In the legend of "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" it is said that Arthur was a mere babe when his father died, and being surrounded by enemies, to ensure his safety he was hidden away; so that many thought the babe had died. The country was devastated by wars, murders, and robberies, and no man's life was safe from his enemies. Years passed away, and then one day the people were summoned from all the surrounding country, that a king might be chosen for Brittany. A test of valor was to decide the choice. Embedded in a great block of stone which stood in their midst, was a sword, and the one who should remove it was to be king. Knights and squires tried in vain, and declared in anger that it could not be done. A young squire was persuaded to make the trial, and the onlookers laughed him to scorn; but at his touch the sword yielded, The sword had been waiting for the pure knight,—one who was worthy to wield it,—and the legend tells how with this sword he conquered all enemies.
Hidden away from the world, a woman was waiting for the time when the sword of Truth should yield to her touch. Like Jesus of Nazareth, she was fulfilling the duties of the life wherein she had been placed, and above all she was a sincere Christian. Nevertheless, unknown even to herself, "the still, small voice" of Truth was preparing her for a great revelation, and the day came when our Leader unsheathed the sword of Truth, which bears in shining letters the words, "All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation" (Science and Health, p. 468). She declared that God did not make sin, sickness, and death; and that all may prove it, here and now! She was the pure knight who with the might of Spirit accomplished what material force could not effect. Since then she has been slaying the enemies of Truth, to right and left. A touch of the sword, and fear, pride, superstition, and hate, all give way. The sword never fails, for it bears the signet of "God with us." And the glorious wonder is that she has placed this sword within reach of all. Our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," tells what thousands of volumes have vainly been trying to tell these many years; it proffers to those seeking for light, a ray of hope in the midst of the doubt and despair of diseased beliefs.
O loving mother-heart! dear, patient Leader, are we sufficiently thankful to you? Like the knights of old, do we not often prove unworthy of our "high calling"? Why are we not stronger in meeting every foe? "I come not to send peace, but a sword," says our Master. Even in our own mentality we are not to expect immediate immunity from error; it is a battle with the world, the flesh, and all evil, as they strike upon our senses. In her beautiful hymn, "Saw ye my Saviour?" Mrs. Eddy tells us.
