Accession: 392.50.010
Editorial Title: Janet T. Colman to Mary Baker Eddy, January 5, 1885
Author: Janet T. Colman 
Recipient: Mary Baker Eddy 
Date: January 5, 1885
Manuscript Description: Handwritten by Janet T. Colman on lined paper from Chicago, Illinois.
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392.50.010
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Chicago Jan. 5 1885
Dear Mrs Eddy,

I was glad to hear that your students had remembered you on Christmas. My thought in regard to it was this, how pleased you would be to be remembered by your students, then another thought came to my mind. How pleased you would be if each and every student would strive to follow out what you have taught them, and that would be the best Christmas present you ever had. I don’t seem to make a very brilliant student, but my aim is to do as near right as I can, and live up to what you have taught me. The best thing I ever had given me is the little I know of “Christian Science”.

I had such a beautiful day yesterday. My thoughts were filled to overflowing with good. The subject of them was the ten commandmentsEx 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, Ex 20:2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ex 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Ex 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Ex 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Ex 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: Ex 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: Ex 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Ex 20:12 ¶Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Ex 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. Ex 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Ex 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. Ex 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Ex 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. , and the way that they are written, “Thou Shalt” not do this nor that. It is something that we must look into. How can people say that they are free moral agents when the commands are so imperativeAs Written: imperitive . I feel that when we begin to understand that we cannot break his commands then we go higher in the understanding of “Science”Editorial Note: Christian Science. Oh to get so high as to understand that there is no evil.

Will you please ask Miss Bartlett if she has received a letter that I sent to her the 27th of Dec. containing twenty five ($25.00)Editorial Note: $25.00 in 1885 is the equivalent of $660.16 in 2019. in money to pay the debt I owed to the church up to April 1st 1885. I asked her to let me know when she received it. I was so glad to pay it. I hear that you are teaching another class. I trust that each and every one will turn out good soldiers and gladden your heart, by walking in the way they should go. Hope you will have the class for teachers.

Miss Brown is very kind to me. I see her often.

I don’t intend to withdraw from the Eastern Association as it would be like cutting off that which is too dear to me.

I don’t feel like joining this one out hereEditorial Note: An association of Christian Science students had been formed in Chicago following Mary Baker Eddy teaching a class there in May 1884.. I have to depend on what my husband does, so I cannot tell as I will stay long enough to join out here. My heart is with my brothers & sisters in the East. God bless & keep them from all belief of evil.

your loving student
Janet T. Colman.
392.50.010
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Reproduced from the archive of The Mary Baker Eddy Library
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Copied document link to clipboard.

Chicago Jan. 5 1885
Dear Mrs Eddy,

I was glad to hear that your students had remembered you on Christmas. My thought in regard to it was this, how pleased you would be to be remembered by your students, then another thought came to my mind. How pleased you would be if each and every student would strive to follow out what you have taught them, and that would be the best Christmas present you ever had. I don’t seem to make a very brilliant student, but my aim is to do as near right as I can, and live up to what you have taught me. The best thing I ever had given me is the little I know of “Christian Science”.

I had such a beautiful day yesterday. My thoughts were filled to overflowing with good. The subject of them was the ten commandmentsEx 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying, Ex 20:2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Ex 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Ex 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Ex 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Ex 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Ex 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Ex 20:9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: Ex 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: Ex 20:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Ex 20:12 ¶Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Ex 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. Ex 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Ex 20:15 Thou shalt not steal. Ex 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Ex 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. , and the way that they are written, “Thou Shalt” not do this nor that. It is something that we must look into. How can people say that they are free moral agents when the commands are so imperitive Corrected: imperative. I feel that when we begin to understand that we cannot break his commands then we go higher in the understanding of “Science”Editorial Note: Christian Science. Oh to get so high as to understand that there is no evil.

Will you please ask Miss Bartlett if she has received a letter that I sent to her the 27th of Dec. containing twenty five ($25.00)Editorial Note: $25.00 in 1885 is the equivalent of $660.16 in 2019. in money to pay the debt I owed to the church up to April 1st 1885. I asked her to let me know when she received it. I was so glad to pay it. I hear that you are teaching another class. I trust that each and every one will turn out good soldiers and gladden your heart, by walking in the way they should go. Hope you will have the class for teachers.

Miss Brown is very kind to me. I see her often.

I don’t intend to withdraw from the Eastern Association as it would be like cutting off that which is too dear to me.

I don’t feel like joining this one out hereEditorial Note: An association of Christian Science students had been formed in Chicago following Mary Baker Eddy teaching a class there in May 1884.. I have to depend on what my husband does, so I cannot tell as I will stay long enough to join out here. My heart is with my brothers & sisters in the East. God bless & keep them from all belief of evil.

your loving student
Janet T. Colman.
 
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Christian Science $25.00 in 1885 is the equivalent of $660.16 in 2019. An association of Christian Science students had been formed in Chicago following Mary Baker Eddy teaching a class there in May 1884.