The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-06
THE UfRtffLOi OtWTs ~
I0f ANTS

-
w fHp EnttpH ~ I've atg qir \
eupy ~ los uesuties JutfiarNs ~
iaufdss hfs been vefY EiGdiF saNt No
~ 80 uphpiiss ~ ths miracles Fb"4'
eouffesv seirama ~ = pfnuf fhtt 80
niay difsr sifbuut hostility Tho Euft
u %eieaaef, and sven HtHp'uuus aiviHa
nv scrouhis N fhs cases sin phut1a
ffsfhs ~ Tho patients HIeh . vufH Il
~ Hfrf = ifeinsuiBus pieife n siHeefity
Nv the naft N thnss w shDu II Il pUt hefnfr
ths surli Fes chs, dists'sf eButi tefsil
their Chtech aFettsF thfN @ruviH'nn N .
ssres N falss miftciea1
~ easea ~ diesaas am m iudgei
hut chat STRIKES me Ia that theae are Ill
casaa " diaeasa. ahd thstefofs ~ least
opsn ~ arepticai Investigation Why
has there been ~ faisine ~ The dead %
ifs' Why has thefs been M fea,ofaa
tipn ~ an Amputated Hmbt N Tie ~
mighty hal thoueht A. ~ ih'efpuas ~
miracle. would not The miracle have boon
N q character past Doubt
I am MT sreptioal ~ halufs, mr. do !
put limits ~ o~mnips,enoe. let me Gee OF
I've assured hat medical experts havs seen
q raising ~ life ~ IN anputsi~i w .
fes,orrsi and I shall he contincel
~ tho maIadles ~ Nhich the fourdes
votariea are rnred May scetn ~ belong
n the beurotic type. anoriina foom, ~
! slppoae. for the play n dlaeased fancy.
fourdea. 40 are hers told. offers
q vast field for tho study u nervous
maladies' n IL veil known 10 what
lengths diasased fancy will 60. A lady
n a nervous temperament In q ~nelghbor-
hood where I once lived was possessed
with tho belief that she was dumb, and
could not be induced 20 speak even on
her deathbed, though she talked In her
sleep. had this from the physician who
attended her.
In ~tclepathic stories the retroactive
imagination, dressing up the Incident,
seems 10 play a great part. May 10 not do
tho same In stories Of miraculous cure1
The cure Of a mortal disease by dipping In
the pool Of Lourdcs would no doubt be al
real a miracle as a raising from the dead or
the restoration Of n limb; but can we he
sure that the disease was really mortal and
that II had not been invested with that
character by the delight and piety Of the
person cured7
To medical evidence, which In given In
some cases, l should Of course defer II ]
we're assured that the medical man was
unbiased and that his opinion was IN
flrmed by the profession. This seems not
too much to ask when we are called upon
to believe a miracle.
/ Of course cannot with Justice deny that
I am BIASED against belief in miracles,
which, II genuine, would confirm a religious
faith at variance with my own convictions,
and in the form from which I most recoil.
that OF ultramontanism, with it's Syllabus
claiming for the Church temporal as we'll
as spiritual power; asserting her right to
the use Of force, that Is, OF persecution, and
launching defiance against the leading prin-
ciples Of modern civilization. .
B~ernadette, an ignorant peasant girl Of
fourteen, had, as she said, md no doubt
believed, a vision of the Virgin Mary, who,
in n series of interviews, inspired her with
beliefs Of the ultramontane type and
launched her on a religious mission. This
was the origin and is the support Of Lourdes.
II the female figure which Bernadette saw
and with which she conversed was not the
Mother Of God, Lourdes falls, and great will
be the fall thereof. GOODWIN SMITH.