PREFACE. 



DURING the past year the shadow of the Great War has rested 

 upon us all. To some it has meant bereavement, to others 

 financial loss and anxiety, to everyone constant pre-occupation. 

 The Victoria Institute could not hope to escape. Some of its 

 supporters have found themselves obliged to diminish their 

 subscriptions or even to withdraw them altogether. 



Nevertheless, in spite of these and other hindrances, the record 

 of the past Session is most encouraging. The removal to new 

 quarters has resulted in a great advantage, and the rooms in the 

 Central Hall, Westminster, available for our Meetings, have proved 

 much more comfortable and commodious than the premises which 

 we formerly occupied. 



Thirteen Meetings were held during the Session instead of the 

 usual twelve, and all of them have been well attended, some of them 

 exceptionally so. 



The papers read have all been of importance, and have covered 

 a wide field of research and thought. The Theory of Evolution in 

 its two chief aspects has been passed in review by two well-known 

 scientific men : — Professor Ernest MacBride, F.R.S., treating of the 

 Present Position of the Theory of Organic Evolution, while Professor 

 Alfred Fowler, F.R.S., dealt in a similar comprehensive manner 

 with Inorganic Evolution : the Development of Stars and Nebulae. 

 Two special applications of science having a bearing upon sacred and 

 ecclesiastical history were dealt with by Professor Archibald R. S. 

 Kennedy, and Dr. A. M. W. Downing, F.R.S., respectively ; the 

 former in his address on Weights and Measures of the Hebrews ; 

 the latter in his survey of the history and significance of the 

 present Ecclesiastical Calendar. This last rests upon the Jewish 



