Any person who has paid a visit to our General Post Office in Lombard Street, and is acquainted with the extraordinary bustle united to the utmost precision visible there, would think, should he happen to alight on a sudden in the Rue Coqueron without knowing in what part of the world he was, that the Post Office therein was that of some small trading town, instead of the capital of the _greatest_ nation on earth. Should he judge of the population by the revenue of each place, he would conclude Great Britain contained some 100,000,000 souls and France not above 3,000,000. It does not require much skill in political economy to discover the causes of this disparity. Commercial nations have a greater number of artificial wants and a most extensive circle of correspondents. To them the expense of postage is no burthen, it is a source of profit. A merchant therefore exults in the number of his letters. Hence the duties of postage are never paid with reluctance. You would never see in the General Post Office of such countries, piles of returned letters sufficient to supply a bonfire. Amsterdam, at the period of its commercial prosperity, received more letters in one day than the citizens of Paris in a week. I will now compare the London and Paris Post Offices, and this comparison is really an entertaining one. I wrote to the Mayor of Chatillon in La Vendée an important letter, requiring a reply. Consequently I was obliged to go frequently to the General Post Office in order to make inquiries for it. [Sidenote: IRREGULAR POSTAL SYSTEM] Upon the first time I presented myself at the office, I inquired whether the post had arrived? “No.” “When do you expect it?” “To-day.” “But you desired me to be here at one o’clock.” “Eh, monsieur! one cannot be _so_ precise.” “When shall I call again?” “To-morrow.” On the next day I returned. “Now, what say you?” “The post is not arrived.” “When will it come?” “To-night or perhaps to-morrow.” “How do you account for this irregularity?” “Who knows? the courier may have broken his neck, one cannot be particular.” “But the post from England is regular enough!” “C’est une autre affaire, les routes de Calais à Paris sont superbes.” The next evening the post did arrive. I asked the reason for delay, and was coolly replied: “there was none.” If I had been a merchant what fatal consequences might have ensued from this delay had I been under the necessity of making a considerable payment!