Many distinguished men have held the position of Secretary of the Post Office. Of these no one was more indefatigable or rendered greater services to the Department than Sir Francis Freeling in the early years of the nineteenth century. To him was chiefly due the speeding up of the mail coach service. The acceptance of the position by Sir Rowland Hill gave a distinction to the office which it has never since lost. He was followed by Sir John Tilley, who was the last Secretary to be appointed from the staff of the Post Office. The men who have been appointed since his day have usually come from posts outside in which they have made a name. Sir Arthur Blackwood was Secretary for sixteen years, and he came from the Treasury. The Treasury always keeps a watchful eye on the Post Office, which is a revenue-earning Department, and the somewhat extravagant outlay on the purchase of the telegraphs was not at all pleasing to the Treasury. So Sir Arthur Blackwood, steeped in Treasury traditions, was sent to watch over the Post Office. He was known outside the Department as a religious enthusiast and an active philanthropist. He was a man of fine presence and great personal charm—he had been known in society in his youth as “Beauty Blackwood,” and though in matters of religion he gave the impression of being extremely rigid and unbending, he was as an official exceedingly wily and diplomatic. The late Sir Spencer Walpole, who succeeded him, had previously been Governor of the Isle of Man; he was a writer, and had published a _History of England from 1815_. The Assistant Secretaries have included several men who were not only able administrators, but who were known outside the walls of the office. In another chapter I have spoken of Mr. Frank Ives Scudamore, C.B., who was one of the most remarkable men who ever served in the Post Office. Mr. Herbert Joyce, C.B., was an Assistant Secretary, and he wrote a _History of the Post Office_ which is the standard work on the subject. Mr. F. E. Baines, C.B., was also an able administrator. He rendered valuable services during the period of the transfer of the telegraphs and in the organisation of the parcel post. He was an official with ideas, and he possessed what is rare in a permanent official, the quality of enthusiasm. He has published two books, _Forty Years at the Post Office_ and _On the Track of the Mail Coach_, which are important contributions to the history of the Post Office. Mr. H. Buxton Forman, C.B., who was long associated with the foreign business of the Department, is known also as the editor and biographer of Keats, and as the author of several works dealing with the Keats and Shelley circles.