About eighteen years ago I was visiting at my old home, near Boston, and called upon a friend, whose daughter had been healed by some one who had read some books. I saw the books for a very few moments while making this call, and they attracted me as no other book had ever done. I had a strong desire to read them, but did not feel free to ask to do so. Science and Health was then in two volumes, and I have since found that this was the third edition.
About five years later a friend brought me several books to read, and among them were the two volumes of Science and Health, then in its eleventh edition. I immediately recognized them as like the books I had so desired to read before, and I read all the time until I had read them through several times. I had never seen or known of any one who had been healed except this friend so long ago. I knew they were true, because they explained the Bible so clearly. I believed every word without the least hesitation.
In a short time an old claim of sick-headache attacked me, which had always appeared at the slightest provocation: if I were angry, tired, or disturbed in any manner, going half an hour over the regular time for eating, or going without a cup of tea with my meals. I could not drink coffee, feeling sure the headache would follow, and if I moved about much I was liable to faint, sometimes many times in succession. This I supposed was inherited. After I had tried to ignore this claim, or just say no to it, I awakened to the fact that there was more for me to do. It was then in the afternoon, and the pain was severe. I stood up, and turned upon it with these words: —
