Chapter 6

Of the significance of this achievement we shall not undertake to speak in this article. It can be better felt than expressed. All who are awake thereto have some measure of understanding of what it means. But only the future will tell the story of its mighty meaning or unfold it to the comprehension of mankind. It is enough for us now to know that all obstacles to its completion have been met and overcome, and that our temple is completed as God intended it should be.

This achievement is the result of long years of untiring, unselfish, and zealous effort on the part of our beloved Teacher and Leader, the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, who nearly thirty years ago began to lay the foundation of this temple, and whose devotion and consecration to God and humanity during the intervening years have made its erection possible.

Those who now, in part, understand her mission, turn their hearts in gratitude to her for her great work, and those who do not understand it will, in the fulness of time, see and acknowledge it. In the measure in which she has unfolded and demonstrated Divine Love and built up in human consciousness a better and higher conception of God as Life, Truth, and Love,--as the Divine Principle of all things which really exist,--and in the degree in which she has demonstrated the system of healing of Jesus and the Apostles, surely she, as the one chosen of God to this end, is entitled to the gratitude and love of all who desire a better and grander humanity, and who believe it to be possible to establish the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth in accordance with the prayer and teachings of Jesus Christ.

(_Concord Evening Monitor_, March 23, 1895.)

TESTIMONIAL AND GIFT.

To Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, from The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

Rev. Mary Baker Eddy received Friday, from the Christian Science board of directors, Boston, a beautiful and unique testimonial of the appreciation of her labors and loving generosity in the cause of their common faith. It was a facsimile of the corner-stone of the new church of the Christian Scientists, just completed, being of granite, about six inches in each dimension, and contains a solid gold box, upon the cover of which is this inscription:

"To our Beloved Teacher, the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, from her affectionate Students, the Christian Science Board of Directors." On the under side of the cover are the facsimile signatures of the directors, Ira O. Knapp, William B. Johnson, Joseph Armstrong, and Stephen A. Chase, with the date, "1895." The beautiful souvenir is encased in an elegant plush box.

Accompanying the stone testimonial was the following address from the board of directors:

BOSTON, March 20, 1895.

To the Reverend Mary Baker Eddy, our beloved teacher and leader:

We are happy to announce to you the completion of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston.

In behalf of your loving students and all contributors wherever they may be, we hereby present this church to you as a testimonial of love and gratitude for your labors and loving sacrifice, as the discoverer and founder of Christian Science, and the author of its text-book, "SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY To THE SCRIPTURES."

We therefore respectfully extend to you the invitation to become the permanent pastor of this church, in connection with the Bible, and the Book alluded to above, which you have already ordained as our pastor. And we most cordially invite you to be present and take charge of any services that may be held therein. We especially desire you to be present on the twenty-fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, to accept this offering, with our humble benediction.

Lovingly yours,

IRA O. KNAPP, WILLIAM B. JOHNSON, JOSEPH ARMSTRONG, STEPHEN A. CHASE, _The Christian Science Board of Directors_.

REV. MRS. EDDY'S REPLY.

BELOVED DIRECTORS AND BRETHREN:--

For your costly offering, and kind call to the pastorate of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist," in Boston--accept my profound thanks. But permit me, respectfully, to decline their acceptance, while I fully appreciate your kind intentions.-If it will comfort you in the least, make me your Pastor _Emeritus_, nominally. Through my book, your text-book, I already speak to you each Sunday. You ask too much when asking me to accept your grand Church edifice. I have more of earth now, than I desire, and less of heaven; so pardon my refusal of that as a material offering. More effectual than the forum are our states of mind, to bless mankind. This wish stops not with my pen--God give you grace. As our Church's tall tower detains the sun, so, may luminous lines from your lives, linger, a legacy to our race.

MARY BAKER EDDY.

March 25, 1895.

From Canada to New Orleans, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, the author has received leading newspapers with uniformly kind and interesting articles on the dedication of the Mother church. They were, however, too voluminous for these pages. Those were copied, and she could append only a few of the names of other prominent newspapers whose articles were reluctantly omitted.

LIST OF LEADING NEWSPAPERS WHOSE ARTICLES ARE OMITTED.

EASTERN STATES.

_Advertiser_, Calais, Me. _Advertiser_, Boston, Mass. _Farmer_, Bridgeport, Conn. _Independent_, Rockland, Mass. _Kennebec Journal_, Augusta, Me. _News_, New Haven, Conn. _News_, Newport, R.I. _Post_, Boston, Mass. _Post_, Hartford, Conn. _Republican_, Springfield, Mass. _Sentinel_, Eastport, Me. _Sun_, Attleboro, Mass.

MIDDLE STATES.

_Advertiser_, New York City. _Bulletin_, Auburn, N.Y. _Daily_, York, Pa. _Enquirer_, Philadelphia, Pa. _Evening Reporter_, Lebanon, Pa. _Farmer_, Bridgeport, N.Y. _Herald_, Rochester, N.Y. _Independent_, Harrisburg, Pa. _Independent_, New York City. _Journal_, Lockport, N.Y. _Knickerbocker_, Albany, N.Y. _News_, Buffalo, N.Y. _News_, Newark, N.J. _Once A Week_, New York City. _Post_, Pittsburg, Pa. _Press_, Albany, N.Y. _Press_, New York City. _Press_, Philadelphia, Pa. _Saratogian_, Saratoga Springs, N.Y. _Sun_, New York City. _Telegram_, Philadelphia, Pa. _Telegram_, Troy, N.Y. _Times_, Trenton, N.J.

SOUTHERN STATES.

_Commercial_, Louisville, Ky. _Journal_, Atlanta, Ga. _Post_, Washington, D.C. _Telegram_, New Orleans, La. _Times_, New Orleans, La. _Times-Herald,_ Dallas, Tex.

WESTERN STATES.

_Bee_, Omaha, Neb. _Bulletin_, San Francisco, Cal. _Chronicle_, San Francisco, Cal. _Mite_, Chicago, Ill. _Enquirer_, Oakland, Cal. _Free Press_, Detroit, Mich. _Gazette_, Burlington, Iowa. _Herald_, Grand Rapids, Mich. _Herald_, St. Joseph, Mo. _Journal_, Columbus, Ohio. _Journal_, Topeka, Kans. _Leader_, Bloomington, Ill. _Leader_, Cleveland, Ohio. _News_, St. Joseph, Mo. _News-Tribune,_ Duluth, Minn. _Pioneer-Press,_ St. Paul, Minn. _Post-Intelligencer,_ Seattle, Wash. _Salt Lake Herald_, Salt Lake City, Utah. _Sentinel_, Indianapolis, Ind. _Sentinel_, Milwaukee, Wis. _Star_, Kansas City, Mo. _Telegram_, Portland, Ore. _Times_, Chicago, Ill. _Times_, Minneapolis, Minn. _Tribune_, Minneapolis, Minn. _Tribune_, Salt Lake City, Utah. _Free Press_, London, Can.