change, he says, must be the effect of some powerful cause, and will, if not checked, be the cause of serious results. And here I would say a word on a point suggested, I think either by Lord Nelson or Mr. Hope, that it would be desirable to continue the presence of non-Communicants during the celebration of Holy Communion. Ten years ago, I should have said yes to that suggestion; but now I hold the contrary opinion. And this, let me say, without pretending to be wiser than my neighbours, that I have fair opportunities of knowing the average feeling in this matter of the Middle Class of English Laymen-by far the most important and influential portion of our Church-that they are solemnly determined that they will not have, and will not suffer any one to put upon them, a yoke which their fathers were not able to bear. And I would most seriously say to those who believe they are doing us good by bringing us back to the state of things in which we were 350 years ago, and to the condition in which a large portion of Europe is placed now, I say it deliberately, that the only result of their success would be to tear the Church of England in pieces, leaving religion in this country a chaos. One word now as to preaching; not much has been said about it; but our services contain preaching as well as prayer and praise; and we are deeply grateful to Earl Nelson for the prominence he gave to the subject. I wish heartily that there were more pains taken in the training of young men to preach. It is really a very hard thing to take an average young man-whose College life may have been passed without any blame-who may be truly religious-but whose talents and literary tastes may be of no high order—and expect him to produce three sermons a-week, of a character which will stand the test of the critics in the Times. It is a difficulty which will never be overcome, unless some marked improvement is made in the preparation of divinity students. In conclusion, I wish to make one observation on the excellent speech of Mr. Ryle. I would ask the meeting whether he did not end by refuting the statement with which he began? He commenced by stating that he feared a strongly pronounced Evangelical Clergyman was out of his place on the platform of the Church Congress. I appeal to this meeting, whether they do not agree with me in saying, that before he concluded, he proved that he was eminently in his place. I never saw a man more entirely in his place in my life; and if the Church Congress meets next year in Liverpool, as I hope will be the case, I trust many other strongly pronounced Evangelical Clergymen will follow his example. I feel, and I have felt for several years past, and I hope they will themselves see it now, that they are not doing justice to the sacred truths they hold, that they are not doing justice to the Church at large, nor indeed to the High Church Clergy and Laity who are heartily ready to welcome them, if they do not come here, as Mr. Ryle has done, in his usual manly way, to say what he thinks in the face of this large assembly.

THE PRESIDENT.-I have before me here the names of several other gentlemen, lay and clerical, who have sent in their cards, as being desirous to speak on this subject; but I fear our time and arrange

ments will preclude our having the pleasure of listening to all, and therefore to any of them. Before we close this Session, I have been requested, both on the part of Lord Nelson and Mr. Hope, to say that neither of them expressed approbation of the presence of nonCommunicants at the celebration of the Holy Communion. They did not express it, because they did not feel it.

I cannot close this meeting without expressing my deep thankfulness to Almighty God, for the tone and temper which have characterised this as well as all the previous meetings of the Congress The fourth day has sometimes been a fatal day for Congresses. Some anticipated and feared such would be the case with ours; but all has gone well with us. There has been a grand spirit of toleration shown throughout our meeting to and by every one. Everything. has been marked by a spirit of peace, unity, and concord reigning amongst us. This is not man's work; it is God's; and to Him be all the praise.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, 2nd OCTOBER

HIS GRACE THE PRESIDENT TOOK THE CHAIR AT 2 O'CLOCK.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE INCREASED INVESTIGATION OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE ON THE RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF THOSE ENGAGED IN SUCH INQUIRIES, AND ON THEOLOGY IN GENERAL.

THE REV. JOHN H. JELLETT, B.D. (Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Dublin), read the following paper :

The intellectual history of the nineteenth century has no more pro minent chapter than the increased labour bestowed upon physical science, and the brilliant triumphs by which it has been crowned. But physical investigation is to the nineteenth century more than a chapter in its intellectual history. It has become a most important element of education. There is no branch of human knowledge which does not feel its influence. Into subjects which would once have been thought remote enough-into history, into politics, into theology, the habits of thought, the methods, sometimes even the phraseology, of physical science have found their way; and, therefore, if we would know the influence of physical science in all its extent, we should not leave a single chapter of theology unexamined.

