THE BELFAST ADDRESS 181 



there are others who hold that we, who cherish our noble 

 Bible, wrought as it has been into the constitution of our 

 forefathers, and by inheritance into us, must necessarily 

 be hypocritical and insincere. Let us disavow and dis- 

 countenance such people, cherishing the unswerving faith 

 that what is good and true in both our arguments will be 

 preserved for the benefit of humanity, while all that is 

 bad or false will disappear." 



I hold the Bishop's reasoning to be unanswerable, and 

 his liberality to be worthy of imitation. 



It is worth remarking that in one respect the Bishop 

 was a product of his age. Long previous to his day the 

 nature of the soul had been so favorite and general a 

 topic of discussion that, when the students of the Italian 

 Universities wished to know the leanings of a new Pro- 

 fessor, they at once requested him to lecture upon the 

 souL About the time of Bishop Butler the question was 

 not only agitated, but extended. It was seen by the 

 clear-witted men who entered this arena that many of 

 their best arguments applied equally to brutes and men. 

 The Bishop's arguments were of this character. He saw 

 it, admitted it, took the consequence, and boldly embraced 

 the whole animal world in his scheme of immortality. 



Bishop Butler accepted with unwavering trust the 

 chronology of the Old Testament, describing it as "con- 

 firmed by the natural and civil history of the world, col- 

 lected from common historians, from the state of the 

 earth, and from the late inventions of arts and sciences." 

 These words mark progress; and they must seem some- 

 what hoary to the Bishop's successors of to-day. It is 



