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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46371	The reflections of the reverend and learned Monsieur Jurieu, upon the strange and miraculous exstasies of Isabel Vincent, the shepardess of Saov in Dauphiné who ever since February last hath sung psalms, prayed, preached, and prophesied about the present times in her trances : as also upon the wonderful and portentous trumpetings and singing of psalms that were heard by thousands in the air, in many parts of France, in the year 1686 : taken out of the pastoral letters of the 1st and 15th day of October last : to which is added, A letter of a gentleman in Dauphiné, to a friend of His in Geneva, containing the discourses and prophesies of the shepherdess / all faithfully translated out of the French copies ...	Jurieu, Pierre, 1637-1713.	1689 (1689)	Wing J1212; ESTC R14047	30,643	66

the Wiser sort laugh at it and in a few days they say no more of it For Instance There is a Publick Notoriety of Fact which I find still in this Country That in the Year 1672 when the English were upon the Coasts with a formidable Naval Army just ready to enter into the Rivers and Ports of this Country to finish what the French had already so far advanced there were two Ebbs in one Day and that without any Flow at all Which retarded the Enemies Fleet and gave time to that of this Country to oppose their designs At that time every Body took notice of it many Persons of good Credit assured me of it But who is there that gave any Attention to so great a Marvel And did not this deserve well to be formally put among the Publick Records The Inhabitants of Maesland-Slayce were more exact upon the occasion of a Prodigy that was seen in the Air by certain Seamen a little before the War which Cromwell made against this State There were seen in the Air Armies Engagements and the Shapes of Lions coming from different parts of the Heavens which made divers sorts of Motions The Magistrates of the Place cited these Persons to their Town-Hall where they took their Depositions upon Oath And I my self have seen and read a Copy of their Informations Never was there any sort of Prodigy that has afforded more frivolous Stories than that of Apparitions in the Clouds Notwithstanding this Instance shews that it is not Reasonable to hold all that is said of this kind for Fabulous For there can be no Reason to Accuse men of Lying and Imposture that Depose upon Oath what hath passed before their own Eyes I will Conclude after this That no Soul that has a true sense of God will Temerariously pronounce That the Age of Miracles is now past so that God doth nothing any longer immediately or above the Common Laws of Nature All that has been Written against Presages in this Age are but so many Sportings of Wit that serve to no other End but to call the Providence of God in question These Gentlemen think they have done Wonders when they have Tacked together a Parcel of Prodigies that were thought significant and yet nothing followed them They ought to remember that their Knowledge is too narrow to comprehend every thing and that they are not Ingenious enough to dive into the Designs of Providence nor into all the Resemblances that are betwixt the Events and the Signs which God gives to Mankind to Forewarn them of them All Prodigies and Presages are not necessarily designed to Betoken dismal and sad Events their use is to render mens Minds attentive to the Works of God and to excite in th●m a Belief of a Divine Providence If God leaves some Ambiguities in Presages if he sends them not at all times and if we cannot discern the reason why he sends them one time and not another we ought not to be concerned For this is the most usual Course of God Almighty he Discovers himself in part and Hide himself in part He leaves some Difficulties in every thing and Stones of Stumbling for Rebellious and Unbelieving Spirits And this is the first thing I have to say upon the Occasion of this Maxim That the Age of Miracles is now past See here now a Second who hath Informed these Gentlemen That this same Time of Miracles is so past as never to return again I would not be thought absolutely to assure any That an Age is now coming in which there shall be Men and Saints seen with Miracles as in former Days But really I see a great deal of likely hood of it notwithstanding and it may be Miracles are as necessary to consummate the Establishing of the Reign of Jesus Christ as they were to begin it What is already come to pass is nothing in comparison of what is yet behind The Conversion of the Jews and that of the rest of ●he Pagans and the Fall of Babel are such great Works that according to the Order in which God ordinarily doth Extraordinary Works they who shall accomplish them may very probably be furnished with Miracles to Amaze men and beat down the Rebellion of their Spirits Above all The Conversion of the Jews can never be wrought without Miracles I believe I may safely affirm it without Rashness For this is the Character of that Nation The Jew seeks a Sign And the Opiniatrety of this