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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of the Post Office, by Herbert
+Joyce
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The History of the Post Office
+       From Its Establishment Down to 1836
+
+
+Author: Herbert Joyce
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 17, 2011  [eBook #38328]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi, The Philatelic Digital Library
+Project (http://www.tpdlp.net), Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
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+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+      Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+      The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter
+      is superscripted (example: Y^e). If two or more
+      letters are superscripted they are enclosed in curly brackets
+      (example: Hon^{able.}).
+
+      Archaic spelling and punctuation have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE
+
+From Its Establishment Down to 1836
+
+by
+
+HERBERT JOYCE, C.B.
+Of the Post Office
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Publisher Logo]
+
+London
+Richard Bentley & Son, New Burlington Street
+Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen
+1893
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I
+
+  Introduction--Master of the Posts--Posts centred in the Sovereign--
+  Instructions for their Regulation--Travelling Post--Object of the Post
+  Office Monopoly                                                Page 1
+
+  CHAPTER II
+
+  The Post through the County of Kent--This Post put under the care of De
+  Quester--Stanhope of Harrington, as Master of the Posts, asserts his
+  Rights--Vacillating Decisions of the Privy Council--Sir John Coke--Thomas
+  Witherings                                                          8
+
+  CHAPTER III
+
+  Decadence of the Posts--Witherings's Plan--Introduction of Postage--
+  Concessions to the common Carrier--Post-haste--Witherings appointed
+  Master of the Inland as well as the Foreign Posts--His Dismissal--Philip
+  Burlamachi--Dissensions between the Lords and Commons--Edmund
+  Prideaux appointed Witherings's Successor                          15
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+
+  Prideaux's Activity--Unauthorised Post set up to Scotland--System of
+  Farming--Prideaux ceases to be Master of the Posts--Secretary Thurloe--
+  The Posts become the Subject of Parliamentary Enactment--Rates of
+  Postage--Letters circulate through London--The Travelling Post not a
+  Source of Revenue--Clement Oxenbridge                              24
+
+  CHAPTER V
+
+  Frequent Change of Farmers--Tediousness of the Course of Post--Existence
+  of the Posts not a matter of common Knowledge--Dockwra's Penny
+  Post--Introduction of Postmarks--Penny Post incorporated into the
+  General Post--Dockwra's Dismissal                                  33
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+
+  Posts regarded as Vehicles for the Propagation of Treason--Wildman--
+  Cotton and Frankland--Post Office Establishment--Revenue--Building in
+  Lombard Street--Dispersion of Letters--Salaries and Wages--Newspapers--
+  Drink   and Feast Money--Post-horses--Quartering of Soldiers--
+  Postmasters' Emoluments--Scotland--Ireland--Bye-letters--Illicit
+  Traffic--Treasury Control--Post Offices grouped together and let out to
+  farm--Stephen Bigg--Expresses--Flying Packets--State of the Roads--
+  Progress of the Penny Post--Appointment of Secretary and Solicitor--
+  Purchase of Premises in Lombard Street                             43
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+
+  State of the Packet Service--Ship Letters--Special Boats built for the
+  Harwich Station--M. Pajot, Director of the French Posts--Establishment
+  of West India Packets--Edmund Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy--Regulations
+  for the Management of the Packet Stations--Conditions of Employment--
+  Smart and Bounty Money--Passes required for Passengers--and for Goods--
+  Regulations habitually infringed--Smuggling--Packets forbidden to give
+  Chase--Practice on Capture of a Prize--Packet Stations at Falmouth and
+  at Harwich conducted on different Principles--Packets employed to carry
+  Recruits--Letters not to be carried in Foreign Bottoms--Court-Post--
+  Restoration of Packet Service with Flanders--John Macky, Packet Agent at
+  Dover--The Postmasters-General act as Purveyors of News to the Court--
+  Their Interview with Godolphin--Posts set up for the Army in Flanders--
+  Packet Establishment placed on a Peace Footing--Dummer's Bankruptcy and
+  Death                                                              72
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+
+  American Posts--Thomas Neale--Andrew Hamilton--Ocean Penny Postage--Posts
+  transferred to the Crown--Become self-supporting                  110
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+
+  Condition of the Post Office in Scotland at the time of the Union--
+  Inaction of the English Post Office--Charles Povey--William Lowndes--
+  Diversion of Postage from the Crown to the Public--Postage Rates
+  increased--Electoral Disabilities--Restrictions on the common Carrier--
+  Modification of the Penny Post--Post-horses--Franking--Illicit Traffic in
+  Letters--Treasury Inconsistency--Post Office Farmers converted into
+  Managers--Treaty with France--Matthew Prior--Single and Double Letters--
+  Change of Postmasters-General--Disagreements with Merchants--Twopenny
+  Post--Comparative Statement of Revenue--Gross and Net Revenue confounded
+                                                                    117
+
+  CHAPTER X
+
+  Allen's Contract--General Review--The Secretary's Dismissal--Earl of
+  Abercorn's Complaint--Sketch of Allen's Plan--His Qualifications for
+  carrying it into effect--His local Knowledge--His Difficulties with
+  Postmasters--Post-boys--Illegal Conveyance of Letters--Contrast between
+  Allen's Mode of Procedure and that of the Post Office--Posts increased
+  in Frequency--Opening of Letters--Falmouth Packets--Late Delivery of
+  Foreign Letters--Erection of Milestones--Letters containing Patterns
+  and Writs--Apertures to Letter-boxes--Expresses--Highwaymen--Bank Notes--
+  Decadence--Allen's                                                 146
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+
+  Penny Post--Franking--Newspapers--Clerks of the Roads--Numbering of
+  Houses--Scotch and Irish Posts--Receiving Offices--Gratuities on
+  Delivery--Appeal to the Courts--Appointment of Letter-carriers--Attempt
+  to curtail the Limits of the Penny Post frustrated--Benjamin Franklin--
+  Post Office Monopoly in matter of Horses abolished--Disfranchising Act--
+  Causes of Disquietude                                             187
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  Palmer's Plan--Objections--First Mail-coach--Post-coach--Increase in
+  Rates of Postage--Restrictions upon Franking--Obstruction alleged--
+  Anthony Todd--Transitional Period--Stages--Earlier Closing of the General
+  Post Office--Emoluments from Bell Ringing--Internal Dissensions--
+  Tankerville's Dismissal--Corruption--Surveyors--Conditions of Palmer's
+  Appointment--Abuses--Fees and Perquisites--Expresses--Registration--
+  Palmer's Improvements--Packet Service--Smuggling--Flagitious
+  Expenditure--Todd's Emoluments--Pitt's Indisposition to expose Abuses--
+  Lord Walsingham--Daniel Braithwaite--Essays in Cause of Economy--Milford
+  Haven and Waterford Packets--Pitiable Condition of the Clerks
+  of the Roads--The King's Coach--His Illness and Prayer for his Recovery--
+  Strange Treatment of Official Papers--George Chalmers--Palmer's
+  Jealousy--Mail Guards--Creation of a Newspaper Office--Walsingham
+  attempts to check Irregularities--His inveterate Habit of Scribbling--
+  Exposes an Attempt at Imposition--Curious Practice as regards the
+  Delivery of Foreign Letters--Earl of Chesterfield--Insubordination on
+  Palmer's Part--Appeal to Pitt--Charles Bonnor--Palmer's Suspension--
+  Chesterfield's Letter--Interview with Pitt--A Second Interview--Palmer's
+  Dismissal--Bonnor's Promotion                                     208
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  Model of Mail coach--Patent Coaches--Thomas Hasker--His pithy
+  Instructions--Roof-loading--The King's Interest in his Coach--General
+  Result of Palmer's Plan--Condition of the country Post Offices--Francis
+  Freeling--Enlargement of the General Post Office--Communication with
+  France--Bank Notes cut in half--Letter-carriers put into Uniform--Grant
+  to Post Office Servants--Development of the Penny Post--Edward
+  Johnson--Excessive Absence among the Letter-carriers--By the Penny
+  Post prepayment ceases to be compulsory--The Ten-mile Limit--Origin
+  of the Twopenny Post--Dead Letter Office--American and West Indian
+  Correspondence--Correspondence for the India House--Post with the
+  Channel Islands--Further Restrictions on Franking--Bankers' Franks--
+  Patterns and Samples--Metropolitan Cart Service--Horse and Cross
+  Posts--Rates of Postage increased--Mysterious doings of the Packets--
+  Brilliant Engagements--Post Office Usage--Counsels' Fees--New Years'
+  Gifts--Todd's Indifference to Censure--His Death                  281
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  Ship-letter Office--Increase in Rates of Postage--Abolition of the Penny
+  Post--Invoices and Bills of Lading--Convention Posts--Prosecutions--
+  Auckland's Pleasantries--Repressive Powers--Guarding the Horse-mails--
+  Recovery of stolen Mail Bag--Troubles with Contractors--Surveyors
+  deprived of their Post Offices--Rates of Postage again increased--
+  Threepenny Post--Post Office Revenue--William Cobbett--Early or
+  Preferential Delivery--Treatment of Foreign Newspapers--Newspaper
+  Summaries--The _Times_--Olney Post---Death-blow to Convention Posts--
+  Turnpike Trusts--Exemption from Toll--Roads discoached--Yet further
+  Increase in Rates of Postage--Bewildering Complications--Want of
+  Publicity--Exemption from Toll abolished in Scotland--Returned-letter
+  Office--New Ship-letter Act--Mail Service to India and the Cape--
+  Generosity of the East India Company--Eulogistic Letter           328
+
+  CHAPTER XV
+
+  The Irish Post Office--British Mail Office--Earl of Clancarty--Edward
+  Smith Lees--Abuses--Express Clerks and Clerks of the Roads--Alphabet--
+  Provision for Soldiers' Wives--Thomas Whinnery, Postmaster of Belfast--
+  Charles Bianconi--Holyhead Packets--Opposition Packets started by
+  Lees--Steam Packets--Competition--Land Communication with Ireland--London
+  and Holyhead Coach--Sir Arthur Wellesley--State of the
+  Roads--Road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury--Thomas Telford--John
+  London Macadam--Road between Shrewsbury and London--Postage
+  over the Conway and Menai Bridges                                 366
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  Appointment of Second Postmaster-General abolished--Other Economies--
+  Transfer of the Falmouth Packets to the Admiralty--Speed of
+  Mail-coaches--Mail-coaches the Disseminators of News--Newspapers--Sir
+  Henry Parnell--Royal Commission--General Review--Gerrard Street--
+  Headquarters of the General Post Office removed to St.
+  Martin's-le-Grand--Branch Offices--Morning Delivery expedited--First
+  Mail sent by Railway--Duke of Richmond--Incorporation of the Irish
+  Post Office with the Post Office of Great Britain--Lord Althorp--
+  Limits of the General Post Delivery--Packet Service put up to public
+  Competition--Abolition of the Newspaper Privilege--Dissatisfaction
+  with the Post Office--Money Order Office--Unsatisfactory Returns to
+  the House of Commons--Indisposition to carry out Reforms--More
+  unsatisfactory Returns--New Contract for Mail-coaches--Freeling's
+  Despondency--and Death                                            396
+
+  APPENDIX                                                          429
+
+  INDEX                                                             439
+
+
+
+ERRATA
+[see Transcriber's note at the end of the book.]
+
+Page 324, sixth line from bottom, _for_ 1713 _read_ 1703.
+  "  339, first line, _for_ 1892 _read_ 1802.
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+EARLY POSTS
+
+1533-1609
+
+
+The early history of the posts is involved in some obscurity. What
+little is known on the subject is touched upon in the first Annual
+Report of the Post Office, the Report for 1854; but the historical
+summary there given is, as it purports to be, a summary only. The object
+of the following pages is nothing more than to fill up the gaps and to
+supply some particulars for which, though not perhaps without interest,
+an official report would be no fitting place. The origin and progress of
+an institution which has so interwoven itself with the social life of
+the people as to have become one of the most remarkable developments of
+modern civilisation can hardly, we think, be considered a subject
+unworthy of study.
+
+It seems almost certain that until the reign of Henry the Eighth, or
+perhaps a little earlier, no regular system of posts existed in England,
+and that then and for some considerable time afterwards the few posts
+that were established were for the exclusive use of the Sovereign.
+"Sir," writes Sir Brian Tuke to Thomas Cromwell in 1533, "it may like
+you to understonde the Kinges Grace hathe no moo ordinary postes, ne of
+many days hathe had, but bitwene London and Calais ... and sens October
+last, the postes northewarde.... For, Sir, ye knowe well that, except
+the hakney horses bitwene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no suche
+usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as is in the accustumed
+places of France and other parties." Sir Brian Tuke held the appointment
+of Master of the Posts, and he had received the King's commands to set
+up posts "in al places most expedient."
+
+Before Henry's reign the only letters of which any record exists,
+letters to or from the Court and on affairs of State, were sent by
+couriers employed for the particular occasion. These couriers, styled
+"Nuncii" and "Cursores," appear to have answered to the Queen's
+messengers of our own time, and, as is evident from records still extant
+and dating back to the reign of Henry the Third, must have formed an
+important branch of the royal establishment.
+
+To establish posts and to control them when established was not all or
+nearly all that Brian Tuke had to do. He had also to see, even where no
+posts existed, that the royal couriers were not kept waiting for horses;
+and this probably was his original function. The horses were provided by
+the townships, and the townships were kept up to their duty by the
+Master of the Posts. In some cases, indeed, special provision appears to
+have been made. At Leicester,[1] for instance, the members of the
+Corporation bound themselves under penalty to keep four post-horses in
+constant readiness for their Sovereign's use; but this can hardly have
+been a common practice. Where horses were not provided voluntarily, the
+magistrates and constables had orders to seize them wherever they could
+be found.
+
+  [1] 9 April, 17 Elizabeth.--Further att the same Common Hall [of the
+  town of Leicester] it was for dyuers cawses thought good and mete for
+  the service of the Prince to have at the chargies of the Towne certen
+  poste horses kepte, whearevppon theare was appoynted foure to be kepte,
+  which, thees persouns vnderwritten have vndertaken to kepe, and to serve
+  from tyme to tyme so oft as nede shalle requier, for and dureinge the
+  space of one wholle yeare nexte after the date hereof, viz. Mr. Roberte
+  Eyricke, one; Fraunces Norris, chamberlayn, twoe; Thomas Tyars, one. For
+  the which theyre is allowed vnto them of the towne for euerie horse
+  thurtie-three shillinges and foure pence, that is to say for foure
+  horses vili. xiiis. iiiid. Provyded always that if theye the said Robert
+  Eyricke, Frauncis Norrys, and Thomas Tyars doe not kepe good and able
+  horses for that purpose and to be readie vppon one half howres warnynge
+  to forfitt, lose, and paye for euerie tyme to the Chamber of the Towne
+  of Leycester the somme of fyve shillinges. For the payement of the said
+  xxli. nobles it is further agreed vppon, in the manner and forme
+  followinge, That is to saye, the Mayor and euerie of his bretherene
+  called the xxiiii. to paye iis. a pece, and euerie of the xlviii. xiid.
+  a pece, and the Resydue that shalbe then lackinge to be levied of the
+  commonaltie and inhabitantes of the said towne and the liberties
+  thereof.--Appendix to the Eighth Report of the Royal Commission on
+  Historical Manuscripts, p. 425.
+
+The close connection between the posts and the Sovereign continued long
+after the reign of Henry the Eighth. In 1572 Thomas Randolph, Master of
+the posts to Queen Elizabeth, rendered an account of the charges to
+which he had been put in the execution of his trust during the preceding
+five years; and in this account, which is given in considerable detail,
+not a single post is mentioned without some qualification identifying it
+with the person of the Sovereign--a post daily serving Her Majesty, a
+post for Her Majesty's service and affairs, a post during the time of
+Her Majesty's progress, a post for the conveyance of Her Majesty's
+letters and those of her Council. As late as 1621 all the posts of the
+kingdom, which even then were only four in number, started from the
+Court. I. "The Courte to Barwicke," _i.e._ the post to Scotland. II.
+"The Courte to Beaumoris," _i.e._ the post to Ireland. III. "The Courte
+to Dover," _i.e._ the post to the Continent. IV. "The Courte to
+Plymouth," _i.e._ the post to the Royal Dockyard.
+
+The setting up of a post for a particular purpose and letting it drop as
+soon as the purpose had been answered was another peculiarity of these
+early times. The post to Plymouth, ordained in 1621 to be one of the
+standing posts of the kingdom, had been dropped since 1611, having then
+been declared to be unnecessary except in time of war. Even the post to
+Ireland had at one time been dropped and was not revived until 1598. In
+the same year a second post to Ireland, Irish affairs being then
+considered to require "oftner dispatches and more expedition," was set
+up by way of Bristol, and this in its turn disappeared. Indeed, it would
+probably not be too much to say that at the beginning of the seventeenth
+century no post set up in England during a war had lasted longer than
+the war itself. This practice of dropping a post as soon as it had
+served its purpose, a practice which must almost necessarily have
+existed from the earliest times, would seem to explain Brian Tuke's
+meaning when, after stating that in 1533 except those he mentioned "the
+Kinges Grace hathe no moo ordinary postes," he adds, "ne of many days
+hathe had."
+
+For the regulation of the posts the earliest instructions of which we
+have any record were issued by Queen Elizabeth. Every "post" was to keep
+and have constantly ready two horses at least, with suitable
+"furniture." He was to have at least two bags of leather well lined with
+baize or cotton, and a horn to blow "as oft as he meets company" or four
+times in every mile. He was, after receiving a packet, to start within
+fifteen minutes, and to run in summer at the rate of seven miles an hour
+and in winter at the rate of five. The address of the packet and the day
+and the hour at which he received it were to be carefully entered in a
+book to be kept for the purpose. But the packets which were thus to be
+treated were only such as should be on the Queen's affairs or the
+affairs of State. "All others" are dismissed in a word. These, the
+instructions state, are "to passe as by-letters." To pass as by-letters
+probably means that the letters were to go when and as best they might,
+but that the post was not to go for the purpose of taking them. This
+view is confirmed by an order of the subsequent reign, that "no pacquets
+or letters," except such as were on the King's affairs, should "binde
+any poste to ride therewith in post." But be the meaning what it may,
+the expression seems to shew that even in the reign of Elizabeth letters
+other than State letters had begun to be sent to the post-houses, and
+that such letters, if barely recognised, were yet not excluded.
+
+But the conveyance of the Sovereign's letters was not the only purpose
+which the posts as originally established were designed to serve.
+Another and hardly less important purpose was that there should be
+stationed and in constant readiness, at given distances along the chief
+roads of the kingdom, a relay of horses by which persons travelling on
+their Sovereign's concerns, even though not the bearers of letters,
+might pass between one part of the country and another. Of this second
+purpose a few words implanted in the English language, such as
+post-horse, post-boy, and travelling-post, are all that we have now left
+to remind us. But long after the public had been admitted to the free
+use of the post, the two objects of providing for letters and providing
+for travellers continued to be treated as inseparable. Hence the history
+of the posts during the seventeenth century and far into the eighteenth
+becomes complicated with the history of travelling.[2]
+
+  [2] The two posts were, at first, distinguished by different names. The
+  travellers' post was called "The thorough poste," and the letter post
+  was called "The Poste for the Pacquet."
+
+Indeed, there can be little doubt that it was as a means of travelling
+and not as a means of correspondence that the post first came to be used
+by others than those employed on affairs of State. Writing, during the
+sixteenth century, was an accomplishment possessed by comparatively few,
+whereas any one might have occasion to travel; and the resources of
+travelling, so far as these partook of an organised system, were in the
+hands of the Sovereign. Wherever there were posts, it was at the
+Sovereign's charge and for the Sovereign's use that horses were
+maintained; and where there were no posts, it was only for the use of
+the Sovereign that the townships were under obligation to supply horses.
+The natural consequence followed. People pretended to be travelling on
+their Sovereign's affairs who were really travelling on affairs of their
+own, and so procured the use of horses which would otherwise have been
+denied them. The horses, moreover, were overridden and overloaded, and
+the persons by whom they were hired not rarely forgot to pay for
+them.[3]
+
+  [3] Austria, in the infancy of her post office, appears to have had much
+  the same experience. "The postmasters," writes M. Lęper, Director of
+  Posts at Markirch, "were in no way protected from the most outrageous
+  behaviour on the part of travellers, and were unable to prevent them
+  from overloading the horses and vehicles with unreasonably heavy things,
+  chests, boxes, and similar articles, by which the conveyance of the same
+  was delayed. They could not hinder many travellers from riding
+  heavily-laden horses at full speed over hill and dale without drawing
+  rein, so that the animals were crippled, disabled, or even ridden to
+  death, and in consequence the postmasters were frequently unable to
+  carry out the service for want of horses. The worst treatment, however,
+  which the postmasters experienced was at the hands of cavaliers and
+  couriers, who often demanded more horses than they needed, took them by
+  force, overloaded the coaches with two or three servants, and with an
+  immoderate quantity of luggage, and paid an arbitrary sum, just whatever
+  they pleased, often not half what was due."--L'Union Postale of October
+  1, 1885.
+
+No sooner had James the First come to the throne than he issued a
+proclamation having for its object to check these abuses. Only those
+were to be deemed to be travelling on public affairs who held a special
+commission signed by one or more of the principal officers of State. No
+horse was to be ridden, in summer, above seven miles an hour, and in
+winter above six; nor yet, without the knowledge and consent of the
+owner, beyond the next stage. The load, besides the rider, was not to
+exceed thirty pounds in weight. Persons riding with special commission
+were to pay for each horse 2-1/2d. a mile, besides the guide's groats,
+and "others riding poste with horse and guide about their private
+businesses" were to make their own terms. In all cases payment was to be
+made in advance. The proclamation contained another and most important
+provision, the effects of which were felt far into the next century.
+This was that, wherever posts existed, those who had the horsing of the
+posts were also to have the exclusive letting of horses to travellers.
+If the post-houses could not supply horses enough, the local constables
+with the assistance of the magistrates were to make good the deficiency.
+
+The proclamation of 1603 was soon followed by another, prohibiting all
+persons not being duly authorised by the Master of the Posts from being
+concerned in the collecting, carrying, or delivering of letters. The
+effect, therefore, of the two proclamations together was that, except by
+private hand, no letter and, except along the bye-roads where posts did
+not exist, no traveller could pass between one part of the kingdom and
+another without coming under the observation of the Government. It has
+been suggested that the State monopoly of letters had its origin in a
+desire on the part of the Sovereign to reserve to himself the revenue
+which the letters brought; but in 1609, when the monopoly was created,
+the posts were maintained at a clear loss to the crown of £3400 a year,
+and this loss, as matters then stood, the erection of every fresh post
+would serve to increase. However it may have been in after years, the
+original object of the monopoly, the object avowed indeed and
+proclaimed, was that the State might possess the means of detecting and
+defeating conspiracies against itself. A system such as this object
+implies is absolutely abhorrent to our present notions; and yet it is a
+fact beyond all question that the posts in their infancy were regarded
+and largely employed as an instrument of police. It was not until the
+reign of William the Third that they began to assume their present shape
+of a mere channel for the transmission of letters.
+
+But we are anticipating. In 1609 the cloud which obscures the earlier
+history of the posts begins to break, and from that year it is possible
+to present a tolerably connected narrative of their progress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BATTLE OF THE PATENTS
+
+1609-1635
+
+
+At the beginning of the seventeenth century the established posts were
+only four in number,--the post to Scotland, the post to Ireland, the
+post to Plymouth, and the post to Dover; and of these the most important
+by far, because the most used, was the last, the post through the county
+of Kent. It was through this county that the high-road to the Continent
+lay, and, while commercial relations as between one town and another
+within the kingdom were yet a thing of the future, the foreign trade of
+the country had already reached very considerable proportions. The
+persecutions in France and the Low Countries had driven a large number
+of foreigners to London, and here the Flemings introduced the
+manufacture of wool into cloth. In this commodity alone the exports from
+England to the Netherlands in the time of Philip the Second amounted to
+five millions of crowns annually.[4] In education no less than
+manufactures the Flemings were far in advance of our own countrymen.
+There was scarcely a peasant among them that could not both read and
+write. While, therefore, the other three posts of the kingdom were still
+being little used except for letters on affairs of State, the post to
+the Continent had already become matter of public concern.
+
+  [4] An amusing illustration of the value which, at the end of the
+  sixteenth century, was set upon cloth made in London is afforded by a
+  letter from Frederick the Second of Denmark to Queen Elizabeth. This
+  letter, dated the 14th of June 1585, is thus summarised in the 46th
+  Annual Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix ii.,
+  page 28: "Has for some years past had cloth prepared in London of
+  different colours and after a particular pattern, for his use in hunting
+  both in summer and winter. Hears now that certain German merchants,
+  having found this out, have had similar cloth manufactured, which they
+  sell everywhere, outside his Court and family, to many inquisitive and
+  foolish imitators, at a very dear rate. It is no concern of his what
+  anybody may wear, but still, as this cloth was made of a special kind
+  and colour for himself, he takes it ill that it should be sold to
+  others, and begs her therefore (on the application of his agent, Thomas
+  Thenneker) strictly to prohibit the sale."
+
+This post had long been jealously watched, the foreign merchants in
+London claiming to send their letters by their own agents, and the Crown
+insisting that they should be sent only through the established channel.
+It was an old feud, extending far back into the sixteenth century. In
+1591 a proclamation on the subject had been issued. This, in respect to
+the post through the county of Kent, established that State monopoly of
+letters which was not made general until eighteen years afterwards. It
+was to the protection of the same post that the proclamation of 1603 had
+been directed, the proclamation reserving to those who horsed the posts
+the exclusive right of letting horses to travellers. But these measures
+had been of little avail. The foreign merchants still employed their own
+agents to carry their letters, and these agents, instead of resorting to
+the post-houses, still procured horses where and as best they could.
+
+Once more recourse was had to a proclamation, which differed little from
+others that had gone before except in one important particular. This was
+the open avowal that among the chief cares of the State it had been and
+continued to be by no means the least "to meete with the dangerous and
+secret intelligences of ill-affected persons, both at home and abroad,
+by the overgreat liberty taken both in writing and riding in poste,
+specially in and through our countie of Kent." The magistrates were
+enjoined to take care that horses were procured at the post-houses
+alone. No letters were to be sent except through the post, and notice to
+this effect was to be served upon all the merchants of the city of
+London, "both strangers and others." Unauthorised persons suspected of
+having letters upon them were, before entering or leaving the kingdom,
+to be searched. And any packets or letters found to be illicitly
+conveyed were to be sent up to the Privy Council, and the bearers of
+them to be apprehended and kept in safe custody pending the Council's
+orders.
+
+At this time the office of Master of the Posts was held by Lord Stanhope
+of Harrington, and under Lord Stanhope, to superintend the foreign post,
+was employed a foreigner of the name of De Quester. This man, with the
+assistance of his son, appears to have discharged his duties
+efficiently. He made communication with the Continent both cheaper and
+more expeditious. His promptitude in forwarding the public despatches
+had attracted the attention of his Sovereign. In 1619, in recognition of
+these services, the King created the control of the foreign post into a
+separate appointment, independent of Lord Stanhope, and conferred it
+upon De Quester and his son, under the title of "Postmaster of England
+for Foreign parts out of the King's Dominions."
+
+It is possible that De Quester's appointment, though ostensibly a reward
+for good service, was dictated in part by policy. But if designed to
+appease the foreign merchants, it signally failed of its object. The
+truth seems to be that they were animated by feelings of profound
+distrust. Many years later, when De Quester had retired, the English
+merchants, in a petition to the King, protested against the choice of a
+successor being left to the "strangers." This, they said, would be to
+their own great prejudice. Even the letters patent by which that
+successor was appointed give as a reason for not letting the strangers
+have a post of their own that thus the secrets of the realm would be
+disclosed to foreign nations. Such being the feelings on one side, it
+would be strange indeed if they had not also existed on the other.
+
+De Quester's appointment, while displeasing to the foreign merchants,
+gave dire offence to Lord Stanhope. The letters patent by which this
+peer held his office had expressly declared that not only the internal
+posts of the kingdom were to be under his direction, but also those
+"beyond the seas within the King's dominions." This expression, repeated
+from former patents, applied, no doubt, to Calais. And yet, could it in
+reason be contended that his rights were not being infringed if the post
+through which all letters between London and the Continent passed were
+transferred to other hands? Except for the practice of granting offices
+in remainder, Stanhope's death at this time would have settled the
+difficulty. As a matter of fact, however, the difficulty had only begun.
+By a deed granted thirteen years before, his son and successor in the
+title succeeded also to the office of Master of the Posts, and it soon
+became evident that the younger Stanhope had no intention, without a
+struggle, of letting the grant to himself be whittled away by a
+subsequent grant to another. The Council, not composed of laymen alone,
+but comprising among its members Coventry, soon to become Lord Keeper,
+and Heath, the Solicitor-General, advised the King that "both grants
+might well stand together, being of distinct places." Stanhope rejoined
+that his was "an ancient office tyme out of minde," and that by
+prescription it carried with it the control of letters passing between
+England and the Continent as well as others. Again the Council reported
+against his claim. In support of it, they said, no patent or proofs had
+been adduced before them more ancient than the time of Henry the Eighth.
+
+Stanhope, who remained unconvinced, now proceeded to assert his rights,
+or what he conceived to be his rights, with remarkable vigour. He caused
+De Quester to be molested in the discharge of his duties; he placarded
+the city of London, cautioning all persons against sending letters
+except by his own agents; he instituted proceedings in the Court of
+King's Bench; and he even stirred up the foreign merchants to make
+common cause with himself against the intruder.
+
+The probable explanation of Stanhope's conduct is that De Quester's
+appointment touched him in that most sensitive part, the pocket. His
+salary as Master of the Posts was £66:13:4 a year, and this he would of
+course receive in any case; but on letters to the Continent there were
+certain fees to be paid, a fee of 8d. on each letter to or from
+Amsterdam, and a like sum between London and Antwerp or London and
+Hamburgh, and these, as seems to have been admitted in the suit at law,
+were the motive cause.
+
+In vain the King proclaimed against Stanhope's proceedings. The Privy
+Council met to consider the question as between him and De Quester, and
+separated without coming to a conclusion. Four more meetings were held,
+and with an equally unsatisfactory result. Clearly there was a conflict
+of opinion at the Council Board. Meanwhile the decisions as regards the
+merchants were marked by extraordinary vacillation. First, the Merchant
+Adventurers were "to have a post of their owne choice" to the city of
+Hamburgh and town of Delph, "where the staples of cloth are now fetched
+or to such other place or places whither the same shall happen to be
+removed"; then they were summoned before the Council to shew cause why
+they also should not send their letters by De Quester; then the
+concession was not only confirmed in the case of the Merchant
+Adventurers, but extended to all other "Companies of Merchants"; and
+then in the case of these other companies the concession was withdrawn,
+but only, in the course of a few weeks, to be restored. Only few
+restrictions were imposed. No one carrying the merchants' letters was to
+"keepe any publick office," to "hange up any Tables," or to "weare any
+Badge"; nor was he to be employed until his name had been submitted to
+the Secretary of State for approval. It was also provided that in times
+of war or danger the Secretary of State, if he required it, was to be
+"made acquainted" with the letters and despatches which the messenger
+carried.
+
+The final decision of the Council, which left the merchants in
+possession of a post of their own, practically superseded De Quester's
+appointment, and this drew forth an indignant protest from Sir John
+Coke. The two Secretaries of State, of whom Coke was one, had been
+specially charged with the protection of De Quester's office, and the
+decision had been arrived at in their absence. Meanwhile a broker, of
+the name of Billingsley, was carrying the merchants' letters, and the
+same man was being employed by Stanhope. Coke's indignation knew no
+bounds. "I confess," he said, "it troubleth me to see the audacity of
+men in these times, and that Billingsley, a broker by trade, should dare
+to attempt thus often to question the King's service, and to derive that
+power of foreign letters unto merchants which in all states is a branch
+of regal authority." Can any place in Christendom be named where
+merchants are allowed to send their letters except through the
+authorised post? It is true that, as an act of grace, the Merchant
+Adventurers here have been suffered to send and receive their letters by
+private hand; but such letters have been only to and from their own mart
+towns and concerning their private business. That this man of theirs
+should be suffered to carry any letters he please--letters from
+merchants in general, and even from ambassadors, is a thing that has
+never been heard of nor durst any attempt it before. "Indeed the
+merchants' purse hath swayed very much in other matters in former times,
+but I never heard that it encroached upon the King's prerogative until
+now." A pretty account will those who are charged with the peace of the
+realm be able to give in their places "of that which passeth by letters
+in or out of the land if every man may convey letters, under the covers
+of merchants', to whom and what place he pleaseth." Coke went so far as
+to suggest that advantage had been taken of a small attendance at the
+Council Table to extort the concession from the King upon wrong or
+imperfect information. Surely His Majesty cannot have been informed "how
+unfit a time this is to give liberty to every man to write and send what
+he list."
+
+Nor did Coke's indignation confine itself to words, for it is impossible
+not to conclude that he was at the bottom of the high-handed proceeding
+that followed. Stanhope had gained his suit at law; yet the Council,
+far from revoking De Quester's patent, granted him an order consigning
+Billingsley to prison. It was not until he had been there for three
+months that Parliament, which had recently passed a vote against
+arbitrary imprisonments, petitioned the King for his release.
+
+Of the final issue of the contest nothing is known. But it seems
+probable that the foreign merchants were not deterred by the treatment
+which Billingsley had received from keeping up a post of their own.
+Other and more serious matters were beginning to occupy the attention of
+the Court, and it may well be believed that irregularities which had
+been challenged before might now be allowed to pass unnoticed. Be that
+as it may, in 1632 De Quester, who had lost his son, and had become old
+and infirm, associated with himself in the execution of his office two
+men named Frizell and Witherings, and to these persons he shortly
+afterwards assigned his patent. Frizell appears to have been little more
+than a sleeping partner; but Witherings soon established a high
+character for ability and powers of organisation. The foreign post had
+not been under his charge for more than three years before the King
+commissioned him to examine also into the inland posts, and to put them
+on another and better footing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THOMAS WITHERINGS
+
+1635--1644
+
+
+Armed with the King's commission, Witherings lost no time in applying
+himself to his task. And, indeed, the state of things which he found
+existing afforded ample scope for his energies. Except to Plymouth and
+through the county of Kent, posts existed rather in name than in
+reality. Nominally there was a post to Scotland, and this post James had
+busied himself in improving, in anticipation of his progress to London;
+but since then it had languished and died, or nearly died, of inanition.
+Between the kingdoms of England and Scotland there had, up to the date
+of Witherings's commission, as expressed in the commission itself, been
+no certain or constant intercourse. The only remaining post, the post to
+Ireland, was in an equally forlorn condition.
+
+This decadence can only be attributed to two causes, the paucity of
+travellers and the necessities of the King. Had travellers been
+numerous, the posts would have been kept up for the sake of the profit
+to be derived from the letting of horses. In the absence of travellers,
+the keepers of the post-houses were dependent upon their established
+wages, and these had long remained unpaid. As far back as 1628 a
+petition on the subject had been presented to the Council. The "99 poore
+men," as the petitioners styled themselves, had received no wages for
+nearly seven years; the arrears then due to them amounted to £22,626;
+some of them were already in prison, and many more were threatened with
+arrest. In 1635, as a consequence, doubtless, of their necessitous
+condition, they had ceased to keep horses, and letters were being
+carried on foot. In this manner a distance of only sixteen to eighteen
+miles was accomplished in a day, and to obtain from Scotland or from
+Ireland a reply to a letter written in London took "full two monthes."
+
+Witherings was not long in producing his plan. Within the city of London
+was to be appointed an office or counting-house for the receipt and
+despatch of letters, and thence were to be established trunk lines of
+post to the principal towns of the kingdom, with corresponding branch
+posts, either foot posts or horse posts, according to distance, to the
+smaller towns. The branch posts were to be so fitted to the main posts
+that there was to be no waiting on the part of either; and these latter
+were to start and return at stated times, and to run night and day so as
+to cover 120 miles in twenty-four hours. From London to Edinburgh the
+course of post which had been full two months was to be only six days;
+and to Holyhead or Plymouth and back the distance was to be accomplished
+in the same time. Even Witherings himself appears to have been carried
+away by the brilliancy of the prospect. "Anie fight at sea," he says,
+"anie distress of His Majestie's ships (which God forbid), anie wrong
+offered by anie other nation to anie of ye coastes of England or anie of
+His Majestie's forts ... the newes will come sooner than thought."
+
+An example has been left us of the process to be followed. The letters
+for Scotland were to be put into a "portmantle" directed to Edinburgh,
+into which were also to be put small bags containing letters for towns
+on the same line of road. At Cambridge, for instance, as soon as the
+Portmantle arrived, the bag for that town was to be taken out, and a
+foot-post, "with a known badge of His Majestie's arms," was upon the
+market days to go to all towns within six, eight or ten miles, and there
+deliver the letters, at the same time receiving any that might be handed
+to him. These he was to bring back to Cambridge in time for the
+return-post from Scotland. The return was to be on a particular day,
+and at a particular hour, and the letters were to be ready without fail,
+"upon the verie instant comeing back of the portmantle." The same
+process was to be adopted at Huntingdon and all other towns on the road.
+
+It was an essential part of Witherings's plan that the posts should be
+not only regular and certain but also self-supporting. During the
+earlier part of the century they had been maintained at a cost to the
+Crown of £3400 a year, and this was a burden which the Crown was no
+longer in a position to bear. That they should be made to pay their own
+way was, therefore, an indispensable condition. But how was this to be
+accomplished? Witherings's sagacity left him at no loss for a reply. He
+discerned that to carry a letter is to perform a service for which a
+payment may fairly be demanded in return; and that the demand would meet
+with a ready response must have been plain to him from what he saw going
+on in the west of England. In 1633, or two years before he produced his
+plan, the Mayor and Aldermen of Barnstaple had set up a post between
+their town and Exeter. This post was to leave Barnstaple every Tuesday
+at 7 o'clock in the morning, and to be in Exeter early on the following
+day, in time to catch the King's post on its way from Plymouth to
+London. The King's post was maintained at the expense of the King; but
+for the local service, as a means of defraying the cost, the Corporation
+imposed a small charge, a charge of 6d. for a single letter and of 8d.
+for a double one. Other towns in Devonshire had adopted a similar
+course. That Witherings was aware of the existence of these posts is
+evident from the special allusion that is made to them in the
+Proclamation which he prevailed upon the King to issue;[5] and it was
+their success, probably, which suggested his own undertaking. Concluding
+that what private enterprise was effecting on a small scale the State
+would be able to effect on a large one, he proposed--and the proposal
+received the royal sanction--that for every letter sent by post a "port"
+or charge for carriage should be levied after the following rates:--
+
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                              |Single Letter.|Double letter.|"If bigger."|
++------------------------------+--------------+--------------+------------+
+|Under 80 miles                |     2d.      |      4d.     | 6d. an oz. |
+|80 miles and not exceeding 140|     4d.      |      8d.     | 9d.  "     |
+|Above 140 miles               |     6d.      |      12d.    | 12d. "     |
+|To or from Scotland           |     8d.      |       ?      |     ?      |
+|To or from Ireland            |     9d.      | After two ounces, 6d. the |
+|                              |              |           ounce.          |
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+  [5] The Proclamation enjoined that on letters "to Plymouth, Exeter, and
+  with the two other places in that road," Witherings should "take the
+  like port that now is paid, as near as possibly he can."
+
+This was the introduction of postage. The object of the exceptional rate
+in the case of Ireland was to avoid interference with a Proclamation
+which had been recently issued by the Lord Deputy and Council there.
+
+Henceforth the posts were to be equally open to all; all would be at
+liberty to use them; all would be welcome. Important as this provision
+was, it followed as a natural consequence from the imposition of
+postage. The carriage of the subjects' letters was now to be a matter of
+purchase, and, unless the purchasers were sufficiently numerous, the
+posts would not be self-supporting. The custom of the public, therefore,
+was a necessity of their very existence.
+
+In other respects the regulations remained much as they had been, except
+that now there would be the means of enforcing them. Every postmaster
+was to have ready in his stable one or two horses, according as
+Witherings might direct, the charge to be for one horse 2-1/2d. a mile
+and for two horses 5d. This 5d., however, was to include the cost of a
+guide who was always to accompany the horses when two were taken. On the
+day the post was expected, the horses were not to be let out on any
+pretext whatever, this being the first indication on record of letters
+enjoying precedence over travellers. And finally, with certain specified
+exceptions, no letters were to be carried or delivered in any part where
+posts should be established except by such persons as Witherings might
+appoint. The letters excepted were those sent by a friend, by a
+particular messenger employed for the particular occasion, and by
+common known carrier. On the common carrier, however, restrictions were
+imposed. He was to confine himself to his ordinary known journey, and
+was not, for the sake of collecting or delivering letters, to lag behind
+or outstrip his cart or horse by more than eight hours.
+
+The reason for this last exception is not far to seek. The established
+posts were few in number, and even where they existed in name they had
+fallen into disuse. The common carriers had thus become the chief
+carriers of letters, and Witherings, in the furtherance of his project,
+was anxious to disarm their opposition. This he had already attempted to
+effect by argument; and now, as a practical step in the same direction,
+he procured their exemption from the State monopoly. But what may have
+appeared and was probably intended to appear as a valuable concession
+was really no concession at all. The carrier took eight days to go 120
+miles. By the posts the same distance was to be accomplished in a day
+and a night. The carrier's charge for a letter from Cambridge to London,
+a distance of about sixty miles, was 2d. A postage of 2d., according to
+Witherings's plan, was to a carry a letter for eighty miles. If the
+posts were to be both faster and cheaper than the common known carrier,
+it might safely be predicted that as a carrier of letters he could not
+long survive.
+
+In October 1635 Witherings, having completed the necessary arrangements,
+proceeded to carry his plan into effect. The results he anticipated from
+it, as shewn in a memorandum which he delivered to the Secretary of
+State, were promotion of trade and intercourse and the cultivation of
+better relations with Scotland and Ireland. That the posts might one day
+be more than self-supporting, that they would become a source of
+revenue, does not appear to have entered into his calculations; or, if
+it did, his silence on the point would seem to shew that, as compared
+with the other advantages, he deemed it too insignificant to mention.
+
+It was probably about this time that the practice of writing "Haste,
+post, haste" on the outside of letters began to be discontinued. The
+term "post," as here used, meant nothing more than the carrier or bearer
+of the letter; and an injunction to make the best speed he could,
+properly as it might be given to a messenger who had a particular letter
+to carry, would be altogether out of place if addressed to a general
+letter-carrier who was bound by his instructions not to exceed a given
+distance within a given time. "For thy life, for thy life" had sometimes
+been added, as in the case of Protector Somerset's letter to Lord Dacre.
+"To our very good Lord, the Lord Dacre, Warden of the West Marches, in
+haste; haste, post, haste, for thy life, for thy life, for thy life";[6]
+and it seems probable, if the barbarity of the punishments in those days
+is considered, that this was no empty threat. It was "on payn of lyfe"
+that, according to Sir Brian Tuke, all townships were to have horses
+ready for their Sovereign's service. Among the Ashburnham manuscripts is
+a letter from Sir Edward Nicholas to Sir John Hippisley, Lieutenant of
+Dover Castle, written in 1627 or eight years before the introduction of
+postage. This letter is endorsed by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
+and the cover is inscribed "for His Majesty's special affairs; hast,
+hast, hast, post, hast, hast, hast, hast, with all possible speede." The
+absence of any threat in this instance may of course have been due to
+the individual character of the writer, but it is more agreeable to
+think of it as a sign of the advance of civilisation.
+
+  [6] _Her Majesty's Mails_, by William Lewins, p. 19.
+
+In 1637, Lord Stanhope having surrendered his patent, Witherings was
+appointed in his room, and thus became centred in one person the offices
+of postmaster for inland and for foreign letters. In the same year a
+letter office, the erection of which had formed an important part of
+Witherings's plan, was opened in the city of London, and nothing
+remained to hinder him from carrying his project into full effect. But,
+fair as everything promised, hardly three years had elapsed before
+Witherings met with the fate which has overtaken so many of his
+distinguished successors. In 1640, on a charge of divers abuses and
+misdemeanours in the execution of his office, this eminent man was
+deprived of his appointment. Whether the charge was well or ill founded
+we have no means of judging. Only the fact has come down to us that
+after this miserable fashion ended the career of one who had the
+sagacity to project and the energy to carry out a system, the main
+features of which endure to the present day.
+
+Among those who had lent money to the King was Philip Burlamachi, a
+naturalised British subject, and one of the principal merchants of the
+city of London. He had advanced, on the security of the sugar duties, no
+less than £52,000, an immense sum in those days; and it was probably
+this fact rather than any special qualification on his part that pointed
+him out as Witherings's successor. Be that as it may, into Burlamachi's
+hands the office of Master of the Posts was sequestered, subject to the
+condition that he was to discharge the duties under the control of the
+Secretary of State. The sequestration was announced to the public by
+means of placards fixed up on the old Exchange, and Witherings lost no
+time in fixing up counter-placards by way of protest.
+
+And now began an unseemly contention which, arising ostensibly out of
+the rights of individuals, went far to bring the two Houses of
+Parliament into collision. In 1642, after struggling for the best part
+of two years to maintain his position, Witherings assigned his patent to
+the Earl of Warwick, and, under the influence of this peer, both Houses
+declared the sequestration to be illegal and void. Meanwhile Burlamachi
+had fallen into the power of one in whose hands he was the merest
+puppet. This was Edmund Prideaux, afterwards one of the Commissioners of
+the Great Seal and Attorney-General under the Commonwealth. At his
+instigation Burlamachi still kept possession of the letter office. In
+vain the Lords ordered him to give it up to Lord Warwick, and summoned
+him before them to explain his contumacy. It was true, he replied, that
+the office was still kept at his house, but this house and his servants
+had been hired by Mr. Prideaux, and it was he that disposed of the
+letters.
+
+Incensed at such contempt of their orders, the Lords authorised Warwick
+to seize the mails. After one or two half-hearted attempts to carry this
+authority into effect, arrangements were made for a more strenuous
+effort. On the 19th of December two of Warwick's agents lay in wait at
+Barnet and there surprised the mail as it came from Chester. Seizing the
+letters and the man that carried them, they made the best of their way
+towards London, but had not proceeded further than the foot of the hill
+beyond Highgate when they were themselves surprised by five troopers "on
+great horses with pistols," who barred the road, and, in the name of the
+House of Commons, captured the captors.
+
+Meanwhile a still more exciting scene was enacting before Warwick's
+office near the Royal Exchange. There two of his men kept watch for the
+mail from Plymouth, and, as it passed on its way to Burlamachi's house
+hard by, they dashed into the street and seized the letters. Their
+success was but for the moment. Before they could regain the office,
+Prideaux had swooped down upon them at the head of some half-dozen
+adherents, and with his own hands had torn the letters away. "An order
+of the House of Commons," cried one of the bystanders, "ought to be
+obeyed before an order of the House of Lords."
+
+On these occurrences being reported to the Lords, Burlamachi and all
+others who had been concerned in them, Prideaux alone excepted, were
+ordered to prison. Among these was the man who had been captured at
+Barnet and afterwards rescued, one Hickes by name; and this fellow
+proved to be Prideaux's own servant. On the part of that wily politician
+one looks in vain for any effort to procure Burlamachi's release, or
+even for the slightest indication of concern that he had been arrested;
+but the arrest of his own servant, the servant of a member of the House
+of Commons, excited his keenest resentment. This, in Prideaux's view,
+was a clear breach of privilege, and the House was pleased to agree
+with him. No sooner, therefore, had Hickes been imprisoned by the Lords
+than he was released by the Commons, and no sooner had he been released
+by the Commons than the Lords ordered him to be imprisoned again.
+
+Matters having come to this pass, the two Houses held a conference. The
+result might easily have been foreseen. The Lords yielded to the
+Commons, and Burlamachi, on rendering an account which had long been
+called for, was released from custody together with the others who had
+been imprisoned at the same time. Concerning the next two years little
+is known; but it seems probable that Burlamachi, who in his petition
+praying for release had pleaded old age and infirmities, did not long
+survive the indignity to which he had been exposed. At all events, in
+1644, either by death or resignation, the office of Master of the Posts
+had become vacant, and, as Burlamachi's successor, the House of Commons
+appointed Prideaux.
+
+Thus ended the battle of the patents, which had raged more or less
+fiercely for more than twenty years. It was long indeed before Lords
+Warwick and Stanhope ceased urging their claims, Warwick as Witherings's
+assignee, and Stanhope on the allegation that at the Council Table the
+Lord Keeper Coventry had cajoled him into surrendering his patent; but
+after Prideaux's appointment there was no farther appeal to force.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+EDMUND PRIDEAUX AND CLEMENT OXENBRIDGE
+
+1644--1660
+
+
+Hardly had Prideaux assumed the direction of the letter office before he
+gave public notice that there would be a weekly conveyance of letters
+into all parts of the kingdom. There is reason to doubt, however,
+whether under his rule as much or nearly as much as this was
+accomplished. Next to Norwich, Yarmouth was then, as it is now, the
+chief town in the eastern counties; and yet it is certain that a post to
+Yarmouth was not established until after Prideaux's rule had ceased; and
+more than fifty years later we find his successors lamenting that, while
+Lincolnshire generally was ill provided with posts, there were several
+towns in that county which had no post at all.
+
+But to whatever extent Prideaux's professions exceeded his performance,
+it is beyond question that he spared no effort to extend the posts, and
+that he is justly entitled to the credit, not indeed of improving upon
+Witherings's scheme, but of carrying that scheme into more general
+effect. Despite his exertions, however, he failed to keep pace with the
+wants of the time. Indeed, what facilities for intercourse had been
+given already seem to have created a demand for more. In 1649 the Common
+Council of the city of London, not content with a post only once a week
+to Scotland, established a post of their own. Along the whole line of
+road between London and Edinburgh they appointed their own postmasters
+and settled their own postage, and the same plan they proceeded to
+adopt in other parts. Prideaux, who to his office of Master of the Posts
+had recently added that of Attorney-General, was highly incensed. Only a
+few years before, the State monopoly of letters, when the State was
+represented by the Crown, had been the object of his fiercest
+denunciation, and now this same monopoly was a cherished possession to
+be defended at all hazards. First he remonstrated. Then he threatened.
+And neither threats nor remonstrances having any effect upon the city
+authorities, he reported their proceedings to the Council of State, and
+the Council of State reported them to Parliament. Parliament was in no
+mood for concession. The city posts were promptly suppressed, and more
+than thirty years elapsed before private enterprise again embarked upon
+a similar venture.
+
+The report which Prideaux made to the Council of State had another
+result, which probably he little contemplated. In that report he had
+taken credit to himself that, although the charges of management had
+risen to £7000 a year, or about twice the amount they had been in
+Witherings's time, he had relieved the State from the whole of this
+burden. In other words, the posts had become self-supporting, but, so
+far as appeared from the report, were nothing more. The House of Commons
+was not satisfied. Accordingly the Council was instructed to examine and
+report whether the terms on which the letter office was held were the
+best that could be obtained. The investigation was soon made.
+Heretofore, in consideration of his defraying the charges, Prideaux had
+been allowed to receive the postage and make what he could out of it.
+For the future, besides defraying the charges, he was to pay to the
+State a fixed rent of £5000 a year. This was the introduction of the
+system of farming, a system which, as regards the posts generally,
+continued to nearly the end of the seventeenth and, as regards the
+by-posts, beyond the middle of the eighteenth century.
+
+In 1653 Prideaux ceased to be Master of the Posts. Two years before he
+had been elected a member of the Council of State, and shortly after his
+election, and probably as a consequence of it, the arrangements for
+communicating with the army had reached a high state of perfection.
+Between the Council and the forces in Scotland messengers, we are told,
+were passing almost every hour. But, useful as he may have made himself,
+Prideaux seems to have been altogether wanting in those qualities which
+are calculated to inspire confidence. At the Treaty of Uxbridge, where
+he was one of the commissioners, even his own colleagues had regarded
+him as a spy. This feeling of distrust may possibly explain how it
+happened that, after the expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was forced
+to content himself with his appointment as Attorney-General. The Council
+of State, as then reconstructed, did not include him among its members,
+and one of the first acts of the new Council was to relieve him from the
+responsibilities of the letter office. Grasping as he was, it is
+impossible to suppose that this can have been done by his own wish, for
+the appointment of Master of the Posts, though weighted with a rent of
+£5000 a year, was still a very lucrative one. His successor paid a rent
+of double that amount, and is reputed to have derived from his farm an
+enormous profit.
+
+After Prideaux's death in August 1659, it transpired that his interest
+in the letter office had not ceased when he ceased to administer it.
+What was the interest he retained we do not know; but the matter seems
+to have been considered sufficiently serious to call for parliamentary
+inquiry. In the following February the House of Commons ordered "that
+the whole business concerning the Post Office, and what has been
+received by Mr. Prideaux, late Attorney-General, out of the same, and
+what account hath been made thereof he referred to a committee to
+examine, and to state matter of fact and report it to the Parliament and
+their opinion therein." To this order, however, no return appears to
+have been made. It is probable that at the Restoration the committee had
+not concluded its labours.
+
+Oldmixon speaks of Prideaux as "a very fierce republican, who got a
+great estate by his zeal against the Church and Churchmen"; and it is
+certain that to that estate his zeal for the Post Office brought him no
+inconsiderable addition. Of the destination of a part of his wealth we
+are not left uninformed. Towards the close of the century a judge,
+before whose ferocity even Prideaux's pales, set out on a circuit, the
+infamy of which will endure to the end of time. Arrived in
+Somersetshire, he found residing at Ford Abbey, in the neighbourhood of
+Axminster, an inoffensive country squire, son of the former Master of
+the Posts, and named after him, Edmund Prideaux. From this gentleman,
+apparently because he was his father's son, and for no better reason,
+Jeffreys under threat of the gallows extorted £15,000, and he bought
+with the money an estate "to which," Lord Macaulay tells us, "the people
+gave the name of Aceldama, from that accursed field which was purchased
+with the price of innocent blood."
+
+In 1653 the posts were farmed to Captain Manley at a rent of £10,000 a
+year; and in 1655, Manley's contract having expired, Cromwell on the
+advice of his Council placed them in the hands of Mr. Secretary Thurloe,
+on his giving security to the same amount. The change of management was
+followed two years later by an important step in advance. This was the
+passing of an Act of Parliament intituled an Act for settling the
+postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Legislative sanction was now
+given to what had hitherto rested on no better authority than
+Proclamation or Order in Council. A general office, to be called the
+Post Office of England, was to be established for the receipt and
+despatch of letters; and under the title of Postmaster-General and
+Comptroller of the Post Office an officer was to be appointed who was to
+have the exclusive right of carrying letters and of furnishing
+post-horses. At the Restoration the Act of 1657, the "pretended" Act as
+it was now called, could not of course be recognised as possessing any
+legal validity, and so it was replaced by another; but the later Act was
+little more than a re-enactment of the earlier one. Virtually, it is to
+the Act of 1657 that the General Post Office owes its origin, although
+the Act of 1660, as being unimpeachable, has been commonly called its
+charter.
+
+Similar as the two Acts are in the main, there is one important
+difference between them. The Act of 1657 gives as a reason for making
+the posts the subject of parliamentary enactment that they are and have
+been "the best means of discovering and preventing many dangerous and
+wicked designs which have been and are daily contrived against the peace
+and welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well
+be communicated but by letter of escript." To the odious practice here
+implied no countenance is given in the Act of 1660. But, indeed, it
+needed not this evidence to prove that during the Commonwealth the Post
+Office was largely used as an instrument of police. Thurloe's
+"intercepted" letters are matter of history; and the journals of the two
+Houses of Parliament shew that the foreign mails, both inward and
+outward, were stopped for whole weeks together, and committees appointed
+to open and read the letters. On one occasion the Venetian ambassador,
+whose letters had shared the same fate as the rest, entered an indignant
+protest. "He could not persuade himself," he said, "that the Government
+of England, so noble and generous, should have so inferior a mind as to
+open the letters of an ambassador, and by this means to violate the
+laws, and to give an example to the world so damnable, and of so little
+respect towards the minister of the Serenissima Respublica." Nor was his
+indignation appeased until four peers had waited upon him in the name of
+the House of Lords, and tendered an ample apology.
+
+The rates of postage prescribed by the Act of 1657 were only slightly
+varied by the Act of 1660. As finally adjusted, they were as follows:--
+
++--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
+|                                |      On      |      On      |          |
+|                                |Single Letter.|Double Letter.|Per Ounce.|
++--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
+|80 miles and under              |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|Above 80 miles                  |      3d.     |      6d.     |   12d.   |
+|To or from Berwick              |      3d.     |      6d.     |   18d.   |
+|  From Berwick within Scotland--|              |              |          |
+|    40 miles and under          |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|    Above 40 miles              |      4d.     |      8d.     |   12d.   |
+|To or from Dublin               |      6d.     |     12d.     |   24d.   |
+|  From Dublin within Ireland--  |              |              |          |
+|    40 miles and under          |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|    Above 40 miles              |      4d.     |      8d.     |   12d.   |
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+How these rates compare with those which had gone before we have no
+means of judging. We only know that during Prideaux's management the
+postage on a single letter was 6d.; that at some time between 1655 and
+1657 it was reduced to 3d.; and that the credit of this reduction was
+due to Clement Oxenbridge. Oxenbridge, after acting as deputy first to
+Prideaux and then to Manley, appears to have taken a farm under Thurloe;
+and, rightly or wrongly, he affirmed that, as soon as he had improved
+the posts at a cost to himself of more than £5000, and had made his farm
+profitable, he was turned adrift by Cromwell.
+
+If the comparison be carried forward instead of backward, and the rates
+of 1660 be contrasted with those of later years, there is an important
+consideration which cannot be too carefully borne in mind. It is this,
+that in 1660 cross posts did not exist. Between two towns not being on
+the same post road, however near the towns might be, letters could
+circulate only through London; and the moment London was reached an
+additional rate was imposed. Hence the apparent charges, the charges as
+deduced from the table of rates, might be very different from the actual
+charges. Bristol and Exeter, for instance, are less than eighty miles
+apart; but in 1660 and for nearly forty years afterwards letters from
+one to the other passed through London, and would be charged, if single,
+not 2d. but 6d., and if double, not 4d. but 1s. That is to say, the
+postage[7] or portage, as it was then called, would consist of two
+rates, and each of these rates would be for a distance in excess of
+eighty miles. David Hume, writing more than a hundred years later,
+observes that before 1657 letters paid only about half as much postage
+as they did in his own time. This, no doubt, is true if rate be compared
+with rate according to the distance; but the fact we have mentioned very
+materially qualifies the force of the remark.
+
+  [7] The term "postage," in the sense of a charge upon a letter, is
+  comparatively modern. The Act of 1764 is the first so to use it. The
+  term is indeed used in the Act of 1660, but there it signifies the hire
+  of a horse for travelling. "Each horse's hire or postage."
+
+On foreign letters the rates ranged from 4d., the lowest rate for a
+single letter, to 2s., the highest rate for a double letter, and from
+1s. 6d. to 4s. an ounce for letters of greater bulk. No provision was
+made for any charge except on letters from Europe. Letters came indeed
+from other parts; but as the Post Office did not bring them and paid
+nothing for their carriage, no postage was demanded. From India, for
+instance, a letter brought to England and posted there would pay only
+the home postage.
+
+For post-horses the charge was fixed at 3d. a mile for each horse,
+besides 4d. to the guide of every stage. Two concessions were made to
+the public. Horses were no longer to be seized without the consent of
+the owners; and a traveller if kept waiting half an hour without being
+supplied might hire a horse wherever he could. That the seizure of
+horses had been a source of intense annoyance seems beyond question. In
+a Proclamation of 1603, as a reason for helping the postmasters to keep
+horses in sufficient number for the service of the posts, the townships
+are reminded of "the ease and quiet they reape thereby"; and long after
+the immunity from seizure had been granted, the allusions to the former
+practice leave no room for doubt that, though the sore was healed, the
+recollection of it still rankled.
+
+According to Lord Macaulay, a part of the Post Office revenue was
+derived from post-horses.[8] With all deference to that eminent
+authority, and with all modesty we venture to think that such was not
+the case. The Proclamation of 1603, which was the origin of the
+monopoly, while giving to those who horsed the posts "the benefit and
+preheminence of letting horses" to all comers, expressly provided that,
+except for the service of the posts or for the use of persons travelling
+on affairs of State, no postmaster need keep horses unless he pleased,
+and that, if he did so, he should be at liberty to make his own terms.
+On this last point the words are, "But of all others riding Poste with
+horne and guide about their private businesses, the hire and prices are
+left to the parties discretions to agree and compound within
+themselves." Again, an account is still extant, dated 1623, or twenty
+years after the monopoly had been established, and giving in minute
+detail the particulars of the expenses of the posts as they then were;
+records also exist extending in almost unbroken succession over more
+than eighty years of the period during which the monopoly lasted, and
+dealing with every variety of Post Office question; and neither in the
+records nor the account is there the remotest allusion to the receipt of
+any sums on account of post-horses. Yet one reason more for the opinion
+we hold. About the middle of the eighteenth century, as the result of
+legislation which then took place, the roads were measured, and the
+measured mile proved to be shorter than the computed mile. As a
+consequence of this discovery the charge for post-horses was raised. A
+distance which had hitherto been reckoned as eight miles proved to be
+ten miles, and a charge as for ten instead of eight miles was made.
+Travellers were up in arms, and complained that the Post Office had
+raised its charges. The answer was that the Post Office had nothing to
+do with the matter; that the postmasters were entitled by law to so much
+a mile; and that the whole of the charge went into their own pockets.
+For these reasons we think that no part of the Post Office revenue was
+derived from the letting of post-horses. Indirectly, no doubt, the
+monopoly was a source of profit because, except for it, those who horsed
+the posts would not have been content with the wages they received.
+These, according to the account of 1623, ranged from 3s. a day to 6d. a
+day. To supplement the postmasters' pay without expense to the Crown
+was, we make bold to suggest, the object with which the monopoly was
+granted. And, of course, the better the object was secured, the more
+carefully would the monopoly be guarded.
+
+  [8] Lord Macaulay's words are:--"The revenue of this establishment was
+  not derived solely from the charge for the transmission of letters. The
+  Post Office alone was entitled to furnish post-horses; and, from the
+  care with which this monopoly was guarded, we may infer that it was
+  found profitable."
+
+In May 1660 Clement Oxenbridge, to whose exertions the Act of 1657 would
+seem to have been largely due, petitioned the Council of State to
+reimburse him the expenses to which he had been put in improving the
+posts, and the Council of State, after investigating the claim, reported
+the particulars to the House of Commons for directions. It was not,
+however, until after William and Mary had ascended the throne that any
+further step was taken. Oxenbridge, whose necessities had become greater
+as his age advanced, was then by the King's direction given an
+appointment under the Post Office of the annual value of £100; and this
+salary he continued to draw, although too old to discharge the duties
+for which it was paid, until his death in 1696.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WILLIAM DOCKWRA
+
+1660-1685
+
+
+At the Restoration the Post Office was leased to Henry Bishopp of
+Henfield in Sussex, for the term of seven years at a rent of £21,500 a
+year, or more than double the amount which had been paid by the previous
+farmer. Before three years had elapsed, however, Bishopp surrendered his
+lease, and was succeeded for the remainder of his term and at the same
+rent by Daniel O'Neile, Groom of the King's Bedchamber. O'Neile had
+loyally adhered to Charles during his exile, had attended his Sovereign
+on his visit to Scotland, had been banished that kingdom, and in
+connection with his banishment had achieved a singular distinction. He
+had given a written undertaking consenting to his own death if he ever
+returned.
+
+Even at a rent of £21,500, as the Court had doubtless by this time
+learned, the Post Office was not a bad investment. O'Neile, like
+Bishopp, was to enjoy a monopoly of the carrying of letters, and to make
+what he could out of it; but he was rigidly to adhere to the rates of
+postage prescribed by the Act, charging neither more nor less. Old posts
+were not to be altered nor new posts erected, without the sanction of
+the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State was to possess a veto
+on appointments and, as occasion might require, to "have the survey and
+inspection of all letters." To these conditions was afterwards added
+another. This was that no postmaster or other officer was to remain in
+the service who should not within six months obtain and forward to the
+postmaster-general a certificate, under the hand and seal of the Bishop
+of the diocese, to the effect that he was "conformable to the discipline
+of the Church of England."
+
+In 1667, O'Neile's lease having expired, Lord Arlington, Secretary of
+State in the Cabinet known as the Cabal, was appointed postmaster-general;
+and, after a while, the office was again let out to farm, this time at a
+rent of £43,000 a year. Rapidly as the rent had grown, the public
+demands had grown more rapidly still, and little, if any, effort had
+been made to satisfy them. How inadequate the posts were, about this
+time, to meet the public requirements may be judged from a circumstance
+connected with Bishopp's appointment. The letters patent appointing him
+were to take effect from the 25th of June 1660, but their validity was to
+depend on an Act of Parliament, the Act reconstituting the General Post
+Office, which did not pass until some months afterwards. Meanwhile a whole
+crop of posts had sprung up between London and the country, which could
+not be suppressed until the Act was passed. As compensation for the loss
+he sustained by this encroachment on his monopoly between the 25th of June
+and the 29th of September Bishopp claimed and received no less than £500.
+
+There is preserved in the Guildhall Library a letter from the Duke of
+Buckingham, to which the following note is appended:--"The great fire of
+London broke out on the 2nd of September 1666. It is seen by the date of
+this letter that the Duke of Buckingham, at that time in the highest
+position at Court and in the zenith of his power, was at Worthing, and
+did not receive intelligence of the awful calamity until after the city
+had been burning for five days." We do not know by what means the Duke
+was informed of the calamity, nor is it material to our present purpose
+that we should do so. All we desire now to observe is that if, as is not
+improbable, he was informed of it by letter, the letter--as we proceed
+to shew--reached him in due course of post. The fire broke out at
+midnight on the 2nd of September, and the 2nd of September was a
+Saturday, after which, except to the Downs and to places abroad, there
+was no post out of London until Tuesday the 5th, or rather, as the mails
+started after midnight, until early in the morning of Wednesday the 6th.
+Arundel was then the post-town for Worthing, and for the first part of
+the distance the course of post was, as it continued to be until the day
+of railways, through Tooting, Ewell, Epsom or Ebbesham as it was still
+called, Leatherhead, and Dorking. Continuing thence, not, as in later
+times, through Horsham, but through the hamlet of Coldharbour, the
+post-road skirted the foot of Leith Hill and passed through Stone
+Street, Billinghurst, and Amberley to Arundel, which would be reached
+late in the afternoon of Wednesday. Between Arundel and Worthing the
+distance is ten miles, and the postmaster would not, at the earliest,
+take out the letter for delivery until the morning of Thursday the 7th,
+or five days after the fire had broken out. Indeed, it may be permitted
+to us to doubt whether the letter, if letter there was, would have been
+delivered as early as the 7th, had it been for a less important
+personage.
+
+Meagre as the means of communication were in those days, even such means
+as existed were not matter of common knowledge. The Post Office did not
+advertise its wares; and no newspapers then existed to do for the Post
+Office what the Post Office omitted to do for itself. What towns
+possessed post-houses of their own, and how these towns stood in
+relation to other towns which did not enjoy the same advantage, might
+well be considered essential information; yet even of this no public
+announcement was given. Blome, in his _Britannia_, printed in 1671,
+remarks upon this defect, and for the benefit of his readers proceeds to
+supply it. After commenting upon the convenience which the Post Office
+affords, and lamenting that this convenience is not more generally
+known, he gives a list of the post towns which each county possesses,
+and supplements it with a series of county maps, so that, as he
+explains, persons desirous of writing to any particular place may be
+able to find out for themselves where the nearest post-house stands. As
+late as the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth
+centuries separate maps appear to have been published with the same
+object, as a matter of private enterprise. In these maps the post towns
+are indicated by a castle surmounted by the royal standard.
+
+But it was within the metropolis itself that the public need was
+greatest. Between London and the country posts went at unequal intervals
+indeed, and at intervals in some cases unduly long, and yet with
+regularity. To Kent and the Downs there was a post daily; to other parts
+of England and to Scotland a post every other day; and to Wales and to
+Ireland a post twice a week. But between one part of London and another
+there was no post at all. A resident in London having a letter for
+delivery within the metropolitan area had only one choice, to take the
+letter himself or to send it by another. And let the bearer of a letter
+be who he might, there was an inconvenience to which he was constantly
+exposed. The houses were not numbered, and were mainly to be recognised
+by the signs they bore. Later on, men who delivered letters over the
+same ground day after day complained that it was not always easy to find
+the address. Without local knowledge it must have been sometimes
+impossible.
+
+Happily, in England the spirit of enterprise is such that an
+acknowledged want affecting any considerable section of the public is
+seldom suffered to endure very long. And so it proved in the present
+instance. The man who now undertook to relieve the capital from the
+intolerable inconvenience under which it laboured was William Dockwra, a
+merchant of the city of London. Dockwra had been a sub-searcher in the
+Custom House, and through some little interest he possessed at Court had
+been allowed to dispose of his place. The idea of the penny post is said
+indeed to have originated with Robert Murray, an upholsterer in
+Paternoster Row; but, be that as it may, to Dockwra belongs the credit
+of giving it practical shape. A man of less resolution or less convinced
+of the inherent merits of his undertaking might well have been daunted
+by the difficulties he had to encounter. The undertaking had been
+conceived in so bold a spirit that to carry it out would involve an
+expense which Dockwra's unaided resources were altogether unable to
+bear. A difficulty still greater than the want of funds was the
+determined opposition of the Duke of York. In 1663 the profits of the
+Post Office had been settled on the Duke for his support and
+maintenance, and, with an eye ever intent on his own interests, he
+discerned or thought he discerned in the new project an infringement of
+his rights.
+
+Undeterred by these difficulties, Dockwra persevered in the task he had
+taken in hand. At length the appointed day arrived. On the 1st of April
+1680,[9] London, which had hitherto had no post at all, suddenly found
+itself in possession of one in comparison with which even the post of
+our own time is cast into the shade. For the purposes of the undertaking
+London and its suburbs were divided into seven districts with a sorting
+office in each. From Hackney in the north to Lambeth in the south, from
+Blackwall in the east to Westminster in the west, there was not a point
+within the bills of mortality which the new post did not reach. Between
+four and five hundred receiving offices were opened in a single morning.
+Placards were distributed and advertisements inserted in the public
+intelligences announcing where these offices were. Messengers called
+there for letters every hour. These, if for the country, were carried to
+the General Post Office, and if for the town, to the respective sorting
+offices. From the sorting offices, after being sorted and entered in
+books kept for the purpose, they were sent out for delivery, to the Inns
+of Court or places of business ten or twelve times a day, and to other
+places according to distance from four to eight times. Nor was the
+service confined to letters. It extended also to parcels, the only
+condition being that neither parcel nor letter should exceed one pound
+in weight,[10] or ten pounds in value. Subject to these limitations the
+charge between one part of London and another was one penny. An
+exception indeed was made in the case of Hackney, Islington, Newington
+Butts, and Lambeth, which were then separate towns. There one penny
+carried only to the receiving office, and for delivery at a private
+house the charge was one penny more. Delivery in the street was not
+allowed.
+
+  [9] Curiously enough, the Post Office Report for 1854 gives the year as
+  1683; but this is an error.
+
+  [10] Here also the Post Office Report for 1854 is in error. It says that
+  at first there was no limit to the weight of a packet.
+
+But it was not only in the matter of weight and frequency of delivery
+that the new undertaking was conceived in the most liberal spirit.
+Provided a letter or parcel was securely tied and sealed and its
+contents endorsed on the outside, the charge of one penny covered not
+only cost of conveyance but insurance as well, up to a limit of ten
+pounds. That is to say, subject to this limit, if a parcel or a letter
+or its contents were lost, Dockwra would, the conditions being observed,
+make the value good.
+
+There is yet another novelty which Dockwra introduced. As a check upon
+his messengers he supplied the seven sorting offices with stamps bearing
+their own initial letters and denoting the several hours of the day.
+With one of these stamps all letters and parcels were impressed as they
+passed through the post, and if in the busy parts of the capital they
+were not delivered within little more than an hour from the time denoted
+by the impression, the public were encouraged to complain. The following
+are specimens of the stamps which Dockwra used:--
+
+[Illustration: Three stamps]
+
+This was the introduction of postmarks. In the first and last
+impressions Mor. 8 signifies of course 8 o'clock in the morning, and Af.
+4, 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In the second or middle impression the
+initial letter L signifies Lyme Street, where the principal office of
+the penny post was held at Dockwra's private dwelling-house, formerly
+the dwelling-house of Sir Robert Abdy.
+
+The General Post Office, until lately in Bishopsgate Street, stood at
+this time in Lombard Street, where it occupied a site on part of which
+the branch office now stands. There the persons employed, all told,
+numbered 77. In the country and dependent on the chief office were 227
+postmasters, viz. 182 in England and Scotland and 45 in Ireland. Twelve
+persons were also employed in the office in Dublin. Altogether and
+throughout the whole of the kingdom the General Post Office, in 1680,
+gave employment to 316 persons, a number very much less than that which
+Dockwra employed in London alone.
+
+On Saturday nights the penny post closed, in winter at six, and in
+summer at seven. On other nights of the week, Sundays excepted, it must
+have remained open to at least 9 o'clock, for at that hour the country
+letters were collected from the receiving offices and carried to the
+General Post Office. Besides Sundays, there were eight days in the year
+on which the post did not go, viz. three days at Christmas, two days at
+Easter, two days at Whitsuntide, and also the 30th of January, the
+anniversary of the death of King Charles the First.
+
+In spite of the enormous advantages it conferred, the penny post was not
+at first received with unqualified satisfaction. Some fanatics denounced
+it as a Popish contrivance; and Lord Macaulay tells us how the porters
+complained that their interests were attacked, and tore down the
+placards on which the scheme was announced to the public. Even
+unprejudiced persons and persons who had no interests to protect
+complained that a large number of things were posted and not delivered.
+This Dockwra himself admitted, explaining that it was due to the
+illegible writing of the address or to the omission of some important
+particular by which the persons addressed might be identified, the
+omission of their trade, or of the signs which their houses bore, or of
+some well-known place or object in their vicinity. The manifest utility
+of the enterprise, however, soon bore down all opposition; and in little
+more than a year from its introduction the penny post, though weighted
+with a scheme of insurance, was very nearly paying its own expenses.
+
+The establishment of the penny post had one effect which had probably
+not been contemplated. It increased largely the number of letters for
+the country. Every man had now a post office at his own door. It is true
+that Dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices were intended
+primarily for town letters; but country letters might be posted there,
+and, as we have seen, were collected at a stated hour every evening.
+Hitherto the case had been very different. Up to the 1st of April 1680,
+incredible as it may appear, the General Post Office in Lombard Street
+was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of London. There and
+nowhere else could letters be posted. Little wonder if, before 1680,
+persons whom the cost of postage might not deter from writing were yet
+deterred by their distance from the Post Office.
+
+Dockwra might reasonably now expect to reap some of the rewards of
+success. A small band of citizens who had joined in the original venture
+had afterwards deserted him, and for six months he had carried it on at
+his sole charge. Others had then come to his aid, and a fresh
+partnership had been formed. The undertaking prospered, became
+self-supporting, and at length gave promise of large returns. This very
+promise excited the greed of the Duke of York. So long as the outgoings
+exceeded the receipts Dockwra remained unmolested; but no sooner had the
+balance turned than the Duke complained of his monopoly being infringed,
+and the Courts of Law decided in his favour. Not only was Dockwra cast
+in damages, but the undertaking which he had impoverished himself to
+establish was wrested out of his hands, and the penny post, in less than
+five years from its introduction, was incorporated into the General Post
+Office.[11]
+
+  [11] The exact date of incorporation is uncertain. The decision in the
+  Court of King's Bench was given in Michaelmas term 1682; but the first
+  public advertisement of the penny post does not appear to have been
+  issued by the Postmaster-General until the 11th of March 1684/5.
+
+Generosity formed no part of James's character, and, so long as he sat
+on the throne, Dockwra's services remained without the slightest
+recognition. In 1690, however, upon an address from the House of
+Commons, William and Mary granted him a pension of £500 for seven years,
+and in 1697 the grant was renewed for three years longer. In the same
+year as the renewal of the grant, but a little earlier, he was appointed
+comptroller of the penny post at a salary of £200, and this appointment
+he retained until 1700. Then, both appointment and grant came to an
+abrupt termination together, for, on charges brought against him by his
+own subordinates, Dockwra, like Witherings, was dismissed. Such was the
+tribute paid to the man who had conferred on his country benefits which
+he never tired of predicting would endure to all posterity.
+
+Of the charges against Dockwra two deserve special notice, as shewing
+that the penny post, after its acquisition by the State, continued to be
+conducted on the same principles as before. These two charges were--1st,
+that, contrary to his duty, he "forbids the taking in any band-boxes
+(except very small) and all parcels above a pound"; and 2nd, that he
+takes money out of letters and "makes the office pay for it," thereby
+clearly indicating that at that time the State carried on a parcel post
+and continued the practice of making losses good. A third charge, the
+truth of which it is more easy to credit, imputed to Dockwra that he
+spoke and acted as if his object were to get the penny post into his own
+hands again. It is worthy of remark, as characteristic of the times in
+which he lived, and may perhaps be regarded as affording some
+presumption of his innocence, that Dockwra appears to have been at less
+pains to refute the charges than to prove that he had taken the oath of
+supremacy, or the oath which had been recently substituted for it, and
+that he had received the Holy Sacrament.
+
+We have said that to us who live at the end of the nineteenth century it
+may appear incredible that up to April 1680 the General Post Office in
+Lombard Street was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of
+London. But it is by no means certain that our descendants may not think
+it more incredible still that London, with all its boasted progress, has
+only now recovered a post which, in point of convenience and cheapness,
+at all approaches that which an enterprising citizen established more
+than two hundred years ago. When and under what circumstances this post
+lost its original features will have to be considered hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+COTTON AND FRANKLAND
+
+_Inland Service_
+
+1685-1705
+
+
+In 1685, on the death of Charles the Second, the revenue of the Post
+Office was settled on James, his heirs and successors. Rochester, the
+High Treasurer, became postmaster-general; and for the actual discharge
+of the duties a deputy was appointed under the title of Governor.
+
+Two years before, the panic caused by the discovery of the Rye-House
+Plot had led to the issue of a Proclamation which, if differing little
+from others that had gone before, acquires importance from the
+circumstances under which it appeared. Unauthorised posts had again
+sprung up in all directions, simply, no doubt, because there was a
+demand for the accommodation they afforded; but the Government, no less
+than the persons who denounced Dockwra's undertaking as a Popish
+contrivance, seem to have been possessed with the idea that these posts
+were mere vehicles for the propagation of treason. To prevent
+treasonable correspondence was the avowed object of the present
+Proclamation, and the means by which the object was sought to be
+attained was the suppression of private and irregular posts, for by
+these, the Proclamation went on to declare, the conspirators had been
+materially assisted in their designs. Mayors, sheriffs, justices of the
+peace, constables and others were enjoined to make diligent search for
+letters passing otherwise than through the regular post. Special
+officers were to be appointed for the same purpose. All such letters,
+wherever discovered, were to be deemed to be "of dangerous consequence";
+and not only were they to be seized and carried to the Secretary of
+State or the Privy Council for the purpose of being opened and
+inspected, but both the bearers and senders of them were to be proceeded
+against at law.
+
+On James's accession to the throne the Proclamation of 1683 was
+succeeded by another in almost identical terms; and it is certain that
+during his reign the liberties taken with post letters were hardly less
+than they had been in the worst days of the Commonwealth. Only a few
+months before Rochester's dismissal, for no better reason than to
+gratify curiosity, orders were given that the bags from Scotland should
+be transmitted to Whitehall, and during a whole week not a single
+private letter from beyond the Tweed was delivered in London. Happily,
+however, this state of things was soon to cease. After the Revolution
+the appointment of postmaster-general was conferred upon persons who
+were otherwise unconnected with affairs of State, and the effect of this
+change was, as William no doubt intended, at once to lift the Post
+Office out of the region of politics. In the eyes of the Rochesters, the
+Arlingtons, and the Thurloes, busied as they were in the detection of
+conspiracies against the State, the Post Office had been little else
+than an instrument which might be usefully employed as a means to that
+end. With plain citizens unversed in the ways of government, the only
+consideration was how best they could accomplish the object for which
+they had been appointed; and this object was so to manage and improve
+the posts of the country as to secure to their Sovereign the highest
+possible revenue.
+
+But, before William could give effect to his views, there was an
+adherent to be provided for. This was Colonel John Wildman, who was
+appointed postmaster-general in July 1689. Of Wildman's career at the
+Post Office little is known, except that he was profuse in making
+promises which he never performed. He might, perhaps, himself have
+pleaded that he was not given time to perform them, for after eight
+months' tenure of the appointment he was dismissed for some reason which
+is, and will probably continue to be, a mystery. Far different is the
+record left behind them by Wildman's immediate successors. These were
+Sir Robert Cotton and Mr.--afterwards Sir Thomas--Frankland, who became
+joint postmasters-general in March 1690, and served in that capacity for
+nearly twenty years. They had sat in James's Parliament, the one for
+Cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of Thirsk, and these seats
+they retained under William. From the writings they have left behind
+them we are able to see these two men not as a biographer might dress
+them up, but as they really were. Everything about them, their virtues,
+their foibles, their habits, their ailments, their devotion to duty,
+their unwillingness to believe evil of any one, their hatred of
+injustice or oppression, their unbounded credulity, their anxiety about
+their re-election, their gratitude for any little scrap of news which
+they might carry to Court, their fondness for a glass of port wine,
+their attacks of gout, their habit of taking snuff, even the hour of
+their going to bed--all this and more is there revealed, and makes up a
+record of simplicity and benevolence which it is a delight to read.
+
+The establishment over which these two simple gentlemen were called upon
+to preside had recently received a considerable addition. Out of London,
+the Post Office servants remained much as they had been ten years
+before, at about 239 in number, of whom all but twelve were postmasters;
+but in London the force employed at the General Post Office had been
+raised from 77 to 185. The Penny Post Office, which had now been wrested
+out of Dockwra's hands, accounts for the greater part of the difference.
+This gave employment, exclusive of receivers, to 74 persons--a
+comptroller, an accomptant, and a collector, 14 sorters and 57
+messengers--at a total charge for salaries of £2000 a year. Another part
+of the establishment, and by no means the least important or the least
+difficult to manage, consisted of the packet boats. These, in 1690,
+were eleven in number, viz.--two for France, two for Flanders, two for
+Holland, two for the Downs, and three for Ireland. Owing to the war,
+however, the boat-service to France was now in abeyance.
+
+Little more than half a century had elapsed since the introduction of
+postage, and meanwhile the revenue had risen by strides which were for
+those times prodigious. In 1635 the posts were maintained at a cost to
+the Crown of £3400 a year. Within fifteen years not only had they become
+self-supporting, but a rent was paid for the privilege of farming them.
+This rent was, in 1650, £5000 a year; in 1653, £10,000; in 1660,
+£21,500; and some time before 1680, £43,000. In 1690 the net revenue was
+probably about £55,000. In 1694, according to a return made to the House
+of Commons two years later, it was £59,972.
+
+The headquarters of the Post Office were at this time in Lombard Street.
+Here the postmasters-general resided; and here, far from shutting
+themselves up, they were to be found at all hours by any one who might
+wish to consult them on business connected with their office. Freedom of
+communication with those among whom they lived, and not inaccessibility,
+appears indeed to have been a part of their policy. With the foreign
+merchants especially they maintained the most friendly intercourse, and
+were wont to defer to their wishes and suggestions in the arrangement of
+the packets. Besides giving constant attendance during the day, the
+postmasters-general sat as a Board every morning and night. To these
+Board-meetings they attached the highest importance, especially on the
+nights of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, when mails were despatched
+into all parts of the country. These were known as the "Grand Post
+Nights," and the others as "Bye-Nights."
+
+The Post Office building appears to have been not ill adapted to its
+purpose. A massive gate opened into a court of oblong shape. This court
+was paved from end to end for the merchants to walk in while waiting to
+receive their letters. On the right was the Board-room with the
+residence of the postmasters-general attached; on the left the office
+for foreign letters; and in front, immediately facing the entrance, was
+the sorting office. The office for the letter-carriers was in the
+basement. The rest of the building was devoted to the use of the Post
+Office servants, who, owing to their unseasonable hours of attendance,
+were required to live in the office itself or else in its immediate
+vicinity.
+
+The machinery for the dispersion of letters was very simple. For Post
+Office purposes the kingdom was divided into six roads--the North Road,
+the Chester or Holyhead Road, the Western Road, the Kent Road, and the
+Roads to Bristol and to Yarmouth; and these roads were presided over by
+a corresponding number of clerks in London whose duty it was to sort the
+letters and to tax them with the proper amount of postage. At the
+present time, when, owing to the system of prepayment, there is
+comparatively little taxing to be done, no less than 2800 clerks and
+sorters are engaged every evening in despatching the letters into the
+country. Two hundred years ago the whole operation was performed, both
+sorting and taxing together, by the six clerks of the roads, and they
+had not even a sorter to assist them until 1697.
+
+The letters, as soon as they had been sorted, were despatched into the
+country, the usual hour of despatch being shortly after midnight; but,
+of course, with a force to prepare them of only six persons, a rigid
+punctuality such as that which now distinguishes the operations of the
+Post Office could hardly be observed. An instance remains on record of
+the disturbance caused by any unusual pressure. The 25th of February
+1696, we are told, was a foreign post night, and it happened that the
+letters for the country as well as abroad were more than ordinarily
+numerous. On this occasion the mails which should have gone out before
+three o'clock in the morning could not be despatched until between six
+and seven.
+
+Once clear of London, the letters passed into the hands of the
+postmasters, who were alone concerned in their transmission and
+distribution. At the present time, multifarious as the duties of a
+postmaster are, it is not one of them to transport the mails from town
+to town. But such was not the case in 1690. The post roads were then
+divided into sections or, as they were commonly called, stages; and
+these stages were presided over by a corresponding number of
+postmasters, whose duty it was to carry the mails each over his own
+stage. This had been the original object of their appointment, the
+object for which they had been granted the monopoly of letting
+post-horses, and it still remained their primary duty, to which every
+other was subordinate. And yet traces of this original function were
+already beginning to disappear. The posts settled on the six main roads
+of the kingdom had not been long in extending themselves to other roads;
+and on these branch roads one postmaster would be charged with the
+carrying of the mails over two or more stages, leaving another without
+any transport duty at all. Kendal, for instance, lay on a branch road
+leaving the Holyhead Road at Chester; and from Wigan the letters for
+Kendal were fetched by the postmaster of Preston, who passed not only
+his own town but the town of Lancaster on his way.
+
+In 1690 no provincial town had a letter-carrier of its own, as that term
+is now understood. Even at Bristol and at Norwich, which ranked next to
+the capital in size and importance, there was for all Post Office
+purposes one single agent, and that was the postmaster. Upon him and him
+alone devolved all the duties which now, at all but the smallest towns,
+a body of sorters and letter-carriers is maintained to perform. Whether
+out of London there was any settled mode of delivery is uncertain; but
+there seems little doubt that, soon after the establishment of the Post
+Office, to deliver letters in his own town had come to be a part, though
+a secondary part, of a postmaster's duty. At Maidstone, indeed, the
+delivery appears to have reached a high state of perfection. The
+postmaster there fetched the mails from Rochester and carried them to
+Ashford, dropping the letters for his own town as he passed through.
+These were at once taken out by two men of his own and delivered, so
+that, as he took pride in relating, a letter from London arriving by the
+morning post at noon could he answered by the return post, which left
+Maidstone at six o'clock in the evening.
+
+But this must have been an exceptional case. Except perhaps at the
+largest towns, letters were yet too few to make such an arrangement
+necessary; and it seems probable that the hour at which the delivery was
+made and the area over which it extended were very much in the
+postmaster's discretion. One check there was, and, so far as appears,
+one only. This was the letter bill which accompanied the letters, and in
+which was inserted the postage which a postmaster had to collect and
+bring to account; but it frequently happened that he advanced the amount
+himself, and of course, where this was so, there was nothing to shew
+that any particular letter had been delivered, still less that it had
+been delivered within a particular time. Far more effective, it may well
+be believed, than any official check was the desire, the natural desire,
+to stand well with his neighbours; and the substantial marks of kindness
+which they seldom failed to bestow upon him whenever he was so
+unfortunate as to get into trouble, preclude the idea that, in the
+matter of delivery or otherwise, remissness or inattention can have been
+at all general.
+
+In London, owing to recent malpractices there, attention had been
+directed to the salaries, and these had been improved. The six clerks of
+the roads received four of them £60 a year, one £50, and one as much as
+£100. The sorters received £40 a year, and the general post
+letter-carriers 11s. a week. The wages of the penny post letter-carriers
+or messengers, as for distinction's sake they were called, were 8s. In
+addition to their salaries the clerks of the roads enjoyed the privilege
+of franking newspapers or, as they were then called, gazettes. This
+privilege, which dated from the first establishment of the Post Office,
+had arrested the attention of James when Duke of York, and he had
+desired to take it away; but, on learning that compensation would have
+to be given, he decided to let it continue. By post the gazettes would
+have cost from 4d. to 6d. apiece. The clerks of the roads supplied them
+for 2d. The emoluments from this source kept steadily growing during
+William's reign. At first the longer and more frequent sessions of
+Parliament, and, later on, the war in which England was engaged, excited
+an appetite for news to which the two previous reigns afford no
+parallel. A statement which the postmasters-general made to the Treasury
+about this time, while evincing perhaps some little credulity, evinces
+also how keen, in the judgment of two shrewd and intelligent men, was
+the hunger after early intelligence. "In England," they say, "there are
+many postmasters, who some of them serve without salary, others for less
+than they would otherwise do, in consideration of their being allowed
+gazets by the office ffrank."
+
+Another curious custom prevailed in 1690, and continued indeed for
+nearly a century afterwards. This was the distribution among the Post
+Office servants in London of a certain sum annually as "drink and feast
+money." The sum so distributed in 1685 had been no less than £60; and
+this was in addition to two "feasts" which were given them at the
+expense of the Crown, one at midsummer and the other at Christmas.
+
+In the country, where there was no one to watch over the postmasters'
+interests, the salaries were merely nominal. The postmaster of Sudbury
+in Suffolk received a salary of £26 a year; and for this he had, three
+times a week, to carry the letters to Braintree and back, a distance of
+thirty-two miles, over a road that was barely passable. At Maidstone, in
+order to keep the delivery up to his own standard of excellence, the
+postmaster expended 2s. a day in what he called "horse-meate and
+man's-meate," yet his salary was only £5. Many postmasters received no
+salary at all. Even at Bristol, which stood next to London in population
+and wealth, the salary was only £60, having been recently raised to that
+amount from £50.
+
+Nor was it only in the matter of salary that the postmasters were
+objects of compassion. The disturbed state of the country during the
+last few years had brought back old abuses. Officers of the army and
+others who had not the officers' excuse of urgency would override the
+post-horses, and when, as frequently happened, these were lamed or
+killed, no compensation appears to have been given. Another class of
+persons infested the roads, persons who, taking advantage of the general
+confusion, would hire post-horses and not return them. During the last
+twelve or thirteen years of the seventeenth century many postmasters
+were languishing in prison through inability to pay what they owed for
+postage; and among these there were few who did not trace their
+misfortunes to the fact that immediately before and after William's
+accession to the throne their horses had been killed or spoiled through
+reckless riding or else run away with.
+
+But neither the loss of their horses nor the inadequacy of their
+remuneration was so galling to the postmasters as the liability to which
+they now became subject, of having soldiers quartered upon them. A
+standing army had been recently authorised, and there was little or no
+barrack accommodation. Hence a liability, which in our own time might be
+little more than nominal, was, in 1690, tantamount to a heavy tax. Under
+Charles and James[12] the postmasters had been exempt from this
+annoyance; but the exemption had been granted by virtue of the royal
+prerogative, and William could not be induced to continue it. In vain it
+was urged that, if a burden were cast upon them as novel as it was
+oppressive, justice demanded that their salaries should be increased.
+The King resolutely refused to make a distinction which the law did not
+recognise, and, except in a few isolated cases, the salaries remained
+unchanged.
+
+  [12] In the reigns of Charles II. and James II. the practice of
+  billeting, illegal as it then was, was necessarily resorted to in order
+  to provide quarters for the troops they maintained in time of peace; and
+  even billeting in private houses was not unknown. An Act of 1689, the
+  second Mutiny Act, as it is called, while forbidding billeting in
+  private houses, authorised it at "inns, livery stables, ale houses,
+  victualling houses, and all houses selling brandy, strong waters, cyder
+  or metheglin, by retaile, to be dranke in their houses."
+
+Despite these drawbacks, there is no reason to think that the
+appointment of postmaster was not eagerly sought for, or that when
+obtained there was any general disposition to throw it up. The
+explanation is obvious. In the first place the appointment carried with
+it the exclusive right of letting post-horses. This monopoly, at all
+events on the more frequented roads, must have been remunerative; and it
+must have been especially remunerative where, as appears to have been
+generally the case, the postmaster was also innkeeper. Travellers were
+drawn to his house, for it was only there that they could procure horses
+to pursue their journey. He was, in a word, assured of custom. Other
+sources of emolument were--1st, gratuities, varying according to
+distance, from 1d. to 3d., on every letter he collected or delivered;
+and 2nd, what were technically called "Bye-letters." This term, whatever
+may have been the case a century before, had now a distinctive meaning.
+It meant letters which stopped short of London,[13] letters upon which
+at that time there was no check. In 1690 the postage on these letters
+was probably not large; but, large or small, the whole or all but the
+whole of it found its way into the pockets of the postmasters, and it
+was one of the first cares of the new postmasters-general to consider
+how the diversion might be stopped.
+
+  [13] In the agreement with Ralph Allen, dated thirty years later,
+  bye-letters are defined to be "letters not going or coming from, to, or
+  through London."
+
+Such, in England, was the condition of the Post Office when Cotton and
+Frankland assumed the direction of it in the month of March 1690. In
+Scotland the posts were under separate direction, the direction of the
+Secretary of State for that part of the kingdom, and subject to the
+control of the Scotch Parliament. For purposes of convenience, however,
+an arrangement had been made between the two Post Offices. On letters
+between London and Edinburgh in both directions the English Post Office
+took not only its own share of the postage but the whole; and, in
+return, it paid the salaries of all the postmasters and defrayed the
+cost of all expresses between the Border town of Berwick-on-Tweed and
+Edinburgh. The correspondence at this time passing between the two
+capitals was of the slightest. It is true that for the three years
+ending March 1693 the amount due to the London office for postage on
+letters to Edinburgh was £1500, or at the rate of £500 a year; but the
+correspondence of the Secretary of State for Scotland, or "Black-box" as
+it was called, from the colour of the box in which it was carried, would
+probably account for nearly the whole. In 1707, which no doubt was a
+busy year in consequence of the Act of Union, the cost of carrying this
+box to and fro averaged £66 a month.
+
+In Ireland the Post Office was managed by a deputy-postmaster, who was
+directly responsible to the postmasters-general in London. The method of
+business was the same as in England. Instead, however, of six "roads,"
+there were only three--the Munster Road, the Ulster Road, and the
+Connaught Road. The Dublin establishment, clerks and letter-carriers
+included, consisted of twelve persons, of whom five received £20 a year,
+and no one, the deputy-postmaster excepted, more than £80. The
+deputy-postmaster himself received £400. Such at least was the normal
+establishment; but all was now confusion. The battle of the Boyne had
+not yet been fought, and Tyrconnel was still Lord Deputy. By his
+direction the Post Office servants in Dublin, down to the youngest
+letter-carrier, had been turned out of their appointments; and the mails
+from England, instead of being opened at the Post Office, were being
+carried to the castle and opened there.
+
+The new postmasters-general had not long taken up their quarters in
+Lombard Street before they began to feel serious alarm for the revenue
+committed to their charge. It was in the matter of bye-letters that
+their apprehensions were first aroused. London, as the metropolis, sent
+and received more letters than any other town, more probably than all
+the other towns of the kingdom put together. Through London, too, as the
+centre of the Post Office system, many letters passed in those days
+which would not so pass now, because there were no cross-posts. Still
+there was a residue, a residue considerable in the aggregate,
+consisting of letters which did not touch London in any part of their
+course; and of these comparatively few were accounted for. Some thirty
+years later, after a check had been established, the revenue derived
+from bye-letters was only a little over £3000 a year. At the end of the
+seventeenth century it probably did not amount to as many hundreds.
+
+It was, however, not the letters that fell into the post, but those that
+were kept out of it, the illicit traffic in fact, that caused the
+greatest concern. This traffic was assuming larger proportions every
+day. Under Charles and James searchers had been appointed, men who
+searched for letters as baggage is searched at the Custom House. No
+suspected person, no suspected vehicle, was safe from inspection. But
+there was no legal sanction for the practice, and it had ceased on
+William's accession. Early in the present reign it had been mooted
+whether a prosecution should not be undertaken, at all events against
+the principal offenders; but the King refused to consent to a step which
+he regarded as impolitic and calculated to excite discontent. License
+waxed bolder with impunity. Along the road from Bristol to Worcester and
+from Worcester to Shrewsbury men might be seen openly collecting and
+delivering letters in defiance of the law. Openly or clandestinely the
+same thing was being done in other parts. "Wherever," wrote the
+postmasters-general, "there are any townes which have commerce one with
+another so as to occasion a constant intercourse by carryer or
+tradesman, there we do find it a general practice to convey at the same
+time a considerable number of letters."
+
+But the illicit traffic between one part of the country and another,
+large as were the dimensions it had assumed, was insignificant as
+compared with that which was taking place between the country and
+London. This was the natural result of the establishment of the penny
+post. At the first introduction of postage care had been taken so to fix
+the rates that for single letters the post should be cheaper than the
+common carrier. But the common carrier, in competition with the State,
+had one enormous advantage. He could reduce his terms at will. So long,
+therefore, as there was a profit to be made, the relative cheapness of
+the post had proved only an imperfect check.
+
+A far more efficient check, in the case of the metropolis at least, had
+been the difficulty of dispersion. It was one thing to bring letters to
+London and another to deliver them. In a maze of streets consisting of
+houses which bore no numbers, a comparative stranger to the town
+attempting anything in the shape of a general delivery would have been
+simply bewildered. But all this was now altered. The penny post supplied
+the very machinery, the want of which had hitherto kept the illicit
+traffic within bounds. Once within the orbit of that post, a letter
+consigned to any one of Dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices
+would be delivered in any part of what was then known as London for 1d.,
+and in the suburbs for 2d. And these charges would carry up to one pound
+in weight; whereas a quarter of one pound by the general post, even from
+places no further distant from London than Croydon or Kingston, would be
+charged 2s. 8d.
+
+Of course, under such conditions, to carry letters across the
+border-line, the line which separated the general post from the penny
+post, had soon become a regular traffic; and this traffic, in
+consequence of the impunity it enjoyed, was now being carried on with
+little concealment. No stage-coach entered London without the driver's
+pockets being stuffed with letters and packets, and he was moderate
+indeed if he had not a bagful besides. The waggoner outstripped his
+waggon and the carrier his pack-horse; and each brought his
+contribution. The higgler's wares were the merest pretext. It was to the
+letters and packets he carried that he looked for profit. So notorious
+had the abuse become that two private persons, unconnected with the Post
+Office, offered their services with a view to its correction. These
+persons were gentlemen by birth, and yet it is difficult to conceive an
+office more odious than the one which they were prepared to assume.
+They proposed to erect stands or barriers in Westminster, Southwark, and
+other places in the outskirts of London, and there to demand of
+suspected persons as they passed any letters they might have about them
+which did not concern their private business. They further proposed to
+deliver these letters by messengers of their own, and to collect the
+postage, and to proceed against the bearers of them for the recovery of
+the penalties. It is significant of the extent to which the traffic had
+grown, that in return for their services they asked no more than
+two-thirds of the postage they should collect, and even pleaded the
+heavy expenses to which they would be put as an apology for asking so
+much. The remaining third they would undertake to make over to the
+postmasters-general. They did not explain, however, how it was proposed
+to distinguish letters which concerned the private business of the
+bearers from those which did not, or how, while checking others, they
+were to be checked themselves. Nor indeed was any such explanation
+needed, for the postmasters-general very clearly discerned that the
+proposed remedy would be worse, far worse, than the disease.
+
+Cotton and Frankland were sorely perplexed. They knew perfectly well
+that the true policy was to supplant and not to suppress; and experience
+had taught them that to facilitate correspondence was to increase it.
+These views they never ceased to inculcate; but their power of giving
+effect to them was extremely limited. They could not lower the rates of
+postage, for these were fixed by Act of Parliament. They could not set
+up a new post nor alter an old one without the King's permission.
+Neither was this permission so easy to obtain as it had been. The Post
+Office revenue was settled upon William just as it had been settled upon
+James; but while James kept the control in his own hands William left it
+to his ministers.[14] Constitutionally sound as the change of practice
+was, it had its drawback. James might care little for the convenience of
+trade and commerce; but self-interest would prompt him not to withhold
+facilities where these might be given at small cost and with the
+prospect of comparatively large returns. Ministers, on the contrary,
+even the most enlightened, concerned themselves mainly with the
+balance-sheet of the year, and no promise of future and remote profit
+would easily reconcile them to a diminution of present receipts. That
+the Post Office must sow before it can reap is a truism which those who
+hold the purse-strings have, at all times, found it hard to accept.
+
+  [14] Occasionally, even after William's accession, the
+  postmasters-general addressed the King direct. The remonstrance against
+  quartering soldiers upon postmasters was so addressed. This document is
+  dated the 1st of February 1692/3.
+
+The ministers charged with the control of the Post Office were the Lords
+of the Treasury. How little the postmasters-general were left to act on
+their own responsibility will best be shewn by examples. Warwick,
+according to the computation of those days, was sixty-seven miles from
+London; but letters for that town passed through Coventry, thus
+traversing a distance of eighty miles. And not only was the route a
+circuitous one but it involved an additional charge for postage, the
+rates for a single letter being, for eighty miles, 3d., and for less
+than eighty, 2d. The postmasters-general desired to send the letters
+direct; but even so simple a matter as this they were not competent to
+decide for themselves. A change of route involved a reduction of charge;
+and a reduction of charge might affect the King's receipts. Before,
+therefore, the route could be altered, the King's assent had to be
+signified through his appointed ministers. In 1696 a post was
+established between Exeter and Bristol. This was the first cross-post
+set up by authority in the British Isles. It ran twice a week, leaving
+Exeter on Wednesdays and Saturdays at four in the afternoon, and
+arriving at Bristol at the same hour on the following days. From Bristol
+the return post, which went on Mondays and Fridays, started at ten in
+the morning. But in this case as in the other, the postmasters-general
+had not the power to act of their own motion. Hitherto letters between
+the two towns had passed through London, and so had been liable to a
+double rate of postage, to one rate of 3d. from Exeter to London, and to
+another rate of equal amount from London to Bristol, or 6d. altogether.
+For the future, the towns being less than eighty miles apart, the charge
+would be 2d. Large as this reduction was, the postmasters-general
+strongly advocated it. The existing post, they said, was both tedious
+and costly, and had been little used in consequence. A direct post, it
+was true, would require a small outlay to start it; but, this outlay
+notwithstanding, the post was certain to prove remunerative. Increase
+facilities for correspondence, and correspondence would assuredly
+follow. Besides, it would promote trade and be an inestimable boon to
+the public generally. To these representations the Treasury yielded; and
+before three years were over, the postmasters-general had the
+satisfaction of reporting that the new post was producing a clear profit
+of more than £250 a year. But complaisant as the Treasury had been on
+this occasion, their co-operation was fitful and uncertain. The Post
+Office could not advance a step without incurring some trifling expense;
+and the Treasury only too often acted as if to save expense, however
+trifling, were the highest proof of statesmanship.
+
+The postmasters-general were indeed heavily handicapped. Even with a
+free hand their position would have been one of great embarrassment. But
+bound hand and foot as they were, what could they do? They did what was
+perhaps the very best thing that could have been done in the
+circumstances. They grouped large numbers of post offices together and
+let them out to farm. These groups, or branches as they were called,
+spread over a wide area. The Buckingham branch, for instance, not only
+included the county of Bucks but extended as far as Warwick. The
+Hungerford branch comprised sixteen post offices in the counties of
+Berks, Wilts, and Somerset. The Chichester branch covered a large part
+of Surrey as well as Sussex; and the six remaining branches, for
+eventually there were nine altogether, were equally extensive.
+
+This, though by no means a perfect remedy for the existing evils, went
+far to mitigate them. The farmer, of course, could not alter the rates
+of postage; but with this single exception he was free from the
+restraints which hampered the postmasters-general. Within the area over
+which his farm extended he had only to consult his own interests; and,
+happily, his own interests and the interests of the public were
+identical. He improved and extended the posts, because to improve and
+extend the posts added to the number of letters and made his farm more
+profitable. He stopped the practice of levying gratuities on the
+delivery of letters, because this practice, by adding to the cost of the
+post, and so deterring persons from using it, diminished his own
+receipts. For the same reason he took good care that no agent of his own
+should omit to account for bye-letters, and, if other than his own
+agents continued to send letters by irregular means, that it should not
+be for want of facilities which he could himself supply.
+
+To this community of interest as between himself and the public may be
+ascribed the exceptional feelings with which, at the close of the
+seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, the Post Office
+farmer was regarded. The very name of farmer in connection with other
+branches of the revenue had become a by-word for all that was rapacious
+and extortionate. Only recently the farmer of the customs and the farmer
+of the hearth money had been stamped out as moral pests. The Post Office
+farmer, on the contrary, was welcomed wherever he came as a public
+benefactor. In his case outrages and exactions such as had disgraced the
+others were impossible. Before he could collect a single penny he had a
+service to perform; and according as this service was performed well or
+ill, he repelled or attracted custom.
+
+The real secret of his welcome, however, was that he supplied an urgent
+demand; and how urgent this demand was may best be judged by the
+conditions on which he was glad to accept his farm. These conditions
+were a lease of no more than three years, and a rent equivalent to the
+highest amount which the post offices included in his farm had in any
+one year produced. For his profits he had nothing to look to but the
+increase of revenue resulting from his own management; and even of this
+he received the whole only in the first year, when he would, presumably,
+be establishing his plant. In subsequent years he received two-thirds,
+the remaining third going to the Post Office. If under such conditions
+as these it were possible to toil and grow rich, great indeed must have
+been the field of operation.
+
+Among those who were commissioned to supply the accommodation which the
+postmasters-general were precluded from supplying themselves was one who
+deserves to be specially mentioned. This was Stephen Bigg of Winslow, in
+Buckinghamshire. Bigg farmed the Buckingham branch. He appears to have
+possessed and to have deserved the confidence of the postmasters-general.
+Of ample means, and endowed with no ordinary powers of organisation,
+he had probably embarked on his undertaking less with a view to
+profit than from a desire to improve the posts. Be that as itmay,
+the same means which conduced to the one end conduced also to the
+other; and when the time arrived for him to render an account of his
+proceedings, he not only made over to the Post Office a handsome sum as
+one-third share of the profits, but had earned for himself the gratitude
+of the large district over which his farm extended.
+
+His success in his own county encouraged him to enlarge the sphere of
+his operations. Passing through Lancashire in the last year of the
+century, he was struck with the wretched accommodation which the posts
+afforded. As compared with those under his own control, they were slow,
+irregular, and, owing to the system of gratuities, costly. On his return
+to London he offered to take in farm the post offices of the whole
+county. The offer was accepted, and a lease was signed fixing the rent,
+as ascertained in the usual manner, at £2826. The history of this farm
+is curious. Bigg had not long been engaged in his new undertaking before
+the cross-post which had some few years before been set up between
+Exeter and Bristol was extended to Chester. It is not very clear how
+this interfered with Bigg's proceedings; but, as a matter of fact, it
+appears to have tapped an important source of supply. On this being
+pointed out to the postmasters-general, they at once, with that high
+sense of justice which distinguished all their proceedings, released him
+from his engagement and cancelled the lease.
+
+The next county to which Bigg turned his attention was Lincolnshire. If
+Lancashire had bad posts, Lincolnshire had next to none. Five post towns
+were all of which Lincolnshire could boast--Stamford and Witham and
+Grantham, Lincoln and Boston; and of these only two were off the great
+north road which ran through the extreme west of the county. It is true
+that other towns received letters; but they received them only by virtue
+of a private arrangement, and heavily had they to pay for the luxury.
+From Lincoln, for instance, the postmaster went twice a week to
+Gainsborough and to Brigg, to Horncastle, Louth, and Grimsby, charging
+as his own perquisite on each letter he collected or delivered the sum
+of 3d. over and above the postage; but, so far as depended on any
+official post, these and all the intervening towns were absolutely cut
+off from the rest of the world.[15] Bigg procured a farm of the district
+in favour of his son, and the lease was signed on the 4th of August
+1705. On the 1st of October in the same year posts began to run, and
+gratuities on the delivery of letters had become a thing of the past.
+One penny on each letter collected was the only charge that remained
+over and above the postage.
+
+  [15] In the case of Grimsby it is the more surprising that this should
+  have been so, because out of the only five towns in the kingdom which
+  the Act of 1660 mentions by name Grimsby is one. According to this Act
+  the post was to go there once a week.
+
+It would be less than justice not to recognise the important part which
+about this period the farmer played in the history of the Post Office;
+nor is it possible not to admire the sagacity of those who, when they
+found the posts to be slipping through their fingers, summoned this
+extraneous agency to their aid. It was no mere venture which by a happy
+accident happened to turn out well. The postmasters-general had foreseen
+and foretold exactly what would be the result--that under a system of
+farming the public would be better served, letters would become more
+numerous, and the revenue, when it should revert to the Crown at the
+termination of the lease, would be higher than when the lease began.
+
+Next to Lincolnshire in poverty of the means of correspondence stood
+Cornwall. Until 1704 the post to Falmouth, after leaving Exeter, ran
+through Ashburton to Plymouth and thence along the south coast. Of the
+towns in Mid Cornwall Launceston alone possessed a post office. At
+others, indeed, letters were delivered, but only by virtue of a private
+arrangement and on payment of a gratuity of 2d. apiece. No farmer,
+unfortunately, offered his services here. But, what was perhaps the next
+best thing, the gentry of the county, headed by Lord Granville, took the
+matter up. Thus supported, the postmasters-general proceeded to concert
+their arrangements. They desired the postmasters of Exeter, Plymouth,
+and Launceston to meet together and prepare some scheme for facilitating
+the correspondence of the midland towns. Such a scheme was soon
+submitted, and, although it involved a cost of £260 a year, authority
+for its adoption was not withheld. Henceforth the post for the extreme
+west of England was to go, not by way of Plymouth, but direct from
+Exeter to St. Columb, and thence through Truro to Falmouth. A single
+post through a wide extent of country might ill accord with our present
+views of what the public convenience requires; and yet at the beginning
+of the eighteenth century Mid Cornwall, by the mere alteration of the
+route for the Falmouth mails, obtained facilities for correspondence not
+inferior to those enjoyed by other parts of the country.
+
+The speed at which the post travelled at the end of the seventeenth
+century only slightly exceeded four miles an hour. This slow rate of
+progress, added to the fact that, except to the Downs, the post left
+London only on alternate days, gave occasion for the not infrequent use
+of expresses. These were mounted messengers sent specially for the
+occasion. Whether for expresses there was any prescribed rate of speed
+is not known; but it seems probable that their instructions were to go
+as fast as they could. The charge for an express was 3d. a mile and 6d.
+a stage, a stage being on the average about twelve miles. The total sum
+which the Post Office received on this account during the half-year
+which ended the 29th of September 1685 was £337.
+
+Occasionally several expresses would be required at one time. In 1696,
+on the discovery of Barclay's plot to assassinate the King, orders were
+given to close the ports; and these orders the postmasters-general sent,
+as they were instructed to do, by express. Some twenty years afterwards
+similar orders were given, and an account is still extant shewing how on
+the later, and probably the earlier, occasion they were carried into
+effect. The English ports were sixty-two in number; and to only ten of
+these were expresses sent direct from Lombard Street, the others being
+either taken by the way or reached by branch expresses furnished by the
+towns through which the expresses from London passed. Altogether the
+distance traversed was 2526 miles, the number of stages 202, and the sum
+which the Post Office received for the service from the Commissioners of
+Customs £36:12:6.
+
+From expresses it seems almost natural to pass to flying packets,
+although between the two there is, so far as we are aware, no necessary
+connection. What was a flying packet? The term "flying," at the end of
+the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, was, no
+doubt, used in the sense of running. For this season, writes Lord
+Compton's private tutor to Lady Northampton, under date September 1734,
+"the coach has done flying." In like manner "flying post," a term as old
+as the Post Office itself,[16] meant nothing more than what in Scotland
+was called a runner. Possibly because the idea of expedition was
+conveyed by the term "flying," flying packet came to be regarded as
+synonymous with express. "I despatch this by a flying pacquett," writes
+Lord Townshend to the Duke of Argyll in 1715; and again, "My lord, after
+writing what is above, a flying packet brings letters from Edinburgh of
+the 12th." "By the flying pacquett which arrived last night," writes
+Secretary Stanhope about the same date, "I received the honour of your
+Grace's of the 21st inst." Here, by flying packet is obviously meant
+express. And yet, curiously enough, this is a sense in which the
+postmasters-general never employed the term. By them it was always
+designed to signify the thing transmitted, and not the means of
+transmission. What they called a flying packet might be sent by ordinary
+post no less than by express; and when sending one by express they never
+failed to state that it was being so sent. "You are therefore," they
+write in 1706, "on the receipt of the bag so delivered to your care
+[_i.e._ a small bag containing letters for the Court], to dispatch the
+same imediately by a flying packet from Harwich to this office, and to
+send a labil therewith expressing the precise time of the arrival and
+your having dispatched the same per express." On receipt of the Holland
+mail, they write again in the following year, "You are to take out the
+Court letters, and to forward the same express by a flying packet
+directed to Mr. Frankland at the Post Office at Newmarket." "The
+inclosed box being recommended to our care by His Grace the Duke of
+Queensberry, one of Her Majesty's principall Secretarys of State, we do
+send the same by a flying pacquet.... You are to send us advice by the
+first post of the safe comeing of this pacquet to your hands." In
+short, flying packet, in its original sense, appears to have meant
+simply a packet of which the enclosures were designed for some other
+person than the one whose address the packet bore. Within the Post
+Office it is occasionally necessary to employ technical terms which
+would not be intelligible to persons without; but this, so far as we are
+aware, is the only instance of the same term being used within and
+without in two totally different senses.
+
+  [16] 1661. Feb. 3rd. Robert Reade to Charles Spellman. "Att the right
+  honourable my Lord Townshend's in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster." The
+  writer says that he has as yet received no command from Mr. Spellman or
+  from Lord Townshend, "nor do I wonder at it, because the flying post lay
+  drunke last Friday at Fakenham (being the day that he should have binn
+  at Thetford to take those letters then there which he should bring
+  hether on Saterday), and had not changed his quarter yesterday as I am
+  informed by one of Scott's men who saw him pittyfully drunke. The cuntry
+  complaines of him."--Historical Manuscripts Commission, Eleventh Report,
+  Appendix, Part iv. p. 25.
+
+Of the state of the roads about this period the Highway Act 1691
+affords, perhaps, not the least trustworthy evidence. To incidents which
+have resulted in nothing more than temporary inconvenience travellers
+are apt to give a touch of humorous exaggeration. An Act of Parliament,
+on the contrary, deals with facts as they are, and concerns itself not
+with imaginary ills. What, then, is to be thought of the condition of
+the roads when provisions such as these were necessary?--No causeway for
+horses was to be less than three feet in breadth, nor was the breadth of
+any cartway leading to a market town to be less than eight feet. In
+highways of less breadth than twenty feet no tree was to be permitted to
+grow, or stone, timber, or manure to be heaped up so as to obstruct
+progress; and hedges were to be kept trimmed, and boughs to be lopped
+off, so as to allow a free passage to travellers, and not to intercept
+the action of the sun and wind. Of any breach of these and other
+provisions the road-surveyor was, on the Sunday next after it became
+known to him, to give public notice in the parish church immediately
+after the conclusion of the sermon.
+
+Long after the passing of the Act of 1691, and perhaps in consequence of
+it, the causeway formed an important feature of the roads. This
+causeway, or bridle-track, ran down the middle; while the margin on
+either side was little better than a ditch, and being lower than the
+adjoining soil, and at the same time soft and unmade, received and
+retained the sludge. But, in truth, the state of the roads concerned the
+Post Office far less at the close of the seventeenth century than it
+did at the close of the eighteenth. The mails were carried on horseback;
+and, even so, they were carried mainly over the six great roads of the
+kingdom. These roads, as compared with others, were good; and execrably
+bad as we might now think them, they were probably not altogether ill
+adapted to riding. The disasters which history refers to this period, as
+illustrating the difficulties of travelling, occurred generally on the
+cross-roads, and always with wheel traffic. For both wheel traffic and
+horse traffic the six great roads had, probably from the earliest times,
+been kept in some sort of repair. On the great Kent Road, nearly a
+hundred years before, a young Dane, with his attendants, had on
+horseback accomplished the distance between Dover and London in a single
+day.[17] In 1642 couriers had ridden from London to York and back, a
+distance of about 400 miles, in thirty-four hours,[18] a feat barely
+possible except on the assumption that the road was in tolerable order.
+Now and again, indeed, some postmaster, pleading for the remission of
+his debt to the Crown, would urge the losses he had sustained in
+horse-flesh by reason of the badness of the roads; but these roads were
+always cross-roads--roads along which, if he had delivered letters, he
+had delivered them on his own account. Of the six great roads as a means
+of transit for the mails there were no complaints.
+
+  [17] The Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public
+  Records, Appendix ii. p. 69.
+
+  [18] _Clarendon's Life_, vol. i. p. 135.
+
+It was when the Post Office required something to be done which involved
+transmission from place to place otherwise than on horseback that its
+troubles began. Such an event occurred in 1696. Sir Isaac Newton was
+then busy at the mint, devoting to the coinage those powers of intellect
+which were soon to astonish the world. The clipping of the coin had gone
+to such lengths that within the space of one year no less than four Acts
+of Parliament were passed with a view to abate the evil. Milled money
+was to take the place of hammered money. The clipped pieces had already
+been withdrawn from circulation, and now a date was fixed after which no
+broad pieces were to be received in payment of taxes except by weight.
+This date was the 18th of November, and collectors of the public revenue
+were allowed until the 18th of the following month to pay them over to
+the Exchequer. If not paid over by the 18th of December they were to be
+taken by weight and not by tale, and the collectors were to lose the
+difference.
+
+Here was a clear month's grace, and the postmasters were under a strong
+inducement to see that the period was not exceeded. From Oxford the
+hammered money was sent by barge. No sooner had it started than a severe
+frost set in, and lasted for six weeks, the consequence being to delay
+the arrival in London until the 7th of January. To take the money by
+weight and not by tale would have been equivalent to a fine of about
+£23. From this, however, the postmaster was excused on the ground that
+the barge was the safest means of conveyance he could have employed. As
+a "flying coach"--a coach which travelled at the speed of about four
+miles an hour--had for many years been running between Oxford and
+London, it must be assumed either that it had stopped for the winter or
+else that for some cause or other, possibly on account of highwaymen, it
+was not considered safe. From Sandwich, in Kent, the hammered money was
+sent by hoy, which did not reach the Thames until the 20th of January.
+Again the postmasters-general urged that the delay might be overlooked
+on the ground that no earlier means of conveyance would have been safe.
+Altogether, when the 18th of December arrived, more than £1000 of
+hammered money was still outstanding in the postmasters' hands; and in
+every case the want of conveyance or the badness of the roads was
+assigned as the cause.
+
+The penny post office, since it had passed into the hands of the
+Government, had undergone but little change. Its headquarters had been
+removed from Dockwra's house to seven rooms prepared for the purpose,
+not, indeed, at the Post Office in Lombard Street, where want of space
+was already beginning to be felt, but probably in the immediate
+neighbourhood. It had also, in the language of the time, been eased from
+a multitude of desperate debts. But the conditions on which it was
+conducted remained as they had been,--the same limit of weight, the same
+frequency of delivery, and the same rule as to compensation in case of
+loss. Dockwra, with the view, no doubt, of propitiating the authorities,
+had provided for the conveyance to Lombard Street of all general post
+letters left at his receiving offices; and this duty, when he was
+dispossessed, passed to the persons by whom those offices were kept. The
+result was not satisfactory. The receivers, in their desire to get the
+work done as cheaply as possible, employed to do it the most needy and
+most worthless persons, persons who could not get employment elsewhere.
+At length the miscarriages and losses became so frequent that the Post
+Office appointed its own messengers to go round and collect the letters.
+Nor is it by any means certain that the character of the receivers
+themselves was above suspicion. The plain truth is that they were, with
+few exceptions, keepers of public-houses. The collector who called there
+periodically to adjust accounts complained that often four and even five
+visits were necessary before he could obtain payment, and that the
+opportunity was taken to pass upon him bad money.
+
+Times have changed indeed. With public-houses for receiving offices,
+with inn-keepers for postmasters, and with a considerable sum expended
+annually on drink and feast money, it can hardly be denied that the Post
+Office at the end of the seventeenth century was a good friend to the
+licensed victualler. At the present time no postmaster may keep an inn;
+no receiving office may be at a public-house; and not many years ago,
+when a hotel with its stock-in-trade was purchased with a view to the
+extension of the Post Office buildings in St. Martin's-le-Grand, some
+excellent persons were shocked because, under the sanction of the
+postmaster-general, were exposed for sale by auction some few dozen
+bottles of port.
+
+Of the extent to which the penny post was used at this period we are
+not, so far as the suburbs are concerned, without some means of judging.
+According to the original plan, which had been adhered to in its
+integrity, one penny was to carry a letter within such parts of London
+as lay within the bills of mortality. Beyond these limits one penny more
+was charged; and this penny, which was technically called the second or
+deliver penny, constituted the messengers' remuneration. As this soon
+proved to be more than enough for its purpose, the messengers were put
+on fixed wages, and the second pennies were carried to the credit of the
+Post Office. Of the amounts derived from this source during the sixteen
+years from 1686 to 1702 a record is still extant. The lowest amount for
+any one year was £310, and the highest £377, the average being £336. It
+would hence appear that for such parts of London as lay outside the
+bills of mortality, for what in fact were at that time the suburbs, the
+number of letters at the end of the seventeenth century was about 80,640
+a year, or, counting 306 working days to the year, about 263 a day.
+
+On one point the postmasters-general were determined, that the penny
+post office should not be let out to farm. All overtures to this effect
+they resolutely declined. The penny post and the general post had become
+so interwoven, and, outside London, so short a distance separated the
+limits within which the one ceased and the other began to operate, that
+it was considered of the highest importance, both on the score of
+convenience and as a protection against fraud, that the two posts should
+not be under different management. The same considerations were not held
+to apply to Dublin. In Dublin, rapidly as that city was now growing in
+size[19] and population, a penny post, it was thought, could not
+possibly answer. Yet in 1703 a spirited lady sought permission to set
+one up. This was Elizabeth, Countess-Dowager of Thanet. A desire to
+supplement a jointure, originally slender and now reduced by the
+taxation consequent on the war, was the simple reason assigned for the
+enterprise, and yet with the highest professions of public spirit it
+might have been difficult to render to the community a more signal
+service. The Duke of Ormonde, who was then Lord Lieutenant, approved the
+proposal, and the postmasters-general had made preparations for carrying
+it into effect. The new post was to extend for ten or twelve miles in
+and around Dublin; no receiving office was to be within two miles of the
+first stage of the general post; the lease was to be for fourteen years;
+and one-tenth part of the clear profits was to go to the Crown. At the
+last moment, however, the Treasury withheld their assent, and for no
+less than seventy years from this time Dublin remained without a penny
+post.
+
+  [19] Writing in 1709, Mr. Manley, the postmaster-general's deputy in
+  Dublin, says, "There are not less than a thousand more houses now than
+  there were at my first coming here [_i.e._ in 1703]. Besides, there are
+  many new streets now laid out and buildings erecting every day."
+
+Of the internal affairs of the Post Office during the first fifteen
+years of Cotton and Frankland's administration of it little need be
+said. At first their only assistant was a clerk at £40 a year to copy
+their letters. In 1694 they procured a new appointment to be created,
+the appointment of Secretary to the Post Office. The Secretary to the
+Post Office at the present time has duties to discharge, of the variety
+and importance of which his mere title gives a very inadequate idea. In
+1694 he was little more than a private secretary. One thing indeed he
+had to do, to which a private secretary of our own time might perhaps
+demur. During the night, if an express were wanted, he had to rise from
+his bed and prepare the necessary instructions. The salary of the
+appointment, originally £100, was raised to £200 in 1703. In this year a
+solicitor was appointed, also at a salary of £200.
+
+Two years later a transaction was completed on which the
+postmasters-general had long set their hearts. This was the purchase of
+a part of the Post Office premises in Lombard Street. As far back as
+1688 Sir Robert Viner, the owner, had offered the freehold for sale, but
+the Revolution had put a stop to further proceedings. In 1694, after
+Sir Robert's death, his nephew and executor again proposed to sell, and
+Sir Christopher Wren, on behalf of the Crown, surveyed the property with
+a view to its purchase. On examination, however, the title proved to be
+defective, and it was not until 1705, after the defect had been remedied
+by Act of Parliament, that the Crown secured the freehold for the sum of
+£6500. At the present time it matters not where Post Office servants
+reside, so long as they attend punctually. At the beginning of the
+eighteenth century it was considered important on account of the
+unseasonable hours of attendance that they should reside "in and about"
+the Post Office. The Post Office was, in effect, a barrack, and, except
+the premises in Lombard Street, there were none in the immediate
+neighbourhood that would well answer the purpose. Hence the anxiety to
+purchase the freehold; and the anxiety was all the greater because it
+had been threatened that if not purchased by the Crown the property
+would be sold to the speculative builder or, as he was then called, the
+projector.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COTTON AND FRANKLAND
+
+_Packet Service_
+
+1686-1713
+
+
+Of the packet service prior to 1686 we have no particulars; but that
+some such service had long existed, though probably on a very limited
+scale, hardly admits of a doubt. To Ireland, as to other parts of the
+kingdom, a regular post had been established in 1635; and it is
+difficult to suppose that a mail on arriving at Holyhead would be left
+to a chance vessel to carry it across the Channel. The probability of
+some organised means of transport is still stronger in the case of
+Dover. Dover was the town through which all letters for the Continent
+passed; and our trade with the Continent had for a century and more been
+considerable. Hence it was that the post through the county of Kent had
+been carefully nursed while as yet no other part of the country had any
+post at all. But if, as seems certain, both Dover and Holyhead were
+packet stations long prior to 1686, it is almost equally certain that
+these were the only two in the kingdom.
+
+In that year the arrangements, whatever they were, for carrying the
+mails between England and France came to an end, and a new service was
+established between Dover and Calais and between Dover and Ostend or
+Nieuport. This was succeeded in the following year by a similar service
+between England and Holland. Both services were to be carried on by
+contract. In the one case the contractor was to receive £1170 a year,
+and also to have the management of the letter office at Dover. In the
+other the payment was to be £900 a year, for which sum three hoys were
+to be maintained, two of sixty and one of forty tons, and carrying six
+men each. For the service to Holland the packet stations were, on this
+side of the water, Harwich, and, on the other, the Brill.
+
+To the letters which came to this country by regular packet must be
+added those that were technically termed ship letters--letters which
+were brought by ships arriving at uncertain times from any part of the
+world. These letters, according to the provisions of the Act of 1660,
+were to be given up to the postmaster at the port of arrival, so that
+they might be forwarded to London, and thence despatched to their
+destination after being charged with the proper amount of postage. In
+this particular, however, the Act proved of little effect. Masters of
+ships were offered no inducement to deliver the letters to the
+postmaster, and incurred no penalty for omitting to do so. The Post
+Office was then in farm; and desirous as the farmers were to make what
+they could out of their undertaking, they soon found that it would be
+well worth their while to incur some expense which should secure
+obedience to the law. Accordingly they undertook that for every letter
+which a shipmaster should bring to this country, and deliver to the
+postmaster at the port of arrival, he should receive the sum of one
+penny. This was the origin of ship letter money--a form of payment which
+has since received legal sanction, and exists at the present day.
+
+It was into the port of London that ship letters chiefly came, and here
+the number which found their way to the Post Office in Lombard Street
+was seriously affected by the establishment of the penny post. That this
+was only natural will appear from a simple illustration. From Marseilles
+to London the postage was 1s. for a single letter. On one hundred such
+letters, therefore, the charge would be £5. But if, instead of taking
+these hundred letters to the General Post Office, a shipmaster on his
+arrival in the Pool dropped them into the penny post, they would all be
+delivered for 8s. 4d. It is true that he would thus lose his gratuity of
+one penny a letter; but the difference between the two rates of postage
+was such as to leave an ample margin of profit, even after making him
+full--and more than full--compensation for his loss. Indeed, if he had
+been bent on cheating his employer as well as the Post Office, he might
+with very little risk of detection have put the whole of the difference
+into his own pocket. In 1686 the number of ship letters accounted for to
+the Post Office was 60,447,[20] a number which, forming as it did the
+basis of a payment, may be taken as absolutely correct, because the Post
+Office would take good care not to pay more, and shipmasters not to
+receive less, than was absolutely due. It is to be regretted that no
+similar account is forthcoming for previous years, so that it might be
+seen what was the extent of the influence which the penny post
+exercised; but that this influence was considerable is certain from the
+continual references made to it by successive postmasters-general during
+a long series of years. It is to be observed, however, that they always
+speak of it as a thing that was past and gone, a thing baneful enough
+while it lasted, but as having been of only short duration. The
+explanation is no doubt to be found in the fact that in 1696 two
+officers were appointed, whose duty it was to collect letters from all
+vessels arriving in the port of London. The boat employed in this
+service had assigned to it special colours of its own, on which was
+depicted a man on horseback blowing a post horn.[21]
+
+  [20] "To divers Masters of Shipps for 60447 letters by them brought from
+  forreigne parts this year at one penny each according to the
+  usage--£251:17:3."--Extract from writ of Privy Seal for passing the
+  accounts of "our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Couzen and
+  Councellor Lawrence Earle of Rochester, Late our High Treasurer of
+  England."
+
+  [21] "This is to give notice that Lancellot Plumer and William Barret
+  are appointed by the Postmaster-General of England to receive all such
+  letters and pacquets from masters of ships and vessels, mariners and
+  passengers as shall be by them hereafter brought in any ships or vessels
+  into the Port of London, to the end the same may be delivered with speed
+  and safety according to their respective directions and the laws of this
+  kingdom; and that all masters of ships or vessels and all mariners and
+  passengers may the better take notice thereof, the Right Honourable the
+  Lords of the Admiralty have directed that the boat employed in this
+  service do carry colours, in which there is to be represented a man on
+  horseback blowing a post horn."--_London Gazette_, No. 3247, from Monday
+  21st December to Thursday 24th December 1696.
+
+In 1689, on the breaking out of the war with France, the Dover boats
+ceased to run, and, in order to provide for the letters to Spain which
+had hitherto passed through that country, a service was established
+between Falmouth and the Groyne. On this service two boats were employed
+of two or three hundred tons each. They carried from eighty to ninety
+men besides twenty guns, and ran once a fortnight.
+
+The Harwich boats were at the same time increased both in number and in
+strength. The three hoys were replaced by four boats--boats of force as
+they were called, carrying fifty men each. It may well be believed that,
+with so large a crew under his command, the captain of a well-armed
+vessel was loth to confine himself to the monotonous task of carrying
+the mails to and fro, and went in quest of adventure. But be that as it
+may, William, who since his accession to the throne had taken an
+extraordinary interest in the Harwich service, was not satisfied with
+the performances of these boats. It was his opinion that the first
+requisite in a mail packet was speed and not strength. Strength might
+indeed enable it to engage an enemy, but speed would enable it to avoid
+one. Accordingly, by the King's direction, the Post Office with the
+assistance of Edmund Dummer, the Surveyor of the Navy, built four small
+boats of its own--boats "of no force," but remarkable for their speed.
+The change was not carried out without much grumbling. The boats were
+low built, and, except in the calmest weather, shipped a good deal of
+water. The sailors complained that they seldom, from one end of the
+voyage to the other, had a dry coat to their backs. The absence of any
+armament was still more unpalatable to them. They dared not leave the
+harbour, at least so they said, when the enemy was to windward; and, as
+though to confirm their words, they sometimes after leaving returned. We
+shall probably do them no wrong if we distrust these excuses. No
+British sailor, or soldier either, cares to turn his back on the foe,
+and that this was expected of them, that they were required to run and
+not to fight, we suspect to have been the real grievance. Eventually,
+but not until some had refused to serve and others had deserted, matters
+quieted down. An increase of wages was given all round, raising the pay
+above that given in the Royal Navy, and, in order to compensate for the
+additional cost, the complement of the crew was reduced from thirty to
+twenty-one. It is a striking confirmation of the soundness of William's
+view that during the next twenty-four years, although no less than
+nineteen of them were years of war, only two of these boats were taken.
+
+Until 1689 the Harwich packets had been self-supporting, the receipts
+from freight and passengers being enough to cover the cost. In that
+year, as a consequence of the war, the fares were raised. Passengers to
+Holland who had hitherto paid 12s. were now to pay 20s., and those who
+had paid 6s. were to pay 10s. Recruits and indigent persons passed free.
+In 1695 the carriage of goods and merchandise was prohibited. This
+prohibition afterwards became common in times of war, but in the present
+instance it was imposed in the vain hope of stopping the exportation of
+silver. In exchange for silver, gold had long been pouring into the
+country, as much as 200 ounces coming by a single packet; and advices
+had been received from Amsterdam and Rotterdam that future consignments
+would not be restricted even to that quantity. The reform of the
+currency, which alone could check this movement of the precious metals,
+was expeditiously accomplished; but the prohibition against the carriage
+of merchandise remained.
+
+On the conclusion of peace in 1697 the service between Dover and Calais
+and between Dover and Ostend recommenced, but only to be discontinued
+again on the resumption of hostilities in 1702. During these five years
+the relations between the English and French Post Offices had at no time
+been friendly, and latterly had become very highly strained. Under the
+terms of a Treaty concluded with France in 1698, the mails, as soon as
+they arrived on this side at Dover and on the other at Calais, were to
+be forwarded to the respective capitals by express. England faithfully
+fulfilled her part of the engagement. By France the engagement was
+treated as a dead letter. The mails from England, on their arrival at
+Calais, instead of being forwarded to Paris by express, were kept back
+for the ordinary post; and this post went only once a day, leaving at
+three in the afternoon. If, therefore, the packet arrived at four or
+five o'clock, the letters were detained for the best part of twenty-four
+hours. At Lyons the letters between England and Italy were being treated
+after much the same fashion. On arrival in that town--such at least was
+the complaint in the city--instead of being forwarded with all despatch,
+they were forwarded seldom in due course and sometimes not at all.
+
+M. Pajot was then director of the French posts; and in this capacity he
+had signed the Treaty. In vain Cotton and Frankland called his attention
+to the breach of its provisions. Their letter was not even acknowledged.
+For the transit of British mails across French territory England had
+agreed to pay to France the sum of 36,000 livres[22] a year, and a
+remittance in payment of the instalment due was sent to Paris; but not
+even of this could an acknowledgment be obtained. Let the nature of the
+communication to him be what it would, Pajot maintained an obstinate
+silence. When war broke out afresh, all intercourse between the two Post
+Offices had ceased for nearly three years, and the debt due to France
+had accumulated to the amount of 105,600 livres.
+
+  [22] Equal, at the then rate of exchange, to £2437:10s.
+
+The cessation of the Dover packets in 1702 was soon followed by that of
+the packets between Falmouth and the Groyne, but the want of any regular
+means of communication with the Peninsular proved so inconvenient that,
+before many months had passed, the service was re-established in a
+slightly altered form. The boats, instead of stopping short at the
+Groyne, were to run on to Lisbon; and two years later their number was
+increased from two to five. This increase was due to political rather
+than commercial reasons. It is true that an important commercial treaty
+was about this time concluded with Portugal; but, what was considered of
+far greater moment, the Archduke Charles after passing through London
+had recently proceeded to that country in furtherance of his pretensions
+to the throne of Spain. It was at once resolved that communication with
+Lisbon should henceforth be weekly instead of only once a fortnight, and
+for this purpose less than five boats were deemed insufficient.
+
+But of all the packet services in existence at the beginning of the
+eighteenth century none perhaps possesses more features of interest than
+the service to the West Indies. In James the Second's reign a Post
+Office had been established in Jamaica, and rates of postage had been
+settled not only within the island itself but between the island and the
+mother country. This was a new departure. In the original scheme of
+postage as propounded by Witherings no charge had been imposed except in
+return for some service. The same principle had been scrupulously
+adhered to in the Acts of 1657 and 1660. Under these Acts, except where
+a service was rendered or where payment for a service was made to
+another country, no charge was provided for. Yet between England and
+Jamaica, although the Crown was not at the cost of maintaining means of
+transport, postage rates were fixed of 6d. a single letter, 1s. a double
+letter, and 2s. an ounce. This was a pure tax, and the precedent, bad as
+it was and of questionable legality, was soon extended to the case of
+letters to America.
+
+The war of 1702, while deranging other services, called the service to
+the West Indies into being. The West India merchants, a designation even
+then in vogue, were a large and important body, and, as opportunities of
+intercourse by private ship became rare and uncertain, a demand arose
+for some established means of communication. With the assistance of
+Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy, sloops were provided to carry mails to
+the Plantation Islands, and by way of helping to defray the cost, the
+postage rates were increased by about one-half. The vessels sailed at
+uncertain intervals, but otherwise the service was performed with
+regularity, the voyage out and home occupying from 90 to 116 days.
+
+Dummer was so well satisfied with the result of his management that,
+rather than continue as mere agent for the postmasters-general, he
+desired to perform the service on his own account. For the sum of
+£12,500 a year he undertook to provide a monthly communication, and for
+this purpose to build and equip five boats of 140 tons each, and
+carrying twenty-six men and ten guns. These boats were to have two
+decks, and any of them that should be lost or taken by the enemy were to
+be replaced at his own cost. Of the £12,500 no more than £4500 was to be
+paid down. Freight, which was limited to five tons out and ten tons
+home, passenger fares, and postage were to go in part payment, and from
+these Dummer expected to make up the difference. Postage alone he set
+down at £6000; and that it might produce this sum he made it an express
+stipulation that the rates to the West Indies should be raised to the
+same level as those to Portugal, namely 1s. 3d. a single letter, 2s. 6d.
+a double letter, and 6s. an ounce. To double the postage, he took for
+granted, was to double the returns. Abler men than he and men living
+nearer to our own times have fallen into the same error; but seldom,
+probably, has it been sooner or more strikingly exposed.
+
+The new rates came into operation in England in March, and in the West
+Indies in April. The effect of the alteration, as would now be predicted
+with confidence, was only slightly to increase the amount of postage and
+largely to reduce the number of letters. It is so seldom that in matters
+of this kind cause and effect are brought into such close approximation,
+that we offer no apology for giving the postage which the correspondence
+produced immediately before and immediately after the change:--
+
+                   _To the West Indies._
+
+  Date on which the Packet
+    sailed from England.       Amount of Postage.
+
+      Jan. 25, 1705               £44   1   4
+      Feb. 22   "                  59  10   7
+      Mar. 29   "                 100   5   3 (New rates)
+      Apr. 26   "                 129   2   6
+      May 31    "                  93   7   9
+      June 28   "                  75  19   3
+      July 26   "                  62   2   0
+
+                   _From the West Indies._
+
+  Date on which the Packet
+     arrived in England.       Amount of Postage.
+
+      Feb. 10, 1705              £316  19  0
+      Apr. 18   "                 622  11  6 (New rates)
+      Aug. 6    "                 629  15  6
+      Sept. 3   "                 384  19  6
+      Oct. 1    "                 369   6  6
+
+Of course, the mails immediately after the change would carry what may
+be called surprised letters, letters which had been posted before the
+issue of the new regulations or before these regulations had become
+generally known; and the mail arriving in August would bring also the
+letters which had accumulated since the preceding April.
+
+What at the present time is calculated to excite surprise is not that
+the aggregate amounts of postage should not have increased in proportion
+to the rates, but that these amounts should have been as high as they
+were. Trade with the West Indies was, no doubt, considerable. And yet,
+after making ample allowance on that score, of what sort can the
+correspondence have been to produce postage of between £300 and £400 by
+a single mail; and why should the amount in one direction have been
+nearly five times as heavy as the amount in the other? The answer, we
+think, is to be found in a letter which the postmasters-general wrote
+about this time. A small box for the Commissioners for the Sick and
+Wounded had come from Lisbon charged with postage of £26:2s. From this
+charge the Commissioners sought to be relieved on the ground that the
+box contained nothing but office accounts, which, besides being of no
+intrinsic value, were on Her Majesty's business. To such arguments,
+however, the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. With the contents of
+the box they were not concerned. All they knew or cared to know was that
+it weighed eighty-seven ounces, and this weight, at the rate of 6s. an
+ounce, gave £26:2s. Forego the charge in the present instance, and how,
+they asked, could charges be any longer maintained on other packets not
+less on Her Majesty's business than this box, packets from the Prize
+Office, the Salt Office, the Customs and the Navy, and also, they added,
+on the large bundles of muster-rolls from the regiments stationed in the
+West Indies? In short, we entertain little doubt that the postage by the
+homeward mails was largely derived from official correspondence,
+correspondence which at the present time bears no postage at all.
+
+The good fortune which had attended Dummer while acting as manager for
+the postmasters-general entirely deserted him as soon as the service
+came into his own hands. During the first twelve months the postage fell
+short of his expectations by about one-third; and freight and
+passengers, which he had estimated to produce £2000, produced little
+more than one-sixth of that amount. Nor was this the worst. The very
+first packet that sailed under his contract was taken by the enemy.
+Another, not many months later, was cast away on the rocks off the
+Island of Inagua; and a third fell into the hands of a privateer in the
+Channel. A series of disasters which would have daunted most men seems
+only to have inspired Dummer with fresh energy. Of the ultimate success
+of his undertaking he entertained no doubt. He held as strongly as we
+can hold at the present day, that trade and correspondence act and react
+upon each other; and that these should thrive he considered nothing more
+to be necessary than speed and regularity of communication.[23] With
+good heart, therefore, he applied himself to replace the boats which
+had been lost, fully determined that on his part no efforts should be
+wanting to supply the conditions on which alone he conceived success to
+depend.
+
+  [23] "It being a certain maxim," he wrote to the postmasters-general on
+  the 15th of February 1707, "that as Trade is the producer of
+  correspondence, so trade is governed and influenced by the certainty and
+  quickness of correspondence."
+
+The packet stations at this time were four in number. Dover was closed.
+Harwich and Falmouth were in full activity. Holyhead was a mere home
+station for the transmission of the Irish correspondence; and, the
+service being under contract, suffice it to say that the mails to Dublin
+went twice a week and were transported with marked regularity. Of the
+Harwich and Falmouth stations, managed as they were by the
+postmasters-general, we propose to give some account.
+
+Each station was presided over by an agent, whose province it was to see
+that the packets were properly equipped and victualled, to arrange the
+order of sailing, to keep the captains to their duty, and generally to
+maintain order and regularity among the unruly spirits of which the
+establishment was composed. The outward mails, on their arrival from
+London, were to be despatched, if for Holland or for Portugal,
+immediately, and if for the West Indies, within two days; and, as soon
+as they were put on board, weights were to be attached to them so that
+they might be sunk at once if in danger of being taken by the enemy. So
+important was this precaution held to be that, although enjoined in the
+general instructions, it was continually insisted upon in particular
+cases. "Be sure," write the postmasters-general to one of their agents,
+"that before the captain sails, he prepares everything to sink the mail
+in case he shall be attacked by the enemy that he can't avoid being
+taken"; and to another, "We would have you take care to affix a
+sufficient weight to the mail so soon as 'tis on board"; and to a third,
+"We do not doubt but the mails will be ready slung with weights
+sufficient to sink them in case of danger of falling into the enemy's
+hands." Another rule to which the postmasters-general attached great
+importance was that more than two mails were not to go by the same boat.
+This rule, however, could not always be observed, for the boats had an
+awkward habit of finding themselves on the wrong side, and, by the time
+one had arrived, there was an accumulation of mails to be disposed of.
+
+The inward mails, as soon as they reached the port of arrival, were
+forwarded to London by express. From Harwich the letters for the Court,
+or State letters,[24] as they were now beginning to be called, were sent
+in advance of the ordinary mail, arrangements having been made at the
+Brill to put these letters into a special bag by themselves. From
+Falmouth, where no provision had been made for distinguishing one class
+of correspondence from another, the same express carried the whole.
+When, as was sometimes the case, packets of documents reached the port
+unenclosed with the rest of the letters, these were to be chained to the
+"grand mail"; and on the label was always to be inserted the number of
+passengers that had arrived by the boat, so that the postmasters along
+the line of road might know for how many persons they had to provide
+horses. Between Falmouth and London the mails when sent express
+travelled at the rate of about five miles an hour; and this speed
+appears to have been regularly maintained. Expresses to carry a single
+letter or a message, or to overtake the Lisbon mail, were continually
+passing to and fro, and these of course went faster. From Harwich the
+mails would sometimes reach London in eleven hours, being at the rate of
+six and a half miles an hour; but on this line of road there was so much
+irregularity that the time ordinarily occupied in the journey cannot be
+stated with certainty.[25]
+
+  [24] In 1706, Court or State letters, for at this time the terms were
+  used indiscriminately, were defined to be letters directed to "the
+  Queen, His Royal Highness the Prince, the Lord High Treasurer, and the
+  two principal Secretarys of State and their clarks." Sometimes, but more
+  rarely, they were called "Queen's letters."
+
+  [25] Here is one among many similar complaints addressed by the
+  postmasters-general to the packet agent at Harwich: "We admire to find
+  the two Bags with the States letters brought over by the Prince and
+  Dispatch which arrived at Harwich June 21st at 7 in the morning should
+  not be dispatcht till 10 the same day; as also at the comeing in of the
+  Mayls, one of which being dispatcht at 12 arrived here at 11 at night,
+  yet the other came not till 7 next morning."
+
+The seamen on board the packets were paid in no case more than 30s. a
+month and generally less; but the employment carried with it one great
+advantage. This was exemption from impressment. Even the carpenters
+hired to do odd jobs when the boats were in harbour were furnished with
+protection orders.[26] Partly on this ground, and partly, no doubt, on
+account of the gains to be derived from contraband traffic, admission to
+the packet service appears to have been eagerly sought. At one time,
+indeed, it threatened to become a matter of patronage; but the
+consequences of a first step in that direction effectually prevented
+another. The _Godolphin_ packet had been taken and carried by the enemy
+into St. Malo. Her captain, a brave and experienced officer, did not
+hesitate to attribute the loss of his vessel to sheer cowardice on the
+part of the crew. One, at the first shot that was fired, had run down to
+the doctor and declared that he was wounded, whereas no sign of a wound
+was to be found upon him; another had taken shelter behind the mainmast;
+a third had been heard to declare that he would not hazard the loss of
+his little finger to save the packet. This conduct, as unprecedented as
+it was scandalous, led to a searching investigation, when it transpired
+that the so-called sailors were, many of them, no sailors at all, but
+mere landlubbers who had been taken on out of complaisance to the local
+gentry.
+
+  [26] The following is a specimen of the protection order given:--
+
+  To all Commanders and Officers of our Shipps, Pressmasters and others
+      whome it may concerne.
+
+  JAMES R.
+
+  You are not to imprest into our service any of the six persons hereunder
+  named belonging to the Jane of Dover, whereof Richard Moone is master,
+  the said vessell being employed in our service as a pacquett boate at
+  Dover. Given at our Court at Whitehall the 6th of October 1688.
+
+                                        By His Majesty's Command.
+
+                                                                PEPYS
+
+  1. Anth. Deleau.
+  2. Jasper Moore.
+  3. David Williams.
+  4. Pet. Foster.
+  5. Dennis Matthew.
+  6. Wm. Ambross.
+
+
+Each packet boat carried its own surgeon. A surgeon was also provided
+for the care of the sick on shore. This medical supervision was
+remunerated by means of a capitation allowance, an allowance of so much
+per head; but whereas it would now be in respect to all persons under
+the surgeon's charge, whether well or ill, it was then only in respect
+to those that were ill--1s. a day for each sick person and 6s. 8d. for
+each cure--a mode of payment which did not perhaps conduce to a speedy
+recovery. To provide for casualties, a fund was established, towards the
+support of which each seaman contributed 10d. a month out of his pay. If
+he were killed in action, provision was made for his widow, and, if he
+were wounded, he received a small annuity or, as it was called, Smart
+and Bounty money, the amount of which was nicely apportioned to the
+nature of his injury. Thus--
+
+  For each arm or leg amputated above the elbow
+   or knee he would receive                       £8  0  0 a year.
+  For each arm or leg amputated below the elbow
+   or knee                                         6 13  4    "
+  For the loss of the sight of one eye             4  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the pupil of the eye             5  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the sight of both eyes          12  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the pupils of both eyes         14  0  0    "
+
+It is a ghastly bill of fare; and yet the sailors laid great store by
+it. On one occasion, indeed, until assured that the transfer of a boat
+to Dummer's management would not affect their claim to these annuities,
+they absolutely refused to go to sea.
+
+With few exceptions, no passenger was allowed on board a packet boat
+without a pass from the Secretary of State. The exceptions were
+shipwrecked seamen, recruits, and officers in charge of recruits.
+Shipwrecked seamen went free, free from any charge for passage-money or
+for maintenance. Recruits and officers in charge of recruits not being
+above the rank of lieutenant were charged for maintenance but not for
+passage-money. All others, though furnished with a passport, paid or
+were expected to pay for both.
+
+Of these rules, however, there would seem to have been no public
+announcement, and this led to constant dispute and bickerings. An
+interesting event was expected in one of the many English families
+which at this time flocked to the Court of Portugal, and Dr. Crichton
+was despatched to Lisbon with a cow. Furnished with a pass by the
+Secretary of State he stoutly maintained his right to a free passage;
+and this right the postmaster-general as stoutly disputed. Nor, assuming
+the right to exist, could they conceal their surprise that under the
+circumstances it should have been claimed. To demur to a paltry charge
+of £4 indeed! Was it not notorious that for his mission to Portugal he
+was to receive £1000? Lord Charlemont with a number of attendants had
+crossed from Lisbon to Falmouth. The passage-money had been paid, and,
+pleased with his entertainment, he desired to gratify the captain. The
+captain's answer was to present a bill shewing what the entertainment
+had cost, and, on payment being refused, he detained some valuable silks
+which Lord Charlemont had consigned to his care. Lord Charlemont, on his
+arrival in London, at once proceeded to Lombard Street and complained of
+this treatment, when he learned for the first time that the
+passage-money, which he had supposed to cover everything, was simply the
+Queen's due, and that his entertainment had been provided at the
+captain's own cost.
+
+Even the packet agents themselves appear to have been insufficiently
+instructed. On one occasion the Queen's domestic servants on their
+return from Lisbon, whither they had been despatched in attendance on
+the Archduke Charles, were allowed to pass free. On another,
+passage-money was omitted to be collected from some workmen who had been
+sent to Portugal by the Board of Ordnance. In both cases the act of
+their subordinate was repudiated by the postmasters-general. Proper as
+it might be that the Queen's domestic servants should have their passage
+provided--was this to be done at the expense of the Post Office? Forego
+payment in this instance, and where were they to stop? They must press
+their demand; and the demand was eventually satisfied. From the Board of
+Ordnance they did not even attempt to recover, aware probably of the
+futility of any such step; but the act of their agent in letting the
+workmen pass free evoked an earnest remonstrance. Does not the Board of
+Ordnance, they asked, charge us for the very powder we use; and yet,
+forsooth, you take upon yourself to give to their workmen a free
+passage. "Every office," they added--and the maxim might still, perhaps,
+be observed with advantage--"ought to keep its own accompt distinct."
+
+But it was with officers of the army who were continually passing to and
+fro that the most frequent disputes arose. They apparently did not
+understand, and possibly the Post Office might have had some difficulty
+in explaining, why lieutenants in charge of recruits should be exempt
+from payment of fare and not officers of higher rank when employed on
+similar business; or why indeed officers engaged in fighting their
+country's battles should not have a free passage on board Her Majesty's
+packets. It had been the custom not to collect the fares until the end
+of the voyage; but it was found that, the voyage once accomplished,
+payment of the fares was not uncommonly refused. Accordingly it was
+determined that they should be collected beforehand, and that no officer
+not being a recruiting officer and producing a certificate to that
+effect should be received on board on trust. Recourse was thereupon had
+to every sort of artifice in order to evade payment. Officers above the
+rank of lieutenant would represent themselves as being of that rank, and
+they would even enrol their own servants as recruits to make it appear
+that they were engaged in recruiting business.
+
+Through Harwich, now that Dover was closed, lay the only route to the
+Continent; and among the passengers frequenting this route were some to
+whom, for one reason or another, special attention was given. Baron
+Hompesch and Brigadier-General Cadogan are on their way to Holland. The
+packet is to be detained "till Thursday noon, at which time they think
+to reach Harwich." M. Rosenerantz, the Danish envoy, is returning to his
+own country. No passengers are to be admitted on board until he and his
+suite have been accommodated. A Queen's messenger is coming with "one
+Castello," who is in custody. This person is to be made over to the
+captain of the packet that sails next, and on arrival at the Brill is to
+be set on shore. Dirick Wolters is expected from Holland, if indeed he
+be not already arrived and secreted in Harwich. No pains are to be
+spared to discover and apprehend him, and to secure the sealed box he
+carries "directed to a person of note in London."
+
+Goods, like passengers, were not allowed to be carried by the packets
+without the express permission of the Secretary of State; and this
+permission was seldom given except in the case of presents to royal
+personages and of articles for the use of persons of note residing
+abroad. Hence, such things as the following were being continually
+consigned to the care of the postmasters-general, with a request that
+they might be forwarded by the next boat:--
+
+     Fifteen couple of dogs for the King of the Romans.
+
+     Necessaries for Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager's service at Lisbon.
+
+     Three pounds of tea from Lady Arlington for the use of Her Majesty
+         the Queen-Dowager of England.
+
+     Two cases of trimming for the King of Spain's liveries.
+
+     Two bales of stockings for the use of the Portuguese Ambassador.
+
+     Three suits of clothes for some nobleman's ladies at the Court of
+         Portugal.
+
+     A box of medicines for the use of the Earl of Galway.
+
+As the packets and everything on board of them were exempt from
+examination by the Customs authorities, there are no means of knowing
+how far a pass, where a pass had been obtained, was confined to its
+ostensible object. But it is impossible not to entertain suspicions on
+the subject. On one occasion the Portuguese envoy obtained permission to
+send by the packet six cases, which he certified to contain arms for the
+use of his Sovereign. The lightness of the packages when brought to the
+scale excited suspicion, and on examination they were found to contain
+not arms but dutiable goods. To a tradesman at Truro, in exception to
+rule, a pass had been granted which authorised him to send by the Lisbon
+packet ten tons of hats. Ten tons weight of hats, or what purported to
+be hats, had long been exported, and yet more and more hats were being
+regularly despatched by every packet.
+
+But although without passes goods and passengers were prohibited on
+board the packets, it is certain that the prohibition was habitually
+infringed. The packet agents' instructions were to keep a record of the
+names and quality of all passengers, and to transmit a copy to London.
+Even if this were a complete and faithful record, the postmasters-general
+could not know that each passenger had produced his pass. The
+Secretaries of State, however, appear to have possessed some means
+of information unknown to the Post Office, and, in the matter of
+passengers, they were continually complaining of the regulations being
+broken. At one time it is Mr. Joseph Percival, a merchant of Lisbon, who
+comes over without a passport--which, from the tenor of Lord
+Sunderland's letter, the postmasters-general apprehend to be "an affair
+of moment." At another it is a Mr. Jackson who, also without a passport,
+crosses from Harwich to Holland. In this case Mr. Secretary Boyle
+affirms that the packet agent received a bribe of two guineas. To let
+passengers come by the Harwich packets without passports, he declares
+later on, has become a common practice.
+
+In the matter of goods the evidence of irregularity is still stronger.
+Captain Culverden of the _Queen_ packet boat brings into Falmouth
+thirty-six bags and seven baskets of salt, and there lands it
+clandestinely. Captain Rogers smuggles over twenty bags and one cask of
+the same material. Captain Urin from the West Indies makes Plymouth
+instead of Falmouth. Stress of weather is pleaded in excuse; but the
+postmasters-general feel sure that he might have made Falmouth, had he
+not "had private instructions otherwise." "We are uneasie," they say,
+"thus to find the West India boats for the most part driven to Plymouth,
+or to Liverpool or some port contrary to what is prescribed by our
+instructions."
+
+But of all the captains there was none who in the audacity of his
+proceedings equalled Francis Clies. Clies had recently succeeded his
+father in the command of the _Expedition_ packet boat. On his very first
+voyage home from Lisbon he was much behind time, having according to his
+own account been driven upon the coast of Ireland. On his second voyage
+he was later still. The time of his arrival at Falmouth had long passed,
+and serious apprehensions began to be entertained for his safety. At
+length a letter came from him dated at Kinsale, explaining that want of
+provisions had obliged him to put in there. "We have," wrote the
+postmasters-general, "very impatiently expected the arrival of the
+_Expedition_, which has been very long wanting, and are much concerned
+to find the second voyage even more tedious than the first; but are glad
+to find her at last safe arrived." "We would know," they added, "for how
+many days provisions had been put on board, and whether the _Expedition_
+sails not as well as formerly." Before a reply could be received to this
+pertinent inquiry, the Commissioners of Customs had lodged at the Post
+Office a formal complaint, in which Captain Clies was charged with
+bringing over from Ireland several bales of friezes and other woollen
+manufactures. The postmasters-general were deeply shocked. Not only was
+this a breach of the packet boat regulations, but to transport goods
+from what would now be one part of the United Kingdom to another was at
+that time prohibited by law under heavy penalties. If this charge be
+proved, they wrote to their packet agent at Falmouth, "we shall not be
+much to seek why the captain should be two succeeding voyages forced
+upon the coast of Ireland, when we have not had above one instance of
+that kind besides himself during this war." Narrow as was Clies's escape
+on this occasion, not four months elapsed before the postmasters-general
+were again condoling with him on another "very tedious voyage."
+
+It may here be mentioned, as an instance of the inconsistency of human
+nature, that, although the packets were not provided with chaplains,
+there were two boats on board of which prayers were regularly said
+every morning and evening, and that of these two boats the _Expedition_
+was one.
+
+Outwards as well as inwards the packet boats were, at the beginning of
+the eighteenth century, carrying goods in defiance of regulation and of
+law. Sir Paul Methuen, the author of the famous Commercial Treaty which
+bears his name, was at that time our ambassador to Portugal. His
+attention had been arrested by the large quantities of merchandise which
+the packet boats were continually bringing over from England, and in
+1705 he made to the postmasters-general a formal representation on the
+subject. "In Lisbon," he stated, "there is a public market for English
+goods as often as the boats come in." Nor was the allegation denied by
+the persons implicated. They must, they said, live somehow. And this
+plea, generally the refuge of the idle and worthless, had in it in the
+present instance more force than might at first be supposed. The crews
+of the packets were paid only once in six months, and, as a check upon
+their conduct, six months' pay was always kept in arrear. Thus, before
+receiving any pay at all they had to work twelve months, and even at the
+expiration of twelve months there was not always money at hand with
+which to pay them.
+
+At Harwich, there can be no doubt, the same malpractices were going on
+as at Falmouth; but, owing to the almost unequalled facilities which the
+east coast affords for clandestine traffic, detection less speedily
+followed. In the movements of the packet boats there was much that was
+mysterious. Their frequent disappearance for long periods together when
+the wind was blowing from the quarter most favourable to their return,
+and their occasional punctuality when the wind was contrary and they
+were least expected, involved a contradiction which the
+postmasters-general found it hard to reconcile. "In our whole
+experience," they wrote to the packet agent on the 3rd of October 1704,
+"the passage of the mails was never so unconstant as it has been this
+last year." "You must be very sensible what reproach we have been
+brought under" in consequence. The ink was hardly dry on their pen
+before information reached them that on the 2nd of the month two packet
+boats had returned to Harwich, of which one had been gone since the 10th
+and the other since the 19th of September. Meanwhile the winds had been
+fair, and had carried out the men-of-war and transports from Spithead.
+"We have writ you so often," wrote the postmasters-general to the
+laggard captains, "upon these neglects of yours," and you have paid so
+little regard to our admonitions, that "you may expect to find when too
+late that we are not to be trifled with." The effect of this caution, if
+effect it had, was of short duration. "We are," they wrote only a few
+months later, "under a perpetual uneasiness and distrust," on account of
+the irregularity of the Harwich boats. "Our reputation has very much
+suffered in consequence, and we are looked upon at Court as remiss in
+our duty." Hitherto we have ever been ready to "take any appearance of
+reason or probability to excuse the commanders, but do now, having had
+these frequent provocations so often repeated, resolve to do justice to
+ourselves, and to have no other regard than the merit of the service."
+"Pray make inquiries," they say on another occasion, when no less than
+three boats are unaccountably behind time. It is of no use writing to
+Mr. Vanderpoel, "for he always favours the captains' pretences." Mr.
+Vanderpoel was packet agent at the Brill. He had stood high in William's
+favour, and was still drawing an allowance of £100 a year which, as an
+act of grace, that King had bestowed upon him in addition to his salary.
+"When we last waited on the Lord High Treasurer and Secretary of State,"
+wrote the postmasters-general again on the 14th of June 1705, "we found
+them in their former opinion that there must be some secret more than
+ordinary that the boats should so frequently when least expected make
+their passage, and when the winds have in all appearance been most
+favourable, the mails then most delayed." A secret no doubt there was;
+but, profoundly dissatisfied as the postmasters-general were, no
+suspicion appears to have crossed their minds that the packet boats were
+engaged in other and more exciting pursuits than the transport of
+mails.
+
+The captains of the packet boats were strictly forbidden to give chase.
+Their instructions were to fight, if fight they must, to avoid fighting
+wherever possible, and in no case to go in quest of adventure. In the
+case of the Falmouth boats, carrying as they did a considerable number
+of men and of guns, there can be little doubt that the prohibition was
+habitually infringed. Even Cotton and Frankland, with all their
+credulity, would seem to have entertained suspicions on the point; and
+yet when notice was given them that a fat prize had been captured, their
+instincts as Englishmen prevailed, and with a chuckle of satisfaction
+they would accept the result of their servants' prowess without too
+minutely inquiring into the circumstances under which that result had
+been achieved. "Well done," they would say in effect. "We heartily
+congratulate you. It has indeed been a tedious voyage; but of course you
+did not pursue. This, as you are aware, would be contrary to our
+instructions, which are to do nothing that might retard or endanger Her
+Majesty's mails. We shall make known your gallantry to the Lord High
+Treasurer, and move His Royal Highness the Prince to bestow on you some
+signal mark of favour." The Prince was at this time Lord High Admiral,
+and the captains of the packet boats having only sailing commissions,
+were not, like the captains in the Royal Navy and the commanders of
+letters of marque, entitled as of right to the prizes they took. These
+were the perquisites of the Lord High Admiral, and were by him resigned
+to the Queen.
+
+When a prize was captured, it was seldom taken in tow. This would have
+retarded the progress of the mails. The practice was for the two
+captains, the victor and the vanquished, to agree upon the amount of
+ransom, and to give and receive bills for the amount, one or more
+hostages being taken as security for payment. The agreement was reduced
+to writing and made out in duplicate, so that each captain might have a
+copy, and it set forth where and to whom the money was to be paid. As a
+rule, the conditions appear to have been honourably observed. Some few
+exceptions, no doubt, there were. In 1708 the _James_ packet was
+captured, and, after the amount of ransom had been inserted in the
+agreement, the French captain fraudulently altered the figures. A still
+worse case occurred on the English side. The _Prince_ packet boat
+captured a vessel which was ransomed for 2500 pieces of eight.[27] This
+vessel, as it afterwards transpired, was plundered both before and after
+the ransom was agreed upon; and, more than this, the English captain
+refused or neglected to give her a protection order, the consequence
+being that, subsequently falling in with some merchant ships, she was
+taken and plundered again. But these were exceptions, and it is some
+satisfaction to know that the last-mentioned captain was soon driven out
+of the service.[28]
+
+  [27] Equal to £562:10s.
+
+  [28] This captain had long been noted for his truculent conduct. Here is
+  a letter which the postmasters-general had written to him two or three
+  years before:--
+
+                                   GENERAL POST OFFICE, _May 13, 1704_.
+
+  CAPTAIN CHENAL--We received the mail from Portugal brought over by you
+  in the _Mansbridge_ packet boat which arriv'd here on Wednesday last. We
+  yesterday received your letter and journal of the said voyage, with the
+  certificate from the sailors who remained in the service the last
+  voyage. We are concern'd to find such differences among persons imploy'd
+  under us, but do think the best way to compose them is to advise every
+  one to mind their proper business and duty. We do think you may keep all
+  your officers and sailors to strict duty without so rugged a treatment
+  as is complain'd of. As we are desirous of good discipline, so are we of
+  good agreement, to which we would have our agent and yourself to
+  contribute your endeavours.
+
+  We herewith send you a specimen of a method to keep an abstract of your
+  journal by which you would save yourself and us much trouble by
+  observing.--We are, your loving friends,
+
+                                                          R. COTTON.
+                                                          T. FRANKLAND.
+
+
+Pending payment of the ransom, the hostages were kept in prison.
+Ordinarily, their confinement was not of long duration; and if we cite
+an instance to the contrary, it is because it aptly illustrates the
+rough-and-ready sort of justice which was administered in those days.
+Clies, the captain of the _Expedition_, after many desperate
+engagements in which he had come off victorious, had been forced at last
+to strike his colours. Four French men-of-war had surrounded him, and
+having lost his masts, he had no choice but to yield. The ransom agreed
+upon was £550, and as security for payment of this amount the master of
+the _Expedition_ and Clies's son, who was a midshipman on board the same
+vessel, were taken as hostages. This was in February, and they did not
+return to England until November. Meanwhile they had been imprisoned at
+Cadiz, where they endured the severest privations. Cold and damp and the
+want of the common necessaries of life, while affecting the health of
+both, had permanently disabled the master and brought him to the point
+of death. This appeared to the postmasters-general to be a case for
+compensation. And yet whence was compensation to come? They were not
+long in solving the question. It was a mere accident, they argued, that
+these particular hostages had been selected. The selection might have
+fallen upon any others of the ship's company. Yet these others had been
+receiving their pay and enjoying their liberty. Surely it was for them
+to compensate those at whose cost they had themselves escaped captivity
+and its attendant horrors. Accordingly the ship's company were mulcted
+in a whole month's pay, amounting to £118, of which sum the midshipman
+received £20 and the master £98; and the decision appears to have evoked
+neither murmur nor remonstrance.
+
+In one respect the two packet stations were conducted on different
+principles. At Falmouth the agent was also victualler. At Harwich
+victuals and all other necessaries were provided by the Post Office.
+Neither plan was entirely free from objection. Where the agent was
+victualler, he naturally desired to make what he could out of his
+contract; and hence arose frequent complaints from the seamen as to both
+the quantity and quality of their food. Nor were such undertakings well
+adapted to those days of violent fluctuations of prices. The years 1709
+and 1710 were years of scarcity, during which the cost of all
+provisions was nearly doubled. Fortunately, when the first of these
+years arrived, the packet agent's contract to victual for a daily
+allowance of 7d. a head had just expired, or the consequences to him or
+to the seamen must have been disastrous. But, from a public point of
+view, the chief drawback to the union of the offices of agent and
+victualler was that the victualling arrangements were apt to interfere
+with the movements of the boats. The _Prince_ packet boat was due to
+start on a particular day, and to an inquiry whether she would not be
+ready, the answer which the postmasters-general received was, "No; our
+beer is not yet brewed."
+
+At Harwich the inconvenience of a contrary system, a system under which
+the Post Office undertook its own victualling, was illustrated in a
+striking manner. There no bill for provisions represented what the
+provisions had really cost. To the actual cost was habitually added a
+further sum, which, under the name of percentages, went into the pockets
+of those by whom the order had been given. Of the extent to which these
+overcharges were carried we are not informed in the particular case of
+victuals; but other cases in which information is given will perhaps
+serve as a guide. Holland-duck for the use of the packet boats was
+brought over from Holland freight-free. Yet in Harwich the Post Office
+was charged for it 2s. 2d. a yard. In London a yard of the same
+material, freight included, cost 2s. In London the price of 1 cwt. of
+cordage was 30s.; in Harwich it was 40s. For piloting a packet boat from
+Harwich to the Downs the Post Office was charged £7. Inquiry at the
+Admiralty elicited that for ships of the same size belonging to the
+Royal Navy the charge never exceeded £3:15s. The plain truth seems to be
+that both at Harwich and at Falmouth the packet agents were in the power
+of the captains, and the captains in the power of the packet agents, and
+that they all combined to impose upon the postmasters-general.
+
+Of the number of letters which the Harwich and Falmouth packets carried
+we know little or nothing. In the one case we have absolutely no
+information. In the other there remains on record a single letter-bill
+applicable to a particular voyage. Of this letter-bill we will only
+observe that, for reasons immaterial to the present purpose, it became
+the subject of a good deal of correspondence, and it is not unreasonable
+to suppose that, had the number of letters entered in it been much above
+or much below the average, the point could hardly have escaped remark.
+The document is as follows:--
+
+                       28 April 1705.
+
+     Received on board the _Prince_ Packet Boat the following Packets
+     and letters.
+
+                  Zech: Rogers ... Commander.
+
+  From my Lord Ambassador ... a Bag of Letters directed to Mr.
+  Jones.[29]
+
+        Sixteen Packetts and letters for Her Majestie's Service.
+
+  From the King of Spain ... a very large Packett.
+  For London and Holland ... Double and Single letters ... Two
+  hundred and ninety six.
+
+        Thirteen Packetts Do.
+
+  Devonshire letters ... Double and Single ... Twenty nine ... and
+  three Packetts.
+  For Falmouth ... Double and Single letters ... six.
+  Two mails for London.
+
+                       Outward-bound.
+                       No Passengers.
+
+                       Homeward-bound.
+                    One English Merchant.
+                    Three Dutch Gentlemen.
+  Four poor sailors discharged from Her Majestie's Ship _Antelope_
+  being incapable for the Service.
+
+
+  [29] The packet agent at Falmouth.
+
+There were persons who thought that the packet boats might well be
+employed to do something more than carry to and fro a mere handful of
+letters. Among those who held this opinion was Colonel Stanwix. He
+contended that the Lisbon packets should be required to carry not only
+the mails, but recruits for the English forces in Portugal. By transport
+the fixed charge for each recruit was £4. This expense would be saved to
+the public, and the regiments would receive additions to their strength
+not fitfully, but at regular intervals. Subject to certain conditions,
+the postmasters-general resolved to give the plan a trial. The
+conditions were that not more than fifty recruits should go in one boat,
+and that, instead of passing free, as Colonel Stanwix had proposed, they
+should be charged £1 apiece--that is, 10s. for victualling, and 10s. for
+freight. The experiment was attended with deplorable results. It was
+midwinter. The recruits had been huddled together in Pendennis Castle,
+under a strong guard, to prevent desertion. Half-naked and only half-fed
+they were led or driven to the boat, and hardly were they on board
+before the distemper broke out among them. Many fell victims to it; many
+others, on arrival at Lisbon, were carried to the hospital, and even the
+strongest among them were barely able to stagger ashore. The return
+voyage was hardly less disastrous. The crew now took the disease, and as
+they lay dying and dead upon the deck, a vessel of French build was to
+be seen bearing down upon them. Resistance in the circumstances was out
+of the question, and nothing remained but to save the guns. These, ten
+in number, were with difficulty thrown overboard, and no sooner was the
+task accomplished than the vessel, which had by this time come within
+speaking distance, proved to be Her Majesty's ship _Assurance_.
+
+The liberty allowed to the Royal Navy to employ for its own purposes
+prizes taken at sea did not extend to the packet service. The Post
+Office was forbidden, under severe penalties, to use foreign bottoms.
+Often had convenience and economy to yield to the stern dictates of the
+law. Now it is a French shallop, admirably adapted for a packet boat,
+which has to be discarded simply because it is French; and now an
+express to Lisbon is on the point of being delayed because the regular
+packets are on the wrong side, and the only boat to be hired in Falmouth
+is not English built.
+
+On the 20th of September 1707 the Queen, attended by her Court, set out
+for Newmarket. In this visit there was nothing unusual, but it will
+serve as well as any other to demonstrate that the close connection
+which had once subsisted between the posts and the Crown was not yet
+completely severed. In attendance upon his royal mistress was
+Court-post. This office, to which appointment was made by patent, had
+until lately been held by Sir Thomas Dereham. Court-post's duty was to
+carry letters between the Court and the nearest stage or post-town, a
+duty deemed so arduous that his stipend had been recently doubled, and
+now stood at £365 a year. At Newmarket and at Windsor, indeed, he had no
+long distance to traverse, these towns being post-towns; but when the
+Court was in London or at Hampton his journey was longer. In London he
+had to carry the letters between Kensington or Whitehall and Lombard
+Street; and when at Hampton, Hampton not being a post-town, he had to
+carry them to and from Kingston.
+
+Besides Court-post there was now in the royal train the comptroller of
+the London sorting office, William Frankland, son of one of the
+postmasters-general. What Frankland's precise functions were we are not
+informed, but he was, in the language of the time, "in attendance on Her
+Majesty in the care of her letters." At Harwich, as soon as the mail
+arrived from Holland, the seals of the bags were to be broken, and the
+letters for the Court to be picked out and sent to Newmarket by express.
+This was, in effect, to establish a cross-post at a time when
+cross-posts did not exist. Moments, which would now be judged precious,
+appear to have been then of little account. Of the letters before they
+left Harwich the addresses were to be copied; and on arrival at
+Newmarket the express was to take them, not to the Palace, but to the
+Post Office, whither they were to be addressed under cover to Frankland.
+The Post Office once reached, how Frankland and Court-post were to
+adjust their respective duties is a point as obscure as it is, perhaps,
+unimportant. At the present day, when the palace possesses no postal
+facilities which are not enjoyed by the cottage, a single provision in
+the Statute-book is all that is left to remind us that at one time the
+posts were centred in the Sovereign. This provision, in exception to the
+practice which jealously excludes the Sovereign's name from all parts
+of an Act of Parliament except, indeed, the preamble, prescribes that
+the posts shall be settled, not as the Secretary of State or the Lords
+Commissioners of the Treasury may direct, but according to the
+directions of Her Majesty. To Her Majesty alone the law still leaves the
+supreme control over the posts, although it may well be believed that
+the ministers would claim to act on her behalf.[30]
+
+  [30] The provision is as follows: "And for the better management of the
+  Post Office, be it enacted that the postmaster-general shall observe
+  such orders and instructions concerning the settlement of Posts and
+  stages upon the several roads, Cross roads, and Byeways within the
+  United Kingdom and other Her Majesty's Dominions, as Her Majesty shall
+  from time to time give in that behalf."--1 Vic. cap. xxxiii. sec. 8.
+
+After the battle of Ramillies, which put the Confederates in possession
+of Ostend, the packet service between England and Flanders, which had
+been suspended four years before, was re-established. The result
+disappointed expectations. The Government appear to have thought that it
+was only necessary to revive the service and the correspondence would at
+once resume its old proportions. But meanwhile the letters from Flanders
+to England had found a new channel. No sooner had Ostend been closed
+than they were diverted through Holland. To reverse this arrangement,
+involving as it would a readjustment of the internal posts, must, in any
+case, have been a work of time; and it was a work on which the Flemish
+authorities were little likely to embark so long as the neighbourhood of
+Ostend or any considerable portion of it remained in the enemy's hands.
+Of all this the postmasters-general were perfectly well aware, and they
+can have felt no disappointment that, on the first reopening of the
+Ostend route, the letters passing that way were extremely few; but the
+ministers, who had not the postmaster-generals' experience to guide
+them, grew impatient with a service which was maintained at heavy cost,
+and produced little or no return. Accordingly, having restored the
+service in June, they discontinued it in August; and no sooner were the
+boats dispersed than orders were given to restore it again.
+
+This sudden change of purpose, we think there can be little doubt, was
+due to the influence of the Duke of Marlborough, who began about this
+time to take a lively interest in the postal communication with
+Flanders. Though not surprised at the meagreness of the correspondence,
+the postmasters-general were little prepared to find that, after the
+Confederates became masters of Ostend, the passage between that port and
+Dover would be even less safe than it had been before. Yet such was the
+case. The Flemish seamen, no longer able to obtain employment at home,
+flocked across the French border and joined with their foes of yesterday
+in preying upon the English shipping. As a consequence the Channel now
+swarmed with privateers. On the 25th of January a Dover packet, named
+_Ostend_ after the port to which she ran, was taken by a Nieuport
+privateer of ten guns and eighty men. The captain who brought this
+intelligence had himself had a narrow escape. Five privateers had
+extended themselves from Nieuport to Ostend in order to intercept him,
+and, after a sharp engagement, in which he was nearly captured, had
+forced him to make Harwich.
+
+In this conjuncture the postmasters-general acted with remarkable
+energy, but with little regard to what would now be considered official
+propriety. Not content with making representations to the Secretary of
+State, they wrote direct to the English ambassador at the Hague,
+desiring him to urge upon the States of Flanders and Brabant the
+necessity of at once fitting out three or four ships of the Ostend
+squadron, with the twofold object of recalling the seamen to their duty
+and of clearing the coast. They at the same time waited upon M. Van
+Vrybergh, the envoy extraordinary from the States-General to the Court
+of St. James', and exacted from him a promise that he would exercise his
+influence in the same direction. But relief was soon to come, and from
+an unexpected quarter. Lewis the Fourteenth, by way of creating a
+diversion in the Netherlands, resolved to assist the Pretender in making
+a descent upon Scotland, and with this view he assembled a squadron
+before Dunkirk. England had no choice but to follow suit. Within an
+incredibly short space of time she equipped a fleet, and this fleet,
+under the command of Sir George Byng, left Deal for Dunkirk in the
+spring of 1708. How the Pretender evaded Byng, and how Byng pursued the
+Pretender and frustrated his object, are matters of history; but what
+concerns us at the present moment is that, before starting in pursuit,
+Byng detached a squadron for the purpose of bringing over some of the
+English troops which were about to be embarked at Ostend. It is probable
+that this squadron, after its immediate object had been accomplished,
+remained in or about the Channel, for after this time we hear no more of
+depredations on the Post Office packets.
+
+Experience shews that there is a class, and not an inconsiderable class,
+of persons who, in time of war, find it hard to reconcile themselves to
+the pursuits of peace. John Macky, the packet agent at Dover, was one of
+these. The proximity of the battle-field, its easy access from Dover,
+and the stirring accounts arriving by every packet fired his imagination
+and filled him with martial ardour. Under the influence of this
+excitement he addressed a memorial to the postmasters-general, praying
+that he might be commissioned to go over to Flanders and settle posts
+for the army. This application he appears to have supported by the most
+unfortunate arguments. He urged not that it was a thing in itself
+reasonable and proper that the army should have posts of its own, and
+that his experience might be useful in establishing them, but that at
+Dover, though his salary was comparatively high, he had little or
+nothing to do, and that the commission for which he asked would give him
+employment more congenial to his tastes. The postmasters-general could
+not conceal their astonishment at the audacity of the proposal and the
+grounds on which it was based. "We were never before made sensible,"
+they wrote, "that the business of the agent to the packet boats at Dover
+was so very inconsiderable as you have represented it to be, nor do we
+think that for so inconsiderable a business so high a salary can be
+needed." "We can only say," they added, "that if the present allowance
+be too much for the work, or if the employ be too mean for your
+expectations, we doubt not but that we shall be able to find those who
+will thankfully accept the post with an allowance that is much less."
+
+But Macky's restlessness was not to be subdued by a mere admonition. As
+he could not prevail on the postmasters-general to send him to Flanders
+on official business, he asked to be allowed to go on his own account.
+This permission they readily gave, accompanying it, however, with a
+remarkable caution. "We must expect," they said, "that you do not
+intermeddle in any ways upon the business of the Flanders
+correspondence, or enter into any sort of treaty for the port of letters
+or jobbing of places which may bring us under any inconveniencys or our
+authority under any disreputation. We expect you take particular caution
+of these matters and wish you a good journey."
+
+Within four months from the date of this caution Macky's relations to
+the Post Office had greatly altered. To the position of packet agent he
+now added that of contractor, having undertaken himself to provide for
+the Dover and Ostend service. For the sum of £2000 a year he was to
+supply four boats between twenty and thirty tons each, and to be at all
+risks from sea and enemy. One effect of this arrangement, by which Macky
+the contractor was to be controlled by Macky the packet agent, was to
+prolong his visit to Flanders. Under the pretext of keeping the captains
+to their duty he remained there until March or April 1708, when he
+returned to England, after an absence of eight or nine months. Meanwhile
+the packets to Ostend, like those to Holland and to Portugal, had been
+engaged in illicit practices. According to a complaint received from the
+Commissioners of Customs immediately before Macky's return, clandestine
+traffic was being systematically carried on, and the very last boat that
+had arrived had brought parcels of lace concealed in the flap of the
+mail. The postmasters-general were deeply annoyed. "Let this go on,"
+they exclaimed, "and the mails themselves will be searched, to the great
+scandal of the office and of our management."
+
+We have been thus particular in recording Macky's movements, because in
+connection with the service under his control an incident now occurred
+which brought the Post Office into serious discredit. The
+postmasters-general, in virtue of their office, which gave them control
+over the communications of the country, were in the habit of receiving
+priority of intelligence; and this at a time when intelligence travelled
+slowly and the means of disseminating it did not exist or existed only
+in the rudest form. Hence they acquired an importance which the mere
+office of postmaster-general, as that office is now understood, would
+not have conferred. An interest attached to them as to men who were
+reputed to possess exclusive information. They were welcome at Court,
+and not only welcome but often anxiously expected. Indeed, to act as
+purveyor of news to the Court had come to be regarded as one and by no
+means the least important of their duties; and with a view to its more
+effectual discharge their agents throughout the country had standing
+orders to send to headquarters the earliest intimation of any remarkable
+event that might happen in their locality. When any one of these persons
+was venturesome enough to send to his chiefs a present, the thanks he
+received were of the coldest,--"We thank you for the snuff," or, "We
+thank you for the port wine," and then was pretty sure to follow a sharp
+rebuke for some trifling irregularity, which, except for the present,
+would probably have passed unnoticed. But when a piece of news was sent,
+the thanks were warm and hearty; and woe betide the unfortunate agent
+who had news to send and omitted to send it. "We observe you give us no
+advice of the fleet under Sir George Byng being seen off Falmouth the
+28th, tho' we saw letters from Falmouth which advised thereof. We are
+desirous to have the first advice of any remarkable news." "We received
+two Flanders mails on Sunday morning, and therewith your letter of the
+5th advising of the Duke of Marlborough's being arrived at Flushing, for
+which account we thank you." "We do heartily congratulate your safe
+return, and do thank you for being so full and particular in the
+advices you have given us of what occurrences have come to your
+knowledge." "We are obliged to you for the news of the Nassau and
+Burford's prizes of which we had received advice before by some galleys
+from Gibraltar, and for your kind promise of communicating to us any
+considerable occurrences that may happen in your parts." "We thank you
+for sending us an account of all news and remarkable occurrences in your
+letters which we desire may be sent in the mails or annext to the
+labels." "We cannot but take very ill the captain's conduct on this
+occasion, for Mr. Bowen's intentions in sending his son over to bring so
+great a piece of news as that of the victory[31] to us ought to be
+esteemed as a great piece of civility, and, if the captain had not
+refused to sail when Mr. Bowen pressed him, we might have had the
+satisfaction of carrying the first account of that victory."
+
+  [31] The victory at Oudenarde. Who Mr. Bowen was we are not informed.
+
+It was in the early summer of 1709, when this greed after news was at
+its height, that intelligence of vast import to the country was expected
+to arrive in London. Preliminaries of peace, after being arranged in
+Flanders, had been forwarded to Paris for confirmation. Would the King
+sign them? Or must the war which had already lasted more than six years
+be continued? A period of anxious suspense followed. The exhaustion of
+France, and the humiliating terms which were sought to be imposed upon
+her, made it certain that there would be neither ready acceptance nor
+ready rejection; and yet the latest date had passed on which a decision
+was expected and none had arrived. London was in a fever of expectation.
+Each mail from Ostend, as it reached the Post Office in Lombard Street,
+was eagerly seized and opened. The month of May was drawing to a close.
+On Saturday the 28th there was not only no news but no mail. Sunday came
+and, to the consternation of the postmasters-general, there was still no
+mail. The wind was in the right quarter. At Harwich the packets from
+Holland were arriving regularly. What could hinder the passage from
+Ostend? At length on Monday the 30th a mail arrived, and with it the
+news. The King had refused to sign the preliminaries of peace. Frankland
+and Evelyn[32] hurried off to the Lord Treasurer. Little were they
+prepared for the reception that awaited them. Godolphin's words have
+unfortunately not been preserved, but we know the substance of them. The
+news, he said, had reached the city the day before, having been conveyed
+there clandestinely. The packet agent or sub-agent at Ostend had sent
+it. Of this he held in his hand conclusive evidence. What means had been
+employed, and whether others were concerned in the nefarious
+transaction, it was for his hearers to ascertain; and the sooner they
+addressed themselves to the task the better. In short, the power of the
+purse had again prevailed, and the Post Office had been outwitted by the
+Stock Exchange.
+
+  [32] Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Evelyn had recently succeeded Sir Robert
+  Cotton as postmaster-general.
+
+It is difficult to suppose that the intelligence can have been conveyed
+from Ostend to London without Macky's connivance. And yet Frankland and
+Evelyn believed or affected to believe that he had had no hand in the
+business. Their position was, no doubt, one of embarrassment. Organised
+as the Post Office then was, they possessed no means of making an
+independent investigation. They contented themselves, therefore, with
+calling upon Macky to ascertain and report how it was that a letter from
+Ostend had reached London on Sunday, although on that day there had been
+no mail. The result might easily have been foreseen. Brown, the
+sub-agent at Ostend, whose letter it was, stood self-condemned, and
+Macky was required to dismiss him. And here the scandal ended. Macky's
+own character, with himself as reporter, may be presumed to have been
+cleared. At all events he appears to have been taken back into
+confidence, and, before many weeks were over, the postmasters-general
+had despatched him on an important mission.
+
+This mission was no other than to lay down posts for the army in
+Flanders. The tardiness with which intelligence arrived from the seat of
+war had long been matter of complaint. In the city especially the
+dissatisfaction had been intense, and the recent scandal had not been
+calculated to allay it. With a view to remedy this state of things,
+Godolphin called upon the postmasters-general to devise some means for
+securing more rapid communication. The army was now in the neighbourhood
+of Lisle, and operations were about to begin anew. There was, therefore,
+no time to be lost. The postmasters-general had recourse to Macky, and
+in a few days he produced a plan with which Godolphin expressed himself
+highly pleased. Between Lisle and Ostend, and between Ostend and other
+places where the army might be, stages were to be settled; at each stage
+were to be relays of horses with postilions ready to start at any
+moment; responsible persons were to be appointed to collect and deliver
+the letters and to receive the postage; and the postage was to be
+regulated by distance and to be at the same rates as in England, and to
+go to the English Post Office.
+
+Macky, to his extreme gratification, was commissioned to carry out his
+own plan. He was to repair at once to Flanders, to report himself to the
+Duke of Marlborough, and, having obtained his sanction, to proceed with
+the arrangement of details. Above all, he was to keep a close watch upon
+the sailing of the packets from Ostend, and to insist upon a rigid
+punctuality. From this time no more complaints were heard of the tardy
+arrival of intelligence from the seat of war. As postilions were
+employed on one side of the water, so expresses were employed on the
+other; and these, with punctual sailings between port and port,
+constituted a service which for those days might be considered
+excellent.
+
+At first, indeed, the employment of expresses from Dover to London
+appears to have been a little overdone, and the postmasters-general,
+eager as they were to obtain early intelligence, found it necessary to
+regulate the practice. An express had arrived bringing a letter from
+Macky in Flanders. "Altho' we should be very well satisfied," they wrote
+to his deputy at Dover, "to receive an extraordinary piece of good news
+by a messenger hired for greater dispatch' sake, yet on ordinary
+occasions it might be more warrantable and make less noise and
+expectation to have the same sent by a flying pacquet under cover to us
+annext to the labell." This was written in August 1709, within six weeks
+of Macky's arrival in Flanders; and we know of no passage in the whole
+of the Post Office records which more forcibly brings home to us the
+difference between the London of to-day and the London of 180 years ago.
+Crowds no longer congregate at the doors of the Post Office eagerly
+waiting for news; nor is the neighbourhood of St. Martin's-le-Grand
+transported with excitement at the approach of a man on horseback.
+
+On the cessation of hostilities at sea, which took place in the summer
+of 1712, although the Treaty of Utrecht was not signed until the
+following year, the postmasters-general proceeded to put the packets on
+a peace footing. The boats from Harwich to the Brill and from Dover to
+Ostend were reduced in number. The routes between Dover and Calais and
+between Dover and Dunkirk were reopened. The service between Falmouth
+and Lisbon, which during the war had been once a week, was now to be
+only once a fortnight; and the five boats engaged on this service, as
+carrying more hands than would any longer be necessary, were to be
+disposed of by public sale and their place to be taken by three of the
+largest from Harwich. The result of these several changes was to reduce
+the establishment, in point of numbers, by rather more than 120 men,
+and, in point of cost, from £21,960 to £15,632. As affecting the cost,
+hardly less important than the reduction of numbers was the permission
+now given to the packet boats to resume the carriage of merchandise.
+This was a source of profit to which the postmasters-general had long
+been looking as some set-off against the heavy expense.
+
+Meanwhile Dummer's contract for the West India service had come to an
+abrupt termination. That contract had not been long in force before he
+began to realise how onerous was the condition that, out of a total sum
+of £12,500, he should receive only £4500 in money, and depend, for the
+difference on fares, freight, and postage. The postage, which from the
+first had fallen short of his expectations, did not increase; and the
+fact of his having, within a few months from the commencement of his
+undertaking, lost three of his boats, procured for him--what in the
+world of commerce is almost incompatible with success--the reputation of
+an unlucky man. The West India merchants enjoined their correspondents
+on no account to send goods by Dummer's boats. Thus the profits which he
+had expected to derive from freight had no more existence in fact than
+the profits from postage. Hoping against hope, Dummer struggled on; but
+ill-luck continued to pursue him. In little more than five years he lost
+no less than nine boats. In order to replace them he mortgaged his
+property to the full extent of its value and obtained advances on his
+quarterly allowance. This, of course, could not go on, and at length the
+crash came. The day had arrived for the West India mail to be
+despatched, and there was no boat to carry it. The whole of Dummer's
+property, boats included, had been seized for debt. The rest is soon
+told. The mortgagees, believing that they had the postmasters-general in
+a corner, refused to continue the service except at a preposterous
+charge, which Frankland and Evelyn declined to pay. Fortunately three
+private ships with consignments for the West Indies were then loading at
+Teignmouth and other ports in the south-west of England, and these
+relieved the Post Office from what might otherwise have been a serious
+dilemma.
+
+Bankrupt and broken-hearted, Edmund Dummer died in April 1713, within
+eighteen months of the termination of his contract. It is his honourable
+distinction that he succeeded in all that he undertook for others, and
+that it was only in what he undertook for himself that he failed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+AMERICAN POSTS
+
+1692-1707
+
+
+American progress has long been the wonder of the world, and in nothing
+perhaps has it displayed itself more remarkably than in the matter of
+the posts. The figures which the United States Post Office presents to
+us year after year--figures as compared with which even those of the
+Post Office of Great Britain fall into insignificance--make it difficult
+to believe that only two hundred years ago an enterprising Englishman
+was struggling to erect a post between New York and Boston.
+
+An Order in Council dated the 22nd of July 1688, after prescribing the
+rates of postage to be charged not only between England and the island
+of Jamaica, but within the island itself, ended with these words: "And
+His Majesty is also pleased to order that letter offices be settled in
+such other of His Majesty's plantations in America as shall by the said
+Earle of Rochester be found convenient for His Majesty's service, and
+the ease and benefitt of his subjects, according to the method and rates
+herein settled for His Majesty's island of Jamaica."
+
+Nearly four years later, namely, in February 1692, Thomas Neale obtained
+a grant from the Crown authorising him to set up posts in North America.
+The grant was secured by letters patent, which were to hold good for
+twenty-one years. Neale, who appears never to have set foot out of
+England, appointed as his representative in America Andrew Hamilton; or
+rather, as the patent required, Neale nominated and the
+postmasters-general appointed him. The patent also required that at the
+expiration of three years Neale should render an account showing his
+receipts and expenditure; but it was not until the year 1698 that this
+condition was fulfilled, and in the same year Hamilton came to England
+to report progress.
+
+By this time a post, to run once a week, had been established along
+seven hundred miles of road, from Boston to New York, and from New York
+to Newcastle in Pennsylvania. What the postage rates were we do not
+know, except indeed that the charge on a letter between New York and
+Boston was 1s. On other points the account which Hamilton furnished on
+Neale's behalf gives full information. A salary of £20 a year is paid to
+"Mr. Sharpus that keeps the letter office at New York." Mr. Sharpus also
+receives two allowances, one of £110 a year "for carrying the mail
+half-way to Boston," and another of £60 "for carrying the mail from New
+York to Philadelphia." Of the former allowance, Hamilton states that
+after the 4th of November 1696 he "retrenched" it from £110 to £90.
+There is also a salary of £10 "allowed to him that keeps the letter
+office at Philadelphia"; and "an allowance of £100 sterling per annum
+given by Mr. Neale himself to Peter Hayman, deputy-postmaster of
+Virginia and Maryland." Hamilton's own salary was £200, and his
+travelling expenses are thus stated in his account:--
+
+  To my expense of a journey from New York to Road
+    Island, Boston, and eastward of it and back again,
+    when I settled the Post Office there                £50   0   0
+
+  To my expense of a journey from New York to Maryland
+    and Virginia and back again to settle the
+    office there                                         50   0   0
+
+  To several other journeys and incident charges relating
+    to the Post Office                                   16  18   0
+
+In America as in England, from the first erection of the posts, the
+correspondence went on steadily increasing year after year. Thus, in the
+first year beginning the 1st of May 1693 the "New York Post" produced
+£61; in the second, £82; in the third, £93; and in the fourth year,
+ending the 1st of May 1697, it produced £122. The same progress is to be
+seen in what were called the "Boston, Road Island, Connecticut and
+Piscataway Posts." In the first two years beginning also in May 1693
+these produced £296 or at the rate of £148 a year; in the third year
+they produced £227; and in the fourth, £298. The returns of the
+Philadelphia post also kept improving; but here Hamilton encountered
+difficulties of management, as will be seen by his own entries:--
+
+  By the produce of the Philadelphia post from the 22nd
+    of August 1693 to the 23rd of April 1694, at
+    which time I was forced to change the Postmaster       £10  9  6
+
+  By the produce of the same post from the 23rd of April
+    1694 to the 13th of February 1697, at which time
+    I was forced to change the Postmaster again            105  3  7
+
+The Virginia and Maryland posts were the single exception. Of these
+Hamilton records "The Virginia and Maryland posts never yielded
+anything, but cost Mr. Neale near £600." However much these posts might
+be improved, he dared not reckon upon the correspondence exceeding one
+hundred letters a year.
+
+There is only one more entry which we will quote from Hamilton's
+account. It is this:--
+
+By cash which the Postmaster of New York gathered
+  up upon the road in Connecticut for letters        £6  16  0
+
+Promising as the prospect was on the whole, Neale's receipts from the
+posts fell far short of his expenses in erecting and maintaining them.
+His expenses up to May 1697 were £3817, and his receipts £1457, leaving
+him not only out of pocket to the amount of £2360, but with his means
+and his credit exhausted. It was admitted on all hands that the posts
+must before long become self-supporting, even if they should not prove
+remunerative. But meanwhile how were they to be carried on? Hamilton had
+his own plan to propose. This was first that within America the postage
+rates should be raised, and "that the post and his horse should go
+fferry-free"; and second, that between England and America rates should
+be settled, and that shipmasters should be required on the other as on
+this side of the Atlantic to take their letters at once to the Post
+Office of the port at which they first touched, and hand them to the
+postmaster, receiving as remuneration one penny a letter.
+
+For inland letters the increased rates which Hamilton proposed were as
+follows, all but the first two entries being in his own words:--
+
+                                                            Pence.
+
+  Where the distance from New York does not exceed 80 miles     6
+  Where it exceeds 80, and does not exceed 150 miles            9
+  To and from Boston and New York, 300 miles                   12
+  To and from Boston and Jersey, 370 miles                     18
+  To and from Boston and Philadelphia, 390 miles               20
+  To and from Boston and Annapolis in Maryland, 550 miles      36
+  To and from Boston and James Towne in Virginia, 680 miles    42
+  To and from New York and Annapolis, 250 miles                24
+  To and from New York and James Towne, 380 miles, and many
+    broad and dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over     30
+
+It may surprise our readers to learn that between England and America
+there actually existed, 200 years ago, what now is little more than the
+dream of the postal reformer,--an ocean penny postage. Yet such is the
+fact. In 1698 it was the custom of the masters of ships bound for
+America to hang up bags in coffee-houses, and any letters that might be
+dropped into these bags they carried, and were glad to carry, over for
+one penny or twopence a letter, according as it was a single or a double
+one. This custom, as Hamilton pointed out, was liable to abuse. In the
+first place, any one who had put a letter into a coffee-house bag might,
+under pretence of wanting his own letter back, possess himself of the
+letter of somebody else. And secondly, on arrival in America, the
+shipmasters being under no obligation to make a prompt delivery, were
+apt to deliver the letters, not when they reached a port, but when they
+were on the point of leaving it, and after they had disposed of their
+lading. All this would be remedied if rates of postage were settled
+between England and America. The letters would then be in the custody of
+the Post Office until delivered to the shipmaster, and the shipmaster
+would be bound to restore them to the same custody as soon as he
+arrived at his destination.
+
+But Hamilton's main argument in favour of establishing sea-rates of
+postage was the impossibility of things remaining as they were. Neale
+was without resources, and the posts were not self-supporting. Unless,
+therefore, some means should be devised for increasing the receipts, the
+posts must be given up. Let sea-rates be imposed, and the receipts would
+be increased at once, for all letters from Europe, which on arrival in
+America were now being delivered by private hand, would then fall into
+the post, and be forced to pay American postage. It was true that
+between the mother country and her colonies a packet service did not
+exist, and that to impose a charge where no service was rendered in
+return would be contrary to Post Office usage; but the object to be
+gained was too important to allow this consideration to prevail. Such
+were the arguments by which Hamilton supported his proposal that on
+letters between England and America postage should be charged--of 6d.
+for a single letter, 1s. for a double letter, and 1s. 6d. for "a
+packet."
+
+There were one or two points on which Cotton and Frankland did not agree
+with Hamilton. Experience had taught them, as they stated on another
+occasion, that the way to improve the Post Office revenue was to "make
+the intercourse of letters easy to people." So now, in their
+representation to the Treasury, they condemned the inland rates which
+Hamilton proposed as altogether too high. They had been long enough at
+the Post Office, they said, to know that "the easy and cheap
+corresponding doth encourage people to write letters, and that this
+revenue was but little in proportion to what it is now till the postage
+of letters was reduced from 6d.[33] to 3d."
+
+  [33] This is an allusion to the period antecedent to 1657.
+
+Hamilton had contemplated the passing of a fresh Act of Parliament in
+order to impose sea-rates and to oblige shipmasters to give up their
+letters as soon as they reached port. Cotton and Frankland were not
+satisfied that a fresh Act of Parliament was necessary; nor did they
+express any opinion as to the particular rates which should be imposed.
+They recommended, however, the appointment of an officer whose duty it
+should be "to take care of" all letters for America, and to put them
+into a special bag to be sealed with the office seal. Public notice
+should at the same time be given prohibiting the collection of such
+letters by other persons. To the shipmaster to whom the bag might be
+delivered the inducement to take it without delay to the Post Office of
+the port at which he should first arrive would be that he would there
+receive one penny for each letter the bag might contain. Hitherto, under
+the coffee-house arrangement, the penny had been paid in England; for
+the future, it would be paid in America. In other words, the shipmaster,
+instead of receiving his recompense in advance, would receive it after
+his work was done and only provided it was done properly.
+
+On one point the postmasters-general held a decided opinion. Towards the
+support of the posts the Government of New York had made an annual
+contribution of £50, in consideration of which the Government letters
+appear to have been carried free; but otherwise Neale's undertaking had
+not received from the authorities that countenance and support which, in
+Cotton and Frankland's opinion, were essential to its success. They
+expressed themselves convinced that, for want of due encouragement, the
+posts would never prosper in private hands, and recommended that they
+should be transferred to the Crown.
+
+Whether any, and if so, what action was taken upon the
+postmaster-general's representation we do not know. There is some reason
+to think that between England and America sea-rates of postage were
+settled, as had been done a few years before in the case of Jamaica; but
+we possess no certain information on the point. All we know is that,
+upon Neale being informed of the postmaster-general's opinion that the
+inland posts should be transferred to the Crown, he immediately offered
+to surrender his patent, and that the offer was not accepted. The
+payment he demanded was either a capital sum of £5000 or else £1000 a
+year for life or for the unexpired term of his grant.
+
+Hamilton returned to America. The next we hear of him is in 1700. Neale
+was then dead, having shortly before his death assigned his interest in
+the posts as security for his debts. To Hamilton he owed £1100, and to
+an Englishman of the name of West he owed for money advanced £200; and
+into the hands of these two persons, in default of any one willing to
+act as Neale's executor or administrator, the posts now came. In April
+1703 Hamilton also died; and for three or four years his widow carried
+on the posts at her own charge.
+
+In 1706 Mrs. Hamilton and West urged that their patent, which had seven
+and a half years yet to run, might be enlarged for a further term of
+twenty-one years, and that they might have permission to set up packet
+boats between England and America. To this Cotton and Frankland were
+opposed, being still of opinion that the posts should not remain in
+private hands; and they recommended, as a more politic measure, that the
+patent should be purchased for £1664, a sum which the patentees had
+expressed themselves willing to accept. Whether this was the sum
+actually given we know not; but in the following year the patent was
+surrendered and the posts of America became vested in the Crown.
+
+In connection with the transfer John Hamilton, Andrew's son, was
+appointed to his father's place of deputy postmaster-general, and this
+appointment he retained until 1722, when he resigned. It was then and
+not until then that the posts became self-supporting. "We have now,"
+write the postmasters-general on the 10th of August in that year, "put
+the Post Office in North America and the West Indies upon such a foot
+that for the future, if it produce no profit to the revenue, it will no
+longer be a charge to it, but we have good reason to hope there will be
+some return rather from thence."
+
+Such, hardly 200 years ago, were the humble beginnings of a Post Office
+with which, in the magnitude and diversity of its operations, no other
+in the world can now compare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE POST OFFICE ACT OF 1711
+
+
+In 1707, on the passing of the Act of Union between England and
+Scotland, the first step taken by the postmasters-general was to alter
+the colours of the packets. The cross of St. Andrew, with its blue
+ground, united with the red cross of St. George, now became the national
+ensign; and the packets no less than the ships of the Royal Navy were
+under obligation to carry it.
+
+The Post Office in Scotland was at this time held in farm at a rent of
+£1194 a year. The lease expired on the 11th of November, and from that
+date the postmasters-general held themselves responsible for the Scotch
+no less than the English posts. They at once proceeded to frame an
+establishment. George Main, the farmer, was appointed deputy-postmaster
+of Edinburgh at a salary of £200, this being the amount which one year
+with another he had made out of his contract. Three persons were
+appointed to assist him, an accomptant and two clerks. These, with three
+letter-carriers at a crown a week each, and a postmaster at the foot of
+the Canongate, constituted the Edinburgh establishment.
+
+In the country there were thirty-four postmasters, of whom only twelve
+were paid by salary, the remaining twenty-two receiving as their
+remuneration a certain proportion of the postage on inland letters.
+Thus, three had one-half of this postage, one had one-third, and
+eighteen had one-fourth. The highest salaries were given to the
+postmasters of Haddington and Cockburnspath, who received £50 apiece,
+the reason being no doubt that these two towns were on the direct line
+of road between Edinburgh and London. At Aberdeen, the postmaster's
+salary was £28; at Glasgow, £25; at Dundee, Montrose, and Inverness,
+£15; and at Dumfries and Ayr, £12. Runners[34] at a fixed charge were
+maintained between town and town--as, for instance, between Edinburgh
+and Aberdeen at £60 a year, between Aberdeen and Inverness at £30 a
+year, and between Inverness and Thurso at £18 a year: but except at
+Edinburgh there was no letter-carrier, and except between Edinburgh and
+Berwick there was no horse-post north of the Tweed. The establishment
+charges for the whole of Scotland, Edinburgh included, were less than
+£1000 a year.
+
+  [34] These runners or post-boys carried the mail through the whole
+  journey, resting by the way. It was not, according to common repute,
+  until about the year 1750 that the mail began to be carried from stage
+  to stage by different post-boys.
+
+But something more was necessary than to frame an establishment and to
+alter the colours of the packets. Serious doubts had arisen whether, as
+the law stood, the postmasters-general of England were competent to deal
+with the posts of Scotland; and, this vital consideration apart, between
+the two divisions of the kingdom certain inequalities existed which only
+fresh legislation could redress. Under the Scotch Act of 1695 the
+postage on a single letter between Edinburgh and Berwick was 2d. Under
+the English Act of 1660, 2d. would carry a single letter from Berwick
+northwards for only forty miles, and considerably more than forty miles
+separated Berwick from Edinburgh. This difference arose no doubt from
+mere inaccuracy of reckoning on the English side; and yet it was one
+which nothing less than a new Act, an Act by the united Parliament,
+would adjust.
+
+It is the more singular that at this time the postmasters-general should
+not have taken steps to promote legislation, because, in connection with
+the English no less than the Scotch Post Office, there were several
+matters on which fresh legislation had become necessary. The statute on
+which the very existence of the Post Office itself depended had been
+found difficult to deal with, on account of its loose and ambiguous
+wording. The postage to America and the West Indies rested on no legal
+sanction. For the pence paid upon ship-letters the postmasters-general
+had no authority to produce, and the auditors had threatened to
+disallow, the payment. Even the penny post was of doubtful legality. The
+Courts had indeed decided that Dockwra's undertaking was an infraction
+of the rights of the Crown; but they had not decided, nor had they been
+called upon to decide, whether in the hands of the Crown the same
+undertaking would be legal. The law, as it stood, prescribed no postage
+lower than twopence. By the penny post the postage was one half of that
+amount.
+
+With these and other matters requiring adjustment, it might well be
+supposed that the postmasters-general would have been glad of the
+opportunity which the Act of Union afforded to set their house in order.
+Yet, so far from taking any steps in that direction, they now remained
+perfectly passive. Of the reason for this inaction we are not informed;
+but we venture to suggest an explanation. Cotton and Frankland were
+advocates of cheap postage. Should fresh legislation be entered upon,
+what guarantee had they that postage would not be made dearer? So far,
+indeed, as they could judge, such was much more likely than not to be
+the case. As early as William's reign they had been asked to estimate
+how much an additional penny of postage would produce; and the
+necessities of the Civil List which had prompted the inquiry had since
+become more and more pressing.
+
+It is not impossible that there was another, though subordinate, reason.
+Between Whitehall and Lombard Street communications had been passing
+from time to time, which might fairly raise the presumption that
+advantage would be taken of any fresh Act to insert a clause under which
+all Post Office servants, the postmasters-general included, would be
+disfranchised. Cotton and Frankland, who still retained their seats, the
+one for Cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of Thirsk, were
+not the men to be deterred by personal considerations from doing what
+they conceived to be their duty; but if on principle they objected to an
+increase in the rates of postage, it was little calculated to reconcile
+them to a measure which they regarded as mischievous that, as a probable
+consequence of its introduction, they would lose their seats. But be the
+reason what it might, the fact remains that, whereas at one time they
+were continually suggesting the propriety of fresh legislation in order
+to clear up ambiguities in the existing statute, no such suggestion had
+been recently made, and they now remained perfectly silent.
+
+Thus matters stood when, in October 1708, or a year and a half after the
+Act of Union had passed, an incident occurred which made silence no
+longer possible. Letters of Privy Seal had been issued granting salaries
+payable out of the revenue of the Scotch Post Office to certain
+professors of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and warrants
+for payment of these salaries were sent to Lombard Street to be signed.
+The postmasters-general, being in doubt whether their signature would be
+valid, took the precaution of consulting the law officers. The law
+officers' opinion, which was not given until the end of December, must
+have struck dismay into the hearts of those who sought it. It was to the
+effect that the postmasters-general of England could not act as
+postmasters-general of Scotland until they had been to Edinburgh and
+taken the oaths prescribed by the Scotch law. A journey to Edinburgh in
+those days, especially in the depth of winter, was no light undertaking.
+But this was not all. And as soon--the opinion proceeded--as they have
+taken the oaths and qualified as postmasters-general of Scotland, they
+will cease to be postmasters-general of England.
+
+The warrants were returned to the Treasury unsigned. And now that
+silence had once been broken, the postmasters-general offered suggestion
+after suggestion, each having for its object to remove the difficulty.
+Might not a clause be inserted in some bill now before Parliament, a
+clause under which they should be constituted postmasters-general of
+Great Britain, and be given jurisdiction over the Scotch as over the
+English Post Office? Would not the Scotch bill for drawbacks answer the
+purpose, or if that were likely to be displeasing to the North British
+members, some one of the many money-bills that were then pending? Would
+not the requirements of the law be satisfied if for the management of
+the Scotch Post Office some one were appointed by letters patent under
+the Privy Seal of Scotland, and placed under the orders of the
+postmasters-general of England? Or in view of a recent Act passed by the
+united Parliament, might not the English postmasters-general themselves
+be so appointed? To these suggestions, of which the first was made in
+December 1708, and the last in April 1710, the Lord Treasurer returned
+no reply. It was clear that Godolphin had other intentions.
+
+Meanwhile events had taken place in London which must have gone far to
+convince the postmasters-general that, impolitic as an increase in the
+rates of postage might be, the need for fresh legislation was urgent.
+Charles Povey had set up a halfpenny post or, as he called it himself, a
+"half-penny carriage." For the sum of one halfpenny he undertook to do
+what Dockwra had done, and what the postmasters-general were now doing,
+for the sum of one penny. There were indeed points of difference. The
+penny post extended not only over the whole of London proper, but to the
+remote suburbs; the halfpenny post was confined to the busy parts of the
+metropolis, to the cities of London and Westminster and to the borough
+of Southwark. For the halfpenny post, again, letters were collected by
+the sound of bell. That is to say, Povey's men carried bells, which they
+rang as they passed along the streets, and so gave notice of their
+approach. This, though no doubt intended merely as an advertisement,
+possessed the merit of convenience. People had only to await the coming
+of one of these bell-ringers, and letters and parcels which they must
+otherwise have carried to the post themselves were carried for them.
+
+Povey fancied himself a second Dockwra; but the two men were as unlike
+as the circumstances under which their undertakings were launched.
+Dockwra was gentle and conciliatory. Povey was violent and aggressive.
+Dockwra disclaimed all intention of transgressing the law. It was only
+necessary that his undertaking should become better known, and His Royal
+Highness, he felt sure, would withdraw his opposition. Povey expressed
+the utmost indifference whether his undertaking was legal or illegal,
+and defied the law to do its worst. Dockwra was a pioneer. When he
+established his penny post, there was nothing in existence at all
+resembling it, nothing with which it competed, and by supplying an
+acknowledged want he conferred an inestimable boon upon the community.
+Povey, on the contrary, was a mere adventurer. His halfpenny carriage
+was in direct opposition to an institution already existing and in full
+activity, an institution which supplied every reasonable want, and which
+it was the sole purpose of his enterprise to supplant for his own
+advantage.
+
+So impudent an infringement of the rights of the Crown could not, of
+course, be tolerated, and the postmasters-general called upon Povey to
+desist from his undertaking. Povey's reply must have extinguished any
+hope they may have entertained of avoiding an appeal to the Courts. He
+should certainly not, he said, be so unjust to himself as to lay down
+his undertaking at their demand. If they were resolved on trying the
+matter at law, he was quite content. And happily, he added, we live not
+under such a constitution as Dockwra lived, a constitution made up of an
+arbitrary government and bribed judges. Thus defied, the
+postmasters-general had only one course to pursue, and that was to bring
+an action. As a preliminary step Povey and the keepers of the shops at
+which he had opened offices were served with notices setting forth the
+illegality of their proceedings. The shopkeepers closed their offices at
+once, and Povey was left alone with his bell-ringers.
+
+The man now revealed himself in his true character. When first informed
+that an information would be filed against him, he published a pamphlet
+in which, after loading the postmasters-general with ridicule and abuse,
+he dared them to proceed to trial, declaring that a trial in the Court
+of Exchequer was the very thing he desired; but as time drew on and he
+found them to be in earnest, he became alarmed and desired to effect a
+compromise. With this object he attended at the Post Office and pleaded
+his cause in person. If only his bell-ringers might continue to collect
+letters for the general post and "such as pass between man and man," he
+would pay to the Crown one-tenth more than had yet been received from
+the penny post. Or let him take the penny post to farm, and he would pay
+double what that post had ever produced. Or was it to his bells that
+exception was taken? If so, and if only proceedings were stayed, his
+bells should cease to-morrow. But even if at one time such overtures
+could have been listened to, it was now too late, and the
+postmasters-general so informed him. At this announcement, and while
+they were still speaking, Povey bounced from his chair and flung himself
+out of the room. The case came on for hearing in Easter term 1710, and
+Povey was fined £100.
+
+It may here be mentioned that the practice of collecting letters by the
+sound of bell did not cease with the halfpenny carriage. It was adopted
+by the Post Office, became general throughout the kingdom, and continued
+down to a time well within the recollection of persons still living.[35]
+
+  [35] In London the practice continued until the end of 1846; and in
+  Dublin, which was the last town in the United Kingdom to give it up,
+  until September 1859.
+
+Although the postmasters-general had won their suit, they were not
+altogether satisfied. What Povey had done might be done by others, and
+his proceedings, they did not attempt to conceal, had caused them great
+annoyance. As soon as he found them bent on suppressing his undertaking,
+he had had recourse to artifice. In order that his bell-ringers might
+escape molestation, he had changed them about from place to place and
+made them assume fictitious names, so that the man who appeared in
+Holborn to-day under one name might appear in Westminster to-morrow
+under another. The task of fixing evidence had thus been made extremely
+difficult, and the postmasters-general had at one time almost given it
+up in despair. They also bitterly complained of the law's delays. For no
+less than seven months--from the 4th of October 1709 to the 4th of May
+1710--the halfpenny post had been in full activity, to the serious
+injury of the penny post. Must the institution which had been committed
+to their charge remain, for periods of longer or shorter duration, at
+the mercy of any unscrupulous person who might choose to follow Povey's
+example? Or against future assaults of the same kind was it not possible
+to provide themselves with some less cumbrous weapon than they had now
+to their hands?
