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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
207
Whether
any
real
improvement
took
place
may
best
be
judged
by
the
following
circumstances.
Walpole,
who
doubtless
carried
his
prerogative
in
those
matters
beyond
any
two
Secretaries
of
State
we
could
mention,
lent
his
ear
to
both
public
and
private
applications
alike,
issuing
warrants
even
to
further
cases
of
private
tyranny.
In
the
Report
of
the
Secret
Committee,
p.
12,
we
find
that
a
warrant
is
granted,
in
1741,
for
what
purpose
may
be
judged
by
the
following:
"At
the
request
of
A,
a
warrant
is
issued
to
permit
A's
eldest
son
to
open
and
inspect
any
letters
which
A's
youngest
son
might
write
to
two
females,
one
of
which
that
youngest
son
had
imprudently
married."
And
this
inquisitorial
spirit
beginning
with
the
highest,
descended
even
to
the
lowest
class
of
officials.
A
writer
in
the
Encyclopædia
Britannica,
vol.
xviii.
p.
405
(quoting
from
the
State
Trials,
vol.
xviii.
p.
1369),
tells
us,
in
relation
to
this
subject,
that
so
little
attention
was
paid
to
the
requirements
of
the
Act
of
Queen
Anne,
or
the
Committee
of
the
House
of
Commons
just
referred
to,
the
very
bellmen
took
to
scrutinizing
the
letters
given
them
for
their
bags.
One
of
those
functionaries
was
examined
at
the
trial
of
Dr.
Hensey
in
1758,
and
deposed
as
follows:
"When
I
have
got
all
my
letters
together
I
carry
them
home
and
sort
them.
In
sorting
them
I
observed
that
the
letters
I
received
of
Dr.
Hensey
were
generally
directed
abroad
and
to
foreigners;
and
I,
knowing
the
Doctor
to
be
a
Roman
Catholic,
advised
the
examining-clerk
at
the
office
to
inspect
his
letters."
This
witness,
in
answer
to
the
questions,
"How
came
you
to
know
Dr.
Hensey
to
be
a
Roman
Catholic?"
and
"What
had
you
to
do
with
his
religion?"
clinched
his
evidence
thus:
"We
letter-carriers
and
postmen
have
great
opportunities
to
know
the
characters
and
dispositions
of
gentlemen,
from
their
servants,
connexions,
and
correspondents.
But,
to
be
plain,
if
I
once
learn
that
a
person
who
lives
a
genteel
life
is
a
Roman
Catholic,
I
immediately
look
upon
him
as
one
who,
by
education
and
principle,
is
an
inveterate
enemy
to
my
King
and
country."
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