Note 58 — I THE RATE FOR LETTERS

"In 1797 there were forty-two mail-coach routes established, connecting sixty of the most important towns in the kingdom, as well as intermediate places. These coaches cost the Government £12,416 a year, only half the sum paid for post-horses and riders under the old system. The coaches made daily journeys over nearly two-thirds of the total distance traversed and tri-weekly journeys over something less than one-third the total distance. The remainder travelled one, two, four, and six times a week."—J. C. Hemmeon, History of the British Post Office, Cambridge, Mass., 1912, p. 40.