embraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is
beyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the
worship and adoration even of a man.

There is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power independent
of and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only for one
moment, the continuity of cause and effect. Pluck from the endless
chain of existence one little link; stop for one instant the grand
procession, and you have shown beyond all contradiction that nature has
a master. Change the fact, just for one second, that matter attracts
matter, and a god appears.

The rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason always
demanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion must be
able to turn water into wine--cure with a word the blind and lame, and
raise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary for him to
demonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, that he was
superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to do. The
credulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the marvelous was
the beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every
religion has for its foundation a miracle--that is to say, a violation
of nature--that is to say, a falsehood.

No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a
truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but
falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was
performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until
one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power
superior to, and independent of nature.