“The witnesses swallow everything, for there are spurious miracles.”
The priest grew red.
“Undoubtedly; sometimes.”
“How can we distinguish them from the genuine ones? If the genuine ones, given as proofs, have themselves need of proofs, why perform them?”
Reine interposed, and, preaching like her master, said it was necessary to obey.
“Life is a passage, but death is eternal.”
“In short,” suggested Bouvard, guzzling the Rosolio, “the miracles of former times are not better demonstrated than the miracles of to-day; analogous reasonings uphold those of Christians and Pagans.”
The curé flung down his fork on the table.
“Again I tell you those miracles were spurious! There are no miracles outside of the Church.”
“Stop!” said Pécuchet, “that is the same argument you used regarding the martyrs: the doctrine rests on the facts and the facts on the doctrine.”