RUGBY, a town in Warwickshire, England; 83 miles N. W. of London and 30 E. S. E. of Birmingham. At the foot of the hill on which it stands the Swift gave John Wyclif's ashes to the Avon; close by, at Ashby and at Dunchurch, the Gunpowder Plot was hatched; the battle field of Naseby was visited by Carlyle from its school house in 1842, a few days before Arnold's death; it is within a drive of Stratford-on-Avon, Coventry, and Ken ilworth. It is the center of a great hunt ing district and the seat of a world famous public school. The school was founded in 1567 by Lawrence Sheriff, a grocer and a staunch supporter of Queen Elizabeth, by a gift of property in Manchester Square, London. After maintai'aing its position for some time as a good school for the Warwickshire try and a few others, specially under Dr. James and Dr. Wooi, it became of na tional reputation under Dr. Arnold, who in raising his school, raised at the same time the dignity of his whole profession. Since his time the school has never lacked able teachers, remarkable for indepen dence of mind. When Arnold died in 1842, Archbishop Tait succeeded him, hav ing as coadjutors Lord Lingen, Dean Bradley, Principal Shairp, Thomas Evans, Theodore Walrond, Bishop Cotton. He in turn was succeeded by Dean Goulburn, who had as one of his assistants the fu ture Archbishop Benson. The Crimean
War reduced the numbers of the school to 300, and Dr. Goulburn resigned in 1857. He was succeeded by the future Bishop of London, Dr. Temple, who re mained 12 years. He made a brilliant record, and added fame to Rugby's repu tation. Having collected enough money to rebuild the chapel, to erect a gymnasium and to build new schools, Dr. Temple was succeeded by Dr. Hayman. To him suc ceeded Dr. Jex-Blake, who inaugurated a still greater building era. When he resigned in 1887 he left behind him a school unrivaled in its appointments. He was succeeded by Dr. Percival. Of illus trious Rugbeians may be named the poets Landor, Clough, and Matthew Arnold; Dean Stanley, who had the rare privilege of recording the work of his great head master in biography; Judge Hughes, who did the same equally felicitously in "Tom Brown's School Days"; Dean Vaughan, Lord Derby, Lord Cross, Mr. Goschen, Sir R. Temple, and York Powell the his torians, Justice Bowen, Sir W. Palliser, Professor Sidgwick, C. Stuart-Wortley, Arthur Acland, and many others famous in British affairs. Pop. about 25,000.