Chapter 16 — Tributes
From Miscellany by Mary Baker Eddy
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- Monument to Baron and Baroness De Hirsch
- Tributes to Queen Victoria
- Letter to Mrs. McKinley
- Tribute to President McKinley
- Power of Prayer
- On the Death of Pope Leo XIII., July 20, 1903
- A Tribute to the Bible
- A Benediction
- Hon. Clarence a. Buskirk’s Lecture
- “Hear, Israel”
- Miss Clara Barton
- There Is No Death
- Mrs. Eddy’s History
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1 [New York Mail and Express]
MONUMENT TO BARON AND BARONESS DE HIRSCH
3 THE movement to erect a monument to the late
Baron and Baroness de Hirsch enlists my hearty
sympathy. They were unquestionably used in a re-
6 markable degree as instruments of divine Love.
Divine Love reforms, regenerates, giving to human
weakness strength, serving as admonition, instruction, and
9 governing all that really is. Divine Love is the noumenon
and phenomenon, the Principle and practice of divine
metaphysics. Love talked and not lived is a poor shift
12 for the weak and worldly. Love lived in a court or cot
is God exemplified, governing governments, industries,
human rights, liberty, life.
15 In love for man we gain the only and true sense of love
for God, practical good, and so rise and still rise to His
image and likeness, and are made partakers of that Mind
18 whence springs the universe.
Philanthropy is loving, ameliorative, revolutionary; it
wakens lofty desires, new possibilities, achievements, and
21 energies; it lays the axe at the root of the tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit; it touches thought to
spiritual issues, systematizes action, and insures success;
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1 it starts the wheels of right reason, revelation, justice, and
mercy; it unselfs men and pushes on the ages. Love
3 unfolds marvellous good and uncovers hidden evil. The
philanthropist or reformer gives little thought to self-
defence; his life’s incentive and sacrifice need no apology.
6 The good done and the good to do are his ever-present
reward.
Love for mankind is the elevator of the human race;
9 it demonstrates Truth and reflects divine Love. Good is
divinely natural. Evil is unnatural; it has no origin in
the nature of God, and He is the Father of all.
12 The great Galilean Prophet was, is, the reformer of re-
formers. His piety partook not of the travesties of human
opinions, pagan mysticisms, tribal religion, Greek phi-
15 losophy, creed, dogma, or materia medica. The divine
Mind was his only instrumentality in religion or medi-
cine. The so-called laws of matter he eschewed; with
18 him matter was not the auxiliary of Spirit. He never
appealed to matter to perform the functions of Spirit,
divine Love.
21 Jesus cast out evil, disease, death, showing that all
suffering is commensurate with sin; therefore, he cast
out devils and healed the sick. He showed that every
24 effect or amplification of wrong will revert to the wrong-
doer; that sin punishes itself; hence his saying, “Sin
no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” Love
27 atones for sin through love that destroys sin. His rod
is love.
We cannot remake ourselves, but we can make the
30 best of what God has made. We can know that all is
good because God made all, and that evil is not a
fatherly grace.
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1 All education is work. The thing most important is
what we do, not what we say. God’s open secret is seen
3 through grace, truth, and love.
I enclose a check for five hundred dollars for the
De Hirsch monument fund.
TRIBUTES TO QUEEN VICTORIA
MR. WILLIAM B. JOHNSON, C.S.B., Clerk
Beloved Student: — I deem it proper that The Mother
9 Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, the
first church of Christian Science known on earth, should
upon this solemn occasion congregate; that a special meet-
12 ing of its First Members convene for the sacred purpose of
expressing our deep sympathy with the bereaved nation,
its loss and the world’s loss, in the sudden departure of
15 the late lamented Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and
Empress of India, — long honored, revered, beloved.
“God save the Queen” is heard no more in England, but
18 this shout of love lives on in the heart of millions.
