I came into Christian Science for moral betterment. From childhood I was fond of alcoholic drink and tobacco in all forms, and as I grew older the appetite increased. I studied pharmacy for a profession, graduating from the St. Louis school in 1894. About the same year I was treated by an eminent specialist for a catarrhal affliction, and during that time I acquired the habit of using cocaine.
My wife was a Christian Scientist before we married, and at that time I chose to treat the subject as a mild form of insanity. A very dear friend of hers gave us a copy of Science and Health for a wedding present. I read the book to please her, and although I recognized the truth in it, I at once defied its teachings under the subterfuge that it interfered with my profession. My wife kept on studying and applying Christian Science every day, and I kept on rolling pills and using liquor, tobacco, and opiates, until I could neither work, sleep, nor eat. What the doctors called nicotine poisoning had rendered me almost blind, and for four years I wore the strongest glasses, besides often using an extra magnifying lens to read prescriptions.
In June, 1906, a baby girl came to us; then I tried all my will-power to brace up, but failed. Let me say here that I now know human will is not power and always fails. My wife kept telling me that God is the only power, but not until Feb. 16, 1908, did I decide to put myself under His government. That day I went to a Christian Science practitioner and asked him to treat me for the drink habit, saying nothing about the other habits. I hoped the drug habit would yield with the liquor, but tobacco I expected to keep, for it would be the only pleasure left for me, even if it did cost my sight. Had I known that the appetite for tobacco would go, I might never have asked for help.
