{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24177/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24177","id":"gutenberg_24177","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24177","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christian Science -- Fiction"],"text":"E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, and the Project Gutenberg\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\n_Price, $2.00._\n\nTHE RIGHT KNOCK\n\nA Story\n\nby\n\nHELEN VAN-ANDERSON\n\nAuthor of \"It Is Possible,\" \"The Story of Teddy,\" \"The Journal of a Live\nWoman,\" etc., etc.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                      \"Go to your bosom;\n    Knock there; and ask your heart, what it doth know\"\n\n    --SHAKESPEARE.\n\n\n_THIRTEENTH EDITION_\n\nPublished by\n_The New York Magazine of Mysteries_\n22 North William Street, New York City\n\nCopyright, 1889, by Helen Van-Anderson\nAll rights reserved\n\nTHE RIGHT KNOCK\n\nCopyright, 1903, by\nThe New York Magazine\nof Mysteries\nAll rights reserved\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n  CHAPTER.                                              PAGE.\n\n       I. MRS. HAYDEN,                                      9\n\n      II. THE GIRLS AT HOME,                               17\n\n     III. A FIRE AND A RETROSPECT,                         25\n\n      IV. BEGINNINGS,                                      30\n\n       V. THE OLD DOUBTS AGAIN,                            36\n\n      VI. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE,                             44\n\n     VII. A NEW HOPE,                                      59\n\n    VIII. WHAT THE WORLD SAID,                             63\n\n      IX. A STRUGGLE WITH SELF,                            70\n\n       X. HINTS OF HELP,                                   79\n\n      XI. LEAVING HOME,                                    83\n\n     XII. MRS. PEARL'S LECTURE,                            90\n\n    XIII. THE TRUE FOUNDATION,                             95\n\n     XIV. QUESTIONINGS,                                   104\n\n      XV. WHAT IS NOT TRUE,                               112\n\n     XVI. STUDYING AND PROVING,                           125\n\n    XVII. WHAT IS TRUE,                                   131\n\n   XVIII. IT MUST BE SO,                                  141\n\n     XIX. THE SPIRITUAL BIRTH,                            151\n\n      XX. TANGLES AND TALKS,                              162\n\n     XXI. INSPIRATION AND THE BIBLE,                      172\n\n    XXII. A CHURCH COMMITTEE,                             184\n\n   XXIII. PRAYER,                                         192\n\n    XXIV. EVERY-DAY PRACTICE,                             202\n\n     XXV. UNDERSTANDING,                                  211\n\n    XXVI. A NEW PROBLEM,                                  222\n\n   XXVII. UNDERCURRENTS,                                  228\n\n  XXVIII. THE POWER OF THOUGHT,                           234\n\n    XXIX. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING,                          243\n\n     XXX. PRACTICAL APPLICATION,                          249\n\n    XXXI. CONFIDENCES,                                    257\n\n   XXXII. PRACTICAL APPLICATION,                          262\n\n  XXXIII. GRACE,                                          274\n\n   XXXIV. PRACTICAL APPLICATION,                          281\n\n    XXXV. PRACTICAL APPLICATION,                          291\n\n   XXXVI. FOUND AT LAST,                                  300\n\n  XXXVII. AFTER THREE YEARS,                              308\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nAlthough most excellent food is to be found on the table of metaphysical\nthought, there has never yet been a metaphysical story setting forth a\npicture of every-day life, in its search for, and attainment of\nsatisfaction through the knowledge of Christ Philosophy.\n\nKnowing the pressing need of such a book among the many inquirers and\nstudents on this theme, and with the hope of helping to fill that need,\nthis story is told.\n\nIt is a book of facts, not fiction, although wearing the dress of\nfiction. Every case of healing, every seemingly marvelous experience has\ncome under the observation of the writer and can be authenticated as a\nveritable fact.\n\nThat there are hundreds, yea, thousands to-day, who leave their homes\nand go to distant cities for the sake of pursuing the study of Christ\nPhilosophy, or receiving the benefit of its healing ministry, is proof\nenough that the story of one woman's experience will be interesting and\nhelpful to all.\n\nWhile the lessons contained in Mrs. Hayden's letters are not exhaustive,\nthey are valuable for their very simplicity, and are thoroughly\npractical, complete instructions for the beginning and continuance of\nthe study of this wonderful truth.\n\nWith every lesson supplemented by personal experiences, the reader sees\nnot only the theory but the practice demonstrated, and in this simple\nstory he may find the mirror of his own inner hopes and aspirations,\nwith a broader view of their possible attainment than he has yet seen.\n\nCarlyle says: \"If a book come from the heart, it will contrive to reach\nother hearts.\" \"The Right Knock\" is presented with no other apology than\nthis: it has come from the heart.\n\n  HELEN VAN-ANDERSON.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.\n\n\nTo a new and awakened public the author gives greetings and begs to say\na few more words about THE RIGHT KNOCK.\n\nAfter all these years of work along the lines laid out in the book and\nwith a wide knowledge of prevailing systems of mental training, the\nauthor is happy to be able to say with unbounded confidence that there\nis nothing to excel this system for beginners, for those desiring to lay\na lasting foundation. The emphasis laid upon the necessity for\npersistent, regular and systematic practice of word speaking by audible\nrepetition, is great, but none too great. For the faithful student this\nnever fails to bring results, never fails to put him in the way of\nunderstanding and demonstration. With regular practice and constant\napplication in the daily life, with good judgment as to the details of\npractice, length of time at one exercise, etc., the pupil is assured in\none way or another certain convincing experiences which develop\nindividuality and, with that, his God-like gifts. Thousands have proven\nthis.\n\nThe unnumbered letters of gratitude, the kind words, the warm\nhand-clasps, the many testimonials of sick beds forsaken, depressed\nspirits revived, vices discontinued, of physical and moral strength\nregained, prove that the work of the Spirit is not to be measured by\npuny human standards of judgment, prove that simple things--the things\nfrom which we expect the least, in which we put the least ambition or\nworldly desire may be those which will yield the \"hundred fold\" of real\nblessing.\n\nThe test of any spiritual truth lies in its demonstration and in the\ninspiration and faithfulness with which it can be lived. Be true to the\ntruth and you will demonstrate it. Live the Christ life and the works\nwill follow; yet seek truth for its own sake, not for its power.\n\nA word about Christian Science. Sometimes persons aver of THE RIGHT\nKNOCK that it teaches Christian Science pure and simple. With all due\nrespect and a recognition of the grand and marvelous work done by Mrs.\nEddy, the author feels called upon to say, in justice to Mrs. Eddy as\nwell as herself, that this is not true.\n\nThere are undoubtedly many similar statements, yet there are many\ndifferences which the careful reader will discover. Please note, for\nexample, that not matter itself, but matter as the real substance or\npower, is denied. Not sickness of the body, but sickness of the Spirit,\nis a falsity, etc., etc.\n\nIn brief, the author of THE RIGHT KNOCK believes there is a name, place\nand condition for _everything_, and that the discrimination of the plane\non which a thing or condition exists, is the key to placing it in the\nright relation to the whole.\n\nIn conclusion, the author would say most earnestly, study one writer or\nteacher at one time, just as you would study music of one instructor at\none time. It is not the many books but _the Book within_ which is to\nreveal all things.\n\n  God speed you.\n\n  HELEN VAN-ANDERSON.\n\nTHE RIGHT KNOCK is now in its THIRTEENTH edition, a fact which speaks\nfor the _great helpfulness_ of the book, and proclaims without further\ncomment its _world wide Scope_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RIGHT KNOCK.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n     \"When you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not\n     weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world.\"--_Emerson._\n\n\nThere was a brilliant light in all the windows at Terrace Hill. Even the\nverandahs were gorgeous with the gayest Chinese lanterns, and every bush\nand tree in the lawn did duty as chandelier. Flowers, too, festooned\nevery arch and embowered every corner, while rare vases fulfilled their\nesteemed privilege of holding and showing fragrant blossoms.\n\nEverybody declared the decorations superb, and agreed that no one but\nMrs. Hayden could display such exquisite taste and such perfect judgment\nin selection and arrangement. Animated groups of gayly attired guests\nsauntered up and down the rose-bowered walks, or promenaded the\nverandahs, while sounds of music and merriment from the house proclaimed\nthe joy that reigned throughout.\n\n\"Oh, how beautifully Mrs. Hayden entertains!\" remarked Kate Turner to\nher friend Grace Hall, as they stopped beside a marble fountain to\nsurvey the scene. \"I wonder what place such a woman would take in\nsociety without her wealth,\" she continued.\n\n\"Probably wouldn't have _any_ place, I am sorry to say, because there\nare thousands of women just as capable and bright as Mrs. Hayden, yet\nbecause they have no social position, or rather no money to buy\nthemselves one, they are unrecognized and alone,\" said Grace, with a\ntinge of bitterness in her tone.\n\n\"I could never fancy Mrs. Hayden alone or unrecognized, although I only\nknow her as a society lady, and that mostly through Mrs. Nottingham.\"\n\n\"There is no telling what a person really is till they have gone through\na trial of some kind, or had something disagreeable to bear. _Then_ one\nof two things happens: you will see either a saint or a sinner, and I am\nnot sure which Mrs. Hayden would be. She hasn't yet seen a flame from\nthe fire of adversity, I'm sure. See how wonderfully she is blessed with\nthis beautiful home, a good husband and three nice children.\"\n\n\"Oh! it must be lovely to have everything you want,\" sighed Kate, under\nher breath.\n\nPoor Kate! She was alone in the world, making the best of life with her\ntalent for music and through a mutual friend had been introduced to Mrs.\nHayden, who, after hearing her play, immediately engaged her for Mabel,\nand always invited her to the parties, more as a musical attraction,\nthan out of any real regard, for Mrs. Hayden had an abundance of friends\nwithout troubling herself to cultivate in any warm fashion, the\nfriendship of a poor little music teacher, thought Kate, somewhat\nbitterly.\n\n\"But after all, Kate, life would need more than luxuries to make it _my_\nideal of happiness. I should want every human being to be agreeably\nemployed; every woman, no matter how much or how little she might have,\nshould be occupied with something that she could put her heart into and\nspeak to the world through her work, whether it be painting pictures or\ndarning stockings.\"\n\n\"Now Gracious, you are riding your hobby and you ought to see you can't\nride with all these fine people in your path. Come down at once or I'll\ndesert you! Let's go in and hear that waltz,\" and Kate laughingly pulled\nthe hobby-rider into the path that led to the conservatory where they\ncould listen to the music.\n\n\"What a beautiful home Mrs. Hayden has!\" said Mrs. Ferris to her\nneighbor with the severe collar and plain hair, as they examined the\nexquisite frescoing on the parlor ceiling.\n\n\"Yes, but she ought to look into poor homes once in a while. She don't\nuse her money in the right way. Just think of the good she might do for\nour church, if she would contribute to the charity fund, or take some\npoor families to look after.\"\n\nThe fat neck folded itself over the severe collar and the face settled\ninto rigid lines of judgment. Mrs. Dyke was a practical woman and talked\nin a practical way. Being a wonderful church worker she naturally\nconsidered it everybody's duty to give when they did not work for the\ncause of religion. She belonged to the First Methodist Church on High\nSt., and talked about \"our church\" as though there were no other.\n\nMrs. Ferris was at a loss. She had said something that had not brought\nforth a pleasant result. She merely wished to be sociable, and what more\nconvenient topic than these beautiful surroundings? She was a meek\nlittle woman, who always wanted to say something agreeable or soothing,\nand she felt quite frightened at the mistake she had made. She wished\nsomebody would come to the rescue, but there was no immediate prospect,\nand she scarcely knew how to proceed again, but ventured to ask if there\nwere many poor people who needed attention now.\n\n\"Yes, indeed there are no less than fifteen families in the mission\nquarter nearest Mrs. Hayden who would consider it a privilege to pick up\nthe crumbs from her table, and I am afraid she'll have to give an\naccount _some_ time when the reckoning day comes, for those who have not\n'given cups of cold water, or visited the sick languishing in prison.'\"\n\nThe air almost trembled with a suggestion of something. Little Mrs.\nFerris looked longingly towards the door and just then spied her husband\nwho was seeking her. After she was gone, Mrs. Dyke looked grimly about,\nand not finding any one to listen, she relapsed into a meditative\nsilence. People always wondered what made Mrs. Dyke so popular that she\nreceived an invitation to every aristocratic party, but it was according\nto the old adage, \"Where there is a will there is a way.\"\n\nThis was a _gala_ night for Hampton. Such large social parties were\nalways an event, and no one refused an invitation to Mrs. Hayden's, for\nit always meant beautiful rooms, carpets, pictures and _bric-a-brac_,\nsuperb refreshments, and a splendid time generally. Mrs. Hayden was a\nfavorite with the world because she fed the world with sugar plums, and\nafter smacking its lips it was always ready for more. And she usually\nhad one to drop in. To-night it was a remarkably sweet one. This was a\ngeneral affair, and every big body and big body's cousins and friends\nwere there. To be sure they discussed their hostess as freely as though\nthey were not big bodies, but with rare exceptions the discussion was\ncomplimentary in the extreme. Mrs. Hayden, what she said, what she did,\nwhat she wore, what she served as refreshments the last time, what were\nthe probabilities next, her children, her husband, what they all did and\nsaid and how they acted, etc., were always interesting themes.\nSometimes, to be sure, there were adverse remarks like Mrs. Dyke's, but\nfew made them.\n\nYes, Mrs. Hayden was decidedly popular, and although no one was ever\nheard to tell of any particularly grand or noble deed she had done, she\nwas supposed to be doing good all the time. There were those who, in\nearlier years, would have pointed her out as an enthusiastic\nphilanthropist, eagerly helping whatever project needed her most, but\ngradually she had dropped it all, no one knew why, and now her principal\nwork was to shine in society, at least this was the general verdict of\nthe adverse few who judged from the superficial standpoint of the world.\nOf her inner life they knew nothing as the world knows nothing of any\none's inner life. There may be depths or shallows in any character never\ndreamed of by the most intimate friend, much less by the babbling world.\n\nMrs. Hayden moved about among her guests with a stately grace. She had\nalways a pleasant faculty of adjusting the broken links of conversation,\nsupplying a _repartee_ or asking a question, introducing strange\ngentlemen and reviving timid _debutantes_ with a pretty compliment or a\ngracious smile.\n\n\"My dear, I wish you would play something,\" she whispered to Miss Turner\nas she passed her, \"I think the group in the drawing room need a little\nchange;\" and no wonder, for there was Mrs. Dyke in a hot dispute with a\nUnitarian over Robert Elsmere, while her pastor sat near, occasionally\nadding something to Mrs. Dyke's emphatic remarks.\n\n\"It's a most blasphemous piece of presumption to present such a picture\nas that of the church. As if it were in its last stages of decay,\nindeed! It was well such a weak-minded idiot as Robert Elsmere died at\nthe beginning of his career. I could never forgive the author if she\nhadn't killed him,\" she was saying in an angry voice.\n\n\"We can take it simply as a symbol of the decay of his religion, and\nthat is comforting,\" added the minister, complacently.\n\n\"I am not at all in sympathy with the holy Catherine, with her prejudice\nand bigotry. If it wasn't such a true picture of the many Catherines we\nfind in real life, I should be quite disgusted, but I do love to see\nreal people in novels, then I know so much better how to deal with\nthem,\" said a pretty young lady who aspired to be called intellectual\nbecause she liked to study character.\n\n\"Indeed, Catherine had a deep religious nature, which might be worthy of\nemulation in many respects, and she is certainly a high ideal of wifely\nlove,\" Mrs. Hayden interposed at this critical juncture.\n\n\"Well, I didn't read the book for Catherine, but for the sake of knowing\nRobert and what he did to make such a stir in the world. I'm opposed to\nnovels, as a rule, and read as little of one as I can,\" said Mrs. Dyke,\nsmoothing her lap and looking at the minister. Mrs. Hayden motioned to\nKate to play, and presently the rooms were filled with harmony.\n\nKate Turner was a natural musician, and to-night she fairly excelled\nherself. The little passage at arms just recorded had inspired her with\nemotions that could only be expressed in music, and she played some time\nto the continued delight of her listeners. She finished at last with a\nsong that stirred every heart, and even Mrs. Dyke was visibly softened.\n\"Verily 'music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,'\" murmured the\nintellectual young lady, who was sorry that discussion of Robert Elsmere\nhad been interrupted. She rather enjoyed Mrs. Dyke, for she was an\nimmensely interesting \"character.\"\n\nThis reception, like all others, came to an end at last. Everybody\nexpressed themselves as highly delighted with their entertainment, and\none by one reluctantly took their departure; the gay lanterns on the\nlawn and among the shrubbery went out, the lights inside the splendid\nmansion were finally extinguished, and only the quiet starlight\nillumined Terrace Hill.\n\nMrs. Hayden, from her high bay window, looked out over the sleeping\ncity, then at the North Star that beamed so brightly above her--that\nunerring beacon-light that guides so many lost mariners into port. Some\ndeep thought must have moved her, some hidden impulse stirred her mind.\nShe sighed. There was no visible reason for it. Then she turned and went\ndown the stairs to the nursery. Her two babies were sleeping sweetly.\nMabel was asleep in her room, and all was quiet. The hush seemed\noppressive after so much gay confusion. Now she was in another element.\nNow she was the mother, then she was a fashionable woman. She hastened\nback to her room, once more gazed without and then thoughtfully\nretired.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n     \"Christianity is not a theory or a speculation, but a _life_; not a\n     philosophy of life, but a life and a living process.\"--_Coleridge._\n\n\nKate Turner walked slowly along the street at the foot of Terrace Hill.\nShe looked up at the beautiful home where she had spent the previous\nevening, and as she saw the velvet lawn and terraced walks bordered with\nbright flowers, she half pitied herself because she was only a plodding\nmusic teacher. She was not envious, but she had such longing aspirations\nto be somebody in the world; she wanted so many things, needed so much\nto complete her education, and starved herself in so many ways for the\nsake of completing it, that sometimes she grew discontented with her\nlot. Fortunately her moods did not last long, however, and especially\nwhen she went home to her artist friend, Grace, with whom she shared\nrooms. They were both making their own way in the world, and were a\ngreat help to each other, as well as a great comfort.\n\nKate was wondering what Mrs. Hayden did every day with her leisure. She\nshould think she would be tired always going to parties and lunches and\noperas, or receiving calls. \"But then, I am thankful to know her,\" she\nconcluded, casting a last glance at the stately mansion before turning\nthe corner. \"After all, life might be worse for me, and I can be a happy\nnobody if not a famous somebody,\" she said to herself, as she ran\nupstairs, after stopping at the baker's for a loaf of bread and a pot of\njam.\n\n\"Well, Gracious, what noble message have you given to the world through\nyour work to-day?\" she cried, a moment later, gaily peering into the\nstudio through the _portieres_ that separated their parlor from the work\nroom.\n\n\"Is that you, Kate? Well, I've been trying the whole afternoon to make\nthis Hebe look like a modern Hypatia, but----\"\n\n\"In other words,\" interrupted Kate, \"you would change innocence into\nintellect. Now, look here, Grace, just leave this dainty girl alone. She\nwould never do to serve the gods if you gave her the aspect and bearing\nof a goddess. Let her alone, or the world would not recognize her as a\nrepresentative woman,\" laughed Kate, inspecting the picture with\ncritical eyes.\n\n\"Kate, stop laughing, and tell me truly if you think it would not do to\ngive her a little more independence.\"\n\n\"You know it's the worst thing in the world to give a woman even an\ninkling that such a thing exists,\" said the mischievous Kate, with a\ntotal abandonment to consequences as she gave the artist an impetuous\nhug.\n\n\"Well, let us have tea, and we'll discuss the subject later,\" said\nGrace, somewhat mollified.\n\n\"I am afraid, Gracious, you are something in the same mood I was when I\nstarted home to-night, but I concluded to let 'dull care' take care of\nitself, and be merry while the sun shines, which means as long as we\nhave enough to pay our rent, and the prospect of a little more next\nmonth,\" continued Kate as she brought a tiny oil stove from the depths\nof a closet and proceeded to \"put the kettle on.\"\n\n\"I have been so full of thoughts of the nineteenth century that I found\nit hard to go back to the Pagan ages, but here this picture is ordered,\nand I must finish it by next week, so I guess this one will have to go\nwithout my message,\" said Grace, a little gloomily, for above all things\nshe loved to put her own individuality into her pictures, which she\ngenerally did with rare success.\n\n\"You mustn't have just one ideal of woman, or you'll lose the art of\npainting the sweetest phases of womanhood,\" replied the busy housemaid\nfrom the sepulchral closet.\n\n\"Oh! if I have such excellent models as you make in that checked apron\nand dusting cap, I can do nobly.\"\n\nGrace laughed good humoredly as she cleaned her palette and set Hebe in\none corner.\n\n\"Now, my dear, isn't there something I can do to help arrange the\nfeast?\" as she went into the little back room they used for a kitchen.\n\n\"Yes, wash the grapes and open the jam while I cut the bread and pour\nthe tea.\"\n\nA few minutes later they were _tete-a-tete_ at the little table, and as\nthey sat down Grace said with a comical smile: \"Quite a difference\nbetween our banquet of last night and this, isn't there?\"\n\n\"I should remark there is, but after all, Grace, I believe I am quite\ncontent. As I was passing along at the foot of the hill this evening a\nmomentary dissatisfaction came over me that I couldn't have a few\nadvantages _like_ Mrs. Hayden's, not hers of course, but similar ones,\"\nwith a smile at the distinction, \"and then I wondered how she spends all\nher leisure, for of course she has the whole twenty-four hours at her\ndisposal, and--well, to be brief, I would not want to live without some\nobject in life, and so I thought it best the way it is now.\"\n\n\"Very wise conclusion, Kate, that's just what I always say, and really\nwho is there with whom we would care to exchange places? There are so\nmany kinds of people and so many things for humanity to contend against,\nI don't know that I should want to change burdens with anyone.\"\n\n\"Mrs. Dyke, for instance, would you not think yourself fortunate to be\nlike her?\" said Kate, with a merry twinkle in her eyes.\n\n\"Oh, deliver me from that comparison! Why, she carries everybody's sins\non her shoulders; I even heard she had taken Robert Elsmere to throw at\nthe world!\" laughed Grace.\n\n\"But not his wife; she didn't read about her. Wasn't it too funny to\nhear her go on last night, and the way she looked at the minister to\nemphasize her position?\"\n\n\"Yes, but how many there are like her--read just enough to know there\nare such and such characters and such and such incidents. Now of course\nshe has heard the minister define Robert's crime, as he would call it I\nsuppose, so she thinks she can use the whole argument,\" replied Grace, a\nlittle scornfully.\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden interposed just at the right time. I was glad she did, too.\nIt seems she has considered Catherine's position and could speak a good\nword for her,\" said Kate, sipping her tea, thoughtfully.\n\n\"Well, if she calls her an ideal of wifely love, I don't admire the\nreality,\" exclaimed Grace, with more vigor than elegance, as she put\ndown her tea-cup.\n\n\"I got positively impatient,\" she continued, \"when I read about her\ncruelty to Robert, judging him in that inquisitor's fashion. Poor\nfellow! _I_ think he died of a broken heart.\"\n\n\"But, Grace, she did what she thought was her religious duty, and it\nmust have been hard for her to withdraw herself so completely when she\nloved him so much,\" said the more charitable Kate.\n\n\"Do you call that love which would let him go tramping off alone, with\nnot even a word of sympathy, and so afraid that her religion would be\ncontaminated she could not even hear him preach? I don't pretend to be\nreligious, but any religion stands on a poor foundation if it can be\nswept away by anybody's opinions.\"\n\n\"It wasn't that; it was because she thought it was wrong to listen to\nheresy, as she supposed it was, and----\"\n\n\"How did she know? Had she taken pains to find out? Did she study it\ncarefully and have a reason for her cruel judgment?\" interrupted the\nwrathful Grace.\n\n\"Well, she was conscientious and was doing what she had been taught was\nright.\"\n\n\"Kate, if there is anything that makes me out of patience with people\nit is when they hang all their actions on what somebody else says, and\nthat excuse is simply barbarous in this case.\"\n\n\"Remember that in religion one must follow what he thinks to be right,\nand Catherine Elsmere represents a large class of people; in fact, the\nmajority of religious people.\"\n\nKate was naturally inclined to be charitable, and this, added to her\nearly training in a religious home, as well as her position as a church\nmember, made her understand Catherine's position from a conscientious\nstandpoint much more than Grace. She could readily appreciate the fixed\nlaw of conscience Catherine had made for herself by pledging her sacred\nword of honor to her father, whom she revered as an infallible\nauthority, as most people revere the legends and doctrines of the\nchurch.\n\n\"I admit that it is right to follow the dictates of one's own\nconscience, but I believe in having an enlightened conscience, and a\nreason for opinions. For that matter, so did Robert have a conscience,\nand while I don't understand his religion, I respect his honesty and\neffort. There are a great many beautiful things in what he says, but\nthere must be a mistake somewhere in a religion that can not save to the\nuttermost, and his didn't. I haven't found one that does,\" said Grace,\nwith some irony.\n\n\"Nevertheless, Grace, there is nothing to warrant your assertion in the\nBible. The Christian religion is full of the most blessed promises of\nsalvation in _everything_,\" said Kate, gently, but flushing a little as\nshe spoke, for she disliked talking religion with Grace, who was so\nskeptical, although if compelled to do so, it was a matter of duty to\nstand up for her Christian principles.\n\n\"Yes, I admit it gives many wonderful promises, but where are they\nrealized? It seems to me the very fact that the church has not proven\nthem, made such people as Robert Elsmere doubt them even as possible of\nfulfillment.\"\n\n\"Why Grace, surely _you_ don't disbelieve in the power of God to fulfill\nthe promises?\" exclaimed Kate, deeply pained.\n\n\"I am talking from Robert Elsmere's standpoint,\" answered Grace,\nevasively.\n\n\"My sympathy is with Catherine, for to her, religion was a living answer\nto her deepest needs and feelings, and to doubt that answer was nothing\nless than sacrilege,\" said Kate, with a bright red spot on either cheek.\n\n\"Well,\" answered Grace, throwing down her napkin, \"I want to see a\nreligion that will stand infinite investigation without falling into\nruins, and Robert reasoned himself away from the old beliefs and dogmas\nbecause he investigated them. He used his God-given reason, and I think\nthat is to be used as well as the blind, unquestioning faith of\nCatherine.\"\n\n\"There are times when we need faith and times when we need reason, but\nfaith applies to religion and reason to the things of the world,\"\nreplied Kate, recalling what she had heard a few Sundays before.\n\n\"Well, to me the ideal of religion is a marriage, a union of faith and\nreason--but this is idle talk. What does anybody know of such perfection\nas I demand anyway?\"\n\nGrace impatiently pushed her chair away from the table, and went to look\nat her picture again, in a decidedly gloomy mood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n     \"Such is the world, understand it, despise it, love it; cheerfully\n     hold on thy way through it, with thy eye on highest\n     loadstars.\"--_Carlyle._\n\n\nIt was a week since the party. Mrs. Hayden had been to the opera and\nreturned late. Her husband was absent on a business trip, and she felt a\nvague uneasiness come over her as she entered the room. She knew not\nwhy, but it seemed unusually lonely without him. She seldom went out\nalone, but to-night she had gone out as much to while away the time as\nto hear the music. After paying her usual visit to the nursery, she went\nto bed, but slept little for several hours.\n\nAbout 4 o'clock she was awakened by stifling fumes of smoke and\nstartling cries of fire. Was it too late? She sprang up and ran to the\nnursery stairs, but the scorching flames met her, and she retreated to\nthe window, shrieking for help, only to get a glimpse of someone through\nthe smoke climbing toward her.\n\n\"Hold on!\" cried the fireman, and reached out his arms for her just as\nshe fell back fainting. Grasping her firmly, the brave man dragged her\nout of the window, and began his perilous descent. When about half way\ndown, the ladder fell, but its burden was expected, and mattress and\nbed-clothing saved them from what might have been worse. As it was, the\nfireman escaped with a few bruises and slight scorching, and Mrs.\nHayden with a broken limb. First they feared she was dead, but after a\nfew moments she revived and moaned feebly for husband and children.\nLittle Mabel clung desperately to her mother, and sobbingly told her\n\"only the house was burnt. Fred and Jamie were safe, and now she must\nget up and be glad.\" Poor child, instinctively she knew the value of\nlife above all other things.\n\n\"How did it happen, where did it start, and who saw it first?\" were the\nqueries on every side. Some one down at the foot of the hill had seen a\ntiny blue flame licking the corner of the roof. The fire alarm was\ntouched, the bells set to ringing, and the observers leaped up the\nterraced stairways and arrived at the top just as the whole house burst\ninto flames. The fire company had not arrived in time to do anything, as\nit was impossible to climb the hill with their heavy trucks, and their\nhose was not long enough to reach the flames, so the house was gone.\nMany people had gathered from all quarters in the fashion peculiar to\nfire crowds, but now they had seen the spectacle, and, as there was\nnothing further to see or do, they slowly dispersed.\n\nMrs. Hayden and the children were removed to the hotel and a telegram\nsent to Mr. Hayden, informing him of the catastrophe.\n\nWhen he arrived, twelve hours later, he found his wife confined to the\nbed with a nervous fever and a broken limb. The children were safe and\nwell cared for, and though his elegant home was in ruins, John Hayden\nwas deeply thankful. Marion would, of course, get over the trouble, and\nthings were much better than they might have been, he said. So he tried\nto look on the bright side, and after a few cheering words and a loving\nkiss he left her, to run up the hill and view the ruins.\n\nIt was early twilight, and as he beheld the smouldering _debris_, and\nrealized that the comforts and luxuries, possibly the necessities of\nlife had gone up in the smoke that even now curled in sullen wreaths\nfrom the blackened heaps, he bowed his head and wept.\n\nIt was but a moment, but that moment was the bitterest of his whole\nlife. He knew better than anyone else that this was probably the\nbeginning of financial misfortune, for a very important transaction was\neven now pending that he feared would take his all. As a merchant he had\nan honorable reputation and position, but this unfortunate speculation\nwould ruin him. Failure seemed inevitable. But he hoped to save enough\nto pay every debt and still be able to live, even though in a modest\nway. Now he would not even get his insurance on his house, for in his\nfinancial embarrassment he had failed to renew his policy, which had\nexpired but few days before. He would now have little besides this spot,\nthis beautiful hill. Yes, it was valuable, and in time could be sold for\nwhat it was worth, but not now, and in the meantime what should he do?\nHow would Marion take it? Why had he not told her before he went away?\nBut he had known it himself only a few days.\n\n\"Oh, my dear wife, would that we could commence life as we did when we\nwere first married!\" he groaned.\n\nHis mind went back to the past. He looked again into her sweet, girlish\nface, into her clear, earnest eyes. He remembered how they had both\ndesired to live a religious life, how he, having been brought up in a\nreligious home, undertook in vain to explain the Bible where it was dark\nand unreasonable to her. He remembered how fruitlessly she had tried to\nbe converted, and that he had found even through her earnest seeking\nthat he had naught but the letter of religion and was also as helpless\nas to the manner of salvation. And then they had given up trying. She\nsought, for a while, to satisfy herself by doing for others, giving her\ntime and energy to the poor that found her out and besieged her for\nfavors, while he had been satisfied to let religion alone and believe\nwith the majority concerning the doctrines and dogmas.\n\nAs the years went on, and prosperity came to them, he had grown more and\nmore indifferent, and finally, when they moved away from their early\nhome and entered a new city, they had begun a new life, as it were.\n\nHe remembered, regretfully, that she had entered the competitive ranks\nof society, at his wish at first, because he thought it would add to his\npopularity as a merchant and increase the number and quality of his\ncustomers. Too well he remembered that the elegant parties and party\ncostumes were first his own instigation, and now that these were likely\nto be taken away, he felt responsible for her happiness, and had a\nsecret misgiving, born of his early religious training perhaps, of\nretribution and judgment. He hoped indeed that she would be able to\nrise above circumstances, but he was utterly at a loss to know how she\nwould take it, for although he knew that deep down in her heart were\nstill traces of the early longings, he felt vaguely there was no way to\nsatisfy them any more now than in the past, and probably they would only\nincrease the difficulty of finding happiness.\n\nJohn Hayden was kind-hearted and upright in all his ways, strictly\nhonest and conscientious, but apt to be a little one-sided in his\njudgments, simply because, as a rule, he reasoned from one standpoint,\nthought in one groove. He had never considered the questions from this\npoint of view, and therefore they were seriously perplexing. Like many\nanother he lived within his own world, and knew naught of any other. In\nthe later years of their married life he and Marion had grown a little\napart in the closest confidences, but it was caused by circumstances\nmore than anything else, and notwithstanding the present misery he was\nsure of her love.\n\n\"Poor girl, I must hasten back to her,\" he murmured, as he rose from his\nuncomfortable position. \"After all, I can thank God for my family, my\nhealth, my honor, for no matter how much _we_ may suffer, no one else\nshall suffer through me.\"\n\nThere was a little pang at the thought of the privations in possible\nstore for the family through him, but he had resolved to make the best\nof circumstances and be brave as possible. Once more he looked over the\nscene, but there were only dim black shadows in the starlight, and he\nwent down toward the twinkling lights of the city below.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n     \"Society is like a piece of frozen water; and skating well the\n     great art of social life.\"--_Letitia Elizabeth Landon._\n\n\n\"Too bad about Hayden, isn't it?\" said one business man to another after\nthe crash came.\n\n\"Yes, I am sorry for him, but he is coming out honorably, and I hope\nhe'll commence again before long.\"\n\n\"Well, he is made of the right stuff if he did make one mistake, and I\nguess he will never make the same blunder again. Too bad though about\nhis house. No insurance at all, and that was a magnificent property.\"\n\n\"Indeed it was, and I hope for his wife's sake he can sell the lot and\nget another home for her.\"\n\n\"Can't do it now though--real estate is too low for any use in Hampton.\"\n\n\"Yes, that's so. The only way is to mortgage, and that seems a pity in\nthis case--\" and they passed on out of hearing.\n\nJohn Hayden, standing within the doorway of the open store, had\noverheard the remarks, and while they pained, they cheered him. From\nthat moment his resolve was taken, and as soon as everything was\nhonorably settled he applied for credit of his old friends in the\nwholesale houses and they gladly gave it, for his reputation was\nunimpeachable.\n\nThen he rented a modest little store and began anew.\n\nMrs. Hayden lay sick seven weeks, and arose a weak and nervous invalid,\n\"doomed to carry a still limb all her life,\" the physicians said. They\ncould not discover why her limb was stiff, but there was no help for it.\n\nHow did she bear the change in her life and circumstances? When her\nhusband told her, she just put her arms around his neck and whispered;\n\"All right, John, I shall do the best I can to help you bear it.\" And\nfrom that moment they began life again. She did not even complain when\nthey were obliged to move into a small cottage in the suburbs, but it\nwas hard for her to be ignored and forgotten by the elegant social\nworld, where she had so recently been an acknowledged leader.\n\nAlas! she had no sugar plums for society now, so it soon forgot her\nexistence. There were, however, some exceptions among her former\nfriends, and she was glad to welcome among her few visitors, Kate Turner\nand Grace Hall, who had grown to love Mrs. Hayden more than they would\nhave thought possible when she seemed so high above them in the social\nscale.\n\n\"She is turning out a saint rather than a sinner,\" said Kate one\nevening, as they were discussing the Haydens and recalled the\nconversation of the night of the party.\n\n\"Just wait awhile. Many people can be heroic in great things, but are\nsadly deficient when it comes to the little things,\" said Grace, with\nher usual caution. \"I believe I could be a heroine myself, if some grand\nopportunity came,\" she added, smiling.\n\n\"Oh, Grace, don't trifle so; you know this is a very serious matter with\nMr. and Mrs. Hayden, and they are both doing nobly,\" cried Kate, with\ntears in her eyes.\n\n\"Well, queen Katherine, I don't mean any harm, and you must not think\nanything of my brusque speeches. As you know, there is a tinge of\nskepticism in me which I can not help, and my ideals are so much higher\nthan the realities of life, that I am always painfully conscious of the\ndifference.\"\n\n\"Well, what would you wish Mrs. Hayden to be like, for instance, in\norder to come up to your ideal of the heroic woman?\" asked Kate in a\nsoftened tone.\n\n\"Kate dear, I love Mrs. Hayden as much as you do, and would not for a\nmoment disparage her virtues, but it strikes me as a philosophical fact\nthat as a rule, human nature can and does display wonderful courage in\ngreat emergencies, but fails miserably in details, and this ought not to\nbe so. Nothing would please me better than to see one life prove that I\nam wrong.\"\n\n\"That is all true, Gracie, about humanity in general, but she is lovely,\nand I am sorry for her having to be lame all her life. It's a perfect\nshame that she must lose even her health, for of course she will never\nbe strong again.\"\n\n\"Another defect to be noted somewhere in the universal economy. It seems\nto me we are pretty helpless creatures, generally speaking, for it all\nappears to be a matter of chance whether we get well or not, when we\n_do_ get sick,\" mused Grace, bent upon drawing her own conclusions.\n\nPoor girl! Life had been rather hard for her, and she judged it as it\nappeared, and there _did_ seem a great flaw somewhere which she was\ntrying her best to solve by noting every phase of life as she found it.\nNaturally bright, keenly intellectual and very independent, she was a\nphilosopher as well as an artist, and always ready for a tilt with the\nworld on its most petted opinions. Hers was a reasoning mind that\nobserved all inconsistencies and discrepancies in anything she studied,\nand there was generally a little acidity in her judgment of the world\nand its bigoted ways.\n\n\"I can't see why Mrs. Hayden should not be cured completely,\" continued\nKate, ignoring her companion's last shot, \"for it wasn't so bad that\nanybody knew of until she got up.\"\n\n\"My dear madam,\" said Grace, striking an owlish attitude, \"you have not\nread the latest opinion expressed by one of the most learned professors\nin the Allopathic school of medicine in Paris. He stood before the class\nof graduating students and said: 'Gentlemen, you have done me the honor\nto come here to listen to a lecture on the science of medicine. I must\nfrankly confess I know nothing about it, and, moreover, know of no one\nwho does. Any one who takes medicine is fortunate if it helps him, but\nmore fortunate if it does not harm him.' Whether our friend is fortunate\nor unfortunate is a question hard to decide. I move we discuss another\nsubject.\"\n\nKate laughed in spite of herself, and Grace got up to take another view\nof the \"Modern Hypatia,\" which at last was growing into a visible\ncreation under her skillful brush.\n\n\"Isn't that a woman for you?\" she said, pointing to the picture\nadmiringly, as she held it under the gas light.\n\n\"Yes, I like her better than Hebe. She has a look of reserved power\nabout her that is captivating, but there is something in her face that\nmakes me sad, something that is lacking.\"\n\n\"What is it? Tell me, for _I_ can see nothing!\" Grace questioned\nimpetuously.\n\n\"Wait a minute, perhaps I can define it. There! hold it so. Let me see,\"\nand Kate walked off a few paces.\n\n\"Yes, it is dissatisfaction, an incompleteness, as though she had not\nfound what she sought.\"\n\n\"Can you see that, Kate? Then I am at the same time the most happy and\nunhappy creature alive,\" cried Grace, breathlessly dropping into a chair\nand holding the picture fondly near her face.\n\n\"Why?\" said the astonished Kate.\n\n\"Don't you know I am forever putting myself into my pictures? And I've\nsucceeded too admirably with this one. The poor thing has caught my\nunconscious fault of finding defects everywhere. Oh, I must get it out\nof her some way; how shall I, when to me she looks so perfect?\"\n\n\"You better get it out of yourself first, if that is the trouble,\"\nreplied Kate, with a great wave of pity in her voice.\n\n\"I wish I could. Oh, why do I have to see everything in the wrong way?\nIt seems to me life would be heavenly, if I could know only the good in\neverything.\" Grace put down the picture and gazed at it with stern,\naccusing eyes. \"I shall leave this one and begin another to-morrow,\" she\nfinally announced in a subdued tone.\n\n\"I am glad you won't rub this out, for she is too lovely,\" said Kate,\nsoftly, as she went about, gently putting things in order, picking up\nher music and arranging the books.\n\nGrace sat there brooding over her life problems with a new thought in\nher mind. She dimly realized that a woman must have a genuine message\nherself before she tries to give it to the world. And alas, her message\nwas sadly deficient, she found. Mechanically she took a book from the\ntable and opening it at random, read:\n\n  \"If the whole is ever to gladden thee,\n  That whole in the smallest thing thou must see.\"\n\n\"That is not bad philosophy, whose is it?\" she thought. She looked at\nthe book. It was Goethe's poems, but she was not in the mood for\nreading, and she sat thinking till late at night. This was a new\nsentiment. She would digest it and test its practical truth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n  Take up the threads of life at home,\n   Let not the stitches drop;\n  The busy world will know 'tis done\n   Though ne'er it pause nor stop.\n\n\"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace\nbut the triumph of principles.\"--_Emerson._\n\n\nA year passed away, and Mrs. Hayden grew no better. She was not as\ncheerful as she had been at first, and instead of growing into the\nbrave, patient woman she longed to become, she had grown fretful and\nirritable, and was in many ways different from the Mrs. Hayden Kate and\nGrace had talked about so enthusiastically. None knew better than she,\nhow miserably she had failed to live the life that was soul\nsatisfying--the life that brought forth fruits. In all the years of her\nprosperity, in the midst of the gayeties and luxuries, she had secretly\nlonged for something she never found, and in one sense it had not been\nhard for her to give up the life of ease and idleness, because she had\nhoped to find in the new duties a new peace and satisfaction, had hoped\nto live up to her ideal of a noble woman, and it was with her whole\nheart she had promised her husband her help and sympathy, but in all the\neighteen months, she had been but a burden; even calm forbearance and\ncheerfulness had ceased to be virtues. The children, not having a\nnursery, must needs be anywhere and everywhere, and in spite of her\nefforts to the contrary, their noise annoyed her.\n\nTo-night she sat thinking it all over, in one of her most despondent\nmoods, for be it said to her credit, things did not always appear as\ngloomy as she represented them to herself.\n\nThe ruddy firelight flickered over her in fitful gleams of light and\nshadow. The children were out romping in the twilight, enjoying the\nfirst snow of the season. Her husband had not yet returned from the\nstore.\n\nWhat was the use, anyway, pursued the relentless conscience--even the\nwish to be good was always choked by a complete forgetfulness; and\nbefore she could catch her breath the words were out, so, although she\nhad believed nearly all her life that one might grow into goodness, she\nwas quite rebellious to-night with the thought of its impossibility, and\nshe felt bitter, too, to think of the long years of uselessness\nstretching out before her. Scarcely thirty-five and yet she felt like a\ncross, crabbed old woman, and shuddered to think of all the years to\ncome, if they were to be like the past, and there seemed no help for it\nunless she could conquer herself. The doctor had done what he could to\ncure her dyspepsia but she was a veritable slave to her capricious\nstomach. She felt one of her oft-recurring sick headaches coming on and\nevery thought grew blacker and more disconsolate. Oh! she wished supper\nwere over and the children safe in bed, so she could be free from their\nnoise, and here they come! she thought, as a great stamping and laughing\nwas heard in the hall.\n\n\"Oh, mamma! such lovely snowflakes, just like a fairy's quilt, and they\nhave been falling all over us till we're like people in frost land. Just\nlook, mamma!\" cried Mabel, who liked a romp as well as the boys,\nalthough she was thirteen. Three-year-old Jamie and five-year-old Fred\ncame trooping in behind.\n\n\"Well, mamma, God has turned on the snow faucets,\" announced Fred, with\ncharacteristic importance.\n\n\"An' all 'e fevvers is tummin' down fum 'e 'ky,\" shouted Jamie at the\ntop of his voice.\n\n\"And mamma, _can't_ we have a sled and go coasting this winter?\" queried\nMabel, not noticing in her eagerness that her mamma was very sick.\n\n\"Oh, _don't_ make so much noise. Take them away and keep quiet, Mabel. I\ncan not endure so much confusion.\"\n\nThey went out clanging the door behind them in spite of their efforts to\nkeep quiet, and as their voices grew fainter, she thought with another\nremorseful pang: \"I have sent them away again. Why must I yield always\nto self instead of overcoming?\" Presently, however, all attempts at\nthinking were lost in the efforts to get the camphor, bathe her head and\nfind some comforting spot whereon to rest her aching temples.\n\nA subdued family gathered around the table that evening and everyone\nfelt the necessity of being quiet as possible. Even Fred and Jamie\nunderstood that they _must_ keep still, and managed to keep their voices\ndown to something less than a shrill whisper.\n\nMrs. Hayden partook only of a small cup of tea and was then assisted to\nher room, where she expected to remain for at least two days--the usual\ntime. Her husband spent the evening rubbing her head, bathing it with\ncamphor and keeping the house quiet as possible.\n\nThe next day dawned cloudy and grey, with a faint mildness in the air,\nindicating a thaw. Mabel went to school, Fred and Jamie amused\nthemselves in the back parlor until they were tired and then flattened\ntheir noses against the window, trying to see how many drops of melted\nsnow fell from the porch roof.\n\n\"I want a snow man,\" wailed Jamie, suddenly remembering what papa said\nabout the snow long ago.\n\n\"Well, you can't have it,\" said Fred, with great decision, who generally\nopposed anything on principle.\n\n\"Yes, we can. We can go out and make one,\" persisted Jamie.\n\n\"Jack Frost'll bite your fingers.\"\n\n\"No he won't.\"\n\n\"He will--\"\n\n\"He won't eever--\"\n\n\"He will, 'cos mamma said so,\" said naughty Fred.\n\nJamie's little face clouded and the lip began to quiver; then a sudden\nthought striking him, he jumped up, beaming with delight, and cried, as\nhe ran towards the hall:\n\n\"Mamma said Jack Frost couldn't find me when I had my overcoat and wed\nmittens on, and my wed cap.\"\n\n\"You can't reach your coat an' you've lost your mittens,\" insisted Fred,\nwith perseverance worthy a better cause.\n\n\"O, yes I can. I can 'tep on my high chair,\" dragging it after him.\n\n\"I can get my things on first,\" said Fred who suddenly decided in favor\nof the snow man, and hurriedly suiting the action to the word, rushed to\nget his coat which hung under Jamie's, just as Jamie reached his little\nhands up to get his. Fred gave a tremendous flirt and pull at his coat\nwhich overbalanced his little brother and down came the high chair and\nJamie plump upon the luckless Fred, whose angry squeals and kicks,\nmingled with Jamie's loud shrieks of terror made a commotion that\nbrought Anna, the housekeeper, to the rescue.\n\n\"What _is_ the matter?\" as she plucked Jamie from the general _debris_.\n\n\"Fred pulled me down--\"\n\n\"Jamie jumped on me,\" said both at once as soon as they could get their\nbreath.\n\n\"An', I aint lost my wed mittens, an' my little white leg is broke off,\"\ncried Jamie suddenly, spying the oft-mended leg of the high-chair, which\nin this _melee_, had completely severed company with the rest of the\nchair, and now mutely appealed for help to be put on again.\n\n\"There, there, papa can mend it all right again. Don't cry, little man.\nNow Fred, you must stop crying and play nice with Jamie and not quarrel\nso much. There! I hear mamma's bell; I must go see what she wants. Run\naway and be quiet, for mamma can't stand a _bit_ of noise to-day,\" and\nAnna left them again to their own devices. Jamie carefully laid the\nlittle white leg away in his box of playthings, and then both children\nwent back to the window to watch the drops again.\n\n\"I see one, two, three, seven, four, ten--\" slowly counted Jamie as the\ncrystal drops fell.\n\n\"Oh, I see a ice berg, an' I'm goin' to get it for candy,\" shouted Fred\nas he ran out on the porch and seized an icicle. It seemed so nice out\nthere that he stayed and called Jamie to come, too. They were delighted\nwith the new plaything and new sights, and any thought of being cold or\nneeding their coats never entered their minds, so the icicle, the\nbeautiful drops, and finally the snow claimed their attention until they\nwere at last happily engaged in the much-desired occupation of making a\nsnow man.\n\nIt was near noon and the sun had finally rifted the grayest clouds, and\nwas sending such warm smiles on the snow-laden earth that trees and\nfences, roofs and ridges burst into tears of joy. So, often does the\nsun-shiny smile melt the ice-bound prison of discontent or\nmisunderstanding.\n\nFred and Jamie were in the midst of their interesting creation when Mr.\nHayden came home to dinner.\n\n\"Boys! boys!\" he called from the gate as soon as he saw them. \"You'll\ncatch your death of cold; run into the house, quick! Why haven't you\nsomething on your heads and rubbers on your feet?\" and without waiting\nto hear their vociferous reply, he hurried them into the house.\n\n\"Oh, but it was such fun, papa, an' we was goin' to put two coals in his\nhead, cos' his eyes was black, you know, an' your old mashed hat for his\nhead, an'--\"\n\n\"An' me foun' a 'tick for his arm,\" interrupted Jamie, who must be sure\npapa knew all about this wonderful man.\n\n\"Yes, he looks very promising, and I guess I'll have to finish him for\nyou; but you must not go out again to-day. Just think what would we do\nif you should be sick while mamma must be in bed. Poor mamma, she would\nfeel bad and cry because she couldn't help you, and it would make her\nfeel very sorry indeed to know her little boys went out without somebody\nsaying they might.\"\n\n\"Well, papa, we didn't mean to go 'thout our things on, but two of the\n_beautifullest_ icebergs hunged down an' we played they was candy an'\nall the pretty drops said stop, stop, stop, an'--\"\n\n\"Yes, an' the 'no was full of 'tars 'at shined right up at us an'\nlaughed an' played hide an' seek wiv each other.\"\n\n\"An' Jamie wanted to make a snow man,\" suddenly remembered Fred.\n\n\"Cos papa did when he was a little boy, an' he telled me sometimes so\ncould I--\"\n\n\"Oh, you little rogues, it is well you can trace it back,\" laughed papa,\ncatching each small man, and placing upon his knees.\n\n\"Why, look here, your shoes are all wet, and your fingers red, and your\nclothes sprinkled with water. This will never do. Take off your shoes,\nFred. Here, Anna,\" he called, as he heard her in the dining room,\n\"bring some dry stockings and aprons. These boys have been out in the\nwet snow, and must be changed right away. Put a flannel round their\nnecks, too. I'm afraid they'll have the croup to-night.\" With as much\nhaste as possible, he stripped off their wet clothes, chafed their hands\nand feet, and with an anxious look left them, to go and speak to his\nwife who, when suffering from headache could allow no one to enter the\nroom except her husband or Anna.\n\nThat night the whole household were aroused by the hoarse and\nunmistakable cough of croup. Jamie had taken cold, as his father feared\nhe would. The doctor was sent for in wild haste, and after several hours\nof watchful care and frequent taking of hive syrup or ipecac, Jamie was\nat last sleeping quietly, and every one felt that after this, at least,\nthose children should be so well guarded that escape would be\nimpossible, and the dreaded enemy kept out. This was always a result of\nexposure, and Mr. and Mrs. Hayden had often wished for the time when\nJamie would outgrow the attacks as that really seemed the only thing in\nwhich lay any hope.