I shall feel obliged if I may thank you for your Lordship’s letter
of the 7th inst., in which you request from me—in consequence of the
remarks made on my character by Mr. Lowe in the House of Commons,
and by the Duke of Argyll and Lord Lansdowne in the House of Lords—a
history of my connection with the Mint.
In compliance with your Lordship’s request, I proceed to put in
writing an account of my association with and severance from the
Royal Mint. That I may occupy as little of your Lordship’s valuable
time as possible, I have selected certain passages from the Treasury
correspondence which relate to myself. I am not aware that I have at
all unduly interpreted those letters, or that, by omitting parts, I
have made them appear more favourable to myself than they were intended
by their authors to be. If, however, the Government should so view
these extracts, may I beg of your Lordship to move for the complete
correspondence, the publication of which would, I believe, more fully
demonstrate my “case.” I possess copies of that correspondence, but
extracts from it will convey all that concerns myself; to this there is
one exception, and I beg to submit a considerable portion of one letter
from the Master of the Mint to the Treasury, because its contents fully
bear out my statement that great irregularities had existed and were
checked. Indeed, I now invite your Lordship’s attention to a passage
in that letter because the Mint is at present conducted at extravagant
expense, while its losses of bullion reach far towards the former
average. Mr. Graham says, “The diminished waste of late years (1857-60)
is further attended with increased economy in working, of which,
indeed, a low waste return is one of the surest indications.”
The correspondence which your Lordship has so generously placed at my
disposal, I also include that my account may be complete, although
necessarily brief. I should also state that, by the rules of the Civil
Service, an extra clerk cannot approach the head of his Department
without permission from his superior officer. Yet your Lordship will
observe that the Master of the Mint not only received my reports, but
addressed orders to, and treated me as, the chief on whom he relied,
as is proved by his writings now copied as well as by those in my
possession.
In the early part of the year 1856 the Master of the Mint found himself
so beset with difficulties arising from irregularities committed by
those who should have supported him, that he formed a determination to
engage a person on whom he could rely in the Coining Department, and
who at the same time had sufficient personal influence and knowledge of
the work to check those irregularities which he knew were taking place,
but which were beyond his personal supervision. These irregularities
were known to the Government of that period, and had caused so vast
an expense that that Government, which was presided over by Lord
Palmerston, had intimated to the Master, that unless the Mint could
be conducted more satisfactorily and economically, it would be broken
up as an imperial establishment, and thus necessitate the placing
of the coinage in the hands of contractors. With this view papers
were printed and issued to various firms; but Mr. Graham, being very
sincere and energetic in his desire to so conduct the Mint as that
this necessity should not arise, sought the advice of engineers and
others, with a view to finding such a man as combined within himself
the qualities which he saw to be necessary. Finally, by the advice
of Dr. A. W. Hofmann, he called upon me at my residence in October,
1856, and related to me in detail the facts above alluded to, and
explained precisely the position of affairs at the Mint, giving me
the names of the troublesome persons, and showing his own position to
be so intolerable, that without some one on whom he could rely, it
would be impossible for him to continue his Mastership. Mr. Graham
then proceeded to tell me what had passed between Dr. Hofmann and
himself as to my fitness for the work required, and explained clearly
the impossibility of placing me in a secure position or in high
office at first, but that if I would accept a supernumerary clerkship
temporarily, he would, when I had effected the object of his desires,
advise my promotion to the office then held by Mr. W. T. Brande, when
that office should become vacant. With this understanding I agreed
to accept the position proposed if duly appointed; but that I might
be able to carry out such reforms as were necessary, I insisted on
sufficient power being given to me by himself or by the Government. In
pursuance of this agreement, Mr. Graham recommended my appointment in
a letter to the Treasury, dated 29th October, 1856, in the following
terms:—
“I desired to introduce a young man, recommended by scientific and
technical information available in coining, by energy of character,
and by tried ability in the supervision of workmen—a faculty by no
means common. After applying to Mr. William Fairbairn and to Mr. George
Rennie, who both recommended candidates, and making inquiry in various
other quarters, I have been led to propose the name of Mr. George
Frederick Ansell as temporary clerk. Mr. Ansell was educated under Dr.
Hofmann, and acted for some years as his laboratory assistant. He has
since been Scientific Director in the Panopticon, Leicester Square,
which was lately broken up. He appears to be a person of superior
education and ability, and great activity and vigour of character, and,
as I have been assured, has shown much discretion in the management of
both pupils and workmen.”