(Epistle 475) which J. A. Froude (Life and Letters of Erasmus, 1894, p. 301) reproduces in a condensed form thus: "This Dialogue [Lucian's Philopseudes\ teaches us the folly of superstition, which creeps in under the name of religion. When lies are told us Lucian bids us not disturb ourselves, however complete the authority which may be produced for them. Even Augustine, an honest old man and a lover of truth, can repeat a tale as authentic which Lucian had ridiculed under other names so many years before Augustine was born. What wonder, therefore, that fools can be found to listen to the legends of the saints or to stories about hell, such as frighten cowards or old women. There is not a martyr, there is not a virgin, whose biographies have not been disfigured by these monstrous absurdities. Augustine says that lies when exposed always injure the truth. One might fancy they were in- vented by knaves or unbelievers to destroy the credibility of Chris- tianity itself." Miracles, according to Erasmus, did not happen in his time — though they were said to happen. "I have spoken of miracles," he writes (Froude, p. 351). "The Christian religion nowadays does not require miracles, and there are none; but you know that lying stories are set about by crafty knaves." He de- scribes with his biting satire what happened (and did not happen) when the Protestants took over Basle. "Smiths and carpenters were sent to remove the images from the churches. The roods and the unfortunate saints were cruelly handled. Strange that none of them worked a miracle to avenge their dignity, when before they had worked so many at the slightest provocation" (p. 359). "No blood was shed; but there was a cruel assault on altars, images, and pictures. We are told that St. Francis used to resent light remarks about his five wounds, and several other saints are said to have shown displeasure on similar occasions. It was strange that at Basle not a saint stirred a finger. I am not so much sur- prised at the patience of Christ and the Virgin Mary" (p. 360). As to relics and relic-worship: "What would Jerome say could he see the Virgin's milk exhibit£d for money; with as much honor paid to it as to the consecrated body of Christ; the miraculous oil; the portions of the true cross, enough if they were collected to freight a large ship? Here we have the head of St. Francis, there our Lady's petticoat or St. Anne's cowl, or St. Thomas of Canterbury's shoes; not presented as innocent aids to religion, but as the sub- stance of religion itself — and all through the avarice of priests and the hypocrisy of monks playing on the credulity of the people. Even bishops play their parts in these fantastic shows, and approve and dwell on them in their rescripts" (pp. 121 f.).
ROMAN CATHOLIC MIRACLES 261
24. Legenden-Studien, 1906; Die christliche Legende des Abend- landes, 19 10.
25. Die christliche Legende, usw., p. 69.
26. Pp. 3, 4-
27. P. 117.
28. Op. cit., p. 8; cf. Legenden-Studien, p. 70.
29. .Die christliche Legende, usw., p. 118.
30. On the miracles, especially of healing, of classical antiquity, see E. Thraner, art., "Health and Gods of Healing," in Hastings's ERE, vol. VI, pp. 540-566; Otto Weinreich, Antike Heilungs- wunder, 1909; R. Lembert, Die W under glaube der Romer und Grie- chen, 1905; and Antike W under kur en, 191 1; G. von Rittersheim, Der medizin. W under glauben und die Incubation im Altertum, 1878; L. Deubner, De Incubatione, 1900; M. Hamilton, Incubation, 1906. On the transference of the heathen customs to Christianity, see Deubner and Hamilton, and especially E. Lucius, Die Anfdnge des Heiligenkults in der christliche Kirche, 1904; Th. Trede, Wunder- glaube im Heidentutn und in der alien Kirche, 1901, and Das Heiden- tum in der Romishen Kirche, 4 vols., 1889-1891; P. Saintyves, Les Saints successeurs des Dieux, 1907. With respect to the mediaeval miracles, see especially P. Toldo of Turin, who began in 1901 in the Studien der vergleichenden Liter aturgeschichte a "scientific classifica- tion" of the mediaeval miracles, in a series of articles entitled, "Lives and Miracles of the Saints in the Middle Ages"; see also Koch's Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Liter aturgeschichte, vol. XIV (1901), pp. 267 ff., where Toldo prints the Introduction to these studies. The bizarre character of these miracles is fairly illustrated by a brief but brightly written review of them in R. A. Vaughan's Hours with the Mystics,6 1903, vol. II, pp. 218-222.
31. Heinrich Giinter, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. X, 1911, p. 229, singles the stigmata out from other miraculous manifesta- tions as "an especially Christian manifestation"; all the rest have heathen parallels.