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part of the opponents of Christianity ; tor one of the great advantages of 
discussion here is, 4 that we all wish, as Christian men and women, that 
nothing should go forth as our defence of Christianity which is not capable 
of bearing the test of criticism and ot the severest examination. With 
regard to the remarks that have been made, I think it would be best for me 
to notice them seriatim. 
Dr. Kennedy complains that he does not understand my metaphor in 
answer to Mr. Greg. Let me, therefore, explain that I referred to the fact, 
that Christianity has all along been slowly leavening the mass through the 
life of the individual ; that the result has been a gradual rise in the tone of 
Christian society ; that this rise, in accordance with the teaching of Christ, 
was due to the secret and hidden influence of the Spirit, who comes we know 
not whence, and goes we not whither, and is, therefore, not, as a rule, to be 
looked for in public, among those in high office, even in the Church, but 
rather among those who lived lives of retirement, until the often repeated in- 
fluence of such lives has leavened society as a whole, and has been thus able 
to mould the characters of those who live in the world, and occupy its high 
places. I should not be disposed to admit that it was a “ notorious fact, that, 
for certain ages, Christianity was scarcely better than old heathendom.” I 
should be disposed to say, that at its very worst, as Mr. Lecky admits, it was 
infinitely superior to the heathen world at its very best. 
Mr. L. T. Dibdin has raised some objection to the fact that I referred 
to the late Canon Kingsley as “an earnest and vigorous defender of 
our religion.” I was not referring to Yeast, in which perhaps it may be 
said that he was, to a certain extent, an unbeliever ; but I do feel 
much indebted to him for my knowledge of Christianity, especially in what 
he wrote in Hypatia, where he shows that it was doing a great deal 
of good in the world. I ought not to omit a reference to his Phaethon and 
to his Sermons, with their vigorous, manly, Christian tone. As I read my 
paper this morning before coming down to the Institute, it struck me that 
that passage in the second paragraph which has been referred to, was 
capable of misconception, that it almost made it appear as if I thought 
that the philosophers and sages of Greece had done as much as Moses 
for the elevation of man. Now I did not mean it in that way. What 
I meant to say was, that it was as certainly a part of God’s education 
of the world as any other part of His education of the world ; but of course 
I admit that the phrase “ as much ” is liable to misinterpretation. The 
same observation may apply to the passage taken exception to in the 
third paragraph of the paper. As to the question whether Tiberius was 
sensual or not, that does not affect the situation in any appreciable degree. 
Our chairman has anticipated my reply to a great extent, but I may add 
that two sides can be taken of every character. Some people think that 
Henry VIII. was a very good man, but that is not an opinion which is 
generally held by English society. No doubt there were features in 
the character of Tiberius, his emotional character and the elevated and 
