The post office and its story an interesting account of the activities of a great government department

CHAPTER XX THE HEAD POSTMASTER The supporters of an Established Church have often argued that the presence in any town or village of a State official pledged to the promotion of righteousness and the spiritual life is a national asset, and that it is to the advantage of every citizen to have a centre of sweet reasonableness provided for him at the rectory or vicarage. It is certainly a tradition of English country life to look to the clergyman of a parish to take the lead in many local matters, especially in those of a philanthropic character. But there is also in every village and town another State official who in consequence of the varied nature of his duties is the guide and counsellor of the public in a number of their temporal concerns, and who is by virtue of his office appealed to constantly on matters which lie far outside his official labours. For he is always “On his Majesty's Service,” and he is expected to live up to that position, to be a walking Encyclopedia Britannica, a local Who's Who? a financial adviser, a boarding and lodging house agent, and to know everything, in fact, which the clergyman does not know, and is not expected to know. The Post Office is regarded not so much as a centre of sweet reasonableness as a centre of light and information which can be applied to without money and without price.