CHAPTER XVIII.

SUNDAY RELIEF. (1849-50).

I now come to one of the most painful passages of my whole life. Perhaps, even had I been in possession of every external advantage, the trouble and anxiety now approaching would have been very considerable, but certainly by my anomalous position they were so aggravated as to become almost more than I could bear. The call constantly made upon me to check unreasonable demands for augmented force or increased salary had necessarily raised against me a hostile feeling, which was but too ready to break out when occasion offered. To explain how such a contingency occurred, I must go somewhat backward in my narrative.

At the time of my appointment to the Post Office, Sunday was very far from bringing to the department the amount of rest at present enjoyed there. Even at the chief office, which was usually spoken of as completely exempt from Sunday duty, more than twenty persons were regularly employed during several hours of the day, partly in sorting out the letters for Government and foreign ambassadors resident in London, letters technically called "States,"--which had to be delivered the same day--and partly in doing other work which, under the existing arrangements, could not safely be deferred until the Monday morning. Elsewhere offices were, as a rule, open during most of the day, not only for general purposes, but even for the transaction of money-order business. Applications, indeed, began to be made by particular towns for the suspension of this latter duty at their respective offices; but, owing to the various difficulties and objections by which the change was beset, and in particular the apprehended risk of opposition from without, no progress was made until towards the end of 1847. In that year, in consequence of a memorial presented from Bath by Lord Ashley (now Earl of Shaftesbury), then one of the members for that city, the Postmaster-General directed inquiry to be made whether, by extending the hours on Saturday night, money-order transactions on the Sunday might not be discontinued without injury to the working classes. A report on this subject from the surveyor of the district having come into my hands, I drew up a minute (January 27th, 1848), in which I advised that for the present, at least, the Bath office should be closed for money-order business on the Sunday, and I suggested that in the event of its success a similar arrangement might be extended to other towns. The Postmaster-General having adopted this recommendation, the Bath office was closed on the Sunday for money-order business, though it still remained open for ordinary purposes nine hours on that day, as before. Even thus limited, however, the alteration excited a in the minds of those who regarded it as the forerunner of other restrictions, and within a month a memorial against further change was presented by Viscount Duncan, the other member for the city, signed by the mayor and nearly five thousand other persons, "Clergymen, officers of the navy and army, gentlemen, members of the various professions and trades, and others." It thus appeared that, important as it was to afford Sunday relief, any movement for the purpose, if not cautiously made, might excite opposition, perhaps too strong to be overcome. The difficulty, too, was increased by unreasonableness and even absurdity in some of the demands put forth; as, for instance, one for the complete stoppage on their route of the mail-trains and all other vehicles in the mail-service, from midnight on Saturday till midnight on Sunday.

As, however, the Sunday suspension of money-order business at Bath appeared on trial to produce no public inconvenience, I recommended its extension, first to Leeds, and afterwards to Birmingham, these towns having likewise presented memorials on the subject. In both cases my recommendation was adopted by the Postmaster-General. I now began to take measures to extend this Sunday closing of the money-order offices to the whole kingdom. By the beginning of 1849 it was extended to England and Wales, and thus, in one day, four hundred and fifty offices were relieved from money-order duty, many of which had been previously open for that purpose during the whole Sunday, just as on ordinary days. Three months later, the experiment still proving successful, the measure was extended to Ireland and Scotland, relieving two hundred and thirty-four additional offices, and making the Sunday suspension of money-order business complete.

Meantime, also, I was taking steps for bringing all other Sunday work in the provincial offices within narrower limits. In October, 1848, I submitted a minute suggesting that inquiry should be made as to Sunday proceedings at the offices in Scotland (where restriction had always been carried further than in England), and how far such arrangements were found satisfactory to the public and the department. The information thence derived led me to hope that the English offices might be closed at least during the hours of divine service, and the Sunday deliveries limited in all cases to one. I consequently suggested that the opinion of the surveyors should be ascertained on these points, and at the same time I recommended that the offices should, in the first instance, be closed from ten to five (except for the receipt and despatch of any mails in the interval).

The Reports of the surveyors concurred in strongly recommending the adoption of the proposed improvements; not, however, without showing some apprehensions of inconvenience, and consequent complaints, from the proposed restriction to one delivery; for the cases in which there were more deliveries than one on the Sunday proved then much more common than I had supposed. Still, I was of opinion that, with whatever inconvenience the improvements might be attended, they would be accepted by the public if accompanied by another measure conferring an equivalent advantage. Such a measure was at that time under consideration, and had long been regarded as a desideratum, viz., the transmission of the "forward letters"[60] through London on the Sunday, with a view to their delivery on the Monday morning; a measure which I felt confident might be effected, not only without any addition to Sunday labour, but, even when taken in all its bearings, with a great reduction of Sunday labour. Nay, more, I saw reason to believe that, even in the London office, on which alone the labour of such transmission would fall, the improvement might, in the end, be made to yield similar relief. This expectation was fully confirmed by experience.

Accordingly I took an early opportunity of consulting the Postmaster-General on the subject. I found that he concurred in my views, but wished to consult Lord John Russell before anything was done. This was on January 9th, 1849, and six days later he informed me that Lord John Russell had no objection to consider the question, and wished to see the proposed plan. I prepared a careful statement on the subject, which was sent in without delay. A few days later, Lord John Russell having approved of the plan for transmitting the forward letters through London on the Sunday, I got my brother Arthur's help, and threw my memorandum into the form of a minute; and as it fully explains the grounds on which I proceeded in this matter, I insert it at length in Appendix D, giving here the following summary.

After referring to the suspension of money-order business on Sunday, I reported that investigations made showed that a further very important relief as related to Sunday work might be effected in all the provincial offices, but that the consideration of this question was closely connected with the Sunday transmission of letters through London, a measure which had been urged by various authorities, and which was the more important, because the number of letters to which it related had advanced within the last thirteen years by ten-fold.

I next pointed out that the evil of detention had been found so serious that in several cases the rule had been evaded, either by making use of other existing channels, or by the actual establishment of Sunday cross-posts, an expedient which, besides its other evils, obviously involved additional Sunday work.

After pointing out that the present Sunday duties at the chief office ordinarily occupied twenty-six persons for six hours, even a greater force being sometimes required, I proposed, with a view of diminishing the amount of Sunday work in the department as a whole--provincial as well as metropolitan--that the existing mail trains should bring up on the Sunday, in addition to the present bags, the forward stamped letters, and the forward stamped letters alone, so that there might be neither any possibility of a Sunday delivery of letters to the London public nor any unnecessary addition to the Sunday accounts.

In order that the men employed might be able to attend divine service, I proposed that the whole interval from 10 A.M. till 5 P.M. should be left perfectly free, and that the same arrangement should be extended, as far as possible, to the duties already existing.

After glancing at the obvious fact that for any temporary increase in force required at the chief office, there would be at least a large and permanent set-off elsewhere, I pointed out that the existing arrangements led to a great amount of Sunday despatch and delivery in the provinces, and consequently of Sunday letter-writing and letter-reading there; so that, taking the whole country through, Sunday work would be undoubtedly lessened. I further stated that there were means by which, after the contemplated change, it would be possible to reduce the Sunday labour even at the chief office considerably below its actual amount.

I next stated the large reduction in Sunday labour which in a recent minute I had proposed at the provincial offices of England and Wales, and again advised its adoption, and its extension in some of its features to Ireland and Scotland. I added that its effect would be to "release a very large number of persons now engaged even during the hours of divine service," and thus to "afford to many hundreds, perhaps even to some thousands, needful rest, and the opportunity of attending the services of the day."

This minute was referred by the Postmaster-General to Colonel Maberly, who, as I had the satisfaction of learning two days later, promptly declared his intention to report in favour of the measure, saying that it ought to have been adopted long ago. This he accordingly did, and I have the pleasure to say that, amidst the troubles which subsequently arose from the measure, Colonel Maberly stood by his first decision.

About three weeks later the "Lord's Day Society" applied to me to receive a deputation, with a view to the total cessation of Post Office business on the Sunday, stating that they were referred to me by the Postmaster-General. As Lord Clanricarde was then out of town, I wrote to him for instructions, feeling, meantime, no small perplexity, because I well knew that, on the one hand, resistance to the expected demand would expose me to attack, and that, on the other, concession would soon produce such an uproar throughout the country as must seriously annoy the Government, and, moreover, raise obstacles to those practical measures of Sunday relief which were already in progress.

However, the Postmaster-General having expressed a wish that I should receive the deputation, I called at the Treasury to urge immediate sanction to my last measures on the subject, but found the Chancellor of the Exchequer too much occupied to attend to the business.

"_March 30th._--Received the deputation from the 'Lord's Day Society,' consisting of Mr. Cowan, M.P. for Edinburgh, General MacInnes, three clergymen, and others. They had prepared a plan for stopping the mails throughout the kingdom from midnight on Saturday till midnight on Sunday, but I had no great difficulty in satisfying most of them that any attempt of the kind would excite much angry opposition, and consequently that it would be much better, at first at least, to aim at such improvements as most people would concur in."

Any impression, however, which I might have made soon faded away, the Society within three weeks again urging their plan, under the erroneous notion that they had found an answer to my objection, and pressing me to undertake it, "as the only man capable of giving it effect." Of course I could only point out the error and decline their request.

