283 
religions which have come into the world, that if the Supreme Being wishes 
to give a revelation to man, He must in some way authenticate that revela- 
tion ; He must authenticate it to the man to whom He speaks, in order to 
give him the power of convincing his contemporaries and successors that he 
is actually speaking from God. Both for the man’s own satisfaction and for 
the satisfaction of those to whom he is sent, there is required some testimony, 
something which the man cannot of himself produce ; and it appears to me 
that there is no notice of this in the paper. Now, I cannot conceive of any 
better credentials of a revelation than miracles — miracles in the sense which 
includes prophecy, which is only a species of miracle— 
The Chairman. — It is so stated in the paper. 
Dr. Gladstone. • — If we look through the Bible, we shall find, I think, 
that miracles are spoken of almost universally in that way. They are the 
testimony which God has given to His servants ; and when there has been no 
revelation there has been no miracle. Trace throughout the whole history of 
the Bible, and I think you will find this is almost always the case. There 
may be a few instances in which miracles are wrought, not for testimony, but' 
to preserve the Church, and for certain purposes of goodness towards man ; 
and it is possible we may extend the use of the word miracle to some of 
those cases of recent times, wherein God seems to have interposed in the 
history of the Church, so as to bring about what appears as a miracle, in 
answer to prayer, or to serve some great purpose for the extension of the 
Church. I do not know exactly, but it is matter for consideration, how far 
the great change of heart that is wrought by the operation of God’s Spirit 
should be regarded as a miracle or not. As to what has led to such observa- 
tions upon miracles as Mr. Powell put forth, I think I can better understand 
that feeling, perhaps, than the writer of the Essay. There is no doubt in 
my mind it has arisen from the great attention paid recently to the uniformity 
of Nature’s laws. Now, that has an effect upon the mind, if we consider it 
too exclusively. We begin to feel that a miracle comes in as something inter- 
fering with the grand march of Nature ; that it belongs to something alien, 
which does not come within our philosophy. We know this can be upset 
most thoroughly by reasoning such as has been brought forward this evening. 
And what is the result of this ? It shows us how difficult it is to perform 
miracles ; and therefore, supposing we have, on the ground of sufficient tes- 
timony, proof that miracles have been performed, it proves with increasing 
force that those miracles are not the action of chance or of evil spirits, but of 
Him who rules all things. 
Mi. W arington. I may say that I think the first paper read this evening 
deals with the question of miracles more fully and impartially than I ever 
remember hearing it before treated of. I do not mean, that the subject is 
exhausted, nor the matter put everywhere in the best point of view, for it 
strikes me it might be expressed better and clearer ; but that there is no 
one element necessary for the right understanding of miracles overlooked. 
Hie remarks I have to make refer to some expressions of preceding speakers, 
and a few points in the paper which I think will bear a slight amendment. First, 
