Independent Christian Science articles

Pleasure and Pain by Annie M. Knott

From the September 15, 1917 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

The psalmist gives us this assurance respecting our heavenly Father, “At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” It need hardly be said that the pursuit of pleasure begins for mortals in earliest childhood, and coincident with this pursuit come endless disappointments and sorrows, for the human sense of pleasure seldom rises above the plane of sense satisfaction, and is therefore bounded by materiality, concerning which the master Christian said, “The flesh profiteth nothing.” This only means, however, that we should seek until we find the pleasures divinely provided and promised, which neither deceive nor disappoint.

In the book of Proverbs we read, “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. . . Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” Our revered Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has done more than any one since the time of Christ Jesus to point the way to true pleasure, and she has done this by showing the utter fallacy and delusiveness of belief in the pleasure sought in any wise through the material senses. It cannot be denied that those who become addicted to the drink habit do so in almost every instance because they are on a quest for pleasure, although some would say that their intention is to drown their sorrows in the intoxicating glass. The one who has never fallen into this particular form of error might at once see the delusiveness of it, but he might not see that until he seeks pleasure in God’s way, and sees it to be inseparable from the true concept of man as God’s image and likeness, he has not gone very far along the way to salvation from false belief, and should not censure the one who is enslaved in the manner that he condemns.

Mrs. Eddy’s method of dealing with this phase of error—with every phase of it, indeed—is no less loving than thorough. She declares that the healing of the inebriate must come through the understanding “that there is no real pleasure in sin” (Science and Health, p. 404), and she adds, “Arouse the sinner to this new and true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure, and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and increases his ability to master evil and to love good.” Our Master, who always went down to the depths in his teaching, has this to say respecting those to whom the good seed of Truth is brought, but who fail to bring forth fruit therefrom: “That which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” This is a sad picture of the disappointing search for satisfaction in any material condition, and it was doubtless because of the sorrows ensuing therefrom that in the early Christian centuries many turned their backs upon the world, and sought peace, if not pleasure, in seclusion and solitude.

Throughout all Christian history, however, there have been some sincere seekers who had at least glimpses of the vital things which never disappoint, and so we find these words in a hymn,—

In thy service pain is pleasure,
With thy favor loss is gain.

This is coming very near to the heart of things, for whenever we are willing to seek good at any cost, the pleasure of this ennobling quest begins to grow upon us, until at length it unfolds into the certainty of possession. In Hebrews we read that Moses, who in his early manhood was surrounded with the splendor of the Egyptian court, turned his back upon it, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” His pleasure, his joy, like that of the Master, was to be found in the glorious work of emancipating the human race from its enslavement to evil of every sort, and the writer of this epistle to the Hebrews gives us a wonderful lesson when he counsels us to “run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.”

The human sense of pleasure needs the transforming power of Spirit to cleanse it from the falsities of mortal belief, and as this is accomplished the desire for pleasure is changed into the consciousness of pure joy; and all the while new energies are being unfolded which make joy possible in every experience. The sooner we make our choice the better for us, because, as we read on page 390 of Science and Health, “Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.”

The Father’s House

From the September 2, 1905 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

IN times of doubt or of sorrow the struggling human sense must needs rely upon the anchor of faith which keeps thought from drifting astray till the storm is past. In these hours Christian Science comes to light the gloom and reveal the way for very many who otherwise might suffer ship-wreck. By this new understanding of Truth the Master’s statements are illumined, and their relation to our individual experiences is made clear and practical. It is readily seen that our old, material sense of his words is inadequate for the working out of our problems, and that the light which we need is spiritual.

Jesus’ declaration, “In my Father’s house are many mansions,” has been a great source of comfort to many, but it has also given rise to much unprofitable speculation. It would seem, however, that one lesson is clearly conveyed by it; viz., that the Father’s house is the universal domain of divine Love, and that the needs of all God’s children are amply provided for therein. It would also seem that the many mansions referred to by the Master, represent the different stages of consciousness through which we must pass on our way to a full understanding of divine Principle,—our Father-Mother God. To mortal sense our present abode may be lowly, it may even be o’ershadowed with sorrow or suffering, but a growing recognition of the presence of divine Love will dispel the clouds and reveal a home radiant with the light of Truth, and in the hours of still greater illumination there will be glimpses of the walls of jasper, of sapphire, and of emerald. Christian Science teaches us how we should demean ourselves in such a “home of the soul,” and that we may invite to its shelter all sick and weary wanderers.

