12 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



becomes the Postmaster of Barnet, the Postmaster of 

 Scarborough the Incumbent of Taunton, and family 

 claims fall to the ground. 



Still happily, here and there, to the advantage of 

 the State, the old plan prevails — a given locality 

 doing its best to keep the approved stock in its midst. 

 The most thorough-going postal family I know of is 

 that of the present Postmistress of Wetherby. Her 

 mother was postmistress, and her father postmaster, 

 before her. Two of her brothers are in the Morpeth 

 post-office, another brother and a sister are in the 

 York office, and two more of the family, with, I think, 

 a third coming on — i.e., under training — assist their 

 sister in managing the posts and telegraphs at 

 Wetherby itself. Surely that service is not an 

 unkindly one which retains so many descendants of 

 the parent stock. 



It is not probable that Lombard Street would have 

 taken kindly to the modern plan which deprives 

 appointments of all sentiment. A w^orthy but 

 broken-down merchant can no longer be made post- 

 master of a principal city. A fit member of the 

 service is not to be brushed aside in favour of a 

 son who was lucky enough to have had a good 

 father. Todd and Freeling might have echoed the 

 lament of Hindostan. ' The British raj is very just, 

 no doubt,' said a Hindoo gentleman to an English 

 commissioner of my acquaintance ; ' but then it's so 

 dull, so monotonous. One knows in the Civil Service 

 exactly what is going to happen next. The chief 



