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435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
97
The
post-boy
on
horseback
travelling
at
the
rate
of
three
or
four
miles
an
hour,
had
been
an
institution
since
the
days
of
Charles
II.,
and
now,
towards
the
close
of
the
eighteenth
century,
the
Post-Office
was
still
clinging
to
the
old
system.
It
was
destined,
however,
that
Mr.
Palmer
should
bring
about
a
grand
change.
Originally
a
brewer,
Mr.
Palmer
was,
in
1784,
the
manager
of
the
Bath
and
Bristol
theatres.
He
seems
to
have
known
Mr.
Allen,
and
to
have
been
fully
acquainted
with
his
fortunate
Post-Office
speculations.
In
this
way,
to
some
extent,
but
much
more,
doubtless,
through
his
public
capacity
as
manager
of
two
large
theatres,
he
became
acquainted
with
the
crude
postal
arrangements
of
the
period.
Having
frequently
to
correspond
with
the
theatrical
stars
of
the
metropolis,
and
also
to
journey
between
London
and
the
then
centres
of
trade
and
fashion,
he
noticed
how
superior
the
arrangements
were
for
travelling
to
those
under
which
the
Post-Office
work
was
done,
and
he
conceived
the
idea
of
improvements.
Palmer
found
that
letters,
for
instance,
which
left
Bath
on
Monday
night
were
not
delivered
in
London
until
Wednesday
afternoon
or
night;
but
the
stage-coach
which
left
through
the
day
on
Monday,
arrived
in
London
on
the
following
morning.[54]
Not
only
did
the
existing
system
of
mail
conveyance
strike
him
as
being
exceedingly
slow,
but
insecure
and
otherwise
defective.
As
he
afterwards
pointed
out,
he
noticed
that
when
tradesmen
were
particularly
anxious
to
have
a
valuable
letter
conveyed
with
speed
and
safety,
they
never
thought
of
giving
it
into
the
safe
keeping
of
the
Post-Office,
but
were
in
the
habit
of
enclosing
it
in
a
brown
paper
parcel
and
sending
it
by
the
coach:
nor
were
they
deterred
from
this
practice
by
having
to
pay
a
rate
of
carriage
for
it
far
higher
than
that
charged
for
a
post-letter.
Robberies
of
the
mails
were
so
frequent,
that
even
to
adopt
the
precaution
recommended
by
the
Post-Office
authorities,
and
send
valuable
remittances
such
as
a
bank
note,
bills
of
exchange,
&c.
at
twice,
was
a
source
of
endless
trouble
and
annoyance,
if
it
did
not
prove
entirely
ineffective.
Who
can
wonder
at
the
Post-Office
robberies
when
the
carelessness
and
incompetency
of
the
servants
of
the
Post-Office
were
taken
into
account?
A
curious
robbery
of
the
Portsmouth
mail
in
1757
illustrates
the
careless
manner
in
which
the
duty
was
done.
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