As regards Arlington's extended tenure of the position of Postmaster-General, it should be remembered that he had not only been intimately associated with the King as a Minister of State, but had become nearly connected in another way--through the marriage of his only daughter and heiress, when an infant, in 1672, to the natural son of Charles II. by the Duchess of Cleveland. The son-in-law afterwards became the Duke of Grafton; and Arlington's continued connection with the Post Office may have been arranged by the king with a view to enhancing the Postmaster-General's fortune in the interests of the Duke and Duchess of Grafton. All this, however, will remain for elucidation when the history of the period is better known.
SUPERINTENDENT IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH.
The Times.--"The author of 'The Royal Mail' has served five-and-twenty years in the Post-Office, and had it been his fortune to turn novelist, like his confrère Anthony Trollope, he would never have been so lavish of invaluable materials. The merest glance through his pages might suggest subjects or incidents for half a score of sensational romances. But the whole of the volume is so full of fascination that once taken up it is difficult to lay it down."
Saturday Review.--"Mr. Hyde's work certainly shows that, even at the present time, the business conducted by the Post-Office is not unfrequently enlivened by romantic incidents; while in antiquarian interest it is rich beyond the average."
Pall Mall Gazette.--"This volume is a storehouse of amusing anecdotes."
The Echo.--"The curiosities and romance of the Post-Office have furnished Mr. J. Wilson Hyde, Superintendent in the General Post-Office, Edinburgh, with a subject for one of the most entertaining books of the year. The book is well written, well arranged, and thoroughly deserves success."
Graphic.--"Contains a vast number of well-arranged facts, some valuable, some curious, about what is pre-eminently 'the people's institution.'"
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & CO. LTD.
SUPERINTENDENT IN THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, EDINBURGH.
Daily Chronicle.--"Within the covers of this bright little book, Mr. Hyde has managed to present a most interesting picture of our Post-Office system in its infant days.... Every page of his book is full of interest."