=Source.=—_Hansard_, Third Series, vol. 76, col. 212.
[NOTE.—On June 14, 1844, Mr. Duncombe, the
friend of the Chartists, presented in the House
of Commons a petition by W. J. Linton, Joseph
Mazzini, and others, complaining that their letters
had been opened at the General Post Office, and
urging that such a practice, introducing as it did
the spy system of foreign states, was repugnant
to every principle of the British Constitution,
and subversive of the public confidence. A debate
followed on July 2, when Mr. Duncombe moved for a
Committee of Inquiry.]
Mr. Thomas Duncombe said he did not retract one single charge that
he had made—viz., that within the last two years there had been a
most unscrupulous use made of the power vested in the Government in
opening the letters of different parties, and to a very great extent;
and he believed that if an inquiry were instituted, he should be able
to prove that so far from the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir James Graham,
the Home Secretary) having only done what every Secretary of State had
done since the time of Queen Anne, there had been more letters opened
contrary to law within the last two years than had been opened within
the last ten or twenty years. He understood that there existed in the
General Post Office an office which was commonly called or known by
the subordinates of the establishments, as well as by the superior
officers, as “the secret or Inner Office.” In this office these deeds
of darkness took place. It was a sort of Star Chamber—a sort of Post
Office Inquisition. Letters were carried into that place, where they
were examined, and from thence a message was sent to the Home Office,
and copies were taken of these letters, according to the value of their
contents.... He understood, and that was capable of contradiction if
not true, that at this moment day after day the letters of Foreign
Ministers were opened and read; that at all events they went into some
other office, and no one could tell whether they had been opened or
not.... It was said before that it was an un-English custom, but it now
appeared to be peculiarly English, particularly in the way we carried
it out; for he found that in Austria even, if not always, but nine
times out of ten, whenever any letters were opened they were re-sealed
with the government seal, by which it was known that they had been
opened by authority. And very often Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany,
after perusing letters detained at the Post Office, was in the habit
of writing underneath, “Vidit Ferdinandus.” In England there had
never been an instance of any mark being made of a letter having been
secretly read at the Post Office, but on all occasions the party
was kept in ignorance of his secrets having been disclosed to the
Government.... They had opened letters at the instigation of Foreign
Powers, and to a very great extent—the letters of Polish exiles,
Italians, and others. What had this been done for? What had we to do
with misunderstandings in Italy? How little was it known by foreigners
that England was guilty of such treachery. Mazzini himself, only the
other day, received a letter from one of his expatriated countrymen,
who had taken refuge at Corfu, dated May 1, who wrote thus—perhaps the
right hon. Baronet had seen this letter: “Now that I have got my foot
on British soil, relying upon the well-known loyalty of Englishmen,
you may write to me in my own name.” Poor deluded man! What did he do
in this letter besides? He thanked the individuals who had assisted
him in his escape. These names were found in this letter, the letter
was handed over to the Austrian Government, and these individuals were
thrown into prison. At this moment fifty or sixty persons were in
prison, suffering imprisonment because of the base information of the
British to their ambassador, and communicated by the ambassador to his
own Government.