A parallel but more amusing case occurred in England. There was a fierce contention among the members of a Board about the site of the proposed new school, and the knot seemed worthy of the intervention of My Lords. After some correspondence I was sent down with instructions to report. It was arranged that I should meet the Board at the chairman’s house (he was a farmer), and thither I went, and found him alone. And let me here remark, that a Norfolk farmer is not like a farmer in the shires. He might farm from 3,000 to 4,000 acres. He explained the arguments for and against each site, and went on to express his regret that I was not likely to meet some members of the Board.
“Where is the Rector?” I asked.
“Very ill, and confined to the house.”
“I see in the correspondence file that Mr. A. is strongly in favour of the north site. Will he be here?”
“Well, I fear not: the fact is that there is an affiliation summons out against him, and, as he is an elder of the —— chapel, he is rather ashamed to show his face.”
“Mr. B., the treasurer, is on the same side?”
“Yes, and I expect him here every minute: but, if you will excuse me, I would rather you saw him in the other room: I have had to serve him with a writ for slander in consequence of some remarks he made at the last Board meeting, and we don’t speak.”
“Then there is only Mr. C?”
“Yes: and he promised to be here. Perhaps you could call at his house on your way to the sites? And here comes the treasurer.”
I met the First Lord of the Treasury in the dining-room. “Morning, Mr. B. About that site: here is the ordnance map: you want the school to be built just there, don’t you?”