NEW CHAPTERS IN THE WARFARE OF SCIENCE. 473 



High in the cupola, above the altars and relics, were placed the 

 bells. Sent by pious donors, they were solemnly baptized and con- 

 secrated in 1871, four bishops officiating, a multitude of the faithful 

 being present from all parts of Europe, and the sponsors of the great 

 tenor bell being the Bourbon claimant to the ducal throne of Parma 

 and bis duchess. The good bishop who baptized the bells consecrated 

 them with a formula announcing their efficacy in driving away the 

 " prince of the power of the air," and the lightning and tempests he 

 provokes. 



And then, above all, at the summit of the central spire, high above 

 relics, altars, and bells, was placed a lightning-rod!' 1 ' 



The account of the monastery, published under the direction of the 

 present worthy abbot, more than hints at the saving, by its bells, of 

 a ship which was wrecked a few years since on that coast ; and yet, 

 to protect the bells and church and monks and relics from the very 

 foe whom, in the mediaeval faith, all these were thought most power- 

 ful to drive away, recourse was had to the scientific discovery of that 

 " arch-infidel," Benjamin Franklin ! 



Perhaps the most striking recent example in Protestant lands of 

 this change from the old to the new, occurred not long since in one of 

 the great Pacific dependencies of the British crown. At a time of 

 severe drought, an appeal was made to the bishop, Dr. Moorhouse, to 

 order public prayers for rain. The bishop refused, advising the peti- 

 tioners for the future to take better care of their water-supply, virtually 

 telling them, " Heaven helps those who help themselves." But most 

 noteworthy in this matter was it that the English Government, not 

 long after, scanning the horizon to find some man to take up the good 

 work laid down by the lamented Bishop Fraser, of Manchester, chose 

 Dr. Moorhouse ; and his utterance upon meteorology, which a few 

 generations since would have been regarded by the whole Church 

 as blasphemy, was universally alluded to as an example of strong good 

 sense, proving him especially fit for one of the most important bishop- 

 rics in England. 



Throughout Christendom, the prevalence of the conviction that 

 meteorology is obedient to laws, is more and more evident. In 

 cities especially, where men are accustomed each day to see posted in 

 public places charts which show the storms moving over various 

 parts of the country, and to read in the morning papers scientific 

 prophecies as to the weather, the old view can hardly be very in- 

 fluential. 



* See "Guide," as above, p. 84. "Les Isles de Lerins," by the Abbe" Alliez (Paris, 

 1860), and the "Histoire de Lerins," by the same author, are the authorities for the gen- 

 eral history of the abbey, and are especially strong in presenting the miracles of Saint 

 Honorat, etc. The " Cartulaire " of the monastery, recently published, is also valuable. 

 But these do not cover the recent revival, for an account of which recourse must be 

 had to the very interesting and naive "Guide" already cited. 



