ORDINAKY GENERAL MEETING.* 



Kev. F. a. Walker, D.D., F.L.S., in the Chaik. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 



The Secretary (Professor Edward Hull). — I have first to 

 express the regret of the Council, in which I am sure you will 

 all join, at the inability of the President to be here this evening. 

 He is far from well, and he says it is quite impossible for him to 

 •come to London, which he much regrets. 



The following elections were then announced : — 



Life Members :~J. S. Phene, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A. ; Miss Alice M. 

 Whidborne. 



Members :— John F. W. Deacon, Esq., M.A. ; Arthur W. Sutton, Esq., 



F. L.S. ; The Trustees of the Bermuda Lil)rary, per Lieut.-Gen. Sir 

 H. Geary (Gov^ernor). 



Life Associates : — Rev. R. Ashington-Bullen, M.A., F.G.S. ; Rev. 



Rupert S. Strong, B.A. ; John Alexander Strong, Esq. 

 Associates : — Tlie Rt. Rev. the Bishop of Honduras, D.D. ; Rev. Prof. 



G, A. Barton, Ph.D. ; George A. Manwaring, Esq., C.E. ; Rev. 

 Oswald J. Hogarth, M.A. ; Rev. William E. Emmet, M.A. ; Charles 

 W. Odling, Esq., C.S.I. ; Ronald Hamlyn-Harris, D.Sc, F.L.S. 



Hon. Correspondent : — Dr. Ion Stephansson. 



The following Paper was then read by the Author, entitled : — 



THE FUTURE OF ISLAM. 



By Professor D. S. Margoliouth, D.Litt., Laudian Professor of 

 Arabic, Oxford University. 



THE eminent statesman and historian J. Bryce, in his recent 

 Romanes Lecture,t expressed the opinion that Islam 

 might perhaps last only a couple of centuries more ; he 

 regarded this not only as possible but probable. His opinion 

 seemed paradoxical, and some persons even fancied that he 

 had been incorrectly reported. For from a superficial view of 

 the situation it would scarcely seem to be justified. The 

 number of Moslems in the world cannot be precisely ascertained, 

 but from such statistics as can be procured, it would appear to 

 approach 200 millions.; Their religion is dominant in Africa,§ 

 partly dominant in Asia, and not unknown in Europe or even 

 America. Nor does its power of expansion appear to have run 



* Monday, January 5th, 1903. t Oxford, 1902, p. 45. 



X In the statesman's Year Book for 1902 about 150,000,000 are noticed 

 in the lists ; but some of the figures are too low, and many must be 

 omitted. Krimskiy, loc. citand.^ p. 108, says 300,000,000. 



§ A book by L. C. Barnes bears the title, Shall Islam rule A frica ? 



E 2 