Of this vast subject I would notice now but one part-namely, the influence of increased physical investigation on the reception of Christianity, considered as a system professing to rest upon a basis of historical fact. What effect has the progress of physical science had upon the strength of that historical foundation? How far, for example, has the habit of thought, produced by physical inquiry, contributed to the cause of theological truth, by teaching men to appreciate rightly the strength or weakness of the argument from miracles? And for this is a question from which we must not shrink-is there any reason to think that this habit of thought, though formed in the pursuit of truth, might, to some extent, lead us astray? It does not belong to my present subject, nor do I intend, to examine the validity of any of the Christian arguments. I would only inquire how far the habit of physical investigation disposes men to appreciate them justly.

We do not need historical evidence (of which, indeed, there is abundance) to convince us of the reality and magnitude of the influence which physical science has exercised upon Christian theology. That influence might safely have been predicted. No system, which appeals for support to the reality and just interpretation of certain physical phenomena, can or ought to escape the criticism of physical science. So far as the system rests upon a foundation of this kind, its logic is identical with that of any physical theory. The apostle of such a system asserts that certain physical phenomena were at one time really observed; and he asserts, too, that in the system which he teaches is contained the true theory of such phenomena. Whatever be the strength of the evidence by which these assertions are supported, the logic is precisely that which meets us every day in the world of physical science.

Now, the Christian argument derived from miracles is precisely of this kind. "At a certain period of the world's history," it says, "physical phenomena were observed, which could not have been produced by any of the forces of nature. These phenomena must, therefore, have had for their cause a force different from the forces of nature, or, in common language, a supernatural power."

It is plain that the validity of this argument depends upon a strictly scientific induction, from which we learn, with more or less probability, that none of the forces of nature are adequate to the production of this effect.

It would not be possible, even if it were desirable, that an argument of this kind should escape the criticism of physical science. And beyond all doubt it has not escaped.

Satisfied of the reality of this influence, we naturally ask:-In what direction has it been exerted; or rather, to retain the argument from anticipation, in what direction might we expect it to be exerted? Is the student of physical science likely, as such, to look favourably or unfavourably on the Christian evidence? Is physical investigation, on the whole, calculated to facilitate or to impede the reception of Christianity, considered as a supernatural religion?

He who seeks the answer to this question in books of controversy will probably decide that the influence of physical science has not been favourable to the claims of Christianity. He would see that, in the name of physical science-in the name of such principles as the universality of physical law, and the sufficiency of physical causes to produce all authentic physical phenomena-the supernatural has been most fiercely assailed; and in the mutual attitude of philosophers and

theologians he would observe a certain, not inconsiderable, amount of hostility. Many, probably, have been misled by these appearances to conclude that the effect of physical study upon the reception of the Christian evidences has been simply injurious.

But the truth is far from being so simple. The effects of the scientific spirit, like those of other powerful agents, are of a very mixed character; and a careful examination will probably show that if that spirit have, in some measure, predisposed men against the reception of the Christian evidences, its beneficial influence upon Christian theology, if less obvious, has been quite as real.

Taking these effects in the order in which I have here stated them, I would inquire, in the first place; is there anything in the habits of thought produced by physical science which might dispose the mind to look unfavourably on the Christian evidences? Is the physicist, as such, likely to look upon the theory of miracles, for example, not only with suspicion, which is right enough, but with aversion?

The answer to this question, and to many similar questions, is contained in a very obvious principle. No man is so unwilling to admit the existence of an exception as the man who believes himself to have established the law. Strictly speaking, indeed, we know that there is no such thing as an exception. That to which we give the name of exception is simply a proof that we have not attained the true law, and that there is a generalisation higher than any which we have yet reached. Few men are sufficiently philosophic to weigh with perfect impartiality an argument which, if valid, would prove their own work to have been imperfect. Still less likely are they to be impartial if the tendency of the argument be to show that the further generalisation is out of their reach; that there is a power at work whose laws they cannot hope to discover. Such aversion seems to be likely to

exist in the present case.

The labours of the physicist have for their object the reduction of phenomena under physical law. One by one he has seen the individuals of an apparently disorderly mass withdrawn from their isolation, and linked by the principle of causation into a connected series. Every day he witnesses the diminution of those phenomena which refuse as yet to be so grouped. And it is natural-it is almost inevitable that his desires as well as his expectations should point to a time when all isolation shall cease, when all physical phenomena shall be united by physical law into one grand system. Possessed by aspirations such as these, he is presented with a story of a miracle, or a group of miracles. He is asked to believe in the reality of phenomena

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