Indeed, that chief clerk was insatiable, and generally succeeded
in making every candidate conceive the very lowest opinion of
himself and his own capacities before the examination was over.
Some, of course, were sent away at once with ignominy, as
evidently incapable. Many retired in the middle of it with a
conviction that they must seek their fortunes at the bar, or in
medical pursuits, or some other comparatively easy walk of life.
Others were rejected on the fifth or sixth day as being deficient
in conic sections, or ignorant of the exact principles of
hydraulic pressure. And even those who were retained were so
retained, as it were, by an act of grace. The Weights and
Measures was, and indeed is, like heaven--no man can deserve it.
No candidate can claim as his right to be admitted to the
fruition of the appointment which has been given to him. Henry
Norman, however, was found, at the close of his examination, to
be the least undeserving of the young men then under notice, and
was duly installed in his clerkship.

It need hardly be explained, that to secure so high a level of
information as that required at the Weights and Measures, a scale
of salaries equally exalted has been found necessary. Young men
consequently enter at L100 a year. We are speaking, of course, of
that more respectable branch of the establishment called the
Secretary's Department. At none other of our public offices do
men commence with more than L90--except, of course, at those in
which political confidence is required. Political confidence is
indeed as expensive as hydraulic pressure, though generally found
to be less difficult of attainment.

Henry Norman, therefore, entered on his labours under good