Completion of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston.--"Our
Prayer in Stone."--Description of the Most Unique Structure in Any
City.--A Beautiful Temple and Its Furnishings--Mrs. Eddy's Work and Her
Influence.
BOSTON, MASS., December 28.--_Special Correspondence_.--The "great
awakening" of the time of Jonathan Edwards has been paralleled daring
the last decade by a wave of idealism that has swept over the country,
manifesting itself under several different aspects and under various
names, but each having the common identity of spiritual demand. This
movement, under the guise of Christian Science, and ingenuously calling
out a closer inquiry into oriental philosophy, prefigures itself to us
as one of the most potent factors in the social evolution of the last
quarter of the nineteenth century. History shows the curious fact that
the closing years of every century are years of more intense life
manifested in unrest, or in aspiration, and scholars of special
research, like Professor Max Muller, assert that the end of a cycle, as
is the latter part of the present century, is marked by peculiar
intimations of man's immortal life.
The completion of the first Christian Science church erected in Boston
strikes a keynote of definite attention. This church is in the
fashionable Back Bay between Commonwealth and Huntington avenues. It is
one of the most beautiful, and is certainly the most unique structure in
any city. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, as it is officially
called, is termed by its founders "our prayer in stone." It is located
at the intersection of Norway and Falmouth streets on a plot of
triangular ground, the design a Romanesque tower with a circular front
and an octagonal form accented by stone porticos and turreted corners.
On the front is a marble tablet with the following inscription carved in
bold relief:
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, erected
Anno Domini, 1894. A testimonial to our beloved
teacher, the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and
Founder of Christian Science; author of "Science
And Health, with Key to the Scriptures;" President
of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and the
first Pastor of this denomination.