Tom Tun at the Hogshead sold pretty good stuff;
They'd capital flip at the Boar;
And when at the Angel I'd tippled enough,
I went to the Devil for more.
Then I'd always a sweetheart so snug at the Car;
At the Rose I'd a lily so white;
Few planets could equal sweet Nan at the Star;
No eyes ever twinkled so bright.
I've had many a hug at the sign of the Bear;
In the Sun courted morning and noon;
And when night put an end to my happiness there,
I'd a sweet little girl in the Moon.
To sweethearts and ale I at length bid adieu,
Of wedlock to set up the Sign;
Hand-in-Hand the Good-Woman I look for in you,
And the Horns I hope ne'er will be mine.
Once guard to the mail, I'm now guard to the fair,
But though my commission's laid down,
Yet while the King's Arms I'm permitted to bear,
Like a Lion I'll fight for the Crown."

A good loyal subject to the last.

One of the changes that time and circumstances have brought into the
postal service is this, that the country post-offices have passed out of
the hands of innkeepers, and into those of more desirable persons. In
former times, and down to the period of the mail-coaches, the
post-offices in many of the provincial towns were established at the inn
of the place. In those days the conveyance of the mails being to a large
extent by horse, it was convenient to have the office established where
the relays of horses were maintained; and the term "postmaster" then
applied in a double sense--to the person intrusted with the receipt and
despatch of letters, and with the providing of horses to convey the
mails. The two duties are now no longer combined, and the word
"postmaster" has consequently become applicable to two totally different
classes of persons. The innkeepers were not very assiduous in matters
pertaining to the post, and the duty of receiving and despatching
letters, being frequently left to waiters and chambermaids, was very
badly done. Often there was no separate room provided for the
transaction of post-office business, and visitors at the inn and others
had opportunities for scrutinising the correspondence that ought not to
have existed. The postmaster was assisted by his ostler, as chief
adviser in the postal work, which, however, was neglected; the worst
horses, instead of the best, were hired out for the mails; and for
riders the service was grac