The San Francisco call., 1897-09-26
[[ 6EHoMAs AND MATTHEW !
" y ARNOLD and Their Influ-
ence on English Educa-
IL tion" is the title of vol

ume just issued in this
country by Messrs. Charles Scri bner's
Sons of New York, and for sale in Ssn
Francisco by William Doxey, Palace Ho-
tel. The book while modest in design is
yet a valua BILE contribution to the Iitera.
ture of the subject, whose importance
may 6e judged from the fact that the Brit
ish Museum catalogue contains sixty-sey-
en- entries under the head of Thomas, and
eighty mine under Matthew Arnold. This,
IT should be added, only refers to pub
lished works and not 10 the large num-
ber of magazine and review articles de-
voted 10 the illustrious father and son.
Sir Joshua Fitch, himself an earnest la
borer in the cause of education, and for
merly Her Maiesty's Inspector of Training
Colleges, Is the auth of the latest tribute
10 the two earnest educators. The infu-
ence of the Nate of Rugby is treated OBJ
lectively; but as an intimate friend and
colleague of Matthew Arnold for period
of nearly thirty years, he is enabled to
speak with considerable authority of the
man, his methods and his aspirations.
Both divisions of the book possess pc
culiar interest for all engaged in the pro-
fession of tesching, whether in the public
schools OF privately.
The work under review is not to be re-
garded as an attempt to supplant Dean
Stanley's weILknown life of the elder
Arnold in so far as it touches his person
aIlIy. His Life and Correspondence" is
standard and a treasury of valuable ma
terial; but, as the writer of the present
work points out, the book is a large one
land deals necessarily with much eph-
emeral controversy, religious and politi-
CAL" Sir Joshua Fitch has merely at
tempted to bring into special prominence
those features of DR.. Arnold's character
and that of his more gifted son Matthew
which POSSESS special interest and are
likely to be OF permanent value to the
professional teacher.
An interesting sketch is furnished o! the
early life of Thomas Arnold, together with
a succinct account of the influences tend
ing to form his strong character. Or these
there were many; he was fortunate in
his occupancy of an intelligent and we'll
ordered home. He was a child at the
time vi hen the news of Nelson's victories
rang through Britain and when the name
of Bonaparte was used by the English
nurse as terrifying corrective to infants.
National triumphs on land and sea could
not fail to impress 8 mind wax TO re.
ceive, marble to retain" As another
formative influence must be accounted the
fierce national rivalries of his youth
which may also ee reckoned as reason for
his combstlve disposition manifested in
later life.
Thomas ArnoId's school days were spent
a. Winchester. He early developed a
taste for history and for the solution of
ethical and political problems. To Oxford,
also, may be accredited goodly portion
OF his education. Q pom leaving the uni
versity be married and lived in retire
ment, taking a few pupils into his home
circle at Laleham. Here he began to put
into practice his remarkably correct the
ories on the subject of teaching. One of
his pupils says of him: "Arnold's great
power as a private tutor resided in this,
that be gave such an intense earnastness
to life. Every pupil was made to feel that
there was a work for him to do; that his
happiness as we'll as his duty lay in doing
that work we'll.
Late in the year 1927 he was elected to
the head-m Rstership of Rugby, one of the
principal public schools in England. 1t
should be explained that the term public
school is employed abroad in an entirely
different sense to that accepted here, being
understood TO mean a classical school,
patronized chiefly by the wealthy and
titled classes. Rugby had its origin in
the benefsctions of one Lawrence Sheriff.
grocer, who in 1867 bequeathed land and
property in the county of Middlesex TO
main tain "a fair and convenient school
house at Rugby"
The task that DR.. Arnold found imposed
upon himself was no easy one. His pre-
decessor appears to have been man with
curious ideas upon the subject OF dis
cipline. for We are told that beagles and
guns were kept by the sportiIv inclined
"big feIlows," some of whom had private
wine cellars in their studies; drunkenness
and swearing we're common and defiance
of authority not a rarity. A religious
undergraduate was unknown, and was re-
garded as a subject for laughter whenever
he made his appearance. In sermon on
the public schools delivered by DR.. Arnold
shortly after taking Office he said, Public
schools are the very seats and nurseries of
vice, where good exists by sufferance"
Confrmstory evidence of these facts will
be found in that famous work, tom
Browns Schooldays."
In taking command OF Rugby DR.. Arnold
proceeded to manage things in his own
way. He gave out the theory that clas-
sical education is an absolute necessity.
This question, as is well known, has been
a disputed one since Arnold's time both
in England and in this country, and his
opinion upon the subject is therefore of
interest. "Expel Greek and Latin from
your schools and you confne the views of
the existing generation to themselves and
their immediate predecessors, you will
cut off 50 many centuries of the worlds
experience ana place US in the same state
as if the human race had first come into
existence in the year 1900" There were
those who criticized the action of the Mas
ter of Rugby, maintaining that the study
of classics is useless and that the writings
of classic authors are soon forgotten. To
such he said: 1T does not follow that
when a man lays aside his Latin and
Greek books he forgets also all that he had
ever gained from them. This, however, is
so far from being the case that even where
the results of the classical education are