Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 Part 49

The _St. Louis Democrat_ is alleged to have reported my [20]

demise, and to have said that I died of poison, and bequeathed my property to Susan Anthony.

The opium falsehood has only this to it: Many years ago my regular physician prescribed morphine, which I took, when he could do no more for me. Afterwards, [25]

the glorious revelations of Christian Science saved me from that necessity and made me well, since which time I have not taken drugs, with the following exception: When the mental malpractice of poisoning people was

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first undertaken by a mesmerist, to test that malprac- [1]

tice I experimented by taking some large doses of mor- phine, to see if Christian Science could not obviate its effect; and I say with tearful thanks, "The drug had no effect upon me whatever." The hour has struck, [5]

-"If they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them."

The false report that I have appropriated other people's ma.n.u.scripts in my works, has been met and answered _legally_. Both in private and public life, and especially [10]

through my teachings, it is well known that I am not a spiritualist, a pantheist, or prayerless. The most devout members of evangelical churches will say this, as well as my intimate acquaintances. None are permitted to re- main in my College building whose morals are not un- [15]

questionable. I have neither purchased nor ordered a drug since my residence in Boston; and to my knowledge, not one has been sent to my house, unless it was something to remove stains or vermin.

The report that I was dead arose no doubt from the [20]

combined efforts of some malignant students, expelled from my College for immorality, to kill me: of their mental design to do this I have proof, but no fear. My heavenly Father will never leave me comfortless, in the amplitude of His love; coming nearer in my need, more tenderly to [25]

save and bless.

Love

What a word! I am in awe before it. Over what worlds on worlds it hath range and is sovereign! the un-

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derived, the incomparable, the infinite All of good, the [1]

_alone_ G.o.d, is Love.

By what strange perversity is the best become the most abused,-either as a quality or as an ent.i.ty? Mortals misrepresent and miscall affection; they make it what [5]

it is not, and doubt what it is. The so-called affection pursuing its victim is a butcher fattening the lamb to slay it. What the lower propensities express, should be repressed by the sentiments. No word is more mis- construed; no sentiment less understood. The divine [10]

significance of Love is distorted into human qualities, which in their human abandon become jealousy and hate.

Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a [15]

rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and n.o.ble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results. Unless these appear, I cast aside the word as a sham and counterfeit, having no ring of the true metal. Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or [20]

goodness without activity and power. As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection is more than words: it is the tender, unselfish deed done in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful heart that overflows; the veiled form stealing on an errand of mercy, out of a [25]

side door; the little feet tripping along the sidewalk; the gentle hand opening the door that turns toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow, and thus lighting the dark places of earth.

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Address On The Fourth Of July At Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., Before 2,500 Members Of The Mother Church, 1897

My beloved brethren, who have come all the way from the Pacific to the Atlantic sh.o.r.e, from the Palmetto to the [5]

Pine Tree State, I greet you; my hand may not touch yours to-day, but my heart will with tenderness untalkable.

His Honor, Mayor Woodworth, has welcomed you to Concord most graciously, voicing the friends.h.i.+p of this city and of my native State-loyal to the heart's core to [10]

religion, home, friends, and country.

To-day we commemorate not only our nation's civil and religious freedom, but a greater even, the liberty of the sons of G.o.d, the inalienable rights and radiant reality of Christianity, whereof our Master said: "The works [15]

that I do shall he do;" and, "The kingdom of G.o.d cometh not with observation" (with knowledge obtained from the senses), but "the kingdom of G.o.d is within you,"- within the present possibilities of mankind.

Think of this inheritance! Heaven right here, where [20]

angels are as men, clothed more lightly, and men as angels who, burdened for an hour, spring into liberty, and the good they would do, that they do, and the evil they would not do, that they do not.

From the falling leaves of old-time faiths men learn a [25]

parable of the period, that all error, physical, moral, or religious, will fall before Truth demonstrated, even as dry leaves fall to enrich the soil for fruitage.

Sin, sickness, and disease flee before the evangel of Truth as the mountain mists before the sun. Truth is [30]

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the tonic for the sick, and this medicine of Mind is not [1]

necessarily infinitesimal but infinite. Herein the mental medicine of divine metaphysics and the medical systems of allopathy and h.o.m.opathy differ. Mental medi- cine gains no potency by attenuation, and its largest [5]

dose is never dangerous, but the more the better in every case.

Christian Science cla.s.sifies thought thus: Right thoughts are reality and power; wrong thoughts are unreality and powerless, possessing the nature of dreams. Good thoughts [10]

are potent; evil thoughts are impotent, and they should appear thus. Continuing this category, we learn that sick thoughts are unreality and weakness; while healthy thoughts are reality and strength. My proof of these novel propositions is demonstration, whereby any man [15]

can satisfy himself of their verity.

Christian Science is not only the acme of Science but the crown of Christianity. It is universal. It ap- peals to man as man; to the whole and not to a por- tion; to man physically, as well as spiritually, and to all [20]

mankind.

It has one G.o.d. It demonstrates the divine Principle, rules and practice of the great healer and master of meta- physics, Jesus of Nazareth. It spiritualizes religion and restores its lost element, namely, healing the sick. It [25]

consecrates and inspires the teacher and preacher; it equips the doctor with safe and sure medicine; it en- courages and empowers the business man and secures the success of honesty. It is the dear children's toy and strong tower; the wise man's spiritual dictionary; the [30]

poor man's money; yea, it is the pearl priceless whereof our Master said, if a man findeth, he goeth and selleth

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all that he hath and buyeth it. Buyeth it! Note the [1]

scope of that saying, even that Christianity is not merely a gift, as St. Paul avers, but is bought with a price, a great price; and what man knoweth as did our Master its value, and the price that he paid for it? [5]

Friends, I am not enough the new woman of the period for outdoor speaking, and the incidental platform is not broad enough for me, but the speakers that will now ad- dress you-one a congressman-may improve our platforms; and make amends for the nothingness of [10]

matter with the allness of Mind.

Well Doinge Is The Fruite Of Doinge Well

HERRICK