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(1878-1911) The Salvation Army is an international organization having for its purpose the uplift of the morally, spiritually, and materially destitute. Its founder was William Booth, who in 1865 commenced holding meetings in a disused burialground in London belonging to the Quakers. Its first name was the Christian Mission, which was changed in 1878 to the present name, with the accompaniment of military titles, uniforms, and paraphernalia.... The growth of the work, which in 1878 had 81 corps, 127 officers, and 1,987 workers, aroused some opposition; but the opposition was overcome and the activities were extended to other parts of the metropolis, then out into the country and to the other large cities of England, over the entire United Kingdom, gained a footing on the continent, then in the United States and Canada, into the British colonies in general, until at the present all western Europe, Iceland, Italy, India, Ceylon, Java, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, South America, and several of the West Indies are occupied by the organization—in all fifty-four countries in which twenty-eight languages are used in the services. In 1910 the reports indicated for the entire organization 8,574 corps and outposts, 16,244 officers, cadets, and employees, and 56,867 local officers, and 21,681 bandsmen. It has received official recognition from several of the crowned heads of Europe, while in other quarters as exalted its work has been commended. The basis of the army doctrinally is that of orthodox Christianity without the distinction of sect. Its object includes the betterment in all worthy respects of those whom it can reach in its various ways. It discards all distinctions except those of piety and ability; men and women work side by side; while the ordinary conventionalities employed in the usual agencies of Christian work are, if the case demands, entirely disregarded. The specific directions its work takes are first religious, aiming at the conversion of those who are either indifferent to religion or are opposed to it; second, social, aiming to reach especially the poor and destitute. . . . The social work is very varied. It includes the establishment and maintenace of food and shelter depots and cheap restaurants for the poor. In these the Army cares for many thousands yearly, furnishing food and lodging, insisting upon cleanliness in person and habit while under the care of the institutions, while religious services are held regularly for the inmates. In close connection with this class of work is the home visitation in the poorer districts of the cities, the women entering the homes, ministering to the sick, supplying medicines, washing and dressing children for school, even cleansing the house and furniture, supplying food, and on occasion preparing the dead for burial. Work among prisoners, including the providing of employment upon their release, is an important branch of the work. The Army has also established orphanages, especially in rural districts, where the training of the children is both mental and industrial. It maintains a network of industrial homes in connection with which work is furnished and the selfrespect of the beneficiaries is fostered. Salesrooms are kept in connection with these in which articles suitable for use in the household are dispensed at prices which are a boon to the poor and worthy. One of the most successful branches of the Army's operation is the rescue work for fallen women, in which twenty-two homes are maintained. It is claimed that between eighty and ninety per cent. of the rescue cases prove to be permanent. Maternity wards are a part of the equipment to these homes. The Salvation Army has also employed its organization as a means for collecting and disbursing funds in great emergencies like those of the earthquake disasters at San Francisco and Messina and environs. A recognized practise with the Army is the furnishing of Christmas dinners to the poor and unemployed, in the United States alone 350,000 were the guests on a single Christmas. Its funds in the course of a year are large, $300,000 being spent in the single item of poor relief. A careful system of bookkeeping is in vogue, the accounts are regularly audited, and yearly reports are issued and filed in accordance with the requirements of the laws under which the Army is incorporated. In the United States work was begun in 1880 by Commissioner George Railton and seven women officers. It reports 896 corps and outposts, 3,875 officers and employees, 75 workingmen's hotels, 4 women's hotels, and in these accommodations for 6,592 is furnished nightly, and 1,961,677 beds each year, 20 food depots, 107 industrial homes, 3 farm colonies with 2,000 colonized and 350 colonists; there are 20 employment bureaus which furnish work for 1,500 persons each month, 107 second-hand stores, 4 children's homes, 4 day-nurseries, and 23 slum settlements. In a single year in the United States 309,591 persons were afforded temporary relief, summer outings were given to 3,972 mothers and 24,373 children, employment was found for 65,124 men and 5,355 women, 1,593,834 pounds of ice and 4,579,788 pounds of coal were distributed. Regular visitation of prisons, workhouses, and hospitals is also carried on. At the Paris Exposition a gold medal was awarded the organization for the United States exhibit of the Salvation Army's operations among the poor. 1 From his article in "The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia." Published by Funk & Wagnalls Company. Copyright, 1911.