The cheering words, “I go to prepare a place for you,” tell us that the Christ—the divine idea—ever goes before us, anticipating our needs and providing for them, and that as followers of Truth we, too, should be preparing for others, places in consciousness where no sense of evil can find entrance, either as sin, disease, or death. As Christian Scientists we may well ask ourselves whether we are following Christ Jesus in this regard, whether we, in our Christlike living, are revealing the “many mansions” to those who are straying in the mazes of materiality, and who believe that the only way to the “Father’s house” is through the valley of the shadow of death.

In our Leader’s writings we are clearly shown how all may trace the footsteps of the Master, and thus find their rightful place, provided by infinite wisdom. We should know that each of us is now in one of the many mansions, and that all good is therein, and for us, if we but recognize it. It is our present task to cast out every belief in evil. sin, disease, discord, for we can ill afford to let discordant tones break in upon our unfolding recognition of the eternal harmony. No one who reads of the “Father’s house,” ever supposes that sin, sickness, or death has any place therein. Christian Science endorses this view, and further insists upon the necessity for such an understanding of divine Truth as will show that we are not consistent followers of Christ unless we prove our Christian loyalty in thoughts, words, and deeds befitting the Father’s house, into which nothing can enter that defileth “or maketh a lie.” The thought of this stately abode is beautifully expressed in Holmes’ poem, “The Chambered Nautilus:”—

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

Watchfulness

From the December 27, 1913 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel by

All through the Scriptures are admonitions to watchfulness, and nowhere do we find greater emphasis placed upon it than in the Master’s own teachings, the nature of his warnings being twofold. He bids his followers guard against the approach of foes, and says by way of illustration “that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” But this is not all,—he shows that it is no less important to watch for the coming of the divine idea, spoken of as the “master of the house.” To be asleep in any sense when a message of Truth and Love is seeking admission to our consciousness, is a fatal error, and may mean the entrance of the foe that would break up the unguarded abode.

It was the wakeful and watchful shepherds who saw the first gleams of light on the Judæan plains, then heard the angelic message, followed by the full choir, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” We would hardly venture to say that for nearly two thousand years no such song has been sung, but we cannot deny that it has been seldom heard, or if heard at all, heeded as it was by the simple shepherds. At the dawn of Christianity it meant much to be sufficiently watchful to see the light, then hear and heed the message, and it means no less in our own day. In her book “Retrospection and Introspection” (p. 23) Mrs. Eddy tells of the disappointments and dreariness of mortal experience, before the light of Truth illumined for her the darkness; then she says, “When the door opened, I was waiting and watching; and lo, the bridegroom came! The character of the Christ was illumined by the midnight torches of Spirit. My heart knew its Redeemer.” For her, the tireless watcher, the night was gone, and, to use her own words which follow, “Being was beautiful, its substance, cause, and currents were God and His idea.” This did not mean that watchfulness was at an end. Rather did it mean that its purpose was more vital than before. It was no peering out into the darkness to ask, “What of the night?” Instead it was with spiritual sense quick to hear the cheering response, “The morning cometh.”

Of old the shepherds knelt by the cradle of what seemed a helpless babe, one whose very life was threatened by a jealous and cruel king; but when a few years had rolled by, the needy and despairing knelt before the man Christ Jesus to ask for the divine gifts which he was so ready to bestow upon those ready to receive them,—sight to the blind, feet to the lame, health that no mere wind of material circumstance could sweep away, and life to those whom men called dead. Do we believe this? Yes, all of it; because, thanks to the gracious and glorious teaching of Christian Science, we daily prove the Principle of the Christ-healing, in things great and small, and know that greater and ever greater “works” will be ours, if we keep well in view the Saviour’s command to his slumbering disciples, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation,”—the temptation of sin or sickness. If we fail to watch, our prayer is apt to be a cry for help, when the foe should have been kept without the citadel.

