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| Accession: | 593B.61.002 |
| Editorial Title: | J.E. Sewell to Asa T.N. Macdonald, January 31, 1876 |
| Author: | J.E. Sewell |
| Recipient: | Asa T.N. Macdonald |
| Date: | January 31, 1876 |
Manuscript Description: Handwritten by J.E. Sewell on the stationery of New College, Oxford. The stationery
includes a logo with the motto, "MANNERS MAKYTH MEN." The envelope is included.
Editorial Note: The subject of this letter relates to a passage on page 9 of the first edition of
Science and Health, published in 1875: "'At the University at Oxford, a prize of one hundred pounds
was offered for the best Essay on Natural Science, to refute the materialism of the
present age, or the tendency to attribute physical effects to physical causes, rather
than to a final spiritual cause.' This demand for metaphysics coming from the very
fount of erudition meets the wants of the age, and is the one question towering above
all others, insomuch as it relates more intimately to the happiness and perfection
of man. The control mind holds over matter becomes no longer a question when with
mathematical certainty we gain its proof, and can demonstrate the facts assumed. This
proof we claim to have gained, and reduced to its statement in science that furnishes
a key to the harmony of man, and reveals what destroys sickness, sin, and death."
A revised version of this passage can be found on page 111 of the current edition
of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "A prize of one hundred pounds, offered in Oxford University, England, for the best
essay on Natural Science,--an essay calculated to offset the tendency of the age to
attribute physical effects to physical causes rather than to a final spiritual cause,--is
one of many incidents which show that Christian Science meets a yearning of the human
race for spirituality." Asa T.N. Macdonald apparently wrote to Oxford University,
asking about this prize. In this letter, Oxford's Vice Chancellor, J.E. Sewell, replied
that the prize was offered, not by the University, but by an individual who wished
to remain anonymous. The individual stipulated that the prize was to be competed for
by members of Oxford University of not less standing than Master of Arts. It was offered
in 1870.
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593B.61.002
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Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
593B.61.002
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Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
This document has not yet been transcribed. Please see the scan of the original to read.
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