“_November 24th, 1841._—Wrote also to the Postmaster-General, expressing regret that I had not had the good fortune to satisfy him as to the practicability of the measures which I had recommended, and a hope that a proposal (viz., the above) with which I had accompanied the Report would remove his objections. “_November 25th, 1841._—The Chancellor of the Exchequer has read my Report, but apparently with little attention, for he is by no means master of the subject; he seems to consider the plan objectionable, but gives reasons for objecting to it which ought to recommend it. Among others, that almost everybody would take receipts, that is to say, that the gross revenue would be increased nearly fifty per cent! He appears to think, with the Post Office people, that the main object in view is to keep down the quantity of business. My offer to undertake the registration had evidently been overlooked. I called special attention to it, however, and the whole matter is to be referred _privately_ to the Postmaster-General. I begged that it might be referred officially, in order that the objections, if any, might be recorded, but this was over-ruled, at least for the present.” The Post Office bugbear of an overwhelming number of registered letters, which was to produce prodigious trouble and disorder at the “forward offices,” I exposed in a supplementary Report.[319] As gradually appeared, however, instead of pushing forward an important improvement, I was only strengthening Post Office hostility. My reports, together with one subsequently received from the Postmaster-General, were placed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the hands of Mr. Trevelyan; who sent for me on December 29th, 1841, to talk over the matter. Unluckily, however, he had not read my reports, being deterred by their unavoidable length, but called on me to give him their pith. To make this summary more conclusive, I proposed, first, to examine the report sent in by the Postmaster-General; and at length, though Mr. Trevelyan doubted Mr. Goulburn’s approbation, I prevailed upon him, by the mere plea of justice, to allow me to read it. I found, however, that while it did not establish a single ground of objection to my plan, it was written in a most hostile spirit, treating my offer to undertake the necessary organization with scorn; and absurdly representing it as one which would supersede the authority of the Postmaster-General. It was intimated, nevertheless, that the plan itself would be carried into execution if required, though it would lead to all sorts of evils; a prediction which I knew it would be very easy for the Post Office to fulfil. Mr. Trevelyan, after considering all that I laid before him, told me that he agreed entirely with me, and had advised Mr. Goulburn accordingly. Meantime, I had received some information from a private source:—