EXTRACT

FROM

THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

OF THE LATE

REV. JOHN BAMPTON, M.A.

CANON OF SALISBURY.

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"I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford "for ever, to have and to hold all and singular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the intents and purposes herein"after mentioned; that is to say, I will and appoint that the "Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford for the time being "shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and, (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions made), "that he pay all the remainder to the endowment of eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established for ever in the said University, and to be performed in the manner following:

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"I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter "Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads of Colleges

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only, and by no others, in the room adjoining to the Printing

House, between the hours of ten in the morning and two in "the afternoon, to preach eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the

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EXTRACT FROM WILL.

year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the commence"ment of the last month in Lent Term, and the end of the third "week in Act Term.

"Also I direct and appoint, that the eight Divinity Lecture "Sermons shall be preached upon either of the following Sub"jects to confirm and establish the Christian Faith, and to "confute all heretics and schismatics-upon the divine authority "of the holy Scriptures-upon the authority of the writings of "the primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive "Church-upon the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus "Christ-upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghost-upon the Articles "of the Christian Faith, as comprehended in the Apostles' and "Nicene Creeds.

"Also I direct, that thirty copies of the eight Divinity Lecture "Sermons shall be always printed, within two months after they are preached, and one copy shall be given to the Chancellor of "the University, and one copy to the Head of every College, and

one copy to the Mayor of the city of Oxford, and one copy to be "put into the Bodleian Library; and the expense of printing them "shall be paid out of the revenue of the Land or Estates given "for establishing the Divinity Lecture Sermons; and the Preacher "shall not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue before they are "printed.

"Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be qualified "to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, unless he hath taken "the degree of Master of Arts at least, in one of the two Univer"sities of Oxford or Cambridge; and that the same person shall

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never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice."

PREFACE.

THE Lectures which are now presented to the reader, though preached before a learned audience, are arranged somewhat in a popular form, because the subject, at any rate, is one or general interest. Accordingly, with very few exceptions indeed, the quotations which appear in the body of the work, from any but English documents, are either in the form of foot-notes, or are so parenthetically inserted as to be capable of omission in perusal without injury to the passages in which they occur. They were of course omitted in delivery. They are placed where they are, because many persons desire to have before them whatever is immediately wanted to elucidate the matter in hand. A good many notes are attached to the end of the Lectures, and the writer believes that he has in no case withheld any necessary explanation of his statements. If the reader requires further assistance than the text itself supplies, he has only to turn to the appendix, and, under the figure and page, he will generally find something to the purpose. The passages marked thus [] were also omitted in delivery; several other passages were much condensed, in order to bring the Lectures into a more moderate compass; but no statement has been

materially varied, nor has anything of importance been withdrawn or added.

Thus much for the mere form of the Lectures. Why the subject of the Lord's Day should have been chosen by the writer for discussion, and chosen at this particular time, is explained at sufficient length in the First and Eighth of the series. The great indulgence, or rather the respectful attention which the Lectures have received from the University, and which the writer very thankfully acknowledges, at least proves the existence of a desire for information upon it. He has endeavoured to treat all the opinions which have come under review with candour, and to abstain from any thing like censure of individuals. If he has been compelled, for clearness' sake, to use such terms as Sabbatarian, or Dominical, or the like, he has done so, not to cast a slur upon any particular school, but to indicate what he conceives to be its prevailing tendency. It may be, that with all his care, he has offended or may offend some. If so, he has only to request that dislike of certain historical facts may not lead to condemnation of him whose duty it was to bring them forward. His statements must be either correct or incorrect. If the latter, the obvious method is to refute them: but if the former, then, however much they may be opposed to prevailing notions, he should scarcely be made responsible

for them.

The writer, however, is not by any means so anxious about any personal misconception, as he is for the destiny of that GREAT and DIVINELY APPOINTED RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION of