Page:The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy.djvu/346

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.



CHAPTER XVI

MRS. EDDY'S BOSTON HOUSEHOLD—A DAILY WARFARE AGAINST MESMERISM—THE P. M. SOCIETY—AN ACTION AGAINST ARENS FOR INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, in Boston, was first at 569 Columbus Avenue, and later at 571, the house next-door. The houses, which are still standing, were then exactly alike, narrow three-and-a-half-story dwellings with gray stone fronts and slate roofs, a type of house very common in Boston. When Mrs. Eddy returned to the city in the fall of 1882, attended by Mr. Buswell and Mr. Frye, she at once resumed her classes; this, of course, meant that the college had reopened, for Mrs. Eddy was still the president and entire faculty. Half a dozen or more of her students now made their home in Mrs. Eddy's house, or, as they expressed it, "lived at the college." Among these were Calvin Frye, Arthur Buswell, Julia Bartlett, Hanover P. Smith, E. H. Hammond, and Mrs. Whiting. (Luther M. Marston and Mrs. Emma Hopkins came later.) They lived on a coöperative plan, each contributing his share toward the household expenses, while Mr. Frye did the marketing, engaged the servants, kept the accounts, and superintended the housekeeping. Mrs. Eddy fitted up an office on the first floor, where most of her resident students saw their patients. They observed a system of rotation, and each had

298