Chapter XII · - CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PRACTICE (continued 2)

Matter is not inflamed

Matter cannot be inflamed. Inflammation is fear, an 415:1 excited state of mortals which is not normal. Immor- tal Mind is the only cause; therefore disease is neither a 415:3 cause nor an effect. Mind in every case is the eternal God, good. Sin, disease, and death have no foundations in Truth. Inflamation as a mor- 415:6 tal belief quickens or impedes the action of the system, because thought moves quickly or slowly, leaps or halts when it contemplates unpleasant things, or when the in- 415:9 dividual looks upon some object which he dreads. In- flammation never appears in a part which mortal thought does not reach. That is why opiates relieve inflammation. 415:12 They quiet the thought by inducing stupefaction and by resorting to matter instead of to Mind. Opiates do not remove the pain in any scientific sense. They only ren- 415:15 der mortal mind temporarily less fearful, till it can master an erroneous belief.

Truth calms the thought

Note how thought makes the face pallid. It either re- 415:18 tards the circulation or quickens it, causing a pale or flushed cheek. In the same way thought in- creases or diminishes the secretions, the action 415:21 of the lungs, of the bowels, and of the heart. The mus- cles, moving quickly or slowly and impelled or palsied by thought, represent the action of all the organs of the hu- 415:24 man system, including brain and viscera. To remove the error producing disorder, you must calm and instruct mortal mind with immortal Truth.

Effects of etherization

415:27 Etherization will apparently cause the body to dis- appear. Before the thoughts are fully at rest, the limbs will vanish from consciousness. Indeed, the 415:30 whole frame will sink from sight along with surrounding objects, leaving the pain standing forth as distinctly as a mountain-peak, as if it were a separate 416:1 bodily member. At last the agony also vanishes. This process shows the pain to be in the mind, for the inflam- 416:3 mation is not suppressed; and the belief of pain will presently return, unless the mental image occasioning the pain be removed by recognizing the truth of being.

Sedatives valueless

416:6 A hypodermic injection of morphine is administered to a patient, and in twenty minutes the sufferer is qui- etly asleep. To him there is no longer any 416:9 pain. Yet any physician - allopathic, homoe- opathic, botanic, eclectic - will tell you that the trouble- some material cause is unremoved, and that when the 416:12 soporific influence of the opium is exhausted, the pa- tient will find himself in the same pain, unless the belief which occasions the pain has meanwhile been changed. 416:15 Where is the pain while the patient sleeps?

The so-called physical ego

The material body, which you call /me/, is mortal mind, and this mind is material in sensation, even as the body, 416:18 which has originated from this material sense and been developed according to it, is mate- rial. This materialism of parent and child is only in 416:21 mortal mind, as the dead body proves; for when the mortal has resigned his body to dust, the body is no longer the parent, even in appearance.

Evil thought depletes

416:24 The sick know nothing of the mental process by which they are depleted, and next to nothing of the metaphysical method by which they can be 416:27 healed. If they ask about their disease, tell them only what is best for them to know. Assure them that they think too much about their ailments, and 416:30 have already heard too much on that subject. Turn their thoughts away from their bodies to higher ob- jects. Teach them that their being is sustained by 417:1 Spirit, not by matter, and that they find health, peace, and harmony in God, divine Love.

Helpful encouragement

417:3 Give sick people credit for sometimes knowing more than their doctors. Always support their trust in the power of Mind to sustain the body. Never 417:6 tell the sick that they have more courage than strength. Tell them rather, that their strength is in proportion to their courage. If you make the sick 417:9 realize this great truism, there will be no reaction from over-exertion or from excited conditions. Maintain the facts of Christian Science, - that Spirit is God, and 417:12 therefore cannot be sick; that what is termed matter cannot be sick; that all causation is Mind, acting through spiritual law. Then hold your ground with 417:15 the unshaken understanding of Truth and Love, and you will win. When you silence the witness against your plea, you destroy the evidence, for the disease disap- 417:18 pears. The evidence before the corporeal senses is not the Science of immortal man.

Disease to be made unreal

To the Christian Science healer, sickness is a dream 417:21 from which the patient needs to be awakened. Dis- ease should not appear real to the physician, since it is demonstrable that the way to 417:24 cure the patient is to make disease unreal to him. To do this, the physician must understand the unreality of disease in Science.

417:27 Explain audibly to your patients, as soon as they can bear it, the complete control which Mind holds over the body. Show them how mortal mind seems to induce 417:30 disease by certain fears and false conclusions, and how divine Mind can cure by opposite thoughts. Give your patients an underlying understanding to support them 418:1 and to shield them from the baneful effects of their own conclusions. Show them that the conquest over sickness, 418:3 as well as over sin, depends on mentally destroying all belief in material pleasure or pain.

Christian pleading

Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the 418:6 error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter. Plead with an honest conviction of truth and a clear perception of the unchanging, unerr- 418:9 ing, and certain effect of divine Science. Then, if your fidelity is half equal to the truth of your plea, you will heal the sick.