+
+Whether the Act which subsequently passed conferred upon the
+postmasters-general all the powers they desired may be open to question,
+but there can be no doubt that, after the experience of the past few
+months, the prospect of fresh legislation, if not actually welcome, had
+lost half its terrors. For fresh legislation, however, the time had not
+even yet arrived. It is true that Povey's case, pending the
+consideration of which nothing of course could be done, had been heard
+and determined; but now political difficulties arose. Godolphin, the
+Lord Treasurer, gave way to Harley; and Harley's advent to power was
+followed by a general election. It was not until the beginning of
+November, or three weeks before the Houses met, that a decision was at
+last announced. Subject to the consent of Parliament, the rates of
+postage were to be increased, and a bill to carry out the object was to
+be prepared at once.
+
+The office of Secretary to the Treasury was at this time held by William
+Lowndes, member of Parliament for the borough of Seaford. Lowndes had
+written a silly book on the currency, a book in which he endeavoured to
+prove that an Act of Parliament, by calling a sixpence a shilling, can
+double its purchasing power. He had seriously believed, when the
+postmasters-general recommended that the course of post to Warwick
+should be direct instead of by way of Coventry, that the recommendation
+was due to a bribe. When the postmasters-general were at their wits' end
+to put a stop to the illicit traffic in letters, he had suggested--and
+it was the only consolation which he had had to offer them--that in
+order to defray the expenses of the Civil List every letter passing
+through the post should be charged with an additional rate of 1d. Such
+was the man to whom was now entrusted the oversight of the Post Office
+bill. If confidence in the merits of the measure which the bill was
+designed to promote were any recommendation, a better selection could
+not have been made. Lowndes had long advocated an increase in the rates
+of postage. He had, there can be little doubt, brought Godolphin over to
+his views, and now, under Godolphin's successor, he obtained permission
+to carry them into effect.
+
+At the Post Office, unfortunately, there was at this time no one to
+sound a note of alarm. Cotton was no more. Evelyn, Cotton's successor,
+was new to his duties. Frankland was old and gouty. Between Frankland
+and Lowndes, moreover, relations we suspect were somewhat strained. At
+all events, the fact remains that the postmasters-general, who never
+tired of inculcating as the result of experience that low postage
+attracts correspondence and high postage repels it, received notice of
+the intention to raise the rates without even an attempt to avert the
+mischief.
+
+By the middle of December, or little more than six weeks from the time
+of the Post Office receiving notice to prepare for fresh legislation,
+the bill was in Lowndes's hands. Containing as it did some fifty
+clauses, and dealing with a matter of no little complexity, such
+despatch might do no discredit even to our own days of high pressure. At
+the beginning of the eighteenth century it was out of the common. But
+the explanation is simple. Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, who
+was profoundly dissatisfied with the law as it stood, had for years past
+employed his leisure moments in framing clauses founded upon his
+conception of what the law ought to be, less probably in the hope of
+seeing them passed than with the view of giving relief to his feelings.
+These clauses he now collected, arranged, and added to, producing what
+he conceived to be a model measure. But while the bill had taken only
+six weeks to prepare, nearly double that period was occupied in revising
+it. Whatever may be thought of Lowndes's understanding, there can be no
+question about his industry. Day after day during the next three months
+he devoted to the task he had undertaken every moment he could snatch
+from his numerous other engagements. In conjunction with Swift, who now
+passed most of his time at Whitehall, he went through the bill clause by
+clause, discussing and arguing every point, and not seldom making
+alterations. Swift, as the representative of the Post Office, knew well
+what the Post Office wanted; but Lowndes knew, or thought that he knew,
+better, and in this as in other instances superior authority passed
+current for superior knowledge. It was not, however, to what for
+distinction's sake may be called the Post Office clauses of the bill
+that the chief interest attached. To these Lowndes added others, of
+which one, while dealing with a matter of the most delicate character,
+revealed an intention of which the Post Office had had no previous
+notice. The preparation of this clause severely taxed the abilities of
+its framers.
+
+As the Post Office revenue was at this time vested in the Crown, the
+Crown would, of course, in the absence of express provision to the
+contrary, reap the benefit of any increase which additions to the rates
+of postage might produce. To divert the increase, or part of the
+increase, from the Crown to the public was the object of the clause on
+which Lowndes and Swift were now engaged. This clause having at length
+been settled to their satisfaction, the bill came before Parliament, and
+was with some modifications passed. The new rates as compared with the
+old were as follows:--
+
++------------------+--------------------------+------------------------+
+|                  |            1660.         |           1711.        |
+|FROM LONDON.      +---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+|                  | Single. |Double. |Ounce. |Single. |Double. |Ounce.|
++------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+|80 miles and under|   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |  3d.   |  6d.   | 12d. |
+|Above 80 miles    |   3d.   |  6d.   |  12d. |  4d.   |  8d.   | 16d. |
+|To Edinburgh      |   5d.   | 10d.   |  20d. |  6d.   | 12d.   | 24d. |
+|To Dublin         |   6d.   | 12d.   |  24d. |  6d.   | 12d.   | 24d. |
++------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+
++-----------------------------------+--------------------------+
+|                                   |           1711.          |
+|FROM EDINBURGH, within Scotland.   +---------+--------+-------+
+|                                   | Single. |Double. |Ounce. |
++-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+
+|50 miles and under                 |   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |
+|Above 50 and not exceeding 80 miles|   3d.   |  6d.   | 12d.  |
+|Above 80 miles                     |   4d.   |  8d.   | 16d.  |
+|                                   |         |        |       |
+|    FROM DUBLIN, within Ireland.   |         |        |       |
+|40 miles and under                 |   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |
+|Above 40 miles                     |   4d.   |  8d.   | 16d.  |
++-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+
+
+The old rates during the year ending the 29th of September 1710 had
+produced £111,461, and the new rates were estimated to produce £36,400
+more. Of this increase the whole was to be paid into the Exchequer by
+weekly instalments of £700, so that a fund might be established for the
+purpose of carrying on the war; and of the surplus, if any, over and
+above £147,861, one-third was to be reserved to the disposal of
+Parliament for the use of the public. These provisions were to hold good
+for thirty-two years, after which the old rates were to be reverted to.
+
+We have already seen how difficult the postmasters-general had found it,
+even with the lower rates of postage, to prevent the smuggling of
+letters; and of course, in exact proportion as the rates should be
+increased, the temptation to smuggle would become greater. This
+consequence had been foreseen and provided for. After declaring in the
+preamble that, as a condition of the new rates, provision must be made
+"for preventing the undue collecting and delivering of letters by
+private posts, carriers, higglers, watermen, drivers of stage-coaches,
+and other persons," the bill went on to give to the postmasters-general
+large powers of search. This clause was regarded as of the highest
+importance. Without it, indeed, even Lowndes would hardly have ventured
+to suggest that the rates should be increased. To his dismay, however,
+and, truth compels us to add, to the dismay also of the Post Office, the
+House of Commons, while passing the rates, rejected the searching
+clause. Only the declaration in the preamble remained, an enduring
+monument of a foolish intention.
+
+Another clause must also be regarded as peculiarly Lowndes's own. This
+clause--which, unlike the foregoing, was not rejected--prohibited the
+postmasters-general and all persons serving under them from
+intermeddling in elections. They were forbidden under heavy penalties
+"to persuade any one to give or to dissuade any one from giving his vote
+for the choice" of a member of Parliament. Lowndes can hardly have
+believed it possible thus to padlock men's mouths. It is still more
+difficult to suppose that the clause can have been aimed at Frankland;
+and yet assuredly Frankland was the only person whom it affected.
+Postmasters and others, it may well be believed, continued to talk and
+to argue exactly as they had argued and talked before; but Frankland had
+to give up his seat. At the general election in October he had, there
+can be little doubt, received a hint of what was coming, for after
+sitting for his pocket borough of Thirsk for more than twelve years he
+retired from the representation.
+
+So much of the new Act as originated with the Post Office was mainly
+directed to clearing up doubts, to supplying omissions, and to making
+that legal for which the law had not yet provided. Thus, legal sanction
+was given to the penny post, and competition with it was forbidden under
+severe penalties. Pence upon ship-letters were not only authorised but
+directed to be paid. The rates of postage to America and to the West
+Indies were confirmed; and power was given to impose rates upon letters
+to other places with which communication might be opened. The Act of
+1660 had conferred upon the postmasters-general the exclusive right of
+"receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching, sending post or with
+speed, and delivering of all letters and packets whatsoever"; but it was
+silent on the subject of carrying. This omission the Act of 1711
+supplied. The later Act also imposed restrictions on the common carrier.
+Hitherto it had been left in doubt what letters he might carry. These
+were now defined to be letters which concerned the goods in his waggon
+or cart; and they were to be delivered at the same time as the goods and
+without hire or reward.
+
+It was not enough that the penny post should receive legal sanction. By
+this post, from its first establishment, a single penny had carried only
+within London proper. For delivery in the outskirts--as, for instance,
+at Islington, Lambeth, Newington, and Hackney, all of which were at this
+time separate towns--the Post Office received one penny more. So long,
+therefore, as the charge by the general post for a distance not
+exceeding eighty miles stood at 2d., it was a mere question of
+convenience whether towns in the neighbourhood of London should be
+served by that post or by the penny post. In either case the postage on
+a single letter was the same, namely 2d. But now that the initial charge
+by the general post was raised from 2d. to 3d., it became necessary to
+assign a limit beyond which the penny post should not extend; and this
+limit was fixed at ten miles, measured from the General Post Office in
+Lombard Street.
+
+How little the Post Office had at this time entered into the inner life
+of the people may be judged by the fact that such restriction was
+possible. In 1711 there were towns distant nearly twenty miles from
+London--for instance, Walton-on-Thames, Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, and
+Tilbury in Essex--which had long been served by the penny post; and the
+penny post carried up to one pound of weight for the same charge for
+which the general post carried a single letter. Yet these towns were now
+deprived of the facilities which the penny post afforded without, so
+far as appears, exciting a murmur.[36]
+
+  [36] Even the notice to the public announcing the change was as
+  unapologetic as it well could be:--"These are to give notice that by the
+  Act of Parliament for establishing a General Post Office all letters and
+  packets directed to and sent from places distant ten miles or above from
+  the said office in London, which before the second of this instant June
+  were received and delivered by the officers of the penny post, are now
+  subjected to the same rates of postage as general post letters; and that
+  for the accommodation of the inhabitants of such places their letters
+  will be conveyed with the same regularity and dispatch as formerly,
+  being first taxed with the rates and stamped with the mark of the
+  General Post Office; and that all parcels will likewise be taxed at the
+  rate of 2s. per ounce, as the said Act directs."
+
+Under the new Act the Post Office retained the monopoly of furnishing
+post-horses. It is to be observed, however, that the charge for each
+horse, although remaining the same as before--namely, 3d. a mile, with
+4d. a stage for the guide--was now re-enacted apologetically, as though
+some compunction had begun to be felt at the interference with the
+freedom of contract. The explanation is perhaps to be found in the
+recent introduction of stage-coaches and the low prices at which these
+vehicles carried passengers. "There is of late," writes an author of the
+period, "an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of better
+quality, to travel from London to almost any town of England and to
+almost all the villages near this great city, and that is by
+stage-coaches, wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltered
+from foul weather and foul ways; and this is not only at a low price, as
+about 1s. for every five miles, but with such speed, as that the posts
+in some foreign countries make not more miles in a day."[37] If a mode
+of travelling so luxurious as this appears to have been thought could be
+secured for less than 2-1/2d. a mile, a charge of 3d. a mile for a horse
+besides a guerdon to the guide may well have appeared to require
+justification.
+
+  [37] Chamberlayne's _State of England_, 1710.
+
+It may here be noticed that, although the postmasters-general were under
+obligation to supply horses on demand, and, failing to do so, became
+liable to a penalty, the control which they exercised over the
+travelling post appears to have been of the slightest. It is true that
+they would now and again complain of a postmaster for keeping bad
+horses; but the badness would always be with reference to the horses'
+capacity to carry the mails. Whether they were fit or unfit for the use
+of travellers appears never to have troubled headquarters. Except,
+indeed, for some little exertion of authority on rare occasions and in
+circumstances out of the common,[38] it would almost seem that the
+postmasters-general had ceased to regard the travelling post as a matter
+in which they had any concern. It is not very clear why this should have
+been so. But perhaps the explanation is that in the case of the
+travelling post, unlike that of the letter post, a postmaster's interest
+and duty were identical; if horses were wanted, he was under the
+strongest inducement to supply them; and the danger to be apprehended
+was not that travellers would be neglected, but that they might be
+accommodated at the expense of the mails.
+
+  [38] The following letter affords an instance of the exertion of
+  authority referred to in the text:--
+
+             To the DEPUTIES between LONDON and TINMOUTH.
+
+                                                 GENERAL POST OFFICE,
+                                                     _April 6, 1708_.
+
+  GENTLEMEN--The bearer hereof, Mr. John Farra, being directed by order of
+  the Lord High Treasurer to proceed to Tinmouth on the publick affairs of
+  the Government, I am ordered by the postmasters-general to require you
+  to furnish the said gentleman with a single horse [_i.e._ a horse
+  without a guide] if required through your several stages, he being well
+  acquainted with the roads and coming recommended by such authority,
+  which by their order is signified by, Gentlemen, your most humble
+  servant,
+
+                                                      B. WATERHOUSE,
+                                                        _Secretary_.
+
+
+On one point, no doubt because it involved a question of prerogative
+rather than law, the new Act was silent; and yet it was a point of high
+importance and, as it afterwards became the subject of legal enactment,
+this may be a convenient time to mention it. We refer to the privilege
+conceded to certain persons to send and receive their letters free of
+postage, or, to use the term by which it was commonly known, the
+franking system. The persons who enjoyed this privilege were the Chief
+Officers of State and the members of the two Houses of Parliament. The
+Chief Officers of State, or ministers as they had now begun to be
+called, were entitled to send and receive their letters free at all
+times and without limit in point of weight. The members of the two
+Houses were so entitled only during the session of Parliament and for
+forty days before and after, and in their case the weight was limited to
+two ounces.
+
+The privilege had already been greatly abused. Secretaries of State
+would not scruple to send under their frank the letters of their friends
+and their friends' friends as well as their own. In 1695 Blaithwaite,
+who was then Secretary of War, carried the practice to such an extent as
+to evoke from the postmasters-general a vigorous remonstrance. "We
+cannot deny," they said, "but this has been too much a practice in all
+tymes, and we are sure you will not blame us for wishing itt were
+amended, being soe very prejudicial to His Majestye's revenue under our
+management." The practice extended, and in 1705 a warrant under the
+sign-manual, after enumerating afresh the Officers of State who were
+entitled to frank, expressly charged them not "to cover any man's
+letters whatsoever other than their own," and, as regards any letters
+which might come addressed to their care for private persons, to send
+them to the Post Office to be taxed and delivered.
+
+The abuses identified with the letters of members of Parliament were of
+wider scope. Lavishly as members might use their names as a means of
+franking, the use was not confined to themselves and their friends. On
+the part of the London booksellers and other persons who might hesitate
+to incur the risk of imitating another man's signature it had become a
+common practice to assume the name of some member of Parliament, and
+under that name to have their letters addressed to them at particular
+coffee-houses; and as their correspondents in the country adopted a
+similar device, the letters passing to and fro escaped postage. Cotton
+and Frankland had not been long at the Post Office before this practice
+arrested their attention, and in 1698 the warrant which granted to the
+members of the new Parliament the usual exemption from postage was
+expressly designed to check the abuse. "To prevent abuses," thus the
+warrant ran, "that were formerly practised[39] to the prejudice of our
+revenue by divers persons who, though they were not members, yet
+presumed to indorse the names of members of Parliament on their letters
+and direct their letters to members of Parliament which really did not
+belong to them," our will and pleasure is that members "will constantly
+with their owne hands indorse their names upon their owne letters, and
+not suffer any other letters to pass under their ffrank, cover, or
+direction but such as shall concerne themselves." Successive warrants
+issued between 1698 and 1711 were expressed in the same or nearly the
+same terms, what little variations there were only serving to shew that
+the practice against which the warrants were directed had become more
+general.
+
+  [39] In documents intended for the public eye it was the practice of the
+  postmasters-general--and it was by them that these warrants were
+  prepared--to speak of an existing abuse as an abuse that was past. This
+  was, of course, to avoid giving offence.
+
+But now the postmasters-general could no longer conceal from themselves
+that, unwarrantable as might be the liberties taken with members' names,
+the members themselves were by no means blameless. That they were
+scattering their franks with boundless profusion was beyond doubt; and
+the question which the postmasters-general set themselves to solve was,
+How was this profusion to be checked? As the best expedient they could
+devise, they prepared for the Queen's signature a fresh warrant which,
+as a hint to members for the regulation of their own conduct, referred
+to Her Majesty's condescension in allocating a portion of the Post
+Office revenue towards defraying the expenses of the war. Of previous
+warrants copies had been posted up in the lobby of the House and in the
+Speaker's chamber. Of the present warrant copies were to be distributed
+with the votes so as to secure that every member should have a copy.
+
+The immediate effect of the Act of 1711 was, as might have been
+foreseen, enormously to stimulate clandestine traffic. The Post Office
+could do little to check it. In London officers were appointed whose
+duty it was to frequent the roads leading into the capital and keep a
+watch on all higglers and drivers of coaches who were notoriously
+carrying letters in defiance of the law. In the country the
+postmasters-general could get nothing done. In vain they urged upon the
+Treasury the paramount importance of appointing officers who should
+travel about the country and be authorised to open the mail bags at odd
+times and unexpectedly. By no other means, they declared, was it
+possible to keep any check upon either the London or the country
+letters. The London letters might not be charged correctly by the clerks
+of the roads; and of the country letters, it was perfectly well known,
+only a very small proportion was charged at all. But all to no purpose.
+The officers whom the postmasters-general proposed to appoint were to
+receive for remuneration and travelling expenses together £1 a day, and
+the Treasury declined to sanction the expense.
+
+This, even for the Treasury, has always appeared to us a masterpiece of
+perversity. That large sums were being diverted into the pockets of the
+postmasters had been admitted in the Act itself;[40] nor could it be
+denied that the tendency of the Act was to make these sums larger. And
+yet the abuse was to be allowed to go on unchecked because its
+correction would involve a small outlay. For four years this penny-wise
+and pound-foolish policy continued, and it was not until 1715, as the
+consequence of a strong representation from Frankland and Evelyn's
+successors, that the officers whose appointment these two
+postmasters-general had consistently advocated were added to the
+establishment under the title of surveyors. To surprise the mail bags in
+course of transit and to check their contents--such was the humble
+function originally assigned to officers who have since become as
+indispensable to the Post Office as the mainspring is to a watch or the
+driving wheel to a steam engine.
+
+  [40] "And whereas divers deputy postmasters do collect great quantities
+  of post letters called by or way letters and, by clandestine and private
+  agreements amongst themselves, do convey the same post in their
+  respective mails, or by bags, according to their several directions,
+  without accounting for the same or endorsing the same on their bills, to
+  the great detriment of Her Majesty's revenues."--9 Anne, cap. x. sec.
+  18.
+
+It may here be noticed that the decisions which the postmasters-general
+received were not all of them conceived in the same spirit. So different
+indeed was the treatment of questions relating to home communications
+and communications with foreign parts as almost to suggest that they had
+been referred to different tribunals. Was the packet service which had
+come to an end through Dummer's misfortunes to be re-established or not?
+The cost was far, very far, in excess of the receipts; and yet the
+direction to the Post Office was to consult the West India merchants,
+and to be guided by their wishes. The two packets between Falmouth and
+the Groyne, which had been left running at the close of the war, were
+after a time discontinued. They cost £1600 a year to maintain, and the
+annual receipts from the letters and passengers they carried were less
+than £450. Yet upon a representation from the merchants trading with
+Spain pointing out the inconvenience which the stoppage had caused them,
+the boats were restored at once. But all such questions were decided by
+the Lord Treasurer himself, and his decisions were communicated under
+his own signature, or else under the sign-manual.
+
+Very different was it with questions affecting intercourse within the
+kingdom. These, urgently as the postmasters-general might press them,
+received little or no attention. They would seem indeed to have been
+relegated to subordinates, who having been instructed to keep down
+expense proceeded to obey their orders without discrimination. Whether
+the packet agent at Dover had in his cups refused to drink to the health
+of the ministers, or whether the postmaster of Chester had said that
+Queen Anne, had she pursued the same course as was pursued by Charles
+the First, would have met with the same fate--these were questions of
+vital importance which must be investigated with all convenient speed;
+but when the question was merely one of improving the internal posts of
+the country, it was treated at leisure, and no considerations of public
+convenience, or even of prospective gain, were allowed to weigh against
+the bugbear of present expense. In 1710, for instance, the Lord Provost
+and magistrates of Glasgow had petitioned that the foot-post to
+Edinburgh might be converted into a horse-post. The mail would thus
+arrive sooner and leave later, and, as the petitioners pointed out,
+letters would fall into it which had heretofore been sent by private
+hand. Between a horse-post and a foot-post the difference in point of
+cost was £20 a year; and for the sake of this small sum the Treasury had
+refused the request, just as they now refused to sanction the
+appointment of surveyors, although the postmasters-general clearly
+demonstrated that by no other means could the misappropriation of
+postage be checked, and that within a few months the cost would be
+covered many times over.
+
+But the addition to the establishment of a few appointments more or less
+was not the most serious charge which the Act of 1711 entailed. The Post
+Offices over a great part of England were then in farm. How, within the
+area over which these Post Offices extended, was the State to derive any
+benefit from the higher postage? The postage, whatever it might be, was
+under their leases secured to the farmers; and the farmers were under no
+obligation to pay any higher rent than that for which they had
+stipulated. This difficulty, which had without doubt been overlooked,
+took a most unexpected turn. The farmers had had only a short experience
+of the new rates before they found that these rates, far from bringing
+them a golden harvest, were fast contributing to their ruin; that they
+were in effect prohibitive rates; that the letters passing to and fro
+were getting fewer and fewer; and that the increase of charge by no
+means made up for the decrease in number. In short, the Crown or those
+who represented the Crown had taken for granted that under the new
+rates the returns would be relatively higher than under the old, whereas
+the farmers found to their cost that the returns were actually lower.
+Never, perhaps, has there been a more striking demonstration of the
+unwisdom of high rates of postage. In this dilemma the postmasters-general
+had recourse to an expedient which appears to have been considered
+satisfactory on both sides. They cancelled all the leases, nine
+in number,[41] and under the title of managers, appointed the
+farmers to superintend the Post Offices embraced within the area
+over which their farms extended. The managers who had heretofore been at
+the cost of the postmasters' salaries were to be relieved from this and
+all other payments; and as remuneration for their services they were to
+receive one-tenth part of the net produce derived from the postage.
+
+  [41] The leases of seven out of the nine branches were cancelled in
+  1716; and those of the other two the postmasters-general expressed their
+  intention of cancelling with as little delay as possible. And yet as
+  regards one of the number, viz. the Chichester branch, there is reason
+  to doubt whether it did not survive until the year 1769.
+
+Two questions may here be asked, to neither of which is it easy to give
+even a plausible reply. Of these the first is, How did it happen that
+the postmasters-general, who without authority from Whitehall could not
+even convert a foot-post into a horse-post, were able on their own
+motion to sanction an arrangement, the practical effect of which was to
+add to the establishment not only a large number of small salaries,
+amounting in the aggregate to a formidable total, but also a dead-weight
+annuity of nearly £2000 a year? This is an obscurity which we confess
+ourselves unable to penetrate. We can only record the fact, a fact the
+more surprising because only recently Godolphin had laid it down under
+his own hand that in the Post Office "all extraordinary payments or
+allowances are to be vouched by warrant from Her Majesty or myself, or
+from the Lord High Treasurer or the Commissioners of the Treasury for
+the time being." The second question is hardly less perplexing. How,
+except in name, did managers differ from surveyors, whose appointment
+the postmasters-general were urging, and urging in vain? Or what could
+surveyors have done which it was not equally competent to managers to
+do? This question also we cannot answer. We only know that the very men
+who as farmers had rendered signal service to the Post Office, and
+earned the gratitude of the districts over which their farms extended,
+were found as managers to be of little use, even if they did not league
+themselves with the postmasters to intercept the postage.
+
+Difficulties from an unexpected quarter added to the confusion into
+which, as the result of the Act of 1711, the Post Office was drifting.
+As soon as peace was declared, it became necessary to arrive at an
+agreement with France as to the conditions on which the British mails
+should pass through French territory. M. Pajot was still comptroller of
+the posts in Paris; and he proved to be hardly less untractable than
+before the war. Frankland and Evelyn committed their case to the care of
+Matthew Prior, who was at that time minister plenipotentiary to the
+Court of France. Prior, who had hated his commissionership of customs
+because, as Swift tells us, he was ever dreaming of cockets and dockets
+and other jargon, could hardly be expected to give his mind to anything
+so prosaic as postage and letter bills. The matter, moreover, was one of
+a highly technical character, and, without fuller information than could
+be contained in the most precise instructions, a far abler negotiator
+than Prior could claim to be might easily have found himself
+overmatched. Pajot, presuming on his superior knowledge, put forward the
+most extravagant demands; and it was not until an expert had been sent
+from London, upon whom it would have been useless to attempt to impose,
+that he abated his pretensions. Extravagant demands were now followed by
+frivolous objections, and at the last moment, when the conditions were
+practically settled, he actually refused to proceed further unless "Her
+Britannic Majesty," an expression employed in the Post Office treaty,
+were altered to "The Queen of Great Britain."
+
+Vexatious as these proceedings were, the result was more vexatious
+still. Before the war a lump sum of 36,000 livres a year had been paid
+for the transit of the British mails across French territory. Pajot now
+refused to accept any lump sum at all. He insisted that each letter
+passing through France should be charged for separately, according to
+the French postage; and high as the English postage was, the French
+postage was higher still. In vain the postmasters-general pointed out
+that by virtue of such an arrangement they would on many letters have to
+pay more than Act of Parliament permitted them to receive. Pajot replied
+in effect that this was their affair and not his; and no better terms
+could they get. The treaty was eventually signed, and its onerous
+provisions will best be shewn by an example. On a single letter from
+Italy the postage prescribed by the Act of 1711 was fifteenpence, and on
+a letter weighing one ounce sixty pence. This was all which the Act
+permitted the postmasters-general to collect; and yet, under the terms
+of the treaty, the postage for which they had to account to the French
+Post Office was in the one case twenty-one sous and in the other
+eighty-four.
+
+To this treaty we are indeed indebted for one piece of information. It
+gives us--what is not to be found elsewhere--a definition of the terms
+single and double as applied to letters. It is strange that the Acts of
+1660 and 1711, while imposing distinctive rates on single and double
+letters, nowhere define what single and double letters are. This
+omission the treaty of 1713 supplies. "That piece," the treaty provides,
+"is to be esteemed a single letter which hath no sealed letter inclosed,
+and that to be esteemed a double letter which hath inclosures and is
+under the weight of an ounce." It will be interesting to note how far
+the Post Office adhered to its own definition.
+
+On the accession of George the First, when almost every place of honour
+and profit under the Crown changed hands, the Post Office did not
+escape; and Frankland and Evelyn were succeeded by Cornwallis and
+Craggs. The natural tendency of the provision which had made members of
+the House of Commons ineligible for the office of postmasters-general
+was to throw the office into the hands of peers; and although this
+tendency did not fully develop itself until later in the century, the
+appointment of Lord Cornwallis was a first move in that direction. Peers
+have in our own time been among the ablest of the many able
+administrators who have presided over the Post Office; but at the
+beginning of the eighteenth century the conditions attaching to the
+appointment were in some respects different from what they are to-day.
+The postmasters-general had to write their own letters; their attendance
+was both early and late and during fixed hours; and they were expected
+to reside at the Post Office. Whether from a disinclination to satisfy
+these conditions, or on the score of health, which he was constantly
+pleading, Cornwallis had not been long in Lombard Street before he
+retired into the country, and left the conduct of affairs pretty much to
+his colleague. Craggs--or Craggs senior as he was commonly called, to
+distinguish him from his son, the Secretary of State--was an
+industrious, plain-spoken man; and deeply as he afterwards became
+implicated in the South Sea Scheme, there is no reason to suppose that
+his proceedings as postmaster-general would not bear inspection.
+
+Cornwallis and Craggs had been only a short time at the Post Office
+before they became profoundly impressed with what they found there. The
+managers withholding the postmasters' salaries, the postmasters
+recouping and a good deal more than recouping themselves out of the
+postage, the post-boys--for so they had begun to be called--clandestinely
+carrying letters for what they could get, the inordinate number
+of franked letters--these were among the abuses which arrested
+the new postmaster-generals' attention; but what excited their
+most lively surprise was that there should exist a branch of the King's
+revenue upon the subordinate agents of which there was absolutely no
+check. At length, on a representation from them as to the scandal of
+allowing such a state of things to continue, consent was obtained to the
+appointment of surveyors; and the dismissal of the managers speedily
+followed.
+
+These remedial measures, though good as far as they went, affected only
+the internal administration of the Post Office. Of its troubles from
+without, and how they had been increased by recent legislation,
+Cornwallis and Craggs were no less sensible than their predecessors; but
+here they had no remedy to apply. "The additional penny," they wrote in
+March 1716, within eighteen months of their appointment, "has never
+answered in proportion, and we find by every day's experience that it
+occasions the people to endeavour to find out other conveyances for
+their letters." "The additional tax," they wrote again two years later,
+"has never answered in proportion to the produce of the revenue at the
+time it took place, the people having found private conveyances for
+their letters, which they are daily endeavouring to increase,
+notwithstanding all the endeavours that can be used to prevent them."
+
+As with the clandestine traffic, so with the abuse of the franking
+privilege. In isolated cases, where the abuse was more than usually
+glaring, the postmasters-general would write to the erring member a
+letter of mild expostulation, affecting to believe him more sinned
+against than sinning;[42] but even if this had any effect in the
+particular instance, to stem the torrent was beyond their power. In
+Great Britain alone the postage represented by the franked letters,
+excluding those which were or which purported to be on His Majesty's
+service, amounted in 1716 to what was for that time, relatively to the
+total Post Office revenue, the enormous sum of £17,500 a year. In
+Ireland the members followed the example of their English colleagues, if
+indeed they did not improve upon it. In 1718 the Irish Parliament sat
+for three months, and in 1719 it sat for nine months; and it was only
+during the session, and for forty days before and after, that letters
+could be franked. Cornwallis and Craggs had now been some years at the
+Post Office; and yet, with all their experience of the extent to which
+the abuse of franking was carried, they were startled to see the effect
+which the duration of Parliament had upon the receipts. In 1718 the
+gross revenue of the Irish Post Office--and in the gross revenue was
+reckoned the postage on members' letters, the postage which these
+letters would have paid if they had not been franked--amounted to
+£14,592, and the net revenue to £3066. In 1719, although the gross
+revenue rose to £19,522, an amount higher by £4930 than in the preceding
+year, the net revenue fell from £3066 to £753. Such was the effect upon
+the revenue of a difference of six months in the duration of the two
+Parliaments.
+
+  [42] Here are two letters they wrote:--
+
+                               To Mr. CULVERT.
+
+                                                      _Nov. 1, 1714._
+
+  SIR--As the three inclosed letters are directed to you in several places
+  we have reason to think that some persons have presumed to take the
+  liberty of your name. This practice is so great an abuse upon this
+  office, and so very prejudicial to His Majesty's revenue, that we must
+  desire you'll be pleased to send such letters inclosed that don't belong
+  to you to the office to be charged; and we are very well assured you'll
+  discourage the like practice for the future.
+
+  --We are, sir, your most humble servants,
+
+                                                         T. FRANKLAND
+                                                         J. EVELYN.
+
+                         To Sir RICHARD GROSVENOR, Bart.
+
+                                                    _April 29, 1715._
+
+  SIR--Having observed a letter directed to the Rev. Mr. Harwood at
+  Billingsgate that arrived here yesterday in an Irish mail frank't with
+  your name in Ireland, and knowing that you are in England, we have
+  reason to think that somebody in that kingdom has taken the liberty of
+  signing your name to the prejudice of His Majesty's revenue, which is a
+  practice that we are convinced you will discourage, and it is in order
+  thereunto that you have this trouble from your most humble servants,
+
+                                                          CORNWALLIS.
+                                                          JAMES CRAGGS.
+
+To add to the postmaster-generals' troubles, the merchants of London,
+groaning under the onerous rates of postage, had recourse to an
+expedient in order to evade them. They associated themselves together,
+and all those who had occasion to write to a particular place, though to
+different persons, would write on the same piece of paper and under the
+same cover. The postmasters-general contended that these several
+writings should be charged as separate letters; the merchants contended
+that there was but one letter, and that it should pass for a single rate
+of postage.
+
+Their next step was to dispute the postmaster-generals' reading of the
+statute. Under the law as passed in 1660, and re-enacted in 1711,
+merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, and all bills of
+exchange, invoices, and bills of lading, were "to be allowed without
+rate in the price of letters"; in other words, the weight of these
+documents was not to be reckoned in the weight of a letter for the
+purpose of charging it with postage. This exemption, however, had
+hitherto been allowed only in the case of foreign letters; and the
+postmasters-general held that such was the intention of the statute. The
+merchants retorted that no such intention was expressed, and that to act
+as though it had been brought about this anomaly--that on a letter
+containing any one of the documents in question the charge from
+Constantinople was actually less than from Bristol. Was it possible that
+the Legislature could ever have enacted such an absurdity? It was an old
+contention, as old as the Post Office itself,[43] and the merchants took
+the present opportunity to revive it. On both questions Northey, the
+Attorney-General, advised that the Post Office should adhere to its
+ancient practice as the best expositor of the meaning of the new law;
+but excellent as this advice may have been, its adoption failed to
+satisfy the merchants and it was not until a declaratory Act had been
+passed that they ceased to contest the points.
+
+  [43] A strongly-worded petition on the subject was presented to
+  Parliament only a year or two after the Restoration. This petition,
+  after calling the charge an "abuse and extortion," goes on to say that
+  "it cannot be imagined the Parliament should either so far forget
+  themselves, or the countrey for which they served, or the necessary and
+  convenient correspondence, as well as the trade of His Majesties
+  dominions, as to put them upon worse and harder tearms than foreigners,
+  or foreign trade, to the prejudice of the kingdom...."
+
+Much the same sort of thing occurred a few years later in connection
+with the penny post. From the first establishment of this undertaking
+1d. had carried only within the bills of mortality; for delivery beyond
+those limits had been charged 1d. more. Some persons now refused to pay
+the additional penny, on the ground that it was not prescribed by law.
+This was perfectly true. The penny post owed its legal sanction to the
+Act of 1711; and this Act merely provided that "for the post of all and
+every the letters and packets passing or repassing by the carriage
+called the penny post, established and settled within the cities of
+London and Westminster and borough of Southwark and parts adjacent, and
+to be received and delivered within ten English miles distant from the
+General Letter Office in London [shall be demanded and received the sum
+of] 1d." Again an Act of Parliament had to be passed in order to
+assimilate law and practice. This Act, which was not obtained until
+1730, made legal the twopenny post, just as the penny post was made
+legal by the Act of 1711; although, as a matter of fact, both posts had
+been in existence since April 1680.
+
+In 1721 Lowndes, who was still at the Treasury, called for a return of
+the Post Office income and expenditure. Ten years had now elapsed since
+the imposition of the new rates. Of these ten years eight, as compared
+with the eight which preceded them, had been years of prosperity and
+peace; the population had increased, and the reductions in the packet
+service had effected a saving of many thousand pounds a year. Certainly
+the circumstances had not on the whole been unfavourable for testing the
+results of the new policy. The return was rendered. During the year
+ending the 29th of September the gross Post Office revenue was, in 1721,
+£168,968, and in 1710, £111,461, being an increase of £57,507; in 1721
+the cost of management was £69,184, as against £44,639 in 1710; and the
+net revenue, which in 1710 had been £66,822, was in 1721 £99,784, an
+increase of £32,962. But the case does not end here. Under the terms of
+the Act the sum of £700 a week, or £36,400 a year, was to be allocated
+to a specific object. This sum had been regularly paid into the
+Exchequer, and, after deducting it from the net revenue, there remained
+for the use of the Sovereign a balance of £63,384, or less than in 1710
+by £3438.
+
+While the contingency of a loss to the Civil List had not been either
+foreseen or provided against, elaborate precautions had been taken for
+the disposal of a surplus. If the gross Post Office revenue should
+exceed the sum of £147,861, the excess was to be divided between the
+Sovereign and the public in the proportion of one-third to the public
+and two-thirds to the Sovereign. As a matter of fact, the gross Post
+Office revenue in 1721 had exceeded, and exceeded by a considerable
+amount, the sum of £147,861; and yet there was no excess to divide. The
+plain truth is that, in preparing the Act of 1711, Lowndes had forgotten
+the cost of management. It must have sounded strange in the ears of an
+assistant Chancellor of the Exchequer to be told, as Cornwallis and
+Craggs did not scruple to tell him, that he had confounded gross and net
+revenue, and that by this blunder Parliament had been misled.
+
+The Act of 1711, disastrous as it proved in its effects on the wellbeing
+and morality of the nation, is only one more instance of the mischief
+which may be done with the best intentions; and it was perhaps meet that
+its author should have remained long enough at his post to witness the
+results of his own handiwork.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+RALPH ALLEN
+
+1720-1764
+
+
+There was one who realised not less fully than the postmasters-general
+themselves the difficulties by which they were beset. He knew well, even
+better than they, how letters were being kept out of the post and
+transmitted clandestinely, and how even on letters which fell into the
+post the postage was being intercepted. But while the postmasters-general
+regarded the evil as incurable, he thought that it might at all
+events be mitigated. This was Ralph Allen, the postmaster of
+Bath. Allen's experience in postal matters was probably unrivalled.
+He had, it might almost be said, been cradled and nursed in the Post
+Office. The son of an innkeeper at St. Blaise, he had, at eleven years
+of age, been placed under the care of his grandmother, who, on the post
+road being diverted from South to Mid-Cornwall, was appointed
+postmistress of St. Columb. Here the regularity and neatness with which
+the lad kept the accounts gained for him the approval of the district
+surveyor when on a tour of inspection; and shortly afterwards, probably
+through the surveyor's influence, he obtained a situation in the Post
+Office at Bath. It is said that while in this situation, intelligence
+having reached him that a waggon-load of arms was on its way from the
+West for the use of the disaffected, he placed himself in communication
+with General Wade, who was then quartered at Bath with his troops, and
+that it was by this service that he first brought himself into notice;
+but be that as it may, it is certain that when Quash the old postmaster
+died, Allen was appointed in Quash's room.
+
+In 1719 Allen offered to take in farm the bye and cross-post letters,
+giving as rent half as much again as these letters had ever produced. It
+was a bold offer, and, coming as it did from a young man only twenty-six
+years of age, and presumably without capital, not one to be accepted
+precipitately. Allen proceeded to London and had frequent interviews
+with the postmasters-general. The earnestness of his convictions and the
+modest assurance with which he expressed them invited confidence, and on
+the 12th of April 1720 a contract was signed, the conditions of which
+were to come into operation on the Midsummer Day following.
+
+Much as we desire to avoid the employment of technical terms, it is
+necessary here to explain that letters, exclusive of those passing
+through the penny post, were technically divided into four
+classes--London letters, country letters, bye or way letters, and
+cross-post letters. For purposes of illustration we will take Bath, the
+city in which Allen resided. A letter between Bath and London would be a
+London letter, and a letter from one part of the country to another
+which in course of transit passed through London would be a country
+letter. A bye or way letter would be a letter passing between any two
+towns on the Bath road and stopping short of London--as, for instance,
+between Bath and Hungerford, between Hungerford and Newbury, between
+Newbury and Reading, and so on; while a cross-post letter would be a
+letter crossing from the Bath road to some other--as, for instance, a
+letter between Bath and Oxford. It was only with the last two classes of
+letters that Allen had to do. The London and country letters were
+outside the sphere of his operations.
+
+On the bye and cross-post letters the postage for the year 1719 had
+amounted to £4000. Allen was to give £6000 a year; and in consideration
+of this rent he was for a period of seven years to receive the whole of
+the revenue which these letters should produce. Some letters indeed
+were excepted, namely Scotch letters, Irish letters, packet letters,
+"all Parliament men's letters during the privilege of Parliament," and
+such letters as "usually goe free," that is, letters for the High
+Officers of State or, as we should now say, letters on His Majesty's
+service. No post under Allen's control, whether a new or an old one, was
+to go less than three times a week; and the mails were to be carried at
+a speed of not less than five miles an hour. He was also to keep in
+readiness "a sufficient number of good and able horses with convenient
+furniture," not only for the mails but for expresses and for the use of
+travellers. One condition of the contract may seem a little hard.
+Allen's own officers were to be appointed and their salaries to be fixed
+by the postmasters-general, and to these officers he was to give no
+instructions which had not first been submitted for the
+postmaster-generals' approval.
+
+Allen by his sterling qualities had won the confidence of his
+fellow-townsmen at Bath, and there can be little doubt that they now
+gave him practical proof of the estimation in which he was held. It is
+difficult to understand how else he can have raised the funds necessary
+for the purposes of his undertaking. In the very first quarter, between
+the 24th of June and the 29th of September 1720, he expended in what may
+be called his plant as much as £1500, and made himself responsible for
+salaries to the amount of £3000 a year. But heavy as the expenses were,
+the receipts bore a most gratifying proportion. From the bye and
+cross-post letters the postmasters-general had received, at the highest,
+£4000 a year. Allen in his first quarter received £2946. These
+first-fruits, while viewed by Allen with equanimity, threw the
+postmasters-general into transports of delight, such delight as men feel
+when they find themselves to have been true prophets. "See," they said
+in a letter to the Treasury dated the 10th of November, "how right we
+were. We told you that the greater part of the postage on these letters
+was going into the pockets of the postmasters, and that to accept Mr.
+Allen's proposal was the only way to check the malversation." But the
+promise of the first quarter was not fulfilled. The system of check and
+countercheck on which Allen relied for the success of his plan depended
+largely, as the postmasters were not slow to discover, on their own
+co-operation; and this they refused to give.
+
+Nor can we feel surprise that it should have been so. Of the postmasters
+some received no salary at all, while others received the merest
+pittance. It could not in reason be expected that they would give their
+services gratuitously or, as the postmasters-general were pleased to
+think, in return for the copy of a newspaper once a week. Postmasters,
+like other men, must live, and they no doubt reasoned that, as the State
+did not pay them, they were forced to pay themselves. It must also be
+remembered that the offence of intercepting postage, heinous as it would
+now be considered, may in those days have been regarded in a somewhat
+different light. Some postmasters, as remuneration for their services,
+were authorised to withhold a certain proportion of the postage; and
+numerous were the complaints that in this particular the liberty
+accorded to some was not extended to others. It is probable, therefore,
+that many a postmaster, when accounting for less postage than he had
+actually received, excused himself on the plea that he was only doing
+without authority that for which authority had been given to others, and
+which should not in his judgment have been denied to himself.
+
+But whatever apologies they may have found for their conduct, the fact
+remains that Allen's contract had been only a few months in operation
+before the postmasters resumed their old practices, and, seeing clearly
+enough that his plan when once fairly floated would deprive them of a
+profitable source of income, they not only withheld all co-operation but
+obstructed him by every means in their power. To such an extent indeed
+was this obstruction carried that at the end of three years Allen, far
+from realising the promise of the first quarter, found himself a loser
+to the amount of £270. Although things now began to improve, the
+improvement was slow, and in June 1727, when the contract expired,
+Allen had established his plan completely on only four out of the six
+main roads of the kingdom. On the Yarmouth road he had established it
+only partially, and on the Kent road not at all.
+
+Circumstances so far favoured Allen that the demise of the Crown, which
+must in any case have terminated his contract, took place within a
+fortnight of the date on which the contract would have expired in the
+ordinary course. The period of seven years for which it was made expired
+on the 24th of June 1727, and the King died on the 11th. A renewal of
+the contract could not in justice be refused. Not only had Allen been
+obstructed in the execution of his plan and put to heavy expenses which,
+except for such obstruction, would not have been necessary, but in
+fixing the amount of his rent a mistake had been made to his prejudice.
+He had agreed to pay half as much again as the bye and cross-road
+letters had ever produced, and it is true that the postage represented
+by these letters had amounted to £4000 a year; but it had been
+overlooked that the whole of this amount had not been collected, and
+that for the purpose of fixing the rent the sum of £300 should have been
+deducted on account of letters which could not be delivered, and on
+which, therefore, no postage had been received. Allen, while making no
+claim for the return of the amount overpaid, pleaded the fact of
+overpayment as an additional reason for enlarging his term. The
+postmasters-general were not less solicitous than Allen himself that his
+services should be continued. They had, during the last seven years,
+received on account of bye and cross-post letters £6000 a year, where
+before they had received only £4000, or, allowing for the sum not
+collected, £3700; and during the same period the country letters, far
+from falling off as had been predicted, had improved to the extent of
+£735 a year, a result which was attributed to the vigilance of Allen's
+surveyors. These reasons were regarded as conclusive, and, subject to
+the condition that he should appoint an additional surveyor and lose no
+time in completing his plan, Allen's contract was extended for a further
+period of seven years.
+
+While Allen is perfecting his arrangements, it may not be amiss to
+glance at the condition of affairs as he found them. Houses were still
+unnumbered. On letters even to persons of position the addresses could
+be indicated only by their proximity to some shop or place of public
+resort. "For the R^{t.} Hon^{able.} the Lady Compton next door to Mr.
+Massy's Wachmaker in Charles Street near S^{t.} James's Square, London."
+"To the Right Hon^{ble.} Lady Compton next door to the Dyall in Charles
+Street near S^{t.} James Squir--London." "Pray derickt for me att my
+Lady norrise near the Theater in Oxford."[44] To the Court and the Downs
+the post went every day; but to no town, however large, did it go more
+than thrice a week. Of cross-posts there were only two in the kingdom,
+the post from Exeter to Chester and the post from Bath to Oxford.
+Outside London, Chester was the only town in England which could boast
+of two Post Offices; and these two Post Offices were not for letters in
+the same direction. One was for general post letters, and the other for
+letters by the Exeter cross-road, an arrangement which presupposed a
+knowledge of topography not probably possessed even in the present day.
+The cathedral town of Ripon had no Post Office at all. Not many years
+before, the inhabitants had asked for one and the request had been
+regarded as little less than audacious. "We could not think it
+reasonable," wrote the postmasters-general, "to put Her Majesty to the
+expense of a salary to a Deputy att Ripon." The utmost concession that
+could be obtained was that the letters for that town should be made up
+into a packet by themselves and put into the mouth of the Boroughbridge
+bag, and, on arrival at Boroughbridge, be despatched to Ripon at once by
+a messenger on horseback. This messenger was to deliver them with all
+expedition, and to remain at Ripon for replies, leaving only in time to
+catch the return-mail from the North. Charges on letters over and above
+the legal postage were general. Not a single letter passed between
+Yarmouth and the Great North Road without a charge of 3d. as the
+postmaster's perquisite. At Gosport a perquisite of similar amount was
+claimed on every bye-letter. In the neighbourhood of Chesterfield the
+inhabitants paid for every letter they received in no case less than 2d.
+in addition to the postage, and in some cases as much as 4d.; and so it
+was, with variations as to the amount, in every part of the kingdom.
+Only the wealthy could afford to use the post, and even they, on account
+of the want of facilities, used it sparingly. How far the post was at
+this time removed from being a matter of common concern might, if other
+evidence were wanting, be inferred from one solitary fact. In 1728 a
+book was published,[45] one chapter of which professed to give a
+detailed account of the posts of the period, and assuredly the account
+it gave was detailed enough; but of the posts as we understand them,
+that is to say, as a vehicle for the transmission of letters, there was
+from the beginning to the end of the chapter not a single word. By the
+term posts nothing more was meant than the post for travellers, and, for
+anything that appeared to the contrary, the letter post might have had
+no existence.
+
+  [44] Historical Manuscripts Commission, Appendix to Eleventh Report,
+  Part iv. pp. 233, 234.
+
+  [45] _British Curiosities in Art and Nature, likewise an Account of the
+  Posts, Markets, and Fair-Towns_, 1728.
+
+And perhaps this may be a convenient place to say a few words about
+those who had presided over the Post Office during the first five or six
+years of Allen's connection with it. Edward Carteret and Galfridus
+Walpole, who had succeeded Cornwallis and Craggs in 1721, possessed in a
+high degree the qualities which endear men to their subordinates,--a
+sense of justice, consideration for others, and a rooted dislike to
+high-handed proceedings. In these respects they bore a striking contrast
+to their immediate predecessors. We will give instances.
+
+When Cornwallis and Craggs assumed the direction of the Post Office,
+their first step was to dismiss the secretary, Henry Weston. The
+circumstances were peculiarly hard. Weston's father had been
+receiver-general for the county of Surrey, and in this capacity he had
+contracted a heavy debt to the Crown. It was the son's ambition to pay
+off this debt and to provide a home for his mother and sisters. By force
+of industry and self-denial he had just succeeded in securing both
+objects when a change of postmasters-general resulted in his summary
+dismissal. Weston naturally appealed against so arbitrary an act.
+Cornwallis and Craggs, to whom his antecedents were well known, while
+commending the young man as an object worthy of the royal benevolence,
+resented as unreasonable and little short of impertinent his reluctance
+to give up a situation which they desired for a nominee of their own.
+
+Far different was the treatment accorded by Carteret and Walpole to
+those who were committed to their charge. Mary Lovell had for more than
+thirty years kept the receiving office in St. James's Street. On the
+11th of March 1725 the Earl of Abercorn entered this office, holding in
+his hand a letter addressed to his son at Cambray, and inquired what
+postage had to be paid upon it. The woman replied that there was only
+1d. to pay, this being the charge by the penny post, and that the
+remaining postage of 3s. would be payable on delivery. Abercorn
+questioned the accuracy of this information, and insisted on paying the
+entire sum at once. Lovell, feeling sure that a mistake had been
+committed, and anxious about the consequences, hurried to the Post
+Office, and having there ascertained that she should have received only
+1d., called at Abercorn's residence, and with a humble apology refunded
+the difference.
+
+Nothing more was heard of the matter until the following July, when a
+second very similar mistake appears to have revived the recollection of
+the first. Abercorn, who was then at Tunbridge Wells, took to the Post
+Office there a letter addressed to his son at Luneville and handed it to
+Comer, the postmaster, impressing upon him the importance of its prompt
+despatch, and desiring him to pay whatever postage might be required. It
+should be explained that at that time letters for Germany had to be
+prepaid, or else they were returned to the writers, whereas letters for
+France could not be paid except on delivery. Comer, jumping to the
+conclusion that Luneville was in France, paid no more than the inland
+postage of 6d., the consequence being that three or four days afterwards
+the letter, after being opened in London, was returned as insufficiently
+paid. Abercorn, naturally enough, was very angry, and, as is apt to be
+the case with angry persons, was not altogether reasonable. Luneville,
+without the addition of Lorraine or Germany, was an incomplete address.
+For this he would make no allowance; neither would he admit that it was
+necessary to open the letter in order to return it, and that the
+impression on the seal, a coronet and coat of arms, was not sufficient
+indication of the writer.
+
+All this was natural enough; but it was strange that he should have
+reverted to the earlier of the two mistakes, and directed his resentment
+less against Comer than against Mary Lovell. He now charged her with
+insolence and an attempt at imposition, and declared that nothing would
+satisfy him except her dismissal. In pursuance of this object Abercorn
+proceeded to the Post Office, where he was received by Carteret and
+Walpole. Walpole said little, and what little he said was said
+courteously. Carteret spoke in both their names. He expressed surprise
+that the return of the amount overcharged on the letter to Cambray,
+accompanied as it had been by Lovell's humble apology, had not been
+considered satisfactory, and inquired what further satisfaction could be
+expected. Abercorn replied that he expected her to be turned out of her
+office as a person unfit to retain it. Carteret expostulated. Such a
+step, he said, would not be in accordance with Post Office usage; she
+was a poor and unprotected woman, no previous complaint had been made
+against her during the thirty years she had held the office; he had seen
+her himself, and felt sure that her professions of regret that she had
+given offence to his lordship were sincere. Impatient of what he
+afterwards described as an irksome expostulation, Abercorn rose to
+leave. Carteret and Walpole rose also, and accompanied him to the door.
+"I owe it to the North British peers," said Abercorn, turning on the
+threshold, "to acquaint some of their representatives with the treatment
+that I, their peer, have met with." "And I," haughtily retorted
+Carteret, "should care not if all the sixteen North British representing
+peers were present at this moment."
+
+Allen's plan consisted in a system of vouchers and what he called
+post-bills, by means of which the postmasters might act as a check upon
+each other. The post-bill which accompanied the letters throughout their
+course was designed to distinguish the bye-letters from others, and to
+shew the total amount of postage to be collected; the voucher appears to
+have been nothing more than the acknowledgment which each postmaster
+gave of the amount to be collected by himself; and these two documents
+were sent periodically, once a month or once a quarter, to Allen's
+office in Bath, where they underwent a rigid scrutiny. Simple as this
+check was, it was only by ceaseless vigilance on Allen's part that he
+could get it carried out. To make in the post-bills entries which should
+have been made in the vouchers, to omit to send the vouchers to
+headquarters, to confound the bye-letters with the London and country
+letters--these were only some of the devices to which recourse was had
+in order to defeat the check.
+
+Allen was better qualified probably than any other man living for the
+task he had set himself to perform. Of a temper which nothing could
+ruffle, with ample means at his command, and accountable to no one but
+himself for their disposal, and possessed of an amount of local
+knowledge which even at the present day is perhaps unrivalled, he
+enjoyed a combination of advantages which might have been sought
+elsewhere in vain. His patience indeed was inexhaustible. No subterfuge,
+not even a transparent attempt at imposition, would call forth more than
+a passing rebuke. "'Tis faulty," he would write, "'tis blameable"; and
+then, perhaps, from the following words would peep out, in spite of
+himself, a gleam of merriment at the clumsiness of the contrivance.
+
+To a man of less easy temperament even the conditions under which he
+worked would have been intolerable. Under the terms of his contract
+Allen's surveyors were to be the officers of the postmasters-general,
+and to do as the postmasters-general bid them. This was no mere nominal
+condition. When Allen wanted something done, it may be in the extreme
+north or the extreme west of England, he might find that the surveyor
+whose business it would have been to do it had been summoned to London
+to wait upon the postmasters-general in Lombard Street. Hardly less
+provoking must have been the condition that the surveyors, though
+Allen's servants, were not to receive from him any instructions which
+the postmasters-general had not first approved. Ordinarily Allen was at
+Bath, and it was there that the instructions were prepared; yet they had
+to be sent to London for approval, and were seldom despatched thence to
+their destination until seven or eight days after the dates they bore.
+
+But to any one of less modest and retiring disposition the severest
+trial would have been the manner in which the postmasters-general took
+credit to themselves for improvements which were exclusively his own. It
+was always "our" surveyors who had been instructed to do this, that, and
+the other, without the slightest acknowledgment that the instruction had
+come from Allen, and that it was he who supplied the money to pay and
+the wit to direct them. Only when the cost of some new arrangement had
+to be stated to the Treasury did his name appear, and then it was put
+prominently forward. "Your Lordships," the postmasters-general would
+write, with a confidence which must have possessed all the pleasure of a
+new sensation, "will of course approve our proposals. It is true that
+the cost they involve is considerable, but the whole of this will fall
+upon Mr. Allen, the farmer." But so placid was Allen's temper that these
+petty annoyances, irritating as they might have been to some men, passed
+unheeded.
+
+As a qualification for the task he had undertaken, hardly less important
+than placidity of temper was the possession of ample means and his
+unaccountability to others for their disposal. With no one to please
+but himself, he enjoyed facilities in dealing with postmasters which the
+Post Office, under the most favourable circumstances, could never hope
+to possess. To one he would give what he called a complimentary salary;
+to another he would give, over and above his salary, a certain
+proportion of the postage; and a third would receive a substantial
+increase, not for what he had done or was doing, but for what he might
+do in the future. All, in short, who could control the actions of others
+Allen bound to himself by a community of interest.
+
+But it was the extent of his local knowledge that constituted Allen's
+chief qualification for the task he had set himself to perform. This
+knowledge, acquired probably during the struggle to introduce his plan,
+may appear almost marvellous. There was hardly a town in England, and
+certainly no town of importance, with the trade and manufactures of
+which, and even with the character and disposition of its postmaster, he
+was not acquainted. At the present day it is the district surveyor who
+in Post Office matters affecting the provinces takes the initiative. In
+Allen's time the initiative came from Bath. In a single letter he would
+treat of some thirty or forty towns, and not only prescribe the order in
+which they were to be taken and the roads by which they were to be
+reached, but give the minutest instructions as to what was to be said
+and done on arrival there. In respect to only one town, a town without a
+Post Office, does Allen appear to have been uninformed, and that was
+Stowmarket. "When in that neighbourhood," he wrote to one of his
+surveyors, as though half ashamed of his own ignorance, "go over to
+Stowmarket and ascertain and let me know the distance of that town from
+Ipswich and from Eye, and also the nature and extent of its trade."
+
+Lest we should be thought to exaggerate the difficulties with which
+Allen had to contend, Allen himself shall be our witness. The
+postmasters were strictly enjoined to stamp the bye and cross-post
+letters. This was their first duty, for without stamping no check was
+possible. "I need not tell you," Allen writes to one of his surveyors,
+"the mischief which has already attended the omission of this necessary
+part of their duty, nor the difficulty which I have hitherto met with to
+get this order observed; but when they find that their neglect will for
+the future hurt themselves, this evil will be stopped."
+
+Hardly less difficult did he find it to make the postmasters send in
+their vouchers with even decent regularity. We will give a few instances
+out of many. Of Bodmin and St. Columb he writes, "Both these deputies
+are exceeding backward in transmitting their vouchers. Order them
+strictly to send them hither for the future within a week after every
+quarter." Richmond, Yorkshire, "instead of sending me his vouchers at
+the end of every month sends them considerably over the quarter and then
+in so great disorder as to be of little use to me in fixing my cheque
+account." Gosport, again, "persistently neglects to send his vouchers,
+without which, as you know, it is not in my power to state an exact
+account nor to fix the cheques which are necessary to prevent abuses."
+Grantham is little better, and as for Wolverhampton, Allen writing in
+April says, "He has sent me no vouchers since last Michaelmas, and by
+this obstinacy destroys my cheque and puts my affairs into great
+disorder."
+
+The dead and missent letters were a source of continual trouble. How to
+dispose of dead letters and how to get back into their proper channel
+letters that had been missent were questions which not seldom perplexed
+even Allen himself. But it is not of this particular difficulty that we
+propose now to speak. Our present concern is with these two classes of
+letters only so far as they affected the relations between Allen and the
+postmasters. According to his instructions a postmaster who should find
+himself in possession of a dead or missent letter was to send it to Bath
+in order that allowance might be made for the postage with which,
+otherwise, he would stand charged. Hence arose various attempts at
+imposition, attempts to palm off, as though they were dead or missent,
+letters which were neither the one nor the other. But let Allen again
+speak for himself. "From Lancaster," he writes, "go through Kendal and
+Penrith to Carlisle, where I believe you will meet with a very great
+abuse. 'Tis thus: His dead letters for a good while since much exceed
+what can be rationally accounted for at that stage, and upon enquiry the
+greatest number of those letters appear to be sham letters all written
+by one hand and sent from different parts of the kingdom, which plainly
+shews it to be only a blameable contrivance by some people in that
+office to expect money from me for bits of paper never sent by the post
+but made by themselves. Some instances you will receive with these
+instructions. Be sure to suppress this dangerous abuse. Cause me a
+redress for the injury I have received and leave with Mr. Pattison a
+copy of my letter relating to stamps, which is the only method I can
+think of for an effectual cure of this evil."
+
+The method to which Allen here refers afterwards became a rule of the
+office. It was to the effect that no allowance would be made in respect
+to any dead or missent letters which should not bear on their covers the
+name of the office whence the postmaster by whom the allowance was
+claimed had received them. If at that office they had been stamped, that
+was enough; but if they had been forwarded unstamped--and the stamping
+was as often omitted as not--the postmaster who received the letters was
+to write the name upon them. Allen's first experience of the working of
+this rule was a little singular. Mrs. Wainwright, the old postmistress
+of Ferrybridge, had sent up for allowance a number of unstamped letters
+without shewing whence she had received them. Allen returned the
+letters, explaining that as such information had not been given no
+allowance could be made. If Mrs. Wainwright felt any impatience at what
+she no doubt regarded as new-fangled ways, no evidence of it was allowed
+to appear. She simply sent the letters back with the name of the office
+whence they had reached her neatly written upon each. To Allen's dismay,
+the letters had all been opened and the information obtained from the
+inside.
+
+The new rule, though good as far as it went, proved insufficient to
+check imposition; and Allen felt constrained to add an additional
+safeguard. For the future no postmaster was to have his claim allowed
+unless he should verify it on oath. This obligation brought its own
+troubles. By one the oath was omitted, by another it was objected to on
+conscientious grounds, a third would treat it as of small account, and
+all this meant additional work for Allen. "This officer," he writes of
+the postmaster of Salisbury, "constantly makes large deductions for
+missent letters" and on other grounds "without sending me the
+particulars of his demand or the office oath to the truth of his claim."
+The postmaster of Newark had conscientious scruples and objected to the
+oath in any form. "You have already," writes Allen, "been fully
+acquainted how tender I am in this respect; but if he still refuses to
+claim his demand for allowances by an oath framed in any shape, 'tis
+directly necessary to appoint an officer in that place who will obey
+their Honours' commands, for if his obstinacy should be suffered the
+rest of the kingdom who have readily complyed may raise new objections."
+No such scruples afflicted the postmaster of Stone in Staffordshire.
+Until lately "the errors made to my injury considerably exceeded those
+made to the hurt of that deputy"; but now "the articles to my hurt are
+dwindled to a trifle and the others much augmented, which causes Mr.
+Barbor to make constant and large claims on me for the difference. Only
+lately I received from him a statement of his demands on this head, with
+an oath at the bottom of it that the several articles to his prejudice
+were all true. But if it be the case, as I have always understood, that
+he never concerns himself with the bye-letters but leaves this business
+to his uncle, pray enquire of him how he came to send me such an oath."
+
+The postmasters had been allowed to receive their correspondence free of
+postage; but Allen soon found that the privilege was being abused. The
+covers addressed to them would contain letters not for themselves alone
+but also for their neighbours in trade. Indeed the neighbours' letters
+would predominate, and, ordinarily, the address was a mere subterfuge.
+To check this abuse Allen established a rule that when addressed to
+postmasters none but single letters--letters without enclosures, were to
+pass free, and that all others were to be charged with full postage. The
+postage, however, was to be afterwards remitted in the case of any
+postmaster who should make oath that the letters in respect to which he
+claimed remission were on his private business. Here again Allen's
+belief in the efficacy of an oath was rudely shaken. The number and
+magnitude of the claims made upon him from Lancaster had arrested his
+attention, and he had laid them aside to be examined at leisure.
+Meanwhile the explanation came in a curious manner. He received a
+circular from a man of the name of Bracken asking him to subscribe
+towards the publication of a book relating to the treatment of
+horses.[46] This circular, as announced in the document itself, was
+being issued to all the postmasters in the kingdom; and it was in his
+capacity of postmaster of Bath that Allen received it. It further
+announced that answers should be sent under cover to the postmistress of
+Lancaster, the reason given being that they would thus escape postage.
+
+  [46] The book was afterwards published--_The Gentleman's
+  Pocket-Farrier_, by Doctor Henry Bracken of Lancaster, 1735.
+
+Other malpractices were less easy of detection. All the claims, before
+they were passed, came under Allen's personal inspection; and to
+determine whether these were fraudulent or not needed no special
+aptitude. But whether at some distant part of the country two or more
+postmasters were in collusion, or whether without collusion they were
+bringing to account less postage than they collected, were questions the
+solution of which demanded qualifications of a different order. As the
+result of reflection or observation, or more probably of both combined,
+Allen laid down for his own guidance certain propositions as simple as
+they were no doubt sound. Of these one was that the correspondence
+passing between two given places, far from being liable to violent
+fluctuations, might be relied on to maintain a nearly uniform level. It
+is certain that in our own days, when locomotion is easy and the
+movements of large parts of the population are influenced by the weather
+and other considerations, the principle which this proposition embodies
+would not hold good; but in the earlier half of the eighteenth century
+Allen regarded it, and probably not without reason, as a safe guide.
+When, therefore, the correspondence passing between two places during a
+certain period had once been ascertained, he adopted this as a standard,
+and any variation of the amount immediately excited his suspicions. "At
+Christchurch and Ringwood," he writes, "fully inform yourself why the
+letters which formerly were sent between those places and Salisbury are
+now almost entirely sunk." At York, during the quarter ending Midsummer
+1734, the postage on bye-letters amounted to £165, as against £176
+during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This he affirms
+must proceed, not from "deadness in trade," but from "some mismanagement
+in the office." Between Appleby and Brough the letters passing in
+December were fifteen, whereas in the two preceding months they had been
+only three. "Let me know at once," he writes, "the cause of the
+difference."
+
+Another proposition which Allen established as a rule of conduct was
+that between two trading towns in the same neighbourhood there must
+almost of necessity be correspondence. He noticed with surprise that
+between Stone and Coventry, according to the vouchers sent him, not a
+single letter had passed during a whole quarter. "I will not say it is
+impossible," he writes to the surveyor, "that no letters should during
+this time pass between such trading places, but during your stay at
+Stone I must in a particular manner desire you will examine whether you
+receive none."
+
+A third proposition was that there could not be what, if it be not a
+contradiction in terms, we will call a one-sided correspondence. He
+regarded it as an absolute certainty, amounting almost to an axiom, that
+whatever number of letters a town might receive, it would send the same
+or nearly the same number in reply. If, therefore, as between two towns,
+he found from his vouchers that one was sending to the other more
+letters than the other sent in return, he immediately concluded that
+something was wrong. It is interesting to note how his views on this
+point were confirmed by experience. During the year 1732 the postage on
+letters sent from Nottingham to Newark amounted to £25, whereas on those
+sent from Newark to Nottingham it amounted to only £13. Surely, writes
+Allen, the amounts should be nearly equal. Ascertain whether this comes
+"from faults, errors, or a real deadness in the correspondence," and to
+enable him to do this the surveyor was to take the Newark office under
+his care for a week or a fortnight. Here Allen speaks with confidence
+indeed, and yet as though some doubt might exist; but a few years later
+there is no doubt at all. "In the Chipping Norton vouchers," he writes,
+"another remarkable oddness is that the letters received by that deputy
+appear to be double the number sent from that office, which is not only
+different from any other well-managed office, but 'tis out of all rules
+of proportion with respect to correspondence." And again, "The receipt
+of Chipping Norton's letters are still double the number of what Mr.
+Mackerness in his vouchers enters as sent from his stage. I can't
+conceive how 'tis possible for this difference to arise where an office
+is justly managed. Fully examine into the cause of it."
+
+But there were other irregularities which, as being further removed from
+observation, were still more difficult to check. Between Worcester and
+Bewdley there had been great delay. "The account sent me," writes Allen,
+"is that, tho' both these deputys are paid for riding their whole
+stages, by a private arrangement between themselves they exchange the
+mails at an alehouse on the road, and neither of them will ride beyond
+that place, tho' one of them should happen to arrive there several hours
+before the other can reach it." The postmaster of Lynn, in Norfolk, who
+was paid by Allen to keep a check upon other postmasters in the
+neighbourhood, calls his attention to their remissness in delivering
+letters. Sometimes, he states, they keep letters several days. On this
+account letters that would otherwise go by post are sent by friend or
+carrier. "I am perfectly ashamed," he adds, and when I remonstrate and
+"set forth the complaints of our gentlemen," the postmasters plead that
+they are not paid for delivery, "and therefore think themselves not
+obliged to send out their letters even to persons inhabiting within
+their own towns."
+
+The post-boys were a constant source of trouble. "By the enclosed letter
+from Mr. Floyer of Worcester," Allen writes to his surveyor, "you will
+find that the post-boys on the cross-road convey letters between that
+city and Bristol by exchanging them from one hand to another without
+ever suffering them to be put into the mayl or baggs. Pray thank Mr.
+Floyer for his letter, diligently search the boys, and make whatever
+other inspection you find to be necessary. Mr. Lumley by the last post
+writ me that at Exeter he had made another new and great discovery of
+this kind, having found nineteen letters on the Oakhampton rider." "At
+Plymouth," he writes on another occasion, "formerly there was a
+particular house where the post-boys frequently met to exchange their
+letters, which they collected throughout the country from Exon to Truro.
+Inquire if this is still going on, and, if so, endeavour to detect
+them." On the cross-road between Bristol and Tiverton "several of the
+letters have been actually taken out of the baggs and delivered in some
+of the trading towns by the post-boys instead of the proper officers.
+This could not be if, according to instructions, these bags were always
+chained and sealed." At Wells, in Somersetshire, the postmaster has
+deprived the Bristol riding-boys of their perquisite of 1d. a letter
+"for dropping of letters" at the towns and villages through which they
+pass; and as to his own boys, he allows them no wages. This "must drive
+those unhappy boys to almost a necessity to rob the mails for their
+subsistence." "Then proceed to Rawcliff, in Yorkshire, where Mr.
+Carrack, the deputy of that place, will tell you that the riders of the
+branch between Doncaster and Hull embezzle great numbers of the
+bye-letters. Take his assistance to detect and then punish those
+fellows."
+
+Heretofore we have spoken only of the difficulties with which Allen had
+to contend in dealing with persons more or less under his own control.
+But he had troubles from without as well as within. "Everywhere," he
+writes, "endeavour to inform yourself of and suppress all illegal
+conveyance of letters." "At Birmingham," he writes again, "endeavour to
+detect the carriers who, I am told, in the most open manner convey
+letters from that place to all the trading towns in that country." "Use
+your utmost vigilance to suppress the illegal collection of letters
+which, I am informed, is now carried on by one Twopotts and other
+persons, to the injury of the revenue, between Derby and Nottingham."
+Between Cowes and Southampton the illegal conveyance of letters "is now
+such a custom that we have seldom any go in the bag." "At every stage
+which you pass through cause to be fixed to the most public places some
+of the printed advertizements against the carriers and wherrymen, and
+take every other reasonable methode to surprize all private, illegal,
+conveyances of letters, and always have a particular regard of the
+followers employed in the dispersing of news from the country presses."
+This last injunction is best explained by another given a year or two
+later. A printer at Northampton was employing a large number of persons
+ostensibly to disperse newspapers, but really, as Allen affirmed, to
+collect letters. These persons, he wrote, no longer confine their
+operations to short distances, but "by meeting at the extremity of their
+divisions the servants of other printers exchange their letters." "Pray,
+therefore," he adds, "wherever country presses are erected, do your best
+to suppress this evil."
+
+Allen when dealing with the posts displayed a degree of self-reliance
+which was hardly to be expected from one of his modest and retiring
+disposition. We will give an instance, and with the less hesitation
+because it will serve to shew his general way of transacting business.
+In 1736 the Duke of Devonshire, who had been spending the summer at
+Chatsworth, was much struck with the length of time which letters took
+to pass between Chesterfield and Manchester, and he begged the
+postmasters-general to apply a remedy. These two towns are about
+forty-six miles apart, and in 1736 there was no post between them. Not
+very long before, indeed, letters from one to the other would have had
+to pass through London, and even now they were taking a circuitous
+course by Ferribridge, Doncaster, and Rotherham. The Duke's application
+was referred to Allen; and Allen, without waiting to consult the local
+surveyor, proceeded at once to give his instructions. Between Manchester
+and Chesterfield there should certainly be a post; but this would not be
+enough. Derby must also share the benefit; and this could not be
+compassed without erecting a stage between that town and Nottingham,
+Nottingham being already in direct communication with Chesterfield.
+Lincolnshire must also be considered. True, there was a post from
+Nottingham to Newark; but between Newark and Lincoln, though only about
+seventeen miles apart, there was no communication except through
+Grantham, nor between Newark and Horncastle and Boston except through
+Stilton. The letters, moreover, on reaching the Great North Road had to
+await the arrival of the London mail. Not only did Allen determine that
+all this must be altered, but he sketched out the particular alterations
+that were to be made, and merely referred to the district surveyor with
+a view to ascertain what their effect upon the correspondence was likely
+to be.
+
+The particulars which this officer furnished were curious. At
+Chesterfield, he reported, not a letter was delivered except on payment
+of a fee of 2d. or 3d., and sometimes even of 4d., over and above the
+postage. On each letter sent to the post it was the custom to pay 1d.
+The entire district, including not Chesterfield alone, but Sheffield,
+Nottingham, and Mansfield, was doing a very considerable trade in
+Manchester wares; but the letters which passed between these towns and
+Manchester were chiefly sent with the goods by carrier. Of post letters
+there were few, the postage for a whole year amounting to only £23. The
+correspondence might possibly increase by as much as one-third or
+£7:13:4 a year, if a post were put on between Manchester and
+Chesterfield; but this was doubtful, and the annual cost, owing partly
+to the badness of the road, would be £80. Between Derby and Nottingham a
+new stage could not be erected for less than £26. Nor could the
+Lincolnshire posts be improved as desired for less than £102, making
+altogether an increased annual charge of £208; and there was no
+probability of this increase of cost being covered, or nearly covered,
+by increase of correspondence. Allen was not to be deterred by any such
+consideration. The whole of the alterations were carried into effect;
+the postmasters-general received from the Duke a warm expression of
+thanks for their admirable arrangements; and Allen, who had devised
+them, and at whose expense they were made, did not so much as appear in
+the transaction.
+
+In striking contrast with Allen's proceedings were those of the Post
+Office in the few instances in which it acted independently. Allen's
+energy, far from communicating itself to Lombard Street, appears to have
+extinguished what little energy had existed there before. Why should the
+postmasters-general exert themselves to do that which was done better
+and without expense to the Crown by another? And yet there were some,
+though rare, occasions on which independent action was called for. One
+such occasion presented itself in 1733, and it serves to shew how
+wanting the Post Office was in the local knowledge which Allen possessed
+in so remarkable a degree. Application had been made for a post to
+Aylsham in Norfolk. Among those who had lent their influence in support
+of the application was Lord Lovell, who had just been appointed
+postmaster-general in conjunction with Carteret, but who had not yet
+entered upon his duties; and Carteret, to oblige his new colleague, sent
+an officer specially from London with a view to facilitate arrangements.
+This officer, John Day by name, was furnished with written
+instructions. He was to proceed to Norwich, and there ascertain certain
+facts, any one of which could have been supplied by Allen at Bath
+without rising from his chair in Lilliput Alley. These were--how far
+Aylsham was from Norwich; whether the road between the two towns was a
+good or a bad one; whether under existing arrangements Aylsham ever
+received any letters, and, if so, how and whence; and particularly--an
+instruction which could hardly have been given except under the belief
+that Aylsham was south and not north of Norwich--whether the setting up
+of a post between the two towns would be a "hindrance to the grand mail
+betwixt Norwich and London." Day, having described the position of
+Aylsham, appears to have considered it unnecessary to give this last
+piece of information; but he told as news, which perhaps it was, that
+the London mail left Norwich on Mondays and Wednesdays at midnight, and
+on Saturdays at four in the afternoon.
+
+Even where local knowledge was not wanting, the lack of funds which they
+could dispense at discretion placed the postmasters-general as compared
+with Allen at a serious disadvantage. We have seen how Allen dealt with
+the application from Chatsworth. Not many years later it devolved upon
+the postmasters-general to deal with a somewhat similar one from
+Kimbolton; and it is interesting to note the difference of procedure.
+From Kimbolton and St. Neots the course of post had been through
+Biggleswade and Hitchin, and in 1758 the inhabitants of the counties of
+Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire petitioned that it should be through
+Caxton. The effect of the alteration would be that letters for the two
+first-mentioned towns coming from the north or from Norfolk and Suffolk
+would, regularly three times a week, be brought to the towns themselves,
+and not, as had hitherto been the case, be left at Huntingdon, to be
+forwarded thence as opportunity offered by carriers and market people.
+St. Neots had a further interest in the matter. A considerable
+corn-market was held there on Thursdays; and the dealers complained
+that, leaving as the post did at twelve mid-day, they had no time to
+write their letters, whereas, by way of Caxton, it need not leave until
+five in the afternoon. On the score of convenience the change had
+everything to recommend it; but there was one drawback. To carry it into
+effect would involve a cost of £25; and this, the postmasters-general
+expressed their apprehension, the Treasury would not feel justified in
+incurring, as the increase of expense might be only partially covered by
+the increase of correspondence. Whether the Treasury consent was given
+or withheld we know not; but the mere fact that such an apprehension
+should have been expressed, and that the convenience of towns and
+extensive districts should have been made to depend upon the paltry
+consideration of a few pounds, goes far to shew that the Post Office,
+without the aid of private enterprise, would have made but little
+progress.
+
+Allen's contract expired every seven years. In order to obtain a renewal
+of it he did not, according to a practice not uncommon with reformers,
+stoop to the pretence that he was on the point of introducing some
+important measure, which would be lost to the country unless his
+services were retained. On the contrary, he treated it as a pure
+business matter, and each time offered higher terms. Thus, in 1741,
+which was the first year of a new septennial period, he guaranteed the
+country letters to produce £17,500; in 1748 he guaranteed them to
+produce £18,000; and in 1755, £18,500. This being the class of letters of
+which it had been and continued to be predicted that with the extension
+of cross-posts the number must diminish, the postmasters-general
+regarded the advance as not unhandsome.
+
+But, in consideration of his contract being renewed, there was another
+and far more important condition, which Allen undertook to perform. This
+was to convert tri-weekly posts into posts six days a week, and to take
+the whole expense upon himself. Accordingly, in 1741, the post began to
+run every day of the week except Sunday between London and Bristol,
+between London and Norwich, and between London and Yarmouth; and of
+course all the intervening towns participated in the benefit. In 1748 a
+further instalment followed. This time it was the Midlands and the west
+of England that were to be benefited; and on and after Monday the 26th
+of December the post went on the three days on which it had not gone
+hitherto to Birmingham, through Oxford, and to Exeter through Bristol.
+In 1755, the beginning of another septennial period, the six-day service
+was widely extended. Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham, Shrewsbury and
+Chester, Warrington, Liverpool, and Manchester were among the towns
+which were now to receive letters from London on every day of the week
+except Sunday. From Liverpool and Manchester the cross-post service to
+almost every part of the kingdom was at the same time improved. At the
+close of the nineteenth century, postridden as some of us think
+ourselves to be, we may find it sometimes difficult to believe that less
+than 150 years ago there was not a town in the kingdom which received a
+post from London on more than alternate days.
+
+And yet Allen's activity, untiring as it was, went only a short way to
+regain for the Post Office the popularity it had lost. Various causes
+had contributed to this result. The chief of them, however, as it was
+the earliest in point of time, was of itself enough and more than enough
+to account for the distrust and hostility with which the Post Office
+appears to have been regarded towards the middle of the last century. As
+early as 1735 members of Parliament had begun to complain that their
+letters bore evident signs of having been opened at the Post Office,
+alleging that such opening had been frequent and was become matter of
+common notoriety; but it was not until six years later, in the course of
+inquiries which were being made into the conduct of Sir Robert Walpole
+during the last ten years of his administration, that the state of the
+case became fully known. It then transpired that in the Post Office
+there was a private office, an office independent of the
+postmasters-general and under the immediate direction of the Secretary
+of State, which was expressly maintained for the purpose of opening and
+inspecting letters. It was pretended, indeed, that these operations were
+confined to foreign letters, but, as a matter of fact, there was no
+such restriction. The office appears to have been established in 1718,
+and its cost, which was defrayed out of the secret service money, had
+since increased more than tenfold, and now reached the prodigious sum of
+£4700 a year. The establishment, exclusive of a door-keeper, consisted
+of nine persons, with salaries ranging from £200 to £1000; the head of
+the office or "Chief Decypherer," as he was called, being Dr. Willes,
+Dean of Lincoln. It was in June 1742 that these shameful facts became
+known, through the report of a committee of the House of Commons; and,
+in the August following, Willes was gazetted Bishop of St. Davids.
+
+To ourselves it may seem strange that the State monopoly of letters
+should have survived so terrible a revelation. It must be remembered,
+however, that in the middle of the last century the Post Office, owing
+mainly to the heavy charges it levied, had hardly become matter of
+general concern; that public opinion, as we now understand it, was only
+beginning to exist; and, above all, that the very conditions under which
+Post Office work was done precluded the idea of privacy. These
+conditions were absolutely inconsistent with the sanctity which now
+surrounds a letter. Letters were divided into two classes,--single and
+double; and to determine whether a letter was the one or the other
+demanded a close scrutiny, a scrutiny such as could not be exercised
+except by the strongest light that candles could give. In 1719 it had
+been laid down that a letter, however small, was to be charged as a
+double one if two or more persons joined in writing it. How could it be
+ascertained that the whole of a letter was in one and the same
+handwriting except by prying? Even the law itself, by the meagre
+protection it vouchsafed to letters, discouraged the idea of sanctity.
+For an offence of the pettiest kind, as for instance for stealing a
+pocket-handkerchief in a dwelling-house, the penalty was death. For
+opening or embezzling a letter the highest penalty which the law allowed
+was a fine of £20. It is significant of the change which has since taken
+place in the public sentiment that while in the case of almost every
+other description of offence the penalty has been enormously reduced, in
+the case of opening and embezzling letters it has been enormously
+increased.
+
+Horace Walpole, writing more than twenty-five years later, never tired
+of mentioning the elaborate precautions he had taken to secure his
+correspondence against inspection. "I shall send this letter by the
+coach," he says, "as it is rather free-spoken and Sandwich[47] may be
+prying." "I always say less than I could, because I consider how many
+post-house ordeals a letter must pass"; and similar observations occur
+in a hundred different places. All this was sheer nonsense. It tickled
+the exquisite vanity of the man to affect to believe that his
+correspondence was of sufficient importance to attract the attention of
+the State. And yet truth compels us to admit that the infamous practice
+which the committee exposed did not cease with the exposure. The
+Treasury, while grudging every 6d. expended on the posts, continued
+regularly to remit more than £4000 a year for the maintenance of their
+inquisitors in Lombard Street; and it was not until George the Third had
+sat some years on the throne, probably under the Rockingham
+administration, that the corps was finally disbanded.
+
+  [47] Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general in 1768.
+
+Apart from the grave cause of offence we have mentioned, it is a curious
+fact that during the last eighteen or twenty years of George the
+Second's reign hardly anything occurred in which the Post Office was
+concerned that did not in one way or another cause dissatisfaction to
+some section of the community. The Post Office, no doubt, was often to
+blame, sometimes deeply so; but even where this was not the case, where
+no blame attached either to itself or to any other office or person, it
+in no single instance, so far as we are aware, escaped a certain amount
+of obloquy.
+
+This unfortunate result first shews itself in the case of the Falmouth
+and Lisbon packets. During the war with Spain it had only been
+necessary, as a defence against some Spanish privateers which infested
+the Channel, to provide the Dover and Harwich packets with arms and to
+make a small addition to their complement of men; but in 1744, when
+Spain was joined by France, a good deal more had to be done. The Dover
+and Calais packets, after the six months' grace allowed by the treaty of
+Utrecht, were taken off; the packets to the West Indies which had been
+discontinued since 1711 were revived; and the Falmouth and Lisbon
+packets were put on the same footing as during the last war. This the
+merchants trading with Portugal, an important body representing
+forty-eight firms, protested was not enough. The packets, they argued,
+afforded the only available means for remitting gold to Lisbon in
+exchange for commodities, and should, therefore, be of at least 300 tons
+and carry 100 men. It was true that this would be in excess by about
+seventy tons and forty men of what was provided during the last war; but
+the fact that during the last war some of the packets fell into the
+hands of privateers was of itself a proof that they were not of force
+and burthen sufficient. Besides, we had then an army in Spain, and the
+number of soldiers and passengers passing to and fro made fewer sailors
+necessary. Moved by these arguments, the Duke of Newcastle decided to
+comply with the merchants' request; but Pelham, on learning that the
+building and equipment alone would cost £34,800, revoked the Duke's
+decision. His Majesty's opinion he declared to be that the main object
+of a packet was to carry letters, and that for the carriage of letters
+light and swift vessels were the fittest. This, it will be remembered,
+was the opinion which had been expressed by William the Third more than
+fifty years before, and events had proved its soundness. Nevertheless,
+the merchants were highly displeased; and, of course, at that time they
+were no more able than they are now to distinguish between a refusal
+which originated with the Post Office and one that was imposed upon it
+by superior authority.
+
+But the merchants--and here we speak not of those alone who traded with
+Portugal--had other and more serious cause of complaint. Their foreign
+letters were not delivered until twelve o'clock in the day, and, if a
+mail arrived by as much as a few minutes after twelve, it was not at the
+earliest delivered until the same hour on the following day. And if on
+this day a second mail chanced to arrive shortly before noon, the
+letters by the first mail were kept back so as to be delivered with
+those of the second in the evening. Thus, foreign letters received at
+the Post Office in Lombard Street a few minutes after mid-day on
+Saturday might not be delivered even in Lombard Street itself until the
+evening of Monday. To make matters worse, the foreign ministers residing
+in London had their letters delivered soon after the mail arrived, so
+that any persons whom these ministers might please to favour enjoyed an
+undue advantage.
+
+The merchants now urged that this might be altered. Did not Sir Harry
+Furness, they asked, during the last war obtain permission to have his
+letters delivered immediately after the arrival of a mail? And was not
+this permission afterwards revoked on the ground that it had led to
+abuse? Matters were better managed abroad. At Amsterdam, for instance,
+if a mail arrived as late as nine o'clock in the evening, the letters
+were delivered to those who might call for them at any time before
+midnight, or else sent out for delivery early the next morning. At
+Rotterdam--this also was urged as an instance of better management--the
+English letters were never delivered till twelve hours after the mail
+had arrived, about which time those which had come by the same mail
+would be in course of delivery at Amsterdam. Equality of treatment was
+thus secured, and neither city had priority of intelligence. At Hamburg,
+again, as soon as a mail arrived--if in the day, a notice to that effect
+was fixed up at the Post Office and at the Exchange, the letters being
+delivered about three hours later; and if at night, the clerks were
+called out of bed, so that the letters might be sorted and ready for
+delivery the first thing in the morning. Sundays, moreover, were not
+excepted. As regards foreign gazettes, too, these all over Europe were
+delivered within a quarter of an hour after their arrival; yet in
+London the merchants had to wait for them many hours. And this was all
+the more hard to bear because the clerks in the Post Office, to whom
+gazettes were addressed, received them at once and communicated the
+contents to their friends. What could be more calculated to promote
+fraudulent insurance, one-sided bargains, and a system of overreaching
+generally? Such was the representation made by the merchants; and they
+concluded by asking that henceforth, except on Sundays, no longer
+interval should be allowed to elapse between the arrival and delivery of
+a foreign mail than was absolutely necessary for the purpose of sorting.
+The postmasters-general had no choice but to refuse the request. To have
+granted it would have defeated the object with which the Treasury were
+maintaining an office of their own within the Post Office building.
+
+About this time, three or four years short of the middle of the century,
+the Post Office got into disgrace with travellers. Under the provisions
+of the numerous Turnpike Acts which had recently passed, the trustees of
+the roads were to measure distances and to erect milestones; and on
+these provisions being carried into effect the statute mile proved to be
+shorter, much shorter, than the reputed or Post Office mile.[48] So
+great indeed was the difference that the Post Office may be said to have
+been almost ridiculously out of its reckoning. Thus, from London to
+Berwick-upon-Tweed the distance, according to Post Office computation,
+was 262 miles; according to measurement, it proved to be 339 miles. To
+Holyhead the actual distance proved to be 269 miles; the Post Office had
+computed it at 208 miles. To Manchester the distance, according to the
+Post Office, was 137 miles; the actual distance was 165. Bristol, which
+proved to be 115 miles from London, had been reckoned as 94; Birmingham
+as 89 instead of 116; Warwick as 67 instead of 84; and so it had been
+throughout the kingdom. In every case the Post Office mile proved to be
+an unduly long one; and of course, as soon as milestones were erected
+authoritatively recording the statute miles, the postmasters charged
+accordingly. This change excited many murmurs. The traveller to Warwick
+who, at the rate of 3d. a mile, exclusive of a guide, had hitherto paid
+for the use of a horse 16s. 9d., had now to pay 21s. To Birmingham he
+had now to pay 29s. instead of 22s. 3d.; to Bristol, 28s. 9d. instead of
+23s. 6d.; and so on.
+
+  [48] This, although unknown probably to the postmasters until now, was
+  no new discovery. As far back as 1674 John Ogilby had called attention
+  to the erroneous reckonings in vogue. Ogilby had been commissioned by
+  Charles the Second to survey and measure the principal roads of England,
+  and having performed his task he published the result of his labours in
+  a large folio volume. In the preface to an abridgment of this work,
+  published in 1711, he thus wrote: "The distances are all along reckoned
+  in measur'd miles and furlongs, beginning from the Standard in Cornhil,
+  so that the reader must not be surprized when he finds the number of
+  miles set down here exceed the common computation. For example, from
+  London to York are computed but 150 miles, whereas by measure the
+  distance is 192 miles. And computation being very uncertain, it must be
+  granted that no exactness could be observed but [by] adhering constantly
+  to the standard-mile of 1760 yards, which contains eight furlongs."
+
+The King's messengers fought hardest against the innovation, but without
+success. Finding the expense of their journeys to Berwick and Holyhead
+appreciably increased, they appealed to the Treasury for redress, and
+the Treasury invited the postmasters-general to explain under what
+authority they had raised their charges. The postmasters-general
+replied, as they had replied scores of times before on occasions of
+complaint from the public, that they had really nothing to do with the
+matter; that it was the postmasters who made the charges; and that in
+the opinion of the Attorney-General these officers were clearly entitled
+to be paid according to the new measurements. It had been expressly
+provided by Act of Parliament that all persons riding post should pay
+after the rate of 3d. for every British mile, and the British mile was a
+known statute measure common to all His Majesty's dominions. The
+Treasury were not satisfied, and insisted that the King's messengers
+should be charged according to the old scale. But this, as the
+postmasters-general pointed out, was not feasible, the Act of Parliament
+by which they were governed making no exception in favour of particular
+persons, but on the contrary enacting that all persons without
+distinction should pay at the rate of 3d. a mile.
+
+At the headquarters in Lombard Street it was long feared that, on
+finding that the reputed mile exceeded the statute mile, those
+postmasters whose remuneration had been fixed according to the distance
+over which they carried the mails would claim an increased mileage
+allowance; but this, to their credit be it said, they never did. Such
+forbearance, however, had one ill effect. It tended to perpetuate error.
+For many years afterwards two sets of distances remained in vogue, the
+one right and the other wrong; the new set applicable to travellers, and
+the old set to mails and to expresses sent on the service of the
+State.[49]
+
+  [49] This explains why in the Road Books of the time the distance
+  between two places is stated differently in two parallel columns under
+  the initials C and M, the one being the computed and the other the
+  measured distance.
+
+The feeling against the Post Office, which had long been gathering
+force, now displayed itself in a remarkable manner. It had been the
+constant and uniform practice ever since the Post Office was established
+to charge letters containing patterns or samples with double postage. To
+this the merchants now demurred. They did not deny that such letters if
+weighing as much as an ounce should be charged as for an ounce weight;
+but they contended that if weighing less than an ounce they should be
+charged as single and not double letters. This contention was founded on
+the wording of the Act of Anne, which, after prescribing the postage
+which "every single letter or piece of paper" not being of the weight of
+one ounce was to pay, enacted that "a double letter" should pay twice
+that amount. Was a letter to be charged double because it had in it any
+enclosure--a sample of grain, for instance, or a pattern of cloth or of
+silk? or to constitute a double letter must not the enclosure be of
+paper?
+
+This question the merchants now resolved to try; and accordingly at
+Bristol, at Manchester, and at Cirencester proceedings were commenced
+against the local postmasters for demanding and receiving more than the
+legal postage. It affords striking evidence of the widespread
+dissatisfaction then existing that in 1753 a practice as old as the Post
+Office itself should have been challenged for the first time, still more
+that it should have been challenged at three separate places, distant
+from one another, simultaneously. The action against the postmaster of
+Cirencester came on first. It was tried at the Gloucester Assizes before
+a special jury, when a special verdict was found upon the words of the
+statute, whether a letter containing a pattern or sample and not being
+of the weight of one ounce ought to pay double or single postage. The
+postmasters-general, anxious to avoid a multiplicity of suits, now
+opened communications with the merchants of Bristol and Manchester.
+Would it not be well that their suits should be abandoned? One special
+verdict would serve as well as a hundred such verdicts would do to
+settle the point of law between the Crown and the subject. Having
+succeeded in one county, what more could they expect in another? Or what
+advantage would follow that had not been already secured? These
+overtures came too late. The merchants were determined to fight to the
+bitter end. The suits came on both at Bristol and at Manchester; and at
+each of those places a special verdict was given in almost identical
+terms with that which had been returned at Gloucester.
+
+Meanwhile the attorneys both in London and the country had passed
+resolutions to the effect that, if the point of law were decided in the
+merchants' favour, they would refuse to pay double postage on letters
+containing writs. The postmasters-general became alarmed. Single instead
+of double postage on letters containing writs as well as patterns and
+samples meant, according to the most moderate computation, a reduction
+of the Post Office revenue by £10,000 or £12,000 a year. This was a
+serious reduction, and how to prevent it was the question to which the
+postmasters-general now addressed themselves. It is characteristic of
+the time that the first expedient they devised with this object was
+simply to refuse to carry any more letters containing patterns and
+samples unless the senders of them should agree beforehand to pay double
+postage. They argued that, in view of the importance to the merchant to
+have his letters carried, any unwillingness on his part to enter into
+such an agreement would be easily overcome. A notice to give effect to
+their intention was already prepared; but before issuing it they took
+the precaution to consult the Attorney-General. His advice to them was
+that, admirable as the expedient might be, it was distinctly illegal.
+Should they, then, bring one of the special verdicts on to be argued in
+Westminster Hall and abide by the judicial decision? To this the
+Attorney-General could raise no objection, but he warned them that the
+decision was pretty sure to be against the Crown. Driven thus into a
+corner, the postmasters-general adopted a most questionable course. They
+advocated the passing of an Act which should declare a letter containing
+any enclosure, even though not of paper and not weighing as much as an
+ounce, to be a double letter; and this advice was followed. In a bill
+then before Parliament, having for its object to prevent the fraudulent
+removal of tobacco, a clause was inserted which effectually prevented
+the merchants from sending their patterns or samples and the lawyers
+their writs for single postage.[50]
+
+  [50] 26 Geo. II. cap. xiii. sec. 7.
+
+It would be difficult to conceive a more irritating course. No doubt
+there was precedent for it. Early in the reign of George the First an
+Act had been passed enacting that bills of exchange written on the same
+piece of paper as a letter, and also letters written on the same piece
+of paper and addressed to different persons, should be charged as
+distinct letters: and, possibly enough, it might have been difficult to
+explain why a bill of exchange should pay double postage and not a
+pattern or a writ. It is also true that the fact of three several judges
+and three several juries in distant parts of the kingdom having been
+unable to agree as to the intent and meaning of a statute implied a
+real doubt. And yet it can hardly be denied that to solve that doubt by
+the brute force of an Act of Parliament, instead of bringing one of the
+special verdicts before the Courts to be argued, was a most provoking
+step. Nor would it have been calculated to appease the merchants if they
+had known, as the postmasters-general knew, that the entire rates of
+postage, as they then existed, rested on no legal sanction. The existing
+rates were imposed by the Act of Anne; and that Act imposed them for a
+period of thirty-two years, a period which had now expired, and after
+which it was expressly provided that the former and lower rates were to
+revive. It is true that early in the reign of George the First a further
+Act had passed, making perpetual the Post Office contribution of £700 a
+week to the Exchequer; but by a clumsiness of legislation, which is not
+unknown even in our own day, the latter Act, while making perpetual both
+the contribution and the power to levy it, had omitted to re-enact the
+rates out of which the contribution was to be paid. Virtually,
+therefore, these rates had lapsed through effluxion of time.
+
+And what during the last forty or fifty years had the Post Office
+done--done, that is, independently of Allen--to promote the public
+convenience or to make amends for so much that had given offence? It had
+done four things, and, so far as we are aware, four things only. It had
+introduced the contrivance, with which we are all familiar, of external
+apertures in Post Offices, so that letters could be posted from the
+outside. It had brought the system of expresses up to a standard which,
+compared with what it was at the beginning of the century, might perhaps
+be considered high. It had, indirectly, been the means of eliciting from
+the Courts of Law an important decision. And it had accelerated the
+course of post between London and Edinburgh. In 1758 the time which the
+mail took to accomplish the distance was, at the instance of the royal
+boroughs, reduced between London and Edinburgh from 87 hours to 82, and
+between Edinburgh and London from 131 hours to 85.
+
+The date at which apertures on the outside of Post Offices were first
+introduced is unknown to us even approximately. All we can do is to fix
+two distant dates at one of which the contrivance existed, and at the
+other it existed not. On the 3rd of November 1712 Oxford, the Lord
+Treasurer, received an anonymous letter, and, being anxious to discover
+the writer, he invoked the assistance of the postmasters-general with a
+view to ascertain where and by whom it had been posted. Any such inquiry
+at the present time would be absolutely futile. One hundred and eighty
+years ago the postmasters-general, after an interval of twenty-four
+hours, were able to reply not only that the letter had been posted "at
+the receiving office of Mrs. Sandys, a threadshop two doors within
+Blackfryars Gateway," but that it had been posted "by a youth of about
+seventeen years old, in a whitish suit of cloathes, who was without a
+hat." It is difficult to believe that apertures can have existed then,
+and that the letter was not posted inside the office. That in 1757 the
+contrivance had come into existence, though possibly in a rude form, is
+beyond question. In that year an unfortunate woman was put on her trial
+for stealing a letter, and the sender was called upon to prove the
+posting. "On Tuesday the 7th of December 1756," he said, "I put this
+letter into the Post Office at the house of Mrs. Jeffreys at Bloomsbury,
+at about nine o'clock at night.... There is a window and a slip to put
+it into a little box from out of the street. I was not in the house. It
+is a very narrow box, and I was afraid my letter was gone down to the
+ground.[51] I asked Mrs. Jeffreys if my letter was safe after I had
+dropped it into the slip. She said your letter is safe and gone into the
+box." If the value of a contrivance depended upon the amount of
+ingenuity displayed in devising it, these apertures would be hardly
+deserving of mention; but in view of the convenience they afford, this
+short notice of them may not perhaps be considered out of place.
+
+  [51] The box into which the letters fell was at this time an open one,
+  _i.e._ without a cover and movable. It was not until 1792 that the
+  letter-box was closed, fixed, and locked.
+
+The Rebellion of 1745, while disarranging the posts, brought into vogue
+the system of expresses; and this system once established was not long
+in extending itself. An express cost 3d. a mile, and, no doubt,
+travelled faster than at the beginning of the century. The roads had
+since been improved; and it may well be believed that the postmasters,
+as their custom increased, kept better horses. It was probably the speed
+of the express as compared with the tardiness of the post which induced
+the wealthy, about the middle of the last century, largely to employ
+this mode of conveyance for their letters. It had indeed one drawback, a
+drawback such as in our own time has attended the use of telegrams. It
+was apt to excite alarm. "Let me," writes the good-natured Charles
+Townshend to his sister-in-law, Lady Ferrers, under date September
+1759--"Let me now desire you to conclude whenever you receive an express
+that it brings you good news, for otherwise I shall be obliged to defer
+one day sending you any such account if it should not come to me on a
+post day, least the express should alarm you. I should not chuse to
+detain you one minute from the news I know your heart beats for, and yet
+I should not chuse to frighten you by the sudden manner of its arrival,
+for which reason I desire you will remember to receive whatsoever
+express I send with confidence and as a friend."
+
+But the purpose for which an express might be employed was jealously
+restricted. A man might employ an express to carry a letter; but woe
+betide him if he employed the same agency for the purpose of
+disseminating news. The licensed carriers at Cambridge had recently been
+prosecuted and the postmasters on the Great West Road taken severely to
+task for doing this very thing. What are we to think of the intolerable
+state of bondage in which men were content to live when even the gentle
+Allen could give the following instruction? "At every stage," he writes
+to one of his surveyors, "you must forbid the deputies to send any
+express except to the General Post Office in London, unless it be for
+His Majesty's immediate service; and all other intelligence must be
+conveyed either by the common post or particular messenger."
+
+In the middle of the last century, and for about thirty years before and
+after, the mails were being continually stopped and robbed by
+highwaymen. The reward which the Post Office offered on these occasions
+for the apprehension of the robber was invariably £200, this being in
+addition to the reward of £40 prescribed by Act of Parliament; and if
+the robbery took place within five miles of London, there was a third
+reward of £100 by proclamation. Numerous and diverse as the
+robberies[52] were, there is only one of which we propose to speak; and
+in this case an exception may well be made on account of the important
+decision which it was the means of evoking from the Courts. A highwayman
+had stopped the Worcester mail at Shepherd's Bush and rifled it of its
+contents. Finding himself in possession of a large number of Bank of
+England notes he adopted a novel expedient for disposing of them. He
+hired a chaise and four and proceeded along the Great North Road as far
+as Caxton, passing the notes as he went; and in order to give himself a
+wider field of operations he took the precaution of going one way and
+returning another. To Caxton he went through Barnet, Hatfield,
+Stevenage, and Bugden, and he returned by way of Royston, Ware, and
+Enfield. Except at Barnet, which was probably thought to be dangerously
+near to London, there was hardly a postmaster along the whole line of
+road who had not one or more of the notes passed upon him. The question
+now arose who was to bear the loss,--the person by whom the notes had
+been sent by post or the postmasters who had changed them into cash. At
+the present time the law on the subject is so well ascertained that no
+doubt could exist as to the answer; but such was not then the case. In
+order to try the point, it was arranged that the notes should be
+stopped, and that the sender of them should bring an action against the
+Bank of England to recover their value. The trial came on before the
+King's Bench in 1758, and, after learned pleadings on both sides, the
+Lord Chief Justice pronounced the decision of the Court. This was that
+any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank note to bearer in
+a fair course of business is unquestionably entitled to recover the
+money from the Bank.
+
+  [52] Among these robberies there was, so far as we are aware, only one
+  which possessed any feature of interest; and in this case the interest
+  was of a psychological nature. Gardner, a postman, was stopped by three
+  highwaymen on Winchmore Hill, and, on his refusing to give up his
+  letters, they murdered him. Atrocities of this kind had been frequent,
+  and executions had failed to check them. But the resources of
+  civilisation were not exhausted. Lord Lovell--or the Earl of Leicester,
+  as he had now become--waited upon the King and procured His Majesty's
+  assent that, after execution, the highwaymen's bodies should be hung in
+  chains. To be hanged was one thing; after hanging, to have one's body
+  suspended in chains was another. This was an indignity to which no
+  respectable criminal should be called upon to submit. Such would seem to
+  be the idea conveyed in the following letter which Leicester received:--
+
+  To the Right Hon. the EARL OF LEICESTER, at HOLKHAM, NORFOLK.
+
+                                               THURSDAY, _Oct. 1753_.
+
+  MY LORD--I find that it was by your orders that Mr. Stockdale was hung
+  in chains. Now, if you don't order him to be taken down, I will set fire
+  to your house and blow your brains out the first opportunity.
+
+  Stockdale was clerk to a proctor in Doctors Commons.
+
+
+An important legal decision, with which the Post Office had only the
+remotest concern, an improved system of expresses following as a natural
+consequence from circumstances over which the Post Office had no
+control, a simple contrivance to facilitate the posting of letters, and
+an acceleration of the mail between London and Edinburgh--this as the
+record of forty or fifty years' progress is assuredly meagre enough; and
+yet we are not aware of any omission. The plain truth is that during
+these years, except in the matter of bye and cross-post letters, the
+Post Office had retrograded rather than advanced. The rates of postage
+were higher now than at the beginning of the century. More, probably,
+than one-half of the public Acts of Parliament which passed during the
+reigns of the first two Georges were Acts for repairing and widening the
+roads. The roads had kept steadily improving; and the posts had failed
+to keep pace with them. While travellers travelled faster than in the
+reign of Queen Anne, letters were still being conveyed at a speed not
+exceeding five miles an hour. The friendly relations which had existed
+between the postmasters-general and the merchants existed no longer.
+These had been replaced by feelings of estrangement and animosity. Under
+Cotton and Frankland and under Frankland and Evelyn the Post Office
+enjoyed a reputation for personal integrity; but even this claim to
+distinction had now disappeared. Barbutt, the secretary, had recently
+retired under a cloud. Bell, the comptroller of the inland office, had
+been arrested on a charge of fraud.[53] Denzil Onslow, the
+receiver-general, had been declared a defaulter to the amount of
+£10,000; and Stone, Onslow's successor, after two or three years' tenure
+of the appointment, had died in debt to the Crown. The Post Office, when
+George the Third ascended the throne, was thoroughly discredited, and,
+despite Allen's exertions, men were beginning to ask themselves, Why
+cumbereth it the ground?
+
+  [53] Elsewhere we have expressed a desire to avoid, as far as possible,
+  the use of technical terms, and the propriety of this course will
+  probably not be disputed when we state that the charge against Bell was
+  that having "crowned the advanced letters" he failed to account for the
+  proceeds. An "advanced" letter was one on which the postage had been
+  advanced, a letter which, having been undercharged in the country, was
+  surcharged in London. To "crown" a letter was to impress it with the
+  stamp of the Crown, denoting that the surcharge had been made.
+  Virtually, therefore, the charge against Bell was that he had embezzled
+  the surcharges.
+
+Allen died in 1764, leaving behind him a name which is still venerated,
+and justly venerated, in the city of Bath. For many years before his
+death he is reputed to have made out of his contract with the Post
+Office not less than £12,000 a year; and the greater part of this noble
+fortune he spent in acts of benevolence. As early as 1735 riches must
+have come pouring in upon him, for in that year he built for himself the
+stately house of Prior Park, not indeed for ostentation's sake, but in
+order to prove that the stone dug from his quarries on Combe Down was
+not the sorry stuff which interested persons in London had represented
+it to be. That house still stands; but, as was said at the time--and the
+statement holds good to this day--"his charity is seen further than his
+house, though it stands on a hill, aye, and brings him more honour too."
+In 1742 Allen served as Mayor of Bath; and in 1745, the year of the
+Rebellion, he raised a company of volunteers, which he clothed at his
+own cost. At Prior Park he dispensed a more than decent hospitality,
+numbering among his guests Pitt, Pope, and Fielding, Charles Yorke, and
+Warburton. Fielding has immortalised Allen's character but not his name
+in the person of Squire Allworthy; and Pope has immortalised both his
+name and his character in the lines--
+
+  Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,
+  Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame.
+
+Among Post Office reformers Allen stands absolutely alone in one
+particular. His connection with the Post Office, long as it endured, was
+not abruptly terminated. This we attribute partly to a natural sweetness
+of disposition, which provoked no enemies, and still more to that which
+on the part of reformers is the rarest of virtues, an entire abnegation
+of self. So long as a thing which he thought desirable was done, he
+cared not that others received the credit.[54]
+
+  [54] Of Allen's personal appearance the only account, so far as we are
+  aware, is to be found in the correspondence of Samuel Derrick, Master of
+  the Ceremonies at Bath. Derrick writes, under date May 10, 1763: "I have
+  had an opportunity of visiting Mr. Allen in the train of the French
+  Ambassador. He is a very grave, well-looking old man, plain in his
+  dress, resembling that of a Quaker, and courteous in his behaviour. I
+  suppose he cannot be much under seventy."--Vol. ii. p. 94.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION
+
+1764-1782
+
+
+Brighter days were in store for the Post Office, but not yet. Meanwhile
+the clouds grew darker and darker. During the twenty years that followed
+Allen's death, partly as the result of ill-considered legislation and
+still more through the incompetence and helplessness of its rulers, the
+Post Office sank to a depth which, in England, probably no other public
+institution, or at all events none that still exists, has ever reached.
+
+In 1764 and 1765 two Acts of Parliament were passed, one having for its
+object to prevent the abuses of franking, and the other to improve the
+posts. It would be hardly too much to say that both of these Acts had an
+exactly opposite effect to that which was intended. The first, far from
+preventing the abuses of franking, largely extended them; and the second
+imposed a deplorable restriction, a restriction for which any little
+advantages conferred at the same time afforded very inadequate
+compensation.
+
+Under the Act of 1765, to take the later one first, the postage rates
+were reduced for short distances. Since 1711 the charge for carrying a
+single letter had been 3d. for eighty miles or under. Now it was to be
+1d. for one stage and 2d. for two stages. For longer distances the
+charge was to remain unaltered. The speed of the post was raised from
+five to six miles an hour. Power was given to the postmasters-general to
+erect penny Post Offices in country towns; and--a provision which we
+have pronounced deplorable--the weight to be carried by the penny post
+was restricted to four ounces. Compensation for losses by the penny post
+had long ceased to be given.[55]
+
+  [55] _The Present State of Great Britain and Ireland_, published in
+  1742, states that at that time compensation was still given for losses
+  sustained in the penny post. The words are: "If a parcel happen to
+  miscarry, the value thereof is to be made good by the office, provided
+  the things were securely inclosed and fast sealed up under the
+  impression of some remarkable seal." This is an error; and that an error
+  should be made on the point serves to confirm the view that little was
+  known of the Post Office and its doings even 150 years ago. That
+  compensation was not at that time given for losses is beyond all
+  question. It happens that in that very year, 1742, a Mr. Vavasour
+  appealed to Whitehall to grant him compensation for the loss of bank
+  notes to the amount of £20 which had been stolen from a letter in its
+  transit through the post; and the postmasters-general, after stating
+  that no precedent existed for granting compensation, implored the
+  Treasury not to create one. "All persons," they write under date the 4th
+  of August 1742, "that for their own convenience send notes or bills of
+  value by the post inclosed in letters do so at their own risque without
+  any foundation that we know of for recovery of this office in case they
+  should be stolen or lost by robbery or other accidents. And this we take
+  to be not only reasonable but just in all construction of law." Again,
+  in 1778 an action for compensation was brought against the Post Office,
+  and Lord Mansfield, after delivering the unanimous opinion of the Court
+  of King's Bench that the postmasters-general were not responsible for
+  losses sustained in their department, proceeded to observe that no
+  similar action had been brought since the year 1699. Giles Jacob, in his
+  _Law Dictionary_, published in the last century, gives this account of
+  the matter: "It was determined so long ago as 13 Will. III., in the case
+  of _Lane_ v. _Cotton_, by three judges of the Court of King's Bench,
+  though contrary to Lord Chief Justice Holt's opinion, that no action
+  could be maintained against the postmasters-general for the loss of
+  bills or articles sent in letters by the post."
+
+Such was the end of Dockwra's post as Dockwra had established it. With
+that eminent man it had been an object of the first importance that the
+penny post should carry up to one pound in weight; and now the weight
+was to be reduced to four ounces. And why? Because the penny post was
+little used for packets and parcels above four ounces? Exactly the
+contrary. It was because packets and parcels above four ounces were
+being largely sent by the penny post that the limit of weight was to be
+reduced.[56] These missives had been found a little inconvenient to
+manipulate and it was resolved, therefore, to exclude them. Such was the
+wretched policy of the time. Even in matters vitally affecting their own
+interests the public had as yet no voice and their wishes were not
+considered. On account of some trifling inconvenience, which a very
+little amount of ingenuity would have sufficed to overcome, the
+inhabitants of London and its suburbs were now deprived of accommodation
+which they had enjoyed uninterruptedly for eighty-five years.
+
+  [56] The reason for the provision was thus given in the preamble:
+  "Whereas many heavy and bulky packets and parcels are now sent and
+  conveyed by such carriage which by their bulk and weight greatly retard
+  the speedy delivery thereof...."--5 Geo. III. cap. xxv. sec. 14.
+
+In 1764 franking became for the first time the subject of Parliamentary
+enactment. To send and receive letters free of postage had been a
+privilege enjoyed by members of the two Houses of Parliament from the
+first establishment of the Post Office; but whereas it had hitherto been
+a concession granted by the Crown, it was now to be a right conferred by
+statute. The reason will be obvious. The revenue of the Post Office had
+recently been surrendered to the public during the life of the
+Sovereign, in exchange for a Civil List charged upon the Consolidated,
+or, as it was then called, the Aggregate Fund; and the Crown, having
+dispossessed itself of all property in the Post Office, was no longer
+competent to remit postage without the authority of Parliament. The Act
+which was now passed was designed to correct the abuses which experience
+had shewn to exist. The limits of weight and of time remained as before;
+that is to say, only letters not exceeding the weight of two ounces were
+to be franked, and these only during the session of Parliament and for
+forty days before and after. In other respects the conditions were
+slightly altered. Hitherto it had been enough, in the case of letters
+sent by a member, that he should sign his name on the outside; for the
+future not only was the outside to bear his signature, but the whole of
+the address was to be in his own handwriting. In the case of letters
+addressed to a member, none were to be exempt from postage unless
+directed to the place of his usual residence or to the place where he
+was actually residing, or, of course, to the House of Parliament. It had
+been hoped that these alterations of practice would check the abuses of
+franking. Vain expectation! No sooner had the concession been converted
+into a right than what little scruples existed before appear to have
+vanished, and franks were scattered broadcast over the country. Before
+eight years were over, the number of franks passing through the London
+office alone had nearly doubled, the postage from which they carried
+exemption being in 1765, the first year after the change, £34,734, and
+in 1772, £65,053; and this, be it observed, was no mere estimate, but
+the actual result as ascertained by the careful examination of each
+letter.
+
+Another effect of the change of practice was to embroil the Post Office.
+The Post Office, in its efforts to protect itself against imposition,
+would charge letters when addressed to a member at a place where he was
+supposed not to be; and hence constant disputes and altercations.
+Members, again, who were bankers or were engaged in trade insisted that
+letters addressed to them at their counting-houses, even though they did
+not reside there, should pass free. On these the Post Office claimed
+postage, and the members refused to pay it.
+
+But it was in Ireland that the rage for franking broke out into the
+wildest excesses. In 1773 an inspector of franks was sent to several
+towns on the cross and bye roads, in order that he might ascertain and
+report to the postmasters-general the extent to which the abuse had
+grown. This officer visited nine towns altogether, and was absent from
+Dublin for sixty-three days, being at the rate of seven days at each
+town. At Waterford, during his stay there, 588 letters passed through
+the local Post Office purporting to be franked. The franks on only 354
+of these were genuine; the rest were counterfeit. At Kilkenny there were
+425 counterfeit franks to 510 that were genuine. At Clonmel, 526
+counterfeit and 509 genuine. At Gowran, 212 counterfeit and 195
+genuine; and so with the remaining towns. Altogether the number of
+letters with counterfeit franks was nearly as large as the number with
+genuine franks, and far exceeded all the other letters combined. However
+clear might be the evidence of fraud, and however conclusively it might
+be brought home to particular persons, it was of no use attempting to
+prosecute. Hear what Mr. Lees says on this point. Mr. Lees was Secretary
+to the Post Office in Ireland, and he had, under direction from Lord
+North, received instructions to take proceedings against a firm of
+solicitors in Londonderry who had been sending letters under forged
+franks. "A prosecution," wrote Mr. Lees, "will not be of the slightest
+avail. It has been tried over and over again, and, in the face of the
+clearest evidence, without success." "There is scarcely a magistrate to
+be found in Ireland who will take examinations on the Post Office laws;
+and certainly in no instance has this office prevailed in getting the
+bills of indictment found by a Grand Jury. This being so universally
+known, counterfeiting franks is drawn into such general practice that I
+believe there are very few merchants or attorneys' clerks throughout the
+kingdom who do not counterfeit in the name of one member or other. Nay,
+if I classed with them almost every little pretty Miss capable of
+joining her letters, I should not exaggerate the abuse." "As I have
+observed," he wrote further on in the same letter, "in every town of
+consequence throughout the kingdom the members resident, under their
+address, cover the correspondence of the principal merchants.... The
+postage arising on counterfeit covers alone amounts to more than a third
+of the revenue of this office."
+
+Under the terms of the Franking Act newspapers were to go free which
+should bear a member's signature on the outside or which should be
+directed to a member at any place of which he had given notice in
+writing to the postmasters-general. This provision seriously affected
+the Post Office, though in a different way from the liberties which were
+being taken with letters. From the first establishment of the Post
+Office the six clerks of the roads had enjoyed the privilege of
+franking newspapers, and the emoluments derived from this source,
+originally insignificant, had been continually increasing. In 1764 they
+were certainly not less than £8000 a year, and may have been more. The
+Franking Act sapped this source of emolument. No sooner had that Act
+passed than the members served the Post Office with notice of the places
+to which they wished newspapers to be directed. These places did not in
+the first instance extend beyond the member's own residence and the
+residences of his constituents and friends; but after a while no such
+moderation was observed. The booksellers and printers, or news-agents as
+they would now be called, soon recognised the advantage it would be to
+them if they could get their customers' addresses put on the Post Office
+Register, and they experienced little difficulty in finding members who
+were ready to do them this service. There were four who were noted for
+their complaisance. These were Sir Robert Bernard, member for
+Westminster; Brass Crosby, member for Honiton and alderman for the City
+of London; Richard Whitworth, member for Stafford; and Richard
+Hiver.[57] These four members in little more than eighteen months served
+upon the Post Office no less than 744 separate notices. Altogether, at
+the close of the year 1772, there were 2024 such notices registered in
+Lombard Street, of which 765 were on behalf of constituents and friends,
+and 1259 on behalf of printers and booksellers.
+
+  [57] For what constituency Richard Hiver sat we have been unable to
+  discover. His name does not appear in the return of members of
+  Parliament presented to the House of Commons in 1878.
+
+As the natural result the clerks of the roads found their emoluments
+rapidly dwindling. Heretofore they had been, virtually, the great
+news-agents of the kingdom. Enjoying, in common with a few clerks at
+Whitehall, the exclusive privilege of sending newspapers through the
+post free, they had been exposed to little, if any, competition; but now
+that in the matter of postage the terms were equal, the advantage was
+all on the side of the private dealer. The private dealer procured his
+newspapers in the open market, whereas the clerks of the roads were
+required to procure them from a particular officer designated by the
+postmasters-general; and this officer was authorised not only to charge
+for the newspapers he supplied 1-1/2d. a dozen more than he gave for
+them, but to retain as his own perquisite one out of every twenty-five
+copies.
+
+It may seem of little moment that, as the result of legislation, six
+persons more or less should find themselves in reduced circumstances.
+Such an event, unhappily, is not so rare as to call for special remark.
+But there was a good deal more than this in the present case. The
+profits which the clerks of the roads derived from the sale of
+newspapers had never been devoted to the exclusive use of the
+recipients. On the contrary, they were to a large extent common
+property. Out of these profits pensions were provided for Post Office
+servants who were past work; and from the same source inadequate
+salaries were raised to something like a decent maintenance. In
+additional salaries to brother officers and in pensions to officers who
+had retired, the clerks of the roads had in 1764 contributed as much as
+£6600; and even now, reduced as their profits were, they were
+contributing a little over £2000. They were, in effect, the mainstay of
+the establishment, and the falling off of their emoluments was being
+watched by the postmasters-general, hardly less than by those who were
+more immediately interested, with the gravest concern.
+
+Nor was it calculated to reconcile the Post Office servants to the
+deprivations which they were already beginning to suffer that the
+members of other public offices, who had lost from the same cause as the
+clerks of the roads, but to a much less extent, had received
+compensation in full. The clerks in the offices of the Principal
+Secretaries of State, like the clerks of the roads, had been privileged
+to frank both letters and newspapers. By the Act of 1764 the privilege
+had, as regards letters, been taken away in both cases; and in both
+cases, as regards newspapers, it remained. Yet to the clerks in the
+offices of the Principal Secretaries of State was secured, by special
+Act of Parliament, compensation to the amount of £1500 a year, while the
+clerks of the roads received nothing; and, as though to add to the
+aggravation, this sum of £1500 a year was to be paid by the Post Office.
+
+In Dublin the same difficulties were being experienced as in London and
+from the same cause. Emoluments were falling off and obligations could
+not be met. Among these obligations, however, there was one which was
+peculiar to Dublin. Before 1764 the clerks at the castle, like the
+clerks of the roads, had enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers,
+and the exercise of this privilege by the two bodies simultaneously had
+been attended with so much friction that advantage had been taken of the
+passing of the Franking Act to effect a compromise. In consideration of
+the sum of £350 a year to be paid by the clerks of the roads the clerks
+at the castle undertook to abandon their privilege absolutely. A deed to
+this effect was prepared, and, in order that nothing might be wanting to
+give it formality, it was signed by the Earl of Northumberland, the Lord
+Lieutenant, on behalf of the castle, and by Lord Clermont, the Deputy
+Postmaster-General of Ireland, on behalf of the Post Office. Whence was
+the sum of £350 to come when the emoluments should be gone? Was a price
+to continue to be paid for the surrender of a privilege which had ceased
+to be of value? The Attorney-General for Ireland advised that the clerks
+of the roads were still liable to the last farthing of their salaries;
+and the clerks at the castle refused to abate one jot of their claim.
+
+But we are anticipating. In 1767 the statute-book received an addition
+which, though differing widely both in intention and effect from the
+Franking Act and the Postage Act, cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed.
+This was an Act for the better paving, lighting, and regulating the
+streets of London, a first step in fact towards converting the London
+of Hogarth into the London of to-day. The mere preamble[58] of the Act
+brings home to us, hardly less vividly than Hogarth's pencil, the
+intolerable inconveniences under which our forefathers were content to
+live; but what concerns us at the present moment is that one section
+provided not only that the names of the streets should be put up but
+that the houses should be numbered. This numbering of houses quickly
+spread, and, although unnoticed by the Post Office at the time, was
+destined very materially to assist its future operations. As a
+consequence, too, and at no long interval, arose a new industry, namely
+the compilation of Directories--a thing that was impossible before--and
+hence the Post Office derived still further assistance.
+
+  [58] "Whereas the several streets, lanes, squares, yards, courts,
+  alleys, passages and places within the city of London and the liberties
+  thereof are in general ill-paved and cleansed and not duly enlightened,
+  and are also greatly obstructed by posts and annoyed by signs, spouts,
+  and gutters projecting into and over the same, whereby and by sundry
+  other encroachments and annoyances they are rendered incommodious and in
+  some parts dangerous not only to the inhabitants but to all others
+  passing through the same or resorting thereto...."
+
+About this time considerable improvements took place both in the Scotch
+and Irish posts. Between London and Edinburgh communication had been
+only thrice a week. In 1765 it was increased in frequency to five days a
+week, and posts on six days a week were at the same time established
+between Edinburgh and the chief towns of Scotland. The result was an
+immediate increase of revenue which much more than covered the increase
+of expense. Two or three years later the course of post between London
+and Dublin came under review. By virtue of an arrangement, which the
+fact of the communication being only thrice a week goes but a short way
+to explain, letters from England to Ireland were kept lying two whole
+days in the London Office and, similarly, letters from Ireland to
+England were kept lying two whole days in the Dublin Office. The packet
+which was due in Dublin on Saturday night rarely arrived before Sunday,
+and, unless it did so, the letters from England for the interior of
+Ireland did not leave Dublin until Wednesday morning. Nor was this all.
+The number of packets was extremely limited, and, owing to their
+constant employment by Government as express boats, it frequently
+happened that two and sometimes three and even four mails were sent by
+the same packet. In 1767 this was altered. Additional packet boats were
+placed on the station, and the post between London and Dublin and
+between Dublin and Belfast in one direction and Cork in another was
+increased in frequency from three to six days a week.
+
+Between London and the chief provincial towns in England Allen had, as
+we have seen, established posts six days a week instead of three; but it
+was not until 1769, or nearly five years after Allen's death, that
+within the metropolis arrangements were made to correspond. Meanwhile
+the offices for the receipt of general post letters were kept open and
+the bellmen went about ringing their bells on only three nights of the
+week, namely Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and on the other three
+nights, except at the General Post Office, letters could not be posted
+gratuitously. On the nights of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday a receiver
+if called upon to take in letters was entitled to charge a fee of 1d.
+apiece, and this fee he retained as his own perquisite. Beginning with
+1769 the receiving offices were kept open and the bellmen rang their
+bells on every night of the week, Sundays excepted.
+
+An event or rather a series of events now took place, the result of
+which was largely to alter the character of the Post Office and to
+extend its usefulness. Recent legislation had done little for the public
+convenience. It had indeed provided that Penny Post Offices might be
+established out of London, and advantage had been taken of the provision
+in one single instance. In Dublin a Penny Post Office had been opened on
+the 10th of October 1773, or seventy years after the Countess of Thanet
+desired to open one and was refused permission at the last moment. But
+in other respects legislation had accomplished little beyond promoting
+the very abuses it was designed to prevent, and impairing the utility
+of Dockwra's post. Litigation was now to have its turn; and it is
+interesting to note the result.
+
+The machinery for the dispersion of letters remained much as it had been
+since the first establishment of the Post Office. In London, in
+Edinburgh, and in Dublin there was, as there is now, a body of men whose
+duty it was to deliver from house to house; but with these three
+exceptions there was not, 120 years ago, a single town in the kingdom
+which could boast of its own letter-carrier. The postmaster was the sole
+Post Office agent in the place; it was he who delivered the letters if
+they were delivered at all; and for this service he was left to charge
+pretty much as he pleased. The public had grown tired of this state of
+things and strenuous efforts were now made to alter it.
+
+The crusade began in the little town of Sandwich in Kent. It had been
+the practice of the postmaster there, at some former time, to deliver
+free the letters arriving by the bye and cross posts, and on the
+delivery of the London letters to charge a fee as his own perquisite. In
+1772 a fee was being charged on the delivery of all letters. This charge
+the inhabitants now determined to contest. The case came on for trial in
+the Court of King's Bench and was decided against the postmaster, the
+Court being of opinion that wherever the usage had been to deliver free,
+there the usage should be adhered to. The postmasters-general were very
+uneasy. Out of the 440 post towns of the kingdom there were known to be
+not less than seventy-six which were in the same case as Sandwich and to
+which the decision of the Court must apply, towns where letters had at
+one time been delivered free and where they were so no longer; and not a
+day passed without bringing fresh and unexpected additions to the list.
+At Birmingham and at Ipswich, for instance, where a charge was now being
+made for delivery, old inhabitants could remember how forty or fifty
+years before letters had been delivered free. Was the Crown to be at the
+expense of letter-carriers at all of these towns, or were the
+postmasters, who were already complaining of the inadequacy of their
+remuneration, to forego their perquisites and make a house-to-house
+delivery as part of their duty?
+
+The question was still under consideration when the town of Ipswich
+commenced an action. The point raised in this case was whether on the
+delivery of letters addressed to the inhabitants of the town the
+postmaster could legally demand any sum over and above the postage, and,
+if so, whether in the event of the demand being refused he could oblige
+the inhabitants to fetch their letters. Again the decision, this time by
+the Court of Common Pleas, was in favour of the public and against the
+Post Office. The postmasters-general were more than uneasy now. No
+sooner had the decision in the Ipswich case become known than town after
+town where letters had never yet been delivered free demanded a free
+delivery and threatened the postmasters-general with actions in the
+event of their demand being refused. Bath and Gloucester did more than
+threaten. They, like Ipswich, proceeded to trial; and again, for the
+third and fourth time, the decision was against the Post Office.
+
+Thurlow was at this time Attorney-General. He held a strong opinion that
+in order to comply with the statute it was enough to deliver letters at
+the Post Office of the town to which they were addressed, and that there
+was no obligation to deliver them at the houses of the inhabitants.
+Still clinging to the belief that the decisions of the Courts must have
+proceeded more or less on the usage of delivery, he now determined to
+try the question in the case of a town where the usage had been for no
+delivery to be made without payment. The town of Hungerford in Berkshire
+was selected for the purpose. There, it could be proved, ever since the
+beginning of the century, letters had not been delivered except on
+payment of a fee of 1d. apiece.
+
+The case came on before the Court of King's Bench in Michaelmas term
+1774. Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, was the first to deliver
+judgment. He was surprised, he said, the several Acts being so ambiguous
+and the usage so contradictory, that the Post Office had not applied to
+Parliament to explain the matter. That was the view of the Court when,
+in the other cases, it avoided the general question. He never liked to
+avoid general questions, for to decide them tended to prevent further
+litigation; but an important question of this kind, arising out of Acts
+that had "not yet spoke," and, whichever way it might be decided,
+involving more or less inconvenience, was essentially one for
+Parliament. And in the Bath case there were grounds on which the general
+question could, without impropriety, be avoided. There the postmaster
+when delivering a letter had demanded a certain sum as a duty. Now, a
+duty it certainly was not. If on the delivery of a letter Parliament had
+intended to impose a duty, it would have fixed the amount and made it
+part of the Post Office revenue; and not have left every postmaster free
+to fix what amount he pleased or might prevail upon people to give. And
+what a monstrous inconvenience it would be if every one had to go to the
+Post Office to fetch his own letters! How could the Court have laid down
+such a proposition as that? The thing was impossible. And it must be
+remembered that there could be no middlemen--men between the inhabitants
+and the postmaster--who for gain could set up an office to distribute
+the letters, because by law the postmaster could not deliver them except
+to the persons to whom they were addressed. These were the
+considerations which in the Bath ease induced him to avoid the general
+question, and he had been glad to feel able to do so, never doubting
+that the postmasters-general would apply to Parliament for a
+determination; but this, unfortunately, they had not done. Then there
+was the Gloucester case. He remembered it well. There the question was
+not whether there should be a free delivery, for at Gloucester letters
+had always been delivered free, but whether certain houses should fall
+within the limits of that delivery. All that the Court then decided was
+that in the case of these houses, forming as they unquestionably did a
+part of what was known as the town of Gloucester, the Post Office could
+not depart from its own practice. But the present case was different.
+Here the contention was that in the town of Hungerford there was not a
+single house at which the Post Office was required to deliver letters
+without being paid for it. Practically, no doubt, it was the Bath case
+over again; but the Court could not well avoid the general question a
+second time. The Post Office, in effect, sought to impose a duty; and
+this, he said it emphatically, the Post Office had not the power to do
+without the authority of Parliament, which authority had not been given.
+His mind was perfectly clear that within the limits of a post-town the
+Post Office was bound to deliver free; but how far these limits should
+extend was a question upon which he did not feel called upon to express
+an opinion.
+
+The other judges were equally emphatic. The Post Office had urged in
+support of its contention that it sometimes happened--as, for instance,
+at Hartford Bridge---that the stage or post-house was a single house
+with no other houses near. There, at all events, as soon as it had
+deposited the letters at the post house, the Post Office had discharged
+its duty. And if there, it was asked, why not elsewhere? If, said Mr.
+Justice Aston, the post house was a single house with no other houses
+near, the question did not arise; but, in the case, of towns, surely it
+would not be contended that each individual inhabitant was to resort to
+the post house every day in order to inquire whether there was a letter
+for him or not. To demand this penny within the limits of a post town,
+said Mr. Justice Willes, was contrary to the whole tenor and spirit of
+the Acts of Parliament; and where the post town was a small one like
+Hungerford, the demand was far more unreasonable than it would be in the
+case of London and Westminster. Yet in London and Westminster letters
+were delivered free. He should pay more regard to the usage of the city
+of London than to that of fifty such towns as Hungerford. Mr. Justice
+Ashurst was of opinion that even to usage too much importance might be
+attached. If it were really the case that at Hungerford, ever since the
+passing of the Act of Anne, a man living next door to the Post Office
+had had to pay over and above the postage 1d. for every letter he
+received, this in his opinion was a bad usage, an usage for which the
+Act afforded no justification, and the sooner it was laid aside the
+better.
+
+The decision of the Court burst upon the postmasters-general like a
+thunderbolt. They had been assured that it would certainly be in the
+opposite direction; and now, to their dismay, they found themselves face
+to face with the prospect of, what they called, an universal delivery.
+What was to be done? The Post Office would be ruined. Of course the
+Attorney-General would advise an appeal to the House of Lords. As a
+matter of fact the Attorney-General advised nothing of the sort.
+Thurlow's private opinion continued to be what it had always been, that
+the Post Office was not bound to deliver letters beyond the stage or
+post house. He even went so far as to admit that, if once the Act were
+construed to require more than that, he knew of no manner of
+construction that would entitle the postmasters-general to refuse to
+carry letters into every hole and corner of the kingdom. Still, as two
+Courts had decided against the Post Office, he regarded it as useless to
+appeal to the House of Lords, where, no doubt, the opinion of the same
+judges would be taken and acted on. Then, inquired the postmasters-general,
+might not a writ of error be brought with a view to hang up the judgment
+of the Court of King's Bench until the matter should be settled by
+Parliament. "No," replied Thurlow, "I do not approve a writ of error
+being brought by an office of revenue avowedly to suspend a question."
+
+Thus ended a controversy which in one form or another had extended over
+a period of more than two years. The postmasters-general urged indeed
+that Parliament should be asked to avert what they regarded as little
+short of a catastrophe; but the recommendation was not adopted, and the
+decision of the Court was left to take effect.
+
+We have dwelt upon this matter at some length, because it was, in
+effect, a turning-point in the history of the Post Office. The
+enterprising spirit of the small towns, the independence of the judges,
+and the conspicuous fairness of the Attorney-General, make up no doubt a
+combination which it is pleasing to contemplate; and yet, if this were
+all, a shorter notice would have sufficed. It is because the Post Office
+was now to assume a new character, the character in which it is known to
+us at the present time, that we have thought it best not to omit any
+important particular. And how great the change was to be a moment's
+consideration will shew. Cotton and Frankland had, early in the century,
+done what little they could to make the Post Office popular. They had
+lost no opportunity of advocating cheap postage; they had lived among
+the merchants, and, as far as duty would allow, had consulted their
+wishes; and within the limits assigned to them had spared no efforts to
+promote the public convenience. But since then a different spirit had
+prevailed. By Cotton and Frankland's successors much had been done in
+restraint of correspondence and nothing, or next to nothing, in
+promotion of it. The Post Office had become, insensibly perhaps, but
+none the less surely, a mere tax-gatherer, and, like other
+tax-gatherers, its policy had been to exact as much and to give as
+little as possible. All this was now to be altered. An appeal had been
+made to the Courts; and the Courts in the most deliberate and solemn
+manner had affirmed this principle--a principle now so universally
+recognised and acted on as to excite our wonder that it should ever have
+been otherwise--that the Post Office was to wait upon the people, and
+not the people upon the Post Office.
+
+It might be supposed that the decision of the Courts would have been
+immediately followed by the appointment of letter-carriers throughout
+the country, or else by additions to the salaries of the postmasters in
+consideration of their undertaking to make a house-to-house delivery
+gratuitously. Such, however, was not the case. At the towns which had
+taken a foremost part in the fray--at Hungerford and Sandwich, at Bath,
+Ipswich, and Birmingham--as well indeed as at other towns which were
+spirited enough to assert their rights, letter-carriers were no doubt
+appointed; but there was no sudden and general alteration of practice.
+On the contrary, the obedience which the Post Office yielded to the law
+as laid down by the Courts was a tardy and grudging obedience. As much
+as ten or eleven years later we find the postmasters-general
+acknowledging indeed the obligation under which they lay to appoint
+letter-carriers at any towns that might demand it, and yet taking credit
+to themselves that, as a matter of fact, no such appointments had been
+made except where the inhabitants had refused to continue the accustomed
+recompense for delivery.
+
+The Courts of Law were at this time the best friends of the people. No
+sooner had they decided that every town which possessed a Post Office of
+its own was entitled to a gratuitous delivery at the door than a
+somewhat similar question came before them in connection with the penny
+post. For every letter delivered by the penny post the inhabitants of
+Old Street, St. Luke's, of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, of Bethnal Green,
+and Spitalfields were required to pay an additional penny, that is a
+penny over and above the one which had been paid on posting; and this
+they had long regarded as an imposition. According to Dockwra's plan the
+second or delivery penny was to be confined to Islington, Hackney,
+Newington Butts, and South Lambeth, which in his day formed separate
+towns; but in course of time, as buildings extended, the Post Office
+appears to have exacted the same charge at intermediate places. Jones, a
+wealthy distiller of Old Street, now determined to try the question.
+Again the decision of the Courts was against the Post Office, and not
+only in Old Street, but in Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, and Spitalfields
+the additional penny had to be abandoned.
+
+While these proceedings were taking place before the Courts, the Post
+Office had forced upon it a step which, even in those days of
+indifference, cannot have been taken without a pang. This was the
+dismissal of its most distinguished servant or rather of its only
+servant with any claim to distinction, and that of the highest. We refer
+to Benjamin Franklin. This eminent man had been appointed postmaster of
+Philadelphia in 1737, and after being employed in several positions of
+trust, had been promoted to be one of the joint postmasters-general of
+America in 1753. He had recently been sent to England with the object of
+averting war between the mother country and her transatlantic colonies,
+and, his mission having failed, he was now dismissed. The letter in
+which the decision was announced was as follows:--
+
+                         To DOCTOR FRANKLIN.
+
+                                   GENERAL POST OFFICE, _Jan. 31, 1774_.
+
+       SIR--I have received the commands of His Majesty's
+       postmasters-general to signify to you that they find it necessary
+       to dismiss you from being any longer their deputy for America. You
+       will therefore cause your accounts to be made up as soon as you can
+       conveniently.--I am, sir, your most humble servant,
+
+                                                       ANTHONY TODD,
+                                                        _Secretary_.
+
+
+Curt as this communication was, it was perhaps the best of which the
+circumstances admitted. Indeed, we are by no means sure that the terms
+of it were not arranged with Franklin himself. He was in London at the
+time. His relations with the Post Office had always been of the most
+cordial character. He did not, after receiving the letter, cease to
+visit Lombard Street; and before his return to America he wrote to the
+Post Office intimating that he would cheerfully become security for his
+colleague, who, as a consequence of his own dismissal, had to enter into
+fresh bond. At all events, whether Franklin had any hand in the
+preparation of the letter or not, the less said the better would seem to
+have been the opinion of the writer; just as a desire to let bygones be
+bygones is plainly shewn in the first letter which passed after
+correspondence was resumed. This letter is a curiosity in its way. It is
+dated the 25th of June 1783, and, ignoring all that had happened during
+the preceding seven years, begins as follows:--
+
+                          To DOCTOR FRANKLIN at PARIS.
+
+                                GENERAL POST OFFICE, _June 25, 1783_.
+
+     DEAR SIR--I must confess I have taken a long time to acknowledge
+     the last letter you were pleased to write me the 24th of March 1776
+     from New York. I am happy, however, to learn from my nephew, Mr.
+     George Maddison, that you enjoy good health, and that as the French
+     were about to establish five packet boats at L'Orient, Port Louis,
+     for the purpose of a monthly correspondence between that port and
+     New York, you were desirous of knowing the intentions of England on
+     that subject....--I am, dear sir, with the greatest truth and
+     respect, your most obedient and most humble servant,
+
+                                                         ANTHONY TODD.
+
+
+In 1780, as part of a Licensing Act, the monopoly of letting post-horses
+which the Post Office had enjoyed uninterruptedly since 1603 was taken
+away. It is curious to note that a measure which 177 years before had
+been deemed essential to the maintenance of the posts was now withdrawn
+without, so far as we are aware, exciting a murmur; and, by a strange
+coincidence, at the very time the measure was being withdrawn in the
+United Kingdom, the deputy postmaster-general of Canada, who had
+recently arrived in London, was urging upon the Government a similar
+expedient as an indispensable condition without which the "maītres de
+poste" between Quebec and Montreal would be constrained to throw up
+their appointments. Such is the difference between a new institution and
+an institution that is well established.
+
+It should here be remarked that with the extinction of this monopoly
+passed away one of the original functions of the postmasters-general.
+Hitherto, lightly as the responsibility had rested upon them for the
+last hundred years or more, they had been masters of the travelling-post
+as well as the letter-post. For the future they were to be masters of
+the letter-post alone.
+
+Little remains to be told of the eighteen years of which this chapter
+treats. In 1782, in consequence of a hint dropped by the Lord Chief
+Justice in the course of a trial, the Post Office did an eminently
+useful thing. It issued an advertisement counselling the public when
+sending bank notes by post to cut them into two parts and to send one
+part by one post and another by another. The counsel was adopted, and in
+an incredibly short space of time the practice became general. In the
+same year the Post Office servants were disfranchised. By an Act passed
+in the reign of Queen Anne they were forbidden either to persuade or to
+dissuade others in the matter of voting; and now they were forbidden to
+vote themselves. The only point of interest connected with the two Acts
+is perhaps their termination. While the later Act was repealed in 1868,
+the earlier one was not repealed until 1874; and meanwhile the
+postmaster-general sat in the House of Commons and offered himself for
+election. Little, probably, did he think that for every vote he
+solicited he rendered himself not only liable to a penalty of £100 but
+"incapable of ever bearing or executing any office or place of trust
+whatsoever under Her Majesty, her heirs, or successors."
+
+The internal condition of the Post Office during the last few years of
+Lord North's administration was simply deplorable. The profits from the
+sale of newspapers kept growing less and less. The clerks of the roads,
+after paying the salaries and pensions which formed the first charge on
+their receipts, had left for themselves the merest pittance. These men,
+to whom an appeal for help had never been made in vain, were now in sore
+need of help themselves. The prospect was alarming, for if the clerks of
+the roads should fail to meet their engagements they would drag down
+with them a not inconsiderable part of the establishment. It was in
+1778, when apprehension was highest, that the Commissioners of Land Tax
+for the city of London made a new assessment, and suddenly, without a
+note of warning, every Post Office servant in the metropolis found
+himself assessed to the land tax to the amount of 4s. in the pound. Not
+even the letter-carriers or maid-servants were excepted. At this time
+and during the two or three following years a general bankruptcy was
+imminent. Eventually the abatements were remitted and the salaries and
+pensions which had been charged to the clerks of the roads were in part
+transferred to the State; but not before many of the Post Office
+servants had compounded with their creditors and all had endured the
+severest privations.
+
+Meanwhile the postmasters from America, ejected from their offices, had
+been flocking to this country and pleading for pensions on the English
+establishment. The packets were meeting with a series of disasters so
+far beyond the experience of former wars as to excite the most hostile
+comment. During the seven years ending August 1782 no less than
+thirty-seven were captured by the enemy. Of these four belonged to the
+Post Office, and sums for that time prodigious were expended to replace
+them. The others were owned by the captains who commanded them, and the
+owners received as compensation for their loss the sum of £85,000. Even
+the fabric of the buildings partook of the general decay. In Edinburgh
+the Post Office had had to be abandoned at a moment's notice, the arch
+which supported the main part of the structure having given way. In
+Dublin the roof had fallen in. In both Dublin and Edinburgh new Post
+Offices were being erected at heavy expense; while in London search was
+being made for new premises on the plea that those in Lombard Street
+were insufficient for present requirements.
+
+To crown all, ugly rumours were afloat, rumours imputing corruption in
+the highest quarters. The postmasters-general were indeed to be pitied.
+The Post Office in more senses than one was falling about their ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JOHN PALMER
+
+1782-1792
+
+
+The apathy of the Post Office about this time is incomprehensible. More
+than twenty years before, the General Convention of the Royal Boroughs
+of Scotland had called the attention of the postmasters-general to the
+intolerable slowness of the post on the Great North Road. "Every common
+traveller," they wrote, "passes the King's mail on the first road in the
+kingdom." At the present time the clerks of the roads were giving as one
+of the reasons why they were undersold in the matter of newspapers that,
+whereas they sent their wares by post, the booksellers and printers
+availed themselves of the more expeditious conveyance by stage-coach.
+Yet it seems never to have occurred to the postmasters-general that what
+was being done by others they might do themselves. The lesson that was
+lost upon the postmasters-general was to be learnt and applied by John
+Palmer, proprietor of the theatre at Bath.
+
+Palmer had, while yet at school, been distinguished for a love of
+enterprise, an indomitable perseverance, and an activity of body which
+knew no fatigue and set distance at defiance. He had, through sheer
+persistency, obtained a patent for his theatre at Bath, which thus
+became the first Theatre-Royal out of the metropolis. At a time when the
+mail leaving London on Monday night did not arrive at Bath until
+Wednesday afternoon, he had been in the habit of accomplishing the
+distance between the two cities in a single day. He had made journeys
+equally long and equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result
+of observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the horses kept at
+the post-houses it was always the worst that were set aside to carry the
+mail, and that the post was the slowest mode of conveyance in the
+kingdom. He had also observed that, where security or despatch was
+required, his neighbours at Bath who might desire to correspond with
+London would make a letter up into a parcel and send it by
+stage-coach,[59] although the cost by stage-coach was, porterage
+included, 2s. and by post 4d. Not seldom, indeed, the difference would
+be more than 1s. 8d., for to prevent delay on the part of the porters in
+London one of these clandestine letters would as often as not have
+written on the back, "An extra sum will be given the porter if he
+delivers this letter immediately."
+
+  [59] Thus, Mrs. Thrale to Doctor Johnson. Writing from Bath on the 4th
+  of July 1784, she says: "I write by the coach the more speedily and
+  effectually to prevent your coming hither."--Hayward's _Autobiography of
+  Mrs. Piozzi_, vol. i. p. 241.
+
+Starting from these premises Palmer, with characteristic energy, set
+himself to devise a plan for the reform of the Post Office. This plan
+was simply that the mails--which, to use his own words, had heretofore
+been trusted to some idle boy without character, mounted on a worn-out
+hack, who, so far from being able to defend himself against a robber,
+was more likely to be in league with one--should for the future be
+carried by coach. The coach should be guarded, and should carry no
+outside passenger. For guard no one could be better than a soldier, who
+would be skilled in the use of firearms. He should carry two short guns
+or blunderbusses, and sit on the top of the coach with the mail behind
+him. From this position he could command the road and observe suspicious
+persons. The coachman also should carry arms; but in his case they
+should be pistols. A speed should be maintained of eight or nine miles
+an hour. Thus, the distance between London and Bath would, stoppages
+included, be accomplished in sixteen hours instead of thirty-eight; and
+these stoppages should, in point of time, be largely reduced. As the
+coach arrived at the end of each stage there would be little more for
+the postmaster to do than to put into the mail bag the outgoing letters
+and to take out of the bag the letters that were coming in. Surely a
+quarter of an hour would be ample for the purpose. He must indeed be an
+inexpert postmaster who could not change his letters as soon as the
+ostler changes his horses. Strict punctuality should be observed. Each
+postmaster should be on the spot and to the moment to receive the mail
+when it arrived; and if it did not arrive to time, a man on horseback
+should be despatched to ascertain the cause of delay. This, in the event
+of the coach having been stopped by highwaymen, would secure immediate
+pursuit.
+
+And how little would be the cost of the proposed reform. It was doubtful
+indeed whether there would be any additional cost at all. The mails were
+now being conveyed at a charge for boy and horse of 3d. a mile. It was
+certain that men might be found who for this rate of payment would be
+glad to convey them by coach. Especially would this be the case if the
+coaches which carried the mails were exempt, as they ought to be, from
+toll. Between London and Bath, for instance, the toll was, for a
+carriage and pair, 9s., and for a carriage and four, 18s. Exemption from
+this impost would of itself be no inconsiderable boon to the
+contractors. Besides, the speed and security of a mail coach would
+attract passengers. At all events something, it was clear, must be done.
+As matters stood it was an intolerable hardship that persons sending
+letters by coach should be subject to penalties. A coach might go at a
+time when there was no post; and a letter might require immediate
+despatch. Yet, rather than make use of the coach and pay half a crown,
+one was obliged to hire an express, which was less expeditious, at a
+cost of two or three guineas. Surely, if no other change were made, this
+at least should be conceded--that any one taking a letter to the Post
+Office and paying the proper amount of postage upon it according to its
+address should, after the letter had been impressed with the postmark
+and signed by the postmaster, be at liberty to send it by what channel
+he pleased.
+
+Such were the main features of Palmer's plan. As a subsidiary, though by
+no means a necessary, part of it he made two suggestions which it may be
+well to mention, if only because they were afterwards adopted. These
+were--1st, that the mails, which from the first establishment of the
+Post Office had not left London until between midnight and three o'clock
+in the morning, should start at eight in the evening; and 2nd, that they
+should not be kept waiting for the Government letters when these
+happened to be late. This keeping the mails waiting for the Government
+letters had, at the beginning of the century, been a constant source of
+complaint. "We take this occasion of representing to your Lordship,"
+wrote the postmasters-general to Lord Dartmouth on the 16th of March
+1710, "the great inconvenience which happened to the business of this
+office on Tuesday's night's post by the inland mails having all been
+detained here till the receipt of the Court letters, which were not
+brought by the messenger from Whitehall before half-past six on
+Wednesday morning." A similar letter of remonstrance was at the same
+time addressed to Mr. Secretary St. John. But, of late years, so
+profound had been the supineness which reigned at the Post Office that
+it may, probably enough, have been considered of little consequence
+whether the mails were delayed or not. Palmer was unable to take this
+view. To him it appeared in the highest degree improper that, for the
+sake of a few letters which after all might be of no great importance,
+the Post Office business of the whole country should be thrown out of
+gear. Far better, he urged, that the mail should leave at the proper
+hour, and that these letters, if behind time, should be sent after it by
+express. A third suggestion he made, a suggestion admirable in itself,
+and yet one that at that time was little likely to be adopted. This was
+that the Post Office should take the public into its confidence, and
+invite them to make known their wants and suggest how best these wants
+might be supplied.
+
+In October 1782, through the intervention of his friend John Pratt,
+afterwards Lord Camden, Palmer's plan was brought under the notice of
+Pitt; and Pitt, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the
+administration of Lord Shelburne, at once discerned its merits. Nothing,
+however, could be done until the Post Office had had an opportunity of
+offering its opinion on the matter, and when this opinion was
+given--which was not until July 1783--Pitt was out of office; and,
+although he returned to power as minister in the following December, the
+struggle in which he then became engaged with an unruly Parliament, and
+afterwards a general election, effectually precluded him from giving
+attention to the posts until the summer of 1784.
+
+Meanwhile Palmer devoted himself to the perfection of his plan. He
+traversed the whole of the kingdom by stage-coaches, noting down the
+time they occupied in accomplishing their journeys, the time they
+unnecessarily lost, and how they might be better regulated and made
+serviceable for the transport of the mails. He took the same opportunity
+of acquainting himself with the course of the post and carefully
+observed its defects and delays. Nor did he trust to his own exertions
+alone. In order to test the extent of clandestine traffic, he employed
+persons to watch the Bath and Bristol coaches as they started for
+London, and to count the number of parcels which appeared to contain
+letters. These persons assured him that the number was never less than
+several hundreds in the week, and in some weeks was as high as 1000.
+
+The office of postmaster-general was at this time held by Lords Carteret
+and Tankerville. Carteret had only recently been raised to the peerage.
+Appointed thirteen years before as Henry Frederick Thynne in conjunction
+with Lord le Despencer, he had, amid the conflict of parties and the
+fall of successive ministries, contrived to retain his post.
+Tankerville, on the contrary, had come in and gone out with a change of
+Government. Called upon to preside over the Post Office in 1782, he had
+left it in 1783 and had returned in January of the following year. The
+part which these two peers took in connection with Palmer's plan appears
+to have been not injudicious. Without expressing any opinion of their
+own as to its feasibility or otherwise, they contented themselves with
+collecting and forwarding to Pitt the opinions of such of their
+subordinates as were presumably qualified to judge. These were the
+district surveyors, and their verdict was unanimously against the plan.
+Of the reasons for this judgment a specimen or two will suffice. By one
+it was objected that there could be no need for the post to be the
+swiftest conveyance in the kingdom; by another, that to employ firearms
+for the protection of the mail would encourage their use on the other
+side, and thus murder might be added to robbery; by a third, that not
+only did the posts as they stood afford all reasonable accommodation,
+but it was beyond the power of human ingenuity to devise a better
+system.
+
+Of these and other objections Pitt made short work. He summoned a
+conference at the Treasury, at which were present the postmasters-general,
+Palmer, and the objectors; and having patiently listened to all that
+could be urged against the plan, he desired that it should be tried
+on what was commonly called the Bath road, the road between Bristol
+and London. This conference was held on the 21st of June 1784. On
+Saturday the 31st of July an agreement was signed under which,
+in consideration of a payment of 3d. a mile, five innholders--one
+belonging to London, one to Thatcham, one to Marlborough, and two to
+Bath--undertook to provide the horses; and on Monday the 2nd of August
+the first mail-coach began to run.
+
+It is unfortunate that of the early performances of this coach no record
+remains. We only know that on the first journey it started from Bristol
+and not from London, and that Palmer was present to see it off; that,
+ordinarily, the distance was accomplished in seventeen hours, being at
+the rate of about seven miles an hour; and that, as a result, the
+expresses to Bristol, which before 1784 had been as many as 200 in the
+year, ceased altogether. Ten or twelve years later, indeed, the
+expresses for the whole of the kingdom were not one-fifth of what,
+before 1784, was the number for the city of Bristol alone.
+
+Palmer's plan, once introduced, made rapid progress. Mail-coaches began
+to run through Norfolk and Suffolk in March 1785; and on the cross-road
+between Bristol and Portsmouth in the following May. On the 25th of July
+the plan was extended to Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool, and during
+the next two months to Gloucester and Swansea; to Hereford, Carmarthen,
+and Milford Haven; to Worcester and Ludlow; to Birmingham and
+Shrewsbury; to Chester and Holyhead; to Exeter; to Portsmouth; to Dover
+and other places. The Great North Road was reserved to the last, and
+here the plan was carried into effect in the summer of 1786.
+
+It may be convenient here to say a few words on the subject of
+nomenclature. Post-coach, a term in vogue about this time,[60] might not
+unnaturally be supposed to denote a coach in use by the Post Office.
+Such, however, was not the case. The term post-coach, like the kindred
+term post-chaise, was introduced probably early in the last century,
+and, so far as we are aware, was never employed in the sense of
+mail-coach. It should further be noticed that the term mail-coach,
+although we have employed it to make our meaning clear, did not come
+into use until after 1784. In that year, and for some little time
+afterwards, coaches which carried the mails were called diligences or
+machines, and the coachmen were called machine-drivers.
+
+  [60] Thus, the Act 20 Geo. III. cap. li. sec. 2--an Act passed four
+  years before the mails were carried by coach:--
+
+"That every person who shall keep any four-wheeled chaise or other
+machine commonly called a diligence or post-coach, or by what name
+soever such carriages now are or hereafter shall be called or known...."
+
+That the term post-coach, as distinguished from mail-coach, was in vogue
+as late as 1827 appears from evidence taken in that year before the
+Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry--"(Q.) Are you acquainted with the
+post-coaches? (A.) Not any very great deal. (Q.) Comparing them with
+mail-coaches, which do you think are the best formed? (A.) Decidedly the
+mail-coaches, I think."--Appendix to Eighteenth Report, p. 443.
+
+The plan of carrying letters by mail-coach was, on its introduction,
+sadly marred by a simultaneous or almost simultaneous increase in the
+rates of postage. Pitt had brought forward his budget on the 30th of
+June; and among the measures he proposed with a view to replenish an
+exhausted Exchequer was a tax upon coals. The proposal was not well
+received by the House, and it was afterwards withdrawn in favour of an
+increase of postage. Palmer took credit to himself that he had proposed
+the substitution. If, as would appear to be the case, the claim is well
+founded, one can only regret that he should thus wantonly have
+handicapped his own proceedings. It is true, no doubt, that he was about
+to make the post both quicker and more secure; that he would have a
+better article to dispose of, an article that would fetch a higher
+price. It is also true that his plan, weighted as it was, proved an
+unqualified success. And yet it is impossible to deny that his
+reputation as a Post Office reformer, high as it stands, would have
+stood still higher if his counsel had been on the side of reduction.
+
+The rates prescribed by the Act of 1784, as compared with those of 1765,
+were as follows:--
+
++-----------------------------+-------------------++-------------------+
+|                             |        1765.      ||        1784.      |
+|                             +----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+|         DISTANCE.           | S  | D  | T  | O  || S  | D  | T  | O  |
+|                             | i  | o  | r  | u  || i  | o  | r  | u  |
+|                             | n  | u  | e  | n  || n  | u  | e  | n  |
+|                             | g  | b  | b  | c  || g  | b  | b  | c  |
+|                             | l  | l  | l  | e  || l  | l  | l  | e  |
+|                             | e  | e  | e  | .  || e  | e  | e  | .  |
+|                             | .  | .  | .  |    || .  | .  | .  |    |
++-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+|                             |_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._||_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._|
+|Not exceeding one post stage |  1 |  2 |  3 |  4 ||  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 |
+|Exceeding one and not        |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding two post stages  |  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 ||  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 |
+|Exceeding two post stages    |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  and not exceeding 80 miles |  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 ||  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 |
+|Exceeding 80 and not         |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding 150 miles        |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
+|Exceeding 150 miles          |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 |
+|To and from Edinburgh        |  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 ||  7 | 14 | 21 | 28 |
+|                             |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|                                                                      |
+|                              { The Irish Post Office had only        |
+|                              { recently been placed under the        |
+|                              { authority of the Irish Parliament;    |
+|To and from Dublin            { and the rates of postage, not only    |
+|                              { within Ireland, but between Ireland   |
+|                              { and Great Britain, were awaiting      |
+|                              { revision.                             |
+|                                                                      |
+|     Within Scotland.        |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+| (Measured from Edinburgh.)  |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|Not exceeding one post stage |  1 |  2 |  3 |  4 ||  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 |
+|Exceeding one post stage and |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  not exceeding 50 miles     |  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 ||  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 |
+|Exceeding 50 miles and not   |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding 80 miles         |  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 ||  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 |
+|Exceeding 80 and not         |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|   exceeding 150 miles       |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
+|Exceeding 150 miles          |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 |
++-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+
+The same Act which increased the rates of postage imposed, or sought to
+impose, additional restrictions upon franking. Some concessions indeed
+were made. Letters from members of Parliament, in order to secure
+exemption, need no longer be limited, in point of weight, to two ounces
+and, in point of time, to the session of Parliament and forty days
+before and after. As part of the superscription, however, were now to be
+given the full date of the letter, the day, the month, and the year, all
+in the member's handwriting; and the letter was to be posted on the date
+which the superscription bore. These restrictions, it was confidently
+expected, would correct the worst abuses and render the concessions
+harmless. But, curiously enough, like the restrictions of 1764, they had
+an exactly contrary effect to that which was intended. The members sent
+to their constituents and friends, for use as occasion should serve,
+franks that were post-dated. These the Post Office charged, as coming
+from places where the members were known not to be. The members
+remonstrated, demanding to be informed in what respects the conditions
+of the Act had not been satisfied. The dispute waxing warm, the matter
+was referred to Pitt; and Pitt, after testing the opinion of the House,
+decided that pending fresh legislation the charges should be abandoned.
+Practically, therefore, the abuses which the Act was designed to prevent
+were not only not prevented but were given wider scope.
+
+Palmer maintained to the end of his life that during the two years which
+followed the starting of the first mail-coach he was thwarted and
+opposed by the Post Office. This charge, so far as it refers to those by
+whom the Post Office was managed and controlled, we believe to be
+groundless. That he had difficulties with contractors and postmasters is
+beyond question. Contractors were at all times troublesome persons to
+deal with, but they were not Post Office servants; and postmasters might
+well be excused if they looked askance at the new plan. Their salaries,
+low as they were, had long been shamefully reduced by exactions at
+headquarters under the name of fees; and what little they had been able
+to make out of their allowances for riding-work was now threatened by a
+system under which that work was to be done by contract. But the charge
+was not confined to contractors and postmasters. It extended to those
+who controlled and directed the Post Office, to Carteret and Tankerville
+and to their confidential adviser, the secretary; and, as we believe,
+with very insufficient reason. Carteret was indifferent. Tankerville was
+sincerely desirous of a reform of the posts, from whatever quarter it
+might come. Anthony Todd, the secretary, was eminently a man of peace.
+Appointed to the Post Office in 1738, he had arrived at a time of life
+when to most men ease and quiet are essential; and not only was he well
+advanced in years but it was not in his nature to thwart or oppose any
+one. All he wanted was to be left alone; and he was shrewd enough to
+know that the best way to secure this object was not to molest others.
+
+Between Todd and Palmer, indeed, there was little in common. Palmer, in
+everything he undertook, was intensely in earnest. Todd, on the
+contrary, could with difficulty get up even an appearance of earnestness
+about anything which did not concern himself. Even of his duty Todd took
+a view which must have been absolutely repugnant to Palmer. Lloyds's
+coffee-house was supplied by the Post Office with the arrivals and
+sailings of British ships, and it paid for the information no less than
+£200 a year. One-half of this amount went into Todd's own pocket; and
+yet, according to him, the giving of the information was a concession,
+an indulgence. "The merchants," he would write, "are indulged with ship
+news." To the Mayor of Shrewsbury, who had asked on behalf of the
+inhabitants for an earlier post, he deliberately wrote, "The arrival of
+the mail a few hours sooner or later can be of no great consequence."
+Not many years before, a despatch sent by express from Lord North to the
+Duke of Newcastle had been lost. Even to the minister Todd was not
+ashamed to write, "I dare to say there is no roguery in the case, but
+[that the letter has been] lost and trampled under foot in the dirty
+roads." Between a man who could take this view of his duty and Palmer,
+who was burning to perfect his plan, there could be little sympathy; but
+there was certainly no active antagonism. That, as Palmer extended his
+plan, doubts as to its merits arose at headquarters is perfectly true;
+but they were honest doubts, doubts which might excusably be entertained
+and which, if entertained, the Post Office was bound to express. Palmer,
+who regarded every one who was not for him as being against him,
+construed the expression of a doubt into an act of hostility.
+
+Let us see what some of these doubts were, and whence they originated.
+In London, before the introduction of Palmer's plan, it had been the
+practice to wait for the arrival of all the mails before any one of them
+was delivered, so that in the event of a single mail being behind time,
+no delivery at all might take place until three or four o'clock in the
+afternoon or even later. Palmer, of course, altered this. But now his
+interest in the Bristol coach led him to an opposite extreme. The
+Bristol mail was delivered the moment it arrived; and all other mails,
+by how little soever they might be later, were kept waiting. Again,
+before 1784 the post was frequently diverted from the high road in order
+that adjacent villages might be served. On the Bath road, for instance,
+although on this road there were fewer diversions than on any other in
+the kingdom, the post left the turnpike road between Hungerford and
+Marlborough in order to go through Ramsbury. Under the new arrangement
+it would have defeated Palmer's object to leave the direct track, if
+indeed the state of the roads would have admitted of it; and as the
+coaches could not go to the villages, the villages had to send to the
+coaches. Not in these cases alone was there, at first, a very general
+failure to effect a junction. Along every road on which a mail-coach was
+started the bye and cross posts were deranged and thrown into confusion;
+and, as a consequence, the Post Office was swamped with complaints from
+those whose letters had been delayed.
+
+Had this been all, it would have been little more than might be expected
+in the course of transition from one system to another; but other causes
+of dissatisfaction arose. The Act of Parliament regulated the rates of
+postage according to stages--2d. in the case of a single letter, for one
+stage, 3d. for two stages, and beyond two stages and not exceeding
+eighty miles 4d.; but what was meant by the term stage the Act nowhere
+defined. Virtually it was in the power of one man, by the simple
+expedient of reducing the length of the stages and so increasing their
+number, to raise the rate of postage between any two towns in the
+kingdom that were not more than a certain number of miles apart. And
+this is exactly what Palmer did. From Rochester to Dartford, for
+instance, had been one stage. The single stage was replaced by two
+stages; and the postage, which had been 2d., became 3d. From Newbury to
+Devizes had been two stages. The two stages were increased to three; and
+the postage was raised from 3d. to 4d. And so it was throughout the
+kingdom. Well might the postmasters-general write, as they wrote under
+date the 7th of December 1785, "We are now at a loss in many instances
+how to rate letters and what to call by the name of a stage."
+
+But not even the increase of postage which resulted from shortening the
+stages gave so much offence as the earlier closing of the Post Office in
+Lombard Street. The Post Office had from the earliest times been kept
+open to at least twelve o'clock at night, and probably a little later.
+It now closed at seven o'clock in the evening, so as to admit of the
+mails starting at eight o'clock. Palmer had foreseen that objections
+might be raised to the change; but he was little prepared for the storm
+of indignation that followed. The first merchants in London, some of
+them bearing names still honoured in the city,--Thellusson, Lubbock and
+Bosanquet, Herries, Quentin Dick and Hoare,--protested in writing and
+afterwards waited on the postmasters-general in a body to support their
+protest. The leather-dealers followed suit, a body representing more
+than sixty firms. Some held that the Post Office should be kept open
+till nine o'clock, and others till ten or even eleven o'clock; but all
+were of opinion that seven was too early an hour to close. At a meeting
+held at the London Tavern, and presided over by one of the sheriffs,
+resolutions were passed, copies of which were afterwards presented to
+Pitt in person, not only condemning the early hour of closing but
+calling for the adoption of measures with a view "to remove the
+inconveniences which had hitherto been experienced from the
+establishment of mail-coaches." No wonder if the postmasters-general
+doubted the merits of a plan which exposed them to these complaints.
+
+Nor was it only from without that troubles came. The letter-carriers
+were grumbling and more than grumbling; and not without reason. For more
+than seventy years they had been ringing bells in the streets after the
+receiving houses were shut--until 1769 on the three nights of the week
+called grand post nights, and since that date on the bye-nights as
+well--receiving as their own perquisite 1d. on each letter they
+collected. Hence the men had made a comfortable addition to their wages
+of 12s. a week; and now, owing to the closing of the Post Office at
+seven, the emoluments derived from this source were rapidly dwindling
+and promised soon to disappear altogether.
+
+Between Carteret and Tankerville differences now arose which, in view of
+subsequent events, it is impossible to pass unnoticed. On the break-up
+of the Shelburne administration in 1783, when Tankerville left the Post
+Office and Carteret remained, the two postmasters-general had parted
+with mutual expressions of regard and goodwill. A questionable
+transaction in which Carteret had been concerned, a transaction
+partaking of the nature of a corrupt bargain, had indeed come under
+Tankerville's notice; but he willingly attributed it to the malign
+influence exercised by his predecessor, Lord le Despencer. This
+favourable construction his later experience had induced him to modify.
+One case in particular which occurred soon after his return to the Post
+Office had aroused the most painful suspicions. On Monday the 2nd of
+August 1784, the same day as that on which the first mail-coach started,
+the Post Office of Ireland was separated from the Post Office of
+England. Into the reasons of this separation, being as they were
+political, we do not propose to enter. Suffice it to say that the
+Government of Ireland took advantage of the occasion to displace Armit,
+the secretary to the Irish Post Office, and to reappoint John Lees, who
+had been secretary from 1774 to 1781, when he was promoted to the War
+Office. On his reappointment Lees wrote to the postmasters-general in
+London recapitulating the conditions on which he had been appointed ten
+years before, and stating that to those conditions, onerous as they
+were, he proposed in the main to adhere. He was indeed under no
+obligation in the matter, for he owed his reappointment to the Irish
+Government; but of this circumstance he had no desire to avail himself.
+Armit had taken over the conditions from Lees; and Lees would now resume
+them from Armit. Let us see what the conditions were. In 1774 Barham,
+the packet agent at Dover, being compelled by ill-health to retire, was
+succeeded by Walcot, the secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, and
+Walcot was succeeded by Lees, who was new to the service. Barham, though
+superannuated, was during his life to receive from Walcot the full
+salary and emoluments of the packet agency, and Walcot was during the
+same period to receive from Lees the full salary and emoluments of the
+secretaryship. Lees was meanwhile to receive from Walcot a small
+allowance for acting as secretary. Thus far there was nothing unusual in
+the arrangement. On the contrary, it was an arrangement which in those
+days was very commonly made. That which was unusual, and which nowhere
+appeared in the official records, was an undertaking into which Lees had
+entered to the effect that, after Barham's death, he would make to a
+fourth person during that person's life an annual payment of £350. This
+engagement Lees, when reappointed in 1784, expressed himself unwilling
+to renew. He was quite prepared to resume the payment to Walcot, reduced
+only to the same extent as by recent legislation the secretary's
+emoluments had been reduced; but the reversionary payment to the
+gentleman whom he would designate by the initials A. B. rested on
+different grounds. From this he must beg to be released.
+
+Now, who was A. B.? This was the question which Tankerville asked; and
+asked in vain. He could obtain no information on the subject. Meanwhile
+Carteret, who was extremely displeased and disquieted at the disclosure,
+caused an expression of his severe displeasure to be conveyed to Lees
+that he should have presumed to make public a transaction which was
+obviously designed to be private. Lees replied that, as he would be
+unable to keep the engagement, he was bound in honour to state so; that
+he had made known nothing more than was absolutely necessary in order
+to obtain an acquittance, namely, that after Barham's death an annuity
+of £350 had been agreed to be paid to some one; but who this some one
+was had been, and would continue to be, a profound secret. In London it
+had been whispered, and more than whispered, that A. B. was Carteret
+himself. On this point Lees was emphatic. The transaction, he said,
+concerns no postmaster-general, either living or dead. "With Lord
+Carteret it has personally no more to do than with the King of France."
+
+Tankerville, though profoundly dissatisfied, resolved to let the matter
+drop; and during the next eighteen months the feeling of distrust with
+which he regarded Carteret did not prevent the two postmasters-general
+from working together harmoniously. It was not until June 1786 that an
+open rupture occurred. Some furniture had been ordered for the
+housekeeper's apartments, and Tankerville, regarding it as of too
+luxurious a nature, refused to countersign the bill unless the secretary
+could produce a precedent for the expense. This Todd might have had some
+difficulty in doing, as no housekeeper had resided on the Post Office
+premises since the year 1740; but instead of offering an explanation to
+that effect he waited for the next Board meeting, and, having already
+procured Carteret's signature to the bill, put it before Tankerville
+without remark. Tankerville, who never signed a document without
+examining its contents, inquired whether this was not the housekeeper's
+bill to which he had taken exception, and, on being answered in the
+affirmative, told Todd that he had been guilty of a gross impropriety.
+Carteret, who had made no secret of his opinion that it was no part of a
+postmaster-general's duty to check tradesmen's accounts, took Todd's
+part; whereupon Tankerville, whose temper was always running away with
+him, observed that he would do no jobs, and that if a good understanding
+between himself and Carteret were only to be procured by such means he
+would rather that they should continue on their present terms.
+
+The next business set down for discussion had a termination still more
+unfortunate. The office of comptroller of the bye and cross roads had
+become vacant, and Carteret, whose turn it was to appoint, had appointed
+Staunton, the postmaster of Isleworth. In addition to a salary of £500 a
+year, the appointment carried a residence in the Post Office building;
+and as the residence occupied by the late comptroller had by Pitt's
+desire been given to Palmer, Carteret proposed that Staunton should be
+recommended to the Treasury for an allowance of £100 a year as
+compensation. Tankerville, who had been in personal communication with
+Pitt and ascertained that he would object to an allowance for such a
+purpose, declined to join in the recommendation, explaining the reason.
+Carteret's remarks implied, or seemed to imply, a doubt whether Pitt had
+really been seen on the subject, as alleged. Tankerville again lost his
+temper. High words ensued, and the Board broke up, Carteret declaring
+that it was impossible they should continue to act as joint
+postmasters-general, and that he should at once wait upon Pitt and
+inform him to that effect.
+
+Carteret was as good as his word. In three days from the date of the
+Board meeting at which the altercation had taken place he waited upon
+Pitt; and Pitt, after labouring in vain to effect a reconciliation, at
+length dismissed Tankerville. Tankerville, who had been in constant
+communication with the minister on the subject of the abuses at the Post
+Office, and had sedulously applied himself to their correction, was
+hardly less surprised than he was indignant; and restating the origin of
+the disagreement between himself and his colleague, he demanded to be
+informed in what respects he had been to blame. Pitt replied that he
+could not enter into the merits of the question; that all it concerned
+him to know was that Carteret was necessary to him in the House of
+Lords; and that, as Carteret had expressed himself unable to act any
+longer with Tankerville, it had become essential to make another
+arrangement.
+
+This decision as between two colleagues, of whom one was as clearly
+actuated by honesty of purpose as the other was not, a decision given
+too by a minister who had already established a character for purity of
+administration, seems so extraordinary that we must look for some
+further explanation. The truth we believe to be that owing to an
+ungovernable temper Tankerville was simply intractable, and had shewn
+himself to Pitt to be so. Even Todd, who with all his faults was
+essentially a man of peace, was unable to get on with him. "I am sorry
+to say," he wrote on one occasion, "your Lordship is the only
+postmaster-general I have not had the happiness to serve under with his
+perfect approbation." On another occasion he wrote to Carteret: "I have
+had a very unpleasant day of it. His Lordship is so completely jealous
+and wrong-headed, so that without entering into unpleasing particulars I
+had better leave him to his own thoughts." Tankerville's own letters
+afford evidence to the same effect. "I shall not be disposed to talk
+coolly on the subject of Mr. Dashwood, or hear anything you may have to
+say, unless you can prove him guilty of fraud, which I do not admit, but
+now tell you distinctly that I believe Lord Carteret has been indebted
+to you for that forced construction." Again, "I do not find that I cool
+very fast," Tankerville wrote from Brighton a week or so after the
+incident which had excited his ire. Ever his own worst enemy, he now
+spoiled a good ease, so far as it was possible to spoil it, by
+intemperate writing. Instead of keeping to the main question, he rambled
+off into side-issues which were all but irrelevant. Carteret had spoken
+of one interview with Pitt. Pitt had expressed himself as though there
+had been more than one. The point was absolutely unimportant. Yet
+Tankerville fastened upon it, and, declaring that one or the other must
+have been guilty of untruth, called upon them as men of honour to
+reconcile the discrepancy.
+
+Intemperate as Tankerville's language had been, it was impossible that
+things should remain as they were. Nothing but a public inquiry would
+satisfy the justice of the case; and on this he was resolved. It was a
+matter of regret to him to impeach Carteret's conduct; but there was no
+other method of vindicating his own. "The causes of my removal," he
+wrote, "shall be made as public as the injury; and, however gratified
+your Lordship and those in concert with you may at present feel by the
+success of your measures, I will take upon me to foretell that the
+triumph will soon be at an end. I have been removed; others will be
+disgraced." "When your Lordship," replied Carteret, "shall think proper
+to bring this matter before the public, I flatter myself my conduct will
+be unimpeached."
+
+A Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry was granted, and met for the first
+time on the 16th of May 1787. The session terminated on the 30th of the
+same month. Short as the interval was, evidence enough was taken to
+substantiate all and more than all that Tankerville had alleged. The
+Committee reported that a payment of £350 a year had been exacted from
+Lees as a condition of his appointment as secretary to the Post Office
+in Ireland; that a payment of £200 a year had been similarly exacted
+from Dashwood, the postmaster-general of Jamaica; that, while Lees had
+engaged to pay only in a future event, the payment in Dashwood's case
+had begun from the date of his appointment; that both payments were in
+favour of the person who had been designated by the initials A. B.; that
+the transactions, though protested against at the time, had been
+insisted upon by Lords Carteret and Le Despencer; and that not only had
+no record of them been made in the official books, but they had been
+kept carefully concealed. The Committee further reported that scandalous
+abuses had been found to exist at the Post Office, abuses which should
+be examined into and corrected forthwith; and that of many of these the
+First Lord of the Treasury had been specifically informed by Lord
+Tankerville before the latter was dismissed.
+
+The chief interest of the inquiry, however, centred in the question--who
+was A. B.? A. B. proved to be one Peregrine Treves, a so-called friend
+of Carteret's, who had never performed any public service either in the
+Post Office or elsewhere. "Are you not a Jew and a foreigner?" asked the
+inexorable Committee. "Yes," was the reply. "In consideration of what
+services," the Committee continued, "did you receive these grants?"
+"From friendship entirely," answered Treves.
+
+Tankerville's prediction had been amply fulfilled. It was not he that
+was disgraced. Yet, curiously enough, Carteret made no sign. And even
+Pitt did nothing more than expedite the proceedings of a Royal
+Commission which was already sitting. This Commission had been appointed
+at his instigation some years before to inquire into the duties and the
+pay of certain public departments, of which the Post Office was one. It
+was now arranged that the Post Office was to be the next to come under
+review.
+
+During these dissensions at headquarters Palmer's plan had made steady
+progress. Many of the irregularities inseparable from the introduction
+of a new system had been corrected. The cross-posts had been fitted to
+the mail-coaches, so that failures of connection were daily becoming
+fewer; and when the merchants found that answers to their letters were
+being received in less than half the usual time, and with a degree of
+punctuality never experienced before, their complaints respecting the
+early closing of the Post Office appear to have died away. The Post
+Office revenue bore evidence to the improved state of things, the net
+receipt during the quarter ending the 5th of January 1787 being £73,000,
+as against £51,000 during the corresponding quarter of 1784. According
+to all experience, the increase in the rates of postage should have had
+the effect of reducing the number of letters; but so far was this from
+being the case that the number of letters had increased in spite of the
+increase of rates. The truth is that clandestine correspondence had to a
+large extent ceased. There was no longer any temptation to send by
+irregular means, at a cost of two or three shillings, and at the risk of
+detection, a letter which would be conveyed at least as expeditiously
+and for one-third of that amount by mail-coach.
+
+Palmer, who had to this time been assisted by persons selected by
+himself and not belonging to the Post Office, now bestirred himself to
+procure for them an established position. Public and private interests
+were for once identical. Hitherto there had been only three surveyors
+for the whole of England; and of these one had resided in London. At
+Palmer's instigation, England was now divided into six postal districts,
+and a surveyor allotted to each. A seventh or spare surveyor was held in
+readiness to be detached to any part of the kingdom where his services
+might be required. Each surveyor was to reside in the centre of his
+district, and his functions, shortly stated, were to keep an accurate
+record of the posts and of the persons under his charge, to see that
+these persons did their duty, to facilitate correspondence and to remedy
+complaints. The resident surveyorship, an appointment which had been
+created in 1742, was abolished as no longer necessary, Palmer himself
+being at hand to give what advice the postmasters-general might require.
+The mode of remuneration was also altered. Hitherto the surveyors had
+received a salary of £300 a year without any allowance for travelling,
+the consequence being of course that they had travelled as little as
+possible. For the future the salary was to be only £100; but as an
+inducement to them to move about within their own districts, they were
+to have one guinea a day when absent from their headquarters. The whole
+of the additional appointments were conferred upon Palmer's nominees,
+and for the seventh or spare surveyorship he selected Francis Freeling,
+a young man of promise, who during the last two years had been actively
+engaged in regulating the mail-coaches throughout the country.
+
+It was about this time or a little earlier that the conditions of
+Palmer's own employment were, at length, definitely settled, but not by
+any means to his own satisfaction. His first stipulation was that,
+besides being absolutely free from the control of the postmasters-general,
+he should have a commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon all increase in
+the net Post Office revenue, which should follow as the result of
+his own plan. Thus, the net Post Office revenue before August 1784
+being estimated at £150,000, he stipulated for one-fortieth part of
+the excess over that amount. To this Pitt agreed; but freedom from the
+control of the postmasters-general was a point which it was out of his
+power to concede. The Act of Parliament constituting the Post Office
+would not admit of it. Even nominal subjection to the postmasters-general
+was so irksome to Palmer that he was constantly pressing that a
+special Act might be passed to give him perfect freedom. Nor was
+this all. The increase in the rates of postage which came into
+operation one month after the starting of the first mail-coach was
+estimated to produce £90,000 a year, and Pitt deemed it only reasonable
+that this amount should be added to the previous revenue of £150,000,
+making £240,000 altogether, before Palmer could be allowed to draw his
+percentage. Of this variation of the original understanding Palmer
+bitterly complained, not seeing apparently that, as the increase of
+rates had been recommended by himself, the complaint reflected on his
+own singleness of purpose in making the recommendation.
+
+Eventually it was decided that, in addition to a commission of 2-1/2 per
+cent upon the net revenue in excess of £240,000, Palmer should receive a
+salary of £1500; but even this settlement was not arrived at without
+grumbling on Palmer's part, and without serious misgiving on the part of
+the Post Office. Pitt highly approved the percentage, holding that it
+would serve as a constant incentive to exertion. Tankerville, while not
+denying the expediency of such a mode of remuneration, questioned its
+legality. Under the Act of Anne, which a subsequent Act had made
+perpetual, the Post Office revenue was appropriated to certain specific
+purposes; and he doubted the propriety of diverting any part of it as a
+reward for services, however meritorious. Clarendon, Tankerville's
+successor, entertained the same scruples; and except by the
+postmasters-general no appointment within the Post Office could be
+made. Palmer's objection, on the contrary, was to the amount of salary,
+on the ground that £1500 did not represent the fortieth part of £90,000.
+Pitt declined, however, to give way; and on the 11th of October 1786
+Palmer was appointed comptroller-general of the Post Office on the terms
+prescribed by the minister.
+
+There can be no question that Palmer bargaining for terms is Palmer seen
+in his least pleasing aspect. The best that can be said is that he was
+candid enough not to disguise his object, which was to amass a fortune.
+At Bath he had in his boyhood seen Ralph Allen living in a large house
+and dispensing hospitality on an extensive scale, and he could not bring
+himself to understand why the difference between his own and Allen's
+remuneration should be in the inverse ratio to the value of their
+improvements. And not only did Palmer exhibit an unworthy jealousy of
+Allen, but he did that good man, as we think, an injustice. When urging
+his own claims on the minister, he constantly insisted that Allen, on
+the introduction of his plan, had no difficulties to contend with, and
+that he kept that plan a secret. Never was there a more untenable
+position. That Allen had difficulties to contend with and how he
+overcame them we have seen in a preceding chapter; and the charge of
+keeping his plan a secret is refuted by the conditions of his contract,
+which prevented him from giving an instruction even to his own servants
+until it had been submitted to headquarters. No doubt it was not known
+until after his death that Allen had derived from the Post Office an
+income of £12,000 a year. His wealth had been supposed to come from the
+stone-quarries he possessed on Combe Down. But this was not the
+contention. What Palmer insisted upon was that, while he had disclosed
+his plan, Allen had kept his plan secret, and that, if only on that
+ground, the balance of merit was on his own side.
+
+In December 1787 the Commission of Inquiry commenced its labours.
+Exactly a century had elapsed since the Post Office had undergone a
+similar ordeal, a period too long for any public department to be left
+to itself; and meanwhile abuses had taken root and flourished. One
+hundred years before there had been no sinecures. Now the principal
+officers attended, some of them only occasionally and others not at all;
+and attendance, when attendance was given, often extended no later than
+to one or two o'clock in the afternoon. The receiver-general, for
+instance, attended on three days a week; and the accountant-general
+attended once or twice in three months, when the quarterly balance had
+to be made up. Court-post employed a deputy, to whom, out of a salary of
+£730, he made an annual allowance of £58. The solicitor, like
+court-post, was an absentee, but, unlike him, was careful not to part
+with even a fraction of his salary. In this case the deputy received as
+remuneration one-third part of the law charges incurred--a form of
+payment calculated more perhaps than any other to promote litigation. In
+the Penny Post Office were three principal officers--a comptroller, an
+accountant, and a collector. Of these the first two gave no attendance,
+and the third attended only occasionally, their duties being imposed
+upon the chief sorter, who, in all but salary, was practically the head
+of the department.
+
+Meagre salaries were bolstered up by fees and perquisites, many of them
+of an outrageous character. While the senior letter-carrier was rigidly
+restricted to 312 candles in the year, a number not perhaps in excess of
+his actual requirements, there was hardly an officer reputed to be of
+any position in the Post Office, whether an absentee or otherwise, who
+was not provided with coals and candles for his private use. Although to
+some the supply of these articles was greater than to others, the usual
+annual allowance was, in the case of a subordinate, four, and, in the
+case of the head of a department, ten chaldron of coals, and in both
+cases thirty-two dozen pounds of candles. As the holder of two
+appointments, although he discharged the duties of only one of them, the
+comptroller of the bye and cross roads received a double allowance. Many
+commuted with the tradesmen whose duty it was to supply the articles for
+a money payment. Altogether the allowance to Post Office servants for
+their private use in town and country, and irrespective of what was
+consumed in the official apartments, exceeded in a single year 300
+chaldron of coals and 20,000 pounds of candles.
+
+The postmasters-general had long ceased to reside in the Post Office
+building; and yet to them was supplied, besides coals and candles, what
+was euphoniously termed tinware, by which is to be understood kitchen
+utensils. The expenditure on their account under the three heads during
+two years and a half was, for coals £2230, for candles £700, and for
+pots and pans £150.
+
+Of stationery there was also a gratuitous supply for private as well as
+official use. One fee was a peculiarly cruel one, exacted as it was from
+a class of public servants who were unable to protect themselves. All
+postmasters whose salaries amounted to as much as £20 were forced to
+renew their deputations every three years, with no other object than to
+enrich the harpies at headquarters. On each renewal the same fee had to
+be paid as on appointment, namely £4:11s.; and of this amount 30s. went
+to each of the postmasters-general, 10s. to the secretary, 10s. to the
+solicitor, and 1s. to the door-keeper. The remainder was for stamp duty.
+Postmasters were also required to pay a fee of half a guinea before
+receiving a warrant to exempt them from serving in public offices.
+Christmas-boxes given by the merchants, and designed for the
+letter-carriers and other subordinates, were to a large extent
+appropriated by their superiors. From this source the comptroller of the
+foreign office, with an official income of £1300, was not ashamed to
+derive £34 a year. Others from the same source derived smaller amounts.
+Newspapers for reading were supplied in profligate profusion. One head
+of department was allowed for his own use two morning and five evening
+papers; another was paid £42:16s. a year to supply himself with what
+papers he pleased. All, whether absentees or not, received an annual
+payment under the title of drink and feast money, the lowest amount
+being £1:17s. and the highest £3:17s., and this was in addition to
+three or four so-called feasts given annually at the cost of the
+department. These with percentages on tradesmen's bills were some of the
+fees and perquisites which were now dragged to the light.
+
+Out of the whole number there was only one which, besides being moderate
+and unobjectionable, possessed a certain interest as denoting the
+connection which had at one time subsisted between the Post Office and
+the Crown. This was a fee of 1s. received by the chief sorter at the
+General Post Office on the occasion of a birthday in the Royal Family;
+and as the Royal Family now consisted of twenty-one members, his
+emoluments from this source amounted to one guinea in the year.
+
+There were two points on which the Royal Commissioners appear to have
+received less than full information. These were expresses and registered
+letters. Expresses, according to the old custom of the post, were still
+going at the rate of only six miles an hour, while the mail-coaches were
+going at the rate of eight. To this difference the Commissioners called
+attention; but they were silent as to the fees which some expresses
+paid, being apparently under the impression that all were treated alike.
+As a matter of fact, however, expresses had by this time been divided
+into two kinds--the public express and the private express. The public
+express, that is the express on public affairs, was allowed to pass
+without a fee, no doubt because the Post Office dared not impose one;
+but on every private express, in addition to the authorised mileage, was
+charged, if from London, a fee of 12s. 6d., and if from the country, a
+fee of 2s. 6d.; and of course in this, as in every other case, the fees
+were for the benefit of individuals.
+
+On the subject of registered letters addressed to places abroad the
+Commissioners merely expressed the opinion that the registration fee,
+instead of being any longer treated as a perquisite, should be applied
+to the use of the public; but they nowhere stated, and perhaps had not
+been informed, what this fee was. It may be interesting if we supply the
+omission. The fee for registering a packet of value was, outwards[61]
+21s., and inwards 5s. It seems incredible, and yet such is the
+unquestionable fact. For every letter registered for abroad the
+comptroller of the foreign office received 10s. 6d., the
+deputy-comptroller 4s. 6d., and six clerks 1s. apiece. One guinea for
+registration! And it was all the more monstrous because there can be
+little doubt that at one time letters had been practically registered
+without any fee at all. An Order in Council dated as far back as July
+1556 had ordained "that the poste between this and the Northe should
+eche of them keepe a booke and make entrye of every letter that he shall
+receive, the tyme of the deliverie thereof unto his hands with the
+parties names that shall bring it unto him, whose handes he shall also
+take to his booke, witnessing the same note to be trewe." In 1603
+another Order in Council passed, requiring that "every post shall keepe
+a large and faire leger paper booke, to enter our packets in as they
+shalbe brought unto him, with the day of the moneth, houre of the day or
+night, that they came first to his handes, together with the name of him
+or them, by whom or unto whom they were subscribed and directed." In
+1680 Dockwra, when establishing his penny post, was careful to provide
+that letters on reaching any one of his seven sorting offices should be
+"entered"; and in a mere detail of treatment, it may well be believed,
+he followed the practice of the general post. In 1707 letters from
+abroad arriving at Harwich were not to be forwarded to the Court at
+Newmarket until the addresses had been copied. And more than this. In
+1709 two letters between London and Ostend had been delayed, and it
+became important to discover where the delay had occurred. "We find
+them," wrote the postmasters-general, "both duly entered in Mr. Frowde's
+books, and are satisfy'd they were regularly dispatched from this
+office." Now Mr. Frowde was comptroller of the foreign office. It may
+be added that, small as was the force employed at the end of the
+seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, it is difficult
+to account for the length of time which was then occupied in dealing
+with a mere handful of letters except on the hypothesis that there was a
+good deal more to be done than to sort and to tax them. And now the Post
+Office, upon no better authority than its own will, was exacting a fee
+of 21s. and 5s., according as the letter was outwards or inwards, for
+doing what some eighty years before had been done for nothing. The sums
+extorted from the public under this head were in 1783 £121, and in the
+following year £240.
+
+  [61] A foreign registered letter _outwards_ would be a letter registered
+  as far as Dover or Harwich or Falmouth for transmission abroad, and
+  possibly on board ship. A foreign registered letter _inwards_ would not
+  be the exact converse, for there would be no registration from the port
+  of arrival to London. The fee of 5s. covered the registration of a
+  letter only from London to its destination.
+
+As regards the working arrangements, Palmer, in virtue of the power he
+possessed as comptroller-general, had already corrected those that were
+most faulty. Until lately, the letter-carriers' walks had been so
+extensive that many of the deliveries could not be accomplished within
+five or six hours. Palmer had arranged that no delivery should occupy
+more than two hours or two hours and a half at the utmost, counting from
+the time of despatch from the General Post Office. It had been the
+practice for the junior clerks, the clerks with the least experience, to
+sort the letters for delivery, the consequence being that they reached
+the letter-carriers' hands in so confused a state that they had to be
+sorted again. Hence it had been by no means unusual for an interval of
+four or five hours to elapse between the arrival of the last mail and
+the going out of the letter-carriers. By appointing some of the most
+intelligent letter-carriers to sort the letters in the first instance,
+Palmer had reduced the interval to one hour on ordinary, and to one hour
+and a half on extraordinary occasions. As many as 400 postmasters had
+returned their letter-bills in one week, and on the plea of having been
+overcharged had claimed and been allowed deductions. Palmer had checked
+this abuse by arranging that in the case of those postmasters who were
+in the habit of returning their letter-bills the charges should be twice
+told. He had also reduced the amount expended on extra duty by £2000 a
+year. Heretofore, if a man had chosen to absent himself, the Post Office
+had provided a substitute. For the future the substitute was to be
+provided at the absentee's own expense.
+
+But although Palmer had already corrected the most faulty of the
+arrangements, some still existed which could not be pronounced good. The
+accountant-general was intended to be a check upon the receiver-general;
+yet, instead of keeping an independent record of the sums received, he
+merely transcribed or caused to be transcribed the entries from the
+receiver-general's books. The accountant-general, again, was required to
+certify every bill before the postmasters-general passed it for payment;
+but as he was not empowered to call for vouchers or for the authority
+under which the expenditure had been incurred, his certificate conveyed
+nothing more than that the bill had been rightly cast. The accounts
+themselves appear to have been rendered in the strangest manner. The
+article "Dead Letters," for instance, was made to serve a variety of
+purposes. Under this article postmasters were accustomed to claim
+chaise-hire, law charges, and even pensions to private persons.
+
+The packet service was a part of the Post Office which the Commissioners
+would fain have avoided if they could; but the public voice was too
+strong for them. The enormous expenditure which this service involved
+had long excited murmurs, and the opportunity which now offered of
+investigating the causes of it was one which could not with any regard
+to propriety be missed. Accordingly the inquiry was entered upon; but
+with a desire to restrict it as far as possible the Commissioners did
+not extend their investigations beyond the packet station at Falmouth,
+where more than three-fourths of the expenditure was incurred. To
+ourselves, who are under no obligation to observe a similar limit,
+perhaps a little more latitude may be allowed.
+
+The continental mails by way of Dover and Harwich went at this time only
+twice a week; and by a curious arrangement these mails started from the
+General Post Office at midnight, although the inland mails for the same
+towns and going by the same route started at eight o'clock in the
+evening. At Harwich the packet station had abandoned itself to
+smuggling. In 1774 two packets, the _Bessborough_ and the _Prince of
+Wales_, were seized for having contraband goods on board. Not a single
+voyage had these packets made during the last two years without
+committing a similar infringement of the law. The Commissioners of
+Customs, whose patience was exhausted, now commenced proceedings in the
+Court of Exchequer, and were prevailed upon to abandon them only upon
+the captains, who were also owners of the vessels, paying by way of fine
+two-third parts of their appraised value--amounting to £306 in one case
+and to £272 in the other--of which sums one-half was to go to the Crown
+and one-half to the officer by whom the goods had been discovered. This
+high reward was not long in reproducing the occasion on account of which
+it had been given. In November 1777 another seizure took place, this
+time of three packets simultaneously, two of them being the same as had
+been seized in 1774. The third was the _Dolphin_. On this occasion the
+Commissioners of Customs determined that the vessels should be
+prosecuted to condemnation. In vain the postmasters-general urged that
+the law was a hard one which made the captains responsible for offences
+which, it was alleged, they had done their best to check. The customs
+authorities were inexorable. It was not long, however, before the Post
+Office became possessed of certain facts which, when investigated,
+proved beyond a doubt that there had for years past been collusion of
+the grossest character. On every voyage contraband goods--chiefly tea,
+coffee, and gin--had, with the connivance of the local officers of
+customs, been imported in large quantities; and of these only a part, a
+comparatively small part, had been seized. Thus, the Post Office
+servants received from the goods that were left to them ample, and more
+than ample, compensation for those that were taken away; and the
+servants of the customs received from their Board in London both credit
+and reward for their vigilance. Nor was it by any means certain that the
+seizure of the packets in 1774 and again in 1777 was not another phase
+of the same collusive arrangement.
+
+At Falmouth the case was somewhat different. Smuggling, indeed, was
+going on there just as it was at Harwich. As far back as 1744 the
+customs had issued process against the captains of two of the Falmouth
+packets for having contraband goods on board. The case is only worthy of
+mention as shewing the loose notions which at that time prevailed even
+in high quarters on the subject of clandestine traffic. The
+postmasters-general of the day, Lord Lovell and Sir John Eyles, told the
+Board of Customs in so many words that their conduct was unhandsome. It
+was vain, they urged, to endeavour to prevent "these little clandestine
+importations and exportations" on board the packets; and if violent
+measures were to be resorted to, as in the present instance, no captain
+"of real worth and character" would be found to command, and "no fit and
+able" seamen to serve. Again, in 1776 the _Greyhound_ packet was seized
+at the port of Kingston in Jamaica for attempting to smuggle spirits.
+Early in 1788 the _Queen Charlotte_ packet was condemned and sold at the
+same port and for the same cause. In 1786 a special agent sent down to
+Falmouth by Tankerville reported that, according to common repute, no
+packet either proceeded on a voyage or returned from one without
+hovering about the coast for the purpose of shipping or unshipping
+goods.
+
+But, rife as smuggling was, it was something more than an infringement
+of the customs laws that now brought the packet station at Falmouth into
+notoriety. During the seventeen years ending the 5th of April 1787, the
+cost of the packets had exceeded £1,038,000; and of this amount about
+£800,000 had been expended at Falmouth. At the present day, when a
+single mail steamer costs perhaps as much as £300,000, the sum of
+£1,000,000 sterling would not go far to create and maintain a fleet; but
+a century ago it was considered, even when spread over a period of
+seventeen years, an enormous expenditure, an expenditure such as, in the
+language of the Royal Commissioners, almost to surpass credibility. And
+certainly there seems to have been good ground for this opinion. The
+packets altogether were only thirty-six in number, of which twenty-one
+were stationed at Falmouth. These were of no more than 200 tons burthen,
+and were navigated with thirty men, five of them being the property of
+the Post Office and fifteen being hired. For each of the hired boats was
+paid the annual sum of £2129, and for each of the others the annual sum
+of £1529, these sums including the charge of manning and victualling.
+The sixteen packets stationed elsewhere than at Falmouth were hired at
+ridiculously low prices, at Dover for £412 a year each, at Harwich for
+£469, and at Holyhead for £350. To expend upon the packets under such
+conditions as these more than £1,000,000 sterling in the course of
+seventeen years required no small amount of ingenuity. How was it
+managed? This was the question which the Royal Commissioners now set
+themselves to solve.
+
+The grossest abuses were found to exist. The hire of the packets had
+been paid when they were under seizure for smuggling, and under repair,
+and even when they were building. In the case of packets that were
+building and under repair the victualling allowance paid when there were
+no men to victual had amounted in twelve years and a half to £56,000.
+When packets had been taken by the enemy the hire of them had been paid
+for months beyond the date of their capture; and this was in addition to
+compensation to the owners, which, however old and rotten the packet
+might be, was fixed at her original value when taken into the service.
+Compensation to the captains had also been given for the loss of their
+private property and of provisions. For provisions the compensation had
+always been as for six months' supply, although the supply that was
+actually on board might not be enough for one month; and for their
+private property the captains had been compensated at their own
+valuation. Whatever they had asked they had received without examination
+and without question. This astounding prodigality indulged in at the
+expense of the State is easily explained. The Post Office servants in
+London, down even to the chamber-keeper, had shares in the packets; and
+of these servants the one who possessed by far the largest number of
+shares was Anthony Todd, the secretary. Todd also received a commission
+of 2-1/2 per cent upon the entire sum expended on the packet
+establishment of the kingdom. Thus, the very man whose duty it was to
+check the expenditure had a direct personal interest in making the
+expenditure as high as possible.
+
+The salary of the Secretary to the Post Office remained, as it was fixed
+in 1703, at £200 a year; and whatever Todd received over and above that
+amount, he received without authority. Let us see what his actual
+receipts were. In addition to his proper salary of £200, he had what was
+called a bye salary of £75. Bye had at one time meant out of course or
+clandestine; and this meaning would perhaps not be inappropriate here.
+He had for coach hire £100 a year. He had another £100 a year from
+Lloyds's coffee-house. He had from fees on commissions and deputations
+£154 a year. He had every year twenty chaldron of coal and twelve dozen
+of wax and sixty-four dozen of tallow candles, valued by himself at
+£103. He had an unfurnished residence with stables in the Post Office
+building; and he received annually from the East India Company eight
+pounds of tea and two dozen of arrack. But this was by no means all. As
+former clerk in the foreign branch, an appointment which he still
+retained, he had a salary of £50 and an allowance of £100 a year for
+so-called disbursements, which he never made. He had also, in his
+capacity of clerk, £15 a year for coach-hire and ten chaldron of coal
+and thirty-two dozen of candles, valued at £40. Besides all this, he had
+his commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon the entire packet expenditure of
+the country, from which source he derived in the year 1782 no less than
+£2136. Altogether, Todd's modest salary of £200 a year had, by his own
+unaided exertions, been converted into an annual income of more than
+£3000.
+
+The extent of Todd's emoluments, his commission on the packet
+expenditure, the outrageous character of some of the fees and
+perquisites which he and others were receiving, the absenteeism, the
+abuses generally--all this had long been known to Pitt. Much he had
+heard from Tankerville, and still more, probably, from Palmer. But
+before either Palmer or Tankerville became connected with the Post
+Office, Pitt had been aware of many, if not most, of the abuses which
+prevailed there. As early as 1782 one of his first acts after becoming
+Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Shelburne administration was to give
+peremptory orders that no more packets were to be either built or
+purchased without Treasury authority. For such authority it had hitherto
+been the practice to ask before setting up new packets, but not before
+replacing old ones--packets that were worn out or alleged to be worn
+out, or that had been lost or captured. This was a distinction which had
+existed since packets were first established, and to which, nearly a
+hundred years before, Cotton and Frankland had attached great
+importance. It was now to exist no longer. In 1783 Pitt called for a
+return of the fees and perquisites received at the Post Office, and it
+was not until after this return had been furnished and possibly in
+consequence of it that the Commission of Inquiry was appointed. "Did you
+ever communicate this transaction to Mr. Pitt," inquired the
+Parliamentary Committee in 1787. "I did," replied Tankerville, "but
+found him not ill-informed on the subject in general."
+
+It may seem strange that with the knowledge which he unquestionably
+possessed respecting the prevalent abuses Pitt should have allowed them
+to go on so long uncorrected. The explanation we believe to be twofold.
+In the first place he was unwilling to do or suffer to be done anything
+which might interfere with the introduction of Palmer's improvements.
+This was a point on which Pitt never ceased to betray the utmost
+anxiety. To embark on any general system of reform might conflict with
+the new plan. Let the plan be established first and the abuses could be
+corrected afterwards. Hence it was, no doubt, that of all the public
+offices to be inquired into, the Post Office, in spite of the notoriety
+which its abuses had acquired, was taken last. But this, although the
+primary explanation, was not, we suspect, the only one. Incorrupt
+himself, Pitt was extraordinarily tolerant of corruption in others.
+Witness his defence of Melville. Even of Carteret's transaction with
+Peregrine Treves he could never be brought to admit more than that it
+was not a proper one. This tolerance in others of what he would have
+scorned to do himself we attribute to a conviction on his part that
+abuses were less to be charged against individuals than as the result of
+a bad system which made the abuses possible; and what, if we mistake
+not, Pitt had proposed to himself was to bring to bear upon this system
+the force of public opinion. A ruthless exposure, we have little doubt,
+had been in contemplation; and yet when the time for exposure came, Pitt
+held back. Whether it was that the abuses proved too flagrant to be
+published with safety or that their correction would involve more time
+or more money than could then be spared, the fact remains that, after
+receiving the report of the Commission, Pitt locked it up in his
+despatch box and kept it there for the space of four years; and not even
+the postmasters-general could procure a copy.
+
+But secret as the report of the Commission was kept, the procedure at
+the Post Office was about to undergo a radical change. A change indeed
+had already begun. Tankerville, on his dismissal in August 1786, had
+been succeeded by Lord Clarendon; and Clarendon died in the following
+December. Then followed an interval of eight months, during which
+Carteret alone administered the Post Office and, as was usual on such
+occasions, drew the double salary. At length, as Carteret's colleague,
+Pitt appointed Lord Walsingham; and from that moment irregularity and
+disorder were at an end. Nothing escaped Walsingham's vigilant eye. To
+neglect or evasion of work he shewed no mercy. The man honestly
+striving to do his duty had no better friend. His industry and power of
+work were simply amazing. All instructions were prepared by him. Not a
+single letter of any importance was received at the Post Office without
+the answer to it being drafted in his own hand. Generous to a fault with
+his own money, he regarded the money of the public as a sacred trust, a
+trust which could not be discharged too scrupulously. Carteret's opinion
+was well known, that it was no part of a postmaster-general's duty to
+check accounts. Walsingham, on the contrary, would allow no account to
+be passed until he had checked it; and his checking went a good deal
+beyond the casting. Unless the articles were necessary and the charges
+reasonable, and unless they were proved to be so to his satisfaction,
+the account had a sorry chance of being passed. The official hours of
+attendance had hitherto been pretty much what each man chose to make
+them. To Walsingham all hours were alike; and at all hours he exacted
+attendance from others. "It is utterly impossible," wrote the head of
+one department, "for the accounts to be ready for your inspection
+to-morrow evening." "I will not fail," wrote the head of another, "to do
+myself the honour of waiting upon your Lordship to-morrow morning at
+eight precisely."
+
+Walsingham, on entering upon his duties at the Post Office, was
+concerned to find that to documents requiring to be signed by the two
+postmasters-general Carteret attached his signature first. Carteret's
+peerage dated from 1784, and Walsingham's from 1780. Surely the peer of
+older creation should sign first; and such, Walsingham found on inquiry,
+had been the practice hitherto. Pitt, though overwhelmed with business,
+was called upon to decide the momentous question. He was sorry, he said,
+that in the preparation of the patent the practice of the Post Office
+had been overlooked. It was a strange practice, a practice different
+from that of all other public offices. There the senior, the one who was
+first to enter the office, took precedence of the junior whatever his
+rank; and Carteret having been mentioned first in the patent must
+unquestionably sign first. But this, he added, need not be drawn into a
+precedent, and, on a new patent passing, the old practice of the office
+might be reverted to. We may here mention that a few years later the
+Earl of Chesterfield became Walsingham's colleague; but on that occasion
+Walsingham does not appear to have raised the question again or to have
+been unwilling to conform to the new practice. And, indeed, whether
+Walsingham signed before or after Carteret must to every one except
+himself have appeared of the least possible importance. Sign in what
+order he might, Walsingham's influence soon became paramount. Carteret
+might give what instruction he pleased, but unless endorsed by
+Walsingham a Post Office servant obeyed it at his peril. Walsingham, on
+the contrary, gave instructions without reference to his colleague, and
+exacted prompt and implicit obedience.
+
+With many of the qualities of a great man, Walsingham was strangely
+wanting in one particular. He had no sense of proportion. A trivial
+point hardly deserving of a moment's consideration he would elaborate as
+carefully as a measure involving large and important issues; and a
+clerical error or a slight indiscretion he would visit as severely as
+misconduct of the gravest character. Nor must we omit to mention a habit
+in which he indulged to an extent that has probably never been
+surpassed. This was a habit of annotating. Nothing came officially
+before him, whether a letter or a report or a book, without being
+covered in the margin and every available space with notes and queries;
+and, to add to the distraction which this mode of criticism seldom fails
+to cause, they were in so small and crabbed a hand as to be always
+difficult, and sometimes even with the aid of a magnifying-glass
+impossible, to decipher.
+
+There was only one person that had the slightest influence with
+Walsingham. This was Daniel Braithwaite, who, holding nominally the
+situation of clerk to the postmasters-general, was really their private
+secretary. Braithwaite was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Of consummate
+tact and judgment, and endowed with a peculiar sweetness of disposition,
+he contrived during difficult times to tone down asperities and to
+accommodate many a dissension which promised to become acute. Passing
+through his hands a harsh admonition was turned into a gentle reproof,
+and an imperious command into a courteous message. But under this
+softness of manner and a deference of language so profound that even
+Walsingham quizzed him on the number of "Lordships" he would introduce
+into a single letter, there lay concealed a solidity of character which
+few would have suspected. Honest Braithwaite he was called, and well he
+deserved the epithet. By a simple inquiry, a request for information or
+the expression of a doubt, he would nip some wild project in the bud,
+and, where occasion required, he would not hesitate to speak his mind
+freely. A young man, Stokes by name, who had been appointed to assist
+Braithwaite, had miscopied a date in one of Walsingham's numerous
+drafts, or rather, feeling sure that the date as it stood was wrong, had
+altered it to what he believed to be the right one. Walsingham, who was
+absent from London at the time, wrote back that Stokes was to be
+suspended. Braithwaite's sense of justice was shocked, and he refused to
+carry the order into effect. "If a mistake in copying," he wrote,
+"deserves so severe a punishment as suspension, what am I not to fear
+for disobedience, and yet I really cannot execute the task your Lordship
+has imposed upon me. For God's sake, my dear lord," he proceeded, "let
+me most earnestly entreat you to mitigate the severity of this sentence,
+and, if a reprimand at the Board is not sufficient, give poor Stokes a
+holiday and impose the fine for a substitute upon me. At any rate," he
+added, "pray leave the case to be decided at a Board or refer it to Mr.
+Todd." Walsingham did refer the case to Todd, but not before he had
+sternly demanded of his refractory henchman whether he had never read
+Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments. "No," replied Braithwaite, "I have
+not read Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments; but Beccaria, say what he
+may, will never convince me that it can be right to punish a mistake as
+though it were a crime." Honest Braithwaite! He prevailed in the end,
+and stood in Walsingham's confidence even higher than before.
+
+At a Board meeting on the 20th of July 1787, less than a fortnight after
+taking up his appointment, Walsingham in the presence of the captains
+who were ashore, and who had been summoned to London for the occasion,
+gave notice of his intention to reduce the packet establishment at
+Falmouth. That establishment consisted of twenty-one boats of 200 tons
+each, and manned by thirty men. It was proposed that for the future
+there should be twenty boats of 150 tons each, and with a complement of
+eighteen men. These boats would cost about £3000 apiece to build, and
+would not be the property of the Government. The Government would simply
+hire them, giving as the price of hire £1350 a year, which was to cover
+everything, wages and victualling included. The owners would also have
+the passage money, estimated at £150, for each boat. Large as this
+reduction was, the Treasury desired that it should be carried further,
+that only the boats to America should be of as much as 150 tons, and
+that those for the West Indies and for Lisbon should be of 100. The
+captains, who had not relished the proposed reduction even to 150 tons,
+were half-amused and half-indignant. Why, they asked, should the boats
+for America be the largest? Were hurricanes unknown in the West Indies?
+And could not the Bay of Biscay boast of tremendous seas? Boats of 100
+tons would be positively dangerous. No passenger would go by them; nor
+would any merchant trust them with bullion, from the freight of which
+the Post Office derived a considerable income.
+
+The postmasters-general had also on their side the result of experience.
+In 1745, when the packet service to the West Indies, which had ceased in
+1711, was re-established, boats of 100 tons had been tried and had
+proved to be altogether insufficient. Moreover, it was in the highest
+degree important, as a means of checking smuggling, that the boats
+should not be restricted to one route. The intention was that they
+should be interchangeable, so that their port of destination should be
+uncertain; and to this end the tonnage of one should be the tonnage of
+all. The Treasury appear to have remained unmoved by these
+representations. At all events no decision was received; and Walsingham,
+after waiting for what he no doubt considered an unreasonable time, took
+silence for assent and proceeded to carry his recommendations into
+effect.
+
+The economical results which had been looked for were not immediately
+realised. The boats hitherto in use may not perhaps have been built with
+the view of facilitating smuggling; and yet, crowded as they were
+between decks with cupboards, they could hardly have been better adapted
+to the purpose. In the new boats no receptacles were to be allowed in
+which clandestine goods could be concealed; the holds were to be only
+large enough to contain the stores and provisions for the voyage; the
+seamen were no longer to remain unrestricted as to the size and number
+of their boxes; and in other respects stringent regulations were laid
+down to prevent illicit traffic. Finding what they called their ventures
+stopped, the crews of the packets refused to go to sea without an
+increase of pay all round. These ventures, they contended, had been
+recognised from time immemorial and went in place of so much wages. How
+else would it have been possible for them, many of them men with wives
+and families, to subsist on a pittance of 23s. a month? The Post Office
+was forced to yield to the demand; and as the immediate result of his
+first essay in the cause of economy, Walsingham had the mortification of
+seeing the cost of the packet establishment increased by more than £2300
+a year.
+
+From Falmouth Walsingham turned his attention to other ports where
+packets were stationed. At Dover and at Harwich the establishments were
+too small to admit of any reduction. At the latter port, indeed, what
+little change took place was on the side of increase, the victualling
+allowance being raised from 7-1/2d. a day for each man to 9d., so as to
+be uniform with that given at Falmouth; and for the same reason the
+seamen's wages were raised from 23s. a month to 28s.
+
+With Holyhead the case was different. Here Walsingham had resolved upon
+making a reduction, and it was only on an earnest remonstrance from the
+Marquis of Buckingham, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, that he abandoned
+his intention. The Holyhead packets were at this time five in number,
+and they were of seventy tons each and carried twelve hands. Walsingham
+held that this tonnage and complement of men were more than enough; and
+Buckingham maintained a directly contrary opinion. Between England and
+Ireland, he urged, the number of passengers was increasing every year,
+and surely this was not a time to lessen the confidence of the public in
+the security of the packets. The danger of navigation in those seas
+could not, he felt sure, be appreciated. He had himself crossed the
+Channel in all weathers. Once he had been nearly lost, and not on that
+occasion alone he had seen the crews, though at their full complement,
+absolutely prostrate with their exertions. Could it be known that, for
+purposes of passenger traffic, the captains of the Holyhead packets had
+recently built and fitted out at their own expense a sloop named the
+_Duchess of Rutland_; and that for this sloop, which, although vastly
+superior in point of accommodation to any one of the packets, was of no
+higher tonnage, the complement had been fixed at twelve hands? This
+would shew what was the opinion on the point of those who were most
+competent to judge. The fact, moreover, that Ireland had undertaken to
+pay to Great Britain the sum of 2d. on every letter passing to and fro
+placed the English Post Office under a sort of moral obligation not to
+reduce the amount of accommodation and security existing at the time the
+undertaking was given. Such were the arguments by which Buckingham
+prevailed upon Walsingham to abandon his intention. He at the same time
+hinted that there were other objects to which Walsingham's energies
+might more properly be directed. "Does your Lordship know," he asked,
+"that an immense communication of letters is kept up by the Liverpool
+packets[62] which sail weekly to Dublin?"
+
+  [62] _i.e._ boats. At Liverpool packets, in the sense of boats
+  commissioned by Government to carry letters, did not at this time
+  exist.
+
+One line of packets remains, the line between Milford Haven and
+Waterford. Here five boats were employed, of which three were of eighty
+tons and the others somewhat less; and the service was six days a week.
+This, though the youngest of the packet stations, was by no means the
+least interesting. It had been opened in April 1787; and in the first
+year the proceeds from passengers alone amounted to more than £1200. No
+doubt had been entertained that in the matter of letters there would be
+an equally satisfactory account to render; but it soon became evident
+that all hopes on this score must be given up. The Irish Post Office was
+no longer subject to the Post Office of England; and in the supposed
+interests of Dublin, which regarded with jealousy the postal facilities
+enjoyed by the southern towns, advantage was taken of this freedom from
+control to checkmate the new service. From Waterford the post for Cork
+had been used to start at two o'clock in the afternoon, an hour most
+convenient for the packets. Under orders from Dublin it was now to start
+at twelve; and, as shewing the vexatiousness of the proceeding, an
+express leaving Waterford as late as four o'clock would overtake the
+mail at Carrick, a distance of no more than fifteen miles. Under the
+same orders Limerick was forbidden to send letters by way of Waterford;
+and the post between this town and Clonmel was reduced from six days a
+week to three. This was a state of things which, under the system of
+Home Rule then existing, Walsingham was powerless to remedy. He could
+only lift his hands in amazement that such perversity should be
+possible.
+
+But it was not exclusively or even mainly to the packet establishment
+that Walsingham's attention was directed. There was no part of the Post
+Office with which he did not make himself thoroughly acquainted; and in
+the course of his investigations nothing struck him more than the
+pitiable condition of the clerks of the roads. The case of these men had
+been gradually getting worse and worse. It is true that ten years before
+a part of the salaries and pensions for which they were responsible had
+been transferred to the State; but the relief thus afforded had been
+neutralised and more than neutralised by the decrease which had since
+taken place in their emoluments from the franking of newspapers. Of
+these emoluments, indeed, little now remained. In the seventeen years
+from 1772 to 1789 the notices served upon the Post Office by members of
+Parliament to send newspapers into the country free had risen from a
+little more than 2000 to 7000, and the number of newspapers which these
+7000 notices covered amounted to no less than 65,760 a week. In the face
+of such competition the special privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the
+roads was practically valueless, and Walsingham and Carteret clearly
+discerned that to compensate them for the loss of their emoluments by an
+increase of salary was an act dictated no less by justice than policy.
