LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVER .(TV Of 
 CAUrGWNiA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 RICHARD SWEET MILTON
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LIFE AND WORK 
 
 OF 
 
 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, 
 and Author of the Christian Science textbook, 
 "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY 
 
 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A.
 
 Copyright, 1911, by 
 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY 
 
 [Printed in U.S. A.]
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 THIS volume has been prepared in response to the 
 many requests that have come to the Publishing Society 
 for the issuance in permanent and convenient form of 
 at least a part of the many special articles, personal 
 tributes, and editorials, dealing with the life and work 
 of Mrs. Eddy, which appeared in the press throughout 
 the civilized world during the months of December, 1910, 
 and January, 1911. So wide-spread and generous, in- 
 deed, was this spontaneous tribute, that even in prepar- 
 ing the "Excerpts from Editorial Comments" which were 
 published in the Sentinel, it was found impossible, for 
 lack of space, to make a representative selection from 
 the voluminous matter in hand without in most instances 
 using only such parts of the editorials as bore directly on 
 the particular achievements with which Mrs. Eddy was 
 so generally accredited. It is believed, however, that 
 the articles and excerpts herein presented are indicative 
 of a general desire to render honor where honor is due, 
 and that the book will be welcomed not only by Christian 
 Scientists but by fair-minded thinkers everywhere.
 
 [Editorial from Christian Science Sentinel] 
 
 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 THERE is a story of a certain old-world philosopher who, 
 when it was asked of him, "What constitutes achievement?" 
 answered, "To be able to reply Yes, every evening, to your- 
 self, when you ask, 'Have I done good to any one to-day?' ' 
 It would be difficult to find a more practical and efficacious 
 test of the value of a man's life-work, and it would be im- 
 possible to find any one to whom it could be more fearlessly 
 applied than Mrs. Eddy. Her whole life, even before she 
 discovered Christian Science, constituted an expression of 
 an intense tenderness for suffering humanity, and as the 
 years added themselves to years, and she learned more 
 and more of divine Life, Truth, and Love, she came to 
 fulfil absolutely the exhortation of Paul to the church at 
 Colosse, "Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being 
 fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowl- 
 edge of God." 
 
 Building in this way for God and not for herself, she 
 built on sure foundations. The Christian Science church 
 which, in the brief space of forty-four years, has literally 
 folded itself around the globe, is in this way founded upon a 
 rock, the rock of divine service. It is a rock against which 
 the storms may beat in vain, for as long as the thoughts of 
 men are turned away from selfish aims, in the endeavor to 
 be able to say, at every close of day, "I have striven to 
 bring healing to the sick, peace to the weary, joy to the 
 sorrowing," they will be learning something of the meaning 
 of consecration. 
 
 The depth of man's consecration may be measured by 
 his understanding of divine service. "The song of Chris- 
 tian Science," Mrs. Eddy writes, "is, 'Work work work 
 watch and pray' " (Message to The Mother Church for 1900, 
 p. 2 ) , and certainly no one has ever put exhortation into prac-
 
 4 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 tice with more selfless devotion than has she. "I saw before 
 me," she writes on page 226 of Science and Health, allud- 
 ing to her earlier trials, "the awful conflict, the Red Sea 
 and the wilderness; but I pressed on through faith in God, 
 trusting Truth, the strong deliverer, to guide me into the 
 land of Christian Science, where fetters fall and the rights 
 of man are fully known and acknowledged." Not once, 
 in all those years of conflict, did she flinch, because not once 
 in all those years did she put her own will before the will 
 of God; and so to-day the Red Sea and the wilderness lie 
 far behind, and the advancing hosts of Christian Science 
 hear the voice of their Leader, repeating the triumphant 
 words of her Master, "Fear not, little flock." 
 
 What Mrs. Eddy has won for Christian Science, her 
 followers will maintain and increase, because she has given 
 them a scientific understanding of Love; and, as she her- 
 self says, "Where shall the gaze rest but in the unsearch- 
 able realm of Mind? We must look where we would walk, 
 and we must act as possessing all power from Him in whom 
 we have our being" (Science and Health, p. 264). Though 
 they stumble and falter as they press forward, press for- 
 ward they must ; because they have realized that the de- 
 mands of divine Science are imperative, and that the peace 
 of God which they one and all seek can only come to them 
 in proportion to the measure of their performance. 
 
 This performance has, however, to be something more 
 than individual, it has to be collective as well. Even in the 
 affairs of this world the proverb declares that in union is 
 strength. If this is true of the effort of discordant minds 
 and temperaments to achieve a human victory, how much 
 more true must it be of that unity in the service of God 
 which is founded on unity of thought and action. Such 
 unity is to be wrought out only in the determination to 
 seek another's good rather than our own, for self-seeking 
 is the seed which would grow into the tree of disintegra- 
 tion. 
 
 This is the lesson which Mrs. Eddy has held persist- 
 ently before her followers, and we can only claim to be
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 5 
 
 her followers in proportion to our obedience to her teach- 
 ing; and to obey that teaching we have to devote our efforts 
 to the attempt to live in good. "Who lives in good," she 
 writes, on page 4 of "Pulpit and Press," "lives also in God, 
 lives in all Life, through all space. His is an individual 
 kingdom, his diadem a crown of crowns. His existence 
 is deathless, forever unfolding its eternal Principle. Wait 
 patiently on illimitable Love, the lord and giver of Life. 
 Reflect this Life, and with it cometh the full power of be- 
 ing. 'They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness 
 of Thy house.' " 
 
 ARCHIBALD MCLELLAN. 
 
 [Editorial from Christian Science Sentinel] 
 
 ONWARD AND UPWARD , 
 
 CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS the world over have another re- 
 minder that they must arouse themselves as never before 
 to prove by demonstration the priceless teachings of their 
 beloved Leader. This she has always urged them to do, 
 but the human tendency often leads us to rely upon another 
 to work out our problems for us, and so far as this is yielded 
 to we lay needless burdens upon others, and miss tempo- 
 rarily the unfoldment of our own spiritual capacities. 
 
 Some years ago, when Mrs. Eddy found it necessary to 
 go away from Boston in order to gain greater freedom for 
 the revision of Science and Health, and also for the writing 
 of other books which have so wonderfully enriched our 
 literature, many of her followers were greatly disappointed, 
 because, as it then seemed, their captain had retired from 
 the field and left them to fight their battles alone. Soon, 
 however, they learned that this was far from being the case. 
 As a result of the greater freedom gained by seclusion, 
 she was enabled to work out the rules for our church or- 
 ganization, The Mother Church and its rapidly increasing 
 branches, as given in the Manual. She also provided for 
 the establishment of the Lesson-Sermons, Christian Science 
 reading-rooms, the board of lectureship, the committees on
 
 6 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 publication, and the extension of our literature in the publi- 
 cation of the Sentinel, Der Herald, and the Monitor. The 
 Journal had been established by her in 1883, and she con- 
 tinued to be a frequent contributor to its pages. 
 
 Among the many other achievements of Mrs. Eddy's 
 years of retirement from society, may be reckoned the build- 
 ing of The Mother Church edifice in 1894, also its magnifi- 
 cent extension in 1904, and later the, erection of the publish- 
 ing house. All of this, however, is but the outward expression 
 of the mighty Christianizing influence which had its present- 
 day inception in the giving to the world of "Science and 
 Health with Key to the Scriptures." The redemption of 
 thousands upon thousands of professed Christians from a 
 doubting and uncertain faith in God and the promises of 
 Christ Jesus, and the awakening of vast numbers of avowed 
 agnostics .to a vital faith in these and a new-found love for 
 God and man; the physical healing of multitudes and their 
 moral and spiritual quickening, these are the things that 
 really tell the story of what she attempted and by the grace 
 of God accomplished. Well may the lesson of her life 
 arouse all her followers from the lethargy of mortal belief 
 and the delusions of mere personal ambition, to whole- 
 hearted service in the cause of Truth. 
 
 The cause of Christian Science is firmly established, 
 thanks to Mrs. Eddy's reflection of divine wisdom and her 
 unceasing toil. To us is now committed the glorious task 
 of seeing to it that no smallest portion of our spiritual heri- 
 tage shall be lost to posterity, because of any lack of ap- 
 preciation or energy on our part. As we think of our 
 beloved Leader, crowned with a record of long and selfless 
 service such as the world has seldom seen, we may recall 
 Tennyson's characterization of a great English statesman, 
 
 Whose eighty winters freeze with one rebuke 
 All great self-seekers trampling on the right. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's followers are such because most of them 
 had hungered for but failed to find that which her teaching 
 offers, the Science which reveals the facts of being, includ- 
 ing man's limitless possibilities as a child of God, and which
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 7 
 
 makes all the promises of Christ Jesus an absolute cer- 
 tainty. Like the Samaritans who listened to their towns- 
 woman's story of Jesus' wonderful teachings, we can say, 
 "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have 
 heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, 
 the Saviour of the world." Jesus, as a personal teacher, left 
 his followers, but he promised that the Comforter, "the Spirit 
 of truth," should come and abide with them forever, should 
 bring to their remembrance all that he had taught them. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has ever directed her followers to look away 
 from her personality to the Holy Comforter, and as they 
 have striven to obey they have found the eternal and infinite 
 source of all comfort, the Life divine. They will prove 
 their love for their divinely inspired Leader by greater faith- 
 fulness at every step of the way; they will "wait upon the 
 Lord" and "renew their strength;" they will "run, and not 
 be weary; . . . walk, and not faint." 
 
 ANNIE M. KNOTT. 
 
 [Editorial from Christian Science Sentinel] 
 
 "JUDGE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT" 
 
 IT seems only fitting at this time to devote a large portion 
 of our space in this issue of the Sentinel to excerpts from 
 the columns upon columns of editorial comment that have 
 appeared in the secular press during the past week, a trib- 
 ute in its apprehension and appreciation of the greatness 
 of our beloved Leader and the work she has done for hu- 
 manity at large, as generous as it is wide-spread. 
 
 There is one phase of this comment which is character- 
 istic. Few of the editorial writers lay claim to a personal 
 knowledge of the teachings of Christian Science, but with 
 very few exceptions they concede that its Discoverer and 
 Founder was a wonderful woman and that she wrought a 
 wonderful work; that the world is better and happier be- 
 cause of her, and that wherever this faith has become estab- 
 lished its exponents are "living epistles" that make for the 
 general uplift of the community.
 
 8 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 It is true that Christian Scientists do not need to be told 
 how truly great is the mission of Christian Science and how 
 much of good it has accomplished. None know better than 
 they the tireless energy, the unfailing watchfulness over its 
 welfare that in the last forty years has gone to its estab- 
 lishment and upbuilding; that there was no fear or faltering 
 on the part of the Leader who set her hand to the fulfilment 
 of her high calling, but it is none the less gratifying when 
 such generous tribute to the greatness of her accomplish- 
 ment is paid by those who have judged her by the Scriptural 
 standard: "By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 One can but ponder, however, how much more of good 
 would be accomplished if the teachings of Christian Science 
 were more generally accorded recognition, if the truth it 
 presents in all its beauty and simplicity, the truth which 
 centuries ago Christ Jesus declared should make men free, 
 should lead them out of the darkness of despair into "the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God," should be accepted 
 in its entirety. One can but believe that the ever lessening 
 minority of those who misjudge and condemn Christian 
 Science do so because they have failed to apprehend, to lay 
 hold on its animating and dominating truth, that because 
 God is omnipotent good, evil is shorn of its assumed power; 
 that the reasonableness of its propositions lies in the fact that 
 they are demonstrable by each and every one in the propor- 
 tion that they are accepted and put into practice. 
 
 In this connection a clipping from the Washington 
 (D. C.) Herald, which reports a sermon by one of the pas- 
 tors of that city, is particularly apropos. The Rev. Lloyd 
 Douglass, preaching from that wonderful promise of the 
 Master which is the foundation stone of Christian Science 
 practice, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do 
 shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do," 
 said: 
 
 I am not a Christian Scientist, and my position as pastor of an 
 orthodox church makes that point quite clear. Yet I had rather be 
 identified with that cult than to be identified with the large and in- 
 creasing body of people who are zealous in impugning all of its teach- 
 ings without going to the trouble of investigating.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 
 
 When Mrs. Eddy began her teachings she felt the Christian church 
 was failing to realize the practical value and usefulness of the power 
 which Jesus Christ had delegated to his disciples. Some of the most 
 ardent enemies of Christian Science are people who have not taken the 
 time or trouble to study the principles set forth in Science and Health. 
 It would be better if these people would devote their controversial 
 powers to some matter upon which they had more information. 
 
 We read in the Gospel of Luke that when Jesus came back 
 to his home town of Nazareth after his experience in the 
 wilderness, he read in the synagogue this prophecy from the 
 book of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 
 he hath annointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he 
 hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, 
 to set at liberty them that are bruised." Here in epitome 
 is the mission of Christian Science, the work inaugurated 
 by our Leader and its every obligation fulfilled, the work 
 it is the high privilege of Christian Scientists everywhere 
 to carry on in faithful continuance, watching, working, and 
 praying until the light which has come to them through her 
 teachings shall "radiate and glow into noontide glory" 
 (Science and Health, p. 367); until the leaven shall have 
 leavened the whole lump, until men everywhere shall see in 
 Christian Science the undivided garment of Christ Jesus. 
 
 ARCHIBALD MCLELLAN. 
 
 [Reprinted from The Christian Science Monitor} 
 
 A TRIBUTE 
 
 MRS. ANNIE M. KNOTT 
 
 IT is the testimony of Holy Writ that love is stronger 
 than death, and at this hour Christian Scientists are proving 
 the truth of the inspired saying. Their beloved and revered 
 Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, has left the earthly scene of her 
 untiring activity in the service of God and humanity, and 
 in the solemn hush which follows their human sense of loss 
 they realize as never before the depths of their love for 
 this noble and true-hearted woman whose life of devotion 
 to Truth has meant so much to unnumbered thousands of
 
 10 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 lives that were in deepest darkness until the light of Chris- 
 tian Science dawned upon them. Poorly indeed would they 
 prove their understanding of her teachings did they at this 
 hour yield to any unreasoning sense of sorrow. Mrs. Eddy 
 has ever insisted that God, not man, is "the centre and cir- 
 cumference of being," the Principle and Life of all, and to 
 this eternal fact they will cling until the goal of spiritual 
 being is reached, and the deathless life proved by Christ 
 Jesus is attained. Mrs. Eddy's discovery of the healing and 
 saving power of divine Truth was brought to a densely 
 materialistic age, but in spite of this it has aroused mankind 
 to lay hold upon all that the Bible promises. To-day, after 
 nearly half a century of arduous and unselfish toil on her 
 part, the Scriptures are a mighty, life-giving power to mul- 
 titudes who before the coming of Christian Science knew 
 them only as the letter that killeth. 
 
 With the temperament of a seer, Mrs. Eddy has always 
 chosen to be alone with God in pondering the solution of 
 the great problems of being, and as a result of her com- 
 munings with the Mind that governs the universe she has 
 shown the utmost wisdom in directing the activities of the 
 rapidly extending Christian Science movement, its success 
 being due to her wonderful ability so to present the truth 
 as to inspire those about her with something of her own 
 faith in God and her sublime courage in working for the 
 triumph of good over evil in every phase of human expe- 
 rience. Her followers can now do no less than defend the 
 heritage of truth which she has left them, until it sets all 
 men free. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has glorified the teachings of Christ Jesus in 
 making them a living power to-day as truly as nineteen 
 hundred years ago, and to her belong his words of com- 
 mendation: "Well done, good and faithful, servant . . . 
 enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
 
 EXCERPTS FROM EDITORIAL COMMENTS 
 
 [The Woman's National Daily, St. Louis, Mo.] 
 
 It is peculiarly human to venerate and sanctify our an- 
 cestors and stone those who seek to better life while we are 
 living it. But a comparatively few years ago a man died 
 whose life had been spent in causing the world to swim in 
 blood and misery. The world trembled and gasped in 
 relief as he died, and then proceeded to glorify him as it 
 had groveled at his feet while he lived. He had emptied a 
 million homes of their breadwinners, caused more wide- 
 spread misery and distress than any man who ever lived, 
 and built a world empire which crumbled before he was 
 gone; yet when Napoleon Bonaparte died all the world 
 bowed its head in tribute to the beating he had given it. 
 
 Two nights ago a frail little old gentlewoman died who, 
 too, had built an empire, but not of blood and misery. A 
 million hearts silently mourned her for a moment, but in 
 accordance with her own teachings it was only a tribute of 
 love and loyalty for the brighter, better view-point of their 
 own life and death she had taught them. There was no 
 pomp; but a few brief words following the usual services, 
 and the announcement that a loved and revered Leader had 
 exchanged a mortal form for an immortal one. She had 
 shed no blood, destroyed no homes, shackled no nation, 
 but what she had done was to take away a little human 
 misery and substitute a happier, better attitude toward life. 
 She taught nothing new, for what she taught was but a 
 different view of the first thing the beginning and the end. 
 We may differ from that view, but none even now can doubt 
 but that she was one of the most remarkable souls that has 
 appeared in human guise. 
 
 We cannot know how much of such rare human lives is 
 abnormal genius and how much a message and a lesson put 
 in understandable, humanly tangible form by divine Love. 
 Certainly, whether we agree with teachings or reject 
 
 11
 
 12 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 them, the lesson is the same and the world grows better 
 with each such lesson. We stoned her for a time, as usual, 
 and perhaps she will be soon forgotten, or perhaps future 
 generations will cloak her with divinity. At any rate, the 
 world owes that frail woman a greater debt than it owed 
 the world-conqueror, and if her works be of life they will 
 live; and if not, they will die, but the fact that even a single 
 life has been made better will not be lost in the world's 
 melting-pot from which through countless centuries a great 
 purpose, beyond our human understanding, is being worked 
 out. Some time in the future, perhaps, the race will stone 
 the bloody monster who seeks to make it swim in blood to 
 gratify his own lust, and honor the pure of heart, who seeks 
 to brighten it; but we are not yet quite that civilized. I have 
 never read Mrs. Eddy's book or teachings, but I have seen 
 some results of them which compelled both honor and respect, 
 and I believe that all are agreed that a reasonable way of 
 judging a tree is by its fruit. Nothing could have been finer 
 than the way of her going and its reception by the multitude 
 whose Leader and loved teacher she has been. 
 
 [Chicago Tribune] 
 
 With the death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy there passes 
 from this world's activities one of the most remarkable 
 women of her time. Whatever the degree of faith or un- 
 faith with which the individual may look upon what she 
 taught and what was accomplished by or through her teach- 
 ings and her influence, the amazing and well-nigh miracu- 
 lous achievement set down to her account cannot but impress 
 the imagination and arouse our profound consideration. She 
 has builded in her own lifetime a great religious institution, 
 a faith wide-spread and held by hundreds of thousands of 
 believers. And not only is the number of her following 
 notable, but likewise its character. Mrs. Eddy has not swept 
 into her church myriads of the unthinking and uneducated. 
 On the contrary, her teachings have appealed to the highest 
 classes, and the level of the character and intelligence of the 
 Christian Scientists is everywhere high.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 13 
 
 As to the right value of Mrs. Eddy's message, the perma- 
 nence, importance, and extent of the church she founded, no 
 contemporary estimate or prediction is worth much. A 
 hundred years from now it will be easier and safer to evalu- 
 ate her teachings, the worth of the work she did, and her 
 own place among the men and women who have risen to 
 lead and influence powerfully and extensively the lives, the 
 thought, and the spirit of their fellow-men. 
 
 [Boston Globe] 
 
 The deep sorrow felt by Christian Scientists over the loss 
 of their Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, will be shared by people 
 of broad sympathies outside that church who regret the 
 passing of any notable figure. The impulse toward higher 
 standards of conduct in life which had its birth within her 
 mind will continue to live and influence humanity. 
 
 Within a generation Mrs. Eddy founded and established 
 a sect, and lived to see her teachings accepted by many 
 people scattered throughout the entire world. The ethical 
 part of her faith, pointing to rules for every-day conduct, 
 has found general favor, and it is chiefly the therapeutic side 
 of her teachings that has aroused criticism. Whatever one's 
 view on religion may be, few will care to deny that Mrs. 
 Eddy's influence has been directed toward the betterment of 
 those that she intimately touched. It must have been singu- 
 larly gratifying in the closing days of her life to realize how 
 widely her belief has been adopted, for few men and still 
 fewer women live, as did Mrs. Eddy, to see their fullest 
 hopes realized. This is not an appropriate time to set an 
 estimate upon her right to enduring fame, which can better 
 be judged by posterity, but the present-day testimony must 
 be one of respect for a woman of remarkable mind and of 
 unusual ability, who, after a long and active life, spent her 
 closing ye^rs at peace with the world. She has now passed 
 on, leaving behind her an institution that she created. 
 
 [Concord (N. H.) Monitor] 
 
 Whether one agrees or disagrees with the Christian 
 Science faith in its concept and practice, few, we think, will
 
 14 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 deny to the Founder of that church the laurels of greatness 
 and the right to be called "a wonderful woman." 
 
 Study the story of her life as written by friend or foe, 
 the impartial pose toward her seems to have been a very 
 difficult one to maintain, and every careful and thoughtful 
 reader must be impressed with what Mrs. Eddy accom- 
 plished in her old age, for the dawning of her success was 
 not much more than twenty-five years ago and she was 
 eighty-nine when she died. The permanence or brevity of 
 the spiritual empire she created, the extent of her influence 
 upon modern thought and life, will be justly valued soon 
 by time, the great appraiser. Whatever that verdict may 
 be, the memory of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy will long be 
 cherished in Concord, the city which by her and through 
 her has been so much beautified and benefited. 
 
 [Boston Post] 
 
 The passing of Mary Baker Eddy removes one who for 
 more than a generation past has been a force of exceptional 
 magnitude in the spiritual life of a large following. The 
 cult which she introduced, and of which she remained the 
 acknowledged and venerated head and exponent to the very 
 end of her long life, has in it elements which have appealed 
 strongly to many people. 
 
 The record of the Christian Science church is phenomenal 
 in the history of modern religious movements. It is hardly 
 thirty years since The Mother Church was organized here 
 in Boston, and today its branches number more than one 
 thousand and its congregations are established in the east- 
 ern as well as the western hemisphere. This has followed 
 the quiet, persistent spread of those ideas of which Mrs. Eddy 
 stands as the author. It is not necessary that one should 
 hold agreement with the postulates of Christian Science to 
 recognize this marvelous extension of the cult and to appre- 
 ciate the fact that Mrs. Eddy has exercised a tremendous 
 power in directing it. She pointed out the applications, as 
 she conceived them, of religious ideas nineteen centuries old,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 15 
 
 in their relation to the conditions of life among the people 
 of today. 
 
 As was to be expected from the range of the doctrines 
 propounded by Mrs. Eddy, strong antagonisms were aroused, 
 and it is in meeting them with steady calmness that she 
 demonstrated the stability of her own personal faith and 
 gave inspiration to those who accepted her leadership and 
 stood with her. Even those in emphatic disagreement with 
 Mrs. Eddy's doctrines may well recognize in her a remark- 
 able personality. 
 
 [New York American] 
 
 So wide-spread is the fame of Mary Baker Eddy that 
 there is no country in the world that will not take note of 
 her death. Her extraordinary influence upon her genera- 
 tion will everywhere suggest comparisons or contrasts be- 
 tween her work and that of the seer who died in Russia a 
 few days ago. Count Tolstoi spoke to the intellect and 
 Mrs. Eddy to the heart. Nobody has any right to doubt 
 the sincerity of either; though every one will think and feel 
 as he pleases or as he can concerning their wisdom and 
 inspiration. 
 
 Thousands of homes in America and elsewhere have 
 felt the cheer of her brave spirit and will cherish her 
 memory with the feeling that it is a reviving and inspiring 
 presence. But no reflective person can doubt the signifi- 
 cance of the great rally of the human mind against the 
 discouraging materialism of the nineteenth century a re- 
 volt of the soul against mechanism and fate, in which this 
 woman played so remarkable a part. 
 
 [New York Morning Sun] 
 
 The creed which Mrs. Eddy built in the minds or hearts 
 of her multitude of disciples has one aspect or incident 
 which seems to us to deserve universal recognition. It is 
 apart from any question concerning the theology, the pa- 
 thology, the psychology of her doctrines, and apart even from 
 the facts of her personal career.
 
 16 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 We are thinking of the astonishing influence she exerted 
 in thousands of homes for the amelioration of life and 
 manners in some of the details of family and social inter- 
 course. She taught cheerfulness of spirit, and observation 
 encourages the belief that the great majority of her fol- 
 lowers either became more cheerful, both subjectively and 
 as consistent examples to those around them, or with more 
 or less success simulated a modification of temperament 
 in that respect, which amounts in practice to nearly the same 
 thing. She taught charity in judging the deeds and motives 
 of another who does not know of more than one case in 
 his own circle of acquaintance where apparently hopeless 
 vinegar has become oil because of her? She went so far 
 as to devise a vocabulary of euphemism, which proceeds in 
 the right direction, no matter how you may regard some 
 of its extreme manifestations; for there are many habitual 
 and conventional asperities of expression which serve beyond 
 doubt no better purpose than to intensify the sentiments 
 they denote. 
 
 It may be said that this is nothing more than an insistent 
 application of principles common to all the forms of the 
 Christian faith. Granting that, is it any the less the duty 
 of candor to recognize the effort and results and to ac- 
 knowledge the service? 
 
 [Morning Telegraph, New York City] 
 
 It is satisfactory to know that the great work started by 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, who died last Saturday, will go on. 
 The world owes much to the woman who apparently dis- 
 covered a great truth, and who at least has raised thousands 
 out of the slough of despond, converted a multitude of 
 hypochondriacs into hopeful and cheerful persons. Mrs. 
 Eddy lived until she was in her ninetieth year and never 
 wavered in her deep-rooted faith, and died affirming it. So 
 thoroughly had she instilled her views into her followers 
 that her work will live after her, and without doubt the 
 Christian Science church will expand, gather in disciples, 
 and continue to do the good work.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 17 
 
 [Manchester (N. H.) Union] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy, who died on Saturday night at a ripe 
 old age, was a woman who had made her mark upon the 
 time in which she lived. It is as idle as it is contemptible 
 to refuse to recognize facts, and the church which she 
 founded is a substantial fact indeed, in whatever light it 
 may be viewed. That a woman at middle life should have 
 gathered about her a little band of pupils and should have 
 so impressed her teachings upon them that they became her 
 devoted disciples, that she should have lived to see that 
 little company increase and expand until it became a re- 
 ligious organization counting nearly a thousand churches 
 and more than eighty-five thousand members in this country 
 alone, and with branches in most of the countries of the 
 world, is a fact which may well attract the interest and 
 hold the attention of any one who desires to be well in- 
 formed and who professes to hold an open mind. 
 
 It is a development which must be admitted to be the 
 more remarkable because it came in a period of the most 
 notable discoveries in medical science. At the same time 
 that the effect of certain germs upon the physical organiza- 
 tion was beginning to be understood, Mrs. Eddy and her 
 followers boldly and persistently maintained that disease 
 is more of the mind than of the body. Nor were those fol- 
 lowers gathered only from among the ignorant and the 
 credulous. The character of the members of Christian 
 Science churches is such that ridicule may be said to have 
 become itself ridiculous, and it has well-nigh ceased. 
 
 [Chicago Post] 
 
 The passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy brings to a close 
 a life story that is one of the most wonderful that this 
 country of unlimited possibilities has to show. Out of 
 nothing that is physical, no great fortune, no industrial 
 invention, no inherited opportunity, Mrs. Eddy built up a 
 great career. It is the greater because its greatness was 
 not for herself but for the church which she founded. She 
 took from the Bible one of the fundamental commands
 
 18 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 which modern Christianity had overlooked, the solemn in- 
 junction to "heal the sick." This, with an inspiration that 
 burned steady and serene for long years, she put into a 
 faith and a creed that has brought happiness and health and 
 the active religious spirit to thousands upon thousands of 
 her fellow-beings. 
 