Truthful arguments

418:12 It must be clear to you that sickness is no more the reality of being than is sin. This mortal dream of sickness, sin, and death should cease 418:15 through Christian Science. Then one dis- ease would be as readily destroyed as another. What- ever the belief is, if arguments are used to destroy it, 418:18 the belief must be repudiated, and the negation must ex- tend to the supposed disease and to whatever decides its type and symptoms. Truth is affirmative, and confers 418:21 harmony. All metaphysical logic is inspired by this sim- ple rule of Truth, which governs all reality. By the truthful arguments you employ, and especially by the 418:24 spirit of Truth and Love which you entertain, you will heal the sick.

Morality required

Include moral as well as physical belief in your efforts 418:27 to destroy error. Cast out all manner of evil. "Preach the gospel to every creature." Speak the truth to every form of error. Tumors, ulcers, 418:30 tubercles, inflammation, pain, deformed joints, are wak- ing dream-shadows, dark images of mortal thought, which flee before the light of Truth.

419:1 A moral question may hinder the recovery of the sick. Lurking error, lust, envy, revenge, malice, or hate will 419:3 perpetuate or even create the belief in disease. Errors of all sorts tend in this direction. Your true course is to destroy the foe, and leave the field to God, Life, Truth, 419:6 and Love, remembering that God and His ideas alone are real and harmonious.

Relapse unnecessary

If your patient from any cause suffers a relapse, meet 419:9 the cause mentally and courageously, knowing that there can be no reaction in Truth. Neither disease itself, sin, nor fear has the power to 419:12 cause disease or a relapse. Disease has no intelligence with which to move itself about or to change itself from one form to another. If disease moves, mind, not mat- 419:15 ter, moves it; therefore be sure that you move it off. Meet every adverse circumstance as its master. Ob- serve mind instead of body, lest aught unfit for develop- 419:18 ment enter thought. Think less of material conditions and more of spiritual.

Conquer beliefs and fears

Mind produces all action. If the action proceeds from 419:21 Truth, from immortal Mind, there is harmony; but mor- tal mind is liable to any phase of belief. A relapse cannot in reality occur in mortals or 419:24 so-called mortal minds, for there is but one Mind, one God. Never fear the mental malpractitioner, the mental assassin, who, in attempting to rule mankind, 419:27 tramples upon the divine Principle of metaphysics, for God is the only power. To succeed in healing, you must con- quer your own fears as well as those of your patients, and 419:30 rise into higher and holier consciousness.

True government of man

If it is found necessary to treat against relapse, know that disease or its symptoms cannot change forms, nor 420:1 go from one part to another, for Truth destroys disease. There is no metastasis, no stoppage of harmonious 420:3 action, no paralysis. Truth not error, Love not hate, Spirit not matter, governs man. If students do not readily heal themselves, they should 420:6 early call an experienced Christian Scientist to aid them. If they are unwilling to do this for themselves, they need only to know that error cannot produce this 420:9 unnatural reluctance.

Positive reassurance

Instruct the sick that they are not helpless victims, for if they will only accept Truth, they can resist disease 420:12 and ward it off, as positively as they can the temptation to sin. This fact of Christian Sci- ence should be explained to invalids when they are in a 420:15 fit mood to receive it, - when they will not array them- selves against it, but are ready to become receptive to the new idea. The fact that Truth overcomes both disease 420:18 and sin reassures depressed hope. It imparts a healthy stimulus to the body, and regulates the system. It in- creases or diminishes the action, as the case may require, 420:21 better than any drug, alterative, or tonic.

Proper stimulus

Mind is the natural stimulus of the body, but erro- neous belief, taken at its best, is not promotive of health 420:24 or happiness. Tell the sick that they can meet disease fearlessly, if they only realize that divine Love gives them all power over every physical 420:27 action and condition.

Awaken the patient

If it becomes necessary to startle mortal mind to break its dream of suffering, vehemently tell your patient that 420:30 he must awake. Turn his gaze from the false evidence of the senses to the harmonious facts of Soul and immortal being. Tell him that he suffers 421:1 only as the insane suffer, from false beliefs. The only difference is, that insanity implies belief in a diseased 421:3 brain, while physical ailments (so-called) arise from the belief that other portions of the body are deranged. De- rangement, or /disarrangement/, is a word which conveys 421:6 the true definition of all human belief in ill-health, or dis- turbed harmony. Should you thus startle mortal mind in order to remove its beliefs, afterwards make known 421:9 to the patient your motive for this shock, showing him that it was to facilitate recovery.

How to treat a crisis

If a crisis occurs in your treatment, you must treat 421:12 the patient less for the disease and more for the mental disturbance or fermentation, and subdue the symptoms by removing the belief that this 421:15 chemicalization produces pain or disease. Insist vehe- mently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside 421:18 Him. There is /no disease/. When the supposed suffer- ing is gone from mortal mind, there can be no pain; and when the fear is destroyed, the inflammation will sub- 421:21 side. Calm the excitement sometimes induced by chemi- calization, which is the alterative effect produced by Truth upon error, and sometimes explain the symptoms 421:24 and their cause to the patient.

No perversion of Mind-science

It is no more Christianly scientific to see disease than it is to experience it. If you would destroy the sense 421:27 of disease, you should not build it up by wishing to see the forms it assumes or by employing a single material application for 421:30 its relief. The perversion of Mind-science is like as- serting that the products of eight multiplied by five, and of seven by ten, are both forty, and that their combined 422:1 sum is fifty, and then calling the process mathematics. Wiser than his persecutors, Jesus said: "If I by Beelze- 422:3 bub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?"

