Chapter 27

[291]I have been told that Mr. Lines, the Birmingham drawing-master, proud of his old pupil of some thirty years ago, was bent on being the first man in his town to send a letter by the penny post. The old man waited accordingly outside the Birmingham Post Office on the night of the ninth. On the first stroke of twelve he knocked at the window, and handed in a letter, saying “A penny, I believe, is the charge?” “Yes,” said the clerk, in an angry voice, and banged the window down.—Ed.[292]See page 225.[293]Subsequently the salary was raised.[294]I have received from an esteemed correspondent the following cutting from the City article of one of the London Daily Papers:—“MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE.“Friday Evening.“Considerable diversion was created in the City to-day by the appearance of the new penny-post devices for envelopes, half-sheet letters, and bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ about an inch square, for dabbing on to letters. The surface of the latter is filled up with a bust of Her Majesty, or what is guessed to be intended for such, but which is much too vulgar of expression so to be mistaken by any of the loyal subjects who have had the good fortune to see the graceful original herself. But for this unlucky perversion of the royal features, the penny-post ‘sticking-plaster’ might appropriately have come into fashion and superseded the court sticking-plaster, so common for the concealment of trifling cutaneous cracks on the face of beauty. Thus women and men, too, might have carried sovereigns on their countenances as well as in their hearts and purses, and many a decayed beauty might have refreshed her faded charms with the renovating representation of royal youth and loveliness. It is shrewdly suspected that this untoward disfiguration of the royal person has been the studied work of ministerial malevolence and jealousy, desirous of rendering their royal benefactress, if possible, as odious as themselves. The envelopes and half-sheets have an engraved surface, extremely fantastic, and not less grotesque. In the centre, at the top, sits Britannia, throwing out her arms, as if in a tempest of fury, at four winged urchins, intended to represent post-boys, letter-carriers, or Mercuries, but who, instead of making use of their wings and flying, appear in the act of striking out or swimming, which would have been natural enough if they had been furnished with fins instead of wings. On the right of Britannia there are a brace of elephants, all backed and ready to start, when some Hindoo, Chinese, Arabic, or Turkish merchants, standing quietly by, have closed their bargains and correspondence. The elephants are symbolic of the lightness and rapidity with which Mr. Rowland Hill’s penny post is to be carried on, and perhaps, also, of the power requisite for transporting the £1,500 a-year to his quarters, which is all he obtains for strutting about the Post Office, with his hands in his pockets, and nothing to do like a fish out of water. On the left of Britannia, who looks herself very much like a termagant, there is an agglomeration of native Indians, Missionaries, Yankees, and casks of tobacco, with a sprinkling of foliage, and the rotten stem of a tree, not forgetting a little terrier dog inquisitively gliding between the legs of the mysterious conclave to see the row. Below, on the left, a couple of heads of the damsel tribe are curiously peering over a valentine just received (scene, Valentine’s Day), whilst a little girl is pressing the elders for a sight of Cupid, and the heart transfixed with a score of arrows. On the right again stands a dutiful boy, reading to his anxious mamma an account of her husband’s hapless shipwreck, who, with hands clasped, is blessing Rowland Hill for the cheap rate at which she gets the disastrous intelligence. At the bottom of all there is the word ‘Postage,’ done in small upon a large pattern of filagree work. With very great propriety the name of the artist is conspicuously placed in one corner, so that the public and posterity may know who is the worthy Oliver of the genius of a Rowland on this triumphant occasion. As may well be imagined, it is no common man, for the mighty effort has taxed the powers of the Royal Academy itself, if the engraved announcement of W. Mulready, R.A., in the corner may be credited. Considering the infinite drollery of the whole, the curious assortment of figures and faces, the harmoniousmélangeof elephants, mandarin’s tails, Yankee beavers, naked Indians, squatted with their hind-quarters in front, Cherokee chiefs, with feathered tufts, shaking missionaries by the hand; casks of Virginia threatening the heads of young ladies devouring their love letters, and the old woman in the corner, with hands uplifted, blessing Lord Lichfield and his Rowland for the saving grace of 11d.out of the shilling, and valuing her absent husband’s calamity or death as nothing in comparison with such an economy—altogether, it may be said, this is a wondrous combination of pictorial genius, after which Phiz and Cruikshank must hide their diminished heads, for they can hardly be deemed worthy now of the inferior grade of associates and aspirants for academic honours. Withal the citizens are rude enough to believe that these graphic embellishments will not go down at the price of 1s.3d.the dozen for the envelopes, and half or quarter sheets, for the size is somewhat of the mongrel sort, and of 1s.1d.per dozen for the bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ with a head upon it which looks something like that of a girl, but nothing of a Queen. As a very tolerable profit may be made out of the odd pence thus charged over the stamp, the penny-postman calculates, no doubt, to make up the deficit in the Post Office revenue by the sale of these gimcrack pictures for babes and sucklings.”—Ed.[295]In Sir R. Hill’s Journal is the following entry;—“I fear we shall be obliged to substitute some other stamp for that designed by Mulready, which is abused and ridiculed on all sides. In departing so widely from the established ‘lion and unicorn’ nonsense, I fear that we have run counter to settled opinions and prejudices somewhat rashly. I now think it would have been wiser to have followed established custom in all the details of the measure where practicable.”—May 12th, 1840.—Ed.[296]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 65-68.[297]The late Professor R. Phillips, F.R.S.[298]Now Sir Charles Pressly, K.C.B. He was then Secretary, and afterwards Chairman, of the Board of Stamps and Taxes.[299]The extracts which I have given in Appendix I from the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, show how well my brother discharged the duties of his office.[300]See p. 346.[301]Up to December 31st, 1879, have been printed more than twenty thousand millions of penny stamps. By the kindness of the Board of Inland Revenue, I am able to print the following statement, which I have received from the Secretary to the Board, Mr. Frederick B. Garnett—Ed.:—Issues of Postage Labels from the 27th April, 1840, to 31st December, 1879.1,600,276,320Labels at½d.20,699,858,040”1d.42,638,160”1½d.338,540,280”2d.105,829,824”2½d.158,526,040”3d.153,815,820”4d.158,721,280”6d.4,608,720”8d.7,635,080”9d.5,963,476”10d.126,968,940”1s.6,475,820”2s.5,174,262”5s.6,014”10s.6,014”£1.[302]Among other matters, attempts were made at reduction of rates in reference to correspondence with France; though, for a time, without success. “A letter has been received from Thiers—he appears willing to meet our views, but does not accept the invitation to negotiate the matter in London. Wishes to settle it with Lord Granville, our ambassador, who, not understanding the matter, very properly objects to undertaking the negotiation. Mr. Baring says he has observed that, if any course is pressed on the French Government, they immediately suspect some sinister motive, and that the only way to bring them to is to turn our backs upon them.... We made them a very good offer which they ought to have accepted.”—Sir R. Hill’s Journal, June 24th, 1840.—Ed.[303]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 66.[304]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 68.[305]See “Post Office Reform,” second edition, p. 14.[306]Finance Account for 1840.[307]“Fifteenth Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 15.[308]“Report of the Select Committee on Postage, 1843,” p. 92.[309]About seventeen years later Sir R. Hill, writing to his wife, says:—“T—— has just received a letter from Lord Canning, containing a very friendly message to myself—part of which informs me that ‘a pillar letter-box has just been set up in the bazaar of Allahabad,’ the place at which Lord Canning now is.”—Ed.[310]The hydrographer to the Navy.[311]The first Reform Act.[312]See page 451.[313]“April 4th, 1854.—The Postmaster-General showed me a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, marked ‘secret,’ stating that additional taxes will be required on account of the war, and asking his opinion as to the probable effect on the Post Office revenue of increasing the inland rate to twopence.... I am to prepare an estimate, but to consider the whole matter as most strictly secret. I expressed great regret, in which Lord Canning concurs, that such a project should be entertained, adding, perhaps a little hastily, that ‘I could not assist in giving effect to the measure.’ It is very disappointing that this new difficulty should arise just as I am about to overcome all the old ones.”—Sir R. Hill’s Journal.—Ed.[314]See page 433.[315]“Appendix to the Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 56.[316]See page 446.[317]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 7.[318]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.[319]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.[320]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 28.[321]“Hansard,” Vol.LXIV., p. 321.[322]“Tenth Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 37, 38; “Eleventh Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 16, 17; “Twelfth Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 34, 35.[323]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.[324]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 28.[325]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 29.[326]Between the dates of these letters, occur the following entries in Sir R. Hill’s Journal:—“April 9th.—Left the office early and went to Tottenham, in consequence of the approaching dissolution of my dear mother—she died very soon after I reached the house. Thank God without pain.“April 15th.—Did not go to the office. Attended my dear mother’s funeral.”—Ed.[327]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 30.[328]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 31.[329]Mr. Goulburn’s letter was as follows:—Downing Street, July 11th, 1842.“Dear Sir,—By the letter which my predecessor, Mr. Baring, addressed to you previous to his retirement from office, he intimated to you his intention of continuing your employment by the Government, which was originally limited to two years, for another year, ending the 14th September next. I had much pleasure in recommending to the Treasury to give effect in this respect to Mr. Baring’s intentions; but feeling that the time is arrived at which your further assistance may safely be dispensed with, I take the opportunity of apprising you that I do not consider it advisable to make any further extension of the period of your engagement beyond the date assigned to it by the Lords of the Treasury.“In making this communication, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of expressing my sense of the satisfactory manner in which, during my tenure of office, you have discharged the several duties which have been from time to time committed to you.“I have the honour to be, dear Sir,“Yours ever most faithfully,“Henry Goulburn.”—Ed.[330]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 5.[331]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 8.[332]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 10.[333]The word “important” occurs in the original MS. letter, though, no doubt by accidental misprint, it is omitted in the official copy.[334]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 11.[335]Better known as Viscount Althorp.—[Ed.][336]See page 485.[337]In a note on this passage, written in the year 1874, Sir R. Hill thus speaks of Sir James Stephen:—“It had long been the practice with theLiberalparty to speak of Mr. Stephen, or, as some of them called him, King Stephen, in very disparaging terms, representing him as the chief obstacle to colonial reform; and I must confess that it was under this prejudice that I began my intercourse with him. Soon, however, I saw reason to doubt the soundness of such views—certainly they received no confirmation whatever in his treatment of South Australia. He invariably received me and my suggestions—some of which departed widely from ordinary routine—in a friendly spirit, and the result of several years of intimate official communication with him, was that I formed a very high estimate of his character.”—Ed.[338]The following entry is in Sir R. Hill’s Journal, under the date of March 11th, of this year:—“Goulburn refuses to give any letters, except those on List No. 97, which excludes all those urging progress in the adoption of my plan, and the final letter to Peel. He considers these ‘unnecessary.’ The shabbiness of this conduct is only equalled by its folly. I shall, of course, publish the whole correspondence, distinguishing the letters which are given from those which are withheld.”[339]See p. 470.[340]VideReturn, 1843, No. 119.[341]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 54.[342]Their names are as follows:—George Moffatt, William Ellis, James Pattison, L. P. Wilson, John Dillon, John Travers, J. H. Gledstanes, W. A. Wilkinson, all from the first warm supporters of my plan.[343]“Report of the Committee on Postage” (1843), p. 43.[344]Seeante, pp. 433 and 450.[345]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 399-445.[346]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 420.[347]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 399, 400.[348]See p. 327.[349]The sole ground of this statement was that Lord Lowther had recommended a penny rate for Prices Current.[350]This assertion was obviously made in reliance on the “Fallacious Return.” So gross an error in a finance minister showed an ignorance hardly credible.[351]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 420-434.[352]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 435.[353]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 435.[354]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 435, 436.[355]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 437.[356]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 438.[357]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 439.[358]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 439, 440.[359]Lord Lowther voted for a uniform rate, but against any reduction below twopence.[360]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 440, 441.[361]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 442.[362]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 445.[363]I give the following draft, which did not, however, take full shape as a letter, as a record of my feelings during the Parliamentary Inquiry of 1843, and of the facts which produced them:—“Orme Square, Bayswater,“August 12th, 1843.“Sir,—The scenes of yesterday, and your part in them, will form my justification for the unusual course which I am taking.“The open display of your hostility would not alone have moved me to it; but, unhappily, that hostility has taken a form which, if persisted in, will most effectually suppress the greater part of my evidence in reply. You will be aware that I refer not merely to the perpetual interruptions which I receive, but the contradiction of my testimony, of which those interruptions so frequently consisted.“Sir, I must use the freedom of reminding you of the positions in which we respectively stand. I have appealed to Parliament against the Treasury Board of which you are an active member. This appeal is now trying before a Committee of which you are chairman. You are, therefore, already a party and a judge. If you desire to add to these characters that of witness, I have no power to object; and, if I had the power, I should be far from wishing to exercise it.“When you present yourself as a witness your statements will be sifted by cross-examination, and I should evince a distrust of my own evidence if I could wish to throw any obstacle in the way of such a proceeding. But I must object—most earnestly object—to your giving evidence while in the act of examining me. Such a course is monstrous in itself, and can only lead to a repetition of personal altercation, to which, although it has been forced upon me, I cannot revert without a deep sense of humiliation. Such courses are foreign to my habits and most repugnant to my feelings.“Be pleased, Sir, to recollect that the result of this investigation is of vital importance to the public and to myself, and that I am contending single-handed against the whole force of Government. If you have the slightest confidence in the justice of your cause, you will not deny me the full benefit of the very brief period which is allotted to me for my evidence in reply to the numberless misstatements (as I maintain them to be) which I anxiously desire to answer. Depend upon it, I have every motive to be as short as I can be with justice to myself. The treatment which I have received will make the termination of this inquiry a most welcome relief.“If, however, it should still be your pleasure to subject me to the annoyances which I have endured, I must beg leave to state that, after much thought, I have come to this resolution: I will answer any question, however insulting, and will reply to any statement, whatever imputation it may convey, provided the question and statement, together with its answer, are permitted to make part of the evidence on the short-hand writer’s notes. Let the House of Commons see theanimuswhich prompts the treatment of which I complain, and I shall not despair of redress sooner or later; but I shall steadfastly decline answering whenever the short-hand writer is ordered to desist from recording. I know of no right which any member has to subject me to an examination which is to be kept back from the House. I regret I did not act on this principle from the first. Probably the knowledge that an offensive examination would be recorded would have been quite sufficient to prevent its being made.“R. H.“Sir George Clerk, Bart., M.P., &c., &c., &c.”[364]The following extract from a letter from my father, dated “Hazelwood, Birmingham, October 2nd, 1832,” shows at once his interest in Astronomy, and his practical knowledge of the subject:—“My dear Son,—You, like myself, will probably be asked questions about the comet now talked of as visible. I have just found an account of its movements in the Supplement of the “Nautical Almanac” for this year, page 43rd. I find on calculation that it will be to-night on one side, and to-morrow night on the other side, of a star marked on my globe θ Geminorum. I do not find the star in any of my catalogues—no doubt it is in Wilkinson’s, if I could find time to consult it at the New Library. Its right ascension is at present about 6 hours 39 minutes. Its declination about 30° N. It will be found betwixt the Twins and Capella, much nearer to the Twins. The comet is moving forward at about 7 minutes of right ascension per day, and approaching the ecliptic and the equator 27´ of declination daily. These movements will shortly bring it betwixt the Twins, namely, about the 10th October, at about ¼ of the space from Castor and ¾ from Pollux. I cannot advise dependence on these calculations as exact. I have corrected them by allowing for the errors of prediction as found by some observations quoted from theAtlasnewspaper of 30th instant, and have done my best. The course points towards Regulus, which will be found within about 1½° on the 1st November, the comet on the south.“By these indications, and the help of your telescope, I hope you may find it out.* * * * *“P.S.—Will you oblige me by procuring me the means of studying the course of the present comet. I find it called Biela’s comet in theAtlas—the comet of 6·7 years in the ‘Nautical Almanac.’ I mean of knowing what is known by others of its history.”[365]I am informed by Sir G. B. Airy, the Astronomer-Royal, that “M. Biot’s expedition was not to measure an arc of meridian, but to ascertain the force of gravity by vibrations of a pendulum, a matter connected physically with the other.”—Ed.[366]This refers to the Vernier pendulum, spoken of at length in the “Prefatory Memoir.”[367]“History of England.” Vol.V., p. 96.[368]“Whiteladies.” Vol.II., p. 37.[369]Vol.I., p. 133. First Edition.[370]Vol.II.p. 41. First Edition.[371]Report of the thirty-fifth meeting of the British Association, p. 52.[372]Sir John Herschel, by very careful experiments, found that, when the temperature of the air is 62° of Fahrenheit, the rate of progress is 1125 per second. This is a mile in 4·7 seconds.[373]The usual mode of dating astronomical papers. See the Astronomer Royal’s reply.[374]June, 1874.[375]“Monthly Notices,” Vol.XXVI., p. 157.[376]“Monthly Notices,” Vol.XXVIII., p. 124.[377]This might involve the necessity of calculating or remembering the cubes of all numbers up to 21 inclusive; but such necessity would have presented no difficulty to practised calculators like Zerah Colbourn or my class.[378]This equality is not exact, but the difference is immaterial.[379]No. 307, Session 1838.[380]No. 184, Session 1839.[381]The increase has been from £84,000 to £116,000 per annum.—(VideFirst Report on Postage, p. 472).[382]Third Report, Abstract, p. 24.

[292]See page 225.

[293]Subsequently the salary was raised.

[294]I have received from an esteemed correspondent the following cutting from the City article of one of the London Daily Papers:—“MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE.“Friday Evening.“Considerable diversion was created in the City to-day by the appearance of the new penny-post devices for envelopes, half-sheet letters, and bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ about an inch square, for dabbing on to letters. The surface of the latter is filled up with a bust of Her Majesty, or what is guessed to be intended for such, but which is much too vulgar of expression so to be mistaken by any of the loyal subjects who have had the good fortune to see the graceful original herself. But for this unlucky perversion of the royal features, the penny-post ‘sticking-plaster’ might appropriately have come into fashion and superseded the court sticking-plaster, so common for the concealment of trifling cutaneous cracks on the face of beauty. Thus women and men, too, might have carried sovereigns on their countenances as well as in their hearts and purses, and many a decayed beauty might have refreshed her faded charms with the renovating representation of royal youth and loveliness. It is shrewdly suspected that this untoward disfiguration of the royal person has been the studied work of ministerial malevolence and jealousy, desirous of rendering their royal benefactress, if possible, as odious as themselves. The envelopes and half-sheets have an engraved surface, extremely fantastic, and not less grotesque. In the centre, at the top, sits Britannia, throwing out her arms, as if in a tempest of fury, at four winged urchins, intended to represent post-boys, letter-carriers, or Mercuries, but who, instead of making use of their wings and flying, appear in the act of striking out or swimming, which would have been natural enough if they had been furnished with fins instead of wings. On the right of Britannia there are a brace of elephants, all backed and ready to start, when some Hindoo, Chinese, Arabic, or Turkish merchants, standing quietly by, have closed their bargains and correspondence. The elephants are symbolic of the lightness and rapidity with which Mr. Rowland Hill’s penny post is to be carried on, and perhaps, also, of the power requisite for transporting the £1,500 a-year to his quarters, which is all he obtains for strutting about the Post Office, with his hands in his pockets, and nothing to do like a fish out of water. On the left of Britannia, who looks herself very much like a termagant, there is an agglomeration of native Indians, Missionaries, Yankees, and casks of tobacco, with a sprinkling of foliage, and the rotten stem of a tree, not forgetting a little terrier dog inquisitively gliding between the legs of the mysterious conclave to see the row. Below, on the left, a couple of heads of the damsel tribe are curiously peering over a valentine just received (scene, Valentine’s Day), whilst a little girl is pressing the elders for a sight of Cupid, and the heart transfixed with a score of arrows. On the right again stands a dutiful boy, reading to his anxious mamma an account of her husband’s hapless shipwreck, who, with hands clasped, is blessing Rowland Hill for the cheap rate at which she gets the disastrous intelligence. At the bottom of all there is the word ‘Postage,’ done in small upon a large pattern of filagree work. With very great propriety the name of the artist is conspicuously placed in one corner, so that the public and posterity may know who is the worthy Oliver of the genius of a Rowland on this triumphant occasion. As may well be imagined, it is no common man, for the mighty effort has taxed the powers of the Royal Academy itself, if the engraved announcement of W. Mulready, R.A., in the corner may be credited. Considering the infinite drollery of the whole, the curious assortment of figures and faces, the harmoniousmélangeof elephants, mandarin’s tails, Yankee beavers, naked Indians, squatted with their hind-quarters in front, Cherokee chiefs, with feathered tufts, shaking missionaries by the hand; casks of Virginia threatening the heads of young ladies devouring their love letters, and the old woman in the corner, with hands uplifted, blessing Lord Lichfield and his Rowland for the saving grace of 11d.out of the shilling, and valuing her absent husband’s calamity or death as nothing in comparison with such an economy—altogether, it may be said, this is a wondrous combination of pictorial genius, after which Phiz and Cruikshank must hide their diminished heads, for they can hardly be deemed worthy now of the inferior grade of associates and aspirants for academic honours. Withal the citizens are rude enough to believe that these graphic embellishments will not go down at the price of 1s.3d.the dozen for the envelopes, and half or quarter sheets, for the size is somewhat of the mongrel sort, and of 1s.1d.per dozen for the bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ with a head upon it which looks something like that of a girl, but nothing of a Queen. As a very tolerable profit may be made out of the odd pence thus charged over the stamp, the penny-postman calculates, no doubt, to make up the deficit in the Post Office revenue by the sale of these gimcrack pictures for babes and sucklings.”—Ed.

[294]I have received from an esteemed correspondent the following cutting from the City article of one of the London Daily Papers:—

“MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE.“Friday Evening.“Considerable diversion was created in the City to-day by the appearance of the new penny-post devices for envelopes, half-sheet letters, and bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ about an inch square, for dabbing on to letters. The surface of the latter is filled up with a bust of Her Majesty, or what is guessed to be intended for such, but which is much too vulgar of expression so to be mistaken by any of the loyal subjects who have had the good fortune to see the graceful original herself. But for this unlucky perversion of the royal features, the penny-post ‘sticking-plaster’ might appropriately have come into fashion and superseded the court sticking-plaster, so common for the concealment of trifling cutaneous cracks on the face of beauty. Thus women and men, too, might have carried sovereigns on their countenances as well as in their hearts and purses, and many a decayed beauty might have refreshed her faded charms with the renovating representation of royal youth and loveliness. It is shrewdly suspected that this untoward disfiguration of the royal person has been the studied work of ministerial malevolence and jealousy, desirous of rendering their royal benefactress, if possible, as odious as themselves. The envelopes and half-sheets have an engraved surface, extremely fantastic, and not less grotesque. In the centre, at the top, sits Britannia, throwing out her arms, as if in a tempest of fury, at four winged urchins, intended to represent post-boys, letter-carriers, or Mercuries, but who, instead of making use of their wings and flying, appear in the act of striking out or swimming, which would have been natural enough if they had been furnished with fins instead of wings. On the right of Britannia there are a brace of elephants, all backed and ready to start, when some Hindoo, Chinese, Arabic, or Turkish merchants, standing quietly by, have closed their bargains and correspondence. The elephants are symbolic of the lightness and rapidity with which Mr. Rowland Hill’s penny post is to be carried on, and perhaps, also, of the power requisite for transporting the £1,500 a-year to his quarters, which is all he obtains for strutting about the Post Office, with his hands in his pockets, and nothing to do like a fish out of water. On the left of Britannia, who looks herself very much like a termagant, there is an agglomeration of native Indians, Missionaries, Yankees, and casks of tobacco, with a sprinkling of foliage, and the rotten stem of a tree, not forgetting a little terrier dog inquisitively gliding between the legs of the mysterious conclave to see the row. Below, on the left, a couple of heads of the damsel tribe are curiously peering over a valentine just received (scene, Valentine’s Day), whilst a little girl is pressing the elders for a sight of Cupid, and the heart transfixed with a score of arrows. On the right again stands a dutiful boy, reading to his anxious mamma an account of her husband’s hapless shipwreck, who, with hands clasped, is blessing Rowland Hill for the cheap rate at which she gets the disastrous intelligence. At the bottom of all there is the word ‘Postage,’ done in small upon a large pattern of filagree work. With very great propriety the name of the artist is conspicuously placed in one corner, so that the public and posterity may know who is the worthy Oliver of the genius of a Rowland on this triumphant occasion. As may well be imagined, it is no common man, for the mighty effort has taxed the powers of the Royal Academy itself, if the engraved announcement of W. Mulready, R.A., in the corner may be credited. Considering the infinite drollery of the whole, the curious assortment of figures and faces, the harmoniousmélangeof elephants, mandarin’s tails, Yankee beavers, naked Indians, squatted with their hind-quarters in front, Cherokee chiefs, with feathered tufts, shaking missionaries by the hand; casks of Virginia threatening the heads of young ladies devouring their love letters, and the old woman in the corner, with hands uplifted, blessing Lord Lichfield and his Rowland for the saving grace of 11d.out of the shilling, and valuing her absent husband’s calamity or death as nothing in comparison with such an economy—altogether, it may be said, this is a wondrous combination of pictorial genius, after which Phiz and Cruikshank must hide their diminished heads, for they can hardly be deemed worthy now of the inferior grade of associates and aspirants for academic honours. Withal the citizens are rude enough to believe that these graphic embellishments will not go down at the price of 1s.3d.the dozen for the envelopes, and half or quarter sheets, for the size is somewhat of the mongrel sort, and of 1s.1d.per dozen for the bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ with a head upon it which looks something like that of a girl, but nothing of a Queen. As a very tolerable profit may be made out of the odd pence thus charged over the stamp, the penny-postman calculates, no doubt, to make up the deficit in the Post Office revenue by the sale of these gimcrack pictures for babes and sucklings.”—Ed.

“MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE.

“Friday Evening.

