20 
MEMOIR OF RAY. 
tions, than in the writings of most of his cotempo- 
raries. His talents and amiable disposition secured 
him the esteem and friendship of many of the most 
eminent men then attending the university, parti- 
cularly the celebrated Isaac Barrow, Dr Tenison, 
afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr Arrow- 
smith, master of Trinity College. When enume- 
rating the most eminent men to whom he had been 
tutor, Dr Duport was accustomed to say, that the 
chief of all his pupils were Mr Ray and Dr Barrow, 
to whom he esteemed none of the rest comparable. 
Ray prosecuted the regular order of study then 
prescribed to candidates for holy orders, and when 
of some standing, was chosen into several offices of 
the college, having been appointed in succession, 
Pr (Elector Primarius , Junior Dean, and College 
Steward. The latter office he held for two years, 
and was sworn into it on the last occasion in De- 
cember 1660. 
During his residence at the university, Mr Ray 
likewise distinguished himself as an eloquent preach- 
er ; for it was a common practice at that period to 
deliver public discourses in the college, previous to 
ordination. His sermons were much esteemed for 
sound reasoning, enlightened views of theology, and 
a judicious application of scriptural principles to the 
ordinary duties of life ; qualities seldom found in the 
sermons of the time, which were generally either cha- 
racterized by a spirit of fanaticism, or filled with the 
unprofitable disquisitions of scholastic theology. Of 
