Page:The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy.djvu/318

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272
LIFE OF MARY BAKER G. EDDY AND

purpose of treating her while she spoke. On the way back to Lynn the party frequently discussed the particular kind of evil influence which had been brought to bear upon Mrs. Eddy during the service. Already Mrs. Eddy thought she could tell which was Kennedy's influence and which was Spofford's, and she could even liken their effect upon her to the operation of certain drugs. Later Arens' malevolence, too, came to have an aroma of its own, so that when Mrs. Eddy rose in the morning she could tell by the kind of depression she experienced which of the three was to be her tormentor for the day. At times she was convinced that Kennedy and Spofford were both annoying her, and not infrequently she declared that the three mesmerists had all set upon her at once.

During the last few years the attitude of the Lynn public toward Mrs. Eddy had changed from one of amused indifference to one of silent hostility. Mrs. Eddy attributed this change entirely to Kennedy and Spofford, and despairing of ever bringing her work to a successful issue in Lynn, she began planning to take Christian Science up bodily and flee with it to some place far removed from mesmerists. She decided to send Arthur Buswell to some other part of the country, there to seek out a spot for the planting of her church. Where to send him was the question. Mrs. Eddy and Mr. Buswell got out a map of the United States and studied it together. But, however topical the map, there were no red or green lines to indicate where mesmerism ran light or heavy, and they realised that the venture would be largely a leap in the dark. They finally selected Cincinnati, attracted, Mr. Buswell says, by its central location and by the number of railroads which seemed,