The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-15
Science in the process Of evolution makes

| Science in the process Of evolution makes
| no pretense to solve every problem. If it
did it would stultfy its own evolution.
| It offers an explanation, reasonable in pro-
| portion to its discoveries, and that is all.
| In everv case il is toe TO systematic ne
| CATION which the morrow may cause TO
| melt away in the light of its new triumphs
| think that its evolution has not Jagged
| behind that of miracle; for in every
| age the faith cure has been able, by Its
| own unaided power, to cause tumors and
| ulcers of a certain class to disappear. In
| such cases ignorance would cling to
| method of the working Of which it had not
grasped the secret. Although We are still
! ignorant of many things. [ maintain that
we have today made great progress in the
| direction of the scientific explanation of
| phenomena, and toresee the approach OF
| day, as vet more or less remote, when
| the evident reality of the facts will no
| longer meet with contradiction. Let US
| now examine the elements OF the scientific
| position of the faith cure.
| The faith cure is found in the fullest
| vgor a. religious shrines. There have
| been thaumaturges in every age. from
| Simon Magus down to the Prince of Ho-
| henlohe at the beginning of this century,
| not to speak of Deacon Paris, who have
| enjoyed the gift of performing cures said
| to be miraculous-that is to say, OF inspir-
! ing the faith cure. These thaumaturges,
/
| gious orders. founded shrines, where the
miracles which they had themselves per-
| formed during their lives were multiplied
| after their death. It is certainly
noteworthy that the Deity Himself
is not supplicated at religious
| shrines, but His prophets or His disciples.
| In almost every case il is some simple
! mortal who has earned his canoniZation
| by performing miracles during his life.
| 1t is also curious to learn that certain of
| these thaumaturges were afti cted with the
| very maiadies which they were so shortly
| to cure: st. Francis d'Assise and st.
| Theresa, whose shrnes are both in the
| first rank OF those renowned for miracles
| of healing, were themselves undeniably
| hysterlcal.
The way in which the shrine is formed
| is of little account, but it is extremely
interesting to study the shrine itself with
| view to arriving at definition of the
| word miracle" And this definition be-
comes striking when one learns that all
| these shrines resemble each other and are
all cast in the same mould. They have
been the same from the most remote
periods of history up to our own day,
copying one another. so to speak. That is
TO say that through all ages, among the
most diverse civilizations, in the midst of
religions apparently most dssimiiar, the
conditions of the miracle of healing have
remained the same, its laws of evolution
lmmutahle.
For instance. let us examine the As
ciereion at Athens.#a direct descendant
OF the shrines of ancient Egypt, since the
| healing god of the Asc iepeion shows the
| very iineaments of Scraps, the thau-
| maturge OF the Pharaohs. At the bottom
| OF the shrine stands the miracle-working
| statue: among the servitors of the temple
| are the doctor priests. who are charged
| with noting and aiding the cures-that is
| to say. the medical board which the shrines
| OF today never fail to maintain if they are
| of sufficient Importance.
| Again, We find beneath the porticoes of
| the Ascepeon very curious class of per-
| sons-namely, the intercessors. whose
business it is to approach the healing god
| in various towns and impiore his protec-
| ton Tor their clients vicariousiy.
All through Potion there exists a class
| of old women, whose ordinary business it
| is to go in like manner and intercede at
| the miraculous tomb of st. Rad gunde for
| those who, although believers in faith
| healing, either will not or cannot go them
| selves.
We may leave these Intermediates, and
| consider simply the suppliants who come
| in person, From every deme of Greece
| those who believed in the faith cure Jour
| neyed to the shrine to obtain relief from
| their ills. On their arrival they placed
| rich presents on the altar of the god, and
| plunged into the healing spring which
dubbed up before the temple of Escula-
plus.
by Zeus." exclaims the worthy woman
to whom Clarion, the servant in Aristo-
planes comedy, tells the aiiegoricai adj
ventures of P!ontos, Its queer kind of
kindness to dip an old man into cold.
waterW Centuries have passed, but the
| sacred stream flows on still.
After these pre.iminaries the suppGants
are admitted to pass the night under the
| portcoes OF the temple. Thus the incuba-
| ton commences, the nine days prOpita-
| ton. during which the heal ng virtue of
| faith rises ever higher and higher by the
| power of auto-sue gestion; each one is in
| tected by his nelghbors with an uucon-
| scious enthusiasm, and the cure takes
place If it comes Off at all.
Those WHO found a cure in the Ascie-
| peion adorned the walls OF the temple with
| votive hymns engraved IN marble, and,
| more commonly, with arms. legs. necks,
| breasts, made of more or less precious ma
| terials. to represent the part of the body
| which had been cured by the miraculous
| agency. Modern shrines are always
| adorned with these votive tablets, and
| Just as at Athens of old, a crowd of haw-
| kers stand at the door selling arms, hands,
| little children, all in wax. for the adorn-
ment of the steps which lead to the saints
| tomb. or of the walls Of the shrine. The
rosary used during the nine days proba-
| ton. during which the devotional feeling
| Is Delng worked up, reminds one OF the
| chaplet which the Mussuman carries
| when he kneels before the tomb of a can
| onized marabout.
| The methods by which the faith cure
works, then, are the same at all times, in
| all ATTITUDES; the same among pagans and
| Christians as among Mussuimans-one
| and all wear the same characteristics. The
| shrines and the propitiatory rites are
| analogous. The healing god indeed,
varies, but the human mind, which is al
ways the same in the great manifesto
| tons, ascribes to each and all Identical
! functions.
In general way, the faith cure does not
| develop the whole Of its healing forces
| spontaneously.
If an invalid hears report that miracu-
| lous cures take place in such-and-such a
shrine. it is Very rarely that he yields to
| the temptation to go there ut once. A
| thousand material difficulties stand. at
least temporarily, in the way OF his NOV
| ing; il is no light matter for paralytic or
| a blind man, however well off ne be- to
| start on long journey. He questions his
| friends; he demands circum stantiai ac-
! counts of the wonderful cures OF which
rumor has spoken. He receives moth
| ing but encouragement, not onlv
from his immediate surroundings, but
| often even from his doctor; who
| is unwilling 10 deprive his patient
| of his Last hope, especially if he believes
| his ma!ady TO be amenable to the faith