The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-06-20 00:00:00

DEAN STANLEY ON DR. ARNOLD.

e Dean of IVestininster, on Friday afternoon, paid a
-it to Rugby sohool, on the anniversary of the death 1.1 Dr.
.1111.4.1, wlio is buried in the School Chapel. The Dean was
prevailed upon to deliver an address respecting his old
master. The chapel was speedily tilled, mid In the course of
his remarks the Dean spoke of that Sunday morning, thirty-
two years ago, when the death of Aniold caused a shock
through all England, not among old pupils only : and when
all at that time enraged in the school, masters and boys
alike, felt as if the whole place had passed away :
•

The sounds (said the Dean) which I heard from his
lips in this place are still, after all the changes lif an
eventful life, 84 fresh in my ears as when I fiat caught
them with indescribable admiration and delight. The
power if his character and the lessons of his teaching
have been the life of my life since I left school 45 years
ago, and his words constantly come back to me, as ex-
pressing better than anything else my own hopes and fears
for this life and the life to come. "There are two words,"
said an old achaolfellow of mine, "whose meaning we
both learnt from him—religion and history." NOW,
Arnold told us and made us feel that the only thing
which God lovea in man is gavainess, the only thing God
hates is wickedness. Next to religion, Arnold's
favourite study was history. He made the dead
heroes and dead saints of history live again for us.
He made us feel that much that we call ancient was
really modern, and that much that we call modern was
ancient. Ile made us feel that there was a sequence
in the events of history, and front the sequence of
elf -'etc from causes being the truths cif religion as well
as the facts of history. He taught us how great a
thing it was to be Englishinen—citizens of the kingly
etimmonwealth of Ent ml. He taught us the value of
law —that there is, in moral matters, one law only- -the
law of God ; aid that in .ther matters there is only one
authority— the law of the country. We learnt the
meaning of these two words most of till frotu his own
life, his own self. We saw that he was always trying
to act as in the presence of God ; that the innocent
pleasures of life were to him enjoyable as coming
from God; that he turned from all that was base and
dishonourable, beca use God abhorred it. On the
Sunday after his death, one of the lessons contained
the words, " Behold, my Rats are with you ;" and I
thought as I heard these words of each of his actual
fatherless children. I think of the words now as true
of the greatest of the teachers m this pliwe who have
succeeded Arnold, for more than one of your head
masters has been the son if Arnold. I think of them
89 true if every young lad here who is a truthf iii,
generous, upright, Christian boy now, and who soon
will be a fearless, energetic Christian man. So far you,
one and all, are Christ's in the spirit of Arnold ; so far
you may, one and all, carry on to future days the glory
of hint who sleeps in the midst of this chapel, and
whose memory is its best inheritance.