The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

1850] THE WORD OF A MINISTER. 163
particularly to my immediate official superior,
I have
never been able to account satisfactorily for the constant
adjournment of my claims. I
office, at much personal sacrifice,
had returned to
under a virtual
promise, contingent only on my demonstrating certain
powers : and yet, though neither promise nor
demonstration was ever denied or even questioned,
fulfilment was withheld ; a second contingency being
introduced, of which I had never dreamed, and which
I should have regarded as an insuperable objection to
re-entering the service.
Owing partly to this rebuff, and partly to the
demands on my attention arising out of Lord Ashley's
motion for the total abolition of Sunday work, I took
no further active measure towards the improvement of
my position for several months. Perhaps I might have
been willing to wait yet longer, but for two causes ;
first, that my health, owing to recent labour, anxiety,
and mortification, was now suffering more grievously
than ever before ; and, second, that services continued
to be demanded of me which, on my actual footing, I
was quite unable to perform. The failure of my health
constrained me during this year, in spite of every effort,
and though I was paying no inconsiderable sum yearly
out of my own pocket for extraneous help,* to take
frequent rest sometimes for a day or two, sometimes
* " July 4th, 1850. At the Postmaster-General's ... I spoke of the
absolute necessity of a change . . . that my
duties were too miscellaneous
and too difficult for my present staff to afford me efficient aid, and that notwith-
standing I paid .150 a year out of my own pocket [his salary was but ji,2oo
a year] for assistance out of the office, I had still more to do than my health
would bear."
"July I7th. Called on Mr. Hodgson to consult him on the state of my health,
which makes me very uneasy. Hodgson strongly recommends rest a week im-
mediately, and two months as early as it can be got. A tendency of blood to the
head, occasioned by severe mental exertion and anxiety, is my complaint. I have
no hope of getting so much rest, but I must do the best I can." Sir R. Hill's
Journal. ED.
M 2