Thus it was natural that when
the twelve noblemen and gentlemen, who had determined to be
guided entirely by the merits of the candidates, found among the
testimonials pouring in upon them a letter from Dr. Hawkins, the
Provost of Oriel, predicting that if they elected Mr. Thomas
Arnold he would 'change the face of education all through the
public schools of England', they hesitated no longer; obviously,
Mr. Thomas Arnold was their man. He was elected therefore;
received, as was fitting, priest's orders; became, as was no less
fitting, a Doctor of Divinity; and in August, 1828, took up the
duties of his office.
All that was known of the previous life of Dr. Arnold seemed to
justify the prediction of the Provost of Oriel, and the choice of
the Trustees. The son of a respectable Collector of Customs, he
had been educated at Winchester and at Oxford, where his industry
and piety had given him a conspicuous place among his fellow
students. It is true that, as a schoolboy, a certain pompousness
in the style of his letters home suggested to the more clear-
sighted among his relatives the possibility that young Thomas
might grow up into a prig; but, after all, what else could be
expected from a child who, at the age of three, had been
presented by his father, as a reward for proficiency in his
studies, with the twenty-four volumes of Smollett's History of
England?
His career at Oxford had been a distinguished one, winding up
with an Oriel fellowship.
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