“Considerable diversion was created in the City to-day by the appearance of the new penny-post devices for envelopes, half-sheet letters, and bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ about an inch square, for dabbing on to letters. The surface of the latter is filled up with a bust of Her Majesty, or what is guessed to be intended for such, but which is much too vulgar of expression so to be mistaken by any of the loyal subjects who have had the good fortune to see the graceful original herself. But for this unlucky perversion of the royal features, the penny-post ‘sticking-plaster’ might appropriately have come into fashion and superseded the court sticking-plaster, so common for the concealment of trifling cutaneous cracks on the face of beauty. Thus women and men, too, might have carried sovereigns on their countenances as well as in their hearts and purses, and many a decayed beauty might have refreshed her faded charms with the renovating representation of royal youth and loveliness. It is shrewdly suspected that this untoward disfiguration of the royal person has been the studied work of ministerial malevolence and jealousy, desirous of rendering their royal benefactress, if possible, as odious as themselves. The envelopes and half-sheets have an engraved surface, extremely fantastic, and not less grotesque. In the centre, at the top, sits Britannia, throwing out her arms, as if in a tempest of fury, at four winged urchins, intended to represent post-boys, letter-carriers, or Mercuries, but who, instead of making use of their wings and flying, appear in the act of striking out or swimming, which would have been natural enough if they had been furnished with fins instead of wings. On the right of Britannia there are a brace of elephants, all backed and ready to start, when some Hindoo, Chinese, Arabic, or Turkish merchants, standing quietly by, have closed their bargains and correspondence. The elephants are symbolic of the lightness and rapidity with which Mr. Rowland Hill’s penny post is to be carried on, and perhaps, also, of the power requisite for transporting the £1,500 a-year to his quarters, which is all he obtains for strutting about the Post Office, with his hands in his pockets, and nothing to do like a fish out of water. On the left of Britannia, who looks herself very much like a termagant, there is an agglomeration of native Indians, Missionaries, Yankees, and casks of tobacco, with a sprinkling of foliage, and the rotten stem of a tree, not forgetting a little terrier dog inquisitively gliding between the legs of the mysterious conclave to see the row. Below, on the left, a couple of heads of the damsel tribe are curiously peering over a valentine just received (scene, Valentine’s Day), whilst a little girl is pressing the elders for a sight of Cupid, and the heart transfixed with a score of arrows. On the right again stands a dutiful boy, reading to his anxious mamma an account of her husband’s hapless shipwreck, who, with hands clasped, is blessing Rowland Hill for the cheap rate at which she gets the disastrous intelligence. At the bottom of all there is the word ‘Postage,’ done in small upon a large pattern of filagree work. With very great propriety the name of the artist is conspicuously placed in one corner, so that the public and posterity may know who is the worthy Oliver of the genius of a Rowland on this triumphant occasion. As may well be imagined, it is no common man, for the mighty effort has taxed the powers of the Royal Academy itself, if the engraved announcement of W. Mulready, R.A., in the corner may be credited. Considering the infinite drollery of the whole, the curious assortment of figures and faces, the harmoniousmélangeof elephants, mandarin’s tails, Yankee beavers, naked Indians, squatted with their hind-quarters in front, Cherokee chiefs, with feathered tufts, shaking missionaries by the hand; casks of Virginia threatening the heads of young ladies devouring their love letters, and the old woman in the corner, with hands uplifted, blessing Lord Lichfield and his Rowland for the saving grace of 11d.out of the shilling, and valuing her absent husband’s calamity or death as nothing in comparison with such an economy—altogether, it may be said, this is a wondrous combination of pictorial genius, after which Phiz and Cruikshank must hide their diminished heads, for they can hardly be deemed worthy now of the inferior grade of associates and aspirants for academic honours. Withal the citizens are rude enough to believe that these graphic embellishments will not go down at the price of 1s.3d.the dozen for the envelopes, and half or quarter sheets, for the size is somewhat of the mongrel sort, and of 1s.1d.per dozen for the bits of ‘sticking plaster,’ with a head upon it which looks something like that of a girl, but nothing of a Queen. As a very tolerable profit may be made out of the odd pence thus charged over the stamp, the penny-postman calculates, no doubt, to make up the deficit in the Post Office revenue by the sale of these gimcrack pictures for babes and sucklings.”—Ed.

[295]In Sir R. Hill’s Journal is the following entry;—“I fear we shall be obliged to substitute some other stamp for that designed by Mulready, which is abused and ridiculed on all sides. In departing so widely from the established ‘lion and unicorn’ nonsense, I fear that we have run counter to settled opinions and prejudices somewhat rashly. I now think it would have been wiser to have followed established custom in all the details of the measure where practicable.”—May 12th, 1840.—Ed.

[296]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 65-68.

[297]The late Professor R. Phillips, F.R.S.

[298]Now Sir Charles Pressly, K.C.B. He was then Secretary, and afterwards Chairman, of the Board of Stamps and Taxes.

[299]The extracts which I have given in Appendix I from the Annual Reports of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, show how well my brother discharged the duties of his office.

[300]See p. 346.

[301]Up to December 31st, 1879, have been printed more than twenty thousand millions of penny stamps. By the kindness of the Board of Inland Revenue, I am able to print the following statement, which I have received from the Secretary to the Board, Mr. Frederick B. Garnett—Ed.:—Issues of Postage Labels from the 27th April, 1840, to 31st December, 1879.1,600,276,320Labels at½d.20,699,858,040”1d.42,638,160”1½d.338,540,280”2d.105,829,824”2½d.158,526,040”3d.153,815,820”4d.158,721,280”6d.4,608,720”8d.7,635,080”9d.5,963,476”10d.126,968,940”1s.6,475,820”2s.5,174,262”5s.6,014”10s.6,014”£1.

Issues of Postage Labels from the 27th April, 1840, to 31st December, 1879.

[302]Among other matters, attempts were made at reduction of rates in reference to correspondence with France; though, for a time, without success. “A letter has been received from Thiers—he appears willing to meet our views, but does not accept the invitation to negotiate the matter in London. Wishes to settle it with Lord Granville, our ambassador, who, not understanding the matter, very properly objects to undertaking the negotiation. Mr. Baring says he has observed that, if any course is pressed on the French Government, they immediately suspect some sinister motive, and that the only way to bring them to is to turn our backs upon them.... We made them a very good offer which they ought to have accepted.”—Sir R. Hill’s Journal, June 24th, 1840.—Ed.

[303]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 66.

[304]“First Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 68.

[305]See “Post Office Reform,” second edition, p. 14.

[306]Finance Account for 1840.

[307]“Fifteenth Report of the Postmaster-General,” p. 15.

[308]“Report of the Select Committee on Postage, 1843,” p. 92.

[309]About seventeen years later Sir R. Hill, writing to his wife, says:—“T—— has just received a letter from Lord Canning, containing a very friendly message to myself—part of which informs me that ‘a pillar letter-box has just been set up in the bazaar of Allahabad,’ the place at which Lord Canning now is.”—Ed.

[310]The hydrographer to the Navy.

[311]The first Reform Act.

[312]See page 451.

[313]“April 4th, 1854.—The Postmaster-General showed me a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, marked ‘secret,’ stating that additional taxes will be required on account of the war, and asking his opinion as to the probable effect on the Post Office revenue of increasing the inland rate to twopence.... I am to prepare an estimate, but to consider the whole matter as most strictly secret. I expressed great regret, in which Lord Canning concurs, that such a project should be entertained, adding, perhaps a little hastily, that ‘I could not assist in giving effect to the measure.’ It is very disappointing that this new difficulty should arise just as I am about to overcome all the old ones.”—Sir R. Hill’s Journal.—Ed.

