Article March 2, 1912 Issue

John Ruskin once said that he never wrote an anonymous...

Frederick Dixon—London, England.

Weekly Budget

John Ruskin once said that he never wrote an anonymous letter in his life, because he never wrote one to which he was ashamed to put his name. As the critics of Christian Science commonly never write anything but anonymous letters, the conclusion is obvious. One anonymous contributor explains that some years ago her brother, whose case had been pronounced hopeless by the doctors, accepted Christian Science treatment for an incurable complaint. Her grievance is, not that the case has not been cured, that could hardly be a grievance for an incurable complaint, but that her brother is devoted to Christian Science, and has paid for treatment at a decreasing rate, the maximum having apparently been three shillings a treatment. I have before me a letter received this morning from a gentleman who has undergone treatment by a medical practitioner who combines drugs with hypnotism. This gentleman's bill amounted to one thousand pounds for four months' treatment. At the end of this time the patient, being no better, applied for Christian Science and was healed.

The real mistake of the attack on Christian Science, however, has been an absolute failure to comprehend that it is aimed at the greatest movement of modern times. When from one side of the world to the other millions of people are living who have experienced the help of Christian Science, physically, morally, and mentally, who have seen those who are dearest to them restored to life and happiness and manhood, or who number among their friends those who have had such experiences as these, it is a little pitiful to see the attempt being made to kick against the pricks. The Christian Science movement is barely half a century old. It has spread, during that time, from one end of the American continent to the other. It has its churches in Europe, it has taken possession of the British empire. Twelve years ago, not a Christian Science church had been formed in Europe; today Christian Science services are read throughout the length and breadth of England and in the principal cities on the continent, from Paris to Florence, and from Moscow to Christiania. In Australia it is a growing power; throughout the South African dominion its text-book is being read and its Lesson-Sermons studied.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity of talking to a descendant of one of the old Dutch families in the Orange Free State, who told me that Mrs. Eddy's book was to be found in a very large number of the scattered homesteads of the country. It has spread northward from here, amid the tiny white population of Bechuanaland, and it has devoted adherents in the cities of Egypt in the north. Members of the movement are scattered along the shores of the Persian gulf; throughout the great empire of India; in the cities of China, and in the islands of Japan. Among these people are to be found men who have their seats in the legislatures of the world, distinguished officers of the army and navy, leaders in the profession of the law; business men who have proved that they can control vast commercial undertakings; men whose lives have been devoted to the study of art, of literature, and of science; not a few who once practised medicine, or who were ministers of orthodox religions; to say nothing of thousands upon thousands of capable, intelligent, and cultivated men and women, of all nations and of all classes, as the nations count classes.

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