Mr. Page estimates the gross weight of mails per annum for the entire Kingdom, including guards, clerks, &c., as being considerably under 20,000 tons, “a large portion of which was not conveyed by railway at all.” Mr. Page adds, “Assuming, however, that the whole of it had gone by the railways, it would appear that the Post Office paid 1/23 part of the total earnings for the conveyance of less than a 1/400 part of the total weight.” Mr. Page must excuse us for asserting that the total _weight_ of mails in 1855 was nearer to 80,000 tons than to 20,000, and that by bulk it was nearly 200,000 tons, of which more than half was carried by railway. Until September 1838, fifty-two horses started every evening from London, with thirteen mail coaches behind them, to convey the mails that are now carried by the Scotch Limited Mail. The weight of mails carried by the coaches was about four tons, their bulk about ten tons measurement. The horses travelled gallantly up hill and down dale over first-class roads at the rate of more than ten miles an hour, and at the end of six or seven miles they were replaced by others of the same mettle. They were guided by thirteen first-class “whips” of the olden time, and no matter what the weather was, or how rough any portion of the road might be temporarily, the great ambition was, not to be a second after time at appointed places. In charge of these four or ten tons, as the case may be, were thirteen guards, to whom the custody of the mails was entrusted. They were responsible for their safe and faithful transmission between St. Martin’s-le-Grand and their destinations. Each mail coach was considered to require a horse a double mile, to maintain its contract time. As Stafford is 133 miles from London, 133 multiplied by 13 gives the number of horses required, 1,729. The average weight which each mail coach carried was 4 cwt., taken as bulk it was half a ton. The maximum weight that, by the terms of the contract, could be imposed upon it was 15 cwt., a total, for thirteen mails, of 195 cwt.—five less than five tons. In 1867 _one_ horse—of the railway the iron-clad—invented, not conceived, not created—a living, but lifeless thing—yet withal of terrible power, draws, in addition to the same number of passengers that the fifty-two horses could draw, the mails which are to be carried to Stafford and beyond it. Instead of the weight being four tons, it is often nearly _twenty_, and instead of bulk being ten, it is seldom less than forty, often fifty, and sometimes it mounts up to even four or five tons further. But no matter, the iron horse is ready to take its load, and does take it at speed four times as great as the speed of thirty years ago.