 This accomplishment cannot be denied her, even by those 
 to whom Christian Science is most distasteful. Its proof 
 lies first in the growth and solid strength of the Church of 
 Christ, Scientist, and secondly in the character and bearing 
 of the members of that church. The stately church 
 buildings in this city and its suburbs, and the constant ad- 
 ditions to their number, give concrete evidence of this mar- 
 velous development. But more significant than the church 
 buildings, more meaningful than the numerical strength of 
 the church, is the character of its congregations. Without 
 humbug or sentimentalism, any outsider can and must admit 
 that Christian Science people are good people. They not 
 only believe in their church and attend its meetings with 
 a passionate faithfulness that other churches envy, but 
 they also carry their faith with them into their daily lives. 
 By its very nature they have to. For if Christian Science 
 means anything to any man or woman, it must mean 
 everything. 
 
 It is this inherent strength in the fundamental idea of 
 Mrs. Eddy's church that will hold it together even after 
 her hand has been removed from its direction. The faith 
 will still live. Only by a full realization of this fact can 
 the outside world gain any comprehension of the calm ex- 
 altation of spirit with which Christian Scientists will re- 
 ceive the tidings that the earthly career of their Leader has 
 closed. Only in this way can it understand dimly their fine 
 and vivid belief that "there is no death" in the old pagan 
 sense of that solemn word. 
 
 [Boston Traveler] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has been one of the world's greatest bene- 
 factors. Her followers will say more than that, perhaps,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 19 
 
 but there is no reason why even her enemies should say 
 less. Regardless of differences of faith or philosophy, the 
 world must recognize, in her work, a vast contribution to 
 human happiness. Certain it is that Mrs. Eddy found the 
 world full of doubt and despondency, and gave it a larger 
 measure of brightness and hope. She taught the weak 
 that they need not be weak, the sick that they might be well, 
 the suffering that they had it within themselves to end 
 their wretchedness. Those who were ailing, physically or 
 mentally, were enabled, as she herself had been, to become 
 strong in soul and body. Neurasthenia and melancholy 
 yielded to the gospel of optimism. 
 
 Call it what you will, it is a fact that Christian Scien- 
 tists, as a class, are healthy, hopeful, happy, and prosper- 
 ous. And Christian Science modes of thought have per- 
 meated the thinking of the world, outside the pale of the 
 church. It is a great thing to be a teacher when the 
 teaching bears such fruit. And as Mrs. Eddy, full of years, 
 goes to her rest, the world is full of gratitude for the good 
 she has done. 
 
 [Boston Transcript] 
 
 It is peculiarly characteristic of Massachusetts, so gen- 
 erally derided as hard-fisted, unsentimental, and ultra-prac- 
 tical, that here spiritual and emotional ideas take strongest 
 root. Not ideas and practices that connote spectacular 
 demonstrations, but those that lie close to the fundamentals 
 of life. This fact has led to the sneer at Boston and 
 Massachusetts as the home and favorite haunt of fanatics, 
 and such zealots are rather pleased to be so called. The 
 anti-slavery propagandists delighted in the term. So did 
 the spiritualists, and we have not known much resentment 
 of it from the devotees of the cause whose Founder passed 
 on Saturday night. Of all these causes, Christian Science 
 has flourished most and most amazingly. And that growth 
 has come in a period that we are used to calling especially 
 commercialized, narrow, and sordid. Indeed, many per- 
 sons regard its success as due almost wholly to a natural
 
 20 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 revulsion or at least reaction from this overmaterialistic 
 public spirit. That may account for its growth, but it can 
 hardly account for its origin, which was certainly due to 
 the genius of one woman. 
 
 What a rise and growth it has had! It is the only world 
 religion, so far as we can now remember, that had its rise 
 in an English-speaking country, and is the only new one 
 that has been created for centuries. Wonderful spiritual 
 forces must have been set at work to accomplish this mar- 
 velous result. Somewhere in it must be germs of truth. 
 Otherwise its story would be utterly inexplicable. No other 
 recent cause has had such tremendous territorial extent, 
 either in this country or in the world. All these things must 
 be conceded by those to whom Christian Science is utterly 
 enigmatical or anathema. These cannot understand the 
 theory of its application, but they must admit the beneficent 
 results that often come from this treatment and they recog- 
 nize the satisfaction which Mrs. Eddy had a right to feel 
 over the triumph of her cause. Few founders of a religion 
 have been so rewarded in beholding the tangible success 
 of their labors. Most of these founders died in ignominy 
 and defeat. 
 
 [Springfield (Mass.) Union} 
 
 No just or accurate estimate of the character and work 
 of Mary Baker Eddy is possible at this time, and anything 
 that may be attempted in that direction must necessarily 
 fail of the approval of a very considerable number of peo- 
 ple. About no personage of her generation has so much 
 and such bitter controversy raged as around the Founder 
 and Leader of the organization and doctrines known as 
 Christian Science, who has just died. The facts of her life 
 and the very question of her existence in recent years, as 
 well as the value of her teachings and example, have been 
 a subject of fierce and acrifnonious contention. Many years 
 must elapse before an adequate and fair summing up of 
 her work can be made. But, from whatever view-point 
 one regards the subject, it is beyond the possibility of dispute
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 21 
 
 that she was one of the most influential as well as one of 
 the most remarkable figures of the age. 
 
 In the last few years the power and vitality of the 
 Christian Science movement has been shown more clearly 
 than at any previous time. However much Christian Science 
 has been overestimated as a reformative and constructive 
 agent, however strained or unsound some of its tenets 
 may be, it has unquestionably been a force to influence 
 thought and religious institution, and its effect has been 
 felt far beyond the membership of the Christian Science 
 organization. The dignity of her bearing, the patience and 
 self-control she has displayed in the most trying emergen- 
 cies, have been no slight contribution to the success of 
 her cause. To have preached uniformly the doctrine of 
 peace and love to so many listeners, year after year, is in 
 itself a great thing. In the element referred to as "healing" 
 Mrs. Eddy seems to have touched a spring that is giving 
 religion a new impulse in modern life. How deep and 
 how genuine this really is, must be left to the future to 
 determine. 
 
 [Lynchburg (Va.) News'] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy may properly be estimated as 
 one of the most remarkable women of the age. As the 
 Founder of a new religious cult; as the projector of what she 
 believed was the true Science of Christianity; as the builder 
 of a great church with ramifications reaching all over the 
 nation and beyond its borders, she has long stood out as a 
 bright and shining target for the arrows of vituperation, 
 of ridicule, of scorn, of implacable hostility, of the bitter- 
 est of cynicism and the harshest of jeers. It was because 
 she survived these things; because the storm and tempest 
 which beat upon her availed not to drive her from the doc- 
 trines for which she stood ; because amid the stress of almost 
 superhuman trial, and the fierce avalanche of opposing ar- 
 guments, she serenely held safe poise of mind, and fealty 
 to conviction, and fidelity to purpose, that she should be 
 accounted great. Though everything in which she be- 
 lieved and which she taught should hereafter fall and
 
 22 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 crumble beneath the assaults of logic and research and 
 demonstration; though with her death should also be wit- 
 nessed the decadence and the early death of Christian 
 Science, things which we by no means predict, yet Mrs. 
 Eddy's place in history would be secure as one who achieved 
 to tremendous purpose; who wrought mighty results; who 
 was revered by vast hosts of intelligent, God-fearing men 
 and women and children as the mighty mistress of a cause 
 that was noble in objective and good in inspiration; that 
 accomplished much in affording relief from human ills and 
 the peace of mind for those who craved and needed help- 
 ful ministration. 
 
 It is not necessary to believe in Mind-healing as Mrs. 
 Eddy believed in it, to accord her this distinction. It is not 
 necessary to give intellectual acceptance to the creed of her 
 church, to concede that Mrs. Eddy nobly lived and worked 
 and aspired and that she deserves to be ranked among the 
 most striking, the most interesting, and the strongest figures 
 that ever graced and distinguished the annals of her sex. 
 
 [Montreal Star] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's death leaves her work, which was that of 
 building up the Christian Science organization, well en- 
 trenched, with all the necessary and visible signs of a thor- 
 oughly officered going-concern. There are churches in 
 abundance, a great newspaper, bands of devoted adherents, 
 whose "daily walk and conversation" are examples to the 
 best communities in the world. The movement has spread 
 so that its followers may now be found in almost all of 
 the English-speaking countries, and to a lesser extent in 
 the rest of the world. With Mrs. Eddy's disappearance, in 
 all human probability, the course of her followers will vary 
 little, and the cause she espoused will probably suffer no 
 imme'diate negation. 
 
 [Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution} 
 
 One need not be a subscriber to or even a sympathizer 
 with the creed of Christian Science to recognize its Founder,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 23 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, as a remarkable and achieving 
 figure of history. Founders of religions and creeds there 
 have been in plenty, but not in our day, at least, has there 
 risen one to build so staunch and so phenomenally an in- 
 creasing following as that which pays tribute to Mrs. Eddy 
 as its originator and Leader. 
 
 When all is said and done, it remains that this woman 
 taught and achieved in large measure that conquest of the 
 flesh by the Spirit that is all too sadly needed in an age 
 engrossed with the lure of substance. She disseminated 
 happiness and cheerfulness among men and women, inspired 
 hopefulness to those that were sick of heart and gave many 
 a battle-weary spirit courage to face once more in the di- 
 rection of the dawn. By whatever term it be described, 
 that accomplishment stands for the furtherance of good 
 and the encouragement of uplift. And, on the personal 
 side, there are elements of greatness in a woman who could 
 win and so persistently hold the love and absolute confidence 
 of a following mounting into the many thousands. 
 
 [Inland Herald, Spokane, Wash.] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy removes from earth one 
 of the most remarkable characters of history. In a full 
 and consecrated life of nearly ninety years she accomplished 
 two things, either of which would have crowned her with 
 immortality. The American business man is not only over- 
 worked but overwrought and overworried. His practical 
 training affords him no philosophy. His one need is the 
 serenity and relaxation of mental rest. He needs a mental 
 anchorage that at the same time sustains and buoys, but 
 across the anchor which he throws out into the unknown 
 seas must be written "absolute certainty." There must be 
 no questionings. 
 
 Christian Science affords its believers just that. Its car- 
 dinal doctrines of the final supremacy of eternal good and 
 the swift doom of imagined evil are doctrines which, put 
 into practice, confer a calm serenity and unshakable con- 
 fidence that is only good. Christian Science is a practical,
 
 24 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 inspiring religion. It was born of a woman, and it has 
 been baptized in the tears of grateful millions. In its pro- 
 mulgation Mary Baker Eddy has answered the cry of thou- 
 sands of tired hearts. In this, if in nothing else, she has 
 been a great benefactor to the world. 
 
 Her second great achievement has been the organization 
 of a mighty church in a single lifetime. She accomplished 
 in one generation that which followed only centuries after 
 every other great religious leader. No other founder of a 
 great church ever lived to see his work complete. Neither 
 Confucius, Gautama, or St. Augustine ever beheld the fruit 
 of his teachings materialize as Mary Baker Eddy did. Few 
 will mourn the death of Mary Baker Eddy as other deaths 
 are mourned. Her own doctrines preclude that. Moreover, 
 her personality was something apart, always above and 
 apart, and but little known and understood. But, what- 
 ever the verdict of the ages shall be, Mary Baker Eddy 
 to-day sits enthroned in the hearts of thousands and thou- 
 sands of admiring followers, her remarkable accomplish- 
 ments an epitome of one of the most extraordinary and 
 potent personalities the world has known. 
 
 [Butte (Mont.) Evening News] 
 
 The United States has lost, in the death of Mary Baker 
 Eddy, one of the truly remarkable characters of the century. 
 That in this practical age the beliefs and theories of Mrs. 
 Eddy interested and held nearly a million people sincere 
 and devoted to their Leader, and that this fidelity continued 
 year after year with increasing force, demonstrates not 
 only that Mrs. Eddy was a woman of superior intellect, but 
 that she was one of innate goodness to have stood the test 
 of time. Mrs. Eddy's accomplishment is remarkable in 
 that it was attained without evangelizing or proselyting. 
 Her church might be called a natural growth, and it grew 
 with the dignity which characterized the woman herself. 
 It had chiefly to contend with ridicule of the practical class, 
 whose materialistic natures could not and would not accept 
 the teaching of the woman. Some responsive chord her
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 25 
 
 teaching certainly found in the public mind, and nothing 
 has ever shown that her influence was other than good. 
 Even if Mrs. Eddy accomplished nothing more, she ef- 
 fected in her followers a mental harmony which in this 
 busy land, with its tendencies to discord, was in itself to 
 those who needed it a benison. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's disinterestedness stands out prominently. 
 She is free from the accusation of promoting her own 
 worldly affairs at the expense of her zealots. The fruits 
 of her years of labor revert to the organization she planned 
 and perfected. Mrs. Eddy was the most striking example 
 the century has had of the power of repose; hers was not 
 a church militant and her church was the antithesis of 
 that of the evangelical whirling dervish whose creed is as 
 transient as it is tempestuous. From all walks of life, high 
 and low, Mrs. Eddy recruited her army of followers; hers 
 was no appeal to any particular class, nor to any particular 
 nationality, and in point of universality in America the 
 sect was in a class by itself. Few will advance the theory 
 that Mrs. Eddy has not left the world better than she 
 found it. 
 
 [Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Me.] 
 
 In the death of the Founder of Christian Science, Amer- 
 ica has lost another of its greatest women. However much 
 we may have disagreed with her or have criticized her ut- 
 terances, we can but admit her greatness and the remark- 
 able power she had of leading. She founded a -religious 
 sect that has shaken the foundations of every evangelical 
 church in the country. Her life has added one more proof 
 that humanity longs for a belief in the spiritual, for trust 
 in a higher power and for visual evidence of its agency. 
 Mrs. Eddy's religion appealed to the sick, the afflicted, and 
 the hypochondriac, where others appealed to the outcast 
 and the forsaken. She won largely, and the force of her 
 character will be felt in her church for all time. Regard- 
 less of the merits or demerits of Christian Science, it has 
 become an unmistakable influence of the century. Mrs.
 
 26 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Eddy built a church which has drawn to it persons of cul- 
 ture, education, and property, and we have no doubt that 
 it will go on. 
 
 [Philadelphia Public Ledger] 
 
 Whatever may be the opinion of the world at large upon 
 the doctrines inculcated by the church of which she was the 
 Founder, it is a question whether Mary Baker Eddy in the 
 building up of this organization of half a million fervently 
 loyal adherents has not outdone the achievement of any 
 other woman who ever lived. There has been many a 
 woman who "led her soul, her cause, her clan" to the ac- 
 complishment of a great humanitarian undertaking who 
 notably contributed to the promotion of temperance, to the 
 amelioration of the lot of slaves or prisoners, to the effec- 
 tiveness of missionary labor in the domestic or the foreign 
 field, or to the alleviatory ministration to invalids in hos- 
 pitals in war-time or in times of peace. The world has quite 
 recently been called upon to mourn the passing of two such 
 women Florence Nightingale and Julia Ward Howe, both 
 of whom were of approximately the age of Mrs. Eddy when 
 they obeyed the summons of the invisible. But Mrs. Eddy 
 was more than philanthropist and humanitarian. To create 
 such a church and to inspire a following so numerous and 
 so devoted, Mrs. Eddy must have been a woman of alto- 
 gether extraordinary personal endowments. 
 
 [Denver (Colo.) Times] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy appeared in an age when men had begun 
 to cast off the outward observance of religious teachings. 
 Success was the fetish men were worshiping. When she 
 first spoke the greater part of the world smiled and shrugged 
 its shoulders. What did a woman know of soul life? But 
 as Joan of Arc led a nation out of bondage, Mrs. Eddy 
 pointed the way to a delectable land of Spirit in which 
 hundreds of thousands have found consolation. We may 
 not agree with the declarations of Mrs. Eddy; we may not 
 be of the opinion that they will be as universally accepted
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 27 
 
 as some of the older religious ideas, but we do think that 
 Mrs. Eddy deserves a high place in the estimation of man- 
 kind. Any one who has endeavored to make this earth a 
 more pleasant abiding-place deserves well of his fellow- 
 men. Of late years much mystery enveloped Mrs. Eddy. 
 The charge was made that she had died and that an impos- 
 tor was parading in her place. However, the world had 
 come to accept the statement made by those closely as- 
 sociated with her, that she was still among the living. The 
 announcement of her death brushes aside all former dec- 
 larations regarding her material condition. 
 
 Hypatia helped rekindle the waning fires of culture; 
 Queen Victoria and other splendid women have builded 
 material empires, but as the world hurried on its endless 
 journey the religious life of the people has been carried 
 unfalteringly by women. And Mrs. Eddy stands as one 
 who has made sweetness and light enter far places. 
 
 [Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Col.] 
 
 Christian Science is a solace, a support, and an inspira- 
 tion to hundreds of thousands of human creatures. To 
 them it is more precious than their daily bread. In its 
 comforting power to its followers it is entitled to the world's 
 reverence; and therefore the name of its Founder must 
 claim the world's respect. 
 
 Happily Mary Baker Eddy lived long enough to see 
 the sneer give place to admiration. The new religion, or 
 philosophy, or "Science," was compelled to make its stand 
 in a nation much given to scoffing and in an age of free 
 debate. That it has survived and flourished, that its 
 Founder overcame all evil report, must be attributed to the 
 deep spiritual effectiveness of the personality and the ab- 
 solute answer of the faith to the needs of its devotees. 
 No one now doubts that Mrs. Eddy sincerely believed in 
 her mission to mankind. The fair-minded world acknowl- 
 edges that she possessed a rare endowment of inward vision 
 and external influence, and that she sought to bless her 
 fellow-beings with her "Science" of absolute health. In
 
 28 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 that bestowal, her labor was a "marvelous work and a 
 wonder." And through unnumbered generations and by 
 countless millions of devotees she will be revered as the 
 most inspired woman of all time. 
 
 There is always a possibility of schism in a church when 
 it comes to its first loss of leadership. But in the case of 
 the Christian Science cult such division is not now prob- 
 able. The creed and practice have been settled within well- 
 defined lines; the membership is an intelligent democracy; 
 and not even ambitious or avaricious rivalries would be able 
 to disintegrate the fabric. From the days of popular "ex- 
 posure" and ridicule, Christian Science has moved quietly 
 and efficiently onward to its present high station. It has 
 brought peace to many tempest- worn lives; it has given 
 health to many pain-racked bodies; it has conferred content 
 upon many tortured minds; it has established faith and 
 cheerfulness, where formerly was despair of this world and 
 doubt of the hereafter. For all the beauty and usefulness 
 which it has given to a million lives, the faith is to be 
 revered and the name of its Founder is to be held in grate- 
 ful remembrance. 
 
 [Asheville (N. C.) Citizen] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Eddy marks the passing of a most 
 remarkable figure in the religious world. Wielding a won- 
 derful influence over a great army, and it was undoubtedly 
 an influence for good, it being reflected in the lives of thou- 
 sands of her followers, she needed no brass bands to make 
 the world conscious of her presence. While many there are 
 who could not fathom the depths of Mrs. Eddy's teach- 
 ings, few have denied her sincerity. Her writings bear the 
 imprint of the close student of God and man. Her gospel 
 was largely one of sunshine and mental uplift. Of her 
 home life we know but little, but from all accounts it was 
 an exemplary one. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was also a woman of rare moral courage 
 when we consider that forty years ago she founded a creed 
 at total variance with all established beliefs. The doctrines 
 she enunciated at that time had no other adherent than
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 29 
 
 herself. The scorn and ridicule which greeted her first 
 book has given place to a wide-spread interest, and a great 
 portion of humanity to-day believes that the pill and potion 
 are not essential to the cure of disease. 
 
 [News Tribune, Duluth, Minn.] 
 
 Not Christian Scientists alone, but people of all faiths 
 and no faith, join in tributes to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, 
 one of the most remarkable women the world has produced. 
 What the doctrinal teachings of Christian Science are, we 
 do not know; we do not know wherein its interpretation 
 of the Bible differs from that of the evangelical churches. 
 We do not understand the Principle underlying its healing; 
 we cannot, to our own satisfaction, differentiate between 
 the subconscious and the divine Mind. But this is known 
 to all, that Christ gave to his disciples power "to heal all 
 manner of sickness and all manner of disease," and this 
 power was not limited to the twelve. 
 
 Moreover, its teachings are accepted, not by cranks and 
 faddists, not by those always seeking something new, but 
 by the educated, the cultured, the thoughtful, and the stu- 
 dent. Whatever its secret may be, it has produced a won- 
 derful faith, a marvelous spirit that shows in a power of 
 self-command, of self-denial, of sympathy, and helpfulness 
 that is truly Christian. It has brought a new power into 
 the world, which has gained its way against the fiercest 
 and most stubborn prejudice, against ridicule, scorn, and 
 almost ostracism, until it has compelled recognition and re- 
 spect, with the acknowledgment of its permanency. To-day, 
 while millions profess open allegiance to Christian Science, 
 many more express a sympathetic interest in it. From a 
 mysterious, sort of uncanny, and somewhat dangerous cult, 
 allied with the black art, to be approached only by those 
 insulated in dread and suspicion, it has taken its place as a 
 faith and as a church. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's dominance has also been resented. She has 
 been misinterpreted, maligned, and persecuted. Volumes 
 have been written against her. Her power as an executive,
 
 30 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 her administrative ability, and her gift of organization were 
 as wonderful as the faith she founded. Yet that she built 
 her structure on broad, sound, permanent administrative 
 principles, instead of founding a house of cards on shifting 
 sands, has been the cause of most of the attacks personal to 
 her. In this, however, her experience was no different from 
 that of any other great and strong personality in the world's 
 history, and few have left to the world a greater heritage. 
 
 [Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.] 
 
 Whatever may be the judgment of history concerning 
 this remarkable woman and the great organization which 
 she was largely instrumental in building up, this much at 
 least must be said now: Mrs. Eddy has profoundly influ- 
 enced the lives of many thousands of people, and this in- 
 fluence exerted through the Christian Science church is 
 likely to live long after her frail earthly body shall have 
 moldered into indistinguishable dust. 
 
 [Times, Louisville, Ky.] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Eddy is mourned by a million of her 
 followers. We are too near in time to measure in full the 
 meaning or the value of her work, but the force of her 
 personality and the influence of her teachings have been 
 established permanently beyond all question. No more re- 
 markable woman has been born in this country and none 
 whose work is more certain to live after her. Christians 
 and scientists may differ as to her teachings, but in the 
 minds and hearts of thousands they have won and kept a 
 place and power that have worked mightily in the molding 
 of religious thought. 
 
 [Milwaukee Daily News] 
 
 History is full of the tales of women whose influence has 
 been a power in the affairs of men. But, strange as it may 
 seem, by far the greatest number of those who have risen 
 on the written pages of history attained their power through
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 31 
 
 charms of person and through their influence with men of 
 power. But the leading woman of her time, and among the 
 greatest in history, rose to her high place through the power 
 of that which is most eternal in mankind thought. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was not born to power, nor did she seek the in- 
 fluence of those who were so born. By the force of the 
 thought that she expressed and lived has she attained the 
 high place she holds to-day, and by its force will she live. 
 No matter what individuals may think of the system of 
 thought that bears her name, it is an acknowledged power 
 for good among mankind, and thousands have found com- 
 fort and relief through its teachings. 
 
 [Dallas (Tex.) News'] 
 
 To have founded a faith which has its followers wherever 
 there is civilization, and counts them by the hundred thou- 
 sand, is of itself title to such fame as few men, and fewer 
 women earn. At least this tribute to Mrs. Eddy men of 
 all creeds, as well as the creedless, may unite in giving, for 
 it involves no question as to their agreement with the tenets 
 of the faith which she either revived or instituted. Indeed, 
 it ought to be possible to pay her higher tribute than that 
 without arousing sectarian controversy; for we think it is 
 indisputable that the faith she taught has quickened with 
 hope and joy the souls of multitudes in whom other creeds 
 inspired only a perfunctory morality. Thus it has justified 
 its existence, proved that there was room for it. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy and that little band first won by her teaching 
 have suffered the sting of hostile gossip and have often 
 been isolated by a social ostracism, but at least they have not 
 felt the sword nor known the gibbet and the stake; more- 
 over, they have pressed more rapidly than most new creeds 
 did into the circle of toleration. The world at large may 
 still look at them askance, but only in the backwoods are 
 they any longer objects of curiosity. Men are coming 
 rapidly to see that with them at least their faith is real. 
 They exemplify it in their daily conduct with a fidelity 
 that compares favorably at least with the fidelity with which
 
 32 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 the followers of any other creed manifest their faith; and 
 as men behold it thus exemplified, they have come to see 
 that, instead of being incompatible with Christian morality, 
 it imposes a standard of ethics in which other Christians 
 can find no flaw and conceptions of life beyond the grave 
 that imply the highest degree of religious optimism. 
 
 It is this optimism that contrasts so forcibly with some 
 other phases of religious thought which would have us re- 
 gard this earthly life a vale of tears. From it has sprung 
 that confidence in the unlimited possibilities of the human 
 soul which has literally transformed the physical as well 
 as the spiritual life of thousands of its adherents. 
 
 [Herald, Washington, D. C.] 
 
 The death in her ninetieth year of Mrs. Mary Baker 
 Eddy, Founder and Leader of the Christian Science church 
 and system of faith, is an event that will profoundly stir 
 practically every city and community throughout the United 
 States, so universal was the spread of her doctrines and the 
 congregations of her followers. Already from her adher- 
 ents have come expressions of regret and outpourings of 
 love all of these tinctured with a beautiful faith of the 
 orthodox Christian kind which allows the believer in the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ to say over the bier of a beloved 
 one: "She is not dead, but sleeping." 
 
 As to the doctrines of Christian Science which Mrs. Eddy 
 promulgated with such success, there is still a wide diversity 
 of opinion, but we think all will agree that there is much 
 that is inspiring and helpful, even to the most orthodox, 
 in Mrs. Eddy's teachings; and the unprejudiced, those not 
 of her faith, but of open mind, must in justice admit that 
 her work, through long years, was always for the betterment 
 and the uplift of mankind. 
 
 The religious system she taught was a system of opti- 
 mism; her promulgations agreed closely with the teachings 
 and practices of Jesus Christ. She taught the gospel of 
 right thinking and right living; she taught, in other words 
 and phrases, the gospel that "a man's work lives after him,"
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 33 
 
 and that, so far, there is no such thing as death. And we 
 shall find, we think, that her own career will exemplify this 
 teaching, for though Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy is dead in the 
 flesh, we know that she shall live in the spirit; that the work 
 to which she put her hand shall go on, informed always 
 with the soul of love and charity and hopefulness and 
 faith, to comfort many to whom the old creeds and forms 
 no longer have appeal. For, without going into the minute 
 particulars of the forms of Christian Science and of these 
 there are but few the fact remains that fundamentally the 
 faith of Mrs. Eddy and her followers was the faith of Jesus 
 Christ. It was faith in the eternal goodness of things; the 
 faith that destroys evil and works bravely for the good. 
 
 "God is my life" are reputed to be her last written words; 
 words of strong faith that, could they be reechoed by every 
 man, would make the world a happier and better place to 
 live in. Hers was the gospel of salvation by work aided 
 by prayer, and perhaps the one point on which those outside 
 of her church were unable to follow her was in her positive 
 belief in the efficacy of prayer to resolve all human doubts 
 and cure all human ills. But, even in our inability to follow 
 Mrs. Eddy thus far, we are, after all, but confessing that 
 our faith in God's word was less than hers. For it is true, 
 as Tennyson phrased it, that 
 
 More things are wrought by prayer 
 Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
 Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
 For what are men better than sheep or goats 
 That nourish a blind life within the brain 
 If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 
 Both for themselves and those who call them friend? 
 For so the whole round earth is every way 
 Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. 
 
