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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
200
It
transpired
in
the
course
of
inquiries
that
in
his
early
days--before
the
period
of
the
robbery--this
man
had
been
employed
as
a
servant
or
assistant
by
the
postmaster
at
X----.
He
left
that
situation,
however,
and
became
coachman
to
one
of
the
neighbouring
gentry.
While
in
this
service
it
was
very
frequently
his
duty
to
drive
the
family
into
town,
where
they
would
rest
some
portion
of
the
day
in
their
town
house,
and
return
to
the
country
seat
in
the
evening.
In
these
intervals
it
sometimes
happened
that
the
coachman
would
go
to
the
post-office,
and
there
chat
and
gossip
with
his
old
fellow-servants.
He
visited
the
post-office
on
the
day
when
the
stolen
letter
was
posted;
he
and
his
former
comrades
smoked
and
drank
together;
and
in
the
end
he
volunteered
to
assist
with
the
letters.
He
did
so;
and
while
thus
engaged
he
managed
to
abstract
the
banker's
letter,
which,
owing
to
its
bulky
nature
and
the
address
which
it
bore,
he
suspected
to
contain
value.
His
visit
on
that
particular
day
was
verified
by
circumstances
in
the
recollection
of
the
persons
at
the
post-office,
and
other
evidence
of
his
guilt
accumulated
against
him;
but
this
testimony
was
not
really
necessary,
for
the
farmer-publican
himself
confessed
to
the
theft
of
the
letter,
and
explained
how
he
had
obtained
possession
of
it.
The
course
usual
in
such
circumstances
followed.
The
offence
was
visited
with
the
severity
which
characterised
the
period--the
man
suffered
the
extreme
penalty
of
the
law.
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