JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE. VOL.· XII. JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF ~ht f ictorin Jnstitutt, OR Jgiiosopgital £otid~ of ®nat Jritain. EDITED BY THE HONORARY SECRETARY, CAPT. F. W. H. PETRIE, F.R.S.L., &o. VOL. ·x1I. LONDON: (U)ublis!)cl:J fat t!Jc institute) HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. E. STANFORD, CHARING CROSS. 1879. ALL RIGHTS RES II: RVED, WYJiU.N .A.ND SONS, P:i.INTBKS, G&BJ.T '2UBEN-s1rRBBT, LINCOLN'B-INN-ll'IRLDS, LONDON, W,C, CONTENTS OF VOL. XII. Paqe PREFACE ..• ix JOURNAL OF TRANSACTIONS. ORDINARY MEETING, MAY 7TH, 1877 1 ON THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF MATTER. BY THE R.EV. PROFESSOR CHALLIS, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S. 1 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 22 REPLY BY PROFESSOR CHALLIS 27 ORDINARY MEETING, MARCH 6TH, i876 33 THE HoRUS MYTH IN ITS RELATION TO CHRISTIANITY. BY W. R. CooPER, F.R.A.S., M.R.A.S., SECRETARY To THE SocIETY OF BIBLICAL AncHJEOLOGY (With Plates) 33 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 81 Mn. CooPER's ADDITIONAL REPLY 91 NOTES BY PROFESSOR CHURCHILL BABINGTON AND OTHERS MR. COOPER'S FURTHER REPLY 105 ORDINARY MEETING, APRIL 16TH, 1877 110 THE LIFE <JF ABRAHAM, ILLUSTRATED BY RECENT RESEARCHES. BY THF. .REV, H. G. TOMKINS ... llO DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 142 Vl CONTENTS OF VOL. XII. Page ANNUAL MEETING, JUNE 4TH, 1877 ... 154 INFLUENCE OF TRUE AND FALSE PHILOSOPHY ON THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER (ANNUAL ADDRESS). BY J. E. HOWARD, EsQ., F.R.S. 164 'ORDINARY MEETING, DECEMBER 3RD, 1877 189 ON CREATION AND PROVIDENCE. BY J. E. HowARD, EsQ., F.R.S.... 191 ORDINARY MEETING, JANUARY 7TH, 1878 243 NATURE'S LIMITS : AN ARGUMENT FOR THEISM. BY 8, R, PAT- TISON, EsQ. 243 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 260 ORDINARY MEETING, JANUARY 21ST, 1878 269 MR. MATTHEW ARNOLD AND MODERN CULTURE. BY PROFESSOR ~~M~ ~ DrscussroN ON THE ABOVE 302 ORDINARY MEETING, JUNE 18TH, 1877 307 THE HrsTORY OF THE ALPHABET. BY THE REV, lBAAC TAYLOR, M.A. ... 308 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 309 ORDINARY MEETING, FEBRUARY 4TH, 1878 312 ON THE TRUE RELATIONS OF SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT AND REL!- OIOUS BELIEF. BY THE RIGHT REVEREND THE BISHOP OF EDINBURGH .. 312 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 333 INTERMEDIATE MEETING, FEBRUARY 18TH, 1878 342 00NTENTS OF VOL. XII. Vll Page ORDINARY MEETING, MARCH 4TH, 1878 343 MONOTHEISM, A TRUTH OF REVELATION, NOT A MYTH, BY THE REv. W. H. RuLE, D.D. 343 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 361 INTERMEDIATE MEETING, MARCH 18TH, 1878 370 INTERMEDIATE MEETING, APRIL 15TH, 1878 371 ORDINARY MEETING, MAY 6TH, 1878 ... 372 THE JORDAN VALLEY, IN THE LIGHT OF BIBLICAL HISTORY AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. BY PROFESSOR J. L. PORTER, D.D. LL.D. .. 372 DISCUSSION ON THE ABOVE 387 ORDINARY MEETING, MAY 20TH, 1878 393 ERRATA 394 APPENDICES. LrsT OF THE VICE-PATRONS, MEMBERS, AssoCIATES, ETC. 395 OBJECTS, CONSTITUTION, AND BYE-LA ws 437 CONTENTS OF EACH OF THE TWELVE VOLUMES OF THE SoclETY's TRANSACTIONS 451 PREFACE. HE twelfth volume of the Joui-nal of the Transactions of T the VICTORIA INsTITUTE is now issued. It will be found to contain papers by the Right Rev. Bishop Cotterill, D.D., to whom the Institute is indebted for one of its most important papers, " dealing with the deepest questions in a way that will carry conviction into the minds of candid and perplexed inquirers, and shake deeply-rooted prejudices which have long obscured intellects of high order;"* Professor Challis, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S. (Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge) ; Professor Lias, M.A.; Pro­ fessor J. L. Porter, D.D., LL.D., whose long residence in the East has placed him amongst those able to deal prac­ tically with questions bearing upon its topography; Mr. J.E. Howard, F.R.S.; the late Mr. W.R. Cooper, F.R.A.S., M.R.A.S. (Secretary of the Society of Biblical Archreo­ logy); Mr. S. R. Pattison, F.G.S.; the Rev. Dr. Rule (author of 01·iental Records) ; the Rev. Isaac Taylor, :M.A.; and the Rev. H. G. Tomkins, M.A. To those, and to others at home and abroad, who have added to the value of the proceedings by contributing to the discussions, the best thanks of the :Members and Associates are dne.t * Canon Cook, Editor of the Speakers' Commentary. t The Journal of the Tran~actions contains Papers read at the J\IP«ltings, and the Discussions thereon. Before they are published in the Joumal, the Papers themselves, and the Dlscussions, are revised and corrected by VOL. XII. b * X l'RE~'ACE, It is satisfactory to find the increasing interest taken in the welfare of the Society by those