One of America's greatest statesmen, Charles Sumner, was an uncompromising foe of human slavery, and his work in Congress had much to do with the ultimate banishment of this practice from our land. Of him, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:
One language held his heart and lip,
Straight onward to his goal he trod,
And proved the highest statesmanship
Obedience to the voice of God.
It was at about the time of the beloved poet's eulogy that Mary Baker Eddy discovered and began the founding of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy was a friend of Whittier's, having healed him of incipient pulmonary consumption. Our Leader was fully alert to the blessing of freedom which had come to those citizens formerly held in bondage in her country; and on pages 225 and 226 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," she comments: "The rights of man were vindicated in a single section and on the lowest plane of human life, when African slavery was abolished in our land. That was only prophetic of further steps towards the banishment of a world-wide slavery, found on higher planes of existence and under more subtle and depraving forms."
