own souls in connection with that transcendent event, at a given point of time, in the home of Nazareth; and he did not hesitate to quote his own experience of former years, as he had sat and gazed upon the "Sistine Madonna" of Raphael in the Dresden Gallery, until the holy figures seemed to grow into life upon the canvas, and those beautiful lips appeared to move spontaneously with the Magnificat anima mea Dominum, and "inspiration" seemed to be a very real thing.

Lieut.-Colonel M. A. ALVES said: I cannot agree with the reader of the paper in considering the vision of Joan of Arc as being parallel to that of the Virgin Mary; nor, even from a Roman Catholic point of view, in the statement that the Rabbinic is the only authority for the existence of angels. Allusions to them are made in all of the three great divisions of the Old Testament, and also in the New.

Of angels, two are mentioned by name; Gabriel was sent with personal messages to Daniel, Zacharias, and Mary. To each of these there was at least one objective vision.

Michael is called in Jude "the archangel"; no other of that title is mentioned in Scripture. In the Old Testament he is called the "Prince" of Daniel's people.

That people at present is shelved; and "The Church of God" has taken its place. A hint at this is given in I Thess. iv, 16, "the voice of the archangel."

But neither to Daniel, the man greatly beloved, does Michael come with messages, nor to the highly favoured Mary.

Seeing then that, both in England and in France, the holders of the pure faith had to hide their heads, it is pretty certain that Joan could not have had a visit from Gabriel, still less from Michael. Her vision, like those of Timour the Lame, must have been purely subjective; and although I have no doubt that God's hand was in the matter to separate England from France, and to shame both countries by making a woman the deliverer of the latter, I cannot compare Joan with Mary.

What was Mary's sacrifice and the sword that should pierce her soul? I do not think that it was either the pangs of childbirth or her Divine Son's sufferings on the Cross. We must put ourselves in her place, and, I may add, Joseph's also.

Mary's innocent and matter-of-fact question to the Angel shows that she had no idea of a heavenly visitant and miraculous

conception; and she probably voiced popular opinion. Moreover, motherhood is the general lot of womankind.

When, however, Gabriel explained the matter, Mary showed her faith, (1) in the miraculous conception, (2) that God would make it right for her with Joseph, and (3) that He would make them both strong to bear the incredulity, which must have been very hard to bear, on our Lord's part, as well as on that of Joseph and Mary. Mr. ROUSE praised the tender eloquence with which the paper closed, and added: In making this comparison, the author has been able to show a sort of analogy between Joan of Arc, in delivering her countrymen (already distracted by civil broils) from the scourge of the English invasion, and the Virgin Mary, in becoming a willing instrument for bringing into the world the Great Deliverer of mankind; and he has shown in each a striking self-surrender for the purpose. But as regards the visions that Joan alleged herself to have had of Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine, she could at her trial say nothing as to their forms nor whether they wore crowns or jewels nor whether Michael had long or short hair. She knew him from them simply by their voices and because they told her. She could only say that she saw the glorious faces of all and that they were always the same, and that the voice that came from each was beautiful, gentle, and humble. We may well conclude, therefore, that what happened was that she, a God-fearing and pure maiden, deeply grieving over the distresses of her country, did actually hear a voice from time to time urging her to go to the deliverance of her country, and in her reveries associated this with the faces of the archangel and of the saints which she had seen portrayed in her village church.

Now we know that Christians have from time to time declared that, in a season of great perplexity, they have distinctly heard a voice of guidance, which they have followed to lasting profit. And why should not God, through one of His angels, thus speak to cheer and strengthen those whose hearts are perfect towards Him, however little or much they may know of Bible truth? But far oftener no voice is actually heard, yet a strong conviction springs up in the mind touching the right course to pursue, and is proved by its results to be God-given.

