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



and the moon are placed, is not a solid vault but is an " expanse " 

 similar to that in which birds fly ; grass (or sproutage) and herb 

 yielding seed after his kind, etc., were earlier than the great whales 

 (or sea monsters), which in their turn preceded cattle, succeeded by 

 man. The fact that these and all other science statements are in 

 complete accord with modern science goes to attest the Divine 

 Authorship of the narrative. 



The Eev. James Thomas expressed the earnest hope that the 

 Council of the Victoria Institute would arrange for the special 

 publication in separate form of this most important paper. 



The Lecturer thanked the Meeting for the great attention with 

 which they had listened to him, and for the very kind reception they 

 had given him. He would not attempt, at that late hour, to reply 

 to the different criticisms that had been offered on his paper ; except 

 to point out to Mr. Rouse, who had represented him as saying that 

 there was no difference between " God created " and " God made," 

 that he had really said that he would not debate the difference ; not 

 quite the same thing. And to Dr. Woods Smyth he would reply 

 that, however the words of the chapter were translated, it yet 

 remained clear, that when God said "Let this, or that be," something 

 happened which would not have happened if that word had not 

 been spoken. 



The Meeting adjourned at 6.15 p.m. 



Subsequent Communications. 



Mr. J. Schwartz, Junr. : I agree with the two fundamental 

 propositions of our lecturer, but I fear that he will consider me 

 quite unqualified to discuss this subject to any profit, as I cannot 

 accept absolutely the third proposition that God is Himself the 

 Author of this chapter. 



There is no more evidence of this assertion than for the similar 

 claims of priests and the like all the world over for their own 

 traditions. The vast majority of men of liberal education, including 

 a number of the clergy, accept to-day his alternative that it was 

 written by men who did not know but imagined it. I admit that 

 it seems self-evident both that the universe does exist, and that it had 

 a beginning, and that we desire to know how it began. Our author 

 has put exceedingly well the relativity and limitations of our know- 

 ledge, from which it follows that such wish is never likely to be 



