15 AUGUST 1868, Page 3

The Postmaster-General, in a report upon the statistics of the

Post Office for 1867, mentions that the customof sending valentines is by no means on the decrease. On the contrary, the number rose from 997,900 in 1866 to 1,119,142 in 1867. Most of them are -sent from London, and the number posted in the Western district is larger than that in any other district of the capital, probably from the great number of country servants there congregated. A very large number of valentines, we should add, though the proportion is uncertain, are not printed love-letters at all, but are intended for children, and are often very expensive. In Norfolk thirty years ago a child without valentines felt herself neglected, and to judge by the character of those sold the custom now extends to London.