"_August 7th._--Summoned to the Treasury. Mr. Hayter[61] tells me that he read my minute on the Sunday work aloud to the Chancellor of the Exchequer; that both considered it a very able paper, and that the measure had been sanctioned."

Measures were thus in progress for giving a vast amount of Sunday relief throughout the country. Much had been already done, more was in hand, and, judging by the past, I saw reasonable ground to hope that the completion of this would open the way, as in the end it did, to yet further benefit. Of course I could not but be aware that the important change now preparing had in it an element of danger. The transit of letters through London on the Sunday, if taken alone, would necessarily be considered as an increase of Sunday work, the more so as the "practical officers" maintained, contrary to my opinion, that at least a temporary addition to the present force was essential to the plan. It was to be feared, therefore, that London would be more struck with a slight increase of Sunday employment in its own office than with any decrease, however great, in all the other offices of the kingdom; and that if London should sound the alarm on a subject where Englishmen feel rather than think, an angry excitement would spread throughout the country; an evil so formidable as to require that every precaution should be taken against it. Above all, it was desirable that no partial rumour should precede the complete enunciation of the plan; since its sole chance of ready acceptance, and indeed its true justifiability, depended upon its character as a whole. Consequently, every one of those to whom knowledge was necessarily intrusted had been strictly enjoined to secrecy. Unhappily, there must have been treachery in the camp; not that I ever had the means of fixing this charge on any individual, or that I ever was solicitous to do so; but of the fact itself there was abundant evidence.

On September 27th my wife and I, by way of keeping the twenty-second anniversary of our wedding, had taken a walk together as far as Hendon, but after spending some time pleasantly there, we found the rest of our pleasure marred by rumours of approaching trouble--rumours too well confirmed on the following day.

"_September 28th._--The newspapers this morning are full of the most absurd statements as to the Sunday duties' measure, which, in several, is violently attacked as a desecration of the Sabbath, and so on. The _Herald_ and the _Record_ profess to give very circumstantial statements of what I have said and done in the matter, but these are pure inventions. The clerks in the Inland Office have signed a memorial to the Postmaster-General, remonstrating against the measure, as though it were intended to require their attendance on a Sunday, and expressing a pious horror of so doing. The facts being that some who have signed the memorial already attend throughout the day, while the additional duties will be so arranged as to leave the clerks at liberty from ten till five; few will be wanted, and those are to be volunteers. A deputation of these fellows has been to the Bishop of London [Dr. Blomfield], and it is said to the Lord Mayor also; both of whom have taken up their case. I fear the whole proceeding is another manifestation of that insubordination and desire to thwart my plans which unquestionably exist.... Wrote to the Postmaster-General, who left London yesterday morning for Portumna, stating how matters stood, and made arrangements with Tilley [the assistant-secretary] for the immediate issue of the notices to the public, as the most effectual means of allaying the storm. They will appear in the papers to-morrow morning, and will be distributed all over the kingdom by to-morrow night's mails. A contradiction from authority which I sent appears in the evening papers."

The statement that the Lord Mayor had proceeded in this questionable manner proved to be untrue, but of the Bishop's part in the matter there was no doubt. I could not but think it strange that one who had himself to exercise authority and maintain discipline should feel warranted, on an _ex-parte_ statement, without even ascertaining whether this extraordinary appeal had been preceded by proper application to the proper authority, should feel warranted, I say, to give the sanction of his high authority to a proceeding which, in the case of his own clergy, he would justly have regarded as irregular and insubordinate.

As usual in difficulties, I sought aid from my own family:--

"_September 29th._--Matthew having fortunately returned home, I have the advantage of his advice and assistance. We went to the office together, and in the course of the day were joined by Arthur. The contradiction and notice have had a good effect, but the excitement has by no means subsided. The _Times_ has a leader written evidently by some one who has seen my minute (probably at the Treasury), partly defending, partly attacking the plan.... Strange enough, there is an able and earnest defence in the _Morning Post_. Sent a confidential letter to the editor of the _Times_, supplying the information which he so sadly lacks, and wrote again to the Postmaster-General. The Lord Mayor has called a meeting for Wednesday."

"_October 1st._--Went to the Treasury. Hayter treats the opposition to the new arrangement of Sunday duties as a matter of no importance. I think he is mistaken. I advise the publication of the minutes on the subject. He will consult with the Chancellor of the Exchequer."

In an able article which appeared in the _Times_ about six months later, and which is quoted in its proper place, the delusion of the day is justly compared to the infatuation which, two hundred years ago, overspread England, led to such fearful injustice, and produced so much unmerited suffering, from the calumnious breathings of so coarse a miscreant as Titus Oates. Doubtless two centuries had not passed away for nothing; a great amelioration of manners had taken place, both in deceivers and in deceived; but, great as was the difference in degree, the present movement was in kind the same thing again. History once more repeated itself. Only let the accusation be monstrous enough, the asseveration sufficiently bold, and the invention of circumstances tolerably plausible, there is still a large fraction of the public to whom disproof is for a time impossible of reception; the mist of error so entirely blinding that the most glaring correctives passed unnoticed--nay, unseen; while there is another class, perhaps almost equally large, which hides its better knowledge, overawed by general prejudice; so that while denunciation is clamorous and confident, defence is but slow, feeble, and timorous.

"_Same day._--Mr. ----, M.P. for ----, called in consequence of the note from Matthew. He says that he was about to engage actively in the opposition, not knowing that the measure was mine; that he shall now do no more than is necessary to satisfy his constituents, but that he must go with the stream. The Methodists, he says, are organising an opposition throughout London, and all the metropolitan members must join in it. Showed him in confidence my minute. He strongly advises its immediate publication."

"_October 2nd._--Matthew and I went early to Mr. Hayter's house to put him in possession of the information afforded by Mr. ----, keeping back the name of our informant, and to press for the publication of the minute. He still thinks lightly of the matter, but he will speak to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who comes to town to-day to attend a Cabinet Council to decide, as H. says, 'whether we shall go to war with Russia.'"

We afterwards called together on an old and valued friend in the City, hoping that we might rely on him, as one frequently taking part in public affairs, to speak in defence of the measure at the meeting convened by the Lord Mayor.

"We were surprised to find that even he had adopted the current notions about the plan, and that, after we had in confidence shown him the minute, he was by no means cordial in his approval.

"_Same day._--Went to the Treasury. The Chancellor of the Exchequer thinks it unnecessary to publish the minute. Hayter is confident the Government will not give way; but I fear that as they do nothing to stem the tide, they will eventually give way to it. However, I can do no more."

"_October 3rd._--The Lord Mayor came to the office just before the hour for the City meeting. He gives much such an account of things as ----, and says that, if Lord John Russell persists, he will certainly lose his seat for the City. Gave the Lord Mayor some information to use at the meeting. He told me that the deputation of clerks did come to him, and that he reprimanded them for so doing."

The City meeting was unanimous against the measure; the agitation was evidently very powerful, and the most absurd and erroneous statements were abroad. One circumstance, however, gave partial explanation of the stir. We all know that in the heat of debate, as well as in the heat of wine, suppressed feelings are apt to come forth; and some of the speeches at this meeting showed, not very obscurely, a motive to agitation of which I was not previously aware, and which certainly assorted but ill with the religious considerations so much dwelt upon. It appeared that, by the existing arrangements, the London merchant occasionally got his letters from the East or West Indies or other distant places on Monday morning, while the Liverpool merchant did not get his till Monday evening; so that there was an interval of which, by the aid of the telegraph, the London merchant could take advantage for his special benefit. By the change contemplated, the two deliveries would be made at the same time, and the local advantage be therefore lost. I must not be supposed to attribute this low motive to the meeting generally, still less to the public at large, though probably it had its influence on more persons than would have been willing to acknowledge it even to themselves. As we proceed, too, it will be manifest that other motives were at work of an order but little more elevated. Meantime, as Government intended, notwithstanding the clamour, to go forward with the measure, it was necessary promptly to secure the means.

"_Same day._--Pressed on Tilley the necessity of ascertaining, without delay, what volunteers could be obtained from the men; begging at the same time that no compulsion whatever might be used."

Of course the sole ground of complaint from the clerks and letter-carriers was the expectation, real or pretended, that Sunday attendance would be compelled. Such an expedient had never entered into my mind; for, first, I should have held such compulsion too high a price to pay for the advantage; and, secondly, I anticipated no difficulty whatever in obtaining volunteers.

"_Same day._--Received a letter from the Postmaster-General, expressing an opinion that the steps taken will soon put the public right. Wrote in reply."

Three days later, being asked by Colonel Maberly if it was my intention that none but volunteers should be taken, and being urged by Mr. Bokenham (the head of the department immediately concerned) to allow of compulsion, with a warning that otherwise men would hardly be procured, I replied that I would rather give up the measure than compel a single man to attend. On the morrow I had again support from a very important quarter:--

"_October 5th._--The _Times_ this morning has an able defence, founded chiefly on the information supplied in my letter to the Editor."

But pending the beneficial effect which such articles might gradually produce upon the middle classes, the state of mind in the class whence letter-carriers and messengers are drawn remained matter of anxiety. On the day on which the article appeared there was a straw to show which way the wind was blowing; and however ludicrous the incident appears now that the storm is passed, it was not half so funny at the moment.

