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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
81
"MR.
EDISBURY--The
woman
whose
complaint
we
herewith
send
you,
having
given
us
much
trouble
upon
the
same,
we
desire
you
will
inquire
into
the
same,
and
see
justice
done
her,
believing
she
may
have
had
her
brandy
stole
from
her
by
the
sailors.--We
are
your
affectionate
friends[!],
R.
C.,
T.
F."
It
would
be
difficult
to
fancy
such
a
letter
as
the
above
proceeding
from
officialdom
in
the
year
of
grace
eighteen
hundred
and
sixty-four.
In
another
letter
we
find
the
authorities
affectionately
scolding
an
agent
because
"he
had
not
provided
a
sufficiency
of
pork
and
beef
for
the
prince"
(who
this
pork-loving
prince
was
does
not
appear);
in
another,
because
"he
had
bought
powder
at
Falmouth
that
would
have
been
so
much
cheaper
in
London."
In
other
cases
they
act
as
public
guardians
of
morality
and
loyalty,
suspending
one
because
"he
had
stirred
up
a
mutiny
between
a
captain
and
his
men,
which
was
unhandsome
conduct
in
him;"
bringing
one
Captain
Clies
to
trial,
inasmuch
as
"he
had
spoken
words
reflecting
on
the
royal
family,
which
the
Postmasters-General
took
particular
unkind
of
him,"
and
can
by
no
means
allow;
and
reprimanding
another
captain
for
"breaking
open
the
portmanteau
of
a
gentleman-passenger,
and
spoiling
him
of
a
parcel
of
snuff."
What
with
all
these
cares
and
duties,
the
Postmasters-General
of
those
days
could
scarcely
have
had
an
easy
time
of
it.
This
sole
control
over
the
resources
of
the
packet-service
explains
much
in
the
history
of
the
franking
system,
which
would
be
quite
unintelligible
without
the
information
just
given.
The
Treasury
warrants
of
that
day
franked
the
strangest
commodities--articles
which
certainly
would
not
be
dropped
into
any
letter-box,
and
which
would
neither
be
stamped
nor
sorted
in
the
orthodox
way.
The
following
list
of
a
few
franked
commodities
is
culled
from
a
still
larger
number
of
such
in
the
packet
"agent's
book,"
found
amongst
the
old
records
to
which
reference
has
already
been
made:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
