22 
ANNUAL ADDRESS. 
The case is different with the narrative of Joshua’s “Long 
Day.” Here I believe that I have myself been the first to 
analyse the narrative from an astronomical point of view, and 
the result is a striking oiie. Hitherto, the idea popular among 
critics has been that the chief incident was the result of a late 
and uncritical historian interpolating into an old chronicle a 
piece of poetic hyperbole from an old war ballad, and taking it 
literally. The astronomical analysis shows that this view is 
untenable. The chronicle and the ballad convey the same 
statement, but in such a different manner that it was impossible 
in those times to have inferred one from the other. Both the 
chronicle and the ballad, therefore, must have recorded an 
observed fact, and recorded it at the tune. In no other way 
can their agreement be explained. That fact, if recorded in 
the language and from the knowledge of to-day would probably 
be expressed thus : “ The Israelites marched between noon 
and sunset of that memorable day, a distance that it would 
have ordinarily taken them a full day to traverse.” But 
recorded in the language and from the knowledge of the time 
it could only be given as we actually read it. “ So the sun 
stood still in the midst of heaven and hasted not to to go down 
about a whole day.” 
It will be seen that in this case, and in two or three others, 
the astronomical point of view has not led me to the 
conclusions now most generally held by Biblical critics. I 
would not for one moment be understood as seeking to give 
this fact any disproportionate weight. I have no claim to any 
authority in Biblical criticism, except where my own science 
may incidentally touch upon it. But I would respectfully offer 
these few remarks as suggestive of a possible line of enquiry 
that has hitherto been neglected, but may be made fruitful in 
the future. 
Of all the points in which modern astronomy has illustrated 
Scripture, none are so striking as the knowledge which it lias 
brought to us of the numbers and the distances of the stars. 
Scripture uses the stars as the example of limitless number. 
“ Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able 
to number them ” : “ As the host of heaven cannot be 
numbered.” Scripture uses the distance of the stars as the 
example of limitless space. “ Is not God in the height of 
heaven ? and behold the height of the stars, how high they 
are ” : “ For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is 
His mercy toward them that fear Him.” 
What a fulness of meaning these references to the number and 
O 
