Page:The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany.djvu/165

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The following affidavit, in the form of a letter from Mrs. Eddy to Judge Robert N. Chamberlin of the Superior Court, was filed in the office of the Clerk of the Court, Saturday, May 18. The Boston Globe, referring to this document, speaks of it as, “in the main, an example of crisp, clear, plain-speaking English.” The entire letter is in Mrs. Eddy's own handwriting and is characteristic in both substance and penmanship: —

Respected Sir: — It is over forty years that I have attended personally to my secular affairs, to my income, investments, deposits, expenditures, and to my employees. I have personally selected all my investments, except in one or two instances, and have paid for the same.

The increasing demands upon my time, labors, and thought, and yearning for more peace and to have my property and affairs carefully taken care of for the persons and purposes I have designated by my last will, influenced me to select a Board of Trustees to take charge of my property; namely, the Hon. Henry M. Baker, Mr. Archibald McLellan, Mr. Josiah E. Fernald. I had contemplated doing this before the present proceedings were brought or I knew aught about them, and I had consulted Lawyer Streeter about the method.

I selected said Trustees because I had implicit confidence in each one of them as to honesty and business capacity. No person influenced me to make this selection. I find myself able to select the Trustees I need