PROGRESS UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
At the opening of 1841 I had been a year and a quarter in office; and,
as has been seen, had been enabled, by dint of great efforts, backed by
the increasing confidence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to bring
into operation the most striking parts of my plan; those, indeed, which
many, probably most, people at the time regarded as the whole plan;
though the reader must be aware that very much was still lacking to its
completion, to say nothing of those further improvements of which I was
necessarily getting sight as I advanced in my work. If it had ever been
supposed by Government that the whole plan could be established within
the two years for which alone I had been engaged, either unfounded
expectations must have been held as to Post Office co-operation, or I
must have been accredited with such energy—moral and physical—such powers
of convincing, persuading, or over-riding, as have been vouchsafed to
few indeed. I had worked, and was still working, to the utmost extent
of my power; but not only was every onward step retarded by the adverse
feeling and cumbrous routine already referred to, but, as has been seen,
the very maintenance of Stamp Office and Post Office action in such
efficiency as to prevent clog or disaster, had demanded of me almost
incessant watchfulness and exertion. In short, it might by this time
have been perceived that to give full effect even to my published plan
would require at least several years of unremitting labour; while the
field of postal improvement, taken as a whole, was (as, indeed, it
still is) absolutely boundless. However, I felt at this time no further
anxiety about the durability of my engagement than such as related to
the stability of the existing administration. Not only had Mr. Baring
expressed in words his increasing confidence, but yet greater assurance
came to me from his increasing readiness to adopt my suggestions
(whenever I could get opportunity to explain them), and from his leaving
the routine work, so great in amount, more and more to my decision. Nay,
should there arrive the calamitous event just alluded to, the exchange
of the Liberal for a Tory Administration, I could not avoid indulging in
the hope that even the latter, accepting the new order of things as they
had done on a far greater question[311] six years before, might, if only
in a spirit of emulation, carry on the good work; retaining my services
as a necessary means to the end. Should the reader be inclined to think
that I was dwelling too much on my own interests, let him review all the
main circumstances, and I think he will judge me more charitably. Let
him remember how important complete efficiency in the plan was, alike to
public convenience and fiscal ends; let him remember that in the Post
Office itself the plan was already declared a failure; that its very
permanence was yet problematical: let him consider all the reasons there
were to believe that the great ends in question could be attained only
by the constant efforts of one who combined, with the knowledge drawn
from long and laborious investigation, a personal interest so deep that
failure in this would seem to be failure in all, and he will not find it
very hard to understand how, apart from private considerations (to which,
nevertheless, I could not be insensible), I looked upon the retention of
my post as a point of almost vital importance.
However, though these thoughts could not but pass through my mind, their
only immediate effect was to confirm my previous determination (if that
could be strengthened) to make myself so useful that my services should
be regarded as indispensable. I had yet to learn that men in power do not
always prefer public good to party advantage. Meantime, was it possible
that I misapprehended the state of feeling at the Post Office in respect
of my plan and myself? The Chancellor of the Exchequer, friendly as he
had shown himself to both, held a more favourable opinion, and might
he not be in the right? Events were in progress towards the complete
resolution of this question; but, meantime, the difference of opinion
between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and me was necessarily an
obstacle to progress, since it led me to urge what he was often at first,
and sometimes at last, inclined to resist.
I must admit, however, that the first passage in my Journal for the year
1841 which bears at all on the question of Post Office management is far
from being of an adverse character; it is as follows:—
“_January 16th._—Yesterday I wrote by post to Colonel Maberly
to ask for certain information which was supposed to exist, but
which could not be found in the Treasury, owing to their having
no index to their minutes, and I was only able to indicate very
vaguely what I wanted. To-day I received copies of a letter
from the Postmaster-General to the Treasury and the reply,
both [written] in 1837, containing the information I desired.
I mention this to show that the Post Office still deserves
the high reputation it has long enjoyed for promptitude in
replying to letters (no unimportant convenience to those who,
like myself, have frequent occasion to address it) and because,
as I have frequently to find fault, I am the more anxious to
praise when I can do it conscientiously.”
