Her Majesty's Mails

The arduous exertions, extending over a quarter of a century, and the ever-increasing duties of the Secretary of the Post-Office have, within the last few years, begun to tell upon the physical system of Sir Rowland Hill, and have more than once caused him to absent himself from the post which he has made so honourable and responsible. During the autumn of last year he obtained leave of absence from active duty for six months--his place being filled by Mr. Tilley, the senior assistant secretary of the Post-Office--a step which was generally understood to be preparatory to his resignation, should no improvement be manifest in his health. Now (March, 1864) his retirement is announced, and he leaves us and passes "not into obscurity, but into deserved repose." May he be long spared to enjoy the rest and quiet which he has so well earned, and the gratitude and sympathy which must be universally felt for him. His early work, that would have been Herculean, even if he had not been assailed by foes without and foes within, must have caused him immense labour of hand and labour of brain; the carrying out also of many important subsequent measures, which may be said to have followed as necessary corollaries of his great reform, must have occasioned him an amount of bodily and mental toil and excitement of which the "roll of common men" have neither experience nor conception. Not to speak of his services to commerce, Sir Rowland Hill, more than any living individual, has succeeded in drawing close the domestic ties of the nation, and extending in innumerable ways the best interests of social life. He deserves well of his country, and we are only giving expression to a feeling which is uppermost at this moment in most men's minds, when we add the hope that a debt of gratitude may soon be discharged by some gracious national tribute.[99]