rs
disappeared, and in consequence the lower fees and the more comfortable
internal arrangements of the Usher's house caused it to be more
desirable in the eyes of the parents, and in January, 1863, the Usher
had ten boarders, the Master one.

These were the more trivial causes of complaint, but Mr. Blakiston had
too big a mind to suffer himself to be obsessed by the accidentals. He
was fighting, and consciously fighting, a much bigger battle. Dr. Arnold
had fought and won it at Rugby some years before, but the path at
Giggleswick was not therefore the easier. The real point at issue was
the 1844 Scheme for the Management of the School. It had driven away Dr.
Butterton, it was harassing his successor. Mr. Blakiston on one occasion
had to receive permission from the Governing Body to have the floor
raised on his dais in the School, in order that he might have a better
view of the boys as a whole. He could not arrange holidays without
permission, he could not admit the boys without authority, he could not
insist on a change in the pronunciation of Latin without rousing the
interference of the Governors. The pronunciation, that is to-day called
"new," was introduced by Mr. Blakiston in 1860, as well as a novel
method of pronouncing Greek; he tried in vain to induce other
Headmasters to follow his example.

These restrictions were particularly harassing to an ambitious and
enthusiastic man, and in March, 1862, he applied to the Charity
Commissioners for an amendment of the Scheme. They were unwilling to
take any hand in it on the mere motion of the Master, and their refusal
led to much recrimination. Men, anonymous and otherwise, wrote to the
Newspapers commenting on the decadence of the School in efficiency and
numbers, and the subject became well-worn. In the midst of it Mr.
Blakiston received generous and unexpected support. Mr James Foster, a
City of London Merchant, who had been educated at Giggleswick and had
property in the neighbourhood, heard of the dissension that was going
on, and read the published pamphlets of Mr. Blakiston. He accordingly
asked his nephew and partner--Mr. James Knowles--to wait upon Mr.
Blakiston with the offer of L500 wherewith he might be enabled to
continue his efforts. James Knowles also wrote independently to the
Charity Commissioners, as a member of the public anxious for the
welfare of a School in whose neighbourhood he owned property. He called
attention to the differences which had