It may be not unprofitable to mention an arrangement at the Post Office,
explaining, in a measure, its habitual promptitude in reply. The papers
constantly accumulating in the Secretary’s office, I should think, at the
rate of a small cart-load per week, are in the keeping, not of clerks,
but of a corps of messengers, chosen from the general body for their
superior intelligence. These, under one of their own number, manage the
whole business of tying up, docketing, indexing, and arranging; and are
always ready on occasion for the duty of research. The whole is admirably
managed; and, contrary to what any one would have expected, is believed
to be better done than it would be by men of higher station. Many years
after the events now in narration, it was hastily thought, in a general
revision of duties, that the head officer of the corps should be taken
from a higher grade; but the change was found far from beneficial, and
was soon reversed. The explanation seems to be that the higher officer,
thinking himself rather lowered by his new employment, the more so as
handling dusty papers must, in some degree, have marred the results of
his toilet, discharged the duty in but a perfunctory manner; while those
of the lower grade, justly regarding themselves as raised in trust and
position, executed it as men perform a task in which they take pride.
It has been seen how much care was taken to prevent unlawful practices
relative to the stamp; and the experience of many years attests the
efficacy of the means adopted. Of course, too, when discovery, or
seeming discovery, was made of a flaw in our security, the fact was
carefully withheld from the public during the period of experiment and
rectification. What, then, was my surprise and vexation at an occurrence
thus recorded in my Journal?—
“_February 18th._—In the _Post_ and _Herald_ of this morning
is a notice of a lecture at the Polytechnic Institution, from
which it would appear that the lecturer exhibited electrotype
imitations of the medallion stamp, stating, at the same time,
that they could be imitated with the greatest ease, that they
had consequently been abandoned, and that he was authorised by
Government to make a series of experiments connected therewith.
I immediately showed the paragraph to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, with a view of ascertaining if he had given any such
authority. He had not.”
On Mr. Cole’s applying at the Polytechnic Institution, the authorities
there produced an official letter from Colonel Maberly, authorising the
experiments in question, and stating that he would bear them harmless.
It must be added that the experiments thus injuriously made were but
a repetition of processes performed some months before, under proper
authority, by Mr. Palmer, of Newgate Street; and, further, that as the
stamp had now been officially registered, no attempt at imitation could
be lawfully made save by authority of the Commissioners of Stamps; who,
again, would have to give power by a formal warrant.
The Post Office condemnation of my plan, founded on the slow progress in
the number of letters, still continuing, it was a little remarkable that
there came from the same quarter written warnings to the Treasury of an
expected “break-down” from excessive increase:—
“_Journal, February 11th._—[The Chancellor of the Exchequer
showed me] a note from Colonel Maberly which concludes thus:—
“If this weather lasts I fear we shall have a break-down. We
are dreadfully afflicted in London—at Derby they must have
more assistance—at Bristol our clerks won’t stay, their pay is
too bad, and those who do remain will be worked to death. We
will do as well as we can; but, take my word for it, we were
never so near a break-down.’ Expressions of this kind have
been rather frequent of late, and it behoves me, I think, not
altogether to disregard them. They appear to me to be intended
to be understood thus—there will be a break-down, but the fault
is not ours; the blame rests with the new system and those
who forced it upon us. My reply is, if Colonel Maberly cannot
carry on the new system he ought to resign; if he remain in
his present position, and there is a break-down, the fault is
clearly his; at all events, the blame must and ought to fall to
his share.
“_February 23rd._—[Lord Lichfield, in a note to Mr. Baring]
talks in the same manner as Colonel Maberly, but even more
strongly, of the danger of a break-down.
* * * * *
“I found Mr. Baring had acted with his usual decision. He had
written to desire that Lord Lichfield would state explicitly
the dangers he apprehended, and the additional strength
required; after which we shall look into the cases, and then he
will see Lord Lichfield and Colonel Maberly on the subject.”
It will have been observed that the apprehensions set forth above are
coupled with allegations of necessity for increased force; and such
demands, if granted as fast as they were made, would have defeated all
hope of that large economy which, in my calculations, was counted upon
from simplification of operations. Of the lavish course taken I proceed
to give some further indication:—
“_Journal, January 29th._—Had some conversation with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer as to future proceedings. He is
becoming uneasy, like myself, at the extravagant and heedless
demands (apparently) of the Post Office for increased force.
“_March 27th._—The Postmaster-General having made a
second application for two additional clerks in the
Accountant-General’s Office, and two more in the Accountant
for Ireland’s Office, and intimated that a further addition
will probably be required in Edinburgh, all on account of the
quarterly returns ordered some time back, I wrote to Court [the
London Accountant-General] to request he would call upon me on
the subject, to bring copies of the forms they have sent out,
&c., in order that I may judge what additional strength is
really necessary.”
Mr. Court, calling as requested, though not till eleven days afterwards,
I found that the demand for increased force was made in exclusive
reference to these quarterly returns, which were entirely needless, as
monthly returns, answering every purpose, were already received on the
same subject. Mr. Court acknowledged this, but added that they had been
ordered by Colonel Maberly. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, to whom I
applied on the subject, informed me next day that Colonel Maberly and Mr.
Court would adopt any plan for making these returns that I might suggest
in writing. I had only to advise that they should not be made at all.
“_May 12th._—The Postmaster-General having applied for what I
considered a very extravagant establishment for the money-order
office in Dublin, I drew a minute calling for information as
to the whole amount of [money-order] poundage collected in
Ireland, &c.; when it appeared, as I expected, that such amount
fell short of the minimum cost of the proposed establishment
in Dublin alone. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, on my
recommendation, has cut down the salaries considerably.
“_May 25th._—Managed to get about a quarter of an hour with
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which eight or ten cases
were decided; in several instances the Postmaster-General’s
application for increased expenses in different offices being
disallowed.”
The vigilance I had now so long exercised in relation to Post Office
accounts was by no means allowed to abate. The following curious instance
shows that even when Post Office and Stamp Office worked together the
resulting accounts might remain open to question:—
“_Journal, April 1st._—In going over the proof sheets of that
part of the annual finance accounts which relates to the Post
Office, I was led to suspect from their appearance that the
proceeds of postage stamps sold by the Stamp Office in Ireland
had been carried to the credit of the British, instead of
the Irish, Post Office. Went to the Stamp Office to inquire.
Mr. Pressly was confident that so gross a mistake could not
have been made, but on inquiry it appeared that my suspicions
were well-founded. The consequence of the mistake is that the
British revenue appears to be about £15,000 more, and the
Irish revenue £15,000 less, than it really was. Mr. Charles
Crafer, who arranges the financial accounts in the Treasury,
thinks the account cannot now be altered, but he will append an
explanatory note. It is strange that the Irish [Post] Office
should have been satisfied with such a subtraction from their
revenue, the more so because it makes up the greater part of
the apparent deficit; the expenses in Ireland having exceeded
the revenue, according to the account, by about £21,000, though
really by £6,000 only. The Stamp Office will make arrangements
for preventing such a mistake in future.”
In connection with the subject of stamps, it should be mentioned that
in the course of this year Mr. Pressly, secretary to the Stamp Office,
having observed that some of the provincial postmasters were also
sub-distributors of stamps for general purposes, suggested the expediency
of making such union the general arrangement. This suggestion I reported
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was inclined to act upon it to
some extent. At Mr. Pressly’s request, I wrote a minute on the subject,
which was adopted by the Treasury; but the suggestion, owing probably
to the change of Government which took place shortly afterwards, was
not carried into effect. After long lying dormant it was revived in the
year 1863 in a Parliamentary Committee presided over by Mr. Horsfall,
before which I gave evidence in favour of the measure, but the Committee
reported against it. My opinion, however, still is that the vast
organization of the Post Office might be advantageously employed at least
for the distribution of all such stamps as are in frequent demand.
