IN DRAWING UP a short Memoir of the life of the Cure d'Ars--The materials for which have for the most part been furnished by the more detailed biography of M. the Abbe Monnin-we have been actuated by the wish to lay before the English reader a narrative so extraordinary, accompanied by circumstances so unaccountable, as to baffle every mode of explanation that has suggested itself to our own mind. The questions likely to arise m the mind of the reader, on the perusal of the following pages, we conceive will be: First, was M. Vianney a man of sincere piety? And secondly, if so, did he himself believe in the truth of the miracles recorded; or did he deem it his duty to be a party to the production of these marvellous appearances, and think that he was doing God service by seeking to impose upon the world a belief in what he himself knew to be a lie and a delusion? Another question which presses itself upon our own mind, and which, perhaps, may suggest itself to the minds of others, is this-were the singular circumstances related, the wonderful cures recorded, the result of mere imagination, or are they to be ascribed in any measure to the intervention of supernatural agency? We venture simply to note these natural and probable inquiries: most gladly would we receive any light or suggestion which would help towards their solution. It may possibly be objected by some, that this biography has the appearance of being written too much from a Roman Catholic point of view. To this we would reply, that having chiefly drawn our information from the work of a devout member of the Church of Rome, it would have been no easy task to eliminate from each fact the sentiment and feeling with which we have found it, so to speak, wrapt up and penetrated; we have, indeed, been at little pains to make the attempt. Our object in transcribing the following pages being mainly to lay before the reader-just as we have found them recorded, and with such. Evidence to their truth as has been adduced-the strange and singular circumstances connected with the life of the Cure d' Ars, and not by any means to seek to bias his judgment, or to intrude our own religious opinions and sentiments.
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