tardy
and uncertain the mail service by post was in the early years of the
present century; and what he says is a severe contrast to the service of
the present time, which provides for the delivery of letters, generally
daily, in every hamlet in the country. Dr. Russell writes:--

"Since I remember (unless there was a chance hand on a Wednesday) our
letters reached us only once a week, along with our bread and butcher
meat, by the weekly carrier, Robbie Hogg. His arrival used to be a great
event, the letter-bag being turned out, and a rummage made for our own.
Afterwards the Moffat carriers gave more frequent opportunities of
getting letters; but they were apt to carry them on to Moffat and bring
them back the following week."

Another instance of the slow communications is given in a letter written
from Brodick Castle, Arran, by Lord Archibald Campbell, on the 25th
September 1820.

The letter was addressed to a correspondent in Glasgow, and proceeds
thus: "Your letter of the 18th did not reach me till this morning, as,
in consequence of the rough state of the weather, there has been no
postal communication with this island for several days." The time
consumed in getting this letter forward from Glasgow to Brodick was
exactly a week, and when so much time was required in the case of an
island lying in the Firth of Clyde, what time would be necessary to make
communication with the Outer Hebrides?

Even between considerable towns, as representing important centres in
the country, the amount of correspondence by letter was small. Thus the
mail from Inverness to Edinburgh of the 5th October 1808 contained no
more than 30 letters. The total postage on these was L2, 9s. 6d., the
charges ranging from 11d. to 14s. 8d. per letter. At the present time
the letters from Inverness to Edinburgh are probably nearly a thousand a
day; but this is no fair comparison, because many letters that would
formerly pass through Edinburgh now reach their destinations in direct
bags--London itself being an instance.

[Illustration: ANALYSIS OF THE LONDON TO EDINBURGH MAIL OF THE 2D MARCH
1838. (_After a print lent by Lady Cole from the collection of the late
Sir Henry Cole, K.C.B._)]

But coming down to a much later date, and looking at what was going on
between London and Edinburgh, the capital towns of Great Britain, what
do we find? An analysis of the London to Edinburgh mail of the 2d March
1838 gives the following figures; and let it n