Within half an hour after the placard was on view in Prescott, a man who heard it read, exclaimed excitedly: "I know all about it, I have the bag at home." It turned out that this man had found the bag, rifled it, and used part of the money, and, carried away with the prospect of the large reward, had actually informed on himself. The other case is noteworthy on account of the energy displayed by the loser of a valuable letter, in pursuing and securing the conviction of the thief. The letter, which contained L200, was posted in Toronto, and addressed to a gentleman living near L'Original. As the department, owing to the lack of effective aid, was limited in its efforts to advertising the loss in the newspapers and by placards, the loser of the letter took the inquiries into his own hands. He spent nearly a year in his investigations, travelling up and down the country between Montreal and Toronto, and in the state of New York, covering a distance of upwards of two thousand one hundred miles. It is satisfactory to be able to say that he managed to locate and secure the arrest and conviction of the thief. So well had he done his work, that the deputy postmaster general adjudged him to be entitled to the L50 reward offered by the department. FOOTNOTES: [211] Freeling to Stayner, August 7, 1830. [212] Freeling to Stayner, September 25, 1828. [213] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, II. [214] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. [215] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, III. [216] _Journals of Assembly_, L.C., 1831, App. F.F. [217] _Journals of Assembly_, L.C., 1831-1832, p. 415. [218] _Ibid._, 1832-1833, p. 561. [219] _Report, Journals of Assembly_, 1831-1832, App. 201. Address to king, _Journals_, 1832-1833, p. 137. [220] _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV. [221] _Can. Arch._, Q. 380, p. 417. [222] November 27, 1833, _Can. Arch._, Br. P.O. Transcripts, IV. [223] _Imperial Statutes_, 4, William IV. c. 7. [224] The bill for Upper Canada is printed in App. 8 to the _Journals of the Assembly_ for 1835. Those submitted to the other provinces were identical except as to the maximum to be contributed by the province in the event of a financial deficit. CHAPTER X The beginnings of the postal service in the Maritime provinces--Complaints of newspaper publishers--Reception given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances. Up to this point the narrative since the American Revolution has been confined to Upper and Lower Canada. The Maritime provinces have been mentioned only in so far as it was necessary to describe the means by which the Canadas maintained communication with Great Britain. It is now time to relate the events connected with the beginnings of the inland posts in the Maritime provinces.