[92] “Third Report of the Select Committee on Postage,” pp. 29, 34, etc. The gross revenue which rather more than recovered in 1851, was achieved on a four-and-three-quarters-fold increase of letters only, whereas the Postmaster-General said that recovery would require a twelvefold increase. Rowland Hill calculated that recovery would ensue on a five-and-three-quarters increase. [93] Director of the Ordnance Survey, a distinguished geologist, and an earnest worker in the cause of postal reform from quite an early date. He had lost his hands during the Napoleonic wars; and when he dined at our house always brought his knife, fork, etc., and his manservant, who screwed them into place, and changed them when needful, a process which deeply interested us children. He did not, however, permit this serious loss to stand in the way of his leading an active and useful public career. [94] “Third Report,” p. 48. [95] _Ibid._ p. 49. The Superintendent of the Mail-coaches considered that each coach could carry 15 hundred-weight or 1680 pounds. [96] “Third Report,” p. 42. [97] _Ibid._ p. 27. [98] “Post Office Reform,” p. 55. [99] “First Report,” questions 1369, 1372. [100] “Third Report,” p. 34, etc. [101] “Life,” i. 325-327. [102] “Life,” i. 325-327. [103] Father to a later Postmaster-General. [104] “Life,” i. 328. [105] “Life,” i. 329. [106] _Ibid._ i. 330. [107] The _Times_ was now a hearty champion of the reform, and wrote frequently and ably in support of it. [108] “Life,” i. 337. During the writing of this Report my father had frequent occasion to call upon its author in order to check elaborate calculations and to put important questions in the clearest light—on the principle, apparently, that two heads, when each is mathematical, are better than one. “Philosopher Warburton,” as he was sometimes called, was one of the best friends the postal reform had. He was a man of wide influence, and an indefatigable worker. Originally a timber merchant, he abandoned commerce for science his favourite pursuits being mathematics and astronomy. He was a member of the Political Economy Club from its foundation in 1821 till his death in 1858; he was one of the founders of the London University, and served on its first council; and he represented Bridport, Dorset, in successive Parliaments from 1825 to 1841. It is often asserted that a recluse, bookworm, or scientist cares for nothing outside his own four walls or lower than the starry heavens. In this case never was saying more completely falsified. Mr Warburton was unusually public-spirited, a prominent Parliamentarian, and a lucid writer. When my father visited him, he was always received in his friend's sanctum, the dining-room, whose appearance never altered. Dining there would have been impossible, although the table was always set out at full length. It was entirely covered with piles of volumes, most of them Blue Books. The sideboard, save for one small space reserved for