310 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



for Mr. William Page [then, and for many years 

 afterwards, head of the packet branch of the Secre- 

 tary's office], and they discussed the matter fully, 

 when, after hearing the details, the Colonel said, " No, 

 Burns is no fool. He knows what he is about !" ' 



The Colonel obviously did not deal in delicate 

 euphemisms, such as would remind me of a remark, 

 made in the twenties, concerning the writings of Mr. 

 W , a police magistrate. The latter had en- 

 countered, while out riding, a heavy fall, being 

 thrown on his head on a hard bank. That he 

 experienced no unpleasant results he attributed to his 

 habits of exercise and a careful diet. But the critic, 



in noticing this story, wrote that ' Mr. W ought 



certainly to know best, but our equally confident 

 conviction is that the escape was entirely owing to the 

 original firmness of the exterior defences of the brain.* 

 Maberly, in this case, would certainly have gone 

 straight to the point, and expressed his meaning in 

 terms much briefer but not less explicit. 



The net revenue of the Post-Office, which had been 

 declining before the new Secretary's appointment, 

 certainly did not lose way under his supervision while 

 the high rates still obtained. It was in 1838-39 a 

 quarter of a million more than it had been five years 

 earlier. 



I do not think the Colonel could have given much 

 attention to the development of mail-coaches. His 

 inclinations might have leant that way, as he was a 

 judge of a horse, and (I believe) hunted the Surrey 



