Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-02-12
THE AGE OF MIRACLES.
NOYark Daily Adrertisor.l

Newark Daily Advertiser
The great majority of the people
will be pleased to learn that Arch
bishop Wood, of Philadelphia, has
pronounced what is called the
Mauch Chunk miracle a delusion,
and it is fair to say that the Catho-
lie Church in this country has not
been apt to back up officially any
claims to miraculous cures. Here
and there priest more Jealous than
wise either tries his hands at a sem
sation or is willing to be duped in
the business, but in a short time
the delusion comes to an end and
is heard Of no more. About a year
ago the convent at West Hoboken
was the scene Of these professed
miraculous cures, and a number
were quite as positively substantial
ted as anything that is Of this ma
ture can be, yet the excitement died
out, and with it the attainment of
health without the doctor. Other
parts Of the country are OCCASION
ally heard from, and while there is
SO large an element of ignorance
and credulity in the human mind
there will never be entirely lacking
something for it to feed upon. In
Europe, where intelligence has rot
yet escaped, even as much as here,
from the bonds of superstition, the
belief in miracles affects a much
larger proportion Of both church
and people, yet even there there is
a growing hesitation over every
fresh novelty claiming a superna-
tural parentage.
In the case which has called out
the ridicule of the press and the
grave reprimand Of the archbishop,
it appears that there is even less
than the customaryeyidence Of any
mysterious influence operating upon
the woman to produce a cure. She
had been suffering from illness, but
not to the extent previously repre-
sented and she has apparently a
character for self-delusion which
goes far to impeacA her present
testimony. 1t is stated that Miss
Greth few years ago shook hands
with the ghost of a departed nun.
The middle finger Of her right
hand withered and after several
operations it was amputated. Ier
stories Of angel visits are old and
threadbare in that community,
and are generally accepted as idle
| tales and invented forn other pur-
pose than to create an excitement
in the Aeighborhood. Her sister
! teshfes that she was not lacking
IN physical strength, b4t that she
daily walked to church, q distance
of twenty-five squares. AS to her
ecstacy or temporary decease, only
the most profound ignorance would
credit it. There are various tGrmF
!0f epilepsy or Catalepsy in which
there is q suspension Of the senses
and of bodily action, and there are
possible trance states where death i;
more closely simulated, but nene NJ
these caeas in any way appertain to
miracles. The Well.known author
ess, Mrs. Mowatt, claimed 70 have
dcrisea great physical benefit froia
being threwn iuto a clairvoyant
condition; her miaa rs well as hel
body recuperating while ia this
deep somholept state. Physicians
may have doubts ia respect to the
benefit Of these and many similar
cases OF abnormal action, but al
least there is no claim here to what
is miraculous, and all that was done
could be accounted for satisfactorily
Tha pathology of disease reveals
many wonderful cures, many sud.
den restoratiops tQ bealth, where it
was thought to be Impossible, spd
there is hardly a practitioner oi
note bnt coul6 finnish from his
own experience enough to set UP
scores Of claims to Divine intcrpO.
sition among a people Whaas faith
is boundless and whose knowledge
is OF an inverse ratio.
While it might not, therefore, be
proper u say that what is known
as miracle is utterly impossible
and will never again occur, it is fal
more in harmony with the present