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Rent to Christmas, 1886
Housekeeper
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[THE HONORARY SECRETARY (Captain Francis Petrie) said that although the Report was in the hands of all present, yet he would venture to draw attention to the way in which it indicated the development of the Institute. First it showed, that the Institute had been careful to carry out the main object for which it was founded, the investigation of important philosophical and scientific questions, especially those which some sought to turn against the truth of Revelation,-and that it was receiving the aid of those in the highest ranks of science. The Journal which was circulated among its members and associates was the record of this work. But it was felt that the time had come when the knowledge gained by all this valuable work must not be confined to a comparatively limited circle, but that by every means the world at large should be benefited by it; and the most valuable helpers in this were now the members at home and in many parts of the world who sought to increase the number of those supporting the Institute, and to adopt some of the many means described in the thirteenth section of the Report for making its work known.]

Sir HENRY BARKLY, K.C.B., G.C.M.G., F.R.S.-Professor Stokes, Ladies, and Gentlemen, I rise with great pleasure to move that the Report you have just heard read be received, and that the thanks of the members and associates be presented to the Council, Honorary Officers, and Auditors for their efficient conduct of the business of the Victoria Institute during the year. I am sure that among the Honorary Officers you will not forget the Honorary Secretary, to whose indefatigable exertions the Institute owes so much. I have only a few words to offer, as I did not come here under the impression that I should have been called upon to move this resolution. It was to have been moved by one much more competent than myself to recommend it to your acceptance. I allude to the Bishop of Ontario, who, however, has unfortunately been prevented at the last moment from being present, and consequently I have been requested to undertake the duty in his stead. I do not think it will be a difficult task to offer the few words that are necessary to call attention to the report presented. It must be evident to all who have heard it read, or who have glanced at its contents, that this Society has, during the past year, been carrying out the objects for which it was formed in an efficient and admirable manner. It has done this, not merely so far as regards the reading and discussion of papers,—although several of great importance have been read and very interesting discussions have followed,—but it has also been carrying out its objects most satisfactorily by the exertions it has made to spread a knowledge of its labours and publications, which include a special People's Edition, of twelve of the most popularly useful of its papers, in every country where there is an English-speaking population, and in others where by means of translations its works have been rendered valuable. Some of our Colonies can bear witness to the fact that the work of this Society has been most useful in their several communities, that it has formed a sort of centre and bulwark under which those who wish to repress the attacks of infidelity

and agnosticism, now unhappily so prevalent all over the world, may be enabled to rally their forces, and make head against the spread of opinions which, in our opinion, are deleterious to the welfare of society. We have,

I am glad to say, seen the example set by this Institute followed by the formation of a kindred society in America, founded on the same lines and doing a great deal of good. I have no doubt that other societies of a kindred character will spring up and be the means of proving to society at large that there is no necessary opposition between the truths of religion and of science. I may, perhaps, be permitted to say in this context how great an advantage it is to us, and also how great an honour we esteem it to be, that we have been enabled to secure as our President a man occupying the eminent position of Professor Stokes. His name alone is a tower of strength to the Victoria Institute, and I am quite sure that his presence here to-night will do much more than I can say to advance the objects of the Society. Indeed, I feel that if I take up one moment of your time unnecessarily in moving this resolution, I shall be doing you an injury by keeping you from listening to the Address Professor Stokes has been good enough to prepare for us tonight: therefore, instead of extending my remarks further, I will conclude by moving the resolution I have already read.

Sir J. RISDON BENNETT, F.R.S.-I have great pleasure in seconding this motion. As I feel how undesirable it is that I should detain you from the Address to which you are looking forward with great interest, I shall confine myself to the simple discharge of my duty, except in so far as I feel unable to sit down without emphasising what has been said with reference to the obligations we are under to our indefatigable Secretary, and also how deeply we are indebted to Professor Stokes, whose time is so valuable, and who is so greatly over-worked, for giving us, not only his name, but also his labours in support of the objects we have in view. Seeing how these things add to the efficacy of our endeavours, we ought to feel obliged to such men when we find them willing to devote a portion of their time to the furtherance of our work. [The resolution was carried unanimously.] Rev. ROBINSON THORNTON, D.D., responding, said: I have been asked on behalf of the Council to return their sincere thanks for the way in which you have appreciated what we have endeavoured to do, and I am also in a position to say that the members of the Council have attended most conscientiously to their duties. The President's Address is now so nearly at hand, that I feel disinclined to detain you with any disquisition on the labours of the Council; nevertheless, I cannot help looking back for some twenty years or more, to the time when we first met together, and I had the honour of taking part in the formation of this exceedingly successful Institute. I remember when we thought of publishing the first volume of our Transactions we had in our minds, rather the wail of the Latin satirist

"Quis leget hæc? min' ter istud ais? nemo hercule. Nemo?
Vel duo, vel nemo."