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n  \"Build thee more stately mansions\n  Oh my soul,\n  As the swift seasons roll,\n  Leave thy low vaulted past.\n  Let each new temple nobler than the last\n  Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n  Till thou at length art free:\n  Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.\"\n\n  --_O. W. Holmes._\n\n\n\"How do you do Mrs. Hayden? You see I come in without ceremony as usual,\nbut I heard you'd had one of your headaches again,\" and Mrs. Reade\nseated herself cosily on the sofa near which Mrs. Hayden sat languidly\ntrying to read.\n\n\"Oh, I have about recovered my usual strength, but of course I must be\ncareful and not get excited or overworked, though my work I am sorry to\nsay, does not amount to much.\" After a few moments commonplace\nconversation, Mrs. Reade said, carefully:\n\n\"Now Mrs. Hayden, I believe there _is_ a help for you somewhere.\nWouldn't you like to try something new?\"\n\n\"Why, you _know_ I would try anything that would give relief, but I have\nexhausted everything that ever was heard of, and now every remedy seems\nvery transient or of no effect at all.\"\n\nMrs. Hayden leaned wearily back in her chair and seemed to think there\nwas no use discussing the subject any longer. After a few moments\nthoughtful silence, Mrs. Reade looked up at her friend and said,\ntimidly:\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden, have you ever heard of Christian Healing?\"\n\n\"No. What is it?\"\n\n\"I can't tell, only that it is just the most wonderful panacea for all\nills that ever was discovered and they say it can be learned, and\napplied by everybody.\"\n\n\"Do you mean that I could learn it and could then cure myself?\"\n\n\"Yes, that is what they claim.\"\n\n\"Why, Mrs. Reade, what is all this wonderful news, and if it is true,\nwhy hasn't the world heard of it before?\" exclaimed Mrs. Hayden with an\namused smile.\n\nMrs. Reade did not return the smile but a still more earnest look came\ninto her eyes. She bent over her bit of sewing for a moment and then\nlooking up, as though resolved to speak the truth at any cost, she went\non:\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden, it is the fulfillment of the promises in the Bible, that\nto them that believe, these signs should be given. You remember the\npassage don't you, where Jesus gave His disciples the same power to heal\nthat He had?\"\n\n\"Well, but that was long ago, and the promise was for the disciples, I\nsuppose.\"\n\n\"No, it was for everybody; and do you know, Mrs. Hayden, I can hardly\nwait to learn this new method, I am so interested.\"\n\n\"How did you hear about it?\"\n\n\"When I was down to Mapleton last summer I heard something about it\nthrough a friend of mine, who was cured of chronic congestive headaches,\nand now my cousin, Miss Greening, from Norfolk, has come on to spend the\nholidays with us, and strange to say, she has been cured of weak\neyes--just came straight from Princeton where she was treated,\nand--and--well, the fact is, I want you to come over and see her and may\nbe _you_ can be cured.\"\n\nMrs. Reade was quite frightened for having said so much, but was\nreassured by the growing interest in Mrs. Hayden's eyes.\n\n\"And you know these things to be true? Why, it _is_ wonderful. How is it\ndone, by prayer?\"\n\n\"Not exactly, but it is by some process of thinking. Oh, I can't begin\nto tell you, only that it is wonderful, and you must come over and talk\nwith cousin Helen.\"\n\n\"I am afraid to trust myself out in this uncertain weather. Can't you\nboth come and take tea with us to-morrow? I hope to be well enough then,\nand it would be a great pleasure, for if there is any truth in this, I\nwant to know it. Do come.\"\n\nThis was a good deal for Mrs. Hayden to say, but she was very earnest\nwhen aroused to interest.\n\n\"Yes, we will,\" said Mrs. Reade, as she rose to go, looking straight\ninto her friend's eyes with joyful earnestness, \"and I am so glad. Good\nbye,\" and she retreated as unceremoniously as she had come, leaving Mrs.\nHayden to wonder why she should be so childishly pleased over that\ninvitation. It never occurred to her that Mrs. Reade should be so glad\nto come merely to tell more about this new way of getting well.\n\nMrs. Reade was a young housekeeper, who, living just across the street,\nwas in the habit of often running in to Mrs. Hayden with her little\nvexations, her triumphs of cookery, her questions of how to manage\nlittle May, or what to do in matters of household furnishing. She was a\nvery progressive little woman, and, perhaps owing to the influence of\nMrs. Hayden, was ready at least to give everything a fair hearing. This\nnew \"craze,\" as some called it, had been presented to her in a way that\ncompelled her attention and commanded her respect, and especially since\nher cousin's coming had she been intensely interested.\n\nParticularly was she desirous of enlisting the attention of Mrs. Hayden,\nwho not only needed the physical help to be obtained, but who would be\nan excellent advocate of the principles, providing she could endorse\nthem, as Mrs. Reade was sure she would, if she could only be made to\nunderstand.\n\nSo it was with great anticipated pleasure Mrs. Reade introduced her\ncousin to Mrs. Hayden as they went in the next day.\n\n\"Now, Cousin Helen, just tell Mrs. Hayden how you were cured. I am so\nanxious to set the ball rolling,\" said Mrs. Reade, with an arch look at\nMrs. Hayden after they were comfortably settled for their talk.\n\n\"Yes, indeed,\" added Mrs. Hayden; \"if you have half as wonderful a\nmessage as Mrs. Reade fondly imagines I shall be delighted to hear it,\nbut I would first like to ask what was the trouble with your eyes, and\nsomething as to their condition when you first looked into this method\nof healing.\"\n\n\"I had been obliged to leave school because they were so weak. They were\ninflamed and bloodshot. I could not bear to go out in the wind, ride on\nthe cars, or have any excitement whatever. The occulists said the\ntrouble was caused by a physical defect that could not be remedied, so\nyou may imagine my despair. Father and mother came home from a visit in\nKansas, and while there they had heard of a lady in Princeton who was\nhaving remarkable success with mind-cure, as they called it. They coaxed\nme to go and try it. I had no faith, but to please them thought I would\ngo. It could do no harm, they said. The journey, though only sixty miles\nfrom home, was very hard for me. When I arrived at Mrs. Harmon's it\nseemed as though I could hardly bear the pain caused by the journey.\n\n\"Mrs. Harmon allowed me to stay right at her home, and though only there\na week, I was not only cured, but learned the principles and how to\napply them. After the first treatment I felt so well and happy she told\nme I could use my eyes to read an hour or so. From the second treatment\nI could use them all I wished. It was perfectly wonderful. When I went\nhome I was cured. That is now three weeks ago, and I have been using my\neyes constantly, have taken several journeys on the cars, and gone out\nday and night.\"\n\nMrs. Hayden had listened with the greatest interest, her mind filled\nwith varying thoughts. Sudden glimpses of wonderful might-be's, mingled\nwith doubts and hopes, had chased each other in wild confusion through\nher bewildered brain.\n\n\"Tell me,\" she found breath at last to ask, \"what is it, and how is it\ndone, and can anybody do it?\"\n\nMiss Greening was delighted to find so willing an audience, for in spite\nof her remarkable cure, most of her family and friends ridiculed her new\n\"cure all.\"\n\n\"Oh, I wish I could explain to you as Mrs. Harmon does. I am so very new\nin the thought, but I will do the best I can to give you some idea. The\nmain thing in the beginning is to know that you know nothing,\" continued\nMiss Greening, with a smile. \"The world believes in the character as it\nappears, to be the real character, that the person who suffers sickness,\nsorrow, disappointment, anger or pain is the real self. We have always\ntaken the people of the world, as they appear, to be the children of\nGod. This truth teaches that the real child of God is in His image and\nlikeness and in Him lives, is moved and has His being. According to the\nlaws of thought, the thought of one individual affects another, and on\nthis principle the treatments are given, but it is the omnipresent life\nPrinciple that does the work.\n\n\"Oh, it is perfectly wonderful, and if you could see what I saw while I\nwas with Mrs. Harmon, you would not doubt a moment. She was busy from\nmorning till night with patients. Hardly had time to eat or sleep. It\nseemed like the times of the New Testament come back again. Mrs. Harmon\ncured a man of rheumatism, where the joints had been stiffened and\ncontracted for years, in seven treatments. The first week the\ntreatments did not seem to have any effect, but the second week he\nsuddenly recovered the use of his arm and limbs, so that he could run\nand jump or do anything else that a healthy man can do.\n\n\"One young girl, who was suffering from lead poisoning so that she was\ngiven up by three or four prominent physicians, received nine treatments\nand, although not perfectly strong and robust, was able to walk several\nblocks and was so well that she did not need further treatment.\n\n\"Mrs. Harmon treated an old lady of seventy, so that she laid aside\nglasses and could see to sew on black cloth. A lady who had been an\ninvalid for sixteen years was cured so that in a week she was able to\nride a mile and a half to the lectures.\n\n\"All these things I saw with my own eyes, and if the evidence had not\nbeen enough in my own case, there were all these proofs. And the\nteaching! Oh, it is beautiful. If we could only live up to that the\nmillenium would surely be here.\"\n\nIn her enthusiasm Miss Greening scarcely noticed the effect of her\nwords, else she would have seen Mrs. Hayden's expressive eyes full of a\nyearning, silent and strong.\n\n\"Can it touch anyone's character or moral life?\" she asked after a\nmoment's pause.\n\n\"Yes, indeed; there is not one thing in life that is not amenable to its\ndiscipline. Mrs. Harmon says it is a great advantage in governing\nchildren, that every mother ought to know it, for the help in that\ndirection, even if not for their health.\"\n\n\"What a wonderful thing it must be; and yet I always thought the days of\nmiracles were past, if indeed they ever were,\" said Mrs. Hayden,\nthoughtfully.\n\n\"These are not miracles, as the ordinary understanding of that word\nwould imply, but are done in accordance with Divine Law, the highest\nlaw,--not the setting aside of any law,\" interposed Mrs. Reade, who had\nbeen deeply interested in the conversation, but hitherto had been a\nsilent listener.\n\n\"Oh, mamma, I wish supper was ready; I'm so hungry!\" cried Fred,\nbursting into the room, followed by Jamie and Mabel.\n\n\"Mamma, can't we have some--\" began Jamie, and then stopped, abashed at\nthe size of the audience.\n\n\"No, dears; mamma don't want you to eat anything before supper. You know\nwhat Doctor Jackson said about the little stomachs that were overworked.\nNow, run away and be good; when everything is ready mamma'll call you.\"\n\n\"But we want it _now_. Doctor Jackson don't know everything. It's only\nGod that knows everything,\" said Fred, with unanswerable argument.\n\n\"Come away, Fred,\" whispered Mabel, giving him an impatient twitch.\n\n\"It's so, anyway; mamma told me about God just the other night.\"\n\n\"He knows I want some ginger 'naps,\" whimpered Jem.\n\n\"Never mind; run out, as mamma says,\" said Mrs. Hayden, resolutely, and\nthe aggrieved trio reluctantly departed.\n\n\"It would be an immense help to me if I could learn to manage these\nthree irrepressibles without getting tired all out,\" said Mrs. Hayden,\nwith a little sigh.\n\n\"Wouldn't it be splendid? I think, Mrs. Hayden, you better let Cousin\nHelen treat you, and get you all cured, and then you can go somewhere\nand learn how, yourself,\" said Mrs. Reade, as she demurely wound up the\nball.\n\nMrs. Hayden looked up with interested surprise. \"Do you think anything\ncould be done for _me_, Miss Greening?\"\n\n\"A great many worse than you have been cured, why not you?\"\n\n\"Well, I don't know; it seems so far away and so intangible some way.\"\n\n\"Now, Mrs. Hayden, try it. Let Cousin Helen treat you,\" interposed Mrs.\nReade.\n\n\"What must _I_ do, any mysterious unheard-of thing?\" was the answer,\nwith a look of evident amusement.\n\n\"Oh, no! Just sit quietly passive, and be as hopeful as possible during\nthe treatment. The only thing that might seem hard is to give up all\nmedicine and material applications while you are under treatment.\"\n\n\"That will not be hard at all, for I have lost all faith in medicine\nanyway. When do you want to begin, Miss Greening?\"\n\n\"Well, I am willing to try my best to help you, Mrs. Hayden, but you\nmust understand, in the first place, that I take no credit to myself,\nfor it is God's work. Then I have really not tried to heal any one;\nsince it was so recently I was cured myself, there has been no\nopportunity, but as I said, I will do what I can.\"\n\nMiss Greening spoke earnestly and reverently. It seemed rather new to\nher to be called upon to prove her principles, and yet she had such\nperfect faith in them, she never thought of wavering.\n\n\"Then it's all settled, and you can take your first treatment to-night,\"\nspoke up Mrs. Reade, volubly. \"I'm so anxious to see you strong and well\nlike the rest of us,\" she added half apologetically.\n\n\"It will seem too good to be true. I can not realize such a\npossibility.\"\n\nA thoughtful silence fell upon the little company for a few moments, and\nwhen they resumed their conversation, it was about something else.\n\nAt their usual tea time, Mr. Hayden, accompanied by Mr. Reade, came in,\nand all were presently called to the dining room.\n\nMr. and Mrs. Hayden had dropped all pretension of style in their present\ncircumstances, and lived like their neighbors, in a modest but\ncomfortable way. The children came trooping in when they heard the\nsupper bell, and delightedly filed out to the dining room with their\nelders.\n\n\"Well, I hope you ladies have been enjoying yourselves this afternoon. I\nnotice ladies have that faculty whenever they meet for an hour or so,\"\nsaid Mr. Hayden, with a genial smile, as he passed the plates.\n\n\"Oh, we have indeed had a lovely time, and a profitable one, too, I\nhope,\" said Mrs. Reade, impulsively.\n\n\"You have about converted Mrs. Hayden to your ideas, you and Helen\ntogether, I presume,\" remarked Mr. Reade, as he spread his napkin out to\nits fullest capacity.\n\n\"I should certainly like to be converted, if so many wonderful things\nare possible as I have heard about this afternoon,\" and Mrs. Hayden\nshowed by the unusual energy in her manner and the brightness of her\neyes that something had inspired her to an unwonted degree.\n\n\"Well now, tell me what all this is about. You seem to have conspired to\ntalk in riddles,\" exclaimed Mr. Hayden, with an injured air.\n\n\"Why, it is this new 'craze' they call Christian Healing that seems to\nhave taken hold of our worthy partners, Mr. Hayden,\" exclaimed Mr.\nReade, with a half-believing, half-skeptical air.\n\nHe really believed much more than he cared to acknowledge, but until he\nwas better informed of Mr. Hayden's opinions, he thought \"discretion the\nbetter part of valor.\" Someway we often stumble upon such characters in\nlife. Good-natured souls they are, and so anxious to please everybody.\n\n\"I am not sure but there is a good deal in that, Reade. I heard some\ngentlemen talking about what was being done in Chicago, and it is truly\nwonderful. After all, we know that the mind has a great influence over\nthe body, and why shouldn't we discover new abilities and powers in that\nas we develop in other directions?\"\n\n\"To be sure; just what I have always said, and now I am having an\nopportunity to prove it since my wife is willing to listen,\" replied Mr.\nReade, with graceful diplomacy.\n\n\"Oh, there is something far beyond what you gentlemen see--something so\nspiritual and beautiful, that mere intellect can not recognize it. But\nyou will come to that after awhile, if you only seek to know for Truth's\nsake, though the recognition of what you see often comes first,\"\ninterposed Miss Greening, with a warm flush of enthusiasm on her face.\n\n\"Certainly. I believe our capacity to recognize higher phases of thought\ngrows with our eagerness to receive. That is true of any branch of\nstudy,\" said Mrs. Hayden, with conviction. She was well pleased that her\nhusband was so favorably inclined to hear, and expressed himself so\ncordially. While she was quite independent in her own way of thinking,\nit was still a keen pleasure to have her husband on the same side. He,\non the other hand, had great confidence in her judgment, and generally\nallowed himself to be convinced, even if he had an opinion in the\nbeginning. They had been especially near to each other the last year.\n\nMiss Greening was mentally congratulating herself on having found such a\nready audience, and felt as though she could do anything in the way of\nhealing, as she talked on and on, telling them the many things that had\nhappened in Princeton. She finished by saying, enthusiastically:\n\n\"When I had such wonderful proofs right before my eyes, do you wonder\nthat I looked with awe and astonishment and wanted to know the secret\nof this power? Can you wonder that I felt anxious to go forth into all\nthe world and preach the gospel? Oh, how delightful, I thought, to carry\nsuch blessed news and be able to give such blessed proof! So when Cousin\nRuth's letter came, asking me to make her a visit, I felt that perhaps\nan opportunity would offer in which I might demonstrate the truth of my\nprecious science, and here it is ready for me, the very work I wanted.\nYes, just as far as possible will I use my knowledge, though as yet it\nis but little, to help Mrs. Hayden.\"\n\nMiss Greening had waxed eloquent in her unconscious enthusiasm, and\nseeing the whole company gazing at her in astonished admiration, she\npaused suddenly, with a vivid flush on her face, saying: \"Pardon me. I\ndid not mean to monopolize the conversation.\"\n\n\"That apology is entirely unnecessary, for we have been listening to\nsomething so new that its very newness and unconventionality is quite\nrefreshing, and certainly interesting,\" said Mr. Hayden, warmly.\n\n\"Surely, there must be some healing virtue even in your talk, for I feel\nremarkably well to-day,\" was his wife's delighted addition.\n\n\"How glad, oh, how glad I am,\" fluttered Mrs. Reade.\n\nA movement from Jem caused Mrs. Hayden to notice his extra dish of sauce\nand huge piece of frosted cake.\n\n\"No, Jem, dear, you mustn't eat any more to-night, and you know mamma\ndon't want you to have any cake.\"\n\n\"O-o-o-h, peaze, tan't I have some more?\"\n\n\"Not any more to-day. You know you had to be sick all night, not long\nago, and mamma had to give you some medicine. You don't want to have to\ntake paregoric, do you?\"\n\n\"No-o-o, but I want e take!\"\n\n\"Mamma said you couldn't have any. You're too little, anyway. Didn't I\ntell you I ought to have the biggest piece 'cause my stomach's the\nbiggest, an' I'm not afraid of stomachache. Give me your sauce, if you\ncan't eat it,\" said shameless Fred.\n\nPapa and mamma Hayden looked upon their oldest son in dismay, as he thus\nopenly delivered his sentiments.\n\n\"Hush, Freddie, you mustn't want any more, either, nor talk that way to\nJem. You have had enough for to-night.\"\n\n\"Well, I've had six biscuits any way,\" and Fred settled himself back\nwith a satisfied air as though he could stand anything if necessary,\nwhile poor Jem was taken away from the table crying as if his heart\nwould break at the loss of his coveted sweets.\n\n\"You see, we seldom have company, and the children are unused to sweet\nthings as a rule, because the doctor always says their diet must be\ncarefully attended to, in order to avoid inflammation of the bowels,\nwhich Jem once had,\" explained Mrs. Hayden with the old look of\nweariness for a moment settling back on her face.\n\n\"Just wait till you have studied Christian Healing and then see how to\nmanage,\" said Mrs. Reade with sparkling eyes.\n\n\"Have you taken such a fancy to this too, Mrs. Reade?\" asked Mr. Hayden,\nrather teasingly.\n\n\"Oh, she's almost a crank _now_,\" answered her husband, with a merry\ntwinkle.\n\n\"Well, it is very good to have such an article in the family. It keeps\nthings lively and announces the world's progress with unerring\ncertainty,\" she retorted, and with this good-natured sally they rose\nfrom the table. The evening was spent in a mixture of small talk and\nearnestness, and before they departed Mrs. Hayden received her first\ntreatment.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n  \"Like an AEolian harp, that wakes\n   No certain air, but overtakes\n   Far thought with music that it makes,--\n\n  \"Such seemed the whisper at my side;\n  'What is't thou knowest, sweet voice?' I cried;\n  'A hidden hope,' the voice replied.\"\n\n  --_Tennyson._\n\n\nThe second morning after this Mrs. Hayden awoke, feeling much better\nthan she had for months. A strange, happy feeling possessed her. All\nthat had seemed dark and hopeless now appeared as nothing but gossamer\nfog-wreaths. The world seemed so joyous and beautiful. God seemed so\nnear, so loving, so all-protecting. Why had she ever doubted the\npossibility of health? Surely it was easy to feel well when she felt\nhappy; and yet, would this last? Had this delightful change any\nconnection with Miss Greening's treatment? No, surely not. It would be\ntoo unreasonable to expect any benefit so soon; besides, she was\nprobably no better physically, that is, her lameness and dyspepsia were\nnot touched as yet, if indeed they ever could be. Well, how it would\nastonish everybody if she really were cured, and could walk like her old\nself again. Her stiffened limb would have to undergo a marvelous change,\nbut time would tell--it seemed nothing was beyond reach of this\nextraordinary Power. Miss Greening was so sincere and earnest, she could\nnot for a moment doubt the truth of her statements, besides Mr. Hayden\nhimself confessed to having heard of the wonderful works, though he had\nnever mentioned it before, strangely enough. At the time it probably\nappeared so vague and visionary, that he had thought best not to excite\nher curiosity and hope without cause.\n\nHow glad she was that he had at last allowed her to try this without\nridiculing or scolding her. How beautiful this theory was, but it seemed\ntoo good to be true. She would not be carried away with it until she had\ndemonstrated beyond doubt, until she could see the reason and understand\nit.\n\nThe clock struck nine. Why, it was time to rise, and she really felt\nhungry, so hungry that dry toast and hot water had no attractions for\nher. She wondered if there would be anything on the table she dared not\neat; it would be hard to resist if there were. Thus musing she dressed\nwith more alacrity and energy than she had displayed for many months.\n\nHer husband stood in the doorway as she left her room, and remarked as\nthey went down stairs:\n\n\"You must have had a good sleep last night, you are so bright and spry\nthis morning.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, I can scarcely remember when the night has passed so\nquickly and the morning seemed so exhilarating; please help me down this\nturn, won't you? It is always so hard to get down stairs.\"\n\nThe cane was brought into requisition, and with Mr. Hayden's help the\nstairs were descended, but the refractory limb was forgotten again in\nthe interest with which she viewed the breakfast table.\n\n\"Mamma, we've waited and waited till we thought we'd have to eat\nsomething, so we each took a doughnut to save time,\" was the explanatory\ngreeting of Fred, who acted as spokesman for the three hungry culprits,\nwho had this time, at least, disobeyed the imperative injunction not to\neat cake the first thing in the morning.\n\n\"Why, children, don't you remember how Dr. Jackson--\"\n\n\"Well, mamma, I heard that lady 'at was here, say 'twouldn't hurt us to\neat if you wasn't so 'fraid 'bout our stomachs; an' she's a doctor, too,\nan' ladies know 's much 's men, 'cos you said so,\" interrupted the\nirrepressible, as usual, with unanswerable argument.\n\n\"Well, we'll see this time, but you must be more careful to remember\nwhat mamma wishes you to do,\" said Mrs. Hayden more mildly than usual,\nwhile her eyes smiled a little.\n\nThe breakfast was brought in, and, much to the astonishment of all, she\nrecklessly disregarded the dry toast and hot water, mutely appealing to\nher from the side of her plate, and ate heartily of beefsteak, potatoes,\nand pan cakes. \"I am so hungry, and will risk it on the strength of\nFred's reminder,\" she apologized, as she sent her plate the third time\nfor cakes.\n\n\"Don't tell me you've no faith in Fred's newly-acquired wisdom,\" laughed\nMr. Hayden, and then added, with some concern, \"but, really, my dear,\nyou ought to be careful. Remember the condition of your stomach.\"\n\n\"That is just what she told me to forget.\"\n\n\"Well, it beats all how things can be turned upside down,\" mused Mr.\nHayden, as he rose from the table preparatory to going to the store.\n\n\"It certainly is strange about this, for you remember yesterday, I even\nwalked over to Mrs. Reade's and back without any unusual fatigue.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes! I've noticed various daring breaches of the old code, and,\nmore than all, I've seen the best color in your face that has been there\nfor many a month,\" and he went out with a thoughtful expression on his\nface.\n\n\"Mamma's well now,\" said little Jem, timidly, \"'cos she puts me to bed.\"\n\n\"Yes, an' we can make a noise when we dress, an' talk 'bout Christmas,\"\nadded Fred, as he was walking about, wiping his hands, in his usual\nrestless manner.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n  \"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,\n  Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.\"--_Shakespeare._\n\n\nOf course Kate and Grace were told about the new way of being healed,\nand Grace looked on at first with her usual incredulity, but when she\nsaw Mrs. Hayden getting so well and looking so happy, she began to\nwonder and then to exclaim. Then she wanted to learn something about\nthis new \"doctrine,\" and Mrs. Hayden had Miss Greening come over and\nmeet the girls one evening so they could hear her explain a little about\nit. Grace was delighted, saying that was more reasonable than anything\nshe had ever heard.\n\n\"I really should like to learn it,\" she said for the third time as they\nwalked home.\n\n\"Why, you are really enthusiastic about it,\" said Kate, giving the\nartistic arm a gentle squeeze.\n\n\"I must confess, Kate, that it is nearer my idea of religion than\nanything I ever heard, and it _is_ marvelous to see Mrs. Hayden. Did you\nsee how bright she looked to-night? More like her old self than since\nher sickness. I can't understand it.\"\n\n\"She said her limb was actually growing natural again so she could bend\nit,\" added Kate.\n\n\"If _she_ could be cured, it would be a wonderful demonstration or proof\nof the theory,\" remarked Grace.\n\n\"Oh, I don't know, Grace, I am afraid, after all, it might be wrong.\nYou know it says in the Bible we are to beware of false doctrines, and\nthe miracles of anti-Christ, and this may be that very thing,\" said\nKate, with a sudden smiting of conscience and reproaching herself that\nshe had not thought of this before. She had been brought up a strict\nMethodist, but had grown rather careless of religious matters, till all\nat once she realized the mighty import of her backsliding.\n\n\"I don't think if there is such a thing, it could do so much good, and\ngood power must come from the God of goodness,\" answered Grace, with\nunusual gentleness. They walked on in silence, each pondering her own\nthoughts.\n\nThree weeks after, Mrs. Hayden was known as a restored invalid, was\ndaily answering a thousand questions as to how it was done. Was it\nreally so? Could she walk as well as ever? Didn't she get tired? Had she\nany faith after all? etc.\n\nShe patiently told them the truth of the matter, that her limb had\nbecome well and pliable as ever, that her stomach was perfectly sound,\nher head free from nervous aching, her nights a joyous rest and her days\na round of delightful labor.\n\nFor the first time she learned there had been many cures, and several\nclasses taught in Hampton, but no case had excited the attention, public\nand private, that hers had.\n\nThe various members of society wagged their wise heads, and cast mingled\nglances of pity, wonder, ridicule or disdain upon the poor deluded\nvictim of the \"latest humbug.\" Even the select circles heard of it as a\nreport finally reached the daily paper, which appeared with a glaring\nhead and ridiculous comments.\n\nOne of the weeklies contented itself by reprinting a scathing\ndenunciation from a prominent religious paper. Another contained\nclippings from an Iowa paper giving an account of the arrest and trial\nof a so-called Christian Scientist for illegal practice. But it failed\nto add that \"the judge instructed the jury to return a verdict for the\ndefendant,\" remarking that \"under the constitution and laws of Iowa it\nis no crime for a person to pray for his afflicted neighbor.\"\n\nAmong the worthy M. D.'s, a miniature storm arose and spent itself in\nthe characteristic fashion of storms, now carrying everything before it,\nin its impetuous fury, now quietly subsiding into a ripple of\ncondescending concession, or languid comment, now breaking out with\nrenewed force into explosive epithets or vindictive rage.\n\nDr. Crouse expressed his astonishment that anybody should have the\naudacity to practice medicine without a diploma, as this woman evidently\ndid, and demanded that the authorities enforce the law at once with the\nutmost rigor--. \"Such quacks ought to be dealt with without mercy, as an\nexample to other upstarts!\" and with an angry growl the doctor\nrecklessly spat the whole width of the sidewalk.\n\nDr. Jones admitted that the mind had a great deal to do with the body,\nand possibly this mind cure might help nervous prostration or hysterical\nwomen, but if Mrs. Hayden's limb was healed, depend upon it, the\nmedicine taken all those months was the cause.\n\nDr. Bundy considered the matter too absurd to even mention.\n\nDr. Hone went up and down the streets, loudly denouncing such \"humbugs,\"\nwhile his partner, Lapland, laughed at the preposterous idea of learning\nall about materia medica in three weeks! \"It is simply ridiculous, sheer\nnonsense! Ha, ha, ha!\" and the office fairly shook at the outburst of\nmerriment.\n\nOn the other hand, Dr. Wilson was deeply interested, and went so far as\nto call on Miss Greening, and to her he frankly admitted there was an\nunaccountable power in the mind some way, and if it did the work for\nsuffering humanity he was quite ready to welcome it, and anxious, for\nhis part, to investigate the matter.\n\nKind, liberal Dr. Jackson, Mrs. Hayden's former family physician, shook\nhis head wonderingly, but said nothing. He was a careful thinker and\nneeded time for his conclusions, but as every one well knew, he had the\nfriendliest, most charitable heart that ever was, and very candid,\nwithal, in his judgments, and fair in his investigations. So in time\nthey would know what he thought. It was whispered about that he had\nalready invested in some books, and was quietly studying Christian\nHealing in his leisure moments.\n\nAmong the churches no less of a tumult raged. Rev. Rush preached a\nstirring sermon about the evil days in which even the very elect should\nbe deceived by the miracles of anti-Christ, and warned his hearers\nagainst being beguiled.\n\nRev. Long openly denounced Christian Healing as but another form of\nspiritualism, and admonished his flock to beware of ravening wolves.\n\nRev. Morton mildly preached about being steadfast to the old faith,\navoiding investigation in anything new, while from the gentle,\nspiritually minded Prof. Mill was heard an eloquent disquisition on the\npromises and the all-abiding power of God.\n\nAll shades and phases of ministerial sentiments were expressed, and\nwhatever was grand and Christ-like sprang up as dainty, fragrant\nblossoms amid the wayside weeds of falsity and Pharisaical bigotry.\n\nThe ladies' sewing societies discussed the subject to its fullest extent\nwith widely varying opinions, some exclaiming with wonder and awe that\nit certainly must be a higher power that would perform such miracles;\nothers that it was nothing but mesmerism. A few reverently expressed\ntheir conviction that Mrs. Hayden was extremely fortunate to be chosen\nfor such a favor, while still others of quite a contrary mind declared\nit was nothing more nor less than the devil, who was stealthily taking\npossession of the weak.\n\nOne timid little woman ventured to say that it could not be Satan, for\nhe was never known to do anything good. Another said there must be\nsomething uncanny about it, for she had experienced the most peculiar\nsensations when shaking hands with Mrs. Hayden.\n\nMrs. Dyke had waited for a more practical time to give her opinion, and\nnow she concluded the whole matter for herself, at least, by saying in a\nmost practical way:\n\n\"It is the devil's work from first to last, and I am not surprised that\nthat woman, Mrs. Hayden, has got into his clutches, for she never did\nher duty to the church, and such people can't expect he will always let\nthem go their own way. Christian Healing has no right to its name or its\npretentions. It is only the magician's rod, and I, for one, don't\npropose to look at it,\" with which profound announcement she went to the\nother room to oversee her charge of sewing girls.\n\n\"Oh, how righteous we are!\" giggled one very young lady, with a mock\nlook of reverence.\n\n\"Well, now, see here ladies!\" declared Mrs. Grant, another \"practical\"\nwoman, but of a different type from Mrs. Dyke, \"we may as well look at\nthis matter in a sensible and candid light. Here are the facts: Mrs.\nHayden is a lovely and reliable woman. She has, as we all know, suffered\neverything from her headaches and dyspepsia, besides the limb that was\nbroken at the fire. We see her well, and ought to believe what she says.\nThey often say, 'Truth is stranger than fiction.' An example has come to\nour door, and why should we refuse to believe, when the proof is so\nplain? For my part, I can believe though I do not understand, and I want\nto know what there is in Christian Healing.\"\n\nMrs. Grant had spoken, and as she usually did, turned the tide of\nthought in her direction.\n\n\"Why, yes, we all want to know if there is anything in it, but there is\nan if--\"\n\n\"_If!_ There it is again! I've no patience with people who always tumble\nover an _if_. You can bar the very gates of heaven with that nipping\nlittle word. It means doubt, and doubt is the destroyer of faith which\nwe _must_ have in this world, if we live at all.\"\n\nMrs. Grant unwittingly preached a little sermon, which not only served\nto quell the confusion, but gave them a helpful thought to carry home.\nScattering good seed seemed to be her mission, and many a good word\ndropped into fruitful soil, and took its time to bring forth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n     \"Soul, receive into thyself the warm and radiant life of heaven, to\n     breathe it out again as spiritual fragrance over other lives, and\n     so change this wilderness-world into the garden of the Lord! This\n     is the lovely moral which hides within the roses of June, and makes\n     more than half their sweetness.\"--_Lucy Larcom._\n\n\nAnd Mrs. Hayden? The old expressions of joy seemed utterly inadequate to\ndescribe her feelings. It seemed that she was veritably dreaming of\nheaven, such a sense of largeness, of freedom, had come over her, so\nmuch wider was her horizon, so much more clearly could she see and\nunderstand the hard questions that had always puzzled her, and yet she\nhad, as it were, just come to the edge of the beautiful flower-dotted,\ndew-besprinkled field that seemed spreading out before her. So long\nhopeless, so long hungry as she had been after this taste, she only\nhungered the more. Wonderingly she looked at herself walking about\nwithout pain; with an elastic step and the springing freshness of\nhealth; wonderingly she remembered the dull, nervous throbbing\nheadaches, contrasted with the refreshing clearness, the joyous comfort\nand peace of mind which made thinking a tonic, and labor a luxury.\n\nWhat a glorious strength of exhiliration seemed flowing in to her with\nevery breath; how it expanded and thrilled her with its power! If this\nwas life, what joy to live, to know and feel the gladness and beauty of\nGod's beautiful world, and it must not be for her alone, but for all\nhungering, thirsting mankind. She must impart it to those who had been\nsuffering and helpless like herself. It was even now flowing into her\nown family. Although Miss Greening had given her but the first and\nfundamental principles of the method, she had in many instances already\ndemonstrated their worth and power. It soon grew to be a regular matter\nof course to treat every one in the family who seemed in need of a\nremedy for anything.\n\nMr. Hayden had frequently come home with neuralgia in his face, but\nafter one or two attacks the unwelcome intruder vanished. The family\nmedicine case, which had recently been replenished for the winter, was\nleft to its own devices, and dust gathered on the necks and shoulders of\nthe cough remedies, paregoric and hive syrup bottles, until they would\nhave looked quite pitiful in their desertion, if anybody had seen them.\nJamie's one attack of croup yielded more readily to his mother's silent\ntreatments than it ever had to hive syrup, and it was with a deep\nthankfulness, not unmixed with awe, that Mr. and Mrs. Hayden felt their\nlittle one at last free from his old, dreaded enemy. Never before had\nthe children been so free from colds or ailments common to childhood, as\nthis winter. Never before had there been such a seemingly reckless\ncarelessness in wrapping them up, keeping them out of the draughts, or\nletting them eat just what was on the table.\n\n\"Why, it is like living in another world altogether,\" said Mr. Hayden,\nenthusiastically to one of the neighbors. \"The children are so much\nhappier, quieter, more peaceable. I tell you, it is like getting free\nfrom prison to come into this way of living, and my wife is getting\nstronger all the time. Of course you want it,\" he continued. \"Come over\nsome time, and we'll tell you more about it.\" Saying good night he\nwalked away, leaving his friend to wonder if the entire family had not\nturned lunatics.\n\nEnwrapped in the seamless robe of Truth, the sharp winds of worldly\ncriticism seldom reach us, because we are no longer susceptible to their\nsharpness. A gentle mildness beams from every face, for beyond the veil\nof outward appearances we learn to discern the pure, perfect holiness of\nGod's child--the divinity behind the bars. Not, however, till we know\nhow to put on this wondrous robe are we invulnerable.\n\nAlthough Mrs. Hayden had learned much and lived much in these last few\nmonths, there came a time, as the summer drew near, when it seemed that\neverything was slipping away from her. Not her health, except that her\nold headache occasionally threatened her, but things did not seem as\nclear to her. Many problems were only in a partial state of solution,\nand a vague dissatisfaction, a helpless discouragement took possession\nof her at times, very hard to bear, especially when contrasted with the\nlight she felt had so long guided her. Of late even her treatments\nseemed almost fruitless. Her old-time impatience had manifested itself\non several occasions, and one warm June morning she went about her work\nin a decidedly old-fashioned mood.\n\nIt was Monday, and in addition to the washing to be seen to, the little\nextra help to be rendered the girl, her husband had sent her a large\ncase of strawberries to be put up, manlike, forgetting that this day at\nleast was full. She was hastening to get them ready before the dinner\nhour, and the \"picking up\" of the sitting-room, so essential Monday\nmornings, had been left till a more convenient season.\n\nMabel had gone to school, while Jamie and Fred were playing in the sand\nin the back yard.\n\nWith her hands in the berries, and her thoughts busily engaged, she was\nsuddenly roused from her reverie by the noisy entrance of Fred, who just\ncame in for a drink of water. As he turned to go out, he threw his arms\naround his mother's neck and gave her a boy's impetuous hug, and a kiss\nthat ought to have rejoiced any mother's heart, but this morning it\nannoyed her. \"Run away, now; mamma hasn't time this morning,\" and she\npushed him impatiently away. Just then the door bell rang, and Fred\nsprang to answer it. In another moment he ushered into her presence a\nshabbily dressed, poor, miserable looking woman, who immediately asked\nfor a drink of water. \"I can get it,\" said the ready Fred. While he was\ngone, the woman began her request:\n\n\"Plaze, Ma'am, would you be wantin' some garters to-day? They are\nwarranted by the very man as made 'em. My boy is layin' sick, and his\nfather is dead, and all my health has been took away carin' for him, and\na friend of mine, she has been in this business a long time, and says\nit's very good some days, and she let me take her place to-day, so if\nyou could take a pair or two to-day it would be very thankful I'd be,\nand I'm sure this boy would need a pair; they are only 25 cents, and\nwill just fit; ain't they nice, my boy?\" She poured her story out, as\nthough there were no end to it, as she held up some brilliant red and\nblue elastics that quite dazzled Fred, who claimed them at once.\n\n\"I have not time to examine and choose this morning, and Fred, you do\nnot need them now,\" said Mrs. Hayden, with some annoyance in her tone.\n\n\"Now, mamma, you didn't see my old ones, they ain't red and blue, nor\nstretchy, an' my stockin's come down all the time. See how wrinkly they\nare,\" and he held up a dusty little shoe with a sadly demoralized\nstocking above it, rich in holes as well as wrinkles. The stocking had\nbeen torn on a nail, he volubly explained. In his excitement Fred raised\nhis voice, thus summoning Jamie to the scene with a rush that upset the\ndish of berries just picked over.\n\n\"_I_ didn't mean to, and I can pick them up again,\" and he swept his\ndirty little hands into the soft mushy pile, gathering berries, dust,\nstems or whatever happened to be in the way, dashing the miscellaneous\nmess into the clean berries that had escaped.\n\n\"Jamie, you careless child! how can you be so naughty? Go and wash your\nhands this minute! Fred, leave those things and stay out with Jamie, I\ncan not have you around when there is so much to do!\" and with an\nimpatient gesture she brushed Jamie aside and began sorting the berries\nas best she could.\n\nFred started toward her with the elastics, saying:\n\n\"But, mamma, you haven't looked yet;\"\n\n\"Well, you see my hands are full, and I can tell you just as well\nwithout looking.\"\n\n\"You always tell me to do as I am told,\" pouted Fred as he reluctantly\ndeparted.\n\nMrs. Hayden was ashamed and yet reckless with discouragement, and\nscarcely noticed the anxious pedlar, who stood waiting for some decisive\nword from her.\n\n\"I have no use for the supporters at present,\" she said at last. But as\nshe noticed the look of despair slowly settling on the woman's face, she\nadded, \"but, if you are in such distress, I will let you leave two\npairs. Take the 50 cents lying there on the shelf,\" pointing to the\nplace. The woman was very grateful and soon went away with a brighter\nface.\n\nFor a long time after she was gone, her picture remained in Mrs.\nHayden's remorseful memory, though she put it away as much as possible\nand went on with her work. Jamie and Fred had quarreled several times,\nbut even in peace, the fires of war were likely to burst out afresh, for\nit was always so when she felt this way.\n\nAs Mrs. Hayden sat in her own room that evening, reviewing the events of\nthe day, which seemed the culmination of many days, it seemed that the\nMarion Hayden who had been so happy these last few months, improving in\nhealth and strength and ability to live a more useful life, and the\nMarion Hayden who had so miserably disgraced herself to-day, were far\napart--in fact irretrievably separated. Where, indeed, had gone her\npower of self-control, her wisdom and tact in governing the children?\nWhy had she so harshly told Fred to run away from her when the dear\nchild was only showing his affection according to his own nature? Such\nan active, impulsive yet loving child must be wisely dealt with, and she\nhad often realized that with Fred, love must be the governing power, not\nforce. To give way as she had to-day would be to lose her influence over\nhim, not only because of repulsing the child himself, but because his\ncritical eyes noticed every weakness and failure in her, to live up to\nher own code of morals laid down for him to follow.\n\nHer accusing conscience asked why she had not questioned and tried to\nhelp that poor woman who, with all her ignorance, was doing the best she\ncould, to solve life's problem.\n\nAfter all, what had she, Marion Hayden, to offer the world while she had\nnot yet conquered herself?\n\nOh, the bitterness of regret, the repining for wasted moments and lost\nopportunities! but here she was in her old groove of thought. Could she\nnot try the new way, now that she so sorely needed it?\n\nShe would try; she would begin to look on the other side of these\nquestions. She _would_ regain her footing in spite of her humiliating\ndownfall, although there might still be a lingering sense of shame over\nher defeat.\n\nLater, her husband came home. He tossed her a paper saying: \"Here is\nsomething that will clear you up. Read it aloud. I just glanced over it,\nand found it very good.\" He threw himself upon the sofa, waiting for\nher to begin. Mechanically she took up the paper.\n\n\"'The Ubiquity of Good;' is this the article?\"\n\n\"Yes, there are several just as strong as that one.\"\n\n\"Oh, I see; yes--I can hardly wait to read aloud,\" she exclaimed,\nrunning her eyes over the pages, instantly imbibing the spirit of the\nwriter. She began with an awakening interest which increased till she\nwas fairly electrified with delight.\n\nHer husband looked at her in astonishment although it had much the same\neffect on him. \"I thought you needed something like that;\" he said,\nsitting bolt upright and looking at her. \"You see, Marion, if you could\nonly be as enthusiastic all the time as that woman is, you could do the\nworks that she does, and be as positive too.\"\n\n\"I know it, and if I understood as well as she does, it would be\ndifferent, but I know so little comparatively. Oh, if I could take\nlessons of the teacher she had--just listen, she says: 'I have just had\nthe privilege of going through a class in metaphysics taught by one who\nis conceded to be the best teacher in the world,' but,\" continued Mrs.\nHayden, \"I've looked all over the paper and can't find the name of the\nteacher; queer, isn't it? Mayn't I subscribe for this paper, John, and I\nwill ask her who this teacher is, when I send the subscription?\"\n\n\"Well, yes, I think if you could get the benefit from every number you\nhave from that, it would be money well invested,\" replied Mr. Hayden. In\nfact he was as much interested in this subject as she, and desired her\nto \"go to the bottom of it,\" as he expressed it.\n\nThat night she retired with a new hope. If others could learn and\ndemonstrate and keep, why could not she?\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n     \"Oh, thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest\n     bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create, know\n     this of a truth, the thing thou seekest is already with thee, 'here\n     or nowhere,' couldst thou only see!\"--_Carlyle._\n\n\nThe very next morning the letter was written and the money sent for the\nnew paper.\n\nMrs. Reade came over on one of her bird-like errands, and of course,\nmust hear something of the great help that had come so unexpectedly.\n\n\"How fortunate it came just now, for I have noticed several weeks you\nhave been losing courage, and as for myself, I don't seem to know what\nto do in any case any more,\" she exclaimed, after hearing a few extracts\nread from the paper. \"Now you will find out who the teacher is and--\"\n\n\"I shall go away to take lessons as soon as possible,\" interrupted Mrs.\nHayden. \"Yes, I must go,\" she continued, \"and see what there is in it. I\nhave already experienced too much physically and spiritually to be able\nto give it up.\"\n\n\"Indeed, you have certainly had as much of a proof as one could wish. If\nI could only do as much as you have, I should feel that it would be\nbetter to go without many other things rather than this.\"\n\nMrs. Reade forgot that she had been able to keep little May in perfect\nhealth; that she herself had ceased worrying over trifles and learned to\nmake the best of everything. To her, the change had been so gradual\nthat she hardly knew in what it consisted. In the meetings held by the\nfew who were interested she had, unconsciously almost, given many\nglimpses of her private efforts and success, which showed how faithfully\nshe used what light she had.\n\n\"I wonder what Mrs. Grant would say to this,\" she resumed, after looking\nover the paper. \"I think she ought to take this paper, too. Of course, I\nexpect to read yours,\" with an arch smile.\n\n\"As you certainly may, I will let you have this number this afternoon; I\ncan't spare it yet. You can't imagine the abyss I fell into yesterday.\nIt seemed that I had not only lost the ability to hold myself up, but\nthe self respect that would help to regain my footing.\"\n\n\"'It is always darkest before the dawn', they say,\" quoted Mrs. Reade,\nmerrily, \"and now the dawn of our delivery is at hand, we shall know\nwhat to do before the twilight comes again. But I came after your jelly\nmold and must not stand here all day talking about things so utterly\nunlike--well, good-bye! I can hardly tear myself away when I talk with\nyou,\" and she ran out with a gay smile.\n\nNearly every week these last few months Mrs. Hayden, Mrs. Reade, Mrs.\nGrant and occasionally one or two others had met to read and talk on the\nall-absorbing topic and gain confidence and strength by an exchange of\nideas and experiences; but they knew not how to draw from the fountain\nof knowledge itself, and while they had learned much and gained much,\nthere was a lack which, in the moment of trial, they knew not how to\nsupply.\n\nIn a few days Mrs. Hayden received the coveted information as to the\nidentity of the wonderful teacher, and that she was to teach several\nclasses in Marlow, only two hundred miles away, which quite set her on\nfire with impatience to go at once.\n\nBut circumstances were not propitious. There were many details to be\narranged, much to be considered. What should be done with the children?\nCould she afford it? What could she wear? In her eagerness she could\nhave overcome every obstacle within an hour, but her better judgment\ntold her to be patient a little longer, a decision her husband quite\napproved.\n\nIn the meantime she tried to live more faithfully up to the light she\nhad received, but the first flush of faith that had brought forth the\nworks, seemed gone, and she knew not how to bring it back. Not that she\nwas not just as earnest, not that she had lost a whit of her faith or\ninterest, but the fire of impulse, unclouded by doubt, had disappeared.\nShe thought about it every leisure moment, but concluded at last to let\ngo such intense effort that must necessarily be blind, and live more in\nthe \"holy carelessness of the eternal Now,\" as George MacDonald so\nbeautifully expressed it in his book she was reading.\n\nIn one respect she fared as comparatively few women do, who hunger after\nspiritual things; she had her husband's full sympathy and co-operation.\nAfterward, when she had seen more of the world and knew more about other\nwomen's lives, she realized the value of it, realized that without it\nshe would have starved before she could have feasted. Oh, the sweet\ninfluence of a sympathy that unites and harmonizes two natures, no\nmatter how opposite in character and tendencies.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n     \"As out of a dream, paths impossible to sense and every day show\n     plain and sudden transit into distant places, so from your shut\n     souls widens out an entrance way into God's everlasting joy!\"\n\n     --_A. D. T. Whitney._\n\n\nAt last the time came. She was to go for the last class in Marlow. The\nlast problem as to what to be done while she was gone had been solved.\nThe children were to be under the kind care of Anna, who agreed to do\nher best in looking after them.\n\nMrs. Hayden's wardrobe had received the necessary additions, the\nquestion of affording was not asked again, for it was like asking if she\ncould afford food or clothing.\n\nIt meant a great deal to her, going out in the world to get this\nwonderful knowledge. It was a new way of seeking the kingdom of heaven,\nand it must surely teach the right knock that would open the door. The\nlittle light that had already come to her proved that, for never before\nin all her years of hungry longing had she been so well fed, so visibly\nnourished. Surely her soul could not be mistaken in thus dictating her\nquest.\n\n\"It seems too good to be true, John, that there _is_ a way and that I am\ngoing to find it,\" she said a few days before she went away.\n\n\"I am very glad, dear Marion, for your sake, that you are so happy in\nthis. It certainly is a beautiful religion as far as we can understand\nit.\"\n\n\"Yes, the very thing we tried so hard to find during all those years of\ndarkness, and I have begun to actually feel thankful for our\nmisfortunes, because it seems they have led us into this knowledge. What\nwould we have known or cared for Miss Greening, had we been living in\nthe mansion on the hill? Or what would we have believed, even if we had\nread something about Christian Healing?\"\n\n\"It is hard to tell, but if you are content I am, wifie, although I\nshould like the old home again.\"\n\nLike many others he was able to appreciate the material good things, but\nknew not that the material are but emblems or symbols of the spiritual.\n\n\"We shall possess something far better than all the palaces and kingdoms\nof the earth, if we get this 'pearl of great price.' I know now what it\nmeans for the rich to hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. It is because\nthey are so satisfied in their rich possessions they feel they have\neverything worth having and need nothing more. That very indifference\nand apathy keeps them from getting spiritual treasures.\"\n\n\"How true that is, Marion,\" said her husband, stroking his mustache\nthoughtfully.\n\nJust then the door bell rang and the girl presently ushered Grace and\nKate into the room.\n\n\"Why, how do you do? I am more than glad to see you,\" said Mrs. Hayden,\nwarmly grasping a hand in each of hers.\n\n\"It is such a lovely evening that we felt we should like a walk, and as\nwe generally gravitate toward your house, here we are,\" said Kate,\nlaying aside her hat.\n\n\"Do you know I am going to Marlow to take the Christian Healing\nlessons?\" asked Mrs. Hayden, with a bright smile, as they were cosily\nseated for their chat.\n\n\"Are you, really? I am so glad, Mrs. Hayden,\" said Grace. \"When are you\ngoing?\"\n\n\"Monday, on the afternoon train, and I shall be gone three weeks. It\nseems a long time now, but I hope it will be so profitable and pleasant\nthat it will not seem long while it is passing.\"\n\nKate looked very grave. Finally she said: \"Well, Mrs. Hayden, I am sorry\nyou are going.\"\n\n\"Why?\" exclaimed Mrs. Hayden.\n\n\"Why?\" echoed Grace, and the host looked the interrogation he did not\nverbally express.\n\n\"Because I am seriously afraid it is wrong. Just a few days ago I had a\ntalk with the minister, and he is very decided in his denunciation of\nit, saying it is plainly contrary to the teachings of the Bible, and I\nhave been reading an article this afternoon that is very convincing in\nits arguments against it. No, Grace, you needn't shake your head. I have\nbeen cowardly and lazy long enough about my religion, now I shall stand\nup for what I think is right, and I love Mrs. Hayden too well not to\nwarn her of what I believe to be a most dangerous heresy.\"\n\nShe had evidently nerved herself to say this, but her voice trembled\nwith earnestness, and when she finished there were tears in her eyes.\n\n\"I thank you, dear Kate, for your sincere regard, and appreciate your\nmotive most deeply, but of course, that can not change my mind now,\"\nsaid Mrs. Hayden, much touched.\n\n\"That, of course, is for you to decide, but I have suddenly realized my\nreligious responsibility as never before, and have been earnestly\nconsidering this matter. At first it seemed all right and very\nbeautiful, but I believe it is only the work of the devil to get people\ninto his net of wickedness.