The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the

42O
LIFE OF SIR ROWLAND HILL.
has dictated, and, further, that I am not disturbed by others ; but
herein lies the difficulty. To control myself is easy enough, but
effectually to control others is beyond my power.
" Under the former head, I find that any kind of locomotion,
except within certain narrow limits, invariably proves hurtful
producing pain in the head, a feeling of incapacity for self-
guidance, and, if persisted in, downright vertigo the most perfect
rest during some hours being necessary to restore me to the
normal state. It is more than five years since I was in a railway-
carriage, and I dare not venture on a further trial, even could I get
to the stations, which, with a few unimportant exceptions, are
beyond my reach; my drives, even under the most favourable
circumstances, being limited to twenty or, at the utmost, to twentyfive
minutes. Soon after its completion I managed to reach the
but the Thames Embankment and the new Post
Holborn Viaduct ;
Office I have never seen. As to walking, a few yards to and from
the carriage is all that I can attempt. In my own rooms, indeed,
and in an adjoining balcony constructed for the purpose, I am able,
at certain hours, neither long after nor shortly before a meal, to pace
a little every day. The restriction is not owing to any lack of
muscular strength, but simply to the painful effect on my head."
It was, he says, so far back as the year 1839 that he
could trace the first indications of this coming inability
to walk. It had grown upon him till, about the year
1868, he fell into the state which he has thus de-
"
This is the
scribed, from which he never recovered.
more remarkable," he adds, " because, when a young
man, I was the best walker of the brotherhood, and
could 'do' my thirty miles a day for, I believe, any
number of days in succession." He managed, never-
theless, for many years to dine with the Royal Society
Club.
" I cannot explain, fully at least, why I can visit one club and not
the others, the distance from home being practically the same for
and excitement afforded
all. One reason, no doubt, is the pleasure
by meeting men of eminence whose conversation greatly interests
me. Another, the rest and reinvigoration resulting from the dinner ;
and lastly, and perhaps chiefly, that the meetings are so frequent as