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Rh his book,—to which there has already been a reference in Chapter XV,—and the copies which he had on hand were ordered by the court to be destroyed. Mr. Arens' defence was that Science and Health was not Mrs. Eddy's own work, but that it had been taken largely from P. P. Quimby's manuscripts. As none of Mr. Quimby's manuscripts had been published or copyrighted, and as Mr. Arens did not have them in his possession, the defendant's position was obviously untenable. Although this decision had to do merely with the validity of Mrs. Eddy's copyright, and did not touch upon the authorship of the book, Mrs. Eddy chose to construe it as being a court decision to the effect that she was the sole author of Science and Health, and the founder and discoverer of Christian Science; and her construction cheered and encouraged her quite as much, perhaps, as an actual decision to that effect would have done. She afterward referred to this decision as her "vindication in the United States court."

The years from 1882 to 1885 were years of rapid advancement for Mrs. Eddy and Christian Science. Although a list of the members of the Christian Scientists' Association, made June 2, 1884, shows that but sixty-one persons then belonged to the Association, many people were interested in Christian Science who had not actually allied themselves with it, and Mrs. Eddy was steadily gaining some sort of recognition for herself and her teachings. She had now a considerable number of graduate students who were in practice, and their success, as well as hers, depended upon the growth of Christian Science and of the college. They sent their patients to study under her, and canvassed widely among their friends and acquaintances. Some