\"\n\nGrace was too astonished for speech; now she understood what Kate had\nmeant by her disinclination to talk on the subject since that night they\nhad heard Miss Greening. _Now_ her thoughtful spells were explained, as\nwell as her eager desire to come here to-night.\n\n\"I do not see why the ministers should oppose it as they do,\" said Mr.\nHayden, after a short silence.\n\n\"If you look back over the history you will find they opposed giving\nfreedom to the slaves; they opposed the temperance movement until it was\nforced upon them. Many of them now oppose woman's suffrage, though their\naudiences are often composed almost entirely of women. It seems a great\nmystery why they should oppose any of these good and necessary reforms,\nbut I think it is because they are only mortal men, and have many mortal\nfaults and a great deal of mortal ignorance,\" said Grace, recovering her\ntongue at last.\n\n\"It seems to me if everybody would read the words of Jesus and follow\nhis example they would never be harsh, or critical, or uncharitable, and\nabove all, they would not judge anybody or anything without a righteous\nreason. The whole burden of his teaching is expressed in the sentence:\n'Little children, love one another,'\" was Mrs. Hayden's opinion. Kate\nlooked at her gratefully.\n\n\"We would have a very different world if every one followed that law,\nand we have never heard a better one. The only difficulty is to know\n_how_ to follow it,\" added Mr. Hayden.\n\n\"We must know the whole truth if we would be free from all error, and we\ncan only get truth by earnestly seeking for it, is my firm conviction,\"\nsaid his wife.\n\n\"If the truth makes us free, certainly we ought to search for it, and as\nwe get it we can not be moved from our position, for by the nature of\ntruth it is forever the same. Imagine anybody telling me two times two\nare five. If they argued and talked forever they could not prove it, for\na lie can never be proved true.\"\n\n\"That's capital reasoning, Grace,\" exclaimed Mr. Hayden, admiringly.\n\n\"Then if these ministers are in the right,\" she continued, \"why should\nthey need to be so active and emphatic and malevolent, as they sometimes\nare, in their denunciation of what they call a lie, because if it is a\nlie, won't it prove itself? And if their position is assured, and the\ntruth must necessarily be assuring, since that is the essence and nature\nof it, if their position is assured, why is there any need of such\nresistance? Jesus plainly taught the _non_-resistance of evil, if I read\nmy Bible correctly this morning. I have been studying religion somewhat,\ntoo, the last few weeks,\" she concluded, glancing at Kate rather\napologetically.\n\n\"It would be well if we studied it a great deal more earnestly than we\nhave before,\" said Kate, flushing warmly.\n\n\"Well, Kate, isn't one of our best ways a thorough investigation of it?\"\n\n\"Yes, of course.\"\n\n\"Then I intend to look into Christian Healing at my earliest\nopportunity, and see what there is in it. If there is nothing, it can\nnot hurt me. If there is something, it will prove _itself_, and I shall\ngladly accept the help it gives,\" and Grace rested on her oars.\n\n\"I have a suggestion to make,\" said Mr. Hayden, \"and that is that Mrs.\nHayden write us a report of each day's lecture, and you can come down\nand we will read them together, or I can hand them to you after I have\nfinished them.\"\n\n\"Capital!\" exclaimed Grace. \"Will you do that, Mrs. Hayden?\"\n\n\"I will do the best I can, and be delighted. It will help me as well as\nyou; but they will be nothing but ordinary letters, for I would have\nneither the time nor the ability to write lectures.\" Then she added,\nturning to Kate, \"You will read them, too, won't you, dear? for I do\nwant you to understand that this is the true Christ-religion, and as\nGrace says, if it is true it will prove itself.\"\n\n\"I do not object to reading your letters; indeed shall be glad of the\nprivilege,\" replied Kate, with a deprecatory gesture.\n\n\"You must be sure and give us the practical part, so we can learn by\npractice as well as theory,\" said Mr. Hayden, playfully.\n\n\"Yes, and I will promise to be a faithful student, if that will be any\ninducement,\" added Grace; \"and I know Kathie will, too; won't you?\"\n\n\"Don't say any more, please. You all know I want what is true and good,\"\nshe replied, huskily.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt seemed hard to say the good-byes, even to go on this little trip.\nMrs. Hayden looked at the children and home through blinding tears as\nher husband helped her into the carriage. They did not say much as they\ndrove away to the depot, and both were deeply moved. There seemed such a\nmomentous meaning in this journey.\n\n\"You must promise to write often, John?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear Marion, and don't worry about us.\"\n\n\"I shall write every day, John, and I _do_ want you to grow with me.\nRead the lessons please, very carefully.\"\n\n\"Yes; good-bye.\"\n\nA kiss, and he was off. She waved her hand as the train started.\n\nLike a leaf on the rippling river, gently touching the stones or mosses\nin passing, but hurrying on to a broader outlook and a straighter\npathway, we float in the varying current of life, now dallying with\nyouth's pleasures and playfully touching the problems before us, then\nsent adrift by a deep desire to _know_, we go out on a voyage of\ndiscovery, and be the winds rough or gentle, we go on till harbored at\nlast.\n\nNor would we leave thee, gentle Truth. May thy voice guide and\nstrengthen and cheer; thy sweet knowledge be the lamp to our path; thy\nwords of wisdom our armor and shield, and all the sweet enchantment of\nthy presence be with us forevermore.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n  \"Our weary years of wandering o'er,\n  We greet with joy this radiant shore;\n  The promised land of liberty,\n  The dawn of freedom's morn we see.\n  O promised land, we enter in,\n  With 'peace on earth, good will to men,'\n  The 'Golden age' now comes again,\n  And breaking every bond and chain;\n  While every sect, and race and clime,\n  Shall equal share in this glad time.\"\n\n  --_E. B. Harbert._\n\n\nMrs. Hayden immediately sent a few words to her husband informing him of\nher safe arrival, but said nothing concerning her plans until later in\nthe week, she wrote:\n\n\"I attended a reception last night that gave me a good idea of the great\ninterest manifested in this new subject by people from all parts of the\ncountry as well as this great city. Many who have been attending a\nconvention of truth seekers this week were there, and I met, among\nothers, Mrs. Harmon. She is lovely, with such a sweet pleasant face and\nclear mild eyes. I do not wonder Miss Greening was charmed with her. We\nhad quite a chat about mental healing. She gave me an interesting\naccount of how she came into the work and what she is doing. I also met\nmany others. One thing noticeable about these people that seems\npeculiarly characteristic, was the bright, happy faces so full of repose\nand trustfulness contrasted with the dull, sluggish care-worn\nexpression of people in general. It really rests and cheers wonderfully\nto look upon countenances that carry the gospel of healing with them.\n\n\"After a pleasant social time, Mrs. Pearl, in whose honor the reception\nwas given, was called upon for an address, the substance of which is\nabout as follows:\n\n\"It is an unexpected pleasure as well as privilege to thus meet face to\nface so large a body of people who are working or desire to work for the\nuplifting and healing of humanity by this new yet old Christ-method.\n\n\"While there are so many thousands of the world's best workers engaged\nin lifting the burdens of sickness, sorrow and sin, there are none who\naccomplish more marvelous or speedy results than Christian healers.\nIndeed they have already demonstrated this philosophy to be a most\npowerful means of reclaiming the sinful and adjusting social relations\nas well as healing the sick.\n\n\"It already promises a better method of dealing with intemperance than\nthat of any other class of reformers. Why? Not because earnest, devoted\nwomen do not give time, labor and hearts' blood to the temperance cause;\nnot because wise, honest men are not doing their best with tongue and\npen, in legislative halls and political conventions, but because neither\nwomen nor men have learned the true principle of moral reform.\n\n\"The wise mother knows that the best way to keep her child from mischief\nis not to talk about his temptation but cause him to forget it by\nthinking of other and better things. She encourages him to do better by\nrecognizing his higher nature and showing him a better way. She\n'overcomes the evil with the good.' Thus his moral nature gradually\ngains ascendency over the lower. This, and this only is the true reform;\nbut the same mother fails to carry out the same principle with larger\nchildren. She must learn that the same management which corrects and\nimproves the child will correct and improve the sinner, for a sinner is\nonly a child of larger growth.\n\n\"Thus far, the world has been most attracted to the healing of bodily\nills, and all discomforts of the flesh, but the material demand is only\na forerunner or symbol of the spiritual, and the signs of the times are\neven now ready for the keenest readers. People are beginning to enquire\nif this wonderful power for healing the body can not be used for the\nhealing of vicious minds, the curing of depraved appetites.\n\n\"Since religious teachings and ethical lectures seem to be so inadequate\nto meet the crying need, why not try this new method which claims to be\na panacea for all ills, ask the moral philosophers.\n\n\"'The world moves slowly,' it is said, but the world awakes slowly, it\nshould be. We are ministering angels to one another, in our process of\nawakening. If we have not enough realization of truth to keep ourselves\nawake, some one comes along and wakes us up, by telling us more and we,\nin turn, wake some slumbering neighbor.\n\n\"Invisible and silent are the workings of Truth, and none may judge what\nbest teaches the law. None may know what has given this or that insight\ninto a broader truth, but all at once some one has the new light, and\nhastens to impart the knowledge.\n\n\"All effort for truth points to one end--Truth. All reforms, all\nreligions point to a higher standard of living, a clearer realization of\nthe highest and best, a broader vision of truth, a breaking away from\nthe false and a bringing about of the true.\n\n\"Mankind is conservative and must needs consider many things in many\nways. Old opinions are not easily relinquished because they are 'bone of\nour bone and flesh of our flesh' and not till we awake to spiritual as\nwell as intellectual knowledge, shall we realize that we are free--free\nto listen, learn and live.\n\n\"As in the history of every reform, we find opposition and persecution\nfacing the Christian healers, but as time goes on, even the unbelieving\nand conservative shall be brought to a knowledge of the truth. Many\nthings unaccepted and unestablished to-day shall be proverbial\nplatitudes of to-morrow.\n\n\"We who have a clearer vision of the better way, who are demonstrating\nour position with such wondrous signs, must realize more and more the\nimportance of the first and only law--the law of love. Judge not. Be a\nunit in Truth.\n\n\"We come together as many, but should go away as one. We now have\nthousands of Christian healers all over the country who are striving as\nnever before to live a higher life, to work for humanity according to\nthe Master's teachings, and it becomes us, as true disciples of such a\nleader to so live that we shall see the fulfillment of that blessed\npromise: 'Greater works than I, shall ye do.'\n\n\"Let us recognize the use and beauty of unity. Let us be as one, and\nthen, like the brave and faithful Joshua, we shall be able to break down\nthe walls of any Jericho.\n\n\"Christ followers, truth seekers, friends! Make use of the golden\nprivileges of to-day, use every moment for the furtherance of good, make\nevery silent thought or uttered word a stream of influence that shall\ncause the desert to blossom like the rose. Send your thoughts out to the\ngrand reformers, the women workers and the men workers, the tired\nmothers and the anxious fathers, the faithful teachers and the innocent\nchildren. Sow the seed diligently, no matter what the soil. Never mind\nthe coldness, the indifference, the slighting disparagements, for\nbye-and-bye will come the harvest. Do in all ways as you would be done\nby.\n\n  'Thou must be true thyself if thou the truth wouldst teach,\n  Thy soul must overflow with truth, the true results to reach.'\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n  \"One Holy Church of God appears\n    Through every age and race,\n  Unwasted by the lapse of years,\n    Unchanged by changing place.\n\n  \"From oldest time, on farthest shores,\n    Beneath the pine or palm,\n  One unseen Presence she adores,\n    With silence or with psalm.\n\n  \"Her priests are all God's faithful sons,\n    To serve the world raised up,\n  The pure in heart her baptized ones,\n    Love, her communion cup.\n\n  \"The Truth is her prophetic gift,\n    The soul her sacred page;\n  And feet on mercy's errand swift\n    Do make her pilgrimage.\"\n\n  --_Longfellow._\n\n\nThe next day Mr. Hayden, with great interest, read the letter containing\nthe first lecture, which was given the day after the reception reported\nin the last chapter. Pertaining to the lesson he read:\n\n\"How I wished you were with me yesterday, and could see the fifty eager\nfaces as they gathered in the class room and waited for Mrs. Pearl.\n\n\"Some sorrowful and careworn, some filled with the marks of suffering\nand pain, some hopeless and despairing, some careless and gay, some\nmerely curious, but all expectant and interested.\n\n\"It matters not with what varying motives a mass of people meet\ntogether, there is a common chord of sympathy, which, if rightly\ntouched, will cause the many to think and feel as one, and herein lies\nthe secret of a teacher's power. Mrs. Pearl has this faculty of\ngathering and holding the thoughts of her audience, and I could not help\nnoting the calm and satisfied expression as they went out after the\nlecture.\n\n\"The first lesson is about The True Foundation, and while much of it is\nwhat we have known and believed, it is stated in a new and interesting\nway. I will give it, as nearly as possible, in her own words:\n\n\"It is necessary to have a common premise in order to sustain a\nharmonious argument, and the first thing is to find a base or foundation\nfrom which and upon which to build. Our doctrine is to be established by\nsound reasoning and scientific argument, and we must go back to the\nbeginning and learn something about the First Cause of all things.\n\n\"In ancient times students devoted themselves to the study of pure\nreasoning, and they found that by putting themselves in harmony with\nFirst Cause, they attained a power, by certain lines of thought and\nthrough the speaking of words, to perform wondrous works, healing the\nsick, having dominion over all creation.\n\n\"They discovered the different results of speaking words of science,\nwhich are words of truth, and words of error or words contrary to\nreason. Right, true words brought forth right and true conditions to\neveryone around them, but deviation from this line of reason, would\nbring discord and trouble and undesirable conditions. These wise\nthinkers declared Mind to be the First Cause of all creation, and\nannounced the study of Mind and the words and ways of Mind, to be the\nprofoundest theme that could engage the attention of man.\n\n\"We find this philosophy and these conclusions corroborated by the\nBible, which we shall consider and prove to contain revelations of\nchangeless, eternal truth.\n\n\"Truth is universal, and whatever is true in one part of the universe\nmust be true in all parts. That which has been understood and conceded\nto be true in all ages and climes is what we call universal truth.\n\n\"Because the first chapter of Genesis, then, agrees in all essential\nparticulars with the accounts of other nations and among other peoples\nwe consider it universal truth.\n\n\"Because it is so beautiful, logical and spiritual, we revere it;\nbecause our own inner consciousness of truth agrees with its statements,\nwe concede it to be as accurate and reasonable an account of Creation as\nwe have, and we are therefore willing to use it as the basis of our\nargument.\n\n\"We read: 'In the beginning God created,' but a more literal and\nspiritual rendering would make the pivotal statement, 'God creates.' Now\nwe know there can be no beginning or end to Omnipotence, hence there\nmust be a continuous creating, and thus the term 'beginning' could only\nrefer to the manifestation of what had already been created. How was the\ncreation manifested? By the Word. 'God said, let there be light, and it\nwas so,' and by every 'God said,' was manifested the thing which He said\nwas to be.\n\n\"The word God is an abbreviation of the Anglo-Saxon of Good, the two\nwords in that language being identical. To many this will be an aid to\nrealizing the omnipresence God, and add to the reverential sense of that\npersonal nearness which makes the Deity a Father and an ever-loving\nFriend.\n\n\"God is not person as to form or personal limitations, yet personal in\nthe sense of Presence and intelligent communication with intelligent\nbeings. Jesus said truly, 'No man hath seen God at any time, because the\neye of the flesh cannot perceive spirit.' Through the quality or\ninfluence of Good, Intelligence, Love and all we may name as soulful, we\nperceive and feel God's presence.\n\n\"Thus in the spiritual sense, the 'pure in heart may see God.' We can,\ntoo, perceive the quality of God in Good, as we perceive the attributes\nof the sun in its light. As the light of the sun warms the dark earth,\nmaking it fruitful, so the divine Light (Intelligence), shining upon our\nearth nature, makes it fruitful because of the presence of its Creator.\n\n\"Some there are who call this ever-present Intelligence or Good the\nliving Principle. As the Infinite, it wears all phases and adapts itself\nto every conception of the Finite, so in the sense of omnipresence and\nunchangeableness it might from this point of view be called Principle.\nThis is the cold, mathematical conception of God as Law, which without\nLove would be incomplete. We must, therefore, know the duality of God if\nwe are to understand either Law or Love. Some things can only be known\nby intuition, without the aid of the senses, and because of an inherent\nidea in our consciousness. For instance, every nation worships Deity in\nsome way. Since we cannot know God through the senses, by which we gain\nknowledge of visible things, how can we know there _is_ a God?\n\n\"As Paul says: 'Likewise the spirit itself beareth witness with our\nspirit that we are the children of God;' and what better answer could we\nhave?\n\n\"Spirit, according to Webster, is: 'Life or living substance considered\nindependent of corporeal existence--vital essence, force, or energy as\ndistinct from matter.' God is the vital essence, God is spirit, and God\nis substance--'the real or existing essence,' 'the divine essence or\nbeing.'\n\n\"God, therefore, is the Divine Power that creates and sustains all\nthings--the All-Power, the All-Intelligence, the All-Mind, the All-Love,\nthe All-Substance, the All-Harmony, the All-Life, the All-Good,\nomnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. This is the one Creator, 'one God\nwho is Father of all, over all, and in all.'\n\n\"Though we cannot see this God or Good Principle, we can apprehend it\nthrough the signs or manifestations that we see. As we look about, we\neverywhere see the signs of life--not Life itself, but the signs of\nit--that tell of the presence of God or Good. Now Life is Good in and\nfor itself.\n\n\"We often see the divinest love manifested through every deed of love,\nevery heroic act of higher living, every grand sacrifice of\nself-comfort, pleasure, even life itself. Jesus says: 'Greater love can\nno man have than to lay down his life for his friend.' Such love is a\nmanifestation of the one, only Love, which is God--Good omnipresent.\n\n\"Every glimpse of Truth which the whole world seeks to know and wherever\nfound, is a realization of the omnipresent Truth, which is God.\n\n\"Intelligence, in its highest or lowest form, is but a manifestation of\nGod as Intelligence; for whence comes our intelligence if not from the\ngreat and only Intelligence, which is ever flowing to us and through us,\nwhich is ever being generated in us, whenever and wherever we are\nwilling to let it manifest itself.\n\n\"Emerson says: 'There is one mind common to all individual men. Every\nman is an inlet to the same and to all of the same. He that is once\nadmitted to the right of reason is made a free man of the whole estate.\n* * * * Who hath access to this universal mind is a party to all that is\nor can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent.'\n\n\"So we reason about health and strength and justice, or any of the\ndivine qualities, which we may claim as a part of our inheritance,\nbecause they are inherent in the All, in which 'we live, are moved, and\nhave our being.'\n\n\"Having something of an understanding as to the nature of this divine\nCreator, we can, to some extent, apprehend that the essence of all\nthings manifesting it, and manifested by it, must be good like itself,\nmust be of the same quality as itself; as light emanating from light,\nmust be of the same essence and quality as that from which it emanates.\nGod, like light, is always the same, and cannot send forth or create\nanything opposite Himself.\n\n\"The nature of God embraces every good quality of masculine and\nfeminine character, as also the impersonal life Principle. It is\ntherefore proper to use the masculine, feminine or neuter pronoun when\nreferring to Deity. As different phases of the one Love, we see\nmanifested, the strong, all-protecting, intelligent father-love, the\ntender, restful, patient mother-love, the innocent, confiding, trustful\nchild-love, each complete in the whole, which can be recognized by all\nor one of these attributes.\n\n\"The great Mind of which the ancient philosophers tell us and which\nEmerson so plainly realized, is the the Origin and Force of all\nCreation, the Mind for which we have found so many synonyms and so many\noffices, the Great Invisible of which all visible things are but signs\nor symbols.\n\n\"There is but one great Mind, one great Thinker. All thoughts of this\nMind, which is Infinite Goodness, must be infinitely good, and man is\nthe crown and apex of the wonderful creation--is made in the image and\nlikeness of God.\n\n\"If we concede the Creator, God, to be omnipresent, omniscient and\nomnipotent, the only Power there is, perfect, unchangeable and eternal,\nwe must necessarily concede that all which He creates is good, and must\nremain so because everything connected with, emanating from, or similar\nto Him is, and must be like Him in quality and essence.\n\n\"The true man is spiritual, perfect like his Father, and can only be\nsubject to perfect conditions. If we continually and persistently\nrecognize the true creation which is invisible, we make manifest the\nperfect conditions in the sign of the true, which is the visible. In\ndoing this, we are, in the most essential sense, acknowledging God,\nworshiping the one Deity.\n\n\"Because we have so long recognized the other powers we have become\nidolators, and must now turn back to the only true God. 'If thou return\nto the almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity\nfar from thy tabernacles.... For thou shalt have thy delight in the\nalmighty and shalt lift up thy face unto God.'\n\n\"We have become filled with false beliefs, because we have judged\naccording to appearances, and hence drawn false conclusions. How can we\nknow spiritual truth without spiritual knowledge? How can we have\nspiritual knowledge without spiritual perception; how can we have\nspiritual perception without recognizing Spirit, Substance, God, as the\nsupreme Essence back of all visible forms?\n\n\"This is the fundamental principle of healing--this recognition of\nspiritual being and spiritual law. Grasping only the surface meaning of\nthis grand truth, we recognize and admire the mental power which\nproduces cures, hence it is frequently called mind-cure, because,\nthrough the agency of mind, the cure is wrought, as we say, water-cure\nor sun-cure for the same reason; but as we proceed in the study, we will\ngo beyond an intellectual to a spiritual perception of what is meant by\n_met-a-physical_, which pertains not only to a science of mental\nphenomena, but the science of real being, and has to do with the\nspiritual or real self of man.\n\n\"Now John, if you don't understand, just wait and study, for really we\nmust study these statements, without prejudice, too, for that is the\nonly way, and of course we cannot expect to understand at once. The\ngreat essential is to keep uppermost the _desire_ for truth, but I need\nnot tell you that, for what an earnest truth-seeker you are, nobody\nknows better than myself.\n\n\"This is the best I can do toward giving the first lesson, but you must\nthink well upon it and get a good foundation laid for what is to come\nnext. This science is to be developed rather than learned.\n\n\"I want to put in every moment I can get for study, so must close. Hand\nthis to Kate and Grace. I do hope they will be interested.\n\n\"Tell me all about your progress, and the precious little ones--how are\nthey?\n\n  \"Your loving MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n     \"How shall I know if I do choose the right?\"--_Shakespeare._\n\n  \"Truth is one,\n  And in all lands beneath the sun,\n  Whoso hath eyes to see may see\n  The tokens of its unity.\"\n\n  --_Whittier._\n\n\n\"That is a very clear statement,\" said Mr. Hayden, as he handed the\nletter to Grace when she called the next evening.\n\n\"Do you think we can get much of an idea from it?\"\n\n\"O yes, indeed we can; but you take it home and read it with Kate.\"\n\nGrace went straight home with her prize for she was more interested than\nshe cared to admit just yet, and Kate was still reluctant and fearful\nabout the possible wrong.\n\nGrace had awakened in the night, just after Mrs. Hayden had gone and\nfound her crying. \"What is the matter, Katie?\" she asked.\n\n\"Oh, Grace, I am so worried about this Healing, and I am afraid I did\nwrong to even promise Mrs. Hayden I would read her letters,\" sobbed the\npoor child.\n\n\"Why, Katie dear, we could never know anything if we did not look into\nit and use the reason God has given us. Surely you are not afraid to\nexamine into what claims to be such wonderful truth. You do not\nnecessarily accept by examining it, and I am glad we can have the\nprivilege of reading what Mrs. Hayden says, for she has such a fair,\nunprejudiced mind, and will give us the matter just as nearly right as\nshe can; then we can judge for ourselves.\"\n\nShe reached over and drew Kate into her arms, but the sobbing did not\ncease at once. Grace was naturally kind-hearted, and respected people's\nfeelings. To-night she was very gentle, as Kate gratefully realized.\n\n\"Come Kate, put away your fears. There's nothing can change the truth\nyou have, and if it isn't truth, the sooner you change your mind the\nbetter. What makes you feel so, all at once? Has some one said\nanything?\"\n\n\"Yes, Mr. Narrow gave me such a talking to when I asked him if it was\nwrong; for someway, I got so troubled that I did not know what else to\ndo.\"\n\n\"Well, what of it; you don't see anything wrong in it yourself, do you?\"\n\n\"N--o, not exactly.\"\n\n\"What are you afraid of, then?\"\n\n\"I--I don't know,\" with a hysterical sob. She was ashamed to admit that\nshe was half afraid of eternal punishment, something she had been in\nvague terror of all her life. It had been impressed upon her so vividly,\nand now she was suffering from a keenly reproachful conscience, because\nfor so long a time she had been indifferent and neglectful of her\nreligious duties.\n\nGrace finally persuaded her it would be all right to give the matter a\nfair investigation. Then she went to sleep, comforted, for half her\nmisery had been caused by her indecision and wavering.\n\nWhen they read the letter together, Grace was delighted and Kate not\nmuch less so, though she demurred a little about some things.\n\n\"What beautiful ideas of God! It seems plainer than anything I ever\nheard. To say God is Principle, not person, makes it easier to apprehend\nHis omnipresence,\" exclaimed Grace, laying down the letter.\n\n\"Y-e-s, in one sense,\" slowly assented Kate, \"but in the Bible He is\nspoken of as Person, or at least as having personal attributes, and you\nknow they frequently refer to what He says and how He talked with\nAbraham.\"\n\n\"O, I think that is figurative, if it is true at all. How can a being\nwith a definite or outlined form be everywhere at the same time?\"\n\n\"But surely, you believe His thoughts can be everywhere, and that is\nwhat is meant by this omnipresence,\" said Kate, earnestly.\n\n\"Then do you think of Him as sitting on a great golden throne, listening\nto the petitions of men below, and able to hear and to grant or refuse\nat the same moment every prayer that is sent to Him by the millions of\nHis children on earth?\"\n\n\"'God's ways are not our ways, and with Him all things are possible.'\"\n\n\"But is it not much easier to say this is Principle, which is everywhere\nwaiting for our recognition of its presence to become manifested to\nus?\" pursued Grace.\n\n\"Yes, I don't know but it is.\"\n\n\"Now Kate, I am truly in earnest and mean to study this very earnestly.\nI know very little about the Bible, because it has been a sealed book to\nme every time I ever tried to read it, but during these three weeks that\nMrs. Hayden is gone, I am going to put away my preconceived opinions as\nfar as possible and see if I can learn something, and now let us get the\nBible and see what it says on these questions. You have a concordance.\nLet us look up the word omnipresence and read some of the passages in\nwhich it occurs.\"\n\nKate was well pleased, not only to make the Bible the foundation of this\nstudy, but to find Grace so changed, and so ready to look into sacred\nthings. \"Perhaps she will be converted,\" she thought, and from that\nmoment she, too, resolved to look fairly into Christian Healing. She\nbrought the concordance and found there was no reference to\nomnipresence.\n\n\"We'll look for present or presence,\" suggested Grace. She glanced\nrapidly down the columns and found a reference to Ps. cxxxix. and turned\nto that.\n\n\"Yes, in the seventh verse it says: 'Whither shall I go from thy spirit\nor whither shall I flee from thy presence?' and here is a marginal\nreference to Jer. xxiii: 24. 'Can any hide himself in secret places that\nI shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth?'\nNow it seems to me that carries the idea of a personal Being,\" said\nKate.\n\n\"Well, let us look up the references to God,\" suggested Grace again.\n\"Here's one in Deut. xxxii: 4. 'He is the rock, his work is perfect; for\nall his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and\nright is he.' Yes, there He is compared to a rock. Of course that is\nsymbolical, but find another. Isn't there one that tells of Him as\nspirit?\"\n\n\"Yes, 'God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in\nspirit and in truth,' that is in John iv: 24, and in the first chapter\nof John it reads: 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with\nGod and the Word was God.'\"\n\n\"Ah! there we have it very plain; word is not flesh and blood or person.\nDoesn't it say in the letter that God is Intelligence, which is only\nanother way to express the same thing?\"\n\n\"Yes, and I remember when Jesus prayed for His disciples, He said:\n'Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth;' and some place in\nthe Bible it speaks of God as truth,\" said Kate, quite willing to give\nall the corroborative testimony she could.\n\n\"Truth can only be considered as principle, so we have that statement\nconfirmed by the Bible, and that would agree with what Pythagoras\nwrote,\" said Grace, quoting: \"'There is one Universal Soul diffused\nthrough all things, eternal, invisible, unchangeable; in essence like\ntruth, in substance resembling light; ... to be comprehended only by the\nmind.' Now it is comparatively easy to see manifestations of the Good.\nBy the way, I think it a volume of explanation in itself to say Good\ninstead of God, don't you?\"\n\n\"Well, yes, it does seem peculiarly expressive, but the old way sounds a\nlittle better yet.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" pursued Grace, \"it doesn't matter so much what we call this\nomnipresent power, as whether we understand it. All humanity worship the\nsame Deity in the sense of recognizing an omnipotent Power. I once read\nsomething comparing the ideas of God among the different peoples, and it\nwas really wonderful how similar they were, excepting, of course, each\nnation had a different name for Deity. I believe I have that book now\nsomewhere;\" and Grace went to look for it, but presently returned\nwithout finding it. \"Well, it made such a vivid impression on me that I\nremember a few of the principal statements. One was that the Hindoos\nteach of an omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent Being called Brehm\nwho is the creator of all things, from whom all things emanate and by\nwhom all things are sustained. The Persians, Egyptians, Greeks held\nsimilar ideas. The Persians called God, Ormuzd, the Greeks, Orpheus, the\nEgyptians, Osiris.\"\n\n\"I did not know the Pagans held such ideas of Deity. I always thought\nthey believed in many gods,\" said Kate.\n\n\"They did, but as Edward Everett Hale, says: 'The innumerable Gods of\nthe Pantheon are but manifestations of the One Being,' that is, they had\nspecial names for the different manifestations of God, as He appeared to\nthem in the sun, the air, the earth, and also the different qualities of\nhuman character. They all alike believed in a Supreme Being, and made\nstatements almost synonymous with many in the Bible. That is what may be\ncalled universal truth, and if this philosophy is what is consistent\nwith fundamental truth, it will be just what I have been wishing to\nfind.\" Grace leaned back meditatively, adding, \"Mythology used to have a\npeculiar charm for me, and many of those old stories are coming back\nwith a new significance.\"\n\n\"'There is but one foundation, other, can no man lay,'\" quoted Kate,\nearnestly.\n\n\"Yes, my dear,\" and Grace rose and paced back and forth in deep\nabstraction. \"There is but one Truth and we can not establish a falsity.\nBut I want to carry my reflections a little further concerning this\nuniversal worship. To my mind, the power inherent in everything and\nrecognized in some way by every individual is the supreme, perfect Power\nin different phases of manifestation. The man who trusts an unseen power\nto bring the seed he plants to full fruition, is believing in the true\nGod, though he may not know it.\n\n\"The whole world lives on faith from one year to another, for there is\nnot enough food produced in one season to last more than one year, and\nif men did not know every succeeding season would provide, they would be\ndesperate indeed. What is this but believing in a supreme Power? Even\nmaterialists admit that the great First Cause is beyond matter. Herbert\nSpencer speaks of it as the 'Universal Reality, without beginning and\nwithout end.'\"\n\n\"All people reverence and admire the sentiments of love and justice and\ntruth and mercy. Let us agree they come from the same cause and are\neverywhere present, and we shall come nearer to worshiping God in spirit\nand in truth, than we ever have before. Now let's have your opinion,\nQueen Katherine,\" concluded Grace, looking at Kate with a playful smile\nas she finished her long dissertation.\n\n\"There is nothing I can add to that, and it seems a very good conclusion\nto our first lesson. I did not know you had thought so much about\nreligious things, Grace.\"\n\n\"I always had a fondness for looking on the forbidden side of things,\nand I am afraid I was more curious than religious, but I am rather glad\nif there is an explanation to these things that have always puzzled\nme.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n     \"A lie can not exist--it only appears. Truth is consciousness\n     consistent with itself in every relation; error is consciousness\n     inconsistent with itself in some relation.\"--_Judge H. P. Biddle._\n\n     \"And what an end lies before us! To have a consciousness of our own\n     ideal being flashed through us from the thought of God! Surely, for\n     this may well give way all our paltry self-consciousness, our\n     self-admiration and self-worships! Surely, to know what He thinks\n     about us will pale out of our souls all our thoughts about\n     ourselves!\"--_George MacDonald._\n\n\n  MARLOW, September ----.\n\n\"Dear John: I hope you are as anxiously awaiting this letter as I\nawaited the second lecture. It was splendid, so comprehensive, and above\nall, so practical. It throws light on many puzzling points, and I am\ndelighted so far with what seems so plain and true.\n\n\"Some of the members of the class seemed quite shocked at some of the\nstatements, but it is not strange that they should seem startling to one\nwho has never thought on the subject, for indeed, I should think it\nwould take a good while to get used to reasoning that is directly\nopposite the world's first conclusions; still we are looking for results\nthat are quite contrary to what the world looks for, so we can afford to\ncollide with its opinions. When Mrs. Pearl came into the class room, all\nturned to look at her and every ear was ready to listen.\n\n\"In yesterday's lesson we made a statement of God as the only Mind of\nthe universe, the Great Reality beside whom there is absolutely nothing\nin existence; but as we look around at the scenes of suffering and\npoverty and ignorance, we are mightily tempted to disbelieve such a\nstatement.\n\n\"'Talk of omnipotent Light in the midst of midnight darkness!' you\nexclaim. Ah, but you are to remember we are talking of the real\ncreation; the invisible and unapparent instead of the visible and\napparent; the changeless and eternal instead of the evanescent and\ndecaying.\n\n\"If God is the only Reality, His creation is the only real creation. The\nword real is applied to that which actually exists, which forever is,\nnot to that which seems or appears; therefore, in speaking of the real\nwe mean the changeless and invisible.\n\n\"If God is the only Mind, His are the only real thoughts, and thoughts\nare invisible to the eye, but discernible to the mind or consciousness.\n\n\"If God is everywhere, there is no possible place or space in the\nuniverse where God is not; hence He is all there is. One of our modern\nprophets wisely wrote: 'Has not a deeper meditation taught certain of\nevery clime and age that the Where and the When so mysteriously\ninseparable from all our thoughts, are but superficial adhesions to\nthought; that the Seer may discern them where they mount up out of the\ncelestial Everywhere and Forever. Have not all nations conceived their\nGod as omnipresent and eternal, as existing in a universal Here, an\neverlasting Now?\n\n\"'Think well, thou too wilt find that space is but a mode of our human\nsense, so likewise Time. There is no space and no time. _We_ are--we\nknow not what; light sparkles floating in the ether of Deity. So this so\nsolid seeming world, were, after all, but an air-image--our _me_ the\nonly reality.'\n\n\"This me is the spiritual self, the individual idea of God, His image\nand likeness.\n\n\"What then, about this body, which is not spiritual, you ask? What about\nthe material universe?\n\n\"Wait a moment. Think of the premise. As God the invisible is the\nchangeless, what is the variable, fleeting, visible unreality? The real\nis everlasting, the unreal is transitory. The real is called Spirit, the\nunreal matter.\n\n\"What is Spirit? The underlying omnipresent substance that we call God.\n\n\"What is matter? The counterfeit, shadow, emblem, showing that Spirit\nexists or is.\n\n\"We read in a very ancient Hindoo Scripture: 'Those who have\nunderstanding, whose thought is pure, see the entire universe as the\npicture of Thy wisdom;' and the thoughtful Carlyle said: 'All visible\nthings are emblems.... Matter represents some idea and bodies it forth.'\n\n\"These thoughts are in perfect accord with the principles laid down in\nour premise, hence we find that as we believe matter, believe the body\nto be the real creation, we are believing a falsity. This is the idol we\nare worshiping instead of the true and only God. The grand visible\nuniverse in which we see so many beauties, so many charms, is but the\nmighty object lesson before us by which we may learn of the infinite,\ninvisible All. As Theodore Parker said: 'The universe itself is a great\nautograph of the Almighty.'\n\n\"The characters used in mathematics do not constitute the science but\nmerely represent to the senses the invisible ideas of the principle of\nmathematics. The visible does not constitute the invisible, but may\ncarry its messages as we learn to read its poetic and mystic pages. The\nvisible speaks to the mortal nature, but the invisible beyond and above,\nspeaks to the immortal nature.\n\n\"Since we find matter to be so totally opposite the real, there is no\nother name for it than as the unreal, and the unreal being a counterfeit\nof the real, must be a lie, as the nature of a lie is to make false\nclaims, pretending they are true.\n\n\"Matter is a counterfeit because it is not genuine or of God, because it\nis changeable and fleeting, because being limited to a visible form, it\nmust have finite limitations and can merely give finite conceptions.\n\n\"Taking it as a _sign_ of something infinite, we learn of the infinite.\nAll the students, teachers, learned men and women of the world have\nadded to the world's spiritual ideas revealed by their study of the\nfinite as well as their intuitive knowledge of the infinite. Charles\nKingsley gives us a hint of how to learn: 'Do not study matter for its\nown sake but as the countenance of God. Try to extract every line of\nbeauty, every association, every moral reflection, every inexpressible\nfeeling from it.'\n\n\"Our ideas of matter must then be entirely changed, and we must learn to\nlook beyond the seeming, to the true. We have believed in the reality\nof matter and material environment because of reasoning from the false\nbasis that man is material or that he is a mixture of material and\nspiritual. To believe that the flesh and blood of our sister or brother\nis their real self, is to believe God capable of creating something\nutterly unlike himself (John iii, James i.) which may suffer, sin and\ndie, and if He is all perfection, He can not know imperfection. If He is\nall spirit, He can not know or be matter. Keep before your mind the\nperfection, omnipotence, omnipresence of Spirit, God or Principle, and\nyou will see more and more clearly the inconsistency of anything\nopposite Him emanating from Him.\n\n\"Believing in matter as a reality, we have endowed it with all the power\nof the real, have ascribed to it life, substance and intelligence, when\nit possesses neither.\n\n\"Where is the life when the body dies? If life were inherent in the\nphysical body, could it ever cease to be? God the eternal life principle\ncan not cease to be. The life manifested through the body is the life\nwhich is God and can not be affected by the decay or disappearance of\nthe body.\n\n\"The invisible essence of life is also the true substance, the reliable\nand changeless something, upon which we may forever depend. We use the\nword substance in its etymological sense (from _sub_, under and _stare_,\nto stand), and since Spirit or Mind is the reality that underlies every\nmaterial or sensible object, there is no substance to the object itself.\n\n\"Plato taught that '_ideas_, are the only _real_ things.' Ideas are\nexpressions of thoughts, and thoughts are expressions of mind, and this\nreasoning brings us back to God as Mind and Mind as Cause. Admitting\nMind or Spirit to be the life and substance back of or expressing itself\nthrough the body, we may easily see that intelligence can not exist\napart from Mind, and hence can not belong to matter.\n\n\"That the mind or intelligence is seated in the gray convolutions of the\nbrain, is held by the materialists, and yet Dr. Laycock affirms 'that\nmatter is fundamentally nothing more than that which is the seat of\nmotion to ends, of which mind is the source and cause.' Professor Huxley\ncrowns the statement by saying, 'That which perceives or knows is mind\nor spirit, and therefore, that knowledge which the senses give us, is,\nafter all, a knowledge of spiritual phenomena.' Professor Faraday held\nto the immateriality of physical objects.\n\n\"In the language of Jesus the Christ, we are told, 'Spirit is all, the\nflesh profiteth nothing;' thus from all classes of conscientious but\nconfessedly diverse thinkers, we find statements of universal truth, and\nthis is what the hungry, starving world is seeking with more earnestness\nthan ever before.\n\n\"Since there is no life, substance or intelligence in matter, it will be\ncomparatively easy to prove that there can be no sensation, for where\nthere is no life in the body, there can be no feeling. Even the\nphysiologists tell us mind must know pain before it can be located in\nthe body. We state therefore a theorem which is practically\ndemonstrated; there is no sensation in matter.\n\n\"As we visit penitentiaries, reform schools and hospitals, as we read\nand hear the startling statements of press and pulpit, we grow\ndisconsolate and heavy-hearted over the awful power and reality of evil,\nforgetting again that He who is perfect goodness can not behold evil or\nin any way permit its existence, any more than heat can permit cold, or\nlight can permit darkness.\n\n\"Granting the omnipotence of Good, where is there any room for its\nopposite?\n\n\"If there is but one Power, and that omnipotent and perfect, there can\nbe no evil _in reality_; hence we are dealing with another lie when we\njudge according to appearances, which Jesus said we should not do. It is\nreally disloyalty to God to impute to Him all misery, pain, sickness and\nsuffering caused by the evil and ignorance of man. We are told: 'Let\nyour soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of\nGod.' Because we have not done so, but have believed in every claim\npower, we suffer from 'evils which our own misdeeds have wrought,' as\nMilton wrote, or, in the words of Emerson, 'we _mis_create our own\nevils.'\n\n\"Jeremiah said: 'It is your sins that have withholden the good things\nfrom you.'\n\n\"According to Webster, 'sin is a transgression of the law of God.' There\nis but one law--the perfect and unchangeable Truth. Any deviation from\nTruth is error, and error is sin. In proportion as we deviate from the\nstrictly true, then, we sin. Because we admit things to be true which\nare not true, we _admit_, then _commit_ sin, and hence suffer for sin.\n'Know ye not that to whomsoever ye yield yourselves servants to obey,\nhis servants ye are, whether of sin unto death or obedience unto\nrighteousness,' wrote Paul. We first think wrong. Sin is of the mind,\nnot of the body.\n\n\"To acknowledge the reality of sin or evil is a transgression of the\nlaw, because, according to our established premise, it cannot be true.\n\n\"Through a misconception of our relation to God, and a belief in the\npower of evil, we are obliged to admit the existence of sin, sickness,\nand death, neither of which can be true in the presence of God, as the\nonly Reality, in which or in whom are all things that eternally are, not\nthat temporarily appear.\n\n\"We have believed in a mind or power of thought opposite and contrary to\nGod, when in reality there can be nothing opposite or contrary to\neternal Mind. We have believed ourselves endowed with a mind separate\nfrom God, and ourselves subject to temptation from some cause not Good.\nWe have believed in minds, when there is but one Mind.\n\n\"This false force, this false mind, is variously called the evil or\ncarnal mind, the mind of the flesh, the old man, the serpent, the devil,\nthe adversary. It is simply the opposite or contradictory of the Good,\nthe god of evil.\n\n\"Beside every true or positive statement there is a false or negative\nclaim, and in so far as we are ignorant of the true, we are in bondage\nto the false. To _believe_ the claims of error is to be bound; to _know_\nthe reality of truth is to be free. To believe in a mind or power\nseparate or opposite from God, is to be subject to any suppositions or\nbeliefs formulated by that mind or negative thought.\n\n\"That we are spiritually perfect is true, but it is necessary for us to\nprove that fact by 'working out our own salvation,' by manifesting the\npositive or God quality of thought through our life and actions, and the\nonly way to be filled with good thought is to recognize and acknowledge\nthe Good only as the real.\n\n\"This error, tempter or devil, was spoken of by Jesus as having no\ntruth, as being a liar, and the father or cause of lies (John viii: 44).\nInstead of devil (which is only another name for evil or the slanderer),\nor 'carnal mind', as Paul called it, we find mortal thought a better\nterm for the expression of this power of thinking.\n\n\"'Why have we this power of thinking wrong thoughts when there is but\none good and only Mind?' you ask. As God's idea, in the image and\nlikeness of Mind that thinks, we have the power of recognition, the\npower to be or not to be, the possibility to become sons of God. We have\nthe power to distinguish, to judge, to know; we have the spirit that\never leads us on and on in truth.\n\n\"But here is where we fail. In our ignorance or limited state of\nunfoldment, we have mistaken the symbol for that which is symbolized\nmatter is the symbol, as also the body, we have judged according to\nappearances instead of righteous or strictly true judgment; we have\nyielded to a belief in sin, hence are servants of sin.\n\n\"The conception of matter as having power, is based on appearances, and\nbecause we have delegated to it a power, have acknowledged it as an\nentity, separate from the eternal mind, it has enslaved us.\n\n\"Reasoning in this way we find everywhere two opposites or\ncontradictories to be recognized and judged, as the visible and the\ninvisible, the material and the spiritual, the false and the true, the\nmortal and the immortal, the unreal and the real, the negative and the\npositive.\n\n\"Judging of the true by that which is changeless and eternal, we can\ndecide at once on those qualities or attributes belonging to or\ndescribing what is true, and by knowing what is true, we can readily\ndistinguish it from the erroneous.\n\n\"We have considered these great errors or negatives which the world has\nbelieved and still believes in, and they must be dealt with according to\nscientific law.\n\n\"Through all the ages of Christianity have been heard the words of the\nMaster: 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up\nhis cross and follow me;' but who has understood it? The letter of the\nlaw has indeed been observed by many earnest followers of Jesus to a\ndegree not considered necessary in this age, but what has it\ndemonstrated? What has come of all the fasting and renunciation, the\ncruel asceticism and severe discipline?\n\n\"Do these conscientious disciples give an unmistakable proof of their\ndiscipleship by showing the signs that must follow the true believer?\nHow can they when they talk of sin, sickness and death; of things\ncontradictory to the nature, power and presence of God?\n\n\"Then they must not have understood the spiritual import of these words\nof Jesus to 'deny himself.' Deny means, according to Webster, 'to\ncontradict; to declare not to be true; to disclaim connection with; to\nrefuse to acknowledge; to disown.' Jesus meant deny the mortal thought,\nthe false self; refuse to acknowledge it as having any authority; and it\nis only as the Christ follower proves this to be the true mode of\ndenying self, that he can speak with authority as to the scientific\nmethod of dealing with all the errors to which mortal thought gives\nbirth.\n\n\"No other way has brought the desired result; hence we confidently\nassert that all these mistakes agreed to and participated in by mankind\nmust be emphatically, persistently, scientifically denied.\n\n\"Systematically and repeatedly we say:\n\n\"1. There is no life, substance or intelligence in matter.\n\n\"2. There is no sensation or causation in matter.\n\n\"3. There is no reality in matter.\n\n\"4. There is no reality in sin, sickness or death.\n\n\"5. There is no reality in evil.\n\n\"6. There is no reality in mortal thought.\n\n\"This is denying the self recognized by the world. This is the life that\nmust be laid down, that must be sacrificed, lost.\n\n\"Humanity has proven its subjection to these errors. Now, by its\nfaithful rejection of them, let it prove them lies, for the force of a\nlie is always annulled by rejection. This proves the law referred to by\nJesus when he made a denial of self the first duty of his disciples.\n\n\"In denying, it is necessary to say the words over and over again; it\nmay be mechanically at first, but say them over, several hours at a\ntime, if possible.\n\n\"More is accomplished by concentration than anybody is aware, and the\nrepetition of the words helps to concentrate the thought. First repeat\nthe whole list of denials, then select one on which to spend most of the\ntime for several days. The denial of matter, for instance, makes us more\nspiritually minded.\n\n\"When denying, try to realize there is no space, but that anywhere you\nsend your thought it will go, and as you think or say the words, you\nwill be denying error for the world as well as for yourself, as every\nthought is world-wide in its influence, and helps to free or bind\nhumanity, even as it is truth or error.\n\n\"To deny is to put out of mind, to erase, as it were, the false beliefs.\nBe earnest, be faithful, and you will have an abundant reward.\n\n\"This, dear John, is the substance of the lecture as nearly as I can\ngive it. After Mrs. Pearl had finished the lesson, she requested the\nclass to sit in silence a few moments and together hold the thought,\n'There is no reality in matter;' after which we were dismissed with this\nbenediction: 'May we realize that God _is_, that spirit is the only\nreality.'\n\n\"The lessons are always opened by silent prayer, which I have forgotten\nto mention before.\n\n\"Please, dear husband, observe these rules and study every assertion as\ncarefully as though you were in the class. You, and Grace, and Kate, can\naccomplish a great deal together; but by all means don't pass judgment\ntill you have carefully examined all the evidence.\n\n\"Tell me all about the children. Such details will greatly comfort me,\nfor I must confess that to-night I am the least bit homesick.\n\n  \"Good night,\n\n  \"Your loving MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n     \"God is commanding us off, every hour of our lives, toward things\n     eternal, there to find our good, and build our rest. Sometimes He\n     does it by taking us out of the world, and sometimes by taking the\n     world out of us.\"--_H. Bushnell._\n\n\n\"The second letter has come,\" said Grace the moment Kate entered the\nroom, after her day's lessons were over.\n\n\"Has it? Let us hurry and get the tea over so we can study it.\"\n\n\"Don't you want to hear it first? I haven't looked at it because I\nwanted to wait for you, but I can't wait that long,\" cried Grace,\npulling it out of her painting-apron pocket.\n\n\"All right, then read away while I start the fire.\"\n\n\"No; come and sit down like a good child, you can't half listen when\nyour mind is filled with stoves and tea-pots.\"\n\nKate smiled, and drawing her chair up beside Grace, she listened to the\nreading, while her face alternately brightened or darkened.\n\n\"Well, it sounds very beautiful and very plausible, but I can't see how\nany one can say there is no evil when the world is full of it, and to\nsay there is no sin, sickness or death! why, that is blasphemous! I know\nthe Bible won't corroborate that,\" she said, in a horrified voice, at\nthe conclusion of the letter.\n\n\"Hold on, we must not be so fast; there are good reasons for every\nstatement, and she says it is necessary to say these denials over and\nover. It is harder for me to believe there is no matter, but if there is\na way to prove there is none, then I will submit. But first let us see\nwhat the Bible says,\" said the more moderate Grace.\n\nShe got the Bible and concordance, but could find no reference to matter\nas pertaining to physical creation, but she found under the word \"flesh\"\nan allusion to John i: 12-13, and iii: 6. \"The first reads,\" began\nGrace, \"'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become\nthe sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,\nnot of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but\nof God.' That evidently refers to a creation possible to all, but where\nis the authority for saying 'there is no matter'?\"\n\nShe pondered a moment, then referred to the letter--\"Oh, I see! She\nsays, 'no _reality_ in matter,' and then goes on to explain about the\nreal. Yes, now I see. Do you understand it, Kate?