THE ROYAL MAIL.
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance. By James Wilson Hyde, Superintendent in the General Post-Office, Edinburgh. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London: 1885.
In one of those pleasant works associated with our childhood, when learning was made easy by the means of "Parent's Assistants" and "Compendiums of Knowledge," a father astonishes his young family by the enumeration of the number of persons employed in their service. He mentions amongst others that he has always a messenger ready to bring him a letter from almost any part of the civilised world. The children are at first perfectly astonished at the amount of untold wealth their father must possess to maintain such an establishment, when the shrewdest of the family suggests that these messengers are paid for by the Post-office. There was, however, a great moral in the parent's teaching, for the universality of a blessing by no means diminishes the advantage to the individual. The warmth of the sun is not the less a blessing because it shines on the just and unjust. To all intents and purposes her Majesty's mails are carried for the interest of every individual in the country: whether he dwell in the palace, in the garret, or the cellar – all are equally served; privileged classes are unknown to the letter-carrier. If ever there was a democratic community, it is that of letters. For some hours peer and peasant – even her Majesty and the village cobbler – are thrown together in she letter-bag, and arrive the same hour at their destination. In no other department of the public service is there so entire an absence of any social distinction of rank or wealth. The sorter cares little whether he handles the coronet of the earl or the thimble-wax impression of John Smith, the indorsement of the statesman or the pot-hooks of the child, – all are tossed together into the bag in close companionship until they arrive at their final destination.
This equality was not, however, fully developed until Sir Rowland Hill introduced that great change – greater than any preceding social change – the penny postage. Until then, correspondence was practically the privilege of the rich. When letters were charged by the distance, and the whole system was based on differential rates, the poorer classes derived little advantage from any postal arrangements. The penny postage, so far as the masses were concerned, was the commencement of the postal service in Great Britain. Until then, families broken up and separated were frequently without any intercommunication for years, and had to resort to the most curious expedients to avoid paying postage. Sir Rowland Hill used to relate the following anecdote: –
"Some years ago, when it was the practice to write the name of a member of Parliament for the purpose of franking a newspaper, a friend of mine, previous to starting on a tour into Scotland, arranged with his family a plan of informing them of his progress and state of health, without putting them to the expense of postage. It was managed thus: he carried with him a number of old newspapers, one of which he put into the post daily. The postmark and the date showed his
