[Footnote 4: Jos., _Bell. Jud._, VII. vi. 3; Lucian, _Philopseud._, 16; Philostratus, _Life of Apoll._, iii. 38, iv. 20; Aretus, _De causis morb. chron._, i. 4.] [Footnote 5: Matt. ix. 33, xii. 22; Mark ix. 16, 24; Luke xi. 14.] [Footnote 6: _Tobit_, viii. 2, 3; Matt. xii. 27; Mark ix. 38; _Acts_ xix. 13; Josephus, _Ant._, VIII. ii. 5; Justin, _Dial. cum Tryph._, 85; Lucian, Epigr., xxiii. (xvii. Dindorf).] [Footnote 7: Matt. xvii. 20; Mark ix. 24, and following.] [Footnote 8: Matt. viii. 28, ix. 34, xii. 43, and following, xvii. 14, and following, 20; Mark v. 1, and following; Luke viii. 27, and following.] [Footnote 9: The phrase, _Daemonium habes_ (Matt. xi. 18: Luke vii. 33; John vii. 20, viii. 48, and following, x. 20, and following) should be translated by: "Thou art mad," as we should say in Arabic: _Medjnoun ente_. The verb [Greek: daimonan] has also, in all classical antiquity, the meaning of "to be mad."] Many circumstances, moreover, seem to indicate that Jesus only became a thaumaturgus late in life and against his inclination. He often performs his miracles only after he has been besought to do so, and with a degree of reluctance, reproaching those who asked them for the grossness of their minds.[1] One singularity, apparently inexplicable, is the care he takes to perform his miracles in secret, and the request he addresses to those whom he heals to tell no one.[2] When the demons wish to proclaim him the Son of God, he forbids them to open their mouths; but they recognize him in spite of himself.[3] These traits are especially characteristic in Mark, who is pre-eminently the evangelist of miracles and exorcisms. It seems that the disciple, who has furnished the fundamental teachings of this Gospel, importuned Jesus with his admiration of the wonderful, and that the master, wearied of a reputation which weighed upon him, had often said to him, "See thou say nothing to any man." Once this discordance evoked a singular outburst,[4] a fit of impatience, in which the annoyance these perpetual demands of weak minds caused Jesus, breaks forth. One would say, at times, that the character of thaumaturgus was disagreeable to him, and that he sought to give as little publicity as possible to the marvels which, in a manner, grew under his feet. When his enemies asked a miracle of him, especially a celestial miracle, a "sign from heaven," he obstinately refused.[5] We may therefore conclude that his reputation of thaumaturgus was imposed upon him, that he did not resist it much, but also that he did nothing to aid it, and that, at all events, he felt the vanity of popular opinion on this point. [Footnote 1: Matt. xii. 39, xvi. 4, xvii. 16; Mark viii. 17, and following, ix. 18; Luke ix. 41.] [Footnote 2: Matt. viii. 4, ix. 30, 31, xii. 16, and following; Mark i. 44, vii. 24, and following, viii. 26.] [Footnote 3: Mark i. 24, 25, 34, iii. 12; Luke iv. 41.] [Footnote 4: Matt. xvii. 16; Mark ix. 18; Luke ix. 41.]