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Title: Her Majesty's Mails

An Historical and Descriptive Account of the British Post-Office

Author: William Lewins

Release Date: February 18, 2013 [eBook #42129]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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HER MAJESTY'S MAILS:

AN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
ACCOUNT OF
THE BRITISH POST-OFFICE.
TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDIX.

BY
WILLIAM LEWINS.

"OUR ENGLISH POST-OFFICE IS A SPLENDID TRIUMPH
OF CIVILIZATION."—Lord Macaulay.

 

 

 

LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON,
14, LUDGATE HILL.

1864.

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LONDON:
R. CLAY, SON, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS,
BREAD STREET HILL.

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PREFACE.

This volume is the first of a contemplated series designed to furnish some account of the history and ordinary working of the revenue departments of the country—to do for the great Governmental industries what Mr. Smiles has so ably done (to compare his great things with our small) for the profession of civil engineering and several national industries. Few attempts have ever been made to trace the rise and progress of the invaluable institution of the Post-Office. We have more than once seen the question asked in Notes and Queries—that sine quâ non of the curious and the learned—where a continuous account might be found of English postal history. In each case, the inquirer has been referred to a short summary of the history of the Post-Office, prefixed to the Postmaster-General's First Report. Since that, the Messrs. Black, in the eighth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, have supplied an excellent and more extended notice. Still more recently, however, in an admirable paper on the Post-Office in Fraser's Magazine, Mr. Matthew D. Hill has expressed his astonishment that so little study has been given to the subject—that it "has attracted the attention of so small a number of students, and of each, as it would appear, for so short a time." "I have not been able to find," adds Mr. Hill, "that even Germany has produced a single work which affects to furnish more than a sketch or outline of postal history." The first part of the following pages is offered as a contribution to the study of the subject, in the hope that it will be allowed to fill the vacant place, at any rate, until the work is done more worthily. With regard to that most interesting episode in the history of the Post-Office which resulted in the penny-post reform, the materials for our work—scanty though they undoubtedly are in the earlier periods—are here sufficiently abundant. The scope, however, of the present undertaking would not allow of much more than a proportionate amount of space being devoted to that epoch. Besides, the history of that eventful struggle can be properly told but by one hand, and that hand, if spared, intends, we believe, to tell his own story. Mr. Torrens MacCullagh, in his Life of Sir James Graham, has thrown much new light on the letter-opening transactions of 1844, and we have been led, on inquiry, to concur in many of his views on the subject.

The greater portion of the second division of this volume, as well as a portion of the first part, appeared originally in the pages of several popular serial publications—principally Chambers's Journal and Mr. Chambers's Book of Days; the whole, however, has been thoroughly revised, where it has not been re-written, and otherwise adapted to the purposes of the present work. We are indebted to Mr. Robert Chambers, LL.D., not only for permitting the republication of these papers in this form, but also for kindly indicating to us sources of information from the rich storehouse of his experience, which we have found very useful. On collateral subjects, such as roads and conveyances, besides having, in common with other readers, the benefit of Mr. Smiles's valuable researches in his Lives of the Engineers, we are personally indebted to him for kindly advice. We have only to add that, while in no sense an authorized publication, personal acquaintance has been brought to bear on the treatment of different parts of it, and that we have received, in describing the various branches of the Post-Office, much valuable information from Mr. J. Bowker and several gentlemen connected with the London Establishment. It is hoped that the information, now for the first time brought together, may prove interesting to many letter-writers who are ignorant, though not willingly so, of the channels through which their correspondence flows. If our readers think that the Wise Man was right when he likened the receipt of pleasant intelligence from a far country to cold water given to a thirsty soul, surely they will also admit that the agency employed to compass this good service, which has made its influence felt in every social circle, and which has brought manifold blessings in its train, deserves some passing thought and attention.

The Appendix is designed to afford a source of general reference on many important matters relating to the Post-Office, some parts of it having been carefully collated from Parliamentary documents not easily accessible to the public.

April 16, 1864.

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[Pg vi]
[Pg vii]

CONTENTS.

PART I.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.   CHAPTER I. PAGE INTRODUCTORY 1 CHAPTER II.   THE RISE OF THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE 15 CHAPTER III.   ON OLD ROADS AND SLOW COACHES 37 CHAPTER IV.   THE SETTLEMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE 47 CHAPTER V.   PALMER AND THE MAIL-COACH ERA 73 CHAPTER VI.   THE TRANSITION PERIOD AT THE POST-OFFICE 94 CHAPTER VII.   SIR ROWLAND HILL AND PENNY POSTAGE 108 CHAPTER VIII.   EARLY RESULTS OF THE PENNY-POSTAGE SCHEME 132 CHAPTER IX.   THE POST-OFFICE AND LETTER-OPENING 150 CHAPTER X.   THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE 165 PART II.
DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.   PREFATORY 186 CHAPTER I.   THE ORGANIZATION OF THE POST-OFFICE 187 CHAPTER II.   ON THE CIRCULATION OF LETTERS 199 CHAPTER III.   THE MAIL-PACKET SERVICE 245 CHAPTER IV.   ON POSTAGE-STAMPS 255 CHAPTER V.   POST-OFFICE SAVINGS' BANKS 268 CHAPTER VI.   BEING MISCELLANEOUS AND SUGGESTIVE 279 CHAPTER VII.   CONCERNING SOME OF THE POPULAR MISCONCEPTIONS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS TO WHICH THE POST-OFFICE IS LIABLE 291 APPENDIX (A).   CHIEF OFFICERS OF THE POST-OFFICE 308 APPENDIX (B).   ABSTRACT OF THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS 309 APPENDIX (C).   INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE SERVICE 330 APPENDIX (D).   APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICE IN LONDON 333 PRINCIPAL APPOINTMENTS IN THE CHIEF OFFICES OF DUBLIN AND EDINBURGH 336 APPOINTMENTS, WITH SALARIES, OF THE FIVE PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 337 INFORMATION RESPECTING OTHER PRINCIPAL PROVINCIAL POST-OFFICES 340

APPENDIX (E).   SALE OF POSTAGE-STAMPS 341 APPENDIX (F).   CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY RAILWAY 342 APPENDIX (G).   MANUFACTURE OF POSTAGE-LABELS AND ENVELOPES 344 APPENDIX (H).   RESULTS OF POSTAL REFORM 345

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[Pg xi]

PART I.
HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE POST-OFFICE.