\"\n\n\"I can understand that the body is not the real,\" replied Kate,\nthoughtfully, \"for Jesus said 'the spirit is all, the flesh profiteth\nnothing,' but--\"\n\n\"That's so. Why didn't we think of that before? Besides, it was taught\nby the ancient philosophers as much as 4,000 years ago, that matter has\nno reality. Yes, its plain to see how it can be, theoretically, but\nwhere they can demonstrate it practically, puzzles me. Here is a\nreference; let us see if that will tell us something.\"\n\nShe read Heb. xi: 3: \"'Through faith we understand that the worlds were\nframed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made\nof things which do appear.'\"\n\n\"That seems quite conclusive,\" said Kate.\n\n\"Yes, it does. Now we will consider your problem,\" replied Grace,\nrunning her finger down the references, \"and see if we can find anything\nin that. Let us bear in mind,\" she continued, \"she does not say there is\nno appearance, but no reality in evil. Among the first references, I\nfind one to the twenty-third Psalm: 'I will fear no evil, for thou art\nwith me.' How plain that is! Of course there can be no evil where God\nis, and God is everywhere. God is Love. In Love there is no evil.\"\n\n\"But just think of the awful crimes that are committed every day, and\nthe wicked people who commit them,\" demurred Kate, with an incredulous\nlook.\n\n\"We haven't got far enough to solve everything; listen to this: 'Only\nwith thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked,'\"\nread Grace.\n\n\"That must mean that with the carnal mind we see all things opposite\nGod, and with the mind of the spirit we discern spiritual things; that\nis in Romans somewhere,\" exclaimed Kate, with a gleam of understanding\nin her face.\n\n\"What word shall I look for?\" asked Grace, intently pursuing her search.\n\n\"Mind, I think; shan't I look for it?\"\n\n\"No; here it is in the eighth chapter and tenth verse: 'The carnal mind\nis at enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God,\nneither indeed can be.' That is plain enough. It means that all\nthoughts opposite God and God's creations are of the animal man, hence\nat enmity with God, and since there is nothing real but God and His\ncreations, of course there is no reality in them. Now you are satisfied,\naren't you, Kate?\"\n\n\"I suppose I ought to be, for I don't see any other way to understand\nthose passages,\" she admitted, with a sigh of relief.\n\n\"Just one more, and we'll go on to the next denial, which will hit me,\nI'm afraid,\" continued Grace.\n\nShe turned to Isa. xxxiii: 15-16: \"I declare, Kate, here is the essence\nof the whole lesson,\" and she read: \"'He that walketh righteously, and\nspeaketh uprightly' (according to the true creation), 'he that despiseth\nthe gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hand from holding of bribes,\nthat stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from\nseeing evil; He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the\nmunitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be\nsure.'\"\n\n\"I really did not know there was such a passage in the Bible, and I\ndon't see why other people haven't found it before,\" said Kate, quite\nwon over. \"But how strange it seems to deny this way.\"\n\n\"Yes, that is the most unreasonable part of it, and yet I think Mrs.\nHayden has explained it very clearly. Now what is next?\" asked Grace.\n\n\"There is no life, substance or intelligence in matter,\" answered Kate,\nglancing at the letter.\n\n\"I must confess that puzzles me,\" mused Grace, thoughtfully.\n\n\"Oh, that is easy enough to understand, when you remember the spirit is\nall, besides, when a person dies the organs of the body may be perfect,\nbut there is no life or feeling, and according to this new\nunderstanding, no substance,\" explained Kate, in her turn.\n\n\"I can see it well enough as a theory, but what all this has to do with\npractical every-day living, is a mystery to me.\"\n\n\"'We haven't got far enough to solve everything,' somebody said to me\nonce, and here it is for you,\" remarked Kate, with a spice of mischief\nin her tone.\n\n\"All right, what next?\"\n\n\"No sensation or causation in matter; but I think that is answered the\nsame way as the other. But this last one; I do wonder if the Bible\ncorroborates it?\" Kate looked troubled again, as she read: \"'There is no\nsin, sickness nor death.'\"\n\n\"The same reasoning applies to that as to all the rest. There is no\nreality to anything but God's creation, and that is changeless and\nperfect. But we will see what the Bible has to say; I. John iii: 2-10.\nIn the second verse it reads: 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, but\nit doth not yet appear what we shall be;' that of course is an assertion\nof our spiritual self. Then verse nine says: 'Whosoever is born of God\ndoth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him and he can not sin,\nbecause he is born of God.' Then it seems plain there can be no sin to\nthe spirit, neither can there be sickness nor death.\"\n\n\"It is wonderful,\" murmured Kate.\n\n\"What is next?\" pursued Grace, with the concordance open before her.\n\n\"That is all, except she explains the use and necessity of denial, and\nsuggests to Mr. Hayden the benefit of denying for hours at a time.\"\n\n\"Well, we can do that, too. If it is good for him, it must be for us. I\nmean to do it,\" said Grace, shutting her book with a snap and pacing\nback and forth excitedly.\n\n\"Oh, well, take it calmly; we can do that while we are getting supper,\nand I am hungry now. Do you know it is seven o'clock?\" Kate exclaimed,\nlooking at her watch.\n\n\"Two hours we have been studying,\" said Grace. \"Really, this is as\ninteresting as painting. I don't see one thing but what is reasonable,\ndo you, Kate?\"\n\n\"Not the way it seems now.\"\n\nAfter everything was put away they began making earnest application of\nthe rules. Each sat silently thinking, according to directions: \"There\nis no reality in matter, there is no reality in matter,\" etc. For two\nhours neither spoke. Then Kate said: \"I feel so light; as though there\nwere no weight to my body. What does it mean?\"\n\n\"I don't know, unless it shows you are realizing what you say.\"\n\n\"That is it. I can feel that there is no obstruction to spirit or\nthought; that spirit is limitless and God is everywhere.\"\n\nShe seemed lost in her new thoughts, and went to bed as though she were\ndreaming. Grace had experienced nothing but a sense of dullness and\nextreme sleepiness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n     \"The soul is not a compensation, but a life. The soul _is_. Under\n     all this sea of circumstance, whose waters ebb and flow with\n     perfect balance, lies the aboriginal abyss of real Being. Existence\n     or God is not a relation or a part, but a whole.\"--_Emerson._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, September ----.\n\n\"Dear husband: I was made very happy this morning by the messages from\nhome, and especially Fred's and Jamie's baby efforts. They wanted to\nsend mamma their love, and the straggling characters meant for words,\nconvey as much meaning as though they were in good English, for they\nspeak to me in unmistakable language. Why do I understand so well? Ah,\nJohn, I see. Because, being filled with love for them, I recognize the\nsame quality in what they feel for me, and only need a sign to read the\nmeaning back of it.\n\n\"As I write, new light comes to me regarding the real meaning of signs\nand symbols. Until we are filled with a desire and love for God, we can\nnot perceive or understand the real meaning of the universe, can not\nread God's love for us. Until we have a conscious apprehension that\nthere is a spiritual knowledge, we can not recognize spiritual truth.\n\n\"Oh, I can not help wishing you had been here to-day! It was simply\ngrand; such an uplifting, such a glimpse of the wondrous Now. We learned\nabout what _is_, what we _are_ and how to prove ourselves God's\nchildren. Mrs. Pearl opened with a few words on the use and necessity of\nsilence, after which we were all silent awhile, when she commenced:\n\n\"Garfield said, 'The world's history is a divine poem, of which the\nhistory of every nation is a canto and every man a word. Its strains\nhave been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been\nthe discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian, the\nphilosopher, the historian and the humble listener, there has been a\ndivine melody running through the song, which speaks of hope and halcyon\ndays to come.'\n\n\"What has made possible this divine melody but the spirit of love and\ntruth that ever animates the children of God? Were it not for this vein,\nnay this wholeness of the invisible spirit, what could we have on which\nto found hopes of 'halcyon days?'\n\n\"Not from the visible man of flesh and blood do all things beautiful and\ntrue emanate, nor from the material and unstable, but from the one\nsource that is God, as apprehended and realized by His idea, the real,\ninvisible, spiritual man. Beauty, worth, can only be in idea or\nunderstanding.\n\n\"What made Milton, Shakespeare, Emerson, truly great was their\nappropriation and manifestation of the invisible inheritance of spirit,\nmind.\n\n\"What is man without intelligence, without love, without life, without\ntruth? The real man is spiritual because he is the idea of Spirit, Mind,\nGod, the only Creator. All that is grand, noble, true in an individual\nis a manifestation of the God-power and presence. There is but one real\nMind, and all real or positive thought or intelligence is the\nmanifestation of Mind, which is God. There is but one real Intelligence,\nand the intelligence manifested by the individual is the Intelligence\nwhich is God.\n\n\"God is absolutely one Verity, the primordial Essence. But how shall we\nknow this as a fact? How shall we prove it as an incontrovertible truth?\nyou ask.\n\n\"By persistent acknowledgement of God and His creation, we become one\nwith Him, and to be one with God is to know absolute Truth. We are\nconditioned by the thoughts we think and by the words we speak. By\nthinking and speaking right words we manifest true conditions; by\nthinking and speaking wrong words we manifest false conditions. 'As a\nman thinketh in his heart so is he.' If we desire to manifest strength,\njustice or wisdom of God, we must 'acknowledge God in all our ways.'\n\n\"'The only salvation,' says George MacDonald, 'is being filled with the\nspirit of God, having the same mind as Christ.'\n\n\"In order to realize the essence of these words, in order to realize the\nessence of any truth, we must enter into its meaning by becoming one\nwith it, by making ourselves the expression of its harmony, the picture\nof its idea.\n\n\"Knowing the potency of the word, we say the true words over and over\nagain, silently or audibly, we think of them in every possible way, with\nvaried expression if we will, as it is the thought, the prime idea that\nwe are seeking to manifest.\n\n\"We want the true salvation; 'we want to be filled with the spirit;' we\nwant the truth that makes free; we want strength, justice, wisdom. To\nsecure these we have only to rid ourselves of the false and be filled\nwith the true.\n\n\"By the positive denial of a lie we annul the lie; by the positive\naffirmation of truth we establish truth, or rather our consciousness of\ntruth is established; thus, as we deny error or affirm truth, are we\ncarried forward and upward. These are the 'wonderful words of life' that\nclothe us with righteousness.\n\n\"The words that we use first are statements of fundamental Truth,\nacknowledging who and what God is, what we are, and in what relation we\nstand to our Father.\n\n\"1. God is Life, Truth, Love, Substance.\n\n\"2. God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.\n\n\"3. I am the idea of God, and in Him I have my being.\n\n\"4. God is my sufficiency in all work and my will in all ways.\n\n\"5. I am subject to God's law and can not sin, suffer or die.\n\n\"Over and over again we speak the words, and by marvelous law new\nmeanings flash upon us, new thoughts are born, new interpretations come\nto efface the more obscure ones of the past. It may be easier to follow\nevery denial with its corresponding affirmation; if so, study the lesson\nthat way.\n\n\"_Hold to each affirmation till it yields its pearl._ Take the first,\n'God is Life;' say the words over and over, think of them in every\nconceivable way. Make every tiny leaf and slender blade of grass tell\nyou something of the infinite Life. Bear in mind that every where life\nis manifested, whether in plant, animal or man, wherever we look there\nis omnipresent Life.\n\n\"God is Life. This same Life is our life, which can not be taken away\nfrom us. This Life is good, and in It we live even as God lives in us.\nOh, wondrous life that flows on and on, without beginning, without end,\neven as the river sings: 'Men may come and men may go, but I go on\nforever.'\n\n\"God is Truth, all truth, wheresoever or by whomsoever recognized, is\nthe everlasting Truth that must forever be.\n\n\"There is not a community or church, not a society or family, but is\norganized and held together by some phase of the all-embracing and\nperfect Truth. The different sects and parties are only different\nbecause certain people see the same side of Truth, and preferring to be\nof one mind, they separate or unite and build their respective\nsanctuaries.\n\n\"'Truth is always present, and we only need to lift the iron lids of the\nmind's eye to read its oracles,' said Emerson. When the 'iron lids' are\nlifted we shall see as one, we shall belong to the Church of the\nuniverse and the oracle shall reveal to us its deepest secrets and most\nsacred mysteries.\n\n\"Truth _is_. All that we have, can have, or will have or can conceive\nof, exists in the ever present Here and Now. It only remains for us to\nrecognize and acknowledge it.\n\n\"God is Love. To realize the mighty sea of omnipotent Love that enfolds\nand blesses humanity, would be to plunge into the healing waters of\nBethesda. Like the sick man, we wait until the majestic Christ commands\nus to arise--help ourselves, instead of waiting for others to put us\ninto the cleansing current. Let us recognize, then, the allness, the\ntenderness, the sacredness of this divine Love by submerging ourselves\nin it, until all thoughts of evil, suffering or hatred are lost in its\nembrace.\n\n\"'Lift up the gates that the king of glory may enter in,' sang David,\nand we too cry aloud with earnest aspiration that the gates shall be\nlifted away, that into our consciousness may come the high tide of\nomnipresent Love. 'Love alone is wisdom, love alone is power, and when\nlove seems to fail it is where self has stepped in and dulled the\npotency of its rays.'\n\n\"God is our substance. True substance alone is reliable. God is our rod\nand our staff. Firmly relying on the Rock of substance which is God, we\ncan not be shaken, can not be destroyed. Though all seeming powers\ntotter and fall around us, the One is ever the same, indivisible,\nunchangeable I Am. When we are one with the eternal Substance, weakness,\ndanger, failure shrink into cowering nothingness.\n\n\"Study to know, and know to live, should be our motto. Deny all error\nand affirm all Truth is the way to appropriate whatsoever we desire to\nmanifest. Deny weakness and affirm strength, deny discord and affirm\nharmony, deny sickness and affirm health. Why? Because we erase the\nfalse beliefs of weakness, discord, sickness, by the denial, and\nappropriate strength, harmony, wholeness by affirmation.\n\n\"Can the spiritual self be ignorant, weak, sick or sinful? we argue.\nImpossible, for God is our sufficiency, is all there is. We refuse to\nadmit any belief of dullness and ignorance, but gratefully acknowledge\nour likeness to God our Wisdom. We refuse to entertain anything contrary\nto the Good, but fellowship only with God-like qualities. They are ours\nby right of inheritance. We gladly claim them and prove our claim by our\nmanifestation.\n\n\"Cleansing our consciousness from false conceptions, what wondrous power\nmay we not reflect! Our sufficiency is of God, not of ourselves, and to\nHim we ascribe all honor and glory.\n\n\"The Master taught the divineness of yielding our will wholly to God,\n'Not my will but thine be done,' He prayed. This is the highest\nconception of the denial of self. The mortal self is to be set aside,\nour immortal consciousness awakened into oneness with the Father.\n\n\"MacDonald has beautifully said, 'Oneness with the mighty All is the one\nend of life--God or chaos is the only alternative.' We say God works\nthrough man to will and to do, and implicitly trust the divine\nIntelligence that guides every waiting child.\n\n\"We choose the Good and reverently await our leadings. In every stormy\ntrial, in every doubtful moment, in every hard-pressed circumstance we\nstand aside and let the divine will work through us. There can be no\nmistaking this standing aside. It is not to sit down idly with no\nthought of responsibility or effort, but it is to do the best we can so\nfar as we know, constantly awaiting more knowledge of God's will and\nmore strength to do.\n\n\"When the will of man is at one with the will of God, when man realizes\nhis mortal nothingness and the allness of God, there is divine and\nperfect healing. The poet was right when he wrote,\n\n  'Our wills are ours we know not how,\n  Our wills are ours to make them Thine.'\n\n\"'I am subject to the law of God and can not sin, suffer nor die.' The\nreal _I_ is governed by spirit, as an idea is governed by the mind that\nthinks it. The real creation, being spiritual, can not be subject to\nmortal beliefs or 'carnal mind which is at enmity with God.' With spirit\nthere can be no sin, sickness nor death, for these are enemies to be\novercome by the Son of God, the Christ within. 'Thou wilt keep him in\nperfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.' 'The last enemy (belief) to\nbe overcome is death.'\n\n\"Until we persistently refuse to judge according to appearances, and\nacknowledge the true and invisible, we will continue in our old code of\nbeliefs and be at the mercy of the consequences.\n\n\"When we recognize the Christ or God principle within, we are then truly\nthe sons and daughters of God. Spiritual insight gives a logical and to\nsome, a new meaning to the term Christ. Christ means Truth and Truth\nmeans God. 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and\nthe Word was God, and the Word was made manifest in the flesh, or the\nWord was made flesh and dwelt among us.'\n\n\"'Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.' Jesus said of\nHimself, 'I am the way, the truth and the life.' But He did not speak\nthis of His physical body, He referred to the spirit or Christ within,\nwhich was one with the Father, that was and is, literally the way, the\ntruth and the life. If you will substitute Truth for Christ any place in\nthe Bible, with this understanding, you will be able to read and\napprehend as never before. In this line of thought read the thirty-fifth\nchapter of Isaiah, the title of which is 'The joyful flourishing of\nChrist's (Truth's) kingdom.' With this understanding, we so much more\nclearly see what Paul meant when he said such things as 'Your life is\nhid with Christ in God,' 'Christ in you, the hope of glory,' 'Until\nChrist be formed in you,' and many other similar expressions. In the\neighth chapter of Romans, especially the first verse, it is much clearer\nby reading with this new spiritual signification. 'There is, therefore,\nnow no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Truth), who walk\nnot after the flesh but after the spirit.' Who could ever believe the\nphysical Jesus was meant? No: Christ was exactly what the first chapter\nof John says He was, the Word (or Truth) made manifest in the flesh, and\nthe name of the flesh was Jesus.\n\n\"Jesus Christ means Jesus, the manifestation of Truth, and this explains\nmany hitherto obscure passages, which are exceedingly hard to\nunderstand, when the flesh and spirit are regarded as one.\n\n\"What vast possibilities unfold to the human being persistent in his\nsearch for truth! What a glorious realm of knowledge, what wonderful\npower, what blissful peace, for he will have 'put on the new man, which\nis renewed in knowledge after the image of him that creates him.' He\nwill have attained the clear vision of liberty, for he will no longer be\nbound to the 'letter that killeth' but be filled with the 'spirit that\ngiveth life.'\n\n\"The silence at the close seemed like a baptism of peace. To me came the\nrealization of the intimate relationship of God's children to their\nFather, whose love ever comes as a benediction to those who will or can,\nrecognize and appropriate it.\n\n  \"With love to you all, I am,\n\n  \"YOUR MARION.\n\n\"P. S. I take great pains to have the quotations accurate, and\nfortunately I have made the acquaintance of the shorthand reporter in\nthe class who sits next to me; she takes notes and as a special favor,\nreads the quotations for me after the class is dismissed.\n\n  \"Once more, good-bye. M.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n  \"Got but the truth once uttered, and 'tis like\n  A star new-born that drops into its place,\n  And which, once circling in its placid round,\n  Not all the tumult of the earth can shake.\"\n\n  --_Lowell._\n\n\n\"How are you getting on in your study of Christian Healing?\" asked Mr.\nHayden, meeting Kate as he was going home, and handing her the letter.\n\n\"It is getting plainer, but Grace seems to catch the reason of things\nmuch more readily than I. In fact, I am afraid I should have given up in\ndisgust had not she helped me out, for some of the statements seemed so\nunreasonable.\"\n\n\"They are rather inconsistent in some respects, I must admit; but if we\nwill only be patient, and not allow prejudice to color our judgment,\neverything will straighten out,\" replied Mr. Hayden, smiling. \"You\nnotice Marion is careful to warn me not to judge hastily. She knows how\nI am in religious matters, always insisting on the one interpretation.\nBut I am growing some, I hope, so I trust my judgment is broad enough to\nmake a fair and impartial investigation.\"\n\n\"Do you follow directions about denying?\" Kate asked, as they walked\nalong.\n\n\"I am trying to, but of course my days are busy, and evenings somewhat\ntaken up with the children. Still, I deny matter as being inert, having\nabsolutely no power of itself, except what is delegated to it by the\nsenses. I know it has no life, intelligence or causation of itself, but\nonly as man in his ignorance allows it to have. This has been held by\nwise men of all ages. I have an idea this way of thinking will help me\nin business as well as socially and religiously.\"\n\n\"I am glad to hear that,\" said Kate; \"though I must confess at first I\nwas very much afraid to look into this; but last night I had a very\nclear assurance that there is something in it. Grace and I denied a long\ntime, and I had a most peculiar experience. Such a strange, exalted\nfeeling, as if there were no weight about me, and it was very clear that\nthere is no reality in matter.\"\n\n\"Remarkable!\" murmured Mr. Hayden. \"Suppose you come down Sunday and\nwe'll compare notes,\" he suggested, as he turned the corner toward home.\n\n\"We will,\" she promised, and went on with a hurried step, anxious to\nread the letter, for she was now as interested as Grace. When she\narrived at their rooms she found her friend had gone out, so she went\nabout the domestic duties, resolving to have everything ready when Grace\nreturned.\n\n\"Isn't that a beautiful lesson?\" exclaimed Grace, when they finally sat\ndown to study, later in the evening.\n\n\"Perfectly grand; but I want the Bible corroboration, though I am not\nafraid it is not there this time.\"\n\n\"Of course everything that proves the theory helps to establish the\nconsequent facts, and I suspect all things prove it when we understand\nit. Well, here is the first statement about God that is about the same\nas in the first lesson,\" said Grace. \"Look up the references to life.\"\n\n\"Here is one in Psalm xxvii: 1. 'The Lord is my life and my salvation,\nwhom shall I fear?'\" read Kate; \"and here is another in Acts xvii: 25:\n'God giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.'\"\n\n\"That is good; see if you can find another,\" said Grace.\n\n\"Here is one, but I hardly understand it--John xi: 25, 26. 'Jesus said\nunto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth on me,\nthough he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and\nbelieveth in me shall never die.' What can that mean, Grace?\"\n\n\"Wait a moment,\" said Grace, silently pondering. Then she looked again\nat the letter. \"Why, of course! How could we forget so easily? I had it\njust a moment ago. Jesus never referred to his flesh and blood when he\nspoke of himself as life, resurrection, truth, bread, but always meant\nthe Spirit of God that was manifest in him, and the Spirit of God which\nis the Christ, is Truth, and whosoever believes or apprehends Truth,\nshall be whole and live.\"\n\n\"But it says, 'shall never die,'\" interrupted Kate, still unsatisfied.\n\n\"I don't know, then, unless it means 'the Spirit is all.' Find another\npassage.\"\n\nKate read John vi: 51-64, and then added, anxiously, \"it seems to grow\nmore mysterious all the time.\"\n\n\"Never mind, let us be patient. Read the fifty-first and sixty-third\nverses again.\"\n\nKate read, \"'I am the living bread which came down from heaven, if any\nman eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will\ngive is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... It is\nthe spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that\nI speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.'\"\n\n\"That last clause is the key to all,\" exclaimed Grace, eagerly. \"He was\nthe Word, idea made manifest in the flesh. Flesh was a symbol of Word,\nand he said they were to eat his flesh, which meant they were to eat his\nword. Now let us look up Word, since so much hinges upon that.\"\n\nRapidly turning over the leaves, Kate read again, John xv: 7: \"'If ye\nabide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it\nshall be done unto you.'\"\n\n\"There we have it. Christ, we must remember, means Truth. If we abide in\nthe Truth and the words of Truth abide in us, that is, in order to eat\nthe flesh and drink the blood of Christ, we are to abide in the spirit\nand speak the words of Truth. Oh, how beautiful!\"\n\n\"Yes, it is. Here is another passage, Col. iii: 3, 4: 'For ye are dead,\nand your life is hid with Christ in God.... When Christ, who is our\nlife, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.' Even\nI, can see that,\" cried the delighted Kate, \"and I remember a verse in\nEphesians, iv: 18, that will make it still plainer. Here it is: 'Having\nthe understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through\nthe ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart'\n(mind). Ignorance is the opposite of truth, and one who is ignorant of\ntruth is subject to the carnal mind which leads to death. When we know\ntruth, we know the opposite of death, which is life, so when Christ the\nTruth, which is life, shall appear, we shall be glorified with the\nknowledge of eternal life, and just as far as we realize truth we\nmanifest it, do we not?\" She appealed to Grace, as if the thought were\ntoo good to be true, and must needs be confirmed before she could\nbelieve it.\n\n\"Manifest it? Why yes; I suppose so; that means in the body,\" answered\nGrace, thinking deeply; \"manifest truth in the body. Of course,\" she\ncontinued, \"we will show forth a more perfect body in proportion as we\nacknowledge and realize more perfect thought. How strangely we lose our\npremise! If this could not be reasoned out so clearly, I should get all\ntangled up; as it is, I don't keep out of snarls.\"\n\n\"Just think of poor me who seem to have no reasoning faculty at all in\nthese matters. What should I have done without you to help me out?\"\nqueried Kate.\n\nGrace smiled as she replied: \"In one sense you will get on faster than\nI, for you can get it spiritually or intuitively, while I get it only\nintellectually, and the intuition flies where reason walks. You had a\nperception of the unreality of matter last night and I had nothing at\nall but stupidity and sleepiness. But let us go on. I am more deeply\ninterested than I can tell, and the Bible is a new book to me. I never\ndreamed there were such treasures of truth in it. No matter where I\nread in the Bible before, I could not understand, and then I stopped\ntrying, but it is very different now.\"\n\n\"What is the next point in the lesson?\" asked Kate, taking up the Bible\nagain.\n\n\"I am the child of God. Look for child.\"\n\n\"Yes, in Rom. viii: 16, 17: 'The spirit itself beareth witness with our\nspirit, that we are children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs\nof God, and joint heirs of Christ; if so be that we suffer with him.'\"\n\n\"That means,\" said Grace, \"we prove ourselves heirs if we suffer with\nhim, mortify the flesh, lay down the life of appetites and passions and\ntalk continually of spiritual things; in short, live the life that Jesus\ndid.\"\n\n\"Here in Gal. iv: 1: 'The heir, as long as he is a child, differeth\nnothing from a servant, though he is lord of all,'\" read Kate.\n\n\"While he has a child's ignorance of his inheritance, of course he could\nnot enjoy its possession, and the longer he remains ignorant, the longer\nwill he have the station of a servant,\" explained Grace, readily.\n\n\"But there is a seeming conflict in the two passages. The first says the\nspirit itself tells us we are children and heirs, and the second says,\nas long as he is a child, even though an heir, he is nothing but a\nservant,\" said Kate, in perplexity again.\n\n\"But isn't there a place in the Testament somewhere about being born\nagain?\" inquired Grace.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Kate, wondering what that could have to do with it. \"Yes,\nthat is where Nicodemus went to Jesus by night--\"\n\n\"Find it,\" interrupted Grace, who was determined to be thorough in this\nstudy at least.\n\n\"John, iii: 3-7, reads: 'Except a man be born again, he can not see the\nkingdom of God.... That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which\nis born of spirit is spirit.'\"\n\n\"Well!\" said Kate, as she finished.\n\n\"Didn't we learn that the words are spirit and life, and does it not\nmean we are born into the spiritual knowledge by abiding in the words of\ntruth?\" reasoned Grace.\n\n\"Why, that is it, I do believe, and one of the last verses of the third\nchapter of Galatians says, 'for ye are all the children of God by faith\nin Christ Jesus.'\"\n\n\"By faith in the Truth,\" amended Grace, for the sake of the clearer\nmeaning.\n\n\"What a stupid I am!\" cried Kate. A moment later she said thoughtfully,\n\"there is a text in the first chapter of James which reads: 'Of his own\nwill begat he us with the word of truth, that we might be a kind of\nfirst fruits of his creatures.' My youthful Sunday school training is\nnot quite in vain,\" she added, meekly.\n\n\"It would not take us so long if we knew the Bible as some people do,\nprovided we want to take that as sole authority,\" remarked Grace,\nreferring to the letter again.\n\n\"I don't know about the advantage of knowing the passages unless you can\ninterpret them, and that is certainly essential to the understanding,\"\nreplied Kate, thoughtfully, as she drew her hand slowly over the open\npage.\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden refers to the liberty brought by the spirit. Suppose you\nlook up a reference to liberty,\" suggested Grace.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Kate, a moment later, \"here in verses 17 and 18 of II. Cor.,\nthird chapter, it reads, 'Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the\nspirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.... But we all, beholding as in\na glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from\nglory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.'\"\n\n\"Why, Grace,\" exclaimed Kate, shutting the book in her eagerness, \"I see\nit all now. By denial we take away falsities that bar us from looking\ninto the face of God (Good), and by the affirmation we acknowledge Him,\nwhich is turning an open face to Him and reflecting His glory. Isn't\nthat the way you understand it?\"\n\nKate's face was all aglow with enthusiasm. A new light had come to her,\nand she was lifted to a higher plane, both in conception and feeling.\n\n\"That is a beautiful interpretation, but I don't want to stop to think\nabout it now,\" said Grace, with a yawn, betraying fatigue for the first\ntime.\n\n\"Why, Grace, a little while ago you said you were 'so interested.' What\nhas come over you?\" was Kate's rather discomfited answer.\n\n\"Oh, nothing, nothing!\" rejoined Grace hastily, \"only you know one _can_\nbe surfeited with good things, but never mind. I shall not stop till we\nget through with this looking up, and then I must have a good long\nthink.\" She playfully chucked Kate under her chin, and asked her \"to go\non,\" but the searching was not so spontaneous as before, and in the\nspontaneity of study lies the acquisition of knowledge.\n\nGrace, it must be confessed, was compelling herself to a thorough\nintellectual investigation which, till now, had been a novel pleasure,\nbut was getting a little monotonous, although she was deeply interested\nand more pleased with the Bible readings than she would have thought\npossible, because, as she had said herself, the Bible had been a sealed\nbook to her before. She was very careful to conceal this new feeling\nfrom Kate, for at least, she would not lay one obstacle in _her_ path,\nand after a few moments' desultory conversation, they went on as before.\n\n\"The next affirmation is about the will, what can you find for that?\"\nasked Grace, as they had resumed their study again.\n\n\"I have found it already,\" replied Kate, with her finger on the passage.\n\"In Phil. ii: 13: 'For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to\ndo of his good pleasure.' That subordination to the will of God runs all\nthrough the New Testament.\"\n\n\"Here is the last one,\" resumed Grace, referring to the letter again. \"I\nam subject to God's law and can not sin, suffer or die,\" she read.\n\n\"Oh, that does not sound right; I do _not_ see how it can be right to\nsay such things,\" interposed Kate, darkening again.\n\nShe looked up a reference to sin and turned to the sixth chapter of\nRomans. \"I don't see very clearly yet,\" she faltered, after she had\nfinished the chapter.\n\n\"Yes, in the 16th verse is the key to it all,\" said Grace, looking over\nthe page with her. \"The idea is, if we admit sin or talk about it, we\nare committing sin, for it is wrong to do either.\"\n\n\"I understand a little better now, but it is not an easy matter to be so\ngood,\" sighed Kate.\n\n\"But we are given these rules in order to know _how_ to be good. Let us\nsit as we did last night, and say these affirmations,\" suggested Grace,\ndetermined to do her duty, for Kate's sake at least.\n\nDiligence and faithfulness never fail to bring forth fruit, and they\nwere laboring hard, both with soil and seed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n     \"Each of us is a distinct flower or tree in the spiritual garden of\n     God,--precious each for its own sake in the eyes of Him who is even\n     now making us,--each of us watered and shone upon and filled with\n     life for the sake of His flower, His completed being, which will\n     blossom out of Him at last to the glory and pleasure of the great\n     Gardener. For each has within him a secret of Divinity; each is\n     growing toward the revelation of that secret to himself, and so to\n     the full reception, according to his measure of the\n     Divine.\"--_George MacDonald._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, September ----.\n\n\"Dear Husband: Your letter seemed the only bright spot in my yesterday's\nexperience, for, strange as it may seem, I awoke with the same old\nheadache and pain in my limb, and felt so dull and stupid, that I was\nalmost doubtful whether I had ever known anything. In vain I tried to\ntreat myself, but the more I tried the more perplexed I became, until\nabout noon, when I began to feel better, though the whole day was a\nnovel and rather disagreeable experience. When I went into class to-day,\nfrom nearly every quarter was heard a similar story of how the day of\nrest had been passed.\n\n\"It was more and more astonishing. Dr. Bright had hardly recovered from\nher sick headache; Mrs. Dawn was still feeling stupid; two ladies were\nnot able to attend class; Dr. Johnson and Dr. Lorimer actually looked\nangry, and the two ministers in the class were gravely discussing the\nknotty points and knitting their clerical brows over 'doubtful\nexplanations' as they called them, while a perplexed and troubled air\nseemed to settle on everybody. But there are a few old students in the\nclass, and they looked at us with a knowing smile, saying: 'This is only\nchemicalization; you will be all the brighter after you get over it.'\n\n\"They did not explain further, but I knew something about it from the\nexperience we have had, but had never thought of it in that light. 'It\nis a comfort to know there is some prospect of an end to our darkness\nanyway,' said Mrs. Dawn, with a long-drawn breath of relief, voicing the\nsentiments of all.\n\n\"The kind and gracious look Mrs. Pearl gave us as she came in, sent a\nwave of peace and satisfaction over me, for I felt that she understood\nthe situation and would lift the curtains and let in the light.\n\n\"After the usual silence, which seemed longer than before, Mrs. Pearl\nbegan in a calm clear voice:\n\n\"We have come now to a point where it seems necessary to explain the\nprocess of growth, and the phenomenal changes which take place at\ncertain stages of our development, whether known or unknown to the\nindividual.\n\n\"Hitherto we have recognized material ideas, objects and processes. We\nhave looked upon our physical being as the indisputable creation subject\nto all changes, circumstances or conditions. Having experienced a\nmaterial birth, we conceive of no other as being either possible or\nnecessary, and like Nicodemus we go in the night of our ignorance to ask\nthe divine Teacher, Truth, questions concerning spiritual things, only\nto be told we must be born from above if we would know the things of\nthe spirit. 'That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is\nborn of Spirit is spirit.'\n\n\"We are covered with the cold, hard shell of material beliefs, which\nmust be broken and cast away before the sweet and tender germ of spirit\ncan spring up. We are born like the flowers, and blossom like them.\n'Consider the lilies of the field, _how they grow_.'\n\n\"Seed typifies the desire for truth planted in the conscious and\nunconscious being. The more constantly and persistently we hold the\ndesire, the more rapid and perfect will be the development that produces\nthe fruit. The hard little kernel must first lie in the dark earth,\nwhile hidden forces make it swell and sprout until the outer shell dies\nand falls away, leaving the pure white germ to push its way up and up\nthrough the cold dreary earth. At this period it is very delicate and\ntender, and yet it must pass through a trying stage, for when the white\nspire just peeps above the ground it has to encounter elements that at\nfirst seem bent upon its destruction.\n\n\"Will the sun's rays now prove too hot for it? Will the winds be too\nrough and stormy? Will the cold air bite, or the storm beat and bruise\nit unto death? Pointing ever skyward, does it stop to shiver at the\nprospect of dark and cold and heat, or windy violence?\n\n\"Let us see. Bravely the young shoot goes its way. As soon as it sees\nthe light it displays new beauty, and the reflected glory clothes it in\na brighter robe--the fresh, dainty green of spring's supernal dress,\nemblem of everlasting youth. But a storm of wind and rain assails it.\nDense cloud-curtains hide the sun, and the air is cold and chilling.\nSometimes for days this benumbing coldness lasts. But after the storm\nour little friend is greener and brighter and larger than ever. It has\nwithstood the storm and wind, by using them for its own advancement.\nEverything has been turned into good by recognizing only the good.\n\n\"When the sunshine comes again the little slip is baptized with dew and\nwarmth and light, and joyously springs on toward budding time, and then\nanother and different experience befalls. Instead of rolling every new\nleaf outward to be bathed in the light and kissed by the wind, there is\na rolling inward, a curling up and shutting in of the new and delicate\nleaves. A hard, unlovely roll or lump now displays itself on the green\nstem, and every day the roll becomes larger and harder. The green stalk\nnever questions, though for a time her face is veiled. She lives in the\nwaiting silence, content with what is. One bright day she looks at her\nugly bud and finds it a rare blossom of surpassing beauty and sweetest\nfragrance. Thus is born the fair-robed lily, pure emblem of the child of\nGod.\n\n\"But we have many and various symbols of divine thought in the many and\nvarious flowers, from which we learn divine lessons. There are the\nviolets that come so early in the spring, with their wildwood fragrance\nand dainty blue cloaks, and the lovely roses of summer, the goldenrods\nand asters of autumn, while among the rarer kinds we have the\nnight-blooming cereus, the beautiful but slow blossoming century plant,\nand many others. These are types and symbols of ourselves and our\nprocess of birth and unfoldment.\n\n\"The new birth is a development from material to spiritual knowledge.\nThe individual corresponds to one or another plant, but none may know at\nwhat particular stage.\n\n\"Some blossom early, some late, some manifest a nature like the violet,\nothers the rose, the water lily or the century plant. I can not tell,\nyou can not tell, none can tell. Even the Master said, 'The wind bloweth\nwhere it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell\nwhence it cometh or whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of\nthe spirit.'\n\n\"The wonderful seed (desire for truth) we have planted must be moistened\nby the water of right words, warmed by the sunshine of faith, fed by the\ndew of patience.\n\n\"Our trials will be similar in character to the flowers, and the outcome\nwill be the same in proportion as we follow their example of\nunquestioning faithfulness.\n\n\"The very desire to grow is a challenge to the elements that _seem_ to\noppose growth, but the plant overcomes all obstacles by its\nnon-resistance, and herein lies one of our most valuable lessons.\n\n\"In our progress we meet with many conditions and circumstances that try\nus, that seem indeed to call in question our earnestness in thus\nstarting out, with new assumptions. Sometimes these adverse conditions\nare called trials of faith and they may come to us in one way or\nanother, sometimes in sickness, sometimes in misunderstandings,\nsometimes in grief, sometimes in disagreeable duties.\n\n\"Peculiarities of disposition that we thought overcome, may manifest\nthemselves very unexpectedly and cause us great annoyance, not only\nbecause we may have congratulated ourselves on having risen above them,\nbut because it would be a mortification to us to have our friends know\nthat we who believe in the possibility of such high moral attainments,\nshould be guilty of these old weaknesses and follies. In every way, the\ntempter--mortal thought--may show us the fallibility of human nature and\ntempt us to disbelieve in our high ideals.\n\n\"The forty days' temptation in the wilderness is the soul history of\nevery human being who starts out to lead the life of Jesus. Tempted in\neverything as we are, he was the type of strength, purity and\nfaithfulness to principles, which we most earnestly should seek to\nfollow. After his baptism, 'He was conducted by the spirit into the\ndesert to be tempted by the enemy.'\n\n\"We are baptized by the spirit when we have come into the realization of\nour sonship and daughtership, our true relation to the divine Father and\nMother Love, and have consecrated our lives to the service of Truth. In\norder that we may be fully aware of the magnitude of our desire, we are,\nas it were, led by the spirit to the desert which literally signifies\nforsaken, where every means of comfort and companionship are gone, where\nwe must learn to choose between the ever present but invisible things\nof God and the transitory but gratifying pleasures of the visible world.\nHaving a glimpse of the power and blessedness conferred by the knowledge\nof Truth, we are tempted to keep hold of the power, at the same time\nfellowshipping with the world, which by our recognition and fellowship\nwill be greatly pleased through the acquisition of our society and\ntalents.\n\n\"When tests are required of us similar to the turning of stones into\nbread, healing the lepers, raising the dead, will we realize our\ndependence on the word of God which is the 'bread of life?' Temptations\nto dare the protection of the power, give us an insight to the very same\ntrial of Jesus, and when we are led up to the mountain of knowledge from\nwhich we may view the pomps and vanities of the world, realizing the\nsuperior insight that gives power, then comes the decisive\nquestion--shall God or mammon gain our allegiance? Shall we forego the\nseductive allurements of mortal thought (which is really only the\nnegative thought or the false power called the world's beliefs reflected\nupon us), or shall we, in ringing tones cry out, 'Get thee behind me,\nadversary (or opposer). Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only\nshalt thou serve.' Then the enemy leaves us, and behold, angels come and\nminister to us.\n\n\"After the long forty days, which with some seem longer than with\nothers, after the darkness and desolation of a desert night, we are\nministered unto by the blessed angels--good thoughts--and the glory of\nthe Most High shines round about us. The struggle is ended, the Good\nwhich is ever ready to be our guide when we choose, leads us into many\nsweet experiences that bring us nearer and nearer to the 'promised\nland,' the true inheritance of God's children. We begin the ascent of\nthe mount of transfiguration, and though we come to many steep places,\nthough we sometimes stumble over rocks of ignorance, though we encounter\nclouds of doubt that veil the glorious peak from our longing view for a\ntime, though we meet wild beasts, (untamed human nature), though we\ncross shadowy valleys and dark ravines, lighted only by the torch of\nfaith, we shall have transcendant glimpses of the fair Beyond, shall\nbreathe the perfumed air of Zion's Hills, and be transported with\ndelight at the never ceasing revelations made to the true seeker after\neternal wisdom.\n\n\"After faith, comes knowledge. If we were overcome by the tidal wave,\nwhen wading out a little way from shore, and a rope were thrown us, we\nshould at least catch hold the rope, hoping to be delivered from the\ndanger. After several successful experiences, we should have faith in\nthe rope, so when we feel the tidal wave of trial overtaking us, we are\nto catch hold of our denials and affirmations which correspond to the\nsaving rope. An invariable rule in Christian Science is to deny the\nundesirable and affirm that which can be predicated of spirit. _No\nmatter what inharmony_ assails you, whether it be pain, poverty,\nsickness, loneliness, fear or anxiety, _deny_ it positively and\nrepeatedly and _affirm_ the opposite. Like Jesus, we must speak of that\nwhich is true, but not visible. Thus when called to raise the daughter\nof Jairus, he said: 'She is not dead but sleepeth.' The appearance of\ndeath was denied, and its opposite, life, affirmed.\n\n\"When talking to the Jews, Jesus said: 'If ye continue in my word, then\nare ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth and the truth\nshall make you free.' It is continuance in the word that brings the\nblessing, mark that.\n\n\"And now let us enter into the silence with one accord, saying: 'For Thy\nblessed words and example we thank Thee, O, beloved Master, and with Thy\nwords we enter now into Thy faith.'\n\n\"An impressive ten minutes, and then, with reverent voice and gesture,\nMrs. Pearl dismissed us with the words: 'It is finished. We have\nreceived that which we asked, and are filled with the peace that passeth\nall understanding.'\n\n\"While we sat thus, just before she spoke, I had one of those peculiar\nexperiences they tell about, coming so often in the silence. It seemed\nas though I was in the cool quiet of early morning, watching the signs\nof a summer dawn. All at once the creeping rainbow colors shot up toward\nthe zenith, and the most glorious sunrise I ever beheld flooded me with\na dazzling glow of gold. The moment she spoke it vanished, but oh, how\nlovely it was! What could it mean unless the dawn of the 'Sun of\nRighteousness?' I must wait and see, for surely the understanding of\nthese things will come when I am ready for it.\n\n\"Several of the class have been having strange signs or hints of\nsomething on which they have been studying deeply. Dr. Bright said that\neverything turned black before her one day when she was denying, and\nwhen she could see again it seemed as though there were no walls to the\nhouse and she was gazing into empty space. This is on account of denying\ntill material things seem immaterial, and we begin to realize the\nreality of spirit.\n\n\"The saying of the affirmation for strength, Mrs. Dawn says, makes her\nbody feel almost electrified with vitality, and she can realize that the\nwords bring to her what they claim.\n\n\"One young man, who sits just back of me, told his experience in denying\nthe reality of matter. He was quite rebellious at first about saying\nwhat seemed such a huge lie, but finally concluded to do the best he\ncould, and so said it over and over one day till he fell asleep.\nSuddenly he was awakened by the words sounding in his ears, 'Be not\nafraid, but trust,' and opening his eyes, he saw written on the wall the\nvery same words, and immediately a restfulness and satisfaction came\nover him, so that he no longer demurred at the thought of saying the\nwords and, though he did not yet understand, he felt willing to wait.\n\n\"Oh, how I wish the great busy world would listen to this beautiful\ndoctrine. It seems that we must compel it to come to the feast. I think\nwe all feel like a child delightedly showing its new toy to everybody.\nBut the little experience I have had before, will teach me to withhold\nwhere there is antagonism to the truth, beautiful though it is, because\nmy work at home even with my cure, did not interest or convince some\nwho would shut their eyes and ears to all. I remember so well how I felt\nlike shouting to everyone in my joy the glad story of my recovered\nhealth, but the cold, incredulous looks, and the averted faces chilled\nthe tidings on my lips, and I learned that only when the world is\nthirsty, will it appreciate the cool and sparkling waters of truth.\n\n\"Well, dear John, I have not answered your letter at all because I was\nso afraid I would forget the substance of the lesson to-day, but I am so\nglad it seems plain to you as I present it, and it is such a help to\nknow you are glad I came here. How we shall grow together when we\n_begin_ together. Continue to write your opinions and ideas of the\nlessons, for you have such a clear way of expressing yourself. Don't let\nJamie forget to write again when you all write. Bless his dear little\nself! I would so like to see him, but then, I know all is well with you,\nfor Good is everywhere.\n\n  \"Good night and good-bye,\n\n    \"MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n     \"But when every leaf is dropped and the plant stands stripped to\n     the uttermost, a new life is even then working in the buds, from\n     which shall spring a tenderer foliage and a brighter wealth of\n     flowers. So, often, in celestial gardening, every leaf of earthly\n     joy must drop before a new and divine bloom visits the\n     soul.\"--_Harriet Beecher Stowe._\n\n\nSaturday no letter came. All the forenoon Grace tried to do her duty by\nsaying her denials and affirmations while Kate was out giving lessons,\nbut she seemed so stupid and felt so cross that in despair she resorted\nto her painting, but only succeeded in spoiling the picture she had\nspent hours and days upon before. When Kate came in at the usual hour,\nfeeling so gay and light-hearted that she scarcely knew how to contain\nherself, she was astonished to hear Grace say:\n\n\"Oh, I am glad you have come at last! Such a day as I have spent!\nThought I'd have so much extra time while you were gone to give Millie's\nlesson, and here I've wasted the whole afternoon and spoiled my\n'shipwreck' besides, and I'm in a villainous humor. Now, I'm going to\npour it all out on your innocent head.\" She smiled grimly, as she tossed\nher painting apron aside and spitefully turned the picture to the wall.\n\n\"What in the world ails you, Grace?\" cried the astonished Kate. \"Have\nyou lost your senses? I was congratulating myself coming home on the\ngood time we would have again to-night.\"\n\n\"I anticipated it so vividly this morning I could hardly wait, but\nreally, Kate, I feel ugly, and perhaps it would be as well not to talk\nto me. I will go out for a little walk, while you get the tea,\" and she\nwent forthwith.\n\nA tumult raged within her that she had not conquered. One moment filled\nwith the most exhilarating sense of freedom and joy, the next the direst\ndisgust with herself and her failings; one moment clearly understanding\nthe many problems that had come up for solution the past week, and the\nnext with no ability to reason about anything. This had been going on\nall day. She had even felt unreasonably irritable because Kate had so\nquickly overcome her prejudices. What right had she to give away her own\nfor some one else's opinions so easily?\n\nGrace gave her glove an impatient twitch as she thought of it, but the\nnext instant she wished she, too, might be as childlike and receptive as\nher companion.\n\nTo Kate the Bible was final, unquestioned authority; to Grace it was a\ncorroboration, not a foundation. It was more interesting, she must\nconfess, than ever before, but then she must have better reasons than\nhad yet appeared for taking it as Kate did.\n\nAfter all, perhaps this religion was but another mirage that had come\ninto her moral vision, as many another had come in all the years she had\nbeen seeking truth and happiness. Happiness! Had she forgotten that for\ntwo years that word had been dropped from her vocabulary? That she had\nresolved to live on the best intellectual food the world could offer,\nwithout tasting its heart viands? She walked on with an unwonted\nenergy. No, she would not be deceived; the best and sweetest in life was\nnot for her, but she ought at least, to help poor little Kate.\n\nIt was a calm, quiet evening. The sun was just disappearing over the\ndistant hills. The sky was radiant with delicate pink and blue tints.\nShe was walking toward the east, when, glancing at the scene in front of\nher, she saw what seemed to be a brilliant fire, not only in one place\nbut in many. Somewhat startled, she looked more closely and discovered\nevery window ablaze with the sun's reflected glory. Like a flash it\ncame: \"I am walking away from the glory of Truth. Oh! how shall I turn\nmy face to God?\" she cried, with unspeakable yearning.\n\nAn agony of suspense seized her. She looked up at the calm, beautiful\nsky, and its rays of radiance seemed to send down upon her a benediction\nof peace. Like a soft whisper the words, \"Lo, I am with you always,\"\nfell upon her ear. Blessed words that filled her with a new-born awe,\nbut they brought a realizing sense of ever-present nearness of Truth,\nsuch as she had never had before, and she was so filled with peace that\nall the world looked like a new world. The turbulent waves of doubt and\nunrest had been divinely stilled.\n\nShe walked on, so filled with her new thoughts that the twilight\ndeepened into starlight before she thought of home, and then it seemed\nthat every star beam was an angel of love sent to guide her on her way.\nShe entered quietly as Kate was playing one of Beethoven's symphonies,\nand never had music seemed so sweet. It was like a welcome into heaven.\nIt was the heaven within her that made a heaven without.\n\nTo Kate had come such a realization of divine harmony, that her soul\npoured itself out in music she had never dreamed of before. All the\nstruggles and pains of the past years, all the disappointments and\nunhappiness found expression through the wailing tones of the piano only\nto be swept away or swelled into sweeter and more joyous strains. More\nand more clearly a conception of joy and peace unspeakable filled her\nheart. She wandered again, a happy child, in country pastures gathering\nviolets and buttercups. She could scent the clover and hear the birds.\nThe water rippled over the pebbles and the air was filled with leaf\nmusic. Now, again a child, she \"walked in green pastures and beside the\nstill waters.