26 
Windermere only, which was well carried out by Mr. John Rigg of 
Windermere hotel. 
My predecessor, Mr. Atkinson, was a gentleman of the old 
school. He put a proper value upon his office, and the responsi- 
bility attached to its duties. Mrs. Atkinson, his wife, was a most 
discreet and exemplary lady. During her husband’s long walks 
she attended to the office in Museum Square. I can see her still, 
dressed in a black silk gown, and a mob cap for head-gear—so 
seemly for matrons in those days. Mr. Atkinson used to indulge 
the townsfolk with many acts of kindness through sheer good 
nature ; but as he never told them he was going beyond his duty, 
nobody was aware of it. He was not a man to court popularity— 
that sort of thing so much chased after now-a-days, of which the 
great Lord Mansfield said, that “it is gained without merit, and 
lost without a crime.” He was master of the situation, and he did 
his duty most scrupulously and well; and as for the chatter of the 
multitude he cared nothing. 
He retired in 1846, and I succeeded him in the office. My 
preceptor was Mr. John St. Lawrence Beaufort, grandson of the 
Rt. Rev. Dr. John St. Lawrence, Bishop of Cork and Ross. He 
was a B.A. of Dublin University, an accomplished scholar, and a 
perfect gentleman. He entered the postal service under Mr. John 
Tilley (now Sir John Tilley, C.B.), and was then located at the 
Surveyor’s office, Penrith. During the greater part of Mr. Atkin- 
son’s tenure of office, the old scale of charges restricted the 
number of letters, as I have before stated. Mary Pearson, the 
town letter carrier, told me that in Mr. Atkinson’s time she had 
once gone to the office when the letters for the town were three in 
number, another time two, a third time one letter, and a fourth 
time when there were zone. To the best of my recollection, she 
served thirty-five years ; and I had the satisfaction of obtaining for 
her a small pension for good service. She performed the duties 
very well. 
The great influx of letters which followed the adoption first of 
the fourpenny, and then the penny postage, rather disgusted Mr. 
Atkinson, A letter for which a person paid 1s, 1d. or 10d. was a 
