SCHOOL LIFE AT RUGBY. 11 



master, and submitted with a good grace to power 

 which they could not resist, and which was judici- 

 ously and moderately exercised. The 7'egime was 

 wise, firm, and kind, and the house was happy and 

 prosperous. In my private relations with him I 

 always found him very pleasant, and quite able to 

 reconcile with real tact his position as a private 

 friend with his relation as the highest pupil and 

 head of the house to a young master entering on his 

 work. From all that I knew of him, both at Rugby 

 and afterwards, I was not surprised at the courage 

 and coolness which the ' Times ' compared to ' the 

 spirit of a paladin of old.' I cannot say how much 

 I regret that I shall not be welcomed in India by 

 the first head of my dear old home at Rugby." 



In June 1840 Dr Arnold writes again to Hodson's 

 father to express his entire satisfaction with the 

 good results which had followed Hodson's return to 

 Rugby. " I sincerely hope," he adds, "that he will 

 be able to return to us again after the holidays." 



" ' Who does not remember,' says a writer in the 

 ' Book of Rugby School,' ' the fair-haired, light-com- 

 plexioned, active man, whose running feats, whether 

 in the ojDcn fields or on the gravel walks of the 

 Close, created such marvel among his contem- 

 poraries ? He has carried his hare-and-hounds into 

 his country's service, and as commandant of the 

 gallant corps of Guides has displayed an activity 

 and courage on the wild frontier of the Punjab, the 

 natural development of his early prowess at Crick 

 and Brownsover.' One of Hodson's schoolfellows, 

 the future author of ' Tom Brown's School-days,' 

 tells us how at the first calling over he used to 

 come in splashed and hot, with his cheery, ' Old 



