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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
134
In
1837
the
average
general
postage
was
estimated
at
9½d.
per
letter;
exclusive
of
foreign
letters,
it
was
still
as
high
as
8¾d.
In
the
reign
of
Queen
Anne
the
postage
of
a
letter
between
London
and
Edinburgh
was
less
than
half
as
much
as
the
amount
charged
at
the
accession
of
Queen
Victoria,
with
macadamized
roads,
and
even
with
steam.
Notwithstanding
the
heavy
rates,
or
let
us
say,
on
account
of
these
rates,
the
net
proceeds
of
the
gigantic
monopoly
of
the
Post-Office
remained
stationary
for
nearly
twenty
years.
In
1815,
the
revenue
derivable
from
the
Post-Office
was
estimated
at
one
and
a
half
millions
sterling.
In
1836,
the
increase
on
this
amount
had
only
been
between
three
and
four
thousand
pounds,
though
the
population
of
the
country
had
increased
immensely;
knowledge
was
more
diffused,
and
trade
and
commerce
had
extended
in
every
direction.
Had
the
Post-Office
revenue
increased,
for
instance,
in
the
same
ratio
as
population,
we
should
have
found
the
proceeds
to
have
been
increased
by
half
a
million
sterling;
or
at
the
ratio
of
increase
of
stage-coach
travelling,
it
must
have
been
two
millions
sterling.
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