Clery had by this time practically assumed the leadership of the young men’s movement, and though but a mere stripling, displayed from the first, in a very marked degree, qualities of leadership far beyond his years. He was a tall, pale-faced youth, with a rapidity and a fluency of utterance, tipped with a musical brogue, that at once betrayed his Hibernian nationality; a decisiveness of thought and action, united to a method of close reasoning, that at once charmed, convinced, and astonished. He was just the spirit and the calibre to set down in the midst of a few hundred young fellows sore about their unredressed grievances, and he obtained their confidence without asking for it.
It was resolved at this meeting that a deputation should wait upon the Permanent Secretary, Sir Arthur Blackwood; but in answer to their request for an interview it was curtly intimated to them that their memorial had been duly considered by the Postmaster-General, that he could not comply with their request, nor did he see any good in granting the interview asked for. By some means Clery got the answer so as to keep it to himself till the last moment, but by it he was decided to call another general meeting that same evening. There were such whisperings and a pretence at mystery on Clery’s part that expectation was roused to the highest pitch, and a few minutes after eight o’clock the meeting-room was crammed almost to suffocation. Not since the days of the movement twelve or fourteen years before had such enthusiasm prevailed among a meeting assembled within the precincts of the General Post-Office. The silence of fourteen years was broken, and, like the cheers of a beleaguered garrison who see the relief expedition within sight, the shouts of the crowded meeting testified to the new hope that had been aroused by the announcement that their petition “held the field.” The convener and chairman of the meeting, Clery, had in his discursive and picturesque fashion gone over every single point of the petition which had been forwarded, and at last, after a rhetorical pause, he announced that he had received a reply which justified him making the declaration that the “petition held the field.” This phrase became memorable to some extent from that moment because of the electrical effect and the enormous enthusiasm it momentarily produced. But it amounted to nothing more than a subtle trick of rhetoric on the part of the speaker, the success of which was not wholly effaced even by the subsequent disappointment when they learnt that the Postmaster-General had met their demands with an unequivocal refusal on every point. Their petition held the field only in so far as that not a single reason had been advanced against it. The feeling of mingled anger and disappointment which had taken possession of the meeting immediately after Clery’s announcement was quickly turned to one of determination to press their claims still further despite the official rebuff. Another petition was forthwith prepared asking for a reconsideration of the various points, but this met with no better fate.
The guns of the second-class movement were thus silenced, and as a sectional agitation the movement itself soon afterwards fell through. But it was not to die in the ordinary sense that sectional movements usually do die. It simply transferred its energies and its resources into a wider field. The conviction had been growing among all grades of the sorting force that they all had grievances in common, and the one that demanded their united action was the manner in which certain benefits of the Fawcett scheme had been persistently withheld. It was therefore decided to combine forces and unite in common action, the juniors and the seniors alike in one camp. This wider fraternal feeling between the first and the second class of sorters was principally brought about by the discovery by Williams—a sorter who had diligently been investigating the matter—of a copy of the full and original text of the much-disputed scheme itself. It seemed to have escaped observation that the text of this document had been printed in the public press at the time of its introduction, and that it had also been printed as a Parliamentary paper, which might have been procured in the ordinary way with very little trouble had they only thought of it. It is, however, a somewhat curious fact to be remembered that for some reason or other it was thought printed Parliamentary and official papers relating to the Post-Office were unobtainable, and that postal officials, to get a glimpse of them at all, must do so secretly and surreptitiously. There was a feeling that one might only purchase them by proxy, while they waited out of sight with fear and trembling lest their criminal intention should be suspected by some prowling Post-Office spy dogging their footsteps. This was the kind of feeling which indeed had governed most of the actions of postal servants for the previous ten years or so, and doubtless this timid reluctance to be seen reading or seeking to obtain printed official documents by the light of day was a survival and a result of the long serfdom to which they had been reduced.
Yet like most dangers this was more shadowy than real, and there was no reason why a man should not, if he were so minded, have ordered this particular Parliamentary paper through his newsagent, or gone boldly to the counter of the Government printers and, putting down his few pence, demanded to be served with a copy. Furthermore, there was perhaps as little reason why a postal servant should not be seen openly reading such a document within the precincts of the Post-Office itself. He might have cheaply gained a character for boldness had he but known it. But Williams, who first set himself to bring the mysterious document to light, though he shared the original belief about the exclusiveness of this particular class of literature, was made of different stuff, and entered on his quest like one equipped for an expedition into unknown regions. Probably he was disappointed that he met with so few difficulties. The simple purpose was invested with a dramatic interest from the start.
