“A careful reading and consideration of the letters here given will show the impossibility of there ever having been any of the Connell stamps used to pay the postage of a letter, although an inference to the contrary may be drawn from Nos. 5 and 9, being the letters of the Executive Council, but this is due I think to loose writing, or probably meaning that they were in the hands of the Post Office Department for distribution. Against this we see the telegrams to Connell forbidding the issue, three days before they were to start sending them to postmasters, and his telegram to Hale, the Secretary of the Post Office Department of N. B., at Fredericton, forbidding him to send out any of the stamps. In my opinion the Connell is undoubtedly not a postage stamp, but a rare essay only. As a fitting end to this I may add the official account of the money paid for the making of the Cent issue of New Brunswick. -------+--------------------------------------+------------+----------- NAME. | PARTICULARS. | AMOUNT. | AMOUNT. -------+--------------------------------------+------------+----------- | | £ s. d. | £ s. d. |Engraving plate for “One Cent” | | | Postage Stamps | 25 0 0 | | | | |Printing 2000 sheets ” | | | | 12 15 0 | 37 15 0 | | | |Engraving plate for “Five Cent” | | | (Connell) do. | 25 0 0 | | | | |Printing 5000 sheets | | | ” ” | 31 15 0 | 56 15 0 | | | |Engraving plate for “Ten Cent” ” | 25 0 0 | | | | |Printing 2000 sheets ” ” | 12 10 0 | 37 10 0 | | | |Engraving plate for “Twelve & | | | Half Cent” ” | 25 0 0 | | | | |Printing 4000 sheets ” | | | ” | 25 0 0 | 50 0 0 | | | |Engraving plate for “Seventeen | | | Cent” ” | 25 0 0 | | | |