With love,
MARY BAKER EDDY
21 PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
January 27, 1901
It being inconvenient for me to attend the memorial
24 meeting in the South Congregational church on Sunday
evening, February 3, I herewith send a few words of con-
dolence, which may be read on that tender occasion.
27 I am interested in a meeting to be held in the capi-
tal of my native State in memoriam of the late lamented
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India.
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1 It betokens a love and a loss felt by the strong hearts
of New England and the United States. When contem-
3 plating this sudden international bereavement, the near
seems afar, the distant nigh, and the tried and true seem
few. The departed Queen’s royal and imperial honors
6 lose their lustre in the tomb, but her personal virtues can
never be lost. Those live on in the affection of nations.
Few sovereigns have been as venerable, revered, and
9 beloved as this noble woman, born in 1819, married in
1840, and deceased the first month of the new century.
LETTER TO MRS. McKINLEY
12 My Dear Mrs. McKinley: — My soul reaches out to God
for your support, consolation, and victory. Trust in Him
whose love enfolds thee. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect
15 peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth
in Thee.” “Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee.”
Divine Love is never so near as when all earthly joys seem
18 most afar.
Thy tender husband, our nation’s chief magistrate, has
passed earth’s shadow into Life’s substance. Through
21 a momentary mist he beheld the dawn. He awaits to
welcome you where no arrow wounds the eagle soaring,
where no partings are for love, where the high and holy
24 call you again to meet.
“I knew that Thou hearest me always,” are the words of
him who suffered and subdued sorrow. Hold this attitude
27 of mind, and it will remove the sackcloth from thy home.
With love,
MARY BAKER EDDY
30 PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
September 14, 1901
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TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT McKINLEY
Imperative, accumulative, holy demands rested on the
3 life and labors of our late beloved President, William
McKinley. Presiding over the destinies of a nation
meant more to him than a mere rehearsal of aphorisms,
6 a uniting of breaches soon to widen, a quiet assent or dis-
sent. His work began with heavy strokes, measured
movements, reaching from the infinitesimal to the
9 infinite. It began by warming the marble of politics
into zeal according to wisdom, quenching the vol-
canoes of partizanship, and uniting the interests of all
12 peoples; and it ended with a universal good overcoming
evil.
His home relations enfolded a wealth of affection, — a
15 tenderness not talked but felt and lived. His humanity,
weighed in the scales of divinity, was not found wanting.
His public intent was uniform, consistent, sympathetic,
18 and so far as it fathomed the abyss of difficulties was
wise, brave, unselfed. May his history waken a tone
of truth that shall reverberate, renew euphony, empha-
21 size humane power, and bear its banner into the vast
forever.
While our nation’s ensign of peace and prosperity
24 waves over land and sea, while her reapers are strong,
her sheaves garnered, her treasury filled, she is suddenly
stricken, — called to mourn the loss of her renowned
27 leader! Tears blend with her triumphs. She stops to
think, to mourn, yea, to pray, that the God of harvests
send her more laborers, who, while they work for their
30 own country, shall sacredly regard the liberty of other
peoples and the rights of man.
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1 What cannot love and righteousness achieve for the
race? All that can be accomplished, and more than his-
3 tory has yet recorded. All good that ever was written,
taught, or wrought comes from God and human faith in
the right. Through divine Love the right government is
6 assimilated, the way pointed out, the process shortened,
and the joy of acquiescence consummated. May God
sanctify our nation’s sorrow in this wise, and His rod
9 and His staff comfort the living as it did the departing.
O may His love shield, support, and comfort the chief
mourner at the desolate home!
POWER OF PRAYER
My answer to the inquiry, “Why did Christians of every
sect in the United States fail in their prayers to save
15 the life of President McKinley,” is briefly this: Insuffi-
cient faith or spiritual understanding, and a compound of
prayers in which one earnest, tender desire works uncon-
18 sciously against the modus operandi of another, would
prevent the result desired. In the June, 1901, Message
to my church in Boston, I refer to the effect of one
21 human desire or belief unwittingly neutralizing another,
though both are equally sincere.