But let us not lay down our spiritual weapons at any stage of the warfare. We read that Peter slept when he should have watched, then denied the Christ; but he waked to watch and pray to such purpose that history holds no greater instance of heroism than his fearless and impassioned defense of John and himself, before the rulers, when charged by them with the offense of healing the lame man who lay at the “Beautiful” gate. With Peter watchfulness and prayer had reached the Science of being, and it was his fellow worker, John, who gave to Sardis the ringing message: “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain.” If, as our Leader tells us, on page 95 of Science and Health, “the world is asleep in the cradle of infancy, dreaming away the hours,” let those who are awake to Truth watch and pray, that the long dream may be broken and a welcome given to the Christ that forever heals and saves.

Faith

From the March 1897 issue of the Christian Science Journal by

Without Faith it is impossible to please Him.— Heb. 11: 6.

The remarkable statement given above, taken from what Mr. Gladstone calls, “The great epic of Faith,” —is, strange to say, very unfamiliar to thousands of professing Christians. There are many quite willing to admit frankly that they do not possess what is demanded here; and others, and by no means a small number of individuals, seem to regard this condition as an evidence of intellectual superiority. This is doubtless due to the unfortunate confounding of Faith with something wholly different from it,—even credulousness.

It may be well to note at the start, that these two widely differing conditions of thought are nearly always mistaken for each other, and it is only when the deceived heart grows weary of feeding on ashes, that its ceaseless demand for the real, causes it at length to find the Faith of the Son of God.

Before proceeding to show what is being done by Christian Science at this period in rekindling this sacred fire in the Church of God, we had better go back to the dawn of Christianity, and see what part it played in the events of that period. As we do so, however, the Genius of Sacred History points us to the older time when God called Abraham out of the very service of idolatry in Chaldea, bade him forsake a like tradition of his forefathers, and all his kindred, and go where this faint, glimmering sense of truth should unfold into a perfect understanding of the One God, — One Mind.

So Abraham’s was, “the Faith that makes faithful,” and which laid the foundation of all the power that ever existed in the Jewish nation.

As the centuries roll on. we see most clearly that when Faith in God dominated the thought of the people, prosperity followed; where it was replaced by a belief in materiality, disaster came down upon the Nation, —famine, sickness, defeat, and exile.

When at length the Christ appeared, the life of Faith sprang up as never before, and the history of that time is written in victories over sin, sickness, and death, so splendid that the ages still stand awed by the mighty deeds done, and their explanation was sought and found in all that had been given by the prophets of old. Ritualism and dogma were swept aside, the sick were healed by the word of power, and it is hardly necessary to say that the early Christian Church unfolded into greatness from this vital element.

As we look over that momentous era, so full of rich promise for the race, the one important question is, What hindered its unfolding into completeness? St. Peter bids his hearers add to their Faith knowledge (2 Peter 1:5, 6), and for a time the Church of Christ grew, fulfilling the Saviour’s word.

But anon we find mere credulity usurping the place of Faith in the living God, and a blind belief in the dead bones of the saints, leading even the Church through a degrading superstition down to the acknowledgment of matter as a healing and saving power.

But God has never “left himself without witness,” and so the Reformation dawned at length, —and what was its keynote? Even the deathless thought spoken by Habakkuk, uttered anew by Paul, and heard by the Monk of Erfurt in the solitude of the cloister, “The Just shall live by Faith.”

It were vain to attempt to recount what followed the widespread rekindling of the sacred flame in Europe. Perhaps no period in human history exemplifies more fully the power of Faith as an active, mighty, and yet unseen agency in the world’s development, in the purifying and ennobling of religion, the mighty impetus given to the newly inspired human thought flowing through every channel of experience, the family life, into literature and art, and in a remarkable degree bursting forth in some of the noblest musical compositions ever given to the world. But again darkness came down upon human thought, and it was said, Faith may do for the infancy of the individual or of the race, but the manhood of the world demands something different; give us Science. So a strange light came, and for a little time the old visions of the Holy and the Just seemed to tremble and threaten to disappear.

