THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF FREDERICK HILL.* THE history of the Hill
family affords a curious illustration of an old fable. The father who called his sons together and drew from a bundle of sticks the moral that union was strength, could hardly have desired a more perfect unity for his children than that which existed among the five Hill brothers. On the death of Thomas Wright Hill, in 1851, it was remarked in one of the newspapers that all the sons, like their father, "were publicly useful men; and by a sort of confederacy of talent, accordance of opinion, and unity of sentiment, strengthened each other in their several departments." It is certain that the Civil Service of this country has known few more capable and devoted servants than three of the brothers, and it seems pretty clear that the utility of each was greatly increased by the constant aid and sympathy of the others. How great was even the -unity of sentiment that prevailed amongst them may be judged from an amusing story related by Miss Hill. A plot was laid at one of the Christmas gatherings of the family to inquire privately of each brother which of Sir Walter Scott's novels he preferred. All five chose the same novel,—Old Mortality. The author of these reminiscences, Mr. Frederick Hill, is the last survivor of the united and long-lived band. The history of the first fifty years of his life—from 1803 to 1853—axe written by himself, the last forty being briefly recorded by his daughter, Miss Constance Hill. Undoubtedly the autobiographical portion of the book is the most interesting, covering as it does a period of great national changes and reforms, in which Mr. Hill played his own part. His reminiscences go back farther, one would think, than those of any other living man. One of his earliest recollections, he says, is of his great-uncle, John Hill, a constant occupant of a large arm-chair in Mr. Hill's parlour. Now this John Hill was one of those who enrolled themselves as volunteers to fight against the Pre- tender in 1745. Also, apparently, he was the author of a diary still extant, in which he recorded recollections of Whitfield and Wesley, and described the preparations made in West- minster Hall for the famous trial of Lord Ferrers: To have known a man who went out against the Pretender in 1745 carries one very far back in the history of this country, and as this great-uncle died at the age of ninety-six, it is possible that he may have been able to relate events of still earlier occurrence.
Mr. Hill's memories of his childhood are very pleasant as well as very interesting reading. It is evident that even in those early days his brother, Rowland Hill, was the leader and moving spirit in all their boyish games and amusements. The eldest of the family, Matthew—whose name, like that of his brother Frederick, is chiefly connected with reforms of the penal laws—practised for some time at the Bar before he was elected to a seat in Parliament by the voters of Hull. Row- land Hill, who assisted his father in managing his school, left his home work to join the Civil Service; and Frederick Hill, whose ambition was to follow in his brother's footsteps, remained for some time afterwards a schoolmaster before an opportunity occurred of fulfilling his hopes. His account of
• Frederick Hill: en Autobiography. Edited by °onetime UM London Bentley and Sour
his entry into public life is characteristic of the quiet self- confidence of the Hill family. "The question of Parliamentary Reform," he writes, "had taken a firm hold of the public mind by the beginning of the year 1831. The period being one of national crisis, we held a family council to determine what action duty to our country called upon us to take. All agreed that one member should be spared from the school and set at liberty to take an active part in the coming struggle. I was chosen for this purpose." He promptly enrolled himself as a member of the Birmingham Political Union—his family were then residing near that town—and helped to inaugurate the movement for Reform. Of the struggle undergone by the country daring the passing of the Reform Bill, Mr. Hill. gives a very graphic amount. Birming- ham, thanks to the movement of the Political Union under its president, Mr. Attwood, was regarded as the headquarters of Reform, and it is not unnatural that Birmingham should loom very large in Mr. Hill's recollections of the fight. After the Bill was passed, the author, who had joined the Bar, and was acting as Parliamentary secretary to Mr. Sergeant Wilde, obtained his long-cherished desire for a Government post, being appointed Inspector of Prisons in Scotland under the Act of 1835. The condition of the Scotch prisons at that date was little short of a disgrace to the country ; when Mr. Hill gave up his post some ten years later, they were far in advance of the English prisons of the day. He seems to have been in most respects an ideal official ; strong enough to hold his own with the very half-hearted authorities at head- quarters ; knowing exactly what he wanted, and bringing to its accomplishment a steady and indomitable persistence of purpose; and extremely tactful in his relations with the local authorities, who were sometimes disposed to rebel against his zeal for their reform. In spite of the modesty with which he recounts the story of his labours, it is easy to see that the work accomplished was of a very great importance. Some of his descriptions of Scotch gaols are very curious. For the most part, they were horribly dirty and unwholesome, and unsuited even to the guarding of their occupants. There were plentiful means of communication with the outer world, and prisoners had no difficulty in obtaining whisky, or even tools to enable them to escape :— " At Huntley Gaol it was found impossible to keep a prisoner in safe custody unless an officer on guard was constantly with him. At Kinross I found that the gaoler, who lived at a con- siderable distance, was indebted for the safe custody of the criminal prisoners during the night to the vigilance of the debtors. Observing a bell-rope hanging near the entrance of their room, I inquired its use. Oh, sir,' replied the gaoler, 'that is for the debtors to ring the alarm-bell when any prisoner is try- ing to get away."
