Page images
PDF
EPUB

BR
M91

η

PREFACE.

WHEN I had delivered my first course of Gifford Lectures in the University of Glasgow, I was asked by my friends to publish them exactly as I had delivered them, and not to delay their publication by trying to make them more complete. I have followed their advice, and I now present these lectures to the public at large, if not exactly as I delivered them, at least as I had prepared them for delivery. I was under the impression that, according to Lord Gifford's Will, each course was to consist of not less than twenty lectures. I therefore allowed myself that number for my introductory course, and I confess I found even that number barely sufficient for what I had chosen as my subject, namely,

(1) The definition of Natural Religion,

(2) The proper method of its treatment, and
(3) The materials available for its study.

In order to discuss these preliminary questions with any approach to systematic completeness, I could not avoid touching on subjects which I had discussed in some of my former publications, such as 'The Science of Language,' 'The Science of Thought,' and 'The Hibbert Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion.' I might have left out what to some of my readers will seem to be mere repetition, but I could not have done so without spoiling

19422

the whole plan of my lectures. Nor would it have seemed respectful either to my audience or to my critics if, in reiterating some of my statements and opinions, I had not endeavoured, to the best of my power, to vindicate their truth and to answer any bona fide objections which have been raised against them during the last years.

No one can be more conscious than myself of the magnitude of the task with which the University of Glasgow has entrusted me, and of my own inadequateness to perform it as it ought to be performed. This first course of lectures is but a small contribution towards an immense subject, and it is such as from the nature of my own special studies I felt best qualified to give. But the subject admits of very different treatments; and in nothing has Lord Gifford shown himself more judicious than in founding not one, but several lectureships in Natural Religion, so that inquiries which were so near his heart might not suffer from one-sided treatment. I look forward to the lectures of my learned colleagues at Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen, not only for instruction, but also for correction; though on some points, I may hope, for confirmation also of my own views on a subject which has been confided to our united care, and which more than any other requires for its safety a multitude of counsellors.

F. MAX MÜLLER.

OXFORD, April 20, 1889.

EXTRACTS from the TRUST DISPOSITION and SETTLEMENT of the late ADAM GIFFORD, sometime one of the Senators of the College of Justice, Scotland, dated 21st August, 1885.

I,

ADAM GIFFORD, sometime one of the Senators of the College of Justice, Scotland, now residing at Granton House, near Edinburgh, being desirous to revise, consolidate, alter, and amend my trust-settlements and testamentary writings, and having fully and maturely considered my means and estate, and the circumstances in which I am placed, and the just claims and expectations of my son and relatives, and the modes in which my surplus funds may be most usefully and beneficially expended, and considering myself bound to apply part of my means in advancing the public welfare and the cause of truth, do hereby make my Trust-deed and latter Will and Testament-that is to say, I give my body to the earth as it was before, in order that the enduring blocks and materials thereof may be employed in new combinations; and I give my soul to God, in Whom and with Whom it always was, to be in Him and with Him for ever in closer and more conscious union; and with regard to my earthly means and estate, I do hereby, give, grant, dispone, convey, and make over and leave and bequeath All and Whole my whole means and estate, heritable and moveable, real and personal, of every description, now belonging to, or that shall belong to me at the time of my death, with all writs and vouchers thereof, to and in favour of Herbert James Gifford, my son; John Gifford, Esquire, my brother; Walter Alexander Raleigh, my nephew, presently residing in London; Adam West Gifford, W. S., my nephew; Andrew Scott, C. A., in Edinburgh, husband of my niece; and Thomas Raleigh, Esquire, barrister-at-law, London, and the survivors and survivor of them accepting, and the heirs of the last survivor, and to such other person or persons as I may name, or as may be assumed or appointed by competent authority, a majority

Defini

tion of
'Residue.'

6

being always a quorum, as trustees for the ends, uses, and
purposes aftermentioned, but in trust only for the purposes
following: (Here follow the first ten purposes). And I de-
clare the preceding ten purposes of this trust to be preferable,
and I direct that these ten purposes be fulfilled in the first
place before any others, and before any residue of my estate,
or any part thereof, is disposed of, and before any residue is
ascertained or struck, declaring that it is only what may
remain of my means and estate after the said ten purposes
are fulfilled that I call herein the 'residue' of my estate, and
out of which I direct the lectureships aftermentioned to be
founded and endowed. And in regard that, in so far as I can
at present see or anticipate, there will be a large residue' of
my means and estate in the sense in which I have above
explained the word, being that which remains after fulfilling
the above ten purposes, and being of opinion that I am bound
if there is a 'residue' as so explained, to employ it, or part
of it, for the good of my fellow-men, and having considered
how I best do
may
So, I direct the residue' to be disposed of
as follows:-I having been for many years deeply and firmly
convinced that the true knowledge of God, that is, of the
Being, Nature, and Attributes of the Infinite, of the All, of the
First and the Only Cause, that is, the One and Only Substance
and Being, and the true and felt knowledge (not mere nominal
knowledge) of the relations of man and of the universe to
Him, and of the true foundations of all ethics or morals,
being, I say, convinced that this knowledge, when really felt
and acted on, is the means of man's highest wellbeing, and
the security of his upward progress, I have resolved, from the
' residue' of my estate as aforesaid, to institute and found,
in connection, if possible, with the Scottish Universities,
lectureships or classes for the promotion of the study of said
subjects, and for the teaching and diffusion of sound views
regarding them, among the whole population of Scotland.
Therefore, I direct and appoint my said trustees from the
' residue' of my said estate, after fulfilling the said ten prefer-
able purposes, to pay the following sums, or to assign and
make over property of that value to the following bodies in
trust :—First, To the Senatus Academicus of the University
of Edinburgh, and failing them, by declinature or otherwise,

« PreviousContinue »