Article September 7, 1907 Issue

Several generations ago public sentiment, even in the...

Omaha (Neb.) Daily World-Herald

Several generations ago public sentiment, even in the United States, indorsed religious persecution, and the church gave its pious blessing to the red-handed murderers who burned "witches" at the stake. But that day of bigotry has passed.

That if has passed indeed is made plain by the dismissal of the proceedings against Mrs. Eddy. Under the pretense of intervention by her "next friends" to furnish kindly assistance in the care of her property, this aged woman was made the victim persecution by bigoted and fanatic enemies. Ostensibly she was summoned into court to prove her sanity. But really she was summoned for heterodoxy; to be punished before the world for establishing a church different from somebody else's church. It was the prosecution for witchcraft over again. Literally it was attempted to prove that she believed in malignant spirits who work their evil by much the same charm the "witches" employed.

The entire proceeding was disgusting. It was redeemed only by the impressive scene that resulted when Mrs. Eddy was "examined" at her home, where by her courtesy and unfailing good nature, no less than by the clarity of her thought and the force and vigor of her expressions, she put her persecutors to shame. The effect on the enlightened sentiment of the country was such that the dismissal in short order was an inevitable consequence.

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The dismissal of the suit brought by "next friends"...
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