But the articles fell short of the mark. They were forcible and telling enough—as all such articles of the _Civil Service Gazette_ in those days were—and they showed no small justification for the discontent prevailing. Yet they convinced nobody but the aggrieved men themselves; the authorities were scarcely impressed, except with the impudence of it, while they were read with only a qualified sympathy by the other members of the Civil Service who chanced to take them up. The only effect the publication of the articles had on the heads of the department against whom they were more or less directed was to provoke an inquiry into the authorship of what they chose to regard as a gross literary impertinence. The usual voluntary spies and amateur detectives were set to work secretly to discover by their own methods who could have been guilty of communicating the facts, or, better still, who was the actual author, and if he had any connection with the service. If the men knew anything at all, they kept the secret loyally. The authorities never got beyond suspicions which they failed to justify, and so the matter blew over. If ever there was a postal Junius in connection with the case, none but a few and the _Civil Service Gazette_ knew his identity. Before leaving the matter of these articles, of which such high hopes and expectations were raised, it may be worthy of mention as a curious item that the interest and enthusiasm of the men was for some time before kept alive by the surreptitious distribution inside the office and elsewhere of handbills issued from the publishers. Let the handbill speak for itself, and break the silence of nearly half a century:— READ THE “CIVIL SERVICE GAZETTE” Unstamped 5d.—Stamped 6d. July 24th, 1858, ROWLAND HILL’S LAST UKASE! BREAK DOWN OF THE GAGGING SYSTEM! WHITE SLAVES OF THE POST-OFFICE. 31st, ROWLAND HILL’S JOB FRUSTRATED: HIS GREAT REVENGE: The Screw and Gagging System of the General Post-Office. POST-OFFICE REFORMS AND THE WAY TO GET THEM: HOPE FOR THE LETTER-CARRIERS. Coming Emancipation of the White Niggers. August 7th. POST-OFFICE MANAGEMENT: OUR MISSING LETTERS AND OUR LATE DELIVERIES THE LETTER-CARRIER’S “BILL OF FARE.” 14th. POST-OFFICE REFORM BY MERIT: REVELATIONS FROM ST. MARTIN’S-LE-GRAND. HOPE FOR THE OPPRESSED. THE POSTMASTER-GENERAL AND THE LONDON LETTER-CARRIERS. These handbills with the articles were all that remained as sad mementos of a new experience and a great disappointment.