+
+The case indeed was urgent if a catastrophe were to be averted; and
+Carteret, whose experience led him to believe that the salaries would
+not be increased with the consent of the Treasury, proposed to increase
+them without. Walsingham was shocked at the audacity of the proposal,
+and read his colleague a homily on the constitutional proprieties. "I
+know," replied Carteret, "we shall have the power of increasing salaries
+with the consent of the Treasury, but many may starve before that
+consent comes." Even Walsingham admitted the gravity of the occasion;
+and with the full knowledge that at this time no representation from the
+Post Office reached the Treasury which did not come under Pitt's own
+observation, the two peers, after recommending a substantial measure of
+relief, concluded their letter thus: "We shall find ourselves compelled,
+if the present weight of Parliamentary and official duties shall make
+it impossible for your Lordships to give us the authority we request in
+the course of a week, to take it upon ourselves to issue the money at
+our own risk, or the persons who are the object of this relief will be
+unable to attend their duty, and the business of the office will be
+literally at a stand." Whatever Pitt may have thought of the somewhat
+unusual terms of this address, he allowed no sign of dissatisfaction to
+escape him, and the authority sought was given.
+
+As long as Walsingham confined his attention to the packets and the
+clerks of the roads, there was no danger of a collision with Palmer.
+Palmer, on the contrary, offered his congratulations to Walsingham on
+the improvement which he had been instrumental in making in these
+officers' condition. It was when Walsingham gave an instruction which
+even indirectly affected the inland posts that Palmer's jealousy was
+aroused. This he regarded as his own peculiar domain, a domain upon
+which even the postmasters-general themselves were trespassers; and a
+trespass or what he considered as such he never lost an opportunity of
+resenting. The earliest and not the least curious illustration of these
+pretensions appears in the case of the King's coach. In the summer of
+1788 the King repaired to Cheltenham for the purpose of drinking the
+waters, and Walsingham, who was above all things a courtier, had
+arranged that during the royal visit a mail-coach should be stationed at
+that town for the exclusive use of His Majesty. The coach was to be a
+new one, sent down from London for the occasion, and the leading
+contractor on the Cheltenham road, one Wilson by name, was to provide
+the horses. The royal visit at an end, the contractor's bill was sent
+in, and Palmer, in forwarding it to Walsingham, professed to be
+extremely dissatisfied with the magnitude of the charge. On the sale of
+the horses and harness alone, after only a month's use, there had been a
+loss of £550. "Nothing," he said, "could have been more absurdly or
+extravagantly conducted." But the thing was done. It would be useless to
+dispute the payment. Besides, it would "soil the compliment" designed
+to His Majesty. "We must," he added, "take more care next time, for, had
+it been properly settled, the loss at most could not have exceeded
+£300."
+
+The actual arrangement for the coach had been made not through Palmer
+but through Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant; and to him Walsingham now
+applied for further information. Bonnor's reply was a strange compound
+of candour and insolence. It was indeed not to be wondered at, he said,
+that his Lordship's indignation should be roused by the magnitude of the
+bill. Had the matter been left as originally settled under Mr. Palmer's
+orders, Wilson could never have made so monstrous a claim. By those
+orders he had been given to understand that, the coach being designed as
+a mere compliment to the King, not more than 1d. a mile would be allowed
+at the outside. And "so the undertaking stood 'till your Lordship
+ordered the circular letter to the horse-keepers respecting Sir George
+Baker's[63] being accommodated with the mail horses if he had occasion.
+Your Lordship will recollect that I remonstrated against it, and urged
+the impossibility of Wilson ever allowing his mail horses to be taken
+out of his stables for posting, and the regularity of the work
+destroyed, and the cattle drove along by people he knew nothing of; to
+which your Lordship was pleased to say that Wilson had no business to
+trouble his head about that; that, whatever his expenses were, he should
+be paid; and that no feelings of his about his horses or anything else
+should prevent the thing being done in the best possible style."...
+"Thinking as little in the delivery of the message as your Lordship did
+in sending it that such an advantage would be taken, I of course obeyed
+the directions, and it seems that this is the ground upon which the
+charge is made out as it is."
+
+  [63] The King's physician.
+
+Walsingham was not satisfied, and resolved to contest the bill. Palmer
+now took alarm, and urged every consideration he could think of to
+dissuade Walsingham from his purpose. To have recourse to a Court of Law
+might seriously damage his infant undertaking. A legal dispute had been
+avoided hitherto, and, with a cunning and refractory set of persons such
+as the contractors were, might have the effect of raising the present
+terms of conveyance. These terms were low, lower than the Post Office
+was likely to obtain again; and the mail-coaches were running smoothly.
+It would be a thousand pities to introduce an element of disturbance.
+Besides, how unpleasant it would be to his Lordship to be subpoenaed as
+a witness; and, in the hands of an expert counsel, how supremely
+ridiculous the whole business might be made to appear! The King's jaunt
+with a mail-coach in attendance! For his own part, when he had been
+unfortunate enough to be imposed upon, he generally found it best to put
+up with the imposition and to take more care another time. Nor should it
+be forgotten that the matter might have been much worse. When first he
+had heard of the arrangement, he had rebuked Bonnor for his
+extravagance; and Bonnor had produced two letters from his Lordship in
+justification. These letters shewed not only that no expense was to be
+spared, but that it had originally been in contemplation to have two
+coaches, and that it was only owing to Bonnor's earnest expostulation
+that the idea of a second coach had been given up. Surely it was cause
+for congratulation that the bill was no higher. Had two coaches been
+established instead of one, Wilson might have clapped on another £1000.
+As the bill stood, it was a gross imposition, an imposition which must
+condemn him in the eyes of all honest men; and yet it would be pure
+madness to go to law. These arguments prevailed, and Walsingham
+abandoned his intention of contesting the bill. He did not at this time
+see, what he saw clearly enough some years later, that in retaliation
+upon himself for presuming to interfere Wilson had been cajoled or
+coerced into making an exorbitant demand, and that of the several
+persons who were concerned in the transaction Wilson himself was the
+least to blame.
+
+This may be a convenient place to notice a point in which the practice
+of 1788 differed from that of the present time. It was only a few
+months after his return from Cheltenham that the King was taken with the
+serious illness which so nearly proved fatal. On the 9th of November the
+accounts from Windsor were such as to leave little room for hope. On the
+10th intelligence reached the Post Office at three o'clock in the
+afternoon that, contrary to all expectation, the King was still living;
+and on the 14th a form of prayer was issued, to be used in all churches,
+for His Majesty's recovery. At the present time a circular of this kind
+would reach the Post Office already addressed to the persons for whom it
+was intended, and the Post Office would do nothing more than carry and
+deliver it like an ordinary letter. But such was not the case in 1788.
+The form of prayer, as it was issued by the printer, was sent to the
+Post Office in bulk, and the Post Office despatched fifty copies to the
+postmaster of each town with instructions to distribute them "with all
+possible expedition to the rectors, vicars, or resident ministers of
+your town and all places in your delivery." The point is hardly
+deserving of mention, for, of course, it would make little difference to
+the postmaster whether the copies were sent in bulk or as single
+letters. He would be bound to deliver them in either case. It is more
+worthy of note that, as the number of Post Offices in England was at
+this time only 608, and the area subordinate to each of correspondingly
+wide extent, to go over the whole of his delivery at one time as these
+instructions obliged the postmaster to do was no slight undertaking, and
+one which, owing to the paucity of letters, he had probably not been
+required to perform on any previous occasion. In this instance, however,
+we may feel sure that a sense of loyalty alone precluded all disposition
+to murmur. With far other feelings, it may well be believed, was an
+order regarded which had been issued rather more than thirty years
+before. The year 1756 was a year of scarcity; and, under direction from
+Whitehall, postmasters were to frequent the local markets and to
+ascertain and report the price of corn. This is the first instance on
+record of postmasters having been employed outside their own proper
+duties as such. It may be added that two years later the Duke of
+Newcastle sent down in hot haste to Lombard Street to inquire the latest
+prices, when it was explained to His Grace that, despite the course
+which had been adopted in 1756, the Post Office was not an office for
+the collection of agricultural returns.
+
+It is a common practice to laugh at public offices for their rigid
+adherence to routine. This, we think, is not quite reasonable. No doubt
+it is calculated to excite ridicule, and indeed to irritate beyond all
+endurance when a course obviously proper in itself is condemned because,
+forsooth, there is no precedent for it; and we are by no means sure that
+some public servants would not be all the better for taking to heart the
+maxim--Wise men make precedents, only fools require them. But, without
+the order and regularity which a strict adherence to routine can alone
+produce, the business of a Government department must inevitably drift
+into a state of hopeless confusion. This is a truth which persons
+outside the public service have always found it hard to accept; as well
+indeed as persons inside who have entered late in life or after their
+habits are formed. Palmer was of the latter class; and a striking
+instance now occurred of his inability to adapt himself to the
+requirements of his new situation. Walsingham had asked whether the
+surveyors were keeping their journals regularly. These officers, besides
+a small salary, were now receiving an allowance of one guinea a day when
+travelling; and not only was a journal indispensable in order to shew
+whether they had been travelling or not, but the keeping of one had been
+made an express condition of the allowance being given. No subordinate
+cared to pass on the inquiry to Palmer, implying, as this might seem to
+do, a doubt. Walsingham had no such scruple and wrote to Palmer asking
+that the journals might be sent to him for examination. Palmer's reply
+will explain how it is that the records which now exist respecting
+himself and his achievements are so surprisingly few. There were no
+journals, he said. The surveyors' own letters, with their bills of
+expenses attached, were sufficient evidence of the journeys they had
+made. And these bills and letters, he added, as soon as the charges
+which they represent have been paid, "are and must be useless paper, for
+if I did not constantly clear my office both of their as well as my own
+and the other officers' rubbish, I should be buried under it." The
+auditors of the imprests had recently made good progress, but,
+fortunately for the Post Office, they were still many years in
+arrear.[64]
+
+  [64] The Post Office accounts for the year 1749 were not passed until
+  1784; and then only through the exertions of Lord Mountstuart, who had
+  succeeded Mr. Aislabie as one of the auditors of His Majesty's imprests.
+
+Among Walsingham's correspondents was George Chalmers, a merchant of
+Edinburgh. Chalmers was no mere maker of crude and impracticable
+suggestions. He had thirty years before been instrumental in shortening
+the course of post between Edinburgh and London. Before 1758 the Great
+North Mail, as it was called, went three days a week and occupied
+eighty-seven hours in going from London to Edinburgh, and 131 hours in
+going from Edinburgh to London. Thus, a mail leaving Edinburgh at twelve
+at night on Saturday did not reach London until eleven o'clock on Friday
+morning. Chalmers, in a paper of singular ability, dwelt upon the
+absurdity of the various detentions, ranging from three hours at Berwick
+to twenty-four hours at Newcastle, which made the course of post longer
+by nearly two days in one direction than in the other, and shewed how,
+by avoiding these unnecessary delays and getting rid of a diversion of
+twelve miles to York, the distance might be accomplished between London
+and Edinburgh in eighty-two hours, and between Edinburgh and London in
+eighty-five. The plan was adopted, and some years later, in recognition
+of its merits, Chalmers received from the Government a gratuity of £600.
+More recently he had prevailed upon the Post Office to increase from
+three to six days a week the service between London and Edinburgh, and
+from Edinburgh to the principal towns in Scotland; and in London, at
+his suggestion, the letter-carriers who collected letters by the sound
+of bell, or bellmen as they had begun to be called, were being employed
+after nine o'clock at night.
+
+It was not, therefore, as a novice in Post Office matters that Chalmers
+now entered into correspondence with Walsingham. His present
+representation was in the nature partly of a suggestion and partly of a
+complaint. He had been staying some time in London, and was surprised to
+find that at the capital of the first commercial nation in the world the
+Post Office closed as early as seven o'clock in the evening. He
+contended that it ought not to close before ten. But it was in respect
+to his own native city of Edinburgh that he felt and expressed himself
+most warmly. Edinburgh was without a penny post. He was himself an old
+man or he would undertake to farm one, although, in his judgment, the
+farming of such an institution, until at least it was well established,
+was not for the public interests. But surely, whether farmed or not, a
+penny post should be opened without delay, and on his return to
+Edinburgh he would let Walsingham know how this could best be done. Nor
+was the want of such a convenience by any means the chief thing of which
+the inhabitants of Edinburgh had to complain. Since 1758 their post had
+not gone out until eight o'clock at night. Now, to suit Palmer's
+arrangements, it went out at half-past three in the afternoon; and, more
+than this, the diversion to York, which it had cost such pains to get
+rid of some thirty years before, had been revived. Thus, between
+Edinburgh and London the course of post was actually longer now than
+before the introduction of mail-coaches by as much as five hours. Were a
+little more consideration to be given to the correspondence of the
+country and a little less to the convenience of passengers, more than
+these five hours might be saved. At all events the mails might start
+from Edinburgh at eight o'clock as before, and from London at ten, and
+yet arrive at their destination no later than now. For himself, he
+thought it hardly decent that passengers should be allowed to travel by
+the same coaches as the mails, and predicted that a time would come when
+the mails would have coaches to themselves. Much of this, Chalmers
+added, he had pointed out to Palmer some time before, and the only
+result was an angry letter which had terminated a friendship of years.
+Even as he now wrote, another letter had come to hand in which Palmer
+told him, almost in so many words, to mind his own business.
+
+Walsingham was at this time at Old Windsor. Hither it was his habit to
+repair whenever he had anything of more than ordinary interest to engage
+his attention; and such was the case at the present moment. He had
+recently had lent to him, under a pledge of the strictest secrecy, a
+copy of the Report of the Royal Commission which had sat upon the Post
+Office in the preceding year; and this Report he was now having copied
+under his own eye with a view to the preparation of an elaborate
+criticism upon it. But though absent from London he relaxed not his hold
+upon the Post Office for a single moment. Each morning's post brought to
+Lombard Street its own budget of drafts, to be written out fair, of
+questions to be answered, of scoldings to be given, and of instructions
+to heads of departments in the minutest details of their duty.
+Walsingham absent was a far more important personage than Carteret
+present; and a mandate from Old Windsor superseded any that might be
+given on the spot. It was while Walsingham was thus engaged that he
+received one morning from Palmer a few hurried lines, of which the last
+were as follows: "You ought not, meaning as well as you do, to be
+unpopular anywhere. Nor must you. You fret me now and then, tho' you
+don't intend it, and I am angry with myself for it." A visit from Palmer
+on the following morning, especially as that morning was Sunday, was
+little calculated to lessen the surprise with which Walsingham must have
+read this letter. The truth is that Palmer had repaired to Windsor with
+the intention of resigning his appointment; but the courteous reception
+he met with from Walsingham disconcerted his plan, and he returned to
+London as he had come, with the letter of resignation in his pocket.
+
+The reasons which Palmer afterwards gave for his conduct on this
+occasion throw a flood of light upon his character. These reasons were:
+1st, That Walsingham was ready to listen to proposals for improving the
+Post Office, come from what quarter they might, thus leaving it to be
+inferred, as Palmer put it, either that he was himself incompetent to
+effect improvements or else that there was a sinister design to detract
+from his reputation. 2nd, That from himself, though vitally interested
+in its contents, a report was being kept which clerks from his own
+office had been sent down to Windsor to copy. 3rd, That the same feeling
+of distrust was evidenced in the constant pressure which was being put
+upon him to require the surveyors to keep journals. How hollow these
+reasons were, a very little consideration will shew. In the course of
+the correspondence with Chalmers, on which the first of Palmer's reasons
+was obviously founded, Walsingham had been careful to state that, while
+ready to consider proposals for establishing a penny post in Edinburgh,
+he must decline to interfere with any of Palmer's arrangements. The
+second reason, though more plausible, was the merest pretext. Not a
+month before, with the full knowledge of what was going on at Windsor,
+Palmer had offered to send down, if required, the whole of his office to
+assist. And more than this. Although Walsingham could not in honour
+disclose a document which had been lent to him under a pledge of
+secrecy, Palmer must have been perfectly well acquainted with so much of
+the Report of the Royal Commission as dealt with his own undertaking,
+for it is beyond all question that this part of the Report had been
+written by himself. There was no other man living who was capable of
+writing it; and even if there had been, the opinions, the
+recommendations, the mode of expression, the disparagement of Ralph
+Allen, all of which are common to the Report and Palmer's private
+writings, unmistakably betray the author. The third reason requires
+little remark. Walsingham would have neglected his obvious duty if he
+had not taken steps to establish some check upon the travelling expenses
+claimed by the surveyors; and the experience of the hundred years which
+have since elapsed has failed to devise any better check than the
+journal. The keeping of the journal, moreover, had been an express
+condition imposed by the Treasury when the allowance of a guinea a day
+was authorised.
+
+Walsingham treated Palmer on this occasion with great kindness. Rightly
+judging that jealousy was at the root of the whole matter, he followed
+up the conversation which had taken place at Windsor by a letter, in
+which he exhorted Palmer to speak out, to declare his sentiments freely,
+and to dismiss idle apprehensions. Then came a full statement from
+Palmer, written, as he expressly declared, "not as a justification but
+as an apology for my suspicions," and explaining the object and the
+motives of his visit on the preceding Sunday. "Your habits are not my
+habits," he concluded; "I would give a great deal for but a part of your
+correctness and inveterate attention to business and accounts."
+Walsingham's reply, which came by return of post, was an invitation to
+dinner. Palmer accepted it, and the courteous and hearty welcome he
+received called forth his warmest acknowledgments.
+
+The duty of the mail guards, as their title implies, was to guard and
+protect the mails. This body of men, as it existed during the first
+forty or fifty years of the present century, was one of which the Post
+Office might well be proud. The very nature of their employment
+engendered in them a habit of self-reliance and an independence of
+character which invested them with a peculiar interest. But it was not
+always so. When mail-coaches were first established, Palmer had it in
+contemplation to employ retired soldiers as mail guards, on the ground
+that soldiers would be accustomed to firearms; but constitutional
+objections prevailed and the contractors who furnished the mail-coaches
+with horses were required also to furnish firearms arms and the men to
+use them. The result was not satisfactory. For economy's sake men were
+employed of little or no character, and the weapons with which they were
+supplied were of the most worthless description. More than worthless,
+they were dangerous. "Cheap things;" they were declared to be, "that
+burst and often did mischief." Accordingly, at Palmer's suggestion, the
+Post Office undertook to appoint its own mail guards. Honest and
+faithful as these men always were, it was only by degrees that they grew
+into the fine body they afterwards became. At first the novelty of their
+position led them into little excesses such as were never heard of in
+later years. Thus, a statute passed in 1790 imposed a penalty of 20s. on
+any mail guard who should fire off the arms with which he was entrusted
+for any other cause than the protection of the mail; and even this
+enactment appears to have been insufficient to correct the abuse against
+which it was directed. "These guards," writes Pennant two years later,
+"shoot at dogs, hogs, sheep, and poultry as they pass the road; and even
+in towns, to the great terror and danger of the inhabitants."[65]
+
+  [65] A letter to a member of Parliament on mail-coaches, by Thomas
+  Pennant, Esq., 1792.
+
+It must not be supposed, because Palmer's name is associated with the
+establishment of mail-coaches, that to these his attention was
+exclusively confined. In virtue of his appointment as comptroller-general
+he exercised control, subject of course to the postmasters-general,
+over the whole of the Post Office, the offices of account excepted;
+and he now took advantage of this position to create a newspaper
+office. Newspapers had long been a source of trouble. By the clerks
+of the roads they were not only posted in good time but were tied
+up in bundles, covered with strong brown paper, and addressed to the
+postmasters of the respective towns, who took out the contents and had
+them delivered. So long as the newspapers were thus dealt with, no
+inconvenience resulted from their being mixed up with letters; but from
+the moment that the distribution passed into the hands of the printers
+and dealers the case was different. The newspapers were now posted at
+the last moment, and, being clumsily folded and still wet from the
+printing press, they damaged and defaced the addresses of the letters
+with which they came in contact in the mail bags. The inconvenience had
+been tolerated for years. As early as 1782 the postmasters-general had
+contemplated the creation of a newspaper office, an office in which
+newspapers might be dealt with separately from letters, but nothing had
+been done. Palmer now took the matter in hand and carried it through
+with his usual vigour. Having satisfied himself that a separate office
+was necessary, he forthwith established one, appointed to it eighteen
+sub-sorters and fixed their wages; and not even the postmasters-general
+were aware of what he was doing until it was done.[66]
+
+  [66] At this time the number of newspapers passing through the London
+  office averaged 80,000 a week, of which 78,000 were from London to the
+  country and 2000 from the country to London. Mixed, that is wet and dry
+  together, they were computed to weigh sixteen to the pound.
+
+Such an instance of energy, worthy as we may think it of imitation,
+would be impossible on the part of any one who had been brought up in
+the public service, because he would have learnt that no wages can be
+fixed or new offices created without the consent of the Treasury. In the
+Post Office, too, the postmasters-general alone were legally competent
+to make appointments. But to Palmer these were the merest trifles, if
+indeed he gave them a thought. To create a newspaper office was a right
+thing to do, and he had done it; and to haggle about the circumstances
+of the doing appeared to him sheer pedantry. Not so thought Walsingham.
+It ill accorded with his sense of propriety that a number of new places
+should have been created without the requisite authority which the
+Treasury alone could give; but that to these places, whether authorised
+or not, a subordinate should have presumed to make appointments--a power
+which by the postmaster-generals' patent was vested in themselves
+alone--struck him as little short of an outrage.
+
+Unfortunately for Palmer, another irregularity on his part came to light
+at the same time. The mail guards' wages had been fixed at 13s. a week;
+but of this sum Palmer paid only 10s., retaining the balance for the
+purpose of providing uniforms, pensions, and an allowance during
+sickness. Again, the plan was excellent; but it was unauthorised, and
+had the effect of leaving in Palmer's hands, without any means of
+checking it, a sum of liberated money amounting to about £900 a year.
+
+Walsingham now called upon Palmer to give the details of his plan, with
+a view to its being properly authorised, and to submit the names of
+those whom he had appointed to the newspaper office, so that their
+appointments might be confirmed. Palmer would do neither the one nor the
+other. Walsingham persisted in his demand, and Palmer persisted in his
+refusal. No course remained but to submit the matter for Pitt's
+decision; and Pitt decided in Walsingham's favour. Palmer, said the
+minister, had the power of suspending Post Office servants but not of
+appointing them, although the postmasters-general, it might well be
+believed, would consent as a matter of favour to accept his nominations.
+Pitt also agreed that the mode of dealing with the mail guards' wages
+was highly irregular. The decision of the minister was communicated to
+Palmer, but it had not the slightest effect upon his conduct. The mail
+guards' wages continued to be dealt with as before; and the appointments
+to the newspaper office remained unconfirmed.
+
+Pitt's decision was not given until the autumn of 1789; and meanwhile
+other matters had occurred to strain the relations between Walsingham
+and Palmer. Chief among these was Walsingham's inveterate habit of
+scribbling. Both men were endowed with an amount of energy which nothing
+could repress; but while Palmer expended himself by rushing from one
+part of the country to another as fast as horses could carry him,
+Walsingham's sphere of activity was restricted to writing. And well he
+exemplified the law that force asserts itself in proportion to the
+limits within which it is confined. His notes and questions were
+literally endless. At one time all the ingenuity of Lombard Street, with
+the assistance of erasers and acids, is being exercised to remove
+remarks he has written upon a document which, not being the property of
+the Post Office, had to be returned. At another, he has sent for a blank
+form of contract, of which only a single copy remains in the Office. "I
+implore your Lordship," writes the sender, "to let me have it back, and
+that the margin may not be written on." Palmer, to whom pens, ink, and
+paper were an abomination, would think nothing of posting a hundred
+miles and more to avoid the necessity of writing a letter; and by
+Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant, who always aped his master as far as he
+dared, answers to the questions put to him would be withheld altogether
+or reserved for the next Board meeting. "I can perceive," wrote Todd to
+Walsingham about this time, "you are hurt that neither Mr. Palmer nor
+Mr. Bonnor pay a proper regard to your many observations."
+
+Another matter occurred at this time which, while only indirectly
+affecting Palmer, was not calculated to promote harmonious relations.
+Bonnor, who had sent some accounts to Windsor for Walsingham's
+signature, wrote two or three days later, urging that they might be
+signed and returned at once, and giving as a reason the importunity of
+the letter-carriers. "What these poor oppressed creatures will do," he
+said, "I know not. They all came in a body this morning and gave a most
+affecting description of the distresses with which their wives and
+families laboured, their credit exhausted, not a shilling to buy bread,
+and each having between £30 and £40 of hard-earned wages due to them
+from a public office whose revenues are every day increasing." This
+struck Walsingham as very strange. The letter-carriers were paid by
+weekly wages; and what, over and above their wages, they had earned for
+extra duty should also have been paid weekly. Besides, the accounts had
+been in his hands for only two or three days, whereas for the last
+twelve months and more he had been pressing for their production, and
+had only now succeeded in getting them.
+
+There was a mystery somewhere, and, as the best means of solving it,
+Walsingham called for the vouchers. Bonnor now lost himself in excuses.
+The vouchers were essential to his reputation. He could not part with
+them. If once they left his hands, they might be lost. It could not but
+be known to his Lordship how often this had happened with official
+papers passing to and fro. Besides, to inspect the vouchers would be to
+pry into his private concerns. This was enough for Walsingham, and he
+directed the accountant-general to look into the matter forthwith. The
+examination revealed a curious state of things. The amounts which the
+letter-carriers had earned for extra duty had not been paid for a whole
+year, and a part of the money which had been issued for that purpose had
+been applied to the payment of the persons irregularly appointed to the
+newspaper office. More than this. The accounts shewed, or professed to
+shew, that during the last eighteen months the mail-coach contractors
+had received in payment of their services the sum of £20,000; but the
+receipts for more than £16,000 of this amount bore no dates, and others
+were signed by Bonnor himself. "Signed," to use his own words, "by
+myself for money paid by myself to myself." In short, the so-called
+vouchers were no vouchers at all. Bonnor now made an apology, which, in
+point of abjectness, has probably seldom been equalled; and Walsingham,
+unwilling to force matters to extremities, let him off with a sound
+dressing. This disclosure did not tend to restore either harmony or
+confidence. Palmer, it is true, gave no heed to accounts; but Bonnor was
+under his protection, and Palmer resented a censure upon his lieutenant
+and friend even more than a censure upon himself.
+
+We doubt whether in England a public department has often been in so
+singular a position as that which the Post Office occupied during the
+six months beginning with September 1789. Carteret had been
+dismissed;[67] and Westmorland, Carteret's successor, whose patent had
+been delayed owing to the absence of the law officers from London, had
+not even entered upon his duties as postmaster-general before he wrote
+to announce his appointment as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Meanwhile
+Palmer resolutely withheld obedience from the orders of his chiefs,
+backed though those orders were by the minister; and Walsingham was
+powerless to act. Minutes indeed he prepared by the score, proposing the
+most drastic measures; but Carteret refused to sign because he was on
+the point of going out, and Westmorland refused to sign because he had
+only just come in, and had no intention of remaining. Walsingham's
+signature alone carried no legal force. It was not until the following
+March, the March of 1790, that the office of postmaster-general was
+again properly filled by the appointment of Lord Chesterfield as
+Walsingham's colleague.
+
+  [67] How Carteret managed to retain his appointment for more than
+  eighteen years is not the least perplexing of Post Office problems.
+  Meanwhile the joint postmaster-generalship had undergone the following
+  changes:--
+
+  Lord Le Despencer                               } From Jan. 16, 1771,
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Thynne (afterwards Carteret)}   to Dec. 11, 1781.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret (sometime Thynne)  { From Dec. 11, 1781,
+                                                  {   to Jan. 24, 1782.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From Jan. 24, 1782,
+  Viscount Barrington                             }   to April 25, 1782.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From April 25, 1782,
+  Earl of Tankerville                             }   to May 1, 1783.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From May 1, 1783,
+  Lord Foley                                      }   to Jan. 7, 1784.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret, created Lord      }
+    Carteret Jan. 29, 1784                        } From Jan. 7, 1784,
+  Earl of Tankerville (a second time)             }   to Sept. 19, 1786.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   } From Sept. 19, 1786,
+  Earl of Clarendon                               }   to Dec. 10, 1786.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   { From Dec. 10, 1786,
+                                                  {   to July 6, 1787.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   } From July 6, 1787,
+  Lord Walsingham                                 }   to Sept. 19, 1789.
+
+
+At the risk of interrupting the course of our narrative we cannot
+refrain from mentioning here in its chronological order memorial which
+was at this time received from certain merchants of the city of London
+trading with foreign parts. This memorial, or rather the
+counter-memorial to which it gave rise, is interesting if only as
+serving to shew that the conservative instinct--an indisposition to
+change, is not confined to public offices. The delivery of inland
+letters had been recently expedited; but foreign letters continued to be
+delivered as of old. Lest the practice in the case of these letters
+should seem to be overstated, we give it in the memorialists' own words.
+"It is the practice of the Post Office," they write under date the 20th
+of January 1790, "if a mail does not arrive before one o'clock to
+withhold the delivery of the letters till the next day, and even to
+protract the delivery till after the same hour the succeeding day,
+provided any other mail be expected or due. This happening on a Saturday
+(a case by no means uncommon), the letters are kept back till the
+Monday, when three other mails being due, and they not arriving perhaps
+till the stipulated hour of one, the delivery of the mail which arrived
+on Saturday is not made till between three and four o'clock on the
+Monday and sometimes later. Thus the advice of property shipt to a great
+amount on which insurances should immediately have been made, the
+receipt of remittances on which the credit of many persons may depend,
+and the general information so essential in commercial affairs are
+cruelly withheld for upwards of fifty hours without the least apparent
+necessity." The remedy which the memorialists proposed was moderate
+enough. They asked nothing more than that, in the case of mails arriving
+before four o'clock in the afternoon, letters might be given out to
+persons who should call at the Post Office for them in two or three
+hours after the mail had come in, such as were not called for being, at
+the expiration of that interval, sent out by letter-carrier; and that,
+in the case of mails arriving after four o'clock, the letters might be
+delivered at ten o'clock on the following morning.
+
+The unfortunate merchants who signed this memorial little bethought
+themselves of the storm they were raising. Other merchants, also trading
+with foreign parts and more numerous than those who advocated an
+earlier delivery, put forward a counter-memorial strongly protesting
+against any change. The custom of postponing until the following day the
+delivery of all foreign letters arriving at the Post Office after one
+o'clock was, they said, a wise custom, a "custom recommended by our
+ancestors," and one that could not be altered save to their own great
+prejudice. The original memorial had been studiously kept from
+themselves, and "this most extraordinary proceeding" they could only
+ascribe to a well-founded apprehension on the part of the promoters that
+otherwise the impropriety of the "novelty" which they sought to
+introduce would be exposed. The remonstrants added that many and cogent
+reasons might be given in support of the existing usage; but, unhappily,
+they omitted to state what these reasons were. Doubtless, however,
+jealousy lest others should obtain priority of information was at the
+bottom of the protest; although it is not very clear how, under a
+regulation that was to be common to all, any one in particular would
+enjoy an undue advantage.
+
+The Post Office, unassisted in this instance by Palmer, declared the
+change to be, if only on account of want of space, impossible. The
+average number of letters arriving by each foreign mail were at this
+time--from France 2500, from Holland 2000, and from Flanders 1500, or
+6000 altogether. At the present day, when as many as 500 sacks full of
+letters come by a single mail, and several mails may arrive
+simultaneously, 6000 letters more or less make little appreciable
+difference. One hour at most is enough for three men to sort them. But
+in 1790 the office in which the foreign letters were sorted possessed
+but a single table and a single alphabet or sorting rack.
+
+Although want of space was the ostensible reason for refusing an earlier
+delivery, there was another, not avowed indeed, and yet which, there can
+be no doubt, materially influenced the decision. This will be best
+explained in the words of the comptroller of the foreign letter
+department. "The delivery of foreign letters," writes this officer to
+Walsingham, "is so complicated with _the secret office_[68] that any
+alteration will deserve the most serious consideration when you come to
+the Board."
+
+  [68] Sir Rowland Hill, in his _Autobiography_ (vol. ii. p. 28), does not
+  hesitate to write as follows: "Incredible as it may appear to my
+  readers, it is nevertheless true that so late as 1844 a system, dating
+  from some far distant time, was in full operation, under which clerks
+  from the foreign office used to attend on the arrival of mails from
+  abroad, to open the letters addressed to certain ministers resident in
+  England, and make from them such extracts as they deemed useful for the
+  service of Government."
+
+It would hardly excite surprise if Chesterfield, on entering upon his
+duties in Lombard Street, had fallen under the influence of a colleague
+who, besides being possessed of a strong will, had had some years'
+experience in Post Office administration; but, as a matter of fact, he
+does not appear to have surrendered his private judgment. On one point,
+indeed, he took a view somewhat different from Walsingham. Walsingham
+regarded Palmer, in so far as he withheld obedience from the
+postmaster-generals' orders, as simply an insubordinate servant. To
+Chesterfield, on the contrary, Palmer was an object of no common
+interest. That two peers of large social influence, deriving their
+authority direct from the Crown, and to some extent supported by the
+minister, should be held in check by one man, and that man a
+subordinate, was an incongruity which struck Chesterfield's imagination.
+It amused him. It interested him. He could not withhold his meed of
+admiration from the masterful spirit which fought single-handed against
+long odds, and not always without success. The very terms Chesterfield
+employed, while implying a consciousness of defeat, implied also a
+certain amount of homage to the victor. It was always as "our Master,"
+"our Dictator," "our Tyrant" that he referred to Palmer; and it is
+difficult to believe that a man who could thus playfully express himself
+would have proved implacable.
+
+For ourselves, we have little doubt that, if at this time Palmer had
+demeaned himself with only moderate reserve, all might yet have been
+well; but it must be admitted that, from now till the end of his
+official career, his conduct was strangely aggressive. We have already
+seen how he made appointments to the newspaper office without reference
+to the postmasters-general, and how, in their despite, he retained in
+his own hands a considerable balance arising out of deductions from the
+mail guards' wages. He now went further. He declined to attend the Board
+meetings: he not only omitted but refused to answer inquiries which the
+postmasters-general addressed to him; he persistently withheld the
+surveyors' journals, if, indeed, he had required journals to be kept; he
+claimed to make contracts and to introduce what measures he pleased
+without the postmasters-general being so much as consulted; and because
+Walsingham and Chesterfield would not admit the claim, he suffered the
+contracts to expire, and the mail-coaches were run on mere verbal
+agreements. "Except the warrants we have signed," wrote the
+postmasters-general in October 1790, "there is no record whatever in our
+possession of any of Mr. Palmer's proceedings since his appointment."
+
+From disobedience Palmer proceeded to defiance. We will give
+instances. The proprietors of the mail-coach between Carlisle and
+Portpatrick had demanded payment at the rate of 2d. a mile, and Palmer
+had agreed to the demand. This was just double the usual rate, and the
+postmasters-general, fearing that if given on one road it could not be
+refused on another, determined, before signing the warrant presented for
+payment, to obtain Treasury authority. Palmer, knowing that delay would
+thus be caused, protested that no such authority was necessary, and, in
+order to enforce his protest, stopped four mail-coaches, for which was
+being paid more than the usual allowance of 1d. a mile, namely, the
+coach to Falmouth, the coach to Bristol, the coach to Plymouth, and the
+coach to Portsmouth--coolly informing the postmasters-general that he
+had done so "under the idea that appears to influence their Lordships,
+that paying a higher rate to the proprietors on one road might induce
+others to make a similar demand." He next inquired whether the
+postmasters-general were to be understood as preferring a cart to the
+mail-coach, even though a cart should be the more expensive of the two.
+As nothing had been said about a cart, the postmasters-general remarked
+that this could only be meant for insult. Insult! rejoined Palmer, he
+was as little capable of offering an insult as he was of putting up with
+one; and then he proceeded to charge the postmasters-general with the
+grossest partiality. The postmasters-general had increased the salary of
+the postmaster of Tewkesbury beyond what Palmer conceived to be
+necessary. He denounced the transaction as extraordinary and ill
+advised, and, while himself professing to believe that it proceeded only
+from motives of benevolence, expressed his conviction that others would
+regard it as "a job." Smuggled goods had been found in the mail-box of
+the Dover coach; and coach, horses, and harness had, in consequence,
+been seized by the Commissioners of Customs. The same man who, in order
+to force a decision, had stopped four mail-coaches in a single morning,
+now rated the postmasters-general soundly because they did not at once
+and without inquiry take steps to get the Commissioners' proceedings
+reversed. "The comptroller-general," wrote Palmer on another occasion,
+"has informed their Lordships of his motives for not answering several
+of the postmaster-generals' minutes, which he trusts cannot but be
+satisfactory to them. The same reasons will prevent him from answering
+any others their Lordships may send but such as appear to him absolutely
+necessary."
+
+But the particular case which brought matters to a climax was connected
+with Scotland. Palmer had sent two officers to Edinburgh, not to promote
+the conveyance of mails by coach, but to reform the internal management
+of the Scotch Post Office; and these officers had given orders for
+various changes to be made. Robert Oliphant was at this time deputy
+postmaster-general for Scotland, and from him alone, according to the
+terms of his commission, were Post Office servants in Scotland to
+receive instructions. It was by mere accident that the postmasters-general
+heard of the proceedings of Palmer's agents in Edinburgh, and, as
+soon as they did so, they wrote to Oliphant desiring that the
+proposed changes might be suspended until he had reported his
+opinion upon them and received authority from London for carrying them
+into effect. They at the same time wrote to Palmer, sending him a copy
+of their letter to Oliphant, and giving him to understand that he had
+exceeded his powers.
+
+Palmer now threw off all restraint. He charged the postmasters-general
+with superseding his commission; he cautioned them against further
+interference with his regulations, and he appealed to the minister, to
+whom alone he declared himself to be responsible. It was true, he said,
+that he was nominally responsible to the postmasters-general, but,
+except for a legal difficulty connected with the constitution of the
+Post Office, he would have received an independent appointment. His
+commission had been made out as it stood merely as a matter of present
+necessity; and that in such circumstances they should venture to
+supersede it appeared to him a hasty and ill-advised measure--a measure
+not consistent with the judgment and temper which usually guided their
+proceedings. He had a profound veneration for the nobility of the
+country, and he could give no stronger proof of it than by stating that
+he still retained his respect and esteem for them in spite of their
+unhandsome conduct. The more he reflected on this conduct, the more he
+was struck at the haste and violence of it. Was it reasonable to suppose
+that he would consent to carry out his plan in trammels and fetters,
+and, liable as the postmasters-general were to change, to submit his
+regulations to them to be checked and controlled? The considerations for
+which he had received his appointment were twofold--for the good he had
+done in the past, and for the good he might do in the future. "When,
+therefore," he continued, "your Lordships from mistake or ill-advice
+shall send me any commands that I think may go to mischief instead of
+good, I shall most certainly not observe them; and if I apprehend ill
+consequences from any you may think proper to send to any of the
+officers under me, I shall take the liberty, for your Lordships' sake
+as well as my own and the public's, to contradict them."
+
+It was impossible that this state of things should continue. Palmer had
+appealed to Cęsar; and to Cęsar he should go. Such at least was the
+postmaster-generals' intention, and they so far carried it into effect
+as to state their case in writing; but an interview with the minister,
+though solicited over and over again, the minister always found some
+excuse for declining. "We shall wait with the utmost impatience to hear
+from you that you have found a leisure moment when we may wait upon you
+to explain the nature of the question between Mr. Palmer and us." "The
+postmasters-general," they wrote again after a long interval, "present
+their compliments to Mr. Pitt. He will see by the enclosed copy of a
+minute from Mr. Palmer how totally the business of this Office must
+stand still, as far as respects the comptroller-general's department,
+till they can have the honour of seeing Mr. Pitt." And again, a
+fortnight later, "the postmasters-general present their compliments to
+Mr. Pitt, and take the liberty to remind him of the comptroller-general's
+two last minutes, and desire to have the honour of waiting upon him
+on Wednesday next at any hour he may be pleased to appoint previous
+to their holding their usual Board."
+
+But all to no purpose. The truth is that Pitt was heartily tired of
+these unhappy dissensions. Palmer was doing, and doing admirably, the
+task which he had set himself to do. He might not indeed be all that
+could be desired. His conduct might be masterful and his pretensions
+absurd. Yet much allowance was to be made for a man who had undertaken a
+difficult business, and whose efforts had been crowned with success. And
+lamentable as the dissensions might be, there was no certainty that
+interference would effect a reconciliation. On the contrary, it might
+serve only to widen the breach, and, to judge from the past, this was
+the more likely result. And should the breach prove irreparable and a
+decision have to be given against the reformer who had done so much for
+his country, and from whom yet more was expected, it would be little
+short of a disaster. Better that matters should remain as they were than
+incur such a risk. We can well believe that some such considerations as
+these influenced Pitt in avoiding an interview; and doubtless he was
+confirmed in his decision by what he learned from another quarter.
+Palmer was a friend of Camden's, and Camden was a friend of Pitt's. To
+this common friend Palmer gave his own version of the differences
+between himself and his chiefs; and this version, which was altogether
+different from the one which the postmasters-general gave, was
+studiously impressed upon Pitt to their prejudice.
+
+Thus matters stood when, early in 1792, in consequence of some
+discrepancies in the accounts, the postmasters-general determined that
+letters for the city by the first or morning delivery should be checked.
+Care had been taken that the check should not be of a nature to retard
+the delivery; and yet, strangely enough, the delivery became later and
+later every day. At length a public advertisement appeared inviting the
+merchants and traders to meet at the London Tavern on Wednesday the 15th
+February in order to consider the subject. The meeting was held under
+the presidency of Alderman Curtis, one of the members of Parliament for
+the city; and strong resolutions were passed directing the
+postmaster-generals' attention to the delay, and calling upon them to
+explain and remove the cause.
+
+Charles Bonnor, the deputy comptroller-general, owed all he possessed to
+Palmer. It was by Palmer that he had been brought into the Post Office
+in July 1784, and the same influence procured for him shortly afterwards
+a salary of £500 and an allowance of £150 a year for a house. Warm in
+his attachments as he was fierce in his animosities, the great reformer
+extended to Bonnor a confidence which probably no other man possessed,
+and during his frequent absences from London kept up with him a
+correspondence in which he poured out his inmost thoughts. This person,
+stung with jealousy at some fancied coolness on Palmer's part, now
+published a pamphlet in which he charged his friend and benefactor with
+wilfully delaying the delivery of the morning letters, and then
+promoting the meeting at the London Tavern in order to protest against a
+mischief of his own making. According to Bonnor, Palmer had spared no
+effort to induce persons to attend the meeting, and had furnished
+Alderman Curtis, the chairman, with materials for denouncing the Post
+Office. All this, it was alleged, had been done in order to bring the
+postmasters-general into discredit, and to create a demand that Palmer
+might have larger powers given him and be left to deal with Post Office
+matters according to his unfettered judgment.
+
+The postmasters-general were overwhelmed with astonishment. At first
+they could not bring themselves to believe that the pamphlet was
+authentic, and it was not until they had been reassured on this point
+that they began to make inquiries. Palmer, of course, denied the charge,
+and Bonnor reaffirmed it. Meanwhile the resolutions passed at the London
+Tavern had been sent to the Post Office; and the postmasters-general,
+not knowing what to believe, simply referred them to Palmer, with a
+request that he would explain the cause of the late delivery. Palmer's
+reply shews the frame of mind he was in. "The cause of the late
+delivery," he answered, "as well as every other existing abuse in the
+Post Office, arises from the comptroller-general not having sufficient
+authority to correct it." The postmasters-general naturally inquired in
+what respects his authority was insufficient to prevent the late
+delivery, and to what other abuses he referred. Palmer, without
+specifying what these abuses were, replied that among the causes which
+had produced them were "an unfortunate difference in opinion, and an
+equally unfortunate interference in his office"; and then he proceeded
+to ask for larger powers, which the postmasters-general, consistently
+with the terms of their patent, were unable to give.
+
+A few days later Palmer did that which should perhaps have been done
+before. He suspended Bonnor. The postmasters-general also took action,
+but at the very moment when it might have been better if they had
+remained passive. They inquired the reason of Bonnor's suspension, and
+Palmer returned no reply. After waiting a week, the postmasters-general
+decided that, as no reason had been given, the suspension must be taken
+off; and Bonnor was directed to resume duty. On presenting himself for
+this purpose, however, Palmer refused to give up the key of his room,
+and sent him word that, if he dared to come to the Office again, the
+constables would have orders to turn him off the premises. The
+postmasters-general had put themselves in a false position. If their
+intention was to try conclusions with Palmer, they had selected the
+worst possible ground. Their only choice now was between submitting to
+defiance of their authority and supporting a worthless subordinate
+against his illustrious chief. They elected the latter alternative; and
+the suspension which had been imposed upon Bonnor was transferred to
+Palmer.
+
+An interview with the minister had now become indispensable; and at
+length, but not without a great deal of pressure, Pitt fixed the 2nd of
+May for the purpose. Chesterfield was at Bath, slowly recovering from an
+attack of the gout. He was reluctant to leave his colleague unsupported
+on the occasion; and yet for a man who was still far from well it was a
+long and tedious journey to London. Should he go or should he not? A
+decision could not be longer delayed, as the 1st of May had already
+arrived. He ordered horses to be put to his carriage, then he
+countermanded them, then he changed his mind again, and finally, in
+response to a sudden twinge of the gout, he finally abandoned his
+journey, and determined to write to Walsingham a letter such as he might
+shew.
+
+Chesterfield, unlike Walsingham, wrote a beautiful hand, a hand that was
+clear and easy to read; but on this particular occasion, in order that
+Pitt might have no excuse for not reading the letter, he wrote more
+clearly and legibly than usual. He had--thus the letter ran--been in
+fifty minds whether he should not repair to London and take part in the
+interview with Pitt; but he was still so lame that he durst not venture
+on so long a journey. His desire to be present had not indeed been
+prompted by the slightest doubt as to what Walsingham would do or say.
+On the contrary, he had the fullest confidence that his colleague would
+strictly adhere to the resolution which they had adopted, that on no
+consideration could Palmer remain with them at the Post Office. This
+resolution the experience which they had gained since his suspension had
+served to strengthen, for how much better and with how much greater
+regularity had they gone on since they had in fact as well as in name
+been postmasters-general. All this would doubtless be pressed upon Pitt,
+and, should he waver in the least, he must be informed of their
+ultimatum, which nothing could make them change. If, contrary to
+expectation, they should be driven to that option, they must be
+satisfied to retire from an office where they had done their duty and
+could do it no longer. To the full extent of the resolution they went
+hand in hand to Pitt, and this point could not be pressed upon him too
+strongly. Should he begin to propose any middle measures, Walsingham
+should stop him at once. It would be disgraceful to listen to them. "Our
+resolution once taken, no power, no persuasion, no influence ought to
+shake it, and I am confident nothing will."
+
+Walsingham waited upon the minister at the appointed time. Pitt received
+him courteously indeed, but coldly. Walsingham stated his case. Pitt
+said little, but that little clearly shewed that his leanings were in
+Palmer's favour. Palmer had done good service to the public. Was it
+impossible that he should be restored to duty? Or, much having been
+alleged and nothing proved, might not a court of inquiry be held by
+which the questions at issue between him and his chiefs should undergo a
+thorough and impartial investigation? After these and other questions
+had been put and answered, Walsingham produced Chesterfield's letter.
+Pitt read it from beginning to end, folded it up, and returned it.
+Formal civilities followed, and the interview was at an end. That night
+a letter from Walsingham informed Chesterfield that assuredly two
+persons would be dismissed from the Post Office, and that of these two
+persons Palmer would not be one.
+
+The postmasters-general were in a state of sore perplexity. Of Pitt's
+intentions they entertained not the slightest doubt. "The Post Office
+chair," wrote Chesterfield, "totters under us"; and again, "I see that
+can the ingenuity of man detect a flaw in our proceedings, we are to be
+the victims." The doubt which the postmasters-general felt concerned
+their own conduct. Rightly or wrongly, they believed that they were
+powerful enough to depose the minister, and the question which now
+agitated their minds was whether they should have recourse to so violent
+a measure, or whether they should simply resign. Bonnor saved them from
+the necessity of coming to a conclusion on the point. This person had
+hoarded up the private correspondence which, during years of close
+intimacy and friendship, had passed between himself and Palmer; and
+among the correspondence were many compromising letters. Such of these
+as he could readily lay his hands upon Bonnor, with incredible baseness,
+now carried to Walsingham, and Walsingham in an evil moment accepted
+them.
+
+The temptation was no doubt strong. Even in the eyes of the
+postmasters-general themselves it was a comparatively small matter that
+they were on the point of losing their places. But it was by no means
+immaterial to them that they should appear to Pitt, as they were
+conscious of appearing at the present time, in the light of false
+accusers, persons who had brought false charges, or at all events
+charges which they could not substantiate; and these letters would prove
+all, and more than all, that had been alleged or even suspected. They
+laid bare the story of the King's coach. They shewed how on that
+occasion the contractor had been cajoled into making an exorbitant
+charge in order that Walsingham might be deterred from again interfering
+in what Palmer regarded as his own peculiar province. They shewed also
+how, from that time to the present, a deliberate plot had existed at
+headquarters to hinder and thwart Walsingham in everything he
+undertook.
+
+And yet they were private letters, letters which had passed under the
+seal of confidence. It is by no means the least strange part of a
+strange and painful business that it appears never to have crossed the
+mind of either Walsingham or Chesterfield that this was a class of
+evidence which could not with propriety be used. Bonnor, not content
+with the letters he had already produced, searched his correspondence
+through from the time that he and Palmer became connected with the Post
+Office, and hailed any additional testimony he was able to collect
+against his former friend and benefactor with fiendish delight. He
+literally revelled in the shameless task he had set himself to perform.
+Evidence-hunting he called it. "We shall not only prove all that has
+been asserted," he wrote, "but a great deal more; and on the grand point
+of his premeditating a thorough and complete confusion in the business
+of the inland office, for the declared purpose of thereby disgracing the
+postmasters-general, I have proof that for strength and conviction no
+holy writ can exceed. But," he added, "I have a great deal to work up
+yet."
+
+As soon as the unholy brief was completed, a second interview took place
+with the minister. Pitt appears again to have said little, even less
+than on the previous occasion. He had been deceived. The
+postmasters-general must take their own course. The rest is soon told.
+Two official minutes were prepared, the one in Lombard Street and the
+other at Whitehall. By the postmaster-generals' minute Palmer, the
+insubordinate Post Office servant, was dismissed.[69] By the minister's
+minute Palmer, the distinguished Post Office reformer, was granted a
+pension equal to double the amount of his salary. His salary was £1500,
+and he derived another £1500 a year from his percentage. The pension
+which Pitt conferred upon him was £3000. To this was added later on,
+after an interval of many years, a Parliamentary grant of £50,000.
+
+  [69] Even in such a detail as the manner of dismissal, Pitt shewed his
+  usual consideration for Palmer. By the minister's direction Palmer was
+  not to be dismissed in so many words. The postmasters-general were
+  simply to make out another nominal list of the establishment, and from
+  this list Palmer's name was to be excluded.
+
+Bonnor--we blush to record it--received as the reward of his infamy the
+place of comptroller of the inland department. His promotion brought him
+little pleasure. The Post Office servants, with all their faults, were
+loyal to the backbone, and they could ill understand being presided over
+by one who was branded with the foulest of all private vices, with
+treachery to a friend and ingratitude to a benefactor. His subordinates
+would hold no communication with him beyond what their strict duty
+required. His equals shunned him. Outside the Post Office, go where he
+would, he received the cold shoulder. Never was man left more severely
+alone. At the end of two years fresh postmasters-general came who, under
+the plea of abolishing his appointment, dismissed him with a small
+pension. Then he became insolvent, and was thrown into prison. Released
+from confinement at the end of the century, he published pamphlet after
+pamphlet, having for their object to vindicate what he was pleased to
+call his good name; but these vindications, though replete with
+professions of honour, proved nothing more than that the writer was a
+poltroon as well as a traitor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE NINETIES: OR, ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
+
+
+The spirit of activity which Palmer had infused into the Post Office did
+not cease with the cessation of his official career. Those who served
+under him had been selected by himself; and they had been selected on
+account of qualities which the withdrawal of his dominating influence
+was calculated rather to stimulate than to check. These men now came to
+the fore, and not only ably sustained their late master's work but
+inaugurated important measures of their own.
+
+But before proceeding to chronicle the acts of Palmer's successors, we
+propose to give a few particulars which will serve better perhaps than a
+mere record of leading events to shew the state of the Post Office at
+the time that Palmer left it; and in this relation the project with
+which his name is mainly identified shall have precedence.
+
+In 1792 sixteen mail-coaches left London every day, and as many
+returned. These were in addition to the cross country mail-coaches, of
+which there were fifteen--as, for instance, the coach between Bristol
+and Oxford or, as it was commonly called, Mr. Pickwick's coach.[70]
+Those leaving London started from the General Post Office in Lombard
+Street at eight o'clock in the evening, and they travelled every day,
+Sundays included.
+
+  [70] Later on, Mr. Pickwick would seem to have extended his operations.
+  "(Q.) Are you in the habit of working coaches to any great distance from
+  London? (A.) I work them half-way to Bristol. With Mr. Pickwick of Bath
+  I work to Newbury."--Evidence of Mr. William Home, taken on the 2nd of
+  March 1819 before the Select Committee on the Highways of the Kingdom.
+
+There is still extant at the Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand the
+model of an old mail-coach, as fresh and as perfect as the day it was
+painted. This model bears upon its panels four devices--one a cross with
+the motto, _Honi soit qui mal y pense_; another a thistle with the
+motto, _Nemo me impune lacessit_; a third a shamrock under a star, with
+the motto, _Quis separabit?_ (ah! who indeed?); and a fourth, three
+crowns with the motto, _Tria juncta in uno_. It is commonly reputed to
+be the model of the first mail-coach, and as such we have seen it
+represented in foreign publications. We feel constrained in the
+interests of truth to expose this fiction. The first mail-coach ran
+between Bristol and London. The model bears upon it the words, "Royal
+Mail from London to Liverpool." The first mail-coach carried no outside
+passengers. The model has places for several passengers outside. The
+first mail-coach began to run on Monday the 2nd of August 1784. On the
+model, below one of the devices, appears in small yet legible figures
+the date 1783. But although certainly not the model of the first
+mail-coach, we are by no means sure that it is not still more
+interesting. We have little doubt that it is a model which, before
+mail-coaches began to run, was prepared for Pitt's inspection.
+
+In 1787, owing to the faulty construction of the original mail-coach and
+the wretched materials of which it was made, hardly a day passed without
+one or more accidents. Occasionally, indeed, the Post Office would
+receive notice of as many as three and even four upsets or breakdowns in
+a single morning. Palmer at once discerned the origin of the disease and
+the remedy; and the latter he proceeded to apply with his usual
+resolution. Having satisfied himself that a patent coach which was being
+constructed at this time fulfilled the necessary conditions more
+completely than any other, he agreed with the patentee, one Besant by
+name, to supply whatever number of coaches might be required. It was a
+mere verbal agreement, an agreement confirmed by no writing of any
+kind; yet no sooner was it made than Palmer addressed a circular to all
+the contractors of the kingdom, reproaching them with the shameful
+condition of their coaches. This, he told them, was due to the miserable
+sums they gave to the coach-maker, sums so low as to oblige him to use
+the most worthless materials; and as to repairs, even if they made him
+an allowance for these, it was so inadequate to the continual mending
+which vehicles constructed of such materials required that he merely put
+in a clip or a bolt where the fracture might happen to be, and then
+returned them in as dangerous a condition as before. Such a state of
+things, Palmer continued, would no longer be tolerated, and, as fast as
+Besant could turn them out, the new patent coaches would be sent down to
+replace those that were now in use. For providing them and keeping them
+in thorough repair, for which of course the contractors had to pay, the
+patentee's terms would be five farthings a mile or 2-1/2d. a mile out
+and in. After this summary fashion did Palmer clear the country of the
+mail-coaches of original construction.
+
+In 1792 the only mail-coaches on the road were those supplied by Besant.
+They were constructed to carry five passengers, four inside and one out.
+The coachman was not a Post Office servant; yet he, like the mail guard,
+was provided with uniform. The mail guard carried firearms. He carried
+also a timepiece; and this timepiece was regulated to gain about fifteen
+minutes in twenty-four hours, so that, when travelling eastwards, it
+might accord with real time. Of course, in the opposite direction, a
+corresponding allowance was made. The mail guard's position was one of
+no little responsibility. Not only were the mails under his personal
+charge, but he had to see that the coach kept time, that there was no
+undue delay for the purpose of obtaining refreshments, that the harness
+was in serviceable condition, and, generally, that matters along the
+road were conducted with order and propriety. If in any one or more of
+these respects there were any defect, it was the mail guard's duty to
+report the circumstance. Should the harness be reported as in had
+condition, and the contractors fail to replace it on demand, a new set
+was sent down from London at their expense; and should a coach
+persistently keep bad time, a superintendent from headquarters was
+deputed to travel by it until proper time was kept. This was equivalent
+to a heavy fine, as the superintendent travelled free, and for the seat
+he occupied a passenger would have been charged at the rate of 4d. a
+mile. The fees which at this time it was usual to pay to the mail guard
+and coachman were moderate enough, only 1s. apiece at the end of the
+"ground"; and if the "ground" was less than thirty miles, only 6d. Even
+at this rate the gentlemen of Devonshire bitterly complained that
+between Exeter and Taunton they had to pay two coachmen.
+
+The chief superintendent of mail-coaches at this time was Thomas Hasker,
+a man whose heart and soul were in his duties. Hasker has left behind
+him copies of letters written by himself or by his instructions; and
+these letters, though expressed in homely language, throw such a flood
+of light upon the ways of the road a century ago that we make no apology
+for quoting from them. "The Bristol coach," he writes to the postmaster
+of Marlborough, "is the fastest in the kingdom, and you must not detain
+it for the coach from Bath." Again, to the postmaster of Ipswich he
+writes, "Tell Mr. Foster to get fresh horses immediately, and that I
+must see him in town next Monday. Shameful work--three hours and
+twenty-two minutes coming over his eighteen miles." The Dover coach had
+long been keeping bad time. "I must beg you to attend to this directly,"
+writes Hasker to the contractors, "or we shall be obliged to put three
+fresh guards on the coach, and keep a superintendent constantly up and
+down till time is kept." The contractors for another coach had failed to
+replace their harness when desired, and a set had been sent down from
+London. "The harness," writes the indefatigable superintendent, "cost
+fourteen guineas, but as it had been used a few times with the King's
+royal Weymouth [coach], you will be charged only twelve, which sum
+please to remit to me." Thanks to the widening of the roads, it is only
+in thoroughfares more or less crowded that the device can now be
+practised to which the following refers: "Your coachman, Pickard, lost
+thirty-seven minutes last night coming up, and by so doing he always
+hinders the Manchester coach; he leaving Leicester first keeps on
+before, and prevents the other coach from passing. This is the case
+every night that Pickard comes up."
+
+But it is the instructions to the mail guards which bring home to us
+most vividly the ways of the road a hundred years ago. Thus, to the mail
+guards on the Exeter coach: "You are not to stop at any place whatever
+to leave any letters at, but to blow your horn to give the people notice
+that you have got letters for them; therefore, if they do not choose to
+come out to receive them, don't you get down from your dicky, but take
+them on to Exeter and bring them back with you on your next journey."
+And again to the mail guards on another coach: "If the coachman go into
+a public-house to drink, don't you go with him and make the stop longer,
+but hurry him out." This hurrying out had sometimes to be applied to
+passengers, and not always with success. "Sir," writes Hasker to a mail
+guard who had complained of the futility of his efforts in this
+direction, "stick to your bill, and never mind what passengers say
+respecting waiting overtime. Is it not the fault of the landlord to keep
+them so long? Some day when you have waited a considerable time (suppose
+five or eight minutes longer than is allowed by the bill), drive away
+and leave them behind. Only take care that you have witness that you
+called them out two or three times. Then let them get forward how they
+can. Let the innkeeper [of the house] where they dine know that you have
+received this letter."
+
+While thus urged to correct others, the mail guards had sometimes to be
+corrected themselves. Fines ranging from 2s. 6d. to 5s. were imposed for
+omitting to date the timetable or for dating it wrongly; and on one
+occasion an unfortunate guard was fined as much as one guinea because
+some bags for which he should have called at the Stafford Post Office
+were left behind. Also to delegate one's duties was strictly prohibited.
+"It has been reported to Mr. Hasker," writes Hasker's lieutenant, "that
+you send your mail to the Post Office by the person called Boots, and do
+not go with it yourself. You have been wrote to two or three times
+before on this subject. Therefore, if the irregularity be repeated, you
+will certainly be discharged." Occasionally advantage would be taken of
+a complaint to read a lesson to the complainant. A mail guard had been
+reported for impertinence by certain contractors who were notorious for
+the indifferent lights with which they supplied their coach. After
+replying that he had been severely rebuked for his conduct, Hasker slily
+adds, "but perhaps something may be said for the feelings of a guard
+that hears the continual complaints of passengers against bad lights and
+the disagreeable smell of stinking oil, especially when through such
+things the passengers withhold the gratuity which the guards expect."
+
+On the part of the mail guards, however, the commonest irregularity, and
+the irregularity most difficult to check, was the carrying of parcels
+and of passengers in excess of the prescribed number. "In
+consequence"--so runs a general order which was issued about this
+time--"of several of the mail guards having been detected in carrying
+meat and vegetables in their mail-box to the amount of 150 pounds weight
+at a time, the superintendents are desired to take opportunities to meet
+the coaches in their district at places where they are least expected,
+and to search the boxes to remedy this evil, which is carried to too
+great a length. The superintendents," the order proceeds, "will please
+to observe that Mr. Hasker does not wish to be too hard on the guards.
+Such a thing as a joint of meat or a couple of fowls or any other
+article for their own family in moderation he does not wish to debar
+them from the privilege of carrying." Truth compels us to add that at
+the time to which we refer it was not only meat and vegetables that the
+mail guards carried. They carried also game. In later years the country
+gentleman was probably the mail guards' best friend, but at the end of
+the last century he did not hesitate to charge them with being in league
+with poachers, and not infrequently threatened prosecution. The mail-box
+indeed was admirably adapted to purposes of secretion. Occupying a part
+of the space which even in these early days was known as the boot, it
+opened not, as the boot opened, from behind but from the top,
+immediately under the mail guard's feet; and no one but himself had
+access to it. Constant were the injunctions to the superintendents to
+meet the coaches at unexpected places for the purpose of search.
+"Search," writes Hasker, "as many mail-boxes as you can, and take away
+all game not directed and anything else beyond a joint for the guard's
+family, and send it to the chief magistrate to be disposed of for the
+benefit of the poor of the parish." The temptation to carry an extra
+passenger or two was even greater than to carry parcels. What degree of
+indulgence was shewn to this form of irregularity appears to have
+depended upon the part of the coach in which the extra seat was
+provided. To be detected in carrying a passenger on the mail-box was
+certain dismissal.
+
+Although it is not our intention to treat of mail-coaches otherwise than
+as vehicles for the transmission of letters, it may perhaps be permitted
+to us to pause here a moment and inquire where, at the end of the last
+century, the passengers' luggage can have been stowed. Of the boot a
+part, as we have seen, was given up to the mail-box; and the roof, upon
+which, within our own recollection, the luggage would be piled to nearly
+half the height of the coach itself, was forbidden, or almost forbidden,
+ground. "To load the roof of the coach," writes Hasker, "with large
+heavy baskets would not only be setting a bad example to other coaches,
+but in a very short time no passenger would travel with it." "Such a
+thing," he adds, "as a turtle tied on the roof directed to any gentleman
+once or twice a year might pass unnoticed, but for a constancy cannot be
+suffered." This objection to a load on the roof appears to have been
+common to the Sovereign and the subject. In 1796 the Court proceeded to
+Weymouth; and, as usual, a royal mail was in attendance. The King, who
+took the liveliest interest in the performances of this coach, and
+examined the way-bill daily, discountenanced roof-loads. The royal
+injunctions on this head Hasker, who was a plain-spoken man and no
+courtier, conveyed to, his subordinates thus: "Take care not to load the
+royal mail too high, and when any of His Majesty's servants travel by it
+do not load the roof upward, as you know he ordered that no luggage
+should be put on the top when his servants rode, and, indeed, at all
+times. Now upwards [_i.e._ on return from Weymouth to Windsor] there can
+be no occasion, for there are waggons and other conveyances to bring the
+luggage up." The possible use of waggons and other conveyances
+notwithstanding, we cannot help thinking that the traveller by coach of
+a hundred years ago must have been content with a far smaller quantity
+of luggage than would satisfy the traveller of to-day.
+
+That the roof of the coach, whether loaded or not, had its drawbacks for
+travellers is sufficiently evident from Hasker's correspondence. "The
+York coachman and guard," he writes after a spell of bad weather which
+had rotted the roads, "were both chucked from their seats going down to
+Huntingdon last journey, and coming up the guard is lost this morning,
+supposed from the same cause, as the passengers say he was blowing his
+horn just before they missed him."
+
+The King's interest in his mail-coach was not confined to the inspection
+of the way-bill. It was usual, before the Court repaired to Weymouth,
+for the coach to make a certain number of trial trips, and the King
+would go to the castle gates to see it pass. "His Majesty," writes
+Hasker, under date the 12th of August 1794, "came down to the park gate
+to see the mail-coach the first and second day, and told me he was much
+pleased to see it so well done and regular, and that he was glad Mr.
+White did not work it." Mr. White had worked it on a previous occasion,
+and had not given satisfaction. At the end of each season the King gave
+still more practical proof of the interest he took in his coach by
+sending thirty guineas for distribution among the mail guards and
+coachmen.
+
+But, gratified as Hasker must have been by these marks of royal
+condescension, there was one thing which, with his concurrence, even the
+King should not do, and that was, detain the mail. Owing to the letters
+from the Court being late, the coach, on several successive days, had
+not started from Weymouth until after the appointed hour. Chesterfield
+was the minister in attendance, and Hasker addressed to him a letter of
+respectful remonstrance. Of course he did not know, he said, whether the
+mail had been detained by His Majesty or by His Majesty's
+postmaster-general; but in either case he prayed it might be considered
+how bad an example it was, and what disorder was being introduced into
+the service. According to present arrangements, the coach should leave
+Weymouth at four in the afternoon. It might be appointed to leave at
+five or even six if desired, and yet reach London on the following day
+in time for the last delivery; but whatever hour might be fixed, he
+adjured his Lordship that it might be observed.
+
+How completely the mail-coach had by this time extinguished the express
+may be judged from the following instruction to the packet agent at
+Yarmouth:[71] "You will observe the reason why you keep the mail to send
+by the mail-coach is that, tho' you detain it four or five hours, it
+arrives as soon at the General Post Office as if sent by express, for
+the coach travels in sixteen or seventeen hours, and the express in not
+less than twenty or twenty-one, sometimes more." Nor is it less
+interesting to note the change of sentiment which had recently taken
+place as to the importance of despatch. Only a few years before, as we
+have seen, the inhabitants of Shrewsbury had been informed that it could
+be of no consequence whether their letters arrived four or five hours
+sooner or later. Now, in order to accelerate the letters contained in a
+single bag, no expense is to be spared. "If," the same instruction
+continues, "any mail arrives within an hour after the mail-coach is
+gone, perhaps a post-chaise and four might catch it at Ipswich."
+
+  [71] The packet agency had been removed from Harwich to Yarmouth during
+  the war. Yarmouth, by road, is 124 miles from London.
+
+But, to quit details, the broad results were these. Palmer, when
+introducing his plan, had promised security and despatch; but not
+economy. On the contrary, he had made no secret of his opinion that the
+use of mail-coaches would involve a considerable increase of expense.
+The result was a surprise even to himself. Before 1784 the annual
+allowance for carrying the mails ranged from £4 to £8 a mile, £8 being
+paid where the mails were heavy--as, for instance, on the Great North
+Road from London as far as Tuxford. In 1792 the terms on which the mails
+were carried were exemption from tolls and 1d. a mile each way, or an
+annual allowance of a little more than £3 a mile. Palmer had estimated
+the total cost of his plan at £30,000 a year. The actual cost only
+slightly exceeded £12,000.
+
+Hardly less reason had he to congratulate himself on the score of
+security and despatch. Before 1784 scarcely a week passed without the
+mails on one road or another being robbed. So great had the scandal
+become that the Post Office built a model cart--a cart wholly
+constructed of iron and reputed to be robber-proof. This cart had not
+long begun to run before it was stopped by highwaymen and rifled of its
+contents. In 1792 eight years had passed since the introduction of
+Palmer's plan; and during this period not a single mail-coach had been
+either stopped or robbed. This immunity from robbery was in more ways
+than one equivalent to a further saving. Before 1784 heavy expenses were
+incurred annually for prosecutions. One trial alone, a trial which made
+no little noise at the time, namely that of the brothers Weston, cost no
+less than £4000. This source of expense had now, of course, disappeared.
+As regards despatch, before 1784 the post travelled between five and six
+miles an hour. In 1792 the mail-coaches were travelling about seven
+miles an hour. Telford had not yet levelled the hills nor Macadam paved
+the roads; and rollers were unknown. A speed of seven miles an hour at
+the end of the last century was probably far more trying to horses than
+a speed of ten miles an hour later on.
+
+It would be beyond our province to inquire--interesting as the inquiry
+would be--to what extent the exchange of commodities between town and
+town dates from the introduction of mail-coaches; and whether it was not
+at this period that, with some noted exceptions, the local repute which
+certain towns enjoyed for the manufacture of particular articles began
+to spread. Ours is a humbler purpose; or we might be tempted even to
+contend that Palmer's plan, by the facilities it afforded for
+intercourse, exercised an influence--slow it may be, but none the less
+sure--upon the habits and condition of the people.
+
+We will illustrate our meaning. Before the introduction of mail-coaches
+in 1784 the town of Penzance in Cornwall was not indeed without a post;
+but the post it possessed was hardly worthy of the name. In 1790 letters
+were conveyed there by cart from Falmouth regularly six days a week.
+Now, of the condition of Penzance not many years before the earlier of
+these two dates we are informed on unimpeachable authority. "I have
+heard my mother relate," writes Sir Humphry Davy's brother and
+biographer, "that when she was a girl[72] there was only one cart in the
+town of Penzance, and that if a carriage occasionally appeared in the
+streets it attracted universal attention. Pack-horses were then in
+general use for conveying merchandise, and the prevailing manner of
+travelling was on horseback. At that period the luxuries of furniture
+and living enjoyed by people of the middle class at the present time
+were confined almost entirely to the great and wealthy; in the same
+town, where the population was about 2000 persons, there was only one
+carpet, the floors of rooms were sprinkled with sea-sand, and there was
+not a single silver fork. The only newspaper which then circulated in
+the west of England was the _Sherborne Mercury_, and it was carried
+through the country not by the post but by a man on horseback specially
+employed in distributing it." Penzance can never be otherwise than a
+most interesting town; but one finds it difficult to believe that, after
+being brought into communication with the outside world on six days of
+the week, it can long have retained its pristine charm and simplicity.
+
+  [72] Mrs. Davy was born in 1760.
+
+Let us now see what, at the time of Palmer's retirement, was the
+condition of the country Post Offices. Bristol, after long ranking next
+to London in wealth and population, had yielded place to other towns.
+Foremost among these stood Manchester. Manchester, following suit to the
+capital, had recently numbered its streets; it was publishing local
+directories; and it enjoyed the reputation of being, the capital itself
+not excepted, the dearest town in the kingdom. At the present time the
+Post Office at Manchester gives employment to about 1400 persons. In
+1792, with the exception of a single letter-carrier, the whole of the
+Post Office business there was conducted by an aged widow assisted by
+her daughter. Dame Willatt had recently achieved some little local
+notoriety. She had, as an inducement to persons to post early, imposed a
+late-letter fee. For this proceeding, not at that time uncommon and not
+disapproved at headquarters, she had been summoned to the Court of the
+Lord of the Manor, and had been cast in damages.
+
+Bath enjoyed a double distinction, a distinction due less probably to
+its population as compared with that of other towns than to the fact
+that, being Palmer's native place, it was constantly under his eye as it
+had been under the eye of Ralph Allen before. This highly-favoured town
+was, outside London, the only one in the kingdom which could boast of
+what, with any regard to the meaning of words, could be dignified by the
+name of a Post Office Establishment; and the postmaster's salary was in
+excess of that which any other postmaster received. This salary was £150
+a year, and the establishment, over which Ralph Allen's successor
+presided, consisted of one clerk and three letter-carriers.
+
+No other town had more than one letter-carrier; and many towns had not
+even this. Whether the accommodation was provided or not appears to have
+depended less upon the necessities of the place than upon the
+disposition of the inhabitants. Thus, the little towns of Sandwich in
+Kent and Hungerford in Berkshire, in recognition of the gallant conflict
+they had waged with the authorities, had each a letter-carrier of its
+own, while Norwich, York, Derby, Newcastle, and Plymouth had none.
+Besides Bath only four towns received an allowance for a clerk or
+assistant, namely Manchester, Norwich, York, and Leeds. Elsewhere the
+postmaster and a letter-carrier, if letter-carrier there was, were the
+sole Post Office representatives.
+
+At Bristol the postmaster's salary was £140,--the next highest after
+that given at Bath. At Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Chester
+the salary was £100; at Exeter, York, Newcastle, Leeds, and Plymouth
+£80; at Sheffield £60, to which amount it had been recently raised from
+£50; at Derby, Carlisle, and Gloucester £40; at Brighton and Nottingham
+£30; at Leicester £25; and at Southampton £20. At Tunbridge the
+postmaster, in addition to a salary of £20, received an allowance of
+equal amount for keeping an office at Tunbridge Wells. Ripon, despite
+the rebuke it had received in 1713 for its audacity in asking for a Post
+Office, had now been accommodated with one. At Chepstow pence were still
+being paid on the delivery of letters, not because the inhabitants had
+not discovered their rights but out of consideration to the aged
+postmistress, whose emoluments they were unwilling to diminish.
+Birkenhead, Torquay, and Bournemouth,[73] of course, did not exist.
+Eastbourne existed indeed, but not as we know it now. Hither the letters
+were carried three times a week from Lewes. At Ramsgate, then a village
+served from the neighbouring post-town of Sandwich, an office for the
+receipt of letters was kept at a cost of £6 a year. The whole of the
+Isle of Wight had but one postmaster and one letter-carrier. To the
+Channel Islands there was no post.
+
+  [73] As late as 1854 Bournemouth received its letters from Poole by
+  donkey and cart.
+
+On Palmer's retirement the office of chief adviser to the
+postmasters-general devolved almost naturally upon Francis Freeling, the
+surveyor located at headquarters. Todd still held the appointment of
+secretary, but after a service of more than fifty years he was unequal
+to the exertion which the exigencies of the time required. Between Todd
+and Walsingham, moreover, there was little in common. Their relations,
+indeed, had always been most friendly; but the views they entertained on
+Post Office questions were more often than not at variance. "It is a
+matter of great entertainment to me," wrote Walsingham, as early as
+October 1788, "to see how totally we differ in all our official
+opinions." From this time Todd took less and less part in the duties of
+his office, and confined himself almost exclusively to its social
+amenities. This was a sphere in which he excelled. At his table in
+Lombard Street the postmasters-general themselves and such as they might
+choose to meet them were frequent guests, and "his old hock in his old
+parlour" passed into a by-word.
+
+Freeling, on the contrary, possessed advantages which not only pointed
+him out as Todd's successor when Todd should be pleased to retire, but
+peculiarly fitted him to deal with the circumstances of the moment. In
+the prime of life, of good address and prepossessing appearance, and
+with a knowledge of every detail of Post Office organisation such as
+only constant visits to different parts of the kingdom could give, he
+soon contrived to make himself not only useful but indispensable; and
+before any long period had expired the postmasters-general appointed him
+joint secretary with Todd, an arrangement by virtue of which one was to
+be the acting and the other the sleeping partner; one was to do the work
+and the other to draw the pay. It was new to the postmasters-general to
+have about them some one who was not only able but willing and anxious
+to impart information on every official question as it arose, and they
+could ill conceal their glee at the altered state of affairs. "One of
+the complaints made by us of Mr. Palmer," they wrote about this time,
+"was that he did what he thought fit without making the least
+communication to the Board, or without there being a single record of
+anything which he did or objected to either before or after it was
+done"; ... but "Mr. Freeling reports distinctly to us upon every
+application that we refer to him, or that is made to the Board,
+amounting to above two hundred reports every quarter for the current
+business." Freeling was now exposed to a serious danger, a danger to
+which many a reputation has succumbed, namely, that of being transformed
+from a man of action into a mere scribe; but this was a temptation which
+he stoutly resisted. Without relaxing his efforts to maintain and
+improve upon Palmer's plan, he was careful not only to keep the
+postmasters-general informed of what he was doing, but to do nothing
+which had not first been duly authorised.
+
+The period immediately following Palmer's retirement was one rather of
+honest endeavour than of solid achievement. The first and most pressing
+question to arise was that of insufficiency of accommodation at
+headquarters. The inland office, this being the office in which the
+mails were made up for despatch, was not only close and ill-ventilated,
+but altogether too small for its purpose. More post-towns were required
+in various parts of the kingdom; but it was impossible to add to the
+number of towns for which bags would have to be made up until more space
+should be provided. Some persons thought it would be best at once to
+take a step which in any case would probably have to be taken in the not
+remote future, and to build a new Post Office on other and more
+extensive premises. Such, however, was not the opinion of the
+postmasters-general. They were naturally unwilling to advocate the heavy
+expenditure which such a measure would involve except upon proof of its
+absolute necessity. Mainly on this ground, but also partly because
+premises in so central and convenient a position as those which the
+present Post Office occupied were not to be had, authority was sought
+and obtained for nothing more than the erection of a new inland office.
+
+But, as the postmasters-general found to their cost, it is one thing to
+obtain an authority and another thing to carry it into effect. On part
+of the ground on which the office was to be erected stood two houses,
+the lease of which had not long to run; and the Drapers' Company, to
+whom the property belonged, declined to extend the term. This difficulty
+was at length overcome, and the houses were in course of demolition,
+when projecting into the very centre of the space designed for the new
+office was found the wall of an old house belonging to Sir Charles
+Watson, and this house he refused to let the Post Office have unless it
+would also take seven other houses which he possessed in the immediate
+neighbourhood. At the present time houses in and about Abchurch Lane
+would probably fetch twenty-five years' purchase. Fifteen years'
+purchase was the sum then demanded, and it was considered a hard
+bargain. Eventually Watson consented to grant a ninety-nine years'
+lease; but it was a lease not only of the single house that the Post
+Office wanted, but of all eight houses, seven of which it did not want.
+What they called their mortifications and disappointments at an end, the
+postmasters-general proceeded to build.
+
+Still more unsatisfactory was the result of an attempt that was made or
+intended to be made about this time to improve the post with the
+Continent. Communication with France was only twice a week, and
+Walsingham desired to treble it. In France, as in England, the post went
+to the water's edge on six days of the week, and he could see no reason
+why, except on two days, it should stop there. He entertained a strong
+opinion that between the two countries communication should be daily.
+
+There was also another matter to be settled with our neighbours. During
+a period of sixty-six years, namely, from 1713 to 1779, the postage on a
+single letter between London and Paris had been 10d.; and, to avoid the
+keeping of accounts, this sum had been collected and retained by the
+Post Office of the country in which the letter was delivered. In 1779,
+when owing to the war communication between Dover and Calais was
+stopped, letters from Paris reached England through Flanders, and on
+these letters when put into the post in Paris a charge of 4d. was made
+in addition to the 10d. to be paid on delivery in London. It had been
+thought that in 1783, on the termination of the war, this charge would
+be abandoned, and that the old postage of 10d. would be resumed. Such,
+however, was not the case. The Post Office authorities in France adhered
+to the 4d. charge and defended it. The old postage of 10d., they argued,
+was all very well when they had no packets of their own and England
+performed the sea service. But now France had her own packets, and the
+distance between Paris and Calais being far greater than between London
+and Dover, it could not in reason be expected that on a letter between
+the two capitals she would be content with no higher postage than that
+which England received. The charge of 4d. upon letters for London when
+put into the post in Paris must be maintained, even though they no
+longer went through Flanders. It was a matter of internal regulation
+with which England had no concern. Without contesting this view of the
+case, the home authorities regarded the 4d. charge as a most vexatious
+impost. Not only had it the effect of diminishing the correspondence,
+but many of the letters which still passed were carried by private hand
+from Paris to Dover and there posted, so that the British Post Office
+received upon them only 4d. apiece, this being the postage from Dover to
+London, instead of 10d., the postage from Paris. In 1787 Palmer had, by
+Pitt's direction, gone over to France in order to adjust the matter and
+to promote a six days' post between the two countries; but he returned
+without effecting either object.
+
+Circumstances now appearing more favourable, Walsingham determined to
+make fresh overtures. An emissary had already been selected for the
+purpose, and was on the eve of departure when a new and unexpected
+difficulty arose; the merchants of London, to whom the intention to
+increase the frequency of communication with France had become known,
+met to protest against the project. A hundred years before they would
+have gone to the Post Office, talked the matter over with the
+postmasters-general, and, after an exchange of opinions, an agreement
+would have been come to as to what was best to be done. Now they
+assembled in their numbers at the London Tavern and resolved "that any
+addition to the present number of post days to France or to any other
+part of the Continent is unnecessary, and would be highly inconvenient
+and injurious to the merchants of London." The resolution was unanimous,
+and copies were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. For
+the merchants of London Walsingham entertained a sincere respect; but in
+this particular matter, convinced that they did not know what was for
+their own good, he determined to proceed in their despite. Unhappily,
+however, at this conjuncture the resumption of hostilities with France
+extinguished for the time all hopes of improved communication with the
+Continent.
+
+Another project, in which the Post Office and the merchants possessed a
+common interest and a common desire, was also doomed to failure. The
+practice of cutting bank notes into two parts and sending one part by
+one post and another by another had now become general. The expedient,
+though efficacious, was a costly one. A letter with an enclosure,
+however light, paid double postage; and double postage between two
+places no farther apart than London and Birmingham was 10d. To send two
+halves of a bank note each in a separate letter would, of course, cost
+twice that amount. This was a heavy insurance to pay. The Post Office,
+in its desire not to discourage a practice which diminished temptation
+to dishonesty, was hardly less anxious than the merchants themselves
+that the amount should be reduced. Accordingly Walsingham proposed that
+in all cases where a bank note was sent by two separate posts the second
+letter, that is to say, the letter containing the second half, should,
+on proof being given of its contents, be charged with only single
+postage. A notice to the public announcing the change had already been
+prepared when he learnt to his chagrin that the proposed regulation
+would be illegal. In the case of a letter with an enclosure the law
+prescribed double postage, and it was no more in the power of the Post
+Office to reduce the amount than to forego it altogether.
+
+But these were failures which it is only interesting to record as
+evidence that at the Post Office, after Palmer had left it, there was no
+want of directing energy or of a desire to study the interests of the
+public. It is pleasant to turn to matters in respect to which good
+intentions were not unattended with results. But before leaving 1792,
+the year in which these disappointments occurred, we must not omit to
+notice that it was at the end of this year that the letter-carriers were
+for the first time put into uniform. Palmer, who was now playing the
+part of the outside critic, condemned the innovation as a piece of
+unnecessary extravagance. But Palmer did not know the reasons for it.
+The letter-carriers when in private clothes were exposed to temptation
+from which the wearing of uniform would protect them; and more than one
+recent case had brought the fact into painful prominence. Nor can it be
+denied that, so long as there was no distinctive dress, letter-carriers
+in want of a holiday were a little apt to take one without permission,
+supplying their place by persons of whose character they knew little or
+nothing. It was in order to check irregularity of this kind and as a
+means of protection to themselves and the public that uniform was now
+introduced. The uniform consisted of a scarlet cloth coat with blue
+lapels and blue linings of padua; a blue cloth waistcoat, and a hat with
+gold band.
+
+It should also be noticed that about this time the Post Office servants
+in London were in some measure relieved from the pecuniary cares by
+which they had long been oppressed. The Commissioners of Inquiry in
+their Report of 1788 had recommended for the Post Office a new
+establishment; and now, after an interval of nearly five years, this
+establishment was approved by the King in Council. The new salaries were
+not high. At the present time they would be considered low; but such as
+they were, they were higher than the salaries they replaced. Jamineau's
+recent death, moreover, by relieving the clerks of the roads from
+payment of the commission[74] which this officer received on all
+newspapers with which they dealt, enabled them to reduce their price for
+franking, the result being an immediate extension of sale. On the whole,
+the Post Office servants in London were, at this time, in comparatively
+comfortable circumstances, or at all events above the reach of actual
+want. The starvation and bankruptcy with which they had at one time been
+threatened had been staved off by a grant, which Pitt renewed year after
+year while the Commissioners' Report was under consideration. This grant
+amounted to £3000, of which £2000 were for distribution in the sorting
+office, and £1000 in the other offices.
+
+  [74] This was a commission of three halfpence on every dozen newspapers,
+  besides one newspaper in every quire.
+
+The year 1793 was signalised by a remarkable development of the penny
+post. This institution, which had as yet been established nowhere but in
+London and in Dublin, was now to be extended to Edinburgh, to
+Manchester, to Bristol, and to Birmingham. In Edinburgh the ground had
+been to some extent preoccupied. The keeper of a coffee-house in the
+hall of the Parliament House had sixteen years before set up an office
+from which letters were delivered throughout the city at 1d. apiece; and
+this office still remained open and prospered. To compare Williamson's
+undertaking with Dockwra's would be to compare a mouse with an elephant;
+and yet it may not be uninteresting to note the different treatment
+which the two men received. Dockwra was prosecuted, fined, and his
+undertaking confiscated. Williamson was granted a pension. "We have
+also," write the postmasters-general under date the 19th of July 1793,
+"to beg your Lordship's permission to authorise us to allow to Mr.
+Williamson of Edinburgh £25 per annum, he having long had the profits of
+1d. a letter on certain letters forwarded through his receiving house at
+Edinburgh, which he will lose by our having established a penny post
+there. We have made it a rule," they add, "always to propose that those
+who suffer in their incomes from regulations which are certainly
+beneficial to the public should receive compensation for the loss they
+sustain."
+
+At Manchester the establishment of the penny post followed upon other
+and important alterations. The inhabitants of that town had long
+complained of the inadequacy of their postal arrangements; and measures
+had recently been taken, the very extent of which serves to shew how
+serious must have been the defects which they were designed to supply.
+The aged postmistress was granted a pension of £120, with the reversion
+of one-third of that amount to her daughter; and in her room an active
+postmaster was appointed at a salary of £300. Four clerks were at the
+same time appointed, at salaries ranging from £50 to £100, and five
+additional letter-carriers, making six altogether, at wages of 12s. a
+week. Thus, Manchester suddenly found itself in possession of a Post
+Office establishment with which, outside London, that of no other town
+in the kingdom could compare. As a sequel to this important extension of
+force a penny post was opened in July 1793; and no sooner had the boon
+been conferred upon Manchester than it was extended to Bristol and to
+Birmingham.
+
+It is interesting to note what at these three towns was the financial
+effect of giving postal facilities. During the year 1794-95 the penny
+post brought a clear gain to the revenue--in Manchester, of £586; in
+Bristol, of £469; and in Birmingham, of £240. It is a curious fact that,
+with this experience to guide them and with an anxious desire to extend
+the system, the Post Office authorities, after sparing no pains to
+inform themselves on the subject, came to the conclusion that neither
+at Liverpool nor at Leeds nor at any other town in England would a penny
+post defray its own expenses.
+
+But it was in London that the penny post attained its highest
+development. This branch of Post Office business had long been
+shamefully neglected. Of the officers concerned in it those above the
+rank of sorter were only three in number--a comptroller, an accountant,
+and a collector. Of these the collector attended only occasionally, and
+the accountant and comptroller not at all. This neglect had its natural
+effect upon the receipts. During the last twenty years and more,
+notwithstanding the increase which had during this period taken place in
+the population and trade of the metropolis, the revenue of the penny
+post had remained almost stationary. Up to 1789 the highest sum it had
+ever produced in one year was £5157 net. This was in 1784, and for the
+five following years the receipts went on decreasing until, attention
+having been called to the decline, there was a sudden rebound. In 1792
+the revenue was--gross £10,825, and net £5561.
+
+Palmer, who was well aware of the discreditable condition into which the
+Penny Post Office had fallen, proposed to take it in farm, and offered
+as a consideration to forego his salary and percentage; but this was a
+proposal the acceptance of which was strongly deprecated by the
+Commissioners of Inquiry who sat in 1788 no less than by the
+postmasters-general. It was their unanimous opinion that the penny post
+should be retained in the hands of the State. Palmer, still clinging to
+the hope that other counsels might prevail, put off effecting
+improvements which would afford the strongest arguments against the
+adoption of his own proposal; and in 1793, in spite of the changes which
+had been going on all around, the Penny Post Office remained much as it
+had been during the last twenty years.
+
+The man who now took the reform of the penny post in hand was Edward
+Johnson. Johnson was a letter-carrier. He had been appointed by Palmer
+or on Palmer's recommendation; and he soon gave proof of more than
+ordinary ability. Palmer not infrequently exposed him to a severe
+ordeal. When unable or unwilling to attend the postmasters-general
+himself, he would send Johnson in his stead, a substitution which they
+resented as unseemly; and thus some little prejudice had been excited
+against him. This prejudice, however, had disappeared with the cause of
+it, and Johnson now stood high, deservedly high, in the
+postmaster-generals' favour.
+
+In 1793, in addition to the numerous receiving houses where letters for
+the penny post might be taken in, there were in London five principal
+offices--one known as the chief Penny Post Office, and situated in
+Throgmorton Street, opposite Bartholomew Lane; another called the
+Westminster Penny Post Office, and situated in Coventry Street,
+Haymarket; a third, the Hermitage Office in Queen Street, Little Tower
+Hill; a fourth, the Southwark Office in St. Saviour's Churchyard,
+Borough; and a fifth, the St. Clement's Office, in Blackmore Street.
+Between these five offices there was little or no connection; at no two
+of them were the number of collections or deliveries the same or the
+hours at which they were made; the letter-carriers were altogether too
+few for the ground which they had to cover, so that punctuality and
+despatch were impossible; and even those whose walks lay near the
+ten-mile limit, before proceeding to deliver their letters, had to come
+to London to fetch them.
+
+Johnson proposed to change all this. He proposed to reduce the number of
+principal offices from five to two, retaining only the chief office and
+the office in Coventry Street; to increase the number of collections and
+deliveries; to give the same number to all parts served by the penny
+post, namely, six in the town and three in the suburbs, or, as the
+suburbs were then called, "the country," and everywhere, as far as
+possible, to observe the same hours; to post these hours up in every
+receiving house, so that the public might be made acquainted with them
+and act as a check upon their being observed; and, instead of requiring
+the letter-carriers in the remoter parts to come to London for their
+letters, to send their letters to them by mounted messengers.
+
+Johnson's last proposal, though following almost naturally from what had
+gone before, well-nigh staggered the postmasters-general. It was that,
+in order to carry his plan into effect, the number of penny post
+letter-carriers should be more than doubled. The existing number was
+eighty-two, and the number which Johnson proposed was 181. This, even at
+the present time--large as are the numbers with which the Post Office
+has been accustomed to deal--would be considered a heavy, an
+exceptionally heavy, increase. In 1793 it was regarded as portentous,
+and the postmasters-general anxiously sought means to reduce it; but
+Johnson, besides being perfect master of his subject, possessed two
+faculties which by no means always go together. He possessed the faculty
+of devising a good scheme and the faculty of explaining it; and the
+lucid explanation he now gave convinced the postmasters-general that
+they could not do better than adopt his plan in its entirety.
+Contrasting the time which a letter took to pass between various parts
+of London with the time which it would take if his suggestions were
+adopted, Johnson had no difficulty in shewing that from his plan the
+public would derive facilities for intercourse to which they had
+hitherto been strangers.
+
+There were, perhaps, no two places between which the course of post was
+more difficult to manage than Marylebone and Limehouse. Under the
+existing plan a letter from one of these two places, however early it
+might be posted, might not reach the other on the same day, and, even if
+it did so, an answer could not be received before the afternoon of the
+following day. Under Johnson's plan a letter might be received, an
+answer returned, and the answer answered, all on the same day. Places
+less inconveniently situated in relation to each other were to receive a
+still larger measure of benefit. Between persons residing in Lombard
+Street and the Haymarket, for instance, five letters might pass to and
+fro between the hours of eight in the morning and seven in the evening.
+This was within the town limits. Within the country limits the general
+effect of Johnson's plan may be stated thus: that to letters from London
+answers might be returned sooner by two posts if the letters were for
+places not more than five miles distant, and, if for places distant
+between five and ten miles, sooner by a period ranging from one to three
+days. The last-mentioned places, moreover, were to have three posts a
+day instead of one post.
+
+Pitt was no less favourably impressed with Johnson's plan than the
+postmasters-general were; but before sanctioning it he resolved to await
+the passing of an Act for the redress of certain anomalies, or what were
+considered to be anomalies, in the practice of the penny post. This Act
+was passed in 1794; and immediate steps were taken for carrying the plan
+into effect. A proud day for Johnson must have been the 8th of
+September. On that day a public notice appeared announcing the changes
+that were about to take place; and this notice bore his signature. Only
+the other day he had been a letter-carrier, and now, by reason of a
+promotion which did hardly more honour to himself than to the
+postmasters-general who made it, he signed as deputy-comptroller of the
+Penny Post Office.
+
+The financial results of Johnson's plan exceeded all expectation. For
+the last year of the old system the gross revenue of the penny post was
+£11,000. For the first year of the new system it was £28,560; and for
+the second year £29,623. Johnson had proceeded on the principle--a
+principle which from the first establishment of the Post Office has
+never yet been known to fail--increase facilities for correspondence and
+correspondence itself increases.
+
+Johnson had made one mistake, a mistake which he frankly acknowledged
+and did his best to repair. He had fixed the wages of the
+letter-carriers too low. It was not that he had been indifferent to the
+interests of the class from which he had recently emerged, but that he
+had feared to overweight a measure which, even as it stood, he had
+almost despaired of carrying. The wages, as fixed on his
+recommendation, ranged from 9s. to 16s. a week. Then came that terrible
+winter--the winter of 1794-95. We have ourselves been witness to an
+excessive absence from duty on the part of Post Office servants during
+the epidemic of influenza in 1890. But the number that were absent then,
+relatively to the whole force, were not to be compared to the number
+that were absent in the spring of 1795; neither was their absence due to
+so grievous a cause.
+
+In the spring of 1795 the penny post letter-carriers, unlike the
+letter-carriers of the general post, had not yet been supplied with
+uniform, and, through sheer inability to supply themselves with such
+articles of clothing and of food as the severity of the weather
+required, nearly one-half of the whole number were unable to follow
+their employment. Johnson took great blame to himself for what he had
+done; nor did he rest until he had procured for the letter-carriers a
+substantial increase all round. This increase ranged from about 2s. to
+6s. a week for each man, and involved a total cost of £1600 a year. Also
+in matters of detail Johnson effected several improvements, of which we
+will mention only one. The receptacle for letters at the receiving
+houses in London had hitherto been an open and movable box. The box was
+now, on his recommendation, to be fixed and provided with a key. The key
+was to be kept by the receiver, and he alone was to have access to the
+letters.
+
+The Act of 1794 contained provisions which it is impossible to pass
+unnoticed. The penny post from its first establishment in 1681 had
+differed from the general post in this--that letters sent by it had to
+be prepaid. By the general post prepayment had not indeed been
+prohibited, but it had been discouraged; by the penny post it had been
+compulsory. This was now altered, and it was left to the option of
+persons using the penny post whether they would prepay their letters or
+not. It is difficult to repress a pang at the disappearance of a
+provision to which Dockwra, the founder of the penny post, attached the
+highest importance; and yet it must be admitted that the change was not
+made without a reason. Messengers and servants entrusted with letters
+to post would destroy the letters for the sake of the pence which had
+been given them to pay the postage; and to such an extent had the abuse
+been carried that some persons made it a rule not to use the penny post
+at all unless they could post their own letters.
+
+Another provision of the Act of 1794 was to relax a restriction imposed
+by the Act of Anne. Before 1711 the penny post had been so extended as
+to include many places distant from London as much as eighteen and
+twenty miles. Then came the Act of Anne, restricting the penny post to a
+circuit of ten miles. And now the ten-mile limit was abolished, and the
+postmasters-general were empowered, not in London alone but also in
+country towns wherever the penny post might be established, to extend it
+at their discretion.
+
+A third provision of the Act of 1794 was designed to correct what was
+considered a flaw in a previous Act. It is interesting to note what this
+flaw was. When Dockwra established his post, he insisted that on letters
+going by it the postage should be 1d. and no more. This penny, however,
+in the case of letters for places situated beyond the bills of
+mortality, was to carry only to the receiving house; for delivery at a
+private house was to be paid a second penny, commonly called the
+delivery-penny. The Act of Anne merely provided that letters by the
+penny post should be charged 1d., and was silent on the subject of the
+second or delivery-penny; and a subsequent Act, passed in 1731, made the
+delivery-penny legal.
+
+Now what was the consequence of all this? The consequence was that as
+between two letters, the one passing from London to a place outside the
+bills of mortality and the other passing from a place outside the bills
+of mortality to London, there was a difference of postage. In the one
+direction the postage was 2d. and in the other 1d. The Act of 1794
+imposed a postage of 2d. in both directions; and here we see not indeed
+the origin of the twopenny post but the twopenny post fully established.
+
+The reform of the penny post was soon followed by that of the dead
+letter office. This office was established in 1784. How, before that
+year, dead letters were treated is perhaps one of the obscurest points
+of Post Office practice. We know that letters which could not be
+delivered and letters which had been missent were always treated
+together. We know that in 1716 these letters had become so numerous that
+an officer was specially appointed to check them. We know that to Ralph
+Allen, fertile as he was in resources, how to deal with this class of
+letters was a constant source of perplexity. We know that Todd, writing
+to Foxcroft, the deputy postmaster-general of America, in February 1775,
+says: "Amongst other regulations made here of late the dead, refused,
+and unknown letters returned to this office have been opened by the
+proper officers, and returned to the writers"; but without adding who
+"the proper officers" were. And we know that as late as 1783 there was
+in London a letter-carrier whose special duty it was to "take care of
+the unknown and uncertain letters."
+
+But when we have stated this, we have stated all. Whether there was any
+recognised mode of dealing with dead letters, or whether any one into
+whose hands these letters came dealt with them as he judged best,
+according to circumstances, are questions upon which we have absolutely
+no information. In 1784 only a part of the dead letters and letters that
+had been missent went to the newly-created dead letter office. Another
+and larger part, consisting of bye-letters or letters that in the
+ordinary course would not reach London, were dealt with in the
+bye-letter office. No letter was returned to the writer until after the
+expiration of six months, and on its return no postage was charged. In
+1790 Palmer reduced from six months to two the period before which
+letters were returned, and on his own motion, without reference to the
+postmasters-general, charged them with postage. Grave doubts were
+entertained as to the legality of this charge, and Pitt, as soon as he
+heard of it, ordered it to be discontinued.
+
+In 1793 Barlow, a clerk in the secretary's office, who had charge of the
+dead letter office, introduced two changes of practice which, obvious
+as they may now appear, were then regarded as evidence of no little
+merit. He arranged that missent letters, instead of being sent to London
+to be dealt with in the dead letter office, should be forwarded to their
+destination from the place where the missending was discovered; and
+also--a change which gave great satisfaction in naval and military
+circles--that letters for the army and navy should be sent where the
+army and navy were known to be, and not to stations and quarters which
+they were known to have left simply because the letters were addressed
+there.
+
+About the same time the dead letter office received most valuable help
+in the discharge of its duties from the publication of what was,
+virtually, the first County Directory. For some years past three Post
+Office servants had been engaged in compiling a list of all the names
+and addresses they could collect throughout the different counties of
+England. This list, though still far from complete, now filled six large
+folio volumes. The venture which had been undertaken with a view to
+profit was financially a failure; but as a means of helping to forward
+letters with imperfect addresses it proved an unqualified success.
+
+Thus matters stood in 1795, when Barlow proposed a further reform. The
+inspector of the "bye, dead, and missent letters," as they were called,
+had neglected his duties. These letters were not sent to London until
+they had lain for three months in the country offices, and after their
+arrival he had suffered a still longer period to elapse before
+proceeding to dispose of them. Barlow now proposed that these letters
+also should be placed under his control, and the proposal being
+approved, the dead letter office began to assume the shape in which,
+though under another name, we know it to-day. To the general practice
+one exception was made. On the first opening of penny post offices in
+country towns many letters could not be delivered on account of their
+imperfect addresses. The novelty and cheapness of the post, it may well
+be believed, induced persons to use it who possessed little skill in
+writing, and no knowledge of the mode in which superscriptions should be
+prepared. It was a duty imposed on the surveyor who was engaged in
+establishing the post to open these letters and return them to the
+writers on the spot.
+
+Another office was established about this time, an office for dealing
+with the American and West Indian letters. The merchants had recently
+complained that these letters were continually missent, letters for one
+of the West India Islands being sent to another, and letters for places
+served from Halifax being sent to Quebec and _vice versā_. The truth is
+that until lately some profit had been derived from the sorting of these
+letters; and the most experienced officers, who knew the circulation
+abroad almost as well as they knew the circulation at home, had been
+glad to sort them. The comptroller of the inland department--for,
+curiously enough, it was there and not in the foreign department that
+the letters were dealt with--had received one guinea a night and the
+clerks 5s. a night for dealing with them; but these unauthorised
+additions to salaries had now been stopped, and the West Indian and
+American mails were left to be sorted, just as any other mails were
+sorted, by seniors and juniors in common.
+
+It was impossible that mistakes should not occur. To assist in the
+disposal of inland mails there were what were called circulation lists,
+lists shewing to what towns letters for particular places were to be
+sent; but in the case of the American and West Indian mails there were
+no such aids to inexperience, and the letters were to a large extent
+sent haphazard. Freeling now altered this. He procured from abroad
+circulation lists corrected to the latest date. Four experienced
+officers were selected, who were made specially responsible for the West
+Indian and American correspondence; they were to devote to it two hours
+a night over and above their ordinary hours; and for this extra
+attendance they were each to receive a special allowance of £30 a year.
+
+Freeling's last safeguard is interesting as shewing what may be done
+with a limited correspondence. Two books were to be kept, of which one
+was to be reserved for Government letters. In this book were to be
+entered the date on which each individual letter was posted, the date on
+which it was forwarded to Falmouth, and the name of the packet by which
+it was despatched. The second book was, in Freeling's own words, "to
+contain observations of different kinds to enable the clerks the better
+to satisfy the merchants applying for information" respecting the
+letters they had posted. It would perhaps be hardly an exaggeration to
+say that between England on the one hand and America and the West Indies
+on the other there are at the present time more sackfuls of letters
+passing than there were single letters one hundred years ago.
+
+About the same time, but a little later, an important change took place
+in the treatment of letters arriving from the East Indies in the ships
+of the East India Company. These letters came to the India House in
+boxes addressed to the directors, and so escaped all but the inland
+postage. Some of them indeed did not pay even that, for if addressed to
+persons in or near London they were delivered by the Company's servants,
+who charged and retained as their own perquisite a fee varying from 2s.
+6d. to 10s. 6d. on each letter. The practice was of old date, as old
+probably as the East India Company itself, and was held to be not
+illegal. It is true that a vessel was forbidden under a penalty of £20
+to break bulk or to make entry into port until all letters brought by
+the master or his company should be delivered to some agent of the
+postmasters-general; but both the captain and the directors were held to
+be exempt from liability under this provision, the captain because he
+was presumably ignorant of what the boxes contained, and the directors
+because the penalty attached to the captain and not to them.
+
+The legality of the practice not being contested, nothing remained but
+to make overtures to the directors; and, on this being done, they
+readily consented that for the future all letters arriving by their
+ships, except such as were for themselves and their friends, should be
+forthwith sent to the Post Office to be dealt with as ship letters. The
+public derived no little advantage from the change. The postage from
+India was actually less than what the company's servants had been
+accustomed to exact as fees; and the letters were now delivered at once,
+whereas the company's servants would seldom deliver them under three or
+four days after their arrival at the India House, and sometimes not for
+a whole month.
+
+Contemporaneously with the Act of Parliament regulating the penny post
+was passed another establishing a post to the Channel Islands. This was
+essentially a war post, a post which, except for the war between England
+and France, might have been postponed far into the present century.
+Hitherto letters for the Channel Islands had been charged with postage
+only as far as Southampton, and from Southampton they had been carried
+to their destination by private boat. Again and again had the Post
+Office been urged by those who wanted employment for their vessels to
+establish a line of packets to the islands; but to all such overtures
+the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. Boats were passing to and fro
+regularly four or five times a week, and the owners of these boats were
+ready and glad to carry the letters for the ship-letter postage of 1d. a
+letter. Why then, it was asked, should the Post Office be at the expense
+of maintaining a line of packets which, unless it were put on a footing
+out of all proportion to the importance of the service, would give
+absolutely less accommodation than that which existed already?
+
+Thus matters stood when war broke out and all communication with the
+islands was stopped. Even now the postmasters-general had grave doubts
+as to the propriety of establishing a line of packets. It was true that
+the correspondence with the Channel Islands was considerable. During the
+year 1792 the number of letters on which ship-letter postage had been
+paid was 21,570, namely, 20,070 at Southampton and 1500 at Dartmouth and
+other ports on the south coast--making, on the assumption that the
+letters were as many in the opposite direction, a total correspondence
+for the year of about 43,000 letters.
+
+And yet there were serious considerations on the other side. Unless an
+Act of Parliament were passed providing a packet rate of postage between
+the mainland and the islands, the Post Office would have no exclusive
+right of carrying the letters, and the moment the war ceased the packets
+might be deserted in favour of the private boats. If, on the other hand,
+such an Act were passed, popular as the measure might be while the war
+lasted, it could not fail to be unpopular as soon as the war ceased.
+Private boats would then be an illegal means of conveyance, and
+correspondence would be restricted to the packets, however few these
+might be in number, and however wide the intervals between the
+despatches.
+
+Another expedient remained, but this was one which had been tried during
+the last war, and the postmasters-general were not prepared to repeat
+it. The _Express_ packet, Captain Sampson, belonging to the Dover
+station, had been temporarily detached to Southampton to keep
+communication with the Channel Islands open. As some set-off against the
+cost, the Post Office had counted upon saving the ship-letter pence; but
+here again the want of an authorised packet postage made itself felt.
+Sampson, though in receipt of a salary and at no expense for the boat he
+commanded, claimed and received the ship-letter pence, the
+postmasters-general regarding themselves apparently as legally
+incompetent to resist the demand. Without denying that a line of packets
+might be necessary for purposes of State, the postmasters-general now
+declined to promote one on Post Office grounds. Of the necessities of
+the State they were not the judges, and, if the State required the
+adoption of such a measure, it was for others to take the initiative.
+
+The decision at which the Government arrived appears in the Act of 1794,
+which established a line of packets between England and the Channel
+Islands. The packet station was to be at Weymouth, the passage from
+Weymouth being shorter than from Southampton, and Southampton Water
+being difficult to leave when the wind was contrary. For a single
+letter the postage, over and above all other rates, was fixed at 2d.,
+and for a double and treble letter in proportion. Thus the cost of a
+single letter from London to the Channel Islands would remain the same
+as before. Hitherto there had been paid 4d. for postage from London to
+Southampton, 1d. to a factor at Southampton, 1d. for conveyance across,
+and 1d. to the island post office--for the islands had a post office,
+although it was a private one, and not under the control of the
+postmasters-general--making 7d. altogether. Now the charge would be the
+same, namely, postage to Weymouth 5d., and 2d. for the packet postage.
+By the same Act of Parliament rates of postage were imposed within the
+islands similar to those which existed in England.
+
+The abuses of franking now came under notice again. Ten years had
+elapsed since the passing of the Act which provided that a letter, to be
+exempt from postage, must bear on the outside, as part of its
+superscription, its full date written in the member's own handwriting,
+and be posted on the date which the superscription bore. Of course, the
+object of the provision was to confine the privilege to members
+themselves, and to prevent them from obliging their friends at a
+distance with franks; but this object was almost universally defeated by
+the simple expedient of sending to their friends franks that were
+post-dated. It was a common occurrence for franks dated on the same day
+and by the same member to be sent from places three or four hundred
+miles apart.
+
+The bankers who sat in Parliament were the chief offenders. Little did
+they think that an exact account was being kept of every frank that
+passed through the London Post Office, or assuredly they would hardly
+have ventured to keep their friends and customers supplied, as it was
+their practice to do, with the means of evading postage. How many
+bankers sat in Parliament in 1794 we are not informed; but whatever the
+number was, we know that during the three months ending the 10th of
+October in that year there passed through the London Post Office no
+less than 103,805 letters franked by them, a number larger by one-fifth
+than the letters of the Court and all the public offices of the State
+combined.[75] During the same period those members of Parliament who
+were merchants and not bankers contented themselves with the
+comparatively modest number of 27,111. Two or three years before it had
+leaked out that the Government were considering whether a strenuous
+effort should not be made to abolish the franking privilege altogether,
+and it was no secret to the Post Office that in anticipation of such an
+event the banking houses which had a partner in Parliament had concerted
+arrangements for sending their letters by the coaches in boxes.
+
+  [75] From this time the expression "banker's frank" passed into a
+  by-word, and was used to denote any frank, whether given by a banker or
+  not, which was in excess of the prescribed number.
+
+The Government were now resolved that, if the abuses of franking could
+not be stopped, they should at all events be restricted, and with this
+object a bill was brought in which passed into law in 1795. Under this
+statute the weight which a member could frank was reduced from two
+ounces to one ounce; no letter was to be considered as franked unless
+the member whose name and superscription it bore was within twenty miles
+of the town at which it was posted either on the day of posting or on
+the day before; and in the course of one day no member was to send free
+more than ten letters or to receive free more than fifteen.
+
+The same statute which restrained the abuses of franking made a not
+unimportant concession. In an Act passed in 1753 a clause had been
+inserted providing that a letter containing patterns or samples, if it
+did not weigh as much as one ounce, was to be charged as a double letter
+and no more. This was now improved upon. Under the Act of 1795 a packet
+of patterns or samples might, on certain conditions, pass as a single
+letter. These conditions were that it did not exceed one ounce in
+weight, that it was open at the sides, and that it contained no writing
+other than the name and address of the sender and the prices of the
+articles of which he sent specimens.
+
+A few months later another advance was made. At Lombard Street great
+inconvenience had been caused by the late arrival of the letters from
+the West End. The sorting began at five o'clock in the evening, and the
+mails were despatched at eight; but it was not until nearly seven that
+the bulk of the letters from the West End were brought in by the
+runners. Thus, while the first two hours of the evening were hours of
+comparative idleness, the last hour was one of extreme pressure.
+Occasionally, we are told, there would at a quarter before seven o'clock
+be lying on the sorting table as many as 14,000 letters, all of which
+had to be disposed of by eight. At the present day 14,000 letters would
+be regarded as a mere handful. In 1796 it was a number which it taxed
+the utmost resources of the Post Office to dispose of within the
+allotted time.
+
+How to relieve the pressure between the hours of seven and eight was now
+the question to be solved; and the presidents who had succeeded to
+Bonnor's place when this person was got rid of suggested that the object
+might be attained if, instead of the letters from the West End being
+brought to the General Post Office by runners, light carts were employed
+to bring them. Two carts would be enough for the purpose. One might
+start from Charing Cross and the other from Duke Street, Oxford Street,
+picking up bags at the different offices on their way. Thus the letters
+would reach Lombard Street earlier by some thirty minutes than
+heretofore, and there would be more time to sort and charge them. The
+drivers should, of course, be armed. The plan was adopted, and answered
+well; and this was the origin of what is called the London Mail-Cart and
+Van Service, a service in which are now employed daily as many as 550
+vehicles.
+
+Since the introduction of mail-coaches the robbery of mails on the main
+roads of the kingdom had entirely ceased. Now and then, but very rarely,
+there had been pilfering from a mail-coach as, through the default of
+those in charge, it stood at an inn door unguarded; and there had, no
+doubt, been one serious case of theft. On the 24th of October 1794 a
+man, giving the name of Thomas Thomas, went down by the mail-coach from
+London to Bristol, and returned on the following day. This journey he
+repeated on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November, and on the last-mentioned
+date, when the guard's back was turned, he took advantage of the
+mail-box being left unlocked to steal the mails. But this was a case of
+theft, and not of robbery.
+
+During the twelve years which had elapsed since Palmer's plan was
+established there had not been one single instance in which a mail-coach
+had been molested by highwaymen. Far otherwise was it with the horse and
+cross-post mails. In 1796 the distance over which these mails travelled
+was, in England, about 3800 miles, and hardly a week passed without
+intelligence reaching headquarters that in some part or other of their
+course they had been stopped and robbed. Some roads enjoyed an
+unenviable notoriety in this respect, as, for instance, the road between
+Barton Mills and Lynn in Norfolk, the road between Bristol and
+Portsmouth, and, above all, the road between Chester and Warrington.
+Between these two places, indeed, the mail had only recently been robbed
+on four different occasions.
+
+Manchester and other towns now took the matter up, and urged that
+mail-coaches might be established on the roads where the robberies took
+place, not because coaches were necessary to carry the letters, but on
+account of the security which they afforded. Freeling proposed as an
+alternative that the horse and cross-post mails should be guarded. To
+supply the existing post-boys, or riders, as they were then termed, with
+firearms would have been worse than useless. They were mere boys--many
+of them not yet fourteen years of age--and with firearms in their
+possession they would have been more likely to shoot themselves than
+their assailants. Accordingly, Freeling proposed that no riders should
+be employed who, besides being of approved character, were not between
+the ages of eighteen and forty-five; that they should each be furnished
+with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a strong cap for the defence of
+the head; and that, in consideration of an increased allowance to be
+made by the Post Office, the postmasters whose servants the riders were
+should be required to provide them with better horses than those
+hitherto in use.
+
+Of all the plans which, through a long course of years, were submitted
+to Pitt for the improvement of the posts this was the only one to which
+he demurred. He did not, indeed, deny its efficacy; but it would involve
+a cost of at least £6000 a year, and, pressed as he was for money, he
+declined to say more than that the plan might be carried out if the
+persons interested were willing to bear the additional expense, but not
+otherwise. For us with our present knowledge it is easy enough to see
+that the surest and most popular way of transferring the expense to the
+public would have been to cheapen the postage. In 1796 no other way
+appeared feasible than to make the postage dearer. To this object the
+postmasters-general now devoted themselves, and before many months were
+over they had prepared a bill which, with some modifications, was
+adopted by the Government and passed into law.
+
+In the new Act, which came into operation on the 5th of January 1797,
+the ambiguous term "stage" was dropped, and the whole of the rates were
+fixed according to distance, thus--
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|             ON AND AFTER THE 5TH OF JANUARY 1797.                |
++-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+
+|                               | Single | Double | Treble |       |
+|                               | Letter.| Letter.| Letter.| Ounce.|
+|                               +--------+--------+--------+-------+
+|                               |  _d._  |  _d._  |  _d._  |  _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles         |   3    |   6    |   9    |  12   |
+|Exceeding 15 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  30 miles                     |   4    |   8    |  12    |  16   |
+|Exceeding 30 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  60 miles                     |   5    |  10    |  15    |  20   |
+|Exceeding 60 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  100 miles                    |   6    |  12    |  18    |  24   |
+|Exceeding 100 and not exceeding|        |        |        |       |
+|  150 miles                    |   7    |  14    |  21    |  28   |
+|Exceeding 150 miles            |   8    |  16    |  24    |  32   |
+|To and from Edinburgh          |   8    |  16    |  24    |  32   |
++-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+
+
+Within Scotland the rates were raised by 1d. for a single letter, by 2d.
+for a double letter, and so on. Another important change was made.
+Hitherto, in the case of letters from Portugal and America, the packet
+postage had carried them to their destination. For the future these
+letters were to be subject to the inland rates as well as the packet
+rates. Thus the packet rate from Lisbon had been, on a single letter,
+1s. 6d. It was now to be 1s.; but if for London the letter would be
+charged with the inland rate of 8d.--this being the postage from
+Falmouth--and if for Edinburgh with 8d. more, or 2s. 4d. altogether. As
+the packet postage from America remained unchanged, namely, 1s. for a
+single letter, the inland rate was in this case a pure addition.
+
+The postmasters-general were now doomed to a serious disappointment.
+Their proposal to raise the rates of postage was, there can be no doubt,
+dictated, at all events in part, by a desire to carry out the project of
+guarding the horse and cross-post mails. Pitt had stated that he would
+approve this project if the persons interested would bear the expense of
+it; and unquestionably the expense, and much more than the expense, was
+thrown upon the persons interested by the higher sums which they had now
+to pay for their letters. The postmaster-generals' object, however, had
+not been avowed, and no understanding had been arrived at. Their
+proposal to raise the rates of postage had met with ready acceptance.
+Their proposal to guard the horse and cross-post mails, though repeated
+again and again, continued to be rejected.
+
+Although much had been done during the last few years to introduce order
+and regularity among the packets, some little mystery still surrounded
+their proceedings. In March 1798, out of twenty packets on the Falmouth
+station there was not one in port to carry the mails to Jamaica and the
+Leeward Islands; and this was the second time within twelve months that
+the same thing had occurred. The West India merchants waited on the
+postmasters-general to complain. On this occasion an armed cutter was
+borrowed from the Admiralty to take out the mails; but the fact remained
+that between the 5th of April 1793 and January 1798 no less than
+nineteen packets, all of them belonging to the Falmouth station, had
+been captured by the enemy, and that the Post Office had had to replace
+them at a cost of close upon £50,000.
+
+The merchants demanded, as they had done a year before, that the packets
+should be armed. Armed indeed in some sort they were already, but only
+with six four-pounders apiece, and with small arms so as to be able to
+resist row-boats and small privateers. The merchants urged that this was
+not enough. The postmasters-general replied that they could do no more,
+that the true policy was not to arm the packets with a view to their
+engaging the enemy, but so to construct them that they might outsail
+him. The merchants met to consider the reply which had been given, and,
+as the result of their deliberations, they prepared a memorial, copies
+of which were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. In this
+memorial misgivings were expressed which, even at this distance of time,
+it is impossible not to share. During the last three years the average
+duration of voyage had been, from Falmouth to Jamaica, forty-five days,
+and from Jamaica to Falmouth, fifty-two days. These, as the memorialists
+pointed out, were not quick voyages; still less were they quick voyages
+for vessels which had been specially constructed with a view to
+expedition. It was extraordinary, too, built and equipped as the packets
+were, that out of nine that had been recently captured eight should have
+fallen a prey to private ships of war, which presumably enjoyed far less
+advantages in point of sailing. The conclusion at which the merchants
+felt constrained to arrive was that "in the mode of loading or
+navigating the packets some abuses exist sufficient to counteract the
+advantages of their construction."
+
+And yet, mysterious as their proceedings were, ample evidence is at hand
+that the packets were both willing and able to fight as occasion
+required. Indeed, to this period belong some of their smartest
+engagements. We will give one or two instances. On the evening of the
+17th of October 1797 the _Portland_ packet, Captain Taylor, was lying
+becalmed off the island of Guadeloupe when a French privateer, the
+_Temeraire_, bore down upon her. The privateer carried sixty-eight men
+and the packet thirty-two. A light breeze springing up, the _Portland's_
+head was got off shore, and for the time she contrived to elude her
+antagonist, who followed her all night under easy sail. At daybreak the
+same distance separated the two ships as on the preceding evening; but
+as the _Temeraire_ began to overtake the _Portland_, Taylor fired the
+first shot. The shot was returned, and the privateer hoisting the bloody
+flag grappled the _Portland_ and boarded her on the lee quarter. Laying
+hold of the jib-stay Taylor ordered it to be lashed to the packet, and
+called upon the passengers and crew to open their musketry. A fierce
+engagement ensued, which ended in favour of the _Portland_. Out of
+sixty-eight men on board the privateer no less than forty-one were
+either killed or wounded. A treacherous shot fired after she had struck
+her colours carried off the captain of the packet in the moment of
+victory, and as he was endeavouring to allay the carnage.
+
+Among the passengers on board the _Portland_ were four military
+officers, captains in the English army. That these officers in no small
+measure contributed to the result may be taken for granted; but silent
+as to their own deeds they extolled in the highest terms the prowess of
+the captain and crew, and it was from the independent testimony which
+they and the other passengers bore that the gallant action became known
+to the postmasters-general.
+
+Another and still more brilliant engagement had taken place a few years
+before. On the 27th of November 1793 the _Antelope_ packet, Captain
+Curtis, sailed from Port Royal in Jamaica with twenty-nine men. She,
+like the _Portland_, had on board a few passengers, among whom were
+Colonel Loppinott, an independent witness to the events that followed,
+and a young man of the name of Nodin. Nodin had been a midshipman in
+the Royal Navy, and, having resigned his commission, was on his way home
+to England to seek for other employment.
+
+On the morning of the 1st of December, when the _Antelope_ was about
+five leagues off Cumberland harbour in the island of Cuba, the
+_Atalanta_, a French privateer, hove in sight and immediately gave
+chase. The privateer carried eight carriage-guns and sixty-five men. The
+packet carried the usual six four-pounders, and out of her crew of
+twenty-nine men four had died of fever and two others were prostrate
+from the same cause, so that her complement was practically reduced to
+twenty-three. The pursuit continued until the morning of the 3rd, when,
+the _Atalanta_ coming within gunshot and hoisting French colours and the
+bloody flag, broadsides were exchanged. The two ships now grappled, and
+on the part of the privateer an attempt was made to board both fore and
+aft. Fore, the assailing party, fifteen in number, were swept away by
+the guns; aft, where there were no guns, the assault was also repulsed
+but at a cost of life which made the disproportion between the numbers
+on the two sides even greater than before. Among those that were killed
+in this sally was the captain of the packet; and the mate having been
+severely wounded, the command devolved upon John Pascoe, the boatswain.
+Another attempt was now made to board, and, like the first, was
+successfully resisted.
+
+This result was largely due to Nodin's intrepidity. Standing by the helm
+and armed with a pike and a musket he alternately used these weapons
+with deadly effect. As the men climbed the sides, he sprang forward and
+cut them down with his pike; then he returned to the helm and righted
+the ship; then seizing his musket he loaded it and flew to quarters; and
+as he was cool and collected and a sure marksman every shot told. On the
+repulse of the second attempt to board, the privateer's grappling-rope
+was cut and she tried to sheer off; but this Pascoe prevented by lashing
+her square sail-yard to the fore-shrouds of the packet. The privateer's
+fire now began to slacken, which was only a signal to the others to
+renew their energies. The _Antelope_ poured in volley after volley of
+small-arms; and at length the marauders cried out for mercy and,
+expecting none, some of them jumped into the sea and were drowned.
+Altogether, when the bloody flag was torn down from the mast-head of the
+_Atalanta_, only thirty men remained out of the sixty-five with which
+she had begun the combat; and of these thirty one-half were wounded. The
+troubles of the packet were not yet at an end. As the smoke cleared away
+she was found to be on fire; and it was not until the mainsail, quarter
+cloths, and hammocks had been cut away that she was able to carry her
+prize into Anotta Bay.
+
+The officers and crew of the _Antelope_ did not go unrewarded. For
+distribution among the survivors and the families of those who had been
+killed the House of Assembly in Jamaica voted the sum of 500 guineas;
+375 guineas were afterwards presented for the same purpose by the
+Society for Encouraging the Capture of French Privateers; the
+postmasters-general showered small pensions and gratuities; and--what
+was the highest compliment of all--the _Atalanta_, though a droit of
+admiralty, was given up to the captors.
+
+It was always when passengers were on board that the Post Office heard
+of these brilliant achievements on the part of the packets. We are not
+sure that this fact may not help us to unravel the mystery which
+perplexed the merchants. May it not be that, when the check exercised by
+the presence of passengers was removed, the packets at the end of the
+last century, like those of a hundred years before, went in quest of
+adventure and matched themselves against superior force or otherwise
+engaged in illicit operations? The series of captures which the
+merchants could not understand, and, where there were no captures, the
+dilatoriness of the voyages, would thus be explained.
+
+The usage of the Post Office one hundred years ago differed in not a few
+particulars from the usage of to-day. At the present time no
+postmaster-general would think of calling for a daily return of the
+number of letters passing through the London office with the amount of
+postage paid or to be paid upon them. Yet such a return was, a century
+ago, sent to the postmasters-general regularly every morning, and it was
+esteemed the most important paper of the day. At the present time any
+instruction which may have to be given to the sorting office is entered
+in what is called the Order Book; and this book is signed by all whom it
+concerns. One hundred years ago, all instructions were made known by the
+presidents reading them aloud in the sorting office on Mondays and
+Saturdays, when the men were assembled for the purpose. It was thus that
+appointments, promotions, and punishments were also announced. One
+hundred years ago, when a letter-carrier's walk became vacant, a bell
+was rung, and, the letter-carriers being collected together, the vacancy
+was offered to the senior, and if the senior declined it, to the next in
+rotation, and so on. When a Post Office servant died, his salary was
+paid not only to the date of death but to the end of the current
+quarter.
+
+Another practice then existed, a practice dictated, as some may think,
+by convenience and common sense. It was that counsel engaged in Post
+Office cases gave receipts for their fees. In connection with this
+practice a curious incident occurred. Walsingham had ordered an
+independent inquiry to be made into the solicitor's accounts, and, in
+the course of the investigation, the inspector came across a heap of
+receipts signed, or purporting to be signed, by some of the most eminent
+lawyers of the day. Walsingham had suspected imposition before, and now
+he was sure of it. The solicitor, had he been asked, would no doubt have
+explained, as indeed was the case, that the practice dated from 1703,
+and originated with Godolphin, who, failing to see why counsel engaged
+by public offices should be exempt from doing what all other persons
+were required to do, issued peremptory injunctions that in legal cases
+no more fees should be paid by the Post Office for which receipts were
+not given.[76] Instead, however, of addressing himself to the solicitor,
+Walsingham referred to Kenyon, the Lord Chief Justice; and Kenyon's
+reply, as Walsingham himself admitted, filled him with astonishment. It
+was simply that when attorney-general he had always given receipts for
+fees from public offices, understanding when he was appointed that such
+was the practice, and that it had long been so.
+
+  [76] This is Godolphin's letter:--
+
+                                   TREASURY CHAMBERS, _June 8, 1703_.
+
+  GENTLEMEN--My Lord Treasurer hath commanded me to signify to you his
+  Lordship's direction that whenever your Sollicitor shall pay any fees to
+  any Serjeant or Councellor at law, or give any sum or sums of money for
+  coppys to any Clerk or Clerks or Officers in any Court or Courts of
+  Record at Westminster, he shall take a ticket subscribed with the hand
+  and name of the same Serjeant or Councellor or from the Clerk or Officer
+  testifying how much he hath received for his fee or hath been paid by
+  him for coppys, and at what time and how often, according to the statute
+  in the third year of the reign of King James the First, made and
+  provided in that behalf, and His Lordship directs you to take care that
+  what money shall be hereafter expended for law charges relating to the
+  Revenue under your management, the same be so expressed in the Bill of
+  Incidents, that it may appear to His Lordship that the above-mentioned
+  directions have been duly comply'd with.--I am, gentlemen, your most
+  humble servant,
+
+                                                     WILLIAM LOWNDES.
+
+  Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and
+      Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.
+
+
+One more custom we may mention as existing a century ago, a custom which
+was then abandoned, but not without manifest reluctance on the part of
+those whose interest it was to keep it alive. At the present time our
+friends at the Treasury are credited with taking advantage of the
+accident of their position to get themselves appointed to the best
+situations in all the public offices of the State. One hundred years ago
+the blackmail which these gentlemen levied upon the public offices took
+another form, a form a little coarser perhaps but less provoking. At the
+beginning of each year they exacted tribute which, disguised under the
+name of New Year's gifts, were really New Year's extortions. The
+correspondence which passed between the Treasury and the Post Office,
+when these extortions ceased, unlike official correspondence generally,
+is so short and to the point that we cannot do better than give it in
+full:--
+
+                      The TREASURY to the POST OFFICE.
+
+                                  TREASURY CHAMBERS, _Oct. 10, 1797_.
+
+     MY LORDS--The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury having
+     had under their consideration a Report of the Select Committee of
+     the House of Commons on Finance in the last session of Parliament
+     respecting this office, I am commanded by their Lordships to
+     acquaint you that they have determined that the practice of
+     receiving New Year's gifts by any person in this department shall
+     be discontinued, and that your Lordships may not send them as
+     heretofore.--I am, my Lords, etc.,
+                                                         GEORGE ROSE.
+
+                       The POST OFFICE to the TREASURY.
+
+                                GENERAL POST OFFICE, _Jan. 13, 1798_.
+
+     MY LORDS--We beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Rose's
+     letter of the 10th of October acquainting us of your Lordships'
+     determination that the practice of receiving New Year's gifts by
+     any person in your department must be discontinued, to which we
+     shall pay proper attention.
+
+     It is necessary to state to your Lordships that Mr. Rose's letter,
+     although dated the 10th of October 1797, was not brought to this
+     office until the 1st of January 1798; but it was received in due
+     time to enable us to attend to the purport of it.--We are, my
+     Lords, etc.,
+
+                                                        CHESTERFIELD.
+                                                        LEICESTER.
+
+It is needless to add that hitherto these New Year's gifts had been
+despatched from the Post Office on the evening of the 31st of December.
+
+Nine years had now passed since the Royal Commissioners had reported
+upon the condition of the public offices; and four years had passed
+since the Report had seen the light. Pitt had been deliberate enough in
+approving the recommendations; but having done so, he had no intention
+that they should remain inoperative. And yet he had little confidence
+that such would not be the case unless some external influence were
+brought to bear. Accordingly recourse was had to an expedient which
+might perhaps with advantage be sometimes adopted at the present day.
+At Pitt's instigation a Special Committee of the House of Commons was
+appointed to ascertain and report how far the recommendations of the
+Royal Commissioners had been carried into effect.
+
+The Post Office, on the whole, came well out of the ordeal. Abuses had
+been corrected; useless offices had been abolished; and men were no
+longer drawing salaries for duties which they did not perform. There
+was, however, one notable exception. Todd, the secretary, had during
+many years ceased to do any work; yet he had not ceased to draw his full
+salary; neither had he ceased to retain his shares in at least one of
+the Post Office packets. The Committee denounced his conduct in terms
+which far exceeded the ordinary bounds of parliamentary usage. Their
+language indeed, as applied to a man of more than eighty years of age,
+might even be pronounced to be cruel. And yet scathing as the censure
+was, it fell upon callous ears. With a tenacity worthy of a better cause
+the old man still clung to his place and his shares. The
+postmasters-general now brought pressure to bear. As regards the shares,
+which Todd had held unknown to his masters, they insisted upon his
+selling them; but his place of secretary they were either unwilling or
+unable to wrest from his grasp.
+
+Death at length put an end to the scandal. In June 1798 Todd yielded up
+at once his life and his office; and Francis Freeling, according to a
+long-standing promise, became Secretary to the Post Office in his
+stead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+FRANCIS FREELING
+
+1798-1817
+
+
+The name of Francis Freeling has been placed at the head of this
+chapter, not because, in devising new means of correspondence or
+extending means that already existed, he is to be classed with the
+distinguished men who preceded him--with Palmer and Allen, with Dockwra
+and Witherings--but because for more than a generation he exercised a
+paramount influence in Post Office matters, and during this long period
+whatever was done affecting the communications of the country was done
+upon his advice.
+
+The first act of importance in which Freeling was concerned after his
+appointment as secretary was the establishment of the ship letter
+office, an office which owed its origin to the suggestion of Frederick
+Bourne, a clerk in the foreign department. Hitherto the packet boats,
+where packet boats existed, had been the only means by which
+correspondence could be legally sent out of the kingdom; and yet in the
+neighbourhood of the Exchange there was hardly a place of public resort
+at which letters for America and the West Indies, as well as other
+places abroad, were not collected for despatch by private ship. There
+was no concealment about the matter. At Lloyds, and the Jamaica, the
+Maryland, the Virginia and other coffee-houses, bags were openly hung
+up, and all letters dropped into these bags, including those for places
+to which there was communication by packet, were taken on board ship,
+and, without the intervention of the Post Office, despatched to their
+destination, the captains receiving for their transport a gratuity of
+2d. apiece.
+
+Illegal as the practice was, Pitt was unwilling to suppress it. The Act
+which made it illegal to send by private ship letters which might be
+sent by packet had been passed in the time of Queen Anne, and he could
+not reconcile it to himself to enforce a law some ninety years old which
+had never yet been set in motion. Bourne's idea was to sweep all
+ship-letters into the post, and to charge them inwards with a fixed sum
+of 4d. and outwards with half the packet rate of postage. If with the
+place to which a letter was addressed there was no communication by
+packet, the rate was to be fixed at what presumably it would be if such
+communication existed. Pitt favoured the idea and adopted it--subject,
+however, to one important qualification. Instead of being compulsory the
+Act, should an Act be passed, was to be permissive. On this point Pitt
+was determined. It was only in return for some service that the Post
+Office was entitled to make a charge. And what was the service here? To
+seal the bags? This he could not regard as a substantial service--a
+service for which a charge should be made. The ship was a private ship,
+her commander was not a servant of the Post Office, and the bag of
+letters he carried might be, and not infrequently was, for countries in
+which neither the Post Office nor any other branch of the British
+Government had an accredited agent.
+
+Surely in such circumstances anything in the shape of compulsion was out
+of the question, and all that should be done was to invite the merchants
+to bring their letters to the Post Office, when the Post Office would
+undertake to find a private ship that would carry them. A bill on these
+lines was brought in and passed; and on the 10th of September 1799 the
+ship letter office was opened, Bourne being appointed to superintend it
+under the title of inspector. The new measure failed of its object. On
+letters entering the kingdom fourpences were no doubt collected,
+because, until these letters had been deposited at the local Post
+Office, no vessel was allowed to make entry or to break bulk. But
+letters leaving the kingdom left it just as they had been used to leave
+it before the ship letter office was established. It was in vain that
+the Post Office tempted the keepers of coffee-houses by the offer of
+high salaries to become its own agents. All overtures to this end were
+resolutely declined; and during many years the letters by private ship
+that were sent through the post stood to those that were received
+through the same agency in no higher proportion than one to eighteen.
+
+In 1801 the Post Office was called upon to make to the Exchequer a
+further contribution to the amount of £150,000. What would have struck
+consternation to the hearts of most men was to Freeling a source of
+unmixed pleasure. Not only had he a perfect craze for high rates of
+postage, but it had long been with him a subject of lament that under
+the law as it stood no higher charge was made for a distance of 500
+miles than for a distance of 150. This in his view was a glaring defect,
+and he now set himself to remedy it. The new rates--which, as he lost no
+opportunity of making known, were exclusively of his own devising--were
+adopted by the Government, and having passed the Houses of Parliament
+came into operation on the 5th of April. As compared with the old rates,
+they were as follows:--
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                  BEFORE THE 5TH OF APRIL 1801.                   |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |   3   |    6  |    9  |  12  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles|   4   |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|  "   30         "         60   "  |   5   |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   60         "        100   "  |   6   |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "  100         "        150   "  |   7   |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|Exceeding 150 miles                |   8   |   16  |   24  |  32  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|               ON AND AFTER THE 5TH OF APRIL 1801.                |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |    3  |    6  |    9  |  12  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles|    4  |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|  "   30         "         50   "  |    5  |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   50         "         80   "  |    6  |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "   80         "        120   "  |    7  |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|  "  120         "        170   "  |    8  |   16  |   24  |  32  |
+|  "  170         "        230   "  |    9  |   18  |   27  |  36  |
+|  "  230         "        300   "  |   10  |   20  |   30  |  40  |
+|  "  300         "        400   "  |   11  |   22  |   33  |  44  |
+|  "  400         "        500   "  |   12  |   24  |   36  |  48  |
+|  "  500         "        600   "  |   13  |   26  |   39  |  52  |
+|  "  600         "        700   "  |   14  |   28  |   42  |  56  |
+|Exceeding 700 miles                |   15  |   30  |   45  |  60  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
+Thus the postage on a single letter was--from London to Brighton, 6d.;
+from London to Liverpool, 9d.; and from London to Edinburgh, 1s. A
+letter weighing one ounce is now carried from London to Thurso for 1d.
+In 1801 the charge was 5s.
+
+On letters to or from places abroad, "not being within His Majesty's
+dominions," the postage was at the same time raised by 4d., 8d., 1s.,
+and 1s. 4d., according as the letter was single, double, treble, or of
+the weight of one ounce.
+
+But there was worse to come. By the Act of 1801 the London penny
+post--that post which had been established 120 years before, and which,
+its founder had predicted, would endure to all posterity--was swept out
+of existence. For us who are now living it is difficult to conceive that
+such an enormity should have been possible. Yet there is the fact. After
+the passing of the Act of 1801 the London penny post had ceased to be.
+Where 1d. had been charged before, the sum of 2d. was to be charged now.
+
+The same Act contained another provision, which it is impossible to
+regard otherwise than as a wanton interference with trade. The
+Legislature, from the earliest days of the Post Office, had shewn
+indulgence to merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, to
+bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading. All these, in the
+language of the Act establishing the Post Office--the Act of 1660--were
+to be "without rate in the price of the letters"; and a similar
+provision was contained in the Act of Anne. Owing, however, to a faulty
+construction of the clause it was doubtful whether the exemption was
+confined to foreign letters or whether it applied to inland letters as
+well. The merchants contended that inland letters were included;
+otherwise, as they pointed out, a letter might "go cheaper to
+Constantinople than to Bristol." The postmasters-general, on the other
+hand, insisted that the exemption applied only to foreign letters, and,
+in order to set doubts at rest, they early in the reign of George the
+Second procured an Act to be passed declaring their interpretation to be
+the right one. As regards foreign letters, therefore, there had never
+been the slightest doubt as to either the intention or the practice.
+When enclosed in letters going or coming from abroad, merchants'
+accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills of exchange, invoices,
+and bills of lading had from the first establishment of the Post Office
+been exempt from postage; and now after an interval of more than 140
+years this exemption, like the penny post, was swept away. Henceforth
+these documents were to be charged as so many several letters.
+
+Yet one more provision in the Act of 1801 it is necessary to notice as
+introducing a novel principle. This Act gave power to the
+postmasters-general to grant postal facilities to towns and villages
+where no Post Offices existed, provided the inhabitants were prepared to
+pay such sums as might be mutually agreed upon. As the postmasters-general
+were already authorised to establish Penny Post Offices wherever
+they might see fit out of London, the object of this fresh power
+may not be very clear. It was not that the Post Office might be
+able to charge for the local service more than 1d. a letter, for in
+no single instance, so far as we are aware, was more than 1d. charged,
+but that in arranging the local service the Post Office might have a
+freedom of action which it did not possess under the statute empowering
+it to establish penny posts. In short, the object of the power was to
+enable the Post Office, in concert with the inhabitants of the towns and
+villages concerned, to try experiments.
+
+As a natural consequence of the high rates of postage, the illegal
+conveyance of letters now became general. This was an offence to which
+Freeling gave no quarter. Wherever information could be obtained that
+letters were being conveyed otherwise than by post, there a prosecution
+was instituted. The extent to which the policy of repression was carried
+less than a century ago may seem incredible. In Scotland, for instance,
+every carrier and every master of a stage-coach as well as many others
+were served with notice of prosecution. In that part of the kingdom
+alone no less than 1200 prosecutions were instituted simultaneously.
+Even Parkin, the solicitor to the Post Office in England, was absolutely
+aghast at the zeal of his colleague over the Border, and counselled
+moderation. Freeling, on the other hand, expressed entire approval,
+declaring that the Scotch solicitor was to be encouraged and not
+restrained. Nor were the prosecutions merely nominal. An unfortunate
+Post Office servant, or rider as he was called, had been detected in
+carrying forty unposted letters. This man, whose wages did not exceed a
+few shillings a week, was sued upon each letter, and adjudged to pay
+forty separate penalties of 10s. apiece.
+
+Lord Auckland and Lord Charles Spencer were at this time
+postmasters-general. Spencer had been only recently appointed. Auckland
+had held his appointment for a couple of years, and by virtue of his
+seniority took the lead. Seldom, perhaps, has there been a more kindly
+postmaster-general, or one who to an equal extent enlivened by sprightly
+sallies the dull monotony of official work. The postmaster of Tring had
+opened a letter from Freeling to Sir John Sebright. The postmaster
+pleaded that the opening was accidental; Freeling maintained that it was
+wilful, and recommended the man's dismissal. Auckland ordered him to be
+reprimanded for culpable negligence. It may, no doubt, he said, have
+been a wilful act; but it may also have been an act of inadvertence.
+And then, in order to remove any feeling of soreness which Freeling may
+have entertained at his recommendation being set aside, he
+good-naturedly added, "_Multi alii hoc fecerunt etiam et boni_." "I
+have," he continued, "a fellow-feeling on the occasion. My appetite for
+reading is as much sickened as that of any man-cook for the tasting of
+high sauces; and yet so lately as last night I tore the envelope of a
+letter which a little attention would have shewn was not for me."
+
+On another occasion two postmistresses--the postmistress of Faversham
+and the postmistress of Croydon--simultaneously announced their
+intention of marrying, each for the third time, and asked that their
+offices, which as married women they would be incompetent to continue to
+hold, might be transferred to their future husbands. Auckland gave the
+permission sought, adding, in the case of the postmistress of Faversham,
+"I meet the repeated applications of this active deputy with great
+complacency, and in the words of Lady Castlemaine's answer to our
+mutton-eating monarch--
+
+  'Again and again, my liege, said she,
+  And as oft as shall please your Majesty.'"
+
+Bennett, the man to whom the postmistress of Croydon was engaged, had
+been known to her for some time, and she bore testimony to his
+qualifications for the post to which he aspired. "The Croydon lady, who
+is also laudably prone to a reiteration of nuptials," wrote Auckland,
+"rests her case on grounds less solid. I have no doubt of her judgment
+and testimony respecting the ability of Mr. Robert Thomas Bennett; but
+for the sake of the precedent the sufficiency should be certified either
+by the surveyor of the district, or by the vicar or some principal
+inhabitant."
+
+With such pleasantries as these Auckland beguiled the tediousness of
+official work; but in serious matters, matters affecting the interests
+of the public, he appears to have exerted little will of his own. Once,
+indeed, he expressed some misgiving as to the propriety of the course
+pursued. It was in the case of the Scotch prosecutions. "I own," he
+said, "that I was a little surprised to find that so large a measure as
+that of commencing 1200 prosecutions has been undertaken without our
+special cognisance; but this circumstance," he added, "is in some degree
+explained." The reproof, if reproof it can be called, could hardly have
+been milder; and yet as coming from Auckland it was a severe one. It had
+not the effect, however--nor probably was it designed to have the
+effect--of checking the general policy on which Freeling had embarked.
+That policy was one of repression, and in England hardly less than in
+Scotland prosecutions went merrily on.
+
+Indeed, the repressive powers of the Post Office, large as they were
+already, were yet not large enough to satisfy headquarters. Freeling
+discerned clearly enough that, if only a sufficiently high consideration
+were offered, persons would always be found to carry letters
+clandestinely. Might it not be possible to strike at the source of the
+mischief, and make it penal for persons clandestinely to send them? The
+tempters would thus be reached as well as the tempted. At all events the
+experiment should be tried.
+
+With this object Freeling now devoted himself to the preparation of a
+bill, one clause of which rendered liable to penalties persons sending
+letters otherwise than by the post. The bill, which was throughout of a
+highly penal character, eventually passed into law,[77] but not without
+grave misgivings on the part of Eldon, the Lord Chancellor, and
+Ellenborough, the Chief Justice. It was only in deference to the urgent
+representations of the Post Office that these two eminent men consented
+to the introduction of the measure, and, while waiving their objections
+to it, they strongly recommended that "great lenity should be used in
+its execution." It will be interesting to note how far this
+recommendation was acted on.
+
+  [77] 42 George III. cap. lxxxi. (June 20, 1802).
+
+Having settled the postage rates to his satisfaction, Freeling obtained
+permission to carry out his favourite project of guarding the
+horse-mails. The arguments in favour of this measure were overwhelming.
+During the five years which had elapsed since the Treasury had refused
+their assent, these mails had been stopped and rifled of their contents
+on fifteen different occasions; and on the last of these--when the Lewes
+mail was robbed in the neighbourhood of East Grinstead--bills had been
+stolen to the amount of nearly £14,000. During the same period seven
+persons had been executed for participation in these felonies; three
+were awaiting trial; and the cost of prosecutions amounted to £2000 or
+£3000 a year. The annual cost of Freeling's plan, as he now proposed to
+modify it, would not exceed £1500. Moved by these considerations, the
+Treasury gave at length the necessary authority, and the horse-posts
+throughout the country, except on the less important roads, were
+provided with a strong cap for the protection of the head, a jacket, a
+brace of pistols, and a hanger.
+
+We have said that during the last five years--the five years ending in
+August 1801--the horse-mails had been robbed on fifteen different
+occasions. One of these robberies occurred between the towns of Selby
+and York. It was a commonplace robbery enough, with little or nothing to
+distinguish it from any other; and yet for a reason which will presently
+appear we give a copy of the letter in which the particulars were
+reported to headquarters:--
+
+                         To FRANCIS FREELING, Esq.
+
+                                  POST OFFICE, YORK, _Feb. 22, 1798_.
+
+     SIR--I am sorry to acquaint you the post-boy coming from Selby to
+     this city was robbed of his mail between six and seven o'clock this
+     evening. About three miles on this side of Selby he was accosted by
+     a man on foot with a gun in his hand, who asked him if he was the
+     post-boy, and at the same time seized hold of the bridle. Without
+     waiting for any answer he told the boy he must immediately unstrap
+     the mail and give it him, pointing the muzzle of the gun at him
+     whilst he did it. When he had given up the mail, the boy begged he
+     would not hurt him, to which the man replied he need not be afraid,
+     and at the same time pulled the bridle from the horse's head. The
+     horse immediately galloped off with the boy, who had never
+     dismounted.
+
+     He was a stout man dressed in a drab jacket, and had the appearance
+     of being a hicklar. The boy was too much frightened to make any
+     other remark on his person, and says he was totally unknown to him.
+
+     The mail contained the bags for Howden and London, Howden and York,
+     and Selby and York. I have informed the surveyor of the robbery,
+     and have forwarded hand-bills this night to be distributed in the
+     country, and will take care to insert it in the first papers
+     published here.--Waiting your further instructions, I remain with
+     respect, sir, your obliged and obedient humble servant,
+
+                                                     THOMAS OLDFIELD.
+
+Let us now go forward to the year 1876. In that year this identical bag,
+for which a reward had been offered at the time without result, was
+placed in our hands, having been found concealed in the roof of an old
+wayside public-house situated not far from the scene of the robbery, and
+then in course of demolition. The original documents were called for and
+produced; and thus, after an interval of nearly eighty years, the bag
+and the official papers in which its loss was reported have come
+together and found one common resting-place. Of the identity of the bag
+there is no question. Not only do the form and texture proclaim it to be
+of the last century, but it bears upon it the word "Selby," and a
+medallion with the letters "G. R."[78]
+
+  [78] This experience is not to be compared with that of Inspector
+  Dicker, who in 1839 wrote to the Secretary of the Post Office as
+  follows:--
+
+  "HONOURED SIR ... On arriving at Caxton, in the course of conversation
+  with the landlord of the Crown Public-House respecting the loss of the
+  above-mentioned bag, he informed me he had found a mail bag secreted
+  under an oak floor between the joists that supported the floor in one of
+  the upper rooms of his house, and that the letters it contained were of
+  very ancient date, as far back as the year 1702. I requested to be
+  allowed to see them, and, on his producing them, discovered it to be a
+  London bag labelled Tuxford. I desired to be allowed to take two of the
+  letters with me and a bit of the bag, which I gave to Mr. Peacock the
+  solicitor. The only intelligence I could gain as to the probable cause
+  of the bag being found there was that a post-rider was robbed and
+  murdered about the date of the above-mentioned letters." The two letters
+  are still with the official papers. One of them is undecipherable. The
+  other is nearly as legible as on the day it was written. In it the
+  writer announces to his uncle the death of his mother from "the Small
+  Pox and purples," and states that this disease is devastating the town
+  of Kirtlington.
+
+The troubles which had long been brewing with the mail-coach contractors
+now came to a climax. In 1797 an Act of Parliament had been passed
+imposing a duty of 1d. a mile upon all public carriages. The mail-coach
+contractors bitterly complained of this impost, and not without reason.
+A penny a mile was all they received for carrying the mails, and the new
+statute virtually took this 1d. away, leaving them without any payment
+at all for their services. It had been overlooked that the mail-coach
+was not as other coaches were. The ordinary stage-coach was at liberty
+to carry as many passengers as its proprietor pleased, and it was no
+unusual thing for eight or nine and even ten to be carried inside, the
+number outside being limited only by considerations of safety. The
+mail-coach, on the contrary, was rigidly restricted to five
+passengers--four inside and one out--and the Post Office rejected all
+proposals for so altering the construction of the coach as to admit of
+its carrying more.
+
+Then came the year 1799, a year of scarcity, during which all kinds of
+horse provender reached unprecedented prices. The Government refused to
+bring in a bill exempting the mail-coaches from the new duty; and it
+only remained for the Post Office to raise the allowance which the
+contractors received from 1d. to 2d. a mile, a measure involving an
+additional payment of £12,000 a year. The second penny, however, was
+granted only as a temporary allowance, terminable at the end of one year
+and three-quarters, and, unlike most allowances given under a similar
+condition, it actually ceased at the appointed time.
+
+The clamour of two years before now broke out afresh and with redoubled
+force. The tax on public carriages remained; and horse provender had
+become no cheaper. Did not justice demand that the additional penny
+should continue to be paid? The Post Office was disinclined to contest
+the claim; but acting under orders from above--orders which assuredly
+would not have been given had Pitt remained minister--it proceeded to
+bargain, and at length, after much haggling, the contractors were
+prevailed upon to accept one-half of the temporary allowance or an
+additional 1/2d. a mile for a further period of eighteen months, viz.
+from the 10th of October 1802 to the 5th of April 1804, when the
+question was to be again considered. A temporary expedient of this
+nature seldom answers; and the present was no exception to the rule.
+Eventually the Post Office had to give rather more than need have been
+given in the first instance, and after 1804 the mails were carried at an
+average rate of 2-1/8d. the single or 4-1/4d. the double mile.
+
+Other alterations followed. To the postmasters' salaries an increase was
+made all round, an increase small indeed individually but large in the
+aggregate. What had been done for Manchester eight years before was now
+done for Liverpool. The Post Office there was remodelled and a penny
+post established. An end was, about the same time, put to a most
+objectionable arrangement. As a reward for their services in promoting
+Palmer's plan, three of the surveyors had been appointed to
+postmasterships, and these appointments they held in addition to their
+own proper appointments as surveyor. Thus, one of their number was
+postmaster of Gloucester, another postmaster of Honiton, and a third
+postmaster of Portsmouth.
+
+These appointments were now taken away, but under circumstances
+calculated to leave the least possible soreness among those from whom
+they were taken. Not only were the salaries of all three raised from
+£100 to £150 a year, but the son of the surveyor who was postmaster of
+Gloucester was appointed to Gloucester, and the daughter of the one who
+was postmaster of Honiton was appointed to Honiton. The postmaster of
+Portsmouth, who had neither son nor daughter to succeed him, was, in
+accordance with a practice then very common, assigned the sum of £80 a
+year out of his successor's salary. This sum he received in addition to
+his own salary of £150 as surveyor.
+
+In 1805, for the third time within eight years, the Post Office was
+called upon to make a further contribution to the Exchequer; and again
+Freeling devoted himself to the congenial task of revising and
+increasing the postage rates. Unwilling to destroy the symmetry of his
+own handiwork, he simply suggested that to the rates as prescribed by
+the Act of 1801 should be added--1d. for a single letter, 2d. for a
+double letter, 3d. for a treble letter, and 4d. for a letter weighing as
+much as one ounce. The suggestion was adopted, and after the 12th of
+March, the date on which the new Act was passed, the postage on a single
+letter was--from London to Brighton, 7d. instead of 6d.; from London to
+Liverpool, 10d. instead of 9d.; and from London to Edinburgh, 1s. 1d.
+instead of 1s.
+
+But this was by no means all. In London, as we have seen, the penny post
+had, four years before, been converted into a twopenny post; and now the
+twopenny post, in respect to letters for places beyond the general post
+limits, was converted into a threepenny one. Thus, Abingdon Street,
+Westminster, was within the limits of the general post delivery, but
+Millbank was beyond them. Accordingly, a letter for Millbank, even
+though posted no farther off than Charing Cross, was to be charged 3d.,
+while the charge on a letter to Abingdon Street remained at 2d. as
+before.
+
+The Act of 1805 introduced a still further complication. Letters from
+the country addressed to any part of London that was outside the limits
+of the general post were to be consigned to the twopenny post, and, in
+addition to all other postage, to be charged with the sum of 2d. Thus,
+of two letters of the same weight delivered at the same time and by the
+same person, one, originating in the country, would have to pay 2d., and
+the other, originating in London, would have to pay 3d.
+
+To record, therefore, that in 1805 the postage on a single letter--as,
+for instance, between London and Plymouth--was 10d., although in one
+sense correct, would give an imperfect idea of the real state of the
+case. Plymouth was one of the towns which possessed village or
+convention posts. Suppose a letter from one of the villages to which
+these posts extended to have been addressed to Knightsbridge or any
+other part of London situated outside the general post boundary. The
+postage would have been not 10d. but 10d. + 2d. + whatever might have
+been agreed upon for the village accommodation.
+
+But more than this. There were certain towns through which, though lying
+off the direct road, the mail-coaches passed for a consideration. Such
+towns were Hinckley in Leicestershire, Atherstone in Warwickshire, and
+Tamworth in Staffordshire. Here, in consideration of the accommodation
+afforded by the mail-coach passing through, the inhabitants undertook to
+pay in addition to all other postage 1d. on each letter. A day came when
+they sought to be relieved from this impost. Vain aspiration! Had they
+not agreed for a penny a letter? And, for any relief that the Post
+Office would give, a penny a letter they should pay to the end of time.
+
+It may safely be affirmed that at the present day no increase of postage
+would produce a corresponding increase of revenue. Such, unhappily, was
+not the case at the beginning of the century. People did not then write
+unless they had something to say which could not be left unsaid without
+loss or inconvenience. Trade, moreover, was rapidly expanding, and, as a
+consequence of the war, the ports were closed. Thus, correspondence was
+driven inland; and upon inland correspondence, unlike correspondence
+with foreign parts, the Government received the whole of the postage.
+But be the cause what it might, it must be owned that, in respect to the
+returns which they brought to the Exchequer, the three increases of
+postage made in 1797, 1801, and 1805 answered expectation. This, though
+not a justification, is perhaps their best excuse. In 1796, the year
+before the first of the three increases was made, the net Post Office
+revenue was £479,000; in 1806, the year after the last of them, it was
+£1,066,000. The same result is apparent in the case of what, for
+distinction's sake, we will still call the London penny post, although
+the London penny post had become a twopenny and threepenny one. In 1796
+the net revenue derived from this source was £8000; in 1806 it was
+£41,000.
+
+Among those who about this time criticised the doings of the Post
+Office was William Cobbett. Cobbett was regarded by Freeling as a base
+calumniator with whom no terms were to be kept; and yet on a
+dispassionate retrospect it is impossible to deny that on the whole his
+criticisms were just, and that such of them as appeared in print[79]
+were expressed in not intemperate language. At the present time far
+stronger language is used every day under far less provocation. Of
+Cobbett's numerous subjects of complaint we will mention only two--the
+so-called "early delivery" of letters and the treatment of foreign
+newspapers; and these have been selected because they serve to
+illustrate, better perhaps than any others, the practice of the Post
+Office eighty or ninety years ago. The latter of the two subjects serves
+also to explain much that would otherwise be inexplicable.
+
+  [79] _Weekly Political Register_, Nos. 25 and 26, 21st and 28th Dec.
+  1805.
+
+The "early delivery"--a species of accommodation confined to London--was
+not what its name would seem to imply, because no letters were even
+begun to be delivered before nine o'clock in the morning. It was really
+a preferential delivery, a delivery restricted to those who chose to pay
+for it. For a fee or, as the Post Office preferred to call it, a
+subscription of 5s. a quarter or £1 a year, any one residing within
+certain limits, including the whole of the city and extending westward
+as far as Hamilton Place, could get his letters in advance of the
+general delivery. It was managed thus. At nine o'clock or a little after
+the letter-carriers started from Lombard Street; and those for the
+remoter districts, in addition to their own letters, took letters for
+the districts through which they passed in proceeding to their own and,
+without waiting for the postage, dropped them at the houses of
+subscribers. The postage was collected in the course of the week by the
+regular letter-carrier of the district.
+
+Against this preferential delivery, a delivery purchased by individuals
+at the expense of the general public, Cobbett very justly inveighed.
+Freeling, on the other hand, defended it as a priceless boon to
+merchants and traders who desired to receive their letters before the
+appointed hour. He omitted to explain, however, why a boon which could
+be bought by some could not be given gratuitously to all. It is a
+curious fact that this early delivery, essentially unfair as it was,
+continued to exist for more than thirty years after the period of which
+we are now writing. As late as 1835 and 1836 it was still in vogue, and
+not only the merchants and traders of London but the denizens of the
+squares were largely availing themselves of it. But it was chiefly in
+the city that the practice flourished. Thus, on the morning of the 9th
+of May 1828, out of a total of 637 letters for the Lombard Street
+district no less than 570 were "delivered early."
+
+The second of Cobbett's complaints, or rather the second which we
+propose to notice, had reference to the treatment of foreign newspapers.
+What this treatment was at the beginning of the present century may
+appear hardly credible to us who live at the end of it. Except at the
+letter rate of postage, no newspapers could either enter or leave the
+kingdom unless they were franked;[80] and the power of franking them was
+restricted to Post Office servants. This power was as old as the Post
+Office itself; and so was the practice of exercising it for a
+consideration. What was new was an arrangement or understanding between
+Freeling and Arthur Stanhope, the head of the foreign department, by
+virtue of which Stanhope in conjunction with his subordinates franked
+newspapers for the Continent, and Freeling franked those for America and
+the British possessions abroad.
+
+  [80] What we have here called "franked" newspapers went free in both
+  directions; but of course it was only newspapers outwards that bore a
+  signature on the superscription. On those inwards a signature was
+  immaterial, as they would in any case go, without being charged, direct
+  from the port of arrival to Lombard Street. Abroad, special arrangements
+  for their transit and delivery were made from London. Thus, the London
+  Office by means of its private agency could get an English newspaper
+  delivered in Paris for 2d. By post, the charge between Calais and Paris
+  would have been from 3s. to 4s.
+
+Here was a mine of wealth. Newspapers were rapidly increasing in number
+and postage was rapidly rising. Of course, so long as the price charged
+for franking was kept well below the cost of postage, the demand for
+franks would be brisk. Before the century was sixteen years old Freeling
+and Stanhope were drawing from this source more than £3000 a year each.
+Cobbett had had personal experience of the system. He had paid a visit
+to America, and having while there been supplied with a newspaper from
+England, he had on his return been presented with a bill for nine
+guineas as the price of franking. Not only did he refuse to pay the
+bill, and persist in his refusal in spite of repeated applications, but
+he inveighed in his paper against the practice which made such a charge
+possible. This was in 1802. He now, in December 1805, renewed his attack
+upon the Post Office; but this time it was in respect to the manner in
+which newspapers were treated on their arrival in England, a treatment
+still more extraordinary than that which they received on despatch.
+
+The matter is somewhat complicated, and in order to explain it we must
+go back a few years. Till the breaking out of the French Revolution and
+the Continental wars which succeeded it, foreign intelligence had long
+been uninteresting and was little sought after. The few newspapers that
+were published in London had confined themselves almost exclusively to
+domestic matters. Then came a sudden change. Domestic matters fell into
+the background. The whole country was eager to learn what was taking
+place on the other side of the Channel. Newspapers multiplied apace.
+Where there was one before, there were now half a dozen, all hungering
+for foreign intelligence. Here was an opportunity for the clerks in the
+foreign department of the Post Office. These clerks, in conjunction with
+their comptroller, had the exclusive right of franking newspapers for
+the Continent, just as newspapers circulating within Great Britain were
+franked by the clerks of the roads. They had also, by virtue of their
+position, unequalled facilities for getting newspapers from abroad, and
+of these facilities they now availed themselves to the utmost.
+
+It would not be correct to state that at this time they established a
+foreign news-agency, for this they had done long ago; but what had
+hitherto been an insignificant business now became a large and important
+one. It may be interesting to trace its progress. At the time of which
+we are writing--from 1789 onwards--the foreign correspondence was seldom
+in course of distribution in London till the afternoon, owing to the
+then established custom of waiting till two o'clock for any mail that
+might be due. Thus, a foreign mail arriving at three o'clock in the
+afternoon of one day might not be delivered until the same hour in the
+afternoon of the following day.
+
+Another curious custom prevailed at this time. It was considered right,
+as a matter of international courtesy, that no foreign newspapers should
+be delivered until the foreign ministers had received their
+correspondence; and this correspondence, though delivered separately
+from the general correspondence, was seldom delivered earlier. Meanwhile
+the newspapers were held in reserve by the clerks, ready to be delivered
+to their customers as soon as delivery was permissible by the rule of
+the office. This was a state of things which readily lent itself to
+malpractices. The person whom the comptroller appointed to distribute
+the foreign newspapers was an old woman of the name of Cooper, and in
+her custody they remained during the close time, the time during which
+the foreign ministers' correspondence was preparing for delivery. This
+woman had a son who assisted her in the distribution, a young man of
+some ability and of no principle. He was not slow to take advantage of
+his position. From the foreign newspapers, while in his mother's
+custody, he jotted down the points of interest and sold his jottings to
+the London newspapers. The profits he derived from this source assumed
+such proportions that in the course of a few years he was reputed to
+have amassed a not inconsiderable fortune. From one newspaper alone, the
+_Courier_, he received no less than £200 in a single year.
+
+Thus matters went on, save only that owing to the establishment of a
+second delivery of foreign correspondence the interval during which
+newspapers lay at the Post Office was shortened, until the year 1796,
+when Stanhope's appointment as comptroller put an end to one scandal
+merely to establish another. No sooner had Stanhope taken up his
+appointment than the clerks, who had long protested in vain against
+Cooper's conduct, broke out into fresh complaints; and the arrangement
+was then made which called forth Cobbett's invective. Why, argued
+Stanhope, should not that which Cooper has been doing clandestinely be
+done openly and under official sanction? It is true a rule exists that
+foreign newspapers must not be delivered in advance of the foreign
+ministers' correspondence; but a carefully-compiled summary of the
+contents of a newspaper is a very different thing from the newspaper
+itself. This, surely, might be delivered to the London editors without a
+breach either of the rule itself or of the considerations on which it
+was founded.
+
+Such were Stanhope's arguments, and he proceeded to put them into
+practice. With few if any exceptions, the editors of the London
+newspapers, both morning and evening, fell into the plan. French and
+Dutch translators were engaged, and into their hands the foreign
+newspapers were placed as soon as they arrived at the Post Office. For
+each summary the charge was one guinea, and as there were generally two
+summaries a week, the sum which each editor paid was a little over £100
+a year. The entire proceeds, after payment of expenses, were divided in
+certain proportions between Stanhope and his subordinates.
+
+In 1801 and again in 1802 Cobbett had inveighed against a practice which
+thus amerced the editors of the London newspapers; but he might as well
+have preached to the winds. The practice was far too remunerative to be
+abandoned without a struggle. It is true that no one need take a summary
+unless he liked; but if he omitted to take one, it was at the cost of
+having only stale news to publish.
+
+At the close of 1805 circumstances were somewhat altered, and Cobbett
+renewed his attack. Communication by Dover was closed, and
+correspondence from the Continent could reach England only by Holland
+and Gravesend. The best arrangements of which the circumstances admitted
+were made for keeping up the supply of foreign newspapers and summaries;
+but after a while they broke down, and the Post Office was forced to
+seek the assistance of the Alien Office. This office had agents at
+Gravesend, and undertook during the emergency to do what had hitherto
+been done by the Post Office. Cobbett saw his opportunity, and was not
+slow to take advantage of it. It had been dinned into his ears that it
+was through the Post Office alone that foreign newspapers could be
+legally obtained, and that the department could make what arrangements
+it pleased for their distribution. But arrangements which in the hands
+of the Post Office were tolerated only because they had, or were
+supposed to have, legal sanction had now been transferred to the Alien
+Office. What, then, asked Cobbett, had become of the law? To this
+inquiry the Post Office did not find it convenient to vouchsafe a reply.
+
+But a still more formidable antagonist than Cobbett was about to deliver
+an assault. This was the _Times_ newspaper. The _Times_, although among
+what Cobbett called "the guinea-giving papers," seldom made use of the
+summaries which the guineas purchased, regarding them as meagre and
+unsatisfactory. Drawing from other and more fertile sources, it
+contrived in the matter of priority of intelligence to distance all
+competitors. On one occasion, indeed--a remarkable feat for those
+days--it even forestalled the "Court," or, as they were now called, the
+"State" letters, which, unlike the ordinary letters, were delivered the
+moment the mail arrived. It was in 1807, when George Canning was Foreign
+Secretary. Canning had not yet opened his despatches, and was amazed to
+find in his morning's paper information of which he had received no
+previous notice, and which, as he afterwards found, the despatches
+contained. Indignant that his intelligence should have been thus
+anticipated, he instantly wrote to the Post Office demanding an
+explanation. Angry as Canning was, the reply he received can hardly
+have failed to evoke a smile. This reply was that the Continental
+newspapers from which the _Times_ had derived its information had been
+obtained not from the Post Office but from the Foreign Office, and that
+they had reached this office in Canning's own bag under a cover
+addressed to himself.
+
+The _Times_ had long protested against the intolerable delay which
+foreign newspapers sustained at the Post Office. Especially had it
+protested against the absurdity of a system which, while withholding the
+newspapers themselves, yet permitted a summary of their contents to be
+published. But it had still more personal grounds of complaint. Letters
+for the _Times_, sealed letters addressed by permission to the
+Under-Secretaries of State, were excluded from the Foreign Office bag
+and kept back for the general delivery because, forsooth, the clerks at
+the Post Office were pleased to feel sure that these letters contained
+foreign newspapers, and feared that by forwarding them they would damage
+their own interests.
+
+Such were the amazing liberties taken with correspondence in those days.
+No wonder that the _Times_ proceeded to resent the outrage. In its issue
+of the 9th of May 1807 appeared an article which, after charging the
+Post Office with extortions and with sacrificing public convenience to
+the avarice of individuals, proceeded to declare that its administration
+was a disgrace to the Government. Freeling's indignation knew no bounds.
+That the charge was just never seems to have occurred to him. In his
+view it was nothing less than a libel--a libel of the most malignant
+character. Never had man been more cruelly wronged than himself. The
+postmasters-general, Lords Sandwich and Chichester, had been only four
+days in office, and their chief-officer was as yet unknown to them.
+Obviously the intention was to damage this officer's reputation in the
+eyes of his new masters. But this intention should be frustrated. A
+criminal information should be filed. No; not a criminal information,
+for thus the aggressor's mouth would be closed. It should be a civil
+suit or action at law; and then the aggressor would be at liberty to
+tell his own tale, and all the world should see how little justification
+there was for his aspersions.
+
+At this time it was not known to Freeling that letters for the _Times_
+sent under cover to the Under-Secretaries of State were being diverted
+from the ordinary course; and when, a little later on, the fact of
+diversion became known to him, the terms in which he expressed his sense
+of the impropriety were such as even the aggrieved newspaper would
+probably have held to leave nothing to be desired. But to apologise and
+arrest proceedings--these were things which would appear not to have
+come within the sphere of contemplation. An action had been begun, and
+it must proceed to the bitter end. A righteous cause is not necessarily
+one that can be defended at law. Such would seem to have been the case
+in the present instance, for when the action came on for trial, the
+_Times_ failed to appear, and judgment went by default.
+
+Freeling was jubilant over the result. Here was a triumphant vindication
+of his own and Stanhope's proceedings. A charge had been brought--a
+charge as serious as any that could be levelled against a public
+department, and not even an attempt had been made to substantiate it.
+This was a happy termination of an unhappy business. So, at least,
+thought Freeling; but, as a matter of fact, the business was far from
+being terminated yet.
+
+On the 27th of July, within three weeks of his reporting to the
+postmasters-general the result of the action at law, appeared a second
+article headed "Post Office," in which the iniquities of the system were
+ruthlessly exposed. Strong language, indeed--language such as two months
+before had brought the _Times_ within the meshes of the law--was
+carefully avoided, and the article confined itself to a bare narrative
+of facts. But the case against the Post Office lost nothing on this
+account. The facts spoke for themselves, and these, stated in their
+naked simplicity, constituted an indictment, to the weight of which no
+words could add. We can well believe that from this period the _Times_
+received its foreign newspapers in due course; but in other respects the
+only effect which the appearance of the second article had upon the Post
+Office was to spoil the triumph which it was celebrating over the result
+of the first. As to changing their practice and setting their house in
+order, this appears not to have occurred to either Freeling or Stanhope.
+On the contrary, they regarded themselves as deeply-injured persons,
+and, by dint of sheer importunity, induced the postmasters-general to
+consent to a second prosecution. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed. The
+attorney-general, to whom the official papers were sent, took care not
+to return them, and to the present day the Post Office is without these
+interesting records.
+
+It is time we inquired what measure of success had attended the
+experimental posts--the posts by which, under mutual agreement between
+the Post Office and the inhabitants, small towns and villages were to be
+connected with post towns. Village posts, they were sometimes called;
+but more commonly fifth-clause posts, from the clause of the Act under
+which they were established. At first they answered well, but in 1807 an
+authoritative decision to the effect that franked letters and newspapers
+conveyed by a fifth-clause post were exempt from charge tended
+materially to disconcert arrangements. Franked letters, though exempt
+from charge by the general post, were not exempt either by the penny
+posts in the country or by the twopenny post in London; and it had been
+taken for granted that they, as well as newspapers, would not be exempt
+by the fifth-clause posts.
+
+But it had now been decided otherwise, and this made all the difference.
+In arranging these posts nothing more had been aimed at than to make
+them self-supporting, and in adjusting the receipts and expenditure
+franks and newspapers had been counted as so many letters; but if these
+were to be eliminated, the balance would be on the wrong side. A service
+that was not self-supporting was, at the beginning of the century,
+regarded by the Post Office authorities as an abomination; and saddled
+as they were with a number of fifth-clause posts which had ceased to
+pay their own expenses, it became a serious question what was best to be
+done.
+
+A decision was precipitated by the action of the little town of Olney in
+Buckinghamshire. Olney had at one time received from headquarters in
+Lombard Street what was called "an allowance in aid of its post"; but
+when fifth-clause posts were introduced this allowance ceased, and the
+inhabitants, in consideration of their being supplied with an official
+messenger from Newport Pagnel, agreed to pay over and above all other
+postage the sum of 1d. on each letter delivered. This agreement had now
+existed for several years, and the inhabitants had grown a little tired
+of it, being of opinion that a private messenger of their own could be
+procured on easier terms. Accordingly they petitioned headquarters to
+reduce the rate they were paying from 1d. to 1/2d. a letter, and, the
+request being refused, they proceeded to consider whether their
+agreement should not be terminated.
+
+This having come to Freeling's ears, he stopped the post at once, and
+the inhabitants were left to get their letters as best they could. Not
+even notice of his intention had been given. Nor was this all. These
+capricious and discontented people, he said, should have imposed upon
+them a penny post. Under a penny post they would still have their pence
+to pay; and the pence would be payable, not, as under the fifth-clause
+post, only on the letters delivered, but on those collected as well.
+This, while operating as a punitive measure, would have the incidental
+advantage of adding to the revenue. Freeling was a bold man, and yet,
+bold as he was, his courage deserted him in this instance. At the last
+moment, after arrangements had been made for converting the fifth-clause
+post into a penny post, the order for conversion was revoked. To impose
+a penny post, he argued, would be no injustice; it would not even be a
+hardship, and yet these unreasonable people would be sure to represent
+it as such. They would urge that at one time their town had received an
+allowance in aid of its post; that then a foot-messenger had been
+established, and they paid 1d. on each letter delivered; and that now
+because they proposed to replace this messenger, as the Act of
+Parliament gave them power to do, by a messenger of their own, who would
+perform the service at a cheaper rate, an older Act was brought to bear
+upon them which, while obliging them to pay 1d. on each letter collected
+as well as delivered, made the employment of their own messenger
+illegal.
+
+Such were the arguments by which Freeling excused himself to the
+postmasters-general, as though an excuse were necessary, for not going
+on with the high-handed proceeding he had originally contemplated. In
+the result, Olney was given a Post Office of its own, being made in
+technical language a sub-office under Newport Pagnel, the post town. A
+rule was at the same time laid down to the effect that fifth-clause
+posts should no longer be maintained except in the case of small towns.
+To connect these with post towns fifth-clause posts might still be
+continued; but, in the case of villages and hamlets, they were to be
+replaced by penny posts. From this rule the fifth-clause posts received
+their death-blow. Such of them as were village posts were promptly
+converted into penny posts; and such as were town posts, as the small
+towns acquired Post Offices of their own, became gradually merged in the
+general posts of the kingdom.
+
+The Post Office, which during the last ten or fifteen years had done
+much to impair its own utility, was now to receive a check from without;
+and this in respect to a branch of its service which was perhaps least
+open to criticism. The mail-coach system had continued to prosper. In
+1811 the number of mail-coaches constantly running in Great Britain was
+about 220, and the extent of road over which they travelled was between
+11,000 and 12,000 miles a day. The country gentry and the commercial
+classes vied with each other in demanding an extension of the system.
+Towns lying off the main road were glad to pay 1d. a letter in addition
+to the postage on condition of the mail-coach passing through them on
+its way. The mail-coach, moreover, apart from the facilities it
+afforded for communication, brought traffic in its train. It gave, in
+the language of the time, publicity to the roads. Palmer had, more than
+twenty years before, noticed this result and commented upon it. He found
+as a matter of experience that wherever a mail-coach was set up other
+traffic followed, and the post-chaises along the road were furbished up
+and better conducted.
+
+But popular as the new system was on the whole, there was one class of
+persons with whom it was distinctly the reverse. These were the trustees
+of the roads. With them the exemption from toll which the mail-coaches
+enjoyed was a constant source of complaint. Nor was it calculated to
+abate their discontent that the Post Office, in whose favour the
+exemption was granted, possessed the power, a power which it constantly
+exercised, of indicting the roads if they were not kept in proper
+repair. The state of the trusts was at this time far from flourishing.
+In the neighbourhood of London and other large towns where traffic was
+considerable the tolls were low and the receipts high; but in the
+remoter and less populous parts of the kingdom the exact converse held
+good. There the tolls were high and the receipts low.
+
+To take the kingdom as a whole, the case stood thus: In very few
+instances indeed had any part of the debt on the turnpike trusts been
+discharged, and in fewer instances still had a sinking fund been
+established with a view to extinction of debt by process of time. With
+these rare exceptions, nothing more had been done than to keep up
+payment of the interest agreed upon, while in many instances no interest
+at all was being paid or interest at a reduced rate. In some instances
+indeed, the receipts from the tolls were not enough to defray even the
+cost of maintenance and repairs.
+
+It is not to be wondered at if in these circumstances the trustees of
+the roads looked with longing eyes to the £50,000 a year which was the
+estimated value of the tolls that, except for their exemption, the
+mail-coaches would have had to pay. Of course the postmasters-general
+were strongly opposed to the surrender of this large amount; and yet
+there was one consideration which told heavily against them. It was
+this, that in Ireland the mails were not exempt from toll. Under an Act
+passed by the Irish Legislature in 1798, an Act which still remained in
+force, an account was kept of all tolls leviable at the turnpike gates
+through which the mail passed, and this account was paid quarterly by
+the Post Office authorities in Dublin. Why, it was asked, could not a
+similar system be adopted in Great Britain? It was also urged, and not
+without force, that in the matter of weight the mail bore to the coach
+which carried it a very small proportion. The coach with its loading
+complete weighed from thirty-three to forty cwts., while the mail seldom
+weighed more than one cwt. For the sake of so small a proportion was it
+equitable that exemption should extend to the whole?
+
+A strenuous and united effort was now made to force the mail-coaches to
+pay toll. The question came before Parliament, and a Committee was
+appointed to inquire and report. The result could hardly have been in
+doubt. It was by the landed proprietors, the men who had seats in
+Parliament, that the turnpike roads had been made, and they were
+generally the creditors on the turnpike funds. The Committee was
+unanimous in recommending that the exemption from toll which the
+mail-coaches enjoyed should absolutely cease and determine.
+
+On the Committee's report no action was taken in the session of 1811;
+but if the Post Office supposed that the matter would be allowed to
+drop, it was doomed to disappointment. Early in the following year
+Spencer Perceval forwarded to Lombard Street for any observations the
+postmasters-general might have to offer upon it a bill having for its
+object to repeal the exemption. The postmasters-general suggested
+certain alterations, but upon the subject-matter of the bill, coming as
+it did from the Prime Minister, and their views being already well
+known, they confined themselves to once more expressing a doubt whether
+such a measure could be necessary. In May Perceval was assassinated;
+and now the postmasters-general fondly hoped that the matter was at an
+end. What then was their dismay at learning a month or two later that
+the Government was resolved to proceed with the bill. The same letter
+that conveyed this intelligence contained a suggestion as strange as it
+was original. This was that, in order to meet complaints, the
+mail-coaches on certain roads should be withdrawn. The postmasters-general,
+little supposing that such a suggestion could take practical shape,
+simply replied that not a whisper had yet reached them to the effect
+that mail-coaches were considered in excess; that, on the contrary,
+they were being constantly urged to increase the number.
+
+The bill was finally withdrawn; but heavy was the price which had to be
+paid. With those who were advocating the measure Vansittart, the new
+Chancellor of the Exchequer, effected a compromise behind the back of
+the Post Office. There was indeed ample room for a satisfactory
+adjustment. For the conveyance of the mails the mail-coach proprietors
+received from the Post Office £30,000 a year; they paid to the
+Government for stamp duty £40,000 a year; and the exemption which they
+enjoyed from toll was estimated to represent £50,000 a year. These
+figures seem almost to suggest a feasible arrangement; yet the
+compromise actually effected took another form. It was that, in
+accordance with the suggestion of a few months before, mail-coaches
+should be withdrawn.
+
+Nor was this mere empty talk; Vansittart had pledged himself to specific
+performance. And now began a general dis-coaching of the roads. The
+mail-coaches running between Warwick and Coventry, between Shrewsbury
+and Aberystwith, between Aberystwith and Ludlow, between Edinburgh and
+Dalkeith, between Edinburgh and Musselburgh, between Chichester and
+Godalming, between Dorchester and Stroudwater--all were discontinued at
+once. Notice to quit was served upon the mail-coaches between Worcester
+and Hereford, between Hereford and Gloucester, between Hereford and
+Brecon, between Alton and Gosport, and between Plymouth and Tavistock.
+And, what was hardly less important, numerous applications for
+mail-coaches which, except for Treasury interference, would have been
+granted, were refused. By Pitt the mail-coach had been regarded as a
+pioneer of civilisation; in the eyes of Pitt's successors it was a
+mischievous encumbrance.
+
+Vansittart, having dealt one deadly blow at the Post Office, now
+proceeded to deal another. The war with France had exhausted the
+Exchequer, and, as part of the ways and means, he called upon the Post
+Office for a further contribution of £200,000 a year. Once more the
+screw was turned; and, oppressive as the postage rates were already,
+they were as from the 9th of July 1812 increased as follows:--
+
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |    4  |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 20 miles|    5  |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   20         "         30   "  |    6  |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "   30         "         50   "  |    7  |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|  "   50         "         80   "  |    8  |   16  |   24  |  32  |
+|  "   80         "        120   "  |    9  |   18  |   27  |  36  |
+|  "  120         "        170   "  |   10  |   20  |   30  |  40  |
+|  "  170         "        230   "  |   11  |   22  |   33  |  44  |
+|  "  230         "        300   "  |   12  |   24  |   36  |  48  |
+|  "  300         "        400   "  |   13  |   26  |   39  |  52  |
+|  "  400         "        500   "  |   14  |   28  |   42  |  56  |
+|  "  500         "        600   "  |   15  |   30  |   45  |  60  |
+|  "  600         "        700   "  |   16  |   32  |   48  |  64  |
+|Above 700 miles                    |   17  |   34  |   51  |  68  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
+This is the highest point to which the rates of postage have ever
+attained in this country. Freeling would have resented so much as a
+suggestion that the institution which had now for some years been under
+his exclusive management was not in the most perfect order to which
+human foresight and ingenuity could raise it; and yet to the
+dispassionate observer it may be permitted to doubt whether eighty years
+ago the Post Office was not in some important particulars more open to
+criticism than at any time since its first establishment.
+
+Let us compare for a moment the beginning of the nineteenth with the
+end of the seventeenth century. In 1695 the postage from London to
+Liverpool or to York or to Plymouth was, for a single letter, 3d.; in
+1813 it was 11d. In 1695, wherever letters were being carried
+clandestinely, the policy was to supplant; in 1813 the policy was to
+repress. In 1695 the King would not consent to a single prosecution even
+for the sake of example; in 1813, when the Post Office revenue had
+passed from the King to the people, prosecutions were being conducted
+wholesale. In 1695 a circuitous post would be converted into a direct
+one, even though the shorter distance carried less postage; in 1813 a
+direct post in place of a circuitous one was being constantly refused on
+the plea that a loss of postage would result. In 1695 London enjoyed the
+advantage of a penny post, and this post carried up to one pound in
+weight; in 1813 the penny post had been replaced by a twopenny and
+threepenny one, and, except in the case of a packet passing through the
+general post, the weight was limited to four ounces. In 1813, moreover,
+the complications were bewildering. In some places there were
+fifth-clause posts, and in others penny posts; and the charge by these
+posts was in addition to the charge by the general post. Some towns,
+over and above all other charges, paid an additional 1d. on each letter
+for the privilege of the mail-coach passing through them. Of two
+adjoining houses one might receive its letters free of any charge for
+delivery and not the other. This difference was to be found in towns
+where building was going on--as, for instance, at Brighton--old houses
+being considered within, and new houses without, what was called the
+usage of delivery.
+
+In London itself the complications, if possible, were more bewildering
+still. The threepenny post began where the twopenny post ended. Thus far
+the practice was simple enough. But the general post limits did not
+coincide with the limits of the twopenny post: and the limits of both
+the twopenny post and the general post differed from those of the
+foreign post. Indeed, it is probably not too much to say that in 1813
+there was not a single town in the kingdom at the Post Office of which
+absolutely certain information could have been obtained as to the charge
+to which a letter addressed to any other town would be subject. More
+than ten years later Post Office experts examined before a Committee of
+the House of Commons were unable to state what, even on letters
+delivered in London, would in certain cases be the proper postage.
+
+It may here be asked how it was that with rates so oppressive and so
+vexatiously levied the public were induced to tolerate them. The
+mail-coaches were popular except with the road trustees; and there is
+reason to think that even these, or at all events the principal persons
+among them, only professed a dislike which they did not really feel. The
+Post Office packets were also popular, and well they deserved to be,
+distinguishing themselves as they were about this time by deeds of even
+more than usual daring.
+
+But these considerations, added to the personal popularity which
+Freeling himself enjoyed, are altogether insufficient to account for the
+extraordinary patience of the public under the treatment which eighty or
+ninety years ago they endured at the hands of the Post Office. The
+explanation we believe to be that the heavy rates of postage, and not a
+few of the vexations incidental to the levying of them, were tacitly
+accepted as a part, a necessary part, of the load of taxation which the
+people were called upon to bear as a consequence of the war in which
+England was engaged. We further believe that, in respect to its acts of
+aggression, the Post Office escaped criticism mainly because its
+proceedings, irritating as they were to individuals, were not generally
+known. This want of publicity is specially noticeable in the matter of
+prosecutions. At the present day a single prosecution undertaken by the
+Post Office would be the subject of comment in every newspaper in the
+kingdom. Eighty or ninety years ago, numerous as the Post Office
+prosecutions were, there was not a newspaper in the kingdom that
+gratuitously published particulars or even announced the fact. Often
+did the postmasters-general lament this reticence, believing as they did
+that to make known their repressive measures, and the amount of
+penalties inflicted, must have a deterrent effect upon the illicit
+traffic; and at length, for want of any better means of securing
+publicity, they gave directions that, wherever a prosecution took place,
+hand-bills giving full particulars were to be struck off and affixed to
+the doors of the local inns.
+
+The question which two years before had agitated the minds of the road
+trustees was now revived in Scotland. Among those who pressed for the
+establishment of mail-coaches none were more persistent than the large
+landed proprietors north of the Tweed; and as soon as their demands were
+acceded to, none were louder in their denunciations of the injustice
+which exempted mail-coaches from toll. The Government yielded at length
+to the pressure that was brought to bear, and in 1813 an Act was passed
+repealing, so far as Scotland was concerned, exemption from toll in the
+case of mail-carriages with more than two wheels. The same Act, in order
+to indemnify the Post Office for the loss it would thus sustain, imposed
+an additional postage of 1/2d. upon every letter conveyed by mail-coach
+in Scotland.
+
+The Post Office was not quite fairly treated in this matter. No sooner
+had the Act passed than the trustees of the roads raised the tolls. At
+the old rates the mail-coaches, had they not been exempt, would have had
+to pay £6865 a year; at the new rates, now that they were exempt no
+longer, they had to pay £11,759 a year, or more by nearly £6000 than the
+additional 1/2d. of postage had been estimated to yield. Nor was this
+all. Some of the Road Acts contained a clause empowering the trustees to
+demand the sum of 1d. for every outside passenger. This power had never
+yet been exercised; but now the demand was rigorously enforced in the
+case of passengers by the mail-coaches, and by these coaches only.
+
+Thus unhandsomely dealt with, the Post Office proceeded to do in
+Scotland what under other circumstances it had done two years before in
+England. It reduced the number of its coaches. This excited many
+murmurs. From Glasgow, for instance, a mail-coach had been running
+through Paisley to Greenock. This was now replaced by a horse post, and
+the district was not only relieved from the payment of the additional
+postage of 1/2d. a letter, but--a boon which had long been earnestly
+sought--was given three posts a day instead of two. Yet all three towns
+refused to be comforted, and bitterly reproached the postmasters-general
+for depriving them of their mail-coach. The convenience of travellers,
+however, was not a matter of which the Post Office took any account. The
+Post Office was concerned with the transmission of letters; and wherever
+these could be transmitted with the same or nearly the same expedition
+and at less expense by other means, the mail-coaches were discarded.
+
+About this time two measures were introduced which shew a strange
+forgetfulness of what had gone before. Of these one was a reorganisation
+of the returned letter office, and the other the passing of a fresh Ship
+Letter Act. Hitherto, of the letters which could not be delivered only
+those had been returned to the writers which contained property or
+enclosures of apparent importance. The others had been torn up and sold
+as waste paper. Now all were to be presumed to be of importance to the
+writers and to be returned accordingly. The propriety and even the
+legality of charging such letters had been questioned in Palmer's time,
+and Pitt had decided that they were not to be charged. This was now
+forgotten, and the Post Office proceeded not only to return every letter
+that could not be delivered, but to charge it with postage. To Freeling,
+who regarded the Post Office as a mere engine of taxation, the
+temptation was no doubt a strong one. The measure, before being
+definitively adopted, had been tried experimentally for one year; and it
+was found that out of 189,000 letters returned to the writers more than
+135,000 were accepted, producing a clear revenue of £4421.
+
+By the new Ship Letter Act the charge on a single letter arriving by
+private ship was raised from 4d. to 6d., and, what was far more
+important, no letters were to be sent by private ship except such as had
+been brought to the Post Office to be charged. The directors of the East
+India Company, who would seem to have strangely overlooked the bill
+during its passage through the House, implored the Government to get the
+Act repealed. It was true, they urged, that their official
+correspondence was exempted from the operation of the Act; but dependent
+on them in the East was a small army of servants whose private letters
+had hitherto gone free, and, under the provisions of the Act, would go
+free no longer. With the East Indies there was no communication by
+packet, and surely it was introducing a new principle for the Post
+Office to make a charge where it did not perform a service. Did not the
+charge in such a case become a mere tax upon letter-writing?
+
+Freeling, on the other hand, maintained that no new principle was
+involved, inasmuch as the previous Act, the Act of 1799, recognised the
+sending of letters by ships other than packet boats and charging them
+with postage. This was perfectly true; but he forgot to add that,
+whereas the Act of 1799 was permissive, the Act of 1814 was compulsory,
+that under the one Act it was optional with the senders of letters
+whether they would take them to the Post Office or not; and under the
+other, if they did not take them to the Post Office, they rendered
+themselves liable to severe penalties. He might indeed have gone
+further, and said that in 1799 Pitt and the whole of the administration
+of which Pitt was the head scouted the very idea of anything in the
+shape of compulsion being employed in the matter.
+
+The Ship Letter Act of 1814 proved a complete failure. It contained no
+provision obliging private ships to carry letters, and the private ships
+between England and India were almost entirely in the hands of the East
+India Company. No wonder, therefore, that the Company, when asked
+whether it might be announced to the public that bags would be made up
+at the Post Office to be conveyed by their ships, replied in the
+negative. The Court of Directors, their letter said, are not without
+hopes that Parliament will consent to revise the Act, and meanwhile they
+"do not see fit to authorise the commanders or owners of any of their
+ships to take charge of any bag of letters from the Post Office
+subjected to a rate of postage for sea conveyance." Freeling was filled
+with dismay. "A vital impediment," he exclaimed, "to the execution of
+the Act."
+
+The expectations of the India House were not disappointed. In the next
+session of Parliament the Act of 1814 was replaced by another which
+granted larger exemptions to the Company and disarmed its opposition.
+The later Act gave power to the Post Office to establish a line of
+packets to India and the Cape of Good Hope, and, until a line should be
+established, to employ as packets any ships it pleased, including ships
+of war. The mails were to go once a month. By packet--in which term is
+included the ship which the Post Office might be pleased to designate as
+packet for the occasion--the postage on a single letter was fixed at 3s.
+6d.; by private ship it varied according to direction, outwards 1s. 2d.
+and inwards 8d.
+
+Such were the main provisions of the Act of 1815; but there were others
+which introduced new principles. As a result of the action of the East
+India Company in the preceding year, it was now for the first time made
+compulsory upon private ships to carry letters when required to do so by
+the Post Office,[81] and the Post Office was empowered to pay for their
+carriage a reasonable sum. This sum was to go by way of remuneration to the
+owners of the vessels, and to be in addition to a gratuity of 2d. a letter
+which the commander was to receive as his own perquisite. A still more
+important provision, a provision which assuredly could not have emanated
+from the Post Office, was one in favour of newspapers. By packet the
+postage on a letter to India or the Cape weighing as much as one ounce was
+to be 14s.; on a newspaper of no greater weight, if stamped and in a cover
+open at the side or end, it was to be 3d. This was the first enactment
+that provided for newspapers going outside the limits of the United
+Kingdom for less than the letter rate of postage.
+
+ [81] One of the first, if not the very first, against whom proceedings
+  were taken under this provision of the statute was Robert Wetherall,
+  master of the ship _Albinia_, from Gravesend to the Cape of Good Hope.
+  Wetherall had at the last moment refused to take the mails on board,
+  consisting of 173 letters. On the advice of the law officers the Post
+  Office contemplated proceeding against him by indictment; but the
+  Government decided to proceed by information, with a view apparently to
+  give to the case greater importance and notoriety.
+
+What was virtually a most interesting experiment was now about to be
+tried. To India and the Cape the Post Office had no packets of its own;
+and before private ships could be employed as packets, the consent of
+the owners had to be obtained and the amount of payment to be agreed
+upon. Practically, the Post Office was at the mercy of others. Mails had
+to be sent once every month; ships of war could not always be employed;
+and should the shipping interest combine, the postmasters-general would
+have to pay pretty much what owners chose to demand. To the credit of
+that interest nothing in the shape of combination took place. During the
+first sixteen months the mails were despatched five times by His
+Majesty's ships, four times by ships of the East India Company, and
+seven times by ships belonging to private owners. His Majesty's ships
+carried the mails, of course, without charge. The East India Company,
+with admirable generosity, placed their ships at the disposal of the
+Post Office and refused to receive any payment. And the ships belonging
+to private owners were engaged, the first of them for £500 and the other
+six for sums ranging from £50 to £150. Altogether, the sum expended
+during more than a year and a quarter in transporting the mails to India
+and the Cape of Good Hope did not exceed £1250; and the postage during
+the same period amounted to £11,658. In the following year, the year
+1817, even better terms were obtained, the owners of private ships
+engaged as packets receiving in no case more than £125, and in one case
+as little as £25.
+
+The East India Company's generosity was not reciprocated by the Post
+Office. His Majesty's ship _Iphigenia_, which was lying at Portsmouth,
+had been appointed to carry out the mails, and the India House had sent
+down its despatches to be put on board. In strictness these despatches
+should have been sent through the Post Office, inasmuch as the
+_Iphigenia_ had been appointed a packet for the occasion; but as the
+India House paid no postage on its correspondence, whether sent by
+packet or by ships of its own, it was a mere technical irregularity.
+
+Freeling maintained, however, that there was an important distinction
+which ought to be observed. It was true that no question of postage was
+involved. It was also true that the India House would have been at
+liberty to put its despatches on board the _Iphigenia_ had she been
+sailing for India without being appointed a packet boat; but as she had
+been so appointed, the intervention of the Post Office was necessary,
+and without that intervention the commander ought not to have received
+them. Accordingly, Freeling urged upon the Government, though happily
+without success, that orders should be sent to Portsmouth to have the
+despatches removed from the ship to the local Post Office, to be there
+kept until instructions should be received from Lombard Street that they
+might be again taken on board.
+
+On the close of hostilities in 1815 domestic matters began once more to
+occupy a place in men's thoughts; and it was next to impossible that the
+Post Office should escape attention. Its heavy and capricious charges,
+its high-handed proceedings, its disregard of the public requirements,
+its prosecutions, its constant indictment of roads which it largely used
+and yet contributed nothing to maintain, and, above all, the fact that
+its administration was virtually in the hands of one man, and that man
+not the nominal head, who could be reached by constitutional
+means--signs were not wanting that these and other matters had created
+an amount of dissatisfaction which must sooner or later find
+expression. Yet Freeling either could not or would not see. Were not his
+immediate superiors, the postmasters-general, satisfied with his
+management, so satisfied indeed that they seldom, if ever, found it
+necessary to pay a visit to Lombard Street? And had not the
+contributions which, under his guidance, the Post Office kept pouring
+into the Exchequer raised him high in the Chancellor's favour? If so,
+what more could a loyal and industrious public servant desire?
+
+That Freeling was elated with what he considered his unbounded success
+is clear from a letter which about this time was written to the
+Treasury, enclosing a return of the Post Office revenue, and shewing how
+it had responded to the successive increases of rate which had been
+imposed during his tenure of the office of secretary. This letter,
+drafted by himself, as all the official letters were, though signed by
+the postmasters-general, concluded thus: "We flatter ourselves that we
+shall not be considered as exceeding the limits of our duty in drawing
+your Lordships' attention to a circumstance which has made a strong
+impression on ourselves in the course of our inquiry, namely, that the
+office of secretary during the whole of this flourishing period has been
+executed by the same faithful and meritorious servant of the Crown." The
+return, with a copy of this letter appended, was afterwards presented to
+Parliament.
+
+There is no more tolerant assembly in the world than the House of
+Commons; and yet even the House of Commons is intolerant of egotism. It
+may have been, and probably was, a mere coincidence, but the fact
+remains that from the date of the presentation of this return Freeling's
+influence began to wane.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+IRELAND
+
+1801-1828
+
+
+At the Union with Ireland the Irish Post Office was not merged into the
+Post Office of England as the Scotch Post Office was merged at the Union
+with Scotland. The existence of two separate establishments, presided
+over by different heads, who had not always the same objects in view,
+and were influenced by different considerations, was not unattended with
+inconvenience.
+
+Between the Post Offices of the two parts of the kingdom, moreover,
+there were differences not only of practice but of law, the statutes
+passed during the seventeen years that the Post Offices were separate
+not having been repealed at the time of the Union. Thus, the law which
+regulated franking was stricter in Ireland than in England, although, it
+must be confessed, the practice was looser. The law prohibiting the
+illicit conveyance of letters was also stricter. In England the Post
+Office was not empowered to search for letters; in Ireland the Post
+Office might search both vehicles and houses from sunrise to sunset. In
+England the mail-coaches were exempt from toll; in Ireland no such
+exemption was allowed. In Ireland, again, the Post Office was legally
+bound not, as in England, to deliver letters but only to carry them; and
+except in Dublin there was not a single letter-carrier in the kingdom.
+Even the constitution of the two Post Offices, though apparently
+similar, was really different. In Ireland, as in England, there were
+two heads commonly called joint postmasters-general; but whereas in
+England the assent of both was necessary to make a decision operative,
+in Ireland the assent of one was sufficient. This, while probably
+designed to facilitate the despatch of public business, was, as will be
+seen later on, attended with a curious result, a result which the
+framers of the statute can have little contemplated.
+
+Of such differences of practice as were not rendered necessary by any
+difference of law it may be sufficient to mention a few. In England the
+mail-coach contractors supplied horses only; in Ireland they supplied
+coaches as well. In England the contract was for short periods and for
+short distances, seldom for more than one or two stages; in Ireland,
+where there was little or no competition, the contract was for the whole
+of the road over which the coach travelled, and for as much as twenty
+and even thirty years. Meanwhile no alteration was possible except with
+the contractors' assent. In England the horse-posts were provided upon
+the most advantageous terms of which each particular case would admit;
+in Ireland the obligation to provide them was imposed upon the local
+postmasters, who received for the service, cost what it might, one
+uniform rate of 5d. a mile. In London there was no despatch on Sundays;
+in Dublin the mails were despatched on Sundays as on other days. In
+Dublin, again, the men who collected letters by the sound of bell,
+bellmen as they were now called, received not as in London 1d. a letter
+but 1d. a house, a difference of which the inhabitants were wont to shew
+their appreciation by sending to a single house for delivery to the
+letter-carrier the letters of an entire street.
+
+In Dublin there was one institution to which there was no counterpart in
+London. This was the British Mail Office, an office set apart for the
+management of the mails passing between England and Ireland. Other mails
+were dealt with in the Inland Office; but those to and from England were
+considered of such paramount importance as to deserve exceptional
+treatment. At the present day the term "office" as applied to the public
+service conveys the notion possibly of a palace and certainly of a
+building or part of a building consisting of several rooms. The British
+Mail Office, though destined to play a not unimportant part in the
+history of the Irish Post Office at the beginning of the present
+century, consisted of one room only, and this room was exactly six feet
+square.
+
+The establishment of this office was one of many measures which owed
+their origin to Lord Clancarty, who was joint postmaster-general with
+Lord O'Neill from 1807 to 1809. Clancarty enjoyed an honourable
+distinction. Other postmasters-general were habitual absentees, their
+visits to the Post Office, if visits they made, being confined to the
+rare occasions on which they passed through Dublin on their way to
+London and back. Clancarty, on the contrary, devoted to his official
+duties all the powers of a keen intellect and a singularly energetic
+nature. Shortly after his appointment he proceeded to London, and having
+made himself master of the system pursued in the Inland Office in
+Lombard Street, returned to Dublin, resolved that, as far as
+circumstances would permit, a similar system should be established
+there.
+
+A formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the different
+hours of attendance in the London and Dublin offices. In London the
+attendance was daily, on every night and every morning; in Dublin it was
+only on alternate days, on every other night and every other morning.
+How to get rid of this difference was the question which Clancarty now
+set himself to solve. There was at this time in the Inland Office a
+clerk of the name of Donlevy, whose parts pointed him out as qualified
+to take the lead among his fellows. Clancarty sent for this young man,
+and told him that under the plan which was about to be introduced he
+would have to attend daily. Donlevy objected that a plan which would
+involve such attendance was an unreasonable, an oppressive plan, and
+that no man's constitution, strong as he might be, would stand it.
+"But," said Clancarty, "I will make you vice-president." "My Lord,"
+replied Donlevy, "I am very much obliged to you; but under the
+conditions proposed I would not accept even the office of president."
+"Very well," rejoined Clancarty, laying his watch on the table, "I will
+give you three hours to consider of it." Long before the three hours had
+expired, Donlevy, who knew the character of the man with whom he had to
+do, and what would be the penalty of refusal, had accepted the
+vice-presidentship, and opposition to the introduction of daily
+attendance was at an end.[82]
+
+  [82] Clancarty was afterwards appointed joint postmaster-general of
+  England. This appointment he held from 30th September 1814 to 6th April
+  1816, but he never took it up. Between the dates mentioned he was
+  employed on missions abroad.
+
+But Clancarty was an exception to the general rule. Lord Rosse, who
+succeeded him and remained postmaster-general in conjunction with
+O'Neill for more than twenty years, was, like his colleague, an habitual
+absentee; and the consequence was to place large power in the hands of
+the chief permanent officer on the spot. This was Edward Smith Lees, who
+had been appointed joint secretary with his father in 1801, and who on
+his father's death some years afterwards became sole secretary. The
+power which Lees must in any case have possessed as chief resident
+officer was enormously increased by the fact to which we have already
+referred, that the signature of either of the two postmasters-general
+was sufficient. Of this fact Lees took advantage to an extent which may
+seem incredible. If the particular postmaster-general to whom the case
+was referred agreed to the course recommended, no reference to the other
+appears to have been considered necessary; but if he did not agree, a
+reference to the other took place without the fact of disagreement being
+made known, or even an intimation that his colleague had been consulted.
+By thus playing off one postmaster-general against the other, Lees
+generally contrived to secure approval of his own recommendations; but
+when, as occasionally happened, such approval could not be obtained from
+either, he claimed and exercised the right, as chief officer on the
+spot, to take his own course.
+
+Thus Lees, like Freeling, was an autocrat within his own domain; but the
+means by which the two men attained this result were essentially
+different. Freeling kept the postmasters-general informed of every
+incident, however trivial. Lees gave no information which could with
+decency be withheld. Freeling supported his views by a perfect wealth of
+explanation. Lees explained no more than enough to carry his point.
+Freeling's candour, like his loyalty, knew no bounds. It is to his
+candour, indeed, that we owe our materials for criticising his own
+proceedings. Lees's candour and loyalty, on the contrary, so far as
+these can be said to have had any existence, were held in rigid
+subjection to considerations of expediency and personal advantage.
+
+The circumstances attending the appointment of Lees's brother, a
+searcher in the Customs at Wexford, to a position in the secretary's
+office only inferior in point of rank and emolument to his own, well
+exemplify the mode in which the business of the Irish Post Office was
+conducted during the first two or three decades of the present century.
+The minute appointing him was signed, not by O'Neill and Rosse, nor by
+either of them, but by one of Lees's own subordinates, and purported to
+embody a decision come to at a Board at which the two postmasters-general
+were present. "At the Board"--so ran the minute--"present the Earls."
+The whole thing was a fiction from beginning to end. The Earls had
+not been present, and there had been no Board. Indeed, as Lees was
+afterwards forced to admit before a Committee of the House of Commons,
+during a period of twenty years that O'Neill and Rosse had been
+joint postmasters-general and he their secretary, he had seen them
+only once together in the same room, and that was in the drawing-room
+at Parsonstown.
+
+The example set in high quarters was not without its effect below. Every
+one seems to have been left to do pretty much as he liked. The force was
+maintained at a level very far in excess of the actual requirements, and
+it was no uncommon thing for one-half of the entire number to absent
+themselves without notice in a single morning. Some of the clerks never
+attended at all, while others gave to their Post Office duties only such
+fragments of their time as they could snatch from other and more
+lucrative employments. Thus, one was a clerk in a private bank, another
+a clerk in a merchant's office, a third was a surgeon, several held
+appointments under the Customs or the Imprest Office, and many were
+practising attorneys. To most of these the object of holding an
+appointment in the Post Office appears to have been not so much the
+salary attaching to it as the privilege which they enjoyed, or rather
+which they assumed to themselves, of sending and receiving their letters
+free. The attorneys, indeed, were credited with a still less respectable
+motive. All, as soon as a mail arrived, helped themselves to their own
+letters and the letters of the firms in which they were interested. The
+president of the Inland Office held a valuable appointment in the Bank
+of Ireland, and was not in a position to check on the part of his
+subordinates a license which he allowed to himself. The
+receiver-general, the highest financial officer on the establishment,
+was a private banker and money-lender, and, beyond signing the
+balance-sheet at stated periods, the only Post Office function he
+performed was to frank his own correspondence.
+
+That in Ireland the Post Office arrangements were made subservient to
+private interests does not admit of a doubt. A suspicion will indeed now
+and again cross the mind that even in England the readiness to raise the
+rates of postage, and the hostility shewn to newspapers except when
+supplied by the clerks of the roads, were not unconnected with personal
+considerations; but what in the case of England is at best only a matter
+of suspicion becomes in the case of Ireland an absolute certainty. In
+Ireland, as in England, the clerks of the roads had from the first
+establishment of the Post Office enjoyed the privilege of franking
+newspapers; but soon after the British Mail Office had been established
+by Clancarty, two other clerks, styling themselves express clerks,
+undertook to supply newspapers express. Their plan was very simple. In
+London the newspapers were made up in a parcel addressed to the express
+clerks; and these clerks had in readiness messengers of their own, who
+proceeded to deliver the newspapers as soon as they arrived in Dublin
+and without waiting, as others had to do, for the sorting of the mail.
+This alone would have given to the express clerks a considerable
+advantage over the ordinary news-vendor. But, more than this, the
+British mail was irregular in its arrival, and the latest hour in the
+evening at which a delivery by letter-carrier took place in Dublin was
+seven o'clock. The express clerks delivered the English newspapers by
+their own messengers as late as eleven o'clock.
+
+In the case of the country the advantage which the express clerks
+enjoyed was still greater. The mails for the interior of Ireland left
+the Inland Office in Dublin at seven o'clock in the evening; but under a
+rule, on the observance of which the authorities rigidly insisted, no
+mails from the British Mail Office were to be received in the Inland
+Office for despatch the same evening unless they were brought there
+ready sorted full twenty minutes before that hour. Practically,
+therefore, as the sorting occupied about twenty-five minutes, mails from
+England arriving later than a quarter past six were detained until the
+following evening. No such detention, however, was sustained by the
+express newspapers, which, addressed as they were to the express clerks,
+could be forwarded up to the last moment. It may readily be supposed
+that, with such advantages in their favour, the express clerks and the
+clerks of the roads, for the two bodies had amalgamated and formed one
+common purse, found many customers. That they realised and fully
+appreciated their position will be seen from the following advertisement
+which was issued no longer ago than April 1822:--
+
+                       BRITISH NEWSPAPER OFFICE, GENERAL POST OFFICE.
+
+     The clerks of roads and clerks of express newspapers having, under
+     the authority of the postmasters-general, reformed their
+     establishment in this department for the transmission of British
+     and foreign newspapers, lottery, commercial, army and navy lists,
+     periodical and other publications, the nobility and gentry of
+     Dublin are respectfully informed that they can be supplied with
+     those articles either by an express delivery (which is made by
+     special messengers immediately on the arrival of the packets) or by
+     the regular course of post.
+
+     Country correspondents will have a peculiar advantage, as upon all
+     occasions when a packet arrives before the despatch of the inland
+     mails but too late for general transmission, their newspapers will
+     be forwarded at the last possible moment.
+
+     Newspapers exchanged at pleasure any time during the period of
+     subscription.
+
+     Subscriptions to be paid in advance.
+
+     Further particulars known by application to Messrs. Leet and De
+     Joncourt, General Post Office, who will receive subscriptions.
+
+     Daily attendance from twelve till four o'clock.
+
+     London daily newspapers to Dublin by general delivery, £10:17:6 per
+     annum.
+
+Leet and De Joncourt were the two express clerks; but among the clerks
+of the roads, on whose behalf they wrote as well as their own, was Lees,
+the secretary, who participated in the profits derived from the sale of
+newspapers, and received the lion's share.
+
+The news-vendors bitterly complained. That the newspapers supplied by
+the express clerks and clerks of the roads should be exempt from
+postage[83] was bad enough; but that they should also enjoy priority of
+transmission and delivery was past all endurance. How was it possible to
+compete under such conditions as these? The booksellers also complained,
+for the express service, though originally confined to newspapers, had
+now extended to periodicals as well. On a _Quarterly_ or _Edinburgh
+Review_, for instance, when sent by coach from Dublin into the country,
+the bookseller's customers had to pay for carriage from 1s. 8d. to 2s.
+6d., whereas the express clerks and clerks of the roads sent it, through
+the medium of the post, carriage free. A heavier indictment remains. The
+law permitted the examination of newspapers passing through the post
+with a view to ascertain whether they contained unauthorised enclosures;
+and it was confidently alleged that of this power the Post Office
+servants took advantage in order to retard the transmission and delivery
+of newspapers that were not supplied by themselves. A ring, the
+news-vendors maintained, had been formed at the Post Office, and they
+were the victims.
+
+  [83] At one time the express newspapers went all the way from London to
+  Dublin post free; but this, at the date of the advertisement, had been
+  stopped, and as far as Holyhead their carriage was now being provided
+  for under an arrangement with the London agents. From Holyhead to
+  Dublin, however, they still went in the mail free of postage, and on
+  arrival in Dublin such of them as were destined for the country were
+  franked by the clerks of the roads.
+
+The management of what was technically termed the alphabet appears to
+have been influenced by similar considerations. This was nothing more
+than a rack with divisions corresponding to the letters of the alphabet,
+into which might be sorted ready for delivery all correspondence
+addressed to the Post Office to be called for. Such was its primary
+object; but in course of time the bankers and merchants, finding that
+through the alphabet they could get their letters sooner than if
+delivered by letter-carrier--as soon indeed as the mail arrived--made
+use of this expedient for their ordinary correspondence, readily paying
+for the accommodation a fee ranging from three to five guineas a year.
+This had gone on for a considerable period, when Lees appears to have
+been suddenly seized with compunction at the unfairness of a practice
+which, in the matter of delivery, gave to one man an advantage over
+another; and he issued instructions that henceforth, after the arrival
+of each mail, there should be a certain interval during which letters
+should not be delivered from the alphabet. The pretence imposed upon no
+one. Men readily discerned that in proportion as the advantages of the
+alphabet were restricted the express service was rendered more valuable.
+
+It would be unjust to the memory of the Irish Post Office of seventy
+years ago not to mention here one good practice and, as far as we know,
+the only good one that then existed. By virtue of an arrangement with,
+the War Office, soldiers' wives, on presentation of a formal document
+with which the military authorities provided them, could draw from any
+Post Office in the kingdom a certain sum of small amount until the
+entire sum mentioned in the document was exhausted. Thus, a soldier's
+wife desirous of joining her husband could pass from one end of the
+country to another, and, without carrying anything in her pocket, could
+be supplied with money on her way. Of this practice, curiously enough,
+not a vestige now remains.
+
+It is also pleasant, amid so much indifference as was at that time
+exhibited to the convenience of the public, to be able to record one
+instance to the contrary. Thomas Whinnery, the postmaster of Belfast,
+had read an account of the alphabet at Liverpool--how the letters were
+sorted into a rack according to the initials of the merchants to whom
+they were addressed, so as to be ready to be delivered when they should
+be called for--and he resolved to introduce something of the same kind
+into his own office. Instead, however, of adopting the alphabetical
+order he assigned to each merchant a particular number, letting him know
+what his number was, and instead of a fixed rack as at Liverpool he
+contrived a revolving one; and this, with the numbers conspicuously
+exhibited over each division, he placed in full view of a window opening
+to the street. Thus, any one looking through the window could see for
+himself whether there were any letters for him, and was saved the
+trouble of inquiring.
+
+Equality of treatment as between man and man had not yet become one of
+the canons of the Post Office, and even Whinnery, well-meaning as he
+was, made a distinction as remarkable as it was invidious. Belfast not
+being supplied with an official letter-carrier, he employed a man of his
+own to deliver the letters, and charged on their delivery 1d. apiece.
+The letters, however, instead of all being delivered at one time, were
+arbitrarily divided into two classes, termed particular letters and
+ordinary letters; and the delivery of the ordinary letters was not begun
+until that of the particular letters was finished, a difference in point
+of time of two and a half hours. In order to maintain the distinction,
+the man had actually to go over the same ground twice. Particular
+letters were defined to be letters for merchants and other busy men,
+letters to which it was presumably of importance that replies should be
+given promptly.
+
+We have said that in Ireland the mail-coach contracts were not, as in
+England, for short distances but for the whole of the road over which
+the coach travelled. The explanation is that, while in England the local
+inn-keepers were eager to horse the mail for one or two stages, in
+Ireland, where the coach had to be provided as well as the horses, the
+venture was too serious to be undertaken lightly, and the contracts fell
+into the hands of a few persons of means who dictated pretty much their
+own terms. Thus, in Ireland the cost of conveying the mails by coach was
+considerably higher than in England, though forage and labour were
+cheaper.[84]
+
+  [84] In 1823 the Irish mail-coaches travelled daily a distance of 1450
+  miles at a cost to the Post Office of more than £30,000 a year, while in
+  England the cost over the same number of miles would have been only
+  £7500. From this, however, it is not to be understood that in one
+  country the cost was four times as heavy as in the other, because the
+  Irish mile was longer than the English one by about two furlongs, and in
+  England the contractors did not, as they did in Ireland, provide the
+  coaches.
+
+All this was soon to be changed. In one of the early years of the
+century a young lad had arrived in Dublin, a lad without means and
+without friends, a foreigner who was unable to speak one word of
+English, and yet who, despite these drawbacks, did for the country of
+his adoption more probably than was accomplished by all the legislation
+that took place during the fourscore years and more over which his life
+extended. This was Charles Bianconi, a man to whom the Post Office owes
+a debt of gratitude which, as it seems to us, has never been
+sufficiently recognised. After serving an eighteen months'
+apprenticeship to a foreign print-seller in a small way of business,
+Bianconi passed the next two or three years of his life in hawking
+prints about the country on his own account, and in 1806, at the age of
+twenty, he turned carver and gilder and opened a shop at
+Carrick-on-Suir. From Carrick he removed shortly afterwards to
+Waterford, and finally settled down at Clonmel.
+
+The experience of these few years determined Bianconi's future career.
+While roaming over the country with his prints for sale, he had had
+forcibly impressed upon him the difference between a pedlar like himself
+who was doomed to tramp on foot and his more fortunate fellow who could
+post or ride on horseback. At Carrick the want of facilities for
+travelling had been brought home to him in a hardly less cogent manner.
+Gold-leaf for the supply of his shop he had to fetch from Waterford, and
+Waterford is distant from Carrick twelve or thirteen miles. Between the
+two towns, however, the only means of communication was by water, and by
+water, owing to the windings of the river, the distance is twenty-four
+miles. A single boat, moreover, was then the only public conveyance,
+and, besides being obliged to wait for the tide, it took from four to
+five hours to accomplish the journey. From this time Bianconi appears to
+have become possessed with the idea that his mission in life was to
+devise some cheap and easy means of communication between town and town.
