The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 1 (of 2)Hill, Rowland, Sir
History
The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Hill, Rowland, Sir
Hill, Rowland, Sir, 1795-1879; Postal service -- Great Britain -- Rates
“When the curtain drew up for the farce, which was ‘The
Portrait of Cervantes,’ a part of the audience, intending it
as a mark of respect to Mr. Kemble, called out, ‘No farce, no
farce! off, off!’ &c. The others, who wished to see the farce,
clapped and called, ‘Go on, go on!’ It was doubtful which
party was the more numerous. At length Fawcett, the manager,
again came forward to say that, if it were the wish of the
audience that, out of respect to Mr. Kemble, the farce should
not be acted, he would desire the curtain to be dropped. Some
immediately cried out, ‘Yes; down with it!’ Others, ‘No; go
on!’ The poor man did not know what to do. He again attempted
to speak, but the noise was too great for him to be heard; so
he retired, and the curtain fell. This satisfied but one party;
the other became directly more clamorous. After a few minutes,
the curtain was again drawn up, and the farce proceeded;
but the noise was still kept up, and I was unable to hear a
sentence all the night. I heard afterwards that Talma was at
the theatre this night, and that he was much pleased with the
enthusiasm of the audience. He said that the French talked a
great deal about enthusiasm, but that they possessed much less
than the English.”
He went to the House of Commons, and “heard the Lord Mayor, Lord
Cochrane, and some others speak on the side of liberty.” The debate was
on the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act[61]:—
“It is a pity that every good man is not also a learned and
clever man. I was sorry to find that the Lord Mayor, whom I
expected to be a first-rate speaker, was very deficient even
in common grammar; but, nevertheless, such a man is of more
service to the great cause of liberty than a hundred of your
place-hunters, let their delivery be ever so elegant, and their
grammar ever so correct.”
On June 30th he visited Chantrey’s studio:—
“I left the Gallery with very great regret, and I am sure that
I was sincere when I told Mr. Whitwell [the friend who had
introduced him] that to him I was obliged for the greatest
gratification I ever received.”
The following evening he started for the Isle of Wight:—
“I left London at six in the evening for Southampton. The road
lay through Brentford and Staines. Near to the latter place, in
a field, I saw the place where King John signed ‘Magna Charta.’
The spot is marked by a sun-dial. I was glad to hear some of
the passengers give it as their opinion that something of the
kind was wanting now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account