69. The first of the ten miracles which Montgeron discusses at large was wrought on a young Spaniard, who was stone blind in one eye and saw but dimly with the other. Only the better eye was healed, and the famous oculist Gendron told him that he ought to be content with that, since the restoration of the other eye, in which many parts were absolutely destroyed, would require a mir- acle of creation comparable to giving a cripple two new legs, and no one ever heard of such a miracle. Yet Charlotte Laborde, we are told, who on the certificate of two surgeons had no legs at all, recovered a serviceable pair by one of these Jansenist miracles. Here is a miracle which overtops all other miracles — even that of the famous Pierre de Rudder at Lourdes, who only had an old frac- ture of the leg mended. Compare pp. 118 ff.
70. The literature of the subject is sufficiently intimated in the course of the lecture. The following may be profitably consulted: E. Lucius (ed. G. Anrich), Die Anfange des Heiligcnkidts in der christlichen Kirchc, 1904; H. Achelis, "Die Martyrologien, ihre Ge-
PATRISTIC AND MEDLEVAL MARVELS 257
schichte und ihr Wert," in the Abhandlungen d. kaiserl. Gesellschaft des Wissensch. zu Gbttingen, N. F. Ill, 1900; P. Allard, Dix leqons sur le martyr ez, 1907 (E. T. by L. Cappadelta, Ten Lectures on the Martyrs); L. Leclerq, Les Martyrs, 1902-1906; A. van Gennep, La Formation des Legendes, 1910; H. Delehaye, Les Legendes Hagiographiqucs, 1905 (E. T. by N. M. Crawford, The Legends of the Saints); H. Giinter, Legenden-Studien, 1906, Die christliche Legende des Abendlandes, 1910, article "Legends of the Saints" in the Catholic Encyclopedia; E. von Dobschiitz, article "Legende" in Haupt-Herzog3 ; G. H. Gerould, Saints' Legends, 1916.
Naturally the same infection from heathenism which produced the Christian miracles of these ages, showed itself also among the Jews. For the earliest period, see P. Fiebig, Jiidische Wunder- geschichten des neutestamentl. Zeitallers, 191 1 (original texts in same author's Rabbinische Wunderges. d. N. T. Zeitallers, 191 1). S. Schechter {Jewish Quarterly Review, April, 1900, pp. 431-432) writes: "Again our knowledge of the spiritual history of the Jews during the first centuries of our era might be enriched by a chapter on Miracles. Starting from the principle that miracles can only be explained by more miracles, an attempt was made some years ago by a student to draw up a list of the wonder-workings of the Rabbis recorded in the Talmud and the Midrashim. He applied himself to the reading of these works, but his reading was only cursory. The list, therefore, is not complete. Still it yielded a harvest of not less than two hundred and fifty miracles. They cover all classes of supernatural workings recorded in the Bible, but occur with much greater frequency." As the Christians did not think of denying the reality of the heathen miracles, but had their own way of accounting for their occurrence (see the interesting discus- sion in Augustine, City of God, X, 16), so the Jews. P. J. Hershon {Genesis with a Talmudic Commentary, E. T., p. 284) quotes from the Avoda-zarah, fol. 51, col. 1, as follows: "Zonan once said to Rabbi Akiva: Both I and thou know that an idol has nothing in it, and yet we see men who go to it lame and return sound; how dost thou account for it? He replied: I will tell thee a parable. There was a faithful man with whom his townspeople deposited their goods, without the presence of witnesses. One man did so likewise, but was careful to bring witnesses with him. Once, however, he de- posited something with him when no one else was present. Oh, said his wife, after his departure, let us keep that deposit for our- selves. What ! replied the husband, because the fool acted im- properly shall we forfeit our faith? So also when chastisements are sent on men, they (the chastisements) are adjured not to leave
258 NOTES TO LECTURE III
them before a certain day, a certain hour, and then only by a cer- tain medicament. It happens that the heathen man repairs to the heathen temple at that very time. The chastisements then say: By right we should not depart just now; but, on reflection, they add: Because that fool acts improperly, shall we violate our oath?" Where the Christians invoked demons, Akiva fell back on coincidence.
NOTES TO LECTURE III
ROMAN CATHOLIC MIRACLES
i. Mysticism and the Creed, 1914, p. ix.
2. The Sacred Shrine, 191 2, p. xi.
3. The sense of this continuity is very strong among Romanist writers; e.g., R. H. Benson, Lourdes, 1914, P- 59: '"These signs shall follow them that believe,' He said Himself; and the history of the Catholic Church is an exact fulfillment of the words. It was so, St. Augustine tells us, at the tombs of the martyrs; five hundred miracles were reported at Canterbury within a few years of St. Thomas' martyrdom. And now here is Lourdes, as it has been for fifty years, in this little corner of France."