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[Pg 1]

HER MAJESTY'S MAILS.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.

Circular letters, and a kind of post for conveying them, are frequently mentioned both in sacred and profane history. Queen Jezebel is remarkable as being the first letter-writer on record, though it is not surprising to find that she used her pen for purposes of deception. According to the sacred chronicler, she "wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles in the city." From the Book of Esther we learn that Ahasuerus, king of Persia, being displeased at the disobedience of his wife, Vashti, sent letters into every province of his vast empire, informing his subjects that it was his imperial will that "every man should bear rule in his own house." The first recorded riding post was established in the Persian empire by Cyrus, who, when engaged in his Scythian expedition, in order to have news brought expeditiously, "caused it to be tried how far a horse could go in a day without baiting, and, at that distance, appointed stages and men whose business it was to have horses always in readiness."[1] Another authority[2] tells us that there were one hundred and eleven postal stages, a day's journey distant from one another, between Susa and the Ægean Sea, and that at each stage a large and beautiful structure was erected, with every convenience for the purpose designed.

It is certainly remarkable that neither in this nor in any other recorded instance have the posts in ancient times developed into one for the conveyance of private correspondence. It is certain that the Greeks and Romans, even when at the height of their civilization, had no regular public post. There are some traces of statores and stationes under the Roman Republic; and Augustus, we find, instituted posts on the principal trunk-roads, for the use of the Imperial Government. He also established a class of mounted messengers, called tabellarii, who went in charge of the despatches. That these messengers should have been strictly forbidden to convey letters for private persons, or that no provision was subsequently made for that purpose, is the more wonderful, when we consider the high character of the nations themselves, and the fact, often pointed out, that the progress of civilization has always been intimately and essentially connected with, and dependent upon, facilities for intercommunication—keeping pace, in fact, with the means which nations possessed for the interchange of person and property, and with them of thought and knowledge. That those nations to which we are so greatly indebted for so much that exalts the intellect and adorns life, should not have left us an example of such a useful and (considering the vast extent of their respective territories), we should have thought, indispensable institution as that of a public letter-post, is marvellous.

Marco Polo, the famous Venetian, who travelled in China in the fourteenth century,[3] describes the government post as similar to that in use in Persia under Cyrus. The posts had existed in China from the earliest times. Every twenty-five miles there were posts, called jambs, where the imperial envoy was received. There were frequently as many as three or four hundred horses in waiting at one of these places. Polo further states that there were ten thousand stations of this kind in China, some of them affording sumptuous accommodation to travellers. Two hundred thousand horses are said to have been engaged in the service. The fact affords a curious commentary on the progress of civilization in the Celestial Empire, that, though this gigantic and elaborate establishment has been in existence so long and up to the present century, it is only within the last few years that provision has been made in China for public letter-posts.

The earliest date in modern history at which any postal service is mentioned, is the year 807, when an organization was planned by the Emperor Charlemagne. The service, however, did not survive him. The first regular European letter-post was established in the Hanse Towns in the early part of the thirteenth century. This federation of republics required constant communication with each other; for, being largely engaged in similar commercial pursuits, it became indispensable to their existence that some system of letter-conveyance should be originated. The next establishment was a line of letter-posts connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the Emperor Maximilian, said to have been organized by the princes of the house of Thurn and Taxis. The representatives of the same house established another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, thus further connecting the most distant parts of the vast dominions of the Spanish Emperor, Charles V. It may be mentioned here, that the Counts of Thurn and Taxis have, in virtue of their original establishment, which they controlled from the first, always held peculiar rights and privileges in relation to the postal systems of Germany; and up to this day the posts of the house of Thurn and Taxis are entirely distinct from the existing Crown establishments, and, in fact, are maintained in rivalry to those of some of the German states. In France, in the fifteenth century, Louis XI. revived the system of Charlemagne, organizing a body of 230 couriers for purposes of state.

We may gather from the existing materials, scanty though they be, something like a continuous account of the early history of the English post-office, tracing, very clearly, its progress from the fifteenth century to its present position.

While the general post dates from the Stuarts, the

establishment of a regular riding post in England owes its origin to Edward IV. The English post seems from the first to have been fully commensurate with the demands for its service, its growth depending on the gradual advance which the country made in other measures of social progress. Four or five centuries ago, few private persons could either read or write. On the other hand, the business of the State demanded correspondence. The king had his barons to summon, or his sheriffs to instruct, and letters of writ were issued accordingly, a few Government messengers supplying all the wants of the time. Now and then the nobles would require to address each other, and sometimes to correspond with their dependents, but, as a general rule, neither the serf nor his master had the power, even if they had the will, to engage much in writing. As time wore on, and we come nearer the age of the Tudors, the desire for learning spread, though still the few who engaged in literary or scientific pursuits were either attached to the Court or to the monastic establishments. Even when the Tudor dynasty came in, trade with foreign countries, and remote districts in our own country, was almost equally unknown. Each district dwelt alone, supplied its own wants, and evinced very little desire for any closer communication.

