is permissible,
and no harm; but there is only one The Church of Christ, Scientist, and
there will never be another. And whether that great word fall in the
middle of a sentence or at the beginning of it, it must always have its
capital T.
I do not suppose that a juvenile passion for fussy little worldly shows
and vanities can furnish a match to this, anywhere in the history of
the nursery. Mrs. Eddy does seem to be a shade fonder of little special
distinctions and pomps than is usual with human beings.
She instituted that immodest "The" with her own hand; she did not wait
for somebody else to think of it.
A LIFE-TERM MONOPOLY
There is but one human Pastor in the whole Christian Science world; she
reserves that exalted place to herself.
A PERPETUAL ONE
There is but one other object in the whole Christian Science world
honored with that title and holding that office: it is her book, the
Annex--permanent Pastor of The First Church, and of all branch Churches.
With her own hand she draughted the By-laws which make her the only
really absolute sovereign that lives to-day in Christendom.
She does not allow any objectionable pictures to be exhibited in the
room where her book is sold, nor any indulgence in idle gossip there;
and from the general look of that By-law I judge that a lightsome and
improper person can be as uncomfortable in that place as he could be in
heaven.
THE SANCTUM SANCTORUM AND SACRED CHAIR
In a room in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, there is a museum
of objects which have attained to holiness through contact with Mrs.
Eddy--among them an electrically lighted oil-picture of a chair which
she used to sit in--and disciples from all about the world go softly
in there, in restricted groups, under proper guard, and reverently gaze
upon those relics. It is worship. Mrs. Eddy could stop it if she was not
fond of it, for her sovereignty over that temple is supreme.
The fitting-up of that place as a shrine is not an accident, nor a
casual, unweighed idea; it is imitated from age--old religious custom.
In Treves the pilgrim reverently gazes upon the Seamless Robe, and
humbly worships; and does the same in that other continental church
where they keep a duplicate; and does likewise in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, where memorials of the Crucifixion are
preserved; and now, by good fortune we have our Holy Chair and things,
and a market for our adorat
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