While Joan the Maid was delivering her country, France, from the English, the famous Ziska was rescuing his country, Bohemia,

from vaster hosts of relentless enemies, who were bent on slaying the Bohemians at large as "a sacrilegious and accursed nation." When those faithful servants of God, John Huss and Jerome of Prague, had been imprisoned by the Council of Constance, and, in spite of the German Emperor's promise of a safe return home, had been burnt alive for the truths that they taught, Ziska, who was then chamberlain to King Wenceslaus of Bohemia, was found by his master brooding over the cruelty done to these noble men and the affront to his nation, when the king said to him in jest, "If you are able to call the Emperor to account, you have my permission." In earnest, Ziska replied, "Give me, Sire, that permission in writing"; and it was done. Then within a few weeks came the news that the fresh Pope who had been elected by the Council, had proclaimed a crusade against the Bohemians in the terms above given; and Ziska, to the indignant citizens of Prague, produced the royal permission. On the Michaelmas following, from numbers of the towns and villages round about, many thousands gathered to a plain near Prague, and partook of the Lord's supper in both kinds, as a protest against the Papal withholding of the cup from the laity; and they agreed to reassemble on the Martinmas following. But on the way to the second meeting they heard that the Emperor's cavalry were lying in wait for them; so they sent back for soldiers to protect them: and a battle ensued in which the imperial troops were routed. Ziska then, signing himself "Ziska of the Chalice," issued a manifesto in which he urged his countrymen to oppose the Anti-Christ with arms, relying upon God, who had already encouraged them with a victory he drove from the walls of Prague an army of persecutors 100,000 strong, and in sixteen pitched battles against the imperial forces and crusaders won the victory every time. I believe that Ziska heard God's voice encouraging him to deliver his country, just as much as Joan of Arc did.

Mr. SIDNEY COLLETT said that the line of thought running through the whole paper, viz.: that in becoming the mother of our Lord, Mary was performing a great act of sacrifice, is both fanciful and highly imaginative, and is quite contrary to everything we read in the inspired account, and indeed is opposed to Mary's own expressed views on the subject as recorded in Luke i, 46 to 55, which shows that she regarded it, not in any sense as a sacrifice, but as the highest possible honour, bringing with it the greatest possible joy.

H

Indeed we know it was the coveted hope of practically every woman in Israel.

After referring to other points touched on by previous speakers, he continued:

Then, on page 83, the Author tells us that "the Lucan story of the Annunciation has round it airs of fancy and folklore"! I should like to ask on what authority he makes such a statement?

A hearty vote of thanks to the Lecturer for his paper was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously. Dr. SKRINE acknowledged the vote and replied to the discussion.

AUTHOR'S REPLY.

In his reply (as revised) Dr. SKRINE said he had no desire to leave the meeting under any misapprehension of the position he took as to the interpretation of Scripture. While unable to take his stand, as some of the speakers seemed to do, upon a theory of inspiration at one time generally accepted, he claimed to stand where the best authorities of the Church stood, as his own Archbishop and Bishop. He wished also to urge on some present, who seemed to him to express a somewhat external theory of what constitutes belief in the Creeds of the Church, that in a right view of the function, belief, the merely mental apprehension of a truth is one factor, but rather a minor factor, in the act of faith. The act of faith consists essentially in a movement of the total consciousness-mind, heart, and will together, a movement in which the man makes surrender of his whole self to the Divine will as expressed in the particular truth for which belief is asked-such was the nature of the act of faith in the Virgin Mary, and such was the faith of Joan the Maid.

540TH ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING,

HELD IN THE ROOMS OF THE INSTITUTE ON

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH, 1913, AT 4.30 P.M.

THE VERY REV. THE DEAN OF CANTERBURY TOOK THE CHAIR.

The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and signed.

METHODS OF BIBLICAL CRITICISM. By the Ven. Archdeacon WILLIAM SINCLAIR, D.D., some time Archdeacon of London, and Canon of St. Paul's, Rector of Shermanbury, and Hon. Chaplain to the King.

Present Position of Higher Criticism.

HE present attitude of Higher Criticism is summarized by
Professor Peake as follows:-

TH

of

"There are four main documents in the Pentateuch. None of these go back to Moses, and it is dubious whether any them incorporates any writing from his hand. The two earliest, which are commonly known by the symbols J. and E. (from their use of the names Jehovah and Elohim for God), belong to the golden age of Hebrew literature, probably to the period of the Monarchy. These contain the fascinating stories which we find in the narrative sections.

"As an outcome of the work done by the great prophets of the eighth century-Amos and Hosea, Isaiah and Micah-the Deuteronomic Law was written. This aimed at purifying the worship of God by abolishing all the local sanctuaries of high places, and centralizing worship at Jerusalem. It was this law which formed the basis of Josiah's Reformation in 621. The latest portion of the Pentateuch is the Priestly Document containing some sections in Genesis, and large parts of the legal sections in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. This document carried out the ideas involved in the centralization of the