In the earliest times in England, and prior to the first regular horse posts, both public and private letters were sent by private messengers, travelling when required. In the reign of Henry I. messengers were first permanently employed by the king. So early as the reign of King John the payments to Nuncii—as these messengers were now called—for the conveyance of Government despatches, are to be found entered in the Close and Misæ Rolls, "and the entries of these payments may be traced in an almost unbroken series through the records of many subsequent reigns." Nuncii were also attached to the establishments of the principal barons of the time, and communications passed between them by means of those functionaries. In the reign of Henry III., the son and successor of King John, these messengers began to wear the royal livery. At first it was necessary for them to keep horses of their own, or use those belonging to the royal or baronial mansion. In the reign of Edward I. we find that fixed stations or posts were established, at which places horses were kept for hire, the Nuncii ceasing to provide horses of their own, or borrowing from private individuals. Several private letters are in existence, dating as far back as the reign of Edward II., which bear the appearance of having been carried by the Nuncii of that period, with "Haste, post, haste!" written on the backs of them.

With the machinery thus ready to his hand, the improvements contrived by Edward IV. were easily accomplished. In 1481 this monarch was engaged in war with Scotland, when, in order to facilitate the transmission of news from the English capital, he ordered a continuous system of posts, consisting of relays of horses and messengers every twenty miles. By this arrangement, despatches were conveyed to him at the English camp with marvellous expedition, his couriers riding at an average rate of seventy miles a day. When peace was restored, the system of relays was allowed to fall into disuse, only to be revived in cases of urgency. Little improvement in communication could be expected under such a course of procedure, and little was effected. Henry VIII. was the first monarch who endeavoured to keep the posts in a state of efficiency, and improve their organization, in peace as well as in war; though still it is noticeable that the post stages are kept up purely and exclusively as a convenience to the Government for the conveyance of its despatches.

Henry VIII. instituted the office of "Master of the Postes,"[4] with entire control of the department. During the king's lifetime the office was filled by one Brian Tuke, afterwards Sir Brian. We gain some insight into the duties of the office, and also into the manner in which the work is done, from the following letter (found in the voluminous correspondence of Thomas Cromwell) from the "Master of the Postes," no doubt in exculpation of himself and his arrangements, which seem to have been in some way called in question by the Lord Privy Seal. "The Kinge's Grace hath no moo ordinary postes, ne of many days hathe had, but betwene London and Calais. For, sir, ye knowe well, that, except the hackney horses betwene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as in the accustomed places of France and other parties; ne men can keepe horses in redynes without som way to bere the charges; but when placardes be sent for such cause, (viz. to order the immediate forwarding of some state packet,) the constables many tymes be fayne to take horses oute of plowes and cartes, wherein can be no extreme diligence." The king's worthy secretary thus charges the postmaster with remissness, and the mails with tardiness, when the facts, as gathered from the above letter, show that the Government had not gone to the trouble and expense of providing proper auxiliaries, as in France; ergo, they could not expect the same regularity and despatch. Master Tuke then defends the character of his men. "As to the postes betwene London and the Courte, there be now but 2; whereof the on is a good robust felowe, and wont to be diligent, evil intreated meny times, he and other postes, by the herbigeours, for lack of horse rome or horse mete, withoute which diligence cannot be. The other hathe been a most payneful felowe in nyght and daye, that I have knowen amongst the messengers. If he nowe slak he shalbe changed as reason is."

During the insurrection in the Northern Counties in the reign of Henry VIII., the rebel leaders, in order to insure a rapid transmission of orders, established regular posts from Hull to York, York to Durham, and Durham to Newcastle.[5]

The council of Edward VI. finding that a great many irregularities existed in the hire of post-horses, had an Act passed (2 & 3 Edward VI. c. 3) fixing the charge at a penny per mile for all horses so impressed.

Up to the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, no further improvements seem to have been made, although her council took steps to make the existing service as efficient as possible, by reforming some abuses which had crept into it during Queen Mary's reign. Before Elizabeth's death, the expenses of the post were reduced to rather less than 5,000l. per annum. Before the reduction, the sum charged for conveying Her Majesty's despatches from stage to stage was enormous. Up to the thirty-first year of her reign, a rate of 20d. a letter was levied by the proprietors of the post-horses, for every post travelled over. The council resolved to pay the proprietors 3s. a day for the service, irrespective of the distance travelled. The payment was reduced to 2s. and ultimately to 18d. a day. Much information respecting the service—the different stages, the routes taken at this early period, &c. &c. has been found in old records of the "Master of the Postes," exhumed some twenty years ago from the vaults of Somerset House. This functionary, it would appear, paid all current expenses appertaining to his department, "the wages and entertainment of the ordinary posts," and he was reimbursed in full under the grant "for conveyance

