vii ORDER OF NATURE: MIRACLES 165 



" nearly destroyed the town, threw down the greater part 

 of the parapets, the central gate with the adjoining bas- 

 tions, and a part of the new bastion which flanked it. 

 Three other bastions were also nearly destroyed, whilst 

 several large breaches were made in the curtains, and the 

 Peshawur side, eighty feet long, was quite practicable, the 

 ditch being filled, and the descent easy. Thus, in one 

 moment, the labours of three months were in a great meas- 

 ure destroyed." * 



If Akbar Khan had happened to give orders 

 for an assault in the early morning of the 19th of 

 February, what good follower of the Prophet could 

 have doubted that Allah had lent his aid? As it 

 chanced, however, Mahometan faith in the miracu- 

 lous took another turn; for the energetic defenders 

 of the post had repaired the damage by the end of 

 the month; and the enemy, finding no signs of 

 the earthquake when they invested the place, 

 ascribed the supposed immunity of Jellalabad to 

 English witchcraft. 



But the conditions of belief do not vary with 

 time or place; and, if it is undeniable that evidence 

 of so complete and weighty a character is needed, 

 at the present time, for the establishment of 

 the occurrence of such a wonder as that sup- 

 posed, it has always been needful. Those who 

 study the extant records of miracles with due 

 attention will judge for themselves how far it has 

 ever been supplied. 



* Report of Captain Broadfoot, garrison engineer, quoted 

 in Kaye's Afghanistan. 