Effect of this book

If the reader of this book observes a great stir through- 422:6 out his whole system, and certain moral and physical symptoms seem aggravated, these indications are favorable. Continue to read, and the book 422:9 will become the physician, allaying the tremor which Truth often brings to error when destroying it.

Disease neutralized

Patients, unfamiliar with the cause of this commotion 422:12 and ignorant that it is a favorable omen, may be alarmed. If such be the case, explain to them the law of this action. As when an acid and alkali 422:15 meet and bring out a third quality, so mental and moral chemistry changes the material base of thought, giving more spirituality to consciousness and causing it to depend 422:18 less on material evidence. These changes which go on in mortal mind serve to reconstruct the body. Thus Christian Science, by the alchemy of Spirit, destroys sin 422:21 and death.

Bone-healing by surgery

Let us suppose two parallel cases of bone-disease, both similarly produced and attended by the same symptoms. 422:24 A surgeon is employed in one case, and a Christian Scientist in the other. The sur- geon, holding that matter forms its own conditions and 422:27 renders them fatal at certain points, entertains fears and doubts as to the ultimate outcome of the injury. Not holding the reins of government in his own hands, he 422:30 believes that something stronger than Mind - namely, matter - governs the case. His treatment is therefore tentative. This mental state invites defeat. The belief 423:1 that he has met his master in matter and may not be able to mend the bone, increases his fear; yet this belief 423:3 should not be communicated to the patient, either ver- bally or otherwise, for this fear greatly diminishes the tendency towards a favorable result. Remember that the 423:6 unexpressed belief oftentimes affects a sensitive patient more strongly than the expressed thought.

Scientific corrective

The Christian Scientist, understanding scientifically 423:9 that all is Mind, commences with mental causation, the truth of being, to destroy the error. This cor- rective is an alterative, reaching to every part 423:12 of the human system. According to Scripture, it searches "the joints and marrow," and it restores the harmony of man.

Coping with difficulties

423:15 The matter-physician deals with matter as both his foe and his remedy. He regards the ailment as weakened or strengthened according to the evidence which 423:18 matter presents. The metaphysician, making Mind his basis of operation irrespective of matter and regarding the truth and harmony of being as superior to 423:21 error and discord, has rendered himself strong, instead of weak, to cope with the case; and he proportionately strengthens his patient with the stimulus of courage and 423:24 conscious power. Both Science and consciousness are now at work in the economy of being according to the law of Mind, which ultimately asserts its absolute supremacy.

Formation from thought

423:27 Ossification or any abnormal condition or derange- ment of the body is as directly the action of mortal mind as is dementia or insanity. Bones have 423:30 only the substance of thought which forms them. They are only phenomena of the mind of mor- tals. The so-called substance of bone is formed first 424:1 by the parent's mind, through self-division. Soon the child becomes a separate, individualized mortal mind, 424:3 which takes possession of itself and its own thoughts of bones.

Accidents unknown to God

Accidents are unknown to God, or immortal Mind, 424:6 and we must leave the mortal basis of belief and unite with the one Mind, in order to change the notion of chance to the proper sense 424:9 of God's unerring direction and thus bring out harmony.

Opposing mentality

Under divine Providence there can be no accidents, since there is no room for imperfection in perfection.

424:12 In medical practice objections would be raised if one doctor should administer a drug to counteract the work- ing of a remedy prescribed by another doctor. 424:15 It is equally important in metaphysical prac- tice that the /minds /which surround your patient should not act against your influence by continually expressing 424:18 such opinions as may alarm or discourage, - either by giving antagonistic advice or through unspoken thoughts resting on your patient. While it is certain that the 424:21 divine Mind can remove any obstacle, still you need the ear of your auditor. It is not more difficult to make your- self heard mentally while others are thinking about your 424:24 patients or conversing with them, if you understand Christian Science - the oneness and the allness of divine Love; but it is well to be alone with God and the sick 424:27 when treating disease.

Mind removes scrofula

To prevent or to cure scrofula and other so-called he- reditary diseases, you must destroy the belief in these ills 424:30 and the faith in the possibility of their trans- mission. The patient may tell you that he has a humor in the blood, a scrofulous diathesis. His 425:1 parents or some of his progenitors farther back have so believed. Mortal mind, not matter, induces this con- 425:3 clusion and its results. You will have humors, just so long as you believe them to be safety-valves or to be ineradicable.

Nothing to consume

425:6 If the case to be mentally treated is consumption, take up the leading points included (according to belief) in this disease. Show that it is not inherited; 425:9 that inflammation, tubercles, hemorrhage, and decomposition are beliefs, images of mortal thought su- perimposed upon the body; that they are not the truth 425:12 of man; that they should be treated as error and put out of thought. Then these ills will disappear.

The lungs re-formed

If the body is diseased, this is but one of the beliefs of 425:15 mortal mind. Mortal man will be less mortal, when he learns that matter never sustained existence and can never destroy God, who is man's Life. 425:18 When this is understood, mankind will be more spiritual and know that there is nothing to consume, since Spirit, God, is All-in-all. What if the belief is consumption? 425:21 God is more to a man than his belief, and the less we ac- knowledge matter or its laws, the more immortality we possess. Consciousness constructs a better body when 425:24 faith in matter has been conquered. Correct material belief by spiritual understanding, and Spirit will form you anew. You will never fear again except to offend 425:27 God, and you will never believe that heart or any por- tion of the body can destroy you.