unhappy People is now mounted to such a pitch that God must be forc'd to employ all his most powerful Engines to overcome it As to the Conversion of the Infidel Nations which we also expect it is true that it may be accomplish'd without Miracles as there have been so many Nations Converted already since the Death of the Apostles only by the Preaching of the Gospel Yet this great Work will never be brought about until God shall advertize us of it by such Events and Signs as being not performed by Men will the better shew us the Finger of God. For what relates to the Fall of Babylon and the Resurrection of the Church which we expect in a little time this is so great a Work that it is no wonder at all that God gives us such Extraordinary Signs and Presages of it and those so very significant It may be there were never seen so many as have hapned within these Three Years without looking nay higher One must be very dull in my Opinion not to see and not to feel the Hand of God and his very Finger in what hapned in the Church of St. Malo's by the Fall of a Thunder-Bolt and in the Strokes of Heaven which have burnt and beaten down so many Churches within this two last years in this dreadful shaking of the Earth which hath overturn'd Great Cities in Italy the Country of Antichrist and which hath caused a Trembling to the very Root of the Vatican the Seat of the Beast And lastly I see no cause why one should be so obstinate as not to see a Miraculous Token of the Will of God in those Singings that have been heard in the Air at the beginning of this Persecution Not to be touch'd with this Miracle Men will be wilful Doubters And yet there may be found in France above Thirty thousand Witnesses of it Monsieur Vivens who was a Preacher in the Cevennes and held Assemblies there for the space of almost Two years brought us about Thirty or Forty at one time and we have it from his own Mouth that he himself heard these wonderful Singings several times Now to have the satisfaction of Treating this as a Fiction it is suggested by some That even in our Seventh Letter of the first Year of our Pastorals we have related nothing but Hear-says Yet notwithstanding would they but take the pains to Read they would find that I have given the Certificates of Monsieur Mai●poey Monsieur Bergeret Monsieur de la Bordette Madamoiselle

Nature Last of all The Doctrine taught ought to be to us an infallible Touch-Stone to judge of Miracles For we believe and have good reason to believe That Miracles are not designed to prove the Truth but only to awaken mens Spirits and to render them attentive to the Truth and therefore when they tell us a Miraculous Story to maintain the Idolatries of Popery how well proved soever it may appear we ought to be sure that there is some Illusion in it from what side soever it may come But the Spirit of the Devil never makes any Illusions to encounter against Superstition Idolatry and Error which are the only Props of his Empire One cannot be sufficiently astonished at the Opposition that is made by Men to the receiving the Truth of this Story And this hath given me occasion to study carefully the several Tempers of Mens Spirits and the several Reasons that induce them to this strange Incredulity I have found that there is a great Number that are thus disposed by a certain peculiar Character of an Esprit fort or Bold Spirit as they call it This I confess is the Name they use to give to certain Persons that do not believe overmuch in God. But it is none of my design to accuse the Persons whereof I now speak of the Crime of Atheism or Irreligion But the Vulgar sort of Mankind and even of the Learned part have a false Idea of Providence and this same false Idea is one Branch of that they call Esprit fort and an effect of the little Devotion which we find in most People They who are replenished and enspirited with God look for him every where and find him every where But the Irreligious neither look for him nor find him any where They believe one God and one Providence and that bona fide in some sense But according to the Idea which they have formed themselves of this Providence God is always confin'd to the Machin It is he that hath given Laws unto it it is true but he always follows them and is as it were a Slave to them by confining himself never to depart from them or to act without them Every thing hath its Natural Causes according to these Gentlemen and whatever hath not such is false fabulous and impossible I shall omit at present to say how mischievous how false and of how dangerous a Consequence such a disposition of Spirit is For it may bring one to any thing The Truth is That God in the most part of his Actions hides himself as it were behind his Creatures and yet notwithstanding this he acts both in his Creatures and by his Creatures and that almost as immediately as if he acted without his Creatures for he is in such a manner the Soul of the whole Machine that it cannot advance one Line without him It is he that determines their Motions and makes them all to tend to his Ends He makes the Laws of Nature but yet sometimes he quits