36 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



having a good figure. ' Tell me,' said I next day, ' what 

 happened." 'Of course I made the tailor apologize. 

 I said to him, " Look here ; if this is repeated, I 

 shall take away my custom." ' * What did he say to 

 that ?' ' That he was very sorry. It was quite an 

 oversight, and should not happen again. I was not 

 to think of my bill (which I certainly shall not), and 

 would I let him measure me for a new coat ?' 



The business of the Post-Office grew with great 

 rapidity. Efficient service, low rates of postage, 

 increase of population, activity and extension of trade 

 — all told their tale. Freeling was dead, Maberly 

 had retired, and Sir John Tilley had succeeded Sir 

 Eowland Hill. He cast his eyes on the western side 

 of St. Martin's-le-Grand. In due course a second 

 General Post-Office, from the design of Mr. Williams, 

 of the Office of Works, arose in the Liberty. 



The late Mr. Ayrton, Member of Parliament for the 

 Tower Hamlets and First Commissioner of Works, 

 laid the foundation-stone in the late sixties. He 

 was not prone to indulge in ornate elevations. The 

 Committee of 1815 would have found him archi- 

 tecturally a man after its own heart. I recall the 

 gravity with which, at the little ceremony of stone- 

 laying, he declared that he aimed at constructing a 

 building for use rather than for show. Success in 

 both respects marked the effort. 



Williams's office was a more costly affair than 

 Smirke's. The social atmosphere of the Liberty had 

 been purified ; rents as a consequence had risen. 



