Next, Buchman laid down the conditions under which he felt prepared to continue. First of all, the Board must show its confidence in him: he had repeatedly had occasion, he said, to doubt men on the Board who were supposed to be behind him. All the hospice staff must be directly responsible to him. He must have the power to remove anyone who had proved unsuitable. In future, moreover, nobody should be appointed without his full knowledge and approval. He should be granted a month's vacation and his salary should be raised to $1,000 a year.

Finally, Buchman asked for a larger view of the work. The original commission, he said, could best be put in Jesus’ own words describing the Last Judgement: ‘Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in.’

‘I insist’, he ended, ‘that whatever conclusion is reached be not from any mere motives of sympathy but that the question be squarely, dispassionately faced and such measures taken as shall ensure the healthy and normal growth of this work.’41

It was a passionate and uncompromising statement of Buchman’s case. His tone suggests that he was entirely confident that he would win, perhaps because he regarded himself as indispensable.

That night the discussion with the Board went on until midnight. Led by the implacable Ohl, its six members insisted that the hospice must be financially self-supporting. That, Buchman knew, could mean only one thing: he would have to resign. Next morning, he did not appear for breakfast, and when John Woodcock knocked at his door he ‘heard muffled sobs, and then “Come in.”’ “I knew then what had happened and understood his feelings,’ wrote Woodcock later. ‘He responded, however, to the suggestion that he get up, have breakfast, and then go out into the country for the day. There, walking and talking seemed to help him to think more clearly and to arrive at some reasoned conclusions. That night he went before the Board and offered his resignation.’42 The resignation was accepted on 24 October.

‘I feel like a whipped cur, all tired out,’ he wrote to his parents. Then, after saying that he had held a Settlement House service the evening before with some sixty children present, he added, ‘Mary was brave, but you could see it was hard for her. Don't be anxious about me. All will go well. Greetings and love to all, loyally your son, Frank.’43

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