 [South Bend (Ind.) News] 
 
 As the Leader of one of the most remarkable religious 
 movements the world has ever witnessed, Mrs. Eddy found 
 it necessary as well as agreeable to her to live in dignified
 
 34 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 seclusion, appearing to the followers of her faith at times 
 when the proprieties called for her presence. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's life was notable for its longevity as well 
 as for its purity, beauty, and usefulness. She was born 
 ninety years ago in Bow, New Hampshire, and her youth 
 was spent in sympathetic touch with the picturesque beauty 
 of nature for which the region is famed. Her great grand- 
 father was a man of honored reputation and bore a com- 
 mission conferred by the provincial assembly. Her father 
 and grandfather were sturdy farmers who fostered in their 
 children the elements of a noble character. The intellectual 
 tastes and assertive strength of her father and the piety 
 and loving winsomeness of her mother were united in her 
 nature, and one who knew her intimately in her girlhood 
 has spoken of her as being distinguished even then for 
 "superior ability and scholarship, her depth and independ- 
 ence of thought, and her spiritual-mindedness," all of which 
 were prophetic of her future work in the world. 
 
 The education of the young girl was given careful consid- 
 eration by her parents, and at sixteen her fertile pen and 
 her ceaseless inquiry and investigation began to disclose that 
 instinct of the poet and truth-seeker which in later years 
 was to achieve such beneficent and far-reaching results. 
 She is said to have been constantly seeking that revelation 
 of truth which would bring her heart assurance and peace, 
 and she followed the path which leads from the plane of 
 common experience to the higher levels of spiritual appre- 
 hension. In an hour of hopeless physical suffering she is 
 said to have reached such a realization of the present heal- 
 ing potency of the Master's word that she was immedi- 
 ately made whole. This was in 1866, and since that time 
 Mrs. Eddy has been devoted to the teaching of her faith 
 and its practical application to human needs. 
 
 The visible results of Mrs. Eddy's work are found in the 
 establishment of nearly a thousand churches in this and 
 other countries, where the Christian Science faith is taught, 
 and more than a million followers of that faith. Perhaps 
 no religious movement was ever more derided and obstructed
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 35 
 
 in its progress, but it has steadily advanced, and in some 
 particulars, especially in the building of churches without 
 an entailment of indebtedness, has set a new and commend- 
 able example. 
 
 [Birmingham (Ala.) News} 
 
 In the death of Mrs. Eddy there passes from the stage 
 of life not only one of the most remarkable women that 
 the world has ever seen, but a woman remarkable in a most 
 distinctive way. In the past, women have commanded 
 armies and ruled empires, but Mrs. Eddy was the first of 
 her sex to found a religion, and in this work her greatness 
 lies, not in the line of invention or discovery. 
 
 It remained for Mrs. Eddy to assert the absolute non- 
 reality of matter and to pronounce the belief in its existence 
 the source of all evil, both spiritual and physical. And she 
 did this with a bareness, a force and a persistence that won 
 from their former moorings not only minds mystical by 
 nature, but also minds pronouncedly materialistic. It is 
 in this ability to rehabilitate an old thought, swing it clear 
 of long accepted foundation, and drive it home to the con- 
 sciousness of a materialistic age, that Mrs. Eddy's great- 
 ness lies. 
 
 [Journal-Courier, New Haven, Conn.] 
 
 The editorial comments on the life and career of Mrs. 
 Eddy show a gratifying sense of tolerance. Here and there 
 a newspaper expresses its violent dissent from Christian 
 Science doctrines, but the great majority frankly express 
 their admiration of the woman from both a personal point 
 of view and spiritual. Had she died ten years ago this 
 would not have been the case, which is additional tribute 
 to her marvelous power of organization. 
 
 It was the Springfield Republican, if we are not mis- 
 taken, that emphasized the immense good she did in influ- 
 encing the medical profession by establishing the influence 
 of mind over matter. That truth was not original with her, 
 but it was she who preached it until it became a gospel with
 
 36 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 over two million souls. The New York Sun emphasizes 
 still another phase of her usefulness, and it is this after all 
 that has received such a visible manifestation. Says the 
 Sun: "We are thinking of the astonishing influence she ex- 
 erted in thousands of homes for the amelioration of life 
 and manners in some of the details of family and social 
 intercourse. She taught cheerfulness of spirit, and observa- 
 tion encourages the belief that the great majority of her 
 followers either become more cheerful, both subjectively 
 and as consistent examples to those around them, or with 
 more or less success simulated a modification of tempera- 
 ment in that respect, which nearly amounts in practice to 
 the same thing. She taught charity in judging the deeds and 
 motives of another," etc., etc. 
 
 This attitude of tolerance does more than gratify the 
 followers of Mrs. Eddy, which we take it it does. It re- 
 flects the highest credit upon the American people, who are 
 brave enough and fair enough to acknowledge an achieve- 
 ment without small jealousy. The more this spirit is encour- 
 aged the nearer shall we get to the real brotherhood of man 
 and church unity. 
 
 [Los Angeles (Cal.) Express] 
 
 Not merely one of the world's great women one of the 
 world's greatest personages passed away when Mary Baker 
 Eddy died in Boston Saturday night. She must be ad- 
 judged great if measured only by the extent of the influence 
 she exerted over the minds and lives of men and women 
 over all the earth. That influence was world-wide and 
 strongly potent in its workings, guiding and controlling the 
 views of hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of excep- 
 tionally intelligent disciples. Whether her long career be 
 regarded with reverent consideration or in hostile criticism, 
 friend and foe must unite in the judgment that places among 
 the group of the world's great, this woman, whose body 
 now lies dead but whose spirit still strongly Jives. 
 
 The change that men call death came softly and pain- 
 lessly after four score years and ten of life devoted to the 
 search for truth. Her search ended where all life begins
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 37 
 
 in God. Death found her work complete, her mission ended, 
 her service fulfilled. The way she pioneered, the path she 
 found, now runs broad and smooth to the feet of all who 
 believingly follow. She made God easy of approach to 
 hosts of men and women who, losing faith, else had not 
 known Him. She gave vitality to belief, direction to aim- 
 less purpose, ideality to life, new sanctity to truth, su- 
 premacy to Mind, healing to the body, and did her part 
 in bruising the serpent's head. It was a great creative work 
 that Mary Baker Eddy achieved in an age when faith had 
 begun to depart and belief to darken. 
 
 It is too early to measure the scope of her achievement. 
 Although for years she has lived in retirement, perspective 
 still is lacking. It is not in this generation or the next that 
 it will be possible in the judgment of men to assign her to 
 her rightful place. The work she did endures and will 
 endure. Her teachings survive. Death has no power over 
 truth. The church she founded, losing a founder, yet has 
 lost but a member. It remains unhurt, the embodiment of 
 principles, not a creation dependent for vitality upon an 
 individual. While it continues faithful to Truth, and com- 
 bative of error, a medium whereby increasingly is estab- 
 lished the unity between life and God, it cannot die. 
 
 [Pasadena (Cal.) Daily News] 
 
 Whatever the partisan conviction of the average Ameri- 
 can churchman as to the permanent quality and present 
 ethical and spiritual value of the religious faith of which 
 Mrs. Eddy, the author of the text-book on Christian Science, 
 was the acknowledged Leader, thinking people will at least 
 pause to accord her that measure of justice and respect 
 which her remarkable life, drawn out to the limit of almost 
 ninety years, commands. Even in her old age she has been 
 the object of the enmity of those who perhaps slightly un- 
 derstood her work and her real part in the realignment of 
 the religious thought of the world. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's remarkable book, it must be admitted by 
 friends and critics alike, has resulted in one of the most
 
 38 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 wonderful religious developments of our time. It cannot 
 be denied that its teachings have carried relief to hundreds 
 of thousands of hopeless sufferers, many of them having 
 exhausted every other possible source of relief. Whatever 
 may be thought of its interpretation of spiritual truth, 
 whatever may be the judgment of the world at this time of 
 its logic, the fact remains that to suffering humanity it has 
 been a boon. No intelligent, fair-minded person, in the face 
 of the overwhelming evidence of the value of this belief in 
 bringing health, mental sunshine, and cheer, in expelling 
 suffering, fear, worry, and hate, can question that it is one 
 of the great, potent, and virile religions, however they may 
 differ from its point of view. It professes to be a religion 
 of love and unshrinking trust. 
 
 The more religion the world can get, under whatever 
 name, that will strengthen faith and relieve suffering, dispel 
 discouragement, fear, and hate, the better for humanity. 
 It is perhaps the common consensus of opinion that in this 
 direction Mrs. Eddy's life and work has contributed its 
 full part. Abuse and persecution has not retarded the 
 growth of Christian Science. Its hold on men and women 
 of discrimination, intelligence, and character, has been the 
 most conspicuous development of modern religious thought. 
 
 [Cleveland (O.) Leader] 
 
 One of the most remarkable women of the age, or of 
 any age, has ended her career in the death of the Founder 
 of Christian Science. The most bitter hostility to Mrs. Eddy 
 and the most complete rejection of her doctrines and her 
 church organization cannot, if honest and intelligent, deny 
 that she has been a far-reaching and vital force in the 
 thought . and life of her times. The religion which she 
 founded and completely dominated has more or less colored 
 and permeated very important phases of existence for a 
 multitude of men and women who do not call themselves 
 Christian Scientists and are not, in fact, connected with the 
 Christian Science organization. 
 
 Her doctrines and her great influence upon tens of thou-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 39 
 
 sands of intelligent people, in this country and other lands, 
 was a wholesome antidote to the extreme materialism which 
 is one of the distinctive characteristics of the age. In 
 so far as her teachings were credited and her conclusions 
 were accepted, the ideal was exalted and the sensual and 
 sensuous weakened. The spirit became more and material 
 things less important. Nor can it be denied, by those who 
 are well informed, that the result of the remarkable growth 
 of Christian Science has been to give peace of mind and 
 more wholesome conditions of life in every sense to many 
 of Mrs. Eddy's followers. 
 
 [San Francisco Examiner] 
 
 It will be difficult to the layman in either the religious or 
 medical worlds to properly estimate at its true value the life 
 and career of Mary Baker Eddy. This much, however, the 
 unprejudiced must admit: She was a woman with a men- 
 tality strong enough to hold her own against as bitter a 
 tide of hostile criticism as ever threatened to overwhelm 
 any leader of a new thought. In spite of this hostility 
 Mrs. Eddy established, here in the United States, a cult 
 which is to-day an important factor in the religious and 
 social life of the nation. The Christian Science church is 
 a recognized moral, religious, and medical force. Its edi- 
 fices are reared in nearly a thousand cities and towns. Its 
 membership is large. Its growth has been rapid. Its influ- 
 ence reaches into every quarter of the civilized globe. 
 
 A woman who could in the short span of a generation 
 she did not found the church of which she was the Leader 
 until 1879 build so great an edifice upon so firm a founda- 
 tion was more than an ordinary woman. She was a great 
 woman. How great the future alone can determine, for the 
 true greatness of a leader of a new thought can only be 
 measured through the perspective of years. 
 
 [Philadelphia Press] 
 
 There have been various founders of faiths, in all ages, 
 who showed that the appeal they made to an absolute un- 
 questioned, undoubting trust and belief in the spiritual and
 
 40 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 in. its immediate revelation to and knowledge by every hu- 
 man being who accepts and seeks it, meets a need in human 
 nature. Whether this belief be logical and capable of proof 
 or not, it exists; it has been preached by some conspicuous 
 leader in almost every Christian century, and it has always 
 had some acceptance and has often founded a new sect, com- 
 munion, or church. 
 
 In no other instance in this country has this acceptance 
 been so widely diffused, shared by so many or accompanied 
 by such readiness to flock to a new church and to follow a 
 new leader, as in the case of the Church of Christ, Scientist. 
 No one in our day and few in any day have ever succeeded 
 in this particular task as has Mrs. Eddy. She leaves great 
 churches, great congregations, and tens of thousands who 
 feel that their lives, their souls, and their bodies have been 
 transformed by her teaching. Her influence has been great 
 outside of her own following, and she has sensibly influ- 
 enced the preaching and the teaching of many churches and 
 the lives and thought of many who did not for an instant 
 accept either her utterances or her claims. 
 
 [Sandusky (O.) Register] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes from the 
 living one of the most remarkable women of the centuries. 
 However people may differ about the doctrines she taught, 
 however diverse human opinion may be as to her claims 
 and her writings, whatever may be the final judgment of an 
 intelligent Christian world concerning Christian Science, all 
 must admit that she was a transcendent character. No other 
 woman in modern times has ever reached anything like 
 Mrs. Eddy's heights in leadership, in organization, and in 
 enduring fame. 
 
 The church Mrs. Eddy founded but a few years ago 
 already has a membership in this country of probably one 
 hundred thousand, made up not of ignorant, credulous 
 people, not of those who are easily duped, who are moved 
 by prejudice and passion, but more largely than the average 
 denominational church, of thoughtful people, educated
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 41 
 
 people, intelligent and cultured people, drawn largely from 
 the leading Protestant Christian churches throughout the 
 world, a unique religious body unlike any other in history 
 and yet holding to certain fundamental truths which people 
 of all religious beliefs admit, a religious body having some 
 of the finest edifices erected in modern times. Mrs. Eddy 
 did not live in vain. The world has been made and will 
 still be made the better for her having lived, and she has 
 left an impress world-wide that will go down the centuries 
 yet unborn. 
 
 [Providence (R. I.) New s] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has been the subject of much comment, but 
 that she was a great leader of men and women is proven 
 by the many thousands of adherents that she secured in 
 the most cultured sections of this country. The handsome 
 church structures that the Christian Scientists have erected 
 in Boston and this city indicate at least that they have a 
 firm confidence in the continuance of their organization. 
 Nothing is easier than to find fault with those who advo- 
 cate changes of such a radical nature as did Mrs. Eddy, and 
 yet the fact remains that, no matter what doubters may 
 assert, many have found bodily health and more mental 
 calm by reason of the attention given to the courses she 
 advocated. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy had stanch friends and many earnest workers 
 in her cause. She undoubtedly did much good, and whether 
 one agrees with either the religious views she advanced or 
 her belief in the all-powerful control of matter by mind, 
 she alleviated much real distress and gave to men and 
 women, many of them of undoubted sincerity, a new faith 
 at least in themselves. Her long life, therefore, was a most 
 useful one, and she will long be remembered as one of the 
 remarkable personages of the last years of the connecting 
 extremes of two progressive centuries. 
 
 [Union, Sacramento, Cal.] 
 
 In the death of Mrs. Eddy the world loses a woman who 
 has been a very important influence in the uplifting of 
 humanity. She has, during her lifetime, converted millions
 
 42 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 to her doctrines, and all over the country the effects of her 
 teachings are visible. 
 
 In Mrs. Eddy the United States has lost one of its most 
 valuable citizens and the world one of its most philanthropic 
 and broad-minded women. The recent death of Tolstoi 
 suggests a comparison between the two, for both were en- 
 gaged in trying to elevate humanity, but while the Russian 
 was always pessimistic and saw only the somber side of 
 things, this good woman saw only the bright side and sought 
 to accomplish her mission not with tears, but with smiles; 
 not by sad prophecies for the future, but by giving to the 
 world brighter and better hopes and truer ideas of happi- 
 ness, both on this side of the grave and on the other. 
 
 [Joplin (Mo.) Daily Globe] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's death is the world event of a day because 
 her life is a world event of the age. The verdict as to her 
 place in literature, or philosophy, or theology, or medicine 
 is unimportant. The verdict as to her place in the life- 
 story of the world is stupendous; it "passeth all under- 
 standing." Now that she has gone the world will speculate 
 upon the effect of her departure and will reconsider and 
 gently qualify many of the harsh, unfair sentences it passed 
 upon her. The profound scholarship, for illustration, that 
 had penetrated the depths of the labyrinth of human knowl- 
 edge may be accorded belated recognition. Men of letters 
 may apprehend it to be their duty to read the book which 
 in the artistry of its proportion, the felicity of its expres- 
 sion, the puissance of its logic, its rare grammatical purity, 
 the splendor of its visions, and the sweetness of its message 
 is, in simple truth, a book of books. 
 
 And as men of letters may do honor to her scholarship, 
 so philosophy may lay aside its pride and its intolerance and 
 pay homage to a service that retrieved contentment from 
 the world's lost arts. So, too, may theology, grim and re- 
 sentful, address in a spirit of fellowship, one other of "the 
 wondrous names of God." And who shall say but medi- 
 cine, grappling resolutely but hopelessly with its adversary, 
 may ultimately accept this school of healing as an ally?
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 43 
 
 As a Leader, a teacher, and evangel that sought strange, 
 independent channels for her energies, Mrs. Eddy is held 
 in reverence and affectionate esteem by the army of a million 
 recruited from all the ranks of life. And in the assurance 
 she has brought to doubt, the hope with which she has 
 routed despair, the strength that has been given to weak- 
 ness, the courage that has supplanted cowardice, the health 
 that has banished wretchedness, the glory of the everlasting 
 day into which she has marshaled the wanderers in night's 
 terror thus, in the grandeur and the permanence and the 
 mercy of her works, she stands justified. And by these 
 tokens and imperishable signs the voice of a million reiter- 
 ates, "There is no death." 
 
 [Salt Lake Tribune] 
 
 At a great age, Mrs. Eddy, the Founder and Leader of 
 the Christian Science church, has passed away. She was 
 a woman of very high ability along the lines which she 
 chose or was led in her life-work. To formulate a system 
 of belief, organize a church which spread with such strength 
 and rapidity as the Christian Science church has done, and 
 to retain the love, veneration, and devotion of such multi- 
 tudes of her fellow-beings as Mrs. Eddy has done, shows 
 the possession by her of qualities as remarkable as they 
 were vital. It is idle to decry her or her work, in view of 
 her resplendent success; to speak of a monument for her 
 is but to ask for gilding to the fine gold of achievement for 
 her work, and the church she founded will be her ever- 
 present and most splendid memorial for all time. That 
 work is a marvel, amazing to whoever will consider it can- 
 didly for what it is, and in its inception and growth. It is 
 now one of the mighty factors in American life, and is still 
 pushing on. 
 
 [World-Herald, Omaha, Neb.] 
 
 In some respects, at least, Mrs. Eddy seems, from the 
 perspective of to-day, one of the world's great women. It 
 is possible that she will some day be generally accepted as 
 the world's greatest woman. She was the "Discoverer" of 
 a religion and the Founder of a church. It is a religion that
 
 44 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 seems to make a universal appeal, in that it is accepted by 
 men and women of all races, creeds, and conditions, and so 
 it is a church that gives promise of enduring permanence. 
 Philosophically it rests on the doctrine of pure idealism, 
 morally on the gospel of love. A religion resting on such 
 foundations, and satisfying, as it has from its inception, 
 some of the purest souls and clearest minds of the present 
 civilization, should travel far through the generations. 
 
 There can be general agreement as to the rare quali- 
 ties of heart and mind and personality of Mrs. Eddy, the 
 Founder of Christian Science. Like Tolstoi, she is one of 
 the unique figures of universal history. 
 
 [Evening Index, San Bernardino, Cal.] 
 
 In the passing of Mary Baker Eddy there, was removed 
 from earthly existence the most beloved woman in history. 
 The good citizenship will applaud the efforts of any one who 
 helps humanity to a more correct life, no matter through 
 what channel of religion. Therefore it would seem but the 
 insincere who would fail to say aught but good of this 
 noble woman. She faced the world, with its harsh criticism 
 and ridicule, alone, with only her God as a protection. For 
 years she stood with her faith unshaken by that which 
 would have quailed the stoutest heart. First dozens, then 
 hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands were ap- 
 pealed to by her religion and found relief from many wor- 
 ries of life, until to-day Christian Science reaches around 
 the world and to its farthest corners. 
 
 In the beginning Mrs. Eddy said steadfastly, "God is my 
 life;" her last earthly message was "God is my life." 
 
 [Columbus (O.) News] 
 
 It must be admitted that Mrs. Eddy herself and her 
 doctrinal school are among the powerful uplifting forces 
 of this age. Even if its possible accomplishments have 
 been exaggerated, as its antagonists contend, it cannot be 
 denied that Christian Science has made mankind happier,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 45 
 
 healthier, and better. Judged by results, the life and teach- 
 ings of this remarkable woman were rich in helpfulness to 
 mankind. 
 
 [Los Angeles (Cal.) Record] 
 
 In the passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder and 
 Leader of the Church of Christ, Scientist, this world has 
 lost one of the most wonderful women it has ever known. 
 Over two score years ago she discovered what she believed 
 was the real religion taught in the Bible. Her ideas were 
 ridiculed and attacked on every side. But she was not dis- 
 heartened. She met all attacks, all opposition, calmly, 
 bravely, as one who had the true courage of her convic- 
 tions, and persevered. Little by little others came to be- 
 lieve as she did, and to-day the Christian Science move- 
 ment has spread all over the world and has millions of faith- 
 ful adherents, who daily thank God for His goodness, and 
 give expression of their gratitude to Mrs. Eddy for her work 
 in opening the door of this religion to them. 
 
 Although there are millions who believe in Christian 
 Science, there are more millions who do not, but even the 
 most bitter enemies must admit that Christian Science has 
 done much to relieve suffering, and has brought health, 
 happiness, and peace to hundreds of thousands who were 
 ill, physically, morally, spiritually. Mrs. Eddy was a bril- 
 liant woman, a brave woman, and the world has been made 
 better by her presence. Could she speak to-day, in the 
 flesh, it seems as if she might fittingly say, as did Paul: "I 
 have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I 
 have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
 crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
 shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all 
 them also that love his appearing." 
 
 [Kansas City (Mo.) Journal] 
 
 We of the present moment, lacking the gifts of prophecy 
 or even of perspective, must estimate the life, character, and 
 achievements of this Founder of a new religious and philo- 
 sophic school on a basis of personal observation. To be
 
 46 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 just we must take rightful account of the wonderful influ- 
 ence of the Christian Science faith in our modern life. 
 From ocean to ocean in this country stand the fashioned 
 monuments to this movement, and engraven on each temple 
 of Christian Science worship is the name of Mary Baker 
 Eddy. Thousands of intelligent and serious-minded men 
 and women have accepted her as their spiritual Leader. 
 Her theories have brought solace to many a discouraged 
 soul, and peace reigns in thousands of families where before 
 was doubt, unhappiness, and dread. This much we know. 
 
 Thoughtful men and women, unblinded by prejudice, 
 must pay a tribute of respect and admiration for this earnest 
 and forceful character who made such an imprint upon 
 modern thought. 
 
 [Rutherford (N. J.) Republican] 
 
 In the death of Mary Baker Eddy the world has lost a 
 wonderful woman, one whose life's work will go down in 
 church history as the equal of the Wesleys, Calvin, Luther, 
 and others of like prominence in the promulgation and 
 foundation of theological teachings and ethics. As in the 
 case with these others, thousands of men and women the 
 world over bless the memory of Mrs. Eddy for the countless 
 benefits brought into their lives by her teachings. It makes 
 little difference by what name it is called, any creed or 
 ethical doctrine which makes the ordinary human being 
 more content and happy in this life, more worthy to live 
 it, and inspired with a confidence and hope of that which is 
 beyond, is a precious blessing to mankind, and one whose 
 benefits cannot be calculated by human measure. Such a 
 blessing the deceased head of the Christian Science church 
 has conferred upon innumerable human beings, and with a 
 confidence and gratefulness born of personal experience and 
 benefits, these will hold her and her teachings in reverential 
 memory forever and anon. 
 
 [The Iron Era, Dover, N. J.] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's life-work has been crowned with wonderful 
 success, criticized, perhaps, by those understanding it little
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 47 
 
 or worse than not at all, but nevertheless rapidly gaining 
 numerically and in influence as a faith. On all sides may be 
 seen living and enthusiastic examples of the cures worked 
 by this belief, and whether or not prejudice or belief or pro- 
 fession shall cause some to sneer at and decry the real cause 
 of these healings, all mankind must admit that if the prac- 
 tice of the teachings of one woman shall have done so much 
 for humanity, it was good for that woman to have lived 
 among us. 
 
 [New Era, South Bend, Ind.] 
 
 Judged by her achievements, Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was 
 one of the extraordinary figures of the nineteenth century. 
 Putting aside all claims for the wonderful healing ascribed 
 to the following of her teaching, one great practical good is 
 apparent from her efforts, and that is the stimulation they 
 have given to the reading and careful studying of the Scrip- 
 tures by thousands of her followers, who by their optimistic 
 views of life make their earthly journey one of hope and 
 confidence born of a great love toward their Maker. To 
 them the golden rule is the cardinal doctrine of conduct in 
 their relations with their fellow-beings, and possessing, aS 
 they do, an abiding faith in their destiny, they face the world 
 with a serenity of mind that adds greatly to the joys of life. 
 
 At this time it is proper to recognize the dimensions of 
 her practical achievements and the claims which her re- 
 markable personality and her creed have upon the world's 
 attention and regard. 
 
 [Los Angeles (Cal.) Herald} 
 
 The history of womankind has no parallel to the career 
 of Mary Baker Eddy and its effects on the lives of others, 
 and the woman who passed away at her home in Brookline, 
 Massachusetts, on Saturday night can be said to have di- 
 rectly influenced more persons than any other of her sex 
 either in ancient or modern times. Considered either as a 
 spiritual leader or as to her personality in its more human 
 aspects, Mrs. Eddy was a most wonderful woman.
 
 48 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Considered apart from her religious position this can be 
 said of Mrs. Eddy: The world owes her gratitude for 
 showing how closely sobriety and temperance in act and 
 thought (and the converse) may affect body and spirit 
 alike. If the result of her efforts had only caused the 
 multiplied thousands of her adherents to live more orderly 
 lives and be examples to a headlong age, she would not 
 have lived in vain. 
 
 [Brunswick (Me.) Record] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Eddy at the age of ninety years brings 
 to public attention the wonderful work she has accomplished. 
 No one can doubt that she was a woman of rare power 
 and intellect. Thousands have become her followers, learned 
 the lessons which she has taught, and produced the results 
 she has desired in the upbuilding of the Christian Science 
 church. Aside from her teachings and the Christian Science 
 doctrines, it is only fair to say that in so far as she has 
 brought peace, happiness, and health to mankind she should 
 be respected and honored. 
 
 [Boston Journal] 
 
 There is no little significance in the fact that the Founder 
 of Christian Science will be taken to Mount Auburn, her 
 last resting-place, to-day with simple ceremony. It is even 
 more significant that in the messages received by the church 
 authorities from all parts of the world there is no note 
 of sadness or of disturbance regarding the future. If for 
 nothing else, then for the simplicity and the serenity which 
 she inculcated by precept and practice, Mrs. Eddy has de- 
 served the tributes that since Sunday have been appearing 
 here and abroad. In an age which has been making special 
 reports on neurasthenia, it is remarkable, if not positively 
 providential, that through the agency of a woman, the 
 world should have received partial relief by the exercise of 
 a faith that was not permitted to backslide. There is great 
 good in most beliefs. In this particular case that good was 
 realized by steadfast practice of a gospel. It is a lesson 
 which even those who run may read.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 49 
 
 [Kansas City Star] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was one of the remarkable per- 
 sonages of the long period of time her life inclosed. She 
 was the moving spirit in and the chief exemplar of a re- 
 ligious and spiritual phenomenon affecting in some degree 
 nearly the whole of the civilized world. The Founder of 
 the Christian Science church developed a way of life and a 
 spiritual creed by which many thousands of persons have 
 found serenity of mind and a correlative physical well-being. 
 In her own mind and body she exemplified the value of her 
 teachings. Her long life closed amid the spiritual venera- 
 tion and love of hundreds of thousands of associated reli- 
 gionists and the kindly esteem of almost the whole world. 
 
