Page:The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy.djvu/362



LITERARY ACTIVITIES—MRS. EDDY AS AN EDITOR—THE REV. MR. WIGGIN BECOMES HER LITERARY ASSISTANT—HIS PRIVATE ESTIMATE OF MRS. EDDY AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Mrs. Eddy reopened the Massachusetts Metaphysical College after her husband's death in 1882 and, with half a dozen of her students, settled down to her old routine of teaching, she soon began to plan for a monthly publication which should be devoted to the interests of Christian Science. Quite as willing to contribute to the Boston dailies as she had been to enliven with prose and verse the columns of the more modest weeklies of Lynn, Mrs. Eddy wrote a great many press notices regarding her church and college, and it was Arthur Buswell's business to take these about to the various newspaper offices and attempt to place them. Editors, however, were often prejudiced by Mrs. Eddy's involved style and extravagant claims, and their unwillingness to print many of her contributions suggested to Mr. Buswell and Mrs. Eddy the convenience of having a periodical of their own.

On April 14, 1883, the Journal of Christian Science, a small eight-page monthly, made its appearance, bearing the name of Mary B. Glover Eddy as editor. The new magazine opened with a "prospectus" which began as follows: "The ancient Greek looked longingly for the Olympiad. The Chaldee