The publication of this pamphlet was for the most part thought the most daring thing that Clery had ever attempted, especially as it was so unblushingly offered for sale within the Post-Office itself, and under the very noses of the authorities. None knew what would become of the man who could fly in the face of one of the most cherished traditions of officialism; for it had never yet been doubted that the same rules which governed the action of “communicating with the public press” covered such a case as this, and was sufficient to proclaim the author an outlaw. But the writer himself, so far from acting in ignorance of existing rules on the subject, in this very pamphlet challenged the authority of the Postmaster-General in this matter of personal liberty, and in one movement swept the musty cobwebs of tradition aside. In this pamphlet it was incidentally pointed out for the first time that there was absolutely no prohibition against an officer of the Post-Office being, if he chose, actually connected with the public press while performing his official duties. The whole matter had been immersed in obscurity; not one person in five thousand could have quoted the rule which was supposed to overshadow their actions in this respect. But herein for the first time it was shown that the minute issued by the Treasury so recently as 1875, and adopted by the Postmaster-General as a rule of the postal service—and which had been regarded as a menace because not understood—was directed against “Unauthorised Communications to the Public Press of Information derived from Official Sources.” It was scarcely likely that the rule would be so strained in the present instance; and if it were Clery was prepared to fight it.
Certain it is that Clery in no way enhanced his character in the service by taking up such an exposed position. His character officially indeed had been represented as scarcely anything to be proud of; he met with scant leniency at the hands of those over him, and it was rumoured that his days would not be long in the land, that is, of the postal service. It is said that during this troublous period he was “suspended” no less than thirteen times. Then, to the surprise of every one, the supervising officials especially, young Clery, the agitator, was suddenly informed that Mr. Raikes, the Postmaster-General, had expressed a desire to see him. Such a proceeding on the part of any former Postmaster-General was wholly unheard of; and if it was regarded as _infra dig._ for the gilded figurehead of a great public department to voluntarily and unasked grant an interview to an underling so low down in the rungs of the service, the subordinate himself was to gain a little more credit and respect from that moment. The youth was doing the ordinary work of the juniors at the time, and his duty had to be provided for by the superintendent of his branch, to enable him to gratify the Postmaster-General’s extraordinary request for an interview with this agitating subordinate, whose notoriety had reached the august ears. He had but to step across St. Martin’s-le-Grand to find himself in the presence of Mr. Cecil Raikes, and that gentleman he found all smiles instead of all frowns, as he had been led to anticipate, and a welcoming nod reassured him that at least the Postmaster-General was not about to order him to be bow-strung on the spot.