THE LATE EARL OF HALSBURY. 

 Obituary Notice. 



The Yictoria Institute was founded in 1865 by the late Lord 

 Shaftesbury : on the day after its inauguration he wrote these 

 words in his diary : — 



" May 25th. — Yesterday took chair at Inaugural Meeting of 

 Victoria Institute. I dare, as it were, to take Heaven by storm, and 

 assume that God, for His blessed Son's sake, will prosper and 

 advance this Institute, founded, as it is, to show the necessary, 

 eternal and Divine harmony between true Science and Revelation." 



The Institute grew and flourished under his guidance until his 

 death in December, 1885 ; in the following year Sir George Gabriel 

 Stokes, President of the Eoyal Society, was elected our President, 

 and remained with us till his death in 1903, when Lord Halsbury, 

 whose death we now mourn, took his place. It is remarkable 

 that when our late President accepted the unanimous invitation 

 of tho Council of the Victoria Institute, he was also Lord 

 Chancellor, but though occupying such an exalted and onerous 

 position in public life, and though busily engaged in politics and 

 in writing a very comprehensive book on the laws of England, and 

 though past four score years when he became our President, he 

 nevertheless took up his duties with us with much energy, so 

 highly did he value the usefulness of our Institute in influencing 

 the thought of the educated people of our land. He was 

 by no means a mere figurehead. He carefully examined and 

 signed each of our Annual Reports, he frequently presided at 

 Council meetings, and also when papers were read before the 

 whole Institute. He was an ideal Chairman, as might well be 

 expected of one who had occupied the Woolsack for a very con- 

 siderable number of years; he wa.s dignified and alert, and with 

 an attractiye vein of humour, which always put us at our ease. 



He spoke out fully against some of the fallacies of the day, 

 the Christian Scientist and the Modernist Professor both came in 

 for his pointed criticism; for instance, he spoke of the latter in 

 these words (June 21st, 1915): " He cannot be contradicted or 

 brought to book. If anyone brings forward an argument on the 

 other side, the Professor says that his opponent has made a 

 mistake; but, being a Professor, he does not consider himself 

 obliged to substantiate even this assertion." 



