Woman by divine rights is needed to fill her place in the office of human rights. Womanhood has had heart-torn, weary centuries of being bound as a chattel by selfish male humanity, while male wars have raged unceasingly. Pagan idolatry has kept womanhood hidden, but the appeal of the millions of women in the world to-day breaks the fetters, allowing the promise of real civilization and democracy to shine forth. Human progress will never reach harmony until real womanhood is understood and practiced.
When at the age of about eight years the little girl who later became known to the world as Mary Baker Eddy heard a voice calling her by name, the revelation of the womanhood of God was dimly brought to human consciousness. The child ripened through much tribulation until the full revelation of the real nature of God and man burst upon Mrs. Eddy in 1866, and Christian Science was born. We read on page 10 of "Christian Healing" by Mrs. Eddy: "The dragon that was wroth with the woman, and stood ready 'to devour the child as soon as it was born,' was the vision of envy, sensuality, and malice, ready to devour the idea of Truth. But the beast bowed before the Lamb: it was supposed to have fought the manhood of God, that Jesus represented; but it fell before the womanhood of God, that presented the highest ideal of Love."
Mrs. Eddy's human footsteps should be treasured for the race. She is the woman who has stood through all forms of malicious attack, by the press, pulpit, and, courts, in spite of the ties of the flesh, of disloyal students, and every imaginable activity of the evil mind. Her standing for perfect God and perfect man surrounded her with victory and brought her the highest human success. Loyal followers supported and upheld her works, and she sent thousands out into the world healing the sick as Christian Science practitioners. Lives restored to health, the poverty-stricken who have found wealth, the mentally unbalanced whose reason has been restored have reason to be grateful to this woman who has stood for spiritual advancement.
