e poor man's face and the balls of his eyes.[268:4]
Another, who had lost the use of his hand, inspired by the
same god, begged that he would tread on the part affected.
. . . In the presence of a prodigious multitude, all erect
with expectation, he advanced with an air of serenity, and
hazarded the experiment. The paralytic hand recovered its
functions, and the blind man saw the light of the sun.[268:5]
By living witnesses, who were actually on the spot, both
events are confirmed at this hour, when deceit and flattery
can hope for no reward."[268:6]

The striking resemblance between the account of these miracles, and
those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels "_according to_" Matthew and
Mark, would lead us to think that one had been copied from the other,
but when we find that Tacitus wrote his history A. D. 98,[269:1] and
that the "_Matthew_" and Mark narrators' works were not known until
_after_ that time,[269:2] the evidence certainly is that Tacitus was
_not_ the plagiarist, but that this charge must fall on the shoulders of
the Christian writers, whoever they may have been.

To come down to earlier times, even the religion of the Mahometans is a
religion of miracles and wonders. Mahomet, like Jesus of Nazareth, did
not claim to perform miracles, but the votaries of Mahomet are more
assured than himself of his miraculous gifts; and their confidence and
credulity increase as they are farther removed from the time and place
of his spiritual exploits. They believe or affirm that trees went forth
to meet him; that he was saluted by stones; that water gushed from his
fingers; that he fed the hungry, cured the sick, and raised the dead;
that a beam groaned to him; that a camel complained to him; that a
shoulder of mutton informed him of its being poisoned; and that both
animate and inanimate nature were equally subject to the apostle of God.
His dream of a nocturnal journey is seriously described as a real and
corporeal transaction. A mysterious animal, the Borak, conveyed him from
the temple of Mecca to that of Jerusalem; with his companion Gabriel he
successively ascended the seven heavens, and received and repaid the
salutations of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the angels in their
respective mansions. Beyond the seventh heaven, Mahomet alone was
permitted to proceed; he passed the veil of unity, approached within two
bow-shots of the throne, and felt a cold that pierced