Of this same gaol, the following story is told in Lord Cock- burn's Circuit Journeys :—
" There was a culprit, a native of Alloa, who was thought to be too powerful for the gaol of that place; so they hired a chaise and sent officers with him to the gaol of Kinross, where he was lodged. But before the horses were fed for their return journey he broke out. He waited till the officers set off, and then returned to Alloa, without their knowing it, on the back of the chaise that had brought him to Kinross, and with them in it."
There was no system of classification of prisoners attempted, and Mr. Hill found the most depraved criminals let loose among first offenders and men who were only awaiting trial. In one place he writes :— "At Tain I was again surprised by the respectable appearance of one of the prisoners—a young fisherman. The cause of his imprisonment was a curious one. He believed his boat to have been bewitched, So that his fishing was spoilt, and that the only way to break the spell was to draw blood from the witch. He told me he didna prick the auld wife mair than was just abso- lutely necessary !' " The author's work in Scotland brought him in contact with many of the Scotch notables of the day, who seem to have accorded him their warm support as well as their hospitality. Burgh Reform, however, did not meet with approval every- where in Scotland, and Mr. Hill has a pleasant story of an eccentric minister of the Kirk, who was extremely indignant with the provisions of the new Act. When the first Magis- trates were appointed under it, he omitted the usual prayer in their behalf. "This causing complaint and remonstrance, he, the following Sunday, prayed Heaven to have mercy on all lunatics, idiots, and the Magistrates of this burgh !"
In 1847 the author transferred his labours from Scotland to England. The two great reforms in prison discipline which
he was most anxious to bring about, were the substitution of productive labour for "hard labour" and of indeter- minate sentences for fixed periods of incarceration. Both of these reforms have since been adopted to a certain extent, but neither, perhaps, as fully as their author hoped. Indeed, such a system of indeterminate sentences as Mr. Hill advocated would hardly prove feasible if put to the test.
In 1851, he resigned his post as inspector of prisons in order to help his brother, Rowland Hill, at the Post Office as assistant-secretary. The Penny Postage had then been in existence about ten years, and by the time that Frederick Hill joined the staff of the Post Office, the battle which was fought over it was practically at an end. His own work was chiefly connected with the organisation of the Money-Order Department. Of the general working of the office, he has some entertaining stories to tell. The changes in the post of Post- master-General must have been sometimes rather embarrassing to the permanent officials. One Postmaster-General, the sailor Lord Hardwicke, brought his nautical ideas into office with him, and tried to introduce a kind of man-of-war discipline. "He directed that the clerk-in-waiting at St. Martin's-le- Grand, when be took charge at 4 p.m., should be duly informed that all's well,' and that when he went off duty next day at 10 a.m., he himself should solemnly report 'All's well.' " It was also Lord Hardwicke who, "in the beginning of his reign, gave orders that all letters directed to the Postmaster-General should be reserved for himself to open. He consequently reached his rooms to find a gigantic pyramid of official correspondence, which the clerks, no doubt, had piled up in high glee. One day's trial of this arrangement quite sufficed his lordship." Of later years Mr. Hill has always taken a keen interest in all the questions of the day, in some of which, notably in that of the Married Woman's Property Bill, he has played a more or less prominent part. It was, perhaps, a characteristic of his family to take the world and themselves rather seriously. They were strenuous in well- doing, and keenly alive to the importance even of the minor actions of their life. Nevertheless, there is in the autobio- graphy of the last of the brothers quite sufficient humour and lightness to make pleasant reading even for the least serious of the public. Interesting it could hardly fail to be, for the author speaks of times which are now so remote as to seem historical.
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