1 64 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OP YORE 



discussion. We must by no means regard Palmer 

 as a mere sentimental reformer. Nothing could 

 be wider of the truth. He thought he saAV, in 

 thus being of service to the public, an excellent 

 ojiportunity of furthering his oAvn fortunes. He 

 had observed how great a fortune Allen had made 

 by the posts being farmed to him, and although 

 by this time the business of the Post Office was 

 grown too huge to be let out at a rent, his acute 

 mind, as we have seen, devised a plan that 

 brouo^ht him little financial risk or outlay. His 

 were the brains ; the Post Office, and the 

 contractors who horsed the coaches, took the 

 responsibility and the risk, if any. 



It was now only to be expected that he should 

 be rewarded for his idea and for the way in which 

 he had brought the plan into being. He was 

 accordingly, but not until October 1786, 

 appointed Comptroller-General, with a yearly 

 salary of £1,500, and 2i per cent, on the net 

 revenue in excess of £250,000 ; which sum 

 represented the former Post Office revenue of 

 £150,000 plus the £90,000 the newly-raised rates 

 of postage had added to the year's takings. 



It is not the purpose of these jiages to enter 

 into the long and pitiful story of the hatreds and 

 jealousies that Palmer's appearance at the Post 

 Office excited, nor does the subject in hand admit 

 any extended study of Palmer's own character. 

 When he went to the Post Office as Comptroller- 

 General, he went with a determination to be 

 unfettered in his actions, and expected to be 