[314]See page 433.

[315]“Appendix to the Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 56.

[316]See page 446.

[317]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 7.

[318]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.

[319]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.

[320]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 28.

[321]“Hansard,” Vol.LXIV., p. 321.

[322]“Tenth Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 37, 38; “Eleventh Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 16, 17; “Twelfth Report of the Postmaster-General,” pp. 34, 35.

[323]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” Appendix, p. 11.

[324]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 28.

[325]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 29.

[326]Between the dates of these letters, occur the following entries in Sir R. Hill’s Journal:—“April 9th.—Left the office early and went to Tottenham, in consequence of the approaching dissolution of my dear mother—she died very soon after I reached the house. Thank God without pain.“April 15th.—Did not go to the office. Attended my dear mother’s funeral.”—Ed.

[326]Between the dates of these letters, occur the following entries in Sir R. Hill’s Journal:—

“April 9th.—Left the office early and went to Tottenham, in consequence of the approaching dissolution of my dear mother—she died very soon after I reached the house. Thank God without pain.

“April 15th.—Did not go to the office. Attended my dear mother’s funeral.”—Ed.

[327]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 30.

[328]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 31.

[329]Mr. Goulburn’s letter was as follows:—Downing Street, July 11th, 1842.“Dear Sir,—By the letter which my predecessor, Mr. Baring, addressed to you previous to his retirement from office, he intimated to you his intention of continuing your employment by the Government, which was originally limited to two years, for another year, ending the 14th September next. I had much pleasure in recommending to the Treasury to give effect in this respect to Mr. Baring’s intentions; but feeling that the time is arrived at which your further assistance may safely be dispensed with, I take the opportunity of apprising you that I do not consider it advisable to make any further extension of the period of your engagement beyond the date assigned to it by the Lords of the Treasury.“In making this communication, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of expressing my sense of the satisfactory manner in which, during my tenure of office, you have discharged the several duties which have been from time to time committed to you.“I have the honour to be, dear Sir,“Yours ever most faithfully,“Henry Goulburn.”—Ed.

[329]Mr. Goulburn’s letter was as follows:—

Downing Street, July 11th, 1842.“Dear Sir,—By the letter which my predecessor, Mr. Baring, addressed to you previous to his retirement from office, he intimated to you his intention of continuing your employment by the Government, which was originally limited to two years, for another year, ending the 14th September next. I had much pleasure in recommending to the Treasury to give effect in this respect to Mr. Baring’s intentions; but feeling that the time is arrived at which your further assistance may safely be dispensed with, I take the opportunity of apprising you that I do not consider it advisable to make any further extension of the period of your engagement beyond the date assigned to it by the Lords of the Treasury.“In making this communication, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of expressing my sense of the satisfactory manner in which, during my tenure of office, you have discharged the several duties which have been from time to time committed to you.“I have the honour to be, dear Sir,“Yours ever most faithfully,“Henry Goulburn.”—Ed.

Downing Street, July 11th, 1842.

“Dear Sir,—By the letter which my predecessor, Mr. Baring, addressed to you previous to his retirement from office, he intimated to you his intention of continuing your employment by the Government, which was originally limited to two years, for another year, ending the 14th September next. I had much pleasure in recommending to the Treasury to give effect in this respect to Mr. Baring’s intentions; but feeling that the time is arrived at which your further assistance may safely be dispensed with, I take the opportunity of apprising you that I do not consider it advisable to make any further extension of the period of your engagement beyond the date assigned to it by the Lords of the Treasury.

“In making this communication, I gladly avail myself of the opportunity of expressing my sense of the satisfactory manner in which, during my tenure of office, you have discharged the several duties which have been from time to time committed to you.

“I have the honour to be, dear Sir,

“Yours ever most faithfully,

“Henry Goulburn.”—Ed.

[330]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 5.

[331]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 8.

[332]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 10.

[333]The word “important” occurs in the original MS. letter, though, no doubt by accidental misprint, it is omitted in the official copy.

[334]Parliamentary Return, 1843, No. 119, p. 11.

[335]Better known as Viscount Althorp.—[Ed.]

[336]See page 485.

[337]In a note on this passage, written in the year 1874, Sir R. Hill thus speaks of Sir James Stephen:—“It had long been the practice with theLiberalparty to speak of Mr. Stephen, or, as some of them called him, King Stephen, in very disparaging terms, representing him as the chief obstacle to colonial reform; and I must confess that it was under this prejudice that I began my intercourse with him. Soon, however, I saw reason to doubt the soundness of such views—certainly they received no confirmation whatever in his treatment of South Australia. He invariably received me and my suggestions—some of which departed widely from ordinary routine—in a friendly spirit, and the result of several years of intimate official communication with him, was that I formed a very high estimate of his character.”—Ed.

[337]In a note on this passage, written in the year 1874, Sir R. Hill thus speaks of Sir James Stephen:—

“It had long been the practice with theLiberalparty to speak of Mr. Stephen, or, as some of them called him, King Stephen, in very disparaging terms, representing him as the chief obstacle to colonial reform; and I must confess that it was under this prejudice that I began my intercourse with him. Soon, however, I saw reason to doubt the soundness of such views—certainly they received no confirmation whatever in his treatment of South Australia. He invariably received me and my suggestions—some of which departed widely from ordinary routine—in a friendly spirit, and the result of several years of intimate official communication with him, was that I formed a very high estimate of his character.”—Ed.

[338]The following entry is in Sir R. Hill’s Journal, under the date of March 11th, of this year:—“Goulburn refuses to give any letters, except those on List No. 97, which excludes all those urging progress in the adoption of my plan, and the final letter to Peel. He considers these ‘unnecessary.’ The shabbiness of this conduct is only equalled by its folly. I shall, of course, publish the whole correspondence, distinguishing the letters which are given from those which are withheld.”

[338]The following entry is in Sir R. Hill’s Journal, under the date of March 11th, of this year:—

“Goulburn refuses to give any letters, except those on List No. 97, which excludes all those urging progress in the adoption of my plan, and the final letter to Peel. He considers these ‘unnecessary.’ The shabbiness of this conduct is only equalled by its folly. I shall, of course, publish the whole correspondence, distinguishing the letters which are given from those which are withheld.”

[339]See p. 470.

[340]VideReturn, 1843, No. 119.

[341]“Report of the Committee on Postage (1843),” p. 54.

[342]Their names are as follows:—George Moffatt, William Ellis, James Pattison, L. P. Wilson, John Dillon, John Travers, J. H. Gledstanes, W. A. Wilkinson, all from the first warm supporters of my plan.

