ot be forgotten that in
these days the Edinburgh mail contained the correspondence for a large
part of Scotland:--

2296 Newspapers, weighing 273 lbs., and going free.

484 Franked Letters, weighing 47 lbs., and going free.

Parcels of stamps going free.

1555 Letters, weighing 34 lbs., and bearing postage to the value of L93.

These figures represent the exchange of thought between the two capitals
fifty years ago. These were truly the days of darkness, when abuses were
kept out of sight and were rampant.

Down to much later times the bonds of privilege remained untied. In the
Civil Service itself what changes have taken place! The doors have been
thrown open to competition and to capacity and worth, and probably they
will never be closed again. The author of these lines had an experience
in 1867--not very long ago--which may be worthy of note. He had been
then several years in the Post Office service, and desired to obtain a
nomination to compete for a higher position--a clerkship in the
Secretary's office. He took the usual step through the good offices of a
Member of Parliament, and the following rebuff emanated from
headquarters. It shall be its own monument, and may form a shot in the
historical web of our time:--

"I wrote to ---- (the Postmaster-General) about the Mr. J. W. Hyde, who
desires to be permitted to compete for a clerkship in the London Post
Office, described as a cousin of ----.

"(The Postmaster-General) has to-day replied that nominations to the
Secretary's office are not now given except to candidates who are
actually gentlemen, that is, sons of officers, clergymen, or the like.
If I cannot satisfy (the Postmaster-General) on this point, I fear Mr.
Hyde's candidature will go to the wall."[2]

Now one of the chief obstacles in the way of rapid communication in our
own country was the very unsatisfactory state of the roads. Down to the
time of the introduction of mail-coaches, just about a hundred years
ago, the roads were in a deplorable state, and travellers have left upon
record some rather strong language on the subject. It was only about
that time that road-making came to be understood; but the obvious need
for smooth roads to increase the speed of the mail gave an impetus to
the subject, and by degrees matters were greatly improved. It is not our
purpose to pursue the inquiry as to roads, though the subject might be
attractive, and we must be content with the general assertion as to