 [Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Mo.] 
 
 There is convincing evidence of the potent and lasting 
 influence of Mrs. Eddy's work. It is difficult at this time to 
 measure its effect. It has profoundly influenced religious 
 thought and has modified medical science and practice. 
 Mrs. Eddy's views on Mind as the only power and reality, 
 and her method of applying the Christian ideal as a prac- 
 tical working force to the problems of daily life, have been 
 accepted as revelations of truth by hosts of people. Her 
 extraordinary power and influence are recognized by her 
 bitterest opponents. She has a unique place among religious 
 leaders and thinkers. 
 
 [Springfield (Mo.) Republican] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has done very much for the world, too. That 
 must be admitted regardless of what one's position may be 
 regarding her teachings. She lived a beautiful life, she 
 taught others to live as cleanly. She taught hope and trust 
 and happiness and goodness. She caused a great deal of 
 all those principles to become the guiding influence in the 
 daily living of people who believed in her, an influence 
 which has come to touch a very great portion of the earth.
 
 50 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [Houston (Tex.) Chronicle] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Eddy is regretted throughout the 
 United States. The Founder of Christian Science was a 
 remarkable woman. Whatever those opposed to her teach- 
 ings may think of Christian Science and the great Christian 
 Science Leader, there is no doubt that she brought religious 
 faith to many previously without it and her general influ- 
 ence on the world was good. 
 
 [Daily Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, S. D.] 
 
 The great influence which Mrs. Eddy exerted on the 
 religious thought of her day will not be lost with her passing 
 away. Her work will go on, and undoubtedly history will 
 accord her a place with the great religious leaders of the 
 Christian era. 
 
 [Twentieth Century Magazine] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian 
 Science, passed into the broader life on December 3, in her 
 ninetieth year. The story of her life forms one of the most 
 remarkable records among the histories of the religious lead- 
 ers of the ages, and she was unquestionably the greatest re- 
 ligious leader that has arisen in the new world. To those 
 who knew her personally and intimately she was the incarna- 
 tion of love and kindliness of spirit, though resolute and 
 brave in uncovering and opposing error. Seldom in the his- 
 tory of civilization has a great spiritual leader lived to see 
 so rich fruition follow the giving of the message. 
 
 From infancy, her health was frail. Many of her early 
 years were years of constant suffering and pronounced in- 
 validism, and after seeming restoration to health came an 
 accident that brought her to the gates of death. This was 
 more than fifty years ago. When hope from human sources 
 had been abandoned, she experienced an interior illumina- 
 tion or a realization of the power of God to heal. Since 
 then, for over half a century, she wrought indefatigably, 
 giving to the world the message she believed to have come 
 from the All-Father as a new illumination, revealing anew 
 the Christ-truth that made the early and uncorrupted church 
 invincible.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 51 
 
 For more than half a century, the most powerful opposi- 
 tion and antagonisms beat around her. For years and 
 decades she was the target for ridicule, abuse, slander, and 
 calumny. Conventional religion and organized medicine 
 vied with each other in attacking her theory, ridiculing her 
 position and impugning her motives. Foes arose within 
 her own household, and to the fierce opposition that has 
 almost always beaten with tempestlike force around the 
 head of a great religious or spiritual leader, was added the 
 opposition of organized medicine, only second to dogmatic 
 theology in its intolerance for new theories or philosophical 
 concepts that antagonize old ideas. The persistent, tireless, 
 and many-sided opposition would have crushed any one not 
 sustained by an invincible living faith. In an hour when 
 the creeping paralysis of materialism was taking hold of 
 conventional Christianity, making it increasingly blind to 
 the spirit and correspondingly concerned with the exterior 
 manifestation, Mrs. Eddy gave forth her message, which 
 has transformed hundreds of thousands of lives. 
 
 One does not have to be a Christian Scientist to recognize 
 the wonderful work it has already wrought. If it had done 
 nothing more than heal tens of thousands of hopeless in- 
 valids, thousands of whom were resting under the death 
 sentence from conventional medical scholasticism, it would 
 have done much. If it had done nothing more than trans- 
 form and ennoble with a vital faith hundreds of thousands 
 of lives to which God and religion had come to mean noth- 
 ing, it would have been one of the greatest positive upward- 
 impelling forces of the age. That this message should ap- 
 peal in a compelling way to a million or more intelligent 
 men and women in the most searching and critical age and 
 among the most mentally acute peoples of earth, is one of 
 the most significant historic facts of the present. 
 
 [Argus-Leader, Sioux Falls, S. D.] 
 
 There are few women of this age whose names are more 
 familiar in the average home than that of Mrs. Mary Baker 
 Eddy. There are few who have been the object of such 
 extremes in the expressed opinion of the public as has this
 
 52 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 able woman, who in middle life, after a long period of se- 
 clusion, emerged with a wonderful system of religion, that 
 within a few years has extended its influence to the utter- 
 most parts of the earth. 
 
 Her faith has weathered the taunts and the gibes and 
 the persecution of the majority, and has brought peace and 
 comfort and usefulness to an ever-increasing minority of 
 her fellow-beings. We who know the least of the woman 
 and her work have perhaps been their severest critics. It 
 has been easy to follow up the recital of cures effected by 
 Christian Science with the remark that it was a wonderful 
 thing, and it was accomplishing a great work among people 
 who were ailing only in imagination. We have delighted 
 in recounting cases where Christian Science patients have 
 died for want of medical assistance. Perhaps they have; 
 but in order to have been just, we should have struck a 
 balance with the fatalities due to too much surgical and 
 medical experiment. 
 
 Leaving the subject of physical healing to the discussion 
 of the learned and wise, let us simply look into the faces of 
 the pupils of Mary Baker Eddy. There we read the message 
 of "On earth peace, good will toward men," and bask 
 in a momentary reflection of the radiant joy that seems to 
 illumine the lives of her followers. . The strained, hur- 
 ried, worried, hunted look characteristic of our modern 
 existence has been smoothed away as completely as the 
 hand of death erases all trace of physical suffering on the 
 faces of our dear ones, filling us with awe* at its mystery 
 and its sublimity. As light hearts and happy faces are as 
 infectious as their too numerous antipodes, the influence of 
 Mrs. Eddy's teachings reaches far out beyond the pale of 
 her following and, regardless of religious or scientific belief, 
 sends shafts of warm light into thousands of shadowed 
 lives. 
 
 Surely she has not lived and wrought in vain! We may 
 neither understand nor accept for ourselves her teachings, 
 but in recognition of her efforts and of her success, as we 
 must see it, in humanity's cause, we tenderly lay a wreath
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 53 
 
 of laurels on her bier and carve her name on the tablets of 
 memory among those of many other brave women of this 
 century, who have blazed the way through dark forests of 
 public disapproval and tangled thickets of persecution into 
 the clear light of Truth as seen by them. 
 
 [Short Hills (N. J.) Item] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's greatness came from rediscovering and re- 
 storing the method of Christ's healing. Her book, "Science 
 and Health with Key to the Scriptures," contains the rule 
 by which to find one's relation to God and the resultant 
 freedom from every evil that flesh is heir to. It is a book 
 that must be studied to be understood, and hundreds of 
 thousands to-day claim that it has introduced them to better 
 morals, firm health, and a satisfying religion of the "I 
 know" quality. To understand is to know. Understanding 
 changes blind faith to realization to knowing. Wisdom, 
 godliness, and health may be attained by the practice of the 
 teachings of Science and Health in connection with the 
 Scriptures, and all, if they will, may demonstrate it. This 
 happy consummation can be brought about not by retain- 
 ing in consciousness old-time cherished but erroneous the- 
 ories and beliefs, but by dismissing them, and putting in 
 their place Mrs. Eddy's demonstrable truth as taught in 
 the Bible and in her writings. This is not mere assertion, 
 it is fact fact that may be stubborn, and yet gloriously so. 
 Multitudes are proclaiming most solemnly and happily these 
 facts. These multitudes are composed of intelligent, pro- 
 gressive persons in search of ultimate truth, who do not 
 want unsubstantiated theories, but who do want religious 
 facts scientifically demonstrated in the Christ-way right in 
 their own consciousness and experience. The remedy for all 
 sin and error and all discord and all disease, as taught by 
 Mrs. Eddy, is Truth, and Jesus said, "Ye shall know the 
 truth, and the truth shall make you free." 
 
 We thank Mrs. Eddy because she demands as did her 
 Master the perfect life, and because she shows us how it 
 can be accomplished. We thank her for reinstating the
 
 54 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Christ-religion and proving it such by practical demon- 
 stration. We thank her for a religion that knows one God 
 only. We thank her for founding and establishing a church 
 scientifically Christian. We thank her for her "Key" that 
 opens the spiritual Bible. We thank her for steadfastly 
 continuing her studies in humanity's behalf under inhuman 
 persecution; for her genuinely Christian life, without which 
 it would have been impossible for her to become great in 
 humanity's service. 
 
 The pages of the world's history fail to reveal a greater 
 woman either in one or in many accomplishments. Mrs. 
 Eddy was without a superior among her sex for spiritual 
 insight, organization, and leadership, and in capacity for 
 indefatigable labor. Her writings, including hymns and 
 poems, are permanent literature, ever refreshing, ever sought, 
 growing more and more appreciated. Rejoicingly affirm- 
 ing "God is my life," she* entered upon her higher con- 
 sciousness, beautifully, triumphantly. 
 
 [Beacon, Cannon Falls, Minn.] 
 
 Those things that we call character in the individual are 
 expressed in the sum total of the life-work; and the ability 
 to work in this sense is also measured by the ability of the 
 individual to lose himself in his work. Work to be of last- 
 ing value must be a share of the general work to be done; 
 the lasting good one does, a part of the general good. His- 
 tory shows this to be the one true measure of greatness, and 
 since Mrs. Eddy's work, both as a system of healing and 
 as a religious philosophy, long since passed the experimental 
 point and has become an institution, so Mrs. Eddy's place 
 in the history of her country and of all countries, of the re- 
 ligion of her time and of all times, is defined and certain. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was a great soul rather than a great intellect; 
 though as a philosophical thinker and writer she looms 
 large, it was in the realm where the philosophical and the 
 spiritual commingle, in the philosophy of the spiritual, that 
 she specially shone and where she was specially strong 
 and effective. And this expresses, too, the most striking 
 feature of Mrs. Eddy's work; it was effective, widely and
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 55 
 
 amazingly effective. Though her thought, as expressed in 
 Science and Health and her other writings, was often in- 
 volved as is often unavoidable in dealing with subjects 
 that do not accommodate themselves to the foot-rule sys- 
 tem of elucidation her language was always most simple 
 and even her most earnest controversial style was kindly. 
 Nothing was ever more clearly demonstrated in the life- 
 work of an individual than was the spirituality, the kindly 
 nature and the human understanding of Mrs. Eddy demon- 
 strated in her work. This, too, was one of the obvious 
 causes of her effectiveness as a leader and teacher. No 
 one at all familiar through Christian Science publications 
 with the tone of the many letters addressed to her from 
 Christian Scientists from all parts of the world where civi- 
 lization has gained a foothold, could doubt that Mrs. Eddy 
 was deeply beloved by a great multitude of people, whom 
 she had won to her by the wisdom, the sincerity, the sym- 
 pathy, the forbearance and what might we think be called 
 the keen spirituality evident in her written work. That 
 Mrs. Eddy's life, energies, and talents were devoted to the 
 general good is evident, not only in the million or more 
 who are identified with the Christian Science church, but 
 in the millions more who through contact with the move- 
 ment have been restored to health, through its system of 
 healing, and strengthened, blessed, and comforted by its 
 spiritual philosophy. 
 
 [Piqua (O.) Leader-Dispatch} 
 
 Founder of the Christian Science cult, it cannot be denied 
 that her life, her work, her faith have done untold good, 
 and doubtless it will be admitted that in the church she 
 founded, fostered, and furthered, her good works shall go 
 on. Thus, even in that aspect it cannot be said that Mary 
 Baker Eddy is dead. Death nowadays has come to mean 
 so little to the broadened mind of advancing civilization 
 that, when a great mind and a pure spirit pass beyond the 
 ken of our limited vision or expression, we have begun to 
 dimly realize that death could mean no cessation of use- 
 fulness.
 
 56 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Thus with Mrs. Eddy. Agree with or admire her as 
 we may; disagree with or scoff at her as we will, she leaves 
 behind a feeling of power, of purpose, of accomplishment, 
 and of a faith so strong that we are forced to admit that 
 death is but a fleeting breath that has passed over the flick- 
 ering light of human life, or a shadow that has passed be- 
 tween our vision and the object of our comprehension. The 
 great souls are still here, and, but that our eyes are 
 dimmed, our vision limited, we should still be in touch and 
 communication with them. 
 
 That she died does not in any way detract from- the 
 seriousness of the teachings of Christian Science. Other 
 great Christian disciples have died, but their religion goes 
 on, and so may the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy. Much 
 more than the peace of mind of the Christian Scientists 
 which even the greatest enemies of the cult confess exists 
 among her followers must lie in this belief. The church 
 has grown too large and has too many eminent thinkers 
 in its congregations for any general acceptance that the 
 belief merely eases the worries of life. However, if it did 
 nothing more, and is accepted for only this, what a great 
 boon to mankind has been this woman, whose life, lived in 
 our time, may a hundred years hence seem as marvelous 
 as that of some of the other great teachers that made the 
 worship in the Christian religion one of the great institu- 
 tions of civilization. 
 
 [Jewish Review and Observer, Cleveland, O.] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Chris- 
 tian Science, removes from the world a great leader of 
 superior ability, and while we do not agree with her in 
 her religious doctrines, we must acknowledge that she was 
 one of the greatest women of modern times, and that it 
 was largely due to her remarkable powers as a leader that 
 Christian Science has secured the large number of follow- 
 ers. Although Mrs. Eddy is dead, Christian Science will 
 live.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 57 
 
 [Aroostook Pioneer, Houlton, Me.] 
 
 In the death of the Founder of Christian Science, America 
 has lost another of its greatest women. However much 
 we may have disagreed with her or have criticized her ut- 
 terances, we can but admit her greatness and the remark- 
 able power she had of leading. She founded a religious 
 sect that has shaken the foundations of every evangelical 
 church in the country. Her life has added one more proof 
 that humanity longs for a belief in the spiritual, for trust 
 in a higher power, and for visual evidence of its agency. 
 Mrs. Eddy's religion appealed to the sick, the afflicted, and 
 the hypochondriac, where others appealed to the outcast 
 and the forsaken. She won largely, and the force of her 
 character will be felt in her church for all time. Regard- 
 less of the merits or demerits of Christian Science, it has 
 become an unmistakable influence of the century. Mrs. 
 Eddy built a church which has drawn to it persons of 
 culture, education, and property, and we have no doubt 
 that it will go on, accepting what we call the death of its 
 Leader as only one more demonstration of her greatness. 
 
 [Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, N. Y.] 
 
 The public may well heed the very useful and desirable 
 lesson emphasized at the recent funeral of Mrs. Eddy, 
 Founder and Leader of the Christian Science church that 
 of simplicity and lack of show and ostentation at such 
 ceremonies. Mrs. Eddy was the Leader of a following of 
 many hundreds of thousands of persons. To her as the 
 Founder of their religious belief they naturally gave great 
 love and veneration. Naturally they would desire to show 
 at her death some measure of their grief and sentiment. 
 The opportunity was presented for much of display and 
 ceremony and fulsome tribute. But it was not utilized. On 
 the contrary, there was no parading of grief, no array of 
 eulogy disbursers, no costly ostentation, and little of the 
 outward show of paraded grief and funeral trappings. 
 
 All of which was eminently sensible and proper. The 
 average funeral eulogy is a farce. The usual display at
 
 58 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 such a time is grossly out of place. A burden of debt is 
 habitually incurred that is wrong in every sense and often 
 a great hardship to those who are directly concerned in 
 meeting it. Such display and expense assuage in no way 
 the sorrow of mourners or the peace of the departed. If 
 Christian Science teaches the more sensible way, it is doing 
 a great service to humanity. 
 
 [Boston (Mass.) Courier] 
 
 Whatever may be the prevailing opinion as to the tenets 
 of her faith and its lasting benefit to the great cause of 
 religion, none can deny that Mrs. Eddy was a remarkable 
 personality, one of the great characters which stand out 
 in bold relief in the history of the nineteenth century in 
 spiritual affairs. Long after many who have won renown 
 in literature, in art, in social and political advancement shall 
 be forgotten with the passing years, her name will live as 
 the Founder of a great religious cult which has taken firm 
 hold of the souls and consciences of millions of the human 
 race and has extended to the farthest limits of civilization. 
 To her genius, her inspiration, her mental and spiritual 
 powers alone the world owes the great religious movement 
 of Christian Science. From humble origin it has risen in 
 the short space of thirty years to include in its devotees 
 some of the most intellectual and wealthiest among the 
 English-speaking people. Her leadership was accepted 
 without qualification or rivalry, and most graciously she 
 has exercised the control and spiritual direction 'so freely 
 accorded to her. She has brought to herself the power of 
 concentration and a devotion which alone would have marked 
 her as a character of eminence. 
 
 The record of Christian Science has been phenomenal. 
 What a rise and progress it has had! No other faith in 
 the world's history, as far as human annuls go, has risen 
 and extended so rapidly, so quietly, so persistently. The 
 cause projected by her, nourished patiently and almost de- 
 spondingly amid the misgivings of friends and reproaches 
 of enemies, triumphed in the moment of despair. It was
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 59 
 
 an individual triumph. It showed the implicit confidence 
 in the germs of truth at the base of her belief, and the 
 stability of her faith. The fact that the cause has ex- 
 tended so far, that it has drawn so many adherents, that her 
 precepts and sayings are regarded as an inspiration to her 
 followers, is an acknowledgment of her great individuality. 
 
 [Evening Tribune, Des Moines, la.] 
 
 In the death of Mrs. Eddy the United States loses one 
 of the most remarkable women of her time. Whatever 
 may be thought of the faith she founded, the fact that she 
 founded a faith, intelligent people by hundreds of thousands 
 profess in these intellectual days of scientific caution, marks 
 her a prodigy. Moreover, her faith, instead of being gross 
 or materialistic, has been idealistic to a degree, so much so 
 that to the unbeliever it has seemed fanciful, a remarkable 
 faith to gain adherents for in a practical age, when belief 
 is confined very largely to things seen. 
 
 [Billings Journal, Billings, Mont.] 
 
 With the passing of the acknowledged Founder and 
 Leader of the Christian Science church organization, there 
 departed from this life one of the most remarkable women 
 the world has ever known. It is not necessary to be a 
 believer in the religious tenets she propounded to realize 
 this fact, nor does appreciation of her stupendous labors 
 depend in any manner upon acceptance of their verity. Call 
 her inspiration by whatever term you choose, it is still un- 
 deniably true that her teachings were accepted without 
 question by a very large number of unusually intelligent 
 men and women upon whose lives was exerted as powerful 
 an influence for good both material and spiritual as has 
 ever been recorded in the history of civilization. 
 
 Apart from and independent of any doctrinal feature 
 of the Church of Christ, Scientist a discussion of which 
 would not be proper in a secular newspaper there towers 
 the supreme personality of its Founder. Forceful, and
 
 60 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 dominating by the power of spiritual strength, she won 
 and held a loyalty seldom accorded the pioneer in a re- 
 ligious movement. The persistence of her thought was a 
 mighty force that convinced where doubt existed and broke 
 down the barriers erected by mental opposition to a degree 
 that has been the marvel of her age. 
 
 Coupled with a positive genius for organization, there 
 was a depth of sincerity and a profound earnestness which 
 illumined the written word as much as the spoken sentence 
 and brought heart and mind of her followers captive to 
 the central precept she sought to inculcate, and she believed 
 no more implicitly than did they in the essential quality 
 of its divine origin. Such power to sway others is seldom 
 met with in all the records of all times, and its effect cannot 
 be other than vital upon the life and destiny of the human 
 race, in the history of which few personalities have been 
 more impressive than that of the aged woman from whose 
 mortal frame the masterful spirit has finally departed. 
 
 [Harlem Local, New York City] 
 
 Whatever difference of views may be entertained by 
 those who are not connected with that great and growing 
 religious organization as to its merits and benefits to man- 
 kind, there can be no doubt as to the sincerity of the re- 
 markable woman who originated and promulgated the 
 principles and doctrines of that faith. The movement which 
 Mrs. Eddy began less than forty years ago has increased 
 in its influence and power to an extent that has surprised 
 even her followers, notwithstanding the virulent assaults that 
 have been made upon it, and within the past few years 
 many of the most cultured and eminent men and women in 
 this country have become closely identified with the Chris- 
 tian Science church. The fundamental basis of the new- 
 found faith is that God is omnipotent and omnipresent 
 good, and where He exists evil cannot prevail; that man 
 was created in His image and likeness, and that Jesus 
 Christ was the perfect and immaculate incarnation of His 
 character.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 61 
 
 Mrs. Eddy announced, as she doubtless believed, that 
 "divine Love always has met and always will meet every 
 human need" (Science and Health, p. 494), and that the 
 man who loves God will also love his fellow-men under all 
 circumstances and conditions. Christian Scientists believe 
 that if their faith were universally accepted there would 
 be no need of battleships, armories, fortifications, hospitals, 
 almshouses, prisons, police, nor criminal courts, and that 
 Mr. Carnegie's admirable system to encourage temperance 
 would be entirely useless and unnecessary; all of which is 
 only another reawakening of the spirit of the teachings of 
 the holy Scriptures. 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Leader of the 
 Christian Science church, removes a remarkable woman, 
 whose activities were continued till her ninetieth year. 
 Whatever anybody may think about the doctrines she taught 
 or the church she founded, it must be conceded by her se- 
 verest critic that she was a woman of exceptional ability in 
 several directions, and that her equal has been seldom seen. 
 
 It is a great achievement to have built up in practically 
 three decades a church as large as that founded by the de- 
 ceased. She wrote Science and Health in 1875, began 
 preaching in 1878, and organized The First Church of 
 Christ, Scientist, at Boston in 1879. Since then the growth 
 has been phenomenal, till now there is scarcely a com- 
 munity of any size in the country where this denomination 
 is not represented. One need not subscribe to it or agree 
 with it to accord honest respect to those who do believe in 
 it, for this is a free country in which everybody is entitled 
 to absolute personal freedom in matters of this sort. Surely 
 the Christian Scientists are good citizens, honorable and 
 upright, and that is as far as the public has any concern. 
 To Mrs. Eddy must be paid the tribute of exceptional ability 
 as a leader and an executive, and those who have faith in 
 her regard her with an affection that knew no bounds.
 
 62 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [San Diego (Cal.) Herald] 
 
 The passing of Mrs. Eddy removes from the world's 
 stage the most wonderful woman in all the world's history. 
 As the Founder of a great religion, she lived to see her 
 adherents swell to greater numbers than was ever known 
 in the lifetime of one (except Mahomet) who preached a 
 new doctrine. As mourning for departed friends was not 
 favored by the great Leader, she will be missed more and 
 mourned less than any prominent leader in the world. The 
 people of this sect have enjoyed more practical and satis- 
 factory benefits from their religion than have those of any 
 religion ever promulgated. 
 
 [Weatherford (Tex.) Democrat} 
 
 With the death of Mrs. Eddy, head of the Christian 
 Science church, another rare and splendid character has 
 passed away. Her faith was not our faith, though that 
 is not to say she was wrong. In groping through the fogs 
 and mist she may have come nearer to the truth than we. 
 Anyway, it was her mission to do nothing but good, and 
 the world is better because she lived. In the sweep of the 
 centuries, there are few such souls that come to dwell on 
 earth. 
 
 [Mercury, San Jose, Cal.] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's death comes at a time when the church is 
 not only vast numerically but potential financially. She 
 carried it through the days of its childhood, on up to its 
 present comparative maturity, and passed away idolized 
 by thousands and with the knowledge that a monument is 
 left to her memory such as has been the privilege of few 
 women. It is inconceivable that Christian Science has been 
 able to satisfy its thousands of devotees with a simple pan- 
 acea for mental derangements. Had it not restored large 
 numbers of bodies to normal health, it could never have 
 had an indefinite lease of life and the ability to attract to 
 its fold intellectual people of all races. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was one of the most remarkable women of 
 her day. In the face of bitter persecution and the almost
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 63 
 
 unanimous opposition of society, she held fast to her faith 
 until finally her sect became so formidable that her tra- 
 ducers either quit the conflict or joined her followers. 
 Whether her Science is what it claims to be still remains a 
 matter of opinion. But that those who believe in it have 
 the same right to their faith as those who believe in other 
 forms of worship there is no denying. In this country re- 
 ligion is left to a man's own choice. What is helpful to 
 one may be destructive to another. It all depends on the 
 view-point, and perhaps a little on the temperament. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's Christian Science is here, and, we should 
 say unhesitatingly, to stay. Like other religions it will have 
 its defenders and its critics until the end. In the mean- 
 time, no just man or woman will withhold from Mrs. Eddy 
 the meed of praise which her great accomplishment as one. 
 of the world's most brilliant executives and organizers 
 deserves. 
 
 [Goodwin's Weekly, Salt Lake City, Utah] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy was a great woman. Foes as well as 
 friends must admit that. She kindled a new light on earth. 
 Some said it was a bale-fire, such as robbers build upon the 
 seashore to lure passing ships upon the breakers; others 
 that it was the real star of Bethlehem, signaling a closer 
 walk between the children of men and the dwellers in the 
 clear light in the realms where light had its birth. Thou- 
 sands and millions believe her a new prophetess; millions 
 have been comforted by her, thousands and tens of thou- 
 sands who were afflicted have been comforted and healed 
 by the ministrations she prescribed. It is not for one who 
 does not comprehend her to judge of her, but it is only 
 justice to say she wrought a marvelous work on earth; gave 
 peace 'and serenity and health to tens and hundreds of thou- 
 sands of homes. She was a priestess of a faith which was broad 
 enough to encompass all the children of men; she was as self- 
 contained as a second Hypatia, and one sovereign proof of 
 her power was that when assailed she not only met the as- 
 saults with a superb serenity, but so impressed her followers 
 that they, too, had nothing but pity for her assailants.
 
 64 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 She lived here on earth twenty years beyond man's al- 
 lotted time, then, unafraid, and with faculties undimmed, 
 without a sigh, sank peacefully into her final sleep. The 
 impression she leaves is perhaps the most profound that any 
 mortal, putting on immortality, has left in this age. 
 
 [Rochester (N. Y.) Times] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy marks the passing 
 of a woman who is probably the most notable of this gen- 
 eration; certainly none other has had more widespread in- 
 fluence or is regarded with greater reverence by more people. 
 The church or creed which she founded has spread to all 
 parts of the world, has millions of followers, and among 
 those followers are included some of the most intellectual 
 and cultured persons of every community. 
 
 Personally, Mrs. Eddy was a woman of a most lovable 
 character. Abuse of all sorts had been showered on her 
 at different times in her career, but she bore it with a pa- 
 tience which ultimately disarmed many of her critics. She 
 had been termed an impostor by many persons, but in recent 
 years the world had come to take a fairer view of her. 
 Whatever may be said of the tenets of the creed she taught, 
 one thing is certain no man or woman ever founded such 
 a creed, which spread to all sections of the world and has 
 made millions of converts, who was not absolutely sincere 
 in her own belief in that creed or religion. 
 