Soundness maintained

If you have sound and capacious lungs and want 425:30 them to remain so, be always ready with the mental protest against the opposite belief in heredity. Discard all notions about lungs, tubercles, in- 426:1 herited consumption, or disease arising from any cir- cumstance, and you will find that mortal mind, when 426:3 instructed by Truth, yields to divine power, which steers the body into health.

Our footsteps heavenward

The discoverer of Christian Science finds the path less 426:6 difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the desti- 426:9 nation is desirable, expectation speeds our progress. The struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying one. If the belief in death 426:12 were obliterated, and the understanding obtained that there is no death, this would be a "tree of life," known by its fruits. Man should renew his energies and en- 426:15 deavors, and see the folly of hypocrisy, while also learn- ing the necessity of working out his own salvation. When it is learned that disease cannot destroy life, and that 426:18 mortals are not saved from sin or sickness by death, this understanding will quicken into newness of life. It will master either a desire to die or a dread of the grave, 426:21 and thus destroy the great fear that besets mortal existence.

Christian standard

The relinquishment of all faith in death and also of 426:24 the fear of its sting would raise the standard of health and morals far beyond its present elevation, and would enable us to hold the banner of 426:27 Christianity aloft with unflinching faith in God, in Life eternal. Sin brought death, and death will disappear with the disappearance of sin. Man is immortal, and 426:30 the body cannot die, because matter has no life to sur- render. The human concepts named matter, death, dis- ease, sickness, and sin are all that can be destroyed.

Life not contingent on matter

427:1 If it is true that man lives, this fact can never change in Science to the opposite belief that man dies. Life is 427:3 the law of Soul, even the law of the spirit of Truth, and Soul is never without its represent- ative. Man's individual being can no more 427:6 die nor disappear in unconsciousness than can Soul, for both are immortal. If man believes in death now, he must disbelieve in it when learning that there is no reality 427:9 in death, since the truth of being is deathless. The be- lief that existence is contingent on matter must be met and mastered by Science, before Life can be understood 427:12 and harmony obtained.

Mortality vanquished

Death is but another phase of the dream that exist- ence can be material. Nothing can interfere with the 427:15 harmony of being nor end the existence of man in Science. Man is the same after as before a bone is broken or the body guillotined. If man 427:18 is never to overcome death, why do the Scriptures say, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"? The tenor of the Word shows that we shall obtain the victory 427:21 over death in proportion as we overcome sin. The great difficulty lies in ignorance of what God is. God, Life, Truth, and Love make man undying. Immortal Mind, 427:24 governing all, must be acknowledged as supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual.

No death nor inaction

Called to the bed of death, what material remedy has 427:27 man when all such remedies have failed? Spirit is his last resort, but it should have been his first and only resort. The dream of death must 427:30 be mastered by Mind here or hereafter. Thought will waken from its own material declaration, "I am dead," to catch this trumpet-word of Truth, "There 428:1 is no death, no inaction, diseased action, overaction, nor reaction."

Vision opening

428:3 Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstra- tion of the facts of Soul in Jesus' way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and 428:6 immortality. Man's privilege at this supreme moment is to prove the words of our Master: "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." To divest 428:9 thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, - this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep 428:12 away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, "whose builder and maker is God."

Intelligent consecration

428:15 We should consecrate existence, not "to the unknown God" whom we "ignorantly worship," but to the eternal builder, the everlasting Father, to the Life 428:18 which mortal sense cannot impair nor mortal belief destroy. We must realize the ability of mental might to offset human misconceptions and to replace them 428:21 with the life which is spiritual, not material.

The present immortality

The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man /is/, not /shall be/, perfect and immortal. We must hold 428:24 forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence 428:27 of man's immortality will become more apparent, as ma- terial beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.

Careful guidance

428:30 The author has healed hopeless organic disease, and raised the dying to life and health through the under- standing of God as the only Life. It is a sin to believe 429:1 that aught can overpower omnipotent and eternal Life, and this Life must be brought to light by the understand- 429:3 ing that there is no death, as well as by other graces of Spirit. We must begin, however, with the more simple demonstrations of control, and 429:6 the sooner we begin the better. The final demonstration takes time for its accomplishment. When walking, we are guided by the eye. We look before our feet, and if 429:9 we are wise, we look beyond a single step in the line of spiritual advancement.

Clay replying to the potter

The corpse, deserted by thought, is cold and decays, 429:12 but it never suffers. Science declares that man is sub- ject to Mind. Mortal mind affirms that mind is subordinate to the body, that the body is 429:15 dying, that it must be buried and decomposed into dust; but mortal mind's affirmation is not true. Mortals waken from the dream of death with bodies un- 429:18 seen by those who think that they bury the body.

