[75] Evidence of Colonel Maberly before the _Select Committee on Postage_, 1843, p. 170. [76] Mr. Matthew Devonport Hill. 1862. [77] _Mirror of Parliament._ Barrow. 1833. [78] Now and then the House was enlivened and amused by even Post-Office discussions. Thus, in the discussion on the above motion, Mr. Cobbett complained that a letter of his, which "was not only meant to be read, but to be printed," had never been received by him, nor could he get any satisfaction out of the Post-Office authorities. He advised all honourable members who had complaints to make against the Post-Office, to make them at once to the House, without having any interview with Ministers. For his own part, with regard to letters being opened, he felt sure that the Post-Office read all the letters it cared to read; so he took care to _write accordingly_. He didn't care about his letters being read, provided they were allowed to go on, as he addressed them. _Mr. Secretary Stanley_ (the present Lord Derby) thought it would be a subject of deep regret that any negligence on the part of the Post-Office had prevented the elaborate lucubrations of the hon. member for Oldham from appearing in the _Register_ on the appointed Saturday. _Mr. Cobbett._ It never appeared at all. Mr. Secretary Stanley was grieved. He felt sure, however, that the hon. member spends too much time over the midnight oil not to have kept a copy of his precious essay. He protested against hon. members taking up the time of the House with complaints against a department which managed its work very well. [79] Some of his motions must have been far from palatable to the powers that were, and we confess to thinking some of them wanting in charity and good taste. For example, September 7, 1835, we find him moving for a return, to supplement another which had been sent in imperfectly drawn up, which should show "what the special services are for which Sir Francis Freeling receives 700_l._ a-year, the number of rooms allotted to him at the General Post-Office, and how often he resides there. Also the number allotted to the Under-Secretary; whether the whole or part, and what parts are furnished at the public expense; also the annual sum for coals and candles, for servants, &c.; also the probable expense of expresses, messengers, and runners, passing between the Post-Office and the Secretary at his private residence," and a number of other items still more trifling. [80] _The Quarterly Review_, for October, 1839, speaking of his motions for different papers, says, "What _grounds_ he had for making them could only be imagined. They were, in fact, the kind of random motions with which a member _fishes for abuses, but is still more anxious to catch notoriety_." The italics are not ours. CHAPTER VII. SIR ROWLAND HILL AND PENNY POSTAGE.