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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
295
Nor
can
we
stay,
much
as
we
should
like
to
do
so,
to
picture
the
old
mail-coach--its
glittering
appearance,
its
pawing
horses;
or
to
describe
the
royal-liveried
guard,
"grand
and
awful-looking
in
all
the
composure
of
a
felt
superiority."
In
the
old
times
it
used
to
pull
up
at
the
half-wooden
inn
near
the
post-office,
and,
during
the
half-hour
allowed
for
postal
business,
was
the
observed
of
all
observers.
The
half-hour
was
one
of
unusual
bustle
both
at
the
office
and
at
the
inn;
but,
as
soon
as
the
time
was
up,
the
passengers
would
take
their
seats
(the
guard
occupying
a
solitary
one
at
the
end
of
the
coach),
the
mails
were
thrown
as
a
small
addition
to
the
load
of
bags
at
the
top,
and
off
the
cavalcade
would
start,
to
the
tune,
perhaps,
of
the
"Blue
Bells
of
Scotland,"
if
the
mail
was
going
northwards,
or,
if
southwards,
may
be
"The
Green
Hills
of
Tyrol,"
from
the
clear
silver
key-bugle
of
his
Majesty's
mail-guard.
Now,
this
is
changed,
and
almost
all
postal
arrangements
prior
to
the
days
of
Sir
Rowland
Hill
are
as
so
many
things
of
the
past.
And
into
what
a
grand
establishment
the
Post-Office
itself
is
metamorphosed!
The
part
now
dedicated
to
the
public
might
be
part
of
a
first-class
banking
establishment.
Entering
by
a
spacious
doorway,
with
a
lofty
vestibule,
there
is
accommodation
for
a
score
of
people
to
stand
in
the
ante-room
and
leisurely
transact
their
business.
Then
there
runs
along
the
whole
length
of
the
first
or
public
room
a
substantial
mahogany
counter,
behind
which
the
clerks
stand
to
answer
inquiries
and
attend
to
the
ordinary
daily
business.
There
is
a
desk
for
the
money-order
clerk,
and
drawers
in
which
postage-stamps
are
kept.
Close
by
we
see
one
or
two
ranges
of
boxes;
one
for
callers'
letters--"the
poste
restante"--and
another
for
those
who
prefer
to
engage
private
boxes
to
having
their
letters
delivered
by
letter-carriers.
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