\" The sun of love was shining down upon her, and its rays\nwarmed her, clothed her, fed her. \"Surely goodness and mercy shall\nfollow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the\nLord forever,\" she sang softly in an awed, hushed voice, as the music\ngrew more divinely sweet, and the realization of a nameless Presence\nfilled her. It was the presence of impersonal, omnipresent Truth, ever\nflowing into the heart ready for its reception, and though at first it\nmay be but a tiny stream, it grows to a swelling tide, and all the words\nin the universe can not name its sweet influence, or describe its\nwondrous allness.\n\nOh, Katie darling, what wouldst thou have put away from thy life, if\nthou hadst obstinately refused admittance to this heavenly Guest?... At\nlast the music ceased. She bowed her head and gave herself up to the\ninexpressible thoughts that welled into her mind. For some moments she\nwas not aware that Grace was in the room, but as she finally arose and\nturned around, she saw her. Their eyes met, and silently was told the\nstory of experiences too sacred to utter. A silent understanding and a\nheartfelt sympathy bound them by closer ties than they had ever known\nbefore. To be at one with Truth is to understand humanity, and\nunderstanding is a voiceless language.\n\nSunday afternoon they called on Mr. Hayden and found the fourth letter\nawaiting them.\n\n\"I did not send it up because Kate promised you would come over to-day,\nand now let us have a little experience meeting,\" he said, as he found\nchairs for them, and seated himself, seemingly awaiting a reply.\n\n\"First let us read the letter,\" suggested Grace, who was more interested\nthan ever since her yesterday's experience.\n\n\"Read it aloud,\" said Mr. Hayden, settling himself back to enjoy it.\n\nGrace had scarcely begun reading when Jamie came in, screaming that his\nfinger was \"boke.\"\n\n\"Never mind, Jamie, it will soon be all right. Shall papa treat it?\"\ntaking the child in his lap.\n\n\"Teat it, papa,\" and he laid his little head on papa's breast with\nperfect confidence that the pain would soon be gone. A few moments of\nsilence and he looked up innocently, saying with the brightest smile:\n\n\"It's all gone now. Papa telled the good Jamie to tome home,\" he\nexplained to the girls, \"and here he is, papa,\" he added, holding up his\nsweet mouth for a kiss.\n\n\"How beautiful is a child's faith,\" exclaimed Kate, after the little\nfellow had gone out to play again.\n\n\"Indeed I have learned more than I can tell you from the children,\" said\nMr. Hayden, thoughtfully. \"Mabel is old enough to understand a good\ndeal, but Fred and Jamie are very quick to apply what they learn. Last\nnight Jamie complained of the stomach ache. Neither of the children knew\nthat I was near, but I overheard Fred telling his brother that he would\ntreat him if he would keep still. Jamie consented and I peeped in a\nmoment later, curious to know what they were doing. Fred sat there grave\nas an owl, with his hands over his eyes, and Jamie in a chair opposite,\nhis eyes shut tightly and an air of expectancy on his face.\"\n\n\"Now you're all right,\" said Fred, very positively, after a few minutes.\nThey were soon playing and not once did the child complain after that.\nWhen going to bed, Jamie told me about it, and I asked Fred what he did\nwhen he treated.\n\n\"W'y,\" he answered, \"w'y, I just 'membered what you said to Mabel that\neverybody has two kinds o' thoughts, and one kind _thinks_ you're sick,\nand the other kind _knows_ you're well, so I thinked about Jamie till I\nthinked the _know_ thoughts, and _course_ he got well then.\"\n\n\"It was a lesson to me, and I have tried to emulate their receptiveness\nand childlike trust. I don't know how well I am succeeding, but it is\npretty hard sometimes to get the problems all worked out.\"\n\n\"We wouldn't have to work them out if we had the faith of a child,\" said\nKate, warmly. These little incidents touched her deeply.\n\n\"Well, there is nothing better to learn from than living examples, and\nyet we can only take them as guides, they will not do our work for us.\nEvery one of us must go through his own experience, and prove his right\nto an inheritance, by claiming it on trust as the child does. Now,\nyesterday,\" continued Mr. Hayden, leaning back and stroking his chin, \"I\nworked hard all the forenoon, and everything seemed to go wrong with\nme,\"--Grace glanced at Kate--\"I was not willing to live a moment at a\ntime, as the child does, with no thought or care as to where its next\nday's supplies are to come from, but I was tired and cross all day. The\nconsequence was, in the afternoon my old enemy, the headache, began to\nassert itself. Then I got Marion's letter and that helped me, because it\nthrew some light on the cause, but when I heard Fred's explanation of a\ntreatment I just applied it. I 'thinked,' till the 'know thoughts\ncame,'\" Mr. Hayden concluded with a grave smile.\n\n\"I believe that is what it means to 'work out our own salvation,'\" said\nGrace, \"and how beautiful to have the children learn! It will make\ndifferent men and women of them.\"\n\n\"Indeed it will; I have already seen some change in the children. But\nare you not going to read the letter, Miss Grace?\" asked Mr. Hayden.\n\n\"Yes, I am anxious to read it, but I have learned a great deal without\nit.\"\n\nShe took it up again and read without interruption to the end.\n\n\"Well, that _is_ quite an explanation of your experience of yesterday,\nMr. Hayden,\" explained Kate smilingly.\n\n\"And mine, too,\" added Grace. \"It is comforting to know that there is a\nscientific reason for it though.\"\n\n\"I think my darkness came earlier in the lessons, for yesterday and\nto-day have been very bright to me,\" replied Kate, soberly; \"but,\" she\ncontinued, \"there is so much about this to admire and so much to prove\nthat the system is founded on Christ's teachings, I can not see where\ndoubt could enter.\"\n\n\"We might not doubt the principle where we would often doubt ourselves,\"\nsuggested Mr. Hayden.\n\n\"Yes,\" said Grace, \"I believe that doubts will come as long as we\nconsider it a personal power.\"\n\n\"Which it is not, of course,\" interrupted Kate.\n\n\"Certainly not, but we must grow into a realization of Truth, we can not\nchange our old natures in a day, and it is only natural at first to feel\nthat it is a personal power because we are given so much personal\nresponsibility.\"\n\n\"I see what you mean,\" said Mr. Hayden, quietly, leaning back as if\nthinking deeply. \"You mean it is hard to forget self, and I agree with\nyou. This mind of the flesh claims so much wisdom and power of its own\nthat it is hard to attribute everything to a higher power, and let that\npower work through you; but when we can do that, we have the kernel of\nthe whole system.\"\n\n\"It is a wonderful thought to me, that we reflect _all_ things\nspiritual, as we divest ourselves of our false beliefs,\" remarked Grace,\nearnestly.\n\n\"In other words, when we know ourselves as we are, and not as we appear,\nwe shall recognize that all things we desire are already ours,\" added\nMr. Hayden.\n\n\"How could it be otherwise? The sun is always shining behind the darkest\nclouds. All I ask is that the ignorance may be removed,\" replied Grace.\n\n\"Well, I want to understand and believe truth, but it seems strange,\nafter we have declared our willingness to believe and acknowledge God to\nbe all, that we should be tempted. Why couldn't our acknowledgement be\nsufficient?\" queried Kate, in perplexity again.\n\n\"Why isn't the simple act of joining the church sufficient to make\nChristians? Although some seem to think it all sufficient, it is not. It\nis the daily life of overcoming, and denial of self that constitutes\ntrue acknowledgement,\" said Grace, laying her hand upon that of her\nfriend.\n\n\"Not denial of self in the old way, either,\" said Mr. Hayden, \"but\ndenial of the mortal thought, or as Paul would say, the 'carnal mind.'\"\n\n\"Yes, and in the temptation of Jesus, we read our own temptations,\"\ninterrupted Grace, \"and it is all important that we should deal with\nthem as he did. Over and over he met the opposing thought, represented\nby the tempter or opposer--error always opposing truth--and gave it\neither a plain denial or an emphatic command to get out.\"\n\n\"That is very plain and very true,\" said Kate, with a little sigh, \"but\nstill I can not see why God should allow us to be tempted after we have\nfought the battle once as Jesus did.\"\n\n\"But he fought it more than once,\" explained Mr. Hayden, earnestly. \"He\nwas continually overcoming, and at times found it necessary to withdraw\ninto the mountains where he fasted and prayed.\"\n\n\"That is a good thought to carry home,\" suggested Grace, rising, \"for we\nneed to follow his example.\"\n\n\"I need it more than anyone else,\" said Kate, feeling a lack of\nspiritual understanding, and wishing she could get on faster.\n\n\"You are doing grandly Miss Kate, just think how you opposed it all at\nfirst,\" said Mr. Hayden encouragingly.\n\n\"Yes, I know I did,\" flushing a little, \"but even thus far I have seen\nenough, or rather experienced enough to make me anxious to understand\nit, and I only ask so many questions because I am determined to get\nevery speck of light I can.\"\n\n\"If everybody would lay aside prejudice as you have, Miss Kate, they\nwould have no difficulty in seeing the truth as you do,\" he replied.\n\nThe tears came into her eyes. Neither Mr. Hayden nor Grace knew how much\nit had cost her to 'lay aside prejudice,' but she could thank God that\nshe had done so, and indeed believed it was Providence that had led her\ninto this study in spite of herself.\n\n\"I want the truth,\" she said simply, and turned away to join Grace, who\nstood at the open door waiting for her.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n     \"People imagine that the place which the Bible holds in the world\n     it owes to miracles. It owes it simply to the fact that it came out\n     of a profounder depth of thought than any other book.\"--_Emerson._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, September ----.\n\n\"Dear husband: The first thing I heard when I went into the class to-day\nwas Mrs. Dawn telling how she had treated a severe belief of headache\nlast evening and how marvelously soon the terrible pain ceased. She was\nquite rejoiced because it was the first time she had tried to\ndemonstrate the principles.\n\n\"They all have plenty to tell now, and are growing more and more\ninterested. Every day somebody has some new experience. Little Mrs.\nDexter, who has been so long treated by the old method, says she fully\nbelieves she will be cured, is feeling much better, and has such an\nassurance all the time that she has found the true healing. She has had\nseveral quite remarkable demonstrations with others.\n\n\"The whole line of argument is unfolding so naturally and beautifully\nthat it seems like a piece of fine mosaic, with every form and color\ninterwoven with the most exquisite exactness. Mrs. Pearl gave us a\nlecture on inspiration and the Bible, which I consider one of the most\nuseful and interesting of any she has yet given:\n\n\"In studying the very fountain springs of Truth, and basing our ideas\nupon a God who is the unexpressed and inexpressible essence of Truth\nitself, with whom is 'no respect of persons,' and to whom we owe _all_\nknowledge, it becomes us to inquire a little into the manner and means\nof gaining that knowledge.\n\n\"That all peoples in all climes and ages have developed similar ideas\nand expressed them in like terms, as philology shows, is an indisputable\nfact, strengthened and corroborated by our broader conception and higher\nunderstanding of God, the omnipresent Good.\n\n\"But how have these ideas come to them? Have they come through what is\nknown as inspiration or revelation? As the one fountain of Intelligence\nis open to all alike, this must be the case, because Truth comes only in\nthis way. Inspiration means an 'inbreathing,' a breathing in of true\nknowledge, and because the omnipresent Good comes into every\nconsciousness prepared to receive it, there is an inbreathing in\naccordance with the readiness to receive. Intelligence is like the air,\nto be breathed by every living being. Thus far, humanity has expanded\nits lungs of consciousness only enough to have inhaled fundamental\ntruth, or what is recognized as such, but we are constantly receiving\nmore, and in proportion as we receive, do we know what we receive.\n\n\"All truth is inspired or revealed, because whatever is true is of the\ngreat Truth. This must be so, yet many people consider inspiration as\nconfined to the authors of the Bible and that with them, inspiration\nceased. The immortal Job said, 'There is a spirit in man and the\ninspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding.' The inbreathing\nof the Almighty, All-powerful Truth, giveth understanding. No truer\nwords were ever uttered.\n\n\"As inspiration is inhaling or breathing in Truth, we can readily\nunderstand that 'God, Truth, Principle, is no respecter of persons.'\nThat it is a 'miraculous influence which qualifies man to receive and\ncommunicate divine truth,' is in a sense true, for the works of God are\nalways 'wonderful,' but there can be no setting aside of divine law, as\nsome erroneously suppose, for the performance of these things that seem\nunaccountable to human reason. It is a lack of understanding as to _how_\nTruth works, that has caused a belief in supernatural or miraculous\nways. Could a fish judge according to appearances, he would regard the\ncreatures that walk on land as gifted with supernatural power, because\nit would be utterly beyond his conception to know _how_ they could do\nso.\n\n\"Revelation and inspiration are frequently used interchangeably, but\nthat which is revealed, is the manifested result of inspiration rather\nthan inspiration itself. Whenever we are ready to breathe or absorb\nTruth into our consciousness, we get a revealment--'inspiration giveth\nunderstanding.' This breathing-in process lifts us above ordinary\nknowledge and gives refreshing glimpses of heavenly Truth, it is like\nbreathing in fresh air, after having been in a close suffocating room.\nWe say this or that scene, person or object inspires us; we mean that\nsome beautiful thought or conception of Truth is revealed to us, through\nor by our seeing these objects, because they hint of something better\nand higher, and the moment we get the higher thought, we are conscious\nof knowing higher Truth. This is revelation.\n\n\"Revelation and inspiration are the usual terms for expressing spiritual\nprocesses but are necessarily inadequate to express accurate spiritual\nmeanings. How ideas are born is a question of questions. Whether they\ncome from without or within, they must establish the oneness of God and\nman in mind and idea. The only 'without' there can be is that which is\nwithout the consciousness, the only 'within' is that which is within the\nconsciousness. Development, growth, unfoldment, better express spiritual\nconsciousness. What is consciousness but a recognition of itself? Then\nwould not 'recognition' more fully describe the birth of ideas? As we\ngrow able to recognize harmony and love, harmony and love are revealed\nto us.\n\n\"The more spiritual our thoughts and desires, the more spiritual our\nrevelations. To think and talk of God, to desire knowledge of Him,\ncreates a receptivity which sooner or later brings the revealment of\nmore truth, and that of the highest quality. But it is not always by\nwhat we see that we are lifted into this consciousness of new knowledge.\nIn various ways is the Truth expressed to us, and whether we know how or\nwhy it should be thus and so, matters not if we receive the message.\n\n\"The wisdom of our Father has provided that none of His children should\nbe without a knowledge of Him, without a power to recognize and\nappreciate Truth, and in the way or language best suited to the\ncapacity of each to understand, are the revelations made. Sometimes this\nknowledge comes into our consciousness like a direct message from God,\nand so vividly are we impressed, that no other words could express the\nnearness and clearness of it, than the expression 'walking and talking\nwith God.' Sometimes wonderful pictures appear before our mind's eye,\nand reading their symbolic meaning, we catch hints of higher wisdom that\nwould otherwise have been hidden.\n\n\"By persistently ignoring the spiritual and cultivating the intellectual\nfaculties, mankind has well nigh lost the highest means of inspiration,\nbut now that we again, like the prophets and apostles of old, seek for\nsigns of the Infinite, we are gradually recovering the key by which they\nunlocked its mysteries.\n\n\"As to the infallibility of what is thus revealed, we must remember that\nwhile truth is always infallible, there is a possibility of its\nrecognition or conception being tinged to a greater or less degree, with\nour erroneous judgements, and as the light, pure in itself, is colored\nby the glass through which it passes, so is the divinest truth colored\nwith the quality of mind through which it comes to the world. As Heber\nNewton says, 'Inspiration can not do away with the limitations of the\nhuman individuality.' Thus, in our discrimination of so-called inspired\nliterature, language or thoughts, we must learn that whatever is\nopposite God, the universal idea of goodness, is the chaff that must be\nblown away. In other words it is the assumption of mortal thought\ninstead of absolute knowledge of divine mind.\n\n\"It would be an utter impossibility to describe infinite truth in finite\nlanguage. Words are inadequate to express the grandeur of sacred\nrevelation.\n\n\"With this view of inspiration, we can readily see how far short we have\ncome in our conceptions of the Bible, and now that we are to use and\nunderstand this wonderful book as never before, it is well that we\nconsider it a little more closely.\n\n\"There are three general views held in regard to the Bible as an\ninspired book. 1. That it is verbally inspired; _i. e._, that every word\nis direct from God. 2. That it is partially inspired; and, 3. That it is\nno more inspired than any other good book. The first two of these views\nhave been and are accompanied with the idea that everything going under\nthe name of inspiration, is infallible, hence the idea that every\nstatement made throughout the entire book is absolute truth.\n\n\"The Bible itself makes no claim to infallibility, though there are\nfrequent references to inspiration and the influence of the Holy Ghost\nin moving men to speak, but the principal text on which is based this\nclaim of infallibility is II. Tim. iii: 16. At the time this was\nwritten, there was only the Old Testament, including the Apocrypha, that\ncould be referred to as Scripture, so when we read Paul's assertion\nthat, 'all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable\nfor doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in\nrighteousness,' if we take it to be infallible, we have a reasonable\nground for regarding the Old Testament and the Apocrypha as infallible.\nBut a more literal rendering of the Greek text would be, 'all scripture\ndivinely inspired is indeed profitable for teaching, for conviction, for\ncorrection,' etc., and by simply changing the position of the little\nword _is_, we have a vastly different sentence.\n\n\"Regarding the interpretation of scripture, Peter says: 'All prophecy of\nscripture is not of its own solution.' The literal Greek is, 'all\nprophecy of a writing, of its own loosing not it is,' meaning, of\ncourse, that sacred writings can not always be interpreted literally,\nbut must be understood according to their spiritual meaning. Great\nwritings are not confined to any private or local meaning, but refer\nmore especially to great principles, to universal truth.\n\n\"If we consider the origin of the Bible, we shall learn what\ncomparatively few of us know, viz., how the Bible grew into a book. In a\nnecessarily brief outline it is impossible to give anything but a\nbird's-eye view of this very interesting and important subject.\n\n\"As we look back to earlier times, through the various channels, we find\nthat much of what is considered history is merely legendary; that long\nbefore the art of writing was known, these legends and myths were handed\ndown from generation to generation, and from age to age. Familiar as we\nare with human nature, we may well imagine the additions and\nsubtractions and divergencies introduced by each succeeding narrator,\ncopyist or editor in every age. This is a very important feature to be\nconsidered in interpreting ancient scriptures, but there are also\nothers. History reveals the fact that the books of the Old Testament\nwere not written nor arranged in the order in which they now appear in\nthe Bible. For instance, while it has been generally considered that the\nfirst five books were written by Moses fifteen hundred years before\nChrist, the best authorities have found at least a portion of them to\nhave been written, or compiled rather, in their present form 600 to 700\nB. C.\n\n\"Whether Moses or some one else wrote them detracts not the least from\nthe value of the truth they contain, for whatever is true, can not lose\nits value or be effected by the authorship. This is only one of the many\nfacts that might be produced to show that the Old Testament came in the\nmost natural way, and not at all through a miracle or by miraculous\ninterposition.\n\n\"Referring again to the best records we have, we find the books of the\nNew Testament were written from 50 to 175 A. D., thus showing the\nliability to mistakes, and the reason for many of the discrepencies in\nthe New Testament. That the time between the writing of the oldest and\nthe latest parts of the Bible covered a period of more than a thousand\nyears, should have much significance in our judgment of both the writers\nand their writings.\n\n\"Dr. Heber Newton says: 'We are not to read the Biblical writers as\nthough they were all cotemporaries. They are separated by vast tracts of\ntime. The later writers stand upon the shoulders of their predecessors\nand see farther and clearer. We are not to view the institutions or\ndoctrines of the Bible as though no matter in what period of development\nof the Hebrew Nation, or of the Christian Church they were found, they\nwere equally authoritative to us.'\n\n\"Though the prophets and apostles were inspired, we must remember that\nthey necessarily had to use the language and methods of speech prevalent\nin their time in giving their divinest revelations to the people. The\nlanguage was rich with Oriental imagery, strong figures of speech, and\nallusions to manners and customs of other nations. Unless we understand\nsomething of the literature and customs, the religious ceremonies and\nlaws alluded to, we are very much in the dark as to the original\nmeaning.\n\n\"For instance, unless we know the custom that prevailed in ancient times\nof putting the sins of the people, figuratively speaking, into a white\ncloth, dipping the cloth into blood, tying it to the horns of the\nscapegoat, and turning the animal loose in the wilderness till the sun,\nair and rain had bleached it white, we can not appreciate the\nexpression, 'though thy sins be as scarlet, yet shall they be washed\nwhite as snow.' Until we realize that the ideas and language as well as\nthe customs and rites of barbarous and ignorant heathendom influence\nevery page of the Bible, we shall not know how much allowance to make\nfor the revelations of the Divine, and the suppositions and possible\nmistakes of the human. Until we know that the Bible has gone through\nmany hands since its words were first spoken or written, we can not\nrealize the possible loss of its most spiritual meanings.\n\n\"Moses, Isaiah, David, John, Paul had the grandest revelations possible\nto man, experiences not 'lawful to utter,' not possible to clothe in\nwords. The unspeakable can not be put into speech. To attempt it is to\ncolor it with finite meanings. To describe the Infinite is but to limit\nor confine God.\n\n\"When we consider that no very ancient writings have reached us without\nthe marks of many pens; when we consider the impossibility of exact\ntranslation, the difficulty of perfect copying all the years before the\nart of printing, the method of canonizing the books and formulating\ncreeds, we must know that something besides God's message has come down\nto us. And yet a message is there notwithstanding.\n\n\"Yes, the authors of the Bible were inspired. Whatever of Truth they\nrevealed is infallible, but as men with finite conceptions and\nabilities, they could not comprehend nor reveal _all_ of God.\n\n\"'God is the same yesterday, to-day and forever,' and talks to man face\nto face to-day even as with the immortal Moses.\n\n\"'I know that the Bible is inspired, because it finds me at greater\ndepths of my being than any other book,' said Coleridge.\n\n\"All candid students of sacred Scriptures agree that there is a\nspiritual meaning back of the literal. The question with us is, how can\nwe get at this spiritual or esoteric interpretation.\n\n\"If you will let the spirit of Truth guide you, it will bless you with\nkeener discernment, and clearer understanding, than has been possible\nfor you heretofore. It is when you look for the spirit of religion that\nyou find it and understand it, and the fact that so much has been said\nagainst our Bible as a book, does not and can not detract a particle\nfrom its value.\n\n\"'There is a light that lighteth every man!' Every one of God's children\nhas the power to distinguish truth from error, and only needs to assert\nthat divine privilege of knowing and acknowledging truth in order to to\nfind it.\n\n\"Humanity is so under the yoke of traditional opinions that it has not\ndared think for itself, but the time has come when 'ye shall of\nyourselves know what is truth,' when each must prove his individual\nliberty by claiming it. Is not the wisdom to know and understand God's\nrevelations given to every one who asks, or rather appreciates what he\nalready has?\n\n\"There is no reason for depending upon any but the wisdom in ourselves,\nfor searching the meanings of any Scripture. Whatever is true, we shall\nunderstand and hold as infallible. That we have a rich storehouse of\nprecious gems, even the most adverse thinkers admit, and above all else\nwe should search for them, prize them, and use them. Study the Bible for\nthe sake of its wonderful and sacred truth, catch the inspiration of its\nwriters, and you will soon discriminate the inspired from the\nuninspired. With the statements of the true is necessarily more or less\nerror; the Truth we want, the falsity we leave behind. Whatever is good\nand pure and ennobling is of God; whatever is evil, erroneous,\ndegrading, is from man's misconception of Him.\n\n\"Goethe, who highly valued the Bible, said: 'With reference to things in\nthe Bible, the question whether they are genuine or spurious is odd\nenough. What is genuine but that which is truly excellent, which stands\nin harmony with the purest nature and reason, and which even now\nministers to our higher development? What is spurious but the absurd and\nthe hollow which brings no fruit.'\n\n\"If you do not understand, wait. Do not judge hastily or allow yourself\nto be biased by the opinions of others. What may seem hard, unreasonable\ndogma, may later prove but a veil over the sweetest, spiritual truth.\nReverence to read, patience to learn, wisdom to understand--all these we\nwant, and then, more brightly than before shall shine the sacred\ndiamonds that stud inspired pages.\n\n\"We refer again to what Dr. Newton says in his grand essay on the Right\nCritical use of the Bible: 'Successive generations of men, struggling\nwith sin, striving for purity, searching after God, have exhaled their\nspirits into the essence of religion, which is treasured in this costly\nvase.\n\n\"'The moral forces of centuries devoted to righteousness are stored in\nthis exhaustless reservoir of ethical energy. At such cost, my brothers,\nhas Humanity issued this sacred book. From such patience of preparation\nhas Providence laid this priceless gift before you. In such labor of\narticulation--spelling out the syllables of the message from on high,\nthrough multitudinous lives of men dutifully and devoutly walking with\ntheir God, does the Spirit speak to you, O, soul of man. Say thou:\n'Speak, Lord; thy servant heareth!'\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Thank God, Marion has at last found the key to the Bible,\" murmured Mr.\nHayden, as he finished the letter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n  \"Not in Jerusalem alone,\n    God hears and answers prayer,\n  Nor on Samaria's mountain lone,\n    Dispenses blessings there.\n  But in the secrecy of thought,\n    Our silent souls may pray;\n  Or round the household altar brought,\n    Begin and close the day.\"\n\n  --_James Montgomery._\n\n\nGrace was busily engaged with \"Hypatia.\" She felt for the first time she\ncould bring out the peace and reposeful strength of character Kate had\nthought so sadly lacking, and one afternoon, a few days after the\nmemorable walk, she sat down to her work with a pleasurable anticipation\nof bringing out her ideal. As she put the touches here and there that\nchanged the expression, now adding to this feature, now taking from\nthat, she was thinking of the changes needed in herself, and wondering\nhow or by what process they would be wrought by the invisible Artist.\n\nShe was mixing some paint on her palette, when a rap was heard at the\ndoor. Before she had time to say or do anything, in walked Mrs. Dyke\nwith a timid little woman who came in like a martyr, but one resolved to\ndie at her post if necessary. Grace was too astonished to speak for an\ninstant, then rising, she put down her palette, wiped her hands and went\nforward with an invitation to the ladies to be seated.\n\n\"Is this Miss Turner?\" began Mrs. Dyke, with a critical glance about the\napartment, and then at Grace.\n\n\"No, madam, Miss Turner is not in. She generally returns about five, but\nto-day--\"\n\n\"Very well, we can come again, for it is very important business. Are\nyou the young woman who lives with her?\" asked Mrs. Dyke, as she seated\nherself with deliberate dignity. \"This is Mrs. Linberger, and we have\ncalled as the church committee to look after Miss Turner's soul,\" she\ncontinued, waving her hand majestically toward her companion-in-arms.\n\n\"Indeed,\" gasped Grace, bowing slightly toward Mrs. Linberger, and\ncoughing a little as she put her handkerchief to her mouth to hide a\nsmile.\n\n\"She belongs to our church, and we have heard she is being led astray by\nthis blasphemous kind of healing,\" pursued Mrs. Dyke, looking severely\nat Grace from under her thick grey veil which hung like a lowering cloud\njust above her eyes. \"Mr. Narrow requested me and Mrs. Linberger to call\nand examine into the matter. I hope _you_ don't encourage such\nwickedness, young woman?\"\n\n\"Certainly I am at enmity with any kind of wickedness, but I am not\naware of any particular wickedness in Christian Healing,\" replied Grace,\nbracing herself for the storm she saw brewing.\n\n\"What! you don't see anything wrong in such awful heresy!\" exclaimed\nMrs. Dyke, again pushing her veil up, and looking with horrified eyes,\nfirst at Grace, then at Mrs. Linberger. \"Perhaps you don't understand\nabout it,\" she added, softening a little as she settled back in her\nchair.\n\n\"I must confess I know but very little about it, but what I do know only\nincreases my desire to know more,\" said Grace, flushing, as she sat down\nin the nearest chair.\n\n\"Let me warn you not to read or hear another word about it then, for it\nwill simply be the means of worse than death to you,\" continued Mrs.\nDyke, raising her finger solemnly.\n\n\"It destroys the most important doctrines in the Bible, even taking away\nthe belief in the devil and hell,\" added Mrs. Linberger, speaking for\nthe first time.\n\n\"Yes; they even deny there ever was a devil or that there ever will be\nany future punishment. Just think of it,\" reiterated Mrs. Dyke. \"I guess\nthey will see, some time!\" she added with a sort of steely satisfaction.\n\n\"Do you really believe they lay aside all future punishment?\" asked\nGrace, willing to waive the application to herself, and anxious to hear\nMrs. Dyke's views.\n\n\"Yes, they say there is no evil and no devil, so of course there is no\nneed for punishment.\"\n\n\"But do they not regard the devil as Jesus did, after all?\" asked Grace,\nagain pursuing her advantage.\n\n\"U-m, well, Jesus recognized him and talked to him, telling him to get\nout, and he often referred to the everlasting punishment,\" added Mrs.\nDyke again, with a solemn face.\n\n\"But, he did not mean a literal fire, did he, when He spoke of\neverlasting punishment?\"\n\nMrs. Dyke was the catechized instead of the catechizer, and it was an\nunaccustomed _role_, but she bore it like a soldier.\n\n\"Of course he did; several places in Matthew he described the lot of the\nwicked, and referred to the danger of hell-fire. Haven't you studied the\nBible, Miss Hall?\" suddenly turning to look straight at Grace with some\nseverity.\n\n\"I am very much interested in it, Mrs. Dyke, but when I read that 'God's\nmercy endureth forever,' and that 'Jesus came to destroy the works of\nthe devil,' I am inclined to think there must be some mistake about the\ndreadful wrath that is to last forever,\" calmly replied Grace.\n\n\"And you don't believe in eternal punishment?\" cried Mrs. Dyke, in a\nshrill voice of astonishment.\n\n\"Don't believe in eternal punishment?\" echoed Mrs. Linberger.\n\n\"I did not say that. I _do_ think there is punishment so long as there\nis sin, but when we believe Christ has destroyed or can destroy sin,\nsickness, sorrow or death, which are the devil's works, they _will be_\ndestroyed. It _must_ be so if we trust the words of the gospel.\"\n\n\"Well, I am thankful to find Miss Turner in such Christian company at\nany rate,\" said Mrs. Dyke, as she adjusted her veil, preparatory to her\ndeparture.\n\n\"Yes, indeed; it is a pleasure to see such an earnest young Christian,\"\nadded Mrs. Linberger, with a sigh of satisfaction.\n\n\"But, ladies,\" began Grace, \"I am not such a----\"\n\n\"We shall be pleased to have you accompany Miss Turner to our meetings\nsome time, Miss Hall,\" interrupted Mrs. Dyke, not heeding what Grace was\nsaying. \"Here is a card announcing the regular weekly services, and here\nare some tracts for you to read.\" She dealt out a liberal supply, which\nGrace took as she again started to explain, but a sudden haste had\nseized her visitors, and they left, saying they would try and call some\nother time, when Miss Turner was at home.\n\nAs Grace turned to go back to her painting, she caught a glance of her\nreflection in the glass. After looking at it a moment with a quizzical\nexpression, she suddenly burst into a merry laugh, saying: \"I did not\nknow you had turned Bible teacher. Well, well, it _was_ funny, but I\ncould not help it, that she went away with the wrong impression of me,\nfor she would not listen to my explanation.\"\n\nWhen Kate came home she brought another letter from Mrs. Hayden, but\nbefore it was read Grace told her all about the call by the \"church\ncommittee.\" Kate looked a little grave at first, but finally\nstraightening up as she took off her gloves and hat, she said:\n\n\"Well, Grace, it is not very pleasant to be waited upon in this fashion,\nbut I suppose if they take me in hand I can't help myself, and so I will\nbe resigned to fate.\" She smiled and spoke cheerily, but a little tremor\nof the old fear touched her, notwithstanding.\n\n\"Let us read the letter now,\" suggested Grace, thinking that would be\nthe best thing to revive Kate's dampened courage.\n\n\"Yes, I am anxious to read it; Mr. Hayden told me it is on the Bible,\nand very helpful.\"\n\n\"I am so glad!\" she exclaimed, when it was finished. \"Now I can\ninterpret more freely myself, as I plainly see we must use our judgment\nabout the Bible, as well as anything else. But what does it mean about\nthe creeds?\" she added suddenly, appealing to Grace with the old anxious\nlook in her eyes.\n\n\"It means,\" said Grace, \"that the ordinary orthodox interpretation of\ndoctrinal points was voted upon by bishops, presbyters and laity\ngenerally, and because the majority of votes indicated a preference for\na certain interpretation, it was adopted and became the established\ncreed, and thus we have what is called the Apostles' Creed, which is the\nbasis of all orthodox churches throughout Christendom. And so with all\ncreeds; they are all established by majority vote.\"\n\n\"I should never have known anything about this,\" she continued, \"if I\nhad not been searching so eagerly for some religion that would satisfy,\nand in my rambles I came across this information.\"\n\n\"Are you sure it is reliable?\" was Kate's almost feverish question. It\nseemed that she must hold on to something or the last straw that bound\nher to the teachings of childhood, would break.\n\n\"It is a matter of history, and you see Mrs. Hayden has touched upon it,\nthough very lightly. But it is the grandest historical truth I ever\nread, for it gives personal liberty. I shall never forget how happy I\nwas to learn that the creeds were simply man-made or man-expressed\nopinions, for in that case, I too, had liberty to read and think for\nmyself, just as well as those who voted upon these various\ninterpretations.\"\n\nGrace was handsome when filled with enthusiasm, and as Kate looked at\nher at this moment she thought her face perfectly angelic, but one more\nquestion she must ask of this noble friend, who knew just what she\nneeded to know and could tell it when she needed it most. \"Do you think\nChristian Healing does away with the creeds of the church?\"\n\n\"No, not necessarily. So far as I can see, it merely seeks truth, and\nwhatever of truth is found anywhere is retained. It is only the husks\nthat are thrown away. Indeed I can see more in the church than I ever\ncould before I knew anything of Christian Healing,\" replied Grace,\nthoughtfully.\n\n\"Why, how is that?\" asked Kate in surprise.\n\n\"The fundamental oneness in their search after God. What is back of the\ncreed but a desire to reverence Deity? That was the origin, no matter\ninto what it has degenerated now, and we must judge according to the\nspirit, not the letter. Oh, when will the world worship in the unity of\nthe spirit?\" sighed Grace, longing for the time when questionings and\ncontroversies would be at an end.\n\n\"Here is Mrs. Dyke, for instance,\" she resumed, presently, \"what is she\nstriving for but to live the true religion as she understands it? I can\nrespect any honest people who live up to their belief, and the Christian\nwho moans and sighs and looks doleful because he thinks it is his duty\nto do so, is much higher in my estimation than the one who believes it\nto be right, but fails to live accordingly.\"\n\n\"The spirit of religion washes away all differences in the letter,\"\nconcluded Kate, with a lighter heart than she had when they began their\nconversation.\n\nThe vague terror that had occasionally thrust itself upon her during\nthese last few weeks had loosened its hold upon her, and she realized,\nas never before, that fear, more than anything else, had kept her back;\nfear of deviating from the traditional and accepted opinions. The Bible\nlesson was especially valuable, because it touched these very points,\nand after this little conversation with Grace on the subject she was\nlike another person.\n\nWhen Mrs. Dyke called a few evenings later, after a similar interview to\nthe one with Grace, she left the battlefield a wiser soldier than when\nshe entered it, for Kate had so beautifully proven her religious\nearnestness, and more than all had shown such a Christ-like spirit, that\nthe \"sword was beaten into a plowshare and the spear into a pruning\nhook.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n  \"More things are wrought by prayer\n  Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice\n  Rise like a fountain for me night and day,\n  For what are men better than sheep or goats\n  That nourish a blind life within the brain,\n  If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer\n  Both for themselves and those who call them friend?\n  For so the whole round world is every way\n  Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.\"\n\n  --_Tennyson._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, September, ----.\n\n\"Dear Husband:\n\n\"Your letter was so full of interest. How glad, oh how rejoiced I am\nthat we are privileged to know this beautiful truth. Don't you ever feel\nlike stopping in the midst of your work and giving thanks that you were\nborn in this age? As my eyes open more and more to God's goodness and\nlove and power, I am so full of thanks, there is no room for petitions;\nindeed, I should feel as though I were begging, to ask God for what He\nhas already given me, and of course He gives every child alike, being\n'no respecter of persons.' Just think of it: 'Eye hath not seen nor ear\nheard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, to conceive the\nthings which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' Negative\nthought, carnal mind _can not_ know these things, but as we are\ncleansed and purified, the new baptism 'creates in us a new heart,' the\nloving child's heart turned to its father, and love shall teach us more\nand more to read the signs of love.\n\n\"Oh, divine mystery of childhood, of parenthood, that brings us into\ncloser and sweeter knowledge of our Father whose love is infinite. Out\nof the deep silence around us, filled as it is with the all-abiding\npresence of God, may we ask for a manifestation of whatever gift we\nchoose to have. These thoughts filled my mind as I went to class this\nafternoon, and what was my surprise and pleasure to find the lesson to\nbe on the subject of prayer.\n\n\"There is no theme or word so constantly in the mind and on the lips of\nthe Christ follower as prayer. The oft-repeated injunction of Jesus was,\n'watch and pray lest ye enter into temptation.' 'Pray without ceasing.'\nAs we study more closely into the life of the Master, we find him on all\noccasions communing with the Father in prayer. Thus we find that this is\nthe most sacred and necessary of all branches of our daily work.\n\n\"Prayer is the natural turning of the better self to God, in the\nattitude of thankfulness, praise, supplication or voiceless desire. 'It\nmust be the spontaneous and almost irrepressible outpouring of the\nthoughts and feelings of the soul into the listening ear of a present\nGod,' said an earnest thinker.\n\n\"To what wonderful depths and heights our prayers lead us when they are\nthus spontaneous and irrepressible! How well David has expressed the\ngratitude, the holy trust and majestic praise common to every devout\nchild of God. 'The Lord is my shepherd,' is blessed affirmation of\nsupreme trust, the naming of God's glorious gifts, the gratitude for\npeace, life, love, protection, friendship, all the heavenly blessings of\nGod's presence in God's house. In this wonderful psalm we find, no\ndoubt, no thought of waiting for future blessings, but a grand\noutpouring of thankfulness for the present. There are no petitions, no\nsupplications, no reserves of praise, but simply the glad recognition\nand appreciation of the omnipresence and omnipotence of Good.\n\n\"It was the same feeling, tempered with a deeper solemnity, that\nprompted Jesus to say 'Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me,' as\nhe was about to perform the mighty miracle of raising Lazarus.\n\n\"Thanks signify the accomplishment of the desire. His request of the\nFather was granted before he had even preferred it, for he knew the law\nand realized it--that God is life and knows not death--but the form of\nwords was observed because that makes the law a visible fact.\n\n\"Father is the human naming for this divine Love that ever waits for the\nspoken word in order to be revealed. To Jesus it was the dearest and\nbest name of all by which to address or speak to the one great Helper,\nGuide, Friend. 'Father, I thank thee,' was often on his lips, and it was\nto the 'Father who seeth in secret' that he bade his disciples pray.\n\n\"In the secret consciousness of oneness with the Father there may be no\nreservations, no concealments, no hypocritical bigotry, no thought of\nself, only a glad going out with all our heart and soul to the Father, a\ntrustful acknowledgment of the Good. This is the attitude of true\nprayer.\n\n\"The devout soul is always praying, because it _consciously_ lives with\nGod. There are times of praise, adoration, extolment, when thankfulness\nis more exuberant, runs over into bursting joy, and times when longing\ndesire carries us into the very bosom of God. We long for comfort, for\nlove, for peace, with an unutterable agony of longing, and are met with\nan unutterable joy of satisfaction, if we but turn to Him and\nacknowledge, but an indispensable preliminary to prayer is fasting. The\npower of accomplishment in fasting and prayer equals a decree.\n\n\"The conditions upon which hinge our use of the divine power are,\nfirst,'putting away iniquity'--fasting; second, turning to God--prayer.\nThen comes the power to decree; then we see the truth of Jesus' promise:\n'All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have\nreceived them, and ye shall have them.' Then we look into the face of\nthe Almighty and reflect the same power, are able to do a like work,\nmake visible the things of His creation by speaking the word of\nacknowledgment, that they are already established.\n\n\"It was this kind of prayer that enabled the disciples to heal the sick,\ncast out demons and do all the wonderful works. Failure was simply a\nsign of unfaithfulness in prayer. 'Oh, ye of little faith!' was the\nMaster's explanatory exclamation.\n\n\"Here was a most essential requisite--faith in the Father, who alone is\nthe power; faith and trust in the invisible All. Why do we pray so much\nwith no answer to even our most devout aspirations? Because, like the\ndisciples, we have too little faith.\n\n\"The heart-weary mother has prayed for her son, and he still goes the\n'broad way that leadeth to destruction,' as she thinks; but for her\nheart-weariness, which is but lack of faith, he might have been turned\ninto 'paths of righteousness.' With her mind continually burdened with\nfear, dire forebodings and anxious doubts, she has asked, begged,\nbeseeched the mighty Ruler of destinies to soften the heart of her\nwayward boy. Thankfulness that God has given to her child the common\ninheritance to all possible blessings, a pure spiritual nature, the\nreflection of the All-Good, has never entered her thought to express.\nHer mind is divided between a conception of good and a conception of its\nopposite--evil. The result is years of hopeless praying, years of\nhopeless waiting. 'A house divided against itself can not stand.'\n\n\"'Pray, believing that ye have received.' Thus, 'I thank Thee, Father,\nfor the perfect reflection of Thyself in my son. He is whole because he\nlives in and of Thy wholeness. I thank Thee that Thou hast already done\nmore than I could ask. 'It is finished.' Into Thy hands I commend my\nall.'\n\n\"In this is the simple recognition of the All-Father, His love and His\nomnipotence. And after this, what? Trust--unwavering, childlike trust.\nSo the burden is truly 'cast upon the Lord,' evil is overcome, swallowed\nup in the Good.\n\n\"With such mighty faith, what a cleansing there would be! what a\nsincere, glad rejoicing that the true relation between God and man were\nproven, for faith is the bond between the invisible and the visible, a\n'basis of things hoped for, a conviction of things unseen.'\n\n\"With what devoutness, then, would we name the needs and aspirations?\nWith what certainty would we assert that we have 'already received?' Not\nfar off in the intangible somewhere, but here, there, everywhere may we\nfind the Good, and 'he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most\nHigh shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.'\n\n\"To dwell in the secret place, in the pure and righteous thought, is to\nbe always under the protection of the Most High. To be able to say, 'He\nis my refuge and my fortress,' is the grand privilege given to the heir\nof the King, the heir that has come to the full knowledge of his\ninheritance and thankfully uses it.\n\n\"'The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much,' wrote\nthe wise and righteous James. There is an infinite promise of the\nfulfillment of righteousness in these words. They contain the key to all\naccomplishment or all failure. The righteous man is one who 'walketh\nrighteously, speaketh uprightly, stoppeth his ears from hearing of\nblood, shutteth his eyes from seeing evil' (prayer and fasting). The\nrighteous man decrees magnificently and trusts infinitely. He does not\napproach God like a cringing servant, licking the dust at his master's\nfeet, but like a Prince who enters his Father's presence with the simple\nstatement of his wants, and knowing his Father's will takes the\nglorious gift with thanksgiving and praise.\n\n\"Is it health he would have manifested for himself or his neighbor? He\nconfidently acknowledges the health, even though he can not see it, the\nhealth with which all humanity is endowed, if it would claim its\nendowment. Is it peace, power, strength he desires, he again goes to the\nroyal treasury. With the right word he climbs the stair of heaven; with\nthe right faith he enters his Father's house, where all things abound.\n\n\"The righteous man is of one mind, the divine Mind that works through\nhim. Were all the praying world of one mind, think you a Lincoln would\nhave been martyred, a Garfield sacrificed, or tender little children\nlost to our sight?\n\n\"God is the same forever. There is no inharmony to come from Harmony. Be\nof one mind; let the divine Mind work through you; acknowledge only the\ndivine creation, and then all beliefs in the opposite of God will be\ndestroyed. The immaculate Christ (Truth) destroys the works of the evil\n(error) to-day, even as in the far away centuries of the past, 'if so be\nyou let the Mind that was in Christ Jesus be in you.'\n\n\"The practical naming of daily prayer is denial and affirmation, denying\nevil or undesirable conditions, and acknowledging the Good or absolute.\n\n\"'Being is the vast affirmative excluding negation, self-balanced and\nswallowing up all relations, parts and times within itself. Nature,\ntruth, virtue, are the influx from thence,' said Emerson, noting the\nabsoluteness of that which is. To become one with this affirmative\nAllness, is to manifest the affirmative condition of Being.\n\n\"Paul says in Titus: 'The grace of God hath appeared to all men,\nteaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live\nsoberly, righteously and godly in this present world;' and in the next\nchapter, referring to the same subject: 'This is a faithful saying, and\nthese things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which hath\nbelieved in God might be careful to maintain good works.'\n\n\"There is no ceasing of this most necessary process. It is only by\ndenying and affirming constantly that we fast and pray, thus fitting\nourselves for the cleansing ministry. It is to 'be diligent in season\nand out of season,' if we would gain the true reflection from\nOmnipotence.\n\n  What the sun is to the flower,\n  Thou to us art every hour;\n  Like the dew on lily's breast\n  Fall all blessings from the Best.\n  Not alone in day would we\n  Turn our faces, Lord, to Thee,\n  But through lowering clouds of night\n  Would reflect Thy radiant light;\n  Thanking Thee for all Thy care,\n  May our lives be filled with prayer.\n\n\"What an outpouring there was in the silence after this. Such a flood of\nreverence and trustfulness filled my heart, and instantly it flashed\nupon me that God requires no outward forms or ceremonies of His\nchildren, except they be the spontaneous and involuntary expression of\nan overflowing heart.\n\n\"Kneeling in prayer was first prompted by reverence and not the servile\nform into which it has too much degenerated. A form is only a sign at\nbest. If there is nothing to prompt the sign, what a mockery it is!\nTruly, 'the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.'\n\n\"Exactly how these thoughts came to me I can not tell, but after the\nsilence I knew by a great and sudden wave of understanding, things that\nI had never thought of before, and to attempt to tell them would be like\ntrying to catch the sunshine. The hint I have tried to give seems very\nfar from the reality of my experience--but what are words compared to\nthoughts, anyway!... My heart is too full. I know now what\n'inexpressible' means.\n\n  \"Good bye, with love to all.\n\n  \"MARION.\n\n\"P. S. I had just finished my letter when Mrs. Dawn and Miss Singleton\ncame in. They too, had something wonderful in the silence. It seems too\nsacred to tell, but to you three who are so earnestly seeking the way of\nTruth, I can say what might seem sacrilege to the thoughtless world.\nMiss Singleton had realized in those few moments the inexpressible\nmeaning of the Lord's prayer. 'Why,' she said, 'why, if we could realize\nwhat it means, there would be no more sickness, sin or death. It seemed\nto me the very heavens opened, and I looked upon a broad white shining\nlight like a path, only it was broadened and broadened as I looked, till\nit became wide enough to cover the whole earth. This is to be wherever\nthe kingdom has come upon earth. Wherever the thoughts are heavenly and\npure there the Father is, there heaven, wholeness, health are, and I\ncould realize that the light is here, but ignorance keeps it veiled, so\nthat verily the 'light shineth in darkness but the darkness\ncomprehendeth it not.' Talk of sickness, trouble, sorrow, why, they are\nnothing! The _light_ is here, the kingdom of heaven _has_ come, and been\nhere all the time. Jesus knew it, but he had to use language they could\nunderstand. He knew if they prayed faithfully in that spirit, bye and\nbye the spiritual meanings would flash upon them. Oh, how much, how much\nit means! I can never lose this, for it means unutterable things, and I\n_know_ there is no reality in sickness for I am _well_!'\n\n\"Miss Singleton is, or has been troubled for years with heart disease\nand a slight curvature of the spine.\n\n\"It was not very light in the room, and I had not noticed her figure\nparticularly, but as she spoke, her face fairly shone with a heavenly\nlight (I can think of nothing else to describe it), and she was straight\nas any one! She declared over and over that she was well, but more than\nall else she appreciated the spiritual uplifting and knowledge that had\ncome.\n\n\"Mrs. Dawn had no special revelation to-day, but she seems to be\nunfolding most beautifully. We talked a long time, and then sat in the\nsilence. They have just gone. How I wish I could see you, but it is late\nand I must again close. Give my love to Grace and Kate. I am so glad\nKate is getting into the light. I felt she would be all right after she\nbegun. Of course, Kate, you will read this, but you will not care, I am\nsure.\n\n  \"M. H.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n     \"Not till the soul acts with all its strength, strains its every\n     faculty, does prayer begin.\"--_Frances Power Cobbe._\n\n\n\"I have always thought a great deal on the subject of prayer,\" said Mr.\nHayden, drawing his chair up closer and bending over to look at his\nlisteners, Grace and Kate, who had called to get the letter which had\njust been read, \"and it appears to me,\" he continued, \"that subject has\nbeen misunderstood.\"\n\n\"Well?\" interrogated Grace.\n\n\"Well, we have always been taught to pray to a God who could be informed\nof our wants and needs, and be induced to change His mind about the\nmethod of dealing with them, or be softened in His judgments concerning\nHis children. Now if God is all-wise and all-powerful, why need we so\ncarefully instruct Him? If He is all Love why need we ask Him with\npiteous tears to bless our sick and afflicted? If He is everywhere\npresent, and no respecter of persons, why need we ask Him to do for one\nmore than for another? As God is omniscient, is He not all the knowledge\nthere is?\"\n\n\"The great mistake has been to regard Deity as Person, instead of\nPrinciple,\" said Grace, as he paused a moment.\n\n\"As God is changeless and eternal, the essence of Love and Life,\" he\nwent on, not heeding the interruption, \"how can it be otherwise than\nthat we have an influx of this divine Life into ourselves as we\nacknowledge its eternal and omnipresent existence, realizing the truth\nof what we say?\"\n\n\"There the trouble has been,\" said Kate, taking up his thought, \"that we\nhave not realized the divine Presence which we call Truth, because we\nhave not acknowledged it.\"\n\n\"That is exactly the reason, and it needs a constant acknowledgment of\nthe Good to keep us from admitting false beliefs that beset us because\nof an acknowledgment of the opposite of the Good.\"\n\n\"What then is your idea of the true method of prayer?\" asked Kate, much\ninterested.