THE POST OFFICE. 259 



starting for instance from Eomford, and going as 

 far as Hounslow, passing through Epping, Waltham 

 Cross, Barnet, Edgware and South all. A post also 

 was to start from Shooter's Hill through Bromley, 

 Croydon and Kingston to Hounslow; then an inter- 

 change of letters was to take place, and the posts 

 were to return to the places from whence they started. 



Thus letters would avoid being passed through 

 London. But while the clerks at the General Post 

 Office were relieved by this scheme from attendance 

 there on Sunday, the unfortunate clerks in the country 

 would have had a very considerable addition to their 

 work on that day. The plan, however — much, I pre- 

 sume, to the delight of the rural officials of that day' — 

 was not adopted. Even with the very limited amount 

 of correspondence at that time, 1836, it was calculated 

 that an acceleration of twenty-four hours would 

 be given to 3,500 letters. No doubt this ■ number 

 would have been considerably added to after the 

 acceleration had taken place. 



The vast increase in the number of letters, and the 

 different modes necessarily adopted in the manage- 

 ment of the Post-Office business, would perhaps 

 render it impossible at the present time to adopt any 

 scheme like the one suggested. 



That the legislature had not been oblivious of the 

 Post-Office department, is manifest from the circum- 



17—2 