+Imbued with this notion, he gave up his shop in the summer of 1815, and
+started a single-horse car for the conveyance of passengers from Clonmel
+to Cahir, a distance of about eight miles. At the end of the same year
+he started similar cars from Clonmel to Cashel and Thurles, and from
+Clonmel to Carrick and Waterford. From such humble beginnings sprang
+that splendid service of cars which, extending from Sligo and
+Enniskillen in the north to Bandon and Skibbereen in the south, and from
+Waterford and Wexford in the east to Galway and Belmullet in the west,
+carried passengers daily over more than 4000 miles of road at an average
+cost to each passenger of 1-1/4d. a mile.
+
+But we are anticipating. The Post Office, largely as it availed itself
+in later years of the means of communication which Bianconi placed at
+its disposal, was slow to perceive the advantage which his enterprise
+offered. The country postmasters were wiser in their generation. Located
+on the spot, and with their perception quickened by the motive of
+self-interest, they made use of the cars as fast as these were put on
+the roads. No sooner had a car been started from Clonmel than the
+postmaster sent by it the mails which he had been used to send by
+horse-post. For this service he received an allowance of 5d. a mile.
+Bianconi performed the service for him for an allowance of 2-1/2d. a
+mile. The same thing took place elsewhere. It was not until the year
+1831, when the Post Office of Ireland was amalgamated with that of
+England, that Bianconi was brought into direct relations with
+headquarters. Meanwhile, through a strange lack of vigilance on the part
+of the Irish authorities, his very existence was ignored, and the
+postmasters continued to receive 5d. a mile for a service which,
+wherever Bianconi's cars extended, they were getting done for one-half
+of that amount.
+
+But it is not only with the Irish Post Office in relation to its
+internal affairs that this chapter proposes to deal. The communication
+between England and Ireland or rather between the capitals of the two
+countries had, since the Act of Union, been under constant review, and
+it becomes important to see how, during the first two or three decades
+of the present century, this communication stood both by sea and by
+land.
+
+By the Act of 1784, which made the Irish Post Office independent of that
+of Great Britain--an Act not repealed by the Union--Great Britain and
+Ireland were to receive, in respect to letters passing between the two
+countries, each its own proportion of the postage. The Channel service
+remained; and with this Ireland was to have nothing to do, at all events
+in the first instance. Great Britain was to provide the packets and to
+receive the packet postage. Ireland, on the other hand, until she should
+have established packets of her own, was to receive from Great Britain
+the sum of £4000 a year "in lieu as well of the profits of the said
+packets as in compensation for other purposes." This arrangement appears
+to have worked smoothly enough until after 1801, when, owing to the
+increase of correspondence as a consequence of the Union, the Irish Post
+Office began to complain that the conditions were hard, and that Great
+Britain had the best of the bargain. Surely, under the very terms of the
+statute, Ireland was entitled to have packets of her own; and if this
+were denied her, did not justice demand that the conditions should be
+reconsidered? The question had come before successive Governments and
+always with the same result--that the existing arrangement was not to be
+disturbed. What Pitt and Portland and Perceval had decided was not to be
+done Lees now proceeded to do on his own account.
+
+We doubt whether travellers of the present day who cross from Holyhead
+to Dublin in the magnificent boats which modern science has provided
+have any idea of the misery to which our grandfathers were exposed in
+making the passage. His Majesty's packets afforded the best, if not the
+only means of transit; and these were six in number, and ranged from 80
+to 100 tons in burthen. Customs duties were at this time levied on goods
+passing between the two countries, and passengers' luggage was subjected
+to strict examination. Thus, to the discomforts of a sea-passage made in
+vessels of light tonnage were added the vexations incidental to a
+rigorous search of personal baggage; and these vexations were rendered
+all the greater by faulty arrangements. Passengers were unnecessarily
+detained, and often, even after detention, had to proceed on their
+journey leaving their luggage behind. In course of time, indeed, an
+exception was made in the case of peers and members of Parliament. After
+December 1819, as the result of incessant complaints, the luggage of
+these privileged persons was allowed to pass unexamined on their giving
+a certificate on honour that it contained no articles liable to duty;
+but at the time of which we are writing, the year 1813, all travellers,
+whether of high or low degree, were treated alike.
+
+Despite conditions which at the present day would be considered
+intolerable, the number of passengers carried to and fro by the Holyhead
+packets was between 14,000 and 15,000 a year;[85] and there can be no
+doubt that the advantage which the British Post Office derived from
+this traffic was considerable. It is true that the fares went to the
+captains; but of course, except for the fares, the Post Office would
+have had to pay more for its packets. These were supplied at an annual
+cost of £365 apiece, or £2190 altogether; and such being the terms on
+which boats could be hired, Lees was confirmed in his opinion that
+Ireland would do better if, instead of receiving from Great Britain a
+compensation allowance of £4000 a year, she were to provide her own
+packets and share the packet postage.
+
+  [85] The exact number of passengers in the year 1814 was 14,577, made up
+  as follows: Cabin passengers, 12,142; passengers' servants, 1136; hold
+  passengers, 1299.
+
+Freeling took a different view. The better the bargain was for the
+British Post Office, the more determined he was that with his consent
+the terms should not be altered. And, more than this, he little relished
+the prospect of competition between English and Irish packets. Indeed,
+so long had he been accustomed to deal with a monopoly that the very
+name of competition was hateful to him. At this very time he tried, and
+tried in vain, to repress a boat which had been set up between Weymouth
+and the Channel Islands in opposition to the packets. Another similar
+attempt which he made a little later was hardly more successful. The War
+Office had chartered vessels to convey troops between Bristol and
+Waterford, and these vessels had assumed the title of "Government
+Packets," a title which, according to Freeling, induced persons to go by
+them who would otherwise have gone by the Post Office packets from
+Milford. Lord Palmerston was then Secretary at War, and we think we see
+the twinkle in his eye as he replied to Freeling's letter of
+remonstrance. Freeling's objection was of course to the Bristol boats
+being styled packets, but he had spoken of them by the title by which
+they were known of "Government Packets." The contractors, wrote Lord
+Palmerston, had been directed to drop the word Government forthwith, and
+the boats would henceforth be called War Office packets, to distinguish
+them from the packets employed by the Post Office.
+
+Attached to the Irish Post Office, by virtue of a contract which had
+yet some years to run, were boats called wherries. Originally designed
+to carry between the two countries special messengers and despatches
+during the period immediately succeeding the Union, they had long lost
+their original character, and were now being employed in picking up what
+goods and passengers they could, and transporting them across the
+Channel in opposition to the packets. These boats were not ill adapted
+to the purpose which Lees had in hand. On the 19th of July 1813 he
+despatched a letter to Freeling, incidentally mentioning that "as the
+intended packet station at Howth had sufficient depth of water for the
+vessels belonging to the Irish Post Office, it was in contemplation,
+until such time as the regular packets should be stationed there, that
+the mails from Ireland should be despatched in its own vessels, and
+that, as soon as the arrangements now in progress should be completed,
+the measure would take effect." This letter was received in London on
+the 23rd of July, and on the next day intelligence reached Lombard
+Street that the mail from Ireland had been refused to the British packet
+and had been given to the Irish wherry.
+
+And now might be witnessed a most unedifying spectacle--in Dublin Lees
+placarding the walls of the city with advertisements,[86] vaunting the
+merits of his own packets; at Holyhead the authorised packets arriving
+without the mails, and the mails being brought by boats which did not
+arrive until after the mail-coach for London had started; and in London
+Freeling wringing his hands and invoking the aid of the Government to
+check the vagaries of his brother-secretary on the other side of the
+Channel. "For the first time," he wrote, "the postmasters-general of
+Great Britain have not the means of redressing grievances connected with
+their own department, and the most serious remonstrances may be expected
+from the merchants and traders of London on this alarming and
+unnecessary evil."
+
+  [86] The following are copies of the advertisements referred to:--
+
+  "The Howth Royal Mail-Coach sets out every evening at seven o'clock from
+  the Cork Coach Office, 12 Dawson Street, where passengers and luggage
+  will be booked, and arrives at Howth at a quarter after eight, when the
+  packet will immediately sail (independently of the tide) with the Irish
+  mails and passengers for Holyhead. From the admirable construction of
+  these vessels for fast sailing and excellent accommodation the passage
+  from the pier at Howth to Holyhead will on the average be performed in
+  one-third less time than by the _Pigeon House_. Besides, as no more than
+  eight or ten passengers will be admitted into any one of these packets,
+  the public, on the score of expedition and comfort, will soon experience
+  the advantage of going to Holyhead by Howth.
+
+  "Passengers by the mail-coach have a preference as to berths in the
+  packets.
+
+  "_July 21, 1813._"
+
+  "Howth Royal Mail-Coach, well guarded, sets out from the Cork Coach
+  Office, No. 12 Dawson Street, at seven o'clock every evening with mails
+  and passengers to His Majesty's express packets at Howth, from whence
+  one of these excellent vessels sails at half after eight o'clock every
+  night for Holyhead.
+
+  "_July 31, 1813._"
+
+The prediction was a safe one. Not only were the mails often one day
+behindhand in arriving in London, but the letters they brought were
+charged with an additional rate of postage in respect of the distance
+between Dublin and Howth. The merchants flocked to the Post Office to
+inquire the reason. No reason could be given them, and they were invited
+to let their applications for a return of the charge stand over until
+the postmasters-general should have informed themselves on the subject.
+Some assented; others accused the postmasters-general of trifling, and
+demanded instant redress. Matters had thus gone on for a fortnight when
+Lord Liverpool, to whom an appeal had been made, directed that the
+wherries should be withdrawn. One is left to suppose that this direction
+cannot have been communicated in the proper quarter, for as a matter of
+fact it had no result. In vain the captains of the packets applied at
+the Dublin Post Office for the British mails. All such applications met
+with a flat refusal, and the mails continued to be sent by the wherries
+as before. At length an end was put to the scandal, but not until it had
+lasted for more than six weeks.
+
+The question now arose whether for the forty-four days during which the
+wherries had acted as packets the compensation of £4000 a year which
+Ireland received from Great Britain should not be withheld. Freeling had
+not only taken it for granted that such would be the case, but had been
+unable to conceal his regret that this was the only penalty of which the
+circumstances would admit. Liverpool, however, decided otherwise. Lees
+might have been wrong-headed and even perverse, but there could be no
+doubt that law was on his side. Accordingly, the compensation was paid
+for the period during which the packets had not carried the mails, and
+not long afterwards the Government brought in a bill raising the amount
+which Ireland was to receive from £4000 a year to £6000.
+
+We now pass over six years. In July 1819 a curious invention, which had
+for some little time been in practical operation on the Thames between
+London and Margate, was brought into use between Holyhead and Dublin.
+This was no other than a vessel propelled by steam. Two vessels of this
+class were now set up by private individuals styling themselves the
+Dublin Steam Packet Company; and of this company, to the amazement of
+the authorities in Lombard Street, Lees had become a director. The
+quality which the new vessels possessed of being able to go against wind
+and tide, and the comparative speed with which they accomplished the
+passage, soon commended them to the favour of the public; and the
+consequence was a reduction to the extent of nearly one-half in the
+number of passengers by the Post Office packets.[87] The matter was
+serious, for it was in consequence of the fares which the captains
+received that they let their boats to the Post Office at little more
+than a nominal sum: and of course this sum would have to be increased
+according as the fares diminished.
+
+  [87] By the Post Office packets the number of passengers between
+  Holyhead and Dublin during the years 1818-20 was as follows:--
+
+  Year.    Number of
+          Passengers.
+  1818      13,128
+  1819      12,956
+  1820       7,468
+
+  Private steam packets began to ply in July 1819.
+
+We now see the Post Office at its best. Not possessing in the case of
+passengers a monopoly such as influenced and often perverted its action
+in the case of letters, the department proceeded to do much as private
+persons with sufficient capital at command would have done in similar
+circumstances, namely to build better boats than those already employed,
+and endeavour by the superior excellence of its service to recover the
+custom it had lost. Orders were given for two steam packets, the best
+that Boulton and Watt could build; and on the 31st of May 1821 the
+_Royal Sovereign_, of 206 tons burthen, with engines of 40 horse-power,
+and the _Meteor_, of somewhat smaller dimensions, began to ply.
+"Hitherto," wrote the postmasters-general eight days later, "they have
+answered the most sanguine expectations that had been formed of them;
+the letters have been delivered in Dublin earlier than was ever yet
+known, and Ireland has expressed herself grateful for the attention that
+has been shewn to her interests."
+
+The Post Office behaved in this matter with a moderation which was
+altogether wanting where its monopoly was concerned. To be outdone by a
+private company, to employ inferior boats, boats of an obsolete type and
+of a low rate of speed--this would not be creditable to a public
+department, still less to a department whose special function it was to
+carry the correspondence of the country at the highest speed attainable;
+and properly enough the Post Office might take steps to establish its
+pre-eminence. But it would be quite another thing for a public
+department to undersell a private company, and, by charging lower fares,
+to run its boats off the line. This, it appeared to the authorities in
+Lombard Street, would exceed the bounds of fair competition. Accordingly
+the fares by the Post Office steam packets were fixed at the same
+amounts as those charged by the company; and these fares were somewhat
+higher than those which had been charged by the sailing packets. By
+sailing packet, for instance, the charge for a cabin passenger had been
+one guinea, by steam packet it was £1:5s.; for a horse the steam packet
+charge was £1:10s. as against one guinea by sailing packet, and for a
+coach £3:5s. as against three guineas.
+
+These charges, which were fixed with the express object of not exposing
+the company to undue competition, had not been long in force before
+Parliament intervened. The Select Committee on Irish Communication
+protested in the interests of the public against the raising of the
+fares, and the Post Office was constrained to submit. The substitution
+of steam packets for sailing packets bore immediate fruit. The number of
+passengers carried by the Post Office between Holyhead and Dublin, which
+in 1820 had sunk to 7468, rose in 1821 to 13,737 and in 1822 to more
+than 16,000; and for some years the Holyhead packets were not only
+self-supporting but produced a clear gain to the revenue of more than
+£6000 a year.
+
+The change which had been made at Holyhead was not long in extending
+itself to other packet stations from which there was communication with
+Ireland. Between Milford and Waterford sailing packets were replaced by
+steam packets in April 1824, and between Portpatrick and Donaghadee in
+May 1825. By sailing packet the average duration of voyage between the
+last-mentioned stations had been seven hours and forty-eight minutes.
+During the winter of 1825-26, a winter unexampled for the derangement of
+sea-communication, the average time which the little Post Office
+steamers _Arrow_ and _Dasher_ took to perform the voyage was less than
+three hours and a half.
+
+And yet, despite these exertions to maintain its superiority, the Post
+Office was not to remain in undisputed possession of the Irish traffic.
+Private steamers had begun to ply between Liverpool and Dublin, and the
+fares by these steamers were lower than by the Post Office packets from
+Holyhead. As a natural consequence, the passenger traffic to which the
+Post Office looked to recoup itself for the heavy expense to which it
+had been put in replacing sailing packets by steam packets was diverted
+to Liverpool.
+
+Nor was it only in the matter of passengers that the Post Office lost by
+the competition. Its reputation also suffered. The mails for Ireland
+left Liverpool at three o'clock in the afternoon, before the Exchange
+was closed, and reaching Holyhead by way of Chester and Llangollen at
+six o'clock on the following morning, did not arrive in Dublin until the
+afternoon. The private steamers, on the contrary, did not leave
+Liverpool until the business of the day was over, and arrived in Dublin
+on the following morning. Hence comparisons were drawn not favourable to
+the Post Office; and it by no means tended to allay dissatisfaction that
+the owners of the private steamers were refused permission to carry the
+mails. This they had offered to do, in one case for nothing more than
+exemption from harbour and light dues; but at that time, strange as it
+may appear to us with our present experience, it was a fixed principle
+with the Post Office that private firms even of the highest eminence
+were not to be entrusted with the carriage of the public correspondence.
+Accordingly it was decided that between Liverpool and Dublin the Post
+Office should run its own packets, and the new service began on the 29th
+of August 1826. The opening was marred by a lamentable disaster. Early
+in September the _Francis Freeling_ packet, a recently-built cutter
+named after the secretary, and reputed to be the finest vessel of its
+kind afloat, foundered during a heavy gale and all the passengers and
+crew were lost.
+
+The new service, while an unquestionable convenience to the public, did
+not altogether satisfy the Post Office. It is true that, as a
+consequence of the increased accommodation, the letters for Ireland
+passing through Liverpool nearly doubled in number; but this
+satisfactory result was not without alloy. During the past few years the
+art of building as applied to steamboats had made rapid progress; and
+not only were the packets on the Liverpool station larger than those
+stationed at Holyhead, the horse-power of the engines being 170 in the
+one case as against 40 in the other, but they were altogether better
+equipped. The fares by the Liverpool route as fixed by the Post Office
+were also relatively lower, and to any one proceeding from London or the
+large manufacturing towns of the North the distance to be travelled by
+road was shorter. As a consequence, the diversion of traffic from
+Holyhead to Liverpool, notwithstanding the longer sea voyage, proceeded
+still more rapidly than when the steamers from the latter port were in
+private hands; and the Holyhead service, which had for some years
+produced a clear profit of many thousand pounds a year, was now carried
+on at a loss.
+
+To the Post Office authorities, indeed, there was in connection with the
+four packet stations in communication with Ireland only one thing which
+gave them unqualified satisfaction. It was this--that to the Post Office
+belonged the credit of being first to demonstrate by practical
+experience that, to use Freeling's words, "steam vessels could force
+their way at all seasons of the year and in weather in which no sailing
+vessel, be her qualities what they might, would attempt to put to sea."
+Whether the claim is well founded or not we have no means of judging; we
+only know that it was made.
+
+By land, at the beginning of the present century, communication with
+Ireland was in a more backward state than it was by water; and since the
+Union a very general opinion had prevailed that this communication
+should be improved. It would perhaps be too much to say that the British
+Post Office proved obstructive in the matter; but there can be no doubt
+that it did not lend the assistance it might have done, and the reasons
+are obvious. In the first place, a little soreness existed. No sooner
+had the Act of Union passed than the Government decided that between
+London and Dublin there must be an express in both directions daily.
+This, as the postmasters-general pointed out, would cost more than £4000
+a year, and, as it was not required for Post Office purposes, the Post
+Office should not bear the cost. Accordingly the question as to the
+source from which the cost should be defrayed was reserved for future
+consideration; but after the express was well established, the Post
+Office received notice that it must defray the cost itself, and it
+continued to do so for twenty years and more. This was always a sore
+point with Freeling, and he constantly adduced it as an instance of
+unremunerative work.
+
+Another reason which kept Lombard Street back from assisting to improve
+the communication with Ireland was that the British and Irish Post
+Offices approached the subject from different points of view. With the
+British Post Office the main object, an object which in its judgment was
+sufficiently well attained already, was the transmission of letters;
+with the Irish Post Office, as indeed with that section of the public
+which could best make its voice heard, the main object was the transport
+of passengers. Yet a third reason, we can well believe, was the
+conviction that for any improvement that might be made, though primarily
+for the sake of Ireland, the British and not the Irish Post Office would
+have to pay. These three reasons, we cannot doubt, were at the root of
+the manifest indisposition displayed by the British Post Office to meet
+what had gradually become a very general demand.
+
+The first strenuous effort to induce the authorities in Lombard Street
+to improve the communication with Ireland was made in 1805, the prime
+mover in the matter being John Foster, the Chancellor of the Irish
+Exchequer. At this time the mail-coach between London and Holyhead went
+by a circuitous route through Chester. Foster maintained that it should
+go direct through Coventry and Shrewsbury. By Coventry the distance was
+264 miles, and by Chester 278 miles--a difference, in point of time, of
+more than two hours.
+
+It was alleged that by the shorter route other delays which now took
+place might be avoided; but how important was a saving of even two hours
+may be judged from the fact that the time of the mail-coach leaving
+Holyhead was fixed with reference, not to the arrival of the packet
+from Dublin, but to the arrival of the coach in London. All the
+mail-coaches were timed to reach London early in the morning, so that
+the letters they brought might go out by the morning delivery. To effect
+this object, the mail-coach by the Chester route had to leave Holyhead
+at seven o'clock in the morning, an hour by which it was barely possible
+for the packet from Dublin to have arrived. During the whole of the year
+1804, for instance, the Dublin mails arrived at Holyhead in time to
+catch the coach to London on only twelve occasions; and, of course, when
+the mails did not catch the coach, they had to remain idle at Holyhead
+until the following morning.
+
+If, argued Foster, the route be by Shrewsbury and Coventry, the coach
+can leave Holyhead so much later that the occasions on which the Dublin
+mail does not arrive in time to catch it will be not as now the rule but
+the exception. Freeling set the suggestion aside as impracticable. The
+coach, he maintained, must go through Chester. At Chester centred all
+the correspondence from the great manufacturing towns of the North, from
+Liverpool and Manchester, from Hull, Halifax, and Leeds, indeed from all
+parts of Yorkshire and many other counties besides. Was this
+correspondence of no account? Or was it suggested that a second
+mail-coach should be established? Already the Post Office was paying
+many thousand pounds a year for an express service between London and
+Holyhead which it did not require. Could it in reason be expected to
+incur the further expense which a second mail-coach would involve? The
+thing was impossible, and the project could not be entertained.
+
+Foster, though silenced for the time, was not convinced. In 1808 the
+subject was mooted again. Clancarty, who had recently been appointed
+joint postmaster-general with O'Neill, had arrived in London, prepared
+to argue the point with all the energy of his energetic nature. Foster
+was unable to come; but he had sent a memorandum which no one who was
+not thorough master of the subject could have produced. A meeting was
+appointed at Lord Hawksbury's office. Freeling poured out all the old
+objections, and proceeded to contend, as he had contended three years
+before, that the project was impracticable. But one was present there
+who did not believe in impracticabilities. This was the new Chief
+Secretary for Ireland, Sir Arthur Wellesley. Wellesley's opinion was
+emphatic--that all other considerations must be made subordinate to the
+one grand purpose of facilitating communication between the two capitals
+of London and Dublin. Freeling had encountered a stronger will than his
+own. What had been impossible before was possible now, and that very
+evening arrangements were begun to be devised for accelerating the Irish
+mails.
+
+Even now, what little was done was done grudgingly. The mail-coach from
+London which ran through Oxford and Birmingham to Shrewsbury was
+extended from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, and was met at Llangollen by an
+express from Chester bringing the cross-post correspondence. Thus
+matters remained for nine years, when, under pressure which the Post
+Office could no longer resist, the Coventry route was adopted. The Post
+Office opposed the change to the last, even though a Parliamentary
+Committee had recommended it, and an address in its favour had been
+presented to the Prince Regent. At length Vansittart, the Chancellor of
+the Exchequer, brought his authority to bear, and in July 1817 a
+mail-coach by way of Coventry began to run, accomplishing the distance
+between London and Holyhead in thirty-eight hours.
+
+But in order to facilitate communication between England and Ireland a
+good deal more was required than to set up an additional coach or to
+send an existing coach by another and shorter route. The roads of the
+country were still in a state to make rapid travelling impossible. Much,
+no doubt, had been done to improve them. Between the years 1760 and 1809
+no less than 1514 Turnpike Acts had been passed, and under the turnpike
+system the roads were better than before. Still the making of them had
+been entrusted to incompetent hands, and they were constructed on false
+principles. For the bed or foundation of the roads improper or
+insufficient materials had been used. Little or no attention had been
+paid to drainage. Few roads were provided with side channels. Not
+seldom, indeed, the sides were encumbered with huge banks of mud which
+had accumulated to the height of six, seven, and even eight feet. Not
+only had convexity of surface, as a means of carrying off the water,
+been disregarded, but the road was frequently hollow in the middle and
+everywhere cut into deep ruts. High hedges and trees were still allowed
+to intercept the action of the sun and wind, the importance of a rapid
+evaporation of moisture being as yet unrecognised. Even the roads
+themselves had been laid out on no fixed principle. Their lines of
+direction were, almost without exception, identical with the footpaths
+of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country; and these, doubtless to
+avoid the bogs and marsh lands, and possibly also for purposes of
+observation, had invariably followed the hills.
+
+Hence it came to pass that almost every road of any importance was both
+steep and crooked. Where there were no hills and the roads passed across
+wet and flat land, they were almost always below the level of the
+adjacent fields, the mud having been carried away by constant use. While
+such was the general state of the roads during the first twenty years of
+the present century, the road between Shrewsbury and Holyhead, over
+which a mail-coach had been travelling since the summer of 1808, was
+notoriously one of the worst in the kingdom. "To Kenneage,[88] six miles
+of narrow road; scarcely room for two carriages to pass, and much out of
+repair; in winter, the drivers say, the ruts are up to the bed of the
+coach." "From Kenneage to Capel Curig, road narrow and wants walling to
+prevent carriages falling down precipices 300 or 400 yards
+perpendicular." "From Capel Curig to Bangor, side of the road unguarded,
+and many accidents may happen to passengers by the coach running off the
+road as the mail passes here in the dark." Thus wrote the assistant
+superintendent of mail-coaches in 1808, and nothing had since been done
+to remedy defects.
+
+  [88] _i.e._ Kinniogga, the old name for Cernioge.
+
+The mail along this line, of road was now to be carried at a higher rate
+of speed than before, and, if only on this ground, it would have been
+necessary at least to remove actual causes of danger. Even before 1817,
+however, Parliamentary Commissioners had been appointed for the
+improvement of the Holyhead road; and these Commissioners had summoned
+to their aid the first of that line of illustrious men who, during the
+last eighty years, have transformed the face of England. This was Thomas
+Telford, who had already achieved distinction by the roads he had made
+in the Highlands of Scotland.
+
+Telford commenced operations in the autumn of 1815; and now for the
+first time in England, or at all events for the first time since the
+ancient ways were laid down by the Romans, a road was to be constructed
+on scientific principles. "Every valley shall be exalted, and every
+mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made
+straight, and the rough places plain." This--we say it without
+irreverence--is what literally came to pass. Easy inclinations, ample
+breadth, perfect drainings, complete protection, and a smooth and hard
+surface--these were the distinguishing characteristics of the road which
+Telford now made between Holyhead and Shrewsbury. A road that had been
+one of the worst in the kingdom was now the very best. In summer it was
+not even dusty, and in winter was free from dirt. Frost and rain
+produced upon it but trifling and superficial effects. To crown all, the
+Menai Straits were spanned by a noble bridge, where before there had
+been only an inconvenient ferry.
+
+While Telford was thus raising the business of road-making to the level
+of an art, John Loudon Macadam was demonstrating of what materials the
+surface of a road should be made. Macadam had travelled about the
+kingdom much as John Palmer had travelled about some thirty years before
+in pursuit of a different object, and, as the result of long
+observation, he had come to the conclusion that the surface of roads
+should be made of broken stones; and having in 1816 been appointed
+general surveyor of roads in the British district he proceeded to put
+his views into practice. With success to recommend it, the new system
+spread like wildfire, and "a macadamised road" soon became a household
+word.
+
+Nor was it to the business of road-making alone that science now lent
+her aid. What force of traction or power is required to draw carriages
+over different kinds of road, in what line of direction the power can be
+best applied--what, in other words, is the proper angle for the traces,
+and what in the case of hills is the highest inclination up which horses
+can go at a trot and down which they can with safety be driven at full
+speed--these were some of the questions which now engaged the attention
+of the scientific world. Some thirty years before, Walsingham and
+Chesterfield when postmasters-general had dabbled in matters of the
+kind;[89] but now they were reduced to the form of mathematical problems
+and received a mathematical solution.
+
+  [89] "God knows whether we are to remain postmen or not, or whether all
+  the lights which philosophy is now throwing upon coach-making are not to
+  be left by us as an official legacy to some more pliant
+  successors."--Chesterfield to Walsingham, 22nd April 1792.
+
+The excellence of the road constructed between Holyhead and Shrewsbury
+brought into bold relief the imperfections of the road between
+Shrewsbury and London. To this road, which, in comparison with the
+other, had at one time been pronounced good and was now pronounced
+execrable, Telford proceeded to apply the same principles as before. He
+raised the valleys, lowered or avoided the hills, and corrected
+deviations. To give only one instance--an instance taken from the second
+stage out of London--the old road from Barnet to South Minims ascended
+three steep and long hills; the new road avoided two of these hills
+altogether, and at the same time was shorter than the old one by more
+than 600 yards. And so it was in a greater or less degree all the way
+from London through St. Albans to Coventry, and thence through
+Birmingham and Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury.
+
+It should also be mentioned that at this time, while the country roads
+were hollow in the centre instead of convex, the roads in and about
+London within a radius of about ten miles were the exact contrary. Here
+convexity, as a means of carrying off water, had been pushed to so
+absurd an extent that the road was in the form of a slanting roof, and a
+carriage, unless kept in the centre, was on a dangerous slope. This,
+which had been a prolific source of accidents, Telford now altered. The
+effect of his operations upon the first stage out of London, the
+Highgate Archway Road as it was called, is perhaps best described in the
+words of one of the principal mail-coach contractors. Before Telford
+took this road in hand, he wrote, "It was all we could do to walk up
+both sides of the archway with six horses, and now we can trot up with
+our heaviest loads with four."
+
+The road from London to Shrewsbury, in continuation of the one from
+Shrewsbury to Holyhead, was completed in 1828, and, corresponding
+alterations having been made in the eight miles of road which connect
+Howth and Dublin, a line of communication was established between the
+capitals of England and Ireland such as, until the days of railways,
+could hardly have been improved. Some few years before, when the Post
+Office had received orders to accomplish the distance between London and
+Holyhead in thirty-eight hours, Hasker, the experienced superintendent
+of mail-coaches, while zealously applying himself to carry the orders
+into effect, had felt it incumbent upon him as a loyal servant to make a
+protest in writing against the "extraordinary expedition projected." It
+would, he urged--and no doubt rightly so as the road then was--be
+inhuman to horses and dangerous to life. This extraordinary expedition
+was at the rate of seven miles an hour. Along the Parliamentary Road the
+distance was accomplished, without hurt to horses and with perfect
+safety, at the rate of ten miles an hour, and the London and Holyhead
+coach soon became one of what were known as the "crack" coaches of the
+kingdom.
+
+Meanwhile the Post Office had shewn its appreciation of Telford's
+achievement in a remarkable manner. It had imposed an additional charge
+of 1d. upon every letter carried over Conway Bridge, and a second penny
+for carriage over the Menai Straits.[90]
+
+  [90] The postage between Liverpool and Dublin by way of Holyhead was
+  13d., as thus made up:--
+
+  Inland postage to Holyhead  9d.
+  For the Conway Bridge       1d.
+  For the Menai Bridge        1d.
+  Sea postage                 2d.
+                             ----
+                             13d.
+                             ----
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE END
+
+1817-1836
+
+
+We must now go back a few years. On the cessation of hostilities with
+France the state of the finances occupied a large share of men's
+thoughts, and among the plans for relieving the burden upon the taxpayer
+none perhaps was more obvious than to abolish sinecures and useless
+offices.
+
+On the 16th of February 1817 Mr. Lambton, member for the county of
+Durham, gave notice of motion for a return shewing the number of Boards
+which had been held by the postmasters-general during the last twenty
+years, and distinguishing the names of the places where such Boards had
+been held and the persons by whom they were attended. The Post Office
+was in a flutter. Just twenty years before, the Commissioners of Inquiry
+into Public Offices had recommended, and the recommendation had been
+approved by the House, that a Board should be held by the
+postmasters-general at least once a week; and from that date to the
+present not a single Board had been held. The position was no doubt
+embarrassing, and not the less so because the postmasters-general, Lords
+Chichester and Salisbury, were the one at Stanmer and the other at
+Hatfield. Nothing could be done without the concurrence of both, and at
+such distances, little as would be thought of them now, it was a tedious
+process eighty years ago to arrive at a common understanding.
+
+Freeling, who regarded it as little short of an outrage that the two
+noble peers, his masters, should be thus called to account, appealed to
+the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have the terms of the motion altered;
+but Vansittart refused, and the return was granted and ordered to be
+laid on the table of the House. Of course it was necessary to admit that
+no Boards had been held; but the work of the Post Office, the return
+went on to state, did not lend itself to Boards. Boards could be held
+only at intervals, and the work of the Post Office was so continuous and
+pressing that, without detriment to the public interests, it could not
+be kept waiting for a single day. A daily transmission of papers to the
+postmasters-general was, therefore, necessary; and by such means the
+business was better conducted than it would be by any system of Boards.
+Such was the substance of the return which was now laid before the
+House. Eventually the matter was referred to a friendly Committee, and
+the appointment of second postmaster-general escaped for a time.
+
+But it was for a time only. In May 1822, on the motion of Lord Normanby,
+an address to the throne was adopted in the following terms: "His
+Majesty's faithful Commons, relying upon His Majesty's gracious
+disposition expressed in answer to former addresses of that House to
+concur in all such measures of economy as the exigencies of the time
+require, and in such reductions in the civil department of the State as
+may be consistent with due consideration for the public service, humbly
+pray that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions that
+the office of one of the postmasters-general may be abolished and the
+salary thereby saved to the revenue." It was Lord Salisbury, as the
+junior of the two postmasters-general, that was affected by the
+resolution of the House. Many men, incensed by such treatment, would
+have thrown up their appointments in disgust. Lord Salisbury did nothing
+of the kind. The very day he received official intimation that the
+address had been acceded to by the King he gave directions that his
+salary should be stopped;[91] but the appointment of postmaster-general
+he retained, and to the duties of it he gave at least as much attention
+as before. It was not until his death a year later that Lord Chichester
+was appointed sole postmaster-general, and the Post Office received the
+constitution under which it still remains.
+
+  [91] The official intimation was received at the Post Office on the 28th
+  of May. On the same day Lord Salisbury wrote to the receiver-general as
+  follows:--
+
+                                 GENERAL POST OFFICE, _May 28, 1822_.
+
+  SIR--I have received instructions from the Lords Commissioners of His
+  Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you that on the 5th of July next you are
+  to retain in your hands the salary of £2500 hitherto paid to me as joint
+  postmaster-general.--I am, etc.,                         SALISBURY.
+
+  R. Willimott, Esq., Receiver-General.
+
+Other economies followed. All periodical increases of salary were
+suspended and salaries were for the first time made subject to abatement
+in order to provide a superannuation fund.[92] The effect of these two
+measures was to reduce the Post Office servants to a state of
+destitution not very far short of that from which Pitt had rescued them
+some thirty years before. It must not be thought, however, that
+ministers imposed upon others conditions to which they were unwilling to
+submit themselves. On the contrary, they procured an Order in Council to
+be passed reducing their own salaries and those of all the great
+officers of State by 10 per cent, and the reduction was to continue for
+five years. The desire to be just and equal was present; the one thing
+wanting was a due sense of the difference between superfluity and need.
+
+[92] The sums abated were afterwards returned. It was not until 1834
+that abatements towards superannuation were imposed by statute.
+
+And now a blow which had long been impending fell. This was the transfer
+from the Post Office to the Admiralty of the packets stationed at
+Falmouth. The question had been discussed again and again during the
+war; but how it came to be revived at this particular time is not very
+clear. There had indeed been a mutiny among the seamen at Falmouth, and
+the packets had been temporarily removed to Plymouth; but many years
+had since elapsed, and now, so far as appeared, matters were perfectly
+quiet. We only know that at the instance of Lord Liverpool a memorandum
+was prepared by Lord Melville, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and that
+after a sharp paper-warfare between him and Freeling the arguments in
+favour of the change prevailed. At Falmouth thirty packets were
+employed, nearly double the number at all the other stations put
+together; and these thirty packets with their crews of 600 seamen, whose
+deeds of daring had often shed lustre on the Post Office, were now made
+over to another department. Freeling was in despair. This little fleet
+had, next perhaps to the mail-coaches, been the object of his keenest
+solicitude; and it gave him little consolation that the packets at the
+other stations--at Dover and Harwich, at Weymouth, Milford, Holyhead,
+and Portpatrick, were to remain under the charge of the Post Office.
+
+Some little comfort, however, was at hand. Steam packets being beyond
+the means of the captains to purchase, the Government provided them and
+purchased the sailing packets, which they replaced, at a valuation. Thus
+the Post Office became once more absolute owner of its own boats. This,
+though by no means reconciling Freeling to the loss of the Falmouth
+packets, was at all events some compensation. "The steam flotilla
+belonging to the Post Office," he was able to write in 1827, "consists
+of no less than nineteen vessels complete, to the aggregate amount of
+4000 tons, with machinery equal on the whole to the power of 1540
+horses."
+
+Exaggerated opinions have been expressed as to the speed of the
+mail-coaches during the first two decades of the present century. In
+1821 few mail-coaches travelled as much as eight miles an hour, and only
+one mail-coach attained to a speed of nine miles, and that for only part
+of the journey. The exact rates of travelling are shewn in the following
+table:--
+
+1821.
+
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+|               | Number|  Hour   |   Hour   | Rate of  |             |
+|  MAIL COACH   |   of  |   of    |    of    |Travelling|  Remarks.   |
+|FROM LONDON TO | Miles.|Despatch.| Arrival. | per hour.|             |
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+|               |  M. F.|         |          |    M.    |             |
+|Berwick        | 341 6 | 8.0 P.M.| 6.15 P.M.|  7-13/16 | The rates of|
+|Berwick to     |       |         |          |          |travelling   |
+|  Edinburgh    |  59 4 |    --   | 2.55 A.M.|  7-2/16  |include      |
+|Birmingham     | 110 2 | 8.0 P.M.|10.0  A.M.|  7-13/16 |stoppages for|
+|Bristol        | 122 4 |    "    |    "     |  8-10/16 |change of    |
+|Carlisle by    |       |         |          |          |horses, but  |
+|  Manchester   | 311 4 |    "    | 1.30 P.M.|  8-5/16  |not stoppages|
+|Carlisle by    |       |         |          |          |for refresh- |
+|  Boroughbridge| 302 6 |    "    | 1.40 P.M.|  7-10/16 |ment and for |
+|Carlisle to    |       |         |          |          |Post Office  |
+|  Glasgow      | 103 2 |    --   | 4.50 A.M.|  7-4/16  |business.    |
+|Chester        | 191 0 | 8.0 P.M.|10.50 P.M.|  7-8/16  |             |
+|Chester to     |       |         |          |          |             |
+|  Holyhead     |  88 0 |    --   | 7.5  A.M.|  7-7/16  |             |
+|Dover          |  73 4 | 8.0 P.M.| 6.45 A.M.|  7       |  For a      |
+|Exeter         | 176 2 |    "    | 7.40 P.M.|  7-11/16 |considerable |
+|Exeter by Bath | 194 0 |    "    | 7.50 P.M.|  8-7/16  |part of the  |
+|Gloucester     | 111 0 |    "    |10.0  A.M.|  8-3/16  |distance the |
+|Holyhead       | 264 6 |    "    | 6.50 A.M.|  7-15/16 |London and   |
+|Leeds          | 196 0 |    "    |11.25 P.M.|  7-8/16  |Bristol      |
+|Liverpool      | 207 4 |    "    |12.10 A.M.|  7-6/16  |coach        |
+|Norwich by     |       |         |          |          |travelled at |
+|  Ipswich      | 114 4 |    "    |11.0  A.M.|  7-14/16 |the rate of  |
+|Ipswich to     |       |         |          |          |nine miles an|
+|  Yarmouth     |  54 2 |    --   |11.56 A.M.|  7-15/16 |hour.        |
+|Poole          | 117 4 | 8.0 P.M.|11.20 A.M.|  7-14/16 |             |
+|Portsmouth     |  72 6 |    "    | 6.45 A.M.|  7-1/16  |             |
+|Worcester      | 114 4 |    "    |10.40 A.M.|  8-7/16  |             |
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+
+It was not until some fourteen or fifteen years later, when the main
+roads of the kingdom had passed under Telford's hands and vehicles of
+lighter build had been introduced, that mail-coaches attained the speed
+which is very commonly ascribed to an earlier period. In 1836 there were
+in England 104 mail-coaches, all drawn by four horses. Of these the
+fastest was the Liverpool and Preston coach, which travelled at the rate
+of ten miles and five furlongs an hour; and the slowest was the coach
+between Canterbury and Deal, which travelled at the rate of only six
+miles an hour. The average speed of all the mail-coaches in 1836, namely
+eight miles and seven furlongs an hour, was actually higher than the
+highest speed attained by any one mail-coach in 1821. It should be
+added that in 1821, as in 1836, the number of passengers by a mail-coach
+was limited to four inside and four out. On some mail-coaches, indeed,
+no more than three outside passengers were allowed.
+
+But the mail-coach at the beginning of the present century did something
+more than carry mails and passengers. It was the great disseminator of
+news. In times of excitement men would stand waiting along the mail
+roads and learn the latest intelligence as shouted to them from the tops
+of the coaches. It may well be believed that this mode of communication
+did not tend to either accuracy or completeness of statement. We cannot,
+therefore, be surprised that on important occasions or occasions on
+which false or inexact intelligence might lead to mischief recourse
+should have been had to the expedient of printing hand-bills, and
+sending them to the postmasters with instructions to distribute them in
+their respective towns. The following are specimens of hand-bills which
+were so distributed:--
+
+                                         LONDON, _February 10, 1817_.
+
+     The statement in the morning papers that several persons have been
+     arrested by warrants from the Secretary of State is true.
+
+     The meeting was held this morning at Spa Fields; but the arrests
+     which have taken place and the precautions adopted by Government
+     caused everything to end peaceably and the town is perfectly quiet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+                                                _17th November 1818._
+     Her Majesty the Queen expired at one o'clock this day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following hand-bill sent to the different ports where vessels from
+Jamaica were likely to arrive is interesting in so far as it shews the
+exceptional facilities which, even seventy or eighty years ago, the Post
+Office possessed for making inquiries:--
+
+                          GENERAL POST OFFICE, _February 10th, 1821_.
+
+     Mr. Freeling requests the postmaster to make inquiries of the
+     master of any ship arriving from Jamaica into the state of the Duke
+     of Manchester's health, and inform him of the result by the first
+     post.
+
+Of the reason of this solicitude we are not aware.
+
+Police notices, notices giving particulars of crimes which had been
+committed and offering rewards for the apprehension of the criminals,
+were similarly dealt with. These, like the hand-bills of which specimens
+have been given, were sent from Lombard Street under cover to the
+postmasters with instructions to circulate them in their respective
+towns. The propriety of this proceeding is not free from doubt. Of
+course, every department of the State is interested in the detection and
+punishment of crime; and yet it may be a question whether by taking an
+active part in the distribution of these documents the Post Office was
+not to some extent identifying itself with a class of business from
+which, for obvious reasons, it had better hold itself aloof.
+
+While changes were taking place in other directions, the regulations for
+the transmission of newspapers through the post remained as they had
+been at the beginning of the century. Within the United Kingdom
+newspapers could not pass free except under the frank of either members
+of Parliament or of the clerks of the roads. To the Continent of Europe
+and to the colonies they could pass only at the letter rate of postage
+unless they were franked, in the case of the Continent, by the
+comptroller or clerks of the foreign department, and, in the case of the
+colonies, by Freeling. This privilege of franking was to the Post Office
+servants who possessed it a source of considerable profit. Freeling's
+share alone amounted to nearly £3000 a year; but he, unlike his
+subordinates, claimed to frank not newspapers alone but the _Edinburgh_
+and _Quarterly Reviews_ and other publications of a like nature.
+
+The West India merchants had long writhed under this exaction, and now
+at their instance Joseph Hume, the member for Montrose, brought the
+matter under the notice of the House of Commons. The practice had only
+to be made known in order to secure condemnation. A bill was brought in
+and passed extinguishing the privilege so far as the colonies were
+concerned, empowering the Treasury to grant compensation for the loss of
+it, and providing for the transmission of newspapers at easy rates.
+These rates were, from the United Kingdom to the colonies, 1-1/2d. and,
+from the colonies to the United Kingdom, 3d. for each newspaper, the
+reason for the difference of charge being that the paper would bear a
+stamp-duty in one direction and not in the other.
+
+In the case of newspapers for the Continent the franking privilege
+remained untouched. It may seem strange that this should have been so;
+indeed, not more than two or three years had elapsed before members of
+Parliament were expressing surprise that the Act which had taken away
+the privilege in respect to one class of newspapers had not taken it
+away also in respect to the other. But the explanation, we think, is
+simple. Some nine or ten years before it had been rumoured that in the
+case of all Post Office servants the franking privilege was to be
+abolished, and those who would have been injured by its abolition
+proceeded to shew cause why in their own case an exception should be
+made. Only by those who franked to the Continent were even plausible
+reasons given; and there can be little doubt that, at all events to some
+extent, the same reasons operated now. These were that over a great part
+of the Continent, except for the arrangements made by the Post Office
+servants in Lombard Street, English newspapers could not circulate at
+all or could circulate only under most onerous conditions. In France
+their circulation was prohibited. To Holland they could not be sent
+unless ordered by some postmaster there. In Germany and Sweden, unless
+so ordered, they could not pass through the post except at the letter
+rate of postage. In Portugal the letter rate of postage was always
+charged. In Russia, besides being charged 7s. 6d. apiece, they were
+generally delayed and not seldom suppressed altogether. These obstacles
+had been overcome by the private arrangements made from Lombard Street,
+and, if these should be disallowed, the transmission of newspapers to
+the Continent, instead of being facilitated, would be rendered more
+difficult and costly. Thus in 1816 argued those who were interested in
+the maintenance of the privilege, and we can well understand that in
+1825 much the same considerations prevailed.
+
+The same Act of Parliament which imposed upon newspapers to the colonies
+a postage of 1-1/2d. allowed newspapers within the United Kingdom to
+pass through the post free from any postage at all. This was the effect
+of the Act, but it was accomplished in a roundabout manner. By a statute
+passed early in the century[93] a member of Parliament was required, in
+order to send his newspapers free, to sign his name on the outside in
+his own handwriting, and, in order to receive them free, to have them
+addressed to some place of which he had given previous notice in writing
+at the Post Office. By the present statute these provisions were
+repealed. A newspaper, to be exempt from postage, need no longer bear
+the signature of a member of Parliament and need no longer be addressed
+to a place of which previous notice had been given. In other words,
+newspapers might pass through the post free; and as a consequence the
+franking privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads was at an end.
+
+  [93] 42 George III. cap. lxiii. sec. 10.
+
+This, it might naturally be supposed, was a signal epoch in the history
+of the Post Office. As a matter of fact, it was nothing of the kind. For
+many years past the law had been disregarded. It had indeed been
+insisted upon that a newspaper, in order to pass free, must bear a
+member's name, without which the full letter rate of postage would be
+charged; but by whom the name was written, whether it was written at all
+or only printed, and whether the use of it had been authorised, had long
+ceased to be considered material. So well was this understood that some
+of the largest news-vendors in the kingdom adopted a member's name
+without the slightest reference to the member himself, and had it
+printed on their newspaper-covers.
+
+This laxity in the case of newspapers may appear all the more
+extraordinary in view of the stringency which was observed in other
+matters. The Chelsea pensioners had by statute enjoyed the privilege of
+sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage. Freeling never
+rested until the statute was repealed. At the close of hostilities with
+France letters which had been detained in Paris since the war broke out
+in 1803 were forwarded to London, and the merchants urged that they
+might be delivered free. The Treasury were in favour of granting the
+request; but Freeling energetically opposed it. The delivery of such
+letters free, he insisted, would be a plain breach of the law. On a
+dissolution of Parliament those who had been members lost their
+privilege in the matter of franking; and yet it might be supposed that a
+short period of grace would have been allowed, a period sufficient to
+admit of letters which were already in the post being delivered free.
+Nothing of the kind. These letters were surprised in course of transit
+and charged with postage.[94]
+
+  [94] This is the circular which was issued to postmasters on the
+  occasion of a dissolution:--
+
+"The Parliament is dissolved. The franks of this evening are necessarily
+charged with postage, and you will immediately charge all letters and
+packets excepting the letters franked by such public officers as are by
+law at all times exempted from postage. Full instructions will be sent
+to-morrow."
+
+Lord Salisbury when at the Post Office contrasted the stringency of
+later years with the laxity which prevailed in his early manhood. "In
+the year 1778," he wrote, "and in many succeeding ones while I took the
+field with the militia it was the constant practice to write on all
+regimental papers the words, 'On His Majesty's service,' which insured a
+free delivery; but in process of time the Post Office became rather
+stricter and more attentive, and then such a superscription was charged
+except when addressed to peers and members of Parliament, and I have
+frequently paid for such letters overweight without getting any
+redress."
+
+When such strictness was observed in other matters, one can only wonder
+at the liberties which were allowed to be taken with newspapers, and it
+appears all the more strange because the very act which in the case of
+newspapers was countenanced and encouraged was in the case of letters a
+highly penal offence. Was it not for forging a single frank, the frank
+of Sir William Garrow, that the clerical impostor, Halloran, was in 1818
+sentenced to seven years' transportation? The plain truth would seem to
+be that vested interests were so deeply involved in the matter of
+newspapers that there was on the part of the Post Office the utmost
+indisposition to make them the subject of legislative enactment; and
+yet, without some concessions to the news-vendors, it would have been
+impossible to resist the pressure which would have been brought to bear.
+This, we doubt not, is the true explanation; and it will account for
+much that is otherwise dark and obscure. It will explain why that which
+was regarded as a heinous offence in the case of letters was sanctioned
+and encouraged in the case of newspapers; why, enormously as the
+circulation of newspapers within the United Kingdom increased during the
+first quarter of the present century, we look in vain for any
+legislative enactment regulating the conditions under which, except when
+sent or received by members of Parliament, they might pass through the
+post; and why in 1825, when at length they had conceded to them the
+right to pass free, the concession was enacted in an indirect and
+circuitous manner.
+
+So far, therefore, as inland newspapers were concerned, the practical
+effect of the statute which now passed was little more than to make law
+correspond with usage. During many years newspapers had been passing
+through the post, as they were to pass for the future, free. The only
+difference was that, in order to secure exemption, it was no longer
+necessary to go through the farce of either writing or printing the name
+of some member of Parliament on the outside of the cover. The clerks of
+the roads were unaffected by the statute. The advantage which these
+officers had at one time derived from their franking privilege had
+already been lost to them through the action of the Post Office in
+evading the law; and we can well believe that even so they considered
+themselves fortunate in being permitted to escape with their
+newspaper-business. This business, long after they had begun to compete
+with the news-vendors on equal terms, was of large dimensions. During
+the year 1829, out of 11,862,706 newspapers despatched from London into
+the country, 1,207,794 or more than one-tenth of the whole number were
+despatched by the clerks of the roads.
+
+But it was not only in respect to newspapers that the House of Commons
+began about this time to manifest in the proceedings of the Post Office
+an interest such as it had never taken before. Committee after Committee
+was appointed to report upon the communications of the country, upon
+roads, mail-coaches, and steam packets; but without any definite result.
+Obviously the House was not satisfied with things as they were, and yet
+did not well see how to improve them. Only one man appears to have had a
+clear perception of what he wanted, and to have been possessed of the
+requisite ability to carry his object. This was Sir Henry Parnell,
+chairman of the Select Committee on the Holyhead Road, a Committee the
+title of which only inadequately denotes either its scope or importance.
+Parnell, presuming on the authority which this position gave him, and
+convinced no doubt of the feasibility of his scheme of improvement,
+adopted towards the Post Office an air of superiority which was
+peculiarly galling to Freeling, who for the first time in his life found
+himself dictated to in respect to matters in which he had hitherto been
+regarded as supreme. The effect of this Committee was not only to keep
+the Post Office busily employed in the preparation of returns but to put
+it on the defensive.
+
+Another inquiry which was going on contemporaneously contributed to the
+same result. Early in the reign of George the Fourth a Commission had
+been appointed to inquire into the state of the revenue, and this
+Commission, which began with the Post Office in 1823, did not report the
+result of its labours until 1829. Meanwhile the Post Office, which was
+practically on its trial, put forward as few proposals as possible; and
+even from those that were put forward the Treasury withheld assent on
+the pretext that the Commission had not yet reported. Hence followed
+the somewhat curious result that the very period during which the House
+of Commons began to manifest an interest in the Post Office was on the
+part of the Post Office itself a period of more than ordinary inaction.
+
+And yet the period in question, though not remarkable for Post Office
+progress, is by no means an uninteresting one if only because within its
+limits the old and the new are brought together in striking contrast. In
+1818 the express office in the Haymarket is closed, an office which had
+been established in 1797 for the purpose of facilitating the receipt and
+despatch of Government expresses. In 1821 gas, or oil-gas as it was then
+called, is introduced into the Post Office, and at once asserts its
+superiority over oil in point not only of illuminating power but of
+cheapness as well. In 1822 the Post Office, by virtue of a warrant under
+the royal sign-manual, is cleared of its irrecoverable debts. These have
+been accumulating during a period of 137 years--since 1685, when the
+Post Office was first taken out of farm, and now amount to £62,141.
+
+About the same time Thomas Gray, writing from Brussels, advocates the
+introduction of steam engines on iron railways and predicts that, once
+established, they will absorb the carrying trade of the kingdom and
+displace mail-coaches. In 1823 Brunel, who has already achieved
+distinction, offers his services in the construction of a steam engine
+which shall prove as efficient and as safe at sea as when employed on
+land. The brilliant engineer receives no encouragement, and Gray
+receives not even the courtesy of an answer. In the same year passes
+away at Tunbridge Wells, James Sprange, the courtly old postmaster, who
+up to the date of his last illness might be seen pacing the Pantiles
+scrupulously dressed in the costume of the reign of George the Second,
+even to the long ruffles. In 1825 Glasgow is pleading, and pleading in
+vain, for a Post Office which shall not be kept at a shop. In 1828 the
+Roman Catholic peers are once more protesting against the outrage which
+precludes them, on the score of their religion, from exercising the
+privilege of franking. In 1829 Waghorn is vainly striving to induce the
+Post Office to co-operate in facilitating communication with the East.
+
+The inferiority of sailing vessels to vessels propelled by steam has now
+been conclusively established, and steam packets are being placed on
+every station. Not the Holyhead Road alone but all the great roads of
+the kingdom have passed under Telford's hands and are beginning to
+assume the condition in which we see them to-day. And all this while
+postage remains at the ridiculously high level at which it was fixed in
+1812. To Windsor the charge on a single letter is still 6d., to
+Birmingham 9d., and to Liverpool 11d. Letters are still held up to a
+strong light to see whether they contain an enclosure or not, and are to
+be charged as single or as double. The first general delivery in St.
+James' Square is not begun before twelve o'clock in the day or finished
+much before one. Offices for the receipt of general post letters are
+still kept separate and distinct from those for the receipt of letters
+for the twopenny post. By the twopenny post the postage is not
+necessarily 2d., but, according as it is a twopenny post letter, a
+general post letter, or a foreign letter, may be 3d., 2d., or nothing.
+On a letter for abroad the fee for registration is still one guinea.[95]
+An additional penny is still charged upon every letter that crosses the
+Conway or the Menai Bridge. Two hundred and seventy-five post towns
+still remain without a free delivery, and--what proves a constant source
+of contention between the Post Office and the inhabitants--even in those
+towns in which the letters are delivered free, the limits of the free
+delivery are not defined.
+
+  [95] Since 1814 receipts had been given for registered letters. In that
+  year Mr. H. M. Raikes, of 4 Portman Square, represented that he
+  frequently sent valuable parcels of diamonds between this country and
+  Holland, and that these parcels he insured, but that, to be certain of
+  recovering his insurance should any casualty happen, "the London
+  merchant ought to have some proof in his possession of his having
+  delivered such a packet into the charge of the Post Office." If, he
+  added, the clerks would give a receipt, the merchant would gladly give
+  them for their trouble an additional guinea. The suggestion to charge a
+  second guinea was not adopted; but from that time a receipt had been
+  given for a registered letter in the following form:--
+
+                         FOREIGN POST OFFICE.
+
+                                                           LONDON 181
+
+  It is hereby certified that ......... has registered at this office a
+  sealed packet said to contain .......... addressed to ...............
+  which will be forwarded to ............. by the mail of this evening;
+  but for its safe conveyance this office is not responsible.
+
+                                     (_Signature_) ....................
+
+Twenty years before, the office in Gerrard Street, the headquarters of
+the twopenny post in Westminster, had been enlarged. Of this office,
+which ranked next in importance to the General Post Office in Lombard
+Street, the postmasters-general wrote in 1809--not, surely, without a
+touch of exaggeration: "The sorting office, where fourteen persons are
+generally employed at a time and nearly one-half of which is occupied by
+tables, is only seventeen feet long by thirteen wide"; and, again, "The
+letter-carriers' office, in which fifty persons are employed at a time
+and one-fourth of which is occupied by tables, is but eighteen feet by
+sixteen." Such were the conditions under which, until lately, the Post
+Office servants had been accustomed to work; and now on a site rich in
+historical associations is rapidly approaching completion a stately
+edifice which not only provides ample and even lavish accommodation for
+the present, but will, it is confidently predicted, suffice for all
+time.
+
+The new Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was opened on the 23rd of
+September 1829. Little more than sixty years have since elapsed, and the
+building has been shorn of its chief attraction, the central hall, and
+has otherwise been so altered internally that even the accomplished
+architect, were he to revisit us, would probably fail to recognise his
+own handiwork. Of the old Post Office in Lombard Street, with its courts
+and its alleys and its interesting associations, not a fragment remains.
+Part of the site was retained for Post Office purposes, and is now
+occupied by what is known as the Lombard Street Branch Office; part was
+thrown into the street then forming, and to be called after the King,
+King William Street; and the remainder was sold, and has long been
+covered with banks and counting-houses.
+
+It were much to be wished, if only for his own reputation and peace of
+mind, that Freeling had now retired. Full of years, recently created a
+baronet, of ample means, and enjoying the confidence of the Government
+as probably civil servant had never enjoyed it before, he could not have
+selected a better moment for relinquishing the duties of his arduous
+post. But a man who has been accustomed to exercise power is seldom
+willing to give it up. And in Freeling's case we suspect there was an
+additional reason. Of the large income which he derived from the Post
+Office, exceeding £4000 a year, considerably more than two-thirds was
+compensation for the loss of the franking privilege; and this
+compensation, according to a well-understood rule, was not to count for
+pension. As the fees which had been received for the exercise of the
+privilege must have ceased on retirement, so the compensation was to
+cease also.
+
+That Freeling would have received a special pension is beyond doubt; but
+even a special pension, with the utmost goodwill on the part of the
+Government, could not have approached the amount of his official income.
+And of this Freeling must have been well aware, for grumblings were
+already to be heard. The Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry, indeed, had
+gone so far as to question his right to receive any fees at all, and,
+even assuming such right to exist, had impugned the conduct of the
+Government in fixing the amount of his compensation at close upon £3000
+a year.
+
+The removal into the new building was celebrated by two important steps
+in advance. Two branch offices were opened, one at Charing Cross and the
+other in Oxford Street, where letters were received without a fee until
+half-past six o'clock in the evening. Up to this time, except in Lombard
+Street, no office for the receipt of letters had been kept open later
+than five o'clock. A still more important step was the earlier delivery
+of letters in the morning. This was accomplished within the city by the
+employment of additional letter-carriers, and in the more distant parts
+by conveying the men to their walks in vehicles. A whole hour was thus
+gained. In the west end of London the delivery had not been completed
+until between twelve and one o'clock. It was now to be completed, except
+on Mondays, when the greater number of letters caused delay, between
+eleven and twelve.
+
+It will be convenient here to notice, though not strictly in
+chronological order, a third step in advance which took place about a
+year later, a step regarded as of little moment at the time, and yet one
+which, in view of subsequent events, was of the highest importance. On
+the 11th of November 1830 the first mail was sent by railway, this being
+the mail between Liverpool and Manchester. Except as the opening of a
+new era, the fact would hardly deserve to be recorded, for many years
+had yet to pass before railways became sufficiently general to afford to
+the Post Office any sensible relief. Meanwhile the roofs of the
+mail-coaches groaned under the weight of the mails. Time had been when
+no mail was allowed to be put on the roof or elsewhere than in the
+mail-box; but, as the correspondence increased, the Post Office was
+forced to countenance a practice of which it highly disapproved. What,
+except for the railways, would have happened on the introduction of
+penny postage is a question into which, happily, we need not inquire.
+
+The new Post Office had not been long occupied before the Government
+changed hands, and Earl Grey came into power with the Duke of Richmond
+as postmaster-general. It is not often that a change of Government
+affects the proceedings of the Post Office. One postmaster-general may
+be more active than another, or he may take a more lively and personal
+interest in the questions with which he has to deal; but there must,
+from the nature of the case, be a continuity of policy which can seldom
+be broken. Nor was there in this respect any exception to rule in the
+present instance. And yet the peer who now assumed the direction of the
+Post Office adopted a mode of procedure so different from that of his
+immediate predecessors that it is impossible to pass over the occasion
+in silence.
+
+Richmond on his appointment as postmaster-general declined to receive
+any salary; and having formed this determination on the ground that the
+office was notoriously a sinecure, he straightway proceeded to shew that
+a sinecure was the very thing which in his hands the office was not to
+be. He devoted himself heart and soul to his new duties. Early and late,
+at his private residence as well as the Post Office, he was in constant
+and personal communication with officers of all classes from the highest
+to the lowest. Nothing like it had been seen since the days of
+Walsingham. He frequented the sorting office, saw for himself how the
+work was done, and with many a kindly word encouraged the men to do
+their best. With his own hands he on one occasion opened a bag for the
+colonial office, and, in confirmation of the suspicion which had
+prompted the act, found it full of letters for bankers, army agents, and
+others, representing postage to the amount of £60.
+
+Yet hard as he laboured, the Duke's repugnance to receive remuneration
+for his services could not be overcome. Learning that his salary
+remained undrawn, the Treasury addressed to him a letter of gentle
+remonstrance. To this letter he returned no reply. Fourteen months later
+the Treasury wrote again. To gratuitous service there were, in their
+Lordships' opinion, serious objections. The Lord Privy Seal had declined
+to receive the salary annexed to his office, and a Select Committee of
+the House of Commons had expressed disapproval of the step as being
+inconsistent with the wishes and the dignity of the country. Could that
+be right on the part of the postmaster-general which had been held to be
+wrong in the case of the Lord Privy Seal? Richmond now yielded, feeling
+that it would be indelicate, if not disrespectful to the House, to force
+gratuitous service where he was authoritatively informed gratuitous
+service would not be welcome; but while yielding he managed to draw as
+little of the arrears of salary as possible. His appointment as
+postmaster-general bore date the 14th of December 1830, and the views
+of the Committee were for the first time made known to him at the end of
+April. The end of April, he was pleased to say, was an inconvenient time
+to begin. It was a broken quarter. He would, in deference to the opinion
+of the Committee, draw salary from the 5th of July but not before.
+
+Richmond had been only a short time at the Post Office when he had a
+most invidious task to perform. This was the carrying out of the
+arrangements consequent upon the consolidation of the Irish Post Office
+with the Post Office of Great Britain. The state of things arising from
+the maintenance within the United Kingdom of two independent Post
+Offices had long been felt to be intolerable. Until four or five years
+before, not only had the rates of postage in Ireland been different from
+those in England, but on a letter passing from one part of the kingdom
+to another both the English and the Irish rates had been charged. This
+had now been altered,[96] but the inconvenience of the dual control
+remained. A letter from Ireland might have miscarried or been delayed.
+The postmaster-general of England could not answer for its course except
+on this side of the Channel, and for further particulars the complainant
+had to be referred to Dublin. The English packets were timed to arrive
+in Ireland at a particular hour; but on the goodwill of the authorities
+in Dublin it depended whether the Irish posts corresponded or whether,
+as had not been unknown to be the case, their times were perversely
+fixed so as to keep the English mails waiting.
+
+[96] 7 and 8 George IV. cap. xxi.
+
+Nor was this all. The Revenue Inquiry Commissioners had recently
+reported upon the Irish Post Office, and the evidence, on which their
+report was based, revealed the existence of scandalous abuses such as no
+Government could suffer to continue. For nearly fifty years the Irish
+Post Office had been independent of the Post Office of Great Britain,
+and it was now determined that this independence should cease. In 1831
+an Act was passed incorporating the two Post Offices into one, and
+Richmond's patent as postmaster-general of Great Britain had hardly
+been completed before another passed constituting him postmaster-general
+of the United Kingdom.
+
+Upon Richmond as postmaster-general of Ireland as well as England and
+Scotland it now devolved to sweep out the Augean stable; and his stern
+sense of duty peculiarly qualified him for the task. Rosse and O'Neill
+had ceased to be postmasters-general of Ireland upon the Act of
+incorporation passing. Lees, their secretary, was removed from Dublin to
+Edinburgh. Only those who had performed their duties in person were
+retained. All others were summarily dismissed and pensions were refused
+to them. In the result the Irish establishment was reduced in point of
+numbers by one-half, and in point of cost by nearly £10,000 a year; and
+this after the salaries of those who were retained had been increased
+all round.
+
+One important function had yet to be performed. This was to audit the
+Irish accounts, which had not been audited for fourteen years, and were
+known to be in a state of the utmost confusion. The receiver-general,
+who carried on the private business of banker and money-lender, had
+recently died, and speculation was high as to what further scandals the
+audit would reveal. All preparations had been made, and the persons
+selected for the task were on the point of starting for Dublin when
+intelligence reached London that the receiver-general's bond was not
+forthcoming. It had, shortly after his death, been surrendered under an
+instruction from Lees which, like the instruction which conferred upon
+his brother a valuable appointment, purported to have been given at a
+Board at which were present "the earls." The earls, as a matter of fact,
+had not been present and had never been consulted on the point. As it
+was felt that in the absence of the bond an audit would be of little
+use, the Government abandoned their intention, and the Irish Post Office
+accounts from 1817 to 1831 remain unaudited to the present day.
+
+Lord Althorp was at this time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the
+position which he assumed towards the Post Office was probably unique.
+Ordinarily, between the Treasury and the Post Office there is a certain
+amount of antagonism which, deplorable as it may be, is not difficult to
+understand. The Post Office wants to spend money; the Treasury wants to
+save it. The Post Office knows by experience that it must sow before it
+can reap; the Treasury, while ready enough to reap, has a rooted
+aversion to sowing, and resolutely shuts its eyes to the fact that
+between the two processes there is a direct and necessary connection.
+All this was reversed in Althorp's time. Often, during his tenure of
+office, might be witnessed the strange spectacle of a Chancellor of the
+Exchequer urging the Post Office to adopt some improvement, and the Post
+Office attempting to frighten him with the bogey of cost.
+
+The first matter on which Althorp brought his authority to bear was the
+boundary of the general post delivery. The limits of this delivery were
+irregular and capricious in the extreme. Of two streets, possibly
+adjoining streets, one might receive its general post letters for the
+general post rate alone, while the other, though at no greater distance
+from St. Martin's-le-Grand, had to pay the twopenny rate as well.
+
+The question now forced itself into prominence. Belgrave Square had been
+laid out, and the houses were being occupied as fast as they could be
+built. Those of the occupiers who were members of Parliament found to
+their chagrin that every letter they received cost them 2d., for the
+franking privilege did not clear the twopenny post; and, of course, by
+those who were not members of Parliament, 2d. had to be paid in addition
+to any other postage to which their letters might be liable. Althorp
+insisted that the general post limits should be not only extended but
+fixed on some definite principle. But what was the principle to be?
+Contiguity of building? This was held to be impracticable. A line drawn
+on such a basis would extend beyond Brentford on the west to Hampstead
+and Highgate on the north, and beyond Clapham on the south. A line drawn
+according to parishes would be little better. The parish of St.
+Pancras, which nearly touched Holborn in its southern extremity,
+extended as far as Finchley in the north, and the parish of Lambeth
+reached nearly to Croydon.
+
+Another course would be to draw a circle of which the Post Office should
+be the centre, and let all letters within this circle be delivered free;
+but even with a radius of no more than three miles, the additional cost
+would be £25,000 a year. This was an outlay which the Post Office could
+not recommend, and, if it were incurred, the Government must take the
+responsibility. Althorp was not to be daunted, and after April 1831 the
+general post limits extended for a distance of three miles from St.
+Martin's-le-Grand. A little later, the threepenny post was extended to a
+radius of twelve miles. This, boon as it was considered to be sixty
+years ago, was shorter by some miles than the radius of the penny post
+when Queen Anne ascended the throne.
+
+Althorp was hardly less determined on the subject of the packets. It had
+been a matter of principle with Freeling, that to all places beyond the
+sea to which there was regular communication the Post Office should
+carry its own mails. That they should be carried in vessels belonging to
+private persons, however respectable these persons might be, appeared to
+him to be unworthy of the English Government, and on this ground many an
+advantageous offer had been refused.
+
+Althorp held a different opinion, and an opportunity soon offered of
+carrying his own view into effect. From Harwich the mails to Holland and
+to Hamburg were still carried by sailing packet, and the merchants of
+London, regarding this as an anachronism, urged that the sailing packets
+might be replaced by steam packets. The request was not unreasonable,
+but, unwilling that the Government should be at the cost of substituting
+one description of packet for the other, Althorp directed that the
+service should be put up to public competition. Here we see the first
+application of a principle which in the result has furnished us with a
+fleet of packets such as no other country in the world can produce. The
+tender of the General Steam Navigation Company was accepted, though
+saddled with the condition that its vessels should start from the
+Thames. This was a death-blow to Harwich. The sailing packets for Sweden
+were, indeed, still retained there; but in little more than eighteen
+months the Swedish Government contracted for the mails to be forwarded
+from Hull, and Harwich as a packet station was closed.
+
+But of all the changes which Althorp introduced perhaps the most
+important, and certainly the one which excited most opposition at the
+Post Office, was the abolition of the newspaper privilege. The number of
+newspapers sent by post from London into the country had, within the
+last fifty or sixty years, increased enormously. In 1764 they averaged
+3160 a day, in 1790 the daily average was 12,600, and in 1830 it had
+risen to 41,412. The rate of increase, moreover, was advancing. In 1829
+the total number of such newspapers was 11,862,000, and in 1830
+12,962,000; and more than one-tenth part of the whole number was
+supplied by the clerks of the roads.
+
+The news-vendors now took the matter up in earnest. A general meeting
+was held to protest against the Post Office servants being any longer
+allowed to compete with the private dealers, and a petition to the same
+effect was presented to Parliament. This called forth a vigorous
+rejoinder from Freeling, and it is interesting to note by what arguments
+he defended his position. So far, he said, from the news-vendors having
+any ground of complaint against the Post Office servants, it is the Post
+Office servants who have reason to complain of the news-vendors. For
+their own interest and advantage a few persons engaged in a trade of
+modern creation are endeavouring by clamour to deprive others of the
+remains of an old and long-established privilege, which they exercise
+not only under the sanction of immemorial usage, but by the direct
+authority of Acts of Parliament. It is not as though the public were
+interested in the question. The public have absolutely no interest in
+it, except indeed to this extent--that, if what remains of the
+privilege be withdrawn, they will be asked to compensate those whose
+incomes are reduced in consequence, and to provide higher salaries for
+their successors; and this "for the sole purpose of transferring their
+authorised official remuneration to the pockets of a few individuals
+who, having been admitted to a participation in what was originally an
+exclusive privilege, have now thought proper to set up a claim to the
+whole."
+
+Such were Freeling's arguments, but Althorp was not convinced by them.
+By his direction the privilege was withdrawn as from the 5th of April
+1834, and those whose incomes suffered were handsomely compensated. Thus
+ended a practice which had existed from the first establishment of the
+Post Office, and which, while the Post Office was still in its infancy,
+may perhaps have had this to justify it--that except for the franking
+privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads the provinces would
+probably have had to go without even the few copies of newspapers which
+at that time found their way there.
+
+It may appear strange that, while Althorp was thus applying his sturdy
+common sense to the affairs of the Post Office, no steps were taken to
+correct what most needed correction--the exorbitant rates of postage.
+Our own belief is that in a very short time, had the Government of which
+he was a member remained in office, a reduction would have been made,
+and that it was to this result that he and Richmond, who worked hand in
+hand together, were preparing the way. As to Richmond's views on the
+matter there can be little doubt. Under previous Governments the Post
+Office had been accustomed in exceptional cases to appeal to the
+Chancellor of the Exchequer to mitigate the severity of its own rates by
+the exercise of a dispensing power; but Richmond set his face against
+the practice, insisting that the law should be obeyed until it was
+altered; and, after being released from the trammels of office, he was
+one of the first to propose an alteration.
+
+But if such were indeed Althorp and Richmond's intention, we cannot
+regret that it was not carried into effect. The illustrious man who
+gave us penny postage had not yet directed his attention to the subject;
+and, as he tells us himself, it was with him a matter of long and
+careful consideration whether he should devote his energies to the
+reform of the Post Office or to the improvement of the printing machine.
+If in 1834 only a moderate reduction had been made in the extortionate
+rates of postage which were then in force, Rowland Hill might not have
+embarked upon his plan, and, even if he had done so, that plan might
+have failed to evoke from the public sufficient support to overcome
+opposition in high quarters. In proportion to the extent of the evil did
+men welcome the remedy.
+
+Meanwhile, although the demand for cheap postage had not yet taken
+shape, profound dissatisfaction existed with the conduct of the Post
+Office. This, under the reformed Parliament, was perhaps to be expected
+in any case; but there were special circumstances which contributed to
+the result. Nearly five years had elapsed since the Royal Commission of
+Inquiry had reported upon the Post Office, and nothing had since been
+done to carry its recommendations into effect.
+
+It is not difficult to understand this inaction. In Freeling's view the
+Post Office had been brought to a pitch of perfection such as it had
+never reached before, and he regarded it as little short of sacrilege
+that a body of outside novices should presume to lay its hands upon the
+sacred ark which he had now for more than a generation been moulding
+into form. Of the change of opinion which the labours of the Commission
+had wrought he appears to have been utterly unconscious. Hitherto the
+Post Office had been regarded as a marvellous mystery, which none but
+experts could understand. This mystery had now been invaded, and men
+were beginning to wonder, not, as in the past, at the things which the
+Post Office was able to do, but how it was that these things were not
+done better.
+
+The Commission had also brought to light the existence of abuses, and
+these on one pretext or another had remained uncorrected. We will give a
+single instance. The Money Order Office had been established in 1792
+with the object of facilitating the transmission of small sums from one
+part of the country to the other by means of orders drawn on the
+different postmasters. The plan was excellent and deserved success. The
+only objection to it was that the enterprise was a private one,
+undertaken by a few Post Office servants for their own benefit, and that
+to make it remunerative to the projectors required from the authorities
+an amount of favour which they had no right to bestow. Originally there
+had been no limit to the amount for which a money order might be
+drawn;[97] but long before 1829, in order to prevent interference with
+the banking interest, the limit had been fixed at £5:5s.; and the
+commission chargeable was at the rate of 8d. in the £1 on the sum
+remitted. Of this amount 3d. went to the postmaster who issued the
+order, 3d. to the postmaster who paid it, and the residue to the
+proprietors.[98]
+
+  [97] At the outset in 1792 the limit had indeed been fixed at £5:5s.;
+  but even in the first year this limit was largely exceeded. During the
+  three months ending the 10th of October 1800, 697 money orders were
+  issued, viz. 220 in London and 477 in the country, representing an
+  aggregate amount of £8863, or at the rate of more than £12 apiece.
+
+  [98] Among the records of the Post Office is still preserved a money
+  order drawn by one postmaster upon another at the beginning of the
+  century. A facsimile of it is given in the Appendix.
+
+Seeing that the postage on a single letter between two towns no farther
+apart than London and Bristol was at this time 10d., it will be obvious
+that in respect to orders for small sums the enterprise would have been
+conducted at a loss unless the correspondence on money order business
+had been exempt from postage. And such indeed was the case. All letters
+passing from London to the country were impressed with the official
+stamp, and those passing from the country to London were enclosed in
+printed covers addressed to the secretary, and bearing, immediately
+below the secretary's name, that of the proprietors, "Stow and Company."
+For correspondence between themselves on money order business the
+postmasters were supplied with franks sent down from London in blank.
+Strongly as the Commission of Inquiry had animadverted on this abuse,
+nothing had been done to correct it, and the franking privilege was, for
+money order purposes, being as freely used as ever.
+
+The returns which the House of Commons called for about this time, and
+the returns which the Post Office furnished, shew, more forcibly perhaps
+than anything else, in what direction men's minds were tending, and how
+hollow was the foundation on which a part of the Post Office system
+rested. More than sixty years had elapsed since the Law Courts decided
+that inhabitants of post towns were entitled to a gratuitous delivery of
+their letters. The House now inquired at how many post towns a charge on
+delivery was still being made, and by what authority. The return
+furnished by the Post Office shewed the number of towns to be
+eighty-nine, and after giving as the authority for the charge
+"immemorial usage," went on to state that "the payment is not compulsory
+if the parties choose to object."
+
+It was still the practice to hold up to a strong lamplight every letter
+that passed through the post in order to see whether it was a single or
+a double one; and the House called upon the Post Office to state by what
+authority this was done. The Post Office, having no authority to adduce,
+returned an evasive reply. The House next called for the number of
+persons who had been prosecuted in the course of the year for the
+illegal conveyance of letters. The Post Office return shewed that on
+this ground, during the last twelve months, as many as 341 prosecutions
+had taken place, many of them involving a large, and some of them a very
+large, number of persons, and that the cases were still more numerous in
+which, in order to avoid prosecution, the transgressors had submitted to
+fines. And how had the revenue been prospering meanwhile? A return
+called for by the House in April 1834 answers the question. During the
+last ten years, despite the increase of population, the net Post Office
+revenue had actually declined. In 1824 the receipts were £2,055,000
+gross and £1,438,000 net, as against £1,391,000 net and £2,062,000 gross
+in 1833.
+
+In 1834 Earl Grey was succeeded by Viscount Melbourne; and one of the
+first acts of the new Government was to appoint another Commission of
+Inquiry into the Post Office, with directions to ascertain and report
+how it was that the recommendations of the former Commission had not
+been carried out. These recommendations were now set down one by one,
+and the Post Office was called upon to explain, opposite to each,
+whether any and, if so, what steps had been taken to give effect to it.
+One or two of them had indeed been adopted--such, for instance, as the
+recommendation that Post Office servants should cease to deal in
+newspapers--but only under compulsion. Others affecting the internal
+administration of the Post Office were certainly not feasible. But there
+remained not a few which, while excellent in themselves, had been
+discarded on the merest pretext.
+
+The Commissioners had recommended that the "early," that is the
+preferential, delivery of letters should be discontinued. The Post
+Office replied that it was impossible. The Commissioners had recommended
+that, instead of the receiving houses for general post letters being
+separate and distinct from those for the letters of the twopenny post,
+every receiving house should take in letters of both kinds. The Post
+Office replied that the existing arrangement was the best adapted not
+only to the convenience of the public but to the business of the
+department. The Commissioners had recommended that the letter-carriers,
+instead of being separated into general post, twopenny post, and foreign
+letter-carriers, should all form one corps and deliver letters of every
+description. The Post Office replied--a reply all the more extraordinary
+inasmuch as the very arrangement which the Commissioners recommended was
+already in force both in Edinburgh and Dublin--that "it would be
+productive of the greatest confusion and delay."
+
+The last of the recommendations to which we shall refer was that "the
+total charge upon all letters should be expressed in one taxation." The
+Post Office replied that it was "not possible for country postmasters to
+know the precise line of demarcation between the general post and
+twopenny post deliveries." In other words, no postmaster could know
+what, in the case of letters for London--and, it might have been added,
+for any other town than his own--the proper charge should be. This was
+no pretext. It was, on the contrary, perfectly true; and perhaps no more
+striking testimony could be afforded to the unsoundness of the system
+then in vogue.
+
+It is impossible to conceive that on Freeling's part there can have been
+anything in the shape of contumacy, still less of defiance; but we are
+by no means sure that the House of Commons did not incline to that view.
+Be that as it may, however, the Post Office was in bad odour, and an
+unfortunate series of incidents which occurred about this time little
+tended to remove the unfavourable impression which the unwillingness to
+carry out the Commissioners' recommendations had created. The House, at
+the instance of the Select Committee on Steam Navigation, had called for
+a return of the casualties which within a given period had happened to
+the Irish packets. The return furnished by the Post Office omitted two
+accidents in which one of the members of the Committee had himself
+assisted; and the Committee forthwith ordered the attendance of a
+witness from the Post Office to explain the omission. Another return
+contained obvious errors, and was sent back to the Post Office to be
+corrected.
+
+But the two returns which excited most comment referred to the mileage
+allowance received by the mail-coach contractors, and to the Money Order
+Office. As regards the mileage allowance the only reply vouchsafed by
+the Post Office was that it "has not the means of furnishing any account
+of the amount paid." The return as regards the Money Order Office was
+still more unfortunate. The ground on which this office had been
+condemned by the Revenue Inquiry Commissioners was that it was carried
+on for the benefit of individuals, and yet in so far as its
+correspondence was exempt from postage, at the expense of the revenue.
+Several years had since passed, and the House, not doubting that the
+abuse had been corrected, called for a return shewing the amount of
+postage derived from letters containing money orders, and to what
+purpose it was applied. "The Money Order Office"--thus ran the return
+which the Post Office furnished--" is a private establishment, and the
+business is carried on by private capital under the sanction of the
+postmaster-general; but as no accounts connected in any degree with it
+are kept at the Post Office, no return can be made by the
+postmaster-general to the order of the House of Commons." The House was
+highly incensed, and ordered that, both as regards the Money Order
+Office and the mileage allowance, proper returns should be rendered at
+once.
+
+The energy of the new Commission had now nearly brought the Post Office
+into trouble. The contract for the supply of mail-coaches was in the
+hands of Mr. Vidler of Millbank, who had held it for more than forty
+years, and little had been done during this period to improve the
+construction of the vehicles he supplied. Designed after the pattern in
+vogue at the end of the last century, they were, as compared with the
+stage-coaches, not only heavy and unsightly but inferior both in point
+of speed and accommodation. Moreover, the charge made for them, namely,
+2-1/2d. a mile in England and 2d. a mile in Scotland, was considered to
+be high; and the Commissioners, altogether dissatisfied with the manner
+in which the contract had been performed, arranged with the Government
+not only that the service should be put up to public tender, but that
+Vidler should be excluded from the competition. This decision was
+arrived at in July 1835, and the contract expired on the 5th of January
+following. To invite tenders would occupy time, and, after that
+mail-coaches would have to be built sufficient in number to supply the
+whole of England and Scotland. A period of five or six months was
+obviously not enough for the purpose, and overtures were made to Vidler
+to continue his contract for half a year longer. Vidler, incensed at the
+treatment he had received, flatly refused. Not a day, not an hour,
+beyond the stipulated time would he extend his contract, and on the 5th
+of January 1836 all the mail-coaches in Great Britain would be withdrawn
+from the roads.
+
+A man less loyal than Freeling or endued with less generous instincts
+might have felt a twinge of satisfaction at this result of interference
+with what he considered his own domain. But such emotion, if indeed he
+felt it, was not suffered to appear. With a difficulty to overcome, some
+of his old energy returned, and when the 5th of January arrived there
+was not a road in the kingdom from Wick to Penzance on which a new
+mail-coach was not running.
+
+It was now that the mail-coaches reached their prime. Eight or nine
+miles an hour had hitherto been their highest speed, and now, with
+vehicles of lighter build, the speed was advanced to ten miles an hour
+and even more. Truth compels us to add that while the fastest mail-coach
+on the road, the coach between Liverpool and Preston, travelled at the
+rate of ten miles and five furlongs an hour, a private coach
+accomplished within the hour rather more than eleven miles. This was the
+coach between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, of which Captain Barclay of Ury
+was the proprietor. Besides coachman and guard it carried fifteen
+passengers, namely, four inside and eleven outside, while a mail-coach
+carried four in and four out or eight altogether. Nor would Captain
+Barclay admit that, in order to attain this high rate of speed, recourse
+need be had to anything like furious driving. Nothing more, he
+maintained, was necessary than to keep the horses at a "swinging trot."
+
+Freeling's success in averting a breakdown with the mail-coaches did
+little or nothing to arrest the tide which had set in against him. After
+exercising an influence such as probably no civil servant had exercised
+before, he found himself discredited and the object of vehement and not
+over-scrupulous attack. Of the ministers under whose orders he had acted
+not a few had passed away, and none were in a position to share his
+responsibility, while their successors only knew him as identified with
+a system which had become unpopular. Owing to an unusually rapid
+succession of postmasters-general,[99] he was without even the solace
+and support which a chief of some years' standing might have given him.
+Single-handed, the old man had maintained a gallant defence; but his
+spirit was now broken. In the midst of his exertions to prevent any
+interruption of travelling facilities the House of Commons had called
+for a return which was calculated to wound him deeply. This return
+implied not only that he had been guilty of gross mismanagement, but
+that his salary was higher than he was entitled to receive, that he was
+drawing unauthorised emoluments, and that the Post Office was made
+subordinate to his personal interests.
+
+  [99] Five within a single year. The Duke of Richmond ceased to be
+  postmaster-general in July 1834; and he was followed by Lord Conyngham,
+  Lord Maryborough, Lord Conyngham a second time, and Lord Lichfield, the
+  last of whom was appointed in May 1835.
+
+To the outside world Freeling maintained much the same demeanour as
+before, and few would have suspected the weight that pressed at his
+heart; but in the solitude of his study he was an altered man. There he
+brooded over the past and contrasted it with the present. Notes jotted
+down haphazard on official papers that chanced to be on his table reveal
+the inner workings of his mind. We know few sadder records. He recalls
+the time when Governments consulted him and he stood high in favour with
+the public. He cannot forget how, in the course of debate in the House
+of Commons, his own proficiency and devotion to duty were urged as
+reasons for not retaining the second appointment of postmaster. In the
+recollection of those happy days he endeavours to find consolation for
+the calumny and detraction of the present. He repudiates as unfounded
+the charge that he has long ceased to consult the interests of the
+public, and affirms that in this cause he has of late years laboured
+even more abundantly than he did of old.
+
+Then there is a break, after which he takes up his pen again. "Cheap
+postage,"--to this effect he writes. "What is this men are talking
+about? Can it be that all my life I have been in error? If I, then
+others--others whose behests I have been bound to obey. To make the Post
+Office revenue as productive as possible was long ago impressed upon me
+by successive ministers as a duty which I was under a solemn obligation
+to discharge. And not only long ago. Is it not within the last six
+months that the present Chancellor of the Exchequer[100] has charged me
+not to let the revenue go down? What! You, Freeling, brought up and
+educated as you have been, are you going to lend yourself to these
+extravagant schemes? You, with your four-horse mail-coaches too. Where
+else in the world does the merchant or manufacturer have the materials
+of his trade carried for him gratuitously or at so low a rate as to
+leave no margin of profit?"
+
+  [100] The Right Hon. Thomas Spring Rice.
+
+Here the manuscript abruptly ends. It is dated the 24th of June 1836.
+Within sixteen days from that date Francis Freeling was no more.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have done. From 1836 downwards the story of the Post Office is told,
+far better than we could tell it, in the Autobiography of Sir Rowland
+Hill and the reports which, since 1854, the department has issued
+annually. The story of the preceding period is less well known, if
+indeed it be known at all. To tell the earlier story--to trace the Post
+Office from its humble beginnings down to the time when the illustrious
+reformer took it in hand--this has been the extent of our object, and no
+one perhaps is more conscious than ourselves how imperfectly it has been
+accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+SUCCESSION OF POSTMASTERS-GENERAL FROM 1660 TO 1836
+
+From 1660 to 1667 the Post Office was in farm, the farmers being--
+
+1660 to 1663.
+Henry Bishopp. Rent, £21,500.
+Bishopp surrendered his patent, which was for seven years, in 1663.
+
+1663 to 1667.
+(Being residue of Bishopp's term.)
+Daniel O'Neile. Rent, £21,500.
+
+1667 to 1685.
+Henry, Earl of Arlington.
+Rent for later part of the term, £43,000.
+Office managed, at first, by Sir John Bennet, Lord Arlington's
+brother, and afterwards by Colonel Roger Whitley.
+
+1685 to 1689.
+Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester.
+(For part of the time Lord Treasurer.)[101]
+Office managed by Philip Frowde, Esq., under the title of Governor.
+
+  [101] The concentration of the offices of Lord Treasurer and
+  Postmaster-General in one person served to facilitate the transaction of
+  Post Office business in a manner which those who have had experience of
+  the present system will not be slow to understand. Take, for instance,
+  the question of increasing a Post Office servant's salary. At the
+  present time the Postmaster-General may be thoroughly convinced himself
+  that an increase is called for, but--what is a very different matter--he
+  has also to convince the Treasury. In 1686 the Postmaster-General's own
+  conviction was enough. The following will serve as an illustration.
+  Thomas Cale, Postmaster of Bristol, applies for an increase of salary,
+  and Frowde, the Governor, satisfies Rochester that an increase will be
+  proper. Forthwith issues a document, of which the operative part is as
+  follows:--"You are therefore of opinion that the said salary (£50) is
+  very small considering the expense the petitioner is att, and his
+  extraordinary trouble, Bristoll being a greate Citty, but you say that
+  you doe not think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt
+  ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for
+  (as you informe me) you doe not allow either candles, packthread, wax,
+  ink, penns or paper to any of the Postmasters, nor office-rent, nor
+  returnes of mony, you are therefore of opinion that tenn pounds per
+  annum to his former salary of £50 will be a reasonable allowance, and
+  the petitioner will be therewith satisfied, these are therefore to pray
+  and require you" to raise his salary from £50 to £60 accordingly.
+                                                             ROCHESTER.
+
+  WHITEHALL TREASURY CHAMBERS, _Dec. 13, 1686_.
+
+July 1689 to March 1690.
+Colonel John Wildman.
+
+1690 to 1708.
+Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.
+
+1708 to 1715.
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., and
+Sir John Evelyn, Bart.
+
+1715 to 1721.
+Charles, Lord Cornwallis, and
+James Craggs, Esq.
+
+1721 to 1725.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Galfridus Walpole, Esq.
+
+1725 to 1732.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Edward Harrison, Esq.
+
+Christmas 1732.
+Edward Carteret alone to Midsummer 1733.
+
+1733 to 1739.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, afterwards Earl of Leicester.
+
+1739 to 1744.
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, and
+Sir John Eyles, Bart.
+
+1744 to 1745.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester (sometime Lord Lovell) alone.
+
+1745 to 1758.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, and
+Sir Everard Fawkener, Knight.
+
+1758 to 1759.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, alone.
+
+June 2, 1759 to November 27, 1762.
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+November 27, 1762 to September 23, 1763.
+John, Earl of Egmont, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+September 23, 1763 to July 19, 1765.
+Thomas, Lord Hyde, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+July 19, 1765 to December 29, 1766.
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and
+Thomas, Lord Grantham.
+
+December 29, 1766 to April 26, 1768.
+Wills, Earl of Hillsborough, and
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.
+
+April 26, 1768 to January 16, 1771.
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.
+
+January 16, 1771 to December 11, 1781.
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Thynne, afterwards Carteret.
+
+December 11, 1781 to January 24, 1782.
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret (sometime Thynne) alone.
+
+January 24 to April 25, 1782.
+William, Viscount Barrington, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+April 25, 1782 to May 1, 1783.
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+May 1, 1783 to January 7, 1784.
+Thomas, Lord Foley, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+January 7, 1784 to September 19, 1786.
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret. (Created Baron Carteret,
+January 29, 1784.)
+
+September 19 to December 10, 1786.
+Thomas, Earl of Clarendon, and
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret.
+
+December 10, 1786 to July 6, 1787.
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, alone.
+
+July 6, 1787 to September 19, 1789.
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, and
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham.
+
+September 19, 1789 to March 13, 1790.
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and
+John, Earl of Westmorland.
+
+March 13, 1790 to July 28, 1794.
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield.
+
+July 28, 1794 to March 1, 1798.
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, and
+George, Earl of Leicester.
+
+March 1, 1798 to February 27, 1799.
+George, Earl of Leicester, and
+William, Lord Auckland.
+
+February 27, 1799 to March 31, 1801.
+William, Lord Auckland, and
+George, Lord Gower.
+
+March 31, 1801 to July 19, 1804.
+William, Lord Auckland, and
+Lord Charles Spencer.
+
+July 19, 1804 to February 20, 1806.
+Lord Charles Spencer and
+James, Duke of Montrose.
+
+February 20, 1806 to May 5, 1807.
+Robert, Earl of Buckinghamshire, and
+John Joshua, Earl of Carysfort.
+
+May 5, 1807 to June 6, 1814.
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.
+
+June 6 to September 30, 1814.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, alone.
+
+September 30, 1814 to April 6, 1816.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and
+Richard, Earl of Clancarty.
+
+April 6, 1816 to June 13, 1823.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and
+James, Marquess of Salisbury.
+
+Since Lord Salisbury's death on the 13th of June 1823, no second
+Postmaster-General has been appointed.
+
+June 13, 1823 to July 4, 1826.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.
+
+July 4, 1826 to September 17, 1827.
+Lord Frederick Montague.
+
+September 17, 1827 to December 14, 1830.
+William, Duke of Manchester.
+
+December 14, 1830 to July 5, 1834.
+Charles, Duke of Richmond.
+
+By his first patent, dated the 14th of December 1830, the Duke was
+appointed Postmaster-General of Great Britain; and by a second patent,
+dated the 14th of April 1831, he was appointed Postmaster-General of
+Great Britain and Ireland.
+
+July 5 to December 31, 1834.
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.
+
+December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835.
+William, Lord Maryborough.
+
+May 8 to May 30, 1835.
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.
+
+May 30, 1835, to September 15, 1841.
+Thomas William, Earl of Lichfield.
+
+
+SUCCESSION OF SECRETARIES TO THE POST OFFICE DOWN TO 1836.
+
+The appointment of Secretary was created by Treasury Warrant
+dated the 20th of June 1694.
+
+1694 to 1700.
+Name uncertain; but probably Willboyl.
+
+  [In 1694 the Postmasters-General urge the creation of the appointment of
+  Secretary; in 1697 they speak of "having sent our Secretary down to
+  Worcester"; and in October 1701, when reporting on a paper which had
+  been referred to them as far back as June 1699, they explain that "by
+  the death of our late Secretary y^e paper has been mislaid and but very
+  lately recovered." That there was a Secretary during this period is,
+  therefore, beyond doubt.
+
+  During the same period the Post Office letter books are written in a
+  handwriting as peculiar as it is good; and in the same handwriting, of
+  the identity of which there can be no question, there is in the
+  Frankland-Blaithwaite correspondence, until lately in the possession of
+  Sir Thomas Phillipps, a letter from the General Post Office dated the
+  27th of May 1697, and docketed thus, the docket having obviously been
+  written at the time of receipt:--"From Mr. Willboyl, Commissioner of the
+  Post Office." Now, Commissioner of the Post Office he certainly was not,
+  there being at that time no such appointment; but it is probable that he
+  was Secretary, and that with this official title, which had been only
+  recently given, Blaithwaite was not acquainted.]
+
+1700 to 1714.
+Benjamin Waterhouse.
+
+1714 to 1715.
+Henry Weston.
+
+1715 to 1721.
+James Craggs.
+
+1721 to (about) 1730.
+Joseph Godman.
+
+(About) 1730 to 1737.
+W. Rouse.
+
+1737 to 1738.
+Thomas Robinson.
+
+September 1738 to July 1742.
+John David Barbutt.
+
+July 1742 to December 1762.
+George Shelvocke.
+
+December 1762 to July 1765.
+Anthony Todd.
+
+July 1765 to January 1768.
+Henry Potts.
+
+January 1768 to June 1798.
+Anthony Todd (again).
+
+June 1798 to July 1836.
+Francis Freeling.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILES OF FRANKS written before and after 1784, when
+the obligation to date was imposed.
+
+_Before._
+
+The Duke of Grafton, First Lord of the Treasury from 1766 to 1770,
+commonly called Junius Grafton from the attacks made upon him by
+Junius.]
+
+[Illustration: _After._
+
+The Earl of Sandwich, nicknamed by the satirists of the period Jemmy
+Twitcher. "See Jemmy Twitcher shambles--stop, stop, thief"--an allusion
+to his shambling gait.
+
+Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, and afterwards
+First Lord of the Admiralty.]
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PAID MONEY ORDER of the year 1802.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abdy, Sir Robert, 38
+
+  Abercorn, James, Earl of, his unreasonable complaint, 153
+
+  Absenteeism, in England, 231;
+    in Ireland, 371
+
+  Alien Office, assists the Post Office in procuring foreign newspapers,
+        347
+
+  Allen, Ralph, postmaster of Bath, takes in farm the bye and cross-post
+        letters, 147;
+    conditions of his contract, 147;
+    success of his enterprise, 148;
+    is thwarted by the postmasters, 149;
+    his contract renewed, 150;
+    nature of his plan and his special qualifications for carrying it into
+          effect, 155;
+    his local knowledge, 157;
+    his difficulties with the postmasters, 157 _seq._;
+    as a means of check lays down certain propositions, 161;
+    instances of imposition practised by postmasters, 163;
+    by post-boys, 164;
+    by carriers and others concerned in the illegal conveyance of letters,
+          165;
+    the liberality of his arrangements, 166;
+    his course of procedure contrasted with that of the
+          postmasters-general, 168;
+    pays higher rent and increases the frequency of the post every seven
+          years when his contract is renewed, 169;
+    his injunction about the use of expresses, 182;
+    his death, 185;
+    his character, 186;
+    is an object of jealousy to Palmer, 230
+
+  Alphabet, 374;
+    ingenious one in use at Belfast, 375
+
+  Althorp, John Charles, Viscount, urges on Post Office improvements, 415;
+    fixes the limits of the general post delivery, 416;
+    throws the packet service open to public competition, 417;
+    abolishes the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads,
+          418;
+    contemplates apparently a reduction of postage, 419
+
+  America, posts set up in, 110;
+    first postmaster of New York, 111;
+    and of Virginia and Maryland, 111;
+    establishment of what was virtually a penny post between England and
+          America, 113;
+    American posts become self-supporting, 116;
+    postmasters ejected from their offices, 207
+
+  Amsterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Anne, Queen, treatment of letters for, when in residence at Newmarket, 98
+
+  _Antelope_ packet, Captain Curtis, gallant action with privateer, 321
+
+  Apertures, introduction of, on the outside of post offices, 180
+
+  Argyll, John, Duke of, 64
+
+  Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general, 34
+
+  Armit, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, displaced by Lees, 221
+
+  Ashburnham manuscripts, 20
+
+  Ashurst, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of
+        letters, 200
+
+  Aston, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters,
+        200
+
+  Attorneys, their provisional resolution to withhold postage on writs,
+        178;
+    hold appointments in the Dublin Post Office, 371
+
+  Auckland, William Lord, postmaster-general, his pleasantries, 333
+
+  Auditors of the imprests, 256 _note_
+
+  Austria, liberties taken with post-horses by travellers in, 5 _note_
+
+  Aylsham, Norfolk, post established to in 1733, 167
+
+
+  Baker, Sir George, physician to George the Third, 252
+
+  Bank of England notes, robbery of, from mail evokes important legal
+        decision, 183;
+    origin of cutting bank notes when sent by post, 206;
+    contemplated reduction of postage on letters containing second halves
+          of bank notes, 298
+
+  Bankers' franks, meaning of term, 315 _note_
+
+  Barbutt, John David, secretary to the Post Office, 185
+
+  Barclay, Captain, of Ury, high speed of his coach, 426
+
+  Barclay's plot, expresses sent on discovery of, 63
+
+  Barham, Edmund, packet agent at Dover, terms of his agreement with
+        Walcot, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, 222
+
+  Barlow, clerk in the secretary's office, modifies the practice of the
+        Dead Letter Office, 308
+
+  Barnstaple, private post set up to Exeter in 1633, 17
+
+  Bath asserts its right to a free delivery, 198;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202;
+    slowness of post between Bath and London, 208;
+    amount of toll between the same towns, 210;
+    Post Office Establishment at Bath and amount of the postmaster's salary
+          in 1792, 292
+
+  Beccaria, Bonesana, his essay on Crimes and Punishments, 245
+
+  Belfast, ingenious "alphabet" in use at, 375;
+    peculiar usage of delivery, 375
+
+  Belgrave Square, included in the limits of the general post delivery, 416
+
+  Bell, Colonel, comptroller of the Inland Office, particulars of charge
+        against, 185 _note_
+
+  Bells, letters collected by ringing of, introduction of system, 121;
+    and its termination, 123 _note_;
+    bellmen in England and in Ireland paid on different principle, 367
+         (196, 221, 257)
+
+  Bernard, Sir Robert, 192
+
+  Besant's patent coaches, 282
+
+  Bethnal Green, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged
+        at, 203
+
+  Bianconi, Charles, his enterprise, 376
+
+  Bigg, Stephen, his enterprise as a farmer of the posts, 60
+
+  Billingsley, Henry, a broker, carries letters of foreign merchants, 13;
+    and is consigned to prison, 14
+
+  Bills of exchange and of lading to and from foreign parts exempt from
+        postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Birmingham, one of many towns in which a free delivery of letters had
+        ceased, 197;
+    free delivery restored and letter-carrier appointed, 202;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293;
+    penny post opened at, 300
+
+  Bishopp, Henry, farmer of the posts, 33, 34
+
+  "Black-box"; the box in which the correspondence of the Secretary of
+        State for Scotland was carried, 53
+
+  Blaithwaite, William, Secretary of War, remonstrated with on his abuse
+        of the franking privilege, 132
+
+  Blome's _Britannia_, 35
+
+  Bonnor, Charles, deputy comptroller-general of the Post Office, his
+        conduct in the matter of the king's coach, 252;
+    delays replies to the postmaster-general's inquiries, 264;
+    practises deception, 264;
+    his base ingratitude, 274;
+    is suspended by Palmer, 275;
+    suspension removed by the postmasters-general, 276;
+    his treachery, 278, 279;
+    receives the reward of infamy, 280
+
+  Boulton and Watt build the first steamboats used by the Post Office, 384
+
+  Bourne, Frederick, clerk in the foreign department of the Post Office;
+        suggests the establishment of a Ship Letter Office, 328
+
+  Bournemouth, mode of receiving its letters in 1854, 293 _note_
+
+  Bowen, passenger by packet; brings news of the victory at Oudenarde, 105
+
+  Boyle, Henry, Secretary of State, charges the packet agent at Harwich
+        with receiving a bribe, 89
+
+  Bracken, Henry, author of _The Gentleman's Pocket Farrier_, his device
+        to obtain exemption from postage, 161
+
+  Braithwaite, Daniel, clerk to the postmasters-general, his honesty of
+        purpose, 244
+
+  Brighton, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Brill, The, 73, 83, 88
+
+  Bristol, course of post between Bristol and Exeter in 1660, 29;
+    and in 1696, 57;
+    salary of the postmaster of, in 1690, 50;
+    and in 1792, 293;
+    first mail-coach starts from Bristol, 213;
+    penny post opened there, 300;
+    revision of postmaster's salary in 1686, Appendix, _note_
+
+  Brown, sub-agent of packets at Ostend, his clandestine letter, 106
+
+  Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard, offers to construct a steam engine for the
+        Post Office packets, 408
+
+  Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, letter endorsed by, in 1627, 20
+
+  Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding, tedious
+        course of letter addressed to, in 1666, 34.
+
+  Buckingham, George Grenville Nugent Temple, Marquis of, Lord Lieutenant
+        of Ireland, deprecates reduction of packet establishment at
+        Holyhead, 248
+
+  Burlamachi, Philip, is appointed Master of the Posts, 21;
+    his title contested, 21;
+    is consigned to prison, 22
+
+  Bye-letters, probable meaning of the term in Queen Elizabeth's
+        reign, 4;
+    its certain meaning in 1690 and after, 52, 147;
+    postage upon bye-letters intercepted, 52, 53, 134 _note_;
+    Bye-Letter Office, 308
+
+  Bye-nights, 46
+
+  Byng, Sir George, 102, 104
+
+
+  Cadogan, Brigadier-General, packet detained for, 87
+
+  Camden, John Jeffreys, Earl, promotes Palmer's plan, 212;
+    gives to Pitt Palmer's version of his differences with the
+          postmasters-general, 274
+
+  Candles, inordinate supply of, to Post Office servants, 231
+
+  Canning, George, charges the Post Office with forestalling his
+        intelligence, 347
+
+  Carlisle, salary of postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Carriers allowed to carry letters under restrictions, 19;
+    restrictions more clearly defined, 129
+
+  Carteret, Edward, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1739. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part IV.
+
+  Carteret, Henry Frederick, Lord, postmaster-general from January 1771
+        to September 1789. _See_ Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.
+
+  Carts, first employment of, in London for bringing letters to the
+        General Post Office, 316
+
+  Castello, a prisoner on board packet, 88
+
+  Chalmers, George, his suggestions, 256;
+    excites Palmer's jealousy, 259
+
+  Channel Islands without an official post in 1792, 294;
+    official post provided, 312;
+    rates of postage, 314
+
+  Charing Cross, opening of branch office at, 411
+
+  Charlemont, Lord, his misunderstanding as to packet charges, 86
+
+  Charles, Archduke, 78, 86
+
+  Chelsea pensioners, their privilege of sending and receiving letters at
+        low rates of postage withdrawn, 404
+
+  Chenal, captain of packet, rebuked by the postmasters-general, 94 _note_
+
+  Chepstow, the inhabitants of, though under no obligation, continue to pay
+        pence on the delivery of their letters, 293
+
+  Chester, in 1720 the only town outside London with two Post Offices, 151;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Chesterfield, Philip, Earl of, postmaster-general from March 1790 to
+        March 1798. _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VII.
+
+  Chichester, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from May 1807 to July
+        1826. _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
+
+  Christmas boxes, intercepted, 232
+
+  Clancarty, Richard, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to
+        1809; and of England from September 1814 to April 1816. [This
+        latter appointment he did not take up.] His decision of character,
+        instance of, 368;
+    advocates facilities of communication between England and Ireland, 389
+
+  Clarendon, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from September to December
+        1786, 229, 242
+
+  Clerks of the roads, their duties, 47;
+    their salaries, 49;
+    are allowed to frank newspapers, 49;
+    their franking privilege invaded, 191;
+    mischief resulting from a reduction of their emoluments, 193;
+    their financial troubles, 206, 250;
+    extent of their newspaper business after newspapers become exempt from
+          postage, 407
+
+  Clermont, William Henry, Earl of, deputy postmaster-general of Ireland,
+        194
+
+  Clies, Francis, captain of packet, his audacious smuggling, 90;
+    his attention to religious observances, 90;
+    strikes his colours, 94
+
+  Coals supplied to Post Office servants in profligate profusion, 231
+
+  Cobbett, William, inveighs against the early or preferential delivery,
+        342;
+    and against the treatment of foreign newspapers, 343
+
+  Coke, Sir John, his indignant protest against the claim of the foreign
+        merchants to have a post of their own, 12
+
+  Colours, special colours assigned to the Post Office boat employed in
+        the Pool, 74;
+    the colours of the packets altered at the Union with Scotland, 117
+
+  Comer, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells in 1725, 153
+
+  Common Council of London, The, sets up a post of their own to Scotland,
+        24
+
+  Compensation for losses by the penny post, 38;
+    when ceased to be given, 188
+
+  Conspiracies against the State, to check these the original object of the
+        Post Office monopoly, 7;
+    danger chiefly apprehended from the Continent, 9;
+    Coke's opinion on the subject, 13;
+    the same opinion expressed in the Act of 1657, 28
+
+  Constables, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the
+        service of the posts, 3, 6
+
+  Convention posts, establishment of, 332;
+    their failure and the reason, 350;
+    are gradually absorbed, 352
+
+  Conway Bridge, additional rate of postage on letters passing over, 395
+
+  Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel, Marquess of, postmaster-general from July
+        1834 to January 1835, and again from May 8 to May 30, 1835, 427
+        _note_
+
+  Cornwall, its posts improved in 1704, 62
+
+  Cornwallis, Charles, Lord, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part III.
+
+  Cotton, Sir Robert, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1708. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part I.
+
+  Counsel in Post Office cases required to give receipts for their fees,
+        324
+
+  Country letter, meaning of term, 147
+
+  _Courier_ newspaper, sum paid by the, for early intelligence from the
+        Post Office, 345
+
+  Couriers originally employed to carry letters on affairs of State, 2
+
+  Court, The, at one time the centre of all the posts, 3;
+    a trace of the old state of things to be found in an existing statute,
+    99
+
+  Court letters, definition of, in 1706, 83 _note_;
+    mails detained for the Court letters, 211;
+    these letters, unlike others, delivered the moment they arrived, 347
+
+  Court-post, his duties, 99;
+    duties performed by deputy, 231
+
+  Coventry, Sir Thomas, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Keeper, holds De
+        Quester's appointment to be valid, 11;
+    cajoles Stanhope into surrendering his patent, 23
+
+  Craggs, James, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part III.
+
+  Crichton, Doctor, refuses to pay his fare by packet, 86
+
+  Cromwell, Thomas, Brian Tuke's letter to, on the paucity of the posts, 1
+
+  Crosby, Brass, 192
+
+  Cross-posts, first post of the kind set up, 57;
+    cross-post letters, definition of the term, 147
+
+  Croydon, postmistress of, Auckland's pleasantry on her marriage for the
+        third time, 334
+
+  Culverden, captain of packet boat, engages in smuggling, 89
+
+  Culvert, member of Parliament, expostulated with as to the irregular use
+        of his frank, 141 _note_
+
+  Curtis, Alderman, 274, 275
+
+  Customs, Commissioners of, lodge a complaint against the captain of the
+        _Expedition_ packet, 90;
+    represent that smuggling is carried on by packet from Ostend, 103;
+    take proceedings against some of the Harwich packets, 237;
+    are charged by the postmasters-general with unhandsome conduct, 238;
+    seize the Dover mail-coach, 271
+
+
+  Dacre, Lord, superscription on Protector Somerset's letter addressed to,
+        20
+
+  Dartmouth, William, Lord, his attention called to the late arrival at the
+        Post Office of the Court letters, 211
+
+  Dashwood, Francis, postmaster-general of Jamaica, exaction from, as a
+        condition of his appointment, 226
+
+  Davy, Mrs., her account of the condition of Penzance before 1784, 291
+
+  Day, John, sent from London in 1733 to establish a post at Aylsham in
+        Norfolk, his instructions, 167
+
+  Dead letters, treatment of, a source of perplexity to Allen, 158;
+    irregular payments claimed under cover of, 236;
+    Dead Letter Office, 307;
+    returned letters charged with postage, 360
+
+  Decypherer, the chief, 171
+
+  De Joncourt, express clerk, 373
+
+  Delivery, claim made by several towns to have their letters delivered
+        free resisted by the Post Office and question tried at law, 197;
+    claim allowed by the Courts, 200;
+    decision carried out grudgingly, 203;
+    hour of delivery of foreign letters in 1790, 267;
+    early, that is preferential, delivery, 342;
+    hour of delivery in St. James's Square between 1820 and 1830, 409;
+    in the country, limits of free delivery not defined, 410;
+    morning delivery in London accelerated, 411;
+    limits of general post delivery fixed at three miles, 417;
+    recommendation of Royal Commission to abolish early or preferential
+        delivery not carried out, 423
+
+  Delivery penny, meaning of term, 69
+
+  Denmark, Frederick the Second, King of, his letter of complaint to Queen
+        Elizabeth, 8 _note_
+
+  De Quester, Matthew, appointed postmaster for foreign parts out of the
+        King's dominions, 10;
+    his appointment offends Lord Stanhope, 10;
+    is superseded by the Privy Council, 12;
+    is restored at the instance of Sir John Coke, 13;
+    assigns his patent, 14
+
+  Derby, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Dereham, Sir Thomas, Court-post, his duties, 99
+
+  Derrick, Samuel, Master of the Ceremonies at Bath, his account of Ralph
+        Allen, 186 _note_
+
+  Despatch of mails, hour of, in 1690, 47;
+    and until 1784, 211;
+    indignation caused by the change then made, 220
+
+  Devonshire, William, Duke of, course of post between Chesterfield and
+        Manchester altered in 1736 at the instance of, 166
+
+  Directories, 195, 309
+
+  Distances, inaccuracy of, as computed by the Post Office, 175
+
+  Dockwra, William, establishes a penny post in London, 36;
+    his right contested and case decided against him, 40;
+    is granted a pension and, on the penny post being absorbed into the
+          Post Office, is appointed comptroller, 41;
+    is dismissed, 41;
+    provision made by, for the care of general post letters, 68;
+    contrast between Dockwra and Povey, 122
+
+  Donlevy, William, 368
+
+  Double letter, definition of, 139
+
+  Dover, a packet station, 73;
+    packets to Flanders provided by the packet agent, 103;
+    engage in smuggling, 103;
+    and bring news clandestinely, 106;
+    the Dover mail-coach seized by the Customs, 271
+
+  Drink and feast money, 50, 232
+
+  Dublin, Post Office establishment at, in 1690, 53;
+    penny post proposed at, in 1703, 69;
+    and opened in 1773, 196;
+    the clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, 194;
+    the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, 207;
+    office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, 367;
+    abuses, 370
+
+  Dummer, Edmund, Surveyor of the Navy, builds packets for the Harwich
+        station, 75;
+    also for the West India service, 78;
+    undertakes this service himself, 79;
+    his miscalculations, 79;
+    ill-fortune attends him, 81;
+    his bankruptcy and death, 109
+
+
+  Early, _i.e._ preferential, delivery, 342, 423
+
+  Eastbourne, mode of receiving its letters in 1792, 293
+
+  East India Company, send to the Post Office letters received at the India
+        House, 311;
+    object to the provisions of the Ship Letter Act, 361;
+    procure its alteration, 362;
+    their generosity, 363;
+    unhandsome return contemplated by the Post Office, 364
+
+  East Indies, rates of postage to the, in 1815, 362
+
+  Edinburgh, post to, set up by the city of London, 24;
+    Post Office establishment at, in 1707, 117;
+    horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow refused by the Treasury, 136;
+    course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, 180;
+    and increased in frequency in 1765, 195;
+    Edinburgh Post Office falls into decay, 207;
+    penny post established at, 300
+
+  Eldon, John, Lord, reluctantly assents to the giving of repressive
+        powers, 335
+
+  Elections, Parliamentary, Post Office servants prohibited from
+        intermeddling in, 128;
+    and from voting at, 206
+
+  Ellenborough, Edward, Lord, 335
+
+  Evelyn, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1708 to 1715. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part II.
+
+  Exeter, private post set up between, and Barnstaple in 1633, 17;
+    course of post between Exeter and Bristol in 1660, 29;
+    in 1696, 57;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Expresses, 63, 83;
+    when to be sent from Dover, 107;
+    employment of, becomes more general about the middle of the eighteenth
+          century, 182;
+    is jealously restricted, 182;
+    their number reduced on the establishment of mail-coaches, 214;
+    fees on expresses, 233;
+    express sent daily to and from Ireland after the Union, 387
+
+  Express clerks, 371
+
+  Express office, Haymarket, 408
+
+  Eyles, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1739 to 1744, 238
+
+
+  Falmouth, packet station opened at, in 1689, 75;
+    closed and reopened, 77;
+    packet regulations, 82;
+    systematic smuggling, 89, 238;
+    packet agent also victualler, 95
+
+  Fares, by packet to Holland before and after 1689, 76;
+    by steam packet and by sailing packet, comparative statement, 385
+
+  Farmers of the Post Office, their popularity and the reason of it, 59;
+    are ruined by increase of postage and converted into managers, 136;
+    as managers prove useless, 138
+
+  Farra, John, is supplied with a special travelling order, 131 _note_
+
+  Faversham, marriage of the postmistress, 334
+
+  Fees, exacted from postmasters, 232;
+    received by the chief sorter on the occasion of royal birthdays, 233;
+    on expresses, 233;
+    on the registration of foreign letters, 233
+
+  Ferrers, Countess, 182
+
+  Fielding, Henry, his tribute to Ralph Allen, 186
+
+  "Fifth-clause" posts, 350-352
+
+  Firearms, worthless quality of those originally supplied to mail guards,
+        261
+
+  Fire of London, intelligence of, takes five days to reach Worthing, 34
+
+  Flemings, resort to London, where they introduce the manufacture of wool
+        into cloth, 8;
+    instance of value set upon cloth made in London, 8 _note_
+
+  Flying coach, 63, 67
+
+  Flying packet, meaning of the term, 63 (108)
+
+  Flying-post, 63 _note_
+
+  Foreign bottoms, employment of, by the Post Office illegal, 98
+
+  Foreign merchants claim to set up a post of their own to the Continent,
+        9;
+    claim conceded by the Privy Council, 12;
+    and repudiated by Coke, 13
+
+  Foster, John, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, his efforts to improve
+        communication with Ireland, 388
+
+  France, Post Office treaty with, imperfectly observed, 77;
+    a new one made and its onerous conditions, 138;
+    postage on letters from, increased, 296;
+    improvement of communication with, deprecated by merchants of London,
+          298
+
+  Franking, abuses of, in 1711, and means taken to check them, 132;
+    effect of franking upon the Post Office revenue, 142;
+    becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 189;
+    conditions altered, 189;
+    franking in Ireland, 190;
+    of newspapers inland, 191;
+    franking privilege possessed by the clerks at Dublin Castle
+          surrendered, 194;
+    franks to be dated and are otherwise restricted, 216;
+    further restrictions imposed, 315;
+    franks do not clear either the penny, the twopenny, or the convention
+          posts, 350;
+    franking privilege withdrawn in the case of newspapers to and from the
+          Colonies, 402;
+    privilege remains in the case of newspapers to and from the Continent,
+          403;
+    and in the case of newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom
+          gradually disappears, 404;
+    franked letters charged immediately on dissolution of Parliament, 405;
+    franking privilege withheld from Roman Catholic Peers, 408;
+    abuse of franking in the case of the Money Order Office, 421;
+    specimens of franks, Appendix
+
+  Frankland, Sir Thomas, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1715. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part I.
+
+  Frankland, William, son of the preceding, Comptroller of the Inland
+        Office, in attendance upon the Queen at Newmarket, 99
+
+  Franklin, Benjamin, his dismissal, 203;
+    amicable relations with, not suspended, 204
+
+  Free delivery. _See_ Delivery
+
+  Freeling, Sir Francis, appointed surveyor, 228;
+    appointed joint secretary with Todd, 294;
+    devises new arrangements for the sorting of the American and West
+          Indian mails, 310;
+    his project for guarding the horse and cross-posts, 317, 335;
+    becomes sole secretary, 327;
+    his craze for high rates of postage, 330;
+    his zeal in repressing illicit correspondence, 333;
+    is checked by Auckland, 335;
+    procures additional measures of repression, 335;
+    recommends increase of postage rates, 340;
+    his estimate of Cobbett, 342;
+    his emoluments from franking newspapers, 344;
+    his indignation at criticisms in the _Times_ newspaper, 348;
+    brings an action, 348;
+    contemplates a high-handed proceeding towards the town of Olney in
+          Buckinghamshire, 351;
+    procures a charge to be made on returned letters, 360;
+    his contention with the India House in the matter of ship letters, 361;
+    urges a technical adherence to the provisions of the statute, 364;
+    his elation at the increase of the Post Office revenue, 365;
+    contrast between Freeling and Lees, 370;
+    his difference with Lees, 381;
+    his claim for the Post Office in the matter of steam vessels, 387;
+    opposes improvement of communication with Ireland, 389;
+    his interview with Sir Arthur Wellesley, 390;
+    attempts to get terms of a hostile motion altered, 397;
+    his dismay at the transfer of the Falmouth packets from the Post Office
+          to the Admiralty, 399;
+    his strictness in Post Office matters, 404;
+    is irritated by Sir Henry Parnell's assumption of superiority, 407;
+    the probable reason for not resigning on the opening of the new Post
+          Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, 411;
+    his view that the packet service should not be thrown open to public
+          competition opposed by Althorp, 417;
+    defends the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads,
+          418;
+    his attitude towards the Royal Commission, 420;
+    averts a breakdown with the mail-coaches, 426;
+    becomes the object of vehement attack, 426;
+    broods over the past, 427;
+    his death, 428
+
+  Frizell, William, 14
+
+  Frowde, Ashburnham, comptroller of foreign office, 234
+
+  Furness, Sir Harry, 174
+
+
+  Gardner, penny postman, murder of, 183 _note_
+
+  Garrow, Sir William, his frank forged, 406
+
+  Gas, introduction of, into the Post Office, 408
+
+  General Steam Navigation Company undertakes first packet contract, 418
+
+  George the Third, when at Cheltenham or at Weymouth is attended by a
+        mail-coach, 251;
+    his illness and distribution of a prayer for his recovery, 254;
+    his interest in his coach, 288;
+    objects to roof-loading, 288;
+    attends trial trip, 288;
+    distributes largesse among mail guards and coachmen, 289
+
+  Gerrard Street, crowded condition of Post Office in, 410
+
+  Glasgow petitions for a horse-post to Edinburgh, 136;
+    and for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop, 408
+
+  Gloucester protests against certain houses being excluded from the free
+        delivery, 199;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Godolphin, Sidney Godolphin, Earl of, his rebuke to the
+        postmaster-general, 106;
+    insists upon communication with the army in Flanders being improved,
+          107;
+    his instruction about extraordinary payments, 137;
+    directs that in Post Office cases Counsel shall give receipts for their
+          fees, 324 (121, 124, 125)
+
+  Grafton, Augustus Henry, Duke of, specimen of his frank, Appendix
+
+  Grand mail, 83
+
+  Grand Post Nights, 46, 221
+
+  Granville, Lord, urges improvement of the Cornish posts, 62
+
+  Gratuities, on delivery of letters, 52, 61, 62, 152, 166;
+    legality of, questioned in the case of towns, 197;
+    question decided in favour of the public, 200;
+    still being charged, 422
+
+  Gray, Thomas, his prediction that mail-coaches would be displaced by
+        railways, 408
+
+  Grey, Charles, Earl, 412, 423
+
+  Grosvenor, Sir Richard, member for Chester, expostulated with as to the
+        irregular use of his frank, 141
+
+  Groyne, The, 75, 77
+
+  Guide to accompany post-horses when two are taken, 18
+
+  Guildhall Library, letter preserved in, showing tardy course of post in
+        1666, 34
+
+
+  Halfpenny carriage set up by Povey, 121
+
+  Halloran, a clerical impostor, 406
+
+  Hamburg, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Hamilton, Andrew, acts as Neale's agent for setting up posts in North
+        America, 110;
+    his suggestions for improving the posts, 112;
+    acquires Neale's patent, 116;
+    dies and the patent is surrendered to the Crown, 116
+
+  Hamilton, John, son of the preceding, appointed deputy postmaster-general
+        of America, 116
+
+  Harley, Robert, afterwards Earl of Oxford, raises the rates of postage,
+        124;
+    attempts to trace the writer of an anonymous letter, 181
+
+  Harwich, a packet station, 73;
+    number and strength of its packets, 75;
+    packet regulations, 82;
+    a hot-bed of smuggling, 91, 237;
+    its exorbitant charges, 96;
+    is closed as a packet station, 418
+
+  Hasker, Thomas, chief superintendent of mail-coaches, his pithy
+        instructions, 284;
+    is complimented by the King, 288;
+    will not suffer even the King to detain the mail-coach, 289;
+    enters a protest against the speed of the Holyhead mail, 394
+
+  Hayman, Peter, first postmaster of Virginia and Maryland, 111
+
+  Heath, Sir Robert, Solicitor-General, 11
+
+  Hickes, Prideaux's servant, imprisonment of, 22
+
+  Highwaymen, rewards for apprehension of, 183;
+    refrain from attacks upon mail-coaches, 290;
+    confine their attention to horse and cross-posts, 317;
+    instances of the recovery of mail bags stolen by, 336
+
+  Hill, Sir Rowland, 269 _note_, 420, 428
+
+  Hippisley, Sir John, 20
+
+  Hiver, Richard, 192
+
+  Holt, Sir John, Chief Justice, his opinion respecting compensation for
+        losses by post, 188 _note_
+
+  Holyhead, packet service at beginning of eighteenth century performed
+        with regularity, 82;
+    contemplated reduction of the packet establishment deprecated by the
+          Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 248;
+    conditions of passage between Holyhead and Dublin in 1813, 379
+
+  Hompesch, Baron, packet detained for, 87
+
+  Horn, when to be blown, 4;
+    a man on horseback blowing a post-horn assigned as a device for Post
+          Office colours, 75 _note_
+
+  Horses, to be kept in readiness for affairs of State, 2;
+    two to be kept at every post-house, 4;
+    use of, obtained under false pretences, 5;
+    overridden, overladen, and not always paid for, 5, 51;
+    charge for post-horses in 1603, 6;
+    in 1635, 18;
+    in 1660, 30;
+    not to be supplied except at post-houses, 6;
+    to be attended by a guide when two are hired, 18;
+    not to be let when the post is expected, 18;
+    not to be taken without the consent of the owners, 30;
+    only indirectly a source of revenue, 30;
+    monopoly of letting horses continued to the Post Office by the Act of
+          1711, 130;
+    control exercised by the Post Office over horses for travellers merely
+          nominal, exception given, 131;
+    charges for post-horses increased by the erection of milestones, 176;
+    monopoly of letting post-horses withdrawn, 205
+
+  Horse and cross-posts, project for checking robberies of, 317;
+    authority withheld, 318;
+    eventually given, 335
+
+  Hostages taken on capture of a packet, 93;
+    instance of inhuman treatment of, 94
+
+  Houses numbered, 195;
+    their not being so a hindrance to the Post Office, 36, 151
+
+  Hume, David, 29
+
+  Hume, Joseph, 402
+
+  Hungerford selected to try the question of free delivery, 198;
+    question decided in favour of the public and a letter-carrier
+          appointed, 202, 293
+
+
+  Illicit conveyance of letters, between town and town and between the
+        country and London, 54;
+    is stimulated by increase in the rates of postage, 134, 141;
+    becomes less after the introduction of mail-coaches, 227;
+    prosecutions for, 333;
+    return to the House of Commons, 422
+
+  Impressment, persons employed on the packets exempt from, 84;
+    specimen of protection order, 84 _note_
+
+  Instructions to the sorting office communicated by word of mouth, 324
+
+  Insurance an essential condition of Dockwra's penny post, 38;
+    this condition abandoned, 188
+
+  Invoices to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption
+        then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Ipswich asserts its right to a free delivery, 198;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202
+
+  Ireland, tardiness of post to, before 1635, 16;
+    postage to, 18;
+    method of Post Office business in 1690, 53;
+    abuse of franking in 1773, 190;
+    clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, 194;
+    posts to and within Ireland improved, 195;
+    Penny Post Office opened in Dublin, 196;
+    the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, 207;
+    the Irish Post Office separated from that of England, 221;
+    effects of the separation in the case of correspondence by the Milford
+          Haven and Waterford route, 249;
+    between the Irish and English Post Offices differences in point of law,
+          366;
+    and of practice, 367;
+    office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, 367;
+    and improper use made of it, 371;
+    Clancarty's energy and decision of character, 368;
+    Lees, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his mode of conducting
+          business, 369;
+    Lees contrasted with Freeling, 370;
+    the postmasters-general absentees, 370;
+    absence also of the subordinates and other abuses, 371;
+    the express clerks and clerks of the roads deal in newspapers and are
+          given undue advantages, 371;
+    account of the alphabet, 374;
+    ingenious one in use at Belfast, 375;
+    arrangement in favour of soldiers' wives, 374;
+    peculiar mode of delivery at Belfast, 375;
+    mail-coach contracts in Ireland different from those in England, 376;
+    Charles Bianconi, 376;
+    arrangement between Ireland and Great Britain in the matter of the
+          packets, 378;
+    Lees is dissatisfied with it, 380;
+    and sets it aside, 381;
+    Freeling's indignation, 382;
+    sailing packets replaced by steam packets, 383;
+    effect upon the number of passengers carried by the Post Office, 385;
+    Irish traffic diverted from Holyhead to Liverpool, 385;
+    and Liverpool made a packet station, 386;
+    except in the matter of the packets, indisposition of the British Post
+          Office to improve communication with Ireland, 387;
+    such improvement urged by Foster, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer,
+          388;
+    and resisted by Freeling, 389;
+    Freeling forced to give way, 390;
+    the Irish Post Office consolidated with the Post Office of Great
+          Britain, 414;
+    and the Dublin establishment reformed, 415;
+    the auditing of the Irish accounts rendered futile, 415
+
+  Iron mail-cart stopped and rifled of its contents, 290
+
+  Isle of Wight, its Post Office establishment in 1792, 294
+
+
+  Jackson, a passenger by packet without a pass, 89
+
+  Jacob, Giles, 188 _note_
+
+  Jamaica, Post Office establishment in, and sea rates fixed, 78;
+    duration of voyage to and fro in 1798, 320;
+    House of Assembly vote sum of money in recognition of the gallant
+          defence of the _Antelope_ packet, 323
+
+  James, Duke of York, afterwards James II., opposes introduction of the
+        penny post, 37;
+    wrests it out of Dockwra's hands, 40;
+    suffers the clerks of the roads to retain their newspaper privilege,
+          49
+
+  Jamineau, Isaac, purveyor of newspapers to the clerks of the roads, 300
+
+  Jeffreys, Sir George, afterwards Lord, inflicts exorbitant fine upon
+        Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, 27
+
+  Johnson, Edward, letter-carrier, improves the penny post, 302;
+    is appointed deputy comptroller, 305
+
+  Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 209 _note_
+
+  Jones, distiller of Old Street, St. Luke's, his action against the Post
+        Office, 203
+
+
+  Kent, post through the county of, more carefully nursed than any other, 9
+
+  Kenyon, Lloyd, Lord, when Attorney-General, gives receipts for fees in
+        Post Office cases, 325
+
+  King's coach, deception practised on Walsingham in the matter of the, 251
+
+  King's messengers, their complaint against the Post Office on the
+        erection of milestones, 176
+
+
+  Lambton, John George, moves for a return of the number of Post Office
+        Boards, 396
+
+  Lancashire, the badness of its posts in 1699, 60
+
+  Le Despencer, Francis, Lord, postmaster-general from 1766 to 1781, 221,
+        226
+
+  Leeds, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Lees, Sir John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his testimony to
+        the abuse of franking, 191;
+    having been transferred to the War Office, recapitulates conditions on
+          which he accepts reappointment to the Post Office, 221;
+    recapitulation gives offence to Carteret, 222;
+    and leads to Carteret's exposure, 226
+
+  Lees, Sir Edward Smith, son of the preceding, also secretary to the Post
+        Office in Ireland, his method of conducting business, 369;
+    deals in newspapers, 373;
+    his instruction respecting the alphabet, 374;
+    his difference with Freeling, 381;
+    becomes a director of the Dublin Steam Packet Company, 383;
+    is transferred to Edinburgh, 415;
+    his unauthorised surrender of the receiver-general's bond, 415
+
+  Leet, express clerk, 373
+
+  Leicester, the Corporation of, binds itself to keep post-horses for the
+        use of the Sovereign, 2;
+    salary of postmaster at, in 1792, 293
+
+  Leicester, George, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1794 to 1799, 326
+
+  Letter-carriers, their pay in 1690, 49;
+    as late as 1772, none employed except in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin,
+          197;
+    are appointed at certain other towns, 202;
+    in London their interests suffer from the earlier closing of the Post
+          Office, 221;
+    are put into uniform, 299;
+    the sufferings of some of their number during the winter of 1794-95,
+          306;
+    select their walks according to seniority, 324;
+    deliver letters according to classes, one class for general post
+          letters, another for penny or twopenny letters, and a third for
+          foreign letters, 423
+
+  Letters, on affairs of State originally sent by courier, 2;
+    particulars of, when sent by post, to be carefully recorded, 4;
+    letters on other than the affairs of State received at the post-houses,
+          4;
+    not, without the authority of the Master of the Posts, to be collected,
+          carried, or delivered, 6;
+    notice that none are to be sent except through the post served on the
+          merchants of London, 9;
+    letters detected in being illicitly conveyed to be sent to the Privy
+          Council, and their bearers apprehended, 10;
+    what letters excepted from monopoly, 18;
+    are given precedence over travellers, 18;
+    circulate mainly through London, 29;
+    their mode of distribution, 47;
+    clandestine conveyance of, 54;
+    number of penny post letters for the suburbs of London at the end of
+          the seventeenth century, 69;
+    letters for America and Jamaica charged with postage, although there
+          was no packet service, 78;
+    clandestine conveyance of, stimulated by increase of postage, 134;
+    definition of single and double letter, 139;
+    Allen's injunction to check illegal conveyance of, 165;
+    are examined by means of a strong light, 171, 409, 422;
+    penalty for opening letters, 171;
+    letters containing patterns or samples, whether to be charged as single
+         or double letters, 177;
+    right to make, on the delivery of letters, any charge beyond the
+          postage contested, 197;
+    memorials for and against the earlier delivery of foreign letters in
+          London, 267;
+    average number of letters for each foreign mail in 1790, 268;
+    treatment of dead and missent letters before and after 1793, 308;
+    return of the number of letters passing through the London Post Office
+          submitted to the postmasters-general daily, 324;
+    made penal not only to carry letters, but to send them otherwise than
+          through the post, 335;
+    on the delivery of letters, despite the decision of the Courts, a
+          charge beyond the postage continues to be made, 422;
+    owing to the complication of rates, not possible to express the total
+          charge upon a letter in one taxation, 423
+
+  Lewis XIV. assembles a squadron before Dunkirk, 101;
+    his delay in refusing to sign the preliminaries of peace, 105
+
+  Lichfield, Thomas William, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general May
+        1835, 427 _note_
+
+  Lincolnshire, the paucity of its posts before 1705, 61
+
+  Liverpool, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293;
+    penny post established at, 339;
+    is opened as a packet station, 386
+
+  Liverpool, Robert, Earl of, mediates between Freeling and Lees, 382;
+    transfers the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty,
+          399
+
+  Lloyds supplied by the Post Office with ship news, 218
+
+  Loppinott, Colonel, 321
+
+  Losses by post, compensation for, 38;
+    when ceased to be given, 188
+
+  Lovell, Mary, receiver in St. James's Street, Lord Abercorn's complaint
+        against, 153
+
+  Lovell, Thomas, Lord, afterwards Earl of Leicester, postmaster-general
+        from 1733 to 1759, 167;
+    receives a threatening letter, 183 _note_;
+    his loose notions about smuggling, 238
+
+  Lowndes, William, Secretary to the Treasury, takes charge of the Post
+        Office Bill of 1711, 124;
+    overbears Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, 126;
+    confounds gross and net revenue, 145 (325 _note_)
+
+
+  Macadam, John Loudon, introduces new method of road-making, 392
+
+  Macaulay, Lord, his account of the fine inflicted upon Edmund Prideaux,
+        son of the Master of the Posts, 27;
+    his statement that a part of the Post Office revenue was derived from
+          post-horses questioned, 30 (39)
+
+  Mackerness, Thomas, postmaster of Chipping Norton, 163
+
+  Macky, John, packet agent at Dover, proceeds to Flanders, 102;
+    receives a remarkable caution, 103;
+    having become contractor for the Dover and Ostend packet service,
+          his boats engage in illicit operations, 103;
+    and bring news clandestinely, 106;
+    is commissioned to settle posts for the army, his excellent
+          arrangements, 107
+
+  Maddison, George, 205
+
+  Magistrates, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the
+        service of the posts, 3, 6;
+    are enjoined to see that horses are procured at the post-houses alone,
+          9
+
+  Maidstone, excellency of the delivery at, in the seventeenth century, 48;
+    amount of the postmaster's salary, 50
+
+  Mails, hour of despatch of the, from the General Post Office in 1690, 47;
+    after 1784, 220;
+    cost of conveyance of, before and after the introduction of
+          mail-coaches, 290;
+    are exempt from toll in Great Britain but not in Ireland, 354;
+    exemption withdrawn in Scotland, 359
+
+  Mail bags, curious instances of recovery of, 337
+
+  Mail-carts, mail-cart made of iron rifled of its contents, 290;
+    first used in London to bring letters to the General Post Office, 316
+
+  Mail-coaches, begin to run, 213;
+    rapid extension of the system, 214;
+    system deprecated by some of the leading merchants, 220;
+    their effect upon expresses, 214;
+    upon the illicit conveyance of letters, 227;
+    a mail-coach in attendance upon the King when at Cheltenham, 251;
+    are put off the road by Palmer, 270;
+    number of, in 1792, 281;
+    model of mail-coach preserved at the Post Office, 282;
+    mail-coaches of new pattern supplied, 283;
+    number of passengers by, restricted, 283, 401;
+    roof-loading, and objections to it, 287, 412;
+    roof not always safe, 288;
+    mileage allowance in the case of mail-coaches, 290;
+    their freedom from attacks by highwaymen, 317;
+    become liable to a duty of one penny a mile, 337;
+    are diverted from the direct route for a consideration, 341;
+    number of, in 1811, 352;
+    their unpopularity with road trustees, 353;
+    question considered of withdrawing their exemption from toll, 354;
+    mail-coaches withdrawn instead, 355;
+    in Scotland, are made liable to toll, 359;
+    and their number is reduced, 360;
+    speed of mail-coaches, 399, 426;
+    the mail-coach the great disseminator of news, 401;
+    supply of mail-coaches thrown open to public competition, immediate
+          result, 425
+
+  Mail guards, not originally Post Office servants, 260;
+    their little excesses, 261;
+    their wages, 263;
+    treatment of their wages a cause of difference between Walsingham
+          and Palmer, 263;
+    their position one of responsibility, 283;
+    their fees, 284;
+    specimens of instructions to, 285;
+    carry parcels and game, and suffer to be carried excess-passengers,
+          286, 287
+
+  Main, George, deputy-postmaster of Edinburgh, 117
+
+  Maītres de poste in Canada, 205
+
+  Managers, sometime farmers, of the Post Office, 137
+
+  Manchester, its Post Office establishment in 1792, 292;
+    establishment increased and Penny Post Office opened, 301
+
+  Manley, Captain John, Post Office farmed by, 27
+
+  Manley, Isaac, deputy-postmaster of Dublin, 69 _note_
+
+  Mansfield, William, Earl of, his opinion upon compensation for losses
+        by the post, 188 _note_;
+    his judgment as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of
+          delivering letters, 198
+
+  Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, interests himself in the post with
+        Flanders, 101 (104, 107)
+
+  Maryborough, William, Lord, postmaster-general from December 31, 1834 to
+        May 8, 1835, 427 _note_
+
+  Master of the Posts, his duties, 2;
+    no one not authorised by, allowed to collect, carry, or deliver
+          letters, 6;
+    his salary and emoluments, 12
+
+  Melbourne, William, Viscount, 423
+
+  Melville, Robert, Viscount, advocates transfer of the Falmouth packets
+        to the Admiralty, 399
+
+  Menai Straits, additional rate of postage imposed on letters crossing
+        the, 395
+
+  Merchants' accounts to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801,
+        exemption then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Merchant adventurers. _See_ Foreign Merchants
+
+  Methuen, Sir Paul, ambassador to Portugal, calls attention to the
+        irregular proceedings of the packets, 91
+
+  Mileage allowance, in case of mail-coaches, 290;
+    higher in Ireland than in England, 376;
+    flippant return to the House of Commons on the subject of, 424
+
+  Miles, difference between measured and computed miles, 175
+
+  Milestones, erection of, 175;
+    their effect upon the charge for post-horses, 176
+
+  Milford Haven and Waterford, packet service between, 249
+
+  Missent letters, treatment of, before and after 1793, 309
+
+  Money Order Office, 420;
+    the subject of a flippant return to the House of Commons, 424;
+    facsimile of a money order issued in 1802, Appendix
+
+  Monopoly of the Post Office, origin of, in the matter of letters and of
+        post-horses, 7;
+    confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, 9;
+    confirmed by Act of Parliament, 27;
+    withdrawn as regards post-horses, 205
+
+  Mountstuart, John, Viscount, 256 _note_
+
+  Murray, Robert, reputed to have been the first to suggest the penny post,
+        36
+
+
+  Neale, Thomas, obtains grants for setting up posts in North America,
+        110;
+    his pecuniary difficulties, 112;
+    offers to surrender his patent, 115;
+    patent passes on his death to Andrew Hamilton, 116
+
+  Newcastle, Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of, his orders about the packets
+        countermanded by Pelham, 173;
+    sends to the Post Office to inquire the price of corn, 255
+
+  Newcastle, salary of the postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  News, hunger after, 50;
+    the postmasters-general the great purveyors of, 104;
+    news disseminated by the mail-coaches, 401
+
+  Newspapers, franking of, by the clerks of the roads, 49;
+    are received from abroad by Post Office servants in advance of the
+          general public, 175;
+    conditions of franking newspapers altered, effect of alteration, 191,
+          250;
+    copies of, supplied to Post Office servants, 232;
+    newspaper office established, 261;
+    number and weight of newspapers passing through the Post Office in
+          1788, 262 _note_;
+    treatment of foreign newspapers, 343;
+    newspaper agency at the Post Office largely developed, 344;
+    London newspapers supplied by the Post Office with early intelligence
+          from abroad, 346;
+    newspapers, though franked, not exempt from postage by the penny,
+          twopenny, and convention posts, 350;
+    postage on newspapers for the East Indies reduced below the letter
+          rate, 363;
+    improper dealing with newspapers in Ireland, 372;
+    on newspapers to and from the Colonies special rates established
+          and franking privilege withdrawn, 402;
+    this privilege retained in the case of newspapers for the Continent,
+          403;
+    newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom exempted from postage,
+          404;
+    extent of newspaper business conducted by the clerks of the roads in
+          1829, 407;
+    in 1830, 418;
+    newspaper business finally withdrawn, 419
+
+  Newton, Sir Isaac, 66
+
+  New Year's gifts, extortion of, 325
+
+  Nicholas, Sir Edward, 20
+
+  Nodin, passenger on board the _Antelope_ packet, his gallantry, 321
+
+  Normanby, Henry Constantine, Viscount, proposes abolition of the office
+        of second postmaster-general, 397
+
+  North, Frederick, Lord, 206;
+    receives singular reply from the Post Office, 218
+
+  Northampton, Countess of, 63
+
+  Northey, Sir Edward, 143
+
+  Northumberland, Hugh, Earl of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 194
+
+  Nottingham, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+
+  Ogilby, John, calls attention to the difference between measured and
+        computed miles, 175 _note_
+
+  Oldfield, Thomas, postmaster of York, 337
+
+  Oldmixon, 26
+
+  Old Street, St Luke's, a second penny charged on penny post letters
+        addressed to, 203
+
+  Oliphant, Robert, deputy postmaster-general for Scotland, 271
+
+  Olney, Buckinghamshire, attempts to improve its post and the consequence,
+        351
+
+  O'Neile, Daniel, farmer of the posts, 33, 34
+
+  O'Neill, Charles Henry St. John, Earl, postmaster-general of Ireland
+        from 1807 to 1831, 368 _seq._, 415
+
+  Onslow, Denzil, 185
+
+  Opening of letters, during the Commonwealth, 28;
+    under James II., 44;
+    practice systematically carried on under Walpole's administration, 170;
+    continued, as regards foreign letters, until 1844, 269 _note_
+
+  Ordnance, Board of, 86
+
+  Ormonde, James, Duke of, 70
+
+  Oxenbridge, Clement, reduces postage, 29;
+    receives an appointment under the Post Office, 32
+
+  Oxford Street, branch post office opened in, 411
+
+
+  Packets (sailing), packet establishment in 1690, 45;
+    are forbidden to carry merchandise in times of war, 76;
+    regulations for control of, 82;
+    carry their own surgeon, 84;
+    are not, without a pass, to carry passengers, 85;
+    or goods, 88;
+    fares are not sufficiently made known and inconvenience arises,
+          instances given, 86;
+    curious assortment of goods sent free by packet, 88;
+    packets bring both passengers and goods without passes, 89;
+    engage in smuggling, 89;
+    are forbidden to give chase, 93;
+    are not entitled to the prizes they take, 93;
+    agreement with prizes honourably observed as a rule, exceptions given,
+          94;
+    are victualled at Falmouth and at Harwich on different principles,
+          objections to both systems, 95;
+    copy of letter-bill by the _Prince_ packet, 97;
+    transport recruits with disastrous results, 97;
+    must be of English build, 98;
+    engage with privateers, 101;
+    are placed on a peace footing, 108;
+    colours altered on Union with Scotland, 117;
+    sufficiency of the burthen and crew of the Falmouth packets questioned
+          by the merchants, 173;
+    the packets generally meet with a series of disasters, 207;
+    wholesale smuggling on the part of the Harwich packets, 237;
+    inordinate growth of the packet expenditure, 238;
+    and the reason, 239;
+    packets established between Milford Haven and Waterford, 249;
+    representation by the merchants as to the number of packets captured,
+          320;
+    their gallant actions with privateers, 321;
+    probable explanation of these actions occurring only when passengers
+          were on board, 323;
+    mode of procuring packets for the East Indies and the Cape in 1815, and
+          their cost, 363;
+    arrangement in the matter of packets between Great Britain and Ireland,
+          378;
+    steps taken by the Dublin Post Office to set the arrangement aside,
+          381;
+    sailing packets replaced by steam packets between Holyhead and Dublin,
+          384;
+    between Milford Haven and Waterford, 385;
+    between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, 385;
+    the Falmouth packets transferred to the Admiralty, 398
+
+  Packets (steam), between Holyhe ad and Dublin, charges by, as compared
+          with sailing packets, 385;
+    number of passengers before the introduction of steam, 383 _note_;
+    and after, 385;
+    number of steam packets possessed by the Post Office in 1827, 399;
+    packet service thrown open to public competition, 417;
+    Irish steam packets, defective return to the House of Commons in the
+          matter of, 424
+
+  Pajot, director of the French posts, his obstinacy, 77;
+    his unreasonableness, 138
+
+  Palmer, John, his activity, 208;
+    general sketch of his plan, 209;
+    his plan is brought to the notice of Pitt, 212;
+    and is tried on the Bath road, 213;
+    extends his plan, 214;
+    induces Pitt to raise the rates of postage, 215;
+    alleges obstruction, 217;
+    alters the length of the stages, 219;
+    his plan is opposed by the merchants, 220;
+    opposition dies away, 227;
+    procures appointment of his nominees, 228;
+    conditions of his own appointment, 228;
+    his jealousy of Allen, 230;
+    expedites the morning delivery in London, and introduces an improved
+          method of business, 235;
+    imposes upon Walsingham in the matter of the King's coach, 251;
+    his treatment of official papers, 256;
+    pays an unexpected visit to Walsingham at Old Windsor, 258;
+    betrays his jealousy, 259;
+    establishes, but without the necessary authority, a newspaper office,
+          261;
+    and a mail guards' fund, 263;
+    is called to account by Walsingham, 263;
+    takes umbrage at a rebuke administered to his deputy, Bonnor, 265;
+    disobeys orders, 266;
+    becomes aggressive and defiant, 270;
+    and appeals to Pitt, 272;
+    is charged by Bonnor with promoting a public meeting antagonistic to
+          the postmasters-general, 275;
+    suspends Bonnor, 275;
+    is suspended himself, 276;
+    is dismissed, 279;
+    receives a pension and, later on, a Parliamentary grant, 280;
+    general result of his plan, 290 (299, 302, 353)
+
+  Palmerston, Henry John, Viscount, his humorous reply to Freeling, 380
+
+  Parkin, Anthony, solicitor to the Post Office, 333
+
+  Parnell, Sir Henry, 407
+
+  Pascoe, John, boatswain of the _Antelope_ packet, his gallant resistance
+        to the attack of a privateer, 322
+
+  Patterns and samples, letters containing, and being less than one ounce
+        in weight, whether to be charged single or double, 177;
+    question tried at law, 178;
+    settled by Act of Parliament, 179;
+    concessions in favour of, 315
+
+  Pay. _See_ Wages
+
+  Pelham, Henry, countermands Newcastle's orders about the packets, 173
+
+  Pennant, Thomas, 261
+
+  Penny post, its introduction by Dockwra, 36;
+    general plan of, 37;
+    carries up to one pound in weight, 37;
+    includes a system of insurance, 38;
+    days on which it does not go, 39;
+    increases number of country letters, 40;
+    is absorbed into the General Post Office, 40;
+    establishment of, in 1690, 45;
+    stimulates the clandestine conveyance of letters into London, 54;
+    on its acquisition by the State its general conditions remain
+          unchanged, 67;
+    number of penny post letters for the suburbs at the end of the
+          seventeenth century, 69;
+    its contemplated extension to Dublin in 1703, 69;
+    affects the number of ship letters, 73;
+    is without legal sanction, 119;
+    legal sanction given, 128;
+    its limits restricted to ten miles, 129;
+    the charge of a second penny on all letters delivered outside the bills
+          of mortality made legal, 143;
+    weight carried by the penny post reduced from one pound to four ounces,
+          188;
+    compensation for losses by the, when ceased to be given, 188 _note_;
+    attempts made by the Post Office to charge a second penny within the
+          bills of mortality, 203;
+    principal officers of the penny post absentees, 231;
+    stagnation of the penny post, 302;
+    the post is improved by Johnson, a letter-carrier, 302;
+    financial result, 305;
+    prepayment, hitherto optional, made compulsory, 306;
+    restriction on limits withdrawn, 307;
+    the charge of a second penny, heretofore confined to letters delivered
+          at places outside the bills of mortality, imposed upon letters
+          coming therefrom, 307;
+    the penny post converted into a twopenny post, 331;
+    and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, 340. _See_ twopenny and
+          threepenny posts
+
+  Penzance, its post before and after 1784, 291
+
+  Pepys, Samuel, 84 _note_
+
+  Perceval Spencer, 354, 379
+
+  Percival, Joseph, a passenger by packet without a pass, 89
+
+  Pickwick, "Mr. Pickwick's coach," 281
+
+  Pitt, William, his attention is called to Palmer's plan, 212;
+    sweeps away frivolous objections and desires that it may be tried, 213;
+    raises the postage rates, 215;
+    relaxes the restrictions upon franking, 217;
+    dismisses Tankerville, 224;
+    settles conditions of Palmer's appointment, 229;
+    his knowledge of abuses at the Post Office and his unwillingness to
+          expose them, 241;
+    suppresses report of Royal Commission, 242;
+    authorises increase of salary to the clerks of the roads, 251;
+    declares Palmer's proceedings to be irregular, 263;
+    turns a deaf ear to the postmaster-general's request for an interview,
+          273;
+    interview at length granted, 277;
+    a second interview, 279;
+    acquiesces in Palmer's dismissal and grants him a pension, 279;
+    makes to Post Office servants a periodical grant pending a revision of
+          the establishment, 300;
+    promotes plan for improving the penny post, 305;
+    disallows practice of charging returned letters, 308;
+    modifies arrangements for dealing with ship letters, 329;
+    his precepts in this matter afterwards disregarded, 361
+
+  Plymouth, salary of the postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  _Political Register_, its criticisms on Post Office practice, 342
+
+  Pope, Alexander, his lines on Ralph Allen, 186
+
+  Portage, 29
+
+  Portland, William Henry, Duke of, 379
+
+  Portland Packet, Captain Taylor, its gallant action with privateer, 321
+
+  Postage, introduction of, 18;
+    settled by Act of Parliament, 27;
+    original meaning of term, 29 _note_;
+    rates of postage in 1635, 18;
+    in 1657 and 1660, 28;
+    in 1711, 127;
+    in 1765, 187;
+    in 1784, 216;
+    in 1797, 318;
+    in 1801, 331;
+    in 1805, 339;
+    in 1812, 356;
+    device resorted to in order to evade high rates of, 142;
+    rates lapse through effluxion of time, 180;
+    rates of postage between London and the Channel Islands and within the
+          islands themselves, 314;
+    from Portugal and America, 319;
+    financial result of increase of rates, 341;
+    bewildering complications, 357;
+    extraordinary toleration of the public, explanation suggested, 358;
+    an additional rate imposed in Scotland on withdrawal of exemption from
+          toll, 359;
+    and on letters passing over the Menai Straits or Conway Bridge, 395;
+    rates of postage to the East Indies in 1815, 363;
+    instances of exorbitant rates, 409
+
+  "Poste for the Pacquet," 5 _note_
+
+  Post-boys, 164
+
+  Post-coaches, 214
+
+  Post-haste, 20
+
+  Post-horn. _See_ Horn
+
+  Post-horses. _See_ Horses
+
+  Post-houses, to have horses in readiness, 4;
+    horses not to be let except at, 6;
+    pay of keepers of, in arrear, 15
+
+  Postilions, 107
+
+  Postmarks, introduction of, 38
+
+  Postmasters, their duties in 1690, 48;
+    their salaries, 50;
+    their grievances, 51;
+    their contingent advantages, 52;
+    intercept postage on bye-letters, 52, 53;
+    their correspondence exempt from postage, 160;
+    their moderation on the erection of milestones, 177;
+    are enjoined to frequent the local markets and report the price of
+          corn, 254;
+    salaries of certain postmasters in Scotland in 1707, 118;
+    in England in 1792, 293
+
+  Postmasters-General (I.) [Cotton and Frankland, 1690 to 1708], their
+        simple-mindedness, 45;
+    their accessibility, 46;
+    their concern about the illicit correspondence, 53;
+    their powerlessness to check it, 56;
+    let the posts out to farm, 58;
+    refuse to sublet the penny post, 69;
+    their difference with Pajot, minister of the French posts, 77;
+    remonstrate with captains of packets at Falmouth, 89;
+    and at Harwich, 91;
+    chuckle over the capture of a prize, 93;
+    their rebuke to the captain of a Falmouth packet, 94 _note_;
+    instance of their rough-and-ready justice, 95;
+    take vigorous measures to protect the packets from Flemish privateers,
+          101;
+    their admonition to the packet agent at Dover, 102;
+    act as purveyors of news to the Court, instances given, 104;
+    advocate cheap postage to America, 114;
+    become, at the Union with Scotland, responsible for the Scotch posts,
+          117;
+    their inaction, explanation suggested, 119;
+    action forced upon them, 120;
+    are contrasted with their successors, 185, 202
+
+  Postmasters-General (II.) [Frankland and Evelyn, 1708 to 1715], their
+        interview with Godolphin, 106;
+    their instruction about expresses from Dover, 107;
+    treat personally with Povey, 123;
+    Frankland ceases to be a member of Parliament, 128;
+    concern themselves only slightly about travellers, 130;
+    take measures to check the abuse of franking, 133;
+    in vain urge the appointment of surveyors, 134;
+    negotiate new treaty with France, 138;
+    quit office on accession of George the First, 139
+
+  Postmasters-General (III.) [Cornwallis and Craggs, 1715 to 1721], are
+        amazed at the absence of check in the Post Office, 140;
+    note how little the increase in the rates of postage has added to the
+          revenue, 141;
+    and how largely it has stimulated the abuse of franking, 142;
+    their dispute with the merchants, 142;
+    convict Lowndes of a ludicrous error, 145;
+    their harsh treatment of their secretary, 152
+
+  Postmasters-General (IV.) [Edward Carteret and Walpole, 1721 to 1725],
+        their kindness to subordinates, 152;
+    their interview with Abercorn, 154.
+    [From 1725 to 1733 Carteret had for his colleague Edward Harrison, and
+          from 1733 to 1739 Lord Lovell.]
+    Carteret establishes a post to Aylsham, 167
+
+  Postmasters-General (V.) [Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret and, for the
+        second time, Tankerville, 1784 to 1786], collect opinions on
+        Palmer's plan and submit them to Pitt, 213;
+    entertain doubts as to its feasibility, 218;
+    their differences between themselves, 221;
+    their open rupture, 223;
+    Tankerville is dismissed by Pitt, 224;
+    his ungovernable temper, 225
+
+  Postmasters-General (VI.) [Carteret and Walsingham, 1787 to 1789],
+        Walsingham's industry and thoroughness, 243;
+    questions Carteret's right to sign first, 243;
+    his preponderating influence, 244;
+    his habit of annotating and execrable handwriting, 244, 263;
+    reduces packet establishment at Falmouth, 246;
+    is dissuaded from carrying out a similar reduction at Holyhead, 248;
+    is powerless to control the correspondence by the Milford packets, 249;
+    in conjunction with Carteret procures increase of salary for the clerks
+          of the roads, 250;
+    is imposed upon in the matter of the King's coach, 251;
+    calls for the surveyors' journals, 255;
+    his correspondence with Chalmers, 256;
+    receives an unexpected visit from Palmer, 258;
+    detects Palmer's jealousy and endeavours to allay it, 260;
+    calls Palmer to account for acting without authority, 263;
+    exposes Bonnor's attempt at deception, 265;
+    Carteret's dismissal, 266;
+    Walsingham inquires into the solicitor's accounts, 324
+
+  Postmasters-General (VII.) [Walsingham and Chesterfield, 1790 to 1794],
+          Chesterfield's playful allusions to Palmer, 269;
+    Palmer sets the postmasters-general at defiance, 270;
+    they seek in vain an interview with Pitt, 273;
+    receive assurances from Bonnor of Palmer's disloyalty, 275;
+    remove Bonnor's suspension and suspend Palmer, 276;
+    Chesterfield's letter, 276;
+    Walsingham's interview with Pitt, 277;
+    feel confident of their own dismissal, 278;
+    are furnished with evidence by Bonnor, 278;
+    have a second interview with Pitt and dismiss Palmer, 279;
+    contrast Palmer's reticence in official matters with Freeling's wealth
+          of explanation, 295;
+    Walsingham attempts to improve communication with France, 296;
+    and to reduce postage on letters containing the second halves of bank
+          notes, 298;
+    give attention to coach-building, 393
+
+  Postmasters-General (VIII.) [Chichester and Salisbury, 1816 to 1823],
+        are called upon for a return of the number of Post Office Boards,
+        396;
+    address to the Throne praying that one of the two offices of
+          postmaster-general be abolished, 397;
+    Salisbury stops his own salary, and on his death Chichester becomes
+          postmaster-general sole, 398;
+    Salisbury's testimony to increase of stringency in Post Office matters,
+          405
+
+  Post Office, origin of its monopoly, 7;
+    monopoly confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, 9;
+    a Post Office opened in the city of London, 20;
+    dispute for its possession, 21;
+    becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 27;
+    its position in 1680, 39;
+    is the only receptacle for letters in London, 40;
+    description of it, 46;
+    relations between the Post Office and the Treasury, 57;
+    the Post Office becomes unpopular and the reasons, 170 _seq._;
+    its retrogression, 184;
+    assumes a new character, 202;
+    loses monopoly of letting post-horses, 205;
+    Post Office buildings in Edinburgh and Dublin fall into decay, 207;
+    indignation caused by the earlier closing of the Post Office in London,
+          220;
+    this office enlarged, 295;
+    state of the Post Office as between the years 1695 and 1813 compared,
+          356;
+    the Post Office disseminates news, 401;
+    and police notices, 402;
+    becomes object of interest to the House of Commons, 407;
+    is cleared of more than a century of debt, 408;
+    a new post office opened in St. Martin's-le-Grand, 410
+
+  Post-runners, 118
+
+  Posts, paucity of, in time of Henry the Eighth, 1;
+    their close connection with the Sovereign, 3;
+    instructions for the regulation of, 4;
+    designed not only to carry the letters of the Sovereign, but for the
+          use of persons travelling on the Sovereign's concerns, 4;
+    posts originally maintained at loss to the Crown, 7;
+    at the beginning of the seventeenth century only four in number, 8;
+    of these the post to Dover the most important, precautions taken lest
+          this post should be used for designs against the State, 9;
+    decadence of the posts, 15;
+    improved by Witherings, 16;
+    to be self-supporting, 17;
+    thrown open to the public, 18;
+    let out to farm, 25;
+    rent paid in 1650, 25;
+    in 1653, 27;
+    in 1660, 33;
+    in 1667, 34;
+    in 1657 become the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 27;
+    their inadequacy to meet public demands, 34;
+    even where they existed, their existence not generally known, 35;
+    at what intervals they left London in 1680, 36;
+    regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason, 43;
+    again let out to farm, 58;
+    resumed by the State, 137;
+    as late as 1728, not of general concern, 152
+
+  Povey, Charles, sets up a halfpenny post, 121;
+    contrast between him and Dockwra, 122;
+    his insolence, 122;
+    is proceeded against and cast in damages, 123
+
+  Prideaux, Edmund, takes part with Burlamachi against Warwick, 21;
+    rescues the mail from Warwick's servants, 22;
+    brings the imprisonment of his own servant before the House of
+          Commons, 22;
+    becomes Master of the Posts, 23;
+    his activity, 24;
+    suppresses unauthorised post to Scotland, 25;
+    makes profit out of the posts and is called upon to pay rent, 25;
+    is dismissed, 25;
+    retains an interest in the posts, 26;
+    Oldmixon's estimate of his character, 26;
+    destination of a part of his wealth, 27
+
+  Prideaux, Edmund, son of the preceding, 27
+
+  Prior, Matthew, negotiates Post Office treaty with France, 138
+
+  Prior Park, 185
+
+  Prizes, practice observed on capture of, 93
+
+  Prosecutions, for the illicit conveyance of letters, 333;
+    measures taken to secure their publicity, 359;
+    return to the House of Commons on the subject of, 422
+
+  Protection order, specimen of, 84 _note_
+
+
+  Quartering of soldiers, a grievance to postmasters, 51
+
+  Quash, Ralph Allen's predecessor as postmaster of Bath, 147
+
+  Queen's letters, meaning of term in 1706, 83 _note_
+
+  Queen's servants not exempt from fare by packet, 86
+
+  Queensberry, James, Duke of, 64
+
+
+  Raikes, a diamond merchant, suggests the giving of receipts for
+        registered letters, 409 _note_
+
+  Railways, prediction concerning, 408;
+    first mail sent by railway, 412
+
+  Ramsgate, cost of Post Office at, in 1792, 293
+
+  Randolph, Thomas, Master of the Posts to Queen Elizabeth, 3
+
+  Receiving offices, first opened in London, 37;
+    generally kept at public-houses, 68;
+    to remain open on six nights a week instead of three, 196;
+    letter-boxes at, to be closed and fixed, 306;
+    receiving offices for twopenny post letters separate and distinct from
+          offices for letters by the general post, 409, 423
+
+  Recruits, exemption of, from fare by packet, 85;
+    disputes with officers in charge of, 87;
+    packets employed for transport of, 97
+
+  Registration, exorbitant fees for, of foreign letters, 233;
+    amount of these fees in 1783 and 1784, 235;
+    receipts for foreign registered letters begin to be given, 409 _note_
+
+  Returned Letters. _See_ Dead letters
+
+  Revenue of the Post Office, surrendered by the Crown to the public,
+        in part, in 1711, 126;
+    and wholly, in exchange for a Civil List, in 1760, 189;
+    amount of, from 1635 to 1694, 46;
+    in 1710 and 1721, 144;
+    in 1787 as compared with 1784, 227;
+    in 1796 and 1806, 341;
+    in 1824 and 1833, 422
+
+  Richmond, Charles, Duke of, postmaster-general from December 1830 to July
+        1834, declines to receive salary, 413;
+    his industry, 413;
+    becomes postmaster-general of Ireland as well as Great Britain, and
+         reforms the Dublin establishment, 414;
+    contemplates, apparently, a reduction of postage, 419
+
+  Ripon, Post Office at, refused in 1713, 151;
+    in possession of one in 1792, 293
+
+  Roads, condition of, in 1691, 65;
+    during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, 390;
+    begin to be constructed on scientific principles, 392;
+    Macadam's plan for dealing with the surface of, 392;
+    difference between roads in the country and roads in the neighbourhood
+         of London, 394
+
+  Rochester, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1685 to 1689,
+        43, 74 _note_, 110, Appendix _note_
+
+  Rogers, captain of packet, engages in smuggling, 89
+
+  Roof-loading of mail-coaches, 287, 412
+
+  Rosencrantz, the Danish envoy, to be specially accommodated on board
+        Harwich packet, 87
+
+  Rosse, Laurence, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1809 to
+        1831, 369, 415
+
+  Rotterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Royal boroughs of Scotland, 208
+
+  Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Post Office in 1787, 227, 230;
+    in 1823, 407;
+    recommendations of this last Commission not carried into effect, 420;
+    another Commission appointed to ascertain the reason, 423;
+    this Commission procures the contract for mail-coaches to be thrown
+          open to public competition, 425
+
+  Runners, 118
+
+  Rye-House Plot, the cause of a Post Office proclamation, 43
+
+
+  Sailors on board the packets, their conditions of service, 83;
+    receive pensions for wounds, 85;
+    their wages withheld, 91;
+    their wages increased, 248
+
+  St. John, Henry, afterwards Viscount Bolingbroke, 211
+
+  St. Leonards, Shoreditch, a second penny on penny post letters improperly
+        charged at, 203
+
+  St. Martin's-le-Grand, opening of Post Office at, 410
+
+  Salaries. _See_ Wages
+
+  Salisbury, James, Marquess of, postmaster-general from 1816 to 1823.
+        _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
+
+  Samples. _See_ Patterns
+
+  Sampson, captain of packet, 313
+
+  Sandwich, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, 172;
+    specimen of his frank, Appendix
+
+  Sandwich, John, Earl of, son of the preceding, postmaster-general from
+        1807 to 1814, 348
+
+  Sandwich, Kent, asserts its right to a free delivery, 197;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202, 293
+
+  Scotland, tardiness of communication with, before 1635, 16;
+    communication expedited by Witherings, 16;
+    postage to Scotland, 18;
+    post to Edinburgh set up by the City of London, 24;
+    extent of correspondence with Scotland in 1690, 53;
+    Scotch posts placed under the postmasters-general of England, 117;
+    salaries of Scotch postmasters, 118;
+    course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, 180,
+          256;
+    in 1765 posts to and within Scotland increased in frequency, 195;
+    Post Office in Edinburgh no longer habitable, 207;
+    internal administration of Scotch Post Office revised by Palmer, 271;
+    penny post established in Edinburgh, 300;
+    postage rates within Scotland raised, 319;
+    wholesale prosecutions for illicit correspondence, 333;
+    exemption from toll withdrawn and an additional postage rate imposed,
+          359;
+    unhandsome conduct of the road trustees, 359;
+    roads discoached, 360
+
+  Search, powers of, refused by the House of Commons, 128
+
+  Sebright, Sir John, his letter accidentally opened, 333
+
+  Secretary of State, clerks in the office of, compensated for the loss of
+        the newspaper privilege, 193
+
+  Secretary of the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1694, 70
+
+  Secret Office, 170, 269
+
+  Sharpus, postmaster of New York, 111
+
+  Sheffield, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Shelburne, William, Earl of, 212
+
+  Ship letters, origin of ship letter money, 73;
+    by means of the penny post evade full postage, 73;
+    number of, in 1686, 74;
+    pence paid upon, without legal sanction, 119;
+    legal sanction given, 128;
+    ship letter office established, 328;
+    rates on, increased and restrictions imposed, 361;
+    restrictions modified, 362;
+    made compulsory upon private ships to carry mails, 362
+
+  Ship news supplied by the Post Office to Lloyds, 218
+
+  Shipwrecked seamen pass free by packet, 85
+
+  Shrewsbury, curious reply to petition from, for earlier post, 218
+
+  Single letter, definition of, 139
+
+  Smart and bounty money, 85
+
+  Smuggling, on board the packets at Falmouth, 89, 238;
+    at Harwich, 91, 237;
+    at Dover, 103;
+    in the Dover mail-coach, 271
+
+  Soldiers' wives, when travelling supplied with money through the medium
+        of the Post Office, 374
+
+  Solicitor to the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1703, 70;
+    an absentee and his duties performed by deputy, 231;
+    his accounts inspected by Walsingham's direction, 324
+
+  Somerset, Protector, superscription of his letter to Lord Dacre, 20
+
+  Sorters, pay of, in 1690, 49
+
+  Southampton, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Speed of post in Queen Elizabeth's time, 4;
+    in time of James the First, 6;
+    at the end of the seventeenth century, 62;
+    between London and Falmouth and London and Harwich, at the beginning
+          of the eighteenth century, 83;
+    under Allen's contract, 148;
+    in 1765, 187;
+    after 1784, 290;
+    speed of Holyhead mail-coach before and after Telford's improvement
+          of the road, 394;
+    of mail-coaches generally in 1821 and 1836, 399, 426
+
+  Spencer, Lord Charles, postmaster-general from 1801 to 1806, 333
+
+  Spitalfields, a second penny improperly charged on penny post letters
+        addressed to, 203
+
+  Sprange, James, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells, 408
+
+  Spring Rice, Thomas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 428
+
+  Stage, inconvenience resulting from term not being defined, 219;
+    term dropped as unit of charge, 318
+
+  Stanhope of Harrington, John, Lord, Master of the Posts, 10;
+    resents what he conceives to be an invasion of his patent, 10;
+    dies and is succeeded as Master of the Posts by his son, 11
+
+  Stanhope of Harrington, Charles, Lord, Master of the Posts, son of the
+        preceding, vigorously asserts his rights, 11;
+    vacillating decisions of the Privy Council, 12;
+    surrenders his patent, 20;
+    alleges cajolery, 23
+
+  Stanhope, Arthur, comptroller of the foreign department, his emoluments
+        from franking, 344;
+    supplies newspapers with summaries of foreign intelligence, 346
+
+  Stanhope, James, Secretary of State, 64
+
+  Stanwix, Colonel, 97
+
+  State letters, 83 _note_
+
+  Staunton, John, postmaster of Isleworth; appointed comptroller of the
+        bye and cross-roads, 224
+
+  Steam packets, first employment of, by the Post Office, 384
+
+  Stock Exchange, The, outwits the Post Office, 106
+
+  Stockdale, a highwayman, execution of, 183 _note_
+
+  Stokes, William, 245
+
+  Stone, George, Receiver-General, a defaulter, 185
+
+  Stowmarket, its position and its trade unknown to Allen, 157
+
+  Strangers' post. _See_ Foreign merchants
+
+  Sudbury, duties and salary of postmaster in 1690, 50
+
+  Sunderland, Charles, Earl of, 89
+
+  Surveyors, appointment of, refused by the Treasury, 134;
+    afterwards sanctioned, 140;
+    their original functions, 134;
+    their functions and emoluments after 1786, 228;
+    their journals, 255, 259;
+    cease to hold postmasterships in addition to their appointments as
+        surveyors, 339
+
+  Swift, Richard, solicitor to the Post Office, prepares Post Office bill
+        of 1711, 125;
+    is overborne by Lowndes, secretary to the Treasury, 126
+
+
+  Tankerville, Charles, Earl of, postmaster-general from April 1782 to May
+        1783, and again from January 1784 to September 1786. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part V.
+
+  Telford, Thomas, takes in hand the road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury,
+        392;
+    between Shrewsbury and London, 393;
+    other roads, 409
+
+  Thanet, Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of, undertakes to establish a penny
+        post in Dublin, 69
+
+  "Thorough poste," 5 _note_
+
+  Thrale, Mrs., 209 _note_
+
+  Threepenny post, 340, 417
+
+  Thurloe, John, secretary, assumes direction of the Post Office in
+        1655, 27;
+    intercepts letters, 28
+
+  Thurlow, Edward, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Chancellor; his
+        opinion as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of
+        delivering letters, 198, 201
+
+  Thynne, Henry Frederick, afterwards Carteret. _See_ Postmasters-General,
+        Parts V. and VI.
+
+  Timepieces, mode of regulating mail-guards', 283
+
+  _Times_ newspaper, its priority of intelligence, 347;
+    its criticisms on Post Office procedure, 348;
+    proceedings against, taken by Freeling, 349
+
+  Tinware, supply of, to the postmasters-general, 232
+
+  Todd, Anthony, secretary to the Post Office; his correspondence with
+        Benjamin Franklin, 204;
+    his indifference, 218;
+    comments upon Tankerville's temper, 225;
+    his compromising position in respect to the packets, 240;
+    his emoluments, 240;
+    his remark upon Bonnor's dilatory replies, 264;
+    devotes himself to social amenities, 294;
+    unknown to the postmasters-general, retains his shares in the packets,
+          327;
+    his death, 327
+
+  Toll, mail-coaches exempt from, in England and Scotland but not in
+        Ireland, 354;
+    exemption withdrawn in Scotland, 359
+
+  Townshend, Horatio, Lord, 64
+
+  Townshend, Charles, deprecates alarm because a letter is sent by express,
+        182
+
+  Travellers, obtain use of post-horses under false pretences, 5;
+    are not to be supplied with horses except at the post-houses, 6;
+    paucity of travellers, 15;
+    are not to be supplied with horses when the post is expected, 18;
+    have to pay more for horses after the erection of milestones, 176;
+    their restriction to post-houses for a supply of horses withdrawn, 205
+
+  Treasury, its relations to the Post Office, 57, 416;
+    refuses the appointment of surveyors, 134;
+    refuses a horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow, 136;
+    experience of its ways a bar to the suggestion of improvements, 169;
+    extorts blackmail, 325
+
+  Treves, Peregrine, the recipient of Carteret's bounty, 226
+
+  Tring, the postmaster of, opens a letter addressed to Sir John Sebright,
+        333
+
+  Tuke, Sir Brian, Master of the Posts to Henry the Eighth, his letter to
+        Thomas Cromwell, 1;
+    his duties, 2;
+    explanation suggested of statement in his letter, 4
+
+  Tunbridge, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Tunbridge Wells, old-fashioned postmaster of, in 1823, 408
+
+  Turnpikes, condition of the trusts at the beginning of the nineteenth
+        century, 353;
+    number of Turnpike Acts passed between 1760 and 1809, 390
+
+  Twopenny post, a second penny charged by Dockwra on delivery of letters
+        in the outskirts of London, 38;
+    this second penny not legally sanctioned until 1730, 143;
+    the twopenny post thus established in one direction established also
+          in the other, 307;
+    the penny post converted into a twopenny post, 331;
+    and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, 340;
+    the revenue of the twopenny post as compared with that of the penny
+          post, 341;
+    the crowded condition of the twopenny Post Office in Westminster, 410
+
+  Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, Earl of, opens the mails at Dublin Castle, 53
+
+
+  Uniform, letter-carriers put into, 299
+
+  Urin, captain of packet, makes wrong port, 89
+
+
+  Vanderpoel, packet agent at the Brill, 92
+
+  Vansittart, Nicholas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, insists upon
+        mail-coaches being withdrawn from the roads, 355;
+    raises the rates of postage, 356;
+    changes the route of the Holyhead coach, 390;
+    refuses to get the terms of a hostile motion altered, 397
+
+  Van Vrybergh, Envoy Extraordinary from the States-General, 101
+
+  Venetian Ambassador, the, protests against the opening of his letters, 28
+
+  Vidler, his contract for the supply of mail-coaches terminated, 425
+
+  Village posts. _See_ Convention posts
+
+  Viner, Sir Robert, 70
+
+
+  Wade, General, 146
+
+  Wages and salaries, of Post Office servants in 1690, 49;
+    of seamen on board the packets, 83;
+    of certain postmasters in England, 50, 293, and in Scotland, 117;
+    of mail-guards, 263
+
+  Waghorn, Thomas, 409
+
+  Wainwright, postmistress of Ferrybridge, her original mode of supplying
+        an omission, 159
+
+  Walcot, John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, terms of his
+        agreement with Barham, packet agent at Dover, 222
+
+  Walpole, Sir Robert, maintains an office for the opening of letters,
+        170
+
+  Walpole, Galfridus, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1725. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part IV.
+
+  Walpole, Horace, precautions taken by, to secure his correspondence
+        against inspection, 172
+
+  Walsingham, Thomas, Lord, postmaster-general from July 1787 to July
+        1794. _See_ Postmasters-General, Parts VI. and VII.
+
+  Warwick, Robert, Earl of, acquires Witherings's patent and claims
+        possession of the letter office, 21;
+    attempts to obtain it by force, 22;
+    continues to assert his claim, 23
+
+  Warwick, course of post to, altered in 1695, 57
+
+  Waterhouse, Benjamin, Secretary to the Post Office, 131 _note_
+
+  Watson, Sir Charles, 296
+
+  Way letter, meaning of term, 147
+
+  Weights to be attached to sea-borne mails, 82
+
+  Wellesley, Sir Arthur, sets aside objections to improving communication
+        with Ireland, 390
+
+  West Indies, packets to the, established, 78;
+    amount of correspondence in 1705, 80;
+    service discontinued in 1711, 109;
+    resumed in 1745, 173;
+    improved arrangements for disposing of the West Indian mails, 310
+
+  Westmorland, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from September 1789 to
+        March 1790, 266
+
+  Weston, Henry, secretary to the Post Office, harsh treatment of, 152
+
+  Weston brothers, trial of, 290
+
+  Wetherall, Robert, master of ship _Albinia_, proceedings against, for
+        refusing to take mails on board, 362 _note_
+
+  Weymouth, constituted a packet station, 313
+
+  Whinnery, Thomas, postmaster of Belfast, his revolving "alphabet," 375;
+    his mode of delivery, 375
+
+  Whitworth, Richard, 192
+
+  Wildman, Colonel John, postmaster-general from July 1689 to March
+        1690, 44
+
+  Willatt, Dame, postmistress of Manchester in 1792, 292;
+    granted a pension, 301
+
+  Willes, Doctor, Dean of Lincoln, afterwards Bishop of St. Davids; the
+        "chief Decypherer," 171
+
+  Willes, Mr. Justice, his judgment upon the question of free delivery, 200
+
+  William III., confers a pension upon Dockwra, 41;
+    refuses to exempt postmasters from the quartering of soldiers, 51;
+    is unwilling to prosecute for the illegal conveyance of letters, 54;
+    his opinion as to the requirements of a mail packet, 75;
+    the soundness of that opinion confirmed, 76
+
+  Williamson, Peter, sets up an office for the delivery of letters in
+        Edinburgh, 300
+
+  Willimott, Receiver-General, 398 _note_
+
+  Wilson, mail-coach contractor, his exorbitant bill for horsing the
+        King's coach, 251
+
+  Witherings, Thomas, succeeds De Quester as foreign postmaster, 14;
+    is commissioned to examine into the inland posts, 14;
+    suggests a scheme of reorganisation, 16;
+    introduces postage, 17;
+    contemplates posts being self-supporting, 17;
+    but not, apparently, a source of revenue, 19;
+    becomes postmaster for both inland and foreign letters, 20;
+    his appointment is sequestered, 21;
+    assigns his patent, 21
+
+  Wolters, Dirick, a suspected person, to be searched for at Harwich, 88
+
+  Worthing, course of post from London to, in 1666, 34
+
+  Wren, Sir Christopher, surveys the Post Office premises in Lombard
+        Street, 71
+
+
+  York, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+[Illustration: Bugler on galloping horse]
+
+_J. D. & Co._
+
+_Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh._
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of
+October 1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802
+according to context.
+
+Two changes were made according to the errata:
+
+Page 324 "that the practice dated from 1713" changed to 1703.
+
+Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of October
+    1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802 according to
+    context.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of the Post Office, by Herbert
+Joyce</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The History of the Post Office</p>
+<p>       From Its Establishment Down to 1836</p>
+<p>Author: Herbert Joyce</p>
+<p>Release Date: December 17, 2011  [eBook #38328]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi,<br />
+    The Philatelic Digital Library Project<br />
+    (http://www.tpdlp.net),<br />
+    Julia Neufeld,<br />
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>THE<br />
+
+HISTORY<br />
+
+OF THE<br />
+
+POST OFFICE</h1>
+
+<div class="center">FROM ITS ESTABLISHMENT DOWN TO<br />
+1836<br /><br /><br />
+
+
+<span class="smcap">By</span></div>
+<h2> HERBERT JOYCE, C.B.</h2>
+<div class="center">OF THE POST OFFICE<br /><br /></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 134px;">
+<img src="images/colophon.jpg" width="134" height="150" alt="Publisher Logo" title="Publisher Logo" />
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="center"><br /><br />LONDON<br />
+RICHARD BENTLEY &amp; SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET<br />
+Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen<br />
+1893</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER I</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Introduction&mdash;Master of the Posts&mdash;Posts centred in the Sovereign&mdash;Instructions</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">for their Regulation&mdash;Travelling Post&mdash;Object of the Post</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Office Monopoly</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER II</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">The Post through the County of Kent&mdash;This Post put under the care of De</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Quester&mdash;Stanhope of Harrington, as Master of the Posts, asserts his</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Rights&mdash;Vacillating Decisions of the Privy Council&mdash;Sir John Coke&mdash;Thomas</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Witherings</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER III</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Decadence of the Posts&mdash;Witherings's Plan&mdash;Introduction of Postage&mdash;Concessions</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to the common Carrier&mdash;Post-haste&mdash;Witherings appointed</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Master of the Inland as well as the Foreign Posts&mdash;His Dismissal&mdash;Philip</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Burlamachi&mdash;Dissensions between the Lords and Commons&mdash;Edmund</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Prideaux appointed Witherings's Successor</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER IV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Prideaux's Activity&mdash;Unauthorised Post set up to Scotland&mdash;System of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Farming&mdash;Prideaux ceases to be Master of the Posts&mdash;Secretary Thurloe&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Posts become the Subject of Parliamentary Enactment&mdash;Rates of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Postage&mdash;Letters circulate through London&mdash;The Travelling Post not a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Source of Revenue&mdash;Clement Oxenbridge</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span>CHAPTER V</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Frequent Change of Farmers&mdash;Tediousness of the Course of Post&mdash;Existence</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Posts not a matter of common Knowledge&mdash;Dockwra's Penny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post&mdash;Introduction of Postmarks&mdash;Penny Post incorporated into the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">General Post&mdash;Dockwra's Dismissal</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Posts regarded as Vehicles for the Propagation of Treason&mdash;Wildman&mdash;Cotton</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">and Frankland&mdash;Post Office Establishment&mdash;Revenue&mdash;Building in</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lombard Street&mdash;Dispersion of Letters&mdash;Salaries and Wages&mdash;Newspapers&mdash;Drink</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">and Feast Money&mdash;Post-horses&mdash;Quartering of Soldiers&mdash;Postmasters'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Emoluments&mdash;Scotland&mdash;Ireland&mdash;Bye-letters&mdash;Illicit</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Traffic&mdash;Treasury Control&mdash;Post Offices grouped together and let out to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">farm&mdash;Stephen Bigg&mdash;Expresses&mdash;Flying Packets&mdash;State of the Roads&mdash;Progress</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Penny Post&mdash;Appointment of Secretary and Solicitor&mdash;Purchase</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Premises in Lombard Street</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">State of the Packet Service&mdash;Ship Letters&mdash;Special Boats built for the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Harwich Station&mdash;M. Pajot, Director of the French Posts&mdash;Establishment</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of West India Packets&mdash;Edmund Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy&mdash;Regulations</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">for the Management of the Packet Stations&mdash;Conditions</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Employment&mdash;Smart and Bounty Money&mdash;Passes required for Passengers&mdash;and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">for Goods&mdash;Regulations habitually infringed&mdash;Smuggling&mdash;Packets</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">forbidden to give Chase&mdash;Practice on Capture of a Prize&mdash;Packet</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Stations at Falmouth and at Harwich conducted on different Principles&mdash;Packets</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">employed to carry Recruits&mdash;Letters not to be carried in Foreign</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Bottoms&mdash;Court-Post&mdash;Restoration of Packet Service with Flanders&mdash;John</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Macky, Packet Agent at Dover&mdash;The Postmasters-General act as</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Purveyors of News to the Court&mdash;Their Interview with Godolphin&mdash;Posts</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">set up for the Army in Flanders&mdash;Packet Establishment placed on</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">a Peace Footing&mdash;Dummer's Bankruptcy and Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">American Posts&mdash;Thomas Neale&mdash;Andrew Hamilton&mdash;Ocean Penny Postage&mdash;Posts</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">transferred to the Crown&mdash;Become self-supporting</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER IX</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Condition of the Post Office in Scotland at the time of the Union&mdash;Inaction</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the English Post Office&mdash;Charles Povey&mdash;William Lowndes&mdash;Diversion</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Postage from the Crown to the Public&mdash;Postage Rates increased&mdash;Electoral</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Disabilities&mdash;Restrictions on the common Carrier&mdash;Modification</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Penny Post&mdash;Post-horses&mdash;Franking&mdash;Illicit Traffic in Letters&mdash;Treasury</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Inconsistency&mdash;Post Office Farmers converted into Managers&mdash;Treaty</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">with France&mdash;Matthew Prior&mdash;Single and Double Letters&mdash;Change</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Postmasters-General&mdash;Disagreements with Merchants&mdash;Twopenny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post&mdash;Comparative Statement of Revenue&mdash;Gross and Net Revenue</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">confounded</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER X</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Allen's Contract&mdash;General Review&mdash;The Secretary's Dismissal&mdash;Earl of Abercorn's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Complaint&mdash;Sketch of Allen's Plan&mdash;His Qualifications for carrying</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">it into effect&mdash;His local Knowledge&mdash;His Difficulties with Postmasters&mdash;Post-boys&mdash;Illegal</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Conveyance of Letters&mdash;Contrast between Allen's Mode</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Procedure and that of the Post Office&mdash;Posts increased in Frequency&mdash;Opening</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Letters&mdash;Falmouth Packets&mdash;Late Delivery of Foreign</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Letters&mdash;Erection of Milestones&mdash;Letters containing Patterns and Writs&mdash;Apertures</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to Letter-boxes&mdash;Expresses&mdash;Highwaymen&mdash;Bank Notes&mdash;Decadence&mdash;Allen's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Penny Post&mdash;Franking&mdash;Newspapers&mdash;Clerks of the Roads&mdash;Numbering of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Houses&mdash;Scotch and Irish Posts&mdash;Receiving Offices&mdash;Gratuities on Delivery&mdash;Appeal</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to the Courts&mdash;Appointment of Letter-carriers&mdash;Attempt</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to curtail the Limits of the Penny Post frustrated&mdash;Benjamin Franklin&mdash;Post</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Office Monopoly in matter of Horses abolished&mdash;Disfranchising Act&mdash;Causes</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Disquietude</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Palmer's Plan&mdash;Objections&mdash;First Mail-coach&mdash;Post-coach&mdash;Increase in Rates</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Postage&mdash;Restrictions upon Franking&mdash;Obstruction alleged&mdash;Anthony</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Todd&mdash;Transitional Period&mdash;Stages&mdash;Earlier Closing of the General</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post Office&mdash;Emoluments from Bell Ringing&mdash;Internal Dissensions&mdash;Tankerville's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>Dismissal&mdash;Corruption&mdash;Surveyors&mdash;Conditions of Palmer's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Appointment&mdash;Abuses&mdash;Fees and Perquisites&mdash;Expresses&mdash;Registration&mdash;Palmer's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Improvements&mdash;Packet Service&mdash;Smuggling&mdash;Flagitious Expenditure&mdash;Todd's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Emoluments&mdash;Pitt's Indisposition to expose Abuses&mdash;Lord</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Walsingham&mdash;Daniel Braithwaite&mdash;Essays in Cause of Economy&mdash;Milford</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Haven and Waterford Packets&mdash;Pitiable Condition of the Clerks</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Roads&mdash;The King's Coach&mdash;His Illness and Prayer for his Recovery&mdash;Strange</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Treatment of Official Papers&mdash;George Chalmers&mdash;Palmer's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Jealousy&mdash;Mail Guards&mdash;Creation of a Newspaper Office&mdash;Walsingham</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">attempts to check Irregularities&mdash;His inveterate Habit of Scribbling&mdash;Exposes</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">an Attempt at Imposition&mdash;Curious Practice as regards the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Delivery of Foreign Letters&mdash;Earl of Chesterfield&mdash;Insubordination on</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Palmer's Part&mdash;Appeal to Pitt&mdash;Charles Bonnor&mdash;Palmer's Suspension&mdash;Chesterfield's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Letter&mdash;Interview with Pitt&mdash;A Second Interview&mdash;Palmer's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Dismissal&mdash;Bonnor's Promotion</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Model of Mail coach&mdash;Patent Coaches&mdash;Thomas Hasker&mdash;His pithy Instructions&mdash;Roof-loading&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">King's Interest in his Coach&mdash;General Result</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Palmer's Plan&mdash;Condition of the country Post Offices&mdash;Francis Freeling&mdash;Enlargement</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the General Post Office&mdash;Communication with</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">France&mdash;Bank Notes cut in half&mdash;Letter-carriers put into Uniform&mdash;Grant</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to Post Office Servants&mdash;Development of the Penny Post&mdash;Edward</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Johnson&mdash;Excessive Absence among the Letter-carriers&mdash;By the Penny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post prepayment ceases to be compulsory&mdash;The Ten-mile Limit&mdash;Origin</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Twopenny Post&mdash;Dead Letter Office&mdash;American and West Indian</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Correspondence&mdash;Correspondence for the India House&mdash;Post with the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Channel Islands&mdash;Further Restrictions on Franking&mdash;Bankers' Franks&mdash;Patterns</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">and Samples&mdash;Metropolitan Cart Service&mdash;Horse and Cross</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Posts&mdash;Rates of Postage increased&mdash;Mysterious doings of the Packets&mdash;Brilliant</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Engagements&mdash;Post Office Usage&mdash;Counsels' Fees&mdash;New Years'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Gifts&mdash;Todd's Indifference to Censure&mdash;His Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Ship-letter Office&mdash;Increase in Rates of Postage&mdash;Abolition of the Penny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post&mdash;Invoices and Bills of Lading&mdash;Convention Posts&mdash;Prosecutions&mdash;Auckland's</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Pleasantries&mdash;Repressive Powers&mdash;Guarding the Horse-mails&mdash;Recovery</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of stolen Mail Bag&mdash;Troubles with Contractors&mdash;Surveyors</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">deprived of their Post Offices&mdash;Rates of Postage again increased&mdash;Threepenny</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post&mdash;Post Office Revenue&mdash;William Cobbett&mdash;Early or Preferential</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Delivery&mdash;Treatment of Foreign Newspapers&mdash;Newspaper Summaries&mdash;The</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><i>Times</i>&mdash;Olney Post&mdash;-Death-blow to Convention Posts&mdash;Turnpike</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Trusts&mdash;Exemption from Toll&mdash;Roads discoached&mdash;Yet further</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span>Increase in Rates of Postage&mdash;Bewildering Complications&mdash;Want of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Publicity&mdash;Exemption from Toll abolished in Scotland&mdash;Returned-letter</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Office&mdash;New Ship-letter Act&mdash;Mail Service to India and the Cape&mdash;Generosity</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the East India Company&mdash;Eulogistic Letter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_328">328</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">The Irish Post Office&mdash;British Mail Office&mdash;Earl of Clancarty&mdash;Edward Smith</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lees&mdash;Abuses&mdash;Express Clerks and Clerks of the Roads&mdash;Alphabet&mdash;Provision</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">for Soldiers' Wives&mdash;Thomas Whinnery, Postmaster of Belfast&mdash;Charles</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Bianconi&mdash;Holyhead Packets&mdash;Opposition Packets started by</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lees&mdash;Steam Packets&mdash;Competition&mdash;Land Communication with Ireland&mdash;London</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">and Holyhead Coach&mdash;Sir Arthur Wellesley&mdash;State of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Roads&mdash;Road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury&mdash;Thomas Telford&mdash;John</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">London Macadam&mdash;Road between Shrewsbury and London&mdash;Postage</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">over the Conway and Menai Bridges</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_366">366</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XVI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Appointment of Second Postmaster-General abolished&mdash;Other Economies&mdash;Transfer</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Falmouth Packets to the Admiralty&mdash;Speed of Mail-coaches&mdash;Mail-coaches</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">the Disseminators of News&mdash;Newspapers&mdash;Sir</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Henry Parnell&mdash;Royal Commission&mdash;General Review&mdash;Gerrard Street&mdash;Headquarters</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the General Post Office removed to St. Martin's-le-Grand&mdash;Branch</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Offices&mdash;Morning Delivery expedited&mdash;First Mail sent by Railway&mdash;Duke</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of Richmond&mdash;Incorporation of the Irish Post Office with</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">the Post Office of Great Britain&mdash;Lord Althorp&mdash;Limits of the General</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Post Delivery&mdash;Packet Service put up to public Competition&mdash;Abolition</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">of the Newspaper Privilege&mdash;Dissatisfaction with the Post Office&mdash;Money</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Order Office&mdash;Unsatisfactory Returns to the House of Commons&mdash;Indisposition</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">to carry out Reforms&mdash;More unsatisfactory Returns&mdash;New Contract</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">for Mail-coaches&mdash;Freeling's Despondency&mdash;and Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_396">396</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">APPENDIX</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_429">429</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">INDEX</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_439">439</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<h3>ERRATA</h3>
+
+<div class="center">
+Page 324, sixth line from bottom, <i>for</i> 1713 <i>read</i> 1703.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; 339, first line, <i>for</i> 1892 <i>read</i> 1802.</span></div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h2>HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE</h2>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>EARLY POSTS<br />
+
+1533-1609</h3>
+
+
+<p>The early history of the posts is involved in some obscurity.
+What little is known on the subject is touched upon in the
+first Annual Report of the Post Office, the Report for 1854;
+but the historical summary there given is, as it purports to
+be, a summary only. The object of the following pages is
+nothing more than to fill up the gaps and to supply some
+particulars for which, though not perhaps without interest,
+an official report would be no fitting place. The origin and
+progress of an institution which has so interwoven itself
+with the social life of the people as to have become one of
+the most remarkable developments of modern civilisation can
+hardly, we think, be considered a subject unworthy of study.</p>
+
+<p>It seems almost certain that until the reign of Henry
+the Eighth, or perhaps a little earlier, no regular system of
+posts existed in England, and that then and for some considerable
+time afterwards the few posts that were established
+were for the exclusive use of the Sovereign. "Sir," writes
+Sir Brian Tuke to Thomas Cromwell in 1533, "it may like
+you to understonde the Kinges Grace hathe no moo ordinary
+postes, ne of many days hathe had, but bitwene London and
+Calais ... and sens October last, the postes northewarde....
+For, Sir, ye knowe well that, except the hakney horses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+bitwene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no suche usual
+conveyance in post for men in this realme as is in the
+accustumed places of France and other parties." Sir Brian
+Tuke held the appointment of Master of the Posts, and he
+had received the King's commands to set up posts "in al
+places most expedient."</p>
+
+<p>Before Henry's reign the only letters of which any
+record exists, letters to or from the Court and on affairs of
+State, were sent by couriers employed for the particular
+occasion. These couriers, styled "Nuncii" and "Cursores,"
+appear to have answered to the Queen's messengers of our own
+time, and, as is evident from records still extant and dating
+back to the reign of Henry the Third, must have formed an
+important branch of the royal establishment.</p>
+
+<p>To establish posts and to control them when established
+was not all or nearly all that Brian Tuke had to do. He
+had also to see, even where no posts existed, that the royal
+couriers were not kept waiting for horses; and this probably
+was his original function. The horses were provided
+by the townships, and the townships were kept up to their
+duty by the Master of the Posts. In some cases, indeed,
+special provision appears to have been made. At Leicester,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>
+for instance, the members of the Corporation bound themselves
+under penalty to keep four post-horses in constant
+readiness for their Sovereign's use; but this can hardly have
+been a common practice. Where horses were not provided
+voluntarily, the magistrates and constables had orders to
+seize them wherever they could be found.</p>
+
+<p>The close connection between the posts and the Sovereign
+continued long after the reign of Henry the Eighth.
+In 1572 Thomas Randolph, Master of the posts to Queen
+Elizabeth, rendered an account of the charges to which he
+had been put in the execution of his trust during the preceding
+five years; and in this account, which is given in
+considerable detail, not a single post is mentioned without
+some qualification identifying it with the person of the
+Sovereign&mdash;a post daily serving Her Majesty, a post for Her
+Majesty's service and affairs, a post during the time of Her
+Majesty's progress, a post for the conveyance of Her Majesty's
+letters and those of her Council. As late as 1621 all the
+posts of the kingdom, which even then were only four in
+number, started from the Court. I. "The Courte to Barwicke,"
+<i>i.e.</i> the post to Scotland. II. "The Courte to
+Beaumoris," <i>i.e.</i> the post to Ireland. III. "The Courte to
+Dover," <i>i.e.</i> the post to the Continent. IV. "The Courte
+to Plymouth," <i>i.e.</i> the post to the Royal Dockyard.</p>
+
+<p>The setting up of a post for a particular purpose and
+letting it drop as soon as the purpose had been answered
+was another peculiarity of these early times. The post to
+Plymouth, ordained in 1621 to be one of the standing posts
+of the kingdom, had been dropped since 1611, having then
+been declared to be unnecessary except in time of war.
+Even the post to Ireland had at one time been dropped
+and was not revived until 1598. In the same year a
+second post to Ireland, Irish affairs being then considered to
+require "oftner dispatches and more expedition," was set up
+by way of Bristol, and this in its turn disappeared. Indeed,
+it would probably not be too much to say that at the
+beginning of the seventeenth century no post set up in
+England during a war had lasted longer than the war itself.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+This practice of dropping a post as soon as it had served its
+purpose, a practice which must almost necessarily have
+existed from the earliest times, would seem to explain
+Brian Tuke's meaning when, after stating that in 1533
+except those he mentioned "the Kinges Grace hathe
+no moo ordinary postes," he adds, "ne of many days hathe
+had."</p>
+
+<p>For the regulation of the posts the earliest instructions
+of which we have any record were issued by Queen Elizabeth.
+Every "post" was to keep and have constantly ready two
+horses at least, with suitable "furniture." He was to have
+at least two bags of leather well lined with baize or cotton,
+and a horn to blow "as oft as he meets company" or four
+times in every mile. He was, after receiving a packet, to
+start within fifteen minutes, and to run in summer at the
+rate of seven miles an hour and in winter at the rate of
+five. The address of the packet and the day and the hour
+at which he received it were to be carefully entered in a
+book to be kept for the purpose. But the packets which
+were thus to be treated were only such as should be on the
+Queen's affairs or the affairs of State. "All others" are dismissed
+in a word. These, the instructions state, are "to
+passe as by-letters." To pass as by-letters probably means
+that the letters were to go when and as best they might,
+but that the post was not to go for the purpose of taking
+them. This view is confirmed by an order of the subsequent
+reign, that "no pacquets or letters," except such as were on
+the King's affairs, should "binde any poste to ride therewith
+in post." But be the meaning what it may, the expression
+seems to shew that even in the reign of Elizabeth letters
+other than State letters had begun to be sent to the post-houses,
+and that such letters, if barely recognised, were yet
+not excluded.</p>
+
+<p>But the conveyance of the Sovereign's letters was not
+the only purpose which the posts as originally established
+were designed to serve. Another and hardly less important
+purpose was that there should be stationed and in constant
+readiness, at given distances along the chief roads of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+kingdom, a relay of horses by which persons travelling on
+their Sovereign's concerns, even though not the bearers of
+letters, might pass between one part of the country and
+another. Of this second purpose a few words implanted in
+the English language, such as post-horse, post-boy, and
+travelling-post, are all that we have now left to remind us.
+But long after the public had been admitted to the free use
+of the post, the two objects of providing for letters and providing
+for travellers continued to be treated as inseparable.
+Hence the history of the posts during the seventeenth
+century and far into the eighteenth becomes complicated with
+the history of travelling.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>Indeed, there can be little doubt that it was as a means
+of travelling and not as a means of correspondence that the
+post first came to be used by others than those employed
+on affairs of State. Writing, during the sixteenth century,
+was an accomplishment possessed by comparatively few,
+whereas any one might have occasion to travel; and the
+resources of travelling, so far as these partook of an organised
+system, were in the hands of the Sovereign. Wherever
+there were posts, it was at the Sovereign's charge and for
+the Sovereign's use that horses were maintained; and where
+there were no posts, it was only for the use of the Sovereign
+that the townships were under obligation to supply horses.
+The natural consequence followed. People pretended to be
+travelling on their Sovereign's affairs who were really
+travelling on affairs of their own, and so procured the use
+of horses which would otherwise have been denied them.
+The horses, moreover, were overridden and overloaded, and
+the persons by whom they were hired not rarely forgot to
+pay for them.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p>
+<p>No sooner had James the First come to the throne than
+he issued a proclamation having for its object to check these
+abuses. Only those were to be deemed to be travelling on
+public affairs who held a special commission signed by one
+or more of the principal officers of State. No horse was to
+be ridden, in summer, above seven miles an hour, and in
+winter above six; nor yet, without the knowledge and
+consent of the owner, beyond the next stage. The load,
+besides the rider, was not to exceed thirty pounds in weight.
+Persons riding with special commission were to pay for
+each horse 2-1/2d. a mile, besides the guide's groats, and "others
+riding poste with horse and guide about their private
+businesses" were to make their own terms. In all cases
+payment was to be made in advance. The proclamation
+contained another and most important provision, the effects
+of which were felt far into the next century. This was
+that, wherever posts existed, those who had the horsing of
+the posts were also to have the exclusive letting of horses
+to travellers. If the post-houses could not supply horses
+enough, the local constables with the assistance of the
+magistrates were to make good the deficiency.</p>
+
+<p>The proclamation of 1603 was soon followed by another,
+prohibiting all persons not being duly authorised by the
+Master of the Posts from being concerned in the collecting,
+carrying, or delivering of letters. The effect, therefore, of
+the two proclamations together was that, except by private
+hand, no letter and, except along the bye-roads where posts
+did not exist, no traveller could pass between one part of
+the kingdom and another without coming under the observation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+of the Government. It has been suggested that the
+State monopoly of letters had its origin in a desire on the
+part of the Sovereign to reserve to himself the revenue which
+the letters brought; but in 1609, when the monopoly was
+created, the posts were maintained at a clear loss to the
+crown of £3400 a year, and this loss, as matters then stood,
+the erection of every fresh post would serve to increase.
+However it may have been in after years, the original
+object of the monopoly, the object avowed indeed and proclaimed,
+was that the State might possess the means of
+detecting and defeating conspiracies against itself. A system
+such as this object implies is absolutely abhorrent to our
+present notions; and yet it is a fact beyond all question
+that the posts in their infancy were regarded and largely
+employed as an instrument of police. It was not until the
+reign of William the Third that they began to assume their
+present shape of a mere channel for the transmission of
+letters.</p>
+
+<p>But we are anticipating. In 1609 the cloud which
+obscures the earlier history of the posts begins to break,
+and from that year it is possible to present a tolerably
+connected narrative of their progress.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BATTLE OF THE PATENTS<br />
+
+1609-1635</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the beginning of the seventeenth century the established
+posts were only four in number,&mdash;the post to Scotland, the
+post to Ireland, the post to Plymouth, and the post to
+Dover; and of these the most important by far, because
+the most used, was the last, the post through the county of
+Kent. It was through this county that the high-road to
+the Continent lay, and, while commercial relations as
+between one town and another within the kingdom were
+yet a thing of the future, the foreign trade of the country
+had already reached very considerable proportions. The
+persecutions in France and the Low Countries had driven a
+large number of foreigners to London, and here the Flemings
+introduced the manufacture of wool into cloth. In this
+commodity alone the exports from England to the Netherlands
+in the time of Philip the Second amounted to five
+millions of crowns annually.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> In education no less than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+manufactures the Flemings were far in advance of our own
+countrymen. There was scarcely a peasant among them
+that could not both read and write. While, therefore, the
+other three posts of the kingdom were still being little
+used except for letters on affairs of State, the post to the
+Continent had already become matter of public concern.</p>
+
+<p>This post had long been jealously watched, the foreign
+merchants in London claiming to send their letters by their
+own agents, and the Crown insisting that they should be
+sent only through the established channel. It was an old
+feud, extending far back into the sixteenth century. In 1591
+a proclamation on the subject had been issued. This, in
+respect to the post through the county of Kent, established
+that State monopoly of letters which was not made general
+until eighteen years afterwards. It was to the protection
+of the same post that the proclamation of 1603 had been
+directed, the proclamation reserving to those who horsed
+the posts the exclusive right of letting horses to travellers.
+But these measures had been of little avail. The foreign
+merchants still employed their own agents to carry their
+letters, and these agents, instead of resorting to the post-houses,
+still procured horses where and as best they could.</p>
+
+<p>Once more recourse was had to a proclamation, which
+differed little from others that had gone before except in
+one important particular. This was the open avowal that
+among the chief cares of the State it had been and continued
+to be by no means the least "to meete with the
+dangerous and secret intelligences of ill-affected persons,
+both at home and abroad, by the overgreat liberty taken
+both in writing and riding in poste, specially in and through
+our countie of Kent." The magistrates were enjoined to
+take care that horses were procured at the post-houses
+alone. No letters were to be sent except through the post,
+and notice to this effect was to be served upon all the
+merchants of the city of London, "both strangers and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+others." Unauthorised persons suspected of having letters
+upon them were, before entering or leaving the kingdom, to
+be searched. And any packets or letters found to be
+illicitly conveyed were to be sent up to the Privy Council,
+and the bearers of them to be apprehended and kept in
+safe custody pending the Council's orders.</p>
+
+<p>At this time the office of Master of the Posts was held
+by Lord Stanhope of Harrington, and under Lord Stanhope,
+to superintend the foreign post, was employed a foreigner
+of the name of De Quester. This man, with the assistance
+of his son, appears to have discharged his duties efficiently.
+He made communication with the Continent both cheaper
+and more expeditious. His promptitude in forwarding the
+public despatches had attracted the attention of his Sovereign.
+In 1619, in recognition of these services, the King
+created the control of the foreign post into a separate
+appointment, independent of Lord Stanhope, and conferred
+it upon De Quester and his son, under the title of "Postmaster
+of England for Foreign parts out of the King's
+Dominions."</p>
+
+<p>It is possible that De Quester's appointment, though
+ostensibly a reward for good service, was dictated in part by
+policy. But if designed to appease the foreign merchants,
+it signally failed of its object. The truth seems to be that
+they were animated by feelings of profound distrust. Many
+years later, when De Quester had retired, the English
+merchants, in a petition to the King, protested against the
+choice of a successor being left to the "strangers." This,
+they said, would be to their own great prejudice. Even the
+letters patent by which that successor was appointed give
+as a reason for not letting the strangers have a post of
+their own that thus the secrets of the realm would be
+disclosed to foreign nations. Such being the feelings on
+one side, it would be strange indeed if they had not also
+existed on the other.</p>
+
+<p>De Quester's appointment, while displeasing to the foreign
+merchants, gave dire offence to Lord Stanhope. The letters
+patent by which this peer held his office had expressly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+declared that not only the internal posts of the kingdom
+were to be under his direction, but also those "beyond the
+seas within the King's dominions." This expression, repeated
+from former patents, applied, no doubt, to Calais. And yet,
+could it in reason be contended that his rights were not
+being infringed if the post through which all letters between
+London and the Continent passed were transferred to other
+hands? Except for the practice of granting offices in
+remainder, Stanhope's death at this time would have settled
+the difficulty. As a matter of fact, however, the difficulty
+had only begun. By a deed granted thirteen years before,
+his son and successor in the title succeeded also to the
+office of Master of the Posts, and it soon became evident
+that the younger Stanhope had no intention, without a
+struggle, of letting the grant to himself be whittled away
+by a subsequent grant to another. The Council, not composed
+of laymen alone, but comprising among its members
+Coventry, soon to become Lord Keeper, and Heath, the
+Solicitor-General, advised the King that "both grants might
+well stand together, being of distinct places." Stanhope
+rejoined that his was "an ancient office tyme out of minde,"
+and that by prescription it carried with it the control of
+letters passing between England and the Continent as well
+as others. Again the Council reported against his claim.
+In support of it, they said, no patent or proofs had been
+adduced before them more ancient than the time of Henry
+the Eighth.</p>
+
+<p>Stanhope, who remained unconvinced, now proceeded
+to assert his rights, or what he conceived to be his rights,
+with remarkable vigour. He caused De Quester to be
+molested in the discharge of his duties; he placarded
+the city of London, cautioning all persons against sending
+letters except by his own agents; he instituted proceedings
+in the Court of King's Bench; and he even stirred up the
+foreign merchants to make common cause with himself
+against the intruder.</p>
+
+<p>The probable explanation of Stanhope's conduct is that
+De Quester's appointment touched him in that most sensitive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+part, the pocket. His salary as Master of the Posts
+was £66:13:4 a year, and this he would of course receive
+in any case; but on letters to the Continent there were
+certain fees to be paid, a fee of 8d. on each letter to or from
+Amsterdam, and a like sum between London and Antwerp
+or London and Hamburgh, and these, as seems to have been
+admitted in the suit at law, were the motive cause.</p>
+
+<p>In vain the King proclaimed against Stanhope's proceedings.
+The Privy Council met to consider the question
+as between him and De Quester, and separated without
+coming to a conclusion. Four more meetings were held,
+and with an equally unsatisfactory result. Clearly there
+was a conflict of opinion at the Council Board. Meanwhile
+the decisions as regards the merchants were marked by
+extraordinary vacillation. First, the Merchant Adventurers
+were "to have a post of their owne choice" to the city of
+Hamburgh and town of Delph, "where the staples of cloth
+are now fetched or to such other place or places whither
+the same shall happen to be removed"; then they were
+summoned before the Council to shew cause why they also
+should not send their letters by De Quester; then the
+concession was not only confirmed in the case of the
+Merchant Adventurers, but extended to all other "Companies
+of Merchants"; and then in the case of these other
+companies the concession was withdrawn, but only, in the
+course of a few weeks, to be restored. Only few restrictions
+were imposed. No one carrying the merchants' letters was
+to "keepe any publick office," to "hange up any Tables," or
+to "weare any Badge"; nor was he to be employed until
+his name had been submitted to the Secretary of State for
+approval. It was also provided that in times of war or
+danger the Secretary of State, if he required it, was to be
+"made acquainted" with the letters and despatches which
+the messenger carried.</p>
+
+<p>The final decision of the Council, which left the
+merchants in possession of a post of their own, practically
+superseded De Quester's appointment, and this drew forth
+an indignant protest from Sir John Coke. The two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+Secretaries of State, of whom Coke was one, had been
+specially charged with the protection of De Quester's office,
+and the decision had been arrived at in their absence.
+Meanwhile a broker, of the name of Billingsley, was
+carrying the merchants' letters, and the same man was
+being employed by Stanhope. Coke's indignation knew no
+bounds. "I confess," he said, "it troubleth me to see the
+audacity of men in these times, and that Billingsley, a
+broker by trade, should dare to attempt thus often to
+question the King's service, and to derive that power of
+foreign letters unto merchants which in all states is a
+branch of regal authority." Can any place in Christendom
+be named where merchants are allowed to send their letters
+except through the authorised post? It is true that, as an
+act of grace, the Merchant Adventurers here have been
+suffered to send and receive their letters by private hand;
+but such letters have been only to and from their own mart
+towns and concerning their private business. That this
+man of theirs should be suffered to carry any letters he
+please&mdash;letters from merchants in general, and even from
+ambassadors, is a thing that has never been heard of nor
+durst any attempt it before. "Indeed the merchants' purse
+hath swayed very much in other matters in former times,
+but I never heard that it encroached upon the King's
+prerogative until now." A pretty account will those who
+are charged with the peace of the realm be able to give in
+their places "of that which passeth by letters in or out of
+the land if every man may convey letters, under the covers
+of merchants', to whom and what place he pleaseth." Coke
+went so far as to suggest that advantage had been taken of
+a small attendance at the Council Table to extort the concession
+from the King upon wrong or imperfect information.
+Surely His Majesty cannot have been informed "how unfit
+a time this is to give liberty to every man to write and send
+what he list."</p>
+
+<p>Nor did Coke's indignation confine itself to words, for it
+is impossible not to conclude that he was at the bottom of
+the high-handed proceeding that followed. Stanhope had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+gained his suit at law; yet the Council, far from revoking
+De Quester's patent, granted him an order consigning
+Billingsley to prison. It was not until he had been there
+for three months that Parliament, which had recently passed
+a vote against arbitrary imprisonments, petitioned the King
+for his release.</p>
+
+<p>Of the final issue of the contest nothing is known. But
+it seems probable that the foreign merchants were not
+deterred by the treatment which Billingsley had received
+from keeping up a post of their own. Other and more
+serious matters were beginning to occupy the attention of
+the Court, and it may well be believed that irregularities
+which had been challenged before might now be allowed to
+pass unnoticed. Be that as it may, in 1632 De Quester,
+who had lost his son, and had become old and infirm,
+associated with himself in the execution of his office two
+men named Frizell and Witherings, and to these persons he
+shortly afterwards assigned his patent. Frizell appears
+to have been little more than a sleeping partner; but
+Witherings soon established a high character for ability and
+powers of organisation. The foreign post had not been
+under his charge for more than three years before the King
+commissioned him to examine also into the inland posts,
+and to put them on another and better footing.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>THOMAS WITHERINGS<br />
+
+1635&mdash;1644</h3>
+
+
+<p>Armed with the King's commission, Witherings lost no time
+in applying himself to his task. And, indeed, the state of
+things which he found existing afforded ample scope for his
+energies. Except to Plymouth and through the county of
+Kent, posts existed rather in name than in reality.
+Nominally there was a post to Scotland, and this post James
+had busied himself in improving, in anticipation of his
+progress to London; but since then it had languished and
+died, or nearly died, of inanition. Between the kingdoms
+of England and Scotland there had, up to the date of
+Witherings's commission, as expressed in the commission
+itself, been no certain or constant intercourse. The only
+remaining post, the post to Ireland, was in an equally
+forlorn condition.</p>
+
+<p>This decadence can only be attributed to two causes, the
+paucity of travellers and the necessities of the King. Had
+travellers been numerous, the posts would have been kept
+up for the sake of the profit to be derived from the letting
+of horses. In the absence of travellers, the keepers of the
+post-houses were dependent upon their established wages,
+and these had long remained unpaid. As far back as 1628
+a petition on the subject had been presented to the Council.
+The "99 poore men," as the petitioners styled themselves,
+had received no wages for nearly seven years; the arrears
+then due to them amounted to £22,626; some of them were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+already in prison, and many more were threatened with
+arrest. In 1635, as a consequence, doubtless, of their
+necessitous condition, they had ceased to keep horses, and
+letters were being carried on foot. In this manner a
+distance of only sixteen to eighteen miles was accomplished
+in a day, and to obtain from Scotland or from Ireland a reply
+to a letter written in London took "full two monthes."</p>
+
+<p>Witherings was not long in producing his plan. Within
+the city of London was to be appointed an office or counting-house
+for the receipt and despatch of letters, and thence
+were to be established trunk lines of post to the principal
+towns of the kingdom, with corresponding branch posts,
+either foot posts or horse posts, according to distance, to the
+smaller towns. The branch posts were to be so fitted to the
+main posts that there was to be no waiting on the part of
+either; and these latter were to start and return at stated
+times, and to run night and day so as to cover 120 miles in
+twenty-four hours. From London to Edinburgh the course of
+post which had been full two months was to be only six days;
+and to Holyhead or Plymouth and back the distance was to
+be accomplished in the same time. Even Witherings himself
+appears to have been carried away by the brilliancy of
+the prospect. "Anie fight at sea," he says, "anie distress
+of His Majestie's ships (which God forbid), anie wrong
+offered by anie other nation to anie of ye coastes of England
+or anie of His Majestie's forts ... the newes will come
+sooner than thought."</p>
+
+<p>An example has been left us of the process to be
+followed. The letters for Scotland were to be put into a
+"portmantle" directed to Edinburgh, into which were also
+to be put small bags containing letters for towns on the same
+line of road. At Cambridge, for instance, as soon as the
+Portmantle arrived, the bag for that town was to be taken
+out, and a foot-post, "with a known badge of His Majestie's
+arms," was upon the market days to go to all towns within
+six, eight or ten miles, and there deliver the letters, at the
+same time receiving any that might be handed to him. These
+he was to bring back to Cambridge in time for the return-post<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+from Scotland. The return was to be on a particular day,
+and at a particular hour, and the letters were to be ready
+without fail, "upon the verie instant comeing back of the
+portmantle." The same process was to be adopted at
+Huntingdon and all other towns on the road.</p>
+
+<p>It was an essential part of Witherings's plan that the
+posts should be not only regular and certain but also
+self-supporting. During the earlier part of the century they
+had been maintained at a cost to the Crown of £3400 a year,
+and this was a burden which the Crown was no longer in a
+position to bear. That they should be made to pay their
+own way was, therefore, an indispensable condition. But
+how was this to be accomplished? Witherings's sagacity
+left him at no loss for a reply. He discerned that to carry
+a letter is to perform a service for which a payment may
+fairly be demanded in return; and that the demand would
+meet with a ready response must have been plain to him
+from what he saw going on in the west of England. In
+1633, or two years before he produced his plan, the Mayor
+and Aldermen of Barnstaple had set up a post between their
+town and Exeter. This post was to leave Barnstaple every
+Tuesday at 7 o'clock in the morning, and to be in Exeter
+early on the following day, in time to catch the King's post
+on its way from Plymouth to London. The King's post
+was maintained at the expense of the King; but for the
+local service, as a means of defraying the cost, the Corporation
+imposed a small charge, a charge of 6d. for a single
+letter and of 8d. for a double one. Other towns in
+Devonshire had adopted a similar course. That Witherings
+was aware of the existence of these posts is evident from
+the special allusion that is made to them in the Proclamation
+which he prevailed upon the King to issue;<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and it was
+their success, probably, which suggested his own undertaking.