In the practice of materia medica, croton oil is not mixed
24 with morphine to remedy dysentery, for those drugs are
supposed to possess opposite qualities and so to produce
opposite effects. The spirit of the prayer of the righteous
27 heals the sick, but this spirit is of God, and the divine
Mind is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; where-
as the human mind is a compound of faith and doubt,
30 of fear and hope, of faith in truth and faith in error.
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1 The knowledge that all things are possible to God ex-
cludes doubt, but differing human concepts as to the
3 divine power and purpose of infinite Mind, and the so-
called power of matter, act as the different properties of
drugs are supposed to act — one against the other — and
6 this compound of mind and matter neutralizes itself.
Our lamented President, in his loving acquiescence,
believed that his martyrdom was God’s way. Hun-
9 dreds, thousands of others believed the same, and hun-
dreds of thousands who prayed for him feared that the
bullet would prove fatal. Even the physicians may have
12 feared this.
These conflicting states of the human mind, of trembling
faith, hope, and of fear, evinced a lack of the absolute
15 understanding of God’s omnipotence, and thus they pre-
vented the power of absolute Truth from reassuring the
mind and through the mind resuscitating the body of
18 the patient.
The divine power and poor human sense — yea, the spirit
and the flesh — struggled, and to mortal sense the flesh pre-
21 vailed. Had prayer so fervently offered possessed no
opposing element, and President McKinley’s recovery
been regarded as wholly contingent on the power of God,
24 — on the power of divine Love to overrule the pur-
poses of hate and the law of Spirit to control matter, —
the result would have been scientific, and the patient
27 would have recovered.
St. Paul writes: “For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
30 death.” And the Saviour of man saith: “What things
soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them.” Human governments
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1 maintain the right of the majority to rule. Christian
Scientists are yet in a large minority on the subject of
3 divine metaphysics; but they improve the morals and the
lives of men, and they heal the sick on the basis that God
has all power, is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent,
6 supreme over all.
In a certain city the Master “did not many mighty
works there because of their unbelief,” — because of the
9 mental counteracting elements, the startled or the un-
righteous contradicting minds of mortals. And if he were
personally with us to-day, he would rebuke whatever
12 accords not with a full faith and spiritual knowledge of
God. He would mightily rebuke a single doubt of the
ever-present power of divine Spirit to control all the con-
15 ditions of man and the universe.
If the skilful surgeon or the faithful M.D. is not dis-
mayed by a fruitless use of the knife or the drug, has not
18 the Christian Scientist with his conscious understanding
of omnipotence, in spite of the constant stress of the
hindrances previously mentioned, reason for his faith in
21 what is shown him by God’s works?
ON THE DEATH OF POPE LEO XIII, JULY 20, 1903
The sad, sudden announcement of the decease of Pope
24 Leo XIII, touches the heart and will move the pen of
millions. The intellectual, moral, and religious energy
of this illustrious pontiff have animated the Church of
27 Rome for one quarter of a century. The august ruler
of two hundred and fifty million human beings has now
passed through the shadow of death into the great forever.
30 The court of the Vatican mourns him; his relatives
shed “the unavailing tear.” He is the loved and lost
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1 of many millions. I sympathize with those who mourn,
but rejoice in knowing our dear God comforts such with
3 the blessed assurance that life is not lost; its influence
remains in the minds of men, and divine Love holds
its substance safe in the certainty of immortality.
6 “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
(John 1: 4.)
A TRIBUTE TO THE BIBLE
LETTER OF THANKS FOR THE GIFT OF A COPY OF MARTIN LUTHER’S
TRANSLATION INTO GERMAN OF THE BIBLE, PRINTED IN
NUREM BERG IN 1733
12 Dear Student: — I am in grateful receipt of your time-
worn Bible in German. This Book of books is also the
gift of gifts; and kindness in its largest, profoundest
15 sense is goodness. It was kind of you to give it to me.
