A committee of
the French Academy of Sciences, with Lavoisier at its head, after a
grave investigation, pronounced the alleged fall of aerolites to be a
superstitious fable."[181]
The two theories against the reality of miracles in their received
sense, are: _first_, that they are attributable to natural causes; and,
_second_, that they may involve more or less of the parabolic or mythic
character. These assumptions do away with any real admission of miracles
even on religious grounds. The animus of the whole essay may be
determined by the following treatment of testimony and reason:
"Testimony, after all, is but a second-hand assurance; it is but a blind
guide; testimony can avail nothing against reason. The essential
question of miracles stands quite apart from any consideration of
_testimony_; the question would remain the same, if we had the evidence
of our own senses to an alleged miracle; that is, to an extraordinary
or inexplicable fact. It is not the _mere fact_, but the _cause_ or
_explanation_ of it, which is the point at issue.
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