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The Chairman. — I am sure you will cordially return your thanks to Dr. 
Irons for this second profound and important paper. We must all feel 
indebted to him for giving us the result of such deep thought and such vast 
learning, as well as for such an amount of original matter. I shall now be 
very happy to hear any remarks which any gentleman may think fit to make 
on this paper ; but I must remind the meeting that we are not a mere debating 
society ; that our discussions are intended for use ; and that we do what 
few other societies do, — publish reports of our discussions in full It 
is only fair to the Society that gentlemen should bear this in mind, and 
keep as much and as closely as possible to the paper which has been read 
in any remarks they may have to offer. 
Rev. C. A. Row. — As I have read this paper with considerable care, I 
will make a few remarks upon it, being fully aware that, unless one has 
read it carefully, he will not readily perceive all its importance. And first 
let me point out that its real importance lies in this, — that the opposite 
principles to those contained in Dr. Irons’s paper are those by which Chris- 
tianity is attacked in Germany, France, and England. Those opposite 
principles form the foundation of all the attacks which are made on the 
authenticity of the Gospel. The paper is exceedingly close in its reasoning, 
and the principles which it lays down, if we consider them attentively, 
will go a long way towards reforming the theology of the present day. I 
only wish Dr. Irons would publish the series of papers, of which this is 
one, in a very much enlarged form, pointing out most distinctly the posi- 
tion he takes up, and get them translated into French and German. I think 
they would do a great deal of good, as showing the grounds upon which 
we can argue against the infidel philosophy of the day. The metaphysical 
philosophy of the present day tends to attack revelation ; the principle of 
that philosophy is in opposition to certain facts of revelation, and tends 
to the direct subversion of the Gospel of our Lord. I should like to 
call the attention of Dr. Irons for a moment to one thing, which I believe 
he has omitted in this paper, and which I believe properly belongs to this, 
and not to the next division of the subject ; that is, that our responsibility 
is largely affected by the conditions of our birth, and by the society in which 
we are born and brought up. It is obvious to any one who reflects upon it, 
that the conditions under which we are born do produce a most prodigious 
influence upon our subsequent life. You and I have been*born Engb'sh men 
and women, and, as a natural consequence, we grow up with a certain 
character and style. Had we been born in Bengal, most of us would have 
grown up much like the Bengalese ; and this runs through all life, — so that 
the conditions of our birth, the society in which we are placed, and the tone of 
thought to which we are exposed, produce an immense effect on our whole 
moral and spiritual being. In the same way the learning of a language 
influences us to a very considerable extent. Language is a complete store- 
house of all the previous thought of men ; and when I learn a language, I 
learn at once certain moral principles, which get deeply impressed on my 
being. In fact, the whole previous experience of a race lies embedded in a 
VOL. IV. I 