 [Evening Journal, Wilmington, Del.l 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, who passed away on Saturday 
 night, may be regarded without exaggeration as the most 
 remarkable woman of her times. Her hold upon her fol- 
 lowers was indeed wonderful. In a day when all questions 
 of a religious nature are subjected to the most critical tests, 
 when some boast that the statements and influences of men 
 of regular science have great weight and tend to demolish 
 religious theories and principles of the past, Mrs. Eddy 
 founded a religious denomination which has grown and
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 65 
 
 prospered in a very remarkable manner. Her adherents 
 have been and are of a type of high intelligence. 
 
 One thing evident about the true Christian Scientists, 
 which shows the powerful and beneficial influence that 
 Mrs. Eddy has exerted in the world, is that they are firm 
 in the faith, energetic and relentless in upholding it, and to 
 all outward appearances in their lives are most happy. 
 The religion founded by Mrs. Eddy has brought peace to 
 many a distressed soul. After all, what higher benefit could 
 it confer? 
 
 [Morning American, Creston, la.] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Eddy has removed from earth one of 
 the greatest characters that the world has ever produced. 
 This wonderful woman in the course of a few years has 
 organized one of the greatest Christian organizations of 
 the country. She was a leader of strong personality. She 
 was an organizer of remarkable ability. She built up a 
 church having as its leaders and expounders men of great 
 minds and strong characters. Whether we agree with her 
 doctrines or not there are thousands of men and women 
 who will testify to the efficacy of curing by prayer, so that 
 the Christian Science church is not merely a church of be- 
 lief, but it is a militant church that brings to its believers 
 physical as well as spiritual regeneration. We believe Mrs. 
 Eddy has done a great work in the world for good. 
 
 [Kansas City (Mo.) Journal] 
 
 Thousands of women who do not believe in Christian 
 Science feel proud of Mrs. Eddy's achievements. Few men 
 have wielded so great an influence over the minds and lives 
 of so many people as this philosophic woman. 
 
 [Springfield (111.) News] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy lived long enough to see the 
 Science which she founded become one of the permanent 
 and uplifting forces of Christendom. It is about thirty- 
 five years ago that Mrs. Eddy published her now famous
 
 66 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 book, known as "Science and Health with Key to the Scrip- 
 tures," and it was four years later that the first Christian 
 Science church was formed with seventeen members. To- 
 day there are nearly a thousand chartered churches, nearly 
 four thousand recognized practitioners, and a total church- 
 membership of a million souls. 
 
 Something of an achievement to be accomplished in thir- 
 ty-five years, and all within the lifetime of the Founder. 
 
 [Eagle, Wichita, Kan.] 
 
 Probably no other American woman by her own efforts 
 ever performed such stupendous work. The vehemence of 
 controversy which has been heaped upon her labors indi- 
 cates the genius of the leadership which has overcome such 
 vast opposition. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy rallied disciples around her until the follow- 
 ers of her teachings have spread over the world, numbering 
 not thousands but hundreds of thousands. Even the lay- 
 man of controversial bent who finds in Mrs. Eddy's work 
 much that is intangible and to him meaningless, grants that 
 he has tangible evidence of work for the good of mankind 
 in the thousands of persons who credit to Mrs. Eddy's work 
 their rescue from direful experiences. 
 
 [St. Paul (Minn.) Dispatch'] 
 
 There may be two opinions upon Christian Science ; there 
 can be but one opinion on Mary Baker Eddy. She was 
 unquestionably one of the dominant influences of the age, 
 one of the most remarkable of its women, perhaps the most 
 remarkable, certainly the most efficient. And she so repre- 
 sents and permeates the cult known as "Christian Science" 
 that to give her important rank is to give her teaching im- 
 portant meaning. 
 
 It must also be admitted that the sweeping influence of 
 this "Science" could not have been had not the "Science" 
 itself contained the truth and answered what was plainly a 
 very large human need. It is entirely possible, notwith- 
 standing the adverse criticism, the mirthful criticism, that 
 Christian Science has within it truth, whether new or old,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 67 
 
 which shall withstand contemporary criticism and the neg- 
 lect of time. If so, then the personal triumph of Mary 
 Baker Eddy will be great and lasting. 
 
 [Lincoln (Neb.) Daily Star] 
 
 One of the most remarkable women of this or any other 
 age passed from the scene of worldly activity when Mary 
 Baker Eddy went to sleep to wake no more to mortal con- 
 sciousness. There may have been women whose person- 
 ality stood out in more marked contrast with her kind, who 
 were more spectacular, and made more noise in the every- 
 day life of a somewhat noisy world; but for far-reaching and 
 enduring effect upon mankind, the work of this woman who 
 has just passed away at her home in Boston is unparalleled 
 by that of any other woman of ancient or modern times. 
 
 Christian Science owes to Mary Baker Eddy the hold it 
 has secured upon the devotional spirit of mankind, and 
 every adherent of its church holds her in reverential mem- 
 ory. Her death will occasion world-wide regret and sorrow, 
 although her span of life has been as long in years as her 
 usefulness could survive. Her work will live after her in- 
 definitely, possibly until the end of time. Her life has been 
 a lesson of what her teachings can accomplish. 
 
 Among the great women of the world there has been none 
 who has left so great an impress as has Mrs. Eddy. 
 
 [Harper's Weekly] 
 
 The tone of the newspaper comments on the death of 
 Mrs. Eddy indicates a decided increase of respect in recent 
 years both for her character and for her achievements. Nor 
 is it a case of "de mortuis nil nisi bonum," but a taking 
 of one consideration with another, and giving a judgment of 
 net approbation. Thus, to quote two of our more thought- 
 ful and mentally exacting contemporaries, the Sun speaks 
 of "the astonishing influence she exerted in thousands of 
 homes for the amelioration of life and manners in some of 
 the details of family and social intercourse," teaching cheer- 
 fulness of spirit and charity in judging deeds and motives.
 
 68 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 The Springfield Republican says her life was a marvel, and 
 that having stumbled upon the truth that the influence of 
 mind over the body is really profound and far-reaching, 
 the credit cannot be denied her of having forced, however 
 extravagantly, the valuable qualities of this principle of 
 therapeutics upon the world. 
 
 Certainly Mrs. Eddy, and the theories, and practical 
 applications of them, with which she is so closely associ- 
 ated, have had a notable influence on certain phases of 
 the thought of her time. She was a pioneer one of the 
 most extraordinary of whom there is a record and there 
 are few now who doubt that the body of facts and experi- 
 ence which has resulted from her pioneering is a valuable 
 gain to knowledge. 
 
 [Christian Advocate, Dallas, Texas] 
 
 After all, newspaper reports to the contrary notwith- 
 standing, the late Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder and 
 conservator of Christian Science, did leave considerable 
 money to her son, his children, her adopted son, and several 
 other beneficiaries. However, the bulk of her great fortune 
 was bequeathed to the church founded by her genius and 
 ability. Her fortune came to her largely through her book 
 "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and nu- 
 merous other writings. During her life she was liberal 
 with her means, and in no sense can she be said to have been 
 a woman of penurious nature. In various ways and to 
 various humane institutions she opened her hand and scat- 
 tered much of her annual income, and now in death it 
 all goes largely to sustain the cause set upon foot by her 
 life-work. 
 
 [The Alaska Citizen, Fairbanks, Alaska] 
 
 All over the world are homes which have been brightened 
 by the doctrine taught by this truly great woman. Through 
 her works a new religion has been established, and has taken 
 root wherever Christianity is practised. While by no means 
 universally accepted as all-embracing, even its opponents are 
 comoelled to admit that it achieves with thousands that
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 69 
 
 uplift they have vainly sought through other teachings. And 
 there is little doubt that this new religion is sufficiently 
 well founded to insure of its enduring for all time. In the 
 earlier period of the era of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy 
 found her task a heavy one; for ; like the Saviour, she was 
 reviled and discredited by the scoffers. It was then her 
 Christian fortitude was evidenced to a marked degree, and 
 her calm refusal to be goaded into reprisals undoubtedly 
 won many thousands to her cause. 
 
 In the death of Mrs. Eddy the world has lost a teacher 
 whose doctrines have become, in two decades, more wide- 
 spread, and have been adopted to a greater degree, than 
 those of any man or woman who has lived in the past hun- 
 dred years. That those teachings have been for the world's 
 betterment will be most eagerly acknowledged by the many 
 followers who to-day mourn her death. 
 
 [Syracuse (N. Y.) Journal] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy has done that in this world which will 
 make her live and live. Her work is the greatest monument. 
 She has given a calm to many lives which has surpassed 
 that of many philosophies. 
 
 [Overland China Mail, Hongkong, China] 
 
 Confirmation was received on the ninth in Hongkong, 
 by private wire from Boston, of the death of Mrs. Eddy, 
 Founder of Christian Science, which we announced on 
 Monday. It was in 1875 that the first edition of Science 
 and Health appeared, and. Mrs. Eddy's followers now can 
 be numbered by thousands in nearly every land. She was 
 undoubtedly a wonderful woman, and one who won the un- 
 questioning, whole-hearted support of those who believed in 
 her teachings. 
 
 [Morning Star, Rockford, 111.] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy was a remarkable woman, one of 
 the greatest the world has ever known. The daughter of 
 plain New England parents, who were deeply religious and 
 who bequeathed their stern religious views to her, she be-
 
 70 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 came the founder of a sect which in this country is esti- 
 mated to have a membership of a million. This great fol- 
 lowing was built up within little more than three decades. 
 In its corner-stone was "heal the sick," and that millions 
 were healed is not gainsaid. She founded her faith on the 
 Bible, on the teachings of the "great healer." 
 
 She knew the Bible as few knew it, indeed to her its 
 meanings and teachings were as sure and understandable 
 as the alphabet. From cover to cover it contained no doubt 
 and not a line bore a misgiving. It was inspired and stood 
 for the betterment of mankind. It not only healed the mind 
 but the body. It was a sheet anchor, and clinging to it 
 meant physical and spiritual safety. These were her teach- 
 ings, and whether we believe in them or not, we must ad- 
 mit that she did measureless good. That she was actuated 
 by good purposes and sought the ennoblement of her fel- 
 lows cannot be denied. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy taught that life is beautiful as it becomes 
 pure. She taught there is no death as the pagan saw it, 
 but that to pass from this death was to pass into the land 
 of the forever. Though she has gone, Truth, as she under- 
 stood it, will never perish. 
 
 [Arizona Sentinel, Yuma, Ariz.] 
 
 Sunday there passed from the life of this world not 
 from its cares, for she had risen above them all the great- 
 est of all women Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of 
 Christian Science. From the present day back to where 
 disappear in the mists of tradition the initial mileposts of 
 Aryan civilization, paralleling the achievement records of 
 the world's super men, the pages of history are resplendent 
 with the glory of earth's great women. Viewed from a broad 
 perspective, however, they stand a sisterhood of similarity 
 all save one. Like her there was none. 
 
 Excepting her alone, the great women of history gained 
 heritage to supremacy through lavish bestowals of nature in 
 prodigal mood. Great beauty had they, or great wit, or over- 
 dominant will and mentality equal to masculinity. None
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 71 
 
 of these had she. Not hers the magnificence of Sheba's 
 queen, the splendor of Semiramis, the passion of Cleopatra, 
 the militant spirit of Maria Theresa, the brutality of Cath- 
 erine, the grace of Marie Antoinette or the wit of Madame 
 de Stael. Nothing was hers save the gentle force of love. 
 Yet through it she founded a spiritual empire that shall 
 live after her, shall grow after her, and whose not slaved, 
 but freed, subjects shall revere her memory forever. 
 
 [Peoria (111.) Journal] 
 
 The other day there passed away one of the most remark- 
 able women of the past and present century. Her prototype 
 has never been known in the history of the world. 
 
 She was the originator and the leader of a cult that is 
 known all over the world, and that embraces in its mem- 
 bership some of the most intelligent people of this or any 
 other nation. And therein it differs from any other cult 
 of which we have any knowledge. Generally any move- 
 ment like that of Christian Science takes in first the lower 
 or at least the mediocre classes. The association of which 
 Mrs. Eddy was the head took in the highest and the most 
 intelligent. 
 
 Whatever may be said of Christian Science, there must 
 be something about it to attract or such would not have 
 been the case. There must have been something extraor- 
 dinary about the head of that church ; or she would not 
 have attracted the clientage that she did. A few years ago 
 there was an attempt made to "write down" Mrs. Eddy. 
 It failed, and that was another demonstration of her great 
 strength. The sincerity of Mrs. Eddy has been questioned, 
 but we have never entertained the least doubt that she was 
 perfectly sincere in all that she said or did. 
 
 [Minneapolis (Minn.) Journal] 
 
 A leader to succeed Mrs. Eddy "never will be put for- 
 ward," is the word unofficially emanating from the directors 
 of The Mother Church in Boston. In this connection is 
 recalled the fact that in 1895, Mrs. Eddy issued an order 
 "ordaining" the Scriptures and her own Science and Health
 
 72 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 as "pastor" over The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in 
 Boston, declaring that "they will continue to preach for 
 this church and the world." 
 
 Higher criticism, so called, is supposed to have so far 
 impeached for the majority of minds in this age the va- 
 lidity of a book as a medium through which God speaks, 
 that the very props of the churches relying upon the book 
 are considered by many to be broken. But here is a faith, 
 new but as surely Christian in derivation and in sentiment 
 as any Christian denomination or church, planting itself 
 squarely on the written word, and considering that writ- 
 ten word as so alive that it is spoken of as "pastor" and 
 accepted as leader. A rather surprising commentary upon 
 the alleged triumph of the higher criticism, to say the least! 
 For Mrs. Eddy's own work is held not as in the nature 
 of a study and critical interpretation of the Scriptures, but 
 as an inspired interpretation. Her interpretation is no more 
 analogous to modern rationalistic criticism than are the 
 institutes of Calvin. As Calvin, by those who heard and 
 read him, was deemed something more than religious scholar 
 and thinker, was felt to be inspired by the Spirit, and his 
 interpretation of the Scriptures to share in the spiritual 
 quality of those Scriptures, so the followers of Mrs. Eddy 
 have conceived of her and her writings. 
 
 We are not here discussing the authenticity of Mrs. 
 Eddy's inspiration, but merely noting its claim and its kind. 
 It would seem that rationalism and science have no chance 
 ever to persuade mankind that the Scriptures are history, 
 literature, and legend, and that their spiritual worth is a 
 matter of value and not of letter. It would seem as if every 
 age interprets the Scriptures according to its vision, but 
 that the Scriptures remain for many in every generation 
 the inspired literal word. 
 
 [Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs, Col.] 
 
 Quietly, gently, with the halo and lovelight of a sublime 
 faith that was triumphant over material ills, a noble woman 
 has passed into new spheres of action, into a wider con-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 73 
 
 sciousness. Mary Baker Eddy is now being everywhere 
 acclaimed as the most noble woman of history, and, as one 
 paper says, through unnumbered generations and by count- 
 less millions of people she will be revered as the most in- 
 spired woman of all time. 
 
 When she first gave out her beautiful vision of the new 
 faith which teaches the perfection of every living thing, of 
 man made in the image and likeness of God, of a perfect 
 creation, she was scoffed and ridiculed. She lived to be the 
 leader of a million peaceful, happy souls and to be accorded 
 a permanent place in the thought and action of the day by 
 even those who do not accept her teachings. Through her 
 message thousands of world-weary, pain-racked, and dis- 
 couraged souls have been brought from darkness into light. 
 Her story, which has been eagerly grasped by men and 
 women in all parts of the world, tells of no death fear, of 
 no sin or suffering, but of man as deathless, perfect, and 
 eternal, the child of an infinite God, good. She has taught 
 and found believers to the doctrine that the kingdom of 
 heaven is not in some far-distant and mysterious land, but 
 begins here, when man comes into harmony with his creator 
 and manifests divine Love. 
 
 Coming into a materialistic age, she preached the doc- 
 trine of Spirit. Her mission was to banish grief and suffer- 
 ing, and the load she has lifted from human hearts entitles 
 her to all the loving affection that she has received from her 
 followers, and she has justly attained a fame that will be 
 deathless. The whole world is seeking after truth. Thou- 
 sands and hundreds of thousands believe, and have demon- 
 strated to their satisfaction, that through Mrs. Eddy the 
 truth has been revealed, and she has contributed in a greater 
 measure than any other man or woman since Calvary to the 
 sum total of human happiness. 
 
 [Fairbanks Daily Times, Fairbanks, Alaska] 
 
 The brief telegraphic announcement of the death of 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, 
 will cause countless thousands to mourn. No woman ever
 
 74 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 lived who did more to strengthen faith and direct the foot- 
 steps of humanity toward the Master. Had Mrs. Eddy 
 lived in the days when Jesus was on earth, she would have 
 been a leader among the disciples, and like her Master would 
 doubtless have been crucified. Living in later times, she has 
 been crucified over and over again according to the modern 
 method, which crucifies the spirit instead of the flesh. 
 Openly reviled by the scoffers, she showed the same forti- 
 tude and forgiveness manifested by him, and like him, re- 
 plied, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what 
 they do." 
 
 The religion of Christian Science is so spiritual that many 
 mortals are unable to follow it to all of its conclusions; but 
 it is certain that all men can live and practise Christian 
 Science in part, and they are benefited and uplifted in pro- 
 portion as they are enabled to comprehend its Principle and 
 apply it to the daily problems of life. Neither the Science 
 nor the church will die with Mrs. Eddy, for it is founded 
 on the rock. It may never become the universal religion, 
 but it will go on and on, sustaining the faith and lifting 
 millions of mortals up into a spiritual life that will benefit 
 not only them but all mankind. 
 
 [Knoxville (Tenn.) Sentinel] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was in her ninetieth year. Her old age had 
 been serene and beautiful. Whatever may be the final word 
 about her creed, its favorable influence on her own life 
 can hardly be disputed. Mrs. Eddy suffered much from ill 
 health until past the average of life. Her life-work began 
 in 1866, when she was forty-five years of age, but it was 
 ten years before the first Christian Science association was 
 founded. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy has been a center of many controversies. It 
 may be too early now to see her without partiality or preju- 
 dice, but few will deny that here was a unique personality, 
 a buoyant courage, and an indomitable will. Her life dif- 
 fered from that of most noteworthy women. Its failures 
 were in her youth, its successes were in her riper years.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 75 
 
 She found herself when approaching fifty. It was twenty 
 years longer before she made the world admit her success. 
 She will have no successor, for her position was that of a 
 "founder." 
 
 [Denver (Col.) Republican] 
 
 In many respects a remarkable woman was Mrs. Eddy. 
 She had tenacity of purpose, a genius for organization, and 
 a belief in herself. She had a message to deliver, and that 
 message has had a profound influence on the thought of 
 to-day in this country. In her lifetime the Founder or 
 revealer of this peculiarly woman's religion or dogma saw 
 it grow to a numerical standard greater than any of this 
 country's religious outgrowths, larger in membership and 
 adherents than the Society of Friends or Quaker faith, with 
 churches and practitioners in every civilized land. And it 
 is not a militant religion; it wages no wars; it appeals to 
 the average middle class more than to the extremist. It 
 requires individual thought and study; to a considerable 
 degree it is an individualistic religion. 
 
 Christian Science has brought a high standard in news- 
 paper publication. It has demonstrated at least that there 
 is a respectable minority abroad that relishes decent jour- 
 nalism. All in all, Mrs. Eddy has been a power for good. 
 She inculcated gentleness in every-day life; she strove to 
 abolish the "fear thought." 
 
 [Decatur (111.) Herald] 
 
 Whatever may be the final estimate of the life of Mary 
 Baker Eddy by those without the fold of the church which 
 she established, it must be generally admitted that in many 
 respects she was a remarkable woman. Relentlessly criti- 
 cized and even persecuted as she was, assailed by the keenest 
 minds and the sharpest intellects, her beliefs attacked and 
 her theology condemned, she nevertheless maintained her 
 prestige and saw her church grow from one small com- 
 munity of worshipers to thousands upon thousands. To-day 
 Christian Science churches are represented in nearly every 
 city in the land by stately edifices and loyal and devoted 
 members. Mrs. Eddy had to a remarkable degree that
 
 76 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 ability as an organizer which is essential in any great under- 
 taking. Once her church was established, she remained 
 the recognized head of it. 
 
 She possessed a large amount of business acumen. This 
 even her bitterest enemies stood willing to admit. Four 
 years ago, when an attempt was being made to show that 
 Mrs. Eddy was being unduly influenced by a "clique," a 
 commission was sent to visit her at her Concord home. It 
 was the report of this commission which largely influenced 
 those behind the action to drop the case. Mrs. Eddy was 
 then an elderly woman, who might have been expected to 
 have lost touch with business matters, but her replies to 
 questions as to how and why she invested her money, were 
 worthy of the shrewdest banker. This is an age of toler- 
 ance, if not of the widest charity. Heretics no longer are 
 burned, and we do not send to the rack those whose re- 
 ligious beliefs differ from our own. Mrs. Eddy's enemies 
 have attacked her and attempted to riddle Science and 
 Health, but beyond declaring that her followers were 
 strangely deluded they have had little to say regarding 
 those who accepted her beliefs. She drew to her not only 
 women, but men men of great intellect, business men, 
 scholars, men prominent in the professions, and in every 
 one she found a defender. 
 
 It is probable that no leader or cause in history was 
 ever more ably or systematically defended. Christian 
 Science never antagonizes, but permits no statement against 
 it to pass unquestioned. Its press system excites only 
 admiration. It is altogether improbable that Mrs. Eddy's 
 work will languish with her demise. It will be taken up 
 by strong and willing hands and carried forward, and this 
 the more easily for the reason that Mrs. Eddy had worked 
 out her plans and left her house in order. 
 
 [Beacon, Cannon Falls, Minn.] 
 
 The tone of the press, as shown in editorial comments 
 on the death of Mrs. Eddy, is a most encouraging in- 
 dication of religious tolerance, as well as indicating the
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 77 
 
 commanding position achieved by this teacher of righteous- 
 ness. The attitude of the press in this instance shows 
 plainly that any religious philosophy that has in it the 
 elements of sincerity and of practical application to daily 
 life, any religious belief or form that is helpful, is sure 
 to be treated with toleration. It must, of course, stand 
 the test of time to achieve permanent recognition as a 
 distinct form, but toleration begins long before this point 
 of recognition is reached. Mrs. Eddy's personality had 
 perhaps something to do with the kindly expressions from 
 every quarter of the globe on the occasion of her death, 
 but the foundation of them was in nearly every instance 
 the quality of her work. Mrs. Eddy's work and her phi- 
 losophy of religion and of life is not as generally under- 
 stood as we believe it should be, and we take pleasure in 
 reproducing some of the many editorial comments that 
 have come to hand touching her life and its influence on 
 society. These excerpts are but samples of the wide-spread 
 comment occasioned by the death of this great character, 
 whom the world needs to know more intimately in order, 
 that she may meet with deserved appreciation. 
 
 [Register-Gazette, Rockford, 111.] 
 
 The world has lost a remarkable woman in the passing 
 on of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. Not lost her entirely, 
 however, for an individuality so pronounced as to gather 
 nearly a million followers in a devotion which left no room 
 for doubt of its sincerity, cannot vanish with the mere 
 opening and closing of the gates which to so many of us 
 separate the known from the unknown. Whatever the 
 judgment as to the foundations on which she built, the 
 general verdict of Mrs. Eddy's life must be a kindly one, 
 for she taught helpfulness, sacrifice, and the inspiration 
 that comes from one's own efforts; in brief, a very human 
 doctrine of happiness. She possessed to a great degree 
 brilliance of mind, temperamental strength, and poise. She 
 found her way unerringly over many rough places and 
 through deep shadows, and her light seemed to glow with
 
 78 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 greater radiance because of them. The responsibility of 
 right thinking would seem a very approachable ground for 
 mankind indeed, and this Mrs. Eddy has urged with a 
 gentle insistence which undoubtedly has contributed much 
 to the sum of the world's happiness. It is not easy to be- 
 lieve at this time that the church risen on her discovery 
 will crumble; it is far easier to believe its faith is suffi- 
 ciently established to safeguard it against all the failings 
 of jealousy and ambition. 
 
 [Quincy (111.) Herald] 
 
 The clarified judgment of history will be that the world 
 has been made better and purer by the ministrations and 
 example of the sweet-faced woman who was the Founder 
 of the Christian Science church. Those who scoff at some 
 of her tenets must admit that her teachings and writings 
 have made for higher and better living for clean man- 
 hood and womanhood and for a better moral, mental, and 
 physical status of humanity. She has been much misunder- 
 stood, sometimes maligned, but was always kindly, patient, 
 and pure. Those who refuse to accept her doctrines can- 
 not but admit the beauty and stateliness of the language 
 in which they are clothed. Purely for the wholesome se- 
 renity of its diction, and the immaculate virtue of its thought, 
 her life-work, Science and Health, will have an eternal place 
 in English literature. 
 
 [Cleveland (O.) Press] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy triumphed over death long before she passed 
 away. Any person who gives to the world enduring good 
 triumphs over death. Whatever objection any one can 
 present to some of the particular or peculiar claims of 
 Christian Science, it is truth that Mrs. Eddy turned the 
 thought and lives of thousands of people toward the divine 
 sunshine, taught thousands to turn from the gloom of 
 past errors, to close the door upon remorse, regret, disap- 
 pointment, and failure, and look upon God as all good, all
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 79 
 
 merciful, all Love. To do such is surely to triumph over 
 death, even before the immaterial material body goes to 
 the tomb. 
 
 [Washington (D. C.) Herald] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was unquestionably one of the 
 most remarkable women of her time. She must have pos- 
 sessed unusual qualities to inspire so large a body of fol- 
 lowers as she controlled; she must have had a remarkable 
 mind in order to formulate a new doctrine which should 
 prove sufficiently powerful to cause Christian Science 
 churches to be erected in practically every city in the United 
 States. But we are quite sure that the great secret of 
 Mrs. Eddy's success lay in the sanity and reasonableness of 
 the doctrines she promulgated. 
 
 [World's Crisis, Boston, Mass.] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy at her home near Boston 
 was a recent event attracting wide-spread attention. As 
 head of the Christian Science church, the latter part of her 
 career has identified her with what must be considered, in 
 many respects, the most remarkable religious movement of 
 modern times. However much criticism she may have 
 suffered at the hands of those not favorable to her system, 
 there can be no doubt as to the loyalty and devotion of 
 her followers. 
 
 [Herald, City of Mexico, Mex.] 
 
 The general tone of the press in noticing the passing on 
 of Mrs. Eddy is kindly and sympathetic. Many Jews have 
 in the last few years become Christian Scientists, and the 
 American Israelite, in noting the fact, praises Mrs. Eddy's 
 tolerance toward non-believers in her teachings. 
 
 [Worcester (Mass.) Telegram] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy leaves the largest personal fol- 
 lowing of any woman in American history, and perhaps in 
 the world history. She has been for many years a conspicu- 
 ous figure in New England life, and to-day is the most 
 illustrious dead awaiting the formalities of burial, in all the
 
 80 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 world of civilization. It is the claim of her followers in 
 the distinct creed she established that she is revered by 
 more human beings than any other known to modern life, 
 and that her teachings and example have raised them to 
 higher and more intelligent thought and method of living. 
 It has never been disputed that her students have been 
 enlisted from among the best products of civilization, and it 
 is not at all improbable that they have improved by the 
 tendency to concentrate their thoughts upon the new ideals. 
 They have thus formed for themselves a new environment, 
 and they have not been ungenerous in shedding their light 
 among the people with whom they have come in contact in 
 the activities of the world. 
 
 With all its faults as often mentioned in human converse 
 and fought in various ways by opponents, it is to the credit 
 of Christian Science that it has never used fear of a deity 
 as one of its supporting pillars before the public. That at 
 least gives it a high standing among the doctrines that have 
 been spread before mankind in many ages, and in that one 
 respect the highest. It may be said to have banished that 
 condition of the mind from millions, and even with that 
 accomplishment it has benefited the world. It may be the 
 highest tribute that mankind can offer to the memory of 
 one woman that she banished fear from their religions. 
 