Jesus once said, “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” So it is no wonder that in the light of Science, “falsely so-called,” doubt touched with withering finger the mighty works of prophet and apostle, and even the transcendent demonstrations of spiritual law given by the Lord Christ, and recorded in the Gospels.

Christian people would read some book, possibly a novel, attacking the Bible, and in spite of the denunciations of the pulpit would admit that their Faith (?) was shattered, and would actually warn others to avoid such reading, —knowing, themselves, nothing which would stand the test of even such a slight shock. But in this very hour of need God said again, “Let there be Light,” and the day star of Christian Science arose as of old, in deathless splendor, with healing on its wings. And what shall we say of this reappearing? Those who were “waiting and watching” in the darkness for the help which only God could give, sorely beset by the fiends of doubt and dismay, were lifted up, one by one, on the crest of a wave of sorrow, perchance, and felt, in an almost hopeless hour, a new life thrilling their very soul,—the Faith of the Son of God.

The shadows of sickness, sin, want, and despair vanished in the light of Science, and there was rest for a time; then the eager questioning, “What is this Faith which is newly born in me? Will it stand the test of every circumstance? In what have I Faith?” And the answer comes,— In God, in Good, in Truth and Love, in the Divine Mind, in God’s Word, in God’s purpose to bring good out of the varied experiences of being.

It is easy to see that hope, faith, and aspiration are inseparable from each other, and from human life; and so we go to our old guide-book, the Bible, called by our dear Mother, “The wise man’s directory,” and we find that the word Faith and its derivatives occur within it three or four hundred times,—indeed it is a ceaseless demand of the higher life. All feel this, but all need to understand it, and in order to do so, we go to the blessed messenger, Science and Health, and learn therein, that Faith is first of all, “a chrysalis state of human thought,” and when we are further told that “our Faith should enlarge its borders, and strengthen its base, by resting upon Spirit, instead of matter” (S.& H. p. 427), we awaken to what is needed to complete the Christian life.

In a gallery in Berlin is a picture called “St. Anthony’s Vision.” The saint, whose trials and temptations have illustrated much of the earlier literature of the Church, is shown here alone in the desert. Suddenly he sees beside him a little child, and he takes him up tenderly and clasps him to his heart. As he does so, an Easter lily springs up at his feet, and then a vision unfolds of radiant cherubs with their bright presence dispelling all the darkness of the lone wilderness.

So we in Christian Science, who have taken into our hearts the Christ-Idea, see the dreary desert of mortal sense transformed into the garden of the Lord. But this is not all, for even yet we but “see through a glass darkly,” and as we take each step in Science, realize that it is in the strength of our glorious but unseen Divine Principle, God; so we “walk by Faith, not by sight” yet.

Sometimes the waves dash over us,—”tribulations, distresses;” and what holds us? Even the anchor of Faith; and though the night may seem long there are those before us through the ages singing their great songs of triumph, and their meaning we no longer guess blindly, we know the secret of their overcoming, it is ours,— the ever present Christ, Truth.

What matter the Babel voices of mortal belief and opinion? What avails the evidence of material sense? It is written in the Word, and in our lives, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our Faith.”

Mrs. Eddy — The Woman

From the March 1910 issue of the Christian Science Journal by (Originally in Woman’s Era, New Orleans, La.)

IT is by no means an easy task to write about the personality of any one who has become known to the world through his or her achievements, for the latter always seem to eclipse the former; and yet it must ever be true that the achievements spring from the personality, that what one does is the result of what he is. Long ago the great Teacher said that a tree is known by its fruit,—not by its stem, its leaves, its branches, or its root; and whatever we may choose to think or say, the test of the Master is inevitably the final test for every human being.

Of Mary Baker Eddy much has been written by both friends and foes; in all cases because she is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science and the author of its text-book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” No one, however, can truly know Mrs. Eddy who does not understand in some degree this Science to which she has devoted her life, she herself having for long years given priority to her work over all personal considerations, these receiving attention only when their relation to this work was obvious.

