THE LIBERTY OF ST. MARTIN' S-LE-GRAND 27 



' The first feeling of Mr. Palraer, with whom raail- 

 coaches originated,' wrote Sir Francis FreeUng, * was 

 to get the pubHc service done well — to apply to the 

 persons most competent to secm-e all the advantages 

 of a firm and vigorous execution of his plans. I w^as 

 brought up in the same school, and as far as the 

 matter has rested with me, I have always pursued 

 the same principle.' But Freeling's influence then 

 was on the wane, and, however sound his reasoning 

 might be, it did not follow that it prevailed.-"*' 



In the Post-Ofiice nowadays open competition is the 

 rule ; but it is not clear to me that it has always 

 secured better results than w^ere obtained under 

 Palmer and Freeling's plan. 



It may be mentioned, in passing, that the Bristol 

 and Portsmouth coach was established under Freeling's 

 immediate superintendence about the year 1786. As 

 Palmer's lieutenant, and inspired by the vigour of his 

 chief, he travelled by the coach on its first journey. 

 Fifty years later, within three weeks of the date when 

 the pen was laid aside for ever, Sir Francis w^as still 

 recommending accelerations of what he termed ' a 

 child of his ow^n.' 



The price to be paid for mail- services depended to 

 a great extent on the number of passengers allowed to 

 be carried. 



There was naturally a struggle in the official mind 

 between cheap contracts but many mail-coach pas- 

 sengers, and fewer passengers, greater swiftness and 

 punctuality, but higher payments to the contractors. 