[343]“Report of the Committee on Postage” (1843), p. 43.

[344]Seeante, pp. 433 and 450.

[345]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 399-445.

[346]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 420.

[347]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 399, 400.

[348]See p. 327.

[349]The sole ground of this statement was that Lord Lowther had recommended a penny rate for Prices Current.

[350]This assertion was obviously made in reliance on the “Fallacious Return.” So gross an error in a finance minister showed an ignorance hardly credible.

[351]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 420-434.

[352]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 435.

[353]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 435.

[354]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 435, 436.

[355]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 437.

[356]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 438.

[357]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 439.

[358]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 439, 440.

[359]Lord Lowther voted for a uniform rate, but against any reduction below twopence.

[360]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., pp. 440, 441.

[361]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 442.

[362]“Hansard,” Vol.LXX., p. 445.

[363]I give the following draft, which did not, however, take full shape as a letter, as a record of my feelings during the Parliamentary Inquiry of 1843, and of the facts which produced them:—“Orme Square, Bayswater,“August 12th, 1843.“Sir,—The scenes of yesterday, and your part in them, will form my justification for the unusual course which I am taking.“The open display of your hostility would not alone have moved me to it; but, unhappily, that hostility has taken a form which, if persisted in, will most effectually suppress the greater part of my evidence in reply. You will be aware that I refer not merely to the perpetual interruptions which I receive, but the contradiction of my testimony, of which those interruptions so frequently consisted.“Sir, I must use the freedom of reminding you of the positions in which we respectively stand. I have appealed to Parliament against the Treasury Board of which you are an active member. This appeal is now trying before a Committee of which you are chairman. You are, therefore, already a party and a judge. If you desire to add to these characters that of witness, I have no power to object; and, if I had the power, I should be far from wishing to exercise it.“When you present yourself as a witness your statements will be sifted by cross-examination, and I should evince a distrust of my own evidence if I could wish to throw any obstacle in the way of such a proceeding. But I must object—most earnestly object—to your giving evidence while in the act of examining me. Such a course is monstrous in itself, and can only lead to a repetition of personal altercation, to which, although it has been forced upon me, I cannot revert without a deep sense of humiliation. Such courses are foreign to my habits and most repugnant to my feelings.“Be pleased, Sir, to recollect that the result of this investigation is of vital importance to the public and to myself, and that I am contending single-handed against the whole force of Government. If you have the slightest confidence in the justice of your cause, you will not deny me the full benefit of the very brief period which is allotted to me for my evidence in reply to the numberless misstatements (as I maintain them to be) which I anxiously desire to answer. Depend upon it, I have every motive to be as short as I can be with justice to myself. The treatment which I have received will make the termination of this inquiry a most welcome relief.“If, however, it should still be your pleasure to subject me to the annoyances which I have endured, I must beg leave to state that, after much thought, I have come to this resolution: I will answer any question, however insulting, and will reply to any statement, whatever imputation it may convey, provided the question and statement, together with its answer, are permitted to make part of the evidence on the short-hand writer’s notes. Let the House of Commons see theanimuswhich prompts the treatment of which I complain, and I shall not despair of redress sooner or later; but I shall steadfastly decline answering whenever the short-hand writer is ordered to desist from recording. I know of no right which any member has to subject me to an examination which is to be kept back from the House. I regret I did not act on this principle from the first. Probably the knowledge that an offensive examination would be recorded would have been quite sufficient to prevent its being made.“R. H.“Sir George Clerk, Bart., M.P., &c., &c., &c.”

[363]I give the following draft, which did not, however, take full shape as a letter, as a record of my feelings during the Parliamentary Inquiry of 1843, and of the facts which produced them:—

“Orme Square, Bayswater,“August 12th, 1843.“Sir,—The scenes of yesterday, and your part in them, will form my justification for the unusual course which I am taking.“The open display of your hostility would not alone have moved me to it; but, unhappily, that hostility has taken a form which, if persisted in, will most effectually suppress the greater part of my evidence in reply. You will be aware that I refer not merely to the perpetual interruptions which I receive, but the contradiction of my testimony, of which those interruptions so frequently consisted.“Sir, I must use the freedom of reminding you of the positions in which we respectively stand. I have appealed to Parliament against the Treasury Board of which you are an active member. This appeal is now trying before a Committee of which you are chairman. You are, therefore, already a party and a judge. If you desire to add to these characters that of witness, I have no power to object; and, if I had the power, I should be far from wishing to exercise it.“When you present yourself as a witness your statements will be sifted by cross-examination, and I should evince a distrust of my own evidence if I could wish to throw any obstacle in the way of such a proceeding. But I must object—most earnestly object—to your giving evidence while in the act of examining me. Such a course is monstrous in itself, and can only lead to a repetition of personal altercation, to which, although it has been forced upon me, I cannot revert without a deep sense of humiliation. Such courses are foreign to my habits and most repugnant to my feelings.“Be pleased, Sir, to recollect that the result of this investigation is of vital importance to the public and to myself, and that I am contending single-handed against the whole force of Government. If you have the slightest confidence in the justice of your cause, you will not deny me the full benefit of the very brief period which is allotted to me for my evidence in reply to the numberless misstatements (as I maintain them to be) which I anxiously desire to answer. Depend upon it, I have every motive to be as short as I can be with justice to myself. The treatment which I have received will make the termination of this inquiry a most welcome relief.“If, however, it should still be your pleasure to subject me to the annoyances which I have endured, I must beg leave to state that, after much thought, I have come to this resolution: I will answer any question, however insulting, and will reply to any statement, whatever imputation it may convey, provided the question and statement, together with its answer, are permitted to make part of the evidence on the short-hand writer’s notes. Let the House of Commons see theanimuswhich prompts the treatment of which I complain, and I shall not despair of redress sooner or later; but I shall steadfastly decline answering whenever the short-hand writer is ordered to desist from recording. I know of no right which any member has to subject me to an examination which is to be kept back from the House. I regret I did not act on this principle from the first. Probably the knowledge that an offensive examination would be recorded would have been quite sufficient to prevent its being made.“R. H.“Sir George Clerk, Bart., M.P., &c., &c., &c.”

“Orme Square, Bayswater,“August 12th, 1843.

“Sir,—The scenes of yesterday, and your part in them, will form my justification for the unusual course which I am taking.

“The open display of your hostility would not alone have moved me to it; but, unhappily, that hostility has taken a form which, if persisted in, will most effectually suppress the greater part of my evidence in reply. You will be aware that I refer not merely to the perpetual interruptions which I receive, but the contradiction of my testimony, of which those interruptions so frequently consisted.

“Sir, I must use the freedom of reminding you of the positions in which we respectively stand. I have appealed to Parliament against the Treasury Board of which you are an active member. This appeal is now trying before a Committee of which you are chairman. You are, therefore, already a party and a judge. If you desire to add to these characters that of witness, I have no power to object; and, if I had the power, I should be far from wishing to exercise it.

