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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
158
"Once
on
the
poet's
[Coleridge's]
visit
to
the
Lake
district,
he
halted
at
the
door
of
a
wayside
inn
at
the
moment
when
the
rural
postman
was
delivering
a
letter
to
the
barmaid
of
the
place.
Upon
receiving
it
she
turned
it
over
and
over
in
her
hand,
and
then
asked
the
postage
of
it.
The
postman
demanded
a
shilling.
Sighing
deeply,
however,
the
girl
handed
the
letter
back,
saying
she
was
too
poor
to
pay
the
required
sum.
The
poet
at
once
offered
to
pay
the
postage;
and
in
spite
of
some
resistance
on
the
part
of
the
girl,
which
he
deemed
quite
natural,
did
so.
The
messenger
had
scarcely
left
the
place
when
the
young
barmaid
confessed
that
she
had
learnt
all
she
was
likely
to
learn
from
the
letter;
that
she
had
only
been
practising
a
preconceived
trick--she
and
her
brother
having
agreed
that
a
few
hieroglyphics
on
the
back
of
the
letter
should
tell
her
all
she
wanted
to
know,
whilst
the
letter
would
contain
no
writing.
'We
are
so
poor,'
she
added,
'that
we
have
invented
this
manner
of
corresponding
and
franking
our
letters.'"
In
asserting
its
monopoly
in
the
carriage
of
letters
in
towns,
or
wherever
the
Post-office
had
established
posts,
there
was
always
trouble;
and
so
much
attention
did
the
matter
require,
that
special
officers
for
the
duty
were
employed,
called
"Apprehenders
of
Private
Letter-carriers."
The
penalties
were
somewhat
severe
when
infringements
were
discovered,
and
the
action
taken
straight
and
prompt,
as
will
be
seen
by
the
following,
which
is
a
copy
of
a
letter
written
in
1817
to
a
person
charging
him
with
breaking
the
law:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