In the following transaction the Post Office alone was responsible:—
“_Journal, May 19th._—Wrote two or three scolding minutes.
There have been several instances lately of great inaccuracy
on the part of one or two of the surveyors, who, in applying
for authority to increase the expenses at certain provincial
offices, have been guilty of, to say the least, very careless
misrepresentations. In the instance of the Cheltenham Office,
the surveyor deducted £100 from the gross annual income of the
postmaster for house rent, whereas it afterwards appeared that
the office is supplied rent free by the inhabitants. This and
many other inaccuracies almost equally glaring have come before
the Treasury unnoticed by the Post Office.”
The foregoing circumstances might scarcely be worth mentioning, did they
not tend to show how much my time was occupied in doing other people’s
work, to the great hindrance of my own. A few more instances of this, and
I have done:—
“_August 24th._—The Postmaster-General reports to the Treasury
that he cannot proceed with the arrangements for rural
distribution unless he has a map divided into registrars’
districts, or a description of the boundaries of the districts.
Why he should apply to the Treasury to overcome the difficulty
I know not (I wrote to Colonel Maberly some time ago in reply
to a remark of his, telling him that there was no such map
in existence). However, as I would rather do the work myself
than have the measure delayed, I have been to the Registration
Office, Poor Law Commission, and Tithe Commission, to see
if the necessary information for constructing a map can be
obtained. I have also sent for Arrowsmith to meet me to-morrow
morning, and hope by a little management to get the thing done.”
It was done accordingly.
With distractions so numerous and so various, with a large amount of
routine work, all requiring to be dealt with carefully, with opposition
at the Post Office to almost every additional improvement that I
proposed, and with the greatest difficulty of obtaining access to the
ever-occupied Chancellor of the Exchequer, without whose sanction no
step, great or small, could be taken, I found progress towards the
completion of my plan but slow; a slowness the more galling because,
meantime, not only general convenience, but the fiscal results of the
measure were grievously suffering; while I feared that the public,
knowing that I was now in office, and yet ignorant of the trammels under
which I laboured, would—as in fact a large portion of it did—charge
upon the plan itself failure really due to the incompleteness of its
development.
It must not be supposed, however, that I was stinted by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer in such aid as money could procure; for as early as
February of this year, having notified to him that I should require some
additional assistance, I was authorised to engage whatever I might think
necessary. Of course, the irremovable pressure was from that kind of work
which I could not leave to others; and this more than once seemed likely
to bear me down:—
“_Journal, March 6th._—I have been unwell this week, and have
done little more than carry on the current business. Lawrence,
whom I consulted to-day, has ordered leeches to be applied to
my neck, and desires I will get holiday if possible.
“_March 10th._—Received from the Chancellor of the Exchequer a
very kind note, stating that Lawrence had written to him on my
case.
* * * * *
“He also sent for me and repeated his advice in the kindest and
most friendly manner, adding that he would undertake any cases
which could not wait my return. In the course of conversation
I expressed my regret, half in earnest half in joke, that I
should have added so much to his own labour by cutting down the
Post Office revenue so mercilessly. He replied that additional
taxes would have been necessary even if the postage had not
been reduced, and that the reduction made the imposition
of such taxes much more easy. He added that he thought the
measure was working exceedingly well, and begged that I would
not be uneasy about it. I am to take a fortnight’s holiday
immediately, and more at Easter if necessary.”
The Liberal Administration, which had been for some time losing ground,
showed, as the parliamentary session advanced, increasing signs of
weakness; the falling revenue being, of course, one of its chief
difficulties. I could not but feel that for this I should probably be
regarded as in some degree answerable; since the public could know
little of the obstructions to the fiscal success of my plan, and would,
I feared, form its conclusion by simply placing together the two facts,
that the postage had been lowered to a penny and the net postal revenue
fallen from £1,600,000 to £500,000. More than ever did I regret that my
proposals had not been so taken up by the Government as to admit of that
gradual introduction of my plan which would have prevented this loss.
