The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

MATTH. CANT. "To the Rt. Honble. Sir W. CECIL." Endorsed by successive postmasters:-- "Received at Waltham Cross, the 23d of July, about 9 at night." "Received at Ware, the 23d July, at 12 o'clock at night." "Received at Croxton, the 24th of July, between 7 and 8 of the clock in the morning." "So that his Grace's letter, leaving Croydon at 4 in the afternoon of July 22d, reached Waltham Cross, a distance of nearly 26 miles, by 9 at night of the 23d, whence, in 3 hours, it seems to have advanced 8 miles to Ware; and within 8 hours more to have reached Croxton, a further distance of 29 miles, having taken nearly 40 hours to travel about 63 miles." In 1635 a public post between London and Edinburgh was established, the journey being limited to three days. This mail set out as a rule but twice a-week, and sometimes only once a-week. An express messenger conveying news of the death of Charles II., who died on the 6th February 1685, was received in Edinburgh at one o'clock on the morning of the 10th February; and it may also be mentioned here--though the matter hardly reflects upon the speed of postboys, who travel by land and not by water--that in 1688 it required three months to convey the tidings of the abdication of James II. of England and VII. of Scotland to the Orkney Islands.