It is not the purpose of the present article to deal with the question of Mrs. Eddy’s earlier years, but to speak of her at her maturity, as she appeared when actively engaged in the work of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, in the ’80s, and also in later years. Her personal appearance at that time was very remarkable. Although she was then over sixty-five years of age, her hair was abundant and beautiful, of a rich brown color, while her complexion was as fresh as that of a woman of twenty-five, her figure erect and graceful, and her arms and hands exquisitely molded. It would have been extremely difficult to have guessed her age at this period, as there was a freshness not always seen even in very young persons, but there was also a sort of mental maturity to which few people attain, and that spiritual poise which is not swayed by the passing of the years, but which betokens a reflection of the changeless life of the Spirit. We have St. Paul’s word for it that when the veil of material sense is taken away, those who behold the glory of the Lord “are changed into the same likeness;” and while the primary signification of this likeness is undoubtedly that of mind and character, it must also be expressed by the face, as in the case of Moses, when he caught foregleams of man’s immortality in the holy mount.

It was the present writer’s good fortune to receive Mrs. Eddy’s personal instruction, and in those class days, sitting at Mrs. Eddy’s feet, it was not difficult to believe what is recorded in the Bible of those who were divinely guided in the olden time, for with rare spiritual genius she lifted her students’ thoughts to the heights of inspiration, and never was their credulity taxed by the inconsistent statement that what was once true is so no longer. No! It was unchanging God and unchanging law —the light growing clearer as men drew nearer to the ineffable presence, nearer to Truth and Love.

It is not possible to speak of Mrs. Eddy without referring to the subject of religion, because she is by nature religious in a most essential and vital sense, yet there is in her character an entire absence of that sanctimoniousness which is often mistaken for spirituality. Sometimes, in her teaching, she would turn a flash of playful raillery upon some materialistic dogma, only to leave the truth which it parodied more sacred to her listeners, when it was stripped of the trappings of mere belief. The keenness of her intuition made her quick to detect insincerity, but there was an indescribable something in her analysis of her students’ answers which made them, when in her presence at least, desire to be, not merely to seem. To her, real things were real, sacred things sacred, and shams merely the shadows which should vanish before the light of Truth. Her acquaintance with the Bible was unique in its character. Some passage, involving a deep moral question which had escaped the notice of learned commentators, would be explained by her, in response to a student’s question, in a never-to-be-forgotten way,—the spirit which “giveth life” being with her the all-important consideration.

Long ago King Solomon gave a line word-picture of the ideal woman, and among other things he said: “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” Before I had the pleasure of knowing Mrs. Eddy I met in the West a lady who had been in her home as a guest for over a year, and who had also been taught by her gratuitously, and this at a period when Mrs. Eddy’s means must have been very limited. This impressed me very greatly at the time, and I was no less impressed by what the lady told me of the spiritual sense of the Scriptures which she had gained under Mrs. Eddy’s tuition. Later, when I myself met Mrs. Eddy, I was deeply touched by her great human kindness. It was a bitterly cold morning when I first met her, and as I looked with some awe at the woman whose teachings were even then revolutionizing the world’s thought, she said in a kind, motherly way, as she took my hand, “Aren’t your hands cold?” They were at that moment but in an instant they glowed with a warmth which was felt over the entire body, and with it came a sense of healing which remained and left the sweet impress of divine Love,— God nearer and dearer than ever before. Many years have passed since then, but when in more recent times a guest in Mrs. Eddy’s home, I saw that same loving-kindness expressed in her unusual consideration for the comfort of her visitor. And not only is she thoughtful for those of her household, but who that has lived near her in later years does not know of her goodness to the needy?

