TREBELL. [Serious again.] How positive a pedagogue would you be if you had to prove your cases and justify your creed every century or so to the pupils who had learnt just a little more than you could teach them?  Give power to the future, my friend ... not to the past.  Give responsibility ... even if you give it for your own discredit.  What’s beneath trust deeds and last wills and testaments, and even acts of Parliament and official creeds?  Fear of the verdict of the next generation ... fear of looking foolish in their eyes.  Ah, we ... doing our best now ... must be ready for every sort of death.  And to provide the means of change and disregard of the past is a secret of statesmanship.  Presume that the world will come to an end every thirty years if it’s not reconstructed.  Therefore give responsibility ... give responsibility ... give the children power.

WEDGECROFT. [Disposed to whistle.] Those statutes will want some framing.

TREBELL. [Relapsing to a chuckle.] There’s an incidental change to foresee.  Disappearance of the parson into the schoolmaster ... and the Archdeacon into the Inspector ... and the Bishop into—­I rather hope he’ll stick to his mitre, Gilbert.

WEDGECROFT.  Some Ruskin will arise and make him.

TREBELL. [As he paces the room and the walls of it fade away to him.] What a church could be made of the best brains in England, sworn only to learn all they could teach what they knew without fear of the future or favour to the past ... sworn upon their honour as seekers after truth, knowingly to tell no child a lie.  It will come.

WEDGECROFT.  A priesthood of women too?  There’s the tradition of service with them.

TREBELL. [With the sourest look yet on his face.] Slavery ... not quite the same thing.  And the paradox of such slavery is that they’re your only tyrants.

      [At this moment the bell of the telephone upon the table rings.  He
      goes to it talking the while.]

One has to be very optimistic not to advocate the harem.  That’s simple and wholesome....  Yes?

      KENT comes in.

KENT.  Does it work?

TREBELL. [Slamming down the receiver.] You and your new toy!  What is it?

KENT.  I’m not sure about the plugs of it ...  I thought I’d got them wrong.  Mrs. O’Connell has come to see Miss Trebell, who is out, and she says will we ask you if any message has been left for her.

TREBELL.  No.  Oh, about dinner?  Well, she’s round at Mrs. Farrant’s.

KENT.  I’ll ring them up.

      He goes back into his room to do so leaving TREBELL’S door open. 
      The two continue their talk.

TREBELL.  My difficulties will be with Percival.

WEDGECROFT.  Not over the Church.

TREBELL.  You see I must discover how keen he’d be on settling the Education quarrel, once and for all ... what there is left of it.