his right to do so or his worthiness, since he was the best fitted of Quimby's followers to succeed him. But, lacking the confidence to take over the work of a master hand, he expressed his unfitness and declined the opportunity which Mrs. Eddy's appeal put before him. There was then no resource for Mrs. Eddy save to apply the Quimby method in her own way.
On the other hand, as we have seen above, Mrs. Eddy was for sometime in the throes of proving Quimby's principle in her own way. With no healer to depend on, she had to look to that principle alone. She still remained loyal to Quimby. There is no reason for believing that her attitude toward him changed in any way until sometime in 1872. He was to her the modern representative of the great saving truths taught by Jesus. He had developed the method by winch those truths could once more be applied to the healing of the sick. Her own necessity had proved the efficacy of that method anew. There was no reason for any revelation. There was no reason for any kind of claim in her own behalf. Her revelation was simply this: that when hard pressed she too could demonstrate the wisdom and power of the Science which Quimby had taught. It always comes to a person with the force of a revelation when one realizes that it is within one's power actually to apply a line of teaching which hitherto has seemed so wonderful that apparently its discoverer is the only person who can demonstrate it. This proof of his teaching was precisely what Dr. Quimby hoped his followers would make. For, as we have noted, he himself made no special claims. He knew that his teaching, fundamentally speaking, was eternally true. He knew that it was all to be found in the Bible. What he had discovered was a new key to unlock supposed mysteries which had been kept from the world throughout the Christian centuries. Years of experience were required on Dr. Quimby's part to work out this Science and to prove its efficacy. Quimby's followers really demonstrated it for themselves only so far as they added to the great work wrought for them by Quimby the personal proof which experience must give. Mrs. Eddy's case was no exception. A challenging experience gave her the conclusive evidence that the Science of the Christ had been brought to light once more.
Some allowance must always be made for the personal
