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The Chairman (Right Hon. A. S. Ayrton). — I am sure we are all obliged 

 to Mr. James for having brought this subject under our notice. It is now 

 open for any present to take part in its discussion. 



Rev. F. S. Cook, D.D.— There are some opinions which, although very 

 much opposed to revealed truth, we are bound to treat with respect ; but with 

 regard to this scheme of pessimism, I, for one, cannot admit it to be a system 

 of philosophy. It is contradicted by experience ; and it must, indeed, be a 

 strong system of philosophy that can maintain itself against the whole weight 

 of human experience. In all past ages, as well as that in which we live, we 

 have the strongest testimony to what is advanced by the author of this 

 paper — namely, the desire to live, which is implanted in the breasts of all 

 human beings. We can see, as Christians, how strongly God has bound 

 us to our places in this world ; and, although we find that, even with this 

 incentive to live, men occasionally go out of the world by their own hands, 

 we may fairly ask how many more suicides would there be if mankind were 

 not bound to life by so strong a tie ? But the pessimist view is contrary 

 to all that we are conscious of in human nature. The desire to live is a 

 universal instinct. Not only is it our experience that men express them- 

 selves to this effect, but we all carry a strong witness to the truth of the 

 instinct of self-preservation in our own bosoms. If there be an inborn con- 

 sciousness in each of us, we require no evidence beyond that which has been set 

 in our own hearts- — namely, the desire to live. If, then, there be this grand 

 and universal fact of consciousness and desire to live, no system of jDhilo- 

 sophy (and, as I have said, I do not call this pessimism a philosophy) 

 can maintain itself against it. We have in the Word of God clear testi- 

 mony to the value of life ; and, with regard to the great problem of moral 

 evil, although no one can give an exact and definite statement about it, it is 

 quite clear that we can get, for all the requisite purposes of thought and 

 Christian philosophy, and for all the practical purposes of life, a sufficient 

 theory thereon. 



Mr. J. Hassell. — As Christians, we must never forget that God 

 has given us a perfect remedy for the moral evil which is found in 

 this world. The more closely man walks with God, the less there 

 will be of moral evil. Moral evil is the result of ignorance and sin ; 

 and, as Christians, it is our duty to set before our brethren its true remedy, 

 and that remedy is conformity with the will of God. I should like to 

 say a few words with reference to paragraph 8, as to " parasites." Here 

 again, while we must admit there are these parasites, we ought not to 

 forget that these creatures, whether the epizoa or the eniozoa, are the 

 natural punishment of ignorance and neglect of the laws of Nature. For 

 instance, man violates the natural law of absolute cleanliness, and 

 epizoa are the result. Man breaks some of the laws of cookery, and 

 entozoa are the result. If we have cleanliness and good cookery we do 

 away with these things ; therefore, the remedy is more or less in our own 

 hands. Take, again, the case of the salmon. Is it not a notorious fact 



