hand to wake the harmony. May it be in essays instead of notes! say I. After all, this is a very spiritual doctrine; but the eternal years of God are with it, and it must stand firm as the rock of ages. And to many a poor sufferer may it be found, as by me, ‘the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’.”
The day following the publication of the above article, it was criticized by the Portland Advertiser; and Mrs. Eddy then wrote a second article, replying to the criticism. In it appeared the following paragraph, referring to Quimby and his doctrine:
“P. P. Quimby stands upon the plane of wisdom with his truth. Christ healed the sick, but not by jugglery or with drugs. As the former speaks as never man before spake, and heals as never man healed since Christ, is he not identified with truth, and is not this the Christ which is in him? We know that in wisdom is life, ‘and the life was the light of man.’ P. P. Quimby rolls away the stone from the sepulchre of error, and health is the resurrection. But we also know that ‘light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.’ ”
“These excerpts” says J. A. Dresser, “are in plain language, and they speak for themselves. The statements are made with too evident an understanding of their truth to be doubted or questioned, or afterward reversed in any particular. It should be borne in mind that your speaker was there at the time, and was familiar with all the circumstances she relates and the views expressed. The devoted regard the lady formed for her deliverer, Quimby, and for the truth he taught her, which proved her salvation, was continued to be held by her from this time (the autumn of 1862) up to a period at least four years later; for in January, 1866, Quimby's death occurred, and on February 15 she sent to me a copy of a poem she had written to his memory, and accompanied it by letter.”
This letter, which was published in full in “The True History of Mental Science,” 1887, was both an expression of gratitude and a personal appeal. Knowing that Mr. Dresser was Quimby's most enthusiastic follower, Mrs. Eddy expressed the hope that he would take up the work of their much-loved friend. She then goes on to speak of a fall on the sidewalk which left her momentarily unconscious.