It must be remembered, however, as was handsomely acknowledged by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the postal loss was by no means the
only one which the revenue had sustained; the country being at that time
under one of those depressions which lessened the produce of all taxes
of whatever kind. In reviewing the whole matter calmly, as I can do now,
I feel also called upon to remember that if, through excess of caution,
the establishment of penny postage had been delayed until such general
depression, combined, as it was, with other causes, had thrown out the
Liberal Government, the reform would, in all probability, have been
deferred, at least, until the return of the Liberals to power six years
later.
Be all this as it may, I felt anxious upon three points. First, would the
Tories, if they came into office, attempt a reactionary course? Second,
supposing that they left the penny rate unchanged, would they stop the
progress of the other improvements essential to the completion of my
plan? And, third, would they retain my services? I naturally clung to
the wish that I might be allowed to complete what I sincerely believed
to be a great improvement; the more so as, with all the fond imagination
of an inventor, I already seemed dimly to foresee its universal adoption
producing universal benefit.
I resolved, at all events, to push forward improvement as fast as I
could, in order that the Government which had given me my post might
have whatever credit such improvements might bring. One of the most
desirable measures was the extension of rural distribution at home.
Having ascertained by a circular of inquiry that there were 400
registrars’ districts without a Post Office, I obtained sanction for the
establishment of a Post Office in each of them, Lord Lichfield promising
to push on the arrangements immediately. By very great exertion progress
to this point was effected in little more than a month; but how very long
the measure, thus apparently secured, had to wait before it was carried
out will appear hereafter.[312]
Amongst the anomalies I found in the Post Office, a striking one lay
in the emoluments of the various provincial postmasters, which, having
been settled on no rule, exhibited abundant irregularities. For this
I sought a remedy. To lay down a satisfactory rule, however, required
such information as was for the time unattainable, through the almost
total want of systematic statistics in the Post Office. The evil of such
deficiency had lately been curiously exemplified. In the year 1837,
the postmasters throughout the kingdom, being called on to report the
amount of their respective late letter fees, which they then retained
as a perquisite, had for the most part rated it low, probably thinking
it to their interest that their emoluments should appear small; but in
the year 1840, when it was proposed to commute such perquisite for a
fixed allowance, the reports then made showed, for the most part, an
enormous augmentation. Though doubtless many of these returns were made
fairly enough, yet the increase, even on the average, was surprisingly
large. Now it was obvious that if the returns had been made as a matter
of course from year to year, when no change was in prospect, such sudden
exaggeration would have been impracticable. I consequently proposed to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer that there should henceforth be a yearly
return of all emoluments; and that, as the Post Office appeared unwilling
to undertake the necessary collection and classification, the duty
should be added to my department. To this recommendation, which was made
as early as February, I received, at the time, no decided answer; Mr.
Baring, though thinking the measure desirable, not rating the statistics
so highly as I did. I again brought the measure before him, with several
others, in the month of July, anxious that all should be adopted before
the change then evidently approaching should take place; and again
obtained a general approbation of all I proposed, without, however, any
authority to proceed further.
Increase in the number of letters had, meanwhile, proceeded
satisfactorily:—
“_Journal, February 2nd._—The Chancellor of the Exchequer is
much pleased with the increase of letters, as shown by the
comparison of the present period with the corresponding weeks
of 1840, and wishes a form of return, exhibiting the results,
to be prepared for Parliament. Last night the number of letters
and newspapers was such, that with every exertion the mails
could not be despatched in time.”
I need not say that, throughout the whole period which I am describing,
I was anxiously alive to whatever might indicate the probable course of
events:—
“_February 9th._—Herries has been moving for certain returns of
Post Office revenue, &c., and the Chancellor of the Exchequer
tells me that he thinks the Tories, especially if they get
into power, will try to advance the rate to twopence. I told
him that I did not think they could succeed, at the same time
reminding him that I always was of opinion that twopence would
produce the larger revenue.”
