Concerning this “American” communication and its author I shall have more to say in a future page.
Some 24,000 to 30,000 circulars were posted at an expense of £126 and they produced about 800 favourable replies which, after my return to England (May ’85), rose to 1,500 and to 2,000, as my unprofessional friend, and he only, had anticipated. Meanwhile occurred an incident characteristic of such appeals by the inexperienced to the public. A case containing 1,100 circulars had been sent to my agent for mailing in London, and my secretary had unfortunately gummed their envelopes. Hereupon I should have been subjected by the Post Office to the pains and penalties of the law, perhaps to a fine of £200. But when the affair was reported, with due explanations, to the late lamented Postmaster-General Henry Fawcett—a man in a million, and an official in ten millions—he had the justice and generosity to look upon the offence as the result of pure ignorance, and I received a caution “not to do it again.”
Needless to say that I lost no time about advertising my mistake in the dailies, giving the name of my agent and in offering to refund the money. Some of the sealed and unpaid envelopes had, however, been forwarded prematurely and the consequence was a comical display of wrath in quarters where it was hardly to be expected. By way of stemming the unpleasant tide of abuse I forwarded the following _communiqué_ to The Academy.
“Can you kindly find space for a few lines on a purely personal matter which is causing me abundant trouble? A box of circulars giving details concerning my forthcoming version of the Arabian Nights was sent to London with directions to stamp and post the contents. The envelopes having been inadvertently gummed down, the case was stopped by the Custom-house, and was transmitted to the Post Office where it was found to contain circulars not letters; and of these sundry were forwarded without pre-payment. The pleasant result was that one outspoken gentleman writes upon the circular, which he returns,—_When you send your trash again, put postage-stamps on._ A second is peremptorily polite, _Please forward four stamps to the Adjutant of the —th Regiment._ The ‘Chaplain of the Forces at ——,’ at once ironical and severe, _ventures to suggest to Captain Burton that it is advisable, if he thinks his book worth selling, to put the postage on future advertisements_. A fourth who, I regret to say, signs himself Lieutenant-Colonel, gives me advice about pre-payment written in an orderly’s hand upon a torn envelope (gratuitously insulting!); encloses the 2d. stamp and sends the missive under official cover ‘On Her Majesty’s Service.’ The idea of a French or an Austrian Colonel lowering himself so infinitely low! Have these men lost all sense of honour, all respect for themselves (and others) because they can no longer be called to account for their insolence _more majorum_? I never imagined ‘Tuppence’ to be so cunning a touchstone for detecting and determining the difference between gold and dross; nor can I deeply regret that circumstance and no default of mine has placed in hand Ithuriel’s spear in the shape of the said ‘Tuppence’.”