"_Mr. Bentinck_ suggested that it would be better to return to the system of franking, adding that he had always thought that the Penny Post Act was one of the greatest jobs ever perpetrated, and one of the greatest financial mistakes ever committed by the country. "_Sir Francis Baring_, in reply, suggested that the hon. gentleman should try to bring back the old rates of postage, and he would then see what was the feeling of the country with regard to the penny rate; ... that the accounts ought to show the amount of service performed by the Post Office, and the charge was brought into the estimates in order to put a stop at once to the gross abuse of official franks. He was inclined to think that abuse was carried to an enormous extent, and he was afraid if they gave the public offices the right of franking the same abuse would recur. "_Mr. Roebuck_ said there were two objects in voting this money, to know what was expended and to check persons spending more than necessary. The appearance of this item prevented any abuse of the Post Office machinery. The 'Ambassadors' bag' in past times had been sadly weighted. Coats, lace, boots, and other articles were sent by it, even a pianoforte; and not only a pianoforte, but a horse."[213] I hear with much regret that in the present year (1868) the old practice has been in some sort restored at the various Government offices previously enjoying the privilege, and even extended to such as never had it before; the whole change being doubly injurious, since, in addition to the evil tendencies already adverted to,[214] it gives to the estimates of expenditure in the various offices a delusive appearance, to the extent, in the aggregate, of about £200,000 a year, the annual expenses of those offices, and the real earnings of the Post Office, being alike understated by that amount.[215] Before quitting the Reports from which I have drawn so largely, I must mention that the historic sketch of the English Post Office already referred to is followed in the Second and Third Reports by an equally curious account of the old postal system in Scotland and Ireland; and I can safely add that each of the three will well repay perusal. CHAPTER XXVII. POSTMASTERS-GENERAL, 1855 TO 1860. LORD CANNING. Towards the close of 1855 I learnt with extreme regret of the approaching withdrawal of Lord Canning, just then appointed Governor-General of India; my only consolation being the conviction that in the high and arduous duties to which he was now called, the great talents, high principles, strict conscientiousness, and unwearied industry, with which I had happily been brought into such intimate relation, would extend to a vast empire the benefits they had conferred on a single department.