MRS. EDDY AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE (1879-1911) Christian Science is defined in the Standard Dictionary as "a system of moral and religious instruction, founded upon principles formulated by Rev. Mary Baker G. Eddy and combined with a method of treating diseases mentally. Christian Science is based on teachings of Scripture which it interprets, giving the Christ principle and rule in divine metaphysics, which heals the sick and sinner. It explains all cause and effect as mental, and shows the scientific relation of man to God." The full exposition of this science is given in Mrs. Eddy's book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, " which was first published in 1875. . . . Regarding her discovery of Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy says in her book, "Retrospection and Introspection": "It was in Massachusetts in February, 1866, that I discovered the Science of divine metaphysical healing, which I afterward named Christian Science. The discovery came to pass in this way. During twenty years prior to my discovery, I had been trying to trace all physical effects to a mental cause; and in the latter part of 1866 I gained the scientific certainty that all causation was mind and every effect a mental phenomenon. My immediate recovery from the effects of an injury caused by an accident, an injury that neither medicine nor surgery could reach, was the falling apple that led me to the discovery." Mrs. Eddy spent the next three years in retirement, studying the Bible and finding there the principle and rule of her healing. She then tested her healing system practically in every possible way, and finally, in 1875, after nine years of preliminary work, wrote the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to Scriptures." Her literary output after that was tremendous, comprizing books, sermons, essays, polemics, poems, magazine articles, editorials. . . . In 1879 Mrs. Eddy organized in Boston, Massachusetts, the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and was ordained as its pastor. This body was composed of twenty-six members. In 1895, sixteen years later, the church, to accommodate its increased membership, erected a handsome edifice on the corner of Falmouth and Norway streets, Boston, at a cost of $200,000. This seats about 1,200 people. In June, 1906, a magnificent new structure, adjoining this and having a seating capacity of 5,000, was completed. It cost about $2,000,000. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston is known as the Mother Church of this denomination. The Christian Science denomination had, in January, 1911, 1,244 branch churches and societies, holding Sunday services. Chicago has nine large churches with five handsome edifices. Greater New York has twelve churches. In Greater New York there are eight church buildings, First Church edifice having cost over $1,150,000. Concord, N. H., has a strong organization and a beautiful granite church, a gift from Mrs. Eddy, which cost over $200,000. Mrs. Eddy located this church, bought the land, started the building, and paid for it, part of the money having been contributed to her for this especial purpose by Christian Scientists in all parts of the world, who wished to have a share in the work. There are influential Christian Science churches in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Washington, Cleveland, St. Louis, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Providence, Toronto, and, it may be said, in all the large cities of the United States and Canada. There are firmly established churches in London, England, of which First has recently completed a fine edifice at Sloane Terrace, S.W. The organization in Manchester, England, has its own church edifice, as has that in Edinburgh, Scotland. There are organizations in Australia, Germany, France, Scandinavia, Holland, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Hawaii, the Philippines, and in many of the English colonies. . . . In 1881, Mrs. Eddy obtained a charter from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts—the only one of the sort ever granted—and organized the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, in which during the eight succeeding years she taught over 4,000 persons. Many of these were indigent students, who received their tuition free. It was her custom to make it possible for all worthy applicants to avail themselves gratuitously of her personal instruction. In 1889 she closed the college, notwithstanding that hundreds of applicants were awaiting admission. Her purpose in doing this was to secure time to revise "Science and Health" and further to extend her field of labor. Later she established a board of education, based on the college, which board is now in active operation. Mrs. Eddy founded the Christian Science Journal in April, 1883, and was for many years its editor as well as its chief contributor. She founded the Christian Science Quarterly in 1890, the Christian Science Sentinel in 1898, Der Christian Science Herold (in German) in 1902, and The Christian Science Monitor, a daily newspaper, in 1908. She gave these periodicals to her church, together with the plant of the Christian Science Publishing Society. For many years her only income was from the sale of her books and the interest on her investments. She healed the sick and the sinner without price. She contributed a large portion of her means to various charities and public enterprises. She was also public-spirited, and took an interest in the affairs of her State, and in matters pertaining to the betterment of her own city. She was simple in her tastes and habits, punctual and systematic in her work. The organization, nature, constitution, and government of the Mother Church, its tenets, its church Manual, and its special form of public service are all of Mrs. Eddy's devising. They are in most respects unique, without precedent in church economy, proofs of her wisdom, and evidence of her ability as a leader. While the business of the Church of Christ, Scientist, is conducted by a board of directors, the inspiration and fountain head of the series of remarkable steps, which have brought Christian Science to the fore so unswervingly and so rapidly, can be traced to this modest and unassuming, but strong and resourceful woman. . . . Healing the sick is not the prime mission of Christian Science. Its higher mission is to effect the triumph over all evil. Bodily improvement follows as the natural sequence of spiritual regeneration. It holds that the evil-doer is surely on the road to doom, tho he may not yet have realized this, while the well-doer is in the right path tho he may not yet understand it, for "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Christian Science teaches that true and effectual prayer is the spiritual realization of divine truth and love, and of God's infinitude and omnipotence, which lifts mortals above the power of sin and disease. 1 From an article by Mr. Strang in "The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia," the same having been submitted to Mrs. Eddy before publication, "examined, edited, and approved" by her. Published by Funk & Wagnalls Company. Copyright, 1909.
THE NORTHERN SECURITIES AND STANDARD OIL DECISIONS |