The Lanchester tradition

by G. F. Bradby

The Chairman had rattled off his opening remarks with the volubility of a man who is accustomed to get through business quickly. He paused for breath and was about to add that, as the motion was presumably a merely formal one, he supposed there was no need for discussing it, when the Bishop intervened.

Somebody has said that no cause is irretrievably doomed until the Bishop of Grandborough has made it his own. Like all epigrams, this statement is only partially true; for the Bishop has championed many winning causes, good as well as bad. But his warmest admirers admit that, as a leader, he is more successful in putting heart into his followers than in winning over waverers.

“Technically,” he began, “our Chairman is correct, and the motion does not prejudge the main issue; but, practically, it raises at once, and in an acute form, the question of confidence or no confidence in the headmaster. If we had merely to decide between Mr. Flaggon and Mr. Chowdler, there could be no doubt as to what our decision would be; for every man in authority has a right to be supported against unruly subordinates. But we have not met here to judge between Mr. Flaggon and his subordinate. We are all aware that we have met to decide whether it is right or expedient that Mr. Flaggon should continue to be headmaster at all. That is an unfortunate position for us to be in, and, if my advice had been taken last July, we should have avoided it. But we must take the situation as we find it and face it boldly. In my opinion Mr. Flaggon ought never to have been appointed and ought not now to be continued in his office; and I have with me convincing proofs to clinch my argument.”

Here the Bishop produced a large blue magazine, and held it up to show that there was no deception.

“In this magazine,” he continued, tapping the cover, “there is an article by the Rev. Septimus Flaggon, entitled ‘Inspiration.’ When it was first brought to my notice, some weeks ago, I wrote at once to Mr. Flaggon to ask him whether he acknowledged the alleged authorship, and, if so, whether he was prepared to disavow certain passages in it, which I had marked with a blue pencil. Mr. Flaggon replied that the article in question had been written several years ago, but that, after re-reading it carefully, he saw nothing in it to retract. That being so, I propose to read you certain passages, from which you will be able to judge for yourselves whether the writer is a man who can safely be entrusted with the spiritual guidance of the young in a Church of England school.”

The Chairman here pointed out that Mr. Flaggon’s theological opinions were irrelevant to the question at issue, namely, whether or no the Council should take cognisance of Mr. Chowdler’s appeal. But the Bishop was not to be stopped.

“You will see the relevance,” he said, “when I have finished.” And he proceeded to read out the incriminating passages. To about half the Council they seemed of the mildest and most harmless nature; and one of the members said bluntly:

“I see no reason why a headmaster should not hold these views, and preach them too if he likes. If we are going to begin heresy-hunting, I believe we shall make a grave mistake.”

The discussion, having once been launched on these troubled waters, was developed at great length and with ever-increasing acrimony. Inspiration was a subject which Mr. Benison-Benison had made his own and on which other members of the Council felt strongly. In vain the Chairman tried to recall the meeting to the real point at issue. He had to give way before the demands of human nature, and accept the inevitable. When at last the question was put, the voting went on strictly theological lines; with the result that the numbers for and against were exactly equal.

The Chairman hesitated. On the one hand he saw the unwisdom of practically installing Mr. Chowdler as permanent Mayor of the Palace at Chiltern. On the other hand, if Mr. Flaggon were going to empty the school, the financial situation would become difficult, and it might be better to do at once, what would probably have to be done later—namely, force his resignation.