said, had been written by "Dr. Quimby of Portland, Me." She held this document as her most precious possession. "One day when I was at the Wentworths'," recently said Mrs. Clapp, "Mrs. Wentworth was busy copying this manuscript. I went to the buttery to get what I wanted, but couldn't find it, and called Mrs. Wentworth. She got up to get it for me, but before doing so, she put the manuscript in the desk and locked it. I expressed surprise that she should take such pains when she was only stepping across the room for a moment, and she said: 'Mrs. Glover made me promise never to leave this manuscript, even for a moment, without locking the desk.' "
Mr. Horace T. Wentworth of Stoughton now has his mother's manuscript. He has made affidavit[1] that this is the document
- ↑
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.,
COUNTY OF NORFOLK, SS.
Horace T. Wentworth, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I am sixty-four years of age, and reside in the Town of Stoughton, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and have resided there for upwards of sixty-two years past. I am the son of Alanson C. and Sally Wentworth, and my mother resided in said town of Stoughton from her birth to the time of her death, in 1883.
I became acquainted with Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, now of Concord, N. H., and known as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in the year 1868, when she was the wife of one Daniel Patterson, with whom she was not living, and was known by the name of a former husband, one George W. Glover, and called herself Mrs. Mary M. Glover.
In 1867, Mrs. Glover came to Stoughton, and took up her residence at the house of one Hiram Crafts in said Town of Stoughton, and in 1868, after leaving said Crafts, she went upon the invitation of my mother, to the residence of said Mrs. Sally Wentworth, of said Stoughton, and there continuously resided until the spring of the year 1870. Very often during the years 1868, 1869, and 1870, I saw and talked with said Mrs. Glover at my mother's said residence. Mrs. Wentworth invited said Mrs. Glover to visit her for the express purpose of being taught, by said Mrs. Glover, a system of mental healing, which said Mrs. Glover said she had been taught by one Dr. Phineas P. Quimby, of Portland, Me. Said Mrs. Glover often spoke to me of said system of mental healing and always ascribed its origin and discovery to said Quimby. Said Mrs. Glover was outspoken in her acknowledgment that she learned her mental healing system from said Quimby, and never, to my knowledge, while at my mother's house, made the slightest claim or pretensions to having discovered or originated it herself.
Said Mrs. Glover, upon coming to my mother's house, lent my mother her manuscript copy of what she, Mrs. Glover, said were writings of said Quimby, and permitted my mother to make a full manuscript copy thereof, and said manuscript copy of the writings of said Quimby, in my mother's handwriting, and with corrections and interlineations in the handwriting of Mrs. Glover, is now, and has been since my mother's death, in my possession.
On the outside, said copy is entitled "Extracts from Doctor P. P. Quimby's Writings," and at the head of the first page, on the inside, said copy is further entitled "The Science of Man, or the Principle which Controls all Phenomena." There is a preface of two pages with Mrs. Mary M. Glover's name signed at the end. The extracts are in the form of fifteen questions and answers and are labelled, "Questions by patients, Answers by Dr. Quimby."
Annexed hereto, marked "Exhibit A," is a full and complete copy of my mother's said copy of Mrs. Glover's said copy of Dr. Quimby's writings. . . .
Annexed hereto and marked "Exhibit B" is a photograph of the first page of Mrs. Wentworth's manuscript plainly showing the additions made in a handwriting not my mother's. All of the said first page shown in Exhibit B is my mother's handwriting except the words "Wisdom Love &" added to the beginning of the fifteenth line, the word "of" and the symbol "&" added to the sixteenth line and the words "is in it" added to the seventeenth line, none of which additions is in my mother's handwriting.
Annexed hereto and marked "Exhibit C" is a photograph of the second page of said manuscript plainly showing further additions in a handwriting not my mother's. All of the said second page shown in Exhibit C is in my mother's handwriting except the words "wisdom love &" added to the second line, the word "believe" added to the eleventh line, none of which additions is in my mother's handwriting.
I am perfectly familiar with my mother's handwriting; but am not familiar enough with said Mrs. Glover's handwriting to state positively from my acquaintance with it, that the said added words are written by her. This manuscript, however, came directly into my hands from my mother's desk at the time of her death; the added words are not in the handwriting of any member of my family; they are, as will be seen, in the nature of corrections to my mother's writing of said Mrs. Glover's signed preface to Dr. Quimby's teachings, and, having compared them with unquestionable writing of said Mrs. Glover's, found with my mother's papers, and seen them to be strikingly similar, I am confidently of the opinion that they are the writing of the only person interested in the correction of said Mrs. Glover's preface to said Dr. Quimby's writings, to wit, said Mrs. Mary M. Glover—Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy—herself.
I have been often urged to make these facts known in the public interest, and have for years felt it my duty to tell the truth and the whole truth. . . .
Horace T. Wentworth.
On this 9th day of February, 1907, at the Town of Stoughton, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, personally appeared before me, Horace T. Wentworth, to me personally known, and made oath before me that he had read over the foregoing statement and knows the contents thereof, and that the same are true; and he, thereupon, in my presence, did sign his name at the end of said statement, and at the foot of the cover.
Edgar F. Leonard, Justice of the Peace.
And before me a Notary Public appeared Horace T. Wentworth and made oath to above statement.
Henry W. Britton, Notary Public.
- Stoughton, Mass.
- Feb. 9th, 1907.
- Stoughton, Mass.