We are all familiar with the adage, “Order is heaven’s first law.” This law is most scrupulously obeyed in Mrs. Eddy’s household. The cleanliness and order which find expression in every department of her home life radiate from her pure and orderly thought. Not only is this true of her home, but it is also true of the Christian Science churches and reading-rooms everywhere, her followers instinctively responding to these characteristics of their Leader’s mentality and her teaching. Excellence in all work is the demand wherever her influence is felt, and this demand is based upon the fact that the ideal man has infinite capabilities and possibilities, which all men may express in the ratio of their understanding of God,—infinite intelligence. Mrs. Eddy is deeply interested in all that relates to the advancement of women, and this interest was recently expressed in a generous donation to the New England Woman’s Press Association.

Not only does Mrs. Eddy insist upon order in all things, but she also insists upon that which is of even greater importance, namely, purity in thought, word, and deed, and absolute faithfulness to the marriage covenant. In the chapter on marriage in her book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” she says, “Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the center, though not the boundary of the affections” (p. 58). On the preceding page she says, “Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress. Without it there is no stability in society, and without it one cannot attain the Science of Life.” Mrs. Eddy loves little children and says, on page 62 of the same volume, respecting them, “The entire education of children should be such as to form habits of obedience to the moral and spiritual law, with which the child can meet and master the belief in so-called physical laws, a belief which breeds disease.”

Very few people understand why Mrs. Eddy lives in such seclusion from the world. They fail to see that besides the ceaseless demands of the movement which she has established, and which she directs, she has the temperament of a spiritual seer, and this constantly impels her to turn away from material things to spiritual realities. Without this communion with the divine Mind she could not have given to the world Christian Science, nor had the ability to direct the activities of the movement, ofttimes in the face of exigencies which call for more than human wisdom and endurance. We may remember that the world’s great spiritual thinkers had very often to withdraw from the “busy haunts of men” to commune with the divine Principle of the universe. Victor Hugo says that “Solitude generates a certain amount of sublime exaltation. It is like the smoke arising from the burning bush. A wonderful lucidity of mind results which converts the student into a seer, the poet into a prophet.” (To Toilers of The Sea). Of course solitude alone would never convert the ordinary mortal into a saint or a seer, and it is not every one who cares to be often alone with God and himself. Jesus left his disciples and went up into a mountain to pray. When his vigil was ended he came to them “walking upon the sea,” and stilled the storm which had hindered their progress. One who has the true motive in withdrawing from the world is not a mere visionary: rather does he gain that “wonderful lucidity of mind” which can master every human problem with “the wisdom that is from above”

In the Bible we are told that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God]:” and Christ Jesus demanded a vital faith on the part of all who claimed to be his followers. Faith in God and in the power of good may be said to be the chief characteristic of Mrs. Eddy’s whole career. This faith has no relation to blind credulity, but instead springs from her clear recognition of the eternal spiritual law and order which were revealed in the so-called miracles of Jesus and his apostles, and again brought to light in the healing work of Christian Science,—a faith which finds its fulfillment in the “works” that Jesus demanded as evidence of discipleship. Nor is this faith separated from love in Mrs. Eddy’s character and life. Her’s is indeed the charity (love, the Revised Version better translates it) of which St. Paul says that it “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. … never faileth.” History offers no parallel to Mrs. Eddy’s patience with detractors and calumniators, save the example of the Master, “who, when he was reviled, reviled not again.” No one connected with the Christian Science publications is ever permitted to reply to an attack in any other way than that of Christian courtesy.

A student once asked Mrs. Eddy in class respecting some book. She paused a moment, then said thoughtfully that we must test books and people by their influence over us, and that as results might not appear at once, great care was needed in the choice of both books and friends. One at least of those present began to apply the test then given to Mrs. Eddy herself and to her writings, the result being that their entire influence has been felt as a ceaseless stimulus in the line of spiritual endeavor and of worthy attainment in everything undertaken, and this would assuredly be the verdict of the unnumbered thousands who know this wonderful woman personally and through her teachings. It is this which crowns her life today,—a noble purpose grandly realized,—the vision dearer, the heights nearer, and to her apply Whittier’s words:—

Beyond a narrow-bounded age Stretches thy prophet heritage; Through Heaven’s dim spaces, angel-trod. Through arches round the throne of God! Thy audience worlds!—all Time to be The witness of the Truth in thee.

Love is the liberator.