be concealed there, and to seize all stamps suspected of being forged; thus showing a not unnatural dread lest the secret of my method of reproducing embossed impressions might become known, and result in flooding the country with spurious stamps.

Thus does it sometimes happen that the stern realities of life overstep the boldest flights of imagination. Who in his wildest dreams could have supposed that one of the oldest departments of the State would be thrown into utter confusion, requiring immediate legislative action for its security; that the loss of vast sums annually to the Revenue would be prevented, and that a great temptation and incentive to crime would find a perfect remedy at the hands of a mere boy and girl? Such things are of themselves strange enough, but it is still more extraordinary that the Government of a country which prides itself more than any other in the civilised world on its simple justice and inviolable honour should have received so great a boon at the hands of a youth who was struggling hard to create for himself a position in the world, and who, in the fulness of his unbounded faith in their honour and integrity, placed unreservedly in their hands the power of doing all this, without retaining the smallest check on them for his own protection; and who up to this hour has never received one iota of the remuneration held out to him as an inducement to persevere with his invention, or even one word of thanks acknowledgment of the great and lasting benefits he has conferred upon the State.

Such, then, are the circumstances under which I now come forward to vindicate my honour, by proving the truth of the statements publicly made through The Times; and to claim, at the hands of Her Majesty's present Ministers, such payment or acknowledgment of my past services as may be consistent with the honour and dignity of the State, and at the same time acceptable to myself.

I scarcely need say that I shall at any time be happy to give personally any further facts or explanations that may be desired in relation to this matter; and I may further add that Mrs. Bessemer as well as myself, has a perfect remembrance of the circumstances connected with her suggestions of the dating on stamps, and which has for more than half a generation been a sort of tradition in the family, perfectly well known and fully understood by more than a dozen of its members.

I have mentioned all these facts most unreservedly, that you might be in a position to judge if I have not had substantial grounds for dissatisfaction with the administrators of former Governments.

But the one and only claim I now make has reference to the engagements entered into with me by the Stamp Office, and in this case I merely ask that a simple act of common justice may be done, such as in private life the law would compel, and individual character would render imperative; nor do I doubt for one moment that Her Majesty's present Ministers, who have so nobly maintained untarnished the honour of the British nation in every part of the world, will (now they are aware of the fact) most gladly blot out from the page of history the deep stain on the nation's honour which has been so long recorded in the annals of the British Stamp Office.

In conclusion, allow me to apologise for the length to which I have extended this letter, and to offer you my most grateful thanks for your kind perusal of it; and further allow me the honour to subscribe myself

Your most obedient, humble Servant, (Signed) HENRY BESSEMER.

I need not say how anxious I was to receive a reply from Lord Beaconsfield to this rather bold assertion of my claims on the Government, but I felt well assured that every enquiry among the still existing officials at Somerset House could not fail in establishing the justice of my demands. These printed letters to Her Majesty's Cabinet, Ministers were posted on May 5th, 1879, and were most courteously acknowledged, and resulted in an investigation being instituted. On May 29th, I was honoured by an autograph reply from Lord Beaconsfield, of which a photographic copy is here given (Fig. 6, Plate IV.);

and which clearly shows that both he and his colleagues were not only satisfied of the truth of the charges I had made, but were honourable enough to offer such compensation as they had in their power to bestow, and which I cordially accepted as a full acknowledgment of the services rendered. The form taken was