Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/355

Rh expressed himself on the subject of the new religion at various times in various ways according to his mood and the character of the friend he was with. But what Mr. Wiggin thought as to Mrs. Eddy’s authorship he expressed in an extensive review published in 1886 entitled “Christian Science and the Bible.” In this review the following passage occurs:

“Now in this century there has arisen a sect called Christian Scientists. Their founder and cornerstone is Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Eddy. Born in Concord, New Hampshire, and afterwards a resident of Sanbornton and Lynn, she has been for several years a resident of Boston, where she is pastor of the Church of Christ, Scientist. She is also president of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, a school of the prophets whose students are taught Mrs. Eddy’s views as they are set forth in “Science and Health,” a book which she first published ten years ago, and which has since passed through many editions, though she practised and taught the Science years before the book was printed or the college established.”

Through a period of five years Mr. Wiggin wrote many articles for The Christian Science Journal and he used his brain and talents in its defense, taking up the cudgels against clergymen in all parts of the country who essayed in sermon or magazine article to ridicule the new faith. Is it necessary to assume that he was acting the part of a hypocrite or merely enjoying a tilt with professional theologians under the cover of his pseudonym like a masked knight at a tournament?