SERMONS BY A LAY HEADMASTER PREACHED AT GRESHAM'S SCHOOL 1900-1918 BY G. W. S. HOWSON, M.A. WITH 2 ILLUSTRATIONS LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 1920 All rights reserved PREFACE It was probably never anticipated by Mr. Howson that a volume of his sermons would be published after his death. During his lifetime only six appeared in print, two in The Gresham, three in a small volume entitled "Gresham's School 191415," and the sixth on the subject of Will and Character. As a preacher, therefore, Mr. Howson, who was a layman, was possibly known only to his boys, their parents, and a few friends of the School, and this volume is published with the knowledge that those who knew him will wish to possess it and in the hope that his influence, which was of such great and peculiar power, may spread far beyond that circle. The task of selection was left to three Old Boys. In choosing these thirty sermons, which include those already published, they have endeavoured to keep two main ideas in view: to cover as far as possible the whole period of Mr. Howson's Headmastership, and to give the reader the best view of the writer's personality and of the ideals for which his life was lived and his words spoken. The complete series seems to show how entirely Mr. Howson had grasped the problems which faced the Public School Boy. It was his sympathetic understanding of a boy's mind which made his audience listen to his words with an impressive eagerness. He preached at infrequent intervals, often not more than once a term. He wished his address to be an event. Each sermon took several weeks to prepare and was learnt by heart. Attention was arrested at the first words, and the quiet dignity of the delivery was enhanced by a voice which was full of charm. Broadly speaking the addresses were delivered during two periods. The first, when the services were held in the Big School before the present Chapel was built, may be called the period of construction. Then the author was fighting and building, fighting to establish and building to make more perfect the system which has gained for him the reputation of being one of the greatest pioneer Headmasters. The second, after the erection of the School Chapel, was the period of consolidation and progress, when, in the light of past experience, he was making good the ground that he had won, and searching out new paths for advance. For these sermons, which so plainly reveal the writer's ideals of true manliness, many will never cease to be thankful. They will help us to preserve the memory of one who was, to us, not only a great teacher and an inspiring leader, but a friend who sympathized, who above all understood. F. J. H. W. P. C. H. F. |