| |
| whether he (or she) means | |
| it for their life or no | |
| - whether it is to bring in | |
| "the kingdom" into our | |
| lives, or whether it is | |
| merely a lesson in words. | |
| I am sure yours are not | |
| merely lessons in words | |
| - but that you look to | |
| their future lives as | |
| e.g. - Dr. Arnold1 of Rugby | |
| did, & Mr. Jowett2, the | |
| Master of Balliol College3 |
1. Thomas Arnold, head master of Rugby from 1828 to 1842. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, Arnold's "aim was not so much to impart information as to awaken thought and stimulate industry. While insisting, somewhat sternly, on a careful preparation of the prescribed lesson, if any difficulty arose in connection with it, instead of giving the explanation at once, he would place himself, so to speak, by the side of his pupils and help them to find it for themselves."
2. Benjamin Jowett was a British classical scholar and was considered to be one of the 19th century's greatest teachers. His major works include translations of The Dialogues of Plato, Thucydides' History, Aristotle's Politics, and Plato's Republic.
Perhaps not too generally known is Miss Nightingale's great affection for Benjamin Jowett. "Between Jowett and Miss Nightingale acquaintance quickly became intimacy.... Affection became devotion, and it was known to their friends that Jowett was pressing her to marry him. She refused, but their friendship was unaltered. They corresponded constantly, and she leaned on his devotion and advice. 'My darling Jowett,' she called him" (Woodham-Smith: p. 352). Abbott and Campbell in their important two volume Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett (London, 1897) omit any references to this great friendship, but Geoffrey Faber discusses it frankly in Jowett: A Portrait With a Background (London, 1957). Faber believes that "there was no physical passion in it" and that "the quality in Florence Nightingale which fascinated him was not so much her imperious femininity (though that naturally enhanced her attraction) as her possession of an intellect equal to, and not dissimilar from, his own; of a mind to which his mind could open itself without reserve, and which he could trust to reply in the same coinage" (p. 89)]
3. Balliol College was one of the earliest colleges established at Oxford University. Students were supported by John Balliol as early as 1263; the house was formally chartered as Balliol College in 1282.
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