"In the days of thy youth." Sermons on practical subjects, preached at Marlborough College, from 1871-1876

Front matter

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IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH/'

SERMONS PREACHED IN MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.

Dedication

To the Council of Marlborough College ; — to the beloved memory of Bishop Cotton; — to my honoured friend and predecessor, the Master of University College, Oxford ; — to my Colleagues, whose high aims and self denying labours have secured the progress and prosperity of the College during the past six years; — to the Prefects, tvho have been my immediate pupils, and of whom I trust that many will henceforth be lifelong friends; — to the hundreds of Marlborough Boys, whose diligence, goodness, and loyalty have caused me such deep and > enduring happiness —

These few of the many Sermons delivered in the College Chapel between January 29, 1871, and July 23, 1876.

Preface

The following Sermons are, almost exclusively, occupied with practical subjects bearing upon school life. The publication of them is the last proof I can give of the undying affection which I shall always retain for Marlborough College, and of the deep and sacred interest which I shall always feel in those among whom, for six years, it was my privilege to live.

This volume must not be regarded as representative of my entire teaching. Asked to publish some of my school sermons, I have selected those only which were more or less special in character or treatment. Hence I have excluded from this volume the many rat PREFACE.

sermons which I preached on the great doctrinal truths of Christianity ; those which were suggested by the Fasts and Festivals of our Church ; those on different Scripture characters ; those which pleaded the cause of various charities ; those that dwelt exclusively on the Life, the Parables, the Miracles, the Cross and Passion, the Eesurrection and Ascension, of our Saviour Christ. Many of these might doubtless, in a literary sense, have been regarded as better and more valuable than some here published. But this volume is not published on literary grounds at all. All my sermons were necessarily composed as they were required, in brief intervals from much labour and incessant interruption ; they were never intended for publication ; and have neither been altered nor elaborated since.

Any value they may possess depends on their being left as they were written — with all their intentional repetitions, with the absence of references and authorities, which I could not always give, and in the style intended

PREFACE. ix solely for oral delivery. I know that those who heard them, and for whose sake they are mainly published, will receive them kindly, and will read them with no other desire than that of reviving those good impressions which I trust that, by God's grace, they sometimes produced in faithful hearts.