fantastical. The vest was retained, but the shape and
material were altered; the surcoat of cloth was discarded for velvet and
rich plush, adorned with buckles of precious stones and chains of gold;
the Spanish leather boots were laid aside for high-heeled shoes with
rosettes and silver buckles. Towards the close of the reign the costume
became much plainer. Through all these varying fashions the periwig,
introduced in 1663, held its own, increasing in length and luxuriance
with time. On its first coming into general use, the clergy had cried
out against it as ministering to the vanity and extravagance of the age;
but in a while many of them adopted its use, for, as Granger remarks,
"it was observed that a periwig procured many persons a respect and even
veneration which they mere strangers to before, and to which they had
not the least claim from their personal merit."

Amongst other strange innovations and various improvements known in
this reign, the introduction of a penny post may be considered the
most useful. King James I., of happy memory, had, in imitation of like
regulations in other countries, established a general post for foreign
parts; King Charles I. had given orders to Thomas Witherings, Esquire,
his postmaster-general, to settle "a running post or two, to run night
and day between Edinburgh, in Scotland, and the city of London, to go
thither and back in six days;" but the organization of a penny post,
for the conveyance of letters and parcels throughout the capital
and suburbs, was reserved for the reign of the merry monarch. This
beneficial scheme was originated by an upholsterer named Murray, who
communicated it to one William Dockwra, a man who for over ten years had
laboured with fidelity in the Custom House. Uniting their efforts, they,
with great labour and vast expense, carried the plan into execution in
the year 1680.

The principal office was stationed at the residence of William Dockwra,
in Lime Street; seven sorting-houses and as many as four hundred
receiving-houses were speedily established in the cities of London,
Westminster, and the suburbs; and a great number of clerks and
messengers were employed to collect, enter, and deliver parcels and
letters not exceeding one pound in weight nor ten pounds in value.
Stamps were used as an acknowledgment that postage was paid, and
likewise to mark the hours when letters were sent out from the offices,
by which, in case of delay, its cause might be