16G 
ORDINARY MEETING, April 9th, 1877. 
The Rey. Robinson Thornton, D.D., Y.P., in the Chair. 
. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the follow- 
J ng elections were announced : — 
Members :-J. Dingley, Esq. ; H. F. Hall, Esq., F.G.S., F.R.H.S., President 
of the Liverpool Geological Society ; G. Harris. Esq., LL.D., F.R.H.S., 
F.S.A., \ ice-President of the Anthropological Society of "Great Britain. 
Associates Rev. T. Bliss, B.A. ; R. Sheward, Esq. 
Also the presentation of the following Works to the Library : — 
“ Proceedings of the Royal Society.” 
“ Treatise on Man,” 2 vols. By G. Harris, Esq. 
“ The Theory of the Arts,” 2 vols. By the same. 
“ Civilization Considered as a Science.” By the same. 
From the Society. 
The Author. 
Ditto. 
Ditto. 
The following paper was then read by the author 
THE ETHICS OF BELIEF. By the Rev. Henry Wace, 
M.A., Chaplain of Lincoln’s Inn, Professor of Ecclesiastical 
History in King’s College, London. 
1. mHE subject of this Paper, as is indicated by its title, 
JL has been suggested by an Article contributed by 
Professor Clifford to the January number of the Contemporary 
Review. It is an article which has justly attracted a good 
deal of attention, not merely from its intrinsic force, but 
because it expresses very effectively a tone of thought which 
is peculiarly characteristic of an influential school of scientific 
scepticism. Little, indeed, if anything, is said which directly 
impugns the faith of Christians, though there are a good 
many oblique insinuations against it, and as will appear in the 
sequel, I venture to think that the tests of belief the article lays 
down are, on the whole, strongly confirmatory of the validity 
of Christian evidences, as generally received. There is, there- 
fore, no occasion for anything like a polemical discussion of 
the subject, and this Paper will not, I trust, be conceived in 