 But the work that has been done among many people by 
 the Christian Science organization is greater even than that. 
 It has builded without fighting to destroy the good effects 
 of other building. Nowhere has this Science taught or 
 practiced war, nowhere upheld war or any other form of 
 slaughter of human life or character. Peace for all nations 
 and conditions of people, and without sacrifice of principle 
 or inherent right, is one of the tenets of the Science that 
 formed the foundation for the organization, and it has thus 
 far operated without making a class or pitting one existing 
 class against another. 
 
 Its growth as a church, as a public order element, is note- 
 worthy, and its growth as a beautifier of the living places 
 of men is no less to its credit. And always as an organiza-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 81 
 
 tion it holds the strongest place, without having called forth 
 public criticism because of methods of oppression in the 
 monopoly of any article the people needed as an established 
 necessity. It has presented a clean slate and a clean char- 
 acter, personal as well as in organization. It is an out- 
 growth of modern development, with less of the harking 
 back to the dark ages than some others, and much if not 
 all of that must be said to have been the result of mental 
 efforts of Mrs. Eddy. Her long life was lived for a greater 
 purpose than she has been given credit for in this mate- 
 rialistic age. 
 
 [Springfield (Mass.) Republican} 
 
 Judged by her achievement, Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was 
 one of the extraordinary figures of the nineteenth century. 
 It is difficult to present any estimate of her career without 
 inviting controversy, and now that she is dead controversy 
 will flame up again, as her work is freshly studied. For 
 it is certain that her life was a marvel. It was a career 
 from which every one may draw immense inspiration, fur- 
 thermore. It is the inspiration that must come from the 
 spectacle of astonishing achievement brought about by a 
 woman whose whole life up to the age of fifty had been 
 an utter failure, as the world viewed it and as many of her 
 most intimate acquaintances estimated it. One may search 
 history from the beginning and have difficulty in matching 
 Mrs. Eddy's performance, between the ages of fifty and 
 eighty, in making a million people accept her at her own 
 valuation. No one can read the story of her career and 
 say that a life which seems the dreariest of futilities in 
 middle age may not contain the possibilities of large achieve- 
 ment in the remaining years. For the part played by cir- 
 cumstances in affording the requisite opportunity for the 
 development of a remarkable personality was never more 
 vividly shown than in this woman's late unfolding as the 
 Leader of what is known as Christian Science. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy must be credited also with having done good. 
 Whether or not the church she founded long survives her 
 death, whether or not her system of healing the sick re-
 
 82 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 tains any considerable number of adherents, it must be 
 said that she served a useful purpose in organizing an 
 effective protest against the defective methods of the old 
 schools of medicine and in forcing upon the attention of 
 men of science as well as upon the multitude that careful 
 consideration which the purely psychic element in disease 
 so much deserves. 
 
 The criticism of Mrs. Eddy and of Christian Science, 
 which is her monument, may be found in many books. At 
 this time it is proper to recognize the dimensions of her 
 practical achievement and the claims which her remarkably 
 complex and subtle yet most forceful personality have upon 
 the world's attention and regard. 
 
 [Milwaukee (Wis.) Free Press] 
 
 Whatever may be the ultimate fate of Christian Science, 
 whether it continues to wax in power and spiritual fruitage 
 or eventually becomes absorbed or superseded in the re- 
 ligious evolution of mankind, Mrs. Eddy is assured of a 
 permanent niche in that great gallery of seers and inter- 
 preters who have made clear the way of God to man. The 
 most vital history of the human race is ever its religious 
 history, and no chronicles of the epoch-making evolution 
 that has taken place in the conception and attitude of man 
 toward the divinity, during the past three decades, can pos- 
 sibly leave out of account the teachings and the ministry 
 of Mrs. Eddy. 
 
 One need not be a believer in Christian Science, one need 
 not even be an admirer of its Founder, to appreciate this 
 and to acknowledge this. For, remarkable as has been the 
 achievement of this remarkable woman in giving renewed 
 and beneficent potency to an ancient revelation, remarkable 
 as has been her administration in building up a powerful 
 church, both materially and spiritually, her achievement 
 does not stop there. The influence of Christian Science 
 has extended far beyond the confines of its church or the 
 bounds of its adherents; it has in its essential spirit proved 
 a leavening force both in other churches and among masses
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 83 
 
 who confess to no faith or creed. Mrs. Eddy was ready 
 with her interpretation of the Scriptures when the desire 
 for a more immanent and spiritual conception of the Chris- 
 tian God began to stir the heart and mind of America, and 
 in the great liberating, spiritualizing movement in religious 
 thought that grew out of this, Christian Science has played 
 its unquestioned part. It profited from this movement, to 
 be sure, but in turn it also proved a source of sustenance. 
 
 The man or woman who has been healed in body or soul 
 through Christian Science will naturally cherish a peculiar 
 devotion for the author of this faith and its practice. While 
 the significance and beauty of this phase of Mrs. Eddy's 
 work need not be underestimated, the chances are that with 
 the larger understanding of psychic healing which is rapidly 
 coming to pass, the author of Science and Health will be 
 celebrated less because of the therapeutic element in her 
 teachings than for their aid in bringing about a closer, more 
 spiritual, and efficacious communion between man and his 
 Maker. 
 
 [New Haven (Conn.) Journal-Courier} 
 
 There will be three judgments entered with regard to 
 the character and life of Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of 
 the Christian Science church. By her large following she 
 will be worshiped as a saint. By another large group of 
 open-minded men and women she will be viewed as an 
 extraordinary person, who possessed great spiritual insight 
 and executive genius. By a smaller and more intolerant 
 group, she will be condemned. 
 
 It is of little interest to us what the attitude of this third 
 class is or may be. We have found it difficult to accept at 
 its full face value the leadership of this remarkable woman. 
 We have found it easy to accept her in the light the second 
 group has accepted her. She has built up a church which 
 has shown marvelous growth, and she has welcomed into 
 it thousands of people of the highest personal character 
 and spiritual earnestness. Others in this free country are 
 at liberty to make what use they like of the activities and 
 convictions of their neighbors as they relate to Christian
 
 84 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 professions. The mysteries of life, the magic of the begin- 
 ning and the pall of its close, have not so revealed them- 
 selves to our eyes that they appear easy of analysis when 
 applied to any given religious faith. They are rather so 
 profound in their elusiveness that that form of belief which 
 brings peace of mind and contentment of soul to its fol- 
 lowers, compels our respectful consideration, at least, by 
 whatever title it is known. 
 
 [Battle Creek (Mich.) Daily Moon] 
 
 If history makes clear any one fact, it is that contem- 
 poraneous judgments often are inaccurate. The perspective 
 of time is necessary to a calm analysis of the influences 
 which shape thought. Posterity more than once has re- 
 jected those acclaimed prophets in a bygone day, and 
 crowned those who were overlooked by their fellows. The 
 axiom will hold good in the case of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, 
 Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. The world 
 is too close to her life and her work to give an unbiased 
 decision as to her significance. On the one hand are her 
 thousands of followers, scattered in almost every civilized 
 land, who believe she has given to the world a real message 
 of peace, hope, and ultimate freedom from the ills to which 
 flesh so long has been heir. On the other hand are her many 
 critics, some bitter, some mild, but all denying her doctrines. 
 
 The storm of controversy which has raged about Mrs. 
 Eddy personally and as the Leader of a faith, is not likely 
 to cease at her death. It is predicted on one side that the 
 church which she has founded will topple and fall without 
 the cohesive influence of her captaincy, and, on the other, 
 that she put it on its feet long ago and that it will move 
 forward on its own momentum. Whatever the future has 
 to tell of Mrs. Eddy and her teaching, and aside from what- 
 ever opinion one may have as to the tenets she preached, it 
 is certain that she has been a powerful factor in current 
 thought. The growth of Christian Science as the sincere 
 belief of men and women of varied classes, the hundreds of 
 magnificent churches which have been reared by her dis-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 85 
 
 ciples, and, most of all, the enormous circulation of her 
 book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," 
 proves this. 
 
 If any one influence which she exerted should be remem- 
 bered, it is that she taught optimism. Christian Scientists 
 are sunny, hopeful, cheerful. The Leader taught that 
 brooding on the ills of life is a sin, and this wholesome 
 doctrine has remade chronic grumblers and fretful invalids, 
 loaded under a burden of imaginary ills, into bright, active, 
 and helpful men and women. 
 
 [Evening Journal, Wilmington, Del.] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy may be regarded without exag- 
 geration as the most remarkable woman of her time. Her 
 hold upon her followers was indeed wonderful. In a day 
 when all questions of a religious nature are subjected to the 
 most critical tests, when some boast that the statements and 
 influences of men of regular science have great weight and 
 tend to demolish religious theories and principles of the 
 past, Mrs. Eddy founded a religious denomination which 
 has grown and prospered in a very remarkable manner. 
 Her adherents have been and are of a type of high intelli- 
 gence. She has never been strong among what may be 
 called the masses of the people, and in this Christian Science 
 differs from any of the other religious sects which have 
 been founded but which have gained their first adherents 
 among what are termed the more lowly. Indeed Christian- 
 ity itself had such a beginning, as the disciples, nearly all 
 of them, were not from the wealthy or the aristocratic or 
 the ruling classes. 
 
 One thing evident about the true Christian Scientists, 
 which shows the powerful and beneficial influence that Mrs. 
 Eddy has exerted in the world, is that they are firm in the 
 faith, energetic and relentless in upholding it, and to all 
 outward appearances in their lives are most happy. The 
 religion founded by Mrs. Eddy has brought peace to many 
 a distressed soul. After all, what higher benefit could it 
 confer?
 
 86 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [Commercial News, Danville, 111.] 
 
 The passing of Mrs. Eddy removes from the world one 
 of the most remarkable women of modern times. She was 
 the Leader of a religious movement which has greatly im- 
 pressed the world, and which attracted more than a million 
 followers to her. For the past quarter of a century she 
 was the Leader of the movement which revolutionized her fol- 
 lowers, their thoughts, and their methods of living. She be- 
 lieved in healing and saving power by divine right. She 
 never preached that there is no material death, although she 
 has predicted the ultimate conquest of death in time to 
 come. There need be no difficulty in the minds of Christian 
 Scientists in reconciling the physical fact of her death with 
 their disbelief in death itself. 
 
 Her work will continue. Her church will continue to 
 live of its own momentum. She placed it on such an endur- 
 ing basis that it can guide itself. She can have no successor, 
 because no one can do the work she has done. Mrs. Eddy 
 was a great leader. When there was dissension in her 
 church, she proved what she was capable of by sweeping 
 away all opposition. Her followers had faith in her which 
 was almost sublime. When she has been dead a century 
 men and women will better understand her work and her 
 worth than they do at the present time. Her death removes 
 one of the greatest figures of our day. 
 
 [Rick Hill (Mo.) Daily Review] 
 
 By the "passing on" of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy there will 
 be .profound sorrow in the hearts of many thousands of 
 good people on earth, but no mourning by her immediate 
 followers, or at least no outward sign thereof. Whatever 
 the opinion of those who could not accept Mrs. Eddy's 
 theories either in a religious or rational sense, the fact re- 
 mains that as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian 
 Science, aside from all the rest of her life-work, she was one 
 of the most remarkable and powerful women of the age. 
 
 To have possessed the will-power and ability to establish 
 a cult or religion in a single generation that could beget
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 87 
 
 the following of intelligent and cultured people which 
 Christian Science has, not only in this country but in other 
 lands, is a remarkable thing in itself, and in other ages 
 would have been regarded as almost superhuman. Yet this 
 achievement has been wrought by this woman from a very 
 humble beginning, and to-day thousands of churches and 
 schools have been established to teach and perpetuate this 
 faith and among them some of the finest religious edifices 
 in the land and hundreds of thousands of followers, em- 
 bracing some of the best people morally, and some of the 
 wealthiest citizens, are enlisted in the work begun by 
 Mrs. Eddy. 
 
 The foundation upon which Mrs. Eddy based her struc- 
 ture, viz., that mind predominates matter, has been recog- 
 nized among the philosophers of the past ages; but it was 
 left to her to systematize this vague truth and to develop 
 and expand it, and to extend it far beyond any hitherto 
 recognized limit. How well she has succeeded must be 
 judged by the number, the character, and the fidelity of her 
 followers. Whether her system has been fully perfected, 
 whether there must be additions thereto or modifications 
 thereof, still remains to be seen. Whether her theories ap- 
 peal to us who are not among her votaries, or however 
 irrational they may seem to us, Mrs. Eddy has made a 
 wonderful demonstration in the last few decades of her 
 lifetime, and all must accredit her with a wonderful force 
 and power. 
 
 [St. Louis (Mo.) Times] 
 
 It will be conceded very widely that with the death of 
 Mrs. Eddy one of the most remarkable women of the age 
 has passed away. A woman with the will and power to 
 establish, in the period of a few decades, a religion, or cult, 
 and place it upon an apparently unshakable foundation, 
 must possess more than ordinary powers. The growth of the 
 Christian Science movement, the establishment of churches 
 in magnificent buildings, and the organization of hun- 
 dreds of thousands of people in a faith which has be-
 
 88 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 come world-wide this has been one of the extraordinary 
 phenomena of the present and the past centuries. 
 
 Those of materialistic tendencies, and those who adhere 
 to the simpler faiths, may withhold approval of what this 
 woman achieved. But just as certainly there will be many 
 thousands who will regard her as a genuine benefactor 
 a real healer. 
 
 [Athens (O.) Daily Messenger] 
 
 Whatever one's theory about Christian Science, the ca- 
 reer of Mrs. Eddy, who recently passed out in her ninetieth 
 year, is without a parallel. At forty years of age, a con- 
 firmed invalid, she somehow came into possession of a 
 power that made her into a healthy woman, and she so 
 analyzed and systematized that power and set it forth in 
 a wonderfully able book of philosophy on Christianity, that 
 others are able to get her thought and use it for a broader 
 life of health and happiness and freedom from dogmatism 
 and creed, jealousies and hate. Her philosophy of life has 
 been adopted by over a million followers in the civilized 
 world, and Christian Science is to-day one of the most rap- 
 idly growing Christian organizations in the world. 
 
 The ideas of Christian Science are old, dating back be- 
 fore Christ, and the Founder maintained that the power of 
 Jesus and his disciples to heal the sick is a living and uni- 
 versal power, everlasting and eternal, but for centuries lost 
 to Christians. It remained for Mrs. Eddy to rediscover this 
 power and reduce it to what she and her followers call a 
 Science, that is, a rational and demonstrable proposition. 
 
 [Albert Lea (Minn.) Tribune] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Christian 
 Science Leader, removes from our midst one of the most 
 remarkable figures of late years. A woman said to be pos- 
 sessed of the most lovable qualities, she exercised a tre- 
 mendous influence upon the lives of thousands of people, 
 not only in this country, but in different parts of the world. 
 Whether we agree with her and accept her teachings or not,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 89 
 
 we must certainly admire those qualities about her which 
 brought her to the forefront among the women and men 
 of the day, and made her one of the leading persons of 
 the world. 
 
 [La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune] 
 
 It would be unwise for one not thoroughly conversant 
 with Christian Science to attempt discourse upon the life- 
 work of Mary Baker Eddy. Criticism of her creed has 
 been bitter in some quarters, and she has been frequently 
 denounced as an impostor. But no one now attempts to 
 deny that she was one of the most powerful and most re- 
 markable women in history. Her works are a monument 
 to these things. She achieved wonderful success, and that 
 she leaves behind her more than one hundred thousand fol- 
 lowers whose confidence is implicit, is a fact calculated to 
 rebuke sweeping accusations against her. 
 
 [Jerseyman, Morristown, N. J.] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder and Leader of the cult 
 of Christian Scientists, was, in some respects, the most 
 notable personage of the century. Whatever views may be 
 held in regard to this belief, it cannot be disputed that its 
 followers generally are of the cultured class, and they find 
 in it that which gives serenity of mind and an optimistic 
 spirit that suggests a life in that beatific land of the prophet's 
 vision, the inhabitant of which shall not say, "I am sick." 
 
 [Times, San Juan, Porto Rico] 
 
 The Christian Science church has lost its Founder in the 
 death of Mary Baker Eddy the most powerful religious 
 leader of this age, and a woman who reached that position 
 through a new interpretation of the Bible. Her appeal was 
 made primarily to the sick and infirm, and "Life, Truth, 
 and Love are all powerful and ever present" was her text. 
 Regardless of the merits or demerits of Christian Science, 
 the fact remains that it has a large and influential follow- 
 ing, that its members are earnest and intelligent men and 
 women, and that it has gained its following by appeal to the
 
 90 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 reason rather than through force and persecution. Never 
 before in history has a woman founded so important a 
 movement. 
 
 [Denver (Col.) Post} 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder and Leader of the 
 Christian Science church, has gone to her reward. She 
 needs no tears, no sobs, no grief. Her spirit has earned 
 eternal rest, and has departed to claim its wage. This 
 woman stood behind a new church, a new belief, a new 
 creed. By her teachings she brought ease and quiet to many 
 a tired, worn-out body, contentment to many a weary heart, 
 and peace to many a soul in distress. If that be all she 
 ever did, then her work was well done; but there was 
 more, oh, so much more! She started out alone. She gath- 
 ered around her a little circle. They believed with her. 
 The enthusiasm spread, until finally thousands millions 
 were ready to embrace the teaching that brought joy and 
 happiness, and nothing else. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy raised up an institution and supported it 
 which promulgates the beautiful thought that every human 
 being is graven in the image of its God, and that there is 
 no evil in the world except that which has grown into the 
 hearts of the people of the earth. Cast out that evil ac- 
 cording to her and nothing but bliss remains. Take away 
 the bickerings and revilings which have been the Christian 
 Scientist's lot; forget the attacks to which he has been 
 subjected, and you still have left a Principle that has aided 
 a world to higher and better things. It teaches of a glorious 
 world to come, where tired souls will find a safe haven. It 
 tells of a hereafter where spirits worn from the world's 
 strife will find eternal happiness. It depicts another exist- 
 ence that we should all be glad to go to. It whispers of 
 no death fear; it voices no sick-bed alarm; it dismisses 
 belief in bodily ailments; it cries that the world is good, 
 that all is beautiful, that there is no wrong or evil except 
 that which we ourselves create. Without argument, without 
 defense, taken merely as an abstract proposition, the thought 
 is exquisite. It has brought the smile to many a worn face,
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 91 
 
 ease to many a body in pain, and contentment to many a 
 sore-tried heart. 
 
 The church this woman reared will live on. Others will 
 rise up to take her place. Many will continue the work 
 which one had done before. But, remember, just as she 
 taught there should be no grief in the world, she wants 
 none now that she is gone. It came her time to go, and she 
 went with the knowledge she was but journeying to the 
 things she had laid up for herself in another world. If 
 she could speak to-day, she would say to all her followers: 
 "Let there be no heartaches." 
 
 [Herald-Democrat, Leadville, Col.] 
 
 It is not every generation that is permitted to witness the 
 passing of the founder of a religion, nor is it every genera- 
 tion that produces such a unique character. In fact, the 
 history of the world furnishes comparatively few individ- 
 uals with the peculiar qualifications needed to lead a great 
 movement of a spiritual character, and away from the or- 
 thodox standards of the period in which they lived. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy will probably stand alone in some respects. 
 There have been great women teachers and leaders, women 
 notable in every walk of life, but no woman has ever before 
 actually founded and established a powerful religious sect, 
 and has so guided and directed its energies that its adher- 
 ents are now numbered by the hundreds of thousands and 
 its material wealth counted by the millions, and which is 
 recognized by students of religious phenomena as one of 
 the most remarkable manifestations of the kind the world 
 has ever seen. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy makes the Bible the basis of her teachings. 
 Herself an educated woman and a student of what science 
 calls ultimate problems, or as it is termed metaphysics, she 
 evolved that remarkable combination, the uniting of a diffi- 
 cult metaphysical abstraction, namely, the non-existence of 
 matter and the reality of mind, with deep religious feeling. 
 The philosophers had been disputing for centuries about 
 mind and matter, good and evil, pain and pleasure. Mrs.
 
 92 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 Eddy boldly seized on a single proposition God is all 
 good, therefore there can be no evil, hence the things called 
 evil are figments and imaginings of mortal mind and a 
 new religion appeared. 
 
 It appealed to thousands in the midst of the American 
 civilization of the nineteenth century, because it offered to 
 accomplish a definite purpose in this world, namely, the 
 healing of disease. It won its converts, as all religions 
 have won theirs, by demonstrations of its ability to cure, 
 for no one can deny the fact that there have been cures 
 accomplished. 
 
 [Lebanon (O.) Western Star] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the organizer of the Christian 
 Science church, is dead, or as the adherents of that faith 
 more beautifully say has passed from among us. In leav- 
 ing this world, she leaves it the richer because of her life 
 and her teachings. 
 
 We are not a member of that church, but for it we have 
 words of commendation, just as we have for all branches 
 of the church and all organizations, under whatever title 
 they are living, that seek to alleviate pain and sorrow, 
 whether physical, mental, or spiritual, and thus make this 
 old world better. It is our pleasure to know many members 
 of the Christian Science church, and it is also a great pleas- 
 ure to say that judged by the standards by which the 
 world judges Christians every one of them is leading a 
 more worthy life than was led before accepting that belief. 
 This might have been true had they united with any other 
 church we are not seeking an argument, simply stating 
 a fact. 
 
 [Current Literature] 
 
 The column on column of news despatches and editorial 
 comment evoked by the death of Mary Baker Eddy, the 
 Founder of Christian Science, may be said to reveal an im- 
 portant change in the psychology of this country. America, 
 it is clear, is beginning to take Mrs. Eddy and her doctrines 
 seriously. Where in past years bitter intolerance and a dis- 
 position to regard her as a charlatan have existed, the pre-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 93 
 
 vailing spirit is now one of interested inquiry. "Whatever 
 the degree of faith or unfaith with which the individual 
 may look upon what she taught and what was accomplished 
 by or through her teachings," says the Chicago Tribune, 
 in a mood that is almost universal, she was "one of the most 
 remarkable women of her time." The New York World 
 goes farther in characterizing her as "perhaps the most ex- 
 traordinary woman of her century." 
 
 [Seattle (Wash.) Daily Times} 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy is dead and in her death one of 
 the most interesting characters of modern times has passed 
 away. Even an "unbeliever" must pay tribute to the force 
 and influence of this wonderful woman. There are those 
 who scoff at her death claiming that she taught the doc- 
 trine that there was no such thing as death; but it will be 
 remembered that there have been those in all times who 
 have scoffed at those who could not verify in realism the 
 theories of an ideal. This is not intended as a discussion of 
 Christian Science in any of its phases. We are treating 
 of the woman herself, rather than of anything which she 
 taught or sought to teach. 
 
 Christian Science to-day is known all over the world, 
 and it is safe to say that this fact is due almost entirely 
 to the work of this wonderful woman. There are at least 
 only two or three persons in a century of the history of the 
 world who have developed such a following as this aged 
 woman commanded. Most women, in similar conditions, 
 would have arrogated to themselves a sort of regal author- 
 ity and regal splendor. But this woman lived simply and 
 quietly not in poverty not in luxury but in comfort. 
 Her pleasures were few and her wants not many. Offered 
 almost idolatry by some of her followers, she accepted little 
 in the way of homage, and what she did accept she accepted 
 rather as a vindication of her teachings than as a tribute 
 to her personality. And yet it will be as a "personality" 
 that at least the "unbelieving" world will remember her at 
 the present. She was a wonderful woman!
 
 94 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [Lima (O.) Times-Democrat] 
 
 Whatever may have been said in opposition to the teach- 
 ings of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, by authorities in other 
 religious denominations, it must be admitted that her fol- 
 lowers are the cheeriest lot of optimists, as a whole, there 
 are in the world to-day. They look upon the bright side of 
 everything, and they see and know no evil. There is no 
 room in them or among them for the man or woman who 
 thinks evil. For that, if for nothing else, the Founder of 
 The Mother Church should be and will be called blessed. 
 It isn't a bad sort of a religion that, which makes people 
 look on the bright side always, and forever and continuously 
 instils the doctrine of love. 
 
 There is something more than ordinary in a life that by 
 example and teaching has remade many chronic grumblers 
 and fretful invalids into bright, active, and helpful men and 
 women. There is something in a life which, in the face of 
 a constant storm of controversy, such as has raged about 
 Mrs. Eddy, can bring to it growing thousands of devotees 
 of all classes, each with sincere belief in the truth of Chris- 
 tian Science. There is some wonderful force behind a life 
 that can cause the building of hundreds of magnificent places 
 for worship. 
 
 At this near view of the work of Mrs. Eddy it is certain 
 she has given to thousands upon thousands a message of 
 peace, hope, and ultimate freedom from the ills that have 
 been their lot. What the future judgment may be, only 
 the perspective of time as a calm analyst of the influences 
 which shape thought can determine. Anyhow, the world 
 is better, much better, that Mrs. Eddy lived. 
 
 [Lowell (Mass.) Courier Citizen] 
 
 The death for let us speak as the world's people do 
 of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, head of the Christian Science 
 church and Leader of that sect, will receive wide notice in 
 due proportion to the importance of the position of this 
 remarkable woman in the world of affairs. Of all the vari-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 95 
 
 ants on the theme of the Christian religion, hers is the only 
 one of very recent years which has attained to world-wide 
 magnitude. Differing from other denominations of Chris- 
 tians in its attitude toward the visitations of disease and 
 frequently misunderstood even there, it has achieved an 
 uncommon degree of attention. Judged by the purely 
 pragmatic theory, it must be acknowledged to have made 
 its way and to have assured its position, at least for the 
 present generation. That which, in its day, actually gives 
 to its adherents comfort and joy in this world and a hope 
 of the life everlasting in the world to come, is entitled on 
 those merits alone to share in making up the "true" religion 
 of mankind. All that helps has its place. 
 
 Whether one follows Mrs. Eddy's peculiar teachings or 
 not as they affect certain details of her faith, it must be 
 admitted that she set before men and women of the ma- 
 terialistic nineteenth and twentieth centuries a system of 
 belief that has afforded to many hundred thousand much 
 practical comfort and hope. Whether or not the practices 
 of Christian Science, in the healing of the thousand natural 
 shocks the flesh is heir to, or its maintenance of a belief 
 as to the non-existence of pain and suffering for one in 
 whom a proper frame of mind is induced by faith, are 
 justifiable on the basis of actual science, the fact must re- 
 main undisputed that for such as do believe in them there 
 has been a remarkable force. 
 
 [Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News] 
 
 The passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes from 
 the world one of the most remarkable women of the last 
 and present century, if not of all time. Practically all other 
 religions or sects of religions have had at their head men, 
 although women have always played a large part in uphold- 
 ing them and spreading their influence. Mrs. Eddy stands 
 alone among women as a great religious teacher. 
 
 Regardless of the sanity of the doctrines of Mrs. Eddy, 
 one cannot but acknowledge the power of mind and per-
 
 96 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 sonality that enabled her to build up a powerful church. 
 From a very simple beginning, Mrs. Eddy worked and 
 studied constantly until to-day her followers are numbered 
 by thousands and the property which the church owns is 
 valued at millions. But Mrs. Eddy was not merely a re- 
 ligious worker in the narrow sense of the word. She not 
 only gave her best thought to what she considered the spir- 
 itual and bodily needs of the world, but also contributed 
 generously in money to philanthropic movements and to 
 civic improvements. All in all, the ninety years of her life 
 were well spent, for she no doubt brought both spiritual 
 satisfaction and bodily comfort into many homes. 
 
 [Telegraph, New London, Conn.] 
 
