Before getting acquainted with Christian Science I underwent a good deal of physical suffering, but worse than this was the constant fear of an hereditary tendency to mental depression.
A sincere love for study made me choose a university career. I tried to overcome the obstacles of a weak constitution by means of human energy, which, however, did not prove a safeguard against nervous breakdowns and heart disease. Chronic indigestion, the result of an operation for appendicitis, made me for eleven years rely on materia medica, which seemed to bring relief, but no healing.
One day an acquaintance (to-day a dear friend) called on me and told me that for all this she knew a remedy that would never fail. She had a little book with her which she asked me to read. I accepted it simply because I would not offend her. On the cover I found the title, "Retrospection and Introspection" by Mary Baker Eddy, and a little golden cross and crown, encircled by the inscription familiar to all students of Christian Science. After reading the book I thought it was beautiful but too different from all I had learned to be of any use to me, so I went on grumbling over life's burden and taking medicine. Medicine, however, did no more to help me than before, and I could not forget the little book.
