The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

40O LIFE OF SIR ROWLAND HILL. [1864
To the above letter Mr. Gladstone replied as fol-
lows :
" II, Carlton House Terrace, June I5th, 1864.
"Mv DEAR SIR R. HILL, The support you have had from me
has been the very best that I could give ; but had it been much
better and more effective, it would not have been equal to your
deserts and claims.
I sincerely hope you are deriving much benefit from a lightened
mind,
"And remain,
" Always sincerely yours,
"W. E. GLADSTONE."
Amidst the above transactions some events occurred
of no small interest to myself; the first being that I
had the gratification of receiving from the University
*
and the
of Oxford the honorary degree of D.C.L. ;
second an address voted at a town's meeting at Liver-
pool, followed by a valuable presentation of pictures.
I will also mention here that, a year later, the town
of Longton presented me with two fine china vases,
specimens
of its manufacture. About a week after
the date of Mr. Gladstone's letter I had the
honour of receiving the Albert Gold Medal of the
Society
of Arts from the hands of the Prince of
Wales.t
Some time afterwards I received a letter from the
* "June 9th, 1864. Yesterday, received at Oxford the Honorary Degree of
D.C.L. Undergraduates most enthusiastic." SirR. Hill's Journal. ED.
t The following year Sir R. Hill dined at Marlborough House: "The Prince
of Wales," he wrote, "reminded me of the pleasure he had had, during the previous
year, in presenting me with the Albert Medal, on which I told him that he
really presented me with an empty box, and explained the cause, viz., that the
successive blows required for obtaining high relief of the medal had broken the die
before the work was completed. The interval being too short for the engraving of
another die, the Council of the Society had judged it better not to delay matters ;
consequently the presentation took place 'in dummy.' The Prince laughed
heartily at the story." ED.