of Her Highness's letters and her Council's." The information respecting the routes taken is especially interesting, because it serves to show that even at this early period arrangements were made with great circumspection, and that some of these early routes existed, with only trifling modifications, down to the present century, and to the time of railroads. The route from London to Berwick is shown by the lists of posts (or stages) laid down between the two places in the fifteenth year of Queen Elizabeth's reign. They run as follows:—1. London; 2. Waltham; 3. Ware; 4. Royston; 5. Caxton; 6. Huntingdon; 7. Stilton; 8. Stamford; 9. Grantham; 10. Newark; 11. Tookesford (Tuxford); 12. Foroby (Ferriby); 13. Doncaster; 14. Ferry Bridge; 15. Wetherby; 16. Bouroughbridge; 17. Northallerton; 18. Derneton (Darlington); 19. Durham; 20. Newcastle; 21. Morpeth; 22. Hexham; 23. Hawtwistle; 24. Carlisle; 25. Alnwick; 26. Belford; 27. Berwick. For three centuries, therefore, the High North Road took in all these posts with the exception of Tuxford. A considerable diversion, it will be noticed, was made at Morpeth towards the west, in order to take in the then important towns of Hexham and Carlisle; but it is more probable that the direct post-road continued north through Alnwick to Berwick, and that the west road was only a kind of cross-post. There were no less than three post routes to Ireland in this reign, and all of them were used more or less. The first and most important, perhaps, left London and took the following towns in its way; the distance between each town constituting a "stage;" viz. Dunstable, Dayntry (Daventry), Collsill (Coleshill), Stone, Chester and Liverpool, from which latter place a packet sailed. The remaining two mails took slightly different routes to Holyhead, whence also a packet sailed for Ireland. We find there were also two posts between London and Bristol and the west of England; the first going by way of Maidenhead, Newbury, Marlborough and Chippenham; the other, by Hounslow, Maidenhead, Reading, Marlborough, Maxfield to Bristol. To Dover there were also two posts; the one passing through Dartford, Gravesend, Rochester, Sittingbourne, Canterbury, Margate and Sandwich; the other passing through Canterbury direct, without calling at the two last-named places. The posts above enumerated were called the "ordinary" posts, and may be supposed to have been the permanent arrangements for the transmission of the Government despatches. When these posts did not avail—and it must be understood that they were never allowed to make a détour into the cross-roads of the country—"extraordinary posts" were established. Generally speaking, these extra posts were put on for any service which required the greatest possible haste. Here is an extract from the records of which we have spoken, on this point. "Thomas Miller, gent. sent in haste by special commandment of Sir Francis Walsingham, throughout all the postes of Kent to warn and to order, both with the posts for an augmentation of the ordinary number of horses for the packet, and with the countries near them for a supply of twenty or thirty horses a-piece for the 'throughe posts,' during the service against the Spanish navy by sea, and the continuance of the army by land." Again, in 31st Elizabeth, special or "extraordinary" posts were laid between London and Rye, upon unwelcome news arriving from France, "and for the more speedy advertisement of the same." "Thomas Miller, gent. sent at Easter, 1597, to lay the posts and likest landing places either in Kent or Sussex, upon intelligence given of some practices intended against the Queen's person." Mr. Miller seems to have judged Rye to be the "likest landing place" for the purpose, and, returning, "received seven pound for his services." Other extraordinary posts were often laid down between Hampton Court and Southampton and Portsmouth, for the "more speedy advertisement" of occurrences from the ports of Normandy and Bretaigne.

In the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, disputes were frequent with the foreign merchants resident in London with regard to the foreign post, which, up to this reign they had been allowed to manage among themselves. In 1558, the Queen's Council of State issued a proclamation "for the redresse of disorders in postes which conveye and bring to and out of the parts beyond the seas, pacquets of letters." It would seem that soon after the arrival of the Flemings in this country, in the previous century, they established a post-office of their own, between London and the Continent, appointing one of themselves as postmaster, by the sufferance and favour of the reigning sovereign. "Afterwards," says Stowe,[6] "by long custom, they pretended a right to appoint a master of the Strangers' Post, and that they were in possession of from the year 1514." This continued till 1558, in which year the foreign merchants fell out among themselves over the question of appointing a postmaster. The Flemings, aided by the Spanish ambassador, chose one Raphael Vanden Putte; the Italians, by this time a considerable body of foreigners, chose one of their number for the vacant place. Not being able to agree, the disputants referred their case to the English Council, when, to the surprise of the foreigners, their right to appoint at all was publicly disputed. The English merchants took up the matter very warmly, and addressed the Privy Council in two or three petitions. They took the opportunity to complain that the authorities of the foreign post had frequently acted unfairly to them, in keeping back their continental letters, and so giving the foreigners the advantage of the markets. In one of the petitions, they urged, "that it is one of the chief points of the prerogative belonging to all princes, to place within their dominions such officers as were most trusty of their own subjects; that the postmaster's place was one of great trust and credit in every realm, and therefore should be committed to the charge of the natural subjects and not strangers, especially in such places as had daily passages into foreign realms, and where was concourse of strangers." Further, "The strangers were known to have been the occasion of many injuries in the staying and keeping back of letters, and, in the meantime, an extraordinary would be despatched to prevent the markets and purpose." The English merchants urged that it would be doing the foreigners no injustice to appoint an English postmaster; no new exactions need be imposed upon them, "and such men might be placed in the office as could talk with them in their own language, and that should make as good promise, and as faithfully perform the same in all equity and upright dealings, as any stranger had done." The result was, that it was finally settled that the "Master of the Postes" should have the charge of both the English and foreign offices, and that the title of this functionary should be changed to "Chief Postmaster." Thomas Randolph was the first "Chief Postmaster" of England.

Under the Tudor dynasty, marvellous strides were taken in the social progress of the country. The habits of a great nation can, of course, only change slowly; but, notwithstanding, the England of the Plantagenets was a different country to the England which Elizabeth left in 1603. The development of trade, which really commenced with the Tudors, gave the first great impulse to a new social era. People began to feel more interest in each other, and as this became manifest, the demand for interchange of thought and news became more and more urgent. In the reign of Henry VIII. the English people began a considerable trade with

Flanders in wool. A commercial treaty subsequently gave free ingress and egress to the ships of both nations. The change that this new trade wrought was immediate and striking. English rural districts which had before been self-supporting—growing their own corn and feeding their own cattle—now turned their corn-land into pasture-land, and sought grain among their neighbours. The dissolution of the monasteries under the same monarch had the effect, among other results, of scattering broadcast over the country those who had previously lived together and enjoyed almost a monopoly of learning. The Reformation civilized as well as christianized the people. Other causes were at work which operated in opening out the country, and encouraging habits of locomotion and the spread of intelligence generally. Amongst many such, were changes, for instance, in the routine of law procedure, introduced by Henry. Up to his time, courts of arbitration had sat from time immemorial within the different baronies of England, where disputes, especially those between landlord and tenant, were cheaply and equitably adjusted. Now, such cases were ordered to be taken to London, and country people found themselves compelled to take journeys to London and sue or be sued at the new courts of Westminster.[7]

