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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
292
A
PROVINCIAL
POST-OFFICE.
Thirty
years
ago
the
arrangements
in
the
north
country
town
of
the
district
to
which
our
imaginary
letter
was
addressed,
and
which
we
are
engaged
to
visit,
were
of
the
most
primitive
kind.
It
has
always
been
an
important
town.
Even
anterior
to
the
first
establishment
of
the
British
Post-Office,
it
was
the
first
town
in
the
county
in
which
it
stands.
Subsequently,
it
was
on
the
direct
line
of
one
of
the
principal
mail-routes
in
the
kingdom,
and
now,
in
these
days
of
railroads,
it
is
a
kind
of
junction
for
the
district.
Postally
speaking,
it
was,
and
is,
a
place
of
importance,
including
within
its
boundaries
nearly
a
hundred
villages,
all
deriving
their
letter-sustenance
from
it.
At
the
period
of
time
in
question
the
post-office
was
situated
in
the
most
central
part
of
the
town,
the
outside
of
the
building
partaking
of
the
ugly
and
old-fashioned
style
of
the
shops
of
that
day.
It
was
then
considered
quite
sufficient
for
the
business
of
the
place
that
there
should
be
a
small
room
of
about
twelve
feet
square
devoted
to
postal
purposes;
that
there
should
be
a
long
counter,
upon
which
the
letters
might
be
stamped
and
charged,
and
a
small
set
of
letter-boxes
for
the
sorting
processes.
Added,
however,
to
the
proper
business
of
the
neighbourhood,
there
used
to
be
a
kind
of
work
done
here
which
was
confined
to
a
few
towns
only
on
the
line
of
mails,
selected
for
this
supplementary
business
on
account
of
their
central
positions.
The
mail-coaches,
as
they
passed
and
repassed
northwards
and
southwards,
stopped
here
for
half
an
hour
until
certain
necessary
sorting
operations
could
be
performed
with
a
portion
of
the
letters.
In
this
way
our
particular
town
held
the
style
and
designation,
and
with
it
the
prestige,
of
a
"Forwarding
Office."
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