I thank you for it.
Christian Scientists are fishers of men. The Bible is
18 our sea-beaten rock. It guides the fishermen. It stands
the storm. It engages the attention and enriches the
being of all men.
A BENEDICTION
[Copy of Cablegram]
COUNTESS OF DUNMORE AND FAMILY,
24 55 Lancaster Gate, West, London, England
Divine Love is your ever-present help. You, I, and
mankind have cause to lament the demise of Lord Dun-
27 more; but as the Christian Scientist, the servant of God
and man, he still lives, loves, labors.
MARY BAKER EDDY
30 PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
August 31, 1907
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HON. CLARENCE A. BUSKIRK’S LECTURE
The able discourse of our “learned judge,” his flash of
3 flight and insight, lays the axe “unto the root of the
trees,” and shatters whatever hinders the Science of
being.
6 MARY BAKER EDDY
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
October 14, 1907
“HEAR, O ISRAEL”
The late lamented Christian Scientist brother and the
publisher of my books, Joseph Armstrong, C.S.D., is not
12 dead, neither does he sleep nor rest from his labors in
divine Science; and his works do follow him. Evil has no
power to harm, to hinder, or to destroy the real spiritual
15 man. He is wiser to-day, healthier and happier, than
yesterday. The mortal dream of life, substance, or mind
in matter, has been lessened, and the reward of good
18 and punishment of evil and the waking out of his Adam-
dream of evil will end in harmony, — evil powerless, and
God, good, omnipotent and infinite.
21 MARY BAKER EDDY
PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
December 10, 1907
MISS CLARA BARTON
In the New York American, January 6, 1908, Miss
Clara Barton dipped her pen in my heart, and traced its
27 emotions, motives, and object. Then, lifting the curtains
of mortal mind, she depicted its rooms, guests, standing
and seating capacity, and thereafter gave her discovery
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1 to the press. Now if Miss Barton were not a venerable
soldier, patriot, philanthropist, moralist, and states-
3 woman, I should shrink from such salient praise. But
in consideration of all that Miss Barton really is,
and knowing that she can bear the blows which may
6 follow said description of her soul-visit, I will say, Amen,
so be it.
MARY BAKER EDDY
9 PLEASANT VIEW, CONCORD, N. H.,
January l0, 1908
THERE IS NO DEATH
12 A suppositional gust of evil in this evil world is the
dark hour that precedes the dawn. This gust blows
away the baubles of belief, for there is in reality no evil,
15 no disease, no death; and the Christian Scientist who
believes that he dies, gains a rich blessing of disbelief in
death, and a higher realization of heaven.
18 My beloved Edward A. Kimball, whose clear, correct
teaching of Christian Science has been and is an inspira-
tion to the whole field, is here now as veritably as when
21 he visited me a year ago. If we would awaken to this
recognition, we should see him here and realize that he
never died; thus demonstrating the fundamental truth
24 of Christian Science.
MARY BAKER EDDY
MRS. EDDY’S HISTORY
27 I have not had sufficient interest in the matter to read
or to note from others’ reading what the enemies of
Christian Science are said to be circulating regarding my
30 history, but my friends have read Sibyl Wilbur’s book,
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1 “The Life of Mary Baker Eddy,” and request the privi-
lege of buying, circulating, and recommending it to the
3 public. I briefly declare that nothing has occurred in my
life’s experience which, if correctly narrated and under-
stood, could injure me; and not a little is already re-
6 ported of the good accomplished therein, the self-sacrifice,
etc., that has distinguished all my working years.
I thank Miss Wilbur and the Concord Publishing Com-
9 pany for their unselfed labors in placing this book before
the public, and hereby say that they have my permission
to publish and circulate this work.
12 MARY BAKER EDDY
