Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/248

 the Post Office. His public appearances gave no indication of his private charm. He was a delightful companion, an inveterate gossip, and he richly enjoyed both hearing and telling good stories. He was as staunch to his friends as he was to his policy, and he who used the bitterest language about his opponents in public was one of the kindest-hearted men I have ever met."

A warm friendship existed between H. H. and Sir Neville Borton, Postmaster-General of Egypt, and Saba Pasha. It was from the Egyptian Post Office that H. H. took the idea of the little red book of stamps which is now in use in the British Post Office. When these books were first introduced in England, two shillings was charged for them, although stamps to the face value of only 1s. 11½d. were issued, a piece of economy on the part of the "meanest and greatest Post Office in the world" which brought down such vials of wrath from H. H. that the extra halfpenny was soon added, and the cost of the book was defrayed by using the interleaved pages for advertisement.

On October 2nd, 1912, H. H. wrote to Mr Herbert Samuel:

Your charming letter gave me much satisfaction. Your removal of petty annoyances, such as charging a halfpenny for a two shilling book of stamps, and a farthing for a halfpenny post card, entitle you to the blessings of the clergy, for men swore a good deal at the meanness of St Martin's-le-Grand. I have collected the answers of your predecessors for twenty-five years declining to grant the concessions you have made. I would like to publish the splendid result of