\n\n\"More of thanksgiving, as Mrs. Pearl teaches. I like her comparison to\nthe servant and prince. We can not dwell too much on the thought that\nGod is always giving us blessings. They are here, have been from the\nbeginning of all knowledge, and our part is to take them. I often think\nof that comparison between the earthly and the heavenly Father, given by\nJesus, when he said: 'If ye then, being evil, know how to give good\ngifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in\nheaven, give good things to them that ask Him?' Here is Mabel, for\ninstance. Passionately fond of flowers as she is, suppose some day I\nshould bring her a rare bouquet from the florist's, and with a smile\nhold them out to her, saying: 'Here Mabel, are some roses for you!' How\nwould I feel if she came with the most pathetic expression of longing\nand misery in her face, and dropping down on her knees, should beg me\nto give her one flower? But instead, like a true child that knows the\nfather love, she would fly to take the beautiful gift and say, 'Oh,\nthank you, papa!' as she gives me a rapturous kiss, then runs for a vase\nto hold her treasures.\"\n\n\"Indeed, that is like the true child we all should become, and give\nthanks for the beautiful gifts of God,\" said Kate, softly, as if to\nherself.\n\n\"What do you think of the Lord's prayer as it was revealed to the lady?\"\nasked Grace, to whom this part of the letter seemed a little hard to\nunderstand.\n\n\"I think her revelation far exceeds mine, but I have enough to know that\nit is as she says: 'We must finally get the inner meaning, but I would\nuncover the spiritual ideas by clothing them in more spiritual\nlanguage.'\n\n\"It would be a great help if you would interpret it for us,\" said Kate,\nmoving her chair closer in her eagerness to hear.\n\n\"Wait a moment,\" said Mr. Hayden, as he went for the Bible. \"I don't\nknow very well how to word it, but the thought came to me this morning,\nand became much plainer after I had read the letter.\"\n\nHe read the Lord's Prayer, then gave his conception of the spiritual\nmeaning.\n\n\"All-pervading Father-Mother Spirit, which art in all harmony, revered\nand holy is Thy name. Thy peace and love and righteousness is conceived\nand realized amid earthly environments as it is in the highest state of\nharmony.\n\n\"Give to us each day the hidden manna, the living word that sustains us,\nand give us the truth for error as we in our divine likeness to Thee,\ngive truth for error to those who err against us.\n\n\"Leave or let us not in temptation, but preserve us from all thoughts\nthat would dishonor Thee, for Thine _is_ the kingdom and power and glory\nforever.\"\n\n\"That is wonderful. Oh, how beautiful it all is,\" exclaimed Kate with\nmuch feeling.\n\n\"Isn't it?\" added Grace, \"and quite in accord with the passage quoted by\nMrs. Hayden,'what things soever ye desire, that--'\"\n\n\"Same principle, recognizing the omnipresence of all things good, and\nacknowledging the gift as already given,\" interrupted Mr. Hayden,\nshutting his book and rising to put it away.\n\n\"How would you construe the passage where it says, 'with prayer and\nsupplication let your requests be made known to God?'\" asked Kate.\n\n\"Oh, but you have not quoted it all: 'With prayer and supplication, with\nthanksgiving let your requests be made known,'\" replied Mr. Hayden,\nsmiling. \"It means, continue to ask, and expect to receive and give\nthanks, not only by word, but by proper use of what you already have.\n'If ye continue in my word,' was the condition, so it must be that we\ncontinue to ask and give thanks, even if our petition is not visibly\nanswered at once.\"\n\nMr. Hayden had some advantage in his study over the girls, for these\nthings had been more or less considered by himself and Mrs. Hayden ever\nsince her recovery, and it was no wonder he could explain so readily.\n\n\"After all, how would you apply this way of praying to giving\ntreatments?\" asked Grace. \"I am anxious for the practical application.\"\n\n\"Why, it is all practical, as far as the individual is concerned, but\nthe application to others we have yet to learn, though I imagine it is\nthe same. It is simply being negative to false conditions, thus putting\nthem off, and affirmative to true conditions, absorbing them as the\nflower does the light and heat.\"\n\n\"Well, it is a beautiful idea of prayer at any rate,\" remarked Grace.\n\nThey soon went home, still discussing and deeply pondering the subject.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"Grace, what do you suppose I did to-day?\" cried Kate, breathlessly, as\nshe rushed in the next evening.\n\n\"Can't imagine, unless you cured little Tim, the newsboy,\" laughed\nGrace, making her guess extravagant enough.\n\n\"No, but really, I treated Fannie for a dreadful headache. Of course I\nsaid nothing to her, but she was stumbling so over her music, I asked\nher what was the matter, and when she told me I treated her. In just a\nfew moments she brightened up and said she felt better, and before we\ngot through it was all gone. Wasn't that delightful?\"\n\n\"Very, and I am so glad. How did you do it?\"\n\n\"Well, I can hardly tell, but the talk we had yesterday with Mr. Hayden\ngave me a clearer idea than I had before, and I just denied the headache\nand acknowledged the truth that she was spiritually well; then waited a\nfew moments and gave thanks that it was so.\"\n\n\"How glad we ought to be for the privilege of reading Mrs. Hayden's\nletters,\" said Grace, thoughtfully, as she smoothed her hair and washed\nher hands.\n\n\"Yes, and what a goose I was about it,\" Kate replied. \"I would scarcely\ntake the chance when it was offered, and if it had been any one but Mrs.\nHayden, I do believe I should have refused point blank.\"\n\n\"We know so little what is right when we judge in the old way,\" said\nGrace. \"Now, if I actually hadn't seen that woman cured, and known\npositively how she was before, nothing would have induced me to spend my\ntime on this, although, from the first, I rather liked the theory.\"\n\n\"Where is my gingham apron?\" called Kate, looking in the dark closet\nwhere she had hung it.\n\n\"Kate, I'm thoroughly reformed, as you will know when I tell you I am\nperfectly willing to perform the culinary duties to-night, and I will be\nthe cook while you discourse some music for my edification,\" laughed\nGrace, as she emerged from the studio with her sleeves rolled back, and\nthe lost apron pinned around her.\n\n\"What!\" cried Kate, holding up both hands with a mock-tragic air. \"Do\nyou really mean it?\"\n\n\"Of course, and I will show you what a talent I have for poaching eggs\nand making toast.\"\n\nThe girls were in the habit of dividing their work according to their\npersonal tastes. Kate liked to prepare dainty meals and wash dishes,\nwhile Grace preferred to sweep and dust, and arrange things to suit her\nartistic eye. Each disliked the other's part of the work, so they were\nwell content to have it so divided.\n\n\"Go on, now,\" ordered Grace, \"and play for me. I want some music; but,\nfirst of all, tell me where the eggs are, and how long should they\nboil?\"\n\n\"The eggs are in the tin pail on the third shelf in the closet. They\nshould boil till they are a pretty blue white.\"\n\n\"Very well, now I can dispense with your company.\"\n\nKate laughed merrily, and sitting down to the piano, played till Grace\ncalled her out to dine.\n\n\"It seems rather nice to come home and play lady,\" she remarked, as she\nwent out where Grace was.\n\n\"Well, really, Kate, I was thinking this afternoon that there is not so\nmuch difference in the kinds of work as there is in the thoughts you\nhave when you work, and I resolved, that to refrain from certain duties\nbecause one does not like them is selfish, and makes a person one-sided.\nThen I could see no reason why I should dislike to cook, and concluded\nto try it.\"\n\n\"I believe you are right about the one-sidedness,\" said Kate, soberly.\n\n\"I do want to grow into a rounded character, and am just realizing the\nnecessity of doing things that lie nearest us, whether it is washing\ndishes, painting or scrubbing. If I get so I can think right about\nthings I'm sure I shall like them.\"\n\n\"That is true. I have already noticed a vast difference in my patience\nin giving lessons. You know some days I would be so nervous and get so\nexasperated with Fannie Thornton and Jenny Miles, I didn't know what to\ndo with myself, but the last few days I have not minded them at all, in\nfact I got along better with Fannie than ever before, and it was just\nbecause I kept from thinking she was contrary and stupid.\"\n\n\"Well, that is a practical application of your lesson. I think we ought\nto apply it to everything we do,\" replied Grace.\n\n\"One of the chief beauties of this Christianity is that it goes into\nevery thought and action,\" said Kate, thoughtfully, adjusting her hair.\n\n\"Oh!\" she added a moment later, \"I forgot to give you the letter that\ncame to-day.\" She pulled it out of her pocket all crumpled and gave it\nto Grace, who glanced at her name on the envelope and then grew white\nabout the mouth as she hastily put it into her pocket, remarking in an\nordinary tone, \"It will keep a little longer.\"\n\nLittle was said by either for some time. Grace was preoccupied and Kate\nfurtively watched her face, for this was an unaccountable procedure,\nalthough occasionally Grace had been affected the same way before.\n\nShe insisted on washing the dishes, and was glad indeed that she had it\nto do, while Kate poured her thoughts into music, feeling that she could\nbest show sympathy for her friend by this, to her, most expressive way.\n\nAs for Grace, she waited till she had quite finished her work and then\nsat down to read the letter. She well knew it was from Leon Carrington,\na suitor, whom she had rejected on the plea that she wished to be wedded\nsolely to her art. Pride had forbidden her being frank enough to tell\nhim the real reason, caused by an impeachment made against his\ncharacter, by one whom she implicitly trusted as a friend. Her bitter\nresolve was the result, and while it was true she loved and desired to\nspend her life in pursuing her art, she had compelled herself to think\nshe loved it best, and so told him it was first choice.\n\nHers was a proud, deep nature, and rather than admit that she had loved\nor could love one whom she considered unworthy, she cut the matter short\nby a decided rejection. It had cost her a mighty effort to come to this\ndecision, and when she came out of the trial, she had lost her faith in\nall men.\n\nOn all other points but this, Grace was sound and sweet in her general\ndisposition, but any talk on marriage she would never tolerate even with\nKate.\n\nThis was the third letter he had written in the two years since he went\naway, and as in the preceding, he fervently begged her to reconsider.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n        \"Life hath its Tabor heights,\n  Its lofty mounts of heavenly recognition,\n  Whose unveiled glories flash to earth munition\n  Of love, and truth, and clearer intuition:\n        Hail! mount of all delights!\"\n\n  --_I. C. Gilbert._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, September ----.\n\n\"Good morning, dear ones all! I must tell you a little of yesterday\nbefore I go to the lesson to-day. We were not in class, and I staid in\nmy room all day trying to solve the many questions that present\nthemselves to us all, and to claim a little more understanding. Many\npoints became very much clearer after my long meditation in the silence.\nIn the evening I ran down to see Mrs. Dawn, who is several blocks away.\nWe were so interested, so completely absorbed in telling our thoughts\nand experiences, that it was after eleven o'clock when I arose to go,\nand then she accompanied me home, only intending to come part way, but\nas we passed a little low house about half way home, the door suddenly\nopened and a little girl of ten or twelve years ran out sobbing, 'The\nbaby is dying! the baby is dying!'\n\n\"She was going up an outside stairway to inform a neighbor. We rushed\ninto the house and found the frantic mother sobbing and wailing over her\nbaby apparently in the last agonies of death.\n\n\"'What is it? Can't we do something for you?' we asked, not knowing what\nelse to say.\n\n\"'Oh, my baby, my precious baby is dying! Don't you see? she is almost\ngone.'\n\n\"Indeed, for an instant it seemed the little life had gone out, when,\nlike a flash of lightning, the words came to my inner self, 'There is no\ndeath.' 'He that believeth on me shall not see death;' 'I am the way the\ntruth and the life.' 'Treat,' I whispered to Mrs. Dawn, and soon the\nawful lie was denied by us in the peaceful silence of our own souls; for\nall consciousness of appearances had vanished as we denied death and its\npower, till we could _command_ the waves of mortal thought to subside\nand say, 'Peace, be still.'\n\n\"It was the Master, the Christ within, who spoke for us, and we were\nfilled with the mighty peace and calmness of Truth that worked through\nus and was immediately made manifest. The little face relaxed, the eyes\nlost their glassy stare, the color returned to the pale lips.\n\n\"The mother ceased her mourning and gazed at the precious child in\nawesome silence. The neighbor and the little girl who had come in, stood\nby in hushed amazement. For a while all felt the presence of the great\ninvisible Power that had wrought so wondrous a work in their midst,\nalthough no one knew but ourselves what had been done. Presently the\nmother leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief, awaiting the\ndoctor, for whom her husband had gone before we entered the house. We\nwaited till he came, and then quietly slipped out.\n\n\"Mrs. Dawn came clear home with me, and we found our thoughts and\nfeelings had been almost identical in this remarkable experience,\nshowing the oneness of truth. It is something we shall never forget, for\nit was indeed from the very depths of our being we were stirred and\nthrilled with the mighty Principle.\n\n\"This morning I went to see the baby, and found it quite bright and\nhappy, but still breathing a little heavily. The M. D. had left\nmedicine, and of course, they were giving it 'according to directions.'\nI told the mother something of the Healing, and she readily acknowledged\nthat something mysterious had saved her child's life, because it\ncertainly was dying as much as the child she had lost years ago.\n\n\"'After you left last night, the neighbor who was here said like as not\nyou were Christian healers or whatever that is, but she did not believe\na word in it, and that it was all nonsense, but I told her I didn't\ncare. I thought you saved my baby, and the doctor said it had grown much\nbetter since he came. 'Well,' says I, 'ef you had seen her condition\nwhen the ladies came in, you would say she _is_ better.'\n\n\"'Oh, we won't argue about what made her better, whether medicine or\nsomething else; all we want now is to have the child cured,' said the\ndoctor, very kind-like, and I really thought a great deal better of him\nthan I had before, for most M. D.'s think they know everything,' she\nsaid.\n\n\"I was so glad to find she acknowledged even this much, so I talked a\nlittle longer, and explained the necessity of perfect trust in God, and\nthe consequences of distrust in Him. She seemed very responsive and\nready to believe, but then, who would not believe after such a\ndemonstration? I have felt awed and hushed all the morning, remembering\nthe mighty something surging through me. It seems hard to believe that\nat last my desire to have some grand sign shown me is already fulfilled.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl talked beautifully this afternoon on understanding. I wish\nyou could hear the lectures as she gives them, with all her grace and\nbeauty and impressiveness. Here is the essence of the lesson:\n\n\"As we evolve from material to spiritual understanding, we put ourselves\nmore and more into the divine current of Life, Health, Goodness, which\nis God. The higher our ideal, the higher our attainment. Believing in\nGod as supreme Love, we find it impossible to conceive of wrath,\njealousy, revenge, as emanating from or existing in Him, Her or It. As\nwe are filled with love, it becomes universal. Everybody is judged by\nits tender charity, everything is tinged with its warm radiance.\n\n\"As Paul so beautifully wrote: 'Love suffereth long and is kind, love\nenvieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave\nitself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not\naccount of evil, rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth in the\ntruth.... Love never faileth.' If this be a standard by which to judge\nthe love of men, how much more appropriately might it judge God, who is\nlove itself.\n\n\"In proportion as we are freed from the ignorance and narrowness of\nprimitive, ancient opinions concerning God, we shall rise to broader and\ntenderer and truer conceptions of Him. To the warm, sympathetic heart,\nthat knows the deepest needs of humanity, the 'mercy that endureth\nforever' is an established fact of the universal Love. To understand\nthis Love is to be at one with it, to do the works and think the\nthoughts of Love. It is essential, then, first to understand the law of\neffort, then faith, then love, then spiritual understanding, which is\nthe goal toward which we all hasten--understanding of all spiritual\nthings, understanding of God, who is all spirit. As we make the effort\nwe receive faith, as we use faith we grow in the power and capacity of\nlove, and love brings us the fullness of all things, even understanding\nof infinite wisdom. Every glimpse of truth we have ever had, every\nglorious breath of freedom, is but a hint of what will be when we have\n'awakened to righteousness.'\n\n\"We gain our knowledge by and through the law of right speaking and\nconsequently right acting. In the Bible, the New Testament especially,\ngreat stress is laid upon the power of words. Solomon wrote, 'How\nforcible are right words.' 'Life and death are in the power of the\ntongue,' and from St. Paul we hear, 'Hold fast the form of sound words;'\nand James' admonition, 'Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,'\nshow that both considered it necessary to speak the word if they would\nmanifest its power.\n\n\"But there is another and a holier office given to the word and that is\nthe office of atonement. The original meaning of atone was to 'make\nat-one, to agree, to be in accordance, to accord.' To be at-one with a\nperson is to be in such perfect sympathy that the thoughts of both are\nthe thoughts and feelings of one.\n\n\"Another illustration would be to say of a chip thrown into the river,\nit is at-one with the current. In this sense we should aim to be so\nat-one with the divine Principle that we may say with Jesus, 'I am one\nwith the Father,' for did he not say: 'They are not of this world even\nas I am not of this world,' and 'That they may be one even we are one.'\n\n\"To speak absolute Truth is to come into the true at-one-ment, to be at\none with the divine Mind, to realize that Christ the Truth is the\natoning power. The Christ is the impersonal Word of Truth which we are\nto speak, for 'unto us hath been committed the word of reconciliation'\nor atonement.\n\n\"When we think true thoughts and catch true ideas, when we understand\ntrue meanings and love true knowledge, we are sustained by the living\nword which sustains all who speak and live it, because we are truly at\none with the divine Word.\n\n\"Knowing the meaning of Christ to be Truth, blood to be life or word,\nand sin to be error, we catch the spiritual meaning of the phrase 'sins\nwashed away by the blood of Christ,' which is, sins or errors washed\naway by the word of Truth.\n\n\"In that wonderful sermon in the sixth chapter of John, Jesus used the\nterm blood as a symbol of his words, and emphatically told his\ndisciples, when they persisted in taking his sayings literally, 'the\nflesh profiteth nothing, the _words_ that I speak unto you, they are\nspirit and they are life.'\n\n\"That the Bible writers used the figurative language of those times,\nmust be taken into account when reading points that have been made\nfoundation doctrines. Owing to the ancient custom of sacrificing animals\nto appease the wrath of God, whom they regarded as subject to anger,\njealousy or any human passion, they used figurative language when\ndescribing Jesus as the Lamb sacrificed for the sins of the world.\n\n\"In one of the inspired moments of the prophet, when he apprehended God\nas a God of Love, he cried out, 'I have desired mercy and not sacrifice;\nand the knowledge of God more than burnt offering.' It is the knowledge\nof God, the word of truth, that will save, and the only sacrifice is the\nsacrifice of self which makes the atonement possible.\n\n\"To fast from all selfishness is to keep the true fast, so beautifully\ndescribed in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. 'Is it not to loose the\nbands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go\nfree, to break every yoke? Then shall thy light break forth as the\nmorning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily.' Here is the\nfruit of atonement, the result of understanding, for understanding God\nand being at one with God, is in reality the same. As we understand God\nwe shall be at one with Him, and to be at one with God is to be whole,\nfor He is Holiness, wholeness, health. 'If thine eye be single, then\nshall thy whole body be full of light.' To be single in recognizing the\none Mind, one Power, one Creation, is to be filled with light, which is\nlife, which is health, for as the mind, consciousness, becomes\nilluminated, the body responds by recording the history of thought upon\nthe visible page or body.\n\n\"It is the revealment of God that we seek, and our individual relation\nto Him. What more is there for us to know after we know Him, for is not\nHe all there really is? He has given many marvelous signs to His\nchildren, who must be taught in simple childish ways and the 'still\nsmall voice' is ever near, speaking to whomsoever will listen. It is the\ninner guide, the 'spirit of truth that guides us into all truth.' Then\nwe are 'clothed upon,' we have returned to our Father's house and the\nfeast is spread, the rejoicing has begun.\n\n\"For awhile our only conception of power, is in visible manifestations\nor feelings, but there comes a time when 'to be alone with silence is to\nbe alone with God,' when joy is unutterable, and love the very potency\nof silence, when we wait with bated breath and let the divine Thought\nsurge through us, when we put away all material beliefs and stand\nglorified in the 'secret of His Presence.' Then indeed are we baptized\nof the spirit, and in the silent chamber of our new consciousness may we\nhear the blessed words, 'Thou art my beloved son.'\n\n\"No longer 'Thou shalt and thou shalt not,' but the sweet affirmation of\nsonship, of daughtership, of the precious benediction of a Father's\nlove. Then glad light rushes into every dark crevice of our mind. We see\nas we never saw before, we understand as we never understood before, we\nspeak as we never spoke before, we live as we never lived before,\nbecause we have been lifted out of the depths of ignorance to the\nradiant heights of the Promised Land, because we hear the angel saying\nas of old, 'Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell\nwith them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with\nthem and be their God ... and God shall wipe away all tears from their\neyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying,\nneither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed\naway.' Finally, oh my husband, because we have been born again, and so\nfind ourselves within the royal gates, the palace doors open to receive\nus and the insignia of royalty written upon our faces, for we shall be\nstamped with the signs of understanding, and know, as Jesus did, 'it is\nnot I, but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.'\n\n\"Then, as the beauteous sunlight bathes and blesses all the world with\nits effulgent glory, so will the light of Truth, known as understanding,\nshine through us and turn pain into peace, sadness into joy, sickness\ninto health, error into truth.\n\n  'Wisdom ripens into silence,\n    And the lesson she doth teach,\n  Is, that life is more than language,\n    And that thought is more than speech.'\n\n\"How I long for this ultimate experience! How I yearn for the fullness\nof this knowledge now; for the ripened wisdom that shall unlock the\ndoors of my own consciousness, but I know, dear, this will come to us if\nwe are faithful to the few little steps we know, no matter how we\nstumble and fall in taking them. Oh, that we may reach out to all the\nworld in the sweet ministry of 'peace on earth, good will to men.'\n\n\"You say 'there is a rift in the clouds for you, too, and the vague\nsomething which sometimes loomed up in your horizon is gone.' How glad I\nam, no words can tell. What a change there will be! The old past shall\nbe sweetened and sanctified by the new present, and only the good\nmemories shall remain.\n\n\"What a blessed comfort in this thought, 'the Lord shall be thy rear\nward.' We have nothing to do with the past, for it shall be utterly\nannulled. The Truth has erased it, and it is swallowed up in the good in\nproportion as we recognize only the Good. This thought is a great\nconsolation to me when I recall the hasty words I used to say when my\ntemper got the better of me. Oh, that old failing! I hope it is forever\nvanquished--but there, I must not forget to be scientific, and of course\nit is not scientific to talk of error in any way.\n\n\"Jamie is a dear little scamp, if he _did_ try to break the rules and\nget something to eat between meals by playing prairie dog. It must have\nbeen very funny to see him sitting in the attitude of a begging dog,\nmutely appealing for something, and being obliged at last to suggest\nthat there was candy on the top shelf. Even my heart would have softened\nfor the innocent little trickster.\n\n\"Well, really, we must try to give the children the liberty we older\nchildren desire and insist upon having in such a headstrong way. Bless\nmy little darlings! They shall realize the absence of fear, the presence\nof love in their home, which we must strive more and more to make\ntypical of the great Home in which we are all members.\n\n\"I feel that they are dearer now than ever. My love is more unselfish,\nand I can really feel that they are truly consecrated to the Good,\nbecause I know how to hold them in the thought of the Good, how to annul\nthe opposite influences and fill their minds with the sweet, pure,\nennobling realizations of Love. Meekly I say this, because I know not my\nown strength, or rather I know not how much divine strength I may\nrecognize and use, but this is the right path, and I earnestly desire to\nwalk in it.\n\n\"You know some people say (in their ignorance, of course) that this free\nthinking breaks up families. Oh, if they could only know, on the other\nhand, how it strengthens the bonds, how it clears up misunderstandings\nand falsities, how it teaches us the sacredness of family relations, and\nbrings us into spiritual oneness, which is the only true marriage.\n\n\"Spiritual light has come to me on this subject which can not be put\ninto words, but some time you will know what I know, and we shall both\nbe blessed by the knowledge.\n\n\"Peace be unto all God's children.\n\n  \"Your loving\n\n  \"MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n  \"If thou art worn and hard beset,\n    With troubles that thou would'st forget,\n  If thou would'st read a lesson that will keep\n    Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,\n  Go to the woods and hills! No tears\n    Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.\"\n\n  --_H. W. Longfellow._\n\n\nGrace was in deep perplexity. She pondered her problem over and over,\nand though in reality she felt more like flinging pride to the winds\nthan ever before, she was not able to formulate or even consciously name\nher thoughts. A strange, unsettled feeling possessed her. She wondered\nat herself that she did not contemptuously throw this letter of Leon\nCarrington's into the fire, as she had the other two, but for some\nreason did not do so. All night she was uneasy and slept but little. The\nnext morning she announced to Kate that she would spend the day at\nRosewood, sketching.\n\nWhat the trouble was, Kate could only surmise, but wisely held her peace\nfeeling instinctively that now was no time for questions. She was\nrelieved to hear of the prospective recreation, for Grace always came\nback from these trips with so much fresh inspiration, and renewed\nenthusiasm.\n\nIt was a beautiful day, one of those mild, hazy days of October that\nseem made to teach humanity some of its most sacred lessons. Nature is\nthe best of teachers if we know how to read her mystic pages, her many\nand varied beauties, her wide diversities of expression, her fine\nsubtlety of language, for she is the handmaid of Truth, inasmuch as she\nholds before our admiring eyes pictures of Truth and its wondrous laws.\nIf we can interpret the pictures, we are wiser and better and happier.\n\nGrace was ever ready to listen to the oracles of nature, but now they\nheld a sweeter message than ever before, and she keenly anticipated the\npleasure in store for her as she seated herself in the car and disposed\nof her sketching materials for the half hour's ride to Rosewood, a\npretty little woodland station near Hampton.\n\nShe generally walked the mile and a half to the farmhouse in the edge of\nthe woods, where she had made the acquaintance of a kind hearted old\nlady, who loaned her a great Newfoundland dog belonging to the house,\nfor company in her rambles.\n\nMrs. Clayland was rejoiced to see her, for it had been several weeks\nsince Grace had called, and she was eager to tell her of the great tree\nup in the ravine that had been blasted by the lightning, and about the\nbeautiful little waterfall caused by the Cherry Creek freshet.\n\nGrace listened patiently as she rested, and asked questions that she had\nasked many times before, because it pleased the old lady to tell of all\nthe beautiful spots and dainty bits of landscape in her vicinity. That\nwas next to being the artist.\n\nPrince stood by, looking with intelligent eyes, first at the visitor\nand then at his mistress, wagging his tail wistfully as though eager to\nbe off, for he seemed to realize that this was his holiday too.\n\n\"Are you ready to go, Prince?\" asked Grace, patting the dog on the head\nas she looked into his great brown eyes.\n\nPrince licked his mouth and pushed his nose close under her hand while\nhis tail wagged violently. \"Yes, of course he is. I wish my old limbs\nwould let me go too, but I can't even hobble to-day for the rheumatism\nhas been dreadful the last week,\" said Mrs. Clayland, as she wiped her\nspectacles.\n\nGrace hardly knew what to say, for here was just the place for a little\nsympathy, and yet she must shut her eyes to false beliefs and\nconditions, so she wisely talked of the beautiful day, the warm air, and\nwhat not, while secretly resolving that Mrs. Clayland should be her\nfirst patient if she ever knew how to treat patients according to the\nChrist method. In the mean time, she would give her some thoughts.\n\nWhile Mrs. Clayland volubly rattled on, talking of all her aches and\npains, Grace was doing her best to think of the very opposite statement,\nthat she was well.\n\nAt last, however, with Prince trotting gaily in front of her, she began\nher rambles in earnest. She knew of a beautiful view from one of the\nhills near by, and slowly wended her way thitherward. The hush and quiet\nof the place seemed such a relief after the troubled hours of the past\nnight, and as she came to the gentle slope of the grassy hill, she threw\nherself into the soft warm grass, in the shade of a stately elm that\nstood there alone, and gave herself up to thinking--thinking of the\ndeepest and most sacred problems in human experience.\n\nPrince came and laid himself at her feet. The soft autumn sunshine\nplayed here and there upon her form and face through the leaves, while\nthe occasional note of a bird or hum of an insect were the only sounds\nthat broke the stillness of the lonely place. What an exquisite pleasure\nto lie there and breathe in all this wonderful peace, for it was like a\ntaste of heaven. Far away from all perplexities and cares, she could\nhave lost herself in sweet forgetfulness but for this one theme that\nwould persist in thrusting itself upon her. At last it had resolved\nitself into the form of a question. Should she or should she not write\nto Leon Carrington? Might it not be possible she had been misinformed,\nand that she was mistaken in her hasty conclusions?\n\nLife presented a different aspect now from what it had two years ago.\nShe was more lenient in her judgments, more charitable in her opinions,\nmore softened in her pride; changed more than she ever realized until\nshe began the self examination on this point. To be sure she had desired\nto change in these respects, since she had seen a glimpse of the\npossibilities of Christian life. She had denied all qualities of\ncharacter in herself that seemed undesirable, and had affirmed\ncharitableness, patience, wisdom, but that she could ever have changed\nher mind on this subject seemed incredible and utterly inconsistent.\n\nAnd yet, what could she say to him? She had no answer, certainly no\nencouragement. The only thing she could do would be to tell him frankly\nwhat her thought and judgment had been, without going into details, and\nlearn the truth of the matter; but that, she would never do. Whatever\ninjury she had inflicted through her silent, erroneous thoughts should\nbe as silently redressed by her best and most generous ones.\n\nOver an hour she lay there, no nearer the solution of her problem than\nwhen she began. It was getting late, and she rose hurriedly, shook the\nleaves and grass from her dress, and opening her sketch book, set to\nwork.\n\nAn opening to the left in the woods revealed a view of lovely meadows\nand wooded hills, clothed in all the gorgeous robes of autumn, with a\nmisty blue haze enshrouding them, and gleams of a silvery river winding\nthrough meadow and woodland. She rapidly sketched the outlines, studied\nthe beauteous blending of tints, and wondered meanwhile, what particular\nlesson she could learn or give by this beautiful picture. Again she\nlooked at the scene before her. Suddenly there came into her mind some\nlines she had often admired:\n\n  \"Oh, the peace at the heart of Nature,\n    Oh, the light that is not of day!\n  Why seek it afar forever,\n    When it can not be lifted away?\"\n\nAh, here was the key. \"The peace of Nature,\" typical of divine peace,\n\"The Light not of day,\" divine Light itself. How sweet the thought, how\nprecious the lesson; and the divine Peace and Light _are_ indeed\nforever here. Could she throw such a divine message into her prospective\npainting? Could she make every form and color, every hint of light and\nshadow, tell the sweet story, as this living picture told it? Surely,\nthe heart that overflows with an inbreathing of the divine, must be able\nto teach the common heart of humanity, else what is the use of\ninspiration?\n\nOn her way back to the house, Grace passed the blasted tree, described\nby Mrs. Clayland, but she had no desire to study destruction or death.\nIt was life, living things, that she would portray. Was there not beauty\nand grandeur everywhere, hinting of Infinity? Even the noisy and\nmonotonous waterfall now had a message for her as it rushed forcefully\non its course, regardless of any and all obstructions.\n\nIt was quite late when Grace and Prince returned, much later than she\nsupposed, so that she missed the train and had to wait for the next,\nseveral hours later. Mr. Clayland kindly volunteered to take her to the\nstation, an offer she was very glad to accept.\n\nThe lamps were already lighted when she entered the car. She slipped\ninto the first vacant seat, but caught a glimpse of a face several seats\nin front of her that made her heart beat hurriedly and her breath come\nquick and fast for a few moments.\n\nShe resolutely avoided looking anywhere but out of the window, and at\nthe end of her journey quietly but quickly disappeared in the surging\ncrowd.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n  \"Let me not dwell so much within\n    My bounded heart with anxious heed,\n  Where all my searches meet with doubt,\n    And nothing satisfies my need;\n  It shuts me from the sound and sight\n    Of that pure world of life and light\n  Which has no breadth, or length, or height.\"\n\n  --_A. L. Waring._\n\n\nKate had long ago become accustomed to these uncertain movements of\nGrace, and was therefore not alarmed at her prolonged absence. She sat\nin a cozy chair, reading the last letter from Mrs. Hayden, when Grace\nentered.\n\n\"What makes you look so sober, Gracious?\" she asked, tenderly, after the\nhat and sketch book were laid aside and they had settled themselves for\ntheir usual chat.\n\n\"Oh, Kate, I had a lovely time to-day, with all the beautiful sights out\nin the country; I wish you could see how much more there is in nature\nsince we have studied Christian Healing,\" was the evasive reply.\n\n\"I think we see more in everything,\" said Kate, whose curiosity was\nrather _piqued_ by the evasiveness, though she made no sign, \"because\neverything stands for something. It is like the x in algebra, and\ninteresting as the unknown quantity.\"\n\nGrace smiled a little. She was thinking of a different kind of \"unknown\nquantity.\"\n\n\"Don't you want to hear Mrs. Hayden's letter?\" asked Kate, wondering\nmore and more over the _distrait_ manner and dreamy absorption of her\nfriend.\n\n\"The letter, why, of course; where is it?\"\n\n\"Here; shall I read it?\"\n\n\"Certainly.\"\n\nGrace grew more interested as the reading went on. \"That is decidedly\nthe most reasonable explanation of the atonement I have ever heard,\" she\nexclaimed at the close.\n\n\"Yes, it is reasonable and beautiful I must admit,\" said Kate, \"but when\nI first read the letter my old fear came back for a moment that possibly\nit was all wrong, but I remembered my right to an interpretation. That\none thought has been more helpful to me than any other, for it has\nbrought such a sense of liberty. Then I looked up the quotation about\nthe 'word of reconciliation,' and I must say it is so perfectly plain I\ncan not see why it has been so overlooked and neglected before.\"\n\n\"Where is it? I did not catch that,\" said Grace, following Kate's finger\nas she pointed to the passage in the Bible.\n\n\"There is something so sacred in these meanings,\" resumed Kate, \"and if\nI may only get the truth, I care not what any one says about it. I see\nnow wherein lies the whole misconception or misinterpretation rather. It\nis in the idea of God. If we conceive of Him as limited to human ways\nand capacities, as the ancient Hebrews did, we naturally ascribe such\nworks to Him.\"\n\n\"In other words,\" added Grace, \"we judge God entirely by ourselves. If\nwe are broad and loving in our nature and character it is easy for us to\nregard God as love. If we are vindictive and revengeful, we can readily\nsee Him as angry and unrelenting.\"\n\n\"Yes, we are so apt to judge the whole world and God, too, by our\nmoods,\" replied Kate, thoughtfully.\n\n\"As Emerson says, 'we see in others what we are ourselves,'\" quoted\nGrace, removing her jacket which until now she had retained in order to\nget warm after her evening journey.\n\n\"Oh! what do you think of what Mrs. Hayden says about marriage?\" asked\nKate, putting her pencil in her mouth as she held both hands out to\nassist Grace.\n\n\"She doesn't say enough to give an opinion,\" replied Grace, \"but there\nmust be something in her mind or she would not write about it now.\"\n\n\"Her ideas must be very exalted, and I hope to know what they are, for\nit is a very important question,\" said Kate, with a casual glance toward\nher companion, as she bit the end of the pencil.\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden decidedly denies the imputation laid to Christian Healing,\nthat it is opposed to marriage, or that it tends to separate families,\"\nsaid Grace, with more interest than Kate would have thought possible a\nweek ago.\n\n\"I did not know any such imputation had been laid to it,\" rejoined Kate,\nopening her eyes in astonishment.\n\n\"Oh, yes, I have heard it several times, but people will talk whether\nthey know anything or not. I am glad Mrs. Hayden mentions it for that is\nenough to show there is absolutely no foundation for such statements.\"\nGrace moved her chair and put her elbow on the table so she might shade\nher eyes with her hand.\n\n\"Why, I don't see how people can say such things; surely the tendency is\nto draw families into closer bonds of sympathy and affection,\" exclaimed\nKate, in questioning innocence.\n\n\"It ought to be,\" replied Grace, thoughtfully, \"and undoubtedly is,\" she\nadded.\n\n\"What do _you_ think of this question, Grace?\" Kate ventured to ask. At\nany other time she would not have dared approach the subject, but Grace\nseemed more pliable to-night for some reason.\n\n\"What question?\" asked Grace, rousing from her reverie. \"Oh, marriage.\nWell, sometimes I have thought the query going the rounds of the press,\n'Is marriage a failure?' a very pertinent one, but of course that\ndoesn't touch the principle itself. That is right and can never be\notherwise.\"\n\n\"Most people talk and write as seriously as though it _does_ touch the\nprinciple.\"\n\n\"That is because they judge the principle by the persons representing\nit, whereas they should stop and consider that humanity is prone to\nweakness and often fails to demonstrate its high ideals.\"\n\n\"And it is because of failure they think there is something wrong. Take\nan individual case, for instance, and there are thousands. If a girl\nmarries unhappily, she thinks there must be something wrong in the\nwhole system, for she judges everybody's misery by her own,\" said Kate,\nsecretly wishing Grace would be more confidential, and not so coldly\nintellectual.\n\n\"Then the way to a happy judgment of this question would be a happy\nmarriage, you think?\" laughed Grace, with a faint blush, looking up\ninquiringly.\n\n\"Don't trifle Grace. You know I said it all earnestly, and really it is\nno matter to trifle over, any way.\"\n\n\"Well, that is true, Kate,\" replied Grace more soberly. \"I don't believe\nanybody takes the question seriously enough. It is certainly the most\nimportant of all things to consider.\"\n\n\"Do you think it right to enter marriage for any other reason than pure\nand devoted affection?\" persisted Kate.\n\n\"No, I do not. Why do you ask?\" demanded Grace rather sharply.\n\n\"Because that is the solution of the whole problem. If they would begin\nto talk about love instead of marriage being a failure, they would get\nsome light on it,\" a little impatiently.\n\nGrace looked up in surprise.\n\n\"I know,\" continued Kate, \"it is because people are mistaken or misled\nin their reasons for marriage, that it even has a semblance of failure.\"\n\n\"That is one reason, certainly, and another is that they do not\nunderstand each other's motives, or have not the patience to bear with\neach other's faults. We can easily see how misunderstandings can be put\naway when there is true love, when we determine to see only the good,\nand learn to 'resist not evil.' That is one of the strong points in\nJesus the Christ's teachings,\" said Grace with unwonted earnestness.\n\n\"I am so sorry people can't see it in the right light,\" added Kate,\nregretfully.\n\n\"You can have much charity for them, for it is just what you would have\nsaid or thought, if you had not studied the matter yourself. You\nremember how Mr. Narrow influenced you and biased your judgment?\"\n\n\"Yes, and I see as never before that the 'Truth makes us free.'\n\n  'He is a freeman whom the truth makes free.\n  And all are slaves besides,'\"\n\nsaid Grace, as she reached for the sketch book to look over her work of\nthe afternoon.\n\n\"It is no use, she never will say anything, even when she might,\"\nthought Kate as she reviewed the events of the past few days. She half\nreproached herself for allowing anything to take her mind from the one\nspecial theme in which at last she had become thoroughly interested. She\nwas eager to learn, to search in all directions for the meaning of\nthings. Slowly the little grain of faith was growing into the mighty\ntree.\n\nEnchanting Truth so round, so perfect, so beautiful,--no wonder we must\nreach out in every direction for the knowledge of thy fair signs that we\nmay more correctly and more fully realize the perfect revealment of our\nown divinity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n     \"What a great power is the power of thought! And what a grand being\n     is man when he uses it aright; because after all, it is the use\n     made of it that is the important thing. Character comes out of\n     thought. 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.'\"--_Sir Walter\n     Raleigh._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, October ----.\n\n\"Dear Husband: I was just thinking of you all when the letter carrier\ncame this morning and gave me a welcome surprise, for your letters\nusually come in the afternoon. It seems too wonderful to believe about\nthe children, and yet I can see it is their implicit faith that makes\ntheir words so potent.\n\n\"They are doing their part to help too, for every one in the world,\nlarge or small helps in greater or lesser measure to carry out the plans\nof the invisible Good.\n\n\"I dreamed of being at home last night, and it seemed as though you were\nall so happy and busy. You did not see me. Even little Jem was busily\nengaged in some kind of work. I could scarcely see what it was, but a\nvague white something like an invisible net was spread between you, and\nthe thought came that you and Anna were weaving something, and even the\nchildren had a part to fulfill for they flitted to and fro, bringing\nsomething to you with faces so full of light and happiness, I almost\ncried out with joy.\n\n\"When I awoke I was deeply impressed that this was a symbol of united\neffort in making the seamless robe of Truth, and the family group\nrepresented the members of one body, each with a work to do to perfect\nthe whole.\n\n\"No matter how humble our part may be, no matter how childish and\nincompetent we feel, by doing the best we know, with the ability we\nhave, in all joy and earnestness, we shall be serving the Master and\nweaving the marvelous robe.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl talked of the mighty power of thought in her lecture to-day.\n\n\"Every individual in the universe is inseparably connected with every\nother individual, and we are, as it were, 'touching elbows' with the\nwhole world.\n\n\"How is it done? Simply by thinking and being susceptible to thought.\nEvery thought of the individual helps to make or mar the happiness and\nhealth of the world. Every negative thought (and by that I mean opposite\nthe good, which is positive) sent forth, goes into the miasmatic fog of\nerror, and whoever believes in error or the reality of these thoughts,\nattracts to himself this quality of thought, which sooner or later,\nmakes itself manifest in physical inharmony.\n\n\"For instance, one who believes in the reality of sickness and the\nreality of evil is constantly attracting thoughts that make sickness\nmanifest, but if a knowledge of how to throw off or counteract those\nthoughts were used, the cloud would be dispelled before it turned into\ninharmony or sickness.\n\n\"This is why we are taught to deny every thought or feeling that is not\nharmonious or desirable, everything which can not be predicated of\nspirit. If this is what makes sickness and sin, truly it is not to be\nwondered at, for how many are perfectly happy, perfectly unselfish and\nkind, one single day at a time?\n\n\"Suppose one gets up in the morning with a feeling of crossness and\nimpatience; he goes to breakfast, impresses the whole family with his\ndiscomfort, and so through the entire day leaves the imprint of his dark\nforebodings on every person who sees him, besides the untold influence\nthat goes forth to the unprotected world, inasmuch as thoughts go\neverywhere.\n\n\"He retires at night, disgusted with himself and displeased with the\nwhole world. People were unkind and unjust. Even inanimate objects were\nunusually aggravating. He wasted half an hour trying to untie a knot,\nhunted for a package of papers which were finally found in their proper\nplace, had a vexing ten minutes with his office key, etc.\n\n\"Every impatient thought, word or action was an expenditure, not only of\nphysical force, but a loss of moral strength, and just as surely as the\nworld moves, these thoughts, in their revolving circuit, constantly\nreturn to the thinker, 'Whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.'\n\n\"Who knows what dark trains of thought his lowering face suggested? Who\nknows what headaches and heartaches were brought on by the unconscious\nabsorption of his impatience or bitterness? Who can measure the extent\nof that mysterious burden of depression, so often called 'the blues,'\nthat crept into the consciousness of somebody under the influence of the\ndark thoughts sent out by this one, of whom perchance they know\nnothing?\n\n\"It is this negative quality of thought that holds the world in bondage.\nTo destroy it is to destroy all inharmony. On the other hand, note the\ninfluence of the happy-voiced individual, who comes to us so running\nover with the joy and beauty of life that we catch the thrilling\ninspiration of his mood and begin to enjoy the same sunshine, see the\nsame beauty and feel the same happiness.\n\n\"One look or one word may often send us off into the most delightful\nreveries, may inspire us to write a cheery letter, vibrating with love\nand hope, or prompt us to spend half an hour with one who needs the bath\nof joy our words may bring. Consciously and unconsciously we lighten the\npathway, lift the burdens, sanctify the sorrows of the world by sending\nout and receiving this subtle thread of thought, so fine in its essence\nand quality, that any one and every one may feel its strengthening\npresence.\n\n\"It is the negative or mortal thought that produces disease. See how\ngrief bends and breaks the strongest constitutions, furrows the cheek,\ndims the eye, takes the appetite, impairs the mind. See how anger\ncankers everything it touches, how jealousy corrodes the thoughts with\npoisoned arrows, until the body is written over with letters of\nunmistakable meaning.\n\n\"The body is what we may call the thermometer of the mind and registers\nthe quality of thought. Universal beliefs in error find their common\nexpression on the body. Every thought of sickness, sin or discouragement\nis recorded or bodied forth.\n\n\"With all our belief in and fear of evil, sickness and death, we are\ncontinually subjecting ourselves to false and undesirable conditions,\nuntil, as Job said, 'Lo, the thing that I feared has come upon me.'\n\n\"Fear is more quickly productive of disease pictures than any other kind\nof thought. Some one has aptly said, 'if the human race were freed from\nfear, it would be free from sickness,' which is verily true. Even the\nmost learned doctors of medicine admit that an epidemic takes hold of\nthose first who are most afraid, and frequently leaves the absolutely\nfearless unmolested.\n\n\"Why is this so? Because fear weakens the power of mental control, and\nconsequently weakens the body. To leave the doors unlocked, and then\nwatch for the thief, is almost equal to having the thief in the house.\n\n\"The material scientist says an epidemic has a material cause; the\nChristian healer says it has a mental cause. Before there is an object\nto fear there must be the sentiment of fear. Let scarlet fever appear in\na community, and every parent will immediately send out the most\nagonizing thoughts of fear. Where will they go? Everywhere, because\nthoughts can not be restrained. Their influence goes out in every\ndirection. To the tender children especially, because particularly\ndirected to them. All who have left the door open to fear, though they\nmay be sleeping in their unconsciousness of danger, will be liable to\nreceive these uncontrolled thoughts, and some day when they least expect\nor fear sickness, it may be upon them.\n\n\"So the children, to whom have been directed such thoughts, only prove\ntheir susceptibility to them, by picturing forth fear in the form of\nscarlet fever, or whatever may have been the naming of the error.\nAnybody manifesting sickness without consciousness of fear proves\npassive or unconscious fear, while those suffering sickness through a\nconscious recognition and fear of sickness are manifesting active or\nconscious fear.\n\n\"There are two departments of mind sometimes spoken of as the conscious\nand unconscious. The conscious mind is the conscious thought, which is\neasily swayed or changed. It has an immediate or direct influence on the\nbody as is shown by the blood that rushes to or recedes from the face at\nsome sudden change of thought. The unconscious mind is the aggregation\nof past individual and universal conscious thought, and is the character\nformed, the second nature or instinct.\n\n\"As the flesh and bones are more fixed than the ever moving blood, so\nthe unconscious mind is slower to receive impressions, and slower to\nshow them forth. Our bodies to-day are showing a harvest of the thoughts\nof generations or ages of the past. The person manifesting consumptive\ntendencies is not only expressing his own conscious thoughts, but is\nveritably the picture of the thoughts of his parents, ancestors and the\nentire race, concerning a belief in consumption. Year by year the\nthoughts of this error have been writing themselves in his face, his\neyes, his chest, his very walk and talk and breath. Unless he offsets\nthem with thoughts of absolute Truth, they press him out of our sight.\nHe yields to the belief of death, because he never said no to sin or\nsickness, because he was at one with the world in its false beliefs.\n\n\"'The last enemy to be overcome is death!' reads the inspired statement\nof Paul, confirmed and strengthened by the Master's never-dying promise,\n'If a man keep my saying he shall never see death.'\n\n\"There are certain fixed beliefs inherent in every mind which we call\nuniversal beliefs. They are often referred to as belonging to the\nunconscious mind; as, for example, the fear of pain or suffering under\ncertain circumstances will come to the surface of consciousness, proving\nthat despite every feeling of confidence and fearlessness it has not\nbeen destroyed, but sleeps in the unconscious mind.\n\n\"These unconscious beliefs and fears of sickness are ultimately\nexpressed on the body in different forms of disease, sometimes given one\nname and sometimes another. The material scientist calls a certain\noutshowing on the body cancer, the Christian healer calls it the picture\nof a belief of cancer. In this way disease is always the manifestation\nof both conscious and unconscious thoughts.\n\n\"Special forms of disease are born by constant attention to the thought\nof disease and their symptoms. It has been stated on good authority that\nphysicians who make a specialty of certain diseases are apt to be\nafflicted with what they have especially fitted themselves to cure. In a\nmedical journal a case was cited not long since of an eminent physician\nwho read before a great convention of doctors, what was considered to be\nthe ablest treatise on insanity ever written. 'On going home from the\nconvention he killed his wife, four children, and then himself, in a fit\nof dementia.'\n\n\"This reveals a startling fact, which might be corroborated by many\nothers, that the body ultimately pictures forth the idea. But the\nthought is not confined to the individual. It not infrequently finds the\nmost striking expression in some member of the family or in any one\nunder his influence.\n\n\"If one man's thoughts so influence himself, family or friend, think of\nthe influence of such thoughts on those who go to him for advice or\ntreatment, those who deliberately place themselves under his inspection\nand allow themselves to be guided both directly and indirectly by his\nerroneous opinions. Think of the vast stream of such thoughts going out\nfrom all medical colleges, students and practitioners. No wonder\ndiseases increase as physicians increase, as some of the best thinkers\nof the age declare.\n\n\"Not that one class of people is more to be reflected upon than another,\nfor some kind or degree of erroneous thought is held by all classes.\nPhysicians talk sickness and death, ministers preach evil and\npunishment, the entire race believe in and suffer for sins.\n\n\"It is centuries since it was first discovered that ideas were\ntransmitted without the ordinarily accepted means of communication, but,\nto-day it is positively and repeatedly, yes, continually proven that\nthought transference is not only possible or probable, but an every-day\noccurrence. To realize that\n\n      'Thoughts are things.\n  Endowed with being, breath and wings,\n  And that we send them forth to fill\n    The world with good results or ill,'\n\nis to be mightily responsible for what we think. To know that we are\nverily our brother's keeper, and that every thought makes misery or\nhappiness for the whole world as well as for the individual, is\nsomething that should engage our deepest and most earnest consideration.\n\n\"All thinking is for the weal or woe of the world that is yet in its\ninfancy of knowledge. As consciousness of truth takes the place of\nconsciousness of error, thoughts become light and beautiful and true\nwith corresponding conditions.