 It is not our province to dwell upon the significance to 
 Christian Scientists of the passing of their beloved Leader. 
 Suffice it to say that while her departure is felt in sorrow 
 and regret, her followers have no fear that the loss of her 
 physical presence is to deprive them of the fruits of her 
 life-work, nor will there be any attempt or tendency upon 
 their part to deify her human personality, understanding 
 her teaching to forever condemn idolatry. As a religious 
 leader Mrs. Eddy is unique. History affords no parallel. 
 The world accords to her the distinction of having been the 
 most remarkable woman of her time, and for the most part 
 is content that the truth or falsity of her teaching shall be 
 tested by time and by its fruits rather than by the rules of 
 logic or of orthodoxy. 
 
 [Times-Record, Fort Smith, Ark.] 
 
 Whatever one's views as to Mrs. Eddy's teachings, she 
 must be accorded rank as one of the greatest intellectual 
 forces of the world's history. She won this distinction 
 through the usual adverse influences which must be over- 
 come by any one who advances a thought out of the beaten, 
 well-trodden path namely, ridicule, slander, calumny, and 
 a persecution no less cruel for that it was not physical. 
 Beginning with a handful of student followers, to-day the
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 97 
 
 principle which she advanced is taught in approximately a 
 thousand churches in this and other lands, many of them 
 of the most costly and beautiful architecture. To have 
 accomplished this in the span of one life, to see the humble 
 beginning and the wonderful spread of one's thought, is 
 something given to few mortals. Besides this, Mrs. Eddy 
 had the satisfaction of knowing that the acceptance of her 
 thought and interpretation of the Word of God had brought 
 the blessing of health to many thousands sick in mind, heart, 
 and body. This reapplication of the divine injunction to 
 heal the sick through the teachings of Christ, although for 
 many years it subjected her and her followers to ridicule 
 and opposition, has at last, by its demonstration of truth, 
 aroused the emulation of the older established sects so that 
 they are seriously considering the formal recognition of a 
 long neglected practice of the early Christian faith. 
 
 [Day, New London, Conn.] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy certainly was a remarkable woman. She had 
 the faculty of leading others, and the success of the move- 
 ment that she originated is the greatest monument that 
 could be reared to her memory. The growth of Christian 
 Science has been one of the wonders of recent times, and 
 the fact that it prospered in spite of the most violent oppo- 
 sition and abuse shows that there was something about it 
 that appealed to the intelligence of its devotees, for it has 
 attracted men and women of notable intellectual ability. 
 
 [Phoenix (Ariz.) Democrat] 
 
 Probably no person during this century was subjected 
 to a greater degree of criticism than was this patient, silent 
 woman. While we are not wholly familiar with the teach- 
 ings of Mrs. Eddy, yet we realize that she has accomplished 
 a great work in her lifetime; and to-day probably not an- 
 other individual in all this great country will be more sin- 
 cerely mourned. 
 
 The charge that Mrs. Eddy was rich that her gifts were
 
 98 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 utilized for the accumulation of wealth is not well taken. 
 Her wealth came from a grateful people ; came from a grand 
 army of men and women who loved their teacher for the 
 benefits that came to them through her teachings. During 
 the last forty years Mrs. Eddy has probably brought more 
 sunshine into the homes of the poor instilled more hope 
 into the sinking, tired hearts of ailing humanity than any 
 one person in the last century. Her life was devoted to 
 the uplifting of humanity; and, be her teachings as they 
 may, hundreds of thousands of intelligent men and women 
 will to-day drop a tear in kind and loving remembrance. 
 
 [Portland (Me.) Express and Advertiser] 
 
 Through years of misunderstanding and misrepresenta- 
 tion, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of 
 Christian Science, went serenely and confidently on with 
 the work she believed herself called to do. She lived to see 
 her faith adopted in many lands, to see beautiful and costly 
 church edifices erected in many cities, both in America and 
 abroad, lovingly dedicated to her and to her teachings. Only 
 forty years have passed since she stood alone, the only ex- 
 ponent of her faith in all the world. To-day thousands rise 
 up and call her blessed, and in the Wednesday evening 
 meetings of the denomination, clouds of witnesses testify 
 weekly to the power of divine Love, as she taught of it, to 
 heal from sickness and from sin. These followers constitute 
 the monument to her memory which must most have con- 
 tributed to her joy. Mrs. Eddy's place in history is secure. 
 Her adherents are living examples of a vital faith. The 
 church she founded holds an important place in the reli- 
 gious world. The voice of detraction should now be forever 
 silenced. 
 
 [News-Democrat, Canton, O.] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Chris- 
 tian Science, has closed the earthly career of one of the most 
 marvelous women of modern times, if not of all time. That 
 she was a profoundly good woman, teaching a gospel of 
 truth and love, will be universally admitted. That the in-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 99 
 
 fluence of her teachings the philosophy she preached and 
 practised has been tremendous, must be acknowledged. 
 Measured by the results it has accomplished for the thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of men and women who, un- 
 derstanding it and believing it, have made it a rule of their 
 life, its potentiality cannot be doubted. 
 
 While the passing away of Mrs. Eddy has brought a 
 sense of sorrow to her devoted followers, they insist that 
 the church will not perish, but continue its growth, and 
 the philosophy of Christian Science will be as enduring as 
 time itself. Be that as it may, the death of Mary Baker 
 Eddy removes from earth a woman of whom it can be said, 
 The world has been made immeasurably better because she 
 lived in it. 
 
 [Coshocton (O.) Daily Age] 
 
 The passing of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes one of 
 the world's great women, no matter whether one agreed 
 with her teachings or not. She filled her place in the world 
 and filled it well. Her teachings, no matter what else they 
 may maintain, worked for purity, honesty, and temporal 
 concord, as well as the ever betterment of self. She held 
 undoubted power over those who followed her faith, but 
 mature study of conditions leads an outsider to believe it 
 was the power of love rather than the power of fear. With 
 a wonderful equanimity she withstood the bitterest assaults, 
 and was an embodiment of the Biblical adage that "a soft 
 answer turneth away wrath." 
 
 [Pueblo (Col.) Indicator] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy is dead, but Christian Science did not die 
 with her, and thereby is unfolded a tale of more stability 
 than many supposed the cult possessed, for this remark- 
 able woman was its originator, its Founder, and for long 
 years one of its chiefest supporters. And now that she is 
 gone, that the gospel which she expounded still remains is to 
 be taken as one of the proofs that Christian Science is based 
 upon something substantial. It must be that it affords great
 
 100 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 spiritual comfort and consolation, else so many men and 
 women of high intelligence and well known good citizen- 
 ship would not belong to that sect. 
 
 [The Farmers Voice, Chicago, 111.] 
 
 Not merely one of the world's great women one of the 
 world's great personages passed away when Mary Baker 
 Eddy died in Boston. She must be adjudged great if meas- 
 ured only by the extent of the influence she exerted over 
 the minds and lives of men and women over all the earth. 
 That influence was world-wide and strongly potent in its 
 workings, guiding and controlling the views of hundreds 
 upon hundreds of thousands of exceptionally intelligent 
 disciples. 
 
 [Temple (Tex.) Daily Telegram} 
 
 In the day in which a religion is born but few people 
 realize it, and it takes generations usually to develop a fol- 
 lowing for great teachers. In Mrs. Eddy's case she lived to 
 see her church and her doctrines adopted by millions, and 
 who knows but that in the distant future those who knew 
 her and were her companions will be held in the same ven- 
 eration as are to-day the disciples of Christ, whose teachings 
 she illuminated? 
 
 [ Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds, England] 
 
 No one (says a writer in the 'Outlook) ever entered 
 Mrs. Eddy's study who did not leave it not only a braver 
 but a better man. 
 
 [News-Signal, Middletown, O.] 
 
 One of the remarkable characters not well understood by 
 the world at large was Mary Baker Eddy. Her religious 
 zeal, her claims, and her work would make a good subject 
 for a sermon. In the first place, she built up a larger fol- 
 lowing than any other woman who has ever lived has built 
 up. It has been given only to men in the past to become 
 leaders of large classes of people, the organizations founded 
 upon the teachings of women having always been limited 
 in numbers.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 101 
 
 In the next place, it is doubtful if any other person has 
 lived in modern times who has had a more loyal following, 
 those professing the doctrines she taught not only making 
 those doctrines a part of their daily lives, but passing to 
 eternity without fear of the future while embracing them. 
 In other words, they have found Christian Science not only 
 a religion by which to live, but also a religion which com- 
 forted in the last hours. In no other church to-day is there 
 more implicit faith than in the Christian Science church, 
 and that faith is centered in the words of this one woman 
 and her interpretation of the Scriptures. 
 
 [Arizona Journal-Miner, Prescott, Ariz.] 
 
 The average intelligence of Christian Scientists ranks far 
 ahead of the intelligence of any other creedal membership, 
 and in its ranks are found many talented and intellectual 
 people. It is only the uninformed who attempt to deny these 
 facts. To have founded such a faith, whether it lasts ten 
 or a thousand years after her death, is a wonderful and 
 glorious work. They who did not know Mrs. Eddy per- 
 sonally have no means of judging her save by her work, 
 and this was only good. She found a large body of intelli- 
 gent, broad-minded, unorthodox men and women, who still 
 demanded a set and limited religious belief, and she gave 
 them one the like of which the history of the world has 
 never seen. She found ailing, nervous, and diseased men 
 and women who, being unable to cure their own ills, were 
 as unsuccessful in securing health from orthodox sources, 
 and she healed them thousands of them. Only the unin- 
 formed will care to deny it. Mrs. Eddy was in many re- 
 spects the most remarkable figure in all the nineteenth cen- 
 tury and in the first decade of the twentieth. 
 
 [Index-Republican, Bellefontaine, O.] 
 
 One of the most remarkable women of the age, or of any 
 age, has ended her career in the death of the Founder of 
 Christian Science. The most bitter hostility to Mrs. Eddy 
 and the most complete rejection of her doctrines and her
 
 102 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 church organization cannot, if honest and intelligent, deny 
 that she has been a far-reaching and vital force in the thought 
 and life of her times. The religion which she founded 
 and completely dominated has more or less colored and 
 permeated very important phases of existence for a multi- 
 tude of men and women who do not call themselves Chris- 
 tian Scientists and are not, in fact, connected with the 
 Christian Science organization. 
 
 [Westmount (Que.) News] 
 
 The world has had many women of great deeds, and 
 among the modern women of achievement and fame not one 
 has stood with us and approached nearer the zenith of her 
 hopes than Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. We in Westmount do 
 not know as much as we should of the Christian Science 
 movement, but although it has hardly passed its thirtieth 
 mile-stone its power and influence is being greatly felt. 
 Across the border, from The Mother Church in Boston, 
 have gone forward crusaders with stout hearts, and to-day 
 there are over one thousand branches, scattered across two 
 continents. 
 
 [News Scimitar, Memphis, Term.] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's text-book, "Science and Health with Key to 
 the Scriptures," accepted the statements of the Bible that 
 God made all, and all He made was good; that He was 
 Spirit; and then concluded that, being Spirit, He could 
 create nothing so unlike Himself as matter, and further, 
 He being Spirit, man made in His likeness and image must 
 be spiritual. She also rested her case on the other state- 
 ment that God, while all wise, all powerful, and all present, 
 was of purer vision than to behold evil, and she contended 
 that evil was only a lie from the father of lies, a negation, the 
 absence or denial of good, or maybe ignorance of good. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's church, in the forty years of her ministry 
 and leadership, probably grew faster than any other reli- 
 gious body in the same time, and it is a monument to her 
 that its membership embraces people of culture and of the 
 best type of citizenship, in the ordinary affairs of life. As
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS . 103 
 
 to her doctrine or her interpretation of the Scriptures, it is 
 difficult to see how her carrying the inconsequence of the 
 material to the ultimate of its actual non-existence, could 
 be other than helpful to civilization, as all wars, large or 
 small, between different nations, or the frictions of indi- 
 viduals, are over the possession and enjoyment of the ma- 
 terial, because in the world of Spirit there is no limitation 
 or lack. One man's unlimited possessions in the field of 
 Spirit in no sense diminish any other man's possessions. 
 On the material plane, every man's holdings in some degree 
 diminish other men's holdings. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy finally won her way to the respect of the 
 country, of the world, among believers and non-believers 
 particularly, so far as this could be learned from expressions 
 of the press. As to the attitude of her following, probably 
 no other leader has attained such distinction of unqualified 
 deference and influence, not only on their professions and 
 outer conduct, but on their lives. 
 
 [Daily Times, Leaven worth, Kan.] 
 
 Whatever condemnation or praise may be accorded the 
 creed of Christian Science and it receives its meed of 
 both Mary Baker Eddy in giving it to the world per- 
 formed a worthy service. Christian Science, putting aside 
 any discussion of its specific tenets, teaches right living, and 
 any instruction which encourages us to live wholesome lives, 
 even according to lay judgments is good. The creed, en- 
 listing some of the best minds in the country, must by that 
 very evidence, have a preponderance of virtue in it, a quality 
 which Mrs. Eddy supplied. 
 
 [Ottawa (Kan.) Daily Republic] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes from the 
 arena of human activity one of the brightest and strongest 
 minds that the world has produced. Believers in the doc- 
 trines of Christian Science revere Mrs. Eddy as almost 
 divine, while unbelievers are compelled to acknowledge the 
 force of her wonderful personality. The Founder of a new
 
 104 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 religious system who can in a single generation mold the 
 thought and win the allegiance of nearly a million intelli- 
 gent people must be accorded credit for exceptional genius. 
 This Mrs. Eddy did. She established a religious society 
 noted the world over for its sincerity and zeal, and one 
 which, in all probability, will be a monument to her name 
 for many generations to come. 
 
 [Marshalltown (la.) Daily Herald} 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy has removed from 
 life perhaps the most unique woman character known to 
 history. This much may be truthfully said, and there are 
 none who are familiar with the church she founded who 
 will question this, whether her doctrines appeal to them or 
 not. The fact stands out clearly that her teachings have 
 taken hold in a most remarkable way on the lives of many 
 thousands of people, and these people are among the very 
 best in the country. 
 
 [Success Magazine'] 
 
 The Christian Science church has lost its Founder and 
 Leader in the death of Mary Baker Eddy the most power- 
 ful religious leader of this age, and a woman who reached 
 that position through a new interpretation of the Bible. Re- 
 gardless of the merits or demerits of Christian Science, the 
 fact remains that it has a large and influential following, 
 that its members are earnest and intelligent men and 
 women, and that it has gained its following by appeal to 
 the reason rather than through force and persecution. Never 
 before in history has a woman founded so important a 
 movement. 
 
 [Parsons (Kan.) Sun] 
 
 The death of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy removes from life 
 one who has blessed life in the living. She gave to the 
 world a new creed and a new guide of action, and whether 
 you believe that creed or follow that guide, no one will 
 doubt but that each has been for the betterment of hu-
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 105 
 
 manity. The Church of Christ, Scientist, which she estab- 
 lished, has grown in less than a half century to one of the 
 great organizations of the world, embracing millions within 
 its membership. Few founders of a sect have witnessed 
 within their own life so great a growth of the organization 
 of which they were the founder. Her death, while regretted, 
 will cause no break in that growth nor take from her fol- 
 lowers any of their faith and loyalty to the creed she gave 
 them. One of the wonderful statements she has made was 
 that her followers were to forget personality and work for 
 the cause of Christian Science. 
 
 [Daily Colonist, Victoria, B. C.] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was a remarkable woman. While 
 she was the Founder of what is known as Christian Science, 
 she made no claim to be its originator, for the fundamental 
 Principle of it is as old as the human race. This is not 
 the time to discuss the tenets held by those persons who 
 looked to her as their Leader; but it may not be out of place 
 to express the hope that what is best in her teachings will 
 survive. And there was much that was good in those teach- 
 ings; more possibly than many of us are prepared to admit. 
 A storm of controversy has raged around Christian Science 
 and Mrs. Eddy. She was the victim of many bitter at- 
 tacks and much misrepresentation. Shafts of ridicule were 
 discharged against her and those who held as she did; 
 but no one who knows the facts will venture to deny that 
 what she taught has been a source of hope and comfort to 
 thousands. 
 
 [Calgary (Can.) Herald] 
 
 With the death of Mary Baker Eddy, one of the most 
 remarkable figures of this or any age passes from the 
 world's stage. To have been for half a century the head 
 of a great movement is a lot conferred on few. To have 
 been for the same length of time the center of heated con- 
 troversies, of bitter attacks, of religious and philosophical 
 arguments, is a record that few would have survived. To
 
 106 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 die at the age of ninety, leaving a devoted following that 
 numbers millions of souls, with their churches scattered 
 throughout the world, is but the climax of a wonderful 
 career. 
 
 That Mrs. Eddy's death will have any marked effect on 
 the Christian Science church is unlikely. Her work was 
 done. To her, and to her alone, is due the foundation of 
 the faith she taught, and during its earlier history her pres- 
 ence and her personality were no doubt essential to its 
 progress, if not to its very life. In recent years, however, 
 she relegated to others many of her former activities, though 
 she had not altogether retired from work. To-day her church 
 is so fully organized as to be independent even of her per- 
 sonality, and it may be assumed that the machinery of the 
 organization will continue uninterruptedly. 
 
 [Republican Picket, Red Lodge, Mont.] 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of Christian Science, author 
 of a book which has had a phenomenal sale during the last 
 two decades, scholar, teacher, and a genuine Christian, has 
 passed away. Death brought to her no sting, the grave 
 claims no victory. The life of this great and noble woman 
 was as nearly Christlike as that of any person of modern 
 times. Her severest and harshest critics must admit that 
 she was a good woman and that her teachings were not 
 calculated to harm any one. Mrs. Eddy, by her work, her 
 expression of religious thought, her writings, and her life's 
 devotion to the cause she believed to be a just and good 
 cause, attracted the attention of the civilized world, and 
 that world to-day is better because she lived in it. It would 
 be a difficult task to find one who has analyzed the Scrip- 
 tures as thoroughly as she, and brought them into plainer 
 view, into a clearer light and meaning. 
 
 Putting aside all considerations of the healing power said 
 to have been held by this remarkable woman, the plain fact 
 that she taught people how to understand many things in 
 the Bible, which contains so very, very many which the 
 average mind is unable to comprehend the fact that she
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 107 
 
 accomplished even so much commends her life-work to the 
 earnest, pious consideration of all thinking peoples. 
 
 The fact that a mighty army of Christians, intelligent, 
 thinking, practical, conservative men and women in all parts 
 of the world, followed her, respected her, even revered her, 
 should, it seems, be accepted as competent material evidence 
 of the woman's influence for universal good. Unfortunately 
 there is no one to take Mrs. Eddy's place, although the 
 well established, firmly planted church of Christian Scien- 
 tists is bound to grow it is and will continue to be a tremen- 
 dous force for good. 
 
 [London (Ont.) Free Press] 
 
 To the long list of women who have been leaders in 
 religious movements of the world, death has added the 
 name of Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of the Christian Science 
 church in America. Born in a farmhouse overlooking the 
 beautiful Merrimac valley, she is described as having been 
 "a very delicate and a very religious little girl." Yet that 
 delicate little girl was destined to become the Founder of 
 a sect which in her own country alone has well on to one 
 hundred thousand communicants, and that has spread all 
 over the world. 
 
 There has been a tendency to joke about the teachings of 
 this woman, but a movement that has spread as has Chris- 
 tian Science, including in its ranks men who are leaders in 
 all walks of life, must be viewed as of importance. Par- 
 ticularly is this so when it is considered that it has all been 
 brought to pass in a period of thirty-five years, and that 
 during all of that period the teachings have been criticized 
 and in many quarters strongly denounced. 
 
 The world has seen the rise and fall of many new re- 
 ligious movements, but it does not seem as if a better test 
 has ever been devised by man than that which Gamaliel 
 proposed nearly nineteen hundred years ago, when Chris- 
 tianity was first on trial: "If this counsel or this work be 
 of men, it will come to naught; but if it be of God, ye can- 
 not overthrow it."
 
 108 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [Madisonian, Virginia City, Mont.] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of 
 Christian Science, is dead. That announcement carries grief 
 to thousands of people who have been her followers and 
 who have been her pupils throughout the civilized world. 
 There have been scoffers at the belief she taught and the 
 principles she followed, but there are tens of thousands who 
 have benefited by following the lesson of life as she gave it, 
 and there are better men and women to-day than there would 
 have been had she not lived her allotted span of life upon 
 this earth. The world is better for her having lived in it. 
 
 [Cedar Rapids (la.) Evening Times] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy is the Founder of a society that has its fol- 
 lowers in every part of the world. They have gathered 
 themselves together in all the cities of America, and many 
 of the finest edifices for religious purposes have been erected 
 by the Christian Scientists. Whatever some may think of 
 Mrs. Eddy, or of the nature of the influence she has ex- 
 erted, it must be admitted by all that that influence has 
 been wonderful as well as far-reaching. She touched many 
 of the springs of human activity, and she must have reached 
 the heartstrings of humanity, satisfied some of the quests 
 of the human soul, or she would not have gathered such a 
 world-wide following. It is also to be noted that her fol- 
 lowers have not been among the ignorant, but among the 
 great middle class of American intellectual life. Christian 
 Science has flourished most among those classes which are 
 able to think for themselves. 
 
 The effect of Mrs. Eddy's death upon the church will 
 not be momentous. That great body is well disciplined, 
 and Mrs. Eddy has provided for the continuation of the 
 organization, as well as she did for its founding. We are 
 told there will be no successor in the church. She will stand 
 alone. 
 
 [Butte (Mont.) Tribune-Review] 
 
 With the passing of Mrs. Eddy, at the age of ninety, the 
 world has lost one of its remarkable women. Her writings
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 109 
 
 and her teachings will continue to live. This truly won- 
 derful woman really commenced the work of her life when 
 the average woman is about to give up. No one can charge 
 that Mrs. Eddy used her great powers to further her own 
 personal interests and her powers for organization were 
 remarkable. As an observer of human nature she pos- 
 sessed great insight, and had the faculty of gathering around 
 her men and women who carried out her wishes to the 
 letter. 
 
 If Mrs. Eddy had accomplished nothing more, she did a 
 great work when she founded The Christian Science Monitor, 
 which in a very short space of time has risen to tremendous 
 proportions in the journalistic field. By this alone her in- 
 fluence for good is difficult to estimate. All other things 
 were as nothing compared to her life-work of founding 
 the new thought of Christian Science, and it will not be 
 found wanting in the elevation of the human family to 
 a higher plane. It is now exercising a world-wide influence, 
 and her followers have been recruited from every avenue 
 of life. The most learned and cultured have accepted her 
 teachings, while the humble and unlettered have found com- 
 fort therein. Her teachings were the very extreme of some 
 of our other Christian churches, and might be summed 
 up in one word repose. Her life was a shining example 
 of her own doctrine. No matter from what point of view 
 her life may be judged, her success must be counted as one 
 of the wonders of the age. 
 
 [Davenport (la.) Democrat and Leader] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of Christian 
 Science, is the most notable event of the past few days. 
 To her followers, she has simply passed on a little way 
 ahead. They declare her presence with them as much as 
 ever, and it is officially announced that she will have no 
 successor as the head of the church. 
 
 It is a remarkable career that has closed. In a third of 
 a century the church that she founded has increased until its 
 services draw together weekly the members of more than
 
 110 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 a thousand churches, and the church is estimated to have a 
 million adherents. There is no more remarkable fact in 
 the past thirty-five years than this, and it was Mrs. Eddy 
 who gave the movement its original inspiration, and who 
 guided it to its present status. Now, say the members of 
 the church, it has become so well established that her going 
 will affect it not at all. "Science" will go on just as if she 
 were still visibly at its head. 
 
 [Manitowoc (Wis.) Daily Herald] 
 
 The passing of Mary Baker Eddy, head of the Christian 
 Science church, is an event of more than ordinary moment, 
 and many are the predictions as to the future of the faith 
 which is now professed by over a million people in all lands 
 of the earth. These, and there are many in this city, be- 
 lieve that she has given a real peace message to the world, 
 hope, and ultimate freedom from the ills that flesh is heir to. 
 On the other hand are bitter critics, who deny all her doc- 
 trines. The storm of controversy that has raged about 
 Mrs. Eddy and her faith will not cease with her death. It 
 is predicted on one side that the church will topple and fall 
 without the cohesive influence of her captaincy, and on the 
 other that she put the church on its feet long ago and that 
 it will move forward of its own momentum. 
 
 Whatever the future of the church and we are inclined 
 to think that it will flourish and propagate the tenets 
 Mrs. Eddy preached and taught have had a powerful influ- 
 ence on current thought. Through her, thousands believe 
 they have found the way to health. Whatever it is, there are 
 many, even in Manitowoc, who are sincere in their belief 
 of Science healing and have their own experience to con- 
 vince the doubting. It should be remembered even by her 
 severest critics that Mrs. Eddy at least taught optimism. 
 Scientists (take those in our midst for example) are sunny, 
 hopeful, and cheerful. The Leader taught that brooding on 
 the ills of life is a sin, and this wholesome doctrine has 
 made chronic grumblers, fretful invalids loaded under a 
 burden of imaginary ills, into bright, active, and better men 
 and women.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 111 
 
 [Hamilton (Can.) Times] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder and Leader of the 
 Christian Science church, is dead, in her ninetieth year. 
 Mrs. Eddy was a remarkable woman, and the influence 
 which she exercised over the hundreds of thousands of her 
 followers makes her a unique figure in religious history. She 
 was more than priestess and prophetess. She was an ad- 
 ministrator of great power and capacity, and she possessed 
 to a remarkable degree the gift of dealing with men and 
 women in individuals and in the mass, and winning and re- 
 taining their respect and devotion. 
 
 [Omaha (Neb.) Evening Bee] 
 
 Contemporaries should not write history, and their at- 
 tempts at biography should be tentative rather than definite. 
 For this reason no one should undertake to put a final value 
 on the services of Mary Baker Eddy. In many ways she 
 was the most notable woman of her time. It may easily be 
 questioned if any other woman of modern times has wielded 
 the influence and affected directly as many lives as did 
 Mrs. Eddy, and this influence was of the most benign char- 
 acter. It does not matter what individual opinions we may 
 hold as to the correctness of the teachings of Mrs. Eddy. 
 Whether her premise was tenable or her conclusions sound, 
 we are forced to admit that her followers found under her a 
 peace of mine! that does not exist elsewhere. 
 
 Mrs. Eddy's church brings to its people a message of 
 peace and a promise of better things. It is unobtrusively 
 militant along lines of doing good, and the woman who 
 founded this cult will be followed to her last resting-place 
 by the hearts of millions who looked up to her as the in- 
 spired head of a great school of religious activity. She 
 will not be publicly mourned, at least, because her people 
 believe she has gone on to a higher plane of existence, and 
 in this there is no cause for sorrow. She must necessarily 
 be listed among the remarkable women of her time, and 
 the prediction is not unwise that sets down for her a verdict 
 by history that she did good while living.
 
 112 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 ^ 
 
 [Des Moines (la.) Capital] 
 
 In reflecting upon the remarkable career which has just 
 terminated at Newton, Massachusetts, the ancient query of 
 Pilate, "What is truth?" seems to come readily to mind. Was 
 Mary Baker Eddy a prophet of God sent into the world to 
 inaugurate a new dispensation? Did she usher in light 
 where only darkness reigned before? Will the church which 
 she founded demonstrate in the years to come that it is 
 builded upon that rock against which the gates of hell can 
 ne'er prevail? 
 
 These are questions which have been discussed with 
 growing fervor as the Christian Science propaganda has 
 passed from the day of small things into an era of unmis- 
 takable influence in the realm of religious thought. We 
 cannot answer them. The present generation cannot answer 
 them. Regardless of what our individual beliefs, doubts, 
 or intellectual or moral conceptions may be, we are sooner 
 or later forced to the conclusion which Tennyson has so 
 happily expressed, 
 
 Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, 
 And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns. 
 
