which, as a scrawl on the flap of the envelope informed me, he
had carried for a week in his pocket and forgotten to post.
Except by inference it returned no thanks for my intended
benefits. What it did say, however, was that he thought it wrong
of me to have settled a matter of such spiritual importance in so
great a hurry, though he had observed that rich men were nearly
always selfish where their time was concerned. Moreover, he
considered that I ought first to have made inquiries as to his
present character and attainments, etc., etc.

To this epistle I replied by telegraph to the effect that I
should as soon think of making inquiries about the character of
an archangel, or that of one of his High Church saints. This
telegram, he told me afterwards, he considered unseemly and even
ribald, especially as it had given great offence to the
postmaster, who was one of the sidesmen in his church.

Thus it came about that I appointed the Rev. Basil Bastin to
the living of Fulcombe, feeling sure that he would provide me
with endless amusement and act as a moral tonic and discipline.
Also I appreciated the man's blunt candour. In due course he
arrived, and I confess that after a few Sundays of experience I
began to have doubts as to the wisdom of my choice, glad as I was
to see him personally. His sermons at once bored me, and, when
they did not send me to sleep, excited in me a desire for debate.
How could he be so profoundly acquainted with mysteries before
which the world had stood amazed for ages? Was there nothing too
hot or too heavy in the spiritual way for him to dismiss in a few
blundering and casual words, as he might any ordinary incident of
every-day life, I wondered? Also his idea of High Church