18 FEAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



logical threatens to stifle the spiritual. The truly re- 

 ligious soul needs no miraculous proof of the goodness 

 of Christ. The words addressed to Matthew at the re- 

 ceipt of custom required no miracle to produce obedi- 

 ence. It was hy no stroke of the supernatural that 

 Jesus caused those sent to seize Him to go backward 

 and fall to the ground. It was the sublime and holy 

 effluence from within, which needed no prodigy to com- 

 mend it to the reverence even of his foes. 



As regards the function of miracles in the founding 

 of a religion, Mr. Mozley institutes a comparison be- 

 tween the religion of Christ and that of Mahomet; and 

 he derides the latter as ' irrational ' because it does not 

 profess to adduce miracles in proof of its supernatural 

 origin. But the religion of Mahomet, notwithstand- 

 ing this drawback, has thriven in the world, and at 

 one time it held sway over larger populations than 

 Christianity itself. The spread and influence of Chris- 

 tianity are, however, brought forward by Mr. Mozley as 

 ' a permanent, enormous, and incalculable practical re- 

 sult ' of Christian miracles; and he makes use of this 

 result to strengthen his plea for the miraculous. His 

 logical warrant for this proceeding is not clear. It is 

 the method of science, when a phenomenon presents 

 itself, towards the production of which several elements 

 may contribute, to exclude them one by one, so as to 

 arrive at length at the truly effective cause. Heat, for 

 example, is associated with a phenomenon; we exclude 

 heat, but the phenomenon remains: hence, heat is not 

 its cause. Magnetism is associated with a phenomenon; 

 we exclude magnetism, but the phenomenon remains: 

 hence, magnetism is not its cause. Thus, also, when 

 we seek the cause of a diffusion of a religion 

 whether it be due to miracles, or to the spiritual force 

 of its founders we exclude the miracles, and, finding 