“When you present yourself as a witness your statements will be sifted by cross-examination, and I should evince a distrust of my own evidence if I could wish to throw any obstacle in the way of such a proceeding. But I must object—most earnestly object—to your giving evidence while in the act of examining me. Such a course is monstrous in itself, and can only lead to a repetition of personal altercation, to which, although it has been forced upon me, I cannot revert without a deep sense of humiliation. Such courses are foreign to my habits and most repugnant to my feelings.

“Be pleased, Sir, to recollect that the result of this investigation is of vital importance to the public and to myself, and that I am contending single-handed against the whole force of Government. If you have the slightest confidence in the justice of your cause, you will not deny me the full benefit of the very brief period which is allotted to me for my evidence in reply to the numberless misstatements (as I maintain them to be) which I anxiously desire to answer. Depend upon it, I have every motive to be as short as I can be with justice to myself. The treatment which I have received will make the termination of this inquiry a most welcome relief.

“If, however, it should still be your pleasure to subject me to the annoyances which I have endured, I must beg leave to state that, after much thought, I have come to this resolution: I will answer any question, however insulting, and will reply to any statement, whatever imputation it may convey, provided the question and statement, together with its answer, are permitted to make part of the evidence on the short-hand writer’s notes. Let the House of Commons see theanimuswhich prompts the treatment of which I complain, and I shall not despair of redress sooner or later; but I shall steadfastly decline answering whenever the short-hand writer is ordered to desist from recording. I know of no right which any member has to subject me to an examination which is to be kept back from the House. I regret I did not act on this principle from the first. Probably the knowledge that an offensive examination would be recorded would have been quite sufficient to prevent its being made.

“R. H.

“Sir George Clerk, Bart., M.P., &c., &c., &c.”

[364]The following extract from a letter from my father, dated “Hazelwood, Birmingham, October 2nd, 1832,” shows at once his interest in Astronomy, and his practical knowledge of the subject:—“My dear Son,—You, like myself, will probably be asked questions about the comet now talked of as visible. I have just found an account of its movements in the Supplement of the “Nautical Almanac” for this year, page 43rd. I find on calculation that it will be to-night on one side, and to-morrow night on the other side, of a star marked on my globe θ Geminorum. I do not find the star in any of my catalogues—no doubt it is in Wilkinson’s, if I could find time to consult it at the New Library. Its right ascension is at present about 6 hours 39 minutes. Its declination about 30° N. It will be found betwixt the Twins and Capella, much nearer to the Twins. The comet is moving forward at about 7 minutes of right ascension per day, and approaching the ecliptic and the equator 27´ of declination daily. These movements will shortly bring it betwixt the Twins, namely, about the 10th October, at about ¼ of the space from Castor and ¾ from Pollux. I cannot advise dependence on these calculations as exact. I have corrected them by allowing for the errors of prediction as found by some observations quoted from theAtlasnewspaper of 30th instant, and have done my best. The course points towards Regulus, which will be found within about 1½° on the 1st November, the comet on the south.“By these indications, and the help of your telescope, I hope you may find it out.* * * * *“P.S.—Will you oblige me by procuring me the means of studying the course of the present comet. I find it called Biela’s comet in theAtlas—the comet of 6·7 years in the ‘Nautical Almanac.’ I mean of knowing what is known by others of its history.”

[364]The following extract from a letter from my father, dated “Hazelwood, Birmingham, October 2nd, 1832,” shows at once his interest in Astronomy, and his practical knowledge of the subject:—

“My dear Son,—You, like myself, will probably be asked questions about the comet now talked of as visible. I have just found an account of its movements in the Supplement of the “Nautical Almanac” for this year, page 43rd. I find on calculation that it will be to-night on one side, and to-morrow night on the other side, of a star marked on my globe θ Geminorum. I do not find the star in any of my catalogues—no doubt it is in Wilkinson’s, if I could find time to consult it at the New Library. Its right ascension is at present about 6 hours 39 minutes. Its declination about 30° N. It will be found betwixt the Twins and Capella, much nearer to the Twins. The comet is moving forward at about 7 minutes of right ascension per day, and approaching the ecliptic and the equator 27´ of declination daily. These movements will shortly bring it betwixt the Twins, namely, about the 10th October, at about ¼ of the space from Castor and ¾ from Pollux. I cannot advise dependence on these calculations as exact. I have corrected them by allowing for the errors of prediction as found by some observations quoted from theAtlasnewspaper of 30th instant, and have done my best. The course points towards Regulus, which will be found within about 1½° on the 1st November, the comet on the south.“By these indications, and the help of your telescope, I hope you may find it out.* * * * *“P.S.—Will you oblige me by procuring me the means of studying the course of the present comet. I find it called Biela’s comet in theAtlas—the comet of 6·7 years in the ‘Nautical Almanac.’ I mean of knowing what is known by others of its history.”

“By these indications, and the help of your telescope, I hope you may find it out.

* * * * *

“P.S.—Will you oblige me by procuring me the means of studying the course of the present comet. I find it called Biela’s comet in theAtlas—the comet of 6·7 years in the ‘Nautical Almanac.’ I mean of knowing what is known by others of its history.”

[365]I am informed by Sir G. B. Airy, the Astronomer-Royal, that “M. Biot’s expedition was not to measure an arc of meridian, but to ascertain the force of gravity by vibrations of a pendulum, a matter connected physically with the other.”—Ed.

[366]This refers to the Vernier pendulum, spoken of at length in the “Prefatory Memoir.”

[367]“History of England.” Vol.V., p. 96.

[368]“Whiteladies.” Vol.II., p. 37.

[369]Vol.I., p. 133. First Edition.

[370]Vol.II.p. 41. First Edition.

[371]Report of the thirty-fifth meeting of the British Association, p. 52.

[372]Sir John Herschel, by very careful experiments, found that, when the temperature of the air is 62° of Fahrenheit, the rate of progress is 1125 per second. This is a mile in 4·7 seconds.

[373]The usual mode of dating astronomical papers. See the Astronomer Royal’s reply.

[374]June, 1874.

[375]“Monthly Notices,” Vol.XXVI., p. 157.

[376]“Monthly Notices,” Vol.XXVIII., p. 124.

[377]This might involve the necessity of calculating or remembering the cubes of all numbers up to 21 inclusive; but such necessity would have presented no difficulty to practised calculators like Zerah Colbourn or my class.

[378]This equality is not exact, but the difference is immaterial.

[379]No. 307, Session 1838.

[380]No. 184, Session 1839.

[381]The increase has been from £84,000 to £116,000 per annum.—(VideFirst Report on Postage, p. 472).

[382]Third Report, Abstract, p. 24.

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