"The excitement against the measure (or rather against that which has been falsely stated to be the measure), and I fear against myself individually, is becoming popular. To-day Sir John Easthope saw in the street a boy [selling ginger-beer] with a placard round his hat inscribed 'Anti-Rowland Hill Pop.'"

The following day, however, brought more support from the press:--

"_October 6th._--The _Morning Chronicle_ has an able defence of the measure, so had the _Globe_ of last night; indeed, the whole of the daily press, except the _Morning Herald_ (which is rabid) and the _Standard_, is, I believe, on the right side."

This was immediately followed by support from a quarter of yet more direct importance:--

"_Same day._--Received a summons to attend the Chancellor of the Exchequer at half-past twelve. Maberly also was summoned. We were shown into separate waiting-rooms, and Maberly was called in first. In about a quarter of an hour I was called in also. Hayter was present. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Hayter both spoke in strong terms of the excellence of the measure and the folly of the opposition.... After some discussion and inquiry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote a letter to Lord John Russell, containing a brief statement of the main facts of the case, which he read to us, at the same time adding that Lord John will decide whether to give way to the clamour or not."

At the same conference I had to report that as yet only three volunteers had come forward for the new work; but, again expressing my strong objection to compulsion, I mentioned a device for simplifying the sorting by which I was confident the work might be performed by unpractised hands. Though Colonel Maberly still preferred compulsion, the Chancellor of the Exchequer authorized an experimental trial of the plan, which, with the aid of two of my nephews, I made without delay, and in two days carried so far as to obtain satisfactory results; a fact, doubtless, not lost on the regular force.

"_October 9th._--In the course of the day went to the Treasury to report progress. Saw Hayter, who sent in a note to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (a Cabinet sitting at the time) containing my report."

"_October 10th._--The Chancellor of the Exchequer sent for me, Lord John Russell having decided that the minute shall be published forthwith.... I fear the publication will be too late. A large deputation waits on Lord John Russell and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to-morrow, and the Postmaster General is summoned to town."

"_October 11th._--The minute appears in all the morning papers except the _Times_."

The time appointed for the actual change being now close at hand, definite and binding arrangements were indispensable. The duties were accordingly divided by mutual agreement amongst Mr. Tilley, Mr. Bokenham, and myself. I was, however, confident of success, as by this time a large number of volunteers had come forward, so that we had to make a selection, the men chosen being principally from the secretary's office. The readiness to volunteer from this division of the service proceeded, as I had the gratification to learn, from a step taken by Colonel Maberly, who, calling his clerks together, addressed them in a speech in which he pointed out that the department was in danger through unjust attacks, and called upon them to stand forth in its defence.

"In the evening the Postmaster-General came to the office, having arrived in town late last night, and met the deputation. Reporters were present, and reports will, no doubt, appear in the morning papers. The deputation, the Postmaster-General says, pressed for a postponement of the measure, pleading that they had scarcely had time to read the minute; and after they left it was decided to delay the change for a fortnight.... We discussed the question of compulsion, towards which I find the Postmaster-General inclined; but here again I found him uninformed as to the facts of the case. He was not aware either that the clerks now engaged on Sunday are volunteers, or that a sufficient number of men for the new duties had come forward. I entreated him not to resort to compulsion, telling him that I had authorised others to say that none would be employed except volunteers, and pointing out that any compulsion would give the men a real grievance, whereas at present their case rested entirely on misrepresentation."

"_October 12th._--The best report on the deputation is in the _Morning Chronicle_, which also contains an able leader in favour of the measure."

On the morrow I conferred again with the Postmaster-General relative to the arrangements in question, when he communicated to me, in strict confidence, that he feared there was a decided leaning towards the insubordinate men on the part of certain important officials whom he named.

"We again discussed the question of compulsion, and the Postmaster-General promised that no compulsion should be resorted to if the work could be done by volunteers on Bokenham's plan or on mine."

After recording these transactions, my Journal thus continues:--

"It is impossible to notice all the proceedings of the week, nor is it necessary. The accounts of meetings to protest against the measure, and the gross falsehoods which have been promulgated in order to get up a case, will be found in the _Morning Herald_; ... the real facts appearing in my published minute, and in the statements of Ministers on receiving the deputation of Wednesday."

It is remarkable that while the only firm stand against compulsion was made by myself, it was upon me that the blame of this imaginary compulsion was chiefly laid; against me that the most unscrupulous asseverations were uttered, and the bitterest reproaches directed. I had been for a long time earnestly and successfully engaged in reducing the Sunday labour of the department throughout the United Kingdom.[62] Hundreds of persons, through measures adopted on my recommendation, had been released from the greater part of their Sunday duty. I had, in fact, been strenuously, though quietly, doing the very work of the Lord's Day Society; and, now, because a further important measure in the same direction required a small temporary addition to the Sunday force of the London office alone, this even being so arranged as that all engaged would be released from duty an hour before the usual time for the commencement of Divine Service, I was denounced as the chief enemy of the due observance of the Sunday, and charged with a wicked intention to compel, whereas, on the contrary, I was doing my very best to prevent compulsion. These attacks, too, so painful and injurious to myself, were no less endangering the great measure of relief which I was striving to carry through. As I have said, the public could not yet think--it only felt. Under such circumstances I was bound to be most heedful lest any act or even acquiescence on my part, real or apparent, might give, or seem to give, ground, however slight, for just imputation.

Mr. Bokenham had twice applied to me to obtain for him a peremptory order from the Postmaster-General to carry out the measure; adding that, if this were done, he felt sure his men would come forward from good-feeling towards himself. This I had, of course, refused; but it now occurred to me (October 13th) that, if the order were accompanied with permission to select volunteers, not only from within the office, but also, if necessary, from the world at large, Mr. Bokenham's desire might be safely granted, since it was impossible that, with so wide a choice, there should be the slightest difficulty in obtaining the necessary aid. Upon my explaining this proposed course to Mr. Bokenham, he expressed his desire to have it carried out. I learned from him, however, much to my chagrin, that he received a verbal order to compel attendance; but upon my stating to him the Postmaster-General's promise to the contrary, he said he should apply for further instructions before taking any steps. I accordingly wrote a minute in which I stated my unabated confidence in my plan of sorting, and my readiness to undertake the responsibility of its execution if the Postmaster-General should so decide. Having shown this to Mr. Tilley, who had been present throughout the conversation, and who at once vouched for the accuracy of the statements contained therein, I went straight to Brighton, obtained without difficulty the requisite powers for Mr. Bokenham, and the Postmaster-General's approval of the whole minute, he "viewing it as a very satisfactory mode of reconciling the voluntary principle with a peremptory order to Bokenham, and expressing himself much indebted to me for the trouble I had taken."

All now seemed to be satisfactorily arranged for action; but three days later new doubts arose, the Postmaster-General informing me that Mr. Bokenham had withdrawn from his engagement to me, and that he himself had thought it necessary to issue a positive order, upon which he had no doubt the new duty would be executed, and, as he confidently hoped, by volunteers. After mentioning that he had overlooked the phrase in my minute relative to volunteers from without, he advised that, supposing Mr. Bokenham should express no distrust of his power, I should now leave the matter in his hands. I could not but feel anxious lest his lordship's authorisation to Mr. Bokenham should include that compulsion which I so strongly deprecated. When I got sight of the instructions referred to in his letter, I found that I was not mistaken. I at once replied (see Appendix E), informing him how I had become pledged to the opposite course, declaring myself still ready to undertake the responsibility of the sorting by volunteers, provided I received the powers which had been conferred on Mr. Bokenham, and repeating my earnest desire that the improvement should be abandoned altogether rather than we should "run the risk of compelling any one to do that to which he has a conscientious objection."

My anxiety on the subject was not without reason:--

"_October 19th._--The _Morning Herald_ has a leader, letter, and advertisement, stating that the voluntary plan has been withdrawn (hitherto this paper has repeatedly denied that the work was to be voluntary), and that compulsion will be resorted to. The leader, of course, attributes all this to me.

"The Postmaster-General came to town. He again hesitates; will immediately consult Lord John Russell. I pressed for an immediate decision.... The Postmaster-General intimates that when the excitement is over there must be a searching inquiry, and a change in the organisation of the office favourable to my interests; but expectations of the kind have been so frequently raised only to be disappointed, that such intimations produce little effect on my mind."

Lord John Russell, in the main, confirmed my view as to the employment of volunteers exclusively. The Postmaster-General informed me that he had spoken seriously to Mr. Bokenham, and hoped for good results. I pointed out to the Postmaster-General that, though his order for the execution of the plan was peremptory, yet, considering the ample field given for obtaining volunteers, it could not possibly enjoin compulsion; with which conclusion he agreed.

Meantime the work of agitation did not relax:--

"_October 22nd._--Inflammatory appeals to the public, representing us as resorting to compulsion, are placarded, among other places, on the boards for official notices at some of the churches."

Still, whatever the present pain, I was confident of succeeding in the end, provided there was no flinching; but it was of the first importance to have a complete and definite understanding as to the mode of action. Vacillation must be brought to an end, if possible, and, fortunately, it was decided the next day that I should undertake the duty, with authority to raise volunteers in and out of the office. I consequently began at once to make needful arrangements, when Mr. Bokenham, informing me that for certain reasons it would be easier for him to obtain volunteers than he had supposed, expressed a desire to try again. The next day he undertook in writing to discharge the duty by the aid of volunteers alone. This offer, with a minute of my own, I despatched to the Postmaster-General, again at Brighton, who wrote me word next day that he had approved my minute "with great satisfaction."