We could not well exaggerate the difficulties which encompassed travellers at this early period. As yet there were but one or two main roads. Even in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and certainly in all the remote parts of the country, the roads were not unlike broad ditches, much waterworn and strewn with loose stones. Travellers had no choice but to ride on horseback or walk. Everybody who could afford it rode. The sovereign and all gentlefolk rode. Judges rode the circuit in jackboots. Ladies rode on pillions fixed on the horse, and generally behind some relative or serving-man. In this way Queen Elizabeth, when she rode into the city, placed herself behind her Lord Chancellor. The wagon was an invention of the period. It was a rude contrivance; nothing, in fact, but a cart without springs, the body of it resting solidly upon the axles. The first conveyance of this sort was constructed for the Queen's own use, and in it she journeyed to open Parliament.[8] Elizabeth rode in it but on this one occasion, and has left behind her a curious and most graphic account of her sufferings during the journey, in a letter, written in the old French of that period, to the French ambassador at her court, who seems to have suggested the improvement to her. The wagon, which had been originally contrived for ladies, now that the Queen discarded it, was not brought into great use during her reign. It seems to have found its way into the provinces, however, the gentry of that time being delighted with it. "On a certaine day in 1583," according to Mr. Smiles, "that valyant knyght, Sir Harry Sydney, entered Shrewsbury in his wagon, with his trompeter blowynge, verey joyfull to behold and see." Under such circumstances, it cannot be wondered at that general intelligence travelled slowly. Among the common people, few ever saw a letter. Pilgrims, as they travelled between the monasteries of the period, or who, after their dissolution, visited their shrines, dispensed news to the poor, and would occasionally carry letters for the rich.[9] Public and private couriers riding post were sometimes surrounded, at the villages or towns on their route, by crowds of people desirous of obtaining some information of the world's doings. At times, they were not suffered to pass without furnishing some kind of information. The letters of the period, many of which survive, show that great care was taken to protect them from the curiosity of the bearer; and precautionary measures were resorted to to prevent delay. They were usually most carefully folded, and fastened at the end by a sort of paper strap, upon which the seal was affixed, whilst under the seal a piece of string or silk thread, or even a straw, was frequently placed, running round the letter. The following letter, still extant, will serve to give an insight into the way letters were dealt with at this period, and the speed at which they were forwarded.—(Vide Postmaster-General's 2nd Report, p. 38.)

Archbishop Parker to Sir W. Cecil.

Sir,

According to the Queen's Majesty's pleasure, and your advertisement, you shall receive a form of prayer, which, after you have perused and judged of it, shall be put in print and published immediately, &c. &c.

From my house at Croyden, this 22d July, 1566, at four of the clock, afternoon.

Your honour's alway,

Matthew Cant.

This letter is thus endorsed by successive postmasters, according to the existing custom.

• Received at Waltham Cross the 23d of July, at nine at night.
• Received at Ware the 23d of July at 12 at night.
• Received at Croxton the 24th of July, between 7 and 8 of the morning.

So that his Grace's letter, which would appear to have been so important as that one or more messengers were required to travel night and day in order to deliver it at the earliest possible moment, took 40 hours to travel 63 miles.

href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@42129@[email protected]#FNanchor_8" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">[8] Smiles's Lives of the Engineers, Vol. I.

CHAPTER II.
THE RISE OF THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE.

It was reserved for the Stuarts to organize for the first time in England a regular system of post communication, the benefits of which should be shared by all who could find the means. England was behind other European nations in establishing a public letter-post. It was not until the foreign post had been in existence a hundred years, and until the foreigners had drawn particular attention to their postal arrangements by their constant disputes, that the English government established a general post for inland letters, similar to the one whose benefits "the strangers" had enjoyed even prior to the reign of Henry the Eighth. Little progress towards this end was made in the reign of the first James, if we except a better organization for the conveyance of official despatches. At the same time, it ought to be stated, that the improved organization here referred to was the groundwork for the subsequent public post.

One of the results attendant on the accession[10] of the Scotch king to the English Crown necessitated important improvements in the system of horse posts, for which it called loudly. Immediately on his accession, the high road from Edinburgh to London was thronged night and day with the king's countrymen. All ordinary communications fell far short of the demand; so much so, that post messengers riding from the Council at Edinburgh to the king in London, or vice versâ, were stopped whole days on the road for want of horses, which had been taken by the Scottish lords and gentlemen rushing forward to the English capital to offer their congratulations to his majesty. As a remedy, the lords of the English council issued a proclamation, calling upon all magistrates to assist the postmasters "in this time so full of business," by seeing to it that they were supplied with "fresh and able horses as necessitie shall require." They were to be "able and sufficient horses," well furnished "of saddles, bridles, girts and stirropes, with good guides to look to them; who for the said horses shall demand and receive of such as shall ride on them the prices accustomed" (Book of Proclamation, 1603-1609).

As the general intercourse between the two capitals now promised to be permanent, and travelling along the North Road increased rather than diminished, further general orders were published from time to time by royal proclamation. Two kinds of post were established during the reign of James the First, both being in operation together towards its close. They were known as the "thorough post," and "the post for the packet." The first, consisting of special messengers who rode "thorough post," that is, through the whole distance "with horse and guide," was established in 1603. The couriers were ordered to pay at the rate of "twopence-halfpenny the mile" for the hire of each horse, and to pay in advance. Further, they must not ride any horse more than one stage (or seven miles in summer, and six in winter), except "with the consent of the post of the stage at which they did not change." For the service of the second post, or "the post for the packet," every postmaster was bound to keep not less than two horses ready, "with furniture convenient," when on the receipt of a "packet" or parcel containing letters, from a previous stage, he was to send it on towards the next within a quarter of an hour of its receipt, entering the transaction in "a large and faire ledger paper book." As a further precaution, and in order to prevent the courier loitering on the road with any important despatch, each postmaster was required to endorse each single letter with the exact time of the messenger's arrival, just as we have seen in the case of the one found in the collection of Archbishop Parker's correspondence. For the purposes of this packet-post, we find it arranged that each postmaster should have ready "two bags of leather, at the least, well lined with baize or cotton, so as not to injure the letters." It also rested with the different postmasters to furnish the couriers with "hornes to sound and blowe as oft as the post meets company, or at least four times in every mile."[11] Thus arose a custom which, under slightly different circumstances, was strictly observed in the days of mail-coaches.

