32 



Hence the idea of o;c7itr.sA/jj. Hence also the general consent 

 of mankind that it is a wicked thing to deprive any one, either 

 by force or subtlety, of what is his own. 



Many are the speculations suggested by these considera- 

 tions, but I must forbear to enter upon them. My chief aim 

 has been to make it appear that the Christian religion rests 

 upon a moral foundation ; that, while appealing to our desire 

 for happiness, — that desire which is ingrained in the constitu- 

 tion of man, — it holds out no selfish motives, such as its 

 enemies are so anxious to accuse it of, but proposes to us the 

 noblest aims, and calls forth the highest principles of our 

 nature ; and that the God whom Christians acknowledge and 

 adore is falsely accused when He is represented as " a man- 

 like artificer,'' as delighting in adulation, or as indulging 

 feelings of revenge. If I have in any degree, however small, 

 contributed to bring out and disseminate these results, my 

 object has been gained. 



Mr. Alexander McArthur, M.P., moved, — "That our best thanks be 

 presented to the Lord Bishop of Derry for reading the late Lord O'Neill's 

 Address, and to those who have contributed papers during the session." 

 We deeply regret the loss of our excellent friend Lord O'Neill, and we 

 must all be much obliged to the right reverend gentleman for having read 

 his paper. We have also to express our thanks to those who have taken 

 the trouble to prepare and read papers at the meetings of the Institute 

 during the past year. Many of these papers have been very valuable, and 

 those who have heard them read, or who have themselves read them after- 

 wards, must, I am sure, have derived much benefit, and will be desirous of 

 returning their best thanks to the authors. 



The Bishop of Ballarat. — I have very great pleasure in seconding the 

 resolution. I hope I shall be excused from making a speech, but I will 

 offer one remark. It struck me, when the Bishop of Derry was reading the 

 very luminous paper of the late Lord O'Neill, that it forcibly illustrated the 

 truth, that we really ought not to be frightened at the formidable words and 

 expressions which some Freethinkers make use of ; because, when you come 

 to look into them, you find there is really nothing whatever in them. They 

 remind me of the passage in Shakespeare's " Second Part of Henry IV.," 

 where the hostess, after listening to one of Pistol's magniloquent but inane 

 utterances, exclaims, "By my troth, captain, these are very bitter words." 

 And so they were to her, no doubt ; but they meant absolutely nothing. 

 (Laughter.) Some of the epithets applied to Christianity sound very 

 alarming indeed ; but, when one comes to examine them, the dismay and 

 horror which are intended to be inspired altogether vanish. I second with 

 great pleasure the resolution which has been proposed by Mr. M' Arthur, 

 and I very much congratulate myself, on the eve of returning to Australia, 



