PREFACE. 



WE hope, in issuing the annual volumes of the Transactions of the 

 Victoria Institute, gradually to return to our pre-war size, 

 and the present book is a slight advance in the right direction. 



The war is happily now over ; but owing to the fact of its occur- 

 rence, a general upheaval and unrest is everywhere felt. Not only 

 labour but the whole order and conditions of life are in an unsettled 

 state ; and what is of still more importance from the point of view 

 of the Victoria Institute, is that in the region of thought and belief 

 this disturbed condition extends to the foundations of Christian faith 

 and philosophy. It is a day when the work of this Institute stands 

 out as of very special value in calling attention to those things " which 

 cannot be shaken " ; and it can thus claim the active support and 

 co-operation of all who value our common faith. Turning to our 

 own special interests, two events stand out beyond the rest. 



1. The awarding of the Gunning Prize to the two books published 

 during the past three years which the Council deem to be those which 

 have most advanced the cause of Christian Philosophy. 



Formerly a prize was offered for the best essay on a given subject, 

 but it was decided now to place the award on a broader basis. 



As the sum to be disposed of was larger than usual, two awards 

 were made : one of £40 to the Rev. A. H. Finn for his learned and 

 useful book on the Unity of the Pentateuch, and the other of £30 

 to Sir Bertram C. A. Windle, M.A., F.R.S., etc., for his book " The 

 Church and Science," 1918, which deals in a thorough and convincing 

 way with the relations of Modern Science to Scripture. 



Both books are excellent, though very different in their subjects ; 

 the one being on critical research, the other on general science. 



2. The second special feature of the year is the publication of 

 six tracts for to-day, edited by Dr. Schofield, from prominent articles 

 of present-day interest in former volumes of our Transactions. 

 This has been rendered possible by a special donation for the purpose 



