385 
ORDINARY MEETING, December 7, 1868. 
The Rev. Dr. Thornton, Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the 
following elections were announced : — 
Member : — His Grace the Duke of Rutland, K.G., &c., 10, Cromwell 
Road, S.W. ; Chevening Park, Newmarket ; and Belvoir Castle, 
Grantham. 
Associates, 1st Class David Henry Stone, Esq., Alderman of 
London, Fairwood, Sydenham, S.E., and Castleton, Hollington, 
Sussex ; Joseph Jones, Esq., Belfast. 
It was also announced that the Rev. M. Davison had been elected a 
Member of Council, and that the Rev. Dr. Robinson Thornton had accepted 
the office of Vice-President. 
The following books were reported as donations to the Library : — 
The Geology , Minerals , Mines, and Soils of Ireland. By Joseph Holds- 
worth, Esq. From the Author. 
Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain for the year 1868. 
From the Council. 
Anti-Colenso. By “ Johannes Laicus.” From John Poyer, Esq. 
Chairman. — We enter this day, for the third time, on our annual cam- 
paign against the scepticism of the age. As of old the Roman armies retired 
into winter quarters, and gathered fresh strength against the enemy, so have 
we retired, according to custom, for the summer season, and meet again 
now, I trust, with renewed powers. The warfare for which we have to 
prepare is not offensive, but defensive ; not an invasion, but a protection. 
It is not the warfare of an Alexander, who led an active army against the 
effete troops of an earlier despotism, and vanquished them by the very 
freshness of his assault ; it is rather that of a Fabius, who wore out a new 
and active enemy, not by meeting him in a pitched battle, but by cutting 
off his supplies, and demolishing all that he counted upon as strongholds. 
I cannot forbear saying a word or two on the position which I now occupy. 
It has pleased the Council to place me in this honourable position ; it has 
pleased you to endorse their decision. Although I cannot lay claim to the 
