Sir H. BARKLY, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., F.R.S.—I rise for the purpose of proposing, "That our best thanks be presented to Professor Hull for the Annual Address now delivered, and to those who have read papers during the session." The recommendation of the first part of this resolution to the members of the Victoria Institute requires very few remarks from me. The learned director of the Geological Survey of Ireland has rendered his description of the country through which he has travelled in Arabia Petræa and Western Palestine so interesting and instructive, and has also added so greatly to the charm of his lecture by delivering his remarks extemporarily, and illustrating them by the diagrams he has put before us, that he has fairly riveted the attention of all his hearers from the beginning down to the very end of his Address. In fact, I am sure that many of us will not feel satisfied until we have heard a little more about the matter, and are in a position to read the published account of the scientific expedition to which he has referred us. With regard to the other gentlemen who have read papers during the year, I will only say that our thanks are justly due to them, and, considering the late hour at which we have arrived, I will now conclude by at once moving the resolution I have read. Mr. SAMUEL SMITH, M.P.-I have great pleasure in seconding this resolution, and in doing so I must say that it has afforded me much gratification to listen to the Address just delivered. The scenes referred to by the learned Professor are familiar to myself; and I may add, that it is only two months since I passed through the Suez Canal, and discussed with the intelligent captain of the vessel in which I was, some of the topics to which the lecturer has referred. That officer had devoted a good portion of his life to surveying the district connected with the Exodus, and he seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion as the learned Professor-namely, that the point of the Red Sea at which the children of Israel crossed was not where the Gulf of Suez is now, but one further removed from the sea. According to the captain's theory, the Red Sea must then have filled up a considerable portion of the district now lying between it and the Mediterranean. I was very much interested in the remarks made by Professor Hull in regard to the extraordinary depression of the Jordan-Arabah Valley. The matter is one that has always excited wonder; but I think the explanation that has been given to-night is one that fully commends itself to one's common sense and judgment. It must have been the site of a great lake, which has gradually disappeared in consequence of the great physical changes to which reference has been made. When I was out in that part of the world, in the month of May, the heat surpassed in its intensity anything I have ever experienced in any other place. Nothing could exceed the sterility of the district—there being scarcely a vestige of vegetation-with the exception of a small belt of foliage along the banks of the Jordan; but, as we all know, there was a time when that district was the abode of a large population, although, through the changes alluded to, the climate has reached its present condition. I think I may truly say that we have all derived much informa tion from the interesting Address we have had the opportunity of listening to to-night. The resolution was then agreed to, nem con. Professor HULL, F.R.S.-On my own part and that of those who are also included in the vote of thanks just passed by the meeting, I have only to say that we are much obliged to Sir Henry Barkly for moving, and to Mr. Samuel Smith for seconding, as well as to the members present for accepting, this resolution. It has afforded me very great pleasure to offer the remarks I have put before so appreciative an audience. Rev. A. I. M'CAUL, M.A.—I have now to move, That the thanks of the meeting be presented to the President." We must all have felt much pleasure and gratification in hearing that our distinguished President will be with us as much as he is able, having regard to his other duties. Mr. H. CADMAN JONES, M.A.-I have much pleasure in seconding the resolution. I am sure it is a source of great satisfaction to the Society that we have obtained so distinguished a successor to the late lamented nobleman who for so many years was our President. The Earl of Shaftesbury was very fond of saying, at our annual meetings, that he ought to give place to some one else, as he was not himself a scientific man. Nevertheless, I always felt that there was a peculiar fitness in his being our President, as he was one whose whole life was a proof that, when we are fighting for the truths of Revelation, we are not fighting for a mere bundle of ideas, but for that which is to regenerate the world. His religion led him to set the noblest example of self-denying exertion for the good of others, and he rightly filled the place he held at the head of this Institute. We have now the pleasure of welcoming to that position a man of high scientific reputation-one whose name is known, not only throughout Europe, but, I may say, all over the world, as a man of science; and his accepting the post is a proof that belief in Revelation is consistent with the highest scientific attainments. I welcome him the more heartily because we are old friends, having been at Cambridge together, and forty-five years ago, we were struggling to see which of the two should win the object of ambition most coveted by Cambridge men. I have much pleasure in thanking him for coming here and accepting the position of our President. The resolution having been carried by acclamation, The PRESIDENT said :-I rise to return thanks for the kind expressions that have been used towards me, and to say that I hope, notwithstanding my other engagements, I shall, at any rate, have some time to give to the affairs of this Institute. I will not detain you longer at this late hour. The members and their friends then adjourned to the Museum, where refreshments were served. D. HOWARD, Esq., V.P.C.S., IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the following Elections were announced : LIFE MEMBER :-Rev. F. H. Baring, M.A., London. ASSOCIATES :-H. Carr Smith, Esq., Reading; J. K. Barton, Esq., M.D., T.C.D., F.R.C.S.I., Dublin. The following paper was then read by Mr. H. CADMAN JONES, M.A., the author being unable to be present on acccount of his official duties. ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN JEWISH, PHE A NICIAN, AND EARLY GREEK ART AND ARCHI- FEW years ago I had a favourable opportunity, when cruising in a yacht along the shores of the Mediterranean, of inspecting and exploring some of the ancient cities and temples whose ruins stud the coasts of Greece, Asia Minor, and Africa. I had previously visited, and examined with considerable care and minuteness, almost every spot of antiquarian and historic interest in Palestine, Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Northern Egypt. I had seen those remarkable relics of primeval art and luxury exhumed by Schliemann from the mounds of Troy and the tombs of Mycena. I had read, too, the graphic narrative of the researches of Di Cesnola, and his full description of the Phoenician and Greek sculptures and ornaments of gold and silver discovered by him in the temples, tombs, and subterranean chambers of Cyprus. I have since, as far as time and important official duties permitted, endeavoured to compare with each other the antiquarian remains of the several countries and cities I have named, with a view, if possible, to trace the origin of art and architecture, and to ascertain to what race or nation we are mainly indebted for the first designs, and for the earliest principles, of art; and in what way, and by what agency, the knowledge was propagated and art developed. I had another object in view-to throw some additional light, if possible, upon the accounts given by the sacred writers of the building and decoration of Solomon's Temple and Palace in Jerusalem. I must here confess that it is with extreme diffidence I venture to express my views on this subject before a London audience. In prosecuting my studies I have laboured under great disadvantages. Though I have visited so many of the ancient. sites, and explored so many of the old ruins, I have not had any special training for such work. I was a mere amateur. And when in my library at home I have not had access to those vast and invaluable stores of antiquities laid up in the British Museum, nor have I enjoyed the incalculable advantage of intercourse with those savants in this great metropolis who have devoted their special attainments and learning to classical and Oriental archeology. I have simply investigated, read, and thought for myself. My aim now is to give the results in a short, popular form, and thus to try at least to direct the attention of others, better qualified than I can pretend to be, to matters which, in my opinion, are of no small importance, especially for Biblical students. ARCHITECTURE. During my wanderings over Bible lands and along the classic shores of the Levant, I was often struck with the close resemblance, in many respects, between the most ancient architectural remains of the Jews, the Phoenicians, and the Greeks, both in their own country and in their colonies in Asia Minor. I read with renewed interest and attention the accounts given by the sacred writers of the building of Solomon's Temple and Palace in Jerusalem-how the foundations and massive walls were built "of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits. and stones of eight cubits" (1 Kings vii. 9, 10). Josephus makes the size of the stones greater still, some being forty cubits long (Ant., xv. 11). Many of the stones of the encircling wall of the Temple platform. are in their places. I 1 have measured several varying from twenty to thirty-eight feet in length by nearly six in thickness; and the wall itself rises in places to a height of one hundred and fifty feet. The huge platform, so constructed, is on the crown of Mount Moriah, and is about five hundred yards long by three. hundred broad. Near its centre, standing on the natural rock, was the Temple itself,-the vaós, shrine," as distinguished from the iɛpóv, "sacred enclosure, a site now occupied by the great Mosque. I could not fail to admire the grandeur of the site and the magnificence of the masonry. I observed, as others have done, that many of the large stones had cut upon them masons' marks,-Phoenician letters, showing, as the sacred writers inform us, that the buildings were erected by Phoenician workmen. Solomon, in his letter to Hiram, King of Tyre, acknowledges that among the Jews there were no skilled workmen, and therefore asked men from Hiram, and when they arrived "they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone. And Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites did fashion them" (1 Kings v. 7, 17, 18). Here is the first link of connexion between Jewish and Phoenician architecture, and it is a remarkable confirmation of the accuracy of the Bible record, that we can now see the marks of those Phoenician masons upon the great stones they laid in Solomon's days. There is another noteworthy allusion in the passage I have quoted. The Gebalites are specially mentioned, for this is the true rendering of the Hebrew word translated "stone squarers" in our Authorised Version. They were the inhabitants of the old Phoenician city of Gebal, at the foot of Lebanon, north of Sidon; and I have seen in its own old ramparts colossal stones of the very same type as those in Jerusalem (Cf. Ezek. xxvii. 9). They occur also in the extant foundations of Sidon, Tyre, and Arvad; indeed, in most of the ruins along the Phoenician coast and on the neighbouring heights of Lebanon. Perhaps, however, the most remarkable is the stylobate, or platform, of the temples of Baalbek. Phoenician architects appear to have had a special liking for colossal stones; and in Baalbek they surpassed all their other works in this respect. Three stones placed on a massive sustaining wall, at a height of twenty-five feet from the ground, measure in length, respectively, sixty feet, sixty-three feet, and sixty-four feet, by fourteen feet deep and fourteen broad. It is worthy of note, too, that this ancient site bears the name to this day of the Phoenician sun-god, Baal. Baal-bek signifies "City of Baal." The Greeks called it in their own tongue, The |