them when he sees good There are an hundred and an hundred Accidents where one thinks that one sees nothing at all above Nature where notwithstanding it is very certain that God comes in freely and by a special Dispensation Those Souls that are touched by God perceive this though others feel it not but think they see nothing but human and natural Efforts in all It cannot be denied but that this holy disposition of Mind that finds God in every thing doth sometimes degenerate into fond Superstition And that there are certain Tempers that receive every thing for Truth that they hear and that fancy with themselves that they see a Miracle every where This is a Vicious Extremity but the other is infinitely worse The Wise will take the Middle Way betwixt these two Extr●… and so will neither be Credulous nor Superstitious They will examine with a great deal of Care such Facts as are Extraordinary They will not give Ear to all Persons nor believe the first Reports that are made unto them But when a Fact is attested by a great Number of Witnesses of all sorts and that after a most careful and severe Examination then to value ones self upon being Incredulous is in my Opinion to speak my Mind freely to value ones self upon a Temper of Mind that has to say no worse of it very little of Reason in it I have but one Question to ask of these Gentlemen who with so much disdain look upon us of another Sentiment as poor little mean Spirits My Question is this Is God able to work this Miracle or no It may be they believe he is not and that he has been long ago too Old to do such great and extraordinary things as these are Yet I believe they will rather choose to say that he is able but not willing and then I will entreat them to tell me Where God hath said That he will no more do any Extraordinary thing These Gentlemen whereof we speak being overwhelmed by the many Proofs of Fact that have been given them to acquit themselves of the business are fain at last to retreat themselves into places where there is not so much as a shadow of Sense or Reason Some there are that say That it is very possible that this young Shepherdess having heard certain Sermons in times past had retained something of them and that so her Imagination being heated it brought them again to her Remembrance in time of Sleep This is well thought that a Child of Fifteen years of Age that perhaps never heard any Sermons in her life and that could not possibly hear any but about the Age of Ten or Twelve should Three or Four years after repeat them in her Sleep Besides what she says cannot possibly pass for a Repetition or an Effect of Memory For her way of Delivery hath nothing in it of the nature of Sermons She speaks things that are very singular and in a manner as singular it bearing no Resemblance with the Discourses or ways of Preachers Is it by the help of her Memory that she so often speaks Latin and that she mixes it with her French so appositely Is it by the help of her Memory that she treats of Matters of Controversie By what lucky hit comes it that all her Images whereof not the least Footstep appears in her Brain when she is awake yet appear so exact and distinct while she sleeps Whence did she Learn this Correct French which she speaks in the Night and of which she cannot speak one word by Day Yet these Gentlemen will not yield for all this They say There are so many Effects in Nature for which we can give no Reason at all and of which for all that the Machin is the only Cause And hereupon they tell us the Story which Monsieur la Motte le Vager gives us in part of a certain Country-man That at certain times spoke all sorts of Languages of which at other times he understood not

one word They also add the History of the Country man of Burgundy who in his Sleep heard a certain Verse repeated out of Homer which he remembred very well though he could not understand it This Country-man applyed himself to a Learned man whose Name is still alive and will for ever live in the Commonwealth of Learning He told him his Dream or rather his Vision together with the Words which he still remembred This Learned man found that it was a Verse out of Homer which foretold him that his House should fall in a little time which did not fail to happen accordingly Behold say they a thing no less Miraculous than your Shepherdess We are not bound to grant That these two Facts were as Miraculous as that whereof we Treat But the Examining of this is not necessary It is sufficient to maintain to these Gentlemen that these two Facts did nor happen by Natural Causes Whether indeed it was the Holy Ghost or the Wicked Spirit that possessed them that is the only Question But it can be no Doubt to any Reasonable Mind whether the Machin alone either did or was able to do this thing And it is still much more certain that our Miracle could not be performe by the Machin for it is much more Miraculous to Talk whole Nights to speak what one never knew and to speak things Divine and Heavenly too and that in very good order and sense than to hear something one time in a Dream or to pronounce certain Words formed