Continuity of existence

If man did not exist before the material organization began, he could not exist after the body is disintegrated. 429:21 If we live after death and are immortal, we must have lived before birth, for if Life ever had any beginning, it must also have an ending, even ac- 429:24 cording to the calculations of natural science. Do you believe this? No! Do you understand it? No! This is why you doubt the statement and do not demonstrate 429:27 the facts it involves. We must have faith in all the say- ings of our Master, though they are not included in the teachings of the schools, and are not understood gener- 429:30 ally by our ethical instructors.

Life all-inclusive

Jesus said (John viii. 51), "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." That statement is not con- 430:1 fined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying 430:3 and raising the dead. Mortal mind must part with error, must put off itself with its deeds, and immortal manhood, the Christ ideal, will appear. 430:6 Faith should enlarge its borders and strengthen its base by resting upon Spirit instead of matter. When man gives up his belief in death, he will advance more rapidly 430:9 towards God, Life, and Love. Belief in sickness and death, as certainly as belief in sin, tends to shut out the true sense of Life and health. When will mankind wake 430:12 to this great fact in Science?

I here present to my readers an allegory illustrative of the law of divine Mind and of the supposed laws of mat- 430:15 ter and hygiene, an allegory in which the plea of Christian Science heals the sick.

A mental court case

Suppose a mental case to be on trial, as cases are tried 430:18 in court. A man is charged with having committed liver- complaint. The patient feels ill, ruminates, and the trial commences. Personal Sense is 430:21 the plaintiff. Mortal Man is the defendant. False Belief is the attorney for Personal Sense. Mortal Minds, Ma- teria Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, Hypnotism, Envy, 430:24 Greed and Ingratitude, constitute the jury. The court- room is filled with interested spectators, and Judge Medicine is on the bench. 430:27 The evidence for the prosecution being called for, a witness testifies thus: -

I represent Health-laws. I was present on certain nights 430:30 when the prisoner, or patient, watched with a sick friend. Although I have the superintendence of human affairs, I was personally abused on those occasions. I was told that 431:1 I must remain silent until called for at this trial, when I would be allowed to testify in the case. Notwithstanding 431:3 my rules to the contrary, the prisoner watched with the sick every night in the week. When the sick mortal was thirsty, the prisoner gave him drink. During all this time the pris- 431:6 oner attended to his daily labors, partaking of food at ir- regular intervals, sometimes going to sleep immediately after a heavy meal. At last he committed liver-complaint, 431:9 which I considered criminal, inasmuch as this offence is deemed punishable with death. Therefore I arrested Mor- tal Man in behalf of the state (namely, the body) and cast 431:12 him into prison.

At the time of the arrest the prisoner summoned Physi- ology, Materia Medica, and Hypnotism to prevent his pun- 431:15 ishment. The struggle on their part was long. Materia Medica held out the longest, but at length all these assist- ants resigned to me, Health-laws, and I succeeded in get- 431:18 ting Mortal Man into close confinement until I should release him.

The next witness is called:-

431:21 I am Coated Tongue. I am covered with a foul fur, placed on me the night of the liver-attack. Morbid Secre- tion hypnotized the prisoner and took control of his mind, 431:24 making him despondent.

Another witness takes the stand and testifies:-

I am Sallow Skin. I have been dry, hot, and chilled by 431:27 turns since the night of the liver-attack. I have lost my healthy hue and become unsightly, although nothing on my part has occasioned this change. I practise daily ablutions 431:30 and perform my functions as usual, but I am robbed of my good looks.

432:1 The next witness testifies: -

I am Nerve, the State Commissioner for Mortal Man. 432:3 I am intimately acquainted with the plaintiff, Personal Sense, and know him to be truthful and upright, whereas Mortal Man, the prisoner at the bar, is capable of false- 432:6 hood. I was witness to the crime of liver-complaint. I knew the prisoner would commit it, for I convey messages from my residence in matter, alias brain, to body.

432:9 Another witness is called for by the Court of Error and says: -

I am Mortality, Governor of the Province of Body, in 432:12 which Mortal Man resides. In this province there is a stat- ute regarding disease, - namely, that he upon whose per- son disease is found shall be treated as a criminal and 432:15 punished with death.

The Judge asks if by doing good to his neighbor, it is possible for man to become diseased, transgress the laws, 432:18 and merit punishment, and Governor Mortality replies in the affirmative.

Another witness takes the stand and testifies: -

432:21 I am Death. I was called for, shortly after the report of the crime, by the officer of the Board of Health, who pro- tested that the prisoner had abused him, and that my pres- 432:24 ence was required to confirm his testimony. One of the prisoner's friends, Materia Medica, was present when I arrived, endeavoring to assist the prisoner to escape from 432:27 the hands of justice, /alias /nature's so-called law; but my appearance with a message from the Board of Health changed the purpose of Materia Medica, and he decided at 432:30 once that the prisoner should die.

Judge Medicine charges the jury

433:1 The testimony for the plaintiff, Personal Sense, being closed, Judge Medicine arises, and with great solemnity 433:3 addresses the jury of Mortal Minds. He an- alyzes the offence, reviews the testimony, and explains the law relating to liver-complaint. 433:6 His conclusion is, that laws of nature render disease homicidal. In compliance with a stern duty, his Honor, Judge Medicine, urges the jury not to allow their judg- 433:9 ment to be warped by the irrational, unchristian sugges- tions of Christian Science. The jury must regard in such cases only the evidence of Personal Sense against Mortal 433:12 Man.

