Naturally the Headmasters of the great public schools clanged their gates and dropped their portcullises against such an infraction of the law that a Headmaster's school is his castle. But, as already mentioned, the screw was applied. The certificates awarded to successful candidates in these examinations were made the key to higher things. Three Higher Grade Certificates, for instance, were accepted in _lieu_ of certain subjects in Oxford Smalls and Cambridge Little-go. The State pounced upon this principle and extended it. The acquisition of a sufficient number of these certificates now paved the way to various State services. Extra marks or special favours were awarded to young gentlemen who presented themselves for Sandhurst or Woolwich or the Civil Service bringing their sheaves with them in the form of Certificates. Roughly speaking, the more Certificates a candidate produced the more enthusiastically he was excused from the necessity of learning the elements of his trade. The governing bodies of various professions took up the idea. For instance, if you produced four Higher Certificates--say for Geography, Botany, Electro-Dynamics, and Practical Cookery--you were excused the preliminary examination of the Society of Chartered Accountants. (We need not pin ourselves down to the absolute accuracy of these details: they are merely for purposes of illustration.) Anyhow, it was a beautiful idea. A Headmaster of my acquaintance once assured me that he believed that the possession of a complete set of Higher Grade Certificates for all the Local Examinations of a single year would entitle the holder to a seat in the reformed House of Lords. In other words, it was still possible to get into the Universities and Services without Certificates, but it was very much easier to get in with them. So the great Headmasters climbed down. But they made terms. They would accept the Local Examinations, and they would admit Inspectors within their fastnesses; but they respectfully but firmly insisted upon having some sort of say in the choice of the Inspector. The Government met them more than half-way. In fact, they fell in with the plan with suspicious heartiness. "Certainly, my dear sir," they said: "you shall choose your own Inspector; and what is more, you shall _pay_ him! Think of that! The man will be a mere tool in your hands--a hired servant--and you can do what you like with him."