as by anothers Tongue The Wicked Spirit might produce this but it could never inspire into a single Soul the wonderful things of God. In the mean time It is certain that the Fact related by Monsieur la Motte le Vager and such others like it are not done by Natural Causes But say they how know you how far the Powers of Nature may go Wretched Objection We know it by Experience we know it by the use of Reason It is true that Nature doth an hundred things Mechanically whereof we can give no Reason But it does them always and always alike If it varies sometimes it is no surprizing thing if while we know not the Causes we are ignorant of the Principle of these Variations When Extraordinary Accidents consist but in Corporeal Motions one may then with less Injustice refer their Causes to the Machin At least it will be more difficult to persuade the Incredulous in this Case than in others although many times they have no more Truth and Reason on their sides here than elsewhere But to Reason and Discourse Divinely without having learnt any thing at all and without having so much as the Images of what one says impressed upon the Machin of the Brain This I say is entirely beyond the Powers and Action of the Machin Moreover this wicked Solution of theirs may be justly lookt upon as an open way to the most Criminal of all Incredulities For we may then with the same Freedom say of the Miracles of Jesus Christ and of his Apostles that we cannot determine whether they are true Miracles or no for that one does not know how far the Operations of Nature may go This may suffice for an Answer to the Esprit sorts or Strong Heads as they call them We will answer the Objections of others in our next Oct. 1. 1688. A Continuation of the REFLECTIONS Upon the MIRACLE OF DAUPHINE WITH An Examination of the Question Whether the Time of Miracles be absolutely ceased IN Our former Letter we have fully answered what hath been advanced by those called Strong Heads to encounter with the Verity of the Fact hapned in Dauphiné in the Person of a Shepherdess It is now time to take Notice of Persons that have much more Wit and which we can by no means suspect of the least thought tending to Infidelity but yet cannot without good Reasons do otherwise than call in question the Accident here treated of Let us now hear what they have to say They say in the first place That we are not now in the Age of Miracles that being long since past This Maxim of theirs to which the Controversies of these latter Ages have given so much Authority among us ought to be understood in a sound Sense We are not it is very true in the Age of Miracles at present That is to say we have not any longer such Men among us as God has bestowed the Gift of Tongues or of Healing upon and such as can ordinarily and whenever they please put the Omnipotence of God into act This we must own to be true And for this Reason it is that when we see a poor sorry Fryar running all Europe over to Heal the Sick to give Hearing to the Deaf and to restore Sight to the Blind and pretending to Bless the Christian Armies as if the Success of their Arms depended upon his Blessings we dare boldly then pronounce that such an one is a Knave and an Impostor When they tell us of Miraculous Cures that have been done by the Image of our Lady and by the Reliques of such a Saint we may then without Hesitation aver That these are but Tricks and Illusions And the Reason is very clear For that God in the Ages of true and indubitable Miracles never made use of such Ways as these in order to work Miracles Did the Prophets and Apostles ever make use of the Images of their Predecessors Did they ever Consecrate their Bones or their Ashes Did they ever make use of them to work Prodigies or Extraordinary things One single Resurrection caused by a Dead mans touching the Ashes of Eliseus can be no sufficient ground for these Vain and Idolatrous Superstitions For this is but one single Instance and one that had no Consequence founded upon neither But I will assure you my Brethren that the best way to unburthen our selves of the Load of Popish Miracles is not always that which our People ordinarily fly to which is utterly to deny the Matters of Fact and always to say This is False this is a Lye or This is a Cheat of some Priest or Monk. This Accusation is indeed often very just For it is certain that the greatest part of the Miracles of Popery are but Fables and Impostures But yet for all this we must not deny that among these False Miracles there are many Matters of Fact that are true The Writers of the Port Royal were extremely in the right when they said There would-never have been any False Miracles if there had been none True. For Fictions and Cheats are but Imitations of the Truth What hath been said by these Gentlemen of Miracles in general that I say with much confidence of the Miracles of Popery That had Images and Reliques never done any true Prodigies or Extraordinary thing at all the Imposture could never have been supported so long All these Cheats of Monks and all the Tales of Legends have been contrived and imitated upon the