Arnold, when the boys in the Sixth Form were
weak or brutal, and the blackguard Flashman, in the intervals of
swigging brandy-punch with his boon companions, amused himself by
toasting fags before the fire.
But there was an exceptional kind of boy, upon whom the high-
pitched exhortations of Dr. Arnold produced a very different
effect. A minority of susceptible and serious youths fell
completely under his sway, responded like wax to the pressure of
his influence, and moulded their whole lives with passionate
reverence upon the teaching of their adored master. Conspicuous
among these was Arthur Clough. Having been sent to Rugby at the
age of ten, he quickly entered into every phase of school life,
though, we are told, 'a weakness in his ankles prevented him from
taking a prominent part in the games of the place'. At the age of
sixteen, he was in the Sixth Form, and not merely a Praepostor,
but head of the School House. Never did Dr. Arnold have an apter
pupil. This earnest adolescent, with the weak ankles and the
solemn face, lived entirely with the highest ends in view. He
thought of nothing but moral good, moral evil, moral influence,
and moral responsibility. Some of his early letters have been
preserved, and they reveal both the intensity with which he felt
the importance of his own position, and the strange stress of
spirit under which he laboured.
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