It has been well remarked by Bacon, that “it is heaven on earth to live in charity, to turn upon the poles of truth, and to rest in Providence.” The tenderness and minuteness of the Divine care are taught us by our Lord himself: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows,” Matt. x. 28–31. Let, then, all who are reconciled to God through the death of his Son, be comforted by this truth. God is not far from every one of us; the vast and the minute are alike under his control; and he has graciously promised that all things shall “work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” In the ignorance and superstition of the human mind, applications are sometimes made to those who are supposed to be endowed with magical powers. Such practices are condemned in the Scriptures as vain and wicked. Hence, says the prophet Isaiah, “When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” Isa. viii. 19, 20. CHAPTER X. Claims of the church of Rome to miraculous power--The Franciscans and Dominicans--Tale of bishop Remi--The effect of relics--Friars’ pretended dispossession of evil spirits--Tragical event--Appearance of the virgin Mary to shepherds exposed--Pretended miracle of the Greek church. The Romish church, in all ages, has affirmed that to it has been granted the power of working miracles. Its “Lives of the Saints,” a series extended avowedly through many centuries, abound with relations of what are described as supernatural appearances, but which we can only trace to a very different cause. The two following facts are given by Luther:--“In the monastery of Isenach stands an image, which I have seen. When a wealthy person came thither to pray to it, (it was Mary with her child,) the child turned away its face from the sinner to the mother, as if it refused to give ear to his praying, and was therefore to seek mediation and help from Mary the mother. But, if the sinner gave liberally to that monastery, then the child turned to him again; and if he promised to give more, then the child showed itself very friendly and loving, and stretched out his arms over him, in the form of a cross. But this image was made hollow within, and prepared with locks, lines, and screws; and behind it stood a knave to move them; and so were the people mocked and deceived, taking it to be a miracle wrought by Divine Providence!”