 Here we have the philosophy of true growth. Thus does 
 man's horizon broaden as the eyes of his understanding are 
 opened. The quest for truth is rewarded according to our 
 capacity to receive it in the fulness of time. 
 
 [Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Sentinel] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of the Christian Science 
 church, leaves behind her such a monument of achievement 
 as no woman in any age, perhaps, had builded. The Chris- 
 tian Science church and its propaganda in a matter of some 
 thirty years have gone almost literally around the world. 
 To-day in the United States there is hardly a community of 
 notable size that has not an organized body of this sect, 
 and doubtless none that has not one or more who have 
 accepted and practised its doctrines. What the future of 
 the church is to be, without its Founder and Leader, only
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 113 
 
 time can tell ; but it is true that to-day the Christian Science 
 denomination shows such a spread over the earth and such 
 proportions of growth as have been true of no other re- 
 ligious movement in like time in any age of the world. 
 Millions of people acknowledge the doctrines formulated and 
 spread by Mrs. Eddy and her followers. The movement 
 has built magnificent cathedrals and churches, it has estab- 
 lished centers for its literature all over the globe, it has 
 enlisted men and women of the highest type of intellect in 
 its teachings and in its propaganda. 
 
 This is the work of a woman whose nature was timid, 
 whose disposition was modest, and whose tastes were retir- 
 ing. Mrs. Eddy never sought the limelight. Where she 
 might have made herself heroic, she was content to live as 
 much out of sight as possible, and watch and direct the 
 growth of the sect she had founded and the doctrine she 
 had enunciated. 
 
 [Pioneer, Bemidji, Minn.] 
 
 With no thought as to the right or wrong of the religious 
 organization of which Mrs. Eddy was at the head, this 
 much can be said: This Boston woman's life was as beau- 
 tiful as it was devoted, and as sublime as were her teachings. 
 Her church, the Church of Christ, Scientist, or as it is more 
 commonly known, Christian Scientist, sprang from the 
 mind of Mrs. Eddy. Her theory has been so convincing 
 that men and women of culture and master minds in all 
 corners of civilization have adopted it as the true doctrine 
 modern edifices in hundreds of cities bearing evidence 
 of this fact. 
 
 The Christian Scientists publish a modern and, be it 
 said to their credit, remarkably clean daily newspaper in 
 addition to many other publications. The growth of the 
 church has been phenomenal. 
 
 [Ames (la.) Intelligencer] 
 
 In the passing of Mrs. Eddy the world will learn more 
 of Christian Science and have a higher conception of the 
 teachings of the grand, good woman who put sunshine into
 
 114 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 thousands of gloomy homes. Mrs. Eddy, as the world 
 knows her, is dead, but for the followers of Christian Science 
 and all enlightened Christian churches she still lives and 
 will continue to live. 
 
 [Hastings (Neb.) Daily Tribune] 
 
 Unquestionably Mrs. Eddy was the most remarkable 
 woman of her day, as she founded a religion the influence 
 of which is being felt around the world, and it gains in 
 strength as it gains in age. 
 
 [Rock Island (111.) Union] 
 
 The life of Mary Baker Eddy has come to a close. She 
 was no ordinary person. Whatever may be your belief, or 
 whether you make any religious professions or not, you 
 must admit that she has accomplished great things, and her 
 accomplishments have resulted in good. The fact$ the 
 proof of these two propositions are apparent to all. Chris- 
 tian Science was "discovered" by her. She was. its fountain- 
 head, and to-day, thirty-one years after the first church was 
 chartered, there are over a million adherents. That is proof 
 sufficient of the first statement. The hundreds of men and 
 women that are known by you, who have become better, 
 morally and physically, after becoming adherents of that 
 faith, is ample proof of the second proposition. 
 
 The life of Mary Baker Eddy was a wonderful life. The 
 story of her struggles is filled with the power of will at 
 least will over matter. Here was a master mind. It was 
 wonderful to conceive and to carry into execution a concep- 
 tion so broad and of such magnitude. It was wonderful 
 that she was able to resist the temptations, the flatteries of 
 fawning sycophants, and adhere to the one great theme, 
 the power "of the infinite over the finite," the "elimination 
 of wrong" by the establishment the eternal prevalence 
 of right. 
 
 Then there comes the third proposition, which also must 
 be admitted by all. Christian Science has come to stay, 
 and its growth for the future, if predictions may be based
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 115 
 
 upon what it has done in the past, will be of considerable 
 magnitude. Mrs. Eddy had found a place in the religious 
 world that was not being filled, and an enduring fame has 
 been established. 
 
 [Portland (Ore.) Journal] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was a wonderful woman. None but a won- 
 derful woman could have founded an organization which 
 placed her at the head of more than a million followers. 
 They are followers in a sense that means far more than 
 the ordinary relation between leader and disciple. It in- 
 volves a consecration of faith and life, the absolute change 
 in personal conduct, a complete reordering of daily life, and 
 the investment of huge sums in buildings and activities re- 
 lated to the Science life. History reveals no other woman 
 who has by personal force exercised such power. As 
 Founder of the Science church Mrs. Eddy rose into position 
 by personal achievement, and through the growth, spread, 
 and perpetuity of the organization will have an enduring 
 fame. 
 
 Every faith or creed has its opponents and critics, and 
 Christian Science has its share. Many of us are not ready 
 to go to the extreme length of faith that it involves, but 
 we can all agree that the talents and achievements of its 
 Founder are entitled to a wholesome respect. 
 
 [Anderson (Ind.) Herald] 
 
 There are many who do not subscribe to the Christian 
 Science doctrine, but there are few who do not realize that 
 in the death of Mrs. Eddy one of the greatest women of 
 this or any other generation has gone. Barring all refer- 
 ence to the value of her creed, and most people whether 
 they subscribe to it or not will admit its great value, it is 
 enough to know that in the space of one life she has created 
 one of the great religious institutions of the period and 
 counts her followers by the hundreds of thousands. Her 
 influence on her own generation was great and all for good. 
 It is more than possible that it will extend, through her
 
 116 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 books and disciples, to many generations to come, and be 
 one of the great factors in the development of humanity. 
 
 [Maiden (Mass.) Evening News} 
 
 Mrs. Eddy brought happiness to thousands of people. 
 Whether they are imagining that happiness, or whether it 
 will be temporary or lasting, is begging the question. 
 Through her writings and the creed she founded, people 
 weary in body and soul and mind have found rest when 
 they could not find it elsewhere. Therein she did a vast 
 amount of good. Humanity is decidedly her debtor. There 
 is no question about her being the most wonderful woman 
 of her day and generation. She won the faith of thousands 
 of intelligent people, and they found in that faith what they 
 had been groping about for in medicine and other religions. 
 That was enough for them, and the best endorsement she 
 could have secured. 
 
 [Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaii] 
 
 Whatever may be one's religious views, it will be gen- 
 erally recognized that one of the great women of the world 
 has passed away in the death of Mary Baker Eddy. That 
 one person, and that person a woman, should have, practi- 
 cally through her individual efforts, built up an organiza- 
 tion as solid and as deeply rooted as the Christian Science 
 church, stamps such a person as great, in every sense of 
 the word. 
 
 [Jackson (Miss.) Daily News'] 
 
 Regardless of conflicting opinions concerning this new 
 religious cult, the cold facts of history must be conceded. 
 Mrs. Eddy enlisted under her banner nearly a million fol- 
 lowers within a decade, and she must be accorded a unique 
 place among the religious leaders and thinkers of this day 
 and generation. The Christian Science movement has grown 
 so rapidly and shown so much virility amid unusual storm 
 and stress, that it may be expected to survive the death of 
 its Leader, and continue to show strength and vitality among
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 117 
 
 the creeds and cults of the day. Even here in Mississippi, 
 where the people are slow to adopt new spiritual ideas, cling- 
 ing tenaciously to the orthodox faith of their fathers, Chris- 
 tian Science has obtained a strong foothold. 
 
 Credit must be given where credit is due, regardless of 
 your personal views. In summarizing the life of Mrs. Eddy, 
 therefore, we must admit that a woman with the will and 
 power to establish, within little more than ten years, a new 
 religious cult, and place it upon such a firm foundation, 
 must possess more than ordinary powers. The growth of 
 the Christian Science movement, the establishment of its 
 churches in magnificent buildings, and the organization of 
 hundreds of thousands of people in a faith which has be- 
 come world-wide, this has been one of the extraordinary 
 phenomena of the present and the past centuries. 
 
 [Daily Traveler, Arkansas City, Kan.] 
 
 Mrs. Eddy was a great and grand woman. We believe 
 her to have been the greatest woman the world ever knew. 
 She was the most loved and at the same time the most 
 maligned woman of the age. 
 
 She gave to the world a religion that will be found eter- 
 nal. Those who have espoused it have found it a great 
 solace and it has made them better citizens. Its teachings 
 have brought a good God closer to them and caused them 
 to know that He is "a very present help." It teaches that 
 God is Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love, and that "man is His 
 image and likeness," and that the real man and the universe 
 are spiritual, not material. It teaches that God is the only 
 cause and creator, and there is no other presence or power. 
 Upon these principles is founded the religion which Mrs. 
 Eddy discovered and gave to the world, and it is rapidly 
 covering the face of the earth. 
 
 To Christian Scientists Mrs. Eddy was their beloved 
 Leader. She was their wayshower to an ever-present sal- 
 vation. They feel that her life-work was finished and that 
 she has left a wonderful heritage to those who desire to 
 accept it.
 
 118 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 [Meriden (Conn.) Record] 
 
 The passing of Mary Baker Eddy removes one of the 
 most remarkable women of the present century. It mat- 
 ters little whether one subscribes to her creed or not, the fact 
 remains that this woman became a potent factor in making 
 people think and in compelling them to blaze the way 
 either for her beliefs or for others which they themselves 
 discovered. 
 
 There are many people who have no sympathy with 
 Christian Science who have indirectly been greatly aided by 
 the interest taken in it. All the theories of mental science, 
 the effect of mind over matter, gained new impetus from 
 Mrs. Eddy's teachings. The very extremes to which she 
 went caused people to look up the subject, if for no loftier 
 purpose than that of curiosity. Investigation led into devi- 
 ous ways. The result was a large addition to the sum total 
 of human knowledge. And it must be admitted that if the 
 general results of the knowledge gained by investigations 
 made into the subject of Christian Science could be known, 
 it would be found it had been for the good of humanity. 
 
 [East Oregonian, Pendleton, Ore.] 
 
 It is estimated that in the United States there are one 
 million people who uphold the Christian Science creed a 
 creed that was first promulgated by Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy. 
 For the most part they are earnest and cultured people. 
 Without ostentation they worship God in accordance with 
 their beliefs. Their interpretation of the gospel is some- 
 what different from the orthodox version, and this has 
 Drought forth criticism from those who follow the old- 
 time faiths. Whether the Christian Scientists are at fault 
 and their critics are right, or whether just the opposite is 
 true, is an open question. If the Christian Science church 
 is founded upon error, it cannot live; but the fact that the 
 church has lived this long, and has grown in popularity 
 until it now has a million followers, indicates strongly that 
 there is much truth in the teachings of the departed Founder 
 and Leader.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 119 
 
 [Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger] 
 
 The death of this famed woman removes one of the most 
 prominent characters of the present century. However one 
 may feel disposed to criticize the religious faith founded by 
 her, all must admit that she was a most marvelous woman, 
 whose life was devoted to the uplift of mankind. That 
 she was possessed of an intellect far above the average can- 
 not be denied, neither can it be questioned that she used 
 all of her ability in her efforts toward the good of humanity. 
 The world's highest meed of. praise is bestowed upon those 
 who have made the greatest efforts toward its good, and it 
 is this fact that has assured for her a high place in the esti- 
 mation of the world. 
 
 The preponderance in public thought which she attained 
 as the Discoverer and Founder of the doctrine of Christian 
 Science, and the tender mother love which finds a place for 
 her in thousands of hearts, is a tribute to her unselfish love 
 for her fellow-man. 
 
 [Chicago Journal] 
 
 The death of Mary Baker Eddy well might serve as 
 inspiration for a new beatitude: Blessed are they who need 
 no monument; their names are graven on many hearts. 
 Opinions may differ as to the adequacy of the Christian 
 Science faith to answer the full requirements of the human 
 soul; but few deny that to hundreds of thousands of de- 
 voted followers the teachings of Mrs. Eddy have been a 
 hope and inspiration. 
 
 Wisely anticipating the time when she could be with her 
 followers only in spirit, she recently had withdrawn herself 
 as far as possible from the details of church management. 
 Consequently, the organization that she has perfected will 
 continue to perform its functions. Her life-work was well 
 completed and will endure. 
 
 [Montreal Gazette] 
 
 Of the many women who have led religious movements 
 in modern times, none attracted more attention cfr estab- 
 lished a wider influence than Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, who
 
 120 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 died at her home near Boston on Saturday night. Mrs. 
 Eddy's followers or fellow-believers were not generally of 
 the class that is subject to emotional excitement. They 
 were largely of superior intelligence, readers, and always 
 ready and able to defend. the doctrines they accepted. They 
 maintain in Boston a daily paper, which in its breadth of 
 views and ability to discuss large questions has few superi- 
 ors in America. The Christian Science people have been 
 scoffed at and laughed at, and some of them, going to 
 extremes, have suffered harder fortune. Their story, like 
 the story of many another religious movement, may, more 
 than anything else, mean that the human heart longs for 
 the preaching of faith, and turns to whoever can preach it 
 with earnestness and sincerity. 
 
 [Grand Rapids (Mich.) Evening Press] 
 
 If history makes clear any one fact, it is that contempo- 
 raneous judgments are often inaccurate. The perspective 
 of time is necessary to a calm analysis of the influences which 
 shape thought. Posterity more than once has rejected those 
 acclaimed prophets in a bygone day and crowned those who 
 were overlooked by their fellows. 
 
 The axiom will hold good in the case of Mrs. Mary Baker 
 Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who 
 died Saturday evening. The world is too close to her life 
 and her work to give an unbiased decision as to their sig- 
 nificance. On the one hand are her thousands of followers, 
 scattered in almost every civilized land, who believe she 
 has given to the world a real message of peace, hope, and 
 ultimate freedom from the ills to which flesh so long has 
 been heir. On the other hand are her many critics, some 
 bitter, some mild, but all denying her doctrines. 
 
 Whatever the future has to tell of Mrs. Eddy and her 
 teaching, and aside from whatever opinion one may have as 
 to the tenets she preached, it is certain that she has been 
 a powerful factor in current thought. The growth of Chris- 
 tian Science as the sincere belief of men and women of 
 varied classes, the hundreds of magnificent churches which
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 121 
 
 have been reared by her disciples, and, most of all, the 
 enormous circulation of her book, "Science and Health with 
 Key to the Scriptures," proves that. Through Mrs. Eddy 
 thousands believe they found the way to health. 
 
 If any one influence which she exerted should be remem- 
 bered, it is that she taught optimism. Christian Scientists 
 are sunny, hopeful, cheerful. The Leader taught that brood- 
 ing on the ills of life is a sin, and this wholesome doctrine has 
 remade chronic grumblers and fretful invalids, loaded under 
 a burden of imaginary ills, into bright, active, and helpful 
 men and women. 
 
 [Cleveland Plain Dealer] 
 
 The death of the Founder of Christian Science removes 
 from the world one of the most remarkable women of all 
 time. Her career commands admiration, no matter what 
 opinion may be held of her teachings. Mrs. Eddy founded 
 a religious sect that during her lifetime multiplied its prose- 
 lytes till it has become a great force in American life. She 
 retained her position as sole Leader, and was looked up to 
 by her followers as the sole source of inspiration. Virile 
 and vigorous, she was a natural commander, a natural 
 organizer, a woman who displayed intellectual qualities of 
 the highest order. The work that Mrs. Eddy has done will 
 remain as her monument. Christian Science will not perish 
 with the death of its Founder. It has assumed proportions 
 that assure permanency. 
 
 [Baltimore (Md.) Sun] 
 
 Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, Founder of Christian Science 
 and author of many books treating upon that subject, is 
 dead at Boston, having some months ago passed into her 
 ninetieth year. Mrs. Eddy was one of the remarkable 
 women of her time. A sickly, weak child, she grew into a 
 frail woman who seemed to have but a slender hold on 
 existence, and yet she lived to an unusual age, a life full 
 of work and teeming with results. Establishing a church, 
 she remained its head to the time of her demise, managing 
 its affairs with great executive ability and penetrating
 
 122 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 judgment. Whatever may be the fate of the church she 
 founded, now that her forceful hand is removed from the 
 management of its affairs, there can be no doubt of her 
 wonderful administrative ability, her keen insight into hu- 
 man nature, and her tremendous capacity for work. Her 
 place in history as one of the really extraordinary women of 
 her day is secure. 
 
 [Concord (N. H.) Monitor} 
 
 FOR MRS. EDDY 
 CITY GOVERNMENT PASSES RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT 
 
 AT the meeting of the city government, Monday night 
 [Dec. 26], action was taken on the death of the Rev. Mary 
 Baker Eddy by the passage of appropriate resolutions. The 
 resolutions were introduced by Alderman Cressy, and in 
 presenting them he said : 
 
 "The year 1910 is soon to be a thing of the past, so is 
 this city charter and this city government, and before the 
 book of records which has been so faithfully kept by our 
 worthy city clerk is closed, it seems wise, though a regret- 
 table duty, to have spread thereon this resolution which I 
 am about to introduce over the death of one of Concord's 
 most distinguished citizens, the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy. 
 
 "Although some two years ago Mrs. Eddy took up a tem- 
 porary residence in Massachusetts, that she might be nearer 
 her work, Concord proudly and justly claims Mrs. Eddy 
 as one of her citizens, and in her death we lose an honored, 
 respected, and beloved benefactor. While some may differ 
 in their technical belief, all Concord bows its head reverently 
 at Mrs. Eddy's death, and I ask your careful consideration 
 of the following resolution: 
 
 "By the decease of the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Con- 
 cord loses its most distinguished citizen. During the many 
 years she resided here, thousands of people from our own 
 land and from foreign countries have visited our city in 
 paying their respects to her. Through her followers, Con- 
 cord has become known through the civilized world.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 123 
 
 "Mrs. Eddy was distinguished by public spirit, deep gen- 
 erosity, wide charity, and tender and thoughtful helpful- 
 ness, and it seems fitting and appropriate that we, the mayor 
 and the board of aldermen and the common council of the 
 city of Concord, take some action in behalf of our citizens 
 to express our appreciation of her residence among us and 
 our esteem of her character; therefore 
 
 "Be it resolved, That by the death of the Rev. Mary Baker 
 Eddy the world has suffered an irreparable loss and the 
 citizens of Concord the loss of an honored and a devoted 
 friend of our city, whose motto was 'to injure no man, but 
 to bless all mankind.' " * 
 
 *"The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," page 353.
 
 INDEX 
 
 A Tribute. By Mrs. Annie M. 
 Knott in The Christian Science 
 Monitor, 9. 
 
 For Mrs. Eddy, Concord (N. H.) 
 city government passes resolu- 
 tions of respect, 122. 
 
 "Judge righteous judgment." Edi- 
 torial by Archibald McLellan in 
 Christian Science Sentinel, 7. 
 
 Mary Baker Eddy. Editorial by 
 
 Archibald McLellan in Christian 
 
 Science Sentinel, 3. 
 Onward and Upward. Editorial 
 
 by Annie M. Knott in Christian 
 
 Science Sentinel, 5. 
 
 Current Literature, 92. 
 Harper's Weekly, 67. 
 Success Magazine, 104. 
 Twentieth Century Magazine, 50. 
 
 CANADA 
 
 Alberta. Calgary, Herald, 105. 
 British Columbia. Victoria, Daily 
 
 Colonist, 105. 
 Ontario. Hamilton, Times, 111. 
 
 London, Free Press, 107. 
 Province of Quebec. Montreal, 
 
 Gazette, 119. 
 
 Montreal, Star, 22. 
 
 Westmount, News, 102. 
 
 CHINA 
 
 Hongkong, Overland China Mail, 
 69. 
 
 ENGLAND 
 
 Leeds, Yorkshire Evening Post, 
 100. 
 
 HAWAII 
 
 Honolulu, Pacific Commercial Ad- 
 vertiser, 116. 
 
 MEXICO 
 
 City of Mexico, Herald, 79. 
 
 PORTO RICO 
 
 San Juan, Times, 89. 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 ALABAMA 
 
 Birmingham, News, 35. 
 Tuscaloosa, News, 95. 
 
 ALASKA 
 
 Fairbanks, Daily Times, 73. 
 The Alaska Citizen, 68. 
 
 ARIZONA 
 
 Phoenix, Democrat, 97. 
 
 Prescott, Arizona Journal-Miner, 
 
 101. 
 
 Yuma, Arizona Sentinel, 70. 
 125
 
 126 
 
 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 Los Angeles, Express, 36. 
 
 Herald, 47. 
 
 Record, 45. 
 
 Pasadena, Daily News, 37. 
 Sacramento, Union, 41. 
 San Bernardino, Evening Index, 44. 
 San Diego, Herald, 62. 
 San Francisco, Examiner, 39. 
 San Jose, Mercury, 62. 
 
 COLORADO 
 
 Denver, Republican, 75. 
 Post, 90. 
 
 Rocky Mountain News, 27. 
 Times, 26. 
 
 Leadville, Herald-Democrat, 91. 
 
 Pueblo, Indicator, 99. 
 
 Steamboat Springs, Steamboat Pi- 
 lot, 72. 
 
 CONNECTICUT 
 
 Meriden, Record, 118. 
 
 New Haven, Journal-Courier, 35, 
 
 83. 
 New London, >ay, 97. 
 
 Telegraph, 96. 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 Chicago, Journal, 119. 
 
 P05*, 17. 
 
 77?e Farmers Voice, 100. 
 
 Tribune, 12. 
 
 Danville, Commercial News, 86. 
 Decatur, Herald, 75. 
 Peoria, Journal, 71. 
 Quincy, Herald, 78. 
 Rockford, Morning Star, 69. 
 
 Register-Gazette, 77. 
 Rock Island, Union, 114. 
 Springfield, News, 65. 
 
 INDIANA 
 
 Anderson, Herald, 115. 
 Ft. Wayne, Sentinel, 112 
 South Bend, New Era, 47. 
 2Vewy, 33. 
 
 IOWA- 
 
 Ames, Intelligencer, 113 
 Cedar Rapids, Evening Times, 108. 
 Creston, Morning American, 65. 
 Davenport, Democrat and Leader, 
 
 109. 
 Des Moines, Capital, 112. 
 
 Evening Tribune, 59. 
 Marshalltown, Z>ai/;y Herald, 104. 
 
 KANSAS 
 
 Wilmington, Evening Journal, 64, 
 85. 
 
 Traveler, 
 
 DELAWARE 
 
 Arkansas City, 
 
 117. 
 
 Leavenworth, Daily Times, 103. 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA . Ottawa > Dail y Republic, 103. 
 
 Washington, Herald, 32, 79. 
 
 GEORGIA 
 Atlanta, Constitution, 22. 
 
 Parsons, Sun, 104. 
 Wichita, Eagle, 66. 
 
 KENTUCKY 
 
 Louisville, Times, 30.
 
 EDITORIAL COMMENTS 
 
 127 
 
 MAINE 
 
 Augusta, Kennebec Journal, 25. 
 Brunswick, Record, 48. 
 Houlton, Aroostook Pioneer, 57. 
 Portland, Express and Advertiser, 
 98. 
 
 MARYLAND 
 
 Baltimore, Sun, 121. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Boston, Courier, 58. 
 
 Globe,. 13. 
 
 Journal, 48. 
 
 Post, 14. 
 
 Transcript, 19. 
 
 Traveler, 18. 
 
 JForW's Crisis, 79. 
 Lowell, Courier-Citizen, 94. 
 Maiden, Evening News, 116. 
 Springfield, Republican, 81. 
 
 tfraon, 20. 
 Worcester, Telegram, 79. 
 
 MICHIGAN 
 
 Battle Creek, Datfy Moon, 84. 
 Grand Rapids, Evening Press, 120. 
 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 Albert Lea, Tribune, 88. 
 Bemidji, Pioneer, 113. 
 Cannon Falls, Beacon, 54, 76. 
 Duluth, News Tribune, 29. 
 Minneapolis, Journal, 71. 
 St. Paul, Dispatch, 66. 
 
 MISSISSIPPI 
 
 Jackson, Clarion-Ledger, 119. 
 Z?a;7y News, 116. 
 
 MISSOURI 
 
 Joplin, Z?ai/y Globe, 42. 
 Kansas City, Journal, 45, 65. 
 
 5/ar, 49. 
 
 Rich Hill, Z?a*7y Review, 86. 
 Springfield, Republican, 49. 
 St. Louis, Post-Dispatch, 49. 
 
 Tmes, 87. 
 
 Woman's National Daily, The,\\. 
 
 MONTANA 
 
 Billings, Journal, 59. 
 Butte, Evening News, 24. 
 
 Tribune-Review, 108. 
 Red Lodge, Republican Picket, 106. 
 Virginia City, Madisonian, 108. 
 
 NEBRASKA 
 
 Hastings, >a*7y Tribune, 114. 
 Lincoln, >a7;y Star, 67. 
 Omaha, Evening Bee, 111. 
 World-Herald, 43. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE 
 
 Concord, Monitor, 13. 
 Manchester, Union, 17. 
 
 NEW JERSEY 
 
 Dover, TAe /row Era, 46. 
 Morristown, Jerseyman, 89. 
 Rutherford, Republican, 46. 
 Short Hills, 7/ew, 53. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 New York, American, 15. 
 
 Harlem Local, 60. 
 
 Morning Telegraph, 16. 
 
 Morning Sun, 15. 
 Rochester, Times, 64. 
 Saratoga Springs, Saratogian, 57. 
 Syracuse, Journal, 69. 
 Utica, Press, 61.
 
 128 MARY BAKER EDDY 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH DAKOTA 
 
 Asheville, Citizen, 28. 
 
 OHIO 
 
 Athens, Daily Messenger, 88. 
 
 Belief ontaine, Index-Republican. 
 101. 
 
 Canton, News-Democrat, 98. 
 
 Cleveland, Jewish Review and Ob- 
 server, 56. 
 Leader, 38. 
 Plain Dealer, 121. 
 Press, 78. 
 
 Columbus, News, 44. 
 
 Coshocton, Daily Age, 99. 
 
 Lebanon, Western Star, 92. 
 
 Lima, Times-Democrat, 94. 
 
 Middletown, News-Signal, 100. 
 
 Piqua, Leader-Dispatch, 55. 
 
 Sandusky, Register, 40. 
 
 OREGON 
 
 Pendleton, East Oregonian, 118. 
 Portland, Journal, 115. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 Johnstown, Democrat, 30. 
 Philadelphia, Press, 39. 
 Public Ledger, 26. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND 
 
 Providence, News, 41. 
 
 Sioux Falls, Dai/y Argus-Leader, 
 50,51. 
 
 TENNESSEE 
 Knoxville, Sentinel, 74. 
 Memphis, News Scimitar, 102. 
 
 TEXAS 
 
 Dallas, Christian Advocate, 68. 
 
 News, 31. 
 
 Houston, Chronicle, 50. 
 Temple, Da^y Telegram, 100. 
 Weatherford, Democrat, 62. 
 
 UTAH 
 
 Salt Lake City, Goodwin's Weekly, 
 63. 
 Tribune, 43. 
 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 Lynchburg, News, 21. 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 Seattle, .Dai/y Times, 93. 
 Spokane, Inland Herald, 23. 
 
 WISCONSIN 
 
 La Crosse, Tribune, 89. 
 Manitowoc, Daily Herald, 110. 
 Milwaukee, Daily News, 30. 
 Free Press, 82. 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY 
 BOSTON, U. S. A.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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