Mr. Baring held the opposite opinion, and I now believe that he was
right. A few months afterwards, financial difficulties increasing, I
was called on to estimate the probable effect of raising the rate to
twopence, and my report, made, of course, after careful inquiry and
consideration, was not such as to induce Ministers to try the change. To
avoid recurring to the subject, I may here add that once only was the
question revived. This was during the financial pressure consequent on
the Crimean war; when, being called on to make a confidential report, I
showed that, though some immediate increase of revenue might be expected
from raising the rate to twopence, the benefit would probably be more
than counterbalanced, in the long run, by the check to correspondence;
and upon this, the project was finally abandoned.[313]
As has been seen, however, the course of the Tories was still uncertain:—
“_April 30th._—The Chancellor of the Exchequer brought on his
Budget to-night. I was under the gallery. The Tories were
aghast at the Free Trade proposals, which occupied so much of
their attention, that they had little to say on the subject
of postage. Perhaps the returns, showing the steady increase
of letters, may have something to do with the matter. Sir
Robert Peel was quite silent on the subject; Goulburn talked
some nonsense and made some false [erroneous would have been a
juster term] statements with as much confidence as though he
had understood what he was talking about. He was answered by
Hume.
“_May 12th._—The Chancellor of the Exchequer expressed an
apprehension that Sir Robert Peel would attempt to advance the
postage rate to twopence.
“_May 13th._—Mr. Wallace called to say that he has no doubt
Ministers must resign, and that the Tories will attempt to
advance the postage—he says to threepence. Last night Mr.
Patrick Chalmers told me fourpence.
“_July 6th._—He [the Chancellor of the Exchequer] still thinks
it probable that Peel will advance the rate.
“_August 27th._—The Chancellor of the Exchequer tells me that
from what he observed in the course of his speech last night
in the House of Commons, when he spoke of the reduction in
postage, he is satisfied that Peel does not intend to raise the
rate.... Cole reports that Mr. Moffatt has seen Lord Lowther,
who tells him that there is no danger of the Tories raising the
postage-rate.”
From what has been said, it may be inferred that indications of the
approaching change multiplied as time went on; and it is scarcely
necessary for me to add that the dissolution to which the Government
resorted, when defeated in its Free Trade policy, resulted in the
election of a House by which it was unseated. As the catastrophe
approached my personal anxiety naturally increased; a feeling readily
understood and kindly recognised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer:—
“_May 12th._— ... This led to a conversation as to my own
position, in course of which Mr. Baring expressed himself very
strongly as to my zeal and skilful management, and said, that
if the period for renewing my engagement were come, he should
certainly propose to continue it, but that he could not, with
justice to those who might succeed the present Government,
renew it now. He will, however, record his opinion either in
a minute or letter to myself as to the manner in which I have
discharged my duty. Nothing could be more kind and friendly
than his whole conduct, and I feel much indebted for the open
manner in which he spoke on so delicate a subject as the
present position of Government.
“_June 22nd._—Applied for an interview with the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, but could see him only for a moment, in the
presence of others.”
As matters were pressing, I wrote to him a letter in which, after
repeating the various reasons previously urged for placing the
administration of my plan permanently in my own hands, I suggested for
consideration the expediency of taking advantage of official changes then
in progress to transfer Colonel Maberly to some other post. The letter
will be found in the Appendix (J).
“_July 6th._—Had a long audience with the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and nearly emptied my box of papers. This done,
he entered on the subject of my letter, and in the course of
a very friendly conversation spoke to the following effect.
He was afraid that there was no place vacant which could be
offered to Colonel Maberly. I mentioned the vacancy in the Poor
Law Commission. He first said that he thought Colonel Maberly
would not like the appointment, but, on my pressing that he
should be asked, Mr. Baring intimated that it had been filled
up; he admitted that it was now desirable that I should be in
the Post Office, and added nearly as follows: ‘If there had
been a vacancy in the secretaryship of the Post Office when
I first knew you I certainly should not have given you the
appointment, because experience has convinced me that inventors
are seldom men of business; but, having worked with you for
nearly two years, I have no hesitation in saying that if there
were now a vacancy I should propose to Lord Melbourne to give
you the appointment.’ I suggested that, as the surveyors are
the agents by whom improvements are carried into effect,
perhaps the object in view might be accomplished by making me
Surveyor-General. He promised to think of this, and, referring
to our conversation of May 12th, said, that as my engagement
would terminate in about two months, he should not hesitate in
renewing it in some shape or other.
