There are
narratives of marvels wrought by human will, chiefly in remote, but
occasionally in recent times, transcending and even contradicting or
overruling the known laws of Nature. All these evidences point to one
conclusion; all corroborate and confirm one another. The men of
science ridicule them because in so many cases the facts are
imperfectly authenticated, and because in others the action of the
powers is uncertain, dependent on conditions imperfectly ascertained,
and not of that material kind to which material science willingly
submits. But if they be facts, if they relate to any element of human
nature, all these things can be systematically investigated, the true
separated from the false, the proven from the unproven. The powers can
be investigated, their conditions of action laid down. Probably they
may be so developed as to be exercised with comparative certainty,
whether by every one or only by those special constitutions in which
they may inhere. Such investigations will at present only enlist the
attention and care of a few qualified persons, and, that they may be
carried on in peace and safety, should be carried on in secrecy.
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