As the Judge proceeds, the prisoner grows restless. His sallow face blanches with fear, and a look of despair and 433:15 death settles upon it. The case is given to the jury. A brief consultation ensues, and the jury returns a verdict of "Guilty of liver-complaint in the first degree."

Mortal Man sentenced

433:18 Judge Medicine then proceeds to pronounce the solemn sentence of death upon the prisoner. Because he has loved his neighbor as himself, Mortal Man has 433:21 been guilty of benevolence in the first degree, and this has led him into the commission of the second crime, liver-complaint, which material laws condemn as 433:24 homicide. For this crime Mortal Man is sentenced to be tortured until he is dead. "May God have mercy on your soul," is the Judge's solemn peroration.

433:27 The prisoner is then remanded to his cell (sick-bed), and Scholastic Theology is sent for to prepare the fright- ened sense of Life, God, - which sense must be immortal, 433:30 - for /death/.

Appeal to a higher tribunal

Ah! but Christ, Truth, the spirit of Life and the friend of Mortal Man, can open wide those prison doors 434:1 and set the captive free. Swift on the wings of divine Love, there comes a despatch: "Delay the execution; 434:3 the prisoner is not guilty." Consternation fills the prison-yard. Some exclaim, "It is con- trary to law and justice." Others say, 434:6 "The law of Christ supersedes /our/ laws; let us follow Christ."

Counsel for defence

After much debate and opposition, permission is ob- 434:9 tained for a trial in the Court of Spirit, where Christian Science is allowed to appear as counsel for the unfortunate prisoner. Witnesses, judges 434:12 and jurors, who were at the previous Court of Error, are now summoned to appear before the bar of Justice and eternal Truth.

434:15 When the case for Mortal Man /versus/ Personal Sense is opened, Mortal Man's counsel regards the prisoner with the utmost tenderness. The counsel's earnest, 434:18 solemn eyes, kindling with hope and triumph, look up- ward. Then Christian Science turns suddenly to the supreme tribunal, and opens the argument for the 434:21 defence: -

The prisoner at the bar has been unjustly sentenced. His trial was a tragedy, and is morally illegal. Mortal 434:24 Man has had no proper counsel in the case. All the test- mony has been on the side of Personal Sense, and we shall unearth this foul conspiracy against the liberty and life of 434:27 Man. The only valid testimony in the case shows the alleged crime never to have been committed. The pris- oner is not proved "worthy of death, or of bonds."

434:30 Your Honor, the lower court has sentenced Mortal Man to die, but God made Man immortal and amenable to Spirit only. Denying justice to the body, that court com- 435:1 mended man's immortal Spirit to heavenly mercy, - Spirit which is God Himself and Man's only lawgiver! Who or 435:3 what has sinned? Has the body or has Mortal Mind committed a criminal deed? Counsellor False Belief has argued that the body should die, while Reverend Theology 435:6 would console conscious Mortal Mind, which alone is capa- ble of sin and suffering. The body committed no offence. Mortal Man, in obedience to higher law, helped his fellow- 435:9 man, an act which should result in good to himself as well as to others.

The law of our Supreme Court decrees that whosoever 435:12 /sinneth/ shall die; but good deeds are immortal, bringing joy instead of grief, pleasure instead of pain, and life instead of death. If liver-complaint was committed by 435:15 trampling on Laws of Health, this was a good deed, for the agent of those laws is an outlaw, a destroyer of Mortal Man's liberty and rights. Laws of Health should be sen- 435:18 tenced to die.

Watching beside the couch of pain in the exercise of a love that "is the fulfilling of the law," - doing "unto 435:21 others as ye would that they should do unto you," - this is no infringement of law, for no demand, human or divine, renders it just to punish a man for acting justly. If mor- 435:24 tals sin, our Supreme Judge in equity decides what penalty is due for the sin, and Mortal Man can suffer only for his sin. For naught else can he be punished, according to the 435:27 law of Spirit, God.

Then what jurisdiction had his Honor, Judge Medicine, in this case? To him I might say, in Bible language, "Sit- 435:30 test thou to judge . . . after the law, and commandest . . . to be smitten contrary to the law?" The only jurisdiction to which the prisoner can submit is that of Truth, Life, and 435:33 Love. If they condemn him not, neither shall Judge Medi- cine condemn him; and I ask that the prisoner be restored to the liberty of which he has been unjustly deprived.

436:1 The principal witness (the officer of the Health-laws) deposed that he was an eye-witness to the good deeds for 436:3 which Mortal Man is under sentence of death. After be- traying him into the hands of your law, the Health-agent disappeared, to reappear however at the trial as a witness 436:6 against Mortal Man and in the interest of Personal Sense, a murderer. Your Supreme Court must find the pris- oner on the night of the alleged offence to have been acting 436:9 within the limits of the divine law, and in obedience thereto. Upon this statute hangs all the law and testimony. Giving a cup of cold water in Christ's name, is a Christian 436:12 service. Laying down his life for a good deed, Mortal Man should find it again. Such acts bear their own justifica- tion, and are under the protection of the Most High.