+Concluding that what private enterprise was effecting on a
+small scale the State would be able to effect on a large one,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+he proposed&mdash;and the proposal received the royal sanction&mdash;that
+for every letter sent by post a "port" or charge for
+carriage should be levied after the following rates:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates1">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">Single Letter.</td><td align="left">Double letter.</td><td align="left">"If bigger."</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Under 80 miles</td><td align="left">2d.</td><td align="left">4d.</td><td align="left">6d. an oz.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">80 miles and not exceeding 140</td><td align="left">4d.</td><td align="left">8d.</td><td align="left">9d. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 140 miles</td><td align="left">6d.</td><td align="left">12d.</td><td align="left">12d.&nbsp; &nbsp;"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To or from Scotland</td><td align="left">8d.</td><td align="left">?</td><td align="left">?</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To or from Ireland</td><td align="left">9d.</td><td align="left">After two ounces, 6d. the ounce.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>This was the introduction of postage. The object of
+the exceptional rate in the case of Ireland was to avoid
+interference with a Proclamation which had been recently
+issued by the Lord Deputy and Council there.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforth the posts were to be equally open to all;
+all would be at liberty to use them; all would be welcome.
+Important as this provision was, it followed as a natural
+consequence from the imposition of postage. The carriage
+of the subjects' letters was now to be a matter of purchase,
+and, unless the purchasers were sufficiently numerous, the
+posts would not be self-supporting. The custom of the
+public, therefore, was a necessity of their very existence.</p>
+
+<p>In other respects the regulations remained much as they
+had been, except that now there would be the means of
+enforcing them. Every postmaster was to have ready in
+his stable one or two horses, according as Witherings might
+direct, the charge to be for one horse 2-1/2d. a mile and for
+two horses 5d. This 5d., however, was to include the cost
+of a guide who was always to accompany the horses when
+two were taken. On the day the post was expected, the
+horses were not to be let out on any pretext whatever, this
+being the first indication on record of letters enjoying precedence
+over travellers. And finally, with certain specified
+exceptions, no letters were to be carried or delivered in any
+part where posts should be established except by such
+persons as Witherings might appoint. The letters excepted
+were those sent by a friend, by a particular messenger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+employed for the particular occasion, and by common known
+carrier. On the common carrier, however, restrictions were
+imposed. He was to confine himself to his ordinary known
+journey, and was not, for the sake of collecting or delivering
+letters, to lag behind or outstrip his cart or horse by more
+than eight hours.</p>
+
+<p>The reason for this last exception is not far to seek.
+The established posts were few in number, and even where
+they existed in name they had fallen into disuse. The
+common carriers had thus become the chief carriers of letters,
+and Witherings, in the furtherance of his project, was
+anxious to disarm their opposition. This he had already
+attempted to effect by argument; and now, as a practical
+step in the same direction, he procured their exemption
+from the State monopoly. But what may have appeared
+and was probably intended to appear as a valuable concession
+was really no concession at all. The carrier took
+eight days to go 120 miles. By the posts the same distance
+was to be accomplished in a day and a night. The
+carrier's charge for a letter from Cambridge to London, a
+distance of about sixty miles, was 2d. A postage of 2d.,
+according to Witherings's plan, was to a carry a letter
+for eighty miles. If the posts were to be both faster and
+cheaper than the common known carrier, it might safely
+be predicted that as a carrier of letters he could not long
+survive.</p>
+
+<p>In October 1635 Witherings, having completed the
+necessary arrangements, proceeded to carry his plan into
+effect. The results he anticipated from it, as shewn in a
+memorandum which he delivered to the Secretary of State,
+were promotion of trade and intercourse and the cultivation
+of better relations with Scotland and Ireland. That the
+posts might one day be more than self-supporting, that they
+would become a source of revenue, does not appear to have
+entered into his calculations; or, if it did, his silence on
+the point would seem to shew that, as compared with the
+other advantages, he deemed it too insignificant to mention.</p>
+
+<p>It was probably about this time that the practice of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+writing "Haste, post, haste" on the outside of letters began
+to be discontinued. The term "post," as here used, meant
+nothing more than the carrier or bearer of the letter; and
+an injunction to make the best speed he could, properly as
+it might be given to a messenger who had a particular
+letter to carry, would be altogether out of place if addressed
+to a general letter-carrier who was bound by his instructions
+not to exceed a given distance within a given time. "For
+thy life, for thy life" had sometimes been added, as in the
+case of Protector Somerset's letter to Lord Dacre. "To our
+very good Lord, the Lord Dacre, Warden of the West Marches,
+in haste; haste, post, haste, for thy life, for thy life, for thy
+life";<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and it seems probable, if the barbarity of the punishments
+in those days is considered, that this was no empty
+threat. It was "on payn of lyfe" that, according to Sir
+Brian Tuke, all townships were to have horses ready for
+their Sovereign's service. Among the Ashburnham manuscripts
+is a letter from Sir Edward Nicholas to Sir John
+Hippisley, Lieutenant of Dover Castle, written in 1627 or
+eight years before the introduction of postage. This letter
+is endorsed by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, and
+the cover is inscribed "for His Majesty's special affairs;
+hast, hast, hast, post, hast, hast, hast, hast, with all possible
+speede." The absence of any threat in this instance may
+of course have been due to the individual character of the
+writer, but it is more agreeable to think of it as a sign of
+the advance of civilisation.</p>
+
+<p>In 1637, Lord Stanhope having surrendered his patent,
+Witherings was appointed in his room, and thus became
+centred in one person the offices of postmaster for inland
+and for foreign letters. In the same year a letter office,
+the erection of which had formed an important part of
+Witherings's plan, was opened in the city of London, and
+nothing remained to hinder him from carrying his project into
+full effect. But, fair as everything promised, hardly three years
+had elapsed before Witherings met with the fate which has
+overtaken so many of his distinguished successors. In 1640,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+on a charge of divers abuses and misdemeanours in the
+execution of his office, this eminent man was deprived of his
+appointment. Whether the charge was well or ill founded
+we have no means of judging. Only the fact has come
+down to us that after this miserable fashion ended the career
+of one who had the sagacity to project and the energy to
+carry out a system, the main features of which endure to
+the present day.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who had lent money to the King was
+Philip Burlamachi, a naturalised British subject, and one of
+the principal merchants of the city of London. He had
+advanced, on the security of the sugar duties, no less than
+£52,000, an immense sum in those days; and it was
+probably this fact rather than any special qualification on
+his part that pointed him out as Witherings's successor.
+Be that as it may, into Burlamachi's hands the office of
+Master of the Posts was sequestered, subject to the condition
+that he was to discharge the duties under the control of the
+Secretary of State. The sequestration was announced to the
+public by means of placards fixed up on the old Exchange,
+and Witherings lost no time in fixing up counter-placards
+by way of protest.</p>
+
+<p>And now began an unseemly contention which, arising
+ostensibly out of the rights of individuals, went far to bring
+the two Houses of Parliament into collision. In 1642,
+after struggling for the best part of two years to maintain
+his position, Witherings assigned his patent to the Earl of
+Warwick, and, under the influence of this peer, both Houses
+declared the sequestration to be illegal and void. Meanwhile
+Burlamachi had fallen into the power of one in
+whose hands he was the merest puppet. This was Edmund
+Prideaux, afterwards one of the Commissioners of the Great
+Seal and Attorney-General under the Commonwealth. At
+his instigation Burlamachi still kept possession of the
+letter office. In vain the Lords ordered him to give it up
+to Lord Warwick, and summoned him before them to
+explain his contumacy. It was true, he replied, that the
+office was still kept at his house, but this house and his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+servants had been hired by Mr. Prideaux, and it was he
+that disposed of the letters.</p>
+
+<p>Incensed at such contempt of their orders, the Lords
+authorised Warwick to seize the mails. After one or two
+half-hearted attempts to carry this authority into effect,
+arrangements were made for a more strenuous effort. On
+the 19th of December two of Warwick's agents lay in wait
+at Barnet and there surprised the mail as it came from
+Chester. Seizing the letters and the man that carried
+them, they made the best of their way towards London,
+but had not proceeded further than the foot of the hill
+beyond Highgate when they were themselves surprised by
+five troopers "on great horses with pistols," who barred the
+road, and, in the name of the House of Commons, captured
+the captors.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile a still more exciting scene was enacting
+before Warwick's office near the Royal Exchange. There
+two of his men kept watch for the mail from Plymouth,
+and, as it passed on its way to Burlamachi's house hard by,
+they dashed into the street and seized the letters. Their
+success was but for the moment. Before they could regain
+the office, Prideaux had swooped down upon them at the
+head of some half-dozen adherents, and with his own hands
+had torn the letters away. "An order of the House of
+Commons," cried one of the bystanders, "ought to be obeyed
+before an order of the House of Lords."</p>
+
+<p>On these occurrences being reported to the Lords,
+Burlamachi and all others who had been concerned in
+them, Prideaux alone excepted, were ordered to prison.
+Among these was the man who had been captured at
+Barnet and afterwards rescued, one Hickes by name; and
+this fellow proved to be Prideaux's own servant. On the
+part of that wily politician one looks in vain for any effort
+to procure Burlamachi's release, or even for the slightest
+indication of concern that he had been arrested; but the
+arrest of his own servant, the servant of a member of the
+House of Commons, excited his keenest resentment. This,
+in Prideaux's view, was a clear breach of privilege, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+House was pleased to agree with him. No sooner, therefore,
+had Hickes been imprisoned by the Lords than he was
+released by the Commons, and no sooner had he been
+released by the Commons than the Lords ordered him to be
+imprisoned again.</p>
+
+<p>Matters having come to this pass, the two Houses held
+a conference. The result might easily have been foreseen.
+The Lords yielded to the Commons, and Burlamachi, on
+rendering an account which had long been called for, was
+released from custody together with the others who had
+been imprisoned at the same time. Concerning the next
+two years little is known; but it seems probable that Burlamachi,
+who in his petition praying for release had pleaded
+old age and infirmities, did not long survive the indignity
+to which he had been exposed. At all events, in 1644,
+either by death or resignation, the office of Master of the
+Posts had become vacant, and, as Burlamachi's successor,
+the House of Commons appointed Prideaux.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended the battle of the patents, which had raged
+more or less fiercely for more than twenty years. It was
+long indeed before Lords Warwick and Stanhope ceased
+urging their claims, Warwick as Witherings's assignee, and
+Stanhope on the allegation that at the Council Table the
+Lord Keeper Coventry had cajoled him into surrendering
+his patent; but after Prideaux's appointment there was no
+farther appeal to force.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>EDMUND PRIDEAUX AND CLEMENT OXENBRIDGE<br />
+1644&mdash;1660</h3>
+
+
+<p>Hardly had Prideaux assumed the direction of the letter
+office before he gave public notice that there would be a
+weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the kingdom.
+There is reason to doubt, however, whether under his rule
+as much or nearly as much as this was accomplished.
+Next to Norwich, Yarmouth was then, as it is now, the
+chief town in the eastern counties; and yet it is certain
+that a post to Yarmouth was not established until after
+Prideaux's rule had ceased; and more than fifty years later
+we find his successors lamenting that, while Lincolnshire
+generally was ill provided with posts, there were several
+towns in that county which had no post at all.</p>
+
+<p>But to whatever extent Prideaux's professions exceeded
+his performance, it is beyond question that he spared no
+effort to extend the posts, and that he is justly entitled to
+the credit, not indeed of improving upon Witherings's
+scheme, but of carrying that scheme into more general
+effect. Despite his exertions, however, he failed to keep
+pace with the wants of the time. Indeed, what facilities
+for intercourse had been given already seem to have created
+a demand for more. In 1649 the Common Council of the
+city of London, not content with a post only once a week
+to Scotland, established a post of their own. Along the
+whole line of road between London and Edinburgh they
+appointed their own postmasters and settled their own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+postage, and the same plan they proceeded to adopt in
+other parts. Prideaux, who to his office of Master of the
+Posts had recently added that of Attorney-General, was
+highly incensed. Only a few years before, the State
+monopoly of letters, when the State was represented by the
+Crown, had been the object of his fiercest denunciation,
+and now this same monopoly was a cherished possession to
+be defended at all hazards. First he remonstrated. Then
+he threatened. And neither threats nor remonstrances
+having any effect upon the city authorities, he reported
+their proceedings to the Council of State, and the Council of
+State reported them to Parliament. Parliament was in no
+mood for concession. The city posts were promptly suppressed,
+and more than thirty years elapsed before private
+enterprise again embarked upon a similar venture.</p>
+
+<p>The report which Prideaux made to the Council of State
+had another result, which probably he little contemplated.
+In that report he had taken credit to himself that, although
+the charges of management had risen to £7000 a year, or
+about twice the amount they had been in Witherings's time,
+he had relieved the State from the whole of this burden.
+In other words, the posts had become self-supporting, but,
+so far as appeared from the report, were nothing more.
+The House of Commons was not satisfied. Accordingly the
+Council was instructed to examine and report whether the
+terms on which the letter office was held were the best
+that could be obtained. The investigation was soon made.
+Heretofore, in consideration of his defraying the charges,
+Prideaux had been allowed to receive the postage and make
+what he could out of it. For the future, besides defraying
+the charges, he was to pay to the State a fixed rent of
+£5000 a year. This was the introduction of the system of
+farming, a system which, as regards the posts generally, continued
+to nearly the end of the seventeenth and, as regards
+the by-posts, beyond the middle of the eighteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>In 1653 Prideaux ceased to be Master of the Posts.
+Two years before he had been elected a member of the
+Council of State, and shortly after his election, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+probably as a consequence of it, the arrangements for
+communicating with the army had reached a high state of
+perfection. Between the Council and the forces in Scotland
+messengers, we are told, were passing almost every hour.
+But, useful as he may have made himself, Prideaux seems
+to have been altogether wanting in those qualities which are
+calculated to inspire confidence. At the Treaty of Uxbridge,
+where he was one of the commissioners, even his own
+colleagues had regarded him as a spy. This feeling of
+distrust may possibly explain how it happened that, after
+the expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was forced to
+content himself with his appointment as Attorney-General.
+The Council of State, as then reconstructed, did not include
+him among its members, and one of the first acts of the
+new Council was to relieve him from the responsibilities of
+the letter office. Grasping as he was, it is impossible to
+suppose that this can have been done by his own wish, for
+the appointment of Master of the Posts, though weighted
+with a rent of £5000 a year, was still a very lucrative one.
+His successor paid a rent of double that amount, and is
+reputed to have derived from his farm an enormous profit.</p>
+
+<p>After Prideaux's death in August 1659, it transpired
+that his interest in the letter office had not ceased when
+he ceased to administer it. What was the interest he
+retained we do not know; but the matter seems to have
+been considered sufficiently serious to call for parliamentary
+inquiry. In the following February the House of Commons
+ordered "that the whole business concerning the Post Office,
+and what has been received by Mr. Prideaux, late Attorney-General,
+out of the same, and what account hath been made
+thereof he referred to a committee to examine, and to state
+matter of fact and report it to the Parliament and their
+opinion therein." To this order, however, no return appears
+to have been made. It is probable that at the Restoration
+the committee had not concluded its labours.</p>
+
+<p>Oldmixon speaks of Prideaux as "a very fierce republican,
+who got a great estate by his zeal against the Church and
+Churchmen"; and it is certain that to that estate his zeal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+for the Post Office brought him no inconsiderable addition.
+Of the destination of a part of his wealth we are not left
+uninformed. Towards the close of the century a judge,
+before whose ferocity even Prideaux's pales, set out on a
+circuit, the infamy of which will endure to the end of time.
+Arrived in Somersetshire, he found residing at Ford Abbey,
+in the neighbourhood of Axminster, an inoffensive country
+squire, son of the former Master of the Posts, and named
+after him, Edmund Prideaux. From this gentleman,
+apparently because he was his father's son, and for no better
+reason, Jeffreys under threat of the gallows extorted
+£15,000, and he bought with the money an estate "to
+which," Lord Macaulay tells us, "the people gave the name
+of Aceldama, from that accursed field which was purchased
+with the price of innocent blood."</p>
+
+<p>In 1653 the posts were farmed to Captain Manley at a
+rent of £10,000 a year; and in 1655, Manley's contract
+having expired, Cromwell on the advice of his Council
+placed them in the hands of Mr. Secretary Thurloe, on his
+giving security to the same amount. The change of
+management was followed two years later by an important
+step in advance. This was the passing of an Act of Parliament
+intituled an Act for settling the postage of England,
+Scotland, and Ireland. Legislative sanction was now given
+to what had hitherto rested on no better authority than
+Proclamation or Order in Council. A general office, to be
+called the Post Office of England, was to be established for
+the receipt and despatch of letters; and under the title of
+Postmaster-General and Comptroller of the Post Office an
+officer was to be appointed who was to have the exclusive
+right of carrying letters and of furnishing post-horses. At
+the Restoration the Act of 1657, the "pretended" Act as it
+was now called, could not of course be recognised as possessing
+any legal validity, and so it was replaced by another; but
+the later Act was little more than a re-enactment of the earlier
+one. Virtually, it is to the Act of 1657 that the General
+Post Office owes its origin, although the Act of 1660, as
+being unimpeachable, has been commonly called its charter.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>Similar as the two Acts are in the main, there is one
+important difference between them. The Act of 1657 gives
+as a reason for making the posts the subject of parliamentary
+enactment that they are and have been "the best means of
+discovering and preventing many dangerous and wicked
+designs which have been and are daily contrived against the
+peace and welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence
+whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of
+escript." To the odious practice here implied no countenance
+is given in the Act of 1660. But, indeed, it needed
+not this evidence to prove that during the Commonwealth
+the Post Office was largely used as an instrument of police.
+Thurloe's "intercepted" letters are matter of history; and
+the journals of the two Houses of Parliament shew that the
+foreign mails, both inward and outward, were stopped for
+whole weeks together, and committees appointed to open
+and read the letters. On one occasion the Venetian
+ambassador, whose letters had shared the same fate as the
+rest, entered an indignant protest. "He could not persuade
+himself," he said, "that the Government of England, so
+noble and generous, should have so inferior a mind as to
+open the letters of an ambassador, and by this means to
+violate the laws, and to give an example to the world so
+damnable, and of so little respect towards the minister of
+the Serenissima Respublica." Nor was his indignation
+appeased until four peers had waited upon him in the name
+of the House of Lords, and tendered an ample apology.</p>
+
+<p>The rates of postage prescribed by the Act of 1657 were
+only slightly varied by the Act of 1660. As finally
+adjusted, they were as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates2">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On</td><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">Single Letter.</td><td align="left">Double Letter.</td><td align="left">Per Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">80 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 80 miles</td><td align="right">3d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To or from Berwick</td><td align="right">3d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">18d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From Berwick within Scotland&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;40 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Above 40 miles</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To or from Dublin</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td><td align="right">24d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From Dublin within Ireland&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;40 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Above 40 miles</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>How these rates compare with those which had gone
+before we have no means of judging. We only know that
+during Prideaux's management the postage on a single letter
+was 6d.; that at some time between 1655 and 1657
+it was reduced to 3d.; and that the credit of this reduction
+was due to Clement Oxenbridge. Oxenbridge, after
+acting as deputy first to Prideaux and then to Manley,
+appears to have taken a farm under Thurloe; and, rightly
+or wrongly, he affirmed that, as soon as he had improved
+the posts at a cost to himself of more than £5000, and had
+made his farm profitable, he was turned adrift by Cromwell.</p>
+
+<p>If the comparison be carried forward instead of backward,
+and the rates of 1660 be contrasted with those of
+later years, there is an important consideration which cannot
+be too carefully borne in mind. It is this, that in 1660
+cross posts did not exist. Between two towns not being on
+the same post road, however near the towns might be, letters
+could circulate only through London; and the moment
+London was reached an additional rate was imposed. Hence
+the apparent charges, the charges as deduced from the
+table of rates, might be very different from the actual charges.
+Bristol and Exeter, for instance, are less than eighty miles
+apart; but in 1660 and for nearly forty years afterwards
+letters from one to the other passed through London, and
+would be charged, if single, not 2d. but 6d., and if double,
+not 4d. but 1s. That is to say, the postage<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> or portage,
+as it was then called, would consist of two rates, and each
+of these rates would be for a distance in excess of eighty
+miles. David Hume, writing more than a hundred years
+later, observes that before 1657 letters paid only about
+half as much postage as they did in his own time. This,
+no doubt, is true if rate be compared with rate according
+to the distance; but the fact we have mentioned very
+materially qualifies the force of the remark.</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p>
+<p>On foreign letters the rates ranged from 4d., the lowest
+rate for a single letter, to 2s., the highest rate for a double
+letter, and from 1s. 6d. to 4s. an ounce for letters of greater
+bulk. No provision was made for any charge except on
+letters from Europe. Letters came indeed from other parts;
+but as the Post Office did not bring them and paid nothing
+for their carriage, no postage was demanded. From India,
+for instance, a letter brought to England and posted there
+would pay only the home postage.</p>
+
+<p>For post-horses the charge was fixed at 3d. a mile for
+each horse, besides 4d. to the guide of every stage. Two
+concessions were made to the public. Horses were no
+longer to be seized without the consent of the owners; and
+a traveller if kept waiting half an hour without being
+supplied might hire a horse wherever he could. That the
+seizure of horses had been a source of intense annoyance
+seems beyond question. In a Proclamation of 1603, as a
+reason for helping the postmasters to keep horses in sufficient
+number for the service of the posts, the townships are reminded
+of "the ease and quiet they reape thereby"; and
+long after the immunity from seizure had been granted, the
+allusions to the former practice leave no room for doubt
+that, though the sore was healed, the recollection of it still
+rankled.</p>
+
+<p>According to Lord Macaulay, a part of the Post Office
+revenue was derived from post-horses.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> With all deference
+to that eminent authority, and with all modesty we venture
+to think that such was not the case. The Proclamation of
+1603, which was the origin of the monopoly, while giving
+to those who horsed the posts "the benefit and preheminence
+of letting horses" to all comers, expressly provided that,
+except for the service of the posts or for the use of persons
+travelling on affairs of State, no postmaster need keep horses
+unless he pleased, and that, if he did so, he should be at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+liberty to make his own terms. On this last point the
+words are, "But of all others riding Poste with horne and
+guide about their private businesses, the hire and prices are
+left to the parties discretions to agree and compound within
+themselves." Again, an account is still extant, dated 1623,
+or twenty years after the monopoly had been established,
+and giving in minute detail the particulars of the expenses
+of the posts as they then were; records also exist extending
+in almost unbroken succession over more than eighty years
+of the period during which the monopoly lasted, and dealing
+with every variety of Post Office question; and neither in
+the records nor the account is there the remotest allusion to
+the receipt of any sums on account of post-horses. Yet
+one reason more for the opinion we hold. About the middle
+of the eighteenth century, as the result of legislation which
+then took place, the roads were measured, and the measured
+mile proved to be shorter than the computed mile. As a
+consequence of this discovery the charge for post-horses was
+raised. A distance which had hitherto been reckoned as
+eight miles proved to be ten miles, and a charge as for ten
+instead of eight miles was made. Travellers were up in
+arms, and complained that the Post Office had raised its
+charges. The answer was that the Post Office had nothing
+to do with the matter; that the postmasters were entitled
+by law to so much a mile; and that the whole of the charge
+went into their own pockets. For these reasons we think
+that no part of the Post Office revenue was derived from
+the letting of post-horses. Indirectly, no doubt, the
+monopoly was a source of profit because, except for it, those
+who horsed the posts would not have been content with the
+wages they received. These, according to the account of
+1623, ranged from 3s. a day to 6d. a day. To supplement
+the postmasters' pay without expense to the Crown was, we
+make bold to suggest, the object with which the monopoly
+was granted. And, of course, the better the object was
+secured, the more carefully would the monopoly be guarded.</p>
+
+<p>In May 1660 Clement Oxenbridge, to whose exertions
+the Act of 1657 would seem to have been largely due,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+petitioned the Council of State to reimburse him the expenses
+to which he had been put in improving the posts,
+and the Council of State, after investigating the claim, reported
+the particulars to the House of Commons for directions.
+It was not, however, until after William and Mary
+had ascended the throne that any further step was taken.
+Oxenbridge, whose necessities had become greater as his age
+advanced, was then by the King's direction given an appointment
+under the Post Office of the annual value of £100;
+and this salary he continued to draw, although too old to
+discharge the duties for which it was paid, until his death
+in 1696.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>WILLIAM DOCKWRA<br />
+
+1660-1685</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the Restoration the Post Office was leased to Henry
+Bishopp of Henfield in Sussex, for the term of seven years
+at a rent of £21,500 a year, or more than double the
+amount which had been paid by the previous farmer.
+Before three years had elapsed, however, Bishopp surrendered
+his lease, and was succeeded for the remainder of his term
+and at the same rent by Daniel O'Neile, Groom of the King's
+Bedchamber. O'Neile had loyally adhered to Charles during
+his exile, had attended his Sovereign on his visit to Scotland,
+had been banished that kingdom, and in connection with his
+banishment had achieved a singular distinction. He had
+given a written undertaking consenting to his own death if
+he ever returned.</p>
+
+<p>Even at a rent of £21,500, as the Court had doubtless
+by this time learned, the Post Office was not a bad
+investment. O'Neile, like Bishopp, was to enjoy a monopoly
+of the carrying of letters, and to make what he could
+out of it; but he was rigidly to adhere to the rates of
+postage prescribed by the Act, charging neither more nor
+less. Old posts were not to be altered nor new posts
+erected, without the sanction of the Secretary of State; and
+the Secretary of State was to possess a veto on appointments
+and, as occasion might require, to "have the survey
+and inspection of all letters." To these conditions was afterwards
+added another. This was that no postmaster or other
+officer was to remain in the service who should not within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+six months obtain and forward to the postmaster-general a
+certificate, under the hand and seal of the Bishop of the
+diocese, to the effect that he was "conformable to the
+discipline of the Church of England."</p>
+
+<p>In 1667, O'Neile's lease having expired, Lord Arlington,
+Secretary of State in the Cabinet known as the Cabal, was
+appointed postmaster-general; and, after a while, the office was
+again let out to farm, this time at a rent of £43,000 a year.
+Rapidly as the rent had grown, the public demands had
+grown more rapidly still, and little, if any, effort had been
+made to satisfy them. How inadequate the posts were,
+about this time, to meet the public requirements may be
+judged from a circumstance connected with Bishopp's
+appointment. The letters patent appointing him were to
+take effect from the 25th of June 1660, but their validity
+was to depend on an Act of Parliament, the Act reconstituting
+the General Post Office, which did not pass until
+some months afterwards. Meanwhile a whole crop of posts
+had sprung up between London and the country, which could
+not be suppressed until the Act was passed. As compensation
+for the loss he sustained by this encroachment on his
+monopoly between the 25th of June and the 29th of
+September Bishopp claimed and received no less than £500.</p>
+
+<p>There is preserved in the Guildhall Library a letter from
+the Duke of Buckingham, to which the following note is
+appended:&mdash;"The great fire of London broke out on the
+2nd of September 1666. It is seen by the date of this
+letter that the Duke of Buckingham, at that time in the
+highest position at Court and in the zenith of his power, was
+at Worthing, and did not receive intelligence of the awful
+calamity until after the city had been burning for five days."
+We do not know by what means the Duke was informed of
+the calamity, nor is it material to our present purpose that
+we should do so. All we desire now to observe is that if, as is
+not improbable, he was informed of it by letter, the letter&mdash;as
+we proceed to shew&mdash;reached him in due course of post.
+The fire broke out at midnight on the 2nd of September, and
+the 2nd of September was a Saturday, after which, except<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+to the Downs and to places abroad, there was no post out
+of London until Tuesday the 5th, or rather, as the mails
+started after midnight, until early in the morning of
+Wednesday the 6th. Arundel was then the post-town for
+Worthing, and for the first part of the distance the course of
+post was, as it continued to be until the day of railways,
+through Tooting, Ewell, Epsom or Ebbesham as it was still
+called, Leatherhead, and Dorking. Continuing thence, not,
+as in later times, through Horsham, but through the hamlet
+of Coldharbour, the post-road skirted the foot of Leith Hill
+and passed through Stone Street, Billinghurst, and Amberley
+to Arundel, which would be reached late in the afternoon of
+Wednesday. Between Arundel and Worthing the distance
+is ten miles, and the postmaster would not, at the earliest,
+take out the letter for delivery until the morning of
+Thursday the 7th, or five days after the fire had broken out.
+Indeed, it may be permitted to us to doubt whether the
+letter, if letter there was, would have been delivered as early
+as the 7th, had it been for a less important personage.</p>
+
+<p>Meagre as the means of communication were in those
+days, even such means as existed were not matter of common
+knowledge. The Post Office did not advertise its wares; and
+no newspapers then existed to do for the Post Office what
+the Post Office omitted to do for itself. What towns
+possessed post-houses of their own, and how these towns
+stood in relation to other towns which did not enjoy the
+same advantage, might well be considered essential information;
+yet even of this no public announcement was given.
+Blome, in his <i>Britannia</i>, printed in 1671, remarks upon this
+defect, and for the benefit of his readers proceeds to supply
+it. After commenting upon the convenience which the Post
+Office affords, and lamenting that this convenience is not
+more generally known, he gives a list of the post towns
+which each county possesses, and supplements it with a
+series of county maps, so that, as he explains, persons
+desirous of writing to any particular place may be able to
+find out for themselves where the nearest post-house stands.
+As late as the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+eighteenth centuries separate maps appear to have been published
+with the same object, as a matter of private enterprise.
+In these maps the post towns are indicated by a castle
+surmounted by the royal standard.</p>
+
+<p>But it was within the metropolis itself that the public
+need was greatest. Between London and the country posts
+went at unequal intervals indeed, and at intervals in some
+cases unduly long, and yet with regularity. To Kent and
+the Downs there was a post daily; to other parts of England
+and to Scotland a post every other day; and to Wales and
+to Ireland a post twice a week. But between one part of
+London and another there was no post at all. A resident
+in London having a letter for delivery within the metropolitan
+area had only one choice, to take the letter himself
+or to send it by another. And let the bearer of a letter
+be who he might, there was an inconvenience to which he
+was constantly exposed. The houses were not numbered,
+and were mainly to be recognised by the signs they bore.
+Later on, men who delivered letters over the same ground
+day after day complained that it was not always easy to
+find the address. Without local knowledge it must have
+been sometimes impossible.</p>
+
+<p>Happily, in England the spirit of enterprise is such that
+an acknowledged want affecting any considerable section of
+the public is seldom suffered to endure very long. And so
+it proved in the present instance. The man who now
+undertook to relieve the capital from the intolerable
+inconvenience under which it laboured was William Dockwra,
+a merchant of the city of London. Dockwra had been a
+sub-searcher in the Custom House, and through some little
+interest he possessed at Court had been allowed to dispose
+of his place. The idea of the penny post is said indeed to
+have originated with Robert Murray, an upholsterer in
+Paternoster Row; but, be that as it may, to Dockwra
+belongs the credit of giving it practical shape. A man of
+less resolution or less convinced of the inherent merits of
+his undertaking might well have been daunted by the
+difficulties he had to encounter. The undertaking had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+conceived in so bold a spirit that to carry it out would
+involve an expense which Dockwra's unaided resources were
+altogether unable to bear. A difficulty still greater than
+the want of funds was the determined opposition of the
+Duke of York. In 1663 the profits of the Post Office had
+been settled on the Duke for his support and maintenance,
+and, with an eye ever intent on his own interests, he discerned
+or thought he discerned in the new project an
+infringement of his rights.</p>
+
+<p>Undeterred by these difficulties, Dockwra persevered in
+the task he had taken in hand. At length the appointed
+day arrived. On the 1st of April 1680,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> London, which
+had hitherto had no post at all, suddenly found itself in
+possession of one in comparison with which even the post
+of our own time is cast into the shade. For the purposes
+of the undertaking London and its suburbs were divided into
+seven districts with a sorting office in each. From Hackney
+in the north to Lambeth in the south, from Blackwall in
+the east to Westminster in the west, there was not a point
+within the bills of mortality which the new post did not
+reach. Between four and five hundred receiving offices were
+opened in a single morning. Placards were distributed and
+advertisements inserted in the public intelligences announcing
+where these offices were. Messengers called there for
+letters every hour. These, if for the country, were carried
+to the General Post Office, and if for the town, to the
+respective sorting offices. From the sorting offices, after
+being sorted and entered in books kept for the purpose, they
+were sent out for delivery, to the Inns of Court or places of
+business ten or twelve times a day, and to other places
+according to distance from four to eight times. Nor was
+the service confined to letters. It extended also to parcels,
+the only condition being that neither parcel nor letter should
+exceed one pound in weight,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> or ten pounds in value.
+Subject to these limitations the charge between one part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+London and another was one penny. An exception indeed
+was made in the case of Hackney, Islington, Newington
+Butts, and Lambeth, which were then separate towns.
+There one penny carried only to the receiving office, and for
+delivery at a private house the charge was one penny more.
+Delivery in the street was not allowed.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not only in the matter of weight and frequency
+of delivery that the new undertaking was conceived
+in the most liberal spirit. Provided a letter or parcel was
+securely tied and sealed and its contents endorsed on the
+outside, the charge of one penny covered not only cost of
+conveyance but insurance as well, up to a limit of ten pounds.
+That is to say, subject to this limit, if a parcel or a letter
+or its contents were lost, Dockwra would, the conditions
+being observed, make the value good.</p>
+
+<p>There is yet another novelty which Dockwra introduced.
+As a check upon his messengers he supplied the seven sorting
+offices with stamps bearing their own initial letters and
+denoting the several hours of the day. With one of these
+stamps all letters and parcels were impressed as they passed
+through the post, and if in the busy parts of the capital
+they were not delivered within little more than an hour
+from the time denoted by the impression, the public were
+encouraged to complain. The following are specimens of
+the stamps which Dockwra used:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/illus-pg38.jpg" width="450" height="149" alt="Three stamps" title="Three stamps" />
+</div>
+
+<p>This was the introduction of postmarks. In the first
+and last impressions Mor. 8 signifies of course 8 o'clock in
+the morning, and Af. 4, 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In the
+second or middle impression the initial letter L signifies
+Lyme Street, where the principal office of the penny post
+was held at Dockwra's private dwelling-house, formerly the
+dwelling-house of Sir Robert Abdy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>The General Post Office, until lately in Bishopsgate
+Street, stood at this time in Lombard Street, where it
+occupied a site on part of which the branch office now stands.
+There the persons employed, all told, numbered 77. In the
+country and dependent on the chief office were 227 postmasters,
+viz. 182 in England and Scotland and 45 in
+Ireland. Twelve persons were also employed in the office in
+Dublin. Altogether and throughout the whole of the
+kingdom the General Post Office, in 1680, gave employment
+to 316 persons, a number very much less than that which
+Dockwra employed in London alone.</p>
+
+<p>On Saturday nights the penny post closed, in winter at
+six, and in summer at seven. On other nights of the
+week, Sundays excepted, it must have remained open to at
+least 9 o'clock, for at that hour the country letters were
+collected from the receiving offices and carried to the
+General Post Office. Besides Sundays, there were eight
+days in the year on which the post did not go, viz. three
+days at Christmas, two days at Easter, two days at Whitsuntide,
+and also the 30th of January, the anniversary of
+the death of King Charles the First.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the enormous advantages it conferred, the
+penny post was not at first received with unqualified
+satisfaction. Some fanatics denounced it as a Popish contrivance;
+and Lord Macaulay tells us how the porters
+complained that their interests were attacked, and tore
+down the placards on which the scheme was announced to
+the public. Even unprejudiced persons and persons who
+had no interests to protect complained that a large number
+of things were posted and not delivered. This Dockwra
+himself admitted, explaining that it was due to the illegible
+writing of the address or to the omission of some important
+particular by which the persons addressed might be identified,
+the omission of their trade, or of the signs which their
+houses bore, or of some well-known place or object in their
+vicinity. The manifest utility of the enterprise, however,
+soon bore down all opposition; and in little more than a
+year from its introduction the penny post, though weighted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+with a scheme of insurance, was very nearly paying its own
+expenses.</p>
+
+<p>The establishment of the penny post had one effect
+which had probably not been contemplated. It increased
+largely the number of letters for the country. Every man
+had now a post office at his own door. It is true that
+Dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices were intended
+primarily for town letters; but country letters might
+be posted there, and, as we have seen, were collected at a
+stated hour every evening. Hitherto the case had been
+very different. Up to the 1st of April 1680, incredible as
+it may appear, the General Post Office in Lombard Street
+was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of London.
+There and nowhere else could letters be posted. Little
+wonder if, before 1680, persons whom the cost of postage
+might not deter from writing were yet deterred by their
+distance from the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>Dockwra might reasonably now expect to reap some of
+the rewards of success. A small band of citizens who had
+joined in the original venture had afterwards deserted him,
+and for six months he had carried it on at his sole charge.
+Others had then come to his aid, and a fresh partnership
+had been formed. The undertaking prospered, became self-supporting,
+and at length gave promise of large returns.
+This very promise excited the greed of the Duke of York.
+So long as the outgoings exceeded the receipts Dockwra
+remained unmolested; but no sooner had the balance turned
+than the Duke complained of his monopoly being infringed,
+and the Courts of Law decided in his favour. Not only was
+Dockwra cast in damages, but the undertaking which he
+had impoverished himself to establish was wrested out of
+his hands, and the penny post, in less than five years from
+its introduction, was incorporated into the General Post
+Office.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p>
+<p>Generosity formed no part of James's character, and, so
+long as he sat on the throne, Dockwra's services remained
+without the slightest recognition. In 1690, however, upon
+an address from the House of Commons, William and Mary
+granted him a pension of £500 for seven years, and in
+1697 the grant was renewed for three years longer. In
+the same year as the renewal of the grant, but a little
+earlier, he was appointed comptroller of the penny post at a
+salary of £200, and this appointment he retained until
+1700. Then, both appointment and grant came to an
+abrupt termination together, for, on charges brought against
+him by his own subordinates, Dockwra, like Witherings, was
+dismissed. Such was the tribute paid to the man who had
+conferred on his country benefits which he never tired of
+predicting would endure to all posterity.</p>
+
+<p>Of the charges against Dockwra two deserve special
+notice, as shewing that the penny post, after its acquisition
+by the State, continued to be conducted on the same
+principles as before. These two charges were&mdash;1st, that,
+contrary to his duty, he "forbids the taking in any band-boxes
+(except very small) and all parcels above a pound";
+and 2nd, that he takes money out of letters and "makes the
+office pay for it," thereby clearly indicating that at that
+time the State carried on a parcel post and continued the
+practice of making losses good. A third charge, the truth
+of which it is more easy to credit, imputed to Dockwra that
+he spoke and acted as if his object were to get the penny
+post into his own hands again. It is worthy of remark, as
+characteristic of the times in which he lived, and may
+perhaps be regarded as affording some presumption of his
+innocence, that Dockwra appears to have been at less pains
+to refute the charges than to prove that he had taken the
+oath of supremacy, or the oath which had been recently
+substituted for it, and that he had received the Holy
+Sacrament.</p>
+
+<p>We have said that to us who live at the end of the
+nineteenth century it may appear incredible that up to
+April 1680 the General Post Office in Lombard Street was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+the only receptacle for letters in the whole of London.
+But it is by no means certain that our descendants may not
+think it more incredible still that London, with all its
+boasted progress, has only now recovered a post which, in
+point of convenience and cheapness, at all approaches that
+which an enterprising citizen established more than two
+hundred years ago. When and under what circumstances
+this post lost its original features will have to be considered
+hereafter.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>COTTON AND FRANKLAND<br />
+
+<i>Inland Service</i><br />
+
+1685-1705</h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1685, on the death of Charles the Second, the revenue
+of the Post Office was settled on James, his heirs and
+successors. Rochester, the High Treasurer, became postmaster-general;
+and for the actual discharge of the duties
+a deputy was appointed under the title of Governor.</p>
+
+<p>Two years before, the panic caused by the discovery of
+the Rye-House Plot had led to the issue of a Proclamation
+which, if differing little from others that had gone before,
+acquires importance from the circumstances under which it
+appeared. Unauthorised posts had again sprung up in all
+directions, simply, no doubt, because there was a demand for
+the accommodation they afforded; but the Government, no
+less than the persons who denounced Dockwra's undertaking
+as a Popish contrivance, seem to have been possessed with
+the idea that these posts were mere vehicles for the propagation
+of treason. To prevent treasonable correspondence was
+the avowed object of the present Proclamation, and the
+means by which the object was sought to be attained was
+the suppression of private and irregular posts, for by these,
+the Proclamation went on to declare, the conspirators had
+been materially assisted in their designs. Mayors, sheriffs,
+justices of the peace, constables and others were enjoined to
+make diligent search for letters passing otherwise than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+through the regular post. Special officers were to be
+appointed for the same purpose. All such letters, wherever
+discovered, were to be deemed to be "of dangerous consequence";
+and not only were they to be seized and carried
+to the Secretary of State or the Privy Council for the
+purpose of being opened and inspected, but both the bearers
+and senders of them were to be proceeded against at law.</p>
+
+<p>On James's accession to the throne the Proclamation of
+1683 was succeeded by another in almost identical terms;
+and it is certain that during his reign the liberties taken
+with post letters were hardly less than they had been in
+the worst days of the Commonwealth. Only a few months
+before Rochester's dismissal, for no better reason than to
+gratify curiosity, orders were given that the bags from
+Scotland should be transmitted to Whitehall, and during a
+whole week not a single private letter from beyond the
+Tweed was delivered in London. Happily, however, this
+state of things was soon to cease. After the Revolution the
+appointment of postmaster-general was conferred upon
+persons who were otherwise unconnected with affairs of
+State, and the effect of this change was, as William no doubt
+intended, at once to lift the Post Office out of the region of
+politics. In the eyes of the Rochesters, the Arlingtons, and
+the Thurloes, busied as they were in the detection of conspiracies
+against the State, the Post Office had been little
+else than an instrument which might be usefully employed
+as a means to that end. With plain citizens unversed in
+the ways of government, the only consideration was how
+best they could accomplish the object for which they had
+been appointed; and this object was so to manage and
+improve the posts of the country as to secure to their
+Sovereign the highest possible revenue.</p>
+
+<p>But, before William could give effect to his views, there
+was an adherent to be provided for. This was Colonel
+John Wildman, who was appointed postmaster-general in
+July 1689. Of Wildman's career at the Post Office little
+is known, except that he was profuse in making promises
+which he never performed. He might, perhaps, himself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+have pleaded that he was not given time to perform them,
+for after eight months' tenure of the appointment he was
+dismissed for some reason which is, and will probably
+continue to be, a mystery. Far different is the record left
+behind them by Wildman's immediate successors. These
+were Sir Robert Cotton and Mr.&mdash;afterwards Sir Thomas&mdash;Frankland,
+who became joint postmasters-general in March
+1690, and served in that capacity for nearly twenty years.
+They had sat in James's Parliament, the one for Cambridgeshire,
+and the other for the borough of Thirsk, and these
+seats they retained under William. From the writings they
+have left behind them we are able to see these two men not
+as a biographer might dress them up, but as they really
+were. Everything about them, their virtues, their foibles,
+their habits, their ailments, their devotion to duty, their
+unwillingness to believe evil of any one, their hatred of
+injustice or oppression, their unbounded credulity, their
+anxiety about their re-election, their gratitude for any little
+scrap of news which they might carry to Court, their fondness
+for a glass of port wine, their attacks of gout, their
+habit of taking snuff, even the hour of their going to bed&mdash;all
+this and more is there revealed, and makes up a record
+of simplicity and benevolence which it is a delight to read.</p>
+
+<p>The establishment over which these two simple gentlemen
+were called upon to preside had recently received a
+considerable addition. Out of London, the Post Office
+servants remained much as they had been ten years before,
+at about 239 in number, of whom all but twelve were
+postmasters; but in London the force employed at the
+General Post Office had been raised from 77 to 185. The
+Penny Post Office, which had now been wrested out of
+Dockwra's hands, accounts for the greater part of the
+difference. This gave employment, exclusive of receivers,
+to 74 persons&mdash;a comptroller, an accomptant, and a collector,
+14 sorters and 57 messengers&mdash;at a total charge for salaries
+of £2000 a year. Another part of the establishment, and
+by no means the least important or the least difficult to
+manage, consisted of the packet boats. These, in 1690,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+were eleven in number, viz.&mdash;two for France, two for
+Flanders, two for Holland, two for the Downs, and three for
+Ireland. Owing to the war, however, the boat-service to
+France was now in abeyance.</p>
+
+<p>Little more than half a century had elapsed since the
+introduction of postage, and meanwhile the revenue had
+risen by strides which were for those times prodigious. In
+1635 the posts were maintained at a cost to the Crown of
+£3400 a year. Within fifteen years not only had they
+become self-supporting, but a rent was paid for the privilege
+of farming them. This rent was, in 1650, £5000 a year;
+in 1653, £10,000; in 1660, £21,500; and some time
+before 1680, £43,000. In 1690 the net revenue was
+probably about £55,000. In 1694, according to a return
+made to the House of Commons two years later, it was
+£59,972.</p>
+
+<p>The headquarters of the Post Office were at this time
+in Lombard Street. Here the postmasters-general resided;
+and here, far from shutting themselves up, they were to be
+found at all hours by any one who might wish to consult
+them on business connected with their office. Freedom of
+communication with those among whom they lived, and not
+inaccessibility, appears indeed to have been a part of their
+policy. With the foreign merchants especially they maintained
+the most friendly intercourse, and were wont to
+defer to their wishes and suggestions in the arrangement of
+the packets. Besides giving constant attendance during
+the day, the postmasters-general sat as a Board every
+morning and night. To these Board-meetings they attached
+the highest importance, especially on the nights of Tuesdays,
+Thursdays, and Saturdays, when mails were despatched into
+all parts of the country. These were known as the "Grand
+Post Nights," and the others as "Bye-Nights."</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office building appears to have been not ill
+adapted to its purpose. A massive gate opened into a
+court of oblong shape. This court was paved from end to
+end for the merchants to walk in while waiting to receive
+their letters. On the right was the Board-room with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+residence of the postmasters-general attached; on the left
+the office for foreign letters; and in front, immediately
+facing the entrance, was the sorting office. The office for
+the letter-carriers was in the basement. The rest of the
+building was devoted to the use of the Post Office servants,
+who, owing to their unseasonable hours of attendance, were
+required to live in the office itself or else in its immediate
+vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>The machinery for the dispersion of letters was very
+simple. For Post Office purposes the kingdom was divided
+into six roads&mdash;the North Road, the Chester or Holyhead
+Road, the Western Road, the Kent Road, and the Roads to
+Bristol and to Yarmouth; and these roads were presided
+over by a corresponding number of clerks in London whose
+duty it was to sort the letters and to tax them with the
+proper amount of postage. At the present time, when,
+owing to the system of prepayment, there is comparatively
+little taxing to be done, no less than 2800 clerks and
+sorters are engaged every evening in despatching the letters
+into the country. Two hundred years ago the whole
+operation was performed, both sorting and taxing together,
+by the six clerks of the roads, and they had not even a
+sorter to assist them until 1697.</p>
+
+<p>The letters, as soon as they had been sorted, were despatched
+into the country, the usual hour of despatch being
+shortly after midnight; but, of course, with a force to prepare
+them of only six persons, a rigid punctuality such as that
+which now distinguishes the operations of the Post Office
+could hardly be observed. An instance remains on record
+of the disturbance caused by any unusual pressure. The
+25th of February 1696, we are told, was a foreign post
+night, and it happened that the letters for the country as
+well as abroad were more than ordinarily numerous. On
+this occasion the mails which should have gone out before
+three o'clock in the morning could not be despatched until
+between six and seven.</p>
+
+<p>Once clear of London, the letters passed into the hands
+of the postmasters, who were alone concerned in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+transmission and distribution. At the present time,
+multifarious as the duties of a postmaster are, it is not one
+of them to transport the mails from town to town. But
+such was not the case in 1690. The post roads were then
+divided into sections or, as they were commonly called,
+stages; and these stages were presided over by a corresponding
+number of postmasters, whose duty it was to carry the
+mails each over his own stage. This had been the original
+object of their appointment, the object for which they had
+been granted the monopoly of letting post-horses, and it
+still remained their primary duty, to which every other was
+subordinate. And yet traces of this original function were
+already beginning to disappear. The posts settled on the
+six main roads of the kingdom had not been long in
+extending themselves to other roads; and on these branch
+roads one postmaster would be charged with the carrying
+of the mails over two or more stages, leaving another
+without any transport duty at all. Kendal, for instance,
+lay on a branch road leaving the Holyhead Road at
+Chester; and from Wigan the letters for Kendal were
+fetched by the postmaster of Preston, who passed not only
+his own town but the town of Lancaster on his way.</p>
+
+<p>In 1690 no provincial town had a letter-carrier of its
+own, as that term is now understood. Even at Bristol and
+at Norwich, which ranked next to the capital in size and
+importance, there was for all Post Office purposes one single
+agent, and that was the postmaster. Upon him and him
+alone devolved all the duties which now, at all but the
+smallest towns, a body of sorters and letter-carriers is maintained
+to perform. Whether out of London there was any
+settled mode of delivery is uncertain; but there seems little
+doubt that, soon after the establishment of the Post Office,
+to deliver letters in his own town had come to be a part,
+though a secondary part, of a postmaster's duty. At
+Maidstone, indeed, the delivery appears to have reached a
+high state of perfection. The postmaster there fetched the
+mails from Rochester and carried them to Ashford, dropping
+the letters for his own town as he passed through. These<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+were at once taken out by two men of his own and delivered,
+so that, as he took pride in relating, a letter from London
+arriving by the morning post at noon could he answered
+by the return post, which left Maidstone at six o'clock in
+the evening.</p>
+
+<p>But this must have been an exceptional case. Except
+perhaps at the largest towns, letters were yet too few to
+make such an arrangement necessary; and it seems probable
+that the hour at which the delivery was made and
+the area over which it extended were very much in the
+postmaster's discretion. One check there was, and, so far as
+appears, one only. This was the letter bill which accompanied
+the letters, and in which was inserted the postage
+which a postmaster had to collect and bring to account;
+but it frequently happened that he advanced the amount
+himself, and of course, where this was so, there was nothing
+to shew that any particular letter had been delivered, still
+less that it had been delivered within a particular time.
+Far more effective, it may well be believed, than any
+official check was the desire, the natural desire, to stand
+well with his neighbours; and the substantial marks of
+kindness which they seldom failed to bestow upon him
+whenever he was so unfortunate as to get into trouble,
+preclude the idea that, in the matter of delivery or otherwise,
+remissness or inattention can have been at all general.</p>
+
+<p>In London, owing to recent malpractices there, attention
+had been directed to the salaries, and these had been
+improved. The six clerks of the roads received four of
+them £60 a year, one £50, and one as much as £100.
+The sorters received £40 a year, and the general post letter-carriers
+11s. a week. The wages of the penny post
+letter-carriers or messengers, as for distinction's sake they
+were called, were 8s. In addition to their salaries the
+clerks of the roads enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers
+or, as they were then called, gazettes. This privilege,
+which dated from the first establishment of the Post Office,
+had arrested the attention of James when Duke of York,
+and he had desired to take it away; but, on learning that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+compensation would have to be given, he decided to let it
+continue. By post the gazettes would have cost from 4d.
+to 6d. apiece. The clerks of the roads supplied them for
+2d. The emoluments from this source kept steadily growing
+during William's reign. At first the longer and more
+frequent sessions of Parliament, and, later on, the war in
+which England was engaged, excited an appetite for news to
+which the two previous reigns afford no parallel. A statement
+which the postmasters-general made to the Treasury
+about this time, while evincing perhaps some little credulity,
+evinces also how keen, in the judgment of two shrewd and
+intelligent men, was the hunger after early intelligence.
+"In England," they say, "there are many postmasters, who
+some of them serve without salary, others for less than they
+would otherwise do, in consideration of their being allowed
+gazets by the office ffrank."</p>
+
+<p>Another curious custom prevailed in 1690, and continued
+indeed for nearly a century afterwards. This was
+the distribution among the Post Office servants in London
+of a certain sum annually as "drink and feast money."
+The sum so distributed in 1685 had been no less than £60;
+and this was in addition to two "feasts" which were given
+them at the expense of the Crown, one at midsummer and
+the other at Christmas.</p>
+
+<p>In the country, where there was no one to watch over the
+postmasters' interests, the salaries were merely nominal.
+The postmaster of Sudbury in Suffolk received a salary of
+£26 a year; and for this he had, three times a week, to
+carry the letters to Braintree and back, a distance of thirty-two
+miles, over a road that was barely passable. At Maidstone,
+in order to keep the delivery up to his own standard
+of excellence, the postmaster expended 2s. a day in what
+he called "horse-meate and man's-meate," yet his salary
+was only £5. Many postmasters received no salary at all.
+Even at Bristol, which stood next to London in population
+and wealth, the salary was only £60, having been recently
+raised to that amount from £50.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it only in the matter of salary that the postmasters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+were objects of compassion. The disturbed state of
+the country during the last few years had brought back old
+abuses. Officers of the army and others who had not the
+officers' excuse of urgency would override the post-horses, and
+when, as frequently happened, these were lamed or killed, no
+compensation appears to have been given. Another class
+of persons infested the roads, persons who, taking advantage
+of the general confusion, would hire post-horses and not
+return them. During the last twelve or thirteen years of the
+seventeenth century many postmasters were languishing in
+prison through inability to pay what they owed for postage;
+and among these there were few who did not trace their
+misfortunes to the fact that immediately before and after
+William's accession to the throne their horses had been killed
+or spoiled through reckless riding or else run away with.</p>
+
+<p>But neither the loss of their horses nor the inadequacy
+of their remuneration was so galling to the postmasters
+as the liability to which they now became subject, of
+having soldiers quartered upon them. A standing army
+had been recently authorised, and there was little or no
+barrack accommodation. Hence a liability, which in our
+own time might be little more than nominal, was, in 1690,
+tantamount to a heavy tax. Under Charles and James<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>
+the postmasters had been exempt from this annoyance; but
+the exemption had been granted by virtue of the royal prerogative,
+and William could not be induced to continue it.
+In vain it was urged that, if a burden were cast upon them
+as novel as it was oppressive, justice demanded that their
+salaries should be increased. The King resolutely refused
+to make a distinction which the law did not recognise, and,
+except in a few isolated cases, the salaries remained
+unchanged.</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
+<p>Despite these drawbacks, there is no reason to think that
+the appointment of postmaster was not eagerly sought for,
+or that when obtained there was any general disposition
+to throw it up. The explanation is obvious. In the first
+place the appointment carried with it the exclusive right of
+letting post-horses. This monopoly, at all events on the
+more frequented roads, must have been remunerative; and
+it must have been especially remunerative where, as appears
+to have been generally the case, the postmaster was also
+innkeeper. Travellers were drawn to his house, for it was
+only there that they could procure horses to pursue their
+journey. He was, in a word, assured of custom. Other
+sources of emolument were&mdash;1st, gratuities, varying according
+to distance, from 1d. to 3d., on every letter he collected
+or delivered; and 2nd, what were technically called
+"Bye-letters." This term, whatever may have been the case
+a century before, had now a distinctive meaning. It
+meant letters which stopped short of London,<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> letters upon
+which at that time there was no check. In 1690 the
+postage on these letters was probably not large; but, large
+or small, the whole or all but the whole of it found its way
+into the pockets of the postmasters, and it was one of the
+first cares of the new postmasters-general to consider how
+the diversion might be stopped.</p>
+
+<p>Such, in England, was the condition of the Post Office
+when Cotton and Frankland assumed the direction of it in
+the month of March 1690. In Scotland the posts were
+under separate direction, the direction of the Secretary of
+State for that part of the kingdom, and subject to the control
+of the Scotch Parliament. For purposes of convenience,
+however, an arrangement had been made between the two
+Post Offices. On letters between London and Edinburgh in
+both directions the English Post Office took not only its own
+share of the postage but the whole; and, in return, it paid
+the salaries of all the postmasters and defrayed the cost of
+all expresses between the Border town of Berwick-on-Tweed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+and Edinburgh. The correspondence at this time passing
+between the two capitals was of the slightest. It is true
+that for the three years ending March 1693 the amount
+due to the London office for postage on letters to Edinburgh
+was £1500, or at the rate of £500 a year; but the correspondence
+of the Secretary of State for Scotland, or "Black-box"
+as it was called, from the colour of the box in which
+it was carried, would probably account for nearly the whole.
+In 1707, which no doubt was a busy year in consequence
+of the Act of Union, the cost of carrying this box to and fro
+averaged £66 a month.</p>
+
+<p>In Ireland the Post Office was managed by a deputy-postmaster,
+who was directly responsible to the postmasters-general
+in London. The method of business was the same
+as in England. Instead, however, of six "roads," there
+were only three&mdash;the Munster Road, the Ulster Road, and
+the Connaught Road. The Dublin establishment, clerks
+and letter-carriers included, consisted of twelve persons, of
+whom five received £20 a year, and no one, the deputy-postmaster
+excepted, more than £80. The deputy-postmaster
+himself received £400. Such at least was the normal
+establishment; but all was now confusion. The battle of
+the Boyne had not yet been fought, and Tyrconnel was still
+Lord Deputy. By his direction the Post Office servants in
+Dublin, down to the youngest letter-carrier, had been turned
+out of their appointments; and the mails from England,
+instead of being opened at the Post Office, were being
+carried to the castle and opened there.</p>
+
+<p>The new postmasters-general had not long taken up their
+quarters in Lombard Street before they began to feel serious
+alarm for the revenue committed to their charge. It was
+in the matter of bye-letters that their apprehensions were
+first aroused. London, as the metropolis, sent and received
+more letters than any other town, more probably than all
+the other towns of the kingdom put together. Through
+London, too, as the centre of the Post Office system, many
+letters passed in those days which would not so pass now,
+because there were no cross-posts. Still there was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+residue, a residue considerable in the aggregate, consisting
+of letters which did not touch London in any part of their
+course; and of these comparatively few were accounted for.
+Some thirty years later, after a check had been established,
+the revenue derived from bye-letters was only a little over
+£3000 a year. At the end of the seventeenth century it
+probably did not amount to as many hundreds.</p>
+
+<p>It was, however, not the letters that fell into the post,
+but those that were kept out of it, the illicit traffic in
+fact, that caused the greatest concern. This traffic was
+assuming larger proportions every day. Under Charles and
+James searchers had been appointed, men who searched for
+letters as baggage is searched at the Custom House. No
+suspected person, no suspected vehicle, was safe from
+inspection. But there was no legal sanction for the practice,
+and it had ceased on William's accession. Early in the
+present reign it had been mooted whether a prosecution
+should not be undertaken, at all events against the principal
+offenders; but the King refused to consent to a step
+which he regarded as impolitic and calculated to excite discontent.
+License waxed bolder with impunity. Along the
+road from Bristol to Worcester and from Worcester to
+Shrewsbury men might be seen openly collecting and delivering
+letters in defiance of the law. Openly or clandestinely
+the same thing was being done in other parts. "Wherever,"
+wrote the postmasters-general, "there are any townes which
+have commerce one with another so as to occasion a constant
+intercourse by carryer or tradesman, there we do find
+it a general practice to convey at the same time a considerable
+number of letters."</p>
+
+<p>But the illicit traffic between one part of the country
+and another, large as were the dimensions it had assumed,
+was insignificant as compared with that which was taking
+place between the country and London. This was the
+natural result of the establishment of the penny post. At
+the first introduction of postage care had been taken so
+to fix the rates that for single letters the post should be
+cheaper than the common carrier. But the common<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+carrier, in competition with the State, had one enormous
+advantage. He could reduce his terms at will. So long,
+therefore, as there was a profit to be made, the relative
+cheapness of the post had proved only an imperfect check.</p>
+
+<p>A far more efficient check, in the case of the metropolis
+at least, had been the difficulty of dispersion. It
+was one thing to bring letters to London and another to
+deliver them. In a maze of streets consisting of houses
+which bore no numbers, a comparative stranger to the
+town attempting anything in the shape of a general
+delivery would have been simply bewildered. But all
+this was now altered. The penny post supplied the very
+machinery, the want of which had hitherto kept the
+illicit traffic within bounds. Once within the orbit of
+that post, a letter consigned to any one of Dockwra's four
+or five hundred receiving offices would be delivered in
+any part of what was then known as London for 1d.,
+and in the suburbs for 2d. And these charges would
+carry up to one pound in weight; whereas a quarter of
+one pound by the general post, even from places no
+further distant from London than Croydon or Kingston,
+would be charged 2s. 8d.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, under such conditions, to carry letters across
+the border-line, the line which separated the general post from
+the penny post, had soon become a regular traffic; and this
+traffic, in consequence of the impunity it enjoyed, was now
+being carried on with little concealment. No stage-coach
+entered London without the driver's pockets being stuffed
+with letters and packets, and he was moderate indeed if
+he had not a bagful besides. The waggoner outstripped
+his waggon and the carrier his pack-horse; and each brought
+his contribution. The higgler's wares were the merest
+pretext. It was to the letters and packets he carried that
+he looked for profit. So notorious had the abuse become
+that two private persons, unconnected with the Post Office,
+offered their services with a view to its correction. These
+persons were gentlemen by birth, and yet it is difficult to
+conceive an office more odious than the one which they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+were prepared to assume. They proposed to erect stands
+or barriers in Westminster, Southwark, and other places in
+the outskirts of London, and there to demand of suspected
+persons as they passed any letters they might have about
+them which did not concern their private business. They
+further proposed to deliver these letters by messengers of
+their own, and to collect the postage, and to proceed against
+the bearers of them for the recovery of the penalties. It
+is significant of the extent to which the traffic had grown,
+that in return for their services they asked no more than
+two-thirds of the postage they should collect, and even
+pleaded the heavy expenses to which they would be put
+as an apology for asking so much. The remaining third
+they would undertake to make over to the postmasters-general.
+They did not explain, however, how it was proposed
+to distinguish letters which concerned the private
+business of the bearers from those which did not, or how,
+while checking others, they were to be checked themselves.
+Nor indeed was any such explanation needed, for the
+postmasters-general very clearly discerned that the proposed
+remedy would be worse, far worse, than the disease.</p>
+
+<p>Cotton and Frankland were sorely perplexed. They
+knew perfectly well that the true policy was to supplant
+and not to suppress; and experience had taught them that
+to facilitate correspondence was to increase it. These
+views they never ceased to inculcate; but their power of
+giving effect to them was extremely limited. They could
+not lower the rates of postage, for these were fixed by Act
+of Parliament. They could not set up a new post nor alter
+an old one without the King's permission. Neither was
+this permission so easy to obtain as it had been. The Post
+Office revenue was settled upon William just as it had been
+settled upon James; but while James kept the control in
+his own hands William left it to his ministers.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Constitutionally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+sound as the change of practice was, it had
+its drawback. James might care little for the convenience
+of trade and commerce; but self-interest would prompt
+him not to withhold facilities where these might be given
+at small cost and with the prospect of comparatively large
+returns. Ministers, on the contrary, even the most
+enlightened, concerned themselves mainly with the balance-sheet
+of the year, and no promise of future and remote
+profit would easily reconcile them to a diminution of
+present receipts. That the Post Office must sow before it
+can reap is a truism which those who hold the purse-strings
+have, at all times, found it hard to accept.</p>
+
+<p>The ministers charged with the control of the Post
+Office were the Lords of the Treasury. How little the
+postmasters-general were left to act on their own responsibility
+will best be shewn by examples. Warwick, according
+to the computation of those days, was sixty-seven
+miles from London; but letters for that town passed
+through Coventry, thus traversing a distance of eighty
+miles. And not only was the route a circuitous one but
+it involved an additional charge for postage, the rates
+for a single letter being, for eighty miles, 3d., and for
+less than eighty, 2d. The postmasters-general desired to
+send the letters direct; but even so simple a matter as this
+they were not competent to decide for themselves. A
+change of route involved a reduction of charge; and a
+reduction of charge might affect the King's receipts. Before,
+therefore, the route could be altered, the King's assent had
+to be signified through his appointed ministers. In 1696
+a post was established between Exeter and Bristol. This
+was the first cross-post set up by authority in the British
+Isles. It ran twice a week, leaving Exeter on Wednesdays
+and Saturdays at four in the afternoon, and arriving
+at Bristol at the same hour on the following days. From
+Bristol the return post, which went on Mondays and Fridays,
+started at ten in the morning. But in this case as in the
+other, the postmasters-general had not the power to act of
+their own motion. Hitherto letters between the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+towns had passed through London, and so had been liable
+to a double rate of postage, to one rate of 3d. from
+Exeter to London, and to another rate of equal amount
+from London to Bristol, or 6d. altogether. For the
+future, the towns being less than eighty miles apart, the
+charge would be 2d. Large as this reduction was, the
+postmasters-general strongly advocated it. The existing
+post, they said, was both tedious and costly, and had
+been little used in consequence. A direct post, it was
+true, would require a small outlay to start it; but, this
+outlay notwithstanding, the post was certain to prove
+remunerative. Increase facilities for correspondence, and
+correspondence would assuredly follow. Besides, it would
+promote trade and be an inestimable boon to the public
+generally. To these representations the Treasury yielded;
+and before three years were over, the postmasters-general
+had the satisfaction of reporting that the new post was producing
+a clear profit of more than £250 a year. But complaisant
+as the Treasury had been on this occasion, their
+co-operation was fitful and uncertain. The Post Office could
+not advance a step without incurring some trifling expense;
+and the Treasury only too often acted as if to save expense,
+however trifling, were the highest proof of statesmanship.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general were indeed heavily handicapped.
+Even with a free hand their position would have been one
+of great embarrassment. But bound hand and foot as they
+were, what could they do? They did what was perhaps
+the very best thing that could have been done in the
+circumstances. They grouped large numbers of post offices
+together and let them out to farm. These groups, or
+branches as they were called, spread over a wide area. The
+Buckingham branch, for instance, not only included the
+county of Bucks but extended as far as Warwick. The
+Hungerford branch comprised sixteen post offices in the
+counties of Berks, Wilts, and Somerset. The Chichester
+branch covered a large part of Surrey as well as Sussex;
+and the six remaining branches, for eventually there were
+nine altogether, were equally extensive.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>This, though by no means a perfect remedy for the existing
+evils, went far to mitigate them. The farmer, of course,
+could not alter the rates of postage; but with this single
+exception he was free from the restraints which hampered the
+postmasters-general. Within the area over which his farm
+extended he had only to consult his own interests; and,
+happily, his own interests and the interests of the public were
+identical. He improved and extended the posts, because
+to improve and extend the posts added to the number of
+letters and made his farm more profitable. He stopped the
+practice of levying gratuities on the delivery of letters,
+because this practice, by adding to the cost of the post,
+and so deterring persons from using it, diminished his own
+receipts. For the same reason he took good care that no
+agent of his own should omit to account for bye-letters,
+and, if other than his own agents continued to send letters
+by irregular means, that it should not be for want of
+facilities which he could himself supply.</p>
+
+<p>To this community of interest as between himself and
+the public may be ascribed the exceptional feelings with
+which, at the close of the seventeenth and beginning of
+the eighteenth centuries, the Post Office farmer was regarded.
+The very name of farmer in connection with other branches
+of the revenue had become a by-word for all that was
+rapacious and extortionate. Only recently the farmer of
+the customs and the farmer of the hearth money had been
+stamped out as moral pests. The Post Office farmer, on the
+contrary, was welcomed wherever he came as a public
+benefactor. In his case outrages and exactions such as had
+disgraced the others were impossible. Before he could
+collect a single penny he had a service to perform; and
+according as this service was performed well or ill, he
+repelled or attracted custom.</p>
+
+<p>The real secret of his welcome, however, was that he supplied
+an urgent demand; and how urgent this demand was
+may best be judged by the conditions on which he was glad
+to accept his farm. These conditions were a lease of no more
+than three years, and a rent equivalent to the highest amount<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+which the post offices included in his farm had in any one
+year produced. For his profits he had nothing to look to
+but the increase of revenue resulting from his own management;
+and even of this he received the whole only in the
+first year, when he would, presumably, be establishing his
+plant. In subsequent years he received two-thirds, the
+remaining third going to the Post Office. If under such
+conditions as these it were possible to toil and grow rich,
+great indeed must have been the field of operation.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who were commissioned to supply the
+accommodation which the postmasters-general were precluded
+from supplying themselves was one who deserves to
+be specially mentioned. This was Stephen Bigg of Winslow,
+in Buckinghamshire. Bigg farmed the Buckingham branch.
+He appears to have possessed and to have deserved the
+confidence of the postmasters-general. Of ample means,
+and endowed with no ordinary powers of organisation, he
+had probably embarked on his undertaking less with a
+view to profit than from a desire to improve the posts. Be
+that as it may, the same means which conduced to the one
+end conduced also to the other; and when the time arrived
+for him to render an account of his proceedings, he not only
+made over to the Post Office a handsome sum as one-third
+share of the profits, but had earned for himself the gratitude
+of the large district over which his farm extended.</p>
+
+<p>His success in his own county encouraged him to enlarge
+the sphere of his operations. Passing through Lancashire
+in the last year of the century, he was struck with the
+wretched accommodation which the posts afforded. As
+compared with those under his own control, they were
+slow, irregular, and, owing to the system of gratuities,
+costly. On his return to London he offered to take in
+farm the post offices of the whole county. The offer was
+accepted, and a lease was signed fixing the rent, as ascertained
+in the usual manner, at £2826. The history of this
+farm is curious. Bigg had not long been engaged in his
+new undertaking before the cross-post which had some few
+years before been set up between Exeter and Bristol was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+extended to Chester. It is not very clear how this interfered
+with Bigg's proceedings; but, as a matter of fact, it
+appears to have tapped an important source of supply. On
+this being pointed out to the postmasters-general, they at
+once, with that high sense of justice which distinguished all
+their proceedings, released him from his engagement and
+cancelled the lease.</p>
+
+<p>The next county to which Bigg turned his attention
+was Lincolnshire. If Lancashire had bad posts, Lincolnshire
+had next to none. Five post towns were all of
+which Lincolnshire could boast&mdash;Stamford and Witham
+and Grantham, Lincoln and Boston; and of these only
+two were off the great north road which ran through
+the extreme west of the county. It is true that other
+towns received letters; but they received them only by
+virtue of a private arrangement, and heavily had they to
+pay for the luxury. From Lincoln, for instance, the postmaster
+went twice a week to Gainsborough and to Brigg, to
+Horncastle, Louth, and Grimsby, charging as his own perquisite
+on each letter he collected or delivered the sum of
+3d. over and above the postage; but, so far as depended on
+any official post, these and all the intervening towns were
+absolutely cut off from the rest of the world.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Bigg procured
+a farm of the district in favour of his son, and the lease was
+signed on the 4th of August 1705. On the 1st of October
+in the same year posts began to run, and gratuities on the
+delivery of letters had become a thing of the past. One
+penny on each letter collected was the only charge that
+remained over and above the postage.</p>
+
+<p>It would be less than justice not to recognise the important
+part which about this period the farmer played in the
+history of the Post Office; nor is it possible not to admire
+the sagacity of those who, when they found the posts to be
+slipping through their fingers, summoned this extraneous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+agency to their aid. It was no mere venture which by a
+happy accident happened to turn out well. The postmasters-general
+had foreseen and foretold exactly what would be the
+result&mdash;that under a system of farming the public would be
+better served, letters would become more numerous, and
+the revenue, when it should revert to the Crown at the
+termination of the lease, would be higher than when the
+lease began.</p>
+
+<p>Next to Lincolnshire in poverty of the means of correspondence
+stood Cornwall. Until 1704 the post to
+Falmouth, after leaving Exeter, ran through Ashburton to
+Plymouth and thence along the south coast. Of the towns
+in Mid Cornwall Launceston alone possessed a post office.
+At others, indeed, letters were delivered, but only by virtue
+of a private arrangement and on payment of a gratuity
+of 2d. apiece. No farmer, unfortunately, offered his services
+here. But, what was perhaps the next best thing, the
+gentry of the county, headed by Lord Granville, took the
+matter up. Thus supported, the postmasters-general proceeded
+to concert their arrangements. They desired the
+postmasters of Exeter, Plymouth, and Launceston to meet
+together and prepare some scheme for facilitating the
+correspondence of the midland towns. Such a scheme was
+soon submitted, and, although it involved a cost of £260 a
+year, authority for its adoption was not withheld. Henceforth
+the post for the extreme west of England was to go,
+not by way of Plymouth, but direct from Exeter to St.
+Columb, and thence through Truro to Falmouth. A single
+post through a wide extent of country might ill accord with
+our present views of what the public convenience requires;
+and yet at the beginning of the eighteenth century Mid
+Cornwall, by the mere alteration of the route for the
+Falmouth mails, obtained facilities for correspondence not
+inferior to those enjoyed by other parts of the country.</p>
+
+<p>The speed at which the post travelled at the end of the
+seventeenth century only slightly exceeded four miles an
+hour. This slow rate of progress, added to the fact that,
+except to the Downs, the post left London only on alternate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+days, gave occasion for the not infrequent use of expresses.
+These were mounted messengers sent specially for the
+occasion. Whether for expresses there was any prescribed
+rate of speed is not known; but it seems probable that
+their instructions were to go as fast as they could. The
+charge for an express was 3d. a mile and 6d. a stage, a
+stage being on the average about twelve miles. The total
+sum which the Post Office received on this account during
+the half-year which ended the 29th of September 1685
+was £337.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally several expresses would be required at
+one time. In 1696, on the discovery of Barclay's plot
+to assassinate the King, orders were given to close the
+ports; and these orders the postmasters-general sent, as
+they were instructed to do, by express. Some twenty years
+afterwards similar orders were given, and an account is still
+extant shewing how on the later, and probably the earlier,
+occasion they were carried into effect. The English ports
+were sixty-two in number; and to only ten of these were
+expresses sent direct from Lombard Street, the others being
+either taken by the way or reached by branch expresses
+furnished by the towns through which the expresses from
+London passed. Altogether the distance traversed was
+2526 miles, the number of stages 202, and the sum which
+the Post Office received for the service from the Commissioners
+of Customs £36:12:6.</p>
+
+<p>From expresses it seems almost natural to pass to
+flying packets, although between the two there is, so far
+as we are aware, no necessary connection. What was a
+flying packet? The term "flying," at the end of the seventeenth
+and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, was, no
+doubt, used in the sense of running. For this season,
+writes Lord Compton's private tutor to Lady Northampton,
+under date September 1734, "the coach has done flying."
+In like manner "flying post," a term as old as the Post
+Office itself,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> meant nothing more than what in Scotland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+was called a runner. Possibly because the idea of expedition
+was conveyed by the term "flying," flying packet came to
+be regarded as synonymous with express. "I despatch this
+by a flying pacquett," writes Lord Townshend to the Duke
+of Argyll in 1715; and again, "My lord, after writing
+what is above, a flying packet brings letters from Edinburgh
+of the 12th." "By the flying pacquett which arrived last
+night," writes Secretary Stanhope about the same date, "I
+received the honour of your Grace's of the 21st inst."
+Here, by flying packet is obviously meant express. And
+yet, curiously enough, this is a sense in which the postmasters-general
+never employed the term. By them it was
+always designed to signify the thing transmitted, and not
+the means of transmission. What they called a flying
+packet might be sent by ordinary post no less than by
+express; and when sending one by express they never
+failed to state that it was being so sent. "You are therefore,"
+they write in 1706, "on the receipt of the bag so
+delivered to your care [<i>i.e.</i> a small bag containing letters
+for the Court], to dispatch the same imediately by a flying
+packet from Harwich to this office, and to send a labil
+therewith expressing the precise time of the arrival and
+your having dispatched the same per express." On receipt
+of the Holland mail, they write again in the following year,
+"You are to take out the Court letters, and to forward the
+same express by a flying packet directed to Mr. Frankland
+at the Post Office at Newmarket." "The inclosed box being
+recommended to our care by His Grace the Duke of
+Queensberry, one of Her Majesty's principall Secretarys
+of State, we do send the same by a flying pacquet....
+You are to send us advice by the first post of the safe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+comeing of this pacquet to your hands." In short, flying
+packet, in its original sense, appears to have meant simply
+a packet of which the enclosures were designed for some
+other person than the one whose address the packet bore.
+Within the Post Office it is occasionally necessary to employ
+technical terms which would not be intelligible to persons
+without; but this, so far as we are aware, is the only
+instance of the same term being used within and without
+in two totally different senses.</p>
+
+<p>Of the state of the roads about this period the Highway
+Act 1691 affords, perhaps, not the least trustworthy
+evidence. To incidents which have resulted in nothing
+more than temporary inconvenience travellers are apt to
+give a touch of humorous exaggeration. An Act of Parliament,
+on the contrary, deals with facts as they are, and
+concerns itself not with imaginary ills. What, then, is to
+be thought of the condition of the roads when provisions
+such as these were necessary?&mdash;No causeway for horses
+was to be less than three feet in breadth, nor was the
+breadth of any cartway leading to a market town to be less
+than eight feet. In highways of less breadth than twenty
+feet no tree was to be permitted to grow, or stone, timber,
+or manure to be heaped up so as to obstruct progress; and
+hedges were to be kept trimmed, and boughs to be lopped
+off, so as to allow a free passage to travellers, and not to
+intercept the action of the sun and wind. Of any breach
+of these and other provisions the road-surveyor was, on the
+Sunday next after it became known to him, to give public
+notice in the parish church immediately after the conclusion
+of the sermon.</p>
+
+<p>Long after the passing of the Act of 1691, and perhaps
+in consequence of it, the causeway formed an important
+feature of the roads. This causeway, or bridle-track,
+ran down the middle; while the margin on either
+side was little better than a ditch, and being lower than
+the adjoining soil, and at the same time soft and unmade,
+received and retained the sludge. But, in truth, the state
+of the roads concerned the Post Office far less at the close<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+of the seventeenth century than it did at the close of the
+eighteenth. The mails were carried on horseback; and,
+even so, they were carried mainly over the six great roads
+of the kingdom. These roads, as compared with others,
+were good; and execrably bad as we might now think
+them, they were probably not altogether ill adapted to
+riding. The disasters which history refers to this period,
+as illustrating the difficulties of travelling, occurred generally
+on the cross-roads, and always with wheel traffic. For both
+wheel traffic and horse traffic the six great roads had,
+probably from the earliest times, been kept in some sort of
+repair. On the great Kent Road, nearly a hundred years
+before, a young Dane, with his attendants, had on horseback
+accomplished the distance between Dover and London
+in a single day.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> In 1642 couriers had ridden from London
+to York and back, a distance of about 400 miles, in thirty-four
+hours,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> a feat barely possible except on the assumption
+that the road was in tolerable order. Now and again,
+indeed, some postmaster, pleading for the remission of his
+debt to the Crown, would urge the losses he had sustained
+in horse-flesh by reason of the badness of the roads; but
+these roads were always cross-roads&mdash;roads along which, if
+he had delivered letters, he had delivered them on his own
+account. Of the six great roads as a means of transit for
+the mails there were no complaints.</p>
+
+<p>It was when the Post Office required something to be
+done which involved transmission from place to place
+otherwise than on horseback that its troubles began. Such
+an event occurred in 1696. Sir Isaac Newton was then
+busy at the mint, devoting to the coinage those powers of
+intellect which were soon to astonish the world. The
+clipping of the coin had gone to such lengths that within
+the space of one year no less than four Acts of Parliament
+were passed with a view to abate the evil. Milled money
+was to take the place of hammered money. The clipped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+pieces had already been withdrawn from circulation, and
+now a date was fixed after which no broad pieces were to
+be received in payment of taxes except by weight. This
+date was the 18th of November, and collectors of the
+public revenue were allowed until the 18th of the following
+month to pay them over to the Exchequer. If not paid
+over by the 18th of December they were to be taken by
+weight and not by tale, and the collectors were to lose the
+difference.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a clear month's grace, and the postmasters
+were under a strong inducement to see that the period
+was not exceeded. From Oxford the hammered money
+was sent by barge. No sooner had it started than a
+severe frost set in, and lasted for six weeks, the consequence
+being to delay the arrival in London until the 7th
+of January. To take the money by weight and not by tale
+would have been equivalent to a fine of about £23. From
+this, however, the postmaster was excused on the ground
+that the barge was the safest means of conveyance he could
+have employed. As a "flying coach"&mdash;a coach which
+travelled at the speed of about four miles an hour&mdash;had for
+many years been running between Oxford and London, it
+must be assumed either that it had stopped for the winter
+or else that for some cause or other, possibly on account of
+highwaymen, it was not considered safe. From Sandwich,
+in Kent, the hammered money was sent by hoy, which did
+not reach the Thames until the 20th of January. Again
+the postmasters-general urged that the delay might be
+overlooked on the ground that no earlier means of conveyance
+would have been safe. Altogether, when the 18th of
+December arrived, more than £1000 of hammered money
+was still outstanding in the postmasters' hands; and in
+every case the want of conveyance or the badness of the
+roads was assigned as the cause.</p>
+
+<p>The penny post office, since it had passed into the hands
+of the Government, had undergone but little change. Its
+headquarters had been removed from Dockwra's house to
+seven rooms prepared for the purpose, not, indeed, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+Post Office in Lombard Street, where want of space was
+already beginning to be felt, but probably in the immediate
+neighbourhood. It had also, in the language of the time,
+been eased from a multitude of desperate debts. But the
+conditions on which it was conducted remained as they had
+been,&mdash;the same limit of weight, the same frequency of
+delivery, and the same rule as to compensation in case of
+loss. Dockwra, with the view, no doubt, of propitiating the
+authorities, had provided for the conveyance to Lombard
+Street of all general post letters left at his receiving offices;
+and this duty, when he was dispossessed, passed to the
+persons by whom those offices were kept. The result was
+not satisfactory. The receivers, in their desire to get the
+work done as cheaply as possible, employed to do it the
+most needy and most worthless persons, persons who could
+not get employment elsewhere. At length the miscarriages
+and losses became so frequent that the Post Office appointed
+its own messengers to go round and collect the letters. Nor
+is it by any means certain that the character of the
+receivers themselves was above suspicion. The plain truth
+is that they were, with few exceptions, keepers of public-houses.
+The collector who called there periodically to
+adjust accounts complained that often four and even five
+visits were necessary before he could obtain payment, and
+that the opportunity was taken to pass upon him bad money.</p>
+
+<p>Times have changed indeed. With public-houses for
+receiving offices, with inn-keepers for postmasters, and with
+a considerable sum expended annually on drink and feast
+money, it can hardly be denied that the Post Office at the
+end of the seventeenth century was a good friend to the
+licensed victualler. At the present time no postmaster may
+keep an inn; no receiving office may be at a public-house;
+and not many years ago, when a hotel with its stock-in-trade
+was purchased with a view to the extension of the Post
+Office buildings in St. Martin's-le-Grand, some excellent
+persons were shocked because, under the sanction of the
+postmaster-general, were exposed for sale by auction some
+few dozen bottles of port.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>Of the extent to which the penny post was used at this
+period we are not, so far as the suburbs are concerned,
+without some means of judging. According to the original
+plan, which had been adhered to in its integrity, one penny
+was to carry a letter within such parts of London as lay
+within the bills of mortality. Beyond these limits one
+penny more was charged; and this penny, which was
+technically called the second or deliver penny, constituted
+the messengers' remuneration. As this soon proved to be
+more than enough for its purpose, the messengers were put
+on fixed wages, and the second pennies were carried to the
+credit of the Post Office. Of the amounts derived from this
+source during the sixteen years from 1686 to 1702 a
+record is still extant. The lowest amount for any one year
+was £310, and the highest £377, the average being £336.
+It would hence appear that for such parts of London as lay
+outside the bills of mortality, for what in fact were at that
+time the suburbs, the number of letters at the end of the
+seventeenth century was about 80,640 a year, or, counting
+306 working days to the year, about 263 a day.</p>
+
+<p>On one point the postmasters-general were determined,
+that the penny post office should not be let out to farm.
+All overtures to this effect they resolutely declined. The
+penny post and the general post had become so interwoven,
+and, outside London, so short a distance separated the limits
+within which the one ceased and the other began to operate,
+that it was considered of the highest importance, both on
+the score of convenience and as a protection against fraud,
+that the two posts should not be under different management.
+The same considerations were not held to apply to Dublin.
+In Dublin, rapidly as that city was now growing in size<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>
+and population, a penny post, it was thought, could not
+possibly answer. Yet in 1703 a spirited lady sought
+permission to set one up. This was Elizabeth, Countess-Dowager<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+of Thanet. A desire to supplement a jointure,
+originally slender and now reduced by the taxation consequent
+on the war, was the simple reason assigned for the
+enterprise, and yet with the highest professions of public
+spirit it might have been difficult to render to the
+community a more signal service. The Duke of Ormonde,
+who was then Lord Lieutenant, approved the proposal, and
+the postmasters-general had made preparations for carrying
+it into effect. The new post was to extend for ten or twelve
+miles in and around Dublin; no receiving office was to be
+within two miles of the first stage of the general post; the
+lease was to be for fourteen years; and one-tenth part of
+the clear profits was to go to the Crown. At the last
+moment, however, the Treasury withheld their assent, and
+for no less than seventy years from this time Dublin
+remained without a penny post.</p>
+
+<p>Of the internal affairs of the Post Office during the first
+fifteen years of Cotton and Frankland's administration of it
+little need be said. At first their only assistant was a clerk
+at £40 a year to copy their letters. In 1694 they procured
+a new appointment to be created, the appointment of
+Secretary to the Post Office. The Secretary to the Post
+Office at the present time has duties to discharge, of the
+variety and importance of which his mere title gives a very
+inadequate idea. In 1694 he was little more than a private
+secretary. One thing indeed he had to do, to which a
+private secretary of our own time might perhaps demur.
+During the night, if an express were wanted, he had to rise
+from his bed and prepare the necessary instructions. The
+salary of the appointment, originally £100, was raised to
+£200 in 1703. In this year a solicitor was appointed, also
+at a salary of £200.</p>
+
+<p>Two years later a transaction was completed on which
+the postmasters-general had long set their hearts. This
+was the purchase of a part of the Post Office premises
+in Lombard Street. As far back as 1688 Sir Robert
+Viner, the owner, had offered the freehold for sale, but
+the Revolution had put a stop to further proceedings. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+1694, after Sir Robert's death, his nephew and executor
+again proposed to sell, and Sir Christopher Wren, on behalf
+of the Crown, surveyed the property with a view to its
+purchase. On examination, however, the title proved to be
+defective, and it was not until 1705, after the defect had
+been remedied by Act of Parliament, that the Crown secured
+the freehold for the sum of £6500. At the present time
+it matters not where Post Office servants reside, so long as
+they attend punctually. At the beginning of the eighteenth
+century it was considered important on account of the
+unseasonable hours of attendance that they should reside
+"in and about" the Post Office. The Post Office was, in
+effect, a barrack, and, except the premises in Lombard Street,
+there were none in the immediate neighbourhood that would
+well answer the purpose. Hence the anxiety to purchase
+the freehold; and the anxiety was all the greater because
+it had been threatened that if not purchased by the Crown
+the property would be sold to the speculative builder or, as
+he was then called, the projector.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>COTTON AND FRANKLAND<br />
+
+<i>Packet Service</i><br />
+
+1686-1713</h3>
+
+
+<p>Of the packet service prior to 1686 we have no particulars;
+but that some such service had long existed, though probably
+on a very limited scale, hardly admits of a doubt. To
+Ireland, as to other parts of the kingdom, a regular post
+had been established in 1635; and it is difficult to suppose
+that a mail on arriving at Holyhead would be left to a
+chance vessel to carry it across the Channel. The probability
+of some organised means of transport is still stronger
+in the case of Dover. Dover was the town through which
+all letters for the Continent passed; and our trade with the
+Continent had for a century and more been considerable.
+Hence it was that the post through the county of Kent had
+been carefully nursed while as yet no other part of the
+country had any post at all. But if, as seems certain, both
+Dover and Holyhead were packet stations long prior to
+1686, it is almost equally certain that these were the only
+two in the kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>In that year the arrangements, whatever they were, for
+carrying the mails between England and France came to an
+end, and a new service was established between Dover and
+Calais and between Dover and Ostend or Nieuport. This
+was succeeded in the following year by a similar service
+between England and Holland. Both services were to be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+carried on by contract. In the one case the contractor was
+to receive £1170 a year, and also to have the management
+of the letter office at Dover. In the other the payment
+was to be £900 a year, for which sum three hoys were to
+be maintained, two of sixty and one of forty tons, and
+carrying six men each. For the service to Holland the
+packet stations were, on this side of the water, Harwich,
+and, on the other, the Brill.</p>
+
+<p>To the letters which came to this country by regular
+packet must be added those that were technically termed
+ship letters&mdash;letters which were brought by ships arriving
+at uncertain times from any part of the world. These
+letters, according to the provisions of the Act of 1660, were
+to be given up to the postmaster at the port of arrival, so
+that they might be forwarded to London, and thence
+despatched to their destination after being charged with the
+proper amount of postage. In this particular, however, the
+Act proved of little effect. Masters of ships were offered
+no inducement to deliver the letters to the postmaster, and
+incurred no penalty for omitting to do so. The Post Office
+was then in farm; and desirous as the farmers were to
+make what they could out of their undertaking, they soon
+found that it would be well worth their while to incur some
+expense which should secure obedience to the law. Accordingly
+they undertook that for every letter which a shipmaster
+should bring to this country, and deliver to the
+postmaster at the port of arrival, he should receive the sum
+of one penny. This was the origin of ship letter money&mdash;a
+form of payment which has since received legal sanction,
+and exists at the present day.</p>
+
+<p>It was into the port of London that ship letters chiefly
+came, and here the number which found their way to the
+Post Office in Lombard Street was seriously affected by the
+establishment of the penny post. That this was only
+natural will appear from a simple illustration. From
+Marseilles to London the postage was 1s. for a single letter.
+On one hundred such letters, therefore, the charge would be
+£5. But if, instead of taking these hundred letters to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+General Post Office, a shipmaster on his arrival in the Pool
+dropped them into the penny post, they would all be
+delivered for 8s. 4d. It is true that he would thus lose his
+gratuity of one penny a letter; but the difference between the
+two rates of postage was such as to leave an ample margin
+of profit, even after making him full&mdash;and more than full&mdash;compensation
+for his loss. Indeed, if he had been bent on
+cheating his employer as well as the Post Office, he might
+with very little risk of detection have put the whole of the
+difference into his own pocket. In 1686 the number of
+ship letters accounted for to the Post Office was 60,447,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> a
+number which, forming as it did the basis of a payment,
+may be taken as absolutely correct, because the Post Office
+would take good care not to pay more, and shipmasters not
+to receive less, than was absolutely due. It is to be
+regretted that no similar account is forthcoming for previous
+years, so that it might be seen what was the extent of the
+influence which the penny post exercised; but that this
+influence was considerable is certain from the continual
+references made to it by successive postmasters-general
+during a long series of years. It is to be observed, however,
+that they always speak of it as a thing that was past
+and gone, a thing baneful enough while it lasted, but as
+having been of only short duration. The explanation is no
+doubt to be found in the fact that in 1696 two officers were
+appointed, whose duty it was to collect letters from all vessels
+arriving in the port of London. The boat employed in this
+service had assigned to it special colours of its own, on which
+was depicted a man on horseback blowing a post horn.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p>
+
+<p>In 1689, on the breaking out of the war with France,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+the Dover boats ceased to run, and, in order to provide for
+the letters to Spain which had hitherto passed through that
+country, a service was established between Falmouth and
+the Groyne. On this service two boats were employed of
+two or three hundred tons each. They carried from eighty
+to ninety men besides twenty guns, and ran once a fortnight.</p>
+
+<p>The Harwich boats were at the same time increased both
+in number and in strength. The three hoys were replaced by
+four boats&mdash;boats of force as they were called, carrying fifty
+men each. It may well be believed that, with so large a
+crew under his command, the captain of a well-armed vessel
+was loth to confine himself to the monotonous task of carrying
+the mails to and fro, and went in quest of adventure.
+But be that as it may, William, who since his accession to
+the throne had taken an extraordinary interest in the
+Harwich service, was not satisfied with the performances of
+these boats. It was his opinion that the first requisite in a
+mail packet was speed and not strength. Strength might
+indeed enable it to engage an enemy, but speed would
+enable it to avoid one. Accordingly, by the King's direction,
+the Post Office with the assistance of Edmund Dummer, the
+Surveyor of the Navy, built four small boats of its own&mdash;boats
+"of no force," but remarkable for their speed. The
+change was not carried out without much grumbling. The
+boats were low built, and, except in the calmest weather,
+shipped a good deal of water. The sailors complained that
+they seldom, from one end of the voyage to the other, had a
+dry coat to their backs. The absence of any armament was
+still more unpalatable to them. They dared not leave the
+harbour, at least so they said, when the enemy was to
+windward; and, as though to confirm their words, they
+sometimes after leaving returned. We shall probably do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+them no wrong if we distrust these excuses. No British
+sailor, or soldier either, cares to turn his back on the foe,
+and that this was expected of them, that they were required
+to run and not to fight, we suspect to have been the real
+grievance. Eventually, but not until some had refused to
+serve and others had deserted, matters quieted down. An
+increase of wages was given all round, raising the pay above
+that given in the Royal Navy, and, in order to compensate for
+the additional cost, the complement of the crew was reduced
+from thirty to twenty-one. It is a striking confirmation of
+the soundness of William's view that during the next twenty-four
+years, although no less than nineteen of them were
+years of war, only two of these boats were taken.</p>
+
+<p>Until 1689 the Harwich packets had been self-supporting,
+the receipts from freight and passengers being enough
+to cover the cost. In that year, as a consequence of the
+war, the fares were raised. Passengers to Holland who
+had hitherto paid 12s. were now to pay 20s., and those who
+had paid 6s. were to pay 10s. Recruits and indigent
+persons passed free. In 1695 the carriage of goods and
+merchandise was prohibited. This prohibition afterwards
+became common in times of war, but in the present instance
+it was imposed in the vain hope of stopping the exportation
+of silver. In exchange for silver, gold had long been
+pouring into the country, as much as 200 ounces coming by
+a single packet; and advices had been received from
+Amsterdam and Rotterdam that future consignments would
+not be restricted even to that quantity. The reform of the
+currency, which alone could check this movement of the
+precious metals, was expeditiously accomplished; but the
+prohibition against the carriage of merchandise remained.</p>
+
+<p>On the conclusion of peace in 1697 the service between
+Dover and Calais and between Dover and Ostend recommenced,
+but only to be discontinued again on the resumption
+of hostilities in 1702. During these five years the
+relations between the English and French Post Offices had
+at no time been friendly, and latterly had become very
+highly strained. Under the terms of a Treaty concluded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+with France in 1698, the mails, as soon as they arrived on
+this side at Dover and on the other at Calais, were to be
+forwarded to the respective capitals by express. England
+faithfully fulfilled her part of the engagement. By France
+the engagement was treated as a dead letter. The mails
+from England, on their arrival at Calais, instead of being
+forwarded to Paris by express, were kept back for the
+ordinary post; and this post went only once a day, leaving
+at three in the afternoon. If, therefore, the packet arrived
+at four or five o'clock, the letters were detained for the best
+part of twenty-four hours. At Lyons the letters between
+England and Italy were being treated after much the same
+fashion. On arrival in that town&mdash;such at least was the
+complaint in the city&mdash;instead of being forwarded with all
+despatch, they were forwarded seldom in due course and
+sometimes not at all.</p>
+
+<p>M. Pajot was then director of the French posts; and
+in this capacity he had signed the Treaty. In vain Cotton
+and Frankland called his attention to the breach of its
+provisions. Their letter was not even acknowledged. For
+the transit of British mails across French territory England
+had agreed to pay to France the sum of 36,000 livres<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>
+a year, and a remittance in payment of the instalment due
+was sent to Paris; but not even of this could an acknowledgment
+be obtained. Let the nature of the communication
+to him be what it would, Pajot maintained an obstinate
+silence. When war broke out afresh, all intercourse between
+the two Post Offices had ceased for nearly three years, and
+the debt due to France had accumulated to the amount of
+105,600 livres.</p>
+
+<p>The cessation of the Dover packets in 1702 was soon
+followed by that of the packets between Falmouth and
+the Groyne, but the want of any regular means of communication
+with the Peninsular proved so inconvenient
+that, before many months had passed, the service was
+re-established in a slightly altered form. The boats,
+instead of stopping short at the Groyne, were to run on to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+Lisbon; and two years later their number was increased
+from two to five. This increase was due to political rather
+than commercial reasons. It is true that an important
+commercial treaty was about this time concluded with
+Portugal; but, what was considered of far greater moment,
+the Archduke Charles after passing through London had
+recently proceeded to that country in furtherance of his
+pretensions to the throne of Spain. It was at once resolved
+that communication with Lisbon should henceforth be
+weekly instead of only once a fortnight, and for this purpose
+less than five boats were deemed insufficient.</p>
+
+<p>But of all the packet services in existence at the
+beginning of the eighteenth century none perhaps possesses
+more features of interest than the service to the West
+Indies. In James the Second's reign a Post Office had
+been established in Jamaica, and rates of postage had been
+settled not only within the island itself but between the
+island and the mother country. This was a new departure.
+In the original scheme of postage as propounded by
+Witherings no charge had been imposed except in return
+for some service. The same principle had been scrupulously
+adhered to in the Acts of 1657 and 1660. Under these
+Acts, except where a service was rendered or where payment
+for a service was made to another country, no charge
+was provided for. Yet between England and Jamaica,
+although the Crown was not at the cost of maintaining
+means of transport, postage rates were fixed of 6d. a single
+letter, 1s. a double letter, and 2s. an ounce. This was a
+pure tax, and the precedent, bad as it was and of questionable
+legality, was soon extended to the case of letters to
+America.</p>
+
+<p>The war of 1702, while deranging other services, called
+the service to the West Indies into being. The West
+India merchants, a designation even then in vogue, were a
+large and important body, and, as opportunities of intercourse
+by private ship became rare and uncertain, a demand
+arose for some established means of communication. With
+the assistance of Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy, sloops<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+were provided to carry mails to the Plantation Islands, and
+by way of helping to defray the cost, the postage rates were
+increased by about one-half. The vessels sailed at uncertain
+intervals, but otherwise the service was performed with
+regularity, the voyage out and home occupying from 90
+to 116 days.</p>
+
+<p>Dummer was so well satisfied with the result of his
+management that, rather than continue as mere agent for
+the postmasters-general, he desired to perform the service
+on his own account. For the sum of £12,500 a year he
+undertook to provide a monthly communication, and for
+this purpose to build and equip five boats of 140 tons
+each, and carrying twenty-six men and ten guns. These
+boats were to have two decks, and any of them that should
+be lost or taken by the enemy were to be replaced at his
+own cost. Of the £12,500 no more than £4500 was to
+be paid down. Freight, which was limited to five tons
+out and ten tons home, passenger fares, and postage were
+to go in part payment, and from these Dummer expected
+to make up the difference. Postage alone he set down at
+£6000; and that it might produce this sum he made it
+an express stipulation that the rates to the West Indies
+should be raised to the same level as those to Portugal,
+namely 1s. 3d. a single letter, 2s. 6d. a double letter, and
+6s. an ounce. To double the postage, he took for granted,
+was to double the returns. Abler men than he and men
+living nearer to our own times have fallen into the same
+error; but seldom, probably, has it been sooner or more
+strikingly exposed.</p>
+
+<p>The new rates came into operation in England in March,
+and in the West Indies in April. The effect of the alteration,
+as would now be predicted with confidence, was only
+slightly to increase the amount of postage and largely to
+reduce the number of letters. It is so seldom that in
+matters of this kind cause and effect are brought into such
+close approximation, that we offer no apology for giving the
+postage which the correspondence produced immediately
+before and immediately after the change:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<i>To the West Indies.</i></div>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates3">
+<tr><td align="left">Date on which the Packet</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;sailed from England.</td><td align="right">Amount</td><td align="left">of&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Postage.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Jan. 25, 1705</td><td align="right">£44</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">4</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Feb. 22&nbsp;&nbsp; "</td><td align="right">59</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">7</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Mar. 29&nbsp;&nbsp; "</td><td align="right">100</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">3 </td><td>(New rates)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Apr. 26&nbsp;&nbsp; "</td><td align="right">129</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">6</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">May&nbsp; 31&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">93</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">9</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">June 28&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">75</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">3</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">July 26&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">62</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class="center"><br /><br />
+<i>From the West Indies.</i><br />
+<br /></div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates4">
+<tr><td align="left">Date on which the Packet</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;arrived in England.</td><td align="right">Amount</td><td align="left">of&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Postage.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Feb. 10, 1705</td><td align="right">£316</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">0</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Apr. 18&nbsp;&nbsp; "</td><td align="right">622</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="left">(New rates)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Aug. 6 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">629</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">6</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Sept. 3 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">384</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">6</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Oct. 1 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">369</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">6</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Of course, the mails immediately after the change would
+carry what may be called surprised letters, letters which
+had been posted before the issue of the new regulations or
+before these regulations had become generally known; and
+the mail arriving in August would bring also the letters
+which had accumulated since the preceding April.</p>
+
+<p>What at the present time is calculated to excite surprise
+is not that the aggregate amounts of postage should not
+have increased in proportion to the rates, but that these
+amounts should have been as high as they were. Trade
+with the West Indies was, no doubt, considerable. And
+yet, after making ample allowance on that score, of what
+sort can the correspondence have been to produce postage
+of between £300 and £400 by a single mail; and why
+should the amount in one direction have been nearly
+five times as heavy as the amount in the other? The
+answer, we think, is to be found in a letter which the postmasters-general
+wrote about this time. A small box for
+the Commissioners for the Sick and Wounded had come
+from Lisbon charged with postage of £26:2s. From this
+charge the Commissioners sought to be relieved on the ground
+that the box contained nothing but office accounts, which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+besides being of no intrinsic value, were on Her Majesty's
+business. To such arguments, however, the postmasters-general
+turned a deaf ear. With the contents of the box
+they were not concerned. All they knew or cared to
+know was that it weighed eighty-seven ounces, and this
+weight, at the rate of 6s. an ounce, gave £26:2s.
+Forego the charge in the present instance, and how, they
+asked, could charges be any longer maintained on other
+packets not less on Her Majesty's business than this box,
+packets from the Prize Office, the Salt Office, the Customs
+and the Navy, and also, they added, on the large bundles of
+muster-rolls from the regiments stationed in the West
+Indies? In short, we entertain little doubt that the postage
+by the homeward mails was largely derived from official
+correspondence, correspondence which at the present time
+bears no postage at all.</p>
+
+<p>The good fortune which had attended Dummer while
+acting as manager for the postmasters-general entirely
+deserted him as soon as the service came into his own
+hands. During the first twelve months the postage fell
+short of his expectations by about one-third; and freight
+and passengers, which he had estimated to produce £2000,
+produced little more than one-sixth of that amount. Nor
+was this the worst. The very first packet that sailed under
+his contract was taken by the enemy. Another, not many
+months later, was cast away on the rocks off the Island of
+Inagua; and a third fell into the hands of a privateer in
+the Channel. A series of disasters which would have
+daunted most men seems only to have inspired Dummer
+with fresh energy. Of the ultimate success of his undertaking
+he entertained no doubt. He held as strongly as
+we can hold at the present day, that trade and correspondence
+act and react upon each other; and that these should
+thrive he considered nothing more to be necessary than
+speed and regularity of communication.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> With good heart,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+therefore, he applied himself to replace the boats which had
+been lost, fully determined that on his part no efforts should
+be wanting to supply the conditions on which alone he
+conceived success to depend.</p>
+
+<p>The packet stations at this time were four in number.
+Dover was closed. Harwich and Falmouth were in full
+activity. Holyhead was a mere home station for the transmission
+of the Irish correspondence; and, the service being under
+contract, suffice it to say that the mails to Dublin went twice
+a week and were transported with marked regularity. Of
+the Harwich and Falmouth stations, managed as they were
+by the postmasters-general, we propose to give some account.</p>
+
+<p>Each station was presided over by an agent, whose
+province it was to see that the packets were properly
+equipped and victualled, to arrange the order of sailing, to
+keep the captains to their duty, and generally to maintain
+order and regularity among the unruly spirits of which the
+establishment was composed. The outward mails, on their
+arrival from London, were to be despatched, if for Holland
+or for Portugal, immediately, and if for the West Indies,
+within two days; and, as soon as they were put on board,
+weights were to be attached to them so that they might be
+sunk at once if in danger of being taken by the enemy. So
+important was this precaution held to be that, although
+enjoined in the general instructions, it was continually
+insisted upon in particular cases. "Be sure," write the
+postmasters-general to one of their agents, "that before the
+captain sails, he prepares everything to sink the mail in
+case he shall be attacked by the enemy that he can't avoid
+being taken"; and to another, "We would have you take care
+to affix a sufficient weight to the mail so soon as 'tis on
+board"; and to a third, "We do not doubt but the mails
+will be ready slung with weights sufficient to sink them in
+case of danger of falling into the enemy's hands." Another
+rule to which the postmasters-general attached great
+importance was that more than two mails were not to go
+by the same boat. This rule, however, could not always be
+observed, for the boats had an awkward habit of finding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+themselves on the wrong side, and, by the time one had
+arrived, there was an accumulation of mails to be disposed of.</p>
+
+<p>The inward mails, as soon as they reached the port
+of arrival, were forwarded to London by express. From
+Harwich the letters for the Court, or State letters,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> as they
+were now beginning to be called, were sent in advance of
+the ordinary mail, arrangements having been made at the
+Brill to put these letters into a special bag by themselves.
+From Falmouth, where no provision had been made for
+distinguishing one class of correspondence from another, the
+same express carried the whole. When, as was sometimes
+the case, packets of documents reached the port unenclosed
+with the rest of the letters, these were to be chained to the
+"grand mail"; and on the label was always to be inserted
+the number of passengers that had arrived by the boat, so
+that the postmasters along the line of road might know for
+how many persons they had to provide horses. Between
+Falmouth and London the mails when sent express travelled
+at the rate of about five miles an hour; and this speed appears
+to have been regularly maintained. Expresses to carry a
+single letter or a message, or to overtake the Lisbon mail,
+were continually passing to and fro, and these of course
+went faster. From Harwich the mails would sometimes
+reach London in eleven hours, being at the rate of six and a
+half miles an hour; but on this line of road there was so
+much irregularity that the time ordinarily occupied in the
+journey cannot be stated with certainty.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>The seamen on board the packets were paid in no case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+more than 30s. a month and generally less; but the employment
+carried with it one great advantage. This was
+exemption from impressment. Even the carpenters hired
+to do odd jobs when the boats were in harbour were
+furnished with protection orders.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Partly on this ground,
+and partly, no doubt, on account of the gains to be derived
+from contraband traffic, admission to the packet service
+appears to have been eagerly sought. At one time, indeed,
+it threatened to become a matter of patronage; but the
+consequences of a first step in that direction effectually
+prevented another. The <i>Godolphin</i> packet had been
+taken and carried by the enemy into St. Malo. Her
+captain, a brave and experienced officer, did not hesitate to
+attribute the loss of his vessel to sheer cowardice on the
+part of the crew. One, at the first shot that was fired, had
+run down to the doctor and declared that he was wounded,
+whereas no sign of a wound was to be found upon him;
+another had taken shelter behind the mainmast; a third
+had been heard to declare that he would not hazard the
+loss of his little finger to save the packet. This conduct,
+as unprecedented as it was scandalous, led to a searching
+investigation, when it transpired that the so-called sailors
+were, many of them, no sailors at all, but mere landlubbers
+who had been taken on out of complaisance to the local
+gentry.</p>
+
+<p>Each packet boat carried its own surgeon. A surgeon
+was also provided for the care of the sick on shore. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+medical supervision was remunerated by means of a capitation
+allowance, an allowance of so much per head; but
+whereas it would now be in respect to all persons under
+the surgeon's charge, whether well or ill, it was then only
+in respect to those that were ill&mdash;1s. a day for each sick
+person and 6s. 8d. for each cure&mdash;a mode of payment
+which did not perhaps conduce to a speedy recovery. To
+provide for casualties, a fund was established, towards the
+support of which each seaman contributed 10d. a month
+out of his pay. If he were killed in action, provision was
+made for his widow, and, if he were wounded, he received
+a small annuity or, as it was called, Smart and Bounty
+money, the amount of which was nicely apportioned to the
+nature of his injury. Thus&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Injuries">
+<tr><td align="left">For each arm or leg amputated above the elbow</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">or knee he would receive</span></td><td align="right">£8&nbsp;</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0 </td><td align="right">a year.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For each arm or leg amputated below the elbow</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">or knee</span></td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the loss of the sight of one eye</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the loss of the pupil of the eye</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the loss of the sight of both eyes</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the loss of the pupils of both eyes</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="center">"</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>It is a ghastly bill of fare; and yet the sailors laid great
+store by it. On one occasion, indeed, until assured that
+the transfer of a boat to Dummer's management would not
+affect their claim to these annuities, they absolutely refused
+to go to sea.</p>
+
+<p>With few exceptions, no passenger was allowed on board
+a packet boat without a pass from the Secretary of State.
+The exceptions were shipwrecked seamen, recruits, and
+officers in charge of recruits. Shipwrecked seamen went
+free, free from any charge for passage-money or for maintenance.
+Recruits and officers in charge of recruits not being
+above the rank of lieutenant were charged for maintenance
+but not for passage-money. All others, though furnished
+with a passport, paid or were expected to pay for both.</p>
+
+<p>Of these rules, however, there would seem to have been
+no public announcement, and this led to constant dispute and
+bickerings. An interesting event was expected in one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+the many English families which at this time flocked to the
+Court of Portugal, and Dr. Crichton was despatched to
+Lisbon with a cow. Furnished with a pass by the Secretary
+of State he stoutly maintained his right to a free passage;
+and this right the postmaster-general as stoutly disputed.
+Nor, assuming the right to exist, could they conceal their
+surprise that under the circumstances it should have been
+claimed. To demur to a paltry charge of £4 indeed! Was
+it not notorious that for his mission to Portugal he was to
+receive £1000? Lord Charlemont with a number of attendants
+had crossed from Lisbon to Falmouth. The
+passage-money had been paid, and, pleased with his entertainment,
+he desired to gratify the captain. The captain's
+answer was to present a bill shewing what the entertainment
+had cost, and, on payment being refused, he detained
+some valuable silks which Lord Charlemont had consigned
+to his care. Lord Charlemont, on his arrival in London, at
+once proceeded to Lombard Street and complained of this
+treatment, when he learned for the first time that the
+passage-money, which he had supposed to cover everything,
+was simply the Queen's due, and that his entertainment
+had been provided at the captain's own cost.</p>
+
+<p>Even the packet agents themselves appear to have been
+insufficiently instructed. On one occasion the Queen's
+domestic servants on their return from Lisbon, whither
+they had been despatched in attendance on the Archduke
+Charles, were allowed to pass free. On another, passage-money
+was omitted to be collected from some workmen who
+had been sent to Portugal by the Board of Ordnance. In
+both cases the act of their subordinate was repudiated by
+the postmasters-general. Proper as it might be that the
+Queen's domestic servants should have their passage provided&mdash;was
+this to be done at the expense of the Post Office?
+Forego payment in this instance, and where were they to
+stop? They must press their demand; and the demand
+was eventually satisfied. From the Board of Ordnance they
+did not even attempt to recover, aware probably of the
+futility of any such step; but the act of their agent in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+letting the workmen pass free evoked an earnest remonstrance.
+Does not the Board of Ordnance, they asked, charge
+us for the very powder we use; and yet, forsooth, you take
+upon yourself to give to their workmen a free passage.
+"Every office," they added&mdash;and the maxim might still,
+perhaps, be observed with advantage&mdash;"ought to keep its
+own accompt distinct."</p>
+
+<p>But it was with officers of the army who were continually
+passing to and fro that the most frequent disputes
+arose. They apparently did not understand, and
+possibly the Post Office might have had some difficulty
+in explaining, why lieutenants in charge of recruits should
+be exempt from payment of fare and not officers of
+higher rank when employed on similar business; or why
+indeed officers engaged in fighting their country's battles
+should not have a free passage on board Her Majesty's
+packets. It had been the custom not to collect the fares
+until the end of the voyage; but it was found that, the
+voyage once accomplished, payment of the fares was not
+uncommonly refused. Accordingly it was determined that
+they should be collected beforehand, and that no officer not
+being a recruiting officer and producing a certificate to that
+effect should be received on board on trust. Recourse was
+thereupon had to every sort of artifice in order to evade
+payment. Officers above the rank of lieutenant would
+represent themselves as being of that rank, and they would
+even enrol their own servants as recruits to make it appear
+that they were engaged in recruiting business.</p>
+
+<p>Through Harwich, now that Dover was closed, lay the
+only route to the Continent; and among the passengers
+frequenting this route were some to whom, for one reason
+or another, special attention was given. Baron Hompesch
+and Brigadier-General Cadogan are on their way to
+Holland. The packet is to be detained "till Thursday
+noon, at which time they think to reach Harwich." M.
+Rosenerantz, the Danish envoy, is returning to his own
+country. No passengers are to be admitted on board
+until he and his suite have been accommodated. A Queen's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+messenger is coming with "one Castello," who is in custody.
+This person is to be made over to the captain of the
+packet that sails next, and on arrival at the Brill is to
+be set on shore. Dirick Wolters is expected from Holland,
+if indeed he be not already arrived and secreted in Harwich.
+No pains are to be spared to discover and apprehend him,
+and to secure the sealed box he carries "directed to a
+person of note in London."</p>
+
+<p>Goods, like passengers, were not allowed to be carried
+by the packets without the express permission of the
+Secretary of State; and this permission was seldom given
+except in the case of presents to royal personages and of
+articles for the use of persons of note residing abroad.
+Hence, such things as the following were being continually
+consigned to the care of the postmasters-general, with a
+request that they might be forwarded by the next boat:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>Fifteen couple of dogs for the King of the Romans.</p>
+
+<p>Necessaries for Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager's service at
+Lisbon.</p>
+
+<p>Three pounds of tea from Lady Arlington for the use of Her
+Majesty the Queen-Dowager of England.</p>
+
+<p>Two cases of trimming for the King of Spain's liveries.</p>
+
+<p>Two bales of stockings for the use of the Portuguese Ambassador.</p>
+
+<p>Three suits of clothes for some nobleman's ladies at the Court
+of Portugal.</p>
+
+<p>A box of medicines for the use of the Earl of Galway.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>As the packets and everything on board of them were
+exempt from examination by the Customs authorities, there
+are no means of knowing how far a pass, where a pass had
+been obtained, was confined to its ostensible object. But
+it is impossible not to entertain suspicions on the subject.
+On one occasion the Portuguese envoy obtained permission
+to send by the packet six cases, which he certified to contain
+arms for the use of his Sovereign. The lightness of the
+packages when brought to the scale excited suspicion, and
+on examination they were found to contain not arms but
+dutiable goods. To a tradesman at Truro, in exception to
+rule, a pass had been granted which authorised him to
+send by the Lisbon packet ten tons of hats. Ten tons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+weight of hats, or what purported to be hats, had long
+been exported, and yet more and more hats were being
+regularly despatched by every packet.</p>
+
+<p>But although without passes goods and passengers were
+prohibited on board the packets, it is certain that the
+prohibition was habitually infringed. The packet agents'
+instructions were to keep a record of the names and
+quality of all passengers, and to transmit a copy to London.
+Even if this were a complete and faithful record, the
+postmasters-general could not know that each passenger
+had produced his pass. The Secretaries of State, however,
+appear to have possessed some means of information
+unknown to the Post Office, and, in the matter of passengers,
+they were continually complaining of the regulations being
+broken. At one time it is Mr. Joseph Percival, a merchant
+of Lisbon, who comes over without a passport&mdash;which,
+from the tenor of Lord Sunderland's letter, the postmasters-general
+apprehend to be "an affair of moment." At
+another it is a Mr. Jackson who, also without a passport,
+crosses from Harwich to Holland. In this case Mr.
+Secretary Boyle affirms that the packet agent received a
+bribe of two guineas. To let passengers come by the
+Harwich packets without passports, he declares later on,
+has become a common practice.</p>
+
+<p>In the matter of goods the evidence of irregularity is
+still stronger. Captain Culverden of the <i>Queen</i> packet
+boat brings into Falmouth thirty-six bags and seven
+baskets of salt, and there lands it clandestinely. Captain
+Rogers smuggles over twenty bags and one cask of the
+same material. Captain Urin from the West Indies
+makes Plymouth instead of Falmouth. Stress of weather
+is pleaded in excuse; but the postmasters-general feel
+sure that he might have made Falmouth, had he not
+"had private instructions otherwise." "We are uneasie,"
+they say, "thus to find the West India boats for the most
+part driven to Plymouth, or to Liverpool or some port
+contrary to what is prescribed by our instructions."</p>
+
+<p>But of all the captains there was none who in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+audacity of his proceedings equalled Francis Clies. Clies
+had recently succeeded his father in the command of the
+<i>Expedition</i> packet boat. On his very first voyage
+home from Lisbon he was much behind time, having
+according to his own account been driven upon the coast
+of Ireland. On his second voyage he was later still. The
+time of his arrival at Falmouth had long passed, and
+serious apprehensions began to be entertained for his
+safety. At length a letter came from him dated at Kinsale,
+explaining that want of provisions had obliged him to
+put in there. "We have," wrote the postmasters-general,
+"very impatiently expected the arrival of the <i>Expedition</i>,
+which has been very long wanting, and are much concerned
+to find the second voyage even more tedious than the
+first; but are glad to find her at last safe arrived." "We
+would know," they added, "for how many days provisions
+had been put on board, and whether the <i>Expedition</i> sails
+not as well as formerly." Before a reply could be received
+to this pertinent inquiry, the Commissioners of Customs
+had lodged at the Post Office a formal complaint, in which
+Captain Clies was charged with bringing over from Ireland
+several bales of friezes and other woollen manufactures.
+The postmasters-general were deeply shocked. Not only
+was this a breach of the packet boat regulations, but to
+transport goods from what would now be one part of the
+United Kingdom to another was at that time prohibited
+by law under heavy penalties. If this charge be proved,
+they wrote to their packet agent at Falmouth, "we shall
+not be much to seek why the captain should be two
+succeeding voyages forced upon the coast of Ireland, when
+we have not had above one instance of that kind besides
+himself during this war." Narrow as was Clies's escape
+on this occasion, not four months elapsed before the postmasters-general
+were again condoling with him on another
+"very tedious voyage."</p>
+
+<p>It may here be mentioned, as an instance of the inconsistency
+of human nature, that, although the packets were
+not provided with chaplains, there were two boats on board<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+of which prayers were regularly said every morning and
+evening, and that of these two boats the <i>Expedition</i> was one.</p>
+
+<p>Outwards as well as inwards the packet boats were,
+at the beginning of the eighteenth century, carrying
+goods in defiance of regulation and of law. Sir Paul
+Methuen, the author of the famous Commercial Treaty
+which bears his name, was at that time our ambassador
+to Portugal. His attention had been arrested by the
+large quantities of merchandise which the packet boats
+were continually bringing over from England, and in
+1705 he made to the postmasters-general a formal representation
+on the subject. "In Lisbon," he stated, "there
+is a public market for English goods as often as the boats
+come in." Nor was the allegation denied by the persons
+implicated. They must, they said, live somehow. And
+this plea, generally the refuge of the idle and worthless,
+had in it in the present instance more force than might
+at first be supposed. The crews of the packets were paid
+only once in six months, and, as a check upon their conduct,
+six months' pay was always kept in arrear. Thus, before
+receiving any pay at all they had to work twelve months,
+and even at the expiration of twelve months there was not
+always money at hand with which to pay them.</p>
+
+<p>At Harwich, there can be no doubt, the same malpractices
+were going on as at Falmouth; but, owing to the
+almost unequalled facilities which the east coast affords for
+clandestine traffic, detection less speedily followed. In the
+movements of the packet boats there was much that was
+mysterious. Their frequent disappearance for long periods
+together when the wind was blowing from the quarter most
+favourable to their return, and their occasional punctuality
+when the wind was contrary and they were least expected,
+involved a contradiction which the postmasters-general
+found it hard to reconcile. "In our whole experience," they
+wrote to the packet agent on the 3rd of October 1704,
+"the passage of the mails was never so unconstant as it has
+been this last year." "You must be very sensible what
+reproach we have been brought under" in consequence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+The ink was hardly dry on their pen before information
+reached them that on the 2nd of the month two packet
+boats had returned to Harwich, of which one had been gone
+since the 10th and the other since the 19th of September.
+Meanwhile the winds had been fair, and had carried out the
+men-of-war and transports from Spithead. "We have writ
+you so often," wrote the postmasters-general to the laggard
+captains, "upon these neglects of yours," and you have paid
+so little regard to our admonitions, that "you may expect
+to find when too late that we are not to be trifled with."
+The effect of this caution, if effect it had, was of short
+duration. "We are," they wrote only a few months later,
+"under a perpetual uneasiness and distrust," on account of
+the irregularity of the Harwich boats. "Our reputation
+has very much suffered in consequence, and we are looked
+upon at Court as remiss in our duty." Hitherto we have
+ever been ready to "take any appearance of reason or probability
+to excuse the commanders, but do now, having had
+these frequent provocations so often repeated, resolve to do
+justice to ourselves, and to have no other regard than the
+merit of the service." "Pray make inquiries," they say on
+another occasion, when no less than three boats are unaccountably
+behind time. It is of no use writing to Mr.
+Vanderpoel, "for he always favours the captains' pretences."
+Mr. Vanderpoel was packet agent at the Brill. He had
+stood high in William's favour, and was still drawing an
+allowance of £100 a year which, as an act of grace, that
+King had bestowed upon him in addition to his salary.
+"When we last waited on the Lord High Treasurer and
+Secretary of State," wrote the postmasters-general again on
+the 14th of June 1705, "we found them in their former
+opinion that there must be some secret more than ordinary
+that the boats should so frequently when least expected
+make their passage, and when the winds have in all appearance
+been most favourable, the mails then most delayed."
+A secret no doubt there was; but, profoundly dissatisfied as
+the postmasters-general were, no suspicion appears to have
+crossed their minds that the packet boats were engaged in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+other and more exciting pursuits than the transport of
+mails.</p>
+
+<p>The captains of the packet boats were strictly forbidden
+to give chase. Their instructions were to fight, if fight they
+must, to avoid fighting wherever possible, and in no case to
+go in quest of adventure. In the case of the Falmouth
+boats, carrying as they did a considerable number of men
+and of guns, there can be little doubt that the prohibition
+was habitually infringed. Even Cotton and Frankland,
+with all their credulity, would seem to have entertained
+suspicions on the point; and yet when notice was given
+them that a fat prize had been captured, their instincts as
+Englishmen prevailed, and with a chuckle of satisfaction
+they would accept the result of their servants' prowess
+without too minutely inquiring into the circumstances under
+which that result had been achieved. "Well done," they
+would say in effect. "We heartily congratulate you. It
+has indeed been a tedious voyage; but of course you did
+not pursue. This, as you are aware, would be contrary to
+our instructions, which are to do nothing that might retard
+or endanger Her Majesty's mails. We shall make known
+your gallantry to the Lord High Treasurer, and move His
+Royal Highness the Prince to bestow on you some signal
+mark of favour." The Prince was at this time Lord High
+Admiral, and the captains of the packet boats having only
+sailing commissions, were not, like the captains in the Royal
+Navy and the commanders of letters of marque, entitled as of
+right to the prizes they took. These were the perquisites
+of the Lord High Admiral, and were by him resigned to the
+Queen.</p>
+
+<p>When a prize was captured, it was seldom taken
+in tow. This would have retarded the progress of the
+mails. The practice was for the two captains, the victor
+and the vanquished, to agree upon the amount of ransom,
+and to give and receive bills for the amount, one or more
+hostages being taken as security for payment. The agreement
+was reduced to writing and made out in duplicate, so
+that each captain might have a copy, and it set forth where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+and to whom the money was to be paid. As a rule, the
+conditions appear to have been honourably observed. Some
+few exceptions, no doubt, there were. In 1708 the <i>James</i>
+packet was captured, and, after the amount of ransom had
+been inserted in the agreement, the French captain fraudulently
+altered the figures. A still worse case occurred on
+the English side. The <i>Prince</i> packet boat captured a vessel
+which was ransomed for 2500 pieces of eight.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> This vessel,
+as it afterwards transpired, was plundered both before and
+after the ransom was agreed upon; and, more than this, the
+English captain refused or neglected to give her a protection
+order, the consequence being that, subsequently falling in
+with some merchant ships, she was taken and plundered
+again. But these were exceptions, and it is some satisfaction
+to know that the last-mentioned captain was soon
+driven out of the service.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p>
+
+<p>Pending payment of the ransom, the hostages were
+kept in prison. Ordinarily, their confinement was not
+of long duration; and if we cite an instance to the contrary,
+it is because it aptly illustrates the rough-and-ready
+sort of justice which was administered in those days.
+Clies, the captain of the <i>Expedition</i>, after many desperate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+engagements in which he had come off victorious, had
+been forced at last to strike his colours. Four French
+men-of-war had surrounded him, and having lost his
+masts, he had no choice but to yield. The ransom agreed
+upon was £550, and as security for payment of this
+amount the master of the <i>Expedition</i> and Clies's son, who
+was a midshipman on board the same vessel, were taken as
+hostages. This was in February, and they did not return
+to England until November. Meanwhile they had been
+imprisoned at Cadiz, where they endured the severest
+privations. Cold and damp and the want of the common
+necessaries of life, while affecting the health of both, had
+permanently disabled the master and brought him to the
+point of death. This appeared to the postmasters-general
+to be a case for compensation. And yet whence was
+compensation to come? They were not long in solving
+the question. It was a mere accident, they argued, that
+these particular hostages had been selected. The selection
+might have fallen upon any others of the ship's company.
+Yet these others had been receiving their pay and enjoying
+their liberty. Surely it was for them to compensate those
+at whose cost they had themselves escaped captivity and its
+attendant horrors. Accordingly the ship's company were
+mulcted in a whole month's pay, amounting to £118, of
+which sum the midshipman received £20 and the master
+£98; and the decision appears to have evoked neither
+murmur nor remonstrance.</p>
+
+<p>In one respect the two packet stations were conducted
+on different principles. At Falmouth the agent was also
+victualler. At Harwich victuals and all other necessaries
+were provided by the Post Office. Neither plan was
+entirely free from objection. Where the agent was
+victualler, he naturally desired to make what he could
+out of his contract; and hence arose frequent complaints
+from the seamen as to both the quantity and quality of
+their food. Nor were such undertakings well adapted to
+those days of violent fluctuations of prices. The years
+1709 and 1710 were years of scarcity, during which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+cost of all provisions was nearly doubled. Fortunately,
+when the first of these years arrived, the packet agent's
+contract to victual for a daily allowance of 7d. a head had
+just expired, or the consequences to him or to the seamen
+must have been disastrous. But, from a public point of
+view, the chief drawback to the union of the offices of agent
+and victualler was that the victualling arrangements were
+apt to interfere with the movements of the boats. The
+<i>Prince</i> packet boat was due to start on a particular day,
+and to an inquiry whether she would not be ready, the
+answer which the postmasters-general received was, "No;
+our beer is not yet brewed."</p>
+
+<p>At Harwich the inconvenience of a contrary system,
+a system under which the Post Office undertook its own
+victualling, was illustrated in a striking manner. There
+no bill for provisions represented what the provisions
+had really cost. To the actual cost was habitually added
+a further sum, which, under the name of percentages,
+went into the pockets of those by whom the order had
+been given. Of the extent to which these overcharges
+were carried we are not informed in the particular case of
+victuals; but other cases in which information is given will
+perhaps serve as a guide. Holland-duck for the use of the
+packet boats was brought over from Holland freight-free.
+Yet in Harwich the Post Office was charged for it 2s. 2d.
+a yard. In London a yard of the same material, freight
+included, cost 2s. In London the price of 1 cwt. of
+cordage was 30s.; in Harwich it was 40s. For piloting a
+packet boat from Harwich to the Downs the Post Office was
+charged £7. Inquiry at the Admiralty elicited that for
+ships of the same size belonging to the Royal Navy the
+charge never exceeded £3:15s. The plain truth seems to
+be that both at Harwich and at Falmouth the packet agents
+were in the power of the captains, and the captains in the
+power of the packet agents, and that they all combined to
+impose upon the postmasters-general.</p>
+
+<p>Of the number of letters which the Harwich and Falmouth
+packets carried we know little or nothing. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+one case we have absolutely no information. In the other
+there remains on record a single letter-bill applicable to a
+particular voyage. Of this letter-bill we will only observe
+that, for reasons immaterial to the present purpose, it
+became the subject of a good deal of correspondence, and it
+is not unreasonable to suppose that, had the number of
+letters entered in it been much above or much below the
+average, the point could hardly have escaped remark. The
+document is as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><div class="center">
+28 April 1705.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Received on board the <i>Prince</i> Packet Boat the following Packets
+and letters.</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+Zech: Rogers ... Commander.<br /></div>
+
+<p>
+From my Lord Ambassador ... a Bag of Letters directed to Mr.<br />
+Jones.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a><br />
+<br />
+Sixteen Packetts and letters for Her Majestie's Service.<br />
+<br />
+From the King of Spain ... a very large Packett.<br />
+For London and Holland ... Double and Single letters ... Two<br />
+hundred and ninety six.<br />
+<br />
+Thirteen Packetts Do.<br />
+<br />
+Devonshire letters ... Double and Single ... Twenty nine ... and<br />
+three Packetts.<br />
+For Falmouth ... Double and Single letters ... six.<br />
+Two mails for London.<br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+Outward-bound.<br />
+No Passengers.<br />
+<br />
+Homeward-bound.<br />
+One English Merchant.<br />
+Three Dutch Gentlemen.<br /></div>
+
+<p>
+Four poor sailors discharged from Her Majestie's Ship <i>Antelope</i><br />
+being incapable for the Service.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>There were persons who thought that the packet boats
+might well be employed to do something more than carry
+to and fro a mere handful of letters. Among those who
+held this opinion was Colonel Stanwix. He contended
+that the Lisbon packets should be required to carry not
+only the mails, but recruits for the English forces in
+Portugal. By transport the fixed charge for each recruit
+was £4. This expense would be saved to the public, and
+the regiments would receive additions to their strength not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+fitfully, but at regular intervals. Subject to certain conditions,
+the postmasters-general resolved to give the plan a
+trial. The conditions were that not more than fifty recruits
+should go in one boat, and that, instead of passing free,
+as Colonel Stanwix had proposed, they should be charged
+£1 apiece&mdash;that is, 10s. for victualling, and 10s. for
+freight. The experiment was attended with deplorable
+results. It was midwinter. The recruits had been huddled
+together in Pendennis Castle, under a strong guard, to
+prevent desertion. Half-naked and only half-fed they
+were led or driven to the boat, and hardly were they on
+board before the distemper broke out among them. Many
+fell victims to it; many others, on arrival at Lisbon, were
+carried to the hospital, and even the strongest among them
+were barely able to stagger ashore. The return voyage was
+hardly less disastrous. The crew now took the disease,
+and as they lay dying and dead upon the deck, a vessel of
+French build was to be seen bearing down upon them.
+Resistance in the circumstances was out of the question,
+and nothing remained but to save the guns. These, ten in
+number, were with difficulty thrown overboard, and no
+sooner was the task accomplished than the vessel, which
+had by this time come within speaking distance, proved to
+be Her Majesty's ship <i>Assurance</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The liberty allowed to the Royal Navy to employ for
+its own purposes prizes taken at sea did not extend to the
+packet service. The Post Office was forbidden, under severe
+penalties, to use foreign bottoms. Often had convenience
+and economy to yield to the stern dictates of the law.
+Now it is a French shallop, admirably adapted for a packet
+boat, which has to be discarded simply because it is French;
+and now an express to Lisbon is on the point of being delayed
+because the regular packets are on the wrong side, and
+the only boat to be hired in Falmouth is not English built.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th of September 1707 the Queen, attended
+by her Court, set out for Newmarket. In this visit there
+was nothing unusual, but it will serve as well as any other
+to demonstrate that the close connection which had once<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+subsisted between the posts and the Crown was not yet
+completely severed. In attendance upon his royal mistress
+was Court-post. This office, to which appointment was
+made by patent, had until lately been held by Sir Thomas
+Dereham. Court-post's duty was to carry letters between
+the Court and the nearest stage or post-town, a duty deemed
+so arduous that his stipend had been recently doubled, and
+now stood at £365 a year. At Newmarket and at Windsor,
+indeed, he had no long distance to traverse, these towns
+being post-towns; but when the Court was in London or
+at Hampton his journey was longer. In London he had to
+carry the letters between Kensington or Whitehall and Lombard
+Street; and when at Hampton, Hampton not being a
+post-town, he had to carry them to and from Kingston.</p>
+
+<p>Besides Court-post there was now in the royal train
+the comptroller of the London sorting office, William
+Frankland, son of one of the postmasters-general. What
+Frankland's precise functions were we are not informed,
+but he was, in the language of the time, "in attendance
+on Her Majesty in the care of her letters." At
+Harwich, as soon as the mail arrived from Holland, the
+seals of the bags were to be broken, and the letters for the
+Court to be picked out and sent to Newmarket by express.
+This was, in effect, to establish a cross-post at a time when
+cross-posts did not exist. Moments, which would now be
+judged precious, appear to have been then of little account.
+Of the letters before they left Harwich the addresses were
+to be copied; and on arrival at Newmarket the express
+was to take them, not to the Palace, but to the Post Office,
+whither they were to be addressed under cover to Frankland.
+The Post Office once reached, how Frankland and Court-post
+were to adjust their respective duties is a point as
+obscure as it is, perhaps, unimportant. At the present
+day, when the palace possesses no postal facilities which
+are not enjoyed by the cottage, a single provision in the
+Statute-book is all that is left to remind us that at one
+time the posts were centred in the Sovereign. This provision,
+in exception to the practice which jealously excludes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+the Sovereign's name from all parts of an Act of Parliament
+except, indeed, the preamble, prescribes that the posts shall
+be settled, not as the Secretary of State or the Lords Commissioners
+of the Treasury may direct, but according to the
+directions of Her Majesty. To Her Majesty alone the law
+still leaves the supreme control over the posts, although it
+may well be believed that the ministers would claim to act
+on her behalf.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<p>After the battle of Ramillies, which put the Confederates
+in possession of Ostend, the packet service between England
+and Flanders, which had been suspended four years before,
+was re-established. The result disappointed expectations.
+The Government appear to have thought that it was only
+necessary to revive the service and the correspondence would
+at once resume its old proportions. But meanwhile the
+letters from Flanders to England had found a new channel.
+No sooner had Ostend been closed than they were diverted
+through Holland. To reverse this arrangement, involving
+as it would a readjustment of the internal posts, must, in
+any case, have been a work of time; and it was a work on
+which the Flemish authorities were little likely to embark
+so long as the neighbourhood of Ostend or any considerable
+portion of it remained in the enemy's hands. Of all
+this the postmasters-general were perfectly well aware, and
+they can have felt no disappointment that, on the first
+reopening of the Ostend route, the letters passing that
+way were extremely few; but the ministers, who had not
+the postmaster-generals' experience to guide them, grew
+impatient with a service which was maintained at heavy
+cost, and produced little or no return. Accordingly, having
+restored the service in June, they discontinued it in August;
+and no sooner were the boats dispersed than orders were
+given to restore it again.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This sudden change of purpose, we think there can
+be little doubt, was due to the influence of the Duke
+of Marlborough, who began about this time to take a
+lively interest in the postal communication with Flanders.
+Though not surprised at the meagreness of the correspondence,
+the postmasters-general were little prepared to find
+that, after the Confederates became masters of Ostend, the
+passage between that port and Dover would be even less
+safe than it had been before. Yet such was the case. The
+Flemish seamen, no longer able to obtain employment at
+home, flocked across the French border and joined with their
+foes of yesterday in preying upon the English shipping. As
+a consequence the Channel now swarmed with privateers.
+On the 25th of January a Dover packet, named <i>Ostend</i> after
+the port to which she ran, was taken by a Nieuport privateer
+of ten guns and eighty men. The captain who brought this
+intelligence had himself had a narrow escape. Five privateers
+had extended themselves from Nieuport to Ostend in
+order to intercept him, and, after a sharp engagement, in which
+he was nearly captured, had forced him to make Harwich.</p>
+
+<p>In this conjuncture the postmasters-general acted with
+remarkable energy, but with little regard to what would
+now be considered official propriety. Not content with
+making representations to the Secretary of State, they wrote
+direct to the English ambassador at the Hague, desiring him
+to urge upon the States of Flanders and Brabant the
+necessity of at once fitting out three or four ships of the
+Ostend squadron, with the twofold object of recalling the
+seamen to their duty and of clearing the coast. They at
+the same time waited upon M. Van Vrybergh, the envoy
+extraordinary from the States-General to the Court of St.
+James', and exacted from him a promise that he would
+exercise his influence in the same direction. But relief was
+soon to come, and from an unexpected quarter. Lewis the
+Fourteenth, by way of creating a diversion in the Netherlands,
+resolved to assist the Pretender in making a descent
+upon Scotland, and with this view he assembled a squadron
+before Dunkirk. England had no choice but to follow suit.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+Within an incredibly short space of time she equipped a
+fleet, and this fleet, under the command of Sir George Byng,
+left Deal for Dunkirk in the spring of 1708. How the
+Pretender evaded Byng, and how Byng pursued the
+Pretender and frustrated his object, are matters of history;
+but what concerns us at the present moment is that, before
+starting in pursuit, Byng detached a squadron for the
+purpose of bringing over some of the English troops which
+were about to be embarked at Ostend. It is probable that
+this squadron, after its immediate object had been
+accomplished, remained in or about the Channel, for after
+this time we hear no more of depredations on the Post
+Office packets.</p>
+
+<p>Experience shews that there is a class, and not an
+inconsiderable class, of persons who, in time of war, find it
+hard to reconcile themselves to the pursuits of peace. John
+Macky, the packet agent at Dover, was one of these. The
+proximity of the battle-field, its easy access from Dover, and
+the stirring accounts arriving by every packet fired his
+imagination and filled him with martial ardour. Under the
+influence of this excitement he addressed a memorial to the
+postmasters-general, praying that he might be commissioned
+to go over to Flanders and settle posts for the army. This
+application he appears to have supported by the most unfortunate
+arguments. He urged not that it was a thing in
+itself reasonable and proper that the army should have
+posts of its own, and that his experience might be useful in
+establishing them, but that at Dover, though his salary was
+comparatively high, he had little or nothing to do, and that
+the commission for which he asked would give him employment
+more congenial to his tastes. The postmasters-general
+could not conceal their astonishment at the audacity of the
+proposal and the grounds on which it was based. "We
+were never before made sensible," they wrote, "that the
+business of the agent to the packet boats at Dover was so
+very inconsiderable as you have represented it to be, nor
+do we think that for so inconsiderable a business so high a
+salary can be needed." "We can only say," they added,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+"that if the present allowance be too much for the work, or
+if the employ be too mean for your expectations, we doubt
+not but that we shall be able to find those who will thankfully
+accept the post with an allowance that is much less."</p>
+
+<p>But Macky's restlessness was not to be subdued by a mere
+admonition. As he could not prevail on the postmasters-general
+to send him to Flanders on official business, he asked
+to be allowed to go on his own account. This permission
+they readily gave, accompanying it, however, with a
+remarkable caution. "We must expect," they said, "that
+you do not intermeddle in any ways upon the business of
+the Flanders correspondence, or enter into any sort of
+treaty for the port of letters or jobbing of places which may
+bring us under any inconveniencys or our authority under
+any disreputation. We expect you take particular caution
+of these matters and wish you a good journey."</p>
+
+<p>Within four months from the date of this caution Macky's
+relations to the Post Office had greatly altered. To the position
+of packet agent he now added that of contractor, having
+undertaken himself to provide for the Dover and Ostend service.
+For the sum of £2000 a year he was to supply four
+boats between twenty and thirty tons each, and to be at all
+risks from sea and enemy. One effect of this arrangement,
+by which Macky the contractor was to be controlled by
+Macky the packet agent, was to prolong his visit to Flanders.
+Under the pretext of keeping the captains to their duty he
+remained there until March or April 1708, when he returned
+to England, after an absence of eight or nine months.
+Meanwhile the packets to Ostend, like those to Holland and
+to Portugal, had been engaged in illicit practices. According
+to a complaint received from the Commissioners of Customs
+immediately before Macky's return, clandestine traffic was
+being systematically carried on, and the very last boat that
+had arrived had brought parcels of lace concealed in the flap
+of the mail. The postmasters-general were deeply annoyed.
+"Let this go on," they exclaimed, "and the mails themselves
+will be searched, to the great scandal of the office and of
+our management."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>We have been thus particular in recording Macky's
+movements, because in connection with the service under his
+control an incident now occurred which brought the Post
+Office into serious discredit. The postmasters-general, in
+virtue of their office, which gave them control over the
+communications of the country, were in the habit of
+receiving priority of intelligence; and this at a time when
+intelligence travelled slowly and the means of disseminating
+it did not exist or existed only in the rudest form. Hence
+they acquired an importance which the mere office of
+postmaster-general, as that office is now understood, would
+not have conferred. An interest attached to them as to
+men who were reputed to possess exclusive information.
+They were welcome at Court, and not only welcome but
+often anxiously expected. Indeed, to act as purveyor of
+news to the Court had come to be regarded as one and by
+no means the least important of their duties; and with a
+view to its more effectual discharge their agents throughout
+the country had standing orders to send to headquarters
+the earliest intimation of any remarkable event that might
+happen in their locality. When any one of these persons
+was venturesome enough to send to his chiefs a present,
+the thanks he received were of the coldest,&mdash;"We thank
+you for the snuff," or, "We thank you for the port wine,"
+and then was pretty sure to follow a sharp rebuke for some
+trifling irregularity, which, except for the present, would
+probably have passed unnoticed. But when a piece of
+news was sent, the thanks were warm and hearty; and woe
+betide the unfortunate agent who had news to send and
+omitted to send it. "We observe you give us no advice of
+the fleet under Sir George Byng being seen off Falmouth
+the 28th, tho' we saw letters from Falmouth which
+advised thereof. We are desirous to have the first advice
+of any remarkable news." "We received two Flanders
+mails on Sunday morning, and therewith your letter of
+the 5th advising of the Duke of Marlborough's being
+arrived at Flushing, for which account we thank you."
+"We do heartily congratulate your safe return, and do<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+thank you for being so full and particular in the advices
+you have given us of what occurrences have come to your
+knowledge." "We are obliged to you for the news of the
+Nassau and Burford's prizes of which we had received
+advice before by some galleys from Gibraltar, and for your
+kind promise of communicating to us any considerable
+occurrences that may happen in your parts." "We thank
+you for sending us an account of all news and remarkable
+occurrences in your letters which we desire may be sent in
+the mails or annext to the labels." "We cannot but take
+very ill the captain's conduct on this occasion, for Mr.
+Bowen's intentions in sending his son over to bring so
+great a piece of news as that of the victory<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> to us ought
+to be esteemed as a great piece of civility, and, if the
+captain had not refused to sail when Mr. Bowen pressed
+him, we might have had the satisfaction of carrying the
+first account of that victory."</p>
+
+<p>It was in the early summer of 1709, when this greed
+after news was at its height, that intelligence of vast
+import to the country was expected to arrive in London.
+Preliminaries of peace, after being arranged in Flanders,
+had been forwarded to Paris for confirmation. Would
+the King sign them? Or must the war which had
+already lasted more than six years be continued? A
+period of anxious suspense followed. The exhaustion of
+France, and the humiliating terms which were sought
+to be imposed upon her, made it certain that there would
+be neither ready acceptance nor ready rejection; and yet
+the latest date had passed on which a decision was expected
+and none had arrived. London was in a fever of
+expectation. Each mail from Ostend, as it reached the
+Post Office in Lombard Street, was eagerly seized and
+opened. The month of May was drawing to a close. On
+Saturday the 28th there was not only no news but no mail.
+Sunday came and, to the consternation of the postmasters-general,
+there was still no mail. The wind was in the
+right quarter. At Harwich the packets from Holland were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+arriving regularly. What could hinder the passage from
+Ostend? At length on Monday the 30th a mail arrived,
+and with it the news. The King had refused to sign the
+preliminaries of peace. Frankland and Evelyn<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> hurried
+off to the Lord Treasurer. Little were they prepared for
+the reception that awaited them. Godolphin's words have
+unfortunately not been preserved, but we know the substance
+of them. The news, he said, had reached the city
+the day before, having been conveyed there clandestinely.
+The packet agent or sub-agent at Ostend had sent it. Of
+this he held in his hand conclusive evidence. What means
+had been employed, and whether others were concerned in
+the nefarious transaction, it was for his hearers to ascertain;
+and the sooner they addressed themselves to the task the
+better. In short, the power of the purse had again
+prevailed, and the Post Office had been outwitted by the
+Stock Exchange.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to suppose that the intelligence can have
+been conveyed from Ostend to London without Macky's
+connivance. And yet Frankland and Evelyn believed or
+affected to believe that he had had no hand in the business.
+Their position was, no doubt, one of embarrassment.
+Organised as the Post Office then was, they possessed no
+means of making an independent investigation. They
+contented themselves, therefore, with calling upon Macky
+to ascertain and report how it was that a letter from
+Ostend had reached London on Sunday, although on that
+day there had been no mail. The result might easily have
+been foreseen. Brown, the sub-agent at Ostend, whose
+letter it was, stood self-condemned, and Macky was required
+to dismiss him. And here the scandal ended. Macky's
+own character, with himself as reporter, may be presumed
+to have been cleared. At all events he appears to have
+been taken back into confidence, and, before many weeks
+were over, the postmasters-general had despatched him on
+an important mission.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>This mission was no other than to lay down posts for
+the army in Flanders. The tardiness with which intelligence
+arrived from the seat of war had long been matter of
+complaint. In the city especially the dissatisfaction had
+been intense, and the recent scandal had not been calculated
+to allay it. With a view to remedy this state of things,
+Godolphin called upon the postmasters-general to devise
+some means for securing more rapid communication. The
+army was now in the neighbourhood of Lisle, and operations
+were about to begin anew. There was, therefore, no
+time to be lost. The postmasters-general had recourse to
+Macky, and in a few days he produced a plan with which
+Godolphin expressed himself highly pleased. Between Lisle
+and Ostend, and between Ostend and other places where the
+army might be, stages were to be settled; at each stage
+were to be relays of horses with postilions ready to start at
+any moment; responsible persons were to be appointed to
+collect and deliver the letters and to receive the postage;
+and the postage was to be regulated by distance and to be
+at the same rates as in England, and to go to the English
+Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>Macky, to his extreme gratification, was commissioned
+to carry out his own plan. He was to repair at once to
+Flanders, to report himself to the Duke of Marlborough,
+and, having obtained his sanction, to proceed with the
+arrangement of details. Above all, he was to keep a
+close watch upon the sailing of the packets from Ostend,
+and to insist upon a rigid punctuality. From this time no
+more complaints were heard of the tardy arrival of intelligence
+from the seat of war. As postilions were employed
+on one side of the water, so expresses were employed on the
+other; and these, with punctual sailings between port and
+port, constituted a service which for those days might be
+considered excellent.</p>
+
+<p>At first, indeed, the employment of expresses from
+Dover to London appears to have been a little overdone,
+and the postmasters-general, eager as they were to obtain
+early intelligence, found it necessary to regulate the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+practice. An express had arrived bringing a letter from
+Macky in Flanders. "Altho' we should be very well
+satisfied," they wrote to his deputy at Dover, "to receive
+an extraordinary piece of good news by a messenger hired
+for greater dispatch' sake, yet on ordinary occasions it
+might be more warrantable and make less noise and expectation
+to have the same sent by a flying pacquet under
+cover to us annext to the labell." This was written in
+August 1709, within six weeks of Macky's arrival in
+Flanders; and we know of no passage in the whole of the
+Post Office records which more forcibly brings home to us
+the difference between the London of to-day and the
+London of 180 years ago. Crowds no longer congregate
+at the doors of the Post Office eagerly waiting for news;
+nor is the neighbourhood of St. Martin's-le-Grand transported
+with excitement at the approach of a man on
+horseback.</p>
+
+<p>On the cessation of hostilities at sea, which took place
+in the summer of 1712, although the Treaty of Utrecht
+was not signed until the following year, the postmasters-general
+proceeded to put the packets on a peace footing.
+The boats from Harwich to the Brill and from Dover to
+Ostend were reduced in number. The routes between
+Dover and Calais and between Dover and Dunkirk were
+reopened. The service between Falmouth and Lisbon,
+which during the war had been once a week, was now to be
+only once a fortnight; and the five boats engaged on this
+service, as carrying more hands than would any longer be
+necessary, were to be disposed of by public sale and their
+place to be taken by three of the largest from Harwich. The
+result of these several changes was to reduce the establishment,
+in point of numbers, by rather more than 120 men,
+and, in point of cost, from £21,960 to £15,632. As
+affecting the cost, hardly less important than the reduction
+of numbers was the permission now given to the packet
+boats to resume the carriage of merchandise. This was a
+source of profit to which the postmasters-general had long
+been looking as some set-off against the heavy expense.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>Meanwhile Dummer's contract for the West India service
+had come to an abrupt termination. That contract had not
+been long in force before he began to realise how onerous
+was the condition that, out of a total sum of £12,500, he
+should receive only £4500 in money, and depend, for the
+difference on fares, freight, and postage. The postage,
+which from the first had fallen short of his expectations,
+did not increase; and the fact of his having, within a few
+months from the commencement of his undertaking, lost
+three of his boats, procured for him&mdash;what in the world of
+commerce is almost incompatible with success&mdash;the reputation
+of an unlucky man. The West India merchants
+enjoined their correspondents on no account to send goods
+by Dummer's boats. Thus the profits which he had
+expected to derive from freight had no more existence in
+fact than the profits from postage. Hoping against hope,
+Dummer struggled on; but ill-luck continued to pursue
+him. In little more than five years he lost no less than
+nine boats. In order to replace them he mortgaged his
+property to the full extent of its value and obtained
+advances on his quarterly allowance. This, of course, could
+not go on, and at length the crash came. The day had
+arrived for the West India mail to be despatched, and there
+was no boat to carry it. The whole of Dummer's property,
+boats included, had been seized for debt. The rest is soon
+told. The mortgagees, believing that they had the postmasters-general
+in a corner, refused to continue the service
+except at a preposterous charge, which Frankland and
+Evelyn declined to pay. Fortunately three private ships
+with consignments for the West Indies were then loading
+at Teignmouth and other ports in the south-west of
+England, and these relieved the Post Office from what
+might otherwise have been a serious dilemma.</p>
+
+<p>Bankrupt and broken-hearted, Edmund Dummer died in
+April 1713, within eighteen months of the termination of
+his contract. It is his honourable distinction that he succeeded
+in all that he undertook for others, and that it was
+only in what he undertook for himself that he failed.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>AMERICAN POSTS<br />
+
+1692-1707</h3>
+
+
+<p>American progress has long been the wonder of the world,
+and in nothing perhaps has it displayed itself more remarkably
+than in the matter of the posts. The figures which
+the United States Post Office presents to us year after year&mdash;figures
+as compared with which even those of the Post
+Office of Great Britain fall into insignificance&mdash;make it
+difficult to believe that only two hundred years ago an
+enterprising Englishman was struggling to erect a post
+between New York and Boston.</p>
+
+<p>An Order in Council dated the 22nd of July 1688,
+after prescribing the rates of postage to be charged not only
+between England and the island of Jamaica, but within the
+island itself, ended with these words: "And His Majesty is
+also pleased to order that letter offices be settled in such
+other of His Majesty's plantations in America as shall by
+the said Earle of Rochester be found convenient for His
+Majesty's service, and the ease and benefitt of his subjects,
+according to the method and rates herein settled for His
+Majesty's island of Jamaica."</p>
+
+<p>Nearly four years later, namely, in February 1692,
+Thomas Neale obtained a grant from the Crown authorising
+him to set up posts in North America. The grant was
+secured by letters patent, which were to hold good for
+twenty-one years. Neale, who appears never to have set
+foot out of England, appointed as his representative in
+America Andrew Hamilton; or rather, as the patent required,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+Neale nominated and the postmasters-general
+appointed him. The patent also required that at the
+expiration of three years Neale should render an account
+showing his receipts and expenditure; but it was not until
+the year 1698 that this condition was fulfilled, and in the
+same year Hamilton came to England to report progress.</p>
+
+<p>By this time a post, to run once a week, had been
+established along seven hundred miles of road, from Boston
+to New York, and from New York to Newcastle in Pennsylvania.
+What the postage rates were we do not know,
+except indeed that the charge on a letter between New
+York and Boston was 1s. On other points the account
+which Hamilton furnished on Neale's behalf gives full
+information. A salary of £20 a year is paid to "Mr.
+Sharpus that keeps the letter office at New York." Mr.
+Sharpus also receives two allowances, one of £110 a year
+"for carrying the mail half-way to Boston," and another of
+£60 "for carrying the mail from New York to Philadelphia."
+Of the former allowance, Hamilton states that
+after the 4th of November 1696 he "retrenched" it from
+£110 to £90. There is also a salary of £10 "allowed to
+him that keeps the letter office at Philadelphia"; and "an
+allowance of £100 sterling per annum given by Mr. Neale
+himself to Peter Hayman, deputy-postmaster of Virginia
+and Maryland." Hamilton's own salary was £200, and
+his travelling expenses are thus stated in his account:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Expense1">
+<tr><td align="left">To my expense of a journey from New York to Road</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Island, Boston, and eastward of it and back again,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">when I settled the Post Office there</span></td><td align="right">£50</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To my expense of a journey from New York to Maryland</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Virginia and back again to settle the office there</span></td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To several other journeys and incident charges relating</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">to the Post Office</span></td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">0</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>In America as in England, from the first erection of the
+posts, the correspondence went on steadily increasing year
+after year. Thus, in the first year beginning the 1st of
+May 1693 the "New York Post" produced £61; in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+second, £82; in the third, £93; and in the fourth year,
+ending the 1st of May 1697, it produced £122. The same
+progress is to be seen in what were called the "Boston,
+Road Island, Connecticut and Piscataway Posts." In the
+first two years beginning also in May 1693 these produced
+£296 or at the rate of £148 a year; in the third year they
+produced £227; and in the fourth, £298. The returns
+of the Philadelphia post also kept improving; but here
+Hamilton encountered difficulties of management, as will be
+seen by his own entries:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Expense2">
+<tr><td align="left">By the produce of the Philadelphia post from the 22nd</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">of August 1693 to the 23rd of April 1694, at</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">which time I was forced to change the Postmaster</span></td><td>£10</td><td align="left">9</td><td align="left">6</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">By the produce of the same post from the 23rd of April</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">1694 to the 13th of February 1697, at which time</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">I was forced to change the Postmaster again</span></td><td align="left">105</td><td align="left">3</td><td align="left">7</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The Virginia and Maryland posts were the single
+exception. Of these Hamilton records "The Virginia and
+Maryland posts never yielded anything, but cost Mr. Neale
+near £600." However much these posts might be improved,
+he dared not reckon upon the correspondence exceeding one
+hundred letters a year.</p>
+
+<p>There is only one more entry which we will quote from
+Hamilton's account. It is this:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Expense3">
+<tr><td align="left">By cash which the Postmaster of New York gathered</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">up upon the road in Connecticut for letters</span></td><td align="left">£6</td><td align="left">16</td><td align="left">0</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Promising as the prospect was on the whole, Neale's
+receipts from the posts fell far short of his expenses in
+erecting and maintaining them. His expenses up to May
+1697 were £3817, and his receipts £1457, leaving him
+not only out of pocket to the amount of £2360, but with
+his means and his credit exhausted. It was admitted on
+all hands that the posts must before long become self-supporting,
+even if they should not prove remunerative.
+But meanwhile how were they to be carried on? Hamilton
+had his own plan to propose. This was first that within
+America the postage rates should be raised, and "that the
+post and his horse should go fferry-free"; and second, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+between England and America rates should be settled, and
+that shipmasters should be required on the other as on this
+side of the Atlantic to take their letters at once to the Post
+Office of the port at which they first touched, and hand them to
+the postmaster, receiving as remuneration one penny a letter.</p>
+
+<p>For inland letters the increased rates which Hamilton
+proposed were as follows, all but the first two entries being
+in his own words:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Letters">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">Pence.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Where the distance from New York does not exceed 80 miles</td><td align="right">6</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Where it exceeds 80, and does not exceed 150 miles</td><td align="right">9</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Boston and New York, 300 miles</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Boston and Jersey, 370 miles</td><td align="right">18</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Boston and Philadelphia, 390 miles</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Boston and Annapolis in Maryland, 550 miles</td><td align="right">36</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Boston and James Towne in Virginia, 680 miles</td><td align="right">42</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from New York and Annapolis, 250 miles</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from New York and James Towne, 380 miles, and many</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">broad and dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over</span></td><td align="right">30</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>It may surprise our readers to learn that between
+England and America there actually existed, 200 years ago,
+what now is little more than the dream of the postal
+reformer,&mdash;an ocean penny postage. Yet such is the fact.
+In 1698 it was the custom of the masters of ships bound
+for America to hang up bags in coffee-houses, and any
+letters that might be dropped into these bags they carried,
+and were glad to carry, over for one penny or twopence a
+letter, according as it was a single or a double one. This
+custom, as Hamilton pointed out, was liable to abuse. In
+the first place, any one who had put a letter into a coffee-house
+bag might, under pretence of wanting his own letter
+back, possess himself of the letter of somebody else. And
+secondly, on arrival in America, the shipmasters being under
+no obligation to make a prompt delivery, were apt to deliver
+the letters, not when they reached a port, but when they
+were on the point of leaving it, and after they had disposed
+of their lading. All this would be remedied if rates of
+postage were settled between England and America. The
+letters would then be in the custody of the Post Office until
+delivered to the shipmaster, and the shipmaster would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+bound to restore them to the same custody as soon as he
+arrived at his destination.</p>
+
+<p>But Hamilton's main argument in favour of establishing
+sea-rates of postage was the impossibility of things remaining
+as they were. Neale was without resources, and the posts
+were not self-supporting. Unless, therefore, some means
+should be devised for increasing the receipts, the posts must
+be given up. Let sea-rates be imposed, and the receipts
+would be increased at once, for all letters from Europe, which
+on arrival in America were now being delivered by private
+hand, would then fall into the post, and be forced to pay
+American postage. It was true that between the mother
+country and her colonies a packet service did not exist, and
+that to impose a charge where no service was rendered in
+return would be contrary to Post Office usage; but the object
+to be gained was too important to allow this consideration
+to prevail. Such were the arguments by which Hamilton
+supported his proposal that on letters between England and
+America postage should be charged&mdash;of 6d. for a single
+letter, 1s. for a double letter, and 1s. 6d. for "a packet."</p>
+
+<p>There were one or two points on which Cotton and
+Frankland did not agree with Hamilton. Experience had
+taught them, as they stated on another occasion, that the
+way to improve the Post Office revenue was to "make the
+intercourse of letters easy to people." So now, in their
+representation to the Treasury, they condemned the inland
+rates which Hamilton proposed as altogether too high.
+They had been long enough at the Post Office, they said, to
+know that "the easy and cheap corresponding doth encourage
+people to write letters, and that this revenue was but little
+in proportion to what it is now till the postage of letters
+was reduced from 6d.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> to 3d."</p>
+
+<p>Hamilton had contemplated the passing of a fresh Act of
+Parliament in order to impose sea-rates and to oblige shipmasters
+to give up their letters as soon as they reached port.
+Cotton and Frankland were not satisfied that a fresh Act of
+Parliament was necessary; nor did they express any opinion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+as to the particular rates which should be imposed. They
+recommended, however, the appointment of an officer whose
+duty it should be "to take care of" all letters for America,
+and to put them into a special bag to be sealed with the office
+seal. Public notice should at the same time be given prohibiting
+the collection of such letters by other persons. To
+the shipmaster to whom the bag might be delivered the inducement
+to take it without delay to the Post Office of the
+port at which he should first arrive would be that he would
+there receive one penny for each letter the bag might contain.
+Hitherto, under the coffee-house arrangement, the penny had
+been paid in England; for the future, it would be paid in
+America. In other words, the shipmaster, instead of receiving
+his recompense in advance, would receive it after his
+work was done and only provided it was done properly.</p>
+
+<p>On one point the postmasters-general held a decided
+opinion. Towards the support of the posts the Government
+of New York had made an annual contribution of £50, in
+consideration of which the Government letters appear to
+have been carried free; but otherwise Neale's undertaking
+had not received from the authorities that countenance and
+support which, in Cotton and Frankland's opinion, were
+essential to its success. They expressed themselves convinced
+that, for want of due encouragement, the posts would
+never prosper in private hands, and recommended that they
+should be transferred to the Crown.</p>
+
+<p>Whether any, and if so, what action was taken upon the
+postmaster-general's representation we do not know. There
+is some reason to think that between England and America
+sea-rates of postage were settled, as had been done a few
+years before in the case of Jamaica; but we possess no
+certain information on the point. All we know is that,
+upon Neale being informed of the postmaster-general's
+opinion that the inland posts should be transferred to the
+Crown, he immediately offered to surrender his patent, and
+that the offer was not accepted. The payment he demanded
+was either a capital sum of £5000 or else £1000 a year
+for life or for the unexpired term of his grant.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>Hamilton returned to America. The next we hear of
+him is in 1700. Neale was then dead, having shortly
+before his death assigned his interest in the posts as security
+for his debts. To Hamilton he owed £1100, and to an
+Englishman of the name of West he owed for money
+advanced £200; and into the hands of these two persons,
+in default of any one willing to act as Neale's executor or
+administrator, the posts now came. In April 1703
+Hamilton also died; and for three or four years his widow
+carried on the posts at her own charge.</p>
+
+<p>In 1706 Mrs. Hamilton and West urged that their
+patent, which had seven and a half years yet to run, might
+be enlarged for a further term of twenty-one years, and that
+they might have permission to set up packet boats between
+England and America. To this Cotton and Frankland were
+opposed, being still of opinion that the posts should not
+remain in private hands; and they recommended, as a more
+politic measure, that the patent should be purchased for
+£1664, a sum which the patentees had expressed themselves
+willing to accept. Whether this was the sum actually
+given we know not; but in the following year the patent
+was surrendered and the posts of America became vested
+in the Crown.</p>
+
+<p>In connection with the transfer John Hamilton, Andrew's
+son, was appointed to his father's place of deputy postmaster-general,
+and this appointment he retained until 1722,
+when he resigned. It was then and not until then that
+the posts became self-supporting. "We have now," write
+the postmasters-general on the 10th of August in that year,
+"put the Post Office in North America and the West Indies
+upon such a foot that for the future, if it produce no profit
+to the revenue, it will no longer be a charge to it, but we
+have good reason to hope there will be some return rather
+from thence."</p>
+
+<p>Such, hardly 200 years ago, were the humble beginnings
+of a Post Office with which, in the magnitude and diversity
+of its operations, no other in the world can now compare.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE POST OFFICE ACT OF 1711</h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1707, on the passing of the Act of Union between
+England and Scotland, the first step taken by the postmasters-general
+was to alter the colours of the packets.
+The cross of St. Andrew, with its blue ground, united
+with the red cross of St. George, now became the national
+ensign; and the packets no less than the ships of the
+Royal Navy were under obligation to carry it.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office in Scotland was at this time held in
+farm at a rent of £1194 a year. The lease expired on
+the 11th of November, and from that date the postmasters-general
+held themselves responsible for the Scotch no less
+than the English posts. They at once proceeded to frame
+an establishment. George Main, the farmer, was appointed
+deputy-postmaster of Edinburgh at a salary of £200,
+this being the amount which one year with another he
+had made out of his contract. Three persons were appointed
+to assist him, an accomptant and two clerks. These, with
+three letter-carriers at a crown a week each, and a postmaster
+at the foot of the Canongate, constituted the
+Edinburgh establishment.</p>
+
+<p>In the country there were thirty-four postmasters, of
+whom only twelve were paid by salary, the remaining twenty-two
+receiving as their remuneration a certain proportion of
+the postage on inland letters. Thus, three had one-half of
+this postage, one had one-third, and eighteen had one-fourth.
+The highest salaries were given to the postmasters of Haddington<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+and Cockburnspath, who received £50 apiece, the
+reason being no doubt that these two towns were on the
+direct line of road between Edinburgh and London. At Aberdeen,
+the postmaster's salary was £28; at Glasgow, £25;
+at Dundee, Montrose, and Inverness, £15; and at Dumfries
+and Ayr, £12. Runners<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> at a fixed charge were maintained
+between town and town&mdash;as, for instance, between Edinburgh
+and Aberdeen at £60 a year, between Aberdeen
+and Inverness at £30 a year, and between Inverness and
+Thurso at £18 a year: but except at Edinburgh there
+was no letter-carrier, and except between Edinburgh and
+Berwick there was no horse-post north of the Tweed. The
+establishment charges for the whole of Scotland, Edinburgh
+included, were less than £1000 a year.</p>
+
+<p>But something more was necessary than to frame an
+establishment and to alter the colours of the packets.
+Serious doubts had arisen whether, as the law stood, the
+postmasters-general of England were competent to deal
+with the posts of Scotland; and, this vital consideration
+apart, between the two divisions of the kingdom certain
+inequalities existed which only fresh legislation could
+redress. Under the Scotch Act of 1695 the postage
+on a single letter between Edinburgh and Berwick was
+2d. Under the English Act of 1660, 2d. would carry a
+single letter from Berwick northwards for only forty miles,
+and considerably more than forty miles separated Berwick
+from Edinburgh. This difference arose no doubt from
+mere inaccuracy of reckoning on the English side; and
+yet it was one which nothing less than a new Act, an Act
+by the united Parliament, would adjust.</p>
+
+<p>It is the more singular that at this time the postmasters-general
+should not have taken steps to promote legislation,
+because, in connection with the English no less than the
+Scotch Post Office, there were several matters on which fresh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+legislation had become necessary. The statute on which the
+very existence of the Post Office itself depended had been
+found difficult to deal with, on account of its loose and
+ambiguous wording. The postage to America and the West
+Indies rested on no legal sanction. For the pence paid
+upon ship-letters the postmasters-general had no authority
+to produce, and the auditors had threatened to disallow, the
+payment. Even the penny post was of doubtful legality.
+The Courts had indeed decided that Dockwra's undertaking
+was an infraction of the rights of the Crown; but
+they had not decided, nor had they been called upon to
+decide, whether in the hands of the Crown the same
+undertaking would be legal. The law, as it stood,
+prescribed no postage lower than twopence. By the penny
+post the postage was one half of that amount.</p>
+
+<p>With these and other matters requiring adjustment,
+it might well be supposed that the postmasters-general
+would have been glad of the opportunity which the Act
+of Union afforded to set their house in order. Yet, so
+far from taking any steps in that direction, they now
+remained perfectly passive. Of the reason for this inaction
+we are not informed; but we venture to suggest
+an explanation. Cotton and Frankland were advocates
+of cheap postage. Should fresh legislation be entered
+upon, what guarantee had they that postage would not
+be made dearer? So far, indeed, as they could judge,
+such was much more likely than not to be the case.
+As early as William's reign they had been asked to
+estimate how much an additional penny of postage would
+produce; and the necessities of the Civil List which had
+prompted the inquiry had since become more and more
+pressing.</p>
+
+<p>It is not impossible that there was another, though
+subordinate, reason. Between Whitehall and Lombard
+Street communications had been passing from time to time,
+which might fairly raise the presumption that advantage
+would be taken of any fresh Act to insert a clause under
+which all Post Office servants, the postmasters-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+included, would be disfranchised. Cotton and Frankland,
+who still retained their seats, the one for Cambridgeshire,
+and the other for the borough of Thirsk, were not the
+men to be deterred by personal considerations from doing
+what they conceived to be their duty; but if on principle
+they objected to an increase in the rates of postage, it
+was little calculated to reconcile them to a measure which
+they regarded as mischievous that, as a probable consequence
+of its introduction, they would lose their seats.
+But be the reason what it might, the fact remains that,
+whereas at one time they were continually suggesting the
+propriety of fresh legislation in order to clear up ambiguities
+in the existing statute, no such suggestion had been recently
+made, and they now remained perfectly silent.</p>
+
+<p>Thus matters stood when, in October 1708, or a year
+and a half after the Act of Union had passed, an incident
+occurred which made silence no longer possible.
+Letters of Privy Seal had been issued granting salaries
+payable out of the revenue of the Scotch Post Office to
+certain professors of the Universities of Edinburgh and
+Glasgow, and warrants for payment of these salaries were
+sent to Lombard Street to be signed. The postmasters-general,
+being in doubt whether their signature would be
+valid, took the precaution of consulting the law officers.
+The law officers' opinion, which was not given until the
+end of December, must have struck dismay into the hearts
+of those who sought it. It was to the effect that the
+postmasters-general of England could not act as postmasters-general
+of Scotland until they had been to Edinburgh and
+taken the oaths prescribed by the Scotch law. A journey
+to Edinburgh in those days, especially in the depth of
+winter, was no light undertaking. But this was not all.
+And as soon&mdash;the opinion proceeded&mdash;as they have taken
+the oaths and qualified as postmasters-general of Scotland,
+they will cease to be postmasters-general of England.</p>
+
+<p>The warrants were returned to the Treasury unsigned.
+And now that silence had once been broken, the postmasters-general
+offered suggestion after suggestion, each having for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+its object to remove the difficulty. Might not a clause be
+inserted in some bill now before Parliament, a clause under
+which they should be constituted postmasters-general of
+Great Britain, and be given jurisdiction over the Scotch as
+over the English Post Office? Would not the Scotch bill
+for drawbacks answer the purpose, or if that were likely to
+be displeasing to the North British members, some one of
+the many money-bills that were then pending? Would
+not the requirements of the law be satisfied if for the
+management of the Scotch Post Office some one were
+appointed by letters patent under the Privy Seal of
+Scotland, and placed under the orders of the postmasters-general
+of England? Or in view of a recent Act passed by
+the united Parliament, might not the English postmasters-general
+themselves be so appointed? To these suggestions,
+of which the first was made in December 1708, and the last
+in April 1710, the Lord Treasurer returned no reply. It
+was clear that Godolphin had other intentions.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile events had taken place in London which
+must have gone far to convince the postmasters-general
+that, impolitic as an increase in the rates of postage might
+be, the need for fresh legislation was urgent. Charles Povey
+had set up a halfpenny post or, as he called it himself, a
+"half-penny carriage." For the sum of one halfpenny he
+undertook to do what Dockwra had done, and what the
+postmasters-general were now doing, for the sum of one penny.
+There were indeed points of difference. The penny post extended
+not only over the whole of London proper, but to
+the remote suburbs; the halfpenny post was confined to
+the busy parts of the metropolis, to the cities of London
+and Westminster and to the borough of Southwark. For
+the halfpenny post, again, letters were collected by the sound
+of bell. That is to say, Povey's men carried bells, which
+they rang as they passed along the streets, and so gave
+notice of their approach. This, though no doubt intended
+merely as an advertisement, possessed the merit of convenience.
+People had only to await the coming of one of these
+bell-ringers, and letters and parcels which they must otherwise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+have carried to the post themselves were carried for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>Povey fancied himself a second Dockwra; but the two
+men were as unlike as the circumstances under which their
+undertakings were launched. Dockwra was gentle and conciliatory.
+Povey was violent and aggressive. Dockwra
+disclaimed all intention of transgressing the law. It was
+only necessary that his undertaking should become better
+known, and His Royal Highness, he felt sure, would withdraw
+his opposition. Povey expressed the utmost indifference
+whether his undertaking was legal or illegal, and
+defied the law to do its worst. Dockwra was a pioneer.
+When he established his penny post, there was nothing in
+existence at all resembling it, nothing with which it competed,
+and by supplying an acknowledged want he conferred
+an inestimable boon upon the community. Povey, on the
+contrary, was a mere adventurer. His halfpenny carriage
+was in direct opposition to an institution already existing
+and in full activity, an institution which supplied every
+reasonable want, and which it was the sole purpose of his
+enterprise to supplant for his own advantage.</p>
+
+<p>So impudent an infringement of the rights of the Crown
+could not, of course, be tolerated, and the postmasters-general
+called upon Povey to desist from his undertaking. Povey's
+reply must have extinguished any hope they may have entertained
+of avoiding an appeal to the Courts. He should
+certainly not, he said, be so unjust to himself as to lay down
+his undertaking at their demand. If they were resolved on
+trying the matter at law, he was quite content. And
+happily, he added, we live not under such a constitution as
+Dockwra lived, a constitution made up of an arbitrary
+government and bribed judges. Thus defied, the postmasters-general
+had only one course to pursue, and that
+was to bring an action. As a preliminary step Povey and
+the keepers of the shops at which he had opened offices were
+served with notices setting forth the illegality of their proceedings.
+The shopkeepers closed their offices at once, and
+Povey was left alone with his bell-ringers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>The man now revealed himself in his true character.
+When first informed that an information would be filed
+against him, he published a pamphlet in which, after loading
+the postmasters-general with ridicule and abuse, he dared
+them to proceed to trial, declaring that a trial in the Court
+of Exchequer was the very thing he desired; but as time
+drew on and he found them to be in earnest, he became
+alarmed and desired to effect a compromise. With this object
+he attended at the Post Office and pleaded his cause in person.
+If only his bell-ringers might continue to collect letters for
+the general post and "such as pass between man and man,"
+he would pay to the Crown one-tenth more than had yet been
+received from the penny post. Or let him take the penny post
+to farm, and he would pay double what that post had ever
+produced. Or was it to his bells that exception was taken?
+If so, and if only proceedings were stayed, his bells should
+cease to-morrow. But even if at one time such overtures
+could have been listened to, it was now too late, and the
+postmasters-general so informed him. At this announcement,
+and while they were still speaking, Povey bounced
+from his chair and flung himself out of the room. The case
+came on for hearing in Easter term 1710, and Povey was
+fined £100.</p>
+
+<p>It may here be mentioned that the practice of collecting
+letters by the sound of bell did not cease with the halfpenny
+carriage. It was adopted by the Post Office, became general
+throughout the kingdom, and continued down to a time well
+within the recollection of persons still living.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p>
+
+<p>Although the postmasters-general had won their suit,
+they were not altogether satisfied. What Povey had done
+might be done by others, and his proceedings, they did not
+attempt to conceal, had caused them great annoyance. As
+soon as he found them bent on suppressing his undertaking,
+he had had recourse to artifice. In order that his bell-ringers
+might escape molestation, he had changed them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+about from place to place and made them assume fictitious
+names, so that the man who appeared in Holborn to-day
+under one name might appear in Westminster to-morrow
+under another. The task of fixing evidence had thus been
+made extremely difficult, and the postmasters-general had at
+one time almost given it up in despair. They also bitterly
+complained of the law's delays. For no less than seven
+months&mdash;from the 4th of October 1709 to the 4th of May
+1710&mdash;the halfpenny post had been in full activity, to the
+serious injury of the penny post. Must the institution
+which had been committed to their charge remain, for
+periods of longer or shorter duration, at the mercy of any
+unscrupulous person who might choose to follow Povey's
+example? Or against future assaults of the same kind was
+it not possible to provide themselves with some less
+cumbrous weapon than they had now to their hands?</p>
+
+<p>Whether the Act which subsequently passed conferred
+upon the postmasters-general all the powers they desired may
+be open to question, but there can be no doubt that, after
+the experience of the past few months, the prospect of fresh
+legislation, if not actually welcome, had lost half its terrors.
+For fresh legislation, however, the time had not even yet
+arrived. It is true that Povey's case, pending the consideration
+of which nothing of course could be done, had
+been heard and determined; but now political difficulties
+arose. Godolphin, the Lord Treasurer, gave way to Harley;
+and Harley's advent to power was followed by a general
+election. It was not until the beginning of November, or
+three weeks before the Houses met, that a decision was at
+last announced. Subject to the consent of Parliament, the
+rates of postage were to be increased, and a bill to carry
+out the object was to be prepared at once.</p>
+
+<p>The office of Secretary to the Treasury was at this time
+held by William Lowndes, member of Parliament for the
+borough of Seaford. Lowndes had written a silly book on
+the currency, a book in which he endeavoured to prove
+that an Act of Parliament, by calling a sixpence a shilling,
+can double its purchasing power. He had seriously believed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+when the postmasters-general recommended that the course
+of post to Warwick should be direct instead of by way
+of Coventry, that the recommendation was due to a bribe.
+When the postmasters-general were at their wits' end to
+put a stop to the illicit traffic in letters, he had suggested&mdash;and
+it was the only consolation which he had had to offer
+them&mdash;that in order to defray the expenses of the Civil
+List every letter passing through the post should be charged
+with an additional rate of 1d. Such was the man to whom
+was now entrusted the oversight of the Post Office bill. If
+confidence in the merits of the measure which the bill was
+designed to promote were any recommendation, a better
+selection could not have been made. Lowndes had long
+advocated an increase in the rates of postage. He had,
+there can be little doubt, brought Godolphin over to his
+views, and now, under Godolphin's successor, he obtained
+permission to carry them into effect.</p>
+
+<p>At the Post Office, unfortunately, there was at this time
+no one to sound a note of alarm. Cotton was no more.
+Evelyn, Cotton's successor, was new to his duties. Frankland
+was old and gouty. Between Frankland and Lowndes,
+moreover, relations we suspect were somewhat strained. At
+all events, the fact remains that the postmasters-general,
+who never tired of inculcating as the result of experience
+that low postage attracts correspondence and high postage
+repels it, received notice of the intention to raise the rates
+without even an attempt to avert the mischief.</p>
+
+<p>By the middle of December, or little more than six
+weeks from the time of the Post Office receiving notice to
+prepare for fresh legislation, the bill was in Lowndes's
+hands. Containing as it did some fifty clauses, and dealing
+with a matter of no little complexity, such despatch might
+do no discredit even to our own days of high pressure. At
+the beginning of the eighteenth century it was out of the
+common. But the explanation is simple. Swift, the
+solicitor to the Post Office, who was profoundly dissatisfied
+with the law as it stood, had for years past employed his
+leisure moments in framing clauses founded upon his conception<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+of what the law ought to be, less probably in the
+hope of seeing them passed than with the view of giving
+relief to his feelings. These clauses he now collected,
+arranged, and added to, producing what he conceived to be
+a model measure. But while the bill had taken only six
+weeks to prepare, nearly double that period was occupied in
+revising it. Whatever may be thought of Lowndes's understanding,
+there can be no question about his industry.
+Day after day during the next three months he devoted to
+the task he had undertaken every moment he could snatch
+from his numerous other engagements. In conjunction
+with Swift, who now passed most of his time at Whitehall,
+he went through the bill clause by clause, discussing and
+arguing every point, and not seldom making alterations.
+Swift, as the representative of the Post Office, knew well
+what the Post Office wanted; but Lowndes knew, or
+thought that he knew, better, and in this as in other
+instances superior authority passed current for superior
+knowledge. It was not, however, to what for distinction's
+sake may be called the Post Office clauses of the bill that
+the chief interest attached. To these Lowndes added
+others, of which one, while dealing with a matter of the
+most delicate character, revealed an intention of which the
+Post Office had had no previous notice. The preparation of
+this clause severely taxed the abilities of its framers.</p>
+
+<p>As the Post Office revenue was at this time vested in
+the Crown, the Crown would, of course, in the absence of
+express provision to the contrary, reap the benefit of any
+increase which additions to the rates of postage might
+produce. To divert the increase, or part of the increase,
+from the Crown to the public was the object of the clause
+on which Lowndes and Swift were now engaged. This
+clause having at length been settled to their satisfaction,
+the bill came before Parliament, and was with some modifications
+passed. The new rates as compared with the old
+were as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates5">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1660.</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1711.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From London.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">80 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">3d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 80 miles</td><td align="right">3d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">16d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To Edinburgh</td><td align="right">5d.</td><td align="right">10d.</td><td align="right">20d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td><td align="right">24d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To Dublin</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td><td align="right">24d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td><td align="right">24d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1711.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From Edinburgh</span>, within Scotland.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">50 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 50 and not exceeding 80 miles</td><td align="right">3d.</td><td align="right">6d.</td><td align="right">12d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 80 miles</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">16d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From Dublin</span>, within Ireland.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">40 miles and under</td><td align="right">2d.</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 40 miles</td><td align="right">4d.</td><td align="right">8d.</td><td align="right">16d.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The old rates during the year ending the 29th of
+September 1710 had produced £111,461, and the new
+rates were estimated to produce £36,400 more. Of this
+increase the whole was to be paid into the Exchequer by
+weekly instalments of £700, so that a fund might be
+established for the purpose of carrying on the war; and of
+the surplus, if any, over and above £147,861, one-third was
+to be reserved to the disposal of Parliament for the use of
+the public. These provisions were to hold good for thirty-two
+years, after which the old rates were to be reverted to.</p>
+
+<p>We have already seen how difficult the postmasters-general
+had found it, even with the lower rates of postage,
+to prevent the smuggling of letters; and of course, in exact
+proportion as the rates should be increased, the temptation
+to smuggle would become greater. This consequence had
+been foreseen and provided for. After declaring in the
+preamble that, as a condition of the new rates, provision
+must be made "for preventing the undue collecting and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+delivering of letters by private posts, carriers, higglers,
+watermen, drivers of stage-coaches, and other persons," the
+bill went on to give to the postmasters-general large powers
+of search. This clause was regarded as of the highest
+importance. Without it, indeed, even Lowndes would
+hardly have ventured to suggest that the rates should be
+increased. To his dismay, however, and, truth compels us to
+add, to the dismay also of the Post Office, the House of
+Commons, while passing the rates, rejected the searching
+clause. Only the declaration in the preamble remained, an
+enduring monument of a foolish intention.</p>
+
+<p>Another clause must also be regarded as peculiarly
+Lowndes's own. This clause&mdash;which, unlike the foregoing,
+was not rejected&mdash;prohibited the postmasters-general and
+all persons serving under them from intermeddling in
+elections. They were forbidden under heavy penalties "to
+persuade any one to give or to dissuade any one from giving
+his vote for the choice" of a member of Parliament.
+Lowndes can hardly have believed it possible thus to padlock
+men's mouths. It is still more difficult to suppose
+that the clause can have been aimed at Frankland; and yet
+assuredly Frankland was the only person whom it affected.
+Postmasters and others, it may well be believed, continued
+to talk and to argue exactly as they had argued and talked
+before; but Frankland had to give up his seat. At the
+general election in October he had, there can be little
+doubt, received a hint of what was coming, for after sitting
+for his pocket borough of Thirsk for more than twelve years
+he retired from the representation.</p>
+
+<p>So much of the new Act as originated with the Post
+Office was mainly directed to clearing up doubts, to supplying
+omissions, and to making that legal for which the law had
+not yet provided. Thus, legal sanction was given to the
+penny post, and competition with it was forbidden under
+severe penalties. Pence upon ship-letters were not only
+authorised but directed to be paid. The rates of postage
+to America and to the West Indies were confirmed; and
+power was given to impose rates upon letters to other places<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+with which communication might be opened. The Act of
+1660 had conferred upon the postmasters-general the exclusive
+right of "receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching,
+sending post or with speed, and delivering of all letters
+and packets whatsoever"; but it was silent on the subject
+of carrying. This omission the Act of 1711 supplied. The
+later Act also imposed restrictions on the common carrier.
+Hitherto it had been left in doubt what letters he might
+carry. These were now defined to be letters which concerned
+the goods in his waggon or cart; and they were to
+be delivered at the same time as the goods and without
+hire or reward.</p>
+
+<p>It was not enough that the penny post should receive
+legal sanction. By this post, from its first establishment,
+a single penny had carried only within London proper. For
+delivery in the outskirts&mdash;as, for instance, at Islington,
+Lambeth, Newington, and Hackney, all of which were at
+this time separate towns&mdash;the Post Office received one
+penny more. So long, therefore, as the charge by the
+general post for a distance not exceeding eighty miles stood
+at 2d., it was a mere question of convenience whether
+towns in the neighbourhood of London should be served by
+that post or by the penny post. In either case the postage
+on a single letter was the same, namely 2d. But now
+that the initial charge by the general post was raised from
+2d. to 3d., it became necessary to assign a limit beyond
+which the penny post should not extend; and this limit
+was fixed at ten miles, measured from the General Post
+Office in Lombard Street.</p>
+
+<p>How little the Post Office had at this time entered into
+the inner life of the people may be judged by the fact that
+such restriction was possible. In 1711 there were towns
+distant nearly twenty miles from London&mdash;for instance,
+Walton-on-Thames, Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, and Tilbury
+in Essex&mdash;which had long been served by the penny post;
+and the penny post carried up to one pound of weight for
+the same charge for which the general post carried a single
+letter. Yet these towns were now deprived of the facilities<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+which the penny post afforded without, so far as appears,
+exciting a murmur.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p>
+
+<p>Under the new Act the Post Office retained the monopoly
+of furnishing post-horses. It is to be observed, however,
+that the charge for each horse, although remaining the same
+as before&mdash;namely, 3d. a mile, with 4d. a stage for the
+guide&mdash;was now re-enacted apologetically, as though some
+compunction had begun to be felt at the interference with
+the freedom of contract. The explanation is perhaps to be
+found in the recent introduction of stage-coaches and the
+low prices at which these vehicles carried passengers.
+"There is of late," writes an author of the period, "an
+admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of
+better quality, to travel from London to almost any town of
+England and to almost all the villages near this great city,
+and that is by stage-coaches, wherein one may be transported
+to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul
+ways; and this is not only at a low price, as about 1s. for
+every five miles, but with such speed, as that the posts in
+some foreign countries make not more miles in a day."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> If
+a mode of travelling so luxurious as this appears to have
+been thought could be secured for less than 2-1/2d. a mile, a
+charge of 3d. a mile for a horse besides a guerdon to the
+guide may well have appeared to require justification.</p>
+
+<p>It may here be noticed that, although the postmasters-general
+were under obligation to supply horses on demand,
+and, failing to do so, became liable to a penalty, the control
+which they exercised over the travelling post appears to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+have been of the slightest. It is true that they would now
+and again complain of a postmaster for keeping bad horses;
+but the badness would always be with reference to the
+horses' capacity to carry the mails. Whether they were fit
+or unfit for the use of travellers appears never to have
+troubled headquarters. Except, indeed, for some little
+exertion of authority on rare occasions and in circumstances
+out of the common,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> it would almost seem that the postmasters-general
+had ceased to regard the travelling post as
+a matter in which they had any concern. It is not very
+clear why this should have been so. But perhaps the
+explanation is that in the case of the travelling post, unlike
+that of the letter post, a postmaster's interest and duty were
+identical; if horses were wanted, he was under the strongest
+inducement to supply them; and the danger to be apprehended
+was not that travellers would be neglected, but that
+they might be accommodated at the expense of the mails.</p>
+
+<p>On one point, no doubt because it involved a question
+of prerogative rather than law, the new Act was silent; and
+yet it was a point of high importance and, as it afterwards
+became the subject of legal enactment, this may be a convenient
+time to mention it. We refer to the privilege conceded
+to certain persons to send and receive their letters
+free of postage, or, to use the term by which it was
+commonly known, the franking system. The persons who
+enjoyed this privilege were the Chief Officers of State and
+the members of the two Houses of Parliament. The Chief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+Officers of State, or ministers as they had now begun to be
+called, were entitled to send and receive their letters free
+at all times and without limit in point of weight. The
+members of the two Houses were so entitled only during
+the session of Parliament and for forty days before and
+after, and in their case the weight was limited to two
+ounces.</p>
+
+<p>The privilege had already been greatly abused. Secretaries
+of State would not scruple to send under their frank
+the letters of their friends and their friends' friends as
+well as their own. In 1695 Blaithwaite, who was then
+Secretary of War, carried the practice to such an extent as
+to evoke from the postmasters-general a vigorous remonstrance.
+"We cannot deny," they said, "but this has
+been too much a practice in all tymes, and we are sure you
+will not blame us for wishing itt were amended, being soe
+very prejudicial to His Majestye's revenue under our management."
+The practice extended, and in 1705 a warrant
+under the sign-manual, after enumerating afresh the Officers
+of State who were entitled to frank, expressly charged them
+not "to cover any man's letters whatsoever other than their
+own," and, as regards any letters which might come
+addressed to their care for private persons, to send them to
+the Post Office to be taxed and delivered.</p>
+
+<p>The abuses identified with the letters of members of Parliament
+were of wider scope. Lavishly as members might
+use their names as a means of franking, the use was not confined
+to themselves and their friends. On the part of the
+London booksellers and other persons who might hesitate to
+incur the risk of imitating another man's signature it had
+become a common practice to assume the name of some member
+of Parliament, and under that name to have their letters
+addressed to them at particular coffee-houses; and as their
+correspondents in the country adopted a similar device, the
+letters passing to and fro escaped postage. Cotton and
+Frankland had not been long at the Post Office before this
+practice arrested their attention, and in 1698 the warrant
+which granted to the members of the new Parliament the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+usual exemption from postage was expressly designed to
+check the abuse. "To prevent abuses," thus the warrant
+ran, "that were formerly practised<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> to the prejudice of our
+revenue by divers persons who, though they were not
+members, yet presumed to indorse the names of members
+of Parliament on their letters and direct their letters to
+members of Parliament which really did not belong to them,"
+our will and pleasure is that members "will constantly with
+their owne hands indorse their names upon their owne
+letters, and not suffer any other letters to pass under their
+ffrank, cover, or direction but such as shall concerne themselves."
+Successive warrants issued between 1698 and 1711
+were expressed in the same or nearly the same terms,
+what little variations there were only serving to shew that
+the practice against which the warrants were directed had
+become more general.</p>
+
+<p>But now the postmasters-general could no longer conceal
+from themselves that, unwarrantable as might be the
+liberties taken with members' names, the members themselves
+were by no means blameless. That they were scattering
+their franks with boundless profusion was beyond
+doubt; and the question which the postmasters-general
+set themselves to solve was, How was this profusion to
+be checked? As the best expedient they could devise,
+they prepared for the Queen's signature a fresh warrant
+which, as a hint to members for the regulation of their own
+conduct, referred to Her Majesty's condescension in allocating
+a portion of the Post Office revenue towards defraying the
+expenses of the war. Of previous warrants copies had been
+posted up in the lobby of the House and in the Speaker's
+chamber. Of the present warrant copies were to be distributed
+with the votes so as to secure that every member
+should have a copy.</p>
+
+<p>The immediate effect of the Act of 1711 was, as might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+have been foreseen, enormously to stimulate clandestine
+traffic. The Post Office could do little to check it. In
+London officers were appointed whose duty it was to
+frequent the roads leading into the capital and keep a watch
+on all higglers and drivers of coaches who were notoriously
+carrying letters in defiance of the law. In the country the
+postmasters-general could get nothing done. In vain they
+urged upon the Treasury the paramount importance of appointing
+officers who should travel about the country and be
+authorised to open the mail bags at odd times and unexpectedly.
+By no other means, they declared, was it possible
+to keep any check upon either the London or the country
+letters. The London letters might not be charged correctly
+by the clerks of the roads; and of the country letters, it
+was perfectly well known, only a very small proportion was
+charged at all. But all to no purpose. The officers whom
+the postmasters-general proposed to appoint were to receive
+for remuneration and travelling expenses together £1 a
+day, and the Treasury declined to sanction the expense.</p>
+
+<p>This, even for the Treasury, has always appeared to us
+a masterpiece of perversity. That large sums were being
+diverted into the pockets of the postmasters had been admitted
+in the Act itself;<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> nor could it be denied that the tendency
+of the Act was to make these sums larger. And yet the abuse
+was to be allowed to go on unchecked because its correction
+would involve a small outlay. For four years this penny-wise
+and pound-foolish policy continued, and it was not
+until 1715, as the consequence of a strong representation
+from Frankland and Evelyn's successors, that the officers
+whose appointment these two postmasters-general had
+consistently advocated were added to the establishment
+under the title of surveyors. To surprise the mail bags
+in course of transit and to check their contents&mdash;such was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+the humble function originally assigned to officers who have
+since become as indispensable to the Post Office as the
+mainspring is to a watch or the driving wheel to a steam
+engine.</p>
+
+<p>It may here be noticed that the decisions which the
+postmasters-general received were not all of them conceived
+in the same spirit. So different indeed was the
+treatment of questions relating to home communications
+and communications with foreign parts as almost to
+suggest that they had been referred to different tribunals.
+Was the packet service which had come to an end
+through Dummer's misfortunes to be re-established or not?
+The cost was far, very far, in excess of the receipts; and
+yet the direction to the Post Office was to consult the
+West India merchants, and to be guided by their wishes.
+The two packets between Falmouth and the Groyne, which
+had been left running at the close of the war, were after
+a time discontinued. They cost £1600 a year to
+maintain, and the annual receipts from the letters and
+passengers they carried were less than £450. Yet upon
+a representation from the merchants trading with Spain
+pointing out the inconvenience which the stoppage had
+caused them, the boats were restored at once. But all
+such questions were decided by the Lord Treasurer himself,
+and his decisions were communicated under his own
+signature, or else under the sign-manual.</p>
+
+<p>Very different was it with questions affecting intercourse
+within the kingdom. These, urgently as the postmasters-general
+might press them, received little or no attention.
+They would seem indeed to have been relegated to subordinates,
+who having been instructed to keep down expense
+proceeded to obey their orders without discrimination.
+Whether the packet agent at Dover had in his cups
+refused to drink to the health of the ministers, or whether
+the postmaster of Chester had said that Queen Anne,
+had she pursued the same course as was pursued by
+Charles the First, would have met with the same fate&mdash;these
+were questions of vital importance which must be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+investigated with all convenient speed; but when the
+question was merely one of improving the internal posts
+of the country, it was treated at leisure, and no considerations
+of public convenience, or even of prospective
+gain, were allowed to weigh against the bugbear of present
+expense. In 1710, for instance, the Lord Provost and
+magistrates of Glasgow had petitioned that the foot-post
+to Edinburgh might be converted into a horse-post. The
+mail would thus arrive sooner and leave later, and, as the
+petitioners pointed out, letters would fall into it which
+had heretofore been sent by private hand. Between a
+horse-post and a foot-post the difference in point of cost
+was £20 a year; and for the sake of this small sum the
+Treasury had refused the request, just as they now refused
+to sanction the appointment of surveyors, although the
+postmasters-general clearly demonstrated that by no other
+means could the misappropriation of postage be checked,
+and that within a few months the cost would be covered
+many times over.</p>
+
+<p>But the addition to the establishment of a few appointments
+more or less was not the most serious charge which
+the Act of 1711 entailed. The Post Offices over a great
+part of England were then in farm. How, within the
+area over which these Post Offices extended, was the State
+to derive any benefit from the higher postage? The
+postage, whatever it might be, was under their leases
+secured to the farmers; and the farmers were under no
+obligation to pay any higher rent than that for which
+they had stipulated. This difficulty, which had without
+doubt been overlooked, took a most unexpected turn. The
+farmers had had only a short experience of the new rates
+before they found that these rates, far from bringing them a
+golden harvest, were fast contributing to their ruin; that
+they were in effect prohibitive rates; that the letters
+passing to and fro were getting fewer and fewer; and that
+the increase of charge by no means made up for the
+decrease in number. In short, the Crown or those who
+represented the Crown had taken for granted that under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+the new rates the returns would be relatively higher than
+under the old, whereas the farmers found to their cost
+that the returns were actually lower. Never, perhaps, has
+there been a more striking demonstration of the unwisdom
+of high rates of postage. In this dilemma the postmasters-general
+had recourse to an expedient which appears to
+have been considered satisfactory on both sides. They
+cancelled all the leases, nine in number,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> and under the
+title of managers, appointed the farmers to superintend
+the Post Offices embraced within the area over which
+their farms extended. The managers who had heretofore
+been at the cost of the postmasters' salaries were to be
+relieved from this and all other payments; and as remuneration
+for their services they were to receive one-tenth
+part of the net produce derived from the postage.</p>
+
+<p>Two questions may here be asked, to neither of which
+is it easy to give even a plausible reply. Of these the
+first is, How did it happen that the postmasters-general,
+who without authority from Whitehall could not even
+convert a foot-post into a horse-post, were able on their
+own motion to sanction an arrangement, the practical
+effect of which was to add to the establishment not only
+a large number of small salaries, amounting in the aggregate
+to a formidable total, but also a dead-weight annuity of
+nearly £2000 a year? This is an obscurity which we
+confess ourselves unable to penetrate. We can only record
+the fact, a fact the more surprising because only recently
+Godolphin had laid it down under his own hand that in
+the Post Office "all extraordinary payments or allowances
+are to be vouched by warrant from Her Majesty or myself,
+or from the Lord High Treasurer or the Commissioners of
+the Treasury for the time being." The second question
+is hardly less perplexing. How, except in name, did
+managers differ from surveyors, whose appointment the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+postmasters-general were urging, and urging in vain? Or
+what could surveyors have done which it was not equally
+competent to managers to do? This question also we
+cannot answer. We only know that the very men who as
+farmers had rendered signal service to the Post Office, and
+earned the gratitude of the districts over which their
+farms extended, were found as managers to be of little
+use, even if they did not league themselves with the postmasters
+to intercept the postage.</p>
+
+<p>Difficulties from an unexpected quarter added to the
+confusion into which, as the result of the Act of 1711, the
+Post Office was drifting. As soon as peace was declared, it
+became necessary to arrive at an agreement with France as
+to the conditions on which the British mails should pass
+through French territory. M. Pajot was still comptroller of
+the posts in Paris; and he proved to be hardly less untractable
+than before the war. Frankland and Evelyn committed
+their case to the care of Matthew Prior, who was at that
+time minister plenipotentiary to the Court of France. Prior,
+who had hated his commissionership of customs because, as
+Swift tells us, he was ever dreaming of cockets and dockets
+and other jargon, could hardly be expected to give his mind
+to anything so prosaic as postage and letter bills. The
+matter, moreover, was one of a highly technical character,
+and, without fuller information than could be contained in
+the most precise instructions, a far abler negotiator than
+Prior could claim to be might easily have found himself
+overmatched. Pajot, presuming on his superior knowledge,
+put forward the most extravagant demands; and it was not
+until an expert had been sent from London, upon whom it
+would have been useless to attempt to impose, that he abated
+his pretensions. Extravagant demands were now followed
+by frivolous objections, and at the last moment, when the
+conditions were practically settled, he actually refused to
+proceed further unless "Her Britannic Majesty," an expression
+employed in the Post Office treaty, were altered to "The
+Queen of Great Britain."</p>
+
+<p>Vexatious as these proceedings were, the result was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+more vexatious still. Before the war a lump sum of
+36,000 livres a year had been paid for the transit of
+the British mails across French territory. Pajot now
+refused to accept any lump sum at all. He insisted that
+each letter passing through France should be charged for
+separately, according to the French postage; and high
+as the English postage was, the French postage was higher
+still. In vain the postmasters-general pointed out that by
+virtue of such an arrangement they would on many letters
+have to pay more than Act of Parliament permitted them
+to receive. Pajot replied in effect that this was their affair
+and not his; and no better terms could they get. The
+treaty was eventually signed, and its onerous provisions will
+best be shewn by an example. On a single letter from Italy
+the postage prescribed by the Act of 1711 was fifteenpence,
+and on a letter weighing one ounce sixty pence. This was
+all which the Act permitted the postmasters-general to collect;
+and yet, under the terms of the treaty, the postage for
+which they had to account to the French Post Office was
+in the one case twenty-one sous and in the other eighty-four.</p>
+
+<p>To this treaty we are indeed indebted for one piece of
+information. It gives us&mdash;what is not to be found elsewhere&mdash;a
+definition of the terms single and double as applied
+to letters. It is strange that the Acts of 1660 and 1711,
+while imposing distinctive rates on single and double letters,
+nowhere define what single and double letters are. This
+omission the treaty of 1713 supplies. "That piece," the
+treaty provides, "is to be esteemed a single letter which
+hath no sealed letter inclosed, and that to be esteemed a
+double letter which hath inclosures and is under the weight
+of an ounce." It will be interesting to note how far the
+Post Office adhered to its own definition.</p>
+
+<p>On the accession of George the First, when almost every
+place of honour and profit under the Crown changed hands,
+the Post Office did not escape; and Frankland and Evelyn
+were succeeded by Cornwallis and Craggs. The natural
+tendency of the provision which had made members of the
+House of Commons ineligible for the office of postmasters-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+was to throw the office into the hands of peers; and
+although this tendency did not fully develop itself until later
+in the century, the appointment of Lord Cornwallis was a
+first move in that direction. Peers have in our own time
+been among the ablest of the many able administrators who
+have presided over the Post Office; but at the beginning of
+the eighteenth century the conditions attaching to the
+appointment were in some respects different from what they
+are to-day. The postmasters-general had to write their own
+letters; their attendance was both early and late and during
+fixed hours; and they were expected to reside at the Post
+Office. Whether from a disinclination to satisfy these
+conditions, or on the score of health, which he was constantly
+pleading, Cornwallis had not been long in Lombard Street
+before he retired into the country, and left the conduct of
+affairs pretty much to his colleague. Craggs&mdash;or Craggs
+senior as he was commonly called, to distinguish him from
+his son, the Secretary of State&mdash;was an industrious, plain-spoken
+man; and deeply as he afterwards became implicated
+in the South Sea Scheme, there is no reason to suppose that
+his proceedings as postmaster-general would not bear
+inspection.</p>
+
+<p>Cornwallis and Craggs had been only a short time at
+the Post Office before they became profoundly impressed
+with what they found there. The managers withholding
+the postmasters' salaries, the postmasters recouping and a
+good deal more than recouping themselves out of the
+postage, the post-boys&mdash;for so they had begun to be called&mdash;clandestinely
+carrying letters for what they could get,
+the inordinate number of franked letters&mdash;these were
+among the abuses which arrested the new postmaster-generals'
+attention; but what excited their most lively
+surprise was that there should exist a branch of the King's
+revenue upon the subordinate agents of which there was
+absolutely no check. At length, on a representation from
+them as to the scandal of allowing such a state of things to
+continue, consent was obtained to the appointment of surveyors;
+and the dismissal of the managers speedily followed.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>These remedial measures, though good as far as they
+went, affected only the internal administration of the Post
+Office. Of its troubles from without, and how they had
+been increased by recent legislation, Cornwallis and Craggs
+were no less sensible than their predecessors; but here they
+had no remedy to apply. "The additional penny," they
+wrote in March 1716, within eighteen months of their
+appointment, "has never answered in proportion, and we
+find by every day's experience that it occasions the people
+to endeavour to find out other conveyances for their
+letters." "The additional tax," they wrote again two years
+later, "has never answered in proportion to the produce of
+the revenue at the time it took place, the people having
+found private conveyances for their letters, which they are
+daily endeavouring to increase, notwithstanding all the
+endeavours that can be used to prevent them."</p>
+
+<p>As with the clandestine traffic, so with the abuse of the
+franking privilege. In isolated cases, where the abuse was
+more than usually glaring, the postmasters-general would
+write to the erring member a letter of mild expostulation,
+affecting to believe him more sinned against than sinning;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>
+but even if this had any effect in the particular instance,
+to stem the torrent was beyond their power. In Great
+Britain alone the postage represented by the franked
+letters, excluding those which were or which purported to
+be on His Majesty's service, amounted in 1716 to what
+was for that time, relatively to the total Post Office
+revenue, the enormous sum of £17,500 a year. In
+Ireland the members followed the example of their English
+colleagues, if indeed they did not improve upon it. In
+1718 the Irish Parliament sat for three months, and in
+1719 it sat for nine months; and it was only during the
+session, and for forty days before and after, that letters
+could be franked. Cornwallis and Craggs had now been
+some years at the Post Office; and yet, with all their
+experience of the extent to which the abuse of franking
+was carried, they were startled to see the effect which the
+duration of Parliament had upon the receipts. In 1718
+the gross revenue of the Irish Post Office&mdash;and in the
+gross revenue was reckoned the postage on members' letters,
+the postage which these letters would have paid if they had
+not been franked&mdash;amounted to £14,592, and the net
+revenue to £3066. In 1719, although the gross revenue
+rose to £19,522, an amount higher by £4930 than in the
+preceding year, the net revenue fell from £3066 to £753.
+Such was the effect upon the revenue of a difference of six
+months in the duration of the two Parliaments.</p>
+
+<p>To add to the postmaster-generals' troubles, the merchants
+of London, groaning under the onerous rates of
+postage, had recourse to an expedient in order to evade
+them. They associated themselves together, and all those
+who had occasion to write to a particular place, though to
+different persons, would write on the same piece of paper
+and under the same cover. The postmasters-general contended
+that these several writings should be charged as
+separate letters; the merchants contended that there was
+but one letter, and that it should pass for a single rate of
+postage.</p>
+
+<p>Their next step was to dispute the postmaster-generals'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+reading of the statute. Under the law as passed in 1660,
+and re-enacted in 1711, merchants' accounts not exceeding
+one sheet of paper, and all bills of exchange, invoices,
+and bills of lading, were "to be allowed without rate in
+the price of letters"; in other words, the weight of these
+documents was not to be reckoned in the weight of a
+letter for the purpose of charging it with postage. This
+exemption, however, had hitherto been allowed only in the
+case of foreign letters; and the postmasters-general held
+that such was the intention of the statute. The merchants
+retorted that no such intention was expressed, and that to
+act as though it had been brought about this anomaly&mdash;that
+on a letter containing any one of the documents in
+question the charge from Constantinople was actually less
+than from Bristol. Was it possible that the Legislature
+could ever have enacted such an absurdity? It was an
+old contention, as old as the Post Office itself,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> and the
+merchants took the present opportunity to revive it. On
+both questions Northey, the Attorney-General, advised that
+the Post Office should adhere to its ancient practice as the
+best expositor of the meaning of the new law; but excellent
+as this advice may have been, its adoption failed to satisfy
+the merchants and it was not until a declaratory Act
+had been passed that they ceased to contest the points.</p>
+
+<p>Much the same sort of thing occurred a few years later
+in connection with the penny post. From the first establishment
+of this undertaking 1d. had carried only within the
+bills of mortality; for delivery beyond those limits had been
+charged 1d. more. Some persons now refused to pay the
+additional penny, on the ground that it was not prescribed
+by law. This was perfectly true. The penny post owed its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+legal sanction to the Act of 1711; and this Act merely
+provided that "for the post of all and every the letters and
+packets passing or repassing by the carriage called the penny
+post, established and settled within the cities of London and
+Westminster and borough of Southwark and parts adjacent,
+and to be received and delivered within ten English miles
+distant from the General Letter Office in London [shall be
+demanded and received the sum of] 1d." Again an Act of
+Parliament had to be passed in order to assimilate law and
+practice. This Act, which was not obtained until 1730,
+made legal the twopenny post, just as the penny post was
+made legal by the Act of 1711; although, as a matter of
+fact, both posts had been in existence since April 1680.</p>
+
+<p>In 1721 Lowndes, who was still at the Treasury, called
+for a return of the Post Office income and expenditure.
+Ten years had now elapsed since the imposition of the new
+rates. Of these ten years eight, as compared with the eight
+which preceded them, had been years of prosperity and
+peace; the population had increased, and the reductions in
+the packet service had effected a saving of many thousand
+pounds a year. Certainly the circumstances had not on the
+whole been unfavourable for testing the results of the new
+policy. The return was rendered. During the year ending
+the 29th of September the gross Post Office revenue was,
+in 1721, £168,968, and in 1710, £111,461, being an
+increase of £57,507; in 1721 the cost of management was
+£69,184, as against £44,639 in 1710; and the net
+revenue, which in 1710 had been £66,822, was in 1721
+£99,784, an increase of £32,962. But the case does not
+end here. Under the terms of the Act the sum of £700 a
+week, or £36,400 a year, was to be allocated to a specific
+object. This sum had been regularly paid into the
+Exchequer, and, after deducting it from the net revenue,
+there remained for the use of the Sovereign a balance of
+£63,384, or less than in 1710 by £3438.</p>
+
+<p>While the contingency of a loss to the Civil List had not
+been either foreseen or provided against, elaborate precautions
+had been taken for the disposal of a surplus. If the gross<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+Post Office revenue should exceed the sum of £147,861, the
+excess was to be divided between the Sovereign and the
+public in the proportion of one-third to the public and two-thirds
+to the Sovereign. As a matter of fact, the gross
+Post Office revenue in 1721 had exceeded, and exceeded by
+a considerable amount, the sum of £147,861; and yet
+there was no excess to divide. The plain truth is that, in
+preparing the Act of 1711, Lowndes had forgotten the cost
+of management. It must have sounded strange in the ears
+of an assistant Chancellor of the Exchequer to be told, as
+Cornwallis and Craggs did not scruple to tell him, that he
+had confounded gross and net revenue, and that by this
+blunder Parliament had been misled.</p>
+
+<p>The Act of 1711, disastrous as it proved in its effects
+on the wellbeing and morality of the nation, is only one
+more instance of the mischief which may be done with the
+best intentions; and it was perhaps meet that its author
+should have remained long enough at his post to witness
+the results of his own handiwork.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>RALPH ALLEN<br />
+
+1720-1764</h3>
+
+
+<p>There was one who realised not less fully than the postmasters-general
+themselves the difficulties by which they
+were beset. He knew well, even better than they, how
+letters were being kept out of the post and transmitted
+clandestinely, and how even on letters which fell into the
+post the postage was being intercepted. But while the
+postmasters-general regarded the evil as incurable, he
+thought that it might at all events be mitigated. This was
+Ralph Allen, the postmaster of Bath. Allen's experience
+in postal matters was probably unrivalled. He had, it
+might almost be said, been cradled and nursed in the Post
+Office. The son of an innkeeper at St. Blaise, he had, at
+eleven years of age, been placed under the care of his
+grandmother, who, on the post road being diverted from
+South to Mid-Cornwall, was appointed postmistress of St.
+Columb. Here the regularity and neatness with which the
+lad kept the accounts gained for him the approval of the
+district surveyor when on a tour of inspection; and shortly
+afterwards, probably through the surveyor's influence, he
+obtained a situation in the Post Office at Bath. It is said
+that while in this situation, intelligence having reached him
+that a waggon-load of arms was on its way from the West
+for the use of the disaffected, he placed himself in communication
+with General Wade, who was then quartered at
+Bath with his troops, and that it was by this service that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+he first brought himself into notice; but be that as it may,
+it is certain that when Quash the old postmaster died, Allen
+was appointed in Quash's room.</p>
+
+<p>In 1719 Allen offered to take in farm the bye and cross-post
+letters, giving as rent half as much again as these
+letters had ever produced. It was a bold offer, and, coming
+as it did from a young man only twenty-six years of age,
+and presumably without capital, not one to be accepted
+precipitately. Allen proceeded to London and had frequent
+interviews with the postmasters-general. The earnestness
+of his convictions and the modest assurance with which he
+expressed them invited confidence, and on the 12th of April
+1720 a contract was signed, the conditions of which were
+to come into operation on the Midsummer Day following.</p>
+
+<p>Much as we desire to avoid the employment of technical
+terms, it is necessary here to explain that letters, exclusive
+of those passing through the penny post, were technically
+divided into four classes&mdash;London letters, country letters,
+bye or way letters, and cross-post letters. For purposes of
+illustration we will take Bath, the city in which Allen
+resided. A letter between Bath and London would be a
+London letter, and a letter from one part of the country
+to another which in course of transit passed through
+London would be a country letter. A bye or way letter
+would be a letter passing between any two towns on
+the Bath road and stopping short of London&mdash;as, for
+instance, between Bath and Hungerford, between Hungerford
+and Newbury, between Newbury and Reading, and
+so on; while a cross-post letter would be a letter crossing
+from the Bath road to some other&mdash;as, for instance, a
+letter between Bath and Oxford. It was only with the
+last two classes of letters that Allen had to do. The London
+and country letters were outside the sphere of his operations.</p>
+
+<p>On the bye and cross-post letters the postage for the
+year 1719 had amounted to £4000. Allen was to give
+£6000 a year; and in consideration of this rent he was for
+a period of seven years to receive the whole of the revenue
+which these letters should produce. Some letters indeed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+were excepted, namely Scotch letters, Irish letters, packet
+letters, "all Parliament men's letters during the privilege of
+Parliament," and such letters as "usually goe free," that is,
+letters for the High Officers of State or, as we should now
+say, letters on His Majesty's service. No post under
+Allen's control, whether a new or an old one, was to go less
+than three times a week; and the mails were to be carried
+at a speed of not less than five miles an hour. He was also
+to keep in readiness "a sufficient number of good and able
+horses with convenient furniture," not only for the mails
+but for expresses and for the use of travellers. One
+condition of the contract may seem a little hard. Allen's
+own officers were to be appointed and their salaries to be
+fixed by the postmasters-general, and to these officers he
+was to give no instructions which had not first been submitted
+for the postmaster-generals' approval.</p>
+
+<p>Allen by his sterling qualities had won the confidence
+of his fellow-townsmen at Bath, and there can be little
+doubt that they now gave him practical proof of the estimation
+in which he was held. It is difficult to understand
+how else he can have raised the funds necessary for the
+purposes of his undertaking. In the very first quarter,
+between the 24th of June and the 29th of September 1720,
+he expended in what may be called his plant as much as
+£1500, and made himself responsible for salaries to the
+amount of £3000 a year. But heavy as the expenses
+were, the receipts bore a most gratifying proportion. From
+the bye and cross-post letters the postmasters-general had
+received, at the highest, £4000 a year. Allen in his first
+quarter received £2946. These first-fruits, while viewed
+by Allen with equanimity, threw the postmasters-general
+into transports of delight, such delight as men feel when they
+find themselves to have been true prophets. "See," they
+said in a letter to the Treasury dated the 10th of November,
+"how right we were. We told you that the greater part of
+the postage on these letters was going into the pockets of
+the postmasters, and that to accept Mr. Allen's proposal was
+the only way to check the malversation." But the promise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+of the first quarter was not fulfilled. The system of check
+and countercheck on which Allen relied for the success of
+his plan depended largely, as the postmasters were not slow
+to discover, on their own co-operation; and this they refused
+to give.</p>
+
+<p>Nor can we feel surprise that it should have been
+so. Of the postmasters some received no salary at all,
+while others received the merest pittance. It could not in
+reason be expected that they would give their services
+gratuitously or, as the postmasters-general were pleased to
+think, in return for the copy of a newspaper once a week.