"_October 25th._--Called with Matthew on the Hon. [and Rev.] Grantham Yorke, Rector of St. Philip's, Birmingham, who is come to town partly to learn the real facts of the Sunday duties question (he called yesterday at the Post Office, but I was unable to see him). He takes a very liberal view of the question, and will defend the measure at a town's meeting, to be held next Tuesday, in Birmingham."

This promise Mr. Yorke handsomely fulfilled, and not without good effect, though public feeling was still too strong to allow of immediate success.

On the same day that I saw Mr. Yorke there were more inflammatory notices at the churches; but to these no printer's name was attached. It was no wonder that symptoms of direct insubordination began to appear in the department. The gas in Mr. Bokenham's office was on one occasion suddenly put out, and one of the volunteers for the Sunday duty was hooted. I could not but feel great anxiety as to the issue, since an open outbreak would have thrown all into confusion; nor can I deem it even now needless to point out that when any considerable portion of the public, acting upon an _ex-parte_ statement, and hastily assuming that that which is not promptly denied must needs be true, takes upon itself to countenance discontent in an important Government department, it must, at least, produce in the department itself great anxiety and the waste of much valuable time, and may expose the whole country to the risk of most serious inconvenience. Some months afterwards the Postmaster-General admitted that he was now satisfied that we should have had a strike in the Inland Office if the men had had the slightest pretext for it; and that if he had forced any one to attend on Sundays, which he says ---- pressed him to do, it would, no doubt, have furnished the pretext.

On the following day I became aware of one source of misconception among the men, and, through them, among the public. Mr. Bokenham admitted that, when he communicated to his clerks the Postmaster-General's positive order for the Sunday transmission, he withheld the minute that limited the service to volunteers, and thus raised, and in some degree justified, the cry that compulsion would be employed.

Meanwhile the trouble thus excited in St. Martin's-le-Grand was extending to the provincial offices, at one of which the postmaster had gone so far as to issue, under his own signature, a hand-bill against the measure.[63] Meanwhile one postmaster, at least, took a very different course:--

"The postmaster at Plymouth has written to say that in his office alone thirty men, including letter-carriers, will be relieved. He describes the measure as one of the most important 'in the annals of the Post Office.'"

All such support was very important at a time when opposition was so strong, and, I must add, so unscrupulous:--

"_October 27th._--The Committee of the Lord's Day Society has issued a copy of my minute of February 3rd, with comments thereon of a very offensive character. They insinuate doubts as to the minute having been written in February, and express their belief that I originally proposed a Sunday delivery.

"_Same day._--Worse placards than ever at the churches. Sent in a memorandum to Colonel Maberly informing him that at a church in Gresham Street a placard is exhibited exhorting the men to strike."

The following is the text of this strange exhortation:--

"TO THE CLERKS, SORTERS, CARRIERS, AND OTHER AGENTS OF THE POST OFFICE.

"FELLOW MEN! especially to ye 'who fear God and work righteousness,'--

"You ought, you must obey God rather than man! This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. Trust in the Lord, and do good, and verily ye shall be fed.

"Strike!--Every one of ye to a man. Strike!--Make a passive resistance to the adversaries of your souls. Strike! and let Mr. Rowland Hill, and Lords Clanricarde and John Russell, see that there is One mightier than they whose commands you reverence supremely.

"Unite if you can, but let no man defer to the timid or compromising spirit of a fellow-servant.

"Honour and observe the Word of God.

"Unless _you_ stand, the public cannot at this juncture do much more than they have done.

"Stand ye, and _then_ the entire nation, every one in it whose voice is habitually raised up to the King of kings, will hold you up, and _in due time_ will strive for the freedom of every postal servant throughout the kingdom on the Sabbath day; but _you_ must be bold in the name of the Lord, in order to engage His mighty favour and the sympathy of His people universally.

"What an impudent daring is this by creatures of mere circumstance and pomp.

"God is defied, and the genuine execrating outcry of a Christian nation is set at naught!

"It is to be hoped that our Queen will be solicited to cast such men out from her councils and executive; _they_ are the men who endanger the State; for, most assuredly as there is a God who taketh vengeance, so will this realm be visited if the sins of it should be so enormously added unto; and the Lord's people (who are the saving salt of it) will be constrained to say. 'Even so, Lord, so let Thine enemies perish.'

"Fellow Christians of every denomination! continue to pray for the oppressed, they shall have a holy fortitude themselves to cast from them the bands of the oppressor.

"6, Finsbury Pavement, "Friday, 26th October, 1849."

As usual, in these exhortations to bold defiance, the printer's name was cautiously suppressed.

While so much was doing to abuse the public mind, official reserve prevented my taking the most direct means for its correction:--

"_Same day._--The Postmaster-General objects to my sending the proposed information to the newspapers; he thinks it will be better to wait and see what they say, contradicting it if necessary. I cannot convince him of the practical impossibility of correcting an erroneous impression when once adopted by the public."

After all that has been described, the reader will not be surprised at the next passage from my Journal. I must first state, however, that ere this the time for hesitation was past, the labour of preparation concluded, and the day of actual trial come:--

"_October 28th.--Sunday._--Very ill--confined to my bed nearly the whole day. I have no doubt my illness has been caused by the anxieties of the last month."

Ill though I was, nevertheless I was eagerly desirous of information as to the success of the first experiment, particularly as to whether the force engaged had proved, as I expected, ample. I had ascertained the previous day "that no more carriages, drivers, guards, &c., would be employed in conveying the bags from and to the stations than heretofore on a Sunday; the only difference will be that four-wheeled carriages with two horses will be substituted for two-wheeled carriages with one horse." Mr. Bokenham wrote up from the office that the work not having been quite completed by ten o'clock, though twenty minutes more would have sufficed, he had requested ten of the force to return in the evening to finish; a necessity arising, however, from the fact that the number of letters was 18,000 or 20,000 more than usual on the Sunday. He added, that, "the men were all in excellent humour, and exerted themselves to their utmost."

On the following day, when, though better, I was unable to leave home, I looked with anxiety into the morning papers to learn what would be the complexion of their reports in the absence of that information which I had been forbidden to supply; and, with concern, I found my unsatisfactory anticipations confirmed. Even the _Times_, which had hitherto given us so much support, headed its article with "_Commencement_ of Sunday labour in the Post Office;" made it appear that it was intended to make a despatch by the day mails, but that the attempt failed; represented the attendance as compulsory, and stated that not less than fifty men were employed in the additional duties, the actual number being only twenty-five. Handbills, too, were publicly distributed by letter-carriers, attacking not only me, but also the Postmaster-General, and even the Government.

Amidst so many difficulties on one side it was natural that those on the other should be overlooked. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had written to me saying that he did not see the necessary connection between Sunday relief in the provinces and the Sunday transmission of letters through London; intimating, in short, that we might retain the one and abandon the other. In reply, I informed him that I could not have ventured to propose the one change without the other, reminded him that there were two parties to be considered in the matter, referred for further explanation to my minute of the previous February, repeated my conviction that by the use of proper means the additional force at the Chief Office could be altogether dispensed with, reported satisfactory results thus far, and forwarded, as evidence of relief at the provincial offices, the letter lately received from the postmaster of Plymouth.

On the day after writing this letter, being still confined to the house, I received a note from the Postmaster-General, informing me that he was much pressed to issue an order for compelling attendance, and that he wished me to consider the question before he next came to the office. On going myself to the office on the following day, I learnt that a larger Sunday force had been applied for by Mr. Bokenham, partly with a view to completing the work in the morning, and partly to enable him to work the men on alternate Sundays only. He wished the number to be raised to forty, which, by alternation, would be in effect five less than the number I had proposed; yet I hesitated to agree to the change, knowing how the matter would be misrepresented abroad.

"_November 2nd._--In the evening the Postmaster-General came to the office, and reported that Lord John Russell concurred in the importance of avoiding compulsion. The final settlement is deferred till Monday."

Even the authority of the Premier, however, did not remove all difficulties, for on my suggesting to Mr. Bokenham that he should offer a new inducement to volunteers, he again urged that, instead of this, I should consent to a compulsory attendance in rotation. Upon my refusal, he asked permission to warn the men that, unless there were sufficient volunteers, compulsion would be resorted to; offering, as I still refused, to do this in his own name, without implicating me. Of course I stood firm to my point.

When the second Sunday had passed much as the first, I again offered, with a view to avoid further importunity, to undertake the work myself; but scarcely had I done this when a new difficulty arose, for which, however, I was not altogether unprepared. An eminent printer, who had offered me the aid of fifty of his men, deemed it prudent to withdraw, as he saw reason to believe that if he persisted in his offer it would lose him some important custom.[64] At the same time I was warned by anonymous letters (of one of which a copy is given in Appendix F), of treacherous conduct within the office, and upon my reporting this to the Postmaster-General, learnt that he had received the same warning in a letter not anonymous.[65] I had come to him, however, prepared with a memorandum showing the results for which I was ready to make myself responsible, and also the conditions which I deemed essential to success; and, of course, I stood quite prepared to go on. My offer was the more opportune as Mr. Bokenham, who arrived in the midst of our conversation, informed the Postmaster-General, when I had withdrawn, that he could not remain responsible for the new work, even on the Sunday next ensuing. My offer, therefore, was, with some modification, accepted. I felt more confident in the charge, because I had devised a means of reducing the number of bags--the chief difficulty on the previous Sunday--from six hundred to one hundred, and because I had learnt from Mr. Tilley that all such volunteers as he had spoken to had renewed their engagement. He himself was ready to go on, and even Mr. Bokenham, though shrinking from the chief responsibility, was, like Mr. Tilley, willing to undertake the share of duty allotted to him according to our first arrangement.[66] The only remaining doubt was whether the Premier might not decide upon a complete abandonment of the plan.

"_November 6th._--Saw the Postmaster-General by appointment at his own house in the evening. Lord John Russell, whom he met at the Cabinet Council at Windsor, did not hesitate a moment. The agreement of yesterday was therefore confirmed."

This was, however, with one modification, viz., that if the office did not supply the requisite number of volunteers, the deficiency should be made up from other Government departments. Happily no such necessity arose, as the number of volunteers from the office itself who presented themselves on the conditions I had been authorised to offer, was more than necessary. Seeing this, Mr. Bokenham for the third time undertook the duty, at first only for the next Sunday, but within two days for permanence. Accordingly the next Sunday, though the additional force still did not exceed twenty-five men, the number of letters, however, being somewhat less than the week before, the whole work was completed in the morning, so as to release all engaged in it by ten o'clock for the whole day. In short, the difficulty had so completely passed away that three days afterwards Mr. Bokenham came to inquire if I should be likely to make any change in duties during the next three Sundays, as he wished to leave town; and upon my doubting the safety of his withdrawal at such a time, gave it as his opinion that there was no danger. Among the circumstances tending to this satisfactory result was, doubtless, an authority which I had obtained from the Postmaster-General to form a permanent corps of volunteers, principally from other Government offices, who were to receive a month's pay whether called upon for actual service or not. The Stamp and Record Offices alone were ready to supply thirty-five men, or ten more than needful. I could not, however, fully share in Mr. Bokenham's confidence. Only four days before, inflammatory handbills had been distributed within the office, one being deposited at each sorter's place, while a sub-sorter was selling, at a halfpenny per copy, an abusive song attacking myself; proceedings which, as the Postmaster-General remarked in calling for investigation, showed that there must be great neglect in the discipline of the office.

There continued, likewise, a daily issue of placards, which were exhibited chiefly on the churches and in certain shop-windows, one of these latter being nearly opposite my room. A few of these placards were avowedly issued by the Lord's Day Society, but most of them were anonymous. All had the appearance of being concocted more or less in the Post Office, and all evinced an utter disregard of truth. I retain to this day a collection of these mendacious papers, which, though large, is nevertheless incomplete. The strike among the men urged in some of them never went further than the refusal, on the part of the guards, on one occasion, to assist in placing the bags in the carriages at the Post Office; in consequence of which, even before I knew the fact, they were all suspended from employment by the Postmaster-General.

However, as the Sunday duty was now permanently off my hands, I had leisure to direct my attention towards those measures for diminishing its amount, which formed an integral part of my plan. One of these was so to arrange the work as to have the greatest practicable amount of sorting done in the travelling offices on the railways; the earlier portion ending by five on Sunday morning, and the latter not beginning till nine on Sunday evening. The pursuit of this object led to a singular device. One portion of the correspondence passing through London on the Sunday, viz., that from towns too near to London to allow of time for sorting on the way, seemed incapable of being brought within this arrangement; but while I was preparing a minute on the subject, in which my brother Arthur was assisting me, I suddenly startled him, so he now reports, by exclaiming: "A light breaks in upon me." I had just conceived the first notion of the device referred to above, which, strange as it may seem, really answers its purpose very well. This was that the _down_ mail-trains on Saturday night should take up these letters at the different towns on their respective routes, thus conveying them, in the first instance, in a direction opposite to their final destination, but subsequently transferring them to the up-trains for conveyance to town. Thus the down night train to Liverpool would receive successively the up-mails of St. Albans and Watford, and on arrival at a more remote town would transfer them all to the up-train, which would carry them back to London. By this arrangement the required opportunity for sorting the letters was obtained. Indirect as is the route, no time whatever is lost to the public, which to this day, I believe, remains quite unaware that letters are carried away from London by one night train only to be brought back by another. Another point for relief was a Sunday morning delivery in the suburbs of London, employing about four hundred men, against which, amidst all the hubbub of the time, not a word had been said.[67] It occurred to me that, as a means of immediately reducing the work, the district cross posts might be dispensed with on Sundays, which could be done without inconvenience.

The Postmaster-General was delighted with an arrangement that reduced Sunday work in the London district, and at once agreed to putting down the cross posts--a change which released eleven men. He was inclined, indeed, as a punishment to the agitators, to abolish the Sunday morning delivery without giving anything in its place; but, upon my advice, this project was abandoned. Accordingly, carrying out a plan of relief which I had suggested, as a more general measure, when at the Treasury,[68] I proposed to substitute a late Saturday night delivery in the nearer suburbs for that on Sunday morning. By this plan more than a hundred men would be forthwith released from Sunday duty in the metropolitan district alone, while further investigation promised additional benefit. Within a fortnight I was able to submit a minute recommending the measure in detail; and to this the Postmaster-General gave his sanction, though he sadly wished to punish the public in the manner I have mentioned.

Further measures of relief soon followed:--

"_November 30th._--At home finishing a minute on the sorting of Sunday letters. I have again improved the plan, so as to have most of the sorting done in the country on Saturday night and Sunday morning [of course very early, viz., before the passing of the up mails]. Four or five men working in London on the Sunday will, I expect, suffice."

"_December 1st._--Smith tells me that he shall be able to include every place in the six mile circle in the measure of Sunday relief. Nearly two hundred persons will thus be released from Sunday duty in the metropolitan district."

On the same day, I wrote a minute pointing out the means for reducing the number of bags, as already spoken of. On learning from Mr. Tilley that some reports on this subject were lying in the office, I sent for them, and found that they were in reply to a minute of the Postmaster-General, written nearly two months before on information given by me. These reports represented my plan as quite practicable, and as saving "nearly half the labour of making-up and despatching the bags;" but orders had been given that no change should be made; and the reports had not even been submitted to the Postmaster-General. Of course I went forward with the improvement, which was carried into effect about six weeks later.

Meantime, there had appeared, from very different quarters, and on very different grounds, two able defences of our late proceedings: one from the late General Peyronnet Thompson, in the form of a series of letters to the _Sun_ newspaper, and the other from the Rev. Dr. Vaughan, Head Master of Harrow School. General Thompson, for the most part, subordinated the question of the day to one of a more general character, viz., the obligation on Christians to observe the Mosaic law; but Dr. Vaughan perceived that, as the former question did not involve the latter, it was better to discuss it separately. His paper is remarkably forcible and terse. Such support from so high a quarter at so critical a time was invaluable. I quote his concluding passage:--

"Let these evils [those of Sunday labour] be met on their proper ground, and at the proper time. Let the good sense and the religious feeling of the country be appealed to when the danger really threatens. At present it is as remote as ever. It will not be brought one step nearer by _this_ measure. But it _may_ be increased by a premature and unreasonable outcry, to be succeeded, as usual, by a very natural recoil."

To accelerate the process of Sunday relief, I thought it would be well to assemble all the surveyors for England and Wales, and to discuss with them, _viva voce_, questions usually dealt with by tedious correspondence. The meeting took place in December. The business occupied several successive days, and the results were highly satisfactory, the more so as all their recommendations were made unanimously. In short, the opportunity thus afforded for receiving information, obtaining opinions, and explaining my own views and intentions, proved so beneficial to the service, that in important cases I resorted again and again to similar meetings. I always found the intercourse both profitable and pleasant. It increased the interest of the surveyors in the work of improvement, and, by the collision of many opinions,[69] broke down prejudices and overthrew obstacles. I may say, once for all, as regards the effect on myself, that, though these discussions led to no change in principles, they often modified actual measures. I cannot conclude this brief account of the meeting without mentioning a singular fact which I learnt in the course of it--a fact from which much more might be inferred. Amongst the circuitous courses long maintained for carrying mails forward on the Sunday, without using the forbidden route through London, it appeared that letters posted at Kingston-on-Thames on the Saturday night for Barnet were conveyed by way of Exeter; thus travelling more than four hundred miles instead of five-and-twenty!

Meanwhile, I thought that the time had arrived for effecting an additional Sunday relief which I had contemplated from the first. Under the old arrangement there had always been performed on the Sunday certain work which properly belonged to the Monday; the reason for this proceeding being that the amount of duty accumulated on the Monday by the Sunday suspension of business was, without such relief, more than could be dealt with. The relief, however, that arose from the Sunday transit of letters had made it beyond question practicable for Monday to execute all its own work. That it should be made to do it I had advised in the very outset, feeling confident that it could do it; but I had been met not only with the usual declaration that the thing was impracticable, but with objections so plausible that, for once, I abated self-confidence, and supposed that the practical officers must be right. To my great surprise, on now moving in the matter, I found that, to a considerable extent, the impracticable change had already been effected, though, unluckily, no corresponding reduction had been made in the Sunday force. Such a reduction I began, therefore, to urge; and before the close of the year Mr. Bokenham had reluctantly consented to reduce his Sunday force by eleven men. He gave, at the same time, promise of further reduction on the following Sunday, if practicable; a question soon settled, for the Postmaster-General sanctioned, on the second day of the next year (January 2, 1850), minutes reducing the Sunday force in the London Office from twenty-six men, the number ordinarily employed for many years, to three; ten or eleven, however, being employed either before five o'clock in the morning or after eight o'clock at night in the mail carriages.

When, earlier in these proceedings, I wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, telling him that I thought an additional expenditure of £500 a-year would enable me to adopt measures indicated in my minute of the previous February for bringing the Sunday force within its original limits, his answer was that, if necessary, I might take £1500.

"_December 28th._--Another minute has been sanctioned, subject to the approval of the Treasury, which will abolish certain day-mails, cross-posts, and double despatches, now rendered useless by the discontinuance of the second delivery on the Sunday at provincial offices. In addition to this the receipt of inland letters will be confined to the stamped and unpaid, and, as a general result, the offices throughout England and Wales will close from 10 a.m. for the rest of the day, instead of opening again at 5 p.m. as they now do.... By these means additional rest, averaging from three to five hours, will be given at the provincial post offices."

My recommendation for transferring the Sunday morning delivery in the suburbs of London to Saturday night was also carried into effect this day, and I may add that that which was thus found practicable on Saturday night was at length acknowledged to be so on all other nights; and thus was established that late suburban delivery which is still maintained, much to the convenience of the public.

So ended the year 1849, amidst clouds which, though still dark enough to remind me of the storm that had been raging for the last three months, and to warn me that more disturbance might yet come, were at least beginning to break.[70]

I have already referred to hostility in the office as the chief source of the great trouble which had befallen the department in general, and me in particular. If there had not been a mutinous spirit amongst the men, attacks from without, however annoying, could not have produced that grievous anxiety which arose from the knowledge of treason within. This, I may remark, was the third distinct cabal formed with a view to drive me from office. Like the two former ones, and one more yet to be mentioned, it was so timed as to take advantage of a temporary weakness in my position; a weakness caused on this occasion by my having ventured, in quest of a great good, to encounter popular feeling.

I cannot conclude this portion of my narrative without remarking how near the great measure of Sunday relief was to being defeated by public clamour that arose out of the hasty acceptance of mendacious statements from insubordinate officers. At the City meeting in the previous October it had been maintained that the temporary addition of twenty-five men would not only be made permanent, but would soon be swollen to six hundred. Within four months of this prediction, not only had the whole addition been dispensed with, but also the original force of twenty-six men had been reduced to fourteen. Of these, moreover, four only worked during the day, while of the remainder, who were employed in the several travelling offices, five ceased work at about five o'clock on Sunday morning, and the remaining five did not begin work until about eight o'clock on Sunday night. The main results are summed up in a Report which I made to the Postmaster-General on the 28th of January, 1850, and which was afterwards printed by order of the House of Commons.[71] Of this a notice from an impartial quarter will appear later in this narrative.

In the mean time, Dr. Vaughan, of Harrow, had published a second letter in defence of our proceedings. It was written in reply to a violent and unscrupulous attack by a brother clergyman and schoolmaster. This able paper sums up as follows:--

"I have now discharged, however imperfectly, the task imposed upon me by circumstances which I must still deplore. Earnestly, most earnestly, do I desire the thankful and reverent observance of the Lord's Day, with which I believe our national as well as individual welfare to be closely, inseparably linked. Deeply do I lament the condition of those weary and comfortless labourers who are cut off from the inestimable blessings to be derived from its holy rest. It is because I believe that many of the provincial officers of our national Post Office are involved in this calamity, and that the present measure contemplates, and in part effects, their emancipation, that I have condemned the blind hostility with which it has been assailed, and laboured to expose the misrepresentations by which that hostility has been fostered."[72]

The complainants had now so far extended their demands as in effect to abandon their former ground, the cry now being for the total abolition of Sunday postal work of all kinds.[73] The Postmaster-General having called upon the Secretaries to report on this demand, I presented my report on the 5th of January, and it was printed, with other documents, by order of the House of Commons.[74] The following is a summary of its contents:--

I first recognise the great relief that would be given to the department by such total suspension, and then proceed to show why I had not ventured to recommend it. I drew a distinction between collection and delivery on the one hand, and conveyance on the other, pointing out that the former could be suspended in any particular place without materially affecting the convenience of any other place, while the latter could not be so suspended even on a portion of a single line of mail without affecting the convenience of every place which that line served, whether directly or indirectly; so that while the former suspension might be adopted in detail, according to the wish of each particular place, supposing this to be really ascertained, the latter would require a much more general concurrence. I advised that wherever Sunday delivery by letter-carriers was abolished, the abolition should extend also to delivery at the window, and I suggested that, where delivery was retained, individuals might be allowed to protect themselves against it by giving in a written notice to that effect at the post office.

In respect of conveyance, I thought it possible that if the demand became sufficiently general, it might in time become practicable to suspend those branch posts that served many places, and that with the concurrence of the public this might be gradually done to a very great extent; but I saw no hope of such a state of things as would justify the interruption of the mails on the trunk lines, which were indispensable alike to the purposes of Government and the convenience of the public. On this latter point I showed in considerable detail what an enormous amount of derangement such suspension would produce. I showed that to suspend all operations of the Post Office for the twenty-four hours of Sunday must necessarily involve the interruption of the mails for more than twenty-four hours, and that this would make it impossible for them to start at midnight on Sunday from the point at which they stopped at midnight on Saturday. The derangement that would result would produce inconvenience at place after place throughout each line, for it would not only alter the hours of delivery, but also disturb arrangements with the branch mails, cross mails, and rural posts, throughout the greater part of the kingdom, the whole evil being doubled by its necessarily applying to mails in both directions. I showed further, that as the stoppage of the mails would not imply the stoppage of the mail trains, since passengers would never consent to such an interruption, there would be no cessation of traffic, while the relief even to the servants of the Post Office would be but nominal, since it would be found indispensable to an efficient responsibility that the bags when at rest, just as when in motion, should remain under the custody of the guards, who would thus have to continue on duty throughout the day of rest.

With regard to the amount of public inconvenience which would arise from the interruption, I showed that, supposing but one letter in a thousand to contain tidings of pressing importance, there would be, at the then existing rate of correspondence, nearly a thousand cases per week in which delay would painfully interfere with the feelings of relatives and friends, or lead to serious trouble or loss; and that the necessity so produced would inevitably lead to a revival of contraband conveyance, detrimental alike to Sunday observance and the interests of the office.

In conclusion, I pointed out that by the measures then in progress, combined with others carried into effect during the previous year, improvements were now in such a state of advancement that in a few days the Sunday duty throughout England and Wales would be reduced to probably little more than half its original amount; while this great benefit would be obtained in such a manner as not only not to impair, but greatly to promote, the public convenience.

"_January 21st._--The Postmaster-General is highly pleased at my Report on the proposed total abolition of Sunday duties, which is to be sent to Lord John Russell for use in debate. I have advised that its statements, which necessarily run into considerable detail, should be checked by the practical men."

So far as I remember, however, no error was discovered.

Shortly after this time symptoms of a better understanding on the part of the public began to appear, more defenders arising in various quarters, and even those who made extreme demands taking a more moderate tone. But whatever assurance I might now have as to improved feeling in the public, an ordeal which I was about to go through still seemed formidable. I had had the pain to learn that Mr. Wallace, who had done so much for the public and for myself, had fallen into pecuniary difficulties, so that his friends in Scotland were raising a subscription for his benefit. A public meeting had been resolved upon, and I was earnestly requested to attend, which I promised to do, though with considerable misgiving as to the sort of reception I was likely to meet with. My doubts were nowise removed by a letter received from my uncle, Provost Lea, of Haddington, who, having been apprised of my expected visit by the Scotch newspapers, wrote in the most earnest terms to deprecate the attempt, warning me that the feeling against me northward of the Tweed was so strong that he feared I should be literally torn to pieces by the mob. Though I made great allowance for the apprehensions of an affectionate relative and kind-hearted old man, I certainly thought it very likely that hisses and groans might be more abundant than applause. Be this as it might, the journey, being a matter of duty, had to be taken, and on March 6th I went to Glasgow.

On the following morning, before proceeding to Greenock, I paid a visit to the large ship-yard of Messrs. Napier, employing several hundred men. When I was about to leave, the foreman of a gang of workmen busily employed in constructing a large iron vessel came forward and demanded in a loud voice, "Three cheers for Rowland Hill;" a call responded to by what seemed to my gratified ears a unanimous shout. Thus encouraged, I went to Greenock. The meeting was held in a large church, the chairman occupying the pulpit; a usual arrangement, as I was assured, in Scotland. On rising to speak I was received, so said the newspapers, "with enthusiastic applause;" the same being repeated when I sat down.[75] Of what I said I will merely remark that justice, gratitude, and sympathy for my suffering friend, combined to draw from me my best efforts. On the following day, after inspecting the post office both at Greenock and Glasgow, I set out on my return, very agreeably disappointed in the expectations with which I had gone forth. I must not close this account without mentioning that the result of the subscription was the purchase of an annuity of £500 for Mr. Wallace's life.

On the 19th of the month the question of the total abolition of Sunday duty was shortly discussed in the House of Lords; Lords Malmesbury, Clanricarde, and Brougham speaking against the measure, while the Bishop of Oxford and Lord Harrowby spoke cautiously in its favour. On the same day my friend Mr. Matthew Forster, at my request, moved in the Commons for the several reports on the question of Sunday duty. To this motion the Government at once acceded. I cannot mention Mr. Forster without adding that the friendliness which he had shown me from my first acquaintance with him continued with steady increase to the end of his life; that, in short, I stand indebted to him and to his family for much kindness and much valuable aid.

Two days later, the Postmaster-General having offered to a deputation from Edinburgh a Parliamentary Committee on the subject, this proposal (at the recommendation of the Secretary to the Lord's Day Society) was declined; a conclusive proof of conscious weakness.

"_April 10th._--This morning's _Herald_ contains an account of a meeting at Exeter Hall to petition for total abolition. Few men of weight appear to have been present, and the whole proceedings were in a subdued tone. One of the speakers, in describing what I have done, spoke of it as a step in the right direction. Their resolutions, of course, contain various misrepresentations."

It was evident that the agitation was rapidly subsiding, and two days later I was able to administer an additional sedative; my report of January 28th, showing the progress made in Sunday relief, being at length printed, I sent out five hundred copies in various directions, feeling sure that the statements therein contained, however unavailing to such as resolutely kept their eyes shut, would have no small effect upon the more candid.

A week later I record progress:--

"_April 20th._--The returns are producing their effect. I have received numerous letters congratulating me on the result."

I also began to conjecture as to the probability of formal retractation by those, so many in number, who had assailed and misrepresented our measures in tirades, whether from the press, pulpit, at public meetings, or otherwise. My recorded summary is "I don't expect it." Up to that time, so far as I am aware, there had been but two retractations. Lord Ashley, in a private letter to the Postmaster-General, had declared that the country was under the greatest obligations to him for the Sunday relief already afforded. Of the journals that had attacked me one had frankly acknowledged its error. Though, doubtless, many instances of such reparation may have occurred unknown to me, it is remarkable that neither record nor memory supplies me with a third instance either then or afterwards. The one paper thus honourably distinguished is the _Leeds Mercury_, which had been throughout a staunch supporter of postal reform, but had too hastily yielded credence to bold and plausible allegations. The _Times_, which, though it was sometimes mistaken in matters of detail, had, on the whole, given highly valuable support during the late trial, published on April 25th the following admirable exposition and defence of the whole proceeding:--

"Historians and essayists delight in flattering the self-opinion of their contemporaries by extraordinary anecdotes of popular delusion in less enlightened times. A kind of indefinite satisfaction appears to be derived from contrasting the inferiority of previous generations. The confidence with which for many years together 5,000,000 English Protestants believed themselves in bodily peril from 100,000 Catholics is a favourite instance of the kind. The 'loss of our eleven days' is another; when, upon a simple correction of the calendar, grave divines actually lectured from the pulpit on the blasphemous wickedness of interfering with the course of time, and denounced the profanity which brought every sinner in the kingdom nearly a fortnight closer to his end. Mr. Macaulay, too, informs us that the post when first established was the object of violent invective, as a manifest contrivance of the Pope to enslave the souls of Englishmen; and most books of history or anecdote will supply stories equally notable. But we really very much doubt whether any tale of ancient times can match the exhibition of credulity which occurred in our own country, and under our own eyes, within these last twelve months.

"We need not enter upon any narrative. Every reader's recollection will carry him back to last Christmas, when, from one end of the kingdom to the other, there was a loud and steady outcry against a projected 'desecration of the Sabbath.' Mr. Rowland Hill was introducing 'Sunday labour' into this decorous and religious country. He had succeeded in inserting 'the small end of the wedge.' He had asked for twenty-five additional clerks on Sunday, and a few months would see this pressed labour indefinitely multiplied, and all ideas of Sabbath observance contemptuously forsworn. Such was the belief even amongst intelligent people. Meetings were held in all great towns to record a protest against the iniquity; and, when the resistance proved unsuccessful, it was plainly asserted that the national character was for ever gone. As for the promoter of the measure, he was a forsaken reprobate, who looked only to the acceleration of day-mails, without the smallest heed to the fourth commandment. We have before us at this moment a sheet of letter-paper, headed by an engraving of 'Rowland Hill's new Chapel, St. Martin's-le-Grand, under which title is depicted the General Post Office on a Sunday morning, with all the symbols of unholy industry and bustle. However, the measure in question was carried out, and we will now--from the official returns on the subject--inform the reader in plain unadorned language how it originated, what it contemplated, and what it has actually brought to pass.

"More than two years ago the attention of the Post Office authorities was directed towards the means of _abridging Sunday labour_ in the various offices, and inquiries were instituted with this object. While they were in progress, Mr. Hill succeeded to the secretaryship of a certain department, which brought the subject under his immediate care, and he promoted with all his efforts the advancement of the great end in view. Opinions were not altogether concurrent on the matter, but a step was at length taken, and on Sunday, the 6th of February, 1848, the post office at Bath was closed for money-order business on that day. The experiment succeeded, and on the 13th of August in the same year the regulation was extended to Leeds, and, six weeks later to Birmingham--still without inconvenience or complaint. Fortified by these results, the authorities conceived themselves competent to push still further their great object of _abridging Sunday labour_, and the arrangements above mentioned were, at the commencement of last year, extended to all offices in England and Wales, so that four hundred and fifty offices were _relieved of a material portion of their Sunday duties_ in a single day. Three months more saw the same indulgence conceded to Ireland and Scotland, by which two hundred and thirty-four additional offices experienced the same relief.

"Pending these trials and successes, Mr. Rowland Hill conceived a plan for _abridging Sunday labour_ still more considerably, and, indeed, to a great extent, abolishing it altogether. The duties hitherto suspended had been those of the Money Order Department alone; but a scheme was now entertained of greatly limiting Sunday deliveries, and of absolutely closing the offices between the hours of ten and five; or, in other words, from the commencement of the morning service in churches till the close of the afternoon. With this proposed limitation of deliveries was combined a regulation, long known to be desirable, for the transmission of a certain class of letters _through London_ on a Sunday, which would, it was thought, by giving very considerable accommodation at a small cost of labour, tend to reconcile the public to the cessation of those Sunday deliveries which were now to be stopped. It was this proposal which caused the outcry. Mr. Hill asked but for the temporary service of twenty-five clerks as a present means of relieving twenty times that number; and he showed his reasons for anticipating that no measure could ultimately be more effective in _abridging Sunday labour_ altogether than that now proposed. All this was in vain. He was, as our readers know, decried, denounced, and stigmatized as a Sabbath-breaker and apostate; although his very proposition was actually one of a well-considered series for diminishing Sunday labour throughout the kingdom.

"Now, let the results be marked, for certainly never was popular delusion more conspicuously displayed. To begin with the particular incident complained of:--Mr. Hill had always stated that the necessity for the extra labour would be brief, whereas his assailants declared that the expedient would inevitably tend to nationalize Sabbath-breaking and demoralize the whole State. On Sunday, the 28th of October, the additional force of twenty-five men was first employed; on the 6th of January following it was reduced to thirteen; on the 13th of the same month to three; and on the very next Sunday it was dispensed with altogether, having effected its objects within the space of three months. So much for the 'evil' done. Now let us see what good was brought by it.

"By the device and execution of these measures five hundred and seventy-six provincial post offices have experienced a total positive relief of about seven and a quarter hours each Sunday, and upwards of four thousand dependent offices have received a similar relief of about seven hours. Estimated in relation to individuals, the effect of the measures _has been to give to five thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine persons an average Sunday relief of five and three-quarter hours each_; that is to say, nearly six thousand people have been relieved from nearly six hours work every Sunday by the operation of a scheme which was denounced as a deliberate encouragement to Sabbath-breaking and profanity. Nor have the results ended here, for, as if to complete the exposure, the new arrangements have actually led to a discontinuance even of that existing labour which they were described as augmenting in perpetuity. The Sunday force regularly employed in the Post Office _before_ the famous provisions of Mr. Rowland Hill's scheme amounted to twenty-seven men. On the first day of operations under the new system this, to the scandal and horror of the public, was increased to fifty-two. To be sure some four thousand or five thousand were relieved in other quarters by the same regulation; but this little compensation was altogether overlooked in the great iniquity. But what followed? Not only was this additional force dispensed with _in toto_ before three months had passed, but its labours had even contributed to lighten the lot of those who still remained. So well did the new arrangements act, that the work of the _original_ force began gradually and steadily to diminish, and we are now officially told that 'the whole Sunday force ordinarily employed in the London office will be reduced to five or six men, which, even with the addition of the ten clerks employed in the mail trains (and their duties will intrench but little on the observances of the Sunday), _will make a total force of little more than half that employed before the 28th of October last_.' So that the very expedient which, notwithstanding its beneficial effects elsewhere, was obstinately condemned on the simple ground of its augmenting Sunday labour in a particular office, has actually resulted, not only in completely effecting all its proposed ends, but in diminishing by nearly one-half the identical labour which it appeared for a moment to augment.

"We think the reader will admit that, upon the whole, the outcry by which such a measure as this was represented as a profane and godless scheme for abolishing the observance of the Sabbath, has no equal in history for prodigious and incredible absurdity. Even vaccination, we believe, was never described as a device for actually perpetuating small-pox, whereas the most judicious and effective step in a series of measures expressly designed to abridge Sunday labour has been thus, in the middle of the nineteenth century, represented, taken, and accepted as a deliberate stratagem for destroying the holiness of the Sabbath-day. That the spirit which facilitated the delusion was, in itself, honourable to the country, we freely admit, but that the common sense of Englishmen should be so strangely misled is a fact not very creditable to the national intelligence, or satisfactory to the national pride."

Good effects also were soon manifest in another quarter of great importance:--

"_April 30th._--Last night Mr. Hayter, in reply to a question from Mr. Fagan as to when the Sunday arrangements would be extended to Ireland, spoke of them as having given universal satisfaction; an expression which appears to have been well received in the House."

In one quarter alone the former wrong was steadily persisted in:--

"_May 9th._--The Lord's Day Society has issued a manifesto in reply to our reports and minutes. It is more offensive and unprincipled than even their former publications."

Meantime, as it was necessary, according to long-established practice, to allow some latitude in respect of the force to be summoned on the arrival of an extraordinary mail, I experienced no little difficulty in keeping this liberty within reasonable limits. Thus, though I found that one man was sufficient for dealing with four thousand ship letters, five men had been called in (on Sunday May 12th) to deal with seventeen hundred. I was consequently obliged to require from Mr. Bokenham a report advising a definite rule for preventing such excess; and this being obtained, matters thenceforth went on more smoothly. In short, the measures for Sunday relief being in the course of this month extended to Scotland and Ireland, I regarded the arrangement as complete.

This agreeable impression, however, was soon afterwards disturbed by Lord Ashley's giving notice of a motion for an address to Her Majesty, praying for measures to be taken to stop the collection and delivery of letters and the transmission of mails on the "Lord's Day;" in other words, for the total abolition of Sunday duty.

"_May 23rd._--The Lord's Day Society has issued a circular, urging members to support Lord Ashley's motion. It stands for the 30th instant. It professes to give a history of the demand for total abolition, and of the relief afforded, and, of course, misrepresents facts."

I could not but think that the Society, in its zeal for enforcing upon others a strict observance of the fourth commandment, too often deferred to a more convenient season its own observance of the ninth. Being called upon by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to supply such information as would be needful for meeting Lord Ashley's motion, I drew up a memorandum, which, after mentioning further measures increasing the number of persons relieved to about eight thousand, concludes as follows:--

"In reference to the question of total abolition of Sunday duty it should be remarked--

"First, that its advocates wholly overlook the interests of the poor. To be obliged to resort, as has been proposed in case of need, to the electric telegraph, or to a shilling postage, would be a severe tax upon the poor man; and,

"Secondly, that the Government, having a monopoly of the delivery of letters, cannot refuse to deliver them except in places where the demand is practically unanimous. Numerous small places (about four hundred probably) have preferred such a request, and it has been complied with. Several, however, finding the non-delivery inconvenient, have requested that the delivery may be resumed; and it has been resumed accordingly."

While the above was in preparation I received a letter from Lord Ashley, urging me to hold out expectations that Government would make further reductions in the Sunday duty, admitting that we "had already done a great deal," and, oddly enough, inferring therefrom that we could do much more. Not agreeing in this conclusion, I was obliged to decline giving the pledge required.

On the following day, viz., that fixed for the motion, I had my first interview with the Premier, waiting upon him by his desire. After a time the Chancellor of the Exchequer came in; both agreed that the motion must be resisted, but I left them in fear that they were not sufficiently prepared for the encounter; I was desired to be under the gallery of the House of Commons. The following entry in my Journal records what occurred:--

"_May 30th._--At five o'clock went to the House of Commons... owing partly to Lord Ashley having omitted the most objectionable part of his motion (the stoppage of the mails), and still more, I fear, to the cowardice of the members, ... the motion was carried, by ninety-three to sixty-eight."

"_May 31st._--Called on the Postmaster-General [then recovering from a dangerous illness] to report last night's proceedings. The _Times_, which gives the best account of the debate, has also an excellent leader."

In consequence of this resolution of the House, I was summoned by the Postmaster-General and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who wished to consult me as to the course to be taken. While thinking it better to give way in the main, they seemed inclined to take an exception in favour of "delivery at the window;" but against this exception I strongly protested, our experience in Scotland having shown that it would involve more labour, to say nothing of unseemly crowding, than delivery in the ordinary manner. "I suggested that, as the motion proposes the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the stoppage of the mails, the Commission should also inquire into the stoppage of the deliveries and collections. Nothing was decided, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer has to consult Lord John Russell."

"_June 6th._--While at the Treasury, ---- came in. On my laughing at him for his vote on the Sunday question, he admitted that he was ashamed of it, adding that he did not expect to be in a majority. I believe that many of the votes were given under similar expectations."[76]

"_June 7th._--Mr. Forster [M.P. for Berwick] called to consult me as to his endeavouring to re-open the Sunday question. I advised him to do nothing without previously consulting the Chancellor of the Exchequer."

"_June 8th._--Lord John Russell, in reply to Mr. Forster, stated that he would not support any motion for the reversal of the resolution of the House on the subject of Sunday duties."

I scarcely need say that I heartily concurred in his lordship's decision. If the public really desired, at the sacrifice of its own convenience, to confer so great a boon on the Post Office as that implied by the terms of the resolution, it would have been very ungracious in Government to intercept the concession. If otherwise, it was but just that the responsibility of error should rest on the House of Commons, which had interfered in the matter. Accordingly, when, a few days later, Mr. Forster wrote to ask for assistance with reference to a bill which he proposed to introduce to legalize the conveyance of letters on Sunday by private hand--a measure, of the abstract justice of which no one can doubt--I thought it better to decline taking any part in opposition to the decision of the House. Mr. Forster persevered, but his motion was negatived without a division.

As Her Majesty,[77] following of course the advice of her Ministers, formally announced to the House that its wishes would be complied with, notice was forthwith issued from the Chief Office, totally forbidding delivery, and notifying that, though letters might be deposited in the receiving boxes as usual, they would remain "unsorted and untouched until the Monday." It was added, that postmasters contravening these orders would be "most severely punished."

It is remarkable that whereas the late hubbub had been all raised against the Sunday transmission of letters through London, Lord Ashley's motion _contained no reference whatever to this innovation_; and though in the public notice just mentioned it was distinctly announced that such transmission would be continued, the announcement produced no revival of the outcry, and the innovation gradually came to be regarded as part of the natural course of proceeding.

It did not fare so well with the innovation adopted at the request of the House of Commons:--

"_June 21st._--Last night there was a further discussion in the House of Commons as to the Sunday duties, on an attempt by Mr. Locke to get a window delivery. It is evident that the reaction has commenced."

"_June 22nd._--Last night Lord Brougham raised the question as to the legality of stopping the Post Office business on the Sunday; and many of the daily and weekly papers of this morning are loud in their condemnation of the measure."

Public inconvenience was, of course, to be estimated in some degree by the effect of the change on the amount of correspondence; the change, it should be observed, first took effect on Sunday, June 23rd:--

"_June 25th._--[_Tuesday._]--The stoppage of business on the Sunday reduced yesterday morning's arrival in London by about 80,000 letters, increasing the mid-day arrival by about 18,000, and this morning's by about 16,000--causing, therefore, a diminution of about 47,000 letters in London alone."

Mr. Locke's motion, which came on on July 9th,[78] was set aside in favour of an amendment moved by Lord John Russell, and carried by a large majority, praying Her Majesty to cause an inquiry to be made whether the amount of Sunday labour in the Post Office might not be reduced without completely putting an end to the collection and delivery of letters, &c., on Sundays.[79]

The Commission appointed to give effect to this amendment consisted of the Postmaster-General, Mr. Labouchere (afterwards Lord Taunton), and Mr. (afterwards Sir) Cornewall Lewis. Their recommendation, promptly arrived at, but expressed after much deliberation, was, in fact, though not in form, that the office should revert to the arrangements which existed previously to the resolution of the House, carried on the motion of Lord Ashley.[80] I endeavoured, though in vain, to obtain a more distinct avowal as to the real purport of the advice, feeling convinced that the juster and bolder course was also the more politic. This opinion was soon confirmed by the manner in which the Report was received by the public press, all the daily papers agreeing in its true interpretation, and the _Morning Herald_ attacking the Commissioners for the indirectness of their proceeding. A fortnight later, however, viz., on September 1st, the recommendation was carried into effect,[81] and though a modification as regards the rural messengers, which had been recommended by the Commission, was, on the advice of the surveyors, adopted by the Postmaster-General, even this change excited so much public dissatisfaction as to produce its partial abandonment.

Thus the whole question of Sunday duties was finally settled, after having kept the department, and particularly myself, in grievous trouble and anxiety for more than sixteen months. During the whole of this period the improvements in the general management of the department--which it was my duty and earnest desire to introduce--were to a great extent necessarily delayed. Moreover, a spirit of insubordination was excited, which, being unfortunately backed both in and out of Parliament, gave much trouble later on.