THE LAST YEARS 375 



strange that we should be two old women talking of 

 the days when we were young. 



TO FRAU CECILE METTENIUS 



November 6, 1901 

 . . . The old pantheistic idea of "God in Nature" 

 . . . holds a very beautiful truth, no doubt; — a 

 divine being ever present in the world he has made. 

 But when you try to specialize (I would almost say 

 materialize) this thought, it escapes you and is lost 

 in the vast distance where these great mysteries lie; 

 they are intangible — in trying to hold them we lose 

 them. This "new thought" may perhaps be leading 

 through scientific research to some unlooked-for rev- 

 elation, but I do not hear any confirmation of these 

 theories of Christian Science and the like from the 

 men who are the closest investigators. They come 

 rather from the outsiders than from the laboratories 

 where the researches are carried on. The only man I 

 know who has given his name to this new aspect of 

 speculation is our dear friend William James, the 

 psychologist. I think he does believe in the healing 

 power of some of these "Christian Scientists" and 

 does beheve that their methods may lead to good in 

 the end. But I will not talk farther of these vague 

 and as it seems to me crude views. 



December 5. — My birthday — seventy-nine. Flow- 

 ers and love from every side. I should be and am very 

 grateful. 



December 6. — All went well yesterday. I think it 



