Among the recent thronging memories of golden days we note one shadowy form: the absence in the Corner-stone of the Mother Church, in Boston, of the names of two beloved students, Captain Joseph S. Eastaman and Mrs. Mary F. Eastaman of Boston. I hoped to have treasured their names with others of their classmates at my College in that sacred receptacle. But the circumstances which occasioned both my disappointment and theirs, was doubtless a kind providence which reserved their contribution of 1000 dollars to our Church building fund, for the special honor of building its platform and pulpit. For which object it now is to be appropriated, and is most gratefully acknowledged. Also we are pleased to accept this circumstance as serving another good purpose, —a type of their solid standing on the platform of Christian Science.
In your last No. of the Journal I said, "My work for the Mother Church is done." By this I meant that my approbation of and interest in this Church, and our other church organizations, are not in the least abated, but a Sabbath rest was stealing over me when contemplating what had been accomplished.
The church, more than any other institution, at present is the cement of society, and it should be the bulwarks of civil and religious liberty. But the time cometh when the religious element, or Church of Christ, shall exist alone in the affections, and need no organization to express it. Till then this form of godliness seems as requisite to manifest its spirit, as individuality to express Soul and Substance.
