The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

1849] SUNDAY DUTY. IO/
CHAPTER XVIII.
SUNDAY RELIEF. (1849-50).
I NOW come to one of the most painful passages of
my whole life. Perhaps, even had I been in possession
of every external advantage, the trouble and anxiety
now approaching would have been very considerable,
but certainly by my anomalous position they were so
aggravated
as to become almost more than I could
bear. The call constantly made upon me to check un-
reasonable demands for augmented force or increased
salary had necessarily raised against me a hostile feeling,
which was but too ready to break out when occasion
offered. To explain how such a contingency occurred,
I must go somewhat backward in my narrative.
At the time of my appointment to the Post Office,
Sunday was very far from bringing to the department
the amount of rest at present enjoyed there. Even at
the chief office, which was usually spoken of as com-
pletely exempt from Sunday duty, more than twenty
persons were regularly employed during several hours
of the day, partly in sorting out the letters for Government
and foreign ambassadors resident in London,
letters technically called " States," which had to be
delivered the same day and partly in doing other
work which, under the existing arrangements, could not
safely be deferred until the Monday morning. Elsewhere
offices were, as a rule, open during most of the