“_August 20th._—Spoke again to Mr. Baring on the subject of my
engagement. He stated that his intention was to renew it for
a year certain, and, on my proposing an indefinite renewal,
said that if that were done the question of salary must be
reconsidered (in which I acquiesced), and that he doubted
whether he should be justified in such a renewal. Finally, he
promised to reconsider the matter, and to show me the minute
before anything was decided. I don’t think this is quite just
towards myself. My measure has been adopted by Government;
it has been tried under great disadvantages, owing to the
continuance at the Post Office of those who are hostile to
it, and still it has succeeded, and I have given entire
satisfaction to Mr. Baring, as he has repeatedly assured me; I
think, therefore, that a permanent position, either in the Post
Office or the Treasury, should be given to me. It is absurd to
expect that the work will ever be completed. Practically, there
is no end to the improvements which it is desirable to make,
and I ought not to be exposed to the anxiety resulting from
the insecurity as regards my own income, in addition to that
which is inseparable from my position. I would rather suffer
some diminution of income and have the matter made permanent,
though, considering the labour, responsibility, and difficulty
of my duties, I don’t think I am overpaid.
“_August 27th._—Was interrupted after a very short interview
[with the Chancellor of the Exchequer], and before I got
through a tithe of my business. Had no opportunity of speaking
to him, as I intended, on my own engagement.
“_August 28th._—Waited in vain till late in the evening for an
interview with Mr. Baring. He has, however, promised to see me
on Monday. Division in the House of Commons last night on the
address (a majority of ninety-one against Ministers) makes an
immediate resignation necessary, and I am, of course, anxious
not only to settle my own engagement, but several Post Office
references which have been long in hand.
“_August 30th._—Had a further conversation with the Chancellor
of the Exchequer as to my engagement. He now intends to write
me a letter on the subject, as he did when I was first engaged;
but I fear it will not be so decisive a renewal as I think it
ought to be. He appears to shrink from the responsibility of
any decisive act now, which, though very considerate towards
his successors, is not, I think, quite fair towards me. He
is, however, quite friendly, and promises to do all in his
power. In the course of conversation he said that I must expect
hereafter a change in the tone of the Post Office authorities;
that from the very highest to the lowest they were hostile to
me and my plan, and that now he could no longer support me such
a change was probable. I think he expressed himself somewhat
more strongly than facts justify, but, in the main, I fear he
is correct, and if so, it is clear that the plan has been tried
under most unfavourable circumstances.
“_September 1st._—I again spoke to Mr. Baring about my
engagement. He has not yet written the letter, but promises to
do it forthwith; the delay causes me much anxiety, and will,
I fear, prevent the possibility of obtaining any modification
in the letter, however desirable. Mr. Goulburn is to be the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, not Sir Robert Peel, as was
expected. Mr. Baring thinks this an advantageous arrangement
for myself, as I shall have a better chance of access to him.
Report makes Lord Lowther Postmaster General, an arrangement
which would be very favourable to my plan.”
I scarcely need say that the pleasing delusion into which I thus fell was
effectually dispelled in the course of the following year:—
“_September 2nd._—On arriving at the office I found the
following letter on my table:—
“‘September 1, 1841.
“‘DEAR SIR,—As it may be satisfactory to you to have in
writing the position in which I consider you to stand, I
propose to put on paper my view, in order that you may use
it for the information of my successor.
“‘I wish, therefore, to state that some time ago I informed
you, in reference to the Post Office business, that I
thought it would be of great advantage to continue your
services beyond the two years originally settled; that I
did not deem it expedient to make any engagement beyond one
year, but that you might consider that for one year from
the expiration of the former two years your services were
engaged, on the same conditions as before.
