In 1837 Mary Baker was 16 when the an 18-year-old Victoria was crowned Queen of England and announced "I will be good" (p. 64, Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery by Robert Peel, 2nd edition).
That same year, Peel notes that both Mary and her sister Martha "had long sieges of sickness" (p. 57), with Mary resorting to a strict diet of bread and water (p. 58).
Additionally, 1837 marked the arrival of a new pastor, Reverend Enoch Corser, at the Northfield Congregational Church in Sanbornton Bridge. This gentleman also served as the local school teacher. His son Bartlett later recalled Mary Baker's "gift of expression", "her superior abilities and scholarship, her depth and independence of thought, and not least, spiritual-mindedness" (p. 65). Mary became a member of the Congregational church the following year, although not without her protest against the doctrine of foreordination (p. 66).
Meanwhile, Mary's beloved elder brother Albert "was admitted to the Massachusetts bar" in April 1837, but, beset by ill-health, returned to Sanbornton for three or four months for rest and recuperation, a period undoubtedly at least partially spent tutoring his little sister. Some years later, he would write to Mary and Martha "If there is a brother in this world, who is happy in the love of his sisters, it is I. ... I know there is honesty and sincerity in a sister's love. But my joy was saddened, upon reading in your postscript, that Mary's health is again in danger" (p. 82).
Mary's ill-health would continue to be a concern in coming years.
Julie Swannell
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