Conservative ,
which has boon uppermost in mind in
coming hero today. To the great mass
of observers the thing for which Chris
tian Science stands is bodily healing. It
claims to bo a system of cure for all
bodily ailments , though for the present ,
owing to the elementary character of
the experience of most of its adherents
and the wrong attitude of the world at
large , its leaders counsel recourse to
ordinary practitioners in the case of a
few specific affections. Christian Sci
entists do not yet as a rule dispense with
the services of the dentist , or in case of
broken bones , with the aid of a surgeon.
Theoretically , however , every form of
disease and suffering is curable and
eventually will be actually cured it be
ing asserted that under ideal mental
conditions even hunger will be satisfied
without food
Such are the claims of Christian Sci
ence actual and prospective. And it is
to be said that , to a considerable degree ,
its claims are being substantiated. I
will not weary you by citing instances
or adducing proofs. Indubitable in
stances of cure you very likely know
within the circle of your own acquaint
ance. And it is a matter practically
beyond question that today there are a
number of men and women who were
sick and who now , by every test , ap
pear to be permanently restored through
Christian Science.
Now , if in this record of cures
wrought , Christian Science stood alone ,
the evidential value of the fact would
be very great. But I beg you to notice
that this record can be duplicated. If
the Scientists can point to those who
through the acceptance of their doctrine
or through their treatment have at
tained health again when diseased , so
can the advocates of Faith Healing or
Mental Healing or Magnetism ( so-called ) .
"We remember , too , those who of late
heve made the pilgrimage in faith to the
sacred grotto at Lourdes , and who , ac
cording to the testimony of unimpeach
able witnesses , have returned to their
homes rid of all their infirmities. Nor
can the great volume of testimony to
the healings wrought through faith in
the relics of the saints be ignored. And
to this list should be added those cured
by individuals , appearing here and there
down through history ( of whom our
own Schlatter , of the West , is perhaps
the latest example ) , whose word or
touch seems to have had an almost mi
raculous effect in certain forms of dis
ease.
ease.All
All such phenomena as these evidently
belong together in any broad classifica
tion of the methods of healing ; and as
we hold them before our thought and
ask what can be made of them , there is
fortunately much to aid us to a conclu
sion. Bather tardily , as it seems to us ,
for those who profess an impartial out
look , men of scientific training have
been taking up such facts , and from the
patient study of a multitude of particu
lars framing certain definite principles.
They are as yet only at the beginning of
their study , but already the well estab
lished conclusions , though pertinent to
our subject this morning , are BO many
that I cannot pretend to lay them all
before you. I can do little more than
indicate the tendency of trained thought
upon this matter , especially in the realm
of therapeutics. In its practical aspects
the tendency is to recognize increasingly
the importance of mental conditions in
inducing normal or abnormal physical
conditions , and to adjust the treatment
accordingly.
To adduce a homely example men
have long realized that a bilious condi
tion produced depression of spirits and
treatment was designed to regulate the
functions of the diseased organ. Today
they are becoming increasingly aware
that depression of spirits may produce
biliousness and they are asking what
treatment will best affect the mind.
With the injurious effect upon the
physical condition of certain violent
emotions we are all of us familiar.
Anger will make a mother's milk poison
to her babe. Intense anxiety will in
duce a fit of indigestion. Fright will
paralyze the heart or whiten the hair.
Indeed it is claimed that the poisonous
secretions occasioned by strong emotion
have in some instances been isolated by
chemical process so that one could
observe , as it were , the crystals of anger
or hate.
And what is true of the emotions is
true as well of the persistent attitude of
mind. Among infected surroundings ,
timidity or apprehension predispose the
physical organism to contagion. The
wounded soldier who gives up to des
pair delays unquestionably the healing
of his wounds.
And the same unfavorable influence
upon the body may be produced through
impressions upon the mind deliberately
made by another. Medical students
have fainted , as they supposed , from
loss of blood , when the only injury they
had sustained was the merest scratch
upon the wrist and the slow dropping
of warm water on the pretended in
cision.
But happily the converse of all this is
equally true ; and the emotions , the
attitude of mind , the mental impres
sions may prove effective means for
securing physical well-being. A recent
writer upon this subject cites an in
stance in point , preserved in General
Grant's "Memoirs , which I will give in
his words : "General Grant tells how
on the night before Lee's surrender he
was suffering so acutely from headache
that he could not sleep. He spent the
night vainly trying to alleviate the pain ;
bathing his feet in hot water and mus
tard and putting hot mustard plasters
on his wrists and neck. When the offi
cer bearing Lee's letter reached him , he
writes : "I was still suffering from the
sick headache ; but the instant I saw
the contents of the note , I was cured. ' "
A somewhat similar instance was once
related to me by a lady who had been
active in the work of the Christian
Commission during the War of the Re
bellion. A Northern soldier in one of
the temporary hospitals near the front
after suffering for many weeks with
typhoid fever had at last fallen into an
apathetic condition from which his at
tendants tried in vain to arouse him ,
realizing as they did that his hopeless
ness and indifference were only hasten
ing the fatal termination of his illness.
By chance there was thrown across his
cot a patch-work quilt sent from the
North , on each square of which the con
tributor of that particular piece had
written some sentiment in indelible ink.
Over this quilt the sick man's eye wan
dered listlessly , when suddenly he sat
bolt upright and , placing his finger eag
erly on one of the squares , cried in a
resonant voice , "That's my wife's writ
ing. " That sudden reminder of all that
was dearest to him called him back to
life and from that moment the man who
had been counted as hopelessly ill made
a speedy recovery.
Every doctor of experience knows the
value of the hopeful attitude on the part
of the patient ; and happy is the physi
cian whose personal quality is such that
he imparts confidence wherever he goes ,
so that we say after a visit that we feel
better , "just for having seen him. "
It is precisely at this point that the
student of mental therapeutics finds his
opportunity , the opportunity of estab
lishing a healthful attitude of mind , of
making a right impression. We have
just referred to the appreciation ( and it
is a growing appreciation ) on the part
of experienced physicians of the atti
tude of hope and confidence in their pa
tients. And of late years there have
been developing also a class of sanatoria
in which treatment by drugs has been
more and more giving place to treat
ment by a bright and healthful and up
lifting mental and physical environ
ment. I know of at least one such in
stitution , the ideal of which is well ex
pressed in this verse which contains
little poetry , but considerable sense :
"Talk health. The dreary , never changing tale
Of fatal maladies is worn and stale.
You cannot charm , or interest , or please ,
By harping on that minor chord , disease.
Say you are well , or all is well with you
And God shall hear your words and make
them true. "
But the most striking development in
this matter of mental therapeutics has
been along the line of conveying health
ful impressions specifically to certain
individuals. This is accomplished by
what is technically known in the newer
psychology as "suggestion , " a means of
mental influence familiarly connected
in our thought with hypnotism , though
not always dependent on the hypnotic