I have added a new post, Arthur’s Prayers. This is a short passage from Tom Brown’s School Days, first published in 1857, a novel by Thomas Hughes set in Rugby School where he himself had been a pupil in the 1830s.
The hero of the story is Tom Brown, a good lad though by no means a great scholar, and inclined to get into scrapes. It was suggested to the Headmaster, Dr Thomas Arnold, that a little responsibility would do Tom good, so he was asked to take a new boy, thirteen-year-old Arthur, under his wing. Arthur had never been at a boarding school before, and his first night in the dormitory was a distressing experience — but one that brought out the best in Tom.