[30] There are few traces in this country, at any time, of _public_ letter-writers. This is somewhat remarkable, inasmuch as then, and still in some of the southern states of Europe, the profession of public letter-writer has long been an institution. In England it has never flourished. Some years ago there might have been seen at Wapping, Shadwell, and other localities in London where sailors resorted, announcements in small shop-windows to the effect that letters were written there "to all parts of the world." In one shop a placard was exhibited intimating that a "large assortment of letters _on all sorts of subjects_" were kept on hand. There were never many, and now very few, traces of the custom. [31] Chambers' Domestic Annals. [32] Lord Macaulay. Vol. i. p. 388. [33] No less interesting are the particulars of one year's postal revenue and expenditure, extracted from the old account-books of the department, by the present Receiver and Accountant-General of the Post-Office. The date given is within a year or two of that referred to in the text, viz. 1686-7. The net produce of the year was a little over 76,000_l._, and the following is a few of the most important and most suggestive items:-- £ _s._ _d._ Product of foreign mails for the year 17,805 1 7 The King's Majesty paid for his foreign letters 178 18 4 Product of Harwich packet-boats 950 5 4 The Inland window money amounted to 870 4 2 The letter-receivers' money 313 19 8 The letter-carriers' money 30,497 10 0 The Postmaster's money 37,819 8 11 Officers were _fined_ to the extent of 13 0 0 The profits of the Irish Office were 2,419 14 0 Ditto Penny-Post 800 0 0 The Scotch Office appears not only not to have brought in any profits, but we find an item of absolute loss on the exchange of money with Edinburgh to the extent of 210_l._ 10_s._ 10_d._ Amongst the more interesting items of expenditure we notice that-- £ _s._ _d._ The six clerks in the Foreign Office and about twenty clerks belonging to other departments received per annum 60 0 0 The salary of the Postmaster-General was 1,500 0 0 Two officers had 200_l._ per annum, a third had 150_l._, and a fourth had 100_l._--all four, doubtless, heads of departments 450 0 0 There were eight letter-receivers in London, viz. at Gray's Inn, at Temple Bar, at King Street, at Westminster, in Holborn, in Covent Garden, in Pall Mall, and in the Strand two offices, whose yearly salaries amounted in all to 110 6 8