e (it
being war-time) for fall goods; but their anxiety availed nothing; his
Lordship's letters were not ready; and yet, whoever waited on him found
him always at his desk, pen in hand, and concluded he must needs write
abundantly."

Apart from the manifest inconvenience of postal service conducted in the
way described, one cannot wonder that the affairs of the American
Colonies should get into a bad way when conducted under a policy of so
manifest vacillation and indecision.

But the irregular transmission of mails between America and Europe was
not a thing referring merely to the year 1757, for Franklin, writing
from Passy, near Paris, in the year 1782, again dwells upon the
uncertainty of the communication. "We are far from the sea-ports," he
says, "and not well informed, and often misinformed, about the sailing
of the vessels. Frequently we are told they are to sail in a week or
two, and often they lie in the ports for months after with our letters
on board, either waiting for convoy or for other reasons. The
post-office here is an unsafe conveyance; many of the letters we receive
by it have evidently been opened, and doubtless the same happens to
those we send; and, at this time particularly, there is so violent a
curiosity in all kinds of people to know something relating to the
negotiations, and whether peace may be expected, or a continuance of the
war, that there are few private hands or travellers that we can trust
with carrying our despatches to the sea-coast; and I imagine that they
may sometimes be opened and destroyed, because they cannot be well
sealed."

Harriet Martineau gives an insight into the way in which mails were
treated on board American packets in the year 1836, which may be held to
be almost in recent times; yet the treatment is such that a
Postmaster-General of to-day would be roused to indignation at the
outrage perpetrated upon them. She thus writes: "I could not leave such
a sight, even for the amusement of hauling over the letter-bags. Mr.
Ely put on his spectacles; Mrs. Ely drew a chair; others lay along on
deck to examine the superscriptions of the letters from Irish emigrants
to their friends. It is wonderful how some of these epistles reach their
destinations; the following, for instance, begun at the top left-hand
corner, and elaborately prolonged to the bottom right one:--Mrs. A. B.
ile of Man douglas wits sped England. The letter-bags are opened for the
purpose of sorting out t