Excerpt from The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, 1892, Vol. 13: A Monthly Journal, Under Episcopal Sanction Let me illustrate my meaning by one or two very common examples - A trial is about to take place. Twelve jurymen are summoned. They are men of mature age, of average ability, of fair education, and with a reputation for sound sense. In neither of the contending parties are they particularly interested. And, what is more, they honestly and conscientiously resolve to set aside all prejudice, personal feeling, and bigotry, &c., and to be guided in their judgment simply and solely by the merits of the case as it is set before them. Yet, incredible as it may appear, it Often turns out that even this handful of men cannot agree upon a verdict. Consider the whole circumstances carefully. All twelve jurors have assisted at the trial; all have carefully watched the proceedings from the Opening of the case; all have listened to the pleadings of the counsel for the plaintiff and of the counsel for the defendant; all have gazed on the countenance of the judge, and heard his summing up and final instructions and remarks. Precisely the same words, sentences, intonations, looks, and gestures have come undfi the notice of each of these twelve men. There is no infor mation afforded to one which is not afforded to all, and yet they cannot agree. Here is a clear proof that the same evidence affects some in one way, and some in another. One juryman deems the prisoner innocent, another rests quite satisfied that he is guilty. One would pronounce the death sentence with perfect equanimity, the other would set the accused forthwith at liberty. Here then we have a dozen men, of a like station in life, living in the Same age, in the same city, and amid the same surroundings, unable to agree upon one definite point concerning which all have had the same evidence. If this be true, 'what chance, let me ask, in all fairness, would there be of getting the entire world to agree upon any single article of faith! How practically impossible it would be, by mere argument, to persuade all men to agree upon the whole summary of truth which goes to make up Christian faith It would certainly be wholly impossible by any force of mere reasoning and argumentation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.