Williams, though he was not weak enough to lose the opportunity for surrounding his exploit with the necessary amount of mystery to enable him to pose as the one man on earth to whom the gods had been kind in vouchsafing him the ownership of the sacred screed, yet, nevertheless, if the truth has to be told, came into its possession in the most ordinary prosaic fashion. But the moral courage of him who was thus determined to brave the unknown terrors of publishers’ rebuffs and awkward official inquiries was none the less real, nor was the document itself when so cheaply obtained any the less valuable.
Williams was undoubtedly a man of grit, of indomitable perseverance, combining the qualities of an attorney with the cold-blooded zeal and high-minded courage of a Puritan of old. The suggestion of the Puritan in his manner was accentuated by a tantalising slowness of utterance even in the moments of highest expectancy, and when his audience felt and knew he had something rich to offer them.
Williams the original discoverer, and the chosen few whom he took into his confidence, hugged their precious document close for a considerable time, withdrawing themselves now and again to little out-of-the-way and unguessed-at meeting-places to distil from it the honey drops which they judiciously from time to time sprinkled among the thirsty multitude of their followers.
It was the knowledge of this discovery and that new leaders had been born to them that tended to erase the class differences between the senior and the junior men, uniting them once and for all in a common purpose and under one standard. This was brought to a culmination on April 18, 1889, when, for the first time since the memorable meeting called by Booth, a former agitator, a huge gathering of postal servants of every grade and class met in one of the disused rooms of the Parcel Depot of St. Martin’s-le-Grand. There had been other meetings within the building, but not till now had every class and every branch been represented on the platform and among those in front. The occasion was noteworthy as being the first after so many years on which the classes had met to unite on a common basis, and as therefore being representative of the entire postal staff of the Chief Office. The previous meeting in the refreshment bar had whetted the appetite of the younger men, and a new courage permeated all ranks; for they discerned the dawn of a new era. The two principal leaders and expounders of their discontent were already become as apostles of right and truth. It was Clery for the younger, the more ambitious and the more spirited among the sorting force; it was Williams for the elder, the plodding, the painstaking, the cautious. It was Clery for the dashing, audacious manœuvre; it was Williams for the certain, slow, and sure.
Williams was voted into the chair by acclamation, and from that moment wore the epaulettes of an officer and a recognised leader. The Fawcett scheme of 1881 was henceforth to be accepted as their banner, their charter, and their palladium; and with that in their midst they determined to march to victory, and wherever their leaders should direct. Williams, in his careful, painstaking, lawyer-like manner, expounded the scheme they had met to discuss, and showed to their entire satisfaction that the recommendations of the late Mr. Fawcett had not been applied to them; and that certain things mentioned in the bond having so long been withheld from them, it was their duty to themselves and those coming after them in the service to see that they got all that they were thereby entitled to. There was the tremendous enthusiasm usual with those newly awakened to a sense of their long-suffering, and the realisation of things they were yet entitled to have and to hold. There was much determination expressed, but as yet no plan to proceed upon. It was a great meeting, a splendid cohesion of kindred particles too long held asunder, but as yet there was no proposition before them. Then it was that young Clery stepped into the breach, and proposed the heroic method of ignoring the postal officials by addressing a protest to Parliament, or lying right away to the Lords of the Treasury. After their experience with the Postmaster-General, Mr. Raikes, petitions and protests addressed to him were regarded as having no more effect than paper-pellets. If ever a Postmaster-General came in for a rough handling in his own household, Mr. Raikes did on this occasion. The meeting eventually decided on petitioning the Controller of the London postal service for the full benefits of the Fawcett scheme, and pledged itself to forward a similar petition to the Lords of the Treasury in the event of meeting with unfavourable replies from the Controller and Postmaster-General. Probably no one candidly believed that such a petition would have any more effect than former paper-pellets of similar nature; but it was very necessary as a preliminary stage in the opening of the campaign. A committee, selected from eager candidates, was formed therefore to draw up the terms of a joint petition. The proposal had been much too modest for Clery, who vigorously recommended taking higher ground, and dealing with Parliament direct; but he was now induced to consent to become one of the number henceforth to be known as the Fawcett Scheme Committee. The sorting force as a body had thrown in its lot together; there was to be no more class distinction, the whole contained the lesser; there were to be no more petty rivalries, no more internecine, branch, or sectional differences—not until next time. They were confident they had touched solid ground at last. If this their last appeal to Cæsar proved of no avail, then they would appeal beyond Cæsar, to the Treasury and the public.