[174] The people of to-day who have never known the old postal system can have no idea of the unanimity and strength of that voice. Memory of the former state of things was still fresh in men's minds; and, with perhaps one exception, no person wished for its return. “Hill, you are the most popular man in the kingdom,” one day exclaimed an old friend. The exception—there might have been more than one, but if so, we were none the wiser—was one of the Bentincks who, so late as the year 1857, suggested in the House of Commons a return to franking on the score that penny postage was one of the greatest jobs and greatest financial mistakes ever perpetrated. Sir Francis Baring advised Mr Bentinck to try to bring back the old postal rates, when he would see what the country thought of the proposal.—(“Hansard,” cxlvi. 188, 189.)
[175] By this time Mr Wallace had retired from public life, and only a short while later became involved in pecuniary difficulties. By the exertions of his friends and admirers, an annuity was secured to him—a provision which, though small in comparison with his former prosperity, placed the venerable ex-Parliamentarian well above want. He died in 1855, aged eighty-two.
[176] “Life,” ii. 9, 10.
[177] “Life,” ii. 58.
[178] The Times (Parliamentary Debates), 15th June 1864. The Money Order Office dates from 1792. It was first known as “Stow & Co.,” being started as a private undertaking by three Post Office clerks; and its mission was to enable small sums of money to be safely transmitted to our sailors and soldiers. Later, all classes of the community were included in the benefit, the remittances to be forwarded being still restricted to small sums. Each of the three partners advanced £1,000 to float the enterprise, and division of the profits gave to each about £200 a year. The commission charged was 8d. in the pound, of which 3d. each went to the two postmasters who received and paid the orders, and 2d. to the partners. The Postmaster-General sanctioned the measure, which clearly supplied a felt want, but refrained from interference with its management. In 1838 “Stow & Co.” ceased to exist, becoming thenceforth an official department, and the then partners receiving compensation for the surrender of their monopoly. The fees were thereupon fixed at 6d. for sums not exceeding £2, and 1s. 6d. for sums of £2 to £5, the rates being still further reduced in 1840.
[179] “Life,” ii. 59, 60.
[180] “Life,” ii. 257.
[181] “Life” ii. 260.
[182] Reputed author of the well-known saying that “Life would be endurable were it not for its pleasures.”
[183] “Life,” ii. 304-307. In 1871 the amount of unclaimed money orders was £3,390. In that year the Lords of the Treasury put an end to this disposal of unclaimed money except in regard to the then existing recipients of the aid; and the accumulated capital, together with the interest thereon, about £20,707, was paid into the Exchequer.—(Editor, G.B.H.'s, note at p. 306.)