ce to work; they alone are
competent in the premises. But without at all encroaching on their
domain, the Church claims the right to pronounce upon the morality of
such practices and to condemn the evils that flow therefrom. So great
are these evils and dangers, when unscrupulous and ignorant persons
take to experimenting, that able and reliable physicians and statesmen
have advocated the prohibition by law of all such indiscriminate
practices. Crimes have been committed on hypnotized persons and crimes
have been committed by them. It is a dangerous power exercised by men
of evil mind and a sure means to their evil ends. It is likewise
detrimental to physical and moral health. Finally, he who subjects
himself to such influence commits an immoral act by giving up his will,
his free agency, into the hands of another. He does this willingly, for
no one can be hypnotized against his will; he does it without reason or
just motive. This is an evil, and to it must be added the
responsibility of any evil he may be made to commit whilst under this
influence. Therefore is the Church wise in condemning the
indiscriminate practice of hypnotism or mesmerism; and therefore will
her children be wise if they leave it alone. It is not superstition,
but it is a sin against man's individual liberty over which he is
constituted sole guardian, according to the use and abuse of which he
will one day be judged.

CHAPTER XXXV.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE.

A RECENTLY discovered sin against the First Commandment is the worship
of Mrs. Eddy, and it is commonly called Christian Science. This
sacrilegious humbug was conceived in the brain of an old woman up in
New Hampshire and, like the little demon of error that it is, it leaped
forth, after a long period of travail, full-fledged and panoplied, and
on its lips were these words: "What fools these mortals be!" Dame Eddy
gets good returns from the sacrilegio-comic tour of her progeny around
the country. Intellectual Boston is at her feet, and Boston pays well
for its amusements.

It is remarkable for an utter lack of anything like Christianity or
science. It is as Christian as Buddhism and as scientific as the
notions of our early forefathers concerning the automobile. It is a
parody on both and like the usual run of parodies, it is a success.

The average man should not attempt to delve down into the mysterious
depths of mind and matter which form the basis of this system. In the
first place, it i