Her Majesty's Mails

[79] Some of his motions must have been far from palatable to the powers that were, and we confess to thinking some of them wanting in charity and good taste. For example, September 7, 1835, we find him moving for a return, to supplement another which had been sent in imperfectly drawn up, which should show "what the special services are for which Sir Francis Freeling receives 700l. a-year, the number of rooms allotted to him at the General Post-Office, and how often he resides there. Also the number allotted to the Under-Secretary; whether the whole or part, and what parts are furnished at the public expense; also the annual sum for coals and candles, for servants, &c.; also the probable expense of expresses, messengers, and runners, passing between the Post-Office and the Secretary at his private residence," and a number of other items still more trifling. [80] The Quarterly Review, for October, 1839, speaking of his motions for different papers, says, "What grounds he had for making them could only be imagined. They were, in fact, the kind of random motions with which a member fishes for abuses, but is still more anxious to catch notoriety." The italics are not ours.