Gibbon didn't think much of miracles.
They made him sarcastic.
A Podcast
http://ow.ly/4KNnU
Subject matter being Edward Gibbon's
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
the two Chapters,
Chapter 15 and
Chapter 16,
"The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful.".