Address On The Fourth Of July At Pleasant View, Concord, N. H., Before 2,500 Members Of The Mother Church, 1897
My beloved brethren, who have come all the way from
the Pacific to the Atlantic shore, from the Palmetto to the [5]
Pine Tree State, I greet you; my hand may not touch
yours to-day, but my heart will with tenderness untalkable.
His Honor, Mayor Woodworth, has welcomed you to
Concord most graciously, voicing the friendship of this
city and of my native State—loyal to the heart's core to [10]
religion, home, friends, and country.
To-day we commemorate not only our nation's civil
and religious freedom, but a greater even, the liberty of
the sons of God, the inalienable rights and radiant reality
of Christianity, whereof our Master said: “The works [15]
that I do shall he do;” and, “The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation” (with knowledge obtained from
the senses), but “the kingdom of God is within you,”—
within the present possibilities of mankind.
Think of this inheritance! Heaven right here, where [20]
angels are as men, clothed more lightly, and men as angels
who, burdened for an hour, spring into liberty, and the
good they would do, that they do, and the evil they would
not do, that they do not.
From the falling leaves of old-time faiths men learn a [25]
parable of the period, that all error, physical, moral, or
religious, will fall before Truth demonstrated, even as
dry leaves fall to enrich the soil for fruitage.
Sin, sickness, and disease flee before the evangel of
Truth as the mountain mists before the sun. Truth is [30]
the tonic for the sick, and this medicine of Mind is not [1]
necessarily infinitesimal but infinite. Herein the mental
medicine of divine metaphysics and the medical systems
of allopathy and homœopathy differ. Mental medi-
cine gains no potency by attenuation, and its largest [5]
dose is never dangerous, but the more the better in every
case.
Christian Science classifies thought thus: Right thoughts
are reality and power; wrong thoughts are unreality and
powerless, possessing the nature of dreams. Good thoughts [10]
are potent; evil thoughts are impotent, and they should
appear thus. Continuing this category, we learn that
sick thoughts are unreality and weakness; while healthy
thoughts are reality and strength. My proof of these
novel propositions is demonstration, whereby any man [15]
can satisfy himself of their verity.
Christian Science is not only the acme of Science
but the crown of Christianity. It is universal. It ap-
peals to man as man; to the whole and not to a por-
tion; to man physically, as well as spiritually, and to all [20]
mankind.
It has one God. It demonstrates the divine Principle,
rules and practice of the great healer and master of meta-
physics, Jesus of Nazareth. It spiritualizes religion and
restores its lost element, namely, healing the sick. It [25]
consecrates and inspires the teacher and preacher; it
equips the doctor with safe and sure medicine; it en-
courages and empowers the business man and secures
the success of honesty. It is the dear children's toy and
strong tower; the wise man's spiritual dictionary; the [30]
poor man's money; yea, it is the pearl priceless whereof
our Master said, if a man findeth, he goeth and selleth
all that he hath and buyeth it. Buyeth it! Note the [1]
scope of that saying, even that Christianity is not merely
a gift, as St. Paul avers, but is bought with a price, a great
price; and what man knoweth as did our Master its
value, and the price that he paid for it? [5]
Friends, I am not enough the new woman of the period
for outdoor speaking, and the incidental platform is not
broad enough for me, but the speakers that will now ad-
dress you—one a congressman—may improve our
platforms; and make amends for the nothingness of [10]
matter with the allness of Mind.