Principal Churches and Chapels.

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Congregationalists.-Rev. Newman Hall, Christ Church, Westminster Bridge Road. 11 and 6.30.

Rev. Dr. Allon, Union Chapel, Islington. 11 and 6.30.

Whitefield's, Tottenham Court Road; and Tabernacle Row, Finsbury. 11 and 6.30.

Rev. Dr. Parker, City Temple, Holborn Viaduct. 11 and 7.

Rev. J. G. Rogers, Clapham Common. 11 and 7.

Rev. P. Hood, Falcon Square, E.C. 11 and 6.30.

Rev. H. Simon, James Street, Buckingham Gate, Westminster. 11 and 6.30. Moravian, or United Brethren, 32 Fetter Lane. 11 and 6.30.

Positivists or Comtists.-Newton Hall, Fleur de Lis Court, Fetter Lane, E.C. Mr. Frederic Harrison.

Presbyterians.- Regent Square, Gray's Inn Road. 11 and 7; Colebrooke Row, Islington. 11 and 6.30.

Dr. D. Fraser, Upper George Street, Bryanstone Square. 11 and 7.

Scottish National.-Crown Court, Covent Garden, Rev. D. Macleod. 11 and 6.30. Holloway Road. 11 and 6.30.

Society of Friends, or Quakers.-The principal Meeting Houses are at '110 St. Martin's Lane, near Charing Cross; and at 12 Bishopsgate Street Without, E.C.

Unitarians.-Essex Street, Strand.

Little Portland Street.

Rev. P. W. Clayden, Clarence Road, Kentish Town.

Wesleyan Methodists.-Warwick Gardens, Kensington; Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. 10.45 and 6.30.

Brunswick Chapel (New Connexion), 156 Great Dover Street, Southwark. Theistic.-Rev. C. Voysey, Langham Hall, Langham Place, Regent Street. Undefined.—Rev. Stopford Brooke, Bedford Chapel, New Oxford Street, W.C. 11 and 7.

Rationalist.-11 South Place, Finsbury. 11.15.

Sandimanians.-Barnsbury Grove, N. 11 and 3.

The New Jerusalem or Swedenborg Church has eight Chapels in London,—the principal being in Argyle Square, King's Cross; Palace Gardens Terrace, the Mall, Kensington; and Camden Road, Holloway, all open at 11 and 7. Sundays.

The Catholic Apostolic Church, founded by Irving, in Gordon Square, was designed by Brandon, in a style of Early Gothic. The service is of a ceremonial kind, with a full proportion of music, and the robes of the priests, or 'Elders,' are highly pictorial, and probably unique. Other churches of this sect, are at Duncan Street, Islington; College Street, Chelsea, &c.

The principal ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES are:

St. George's Cathedral, Westminster Bridge Road.

Pro-Cathedral, Newland Terrace, Kensington.

The Oratory, Brompton Road.

The Jesuits, Farm Street, Berkeley Square.
St. Mary's Chapel, Moorfields.

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Postage and Telegrams.

THE POST OFFICE.

In

The History of the Postal Service in England, may be told in a few words. Originally, all public and private letters were sent by special messengers. About the time of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) common carriers with pack-horses began to ply regularly and to carry letters. Government posts, i.e. relays of horses and men, were established two centuries later, but as early as Edward II. horses were kept for hire, so that a messenger might travel post, i.e. by relays, and the words "Haste, post haste" upon the backs of private letters of the 15th and 16th centuries indicate that such letter-carrying was not restricted to Government correspondence. 1481 (temp. Edward IV.) despatches by _relays were conveyed 200 miles in three days. The first establishment of a Foreign Letter Post took place in the reign of James I., and of an Inland Letter Post by Charles I. in 1635. Letters were then charged 2d. each under 80 miles, 4d. under 140 miles, 6d. for any longer distance in England, and 8d. to any place in Scotland. The time then occupied between London and Edinburgh was three days, it is now 15 hours. Even in 1740 such letters were only sent three times a week, and on one occasion the London office sent only a single letter. Cromwell effected important changes in the Post Office, and Charles II. re-enacted the statute of the Commonwealth, and in 1663 settled the revenue of the Post Office, then £21,000, upon his brother James, afterwards James II., and his heirs male for ever. In 1683 a Penny Post was, for the conveyance of letters and small parcels in and about London, set up by Robert Murray, an upholsterer, who subsequently transferred it to William Dockwra,-the latter was eventually pensioned off by the Crown (which, however, treated his 'post as an infringement of Government rights), and this London District Post existed up to 1854 as a separate department of the Post Office. In 1710 a statute of Q. Anne established a General Post Office for the three kingdoms and the Colonies, under one head, "Her Majesty's Post-Master General." In 1720 Ralph Allen improved the Cross Posts, and farmed them from the Government for £6000 a year, and for forty-four years he derived a profit therefrom of £12,000 to £20,000 a year, which he mainly spent in works of charity, and in hospitality to men of learning and genius. Allen died in 1764, and the Government realised the profits by appointing its own manager at £300 a-year. In 1799 the annual profits from this branch amounted to £200,000.

