To show how much this minute was likely to hamper me, it is only necessary to state that it forbade me to demand any papers whatever, or to send for any officer, without first enumerating my wants in a minute, which was to receive the sanction of the Postmaster-General, and then be sent to Colonel Maberly for him to give it effect. As it was impracticable for me, when entering on any investigation, to foresee what papers or what officers I should require to consult, or even to know what papers were in existence, it is obvious that by such a rule my proceedings would be so clogged as to render satisfactory progress impracticable:-- "_December 10th._--... seem to think that the minute may be converted into a means of annoyance. Johnson, the chief clerk, has refused to show Armstrong [my private secretary] the form of the letter register without a written order to that effect; but the Postmaster-General learnt the fact, and set the matter right even before I could see him. On my calling his attention to the minute, he explained it to be much less restrictive than I had supposed, and at once wrote a second minute explanatory of the first." With regard to the supposed necessity for restriction, I soon learnt that not only the assistant-secretary, but also several of the clerks in the secretary's office, could obtain necessary papers without the least difficulty. I must add that, while at the Treasury, I had similar freedom in relation to the papers there, and even to the officers of the Post Office, and I can truly aver that, so far from abusing the opportunities thus given, I had been careful to avoid everything that could in the least degree infringe the discipline of either department. Subsequent discoveries, however, led me to understand what strong reasons there must have been for obtaining from the Postmaster-General an order rendering access to papers as limited as possible. For, while I really shunned all knowledge on the subject, I could not avoid receiving from casual observation ample confirmation of the suspicions that I entertained three years before as to the extent to which the Parliamentary Committee of 1843 was misled.[34] Restriction became the more galling because, in the very nature of things, the pressure of work was more than enough. "_December 15th._--Learnt from Stow that a copy of the minutes as to the course of proceeding in my department (December 9th and 10th) has been sent to the head of each department in the office. This needless publicity is not, I fear, without an object. The minutes desire that a copy may be supplied to me, without naming any other party."