Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/351

Rh materialism with a single sentence,” declares Mrs. Eddy, quoting the sentence as follows, “One may know all that is to be known about matter and nothing that needs to be known about man.”

Lilian Whiting, author of “The World Beautiful,” then a Boston journalist and correspondent for Western papers, described a visit to Mrs. Eddy in an article for the Ohio Leader, dated July 2, 1885. As Miss Whiting was not a Christian Scientist her description is edifying as to how Mrs. Eddy appeared to the casual visitor of those days. Miss Whiting wrote that her note requesting permission to call was replied to with a courteous invitation to do so at an hour named. She continues:

“Accordingly at eight o’clock on that evening I rang the bell of the large and handsome residence on Columbus avenue near West Chester Park, known as the Metaphysical College. A maid ushered me into a daintily furnished reception-room where pictures and bric-a-brac indicated refinement and taste. Presently Mrs. Eddy came in and greeted me with a manner that, while cordial and graceful, was also something more, and had in it an indefinable element of harmony; and a peace that was not mere repose, but more like exaltation. It was subtle and indefinable, however, and I did not think of it especially at the time, although I felt it. The conversation touched lightly on current topics and finally recurred to the subject of metaphysics.”

Describing her singular experience as a result of the call, she says: “I remembered afterwards how extremely tired I was as I walked wearily and