+Postmasters, like other men, must live, and they no doubt
+reasoned that, as the State did not pay them, they were
+forced to pay themselves. It must also be remembered
+that the offence of intercepting postage, heinous as it would
+now be considered, may in those days have been regarded
+in a somewhat different light. Some postmasters, as remuneration
+for their services, were authorised to withhold a
+certain proportion of the postage; and numerous were the
+complaints that in this particular the liberty accorded to
+some was not extended to others. It is probable, therefore,
+that many a postmaster, when accounting for less postage
+than he had actually received, excused himself on the plea
+that he was only doing without authority that for which
+authority had been given to others, and which should not
+in his judgment have been denied to himself.</p>
+
+<p>But whatever apologies they may have found for their
+conduct, the fact remains that Allen's contract had been only
+a few months in operation before the postmasters resumed
+their old practices, and, seeing clearly enough that his plan
+when once fairly floated would deprive them of a profitable
+source of income, they not only withheld all co-operation but
+obstructed him by every means in their power. To such
+an extent indeed was this obstruction carried that at the
+end of three years Allen, far from realising the promise of
+the first quarter, found himself a loser to the amount of
+£270. Although things now began to improve, the
+improvement was slow, and in June 1727, when the contract<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+expired, Allen had established his plan completely on
+only four out of the six main roads of the kingdom. On
+the Yarmouth road he had established it only partially, and
+on the Kent road not at all.</p>
+
+<p>Circumstances so far favoured Allen that the demise of
+the Crown, which must in any case have terminated his
+contract, took place within a fortnight of the date on which
+the contract would have expired in the ordinary course.
+The period of seven years for which it was made expired on
+the 24th of June 1727, and the King died on the 11th. A
+renewal of the contract could not in justice be refused. Not
+only had Allen been obstructed in the execution of his
+plan and put to heavy expenses which, except for such
+obstruction, would not have been necessary, but in fixing
+the amount of his rent a mistake had been made to his
+prejudice. He had agreed to pay half as much again as the
+bye and cross-road letters had ever produced, and it is true
+that the postage represented by these letters had amounted
+to £4000 a year; but it had been overlooked that the
+whole of this amount had not been collected, and that for
+the purpose of fixing the rent the sum of £300 should have
+been deducted on account of letters which could not be
+delivered, and on which, therefore, no postage had been
+received. Allen, while making no claim for the return of
+the amount overpaid, pleaded the fact of overpayment as an
+additional reason for enlarging his term. The postmasters-general
+were not less solicitous than Allen himself that his
+services should be continued. They had, during the last
+seven years, received on account of bye and cross-post letters
+£6000 a year, where before they had received only £4000,
+or, allowing for the sum not collected, £3700; and during
+the same period the country letters, far from falling off as
+had been predicted, had improved to the extent of £735 a
+year, a result which was attributed to the vigilance of Allen's
+surveyors. These reasons were regarded as conclusive, and,
+subject to the condition that he should appoint an additional
+surveyor and lose no time in completing his plan, Allen's
+contract was extended for a further period of seven years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>While Allen is perfecting his arrangements, it may not
+be amiss to glance at the condition of affairs as he found
+them. Houses were still unnumbered. On letters even to
+persons of position the addresses could be indicated only by
+their proximity to some shop or place of public resort.
+"For the R<sup>t.</sup> Hon<sup>able.</sup> the Lady Compton next door to Mr.
+Massy's Wachmaker in Charles Street near S<sup>t.</sup> James's
+Square, London." "To the Right Hon<sup>ble.</sup> Lady Compton
+next door to the Dyall in Charles Street near S<sup>t.</sup> James
+Squir&mdash;London." "Pray derickt for me att my Lady norrise
+near the Theater in Oxford."<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> To the Court and the Downs
+the post went every day; but to no town, however large,
+did it go more than thrice a week. Of cross-posts there
+were only two in the kingdom, the post from Exeter to
+Chester and the post from Bath to Oxford. Outside London,
+Chester was the only town in England which could boast of
+two Post Offices; and these two Post Offices were not for
+letters in the same direction. One was for general post
+letters, and the other for letters by the Exeter cross-road,
+an arrangement which presupposed a knowledge of topography
+not probably possessed even in the present day. The
+cathedral town of Ripon had no Post Office at all. Not
+many years before, the inhabitants had asked for one and
+the request had been regarded as little less than audacious.
+"We could not think it reasonable," wrote the postmasters-general,
+"to put Her Majesty to the expense of a salary to
+a Deputy att Ripon." The utmost concession that could be
+obtained was that the letters for that town should be made
+up into a packet by themselves and put into the mouth of
+the Boroughbridge bag, and, on arrival at Boroughbridge, be
+despatched to Ripon at once by a messenger on horseback.
+This messenger was to deliver them with all expedition, and
+to remain at Ripon for replies, leaving only in time to catch
+the return-mail from the North. Charges on letters over
+and above the legal postage were general. Not a single
+letter passed between Yarmouth and the Great North<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+Road without a charge of 3d. as the postmaster's perquisite.
+At Gosport a perquisite of similar amount was
+claimed on every bye-letter. In the neighbourhood of
+Chesterfield the inhabitants paid for every letter they
+received in no case less than 2d. in addition to the
+postage, and in some cases as much as 4d.; and so it
+was, with variations as to the amount, in every part of the
+kingdom. Only the wealthy could afford to use the post,
+and even they, on account of the want of facilities, used it
+sparingly. How far the post was at this time removed from
+being a matter of common concern might, if other evidence
+were wanting, be inferred from one solitary fact. In 1728
+a book was published,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> one chapter of which professed to
+give a detailed account of the posts of the period, and
+assuredly the account it gave was detailed enough; but of
+the posts as we understand them, that is to say, as a vehicle
+for the transmission of letters, there was from the beginning
+to the end of the chapter not a single word. By the term
+posts nothing more was meant than the post for travellers,
+and, for anything that appeared to the contrary, the letter
+post might have had no existence.</p>
+
+<p>And perhaps this may be a convenient place to say a
+few words about those who had presided over the Post
+Office during the first five or six years of Allen's connection
+with it. Edward Carteret and Galfridus Walpole, who
+had succeeded Cornwallis and Craggs in 1721, possessed in
+a high degree the qualities which endear men to their
+subordinates,&mdash;a sense of justice, consideration for others,
+and a rooted dislike to high-handed proceedings. In these
+respects they bore a striking contrast to their immediate
+predecessors. We will give instances.</p>
+
+<p>When Cornwallis and Craggs assumed the direction of
+the Post Office, their first step was to dismiss the secretary,
+Henry Weston. The circumstances were peculiarly hard.
+Weston's father had been receiver-general for the county of
+Surrey, and in this capacity he had contracted a heavy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+debt to the Crown. It was the son's ambition to pay off
+this debt and to provide a home for his mother and sisters.
+By force of industry and self-denial he had just succeeded
+in securing both objects when a change of postmasters-general
+resulted in his summary dismissal. Weston naturally
+appealed against so arbitrary an act. Cornwallis and
+Craggs, to whom his antecedents were well known, while
+commending the young man as an object worthy of the
+royal benevolence, resented as unreasonable and little short
+of impertinent his reluctance to give up a situation which
+they desired for a nominee of their own.</p>
+
+<p>Far different was the treatment accorded by Carteret
+and Walpole to those who were committed to their
+charge. Mary Lovell had for more than thirty years
+kept the receiving office in St. James's Street. On the
+11th of March 1725 the Earl of Abercorn entered this
+office, holding in his hand a letter addressed to his son
+at Cambray, and inquired what postage had to be paid
+upon it. The woman replied that there was only 1d. to
+pay, this being the charge by the penny post, and that the
+remaining postage of 3s. would be payable on delivery.
+Abercorn questioned the accuracy of this information, and
+insisted on paying the entire sum at once. Lovell, feeling
+sure that a mistake had been committed, and anxious about
+the consequences, hurried to the Post Office, and having
+there ascertained that she should have received only 1d.,
+called at Abercorn's residence, and with a humble apology
+refunded the difference.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing more was heard of the matter until the
+following July, when a second very similar mistake appears
+to have revived the recollection of the first. Abercorn,
+who was then at Tunbridge Wells, took to the
+Post Office there a letter addressed to his son at Luneville
+and handed it to Comer, the postmaster, impressing upon
+him the importance of its prompt despatch, and desiring
+him to pay whatever postage might be required. It should
+be explained that at that time letters for Germany had to
+be prepaid, or else they were returned to the writers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+whereas letters for France could not be paid except on
+delivery. Comer, jumping to the conclusion that Luneville
+was in France, paid no more than the inland postage of 6d.,
+the consequence being that three or four days afterwards
+the letter, after being opened in London, was returned as
+insufficiently paid. Abercorn, naturally enough, was very
+angry, and, as is apt to be the case with angry persons, was
+not altogether reasonable. Luneville, without the addition
+of Lorraine or Germany, was an incomplete address. For
+this he would make no allowance; neither would he admit
+that it was necessary to open the letter in order to return
+it, and that the impression on the seal, a coronet and coat
+of arms, was not sufficient indication of the writer.</p>
+
+<p>All this was natural enough; but it was strange that he
+should have reverted to the earlier of the two mistakes, and
+directed his resentment less against Comer than against
+Mary Lovell. He now charged her with insolence and an
+attempt at imposition, and declared that nothing would
+satisfy him except her dismissal. In pursuance of this
+object Abercorn proceeded to the Post Office, where he was
+received by Carteret and Walpole. Walpole said little,
+and what little he said was said courteously. Carteret
+spoke in both their names. He expressed surprise that the
+return of the amount overcharged on the letter to Cambray,
+accompanied as it had been by Lovell's humble apology,
+had not been considered satisfactory, and inquired what
+further satisfaction could be expected. Abercorn replied
+that he expected her to be turned out of her office as a
+person unfit to retain it. Carteret expostulated. Such a
+step, he said, would not be in accordance with Post Office
+usage; she was a poor and unprotected woman, no previous
+complaint had been made against her during the thirty
+years she had held the office; he had seen her himself,
+and felt sure that her professions of regret that she had
+given offence to his lordship were sincere. Impatient of
+what he afterwards described as an irksome expostulation,
+Abercorn rose to leave. Carteret and Walpole rose also,
+and accompanied him to the door. "I owe it to the North<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+British peers," said Abercorn, turning on the threshold, "to
+acquaint some of their representatives with the treatment
+that I, their peer, have met with." "And I," haughtily
+retorted Carteret, "should care not if all the sixteen North
+British representing peers were present at this moment."</p>
+
+<p>Allen's plan consisted in a system of vouchers and what he
+called post-bills, by means of which the postmasters might act
+as a check upon each other. The post-bill which accompanied
+the letters throughout their course was designed to distinguish
+the bye-letters from others, and to shew the total amount of
+postage to be collected; the voucher appears to have been
+nothing more than the acknowledgment which each postmaster
+gave of the amount to be collected by himself; and
+these two documents were sent periodically, once a month
+or once a quarter, to Allen's office in Bath, where they
+underwent a rigid scrutiny. Simple as this check was, it
+was only by ceaseless vigilance on Allen's part that he
+could get it carried out. To make in the post-bills entries
+which should have been made in the vouchers, to omit to
+send the vouchers to headquarters, to confound the bye-letters
+with the London and country letters&mdash;these were
+only some of the devices to which recourse was had in
+order to defeat the check.</p>
+
+<p>Allen was better qualified probably than any other
+man living for the task he had set himself to perform.
+Of a temper which nothing could ruffle, with ample
+means at his command, and accountable to no one but
+himself for their disposal, and possessed of an amount of
+local knowledge which even at the present day is perhaps
+unrivalled, he enjoyed a combination of advantages which
+might have been sought elsewhere in vain. His patience
+indeed was inexhaustible. No subterfuge, not even a
+transparent attempt at imposition, would call forth more
+than a passing rebuke. "'Tis faulty," he would write,
+"'tis blameable"; and then, perhaps, from the following
+words would peep out, in spite of himself, a gleam of
+merriment at the clumsiness of the contrivance.</p>
+
+<p>To a man of less easy temperament even the conditions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+under which he worked would have been intolerable.
+Under the terms of his contract Allen's
+surveyors were to be the officers of the postmasters-general,
+and to do as the postmasters-general bid them.
+This was no mere nominal condition. When Allen
+wanted something done, it may be in the extreme north or
+the extreme west of England, he might find that the surveyor
+whose business it would have been to do it had been
+summoned to London to wait upon the postmasters-general
+in Lombard Street. Hardly less provoking must have been
+the condition that the surveyors, though Allen's servants,
+were not to receive from him any instructions which the
+postmasters-general had not first approved. Ordinarily
+Allen was at Bath, and it was there that the instructions
+were prepared; yet they had to be sent to London for
+approval, and were seldom despatched thence to their destination
+until seven or eight days after the dates they bore.</p>
+
+<p>But to any one of less modest and retiring disposition
+the severest trial would have been the manner in which
+the postmasters-general took credit to themselves for improvements
+which were exclusively his own. It was always
+"our" surveyors who had been instructed to do this, that,
+and the other, without the slightest acknowledgment that
+the instruction had come from Allen, and that it was he
+who supplied the money to pay and the wit to direct
+them. Only when the cost of some new arrangement had
+to be stated to the Treasury did his name appear, and then
+it was put prominently forward. "Your Lordships," the
+postmasters-general would write, with a confidence which
+must have possessed all the pleasure of a new sensation,
+"will of course approve our proposals. It is true that the
+cost they involve is considerable, but the whole of this will
+fall upon Mr. Allen, the farmer." But so placid was
+Allen's temper that these petty annoyances, irritating as
+they might have been to some men, passed unheeded.</p>
+
+<p>As a qualification for the task he had undertaken, hardly
+less important than placidity of temper was the possession
+of ample means and his unaccountability to others for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+disposal. With no one to please but himself, he enjoyed
+facilities in dealing with postmasters which the Post Office,
+under the most favourable circumstances, could never hope
+to possess. To one he would give what he called a complimentary
+salary; to another he would give, over and
+above his salary, a certain proportion of the postage; and a
+third would receive a substantial increase, not for what he
+had done or was doing, but for what he might do in the
+future. All, in short, who could control the actions of
+others Allen bound to himself by a community of interest.</p>
+
+<p>But it was the extent of his local knowledge that constituted
+Allen's chief qualification for the task he had set
+himself to perform. This knowledge, acquired probably
+during the struggle to introduce his plan, may appear almost
+marvellous. There was hardly a town in England, and
+certainly no town of importance, with the trade and
+manufactures of which, and even with the character and
+disposition of its postmaster, he was not acquainted. At
+the present day it is the district surveyor who in Post
+Office matters affecting the provinces takes the initiative.
+In Allen's time the initiative came from Bath. In a single
+letter he would treat of some thirty or forty towns, and
+not only prescribe the order in which they were to be
+taken and the roads by which they were to be reached, but
+give the minutest instructions as to what was to be said
+and done on arrival there. In respect to only one town, a
+town without a Post Office, does Allen appear to have been
+uninformed, and that was Stowmarket. "When in that
+neighbourhood," he wrote to one of his surveyors, as though
+half ashamed of his own ignorance, "go over to Stowmarket
+and ascertain and let me know the distance of that town
+from Ipswich and from Eye, and also the nature and extent
+of its trade."</p>
+
+<p>Lest we should be thought to exaggerate the difficulties
+with which Allen had to contend, Allen himself shall be our
+witness. The postmasters were strictly enjoined to stamp
+the bye and cross-post letters. This was their first duty,
+for without stamping no check was possible. "I need not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+tell you," Allen writes to one of his surveyors, "the mischief
+which has already attended the omission of this necessary
+part of their duty, nor the difficulty which I have hitherto
+met with to get this order observed; but when they find
+that their neglect will for the future hurt themselves, this
+evil will be stopped."</p>
+
+<p>Hardly less difficult did he find it to make the
+postmasters send in their vouchers with even decent
+regularity. We will give a few instances out of many.
+Of Bodmin and St. Columb he writes, "Both these
+deputies are exceeding backward in transmitting their
+vouchers. Order them strictly to send them hither for the
+future within a week after every quarter." Richmond,
+Yorkshire, "instead of sending me his vouchers at the end
+of every month sends them considerably over the quarter
+and then in so great disorder as to be of little use to me in
+fixing my cheque account." Gosport, again, "persistently
+neglects to send his vouchers, without which, as you know,
+it is not in my power to state an exact account nor to
+fix the cheques which are necessary to prevent abuses."
+Grantham is little better, and as for Wolverhampton, Allen
+writing in April says, "He has sent me no vouchers since
+last Michaelmas, and by this obstinacy destroys my cheque
+and puts my affairs into great disorder."</p>
+
+<p>The dead and missent letters were a source of continual
+trouble. How to dispose of dead letters and how to get
+back into their proper channel letters that had been missent
+were questions which not seldom perplexed even Allen
+himself. But it is not of this particular difficulty that we
+propose now to speak. Our present concern is with these
+two classes of letters only so far as they affected the relations
+between Allen and the postmasters. According to his
+instructions a postmaster who should find himself in
+possession of a dead or missent letter was to send it to Bath
+in order that allowance might be made for the postage with
+which, otherwise, he would stand charged. Hence arose
+various attempts at imposition, attempts to palm off, as
+though they were dead or missent, letters which were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+neither the one nor the other. But let Allen again speak
+for himself. "From Lancaster," he writes, "go through
+Kendal and Penrith to Carlisle, where I believe you will
+meet with a very great abuse. 'Tis thus: His dead letters
+for a good while since much exceed what can be rationally
+accounted for at that stage, and upon enquiry the greatest
+number of those letters appear to be sham letters all written
+by one hand and sent from different parts of the kingdom,
+which plainly shews it to be only a blameable contrivance
+by some people in that office to expect money from me for
+bits of paper never sent by the post but made by themselves.
+Some instances you will receive with these instructions.
+Be sure to suppress this dangerous abuse. Cause me a
+redress for the injury I have received and leave with Mr.
+Pattison a copy of my letter relating to stamps, which is the
+only method I can think of for an effectual cure of this evil."</p>
+
+<p>The method to which Allen here refers afterwards
+became a rule of the office. It was to the effect that no
+allowance would be made in respect to any dead or missent
+letters which should not bear on their covers the name of
+the office whence the postmaster by whom the allowance
+was claimed had received them. If at that office they had
+been stamped, that was enough; but if they had been
+forwarded unstamped&mdash;and the stamping was as often
+omitted as not&mdash;the postmaster who received the letters
+was to write the name upon them. Allen's first experience
+of the working of this rule was a little singular. Mrs.
+Wainwright, the old postmistress of Ferrybridge, had sent
+up for allowance a number of unstamped letters without
+shewing whence she had received them. Allen returned
+the letters, explaining that as such information had not
+been given no allowance could be made. If Mrs.
+Wainwright felt any impatience at what she no doubt
+regarded as new-fangled ways, no evidence of it was allowed
+to appear. She simply sent the letters back with the name
+of the office whence they had reached her neatly written
+upon each. To Allen's dismay, the letters had all been
+opened and the information obtained from the inside.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>The new rule, though good as far as it went, proved
+insufficient to check imposition; and Allen felt constrained
+to add an additional safeguard. For the future no postmaster
+was to have his claim allowed unless he should
+verify it on oath. This obligation brought its own troubles.
+By one the oath was omitted, by another it was objected to
+on conscientious grounds, a third would treat it as of small
+account, and all this meant additional work for Allen.
+"This officer," he writes of the postmaster of Salisbury,
+"constantly makes large deductions for missent letters" and
+on other grounds "without sending me the particulars of
+his demand or the office oath to the truth of his claim."
+The postmaster of Newark had conscientious scruples and
+objected to the oath in any form. "You have already,"
+writes Allen, "been fully acquainted how tender I am in
+this respect; but if he still refuses to claim his demand for
+allowances by an oath framed in any shape, 'tis directly
+necessary to appoint an officer in that place who will obey
+their Honours' commands, for if his obstinacy should be
+suffered the rest of the kingdom who have readily complyed
+may raise new objections." No such scruples afflicted the
+postmaster of Stone in Staffordshire. Until lately "the
+errors made to my injury considerably exceeded those made
+to the hurt of that deputy"; but now "the articles to my
+hurt are dwindled to a trifle and the others much
+augmented, which causes Mr. Barbor to make constant and
+large claims on me for the difference. Only lately I
+received from him a statement of his demands on this head,
+with an oath at the bottom of it that the several articles
+to his prejudice were all true. But if it be the case, as I
+have always understood, that he never concerns himself
+with the bye-letters but leaves this business to his uncle,
+pray enquire of him how he came to send me such an oath."</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters had been allowed to receive their
+correspondence free of postage; but Allen soon found that
+the privilege was being abused. The covers addressed
+to them would contain letters not for themselves alone but
+also for their neighbours in trade. Indeed the neighbours'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+letters would predominate, and, ordinarily, the address was
+a mere subterfuge. To check this abuse Allen established
+a rule that when addressed to postmasters none but single
+letters&mdash;letters without enclosures, were to pass free, and
+that all others were to be charged with full postage. The
+postage, however, was to be afterwards remitted in the case
+of any postmaster who should make oath that the letters in
+respect to which he claimed remission were on his private
+business. Here again Allen's belief in the efficacy of an
+oath was rudely shaken. The number and magnitude of
+the claims made upon him from Lancaster had arrested his
+attention, and he had laid them aside to be examined at
+leisure. Meanwhile the explanation came in a curious
+manner. He received a circular from a man of the name
+of Bracken asking him to subscribe towards the publication
+of a book relating to the treatment of horses.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> This
+circular, as announced in the document itself, was being
+issued to all the postmasters in the kingdom; and it was
+in his capacity of postmaster of Bath that Allen received
+it. It further announced that answers should be sent under
+cover to the postmistress of Lancaster, the reason given
+being that they would thus escape postage.</p>
+
+<p>Other malpractices were less easy of detection. All the
+claims, before they were passed, came under Allen's personal
+inspection; and to determine whether these were fraudulent
+or not needed no special aptitude. But whether at some
+distant part of the country two or more postmasters were
+in collusion, or whether without collusion they were bringing
+to account less postage than they collected, were questions
+the solution of which demanded qualifications of a different
+order. As the result of reflection or observation, or more
+probably of both combined, Allen laid down for his own
+guidance certain propositions as simple as they were no
+doubt sound. Of these one was that the correspondence
+passing between two given places, far from being liable to
+violent fluctuations, might be relied on to maintain a nearly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+uniform level. It is certain that in our own days, when
+locomotion is easy and the movements of large parts of the
+population are influenced by the weather and other considerations,
+the principle which this proposition embodies
+would not hold good; but in the earlier half of the
+eighteenth century Allen regarded it, and probably not
+without reason, as a safe guide. When, therefore, the correspondence
+passing between two places during a certain
+period had once been ascertained, he adopted this as a
+standard, and any variation of the amount immediately
+excited his suspicions. "At Christchurch and Ringwood,"
+he writes, "fully inform yourself why the letters which
+formerly were sent between those places and Salisbury are
+now almost entirely sunk." At York, during the quarter
+ending Midsummer 1734, the postage on bye-letters
+amounted to £165, as against £176 during the corresponding
+quarter of the previous year. This he affirms
+must proceed, not from "deadness in trade," but from "some
+mismanagement in the office." Between Appleby and Brough
+the letters passing in December were fifteen, whereas in the
+two preceding months they had been only three. "Let me
+know at once," he writes, "the cause of the difference."</p>
+
+<p>Another proposition which Allen established as a rule
+of conduct was that between two trading towns in the
+same neighbourhood there must almost of necessity be
+correspondence. He noticed with surprise that between
+Stone and Coventry, according to the vouchers sent him,
+not a single letter had passed during a whole quarter. "I
+will not say it is impossible," he writes to the surveyor,
+"that no letters should during this time pass between such
+trading places, but during your stay at Stone I must in a
+particular manner desire you will examine whether you
+receive none."</p>
+
+<p>A third proposition was that there could not be what,
+if it be not a contradiction in terms, we will call a one-sided
+correspondence. He regarded it as an absolute
+certainty, amounting almost to an axiom, that whatever
+number of letters a town might receive, it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+send the same or nearly the same number in reply.
+If, therefore, as between two towns, he found from his
+vouchers that one was sending to the other more letters
+than the other sent in return, he immediately concluded
+that something was wrong. It is interesting to note how
+his views on this point were confirmed by experience.
+During the year 1732 the postage on letters sent from
+Nottingham to Newark amounted to £25, whereas on those
+sent from Newark to Nottingham it amounted to only £13.
+Surely, writes Allen, the amounts should be nearly equal.
+Ascertain whether this comes "from faults, errors, or a real
+deadness in the correspondence," and to enable him to do
+this the surveyor was to take the Newark office under his
+care for a week or a fortnight. Here Allen speaks with
+confidence indeed, and yet as though some doubt might
+exist; but a few years later there is no doubt at all. "In
+the Chipping Norton vouchers," he writes, "another remarkable
+oddness is that the letters received by that deputy
+appear to be double the number sent from that office, which
+is not only different from any other well-managed office,
+but 'tis out of all rules of proportion with respect to correspondence."
+And again, "The receipt of Chipping
+Norton's letters are still double the number of what Mr.
+Mackerness in his vouchers enters as sent from his stage.
+I can't conceive how 'tis possible for this difference to arise
+where an office is justly managed. Fully examine into the
+cause of it."</p>
+
+<p>But there were other irregularities which, as being
+further removed from observation, were still more difficult
+to check. Between Worcester and Bewdley there had been
+great delay. "The account sent me," writes Allen, "is
+that, tho' both these deputys are paid for riding their
+whole stages, by a private arrangement between themselves
+they exchange the mails at an alehouse on the road, and
+neither of them will ride beyond that place, tho' one of
+them should happen to arrive there several hours before the
+other can reach it." The postmaster of Lynn, in Norfolk,
+who was paid by Allen to keep a check upon other postmasters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+in the neighbourhood, calls his attention to their
+remissness in delivering letters. Sometimes, he states, they
+keep letters several days. On this account letters that
+would otherwise go by post are sent by friend or carrier.
+"I am perfectly ashamed," he adds, and when I remonstrate
+and "set forth the complaints of our gentlemen," the postmasters
+plead that they are not paid for delivery, "and
+therefore think themselves not obliged to send out their
+letters even to persons inhabiting within their own towns."</p>
+
+<p>The post-boys were a constant source of trouble. "By
+the enclosed letter from Mr. Floyer of Worcester," Allen
+writes to his surveyor, "you will find that the post-boys on
+the cross-road convey letters between that city and Bristol
+by exchanging them from one hand to another without ever
+suffering them to be put into the mayl or baggs. Pray
+thank Mr. Floyer for his letter, diligently search the boys,
+and make whatever other inspection you find to be necessary.
+Mr. Lumley by the last post writ me that at Exeter
+he had made another new and great discovery of this kind,
+having found nineteen letters on the Oakhampton rider."
+"At Plymouth," he writes on another occasion, "formerly
+there was a particular house where the post-boys frequently
+met to exchange their letters, which they collected throughout
+the country from Exon to Truro. Inquire if this is
+still going on, and, if so, endeavour to detect them." On
+the cross-road between Bristol and Tiverton "several of the
+letters have been actually taken out of the baggs and
+delivered in some of the trading towns by the post-boys
+instead of the proper officers. This could not be if,
+according to instructions, these bags were always chained
+and sealed." At Wells, in Somersetshire, the postmaster has
+deprived the Bristol riding-boys of their perquisite of 1d.
+a letter "for dropping of letters" at the towns and villages
+through which they pass; and as to his own boys, he
+allows them no wages. This "must drive those unhappy
+boys to almost a necessity to rob the mails for their
+subsistence." "Then proceed to Rawcliff, in Yorkshire,
+where Mr. Carrack, the deputy of that place, will tell you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+that the riders of the branch between Doncaster and Hull
+embezzle great numbers of the bye-letters. Take his assistance
+to detect and then punish those fellows."</p>
+
+<p>Heretofore we have spoken only of the difficulties with
+which Allen had to contend in dealing with persons more
+or less under his own control. But he had troubles from
+without as well as within. "Everywhere," he writes,
+"endeavour to inform yourself of and suppress all illegal
+conveyance of letters." "At Birmingham," he writes again,
+"endeavour to detect the carriers who, I am told, in the
+most open manner convey letters from that place to all the
+trading towns in that country." "Use your utmost vigilance
+to suppress the illegal collection of letters which, I am
+informed, is now carried on by one Twopotts and other
+persons, to the injury of the revenue, between Derby and
+Nottingham." Between Cowes and Southampton the illegal
+conveyance of letters "is now such a custom that we have
+seldom any go in the bag." "At every stage which you
+pass through cause to be fixed to the most public places
+some of the printed advertizements against the carriers and
+wherrymen, and take every other reasonable methode to
+surprize all private, illegal, conveyances of letters, and
+always have a particular regard of the followers employed
+in the dispersing of news from the country presses." This
+last injunction is best explained by another given a year or
+two later. A printer at Northampton was employing a
+large number of persons ostensibly to disperse newspapers,
+but really, as Allen affirmed, to collect letters. These
+persons, he wrote, no longer confine their operations to
+short distances, but "by meeting at the extremity of their
+divisions the servants of other printers exchange their
+letters." "Pray, therefore," he adds, "wherever country
+presses are erected, do your best to suppress this evil."</p>
+
+<p>Allen when dealing with the posts displayed a degree of
+self-reliance which was hardly to be expected from one of
+his modest and retiring disposition. We will give an
+instance, and with the less hesitation because it will serve
+to shew his general way of transacting business. In 1736<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+the Duke of Devonshire, who had been spending the
+summer at Chatsworth, was much struck with the length
+of time which letters took to pass between Chesterfield
+and Manchester, and he begged the postmasters-general to
+apply a remedy. These two towns are about forty-six
+miles apart, and in 1736 there was no post between them.
+Not very long before, indeed, letters from one to the other
+would have had to pass through London, and even now
+they were taking a circuitous course by Ferribridge, Doncaster,
+and Rotherham. The Duke's application was referred
+to Allen; and Allen, without waiting to consult the local
+surveyor, proceeded at once to give his instructions.
+Between Manchester and Chesterfield there should certainly
+be a post; but this would not be enough. Derby
+must also share the benefit; and this could not be compassed
+without erecting a stage between that town and
+Nottingham, Nottingham being already in direct communication
+with Chesterfield. Lincolnshire must also be
+considered. True, there was a post from Nottingham to
+Newark; but between Newark and Lincoln, though only
+about seventeen miles apart, there was no communication
+except through Grantham, nor between Newark and Horncastle
+and Boston except through Stilton. The letters,
+moreover, on reaching the Great North Road had to await
+the arrival of the London mail. Not only did Allen
+determine that all this must be altered, but he sketched
+out the particular alterations that were to be made, and
+merely referred to the district surveyor with a view to
+ascertain what their effect upon the correspondence was
+likely to be.</p>
+
+<p>The particulars which this officer furnished were
+curious. At Chesterfield, he reported, not a letter was
+delivered except on payment of a fee of 2d. or 3d., and
+sometimes even of 4d., over and above the postage. On
+each letter sent to the post it was the custom to pay 1d.
+The entire district, including not Chesterfield alone, but
+Sheffield, Nottingham, and Mansfield, was doing a very
+considerable trade in Manchester wares; but the letters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+which passed between these towns and Manchester were
+chiefly sent with the goods by carrier. Of post letters
+there were few, the postage for a whole year amounting to
+only £23. The correspondence might possibly increase by
+as much as one-third or £7:13:4 a year, if a post were
+put on between Manchester and Chesterfield; but this was
+doubtful, and the annual cost, owing partly to the badness
+of the road, would be £80. Between Derby and Nottingham
+a new stage could not be erected for less than £26.
+Nor could the Lincolnshire posts be improved as desired for
+less than £102, making altogether an increased annual
+charge of £208; and there was no probability of this
+increase of cost being covered, or nearly covered, by increase
+of correspondence. Allen was not to be deterred by any such
+consideration. The whole of the alterations were carried into
+effect; the postmasters-general received from the Duke a
+warm expression of thanks for their admirable arrangements;
+and Allen, who had devised them, and at whose expense they
+were made, did not so much as appear in the transaction.</p>
+
+<p>In striking contrast with Allen's proceedings were those
+of the Post Office in the few instances in which it acted
+independently. Allen's energy, far from communicating
+itself to Lombard Street, appears to have extinguished what
+little energy had existed there before. Why should the
+postmasters-general exert themselves to do that which was
+done better and without expense to the Crown by another?
+And yet there were some, though rare, occasions on which
+independent action was called for. One such occasion
+presented itself in 1733, and it serves to shew how wanting
+the Post Office was in the local knowledge which Allen
+possessed in so remarkable a degree. Application had been
+made for a post to Aylsham in Norfolk. Among those who
+had lent their influence in support of the application was
+Lord Lovell, who had just been appointed postmaster-general
+in conjunction with Carteret, but who had not yet entered
+upon his duties; and Carteret, to oblige his new colleague,
+sent an officer specially from London with a view to facilitate
+arrangements. This officer, John Day by name, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+furnished with written instructions. He was to proceed to
+Norwich, and there ascertain certain facts, any one of which
+could have been supplied by Allen at Bath without rising
+from his chair in Lilliput Alley. These were&mdash;how far
+Aylsham was from Norwich; whether the road between the
+two towns was a good or a bad one; whether under existing
+arrangements Aylsham ever received any letters, and, if so,
+how and whence; and particularly&mdash;an instruction which
+could hardly have been given except under the belief that
+Aylsham was south and not north of Norwich&mdash;whether the
+setting up of a post between the two towns would be a
+"hindrance to the grand mail betwixt Norwich and London."
+Day, having described the position of Aylsham, appears to
+have considered it unnecessary to give this last piece of
+information; but he told as news, which perhaps it was, that
+the London mail left Norwich on Mondays and Wednesdays
+at midnight, and on Saturdays at four in the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Even where local knowledge was not wanting, the lack
+of funds which they could dispense at discretion placed the
+postmasters-general as compared with Allen at a serious
+disadvantage. We have seen how Allen dealt with the
+application from Chatsworth. Not many years later it
+devolved upon the postmasters-general to deal with a somewhat
+similar one from Kimbolton; and it is interesting to
+note the difference of procedure. From Kimbolton and St.
+Neots the course of post had been through Biggleswade and
+Hitchin, and in 1758 the inhabitants of the counties of
+Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire petitioned that it should
+be through Caxton. The effect of the alteration would be
+that letters for the two first-mentioned towns coming from
+the north or from Norfolk and Suffolk would, regularly three
+times a week, be brought to the towns themselves, and not,
+as had hitherto been the case, be left at Huntingdon, to be
+forwarded thence as opportunity offered by carriers and
+market people. St. Neots had a further interest in the
+matter. A considerable corn-market was held there on
+Thursdays; and the dealers complained that, leaving as the
+post did at twelve mid-day, they had no time to write their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+letters, whereas, by way of Caxton, it need not leave until
+five in the afternoon. On the score of convenience the
+change had everything to recommend it; but there was one
+drawback. To carry it into effect would involve a cost of
+£25; and this, the postmasters-general expressed their
+apprehension, the Treasury would not feel justified in
+incurring, as the increase of expense might be only partially
+covered by the increase of correspondence. Whether the
+Treasury consent was given or withheld we know not; but
+the mere fact that such an apprehension should have been
+expressed, and that the convenience of towns and extensive
+districts should have been made to depend upon the paltry
+consideration of a few pounds, goes far to shew that the
+Post Office, without the aid of private enterprise, would have
+made but little progress.</p>
+
+<p>Allen's contract expired every seven years. In order to
+obtain a renewal of it he did not, according to a practice
+not uncommon with reformers, stoop to the pretence that
+he was on the point of introducing some important measure,
+which would be lost to the country unless his services were
+retained. On the contrary, he treated it as a pure business
+matter, and each time offered higher terms. Thus, in 1741,
+which was the first year of a new septennial period, he
+guaranteed the country letters to produce £17,500; in 1748
+he guaranteed them to produce £18,000; and in 1755,
+£18,500. This being the class of letters of which it had
+been and continued to be predicted that with the extension
+of cross-posts the number must diminish, the postmasters-general
+regarded the advance as not unhandsome.</p>
+
+<p>But, in consideration of his contract being renewed, there
+was another and far more important condition, which Allen
+undertook to perform. This was to convert tri-weekly posts
+into posts six days a week, and to take the whole expense
+upon himself. Accordingly, in 1741, the post began to run
+every day of the week except Sunday between London and
+Bristol, between London and Norwich, and between London
+and Yarmouth; and of course all the intervening towns
+participated in the benefit. In 1748 a further instalment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+followed. This time it was the Midlands and the west of
+England that were to be benefited; and on and after Monday
+the 26th of December the post went on the three days on
+which it had not gone hitherto to Birmingham, through
+Oxford, and to Exeter through Bristol. In 1755, the
+beginning of another septennial period, the six-day service
+was widely extended. Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham,
+Shrewsbury and Chester, Warrington, Liverpool, and
+Manchester were among the towns which were now to
+receive letters from London on every day of the week except
+Sunday. From Liverpool and Manchester the cross-post
+service to almost every part of the kingdom was at the same
+time improved. At the close of the nineteenth century,
+postridden as some of us think ourselves to be, we may find
+it sometimes difficult to believe that less than 150 years ago
+there was not a town in the kingdom which received a post
+from London on more than alternate days.</p>
+
+<p>And yet Allen's activity, untiring as it was, went only a
+short way to regain for the Post Office the popularity it had
+lost. Various causes had contributed to this result. The
+chief of them, however, as it was the earliest in point of
+time, was of itself enough and more than enough to account
+for the distrust and hostility with which the Post Office
+appears to have been regarded towards the middle of the last
+century. As early as 1735 members of Parliament had
+begun to complain that their letters bore evident signs of
+having been opened at the Post Office, alleging that such
+opening had been frequent and was become matter of
+common notoriety; but it was not until six years later, in
+the course of inquiries which were being made into the
+conduct of Sir Robert Walpole during the last ten years of
+his administration, that the state of the case became fully
+known. It then transpired that in the Post Office there
+was a private office, an office independent of the postmasters-general
+and under the immediate direction of the Secretary
+of State, which was expressly maintained for the purpose of
+opening and inspecting letters. It was pretended, indeed,
+that these operations were confined to foreign letters, but,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+as a matter of fact, there was no such restriction. The office
+appears to have been established in 1718, and its cost, which
+was defrayed out of the secret service money, had since
+increased more than tenfold, and now reached the prodigious
+sum of £4700 a year. The establishment, exclusive of a
+door-keeper, consisted of nine persons, with salaries ranging
+from £200 to £1000; the head of the office or "Chief
+Decypherer," as he was called, being Dr. Willes, Dean of
+Lincoln. It was in June 1742 that these shameful facts
+became known, through the report of a committee of the
+House of Commons; and, in the August following, Willes
+was gazetted Bishop of St. Davids.</p>
+
+<p>To ourselves it may seem strange that the State
+monopoly of letters should have survived so terrible a
+revelation. It must be remembered, however, that in the
+middle of the last century the Post Office, owing mainly to
+the heavy charges it levied, had hardly become matter of
+general concern; that public opinion, as we now understand
+it, was only beginning to exist; and, above all, that the very
+conditions under which Post Office work was done precluded
+the idea of privacy. These conditions were absolutely
+inconsistent with the sanctity which now surrounds a letter.
+Letters were divided into two classes,&mdash;single and double;
+and to determine whether a letter was the one or the other
+demanded a close scrutiny, a scrutiny such as could not be
+exercised except by the strongest light that candles could
+give. In 1719 it had been laid down that a letter,
+however small, was to be charged as a double one if two or
+more persons joined in writing it. How could it be
+ascertained that the whole of a letter was in one and the
+same handwriting except by prying? Even the law itself,
+by the meagre protection it vouchsafed to letters, discouraged
+the idea of sanctity. For an offence of the pettiest kind,
+as for instance for stealing a pocket-handkerchief in a
+dwelling-house, the penalty was death. For opening or
+embezzling a letter the highest penalty which the law
+allowed was a fine of £20. It is significant of the change
+which has since taken place in the public sentiment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+that while in the case of almost every other description
+of offence the penalty has been enormously reduced, in
+the case of opening and embezzling letters it has been
+enormously increased.</p>
+
+<p>Horace Walpole, writing more than twenty-five years later,
+never tired of mentioning the elaborate precautions he had
+taken to secure his correspondence against inspection. "I
+shall send this letter by the coach," he says, "as it is rather
+free-spoken and Sandwich<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> may be prying." "I always say
+less than I could, because I consider how many post-house
+ordeals a letter must pass"; and similar observations occur
+in a hundred different places. All this was sheer nonsense.
+It tickled the exquisite vanity of the man to affect to
+believe that his correspondence was of sufficient importance
+to attract the attention of the State. And yet truth
+compels us to admit that the infamous practice which the
+committee exposed did not cease with the exposure. The
+Treasury, while grudging every 6d. expended on the posts,
+continued regularly to remit more than £4000 a year for
+the maintenance of their inquisitors in Lombard Street; and
+it was not until George the Third had sat some years on
+the throne, probably under the Rockingham administration,
+that the corps was finally disbanded.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from the grave cause of offence we have mentioned,
+it is a curious fact that during the last eighteen or twenty
+years of George the Second's reign hardly anything occurred
+in which the Post Office was concerned that did not in one
+way or another cause dissatisfaction to some section of the
+community. The Post Office, no doubt, was often to blame,
+sometimes deeply so; but even where this was not the case,
+where no blame attached either to itself or to any other
+office or person, it in no single instance, so far as we are aware,
+escaped a certain amount of obloquy.</p>
+
+<p>This unfortunate result first shews itself in the case
+of the Falmouth and Lisbon packets. During the war
+with Spain it had only been necessary, as a defence
+against some Spanish privateers which infested the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+Channel, to provide the Dover and Harwich packets
+with arms and to make a small addition to their complement
+of men; but in 1744, when Spain was joined by
+France, a good deal more had to be done. The Dover
+and Calais packets, after the six months' grace allowed by
+the treaty of Utrecht, were taken off; the packets to the
+West Indies which had been discontinued since 1711 were
+revived; and the Falmouth and Lisbon packets were put
+on the same footing as during the last war. This the
+merchants trading with Portugal, an important body representing
+forty-eight firms, protested was not enough. The
+packets, they argued, afforded the only available means for
+remitting gold to Lisbon in exchange for commodities, and
+should, therefore, be of at least 300 tons and carry 100
+men. It was true that this would be in excess by about
+seventy tons and forty men of what was provided during the
+last war; but the fact that during the last war some of the
+packets fell into the hands of privateers was of itself a
+proof that they were not of force and burthen sufficient.
+Besides, we had then an army in Spain, and the number of
+soldiers and passengers passing to and fro made fewer
+sailors necessary. Moved by these arguments, the Duke of
+Newcastle decided to comply with the merchants' request;
+but Pelham, on learning that the building and equipment
+alone would cost £34,800, revoked the Duke's decision.
+His Majesty's opinion he declared to be that the main
+object of a packet was to carry letters, and that for the
+carriage of letters light and swift vessels were the fittest.
+This, it will be remembered, was the opinion which had
+been expressed by William the Third more than fifty years
+before, and events had proved its soundness. Nevertheless,
+the merchants were highly displeased; and, of course, at
+that time they were no more able than they are now to
+distinguish between a refusal which originated with the
+Post Office and one that was imposed upon it by superior
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>But the merchants&mdash;and here we speak not of those alone
+who traded with Portugal&mdash;had other and more serious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+cause of complaint. Their foreign letters were not delivered
+until twelve o'clock in the day, and, if a mail arrived by
+as much as a few minutes after twelve, it was not at the
+earliest delivered until the same hour on the following day.
+And if on this day a second mail chanced to arrive shortly
+before noon, the letters by the first mail were kept back so
+as to be delivered with those of the second in the evening.
+Thus, foreign letters received at the Post Office in Lombard
+Street a few minutes after mid-day on Saturday might not
+be delivered even in Lombard Street itself until the evening
+of Monday. To make matters worse, the foreign ministers
+residing in London had their letters delivered soon after the
+mail arrived, so that any persons whom these ministers
+might please to favour enjoyed an undue advantage.</p>
+
+<p>The merchants now urged that this might be altered.
+Did not Sir Harry Furness, they asked, during the last war
+obtain permission to have his letters delivered immediately
+after the arrival of a mail? And was not this permission
+afterwards revoked on the ground that it had led to abuse?
+Matters were better managed abroad. At Amsterdam, for
+instance, if a mail arrived as late as nine o'clock in the evening,
+the letters were delivered to those who might call for
+them at any time before midnight, or else sent out for
+delivery early the next morning. At Rotterdam&mdash;this
+also was urged as an instance of better management&mdash;the
+English letters were never delivered till twelve hours after
+the mail had arrived, about which time those which had
+come by the same mail would be in course of delivery at
+Amsterdam. Equality of treatment was thus secured, and
+neither city had priority of intelligence. At Hamburg,
+again, as soon as a mail arrived&mdash;if in the day, a notice to
+that effect was fixed up at the Post Office and at the
+Exchange, the letters being delivered about three hours
+later; and if at night, the clerks were called out of bed, so
+that the letters might be sorted and ready for delivery the
+first thing in the morning. Sundays, moreover, were not
+excepted. As regards foreign gazettes, too, these all over
+Europe were delivered within a quarter of an hour after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+their arrival; yet in London the merchants had to wait for
+them many hours. And this was all the more hard to
+bear because the clerks in the Post Office, to whom gazettes
+were addressed, received them at once and communicated the
+contents to their friends. What could be more calculated
+to promote fraudulent insurance, one-sided bargains, and a
+system of overreaching generally? Such was the representation
+made by the merchants; and they concluded by asking
+that henceforth, except on Sundays, no longer interval
+should be allowed to elapse between the arrival and delivery
+of a foreign mail than was absolutely necessary for the
+purpose of sorting. The postmasters-general had no choice
+but to refuse the request. To have granted it would
+have defeated the object with which the Treasury were
+maintaining an office of their own within the Post Office
+building.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, three or four years short of the middle
+of the century, the Post Office got into disgrace with
+travellers. Under the provisions of the numerous Turnpike
+Acts which had recently passed, the trustees of the roads
+were to measure distances and to erect milestones; and on
+these provisions being carried into effect the statute mile
+proved to be shorter, much shorter, than the reputed or
+Post Office mile.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> So great indeed was the difference that
+the Post Office may be said to have been almost ridiculously
+out of its reckoning. Thus, from London to Berwick-upon-Tweed
+the distance, according to Post Office computation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+was 262 miles; according to measurement, it proved to be
+339 miles. To Holyhead the actual distance proved to be
+269 miles; the Post Office had computed it at 208 miles.
+To Manchester the distance, according to the Post Office,
+was 137 miles; the actual distance was 165. Bristol,
+which proved to be 115 miles from London, had been
+reckoned as 94; Birmingham as 89 instead of 116;
+Warwick as 67 instead of 84; and so it had been throughout
+the kingdom. In every case the Post Office mile
+proved to be an unduly long one; and of course, as soon as
+milestones were erected authoritatively recording the statute
+miles, the postmasters charged accordingly. This change
+excited many murmurs. The traveller to Warwick who, at
+the rate of 3d. a mile, exclusive of a guide, had hitherto
+paid for the use of a horse 16s. 9d., had now to pay 21s.
+To Birmingham he had now to pay 29s. instead of 22s. 3d.;
+to Bristol, 28s. 9d. instead of 23s. 6d.; and so on.</p>
+
+<p>The King's messengers fought hardest against the innovation,
+but without success. Finding the expense of their
+journeys to Berwick and Holyhead appreciably increased,
+they appealed to the Treasury for redress, and the Treasury
+invited the postmasters-general to explain under what
+authority they had raised their charges. The postmasters-general
+replied, as they had replied scores of times before
+on occasions of complaint from the public, that they had
+really nothing to do with the matter; that it was the postmasters
+who made the charges; and that in the opinion of
+the Attorney-General these officers were clearly entitled to
+be paid according to the new measurements. It had been
+expressly provided by Act of Parliament that all persons
+riding post should pay after the rate of 3d. for every British
+mile, and the British mile was a known statute measure
+common to all His Majesty's dominions. The Treasury
+were not satisfied, and insisted that the King's messengers
+should be charged according to the old scale. But this, as
+the postmasters-general pointed out, was not feasible, the
+Act of Parliament by which they were governed making
+no exception in favour of particular persons, but on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+contrary enacting that all persons without distinction should
+pay at the rate of 3d. a mile.</p>
+
+<p>At the headquarters in Lombard Street it was long
+feared that, on finding that the reputed mile exceeded
+the statute mile, those postmasters whose remuneration
+had been fixed according to the distance over which
+they carried the mails would claim an increased mileage
+allowance; but this, to their credit be it said, they
+never did. Such forbearance, however, had one ill effect.
+It tended to perpetuate error. For many years afterwards
+two sets of distances remained in vogue, the one right and
+the other wrong; the new set applicable to travellers, and
+the old set to mails and to expresses sent on the service of
+the State.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a></p>
+
+<p>The feeling against the Post Office, which had long been
+gathering force, now displayed itself in a remarkable
+manner. It had been the constant and uniform practice
+ever since the Post Office was established to charge letters
+containing patterns or samples with double postage. To
+this the merchants now demurred. They did not deny that
+such letters if weighing as much as an ounce should be
+charged as for an ounce weight; but they contended that if
+weighing less than an ounce they should be charged as
+single and not double letters. This contention was founded
+on the wording of the Act of Anne, which, after prescribing
+the postage which "every single letter or piece of paper"
+not being of the weight of one ounce was to pay, enacted
+that "a double letter" should pay twice that amount.
+Was a letter to be charged double because it had in it any
+enclosure&mdash;a sample of grain, for instance, or a pattern
+of cloth or of silk? or to constitute a double letter must
+not the enclosure be of paper?</p>
+
+<p>This question the merchants now resolved to try;
+and accordingly at Bristol, at Manchester, and at Cirencester
+proceedings were commenced against the local<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+postmasters for demanding and receiving more than the
+legal postage. It affords striking evidence of the widespread
+dissatisfaction then existing that in 1753 a
+practice as old as the Post Office itself should have been
+challenged for the first time, still more that it should have
+been challenged at three separate places, distant from one
+another, simultaneously. The action against the postmaster
+of Cirencester came on first. It was tried at the Gloucester
+Assizes before a special jury, when a special verdict was
+found upon the words of the statute, whether a letter containing
+a pattern or sample and not being of the weight of
+one ounce ought to pay double or single postage. The
+postmasters-general, anxious to avoid a multiplicity of suits,
+now opened communications with the merchants of Bristol
+and Manchester. Would it not be well that their suits
+should be abandoned? One special verdict would serve as
+well as a hundred such verdicts would do to settle the point
+of law between the Crown and the subject. Having succeeded
+in one county, what more could they expect in
+another? Or what advantage would follow that had not
+been already secured? These overtures came too late.
+The merchants were determined to fight to the bitter end.
+The suits came on both at Bristol and at Manchester; and
+at each of those places a special verdict was given in almost
+identical terms with that which had been returned at
+Gloucester.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the attorneys both in London and the
+country had passed resolutions to the effect that, if the
+point of law were decided in the merchants' favour, they
+would refuse to pay double postage on letters containing
+writs. The postmasters-general became alarmed. Single
+instead of double postage on letters containing writs as well
+as patterns and samples meant, according to the most
+moderate computation, a reduction of the Post Office
+revenue by £10,000 or £12,000 a year. This was a
+serious reduction, and how to prevent it was the question
+to which the postmasters-general now addressed themselves.
+It is characteristic of the time that the first<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+expedient they devised with this object was simply to
+refuse to carry any more letters containing patterns and
+samples unless the senders of them should agree beforehand
+to pay double postage. They argued that, in view of
+the importance to the merchant to have his letters carried,
+any unwillingness on his part to enter into such an agreement
+would be easily overcome. A notice to give effect to
+their intention was already prepared; but before issuing it
+they took the precaution to consult the Attorney-General.
+His advice to them was that, admirable as the expedient
+might be, it was distinctly illegal. Should they, then, bring
+one of the special verdicts on to be argued in Westminster
+Hall and abide by the judicial decision? To this the
+Attorney-General could raise no objection, but he warned
+them that the decision was pretty sure to be against the
+Crown. Driven thus into a corner, the postmasters-general
+adopted a most questionable course. They advocated
+the passing of an Act which should declare a letter containing
+any enclosure, even though not of paper and not
+weighing as much as an ounce, to be a double letter; and
+this advice was followed. In a bill then before Parliament,
+having for its object to prevent the fraudulent removal of
+tobacco, a clause was inserted which effectually prevented
+the merchants from sending their patterns or samples and
+the lawyers their writs for single postage.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p>
+
+<p>It would be difficult to conceive a more irritating course.
+No doubt there was precedent for it. Early in the reign of
+George the First an Act had been passed enacting that
+bills of exchange written on the same piece of paper as a
+letter, and also letters written on the same piece of paper
+and addressed to different persons, should be charged as
+distinct letters: and, possibly enough, it might have been
+difficult to explain why a bill of exchange should pay
+double postage and not a pattern or a writ. It is also
+true that the fact of three several judges and three several
+juries in distant parts of the kingdom having been unable
+to agree as to the intent and meaning of a statute implied a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+real doubt. And yet it can hardly be denied that to solve
+that doubt by the brute force of an Act of Parliament,
+instead of bringing one of the special verdicts before the
+Courts to be argued, was a most provoking step. Nor would
+it have been calculated to appease the merchants if they had
+known, as the postmasters-general knew, that the entire
+rates of postage, as they then existed, rested on no legal
+sanction. The existing rates were imposed by the Act of
+Anne; and that Act imposed them for a period of thirty-two
+years, a period which had now expired, and after which
+it was expressly provided that the former and lower rates
+were to revive. It is true that early in the reign of George
+the First a further Act had passed, making perpetual the
+Post Office contribution of £700 a week to the Exchequer;
+but by a clumsiness of legislation, which is not unknown
+even in our own day, the latter Act, while making perpetual
+both the contribution and the power to levy it, had omitted
+to re-enact the rates out of which the contribution was to
+be paid. Virtually, therefore, these rates had lapsed through
+effluxion of time.</p>
+
+<p>And what during the last forty or fifty years had the
+Post Office done&mdash;done, that is, independently of Allen&mdash;to
+promote the public convenience or to make amends for
+so much that had given offence? It had done four things,
+and, so far as we are aware, four things only. It had
+introduced the contrivance, with which we are all familiar,
+of external apertures in Post Offices, so that letters could
+be posted from the outside. It had brought the system of
+expresses up to a standard which, compared with what it
+was at the beginning of the century, might perhaps be considered
+high. It had, indirectly, been the means of eliciting
+from the Courts of Law an important decision. And it had
+accelerated the course of post between London and Edinburgh.
+In 1758 the time which the mail took to accomplish the
+distance was, at the instance of the royal boroughs, reduced
+between London and Edinburgh from 87 hours to 82, and
+between Edinburgh and London from 131 hours to 85.</p>
+
+<p>The date at which apertures on the outside of Post Offices<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+were first introduced is unknown to us even approximately.
+All we can do is to fix two distant dates at one of which
+the contrivance existed, and at the other it existed not.
+On the 3rd of November 1712 Oxford, the Lord Treasurer,
+received an anonymous letter, and, being anxious to discover
+the writer, he invoked the assistance of the postmasters-general
+with a view to ascertain where and by whom it
+had been posted. Any such inquiry at the present time
+would be absolutely futile. One hundred and eighty years
+ago the postmasters-general, after an interval of twenty-four
+hours, were able to reply not only that the letter had been
+posted "at the receiving office of Mrs. Sandys, a threadshop
+two doors within Blackfryars Gateway," but that it had
+been posted "by a youth of about seventeen years old, in a
+whitish suit of cloathes, who was without a hat." It is
+difficult to believe that apertures can have existed then,
+and that the letter was not posted inside the office. That
+in 1757 the contrivance had come into existence, though
+possibly in a rude form, is beyond question. In that year
+an unfortunate woman was put on her trial for stealing a
+letter, and the sender was called upon to prove the posting.
+"On Tuesday the 7th of December 1756," he said, "I put
+this letter into the Post Office at the house of Mrs. Jeffreys
+at Bloomsbury, at about nine o'clock at night.... There is
+a window and a slip to put it into a little box from out of
+the street. I was not in the house. It is a very narrow
+box, and I was afraid my letter was gone down to the
+ground.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> I asked Mrs. Jeffreys if my letter was safe after
+I had dropped it into the slip. She said your letter is safe
+and gone into the box." If the value of a contrivance
+depended upon the amount of ingenuity displayed in devising
+it, these apertures would be hardly deserving of mention;
+but in view of the convenience they afford, this short notice
+of them may not perhaps be considered out of place.</p>
+
+<p>The Rebellion of 1745, while disarranging the posts,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+brought into vogue the system of expresses; and this system
+once established was not long in extending itself. An
+express cost 3d. a mile, and, no doubt, travelled faster
+than at the beginning of the century. The roads had since
+been improved; and it may well be believed that the postmasters,
+as their custom increased, kept better horses. It
+was probably the speed of the express as compared with the
+tardiness of the post which induced the wealthy, about the
+middle of the last century, largely to employ this mode of
+conveyance for their letters. It had indeed one drawback,
+a drawback such as in our own time has attended the use
+of telegrams. It was apt to excite alarm. "Let me," writes
+the good-natured Charles Townshend to his sister-in-law,
+Lady Ferrers, under date September 1759&mdash;"Let me now
+desire you to conclude whenever you receive an express that
+it brings you good news, for otherwise I shall be obliged to
+defer one day sending you any such account if it should not
+come to me on a post day, least the express should alarm
+you. I should not chuse to detain you one minute from
+the news I know your heart beats for, and yet I should not
+chuse to frighten you by the sudden manner of its arrival,
+for which reason I desire you will remember to receive
+whatsoever express I send with confidence and as a friend."</p>
+
+<p>But the purpose for which an express might be employed
+was jealously restricted. A man might employ an express
+to carry a letter; but woe betide him if he employed the
+same agency for the purpose of disseminating news. The
+licensed carriers at Cambridge had recently been prosecuted
+and the postmasters on the Great West Road taken severely
+to task for doing this very thing. What are we to think of
+the intolerable state of bondage in which men were content
+to live when even the gentle Allen could give the following
+instruction? "At every stage," he writes to one of his
+surveyors, "you must forbid the deputies to send any express
+except to the General Post Office in London, unless it be
+for His Majesty's immediate service; and all other intelligence
+must be conveyed either by the common post or
+particular messenger."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the last century, and for about thirty
+years before and after, the mails were being continually
+stopped and robbed by highwaymen. The reward which
+the Post Office offered on these occasions for the apprehension
+of the robber was invariably £200, this being in
+addition to the reward of £40 prescribed by Act of
+Parliament; and if the robbery took place within five miles
+of London, there was a third reward of £100 by proclamation.
+Numerous and diverse as the robberies<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> were, there
+is only one of which we propose to speak; and in this case
+an exception may well be made on account of the important
+decision which it was the means of evoking from the
+Courts. A highwayman had stopped the Worcester mail
+at Shepherd's Bush and rifled it of its contents. Finding
+himself in possession of a large number of Bank of England
+notes he adopted a novel expedient for disposing of them.
+He hired a chaise and four and proceeded along the Great
+North Road as far as Caxton, passing the notes as he went;
+and in order to give himself a wider field of operations he
+took the precaution of going one way and returning another.
+To Caxton he went through Barnet, Hatfield, Stevenage,
+and Bugden, and he returned by way of Royston, Ware,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+and Enfield. Except at Barnet, which was probably thought
+to be dangerously near to London, there was hardly a postmaster
+along the whole line of road who had not one or
+more of the notes passed upon him. The question now
+arose who was to bear the loss,&mdash;the person by whom the
+notes had been sent by post or the postmasters who had
+changed them into cash. At the present time the law on
+the subject is so well ascertained that no doubt could exist
+as to the answer; but such was not then the case. In
+order to try the point, it was arranged that the notes should
+be stopped, and that the sender of them should bring an
+action against the Bank of England to recover their value.
+The trial came on before the King's Bench in 1758, and,
+after learned pleadings on both sides, the Lord Chief
+Justice pronounced the decision of the Court. This was
+that any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank
+note to bearer in a fair course of business is unquestionably
+entitled to recover the money from the Bank.</p>
+
+
+<p>An important legal decision, with which the Post Office
+had only the remotest concern, an improved system of
+expresses following as a natural consequence from circumstances
+over which the Post Office had no control, a simple
+contrivance to facilitate the posting of letters, and an
+acceleration of the mail between London and Edinburgh&mdash;this
+as the record of forty or fifty years' progress is assuredly
+meagre enough; and yet we are not aware of any omission.
+The plain truth is that during these years, except in the
+matter of bye and cross-post letters, the Post Office had
+retrograded rather than advanced. The rates of postage
+were higher now than at the beginning of the century.
+More, probably, than one-half of the public Acts of Parliament
+which passed during the reigns of the first two
+Georges were Acts for repairing and widening the roads.
+The roads had kept steadily improving; and the posts had
+failed to keep pace with them. While travellers travelled
+faster than in the reign of Queen Anne, letters were still
+being conveyed at a speed not exceeding five miles an hour.
+The friendly relations which had existed between the postmasters-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+and the merchants existed no longer. These
+had been replaced by feelings of estrangement and animosity.
+Under Cotton and Frankland and under Frankland and
+Evelyn the Post Office enjoyed a reputation for personal
+integrity; but even this claim to distinction had now disappeared.
+Barbutt, the secretary, had recently retired
+under a cloud. Bell, the comptroller of the inland office,
+had been arrested on a charge of fraud.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Denzil Onslow,
+the receiver-general, had been declared a defaulter to the
+amount of £10,000; and Stone, Onslow's successor, after
+two or three years' tenure of the appointment, had died in
+debt to the Crown. The Post Office, when George the
+Third ascended the throne, was thoroughly discredited, and,
+despite Allen's exertions, men were beginning to ask themselves,
+Why cumbereth it the ground?</p>
+
+<p>Allen died in 1764, leaving behind him a name which
+is still venerated, and justly venerated, in the city of Bath.
+For many years before his death he is reputed to have
+made out of his contract with the Post Office not less than
+£12,000 a year; and the greater part of this noble fortune
+he spent in acts of benevolence. As early as 1735 riches
+must have come pouring in upon him, for in that year he
+built for himself the stately house of Prior Park, not indeed
+for ostentation's sake, but in order to prove that the stone
+dug from his quarries on Combe Down was not the sorry
+stuff which interested persons in London had represented it
+to be. That house still stands; but, as was said at the
+time&mdash;and the statement holds good to this day&mdash;"his
+charity is seen further than his house, though it stands on a
+hill, aye, and brings him more honour too." In 1742<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+Allen served as Mayor of Bath; and in 1745, the year of
+the Rebellion, he raised a company of volunteers, which he
+clothed at his own cost. At Prior Park he dispensed a
+more than decent hospitality, numbering among his guests
+Pitt, Pope, and Fielding, Charles Yorke, and Warburton.
+Fielding has immortalised Allen's character but not his
+name in the person of Squire Allworthy; and Pope has
+immortalised both his name and his character in the
+lines&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Among Post Office reformers Allen stands absolutely
+alone in one particular. His connection with the Post
+Office, long as it endured, was not abruptly terminated.
+This we attribute partly to a natural sweetness of disposition,
+which provoked no enemies, and still more to that
+which on the part of reformers is the rarest of virtues, an
+entire abnegation of self. So long as a thing which he
+thought desirable was done, he cared not that others
+received the credit.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION<br />
+
+1764-1782</h3>
+
+
+<p>Brighter days were in store for the Post Office, but not yet.
+Meanwhile the clouds grew darker and darker. During
+the twenty years that followed Allen's death, partly as the
+result of ill-considered legislation and still more through the
+incompetence and helplessness of its rulers, the Post Office
+sank to a depth which, in England, probably no other
+public institution, or at all events none that still exists, has
+ever reached.</p>
+
+<p>In 1764 and 1765 two Acts of Parliament were passed,
+one having for its object to prevent the abuses of franking,
+and the other to improve the posts. It would be hardly too
+much to say that both of these Acts had an exactly opposite
+effect to that which was intended. The first, far from
+preventing the abuses of franking, largely extended them;
+and the second imposed a deplorable restriction, a restriction
+for which any little advantages conferred at the same time
+afforded very inadequate compensation.</p>
+
+<p>Under the Act of 1765, to take the later one first, the
+postage rates were reduced for short distances. Since
+1711 the charge for carrying a single letter had been 3d.
+for eighty miles or under. Now it was to be 1d. for
+one stage and 2d. for two stages. For longer distances the
+charge was to remain unaltered. The speed of the post
+was raised from five to six miles an hour. Power was
+given to the postmasters-general to erect penny Post Offices<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+in country towns; and&mdash;a provision which we have pronounced
+deplorable&mdash;the weight to be carried by the penny
+post was restricted to four ounces. Compensation for losses
+by the penny post had long ceased to be given.
+<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such was the end of Dockwra's post as Dockwra had
+established it. With that eminent man it had been an
+object of the first importance that the penny post should
+carry up to one pound in weight; and now the weight was
+to be reduced to four ounces. And why? Because the
+penny post was little used for packets and parcels above
+four ounces? Exactly the contrary. It was because packets
+and parcels above four ounces were being largely sent by
+the penny post that the limit of weight was to be reduced.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span><a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>
+These missives had been found a little inconvenient to
+manipulate and it was resolved, therefore, to exclude them.
+Such was the wretched policy of the time. Even in matters
+vitally affecting their own interests the public had as yet
+no voice and their wishes were not considered. On account
+of some trifling inconvenience, which a very little amount
+of ingenuity would have sufficed to overcome, the inhabitants
+of London and its suburbs were now deprived of accommodation
+which they had enjoyed uninterruptedly for eighty-five
+years.</p>
+
+<p>In 1764 franking became for the first time the subject
+of Parliamentary enactment. To send and receive letters
+free of postage had been a privilege enjoyed by members of
+the two Houses of Parliament from the first establishment
+of the Post Office; but whereas it had hitherto been a
+concession granted by the Crown, it was now to be a right
+conferred by statute. The reason will be obvious. The
+revenue of the Post Office had recently been surrendered to
+the public during the life of the Sovereign, in exchange for a
+Civil List charged upon the Consolidated, or, as it was then
+called, the Aggregate Fund; and the Crown, having dispossessed
+itself of all property in the Post Office, was no
+longer competent to remit postage without the authority of
+Parliament. The Act which was now passed was designed
+to correct the abuses which experience had shewn to exist.
+The limits of weight and of time remained as before; that
+is to say, only letters not exceeding the weight of two
+ounces were to be franked, and these only during the session
+of Parliament and for forty days before and after. In other
+respects the conditions were slightly altered. Hitherto it
+had been enough, in the case of letters sent by a member,
+that he should sign his name on the outside; for the future
+not only was the outside to bear his signature, but the whole
+of the address was to be in his own handwriting. In the
+case of letters addressed to a member, none were to be
+exempt from postage unless directed to the place of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+usual residence or to the place where he was actually
+residing, or, of course, to the House of Parliament. It had
+been hoped that these alterations of practice would check
+the abuses of franking. Vain expectation! No sooner had
+the concession been converted into a right than what little
+scruples existed before appear to have vanished, and franks
+were scattered broadcast over the country. Before eight
+years were over, the number of franks passing through the
+London office alone had nearly doubled, the postage from
+which they carried exemption being in 1765, the first year
+after the change, £34,734, and in 1772, £65,053; and
+this, be it observed, was no mere estimate, but the actual
+result as ascertained by the careful examination of each
+letter.</p>
+
+<p>Another effect of the change of practice was to embroil
+the Post Office. The Post Office, in its efforts to protect
+itself against imposition, would charge letters when
+addressed to a member at a place where he was supposed
+not to be; and hence constant disputes and altercations.
+Members, again, who were bankers or were engaged in trade
+insisted that letters addressed to them at their counting-houses,
+even though they did not reside there, should pass
+free. On these the Post Office claimed postage, and the
+members refused to pay it.</p>
+
+<p>But it was in Ireland that the rage for franking
+broke out into the wildest excesses. In 1773 an inspector
+of franks was sent to several towns on the cross
+and bye roads, in order that he might ascertain and
+report to the postmasters-general the extent to which the
+abuse had grown. This officer visited nine towns altogether,
+and was absent from Dublin for sixty-three days,
+being at the rate of seven days at each town. At Waterford,
+during his stay there, 588 letters passed through the
+local Post Office purporting to be franked. The franks on
+only 354 of these were genuine; the rest were counterfeit.
+At Kilkenny there were 425 counterfeit franks to 510 that
+were genuine. At Clonmel, 526 counterfeit and 509
+genuine. At Gowran, 212 counterfeit and 195 genuine;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+and so with the remaining towns. Altogether the number
+of letters with counterfeit franks was nearly as large as the
+number with genuine franks, and far exceeded all the other
+letters combined. However clear might be the evidence of
+fraud, and however conclusively it might be brought home
+to particular persons, it was of no use attempting to
+prosecute. Hear what Mr. Lees says on this point. Mr.
+Lees was Secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, and he had,
+under direction from Lord North, received instructions to
+take proceedings against a firm of solicitors in Londonderry
+who had been sending letters under forged franks. "A
+prosecution," wrote Mr. Lees, "will not be of the slightest
+avail. It has been tried over and over again, and, in the
+face of the clearest evidence, without success." "There is
+scarcely a magistrate to be found in Ireland who will take
+examinations on the Post Office laws; and certainly in no
+instance has this office prevailed in getting the bills of
+indictment found by a Grand Jury. This being so
+universally known, counterfeiting franks is drawn into such
+general practice that I believe there are very few merchants
+or attorneys' clerks throughout the kingdom who do not
+counterfeit in the name of one member or other. Nay, if I
+classed with them almost every little pretty Miss capable of
+joining her letters, I should not exaggerate the abuse."
+"As I have observed," he wrote further on in the same
+letter, "in every town of consequence throughout the
+kingdom the members resident, under their address, cover
+the correspondence of the principal merchants.... The
+postage arising on counterfeit covers alone amounts to more
+than a third of the revenue of this office."</p>
+
+<p>Under the terms of the Franking Act newspapers were
+to go free which should bear a member's signature on the
+outside or which should be directed to a member at any
+place of which he had given notice in writing to the
+postmasters-general. This provision seriously affected the
+Post Office, though in a different way from the liberties
+which were being taken with letters. From the first
+establishment of the Post Office the six clerks of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+roads had enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers,
+and the emoluments derived from this source, originally
+insignificant, had been continually increasing. In 1764
+they were certainly not less than £8000 a year, and may
+have been more. The Franking Act sapped this source
+of emolument. No sooner had that Act passed than
+the members served the Post Office with notice of the
+places to which they wished newspapers to be directed.
+These places did not in the first instance extend beyond
+the member's own residence and the residences of his
+constituents and friends; but after a while no such moderation
+was observed. The booksellers and printers, or news-agents
+as they would now be called, soon recognised the
+advantage it would be to them if they could get their
+customers' addresses put on the Post Office Register, and
+they experienced little difficulty in finding members who
+were ready to do them this service. There were four who
+were noted for their complaisance. These were Sir Robert
+Bernard, member for Westminster; Brass Crosby, member
+for Honiton and alderman for the City of London; Richard
+Whitworth, member for Stafford; and Richard Hiver.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> These
+four members in little more than eighteen months served
+upon the Post Office no less than 744 separate notices.
+Altogether, at the close of the year 1772, there were 2024
+such notices registered in Lombard Street, of which 765
+were on behalf of constituents and friends, and 1259 on
+behalf of printers and booksellers.</p>
+
+<p>As the natural result the clerks of the roads found
+their emoluments rapidly dwindling. Heretofore they
+had been, virtually, the great news-agents of the kingdom.
+Enjoying, in common with a few clerks at
+Whitehall, the exclusive privilege of sending newspapers
+through the post free, they had been exposed to little,
+if any, competition; but now that in the matter of
+postage the terms were equal, the advantage was all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+on the side of the private dealer. The private dealer
+procured his newspapers in the open market, whereas the
+clerks of the roads were required to procure them from a
+particular officer designated by the postmasters-general;
+and this officer was authorised not only to charge for the
+newspapers he supplied 1-1/2d. a dozen more than he gave
+for them, but to retain as his own perquisite one out of
+every twenty-five copies.</p>
+
+<p>It may seem of little moment that, as the result of
+legislation, six persons more or less should find themselves
+in reduced circumstances. Such an event, unhappily, is
+not so rare as to call for special remark. But there was
+a good deal more than this in the present case. The
+profits which the clerks of the roads derived from the sale
+of newspapers had never been devoted to the exclusive
+use of the recipients. On the contrary, they were to a
+large extent common property. Out of these profits
+pensions were provided for Post Office servants who were
+past work; and from the same source inadequate salaries
+were raised to something like a decent maintenance. In
+additional salaries to brother officers and in pensions to
+officers who had retired, the clerks of the roads had in 1764
+contributed as much as £6600; and even now, reduced as
+their profits were, they were contributing a little over
+£2000. They were, in effect, the mainstay of the establishment,
+and the falling off of their emoluments was being
+watched by the postmasters-general, hardly less than by
+those who were more immediately interested, with the
+gravest concern.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it calculated to reconcile the Post Office
+servants to the deprivations which they were already beginning
+to suffer that the members of other public offices,
+who had lost from the same cause as the clerks of the roads,
+but to a much less extent, had received compensation in full.
+The clerks in the offices of the Principal Secretaries of State,
+like the clerks of the roads, had been privileged to frank
+both letters and newspapers. By the Act of 1764 the
+privilege had, as regards letters, been taken away in both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+cases; and in both cases, as regards newspapers, it remained.
+Yet to the clerks in the offices of the Principal Secretaries
+of State was secured, by special Act of Parliament, compensation
+to the amount of £1500 a year, while the clerks
+of the roads received nothing; and, as though to add to the
+aggravation, this sum of £1500 a year was to be paid by
+the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>In Dublin the same difficulties were being experienced
+as in London and from the same cause. Emoluments were
+falling off and obligations could not be met. Among these
+obligations, however, there was one which was peculiar to
+Dublin. Before 1764 the clerks at the castle, like the
+clerks of the roads, had enjoyed the privilege of franking
+newspapers, and the exercise of this privilege by the two
+bodies simultaneously had been attended with so much
+friction that advantage had been taken of the passing of
+the Franking Act to effect a compromise. In consideration
+of the sum of £350 a year to be paid by the clerks of the
+roads the clerks at the castle undertook to abandon their
+privilege absolutely. A deed to this effect was prepared,
+and, in order that nothing might be wanting to give it
+formality, it was signed by the Earl of Northumberland,
+the Lord Lieutenant, on behalf of the castle, and by Lord
+Clermont, the Deputy Postmaster-General of Ireland, on
+behalf of the Post Office. Whence was the sum of £350
+to come when the emoluments should be gone? Was a
+price to continue to be paid for the surrender of a privilege
+which had ceased to be of value? The Attorney-General
+for Ireland advised that the clerks of the roads
+were still liable to the last farthing of their salaries; and
+the clerks at the castle refused to abate one jot of their
+claim.</p>
+
+<p>But we are anticipating. In 1767 the statute-book
+received an addition which, though differing widely both in
+intention and effect from the Franking Act and the Postage
+Act, cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. This was an Act
+for the better paving, lighting, and regulating the streets of
+London, a first step in fact towards converting the London<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+of Hogarth into the London of to-day. The mere preamble<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>
+of the Act brings home to us, hardly less vividly than
+Hogarth's pencil, the intolerable inconveniences under which
+our forefathers were content to live; but what concerns us
+at the present moment is that one section provided not only
+that the names of the streets should be put up but that the
+houses should be numbered. This numbering of houses
+quickly spread, and, although unnoticed by the Post Office
+at the time, was destined very materially to assist its future
+operations. As a consequence, too, and at no long interval,
+arose a new industry, namely the compilation of Directories&mdash;a
+thing that was impossible before&mdash;and hence the Post
+Office derived still further assistance.</p>
+
+<p>About this time considerable improvements took place
+both in the Scotch and Irish posts. Between London and
+Edinburgh communication had been only thrice a week.
+In 1765 it was increased in frequency to five days a week,
+and posts on six days a week were at the same time established
+between Edinburgh and the chief towns of Scotland.
+The result was an immediate increase of revenue which
+much more than covered the increase of expense. Two or
+three years later the course of post between London and
+Dublin came under review. By virtue of an arrangement,
+which the fact of the communication being only thrice a
+week goes but a short way to explain, letters from England
+to Ireland were kept lying two whole days in the London
+Office and, similarly, letters from Ireland to England were
+kept lying two whole days in the Dublin Office. The
+packet which was due in Dublin on Saturday night rarely
+arrived before Sunday, and, unless it did so, the letters from
+England for the interior of Ireland did not leave Dublin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+until Wednesday morning. Nor was this all. The number
+of packets was extremely limited, and, owing to their
+constant employment by Government as express boats, it
+frequently happened that two and sometimes three and
+even four mails were sent by the same packet. In 1767
+this was altered. Additional packet boats were placed on
+the station, and the post between London and Dublin and
+between Dublin and Belfast in one direction and Cork in
+another was increased in frequency from three to six days
+a week.</p>
+
+<p>Between London and the chief provincial towns in
+England Allen had, as we have seen, established posts six
+days a week instead of three; but it was not until 1769,
+or nearly five years after Allen's death, that within the
+metropolis arrangements were made to correspond. Meanwhile
+the offices for the receipt of general post letters were
+kept open and the bellmen went about ringing their bells on
+only three nights of the week, namely Tuesdays, Thursdays,
+and Saturdays, and on the other three nights, except at the
+General Post Office, letters could not be posted gratuitously.
+On the nights of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday a receiver
+if called upon to take in letters was entitled to charge a fee
+of 1d. apiece, and this fee he retained as his own perquisite.
+Beginning with 1769 the receiving offices were kept
+open and the bellmen rang their bells on every night of
+the week, Sundays excepted.</p>
+
+<p>An event or rather a series of events now took place, the
+result of which was largely to alter the character of the
+Post Office and to extend its usefulness. Recent legislation
+had done little for the public convenience. It had indeed
+provided that Penny Post Offices might be established out of
+London, and advantage had been taken of the provision in
+one single instance. In Dublin a Penny Post Office had
+been opened on the 10th of October 1773, or seventy years
+after the Countess of Thanet desired to open one and was
+refused permission at the last moment. But in other
+respects legislation had accomplished little beyond promoting
+the very abuses it was designed to prevent, and impairing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+the utility of Dockwra's post. Litigation was now to have
+its turn; and it is interesting to note the result.</p>
+
+<p>The machinery for the dispersion of letters remained
+much as it had been since the first establishment of
+the Post Office. In London, in Edinburgh, and in Dublin
+there was, as there is now, a body of men whose duty
+it was to deliver from house to house; but with these
+three exceptions there was not, 120 years ago, a
+single town in the kingdom which could boast of its own
+letter-carrier. The postmaster was the sole Post Office
+agent in the place; it was he who delivered the letters if
+they were delivered at all; and for this service he was left
+to charge pretty much as he pleased. The public had
+grown tired of this state of things and strenuous efforts were
+now made to alter it.</p>
+
+<p>The crusade began in the little town of Sandwich in
+Kent. It had been the practice of the postmaster there,
+at some former time, to deliver free the letters arriving
+by the bye and cross posts, and on the delivery of the
+London letters to charge a fee as his own perquisite. In
+1772 a fee was being charged on the delivery of all
+letters. This charge the inhabitants now determined to
+contest. The case came on for trial in the Court of
+King's Bench and was decided against the postmaster,
+the Court being of opinion that wherever the usage had
+been to deliver free, there the usage should be adhered
+to. The postmasters-general were very uneasy. Out of
+the 440 post towns of the kingdom there were known to be
+not less than seventy-six which were in the same case as
+Sandwich and to which the decision of the Court must
+apply, towns where letters had at one time been delivered
+free and where they were so no longer; and not a day
+passed without bringing fresh and unexpected additions to
+the list. At Birmingham and at Ipswich, for instance,
+where a charge was now being made for delivery, old
+inhabitants could remember how forty or fifty years before
+letters had been delivered free. Was the Crown to be at
+the expense of letter-carriers at all of these towns, or were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+the postmasters, who were already complaining of the
+inadequacy of their remuneration, to forego their perquisites
+and make a house-to-house delivery as part of their duty?</p>
+
+<p>The question was still under consideration when the town
+of Ipswich commenced an action. The point raised in this
+case was whether on the delivery of letters addressed to the
+inhabitants of the town the postmaster could legally demand
+any sum over and above the postage, and, if so, whether in
+the event of the demand being refused he could oblige the
+inhabitants to fetch their letters. Again the decision, this
+time by the Court of Common Pleas, was in favour of the
+public and against the Post Office. The postmasters-general
+were more than uneasy now. No sooner had the decision
+in the Ipswich case become known than town after town
+where letters had never yet been delivered free demanded a
+free delivery and threatened the postmasters-general with
+actions in the event of their demand being refused. Bath
+and Gloucester did more than threaten. They, like Ipswich,
+proceeded to trial; and again, for the third and fourth
+time, the decision was against the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>Thurlow was at this time Attorney-General. He held
+a strong opinion that in order to comply with the statute it
+was enough to deliver letters at the Post Office of the town
+to which they were addressed, and that there was no
+obligation to deliver them at the houses of the inhabitants.
+Still clinging to the belief that the decisions of the Courts
+must have proceeded more or less on the usage of delivery,
+he now determined to try the question in the case of a
+town where the usage had been for no delivery to be made
+without payment. The town of Hungerford in Berkshire
+was selected for the purpose. There, it could be proved,
+ever since the beginning of the century, letters had not been
+delivered except on payment of a fee of 1d. apiece.</p>
+
+<p>The case came on before the Court of King's Bench in
+Michaelmas term 1774. Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief
+Justice, was the first to deliver judgment. He was surprised,
+he said, the several Acts being so ambiguous and
+the usage so contradictory, that the Post Office had not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+applied to Parliament to explain the matter. That was the
+view of the Court when, in the other cases, it avoided the
+general question. He never liked to avoid general questions,
+for to decide them tended to prevent further litigation; but
+an important question of this kind, arising out of Acts that
+had "not yet spoke," and, whichever way it might be
+decided, involving more or less inconvenience, was essentially
+one for Parliament. And in the Bath case there were
+grounds on which the general question could, without
+impropriety, be avoided. There the postmaster when
+delivering a letter had demanded a certain sum as a duty.
+Now, a duty it certainly was not. If on the delivery of a
+letter Parliament had intended to impose a duty, it would
+have fixed the amount and made it part of the Post Office
+revenue; and not have left every postmaster free to fix
+what amount he pleased or might prevail upon people to
+give. And what a monstrous inconvenience it would be if
+every one had to go to the Post Office to fetch his own
+letters! How could the Court have laid down such a
+proposition as that? The thing was impossible. And it
+must be remembered that there could be no middlemen&mdash;men
+between the inhabitants and the postmaster&mdash;who for
+gain could set up an office to distribute the letters, because
+by law the postmaster could not deliver them except to the
+persons to whom they were addressed. These were the
+considerations which in the Bath ease induced him to avoid
+the general question, and he had been glad to feel able to
+do so, never doubting that the postmasters-general would
+apply to Parliament for a determination; but this, unfortunately,
+they had not done. Then there was the Gloucester
+case. He remembered it well. There the question was not
+whether there should be a free delivery, for at Gloucester
+letters had always been delivered free, but whether certain
+houses should fall within the limits of that delivery. All
+that the Court then decided was that in the case of these
+houses, forming as they unquestionably did a part of what
+was known as the town of Gloucester, the Post Office could
+not depart from its own practice. But the present case<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+was different. Here the contention was that in the town
+of Hungerford there was not a single house at which the
+Post Office was required to deliver letters without being
+paid for it. Practically, no doubt, it was the Bath case
+over again; but the Court could not well avoid the general
+question a second time. The Post Office, in effect, sought
+to impose a duty; and this, he said it emphatically, the
+Post Office had not the power to do without the authority
+of Parliament, which authority had not been given. His
+mind was perfectly clear that within the limits of a post-town
+the Post Office was bound to deliver free; but how
+far these limits should extend was a question upon which
+he did not feel called upon to express an opinion.</p>
+
+<p>The other judges were equally emphatic. The Post Office
+had urged in support of its contention that it sometimes
+happened&mdash;as, for instance, at Hartford Bridge&mdash;-that the
+stage or post-house was a single house with no other houses
+near. There, at all events, as soon as it had deposited the
+letters at the post house, the Post Office had discharged its
+duty. And if there, it was asked, why not elsewhere? If,
+said Mr. Justice Aston, the post house was a single house
+with no other houses near, the question did not arise; but,
+in the case, of towns, surely it would not be contended that
+each individual inhabitant was to resort to the post house
+every day in order to inquire whether there was a letter
+for him or not. To demand this penny within the limits
+of a post town, said Mr. Justice Willes, was contrary to the
+whole tenor and spirit of the Acts of Parliament; and
+where the post town was a small one like Hungerford, the
+demand was far more unreasonable than it would be in
+the case of London and Westminster. Yet in London and
+Westminster letters were delivered free. He should pay
+more regard to the usage of the city of London than to that
+of fifty such towns as Hungerford. Mr. Justice Ashurst
+was of opinion that even to usage too much importance
+might be attached. If it were really the case that at
+Hungerford, ever since the passing of the Act of Anne, a
+man living next door to the Post Office had had to pay over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+and above the postage 1d. for every letter he received,
+this in his opinion was a bad usage, an usage for which the
+Act afforded no justification, and the sooner it was laid
+aside the better.</p>
+
+<p>The decision of the Court burst upon the postmasters-general
+like a thunderbolt. They had been assured that it
+would certainly be in the opposite direction; and now, to
+their dismay, they found themselves face to face with the
+prospect of, what they called, an universal delivery. What
+was to be done? The Post Office would be ruined. Of
+course the Attorney-General would advise an appeal to the
+House of Lords. As a matter of fact the Attorney-General
+advised nothing of the sort. Thurlow's private opinion
+continued to be what it had always been, that the Post
+Office was not bound to deliver letters beyond the stage or
+post house. He even went so far as to admit that, if once
+the Act were construed to require more than that, he knew
+of no manner of construction that would entitle the postmasters-general
+to refuse to carry letters into every hole
+and corner of the kingdom. Still, as two Courts had decided
+against the Post Office, he regarded it as useless to appeal
+to the House of Lords, where, no doubt, the opinion of the
+same judges would be taken and acted on. Then, inquired
+the postmasters-general, might not a writ of error be
+brought with a view to hang up the judgment of the Court
+of King's Bench until the matter should be settled by
+Parliament. "No," replied Thurlow, "I do not approve a
+writ of error being brought by an office of revenue avowedly
+to suspend a question."</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended a controversy which in one form or another
+had extended over a period of more than two years. The
+postmasters-general urged indeed that Parliament should be
+asked to avert what they regarded as little short of a
+catastrophe; but the recommendation was not adopted, and
+the decision of the Court was left to take effect.</p>
+
+<p>We have dwelt upon this matter at some length, because
+it was, in effect, a turning-point in the history of the Post
+Office. The enterprising spirit of the small towns, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+independence of the judges, and the conspicuous fairness of
+the Attorney-General, make up no doubt a combination
+which it is pleasing to contemplate; and yet, if this were
+all, a shorter notice would have sufficed. It is because the
+Post Office was now to assume a new character, the character
+in which it is known to us at the present time, that we
+have thought it best not to omit any important particular.
+And how great the change was to be a moment's consideration
+will shew. Cotton and Frankland had, early in the
+century, done what little they could to make the Post Office
+popular. They had lost no opportunity of advocating cheap
+postage; they had lived among the merchants, and, as far
+as duty would allow, had consulted their wishes; and
+within the limits assigned to them had spared no efforts to
+promote the public convenience. But since then a different
+spirit had prevailed. By Cotton and Frankland's successors
+much had been done in restraint of correspondence and
+nothing, or next to nothing, in promotion of it. The Post
+Office had become, insensibly perhaps, but none the less
+surely, a mere tax-gatherer, and, like other tax-gatherers,
+its policy had been to exact as much and to give as little
+as possible. All this was now to be altered. An appeal
+had been made to the Courts; and the Courts in the most
+deliberate and solemn manner had affirmed this principle&mdash;a
+principle now so universally recognised and acted on as
+to excite our wonder that it should ever have been otherwise&mdash;that
+the Post Office was to wait upon the people,
+and not the people upon the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>It might be supposed that the decision of the Courts
+would have been immediately followed by the appointment
+of letter-carriers throughout the country, or else by additions
+to the salaries of the postmasters in consideration of their
+undertaking to make a house-to-house delivery gratuitously.
+Such, however, was not the case. At the towns which had
+taken a foremost part in the fray&mdash;at Hungerford and
+Sandwich, at Bath, Ipswich, and Birmingham&mdash;as well
+indeed as at other towns which were spirited enough to
+assert their rights, letter-carriers were no doubt appointed;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+but there was no sudden and general alteration of practice.
+On the contrary, the obedience which the Post Office yielded
+to the law as laid down by the Courts was a tardy and
+grudging obedience. As much as ten or eleven years later
+we find the postmasters-general acknowledging indeed the
+obligation under which they lay to appoint letter-carriers
+at any towns that might demand it, and yet taking credit
+to themselves that, as a matter of fact, no such appointments
+had been made except where the inhabitants had refused to
+continue the accustomed recompense for delivery.</p>
+
+<p>The Courts of Law were at this time the best friends of
+the people. No sooner had they decided that every town
+which possessed a Post Office of its own was entitled to a
+gratuitous delivery at the door than a somewhat similar
+question came before them in connection with the penny
+post. For every letter delivered by the penny post the
+inhabitants of Old Street, St. Luke's, of St. Leonard's,
+Shoreditch, of Bethnal Green, and Spitalfields were required
+to pay an additional penny, that is a penny over and above
+the one which had been paid on posting; and this they had
+long regarded as an imposition. According to Dockwra's
+plan the second or delivery penny was to be confined to
+Islington, Hackney, Newington Butts, and South Lambeth,
+which in his day formed separate towns; but in course of
+time, as buildings extended, the Post Office appears to have
+exacted the same charge at intermediate places. Jones, a
+wealthy distiller of Old Street, now determined to try the
+question. Again the decision of the Courts was against the
+Post Office, and not only in Old Street, but in Shoreditch,
+Bethnal Green, and Spitalfields the additional penny had
+to be abandoned.</p>
+
+<p>While these proceedings were taking place before the
+Courts, the Post Office had forced upon it a step which,
+even in those days of indifference, cannot have been taken
+without a pang. This was the dismissal of its most distinguished
+servant or rather of its only servant with any
+claim to distinction, and that of the highest. We refer to
+Benjamin Franklin. This eminent man had been appointed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737, and after being
+employed in several positions of trust, had been promoted
+to be one of the joint postmasters-general of America in
+1753. He had recently been sent to England with the
+object of averting war between the mother country and her
+transatlantic colonies, and, his mission having failed, he was
+now dismissed. The letter in which the decision was
+announced was as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">To <span class="smcap">Doctor Franklin</span>.</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>Jan. 31, 1774</i>.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>&mdash;I have received the commands of His Majesty's postmasters-general
+to signify to you that they find it necessary to dismiss you
+from being any longer their deputy for America. You will therefore
+cause your accounts to be made up as soon as you can conveniently.&mdash;I
+am, sir, your most humble servant,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Anthony Todd</span>,</div>
+<div class="signature"><i>Secretary</i>.<br />
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>Curt as this communication was, it was perhaps the best
+of which the circumstances admitted. Indeed, we are by
+no means sure that the terms of it were not arranged with
+Franklin himself. He was in London at the time. His
+relations with the Post Office had always been of the most
+cordial character. He did not, after receiving the letter,
+cease to visit Lombard Street; and before his return to
+America he wrote to the Post Office intimating that he
+would cheerfully become security for his colleague, who, as
+a consequence of his own dismissal, had to enter into fresh
+bond. At all events, whether Franklin had any hand in
+the preparation of the letter or not, the less said the better
+would seem to have been the opinion of the writer; just as
+a desire to let bygones be bygones is plainly shewn in the
+first letter which passed after correspondence was resumed.
+This letter is a curiosity in its way. It is dated the 25th
+of June 1783, and, ignoring all that had happened during
+the preceding seven years, begins as follows:</p>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="center">To <span class="smcap">Doctor Franklin</span> at <span class="smcap">Paris</span>.<br />
+<br /></div>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>June 25, 1783</i>.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>&mdash;I must confess I have taken a long time to acknowledge
+the last letter you were pleased to write me the 24th of March 1776
+from New York. I am happy, however, to learn from my nephew,
+Mr. George Maddison, that you enjoy good health, and that as the
+French were about to establish five packet boats at L'Orient, Port
+Louis, for the purpose of a monthly correspondence between that
+port and New York, you were desirous of knowing the intentions of
+England on that subject....&mdash;I am, dear sir, with the greatest
+truth and respect, your most obedient and most humble servant,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Anthony Todd</span>.<br />
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>In 1780, as part of a Licensing Act, the monopoly of
+letting post-horses which the Post Office had enjoyed uninterruptedly
+since 1603 was taken away. It is curious
+to note that a measure which 177 years before had been
+deemed essential to the maintenance of the posts was now
+withdrawn without, so far as we are aware, exciting a
+murmur; and, by a strange coincidence, at the very time
+the measure was being withdrawn in the United Kingdom,
+the deputy postmaster-general of Canada, who had recently
+arrived in London, was urging upon the Government a
+similar expedient as an indispensable condition without
+which the "maītres de poste" between Quebec and
+Montreal would be constrained to throw up their appointments.
+Such is the difference between a new institution
+and an institution that is well established.</p>
+
+<p>It should here be remarked that with the extinction of
+this monopoly passed away one of the original functions of
+the postmasters-general. Hitherto, lightly as the responsibility
+had rested upon them for the last hundred years or
+more, they had been masters of the travelling-post as well
+as the letter-post. For the future they were to be masters
+of the letter-post alone.</p>
+
+<p>Little remains to be told of the eighteen years of which
+this chapter treats. In 1782, in consequence of a hint
+dropped by the Lord Chief Justice in the course of a trial,
+the Post Office did an eminently useful thing. It issued<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+an advertisement counselling the public when sending bank
+notes by post to cut them into two parts and to send one
+part by one post and another by another. The counsel was
+adopted, and in an incredibly short space of time the
+practice became general. In the same year the Post Office
+servants were disfranchised. By an Act passed in the
+reign of Queen Anne they were forbidden either to persuade
+or to dissuade others in the matter of voting; and now they
+were forbidden to vote themselves. The only point of
+interest connected with the two Acts is perhaps their
+termination. While the later Act was repealed in 1868, the
+earlier one was not repealed until 1874; and meanwhile
+the postmaster-general sat in the House of Commons and
+offered himself for election. Little, probably, did he think
+that for every vote he solicited he rendered himself not only
+liable to a penalty of £100 but "incapable of ever bearing
+or executing any office or place of trust whatsoever under
+Her Majesty, her heirs, or successors."</p>
+
+<p>The internal condition of the Post Office during the last
+few years of Lord North's administration was simply
+deplorable. The profits from the sale of newspapers kept
+growing less and less. The clerks of the roads, after paying
+the salaries and pensions which formed the first charge on
+their receipts, had left for themselves the merest pittance.
+These men, to whom an appeal for help had never been
+made in vain, were now in sore need of help themselves. The
+prospect was alarming, for if the clerks of the roads should
+fail to meet their engagements they would drag down with
+them a not inconsiderable part of the establishment. It
+was in 1778, when apprehension was highest, that the
+Commissioners of Land Tax for the city of London made a
+new assessment, and suddenly, without a note of warning,
+every Post Office servant in the metropolis found himself
+assessed to the land tax to the amount of 4s. in the pound.
+Not even the letter-carriers or maid-servants were excepted.
+At this time and during the two or three following years a
+general bankruptcy was imminent. Eventually the abatements
+were remitted and the salaries and pensions which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+had been charged to the clerks of the roads were in part
+transferred to the State; but not before many of the Post
+Office servants had compounded with their creditors and all
+had endured the severest privations.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the postmasters from America, ejected from
+their offices, had been flocking to this country and pleading
+for pensions on the English establishment. The packets
+were meeting with a series of disasters so far beyond the
+experience of former wars as to excite the most hostile comment.
+During the seven years ending August 1782 no less
+than thirty-seven were captured by the enemy. Of these
+four belonged to the Post Office, and sums for that time
+prodigious were expended to replace them. The others were
+owned by the captains who commanded them, and the owners
+received as compensation for their loss the sum of £85,000.
+Even the fabric of the buildings partook of the general decay.
+In Edinburgh the Post Office had had to be abandoned at a
+moment's notice, the arch which supported the main part of
+the structure having given way. In Dublin the roof had
+fallen in. In both Dublin and Edinburgh new Post Offices
+were being erected at heavy expense; while in London
+search was being made for new premises on the plea that
+those in Lombard Street were insufficient for present requirements.</p>
+
+<p>To crown all, ugly rumours were afloat, rumours imputing
+corruption in the highest quarters. The postmasters-general
+were indeed to be pitied. The Post Office in more
+senses than one was falling about their ears.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>JOHN PALMER<br />
+1782-1792</h3>
+
+
+<p>The apathy of the Post Office about this time is incomprehensible.
+More than twenty years before, the General
+Convention of the Royal Boroughs of Scotland had called
+the attention of the postmasters-general to the intolerable
+slowness of the post on the Great North Road. "Every
+common traveller," they wrote, "passes the King's mail on
+the first road in the kingdom." At the present time the
+clerks of the roads were giving as one of the reasons why
+they were undersold in the matter of newspapers that,
+whereas they sent their wares by post, the booksellers and
+printers availed themselves of the more expeditious conveyance
+by stage-coach. Yet it seems never to have occurred
+to the postmasters-general that what was being done by
+others they might do themselves. The lesson that was lost
+upon the postmasters-general was to be learnt and applied
+by John Palmer, proprietor of the theatre at Bath.</p>
+
+<p>Palmer had, while yet at school, been distinguished for
+a love of enterprise, an indomitable perseverance, and an
+activity of body which knew no fatigue and set distance at
+defiance. He had, through sheer persistency, obtained a
+patent for his theatre at Bath, which thus became the first
+Theatre-Royal out of the metropolis. At a time when the
+mail leaving London on Monday night did not arrive at
+Bath until Wednesday afternoon, he had been in the habit
+of accomplishing the distance between the two cities in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+single day. He had made journeys equally long and
+equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result of
+observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the
+horses kept at the post-houses it was always the worst that
+were set aside to carry the mail, and that the post was the
+slowest mode of conveyance in the kingdom. He had also
+observed that, where security or despatch was required, his
+neighbours at Bath who might desire to correspond with
+London would make a letter up into a parcel and send it
+by stage-coach,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> although the cost by stage-coach was,
+porterage included, 2s. and by post 4d. Not seldom,
+indeed, the difference would be more than 1s. 8d., for to
+prevent delay on the part of the porters in London one of
+these clandestine letters would as often as not have written
+on the back, "An extra sum will be given the porter if he
+delivers this letter immediately."</p>
+
+<p>Starting from these premises Palmer, with characteristic
+energy, set himself to devise a plan for the reform of the
+Post Office. This plan was simply that the mails&mdash;which,
+to use his own words, had heretofore been trusted to some
+idle boy without character, mounted on a worn-out hack,
+who, so far from being able to defend himself against a
+robber, was more likely to be in league with one&mdash;should
+for the future be carried by coach. The coach should be
+guarded, and should carry no outside passenger. For
+guard no one could be better than a soldier, who would be
+skilled in the use of firearms. He should carry two short
+guns or blunderbusses, and sit on the top of the coach with
+the mail behind him. From this position he could
+command the road and observe suspicious persons. The
+coachman also should carry arms; but in his case they
+should be pistols. A speed should be maintained of eight
+or nine miles an hour. Thus, the distance between London
+and Bath would, stoppages included, be accomplished in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+sixteen hours instead of thirty-eight; and these stoppages
+should, in point of time, be largely reduced. As the coach
+arrived at the end of each stage there would be little more
+for the postmaster to do than to put into the mail bag the
+outgoing letters and to take out of the bag the letters that
+were coming in. Surely a quarter of an hour would be
+ample for the purpose. He must indeed be an inexpert
+postmaster who could not change his letters as soon as the
+ostler changes his horses. Strict punctuality should be
+observed. Each postmaster should be on the spot and to
+the moment to receive the mail when it arrived; and if it
+did not arrive to time, a man on horseback should be
+despatched to ascertain the cause of delay. This, in the
+event of the coach having been stopped by highwaymen,
+would secure immediate pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>And how little would be the cost of the proposed
+reform. It was doubtful indeed whether there would
+be any additional cost at all. The mails were now
+being conveyed at a charge for boy and horse of 3d.
+a mile. It was certain that men might be found who
+for this rate of payment would be glad to convey
+them by coach. Especially would this be the case if the
+coaches which carried the mails were exempt, as they
+ought to be, from toll. Between London and Bath, for
+instance, the toll was, for a carriage and pair, 9s., and
+for a carriage and four, 18s. Exemption from this impost
+would of itself be no inconsiderable boon to the contractors.
+Besides, the speed and security of a mail coach would
+attract passengers. At all events something, it was clear,
+must be done. As matters stood it was an intolerable
+hardship that persons sending letters by coach should be
+subject to penalties. A coach might go at a time when
+there was no post; and a letter might require immediate
+despatch. Yet, rather than make use of the coach and pay
+half a crown, one was obliged to hire an express, which was
+less expeditious, at a cost of two or three guineas. Surely,
+if no other change were made, this at least should be
+conceded&mdash;that any one taking a letter to the Post Office<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+and paying the proper amount of postage upon it according
+to its address should, after the letter had been impressed
+with the postmark and signed by the postmaster, be at
+liberty to send it by what channel he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the main features of Palmer's plan. As a
+subsidiary, though by no means a necessary, part of it he
+made two suggestions which it may be well to mention, if
+only because they were afterwards adopted. These were&mdash;1st,
+that the mails, which from the first establishment of
+the Post Office had not left London until between midnight
+and three o'clock in the morning, should start at eight in
+the evening; and 2nd, that they should not be kept waiting
+for the Government letters when these happened to be late.
+This keeping the mails waiting for the Government letters
+had, at the beginning of the century, been a constant source
+of complaint. "We take this occasion of representing to
+your Lordship," wrote the postmasters-general to Lord
+Dartmouth on the 16th of March 1710, "the great inconvenience
+which happened to the business of this office on
+Tuesday's night's post by the inland mails having all been
+detained here till the receipt of the Court letters, which
+were not brought by the messenger from Whitehall before
+half-past six on Wednesday morning." A similar letter of
+remonstrance was at the same time addressed to Mr.
+Secretary St. John. But, of late years, so profound had
+been the supineness which reigned at the Post Office that it
+may, probably enough, have been considered of little consequence
+whether the mails were delayed or not. Palmer
+was unable to take this view. To him it appeared in the
+highest degree improper that, for the sake of a few letters
+which after all might be of no great importance, the Post
+Office business of the whole country should be thrown out
+of gear. Far better, he urged, that the mail should leave at
+the proper hour, and that these letters, if behind time,
+should be sent after it by express. A third suggestion he
+made, a suggestion admirable in itself, and yet one that at
+that time was little likely to be adopted. This was that
+the Post Office should take the public into its confidence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+and invite them to make known their wants and suggest
+how best these wants might be supplied.</p>
+
+<p>In October 1782, through the intervention of his
+friend John Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, Palmer's plan
+was brought under the notice of Pitt; and Pitt, who was
+then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the administration of
+Lord Shelburne, at once discerned its merits. Nothing,
+however, could be done until the Post Office had had an
+opportunity of offering its opinion on the matter, and
+when this opinion was given&mdash;which was not until July
+1783&mdash;Pitt was out of office; and, although he returned
+to power as minister in the following December, the struggle
+in which he then became engaged with an unruly Parliament,
+and afterwards a general election, effectually precluded
+him from giving attention to the posts until the summer
+of 1784.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Palmer devoted himself to the perfection
+of his plan. He traversed the whole of the kingdom
+by stage-coaches, noting down the time they occupied
+in accomplishing their journeys, the time they unnecessarily
+lost, and how they might be better regulated
+and made serviceable for the transport of the mails. He
+took the same opportunity of acquainting himself with the
+course of the post and carefully observed its defects and
+delays. Nor did he trust to his own exertions alone. In
+order to test the extent of clandestine traffic, he employed
+persons to watch the Bath and Bristol coaches as they
+started for London, and to count the number of parcels
+which appeared to contain letters. These persons assured
+him that the number was never less than several hundreds
+in the week, and in some weeks was as high as 1000.</p>
+
+<p>The office of postmaster-general was at this time held
+by Lords Carteret and Tankerville. Carteret had only
+recently been raised to the peerage. Appointed thirteen
+years before as Henry Frederick Thynne in conjunction
+with Lord le Despencer, he had, amid the conflict of
+parties and the fall of successive ministries, contrived to
+retain his post. Tankerville, on the contrary, had come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+in and gone out with a change of Government. Called
+upon to preside over the Post Office in 1782, he had left
+it in 1783 and had returned in January of the following
+year. The part which these two peers took in connection
+with Palmer's plan appears to have been not injudicious.
+Without expressing any opinion of their own as to its
+feasibility or otherwise, they contented themselves with
+collecting and forwarding to Pitt the opinions of such of
+their subordinates as were presumably qualified to judge.
+These were the district surveyors, and their verdict was
+unanimously against the plan. Of the reasons for this
+judgment a specimen or two will suffice. By one it was
+objected that there could be no need for the post to be the
+swiftest conveyance in the kingdom; by another, that to
+employ firearms for the protection of the mail would
+encourage their use on the other side, and thus murder
+might be added to robbery; by a third, that not only did
+the posts as they stood afford all reasonable accommodation,
+but it was beyond the power of human ingenuity to devise
+a better system.</p>
+
+<p>Of these and other objections Pitt made short work.
+He summoned a conference at the Treasury, at which
+were present the postmasters-general, Palmer, and the
+objectors; and having patiently listened to all that could
+be urged against the plan, he desired that it should
+be tried on what was commonly called the Bath road, the
+road between Bristol and London. This conference was
+held on the 21st of June 1784. On Saturday the 31st
+of July an agreement was signed under which, in consideration
+of a payment of 3d. a mile, five innholders&mdash;one
+belonging to London, one to Thatcham, one to Marlborough,
+and two to Bath&mdash;undertook to provide the horses; and
+on Monday the 2nd of August the first mail-coach began
+to run.</p>
+
+<p>It is unfortunate that of the early performances of this
+coach no record remains. We only know that on the first
+journey it started from Bristol and not from London, and
+that Palmer was present to see it off; that, ordinarily, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+distance was accomplished in seventeen hours, being at
+the rate of about seven miles an hour; and that, as a
+result, the expresses to Bristol, which before 1784 had
+been as many as 200 in the year, ceased altogether.
+Ten or twelve years later, indeed, the expresses for the
+whole of the kingdom were not one-fifth of what, before
+1784, was the number for the city of Bristol alone.</p>
+
+<p>Palmer's plan, once introduced, made rapid progress.
+Mail-coaches began to run through Norfolk and Suffolk
+in March 1785; and on the cross-road between Bristol
+and Portsmouth in the following May. On the 25th of
+July the plan was extended to Leeds, Manchester, and
+Liverpool, and during the next two months to Gloucester
+and Swansea; to Hereford, Carmarthen, and Milford Haven;
+to Worcester and Ludlow; to Birmingham and Shrewsbury;
+to Chester and Holyhead; to Exeter; to Portsmouth; to
+Dover and other places. The Great North Road was
+reserved to the last, and here the plan was carried into
+effect in the summer of 1786.</p>
+
+<p>It may be convenient here to say a few words on the
+subject of nomenclature. Post-coach, a term in vogue
+about this time,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> might not unnaturally be supposed to
+denote a coach in use by the Post Office. Such, however,
+was not the case. The term post-coach, like the kindred
+term post-chaise, was introduced probably early in the
+last century, and, so far as we are aware, was never employed
+in the sense of mail-coach. It should further be noticed
+that the term mail-coach, although we have employed it
+to make our meaning clear, did not come into use until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+after 1784. In that year, and for some little time afterwards,
+coaches which carried the mails were called diligences
+or machines, and the coachmen were called machine-drivers.</p>
+
+<p>The plan of carrying letters by mail-coach was, on its
+introduction, sadly marred by a simultaneous or almost
+simultaneous increase in the rates of postage. Pitt had
+brought forward his budget on the 30th of June; and
+among the measures he proposed with a view to replenish
+an exhausted Exchequer was a tax upon coals. The proposal
+was not well received by the House, and it was
+afterwards withdrawn in favour of an increase of postage.
+Palmer took credit to himself that he had proposed the
+substitution. If, as would appear to be the case, the claim
+is well founded, one can only regret that he should thus
+wantonly have handicapped his own proceedings. It is
+true, no doubt, that he was about to make the post both
+quicker and more secure; that he would have a better
+article to dispose of, an article that would fetch a higher
+price. It is also true that his plan, weighted as it was,
+proved an unqualified success. And yet it is impossible to
+deny that his reputation as a Post Office reformer, high as
+it stands, would have stood still higher if his counsel had
+been on the side of reduction.</p>
+
+<p>The rates prescribed by the Act of 1784, as compared
+with those of 1765, were as follows:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates6">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1765</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1784.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">S</td><td align="center">D</td><td align="center">T</td><td align="center">O</td><td align="center">S</td><td align="center">D</td><td align="center">T</td><td align="center">O</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">i</td><td align="center">o</td><td align="center">r</td><td align="center">u</td><td align="center">i</td><td align="center">o</td><td align="center">r</td><td align="center">u</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">n</td><td align="center">u</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">n</td><td align="center">n</td><td align="center">u</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">n</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">g</td><td align="center">b</td><td align="center">b</td><td align="center">c</td><td align="center">g</td><td align="center">b</td><td align="center">b</td><td align="center">c</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">l</td><td align="center">e</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">e</td><td align="center">.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Distance.</span></td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not exceeding one post stage</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">8</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding one and not</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exceeding two post stages</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding two post stages</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;and not exceeding 80 miles</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 80 and not</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Edinburgh</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">28</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates7">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{ The Irish Post Office had only</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{ recently been placed under the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{ authority of the Irish Parliament;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Dublin</td><td align="left">{ and the rates of postage, not only</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{within Ireland, but between Ireland</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{ and Great Britain, were awaiting</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{ revision.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates8">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Within Scotland.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"> (Measured from Edinburgh.)</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not exceeding one post stage</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">8</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding one post stage and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;not exceeding 50 miles</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 50 miles and not</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exceeding 80 miles</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 80 and not</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The same Act which increased the rates of postage imposed,
+or sought to impose, additional restrictions upon
+franking. Some concessions indeed were made. Letters
+from members of Parliament, in order to secure exemption,
+need no longer be limited, in point of weight, to two ounces
+and, in point of time, to the session of Parliament and forty
+days before and after. As part of the superscription,
+however, were now to be given the full date of the
+letter, the day, the month, and the year, all in the member's
+handwriting; and the letter was to be posted on the
+date which the superscription bore. These restrictions,
+it was confidently expected, would correct the worst abuses
+and render the concessions harmless. But, curiously enough,
+like the restrictions of 1764, they had an exactly contrary
+effect to that which was intended. The members sent to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+constituents and friends, for use as occasion should serve,
+franks that were post-dated. These the Post Office charged,
+as coming from places where the members were known not
+to be. The members remonstrated, demanding to be
+informed in what respects the conditions of the Act had not
+been satisfied. The dispute waxing warm, the matter was
+referred to Pitt; and Pitt, after testing the opinion of the
+House, decided that pending fresh legislation the charges
+should be abandoned. Practically, therefore, the abuses
+which the Act was designed to prevent were not only not
+prevented but were given wider scope.</p>
+
+<p>Palmer maintained to the end of his life that during the
+two years which followed the starting of the first mail-coach
+he was thwarted and opposed by the Post Office. This
+charge, so far as it refers to those by whom the Post Office
+was managed and controlled, we believe to be groundless.
+That he had difficulties with contractors and postmasters is
+beyond question. Contractors were at all times troublesome
+persons to deal with, but they were not Post Office servants;
+and postmasters might well be excused if they looked
+askance at the new plan. Their salaries, low as they were,
+had long been shamefully reduced by exactions at headquarters
+under the name of fees; and what little they had
+been able to make out of their allowances for riding-work
+was now threatened by a system under which that work
+was to be done by contract. But the charge was not
+confined to contractors and postmasters. It extended to
+those who controlled and directed the Post Office, to
+Carteret and Tankerville and to their confidential adviser,
+the secretary; and, as we believe, with very insufficient
+reason. Carteret was indifferent. Tankerville was sincerely
+desirous of a reform of the posts, from whatever quarter it
+might come. Anthony Todd, the secretary, was eminently
+a man of peace. Appointed to the Post Office in 1738, he
+had arrived at a time of life when to most men ease and
+quiet are essential; and not only was he well advanced in
+years but it was not in his nature to thwart or oppose any
+one. All he wanted was to be left alone; and he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+shrewd enough to know that the best way to secure this
+object was not to molest others.</p>
+
+<p>Between Todd and Palmer, indeed, there was little
+in common. Palmer, in everything he undertook, was
+intensely in earnest. Todd, on the contrary, could with
+difficulty get up even an appearance of earnestness
+about anything which did not concern himself. Even
+of his duty Todd took a view which must have been
+absolutely repugnant to Palmer. Lloyds's coffee-house was
+supplied by the Post Office with the arrivals and sailings
+of British ships, and it paid for the information no less
+than £200 a year. One-half of this amount went into
+Todd's own pocket; and yet, according to him, the
+giving of the information was a concession, an indulgence.
+"The merchants," he would write, "are indulged with ship
+news." To the Mayor of Shrewsbury, who had asked on
+behalf of the inhabitants for an earlier post, he deliberately
+wrote, "The arrival of the mail a few hours sooner or later
+can be of no great consequence." Not many years before, a
+despatch sent by express from Lord North to the Duke of
+Newcastle had been lost. Even to the minister Todd was
+not ashamed to write, "I dare to say there is no roguery in
+the case, but [that the letter has been] lost and trampled
+under foot in the dirty roads." Between a man who could
+take this view of his duty and Palmer, who was burning to
+perfect his plan, there could be little sympathy; but there
+was certainly no active antagonism. That, as Palmer
+extended his plan, doubts as to its merits arose at headquarters
+is perfectly true; but they were honest doubts,
+doubts which might excusably be entertained and which, if
+entertained, the Post Office was bound to express. Palmer,
+who regarded every one who was not for him as being
+against him, construed the expression of a doubt into an
+act of hostility.</p>
+
+<p>Let us see what some of these doubts were, and whence
+they originated. In London, before the introduction of
+Palmer's plan, it had been the practice to wait for the
+arrival of all the mails before any one of them was delivered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+so that in the event of a single mail being behind time, no
+delivery at all might take place until three or four o'clock in
+the afternoon or even later. Palmer, of course, altered this.
+But now his interest in the Bristol coach led him to an
+opposite extreme. The Bristol mail was delivered the
+moment it arrived; and all other mails, by how little soever
+they might be later, were kept waiting. Again, before 1784
+the post was frequently diverted from the high road in
+order that adjacent villages might be served. On the Bath
+road, for instance, although on this road there were fewer
+diversions than on any other in the kingdom, the post left
+the turnpike road between Hungerford and Marlborough in
+order to go through Ramsbury. Under the new arrangement
+it would have defeated Palmer's object to leave the
+direct track, if indeed the state of the roads would have
+admitted of it; and as the coaches could not go to the
+villages, the villages had to send to the coaches. Not in
+these cases alone was there, at first, a very general failure
+to effect a junction. Along every road on which a mail-coach
+was started the bye and cross posts were deranged
+and thrown into confusion; and, as a consequence, the Post
+Office was swamped with complaints from those whose
+letters had been delayed.</p>
+
+<p>Had this been all, it would have been little more
+than might be expected in the course of transition
+from one system to another; but other causes of dissatisfaction
+arose. The Act of Parliament regulated the
+rates of postage according to stages&mdash;2d. in the case of a
+single letter, for one stage, 3d. for two stages, and beyond
+two stages and not exceeding eighty miles 4d.; but what
+was meant by the term stage the Act nowhere defined.
+Virtually it was in the power of one man, by the simple
+expedient of reducing the length of the stages and so increasing
+their number, to raise the rate of postage between
+any two towns in the kingdom that were not more than a
+certain number of miles apart. And this is exactly what
+Palmer did. From Rochester to Dartford, for instance, had
+been one stage. The single stage was replaced by two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+stages; and the postage, which had been 2d., became 3d.
+From Newbury to Devizes had been two stages. The two
+stages were increased to three; and the postage was raised
+from 3d. to 4d. And so it was throughout the kingdom.
+Well might the postmasters-general write, as they wrote
+under date the 7th of December 1785, "We are now at a
+loss in many instances how to rate letters and what to call
+by the name of a stage."</p>
+
+<p>But not even the increase of postage which resulted
+from shortening the stages gave so much offence as the
+earlier closing of the Post Office in Lombard Street. The
+Post Office had from the earliest times been kept open to at
+least twelve o'clock at night, and probably a little later.
+It now closed at seven o'clock in the evening, so as
+to admit of the mails starting at eight o'clock. Palmer
+had foreseen that objections might be raised to the change;
+but he was little prepared for the storm of indignation that
+followed. The first merchants in London, some of them
+bearing names still honoured in the city,&mdash;Thellusson,
+Lubbock and Bosanquet, Herries, Quentin Dick and Hoare,&mdash;protested
+in writing and afterwards waited on the postmasters-general
+in a body to support their protest. The leather-dealers
+followed suit, a body representing more than sixty
+firms. Some held that the Post Office should be kept open
+till nine o'clock, and others till ten or even eleven o'clock;
+but all were of opinion that seven was too early an hour to
+close. At a meeting held at the London Tavern, and presided
+over by one of the sheriffs, resolutions were passed,
+copies of which were afterwards presented to Pitt in person,
+not only condemning the early hour of closing but calling
+for the adoption of measures with a view "to remove the
+inconveniences which had hitherto been experienced from
+the establishment of mail-coaches." No wonder if the
+postmasters-general doubted the merits of a plan which
+exposed them to these complaints.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it only from without that troubles came. The
+letter-carriers were grumbling and more than grumbling;
+and not without reason. For more than seventy years they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+had been ringing bells in the streets after the receiving
+houses were shut&mdash;until 1769 on the three nights of the
+week called grand post nights, and since that date on the
+bye-nights as well&mdash;receiving as their own perquisite 1d.
+on each letter they collected. Hence the men had made a
+comfortable addition to their wages of 12s. a week; and
+now, owing to the closing of the Post Office at seven, the
+emoluments derived from this source were rapidly dwindling
+and promised soon to disappear altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Between Carteret and Tankerville differences now arose
+which, in view of subsequent events, it is impossible to
+pass unnoticed. On the break-up of the Shelburne administration
+in 1783, when Tankerville left the Post Office and
+Carteret remained, the two postmasters-general had parted
+with mutual expressions of regard and goodwill. A
+questionable transaction in which Carteret had been concerned,
+a transaction partaking of the nature of a corrupt
+bargain, had indeed come under Tankerville's notice; but
+he willingly attributed it to the malign influence exercised by
+his predecessor, Lord le Despencer. This favourable construction
+his later experience had induced him to modify.
+One case in particular which occurred soon after his return
+to the Post Office had aroused the most painful suspicions.
+On Monday the 2nd of August 1784, the same day as that
+on which the first mail-coach started, the Post Office of
+Ireland was separated from the Post Office of England.
+Into the reasons of this separation, being as they were
+political, we do not propose to enter. Suffice it to say that
+the Government of Ireland took advantage of the occasion
+to displace Armit, the secretary to the Irish Post Office,
+and to reappoint John Lees, who had been secretary from
+1774 to 1781, when he was promoted to the War Office.
+On his reappointment Lees wrote to the postmasters-general
+in London recapitulating the conditions on which he had
+been appointed ten years before, and stating that to those
+conditions, onerous as they were, he proposed in the main
+to adhere. He was indeed under no obligation in the
+matter, for he owed his reappointment to the Irish Government;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+but of this circumstance he had no desire to avail
+himself. Armit had taken over the conditions from Lees;
+and Lees would now resume them from Armit. Let us see
+what the conditions were. In 1774 Barham, the packet
+agent at Dover, being compelled by ill-health to retire, was
+succeeded by Walcot, the secretary to the Post Office in
+Ireland, and Walcot was succeeded by Lees, who was new
+to the service. Barham, though superannuated, was during
+his life to receive from Walcot the full salary and emoluments
+of the packet agency, and Walcot was during the
+same period to receive from Lees the full salary and emoluments
+of the secretaryship. Lees was meanwhile to receive
+from Walcot a small allowance for acting as secretary.
+Thus far there was nothing unusual in the arrangement.
+On the contrary, it was an arrangement which in those
+days was very commonly made. That which was unusual,
+and which nowhere appeared in the official records, was an
+undertaking into which Lees had entered to the effect that,
+after Barham's death, he would make to a fourth person
+during that person's life an annual payment of £350. This
+engagement Lees, when reappointed in 1784, expressed
+himself unwilling to renew. He was quite prepared to
+resume the payment to Walcot, reduced only to the same
+extent as by recent legislation the secretary's emoluments
+had been reduced; but the reversionary payment to the
+gentleman whom he would designate by the initials A. B.
+rested on different grounds. From this he must beg to be
+released.</p>
+
+<p>Now, who was A. B.? This was the question which
+Tankerville asked; and asked in vain. He could obtain
+no information on the subject. Meanwhile Carteret,
+who was extremely displeased and disquieted at the disclosure,
+caused an expression of his severe displeasure to be
+conveyed to Lees that he should have presumed to make
+public a transaction which was obviously designed to be
+private. Lees replied that, as he would be unable to keep
+the engagement, he was bound in honour to state so; that
+he had made known nothing more than was absolutely necessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+in order to obtain an acquittance, namely, that after
+Barham's death an annuity of £350 had been agreed to be
+paid to some one; but who this some one was had been,
+and would continue to be, a profound secret. In London it
+had been whispered, and more than whispered, that A. B.
+was Carteret himself. On this point Lees was emphatic.
+The transaction, he said, concerns no postmaster-general,
+either living or dead. "With Lord Carteret it has personally
+no more to do than with the King of France."</p>
+
+<p>Tankerville, though profoundly dissatisfied, resolved to
+let the matter drop; and during the next eighteen months
+the feeling of distrust with which he regarded Carteret did
+not prevent the two postmasters-general from working
+together harmoniously. It was not until June 1786 that
+an open rupture occurred. Some furniture had been ordered
+for the housekeeper's apartments, and Tankerville, regarding
+it as of too luxurious a nature, refused to countersign the
+bill unless the secretary could produce a precedent for the
+expense. This Todd might have had some difficulty in
+doing, as no housekeeper had resided on the Post Office
+premises since the year 1740; but instead of offering an
+explanation to that effect he waited for the next Board
+meeting, and, having already procured Carteret's signature
+to the bill, put it before Tankerville without remark.
+Tankerville, who never signed a document without examining
+its contents, inquired whether this was not the housekeeper's
+bill to which he had taken exception, and, on being
+answered in the affirmative, told Todd that he had been
+guilty of a gross impropriety. Carteret, who had made no
+secret of his opinion that it was no part of a postmaster-general's
+duty to check tradesmen's accounts, took Todd's
+part; whereupon Tankerville, whose temper was always
+running away with him, observed that he would do no jobs,
+and that if a good understanding between himself and
+Carteret were only to be procured by such means he would
+rather that they should continue on their present terms.</p>
+
+<p>The next business set down for discussion had a termination
+still more unfortunate. The office of comptroller of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+bye and cross roads had become vacant, and Carteret, whose
+turn it was to appoint, had appointed Staunton, the postmaster
+of Isleworth. In addition to a salary of £500 a
+year, the appointment carried a residence in the Post Office
+building; and as the residence occupied by the late
+comptroller had by Pitt's desire been given to Palmer,
+Carteret proposed that Staunton should be recommended to
+the Treasury for an allowance of £100 a year as compensation.
+Tankerville, who had been in personal communication
+with Pitt and ascertained that he would object to an
+allowance for such a purpose, declined to join in the
+recommendation, explaining the reason. Carteret's remarks
+implied, or seemed to imply, a doubt whether Pitt had
+really been seen on the subject, as alleged. Tankerville
+again lost his temper. High words ensued, and the Board
+broke up, Carteret declaring that it was impossible they
+should continue to act as joint postmasters-general, and
+that he should at once wait upon Pitt and inform him to
+that effect.</p>
+
+<p>Carteret was as good as his word. In three days from
+the date of the Board meeting at which the altercation had
+taken place he waited upon Pitt; and Pitt, after labouring
+in vain to effect a reconciliation, at length dismissed
+Tankerville. Tankerville, who had been in constant communication
+with the minister on the subject of the abuses
+at the Post Office, and had sedulously applied himself to
+their correction, was hardly less surprised than he was
+indignant; and restating the origin of the disagreement
+between himself and his colleague, he demanded to be
+informed in what respects he had been to blame. Pitt
+replied that he could not enter into the merits of the
+question; that all it concerned him to know was that
+Carteret was necessary to him in the House of Lords; and
+that, as Carteret had expressed himself unable to act any
+longer with Tankerville, it had become essential to make
+another arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>This decision as between two colleagues, of whom
+one was as clearly actuated by honesty of purpose as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+the other was not, a decision given too by a minister
+who had already established a character for purity
+of administration, seems so extraordinary that we must
+look for some further explanation. The truth we believe
+to be that owing to an ungovernable temper Tankerville was
+simply intractable, and had shewn himself to Pitt to be so.
+Even Todd, who with all his faults was essentially a man of
+peace, was unable to get on with him. "I am sorry to
+say," he wrote on one occasion, "your Lordship is the only
+postmaster-general I have not had the happiness to serve
+under with his perfect approbation." On another occasion
+he wrote to Carteret: "I have had a very unpleasant day
+of it. His Lordship is so completely jealous and wrong-headed,
+so that without entering into unpleasing particulars
+I had better leave him to his own thoughts." Tankerville's
+own letters afford evidence to the same effect. "I shall
+not be disposed to talk coolly on the subject of Mr.
+Dashwood, or hear anything you may have to say, unless
+you can prove him guilty of fraud, which I do not
+admit, but now tell you distinctly that I believe Lord
+Carteret has been indebted to you for that forced construction."
+Again, "I do not find that I cool very fast,"
+Tankerville wrote from Brighton a week or so after
+the incident which had excited his ire. Ever his own
+worst enemy, he now spoiled a good ease, so far as
+it was possible to spoil it, by intemperate writing. Instead
+of keeping to the main question, he rambled off into
+side-issues which were all but irrelevant. Carteret had
+spoken of one interview with Pitt. Pitt had expressed
+himself as though there had been more than one. The point
+was absolutely unimportant. Yet Tankerville fastened
+upon it, and, declaring that one or the other must have
+been guilty of untruth, called upon them as men of honour
+to reconcile the discrepancy.</p>
+
+<p>Intemperate as Tankerville's language had been, it was
+impossible that things should remain as they were.
+Nothing but a public inquiry would satisfy the justice of
+the case; and on this he was resolved. It was a matter of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+regret to him to impeach Carteret's conduct; but there was
+no other method of vindicating his own. "The causes of
+my removal," he wrote, "shall be made as public as the
+injury; and, however gratified your Lordship and those in
+concert with you may at present feel by the success of your
+measures, I will take upon me to foretell that the triumph
+will soon be at an end. I have been removed; others will
+be disgraced." "When your Lordship," replied Carteret,
+"shall think proper to bring this matter before the public,
+I flatter myself my conduct will be unimpeached."</p>
+
+<p>A Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry was granted, and
+met for the first time on the 16th of May 1787. The
+session terminated on the 30th of the same month. Short as
+the interval was, evidence enough was taken to substantiate
+all and more than all that Tankerville had alleged. The
+Committee reported that a payment of £350 a year had
+been exacted from Lees as a condition of his appointment
+as secretary to the Post Office in Ireland; that a payment
+of £200 a year had been similarly exacted from Dashwood,
+the postmaster-general of Jamaica; that, while Lees had
+engaged to pay only in a future event, the payment in
+Dashwood's case had begun from the date of his appointment;
+that both payments were in favour of the person
+who had been designated by the initials A. B.; that the
+transactions, though protested against at the time, had been
+insisted upon by Lords Carteret and Le Despencer; and
+that not only had no record of them been made in the
+official books, but they had been kept carefully concealed.
+The Committee further reported that scandalous abuses had
+been found to exist at the Post Office, abuses which should
+be examined into and corrected forthwith; and that of
+many of these the First Lord of the Treasury had been
+specifically informed by Lord Tankerville before the latter
+was dismissed.</p>
+
+<p>The chief interest of the inquiry, however, centred
+in the question&mdash;who was A. B.? A. B. proved to be
+one Peregrine Treves, a so-called friend of Carteret's,
+who had never performed any public service either in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+Post Office or elsewhere. "Are you not a Jew and a
+foreigner?" asked the inexorable Committee. "Yes," was
+the reply. "In consideration of what services," the Committee
+continued, "did you receive these grants?" "From
+friendship entirely," answered Treves.</p>
+
+<p>Tankerville's prediction had been amply fulfilled. It
+was not he that was disgraced. Yet, curiously enough,
+Carteret made no sign. And even Pitt did nothing more
+than expedite the proceedings of a Royal Commission which
+was already sitting. This Commission had been appointed
+at his instigation some years before to inquire into the
+duties and the pay of certain public departments, of which
+the Post Office was one. It was now arranged that the
+Post Office was to be the next to come under review.</p>
+
+<p>During these dissensions at headquarters Palmer's plan
+had made steady progress. Many of the irregularities
+inseparable from the introduction of a new system had been
+corrected. The cross-posts had been fitted to the mail-coaches,
+so that failures of connection were daily becoming
+fewer; and when the merchants found that answers to
+their letters were being received in less than half the usual
+time, and with a degree of punctuality never experienced
+before, their complaints respecting the early closing of the
+Post Office appear to have died away. The Post Office
+revenue bore evidence to the improved state of things, the
+net receipt during the quarter ending the 5th of January
+1787 being £73,000, as against £51,000 during the
+corresponding quarter of 1784. According to all experience,
+the increase in the rates of postage should have
+had the effect of reducing the number of letters; but so far
+was this from being the case that the number of letters
+had increased in spite of the increase of rates. The truth
+is that clandestine correspondence had to a large extent
+ceased. There was no longer any temptation to send by
+irregular means, at a cost of two or three shillings, and at
+the risk of detection, a letter which would be conveyed at
+least as expeditiously and for one-third of that amount by
+mail-coach.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>Palmer, who had to this time been assisted by persons
+selected by himself and not belonging to the Post Office,
+now bestirred himself to procure for them an established
+position. Public and private interests were for once
+identical. Hitherto there had been only three surveyors
+for the whole of England; and of these one had resided
+in London. At Palmer's instigation, England was now
+divided into six postal districts, and a surveyor allotted to
+each. A seventh or spare surveyor was held in readiness
+to be detached to any part of the kingdom where his
+services might be required. Each surveyor was to reside
+in the centre of his district, and his functions, shortly
+stated, were to keep an accurate record of the posts and of
+the persons under his charge, to see that these persons did
+their duty, to facilitate correspondence and to remedy
+complaints. The resident surveyorship, an appointment
+which had been created in 1742, was abolished as no longer
+necessary, Palmer himself being at hand to give what
+advice the postmasters-general might require. The mode
+of remuneration was also altered. Hitherto the surveyors
+had received a salary of £300 a year without any allowance
+for travelling, the consequence being of course that they
+had travelled as little as possible. For the future the
+salary was to be only £100; but as an inducement to them
+to move about within their own districts, they were to have
+one guinea a day when absent from their headquarters.
+The whole of the additional appointments were conferred
+upon Palmer's nominees, and for the seventh or spare
+surveyorship he selected Francis Freeling, a young man of
+promise, who during the last two years had been actively
+engaged in regulating the mail-coaches throughout the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>It was about this time or a little earlier that the
+conditions of Palmer's own employment were, at length,
+definitely settled, but not by any means to his own satisfaction.
+His first stipulation was that, besides being
+absolutely free from the control of the postmasters-general,
+he should have a commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+increase in the net Post Office revenue, which should
+follow as the result of his own plan. Thus, the net Post
+Office revenue before August 1784 being estimated at
+£150,000, he stipulated for one-fortieth part of the excess
+over that amount. To this Pitt agreed; but freedom from
+the control of the postmasters-general was a point which it
+was out of his power to concede. The Act of Parliament
+constituting the Post Office would not admit of it. Even
+nominal subjection to the postmasters-general was so
+irksome to Palmer that he was constantly pressing that a
+special Act might be passed to give him perfect freedom.
+Nor was this all. The increase in the rates of postage
+which came into operation one month after the starting of
+the first mail-coach was estimated to produce £90,000 a
+year, and Pitt deemed it only reasonable that this amount
+should be added to the previous revenue of £150,000,
+making £240,000 altogether, before Palmer could be allowed
+to draw his percentage. Of this variation of the original
+understanding Palmer bitterly complained, not seeing
+apparently that, as the increase of rates had been recommended
+by himself, the complaint reflected on his own
+singleness of purpose in making the recommendation.</p>
+
+<p>Eventually it was decided that, in addition to a commission
+of 2-1/2 per cent upon the net revenue in excess
+of £240,000, Palmer should receive a salary of £1500;
+but even this settlement was not arrived at without
+grumbling on Palmer's part, and without serious misgiving
+on the part of the Post Office. Pitt highly approved the
+percentage, holding that it would serve as a constant
+incentive to exertion. Tankerville, while not denying the
+expediency of such a mode of remuneration, questioned its
+legality. Under the Act of Anne, which a subsequent Act
+had made perpetual, the Post Office revenue was appropriated
+to certain specific purposes; and he doubted the propriety
+of diverting any part of it as a reward for services, however
+meritorious. Clarendon, Tankerville's successor, entertained
+the same scruples; and except by the postmasters-general
+no appointment within the Post Office could be made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+Palmer's objection, on the contrary, was to the amount of
+salary, on the ground that £1500 did not represent the
+fortieth part of £90,000. Pitt declined, however, to give
+way; and on the 11th of October 1786 Palmer was
+appointed comptroller-general of the Post Office on the
+terms prescribed by the minister.</p>
+
+<p>There can be no question that Palmer bargaining for
+terms is Palmer seen in his least pleasing aspect. The best
+that can be said is that he was candid enough not to
+disguise his object, which was to amass a fortune. At
+Bath he had in his boyhood seen Ralph Allen living in a
+large house and dispensing hospitality on an extensive scale,
+and he could not bring himself to understand why the
+difference between his own and Allen's remuneration should
+be in the inverse ratio to the value of their improvements.
+And not only did Palmer exhibit an unworthy jealousy of
+Allen, but he did that good man, as we think, an injustice.
+When urging his own claims on the minister, he constantly
+insisted that Allen, on the introduction of his plan, had no
+difficulties to contend with, and that he kept that plan a
+secret. Never was there a more untenable position. That
+Allen had difficulties to contend with and how he overcame
+them we have seen in a preceding chapter; and the charge
+of keeping his plan a secret is refuted by the conditions of
+his contract, which prevented him from giving an instruction
+even to his own servants until it had been submitted to
+headquarters. No doubt it was not known until after his
+death that Allen had derived from the Post Office an income
+of £12,000 a year. His wealth had been supposed to
+come from the stone-quarries he possessed on Combe Down.
+But this was not the contention. What Palmer insisted
+upon was that, while he had disclosed his plan, Allen had
+kept his plan secret, and that, if only on that ground, the
+balance of merit was on his own side.</p>
+
+<p>In December 1787 the Commission of Inquiry commenced
+its labours. Exactly a century had elapsed since the Post
+Office had undergone a similar ordeal, a period too long for
+any public department to be left to itself; and meanwhile<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+abuses had taken root and flourished. One hundred years
+before there had been no sinecures. Now the principal
+officers attended, some of them only occasionally and others
+not at all; and attendance, when attendance was given, often
+extended no later than to one or two o'clock in the afternoon.
+The receiver-general, for instance, attended on three
+days a week; and the accountant-general attended once or
+twice in three months, when the quarterly balance had to
+be made up. Court-post employed a deputy, to whom, out
+of a salary of £730, he made an annual allowance of £58.
+The solicitor, like court-post, was an absentee, but, unlike
+him, was careful not to part with even a fraction of his
+salary. In this case the deputy received as remuneration
+one-third part of the law charges incurred&mdash;a form of payment
+calculated more perhaps than any other to promote
+litigation. In the Penny Post Office were three principal
+officers&mdash;a comptroller, an accountant, and a collector. Of
+these the first two gave no attendance, and the third
+attended only occasionally, their duties being imposed upon
+the chief sorter, who, in all but salary, was practically the
+head of the department.</p>
+
+<p>Meagre salaries were bolstered up by fees and perquisites,
+many of them of an outrageous character.
+While the senior letter-carrier was rigidly restricted
+to 312 candles in the year, a number not perhaps
+in excess of his actual requirements, there was hardly an
+officer reputed to be of any position in the Post Office,
+whether an absentee or otherwise, who was not provided
+with coals and candles for his private use. Although to
+some the supply of these articles was greater than to others,
+the usual annual allowance was, in the case of a subordinate,
+four, and, in the case of the head of a department, ten
+chaldron of coals, and in both cases thirty-two dozen pounds
+of candles. As the holder of two appointments, although
+he discharged the duties of only one of them, the comptroller
+of the bye and cross roads received a double allowance.
+Many commuted with the tradesmen whose duty it was to
+supply the articles for a money payment. Altogether the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+allowance to Post Office servants for their private use in
+town and country, and irrespective of what was consumed
+in the official apartments, exceeded in a single year 300
+chaldron of coals and 20,000 pounds of candles.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general had long ceased to reside in the
+Post Office building; and yet to them was supplied, besides
+coals and candles, what was euphoniously termed tinware, by
+which is to be understood kitchen utensils. The expenditure
+on their account under the three heads during two years
+and a half was, for coals £2230, for candles £700, and for
+pots and pans £150.</p>
+
+<p>Of stationery there was also a gratuitous supply for
+private as well as official use. One fee was a peculiarly
+cruel one, exacted as it was from a class of public servants
+who were unable to protect themselves. All postmasters
+whose salaries amounted to as much as £20
+were forced to renew their deputations every three years,
+with no other object than to enrich the harpies at
+headquarters. On each renewal the same fee had to be
+paid as on appointment, namely £4:11s.; and of this
+amount 30s. went to each of the postmasters-general, 10s.
+to the secretary, 10s. to the solicitor, and 1s. to the door-keeper.
+The remainder was for stamp duty. Postmasters
+were also required to pay a fee of half a guinea before
+receiving a warrant to exempt them from serving in public
+offices. Christmas-boxes given by the merchants, and
+designed for the letter-carriers and other subordinates, were
+to a large extent appropriated by their superiors. From
+this source the comptroller of the foreign office, with an
+official income of £1300, was not ashamed to derive £34 a
+year. Others from the same source derived smaller amounts.
+Newspapers for reading were supplied in profligate profusion.
+One head of department was allowed for his own use
+two morning and five evening papers; another was paid
+£42:16s. a year to supply himself with what papers he
+pleased. All, whether absentees or not, received an annual
+payment under the title of drink and feast money, the lowest
+amount being £1:17s. and the highest £3:17s., and this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+was in addition to three or four so-called feasts given
+annually at the cost of the department. These with percentages
+on tradesmen's bills were some of the fees and
+perquisites which were now dragged to the light.</p>
+
+<p>Out of the whole number there was only one which,
+besides being moderate and unobjectionable, possessed a
+certain interest as denoting the connection which had
+at one time subsisted between the Post Office and the
+Crown. This was a fee of 1s. received by the chief sorter
+at the General Post Office on the occasion of a birthday
+in the Royal Family; and as the Royal Family now consisted
+of twenty-one members, his emoluments from this
+source amounted to one guinea in the year.</p>
+
+<p>There were two points on which the Royal Commissioners
+appear to have received less than full information. These
+were expresses and registered letters. Expresses, according
+to the old custom of the post, were still going at the rate of
+only six miles an hour, while the mail-coaches were going
+at the rate of eight. To this difference the Commissioners
+called attention; but they were silent as to the fees which
+some expresses paid, being apparently under the impression
+that all were treated alike. As a matter of fact, however,
+expresses had by this time been divided into two kinds&mdash;the
+public express and the private express. The public
+express, that is the express on public affairs, was allowed
+to pass without a fee, no doubt because the Post Office
+dared not impose one; but on every private express, in
+addition to the authorised mileage, was charged, if from
+London, a fee of 12s. 6d., and if from the country, a fee of
+2s. 6d.; and of course in this, as in every other case, the
+fees were for the benefit of individuals.</p>
+
+<p>On the subject of registered letters addressed to places
+abroad the Commissioners merely expressed the opinion that
+the registration fee, instead of being any longer treated
+as a perquisite, should be applied to the use of the public;
+but they nowhere stated, and perhaps had not been informed,
+what this fee was. It may be interesting if we
+supply the omission. The fee for registering a packet of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+value was, outwards<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> 21s., and inwards 5s. It seems incredible,
+and yet such is the unquestionable fact. For every
+letter registered for abroad the comptroller of the foreign
+office received 10s. 6d., the deputy-comptroller 4s. 6d., and
+six clerks 1s. apiece. One guinea for registration! And it
+was all the more monstrous because there can be little
+doubt that at one time letters had been practically registered
+without any fee at all. An Order in Council dated as far
+back as July 1556 had ordained "that the poste between
+this and the Northe should eche of them keepe a booke and
+make entrye of every letter that he shall receive, the tyme
+of the deliverie thereof unto his hands with the parties
+names that shall bring it unto him, whose handes he shall
+also take to his booke, witnessing the same note to be trewe."
+In 1603 another Order in Council passed, requiring that
+"every post shall keepe a large and faire leger paper booke,
+to enter our packets in as they shalbe brought unto him,
+with the day of the moneth, houre of the day or night, that
+they came first to his handes, together with the name of
+him or them, by whom or unto whom they were subscribed
+and directed." In 1680 Dockwra, when establishing his
+penny post, was careful to provide that letters on reaching
+any one of his seven sorting offices should be "entered";
+and in a mere detail of treatment, it may well be believed,
+he followed the practice of the general post. In 1707
+letters from abroad arriving at Harwich were not to be forwarded
+to the Court at Newmarket until the addresses had
+been copied. And more than this. In 1709 two letters
+between London and Ostend had been delayed, and it
+became important to discover where the delay had occurred.
+"We find them," wrote the postmasters-general, "both duly
+entered in Mr. Frowde's books, and are satisfy'd they were
+regularly dispatched from this office." Now Mr. Frowde<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+was comptroller of the foreign office. It may be added that,
+small as was the force employed at the end of the seventeenth
+and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, it is
+difficult to account for the length of time which was then
+occupied in dealing with a mere handful of letters except on
+the hypothesis that there was a good deal more to be done
+than to sort and to tax them. And now the Post Office,
+upon no better authority than its own will, was exacting a
+fee of 21s. and 5s., according as the letter was outwards or
+inwards, for doing what some eighty years before had been
+done for nothing. The sums extorted from the public under
+this head were in 1783 £121, and in the following year
+£240.</p>
+
+<p>As regards the working arrangements, Palmer, in virtue
+of the power he possessed as comptroller-general, had already
+corrected those that were most faulty. Until lately, the
+letter-carriers' walks had been so extensive that many of
+the deliveries could not be accomplished within five or six
+hours. Palmer had arranged that no delivery should occupy
+more than two hours or two hours and a half at the utmost,
+counting from the time of despatch from the General Post
+Office. It had been the practice for the junior clerks, the
+clerks with the least experience, to sort the letters for
+delivery, the consequence being that they reached the letter-carriers'
+hands in so confused a state that they had to be
+sorted again. Hence it had been by no means unusual for
+an interval of four or five hours to elapse between the
+arrival of the last mail and the going out of the letter-carriers.
+By appointing some of the most intelligent letter-carriers
+to sort the letters in the first instance, Palmer had
+reduced the interval to one hour on ordinary, and to one
+hour and a half on extraordinary occasions. As many as
+400 postmasters had returned their letter-bills in one
+week, and on the plea of having been overcharged had
+claimed and been allowed deductions. Palmer had checked
+this abuse by arranging that in the case of those postmasters
+who were in the habit of returning their letter-bills the
+charges should be twice told. He had also reduced the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+amount expended on extra duty by £2000 a year. Heretofore,
+if a man had chosen to absent himself, the Post
+Office had provided a substitute. For the future the
+substitute was to be provided at the absentee's own
+expense.</p>
+
+<p>But although Palmer had already corrected the most
+faulty of the arrangements, some still existed which could
+not be pronounced good. The accountant-general was
+intended to be a check upon the receiver-general; yet,
+instead of keeping an independent record of the sums
+received, he merely transcribed or caused to be transcribed
+the entries from the receiver-general's books. The
+accountant-general, again, was required to certify every
+bill before the postmasters-general passed it for payment;
+but as he was not empowered to call for vouchers
+or for the authority under which the expenditure had been
+incurred, his certificate conveyed nothing more than that
+the bill had been rightly cast. The accounts themselves
+appear to have been rendered in the strangest manner.
+The article "Dead Letters," for instance, was made to serve
+a variety of purposes. Under this article postmasters were
+accustomed to claim chaise-hire, law charges, and even
+pensions to private persons.</p>
+
+<p>The packet service was a part of the Post Office which
+the Commissioners would fain have avoided if they could;
+but the public voice was too strong for them. The enormous
+expenditure which this service involved had long excited
+murmurs, and the opportunity which now offered of investigating
+the causes of it was one which could not with
+any regard to propriety be missed. Accordingly the inquiry
+was entered upon; but with a desire to restrict it as far as
+possible the Commissioners did not extend their investigations
+beyond the packet station at Falmouth, where more than
+three-fourths of the expenditure was incurred. To ourselves,
+who are under no obligation to observe a similar limit,
+perhaps a little more latitude may be allowed.</p>
+
+<p>The continental mails by way of Dover and Harwich
+went at this time only twice a week; and by a curious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+arrangement these mails started from the General Post
+Office at midnight, although the inland mails for the same
+towns and going by the same route started at eight o'clock
+in the evening. At Harwich the packet station had
+abandoned itself to smuggling. In 1774 two packets, the
+<i>Bessborough</i> and the <i>Prince of Wales</i>, were seized for having
+contraband goods on board. Not a single voyage had these
+packets made during the last two years without committing
+a similar infringement of the law. The Commissioners of
+Customs, whose patience was exhausted, now commenced
+proceedings in the Court of Exchequer, and were prevailed
+upon to abandon them only upon the captains, who were
+also owners of the vessels, paying by way of fine two-third
+parts of their appraised value&mdash;amounting to £306 in one
+case and to £272 in the other&mdash;of which sums one-half
+was to go to the Crown and one-half to the officer by whom
+the goods had been discovered. This high reward was not
+long in reproducing the occasion on account of which it had
+been given. In November 1777 another seizure took place,
+this time of three packets simultaneously, two of them being
+the same as had been seized in 1774. The third was the
+<i>Dolphin</i>. On this occasion the Commissioners of Customs
+determined that the vessels should be prosecuted to
+condemnation. In vain the postmasters-general urged that
+the law was a hard one which made the captains responsible
+for offences which, it was alleged, they had done their best
+to check. The customs authorities were inexorable. It
+was not long, however, before the Post Office became
+possessed of certain facts which, when investigated, proved
+beyond a doubt that there had for years past been collusion
+of the grossest character. On every voyage contraband
+goods&mdash;chiefly tea, coffee, and gin&mdash;had, with the connivance
+of the local officers of customs, been imported in large
+quantities; and of these only a part, a comparatively small
+part, had been seized. Thus, the Post Office servants
+received from the goods that were left to them ample, and
+more than ample, compensation for those that were taken
+away; and the servants of the customs received from their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+Board in London both credit and reward for their vigilance.
+Nor was it by any means certain that the seizure of the
+packets in 1774 and again in 1777 was not another phase
+of the same collusive arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>At Falmouth the case was somewhat different. Smuggling,
+indeed, was going on there just as it was at Harwich.
+As far back as 1744 the customs had issued process against
+the captains of two of the Falmouth packets for having
+contraband goods on board. The case is only worthy of
+mention as shewing the loose notions which at that time
+prevailed even in high quarters on the subject of clandestine
+traffic. The postmasters-general of the day, Lord Lovell and
+Sir John Eyles, told the Board of Customs in so many
+words that their conduct was unhandsome. It was vain,
+they urged, to endeavour to prevent "these little clandestine
+importations and exportations" on board the packets; and
+if violent measures were to be resorted to, as in the present
+instance, no captain "of real worth and character" would be
+found to command, and "no fit and able" seamen to serve.
+Again, in 1776 the <i>Greyhound</i> packet was seized at the
+port of Kingston in Jamaica for attempting to smuggle
+spirits. Early in 1788 the <i>Queen Charlotte</i> packet was
+condemned and sold at the same port and for the same
+cause. In 1786 a special agent sent down to Falmouth
+by Tankerville reported that, according to common repute,
+no packet either proceeded on a voyage or returned from
+one without hovering about the coast for the purpose of
+shipping or unshipping goods.</p>
+
+<p>But, rife as smuggling was, it was something more
+than an infringement of the customs laws that now
+brought the packet station at Falmouth into notoriety.
+During the seventeen years ending the 5th of April
+1787, the cost of the packets had exceeded £1,038,000;
+and of this amount about £800,000 had been expended
+at Falmouth. At the present day, when a single
+mail steamer costs perhaps as much as £300,000, the
+sum of £1,000,000 sterling would not go far to create
+and maintain a fleet; but a century ago it was considered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+even when spread over a period of seventeen years, an
+enormous expenditure, an expenditure such as, in the
+language of the Royal Commissioners, almost to surpass
+credibility. And certainly there seems to have been good
+ground for this opinion. The packets altogether were
+only thirty-six in number, of which twenty-one were
+stationed at Falmouth. These were of no more than
+200 tons burthen, and were navigated with thirty men,
+five of them being the property of the Post Office and
+fifteen being hired. For each of the hired boats was paid the
+annual sum of £2129, and for each of the others the annual
+sum of £1529, these sums including the charge of manning
+and victualling. The sixteen packets stationed elsewhere than
+at Falmouth were hired at ridiculously low prices, at Dover
+for £412 a year each, at Harwich for £469, and at Holyhead
+for £350. To expend upon the packets under such
+conditions as these more than £1,000,000 sterling in the
+course of seventeen years required no small amount of
+ingenuity. How was it managed? This was the question
+which the Royal Commissioners now set themselves to
+solve.</p>
+
+<p>The grossest abuses were found to exist. The hire of
+the packets had been paid when they were under seizure for
+smuggling, and under repair, and even when they were
+building. In the case of packets that were building and
+under repair the victualling allowance paid when there
+were no men to victual had amounted in twelve years and
+a half to £56,000. When packets had been taken by the
+enemy the hire of them had been paid for months beyond
+the date of their capture; and this was in addition to
+compensation to the owners, which, however old and rotten
+the packet might be, was fixed at her original value when
+taken into the service. Compensation to the captains had
+also been given for the loss of their private property and of
+provisions. For provisions the compensation had always
+been as for six months' supply, although the supply that
+was actually on board might not be enough for one month;
+and for their private property the captains had been compensated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>
+at their own valuation. Whatever they had asked
+they had received without examination and without question.
+This astounding prodigality indulged in at the expense of
+the State is easily explained. The Post Office servants in
+London, down even to the chamber-keeper, had shares in
+the packets; and of these servants the one who possessed
+by far the largest number of shares was Anthony Todd,
+the secretary. Todd also received a commission of 2-1/2
+per cent upon the entire sum expended on the packet
+establishment of the kingdom. Thus, the very man whose
+duty it was to check the expenditure had a direct personal
+interest in making the expenditure as high as possible.</p>
+
+<p>The salary of the Secretary to the Post Office remained,
+as it was fixed in 1703, at £200 a year; and whatever Todd
+received over and above that amount, he received without
+authority. Let us see what his actual receipts were. In
+addition to his proper salary of £200, he had what was
+called a bye salary of £75. Bye had at one time meant
+out of course or clandestine; and this meaning would perhaps
+not be inappropriate here. He had for coach hire £100 a
+year. He had another £100 a year from Lloyds's coffee-house.
+He had from fees on commissions and deputations
+£154 a year. He had every year twenty chaldron of coal
+and twelve dozen of wax and sixty-four dozen of tallow
+candles, valued by himself at £103. He had an unfurnished
+residence with stables in the Post Office building; and he
+received annually from the East India Company eight
+pounds of tea and two dozen of arrack. But this was by
+no means all. As former clerk in the foreign branch, an
+appointment which he still retained, he had a salary of £50
+and an allowance of £100 a year for so-called disbursements,
+which he never made. He had also, in his capacity of
+clerk, £15 a year for coach-hire and ten chaldron of coal
+and thirty-two dozen of candles, valued at £40. Besides
+all this, he had his commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon the
+entire packet expenditure of the country, from which source
+he derived in the year 1782 no less than £2136. Altogether,
+Todd's modest salary of £200 a year had, by his own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>
+unaided exertions, been converted into an annual income
+of more than £3000.</p>
+
+<p>The extent of Todd's emoluments, his commission on the
+packet expenditure, the outrageous character of some of the
+fees and perquisites which he and others were receiving,
+the absenteeism, the abuses generally&mdash;all this had long
+been known to Pitt. Much he had heard from Tankerville,
+and still more, probably, from Palmer. But before either
+Palmer or Tankerville became connected with the Post Office,
+Pitt had been aware of many, if not most, of the abuses
+which prevailed there. As early as 1782 one of his first
+acts after becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in the
+Shelburne administration was to give peremptory orders
+that no more packets were to be either built or purchased
+without Treasury authority. For such authority it had
+hitherto been the practice to ask before setting up new
+packets, but not before replacing old ones&mdash;packets that were
+worn out or alleged to be worn out, or that had been lost or
+captured. This was a distinction which had existed since
+packets were first established, and to which, nearly a
+hundred years before, Cotton and Frankland had attached
+great importance. It was now to exist no longer. In
+1783 Pitt called for a return of the fees and perquisites
+received at the Post Office, and it was not until after this
+return had been furnished and possibly in consequence of it
+that the Commission of Inquiry was appointed. "Did you
+ever communicate this transaction to Mr. Pitt," inquired
+the Parliamentary Committee in 1787. "I did," replied
+Tankerville, "but found him not ill-informed on the subject
+in general."</p>
+
+<p>It may seem strange that with the knowledge which
+he unquestionably possessed respecting the prevalent
+abuses Pitt should have allowed them to go on so long uncorrected.
+The explanation we believe to be twofold. In
+the first place he was unwilling to do or suffer to be done
+anything which might interfere with the introduction of
+Palmer's improvements. This was a point on which Pitt
+never ceased to betray the utmost anxiety. To embark on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+any general system of reform might conflict with the new
+plan. Let the plan be established first and the abuses could
+be corrected afterwards. Hence it was, no doubt, that of
+all the public offices to be inquired into, the Post Office, in
+spite of the notoriety which its abuses had acquired, was
+taken last. But this, although the primary explanation,
+was not, we suspect, the only one. Incorrupt himself, Pitt
+was extraordinarily tolerant of corruption in others.
+Witness his defence of Melville. Even of Carteret's transaction
+with Peregrine Treves he could never be brought to
+admit more than that it was not a proper one. This
+tolerance in others of what he would have scorned to do
+himself we attribute to a conviction on his part that abuses
+were less to be charged against individuals than as the
+result of a bad system which made the abuses possible; and
+what, if we mistake not, Pitt had proposed to himself was
+to bring to bear upon this system the force of public opinion.
+A ruthless exposure, we have little doubt, had been in
+contemplation; and yet when the time for exposure came,
+Pitt held back. Whether it was that the abuses proved too
+flagrant to be published with safety or that their correction
+would involve more time or more money than could then
+be spared, the fact remains that, after receiving the report
+of the Commission, Pitt locked it up in his despatch box and
+kept it there for the space of four years; and not even the
+postmasters-general could procure a copy.</p>
+
+<p>But secret as the report of the Commission was kept,
+the procedure at the Post Office was about to undergo a
+radical change. A change indeed had already begun.
+Tankerville, on his dismissal in August 1786, had been
+succeeded by Lord Clarendon; and Clarendon died in the
+following December. Then followed an interval of eight
+months, during which Carteret alone administered the Post
+Office and, as was usual on such occasions, drew the double
+salary. At length, as Carteret's colleague, Pitt appointed
+Lord Walsingham; and from that moment irregularity and
+disorder were at an end. Nothing escaped Walsingham's
+vigilant eye. To neglect or evasion of work he shewed no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+mercy. The man honestly striving to do his duty had no
+better friend. His industry and power of work were simply
+amazing. All instructions were prepared by him. Not a
+single letter of any importance was received at the Post
+Office without the answer to it being drafted in his own
+hand. Generous to a fault with his own money, he
+regarded the money of the public as a sacred trust, a trust
+which could not be discharged too scrupulously. Carteret's
+opinion was well known, that it was no part of a postmaster-general's
+duty to check accounts. Walsingham, on the
+contrary, would allow no account to be passed until he had
+checked it; and his checking went a good deal beyond the
+casting. Unless the articles were necessary and the charges
+reasonable, and unless they were proved to be so to his
+satisfaction, the account had a sorry chance of being passed.
+The official hours of attendance had hitherto been pretty
+much what each man chose to make them. To Walsingham
+all hours were alike; and at all hours he exacted attendance
+from others. "It is utterly impossible," wrote the head of
+one department, "for the accounts to be ready for your
+inspection to-morrow evening." "I will not fail," wrote the
+head of another, "to do myself the honour of waiting upon
+your Lordship to-morrow morning at eight precisely."</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham, on entering upon his duties at the Post
+Office, was concerned to find that to documents requiring
+to be signed by the two postmasters-general Carteret
+attached his signature first. Carteret's peerage dated from
+1784, and Walsingham's from 1780. Surely the peer
+of older creation should sign first; and such, Walsingham
+found on inquiry, had been the practice hitherto. Pitt,
+though overwhelmed with business, was called upon to
+decide the momentous question. He was sorry, he said,
+that in the preparation of the patent the practice of the
+Post Office had been overlooked. It was a strange practice,
+a practice different from that of all other public offices.
+There the senior, the one who was first to enter the office,
+took precedence of the junior whatever his rank; and
+Carteret having been mentioned first in the patent must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+unquestionably sign first. But this, he added, need not
+be drawn into a precedent, and, on a new patent passing,
+the old practice of the office might be reverted to. We
+may here mention that a few years later the Earl of
+Chesterfield became Walsingham's colleague; but on that
+occasion Walsingham does not appear to have raised the
+question again or to have been unwilling to conform to
+the new practice. And, indeed, whether Walsingham
+signed before or after Carteret must to every one except
+himself have appeared of the least possible importance.
+Sign in what order he might, Walsingham's influence soon
+became paramount. Carteret might give what instruction
+he pleased, but unless endorsed by Walsingham a Post
+Office servant obeyed it at his peril. Walsingham, on the
+contrary, gave instructions without reference to his colleague,
+and exacted prompt and implicit obedience.</p>
+
+<p>With many of the qualities of a great man, Walsingham
+was strangely wanting in one particular. He had no sense
+of proportion. A trivial point hardly deserving of a
+moment's consideration he would elaborate as carefully as
+a measure involving large and important issues; and a
+clerical error or a slight indiscretion he would visit as
+severely as misconduct of the gravest character. Nor
+must we omit to mention a habit in which he indulged to
+an extent that has probably never been surpassed. This
+was a habit of annotating. Nothing came officially before
+him, whether a letter or a report or a book, without being
+covered in the margin and every available space with
+notes and queries; and, to add to the distraction which
+this mode of criticism seldom fails to cause, they were in
+so small and crabbed a hand as to be always difficult, and
+sometimes even with the aid of a magnifying-glass impossible,
+to decipher.</p>
+
+<p>There was only one person that had the slightest
+influence with Walsingham. This was Daniel Braithwaite,
+who, holding nominally the situation of clerk to the postmasters-general,
+was really their private secretary. Braithwaite
+was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Of consummate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+tact and judgment, and endowed with a peculiar sweetness
+of disposition, he contrived during difficult times to tone
+down asperities and to accommodate many a dissension
+which promised to become acute. Passing through his
+hands a harsh admonition was turned into a gentle reproof,
+and an imperious command into a courteous message. But
+under this softness of manner and a deference of language
+so profound that even Walsingham quizzed him on the
+number of "Lordships" he would introduce into a single
+letter, there lay concealed a solidity of character which
+few would have suspected. Honest Braithwaite he was
+called, and well he deserved the epithet. By a simple
+inquiry, a request for information or the expression of a
+doubt, he would nip some wild project in the bud, and,
+where occasion required, he would not hesitate to speak
+his mind freely. A young man, Stokes by name, who had
+been appointed to assist Braithwaite, had miscopied a date
+in one of Walsingham's numerous drafts, or rather, feeling
+sure that the date as it stood was wrong, had altered it to
+what he believed to be the right one. Walsingham, who
+was absent from London at the time, wrote back that
+Stokes was to be suspended. Braithwaite's sense of justice
+was shocked, and he refused to carry the order into effect.
+"If a mistake in copying," he wrote, "deserves so severe
+a punishment as suspension, what am I not to fear for
+disobedience, and yet I really cannot execute the task
+your Lordship has imposed upon me. For God's sake, my
+dear lord," he proceeded, "let me most earnestly entreat
+you to mitigate the severity of this sentence, and, if a
+reprimand at the Board is not sufficient, give poor Stokes
+a holiday and impose the fine for a substitute upon me.
+At any rate," he added, "pray leave the case to be decided
+at a Board or refer it to Mr. Todd." Walsingham did
+refer the case to Todd, but not before he had sternly
+demanded of his refractory henchman whether he had
+never read Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments. "No,"
+replied Braithwaite, "I have not read Beccaria on Crimes
+and Punishments; but Beccaria, say what he may, will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+never convince me that it can be right to punish a mistake
+as though it were a crime." Honest Braithwaite! He
+prevailed in the end, and stood in Walsingham's confidence
+even higher than before.</p>
+
+<p>At a Board meeting on the 20th of July 1787, less than
+a fortnight after taking up his appointment, Walsingham
+in the presence of the captains who were ashore, and who
+had been summoned to London for the occasion, gave notice
+of his intention to reduce the packet establishment at
+Falmouth. That establishment consisted of twenty-one
+boats of 200 tons each, and manned by thirty men. It
+was proposed that for the future there should be twenty
+boats of 150 tons each, and with a complement of eighteen
+men. These boats would cost about £3000 apiece to
+build, and would not be the property of the Government.
+The Government would simply hire them, giving as the
+price of hire £1350 a year, which was to cover everything,
+wages and victualling included. The owners would also
+have the passage money, estimated at £150, for each boat.
+Large as this reduction was, the Treasury desired that it
+should be carried further, that only the boats to America
+should be of as much as 150 tons, and that those for the
+West Indies and for Lisbon should be of 100. The
+captains, who had not relished the proposed reduction even
+to 150 tons, were half-amused and half-indignant. Why,
+they asked, should the boats for America be the largest?
+Were hurricanes unknown in the West Indies? And
+could not the Bay of Biscay boast of tremendous seas?
+Boats of 100 tons would be positively dangerous. No
+passenger would go by them; nor would any merchant
+trust them with bullion, from the freight of which the
+Post Office derived a considerable income.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general had also on their side the
+result of experience. In 1745, when the packet service
+to the West Indies, which had ceased in 1711, was
+re-established, boats of 100 tons had been tried and
+had proved to be altogether insufficient. Moreover,
+it was in the highest degree important, as a means<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+of checking smuggling, that the boats should not be restricted
+to one route. The intention was that they should
+be interchangeable, so that their port of destination
+should be uncertain; and to this end the tonnage of one
+should be the tonnage of all. The Treasury appear to
+have remained unmoved by these representations. At all
+events no decision was received; and Walsingham, after
+waiting for what he no doubt considered an unreasonable
+time, took silence for assent and proceeded to carry his
+recommendations into effect.</p>
+
+<p>The economical results which had been looked for
+were not immediately realised. The boats hitherto in
+use may not perhaps have been built with the view of
+facilitating smuggling; and yet, crowded as they were
+between decks with cupboards, they could hardly have
+been better adapted to the purpose. In the new boats
+no receptacles were to be allowed in which clandestine
+goods could be concealed; the holds were to be only
+large enough to contain the stores and provisions for
+the voyage; the seamen were no longer to remain unrestricted
+as to the size and number of their boxes;
+and in other respects stringent regulations were laid down
+to prevent illicit traffic. Finding what they called their
+ventures stopped, the crews of the packets refused to go
+to sea without an increase of pay all round. These ventures,
+they contended, had been recognised from time immemorial
+and went in place of so much wages. How else would it
+have been possible for them, many of them men with wives
+and families, to subsist on a pittance of 23s. a month?
+The Post Office was forced to yield to the demand; and as
+the immediate result of his first essay in the cause of
+economy, Walsingham had the mortification of seeing the
+cost of the packet establishment increased by more than
+£2300 a year.</p>
+
+<p>From Falmouth Walsingham turned his attention to
+other ports where packets were stationed. At Dover and
+at Harwich the establishments were too small to admit of
+any reduction. At the latter port, indeed, what little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+change took place was on the side of increase, the victualling
+allowance being raised from 7-1/2d. a day for each man to 9d.,
+so as to be uniform with that given at Falmouth; and for
+the same reason the seamen's wages were raised from 23s.
+a month to 28s.</p>
+
+<p>With Holyhead the case was different. Here Walsingham
+had resolved upon making a reduction, and it
+was only on an earnest remonstrance from the Marquis
+of Buckingham, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, that he
+abandoned his intention. The Holyhead packets were
+at this time five in number, and they were of seventy
+tons each and carried twelve hands. Walsingham held
+that this tonnage and complement of men were more than
+enough; and Buckingham maintained a directly contrary
+opinion. Between England and Ireland, he urged, the
+number of passengers was increasing every year, and surely
+this was not a time to lessen the confidence of the public in
+the security of the packets. The danger of navigation in
+those seas could not, he felt sure, be appreciated. He had
+himself crossed the Channel in all weathers. Once he had
+been nearly lost, and not on that occasion alone he had
+seen the crews, though at their full complement, absolutely
+prostrate with their exertions. Could it be known that,
+for purposes of passenger traffic, the captains of the Holyhead
+packets had recently built and fitted out at their own
+expense a sloop named the <i>Duchess of Rutland</i>; and that
+for this sloop, which, although vastly superior in point of
+accommodation to any one of the packets, was of no higher
+tonnage, the complement had been fixed at twelve hands?
+This would shew what was the opinion on the point of
+those who were most competent to judge. The fact, moreover,
+that Ireland had undertaken to pay to Great Britain
+the sum of 2d. on every letter passing to and fro placed
+the English Post Office under a sort of moral obligation not
+to reduce the amount of accommodation and security existing
+at the time the undertaking was given. Such were the
+arguments by which Buckingham prevailed upon Walsingham
+to abandon his intention. He at the same time hinted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+that there were other objects to which Walsingham's
+energies might more properly be directed. "Does your
+Lordship know," he asked, "that an immense communication
+of letters is kept up by the Liverpool packets<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> which sail
+weekly to Dublin?"</p>
+
+<p>One line of packets remains, the line between Milford
+Haven and Waterford. Here five boats were employed, of
+which three were of eighty tons and the others somewhat
+less; and the service was six days a week. This, though
+the youngest of the packet stations, was by no means the
+least interesting. It had been opened in April 1787; and
+in the first year the proceeds from passengers alone
+amounted to more than £1200. No doubt had been
+entertained that in the matter of letters there would be an
+equally satisfactory account to render; but it soon became
+evident that all hopes on this score must be given
+up. The Irish Post Office was no longer subject to the
+Post Office of England; and in the supposed interests of
+Dublin, which regarded with jealousy the postal facilities
+enjoyed by the southern towns, advantage was taken of
+this freedom from control to checkmate the new service.
+From Waterford the post for Cork had been used to start
+at two o'clock in the afternoon, an hour most convenient
+for the packets. Under orders from Dublin it was now
+to start at twelve; and, as shewing the vexatiousness of
+the proceeding, an express leaving Waterford as late as four
+o'clock would overtake the mail at Carrick, a distance of no
+more than fifteen miles. Under the same orders Limerick
+was forbidden to send letters by way of Waterford; and the
+post between this town and Clonmel was reduced from six
+days a week to three. This was a state of things which,
+under the system of Home Rule then existing, Walsingham
+was powerless to remedy. He could only lift his hands in
+amazement that such perversity should be possible.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not exclusively or even mainly to the packet
+establishment that Walsingham's attention was directed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+There was no part of the Post Office with which he did not
+make himself thoroughly acquainted; and in the course of
+his investigations nothing struck him more than the pitiable
+condition of the clerks of the roads. The case of these men
+had been gradually getting worse and worse. It is true
+that ten years before a part of the salaries and pensions for
+which they were responsible had been transferred to the
+State; but the relief thus afforded had been neutralised and
+more than neutralised by the decrease which had since
+taken place in their emoluments from the franking of
+newspapers. Of these emoluments, indeed, little now
+remained. In the seventeen years from 1772 to 1789 the
+notices served upon the Post Office by members of Parliament
+to send newspapers into the country free had risen
+from a little more than 2000 to 7000, and the number of
+newspapers which these 7000 notices covered amounted to
+no less than 65,760 a week. In the face of such competition
+the special privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads
+was practically valueless, and Walsingham and Carteret
+clearly discerned that to compensate them for the loss of their
+emoluments by an increase of salary was an act dictated no
+less by justice than policy.</p>
+
+<p>The case indeed was urgent if a catastrophe were
+to be averted; and Carteret, whose experience led him
+to believe that the salaries would not be increased
+with the consent of the Treasury, proposed to increase
+them without. Walsingham was shocked at the audacity
+of the proposal, and read his colleague a homily on
+the constitutional proprieties. "I know," replied Carteret,
+"we shall have the power of increasing salaries with the
+consent of the Treasury, but many may starve before that
+consent comes." Even Walsingham admitted the gravity of
+the occasion; and with the full knowledge that at this time
+no representation from the Post Office reached the Treasury
+which did not come under Pitt's own observation, the two
+peers, after recommending a substantial measure of relief,
+concluded their letter thus: "We shall find ourselves
+compelled, if the present weight of Parliamentary and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+official duties shall make it impossible for your Lordships
+to give us the authority we request in the course of a week,
+to take it upon ourselves to issue the money at our own
+risk, or the persons who are the object of this relief will be
+unable to attend their duty, and the business of the office
+will be literally at a stand." Whatever Pitt may have
+thought of the somewhat unusual terms of this address, he
+allowed no sign of dissatisfaction to escape him, and the
+authority sought was given.</p>
+
+<p>As long as Walsingham confined his attention to the
+packets and the clerks of the roads, there was no danger of
+a collision with Palmer. Palmer, on the contrary, offered
+his congratulations to Walsingham on the improvement
+which he had been instrumental in making in these officers'
+condition. It was when Walsingham gave an instruction
+which even indirectly affected the inland posts that
+Palmer's jealousy was aroused. This he regarded as his
+own peculiar domain, a domain upon which even the postmasters-general
+themselves were trespassers; and a trespass
+or what he considered as such he never lost an opportunity
+of resenting. The earliest and not the least curious illustration
+of these pretensions appears in the case of the King's
+coach. In the summer of 1788 the King repaired to
+Cheltenham for the purpose of drinking the waters, and
+Walsingham, who was above all things a courtier, had
+arranged that during the royal visit a mail-coach should be
+stationed at that town for the exclusive use of His Majesty.
+The coach was to be a new one, sent down from London for
+the occasion, and the leading contractor on the Cheltenham
+road, one Wilson by name, was to provide the horses. The
+royal visit at an end, the contractor's bill was sent in, and
+Palmer, in forwarding it to Walsingham, professed to be
+extremely dissatisfied with the magnitude of the charge.
+On the sale of the horses and harness alone, after only a
+month's use, there had been a loss of £550. "Nothing,"
+he said, "could have been more absurdly or extravagantly
+conducted." But the thing was done. It would be useless
+to dispute the payment. Besides, it would "soil the compliment"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+designed to His Majesty. "We must," he added,
+"take more care next time, for, had it been properly settled,
+the loss at most could not have exceeded £300."</p>
+
+<p>The actual arrangement for the coach had been made not
+through Palmer but through Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant;
+and to him Walsingham now applied for further information.
+Bonnor's reply was a strange compound of candour
+and insolence. It was indeed not to be wondered at, he
+said, that his Lordship's indignation should be roused by
+the magnitude of the bill. Had the matter been left as
+originally settled under Mr. Palmer's orders, Wilson could
+never have made so monstrous a claim. By those orders
+he had been given to understand that, the coach being
+designed as a mere compliment to the King, not more
+than 1d. a mile would be allowed at the outside. And
+"so the undertaking stood 'till your Lordship ordered the
+circular letter to the horse-keepers respecting Sir George
+Baker's<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> being accommodated with the mail horses if he
+had occasion. Your Lordship will recollect that I remonstrated
+against it, and urged the impossibility of Wilson
+ever allowing his mail horses to be taken out of his stables
+for posting, and the regularity of the work destroyed, and
+the cattle drove along by people he knew nothing of; to
+which your Lordship was pleased to say that Wilson had
+no business to trouble his head about that; that, whatever
+his expenses were, he should be paid; and that no feelings
+of his about his horses or anything else should prevent the
+thing being done in the best possible style."... "Thinking
+as little in the delivery of the message as your Lordship
+did in sending it that such an advantage would be taken, I
+of course obeyed the directions, and it seems that this is
+the ground upon which the charge is made out as it is."</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham was not satisfied, and resolved to contest
+the bill. Palmer now took alarm, and urged every consideration
+he could think of to dissuade Walsingham from
+his purpose. To have recourse to a Court of Law might
+seriously damage his infant undertaking. A legal dispute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+had been avoided hitherto, and, with a cunning and refractory
+set of persons such as the contractors were, might
+have the effect of raising the present terms of conveyance.
+These terms were low, lower than the Post Office was likely
+to obtain again; and the mail-coaches were running
+smoothly. It would be a thousand pities to introduce an
+element of disturbance. Besides, how unpleasant it would
+be to his Lordship to be subp&oelig;naed as a witness; and, in
+the hands of an expert counsel, how supremely ridiculous
+the whole business might be made to appear! The King's
+jaunt with a mail-coach in attendance! For his own part,
+when he had been unfortunate enough to be imposed upon,
+he generally found it best to put up with the imposition
+and to take more care another time. Nor should it be
+forgotten that the matter might have been much worse.
+When first he had heard of the arrangement, he had
+rebuked Bonnor for his extravagance; and Bonnor had
+produced two letters from his Lordship in justification.
+These letters shewed not only that no expense was to be
+spared, but that it had originally been in contemplation to
+have two coaches, and that it was only owing to Bonnor's
+earnest expostulation that the idea of a second coach had
+been given up. Surely it was cause for congratulation that
+the bill was no higher. Had two coaches been established
+instead of one, Wilson might have clapped on another
+£1000. As the bill stood, it was a gross imposition, an
+imposition which must condemn him in the eyes of all
+honest men; and yet it would be pure madness to go to
+law. These arguments prevailed, and Walsingham abandoned
+his intention of contesting the bill. He did not at
+this time see, what he saw clearly enough some years later,
+that in retaliation upon himself for presuming to interfere
+Wilson had been cajoled or coerced into making an
+exorbitant demand, and that of the several persons who
+were concerned in the transaction Wilson himself was the
+least to blame.</p>
+
+<p>This may be a convenient place to notice a point in
+which the practice of 1788 differed from that of the present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+time. It was only a few months after his return from
+Cheltenham that the King was taken with the serious
+illness which so nearly proved fatal. On the 9th of
+November the accounts from Windsor were such as to
+leave little room for hope. On the 10th intelligence
+reached the Post Office at three o'clock in the afternoon that,
+contrary to all expectation, the King was still living; and
+on the 14th a form of prayer was issued, to be used in all
+churches, for His Majesty's recovery. At the present time
+a circular of this kind would reach the Post Office already
+addressed to the persons for whom it was intended, and the
+Post Office would do nothing more than carry and deliver
+it like an ordinary letter. But such was not the case in
+1788. The form of prayer, as it was issued by the printer,
+was sent to the Post Office in bulk, and the Post Office
+despatched fifty copies to the postmaster of each town with
+instructions to distribute them "with all possible expedition
+to the rectors, vicars, or resident ministers of your town
+and all places in your delivery." The point is hardly
+deserving of mention, for, of course, it would make little
+difference to the postmaster whether the copies were sent
+in bulk or as single letters. He would be bound to deliver
+them in either case. It is more worthy of note that, as
+the number of Post Offices in England was at this time
+only 608, and the area subordinate to each of correspondingly
+wide extent, to go over the whole of his delivery
+at one time as these instructions obliged the postmaster to
+do was no slight undertaking, and one which, owing to the
+paucity of letters, he had probably not been required to
+perform on any previous occasion. In this instance, however,
+we may feel sure that a sense of loyalty alone
+precluded all disposition to murmur. With far other
+feelings, it may well be believed, was an order regarded
+which had been issued rather more than thirty years before.
+The year 1756 was a year of scarcity; and, under direction
+from Whitehall, postmasters were to frequent the local
+markets and to ascertain and report the price of corn.
+This is the first instance on record of postmasters having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+been employed outside their own proper duties as such.
+It may be added that two years later the Duke of Newcastle
+sent down in hot haste to Lombard Street to inquire the
+latest prices, when it was explained to His Grace that,
+despite the course which had been adopted in 1756, the
+Post Office was not an office for the collection of agricultural
+returns.</p>
+
+<p>It is a common practice to laugh at public offices for
+their rigid adherence to routine. This, we think, is not
+quite reasonable. No doubt it is calculated to excite
+ridicule, and indeed to irritate beyond all endurance when
+a course obviously proper in itself is condemned because,
+forsooth, there is no precedent for it; and we are by no
+means sure that some public servants would not be all the
+better for taking to heart the maxim&mdash;Wise men make
+precedents, only fools require them. But, without the
+order and regularity which a strict adherence to routine
+can alone produce, the business of a Government department
+must inevitably drift into a state of hopeless confusion.
+This is a truth which persons outside the public service
+have always found it hard to accept; as well indeed as
+persons inside who have entered late in life or after their
+habits are formed. Palmer was of the latter class; and a
+striking instance now occurred of his inability to adapt
+himself to the requirements of his new situation. Walsingham
+had asked whether the surveyors were keeping their
+journals regularly. These officers, besides a small salary,
+were now receiving an allowance of one guinea a day when
+travelling; and not only was a journal indispensable in
+order to shew whether they had been travelling or not, but
+the keeping of one had been made an express condition of
+the allowance being given. No subordinate cared to pass
+on the inquiry to Palmer, implying, as this might seem to
+do, a doubt. Walsingham had no such scruple and wrote
+to Palmer asking that the journals might be sent to him
+for examination. Palmer's reply will explain how it is
+that the records which now exist respecting himself and
+his achievements are so surprisingly few. There were no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+journals, he said. The surveyors' own letters, with their
+bills of expenses attached, were sufficient evidence of the
+journeys they had made. And these bills and letters, he
+added, as soon as the charges which they represent have
+been paid, "are and must be useless paper, for if I did not
+constantly clear my office both of their as well as my own
+and the other officers' rubbish, I should be buried under it."
+The auditors of the imprests had recently made good
+progress, but, fortunately for the Post Office, they were still
+many years in arrear.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p>
+
+<p>Among Walsingham's correspondents was George
+Chalmers, a merchant of Edinburgh. Chalmers was no
+mere maker of crude and impracticable suggestions. He
+had thirty years before been instrumental in shortening the
+course of post between Edinburgh and London. Before
+1758 the Great North Mail, as it was called, went three
+days a week and occupied eighty-seven hours in going from
+London to Edinburgh, and 131 hours in going from
+Edinburgh to London. Thus, a mail leaving Edinburgh at
+twelve at night on Saturday did not reach London until
+eleven o'clock on Friday morning. Chalmers, in a paper of
+singular ability, dwelt upon the absurdity of the various
+detentions, ranging from three hours at Berwick to twenty-four
+hours at Newcastle, which made the course of post
+longer by nearly two days in one direction than in the
+other, and shewed how, by avoiding these unnecessary
+delays and getting rid of a diversion of twelve miles to
+York, the distance might be accomplished between London
+and Edinburgh in eighty-two hours, and between Edinburgh
+and London in eighty-five. The plan was adopted, and
+some years later, in recognition of its merits, Chalmers
+received from the Government a gratuity of £600. More
+recently he had prevailed upon the Post Office to increase
+from three to six days a week the service between London
+and Edinburgh, and from Edinburgh to the principal towns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+in Scotland; and in London, at his suggestion, the letter-carriers
+who collected letters by the sound of bell, or bellmen
+as they had begun to be called, were being employed
+after nine o'clock at night.</p>
+
+<p>It was not, therefore, as a novice in Post Office
+matters that Chalmers now entered into correspondence
+with Walsingham. His present representation was in the
+nature partly of a suggestion and partly of a complaint.
+He had been staying some time in London, and was surprised
+to find that at the capital of the first commercial
+nation in the world the Post Office closed as early as
+seven o'clock in the evening. He contended that it
+ought not to close before ten. But it was in respect to his
+own native city of Edinburgh that he felt and expressed
+himself most warmly. Edinburgh was without a penny
+post. He was himself an old man or he would undertake
+to farm one, although, in his judgment, the farming of such
+an institution, until at least it was well established, was
+not for the public interests. But surely, whether farmed
+or not, a penny post should be opened without delay, and
+on his return to Edinburgh he would let Walsingham
+know how this could best be done. Nor was the want
+of such a convenience by any means the chief thing of
+which the inhabitants of Edinburgh had to complain. Since
+1758 their post had not gone out until eight o'clock at
+night. Now, to suit Palmer's arrangements, it went out at
+half-past three in the afternoon; and, more than this, the
+diversion to York, which it had cost such pains to get rid of
+some thirty years before, had been revived. Thus, between
+Edinburgh and London the course of post was actually
+longer now than before the introduction of mail-coaches by
+as much as five hours. Were a little more consideration
+to be given to the correspondence of the country and a little
+less to the convenience of passengers, more than these five
+hours might be saved. At all events the mails might start
+from Edinburgh at eight o'clock as before, and from London
+at ten, and yet arrive at their destination no later than now.
+For himself, he thought it hardly decent that passengers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+should be allowed to travel by the same coaches as the
+mails, and predicted that a time would come when the
+mails would have coaches to themselves. Much of this,
+Chalmers added, he had pointed out to Palmer some
+time before, and the only result was an angry letter which
+had terminated a friendship of years. Even as he now
+wrote, another letter had come to hand in which Palmer
+told him, almost in so many words, to mind his own
+business.</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham was at this time at Old Windsor. Hither
+it was his habit to repair whenever he had anything of more
+than ordinary interest to engage his attention; and such
+was the case at the present moment. He had recently had
+lent to him, under a pledge of the strictest secrecy, a copy of
+the Report of the Royal Commission which had sat upon
+the Post Office in the preceding year; and this Report he
+was now having copied under his own eye with a view to
+the preparation of an elaborate criticism upon it. But
+though absent from London he relaxed not his hold upon
+the Post Office for a single moment. Each morning's post
+brought to Lombard Street its own budget of drafts, to be
+written out fair, of questions to be answered, of scoldings
+to be given, and of instructions to heads of departments in
+the minutest details of their duty. Walsingham absent
+was a far more important personage than Carteret present;
+and a mandate from Old Windsor superseded any that
+might be given on the spot. It was while Walsingham
+was thus engaged that he received one morning from
+Palmer a few hurried lines, of which the last were as
+follows: "You ought not, meaning as well as you do, to be
+unpopular anywhere. Nor must you. You fret me now
+and then, tho' you don't intend it, and I am angry with
+myself for it." A visit from Palmer on the following
+morning, especially as that morning was Sunday, was little
+calculated to lessen the surprise with which Walsingham
+must have read this letter. The truth is that Palmer had
+repaired to Windsor with the intention of resigning his
+appointment; but the courteous reception he met with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+from Walsingham disconcerted his plan, and he returned to
+London as he had come, with the letter of resignation in his
+pocket.</p>
+
+<p>The reasons which Palmer afterwards gave for his
+conduct on this occasion throw a flood of light upon his
+character. These reasons were: 1st, That Walsingham was
+ready to listen to proposals for improving the Post Office,
+come from what quarter they might, thus leaving it to be
+inferred, as Palmer put it, either that he was himself
+incompetent to effect improvements or else that there was a
+sinister design to detract from his reputation. 2nd, That
+from himself, though vitally interested in its contents, a
+report was being kept which clerks from his own office had
+been sent down to Windsor to copy. 3rd, That the same
+feeling of distrust was evidenced in the constant pressure
+which was being put upon him to require the surveyors to
+keep journals. How hollow these reasons were, a very
+little consideration will shew. In the course of the correspondence
+with Chalmers, on which the first of Palmer's
+reasons was obviously founded, Walsingham had been careful
+to state that, while ready to consider proposals for establishing
+a penny post in Edinburgh, he must decline to interfere
+with any of Palmer's arrangements. The second reason,
+though more plausible, was the merest pretext. Not a
+month before, with the full knowledge of what was going
+on at Windsor, Palmer had offered to send down, if required,
+the whole of his office to assist. And more than this.
+Although Walsingham could not in honour disclose a
+document which had been lent to him under a pledge of
+secrecy, Palmer must have been perfectly well acquainted
+with so much of the Report of the Royal Commission as dealt
+with his own undertaking, for it is beyond all question that
+this part of the Report had been written by himself. There
+was no other man living who was capable of writing it;
+and even if there had been, the opinions, the recommendations,
+the mode of expression, the disparagement of Ralph
+Allen, all of which are common to the Report and Palmer's
+private writings, unmistakably betray the author. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+third reason requires little remark. Walsingham would
+have neglected his obvious duty if he had not taken steps
+to establish some check upon the travelling expenses claimed
+by the surveyors; and the experience of the hundred years
+which have since elapsed has failed to devise any better
+check than the journal. The keeping of the journal, moreover,
+had been an express condition imposed by the
+Treasury when the allowance of a guinea a day was
+authorised.</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham treated Palmer on this occasion with great
+kindness. Rightly judging that jealousy was at the root
+of the whole matter, he followed up the conversation
+which had taken place at Windsor by a letter, in which
+he exhorted Palmer to speak out, to declare his sentiments
+freely, and to dismiss idle apprehensions. Then
+came a full statement from Palmer, written, as he expressly
+declared, "not as a justification but as an apology for my
+suspicions," and explaining the object and the motives of
+his visit on the preceding Sunday. "Your habits are not my
+habits," he concluded; "I would give a great deal for but a
+part of your correctness and inveterate attention to business
+and accounts." Walsingham's reply, which came by return
+of post, was an invitation to dinner. Palmer accepted it,
+and the courteous and hearty welcome he received called
+forth his warmest acknowledgments.</p>
+
+<p>The duty of the mail guards, as their title implies, was
+to guard and protect the mails. This body of men, as it
+existed during the first forty or fifty years of the present
+century, was one of which the Post Office might well be
+proud. The very nature of their employment engendered
+in them a habit of self-reliance and an independence of
+character which invested them with a peculiar interest.
+But it was not always so. When mail-coaches were first
+established, Palmer had it in contemplation to employ
+retired soldiers as mail guards, on the ground that soldiers
+would be accustomed to firearms; but constitutional
+objections prevailed and the contractors who furnished the
+mail-coaches with horses were required also to furnish firearms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+arms and the men to use them. The result was not
+satisfactory. For economy's sake men were employed of
+little or no character, and the weapons with which they
+were supplied were of the most worthless description.
+More than worthless, they were dangerous. "Cheap things;"
+they were declared to be, "that burst and often did
+mischief." Accordingly, at Palmer's suggestion, the Post
+Office undertook to appoint its own mail guards. Honest
+and faithful as these men always were, it was only by
+degrees that they grew into the fine body they afterwards
+became. At first the novelty of their position led them
+into little excesses such as were never heard of in later
+years. Thus, a statute passed in 1790 imposed a penalty
+of 20s. on any mail guard who should fire off the arms with
+which he was entrusted for any other cause than the protection
+of the mail; and even this enactment appears to
+have been insufficient to correct the abuse against which it
+was directed. "These guards," writes Pennant two years
+later, "shoot at dogs, hogs, sheep, and poultry as they pass
+the road; and even in towns, to the great terror and danger
+of the inhabitants."<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p>
+
+<p>It must not be supposed, because Palmer's name is associated
+with the establishment of mail-coaches, that to these
+his attention was exclusively confined. In virtue of his
+appointment as comptroller-general he exercised control,
+subject of course to the postmasters-general, over the whole
+of the Post Office, the offices of account excepted; and he
+now took advantage of this position to create a newspaper
+office. Newspapers had long been a source of trouble.
+By the clerks of the roads they were not only posted in
+good time but were tied up in bundles, covered with strong
+brown paper, and addressed to the postmasters of the respective
+towns, who took out the contents and had them
+delivered. So long as the newspapers were thus dealt
+with, no inconvenience resulted from their being mixed up
+with letters; but from the moment that the distribution<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+passed into the hands of the printers and dealers the case
+was different. The newspapers were now posted at the
+last moment, and, being clumsily folded and still wet from
+the printing press, they damaged and defaced the addresses
+of the letters with which they came in contact in the mail
+bags. The inconvenience had been tolerated for years. As
+early as 1782 the postmasters-general had contemplated
+the creation of a newspaper office, an office in which newspapers
+might be dealt with separately from letters, but
+nothing had been done. Palmer now took the matter in
+hand and carried it through with his usual vigour. Having
+satisfied himself that a separate office was necessary, he
+forthwith established one, appointed to it eighteen sub-sorters
+and fixed their wages; and not even the postmasters-general
+were aware of what he was doing until it
+was done.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p>
+
+<p>Such an instance of energy, worthy as we may think it
+of imitation, would be impossible on the part of any one
+who had been brought up in the public service, because he
+would have learnt that no wages can be fixed or new offices
+created without the consent of the Treasury. In the Post
+Office, too, the postmasters-general alone were legally
+competent to make appointments. But to Palmer these
+were the merest trifles, if indeed he gave them a thought.
+To create a newspaper office was a right thing to do, and he
+had done it; and to haggle about the circumstances of the
+doing appeared to him sheer pedantry. Not so thought
+Walsingham. It ill accorded with his sense of propriety
+that a number of new places should have been created without
+the requisite authority which the Treasury alone could
+give; but that to these places, whether authorised or not, a
+subordinate should have presumed to make appointments&mdash;a
+power which by the postmaster-generals' patent was vested in
+themselves alone&mdash;struck him as little short of an outrage.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>Unfortunately for Palmer, another irregularity on his
+part came to light at the same time. The mail guards'
+wages had been fixed at 13s. a week; but of this
+sum Palmer paid only 10s., retaining the balance for
+the purpose of providing uniforms, pensions, and an
+allowance during sickness. Again, the plan was excellent;
+but it was unauthorised, and had the effect of leaving
+in Palmer's hands, without any means of checking it, a
+sum of liberated money amounting to about £900 a
+year.</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham now called upon Palmer to give the
+details of his plan, with a view to its being properly
+authorised, and to submit the names of those whom he had
+appointed to the newspaper office, so that their appointments
+might be confirmed. Palmer would do neither the one nor
+the other. Walsingham persisted in his demand, and Palmer
+persisted in his refusal. No course remained but to submit
+the matter for Pitt's decision; and Pitt decided in Walsingham's
+favour. Palmer, said the minister, had the power
+of suspending Post Office servants but not of appointing
+them, although the postmasters-general, it might well be
+believed, would consent as a matter of favour to accept his
+nominations. Pitt also agreed that the mode of dealing
+with the mail guards' wages was highly irregular. The
+decision of the minister was communicated to Palmer, but
+it had not the slightest effect upon his conduct. The
+mail guards' wages continued to be dealt with as before;
+and the appointments to the newspaper office remained
+unconfirmed.</p>
+
+<p>Pitt's decision was not given until the autumn of 1789;
+and meanwhile other matters had occurred to strain the
+relations between Walsingham and Palmer. Chief among
+these was Walsingham's inveterate habit of scribbling.
+Both men were endowed with an amount of energy which
+nothing could repress; but while Palmer expended himself
+by rushing from one part of the country to another as fast
+as horses could carry him, Walsingham's sphere of activity
+was restricted to writing. And well he exemplified the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+law that force asserts itself in proportion to the limits
+within which it is confined. His notes and questions were
+literally endless. At one time all the ingenuity of Lombard
+Street, with the assistance of erasers and acids, is being
+exercised to remove remarks he has written upon a
+document which, not being the property of the Post Office,
+had to be returned. At another, he has sent for a blank
+form of contract, of which only a single copy remains in the
+Office. "I implore your Lordship," writes the sender, "to
+let me have it back, and that the margin may not be written
+on." Palmer, to whom pens, ink, and paper were an
+abomination, would think nothing of posting a hundred miles
+and more to avoid the necessity of writing a letter; and
+by Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant, who always aped his master
+as far as he dared, answers to the questions put to him
+would be withheld altogether or reserved for the next
+Board meeting. "I can perceive," wrote Todd to Walsingham
+about this time, "you are hurt that neither Mr.
+Palmer nor Mr. Bonnor pay a proper regard to your many
+observations."</p>
+
+<p>Another matter occurred at this time which, while only
+indirectly affecting Palmer, was not calculated to promote
+harmonious relations. Bonnor, who had sent some accounts
+to Windsor for Walsingham's signature, wrote two or three
+days later, urging that they might be signed and returned
+at once, and giving as a reason the importunity of the letter-carriers.
+"What these poor oppressed creatures will do,"
+he said, "I know not. They all came in a body this
+morning and gave a most affecting description of the
+distresses with which their wives and families laboured,
+their credit exhausted, not a shilling to buy bread, and each
+having between £30 and £40 of hard-earned wages due
+to them from a public office whose revenues are every day
+increasing." This struck Walsingham as very strange.
+The letter-carriers were paid by weekly wages; and what,
+over and above their wages, they had earned for extra duty
+should also have been paid weekly. Besides, the accounts
+had been in his hands for only two or three days, whereas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+for the last twelve months and more he had been pressing
+for their production, and had only now succeeded in getting
+them.</p>
+
+<p>There was a mystery somewhere, and, as the best
+means of solving it, Walsingham called for the vouchers.
+Bonnor now lost himself in excuses. The vouchers were
+essential to his reputation. He could not part with them.
+If once they left his hands, they might be lost. It could
+not but be known to his Lordship how often this had
+happened with official papers passing to and fro. Besides,
+to inspect the vouchers would be to pry into his private
+concerns. This was enough for Walsingham, and he
+directed the accountant-general to look into the matter
+forthwith. The examination revealed a curious state of
+things. The amounts which the letter-carriers had earned
+for extra duty had not been paid for a whole year, and a
+part of the money which had been issued for that purpose
+had been applied to the payment of the persons irregularly
+appointed to the newspaper office. More than this. The
+accounts shewed, or professed to shew, that during the last
+eighteen months the mail-coach contractors had received in
+payment of their services the sum of £20,000; but the
+receipts for more than £16,000 of this amount bore no dates,
+and others were signed by Bonnor himself. "Signed," to
+use his own words, "by myself for money paid by myself to
+myself." In short, the so-called vouchers were no vouchers
+at all. Bonnor now made an apology, which, in point of
+abjectness, has probably seldom been equalled; and Walsingham,
+unwilling to force matters to extremities, let him off
+with a sound dressing. This disclosure did not tend to
+restore either harmony or confidence. Palmer, it is true,
+gave no heed to accounts; but Bonnor was under his
+protection, and Palmer resented a censure upon his lieutenant
+and friend even more than a censure upon himself.</p>
+
+<p>We doubt whether in England a public department has
+often been in so singular a position as that which the Post
+Office occupied during the six months beginning with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+September 1789. Carteret had been dismissed;<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> and
+Westmorland, Carteret's successor, whose patent had been
+delayed owing to the absence of the law officers from
+London, had not even entered upon his duties as postmaster-general
+before he wrote to announce his appointment as
+Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Meanwhile Palmer resolutely
+withheld obedience from the orders of his chiefs, backed
+though those orders were by the minister; and Walsingham
+was powerless to act. Minutes indeed he prepared by the
+score, proposing the most drastic measures; but Carteret
+refused to sign because he was on the point of going out,
+and Westmorland refused to sign because he had only just
+come in, and had no intention of remaining. Walsingham's
+signature alone carried no legal force. It was not until the
+following March, the March of 1790, that the office of postmaster-general
+was again properly filled by the appointment
+of Lord Chesterfield as Walsingham's colleague.</p>
+
+<p>At the risk of interrupting the course of our narrative
+we cannot refrain from mentioning here in its chronological
+order memorial which was at this time received from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+certain merchants of the city of London trading with foreign
+parts. This memorial, or rather the counter-memorial to
+which it gave rise, is interesting if only as serving to shew
+that the conservative instinct&mdash;an indisposition to change,
+is not confined to public offices. The delivery of inland
+letters had been recently expedited; but foreign letters
+continued to be delivered as of old. Lest the practice in
+the case of these letters should seem to be overstated, we
+give it in the memorialists' own words. "It is the practice
+of the Post Office," they write under date the 20th of
+January 1790, "if a mail does not arrive before one o'clock
+to withhold the delivery of the letters till the next day, and
+even to protract the delivery till after the same hour the
+succeeding day, provided any other mail be expected or due.
+This happening on a Saturday (a case by no means uncommon),
+the letters are kept back till the Monday, when
+three other mails being due, and they not arriving perhaps
+till the stipulated hour of one, the delivery of the mail
+which arrived on Saturday is not made till between three and
+four o'clock on the Monday and sometimes later. Thus the
+advice of property shipt to a great amount on which insurances
+should immediately have been made, the receipt of
+remittances on which the credit of many persons may
+depend, and the general information so essential in commercial
+affairs are cruelly withheld for upwards of fifty hours
+without the least apparent necessity." The remedy which
+the memorialists proposed was moderate enough. They
+asked nothing more than that, in the case of mails arriving
+before four o'clock in the afternoon, letters might be given
+out to persons who should call at the Post Office for them in
+two or three hours after the mail had come in, such as were
+not called for being, at the expiration of that interval, sent
+out by letter-carrier; and that, in the case of mails arriving
+after four o'clock, the letters might be delivered at ten
+o'clock on the following morning.</p>
+
+<p>The unfortunate merchants who signed this memorial
+little bethought themselves of the storm they were raising.
+Other merchants, also trading with foreign parts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+and more numerous than those who advocated an earlier
+delivery, put forward a counter-memorial strongly protesting
+against any change. The custom of postponing
+until the following day the delivery of all foreign letters
+arriving at the Post Office after one o'clock was, they
+said, a wise custom, a "custom recommended by our
+ancestors," and one that could not be altered save to their
+own great prejudice. The original memorial had been
+studiously kept from themselves, and "this most extraordinary
+proceeding" they could only ascribe to a well-founded
+apprehension on the part of the promoters that
+otherwise the impropriety of the "novelty" which they
+sought to introduce would be exposed. The remonstrants
+added that many and cogent reasons might be given in
+support of the existing usage; but, unhappily, they omitted
+to state what these reasons were. Doubtless, however,
+jealousy lest others should obtain priority of information
+was at the bottom of the protest; although it is not very
+clear how, under a regulation that was to be common to all,
+any one in particular would enjoy an undue advantage.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office, unassisted in this instance by Palmer,
+declared the change to be, if only on account of want of
+space, impossible. The average number of letters arriving
+by each foreign mail were at this time&mdash;from France 2500,
+from Holland 2000, and from Flanders 1500, or 6000
+altogether. At the present day, when as many as 500
+sacks full of letters come by a single mail, and several mails
+may arrive simultaneously, 6000 letters more or less make
+little appreciable difference. One hour at most is enough
+for three men to sort them. But in 1790 the office in
+which the foreign letters were sorted possessed but a single
+table and a single alphabet or sorting rack.</p>
+
+<p>Although want of space was the ostensible reason for
+refusing an earlier delivery, there was another, not avowed
+indeed, and yet which, there can be no doubt, materially
+influenced the decision. This will be best explained in the
+words of the comptroller of the foreign letter department.
+"The delivery of foreign letters," writes this officer to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+Walsingham, "is so complicated with <i>the secret office</i><a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> that
+any alteration will deserve the most serious consideration
+when you come to the Board."</p>
+
+<p>It would hardly excite surprise if Chesterfield, on
+entering upon his duties in Lombard Street, had fallen
+under the influence of a colleague who, besides being possessed
+of a strong will, had had some years' experience in
+Post Office administration; but, as a matter of fact, he does
+not appear to have surrendered his private judgment. On
+one point, indeed, he took a view somewhat different from
+Walsingham. Walsingham regarded Palmer, in so far as
+he withheld obedience from the postmaster-generals' orders,
+as simply an insubordinate servant. To Chesterfield, on
+the contrary, Palmer was an object of no common interest.
+That two peers of large social influence, deriving their
+authority direct from the Crown, and to some extent
+supported by the minister, should be held in check by one
+man, and that man a subordinate, was an incongruity which
+struck Chesterfield's imagination. It amused him. It
+interested him. He could not withhold his meed of
+admiration from the masterful spirit which fought single-handed
+against long odds, and not always without success.
+The very terms Chesterfield employed, while implying a
+consciousness of defeat, implied also a certain amount of
+homage to the victor. It was always as "our Master,"
+"our Dictator," "our Tyrant" that he referred to Palmer;
+and it is difficult to believe that a man who could thus
+playfully express himself would have proved implacable.</p>
+
+<p>For ourselves, we have little doubt that, if at this time
+Palmer had demeaned himself with only moderate reserve,
+all might yet have been well; but it must be admitted that,
+from now till the end of his official career, his conduct was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+strangely aggressive. We have already seen how he made
+appointments to the newspaper office without reference to
+the postmasters-general, and how, in their despite, he retained
+in his own hands a considerable balance arising out of
+deductions from the mail guards' wages. He now went
+further. He declined to attend the Board meetings: he
+not only omitted but refused to answer inquiries which the
+postmasters-general addressed to him; he persistently withheld
+the surveyors' journals, if, indeed, he had required
+journals to be kept; he claimed to make contracts and to
+introduce what measures he pleased without the postmasters-general
+being so much as consulted; and because
+Walsingham and Chesterfield would not admit the claim, he
+suffered the contracts to expire, and the mail-coaches were
+run on mere verbal agreements. "Except the warrants we
+have signed," wrote the postmasters-general in October
+1790, "there is no record whatever in our possession of
+any of Mr. Palmer's proceedings since his appointment."</p>
+
+<p>From disobedience Palmer proceeded to defiance. We
+will give instances. The proprietors of the mail-coach between
+Carlisle and Portpatrick had demanded payment at the rate
+of 2d. a mile, and Palmer had agreed to the demand. This
+was just double the usual rate, and the postmasters-general,
+fearing that if given on one road it could not be refused
+on another, determined, before signing the warrant presented
+for payment, to obtain Treasury authority. Palmer, knowing
+that delay would thus be caused, protested that no such
+authority was necessary, and, in order to enforce his protest,
+stopped four mail-coaches, for which was being paid more
+than the usual allowance of 1d. a mile, namely, the coach
+to Falmouth, the coach to Bristol, the coach to Plymouth,
+and the coach to Portsmouth&mdash;coolly informing the postmasters-general
+that he had done so "under the idea that
+appears to influence their Lordships, that paying a higher
+rate to the proprietors on one road might induce others to
+make a similar demand." He next inquired whether the
+postmasters-general were to be understood as preferring a
+cart to the mail-coach, even though a cart should be the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+more expensive of the two. As nothing had been said
+about a cart, the postmasters-general remarked that this
+could only be meant for insult. Insult! rejoined Palmer,
+he was as little capable of offering an insult as he was of
+putting up with one; and then he proceeded to charge the
+postmasters-general with the grossest partiality. The postmasters-general
+had increased the salary of the postmaster
+of Tewkesbury beyond what Palmer conceived to be
+necessary. He denounced the transaction as extraordinary
+and ill advised, and, while himself professing to believe that
+it proceeded only from motives of benevolence, expressed
+his conviction that others would regard it as "a job."
+Smuggled goods had been found in the mail-box of the
+Dover coach; and coach, horses, and harness had, in
+consequence, been seized by the Commissioners of Customs.
+The same man who, in order to force a decision, had stopped
+four mail-coaches in a single morning, now rated the postmasters-general
+soundly because they did not at once and
+without inquiry take steps to get the Commissioners' proceedings
+reversed. "The comptroller-general," wrote
+Palmer on another occasion, "has informed their Lordships
+of his motives for not answering several of the postmaster-generals'
+minutes, which he trusts cannot but be satisfactory
+to them. The same reasons will prevent him from answering
+any others their Lordships may send but such as
+appear to him absolutely necessary."</p>
+
+<p>But the particular case which brought matters to a
+climax was connected with Scotland. Palmer had sent
+two officers to Edinburgh, not to promote the conveyance of
+mails by coach, but to reform the internal management of
+the Scotch Post Office; and these officers had given orders
+for various changes to be made. Robert Oliphant was at
+this time deputy postmaster-general for Scotland, and from
+him alone, according to the terms of his commission, were
+Post Office servants in Scotland to receive instructions. It
+was by mere accident that the postmasters-general heard of
+the proceedings of Palmer's agents in Edinburgh, and, as
+soon as they did so, they wrote to Oliphant desiring that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+the proposed changes might be suspended until he had
+reported his opinion upon them and received authority from
+London for carrying them into effect. They at the same
+time wrote to Palmer, sending him a copy of their letter to
+Oliphant, and giving him to understand that he had
+exceeded his powers.</p>
+
+<p>Palmer now threw off all restraint. He charged the
+postmasters-general with superseding his commission; he
+cautioned them against further interference with his
+regulations, and he appealed to the minister, to whom
+alone he declared himself to be responsible. It was true,
+he said, that he was nominally responsible to the postmasters-general,
+but, except for a legal difficulty connected
+with the constitution of the Post Office, he would have
+received an independent appointment. His commission had
+been made out as it stood merely as a matter of present
+necessity; and that in such circumstances they should
+venture to supersede it appeared to him a hasty and ill-advised
+measure&mdash;a measure not consistent with the judgment
+and temper which usually guided their proceedings.
+He had a profound veneration for the nobility of the
+country, and he could give no stronger proof of it than by
+stating that he still retained his respect and esteem for
+them in spite of their unhandsome conduct. The more he
+reflected on this conduct, the more he was struck at the
+haste and violence of it. Was it reasonable to suppose
+that he would consent to carry out his plan in trammels
+and fetters, and, liable as the postmasters-general were to
+change, to submit his regulations to them to be checked
+and controlled? The considerations for which he had
+received his appointment were twofold&mdash;for the good he
+had done in the past, and for the good he might do in the
+future. "When, therefore," he continued, "your Lordships
+from mistake or ill-advice shall send me any commands that
+I think may go to mischief instead of good, I shall most
+certainly not observe them; and if I apprehend ill consequences
+from any you may think proper to send to any of
+the officers under me, I shall take the liberty, for your Lordships'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+sake as well as my own and the public's, to contradict
+them."</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible that this state of things should continue.
+Palmer had appealed to Cęsar; and to Cęsar he
+should go. Such at least was the postmaster-generals'
+intention, and they so far carried it into effect as to state
+their case in writing; but an interview with the minister,
+though solicited over and over again, the minister always
+found some excuse for declining. "We shall wait with the
+utmost impatience to hear from you that you have found a
+leisure moment when we may wait upon you to explain
+the nature of the question between Mr. Palmer and us."
+"The postmasters-general," they wrote again after a long
+interval, "present their compliments to Mr. Pitt. He will
+see by the enclosed copy of a minute from Mr. Palmer how
+totally the business of this Office must stand still, as far as
+respects the comptroller-general's department, till they can
+have the honour of seeing Mr. Pitt." And again, a fortnight
+later, "the postmasters-general present their compliments
+to Mr. Pitt, and take the liberty to remind him of
+the comptroller-general's two last minutes, and desire to
+have the honour of waiting upon him on Wednesday next
+at any hour he may be pleased to appoint previous to their
+holding their usual Board."</p>
+
+<p>But all to no purpose. The truth is that Pitt was
+heartily tired of these unhappy dissensions. Palmer
+was doing, and doing admirably, the task which he had
+set himself to do. He might not indeed be all that
+could be desired. His conduct might be masterful and
+his pretensions absurd. Yet much allowance was to
+be made for a man who had undertaken a difficult
+business, and whose efforts had been crowned with success.
+And lamentable as the dissensions might be, there was no
+certainty that interference would effect a reconciliation.
+On the contrary, it might serve only to widen the breach,
+and, to judge from the past, this was the more likely
+result. And should the breach prove irreparable and a
+decision have to be given against the reformer who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+done so much for his country, and from whom yet more
+was expected, it would be little short of a disaster. Better
+that matters should remain as they were than incur such a
+risk. We can well believe that some such considerations
+as these influenced Pitt in avoiding an interview; and
+doubtless he was confirmed in his decision by what he
+learned from another quarter. Palmer was a friend of
+Camden's, and Camden was a friend of Pitt's. To this
+common friend Palmer gave his own version of the differences
+between himself and his chiefs; and this version,
+which was altogether different from the one which the
+postmasters-general gave, was studiously impressed upon
+Pitt to their prejudice.</p>
+
+<p>Thus matters stood when, early in 1792, in consequence
+of some discrepancies in the accounts, the postmasters-general
+determined that letters for the city by the first or
+morning delivery should be checked. Care had been taken
+that the check should not be of a nature to retard the
+delivery; and yet, strangely enough, the delivery became
+later and later every day. At length a public advertisement
+appeared inviting the merchants and traders to meet
+at the London Tavern on Wednesday the 15th February in
+order to consider the subject. The meeting was held under
+the presidency of Alderman Curtis, one of the members of
+Parliament for the city; and strong resolutions were passed
+directing the postmaster-generals' attention to the delay, and
+calling upon them to explain and remove the cause.</p>
+
+<p>Charles Bonnor, the deputy comptroller-general, owed
+all he possessed to Palmer. It was by Palmer that he had
+been brought into the Post Office in July 1784, and the
+same influence procured for him shortly afterwards a salary
+of £500 and an allowance of £150 a year for a house.
+Warm in his attachments as he was fierce in his animosities,
+the great reformer extended to Bonnor a confidence
+which probably no other man possessed, and during
+his frequent absences from London kept up with him a
+correspondence in which he poured out his inmost thoughts.
+This person, stung with jealousy at some fancied coolness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+on Palmer's part, now published a pamphlet in which he
+charged his friend and benefactor with wilfully delaying
+the delivery of the morning letters, and then promoting
+the meeting at the London Tavern in order to protest
+against a mischief of his own making. According to Bonnor,
+Palmer had spared no effort to induce persons to attend the
+meeting, and had furnished Alderman Curtis, the chairman,
+with materials for denouncing the Post Office. All this, it
+was alleged, had been done in order to bring the postmasters-general
+into discredit, and to create a demand that
+Palmer might have larger powers given him and be left to
+deal with Post Office matters according to his unfettered
+judgment.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general were overwhelmed with astonishment.
+At first they could not bring themselves to
+believe that the pamphlet was authentic, and it was not
+until they had been reassured on this point that they began
+to make inquiries. Palmer, of course, denied the charge,
+and Bonnor reaffirmed it. Meanwhile the resolutions
+passed at the London Tavern had been sent to the Post
+Office; and the postmasters-general, not knowing what to
+believe, simply referred them to Palmer, with a request that
+he would explain the cause of the late delivery. Palmer's
+reply shews the frame of mind he was in. "The cause
+of the late delivery," he answered, "as well as every other
+existing abuse in the Post Office, arises from the comptroller-general
+not having sufficient authority to correct it." The
+postmasters-general naturally inquired in what respects
+his authority was insufficient to prevent the late delivery,
+and to what other abuses he referred. Palmer, without
+specifying what these abuses were, replied that among the
+causes which had produced them were "an unfortunate
+difference in opinion, and an equally unfortunate interference
+in his office"; and then he proceeded to ask for larger
+powers, which the postmasters-general, consistently with the
+terms of their patent, were unable to give.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later Palmer did that which should perhaps
+have been done before. He suspended Bonnor. The postmasters-general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+also took action, but at the very moment
+when it might have been better if they had remained
+passive. They inquired the reason of Bonnor's suspension,
+and Palmer returned no reply. After waiting a week, the
+postmasters-general decided that, as no reason had been
+given, the suspension must be taken off; and Bonnor was
+directed to resume duty. On presenting himself for this
+purpose, however, Palmer refused to give up the key of his
+room, and sent him word that, if he dared to come to the
+Office again, the constables would have orders to turn him off
+the premises. The postmasters-general had put themselves
+in a false position. If their intention was to try conclusions
+with Palmer, they had selected the worst possible ground.
+Their only choice now was between submitting to defiance
+of their authority and supporting a worthless subordinate
+against his illustrious chief. They elected the latter
+alternative; and the suspension which had been imposed
+upon Bonnor was transferred to Palmer.</p>
+
+<p>An interview with the minister had now become indispensable;
+and at length, but not without a great deal of
+pressure, Pitt fixed the 2nd of May for the purpose.
+Chesterfield was at Bath, slowly recovering from an attack
+of the gout. He was reluctant to leave his colleague unsupported
+on the occasion; and yet for a man who was
+still far from well it was a long and tedious journey to
+London. Should he go or should he not? A decision
+could not be longer delayed, as the 1st of May had already
+arrived. He ordered horses to be put to his carriage, then
+he countermanded them, then he changed his mind again,
+and finally, in response to a sudden twinge of the gout, he
+finally abandoned his journey, and determined to write to
+Walsingham a letter such as he might shew.</p>
+
+<p>Chesterfield, unlike Walsingham, wrote a beautiful hand,
+a hand that was clear and easy to read; but on this particular
+occasion, in order that Pitt might have no excuse for
+not reading the letter, he wrote more clearly and legibly than
+usual. He had&mdash;thus the letter ran&mdash;been in fifty minds
+whether he should not repair to London and take part in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+the interview with Pitt; but he was still so lame that he
+durst not venture on so long a journey. His desire to be
+present had not indeed been prompted by the slightest doubt
+as to what Walsingham would do or say. On the contrary,
+he had the fullest confidence that his colleague would strictly
+adhere to the resolution which they had adopted, that on no
+consideration could Palmer remain with them at the Post
+Office. This resolution the experience which they had
+gained since his suspension had served to strengthen, for
+how much better and with how much greater regularity
+had they gone on since they had in fact as well as in name
+been postmasters-general. All this would doubtless be
+pressed upon Pitt, and, should he waver in the least, he
+must be informed of their ultimatum, which nothing could
+make them change. If, contrary to expectation, they should
+be driven to that option, they must be satisfied to retire
+from an office where they had done their duty and could do
+it no longer. To the full extent of the resolution they
+went hand in hand to Pitt, and this point could not be
+pressed upon him too strongly. Should he begin to propose
+any middle measures, Walsingham should stop him at once.
