The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-12-08

The Bishop read the gospels, prayers,
and exorcisms, burned Beellebub's name,
showed him the relic of the Holy Cross
and solemnly commanded him to depart.
The devil answered impudently that he
did not feel like going yet. L shall not
ask thee any longer said the Bishop,
when thou intendest to leave: l will
expel thee instantly by the power of the
living God, and by the precious body and
blood of Jesus Christ here in the sacra-
ment of the altar Ha, yesr shrieked
the demon l confess that the Son OF
God is here really and truly present
He is my Lord and Master. 1t fortunes
me to confess it but am forced to do
So Then he repeated several times
with a wild, unearthly howl, yes it is
true. [ must confess it. l am forced to
leave by the power of Gods body here
present. | must, must depart. y * |
shall go, but 1 shall not go empty
handed. BY the sacred blood L will
have my booty. 1 shall take along with
me the head of the little bailf of Viro-
ms, perhaps could also take with me
some of my Calvinists, body and soul,
for they belong to me. Hell give me
your head, cried he, turning to the Bish-
OPP, let me see whether cannot carry it
off, ETC., etc.
Now no one L suppose will ques-
ton the competence of this witness.
The devil certainly knows whether or
not the bread is still bread and the
wine still wine. He is thoroughly com
petent. But what shall we say of his
veracity? Would his testimony be re-
ceived in any of our courts of Justice?
Suppose there were trial in process,
and it should be proposed to put Satan
on the stand and take his testimony.
what does Father Muller think it
would be worth? And when the father
of lies" says the body of Christ was really
present, that only makes it the more alb
solutely certain that it was not. So we
will let Satan step down, if you please,
and we Will call for the next.
The next witness is-a mule. His tes-
timony will be found on page lis. A
devout soul named Bovillus, having his
doubts about the real presence, "St An
thony, proposes to have his mule, who
was probably an old and experienced one,
settle the matter for him. His PROPOSE
ton is to starve the mule for three days
doubtless to spiritualize him as much as
possible, and then bring him to the
saint" who is to put food on one side
and the host on the other, and if the an
lmal approaches the host first, Bovillus
is to accept it as evidence of the real pre-
sence. At the time appointed, and when
a crowd was gathered, st Anthony hold
ing In his hands the blessed sacrament
spoke thus: In the name of my Creator,
whom l am not worthy to hold in my
hands, L command thee to draw near and
PROSTATE thyself before thy God-to give
due honor to him, that the heritics NAV
learn from thee how they ought to wor-
ship their God in the blessed sacrament"
And behold no sooner had st Anthony
uttered these words than the mule left
his food, went before the blessed sacra-
ment and bowed his head to the ground
as if to adore it, At this sight Bovillus
and his whole family, together with many
other heritics, were converted and pro-
fessed their faith in the real presence.
Now really Father Muller must ex-
cuse me If [ cannot follow the illustrious
example of this Bovillus, and even upon
the high authority of mule "profess
faith In the real presence. Not that I
doubt the veracity of the mule. He had
no motive to deceive. He was as honest
as the day: but doubt his competence
to testify. And when 1 have seen these
educated hogs" telling the time of day,
calculating the age of visitors who had
merely given the date of their birth, |
am afraid good, honest Bovillus had run
against an educated mule" and was as
badly taken in as the honest countryman
in Richmond who at the State fair con-
sented to play game of cards with an
educated hog, and whom I afterwards
overheard telling some of his comrades
that a fellow don t mind losing his half
dollar much, but what hurts him is being
beat by hog"
The third witness is one upon whose
testimony can make no comment.
Were the subject not so sacred, there is
room for mirth over the spectacle of
man with jaws extended trying to per
form the feat of the celebrated giant
whose statue is at the fountain in Berne.
[ forbear all comment. 1 give you the
testimony as it is found on page 191 |
" A holy man was one day at Mass which |
was being said by priest who was rather
worldly. What was his surprise at the
moment of communion to see a charming
Il. 1 .