large part of the worst
practices of the mediaeval inquisitors into witchcraft was based? Why
forget the angel who wrestled with Jacob, and, as the account suggests,
somewhat over-stepped the bound of fair play, at the end of the
struggle? Surely, we must agree with Dr. Newman that, if all these
camels have gone down, it savours of affectation to strain at such gnats
as the sudden ailment of Arius in the midst of his deadly, if
prayerful,[63] enemies; and the fiery explosion which stopped the Julian
building operations. Though the _words_ of the "Conclusion" of the
"Essay on Miracles" may, perhaps, be quoted against me, I may express my
satisfaction at finding myself in substantial accordance with a
theologian above all suspicion of heterodoxy. With all my heart, I can
declare my belief that there is just as good reason for believing in the
miraculous slaying of the man who fell short of the Athanasian power of
affirming contradictories, with respect to the nature of the Godhead, as
there is for believing in the stories of the serpent and the ark told in
Genesis, the speaking of Balaam's ass in Numbers, or the floating of the
axe, at Elisha's order, in the second book of Kings.

It is one of the peculiarities of a really sound argument that it is
susceptible of the fullest development; and that it sometimes leads to
conclusions unexpected by those who employ it. To my mind, it is
impossible to refuse to follow Dr. Newman when he extends his reasoning,
from the miracles of the patristic and mediaeval ages backward in time,
as far as miracles are recorded. But, if the rules of logic are valid, I
feel compelled to extend the argument forwards to the alleged Roman
miracles of the present day, which Dr. Newman might not have admitted,
but which Cardinal Newman may hardly reject. Beyond question, there is
as good, or perhaps better, evidence of the miracles worked by our Lady
of Lourdes, as there is for the floating of Elisha's axe, or the
speaking of Balaam's ass. But we must go still further; there is a
modern system of thaumaturgy and demonology which is just as well
certified as the ancient.[64] Veracious, excellent, sometimes learned
and acute persons, even philosophers of no mean pretensions, testify to
the "levitation" of bodies much heavier than Elisha's axe; to the
existence of "spirits" who, to the mere tactile sense, have been
indistinguishable from flesh and blood; and, occasionally, have wrestled
with all the vig