436:15 Prior to the night of his arrest, the prisoner summoned two professed friends, Materia Medica and Physiology, to prevent his committing liver-complaint, and thus save him 436:18 from arrest. But they brought with them Fear, the sheriff, to precipitate the result which they were called to prevent. It was Fear who handcuffed Mortal Man and would now 436:21 punish him. You have left Mortal Man no alternative. He must obey your law, fear its consequences, and be pun- ished for his fear. His friends struggled hard to rescue the 436:24 prisoner from the penalty they considered justly due, but they were compelled to let him be taken into custody, tried, and condemned. Thereupon Judge Medicine sat in judg- 436:27 ment on the case, and substantially charged the jury, twelve Mortal Minds, to find the prisoner guilty. His Honor sen- tenced Mortal Man to die for the very deeds which the di- 436:30 vine law compels man to commit. Thus the Court of Error construed obedience to the law of divine Love as disobedi- ence to the law of Life. Claiming to protect Mortal Man 436:33 in right-doing, that court pronounced a sentence of death for doing right.

One of the principal witnesses, Nerve, testified that he 437:1 was a ruler of Body, in which province Mortal Man resides. He also testified that he was on intimate terms with the 437:3 plaintiff, and knew Personal Sense to be truthful; that he knew Man, and that Man was made in the image of God, but was a criminal. This is a foul aspersion on man's 437:6 Maker. It blots the fair escutcheon of omnipotence. It in- dicates malice aforethought, a determination to condemn Man in the interest of Personal Sense. At the bar of Truth, 437:9 in the presence of divine Justice, before the Judge of our higher tribunal, the Supreme Court of Spirit, and before its jurors, the Spiritual Senses, I proclaim this witness, 437:12 Nerve, to be destitute of intelligence and truth and to be a false witness.

Man self-destroyed; the testimony of matter respected; 437:15 Spirit not allowed a hearing; Soul a criminal though recommended to mercy; the helpless innocent body tor- tured, - these are the terrible records of your Court of 437:18 Error, and I ask that the Supreme Court of Spirit reverse this decision.

Here the opposing counsel, False Belief, called Chris- 437:21 tian Science to order for contempt of court. Various notables - Materia Medica, Anatomy, Physiology, Scho- lastic Theology, and Jurisprudence - rose to the ques- 437:24 tion of expelling Christian Science from the bar, for such high-handed illegality. They declared that Christian Sci- ence was overthrowing the judicial proceedings of a regu- 437:27 larly constituted court.

But Judge Justice of the Supreme Court of Spirit over- ruled their motions on the ground that unjust usages 437:30 were not allowed at the bar of Truth, which ranks above the lower Court of Error.

The attorney, Christian Science, then read from the 437:33 supreme statute-book, the Bible, certain extracts on the 438:1 Rights of Man, remarking, that the Bible was better au- thority than Blackstone: -

438:3 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion.

Behold, I give unto you power . . . over all the power 438:6 of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Then Christian Science proved the witness, Nerve, to 438:9 be a perjurer. Instead of being a ruler in the Province of Body, in which Mortal Man was reported to reside, Nerve was an insubordinate citizen, putting in false 438:12 claims to office and bearing false witness against Man. Turning suddenly to Personal Sense, by this time silent, Christian Science continued: -

438:15 I ask your arrest in the name of Almighty God on three distinct charges of crime, to wit: perjury, treason, and con- spiracy against the rights and life of man.

438:18 Then Christian Science continued:

Another witness, equally inadequate, said that on the night of the crime a garment of foul fur was spread over 438:21 him by Morbid Secretion, while the facts in the case show that this fur is a foreign substance, imported by False Be- lief, the attorney for Personal Sense, who is in partnership 438:24 with Error and smuggles Error's goods into market with- out the inspection of Soul's government officers. When the Court of Truth summoned Furred Tongue for examina- 438:27 tion, he disappeared and was never heard of more.

Morbid Secretion is not an importer or dealer in fur, but we have heard Materia Medica explain how this fur is 438:30 manufactured, and we know Morbid Secretion to be on friendly terms with the firm of Personal Sense, Error, & 439:1 Co., receiving pay from them and introducing their goods into the market. Also, be it known that False Belief, the 439:3 counsel for the plaintiff, Personal Sense, is a buyer for this firm. He manufactures for it, keeps a furnishing store, and advertises largely for his employers.

439:6 Death testified that he was absent from the Province of Body, when a message came from False Belief, command- ing him to take part in the homicide. At this request 439:9 Death repaired to the spot where the liver-complaint was in process, frightening away Materia Medica, who was then manacling the prisoner in the attempt to save him. True, 439:12 Materia Medica was a misguided participant in the misdeed for which the Health-officer had Mortal Man in custody, though Mortal Man was innocent.

439:15 Christian Science turned from the abashed witnesses, his words flashing as lightning in the perturbed faces of these worthies, Scholastic Theology, Materia Medica, 439:18 Physiology, the blind Hypnotism, and the masked Per- sonal Sense, and said: -

God will smite you, O whited walls, for injuring in your 439:21 ignorance the unfortunate Mortal Man who sought your aid in his struggles against liver-complaint and Death. You came to his rescue, only to fasten upon him an offence 439:24 of which he was innocent. You aided and abetted Fear and Health-laws. You betrayed Mortal Man, meanwhile declaring Disease to be God's servant and the righteous 439:27 executor of His laws. Our higher statutes declare you all, witnesses, jurors, and judges, to be offenders, awaiting the sentence which General Progress and Divine Love will 439:30 pronounce.

