A recent report in the Varsity gives a certain doctor's...

James W. Fulton, Committee on Publication for the Province of Ontario, Canada,—Toronto

Varsity

A recent report in the Varsity gives a certain doctor's opinion of Christian Science which does not stand the test of examination.

We find this doctor claims that Mary Baker Eddy "grew up in a strange, weird, mystic atmosphere." The facts are that Mrs. Eddy was born near Concord, New Hampshire; that her father farmed his own land, was well-to-do, and a prominent member of the Congregational church, and that her mother was a devout Christian and a direct descendant of Captain Lovewell, of colonial fame.

Stearns, in his "Genealogical Record of New Hampshire families," has said: "The Baker homestead was a favorite resort for the leaders of church and state. The citizens found there a cordial welcome, and teachers and scholars, governors and at least one President of the United States were wont to frequent it"—and this is the atmosphere which is described as "strange, weird, mystic."

The doctor claims that mesmerism is a part of the practice of Christian Science, whereas it is no more correct to say that mesmerism is used in Christian Science than that it is used in the practice of mathematics.

Any one of three of her major accomplishments would justify Mary Baker Eddy being characterized as great: (1) she wrote a book which for some sixty years has continued to be a best seller; (2) she founded a religious movement which in less than half a century has encircled the globe; (3) and at the age of eighty-seven she founded The Christian Science Monitor, generally acknowledged to be a great international daily newspaper.

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