In 1864 Walter Kerr Hamilton, the Bishop of Salisbury, whose examining chaplain Liddon had been, appointed him prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral. In 1866 he delivered his Bampton Lectures on the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, published as "The Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (1867). From that time his fame as a preacher was established. In 1870 he was made canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London. He had before this published "Some Words for God" against the scepticism of the day. His preaching at St Paul's soon attracted vast crowds. The afternoon sermon, which fell to the canon in residence, had usually been delivered in the choir, but soon after Liddon's appointment it became necessary to preach the sermon under the dome, where from 3000 to 4000 persons used to gather to hear him.