Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer. Alice adhered to the 
 opinion that Ruth had from the very first laid a plot to 
 entrap her former lover, and denounced her as an 
 " odious adventuress." This was peculiarly distasteful 
 to Dr. Strong, because his respect for Ruth daily 
 increased as he watched the beautiful development of 
 her character and the grace with which she filled her 
 
OR, THE NEW HYGEIA. 343 
 
 new position. One evening hot words passed between 
 the doctor and Miss Dupont, the former, in his irritation, 
 saying, "The greatest mistake of my life was my 
 thinking that Ruth was all head and no heart. The 
 wealth of pure love she pours out on her husband, 
 which is fully reciprocated by him, proves her to be a 
 beautiful combination of intellectuality and affection." 
 
 Alice fired up and replied, " At any rate, some men 
 I know are all head and no heart." 
 
 A scene followed and their engagement was broken. 
 But it proved, after all, what Esther Bates would term 
 " a special providence," for the life which Alice would 
 have devoted to Dr. Strong was henceforth devoted to 
 doing good, and she filled that honored place reserved 
 for these whose lives of single-blessedness are also lives 
 of blessedness to the church, the poor and the sor 
 rowing. 
 
 It should have been mentioned that, while Esther 
 was returning from California with the bridal couple, 
 she drew Mortimer aside, and said, " William, I have a 
 great curiosity to learn how you succeeded so well, 
 after I left you that morning, in popping the question 
 to Ruth and inducing her to say * Yes. Have you any 
 objection to my knowing? " 
 
 " Not the least, Esther," said Mortimer, laughing. 
 
 " Well, how was it done, then?" asked Esther. 
 
 " Why, I simply tried on Ruth the mind-cure, by first 
 drawing her attention completely from herself and her 
 proposed rejection of myself, and then I tried a treat 
 ment as old as the human race, the heart-cure." 
 
THE WORKS 
 
 OP 
 
 DR. W. F. EVANS 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON THE BODY IN 
 
 HEALTH OR DISEASE, AND THE MENTAL 
 
 METHOD OF TREATMENT 
 
 On earth, there is nothing great but Man : 
 In Man there is nothing great but Mind." 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 H. H. CARTER & KARRICK, 
 
 3 Beacon Street, Boston. 
 1886. 
 
MENTAL MEDICINE: 
 
 A THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON MEDICAL 
 PSYCHOLOGY. 
 
 By W. F. EVANS. 
 
 This book contains a full exposition of the nature and 
 laws of Magnetism, and its application to the cure of dis 
 ease. 
 
 Extra Clotti. 216 pp. Retail Price, $1.25. 
 
 Sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of retail price. 
 
 SOUL AND BODY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL SCIENCE OF HEALTH AND DISEASE. 
 
 By W. F. EVANS. 
 
 Extra Cloth.. 147 pp. Retail Price, $1.00. 
 
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THE DIVINE LAW OF CURE. 
 
 By W. F. EVANS. 
 
 A Standard Work on the Philosophy and Practice of 
 
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 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY AND 
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 By W. F. EVANS, 
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 This work is a complete exposition of the principles under 
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 Extra Cloth.. 225 pp. Retail Price, $1.50. 
 
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