We thought, perhaps, there might be two or three persons, or, it might be none at all, who would care to look at our lucubrations. We are now a

Society, not confined to London, nor to England, for our members are doing good earnest work in our Colonies, in the United States of America, and in foreign countries in different parts of the world. We have proceeded all through with our object the Major Dei Gloria, and with our text, that which cannot be repeated too often,-namely, that between the Scriptures rightly interpreted, and the facts of science rightly understood and fairly weighed, there can be no possible discrepancy; that if there be any apparent discrepancy, it arises either from the Scriptures being misinterpreted, or the scientific conclusions being improperly drawn. Our President is one of those scientific men who are able to grasp this great truth—to hold the belief that there may be two books written by the same hand-the Book of God and the Book of Nature, the latter written in one language and the former in another, but the truths they convey one and the same, as proceeding from one and the same Author. This text we have always had before us, and the result is to be seen in the present condition of the Institute. We return you our most sincere thanks.

The PRESIDENT then delivered the following Address :

ΟΝ

N the present anniversary, which is the conclusion of my first year of office as President of this Institute, I propose to address a few words to you bearing on the object of the Institute, and on the spirit in which, as I conceive, that object is best carried out.

The highest aim of physical science is, as far as may be possible, to refer observed phenomena to their proximate causes. I by no means say that this is the immediate, or even necessarily the ultimate, object of every physical investigation. Sometimes our object is to investigate facts, or to co-ordinate known facts, and endeavour to discover empirical laws. These are useful as far as they go, and may ultimately lead to the formation of theories which in the end so stand the test of what I may call cross-examination by Nature, that we become impressed with the conviction of their truth. Sometimes our object is the determination of numerical constants, with a view, it may be, to the practical application of science to the wants of life.

To illustrate what I am saying, allow me to refer to a very familiar example. From the earliest ages men must have observed the heavenly bodies. The great bulk of those brilliant points with which at night the sky is spangled when clouds permit of their being seen, retain the same relative positions night after night and year after year. But a few among them are seen to change their places relatively to the rest and to one another. The fact of this change is embodied in the very name, planet, by which these bodies are desig

nated. I shall say nothing here about the establishment of the Copernican system: I shall assume that as known and admitted. The careful observations of astronomers on the apparent places, from time to time, of these wandering bodies among the fixed stars supplied us, in the first instance, with a wide basis of isolated facts. After a vast amount of labour, Kepler at last succeeded in discovering the three famous laws which go by his name. Here, then, we have the second stage; the vast assemblage of isolated facts are co-ordinated, and embraced in a few simple laws. As yet, however, we cannot say that the idea of causation has entered in. But now Newton arises, and shows that the very same property of matter which causes an apple to fall to the earth, which causes our own bodies to press on the earth on which we stand, suffices to account for those laws which Kepler discovered, nay, more, those laws themselves are only very approximately true; and, when we consider the places of the planets, at times separated by a considerable interval, we are obliged to suppose that the elements of their orbits have slowly undergone slight changes. But the simple law of universal gravitation, combined, of course, with the laws of motion, not only leads to Kepler's laws as a very close approximation to the actual motions, but also accounts for those slight changes. which have just been mentioned as necessary to make Kepler's laws fit observation exactly. We are inevitably led to regard the attraction of gravitation as the cause which keeps the planets in their orbits.

But it may be said, what is the difference in the two cases? Is not the law of gravitation merely a simpler mode of expressing the observed facts of the planetary motions just like the somewhat less simple laws of Kepler? What right have we to introduce the idea of causation in the one case more than in the other?

The answer to this appears to be that in the one case, that of Kepler's laws, supposing them to be true, we have merely a statement of what, on that supposition, would be a fact regarding the motions of the planets, whereas in the other case the observed motions are referred to a property of matter of the operation of which in other and perfectly different phenomena we have independent evidence.

I have purposely omitted to mention the important difference between the two cases, which lies in the circumstance that Kepler's laws require correction to make them applicable to long intervals of time, whereas the law of gravitation shows no sign of failure; because, even if the former had been perfectly exact, however long the interval of time to which