156 



'rev. chancellor lias, M.A., ON 



desolating plague in our midst, we shall see believers of every type 

 vying with each other in the great work of enabling every 

 Christian, whatever his station and opportunities, to " give a 

 reason for the hope that is in him ? Scepticism has for some time 

 been gaining ground among us. It is not a time for us to neglect 

 any means of furthering the cause of our holy religion. It is 

 our duty to maintain Institutes such as this, and any other of 

 the aids which we need in order to " fight the good fight of faith 

 in the way the Christian Church ought to fight it, until the voice 

 of detraction against the grandest of all books is reduced to 

 silence. It is forty years ago since I read my first paper here. 

 I am not likely to contribute another. I shall be pleased if my 

 last-recorded words in its Proceedings are a plea for the hearty 

 support of an Association which has done so much to maintain 

 the ascendency of Christianity in an age of astounding discoveries 

 and much unsettlement of men's faith. 



Discussion. 



Lieut. -Colonel Alves : We should all be grateful to Chancellor 

 Lias for helping to tear away from Germanism the mask which 

 has for so long and by so many been considered as a revelation of 

 Deity. For an idea to be German was quite enough : it was 

 certainly the best, and probably the only good one. 



Germany has undoubtedly produced some very great musical com- 

 posers, though Haydn, Mozart (of Jewish origin), and Schubert were 

 Austrians. But it must never be forgotten that in the formation 

 of the great classical school in which all, up to and including Bee- 

 thoven, were trained, Germany had no hand : it was Anglo-Italian. 

 Moreover, Handel and Haydn received their great training in Italy 

 itself. Beethoven, trained in this school, was the first, and incom- 

 parably the greatest, of the romantic, or sentimental school. 



Musical decadence began in Germany. Owing to his classical 

 training, Beethoven never could have sunk to its greatest depth. 



Adverting to p. 141 of the paper, I ask : What are metaphysics ? 

 Is not Christianity the great metaphysical science ? and is it not 

 emphasized in Scripture, and borne out by early Church history, that 

 Christian life and Christian brotherly love were evidences to the 

 scientific nature of what we may call " Christian metaphysics " or 



