Page:Dr Stiggins, His Views and Principles.pdf/88

 with "loud and continued applause" at a Liberal meeting? Would this doctrine satisfy the ethical demands of a modern man of science? Can I conceive of such a rite as this suggesting itself spontaneously to a representative assembly of Free Churchmen? And perhaps best of all—the final and conclusive test—Is this a doctrine on which the party could go to the country, with the certainty of being returned by a triumphant, a "thumping" majority? I do not claim this test as an absolute discovery; indeed, I am very glad to be able to call the testimony of a distinguished brother minister, the Rev. C. H. Kelly, ex-president of the Wesleyan Conference, who in his charge to the newly-ordained ministers, is reported to have said that "they had to preach to an age that was antagonistic to formality. Men would not listen to doctrinal statements unless they were practical. It was a democratic age. Crowns and lawn sleeves did not count for much to-day. If Paul or Wesley returned to the earth now, they would have to act differently. If