




                         History of Free Thought

                             in Reference to

                          The Christian Religion

                              Eight Lectures

                           Preached Before The

 University of Oxford, in the year M.DCCC.LXII., on the Foundation of the
            Late Rev. John Bampton, M.A., Canon of Salisbury.

                                    By

                         Adam Storey Farrar, M.A.

                Michel Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford.

                                New York:

                         D. Appleton And Company,

                           443 & 445 Broadway.

                                   1863





CONTENTS


Will of Rev. John Bampton.
Preface.
Analysis of the lectures.
Lecture I. On The Subject, Method, And Purpose Of The Course Of Lectures.
Lecture II. The Literary Opposition of Heathens Against Christianity in
the Early Ages.
Lecture III. Free Thought During The Middle Ages, and At The Renaissance;
Together With Its Rise in Modern Times.
Lecture IV. Deism in England Previous to A.D. 1760.
Lecture V. Infidelity in France in the Eighteenth Century, and Unbelief in
England Subsequent to 1760.
Lecture VI. Free Thought In The Theology Of Germany From 1750-1835.
Lecture VII. Free Thought: In Germany Subsequently To 1835; And In France
During The Present Century.
Lecture VIII. Free Thought in England in the Present Century; Summary of
the Course of Lectures; Inferences in Reference to Present Dangers and
Duties.
Notes.
   Lecture I.
   Lecture II.
   Lecture III.
   Lecture IV.
   Lecture V.
   Lecture VI.
   Lecture VII.
   Lecture VIII.
Index.
Footnotes






WILL OF REV. JOHN BAMPTON.


Extract From The Last Will And Testament Of The Late Rev. John Bampton,
Canon Of Salisbury.

                  -------------------------------------

"----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 hereinafter 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:

                  -------------------------------------

"I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday in Easter Term, a
Lecturer be yearly chosen by the Heads of Colleges 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 year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the
commencement 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 Subjects--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 Universities of Oxford or Cambridge; and
that the same person shall never preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons
twice."





PREFACE.


The object of this Preface is to explain the design of the following
Lectures, and to enumerate the sources on which they are founded.

What is the province and mode of inquiry intended in a "Critical History
of Free Thought"?(1) What are the causes which led the author into this
line of study?(2) What the object proposed by the work?(3) What the
sources from which it is drawn?(4)--these probably are the questions which
will at once suggest themselves to the reader. The answers to most of them
are so fully given in the work,(5) that it will only be necessary here to
touch upon them briefly.

The word "free thought" is