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 during 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 Prof. 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 Founder, "Our prayer in stone." It is located at the intersection of
Norway and Falmouth Streets, on a triangular plot of 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