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ORDINARY MEETING, January 4, 1869. 
The Rev. Walter Mitchell, M.A., Vice-President, in 
the Chair. 
The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. 
In the absence of the Author, the Secretary read the following paper : — 
SOME USES OF SACRED PRIMEVAL HISTORY. By 
Dominick McCausland, Esq., Q.C., LL.D., Mem. 
Viet. Inst. 
W HATEVER may be the avowed objects and rules of the 
Victoria Institute, its aim and end must be to harmonize 
the facts of science with the word of God, as contained in the 
Holy Scriptures. It was brought into existence by the charge 
that there were discrepancies and inconsistencies between the 
facts of science and the language of the Bible ; and until that 
charge is refuted its work can never be completed. The pro- 
gress that has been made towards that end is, therefore, worthy 
of consideration, and will enable us to determine the position 
the question holds in the great march of increasing knowledge. 
The rapid advances of science have, within a comparatively 
short period of time, improved our knowledge of the primeval 
history of our race that is contained in the early chapters of 
Genesis. Few are now found to maintain that the earth and 
all its animal and vegetable organisms were created in six 
natural days. Few will deny that the Noachian deluge was 
partial in its extent and destructive effects. And the science 
of language has furnished the student of Scripture with intelli- 
gible and definite notions of the archaic record of the dispersion 
and confusion of language at Shinar, and of the extent of their 
operation in the history of the civilized world. So far 
an advance has been made, in the face of deeply-rooted 
prejudices and preconceptions, towards a reconciliation of 
Scripture with facts established b}^ scientific researches. The 
VOL. III. 2 i 
