Sly? Deep? Judicious? The Trust
understands its business. The Trust does not
give itself away. It defeats all the attempts
of us impertinents to get at its trade secrets.
To this day, after all our diligence, we have not
been able to get it to confess what it does with the
money. It does not even let its own disciples
find out. All it says is, that the matter has
been “demonstrated over.” Now and
then a lay Scientist says, with a grateful exultation,
that Mrs. Eddy is enormously rich, but he stops there;
as to whether any of the money goes to other charities
or not, he is obliged to admit that he does not know.
However, the Trust is composed of human beings; and
this justifies the conjecture that if it had a charity
on its list which it was proud of, we should soon
hear of it.
“Without money and without price.”
Those used to be the terms. Mrs. Eddy’s
Annex cancels them. The motto of Christian Science
is, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.”
And now that it has been “demonstrated over,”
we find its spiritual meaning to be, “Do anything
and everything your hand may find to do; and charge
cash for it, and collect the money in advance.”
The Scientist has on his tongue’s end a cut-and-dried,
Boston-supplied set of rather lean arguments, whose
function is to show that it is a Heaven-commanded
duty to do this, and that the croupiers of the game
have no choice but to obey.
The Trust seems to be a reincarnation. Exodus
xxxii. 4.
I have no reverence for the Trust, but I am not lacking
in reverence for the sincerities of the lay membership
of the new Church. There is every evidence that
the lay members are entirely sincere in their faith,
and I think sincerity is always entitled to honor
and respect, let the inspiration of the sincerity
be what it may. Zeal and sincerity can carry
a new religion further than any other missionary except
fire and sword, and I believe that the new religion
will conquer the half of Christendom in a hundred
years. I am not intending this as a compliment
to the human race; I am merely stating an opinion.
And yet I think that perhaps it is a compliment to
the race. I keep in mind that saying of an orthodox
preacher—quoted further back. He conceded
that this new Christianity frees its possessor’s
life from frets, fears, vexations, bitterness, and
all sorts of imagination-propagated maladies and pains,
and fills his world with sunshine and his heart with
gladness. If Christian Science, with this stupendous
equipment—and final salvation added—cannot
win half the Christian globe, I must be badly mistaken
in the make-up of the human race.
I think the Trust will be handed down like Me other
Papacy, and will always know how to handle its limitless
cash. It will press the button; the zeal, the
energy, the sincerity, the enthusiasm of its countless
vassals will do the rest.
CHAPTER VIII
Copyrights
Christian Science from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
