he direction and the seal, and then to write
on the flaps and in the space over "My dear ---," sometimes crossing the
writing till the whole letter was chequer work. For if the letter was to
cost the receiver so much, it seemed fair to let him get as much as
possible. Letters were almost always sealed, and it took neat and
practised hands to fold and seal them nicely, without awkward corners
sticking out.

Newspapers, if folded so as to show the red Government stamp, went for a
penny, but nothing might be put into them, and not a word beyond the
address written on them. The reason of all this was that the cost of
carriage was then so great that it could only be made to answer by those
high rates, and by preventing everything but real letters and newspapers
from being thus taken. As Government then, as now, was at the expense of
postage, its own correspondence went free, and therefore all Members of
Parliament had the privilege of sending letters freely. They were
allowed to post eleven a day, which might contain as much as would weigh
an ounce, without charge, if they wrote the date at the top and their
name in the right hand corner. This was called franking, and plenty of
letters by no means on public business travelled in that way.

There was no post office in Otterbourne till between 1836 and 1840; for,
of course there were few letters written or received, and thus it did not
seem to many persons worth while for village children to learn to write.
If they did go into service at a distance from home, their letters would
cost more than their friends could afford to pay. This was a sad thing,
and broke up and cut up families very much more than any distance does
now. It really is easier to keep up intercourse with a person in America
or even New Zealand now, than it was then with one in Scotland,
Northumberland, or Cornwall; for travelling was so expensive that visits
could seldom be made, and servants could not go to their homes unless
they were within such a short distance as to be able to travel by coach
or by carrier's cart, or even walking all the way, getting a cast now and
then by a cart.

People who did not travel by coaches, or who went where there was no
coach, hired post-chaises, close carriages something like flies. Most
inns, where the coaches kept their horses, possessed a post-chaise, and
were licensed to let out post horses for hire. Most of the gentlefolks'
families kept a close carriage cal