1. The object of the foundation of the Wilde Lecturership in Natural and Comparative Religion is the promotion in the University of the study of Natural and Comparative Religion.
2. The Wilde Lecturer in Natural and Comparative Religion shall be elected by a board of nine electors, consisting of:
(1) the Vice-Chancellor;
(2) the Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion;
(3) the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics;
(4) one person appointed by the Board of the Faculty of Theology;
(5), (6) two persons appointed by the Board of the Faculty of Philosophy;
(7) one person appointed by the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Board;
(8) one person appointed by the Board of the Faculty of Oriental Studies;
(9) one person appointed by the Social Sciences Board.
3. Each of the appointed electors shall hold office for six years, and shall be re-eligible.
4. No member of the board of electors shall be eligible for the office of lecturer.
5. The lecturer shall hold office for one or two or three years, as the electors shall determine. A person may be appointed lecturer more than once; but the same person shall not be appointed twice in succession.
6. The lecturer shall deliver not less than four or more than eight lectures in each academical year in Natural and Comparative Religion. The lecturer shall submit to the board of electors, before the end of the fourth week from the beginning of Trinity Term in each year, a statement of the term or terms in which he or she proposes to lecture, and of the subjects which the lecturer proposes to treat during the ensuing academical year.
7. The lecturer shall enter upon office on the first day of Michaelmas Term, and the electors may make an appointment at any time during the preceding year.
8. For the purposes of this lecturership the term Natural Religion shall be taken to mean man’s conscious recognition of purposive intelligence and adaptability in the universe of things on which he is dependant for his continued existence and well-being and with which he endeavours to live in harmonious relations. Comparative Religion shall be taken to mean the modes of causation, rites, observances, and other concepts involved in the major historical religions.
9. The lecturer shall receive from the trust fund such annual stipend and such expenses as the board of electors shall determine.
10. Any unspent income may be applied to further the study of Natural and Comparative Religion at the discretion of the board of electors.
11. Regulations 2–10 may be amended by Council.
