21 FEBRUARY 1874, Page 2

The Governing Board of Rugby decided on Thursday to appoint

Dr. Jex-Blake, now Principal of Cheltenham College, to the Head Mastership vacant by the dismissal of Dr. Hayman. Mr. Percival, of Clifton College, was, we imagine, passed over because he had been defeated by Dr. Hayman, and next to him, Dr. Jex- Blake is probably the best selection possible. An excellent scholar, a Broad Churchman, inclining rather to orthodoxy than scepticism, of deep personal religious feeling, and possessed of the art of governing by a smile, Dr. Jex-Blake was the most popular of Rugby masters, inherited all Arnold's traditions, and will, we doubt not, speedily raise the school to its old level both of numbers and of tone. The loss to Cheltenham College is most serious, but the gain to the country is as great, and the country must rank before the school. A Head Master must be chosen for qualifications alone, but it was not the least of the minor mis- fortunes attending the late election at Rugby that no school in the very front rank remained thoroughly penetrated with. the years.