It will be readily observed that in the arrangements of the packet-post there was nothing to prevent its being extensively used, except the important restrictions which the King put upon its use. During the reign of James nothing but the despatches of ambassadors were allowed to jostle the Government letters in the leather bags, "lined with baize or cotton," of "the post for the packet." It was not until Charles the First had succeeded his father, that this post came to be used, under certain conditions, by merchants and private persons.

It was during the reign of James the First that the Government secured, and kept for a hundred years, certain privileges with respect to the hiring of post-horses. We have seen that the royal couriers, travelling with despatches by either of the two posts, had priority of claim to sufficient horses and proper accommodation on their journeys. They also settled, by order in Council, that any person, whether travelling on the business of the Government or not, should, if furnished with warrants from the Council, have prior claim to private individuals, over post-horses and proper entertainment, demanding them in the name of the King. In a warrant of Council, for instance, dated Whitehall, May 12, 1630, we find the Privy Council ordering all postmasters to furnish Sir Cornelius Vermuyden with horses and guides to enable him to ride post from London to Boston, and thence to Hatfield, where he was engaged in draining the royal chase for the King.[12]

Little as James the First did towards establishing an inland post, though with materials so ready to his hand, in the posts of which we have spoken, yet he deserves some credit for setting on foot a general post for letters to foreign countries. It would seem that the abuses complained of by English merchants, with regard to letters coming from abroad, had been lessened by the appointment of an English Postmaster for the Foreign Office, but not so with letters sent abroad: hence the independent foreign post projected by the King. In another of the very numerous proclamations of his reign, it is stated that the King had created the office of Postmaster-General for Foreign Parts, "being out of our dominions, and hath appointed to this office Matthew de Quester the elder, and Matthew de Quester the younger." The duties of this new office are

stated to consist in the "sole taking up, sending, and conveying of all packets and letters concerning his service, or business to be despatched into forraigne parts, with power to grant moderate salaries." These appointments interfering in some way with his department, gave great offence to Lord Stanhope, the English "Chief Postmaster," and mutual unpleasantness sprung up between the officers of the two establishments. A suit was instituted in the law courts, and whilst it was pending, both offices got completely disarranged, some of Lord Stanhope's staff going without salary for as long as eight years; "divers of them," as we find it given in a petition to the Council, "lie now in prison by reason of the great debt they are in for want of their entertainment." The dispute was not settled until after Charles the First had become king—namely, in 1632—when Lord Stanhope was induced to retire from the service as "Chief Postmaster," the De Questers at the same time assigning the office they had jointly held to William Frizell and Thomas Witherings. A royal proclamation was thereupon issued, to the effect that the King approved of the above assignment. "The King," it went on to say, "affecting the welfare of his people, and taking into his princely consideration how much it imports his state and this realm, that the secrets thereof be not disclosed to forraigne nations, which cannot be prevented if a promiscuous use of transmitting or taking up of forraigne letters and packets should be suffered, forbids all others from exercising that which to the office of such postmaster pertaineth, at their utmost perils."

Witherings seems to have made good use of his time, for in 1635, or only three years from the date of his appointment, he saw the great necessity which existed for some improvement in the postal resources of the country, and proposed to the King to "settle a pacquet post between London and all parts of His Majesty's Dominions, for the carrying and recarrying of his subjects' letters." In this memorial, which justly entitles him to a front rank in the number of great postal reformers, Witherings stated some curious facts relating to the service of those days. "Private letters," it was said, "being now carried by carriers or persons travelling on foot, it is sometimes full two months before any answer can be received from Scotland or Ireland to London." "If any of his Majesty's subjects shall write to Madrid in Spain, he shall receive answer sooner and surer than he shall out of Scotland or Ireland." Witherings proposed that the existing posts should be used; that the journey between London and Edinburgh should be performed in three days, when—"if the post could be punctually paid—the news will come sooner than thought." Witherings' memorial had the desired effect on the Council, who at once set about making the machinery already in use applicable for a general post for inland letters. In 1635 they issued a proclamation, in which they state that there had not been hitherto any constant communication between the kingdoms of England and Scotland, and therefore command "Thomas Witherings, Esquire, His Majesty's Postmaster for forraigne parts, to settle a running post or two, to run night and day between Edinburgh in Scotland and the City of London, to go thither and back again in 6 days." Directions were also given for the management of the correspondence between the principal towns on the line of road. Bye posts shall be connected with the main line of posts, by means of which letters from such places as Lincoln, Hull, Chester, Bristol, or Exeter, shall fall into it, and letters addressed to these and other places shall be sent. Other bye posts are promised to different parts of the country. All postmasters on the main line of posts, as well as those of the bye posts, were commanded to have "always ready in their stables one or two horses." The charges settled by James I. were ordered to be the charges under the new system, "2½d. for a single horse, and 5d. for two horses per mile." In a subsequent proclamation two years afterwards, a monopoly of letter-carrying was established, which has been preserved ever since, in all the regulations of the Post-Office. No other messengers or foot posts shall carry any letters, but those who shall be employed by the King's "Chief Postmaster." Exceptions were made, however, when the letters were addressed to places to which the King's post did not travel; also, in the case of common known carriers; messengers particularly sent express; and to a friend carrying a letter for a friend. These exceptions, trifling as they were, were withdrawn from time to time, as the Post-Office became more and more one of the settled institutions of the country. As it was, the prohibitory clauses caused great dissatisfaction in the country. The middle of the seventeenth century was certainly a bad time for introducing a measure that should bear any appearance of a stretch of the royal prerogative. That no one but the servants of the King's Postmaster should carry private letters was regarded as an unwarrantable interference with the liberty of the subject; so much so, that in 1642 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into that part of the measure. The subject was also frequently mentioned in Parliament; notwithstanding which, the Government strictly adhered to the clause.[13]

The first rates of postage for the new service were fixed at twopence, for a single letter, for any distance under 80 miles; 4d. up to 140 miles; 6d. for any longer distance in England; and 8d. to any place in Scotland. Of course the distances were all reckoned from London.

