r the
grossness of their minds.[1] One singularity, apparently inexplicable,
is the care he takes to perform his miracles in secret, and the
request he addresses to those whom he heals to tell no one.[2] When
the demons wish to proclaim him the Son of God, he forbids them to
open their mouths; but they recognize him in spite of himself.[3]
These traits are especially characteristic in Mark, who is
pre-eminently the evangelist of miracles and exorcisms. It seems that
the disciple, who has furnished the fundamental teachings of this
Gospel, importuned Jesus with his admiration of the wonderful, and
that the master, wearied of a reputation which weighed upon him, had
often said to him, "See thou say nothing to any man." Once this
discordance evoked a singular outburst,[4] a fit of impatience, in
which the annoyance these perpetual demands of weak minds caused
Jesus, breaks forth. One would say, at times, that the character of
thaumaturgus was disagreeable to him, and that he sought to give as
little publicity as possible to the marvels which, in a manner, grew
under his feet. When his enemies asked a miracle of him, especially a
celestial miracle, a "sign from heaven," he obstinately refused.[5] We
may therefore conclude that his reputation of thaumaturgus was imposed
upon him, that he did not resist it much, but also that he did nothing
to aid it, and that, at all events, he felt the vanity of popular
opinion on this point.

[Footnote 1: Matt. xii. 39, xvi. 4, xvii. 16; Mark viii. 17, and
following, ix. 18; Luke ix. 41.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. viii. 4, ix. 30, 31, xii. 16, and following; Mark
i. 44, vii. 24, and following, viii. 26.]

[Footnote 3: Mark i. 24, 25, 34, iii. 12; Luke iv. 41.]

[Footnote 4: Matt. xvii. 16; Mark ix. 18; Luke ix. 41.]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xii. 38, and following, xvi. 1, and following; Mark
viii. 11.]

We should neglect to recognize the first principles of history if we
attached too much importance to our repugnances on this matter, and
if, in order to avoid the objections which might be raised against the
character of Jesus, we attempted to suppress facts which, in the eyes
of his contemporaries, were considered of the greatest importance.[1]
It would be convenient to say that these are the additions of
disciples much inferior to their Master who, not being able to
conceive his true grandeur, have sought to magnify him by illusions
unworthy of him. But the four narrators of the life of Jesu