The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-11 00:00:00

THE PROGRESS OF MIRACLES.

All France is honoured by another miracle. It
occurred close on the fetes of Cherbourg. A peasant
girl, of the French Pyrenees, was engaged in her
t ordinary pursuits, when suddenly a figure appeared
to her in a grotto, whom she had no difficulty in
recognising. The, figure was the Virgin Mary.
That was one miracle ; but it was followed by
another. The grotto was very pretty before, but it
now became useful. It had previously no water;
now a spring was bestowed upon the inhabitants
of the Pyrenean parish. Infidels and Protestants
might not believe in the figure whom they had not
seen, but the spring at least was within the grasp
of their degraded intellects. A commission has
been employed to examine the story. The members
are charged particularly to test the water of the
well. If it should have the slightest pretence to
the honour it is to be sold in bottles for the benefit
of the district. Perhaps it may be more profitable
to sell the water in another way. A village might
be built there. A shrine might be formed. If the
place have the slighest claim for natural beauty,
that should not be difficult. Devotees would take
the ground consecrated in this peculiar manner.
That mode, moreover, of turning this girl's vision
into permanent profit might have another advan-
tage. It would compel the girls of other towns to
examine grottoes with attention and care. It might
elicit other miracles. There is abundance of space
on the Pyrenees for small villages of pretty houses,
with neat gardens, capable of being used as summer
retreats, not only in thC common, but the ecclesiasti-
cal meaning of the word " retreats." Penance on
the Pyrenees would be lightened by the change of
scenery to the inhabitants of Lyons or of Paris.
They would descend to the cares and labours of the
plains doubly invigorated. They would derive
health of body and of mind by their exercises, their
meditations, and, if necessary, their stripes, but the
latter would be light in these mountains. No doubt
other and envious parishes and villages would es-
tablish rivals. So much the better. Too many
miracles will not occur. Cardinal Wiseman is
now in Ireland. There he proclaims the cold
want of enthusiasm that freezes him in Eng-
land. He sees it in the rigid features of
the solid crowd. Nothing will move them. His
eloquence falls on adamant or flint, or, at the
best, granite, like that of the Mourne Mountains ;
but when he reaches Ireland he is refreshed by
enthusiasm, by smiles, by tears, by fervour and
gratitude and.warmth,—by faith, of which, never-
theless, he holds that Martin Luther made a bad
use. He first learnt the English language, he says,
in Ireland ; and he is like the old classic gentleman
who gathered new strength and vigour always
when he fell on his mother earth. The Cardinal re-
turns to England from Ireland refreshed—a new
man, with a store of vigour for England to wear out.
It may be all natural and true ; but while France
finds, Ireland loses " the holy wells." They were
places of pilgrimage there long ago, and they arc
now forgotten. The peasant passes around them
behind his plough, instead of on his knees. D evotec,%3
do not look there for blessings. They do not go
there in payment of their vows. Ireland retro-
grades, France progresses. In the matter of holy
wells France is in the year 1558 as contrasted with
Ireland. This is a fact which Cardinal Wiseman
should not overlook. To Rostrevor, or a Wicklow
mountain, an event like that of the Pyrenees would
be fortune.—Glasgow Bulletin.