The chairman rose and succeeded in calming the storm; and Mr. Bradlaugh essayed to speak. He had always been an active sympathiser with the postmen and the postal movement. It was not the first time he had stood before them. Once on his feet with a determination to make himself heard, he would not be denied. A towering figure, a leonine head, and huge, pale, clean-shaven face, with its mastiff’s mouth, he looked as ugly as Mirabeau, and as tremendous. Yet there was the charm of simplicity and a conviction of earnestness in his utterance, which made them feel ashamed at his reception. He spoke for four minutes, and adjured them to maintain the principle of combination; to stick together, to exercise their rights as citizens and to use their votes, and to support those who supported them. When he had finished, Bradlaugh received probably as loud an ovation as any who followed. A number of the clerical friends of the postmen naturally took the line of denunciation against forced Sunday labour, and their utterances for the most part were curiously reminiscent of those speeches on the self-same topic on that same platform twenty-five years before. Among other eminent labour leaders and Radical politicians of the day there figured George Howell, who never failed the postmen in their need, and who had interviewed perhaps more members of Parliament and the heads of the Government than any other public man; for at this period it had particularly fallen to Mr. Howell’s lot to represent their case in this manner. Shortly after this great Exeter Hall meeting the society published a balance-sheet, which clearly showed the enormous amount of work involved in the previous two years’ crusade. During the two years of agitation, numerous meetings, both reported and unreported, had been held; they had carried the war into almost every part of the kingdom, they had interviewed public men innumerable, prepared and got signed three monster petitions to Parliament, and attained to the dignity and importance of occupying the time and attention of the House of Commons more than once. The general correspondence of the society during the two years of its existence had involved the writing of no less than 2546 letters; while to the public press communications to the tune of nearly 2000 had been sent out. But, altogether, during the two years nearly 14,000 communications were addressed to Parliamentary candidates, M.P.’s, public men, and others. Truly, the Post-Office had been made to direct its hand against itself. Among the list of subscribers were the names of several public men, including Canon Liddon and Sir Charles Dilke. The organisation of combined postal servants was now being perfected in various ways. Interviewing members of Parliament, both privately and at the House, was now almost of daily occurrence; and Booth and the various others were on terms of intimacy with most of the prominent men of the day.