Up to 1784 Members of both Houses appear to have exercised from the first establishment of the Post, or at least from the time of the Long Parliament, the privilege of receiving and sending letters through the post without payment. They had only to write their names upon the cover of a letter to frank or free it from all postage, and Members would provide parcels of such covers bearing their signature, for the use of their friends as they might require them. In 1763 it was enacted that the whole address of each letter should be in the handwriting of the Member, but this did not stop the evil,—which was only removed by the total abolition of both Parliamentary and Official franking upon the establishment of Penny Postage in 1840. Up to 1784 the mail-bags had been carried by post-boys on horseback

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239

at an average rate, including stoppages, of from three to four miles an hour. This was he of whom Cowper wrote,

"He comes the herald of a noisy world,

With spatter'd boots, strapp'd waist, and frozen locks;
News from all nations lumb'ring at his back."

Mr. Palmer, manager of a theatre at Bath, proposed to Mr. Pitt a plan which included sending the mail-bags by passenger coaches well guarded, and thereupon he obtained the appointment of Controller-General of the Post Office, and the postboy was abolished. In 1792 a Money Order Office was set on foot by some of the Post Office clerks, and in 1838 it became a branch of the establishment. In 1829 the General Post Office was removed from Lombard Street to St. Martin's-le-Grand. In 1830 the mails were first conveyed by railway, viz. between Liverpool and Manchester. In 1835 they were first conveyed by the overland route to India. In 1836 the stamp duty on newspapers was reduced from 34d. net to 1d. In 1837 Mr. Rowland Hill brought forward his plan of penny postage, and in 1839 it was accepted by the Legislature, and it was put into operation early in 1840. The Post Office Savings Banks were established in 1861, and the Telegraphs were taken over in 1870 by the Government from the private companies which established them. In 1870 also post-cards were first used, in 1880 the Postal Order was introduced, in 1883 the Parcels Post. The gross revenue of the Post Office, as last reported, was £9,413,812, the expenditure £6,352,064, and the net revenue profit to the nation £3,061,748.

POSTAGE AND TELEGRAMS.

Letters to any part of the United Kingdom, including all outlying British isles, are charged, when prepaid, as follows:

and so on at the rate of d. for every additional 2 oz. Letters are not to be larger than 18 inches by 9 inches. Letters posted unpaid are charged double postage, and if posted with insufficient stamps, the deficiency is charged double.

Letters to any country in the Postal Union, i.e., nearly every country in Europe, also the United States, are charged 24d. each, under oz.

Newspapers registered for postal transmission are charged, whether one or more, d. for every oz. (prepaid) within the United Kingdom, or double to any country in the Postal Union.

Post Cards for the United Kingdom are sold at d. each, or at the rate of 7d. or 8d. per doz., according to thickness; for places within the Foreign Postal Union they cost 1d. or 1d. each. Reply Post Cards are to be bought at double these rates.

Books not exceeding 5 lbs. in weight, or the size stated above for largest letters, are charged at the rate of 2 oz. for d. They must be packed open at the ends, so as to be readily examined.

London and its environs are divided into Eight POSTAL DISTRICTS, each of which is treated, in many respects, as a separate Post Town. The following are the names of the Districts, with their abbreviations, viz. :

The portion of each District within about three miles of the General Post ()ffice is designated the Town Delivery, and the remainder the Suburban Delivery.

Within the limits of the Eastern Central District there are daily twelve deliveries, and within the Town limits of the other Districts eleven deliveries. The first, or General Post delivery, including all Inland, Colonial, and Foreign letters arriving in sufficient time, commences about 7.20 A.M., and, except on Mondays, or on other days when there are large arrivals of letters from abroad, is generally completed, throughout London, by 9 o'clock. In the Eastern Central District the second delivery begins at about 8.30 A.M., and includes the correspondence received by Night Mail from Ireland and by the North Mails arriving at 6.40 and 8.0 A.M.; and the third delivery in this District, corresponding with the second delivery in other districts, is made at about 10 A.M., and includes the letters collected in London generally at 8.45 A.M., and the correspondence by the Scotch Mail arriving about 9 a.m. The next nine deliveries are made in every District hourly. The last delivery begins at about 7.45 P.M.

