TEN YEARS AMONG THE MAIL BAGS: OR, Notes from the Diary of a Special Agent OF THE POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. BY J. HOLBROOK. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. PHILADELPHIA: H. COWPERTHWAIT & CO. 1855. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855. BY J. HOLBROOK In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Columbia. This Work IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THOSE OFFICIALLY CONNECTED WITH THE MAIL SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES. PREFACE. The idea of preparing the present work was suggested to the author by the universal interest manifested in regard to the class of delinquencies to which it relates, and the eagerness with which the details of the various modes adopted in successful cases to detect the guilty parties, have been sought after by all classes. He was also induced to undertake this series of narratives by the hope and belief that while it afforded interesting matter for the general reader, it might prove a public benefit by increasing the safety of the United States mails, and fortifying those officially connected with the post-office and mail service, against the peculiar temptations incident to their position, thus preserving to society some at least who, without such warnings as the following sketches contain, might make shipwreck of their principles, and meet with a felon's doom. It has been said that whoever acts upon the principle that "honesty is the best policy," is himself dishonest. That is, policy should not be the motive to honesty, which is true; but taking into view how many there are who would not be influenced by higher considerations, it is evident that whatever serves to impress on the mind the inevitable connection between crime and misery, if not between honesty and happiness, will aid in strengthening the barriers against dishonesty, too often, alas! insufficient to withstand the pressure of temptation. The author has endeavored to enforce these truths in the following pages, and he relies for the desired impression on the fact that they are not dry, abstract precepts which he presents, but portions of real life; experiences the like of which may be the lot of any young man; temptations before which stronger men than he have fallen, and which he must flee from if he would successfully resist. The most elaborate treatise on rascality would not compare in its effects on the mass of mankind, with the simplest truthful narrative of a crime and its consequences, especially if addressed to those exposed by circumstances to the danger of committing offences similar to the one described.