who have joined it; this is the more encouraging, inasmuch as with them rests, in no small degree, the accomplishment of the Institute's objects,­ -objects, the importance of which is annually becoming every­ where more recognized, as is evidenced by the cordial welcome accorded during the past year to the Society's efforts to extend its operations to the Colonies and the Unit~d States: this is very gratifying, as it is an acknow­ ledged fact that the state of thought in new countries has a strong tendency to a shallow scepticism, marked by great mental activity and little deep thought, a wide knowledge ot the practical applications of science, and little time for real philosophical study : it is just in such soils that modern scientific scepticism takes root most freely, and where the extension of the organization of a Societ.y whose aim is to promote accurate inquiry rather than conjecture in the work of elucidating scientific truth, is of especial value. Last year we referred to the desirableness of a thorough inquiry being undertaken, with the aim of gathering from various sources, especially from ancient monuments,* informa­ tion that would throw greater light upon the ear!iest days of Chaldean and Egyptian history, an inquiry including careful and systematic exploration in Assyria and Egypt ; and it is pleasing to find that in Assyria a commencement has their Authors, and MS. comments and supplementary remarks are added, which have been sent in by those Home and Foreign Members to whom, as bein" specially qualified to pronounce an opinion on the respective subjects, proof copies of the Papers have been submitted for consideration. 'l.'hi>se arrangements, which cannot but add to the value of the Jo.urnal, are carried out with a view to the advantage of all, especially Country al!d Fo~e\gn Members, who thus find in the Journal much valuable matter, m add1t1on to that which has come before those actually oresent at the meetings. -:· Upon this subject generally we would 0 draw special att~ntion to two very important papers read by Professors Rawlinson and Tr1stram at the Church Congress of 1878. PREFACE. Xl been made by one of the Institute's members, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam. The extent and value of any inquiry, however, de­ mands organization and that many should share in the labour involved. For some years the Institute has encouraged research bearing upon what is termed the question of the "An­ tiquity of man" ; * more than one paper has been read upon the "cave deposits," &c., and much has been done to rid the subject of the results of hasty conclusions and false impressions; the value of the injunction of Mr. J. Evans, F.R.S. (the late President of the Geological Society), to proceed with" caution," has been demonstrated in more than one instance; recently, by the proceedings in the Geological Section of the British Association on the 16th of August, when Professors Boyd Dawkins and Busk withdrew certain important evidence which they had advanced, and which had received many supporters. t In conclusion, a full reference to the results of scientific inquiry during the past year would be impossible in the small space allotted to a preface, but we cannot forbear referring to one important result of the American observations of the recent total Solar Eclipse, namely-the evidence of the existence of at least one of the intrl1-Mercurial planets. F. PETRIE, Hon. Sfc. anrl Editoi·. DECE)lBER 31, 18i8. * Age of the EARTH :-Chief Justice Daly, LL.D., President (for lSiS) of the American Geographical Society, referring to this subject and a careful collocation thereon of the views of Astronomers, Geologists, and Physical Geographers, said, it was found that there was "a wide diversity of opinion between them upon the question of time-a diversity so irre­ concilable as to show that our knowledge is not yet sufficiently advanced to admit of any reliable theory as to the age of the Earth." t ·with regard to the bearing of recent Geological discovery upon the xii PREFACE. statements of Scripture, more than one p:iper and discussion referring thereto will appear in Volume xiii. In the meantime the following opinions will'not be without their interest to many :- " We need not, in accepting the Bible narratives of maJ?,'s creation, repudiate one fact accumtely deduced from modern scientific research."­ The late Radcliffe Observer (R Main, 1878). Relig. Hist. of Man, p. 5. (See also Preface, Trans., vol. xi.) " Nothing can exceed in truth and grandeur these words (Gen. i.) of the inspired historian, 11- 11- the most keen-eyed hypercritici~m could see nothing to object to."-Ibid., in R£plies to Essays and Reviews. (See also Trans. vol., xi. p. 431.) '' With regard to Physical Science, I think we have seen that its real advances are in favour of Religious Faith."-Ibid., Trans., vol.