An account of how the aim of education changed in the Victorian age from the Godliness and good learning of the title to muscular Christianity. At first under the influence of Arnold at Rugby the schools were hot-houses of classical learning inspired by Christian devotion and producing people like Lightfoot, Hort and Westcott of great subsequent importance to the church, but surely at the cost of ignoring the needs of many other boys. Later in the century other subjects were brought in, for instance science, but there was a general change of emphasis onto Games.
This seems to have been under the influence of Kingsley and Hughes the former of whom was exasperated by the High Church movement seeing it as effeminate and wanting to emphasise manliness as a contrast.
Also of course later in the century they had to come to terms with the results of Darwin's work and criticism of the Bible. A simple trust was left behind and uncertainties sapped their faith.
compared to modern evangelicalism the early leaders were certainly active not mystics, without much emphasis on conversion, and I think a sort of unstated acceptance of the Bible, but with equal attention paid to the classics, perhaps without much discrimination of their varying quality? ( )