IX Philadelphia Post-Office — Posts, etc.
“Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of ruins, a pleasing example that the paths of honor and safety may sometimes be the same.”
—Gibbon.
We purposely passed over Pennsylvania in giving a statistical account of post-offices, as we intend to make the Philadelphia post-office the starting-point of a more general history, as far as the State is concerned, as also a more extended notice of the system of the general postal department. Again, there are more historical and remarkable events associated with Pennsylvania, in connection with the Revolution, than any other State in the Union.
The history of any one post-office after the Revolution would be a history of all; and, as the writer is more familiar with that of Philadelphia, he is enabled to gather more materials for the miscellaneous portion of his work than if he had selected any other.
The general business routine of one office differs very little from that of another: yet every office has its “unwritten history” and its own “romance and realities.”
New York, with its vast commercial interests both at home and abroad, and justly termed the metropolis of America, could, from the archives of her post-office, give to the world incidents that perhaps would find no parallel in the annals of all the calendars that have registered events of a startling character since the creation of the world.
A post-office, with its millions of letters, is an epitomized world. The letters represent the human race, and contain the written records of their vices and virtues; or it may be compared to a huge volume, and the letters passing to and fro, the indexes to its contents.
Not that the secrets of a post-office become known to its officers by improper means, but by that process of secret modes of detection whose mysterious workings are unknown to those unconnected with the institution. Very little behind the great city we have named stands that of Philadelphia; and its post-office, like the tomb, has buried secrets which an “Old Mortality” alone has the power to bring forth. The task be ours to paint the mysteries of the postal tomb.
The Romance of the Post-Office
History and romance have, as it were, by mutual consent allied themselves together for the sole purpose of mystifying mankind. It is true the first cannot pervert a living fact, but it can materially affect the character of one long since passed away and mingled with the revolution of words, men, and nations. The latter is simply a colorist: the one maps, the other paints. And yet how often do we hear it said that truth is stranger than fiction! The romance of a post-office would be a far more truthful history of the human heart than any other work ever written upon the subject. The post-office is the pulsation of a nation, the beating of a million of hearts, and its records would be the world’s volume. “A mail-bag,” says a writer, “is an epitome of human life. All the elements which go to form the happiness or misery of individuals—the raw material, so to speak, of human hopes and fears—here exist in a chaotic state. These elements are imprisoned, like the winds in the fabled cave of Æolus, ’biding their time’ to go forth and fulfil their office, whether it be to refresh and invigorate the drooping flower, or to bring destruction upon the proud and stately forest king.”26
We have selected the Philadelphia post-office as the scene of our romantic portion of this work, because, as stated, it is familiar to us, and many of the incidents, anecdotes, &c. related came under our immediate notice. We mention this simply to do away with any impression that may arise that our purpose was to exalt one city over another and praise its institutions at the expense of those of other places. The author having received some little credit as a critic in another department of our literature for impartiality at least, it is hoped that he will not be accused of a departure from it in this instance.
The history of Philadelphia is fraught with much interest; it is identified with the name of one whose mild and conciliating views with regard to the Indians made his colonization one of holy peace, and gave to the name of Philadelphia by Christian practice what its Biblical meaning conveys,—“the City of Brotherly Love.”
We annex an extract from a Latin poem, inscribed to James Logan, Esq., by Thomas Makin, dated 1728. It was found among James Logan’s papers many years after his death. The poem seems to have been written for amusement in his old age:—
“First, Pennsylvania’s memorable name
From Penn, the founder of the country, came;
Sprung from a worthy and illustrious race,
But more ennobled by his virtuous ways.
High in esteem among the great he stood;
His wisdom made him lovely, great, and good.
Tho’ he be said to die, he will survive;
Thro’ future time his memory shall live;
This wise proprietor, in love and praise,
Shall grow and flourish to the end of days.
With just propriety, to future fame
Fair Pennsylvania shall record his name.
This Charles the Second did at first command,
And for his father’s merits gave the land;
But his high virtue did its value raise
To future glory and to lasting praise.”27