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space by an imponderable, vibrating, jelly-like substance, capable of transmitting the vibrations of light, heat, electricity, and other forces, from the sun and stars, while forming a perfectly unresisting medium to the motions of material and ponderable bodies. And with regard to the analogy between the colours of the spectrum and the diatonic scale of music, I have always considered Newton's treatment of that analogy as a prophetic anticipation of one of the most brilliant triumphs of modern analysis. There is one point which I could have wished to have seen introduced into Dr. Gladstone's paper, and that is the powerful aid the belief in the wisdom of the Creator, as displayed in His works, has given to the advance of true science. Newton, Harvey, Cuvier, and Hunter, not to mention other great discoverers of scientific truth, were led to make their discoveries by a profound sense of this wisdom. An assurance of the perfection and wisdom of God's works led them to a right interpretation of facts which to others seemed inexplicable or unmeaning.

Dr. GLADSTONE.—In rising at this late hour of the evening, I must be very brief in what I say; and first I have to thank all those gentlemen, who have spoken upon my paper, for the kind tone in reference to myself in which they have treated it; and I have also to thank Mr. Warington, Mr. Reddie, and Mr. Mitchell, for the additions that they have made to my argument. I think each of these gentlemen said things that I might have put in my paper if thought of at the time; though I do not of course endorse everything they may have said in reference to the matter. As to the objections that have been raised to my paper, they seem to class themselves under three heads :—

1. Objections raised upon a mistaken idea of what the paper contains ; 2. Objections which I must leave simply to a difference of opinion between myself and those gentlemen; and

3. Objections which I think it worth while to enter upon at length. First, as to objections which arose from a mistaken idea of what my paper contains, I am sorry to say, it so happens, that all the five objections (I have put down five) of Dr. Irons originate in mistakes-I am quite sure unintentionally, for he tells us he has not read the paper before, and merely received his first impressions of it this evening. He objected, first, to the statement that revelation was helpful to science or science to revelation. I never said either the one or the other. My thesis is, that theology is helpful to natural science and natural science to theology. Then, with reference to the patronage of theology, I am sure I did not mean to speak in a patronising way of theology any more than of natural science. In reference to the particular passage where I spoke of theology being the queen of the sciences, and those of lower rank waiting upon her, I meant simply what I said. In reference to Anselm, or Abelard, or Bernard of Clairvaux, I mentioned them as representing three extremely divergent doctrines of the atonement. Abelard, I believe, had a definite theory; and not only that, but was one of the earliest promulgators of views relating to the atonement, which have been brought into prominence now; and it is for this reason that I mentioned his

Then comes the objection that I stated that the Bible is easier to

understand than natural science. Upon asking Dr. Irons for the passage, he referred me to one in which I speak merely of the collection of facts, and I am prepared to stand by what I said in that paragraph. I think it is more easy to collect the mere texts of Scripture bearing upon a particular subject than to collect the facts in nature bearing upon any particular subject there. I speak, of course, in a general way. As to the interpretation of these facts of nature or texts of Scripture, that is another subject, and instead of believing the Bible to be easier to understand than nature, I think the opposite; indeed, one of my reasons for writing the paper was, that I consider nature is a matter which we can understand and comprehend more easily, and that the various methods of interpretation which we arrive at in reference to nature may well be transferred to interpreting the Bible. I am sure that in saying these things you will understand I do not suppose that Dr. Irons in any invidious way brought forward these objections; but, in a brief paper like mine, it is not easy to find the meaning in all cases, and there are complicated lines of thought and argument, and sometimes one may get hold of a meaning which ought to be counterbalanced by what is said elsewhere. As to the second class of objections, Mr. Reddie made various remarks in reference to natural science which showed that he put a very different meaning on the words "natural science" to what I did; but I must leave this as a mere matter of definition. In reference to the question of the introduction of natural science into colleges, I mean to advocate it, and to maintain all I said in my paper; and I hope to express these opinions in other places: I have done so in one theological college, and hope to do so in others. The subject deserves the widest discussion. I am glad it has been brought forward, and that arguments have been used against the position I maintain; and I hope these discussions will extend beyond the Victoria Institute, and that the truth will prevail. Perhaps I may add this,-I repudiate altogether the taking of Colenso as a scientific man, for his objections are non-scientific. Then comes one objection which I ought in justice to myself to deal with at some little length, and it is the objection of Captain Fishbourne, that I have not dwelt sufficiently clearly upon the difference between the natural mind and the spiritual mind. It is possible that the few words I have said on that subject might not convey the whole of my meaning, and you will permit me to explain further my view of the case. In my paper I spoke of there being a receptive faculty in both cases.