The control of the English letter-office was entrusted to the Foreign Postmaster-General, who had suggested the new undertaking. Witherings held the joint offices for five years, when in 1640 he was charged with abusing both his trusts, and superseded by Philip Burlamachy, a London merchant. It was arranged, however, that Burlamachy should execute the duties of his offices under the care and inspection of the principal Secretary of State. And now began a quarrel which lasted incessantly from 1641 to 1647. When the proclamation concerning the sequestration of his office was published, Witherings assigned his patent to the Earl of Warwick. Mindful of this opportunity, Lord Stanhope, the "Chief Postmaster" under the King's father, who had surrendered his patent some years before, now came forward and stated that the action had not been voluntary, but, as we learn from his petition to the House of Lords, he "was summoned to the Council table, and obliged, before he was suffered to depart, to subscribe somewhat there penned upon your petitioner's patent by the Lord Keeper Coventry." Lord Stanhope found a staunch friend and adherent in Mr. Edmund Prideaux, a member of the House of Commons, and subsequently Attorney-General to the Commonwealth. Two rival offices were established in London, and continued strife was maintained between the officers of the two claimants. On one occasion, Prideaux himself helped to seize the Plymouth mail which had just arrived in London, and was proceeding to the office of the Earl of Warwick near the Royal Exchange. Burlamachy and the Government failed to restore peace. In the Commission on the Post-Office, to which we have already referred, the subject was taken up, but the resolution of the Committee only rendered matters more complicated. The Committee, though Prideaux contrived to be made Chairman of it, declared that the sequestration of two years before "was a grievance and illegal, and ought to be taken off," and Mr.

Witherings restored to office. The Commission decided against the Government, both as regards the sequestration and the monopoly of letter-carrying, which the King proclaimed in 1637. Both questions were left in abeyance for two years, when, in 1644, the Parliamentary forces having begun to gain an ascendancy over those of the King, the Lords and Commons by a joint action appointed Edmund Prideaux, the Chairman of the Committee of 1642, "and a barrister of seven years' standing," to the vacant office. It is somewhat amusing to note how the monopolizing tendencies of the Crown, denounced but two years ago by the Parliament, were now openly advocated and confirmed by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses. The resolution establishing Prideaux in the office states,[14] that the Lords and Commons, "finding by experience that it is most necessary for keeping of good intelligence between the Parliament and their forces, that post-stages be erected in several parts of the kingdom, and the office of Master of the Post and Couriers being at present void, ordain that Edmund Prideaux shall be and hereby is constituted Master of the Posts, Couriers, and Messengers." Prideaux must have been an energetic and pains-taking manager. He was very zealous and greatly improved the service, "establishing," says Blackstone, "a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the country, thereby saving to the public the charge of maintaining postmasters to the amount of 7,000l. per annum." It seems to have been clearly seen in Parliament that the Post-Office would eventually pay its own expenses, and even yield a revenue; for, in deciding on Prideaux's proposal, their object is stated quite concisely in one of the clauses sanctioning it:—"That for defraying the charges of the several postmasters, and easing the State of it, there must be a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the country." For twenty years previously the establishment of the post had been a burden to the extent of three or four thousand pounds a year on the public purse. Prideaux at first was allowed to take the profits of his office, in consideration of his bearing all the charges. In 1649, five years after his appointment, the amount of revenue derived from the posts reached 5,000l. and a new arrangement was entered into. The practice of farming the Post-Office revenue began from the year 1650, and lasted, as far as regards some of the bye posts, down to the end of the last century. In 1650 the revenue was farmed for the sum of 5,000l.

In the year 1649 the Common Council of London deliberately established a post-office for inland letters in direct rivalry to that of the Parliament. But the Commons, although they had loudly denounced the formation of a monopoly by the Crown, proceeded to put down this infringement of the one which they had but lately secured to themselves. The City authorities, backed, as they were in those days, by immense power, stoutly denied that the Parliament had any exclusive privilege in the matter. They could see no reason why there should not be "another weekly conveyance of letters and for other uses" (this latter clause most probably meaning conveyance of parcels and packets). Though pressed to do so, "they refused to seek the sanction of Parliament, or to have any direction from them in their measure."[15] "The Common Council," it is further stated by way of complaint, "have sent agents to settle postages by their authority on several roads, and have employed a natural Scott, who has gone into Scotland, and hath there settled postmasters (others than those for the state) on all that road." Prideaux took care to learn something from the rival company. He lowered his rates of postage, increased the number of despatches, and then resolutely applied himself to get the City establishment suppressed. Prideaux, who had now become Attorney-General, invoked the aid of the Council of State. The Council reported that, "as affairs now stand, they conceive that the office of Postmaster is, and ought to be, in the sole power and disposal of Parliament." After this decision the City posts were immediately and peremptorily suppressed, and from this date the carrying of letters has been the exclusive privilege of the Crown. Though the Government succeeded in establishing the monopoly, public opinion was greatly against the measure. The authorities of the city of London, as may well be imagined, were incessant in their exertions to defeat it, not only at that time, but on many subsequent occasions. Pamphlets were written on the subject, and one book, especially, deserves mention, inasmuch as its author bore a name now memorable in the annals of the British Post-Office. In 1659 was published a book, entitled John Hill's Penny Post; or a vindication of the liberty of every Englishman in carrying merchants' or other men's letters against any restraints of farmers of such employment. 4to. 1659.

