SECT. 22.] Credibility of Extraordinary Stories. 429 



to an adequate definition, is at least true as a description. 

 It is true, though it may not be the whole truth. Whatever 

 else the miracle may be, this is its physical aspect: this is the 

 point at which it comes into contact with the subject-matter 

 of science. If it were not considered that any suspension of 

 causation were involved, the event would be regarded merely 

 as an ordinary one to which some special significance was 

 attached, that is, as a type or symbol rather than a miracle. 

 It is this aspect moreover of the miracle which is now ex 

 posed to the main brunt of the attack, and in support of 

 which therefore the defence has generally been carried on. 



Now it is obvious that this, like most other definitions or 

 descriptions, makes some assumption as to matters of fact, 

 and involves something of a theory. The assumption clearly 

 is, that laws of causation prevail universally, or almost uni 

 versally, throughout nature, so that infractions of them are 

 marked and exceptional. This assumption is made, but it 

 does not appear that anything more than this is necessarily 

 required; that is, there is nothing which need necessarily 

 make us side with either of the two principal schools which 

 are divided as to the nature of these laws of causation. The 

 definition will serve equally well whether we understand by 

 law nothing more than uniformity of antecedent and conse 

 quent, or whether we assert that there is some deeper and 

 more mysterious tie between the events than mere sequence. 

 The use of the term causation in this minimum of signifi 

 cation is common to both schools, though the one might 

 consider it inadequate; we may speak, therefore, of suspen 

 sions of causation without committing ourselves to either. 



22. It should be observed that the aspect of the ques 

 tion suggested by this definition is one from which we can 

 hardly escape. Attempts indeed have been sometimes made 

 to avoid the necessity of any assumption as to the universal 



