hink that there was something beautiful in the philosophy of
life as taught by Jesus Christ, but that it was impracticable and not
susceptible of application to the affairs of life in a world constituted
as this appeared to be. As I now view it, that belief was the result of
ignorance of the real power that "moves the universe,"--too much faith in
matter or effect, and not enough in Mind or cause, which is God.

To one who can accept the truth that all causation is in Mind, and who
therefore begins to look away from matter and into Mind, or Spirit, for
all that is real and eternal, and for all that produces anything that is
lasting, the doubts and petty annoyances of life become dissolved in the
light of a better understanding, which has been refined in the crucible of
charity and love; and they fade away into the nothingness from whence they
came, never having had any existence in fact, being only the inventions of
erring human belief.

Read the teachings of the Christ from a Christian Science standpoint, and
they no longer appear vague and mystical, but become luminous and
powerful,--and, let me say, intelligible.

It is true, as you intimate, that this theory of life is much more
generally accepted by women than by men, and it may be true that as a rule
their reasoning is much less rigid in its nature than that of the sterner
sex, and that they may be liable to scan their premises less keenly; but
may it not also be true, that they are of finer texture and more spiritual
in their natures, and that they may be just as likely to arrive at the
truth through their intuitions, in connection with their logic, as we are
through the more rugged courses? If it be true that man is the more
logical, the fallibility of our own reasonings very frequently becomes
painfully apparent even to ourselves, and they are therefore not the
safest gauge by which to judge others.

I believe, myself, that when it comes to standing up for Truth in the face
of the world, and possibly at the sacrifice of position and popularity,
women possess the necessary courage in a much greater degree than do men.

I had not intended to weary you with such a long letter, but after getting
into the subject, I hardly knew where to stop. As an old and loved friend,
I have given you a glimpse of my inner life, because I hardly knew how to
explain my mental condition to you in any other way....

FOOTNOTES

1 The order of this sentence has be