of the Bampton Lecturer, this, though carrying
a strong appearance of an immediate exertion of Divine energy, lacks
by a hair's-breadth the quality of a miracle. For the wind _might_ have
arisen, and _might_ have ceased, in the ordinary course of nature. Hence
the occurrence did not 'compel the inference of extraordinary Divine
agency.' In like manner Mr. Mozley considers that 'the appearance of
the cross to Constantine was a miracle, or a special providence,
according to what account of it we adopt. As only a meteoric
appearance in the shape of a cross it gave some token of preternatural
agency, but not full evidence.'

In the Catholic canton of Switzerland where I now write, and still
more among the pious Tyrolese, the mountains are dotted with shrines,
containing offerings of all kinds, in acknowledgment of special
mercies--legs, feet, arms, and hands--of gold, silver, brass, and
wood, according as worldly possessions enabled the grateful heart to
express its indebtedness. Most of these offerings are made to the
Virgin Mary. They are recognitions of 'special providences,' wrought
through the instrumentality of the Mother of God. Mr. Mozley's
belief, that of the Methodist chronicler, and that of the Tyrolese
peasant, are substantially the same. Each of them assumes that
nature, instead of flowing ever onward in the uninterrupted rhythm of
cause and effect, is mediately ruled by the free human will. As
regards _direct_ action upon natural phenomena, man's wish and will, as
expressed in prayer, are confessedly powerless; but prayer is the
trigger which liberates the Divine power, and to this extent, if the
will be free, man, of course, commands nature.

Did the existence of this belief depend solely upon the material
benefits derived from it, it could not, in my opinion, last a decade.
As a purely objective fact, we should soon see that the distribution
of natural phenomena is unaffected by the merits or the demerits of
men; that the law of gravitation crushes the simple worshippers of
Ottery St. Mary, while singing their hymns, just as surely as if they
were engaged in a midnight brawl. The hold of this belief upon the
human mind is not due to outward verification, but to the inner
warmth, force, and elevation with which it is commonly associated. It
is plain, however, that these feelings may exist under the most
various forms. They are not limited to Church of England
Protestantism--they are not even lim