We send our best detectives to whatever locality is re- ported to be haunted by Disease, but on visiting the spot, 439:33 they learn that Disease was never there, for he could not 440:1 possibly elude their search. Your Material Court of Errors, when it condemned Mortal Man on the ground of hygienic 440:3 disobedience, was manipulated by the oleaginous machina- tions of the counsel, False Belief, whom Truth arraigns before the supreme bar of Spirit to answer for his crime. 440:6 Morbid Secretion is taught how to make sleep befool reason before sacrificing mortals to their false gods.

Mortal Minds were deceived by your attorney, False Be- 440:9 lief, and were influenced to give a verdict delivering Mortal Man to Death. Good deeds are transformed into crimes, to which you attach penalties; but no warping of justice 440:12 can render disobedience to the so-called laws of Matter disobedience to God, or an act of homicide. Even penal law holds homicide, under stress of circumstances, to be 440:15 justifiable. Now what greater justification can any deed have, than that it is for the good of one's neighbor? Where- fore, then, in the name of outraged justice, do you sentence 440:18 Mortal Man for ministering to the wants of his fellow-man in obedience to divine law? You cannot trample upon the decree of the Supreme Bench. Mortal Man has his appeal 440:21 to Spirit, God, who sentences only for sin.

The false and unjust beliefs of your human mental legis- lators compel them to enact wicked laws of sickness and so 440:24 forth, and then render obedience to these laws punishable as crime. In the presence of the Supreme Lawgiver, stand- ing at the bar of Truth, and in accordance with the divine 440:27 statutes, I repudiate the false testimony of Personal. Sense. I ask that he be forbidden to enter against Mortal Man any more suits to be tried at the Court of Material Error. 440:30 I appeal to the just and equitable decisions of divine Spirit to restore to Mortal Man the rights of which he has been deprived.

Charge of the Chief Justice

440:33 Here the counsel for the defence closed, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with benign and imposing 441:1 presence, comprehending and defining all law and evi- dence, explained from his statute-book, the 441:3 Bible, that any so-called law, which under- takes to punish aught but sin, is null and void.

He also decided that the plaintiff, Personal Sense, be 441:6 not permitted to enter any suits at the bar of Soul, but be enjoined to keep perpetual silence, and in case of temptation, to give heavy bonds for good behavior. He 441:9 concluded his charge thus: -

The plea of False Belief we deem unworthy of a hearing. Let what False Belief utters, now and forever, fall into 441:12 oblivion, "unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown." Accord- ing to our statute, Material Law is a liar who cannot bear witness against Mortal Man, neither can Fear arrest Mortal 441:15 Man nor can Disease cast him into prison. Our law refuses to recognize Man as sick or dying, but holds him to be for- ever in the image and likeness of his Maker. Reversing the 441:18 testimony of Personal Sense and the decrees of the Court of Error in favor of Matter, Spirit decides in favor of Man and against Matter. We further recommend that Materia 441:21 Medica adopt Christian Science and that Health-laws, Mesmerism, Hypnotism, Oriental Witchcraft, and Esoteric Magic be publicly executed at the hands of our sheriff, 441:24 Progress.

The Supreme Bench decides in favor of intelligence, that no law outside of divine Mind can punish or reward Mortal 441:27 Man. Your personal jurors in the Court of Error are myths. Your attorney, False Belief, is an impostor, per- suading Mortal Minds to return a verdict contrary to law 441:30 and gospel. The plaintiff, Personal Sense, is recorded in our Book of books as a liar. Our great Teacher of mental jurisprudence speaks of him also as "a murderer from the 441:33 beginning." We have no trials for sickness before the tri- 442:1 bunal of divine Spirit. There, Man is adjudged innocent of transgressing physical laws, because there are no such 442:3 laws. Our statute is spiritual, our Government is divine. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Divine verdict

The Jury of Spiritual Senses agreed at once upon a 442:6 verdict, and there resounded throughout the vast audience- chamber of Spirit the cry, Not guilty. Then the prisoner rose up regenerated, strong, free. 442:9 We noticed, as he shook hands with his counsel, Chris- tian Science, that all sallowness and debility had dis- appeared. His form was erect and commanding, his 442:12 countenance beaming with health and happiness. Divine Love had cast out fear. Mortal Man, no longer sick and in prison, walked forth, his feet "beautiful upon the 442:15 mountains," as of one "that bringeth good tidings."

Christ the great physician

Neither animal magnetism nor hypnotism enters into the practice of Christian Science, in which truth cannot 442:18 be reversed, but the reverse of error is true. An improved belief cannot retrograde. When Christ changes a belief of sin or of sickness into 442:21 a better belief, then belief melts into spiritual understand- ing, and sin, disease, and death disappear. Christ, Truth, gives mortals temporary food and clothing until the ma- 442:24 terial, transformed with the ideal, disappears, and man is clothed and fed spiritually. St. Paul says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling:" Jesus 442:27 said, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." This truth is Christian Science.

442:30 Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake.