The followers of Christian Science to-day observed Communion day with four largely attended services at the Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in this city.

Thousands flocked into the edifice, merely for the privilege of kneeling in silent communion, of listening to the reading of a brief message, and the exchange of kindly greetings with fellow members. As fast as the services were concluded and the congregation had departed, another great concourse streamed into the church, and the simple service was repeated.

Each gathering was a representative one, for all sorts and conditions of men and women were present.

Even the knowledge that the Leader, Mrs. Eddy, would not be present, had little effect on those who joined in the services, and her message, full of love and peace, was received with silent thankfulness.

Editorial, Tuesday, June 6.

The aggressively hostile attitude recently assumed by physicians and public health officers in different parts of the country toward Christian Science seems to have strengthened the cult rather than weakened it. The Annual Meeting of the Church in Boston has brought together thousands of believers, whose zeal and enthusiasm seem to have been stimulated by prosecution and threats of prosecution. In her formal message, Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of the sect, gives expression to the practical effect of efforts to suppress it by bringing charges of neglect or malpractice against persons who profess to cure bodily ills through the medium of Christian Science so-called, when she descants on liberty as the inalienable birthright of man, guaranteed under the American Constitution, and praises God for persecution. Attempts made in different parts of the country to secure the punishment of "healers" for alleged violation of health laws have intensified their resolution to persevere, and have caused not a few persons, who would otherwise have remained indifferent, to regard them as martyrs.

Naturally, professors of belief in Christian Science have been willing enough to be placed in this attitude. If insincere, they shrewdly calculated that official coercion would make them more interesting, and gain sympathy for them. Sincerity, on the other hand, readily resolves itself into fanaticism under pressure, and little good comes, as a rule, from combating fanaticism. Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that, excellent as may have been the impelling motive, the expressed determination of health officers and medical associations to proceed against the active exponents of Christian Science in the treatment of the sick does not commend itself for the value of the tangible results achieved.

That Christian Science has numerous absolutely faithful and conscientious adherents hardly admits of doubt. It may be argued that the "Science" is an egregious delusion. This is said of various other cults, which, nevertheless, appeal to many people. Notwithstanding the frequent exposures of pretended Spiritualist mediums the confidence of a great majority of Spiritualists in the "materialization" of the departed remains unshaken. Outside the realm of the knowable a vast region exists in which fancy may disport itself at will. There is no limit to the religious systems which the children of man can and do create for themselves. Only when the fruits of such system affect injuriously the morals and the well-being of communities, or in the event of encroachments upon the rights and the happiness of others, is authoritative interference warranted.