Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 June 1901 — MRS. EDDY IS THE VICTOR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MRS. EDDY IS THE VICTOR

In the $150,000 Damage Suit at j Boston. A VERDICT FOR DEFENDANT. The Caae Comae to a Sudden Conclusion When the Judge Declares No Caae ■ns Been Made Out Against Mrs, Eddy. . * Mrs. Eddy’s allusion to the woman of Babylon Is not to cost her $160,000 after all. The famous libel suit of Mrs. Josephine Woodbury against the founder of. Christian Science came to a sudden and almost dramatic conclusion at Boston Wednesday, when the/ jury, without leaving their seats, returned a verdict for the defendant. From the very first it has been apparent that it was a hopeless task to prove

that some particular person was intended to be stigmatized by a quotation of one of the highly figurative passages of Revelation, and after vainly trying to extract something that would help their cause from unwilling witnesses, the prosecution threw up its hands, so to speak, and the judge called time, declaring that no case had been made out against Mrs. Eddy. The Wednesday session began by Mr. Peabody, for the prosecution, continuing his argument and declaring that Mrs. Eddy had established a religious trust and that she personally controlled every branch of the Christian Science movement. This Mr. Elder denied on behalf of his client, declaring that all the evidence that had been adduced went to show that with advancing years she had relieved herself of the cares tnd responsibility of the active affairs of the church and it was for this purpose that she had turned over to trustees the Christian Science Journal and Sentinel. The night previous Judge Bell hfhl taken into consideration the correspondence between Mrs. Eddy and Mr. and Mrs. Woodbury, and the remainder of the letters were admitted and read. Witness S. J. Hanna had been a county judge at Council Bluffs, lowa, and was now a student of Christian Science. Mr. Hanna said he was first reader of the church subject to Mrs. Eddy’s approval, as provided by a bylaw. He is editor of the Christian Science Journal and of the Sentinel. Mr. Peabody handed him a copy of the May (1899) Arena, and called his attention to an article in it, written by Mrs. Woodbury. "Cver this article the lawyers had a long argument as to Its admissibility, Mr. Elder, for the defense, alleging irrelevancy of the article to the promise of Mr. Peabody that he would connect Mrs. Eddy with the excommunication of Mrs. Woodbury. Mr. Peabody argued that the Arena ar-

tide was an incident bearing on ths relations of the two women; that It constituted a motive in Mrs. Eddy’s mind; that It tended to prove* that Mrs. Eddy attacked maliciously and for revenue.

MRS. MARY BAKER G. EDDY.