# Mr. Horbury — The Secret Glory character guide > Mr. Horbury in The Secret Glory by Arthur Machen. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Horbury, old Horbury **First appearance:** 0004-i ## Snapshot A Lupton master whose inflamed liver and flogging arm make him, to Ambrose, less a man than a meetinghouse blasphemously failing to be a cathedral. ## Who they are Horbury is, by the narrator's own admission, a very decent specimen of the English schoolmaster — savagely cruel only when suffering from an inflamed liver and offensive superiors, with a defenceless inferior in his power. But Ambrose judges him by the rules of a fine art he never professed, blaming the chimney for not being a spire. That fatal flaw in Ambrose's reasoning — quarrelling with meetinghouses for not being cathedrals — makes Horbury the first hard test of the boy's impossible theory of life. ## Relationships ### [Ambrose Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/ambrose_meyrick) _rivalry_ Ambrose is locked in a bitter, antagonistic struggle with his cruel and oppressive headmaster, Mr. Horbury. ### [Bates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/bates) _professional_ Bates, as a student, has a formal, authority-based relationship with headmaster Mr. Horbury, marked by discipline. ### [Pelly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/pelly) _rivalry_ Mr. Horbury views Pelly as a troublesome student and antagonist, frequently clashing with him. ### [Charles Horbury](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/charles_horbury) _family_ Charles Horbury is the son of Mr. Horbury, bound by a familial relationship that carries expectations and tension. ### [Rawson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/rawson) _rivalry_ Mr. Horbury regards Rawson as a rebellious student and a source of conflict within the school. ### [Ambrose Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/ambrose_meyrick) _rivalry_ Ambrose is locked in a bitter, antagonistic struggle with his cruel and oppressive headmaster, Mr. Horbury. ### [Pelly](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/pelly) _rivalry_ Mr. Horbury views Pelly as a troublesome student and antagonist, frequently clashing with him. ### [Rawson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/rawson) _rivalry_ Mr. Horbury regards Rawson as a rebellious student and a source of conflict within the school. ### [Ambrose Meyrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/ambrose_meyrick) _rivalry_ Ambrose is locked in a bitter, antagonistic struggle with his cruel and oppressive headmaster, Mr. Horbury. ### [Bates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/bates) _professional_ Bates, as a student, has a formal, authority-based relationship with headmaster Mr. Horbury, marked by discipline. ## In the story ### [The Secret Glory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/the-secret-glory) The cruel and hypocritical headmaster of the Old Grange, who beats Ambrose for returning late and embodies the oppressive institutional education. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/i) The cruel and authoritarian headmaster of the school, representing the oppressive institutional system. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/i) The High Usher, in a rage after a bad lunch with the Head, takes out his frustrations on Ambrose with a savage beating. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/ii) The form master who canes Ambrose; described as a decent specimen of his class but savagely cruel in the moment; later dies and is memorialized in the Guardian. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iii) The headmaster, deeply absorbed in ambitious plans to expand Lupton into a vast, profitable institution, mixing business acumen with educational ideals. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/ii) The schoolmaster who administers the brutal beating to Ambrose, representing the oppressive authority of the institution. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/ii) Beats Ambrose severely; described as having a careful, provident mind and as the High Usher who owns the Old Grange. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iv) High Usher conducting Morning Prayer; represents the oppressive school system. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/v) Horbury is the target of a slander campaign; he is horrified by an accusation in an alley, later receives a devastating letter, and learns he has lost the Headmastership, which begins his decline. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iii) The cruel schoolmaster who administers the severe beating to Ambrose. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/i) The headmaster of the school, who sends Ambrose away during holidays and represents the oppressive institutional authority. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/ii) Feels slight guilt after beating Ambrose but is pleased by the boy's apparent improvement; learns through secret channels that Ambrose fought Rawson and Pelly but does not punish him again. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned as the ambitious master who is the target of N.'s satire in the Rabelaisian manuscript, depicted climbing the clock-tower. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iv) The schoolmaster who administers the brutal punishment to Ambrose. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/chapters/iii) Appears in the imaginary procession, denouncing Ambrose's lack of Spartan discipline. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters/mr_horbury - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_glory_se/characters