EXTRACT DECLARATION OF TRUST.
March 1, 1862.
I, William Binny Webster,
late Surgeon in the H.E.I.C.S., presently residing in Edinburgh,—Considering
that I feel deeply interested in the success of the Free Church College, Edinburgh,
and am desirous of advancing the Theological Literature of Scotland, and for this end to establish
a Lectureship similar to those of a like kind connected with the Church
of England and the Congregational body in England, and that I have made over to the General Trustees of the Free Church of Scotland
the sum of £2,000 sterling, in trust, for the purpose of founding a Lectureship
in memory of the late Reverend William Cunningham, D.D., Principal of the Free
Church College, Edinburgh, and Professor of Divinity and Church History therein,
and under the following conditions, namely,—First, The Lectureship shall bear
the name, and be called, ‘The Cunningham Lectureship.’ Second,
The Lecturer shall be a Minister or Professor of the Free Church of Scotland,
and shall hold the appointment for not less than two years, nor more than three
years, and be entitled for the period of his holding the appointment to the
income of the endowment as declared by the General Trustees, it being understood
that the Council after referred to may occasionally appoint a Minister or Professor
from other denominations, provided this be approved of by not fewer than Eight
Members of the Council, and it being further understood that the Council are
to regulate the terms of payment of the Lecturer. Third, The Lecturer shall
be at liberty to choose his own subject within the range of Apologetical, Doctrinal,
Controversial, Exegetical, Pastoral, or Historical Theology, including what
bears on Missions, Home and Foreign, subject to the consent of the Council.
Fourth, The Lecturer shall be bound to deliver publicly at Edinburgh a Course
of Lectures on the subjects thus chosen at some time immediately preceding the
expiry of his appointment, and during the Session of the New College, Edinburgh; the Lectures to be not fewer than six in number, and to be delivered in presence
of the Professors and Students under such arrangements as the Council may appoint; the Lecturer shall be bound also to print and publish, at his own risk, not
fewer than
xiv750 copies of the Lectures within a year after their delivery, and to deposit three
copies of the same in the Library of the New College; the form of the publication
shall be regulated by the Council. Fifth,
A Council
shall be constituted, consisting of (first) Two Members of their own body, to
be chosen annually in the month of March, by the Senatus of the New College,
other than the Principal; (second) Five Members to be chosen annually by the
General Assembly, in addition to the Moderator of the said Free Church of Scotland; together with (third) the Principal of the said New College for the time being,
the Moderator of the said General Assembly for the time being, the Procurator
or Law Adviser of the Church, and myself the said William Hinny Webster, or
such person as I may nominate to be my successor: the Principal of the said College to be Convener of
the Council, and any Five Members duly convened to be entitled to act notwithstanding
the non-election of others. Sixth, The duties of the Council shall be the following:—(first), To appoint the Lecturer and determine
the period of his holding the appointment, the appointment to be made before
the close of the Session of College immediately preceding the termination of
the previous Lecturer’s engagement; (second), To arrange details
as to the delivery of the Lectures, and to take charge of any additional income
and expenditure of an incidental kind that may be connected therewith, it being
understood that the obligation upon the Lecturer is simply to deliver the Course
of Lectures free of expense to himself. Seventh, The Council shall be at liberty,
on the expiry of five years, to make any alteration that experience may suggest
as desirable in the details of this plan, provided such alterations shall be
approved of by not fewer than Eight Members of the Council.
xv
This book has been accessed more than 29405 times since June 1, 2005.