“‘I think it but justice to you not to conclude this letter
without expressing to you my thanks for the unwearied and
zealous assistance which you have given me in the carrying
on the Post Office business. I feel satisfied that without
that assistance it would have been scarcely possible for
the Treasury to have given any proper consideration to the
arrangements for putting the scheme into effect, and I am
happy in having to record my entire satisfaction with the
manner in which you have conducted the business of your
office.
“‘You will make what use you please of this letter by
showing it to my successor.
“‘Yours very sincerely,
“‘F. T. BARING.’
“This is not what I could wish as regards the length of the
engagement, but I am satisfied that it is all Mr. Baring
considers himself justified in doing; and feeling that it
would be very ungracious to object to so kind a letter, I
acknowledged it as follows:—
“‘Downing Street, September 2, 1841.
“‘DEAR SIR,—Pray accept my earnest thanks for your very
kind and gratifying letter, and for the just and able
manner in which you have carried my plan, so far, into
effect.
“‘Looking forward with much anxiety, but in the hope that
happier times for all of us may yet be in store,
“‘I have, &c.,
“‘ROWLAND HILL.’”
This must have been one of Mr. Baring’s latest official acts, as the
formal resignation of Ministers took place on the following day; and
though I had subsequently, and, indeed, to the end of his life, much
pleasant intercourse with him, our official relations here terminated.
Of the important aid which he afterwards gave me much remains to be
said; but I will here so far anticipate as to mention an incident
which occurred twenty-two years after this time. Soon after my final
retirement from the Post Office, happening to be at Brighton, I met Sir
Francis Baring—for he had then succeeded to the Baronetcy—and presently
received a call from him. In conversation with my wife he remarked that
oftentimes, when he worked with me at the Treasury, he had disagreed
with me in opinion, but had always found afterwards that he was in the
wrong and I was in the right. Upon Lady Hill’s observing that she had
been taught by her husband to believe all Sir Francis Baring’s decisions
right, he replied, with a laugh, “Well, then, now you have the very best
authority for believing them wrong.”
Three days after the date of Mr. Baring’s letter he left Downing Street
for the continent. About eleven o’clock the same day Mr. Goulburn entered
on the business of his office. Twenty-seven years before this time,
when Bonaparte abdicated the throne of France and withdrew to Elba, a
caricature was said to be privately circulated in Paris, representing
an eagle flying out from a window in the Tuileries, while a fat goose
waddled in at the door. Perhaps the reader who has followed me through
my labours and anxieties, who has sympathized in my disappointments and
rejoiced in my success, and who remembers in addition, that I had been
all my life a Liberal, and was by no means free from the prejudices of
my party, will pardon me when I confess that my mind, at this crisis,
harboured a feeling too much resembling the scorn and bitterness which
prompted the French caricature.
Yet had I, amidst all my troubles, some aids to complacency. Of the
approbation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer I have already spoken, and
certainly this was my greatest comfort. The following tokens, however,
had their value. On the 8th of April, I received a very beautiful silver
salver from Liverpool, accompanied with a letter from Mr. Egerton Smith,
Editor of the _Liverpool Mercury_, the leading journal of that town,
a gentleman who had from the first been an earnest supporter of Penny
Postage, and who remained its steady advocate to the end of his life.
The letter informed me that the salver had been purchased with the pence
contributed by thousands of his fellow-townsmen, and that Mr. Mayer, in
whose works the plate had been produced, and by whom it was delivered
into my hands, had waived all considerations of profit, and worked _con
amore_. On July 2nd I received from Glasgow two highly-wrought silver
wine-coolers, bearing an inscription stating that it was “in testimony of
gratitude,” from a few gentlemen of that city. I may here mention that
two years later I received a very pleasing testimonial from Cupar, Fife,
consisting of the works of Sir Walter Scott, including the Memoir by
Lockhart,—ninety-eight volumes in all.