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E. WALTER MAUNDER, F.R.A.S., ON 



Lieut. -Col. G. Mackinlay said : The very pleasant duty falls to 

 me to propose a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Maunder for his most 

 interesting and helpful Paper. The Victoria Institute owes a deep 

 debt of gratitude to him for what he has done in the past. The 

 numbers present this afternoon testify to our high appreciation of 

 him now, and we earnestly hope that he will continue his invaluable 

 aid in the future. We tender him our heartfelt thanks. (Applause.) 



Mr. Theodore Roberts, in moving a vote of thanks to the 

 Chairman, pointed out that there was a third explanation of Joshua's 

 Long Day which had not been mentioned by the Lecturer or any of 

 those who had taken part in the discussion, namely, that given by 

 H. A. Harper, the late Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 

 that the continuance of the sunlight was due to refraction. For 

 himself, he was satisfied with the Lecturer's explanation, which was 

 confirmed by Ps. cxxi, 6, '* The sun shall not smite thee by day nor 

 the moon by night." 



Lecturer's Reply. 



As I was not able to take any notes of what I said in reply to the 

 discussion summarized above, I have been obliged to substitute for 

 them an answer prepared later. 



In reply to the Rev. J. J. B. Coles, I am very anxious to make 

 it clear that I do not seek either to explain, or to explain away, the 

 miraculous in Scripture history. But it is necessary to distinguish 

 between that which is miraculous and that which is natural. In the 

 present instance there is a dispute as to the interpretation of certain 

 words in the narrative which makes it doubtful wherein the miracle 

 consisted. Mr. Coles has referred to the going back of the shadow 

 in Hezekiah's reign as being parallel to our present subject ; I would 

 venture to urge that there was in that case an unmistakable mark 

 of a miracle in the fullest sense of the word. In God's government 

 of the material universe we find that if the antecedents be the same, 

 the consequent is the same likewise. Any apparent deviation from 

 this law we ascribe to the direct action of the Almighty. Now the 

 Lord Himself offered a choice to Hezekiah, which of two contrasted 

 events should be given to him as a sign. Hezekiah chose the " hard 

 thing," i.e. the result contrary to the natural order, and the Lord 