+It would be disgraceful to listen to them. "Our resolution
+once taken, no power, no persuasion, no influence ought to
+shake it, and I am confident nothing will."</p>
+
+<p>Walsingham waited upon the minister at the appointed
+time. Pitt received him courteously indeed, but coldly.
+Walsingham stated his case. Pitt said little, but that little
+clearly shewed that his leanings were in Palmer's favour.
+Palmer had done good service to the public. Was it
+impossible that he should be restored to duty? Or, much
+having been alleged and nothing proved, might not a court
+of inquiry be held by which the questions at issue between
+him and his chiefs should undergo a thorough and impartial
+investigation? After these and other questions had been
+put and answered, Walsingham produced Chesterfield's
+letter. Pitt read it from beginning to end, folded it up,
+and returned it. Formal civilities followed, and the interview
+was at an end. That night a letter from Walsingham<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+informed Chesterfield that assuredly two persons would be
+dismissed from the Post Office, and that of these two
+persons Palmer would not be one.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general were in a state of sore perplexity.
+Of Pitt's intentions they entertained not the
+slightest doubt. "The Post Office chair," wrote Chesterfield,
+"totters under us"; and again, "I see that can the
+ingenuity of man detect a flaw in our proceedings, we are to
+be the victims." The doubt which the postmasters-general
+felt concerned their own conduct. Rightly or wrongly,
+they believed that they were powerful enough to depose the
+minister, and the question which now agitated their minds
+was whether they should have recourse to so violent a
+measure, or whether they should simply resign. Bonnor
+saved them from the necessity of coming to a conclusion on
+the point. This person had hoarded up the private correspondence
+which, during years of close intimacy and
+friendship, had passed between himself and Palmer; and
+among the correspondence were many compromising letters.
+Such of these as he could readily lay his hands upon
+Bonnor, with incredible baseness, now carried to Walsingham,
+and Walsingham in an evil moment accepted them.</p>
+
+<p>The temptation was no doubt strong. Even in the eyes
+of the postmasters-general themselves it was a comparatively
+small matter that they were on the point of losing their
+places. But it was by no means immaterial to them that
+they should appear to Pitt, as they were conscious of
+appearing at the present time, in the light of false accusers,
+persons who had brought false charges, or at all events
+charges which they could not substantiate; and these
+letters would prove all, and more than all, that had been
+alleged or even suspected. They laid bare the story of the
+King's coach. They shewed how on that occasion the
+contractor had been cajoled into making an exorbitant
+charge in order that Walsingham might be deterred from
+again interfering in what Palmer regarded as his own
+peculiar province. They shewed also how, from that time
+to the present, a deliberate plot had existed at headquarters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+to hinder and thwart Walsingham in everything he undertook.</p>
+
+<p>And yet they were private letters, letters which had
+passed under the seal of confidence. It is by no means the
+least strange part of a strange and painful business that it
+appears never to have crossed the mind of either Walsingham
+or Chesterfield that this was a class of evidence which
+could not with propriety be used. Bonnor, not content
+with the letters he had already produced, searched his correspondence
+through from the time that he and Palmer
+became connected with the Post Office, and hailed any
+additional testimony he was able to collect against his
+former friend and benefactor with fiendish delight. He
+literally revelled in the shameless task he had set himself
+to perform. Evidence-hunting he called it. "We shall
+not only prove all that has been asserted," he wrote, "but a
+great deal more; and on the grand point of his premeditating
+a thorough and complete confusion in the business
+of the inland office, for the declared purpose of thereby
+disgracing the postmasters-general, I have proof that for
+strength and conviction no holy writ can exceed. But," he
+added, "I have a great deal to work up yet."</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the unholy brief was completed, a second
+interview took place with the minister. Pitt appears again
+to have said little, even less than on the previous occasion.
+He had been deceived. The postmasters-general must take
+their own course. The rest is soon told. Two official
+minutes were prepared, the one in Lombard Street and the
+other at Whitehall. By the postmaster-generals' minute
+Palmer, the insubordinate Post Office servant, was dismissed.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>
+By the minister's minute Palmer, the distinguished Post
+Office reformer, was granted a pension equal to double the
+amount of his salary. His salary was £1500, and he
+derived another £1500 a year from his percentage. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+pension which Pitt conferred upon him was £3000. To
+this was added later on, after an interval of many years, a
+Parliamentary grant of £50,000.</p>
+
+<p>Bonnor&mdash;we blush to record it&mdash;received as the reward
+of his infamy the place of comptroller of the inland department.
+His promotion brought him little pleasure. The
+Post Office servants, with all their faults, were loyal to the
+backbone, and they could ill understand being presided over
+by one who was branded with the foulest of all private
+vices, with treachery to a friend and ingratitude to a benefactor.
+His subordinates would hold no communication
+with him beyond what their strict duty required. His
+equals shunned him. Outside the Post Office, go where he
+would, he received the cold shoulder. Never was man left
+more severely alone. At the end of two years fresh postmasters-general
+came who, under the plea of abolishing his
+appointment, dismissed him with a small pension. Then he
+became insolvent, and was thrown into prison. Released
+from confinement at the end of the century, he published
+pamphlet after pamphlet, having for their object to vindicate
+what he was pleased to call his good name; but these
+vindications, though replete with professions of honour,
+proved nothing more than that the writer was a poltroon as
+well as a traitor.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NINETIES: OR, ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO</h3>
+
+
+<p>The spirit of activity which Palmer had infused into the
+Post Office did not cease with the cessation of his official
+career. Those who served under him had been selected by
+himself; and they had been selected on account of qualities
+which the withdrawal of his dominating influence was
+calculated rather to stimulate than to check. These men
+now came to the fore, and not only ably sustained their late
+master's work but inaugurated important measures of their
+own.</p>
+
+<p>But before proceeding to chronicle the acts of Palmer's
+successors, we propose to give a few particulars which will
+serve better perhaps than a mere record of leading events
+to shew the state of the Post Office at the time that Palmer
+left it; and in this relation the project with which his name
+is mainly identified shall have precedence.</p>
+
+<p>In 1792 sixteen mail-coaches left London every day,
+and as many returned. These were in addition to the cross
+country mail-coaches, of which there were fifteen&mdash;as, for
+instance, the coach between Bristol and Oxford or, as it
+was commonly called, Mr. Pickwick's coach.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> Those leaving
+London started from the General Post Office in Lombard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+Street at eight o'clock in the evening, and they travelled
+every day, Sundays included.</p>
+
+<p>There is still extant at the Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand
+the model of an old mail-coach, as fresh and as
+perfect as the day it was painted. This model bears upon
+its panels four devices&mdash;one a cross with the motto, <i>Honi
+soit qui mal y pense</i>; another a thistle with the motto, <i>Nemo
+me impune lacessit</i>; a third a shamrock under a star, with
+the motto, <i>Quis separabit?</i> (ah! who indeed?); and a fourth,
+three crowns with the motto, <i>Tria juncta in uno</i>. It is
+commonly reputed to be the model of the first mail-coach,
+and as such we have seen it represented in foreign publications.
+We feel constrained in the interests of truth to
+expose this fiction. The first mail-coach ran between
+Bristol and London. The model bears upon it the words,
+"Royal Mail from London to Liverpool." The first mail-coach
+carried no outside passengers. The model has
+places for several passengers outside. The first mail-coach
+began to run on Monday the 2nd of August 1784. On
+the model, below one of the devices, appears in small yet
+legible figures the date 1783. But although certainly not
+the model of the first mail-coach, we are by no means sure
+that it is not still more interesting. We have little doubt
+that it is a model which, before mail-coaches began to run,
+was prepared for Pitt's inspection.</p>
+
+<p>In 1787, owing to the faulty construction of the original
+mail-coach and the wretched materials of which it was
+made, hardly a day passed without one or more accidents.
+Occasionally, indeed, the Post Office would receive notice of
+as many as three and even four upsets or breakdowns in a
+single morning. Palmer at once discerned the origin of the
+disease and the remedy; and the latter he proceeded to
+apply with his usual resolution. Having satisfied himself
+that a patent coach which was being constructed at this
+time fulfilled the necessary conditions more completely than
+any other, he agreed with the patentee, one Besant by name,
+to supply whatever number of coaches might be required.
+It was a mere verbal agreement, an agreement confirmed by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+no writing of any kind; yet no sooner was it made than
+Palmer addressed a circular to all the contractors of the
+kingdom, reproaching them with the shameful condition of
+their coaches. This, he told them, was due to the miserable
+sums they gave to the coach-maker, sums so low as to oblige
+him to use the most worthless materials; and as to repairs,
+even if they made him an allowance for these, it was so
+inadequate to the continual mending which vehicles constructed
+of such materials required that he merely put in a
+clip or a bolt where the fracture might happen to be, and
+then returned them in as dangerous a condition as before.
+Such a state of things, Palmer continued, would no longer
+be tolerated, and, as fast as Besant could turn them out, the
+new patent coaches would be sent down to replace those
+that were now in use. For providing them and keeping
+them in thorough repair, for which of course the contractors
+had to pay, the patentee's terms would be five farthings a
+mile or 2-1/2d. a mile out and in. After this summary fashion
+did Palmer clear the country of the mail-coaches of original
+construction.</p>
+
+<p>In 1792 the only mail-coaches on the road were those
+supplied by Besant. They were constructed to carry five
+passengers, four inside and one out. The coachman was not
+a Post Office servant; yet he, like the mail guard, was provided
+with uniform. The mail guard carried firearms. He
+carried also a timepiece; and this timepiece was regulated
+to gain about fifteen minutes in twenty-four hours, so that,
+when travelling eastwards, it might accord with real time.
+Of course, in the opposite direction, a corresponding allowance
+was made. The mail guard's position was one of no
+little responsibility. Not only were the mails under his
+personal charge, but he had to see that the coach kept time,
+that there was no undue delay for the purpose of obtaining
+refreshments, that the harness was in serviceable condition,
+and, generally, that matters along the road were conducted
+with order and propriety. If in any one or more of these
+respects there were any defect, it was the mail guard's duty
+to report the circumstance. Should the harness be reported<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+as in had condition, and the contractors fail to replace it on
+demand, a new set was sent down from London at their
+expense; and should a coach persistently keep bad time, a
+superintendent from headquarters was deputed to travel by
+it until proper time was kept. This was equivalent to a
+heavy fine, as the superintendent travelled free, and for
+the seat he occupied a passenger would have been charged
+at the rate of 4d. a mile. The fees which at this time
+it was usual to pay to the mail guard and coachman were
+moderate enough, only 1s. apiece at the end of the
+"ground"; and if the "ground" was less than thirty miles,
+only 6d. Even at this rate the gentlemen of Devonshire
+bitterly complained that between Exeter and Taunton they
+had to pay two coachmen.</p>
+
+<p>The chief superintendent of mail-coaches at this time
+was Thomas Hasker, a man whose heart and soul were in
+his duties. Hasker has left behind him copies of letters
+written by himself or by his instructions; and these
+letters, though expressed in homely language, throw such
+a flood of light upon the ways of the road a century ago
+that we make no apology for quoting from them. "The
+Bristol coach," he writes to the postmaster of Marlborough,
+"is the fastest in the kingdom, and you must not detain
+it for the coach from Bath." Again, to the postmaster of
+Ipswich he writes, "Tell Mr. Foster to get fresh horses
+immediately, and that I must see him in town next Monday.
+Shameful work&mdash;three hours and twenty-two minutes
+coming over his eighteen miles." The Dover coach had
+long been keeping bad time. "I must beg you to attend
+to this directly," writes Hasker to the contractors, "or we
+shall be obliged to put three fresh guards on the coach,
+and keep a superintendent constantly up and down till time
+is kept." The contractors for another coach had failed
+to replace their harness when desired, and a set had been
+sent down from London. "The harness," writes the indefatigable
+superintendent, "cost fourteen guineas, but as it
+had been used a few times with the King's royal Weymouth
+[coach], you will be charged only twelve, which sum please<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+to remit to me." Thanks to the widening of the roads,
+it is only in thoroughfares more or less crowded that the
+device can now be practised to which the following refers:
+"Your coachman, Pickard, lost thirty-seven minutes last
+night coming up, and by so doing he always hinders the
+Manchester coach; he leaving Leicester first keeps on
+before, and prevents the other coach from passing. This
+is the case every night that Pickard comes up."</p>
+
+<p>But it is the instructions to the mail guards which
+bring home to us most vividly the ways of the road a
+hundred years ago. Thus, to the mail guards on the
+Exeter coach: "You are not to stop at any place whatever
+to leave any letters at, but to blow your horn to
+give the people notice that you have got letters for them;
+therefore, if they do not choose to come out to receive
+them, don't you get down from your dicky, but take them
+on to Exeter and bring them back with you on your next
+journey." And again to the mail guards on another coach:
+"If the coachman go into a public-house to drink, don't
+you go with him and make the stop longer, but hurry him
+out." This hurrying out had sometimes to be applied to
+passengers, and not always with success. "Sir," writes
+Hasker to a mail guard who had complained of the futility
+of his efforts in this direction, "stick to your bill, and
+never mind what passengers say respecting waiting overtime.
+Is it not the fault of the landlord to keep them so
+long? Some day when you have waited a considerable
+time (suppose five or eight minutes longer than is allowed
+by the bill), drive away and leave them behind. Only take
+care that you have witness that you called them out two
+or three times. Then let them get forward how they can.
+Let the innkeeper [of the house] where they dine know
+that you have received this letter."</p>
+
+<p>While thus urged to correct others, the mail guards had
+sometimes to be corrected themselves. Fines ranging from
+2s. 6d. to 5s. were imposed for omitting to date the timetable
+or for dating it wrongly; and on one occasion an unfortunate
+guard was fined as much as one guinea because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+some bags for which he should have called at the Stafford
+Post Office were left behind. Also to delegate one's duties
+was strictly prohibited. "It has been reported to Mr.
+Hasker," writes Hasker's lieutenant, "that you send your
+mail to the Post Office by the person called Boots, and do not
+go with it yourself. You have been wrote to two or three
+times before on this subject. Therefore, if the irregularity
+be repeated, you will certainly be discharged." Occasionally
+advantage would be taken of a complaint to read a lesson
+to the complainant. A mail guard had been reported for
+impertinence by certain contractors who were notorious
+for the indifferent lights with which they supplied their
+coach. After replying that he had been severely rebuked
+for his conduct, Hasker slily adds, "but perhaps something
+may be said for the feelings of a guard that hears the
+continual complaints of passengers against bad lights and
+the disagreeable smell of stinking oil, especially when
+through such things the passengers withhold the gratuity
+which the guards expect."</p>
+
+<p>On the part of the mail guards, however, the commonest
+irregularity, and the irregularity most difficult to check,
+was the carrying of parcels and of passengers in excess
+of the prescribed number. "In consequence"&mdash;so runs
+a general order which was issued about this time&mdash;"of
+several of the mail guards having been detected in
+carrying meat and vegetables in their mail-box to the
+amount of 150 pounds weight at a time, the superintendents
+are desired to take opportunities to meet the
+coaches in their district at places where they are least
+expected, and to search the boxes to remedy this evil,
+which is carried to too great a length. The superintendents,"
+the order proceeds, "will please to observe that Mr.
+Hasker does not wish to be too hard on the guards. Such
+a thing as a joint of meat or a couple of fowls or any
+other article for their own family in moderation he does
+not wish to debar them from the privilege of carrying."
+Truth compels us to add that at the time to which we
+refer it was not only meat and vegetables that the mail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+guards carried. They carried also game. In later years
+the country gentleman was probably the mail guards' best
+friend, but at the end of the last century he did not
+hesitate to charge them with being in league with poachers,
+and not infrequently threatened prosecution. The mail-box
+indeed was admirably adapted to purposes of secretion.
+Occupying a part of the space which even in these early
+days was known as the boot, it opened not, as the boot
+opened, from behind but from the top, immediately under
+the mail guard's feet; and no one but himself had access
+to it. Constant were the injunctions to the superintendents
+to meet the coaches at unexpected places for the purpose
+of search. "Search," writes Hasker, "as many mail-boxes
+as you can, and take away all game not directed and anything
+else beyond a joint for the guard's family, and send
+it to the chief magistrate to be disposed of for the benefit
+of the poor of the parish." The temptation to carry an
+extra passenger or two was even greater than to carry
+parcels. What degree of indulgence was shewn to this
+form of irregularity appears to have depended upon the
+part of the coach in which the extra seat was provided.
+To be detected in carrying a passenger on the mail-box
+was certain dismissal.</p>
+
+<p>Although it is not our intention to treat of mail-coaches
+otherwise than as vehicles for the transmission of letters,
+it may perhaps be permitted to us to pause here a moment
+and inquire where, at the end of the last century, the
+passengers' luggage can have been stowed. Of the boot a
+part, as we have seen, was given up to the mail-box; and the
+roof, upon which, within our own recollection, the luggage
+would be piled to nearly half the height of the coach itself,
+was forbidden, or almost forbidden, ground. "To load the
+roof of the coach," writes Hasker, "with large heavy baskets
+would not only be setting a bad example to other coaches,
+but in a very short time no passenger would travel with it."
+"Such a thing," he adds, "as a turtle tied on the roof
+directed to any gentleman once or twice a year might pass
+unnoticed, but for a constancy cannot be suffered." This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+objection to a load on the roof appears to have been common
+to the Sovereign and the subject. In 1796 the Court
+proceeded to Weymouth; and, as usual, a royal mail was in
+attendance. The King, who took the liveliest interest in
+the performances of this coach, and examined the way-bill
+daily, discountenanced roof-loads. The royal injunctions on
+this head Hasker, who was a plain-spoken man and no
+courtier, conveyed to, his subordinates thus: "Take care
+not to load the royal mail too high, and when any of His
+Majesty's servants travel by it do not load the roof upward,
+as you know he ordered that no luggage should be put on
+the top when his servants rode, and, indeed, at all times.
+Now upwards [<i>i.e.</i> on return from Weymouth to Windsor]
+there can be no occasion, for there are waggons and other
+conveyances to bring the luggage up." The possible use of
+waggons and other conveyances notwithstanding, we cannot
+help thinking that the traveller by coach of a hundred years
+ago must have been content with a far smaller quantity of
+luggage than would satisfy the traveller of to-day.</p>
+
+<p>That the roof of the coach, whether loaded or not, had
+its drawbacks for travellers is sufficiently evident from
+Hasker's correspondence. "The York coachman and guard,"
+he writes after a spell of bad weather which had rotted the
+roads, "were both chucked from their seats going down to
+Huntingdon last journey, and coming up the guard is lost
+this morning, supposed from the same cause, as the passengers
+say he was blowing his horn just before they missed him."</p>
+
+<p>The King's interest in his mail-coach was not confined
+to the inspection of the way-bill. It was usual, before the
+Court repaired to Weymouth, for the coach to make a certain
+number of trial trips, and the King would go to the castle
+gates to see it pass. "His Majesty," writes Hasker, under
+date the 12th of August 1794, "came down to the park
+gate to see the mail-coach the first and second day, and told
+me he was much pleased to see it so well done and regular,
+and that he was glad Mr. White did not work it." Mr.
+White had worked it on a previous occasion, and had not
+given satisfaction. At the end of each season the King gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+still more practical proof of the interest he took in his coach
+by sending thirty guineas for distribution among the mail
+guards and coachmen.</p>
+
+<p>But, gratified as Hasker must have been by these
+marks of royal condescension, there was one thing which,
+with his concurrence, even the King should not do, and
+that was, detain the mail. Owing to the letters from the
+Court being late, the coach, on several successive days,
+had not started from Weymouth until after the appointed
+hour. Chesterfield was the minister in attendance, and
+Hasker addressed to him a letter of respectful remonstrance.
+Of course he did not know, he said, whether the mail had
+been detained by His Majesty or by His Majesty's postmaster-general;
+but in either case he prayed it might be
+considered how bad an example it was, and what disorder
+was being introduced into the service. According to present
+arrangements, the coach should leave Weymouth at four in
+the afternoon. It might be appointed to leave at five or even
+six if desired, and yet reach London on the following day in
+time for the last delivery; but whatever hour might be
+fixed, he adjured his Lordship that it might be observed.</p>
+
+<p>How completely the mail-coach had by this time
+extinguished the express may be judged from the following
+instruction to the packet agent at Yarmouth:<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> "You will
+observe the reason why you keep the mail to send by the
+mail-coach is that, tho' you detain it four or five hours, it
+arrives as soon at the General Post Office as if sent by
+express, for the coach travels in sixteen or seventeen hours,
+and the express in not less than twenty or twenty-one,
+sometimes more." Nor is it less interesting to note the
+change of sentiment which had recently taken place as to
+the importance of despatch. Only a few years before, as we
+have seen, the inhabitants of Shrewsbury had been informed
+that it could be of no consequence whether their letters
+arrived four or five hours sooner or later. Now, in order to
+accelerate the letters contained in a single bag, no expense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+is to be spared. "If," the same instruction continues, "any
+mail arrives within an hour after the mail-coach is gone,
+perhaps a post-chaise and four might catch it at Ipswich."</p>
+
+<p>But, to quit details, the broad results were these.
+Palmer, when introducing his plan, had promised security
+and despatch; but not economy. On the contrary, he had
+made no secret of his opinion that the use of mail-coaches
+would involve a considerable increase of expense. The result
+was a surprise even to himself. Before 1784 the annual
+allowance for carrying the mails ranged from £4 to £8 a
+mile, £8 being paid where the mails were heavy&mdash;as, for
+instance, on the Great North Road from London as far as
+Tuxford. In 1792 the terms on which the mails were
+carried were exemption from tolls and 1d. a mile each
+way, or an annual allowance of a little more than £3 a
+mile. Palmer had estimated the total cost of his plan at
+£30,000 a year. The actual cost only slightly exceeded
+£12,000.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly less reason had he to congratulate himself
+on the score of security and despatch. Before 1784
+scarcely a week passed without the mails on one road or
+another being robbed. So great had the scandal become
+that the Post Office built a model cart&mdash;a cart wholly
+constructed of iron and reputed to be robber-proof. This
+cart had not long begun to run before it was stopped by
+highwaymen and rifled of its contents. In 1792 eight
+years had passed since the introduction of Palmer's plan;
+and during this period not a single mail-coach had been
+either stopped or robbed. This immunity from robbery
+was in more ways than one equivalent to a further saving.
+Before 1784 heavy expenses were incurred annually for
+prosecutions. One trial alone, a trial which made no little
+noise at the time, namely that of the brothers Weston, cost
+no less than £4000. This source of expense had now, of
+course, disappeared. As regards despatch, before 1784 the
+post travelled between five and six miles an hour. In 1792
+the mail-coaches were travelling about seven miles an hour.
+Telford had not yet levelled the hills nor Macadam paved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+the roads; and rollers were unknown. A speed of seven
+miles an hour at the end of the last century was probably
+far more trying to horses than a speed of ten miles an hour
+later on.</p>
+
+<p>It would be beyond our province to inquire&mdash;interesting
+as the inquiry would be&mdash;to what extent the exchange of
+commodities between town and town dates from the introduction
+of mail-coaches; and whether it was not at this
+period that, with some noted exceptions, the local repute
+which certain towns enjoyed for the manufacture of
+particular articles began to spread. Ours is a humbler
+purpose; or we might be tempted even to contend that
+Palmer's plan, by the facilities it afforded for intercourse,
+exercised an influence&mdash;slow it may be, but none the less
+sure&mdash;upon the habits and condition of the people.</p>
+
+<p>We will illustrate our meaning. Before the introduction
+of mail-coaches in 1784 the town of Penzance in Cornwall
+was not indeed without a post; but the post it possessed
+was hardly worthy of the name. In 1790 letters were
+conveyed there by cart from Falmouth regularly six days a
+week. Now, of the condition of Penzance not many years
+before the earlier of these two dates we are informed on
+unimpeachable authority. "I have heard my mother
+relate," writes Sir Humphry Davy's brother and biographer,
+"that when she was a girl<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> there was only one cart in the
+town of Penzance, and that if a carriage occasionally
+appeared in the streets it attracted universal attention.
+Pack-horses were then in general use for conveying
+merchandise, and the prevailing manner of travelling was on
+horseback. At that period the luxuries of furniture and
+living enjoyed by people of the middle class at the present
+time were confined almost entirely to the great and wealthy;
+in the same town, where the population was about 2000
+persons, there was only one carpet, the floors of rooms were
+sprinkled with sea-sand, and there was not a single silver
+fork. The only newspaper which then circulated in the
+west of England was the <i>Sherborne Mercury</i>, and it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+carried through the country not by the post but by a
+man on horseback specially employed in distributing it."
+Penzance can never be otherwise than a most interesting
+town; but one finds it difficult to believe that, after being
+brought into communication with the outside world on six
+days of the week, it can long have retained its pristine
+charm and simplicity.</p>
+
+<p>Let us now see what, at the time of Palmer's retirement,
+was the condition of the country Post Offices. Bristol, after
+long ranking next to London in wealth and population, had
+yielded place to other towns. Foremost among these stood
+Manchester. Manchester, following suit to the capital, had
+recently numbered its streets; it was publishing local
+directories; and it enjoyed the reputation of being, the
+capital itself not excepted, the dearest town in the kingdom.
+At the present time the Post Office at Manchester gives
+employment to about 1400 persons. In 1792, with the
+exception of a single letter-carrier, the whole of the Post
+Office business there was conducted by an aged widow
+assisted by her daughter. Dame Willatt had recently
+achieved some little local notoriety. She had, as an inducement
+to persons to post early, imposed a late-letter fee.
+For this proceeding, not at that time uncommon and not
+disapproved at headquarters, she had been summoned to
+the Court of the Lord of the Manor, and had been cast in
+damages.</p>
+
+<p>Bath enjoyed a double distinction, a distinction due
+less probably to its population as compared with that
+of other towns than to the fact that, being Palmer's
+native place, it was constantly under his eye as it had
+been under the eye of Ralph Allen before. This highly-favoured
+town was, outside London, the only one in the
+kingdom which could boast of what, with any regard to
+the meaning of words, could be dignified by the name of a
+Post Office Establishment; and the postmaster's salary was
+in excess of that which any other postmaster received.
+This salary was £150 a year, and the establishment, over
+which Ralph Allen's successor presided, consisted of one
+clerk and three letter-carriers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>No other town had more than one letter-carrier; and
+many towns had not even this. Whether the accommodation
+was provided or not appears to have depended
+less upon the necessities of the place than upon the disposition
+of the inhabitants. Thus, the little towns of
+Sandwich in Kent and Hungerford in Berkshire, in recognition
+of the gallant conflict they had waged with
+the authorities, had each a letter-carrier of its own, while
+Norwich, York, Derby, Newcastle, and Plymouth had none.
+Besides Bath only four towns received an allowance for a
+clerk or assistant, namely Manchester, Norwich, York, and
+Leeds. Elsewhere the postmaster and a letter-carrier, if
+letter-carrier there was, were the sole Post Office representatives.</p>
+
+<p>At Bristol the postmaster's salary was £140,&mdash;the
+next highest after that given at Bath. At Liverpool, Manchester,
+Birmingham, and Chester the salary was £100;
+at Exeter, York, Newcastle, Leeds, and Plymouth £80; at
+Sheffield £60, to which amount it had been recently raised
+from £50; at Derby, Carlisle, and Gloucester £40; at
+Brighton and Nottingham £30; at Leicester £25; and at
+Southampton £20. At Tunbridge the postmaster, in
+addition to a salary of £20, received an allowance of equal
+amount for keeping an office at Tunbridge Wells. Ripon,
+despite the rebuke it had received in 1713 for its audacity
+in asking for a Post Office, had now been accommodated
+with one. At Chepstow pence were still being paid on the
+delivery of letters, not because the inhabitants had not discovered
+their rights but out of consideration to the aged
+postmistress, whose emoluments they were unwilling to
+diminish. Birkenhead, Torquay, and Bournemouth,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> of
+course, did not exist. Eastbourne existed indeed, but
+not as we know it now. Hither the letters were
+carried three times a week from Lewes. At Ramsgate,
+then a village served from the neighbouring post-town of
+Sandwich, an office for the receipt of letters was kept at a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+cost of £6 a year. The whole of the Isle of Wight had
+but one postmaster and one letter-carrier. To the Channel
+Islands there was no post.</p>
+
+<p>On Palmer's retirement the office of chief adviser to the
+postmasters-general devolved almost naturally upon Francis
+Freeling, the surveyor located at headquarters. Todd still
+held the appointment of secretary, but after a service of
+more than fifty years he was unequal to the exertion which
+the exigencies of the time required. Between Todd and
+Walsingham, moreover, there was little in common. Their
+relations, indeed, had always been most friendly; but the
+views they entertained on Post Office questions were more
+often than not at variance. "It is a matter of great entertainment
+to me," wrote Walsingham, as early as October
+1788, "to see how totally we differ in all our official
+opinions." From this time Todd took less and less part in
+the duties of his office, and confined himself almost exclusively
+to its social amenities. This was a sphere in
+which he excelled. At his table in Lombard Street the
+postmasters-general themselves and such as they might
+choose to meet them were frequent guests, and "his old
+hock in his old parlour" passed into a by-word.</p>
+
+<p>Freeling, on the contrary, possessed advantages which
+not only pointed him out as Todd's successor when Todd
+should be pleased to retire, but peculiarly fitted him to
+deal with the circumstances of the moment. In the
+prime of life, of good address and prepossessing appearance,
+and with a knowledge of every detail of Post Office
+organisation such as only constant visits to different
+parts of the kingdom could give, he soon contrived to
+make himself not only useful but indispensable; and
+before any long period had expired the postmasters-general
+appointed him joint secretary with Todd, an
+arrangement by virtue of which one was to be the
+acting and the other the sleeping partner; one was to do
+the work and the other to draw the pay. It was new to
+the postmasters-general to have about them some one who
+was not only able but willing and anxious to impart information<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+on every official question as it arose, and they
+could ill conceal their glee at the altered state of affairs.
+"One of the complaints made by us of Mr. Palmer," they
+wrote about this time, "was that he did what he thought
+fit without making the least communication to the Board,
+or without there being a single record of anything which he
+did or objected to either before or after it was done"; ...
+but "Mr. Freeling reports distinctly to us upon every
+application that we refer to him, or that is made to the
+Board, amounting to above two hundred reports every
+quarter for the current business." Freeling was now
+exposed to a serious danger, a danger to which many a
+reputation has succumbed, namely, that of being transformed
+from a man of action into a mere scribe; but this was a
+temptation which he stoutly resisted. Without relaxing his
+efforts to maintain and improve upon Palmer's plan, he was
+careful not only to keep the postmasters-general informed of
+what he was doing, but to do nothing which had not first
+been duly authorised.</p>
+
+<p>The period immediately following Palmer's retirement
+was one rather of honest endeavour than of solid achievement.
+The first and most pressing question to arise was
+that of insufficiency of accommodation at headquarters. The
+inland office, this being the office in which the mails were
+made up for despatch, was not only close and ill-ventilated,
+but altogether too small for its purpose. More post-towns
+were required in various parts of the kingdom; but it was
+impossible to add to the number of towns for which bags
+would have to be made up until more space should be
+provided. Some persons thought it would be best at once
+to take a step which in any case would probably have to be
+taken in the not remote future, and to build a new Post
+Office on other and more extensive premises. Such, however,
+was not the opinion of the postmasters-general. They
+were naturally unwilling to advocate the heavy expenditure
+which such a measure would involve except upon proof of
+its absolute necessity. Mainly on this ground, but also
+partly because premises in so central and convenient a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+position as those which the present Post Office occupied
+were not to be had, authority was sought and obtained for
+nothing more than the erection of a new inland office.</p>
+
+<p>But, as the postmasters-general found to their cost, it is
+one thing to obtain an authority and another thing to carry
+it into effect. On part of the ground on which the office
+was to be erected stood two houses, the lease of which had
+not long to run; and the Drapers' Company, to whom the
+property belonged, declined to extend the term. This
+difficulty was at length overcome, and the houses were in
+course of demolition, when projecting into the very centre
+of the space designed for the new office was found the wall
+of an old house belonging to Sir Charles Watson, and this
+house he refused to let the Post Office have unless it would
+also take seven other houses which he possessed in the
+immediate neighbourhood. At the present time houses in
+and about Abchurch Lane would probably fetch twenty-five
+years' purchase. Fifteen years' purchase was the sum then
+demanded, and it was considered a hard bargain. Eventually
+Watson consented to grant a ninety-nine years' lease;
+but it was a lease not only of the single house that the
+Post Office wanted, but of all eight houses, seven of
+which it did not want. What they called their mortifications
+and disappointments at an end, the postmasters-general
+proceeded to build.</p>
+
+<p>Still more unsatisfactory was the result of an attempt
+that was made or intended to be made about this time to
+improve the post with the Continent. Communication with
+France was only twice a week, and Walsingham desired to
+treble it. In France, as in England, the post went to the
+water's edge on six days of the week, and he could see no
+reason why, except on two days, it should stop there. He
+entertained a strong opinion that between the two countries
+communication should be daily.</p>
+
+<p>There was also another matter to be settled with
+our neighbours. During a period of sixty-six years,
+namely, from 1713 to 1779, the postage on a single letter
+between London and Paris had been 10d.; and, to avoid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+the keeping of accounts, this sum had been collected and
+retained by the Post Office of the country in which
+the letter was delivered. In 1779, when owing to the
+war communication between Dover and Calais was
+stopped, letters from Paris reached England through
+Flanders, and on these letters when put into the post
+in Paris a charge of 4d. was made in addition to the
+10d. to be paid on delivery in London. It had been
+thought that in 1783, on the termination of the war, this
+charge would be abandoned, and that the old postage of
+10d. would be resumed. Such, however, was not the case.
+The Post Office authorities in France adhered to the
+4d. charge and defended it. The old postage of 10d.,
+they argued, was all very well when they had no packets of
+their own and England performed the sea service. But
+now France had her own packets, and the distance between
+Paris and Calais being far greater than between London
+and Dover, it could not in reason be expected that on a
+letter between the two capitals she would be content with
+no higher postage than that which England received. The
+charge of 4d. upon letters for London when put into the
+post in Paris must be maintained, even though they no
+longer went through Flanders. It was a matter of internal
+regulation with which England had no concern. Without
+contesting this view of the case, the home authorities
+regarded the 4d. charge as a most vexatious impost. Not
+only had it the effect of diminishing the correspondence, but
+many of the letters which still passed were carried by
+private hand from Paris to Dover and there posted, so that
+the British Post Office received upon them only 4d.
+apiece, this being the postage from Dover to London,
+instead of 10d., the postage from Paris. In 1787 Palmer
+had, by Pitt's direction, gone over to France in order to
+adjust the matter and to promote a six days' post between
+the two countries; but he returned without effecting either
+object.</p>
+
+<p>Circumstances now appearing more favourable, Walsingham
+determined to make fresh overtures. An emissary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+had already been selected for the purpose, and
+was on the eve of departure when a new and unexpected
+difficulty arose; the merchants of London, to whom the
+intention to increase the frequency of communication with
+France had become known, met to protest against the
+project. A hundred years before they would have gone to
+the Post Office, talked the matter over with the postmasters-general,
+and, after an exchange of opinions, an agreement
+would have been come to as to what was best to be done.
+Now they assembled in their numbers at the London
+Tavern and resolved "that any addition to the present
+number of post days to France or to any other part of the
+Continent is unnecessary, and would be highly inconvenient
+and injurious to the merchants of London." The resolution
+was unanimous, and copies were sent to the postmasters-general
+and the minister. For the merchants of London
+Walsingham entertained a sincere respect; but in this particular
+matter, convinced that they did not know what was
+for their own good, he determined to proceed in their
+despite. Unhappily, however, at this conjuncture the resumption
+of hostilities with France extinguished for the
+time all hopes of improved communication with the
+Continent.</p>
+
+<p>Another project, in which the Post Office and the
+merchants possessed a common interest and a common
+desire, was also doomed to failure. The practice of cutting
+bank notes into two parts and sending one part by one post
+and another by another had now become general. The
+expedient, though efficacious, was a costly one. A letter
+with an enclosure, however light, paid double postage; and
+double postage between two places no farther apart than
+London and Birmingham was 10d. To send two halves of
+a bank note each in a separate letter would, of course, cost
+twice that amount. This was a heavy insurance to pay.
+The Post Office, in its desire not to discourage a practice
+which diminished temptation to dishonesty, was hardly less
+anxious than the merchants themselves that the amount
+should be reduced. Accordingly Walsingham proposed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>
+in all cases where a bank note was sent by two separate
+posts the second letter, that is to say, the letter containing
+the second half, should, on proof being given of its contents,
+be charged with only single postage. A notice to the
+public announcing the change had already been prepared
+when he learnt to his chagrin that the proposed regulation
+would be illegal. In the case of a letter with an enclosure
+the law prescribed double postage, and it was no more in
+the power of the Post Office to reduce the amount than to
+forego it altogether.</p>
+
+<p>But these were failures which it is only interesting to
+record as evidence that at the Post Office, after Palmer had
+left it, there was no want of directing energy or of a desire
+to study the interests of the public. It is pleasant to turn
+to matters in respect to which good intentions were not
+unattended with results. But before leaving 1792, the
+year in which these disappointments occurred, we must not
+omit to notice that it was at the end of this year that the
+letter-carriers were for the first time put into uniform.
+Palmer, who was now playing the part of the outside critic,
+condemned the innovation as a piece of unnecessary extravagance.
+But Palmer did not know the reasons for it. The
+letter-carriers when in private clothes were exposed to
+temptation from which the wearing of uniform would
+protect them; and more than one recent case had brought
+the fact into painful prominence. Nor can it be denied
+that, so long as there was no distinctive dress, letter-carriers
+in want of a holiday were a little apt to take one without
+permission, supplying their place by persons of whose
+character they knew little or nothing. It was in order to
+check irregularity of this kind and as a means of protection
+to themselves and the public that uniform was now
+introduced. The uniform consisted of a scarlet cloth coat
+with blue lapels and blue linings of padua; a blue cloth
+waistcoat, and a hat with gold band.</p>
+
+<p>It should also be noticed that about this time the Post
+Office servants in London were in some measure relieved
+from the pecuniary cares by which they had long been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+oppressed. The Commissioners of Inquiry in their Report
+of 1788 had recommended for the Post Office a new
+establishment; and now, after an interval of nearly five
+years, this establishment was approved by the King in
+Council. The new salaries were not high. At the present
+time they would be considered low; but such as they
+were, they were higher than the salaries they replaced.
+Jamineau's recent death, moreover, by relieving the clerks
+of the roads from payment of the commission<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> which this
+officer received on all newspapers with which they dealt,
+enabled them to reduce their price for franking, the result
+being an immediate extension of sale. On the whole, the
+Post Office servants in London were, at this time, in
+comparatively comfortable circumstances, or at all events
+above the reach of actual want. The starvation and
+bankruptcy with which they had at one time been
+threatened had been staved off by a grant, which Pitt
+renewed year after year while the Commissioners' Report
+was under consideration. This grant amounted to £3000,
+of which £2000 were for distribution in the sorting office,
+and £1000 in the other offices.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1793 was signalised by a remarkable development
+of the penny post. This institution, which had as yet
+been established nowhere but in London and in Dublin, was
+now to be extended to Edinburgh, to Manchester, to Bristol,
+and to Birmingham. In Edinburgh the ground had been
+to some extent preoccupied. The keeper of a coffee-house
+in the hall of the Parliament House had sixteen years
+before set up an office from which letters were delivered
+throughout the city at 1d. apiece; and this office still
+remained open and prospered. To compare Williamson's
+undertaking with Dockwra's would be to compare a mouse
+with an elephant; and yet it may not be uninteresting to
+note the different treatment which the two men received.
+Dockwra was prosecuted, fined, and his undertaking confiscated.
+Williamson was granted a pension. "We have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+also," write the postmasters-general under date the 19th
+of July 1793, "to beg your Lordship's permission to
+authorise us to allow to Mr. Williamson of Edinburgh £25
+per annum, he having long had the profits of 1d. a letter
+on certain letters forwarded through his receiving house
+at Edinburgh, which he will lose by our having established
+a penny post there. We have made it a rule," they add,
+"always to propose that those who suffer in their incomes
+from regulations which are certainly beneficial to the public
+should receive compensation for the loss they sustain."</p>
+
+<p>At Manchester the establishment of the penny post followed
+upon other and important alterations. The inhabitants of
+that town had long complained of the inadequacy of their
+postal arrangements; and measures had recently been
+taken, the very extent of which serves to shew how serious
+must have been the defects which they were designed to
+supply. The aged postmistress was granted a pension of
+£120, with the reversion of one-third of that amount to
+her daughter; and in her room an active postmaster was
+appointed at a salary of £300. Four clerks were at the
+same time appointed, at salaries ranging from £50 to £100,
+and five additional letter-carriers, making six altogether,
+at wages of 12s. a week. Thus, Manchester suddenly found
+itself in possession of a Post Office establishment with
+which, outside London, that of no other town in the
+kingdom could compare. As a sequel to this important
+extension of force a penny post was opened in July 1793;
+and no sooner had the boon been conferred upon
+Manchester than it was extended to Bristol and to
+Birmingham.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to note what at these three towns was
+the financial effect of giving postal facilities. During the
+year 1794-95 the penny post brought a clear gain to the
+revenue&mdash;in Manchester, of £586; in Bristol, of £469;
+and in Birmingham, of £240. It is a curious fact that,
+with this experience to guide them and with an anxious
+desire to extend the system, the Post Office authorities,
+after sparing no pains to inform themselves on the subject,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+came to the conclusion that neither at Liverpool nor at
+Leeds nor at any other town in England would a penny
+post defray its own expenses.</p>
+
+<p>But it was in London that the penny post attained its
+highest development. This branch of Post Office business
+had long been shamefully neglected. Of the officers
+concerned in it those above the rank of sorter were only
+three in number&mdash;a comptroller, an accountant, and a
+collector. Of these the collector attended only occasionally,
+and the accountant and comptroller not at all. This
+neglect had its natural effect upon the receipts. During
+the last twenty years and more, notwithstanding the
+increase which had during this period taken place in the
+population and trade of the metropolis, the revenue of the
+penny post had remained almost stationary. Up to 1789
+the highest sum it had ever produced in one year was
+£5157 net. This was in 1784, and for the five following
+years the receipts went on decreasing until, attention
+having been called to the decline, there was a sudden
+rebound. In 1792 the revenue was&mdash;gross £10,825, and
+net £5561.</p>
+
+<p>Palmer, who was well aware of the discreditable
+condition into which the Penny Post Office had fallen,
+proposed to take it in farm, and offered as a consideration
+to forego his salary and percentage; but this was a
+proposal the acceptance of which was strongly deprecated
+by the Commissioners of Inquiry who sat in 1788 no less
+than by the postmasters-general. It was their unanimous
+opinion that the penny post should be retained in the
+hands of the State. Palmer, still clinging to the hope that
+other counsels might prevail, put off effecting improvements
+which would afford the strongest arguments against the
+adoption of his own proposal; and in 1793, in spite of the
+changes which had been going on all around, the Penny
+Post Office remained much as it had been during the last
+twenty years.</p>
+
+<p>The man who now took the reform of the penny post in
+hand was Edward Johnson. Johnson was a letter-carrier. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+had been appointed by Palmer or on Palmer's recommendation;
+and he soon gave proof of more than ordinary ability.
+Palmer not infrequently exposed him to a severe ordeal.
+When unable or unwilling to attend the postmasters-general
+himself, he would send Johnson in his stead, a substitution
+which they resented as unseemly; and thus some little prejudice
+had been excited against him. This prejudice, however,
+had disappeared with the cause of it, and Johnson now
+stood high, deservedly high, in the postmaster-generals'
+favour.</p>
+
+<p>In 1793, in addition to the numerous receiving houses
+where letters for the penny post might be taken in, there
+were in London five principal offices&mdash;one known as the
+chief Penny Post Office, and situated in Throgmorton Street,
+opposite Bartholomew Lane; another called the Westminster
+Penny Post Office, and situated in Coventry Street, Haymarket;
+a third, the Hermitage Office in Queen Street, Little Tower
+Hill; a fourth, the Southwark Office in St. Saviour's Churchyard,
+Borough; and a fifth, the St. Clement's Office, in
+Blackmore Street. Between these five offices there was
+little or no connection; at no two of them were the number
+of collections or deliveries the same or the hours at which
+they were made; the letter-carriers were altogether too few
+for the ground which they had to cover, so that punctuality
+and despatch were impossible; and even those whose walks
+lay near the ten-mile limit, before proceeding to deliver
+their letters, had to come to London to fetch them.</p>
+
+<p>Johnson proposed to change all this. He proposed to
+reduce the number of principal offices from five to two,
+retaining only the chief office and the office in Coventry
+Street; to increase the number of collections and deliveries;
+to give the same number to all parts served by the penny
+post, namely, six in the town and three in the suburbs, or,
+as the suburbs were then called, "the country," and everywhere,
+as far as possible, to observe the same hours; to
+post these hours up in every receiving house, so that the
+public might be made acquainted with them and act as a
+check upon their being observed; and, instead of requiring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+the letter-carriers in the remoter parts to come to London
+for their letters, to send their letters to them by mounted
+messengers.</p>
+
+<p>Johnson's last proposal, though following almost naturally
+from what had gone before, well-nigh staggered the
+postmasters-general. It was that, in order to carry his
+plan into effect, the number of penny post letter-carriers
+should be more than doubled. The existing number was
+eighty-two, and the number which Johnson proposed was
+181. This, even at the present time&mdash;large as are the
+numbers with which the Post Office has been accustomed
+to deal&mdash;would be considered a heavy, an exceptionally
+heavy, increase. In 1793 it was regarded as portentous,
+and the postmasters-general anxiously sought means to
+reduce it; but Johnson, besides being perfect master of his
+subject, possessed two faculties which by no means always
+go together. He possessed the faculty of devising a good
+scheme and the faculty of explaining it; and the lucid
+explanation he now gave convinced the postmasters-general
+that they could not do better than adopt his plan in its
+entirety. Contrasting the time which a letter took to pass
+between various parts of London with the time which it
+would take if his suggestions were adopted, Johnson had no
+difficulty in shewing that from his plan the public would
+derive facilities for intercourse to which they had hitherto
+been strangers.</p>
+
+<p>There were, perhaps, no two places between which the
+course of post was more difficult to manage than Marylebone
+and Limehouse. Under the existing plan a letter from one
+of these two places, however early it might be posted,
+might not reach the other on the same day, and, even if it
+did so, an answer could not be received before the afternoon
+of the following day. Under Johnson's plan a letter might
+be received, an answer returned, and the answer answered,
+all on the same day. Places less inconveniently situated in
+relation to each other were to receive a still larger measure
+of benefit. Between persons residing in Lombard Street and
+the Haymarket, for instance, five letters might pass to and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+fro between the hours of eight in the morning and seven in
+the evening. This was within the town limits. Within
+the country limits the general effect of Johnson's plan may
+be stated thus: that to letters from London answers might
+be returned sooner by two posts if the letters were for
+places not more than five miles distant, and, if for places
+distant between five and ten miles, sooner by a period
+ranging from one to three days. The last-mentioned places,
+moreover, were to have three posts a day instead of one post.</p>
+
+<p>Pitt was no less favourably impressed with Johnson's plan
+than the postmasters-general were; but before sanctioning
+it he resolved to await the passing of an Act for the redress
+of certain anomalies, or what were considered to be anomalies,
+in the practice of the penny post. This Act was passed in
+1794; and immediate steps were taken for carrying the
+plan into effect. A proud day for Johnson must have been
+the 8th of September. On that day a public notice
+appeared announcing the changes that were about to take
+place; and this notice bore his signature. Only the other
+day he had been a letter-carrier, and now, by reason of a
+promotion which did hardly more honour to himself than
+to the postmasters-general who made it, he signed as deputy-comptroller
+of the Penny Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>The financial results of Johnson's plan exceeded all
+expectation. For the last year of the old system the gross
+revenue of the penny post was £11,000. For the first
+year of the new system it was £28,560; and for the second
+year £29,623. Johnson had proceeded on the principle&mdash;a
+principle which from the first establishment of the Post
+Office has never yet been known to fail&mdash;increase facilities
+for correspondence and correspondence itself increases.</p>
+
+<p>Johnson had made one mistake, a mistake which he
+frankly acknowledged and did his best to repair. He had
+fixed the wages of the letter-carriers too low. It was not
+that he had been indifferent to the interests of the class
+from which he had recently emerged, but that he had feared
+to overweight a measure which, even as it stood, he had
+almost despaired of carrying. The wages, as fixed on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+recommendation, ranged from 9s. to 16s. a week. Then came
+that terrible winter&mdash;the winter of 1794-95. We have ourselves
+been witness to an excessive absence from duty on the
+part of Post Office servants during the epidemic of influenza
+in 1890. But the number that were absent then, relatively
+to the whole force, were not to be compared to the number
+that were absent in the spring of 1795; neither was their
+absence due to so grievous a cause.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1795 the penny post letter-carriers,
+unlike the letter-carriers of the general post, had not yet
+been supplied with uniform, and, through sheer inability to
+supply themselves with such articles of clothing and of food
+as the severity of the weather required, nearly one-half of
+the whole number were unable to follow their employment.
+Johnson took great blame to himself for what he had done;
+nor did he rest until he had procured for the letter-carriers
+a substantial increase all round. This increase ranged
+from about 2s. to 6s. a week for each man, and involved a
+total cost of £1600 a year. Also in matters of detail
+Johnson effected several improvements, of which we will
+mention only one. The receptacle for letters at the receiving
+houses in London had hitherto been an open and
+movable box. The box was now, on his recommendation, to
+be fixed and provided with a key. The key was to be kept
+by the receiver, and he alone was to have access to the letters.</p>
+
+<p>The Act of 1794 contained provisions which it is
+impossible to pass unnoticed. The penny post from its
+first establishment in 1681 had differed from the general
+post in this&mdash;that letters sent by it had to be prepaid. By
+the general post prepayment had not indeed been prohibited,
+but it had been discouraged; by the penny post it had been
+compulsory. This was now altered, and it was left to the
+option of persons using the penny post whether they would
+prepay their letters or not. It is difficult to repress a pang
+at the disappearance of a provision to which Dockwra, the
+founder of the penny post, attached the highest importance;
+and yet it must be admitted that the change was not made
+without a reason. Messengers and servants entrusted with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+letters to post would destroy the letters for the sake of the
+pence which had been given them to pay the postage; and
+to such an extent had the abuse been carried that some
+persons made it a rule not to use the penny post at all unless
+they could post their own letters.</p>
+
+<p>Another provision of the Act of 1794 was to relax a
+restriction imposed by the Act of Anne. Before 1711 the
+penny post had been so extended as to include many places
+distant from London as much as eighteen and twenty miles.
+Then came the Act of Anne, restricting the penny post to a
+circuit of ten miles. And now the ten-mile limit was
+abolished, and the postmasters-general were empowered, not
+in London alone but also in country towns wherever the penny
+post might be established, to extend it at their discretion.</p>
+
+<p>A third provision of the Act of 1794 was designed to
+correct what was considered a flaw in a previous Act. It
+is interesting to note what this flaw was. When Dockwra
+established his post, he insisted that on letters going by it
+the postage should be 1d. and no more. This penny, however,
+in the case of letters for places situated beyond the
+bills of mortality, was to carry only to the receiving house;
+for delivery at a private house was to be paid a second
+penny, commonly called the delivery-penny. The Act of
+Anne merely provided that letters by the penny post should
+be charged 1d., and was silent on the subject of the second
+or delivery-penny; and a subsequent Act, passed in 1731,
+made the delivery-penny legal.</p>
+
+<p>Now what was the consequence of all this? The
+consequence was that as between two letters, the one passing
+from London to a place outside the bills of mortality
+and the other passing from a place outside the bills of
+mortality to London, there was a difference of postage. In
+the one direction the postage was 2d. and in the other 1d.
+The Act of 1794 imposed a postage of 2d. in both directions;
+and here we see not indeed the origin of the twopenny
+post but the twopenny post fully established.</p>
+
+<p>The reform of the penny post was soon followed by
+that of the dead letter office. This office was established<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+in 1784. How, before that year, dead letters were treated
+is perhaps one of the obscurest points of Post Office
+practice. We know that letters which could not be
+delivered and letters which had been missent were always
+treated together. We know that in 1716 these letters
+had become so numerous that an officer was specially
+appointed to check them. We know that to Ralph Allen,
+fertile as he was in resources, how to deal with this class
+of letters was a constant source of perplexity. We know
+that Todd, writing to Foxcroft, the deputy postmaster-general
+of America, in February 1775, says: "Amongst
+other regulations made here of late the dead, refused, and
+unknown letters returned to this office have been opened
+by the proper officers, and returned to the writers"; but
+without adding who "the proper officers" were. And we
+know that as late as 1783 there was in London a letter-carrier
+whose special duty it was to "take care of the
+unknown and uncertain letters."</p>
+
+<p>But when we have stated this, we have stated all.
+Whether there was any recognised mode of dealing with
+dead letters, or whether any one into whose hands
+these letters came dealt with them as he judged best,
+according to circumstances, are questions upon which we
+have absolutely no information. In 1784 only a part of
+the dead letters and letters that had been missent went
+to the newly-created dead letter office. Another and
+larger part, consisting of bye-letters or letters that in the
+ordinary course would not reach London, were dealt with
+in the bye-letter office. No letter was returned to the
+writer until after the expiration of six months, and on its
+return no postage was charged. In 1790 Palmer reduced
+from six months to two the period before which letters
+were returned, and on his own motion, without reference to
+the postmasters-general, charged them with postage. Grave
+doubts were entertained as to the legality of this charge, and
+Pitt, as soon as he heard of it, ordered it to be discontinued.</p>
+
+<p>In 1793 Barlow, a clerk in the secretary's office, who
+had charge of the dead letter office, introduced two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+changes of practice which, obvious as they may now
+appear, were then regarded as evidence of no little merit.
+He arranged that missent letters, instead of being sent to
+London to be dealt with in the dead letter office, should
+be forwarded to their destination from the place where
+the missending was discovered; and also&mdash;a change which
+gave great satisfaction in naval and military circles&mdash;that
+letters for the army and navy should be sent where the
+army and navy were known to be, and not to stations and
+quarters which they were known to have left simply
+because the letters were addressed there.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time the dead letter office received
+most valuable help in the discharge of its duties from the
+publication of what was, virtually, the first County
+Directory. For some years past three Post Office servants
+had been engaged in compiling a list of all the names and
+addresses they could collect throughout the different
+counties of England. This list, though still far from
+complete, now filled six large folio volumes. The venture
+which had been undertaken with a view to profit was financially
+a failure; but as a means of helping to forward letters
+with imperfect addresses it proved an unqualified success.</p>
+
+<p>Thus matters stood in 1795, when Barlow proposed a
+further reform. The inspector of the "bye, dead, and
+missent letters," as they were called, had neglected his
+duties. These letters were not sent to London until they
+had lain for three months in the country offices, and after
+their arrival he had suffered a still longer period to elapse
+before proceeding to dispose of them. Barlow now proposed
+that these letters also should be placed under his
+control, and the proposal being approved, the dead letter
+office began to assume the shape in which, though under
+another name, we know it to-day. To the general practice
+one exception was made. On the first opening of penny
+post offices in country towns many letters could not be
+delivered on account of their imperfect addresses. The
+novelty and cheapness of the post, it may well be believed,
+induced persons to use it who possessed little skill in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+writing, and no knowledge of the mode in which superscriptions
+should be prepared. It was a duty imposed on the
+surveyor who was engaged in establishing the post to open
+these letters and return them to the writers on the spot.</p>
+
+<p>Another office was established about this time, an
+office for dealing with the American and West Indian
+letters. The merchants had recently complained that
+these letters were continually missent, letters for one of
+the West India Islands being sent to another, and letters
+for places served from Halifax being sent to Quebec and
+<i>vice versā</i>. The truth is that until lately some profit had
+been derived from the sorting of these letters; and the
+most experienced officers, who knew the circulation abroad
+almost as well as they knew the circulation at home, had
+been glad to sort them. The comptroller of the inland
+department&mdash;for, curiously enough, it was there and not
+in the foreign department that the letters were dealt with&mdash;had
+received one guinea a night and the clerks 5s.
+a night for dealing with them; but these unauthorised
+additions to salaries had now been stopped, and the West
+Indian and American mails were left to be sorted, just as any
+other mails were sorted, by seniors and juniors in common.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible that mistakes should not occur. To
+assist in the disposal of inland mails there were what were
+called circulation lists, lists shewing to what towns letters
+for particular places were to be sent; but in the case of
+the American and West Indian mails there were no such
+aids to inexperience, and the letters were to a large extent
+sent haphazard. Freeling now altered this. He procured
+from abroad circulation lists corrected to the latest date.
+Four experienced officers were selected, who were made
+specially responsible for the West Indian and American
+correspondence; they were to devote to it two hours a
+night over and above their ordinary hours; and for this
+extra attendance they were each to receive a special allowance
+of £30 a year.</p>
+
+<p>Freeling's last safeguard is interesting as shewing what
+may be done with a limited correspondence. Two books<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+were to be kept, of which one was to be reserved for
+Government letters. In this book were to be entered the
+date on which each individual letter was posted, the date
+on which it was forwarded to Falmouth, and the name of
+the packet by which it was despatched. The second book
+was, in Freeling's own words, "to contain observations of
+different kinds to enable the clerks the better to satisfy
+the merchants applying for information" respecting the
+letters they had posted. It would perhaps be hardly an
+exaggeration to say that between England on the one
+hand and America and the West Indies on the other
+there are at the present time more sackfuls of letters
+passing than there were single letters one hundred years ago.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time, but a little later, an important
+change took place in the treatment of letters arriving from
+the East Indies in the ships of the East India Company.
+These letters came to the India House in boxes addressed
+to the directors, and so escaped all but the inland postage.
+Some of them indeed did not pay even that, for if addressed
+to persons in or near London they were delivered by the
+Company's servants, who charged and retained as their
+own perquisite a fee varying from 2s. 6d. to 10s. 6d.
+on each letter. The practice was of old date, as old
+probably as the East India Company itself, and was held
+to be not illegal. It is true that a vessel was forbidden
+under a penalty of £20 to break bulk or to make entry
+into port until all letters brought by the master or his
+company should be delivered to some agent of the postmasters-general;
+but both the captain and the directors
+were held to be exempt from liability under this provision,
+the captain because he was presumably ignorant of what
+the boxes contained, and the directors because the penalty
+attached to the captain and not to them.</p>
+
+<p>The legality of the practice not being contested, nothing
+remained but to make overtures to the directors; and, on
+this being done, they readily consented that for the future
+all letters arriving by their ships, except such as were for
+themselves and their friends, should be forthwith sent to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+the Post Office to be dealt with as ship letters. The public
+derived no little advantage from the change. The postage
+from India was actually less than what the company's
+servants had been accustomed to exact as fees; and the
+letters were now delivered at once, whereas the company's
+servants would seldom deliver them under three or four
+days after their arrival at the India House, and sometimes
+not for a whole month.</p>
+
+<p>Contemporaneously with the Act of Parliament regulating
+the penny post was passed another establishing a post
+to the Channel Islands. This was essentially a war post, a
+post which, except for the war between England and France,
+might have been postponed far into the present century.
+Hitherto letters for the Channel Islands had been charged
+with postage only as far as Southampton, and from Southampton
+they had been carried to their destination by private
+boat. Again and again had the Post Office been urged by
+those who wanted employment for their vessels to establish a
+line of packets to the islands; but to all such overtures the
+postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. Boats were passing
+to and fro regularly four or five times a week, and the owners
+of these boats were ready and glad to carry the letters for
+the ship-letter postage of 1d. a letter. Why then, it was
+asked, should the Post Office be at the expense of maintaining
+a line of packets which, unless it were put on a footing out
+of all proportion to the importance of the service, would give
+absolutely less accommodation than that which existed already?</p>
+
+<p>Thus matters stood when war broke out and all communication
+with the islands was stopped. Even now the
+postmasters-general had grave doubts as to the propriety of
+establishing a line of packets. It was true that the correspondence
+with the Channel Islands was considerable.
+During the year 1792 the number of letters on which ship-letter
+postage had been paid was 21,570, namely, 20,070
+at Southampton and 1500 at Dartmouth and other ports on
+the south coast&mdash;making, on the assumption that the letters
+were as many in the opposite direction, a total correspondence
+for the year of about 43,000 letters.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>And yet there were serious considerations on the other
+side. Unless an Act of Parliament were passed providing
+a packet rate of postage between the mainland and the
+islands, the Post Office would have no exclusive right of
+carrying the letters, and the moment the war ceased the
+packets might be deserted in favour of the private boats.
+If, on the other hand, such an Act were passed, popular as
+the measure might be while the war lasted, it could not fail
+to be unpopular as soon as the war ceased. Private boats
+would then be an illegal means of conveyance, and correspondence
+would be restricted to the packets, however few
+these might be in number, and however wide the intervals
+between the despatches.</p>
+
+<p>Another expedient remained, but this was one which
+had been tried during the last war, and the postmasters-general
+were not prepared to repeat it. The <i>Express</i>
+packet, Captain Sampson, belonging to the Dover station,
+had been temporarily detached to Southampton to keep
+communication with the Channel Islands open. As some
+set-off against the cost, the Post Office had counted upon
+saving the ship-letter pence; but here again the want of
+an authorised packet postage made itself felt. Sampson,
+though in receipt of a salary and at no expense for the
+boat he commanded, claimed and received the ship-letter
+pence, the postmasters-general regarding themselves apparently
+as legally incompetent to resist the demand. Without
+denying that a line of packets might be necessary for purposes
+of State, the postmasters-general now declined to
+promote one on Post Office grounds. Of the necessities of
+the State they were not the judges, and, if the State
+required the adoption of such a measure, it was for others
+to take the initiative.</p>
+
+<p>The decision at which the Government arrived appears
+in the Act of 1794, which established a line of packets
+between England and the Channel Islands. The packet
+station was to be at Weymouth, the passage from Weymouth
+being shorter than from Southampton, and Southampton
+Water being difficult to leave when the wind was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>
+contrary. For a single letter the postage, over and above
+all other rates, was fixed at 2d., and for a double and
+treble letter in proportion. Thus the cost of a single
+letter from London to the Channel Islands would remain the
+same as before. Hitherto there had been paid 4d. for postage
+from London to Southampton, 1d. to a factor at Southampton,
+1d. for conveyance across, and 1d. to the island
+post office&mdash;for the islands had a post office, although it
+was a private one, and not under the control of the
+postmasters-general&mdash;making 7d. altogether. Now the
+charge would be the same, namely, postage to Weymouth
+5d., and 2d. for the packet postage. By the same Act of
+Parliament rates of postage were imposed within the islands
+similar to those which existed in England.</p>
+
+<p>The abuses of franking now came under notice again.
+Ten years had elapsed since the passing of the Act which
+provided that a letter, to be exempt from postage, must
+bear on the outside, as part of its superscription, its full
+date written in the member's own handwriting, and be
+posted on the date which the superscription bore. Of
+course, the object of the provision was to confine the
+privilege to members themselves, and to prevent them from
+obliging their friends at a distance with franks; but this
+object was almost universally defeated by the simple
+expedient of sending to their friends franks that were post-dated.
+It was a common occurrence for franks dated on
+the same day and by the same member to be sent from
+places three or four hundred miles apart.</p>
+
+<p>The bankers who sat in Parliament were the chief
+offenders. Little did they think that an exact account was
+being kept of every frank that passed through the London
+Post Office, or assuredly they would hardly have ventured
+to keep their friends and customers supplied, as it was their
+practice to do, with the means of evading postage. How
+many bankers sat in Parliament in 1794 we are not informed;
+but whatever the number was, we know that
+during the three months ending the 10th of October in that
+year there passed through the London Post Office no less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+than 103,805 letters franked by them, a number larger by
+one-fifth than the letters of the Court and all the public
+offices of the State combined.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> During the same period
+those members of Parliament who were merchants and not
+bankers contented themselves with the comparatively modest
+number of 27,111. Two or three years before it had
+leaked out that the Government were considering whether
+a strenuous effort should not be made to abolish the franking
+privilege altogether, and it was no secret to the Post Office
+that in anticipation of such an event the banking houses
+which had a partner in Parliament had concerted arrangements
+for sending their letters by the coaches in boxes.</p>
+
+<p>The Government were now resolved that, if the abuses
+of franking could not be stopped, they should at all events
+be restricted, and with this object a bill was brought in
+which passed into law in 1795. Under this statute the
+weight which a member could frank was reduced from two
+ounces to one ounce; no letter was to be considered as
+franked unless the member whose name and superscription
+it bore was within twenty miles of the town at which it
+was posted either on the day of posting or on the day before;
+and in the course of one day no member was to send free
+more than ten letters or to receive free more than fifteen.</p>
+
+<p>The same statute which restrained the abuses of
+franking made a not unimportant concession. In an Act
+passed in 1753 a clause had been inserted providing that a
+letter containing patterns or samples, if it did not weigh as
+much as one ounce, was to be charged as a double letter
+and no more. This was now improved upon. Under the
+Act of 1795 a packet of patterns or samples might, on
+certain conditions, pass as a single letter. These conditions
+were that it did not exceed one ounce in weight, that it was
+open at the sides, and that it contained no writing other
+than the name and address of the sender and the prices of
+the articles of which he sent specimens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>A few months later another advance was made. At
+Lombard Street great inconvenience had been caused by
+the late arrival of the letters from the West End. The
+sorting began at five o'clock in the evening, and the mails
+were despatched at eight; but it was not until nearly seven
+that the bulk of the letters from the West End were brought
+in by the runners. Thus, while the first two hours of the
+evening were hours of comparative idleness, the last hour
+was one of extreme pressure. Occasionally, we are told,
+there would at a quarter before seven o'clock be lying on the
+sorting table as many as 14,000 letters, all of which had
+to be disposed of by eight. At the present day 14,000 letters
+would be regarded as a mere handful. In 1796 it was a
+number which it taxed the utmost resources of the Post
+Office to dispose of within the allotted time.</p>
+
+<p>How to relieve the pressure between the hours of seven
+and eight was now the question to be solved; and the presidents
+who had succeeded to Bonnor's place when this person
+was got rid of suggested that the object might be attained
+if, instead of the letters from the West End being brought
+to the General Post Office by runners, light carts were
+employed to bring them. Two carts would be enough for
+the purpose. One might start from Charing Cross and the
+other from Duke Street, Oxford Street, picking up bags at
+the different offices on their way. Thus the letters would
+reach Lombard Street earlier by some thirty minutes than
+heretofore, and there would be more time to sort and charge
+them. The drivers should, of course, be armed. The plan
+was adopted, and answered well; and this was the origin of
+what is called the London Mail-Cart and Van Service, a
+service in which are now employed daily as many as 550
+vehicles.</p>
+
+<p>Since the introduction of mail-coaches the robbery of
+mails on the main roads of the kingdom had entirely ceased.
+Now and then, but very rarely, there had been pilfering
+from a mail-coach as, through the default of those in charge,
+it stood at an inn door unguarded; and there had, no
+doubt, been one serious case of theft. On the 24th of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+October 1794 a man, giving the name of Thomas Thomas,
+went down by the mail-coach from London to Bristol, and
+returned on the following day. This journey he repeated
+on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November, and on the last-mentioned
+date, when the guard's back was turned, he took
+advantage of the mail-box being left unlocked to steal the
+mails. But this was a case of theft, and not of robbery.</p>
+
+<p>During the twelve years which had elapsed since Palmer's
+plan was established there had not been one single instance
+in which a mail-coach had been molested by highwaymen.
+Far otherwise was it with the horse and cross-post mails.
+In 1796 the distance over which these mails travelled was,
+in England, about 3800 miles, and hardly a week passed
+without intelligence reaching headquarters that in some
+part or other of their course they had been stopped and
+robbed. Some roads enjoyed an unenviable notoriety in
+this respect, as, for instance, the road between Barton Mills
+and Lynn in Norfolk, the road between Bristol and Portsmouth,
+and, above all, the road between Chester and
+Warrington. Between these two places, indeed, the mail
+had only recently been robbed on four different occasions.</p>
+
+<p>Manchester and other towns now took the matter up,
+and urged that mail-coaches might be established on the
+roads where the robberies took place, not because coaches
+were necessary to carry the letters, but on account of the
+security which they afforded. Freeling proposed as an
+alternative that the horse and cross-post mails should be
+guarded. To supply the existing post-boys, or riders, as
+they were then termed, with firearms would have been
+worse than useless. They were mere boys&mdash;many of them
+not yet fourteen years of age&mdash;and with firearms in their
+possession they would have been more likely to shoot
+themselves than their assailants. Accordingly, Freeling
+proposed that no riders should be employed who, besides
+being of approved character, were not between the ages
+of eighteen and forty-five; that they should each be furnished
+with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a strong cap
+for the defence of the head; and that, in consideration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>
+of an increased allowance to be made by the Post Office,
+the postmasters whose servants the riders were should be
+required to provide them with better horses than those
+hitherto in use.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the plans which, through a long course of years,
+were submitted to Pitt for the improvement of the posts
+this was the only one to which he demurred. He did not,
+indeed, deny its efficacy; but it would involve a cost of at
+least £6000 a year, and, pressed as he was for money, he
+declined to say more than that the plan might be carried
+out if the persons interested were willing to bear the
+additional expense, but not otherwise. For us with our
+present knowledge it is easy enough to see that the surest
+and most popular way of transferring the expense to the
+public would have been to cheapen the postage. In 1796
+no other way appeared feasible than to make the postage
+dearer. To this object the postmasters-general now devoted
+themselves, and before many months were over they had
+prepared a bill which, with some modifications, was adopted
+by the Government and passed into law.</p>
+
+<p>In the new Act, which came into operation on the 5th
+of January 1797, the ambiguous term "stage" was dropped,
+and the whole of the rates were fixed according to distance,
+thus&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">On and After the 5th of January 1797.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates9">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Single</td><td align="right">Double</td><td align="right">Treble</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Letter.</td><td align="left"> Letter.</td><td align="left"> Letter.</td><td align="left"> Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not exceeding 15 miles</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 15 and not exceeding</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;30 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 30 and not exceeding</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;60 miles</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 60 and not exceeding</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;100 miles</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 100 and not exceeding</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;150 miles</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">28</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">32</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">To and from Edinburgh</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">32</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Within Scotland the rates were raised by 1d. for a single
+letter, by 2d. for a double letter, and so on. Another
+important change was made. Hitherto, in the case of letters
+from Portugal and America, the packet postage had carried
+them to their destination. For the future these letters
+were to be subject to the inland rates as well as the packet
+rates. Thus the packet rate from Lisbon had been, on a
+single letter, 1s. 6d. It was now to be 1s.; but if for
+London the letter would be charged with the inland rate of
+8d.&mdash;this being the postage from Falmouth&mdash;and if for
+Edinburgh with 8d. more, or 2s. 4d. altogether. As the
+packet postage from America remained unchanged, namely,
+1s. for a single letter, the inland rate was in this case a
+pure addition.</p>
+
+<p>The postmasters-general were now doomed to a serious
+disappointment. Their proposal to raise the rates of postage
+was, there can be no doubt, dictated, at all events in part,
+by a desire to carry out the project of guarding the horse
+and cross-post mails. Pitt had stated that he would
+approve this project if the persons interested would bear
+the expense of it; and unquestionably the expense, and
+much more than the expense, was thrown upon the persons
+interested by the higher sums which they had now to pay
+for their letters. The postmaster-generals' object, however,
+had not been avowed, and no understanding had been
+arrived at. Their proposal to raise the rates of postage
+had met with ready acceptance. Their proposal to guard
+the horse and cross-post mails, though repeated again and
+again, continued to be rejected.</p>
+
+<p>Although much had been done during the last few years
+to introduce order and regularity among the packets, some
+little mystery still surrounded their proceedings. In March
+1798, out of twenty packets on the Falmouth station
+there was not one in port to carry the mails to Jamaica
+and the Leeward Islands; and this was the second time
+within twelve months that the same thing had occurred.
+The West India merchants waited on the postmasters-general
+to complain. On this occasion an armed cutter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>
+was borrowed from the Admiralty to take out the mails;
+but the fact remained that between the 5th of April 1793
+and January 1798 no less than nineteen packets, all of
+them belonging to the Falmouth station, had been captured
+by the enemy, and that the Post Office had had to replace
+them at a cost of close upon £50,000.</p>
+
+<p>The merchants demanded, as they had done a year
+before, that the packets should be armed. Armed indeed
+in some sort they were already, but only with six four-pounders
+apiece, and with small arms so as to be able to
+resist row-boats and small privateers. The merchants
+urged that this was not enough. The postmasters-general
+replied that they could do no more, that the true policy
+was not to arm the packets with a view to their engaging
+the enemy, but so to construct them that they might outsail
+him. The merchants met to consider the reply which had
+been given, and, as the result of their deliberations, they
+prepared a memorial, copies of which were sent to the
+postmasters-general and the minister. In this memorial
+misgivings were expressed which, even at this distance of
+time, it is impossible not to share. During the last three
+years the average duration of voyage had been, from
+Falmouth to Jamaica, forty-five days, and from Jamaica to
+Falmouth, fifty-two days. These, as the memorialists pointed
+out, were not quick voyages; still less were they quick
+voyages for vessels which had been specially constructed
+with a view to expedition. It was extraordinary, too, built
+and equipped as the packets were, that out of nine that
+had been recently captured eight should have fallen a prey
+to private ships of war, which presumably enjoyed far less
+advantages in point of sailing. The conclusion at which
+the merchants felt constrained to arrive was that "in the
+mode of loading or navigating the packets some abuses
+exist sufficient to counteract the advantages of their
+construction."</p>
+
+<p>And yet, mysterious as their proceedings were, ample
+evidence is at hand that the packets were both willing and
+able to fight as occasion required. Indeed, to this period<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>
+belong some of their smartest engagements. We will give
+one or two instances. On the evening of the 17th of
+October 1797 the <i>Portland</i> packet, Captain Taylor, was
+lying becalmed off the island of Guadeloupe when a French
+privateer, the <i>Temeraire</i>, bore down upon her. The
+privateer carried sixty-eight men and the packet thirty-two.
+A light breeze springing up, the <i>Portland's</i> head was got off
+shore, and for the time she contrived to elude her antagonist,
+who followed her all night under easy sail. At daybreak
+the same distance separated the two ships as on the
+preceding evening; but as the <i>Temeraire</i> began to overtake
+the <i>Portland</i>, Taylor fired the first shot. The shot was
+returned, and the privateer hoisting the bloody flag grappled
+the <i>Portland</i> and boarded her on the lee quarter. Laying
+hold of the jib-stay Taylor ordered it to be lashed to the
+packet, and called upon the passengers and crew to open
+their musketry. A fierce engagement ensued, which ended
+in favour of the <i>Portland</i>. Out of sixty-eight men on board
+the privateer no less than forty-one were either killed or
+wounded. A treacherous shot fired after she had struck
+her colours carried off the captain of the packet in the
+moment of victory, and as he was endeavouring to allay the
+carnage.</p>
+
+<p>Among the passengers on board the <i>Portland</i> were four
+military officers, captains in the English army. That these
+officers in no small measure contributed to the result may
+be taken for granted; but silent as to their own deeds they
+extolled in the highest terms the prowess of the captain and
+crew, and it was from the independent testimony which
+they and the other passengers bore that the gallant action
+became known to the postmasters-general.</p>
+
+<p>Another and still more brilliant engagement had taken
+place a few years before. On the 27th of November 1793
+the <i>Antelope</i> packet, Captain Curtis, sailed from Port Royal
+in Jamaica with twenty-nine men. She, like the <i>Portland</i>,
+had on board a few passengers, among whom were Colonel
+Loppinott, an independent witness to the events that
+followed, and a young man of the name of Nodin. Nodin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>
+had been a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and, having
+resigned his commission, was on his way home to England
+to seek for other employment.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the 1st of December, when the
+<i>Antelope</i> was about five leagues off Cumberland harbour in
+the island of Cuba, the <i>Atalanta</i>, a French privateer, hove
+in sight and immediately gave chase. The privateer carried
+eight carriage-guns and sixty-five men. The packet carried
+the usual six four-pounders, and out of her crew of twenty-nine
+men four had died of fever and two others were
+prostrate from the same cause, so that her complement was
+practically reduced to twenty-three. The pursuit continued
+until the morning of the 3rd, when, the <i>Atalanta</i> coming
+within gunshot and hoisting French colours and the bloody
+flag, broadsides were exchanged. The two ships now
+grappled, and on the part of the privateer an attempt was
+made to board both fore and aft. Fore, the assailing party,
+fifteen in number, were swept away by the guns; aft, where
+there were no guns, the assault was also repulsed but at
+a cost of life which made the disproportion between the
+numbers on the two sides even greater than before. Among
+those that were killed in this sally was the captain of the
+packet; and the mate having been severely wounded, the
+command devolved upon John Pascoe, the boatswain.
+Another attempt was now made to board, and, like the first,
+was successfully resisted.</p>
+
+<p>This result was largely due to Nodin's intrepidity.
+Standing by the helm and armed with a pike and a
+musket he alternately used these weapons with deadly
+effect. As the men climbed the sides, he sprang forward
+and cut them down with his pike; then he returned to the
+helm and righted the ship; then seizing his musket he
+loaded it and flew to quarters; and as he was cool and
+collected and a sure marksman every shot told. On the
+repulse of the second attempt to board, the privateer's
+grappling-rope was cut and she tried to sheer off; but this
+Pascoe prevented by lashing her square sail-yard to the
+fore-shrouds of the packet. The privateer's fire now began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>
+to slacken, which was only a signal to the others to renew
+their energies. The <i>Antelope</i> poured in volley after volley
+of small-arms; and at length the marauders cried out for
+mercy and, expecting none, some of them jumped into the
+sea and were drowned. Altogether, when the bloody flag
+was torn down from the mast-head of the <i>Atalanta</i>, only
+thirty men remained out of the sixty-five with which she
+had begun the combat; and of these thirty one-half were
+wounded. The troubles of the packet were not yet at an
+end. As the smoke cleared away she was found to be on
+fire; and it was not until the mainsail, quarter cloths, and
+hammocks had been cut away that she was able to carry
+her prize into Anotta Bay.</p>
+
+<p>The officers and crew of the <i>Antelope</i> did not go
+unrewarded. For distribution among the survivors and
+the families of those who had been killed the House of
+Assembly in Jamaica voted the sum of 500 guineas; 375
+guineas were afterwards presented for the same purpose
+by the Society for Encouraging the Capture of French Privateers;
+the postmasters-general showered small pensions and
+gratuities; and&mdash;what was the highest compliment of all&mdash;the
+<i>Atalanta</i>, though a droit of admiralty, was given up to
+the captors.</p>
+
+<p>It was always when passengers were on board that
+the Post Office heard of these brilliant achievements on
+the part of the packets. We are not sure that this
+fact may not help us to unravel the mystery which perplexed
+the merchants. May it not be that, when the
+check exercised by the presence of passengers was removed,
+the packets at the end of the last century, like those of
+a hundred years before, went in quest of adventure and
+matched themselves against superior force or otherwise
+engaged in illicit operations? The series of captures which
+the merchants could not understand, and, where there were
+no captures, the dilatoriness of the voyages, would thus be
+explained.</p>
+
+<p>The usage of the Post Office one hundred years ago
+differed in not a few particulars from the usage of to-day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>
+At the present time no postmaster-general would think of
+calling for a daily return of the number of letters passing
+through the London office with the amount of postage paid
+or to be paid upon them. Yet such a return was, a century
+ago, sent to the postmasters-general regularly every morning,
+and it was esteemed the most important paper of the day.
+At the present time any instruction which may have to
+be given to the sorting office is entered in what is called
+the Order Book; and this book is signed by all whom it
+concerns. One hundred years ago, all instructions were
+made known by the presidents reading them aloud in the
+sorting office on Mondays and Saturdays, when the men
+were assembled for the purpose. It was thus that appointments,
+promotions, and punishments were also announced.
+One hundred years ago, when a letter-carrier's walk became
+vacant, a bell was rung, and, the letter-carriers being
+collected together, the vacancy was offered to the senior,
+and if the senior declined it, to the next in rotation, and so
+on. When a Post Office servant died, his salary was paid
+not only to the date of death but to the end of the current
+quarter.</p>
+
+<p>Another practice then existed, a practice dictated, as
+some may think, by convenience and common sense. It
+was that counsel engaged in Post Office cases gave receipts
+for their fees. In connection with this practice a curious
+incident occurred. Walsingham had ordered an independent
+inquiry to be made into the solicitor's accounts, and, in the
+course of the investigation, the inspector came across a heap
+of receipts signed, or purporting to be signed, by some of
+the most eminent lawyers of the day. Walsingham had
+suspected imposition before, and now he was sure of it. The
+solicitor, had he been asked, would no doubt have explained,
+as indeed was the case, that the practice dated from <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '1713' see Errata">1703</ins>,
+and originated with Godolphin, who, failing to see why
+counsel engaged by public offices should be exempt from
+doing what all other persons were required to do, issued
+peremptory injunctions that in legal cases no more fees
+should be paid by the Post Office for which receipts were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>
+not given.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Instead, however, of addressing himself to the
+solicitor, Walsingham referred to Kenyon, the Lord Chief
+Justice; and Kenyon's reply, as Walsingham himself
+admitted, filled him with astonishment. It was simply
+that when attorney-general he had always given receipts
+for fees from public offices, understanding when he was
+appointed that such was the practice, and that it had long
+been so.</p>
+
+<p>One more custom we may mention as existing a century
+ago, a custom which was then abandoned, but not without
+manifest reluctance on the part of those whose interest it
+was to keep it alive. At the present time our friends at
+the Treasury are credited with taking advantage of the
+accident of their position to get themselves appointed to the
+best situations in all the public offices of the State. One
+hundred years ago the blackmail which these gentlemen
+levied upon the public offices took another form, a form a
+little coarser perhaps but less provoking. At the beginning
+of each year they exacted tribute which, disguised under
+the name of New Year's gifts, were really New Year's
+extortions. The correspondence which passed between
+the Treasury and the Post Office, when these extortions
+ceased, unlike official correspondence generally, is so short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>
+and to the point that we cannot do better than give it in
+full:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">The <span class="smcap">Treasury</span> to the <span class="smcap">Post Office</span>.</div>
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Treasury Chambers</span>, <i>Oct. 10, 1797</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My Lords</span>&mdash;The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury
+having had under their consideration a Report of the Select Committee
+of the House of Commons on Finance in the last session of Parliament
+respecting this office, I am commanded by their Lordships to acquaint
+you that they have determined that the practice of receiving New
+Year's gifts by any person in this department shall be discontinued,
+and that your Lordships may not send them as heretofore.&mdash;I am, my
+Lords, etc.,</p>
+
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">George Rose</span>.<br /><br /></div>
+
+<div class="center">The <span class="smcap">Post Office</span> to the <span class="smcap">Treasury</span>.</div>
+
+<div class="signature"><br /><span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>Jan. 13, 1798</i>.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">My Lords</span>&mdash;We beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of Mr.
+Rose's letter of the 10th of October acquainting us of your Lordships'
+determination that the practice of receiving New Year's gifts by any
+person in your department must be discontinued, to which we shall
+pay proper attention.</p>
+
+<p>It is necessary to state to your Lordships that Mr. Rose's letter,
+although dated the 10th of October 1797, was not brought to this
+office until the 1st of January 1798; but it was received in due time
+to enable us to attend to the purport of it.&mdash;We are, my Lords, etc.,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Chesterfield.<br />
+Leicester.</span></div>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>It is needless to add that hitherto these New Year's
+gifts had been despatched from the Post Office on the evening
+of the 31st of December.</p>
+
+<p>Nine years had now passed since the Royal Commissioners
+had reported upon the condition of the public
+offices; and four years had passed since the Report had seen
+the light. Pitt had been deliberate enough in approving
+the recommendations; but having done so, he had no intention
+that they should remain inoperative. And yet he had
+little confidence that such would not be the case unless
+some external influence were brought to bear. Accordingly
+recourse was had to an expedient which might perhaps with
+advantage be sometimes adopted at the present day. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>
+Pitt's instigation a Special Committee of the House of
+Commons was appointed to ascertain and report how far
+the recommendations of the Royal Commissioners had been
+carried into effect.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office, on the whole, came well out of the
+ordeal. Abuses had been corrected; useless offices had
+been abolished; and men were no longer drawing salaries
+for duties which they did not perform. There was, however,
+one notable exception. Todd, the secretary, had during
+many years ceased to do any work; yet he had not ceased
+to draw his full salary; neither had he ceased to retain his
+shares in at least one of the Post Office packets. The
+Committee denounced his conduct in terms which far
+exceeded the ordinary bounds of parliamentary usage.
+Their language indeed, as applied to a man of more than
+eighty years of age, might even be pronounced to be cruel.
+And yet scathing as the censure was, it fell upon callous
+ears. With a tenacity worthy of a better cause the old
+man still clung to his place and his shares. The postmasters-general
+now brought pressure to bear. As regards
+the shares, which Todd had held unknown to his masters,
+they insisted upon his selling them; but his place of
+secretary they were either unwilling or unable to wrest
+from his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Death at length put an end to the scandal. In June
+1798 Todd yielded up at once his life and his office; and
+Francis Freeling, according to a long-standing promise,
+became Secretary to the Post Office in his stead.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>FRANCIS FREELING<br />
+
+1798-1817</h3>
+
+
+<p>The name of Francis Freeling has been placed at the head
+of this chapter, not because, in devising new means of
+correspondence or extending means that already existed, he
+is to be classed with the distinguished men who preceded
+him&mdash;with Palmer and Allen, with Dockwra and Witherings&mdash;but
+because for more than a generation he exercised a
+paramount influence in Post Office matters, and during this
+long period whatever was done affecting the communications
+of the country was done upon his advice.</p>
+
+<p>The first act of importance in which Freeling was
+concerned after his appointment as secretary was the
+establishment of the ship letter office, an office which owed
+its origin to the suggestion of Frederick Bourne, a clerk in
+the foreign department. Hitherto the packet boats, where
+packet boats existed, had been the only means by which
+correspondence could be legally sent out of the kingdom;
+and yet in the neighbourhood of the Exchange there was
+hardly a place of public resort at which letters for America
+and the West Indies, as well as other places abroad, were
+not collected for despatch by private ship. There was no
+concealment about the matter. At Lloyds, and the Jamaica,
+the Maryland, the Virginia and other coffee-houses, bags
+were openly hung up, and all letters dropped into these
+bags, including those for places to which there was communication
+by packet, were taken on board ship, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>
+without the intervention of the Post Office, despatched to
+their destination, the captains receiving for their transport
+a gratuity of 2d. apiece.</p>
+
+<p>Illegal as the practice was, Pitt was unwilling to
+suppress it. The Act which made it illegal to send by
+private ship letters which might be sent by packet had
+been passed in the time of Queen Anne, and he could not
+reconcile it to himself to enforce a law some ninety years
+old which had never yet been set in motion. Bourne's
+idea was to sweep all ship-letters into the post, and
+to charge them inwards with a fixed sum of 4d. and outwards
+with half the packet rate of postage. If with the
+place to which a letter was addressed there was no communication
+by packet, the rate was to be fixed at what
+presumably it would be if such communication existed.
+Pitt favoured the idea and adopted it&mdash;subject, however, to
+one important qualification. Instead of being compulsory
+the Act, should an Act be passed, was to be permissive.
+On this point Pitt was determined. It was only in return
+for some service that the Post Office was entitled to make a
+charge. And what was the service here? To seal the
+bags? This he could not regard as a substantial service&mdash;a
+service for which a charge should be made. The ship was
+a private ship, her commander was not a servant of the
+Post Office, and the bag of letters he carried might be, and
+not infrequently was, for countries in which neither the
+Post Office nor any other branch of the British Government
+had an accredited agent.</p>
+
+<p>Surely in such circumstances anything in the shape of
+compulsion was out of the question, and all that should be
+done was to invite the merchants to bring their letters to
+the Post Office, when the Post Office would undertake to
+find a private ship that would carry them. A bill on
+these lines was brought in and passed; and on the 10th
+of September 1799 the ship letter office was opened,
+Bourne being appointed to superintend it under the title
+of inspector. The new measure failed of its object. On
+letters entering the kingdom fourpences were no doubt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>
+collected, because, until these letters had been deposited at
+the local Post Office, no vessel was allowed to make entry
+or to break bulk. But letters leaving the kingdom left it
+just as they had been used to leave it before the ship letter
+office was established. It was in vain that the Post Office
+tempted the keepers of coffee-houses by the offer of high
+salaries to become its own agents. All overtures to this
+end were resolutely declined; and during many years the
+letters by private ship that were sent through the post stood
+to those that were received through the same agency in no
+higher proportion than one to eighteen.</p>
+
+<p>In 1801 the Post Office was called upon to make to the
+Exchequer a further contribution to the amount of £150,000.
+What would have struck consternation to the hearts of
+most men was to Freeling a source of unmixed pleasure.
+Not only had he a perfect craze for high rates of postage,
+but it had long been with him a subject of lament that
+under the law as it stood no higher charge was made for a
+distance of 500 miles than for a distance of 150. This in
+his view was a glaring defect, and he now set himself to
+remedy it. The new rates&mdash;which, as he lost no opportunity
+of making known, were exclusively of his own devising&mdash;were
+adopted by the Government, and having passed the
+Houses of Parliament came into operation on the 5th of
+April. As compared with the old rates, they were as
+follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">Before the 5th of April 1801.</span></div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates10">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Treble.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not exceeding 15 miles</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"> &nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;30&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;60 &nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"> &nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;60&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;100 &nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"> &nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;100&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;150&nbsp;&nbsp;"</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">28</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 150 miles</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">32</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></td></tr>
+</table><br /><br /></div>
+<div class="center"><span class="smcap">On and After the 5th of April 1801.</span></div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates11">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Treble.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not exceeding 15 miles</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">12</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;30&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;50 "</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;50&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 80 "</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;80&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 120 "</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">28</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;120&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 170 "</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">32</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;170&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 230 "</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">36</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;230&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 300 "</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">40</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;300&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 400 "</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right">44</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;400&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 500 "</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">36</td><td align="right">48</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;500&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 600 "</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right">52</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;&nbsp; " &nbsp;&nbsp;600&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; "&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 700 "</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">56</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exceeding 700 miles</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right">60</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Thus the postage on a single letter was&mdash;from London
+to Brighton, 6d.; from London to Liverpool, 9d.; and from
+London to Edinburgh, 1s. A letter weighing one ounce is
+now carried from London to Thurso for 1d. In 1801 the
+charge was 5s.</p>
+
+<p>On letters to or from places abroad, "not being within
+His Majesty's dominions," the postage was at the same time
+raised by 4d., 8d., 1s., and 1s. 4d., according as the letter
+was single, double, treble, or of the weight of one ounce.</p>
+
+<p>But there was worse to come. By the Act of 1801 the
+London penny post&mdash;that post which had been established
+120 years before, and which, its founder had predicted,
+would endure to all posterity&mdash;was swept out of existence.
+For us who are now living it is difficult to conceive that
+such an enormity should have been possible. Yet there is
+the fact. After the passing of the Act of 1801 the London
+penny post had ceased to be. Where 1d. had been charged
+before, the sum of 2d. was to be charged now.</p>
+
+<p>The same Act contained another provision, which it is
+impossible to regard otherwise than as a wanton interference
+with trade. The Legislature, from the earliest days of the
+Post Office, had shewn indulgence to merchants' accounts
+not exceeding one sheet of paper, to bills of exchange,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+invoices, and bills of lading. All these, in the language of
+the Act establishing the Post Office&mdash;the Act of 1660&mdash;were
+to be "without rate in the price of the letters"; and
+a similar provision was contained in the Act of Anne.
+Owing, however, to a faulty construction of the clause it
+was doubtful whether the exemption was confined to foreign
+letters or whether it applied to inland letters as well. The
+merchants contended that inland letters were included;
+otherwise, as they pointed out, a letter might "go cheaper
+to Constantinople than to Bristol." The postmasters-general,
+on the other hand, insisted that the exemption applied only
+to foreign letters, and, in order to set doubts at rest, they
+early in the reign of George the Second procured an Act to
+be passed declaring their interpretation to be the right one.
+As regards foreign letters, therefore, there had never been
+the slightest doubt as to either the intention or the practice.
+When enclosed in letters going or coming from abroad,
+merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills
+of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading had from the first
+establishment of the Post Office been exempt from postage;
+and now after an interval of more than 140 years this
+exemption, like the penny post, was swept away. Henceforth
+these documents were to be charged as so many
+several letters.</p>
+
+<p>Yet one more provision in the Act of 1801 it is necessary
+to notice as introducing a novel principle. This Act gave
+power to the postmasters-general to grant postal facilities to
+towns and villages where no Post Offices existed, provided
+the inhabitants were prepared to pay such sums as might
+be mutually agreed upon. As the postmasters-general were
+already authorised to establish Penny Post Offices wherever
+they might see fit out of London, the object of this fresh
+power may not be very clear. It was not that the Post
+Office might be able to charge for the local service more
+than 1d. a letter, for in no single instance, so far as we are
+aware, was more than 1d. charged, but that in arranging the
+local service the Post Office might have a freedom of action
+which it did not possess under the statute empowering it to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>
+establish penny posts. In short, the object of the power
+was to enable the Post Office, in concert with the inhabitants
+of the towns and villages concerned, to try experiments.</p>
+
+<p>As a natural consequence of the high rates of postage,
+the illegal conveyance of letters now became general. This
+was an offence to which Freeling gave no quarter. Wherever
+information could be obtained that letters were being
+conveyed otherwise than by post, there a prosecution was
+instituted. The extent to which the policy of repression
+was carried less than a century ago may seem incredible.
+In Scotland, for instance, every carrier and every master of
+a stage-coach as well as many others were served with notice
+of prosecution. In that part of the kingdom alone no less
+than 1200 prosecutions were instituted simultaneously.
+Even Parkin, the solicitor to the Post Office in England,
+was absolutely aghast at the zeal of his colleague over the
+Border, and counselled moderation. Freeling, on the other
+hand, expressed entire approval, declaring that the Scotch
+solicitor was to be encouraged and not restrained. Nor
+were the prosecutions merely nominal. An unfortunate
+Post Office servant, or rider as he was called, had been
+detected in carrying forty unposted letters. This man,
+whose wages did not exceed a few shillings a week, was
+sued upon each letter, and adjudged to pay forty separate
+penalties of 10s. apiece.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Auckland and Lord Charles Spencer were at this
+time postmasters-general. Spencer had been only recently
+appointed. Auckland had held his appointment for a
+couple of years, and by virtue of his seniority took the lead.
+Seldom, perhaps, has there been a more kindly postmaster-general,
+or one who to an equal extent enlivened by sprightly
+sallies the dull monotony of official work. The postmaster
+of Tring had opened a letter from Freeling to Sir John
+Sebright. The postmaster pleaded that the opening was
+accidental; Freeling maintained that it was wilful, and
+recommended the man's dismissal. Auckland ordered him
+to be reprimanded for culpable negligence. It may, no
+doubt, he said, have been a wilful act; but it may also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>
+have been an act of inadvertence. And then, in order to
+remove any feeling of soreness which Freeling may have
+entertained at his recommendation being set aside, he good-naturedly
+added, "<i>Multi alii hoc fecerunt etiam et boni</i>." "I
+have," he continued, "a fellow-feeling on the occasion. My
+appetite for reading is as much sickened as that of any
+man-cook for the tasting of high sauces; and yet so lately
+as last night I tore the envelope of a letter which a little
+attention would have shewn was not for me."</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion two postmistresses&mdash;the postmistress
+of Faversham and the postmistress of Croydon&mdash;simultaneously
+announced their intention of marrying, each for
+the third time, and asked that their offices, which as married
+women they would be incompetent to continue to hold,
+might be transferred to their future husbands. Auckland
+gave the permission sought, adding, in the case of the postmistress
+of Faversham, "I meet the repeated applications
+of this active deputy with great complacency, and in the
+words of Lady Castlemaine's answer to our mutton-eating
+monarch&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i0">'Again and again, my liege, said she,</span><br />
+<span class="i0">And as oft as shall please your Majesty.'"</span><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Bennett, the man to whom the postmistress of Croydon
+was engaged, had been known to her for some time, and she
+bore testimony to his qualifications for the post to which he
+aspired. "The Croydon lady, who is also laudably prone to
+a reiteration of nuptials," wrote Auckland, "rests her case
+on grounds less solid. I have no doubt of her judgment
+and testimony respecting the ability of Mr. Robert Thomas
+Bennett; but for the sake of the precedent the sufficiency
+should be certified either by the surveyor of the district, or
+by the vicar or some principal inhabitant."</p>
+
+<p>With such pleasantries as these Auckland beguiled the
+tediousness of official work; but in serious matters, matters
+affecting the interests of the public, he appears to have
+exerted little will of his own. Once, indeed, he expressed
+some misgiving as to the propriety of the course pursued.
+It was in the case of the Scotch prosecutions. "I own,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>
+he said, "that I was a little surprised to find that so large
+a measure as that of commencing 1200 prosecutions has
+been undertaken without our special cognisance; but this
+circumstance," he added, "is in some degree explained."
+The reproof, if reproof it can be called, could hardly have
+been milder; and yet as coming from Auckland it was a
+severe one. It had not the effect, however&mdash;nor probably
+was it designed to have the effect&mdash;of checking the general
+policy on which Freeling had embarked. That policy was
+one of repression, and in England hardly less than in Scotland
+prosecutions went merrily on.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, the repressive powers of the Post Office, large as
+they were already, were yet not large enough to satisfy
+headquarters. Freeling discerned clearly enough that, if
+only a sufficiently high consideration were offered, persons
+would always be found to carry letters clandestinely. Might
+it not be possible to strike at the source of the mischief,
+and make it penal for persons clandestinely to send them?
+The tempters would thus be reached as well as the tempted.
+At all events the experiment should be tried.</p>
+
+<p>With this object Freeling now devoted himself to the
+preparation of a bill, one clause of which rendered liable to
+penalties persons sending letters otherwise than by the post.
+The bill, which was throughout of a highly penal character,
+eventually passed into law,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> but not without grave misgivings
+on the part of Eldon, the Lord Chancellor, and Ellenborough,
+the Chief Justice. It was only in deference to the urgent
+representations of the Post Office that these two eminent
+men consented to the introduction of the measure, and,
+while waiving their objections to it, they strongly recommended
+that "great lenity should be used in its execution."
+It will be interesting to note how far this recommendation
+was acted on.</p>
+
+<p>Having settled the postage rates to his satisfaction,
+Freeling obtained permission to carry out his favourite
+project of guarding the horse-mails. The arguments in
+favour of this measure were overwhelming. During the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>
+five years which had elapsed since the Treasury had refused
+their assent, these mails had been stopped and rifled of
+their contents on fifteen different occasions; and on the
+last of these&mdash;when the Lewes mail was robbed in the
+neighbourhood of East Grinstead&mdash;bills had been stolen to
+the amount of nearly £14,000. During the same period
+seven persons had been executed for participation in these
+felonies; three were awaiting trial; and the cost of prosecutions
+amounted to £2000 or £3000 a year. The annual
+cost of Freeling's plan, as he now proposed to modify it,
+would not exceed £1500. Moved by these considerations,
+the Treasury gave at length the necessary authority, and the
+horse-posts throughout the country, except on the less
+important roads, were provided with a strong cap for the
+protection of the head, a jacket, a brace of pistols, and a
+hanger.</p>
+
+<p>We have said that during the last five years&mdash;the five
+years ending in August 1801&mdash;the horse-mails had been
+robbed on fifteen different occasions. One of these robberies
+occurred between the towns of Selby and York. It was
+a commonplace robbery enough, with little or nothing to
+distinguish it from any other; and yet for a reason which
+will presently appear we give a copy of the letter in which
+the particulars were reported to headquarters:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="center">To <span class="smcap">Francis Freeling</span>, Esq.</div>
+
+<div class="signature"><br /><span class="smcap">Post Office, York</span>, <i>Feb. 22, 1798</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>&mdash;I am sorry to acquaint you the post-boy coming from Selby
+to this city was robbed of his mail between six and seven o'clock this
+evening. About three miles on this side of Selby he was accosted by
+a man on foot with a gun in his hand, who asked him if he was the
+post-boy, and at the same time seized hold of the bridle. Without
+waiting for any answer he told the boy he must immediately unstrap
+the mail and give it him, pointing the muzzle of the gun at him
+whilst he did it. When he had given up the mail, the boy begged he
+would not hurt him, to which the man replied he need not be afraid,
+and at the same time pulled the bridle from the horse's head. The
+horse immediately galloped off with the boy, who had never dismounted.</p>
+
+<p>He was a stout man dressed in a drab jacket, and had the appearance
+of being a hicklar. The boy was too much frightened to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>
+any other remark on his person, and says he was totally unknown to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The mail contained the bags for Howden and London, Howden
+and York, and Selby and York. I have informed the surveyor of the
+robbery, and have forwarded hand-bills this night to be distributed in
+the country, and will take care to insert it in the first papers published
+here.&mdash;Waiting your further instructions, I remain with respect, sir,
+your obliged and obedient humble servant,</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Thomas Oldfield</span>.<br />
+</div></blockquote>
+
+<p>Let us now go forward to the year 1876. In that year
+this identical bag, for which a reward had been offered at
+the time without result, was placed in our hands, having
+been found concealed in the roof of an old wayside public-house
+situated not far from the scene of the robbery, and
+then in course of demolition. The original documents were
+called for and produced; and thus, after an interval of
+nearly eighty years, the bag and the official papers in which
+its loss was reported have come together and found one
+common resting-place. Of the identity of the bag there is
+no question. Not only do the form and texture proclaim
+it to be of the last century, but it bears upon it the word
+"Selby," and a medallion with the letters "G. R."<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p>
+
+<p>The troubles which had long been brewing with the
+mail-coach contractors now came to a climax. In 1797
+an Act of Parliament had been passed imposing a duty of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>
+1d. a mile upon all public carriages. The mail-coach
+contractors bitterly complained of this impost, and not
+without reason. A penny a mile was all they received for
+carrying the mails, and the new statute virtually took this
+1d. away, leaving them without any payment at all for their
+services. It had been overlooked that the mail-coach was
+not as other coaches were. The ordinary stage-coach was
+at liberty to carry as many passengers as its proprietor
+pleased, and it was no unusual thing for eight or nine and
+even ten to be carried inside, the number outside being
+limited only by considerations of safety. The mail-coach,
+on the contrary, was rigidly restricted to five passengers&mdash;four
+inside and one out&mdash;and the Post Office rejected all
+proposals for so altering the construction of the coach as to
+admit of its carrying more.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the year 1799, a year of scarcity, during
+which all kinds of horse provender reached unprecedented
+prices. The Government refused to bring in a bill exempting
+the mail-coaches from the new duty; and it only
+remained for the Post Office to raise the allowance which
+the contractors received from 1d. to 2d. a mile, a measure
+involving an additional payment of £12,000 a year.
+The second penny, however, was granted only as a temporary
+allowance, terminable at the end of one year and
+three-quarters, and, unlike most allowances given under
+a similar condition, it actually ceased at the appointed
+time.</p>
+
+<p>The clamour of two years before now broke out afresh
+and with redoubled force. The tax on public carriages
+remained; and horse provender had become no cheaper.
+Did not justice demand that the additional penny should
+continue to be paid? The Post Office was disinclined to
+contest the claim; but acting under orders from above&mdash;orders
+which assuredly would not have been given had
+Pitt remained minister&mdash;it proceeded to bargain, and at
+length, after much haggling, the contractors were prevailed
+upon to accept one-half of the temporary allowance or an
+additional 1/2d. a mile for a further period of eighteen months,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>
+viz. from the 10th of October <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads '1892'">1802</ins> to the 5th of April 1804,
+when the question was to be again considered. A temporary
+expedient of this nature seldom answers; and the
+present was no exception to the rule. Eventually the Post
+Office had to give rather more than need have been given
+in the first instance, and after 1804 the mails were carried
+at an average rate of 2-1/8d. the single or 4-1/4d. the double
+mile.</p>
+
+<p>Other alterations followed. To the postmasters' salaries
+an increase was made all round, an increase small indeed
+individually but large in the aggregate. What had been
+done for Manchester eight years before was now done for
+Liverpool. The Post Office there was remodelled and a
+penny post established. An end was, about the same time,
+put to a most objectionable arrangement. As a reward for
+their services in promoting Palmer's plan, three of the
+surveyors had been appointed to postmasterships, and these
+appointments they held in addition to their own proper
+appointments as surveyor. Thus, one of their number was
+postmaster of Gloucester, another postmaster of Honiton,
+and a third postmaster of Portsmouth.</p>
+
+<p>These appointments were now taken away, but under
+circumstances calculated to leave the least possible soreness
+among those from whom they were taken. Not only were
+the salaries of all three raised from £100 to £150 a year,
+but the son of the surveyor who was postmaster of
+Gloucester was appointed to Gloucester, and the daughter
+of the one who was postmaster of Honiton was appointed to
+Honiton. The postmaster of Portsmouth, who had neither
+son nor daughter to succeed him, was, in accordance with a
+practice then very common, assigned the sum of £80 a year
+out of his successor's salary. This sum he received in
+addition to his own salary of £150 as surveyor.</p>
+
+<p>In 1805, for the third time within eight years, the Post
+Office was called upon to make a further contribution to
+the Exchequer; and again Freeling devoted himself to the
+congenial task of revising and increasing the postage rates.
+Unwilling to destroy the symmetry of his own handiwork,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>
+he simply suggested that to the rates as prescribed
+by the Act of 1801 should be added&mdash;1d. for a single
+letter, 2d. for a double letter, 3d. for a treble letter,
+and 4d. for a letter weighing as much as one ounce.
+The suggestion was adopted, and after the 12th of
+March, the date on which the new Act was passed, the
+postage on a single letter was&mdash;from London to Brighton,
+7d. instead of 6d.; from London to Liverpool, 10d. instead
+of 9d.; and from London to Edinburgh, 1s. 1d. instead of 1s.</p>
+
+<p>But this was by no means all. In London, as we
+have seen, the penny post had, four years before, been
+converted into a twopenny post; and now the twopenny
+post, in respect to letters for places beyond the general
+post limits, was converted into a threepenny one. Thus,
+Abingdon Street, Westminster, was within the limits of
+the general post delivery, but Millbank was beyond them.
+Accordingly, a letter for Millbank, even though posted no
+farther off than Charing Cross, was to be charged 3d.,
+while the charge on a letter to Abingdon Street remained
+at 2d. as before.</p>
+
+<p>The Act of 1805 introduced a still further complication.
+Letters from the country addressed to any part of London
+that was outside the limits of the general post were to be
+consigned to the twopenny post, and, in addition to all other
+postage, to be charged with the sum of 2d. Thus, of two
+letters of the same weight delivered at the same time and
+by the same person, one, originating in the country, would
+have to pay 2d., and the other, originating in London, would
+have to pay 3d.</p>
+
+<p>To record, therefore, that in 1805 the postage on a
+single letter&mdash;as, for instance, between London and
+Plymouth&mdash;was 10d., although in one sense correct,
+would give an imperfect idea of the real state of the case.
+Plymouth was one of the towns which possessed village or
+convention posts. Suppose a letter from one of the
+villages to which these posts extended to have been
+addressed to Knightsbridge or any other part of London
+situated outside the general post boundary. The postage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span>
+would have been not 10d. but 10d. + 2d. + whatever might
+have been agreed upon for the village accommodation.</p>
+
+<p>But more than this. There were certain towns through
+which, though lying off the direct road, the mail-coaches
+passed for a consideration. Such towns were Hinckley in
+Leicestershire, Atherstone in Warwickshire, and Tamworth
+in Staffordshire. Here, in consideration of the accommodation
+afforded by the mail-coach passing through, the
+inhabitants undertook to pay in addition to all other
+postage 1d. on each letter. A day came when they
+sought to be relieved from this impost. Vain aspiration!
+Had they not agreed for a penny a letter? And, for any
+relief that the Post Office would give, a penny a letter they
+should pay to the end of time.</p>
+
+<p>It may safely be affirmed that at the present day no
+increase of postage would produce a corresponding increase
+of revenue. Such, unhappily, was not the case at the
+beginning of the century. People did not then write unless
+they had something to say which could not be left unsaid
+without loss or inconvenience. Trade, moreover, was
+rapidly expanding, and, as a consequence of the war, the
+ports were closed. Thus, correspondence was driven inland;
+and upon inland correspondence, unlike correspondence with
+foreign parts, the Government received the whole of the
+postage. But be the cause what it might, it must be owned
+that, in respect to the returns which they brought to the
+Exchequer, the three increases of postage made in 1797,
+1801, and 1805 answered expectation. This, though not a
+justification, is perhaps their best excuse. In 1796, the
+year before the first of the three increases was made, the
+net Post Office revenue was £479,000; in 1806, the year
+after the last of them, it was £1,066,000. The same
+result is apparent in the case of what, for distinction's sake,
+we will still call the London penny post, although the
+London penny post had become a twopenny and threepenny
+one. In 1796 the net revenue derived from this source
+was £8000; in 1806 it was £41,000.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who about this time criticised the doings of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>
+the Post Office was William Cobbett. Cobbett was regarded
+by Freeling as a base calumniator with whom no terms
+were to be kept; and yet on a dispassionate retrospect it
+is impossible to deny that on the whole his criticisms were
+just, and that such of them as appeared in print<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> were expressed
+in not intemperate language. At the present time
+far stronger language is used every day under far less
+provocation. Of Cobbett's numerous subjects of complaint
+we will mention only two&mdash;the so-called "early delivery"
+of letters and the treatment of foreign newspapers; and
+these have been selected because they serve to illustrate,
+better perhaps than any others, the practice of the Post
+Office eighty or ninety years ago. The latter of the two
+subjects serves also to explain much that would otherwise
+be inexplicable.</p>
+
+<p>The "early delivery"&mdash;a species of accommodation confined
+to London&mdash;was not what its name would seem to
+imply, because no letters were even begun to be delivered
+before nine o'clock in the morning. It was really a preferential
+delivery, a delivery restricted to those who chose to
+pay for it. For a fee or, as the Post Office preferred to call
+it, a subscription of 5s. a quarter or £1 a year, any one
+residing within certain limits, including the whole of the
+city and extending westward as far as Hamilton Place, could
+get his letters in advance of the general delivery. It was
+managed thus. At nine o'clock or a little after the letter-carriers
+started from Lombard Street; and those for the
+remoter districts, in addition to their own letters, took
+letters for the districts through which they passed in proceeding
+to their own and, without waiting for the postage,
+dropped them at the houses of subscribers. The postage
+was collected in the course of the week by the regular
+letter-carrier of the district.</p>
+
+<p>Against this preferential delivery, a delivery purchased
+by individuals at the expense of the general public, Cobbett
+very justly inveighed. Freeling, on the other hand, defended
+it as a priceless boon to merchants and traders who desired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>
+to receive their letters before the appointed hour. He
+omitted to explain, however, why a boon which could be
+bought by some could not be given gratuitously to all. It
+is a curious fact that this early delivery, essentially unfair
+as it was, continued to exist for more than thirty years after
+the period of which we are now writing. As late as 1835
+and 1836 it was still in vogue, and not only the merchants
+and traders of London but the denizens of the squares were
+largely availing themselves of it. But it was chiefly in the
+city that the practice flourished. Thus, on the morning of
+the 9th of May 1828, out of a total of 637 letters for the
+Lombard Street district no less than 570 were "delivered
+early."</p>
+
+<p>The second of Cobbett's complaints, or rather the second
+which we propose to notice, had reference to the treatment
+of foreign newspapers. What this treatment was at the
+beginning of the present century may appear hardly credible
+to us who live at the end of it. Except at the letter rate
+of postage, no newspapers could either enter or leave the
+kingdom unless they were franked;<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and the power of
+franking them was restricted to Post Office servants. This
+power was as old as the Post Office itself; and so was the
+practice of exercising it for a consideration. What was new
+was an arrangement or understanding between Freeling and
+Arthur Stanhope, the head of the foreign department, by
+virtue of which Stanhope in conjunction with his subordinates
+franked newspapers for the Continent, and Freeling
+franked those for America and the British possessions
+abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a mine of wealth. Newspapers were rapidly
+increasing in number and postage was rapidly rising. Of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span>
+course, so long as the price charged for franking was kept
+well below the cost of postage, the demand for franks would
+be brisk. Before the century was sixteen years old
+Freeling and Stanhope were drawing from this source more
+than £3000 a year each. Cobbett had had personal experience
+of the system. He had paid a visit to America,
+and having while there been supplied with a newspaper
+from England, he had on his return been presented with a
+bill for nine guineas as the price of franking. Not only
+did he refuse to pay the bill, and persist in his refusal in
+spite of repeated applications, but he inveighed in his paper
+against the practice which made such a charge possible.
+This was in 1802. He now, in December 1805, renewed
+his attack upon the Post Office; but this time it was in
+respect to the manner in which newspapers were treated on
+their arrival in England, a treatment still more extraordinary
+than that which they received on despatch.</p>
+
+<p>The matter is somewhat complicated, and in order to
+explain it we must go back a few years. Till the breaking
+out of the French Revolution and the Continental wars
+which succeeded it, foreign intelligence had long been uninteresting
+and was little sought after. The few newspapers
+that were published in London had confined themselves
+almost exclusively to domestic matters. Then came a
+sudden change. Domestic matters fell into the background.
+The whole country was eager to learn what was taking
+place on the other side of the Channel. Newspapers
+multiplied apace. Where there was one before, there were
+now half a dozen, all hungering for foreign intelligence.
+Here was an opportunity for the clerks in the foreign
+department of the Post Office. These clerks, in conjunction
+with their comptroller, had the exclusive right of franking
+newspapers for the Continent, just as newspapers circulating
+within Great Britain were franked by the clerks of the
+roads. They had also, by virtue of their position, unequalled
+facilities for getting newspapers from abroad, and of
+these facilities they now availed themselves to the utmost.</p>
+
+<p>It would not be correct to state that at this time they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>
+established a foreign news-agency, for this they had done
+long ago; but what had hitherto been an insignificant
+business now became a large and important one. It may
+be interesting to trace its progress. At the time of which
+we are writing&mdash;from 1789 onwards&mdash;the foreign correspondence
+was seldom in course of distribution in London
+till the afternoon, owing to the then established custom of
+waiting till two o'clock for any mail that might be due.
+Thus, a foreign mail arriving at three o'clock in the afternoon
+of one day might not be delivered until the same hour
+in the afternoon of the following day.</p>
+
+<p>Another curious custom prevailed at this time. It was
+considered right, as a matter of international courtesy, that
+no foreign newspapers should be delivered until the foreign
+ministers had received their correspondence; and this correspondence,
+though delivered separately from the general
+correspondence, was seldom delivered earlier. Meanwhile
+the newspapers were held in reserve by the clerks, ready
+to be delivered to their customers as soon as delivery
+was permissible by the rule of the office. This was a state
+of things which readily lent itself to malpractices. The
+person whom the comptroller appointed to distribute the
+foreign newspapers was an old woman of the name of
+Cooper, and in her custody they remained during the close
+time, the time during which the foreign ministers' correspondence
+was preparing for delivery. This woman had a
+son who assisted her in the distribution, a young man of
+some ability and of no principle. He was not slow to take
+advantage of his position. From the foreign newspapers,
+while in his mother's custody, he jotted down the points of
+interest and sold his jottings to the London newspapers.
+The profits he derived from this source assumed such proportions
+that in the course of a few years he was reputed to
+have amassed a not inconsiderable fortune. From one
+newspaper alone, the <i>Courier</i>, he received no less than £200
+in a single year.</p>
+
+<p>Thus matters went on, save only that owing to the
+establishment of a second delivery of foreign correspondence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>
+the interval during which newspapers lay at the Post Office
+was shortened, until the year 1796, when Stanhope's appointment
+as comptroller put an end to one scandal merely
+to establish another. No sooner had Stanhope taken up
+his appointment than the clerks, who had long protested in
+vain against Cooper's conduct, broke out into fresh complaints;
+and the arrangement was then made which called
+forth Cobbett's invective. Why, argued Stanhope, should
+not that which Cooper has been doing clandestinely be done
+openly and under official sanction? It is true a rule exists
+that foreign newspapers must not be delivered in advance
+of the foreign ministers' correspondence; but a carefully-compiled
+summary of the contents of a newspaper is a very
+different thing from the newspaper itself. This, surely,
+might be delivered to the London editors without a breach
+either of the rule itself or of the considerations on which it
+was founded.</p>
+
+<p>Such were Stanhope's arguments, and he proceeded to
+put them into practice. With few if any exceptions, the
+editors of the London newspapers, both morning and evening,
+fell into the plan. French and Dutch translators were
+engaged, and into their hands the foreign newspapers were
+placed as soon as they arrived at the Post Office. For each
+summary the charge was one guinea, and as there were
+generally two summaries a week, the sum which each editor
+paid was a little over £100 a year. The entire proceeds,
+after payment of expenses, were divided in certain proportions
+between Stanhope and his subordinates.</p>
+
+<p>In 1801 and again in 1802 Cobbett had inveighed
+against a practice which thus amerced the editors of the
+London newspapers; but he might as well have preached
+to the winds. The practice was far too remunerative to be
+abandoned without a struggle. It is true that no one need
+take a summary unless he liked; but if he omitted to
+take one, it was at the cost of having only stale news to
+publish.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of 1805 circumstances were somewhat
+altered, and Cobbett renewed his attack. Communication<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>
+by Dover was closed, and correspondence from the Continent
+could reach England only by Holland and Gravesend.
+The best arrangements of which the circumstances admitted
+were made for keeping up the supply of foreign newspapers
+and summaries; but after a while they broke down, and the
+Post Office was forced to seek the assistance of the Alien
+Office. This office had agents at Gravesend, and undertook
+during the emergency to do what had hitherto been done
+by the Post Office. Cobbett saw his opportunity, and was
+not slow to take advantage of it. It had been dinned into
+his ears that it was through the Post Office alone that
+foreign newspapers could be legally obtained, and that the
+department could make what arrangements it pleased for
+their distribution. But arrangements which in the hands
+of the Post Office were tolerated only because they had, or
+were supposed to have, legal sanction had now been transferred
+to the Alien Office. What, then, asked Cobbett, had
+become of the law? To this inquiry the Post Office did
+not find it convenient to vouchsafe a reply.</p>
+
+<p>But a still more formidable antagonist than Cobbett was
+about to deliver an assault. This was the <i>Times</i> newspaper.
+The <i>Times</i>, although among what Cobbett called "the
+guinea-giving papers," seldom made use of the summaries
+which the guineas purchased, regarding them as meagre
+and unsatisfactory. Drawing from other and more fertile
+sources, it contrived in the matter of priority of intelligence
+to distance all competitors. On one occasion, indeed&mdash;a
+remarkable feat for those days&mdash;it even forestalled the
+"Court," or, as they were now called, the "State" letters,
+which, unlike the ordinary letters, were delivered the
+moment the mail arrived. It was in 1807, when George
+Canning was Foreign Secretary. Canning had not yet
+opened his despatches, and was amazed to find in his
+morning's paper information of which he had received no
+previous notice, and which, as he afterwards found, the
+despatches contained. Indignant that his intelligence should
+have been thus anticipated, he instantly wrote to the Post
+Office demanding an explanation. Angry as Canning was,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>
+the reply he received can hardly have failed to evoke a
+smile. This reply was that the Continental newspapers
+from which the <i>Times</i> had derived its information had been
+obtained not from the Post Office but from the Foreign
+Office, and that they had reached this office in Canning's
+own bag under a cover addressed to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Times</i> had long protested against the intolerable
+delay which foreign newspapers sustained at the Post Office.
+Especially had it protested against the absurdity of a system
+which, while withholding the newspapers themselves, yet
+permitted a summary of their contents to be published.
+But it had still more personal grounds of complaint.
+Letters for the <i>Times</i>, sealed letters addressed by permission
+to the Under-Secretaries of State, were excluded
+from the Foreign Office bag and kept back for the general
+delivery because, forsooth, the clerks at the Post Office were
+pleased to feel sure that these letters contained foreign
+newspapers, and feared that by forwarding them they would
+damage their own interests.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the amazing liberties taken with correspondence
+in those days. No wonder that the <i>Times</i> proceeded
+to resent the outrage. In its issue of the 9th of May
+1807 appeared an article which, after charging the Post
+Office with extortions and with sacrificing public convenience
+to the avarice of individuals, proceeded to declare
+that its administration was a disgrace to the Government.
+Freeling's indignation knew no bounds. That the charge
+was just never seems to have occurred to him. In his
+view it was nothing less than a libel&mdash;a libel of the most
+malignant character. Never had man been more cruelly
+wronged than himself. The postmasters-general, Lords
+Sandwich and Chichester, had been only four days in office,
+and their chief-officer was as yet unknown to them. Obviously
+the intention was to damage this officer's reputation
+in the eyes of his new masters. But this intention should
+be frustrated. A criminal information should be filed.
+No; not a criminal information, for thus the aggressor's
+mouth would be closed. It should be a civil suit or action<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>
+at law; and then the aggressor would be at liberty to tell
+his own tale, and all the world should see how little justification
+there was for his aspersions.</p>
+
+<p>At this time it was not known to Freeling that letters
+for the <i>Times</i> sent under cover to the Under-Secretaries of
+State were being diverted from the ordinary course; and
+when, a little later on, the fact of diversion became known
+to him, the terms in which he expressed his sense of the
+impropriety were such as even the aggrieved newspaper
+would probably have held to leave nothing to be desired.
+But to apologise and arrest proceedings&mdash;these were things
+which would appear not to have come within the sphere of
+contemplation. An action had been begun, and it must
+proceed to the bitter end. A righteous cause is not necessarily
+one that can be defended at law. Such would seem
+to have been the case in the present instance, for when the
+action came on for trial, the <i>Times</i> failed to appear, and
+judgment went by default.</p>
+
+<p>Freeling was jubilant over the result. Here was a
+triumphant vindication of his own and Stanhope's proceedings.
+A charge had been brought&mdash;a charge as serious as
+any that could be levelled against a public department, and
+not even an attempt had been made to substantiate it.
+This was a happy termination of an unhappy business.
+So, at least, thought Freeling; but, as a matter of fact, the
+business was far from being terminated yet.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of July, within three weeks of his reporting
+to the postmasters-general the result of the action at law,
+appeared a second article headed "Post Office," in which
+the iniquities of the system were ruthlessly exposed.
+Strong language, indeed&mdash;language such as two months
+before had brought the <i>Times</i> within the meshes of the law&mdash;was
+carefully avoided, and the article confined itself to a
+bare narrative of facts. But the case against the Post
+Office lost nothing on this account. The facts spoke for
+themselves, and these, stated in their naked simplicity,
+constituted an indictment, to the weight of which no words
+could add. We can well believe that from this period the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>
+<i>Times</i> received its foreign newspapers in due course; but in
+other respects the only effect which the appearance of the
+second article had upon the Post Office was to spoil the
+triumph which it was celebrating over the result of the
+first. As to changing their practice and setting their
+house in order, this appears not to have occurred to either
+Freeling or Stanhope. On the contrary, they regarded
+themselves as deeply-injured persons, and, by dint of sheer
+importunity, induced the postmasters-general to consent to
+a second prosecution. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed.
+The attorney-general, to whom the official papers were sent,
+took care not to return them, and to the present day the
+Post Office is without these interesting records.</p>
+
+<p>It is time we inquired what measure of success had
+attended the experimental posts&mdash;the posts by which, under
+mutual agreement between the Post Office and the inhabitants,
+small towns and villages were to be connected
+with post towns. Village posts, they were sometimes
+called; but more commonly fifth-clause posts, from the
+clause of the Act under which they were established. At
+first they answered well, but in 1807 an authoritative
+decision to the effect that franked letters and newspapers
+conveyed by a fifth-clause post were exempt from charge
+tended materially to disconcert arrangements. Franked
+letters, though exempt from charge by the general post,
+were not exempt either by the penny posts in the country
+or by the twopenny post in London; and it had been taken
+for granted that they, as well as newspapers, would not be
+exempt by the fifth-clause posts.</p>
+
+<p>But it had now been decided otherwise, and this made
+all the difference. In arranging these posts nothing more
+had been aimed at than to make them self-supporting, and
+in adjusting the receipts and expenditure franks and newspapers
+had been counted as so many letters; but if these
+were to be eliminated, the balance would be on the wrong
+side. A service that was not self-supporting was, at the
+beginning of the century, regarded by the Post Office
+authorities as an abomination; and saddled as they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>
+with a number of fifth-clause posts which had ceased to
+pay their own expenses, it became a serious question what
+was best to be done.</p>
+
+<p>A decision was precipitated by the action of the little
+town of Olney in Buckinghamshire. Olney had at one
+time received from headquarters in Lombard Street what
+was called "an allowance in aid of its post"; but when
+fifth-clause posts were introduced this allowance ceased,
+and the inhabitants, in consideration of their being supplied
+with an official messenger from Newport Pagnel, agreed to
+pay over and above all other postage the sum of 1d. on
+each letter delivered. This agreement had now existed for
+several years, and the inhabitants had grown a little tired
+of it, being of opinion that a private messenger of their own
+could be procured on easier terms. Accordingly they
+petitioned headquarters to reduce the rate they were paying
+from 1d. to 1/2d. a letter, and, the request being refused, they
+proceeded to consider whether their agreement should not
+be terminated.</p>
+
+<p>This having come to Freeling's ears, he stopped the post
+at once, and the inhabitants were left to get their letters as
+best they could. Not even notice of his intention had been
+given. Nor was this all. These capricious and discontented
+people, he said, should have imposed upon them a penny post.
+Under a penny post they would still have their pence to
+pay; and the pence would be payable, not, as under the
+fifth-clause post, only on the letters delivered, but on those
+collected as well. This, while operating as a punitive
+measure, would have the incidental advantage of adding to
+the revenue. Freeling was a bold man, and yet, bold as he
+was, his courage deserted him in this instance. At the
+last moment, after arrangements had been made for converting
+the fifth-clause post into a penny post, the order for
+conversion was revoked. To impose a penny post, he argued,
+would be no injustice; it would not even be a hardship,
+and yet these unreasonable people would be sure to represent
+it as such. They would urge that at one time their
+town had received an allowance in aid of its post; that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>
+then a foot-messenger had been established, and they paid
+1d. on each letter delivered; and that now because they
+proposed to replace this messenger, as the Act of Parliament
+gave them power to do, by a messenger of their own, who
+would perform the service at a cheaper rate, an older Act
+was brought to bear upon them which, while obliging them
+to pay 1d. on each letter collected as well as delivered,
+made the employment of their own messenger illegal.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the arguments by which Freeling excused
+himself to the postmasters-general, as though an excuse
+were necessary, for not going on with the high-handed proceeding
+he had originally contemplated. In the result,
+Olney was given a Post Office of its own, being made in
+technical language a sub-office under Newport Pagnel, the
+post town. A rule was at the same time laid down to the
+effect that fifth-clause posts should no longer be maintained
+except in the case of small towns. To connect these with
+post towns fifth-clause posts might still be continued; but,
+in the case of villages and hamlets, they were to be replaced
+by penny posts. From this rule the fifth-clause posts
+received their death-blow. Such of them as were village
+posts were promptly converted into penny posts; and such
+as were town posts, as the small towns acquired Post Offices
+of their own, became gradually merged in the general posts
+of the kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office, which during the last ten or fifteen
+years had done much to impair its own utility, was now to
+receive a check from without; and this in respect to a
+branch of its service which was perhaps least open to
+criticism. The mail-coach system had continued to prosper.
+In 1811 the number of mail-coaches constantly running in
+Great Britain was about 220, and the extent of road over
+which they travelled was between 11,000 and 12,000 miles
+a day. The country gentry and the commercial classes
+vied with each other in demanding an extension of the
+system. Towns lying off the main road were glad to pay
+1d. a letter in addition to the postage on condition of the
+mail-coach passing through them on its way. The mail-coach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>
+moreover, apart from the facilities it afforded for
+communication, brought traffic in its train. It gave, in the
+language of the time, publicity to the roads. Palmer had,
+more than twenty years before, noticed this result and
+commented upon it. He found as a matter of experience
+that wherever a mail-coach was set up other traffic followed,
+and the post-chaises along the road were furbished up and
+better conducted.</p>
+
+<p>But popular as the new system was on the whole, there
+was one class of persons with whom it was distinctly the
+reverse. These were the trustees of the roads. With them
+the exemption from toll which the mail-coaches enjoyed
+was a constant source of complaint. Nor was it calculated
+to abate their discontent that the Post Office, in whose
+favour the exemption was granted, possessed the power, a
+power which it constantly exercised, of indicting the roads
+if they were not kept in proper repair. The state of the
+trusts was at this time far from flourishing. In the
+neighbourhood of London and other large towns where
+traffic was considerable the tolls were low and the receipts
+high; but in the remoter and less populous parts of the
+kingdom the exact converse held good. There the tolls
+were high and the receipts low.</p>
+
+<p>To take the kingdom as a whole, the case stood thus:
+In very few instances indeed had any part of the debt on
+the turnpike trusts been discharged, and in fewer instances
+still had a sinking fund been established with a view to
+extinction of debt by process of time. With these rare
+exceptions, nothing more had been done than to keep up
+payment of the interest agreed upon, while in many instances
+no interest at all was being paid or interest at a reduced rate.
+In some instances indeed, the receipts from the tolls were not
+enough to defray even the cost of maintenance and repairs.</p>
+
+<p>It is not to be wondered at if in these circumstances
+the trustees of the roads looked with longing eyes to the
+£50,000 a year which was the estimated value of the tolls
+that, except for their exemption, the mail-coaches would
+have had to pay. Of course the postmasters-general were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span>
+strongly opposed to the surrender of this large amount;
+and yet there was one consideration which told heavily
+against them. It was this, that in Ireland the mails were
+not exempt from toll. Under an Act passed by the Irish
+Legislature in 1798, an Act which still remained in force,
+an account was kept of all tolls leviable at the turnpike
+gates through which the mail passed, and this account was
+paid quarterly by the Post Office authorities in Dublin.
+Why, it was asked, could not a similar system be adopted
+in Great Britain? It was also urged, and not without force,
+that in the matter of weight the mail bore to the coach
+which carried it a very small proportion. The coach with
+its loading complete weighed from thirty-three to forty
+cwts., while the mail seldom weighed more than one
+cwt. For the sake of so small a proportion was it equitable
+that exemption should extend to the whole?</p>
+
+<p>A strenuous and united effort was now made to force
+the mail-coaches to pay toll. The question came before
+Parliament, and a Committee was appointed to inquire and
+report. The result could hardly have been in doubt. It
+was by the landed proprietors, the men who had seats in
+Parliament, that the turnpike roads had been made, and they
+were generally the creditors on the turnpike funds. The
+Committee was unanimous in recommending that the
+exemption from toll which the mail-coaches enjoyed should
+absolutely cease and determine.</p>
+
+<p>On the Committee's report no action was taken in the
+session of 1811; but if the Post Office supposed that the
+matter would be allowed to drop, it was doomed to disappointment.
+Early in the following year Spencer Perceval
+forwarded to Lombard Street for any observations the postmasters-general
+might have to offer upon it a bill having
+for its object to repeal the exemption. The postmasters-general
+suggested certain alterations, but upon the subject-matter
+of the bill, coming as it did from the Prime Minister,
+and their views being already well known, they confined
+themselves to once more expressing a doubt whether such
+a measure could be necessary. In May Perceval was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>
+assassinated; and now the postmasters-general fondly hoped
+that the matter was at an end. What then was their dismay
+at learning a month or two later that the Government
+was resolved to proceed with the bill. The same letter
+that conveyed this intelligence contained a suggestion as
+strange as it was original. This was that, in order to meet
+complaints, the mail-coaches on certain roads should be
+withdrawn. The postmasters-general, little supposing that
+such a suggestion could take practical shape, simply replied
+that not a whisper had yet reached them to the effect that
+mail-coaches were considered in excess; that, on the contrary,
+they were being constantly urged to increase the number.</p>
+
+<p>The bill was finally withdrawn; but heavy was the
+price which had to be paid. With those who were advocating
+the measure Vansittart, the new Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, effected a compromise behind the back of the
+Post Office. There was indeed ample room for a satisfactory
+adjustment. For the conveyance of the mails the mail-coach
+proprietors received from the Post Office £30,000 a
+year; they paid to the Government for stamp duty
+£40,000 a year; and the exemption which they enjoyed
+from toll was estimated to represent £50,000 a year.
+These figures seem almost to suggest a feasible arrangement;
+yet the compromise actually effected took another form.
+It was that, in accordance with the suggestion of a few
+months before, mail-coaches should be withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this mere empty talk; Vansittart had pledged
+himself to specific performance. And now began a general
+dis-coaching of the roads. The mail-coaches running
+between Warwick and Coventry, between Shrewsbury and
+Aberystwith, between Aberystwith and Ludlow, between
+Edinburgh and Dalkeith, between Edinburgh and Musselburgh,
+between Chichester and Godalming, between Dorchester
+and Stroudwater&mdash;all were discontinued at once.
+Notice to quit was served upon the mail-coaches between
+Worcester and Hereford, between Hereford and Gloucester,
+between Hereford and Brecon, between Alton and Gosport,
+and between Plymouth and Tavistock. And, what was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>
+hardly less important, numerous applications for mail-coaches
+which, except for Treasury interference, would have
+been granted, were refused. By Pitt the mail-coach had
+been regarded as a pioneer of civilisation; in the eyes of
+Pitt's successors it was a mischievous encumbrance.</p>
+
+<p>Vansittart, having dealt one deadly blow at the Post
+Office, now proceeded to deal another. The war with
+France had exhausted the Exchequer, and, as part of the
+ways and means, he called upon the Post Office for a
+further contribution of £200,000 a year. Once more the
+screw was turned; and, oppressive as the postage rates
+were already, they were as from the 9th of July 1812
+increased as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates12">
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">Single.</td><td align="center">Double.</td><td align="center">Treble.</td><td align="center">Ounce.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td><td align="right"><i>d.</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Not</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">exceeding</td><td align="right">15</td><td>miles</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="center">and not exceeding</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">miles</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">24</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">28</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">80</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">32</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">80</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">120</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">36</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">120</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">170</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">40</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">170</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">230</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right">44</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">230</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">300</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">36</td><td align="right">48</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">300</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">400</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right">52</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">400</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">500</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">56</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">500</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">600</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right">60</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">600</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">700</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">32</td><td align="right">48</td><td align="right">64</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Above</td><td align="right">700</td><td align="center">miles</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">51</td><td align="right">68</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>This is the highest point to which the rates of postage
+have ever attained in this country. Freeling would have
+resented so much as a suggestion that the institution which
+had now for some years been under his exclusive management
+was not in the most perfect order to which human
+foresight and ingenuity could raise it; and yet to the
+dispassionate observer it may be permitted to doubt
+whether eighty years ago the Post Office was not in
+some important particulars more open to criticism than at
+any time since its first establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Let us compare for a moment the beginning of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span>
+nineteenth with the end of the seventeenth century. In
+1695 the postage from London to Liverpool or to York or
+to Plymouth was, for a single letter, 3d.; in 1813 it was
+11d. In 1695, wherever letters were being carried
+clandestinely, the policy was to supplant; in 1813 the
+policy was to repress. In 1695 the King would not
+consent to a single prosecution even for the sake of
+example; in 1813, when the Post Office revenue had
+passed from the King to the people, prosecutions were
+being conducted wholesale. In 1695 a circuitous post
+would be converted into a direct one, even though the
+shorter distance carried less postage; in 1813 a direct
+post in place of a circuitous one was being constantly
+refused on the plea that a loss of postage would result. In
+1695 London enjoyed the advantage of a penny post, and
+this post carried up to one pound in weight; in 1813 the
+penny post had been replaced by a twopenny and threepenny
+one, and, except in the case of a packet passing through the
+general post, the weight was limited to four ounces. In 1813,
+moreover, the complications were bewildering. In some
+places there were fifth-clause posts, and in others penny
+posts; and the charge by these posts was in addition to
+the charge by the general post. Some towns, over and
+above all other charges, paid an additional 1d. on each
+letter for the privilege of the mail-coach passing through
+them. Of two adjoining houses one might receive its
+letters free of any charge for delivery and not the other.
+This difference was to be found in towns where building
+was going on&mdash;as, for instance, at Brighton&mdash;old houses
+being considered within, and new houses without, what
+was called the usage of delivery.</p>
+
+<p>In London itself the complications, if possible, were more
+bewildering still. The threepenny post began where the twopenny
+post ended. Thus far the practice was simple enough.
+But the general post limits did not coincide with the
+limits of the twopenny post: and the limits of both the
+twopenny post and the general post differed from those of
+the foreign post. Indeed, it is probably not too much to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>
+say that in 1813 there was not a single town in the
+kingdom at the Post Office of which absolutely certain
+information could have been obtained as to the charge to
+which a letter addressed to any other town would be
+subject. More than ten years later Post Office experts
+examined before a Committee of the House of Commons
+were unable to state what, even on letters delivered in
+London, would in certain cases be the proper postage.</p>
+
+<p>It may here be asked how it was that with rates so
+oppressive and so vexatiously levied the public were induced
+to tolerate them. The mail-coaches were popular except
+with the road trustees; and there is reason to think that
+even these, or at all events the principal persons among
+them, only professed a dislike which they did not really
+feel. The Post Office packets were also popular, and well
+they deserved to be, distinguishing themselves as they
+were about this time by deeds of even more than usual
+daring.</p>
+
+<p>But these considerations, added to the personal popularity
+which Freeling himself enjoyed, are altogether
+insufficient to account for the extraordinary patience of
+the public under the treatment which eighty or ninety years
+ago they endured at the hands of the Post Office. The
+explanation we believe to be that the heavy rates of
+postage, and not a few of the vexations incidental to the
+levying of them, were tacitly accepted as a part, a necessary
+part, of the load of taxation which the people were called
+upon to bear as a consequence of the war in which England
+was engaged. We further believe that, in respect to its
+acts of aggression, the Post Office escaped criticism mainly
+because its proceedings, irritating as they were to individuals,
+were not generally known. This want of publicity is
+specially noticeable in the matter of prosecutions. At the
+present day a single prosecution undertaken by the Post
+Office would be the subject of comment in every newspaper
+in the kingdom. Eighty or ninety years ago, numerous
+as the Post Office prosecutions were, there was not a
+newspaper in the kingdom that gratuitously published<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>
+particulars or even announced the fact. Often did the
+postmasters-general lament this reticence, believing as they
+did that to make known their repressive measures, and the
+amount of penalties inflicted, must have a deterrent effect
+upon the illicit traffic; and at length, for want of any
+better means of securing publicity, they gave directions that,
+wherever a prosecution took place, hand-bills giving full
+particulars were to be struck off and affixed to the doors
+of the local inns.</p>
+
+<p>The question which two years before had agitated the
+minds of the road trustees was now revived in Scotland.
+Among those who pressed for the establishment of mail-coaches
+none were more persistent than the large landed
+proprietors north of the Tweed; and as soon as their
+demands were acceded to, none were louder in their
+denunciations of the injustice which exempted mail-coaches
+from toll. The Government yielded at length to the
+pressure that was brought to bear, and in 1813 an Act
+was passed repealing, so far as Scotland was concerned,
+exemption from toll in the case of mail-carriages with more
+than two wheels. The same Act, in order to indemnify the
+Post Office for the loss it would thus sustain, imposed an
+additional postage of 1/2d. upon every letter conveyed by
+mail-coach in Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office was not quite fairly treated in this
+matter. No sooner had the Act passed than the trustees
+of the roads raised the tolls. At the old rates the mail-coaches,
+had they not been exempt, would have had to pay
+£6865 a year; at the new rates, now that they were
+exempt no longer, they had to pay £11,759 a year, or more
+by nearly £6000 than the additional 1/2d. of postage had
+been estimated to yield. Nor was this all. Some of the
+Road Acts contained a clause empowering the trustees to
+demand the sum of 1d. for every outside passenger. This
+power had never yet been exercised; but now the demand
+was rigorously enforced in the case of passengers by the
+mail-coaches, and by these coaches only.</p>
+
+<p>Thus unhandsomely dealt with, the Post Office proceeded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>
+to do in Scotland what under other circumstances it had
+done two years before in England. It reduced the number
+of its coaches. This excited many murmurs. From Glasgow,
+for instance, a mail-coach had been running through
+Paisley to Greenock. This was now replaced by a horse
+post, and the district was not only relieved from the payment
+of the additional postage of 1/2d. a letter, but&mdash;a boon
+which had long been earnestly sought&mdash;was given three
+posts a day instead of two. Yet all three towns refused
+to be comforted, and bitterly reproached the postmasters-general
+for depriving them of their mail-coach. The convenience
+of travellers, however, was not a matter of which
+the Post Office took any account. The Post Office was
+concerned with the transmission of letters; and wherever
+these could be transmitted with the same or nearly the
+same expedition and at less expense by other means, the
+mail-coaches were discarded.</p>
+
+<p>About this time two measures were introduced which
+shew a strange forgetfulness of what had gone before. Of
+these one was a reorganisation of the returned letter office,
+and the other the passing of a fresh Ship Letter Act.
+Hitherto, of the letters which could not be delivered only
+those had been returned to the writers which contained
+property or enclosures of apparent importance. The others
+had been torn up and sold as waste paper. Now all were
+to be presumed to be of importance to the writers and to
+be returned accordingly. The propriety and even the
+legality of charging such letters had been questioned in
+Palmer's time, and Pitt had decided that they were not to
+be charged. This was now forgotten, and the Post Office
+proceeded not only to return every letter that could not be
+delivered, but to charge it with postage. To Freeling, who
+regarded the Post Office as a mere engine of taxation, the
+temptation was no doubt a strong one. The measure, before
+being definitively adopted, had been tried experimentally
+for one year; and it was found that out of 189,000 letters
+returned to the writers more than 135,000 were accepted,
+producing a clear revenue of £4421.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>By the new Ship Letter Act the charge on a single
+letter arriving by private ship was raised from 4d. to 6d.,
+and, what was far more important, no letters were to be
+sent by private ship except such as had been brought to the
+Post Office to be charged. The directors of the East India
+Company, who would seem to have strangely overlooked the
+bill during its passage through the House, implored the
+Government to get the Act repealed. It was true, they
+urged, that their official correspondence was exempted from
+the operation of the Act; but dependent on them in the
+East was a small army of servants whose private letters had
+hitherto gone free, and, under the provisions of the Act,
+would go free no longer. With the East Indies there
+was no communication by packet, and surely it was
+introducing a new principle for the Post Office to make a
+charge where it did not perform a service. Did not the
+charge in such a case become a mere tax upon letter-writing?</p>
+
+<p>Freeling, on the other hand, maintained that no new
+principle was involved, inasmuch as the previous Act, the
+Act of 1799, recognised the sending of letters by ships
+other than packet boats and charging them with postage.
+This was perfectly true; but he forgot to add that, whereas
+the Act of 1799 was permissive, the Act of 1814 was
+compulsory, that under the one Act it was optional with
+the senders of letters whether they would take them to the
+Post Office or not; and under the other, if they did not
+take them to the Post Office, they rendered themselves
+liable to severe penalties. He might indeed have gone
+further, and said that in 1799 Pitt and the whole of the
+administration of which Pitt was the head scouted the very
+idea of anything in the shape of compulsion being employed
+in the matter.</p>
+
+<p>The Ship Letter Act of 1814 proved a complete failure.
+It contained no provision obliging private ships to carry
+letters, and the private ships between England and India
+were almost entirely in the hands of the East India
+Company. No wonder, therefore, that the Company, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>
+asked whether it might be announced to the public that
+bags would be made up at the Post Office to be conveyed
+by their ships, replied in the negative. The Court of
+Directors, their letter said, are not without hopes that
+Parliament will consent to revise the Act, and meanwhile
+they "do not see fit to authorise the commanders or
+owners of any of their ships to take charge of any bag of
+letters from the Post Office subjected to a rate of postage
+for sea conveyance." Freeling was filled with dismay.
+"A vital impediment," he exclaimed, "to the execution of
+the Act."</p>
+
+<p>The expectations of the India House were not disappointed.
+In the next session of Parliament the Act of
+1814 was replaced by another which granted larger
+exemptions to the Company and disarmed its opposition.
+The later Act gave power to the Post Office to establish a
+line of packets to India and the Cape of Good Hope, and,
+until a line should be established, to employ as packets any
+ships it pleased, including ships of war. The mails were
+to go once a month. By packet&mdash;in which term is
+included the ship which the Post Office might be pleased
+to designate as packet for the occasion&mdash;the postage on a
+single letter was fixed at 3s. 6d.; by private ship it varied
+according to direction, outwards 1s. 2d. and inwards 8d.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the main provisions of the Act of 1815; but
+there were others which introduced new principles. As a
+result of the action of the East India Company in the
+preceding year, it was now for the first time made
+compulsory upon private ships to carry letters when
+required to do so by the Post Office,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> and the Post Office
+was empowered to pay for their carriage a reasonable sum.
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span>This sum was to go by way of remuneration to the owners
+of the vessels, and to be in addition to a gratuity of 2d. a
+letter which the commander was to receive as his own
+perquisite. A still more important provision, a provision
+which assuredly could not have emanated from the Post
+Office, was one in favour of newspapers. By packet the
+postage on a letter to India or the Cape weighing as much
+as one ounce was to be 14s.; on a newspaper of no greater
+weight, if stamped and in a cover open at the side or end,
+it was to be 3d. This was the first enactment that provided
+for newspapers going outside the limits of the United
+Kingdom for less than the letter rate of postage.</p>
+
+<p>What was virtually a most interesting experiment was
+now about to be tried. To India and the Cape the Post
+Office had no packets of its own; and before private ships
+could be employed as packets, the consent of the owners had
+to be obtained and the amount of payment to be agreed
+upon. Practically, the Post Office was at the mercy of
+others. Mails had to be sent once every month; ships of
+war could not always be employed; and should the shipping
+interest combine, the postmasters-general would have to pay
+pretty much what owners chose to demand. To the credit
+of that interest nothing in the shape of combination took
+place. During the first sixteen months the mails were
+despatched five times by His Majesty's ships, four times by
+ships of the East India Company, and seven times by ships
+belonging to private owners. His Majesty's ships carried
+the mails, of course, without charge. The East India
+Company, with admirable generosity, placed their ships at
+the disposal of the Post Office and refused to receive any
+payment. And the ships belonging to private owners were
+engaged, the first of them for £500 and the other six for
+sums ranging from £50 to £150. Altogether, the sum
+expended during more than a year and a quarter in
+transporting the mails to India and the Cape of Good Hope
+did not exceed £1250; and the postage during the same
+period amounted to £11,658. In the following year, the
+year 1817, even better terms were obtained, the owners of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>
+private ships engaged as packets receiving in no case more
+than £125, and in one case as little as £25.</p>
+
+<p>The East India Company's generosity was not reciprocated
+by the Post Office. His Majesty's ship <i>Iphigenia</i>, which
+was lying at Portsmouth, had been appointed to carry out
+the mails, and the India House had sent down its despatches
+to be put on board. In strictness these despatches should
+have been sent through the Post Office, inasmuch as the
+<i>Iphigenia</i> had been appointed a packet for the occasion; but
+as the India House paid no postage on its correspondence,
+whether sent by packet or by ships of its own, it was a mere
+technical irregularity.</p>
+
+<p>Freeling maintained, however, that there was an important
+distinction which ought to be observed. It was true that
+no question of postage was involved. It was also true that
+the India House would have been at liberty to put its
+despatches on board the <i>Iphigenia</i> had she been sailing for
+India without being appointed a packet boat; but as she
+had been so appointed, the intervention of the Post Office
+was necessary, and without that intervention the commander
+ought not to have received them. Accordingly, Freeling
+urged upon the Government, though happily without success,
+that orders should be sent to Portsmouth to have the
+despatches removed from the ship to the local Post Office, to
+be there kept until instructions should be received from
+Lombard Street that they might be again taken on
+board.</p>
+
+<p>On the close of hostilities in 1815 domestic matters
+began once more to occupy a place in men's thoughts; and
+it was next to impossible that the Post Office should escape
+attention. Its heavy and capricious charges, its high-handed
+proceedings, its disregard of the public requirements, its
+prosecutions, its constant indictment of roads which it
+largely used and yet contributed nothing to maintain, and,
+above all, the fact that its administration was virtually in
+the hands of one man, and that man not the nominal head,
+who could be reached by constitutional means&mdash;signs were
+not wanting that these and other matters had created an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>
+amount of dissatisfaction which must sooner or later find
+expression. Yet Freeling either could not or would not see.
+Were not his immediate superiors, the postmasters-general,
+satisfied with his management, so satisfied indeed that they
+seldom, if ever, found it necessary to pay a visit to Lombard
+Street? And had not the contributions which, under his
+guidance, the Post Office kept pouring into the Exchequer
+raised him high in the Chancellor's favour? If
+so, what more could a loyal and industrious public servant
+desire?</p>
+
+<p>That Freeling was elated with what he considered his
+unbounded success is clear from a letter which about this
+time was written to the Treasury, enclosing a return of the
+Post Office revenue, and shewing how it had responded to
+the successive increases of rate which had been imposed
+during his tenure of the office of secretary. This letter,
+drafted by himself, as all the official letters were, though
+signed by the postmasters-general, concluded thus: "We
+flatter ourselves that we shall not be considered as exceeding
+the limits of our duty in drawing your Lordships' attention
+to a circumstance which has made a strong impression on
+ourselves in the course of our inquiry, namely, that the office
+of secretary during the whole of this flourishing period has
+been executed by the same faithful and meritorious servant
+of the Crown." The return, with a copy of this letter
+appended, was afterwards presented to Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>There is no more tolerant assembly in the world than
+the House of Commons; and yet even the House of
+Commons is intolerant of egotism. It may have been, and
+probably was, a mere coincidence, but the fact remains that
+from the date of the presentation of this return Freeling's
+influence began to wane.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>IRELAND<br />
+1801-1828</h3>
+
+
+<p>At the Union with Ireland the Irish Post Office was not
+merged into the Post Office of England as the Scotch Post
+Office was merged at the Union with Scotland. The
+existence of two separate establishments, presided over by
+different heads, who had not always the same objects in
+view, and were influenced by different considerations, was
+not unattended with inconvenience.</p>
+
+<p>Between the Post Offices of the two parts of the kingdom,
+moreover, there were differences not only of practice but of
+law, the statutes passed during the seventeen years that the
+Post Offices were separate not having been repealed at the
+time of the Union. Thus, the law which regulated franking
+was stricter in Ireland than in England, although, it must
+be confessed, the practice was looser. The law prohibiting
+the illicit conveyance of letters was also stricter. In
+England the Post Office was not empowered to search for
+letters; in Ireland the Post Office might search both
+vehicles and houses from sunrise to sunset. In England
+the mail-coaches were exempt from toll; in Ireland no such
+exemption was allowed. In Ireland, again, the Post Office
+was legally bound not, as in England, to deliver letters but
+only to carry them; and except in Dublin there was not a
+single letter-carrier in the kingdom. Even the constitution
+of the two Post Offices, though apparently similar, was
+really different. In Ireland, as in England, there were two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>
+heads commonly called joint postmasters-general; but
+whereas in England the assent of both was necessary to
+make a decision operative, in Ireland the assent of one was
+sufficient. This, while probably designed to facilitate the
+despatch of public business, was, as will be seen later on,
+attended with a curious result, a result which the framers
+of the statute can have little contemplated.</p>
+
+<p>Of such differences of practice as were not rendered
+necessary by any difference of law it may be sufficient to
+mention a few. In England the mail-coach contractors
+supplied horses only; in Ireland they supplied coaches as
+well. In England the contract was for short periods and
+for short distances, seldom for more than one or two stages;
+in Ireland, where there was little or no competition, the
+contract was for the whole of the road over which the
+coach travelled, and for as much as twenty and even thirty
+years. Meanwhile no alteration was possible except with
+the contractors' assent. In England the horse-posts were
+provided upon the most advantageous terms of which each
+particular case would admit; in Ireland the obligation to
+provide them was imposed upon the local postmasters, who
+received for the service, cost what it might, one uniform rate
+of 5d. a mile. In London there was no despatch on
+Sundays; in Dublin the mails were despatched on Sundays
+as on other days. In Dublin, again, the men who collected
+letters by the sound of bell, bellmen as they were now
+called, received not as in London 1d. a letter but 1d. a
+house, a difference of which the inhabitants were wont to
+shew their appreciation by sending to a single house for
+delivery to the letter-carrier the letters of an entire street.</p>
+
+<p>In Dublin there was one institution to which there was
+no counterpart in London. This was the British Mail
+Office, an office set apart for the management of the mails
+passing between England and Ireland. Other mails were
+dealt with in the Inland Office; but those to and from
+England were considered of such paramount importance as
+to deserve exceptional treatment. At the present day the
+term "office" as applied to the public service conveys the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>
+notion possibly of a palace and certainly of a building or
+part of a building consisting of several rooms. The British
+Mail Office, though destined to play a not unimportant part
+in the history of the Irish Post Office at the beginning of
+the present century, consisted of one room only, and this
+room was exactly six feet square.</p>
+
+<p>The establishment of this office was one of many
+measures which owed their origin to Lord Clancarty, who
+was joint postmaster-general with Lord O'Neill from 1807
+to 1809. Clancarty enjoyed an honourable distinction.
+Other postmasters-general were habitual absentees, their
+visits to the Post Office, if visits they made, being confined
+to the rare occasions on which they passed through Dublin
+on their way to London and back. Clancarty, on the
+contrary, devoted to his official duties all the powers of a
+keen intellect and a singularly energetic nature. Shortly
+after his appointment he proceeded to London, and having
+made himself master of the system pursued in the Inland
+Office in Lombard Street, returned to Dublin, resolved that,
+as far as circumstances would permit, a similar system
+should be established there.</p>
+
+<p>A formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the
+different hours of attendance in the London and Dublin
+offices. In London the attendance was daily, on every
+night and every morning; in Dublin it was only on
+alternate days, on every other night and every other morning.
+How to get rid of this difference was the question which
+Clancarty now set himself to solve. There was at this time
+in the Inland Office a clerk of the name of Donlevy, whose
+parts pointed him out as qualified to take the lead among
+his fellows. Clancarty sent for this young man, and told
+him that under the plan which was about to be introduced
+he would have to attend daily. Donlevy objected that a
+plan which would involve such attendance was an unreasonable,
+an oppressive plan, and that no man's constitution,
+strong as he might be, would stand it. "But," said
+Clancarty, "I will make you vice-president." "My Lord,"
+replied Donlevy, "I am very much obliged to you; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>
+under the conditions proposed I would not accept even the
+office of president." "Very well," rejoined Clancarty, laying
+his watch on the table, "I will give you three hours to
+consider of it." Long before the three hours had expired,
+Donlevy, who knew the character of the man with whom he
+had to do, and what would be the penalty of refusal, had
+accepted the vice-presidentship, and opposition to the
+introduction of daily attendance was at an end.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p>
+
+<p>But Clancarty was an exception to the general rule.
+Lord Rosse, who succeeded him and remained postmaster-general
+in conjunction with O'Neill for more than twenty
+years, was, like his colleague, an habitual absentee; and the
+consequence was to place large power in the hands of the
+chief permanent officer on the spot. This was Edward
+Smith Lees, who had been appointed joint secretary with
+his father in 1801, and who on his father's death some
+years afterwards became sole secretary. The power which
+Lees must in any case have possessed as chief resident
+officer was enormously increased by the fact to which we
+have already referred, that the signature of either of the
+two postmasters-general was sufficient. Of this fact Lees
+took advantage to an extent which may seem incredible.
+If the particular postmaster-general to whom the case was
+referred agreed to the course recommended, no reference to
+the other appears to have been considered necessary; but
+if he did not agree, a reference to the other took place
+without the fact of disagreement being made known, or
+even an intimation that his colleague had been consulted.
+By thus playing off one postmaster-general against the
+other, Lees generally contrived to secure approval of his
+own recommendations; but when, as occasionally happened,
+such approval could not be obtained from either, he claimed
+and exercised the right, as chief officer on the spot, to take
+his own course.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>Thus Lees, like Freeling, was an autocrat within his
+own domain; but the means by which the two men
+attained this result were essentially different. Freeling
+kept the postmasters-general informed of every incident,
+however trivial. Lees gave no information which could
+with decency be withheld. Freeling supported his views
+by a perfect wealth of explanation. Lees explained no
+more than enough to carry his point. Freeling's candour,
+like his loyalty, knew no bounds. It is to his candour,
+indeed, that we owe our materials for criticising his own
+proceedings. Lees's candour and loyalty, on the contrary,
+so far as these can be said to have had any existence, were
+held in rigid subjection to considerations of expediency and
+personal advantage.</p>
+
+<p>The circumstances attending the appointment of Lees's
+brother, a searcher in the Customs at Wexford, to a position
+in the secretary's office only inferior in point of rank and
+emolument to his own, well exemplify the mode in which
+the business of the Irish Post Office was conducted during
+the first two or three decades of the present century. The
+minute appointing him was signed, not by O'Neill and Rosse,
+nor by either of them, but by one of Lees's own subordinates,
+and purported to embody a decision come to at a Board at
+which the two postmasters-general were present. "At the
+Board"&mdash;so ran the minute&mdash;"present the Earls." The
+whole thing was a fiction from beginning to end. The Earls
+had not been present, and there had been no Board.
+Indeed, as Lees was afterwards forced to admit before a
+Committee of the House of Commons, during a period of
+twenty years that O'Neill and Rosse had been joint postmasters-general
+and he their secretary, he had seen them
+only once together in the same room, and that was in the
+drawing-room at Parsonstown.</p>
+
+<p>The example set in high quarters was not without its
+effect below. Every one seems to have been left to do
+pretty much as he liked. The force was maintained at a
+level very far in excess of the actual requirements, and it
+was no uncommon thing for one-half of the entire number<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>
+to absent themselves without notice in a single morning.
+Some of the clerks never attended at all, while others gave
+to their Post Office duties only such fragments of their time
+as they could snatch from other and more lucrative employments.
+Thus, one was a clerk in a private bank, another
+a clerk in a merchant's office, a third was a surgeon, several
+held appointments under the Customs or the Imprest Office,
+and many were practising attorneys. To most of these the
+object of holding an appointment in the Post Office appears
+to have been not so much the salary attaching to it as the
+privilege which they enjoyed, or rather which they assumed
+to themselves, of sending and receiving their letters free.
+The attorneys, indeed, were credited with a still less
+respectable motive. All, as soon as a mail arrived, helped
+themselves to their own letters and the letters of the firms
+in which they were interested. The president of the Inland
+Office held a valuable appointment in the Bank of Ireland,
+and was not in a position to check on the part of his
+subordinates a license which he allowed to himself. The
+receiver-general, the highest financial officer on the establishment,
+was a private banker and money-lender, and, beyond
+signing the balance-sheet at stated periods, the only Post
+Office function he performed was to frank his own
+correspondence.</p>
+
+<p>That in Ireland the Post Office arrangements were made
+subservient to private interests does not admit of a doubt.
+A suspicion will indeed now and again cross the mind that
+even in England the readiness to raise the rates of postage,
+and the hostility shewn to newspapers except when supplied
+by the clerks of the roads, were not unconnected with
+personal considerations; but what in the case of England is
+at best only a matter of suspicion becomes in the case of
+Ireland an absolute certainty. In Ireland, as in England,
+the clerks of the roads had from the first establishment of
+the Post Office enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers;
+but soon after the British Mail Office had been established
+by Clancarty, two other clerks, styling themselves express
+clerks, undertook to supply newspapers express. Their plan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>
+was very simple. In London the newspapers were made up
+in a parcel addressed to the express clerks; and these clerks
+had in readiness messengers of their own, who proceeded to
+deliver the newspapers as soon as they arrived in Dublin
+and without waiting, as others had to do, for the sorting of
+the mail. This alone would have given to the express
+clerks a considerable advantage over the ordinary news-vendor.
+But, more than this, the British mail was irregular
+in its arrival, and the latest hour in the evening at which a
+delivery by letter-carrier took place in Dublin was seven
+o'clock. The express clerks delivered the English newspapers
+by their own messengers as late as eleven o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of the country the advantage which the
+express clerks enjoyed was still greater. The mails for the
+interior of Ireland left the Inland Office in Dublin at seven
+o'clock in the evening; but under a rule, on the observance
+of which the authorities rigidly insisted, no mails from the
+British Mail Office were to be received in the Inland Office
+for despatch the same evening unless they were brought
+there ready sorted full twenty minutes before that hour.
+Practically, therefore, as the sorting occupied about twenty-five
+minutes, mails from England arriving later than a
+quarter past six were detained until the following evening.
+No such detention, however, was sustained by the express
+newspapers, which, addressed as they were to the express
+clerks, could be forwarded up to the last moment. It may
+readily be supposed that, with such advantages in their
+favour, the express clerks and the clerks of the roads, for
+the two bodies had amalgamated and formed one common
+purse, found many customers. That they realised and fully
+appreciated their position will be seen from the following
+advertisement which was issued no longer ago than April
+1822:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">British Newspaper Office, General Post Office.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The clerks of roads and clerks of express newspapers having,
+under the authority of the postmasters-general, reformed their establishment
+in this department for the transmission of British and foreign
+newspapers, lottery, commercial, army and navy lists, periodical and
+other publications, the nobility and gentry of Dublin are respectfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span>
+informed that they can be supplied with those articles either by an
+express delivery (which is made by special messengers immediately on
+the arrival of the packets) or by the regular course of post.</p>
+
+<p>Country correspondents will have a peculiar advantage, as upon all
+occasions when a packet arrives before the despatch of the inland mails
+but too late for general transmission, their newspapers will be forwarded
+at the last possible moment.</p>
+
+<p>Newspapers exchanged at pleasure any time during the period of
+subscription.</p>
+
+<p>Subscriptions to be paid in advance.</p>
+
+<p>Further particulars known by application to Messrs. Leet and De
+Joncourt, General Post Office, who will receive subscriptions.</p>
+
+<p>Daily attendance from twelve till four o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>London daily newspapers to Dublin by general delivery, £10:17:6
+per annum.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Leet and De Joncourt were the two express clerks; but
+among the clerks of the roads, on whose behalf they wrote
+as well as their own, was Lees, the secretary, who participated
+in the profits derived from the sale of newspapers,
+and received the lion's share.</p>
+
+<p>The news-vendors bitterly complained. That the newspapers
+supplied by the express clerks and clerks of the
+roads should be exempt from postage<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> was bad enough;
+but that they should also enjoy priority of transmission and
+delivery was past all endurance. How was it possible to
+compete under such conditions as these? The booksellers
+also complained, for the express service, though originally
+confined to newspapers, had now extended to periodicals as
+well. On a <i>Quarterly</i> or <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, for instance,
+when sent by coach from Dublin into the country, the
+bookseller's customers had to pay for carriage from 1s. 8d.
+to 2s. 6d., whereas the express clerks and clerks of the
+roads sent it, through the medium of the post, carriage free.
+A heavier indictment remains. The law permitted the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>
+examination of newspapers passing through the post with a
+view to ascertain whether they contained unauthorised
+enclosures; and it was confidently alleged that of this
+power the Post Office servants took advantage in order to
+retard the transmission and delivery of newspapers that
+were not supplied by themselves. A ring, the news-vendors
+maintained, had been formed at the Post Office,
+and they were the victims.</p>
+
+<p>The management of what was technically termed the
+alphabet appears to have been influenced by similar considerations.
+This was nothing more than a rack with
+divisions corresponding to the letters of the alphabet, into
+which might be sorted ready for delivery all correspondence
+addressed to the Post Office to be called for. Such was its
+primary object; but in course of time the bankers and
+merchants, finding that through the alphabet they could
+get their letters sooner than if delivered by letter-carrier&mdash;as
+soon indeed as the mail arrived&mdash;made use of this
+expedient for their ordinary correspondence, readily paying
+for the accommodation a fee ranging from three to five guineas
+a year. This had gone on for a considerable period, when
+Lees appears to have been suddenly seized with compunction
+at the unfairness of a practice which, in the matter of
+delivery, gave to one man an advantage over another; and
+he issued instructions that henceforth, after the arrival of
+each mail, there should be a certain interval during which
+letters should not be delivered from the alphabet. The
+pretence imposed upon no one. Men readily discerned that
+in proportion as the advantages of the alphabet were
+restricted the express service was rendered more valuable.</p>
+
+<p>It would be unjust to the memory of the Irish Post
+Office of seventy years ago not to mention here one good
+practice and, as far as we know, the only good one that
+then existed. By virtue of an arrangement with, the War
+Office, soldiers' wives, on presentation of a formal document
+with which the military authorities provided them, could
+draw from any Post Office in the kingdom a certain sum of
+small amount until the entire sum mentioned in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span>
+document was exhausted. Thus, a soldier's wife desirous
+of joining her husband could pass from one end of the
+country to another, and, without carrying anything in her
+pocket, could be supplied with money on her way. Of this
+practice, curiously enough, not a vestige now remains.</p>
+
+<p>It is also pleasant, amid so much indifference as was at
+that time exhibited to the convenience of the public, to be
+able to record one instance to the contrary. Thomas
+Whinnery, the postmaster of Belfast, had read an account
+of the alphabet at Liverpool&mdash;how the letters were sorted
+into a rack according to the initials of the merchants to
+whom they were addressed, so as to be ready to be delivered
+when they should be called for&mdash;and he resolved to
+introduce something of the same kind into his own office.
+Instead, however, of adopting the alphabetical order he
+assigned to each merchant a particular number, letting him
+know what his number was, and instead of a fixed rack as
+at Liverpool he contrived a revolving one; and this, with
+the numbers conspicuously exhibited over each division, he
+placed in full view of a window opening to the street.
+Thus, any one looking through the window could see for
+himself whether there were any letters for him, and was
+saved the trouble of inquiring.</p>
+
+<p>Equality of treatment as between man and man had not
+yet become one of the canons of the Post Office, and even
+Whinnery, well-meaning as he was, made a distinction as
+remarkable as it was invidious. Belfast not being supplied
+with an official letter-carrier, he employed a man of his
+own to deliver the letters, and charged on their delivery
+1d. apiece. The letters, however, instead of all being
+delivered at one time, were arbitrarily divided into two
+classes, termed particular letters and ordinary letters; and
+the delivery of the ordinary letters was not begun until that
+of the particular letters was finished, a difference in point
+of time of two and a half hours. In order to maintain
+the distinction, the man had actually to go over the same
+ground twice. Particular letters were defined to be letters
+for merchants and other busy men, letters to which it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>
+presumably of importance that replies should be given
+promptly.</p>
+
+<p>We have said that in Ireland the mail-coach contracts
+were not, as in England, for short distances but for the
+whole of the road over which the coach travelled. The
+explanation is that, while in England the local inn-keepers
+were eager to horse the mail for one or two stages, in
+Ireland, where the coach had to be provided as well as the
+horses, the venture was too serious to be undertaken lightly,
+and the contracts fell into the hands of a few persons of
+means who dictated pretty much their own terms. Thus,
+in Ireland the cost of conveying the mails by coach was
+considerably higher than in England, though forage and
+labour were cheaper.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p>
+
+<p>All this was soon to be changed. In one of the early
+years of the century a young lad had arrived in Dublin, a
+lad without means and without friends, a foreigner who was
+unable to speak one word of English, and yet who, despite
+these drawbacks, did for the country of his adoption more
+probably than was accomplished by all the legislation that
+took place during the fourscore years and more over which
+his life extended. This was Charles Bianconi, a man to
+whom the Post Office owes a debt of gratitude which, as it
+seems to us, has never been sufficiently recognised. After
+serving an eighteen months' apprenticeship to a foreign
+print-seller in a small way of business, Bianconi passed the
+next two or three years of his life in hawking prints about
+the country on his own account, and in 1806, at the age of
+twenty, he turned carver and gilder and opened a shop
+at Carrick-on-Suir. From Carrick he removed shortly afterwards
+to Waterford, and finally settled down at Clonmel.</p>
+
+<p>The experience of these few years determined Bianconi's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span>
+future career. While roaming over the country with his
+prints for sale, he had had forcibly impressed upon him the
+difference between a pedlar like himself who was doomed
+to tramp on foot and his more fortunate fellow who could
+post or ride on horseback. At Carrick the want of facilities
+for travelling had been brought home to him in a hardly
+less cogent manner. Gold-leaf for the supply of his shop
+he had to fetch from Waterford, and Waterford is distant
+from Carrick twelve or thirteen miles. Between the two
+towns, however, the only means of communication was by
+water, and by water, owing to the windings of the river, the
+distance is twenty-four miles. A single boat, moreover,
+was then the only public conveyance, and, besides being
+obliged to wait for the tide, it took from four to five hours
+to accomplish the journey. From this time Bianconi
+appears to have become possessed with the idea that his
+mission in life was to devise some cheap and easy means of
+communication between town and town. Imbued with this
+notion, he gave up his shop in the summer of 1815, and
+started a single-horse car for the conveyance of passengers
+from Clonmel to Cahir, a distance of about eight miles.
+At the end of the same year he started similar cars from
+Clonmel to Cashel and Thurles, and from Clonmel to
+Carrick and Waterford. From such humble beginnings
+sprang that splendid service of cars which, extending from
+Sligo and Enniskillen in the north to Bandon and Skibbereen
+in the south, and from Waterford and Wexford in the east
+to Galway and Belmullet in the west, carried passengers
+daily over more than 4000 miles of road at an average
+cost to each passenger of 1-1/4d. a mile.</p>
+
+<p>But we are anticipating. The Post Office, largely as it
+availed itself in later years of the means of communication
+which Bianconi placed at its disposal, was slow to perceive
+the advantage which his enterprise offered. The country
+postmasters were wiser in their generation. Located on
+the spot, and with their perception quickened by the motive
+of self-interest, they made use of the cars as fast as these
+were put on the roads. No sooner had a car been started<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>
+from Clonmel than the postmaster sent by it the mails
+which he had been used to send by horse-post. For this
+service he received an allowance of 5d. a mile. Bianconi
+performed the service for him for an allowance of 2-1/2d. a mile.
+The same thing took place elsewhere. It was not until
+the year 1831, when the Post Office of Ireland was
+amalgamated with that of England, that Bianconi was
+brought into direct relations with headquarters. Meanwhile,
+through a strange lack of vigilance on the part of
+the Irish authorities, his very existence was ignored, and
+the postmasters continued to receive 5d. a mile for a service
+which, wherever Bianconi's cars extended, they were getting
+done for one-half of that amount.</p>
+
+<p>But it is not only with the Irish Post Office in relation
+to its internal affairs that this chapter proposes to deal.
+The communication between England and Ireland or rather
+between the capitals of the two countries had, since the Act of
+Union, been under constant review, and it becomes important
+to see how, during the first two or three decades of the present
+century, this communication stood both by sea and by land.</p>
+
+<p>By the Act of 1784, which made the Irish Post Office
+independent of that of Great Britain&mdash;an Act not repealed
+by the Union&mdash;Great Britain and Ireland were to receive,
+in respect to letters passing between the two countries, each
+its own proportion of the postage. The Channel service
+remained; and with this Ireland was to have nothing to
+do, at all events in the first instance. Great Britain was to
+provide the packets and to receive the packet postage.
+Ireland, on the other hand, until she should have established
+packets of her own, was to receive from Great Britain
+the sum of £4000 a year "in lieu as well of the profits of
+the said packets as in compensation for other purposes." This
+arrangement appears to have worked smoothly enough
+until after 1801, when, owing to the increase of correspondence
+as a consequence of the Union, the Irish Post
+Office began to complain that the conditions were hard, and
+that Great Britain had the best of the bargain. Surely,
+under the very terms of the statute, Ireland was entitled to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>
+have packets of her own; and if this were denied her, did
+not justice demand that the conditions should be reconsidered?
+The question had come before successive Governments
+and always with the same result&mdash;that the existing
+arrangement was not to be disturbed. What Pitt and
+Portland and Perceval had decided was not to be done
+Lees now proceeded to do on his own account.</p>
+
+<p>We doubt whether travellers of the present day who
+cross from Holyhead to Dublin in the magnificent boats
+which modern science has provided have any idea of the
+misery to which our grandfathers were exposed in making
+the passage. His Majesty's packets afforded the best, if
+not the only means of transit; and these were six in
+number, and ranged from 80 to 100 tons in burthen.
+Customs duties were at this time levied on goods passing
+between the two countries, and passengers' luggage was
+subjected to strict examination. Thus, to the discomforts
+of a sea-passage made in vessels of light tonnage were added
+the vexations incidental to a rigorous search of personal
+baggage; and these vexations were rendered all the greater
+by faulty arrangements. Passengers were unnecessarily
+detained, and often, even after detention, had to proceed on
+their journey leaving their luggage behind. In course of
+time, indeed, an exception was made in the case of peers
+and members of Parliament. After December 1819, as
+the result of incessant complaints, the luggage of these
+privileged persons was allowed to pass unexamined on their
+giving a certificate on honour that it contained no articles
+liable to duty; but at the time of which we are writing,
+the year 1813, all travellers, whether of high or low degree,
+were treated alike.</p>
+
+<p>Despite conditions which at the present day would be
+considered intolerable, the number of passengers carried to
+and fro by the Holyhead packets was between 14,000 and
+15,000 a year;<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> and there can be no doubt that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>
+advantage which the British Post Office derived from this
+traffic was considerable. It is true that the fares went
+to the captains; but of course, except for the fares, the
+Post Office would have had to pay more for its packets.
+These were supplied at an annual cost of £365 apiece, or
+£2190 altogether; and such being the terms on which
+boats could be hired, Lees was confirmed in his opinion
+that Ireland would do better if, instead of receiving from
+Great Britain a compensation allowance of £4000 a year,
+she were to provide her own packets and share the packet
+postage.</p>
+
+<p>Freeling took a different view. The better the bargain
+was for the British Post Office, the more determined he was
+that with his consent the terms should not be altered.
+And, more than this, he little relished the prospect of
+competition between English and Irish packets. Indeed,
+so long had he been accustomed to deal with a monopoly
+that the very name of competition was hateful to him. At
+this very time he tried, and tried in vain, to repress a boat
+which had been set up between Weymouth and the Channel
+Islands in opposition to the packets. Another similar
+attempt which he made a little later was hardly more
+successful. The War Office had chartered vessels to convey
+troops between Bristol and Waterford, and these vessels had
+assumed the title of "Government Packets," a title which,
+according to Freeling, induced persons to go by them who
+would otherwise have gone by the Post Office packets from
+Milford. Lord Palmerston was then Secretary at War, and
+we think we see the twinkle in his eye as he replied to
+Freeling's letter of remonstrance. Freeling's objection was
+of course to the Bristol boats being styled packets, but he
+had spoken of them by the title by which they were known
+of "Government Packets." The contractors, wrote Lord
+Palmerston, had been directed to drop the word Government
+forthwith, and the boats would henceforth be called
+War Office packets, to distinguish them from the packets
+employed by the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>Attached to the Irish Post Office, by virtue of a contract<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span>
+which had yet some years to run, were boats called wherries.
+Originally designed to carry between the two countries
+special messengers and despatches during the period
+immediately succeeding the Union, they had long lost their
+original character, and were now being employed in picking
+up what goods and passengers they could, and transporting
+them across the Channel in opposition to the packets. These
+boats were not ill adapted to the purpose which Lees had in
+hand. On the 19th of July 1813 he despatched a letter
+to Freeling, incidentally mentioning that "as the intended
+packet station at Howth had sufficient depth of water for
+the vessels belonging to the Irish Post Office, it was in
+contemplation, until such time as the regular packets should
+be stationed there, that the mails from Ireland should be
+despatched in its own vessels, and that, as soon as the
+arrangements now in progress should be completed, the
+measure would take effect." This letter was received in
+London on the 23rd of July, and on the next day
+intelligence reached Lombard Street that the mail from
+Ireland had been refused to the British packet and had been
+given to the Irish wherry.</p>
+
+<p>And now might be witnessed a most unedifying spectacle&mdash;in
+Dublin Lees placarding the walls of the city with
+advertisements,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> vaunting the merits of his own packets; at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>
+Holyhead the authorised packets arriving without the mails,
+and the mails being brought by boats which did not arrive
+until after the mail-coach for London had started; and in
+London Freeling wringing his hands and invoking the aid of
+the Government to check the vagaries of his brother-secretary
+on the other side of the Channel. "For the first time," he
+wrote, "the postmasters-general of Great Britain have not the
+means of redressing grievances connected with their own
+department, and the most serious remonstrances may be
+expected from the merchants and traders of London on this
+alarming and unnecessary evil."</p>
+
+<p>The prediction was a safe one. Not only were the mails
+often one day behindhand in arriving in London, but the
+letters they brought were charged with an additional rate
+of postage in respect of the distance between Dublin and
+Howth. The merchants flocked to the Post Office to inquire
+the reason. No reason could be given them, and they were
+invited to let their applications for a return of the charge
+stand over until the postmasters-general should have informed
+themselves on the subject. Some assented; others accused
+the postmasters-general of trifling, and demanded instant
+redress. Matters had thus gone on for a fortnight when
+Lord Liverpool, to whom an appeal had been made, directed
+that the wherries should be withdrawn. One is left to
+suppose that this direction cannot have been communicated
+in the proper quarter, for as a matter of fact it had no result.
+In vain the captains of the packets applied at the Dublin
+Post Office for the British mails. All such applications
+met with a flat refusal, and the mails continued to be sent
+by the wherries as before. At length an end was put
+to the scandal, but not until it had lasted for more than
+six weeks.</p>
+
+<p>The question now arose whether for the forty-four days
+during which the wherries had acted as packets the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>
+compensation of £4000 a year which Ireland received from
+Great Britain should not be withheld. Freeling had not
+only taken it for granted that such would be the case, but
+had been unable to conceal his regret that this was the only
+penalty of which the circumstances would admit. Liverpool,
+however, decided otherwise. Lees might have been wrong-headed
+and even perverse, but there could be no doubt that
+law was on his side. Accordingly, the compensation was
+paid for the period during which the packets had not carried
+the mails, and not long afterwards the Government brought
+in a bill raising the amount which Ireland was to receive
+from £4000 a year to £6000.</p>
+
+<p>We now pass over six years. In July 1819 a curious
+invention, which had for some little time been in practical
+operation on the Thames between London and Margate,
+was brought into use between Holyhead and Dublin.
+This was no other than a vessel propelled by steam. Two
+vessels of this class were now set up by private individuals
+styling themselves the Dublin Steam Packet Company;
+and of this company, to the amazement of the authorities
+in Lombard Street, Lees had become a director. The
+quality which the new vessels possessed of being able to
+go against wind and tide, and the comparative speed with
+which they accomplished the passage, soon commended
+them to the favour of the public; and the consequence
+was a reduction to the extent of nearly one-half in the
+number of passengers by the Post Office packets.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> The
+matter was serious, for it was in consequence of the fares
+which the captains received that they let their boats to
+the Post Office at little more than a nominal sum: and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>
+course this sum would have to be increased according as
+the fares diminished.</p>
+
+<p>We now see the Post Office at its best. Not possessing
+in the case of passengers a monopoly such as influenced
+and often perverted its action in the case of letters, the
+department proceeded to do much as private persons with
+sufficient capital at command would have done in similar
+circumstances, namely to build better boats than those
+already employed, and endeavour by the superior excellence
+of its service to recover the custom it had lost. Orders
+were given for two steam packets, the best that Boulton
+and Watt could build; and on the 31st of May 1821 the
+<i>Royal Sovereign</i>, of 206 tons burthen, with engines of
+40 horse-power, and the <i>Meteor</i>, of somewhat smaller
+dimensions, began to ply. "Hitherto," wrote the postmasters-general
+eight days later, "they have answered
+the most sanguine expectations that had been formed of
+them; the letters have been delivered in Dublin earlier
+than was ever yet known, and Ireland has expressed herself
+grateful for the attention that has been shewn to her
+interests."</p>
+
+<p>The Post Office behaved in this matter with a moderation
+which was altogether wanting where its monopoly
+was concerned. To be outdone by a private company, to
+employ inferior boats, boats of an obsolete type and of a
+low rate of speed&mdash;this would not be creditable to a public
+department, still less to a department whose special function
+it was to carry the correspondence of the country at the
+highest speed attainable; and properly enough the Post
+Office might take steps to establish its pre-eminence. But
+it would be quite another thing for a public department
+to undersell a private company, and, by charging lower
+fares, to run its boats off the line. This, it appeared to
+the authorities in Lombard Street, would exceed the bounds
+of fair competition. Accordingly the fares by the Post
+Office steam packets were fixed at the same amounts as
+those charged by the company; and these fares were
+somewhat higher than those which had been charged by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>
+the sailing packets. By sailing packet, for instance, the
+charge for a cabin passenger had been one guinea, by steam
+packet it was £1:5s.; for a horse the steam packet charge
+was £1:10s. as against one guinea by sailing packet, and
+for a coach £3:5s. as against three guineas.</p>
+
+<p>These charges, which were fixed with the express object
+of not exposing the company to undue competition, had not
+been long in force before Parliament intervened. The
+Select Committee on Irish Communication protested in the
+interests of the public against the raising of the fares, and
+the Post Office was constrained to submit. The substitution
+of steam packets for sailing packets bore immediate
+fruit. The number of passengers carried by the Post
+Office between Holyhead and Dublin, which in 1820 had
+sunk to 7468, rose in 1821 to 13,737 and in 1822 to
+more than 16,000; and for some years the Holyhead
+packets were not only self-supporting but produced a clear
+gain to the revenue of more than £6000 a year.</p>
+
+<p>The change which had been made at Holyhead was
+not long in extending itself to other packet stations from
+which there was communication with Ireland. Between
+Milford and Waterford sailing packets were replaced by
+steam packets in April 1824, and between Portpatrick and
+Donaghadee in May 1825. By sailing packet the average
+duration of voyage between the last-mentioned stations had
+been seven hours and forty-eight minutes. During the
+winter of 1825-26, a winter unexampled for the derangement
+of sea-communication, the average time which the
+little Post Office steamers <i>Arrow</i> and <i>Dasher</i> took to
+perform the voyage was less than three hours and a half.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, despite these exertions to maintain its
+superiority, the Post Office was not to remain in undisputed
+possession of the Irish traffic. Private steamers had begun
+to ply between Liverpool and Dublin, and the fares by
+these steamers were lower than by the Post Office packets
+from Holyhead. As a natural consequence, the passenger
+traffic to which the Post Office looked to recoup itself for
+the heavy expense to which it had been put in replacing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>
+sailing packets by steam packets was diverted to
+Liverpool.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it only in the matter of passengers that the
+Post Office lost by the competition. Its reputation also
+suffered. The mails for Ireland left Liverpool at three
+o'clock in the afternoon, before the Exchange was closed,
+and reaching Holyhead by way of Chester and Llangollen
+at six o'clock on the following morning, did not arrive in
+Dublin until the afternoon. The private steamers, on the
+contrary, did not leave Liverpool until the business of the
+day was over, and arrived in Dublin on the following
+morning. Hence comparisons were drawn not favourable
+to the Post Office; and it by no means tended to allay
+dissatisfaction that the owners of the private steamers were
+refused permission to carry the mails. This they had
+offered to do, in one case for nothing more than exemption
+from harbour and light dues; but at that time, strange as
+it may appear to us with our present experience, it was a
+fixed principle with the Post Office that private firms even
+of the highest eminence were not to be entrusted with the
+carriage of the public correspondence. Accordingly it was
+decided that between Liverpool and Dublin the Post Office
+should run its own packets, and the new service began
+on the 29th of August 1826. The opening was marred
+by a lamentable disaster. Early in September the <i>Francis
+Freeling</i> packet, a recently-built cutter named after the
+secretary, and reputed to be the finest vessel of its kind
+afloat, foundered during a heavy gale and all the passengers
+and crew were lost.</p>
+
+<p>The new service, while an unquestionable convenience to
+the public, did not altogether satisfy the Post Office. It is
+true that, as a consequence of the increased accommodation,
+the letters for Ireland passing through Liverpool nearly
+doubled in number; but this satisfactory result was not
+without alloy. During the past few years the art of
+building as applied to steamboats had made rapid progress;
+and not only were the packets on the Liverpool station
+larger than those stationed at Holyhead, the horse-power of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>
+the engines being 170 in the one case as against 40 in the
+other, but they were altogether better equipped. The fares
+by the Liverpool route as fixed by the Post Office were also
+relatively lower, and to any one proceeding from London or
+the large manufacturing towns of the North the distance to
+be travelled by road was shorter. As a consequence, the
+diversion of traffic from Holyhead to Liverpool, notwithstanding
+the longer sea voyage, proceeded still more rapidly
+than when the steamers from the latter port were in private
+hands; and the Holyhead service, which had for some years
+produced a clear profit of many thousand pounds a year,
+was now carried on at a loss.</p>
+
+<p>To the Post Office authorities, indeed, there was in
+connection with the four packet stations in communication
+with Ireland only one thing which gave them unqualified
+satisfaction. It was this&mdash;that to the Post Office belonged
+the credit of being first to demonstrate by practical experience
+that, to use Freeling's words, "steam vessels could
+force their way at all seasons of the year and in weather in
+which no sailing vessel, be her qualities what they might,
+would attempt to put to sea." Whether the claim is well
+founded or not we have no means of judging; we only
+know that it was made.</p>
+
+<p>By land, at the beginning of the present century,
+communication with Ireland was in a more backward state
+than it was by water; and since the Union a very general
+opinion had prevailed that this communication should be
+improved. It would perhaps be too much to say that the
+British Post Office proved obstructive in the matter; but
+there can be no doubt that it did not lend the assistance it
+might have done, and the reasons are obvious. In the first
+place, a little soreness existed. No sooner had the Act of
+Union passed than the Government decided that between
+London and Dublin there must be an express in both
+directions daily. This, as the postmasters-general pointed
+out, would cost more than £4000 a year, and, as it was not
+required for Post Office purposes, the Post Office should not
+bear the cost. Accordingly the question as to the source<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span>
+from which the cost should be defrayed was reserved for
+future consideration; but after the express was well established,
+the Post Office received notice that it must defray
+the cost itself, and it continued to do so for twenty years
+and more. This was always a sore point with Freeling, and
+he constantly adduced it as an instance of unremunerative
+work.</p>
+
+<p>Another reason which kept Lombard Street back from
+assisting to improve the communication with Ireland was
+that the British and Irish Post Offices approached the
+subject from different points of view. With the British
+Post Office the main object, an object which in its judgment
+was sufficiently well attained already, was the transmission
+of letters; with the Irish Post Office, as indeed with that
+section of the public which could best make its voice heard,
+the main object was the transport of passengers. Yet a
+third reason, we can well believe, was the conviction that
+for any improvement that might be made, though primarily
+for the sake of Ireland, the British and not the Irish Post
+Office would have to pay. These three reasons, we cannot
+doubt, were at the root of the manifest indisposition displayed
+by the British Post Office to meet what had
+gradually become a very general demand.</p>
+
+<p>The first strenuous effort to induce the authorities in
+Lombard Street to improve the communication with Ireland
+was made in 1805, the prime mover in the matter being
+John Foster, the Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer. At
+this time the mail-coach between London and Holyhead
+went by a circuitous route through Chester. Foster maintained
+that it should go direct through Coventry and
+Shrewsbury. By Coventry the distance was 264 miles,
+and by Chester 278 miles&mdash;a difference, in point of time,
+of more than two hours.</p>
+
+<p>It was alleged that by the shorter route other delays
+which now took place might be avoided; but how important
+was a saving of even two hours may be judged from the
+fact that the time of the mail-coach leaving Holyhead was
+fixed with reference, not to the arrival of the packet from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>
+Dublin, but to the arrival of the coach in London. All the
+mail-coaches were timed to reach London early in the
+morning, so that the letters they brought might go out by
+the morning delivery. To effect this object, the mail-coach
+by the Chester route had to leave Holyhead at seven o'clock
+in the morning, an hour by which it was barely possible for
+the packet from Dublin to have arrived. During the whole
+of the year 1804, for instance, the Dublin mails arrived at
+Holyhead in time to catch the coach to London on only
+twelve occasions; and, of course, when the mails did not
+catch the coach, they had to remain idle at Holyhead until
+the following morning.</p>
+
+<p>If, argued Foster, the route be by Shrewsbury and
+Coventry, the coach can leave Holyhead so much later that
+the occasions on which the Dublin mail does not arrive in
+time to catch it will be not as now the rule but the exception.
+Freeling set the suggestion aside as impracticable.
+The coach, he maintained, must go through Chester. At
+Chester centred all the correspondence from the great
+manufacturing towns of the North, from Liverpool and
+Manchester, from Hull, Halifax, and Leeds, indeed from all
+parts of Yorkshire and many other counties besides. Was
+this correspondence of no account? Or was it suggested
+that a second mail-coach should be established? Already
+the Post Office was paying many thousand pounds a year
+for an express service between London and Holyhead which
+it did not require. Could it in reason be expected to incur
+the further expense which a second mail-coach would
+involve? The thing was impossible, and the project could
+not be entertained.</p>
+
+<p>Foster, though silenced for the time, was not convinced.
+In 1808 the subject was mooted again. Clancarty, who
+had recently been appointed joint postmaster-general with
+O'Neill, had arrived in London, prepared to argue the point
+with all the energy of his energetic nature. Foster was
+unable to come; but he had sent a memorandum which no
+one who was not thorough master of the subject could have
+produced. A meeting was appointed at Lord Hawksbury's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>
+office. Freeling poured out all the old objections, and proceeded
+to contend, as he had contended three years before,
+that the project was impracticable. But one was present
+there who did not believe in impracticabilities. This was
+the new Chief Secretary for Ireland, Sir Arthur Wellesley.
+Wellesley's opinion was emphatic&mdash;that all other considerations
+must be made subordinate to the one grand purpose
+of facilitating communication between the two capitals of
+London and Dublin. Freeling had encountered a stronger
+will than his own. What had been impossible before was
+possible now, and that very evening arrangements were
+begun to be devised for accelerating the Irish mails.</p>
+
+<p>Even now, what little was done was done grudgingly.
+The mail-coach from London which ran through Oxford and
+Birmingham to Shrewsbury was extended from Shrewsbury
+to Holyhead, and was met at Llangollen by an express
+from Chester bringing the cross-post correspondence. Thus
+matters remained for nine years, when, under pressure which
+the Post Office could no longer resist, the Coventry route
+was adopted. The Post Office opposed the change to the
+last, even though a Parliamentary Committee had recommended
+it, and an address in its favour had been presented
+to the Prince Regent. At length Vansittart, the Chancellor
+of the Exchequer, brought his authority to bear, and in
+July 1817 a mail-coach by way of Coventry began to run,
+accomplishing the distance between London and Holyhead
+in thirty-eight hours.</p>
+
+<p>But in order to facilitate communication between England
+and Ireland a good deal more was required than to set up
+an additional coach or to send an existing coach by another
+and shorter route. The roads of the country were still in a
+state to make rapid travelling impossible. Much, no doubt,
+had been done to improve them. Between the years 1760
+and 1809 no less than 1514 Turnpike Acts had been
+passed, and under the turnpike system the roads were
+better than before. Still the making of them had been
+entrusted to incompetent hands, and they were constructed
+on false principles. For the bed or foundation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>
+roads improper or insufficient materials had been used.
+Little or no attention had been paid to drainage. Few
+roads were provided with side channels. Not seldom,
+indeed, the sides were encumbered with huge banks of
+mud which had accumulated to the height of six, seven,
+and even eight feet. Not only had convexity of surface, as a
+means of carrying off the water, been disregarded, but the
+road was frequently hollow in the middle and everywhere
+cut into deep ruts. High hedges and trees were still
+allowed to intercept the action of the sun and wind, the
+importance of a rapid evaporation of moisture being as yet
+unrecognised. Even the roads themselves had been laid
+out on no fixed principle. Their lines of direction were,
+almost without exception, identical with the footpaths of
+the aboriginal inhabitants of the country; and these, doubtless
+to avoid the bogs and marsh lands, and possibly also
+for purposes of observation, had invariably followed the
+hills.</p>
+
+<p>Hence it came to pass that almost every road of any
+importance was both steep and crooked. Where there were
+no hills and the roads passed across wet and flat land, they
+were almost always below the level of the adjacent fields,
+the mud having been carried away by constant use. While
+such was the general state of the roads during the first
+twenty years of the present century, the road between
+Shrewsbury and Holyhead, over which a mail-coach had
+been travelling since the summer of 1808, was notoriously
+one of the worst in the kingdom. "To Kenneage,<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> six
+miles of narrow road; scarcely room for two carriages to
+pass, and much out of repair; in winter, the drivers say, the
+ruts are up to the bed of the coach." "From Kenneage to
+Capel Curig, road narrow and wants walling to prevent
+carriages falling down precipices 300 or 400 yards perpendicular."
+"From Capel Curig to Bangor, side of the
+road unguarded, and many accidents may happen to
+passengers by the coach running off the road as the mail
+passes here in the dark." Thus wrote the assistant superintendent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span>
+of mail-coaches in 1808, and nothing had since
+been done to remedy defects.</p>
+
+<p>The mail along this line, of road was now to be carried
+at a higher rate of speed than before, and, if only on this
+ground, it would have been necessary at least to remove
+actual causes of danger. Even before 1817, however,
+Parliamentary Commissioners had been appointed for the
+improvement of the Holyhead road; and these Commissioners
+had summoned to their aid the first of that line of illustrious
+men who, during the last eighty years, have transformed the
+face of England. This was Thomas Telford, who had
+already achieved distinction by the roads he had made in
+the Highlands of Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>Telford commenced operations in the autumn of 1815;
+and now for the first time in England, or at all events for
+the first time since the ancient ways were laid down by the
+Romans, a road was to be constructed on scientific principles.
+"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
+shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight,
+and the rough places plain." This&mdash;we say it without
+irreverence&mdash;is what literally came to pass. Easy inclinations,
+ample breadth, perfect drainings, complete protection,
+and a smooth and hard surface&mdash;these were the distinguishing
+characteristics of the road which Telford now made
+between Holyhead and Shrewsbury. A road that had been
+one of the worst in the kingdom was now the very best.
+In summer it was not even dusty, and in winter was free
+from dirt. Frost and rain produced upon it but trifling and
+superficial effects. To crown all, the Menai Straits were
+spanned by a noble bridge, where before there had been only
+an inconvenient ferry.</p>
+
+<p>While Telford was thus raising the business of road-making
+to the level of an art, John Loudon Macadam was
+demonstrating of what materials the surface of a road should
+be made. Macadam had travelled about the kingdom much
+as John Palmer had travelled about some thirty years before
+in pursuit of a different object, and, as the result of long
+observation, he had come to the conclusion that the surface<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>
+of roads should be made of broken stones; and having in
+1816 been appointed general surveyor of roads in the
+British district he proceeded to put his views into practice.
+With success to recommend it, the new system spread like
+wildfire, and "a macadamised road" soon became a household
+word.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was it to the business of road-making alone that
+science now lent her aid. What force of traction or power
+is required to draw carriages over different kinds of road, in
+what line of direction the power can be best applied&mdash;what,
+in other words, is the proper angle for the traces, and what
+in the case of hills is the highest inclination up which
+horses can go at a trot and down which they can with
+safety be driven at full speed&mdash;these were some of the
+questions which now engaged the attention of the scientific
+world. Some thirty years before, Walsingham and Chesterfield
+when postmasters-general had dabbled in matters of
+the kind;<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> but now they were reduced to the form of
+mathematical problems and received a mathematical
+solution.</p>
+
+<p>The excellence of the road constructed between Holyhead
+and Shrewsbury brought into bold relief the imperfections
+of the road between Shrewsbury and London. To
+this road, which, in comparison with the other, had at one
+time been pronounced good and was now pronounced
+execrable, Telford proceeded to apply the same principles as
+before. He raised the valleys, lowered or avoided the hills,
+and corrected deviations. To give only one instance&mdash;an
+instance taken from the second stage out of London&mdash;the
+old road from Barnet to South Minims ascended three steep
+and long hills; the new road avoided two of these hills
+altogether, and at the same time was shorter than the old
+one by more than 600 yards. And so it was in a greater
+or less degree all the way from London through St. Albans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>
+to Coventry, and thence through Birmingham and Wolverhampton
+to Shrewsbury.</p>
+
+<p>It should also be mentioned that at this time, while the
+country roads were hollow in the centre instead of convex,
+the roads in and about London within a radius of about ten
+miles were the exact contrary. Here convexity, as a means
+of carrying off water, had been pushed to so absurd an
+extent that the road was in the form of a slanting roof, and
+a carriage, unless kept in the centre, was on a dangerous
+slope. This, which had been a prolific source of accidents,
+Telford now altered. The effect of his operations upon the
+first stage out of London, the Highgate Archway Road as it
+was called, is perhaps best described in the words of one
+of the principal mail-coach contractors. Before Telford
+took this road in hand, he wrote, "It was all we could do to
+walk up both sides of the archway with six horses, and now
+we can trot up with our heaviest loads with four."</p>
+
+<p>The road from London to Shrewsbury, in continuation of
+the one from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, was completed in
+1828, and, corresponding alterations having been made in
+the eight miles of road which connect Howth and Dublin,
+a line of communication was established between the
+capitals of England and Ireland such as, until the days of
+railways, could hardly have been improved. Some few
+years before, when the Post Office had received orders to
+accomplish the distance between London and Holyhead in
+thirty-eight hours, Hasker, the experienced superintendent of
+mail-coaches, while zealously applying himself to carry the
+orders into effect, had felt it incumbent upon him as a loyal
+servant to make a protest in writing against the "extraordinary
+expedition projected." It would, he urged&mdash;and
+no doubt rightly so as the road then was&mdash;be inhuman to
+horses and dangerous to life. This extraordinary expedition
+was at the rate of seven miles an hour. Along the Parliamentary
+Road the distance was accomplished, without hurt to
+horses and with perfect safety, at the rate of ten miles an
+hour, and the London and Holyhead coach soon became one
+of what were known as the "crack" coaches of the kingdom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the Post Office had shewn its appreciation
+of Telford's achievement in a remarkable manner. It had
+imposed an additional charge of 1d. upon every letter
+carried over Conway Bridge, and a second penny for carriage
+over the Menai Straits.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BEGINNING OF THE END<br />
+
+1817-1836</h3>
+
+
+<p>We must now go back a few years. On the cessation of
+hostilities with France the state of the finances occupied a
+large share of men's thoughts, and among the plans for
+relieving the burden upon the taxpayer none perhaps was
+more obvious than to abolish sinecures and useless offices.</p>
+
+<p>On the 16th of February 1817 Mr. Lambton, member
+for the county of Durham, gave notice of motion for a
+return shewing the number of Boards which had been held
+by the postmasters-general during the last twenty years,
+and distinguishing the names of the places where such
+Boards had been held and the persons by whom they were
+attended. The Post Office was in a flutter. Just twenty
+years before, the Commissioners of Inquiry into Public
+Offices had recommended, and the recommendation had been
+approved by the House, that a Board should be held by the
+postmasters-general at least once a week; and from that
+date to the present not a single Board had been held. The
+position was no doubt embarrassing, and not the less so
+because the postmasters-general, Lords Chichester and
+Salisbury, were the one at Stanmer and the other at
+Hatfield. Nothing could be done without the concurrence
+of both, and at such distances, little as would be thought of
+them now, it was a tedious process eighty years ago to
+arrive at a common understanding.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>Freeling, who regarded it as little short of an outrage
+that the two noble peers, his masters, should be thus
+called to account, appealed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
+to have the terms of the motion altered; but
+Vansittart refused, and the return was granted and ordered
+to be laid on the table of the House. Of course it was
+necessary to admit that no Boards had been held; but the
+work of the Post Office, the return went on to state,
+did not lend itself to Boards. Boards could be held
+only at intervals, and the work of the Post Office was
+so continuous and pressing that, without detriment to the
+public interests, it could not be kept waiting for a single
+day. A daily transmission of papers to the postmasters-general
+was, therefore, necessary; and by such means the
+business was better conducted than it would be by any
+system of Boards. Such was the substance of the return
+which was now laid before the House. Eventually the
+matter was referred to a friendly Committee, and the
+appointment of second postmaster-general escaped for a
+time.</p>
+
+<p>But it was for a time only. In May 1822, on the
+motion of Lord Normanby, an address to the throne was
+adopted in the following terms: "His Majesty's faithful
+Commons, relying upon His Majesty's gracious disposition
+expressed in answer to former addresses of that House to
+concur in all such measures of economy as the exigencies of
+the time require, and in such reductions in the civil
+department of the State as may be consistent with due
+consideration for the public service, humbly pray that His
+Majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions that
+the office of one of the postmasters-general may be abolished
+and the salary thereby saved to the revenue." It was Lord
+Salisbury, as the junior of the two postmasters-general, that
+was affected by the resolution of the House. Many men,
+incensed by such treatment, would have thrown up their
+appointments in disgust. Lord Salisbury did nothing of
+the kind. The very day he received official intimation that
+the address had been acceded to by the King he gave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>
+directions that his salary should be stopped;<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> but the
+appointment of postmaster-general he retained, and to the
+duties of it he gave at least as much attention as before.
+It was not until his death a year later that Lord Chichester
+was appointed sole postmaster-general, and the Post Office
+received the constitution under which it still remains.</p>
+
+<p>Other economies followed. All periodical increases of
+salary were suspended and salaries were for the first time
+made subject to abatement in order to provide a superannuation
+fund.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> The effect of these two measures was to
+reduce the Post Office servants to a state of destitution not
+very far short of that from which Pitt had rescued them
+some thirty years before. It must not be thought, however,
+that ministers imposed upon others conditions to which they
+were unwilling to submit themselves. On the contrary,
+they procured an Order in Council to be passed reducing
+their own salaries and those of all the great officers of State
+by 10 per cent, and the reduction was to continue for five
+years. The desire to be just and equal was present; the
+one thing wanting was a due sense of the difference between
+superfluity and need.</p>
+
+<p>And now a blow which had long been impending fell.
+This was the transfer from the Post Office to the Admiralty of
+the packets stationed at Falmouth. The question had been
+discussed again and again during the war; but how it came
+to be revived at this particular time is not very clear.
+There had indeed been a mutiny among the seamen at
+Falmouth, and the packets had been temporarily removed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span>
+to Plymouth; but many years had since elapsed, and now,
+so far as appeared, matters were perfectly quiet. We only
+know that at the instance of Lord Liverpool a memorandum
+was prepared by Lord Melville, the First Lord of the
+Admiralty, and that after a sharp paper-warfare between
+him and Freeling the arguments in favour of the change
+prevailed. At Falmouth thirty packets were employed,
+nearly double the number at all the other stations put
+together; and these thirty packets with their crews of
+600 seamen, whose deeds of daring had often shed lustre
+on the Post Office, were now made over to another department.
+Freeling was in despair. This little fleet had, next
+perhaps to the mail-coaches, been the object of his keenest
+solicitude; and it gave him little consolation that the
+packets at the other stations&mdash;at Dover and Harwich, at
+Weymouth, Milford, Holyhead, and Portpatrick, were to
+remain under the charge of the Post Office.</p>
+
+<p>Some little comfort, however, was at hand. Steam
+packets being beyond the means of the captains to purchase,
+the Government provided them and purchased the sailing
+packets, which they replaced, at a valuation. Thus the Post
+Office became once more absolute owner of its own boats.
+This, though by no means reconciling Freeling to the loss of
+the Falmouth packets, was at all events some compensation.
+"The steam flotilla belonging to the Post Office," he was
+able to write in 1827, "consists of no less than nineteen
+vessels complete, to the aggregate amount of 4000 tons, with
+machinery equal on the whole to the power of 1540 horses."</p>
+
+<p>Exaggerated opinions have been expressed as to the speed
+of the mail-coaches during the first two decades of the
+present century. In 1821 few mail-coaches travelled as
+much as eight miles an hour, and only one mail-coach attained
+to a speed of nine miles, and that for only part of the
+journey. The exact rates of travelling are shewn in the
+following table:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+1821.<br />
+<br />
+</div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Travel">
+<tr><td align="center">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">Number</td><td align="center">Hour</td><td align="center">Hour</td><td align="center">Rate of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="smcap">Mail Coach</span></td><td align="center">of</td><td align="center">of</td><td align="center">of</td><td align="center">Travelling</td><td align="center">Remarks.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center"><span class="smcap">from London to</span></td><td align="center">Miles.</td><td align="center">Despatch.</td><td align="center">Arrival.</td><td align="center">per hour.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">M. F.</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">M.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Berwick</td><td align="right">341 6</td><td align="right">8.0 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">6.15 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-13/16</td><td align="left">The rates of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Berwick to</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">travelling</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Edinburgh</td><td align="right">59 4</td><td align="center">&mdash;</td><td align="right">2.55 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-2/16</td><td align="left">include</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Birmingham</td><td align="right">110 2</td><td align="right">8.0 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">10.0 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-13/16</td><td align="left">stoppages for</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Bristol</td><td align="right">122 4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">8-10/16</td><td align="left">change of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Carlisle by</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">horses, but</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Manchester</td><td align="right">311 4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">1.30 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">8-5/16</td><td align="left">not stoppages</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Carlisle by</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">for refresh-</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Boroughbridge</td><td align="right">302 6</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">1.40 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-10/16</td><td align="left">ment and for</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Carlisle to</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">Post Office</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Glasgow</td><td align="right">103 2</td><td align="center">&mdash;</td><td align="right">4.50 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-4/16</td><td align="left">business.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Chester</td><td align="right">191 0</td><td align="right">8.0 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">10.50 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-8/16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Chester to</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Holyhead</td><td align="right">88 0</td><td align="center">&mdash;</td><td align="right">7.5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-7/16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Dover</td><td align="right">73 4</td><td align="right">8.0 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">6.45 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7</td><td align="left">For a</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exeter</td><td align="right">176 2</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">7.40 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-11/16</td><td align="left">considerable</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Exeter by Bath</td><td align="right">194 0</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">7.50 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">8-7/16</td><td align="left">part of the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Gloucester</td><td align="right">111 0</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">10.0 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">8-3/16</td><td align="left">distance the</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Holyhead</td><td align="right">264 6</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">6.50 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-15/16</td><td align="left">London and</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Leeds</td><td align="right">196 0</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">11.25 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-8/16</td><td align="left">Bristol</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Liverpool</td><td align="right">207 4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">12.10 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-6/16</td><td align="left">coach</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Norwich by</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">travelled at</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Ipswich</td><td align="right">114 4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">11.0 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-14/16</td><td align="left">the rate of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Ipswich to</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">nine miles an</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Yarmouth</td><td align="right">54 2</td><td align="center">&mdash;</td><td align="right">11.56 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-15/16</td><td align="left">hour.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Poole</td><td align="right">117 4</td><td align="right">8.0 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span></td><td align="right">11.20 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-14/16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Portsmouth</td><td align="right">72 6</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">6.45 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">7-1/16</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Worcester</td><td align="right">114 4</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">10.40 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span></td><td align="right">8-7/16</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>It was not until some fourteen or fifteen years later,
+when the main roads of the kingdom had passed under
+Telford's hands and vehicles of lighter build had been
+introduced, that mail-coaches attained the speed which is
+very commonly ascribed to an earlier period. In 1836
+there were in England 104 mail-coaches, all drawn by four
+horses. Of these the fastest was the Liverpool and Preston
+coach, which travelled at the rate of ten miles and five
+furlongs an hour; and the slowest was the coach between
+Canterbury and Deal, which travelled at the rate of only
+six miles an hour. The average speed of all the mail-coaches
+in 1836, namely eight miles and seven furlongs an
+hour, was actually higher than the highest speed attained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>
+by any one mail-coach in 1821. It should be added that
+in 1821, as in 1836, the number of passengers by a mail-coach
+was limited to four inside and four out. On some
+mail-coaches, indeed, no more than three outside passengers
+were allowed.</p>
+
+<p>But the mail-coach at the beginning of the present
+century did something more than carry mails and passengers.
+It was the great disseminator of news. In times of
+excitement men would stand waiting along the mail roads
+and learn the latest intelligence as shouted to them from
+the tops of the coaches. It may well be believed that this
+mode of communication did not tend to either accuracy or
+completeness of statement. We cannot, therefore, be surprised
+that on important occasions or occasions on which
+false or inexact intelligence might lead to mischief recourse
+should have been had to the expedient of printing hand-bills,
+and sending them to the postmasters with instructions to
+distribute them in their respective towns. The following
+are specimens of hand-bills which were so distributed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>February 10, 1817</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>The statement in the morning papers that several persons have
+been arrested by warrants from the Secretary of State is true.</p>
+
+<p>The meeting was held this morning at Spa Fields; but the arrests
+which have taken place and the precautions adopted by Government
+caused everything to end peaceably and the town is perfectly quiet.</p>
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<div class="signature"><br />
+<i>17th November 1818.</i><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Her Majesty the Queen expired at one o'clock this day.</p></blockquote>
+
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+
+<p>The following hand-bill sent to the different ports where
+vessels from Jamaica were likely to arrive is interesting in
+so far as it shews the exceptional facilities which, even
+seventy or eighty years ago, the Post Office possessed for
+making inquiries:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>February 10th, 1821</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Freeling requests the postmaster to make inquiries of the
+master of any ship arriving from Jamaica into the state of the Duke
+of Manchester's health, and inform him of the result by the first post.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Of the reason of this solicitude we are not aware.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>Police notices, notices giving particulars of crimes which
+had been committed and offering rewards for the apprehension
+of the criminals, were similarly dealt with. These,
+like the hand-bills of which specimens have been given,
+were sent from Lombard Street under cover to the postmasters
+with instructions to circulate them in their
+respective towns. The propriety of this proceeding is not
+free from doubt. Of course, every department of the State
+is interested in the detection and punishment of crime; and
+yet it may be a question whether by taking an active part
+in the distribution of these documents the Post Office was
+not to some extent identifying itself with a class of business
+from which, for obvious reasons, it had better hold itself
+aloof.</p>
+
+<p>While changes were taking place in other directions, the
+regulations for the transmission of newspapers through the
+post remained as they had been at the beginning of the
+century. Within the United Kingdom newspapers could
+not pass free except under the frank of either members of
+Parliament or of the clerks of the roads. To the Continent
+of Europe and to the colonies they could pass only at the
+letter rate of postage unless they were franked, in the case
+of the Continent, by the comptroller or clerks of the foreign
+department, and, in the case of the colonies, by Freeling.
+This privilege of franking was to the Post Office servants who
+possessed it a source of considerable profit. Freeling's share
+alone amounted to nearly £3000 a year; but he, unlike
+his subordinates, claimed to frank not newspapers alone but
+the <i>Edinburgh</i> and <i>Quarterly Reviews</i> and other publications
+of a like nature.</p>
+
+<p>The West India merchants had long writhed under this
+exaction, and now at their instance Joseph Hume, the
+member for Montrose, brought the matter under the notice
+of the House of Commons. The practice had only to be
+made known in order to secure condemnation. A bill was
+brought in and passed extinguishing the privilege so far as
+the colonies were concerned, empowering the Treasury to
+grant compensation for the loss of it, and providing for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span>
+transmission of newspapers at easy rates. These rates
+were, from the United Kingdom to the colonies, 1-1/2d. and,
+from the colonies to the United Kingdom, 3d. for each
+newspaper, the reason for the difference of charge being
+that the paper would bear a stamp-duty in one direction
+and not in the other.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of newspapers for the Continent the franking
+privilege remained untouched. It may seem strange that
+this should have been so; indeed, not more than two or
+three years had elapsed before members of Parliament were
+expressing surprise that the Act which had taken away the
+privilege in respect to one class of newspapers had not
+taken it away also in respect to the other. But the explanation,
+we think, is simple. Some nine or ten years
+before it had been rumoured that in the case of all Post
+Office servants the franking privilege was to be abolished,
+and those who would have been injured by its abolition
+proceeded to shew cause why in their own case an exception
+should be made. Only by those who franked to the
+Continent were even plausible reasons given; and there can
+be little doubt that, at all events to some extent, the same
+reasons operated now. These were that over a great part
+of the Continent, except for the arrangements made by the
+Post Office servants in Lombard Street, English newspapers
+could not circulate at all or could circulate only under most
+onerous conditions. In France their circulation was prohibited.
+To Holland they could not be sent unless ordered
+by some postmaster there. In Germany and Sweden, unless
+so ordered, they could not pass through the post except at
+the letter rate of postage. In Portugal the letter rate of
+postage was always charged. In Russia, besides being
+charged 7s. 6d. apiece, they were generally delayed and
+not seldom suppressed altogether. These obstacles had
+been overcome by the private arrangements made from
+Lombard Street, and, if these should be disallowed, the
+transmission of newspapers to the Continent, instead of
+being facilitated, would be rendered more difficult and costly.
+Thus in 1816 argued those who were interested in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>
+maintenance of the privilege, and we can well understand
+that in 1825 much the same considerations prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The same Act of Parliament which imposed upon newspapers
+to the colonies a postage of 1-1/2d. allowed newspapers
+within the United Kingdom to pass through the post free
+from any postage at all. This was the effect of the Act,
+but it was accomplished in a roundabout manner. By a
+statute passed early in the century<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> a member of Parliament
+was required, in order to send his newspapers free, to sign
+his name on the outside in his own handwriting, and, in
+order to receive them free, to have them addressed to some
+place of which he had given previous notice in writing at
+the Post Office. By the present statute these provisions
+were repealed. A newspaper, to be exempt from postage,
+need no longer bear the signature of a member of Parliament
+and need no longer be addressed to a place of which previous
+notice had been given. In other words, newspapers might
+pass through the post free; and as a consequence the franking
+privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads was at an
+end.</p>
+
+<p>This, it might naturally be supposed, was a signal epoch
+in the history of the Post Office. As a matter of fact, it
+was nothing of the kind. For many years past the law had
+been disregarded. It had indeed been insisted upon that a
+newspaper, in order to pass free, must bear a member's
+name, without which the full letter rate of postage would be
+charged; but by whom the name was written, whether it
+was written at all or only printed, and whether the use of
+it had been authorised, had long ceased to be considered
+material. So well was this understood that some of the
+largest news-vendors in the kingdom adopted a member's
+name without the slightest reference to the member himself,
+and had it printed on their newspaper-covers.</p>
+
+<p>This laxity in the case of newspapers may appear all the
+more extraordinary in view of the stringency which was
+observed in other matters. The Chelsea pensioners had by
+statute enjoyed the privilege of sending and receiving letters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span>
+at low rates of postage. Freeling never rested until the
+statute was repealed. At the close of hostilities with
+France letters which had been detained in Paris since the
+war broke out in 1803 were forwarded to London, and the
+merchants urged that they might be delivered free. The
+Treasury were in favour of granting the request; but
+Freeling energetically opposed it. The delivery of such
+letters free, he insisted, would be a plain breach of the law.
+On a dissolution of Parliament those who had been members
+lost their privilege in the matter of franking; and yet it
+might be supposed that a short period of grace would have
+been allowed, a period sufficient to admit of letters which
+were already in the post being delivered free. Nothing of
+the kind. These letters were surprised in course of transit
+and charged with postage.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a></p>
+
+<p>Lord Salisbury when at the Post Office contrasted the
+stringency of later years with the laxity which prevailed
+in his early manhood. "In the year 1778," he wrote,
+"and in many succeeding ones while I took the field with
+the militia it was the constant practice to write on all
+regimental papers the words, 'On His Majesty's service,'
+which insured a free delivery; but in process of time the
+Post Office became rather stricter and more attentive, and
+then such a superscription was charged except when
+addressed to peers and members of Parliament, and I have
+frequently paid for such letters overweight without getting
+any redress."</p>
+
+<p>When such strictness was observed in other matters, one
+can only wonder at the liberties which were allowed to be
+taken with newspapers, and it appears all the more strange
+because the very act which in the case of newspapers was
+countenanced and encouraged was in the case of letters
+a highly penal offence. Was it not for forging a single<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span>
+frank, the frank of Sir William Garrow, that the clerical
+impostor, Halloran, was in 1818 sentenced to seven years'
+transportation? The plain truth would seem to be that
+vested interests were so deeply involved in the matter of
+newspapers that there was on the part of the Post Office
+the utmost indisposition to make them the subject of
+legislative enactment; and yet, without some concessions
+to the news-vendors, it would have been impossible to
+resist the pressure which would have been brought to bear.