Under the Protectorate, the Post-Office underwent material changes. Whilst extending the basis of the Post-Office, Cromwell and his Council took advantage of the State monopoly to make it subservient to the interests of the Commonwealth. One of the ordinances published during the Protectorate sets forth that the Post-Office ought to be upheld, not merely because it is the best means of conveying public and private communications, but also because it may be made the agent in "discovering and preventing many wicked designs, which have been and are daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated except by letters of escript." A system of espionage was thus settled which has always been abhorrent to the nature and feelings of Englishmen. But perhaps we ought not to judge the question in the light of the present day. And we would do justice to the Council of the Commonwealth. The Post-Office now for the first time became the subject of parliamentary enactments, and the acts passed during the interregnum became the models for all subsequent measures. In the year 1656 an Act was passed, "to settle the postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland," and henceforth the Post-Office was established on a new and broad basis.[16] It was ruled that there "shall be one General Post-Office, and one officer stiled the Postmaster-Generall of England, and Comptroller of the Post-Office." This officer was to have the horsing of all "through" posts and persons "riding post." "Prices for the carriage of letters, English, Scottish, and Irish," as well as foreign, and also for post-horses, were again fixed. All other persons were forbidden "to set up or employ any foot-posts, horse-posts, or packet-boats." Two exceptions, however, were made under the latter head, in favour of the two universities, "who may use their former liberties, rights, and privileges of having special carriers to carry and recarry letters as formerly they did, and as if this Act had not been made." The Cinque Ports also must "not be interfered with, and their ancient rights of sending their own post to and from London shall remain intact."

At the Restoration this settlement of the Post-Office was confirmed in almost all its particulars. The statute 12 Car. II. c. 35 re-enacts the ordinance of the Commonwealth,

and on account of its being the earliest recognised statutory enactment, is commonly known as the "Post-Office Charter." It remained in full force until 1710. The following is the important preamble to the statute in question: "Whereas for the maintainance of mutual correspondencies, and prevention of many inconveniences happening by private posts, several public post-offices have been heretofore erected for carrying and recarrying of letters by post to and from all parts and places within England, Scotland, and Ireland, and several posts beyond the seas, the well-ordering whereof is a matter of general concernment, and of great advantage, as well for the preservation of trade and commerce as otherwise."

It does not appear why Prideaux's connexion with the Post-Office was dissolved, nor yet exactly when. Probably his more onerous duties as first law officer of the Government demanded all his time and energy. However it was, we hear no more of him after his victory over the then formidable City magnates. During the remaining years of Cromwell's life, the revenues of the Post-Office, wonderfully augmented by Prideaux's management, were farmed for the sum of 10,000l. a year to a Mr. John Manley. During Manley's tenure of office, the proceeds must either have increased with marvellous rapidity, or the contracts were under estimated; for when, in 1659, Manley left the Post-Office, he calculated that he had cleared in that and some previous years the sum of 14,000l. annually. A Parliamentary Committee instituted a strict scrutiny into the proceeds of the office in the first year of the Restoration, at which period it became necessary that a new Postmaster-General should be appointed. It was agreed by the members of this Committee to recommend that a much higher sum be asked from the next aspirant to the office, inasmuch as they found that Mr. Manley, instead of over-estimating his receipts, had erred on the other side, and that they could not have come far short of the annual sum of 20,000l. The result of the Committee's investigation was, that Mr. Henry Bishop was only appointed to the vacant place on his entering into a contract to pay to Government the annual sum of 21,500l. In estimating the increase of Post-Office revenue from year to year, it must be borne in mind that a considerable item in the account was derived from the monopoly in post-horses for travelling, which monopoly had been secured under Cromwell's ordinances, and re-secured under 12 Car. II. c. 35. By this Act, no traveller could hire horses for riding post from any but authorized postmasters.[17] This statute remained in force, under some limitations, till 1779.

Many matters of detail in the arrangements of the Post-Office were discussed in Parliament during the first three years of the Restoration. Long-promised bye-posts were now for the first time established; the circulation of the letters, meaning by that the routes the mails shall take, and many such subjects, best settled of course by the authorities, weary the reader of the Journals of the House of Commons about this date. In December, 1660, for instance, we find the House deliberating on a proviso tendered by Mr. Titus to the following effect:—"Provided also and be it enacted, that a letter or packet-post shall once every week come to Kendal by way of Lancaster, and to the town of Penrith in Cumberland by way of Newcastle and Carlisle, and to the City of Lincoln and the borough of Grimsby likewise;" and we are glad to find that this reasonable proviso, to give these "out-of-the-way places" the benefit of a weekly post, was agreed to without cavil. We notice one important resolution of the session of this year, setting forth that, as the Post-Office Bill has been carried through the Houses satisfactorily, "such of the persons who have contributed their pains in improvement of the Post-Office, be recommended to the King's Majesty for consideration, to be had of the pains therein taken accordingly." Let us hope (for we find no further mention of the matter) that all concerned got their deserts. Tardy as the English people were, compared with their continental neighbours, in rearing the institution of the post, the foundation of an establishment was now laid which has, at the present time, far distanced all competitors in its resources and in the matter of liberal provisions for the people. Even before the days of penny postage, the Duke of Wellington, than whom no man was supposed to know better the postal regulations of the Continent, gave it as his deliberate opinion, that "the English Post-Office is the only one in Europe which can be said to do its work." In rewarding, therefore, those who contributed so much to this success at this early period of the history of the establishment, King Charles would simply pay an instalment of the debt which future generations would owe to them.