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for the foundation of man^s faith in His existence, power, and 
goodness, has, for its corroboration, coupled with their 
exhibition the testimony of physical science. He has put it 
into our power to know by induction much which it would 
perhaps please Him better that we should be morally 
qualified to believe. For some purpose approved by His 
universal perfection — perhaps to put honour upon child-like 
confidence and trust — He has given Revelation to do for us 
what in the pride of reason we imagine it would be more 
dignified to do for ourselves ; we would by the light of argu- 
ment “ see the print of the nails,” and by our own mental 
acumen put our “ finger into the print of the nails,” and thus 
be sure that in crediting testimony we are not submitting to 
delusion. Well; to all is not given the same gift, and the 
best gift is not always that of our own choosing. He can 
only choose best who knows best ; he knows the best whose 
experience is the least limited; and he cannot be said to 
have the most extensive experience who studies in the mind 
of God nothing but His intellectual Power. 
The Chairman. — I have to ask you to give a vote of thanks to the author 
of the paper, and to invite discussion upon the views it contains. 
Rev. C. A. Row. — I have given great attention to the matters discussed in 
the earlier or metaphysical portion of this paper, and I purpose to confine 
my remarks entirely to them. I am sorry that the author is absent, for I 
came prepared to ask him many questions, to which I should have been glad 
to hear some reply ; for, though I have studied metaphysics for many years, 
I find in this paper many things to which I am altogether unable to assign 
any definite meaning. Some of the statements I cannot believe the author 
means me to accept in the ordinary sense as they stand. The fact is, he has 
entered upon the whole range of ancient philosophy, beginning with Thales 
and ending with Aristotle ; and before you can consider any of those points 
which he has laid down as proved, you must discuss the whole ancient 
philosophy in its metaphysical character. When you read the old authors, — 
and let me take Plato as an example, — you find in many of the dialogues 
which enter into these subjects conclusions in which nothing is concluded. 
And there are many points in this paper, also belonging to ancient philosophy, 
which are quite beyond any of the powers of the human mind. Macaulay, 
in his essay on Lord Bacon, gives us an illustration of this, when he observes 
that Plato had a first-rate bow and a first-rate arrow, but, instead of going 
out to shoot mundane things, he tried to shoot the stars. Now, that, it seems 
to me, would apply to some of the observations in this paper. Mr. Laming 
says 
“ I begin by remarking that the only nothing it is possible for me to con- 
ceive is empty space, which I think of as boundless in extent, eternal in 
endurance.” 