I think that is what is alluded to in the writings of St. Paul. But there is a different receptive faculty for each : it is the power of appreciating spiritual truth in the one case, and the power of appreciating physical truth in the other. Then the question arises,-How are we to get this faculty? Upon that subject there is not a word in my essay; but there is an important difference between the two. In respect to natural science, there are some men who have the ability born in them of loving science and of taking an interest in it and understanding it, and other men have not this faculty; but when we come to the spiritual mind, we do not find there is by nature this faculty: it has to be imparted to man by the Holy Spirit of God. The origin of these two is therefore different,

and we must bear that in mind always, and I am glad to have an opportunity of expressing my conviction of it here; but, granted the capability of understanding the Bible, which comes from the Holy Spirit teaching the individual heart; granted, too, the capability of understanding natural science: then we start on parallel roads, we must have the honest mind and the clear intellect, and I believe the canons of interpretation in the two cases will be found analogous. It has been objected to my essay that it is not complete, and here I fully agree with what has been said. The subject is very large. If, indeed, I have only taken up some particular lines of thought, why, I have left other lines of thought for other persons to pursue. I have dwelt more upon that analogy between the methods of interpretation, because it is one very little written upon or spoken about, and I thought it better to treat of it at greater length. I trust we shall find our efforts will be of service to natural science, and natural science helpful to theology. I believe it is so, and the arguments of others this evening convince me still more that we must enter on the study of theology in the same way in which we enter on studies of natural science, in order to arrive at full comprehension of the truth. There are other points that have been stated by some of the speakers, which, if I had time, I should like to enter upon; but I must conclude, again thanking you for the friendly spirit in which you have considered my paper.

The Meeting was then adjourned.

NOTE. The asterisks on pp. 397, 398, and 400, indicate that certain passages in Dr. Gladstone's original Paper were omitted at the request of the Council, as trenching upon purely theological and controversial points.

ORDINARY MEETING, FEBRUARY 4, 1867.

CAPTAIN E. GARDINER FISHBOURNE, R.N., C.B., HON. TREAS., IN THE CHAIR.

The minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed.

The following Paper was then read :

ON FALLING STARS AND METEORITES. METEORITES. By the REV. WALTER MITCHELL, M.A., Vice-President, Vict. Inst.

THE

HE term Meteor, taken in its literal signification as a 'thing in the air," is sometimes used so as to include all atmospheric phenomena, such as clouds, rain, snow, rainbows, mock suns, &c. ; but in a more restricted sense it is applied to falling stars and flaming bodies seen passing through the atmosphere. A falling star is a phenomenon with which every one must be familiar. Yet familiar as it may be, it is far more frequent than many would suppose. A star is seen to shoot across a portion of the heavens, vanishing as suddenly as it appeared, sometimes leaving a slight luminous track behind it, to mark for a few moments its course. Generally speaking, few of these falling stars are seen on the same night; but there are occasions when they are so numerous as to fall for hours together in perfect showers,-so numerous as to be compared to a dense snow-storm where every flake is a burning star. Brilliant and startling as was the display last November, when between six and seven thousand falling stars are estimated to have pursued their fiery course in one hour, and at the time of the maximum display at the rate of one hundred per minute, this falls short of the awful majesty of some of the star-storms that have been observed.

A remarkable display of falling stars, seen by Humboldt when travelling in South America, was thus described by him "Towards the morning of the 13th November, 1799, we witnessed a most extraordinary scene of shooting meteors. Thousands of bolides and falling stars succeeded each other

during four hours. Their direction was very regular from north to south. From the beginning of the phenomenon there was not a space in the firmament equal in extent to three diameters of the moon which was not filled with bolides or falling stars. All the meteors left luminous traces, or phosphorescent bands, behind them, which lasted seven or eight seconds." Mr. Ellicott, an agent of the United States, thus describes the same phenomenon, as seen by him from the sea between Cape Florida and the West-India Islands :-"I was called up about three o'clock in the morning, to see the shooting stars, as they are called. The phenomenon was grand and awful. The whole heavens appeared as if illuminated by skyrockets, which disappeared only by the light of the sun after daybreak. meteors, which at any one instant of time appeared as numerous as the stars, flew in all possible directions, except from the earth, towards which they all inclined more or less; and some of them descended perpendicularly over the vessel we were in, so that I was in constant expectation of their falling on us." This particular display of falling stars seems to have been visible from the equator to Greenland in America, and was also observed at Weimar in Germany.

The

On the 13th of November, 1833, another splendid shower of falling stars was observed over the whole of North and a considerable portion of South America, some of the meteors being of a very large size,-one described as greater than the full moon appears when in the horizon. Another, over the Falls of Niagara, remained for some time almost stationary in the zenith, emitting streams of light. No wonder that many, calling to mind the vision of St. John the Divine, when "the stars fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind," felt awestruck, and imagined that the day of wrath was come. "I was suddenly awakened," says a South Carolina planter, "by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy, I could hear from most of the negroes of three plantations, amounting in all to about six or eight hundred. While earnestly listening for the cause, I heard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment, I heard the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, 'O my God, the world is on fire.' I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me most,-the awfulness of the scene or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upwards of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground, some speechless, and some with the bitterest cries, but with their hands raised, imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was truly awful; for

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