Science
must heal. From 1903 to 1906 all teaching was suspended under the
by-law "Healing better than teaching."

In the fall of 1895 Mrs. Eddy issued her instructions to the churches
in the form of a volume entitled the "Church Manual of the First
Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass." The by-laws herein
contained, she says, "were impelled by a power not one's own, were
written at different dates, as occasion required." This book is among
Mrs. Eddy's copyrighted works,--a source of revenue, like the
rest,--and has now been through more than forty editions. Some of the
by-laws in the earlier editions are perplexing.

We find that "Careless comparison or irreverent reference to Christ
Jesus, is abnormal in a Christian Scientist and prohibited."[8] It is
probable that no Christian church had ever before found it necessary
to make such a prohibition.

Again, the by-laws state that "Any member of this church who is found
living with a child improperly, or claiming a child not legally
adopted, or claiming or living with a husband or a wife to whom they
have not been legally married, shall immediately be excommunicated,"
etc.[9] This seems a strange subject for especial legislation.

The Manual, however, is chiefly interesting as an exposition of Mrs.
Eddy's method of church government and as an inventory of her personal
prerogatives. Never was a title more misleadingly modest than Mrs.
Eddy's title of "Pastor Emeritus" of the Mother Church.

_How the Mother Church is Organized_

Next to Mrs. Eddy in authority is the Board of Directors, who were
chosen by Mrs. Eddy and who are subject to her in all their official
acts. Any one of these directors can at any time be dismissed _upon
Mrs. Eddy's request_, and the vacancy can be filled only by a
candidate whom she has approved. All the church business is
transacted by these directors,--no other members of the church may be
present at the business meetings,--and if at any time one of them
should refuse to carry out Mrs. Eddy's instructions, or should grumble
about carrying them out, her request would remove him. The members of
this board, in addition to their precarious tenure, are pledged to
secrecy; they "shall neither report the discussions of this Board,
_nor those with Mrs. Eddy_."[10]

These directors are Mrs. Eddy's machine; they are her executive self,
created by her breath, dissolved at a breath, and committed to
silence. Their chief duties are two--to e