THE POST OFFICE.
In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and Protector, at 10,000l. per annum. Some idea of their progressive increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:—
| 1664 | £21,000 |
| 1674 | 43,000 |
| 1685 | 65,000 |
| 1688 | 76,318 |
| 1697 | 90,505 |
| 1710 | 111,467 |
| 1715 | 145,227 |
| 1744 | 235,492 |
| 1775 | 345,321 |
| 1785 | 463,753 |
| 1793 | 607,268 |
| 1814 | 2,005,987 |
Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to have been about stationary.
ANTIQUARES.
BEDE'S CHAIR.
This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken for granted, or without note or comment of doubt.