\n\n\"Let us no longer slumber in the arms of indifference and ignorance, but\nawake to truth and righteousness. 'Better be unborn than untaught; for\nignorance is the root of misfortune.'\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIX.\n\n     \"Blessed influence of one true, loving soul on another. Not\n     calculable by algebra, not deductible by logic, but mysterious,\n     effectual, mighty as the hidden process by which the tiny seed is\n     quickened, and bursts forth into tall stem and broad leaf, and\n     glowing tasseled flower.\"--_George Eliot._\n\n\n\"Oh dear!\" exclaimed Kate as she laid down the letter containing the\nlesson on Thought. \"I didn't know we were so responsible for every\nlittle thing that comes into our mind.\"\n\n\"Or goes out of it,\" said Grace, smiling, as she finished tinting a\ndainty plaque. \"Now we can understand that 'where ignorance is bliss,\n'tis folly to be wise,'\" she added rather absent-mindedly.\n\n\"Yes, but I think I prefer the wisdom to the bliss. Do you understand\nthis lecture as well as the rest?\" asked Kate, again glancing at the\nletter.\n\n\"Why shouldn't we? It is plainly told, and is a natural sequence to the\nothers. I should think it very helpful, and if there really is so much\npower in thought, it is time people knew it.\"\n\n\"But what of the people who do not know it? Are they utterly\ndefenseless?\"\n\n\"As long as they believe in the reality of sin, sickness and death, they\nmust suffer from them,\" replied Grace, picking a loose hair from her\nblender.\n\n\"Then they ought to know how to learn and understand these things, but I\ncould not tell anybody.\"\n\n\"We can solve any problem by going back and reasoning from the premise.\nIf any shock of sin or sickness come over us, we have simply to remember\nthe spiritual, which is the only real creation.\"\n\n\"It is not so easily done though. To-day I met the most miserable\nlooking cripple sliding along without any limbs. I held my skirts aside\nas he passed, and forgot to even think of him as God's child,\" confessed\nKate, in a regretful tone.\n\n\"Anything takes time, and we can't expect to leap into perfection at\nonce, but what did you do after he had passed?\" asked Grace, with some\ncuriosity.\n\n\"I pitied the poor creature and wondered what made him so.\"\n\n\"That was the very way to keep him in the same condition,\" said Grace,\nrapidly mixing some paint. \"This last lesson very clearly explains that\n_every_ thought has an influence, and that you help to make the body\nmanifest whatever you think of it. If you think the real and true, you\nhelp to make that show forth, if you only think of the external or\napparent trouble or defect, and regard it as the real, you are harming\ninstead of helping.\"\n\n\"I can readily see that we may affect ourselves, but it seems hard to\nbelieve that we affect _everybody_,\" protested Kate, incredulously.\n\n\"It is because we cannot realize the law of thought transference. I was\nreading just last week about that. An instance of Stuart C. Cumberland's\nmind-reading was cited. It was wonderful. And then long ago I read an\nold book written by Cornelius Agrippa about it, but I was not very much\ninterested, and did not understand nor believe it at the time, so my\nmemory is not worth much concerning it.\"\n\n\"Then you really think I added another weight to that unhappy creature's\nburden of trouble?\" cried Kate, in sharp surprise.\n\n\"It would be best for you to deny his apparent conditions and affirm his\nreal ones, and instead of thoughts of pity, which are only weakening,\nyou could think of happiness and contentment. I truly believe we can\nlearn to think of people this way, if we only catch ourselves for\ncorrection every time we think wrong.\"\n\n\"How shall I ever learn to bridle my thoughts?\" was Kate's despairing\nwail.\n\n\"By learning to bridle your tongue; I found a splendid text to-day on\nthat very theme. It is in James iii: 2. 'If any man offend not in word,\nthe same is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole body.'\n\n\"Why, it tells in those few words the substance of all we have learned\nin these lessons,\" exclaimed Kate.\n\n\"Only we would never have had sense enough to understand without the\nlessons,\" added Grace, with a smile.\n\n\"They may be likened to a golden key that opens royal gates,\" said Kate,\ngoing to the piano to play while Grace was putting away her paints and\nbrushes.\n\nA little later Grace went out to mail a letter. As she turned from the\npost-box, she found herself face to face with--whom but Leon\nCarrington?\n\n\"Ah, an unexpected pleasure, Miss Hall!\" he said, extending his hand and\nwarmly grasping the one she slowly held out to him. He looked\nsearchingly into her face, with clear, questioning eyes.\n\nShe dropped her lashes and drew back with a touch of the old\nhaughtiness, murmuring something he could not hear.\n\n\"May I have the pleasure of a little walk with you?\" he asked, suiting\nhis step to hers and ignoring her apparent coldness.\n\n\"Certainly. How long since you returned to Hampton, Mr. Carrington?\"\nrecovering herself as they walked.\n\n\"Only a few days ago. I was called here on business for my uncle, and\nwill probably be detained several weeks.\" He glanced at her as he spoke,\nbut she gave no sign, only remarking it was a lovely season of the year\nfor a visit. They walked along, talking only commonplaces, until they\nneared her home.\n\n\"Did you receive my letter, Miss Gra--Miss Hall?\" he asked, with some\nunsteadiness in his voice.\n\n\"Yes,\" she replied, shortly. She did not understand herself any more\nthan he did, and was vexed to find it so impossible to throw off her old\nproud ways, for she really intended to relent enough, at least, to have\nan explanation, and possibly--her thoughts could never go farther than\nthis, and here she was, in the same imperious way, shutting her better\nself away from even a fair consideration of duty. These thoughts flashed\nthrough her mind while she walked on, apparently with the greatest\nindifference to either his words or his presence. But with a great\neffort she compelled herself to say again, with more warmth, \"I received\nit, and intended to answer before this, but--\" She stopped abruptly.\n\nHe gratefully caught the morsel she had given, and asked if he might not\ncall the next day.\n\n\"Yes, you may come at three,\" she said, careful to set a time when Kate\nwould surely be out.\n\nAt the door they parted, and as she went up the stairs, she wondered\nmore than ever at her hardness, for almost unconsciously she had given\nup all doubts of his honor as a gentleman. What was it all about\nanyway? Nothing but a report that he was engaged to a young lady at the\ntime he proposed to her, and on the testimony of a single friend, she\nhad allowed herself to be miserable, and make another miserable, through\nthis foolish pride that she _would_ conquer by to-morrow afternoon.\n\nWhat! would she compel herself to so utterly ignore her own nature? She\nleaned against the wall half way up the stairway, startled at this\nrevelation of herself. She did not know she was capable of such changes,\nand yet the last two weeks had greatly modified her opinions in many\nthings.... Why should it not be so? If it were right she could be glad,\nand she reverently felt that it was right to let the Truth erase all\nerrors and right all wrongs. To-night she would deny away every fault in\nher character, especially pride, deny every obstacle to understanding,\nand then earnestly ask for guidance, and wait till it came, for this was\ntruly a crisis in her life.\n\nThe next day she received her guest with a perceptibly softened manner.\nThe hour was spent in mutual explanations, and the renewal of a more\nfriendly relation on her part, much to the satisfaction of Mr.\nCarrington, whose perseverance was surely worthy this much reward, but\nGrace would go no further, although she gave him permission to call\nagain. She must know herself fully before another word on the subject\nwere said. Marriage was a vague and solemn theme, something to be\npondered over days and nights and months perhaps, she thought, and said\nto him.\n\nMr. Carrington was a man of earnest aim and high purpose, thoughtful,\nintellectual and cultured, in every way congenial to her, and she was\nglad to accept his friendship. That he had loved her through all her\ncoldness and neglect, she no longer doubted, which fact was of no small\nimport in his chances for her favor. Finding how absolutely false had\nbeen the report that had caused her misjudgment, she was anxious to\nprove herself at least, a friend.\n\nAfter he was gone she reviewed the situation. Had she gone too far? No.\nAll was well. She was content. Even if it should end in marriage, for\nmarriage was the highest symbol of perfection and--. What the symbol\nmeant was yet to be revealed, but she already knew that it had a\nprofound and sacred meaning.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\n     \"The study of Heredity, _spiritual_ anatomy and physiology is\n     highest of all. The key to this study is your own soul. Study\n     yourself; gain possession and mastery of your own spirit and you\n     hold the key not only to the heights of liberty, but the key that\n     unlocks imprisoned souls.\"--_Mary Weeks Burnett M. D._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, October----.\n\n\"My dear husband: Gradually the vision broadens and we become more\naccustomed to the light. It is as though we were put into a beautiful\nroom filled with all manner of lovely forms and dainty colors, flowers\nand perfumes, where we have groped blindfolded from one thing to\nanother, trying to form some conception of the surpassing loveliness,\nwhen gradually the bandage is removed, layer by layer until the whole\nenchanting scene, radiant with light is revealed to our wondering gaze,\nshowing the vast difference between supposition and reality.\n\n\"The light grew clearer than ever to-day, for we had our first practical\nhint on healing, inasmuch as we were told how to take up a case for\ntreatment.\n\n\"We must never forget that we are, and wish to remain as little\nchildren, in our desire to apprehend and understand Truth. The natural\nattitude of the child-mind is one of receptivity and eager interest.\nUnder the guidance of wise parents he will always be willing and anxious\nto learn more and more, continually growing in wisdom and love.\n\n\"Back to the zeal and innocence of childhood we go then, to learn the\never mysterious but ever charming alphabet of Truth, which leads us into\nthe kingdom.\n\n\"As we present ourselves in the great school room of life, and take or\nrecognize our appointed place beside the ever present School-master, we\nlearn the letters of the grand knowledge that shall teach us how to read\nthe most learned books, understand the deepest philosophy, the\nprofoundest science, the divinest religion. We would learn the ministry\nof healing, that will set free the 'spirits in prison;' we would be glad\nmessengers of the gospel of peace. The door to great attainments is\nfaithfulness in small ones.\n\n\"There are three kinds or modes of healing. The first or lowest, is the\nintellectual; the second or next higher, the intuitional; the third and\nhighest, the spiritual. The first only can be taught, the other two are\nattained by individual development. The first comes by reason, the\nsecond by faith, the third by understanding. The first is by argument or\na system of reasoning, the second by implicit trust or confidence in the\nPrinciple, the third by the realization of Truth and the speaking of the\nword or perchance, by one's very presence.\n\n\"But there is nothing arbitrary about this. The person who never heard\nof Christ's teaching till yesterday may have so caught the fire of Truth\nthat to-day he stands at the altar a priest instead of communicant, a\nteacher instead of pupil.\n\n\"Many just beginning their study of this method of healing require\nexplicit directions and explanations of details, in order to apply the\nprinciple, feeling that they have no intuitional leadings and can not\ndepend upon the invisible power because they know so little about it.\n\n\"Wait; be patient; trust. Remember that 'he who is faithful in little,\nshall be made ruler over much.' You need not learn the rule if you learn\nthe principle, and only so long as you are ignorant of the principle\nwill you need the rule. To use the rule, as the child uses the chair in\nlearning to walk, is to grow strong, and able to dispense with it; to\nuse it as spectacles are used, is to make it indispensable.\n\n\"If we can not yet learn through divine ways, let us learn through human\nways. The human is inadequate to express the divine, but many nameless\nhints and light-gleams and sudden illuminations will flash upon the\nfaithful worker all along the way. Words are signs of ideas and ideas\nare signs of God. When we think or speak true words, we have begun our\nmission of healing or helpfulness, and from words we go on to the\ninexpressible thrill of realization.\n\n\"We can not tell when we may thus change from the letter to the spirit,\ncan not tell when we come into the exalted condition of a spiritual\nunderstanding, and having received the illumination, we are not to feel\nthat we have grown above the use of argument, for it may be necessary to\ngo back to the rule with the very next treatment.\n\n\"Above all else must the student of this Truth guard against what may be\ncalled spiritual pride. No thought of supremacy or greater advancement\nshould be harbored for a moment. All such things are clouds that obscure\nthe light as much as other material beliefs.\n\n\"To gauge ourselves by that inimitable thirteenth chapter of I.\nCorinthians is to maintain the perfect equilibrium of a loving,\ncharitable heart, that can heal and bless all human-kind, for 'love\nnever faileth.'\n\n\"We become, as it were, the cleansed window pane, through which shines\nthe divine light of Truth. Could we always be the cleansed pane, Truth\nwould melt away all error, just as the sun melts the frostwork, but\nbeing still in the current of human thought we must wait patiently for\nfurther power to reveal the God-likeness.\n\n\"Wrong thought as the real cause of disease, opens new avenues of\ninformation; but we continue to explore and discover. Any kind of\nthought opposite the good is sure to break forth into some form of\ndisease-pictures, and the question is, what kind of thought is it which\nthus reflects itself upon the patient's body? All error will produce\npictures of error. The world's naming of the belief in heredity is the\nnaming of its greatest error, or belief in sin, because that implies all\nsins of the flesh as manifested in the body.\n\n\"Back of all effect is a cause; the disease is the effect, the wrong\nthought is the cause. One of the great causes of disease is sensual\nbeliefs, the appetites and passions of the carnal man.\n\n\"It is error to suppose he is subject to conditions unlike God, the\nSource. 'He that is born of God, can not sin, because his seed remaineth\nin him.' Being in and controlled by the universal thought current, the\nerror of supposition, he manifests it in his condition. Supposing\nconsumption hereditary, he suffers from the supposition; supposing\nimpurities of the blood transmitted through the flesh, he finds it even\nso. Supposition, false thinking, being at the bottom of all erroneous\nconditions, we proceed to deal with them as we do with any other errors\nor lies.\n\n\"When we seek for anything with a desire to gain happiness, it is\nbecause we hope to gain what our previous efforts have failed to bring\nus, so the one who comes to be healed by Christian Truth, comes with a\nhope at least that this will bring the health he has sought in vain from\nother sources. He has turned in all directions in response to the advice\nreceived from this or that one of the friendly advisers, so ready to\nconstitute themselves the body guard of the world. He has tried doctors\nof every school; he has traveled east, west, north and south; he has\nplunged into healing waters of all kinds and had all kinds of healing\nwaters plunged into him; he has been burned and steamed and pounded and\nstarved, till he is finally disgusted enough to want something that will\nnot harm if it will not cure, so he drags himself before us with\npossibly a gleam of hope, possibly the faithlessness of despair, and\nasks for a treatment.\n\n\"And now you wish to know in what a treatment consists; simply in\nsilently telling the patient the truth about himself as God's child, in\ngiving him the principles we have learned concerning God and man, and\nwith earnest gladness assuring him of his freedom. For the benefit of\nthe young practitioner, we will give a few directions or suggestive\ntreatments.\n\n\"We ask the patient for a statement of his belief, which he is only too\nglad to give with elaborate and vivid details. We meet every statement\nwith an emphatic mental denial.\n\n\"The faithful student who has fasted and prayed (denied and affirmed),\nis now the embodiment of one vast negative that should wipe out the\npositive belief of any inharmony. The patient, being in the belief of\nfalse conditions, is of one mind with the world, and so reflects the\nbeliefs of mankind. That we may be sure of meeting all classes of false\nbeliefs, we deny for him the reflection of any false conceptions of\nhimself from the race, his parents and ancestors, his friends and\nassociates, himself and ourself, for we are still one with humanity.\n\n\"Everybody has a conscious or unconscious belief in heredity, and since\nit is one of, if not _the_ most formidable of human beliefs, we deal\nwith it first as the possible cause of our patient's belief in\nsuffering.\n\n\"After he has finished the statement of his condition, we say to him\nmentally: 'James Martin! Hear what I say, for I tell you absolute truth.\nNot one word of all this you have told me about dyspepsia is true,\nbecause the carnal mind, to which you have been listening, is not\nsubject to the law of God, and _you_, the spiritual, immortal you, are\nsubject to the mind of the spirit which recognizes the spiritual\ncreation, therefore your spiritual self can not be sick or suffer from\nany inharmony.\n\n\"'This carnal mind belief named dyspepsia is not a condition of your\nreal self. The belief of the race, ancestors, daily associates, yourself\nor myself in heredity and the sensual appetites can not be pictured\nforth by your body in the form of dyspepsia, because the real you is\nspiritual and not subject to material beliefs. It is utterly impossible\nfor you, who are spiritual, to be influenced by any thought that is\nopposite the spiritual, as it is impossible for the light to coalesce\nwith darkness.\n\n\"'_You_ are God's child, made in His image and likeness, and must be\nperfect like Him, for His conditions are changeless and eternal. Listen\nto this glad message that tells you absolute Truth. Realize that as\nGod's child you can not suffer, for spirit knows no suffering. You can\nnot be weak, for God is your strength; you can not fear anything, for\nGod is your refuge and fortress. 'God hath not given us the spirit of\nfear, but of love and of power and of sound mind.'\n\n\"'Listen to me!--The 'Truth sets free.'--_Now, you are free_. You gladly\nacknowledge the truth, and prove it in every thought, word and deed.\nLike the Master, I say unto you, 'Lazarus, come forth!' Come out of the\nerrors in which you have been so long entombed, throw off the grave\nclothes of mortal thought, and rise to new thoughts, new conditions, a\nnew life! Rejoice that you are whole, and let the world rejoice with\nyou.... It is finished. In the hands of omnipresent Good, in the name of\nimmaculate Truth, I leave you.\n\n\"'So may this be established, yea, it _is already_ established. I thank\nThee, Father, that thou hast heard me.'\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"This lesson, John, is very hard to report. I find so many questions\nsuggested to my mind, and so many if's and but's.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl desired us each to take up a case for absent treatment, some\none we would like to help, and from whom we could hear every day or so,\nor who would be under our personal notice. I am going to treat a little\nboy in the house where I board. It is quite a severe case of catarrh.\n\n\"I wish you would take a case, too. Just try this form of treatment that\nI have given. It may not seem clear to you at first, but it is not the\nwords you are to remember so much as the ideas. Get the thought firmly\nfixed in your mind, and the words will come of themselves.\n\n\"You readily see it is using the same principle with the patient that\nhas been applied in self training. First, the denial of all error, and\nthen the affirmation of truth. This treatment is for any chronic\ncondition, and is given twice a day, in the morning and at night.\n\n\"Now, I must say good-night. It is nearly eleven, and I really ought to\nsay my denials and affirmations some more, besides giving my patient the\ntreatment.\n\n\"With many kisses to the dear ones,\n\n  \"I am your loving MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\n     \"Once let friendship be given that is born of God, nor time nor\n     circumstance can change it to a lessening; it must be mutual\n     growth, increasing trust, widening faith, enduring patience,\n     forgiving love, unselfish ambition and an affection built before\n     the Throne, which will bear the test of time and trial.\"\n\n     --_Allen Throckmorton._\n\n\n\"It seems to me, Grace, you have been touching up your complexion with\nsome of the same paint as that in your roses,\" exclaimed Kate,\nplayfully, as she inspected Grace rather critically.\n\n\"Really, Kate, you must be more careful, or I shall add the sin of\nvanity to my other faults,\" answered Grace, looking out of the window\nand smiling pleasantly, with the least touch of absent mindedness in her\nmanner.\n\n\"No danger of that, you dear old Gracious, but if you should say\nsecretiveness, I might be willing to stop,\" said Kate, boldly, yet\nhardly daring to look toward the window.\n\nGrace did not answer, but continued looking out of the window for\nseveral minutes. \"What makes you say that, Kate?\" she asked at last,\nturning around soberly, while the rosy flush crept up to her temples and\nback of her ears.\n\n\"Oh, I don't know, Gracious, only it seems to me you are like a pure\nwhite lily bell, and I want to creep into your heart and live in its\nfragrance, but--\" She stopped abruptly. It seemed as though the almost\nimperceptible veil of reserve was falling lower than ever.\n\nOh, why could she not gain Grace's confidence? These thoughts passed\nrapidly through her mind while she stood as if transfixed, waiting for\nGrace to break the interminable silence. If she had only known it, Grace\nwas nearer to her at that moment than ever before, but with her eyes\ncast down, she saw not the yearning look on the face of her friend.\n\nGrace spoke at last:\n\n\"But what, Kate?\" she asked, taking up Kate's words where they had\ndropped.\n\n\"But the petals will not open, and I am left out,\" finished Kate,\ndetermined to be frank.\n\nGrace looked out of the window again, and was about to reply, when a rap\nat the door startled them both. It was a boy with a note. \"Miss Grace\nHall?\" he said, handing it to her.\n\nGrace looked at the letter and then at the boy inquiringly. \"I am to\nwait for an answer,\" he said.\n\n\"Oh,\" she murmured, in a dazed way, and hastened to find pen and paper\nfor reply.\n\n\"More mystery! I declare, it is getting interesting,\" thought Kate,\nrecovering herself, as she furtively watched the rosy face of Grace.\n\n\"Any answer?\" asked the boy as he took the note.\n\n\"No.\" The door was shut and Grace sat down beside the picture she had\nbeen working upon, but presently arose and began pacing the room. Kate\nlooked up at her as she passed, but said nothing. She could see that\nsome deep thought was struggling for utterance, and wondered much.\n\nAfter a few moments Grace stopped beside her. \"I wish I might speak\nfreely to you, Kathie, but--\" she hesitated, \"but it has never been\nnatural for me to be confidential, and--\"\n\nShe began her promenade again, but presently came back, and drawing her\nchair close up to Kate, told her the whole story, with long pauses and\nmuch hesitating speech.\n\n\"And now he is in the city; he--wants an answer. He has invited me\nto--ride with him--to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Surely, you will not refuse him that privilege?\" cried the impetuous\nKate, with visions of a romance unfolding in thrilling chapters before\nher very eyes.\n\n\"No, of course not,\" in a low tone, \"but how shall I answer him?\" The\nlast was scarcely audible. It seemed almost as though she spoke to\nherself. With her forefinger she idly traced some hieroglyphics on her\nlap.\n\n\"What says your heart, my Lilybell?\" asked Kate, softly, as she caressed\nthe hand that was at liberty.\n\n\"'The prisoned bird doth ofttimes sing, but never at the bidding of its\njailer,'\" was the low reply, with a faint smile, but tearful eyes.\n\n\"Poor Lilybell; she can not bloom before her time. I can wait for her to\nopen now, for I am close to her throbbing heart. Wait, dear Grace. Let\nus sit silently and ask the Father for guidance.\"\n\nSweet and solemn moment, when with one accord, they waited for the\nSpirit to pour out the full vials of love and wisdom. It was a precious\ntime of sweet communion, of giving and receiving the best, a\nconsecration of self to better efforts, higher aims, holier living; a\nbaptism of strength and peace and lovely thoughts.\n\nGrace had entered upon a new epoch. The past, with its longings and\nstruggles, its loneliness and bitterness, was already fading into the\nbackground of memory like some dark, ill-favored picture, and in its\nplace came the present, with its balmy atmosphere and dainty colorings,\npromising joy and peace. The morning looked fair. How would be the noon\nand eventide?\n\nAh, no questioning when you ask the Father's guidance! Have you not\nasked, dear heart?\n\nWait till the answer comes. Wait till the soundless message is delivered\ninto your heart's safe keeping....\n\nThe last beams of the setting sun came through the window and bathed\nthem in its red-gold glory. In her exalted mood, it seemed to Kate like\na heavenly vision. She saw Grace glorified with a divine radiance,\nbaptized with a new peace. White-winged angels hovered near, like pure\nthoughts personified. Every glinting sunbeam seemed a golden shaft of\nlove.\n\nThe glory paled into a mellow twilight. The enchanting picture faded,\nbut the essence of its beauty changed into a heart-melody of softened\nsacred joy. What but music could speak in this hallowed moment?\n\nKate's very soul would utter itself. She went to the piano as in a\ndream. Soft, low notes, faint and sweet, breathed of tender questionings\nand tremulous doubts; then a higher, more triumphant strain of victory\nswelled the notes that lingered but a moment, ere a tone of sadness and\nregret struck the keys, whispering of sacred duty and solemn\nresponsibility.... Again the music changed. Now peace and joy thrilled\nand rippled through the melodious chords....\n\nDearer than ever was the friendship thus cemented. They had been caught\nup to heaven, as it were, and that which had been bound on earth was now\nbound in heaven.\n\n\"Mystical more than magical, is the communing of soul with soul, both\nlooking heavenward. Here, properly, soul first speaks with soul; for\nonly in looking heavenward, take it in what sense you may, not looking\nearthward, does what we can call union, mutual love, society, begin to\nbe possible.\"\n\nThey sat till late into the night, discussing and considering all phases\nof life and its problems.\n\nKate read Mrs. Hayden's letter, which in the agitation and excitement of\nthe first part of the evening she had quite forgotten. Because of their\ndeep earnestness they were well prepared to catch the healing mood. This\nexperience seemed indeed the shower that most opened the blossom of\nunderstanding, and ere they slept, each had taken some poor suffering\nmortal into her care as a patient. The blessings they had received were\nalready being passed to the waiting neighbor.\n\nIt is the deep, unselfish God-love that takes the world in its embrace.\nTo perceive, feel, live the divine Love, is to have broken the old shell\nof selfishness, when we may begin to send the tender rootlets of being\ninto the ready soil of the universe.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\n  \"The power to bind and loose to Truth is given!\n  The mouth that speaks it is the mouth of Heaven.\n  The power, which in a sense belongs to none,\n  Thus understood belongs to every one.\"\n\n  --_Abraham Coles._\n\n  \"Thro' envy, thro' malice, thro' hating,\n    Against the world, early and late,\n  No jot of our courage abating--\n    Our part is to work and to wait.\"\n\n  --_Anon._\n\n\n  MARLOW, October ----.\n\n\"Dear ones at home: Your letters were all received this afternoon. Am\npleased to know that Mabel is so interested, for it will help her so\nmuch in her studies and work. I must begin my daily report at once, as\nthere is not much time before class.\n\n\"There was no lesson yesterday, and about noon Mrs. Dawn came after me\nto go with her and Mrs. Browning, her hostess, to the dentist's, as Mrs.\nBrowning had to have a tooth extracted. We started, treating her all the\nway with the quieting, reassuring thoughts that allay fear. Before she\nwent in we agreed to hold that thought.\n\n\"When Mrs. Browning went into the office, we remained in the waiting\nroom thinking as intently as possible:\n\n\"'There is not a thing to fear, Lida Browning, there is no tooth-ache\nwith your real self, there is no sensation in matter. You can entertain\nnothing but the One Life. The One Mind thinks, and you are His idea,\nperfect as your Creator. Good is all, Love is all, Peace is already with\nyou, for you are one with the Father.'\n\n... \"It was done. The dentist was so amazed that he hardly remembered to\ngive his patient a glass of water.\n\n\"'Well, I never knew a cuspidate to come so hard. Didn't it hurt\nterribly?' he asked sympathetically.\n\n\"'Not a bit except when you first put on the forceps,' was her prompt\nreply as she rinsed out her mouth....\n\n\"I need say no more. You can imagine our pleasure at this victory. We\nnever know how little our faith till we see how astonished we are at the\ndemonstration.\n\n\"You ask if Mrs. Pearl has explained your queries. A few questions were\nhanded in yesterday, but I had not time to put them in my letter. One\nthat always puzzled us, was: What is the origin of evil? The questions\nare written on slips of paper and laid on the table. She answers them\nbefore giving the regular lesson. When she read this slip there was not\na little stir among the fifty eager questioners. 'What is the origin of\nevil?' she repeated. 'It has no origin,' was the unsatisfactory answer,\nafter a momentary silence. Oh! the blankness of those faces! 'But,' she\nresumed presently, 'if you ask how _seeming_ evil originated, I may give\nyou the ideas that came to me as a solution of that mortal mind\nquestion.'\n\n\"You know we might ask questions of each other forever, but unless our\nthoughts are tinged with same quality, or run in the same direction, the\nsatisfactory answer to one may not be at all satisfactory to another. In\nother words, we will not recognize the same phase of truth, unless we\nare in the same stage of development, so if you are not willing to take\nmy explanation as true, it may be that you are not yet where you can\nperceive it, or it may be, you require a different illustration to\nconvey the same thought, or, there may be innumerable reasons, but of\nthis one blessed fact be assured: if you hold yourself in the receptive\nattitude, and sincerely expect to be guided by the spirit of truth, some\nday the answer will come to you with such irresistible force and\nplainness that you can not forget it, or ever be in doubt upon that\npoint again.\n\n\"It was in this way the light came to me. That question had puzzled me\nmore than all else, and I asked every healer whom I met as to the\ncorrect solution. For several months I pondered and fretted over it. At\nlast, in despair, I let it alone, resolving I would not be further\ntroubled. But one day it unfolded itself so clearly and beautifully I\nwas completely satisfied.\n\n\"Here it is: Taking the first account of creation, we find man made in\nthe image and likeness of God, given dominion over all things. If we\nbelieve man to be spiritual and not material, if we know that spirit\n_can not_ change its character or quality, we must know that spiritually\nman never fell, but that he _seemed_ to fall through our misconception\nand misunderstanding of appearances.\n\n\"Man now manifests what he believes in; his consciousness of truth is\nnot fully developed and he mistakes appearances for realities. Having\nall possibilities of recognizing only the good, he is perfect. For every\nmistake that is made he manifests error, the fallen, or rather the\nundeveloped state. The Truth and Love that he manifests in his life, is\nthe revealment of his God-like nature. In the glimpses of his true self\nhe recognizes his inheritance of power, and in his mistaken conceptions\nforgets to acknowledge God. He then judges according to appearances, and\nsays things are true because they appear true to the senses.\n\n\"The creating principle of life is perfect, but man neglects to\nacknowledge this divine power in proportion to his selfishness. It is\ntherefore his selfishness that prevents him from recognizing the Good,\nand causes him to see, name and believe in matter and its consequences;\nand he thus becomes materially minded, and is known as the 'Adam' in\n'whom all die.'\n\n\"Adam signifies error, clay, unreality. Christ signifies Truth, Spirit,\nReality. If we believe in things that appear to be the creation, we are\nbelieving in nothingness, which so proves itself by death and\ndisintegration. If we believe appearances to be the _sign_ of the real,\nwe are acknowledging the spiritual to be the all, hence it proves itself\nby making even the body its sign, manifest life, health, perfection.\n\n\"If we cast out all selfishness, pure love takes its place. We must be\npurified from the beliefs of the world in selfishness and its\nconsequences by recognizing that our 'sufficiency is of God.'\n\n\"This was very plain to me, John, and I hope you will find it so too,\nbut if you do not, wait, and as soon as you are ready for it, the answer\nwill come to you.\n\n\"The lesson to-day was on deception and personal influences. The whole\nworld has been deceived into believing man is fleshly instead of\nspiritual, so many false thoughts and beliefs have arisen, which are the\ncause of all disease and trouble. Universally we are deceived,\nindividually we are deceived, and it is not only because we are making\nour beliefs visible on the body, but because we suffer from them\nmentally and physically that it is necessary to discover what they are\nand cast them out.\n\n\"The term deception will cover the mistakes believed and made in\nignorance, and deceitfulness will include the beliefs in and expression\nof deceitfulness. On the second day the patient is treated for the\nworld's next greatest beliefs, which are deception and deceitfulness,\nand as before, we set him free from this belief, as possibly reflected\nor absorbed through one or more or all of these five avenues we\nmentioned in the first treatment.\n\n\"Because the world has admitted the first great lie, that the material\ncreation is the true one, or synonymous with the true, we have 'yielded\nourselves servants to sin,' hence will see the consequences of such\nfalse conclusion, until we deny the lie and affirm the truth.\n\n  'Oh what a tangled web we weave,\n  When first we practice to deceive,'\n\nis a couplet I remember learning long ago, when I was a child, and how\napplicable it is to this problem of deception. Truly, it is a tangled\nweb, and the only way to get it untangled is to break off the thread and\ngo back to the beginning where we can truly say, I am created free and\nperfect and whole in His image, and can not be influenced by anything\ndifferent from Him.\n\n\"This is _always_ spiritually true, but if we deal with the worldly\nbeliefs, we find that according to appearances, we are under the\ninfluence of our own and every other person's wrong thought. We say of\nsome people, 'how happy I am in their company, how it uplifts me to be\nin their presence.' With others we feel a nameless depression, a\nfearful, unhappy feeling, and shun their company. As Emerson so aptly\nsays: 'With some I walk among the stars, whilst others pin me to the\nwall.'\n\n\"Now, in reality, no good ever comes from personal influence, although\nin the first instance it might seem so. Personal, from the word\n_persona_, a mask, is only applied to the physical self or carnal mind;\ntherefore we can receive no benefit from the _personal_ quality of our\nfriend, but we are benefited and uplifted by his freedom from\npersonality, or in other words by the divine individuality flowing\nthrough him and expressed by his benevolence, his love, his\ncheerfulness, his wisdom. Inasmuch as he is free from personal or\nselfish thoughts, he is filled and permeated with gifts from the divine\nFountain of _all_ benevolence, _all_ love, _all_ cheerfulness, _all_\nwisdom.\n\n\"There is a difference between personality and individuality which most\npeople do not recognize. Personality only pertains to the physical,\nwhile individuality is the term properly applied to the spiritual self.\n'There is but one Mind, the Universal Mind, which, if we can lay hold\non, will give us all knowledge, wisdom and power,' said Emerson.\n\n\"When we can throw aside a belief in personality, or personal influence,\nwe will be free. The negative thoughts sent out by the world have no\npower over one who has become filled with positive thoughts of\nrighteousness. When we trust wholly to the Good, and become wholly at\none with the Good, recognizing the supremacy of the Good, we are free\nfrom all belief in miseries or burdens. We breathe purer air, which is\ninvisible but life-giving; we feed on heavenly manna, the true word that\nis divinely nourishing; we escape the awful bondage of fear, knowing the\nperfect love that casts out fear. We can not fear any false beliefs or\nwrong thoughts, for we are so filled with true thoughts, no such\nfalsities can enter our mind.\n\n\"Some people talk as though we have great cause to tremble at this awful\ncounterfeit power of mortal mind, but if they would not talk of it, nor\nfear it as having power, it would vanish as mist before the morning sun.\n\n\"The great sin is in admitting a lie. Admit the belief of sickness as a\nreality and you will see many witnesses to prove it. 'Agree with thine\nadversary quickly, lest he turn and rend thee,' means make haste to\ndispose of the lie that will throttle you, if you fellowship with it\never so little. Let us not be deceived, but let us 'awake to\nrighteousness and sin not.'\n\n\"Another question, and a very important one, was: 'What is the\ndifference between the different teachers of Christian Healing?' I can\nbest give the substance of Mrs. Pearl's reply by reference to Mrs.\nFuller, the healer from Trenton.\n\n\"You remember when she gave her parlor lecture at Mrs. Haight's, she\nsaid: 'Everything that did not come from her teacher was mesmerism, that\nit was altogether false, and it was so much of a power that it was\nindeed to be feared, for there was no telling what its subtlety and\ncunning would suggest and execute; that no cure effected by it was\npermanent, but that the patients would sooner or later be worse than\nbefore.'\n\n\"Oh, dear, I must not rehearse it, for of course you remember how my old\nheadache overtook me when I got home, and how wrought up I was all\nnight. Now I know what caused it, and _now_ I know the difference.\n\n\"In the first place, these people are taught the pure and beautiful\nfoundation of pure Christian Healing, but instead of holding to their\npremise that all is good, they begin to talk about people and things\nthat are _not_ good, imputing false motives, and giving false power to\nthose who, as they say, are not in the truth.\n\n\"If they would only remember that counterfeits can have no power except\nas it is delegated to them, that unreal thoughts must disappear in the\npresence of true thoughts, they would not be troubled and puzzled.\nAdhering to the law, they would recognize and talk about the Good only.\n\n\"Ah, John, here is the secret of Jesus' words, 'Resist not evil.' If we\nresist anything, we recognize it as something. If we regard evil as an\nentity, we can not help fearing or fighting it, but if we know it is\nnothingness claiming to be something, we deal with it accordingly.\n\n\"Whoever resists evil or calls evil a power, has not denied the reality\nof evil faithfully enough. To talk of anything as having power, is to\nbelieve in the power and become entangled in its meshes. That explains\nMrs. Fuller's remark that she was 'actually afraid to meet one of those\nfalse teachers on the street, and always took pains to warn people\nagainst them.' I speak of Mrs. Fuller because you know so well what she\ndid and said, that you will understand this explanation better.\n\n\"Another remark she made was, that 'this power of mortal mind is wholly\nignored by these false teachers, although they secretly use it so\neffectually and disastrously.' Because they do not talk so much of evil,\nshe thinks they ignore it, while really they silently but earnestly and\nvigorously deny it, thereby getting a sure control over it. She was\ntaught to call this seeming power of mortal thought Mesmerism, and\nAnimal Magnetism, and after giving it such formidable names, and so\nmighty a place, it is most natural for her to say that it affects\nherself and family or her patients, causing them to be slow in yielding\nto treatment. Thus you can readily see how she accounts for her\nfailures.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl teaches that we can deal with this influence of carnal or\nmortal mind, by denying for the patient the conscious or unconscious\nreflection of it from these five different sources. To the patient who\nis ignorant of truth, mortal thought has a power, because he has\nacknowledged it as having power, but in our silent conviction of its\npowerlessness, we speak the true word that sets him free. The whole\nsecret lies in our own freedom from belief in this false power.\n\n\"The name Mesmerism or Magnetism makes it seem like some awful monster,\nlurking in every corner, ready to devour us, while, as Mrs. Pearl says,\nwe go our way, quietly denying all appearance of evil, proving the law\nof Good by recognizing only the Good in thought and speech.\n\n\"How beautiful this teaching is! and how wonderfully the spirit leads us\ninto all truth. But it can not teach us if we talk error, or\ndeliberately judge others. Never till we are faithful in acknowledging\nthe one Principle of Life will it prove itself the only power over us.\n\n\"After the questions, Mrs. Pearl spoke of the third treatment. We treat\nfor everything we might have missed in the first two treatments.\nSometimes this is called the sin treatment, for it takes up so many\nthings that belong more or less to everybody, according to the world's\nbelief. A more explicit naming is selfishness.\n\n\"Selfishness is the beginning, the mother of all the rest. It reminds\none of the seven devils from which poor Mary Magdalen was freed. It is\nnot unlikely these were their names: Selfishness, pride, envy, avarice,\njealousy, malice and cruelty. This we deny for the patient through the\nfive different sources, and you can see how apt it will be to touch him,\nfor who is there of all earth's children that is perfectly free from\nany of these qualities. With our strong faith in the law and power of\nthe word, we sturdily deny everything that might be the shadow\nobstructing his light.\n\n\"As we go on in this study, we learn the meaning of these outshowings of\ndisease. Every visible thing is the expression of a thought, whether\nGod-given or man-supposed. We look into a patient's face and read or\ninterpret the signs of his thought. Is he selfish, unkind or severe in\nhis disposition, there are the lines and expressions that betray him. Is\nhe lovely, gentle and kind, a nameless feeling of peace and trust steals\nover us.\n\n\"In the moments or times of silence that every healer should seek, there\nmay come something to hint of the truth, some word or text or\nmind-picture that will teach what no book or teacher could tell, for\n'the spirit of truth leads us into all truth,' and the ways and means\nare varied according to our capacity to receive.\n\n\"A mind-picture is a symbol representing some thought. For instance:\nSuppose while I sit in the silence, there comes to my consciousness a\nfragment of landscape, a child's face, a storm, a sun. These are ideas\nsymbolized. If it be a pleasant scene, it may be to me a glimpse of the\n'green pastures and still waters' that David sang about when depicting\nthe life of the righteous. It would mean peace for my patient. If the\nsymbol be a child's face, it may mean that I must become as a little\nchild in order to be led into the kingdom. A storm may signify that my\npatient is passing through a crisis of mental commotion, in which case I\nmust use the invariable rule, deny the false and affirm the true.\n\n\"On the other hand I may never see a symbol, but some suggestive text\nmay come into my mind. If I were depressed or discouraged, these words\nmight give me new courage and hope: 'Fear not, for I am with thee;'\n'wait patiently on the Lord, and He will give thee the desires of thine\nheart.'\n\n\"Or I might not be conscious of anything while I am sitting thus in the\nsilence. The answer to my silent question may come to me in the most\ncommonplace way days or weeks after it is asked. Some person may say\nsomething that will be the very clue I am seeking. We are not to be\nanxious or troubled if many questions perplex us, or many problems seem\ninsoluble, but wait, trusting that 'he is faithful who promised.' We\nmust not be wishing for the same signs or powers that others have, but\nappreciate what is given to us, for faithfulness shall receive its full\nreward in due time 'if we faint not.'\n\n\"No more to-day. Love to the babies. How glad I am to know they are so\nwell and happy.\n\n  \"Faithfully, MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIII.\n\n  \"Comfort our souls with love,\n    Love of all human kind;\n  Love special, close in which, like sheltered dove,\n    Each weary heart its own safe nest may find;\n  And love that turns above\n    Adoringly; contented to resign\n  All loves, if need be, for the love divine.\"\n\n  --_D. M. Mulock Craik._\n\n\nGrace looked very lovely, as she stepped into the carriage, when Mr.\nCarrington called for her. A suggestion of reserved feeling gave an\nadded lustre to her beautiful eyes, and the faintest wild-rose tint in\nher cheeks made her a fit study for any artist.\n\nShe looks like Psyche just awakened. Can it be possible, that with all\nher charms, she was sleeping, before to-day? he thought as he took his\nseat beside her, thrilled with new hope.\n\nHe drove into one of the broad, quiet avenues that led out of the city\nand into a country road. \"I thought you would like to visit 'The Glen,'\nand see its autumn dress,\" he said, as they came in view of the river\nover which lay the \"Glen\" road.\n\n\"I have been wishing I might go there, before the leaves fell, and this\nis exactly what I enjoy,\" replied Grace, looking out over the scene\nbefore her with a keen pleasure.\n\n\"Perhaps this is an answer to your wish. Sometimes I think our wishes\nare answered because of their intensity,\" said Mr. Carrington, looking\nmeaningly into her face.\n\n\"George Eliot says: 'The very intensity keeps them from being\nanswered.'\" What gave him the sudden, triumphant certainty that he could\nbide his time? She had lost all her haughtiness, apparently. He had\nnever seen her in the mood of to-day.\n\n\"_Apropos_ of wishes,\" he resumed, \"which are properly thoughts, I have\ntwo friends in Boston, who can communicate with each other, no matter\nhow far apart they may be. They call it the power of thought.\"\n\n\"Yes, thought transference. I am quite interested and fully believe it,\"\nsaid Grace, glad to have the opportunity of sounding him on this and\nkindred themes.\n\nHe glanced at her in polite surprise. \"Indeed,\" he said, \"are you\nacquainted with the subject?\"\n\n\"Somewhat; I have seen enough to know it is founded on law,\" she\nreplied, briefly.\n\n\"What law?\" he asked, wonderingly, with a slight smile of incredulity\nlighting his face.\n\n\"Mental law, of course.\"\n\nShe then went on to explain to him something of her study of mental\nhealing. At first he was rather skeptical, but on seeing her\nseriousness, he very soon grew sober and gave the most respectful and\napparently absorbed attention. By the time she finished, he was really\ninterested.\n\n\"I have often thought that some day there would be more light upon the\nphilosophy of thought, but I was not aware it was so close upon us,\" he\nfinally said.\n\n\"It is certainly much needed now,\" she replied, looking dreamily at the\nwhite clouds floating in the bits of blue above the trees. She was\nthinking how much it had been worth to her in her trial last night. He\nnoticed the far-away look and wished he might know her thoughts.\n\nWhat would have been his surprise, could he have been told at this\nmoment how much he was already indebted to Christian Science? for had it\nnot softened the cruel pride that had so encrusted her before? He knew\nnothing of this. He perceived a change in her manner and even character\nsince he last saw her two years before, although even then his great\nlove had been able to condone all weaknesses, or what others would call\nweaknesses. To him they were part of her lovableness.\n\nWhen she so coldly rejected him, unlike most men, he had determined to\nwait patiently for her indifference to turn into reciprocation. He had\nrecognized but one thing, the simple, supreme fact that he loved Grace\nHall. In regard to her, there was and never could be any other thought.\nInspired with such love as this, such sublime patience, such infinite\nhope, is it any wonder he looked into her eyes and read a hint of\nvictory?\n\nThe time was drawing near. His two years of waiting surely gave him\nliberty to ask, and the right to receive.... As for that, love, such\nlove as his, had royal rights and it would win its own way when the\nmoment came. He would approach the subject gradually, talking about his\ncoming departure, although he had mentioned that in his note, had even\ndared to tell her this must be his excuse for requesting an answer\nsooner than she wished to give it.\n\n\"Oh, what a lovely group of colors!\" exclaimed Grace, involuntarily,\npointing to a tree decked in the most gorgeous foliage.\n\n\"Shall I get some leaves for you?\" he asked, anticipating her desire,\nand descended from the carriage.\n\nPresently he returned, with his hands full of small branches. \"They are\nlovely hues. Is there not something else you would like? I saw some\nbeautiful ferns over yonder,\" he said, pointing to the spot.\n\n\"Will we have time? I _would_ like to get out,\" she exclaimed eagerly.\n\n\"Time! 'There's time for all things,' Shakespeare says,\" laughed Mr.\nCarrington, as he assisted her to alight.\n\nGrace was in her element amid the speaking grandeur of Nature's hills.\n\n\"Have you a sharp pencil, Mr. Carrington? I seem to have lost the one I\nalways carry with me, and that grand oak tree I must have as a model.\"\n\nHe quickly sharpened one and gave it to her.\n\nHow beautiful she looked! He delighted to watch every movement of the\ndeft fingers, to study every expression of the beautiful eyes and mobile\nmouth. He revelled in her beauty, because to him she was the\npersonification of all that was lovely and noble and great. Her\ncharacter he would have loved just as much had she been plain instead of\nbeautiful, for his ideal was the inward, not the outward beauty, except\nas the two blended into one, as they did with her.\n\n\"You seem to be partial to the oak, Miss Hall. Is there any reason for\nit?\"\n\n\"Yes, I am. It is a grand symbol of strength and firmness of character,\"\nshe replied, still sketching rapidly. \"I like to paint trees, for they\nexpress so much. Some show such kindly benevolence, with their broad,\nspreading branches and friendly shade, some are so graceful, with their\ntall trunks and delicately veined leaves, as though showing a fine,\ntender nature; while others are stunted and rough, with coarse, thick\nfoliage. I place each one as to character and station, and they teach me\nmany beautiful lessons.\"\n\n\"And they will teach me many after this, Miss Grace.\"\n\nHe wanted to say something more, but she was so innocently unconscious\nof anything but her work that he must wait for a better opportunity.\n\nHaving finished her sketch, Grace looked up. The self-consciousness that\nhad scarcely left her, save these past few moments, now returned with\npainful suddenness. Her eyes met his, and a vivid flush overspread her\nface, but she said nothing.\n\n\"Shall we go?\" he asked, holding out his hand to assist her. His eyes\nexpressed the question his lips could not frame, but she did not see\nthem. They went to the carriage in silence.\n\nThe road presently left the woods and turned into a broad country lane.\nBoth had forgotten the proposed trip to \"The Glen,\" but it made no\ndifference. At last the undercurrent of feeling had burst through all\nreserves.\n\nMr. Carrington awaited the final answer, and what did she say?\n\nIt was the sacred page in a maiden's life that is read but once.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGrace had found in her lover a man who was broadminded and liberal\nenough to fairly consider these matters from a woman's standpoint. They\nfreely discussed a married woman's rights and privileges, and both\nagreed that a wife should have an individuality after marriage as well\nas before. \"I desired to express myself on this point before, my dear\nGrace,\" said Mr. Carrington, \"because to my mind it is a mutual life,\nand should be a mutual development.\"\n\n\"It is, indeed. I have never looked at it in the right way, till the\nlast few weeks. I used to feel that marriage was degrading rather than\nelevating, because it seemed as though a woman had to give up so much\nthat really belonged to her, her name, her property, her freedom as an\nindividual. But now I see that true marriage should bring freedom in the\nfullest sense of the word.\"\n\n\"In love there is no bondage,\" he replied, admiring her independent\nthought.\n\n\"Yes, but the world has a faint conception of love, the love that saves\nto the uttermost, and endures forever,\" said Grace.\n\n\"With such love there would be no danger of marriage degrading the\nindividual, no need of divorce.\"\n\nHe spoke strongly for he felt strongly. Any one speaking from the depths\nof a heart-conviction, speaks with authority.\n\n\"The world needs to be lifted to a higher standard on these matters. The\nsubject of marriage is too sacred to jest about, and people in general\nthink it no harm to toy with the word and all that pertains to it with\nthe utmost carelessness.\"\n\nGrace was more like herself now. She was very happy in the thought that\nMr. Carrington understood this as she did, but she was not a little\nsurprised to find herself giving such free expression to her opinions.\n\n\"Indifference and laxity is the result of the trifling. My theory is\nthat these things should be sacredly spoken of in the family, when boys\nand girls are growing up. That is the way my mother did,\" said Mr.\nCarrington reverently.\n\n\"Yes, the family is more responsible than society, for it makes\nsociety,\" she replied, secretly touched by the allusion to his mother.\n\nShe felt more and more confidence in Mr. Carrington. It seemed\nsurprising to find how rapidly her love for him had increased since she\ngave it permission to grow. She did not realize that it had been a\nsmothered plant before, trying to live without sunshine. Now it could\ngrow in the warmth and brightness of beautiful day.\n\nIt was early twilight when they returned. Kate was waiting for her. The\njoyous light in Grace's eyes, though she tried to veil it, told the\nstory. Kate put her arms about her, saying, as she caressed the rosy\ncheek:\n\n\"Lilybell is bloomed at last.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXIV.\n\n  \"Be cheerful: wipe thine eyes:\n  Some falls are means the happier to arise.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n  Before the curing of a strong disease,\n  Even in the instant of repair and health\n  The fit is strongest; evils that take leave,\n  On their departure most of all show evil.\"\n\n  --_Shakespeare._\n\n\nFor two days no letter came, and then Mr. Hayden received two, which he\nhanded to the girls as he met them on the street the same evening.\n\n\"Can you spare them both?\" said Kate, holding out her hand eagerly.\n\n\"Oh, yes; I am especially engaged to-night, and besides they are better\ntogether. I am rather glad for the delay. I was afraid the first one had\nmiscarried,\" he replied.\n\nThe waiting had only increased their interest, and on reaching home they\nat once sat down to read the the two letters handed them by Mr. Hayden.