t
of which we are not witnesses is only established by moral proofs, and
moral proofs have various degrees of strength. Will the divine justice
hurl me into hell for missing the exact point at which a proof becomes
irresistible? If there is in the world an attested story, it is that
of vampires; nothing is wanting for judicial proof,--reports and
certificates from notables, surgeons, clergy, magistrates. But who
believes in vampires, and shall we all be damned for not believing?
Third, _my constant experience and that of all men is stronger in
reference to prodigies than the testimony of some men_."

He then strikes home with a parable. The Abbe Paris had died in the
odour of Jansenist sanctity (1727), and extraordinary doings went on
at his tomb; the lame walked, men and women sick of the palsy were
made whole, and so forth. Suppose, says Rousseau, that an inhabitant
of the Rue St. Jacques speaks thus to the Archbishop of Paris, "My
lord, I know that you neither believe in the beatitude of St. Jean de
Paris, nor in the miracles which God has been pleased publicly to work
upon his tomb in the sight of the most enlightened and most populous
city in the world; but I feel bound to testify to you that I have just
seen the saint in person raised from the dead in the spot where his
bones were laid." The man of the Rue St. Jacques gives all the detail
of such a circumstance that could strike a beholder. "I am persuaded
that on hearing such strange news, you will begin by interrogating him
who testifies to its truth, as to his position, his feelings, his
confessor, and other such points; and when from his air, as from his
speech, you have perceived that he is a poor workman, and when having
no confessional ticket to show you, he has confirmed your notion that
he is a Jansenist, Ah, ah, you will say to him, you are a
convulsionary, and have seen Saint Paris resuscitated. There is
nothing wonderful in that; you have seen so many other wonders!" The
man would insist that the miracle had been seen equally by a number of
other people, who though Jansenists, it is true, were persons of sound
sense, good character, and excellent reputation. Some would send the
man to Bedlam, "but you after a grave reprimand, will be content with
saying: I know that two or three witnesses, good people and of sound
sense, may attest the life or the death of a man, but I do not know
how many more are needed to establish the resurrection of a Jansenist.