Address,—Laying The Corner-Stone.
Beloved Students:—On the 21st day of May, a.d.
1894, with quiet, imposing ceremony, is laid the corner- [15]
stone of “The First Church of Christ, Scientist,” in
Boston.
It gives me great pleasure to say that you, principally
the Normal class graduates of my College, well known
physicians, teachers, editors, and pastors of churches, [20]
by contributions of one thousand dollars each, husband
and wife reckoned as one, have, within about three
months, donated the munificent sum of forty-two thou-
sand dollars toward building The Mother Church. A
quiet call from me for this extra contribution, in aid of [25]
our Church Building Fund, found you all “with one
accord in one place.” Each donation came promptly;
sometimes at much self-sacrifice, but always accompanied
with a touching letter breathing the donor's privileged joy.
The granite for this church was taken from the quar- [1]
ries in New Hampshire, my native State. The money
for building “Mother's Room,” situated in the second
story of the tower on the northeast corner of this build-
ing, and the name thereof, came from the dear children [5]
of Christian Scientists; a little band called Busy Bees,
organized by Miss Maurine R. Campbell.
On this memorable day there are laid away a copy of
this address, the subscription list on which appear your
several names in your own handwriting, your textbook, [10]
“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” and
other works written by the same author, your teacher,
the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science;[4] without
pomp or pride, laid away as a sacred secret in the
heart of a rock, there to typify the prophecy, “And a man [15]
shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert
from the tempest; ... as the shadow of a great rock in
a weary land:” henceforth to whisper our Master's
promise, “Upon this rock I will build my church; and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” [20]
To-day, be this hope in each of our hearts,—precious
in God's sight as shall be the assembling of His people
in this temple, sweet as the rest that remaineth for the
righteous, and fresh as a summer morn,—that, from
earth's pillows of stone, our visible lives are rising to [25]
God. As in the history of a seed, so may our earthly
sowing bear fruit that exudes the inspiration of the wine
poured into the cup of Christ.
To-day I pray that divine Love, the life-giving Prin-
ciple of Christianity, shall speedily wake the long night [30]
of materialism, and the universal dawn shall break upon
the spire of this temple. The Church, more than any
other institution, at present is the cement of society, and [1]
it should be the bulwark of civil and religious liberty.
But the time cometh when the religious element, or Church
of Christ, shall exist alone in the affections, and need no
organization to express it. Till then, this form of godli- [5]
ness seems as requisite to manifest its spirit, as individ-
uality to express Soul and substance.
Does a single bosom burn for fame and power? Then
when that person shall possess these, let him ask him-
self, and answer to his name in this corner-stone of our [10]
temple: Am I greater for them? And if he thinks that
he is, then is he less than man to whom God gave “do-
minion over all the earth,” less than the meek who “in-
herit the earth.” Even vanity forbids man to be vain;
and pride is a hooded hawk which flies in darkness. Over [15]
a wounded sense of its own error, let not mortal thought
resuscitate too soon.
In our rock-bound friendship, delicate as dear, our
names may melt into one, and common dust, and their
modest sign be nothingness. Be this as it may, the visible [20]
unity of spirit remains, to quicken even dust into sweet
memorial such as Isaiah prophesied: “The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; and a little child shall lead them.” [25]
When the hearts of Christian Scientists are woven to-
gether as are their names in the web of history, earth will
float majestically heaven's heraldry, and echo the song
of angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men.” [30]
To The Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, and to
the dear children that my heart folds within it, let me
say, 'Tis sweet to remember thee, and God's Zion, with [1]
healing on her wings. May her walls be vocal with sal-
vation; and her gates with praise!