Christian Science—A Correction.

Otago Witness, Issue 2927, 20 April 1910, Page 37

Christian Science—A Correction.

j TO THE EDITOR. ! Sib, —In your issue of September 22 there appeared an article on the subject of I " bringing religious faitli into curative ' operation for the benefit of those suffering with mental and physical diseases," which ! contains the statement that Mrs Eddy " did' : not discover Christian Science -t all, but | took it ready made from the manuscript oi i Quimby, to whom she had to go fog man tall I health." As a matter of fact, Mrs Eddy was once , treated and temporarily benefited by Mr Quimby, who was a magnetic healer, but there is no kinship whatever between what Mrs Eddy teaches in her t/sxt book, "Science* and Health," and the manipulations of Mr Quimby. There is net even anything in what Mr Quimby believed and practised that would suggest or lead up to Christian Science. On the contrary, to become a Christian Scientist one is obliged to turn away entirely from such practice. Mrs Eddy was | somewhat enthused by tke bsnefit which ; she had received through Mr Quimby, and! j for a time believed in his method, but later, | when she discovered the premises of Ohris- | tian Science, she became. aware that magnetism . has no kinship whatever with purely spiritual healing. It is a mistake to suppose that Mrs Eddy " uses words of which she does not know the 'meaning," when we take into consideration the fact- that she has understood the meaning of her ideas sufficiently to heal the sick and sinful, while thousands of- students of her text book have b?en able to do the same. The statement '" they bully dying womeni and allow babies to die in pain" is unwarranted.\ First, because a great many women, who are in a. dying condition, and! having failed to obtain permanent health through medical treatment, have been cured! by Christian Science, while many children have been relieved of pain, which medicine had failed to cure. Second, thousands of women have died, thousands of children have suffered pain, who have had no association whatever with Christian Science, but have had only medical treatment first, last, and!. :all the time. A recent investigation in? a northern and! southern State of the United States discloses the fact that over 75 per cent, of those who apply to Christian Science treatment had already failed to recover or re- * ceive permanent bonefit from medical treatment, and that 90 per e'e\it. of those had! either been banc.fited. or healed through. Christian ( Science treatment. If perchance Christian Scientists should fail to' cure some of the so-called incurables that apply to them, and should permit them to continue in their downward course even unto death, there is no reason for special complaint, since to all intents and purposes! they were already in their graves. —Yours sincerely, A.LSRED FARLOW. Boston, Jfuss., U.S.A., February 29. A Correction. TO THE EDITOR. Sib.—ln the photograph supplement of the Otago Witness of the 6th inst. appears "a very good photo, of the Pest Office on Ulva Inland. So far so' gcod. But it is followed by the positive statement that it is the most southerly P.O. in the. world. This made me pause in utter astonishment and ask the reason why. As your paper—in fact by every mail—passes through post offices many degrees farther south, I think, it right not to let it go forth to the world" without correction. There is not_ only one, but to my knowledge half a dozen post offices farther south than the one in question. On Terra del Fuego there are Ushakayer, near Canal Beagle, about 57 degrees south; also Porvenir. There is Pvvnta Arenas, the capital of Patagonia, a city with more than treble the shipping of Dunedin, at the Straits of Magellan; Gabo Virgines, at the entrance to the above" straits, besides Dawson Island, Ultimo Esperanza. Rio Cayle, Rio' Gallegas, etc., and Port Stanley, on. the Malvinas or the Falklands, English possessions. The Witness during the last four or five years has often found its way to and has been read by..intelligent people in these different localities. My reason for . correcting the statement is that I would'not like people •at large to think that the colonials were not, so far as education goes, " a long way ahead cf the average emigrant! that finds his way here with Government* j, aid, of which latter I can tell one or two little amusing stories. Coming from London in the Orsova, when it got to be knowni. that, I was a New Zealander I was plied! with questions such as: —" New Zealand is j in Sydney, is it not? I suppose there is a. ' railway from Sydnev to New Zealand?" And! out of some 500 third class passengers not) one-half had the knowledge of a New Zeeland boy of the. Sixth Standard —in fact, geography especially was at a. discount. Sydney, .he final destination of the steamer, seemed to them to include the whole of Australia and New Zealand as well. A good few spent their time in the smokercomi drinking bser and whiskv, and would not have a shilling when landing. So you may. judge of my astonishment when seeing in the Otago Witness what I hope can be put down as a slip of the pen and nothing more. —I am, «vtc, John Werner. Alexandra, April 10, 1910. [The inscription should of course have read " the ir est southerly pest office in New Zealand."—Ed. 0.W.1