\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, October ----.\n\n\"Dear John: I suppose you, like the rest of us, are anxious to know how\nthe patient feels after such a vigorous denial of the seven evils. It is\nquite necessary to know what to do at this stage.\n\n\"After the treatment for special sins, James Martin comes with bitter\ncomplaints that he is worse instead of better. He tells a doleful story\nof how he suffered all night; had chills and fever exactly as when he\nhad the ague long ago; how he coughed and choked and broke out with\nsomething like measles, and was all the while so vilely sick it seemed\nas though he was about to die.\n\n\"As he is telling his pitiful tale, with perhaps a gleam of hatred,\ndisgust or helpless anguish in his eyes, we are to sit calmly by and\nvery soothingly give him the mental information that 'there is nothing\nto fear.'\n\n\"When he concludes his mournful story, we assure him in quiet tones that\nthere is no occasion for alarm, as we know how to deal with these\nsymptoms. Then, very gently and slowly, with a most self-possessed\nattitude of mind, we talk to him mentally something after this fashion:\n\n\"'There! James Martin, it is all right. Oh, no; nothing has hurt you,\nnor can hurt you. You are not afraid of anything; you know there is no\nreality in sickness; you are not suffering any inharmony because of fear\nor remorse for sin. It can not be possible for you to reflect fear or\nremorse from your parents, or the race or your daily associates. Neither\nis it possible for you to suffer from your own fear or remorse, nor\nmine. Remember, you are spiritual and not material, and can fear\nnothing. God is your intelligence, and you know that truth is\nall-powerful. Now, listen! You are happy, you are content, you are\nfilled with blessed peace, 'the peace that passeth all understanding.'\nYou know the Lord is your shepherd. He leadeth you beside the still\nwaters. He maketh you to lie down in green pastures _now, this moment_.\nThere is no future to God's promises; they are in the eternal present.\nThere! James Martin, a sweet ease comes to you, the burden is taken\naway; you are in the gentle care of Truth, which ever whispers, 'Come\nunto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you\nrest.' Sh--h! Gently the arms enfold you, sweetly peace and love embrace\nyou, and you are at rest; sleep if you like. Softly come sweet words of\ndivine love to your waiting ear, 'fear not, fear not, for I am with\nthee.' Peace ... peace be with you, Amen.'\n\n\"This stage is called chemicalization, because our words of truth,\ndropped into the mind filled with error, produce a fermentation similar\nto the effect produced by the union of different chemicals. Sometimes\nthe patient chemicalizes after the first treatment, in which case the\nsecond and third treatments are omitted.\n\n\"When the patient first comes to be treated, he might be likened to a\nlast year's garden. His mind is filled with the roots and rubbish of the\nbeliefs he has sown, and some of them are noxious weeds, deeply rooted\nin the mental soil.\n\n\"Cutting and keen are the words of Truth, and like a burnished\nplowshare, it enters the unsightly field and uproots everything in its\npath. We now do not mention sickness, because his mind is so unsettled\nand his active beliefs of disease all on the surface, so we gently\nsoothe him into forgetfulness of his trouble, and quietly assure him\nthere is no occasion for alarm of any kind. Thus, with the word of peace\nand assurance we smooth the rough, uneven soil, until it is pulverized\nand prepared for the new seeds which are to grow and blossom into fair\ntruth-flowers.\n\n\"To deny errors for him who believes so absolutely in them, is to dig\ndown into the unconscious mind and rake up even the memories that are\nimbedded, hence his symptoms of ague, or measles or whatever beliefs he\nmay have had.\n\n\"Because mortality dislikes to be told of its faults and consciously or\nunconsciously resents such telling, the violence of chemicalization only\nmarks the degree of conscious or unconscious mental opposition, of which\nthe bodily symptoms are the picture. There is no law for\nchemicalization, for some patients pass through this period without even\nnoticing it.\n\n\"Sometimes instead of an excited feverish condition, which requires the\nsoothing quieting thought, the patient is dull and sluggish, perhaps\nunconscious, as in fainting, spasms or something similar; then vigorous,\nrousing thoughts should be given--sharp, decisive and emphatic, as when\nawaking a heavy sleeper.\n\n\"When called to treat any one suffering from fever or any acute\ncondition, we give the soothing, or peace treatment as it is sometimes\ncalled. Little children may be compared to mirrors, reflecting every\nthought around them. In treating them it is necessary to make the\nlaw--and the true word is always law--that they do not or can not\nreflect fear or belief of disease from their parents or relatives,\ntaking pains to name each person strongly holding thoughts of fear for\nthe little one. If it is a contagious and dangerous sickness, according\nto mortal thought, besides the near ones in the family, deny that any\nthought of fear from the neighborhood or world can be reflected upon the\nchild or manifested in this belief of sickness.\n\n\"Sometimes children are treated entirely through the parents, that is,\nthe parents are quieted and assured of the truth concerning their little\none--that it is living in the current of infinite Love, where no fear\ncan touch it, no sickness come near it, no pain destroy it.\n\n\"Such cases require frequent or long-continued treatments, or rather\nlong-continued thought of the Good, mostly affirmation, for very little\ndenial is needed to cut the chains of error from a babe. Denial is to be\napplied more to the parents--the denial of fear.\n\n\"If we feel at all doubtful or fearful concerning our work, we are not\nat one with the divine Love, and must treat ourselves before we treat\nthe patient. Be at one with omnipotent Law, and the Law will prove\nitself through you. _Know_ truth and do not tamely believe it, then you\nmay have marvelous proof of the difference between knowledge and belief,\nGod-like understanding and blind faith.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl very clearly answered the question which was asked\nconcerning the meaning of Bible passages implying eternal punishment.\n\n\"There is always punishment so long as we are in mortal belief, but it\nis only in mortal belief we can suffer, for the spirit made in the image\nand likeness of God can not suffer, neither know suffering.\n\n\"The word everlasting should be translated age-lasting, to give the\noriginal meaning. Fire is a symbol of purification, and in the language\nof ancient times it was customary to use strong figures of speech.\n\n\"In the fifteenth chapter of John, wherein Jesus explains about the vine\nand branches, what could be plainer than his illustration of the dead\nbranches? 'Every branch that beareth not fruit, he taketh away, and\nevery branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth\nmore fruit.'\n\n\"Every false belief is a branch that beareth not fruit, hence must be\ntaken away and destroyed even as dead limbs are burned. Falsity or evil,\nbeing nothingness, can not exist because it is not of the real creation\nand is necessarily cast into the fire of purification, an illustration\nwell understood at the time, since all the city refuse was taken to\nGehenna, a place outside Jerusalem, where fire was always kept for the\npurpose of burning this waste matter.\n\n\"'Every branch that beareth fruit is purged'--that is, if you are a\nmixture of good and evil beliefs, you will have to be cleansed of the\nevil, before you can do much with the good. This cleansing process is\nquite properly named purging. This is what we undergo in suffering.\n\n\"'He whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,' means the good in us chastens\nus, cleanses us for the further working of the Good. Punishment, then,\nthere must be, just as long as we believe in, and fellowship with error.\n\n\"Mrs. McClaren, a staunch Presbyterian, did not seem satisfied with this\nexplanation, but Mrs. Pearl told her not to let the question trouble\nher, for if she would do the best she could with what she knew, in due\ntime the solution would come to her.\n\n\"In the night it came. After she retired, the question kept pressing\nupon her so that she could not sleep.\n\n\"About two o'clock it seemed as though a great flood of light came, and\nwith it the clearance of the whole problem. The texts on that theme\nbecame illumined as it were, and she could see how impossible it is for\nthe spirit to suffer or be punished when it is like God who can not\n'behold evil.' She came over this morning and told me about it. I will\ngive you her explanation of Matt. xxv: 31, 32. 'When the Son of man\nshall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he\nsit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all\nnations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd\ndivideth his sheep from the goats.'\n\n\"The Son of man, consciousness of Truth, shall come (be developed) with\nall glorious thoughts (angels) and judge us in all our ways (nations)\nand shall discriminate between the false and the true, the evil and the\ngood, then the good motives or good thoughts (sheep) shall coalesce or\nbe set on the right hand with Truth, and the evil or erroneous beliefs\n(goats) shall be relegated to the left, the negative or no-side, and\nswallowed up in their native darkness which is nothingness.\n\n\"This is the key to the rest of the chapter, and it is in the same line\nwith Mrs. Pearl's explanation, but Mrs. McClaren is delighted that it\ncame to _her_. Now she feels as though a mountain had been lifted from\nher heart, so great has been her fear that Christian Healing would make\nher disbelieve in eternal punishment, which she had learned was an\nincontrovertible doctrine. Now she realizes that nothing but Truth\nitself is being revealed to her, and it seems that her heart will burst\nfor joy. This may seem extravagant, but it is just what she said, and\nafter all, you are used to enthusiasm since your wife is an enthusiast.\n\n\"Is it not wonderful? I ask myself over and over, and echo answers\n'wonderful'! But oh, how ignorant we ever will be, unless we stop and\nwait for the spirit to tell us what is true! It is ignorance and\nfoolishness that we have to contend with as much as anything else, for\nit is one of the thickest clouds that hide knowledge. Until we have\nlearned to turn to the hidden fountain of wisdom, we are helplessly\nbound to error's ways.\n\n\"Even after we go forth from a class, and feel that we have been\nbaptized with the spirit, we are afraid we will not be wise enough to\nanswer the world's questionings of our faith, are afraid we may not know\njust how to proceed with a certain problem, afraid we will be too weak\nto do the things that come to us to be done.\n\n\"'Oh ye of little faith,' says the rebuking Christ within us--'why doubt\nyour knowledge, when God is your wisdom? Why doubt your intelligence,\nwhen God is your intelligence? Why doubt your strength, when God is your\nstrength?'\n\n\"As we realize there is but one Mind, and that it is omnipotent,\nomniscient and omnipresent, the influence of all other thoughts will\nfade quite away. It is because we recognize the carnal mind whose\nthoughts are frivolous, vain, wretched or miserable, that we are\nunsettled and dissatisfied. There can be no foundation, no sense of\nsecurity, to the one who is continually listening to other than the\nGood.\n\n\"Know all wisdom through the universal Mind, and whoever draws his\nknowledge by inspiration from this source shall become as one with you,\nand we all shall be as one with the supreme Mind.\n\n\"There is an indelible but invisible stamp of truth marking the\nutterance of those through whom this Mind is expressed, and the\ninvisible something within us, sometimes called the 'Spirit itself,'\nsometimes the 'light that lighteth every man that cometh into the\nworld,' will recognize and appropriate its own. If we keep this judgment\nfaculty unbiased, it will lead us to choose the books we read and teach\nus how to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is best to read the\nthoughts of one writer until we understand the root, branch and growth\nof his inspiration. It is not well to go from one author to another\nwhile we are young in the thought, any more than it would be well to\ntake a music lesson from a different teacher every week.\n\n\"We must remember that 'he that doeth the will shall know of the\ndoctrine,' and to start out with the Divine will as our guide, as we do\nwhen we say, 'God works through me to will and to do,' is to grow in\nknowledge of all that pertains to the doctrine of the blessed truth that\nsets us free.\n\n\"Never talk of failures, or be discouraged by them, because many times\nthe discouraging outlook is but the prelude to a bounteous harvest. Work\nwith an undaunted faith in the mighty Invisible, knowing that you serve\nthe only Power, are governed by the one Principle, Infinite Justice,\nthat ever rewards according to service. Doing your best, the Best\nrewards you.\n\n\"Under all circumstances we declare our unfailing wisdom because we ask\nof the Good. We can not foolishly be led away because judgment to do is\nalways with us.\n\n\"This is the fifth stage in the patient's progress, and we treat him for\nignorance and foolishness as possibly reflected from the five different\nsources. Deny that he can be ignorant of the truth, or foolish in\nbelieving error. Affirm all strength and courage and steadfastness. He\ncomes to-day with an uncertain ring in his voice. He is undecided as to\nwhat to do; is weak and nerveless; can not tell whether he is better or\nworse. The treatment for strength and courage will bring him back to\nTruth, and he will brighten and revive under the warm influence of your\nsunny faith.\n\n\"One more lesson! I shall be glad, yet sorry, when it is over. Oh, what\nan experience this has been! Surely, I shall never be such a weak,\nimpatient woman again. Thank God! Now I know what there is for me in\nthis beautiful world.\n\n  \"Good bye,\n\n  \"MARION.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXV.\n\n  \"Build on resolve, and not upon regret,\n  The structure of thy future. Do not grope\n  Among the shadows of old sins, but let\n  Thine own soul's light shine on the path of hope,\n  And dissipate the darkness. Waste no tears\n  Upon the blotted record of lost years,\n  But turn the leaf, and smile, oh smile to see\n  The fair, white pages that remain for thee.\"\n\n  --_Ella Wheeler Wilcox._\n\n\n  \"MARLOW, October ----.\n\n\"I suppose this is the last letter I will write on the lessons in\nChristian Healing, but I will be faithful as ever, even though I tell it\nall over again when I see you.\n\n\"Everybody looked regretful enough when they went into the class room\nto-day, but a hundred fold more so when we went out and the good-byes\nwere said. It means so much to us all. We have passed through twelve\nlessons which may symbolize twelve epochs or stages through which we\nproceed from ignorance to understanding, and understanding to complete\ndemonstration.\n\n\"We have been together scarcely three weeks, and yet so much has been\nuncovered that we stand face to face with our real selves. All that was\nconventional has been laid aside in our intercourse, and the best and\nsweetest and most sacred phases of our lives laid bare, so that we have\nhad a clear glimpse of God's children as they are, not as they usually\nappear; and indeed it gives us better courage and stronger faith to go\nforth into the world again, knowing that the possibilities of one are\nthe possibilities of all, for 'God is no respecter of persons.'\n\n\"I know, perhaps better than some of the rest, that we shall be walking\nin the valleys many times when our eyes are on the sun-crowned heights,\nbut if we can be patient and earnest, our feet shall reach the fertile\nslopes and sunny grass lands of well attained effort. My experience of\nthe past shall be only a stronger incentive to perseverance in the\nfuture, and while it seems human to fall, it is divine to rise, and\nknowing the divine privilege of proving divinity, I trust God to work\nthrough me in my daily effort. So said we all when we left the class\nroom to-day, and with a holy consecration to our new-born faith, we\ntrust we shall ever grow in grace and wisdom as God's children,\naccording to the promise.\n\n\"Mrs. Pearl spoke of our method as the science of silence, and told us\nnot to be zealous without judgment, not to speak when silence would be\ngolden, not to act so as to bring reproach upon our cause or ourselves,\nbut remember to 'avoid even the appearance of evil.' She said many in\ntheir first joyous enthusiasm and overwhelming conviction would\nindiscreetly tell people 'there is no matter,' for instance, so eager\nwere they to bring everybody into the sweet liberty of the spirit; but\nthe world not being ready to properly consider the subject, would of\ncourse ridicule and argue hotly against such a statement, so that false\nopinions would spring up and most absurd practices and claims be\nattributed to Christian Healing.\n\n\"Our system should have a dignified place in the world's opinion, and if\nwe want to help give it that place, we should aim to be living\nrepresentatives of the principles, maintain a dignified attitude\nregarding it, and if we can answer any questions pertaining to it, let\nour answer and manners be ennobling and Christ-like.\n\n\"We never argue audibly with unbelievers. Argument kills the spirit of\nany religion, and the person who desires to prove his position by\nargument is not ready to be convinced by the spirit. If you are obliged\nto carry on a conversation with an argumentative person, silently deny\nall his statements of error, and with calm positiveness affirm for him\nintelligence, wisdom, and a desire to know truth. In other words,\nrecognize his spiritual self, which is in perfect peace and harmony, and\nthe outward disturbance or inharmony, which is simply nothingness\nexpressed by him, is annulled. Possibly you may seem obliged to submit\nand listen to him. Never mind. Carry on your silent thoughts\nscientifically, and constantly think truth. Thus you will plant a seed\nthat shall bring forth beauteous blossoms, excellent fruit.\n\n\"Whenever you hear error talked, deny it. This is 'shutting your ears\nfrom hearing of blood, and your eyes from seeing evil.' _Any_ error must\nbe denied in order to see the proof of its opposite truth.\n\n\"If everybody would learn to deny all the slander or gossip they hear,\nwe should soon have a new social world. Cruel tongues would cease their\nwagging, timid hearts could breathe again, and fair names bloom in every\nhome.\n\n\"This would be the beginning of a much needed reform in the daily press.\nPoor editors, they are obliged to fill orders, like the cooks and\nwaiters serving the gentlemen and ladies in the elegant dining-room,\nladies' _ordinary_ and ground-floor _cafe_. Alas! that the discovery\nshould not be made by everybody, so they could send in different orders.\nHow gladly would the bill of fare be changed!\n\n\"But there is nothing more certain to change it, than the little leaven\nof truth dropped in the highways and byways of daily life. We must 'be\ndiligent in season and out of season,' silently as a rule, but at times\naudibly, perchance forcibly, for some minds seem so dull and sluggish as\nto need a startling thunder-clap to awaken them from their slumber of\nignorance. Thus some patients that come to be healed must be told\nsharply and definitely how to think or what to say, for sometimes it is\nnecessary to make them say their own word of healing, they are so\ncompletely absorbed in material beliefs.\n\n\"We grow more in wisdom and spiritual judgment as we proceed faithfully\nalong our way of scientific thought and living, and thus have an\nunerring insight into what we shall do and say in order to give to each\nthe healing gospel.\n\n\"When we go to church we ought to acknowledge and emphasize every true\nstatement made by the clergyman with our silent affirmation, and as\nemphatically deny every erroneous statement, that we may turn the tide\nof Truth into a broad stream of spiritual uplifting for the whole\ncongregation.\n\n\"Should the minister be inclined to speak about the awfulness and power\nof God's wrath and punishment, we can silently assure him that God is a\nGod of love, not wrath, and tell him he desires to present only the\n_true_ side of religion. Some people might say this would be wrong, to\ndictate to any one how they should talk, but you will notice that it is\nnot dictation of action, but rather recognition of motive--the true\nmotive of the true self. We have a right to recognize the highest and\nbest of every person. Indeed, we are going directly opposite God's\ncommands if we acknowledge any but the good creation, which is the\nspiritual.\n\n\"What can the spirit, which is perfect, made in God's image and\nlikeness, have to say of God's anger or punishment, when it knows\nneither, inasmuch as it is pure as the Father in heaven? 'Shall not the\njudge of all the earth do right?'\n\n\"Not only in the social circle and in the church, but in all kinds of\nwork, in all affairs of business, and above all, in the home, must we\nthus live up to our principles which soon prove our sublimest theory by\nour sublimest practice. And, blessed privilege, we do not need to\nunderstand all, before we can begin to demonstrate our precious\nreligion.\n\n\"We need not worry about the burden of to-morrow and thus drop that of\nto-day, but only carry that of to-day with the strength that is given\nfor the day. 'Consider the lilies of the field, _how they grow_;' daily\nappropriating their portion of sunshine and air and dew, they unfold and\nblossom, exhale their fragrance, display their matchless beauty, thus\nfulfilling their appointed mission; so we may unfold and blossom into\nrare excellence and strength of character. Refreshed by the dew of a\npure purpose, nourished by the sunlight of true thoughts, fed by the\nall-abounding manna--the living word, we soon grow strong enough to\nwithstand driving tempest or boisterous gale.\n\n\"Mentally we are quickened, learning to discern the opposing force in\nourselves, and meeting it with the sharp sword of truth, lay it low at\nonce. But it requires practice to wield this spiritual weapon; it takes\njudgment faculty to discover whence comes selfishness that exhausts and\nweakens; whence comes the material or sensual thought that sickens and\nwearies, or the jealousy that poisons and embitters the life-forces.\n\n\"Faithfully and diligently do we use the word of denial, that sets us\nand our patients free from these subtle enemies; faithfully and\nearnestly we affirm all truth and purity and goodness as our portion, as\nour strength, our refuge, and our defense.\n\n\"By the blessed law, when we have thus cleansed ourselves, we become at\none with the one Life. We intuitively draw to ourselves the best quality\nof friendship and give forth the best; we seek the most uplifting and\nspiritual literature, because it gives us a fresh baptism of spiritual\nlight, which in turn we give to others, so there is a continual\nreceiving and giving, a continual blessing and being blessed.\n\n\"'Henceforth I call you not servants, but friends,' said the Master\nbefore his departure. Now 'the servant abideth not in the house forever,\nbut the son abideth forever.' We came as servants to be taught. While in\nour ignorance, we were the servants or inferiors; knowing the Truth we\nbecame free, and henceforth are brothers, sisters, 'heirs of God and\njoint heirs with Christ.' We now claim our inheritance, the privilege to\nenter into the kingdom and possess the land, our royal birthright. In\nthis kingdom are 'hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.'\n\n\"The patient who comes to us must on this day be told of the royal gift\nof health, and we may say: 'Now are ye clean through the word I have\nspoken unto you.' He, too, must now become the friend, and need no\nlonger be the servant. When he first came to us he was like a little\nchild that had lost his way. We could not show him the way to the velvet\nslopes of health without taking hold of his hand and leading him through\nthe thickets and underbrush in which he was lost. So we graciously\nreached down to him, by talking of things with which he was familiar, of\nanimal passions, of selfishness, of sin. We gently and kindly showed him\nthey were not the true, proved to him that his belief in them had led\nhim off the right path, and talked to him of brighter, better, truer\nthoughts that led to smiling skies of hope, to balmy airs of peace.\n\n\"Each day we assured him of his true inheritance, and now we confidently\nassert that he is in full possession of it. Now he is ready to believe\nthe affirmation without the denial, because he is convinced that the\naffirmations are true, and he comes to us this day with clear, clean\neyes, and a child-like joy in his recovered health. We give him the\nfinal word, the benediction, the binding assurance of his birthright.\n\n\"Realizing as we must ourselves the wondrous truth concerning his real\nself and all which that implies, we impressively and with the most\nthrilling conviction affirm for him that only health, strength, joy,\ncourage, peace, satisfaction, can come to him as the child of God, the\nidea of Mind _in_ the power of the Thought that thinks him into being.\nWe assure him that he can recognize and reflect nothing but Good, that\nhe can manifest only the Father whose son he knows himself to be.\nNothing but Mind can affect him. He is like a column of light against\nwhich no darkness can be thrown; like a true answer to a problem which\nany number of wrong answers can not change. Spiritual like God, he can\nonly recognize and appropriate what is God-like. Henceforth he knows\nhimself and his Father, knows that whatever he may ask (realize) will be\ngranted unto him. Knows that he must acknowledge the Truth, and he will\nabide in the kingdom of Good.\n\n\"We send him forth with all the blessings he can desire, because we have\nrealized for him the possession of those blessings. Knowing that God is\nall there is, and that our patient lives, is moved and has his being in\nGod, we point with unerring finger to the sunny uplands of health. He\ncan never more relapse as he will ever walk in the open fields of Truth.\nWe bid him God speed on his journey, and thank God that he has come\ninto the consciousness of life everlasting, into health and joy without\nmeasure. So be it forever more.\n\n\"The thought of perfection should be held steadfastly, even though the\npatient do not manifest health at once. No matter if the cure is not\neffected in one, two, three weeks, or even as many months, hold fast,\nwith unwavering faith (even if you do not give regular treatments all\nthe time, and it may be well to skip a week or so occasionally),\n_knowing_ that good seed _must_ bring forth good fruit; when, where or\nhow, you nor no other may know. Time is unthinkable with God. We are\ndealing with Principle, not time. We plant the seed, 'God giveth the\nincrease.'\n\n\"Do the best you know, and work out your own problems. No one else can\ndo that for you. Jesus gave us the key, showed us the way; more than\nthat he could not do. We must live our lives and maintain our place by\nour own efforts. It is 'he that overcometh' who receives the supreme\ngift of eternal life.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVI.\n\n  \"May I reach\n  That purest heaven,--be to other souls\n  The cup of strength in some great agony,\n  Enkindle generous ardor, feed pure love,\n  Beget the smiles that have no cruelty,\n  Be the sweet presence of a good diffused,\n  And in diffusion ever more intense--\n  So shall I join the choir invisible,\n  Whose music is the gladness of the world.\"\n\n  --_George Eliot._\n\n\n\"Mrs. Hayden's was a joyous home-coming. No sooner was the first\nrapturous welcome from children and husband received, than in came Grace\nand Kate, who, in their eagerness to see her, had scarcely been able to\nlet her have the first half hour to her family.\n\n\"I think you will have to include us in your family, Mrs. Hayden, for we\ncould not resist the family welcome, said Grace, smiling with happiness,\nas she grasped Mrs. Hayden's hand and drew Kate close beside her with\nthe other.\n\n\"You _are_ included my dears. There is but one family you know,\" was the\ncordial reply grasping the hand of each.\n\n\"What a change in you, Grace--Kate--why, I should hardly know you,\"\nexclaimed Mrs. Hayden, after the first excitement was over.\n\n\"Grace has lost the cloud of perplexity and doubt, and Kate the\nexpression of fear,\" she added, turning to Mr. Hayden with a pleased\nsurprise.\n\n\"Didn't I tell you they were both growing beautiful?\" was his laughing\nanswer. \"But girls,\" he added, \"don't you notice something different in\nMrs. Hayden? That is quite wonderful, I think.\"\n\n\"Really, Mrs. Hayden,\" exclaimed Grace, with wonder, \"you are not nearly\nso fleshy are you? I can hardly define the change, if that is not it,\nbut I noticed something the moment I saw you.\"\n\n\"I have lost something in weight since I left home,\" she replied,\nsomewhat amused at their looks of astonishment.\n\n\"Your figure is so much better proportioned, too,\" continued Grace.\n\n\"And your complexion clearer,\" added Kate.\n\n\"Do tell us what it all means. You certainly look better than I ever saw\nyou,\" said Grace again.\n\n\"I am quite thankful she came home before all resemblance to my wife was\nlost,\" said Mr. Hayden, with a hearty laugh, as he looked at each in\nturn.\n\n\"Well, be serious now, and I will tell you something after I have put\nthe children to bed,\" said Mrs. Hayden, cuddling the sleepy Jem in her\narms. Fred and Mabel stood beside her, frequently interrupting the\nconversation, for they, too, wanted to share the good time with mamma.\nWhen Mrs. Hayden returned, she resumed.\n\n\"It may seem strange to you as it did to me at first, but I see it\nclearly now, that desiring, searching and living for right, brings the\nbody into harmonious expression. If we think truth, we see it expressed\nin harmony, beauty, symmetry, because the external is the expression of\nthe internal.\"\n\n\"It was particularly by the denial of matter that I lost the superfluous\nflesh, for since I was too fleshy to be of symmetrical form, it was\nsuperfluous and----\"\n\n\"Did you know the denial of matter would have such an effect?\"\ninterrupted Kate.\n\n\"No, not till I heard some of the rest of the class speaking of it, and\nthen I could hardly believe it, but after I understood the theory\nbetter, of course it seemed more reasonable.\"\n\n\"It is both wonderful and reasonable too, I think. Why didn't you write\nsomething about it?\" asked Kate again.\n\n\"Oh, there are many things that can be told better than written.\"\n\n\"And many things that can be thought better than told,\" added Grace,\nthoughtfully.\n\n\"Another lady in the class had about the same experience,\" said Mrs.\nHayden.\n\n\"But tell us the scientific reason for such an effect?\" continued Grace.\n\n\"I will, as well as I can. Have you noticed that it is people who are\nmaterially minded in their tastes and habits that are apt to be fleshy?\"\n\n\"That depends upon what you would call materially minded,\" was Grace's\nsmiling reply.\n\n\"I mean those who like what the world calls the good things of\nlife--those who think a great deal of material pleasures or\nenvironments, and find it comparatively difficult to think or realize\nspiritual things.\"\n\n\"Oh!----yes, I believe that is true, although I have never thought of\nit,\" said Grace, slowly.\n\n\"Because the denial of matter makes all these things secondary, the\neffect of the new thought is to make the body more spiritual.\"\n\n\"Of course! Why could we not see it before?\" was Kate's conclusive\nquery.\n\n\"What effect then, has this denial on lean people?\" asked Mr. Hayden,\nmore seriously, for until now he had been inclined to regard this as a\nlittle 'far fetched,' as he would have expressed it.\n\n\"It does not effect them like the denial of evil, because material\nthings are not so important to them, while they are apt to be pining and\nfretting about the evils and ills in the world, either as touching\nthemselves or humanity in general. Denying evil and evil conditions\nwould then have the opposite effect, and cause them to gain flesh, or\ngrow into the expression of physical harmony to correspond with the\nspiritual.\"\n\n\"This is only a higher reading of what we have already learned, and it\nis lovely to know we may go on indefinitely, ever reading something\nnew,\" said Grace.\n\n\"Now tell me something of what _you_ have all been doing?\" said Mrs.\nHayden, as she looked at Grace.\n\n\"Oh, Kate has been doing some wonderful treating among her pupils, and\nthe patients we took up, are all doing nicely.\"\n\n\"Grace is very modest. She doesn't say a word of how quickly she cured\nme of neuralgia, or a horrible fit of the blues,\" supplemented Kate,\nlooking fondly at Grace, who had become dearer than ever since their\nconfidential talks.\n\n\"Mr. Hayden has a good report for himself and the children, too, though\nI suppose you have heard from him,\" Grace remarked with a smile. He\nlooked rather pleased at her thoughtfulness, but said: \"I would rather\nhear more from Marion. Were there many cures in the class?\"\n\n\"Several. Mrs. Dexter, the lady I mentioned in my letters as having been\na long while under the doctor's care, went home perfectly well, and Miss\nSingleton also, of whom I wrote. A gentleman who had been in a previous\nclass told his experience. His right arm had been fractured in the army.\nOrders were given that it should be amputated, but by the intervention\nof a physician with whom he was acquainted, the arm was saved, though he\nhad never been able to use it much. At times it was very painful. It was\nso weak he could scarcely lift a plate of bread to pass it at the table.\nAfter a few lessons, that arm was just as well as the other. In his joy\nhe told everybody. When the doctors got hold of it, they laughed at him\nsaying if that arm was as large as the other in six months, they would\nbelieve there was something in Christian Healing. In six weeks it was as\nlarge and strong and sound as the other.\"\n\n\"That was remarkable,\" said Mr. Hayden, speaking for all. \"Did you hear\nanything about treating animals?\" he added after a momentary silence.\n\n\"Oh, yes. We may think of an animal as the perfect expression of God's\nthought, as manifesting the true Life, the same as human beings.\"\n\n\"After all,\" said Kate, \"that is something we ought to expect, for are\nwe not promised dominion over all things?\"\n\n\"Certainly, and we are not proving our right, till we prove the\ndominion,\" answered Mrs. Hayden. \"It is a beautiful thought to me, and\nseveral of the class told of successful work in this line. One lady had\ntreated a frightened horse, and made him so gentle any one could drive\nhim. It is mostly fear that is reflected upon animals. They manifest\nthought, even as humanity does.\"\n\n\"I have often noticed horses. They are apt to show the same disposition\nas their masters. This explains it,\" said Mr. Hayden thoughtfully. \"Why\ndidn't you write about all this?\"\n\n\"I was afraid it would be too strong meat for you, for I could scarcely\nrealize it myself.\"\n\n\"It seems as though we have had so many wonderful suggestions it will\ntake a life time to understand them,\" remarked Kate.\n\n\"There is no end to the study of Infinity,\" was Mrs. Hayden's reply.\n\n\"How do you account for the _quick_ cures?\" interposed Grace.\n\n\"It all depends upon how quickly one receives the consciousness of\nTruth. That is the healing process. But there are not very many quick\ncures, comparatively, though it is the quick cures we should aim for\nand expect, for the cure is always in the degree of our realization of\nthe allness of God.\n\n\"Another of the older students told of some wonderful absent healing. A\nlady that had been four years an invalid, and given up to die by five\nphysicians in the place, was healed in three weeks by absent treatment.\"\n\n\"Is that considered as effectual as present treatment?\"\n\n\"There should be no difference, because we ought to realize that with\nTruth there is no space nor time. All is the eternal _now_ and _here_.\nSome prefer to give present treatment, especially in acute cases; with\nothers absent treatment seems more effectual.\"\n\n\"I am glad to hear that, for I feel that I can do better absently,\" said\nGrace, with a look of relief.\n\n\"But tell me,\" questioned Kate, eagerly, \"have all persons the same\ngifts?\"\n\n\"In the germ, yes; but all are not equally developed. We enter this\nstudy in different stages of unfoldment. Some heal quickly, others\nslowly; some teach naturally, while others find it more difficult,\nespecially at first. We develop the gift we desire to use by continually\nclaiming it and using it, and bye and bye we shall marvelously prove\nthat we have it. In Love we recognize no partiality, no time and no\nplace, and thus we can truly say all we desire is truly ours.\"\n\nGrace laid her hand on that of Mrs. Hayden, saying:\n\n\"Words can never express our gratitude to you both for your extreme\nkindness in allowing us to read your beautiful letters, Mrs. Hayden.\nThey have made life seem entirely different to us.\" She was deeply in\nearnest, and her quivering lip spoke more than a volume of words.\n\n\"Grace speaks for us both,\" added Kate, huskily.\n\n\"Dear friends,\" replied Mrs. Hayden, much touched herself, \"I am glad,\nyes, more than glad, that you can speak so of my letters, of which the\ngreatest merit lies in their simple earnestness--.\" She ceased abruptly,\nand for a few moments all were silent....\n\nIt was a silence too full for words. A door had opened--a morning dawned\nfor each of them. The mysterious future verged into the mighty present.\nAll that was grand and noble and tender filled the measure of their\naspirations. The world surely might enter into their joy, for their joy\nsurely entered into the world.\n\nMrs. Hayden broke the silence, saying:\n\n\"'Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it\nshall be opened unto you.' Many years have I asked and sought for the\nkingdom of heaven, but never till now have I found the right knock.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXVII.\n\n     Love is the high consummation and fulfillment of all Law. It casts\n     out fear, discord and imperfection. To minister is God-like,\n     Christ-like. * * * * The law of love reaches down, rules, and\n     overcomes adverse laws which are below itself.--_Henry Wood._\n\n\nOutside, deepening twilight of a midwinter's day: inside, a bright grate\nfire, soft curtains, beautiful rugs and simple but elegant adornings for\nmantel and wall in this lovely room of a lovely home.\n\nThe only occupant is a young woman--young because of the real life of\nwhich she so vividly and strongly expresses a consciousness, the only\nlife after all to be expressed, and which, rightly appropriated will and\nmust forever be clothed with the freshness and vigor of youth. The young\nwoman is Grace Hall Carrington.\n\nShe sits before the glowing embers in an expectant attitude. She is\nevidently waiting for some one, and as she waits, her mind seems full of\npleasant musing. The three years that have passed since we saw her have\nripened her character. We can see that. The unrest and longing which\npervaded her whole being in the old days are gone. A poise and calmness\nof spirit have taken their place. Even her attitude as she sits there\nwith the shadows flickering over her, is full of a suggestive alertness\nthat expresses an awakened life. The forces that had slumbered so long\nin her being are fully alive to their duty and their privilege. Yes,\nGrace Carrington is awake, and happy as a wife and woman should be. She\nis thinking even now of the richness of effort and opportunity that\nhave been hers in these last years. She had been particularly fortunate\nin her marriage. Few women have as much to be thankful for as she has in\nthis respect, but then, she waited to find her true womanhood before she\nfound a husband. Perhaps that had something to do with it. At any rate\nshe is satisfied that she waited.\n\nThe door bell rings. A moment later she is greeting two visitors. Who\nbut the friends we knew in the old days--Kate Turner and Mrs. Hayden?\n\n\"I really expected you sooner, Mrs. Hayden; Kate is more uncertain. One\nnever knows when to look for her; but never mind, we are together again,\nso come up to the fire and let us get settled for the evening.\" And\nGrace hastened to make her friends comfortable.\n\n\"Oh but it is nice to get home occasionally,\" cried Kate with a shrug of\npleasure as she looked around the beautiful room and then at the smiling\nhostess.\n\n\"I only wish you would come oftener Kathie. It seems like the old days\nto have you here,\" replied Grace with a loving pat.\n\n\"I suspect Kate has a bit of news for us,\" remarked Mrs. Hayden, as she\nsat down near the fire.\n\n\"Indeed,\" exclaimed Grace, lifting her eyebrows, and tightening her hold\nof her friend's hand. \"And is the momentous question decided, dearie?\n\n\"Yes, and I am to report for duty next week,\" was the reply.\n\n\"Good for you, Kathie. I always knew the Truth would make your music\nheard, and as Professor Beal's assistant it will be heard a long way and\nto good advantage.\"\n\n\"She is reaping the reward of her trust in the Law,\" said Mrs. Hayden.\n\"That is the only thing that will make the working sure.\"\n\n\"Well Kate, you have trusted surely, and to think what a proof this is!\"\n\n\"How you talk Grace! One might think you had never proven it at all, or\nthat your work didn't bear witness to your own trust,\" reproved Mrs.\nHayden, smiling.\n\n\"Oh well, girls, my work has been of the silent order altogether, or\nrather it has consisted more of silence than work. There's no telling\nhow it will show up,\" was the blushing response.\n\nIt had been a standing joke with the three as to how Grace managed her\n\"liege lord,\" inasmuch as he had never been quite won over to the\nHealing, protesting that he had no time for such things, persisting in a\ngood-natured skepticism, although strangely enough he believed a great\nmany things when they were presented without the name of \"Healing\"\nattached to them.\n\n\"Perhaps that very silence is the secret of its showing, for I assure\nyou it shows,\" resumed the elder friend, who still seemed to the other\ntwo, the incarnation of all that was noble and wise.\n\n\"Do tell us the way you manage anyway, Grace,\" begged Kate, with special\nreasons for inquiring.\n\n\"Why my dear, there's nothing to tell unless it be that a bland silence\nis a good thing to cultivate. There's no use in making so much of a\nbugbear of these people who seem to oppose, and the best way to lead\nthem into the green pastures is to let them nibble along the outside\nuntil they want to jump the fence and get over in spite of you. Now\nLeon is really quite hungry to know some things, especially about the\npractical application of thought to business, but he knows just where\nand how to find what he wants, so I let him take his own time and his\nown way.\"\n\n\"Which will end, of course, in his wanting to know all, providing you\nhave the patience to wait\", laughed Kate.\n\n\"That is a foregone conclusion. I _can_ wait, and I will,\" said Grace.\n\"Besides,\" she continued more soberly, \"I must consider Leon's rights.\nHe should not be forced to a conclusion simply because I hold it. A\nhot-bed growth, produced by whatever means, will not bear the hardy,\nhealthy bloom of a natural development. He may be slow but he must be\ntrue.\"\n\n\"There Grace, you have touched the keynote,\" exclaimed Mrs. Hayden\nwarmly. \"It is freedom people need, freedom to think and act the\nhighest, for everybody has a highest.\"\n\n\"Yes, if they can only keep the channels open for the inspiration of the\nhighest to come to them or work through them,\" remarked Kate with a\ngesture of doubt.\n\n\"What better way is there to give freedom or open the channel, than to\ndestroy prejudice, put away antagonism and--\"\n\n\"Either in yourself or others,\" interposed Grace, \"for to hold prejudice\nor to believe in evil is always an obstruction.\"\n\n\"After all, it all hinges upon the non-resistance of evil,\" said Kate.\n\n\"Yes, one of the first laws of the beautiful Christlife, and yet one of\nthe very last to be practiced in my experience. I tell you girls, it is\nthe lesson of non-resistance we most need.\" Mrs. Hayden spoke earnestly\nas she always did, and her words carried weight.\n\n\"Go on, Mrs. Hayden. If I'm asleep anywhere, I wish you would wake me\nup,\" cried Kate, drawing the hassock upon which she sat, close up to the\nelder lady, and putting one hand in her friend's lap, as she waited\nexpectantly for the answer.\n\n\"Well dear, I'm only talking on general principles, and what I have\ndiscovered in myself--\"\n\n\"Please tell us what you have found Mrs. Hayden,\" said Grace. \"We need\nall the light we can get, and no matter how it may cut, we won't shrink\nwill we, Kathie?\" with a loving glance at the latter.\n\n\"No, we'll only know and be glad that the hot blaze of truth is melting\nsome more of the dark spots in our range of vision,\" returned Kate.\n\n\"It is only this,\" began Mrs. Hayden, modestly. \"I have been looking my\ntheory and practice squarely in the face lately, and I find them in many\nthings quite widely separated. For instance, I have been saying for\nthree years that there is no evil, while in many cases my actions have\ncarried the very opposite idea, and--\"\n\n\"Why, what do you mean, Mrs. Hayden?\" cried Kate in astonishment, \"who\nhas been more faithful, who more loving, and who more successful in\nproving the unreality of sickness and evil?\"\n\n\"For one thing then, I have never put away the tendency to pronounce\njudgments on people or things, and I must get beyond that before I\nprove that I mean what I say, when I say there is no reality in evil.\"\n\n\"But surely we can't help seeing the negative side of things,\" was\nKate's remonstrance.\n\n\"No, but we _can_ help making it positive, and we can avoid fighting\nagainst it if we only stick to our first statement that there is but one\nLaw.\"\n\n\"I see what you mean,\" said Grace quietly. \"You mean that we must hold\nso perfectly to the allness of Good, that no shadow of ignorance can\never darken our vision or our consciousness.\"\n\n\"Yes, indeed, we all see that that is the ultimate,\" interposed Kate\nwith some warmth, \"but when and how are we to reach it?\"\n\n\"In the first place we must know that the ultimate is always in the Now,\nand that by holding to our highest statements with that thought, we can\nrest in the consciousness of the allness of Good as Grace has expressed\nit. With that consciousness there is no judgment and no resistance.\"\n\nKate still looked mystified, \"Please make it a little plainer,\" she\nbegged.\n\n\"Well, last summer when I was called to treat Mrs. Hart's child, as you\nknow, the father knew little or nothing of the Science, and when he\ninsisted on having a physician what did I do? Instead of calmly\nrealizing that all the medicine in the world could not hurt Truth, and\ndealing with his ignorance as I would with his fear, I felt that it\nwould be a terrible thing to countenance such disloyalty, and so\nwithdrew from treating the case, forgetting that the father's ignorance\ncould not be called disloyalty; forgetting that my faithfulness to\nprinciple would be the same regardless of any and all ignorance. In fact\nmy action belied my words that there is no reality in evil.\"\n\n\"But--why, what else could you do?\" asked Kate with a puzzled frown.\n\n\"I could, or at least I ought to be able to maintain my faith and my\nconsciousness of Good just the same under those, as other circumstances,\nand so make no resistance.\"\n\n\"Oh yes, I see what you mean,\" exclaimed Grace suddenly. \"You mean that\nwe make _something_ of what we declare as nothing?\"\n\n\"Exactly, Grace. We resist it by thinking it something antagonistic to\nTruth, whereas we should remember our first statement that there is but\none Power. It is the One that heals in every instance. We know that. Why\nshould we stop to combat what other people think or do not think?\"\n\n\"There! Now I understand you,\" ejaculated Kate with a brightening face.\n\"It is the One only which acts under all disguises, and--but what would\nyou have us do?\" suddenly falling into doubt again. As of old Kate was\never the questioner.\n\n\"Dear, I am not talking of persons or laying down rules of action for\nanybody, but I am giving you my idea of the non-resistance of evil. The\nquestion with me is, am I 'about my Father's business.' If I accuse\nsomeone of being unfaithful, or if I criticise any methods, means or\npersons, I still believe in something besides the Good. Even if I\naccuse myself in any way no matter how slight the fault, I am\nrecognizing that which I have declared does not and never did exist. You\nsee what I mean. There is no use to multiply examples.\"\n\n\"Oh yes, I see, but can I live up to it? That is the all important\nquestion,\" was the dreamily earnest reply.\n\n\"As for that I might say the same, but we are not to look at that side\nof the question. A safe and I think the very best guide to right living,\nis to measure every act by the standard of love. Would love prompt this\nor that thought, or decision or action? It is very easy to decide.\"\n\nA thoughtful silence fell upon the group. The evening shadows grew\ndeeper outside. The firelight cast long crimson shafts of light into the\ncorners, and flickered fitfully over the faces and forms before the\ngrate.\n\n\"I have been learning a lesson too.\" It was Kate who broke the silence.\nHer voice was reverential. Her eyes were bright with an inner light. \"I\nhave been holding strongly to the name--the name of Jesus Christ--and\nrealizing what it means, and it has helped me more than anything.\"\n\n\"What does it mean, Kate? That is something which is still a little\ntainted with the old superstitious worship of a personality,\" said\nGrace.\n\n\"Beware, Grace; that is criticism. Put it away until you know,\" warned\nMrs. Hayden.\n\n\"Thank you. Tell me every time,\" returned Grace humbly.\n\n\"Indeed, this contemplation of the name takes one farther from\npersonality or the recognition of mere person than anything else,\" Kate\nwent on earnestly. \"Jesus Christ means God or Truth manifest. Holding\nthe words with that thought, all sense of person, limitation, or time,\ndisappears. Wisdom and power come to fill your consciousness, until the\nChrist life seems not only a possibility but a real demonstration.\" Kate\npaused. Perhaps she had said too much!\n\nBut there was no mistaking the vibration of a sympathetic thought, even\nif the pressure of friendly hands had not reassured her.\n\n\"It is wonderful how many ways there are of attaining the same end,\"\nmused Grace. \"Now I can gain the same state of mind Kate speaks of, by\nholding to the idea of Law. To me everything is embodied in that,\nalthough of course, any great word understood as to its real meaning is\nan all-inclusive term. But we cannot always live in an ecstasy.\"\n\n\"We should not if we could,\" said Mrs. Hayden. \"We must get beyond that\nif we ever attain the mental poise that will carry us through\neverything.\"\n\n\"But I am so weak,\" murmured Kate. \"How shall I ever--\"\n\n\"There, child, you are doing the very thing that will keep you from\ngrowing strong. What right have you to pass judgment on Katherine Turner\nanymore than on anyone else?\" said Mrs. Hayden almost sternly; then\nsuddenly softening her tone she added, \"Dear heart, we must not let self\njudgment or self condemnation creep in upon us to leave their blight of\ndiscouragement or failure. No, the only way is to keep our eyes fixed on\nthe mark of the high calling, resisting nothing, carrying on our lips,\nsuccess, in our hearts love, in our lives truth. By the outer we judge\nnothing: by the inner we know all. Personally, that is, physically we\nare only a part of all external limitation. Individually, that is,\nspiritually, we are the potentiality of Infinity itself.\"\n\n\"And that means the possibility of true living, which is positively\nnecessary to perfect demonstration,\" added Grace.\n\n\"Yes, perfect demonstration in oneself or in others,\" said Mrs. Hayden\nemphatically. \"In fact the first, last, and only consideration is or\nshould be true living, or the ability _to be lived_.\"\n\n\"That is what it amounts to, after all,\" accorded Grace, \"for what is\ntrue living but the setting aside of self, so that the great, infinite\nLife may be established in our action, as a manifest reality?\"\n\nKate rose softly, and went to the piano. Then spoke the mighty Voice\nthrough Music, and through that wondrous harmony a consciousness of the\nperfect Life, with all its power and presence, burst upon these three\nwho were no longer three but One. For that moment they knew and lived\nonly as the One, and in that moment the world received a baptism of\nblessed, healing tenderness.\n\n\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTIC SUCCESS CLUB\n\nwas founded to carry on and extend the Teachings and Ministry of _Our\nMagazine_. One supplements the other. Both are doing an _unparalleled\nwork_ in the redemption of humanity from Disease, Sorrow and Poverty.\n\nTo spread the glad gospel of _Health, Happiness and Prosperity_ is the\n_special object_ of the\n\nNEW YORK MAGAZINE of Mysteries.\n\nTo show how to attain and keep these God-given blessings, is the\n_wonderful mission_ of the _Mystic Success Club_.\n\nNot by theory alone, but by _daily, hourly practice_, can an individual\ndemonstrate any law. The Law of Success is no exception. The Mysteries\nof Life can be known _only_ when man understands the mystery of his\nrelations to God and the universe, as well as his relations to Man.\n\nThrough wise Counsel, Sympathy and the Mystic tie that binds all\naspiring souls, the _Mystic Success Club_ is giving and will _continue_\nto give to its members, such _vital help_ as only brotherly and God\ninspired love _can_ give.\n\n_The Mystic Success Club_ has a correspondence that reaches into the\nthousands, to what good purpose and magnificent results, a glance at the\nTestimonials in _Our Magazine_ will freely reveal.\n\n_You_ who desire to have _Health_, to have _Happiness_ and to be\n_Prosperous_ are invited to join the _Mystic Success Club_. If you will\ndrop us a postal card, we will send you at once, absolutely free, our\nbooklet entitled, \"_From Disease, Poverty and Drudgery to Health,\nWealth, Power and Success_.\" After reading this booklet your faith will\nbe great, because you will be confronted with facts. When you feel an\ninner feeling to become one of us, write immediately an application for\nmembership in the _Mystic Success Club_. Every member must be a yearly\nsubscriber to the\n\nNEW YORK MAGAZINE of Mysteries\n\nat $1.00 a year and get three friends to subscribe. Upon the receipt of\nthe three subscriptions for $3.00 you will be entered on our membership\nbooks as a full life member with no further payments or dues of any kind\nwhatsoever. We will then mail you the First Degree (for health). By\nfaithfully and regularly giving it a little of your time each day, it\nwill put you on the road to perfect and permanent health. At the end of\nthirty days, we will mail you the Second Degree (for receptivity). In\nthirty days more the Third Degree (for attractiveness), and in thirty\ndays more the Fourth or Final Degree which prepares you for\n_Realization_. It takes four months to work through the four degrees and\nyou are then in a far more healthy, receptive and attractive condition\nthan you ever thought of being.\n\nIf you are already a subscriber to Our Magazine, then it is only\nnecessary for you to send three new subscriptions for $3.00, and if you\nare not a subscriber, you must send the three subscriptions and your own\nsubscription, making $4.00.\n\n_If you will do your part_, the teachings of the _Mystic Success Club_\nwill bring out in you all the resources of your soul, mind and heart. It\nwill fit you for the highest and noblest service--the highest and\nnoblest success. It will help you to make your life now and here larger,\nbroader and grander in every way. You are invited to write and ask\nadvice, _whenever_, and as soon as you feel moved to do so.\n\nWith Holy Love, Peace and Good Will to all beings in the Universe, we\nwish you Success, Health and Happiness.\n\n  The MYSTIC SUCCESS CLUB\n  c/o NEW YORK MAGAZINE of Mysteries\n  22 North William St.\n\n  New York, N. Y.\n  U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\nCarol's Conversion\n\nJUST PUBLISHED\n\nANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM THE PEN OF\n\n_HELEN VAN-ANDERSON_\n\nPRICE, $2.00, (beautifully bound with cloth)\n\nThis book is a wonderful delineation of the spiritual life, and how it\ncomes to him who is \"AS A LITTLE CHILD.\"\n\nNo earnest seeker after God and the higher life can afford to be without\nthis story of life and living.\n\n  PUBLISHED BY\n  The New York Magazine\n  OF MYSTERIES\n  22 North William Street\n  New York City","title":"The Right Knock: A Story","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":80468}