The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

142 LIFE OF SIR ROWLAND HILL. [1849
reducing the Sunday
force in the London Office
from twenty-six men, the number ordinarily employed
for many years, to three ; ten or eleven, however,
being employed either before five o'clock in the
morning or after eight o'clock at night in the mail
carriages.
When, earlier in these proceedings, I wrote to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, telling him that
I thought an additional expenditure of ^500 a-year
would enable me to adopt measures indicated in my
minute of the previous February for bringing the
Sunday force within its original limits, his answer
was that, if necessary, I might take ^"1500.
''December 28th. Another minute has been sanctioned, subject
to the approval of the Treasury, which will abolish certain day-mails,
cross-posts, and double despatches, now rendered useless by the discontinuance
of the second delivery on the Sunday at provincial
offices. In addition to this the receipt of inland letters will be
confined to the stamped and unpaid, and, as a general result,
the offices throughout England and Wales will close from 10 a.m.
for the rest of the day, instead of opening again at 5 p.m. as they
now do. ... By these means additional rest, averaging
from three to five hours, will be given at the provincial post
offices."
My recommendation for transferring the Sunday
morning delivery in the suburbs of London to Saturday
night was also carried into effect this day, and
I may add that that which was thus found practicable
on Saturday night was at length acknowledged to be
so on all other nights ; and thus was established that
late suburban delivery which is still maintained, much
to the convenience of the public.
So ended the year 1849, amidst clouds which,
though still dark enough to remind me of the storm
that had been raging for the last three months, and