In a letter dated April 26, 1900, concerning a portrait to be painted from photographs, Mary Baker Eddy wrote: "My thoughts form my face and its expressions; hence, these vary and no photographer has caught the expression of my best thoughts or the thought of my best expression. . . . Of this I am sure, that my works, not my face, must declare me." Although the human face may index the human self, the countenance is most indicative when seen in action and as part of a larger mental picture. Therefore, the following accounts of contacts with Mrs. Eddy are offered for their informative value.
For a period from 1877, Mr. and Mrs. Eddy occupied two floors of a house in Lynn, Massachusetts, and let the other floor to a tenant, Mrs. Elvira Newhall, whose cousin, a young man named J. Henry Jones, boarded with her. In 1931, Mr. Jones wrote as follows: "I have very distinct recollections of Mrs. Eddy. She was a very attractive woman with a lovely face and a very good figure. Her complexion was unusually fine, and she had a good color. She looked different from the ordinary run of people. There was something about her that made me call her a saintly-looking woman. She was rather reserved. I never saw her when she was not calm and serene. I do not remember that she ever talked to me of Christian Science. We all knew that she spent her time writing. I have never become interested in Christian Science, but whenever anyone has said anything to me against Mrs. Eddy I have defended her and have declared her to be a saintly woman and a wonderful woman."
The following statement is from Mrs. Caroline D. Noyes, of Chicago, one of Mrs. Eddy's students: "In 1883, I attended a lecture by Mrs. Eddy at her home in Boston. Her subject was 'Belief, Faith, and Understanding.' She was beautiful in face and figure; her grace, dignity, and freedom of expression were very remarkable. Her perfect ease and her choice of language were very striking. Her exquisite taste in dress and her immaculate neatness in appearance were also very noticeable. Her fine, expressive, dark eyes, violet I should call them, beamed with kindness and intelligence. Altogether, she was most attractive and engaging. From so fine and ladylike an individual, one would hardly expect the strong and forceful way she displayed at times, both in conversation and in her lessons. She had an affectionate and endearing manner, but her strong ways also created an unfailing confidence in her ability to establish the great work she did. When I first knew her, she was nearly sixty years of age but appeared not over thirty-five or forty."
