Page:Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.djvu/228

216 The Scriptures say, “Offences must come, but woe to him through whom they come.” Evil must be seen, met, and mastered, since a belief in it exists in mortal mind, and will assert itself sooner or later; and the best time to encounter it, for attack and victory, is the earliest.

It is now many years since I first gained a clear sense of the obligations of Christian Science. They grew more and more imperative, as my recognition of its claims increased. These glorious recognitions rebuked in me all sensuality and selfishness; and then I knew that my discovery must be based on a Divine Principle that would stand forever.

My desire to benefit the whole human race grows stronger every year of my earth-life. The conviction that has led me thus far is in the line of light. It can “never call retreat,” or enter upon a line of darkness that will injure humanity.

When Christian Science and animal magnetism are both comprehended, as they will be some day, it will be seen why the heralds of Truth have been persecuted by the dragon. In the warfare of animal natures, the beast wounded, or at bay, turns on his assailant; so the Serpent bites the heel courageous enough to bruise its head.

If the sinner hates Truth, it is because he is unwilling to be saved. Reformatory pioneers are misunderstood, until the merits of their measures, and the cause they advocate, are appreciated. The birth of a great idea brings pain and travail. In its infancy it requires toil and sacrifice. At a more advanced stage it encounters envy. But when my nursling is menaced, I clasp him more tenderly; and when he is a man, he will speak for himself and for his mother.