They cared very little for
classical scholarship; no doubt they would be pleased to find
that their sons were being instructed in history or in French;
but their real hopes, their real wishes, were of a very different
kind. 'Shall I tell him to mind his work, and say he's sent to
school to make himself a good scholar?' meditated old Squire
Brown when he was sending off Tom for the first time to Rugby.
'Well, but he isn't sent to school for that--at any rate, not for
that mainly. I don't care a straw for Greek particles, or the
digamma; no more does his mother. What is he sent to school for?
... If he'll only turn out a brave, helpful, truth-telling
Englishman, and a Christian, that's all I want.'
That was all; and it was that that Dr. Arnold set himself to
accomplish. But how was he to achieve his end? Was he to improve
the character of his pupils by gradually spreading around them an
atmosphere of cultivation and intelligence? By bringing them into
close and friendly contact with civilised men, and even, perhaps,
with civilised women? By introducing into the life of his school
all that he could of the humane, enlightened, and progressive
elements in the life of the community? On the whole, he thought
not. Such considerations left him cold, and he preferred to be
guided by the general laws of Providence.
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