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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
302
The
work
of
the
Post-Office
commences
before
"grey
dawn,"
and
long
before
the
usual
period
of
ordinary
business
in
our
towns;
it
lasts
also
far
into
the
"dewy
eve."
When
merchants
lock
up
their
desks
and
offices,
and
complete
their
last
round
of
duties
by
posting
their
letters,
the
serious
work
of
the
Post-Office,
for
the
second
time
during
the
day,
may
be
said
to
begin.
The
hour
before
the
despatch
of
the
principal
mail
in
any
provincial
Post-Office,
thanks
in
great
part
to
the
dilatoriness
of
the
public
in
general,
is
an
hour
of
busy
activity,
seldom
witnessed
in
any
other
branch
of
industry
whatever.
Almost
at
the
same
moment
the
country
mail-gigs
from
their
different
rides,
mail-carts
from
the
local
railway
stations,
the
rural
postmen
from
their
walks,
and
the
receiving-house
keepers
from
the
outskirts
of
the
town,
approach
the
post-office
door,
and
speedily
cause
the
office
to
groan
as
it
were
under
the
weight
of
letters
and
bags.
All
the
force
of
the
office
is
now
engaged,
and
engaged
with
a
will,
if
the
bags
are
to
be
ready
for
the
London
night-mail
due
from
Scotland
at
the
railway
station
in
sixty
minutes.
Again,
the
same
round
of
bag-opening,
checking,
stamping
(only
now
the
stamps
must
be
obliterated,
as
the
letters
are
about
to
be
despatched
for
the
first
time),
and
sorting,
which
we
described
in
the
morning,
is
again
repeated.
The
sorted
letters
are
examined,
tied
up
in
bundles
of
sixty
or
seventy
each,
and
then
despatched
in
the
bags
received
at
the
beginning
of
the
day
from
the
London
mail.
The
bags
are
tied,
sealed,
and
hurried
away
to
the
station.
Now,
at
length,
the
postmaster
and
his
staff
breathe
freely.
For
a
full
hour
they
have
been
engaged
as
busily,
yet
as
silently,
as
so
many
bees
in
a
hive;
but
now
that
the
work
is
finished,
the
thoughts
of
rogues,
lovers,
bankers,
lawyers,
clergymen,
and
shopkeepers;
the
loves
and
griefs,
the
weal
and
woes,
of
the
town
and
country
lie
side
by
side,
and
for
a
few
hours
at
least
will
enjoy
the
most
complete
and
secret
companionship.
Every
working
day,
and
to
some
extent
on
Sunday,
the
same
routine
of
work
is
prescribed
and
accomplished
with
little
variation.
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