Suburban Deliveries.

There are six despatches daily to most of the Suburban Districts. The first (at 6.30 A.M.) is to all places within the London District; and includes the correspondence by the Night Mails from the Provinces, and by any Colonial or Foreign Mails arriving in sufficient time. This delivery is generally completed in the nearer Suburbs by 9 A.M., and at the more distant between 9 and 10 A.M. The second despatch (at 9.30 A.M.) is to the nearer Suburban Districts only. The third despatch (at 11.30 A.M.) comprises, with a few exceptions, every part of the London District. Except to isolated places, the fourth despatch (at 2.30 P.M.) is to most of the Suburban Districts. The fifth despatch (at 4.30 P.M.) extends to the whole of the Suburban Districts; and, except in the remoter rural places, the letters are delivered the same evening. The sixth despatch is at 7 P.M. Letters for this despatch posted at the Town Receiving Houses and Pillar Boxes by 6 P.M., or at the Chief Office of the District to which they are addressed by 7.30 P.M., are delivered the same evening; except at a few distant places, where the delivery is made early the following morning. There is no delivery or collection of letters in London on Sundays.

Letters for the Evening Mails for the country and abroad should be posted in the branch post offices or the pillar boxes within the London district before 5.30 P.M., or may be posted at the branch offices with an extra stamp before 6 P.M.; at the General Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, with one extra stamp before 6.45, or with two extra stamps till 7.30 P.M. Late Letter Boxes are affixed to all mail trains throughout the Kingdom by which Post Office sorters travel; and letters bearing an extra stamp of one halfpenny can be posted in them every day of the week (including Sunday) at any station at which the trains stop.

Letters for most European Mails are despatched morning and evening; for the United States, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings; for India, every Thursday morning at 6d. per oz., on Friday evening at 8d. per oz. A Late Letter Box for the Continent has been provided at the Cannon Street Station of the South Eastern Railway, in which letters bearing a 6d. extra stamp can be posted up to the moment of the departure of the mail train.

Parcels Post.

Postal Orders from 18. up to 17. are issued at the following rates:

:

241

Foreign Post Office Orders payable in the United States, India, the Colonies, and in most of the countries of Europe, are charged for sums not exceeding 21.-6d.; 5l.,-18.; 7.,-18. 6d. ; 107.,-28.

Telegrams.

Messages of not more than 12 words, including addresses, in the United Kingdom, 6d., and d. for each additional word, if delivered within one mile of the office they are sent to, but if beyond, then 6d. per mile for the first three miles, if three or more miles 18. per mile for delivery. To New York, 48. per word, charging at same rate for address and signature. Continental Telegrams also include charge for address of receiver.

All London Telegraph Offices are open from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M.; on Sundays, 8 A.M. to 10 A.M.; and the following are open night and day :-St. Martin's-le-Grand; West Strand; and the Offices at the following Railway Stations, viz., Great Western, Paddington; Midland, St. Pancras; London, Brighton, and London, Chatham, and Dover, Victoria. Foreign Telegrams are not under the control of the English Government system.

The Parcels Post.

Prepaid Parcels not exceeding 3 ft. 6 in. in length, or 6 ft. in length and girth combined, may now be sent to any part of the United Kingdom at the following rates: Not exceeding 1 lb., 3d. not exceeding 2 lbs., 44d., ; not exceeding 3 lbs., 6d. ; not exceeding 4 lbs., 73d.; not exceeding 5 lbs., 9d.; and so on at the rate of 13d. for lb. up to 11 lbs. Each parcel must be prepaid, be marked Parcel Post, and be handed across the counter at the receiving house, not posted in a letter box. The terms upon which the Government settled the arrangement for parcels and books with the railway companies were: 55 per cent. to the railway companies, 45 per cent. to the Post Office; but the Post Office takes the whole of the receipts on parcels not conveyed by railway.

By Indian Parcels Post parcels not exceeding 2 ft. by 1 ft., nor weighing more than 50 lb., are delivered at any post town in Aden, India, British Burmah, and Ceylon at a through rate of 18. per lb. if not over 507. in value; above that value 18. for every 57. worth. Books, 6d. per lb. These parcels must be delivered by sender at the P. & O. Steam Navigation Company's offices, 122 Leadenhall Street, or 25 Cockspur Street, Pall Mall.

R