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Dr. Irons. — I shall not detain you long in replying to what has been said, 
but will endeavour, as far as I am able, to direct my remarks to the point. 
Dr. Hill wished me to explain, how far the facts of prayer are practically 
denied by Professor Tyndall ? Now, if he refers to my paper, he will find 
that at section 26 I use the words, “We have a right to complain of their 
practically ignoring facts which they acknowledge to be co-extensive with 
our existence,” and I refer to p. 46 of Professor Tyndall’s book, where he 
actually admits all that I have said, although he practically ignores it in other 
places. That must stand as my answer to the implied supposition that I unduly 
charged him with inconsistency. It seems to me that out of deference, and 
wishing to pay all respect, to a man of high eminence like Professor Tyndall, 
I have rather under-stated than over-stated the case. Dr. Wainwright has 
very truly observed the strength of our side. I have wished, if possible, to 
be what people might consider ultra-fair. I might, I am aware, have made 
the matter much more pungent, but not therefore more convincing to the 
mind of Professor Tyndall, and I wished so to express his position, that if he 
had been here he would have acknowledged that I had done him no injus- 
tice in any of my statements. This leads me to rhe answer I have to make 
to my friend Mr. Row, whose many duties have prevented his reading 
Professor Tyndall’s book, or carefully reading my paper. He seems to have 
been under the impression that I was going to open a general discussion on 
prayer, and that all the conceivable objections to prayer were to be answered 
by me to-night. I was not aware that I had undertaken such a task. If 
you refer to the title of my paper you will see that there is not a word in it 
about prayer, nor should I have referred to prayer if Professor Tyndall had 
not done so in several places. I have really dealt with nothing else than 
Professor Tyndall’s book. I am sorry Mr. Row is disappointed. I do not 
know whether the Council would have wished me to write a paper on the 
subject of prayer, and to notice all the possible objections to it ; I doubt 
whether they would have entertained such a proposal if I had put it before 
them ; but I had no such object. I knew that Professor Tyndall’s book 
was doing a great deal of mischief, and I endeavoured to deal with its first 
principle — the necessity of fixed law pervading Nature. I there explained 
his inconsistency, and showed that he was obliged to make admissions 
contrary to his very foundations ; and yet I am told that I have not answered 
him ! Mr. Row must read Professor Tyndall’s book. I am not content, 
however, to lie under the imputation that I have not, in principle, discussed 
prayer. I have indeed learnt a humbling lesson from every speaker who has 
addressed us to-night ; for I have been made to feel tolerably certain that no 
author, however earnest, would willingly write a page if he could only see the 
shape his propositions would take in the minds of 99 out of every 100 men 
who read them. In . this book-making world one gets driven into writing 
much which one might not, perhaps, be particularly anxious to do ; and your 
honorary Secretary will bear me witness that I was by no means over-eager 
to come before you with this paper. I have done so from a sense of duty, 
and in deference to his expression of the wish of the Council. I hope at 