+This, we doubt not, is the true explanation; and it will
+account for much that is otherwise dark and obscure. It
+will explain why that which was regarded as a heinous
+offence in the case of letters was sanctioned and encouraged
+in the case of newspapers; why, enormously as the circulation
+of newspapers within the United Kingdom increased
+during the first quarter of the present century, we look in
+vain for any legislative enactment regulating the conditions
+under which, except when sent or received by members of
+Parliament, they might pass through the post; and why
+in 1825, when at length they had conceded to them the
+right to pass free, the concession was enacted in an indirect
+and circuitous manner.</p>
+
+<p>So far, therefore, as inland newspapers were concerned,
+the practical effect of the statute which now passed was
+little more than to make law correspond with usage.
+During many years newspapers had been passing through
+the post, as they were to pass for the future, free. The
+only difference was that, in order to secure exemption, it
+was no longer necessary to go through the farce of either
+writing or printing the name of some member of Parliament
+on the outside of the cover. The clerks of the roads were
+unaffected by the statute. The advantage which these
+officers had at one time derived from their franking
+privilege had already been lost to them through the action
+of the Post Office in evading the law; and we can well
+believe that even so they considered themselves fortunate
+in being permitted to escape with their newspaper-business.
+This business, long after they had begun to compete with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>
+the news-vendors on equal terms, was of large dimensions.
+During the year 1829, out of 11,862,706 newspapers
+despatched from London into the country, 1,207,794 or
+more than one-tenth of the whole number were despatched
+by the clerks of the roads.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not only in respect to newspapers that the
+House of Commons began about this time to manifest in
+the proceedings of the Post Office an interest such as it
+had never taken before. Committee after Committee was
+appointed to report upon the communications of the
+country, upon roads, mail-coaches, and steam packets; but
+without any definite result. Obviously the House was not
+satisfied with things as they were, and yet did not well see
+how to improve them. Only one man appears to have had
+a clear perception of what he wanted, and to have been
+possessed of the requisite ability to carry his object. This
+was Sir Henry Parnell, chairman of the Select Committee on
+the Holyhead Road, a Committee the title of which only
+inadequately denotes either its scope or importance.
+Parnell, presuming on the authority which this position
+gave him, and convinced no doubt of the feasibility of his
+scheme of improvement, adopted towards the Post Office an
+air of superiority which was peculiarly galling to Freeling,
+who for the first time in his life found himself dictated to
+in respect to matters in which he had hitherto been
+regarded as supreme. The effect of this Committee was not
+only to keep the Post Office busily employed in the
+preparation of returns but to put it on the defensive.</p>
+
+<p>Another inquiry which was going on contemporaneously
+contributed to the same result. Early in the reign of
+George the Fourth a Commission had been appointed to
+inquire into the state of the revenue, and this Commission,
+which began with the Post Office in 1823, did not report
+the result of its labours until 1829. Meanwhile the Post
+Office, which was practically on its trial, put forward as few
+proposals as possible; and even from those that were put
+forward the Treasury withheld assent on the pretext that
+the Commission had not yet reported. Hence followed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>
+somewhat curious result that the very period during which
+the House of Commons began to manifest an interest in the
+Post Office was on the part of the Post Office itself a period
+of more than ordinary inaction.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the period in question, though not remarkable
+for Post Office progress, is by no means an uninteresting
+one if only because within its limits the old and the
+new are brought together in striking contrast. In 1818
+the express office in the Haymarket is closed, an office
+which had been established in 1797 for the purpose of
+facilitating the receipt and despatch of Government
+expresses. In 1821 gas, or oil-gas as it was then called,
+is introduced into the Post Office, and at once asserts its
+superiority over oil in point not only of illuminating power
+but of cheapness as well. In 1822 the Post Office, by
+virtue of a warrant under the royal sign-manual, is cleared
+of its irrecoverable debts. These have been accumulating
+during a period of 137 years&mdash;since 1685, when the Post
+Office was first taken out of farm, and now amount to
+£62,141.</p>
+
+<p>About the same time Thomas Gray, writing from
+Brussels, advocates the introduction of steam engines on
+iron railways and predicts that, once established, they will
+absorb the carrying trade of the kingdom and displace mail-coaches.
+In 1823 Brunel, who has already achieved
+distinction, offers his services in the construction of a steam
+engine which shall prove as efficient and as safe at sea as
+when employed on land. The brilliant engineer receives no
+encouragement, and Gray receives not even the courtesy of
+an answer. In the same year passes away at Tunbridge
+Wells, James Sprange, the courtly old postmaster, who up to
+the date of his last illness might be seen pacing the Pantiles
+scrupulously dressed in the costume of the reign of George
+the Second, even to the long ruffles. In 1825 Glasgow is
+pleading, and pleading in vain, for a Post Office which shall
+not be kept at a shop. In 1828 the Roman Catholic peers
+are once more protesting against the outrage which
+precludes them, on the score of their religion, from exercising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span>
+the privilege of franking. In 1829 Waghorn is vainly
+striving to induce the Post Office to co-operate in facilitating
+communication with the East.</p>
+
+<p>The inferiority of sailing vessels to vessels propelled by
+steam has now been conclusively established, and steam
+packets are being placed on every station. Not the Holyhead
+Road alone but all the great roads of the kingdom have
+passed under Telford's hands and are beginning to assume
+the condition in which we see them to-day. And all this
+while postage remains at the ridiculously high level at
+which it was fixed in 1812. To Windsor the charge on a
+single letter is still 6d., to Birmingham 9d., and to Liverpool
+11d. Letters are still held up to a strong light to see
+whether they contain an enclosure or not, and are to be
+charged as single or as double. The first general delivery
+in St. James' Square is not begun before twelve o'clock in the
+day or finished much before one. Offices for the receipt of
+general post letters are still kept separate and distinct from
+those for the receipt of letters for the twopenny post. By
+the twopenny post the postage is not necessarily 2d., but,
+according as it is a twopenny post letter, a general
+post letter, or a foreign letter, may be 3d., 2d., or
+nothing. On a letter for abroad the fee for registration is
+still one guinea.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> An additional penny is still charged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>
+upon every letter that crosses the Conway or the Menai
+Bridge. Two hundred and seventy-five post towns still
+remain without a free delivery, and&mdash;what proves a constant
+source of contention between the Post Office and the
+inhabitants&mdash;even in those towns in which the letters are
+delivered free, the limits of the free delivery are not
+defined.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty years before, the office in Gerrard Street, the
+headquarters of the twopenny post in Westminster, had
+been enlarged. Of this office, which ranked next in
+importance to the General Post Office in Lombard Street,
+the postmasters-general wrote in 1809&mdash;not, surely, without
+a touch of exaggeration: "The sorting office, where fourteen
+persons are generally employed at a time and nearly one-half
+of which is occupied by tables, is only seventeen feet
+long by thirteen wide"; and, again, "The letter-carriers'
+office, in which fifty persons are employed at a time and
+one-fourth of which is occupied by tables, is but eighteen
+feet by sixteen." Such were the conditions under which,
+until lately, the Post Office servants had been accustomed
+to work; and now on a site rich in historical associations
+is rapidly approaching completion a stately edifice which
+not only provides ample and even lavish accommodation for
+the present, but will, it is confidently predicted, suffice for
+all time.</p>
+
+<p>The new Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was opened
+on the 23rd of September 1829. Little more than sixty
+years have since elapsed, and the building has been shorn
+of its chief attraction, the central hall, and has otherwise
+been so altered internally that even the accomplished
+architect, were he to revisit us, would probably fail to
+recognise his own handiwork. Of the old Post Office in
+Lombard Street, with its courts and its alleys and its
+interesting associations, not a fragment remains. Part of
+the site was retained for Post Office purposes, and is now
+occupied by what is known as the Lombard Street Branch
+Office; part was thrown into the street then forming, and to
+be called after the King, King William Street; and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>
+remainder was sold, and has long been covered with banks
+and counting-houses.</p>
+
+<p>It were much to be wished, if only for his own reputation
+and peace of mind, that Freeling had now retired. Full of
+years, recently created a baronet, of ample means, and
+enjoying the confidence of the Government as probably
+civil servant had never enjoyed it before, he could not have
+selected a better moment for relinquishing the duties of his
+arduous post. But a man who has been accustomed to
+exercise power is seldom willing to give it up. And in
+Freeling's case we suspect there was an additional reason.
+Of the large income which he derived from the Post Office,
+exceeding £4000 a year, considerably more than two-thirds
+was compensation for the loss of the franking privilege; and
+this compensation, according to a well-understood rule, was
+not to count for pension. As the fees which had been
+received for the exercise of the privilege must have ceased
+on retirement, so the compensation was to cease also.</p>
+
+<p>That Freeling would have received a special pension is
+beyond doubt; but even a special pension, with the utmost
+goodwill on the part of the Government, could not have
+approached the amount of his official income. And of this
+Freeling must have been well aware, for grumblings were
+already to be heard. The Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry,
+indeed, had gone so far as to question his right to receive
+any fees at all, and, even assuming such right to exist, had
+impugned the conduct of the Government in fixing the
+amount of his compensation at close upon £3000 a
+year.</p>
+
+<p>The removal into the new building was celebrated by
+two important steps in advance. Two branch offices were
+opened, one at Charing Cross and the other in Oxford
+Street, where letters were received without a fee until half-past
+six o'clock in the evening. Up to this time, except in
+Lombard Street, no office for the receipt of letters had been
+kept open later than five o'clock. A still more important
+step was the earlier delivery of letters in the morning.
+This was accomplished within the city by the employment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>
+of additional letter-carriers, and in the more distant parts
+by conveying the men to their walks in vehicles. A whole
+hour was thus gained. In the west end of London the
+delivery had not been completed until between twelve and
+one o'clock. It was now to be completed, except on Mondays,
+when the greater number of letters caused delay, between
+eleven and twelve.</p>
+
+<p>It will be convenient here to notice, though not strictly
+in chronological order, a third step in advance which took
+place about a year later, a step regarded as of little moment
+at the time, and yet one which, in view of subsequent
+events, was of the highest importance. On the 11th of
+November 1830 the first mail was sent by railway, this
+being the mail between Liverpool and Manchester. Except
+as the opening of a new era, the fact would hardly deserve
+to be recorded, for many years had yet to pass before
+railways became sufficiently general to afford to the Post
+Office any sensible relief. Meanwhile the roofs of the
+mail-coaches groaned under the weight of the mails. Time
+had been when no mail was allowed to be put on the roof
+or elsewhere than in the mail-box; but, as the correspondence
+increased, the Post Office was forced to countenance a
+practice of which it highly disapproved. What, except for
+the railways, would have happened on the introduction of
+penny postage is a question into which, happily, we need
+not inquire.</p>
+
+<p>The new Post Office had not been long occupied before
+the Government changed hands, and Earl Grey came into
+power with the Duke of Richmond as postmaster-general.
+It is not often that a change of Government affects the
+proceedings of the Post Office. One postmaster-general
+may be more active than another, or he may take a more
+lively and personal interest in the questions with which he
+has to deal; but there must, from the nature of the case,
+be a continuity of policy which can seldom be broken.
+Nor was there in this respect any exception to rule in the
+present instance. And yet the peer who now assumed the
+direction of the Post Office adopted a mode of procedure so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span>
+different from that of his immediate predecessors that it is
+impossible to pass over the occasion in silence.</p>
+
+<p>Richmond on his appointment as postmaster-general
+declined to receive any salary; and having formed this
+determination on the ground that the office was notoriously
+a sinecure, he straightway proceeded to shew that a sinecure
+was the very thing which in his hands the office was not to
+be. He devoted himself heart and soul to his new duties.
+Early and late, at his private residence as well as the Post
+Office, he was in constant and personal communication with
+officers of all classes from the highest to the lowest.
+Nothing like it had been seen since the days of Walsingham.
+He frequented the sorting office, saw for himself how the
+work was done, and with many a kindly word encouraged
+the men to do their best. With his own hands he on one
+occasion opened a bag for the colonial office, and, in confirmation
+of the suspicion which had prompted the act,
+found it full of letters for bankers, army agents, and others,
+representing postage to the amount of £60.</p>
+
+<p>Yet hard as he laboured, the Duke's repugnance to
+receive remuneration for his services could not be overcome.
+Learning that his salary remained undrawn, the Treasury
+addressed to him a letter of gentle remonstrance. To this
+letter he returned no reply. Fourteen months later the
+Treasury wrote again. To gratuitous service there were,
+in their Lordships' opinion, serious objections. The Lord
+Privy Seal had declined to receive the salary annexed to
+his office, and a Select Committee of the House of Commons
+had expressed disapproval of the step as being inconsistent
+with the wishes and the dignity of the country. Could
+that be right on the part of the postmaster-general which
+had been held to be wrong in the case of the Lord Privy
+Seal? Richmond now yielded, feeling that it would be
+indelicate, if not disrespectful to the House, to force
+gratuitous service where he was authoritatively informed
+gratuitous service would not be welcome; but while yielding
+he managed to draw as little of the arrears of salary as
+possible. His appointment as postmaster-general bore date<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>
+the 14th of December 1830, and the views of the Committee
+were for the first time made known to him at the end of
+April. The end of April, he was pleased to say, was an
+inconvenient time to begin. It was a broken quarter. He
+would, in deference to the opinion of the Committee, draw
+salary from the 5th of July but not before.</p>
+
+<p>Richmond had been only a short time at the Post Office
+when he had a most invidious task to perform. This was
+the carrying out of the arrangements consequent upon the
+consolidation of the Irish Post Office with the Post Office of
+Great Britain. The state of things arising from the maintenance
+within the United Kingdom of two independent
+Post Offices had long been felt to be intolerable. Until
+four or five years before, not only had the rates of postage
+in Ireland been different from those in England, but on a
+letter passing from one part of the kingdom to another both
+the English and the Irish rates had been charged. This
+had now been altered,<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> but the inconvenience of the dual
+control remained. A letter from Ireland might have miscarried
+or been delayed. The postmaster-general of England
+could not answer for its course except on this side of the
+Channel, and for further particulars the complainant had to
+be referred to Dublin. The English packets were timed to
+arrive in Ireland at a particular hour; but on the goodwill
+of the authorities in Dublin it depended whether the Irish
+posts corresponded or whether, as had not been unknown to
+be the case, their times were perversely fixed so as to keep
+the English mails waiting.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was this all. The Revenue Inquiry Commissioners
+had recently reported upon the Irish Post Office, and the
+evidence, on which their report was based, revealed the
+existence of scandalous abuses such as no Government could
+suffer to continue. For nearly fifty years the Irish Post
+Office had been independent of the Post Office of Great
+Britain, and it was now determined that this independence
+should cease. In 1831 an Act was passed incorporating
+the two Post Offices into one, and Richmond's patent as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>
+postmaster-general of Great Britain had hardly been completed
+before another passed constituting him postmaster-general
+of the United Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>Upon Richmond as postmaster-general of Ireland as well
+as England and Scotland it now devolved to sweep out the
+Augean stable; and his stern sense of duty peculiarly
+qualified him for the task. Rosse and O'Neill had ceased
+to be postmasters-general of Ireland upon the Act of
+incorporation passing. Lees, their secretary, was removed
+from Dublin to Edinburgh. Only those who had performed
+their duties in person were retained. All others were
+summarily dismissed and pensions were refused to them.
+In the result the Irish establishment was reduced in point
+of numbers by one-half, and in point of cost by nearly
+£10,000 a year; and this after the salaries of those who
+were retained had been increased all round.</p>
+
+<p>One important function had yet to be performed. This
+was to audit the Irish accounts, which had not been audited
+for fourteen years, and were known to be in a state of the
+utmost confusion. The receiver-general, who carried on the
+private business of banker and money-lender, had recently
+died, and speculation was high as to what further scandals
+the audit would reveal. All preparations had been made,
+and the persons selected for the task were on the point of
+starting for Dublin when intelligence reached London that
+the receiver-general's bond was not forthcoming. It had,
+shortly after his death, been surrendered under an instruction
+from Lees which, like the instruction which conferred
+upon his brother a valuable appointment, purported to have
+been given at a Board at which were present "the earls."
+The earls, as a matter of fact, had not been present and had
+never been consulted on the point. As it was felt that in
+the absence of the bond an audit would be of little use, the
+Government abandoned their intention, and the Irish Post
+Office accounts from 1817 to 1831 remain unaudited to
+the present day.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Althorp was at this time Chancellor of the Exchequer,
+and the position which he assumed towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>
+Post Office was probably unique. Ordinarily, between the
+Treasury and the Post Office there is a certain amount of
+antagonism which, deplorable as it may be, is not difficult
+to understand. The Post Office wants to spend money; the
+Treasury wants to save it. The Post Office knows by
+experience that it must sow before it can reap; the Treasury,
+while ready enough to reap, has a rooted aversion to sowing,
+and resolutely shuts its eyes to the fact that between the
+two processes there is a direct and necessary connection.
+All this was reversed in Althorp's time. Often, during his
+tenure of office, might be witnessed the strange spectacle of
+a Chancellor of the Exchequer urging the Post Office to
+adopt some improvement, and the Post Office attempting to
+frighten him with the bogey of cost.</p>
+
+<p>The first matter on which Althorp brought his authority
+to bear was the boundary of the general post delivery. The
+limits of this delivery were irregular and capricious in the
+extreme. Of two streets, possibly adjoining streets, one
+might receive its general post letters for the general post
+rate alone, while the other, though at no greater distance
+from St. Martin's-le-Grand, had to pay the twopenny rate
+as well.</p>
+
+<p>The question now forced itself into prominence. Belgrave
+Square had been laid out, and the houses were being
+occupied as fast as they could be built. Those of the
+occupiers who were members of Parliament found to their
+chagrin that every letter they received cost them 2d.,
+for the franking privilege did not clear the twopenny post;
+and, of course, by those who were not members of Parliament,
+2d. had to be paid in addition to any other
+postage to which their letters might be liable. Althorp
+insisted that the general post limits should be not only
+extended but fixed on some definite principle. But what
+was the principle to be? Contiguity of building? This
+was held to be impracticable. A line drawn on such a
+basis would extend beyond Brentford on the west to
+Hampstead and Highgate on the north, and beyond Clapham
+on the south. A line drawn according to parishes would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>
+little better. The parish of St. Pancras, which nearly
+touched Holborn in its southern extremity, extended as far
+as Finchley in the north, and the parish of Lambeth reached
+nearly to Croydon.</p>
+
+<p>Another course would be to draw a circle of which the
+Post Office should be the centre, and let all letters within
+this circle be delivered free; but even with a radius of no
+more than three miles, the additional cost would be £25,000
+a year. This was an outlay which the Post Office could not
+recommend, and, if it were incurred, the Government must
+take the responsibility. Althorp was not to be daunted, and
+after April 1831 the general post limits extended for a
+distance of three miles from St. Martin's-le-Grand. A little
+later, the threepenny post was extended to a radius of
+twelve miles. This, boon as it was considered to be sixty
+years ago, was shorter by some miles than the radius of the
+penny post when Queen Anne ascended the throne.</p>
+
+<p>Althorp was hardly less determined on the subject of
+the packets. It had been a matter of principle with
+Freeling, that to all places beyond the sea to which there
+was regular communication the Post Office should carry its
+own mails. That they should be carried in vessels belonging
+to private persons, however respectable these persons might
+be, appeared to him to be unworthy of the English Government,
+and on this ground many an advantageous offer had
+been refused.</p>
+
+<p>Althorp held a different opinion, and an opportunity soon
+offered of carrying his own view into effect. From Harwich
+the mails to Holland and to Hamburg were still carried
+by sailing packet, and the merchants of London, regarding
+this as an anachronism, urged that the sailing packets might
+be replaced by steam packets. The request was not unreasonable,
+but, unwilling that the Government should be at
+the cost of substituting one description of packet for the
+other, Althorp directed that the service should be put up to
+public competition. Here we see the first application of a
+principle which in the result has furnished us with a fleet
+of packets such as no other country in the world can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>
+produce. The tender of the General Steam Navigation
+Company was accepted, though saddled with the condition
+that its vessels should start from the Thames. This was a
+death-blow to Harwich. The sailing packets for Sweden
+were, indeed, still retained there; but in little more than
+eighteen months the Swedish Government contracted for the
+mails to be forwarded from Hull, and Harwich as a packet
+station was closed.</p>
+
+<p>But of all the changes which Althorp introduced
+perhaps the most important, and certainly the one which
+excited most opposition at the Post Office, was the abolition
+of the newspaper privilege. The number of newspapers
+sent by post from London into the country had, within the
+last fifty or sixty years, increased enormously. In 1764
+they averaged 3160 a day, in 1790 the daily average was
+12,600, and in 1830 it had risen to 41,412. The rate of
+increase, moreover, was advancing. In 1829 the total
+number of such newspapers was 11,862,000, and in 1830
+12,962,000; and more than one-tenth part of the whole
+number was supplied by the clerks of the roads.</p>
+
+<p>The news-vendors now took the matter up in earnest.
+A general meeting was held to protest against the Post
+Office servants being any longer allowed to compete with
+the private dealers, and a petition to the same effect was
+presented to Parliament. This called forth a vigorous
+rejoinder from Freeling, and it is interesting to note by
+what arguments he defended his position. So far, he said,
+from the news-vendors having any ground of complaint
+against the Post Office servants, it is the Post Office
+servants who have reason to complain of the news-vendors.
+For their own interest and advantage a few persons engaged
+in a trade of modern creation are endeavouring by clamour
+to deprive others of the remains of an old and long-established
+privilege, which they exercise not only under the
+sanction of immemorial usage, but by the direct authority
+of Acts of Parliament. It is not as though the public were
+interested in the question. The public have absolutely no
+interest in it, except indeed to this extent&mdash;that, if what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>
+remains of the privilege be withdrawn, they will be asked
+to compensate those whose incomes are reduced in consequence,
+and to provide higher salaries for their successors;
+and this "for the sole purpose of transferring their authorised
+official remuneration to the pockets of a few individuals
+who, having been admitted to a participation in what was
+originally an exclusive privilege, have now thought proper
+to set up a claim to the whole."</p>
+
+<p>Such were Freeling's arguments, but Althorp was not
+convinced by them. By his direction the privilege was
+withdrawn as from the 5th of April 1834, and those whose
+incomes suffered were handsomely compensated. Thus
+ended a practice which had existed from the first establishment
+of the Post Office, and which, while the Post Office
+was still in its infancy, may perhaps have had this to
+justify it&mdash;that except for the franking privilege possessed
+by the clerks of the roads the provinces would probably
+have had to go without even the few copies of newspapers
+which at that time found their way there.</p>
+
+<p>It may appear strange that, while Althorp was thus
+applying his sturdy common sense to the affairs of the Post
+Office, no steps were taken to correct what most needed
+correction&mdash;the exorbitant rates of postage. Our own
+belief is that in a very short time, had the Government of
+which he was a member remained in office, a reduction
+would have been made, and that it was to this result that
+he and Richmond, who worked hand in hand together,
+were preparing the way. As to Richmond's views on the
+matter there can be little doubt. Under previous Governments
+the Post Office had been accustomed in exceptional
+cases to appeal to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to
+mitigate the severity of its own rates by the exercise of a
+dispensing power; but Richmond set his face against the
+practice, insisting that the law should be obeyed until it
+was altered; and, after being released from the trammels of
+office, he was one of the first to propose an alteration.</p>
+
+<p>But if such were indeed Althorp and Richmond's intention,
+we cannot regret that it was not carried into effect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>
+The illustrious man who gave us penny postage had not yet
+directed his attention to the subject; and, as he tells us
+himself, it was with him a matter of long and careful consideration
+whether he should devote his energies to the
+reform of the Post Office or to the improvement of the
+printing machine. If in 1834 only a moderate reduction
+had been made in the extortionate rates of postage which
+were then in force, Rowland Hill might not have embarked
+upon his plan, and, even if he had done so, that plan might
+have failed to evoke from the public sufficient support to
+overcome opposition in high quarters. In proportion to the
+extent of the evil did men welcome the remedy.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile, although the demand for cheap postage had
+not yet taken shape, profound dissatisfaction existed with
+the conduct of the Post Office. This, under the reformed
+Parliament, was perhaps to be expected in any case; but
+there were special circumstances which contributed to the
+result. Nearly five years had elapsed since the Royal
+Commission of Inquiry had reported upon the Post Office,
+and nothing had since been done to carry its recommendations
+into effect.</p>
+
+<p>It is not difficult to understand this inaction. In
+Freeling's view the Post Office had been brought to a pitch
+of perfection such as it had never reached before, and he
+regarded it as little short of sacrilege that a body of outside
+novices should presume to lay its hands upon the sacred
+ark which he had now for more than a generation been
+moulding into form. Of the change of opinion which the
+labours of the Commission had wrought he appears to have
+been utterly unconscious. Hitherto the Post Office had
+been regarded as a marvellous mystery, which none but
+experts could understand. This mystery had now been
+invaded, and men were beginning to wonder, not, as in the
+past, at the things which the Post Office was able to do, but
+how it was that these things were not done better.</p>
+
+<p>The Commission had also brought to light the existence
+of abuses, and these on one pretext or another had remained
+uncorrected. We will give a single instance. The Money<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>
+Order Office had been established in 1792 with the object
+of facilitating the transmission of small sums from one part
+of the country to the other by means of orders drawn on
+the different postmasters. The plan was excellent and
+deserved success. The only objection to it was that the
+enterprise was a private one, undertaken by a few Post
+Office servants for their own benefit, and that to make it
+remunerative to the projectors required from the authorities
+an amount of favour which they had no right to bestow.
+Originally there had been no limit to the amount for which
+a money order might be drawn;<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> but long before 1829, in
+order to prevent interference with the banking interest, the
+limit had been fixed at £5:5s.; and the commission
+chargeable was at the rate of 8d. in the £1 on the sum
+remitted. Of this amount 3d. went to the postmaster who
+issued the order, 3d. to the postmaster who paid it, and the
+residue to the proprietors.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p>
+
+<p>Seeing that the postage on a single letter between two
+towns no farther apart than London and Bristol was at this
+time 10d., it will be obvious that in respect to orders for
+small sums the enterprise would have been conducted at a
+loss unless the correspondence on money order business had
+been exempt from postage. And such indeed was the case.
+All letters passing from London to the country were impressed
+with the official stamp, and those passing from the
+country to London were enclosed in printed covers addressed
+to the secretary, and bearing, immediately below the secretary's
+name, that of the proprietors, "Stow and Company."
+For correspondence between themselves on money order
+business the postmasters were supplied with franks sent
+down from London in blank. Strongly as the Commission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span>
+of Inquiry had animadverted on this abuse, nothing had
+been done to correct it, and the franking privilege was, for
+money order purposes, being as freely used as ever.</p>
+
+<p>The returns which the House of Commons called for
+about this time, and the returns which the Post Office
+furnished, shew, more forcibly perhaps than anything else,
+in what direction men's minds were tending, and how
+hollow was the foundation on which a part of the Post
+Office system rested. More than sixty years had elapsed
+since the Law Courts decided that inhabitants of post towns
+were entitled to a gratuitous delivery of their letters.
+The House now inquired at how many post towns a charge
+on delivery was still being made, and by what authority. The
+return furnished by the Post Office shewed the number of
+towns to be eighty-nine, and after giving as the authority for
+the charge "immemorial usage," went on to state that "the
+payment is not compulsory if the parties choose to object."</p>
+
+<p>It was still the practice to hold up to a strong lamplight
+every letter that passed through the post in order
+to see whether it was a single or a double one; and the
+House called upon the Post Office to state by what authority
+this was done. The Post Office, having no authority to
+adduce, returned an evasive reply. The House next called
+for the number of persons who had been prosecuted in the
+course of the year for the illegal conveyance of letters.
+The Post Office return shewed that on this ground, during
+the last twelve months, as many as 341 prosecutions had
+taken place, many of them involving a large, and some of
+them a very large, number of persons, and that the cases
+were still more numerous in which, in order to avoid
+prosecution, the transgressors had submitted to fines. And
+how had the revenue been prospering meanwhile? A
+return called for by the House in April 1834 answers the
+question. During the last ten years, despite the increase
+of population, the net Post Office revenue had actually
+declined. In 1824 the receipts were £2,055,000 gross
+and £1,438,000 net, as against £1,391,000 net and
+£2,062,000 gross in 1833.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span>In 1834 Earl Grey was succeeded by Viscount
+Melbourne; and one of the first acts of the new Government
+was to appoint another Commission of Inquiry into
+the Post Office, with directions to ascertain and report
+how it was that the recommendations of the former
+Commission had not been carried out. These recommendations
+were now set down one by one, and the Post
+Office was called upon to explain, opposite to each, whether
+any and, if so, what steps had been taken to give effect to
+it. One or two of them had indeed been adopted&mdash;such,
+for instance, as the recommendation that Post Office
+servants should cease to deal in newspapers&mdash;but only
+under compulsion. Others affecting the internal administration
+of the Post Office were certainly not feasible. But
+there remained not a few which, while excellent in themselves,
+had been discarded on the merest pretext.</p>
+
+<p>The Commissioners had recommended that the "early,"
+that is the preferential, delivery of letters should be
+discontinued. The Post Office replied that it was impossible.
+The Commissioners had recommended that, instead of the
+receiving houses for general post letters being separate
+and distinct from those for the letters of the twopenny post,
+every receiving house should take in letters of both kinds.
+The Post Office replied that the existing arrangement was
+the best adapted not only to the convenience of the public
+but to the business of the department. The Commissioners
+had recommended that the letter-carriers, instead of being
+separated into general post, twopenny post, and foreign letter-carriers,
+should all form one corps and deliver letters of
+every description. The Post Office replied&mdash;a reply all
+the more extraordinary inasmuch as the very arrangement
+which the Commissioners recommended was already in
+force both in Edinburgh and Dublin&mdash;that "it would be
+productive of the greatest confusion and delay."</p>
+
+<p>The last of the recommendations to which we shall
+refer was that "the total charge upon all letters should
+be expressed in one taxation." The Post Office replied
+that it was "not possible for country postmasters to know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span>
+the precise line of demarcation between the general post and
+twopenny post deliveries." In other words, no postmaster
+could know what, in the case of letters for London&mdash;and,
+it might have been added, for any other town than his
+own&mdash;the proper charge should be. This was no pretext.
+It was, on the contrary, perfectly true; and perhaps no
+more striking testimony could be afforded to the unsoundness
+of the system then in vogue.</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to conceive that on Freeling's part
+there can have been anything in the shape of contumacy,
+still less of defiance; but we are by no means sure that
+the House of Commons did not incline to that view. Be
+that as it may, however, the Post Office was in bad odour,
+and an unfortunate series of incidents which occurred about
+this time little tended to remove the unfavourable
+impression which the unwillingness to carry out the
+Commissioners' recommendations had created. The House,
+at the instance of the Select Committee on Steam Navigation,
+had called for a return of the casualties which within a
+given period had happened to the Irish packets. The
+return furnished by the Post Office omitted two accidents
+in which one of the members of the Committee had himself
+assisted; and the Committee forthwith ordered the
+attendance of a witness from the Post Office to explain
+the omission. Another return contained obvious errors,
+and was sent back to the Post Office to be corrected.</p>
+
+<p>But the two returns which excited most comment
+referred to the mileage allowance received by the mail-coach
+contractors, and to the Money Order Office. As
+regards the mileage allowance the only reply vouchsafed
+by the Post Office was that it "has not the means of
+furnishing any account of the amount paid." The return
+as regards the Money Order Office was still more unfortunate.
+The ground on which this office had been condemned by
+the Revenue Inquiry Commissioners was that it was carried
+on for the benefit of individuals, and yet in so far as its
+correspondence was exempt from postage, at the expense
+of the revenue. Several years had since passed, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span>
+House, not doubting that the abuse had been corrected,
+called for a return shewing the amount of postage derived
+from letters containing money orders, and to what purpose
+it was applied. "The Money Order Office"&mdash;thus ran the
+return which the Post Office furnished&mdash;" is a private
+establishment, and the business is carried on by private
+capital under the sanction of the postmaster-general; but
+as no accounts connected in any degree with it are kept
+at the Post Office, no return can be made by the postmaster-general
+to the order of the House of Commons." The House
+was highly incensed, and ordered that, both as regards the
+Money Order Office and the mileage allowance, proper
+returns should be rendered at once.</p>
+
+<p>The energy of the new Commission had now nearly
+brought the Post Office into trouble. The contract for the
+supply of mail-coaches was in the hands of Mr. Vidler of
+Millbank, who had held it for more than forty years, and
+little had been done during this period to improve the
+construction of the vehicles he supplied. Designed after
+the pattern in vogue at the end of the last century, they
+were, as compared with the stage-coaches, not only heavy
+and unsightly but inferior both in point of speed and
+accommodation. Moreover, the charge made for them,
+namely, 2-1/2d. a mile in England and 2d. a mile in Scotland,
+was considered to be high; and the Commissioners, altogether
+dissatisfied with the manner in which the contract had
+been performed, arranged with the Government not only
+that the service should be put up to public tender, but
+that Vidler should be excluded from the competition. This
+decision was arrived at in July 1835, and the contract
+expired on the 5th of January following. To invite
+tenders would occupy time, and, after that mail-coaches
+would have to be built sufficient in number to supply the
+whole of England and Scotland. A period of five or six
+months was obviously not enough for the purpose, and
+overtures were made to Vidler to continue his contract
+for half a year longer. Vidler, incensed at the treatment
+he had received, flatly refused. Not a day, not an hour,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span>
+beyond the stipulated time would he extend his contract,
+and on the 5th of January 1836 all the mail-coaches in
+Great Britain would be withdrawn from the roads.</p>
+
+<p>A man less loyal than Freeling or endued with less
+generous instincts might have felt a twinge of satisfaction
+at this result of interference with what he considered his
+own domain. But such emotion, if indeed he felt it, was
+not suffered to appear. With a difficulty to overcome,
+some of his old energy returned, and when the 5th of
+January arrived there was not a road in the kingdom from
+Wick to Penzance on which a new mail-coach was not
+running.</p>
+
+<p>It was now that the mail-coaches reached their prime.
+Eight or nine miles an hour had hitherto been their highest
+speed, and now, with vehicles of lighter build, the speed was
+advanced to ten miles an hour and even more. Truth
+compels us to add that while the fastest mail-coach on the
+road, the coach between Liverpool and Preston, travelled at
+the rate of ten miles and five furlongs an hour, a private
+coach accomplished within the hour rather more than
+eleven miles. This was the coach between Edinburgh
+and Aberdeen, of which Captain Barclay of Ury was the
+proprietor. Besides coachman and guard it carried fifteen
+passengers, namely, four inside and eleven outside, while a
+mail-coach carried four in and four out or eight altogether.
+Nor would Captain Barclay admit that, in order to attain
+this high rate of speed, recourse need be had to anything
+like furious driving. Nothing more, he maintained, was
+necessary than to keep the horses at a "swinging trot."</p>
+
+<p>Freeling's success in averting a breakdown with the
+mail-coaches did little or nothing to arrest the tide which
+had set in against him. After exercising an influence such as
+probably no civil servant had exercised before, he found
+himself discredited and the object of vehement and not
+over-scrupulous attack. Of the ministers under whose
+orders he had acted not a few had passed away, and none
+were in a position to share his responsibility, while their
+successors only knew him as identified with a system which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span>
+had become unpopular. Owing to an unusually rapid
+succession of postmasters-general,<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> he was without even the
+solace and support which a chief of some years' standing
+might have given him. Single-handed, the old man had
+maintained a gallant defence; but his spirit was now broken.
+In the midst of his exertions to prevent any interruption
+of travelling facilities the House of Commons had called for
+a return which was calculated to wound him deeply. This
+return implied not only that he had been guilty of gross
+mismanagement, but that his salary was higher than he was
+entitled to receive, that he was drawing unauthorised
+emoluments, and that the Post Office was made subordinate
+to his personal interests.</p>
+
+<p>To the outside world Freeling maintained much the same
+demeanour as before, and few would have suspected the
+weight that pressed at his heart; but in the solitude of his
+study he was an altered man. There he brooded over the
+past and contrasted it with the present. Notes jotted down
+haphazard on official papers that chanced to be on his table
+reveal the inner workings of his mind. We know few
+sadder records. He recalls the time when Governments
+consulted him and he stood high in favour with the public.
+He cannot forget how, in the course of debate in the House
+of Commons, his own proficiency and devotion to duty were
+urged as reasons for not retaining the second appointment
+of postmaster. In the recollection of those happy days he
+endeavours to find consolation for the calumny and
+detraction of the present. He repudiates as unfounded the
+charge that he has long ceased to consult the interests of
+the public, and affirms that in this cause he has of late years
+laboured even more abundantly than he did of old.</p>
+
+<p>Then there is a break, after which he takes up his pen
+again. "Cheap postage,"&mdash;to this effect he writes. "What
+is this men are talking about? Can it be that all my life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span>
+I have been in error? If I, then others&mdash;others whose
+behests I have been bound to obey. To make the Post Office
+revenue as productive as possible was long ago impressed
+upon me by successive ministers as a duty which I was
+under a solemn obligation to discharge. And not only long
+ago. Is it not within the last six months that the present
+Chancellor of the Exchequer<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> has charged me not to let the
+revenue go down? What! You, Freeling, brought up and
+educated as you have been, are you going to lend yourself
+to these extravagant schemes? You, with your four-horse
+mail-coaches too. Where else in the world does the
+merchant or manufacturer have the materials of his trade
+carried for him gratuitously or at so low a rate as to leave
+no margin of profit?"</p>
+
+<p>Here the manuscript abruptly ends. It is dated the
+24th of June 1836. Within sixteen days from that date
+Francis Freeling was no more.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p>We have done. From 1836 downwards the story of
+the Post Office is told, far better than we could tell it, in
+the Autobiography of Sir Rowland Hill and the reports
+which, since 1854, the department has issued annually.
+The story of the preceding period is less well known, if
+indeed it be known at all. To tell the earlier story&mdash;to
+trace the Post Office from its humble beginnings down to
+the time when the illustrious reformer took it in hand&mdash;this
+has been the extent of our object, and no one perhaps is
+more conscious than ourselves how imperfectly it has been
+accomplished.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span></p>
+<h2>APPENDIX</h2>
+
+
+<h3>SUCCESSION OF POSTMASTERS-GENERAL<br />
+from 1660 to 1836</h3>
+
+<p>From 1660 to 1667 the Post Office was in farm, the farmers being&mdash;</p>
+<div class="center">
+1660 to 1663.<br />
+Henry Bishopp. Rent, £21,500.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Bishopp surrendered his patent, which was for seven years, in 1663.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<br />
+1663 to 1667.<br />
+(Being residue of Bishopp's term.)<br />
+Daniel O'Neile. Rent, £21,500.<br />
+<br />
+1667 to 1685.<br />
+Henry, Earl of Arlington.<br />
+Rent for later part of the term, £43,000.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>Office managed, at first, by Sir John Bennet, Lord Arlington's<br />
+brother, and afterwards by Colonel Roger Whitley.</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+1685 to 1689.<br />
+Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester.<br />
+(For part of the time Lord Treasurer.)<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a><br />
+
+</div>
+<p>
+Office managed by Philip Frowde, Esq., under the title of Governor.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+July 1689 to March 1690.<br />
+Colonel John Wildman.<br />
+<br />
+1690 to 1708.<br />
+Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and<br />
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.<br />
+<br />
+1708 to 1715.<br />
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., and<br />
+Sir John Evelyn, Bart.<br />
+<br />
+1715 to 1721.<br />
+Charles, Lord Cornwallis, and<br />
+James Craggs, Esq.<br />
+<br />
+1721 to 1725.<br />
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and<br />
+Galfridus Walpole, Esq.<br />
+<br />
+1725 to 1732.<br />
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and<br />
+Edward Harrison, Esq.<br />
+<br />
+Christmas 1732.<br />
+Edward Carteret alone to Midsummer 1733.<br />
+<br />
+1733 to 1739.<br />
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and<br />
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, afterwards Earl of Leicester.<br />
+<br />
+1739 to 1744.<br />
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, and<br />
+Sir John Eyles, Bart.<br />
+<br />
+1744 to 1745.<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span>Thomas, Earl of Leicester (sometime Lord Lovell) alone.<br />
+<br />
+1745 to 1758.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, and<br />
+Sir Everard Fawkener, Knight.<br />
+<br />
+1758 to 1759.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, alone.<br />
+<br />
+June 2, 1759 to November 27, 1762.<br />
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and<br />
+Hon. Robert Hampden.<br />
+<br />
+November 27, 1762 to September 23, 1763.<br />
+John, Earl of Egmont, and<br />
+Hon. Robert Hampden.<br />
+<br />
+September 23, 1763 to July 19, 1765.<br />
+Thomas, Lord Hyde, and<br />
+Hon. Robert Hampden.<br />
+<br />
+July 19, 1765 to December 29, 1766.<br />
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and<br />
+Thomas, Lord Grantham.<br />
+<br />
+December 29, 1766 to April 26, 1768.<br />
+Wills, Earl of Hillsborough, and<br />
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.<br />
+<br />
+April 26, 1768 to January 16, 1771.<br />
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and<br />
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.<br />
+<br />
+January 16, 1771 to December 11, 1781.<br />
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer, and<br />
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Thynne, afterwards Carteret.<br />
+<br />
+December 11, 1781 to January 24, 1782.<br />
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret (sometime Thynne) alone.<br />
+<br />
+January 24 to April 25, 1782.<br />
+William, Viscount Barrington, and<br />
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.<br />
+<br />
+April 25, 1782 to May 1, 1783.<br />
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span>Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.<br />
+<br />
+May 1, 1783 to January 7, 1784.<br />
+Thomas, Lord Foley, and<br />
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.<br />
+<br />
+January 7, 1784 to September 19, 1786.<br />
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and<br />
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret. (Created Baron Carteret,<br />
+January 29, 1784.)<br />
+<br />
+September 19 to December 10, 1786.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Clarendon, and<br />
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret.<br />
+<br />
+December 10, 1786 to July 6, 1787.<br />
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, alone.<br />
+<br />
+July 6, 1787 to September 19, 1789.<br />
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, and<br />
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham.<br />
+<br />
+September 19, 1789 to March 13, 1790.<br />
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and<br />
+John, Earl of Westmorland.<br />
+<br />
+March 13, 1790 to July 28, 1794.<br />
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and<br />
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield.<br />
+<br />
+July 28, 1794 to March 1, 1798.<br />
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, and<br />
+George, Earl of Leicester.<br />
+<br />
+March 1, 1798 to February 27, 1799.<br />
+George, Earl of Leicester, and<br />
+William, Lord Auckland.<br />
+<br />
+February 27, 1799 to March 31, 1801.<br />
+William, Lord Auckland, and<br />
+George, Lord Gower.<br />
+<br />
+March 31, 1801 to July 19, 1804.<br />
+William, Lord Auckland, and<br />
+Lord Charles Spencer.<br />
+<br />
+July 19, 1804 to February 20, 1806.<br />
+Lord Charles Spencer and<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span>James, Duke of Montrose.<br />
+<br />
+February 20, 1806 to May 5, 1807.<br />
+Robert, Earl of Buckinghamshire, and<br />
+John Joshua, Earl of Carysfort.<br />
+<br />
+May 5, 1807 to June 6, 1814.<br />
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.<br />
+<br />
+June 6 to September 30, 1814.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, alone.<br />
+<br />
+September 30, 1814 to April 6, 1816.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and<br />
+Richard, Earl of Clancarty.<br />
+<br />
+April 6, 1816 to June 13, 1823.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and<br />
+James, Marquess of Salisbury.<br />
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Since Lord Salisbury's death on the 13th of June 1823, no second
+Postmaster-General has been appointed.</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+June 13, 1823 to July 4, 1826.<br />
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.<br />
+<br />
+July 4, 1826 to September 17, 1827.<br />
+Lord Frederick Montague.<br />
+<br />
+September 17, 1827 to December 14, 1830.<br />
+William, Duke of Manchester.<br />
+<br />
+December 14, 1830 to July 5, 1834.<br />
+Charles, Duke of Richmond.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>By his first patent, dated the 14th of December 1830, the Duke
+was appointed Postmaster-General of Great Britain; and by a second
+patent, dated the 14th of April 1831, he was appointed Postmaster-General
+of Great Britain and Ireland.</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+July 5 to December 31, 1834.<br />
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.<br />
+<br />
+December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835.<br />
+William, Lord Maryborough.<br />
+<br />
+May 8 to May 30, 1835.<br />
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.<br />
+<br />
+May 30, 1835, to September 15, 1841.<br />
+Thomas William, Earl of Lichfield.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>SUCCESSION OF SECRETARIES TO THE POST
+OFFICE down to 1836.</h3>
+
+<div class="center">
+The appointment of Secretary was created by Treasury Warrant<br />
+dated the 20th of June 1694.<br />
+<br />
+1694 to 1700.<br />
+Name uncertain; but probably Willboyl.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>[In 1694 the Postmasters-General urge the creation of the appointment of
+Secretary; in 1697 they speak of "having sent our Secretary down to
+Worcester"; and in October 1701, when reporting on a paper which had
+been referred to them as far back as June 1699, they explain that "by the
+death of our late Secretary y^e paper has been mislaid and but very lately
+recovered." That there was a Secretary during this period is, therefore,
+beyond doubt.</p>
+
+<p>During the same period the Post Office letter books are written in a handwriting
+as peculiar as it is good; and in the same handwriting, of the identity
+of which there can be no question, there is in the Frankland-Blaithwaite
+correspondence, until lately in the possession of Sir Thomas Phillipps, a letter
+from the General Post Office dated the 27th of May 1697, and docketed thus,
+the docket having obviously been written at the time of receipt:&mdash;"From
+Mr. Willboyl, Commissioner of the Post Office." Now, Commissioner of the
+Post Office he certainly was not, there being at that time no such appointment;
+but it is probable that he was Secretary, and that with this official title, which
+had been only recently given, Blaithwaite was not acquainted.]</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+1700 to 1714.<br />
+Benjamin Waterhouse.<br />
+<br />
+1714 to 1715.<br />
+Henry Weston.<br />
+<br />
+1715 to 1721.<br />
+James Craggs.<br />
+<br />
+1721 to (about) 1730.<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span>Joseph Godman.<br />
+<br />
+(About) 1730 to 1737.<br />
+W. Rouse.<br />
+<br />
+1737 to 1738.<br />
+Thomas Robinson.<br />
+<br />
+September 1738 to July 1742.<br />
+John David Barbutt.<br />
+<br />
+July 1742 to December 1762.<br />
+George Shelvocke.<br />
+<br />
+December 1762 to July 1765.<br />
+Anthony Todd.<br />
+<br />
+July 1765 to January 1768.<br />
+Henry Potts.<br />
+<br />
+January 1768 to June 1798.<br />
+Anthony Todd (again).<br />
+<br />
+June 1798 to July 1836.<br />
+Francis Freeling.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/illus-pg436.jpg" width="450" height="281" alt="Before." title="Before." />
+<span class="caption">FACSIMILES of FRANKS written before and after 1784, when the obligation
+to date was imposed.<br /><br />
+
+Before.<br />
+
+The Duke of Grafton, First Lord of the Treasury from 1766 to 1770, commonly called Junius Grafton
+from the attacks made upon him by Junius.</span>
+</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/illus-pg437.jpg" width="450" height="289" alt="After.
+
+" title="After." />
+<span class="caption">After.<br />
+
+The Earl of Sandwich, nicknamed by the satirists of the period Jemmy Twitcher. &quot;See Jemmy Twitcher shambles&mdash;stop,
+stop, thief&quot;&mdash;an allusion to his shambling gait.<br />
+
+Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, and afterwards First Lord of the Admiralty.</span>
+</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;">
+<img src="images/illus-pg438.jpg" width="450" height="202" alt="Paid Money Order 1802." title="Paid Money Order 1802" />
+<span class="caption">FACSIMILE of a PAID MONEY ORDER of the year 1802.</span>
+</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+<div>
+Abdy, Sir Robert, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Abercorn, James, Earl of, his unreasonable complaint, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Absenteeism, in England, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Ireland, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Alien Office, assists the Post Office in procuring foreign newspapers, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br />
+<br />
+Allen, Ralph, postmaster of Bath, takes in farm the bye and cross-post letters, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conditions of his contract, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">success of his enterprise, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is thwarted by the postmasters, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his contract renewed, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nature of his plan and his special qualifications for carrying it into effect, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his local knowledge, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his difficulties with the postmasters, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as a means of check lays down certain propositions, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instances of imposition practised by postmasters, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by post-boys, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by carriers and others concerned in the illegal conveyance of letters, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the liberality of his arrangements, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his course of procedure contrasted with that of the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pays higher rent and increases the frequency of the post every seven years when his contract is renewed, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his injunction about the use of expresses, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his character, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is an object of jealousy to Palmer, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Alphabet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ingenious one in use at Belfast, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Althorp, John Charles, Viscount, urges on Post Office improvements, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fixes the limits of the general post delivery, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">throws the packet service open to public competition, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">abolishes the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplates apparently a reduction of postage, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></span><br />
+<br />
+America, posts set up in, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first postmaster of New York, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and of Virginia and Maryland, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishment of what was virtually a penny post between England and America, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">American posts become self-supporting, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postmasters ejected from their offices, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Amsterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br />
+<br />
+Anne, Queen, treatment of letters for, when in residence at Newmarket, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Antelope</i> packet, Captain Curtis, gallant action with privateer, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Apertures, introduction of, on the outside of post offices, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br />
+<br />
+Argyll, John, Duke of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br />
+<br />
+Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Armit, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, displaced by Lees, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br />
+<br />
+Ashburnham manuscripts, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Ashurst, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Aston, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Attorneys, their provisional resolution to withhold postage on writs, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hold appointments in the Dublin Post Office, <a href="#Page_371">371</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Auckland, William Lord, postmaster-general, his pleasantries, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Auditors of the imprests, <a href="#Page_256">256</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Austria, liberties taken with post-horses by travellers in, <a href="#Page_5">5</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Aylsham, Norfolk, post established to in 1733, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br />
+<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span><br />
+Baker, Sir George, physician to George the Third, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br />
+<br />
+Bank of England notes, robbery of, from mail evokes important legal decision, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin of cutting bank notes when sent by post, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplated reduction of postage on letters containing second halves of bank notes, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bankers' franks, meaning of term, <a href="#Page_315">315</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Barbutt, John David, secretary to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Barclay, Captain, of Ury, high speed of his coach, <a href="#Page_426">426</a><br />
+<br />
+Barclay's plot, expresses sent on discovery of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Barham, Edmund, packet agent at Dover, terms of his agreement with Walcot, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+<br />
+Barlow, clerk in the secretary's office, modifies the practice of the Dead Letter Office, <a href="#Page_308">308</a><br />
+<br />
+Barnstaple, private post set up to Exeter in 1633, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
+<br />
+Bath asserts its right to a free delivery, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">slowness of post between Bath and London, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amount of toll between the same towns, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Post Office Establishment at Bath and amount of the postmaster's salary in 1792, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Beccaria, Bonesana, his essay on Crimes and Punishments, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+<br />
+Belfast, ingenious "alphabet" in use at, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">peculiar usage of delivery, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Belgrave Square, included in the limits of the general post delivery, <a href="#Page_416">416</a><br />
+<br />
+Bell, Colonel, comptroller of the Inland Office, particulars of charge against, <a href="#Page_185">185</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Bells, letters collected by ringing of, introduction of system, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and its termination, <a href="#Page_123">123</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bellmen in England and in Ireland paid on different principle, <a href="#Page_367">367</a> (<a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>)</span><br />
+<br />
+Bernard, Sir Robert, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Besant's patent coaches, <a href="#Page_282">282</a><br />
+<br />
+Bethnal Green, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Bianconi, Charles, his enterprise, <a href="#Page_376">376</a><br />
+<br />
+Bigg, Stephen, his enterprise as a farmer of the posts, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Billingsley, Henry, a broker, carries letters of foreign merchants, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and is consigned to prison, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bills of exchange and of lading to and from foreign parts exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Birmingham, one of many towns in which a free delivery of letters had ceased, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">free delivery restored and letter-carrier appointed, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post opened at, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bishopp, Henry, farmer of the posts, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+"Black-box"; the box in which the correspondence of the Secretary of State for Scotland was carried, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+<br />
+Blaithwaite, William, Secretary of War, remonstrated with on his abuse of the franking privilege, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Blome's <i>Britannia</i>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br />
+<br />
+Bonnor, Charles, deputy comptroller-general of the Post Office, his conduct in the matter of the king's coach, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">delays replies to the postmaster-general's inquiries, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practises deception, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his base ingratitude, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is suspended by Palmer, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suspension removed by the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his treachery, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives the reward of infamy, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Boulton and Watt build the first steamboats used by the Post Office, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br />
+<br />
+Bourne, Frederick, clerk in the foreign department of the Post Office; suggests the establishment of a Ship Letter Office, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br />
+<br />
+Bournemouth, mode of receiving its letters in 1854, <a href="#Page_293">293</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Bowen, passenger by packet; brings news of the victory at Oudenarde, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br />
+<br />
+Boyle, Henry, Secretary of State, charges the packet agent at Harwich with receiving a bribe, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Bracken, Henry, author of <i>The Gentleman's Pocket Farrier</i>, his device to obtain exemption from postage, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br />
+<br />
+Braithwaite, Daniel, clerk to the postmasters-general, his honesty of purpose, <a href="#Page_244">244</a><br />
+<br />
+Brighton, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Brill, The, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Bristol, course of post between Bristol and Exeter in 1660, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">and in 1696, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of the postmaster of, in 1690, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first mail-coach starts from Bristol, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post opened there, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">revision of postmaster's salary in 1686, Appendix, <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Brown, sub-agent of packets at Ostend, his clandestine letter, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard, offers to construct a steam engine for the Post Office packets, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, letter endorsed by, in 1627, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding, tedious course of letter addressed to, in 1666, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>.<br />
+<br />
+Buckingham, George Grenville Nugent Temple, Marquis of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, deprecates reduction of packet establishment at Holyhead, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br />
+<br />
+Burlamachi, Philip, is appointed Master of the Posts, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his title contested, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is consigned to prison, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bye-letters, probable meaning of the term in Queen Elizabeth's reign, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its certain meaning in 1690 and after, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage upon bye-letters intercepted, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bye-Letter Office, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Bye-nights, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br />
+<br />
+Byng, Sir George, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Cadogan, Brigadier-General, packet detained for, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Camden, John Jeffreys, Earl, promotes Palmer's plan, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">gives to Pitt Palmer's version of his differences with the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Candles, inordinate supply of, to Post Office servants, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+<br />
+Canning, George, charges the Post Office with forestalling his intelligence, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br />
+<br />
+Carlisle, salary of postmaster of, in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Carriers allowed to carry letters under restrictions, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">restrictions more clearly defined, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Carteret, Edward, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1739. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part IV.<br />
+<br />
+Carteret, Henry Frederick, Lord, postmaster-general from January 1771 to September 1789. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.<br />
+<br />
+Carts, first employment of, in London for bringing letters to the General Post Office, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br />
+<br />
+Castello, a prisoner on board packet, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Chalmers, George, his suggestions, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">excites Palmer's jealousy, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Channel Islands without an official post in 1792, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">official post provided, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates of postage, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Charing Cross, opening of branch office at, <a href="#Page_411">411</a><br />
+<br />
+Charlemont, Lord, his misunderstanding as to packet charges, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Charles, Archduke, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Chelsea pensioners, their privilege of sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage withdrawn, <a href="#Page_404">404</a><br />
+<br />
+Chenal, captain of packet, rebuked by the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_94">94</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Chepstow, the inhabitants of, though under no obligation, continue to pay pence on the delivery of their letters, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Chester, in 1720 the only town outside London with two Post Offices, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Chesterfield, Philip, Earl of, postmaster-general from March 1790 to March 1798. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part VII.<br />
+<br />
+Chichester, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from May 1807 to July 1826. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part VIII.<br />
+<br />
+Christmas boxes, intercepted, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+Clancarty, Richard, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to 1809; and of England from September 1814 to April 1816. [This latter appointment he did not take up.] His decision of character, instance of, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advocates facilities of communication between England and Ireland, <a href="#Page_389">389</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Clarendon, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from September to December 1786, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br />
+<br />
+Clerks of the roads, their duties, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their salaries, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are allowed to frank newspapers, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their franking privilege invaded, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mischief resulting from a reduction of their emoluments, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their financial troubles, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">extent of their newspaper business after newspapers become exempt from postage, <a href="#Page_407">407</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Clermont, William Henry, Earl of, deputy postmaster-general of Ireland, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+Clies, Francis, captain of packet, his audacious smuggling, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attention to religious observances, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">strikes his colours, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Coals supplied to Post Office servants in profligate profusion, <a href="#Page_231">231</a><br />
+<br />
+Cobbett, William, inveighs against the early or preferential delivery, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and against the treatment of foreign newspapers, <a href="#Page_343">343</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Coke, Sir John, his indignant protest against the claim of the foreign merchants to have a post of their own, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
+<br />
+Colours, special colours assigned to the Post Office boat employed in the Pool, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the colours of the packets altered at the Union with Scotland, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Comer, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells in 1725, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Common Council of London, The, sets up a post of their own to Scotland, <a href="#Page_24">24</a><br />
+<br />
+Compensation for losses by the penny post, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">when ceased to be given, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Conspiracies against the State, to check these the original object of the Post Office monopoly, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">danger chiefly apprehended from the Continent, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Coke's opinion on the subject, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the same opinion expressed in the Act of 1657, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Constables, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br />
+<br />
+Convention posts, establishment of, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their failure and the reason, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are gradually absorbed, <a href="#Page_352">352</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Conway Bridge, additional rate of postage on letters passing over, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br />
+<br />
+Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel, Marquess of, postmaster-general from July 1834 to January 1835, and again from May 8 to May 30, 1835, <a href="#Page_427">427</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Cornwall, its posts improved in 1704, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<br />
+Cornwallis, Charles, Lord, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part III.<br />
+<br />
+Cotton, Sir Robert, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1708. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part I.<br />
+<br />
+Counsel in Post Office cases required to give receipts for their fees, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Country letter, meaning of term, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Courier</i> newspaper, sum paid by the, for early intelligence from the Post Office, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br />
+<br />
+Couriers originally employed to carry letters on affairs of State, <a href="#Page_2">2</a><br />
+<br />
+Court, The, at one time the centre of all the posts, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a trace of the old state of things to be found in an existing statute, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Court letters, definition of, in 1706, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> <i>note</i>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mails detained for the Court letters, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">these letters, unlike others, delivered the moment they arrived, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Court-post, his duties, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">duties performed by deputy, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Coventry, Sir Thomas, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Keeper, holds De Quester's appointment to be valid, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cajoles Stanhope into surrendering his patent, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Craggs, James, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part III.<br />
+<br />
+Crichton, Doctor, refuses to pay his fare by packet, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Cromwell, Thomas, Brian Tuke's letter to, on the paucity of the posts, <a href="#Page_1">1</a><br />
+<br />
+Crosby, Brass, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Cross-posts, first post of the kind set up, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cross-post letters, definition of the term, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Croydon, postmistress of, Auckland's pleasantry on her marriage for the third time, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Culverden, captain of packet boat, engages in smuggling, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Culvert, member of Parliament, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, <a href="#Page_141">141</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Curtis, Alderman, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br />
+<br />
+Customs, Commissioners of, lodge a complaint against the captain of the <i>Expedition</i> packet, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">represent that smuggling is carried on by packet from Ostend, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">take proceedings against some of the Harwich packets, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are charged by the postmasters-general with unhandsome conduct, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">seize the Dover mail-coach, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Dacre, Lord, superscription on Protector Somerset's letter addressed to, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Dartmouth, William, Lord, his attention called to the late arrival at the Post Office of the Court letters, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br />
+<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span>Dashwood, Francis, postmaster-general of Jamaica, exaction from, as a condition of his appointment, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Davy, Mrs., her account of the condition of Penzance before 1784, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Day, John, sent from London in 1733 to establish a post at Aylsham in Norfolk, his instructions, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br />
+<br />
+Dead letters, treatment of, a source of perplexity to Allen, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">irregular payments claimed under cover of, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dead Letter Office, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returned letters charged with postage, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Decypherer, the chief, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br />
+<br />
+De Joncourt, express clerk, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br />
+<br />
+Delivery, claim made by several towns to have their letters delivered free resisted by the Post Office and question tried at law, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">claim allowed by the Courts, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">decision carried out grudgingly, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hour of delivery of foreign letters in 1790, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">early, that is preferential, delivery, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hour of delivery in St. James's Square between 1820 and 1830, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the country, limits of free delivery not defined, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">morning delivery in London accelerated, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">limits of general post delivery fixed at three miles, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recommendation of Royal Commission to abolish early or preferential delivery not carried out, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Delivery penny, meaning of term, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+Denmark, Frederick the Second, King of, his letter of complaint to Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_8">8</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+De Quester, Matthew, appointed postmaster for foreign parts out of the King's dominions, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his appointment offends Lord Stanhope, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is superseded by the Privy Council, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is restored at the instance of Sir John Coke, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assigns his patent, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Derby, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Dereham, Sir Thomas, Court-post, his duties, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<br />
+Derrick, Samuel, Master of the Ceremonies at Bath, his account of Ralph Allen, <a href="#Page_186">186</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Despatch of mails, hour of, in 1690, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and until 1784, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">indignation caused by the change then made, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Devonshire, William, Duke of, course of post between Chesterfield and Manchester altered in 1736 at the instance of, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br />
+<br />
+Directories, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Distances, inaccuracy of, as computed by the Post Office, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Dockwra, William, establishes a penny post in London, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his right contested and case decided against him, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is granted a pension and, on the penny post being absorbed into the Post Office, is appointed comptroller, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is dismissed, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provision made by, for the care of general post letters, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast between Dockwra and Povey, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Donlevy, William, <a href="#Page_368">368</a><br />
+<br />
+Double letter, definition of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Dover, a packet station, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packets to Flanders provided by the packet agent, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">engage in smuggling, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and bring news clandestinely, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Dover mail-coach seized by the Customs, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Drink and feast money, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+Dublin, Post Office establishment at, in 1690, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post proposed at, in 1703, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and opened in 1773, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">abuses, <a href="#Page_370">370</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dummer, Edmund, Surveyor of the Navy, builds packets for the Harwich station, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">also for the West India service, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">undertakes this service himself, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his miscalculations, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ill-fortune attends him, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his bankruptcy and death, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Early, <i>i.e.</i> preferential, delivery, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br />
+<br />
+Eastbourne, mode of receiving its letters in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+East India Company, send to the Post Office letters received at the India House, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">object to the provisions of the Ship Letter Act, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">procure its alteration, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their generosity, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unhandsome return contemplated by the Post Office, <a href="#Page_364">364</a></span><br />
+<br />
+East Indies, rates of postage to the, in 1815, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br />
+<br />
+Edinburgh, post to, set up by the city of London, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Post Office establishment at, in 1707, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow refused by the Treasury, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">and increased in frequency in 1765, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edinburgh Post Office falls into decay, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post established at, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Eldon, John, Lord, reluctantly assents to the giving of repressive powers, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Elections, Parliamentary, Post Office servants prohibited from intermeddling in, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and from voting at, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ellenborough, Edward, Lord, <a href="#Page_335">335</a><br />
+<br />
+Evelyn, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1708 to 1715. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part II.<br />
+<br />
+Exeter, private post set up between, and Barnstaple in 1633, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">course of post between Exeter and Bristol in 1660, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1696, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Expresses, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">when to be sent from Dover, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">employment of, becomes more general about the middle of the eighteenth century, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is jealously restricted, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their number reduced on the establishment of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fees on expresses, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">express sent daily to and from Ireland after the Union, <a href="#Page_387">387</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Express clerks, <a href="#Page_371">371</a><br />
+<br />
+Express office, Haymarket, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+Eyles, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1739 to 1744, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Falmouth, packet station opened at, in 1689, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">closed and reopened, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packet regulations, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">systematic smuggling, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packet agent also victualler, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Fares, by packet to Holland before and after 1689, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by steam packet and by sailing packet, comparative statement, <a href="#Page_385">385</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Farmers of the Post Office, their popularity and the reason of it, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are ruined by increase of postage and converted into managers, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as managers prove useless, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Farra, John, is supplied with a special travelling order, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Faversham, marriage of the postmistress, <a href="#Page_334">334</a><br />
+<br />
+Fees, exacted from postmasters, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">received by the chief sorter on the occasion of royal birthdays, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on expresses, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the registration of foreign letters, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ferrers, Countess, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+<br />
+Fielding, Henry, his tribute to Ralph Allen, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+"Fifth-clause" posts, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>-352<br />
+<br />
+Firearms, worthless quality of those originally supplied to mail guards, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Fire of London, intelligence of, takes five days to reach Worthing, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Flemings, resort to London, where they introduce the manufacture of wool into cloth, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instance of value set upon cloth made in London, <a href="#Page_8">8</a> <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Flying coach, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a><br />
+<br />
+Flying packet, meaning of the term, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> (<a href="#Page_108">108</a>)<br />
+<br />
+Flying-post, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Foreign bottoms, employment of, by the Post Office illegal, <a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+<br />
+Foreign merchants claim to set up a post of their own to the Continent, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">claim conceded by the Privy Council, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and repudiated by Coke, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Foster, John, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, his efforts to improve communication with Ireland, <a href="#Page_388">388</a><br />
+<br />
+France, Post Office treaty with, imperfectly observed, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a new one made and its onerous conditions, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage on letters from, increased, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">improvement of communication with, deprecated by merchants of London, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Franking, abuses of, in 1711, and means taken to check them, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">effect of franking upon the Post Office revenue, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conditions altered, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franking in Ireland, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of newspapers inland, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franking privilege possessed by the clerks at Dublin Castle surrendered, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franks to be dated and are otherwise restricted, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">further restrictions imposed, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franks do not clear either the penny, the twopenny, or the convention posts, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franking privilege withdrawn in the case of newspapers to and from the Colonies, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">privilege remains in the case of newspapers to and from the Continent, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and in the case of newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom gradually disappears, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franked letters charged immediately on dissolution of Parliament, <a href="#Page_405">405</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">franking privilege withheld from Roman Catholic Peers, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">abuse of franking in the case of the Money Order Office, <a href="#Page_421">421</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">specimens of franks, Appendix</span><br />
+<br />
+Frankland, Sir Thomas, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1715. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part I.<br />
+<br />
+Frankland, William, son of the preceding, Comptroller of the Inland Office, in attendance upon the Queen at Newmarket, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br />
+<br />
+Franklin, Benjamin, his dismissal, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amicable relations with, not suspended, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Free delivery. <i>See</i> Delivery<br />
+<br />
+Freeling, Sir Francis, appointed surveyor, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appointed joint secretary with Todd, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">devises new arrangements for the sorting of the American and West Indian mails, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his project for guarding the horse and cross-posts, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes sole secretary, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his craze for high rates of postage, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his zeal in repressing illicit correspondence, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is checked by Auckland, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">procures additional measures of repression, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recommends increase of postage rates, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his estimate of Cobbett, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his emoluments from franking newspapers, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his indignation at criticisms in the <i>Times</i> newspaper, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brings an action, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplates a high-handed proceeding towards the town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">procures a charge to be made on returned letters, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his contention with the India House in the matter of ship letters, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">urges a technical adherence to the provisions of the statute, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his elation at the increase of the Post Office revenue, <a href="#Page_365">365</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast between Freeling and Lees, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his difference with Lees, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his claim for the Post Office in the matter of steam vessels, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposes improvement of communication with Ireland, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his interview with Sir Arthur Wellesley, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts to get terms of a hostile motion altered, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his dismay at the transfer of the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his strictness in Post Office matters, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is irritated by Sir Henry Parnell's assumption of superiority, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the probable reason for not resigning on the opening of the new Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his view that the packet service should not be thrown open to public competition opposed by Althorp, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">defends the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his attitude towards the Royal Commission, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">averts a breakdown with the mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes the object of vehement attack, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">broods over the past, <a href="#Page_427">427</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_428">428</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Frizell, William, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br />
+<br />
+Frowde, Ashburnham, comptroller of foreign office, <a href="#Page_234">234</a><br />
+<br />
+Furness, Sir Harry, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Gardner, penny postman, murder of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Garrow, Sir William, his frank forged, <a href="#Page_406">406</a><br />
+<br />
+Gas, introduction of, into the Post Office, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+General Steam Navigation Company undertakes first packet contract, <a href="#Page_418">418</a><br />
+<br />
+George the Third, when at Cheltenham or at Weymouth is attended by a mail-coach, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his illness and distribution of a prayer for his recovery, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his interest in his coach, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">objects to roof-loading, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attends trial trip, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distributes largesse among mail guards and coachmen, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Gerrard Street, crowded condition of Post Office in, <a href="#Page_410">410</a><br />
+<br />
+Glasgow petitions for a horse-post to Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop, <a href="#Page_408">408</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Gloucester protests against certain houses being excluded from the free delivery, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Godolphin, Sidney Godolphin, Earl of, his rebuke to the postmaster-general, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">insists upon communication with the army in Flanders being improved, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his instruction about extraordinary payments, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">directs that in Post Office cases Counsel shall give receipts for their fees, <a href="#Page_324">324</a> (<a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>)</span><br />
+<br />
+Grafton, Augustus Henry, Duke of, specimen of his frank, Appendix<br />
+<br />
+Grand mail, <a href="#Page_83">83</a><br />
+<br />
+Grand Post Nights, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br />
+<br />
+Granville, Lord, urges improvement of the Cornish posts, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span><br />
+Gratuities, on delivery of letters, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">legality of, questioned in the case of towns, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">question decided in favour of the public, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">still being charged, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Gray, Thomas, his prediction that mail-coaches would be displaced by railways, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+Grey, Charles, Earl, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br />
+<br />
+Grosvenor, Sir Richard, member for Chester, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br />
+<br />
+Groyne, The, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a><br />
+<br />
+Guide to accompany post-horses when two are taken, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br />
+<br />
+Guildhall Library, letter preserved in, showing tardy course of post in 1666, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Halfpenny carriage set up by Povey, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br />
+<br />
+Halloran, a clerical impostor, <a href="#Page_406">406</a><br />
+<br />
+Hamburg, practice at, on arrival of the mails, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br />
+<br />
+Hamilton, Andrew, acts as Neale's agent for setting up posts in North America, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his suggestions for improving the posts, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">acquires Neale's patent, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dies and the patent is surrendered to the Crown, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hamilton, John, son of the preceding, appointed deputy postmaster-general of America, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br />
+<br />
+Harley, Robert, afterwards Earl of Oxford, raises the rates of postage, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts to trace the writer of an anonymous letter, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Harwich, a packet station, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number and strength of its packets, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packet regulations, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a hot-bed of smuggling, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its exorbitant charges, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is closed as a packet station, <a href="#Page_418">418</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hasker, Thomas, chief superintendent of mail-coaches, his pithy instructions, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is complimented by the King, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">will not suffer even the King to detain the mail-coach, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">enters a protest against the speed of the Holyhead mail, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hayman, Peter, first postmaster of Virginia and Maryland, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Heath, Sir Robert, Solicitor-General, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
+<br />
+Hickes, Prideaux's servant, imprisonment of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br />
+<br />
+Highwaymen, rewards for apprehension of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refrain from attacks upon mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">confine their attention to horse and cross-posts, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instances of the recovery of mail bags stolen by, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hill, Sir Rowland, <a href="#Page_269">269</a> <i>note</i>, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>, <a href="#Page_428">428</a><br />
+<br />
+Hippisley, Sir John, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Hiver, Richard, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Holt, Sir John, Chief Justice, his opinion respecting compensation for losses by post, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Holyhead, packet service at beginning of eighteenth century performed with regularity, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplated reduction of the packet establishment deprecated by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conditions of passage between Holyhead and Dublin in 1813, <a href="#Page_379">379</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hompesch, Baron, packet detained for, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Horn, when to be blown, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a man on horseback blowing a post-horn assigned as a device for Post Office colours, <a href="#Page_75">75</a> <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Horses, to be kept in readiness for affairs of State, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">two to be kept at every post-house, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">use of, obtained under false pretences, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">overridden, overladen, and not always paid for, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">charge for post-horses in 1603, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1635, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1660, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">not to be supplied except at post-houses, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to be attended by a guide when two are hired, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">not to be let when the post is expected, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">not to be taken without the consent of the owners, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">only indirectly a source of revenue, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">monopoly of letting horses continued to the Post Office by the Act of 1711, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">control exercised by the Post Office over horses for travellers merely nominal, exception given, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">charges for post-horses increased by the erection of milestones, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">monopoly of letting post-horses withdrawn, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Horse and cross-posts, project for checking robberies of, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">authority withheld, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">eventually given, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hostages taken on capture of a packet, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instance of inhuman treatment of, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Houses numbered, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their not being so a hindrance to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Hume, David, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span><br />
+Hume, Joseph, <a href="#Page_402">402</a><br />
+<br />
+Hungerford selected to try the question of free delivery, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">question decided in favour of the public and a letter-carrier appointed, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Illicit conveyance of letters, between town and town and between the country and London, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is stimulated by increase in the rates of postage, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes less after the introduction of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prosecutions for, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">return to the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Impressment, persons employed on the packets exempt from, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">specimen of protection order, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Instructions to the sorting office communicated by word of mouth, <a href="#Page_324">324</a><br />
+<br />
+Insurance an essential condition of Dockwra's penny post, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">this condition abandoned, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Invoices to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Ipswich asserts its right to a free delivery, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ireland, tardiness of post to, before 1635, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage to, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">method of Post Office business in 1690, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">abuse of franking in 1773, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">posts to and within Ireland improved, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Penny Post Office opened in Dublin, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Irish Post Office separated from that of England, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">effects of the separation in the case of correspondence by the Milford Haven and Waterford route, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between the Irish and English Post Offices differences in point of law, <a href="#Page_366">366</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and of practice, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and improper use made of it, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clancarty's energy and decision of character, <a href="#Page_368">368</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lees, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his mode of conducting business, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lees contrasted with Freeling, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the postmasters-general absentees, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">absence also of the subordinates and other abuses, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the express clerks and clerks of the roads deal in newspapers and are given undue advantages, <a href="#Page_371">371</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of the alphabet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ingenious one in use at Belfast, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrangement in favour of soldiers' wives, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">peculiar mode of delivery at Belfast, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mail-coach contracts in Ireland different from those in England, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Charles Bianconi, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrangement between Ireland and Great Britain in the matter of the packets, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lees is dissatisfied with it, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and sets it aside, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Freeling's indignation, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sailing packets replaced by steam packets, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">effect upon the number of passengers carried by the Post Office, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Irish traffic diverted from Holyhead to Liverpool, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Liverpool made a packet station, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">except in the matter of the packets, indisposition of the British Post Office to improve communication with Ireland, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">such improvement urged by Foster, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and resisted by Freeling, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Freeling forced to give way, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Irish Post Office consolidated with the Post Office of Great Britain, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the Dublin establishment reformed, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the auditing of the Irish accounts rendered futile, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Iron mail-cart stopped and rifled of its contents, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Isle of Wight, its Post Office establishment in 1792, <a href="#Page_294">294</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Jackson, a passenger by packet without a pass, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Jacob, Giles, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Jamaica, Post Office establishment in, and sea rates fixed, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">duration of voyage to and fro in 1798, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">House of Assembly vote sum of money in recognition of the gallant defence of the <i>Antelope</i> packet, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></span><br />
+<br />
+James, Duke of York, afterwards James II., opposes introduction of the penny post, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wrests it out of Dockwra's hands, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suffers the clerks of the roads to retain their newspaper privilege, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Jamineau, Isaac, purveyor of newspapers to the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span>Jeffreys, Sir George, afterwards Lord, inflicts exorbitant fine upon Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Johnson, Edward, letter-carrier, improves the penny post, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is appointed deputy comptroller, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Johnson, Dr. Samuel, <a href="#Page_209">209</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Jones, distiller of Old Street, St. Luke's, his action against the Post Office, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Kent, post through the county of, more carefully nursed than any other, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br />
+<br />
+Kenyon, Lloyd, Lord, when Attorney-General, gives receipts for fees in Post Office cases, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br />
+<br />
+King's coach, deception practised on Walsingham in the matter of the, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+King's messengers, their complaint against the Post Office on the erection of milestones, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Lambton, John George, moves for a return of the number of Post Office Boards, <a href="#Page_396">396</a><br />
+<br />
+Lancashire, the badness of its posts in 1699, <a href="#Page_60">60</a><br />
+<br />
+Le Despencer, Francis, Lord, postmaster-general from 1766 to 1781, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Leeds, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Lees, Sir John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his testimony to the abuse of franking, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">having been transferred to the War Office, recapitulates conditions on which he accepts reappointment to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recapitulation gives offence to Carteret, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and leads to Carteret's exposure, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lees, Sir Edward Smith, son of the preceding, also secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his method of conducting business, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">deals in newspapers, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his instruction respecting the alphabet, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his difference with Freeling, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes a director of the Dublin Steam Packet Company, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is transferred to Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_415">415</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his unauthorised surrender of the receiver-general's bond, <a href="#Page_415">415</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Leet, express clerk, <a href="#Page_373">373</a><br />
+<br />
+Leicester, the Corporation of, binds itself to keep post-horses for the use of the Sovereign, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salary of postmaster at, in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Leicester, George, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1794 to 1799, <a href="#Page_326">326</a><br />
+<br />
+Letter-carriers, their pay in 1690, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as late as 1772, none employed except in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are appointed at certain other towns, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in London their interests suffer from the earlier closing of the Post Office, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are put into uniform, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the sufferings of some of their number during the winter of 1794-95, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">select their walks according to seniority, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">deliver letters according to classes, one class for general post letters, another for penny or twopenny letters, and a third for foreign letters, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Letters, on affairs of State originally sent by courier, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">particulars of, when sent by post, to be carefully recorded, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters on other than the affairs of State received at the post-houses, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">not, without the authority of the Master of the Posts, to be collected, carried, or delivered, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">notice that none are to be sent except through the post served on the merchants of London, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters detected in being illicitly conveyed to be sent to the Privy Council, and their bearers apprehended, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">what letters excepted from monopoly, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are given precedence over travellers, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">circulate mainly through London, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their mode of distribution, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">clandestine conveyance of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of penny post letters for the suburbs of London at the end of the seventeenth century, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters for America and Jamaica charged with postage, although there was no packet service, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">clandestine conveyance of, stimulated by increase of postage, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">definition of single and double letter, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Allen's injunction to check illegal conveyance of, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are examined by means of a strong light, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penalty for opening letters, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letters containing patterns or samples, whether to be charged as single or double letters, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">right to make, on the delivery of letters, any charge beyond the postage contested, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">memorials for and against the earlier delivery of foreign letters in London, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">average number of letters for each foreign mail in 1790, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of dead and missent letters before and after 1793, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">return of the number of letters passing through the London Post Office submitted to the postmasters-general daily, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">made penal not only to carry letters, but to send them otherwise than through the post, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on the delivery of letters, despite the decision of the Courts, a charge beyond the postage continues to be made, <a href="#Page_422">422</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">owing to the complication of rates, not possible to express the total charge upon a letter in one taxation, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lewis XIV. assembles a squadron before Dunkirk, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his delay in refusing to sign the preliminaries of peace, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lichfield, Thomas William, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general May 1835, <a href="#Page_427">427</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Lincolnshire, the paucity of its posts before 1705, <a href="#Page_61">61</a><br />
+<br />
+Liverpool, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post established at, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is opened as a packet station, <a href="#Page_386">386</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Liverpool, Robert, Earl of, mediates between Freeling and Lees, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transfers the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty, <a href="#Page_399">399</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lloyds supplied by the Post Office with ship news, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br />
+<br />
+Loppinott, Colonel, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Losses by post, compensation for, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">when ceased to be given, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lovell, Mary, receiver in St. James's Street, Lord Abercorn's complaint against, <a href="#Page_153">153</a><br />
+<br />
+Lovell, Thomas, Lord, afterwards Earl of Leicester, postmaster-general from 1733 to 1759, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a threatening letter, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his loose notions about smuggling, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Lowndes, William, Secretary to the Treasury, takes charge of the Post Office Bill of 1711, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">overbears Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">confounds gross and net revenue, <a href="#Page_145">145</a> (<a href="#Page_325">325</a> <i>note</i>)</span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Macadam, John Loudon, introduces new method of road-making, <a href="#Page_392">392</a><br />
+<br />
+Macaulay, Lord, his account of the fine inflicted upon Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his statement that a part of the Post Office revenue was derived from post-horses questioned, (<a href="#Page_39">39</a>)</span><br />
+<br />
+Mackerness, Thomas, postmaster of Chipping Norton, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Macky, John, packet agent at Dover, proceeds to Flanders, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a remarkable caution, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">having become contractor for the Dover and Ostend packet service, his boats engage in illicit operations, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and bring news clandestinely, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is commissioned to settle posts for the army, his excellent arrangements, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Maddison, George, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br />
+<br />
+Magistrates, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are enjoined to see that horses are procured at the post-houses alone, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Maidstone, excellency of the delivery at, in the seventeenth century, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amount of the postmaster's salary, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mails, hour of despatch of the, from the General Post Office in 1690, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">after 1784, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cost of conveyance of, before and after the introduction of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are exempt from toll in Great Britain but not in Ireland, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exemption withdrawn in Scotland, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mail bags, curious instances of recovery of, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Mail-carts, mail-cart made of iron rifled of its contents, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first used in London to bring letters to the General Post Office, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mail-coaches, begin to run, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rapid extension of the system, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">system deprecated by some of the leading merchants, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their effect upon expresses, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">upon the illicit conveyance of letters, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a mail-coach in attendance upon the King when at Cheltenham, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are put off the road by Palmer, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of, in 1792, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">model of mail-coach preserved at the Post Office, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mail-coaches of new pattern supplied, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of passengers by, restricted, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">roof-loading, and objections to it, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">roof not always safe, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mileage allowance in the case of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their freedom from attacks by highwaymen, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">become liable to a duty of one penny a mile, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are diverted from the direct route for a consideration, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of, in 1811, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">their unpopularity with road trustees, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">question considered of withdrawing their exemption from toll, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mail-coaches withdrawn instead, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Scotland, are made liable to toll, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and their number is reduced, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speed of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the mail-coach the great disseminator of news, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">supply of mail-coaches thrown open to public competition, immediate result, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mail guards, not originally Post Office servants, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their little excesses, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their wages, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of their wages a cause of difference between Walsingham and Palmer, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their position one of responsibility, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their fees, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">specimens of instructions to, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carry parcels and game, and suffer to be carried excess-passengers, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Main, George, deputy-postmaster of Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_117">117</a><br />
+<br />
+Maītres de poste in Canada, <a href="#Page_205">205</a><br />
+<br />
+Managers, sometime farmers, of the Post Office, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br />
+<br />
+Manchester, its Post Office establishment in 1792, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishment increased and Penny Post Office opened, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Manley, Captain John, Post Office farmed by, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Manley, Isaac, deputy-postmaster of Dublin, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Mansfield, William, Earl of, his opinion upon compensation for losses by the post, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>note</i>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his judgment as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of delivering letters, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, interests himself in the post with Flanders, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> (<a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>)<br />
+<br />
+Maryborough, William, Lord, postmaster-general from December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835, <a href="#Page_427">427</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Master of the Posts, his duties, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">no one not authorised by, allowed to collect, carry, or deliver letters, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his salary and emoluments, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Melbourne, William, Viscount, <a href="#Page_423">423</a><br />
+<br />
+Melville, Robert, Viscount, advocates transfer of the Falmouth packets to the Admiralty, <a href="#Page_399">399</a><br />
+<br />
+Menai Straits, additional rate of postage imposed on letters crossing the, <a href="#Page_395">395</a><br />
+<br />
+Merchants' accounts to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, <a href="#Page_331">331</a><br />
+<br />
+Merchant adventurers. <i>See</i> Foreign Merchants<br />
+<br />
+Methuen, Sir Paul, ambassador to Portugal, calls attention to the irregular proceedings of the packets, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br />
+<br />
+Mileage allowance, in case of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">higher in Ireland than in England, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">flippant return to the House of Commons on the subject of, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Miles, difference between measured and computed miles, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br />
+<br />
+Milestones, erection of, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their effect upon the charge for post-horses, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Milford Haven and Waterford, packet service between, <a href="#Page_249">249</a><br />
+<br />
+Missent letters, treatment of, before and after 1793, <a href="#Page_309">309</a><br />
+<br />
+Money Order Office, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the subject of a flippant return to the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">facsimile of a money order issued in 1802, Appendix</span><br />
+<br />
+Monopoly of the Post Office, origin of, in the matter of letters and of post-horses, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">confirmed by Act of Parliament, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">withdrawn as regards post-horses, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Mountstuart, John, Viscount, <a href="#Page_256">256</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Murray, Robert, reputed to have been the first to suggest the penny post, <a href="#Page_36">36</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Neale, Thomas, obtains grants for setting up posts in North America, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his pecuniary difficulties, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">offers to surrender his patent, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">patent passes on his death to Andrew Hamilton, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Newcastle, Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of, his orders about the packets countermanded by Pelham, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sends to the Post Office to inquire the price of corn, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Newcastle, salary of the postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+News, hunger after, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the postmasters-general the great purveyors of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">news disseminated by the mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_401">401</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Newspapers, franking of, by the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">are received from abroad by Post Office servants in advance of the general public, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conditions of franking newspapers altered, effect of alteration, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">copies of, supplied to Post Office servants, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspaper office established, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number and weight of newspapers passing through the Post Office in 1788, <a href="#Page_262">262</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of foreign newspapers, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspaper agency at the Post Office largely developed, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">London newspapers supplied by the Post Office with early intelligence from abroad, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspapers, though franked, not exempt from postage by the penny, twopenny, and convention posts, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage on newspapers for the East Indies reduced below the letter rate, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">improper dealing with newspapers in Ireland, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on newspapers to and from the Colonies special rates established and franking privilege withdrawn, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">this privilege retained in the case of newspapers for the Continent, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom exempted from postage, <a href="#Page_404">404</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extent of newspaper business conducted by the clerks of the roads in 1829, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1830, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspaper business finally withdrawn, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Newton, Sir Isaac, <a href="#Page_66">66</a><br />
+<br />
+New Year's gifts, extortion of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br />
+<br />
+Nicholas, Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Nodin, passenger on board the <i>Antelope</i> packet, his gallantry, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Normanby, Henry Constantine, Viscount, proposes abolition of the office of second postmaster-general, <a href="#Page_397">397</a><br />
+<br />
+North, Frederick, Lord, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives singular reply from the Post Office, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Northampton, Countess of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a><br />
+<br />
+Northey, Sir Edward, <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+Northumberland, Hugh, Earl of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+Nottingham, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Ogilby, John, calls attention to the difference between measured and computed miles, <a href="#Page_175">175</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Oldfield, Thomas, postmaster of York, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br />
+<br />
+Oldmixon, <a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Old Street, St Luke's, a second penny charged on penny post letters addressed to, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Oliphant, Robert, deputy postmaster-general for Scotland, <a href="#Page_271">271</a><br />
+<br />
+Olney, Buckinghamshire, attempts to improve its post and the consequence, <a href="#Page_351">351</a><br />
+<br />
+O'Neile, Daniel, farmer of the posts, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+O'Neill, Charles Henry St. John, Earl, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to 1831, <a href="#Page_368">368</a> <i>seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a><br />
+<br />
+Onslow, Denzil, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Opening of letters, during the Commonwealth, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">under James II., <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practice systematically carried on under Walpole's administration, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">continued, as regards foreign letters, until 1844, <a href="#Page_269">269</a> <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Ordnance, Board of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Ormonde, James, Duke of, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br />
+<br />
+Oxenbridge, Clement, reduces postage, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives an appointment under the Post Office, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Oxford Street, branch post office opened in, <a href="#Page_411">411</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Packets (sailing), packet establishment in 1690, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are forbidden to carry merchandise in times of war, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">regulations for control of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carry their own surgeon, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are not, without a pass, to carry passengers, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or goods, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fares are not sufficiently made known and inconvenience arises, instances given, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">curious assortment of goods sent free by packet, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packets bring both passengers and goods without passes, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">engage in smuggling, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are forbidden to give chase, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are not entitled to the prizes they take, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">agreement with prizes honourably observed as a rule, exceptions given, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are victualled at Falmouth and at Harwich on different principles, objections to both systems, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">copy of letter-bill by the <i>Prince</i> packet, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transport recruits with disastrous results, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">must be of English build, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">engage with privateers, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are placed on a peace footing, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">colours altered on Union with Scotland, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sufficiency of the burthen and crew of the Falmouth packets questioned by the merchants, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the packets generally meet with a series of disasters, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wholesale smuggling on the part of the Harwich packets, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">inordinate growth of the packet expenditure, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the reason, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packets established between Milford Haven and Waterford, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">representation by the merchants as to the number of packets captured, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their gallant actions with privateers, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">probable explanation of these actions occurring only when passengers were on board, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mode of procuring packets for the East Indies and the Cape in 1815, and their cost, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">arrangement in the matter of packets between Great Britain and Ireland, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">steps taken by the Dublin Post Office to set the arrangement aside, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sailing packets replaced by steam packets between Holyhead and Dublin, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between Milford Haven and Waterford, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Falmouth packets transferred to the Admiralty, <a href="#Page_398">398</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Packets (steam), between Holyhe ad and Dublin, charges by, as compared with sailing packets, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of passengers before the introduction of steam, <a href="#Page_383">383</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and after, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of steam packets possessed by the Post Office in 1827, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packet service thrown open to public competition, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Irish steam packets, defective return to the House of Commons in the matter of, <a href="#Page_424">424</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pajot, director of the French posts, his obstinacy, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his unreasonableness, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Palmer, John, his activity, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">general sketch of his plan, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his plan is brought to the notice of Pitt, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and is tried on the Bath road, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extends his plan, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">induces Pitt to raise the rates of postage, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">alleges obstruction, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">alters the length of the stages, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his plan is opposed by the merchants, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opposition dies away, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">procures appointment of his nominees, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conditions of his own appointment, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his jealousy of Allen, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">expedites the morning delivery in London, and introduces an improved method of business, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">imposes upon Walsingham in the matter of the King's coach, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his treatment of official papers, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pays an unexpected visit to Walsingham at Old Windsor, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">betrays his jealousy, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes, but without the necessary authority, a newspaper office, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and a mail guards' fund, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is called to account by Walsingham, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">takes umbrage at a rebuke administered to his deputy, Bonnor, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disobeys orders, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes aggressive and defiant, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and appeals to Pitt, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is charged by Bonnor with promoting a public meeting antagonistic to the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suspends Bonnor, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is suspended himself, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is dismissed, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives a pension and, later on, a Parliamentary grant, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">general result of his plan, <a href="#Page_290">290</a> (<a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>)</span><br />
+<br />
+Palmerston, Henry John, Viscount, his humorous reply to Freeling, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br />
+<br />
+Parkin, Anthony, solicitor to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Parnell, Sir Henry, <a href="#Page_407">407</a><br />
+<br />
+Pascoe, John, boatswain of the <i>Antelope</i> packet, his gallant resistance to the attack of a privateer, <a href="#Page_322">322</a><br />
+<br />
+Patterns and samples, letters containing, and being less than one ounce in weight, whether to be charged single or double, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">question tried at law, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">settled by Act of Parliament, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">concessions in favour of, <a href="#Page_315">315</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Pay. <i>See</i> Wages<br />
+<br />
+Pelham, Henry, countermands Newcastle's orders about the packets, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br />
+<br />
+Pennant, Thomas, <a href="#Page_261">261</a><br />
+<br />
+Penny post, its introduction by Dockwra, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">general plan of, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carries up to one pound in weight, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">includes a system of insurance, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">days on which it does not go, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">increases number of country letters, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is absorbed into the General Post Office, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishment of, in 1690, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">stimulates the clandestine conveyance of letters into London, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on its acquisition by the State its general conditions remain unchanged, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of penny post letters for the suburbs at the end of the seventeenth century, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its contemplated extension to Dublin in 1703, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">affects the number of ship letters, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is without legal sanction, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">legal sanction given, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">its limits restricted to ten miles, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the charge of a second penny on all letters delivered outside the bills of mortality made legal, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">weight carried by the penny post reduced from one pound to four ounces, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">compensation for losses by the, when ceased to be given, <a href="#Page_188">188</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts made by the Post Office to charge a second penny within the bills of mortality, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">principal officers of the penny post absentees, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">stagnation of the penny post, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the post is improved by Johnson, a letter-carrier, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">financial result, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prepayment, hitherto optional, made compulsory, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">restriction on limits withdrawn, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the charge of a second penny, heretofore confined to letters delivered at places outside the bills of mortality, imposed upon letters coming therefrom, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the penny post converted into a twopenny post, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>. <i>See</i> twopenny and threepenny posts</span><br />
+<br />
+Penzance, its post before and after 1784, <a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Pepys, Samuel, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Perceval Spencer, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br />
+<br />
+Percival, Joseph, a passenger by packet without a pass, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Pickwick, "Mr. Pickwick's coach," <a href="#Page_281">281</a><br />
+<br />
+Pitt, William, his attention is called to Palmer's plan, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sweeps away frivolous objections and desires that it may be tried, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">raises the postage rates, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">relaxes the restrictions upon franking, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dismisses Tankerville, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">settles conditions of Palmer's appointment, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his knowledge of abuses at the Post Office and his unwillingness to expose them, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suppresses report of Royal Commission, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">authorises increase of salary to the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">declares Palmer's proceedings to be irregular, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">turns a deaf ear to the postmaster-general's request for an interview, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">interview at length granted, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a second interview, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">acquiesces in Palmer's dismissal and grants him a pension, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes to Post Office servants a periodical grant pending a revision of the establishment, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">promotes plan for improving the penny post, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disallows practice of charging returned letters, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">modifies arrangements for dealing with ship letters, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his precepts in this matter afterwards disregarded, <a href="#Page_361">361</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Plymouth, salary of the postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Political Register</i>, its criticisms on Post Office practice, <a href="#Page_342">342</a><br />
+<br />
+Pope, Alexander, his lines on Ralph Allen, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+Portage, <a href="#Page_29">29</a><br />
+<br />
+Portland, William Henry, Duke of, <a href="#Page_379">379</a><br />
+<br />
+Portland Packet, Captain Taylor, its gallant action with privateer, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br />
+<br />
+Postage, introduction of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">settled by Act of Parliament, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">original meaning of term, <a href="#Page_29">29</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates of postage in 1635, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1657 and 1660, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1711, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1765, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1784, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1797, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1801, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1805, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1812, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">device resorted to in order to evade high rates of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates lapse through effluxion of time, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates of postage between London and the Channel Islands and within the islands themselves, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">from Portugal and America, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">financial result of increase of rates, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bewildering complications, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extraordinary toleration of the public, explanation suggested, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an additional rate imposed in Scotland on withdrawal of exemption from toll, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and on letters passing over the Menai Straits or Conway Bridge, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates of postage to the East Indies in 1815, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instances of exorbitant rates, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></span><br />
+<br />
+"Poste for the Pacquet," 5 <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Post-boys, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br />
+<br />
+Post-coaches, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br />
+<br />
+Post-haste, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Post-horn. <i>See</i> Horn<br />
+<br />
+Post-horses. <i>See</i> Horses<br />
+<br />
+Post-houses, to have horses in readiness, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">horses not to be let except at, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pay of keepers of, in arrear, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postilions, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br />
+<br />
+Postmarks, introduction of, <a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters, their duties in 1690, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their salaries, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their grievances, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their contingent advantages, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">intercept postage on bye-letters, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">their correspondence exempt from postage, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their moderation on the erection of milestones, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are enjoined to frequent the local markets and report the price of corn, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salaries of certain postmasters in Scotland in 1707, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in England in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (I.) [Cotton and Frankland, 1690 to 1708], their simple-mindedness, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their accessibility, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their concern about the illicit correspondence, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their powerlessness to check it, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">let the posts out to farm, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuse to sublet the penny post, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their difference with Pajot, minister of the French posts, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remonstrate with captains of packets at Falmouth, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and at Harwich, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chuckle over the capture of a prize, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their rebuke to the captain of a Falmouth packet, <a href="#Page_94">94</a> <i>note</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instance of their rough-and-ready justice, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">take vigorous measures to protect the packets from Flemish privateers, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their admonition to the packet agent at Dover, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">act as purveyors of news to the Court, instances given, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advocate cheap postage to America, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">become, at the Union with Scotland, responsible for the Scotch posts, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their inaction, explanation suggested, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">action forced upon them, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are contrasted with their successors, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (II.) [Frankland and Evelyn, 1708 to 1715], their interview with Godolphin, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their instruction about expresses from Dover, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treat personally with Povey, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frankland ceases to be a member of Parliament, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">concern themselves only slightly about travellers, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">take measures to check the abuse of franking, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in vain urge the appointment of surveyors, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">negotiate new treaty with France, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quit office on accession of George the First, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (III.) [Cornwallis and Craggs, 1715 to 1721], are amazed at the absence of check in the Post Office, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">note how little the increase in the rates of postage has added to the revenue, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and how largely it has stimulated the abuse of franking, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their dispute with the merchants, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">convict Lowndes of a ludicrous error, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their harsh treatment of their secretary, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (IV.) [Edward Carteret and Walpole, 1721 to 1725], their kindness to subordinates, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their interview with Abercorn, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">[From 1725 to 1733 Carteret had for his colleague Edward Harrison, and from 1733 to 1739 Lord Lovell.]</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Carteret establishes a post to Aylsham, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (V.) [Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret and, for the second time, Tankerville, 1784 to 1786], collect opinions on Palmer's plan and submit them to Pitt, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">entertain doubts as to its feasibility, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their differences between themselves, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their open rupture, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tankerville is dismissed by Pitt, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his ungovernable temper, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (VI.) [Carteret and Walsingham, 1787 to 1789], Walsingham's industry and thoroughness, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">questions Carteret's right to sign first, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his preponderating influence, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his habit of annotating and execrable handwriting, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reduces packet establishment at Falmouth, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is dissuaded from carrying out a similar reduction at Holyhead, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is powerless to control the correspondence by the Milford packets, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in conjunction with Carteret procures increase of salary for the clerks of the roads, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is imposed upon in the matter of the King's coach, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls for the surveyors' journals, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his correspondence with Chalmers, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receives an unexpected visit from Palmer, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">detects Palmer's jealousy and endeavours to allay it, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">calls Palmer to account for acting without authority, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exposes Bonnor's attempt at deception, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Carteret's dismissal, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Walsingham inquires into the solicitor's accounts, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (VII.) [Walsingham and Chesterfield, 1790 to 1794], Chesterfield's playful allusions to Palmer, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Palmer sets the postmasters-general at defiance, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">they seek in vain an interview with Pitt, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">receive assurances from Bonnor of Palmer's disloyalty, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remove Bonnor's suspension and suspend Palmer, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chesterfield's letter, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Walsingham's interview with Pitt, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">feel confident of their own dismissal, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are furnished with evidence by Bonnor, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">have a second interview with Pitt and dismiss Palmer, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast Palmer's reticence in official matters with Freeling's wealth of explanation, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Walsingham attempts to improve communication with France, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and to reduce postage on letters containing the second halves of bank notes, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">give attention to coach-building, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Postmasters-General (VIII.) [Chichester and Salisbury, 1816 to 1823], are called upon for a return of the number of Post Office Boards, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">address to the Throne praying that one of the two offices of postmaster-general be abolished, <a href="#Page_397">397</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Salisbury stops his own salary, and on his death Chichester becomes postmaster-general sole, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Salisbury's testimony to increase of stringency in Post Office matters, <a href="#Page_405">405</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Post Office, origin of its monopoly, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">monopoly confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a Post Office opened in the city of London, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dispute for its possession, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its position in 1680, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is the only receptacle for letters in London, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of it, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations between the Post Office and the Treasury, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Post Office becomes unpopular and the reasons, <a href="#Page_170">170</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its retrogression, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assumes a new character, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">loses monopoly of letting post-horses, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Post Office buildings in Edinburgh and Dublin fall into decay, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">indignation caused by the earlier closing of the Post Office in London, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">this office enlarged, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">state of the Post Office as between the years 1695 and 1813 compared, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Post Office disseminates news, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and police notices, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes object of interest to the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is cleared of more than a century of debt, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a new post office opened in St. Martin's-le-Grand, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Post-runners, <a href="#Page_118">118</a><br />
+<br />
+Posts, paucity of, in time of Henry the Eighth, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their close connection with the Sovereign, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instructions for the regulation of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">designed not only to carry the letters of the Sovereign, but for the use of persons travelling on the Sovereign's concerns, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">posts originally maintained at loss to the Crown, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the beginning of the seventeenth century only four in number, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of these the post to Dover the most important, precautions taken lest this post should be used for designs against the State, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">decadence of the posts, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">improved by Witherings, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to be self-supporting, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thrown open to the public, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">let out to farm, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rent paid in 1650, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1653, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1660, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1667, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1657 become the subject of Parliamentary enactment, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their inadequacy to meet public demands, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">even where they existed, their existence not generally known, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at what intervals they left London in 1680, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">again let out to farm, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resumed by the State, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as late as 1728, not of general concern, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Povey, Charles, sets up a halfpenny post, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contrast between him and Dockwra, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his insolence, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is proceeded against and cast in damages, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Prideaux, Edmund, takes part with Burlamachi against Warwick, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rescues the mail from Warwick's servants, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brings the imprisonment of his own servant before the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes Master of the Posts, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his activity, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suppresses unauthorised post to Scotland, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes profit out of the posts and is called upon to pay rent, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is dismissed, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">retains an interest in the posts, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oldmixon's estimate of his character, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">destination of a part of his wealth, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Prideaux, Edmund, son of the preceding, <a href="#Page_27">27</a><br />
+<br />
+Prior, Matthew, negotiates Post Office treaty with France, <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br />
+<br />
+Prior Park, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Prizes, practice observed on capture of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span><br />
+Prosecutions, for the illicit conveyance of letters, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">measures taken to secure their publicity, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">return to the House of Commons on the subject of, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Protection order, specimen of, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Quartering of soldiers, a grievance to postmasters, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br />
+<br />
+Quash, Ralph Allen's predecessor as postmaster of Bath, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+<br />
+Queen's letters, meaning of term in 1706, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Queen's servants not exempt from fare by packet, <a href="#Page_86">86</a><br />
+<br />
+Queensberry, James, Duke of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Raikes, a diamond merchant, suggests the giving of receipts for registered letters, <a href="#Page_409">409</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Railways, prediction concerning, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first mail sent by railway, <a href="#Page_412">412</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ramsgate, cost of Post Office at, in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Randolph, Thomas, Master of the Posts to Queen Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_3">3</a><br />
+<br />
+Receiving offices, first opened in London, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">generally kept at public-houses, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to remain open on six nights a week instead of three, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">letter-boxes at, to be closed and fixed, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receiving offices for twopenny post letters separate and distinct from offices for letters by the general post, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>, <a href="#Page_423">423</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Recruits, exemption of, from fare by packet, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disputes with officers in charge of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">packets employed for transport of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Registration, exorbitant fees for, of foreign letters, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amount of these fees in 1783 and 1784, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receipts for foreign registered letters begin to be given, <a href="#Page_409">409</a> <i>note</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Returned Letters. <i>See</i> Dead letters<br />
+<br />
+Revenue of the Post Office, surrendered by the Crown to the public, in part, in 1711, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and wholly, in exchange for a Civil List, in 1760, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amount of, from 1635 to 1694, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1710 and 1721, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1787 as compared with 1784, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1796 and 1806, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1824 and 1833, <a href="#Page_422">422</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Richmond, Charles, Duke of, postmaster-general from December 1830 to July 1834, declines to receive salary, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his industry, <a href="#Page_413">413</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes postmaster-general of Ireland as well as Great Britain, and reforms the Dublin establishment, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplates, apparently, a reduction of postage, <a href="#Page_419">419</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ripon, Post Office at, refused in 1713, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in possession of one in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Roads, condition of, in 1691, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">begin to be constructed on scientific principles, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Macadam's plan for dealing with the surface of, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">difference between roads in the country and roads in the neighbourhood of London, <a href="#Page_394">394</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Rochester, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1685 to 1689, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a> <i>note</i>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, Appendix <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Rogers, captain of packet, engages in smuggling, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Roof-loading of mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_412">412</a><br />
+<br />
+Rosencrantz, the Danish envoy, to be specially accommodated on board Harwich packet, <a href="#Page_87">87</a><br />
+<br />
+Rosse, Laurence, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1809 to 1831, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>, <a href="#Page_415">415</a><br />
+<br />
+Rotterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, <a href="#Page_174">174</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal boroughs of Scotland, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br />
+<br />
+Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Post Office in 1787, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1823, <a href="#Page_407">407</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recommendations of this last Commission not carried into effect, <a href="#Page_420">420</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">another Commission appointed to ascertain the reason, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">this Commission procures the contract for mail-coaches to be thrown open to public competition, <a href="#Page_425">425</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Runners, <a href="#Page_118">118</a><br />
+<br />
+Rye-House Plot, the cause of a Post Office proclamation, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Sailors on board the packets, their conditions of service, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">receive pensions for wounds, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their wages withheld, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their wages increased, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></span><br />
+<br />
+St. John, Henry, afterwards Viscount Bolingbroke, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Leonards, Shoreditch, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+St. Martin's-le-Grand, opening of Post Office at, <a href="#Page_410">410</a><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span><br />
+Salaries. <i>See</i> Wages<br />
+<br />
+Salisbury, James, Marquess of, postmaster-general from 1816 to 1823. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part VIII.<br />
+<br />
+Samples. <i>See</i> Patterns<br />
+<br />
+Sampson, captain of packet, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Sandwich, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">specimen of his frank, Appendix</span><br />
+<br />
+Sandwich, John, Earl of, son of the preceding, postmaster-general from 1807 to 1814, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br />
+<br />
+Sandwich, Kent, asserts its right to a free delivery, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Scotland, tardiness of communication with, before 1635, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">communication expedited by Witherings, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage to Scotland, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">post to Edinburgh set up by the City of London, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extent of correspondence with Scotland in 1690, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Scotch posts placed under the postmasters-general of England, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salaries of Scotch postmasters, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1765 posts to and within Scotland increased in frequency, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Post Office in Edinburgh no longer habitable, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">internal administration of Scotch Post Office revised by Palmer, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">penny post established in Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">postage rates within Scotland raised, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wholesale prosecutions for illicit correspondence, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exemption from toll withdrawn and an additional postage rate imposed, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unhandsome conduct of the road trustees, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">roads discoached, <a href="#Page_360">360</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Search, powers of, refused by the House of Commons, <a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+<br />
+Sebright, Sir John, his letter accidentally opened, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Secretary of State, clerks in the office of, compensated for the loss of the newspaper privilege, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br />
+<br />
+Secretary of the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1694, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br />
+<br />
+Secret Office, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a><br />
+<br />
+Sharpus, postmaster of New York, <a href="#Page_111">111</a><br />
+<br />
+Sheffield, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Shelburne, William, Earl of, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br />
+<br />
+Ship letters, origin of ship letter money, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by means of the penny post evade full postage, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of, in 1686, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pence paid upon, without legal sanction, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">legal sanction given, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ship letter office established, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rates on, increased and restrictions imposed, <a href="#Page_361">361</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">restrictions modified, <a href="#Page_362">362</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">made compulsory upon private ships to carry mails, <a href="#Page_362">362</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Ship news supplied by the Post Office to Lloyds, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br />
+<br />
+Shipwrecked seamen pass free by packet, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Shrewsbury, curious reply to petition from, for earlier post, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br />
+<br />
+Single letter, definition of, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br />
+<br />
+Smart and bounty money, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br />
+<br />
+Smuggling, on board the packets at Falmouth, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Harwich, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Dover, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the Dover mail-coach, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Soldiers' wives, when travelling supplied with money through the medium of the Post Office, <a href="#Page_374">374</a><br />
+<br />
+Solicitor to the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1703, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an absentee and his duties performed by deputy, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his accounts inspected by Walsingham's direction, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Somerset, Protector, superscription of his letter to Lord Dacre, <a href="#Page_20">20</a><br />
+<br />
+Sorters, pay of, in 1690, <a href="#Page_49">49</a><br />
+<br />
+Southampton, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Speed of post in Queen Elizabeth's time, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in time of James the First, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at the end of the seventeenth century, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between London and Falmouth and London and Harwich, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">under Allen's contract, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in 1765, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">after 1784, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">speed of Holyhead mail-coach before and after Telford's improvement of the road, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of mail-coaches generally in 1821 and 1836, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>, <a href="#Page_426">426</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Spencer, Lord Charles, postmaster-general from 1801 to 1806, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Spitalfields, a second penny improperly charged on penny post letters addressed to, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br />
+<br />
+Sprange, James, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+Spring Rice, Thomas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, <a href="#Page_428">428</a><br />
+<br />
+Stage, inconvenience resulting from term not being defined, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">term dropped as unit of charge, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span><br />
+Stanhope of Harrington, John, Lord, Master of the Posts, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resents what he conceives to be an invasion of his patent, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">dies and is succeeded as Master of the Posts by his son, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Stanhope of Harrington, Charles, Lord, Master of the Posts, son of the preceding, vigorously asserts his rights, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">vacillating decisions of the Privy Council, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">surrenders his patent, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">alleges cajolery, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Stanhope, Arthur, comptroller of the foreign department, his emoluments from franking, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">supplies newspapers with summaries of foreign intelligence, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Stanhope, James, Secretary of State, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br />
+<br />
+Stanwix, Colonel, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br />
+<br />
+State letters, <a href="#Page_83">83</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Staunton, John, postmaster of Isleworth; appointed comptroller of the bye and cross-roads, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br />
+<br />
+Steam packets, first employment of, by the Post Office, <a href="#Page_384">384</a><br />
+<br />
+Stock Exchange, The, outwits the Post Office, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br />
+<br />
+Stockdale, a highwayman, execution of, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Stokes, William, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br />
+<br />
+Stone, George, Receiver-General, a defaulter, <a href="#Page_185">185</a><br />
+<br />
+Stowmarket, its position and its trade unknown to Allen, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br />
+<br />
+Strangers' post. <i>See</i> Foreign merchants<br />
+<br />
+Sudbury, duties and salary of postmaster in 1690, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br />
+<br />
+Sunderland, Charles, Earl of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+Surveyors, appointment of, refused by the Treasury, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">afterwards sanctioned, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their original functions, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their functions and emoluments after 1786, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their journals, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cease to hold postmasterships in addition to their appointments as surveyors, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Swift, Richard, solicitor to the Post Office, prepares Post Office bill of 1711, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is overborne by Lowndes, secretary to the Treasury, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Tankerville, Charles, Earl of, postmaster-general from April 1782 to May 1783, and again from January 1784 to September 1786. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part V.<br />
+<br />
+Telford, Thomas, takes in hand the road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between Shrewsbury and London, <a href="#Page_393">393</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">other roads, <a href="#Page_409">409</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Thanet, Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of, undertakes to establish a penny post in Dublin, <a href="#Page_69">69</a><br />
+<br />
+"Thorough poste," 5 <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Thrale, Mrs., <a href="#Page_209">209</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Threepenny post, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_417">417</a><br />
+<br />
+Thurloe, John, secretary, assumes direction of the Post Office in 1655, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">intercepts letters, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Thurlow, Edward, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Chancellor; his opinion as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of delivering letters, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br />
+<br />
+Thynne, Henry Frederick, afterwards Carteret. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.<br />
+<br />
+Timepieces, mode of regulating mail-guards', <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Times</i> newspaper, its priority of intelligence, <a href="#Page_347">347</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its criticisms on Post Office procedure, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proceedings against, taken by Freeling, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tinware, supply of, to the postmasters-general, <a href="#Page_232">232</a><br />
+<br />
+Todd, Anthony, secretary to the Post Office; his correspondence with Benjamin Franklin, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his indifference, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">comments upon Tankerville's temper, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his compromising position in respect to the packets, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his emoluments, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his remark upon Bonnor's dilatory replies, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">devotes himself to social amenities, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unknown to the postmasters-general, retains his shares in the packets, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Toll, mail-coaches exempt from, in England and Scotland but not in Ireland, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">exemption withdrawn in Scotland, <a href="#Page_359">359</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Townshend, Horatio, Lord, <a href="#Page_64">64</a><br />
+<br />
+Townshend, Charles, deprecates alarm because a letter is sent by express, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br />
+<br />
+Travellers, obtain use of post-horses under false pretences, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are not to be supplied with horses except at the post-houses, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">paucity of travellers, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are not to be supplied with horses when the post is expected, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">have to pay more for horses after the erection of milestones, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">their restriction to post-houses for a supply of horses withdrawn, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span><br />
+Treasury, its relations to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_416">416</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses the appointment of surveyors, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses a horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">experience of its ways a bar to the suggestion of improvements, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extorts blackmail, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Treves, Peregrine, the recipient of Carteret's bounty, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Tring, the postmaster of, opens a letter addressed to Sir John Sebright, <a href="#Page_333">333</a><br />
+<br />
+Tuke, Sir Brian, Master of the Posts to Henry the Eighth, his letter to Thomas Cromwell, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his duties, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">explanation suggested of statement in his letter, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tunbridge, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+<br />
+Tunbridge Wells, old-fashioned postmaster of, in 1823, <a href="#Page_408">408</a><br />
+<br />
+Turnpikes, condition of the trusts at the beginning of the nineteenth century, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">number of Turnpike Acts passed between 1760 and 1809, <a href="#Page_390">390</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Twopenny post, a second penny charged by Dockwra on delivery of letters in the outskirts of London, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">this second penny not legally sanctioned until 1730, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the twopenny post thus established in one direction established also in the other, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the penny post converted into a twopenny post, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the revenue of the twopenny post as compared with that of the penny post, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the crowded condition of the twopenny Post Office in Westminster, <a href="#Page_410">410</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, Earl of, opens the mails at Dublin Castle, <a href="#Page_53">53</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Uniform, letter-carriers put into, <a href="#Page_299">299</a><br />
+<br />
+Urin, captain of packet, makes wrong port, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Vanderpoel, packet agent at the Brill, <a href="#Page_92">92</a><br />
+<br />
+Vansittart, Nicholas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, insists upon mail-coaches being withdrawn from the roads, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">raises the rates of postage, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">changes the route of the Holyhead coach, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses to get the terms of a hostile motion altered, <a href="#Page_397">397</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Van Vrybergh, Envoy Extraordinary from the States-General, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br />
+<br />
+Venetian Ambassador, the, protests against the opening of his letters, <a href="#Page_28">28</a><br />
+<br />
+Vidler, his contract for the supply of mail-coaches terminated, <a href="#Page_425">425</a><br />
+<br />
+Village posts. <i>See</i> Convention posts<br />
+<br />
+Viner, Sir Robert, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+Wade, General, <a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+Wages and salaries, of Post Office servants in 1690, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of seamen on board the packets, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of certain postmasters in England, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, and in Scotland, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of mail-guards, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Waghorn, Thomas, <a href="#Page_409">409</a><br />
+<br />
+Wainwright, postmistress of Ferrybridge, her original mode of supplying an omission, <a href="#Page_159">159</a><br />
+<br />
+Walcot, John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, terms of his agreement with Barham, packet agent at Dover, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+<br />
+Walpole, Sir Robert, maintains an office for the opening of letters, <a href="#Page_170">170</a><br />
+<br />
+Walpole, Galfridus, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1725. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Part IV.<br />
+<br />
+Walpole, Horace, precautions taken by, to secure his correspondence against inspection, <a href="#Page_172">172</a><br />
+<br />
+Walsingham, Thomas, Lord, postmaster-general from July 1787 to July 1794. <i>See</i> Postmasters-General, Parts VI. and VII.<br />
+<br />
+Warwick, Robert, Earl of, acquires Witherings's patent and claims possession of the letter office, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attempts to obtain it by force, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">continues to assert his claim, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Warwick, course of post to, altered in 1695, <a href="#Page_57">57</a><br />
+<br />
+Waterhouse, Benjamin, Secretary to the Post Office, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Watson, Sir Charles, <a href="#Page_296">296</a><br />
+<br />
+Way letter, meaning of term, <a href="#Page_147">147</a><br />
+<br />
+Weights to be attached to sea-borne mails, <a href="#Page_82">82</a><br />
+<br />
+Wellesley, Sir Arthur, sets aside objections to improving communication with Ireland, <a href="#Page_390">390</a><br />
+<br />
+West Indies, packets to the, established, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amount of correspondence in 1705, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">service discontinued in 1711, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resumed in 1745, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">improved arrangements for disposing of the West Indian mails, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span><br />
+Westmorland, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from September 1789 to March 1790, <a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+<br />
+Weston, Henry, secretary to the Post Office, harsh treatment of, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Weston brothers, trial of, <a href="#Page_290">290</a><br />
+<br />
+Wetherall, Robert, master of ship <i>Albinia</i>, proceedings against, for refusing to take mails on board, <a href="#Page_362">362</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Weymouth, constituted a packet station, <a href="#Page_313">313</a><br />
+<br />
+Whinnery, Thomas, postmaster of Belfast, his revolving "alphabet," <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his mode of delivery, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Whitworth, Richard, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br />
+<br />
+Wildman, Colonel John, postmaster-general from July 1689 to March 1690, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Willatt, Dame, postmistress of Manchester in 1792, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">granted a pension, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Willes, Doctor, Dean of Lincoln, afterwards Bishop of St. Davids; the "chief Decypherer," <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br />
+<br />
+Willes, Mr. Justice, his judgment upon the question of free delivery, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+William III., confers a pension upon Dockwra, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">refuses to exempt postmasters from the quartering of soldiers, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is unwilling to prosecute for the illegal conveyance of letters, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his opinion as to the requirements of a mail packet, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the soundness of that opinion confirmed, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Williamson, Peter, sets up an office for the delivery of letters in Edinburgh, <a href="#Page_300">300</a><br />
+<br />
+Willimott, Receiver-General, <a href="#Page_398">398</a> <i>note</i><br />
+<br />
+Wilson, mail-coach contractor, his exorbitant bill for horsing the King's coach, <a href="#Page_251">251</a><br />
+<br />
+Witherings, Thomas, succeeds De Quester as foreign postmaster, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is commissioned to examine into the inland posts, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">suggests a scheme of reorganisation, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">introduces postage, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">contemplates posts being self-supporting, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">but not, apparently, a source of revenue, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes postmaster for both inland and foreign letters, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his appointment is sequestered, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assigns his patent, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Wolters, Dirick, a suspected person, to be searched for at Harwich, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br />
+<br />
+Worthing, course of post from London to, in 1666, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br />
+<br />
+Wren, Sir Christopher, surveys the Post Office premises in Lombard Street, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+York, salary of postmaster in 1792, <a href="#Page_293">293</a><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 142px;">
+<img src="images/tailpiece-pg460.jpg" width="142" height="150" alt="Bugler on galloping horse" title="Bugler on Galloping Horse" />
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="signature">J. D. &amp; Co.</div>
+
+<div class="center"><i>Printed by <span class="smcap">R. &amp; R. Clark</span>, Edinburgh.</i>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FOOTNOTES:</h2>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> 9 April, 17 Elizabeth.&mdash;Further att the same Common Hall [of the town
+of Leicester] it was for dyuers cawses thought good and mete for the service of
+the Prince to have at the chargies of the Towne certen poste horses kepte,
+whearevppon theare was appoynted foure to be kepte, which, thees persouns
+vnderwritten have vndertaken to kepe, and to serve from tyme to tyme so oft
+as nede shalle requier, for and dureinge the space of one wholle yeare nexte
+after the date hereof, viz. Mr. Roberte Eyricke, one; Fraunces Norris, chamberlayn,
+twoe; Thomas Tyars, one. For the which theyre is allowed vnto
+them of the towne for euerie horse thurtie-three shillinges and foure pence,
+that is to say for foure horses vili. xiiis. iiiid. Provyded always that if
+theye the said Robert Eyricke, Frauncis Norrys, and Thomas Tyars doe not
+kepe good and able horses for that purpose and to be readie vppon one half
+howres warnynge to forfitt, lose, and paye for euerie tyme to the Chamber of
+the Towne of Leycester the somme of fyve shillinges. For the payement of
+the said xxli. nobles it is further agreed vppon, in the manner and forme
+followinge, That is to saye, the Mayor and euerie of his bretherene called the
+xxiiii. to paye iis. a pece, and euerie of the xlviii. xiid. a pece, and the
+Resydue that shalbe then lackinge to be levied of the commonaltie and inhabitantes
+of the said towne and the liberties thereof.&mdash;Appendix to the
+Eighth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, p. 425.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The two posts were, at first, distinguished by different names. The
+travellers' post was called "The thorough poste," and the letter post was
+called "The Poste for the Pacquet."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Austria, in the infancy of her post office, appears to have had much the
+same experience. "The postmasters," writes M. Lęper, Director of Posts at
+Markirch, "were in no way protected from the most outrageous behaviour
+on the part of travellers, and were unable to prevent them from overloading
+the horses and vehicles with unreasonably heavy things, chests, boxes, and
+similar articles, by which the conveyance of the same was delayed. They
+could not hinder many travellers from riding heavily-laden horses at full
+speed over hill and dale without drawing rein, so that the animals were
+crippled, disabled, or even ridden to death, and in consequence the postmasters
+were frequently unable to carry out the service for want of horses. The worst
+treatment, however, which the postmasters experienced was at the hands of
+cavaliers and couriers, who often demanded more horses than they needed,
+took them by force, overloaded the coaches with two or three servants, and
+with an immoderate quantity of luggage, and paid an arbitrary sum, just
+whatever they pleased, often not half what was due."&mdash;L'Union Postale of
+October 1, 1885.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> An amusing illustration of the value which, at the end of the sixteenth
+century, was set upon cloth made in London is afforded by a letter from
+Frederick the Second of Denmark to Queen Elizabeth. This letter, dated the
+14th of June 1585, is thus summarised in the 46th Annual Report of the
+Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix ii., page 28: "Has for some
+years past had cloth prepared in London of different colours and after a
+particular pattern, for his use in hunting both in summer and winter. Hears
+now that certain German merchants, having found this out, have had similar
+cloth manufactured, which they sell everywhere, outside his Court and
+family, to many inquisitive and foolish imitators, at a very dear rate. It is
+no concern of his what anybody may wear, but still, as this cloth was made
+of a special kind and colour for himself, he takes it ill that it should be sold to
+others, and begs her therefore (on the application of his agent, Thomas
+Thenneker) strictly to prohibit the sale."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The Proclamation enjoined that on letters "to Plymouth, Exeter, and with the two
+other places in that road," Witherings should "take the like port that now
+is paid, as near as possibly he can."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Her Majesty's Mails</i>, by William Lewins, p. 19.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The term "postage," in the sense of a charge upon a letter, is comparatively
+modern. The Act of 1764 is the first so to use it. The term is indeed
+used in the Act of 1660, but there it signifies the hire of a horse for travelling.
+"Each horse's hire or postage."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Lord Macaulay's words are:&mdash;"The revenue of this establishment was
+not derived solely from the charge for the transmission of letters. The Post
+Office alone was entitled to furnish post-horses; and, from the care with
+which this monopoly was guarded, we may infer that it was found profitable."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Curiously enough, the Post Office Report for 1854 gives the year as
+1683; but this is an error.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Here also the Post Office Report for 1854 is in error. It says that at
+first there was no limit to the weight of a packet.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The exact date of incorporation is uncertain. The decision in the Court
+of King's Bench was given in Michaelmas term 1682; but the first public
+advertisement of the penny post does not appear to have been issued by the
+Postmaster-General until the 11th of March 1684/5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> In the reigns of Charles II. and James II. the practice of billeting,
+illegal as it then was, was necessarily resorted to in order to provide quarters
+for the troops they maintained in time of peace; and even billeting in private
+houses was not unknown. An Act of 1689, the second Mutiny Act, as it is
+called, while forbidding billeting in private houses, authorised it at "inns,
+livery stables, ale houses, victualling houses, and all houses selling brandy,
+strong waters, cyder or metheglin, by retaile, to be dranke in their houses."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> In the agreement with Ralph Allen, dated thirty years later, bye-letters
+are defined to be "letters not going or coming from, to, or through London."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Occasionally, even after William's accession, the postmasters-general
+addressed the King direct. The remonstrance against quartering soldiers
+upon postmasters was so addressed. This document is dated the 1st of
+February 1692/3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> In the case of Grimsby it is the more surprising that this should have
+been so, because out of the only five towns in the kingdom which the Act of
+1660 mentions by name Grimsby is one. According to this Act the post was
+to go there once a week.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> 1661. Feb. 3rd. Robert Reade to Charles Spellman. "Att the right
+honourable my Lord Townshend's in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster."
+The writer says that he has as yet received no command from Mr. Spellman
+or from Lord Townshend, "nor do I wonder at it, because the flying post lay
+drunke last Friday at Fakenham (being the day that he should have binn
+at Thetford to take those letters then there which he should bring hether on
+Saterday), and had not changed his quarter yesterday as I am informed by
+one of Scott's men who saw him pittyfully drunke. The cuntry complaines
+of him."&mdash;Historical Manuscripts Commission, Eleventh Report, Appendix,
+Part iv. p. 25.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public
+Records, Appendix ii. p. 69.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Clarendon's Life</i>, vol. i. p. 135.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Writing in 1709, Mr. Manley, the postmaster-general's deputy in
+Dublin, says, "There are not less than a thousand more houses now than
+there were at my first coming here [<i>i.e.</i> in 1703]. Besides, there are many
+new streets now laid out and buildings erecting every day."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "To divers Masters of Shipps for 60447 letters by them brought from
+forreigne parts this year at one penny each according to the usage&mdash;£251:17:3."&mdash;Extract
+from writ of Privy Seal for passing the accounts of
+"our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Couzen and Councellor Lawrence
+Earle of Rochester, Late our High Treasurer of England."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "This is to give notice that Lancellot Plumer and William Barret are
+appointed by the Postmaster-General of England to receive all such letters
+and pacquets from masters of ships and vessels, mariners and passengers as
+shall be by them hereafter brought in any ships or vessels into the Port of
+London, to the end the same may be delivered with speed and safety according
+to their respective directions and the laws of this kingdom; and that all
+masters of ships or vessels and all mariners and passengers may the better
+take notice thereof, the Right Honourable the Lords of the Admiralty have
+directed that the boat employed in this service do carry colours, in which
+there is to be represented a man on horseback blowing a post horn."&mdash;<i>London
+Gazette</i>, No. 3247, from Monday 21st December to Thursday 24th December
+1696.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Equal, at the then rate of exchange, to £2437:10s.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> "It being a certain maxim," he wrote to the postmasters-general on the
+15th of February 1707, "that as Trade is the producer of correspondence, so
+trade is governed and influenced by the certainty and quickness of
+correspondence."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> In 1706, Court or State letters, for at this time the terms were used indiscriminately,
+were defined to be letters directed to "the Queen, His Royal
+Highness the Prince, the Lord High Treasurer, and the two principal
+Secretarys of State and their clarks." Sometimes, but more rarely, they were
+called "Queen's letters."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Here is one among many similar complaints addressed by the postmasters-general
+to the packet agent at Harwich: "We admire to find the two Bags
+with the States letters brought over by the Prince and Dispatch which
+arrived at Harwich June 21st at 7 in the morning should not be dispatcht
+till 10 the same day; as also at the comeing in of the Mayls, one of
+which being dispatcht at 12 arrived here at 11 at night, yet the other came
+not till 7 next morning."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a>
+The following is a specimen of the protection order given:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>To all Commanders and Officers of our Shipps, Pressmasters and others
+whome it may concerne.
+</p>
+
+<p><br />
+<span class="smcap">James R.</span><br />
+</p>
+<p>
+You are not to imprest into our service any of the six persons hereunder
+named belonging to the Jane of Dover, whereof Richard Moone is
+master, the said vessell being employed in our service as a pacquett boate at
+Dover. Given at our Court at Whitehall the 6th of October 1688.
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature2">
+By His Majesty's Command.</div>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Pepys.</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>
+1. Anth. Deleau.<br />
+2. Jasper Moore.<br />
+3. David Williams.<br />
+4. Pet. Foster.<br />
+5. Dennis Matthew.<br />
+6. Wm. Ambross.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Equal to £562:10s.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> This captain had long been noted for his truculent conduct. Here
+is a letter which the postmasters-general had written to him two or three
+years before:&mdash;
+</p>
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>May 13, 1704</i>.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Captain Chenal</span>&mdash;We received the mail from Portugal brought over by
+you in the <i>Mansbridge</i> packet boat which arriv'd here on Wednesday last.
+We yesterday received your letter and journal of the said voyage, with the
+certificate from the sailors who remained in the service the last voyage. We
+are concern'd to find such differences among persons imploy'd under us, but
+do think the best way to compose them is to advise every one to mind their
+proper business and duty. We do think you may keep all your officers and
+sailors to strict duty without so rugged a treatment as is complain'd of. As
+we are desirous of good discipline, so are we of good agreement, to which we
+would have our agent and yourself to contribute your endeavours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We herewith send you a specimen of a method to keep an abstract of your
+journal by which you would save yourself and us much trouble by observing.&mdash;We
+are, your loving friends,
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">R. Cotton.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">T. Frankland.</span><br /></div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The packet agent at Falmouth.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The provision is as follows: "And for the better management of the
+Post Office, be it enacted that the postmaster-general shall observe such
+orders and instructions concerning the settlement of Posts and stages upon
+the several roads, Cross roads, and Byeways within the United Kingdom and
+other Her Majesty's Dominions, as Her Majesty shall from time to time give
+in that behalf."&mdash;1 Vic. cap. xxxiii. sec. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> The victory at Oudenarde. Who Mr. Bowen was we are not informed.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Evelyn had recently succeeded Sir Robert
+Cotton as postmaster-general.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> This is an allusion to the period antecedent to 1657.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> These runners or post-boys carried the mail through the whole journey,
+resting by the way. It was not, according to common repute, until about
+the year 1750 that the mail began to be carried from stage to stage by
+different post-boys.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> In London the practice continued until the end of 1846; and in Dublin,
+which was the last town in the United Kingdom to give it up, until September
+1859.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Even the notice to the public announcing the change was as unapologetic
+as it well could be:&mdash;"These are to give notice that by the Act of Parliament
+for establishing a General Post Office all letters and packets directed to and
+sent from places distant ten miles or above from the said office in London,
+which before the second of this instant June were received and delivered by
+the officers of the penny post, are now subjected to the same rates of postage
+as general post letters; and that for the accommodation of the inhabitants of
+such places their letters will be conveyed with the same regularity and
+dispatch as formerly, being first taxed with the rates and stamped with the
+mark of the General Post Office; and that all parcels will likewise be taxed
+at the rate of 2s. per ounce, as the said Act directs."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Chamberlayne's <i>State of England</i>, 1710.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> The following letter affords an instance of the exertion of authority
+referred to in the text:&mdash;
+</p>
+<div class="center">
+To the <span class="smcap">Deputys</span> between <span class="smcap">London</span> and <span class="smcap">Tinmouth</span>.<br />
+</div>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>,<br />
+<i>April 6, 1708.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</i><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>&mdash;The bearer hereof, Mr. John Farra, being directed by order
+of the Lord High Treasurer to proceed to Tinmouth on the publick affairs of
+the Government, I am ordered by the postmasters-general to require you to
+furnish the said gentleman with a single horse [<i>i.e.</i> a horse without a guide]
+if required through your several stages, he being well acquainted with the
+roads and coming recommended by such authority, which by their order is
+signified by, Gentlemen, your most humble servant,
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">B. Waterhouse</span>,<br />
+<i>Secretary</i>.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
+
+</div></blockquote>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> In documents intended for the public eye it was the practice of the
+postmasters-general&mdash;and it was by them that these warrants were prepared&mdash;to
+speak of an existing abuse as an abuse that was past. This was, of course,
+to avoid giving offence.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> "And whereas divers deputy postmasters do collect great quantities of
+post letters called by or way letters and, by clandestine and private agreements
+amongst themselves, do convey the same post in their respective mails,
+or by bags, according to their several directions, without accounting for the
+same or endorsing the same on their bills, to the great detriment of Her
+Majesty's revenues."&mdash;9 Anne, cap. x. sec. 18.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> The leases of seven out of the nine branches were cancelled in 1716; and
+those of the other two the postmasters-general expressed their intention
+of cancelling with as little delay as possible. And yet as regards one of
+the number, viz. the Chichester branch, there is reason to doubt whether it
+did not survive until the year 1769.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Here are two letters they wrote:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+To Mr. <span class="smcap">Culvert</span>.
+</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature">
+<i>Nov. 1, 1714.</i>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Sir</span>&mdash;As the three inclosed letters are directed to you in several places we
+have reason to think that some persons have presumed to take the liberty of
+your name. This practice is so great an abuse upon this office, and so very
+prejudicial to His Majesty's revenue, that we must desire you'll be pleased to
+send such letters inclosed that don't belong to you to the office to be charged;
+and we are very well assured you'll discourage the like practice for the future.
+</p><p>
+&mdash;We are, sir, your most humble servants,
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">T. Frankland.<br />
+J. Evelyn.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<div class="center"><br />
+To Sir <span class="smcap">Richard Grosvenor</span>, Bart.<br />
+</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature"><i>April 29, 1715.</i><br />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Sir</span>&mdash;Having observed a letter directed to the Rev. Mr. Harwood at
+Billingsgate that arrived here yesterday in an Irish mail frank't with your
+name in Ireland, and knowing that you are in England, we have reason to
+think that somebody in that kingdom has taken the liberty of signing your
+name to the prejudice of His Majesty's revenue, which is a practice that we
+are convinced you will discourage, and it is in order thereunto that you
+have this trouble from your most humble servants,
+</p>
+
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Cornwallis.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
+James Craggs.</span><br />
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> A strongly-worded petition on the subject was presented to Parliament
+only a year or two after the Restoration. This petition, after calling the
+charge an "abuse and extortion," goes on to say that "it cannot be imagined
+the Parliament should either so far forget themselves, or the countrey for
+which they served, or the necessary and convenient correspondence, as well
+as the trade of His Majesties dominions, as to put them upon worse and
+harder tearms than foreigners, or foreign trade, to the prejudice of the
+kingdom...."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Historical Manuscripts Commission, Appendix to Eleventh Report, Part
+iv. pp. 233, 234.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>British Curiosities in Art and Nature, likewise an Account of the Posts,
+Markets, and Fair-Towns</i>, 1728.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> The book was afterwards published&mdash;<i>The Gentleman's Pocket-Farrier</i>,
+by Doctor Henry Bracken of Lancaster, 1735.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general in 1768.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> This, although unknown probably to the postmasters until now, was no
+new discovery. As far back as 1674 John Ogilby had called attention to the
+erroneous reckonings in vogue. Ogilby had been commissioned by Charles the
+Second to survey and measure the principal roads of England, and having
+performed his task he published the result of his labours in a large folio
+volume. In the preface to an abridgment of this work, published in 1711,
+he thus wrote: "The distances are all along reckoned in measur'd miles and
+furlongs, beginning from the Standard in Cornhil, so that the reader must
+not be surprized when he finds the number of miles set down here exceed the
+common computation. For example, from London to York are computed
+but 150 miles, whereas by measure the distance is 192 miles. And computation
+being very uncertain, it must be granted that no exactness could be
+observed but [by] adhering constantly to the standard-mile of 1760 yards,
+which contains eight furlongs."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> This explains why in the Road Books of the time the distance between
+two places is stated differently in two parallel columns under the initials C
+and M, the one being the computed and the other the measured distance.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> 26 Geo. II. cap. xiii. sec. 7.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> The box into which the letters fell was at this time an open one, <i>i.e.</i>
+without a cover and movable. It was not until 1792 that the letter-box was
+closed, fixed, and locked.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Among these robberies there was, so far as we are aware, only one
+which possessed any feature of interest; and in this case the interest was of a
+psychological nature. Gardner, a postman, was stopped by three highwaymen
+on Winchmore Hill, and, on his refusing to give up his letters, they
+murdered him. Atrocities of this kind had been frequent, and executions
+had failed to check them. But the resources of civilisation were not
+exhausted. Lord Lovell&mdash;or the Earl of Leicester, as he had now become&mdash;waited
+upon the King and procured His Majesty's assent that, after execution,
+the highwaymen's bodies should be hung in chains. To be hanged was one
+thing; after hanging, to have one's body suspended in chains was another.
+This was an indignity to which no respectable criminal should be called upon
+to submit. Such would seem to be the idea conveyed in the following letter
+which Leicester received:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+To the Right Hon. the <span class="smcap">Earl of Leicester</span>, at <span class="smcap">Holkham, Norfolk</span>.<br />
+</div>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Thursday</span>, <i>Oct. 1753</i>.<br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">My Lord</span>&mdash;I find that it was by your orders that Mr. Stockdale was
+hung in chains. Now, if you don't order him to be taken down, I will set
+fire to your house and blow your brains out the first opportunity.
+</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>
+Stockdale was clerk to a proctor in Doctors Commons.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Elsewhere we have expressed a desire to avoid, as far as possible, the use
+of technical terms, and the propriety of this course will probably not be disputed
+when we state that the charge against Bell was that having "crowned
+the advanced letters" he failed to account for the proceeds. An "advanced"
+letter was one on which the postage had been advanced, a letter which,
+having been undercharged in the country, was surcharged in London. To
+"crown" a letter was to impress it with the stamp of the Crown, denoting
+that the surcharge had been made. Virtually, therefore, the charge against
+Bell was that he had embezzled the surcharges.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Of Allen's personal appearance the only account, so far as we are aware,
+is to be found in the correspondence of Samuel Derrick, Master of the
+Ceremonies at Bath. Derrick writes, under date May 10, 1763: "I have
+had an opportunity of visiting Mr. Allen in the train of the French Ambassador.
+He is a very grave, well-looking old man, plain in his dress, resembling
+that of a Quaker, and courteous in his behaviour. I suppose he cannot be
+much under seventy."&mdash;Vol. ii. p. 94.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> 1: <i>The Present State of Great Britain and Ireland</i>, published in 1742,
+states that at that time compensation was still given for losses sustained in
+the penny post. The words are: "If a parcel happen to miscarry, the value
+thereof is to be made good by the office, provided the things were securely
+inclosed and fast sealed up under the impression of some remarkable seal."
+This is an error; and that an error should be made on the point serves to
+confirm the view that little was known of the Post Office and its doings even
+150 years ago. That compensation was not at that time given for losses is
+beyond all question. It happens that in that very year, 1742, a Mr.
+Vavasour appealed to Whitehall to grant him compensation for the loss of
+bank notes to the amount of £20 which had been stolen from a letter in its
+transit through the post; and the postmasters-general, after stating that no
+precedent existed for granting compensation, implored the Treasury not to
+create one. "All persons," they write under date the 4th of August 1742,
+"that for their own convenience send notes or bills of value by the post
+inclosed in letters do so at their own risque without any foundation that we
+know of for recovery of this office in case they should be stolen or lost by
+robbery or other accidents. And this we take to be not only reasonable but
+just in all construction of law." Again, in 1778 an action for compensation
+was brought against the Post Office, and Lord Mansfield, after delivering the
+unanimous opinion of the Court of King's Bench that the postmasters-general
+were not responsible for losses sustained in their department, proceeded to
+observe that no similar action had been brought since the year 1699. Giles
+Jacob, in his <i>Law Dictionary</i>, published in the last century, gives this account
+of the matter: "It was determined so long ago as 13 Will. III., in the case of
+<i>Lane</i> v. <i>Cotton</i>, by three judges of the Court of King's Bench, though contrary
+to Lord Chief Justice Holt's opinion, that no action could be maintained
+against the postmasters-general for the loss of bills or articles sent in letters
+by the post."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> The reason for the provision was thus given in the preamble:
+"Whereas many heavy and bulky packets and parcels are now sent and conveyed
+by such carriage which by their bulk and weight greatly retard the
+speedy delivery thereof...."&mdash;5 Geo. III. cap. xxv. sec. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> For what constituency Richard Hiver sat we have been unable to
+discover. His name does not appear in the return of members of Parliament
+presented to the House of Commons in 1878.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "Whereas the several streets, lanes, squares, yards, courts, alleys,
+passages and places within the city of London and the liberties thereof are in
+general ill-paved and cleansed and not duly enlightened, and are also greatly
+obstructed by posts and annoyed by signs, spouts, and gutters projecting into
+and over the same, whereby and by sundry other encroachments and annoyances
+they are rendered incommodious and in some parts dangerous not
+only to the inhabitants but to all others passing through the same or resorting
+thereto...."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Thus, Mrs. Thrale to Doctor Johnson. Writing from Bath on the 4th
+of July 1784, she says: "I write by the coach the more speedily and
+effectually to prevent your coming hither."&mdash;Hayward's <i>Autobiography of
+Mrs. Piozzi</i>, vol. i. p. 241.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Thus, the Act 20 Geo. III. cap. li. sec. 2&mdash;an Act passed four years
+before the mails were carried by coach:&mdash;
+</p><p>
+"That every person who shall keep any four-wheeled chaise or other
+machine commonly called a diligence or post-coach, or by what name soever
+such carriages now are or hereafter shall be called or known...."
+</p><p>
+That the term post-coach, as distinguished from mail-coach, was in vogue
+as late as 1827 appears from evidence taken in that year before the Commissioners
+of Revenue Inquiry&mdash;"(Q.) Are you acquainted with the post-coaches?
+(A.) Not any very great deal. (Q.) Comparing them with mail-coaches,
+which do you think are the best formed? (A.) Decidedly the
+mail-coaches, I think."&mdash;Appendix to Eighteenth Report, p. 443.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> A foreign registered letter <i>outwards</i> would be a letter registered as far as
+Dover or Harwich or Falmouth for transmission abroad, and possibly on board
+ship. A foreign registered letter <i>inwards</i> would not be the exact converse,
+for there would be no registration from the port of arrival to London. The
+fee of 5s. covered the registration of a letter only from London to its
+destination.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> boats. At Liverpool packets, in the sense of boats commissioned by
+Government to carry letters, did not at this time exist.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The King's physician.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> The Post Office accounts for the year 1749 were not passed until 1784;
+and then only through the exertions of Lord Mountstuart, who had succeeded
+Mr. Aislabie as one of the auditors of His Majesty's imprests.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> A letter to a member of Parliament on mail-coaches, by Thomas Pennant,
+Esq., 1792.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> At this time the number of newspapers passing through the London office
+averaged 80,000 a week, of which 78,000 were from London to the country
+and 2000 from the country to London. Mixed, that is wet and dry together,
+they were computed to weigh sixteen to the pound.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> How Carteret managed to retain his appointment for more than eighteen
+years is not the least perplexing of Post Office problems. Meanwhile the
+joint postmaster-generalship had undergone the following changes:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="PM General Changes">
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Le Despencer</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From Jan. 16, 1771,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Thynne (afterwards Carteret)</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to Dec. 11, 1781.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret (sometime Thynne)</td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">From Dec. 11, 1781,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">to Jan. 24, 1782.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From Jan. 24, 1782,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Viscount Barrington</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to April 25, 1782.</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From April 25, 1782,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Earl of Tankerville</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to May 1, 1783.</td></tr>
+
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From May 1, 1783,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Foley</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to Jan. 7, 1784.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret, created Lord</td><td align="left">}</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Carteret Jan. 29, 1784</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From Jan. 7, 1784,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Earl of Tankerville (a second time)</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to Sept. 19, 1786.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+
+
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Carteret</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From Sept. 19, 1786,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Earl of Clarendon</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to Dec. 10, 1786.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Carteret</td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">From Dec. 10, 1786,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">to July 6, 1787.</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Carteret</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">From July 6, 1787,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Lord Walsingham</td><td align="left">}</td><td align="left">to Sept. 19, 1789.</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Sir Rowland Hill, in his <i>Autobiography</i> (vol. ii. p. 28), does not hesitate
+to write as follows: "Incredible as it may appear to my readers, it is nevertheless
+true that so late as 1844 a system, dating from some far distant time,
+was in full operation, under which clerks from the foreign office used to
+attend on the arrival of mails from abroad, to open the letters addressed to
+certain ministers resident in England, and make from them such extracts as
+they deemed useful for the service of Government."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Even in such a detail as the manner of dismissal, Pitt shewed his usual
+consideration for Palmer. By the minister's direction Palmer was not to be
+dismissed in so many words. The postmasters-general were simply to make
+out another nominal list of the establishment, and from this list Palmer's
+name was to be excluded.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Later on, Mr. Pickwick would seem to have extended his operations.
+"(Q.) Are you in the habit of working coaches to any great distance from
+London? (A.) I work them half-way to Bristol. With Mr. Pickwick of
+Bath I work to Newbury."&mdash;Evidence of Mr. William Home, taken on the
+2nd of March 1819 before the Select Committee on the Highways of the
+Kingdom.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The packet agency had been removed from Harwich to Yarmouth during
+the war. Yarmouth, by road, is 124 miles from London.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Mrs. Davy was born in 1760.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> As late as 1854 Bournemouth received its letters from Poole by donkey
+and cart.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> This was a commission of three halfpence on every dozen newspapers,
+besides one newspaper in every quire.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> From this time the expression "banker's frank" passed into a by-word,
+and was used to denote any frank, whether given by a banker or not, which
+was in excess of the prescribed number.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> This is Godolphin's letter:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">Treasury Chambers</span>, <i>June 8, 1703</i>.
+</div>
+
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>&mdash;My Lord Treasurer hath commanded me to signify to you
+his Lordship's direction that whenever your Sollicitor shall pay any fees to any
+Serjeant or Councellor at law, or give any sum or sums of money for coppys
+to any Clerk or Clerks or Officers in any Court or Courts of Record at
+Westminster, he shall take a ticket subscribed with the hand and name of
+the same Serjeant or Councellor or from the Clerk or Officer testifying how
+much he hath received for his fee or hath been paid by him for coppys, and
+at what time and how often, according to the statute in the third year of the
+reign of King James the First, made and provided in that behalf, and His
+Lordship directs you to take care that what money shall be hereafter expended
+for law charges relating to the Revenue under your management, the same
+be so expressed in the Bill of Incidents, that it may appear to His Lordship
+that the above-mentioned directions have been duly comply'd with.&mdash;I am,
+gentlemen, your most humble servant,
+</p>
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">William Lowndes</span>.
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.</span><br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> 42 George III. cap. lxxxi. (June 20, 1802).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> This experience is not to be compared with that of Inspector Dicker, who
+in 1839 wrote to the Secretary of the Post Office as follows:&mdash;
+</p><p>
+"<span class="smcap">Honoured Sir</span> ... On arriving at Caxton, in the course of conversation
+with the landlord of the Crown Public-House respecting the loss of the above-mentioned
+bag, he informed me he had found a mail bag secreted under an
+oak floor between the joists that supported the floor in one of the upper rooms
+of his house, and that the letters it contained were of very ancient date, as
+far back as the year 1702. I requested to be allowed to see them, and, on
+his producing them, discovered it to be a London bag labelled Tuxford. I
+desired to be allowed to take two of the letters with me and a bit of the bag,
+which I gave to Mr. Peacock the solicitor. The only intelligence I could
+gain as to the probable cause of the bag being found there was that a post-rider
+was robbed and murdered about the date of the above-mentioned letters."
+The two letters are still with the official papers. One of them is undecipherable.
+The other is nearly as legible as on the day it was written. In it the
+writer announces to his uncle the death of his mother from "the Small Pox
+and purples," and states that this disease is devastating the town of Kirtlington.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <i>Weekly Political Register</i>, Nos. 25 and 26, 21st and 28th Dec. 1805.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> What we have here called "franked" newspapers went free in both
+directions; but of course it was only newspapers outwards that bore a signature
+on the superscription. On those inwards a signature was immaterial,
+as they would in any case go, without being charged, direct from the port of
+arrival to Lombard Street. Abroad, special arrangements for their transit
+and delivery were made from London. Thus, the London Office by means of
+its private agency could get an English newspaper delivered in Paris for 2d.
+By post, the charge between Calais and Paris would have been from 3s. to 4s.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> One of the first, if not the very first, against whom proceedings were
+taken under this provision of the statute was Robert Wetherall, master of the
+ship <i>Albinia</i>, from Gravesend to the Cape of Good Hope. Wetherall had at
+the last moment refused to take the mails on board, consisting of 173 letters.
+On the advice of the law officers the Post Office contemplated proceeding
+against him by indictment; but the Government decided to proceed by
+information, with a view apparently to give to the case greater importance
+and notoriety.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Clancarty was afterwards appointed joint postmaster-general of England.
+This appointment he held from 30th September 1814 to 6th April 1816, but
+he never took it up. Between the dates mentioned he was employed on
+missions abroad.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> At one time the express newspapers went all the way from London to
+Dublin post free; but this, at the date of the advertisement, had been
+stopped, and as far as Holyhead their carriage was now being provided for
+under an arrangement with the London agents. From Holyhead to Dublin,
+however, they still went in the mail free of postage, and on arrival in Dublin
+such of them as were destined for the country were franked by the clerks of
+the roads.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> In 1823 the Irish mail-coaches travelled daily a distance of 1450 miles
+at a cost to the Post Office of more than £30,000 a year, while in England
+the cost over the same number of miles would have been only £7500. From
+this, however, it is not to be understood that in one country the cost was four
+times as heavy as in the other, because the Irish mile was longer than the
+English one by about two furlongs, and in England the contractors did not, as
+they did in Ireland, provide the coaches.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> The exact number of passengers in the year 1814 was 14,577, made up
+as follows: Cabin passengers, 12,142; passengers' servants, 1136; hold
+passengers, 1299.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> The following are copies of the advertisements referred to:&mdash;
+</p><p>
+"The Howth Royal Mail-Coach sets out every evening at seven o'clock from
+the Cork Coach Office, 12 Dawson Street, where passengers and luggage will
+be booked, and arrives at Howth at a quarter after eight, when the packet
+will immediately sail (independently of the tide) with the Irish mails and
+passengers for Holyhead. From the admirable construction of these vessels
+for fast sailing and excellent accommodation the passage from the pier at
+Howth to Holyhead will on the average be performed in one-third less time
+than by the <i>Pigeon House</i>. Besides, as no more than eight or ten passengers
+will be admitted into any one of these packets, the public, on the score of
+expedition and comfort, will soon experience the advantage of going to Holyhead
+by Howth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Passengers by the mail-coach have a preference as to berths in the packets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i>July 21, 1813.</i>"
+</p><p>
+"Howth Royal Mail-Coach, well guarded, sets out from the Cork Coach
+Office, No. 12 Dawson Street, at seven o'clock every evening with mails and
+passengers to His Majesty's express packets at Howth, from whence one of
+these excellent vessels sails at half after eight o'clock every night for
+Holyhead.
+</p><p>
+"<i>July 31, 1813.</i>"</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> By the Post Office packets the number of passengers between Holyhead
+and Dublin during the years 1818-<a href="#Page_20">20</a> was as follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="No of Passengers">
+<tr><td align="left">Year.</td><td align="center">Number of</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="center">Passengers.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">1818</td><td align="right">13,128</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">1819</td><td align="right">12,956</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">1820</td><td align="right">7,468</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p>
+Private steam packets began to ply in July 1819.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> Kinniogga, the old name for Cernioge.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> "God knows whether we are to remain postmen or not, or whether all
+the lights which philosophy is now throwing upon coach-making are not to
+be left by us as an official legacy to some more pliant successors."&mdash;Chesterfield
+to Walsingham, 22nd April 1792.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> The postage between Liverpool and Dublin by way of Holyhead was
+13d., as thus made up:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Postage">
+<tr><td align="left">Inland postage to Holyhead</td><td align="right">9d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the Conway Bridge</td><td align="right">1d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">For the Menai Bridge</td><td align="right">1d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">Sea postage</td><td align="right">2d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&mdash;</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">13d.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">&nbsp;</td><td align="right">&mdash;</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> The official intimation was received at the Post Office on the 28th of
+May. On the same day Lord Salisbury wrote to the receiver-general as
+follows:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">General Post Office</span>, <i>May 28, 1822</i>.<br />
+</div>
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Sir</span>&mdash;I have received instructions from the Lords Commissioners of His
+Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you that on the 5th of July next you are to
+retain in your hands the salary of £2500 hitherto paid to me as joint postmaster-general.&mdash;I
+am, etc.,
+</p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Salisbury</span>.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+R. Willimott, Esq., Receiver-General.</p>
+</blockquote></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> The sums abated were afterwards returned. It was not until 1834 that
+abatements towards superannuation were imposed by statute.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> 42 George III. cap. lxiii. sec. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> This is the circular which was issued to postmasters on the occasion of a
+dissolution:&mdash;
+</p><p>
+"The Parliament is dissolved. The franks of this evening are necessarily
+charged with postage, and you will immediately charge all letters and packets
+excepting the letters franked by such public officers as are by law at all times
+exempted from postage. Full instructions will be sent to-morrow."</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Since 1814 receipts had been given for registered letters. In that year
+Mr. H. M. Raikes, of 4 Portman Square, represented that he frequently sent
+valuable parcels of diamonds between this country and Holland, and that
+these parcels he insured, but that, to be certain of recovering his insurance
+should any casualty happen, "the London merchant ought to have some
+proof in his possession of his having delivered such a packet into the charge of
+the Post Office." If, he added, the clerks would give a receipt, the merchant
+would gladly give them for their trouble an additional guinea. The suggestion
+to charge a second guinea was not adopted; but from that time a receipt had
+been given for a registered letter in the following form:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<span class="smcap">Foreign Post Office.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="signature">
+<span class="smcap">London</span> 181
+</div>
+
+<p><br />
+It is hereby certified that .................... has registered at this office a<br />
+sealed packet said to contain .................... addressed to ....................<br />
+which will be forwarded to .................... by the mail of this evening;<br />
+but for its safe conveyance this office is not responsible.<br />
+</p><p><br />
+(<i>Signature</i>) ....................<br />
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> 7 and 8 George IV. cap. xxi.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> At the outset in 1792 the limit had indeed been fixed at £5:5s.; but
+even in the first year this limit was largely exceeded. During the three
+months ending the 10th of October 1800, 697 money orders were issued, viz.
+220 in London and 477 in the country, representing an aggregate amount of
+£8863, or at the rate of more than £12 apiece.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Among the records of the Post Office is still preserved a money order
+drawn by one postmaster upon another at the beginning of the century. A
+facsimile of it is given in the Appendix. <a href="#Page_438">see facsimile</a></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Five within a single year. The Duke of Richmond ceased to be postmaster-general
+in July 1834; and he was followed by Lord Conyngham, Lord
+Maryborough, Lord Conyngham a second time, and Lord Lichfield, the last of
+whom was appointed in May 1835.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> The Right Hon. Thomas Spring Rice.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> The concentration of the offices of Lord Treasurer and Postmaster-General
+in one person served to facilitate the transaction of Post Office business in a
+manner which those who have had experience of the present system will not be
+slow to understand. Take, for instance, the question of increasing a Post Office
+servant's salary. At the present time the Postmaster-General may be thoroughly
+convinced himself that an increase is called for, but&mdash;what is a very different
+matter&mdash;he has also to convince the Treasury. In 1686 the Postmaster-General's
+own conviction was enough. The following will serve as an illustration. Thomas
+Cale, Postmaster of Bristol, applies for an increase of salary, and Frowde, the
+Governor, satisfies Rochester that an increase will be proper. Forthwith issues
+a document, of which the operative part is as follows:&mdash;"You are therefore of
+opinion that the said salary (£50) is very small considering the expense the petitioner
+is att, and his extraordinary trouble, Bristoll being a greate Citty, but you
+say that you doe not think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt
+ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for (as you
+informe me) you doe not allow either candles, packthread, wax, ink, penns or
+paper to any of the Postmasters, nor office-rent, nor returnes of mony, you are
+therefore of opinion that tenn pounds per annum to his former salary of £50 will
+be a reasonable allowance, and the petitioner will be therewith satisfied, these
+are therefore to pray and require you" to raise his salary from £50 to £60
+accordingly. </p>
+
+<div class="signature"><span class="smcap">Rochester.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Whitehall Treasury Chambers</span>, <i>Dec. 13, 1686</i>.</p></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="tn"><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
+
+<p>Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of
+October 1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802
+according to context.</p>
+
+<p>Two changes were made according to the errata:</p>
+
+<p>Page 324 "that the practice dated from 1713" changed to 1703.</p>
+<p>Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of October 1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802 according to context.</p>
+
+<p>These corrections are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections.
+Scroll the cursor over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of the Post Office, by Herbert
+Joyce
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The History of the Post Office
+       From Its Establishment Down to 1836
+
+
+Author: Herbert Joyce
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 17, 2011  [eBook #38328]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Adrian Mastronardi, The Philatelic Digital Library
+Project (http://www.tpdlp.net), Julia Neufeld, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 38328-h.htm or 38328-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38328/38328-h/38328-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38328/38328-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+      Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
+
+      The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter
+      is superscripted (example: Y^e). If two or more
+      letters are superscripted they are enclosed in curly brackets
+      (example: Hon^{able.}).
+
+      Archaic spelling and punctuation have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE
+
+From Its Establishment Down to 1836
+
+by
+
+HERBERT JOYCE, C.B.
+Of the Post Office
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Publisher Logo]
+
+London
+Richard Bentley & Son, New Burlington Street
+Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen
+1893
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I
+
+  Introduction--Master of the Posts--Posts centred in the Sovereign--
+  Instructions for their Regulation--Travelling Post--Object of the Post
+  Office Monopoly                                                Page 1
+
+  CHAPTER II
+
+  The Post through the County of Kent--This Post put under the care of De
+  Quester--Stanhope of Harrington, as Master of the Posts, asserts his
+  Rights--Vacillating Decisions of the Privy Council--Sir John Coke--Thomas
+  Witherings                                                          8
+
+  CHAPTER III
+
+  Decadence of the Posts--Witherings's Plan--Introduction of Postage--
+  Concessions to the common Carrier--Post-haste--Witherings appointed
+  Master of the Inland as well as the Foreign Posts--His Dismissal--Philip
+  Burlamachi--Dissensions between the Lords and Commons--Edmund
+  Prideaux appointed Witherings's Successor                          15
+
+  CHAPTER IV
+
+  Prideaux's Activity--Unauthorised Post set up to Scotland--System of
+  Farming--Prideaux ceases to be Master of the Posts--Secretary Thurloe--
+  The Posts become the Subject of Parliamentary Enactment--Rates of
+  Postage--Letters circulate through London--The Travelling Post not a
+  Source of Revenue--Clement Oxenbridge                              24
+
+  CHAPTER V
+
+  Frequent Change of Farmers--Tediousness of the Course of Post--Existence
+  of the Posts not a matter of common Knowledge--Dockwra's Penny
+  Post--Introduction of Postmarks--Penny Post incorporated into the
+  General Post--Dockwra's Dismissal                                  33
+
+  CHAPTER VI
+
+  Posts regarded as Vehicles for the Propagation of Treason--Wildman--
+  Cotton and Frankland--Post Office Establishment--Revenue--Building in
+  Lombard Street--Dispersion of Letters--Salaries and Wages--Newspapers--
+  Drink   and Feast Money--Post-horses--Quartering of Soldiers--
+  Postmasters' Emoluments--Scotland--Ireland--Bye-letters--Illicit
+  Traffic--Treasury Control--Post Offices grouped together and let out to
+  farm--Stephen Bigg--Expresses--Flying Packets--State of the Roads--
+  Progress of the Penny Post--Appointment of Secretary and Solicitor--
+  Purchase of Premises in Lombard Street                             43
+
+  CHAPTER VII
+
+  State of the Packet Service--Ship Letters--Special Boats built for the
+  Harwich Station--M. Pajot, Director of the French Posts--Establishment
+  of West India Packets--Edmund Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy--Regulations
+  for the Management of the Packet Stations--Conditions of Employment--
+  Smart and Bounty Money--Passes required for Passengers--and for Goods--
+  Regulations habitually infringed--Smuggling--Packets forbidden to give
+  Chase--Practice on Capture of a Prize--Packet Stations at Falmouth and
+  at Harwich conducted on different Principles--Packets employed to carry
+  Recruits--Letters not to be carried in Foreign Bottoms--Court-Post--
+  Restoration of Packet Service with Flanders--John Macky, Packet Agent at
+  Dover--The Postmasters-General act as Purveyors of News to the Court--
+  Their Interview with Godolphin--Posts set up for the Army in Flanders--
+  Packet Establishment placed on a Peace Footing--Dummer's Bankruptcy and
+  Death                                                              72
+
+  CHAPTER VIII
+
+  American Posts--Thomas Neale--Andrew Hamilton--Ocean Penny Postage--Posts
+  transferred to the Crown--Become self-supporting                  110
+
+  CHAPTER IX
+
+  Condition of the Post Office in Scotland at the time of the Union--
+  Inaction of the English Post Office--Charles Povey--William Lowndes--
+  Diversion of Postage from the Crown to the Public--Postage Rates
+  increased--Electoral Disabilities--Restrictions on the common Carrier--
+  Modification of the Penny Post--Post-horses--Franking--Illicit Traffic in
+  Letters--Treasury Inconsistency--Post Office Farmers converted into
+  Managers--Treaty with France--Matthew Prior--Single and Double Letters--
+  Change of Postmasters-General--Disagreements with Merchants--Twopenny
+  Post--Comparative Statement of Revenue--Gross and Net Revenue confounded
+                                                                    117
+
+  CHAPTER X
+
+  Allen's Contract--General Review--The Secretary's Dismissal--Earl of
+  Abercorn's Complaint--Sketch of Allen's Plan--His Qualifications for
+  carrying it into effect--His local Knowledge--His Difficulties with
+  Postmasters--Post-boys--Illegal Conveyance of Letters--Contrast between
+  Allen's Mode of Procedure and that of the Post Office--Posts increased
+  in Frequency--Opening of Letters--Falmouth Packets--Late Delivery of
+  Foreign Letters--Erection of Milestones--Letters containing Patterns
+  and Writs--Apertures to Letter-boxes--Expresses--Highwaymen--Bank Notes--
+  Decadence--Allen's                                                 146
+
+  CHAPTER XI
+
+  Penny Post--Franking--Newspapers--Clerks of the Roads--Numbering of
+  Houses--Scotch and Irish Posts--Receiving Offices--Gratuities on
+  Delivery--Appeal to the Courts--Appointment of Letter-carriers--Attempt
+  to curtail the Limits of the Penny Post frustrated--Benjamin Franklin--
+  Post Office Monopoly in matter of Horses abolished--Disfranchising Act--
+  Causes of Disquietude                                             187
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  Palmer's Plan--Objections--First Mail-coach--Post-coach--Increase in
+  Rates of Postage--Restrictions upon Franking--Obstruction alleged--
+  Anthony Todd--Transitional Period--Stages--Earlier Closing of the General
+  Post Office--Emoluments from Bell Ringing--Internal Dissensions--
+  Tankerville's Dismissal--Corruption--Surveyors--Conditions of Palmer's
+  Appointment--Abuses--Fees and Perquisites--Expresses--Registration--
+  Palmer's Improvements--Packet Service--Smuggling--Flagitious
+  Expenditure--Todd's Emoluments--Pitt's Indisposition to expose Abuses--
+  Lord Walsingham--Daniel Braithwaite--Essays in Cause of Economy--Milford
+  Haven and Waterford Packets--Pitiable Condition of the Clerks
+  of the Roads--The King's Coach--His Illness and Prayer for his Recovery--
+  Strange Treatment of Official Papers--George Chalmers--Palmer's
+  Jealousy--Mail Guards--Creation of a Newspaper Office--Walsingham
+  attempts to check Irregularities--His inveterate Habit of Scribbling--
+  Exposes an Attempt at Imposition--Curious Practice as regards the
+  Delivery of Foreign Letters--Earl of Chesterfield--Insubordination on
+  Palmer's Part--Appeal to Pitt--Charles Bonnor--Palmer's Suspension--
+  Chesterfield's Letter--Interview with Pitt--A Second Interview--Palmer's
+  Dismissal--Bonnor's Promotion                                     208
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  Model of Mail coach--Patent Coaches--Thomas Hasker--His pithy
+  Instructions--Roof-loading--The King's Interest in his Coach--General
+  Result of Palmer's Plan--Condition of the country Post Offices--Francis
+  Freeling--Enlargement of the General Post Office--Communication with
+  France--Bank Notes cut in half--Letter-carriers put into Uniform--Grant
+  to Post Office Servants--Development of the Penny Post--Edward
+  Johnson--Excessive Absence among the Letter-carriers--By the Penny
+  Post prepayment ceases to be compulsory--The Ten-mile Limit--Origin
+  of the Twopenny Post--Dead Letter Office--American and West Indian
+  Correspondence--Correspondence for the India House--Post with the
+  Channel Islands--Further Restrictions on Franking--Bankers' Franks--
+  Patterns and Samples--Metropolitan Cart Service--Horse and Cross
+  Posts--Rates of Postage increased--Mysterious doings of the Packets--
+  Brilliant Engagements--Post Office Usage--Counsels' Fees--New Years'
+  Gifts--Todd's Indifference to Censure--His Death                  281
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  Ship-letter Office--Increase in Rates of Postage--Abolition of the Penny
+  Post--Invoices and Bills of Lading--Convention Posts--Prosecutions--
+  Auckland's Pleasantries--Repressive Powers--Guarding the Horse-mails--
+  Recovery of stolen Mail Bag--Troubles with Contractors--Surveyors
+  deprived of their Post Offices--Rates of Postage again increased--
+  Threepenny Post--Post Office Revenue--William Cobbett--Early or
+  Preferential Delivery--Treatment of Foreign Newspapers--Newspaper
+  Summaries--The _Times_--Olney Post---Death-blow to Convention Posts--
+  Turnpike Trusts--Exemption from Toll--Roads discoached--Yet further
+  Increase in Rates of Postage--Bewildering Complications--Want of
+  Publicity--Exemption from Toll abolished in Scotland--Returned-letter
+  Office--New Ship-letter Act--Mail Service to India and the Cape--
+  Generosity of the East India Company--Eulogistic Letter           328
+
+  CHAPTER XV
+
+  The Irish Post Office--British Mail Office--Earl of Clancarty--Edward
+  Smith Lees--Abuses--Express Clerks and Clerks of the Roads--Alphabet--
+  Provision for Soldiers' Wives--Thomas Whinnery, Postmaster of Belfast--
+  Charles Bianconi--Holyhead Packets--Opposition Packets started by
+  Lees--Steam Packets--Competition--Land Communication with Ireland--London
+  and Holyhead Coach--Sir Arthur Wellesley--State of the
+  Roads--Road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury--Thomas Telford--John
+  London Macadam--Road between Shrewsbury and London--Postage
+  over the Conway and Menai Bridges                                 366
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  Appointment of Second Postmaster-General abolished--Other Economies--
+  Transfer of the Falmouth Packets to the Admiralty--Speed of
+  Mail-coaches--Mail-coaches the Disseminators of News--Newspapers--Sir
+  Henry Parnell--Royal Commission--General Review--Gerrard Street--
+  Headquarters of the General Post Office removed to St.
+  Martin's-le-Grand--Branch Offices--Morning Delivery expedited--First
+  Mail sent by Railway--Duke of Richmond--Incorporation of the Irish
+  Post Office with the Post Office of Great Britain--Lord Althorp--
+  Limits of the General Post Delivery--Packet Service put up to public
+  Competition--Abolition of the Newspaper Privilege--Dissatisfaction
+  with the Post Office--Money Order Office--Unsatisfactory Returns to
+  the House of Commons--Indisposition to carry out Reforms--More
+  unsatisfactory Returns--New Contract for Mail-coaches--Freeling's
+  Despondency--and Death                                            396
+
+  APPENDIX                                                          429
+
+  INDEX                                                             439
+
+
+
+ERRATA
+[see Transcriber's note at the end of the book.]
+
+Page 324, sixth line from bottom, _for_ 1713 _read_ 1703.
+  "  339, first line, _for_ 1892 _read_ 1802.
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+EARLY POSTS
+
+1533-1609
+
+
+The early history of the posts is involved in some obscurity. What
+little is known on the subject is touched upon in the first Annual
+Report of the Post Office, the Report for 1854; but the historical
+summary there given is, as it purports to be, a summary only. The object
+of the following pages is nothing more than to fill up the gaps and to
+supply some particulars for which, though not perhaps without interest,
+an official report would be no fitting place. The origin and progress of
+an institution which has so interwoven itself with the social life of
+the people as to have become one of the most remarkable developments of
+modern civilisation can hardly, we think, be considered a subject
+unworthy of study.
+
+It seems almost certain that until the reign of Henry the Eighth, or
+perhaps a little earlier, no regular system of posts existed in England,
+and that then and for some considerable time afterwards the few posts
+that were established were for the exclusive use of the Sovereign.
+"Sir," writes Sir Brian Tuke to Thomas Cromwell in 1533, "it may like
+you to understonde the Kinges Grace hathe no moo ordinary postes, ne of
+many days hathe had, but bitwene London and Calais ... and sens October
+last, the postes northewarde.... For, Sir, ye knowe well that, except
+the hakney horses bitwene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no suche
+usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as is in the accustumed
+places of France and other parties." Sir Brian Tuke held the appointment
+of Master of the Posts, and he had received the King's commands to set
+up posts "in al places most expedient."
+
+Before Henry's reign the only letters of which any record exists,
+letters to or from the Court and on affairs of State, were sent by
+couriers employed for the particular occasion. These couriers, styled
+"Nuncii" and "Cursores," appear to have answered to the Queen's
+messengers of our own time, and, as is evident from records still extant
+and dating back to the reign of Henry the Third, must have formed an
+important branch of the royal establishment.
+
+To establish posts and to control them when established was not all or
+nearly all that Brian Tuke had to do. He had also to see, even where no
+posts existed, that the royal couriers were not kept waiting for horses;
+and this probably was his original function. The horses were provided by
+the townships, and the townships were kept up to their duty by the
+Master of the Posts. In some cases, indeed, special provision appears to
+have been made. At Leicester,[1] for instance, the members of the
+Corporation bound themselves under penalty to keep four post-horses in
+constant readiness for their Sovereign's use; but this can hardly have
+been a common practice. Where horses were not provided voluntarily, the
+magistrates and constables had orders to seize them wherever they could
+be found.
+
+  [1] 9 April, 17 Elizabeth.--Further att the same Common Hall [of the
+  town of Leicester] it was for dyuers cawses thought good and mete for
+  the service of the Prince to have at the chargies of the Towne certen
+  poste horses kepte, whearevppon theare was appoynted foure to be kepte,
+  which, thees persouns vnderwritten have vndertaken to kepe, and to serve
+  from tyme to tyme so oft as nede shalle requier, for and dureinge the
+  space of one wholle yeare nexte after the date hereof, viz. Mr. Roberte
+  Eyricke, one; Fraunces Norris, chamberlayn, twoe; Thomas Tyars, one. For
+  the which theyre is allowed vnto them of the towne for euerie horse
+  thurtie-three shillinges and foure pence, that is to say for foure
+  horses vili. xiiis. iiiid. Provyded always that if theye the said Robert
+  Eyricke, Frauncis Norrys, and Thomas Tyars doe not kepe good and able
+  horses for that purpose and to be readie vppon one half howres warnynge
+  to forfitt, lose, and paye for euerie tyme to the Chamber of the Towne
+  of Leycester the somme of fyve shillinges. For the payement of the said
+  xxli. nobles it is further agreed vppon, in the manner and forme
+  followinge, That is to saye, the Mayor and euerie of his bretherene
+  called the xxiiii. to paye iis. a pece, and euerie of the xlviii. xiid.
+  a pece, and the Resydue that shalbe then lackinge to be levied of the
+  commonaltie and inhabitantes of the said towne and the liberties
+  thereof.--Appendix to the Eighth Report of the Royal Commission on
+  Historical Manuscripts, p. 425.
+
+The close connection between the posts and the Sovereign continued long
+after the reign of Henry the Eighth. In 1572 Thomas Randolph, Master of
+the posts to Queen Elizabeth, rendered an account of the charges to
+which he had been put in the execution of his trust during the preceding
+five years; and in this account, which is given in considerable detail,
+not a single post is mentioned without some qualification identifying it
+with the person of the Sovereign--a post daily serving Her Majesty, a
+post for Her Majesty's service and affairs, a post during the time of
+Her Majesty's progress, a post for the conveyance of Her Majesty's
+letters and those of her Council. As late as 1621 all the posts of the
+kingdom, which even then were only four in number, started from the
+Court. I. "The Courte to Barwicke," _i.e._ the post to Scotland. II.
+"The Courte to Beaumoris," _i.e._ the post to Ireland. III. "The Courte
+to Dover," _i.e._ the post to the Continent. IV. "The Courte to
+Plymouth," _i.e._ the post to the Royal Dockyard.
+
+The setting up of a post for a particular purpose and letting it drop as
+soon as the purpose had been answered was another peculiarity of these
+early times. The post to Plymouth, ordained in 1621 to be one of the
+standing posts of the kingdom, had been dropped since 1611, having then
+been declared to be unnecessary except in time of war. Even the post to
+Ireland had at one time been dropped and was not revived until 1598. In
+the same year a second post to Ireland, Irish affairs being then
+considered to require "oftner dispatches and more expedition," was set
+up by way of Bristol, and this in its turn disappeared. Indeed, it would
+probably not be too much to say that at the beginning of the seventeenth
+century no post set up in England during a war had lasted longer than
+the war itself. This practice of dropping a post as soon as it had
+served its purpose, a practice which must almost necessarily have
+existed from the earliest times, would seem to explain Brian Tuke's
+meaning when, after stating that in 1533 except those he mentioned "the
+Kinges Grace hathe no moo ordinary postes," he adds, "ne of many days
+hathe had."
+
+For the regulation of the posts the earliest instructions of which we
+have any record were issued by Queen Elizabeth. Every "post" was to keep
+and have constantly ready two horses at least, with suitable
+"furniture." He was to have at least two bags of leather well lined with
+baize or cotton, and a horn to blow "as oft as he meets company" or four
+times in every mile. He was, after receiving a packet, to start within
+fifteen minutes, and to run in summer at the rate of seven miles an hour
+and in winter at the rate of five. The address of the packet and the day
+and the hour at which he received it were to be carefully entered in a
+book to be kept for the purpose. But the packets which were thus to be
+treated were only such as should be on the Queen's affairs or the
+affairs of State. "All others" are dismissed in a word. These, the
+instructions state, are "to passe as by-letters." To pass as by-letters
+probably means that the letters were to go when and as best they might,
+but that the post was not to go for the purpose of taking them. This
+view is confirmed by an order of the subsequent reign, that "no pacquets
+or letters," except such as were on the King's affairs, should "binde
+any poste to ride therewith in post." But be the meaning what it may,
+the expression seems to shew that even in the reign of Elizabeth letters
+other than State letters had begun to be sent to the post-houses, and
+that such letters, if barely recognised, were yet not excluded.
+
+But the conveyance of the Sovereign's letters was not the only purpose
+which the posts as originally established were designed to serve.
+Another and hardly less important purpose was that there should be
+stationed and in constant readiness, at given distances along the chief
+roads of the kingdom, a relay of horses by which persons travelling on
+their Sovereign's concerns, even though not the bearers of letters,
+might pass between one part of the country and another. Of this second
+purpose a few words implanted in the English language, such as
+post-horse, post-boy, and travelling-post, are all that we have now left
+to remind us. But long after the public had been admitted to the free
+use of the post, the two objects of providing for letters and providing
+for travellers continued to be treated as inseparable. Hence the history
+of the posts during the seventeenth century and far into the eighteenth
+becomes complicated with the history of travelling.[2]
+
+  [2] The two posts were, at first, distinguished by different names. The
+  travellers' post was called "The thorough poste," and the letter post
+  was called "The Poste for the Pacquet."
+
+Indeed, there can be little doubt that it was as a means of travelling
+and not as a means of correspondence that the post first came to be used
+by others than those employed on affairs of State. Writing, during the
+sixteenth century, was an accomplishment possessed by comparatively few,
+whereas any one might have occasion to travel; and the resources of
+travelling, so far as these partook of an organised system, were in the
+hands of the Sovereign. Wherever there were posts, it was at the
+Sovereign's charge and for the Sovereign's use that horses were
+maintained; and where there were no posts, it was only for the use of
+the Sovereign that the townships were under obligation to supply horses.
+The natural consequence followed. People pretended to be travelling on
+their Sovereign's affairs who were really travelling on affairs of their
+own, and so procured the use of horses which would otherwise have been
+denied them. The horses, moreover, were overridden and overloaded, and
+the persons by whom they were hired not rarely forgot to pay for
+them.[3]
+
+  [3] Austria, in the infancy of her post office, appears to have had much
+  the same experience. "The postmasters," writes M. Laeper, Director of
+  Posts at Markirch, "were in no way protected from the most outrageous
+  behaviour on the part of travellers, and were unable to prevent them
+  from overloading the horses and vehicles with unreasonably heavy things,
+  chests, boxes, and similar articles, by which the conveyance of the same
+  was delayed. They could not hinder many travellers from riding
+  heavily-laden horses at full speed over hill and dale without drawing
+  rein, so that the animals were crippled, disabled, or even ridden to
+  death, and in consequence the postmasters were frequently unable to
+  carry out the service for want of horses. The worst treatment, however,
+  which the postmasters experienced was at the hands of cavaliers and
+  couriers, who often demanded more horses than they needed, took them by
+  force, overloaded the coaches with two or three servants, and with an
+  immoderate quantity of luggage, and paid an arbitrary sum, just whatever
+  they pleased, often not half what was due."--L'Union Postale of October
+  1, 1885.
+
+No sooner had James the First come to the throne than he issued a
+proclamation having for its object to check these abuses. Only those
+were to be deemed to be travelling on public affairs who held a special
+commission signed by one or more of the principal officers of State. No
+horse was to be ridden, in summer, above seven miles an hour, and in
+winter above six; nor yet, without the knowledge and consent of the
+owner, beyond the next stage. The load, besides the rider, was not to
+exceed thirty pounds in weight. Persons riding with special commission
+were to pay for each horse 2-1/2d. a mile, besides the guide's groats,
+and "others riding poste with horse and guide about their private
+businesses" were to make their own terms. In all cases payment was to be
+made in advance. The proclamation contained another and most important
+provision, the effects of which were felt far into the next century.
+This was that, wherever posts existed, those who had the horsing of the
+posts were also to have the exclusive letting of horses to travellers.
+If the post-houses could not supply horses enough, the local constables
+with the assistance of the magistrates were to make good the deficiency.
+
+The proclamation of 1603 was soon followed by another, prohibiting all
+persons not being duly authorised by the Master of the Posts from being
+concerned in the collecting, carrying, or delivering of letters. The
+effect, therefore, of the two proclamations together was that, except by
+private hand, no letter and, except along the bye-roads where posts did
+not exist, no traveller could pass between one part of the kingdom and
+another without coming under the observation of the Government. It has
+been suggested that the State monopoly of letters had its origin in a
+desire on the part of the Sovereign to reserve to himself the revenue
+which the letters brought; but in 1609, when the monopoly was created,
+the posts were maintained at a clear loss to the crown of L3400 a year,
+and this loss, as matters then stood, the erection of every fresh post
+would serve to increase. However it may have been in after years, the
+original object of the monopoly, the object avowed indeed and
+proclaimed, was that the State might possess the means of detecting and
+defeating conspiracies against itself. A system such as this object
+implies is absolutely abhorrent to our present notions; and yet it is a
+fact beyond all question that the posts in their infancy were regarded
+and largely employed as an instrument of police. It was not until the
+reign of William the Third that they began to assume their present shape
+of a mere channel for the transmission of letters.
+
+But we are anticipating. In 1609 the cloud which obscures the earlier
+history of the posts begins to break, and from that year it is possible
+to present a tolerably connected narrative of their progress.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE BATTLE OF THE PATENTS
+
+1609-1635
+
+
+At the beginning of the seventeenth century the established posts were
+only four in number,--the post to Scotland, the post to Ireland, the
+post to Plymouth, and the post to Dover; and of these the most important
+by far, because the most used, was the last, the post through the county
+of Kent. It was through this county that the high-road to the Continent
+lay, and, while commercial relations as between one town and another
+within the kingdom were yet a thing of the future, the foreign trade of
+the country had already reached very considerable proportions. The
+persecutions in France and the Low Countries had driven a large number
+of foreigners to London, and here the Flemings introduced the
+manufacture of wool into cloth. In this commodity alone the exports from
+England to the Netherlands in the time of Philip the Second amounted to
+five millions of crowns annually.[4] In education no less than
+manufactures the Flemings were far in advance of our own countrymen.
+There was scarcely a peasant among them that could not both read and
+write. While, therefore, the other three posts of the kingdom were still
+being little used except for letters on affairs of State, the post to
+the Continent had already become matter of public concern.
+
+  [4] An amusing illustration of the value which, at the end of the
+  sixteenth century, was set upon cloth made in London is afforded by a
+  letter from Frederick the Second of Denmark to Queen Elizabeth. This
+  letter, dated the 14th of June 1585, is thus summarised in the 46th
+  Annual Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix ii.,
+  page 28: "Has for some years past had cloth prepared in London of
+  different colours and after a particular pattern, for his use in hunting
+  both in summer and winter. Hears now that certain German merchants,
+  having found this out, have had similar cloth manufactured, which they
+  sell everywhere, outside his Court and family, to many inquisitive and
+  foolish imitators, at a very dear rate. It is no concern of his what
+  anybody may wear, but still, as this cloth was made of a special kind
+  and colour for himself, he takes it ill that it should be sold to
+  others, and begs her therefore (on the application of his agent, Thomas
+  Thenneker) strictly to prohibit the sale."
+
+This post had long been jealously watched, the foreign merchants in
+London claiming to send their letters by their own agents, and the Crown
+insisting that they should be sent only through the established channel.
+It was an old feud, extending far back into the sixteenth century. In
+1591 a proclamation on the subject had been issued. This, in respect to
+the post through the county of Kent, established that State monopoly of
+letters which was not made general until eighteen years afterwards. It
+was to the protection of the same post that the proclamation of 1603 had
+been directed, the proclamation reserving to those who horsed the posts
+the exclusive right of letting horses to travellers. But these measures
+had been of little avail. The foreign merchants still employed their own
+agents to carry their letters, and these agents, instead of resorting to
+the post-houses, still procured horses where and as best they could.
+
+Once more recourse was had to a proclamation, which differed little from
+others that had gone before except in one important particular. This was
+the open avowal that among the chief cares of the State it had been and
+continued to be by no means the least "to meete with the dangerous and
+secret intelligences of ill-affected persons, both at home and abroad,
+by the overgreat liberty taken both in writing and riding in poste,
+specially in and through our countie of Kent." The magistrates were
+enjoined to take care that horses were procured at the post-houses
+alone. No letters were to be sent except through the post, and notice to
+this effect was to be served upon all the merchants of the city of
+London, "both strangers and others." Unauthorised persons suspected of
+having letters upon them were, before entering or leaving the kingdom,
+to be searched. And any packets or letters found to be illicitly
+conveyed were to be sent up to the Privy Council, and the bearers of
+them to be apprehended and kept in safe custody pending the Council's
+orders.
+
+At this time the office of Master of the Posts was held by Lord Stanhope
+of Harrington, and under Lord Stanhope, to superintend the foreign post,
+was employed a foreigner of the name of De Quester. This man, with the
+assistance of his son, appears to have discharged his duties
+efficiently. He made communication with the Continent both cheaper and
+more expeditious. His promptitude in forwarding the public despatches
+had attracted the attention of his Sovereign. In 1619, in recognition of
+these services, the King created the control of the foreign post into a
+separate appointment, independent of Lord Stanhope, and conferred it
+upon De Quester and his son, under the title of "Postmaster of England
+for Foreign parts out of the King's Dominions."
+
+It is possible that De Quester's appointment, though ostensibly a reward
+for good service, was dictated in part by policy. But if designed to
+appease the foreign merchants, it signally failed of its object. The
+truth seems to be that they were animated by feelings of profound
+distrust. Many years later, when De Quester had retired, the English
+merchants, in a petition to the King, protested against the choice of a
+successor being left to the "strangers." This, they said, would be to
+their own great prejudice. Even the letters patent by which that
+successor was appointed give as a reason for not letting the strangers
+have a post of their own that thus the secrets of the realm would be
+disclosed to foreign nations. Such being the feelings on one side, it
+would be strange indeed if they had not also existed on the other.
+
+De Quester's appointment, while displeasing to the foreign merchants,
+gave dire offence to Lord Stanhope. The letters patent by which this
+peer held his office had expressly declared that not only the internal
+posts of the kingdom were to be under his direction, but also those
+"beyond the seas within the King's dominions." This expression, repeated
+from former patents, applied, no doubt, to Calais. And yet, could it in
+reason be contended that his rights were not being infringed if the post
+through which all letters between London and the Continent passed were
+transferred to other hands? Except for the practice of granting offices
+in remainder, Stanhope's death at this time would have settled the
+difficulty. As a matter of fact, however, the difficulty had only begun.
+By a deed granted thirteen years before, his son and successor in the
+title succeeded also to the office of Master of the Posts, and it soon
+became evident that the younger Stanhope had no intention, without a
+struggle, of letting the grant to himself be whittled away by a
+subsequent grant to another. The Council, not composed of laymen alone,
+but comprising among its members Coventry, soon to become Lord Keeper,
+and Heath, the Solicitor-General, advised the King that "both grants
+might well stand together, being of distinct places." Stanhope rejoined
+that his was "an ancient office tyme out of minde," and that by
+prescription it carried with it the control of letters passing between
+England and the Continent as well as others. Again the Council reported
+against his claim. In support of it, they said, no patent or proofs had
+been adduced before them more ancient than the time of Henry the Eighth.
+
+Stanhope, who remained unconvinced, now proceeded to assert his rights,
+or what he conceived to be his rights, with remarkable vigour. He caused
+De Quester to be molested in the discharge of his duties; he placarded
+the city of London, cautioning all persons against sending letters
+except by his own agents; he instituted proceedings in the Court of
+King's Bench; and he even stirred up the foreign merchants to make
+common cause with himself against the intruder.
+
+The probable explanation of Stanhope's conduct is that De Quester's
+appointment touched him in that most sensitive part, the pocket. His
+salary as Master of the Posts was L66:13:4 a year, and this he would of
+course receive in any case; but on letters to the Continent there were
+certain fees to be paid, a fee of 8d. on each letter to or from
+Amsterdam, and a like sum between London and Antwerp or London and
+Hamburgh, and these, as seems to have been admitted in the suit at law,
+were the motive cause.
+
+In vain the King proclaimed against Stanhope's proceedings. The Privy
+Council met to consider the question as between him and De Quester, and
+separated without coming to a conclusion. Four more meetings were held,
+and with an equally unsatisfactory result. Clearly there was a conflict
+of opinion at the Council Board. Meanwhile the decisions as regards the
+merchants were marked by extraordinary vacillation. First, the Merchant
+Adventurers were "to have a post of their owne choice" to the city of
+Hamburgh and town of Delph, "where the staples of cloth are now fetched
+or to such other place or places whither the same shall happen to be
+removed"; then they were summoned before the Council to shew cause why
+they also should not send their letters by De Quester; then the
+concession was not only confirmed in the case of the Merchant
+Adventurers, but extended to all other "Companies of Merchants"; and
+then in the case of these other companies the concession was withdrawn,
+but only, in the course of a few weeks, to be restored. Only few
+restrictions were imposed. No one carrying the merchants' letters was to
+"keepe any publick office," to "hange up any Tables," or to "weare any
+Badge"; nor was he to be employed until his name had been submitted to
+the Secretary of State for approval. It was also provided that in times
+of war or danger the Secretary of State, if he required it, was to be
+"made acquainted" with the letters and despatches which the messenger
+carried.
+
+The final decision of the Council, which left the merchants in
+possession of a post of their own, practically superseded De Quester's
+appointment, and this drew forth an indignant protest from Sir John
+Coke. The two Secretaries of State, of whom Coke was one, had been
+specially charged with the protection of De Quester's office, and the
+decision had been arrived at in their absence. Meanwhile a broker, of
+the name of Billingsley, was carrying the merchants' letters, and the
+same man was being employed by Stanhope. Coke's indignation knew no
+bounds. "I confess," he said, "it troubleth me to see the audacity of
+men in these times, and that Billingsley, a broker by trade, should dare
+to attempt thus often to question the King's service, and to derive that
+power of foreign letters unto merchants which in all states is a branch
+of regal authority." Can any place in Christendom be named where
+merchants are allowed to send their letters except through the
+authorised post? It is true that, as an act of grace, the Merchant
+Adventurers here have been suffered to send and receive their letters by
+private hand; but such letters have been only to and from their own mart
+towns and concerning their private business. That this man of theirs
+should be suffered to carry any letters he please--letters from
+merchants in general, and even from ambassadors, is a thing that has
+never been heard of nor durst any attempt it before. "Indeed the
+merchants' purse hath swayed very much in other matters in former times,
+but I never heard that it encroached upon the King's prerogative until
+now." A pretty account will those who are charged with the peace of the
+realm be able to give in their places "of that which passeth by letters
+in or out of the land if every man may convey letters, under the covers
+of merchants', to whom and what place he pleaseth." Coke went so far as
+to suggest that advantage had been taken of a small attendance at the
+Council Table to extort the concession from the King upon wrong or
+imperfect information. Surely His Majesty cannot have been informed "how
+unfit a time this is to give liberty to every man to write and send what
+he list."
+
+Nor did Coke's indignation confine itself to words, for it is impossible
+not to conclude that he was at the bottom of the high-handed proceeding
+that followed. Stanhope had gained his suit at law; yet the Council,
+far from revoking De Quester's patent, granted him an order consigning
+Billingsley to prison. It was not until he had been there for three
+months that Parliament, which had recently passed a vote against
+arbitrary imprisonments, petitioned the King for his release.
+
+Of the final issue of the contest nothing is known. But it seems
+probable that the foreign merchants were not deterred by the treatment
+which Billingsley had received from keeping up a post of their own.
+Other and more serious matters were beginning to occupy the attention of
+the Court, and it may well be believed that irregularities which had
+been challenged before might now be allowed to pass unnoticed. Be that
+as it may, in 1632 De Quester, who had lost his son, and had become old
+and infirm, associated with himself in the execution of his office two
+men named Frizell and Witherings, and to these persons he shortly
+afterwards assigned his patent. Frizell appears to have been little more
+than a sleeping partner; but Witherings soon established a high
+character for ability and powers of organisation. The foreign post had
+not been under his charge for more than three years before the King
+commissioned him to examine also into the inland posts, and to put them
+on another and better footing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THOMAS WITHERINGS
+
+1635--1644
+
+
+Armed with the King's commission, Witherings lost no time in applying
+himself to his task. And, indeed, the state of things which he found
+existing afforded ample scope for his energies. Except to Plymouth and
+through the county of Kent, posts existed rather in name than in
+reality. Nominally there was a post to Scotland, and this post James had
+busied himself in improving, in anticipation of his progress to London;
+but since then it had languished and died, or nearly died, of inanition.
+Between the kingdoms of England and Scotland there had, up to the date
+of Witherings's commission, as expressed in the commission itself, been
+no certain or constant intercourse. The only remaining post, the post to
+Ireland, was in an equally forlorn condition.
+
+This decadence can only be attributed to two causes, the paucity of
+travellers and the necessities of the King. Had travellers been
+numerous, the posts would have been kept up for the sake of the profit
+to be derived from the letting of horses. In the absence of travellers,
+the keepers of the post-houses were dependent upon their established
+wages, and these had long remained unpaid. As far back as 1628 a
+petition on the subject had been presented to the Council. The "99 poore
+men," as the petitioners styled themselves, had received no wages for
+nearly seven years; the arrears then due to them amounted to L22,626;
+some of them were already in prison, and many more were threatened with
+arrest. In 1635, as a consequence, doubtless, of their necessitous
+condition, they had ceased to keep horses, and letters were being
+carried on foot. In this manner a distance of only sixteen to eighteen
+miles was accomplished in a day, and to obtain from Scotland or from
+Ireland a reply to a letter written in London took "full two monthes."
+
+Witherings was not long in producing his plan. Within the city of London
+was to be appointed an office or counting-house for the receipt and
+despatch of letters, and thence were to be established trunk lines of
+post to the principal towns of the kingdom, with corresponding branch
+posts, either foot posts or horse posts, according to distance, to the
+smaller towns. The branch posts were to be so fitted to the main posts
+that there was to be no waiting on the part of either; and these latter
+were to start and return at stated times, and to run night and day so as
+to cover 120 miles in twenty-four hours. From London to Edinburgh the
+course of post which had been full two months was to be only six days;
+and to Holyhead or Plymouth and back the distance was to be accomplished
+in the same time. Even Witherings himself appears to have been carried
+away by the brilliancy of the prospect. "Anie fight at sea," he says,
+"anie distress of His Majestie's ships (which God forbid), anie wrong
+offered by anie other nation to anie of ye coastes of England or anie of
+His Majestie's forts ... the newes will come sooner than thought."
+
+An example has been left us of the process to be followed. The letters
+for Scotland were to be put into a "portmantle" directed to Edinburgh,
+into which were also to be put small bags containing letters for towns
+on the same line of road. At Cambridge, for instance, as soon as the
+Portmantle arrived, the bag for that town was to be taken out, and a
+foot-post, "with a known badge of His Majestie's arms," was upon the
+market days to go to all towns within six, eight or ten miles, and there
+deliver the letters, at the same time receiving any that might be handed
+to him. These he was to bring back to Cambridge in time for the
+return-post from Scotland. The return was to be on a particular day,
+and at a particular hour, and the letters were to be ready without fail,
+"upon the verie instant comeing back of the portmantle." The same
+process was to be adopted at Huntingdon and all other towns on the road.
+
+It was an essential part of Witherings's plan that the posts should be
+not only regular and certain but also self-supporting. During the
+earlier part of the century they had been maintained at a cost to the
+Crown of L3400 a year, and this was a burden which the Crown was no
+longer in a position to bear. That they should be made to pay their own
+way was, therefore, an indispensable condition. But how was this to be
+accomplished? Witherings's sagacity left him at no loss for a reply. He
+discerned that to carry a letter is to perform a service for which a
+payment may fairly be demanded in return; and that the demand would meet
+with a ready response must have been plain to him from what he saw going
+on in the west of England. In 1633, or two years before he produced his
+plan, the Mayor and Aldermen of Barnstaple had set up a post between
+their town and Exeter. This post was to leave Barnstaple every Tuesday
+at 7 o'clock in the morning, and to be in Exeter early on the following
+day, in time to catch the King's post on its way from Plymouth to
+London. The King's post was maintained at the expense of the King; but
+for the local service, as a means of defraying the cost, the Corporation
+imposed a small charge, a charge of 6d. for a single letter and of 8d.
+for a double one. Other towns in Devonshire had adopted a similar
+course. That Witherings was aware of the existence of these posts is
+evident from the special allusion that is made to them in the
+Proclamation which he prevailed upon the King to issue;[5] and it was
+their success, probably, which suggested his own undertaking. Concluding
+that what private enterprise was effecting on a small scale the State
+would be able to effect on a large one, he proposed--and the proposal
+received the royal sanction--that for every letter sent by post a "port"
+or charge for carriage should be levied after the following rates:--
+
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                              |Single Letter.|Double letter.|"If bigger."|
++------------------------------+--------------+--------------+------------+
+|Under 80 miles                |     2d.      |      4d.     | 6d. an oz. |
+|80 miles and not exceeding 140|     4d.      |      8d.     | 9d.  "     |
+|Above 140 miles               |     6d.      |      12d.    | 12d. "     |
+|To or from Scotland           |     8d.      |       ?      |     ?      |
+|To or from Ireland            |     9d.      | After two ounces, 6d. the |
+|                              |              |           ounce.          |
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+  [5] The Proclamation enjoined that on letters "to Plymouth, Exeter, and
+  with the two other places in that road," Witherings should "take the
+  like port that now is paid, as near as possibly he can."
+
+This was the introduction of postage. The object of the exceptional rate
+in the case of Ireland was to avoid interference with a Proclamation
+which had been recently issued by the Lord Deputy and Council there.
+
+Henceforth the posts were to be equally open to all; all would be at
+liberty to use them; all would be welcome. Important as this provision
+was, it followed as a natural consequence from the imposition of
+postage. The carriage of the subjects' letters was now to be a matter of
+purchase, and, unless the purchasers were sufficiently numerous, the
+posts would not be self-supporting. The custom of the public, therefore,
+was a necessity of their very existence.
+
+In other respects the regulations remained much as they had been, except
+that now there would be the means of enforcing them. Every postmaster
+was to have ready in his stable one or two horses, according as
+Witherings might direct, the charge to be for one horse 2-1/2d. a mile
+and for two horses 5d. This 5d., however, was to include the cost of a
+guide who was always to accompany the horses when two were taken. On the
+day the post was expected, the horses were not to be let out on any
+pretext whatever, this being the first indication on record of letters
+enjoying precedence over travellers. And finally, with certain specified
+exceptions, no letters were to be carried or delivered in any part where
+posts should be established except by such persons as Witherings might
+appoint. The letters excepted were those sent by a friend, by a
+particular messenger employed for the particular occasion, and by
+common known carrier. On the common carrier, however, restrictions were
+imposed. He was to confine himself to his ordinary known journey, and
+was not, for the sake of collecting or delivering letters, to lag behind
+or outstrip his cart or horse by more than eight hours.
+
+The reason for this last exception is not far to seek. The established
+posts were few in number, and even where they existed in name they had
+fallen into disuse. The common carriers had thus become the chief
+carriers of letters, and Witherings, in the furtherance of his project,
+was anxious to disarm their opposition. This he had already attempted to
+effect by argument; and now, as a practical step in the same direction,
+he procured their exemption from the State monopoly. But what may have
+appeared and was probably intended to appear as a valuable concession
+was really no concession at all. The carrier took eight days to go 120
+miles. By the posts the same distance was to be accomplished in a day
+and a night. The carrier's charge for a letter from Cambridge to London,
+a distance of about sixty miles, was 2d. A postage of 2d., according to
+Witherings's plan, was to a carry a letter for eighty miles. If the
+posts were to be both faster and cheaper than the common known carrier,
+it might safely be predicted that as a carrier of letters he could not
+long survive.
+
+In October 1635 Witherings, having completed the necessary arrangements,
+proceeded to carry his plan into effect. The results he anticipated from
+it, as shewn in a memorandum which he delivered to the Secretary of
+State, were promotion of trade and intercourse and the cultivation of
+better relations with Scotland and Ireland. That the posts might one day
+be more than self-supporting, that they would become a source of
+revenue, does not appear to have entered into his calculations; or, if
+it did, his silence on the point would seem to shew that, as compared
+with the other advantages, he deemed it too insignificant to mention.
+
+It was probably about this time that the practice of writing "Haste,
+post, haste" on the outside of letters began to be discontinued. The
+term "post," as here used, meant nothing more than the carrier or bearer
+of the letter; and an injunction to make the best speed he could,
+properly as it might be given to a messenger who had a particular letter
+to carry, would be altogether out of place if addressed to a general
+letter-carrier who was bound by his instructions not to exceed a given
+distance within a given time. "For thy life, for thy life" had sometimes
+been added, as in the case of Protector Somerset's letter to Lord Dacre.
+"To our very good Lord, the Lord Dacre, Warden of the West Marches, in
+haste; haste, post, haste, for thy life, for thy life, for thy life";[6]
+and it seems probable, if the barbarity of the punishments in those days
+is considered, that this was no empty threat. It was "on payn of lyfe"
+that, according to Sir Brian Tuke, all townships were to have horses
+ready for their Sovereign's service. Among the Ashburnham manuscripts is
+a letter from Sir Edward Nicholas to Sir John Hippisley, Lieutenant of
+Dover Castle, written in 1627 or eight years before the introduction of
+postage. This letter is endorsed by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
+and the cover is inscribed "for His Majesty's special affairs; hast,
+hast, hast, post, hast, hast, hast, hast, with all possible speede." The
+absence of any threat in this instance may of course have been due to
+the individual character of the writer, but it is more agreeable to
+think of it as a sign of the advance of civilisation.
+
+  [6] _Her Majesty's Mails_, by William Lewins, p. 19.
+
+In 1637, Lord Stanhope having surrendered his patent, Witherings was
+appointed in his room, and thus became centred in one person the offices
+of postmaster for inland and for foreign letters. In the same year a
+letter office, the erection of which had formed an important part of
+Witherings's plan, was opened in the city of London, and nothing
+remained to hinder him from carrying his project into full effect. But,
+fair as everything promised, hardly three years had elapsed before
+Witherings met with the fate which has overtaken so many of his
+distinguished successors. In 1640, on a charge of divers abuses and
+misdemeanours in the execution of his office, this eminent man was
+deprived of his appointment. Whether the charge was well or ill founded
+we have no means of judging. Only the fact has come down to us that
+after this miserable fashion ended the career of one who had the
+sagacity to project and the energy to carry out a system, the main
+features of which endure to the present day.
+
+Among those who had lent money to the King was Philip Burlamachi, a
+naturalised British subject, and one of the principal merchants of the
+city of London. He had advanced, on the security of the sugar duties, no
+less than L52,000, an immense sum in those days; and it was probably
+this fact rather than any special qualification on his part that pointed
+him out as Witherings's successor. Be that as it may, into Burlamachi's
+hands the office of Master of the Posts was sequestered, subject to the
+condition that he was to discharge the duties under the control of the
+Secretary of State. The sequestration was announced to the public by
+means of placards fixed up on the old Exchange, and Witherings lost no
+time in fixing up counter-placards by way of protest.
+
+And now began an unseemly contention which, arising ostensibly out of
+the rights of individuals, went far to bring the two Houses of
+Parliament into collision. In 1642, after struggling for the best part
+of two years to maintain his position, Witherings assigned his patent to
+the Earl of Warwick, and, under the influence of this peer, both Houses
+declared the sequestration to be illegal and void. Meanwhile Burlamachi
+had fallen into the power of one in whose hands he was the merest
+puppet. This was Edmund Prideaux, afterwards one of the Commissioners of
+the Great Seal and Attorney-General under the Commonwealth. At his
+instigation Burlamachi still kept possession of the letter office. In
+vain the Lords ordered him to give it up to Lord Warwick, and summoned
+him before them to explain his contumacy. It was true, he replied, that
+the office was still kept at his house, but this house and his servants
+had been hired by Mr. Prideaux, and it was he that disposed of the
+letters.
+
+Incensed at such contempt of their orders, the Lords authorised Warwick
+to seize the mails. After one or two half-hearted attempts to carry this
+authority into effect, arrangements were made for a more strenuous
+effort. On the 19th of December two of Warwick's agents lay in wait at
+Barnet and there surprised the mail as it came from Chester. Seizing the
+letters and the man that carried them, they made the best of their way
+towards London, but had not proceeded further than the foot of the hill
+beyond Highgate when they were themselves surprised by five troopers "on
+great horses with pistols," who barred the road, and, in the name of the
+House of Commons, captured the captors.
+
+Meanwhile a still more exciting scene was enacting before Warwick's
+office near the Royal Exchange. There two of his men kept watch for the
+mail from Plymouth, and, as it passed on its way to Burlamachi's house
+hard by, they dashed into the street and seized the letters. Their
+success was but for the moment. Before they could regain the office,
+Prideaux had swooped down upon them at the head of some half-dozen
+adherents, and with his own hands had torn the letters away. "An order
+of the House of Commons," cried one of the bystanders, "ought to be
+obeyed before an order of the House of Lords."
+
+On these occurrences being reported to the Lords, Burlamachi and all
+others who had been concerned in them, Prideaux alone excepted, were
+ordered to prison. Among these was the man who had been captured at
+Barnet and afterwards rescued, one Hickes by name; and this fellow
+proved to be Prideaux's own servant. On the part of that wily politician
+one looks in vain for any effort to procure Burlamachi's release, or
+even for the slightest indication of concern that he had been arrested;
+but the arrest of his own servant, the servant of a member of the House
+of Commons, excited his keenest resentment. This, in Prideaux's view,
+was a clear breach of privilege, and the House was pleased to agree
+with him. No sooner, therefore, had Hickes been imprisoned by the Lords
+than he was released by the Commons, and no sooner had he been released
+by the Commons than the Lords ordered him to be imprisoned again.
+
+Matters having come to this pass, the two Houses held a conference. The
+result might easily have been foreseen. The Lords yielded to the
+Commons, and Burlamachi, on rendering an account which had long been
+called for, was released from custody together with the others who had
+been imprisoned at the same time. Concerning the next two years little
+is known; but it seems probable that Burlamachi, who in his petition
+praying for release had pleaded old age and infirmities, did not long
+survive the indignity to which he had been exposed. At all events, in
+1644, either by death or resignation, the office of Master of the Posts
+had become vacant, and, as Burlamachi's successor, the House of Commons
+appointed Prideaux.
+
+Thus ended the battle of the patents, which had raged more or less
+fiercely for more than twenty years. It was long indeed before Lords
+Warwick and Stanhope ceased urging their claims, Warwick as Witherings's
+assignee, and Stanhope on the allegation that at the Council Table the
+Lord Keeper Coventry had cajoled him into surrendering his patent; but
+after Prideaux's appointment there was no farther appeal to force.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+EDMUND PRIDEAUX AND CLEMENT OXENBRIDGE
+
+1644--1660
+
+
+Hardly had Prideaux assumed the direction of the letter office before he
+gave public notice that there would be a weekly conveyance of letters
+into all parts of the kingdom. There is reason to doubt, however,
+whether under his rule as much or nearly as much as this was
+accomplished. Next to Norwich, Yarmouth was then, as it is now, the
+chief town in the eastern counties; and yet it is certain that a post to
+Yarmouth was not established until after Prideaux's rule had ceased; and
+more than fifty years later we find his successors lamenting that, while
+Lincolnshire generally was ill provided with posts, there were several
+towns in that county which had no post at all.
+
+But to whatever extent Prideaux's professions exceeded his performance,
+it is beyond question that he spared no effort to extend the posts, and
+that he is justly entitled to the credit, not indeed of improving upon
+Witherings's scheme, but of carrying that scheme into more general
+effect. Despite his exertions, however, he failed to keep pace with the
+wants of the time. Indeed, what facilities for intercourse had been
+given already seem to have created a demand for more. In 1649 the Common
+Council of the city of London, not content with a post only once a week
+to Scotland, established a post of their own. Along the whole line of
+road between London and Edinburgh they appointed their own postmasters
+and settled their own postage, and the same plan they proceeded to
+adopt in other parts. Prideaux, who to his office of Master of the Posts
+had recently added that of Attorney-General, was highly incensed. Only a
+few years before, the State monopoly of letters, when the State was
+represented by the Crown, had been the object of his fiercest
+denunciation, and now this same monopoly was a cherished possession to
+be defended at all hazards. First he remonstrated. Then he threatened.
+And neither threats nor remonstrances having any effect upon the city
+authorities, he reported their proceedings to the Council of State, and
+the Council of State reported them to Parliament. Parliament was in no
+mood for concession. The city posts were promptly suppressed, and more
+than thirty years elapsed before private enterprise again embarked upon
+a similar venture.
+
+The report which Prideaux made to the Council of State had another
+result, which probably he little contemplated. In that report he had
+taken credit to himself that, although the charges of management had
+risen to L7000 a year, or about twice the amount they had been in
+Witherings's time, he had relieved the State from the whole of this
+burden. In other words, the posts had become self-supporting, but, so
+far as appeared from the report, were nothing more. The House of Commons
+was not satisfied. Accordingly the Council was instructed to examine and
+report whether the terms on which the letter office was held were the
+best that could be obtained. The investigation was soon made.
+Heretofore, in consideration of his defraying the charges, Prideaux had
+been allowed to receive the postage and make what he could out of it.
+For the future, besides defraying the charges, he was to pay to the
+State a fixed rent of L5000 a year. This was the introduction of the
+system of farming, a system which, as regards the posts generally,
+continued to nearly the end of the seventeenth and, as regards the
+by-posts, beyond the middle of the eighteenth century.
+
+In 1653 Prideaux ceased to be Master of the Posts. Two years before he
+had been elected a member of the Council of State, and shortly after his
+election, and probably as a consequence of it, the arrangements for
+communicating with the army had reached a high state of perfection.
+Between the Council and the forces in Scotland messengers, we are told,
+were passing almost every hour. But, useful as he may have made himself,
+Prideaux seems to have been altogether wanting in those qualities which
+are calculated to inspire confidence. At the Treaty of Uxbridge, where
+he was one of the commissioners, even his own colleagues had regarded
+him as a spy. This feeling of distrust may possibly explain how it
+happened that, after the expulsion of the Long Parliament, he was forced
+to content himself with his appointment as Attorney-General. The Council
+of State, as then reconstructed, did not include him among its members,
+and one of the first acts of the new Council was to relieve him from the
+responsibilities of the letter office. Grasping as he was, it is
+impossible to suppose that this can have been done by his own wish, for
+the appointment of Master of the Posts, though weighted with a rent of
+L5000 a year, was still a very lucrative one. His successor paid a rent
+of double that amount, and is reputed to have derived from his farm an
+enormous profit.
+
+After Prideaux's death in August 1659, it transpired that his interest
+in the letter office had not ceased when he ceased to administer it.
+What was the interest he retained we do not know; but the matter seems
+to have been considered sufficiently serious to call for parliamentary
+inquiry. In the following February the House of Commons ordered "that
+the whole business concerning the Post Office, and what has been
+received by Mr. Prideaux, late Attorney-General, out of the same, and
+what account hath been made thereof he referred to a committee to
+examine, and to state matter of fact and report it to the Parliament and
+their opinion therein." To this order, however, no return appears to
+have been made. It is probable that at the Restoration the committee had
+not concluded its labours.
+
+Oldmixon speaks of Prideaux as "a very fierce republican, who got a
+great estate by his zeal against the Church and Churchmen"; and it is
+certain that to that estate his zeal for the Post Office brought him no
+inconsiderable addition. Of the destination of a part of his wealth we
+are not left uninformed. Towards the close of the century a judge,
+before whose ferocity even Prideaux's pales, set out on a circuit, the
+infamy of which will endure to the end of time. Arrived in
+Somersetshire, he found residing at Ford Abbey, in the neighbourhood of
+Axminster, an inoffensive country squire, son of the former Master of
+the Posts, and named after him, Edmund Prideaux. From this gentleman,
+apparently because he was his father's son, and for no better reason,
+Jeffreys under threat of the gallows extorted L15,000, and he bought
+with the money an estate "to which," Lord Macaulay tells us, "the people
+gave the name of Aceldama, from that accursed field which was purchased
+with the price of innocent blood."
+
+In 1653 the posts were farmed to Captain Manley at a rent of L10,000 a
+year; and in 1655, Manley's contract having expired, Cromwell on the
+advice of his Council placed them in the hands of Mr. Secretary Thurloe,
+on his giving security to the same amount. The change of management was
+followed two years later by an important step in advance. This was the
+passing of an Act of Parliament intituled an Act for settling the
+postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Legislative sanction was now
+given to what had hitherto rested on no better authority than
+Proclamation or Order in Council. A general office, to be called the
+Post Office of England, was to be established for the receipt and
+despatch of letters; and under the title of Postmaster-General and
+Comptroller of the Post Office an officer was to be appointed who was to
+have the exclusive right of carrying letters and of furnishing
+post-horses. At the Restoration the Act of 1657, the "pretended" Act as
+it was now called, could not of course be recognised as possessing any
+legal validity, and so it was replaced by another; but the later Act was
+little more than a re-enactment of the earlier one. Virtually, it is to
+the Act of 1657 that the General Post Office owes its origin, although
+the Act of 1660, as being unimpeachable, has been commonly called its
+charter.
+
+Similar as the two Acts are in the main, there is one important
+difference between them. The Act of 1657 gives as a reason for making
+the posts the subject of parliamentary enactment that they are and have
+been "the best means of discovering and preventing many dangerous and
+wicked designs which have been and are daily contrived against the peace
+and welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well
+be communicated but by letter of escript." To the odious practice here
+implied no countenance is given in the Act of 1660. But, indeed, it
+needed not this evidence to prove that during the Commonwealth the Post
+Office was largely used as an instrument of police. Thurloe's
+"intercepted" letters are matter of history; and the journals of the two
+Houses of Parliament shew that the foreign mails, both inward and
+outward, were stopped for whole weeks together, and committees appointed
+to open and read the letters. On one occasion the Venetian ambassador,
+whose letters had shared the same fate as the rest, entered an indignant
+protest. "He could not persuade himself," he said, "that the Government
+of England, so noble and generous, should have so inferior a mind as to
+open the letters of an ambassador, and by this means to violate the
+laws, and to give an example to the world so damnable, and of so little
+respect towards the minister of the Serenissima Respublica." Nor was his
+indignation appeased until four peers had waited upon him in the name of
+the House of Lords, and tendered an ample apology.
+
+The rates of postage prescribed by the Act of 1657 were only slightly
+varied by the Act of 1660. As finally adjusted, they were as follows:--
+
++--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
+|                                |      On      |      On      |          |
+|                                |Single Letter.|Double Letter.|Per Ounce.|
++--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+
+|80 miles and under              |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|Above 80 miles                  |      3d.     |      6d.     |   12d.   |
+|To or from Berwick              |      3d.     |      6d.     |   18d.   |
+|  From Berwick within Scotland--|              |              |          |
+|    40 miles and under          |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|    Above 40 miles              |      4d.     |      8d.     |   12d.   |
+|To or from Dublin               |      6d.     |     12d.     |   24d.   |
+|  From Dublin within Ireland--  |              |              |          |
+|    40 miles and under          |      2d.     |      4d.     |    8d.   |
+|    Above 40 miles              |      4d.     |      8d.     |   12d.   |
++-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+How these rates compare with those which had gone before we have no
+means of judging. We only know that during Prideaux's management the
+postage on a single letter was 6d.; that at some time between 1655 and
+1657 it was reduced to 3d.; and that the credit of this reduction was
+due to Clement Oxenbridge. Oxenbridge, after acting as deputy first to
+Prideaux and then to Manley, appears to have taken a farm under Thurloe;
+and, rightly or wrongly, he affirmed that, as soon as he had improved
+the posts at a cost to himself of more than L5000, and had made his farm
+profitable, he was turned adrift by Cromwell.
+
+If the comparison be carried forward instead of backward, and the rates
+of 1660 be contrasted with those of later years, there is an important
+consideration which cannot be too carefully borne in mind. It is this,
+that in 1660 cross posts did not exist. Between two towns not being on
+the same post road, however near the towns might be, letters could
+circulate only through London; and the moment London was reached an
+additional rate was imposed. Hence the apparent charges, the charges as
+deduced from the table of rates, might be very different from the actual
+charges. Bristol and Exeter, for instance, are less than eighty miles
+apart; but in 1660 and for nearly forty years afterwards letters from
+one to the other passed through London, and would be charged, if single,
+not 2d. but 6d., and if double, not 4d. but 1s. That is to say, the
+postage[7] or portage, as it was then called, would consist of two
+rates, and each of these rates would be for a distance in excess of
+eighty miles. David Hume, writing more than a hundred years later,
+observes that before 1657 letters paid only about half as much postage
+as they did in his own time. This, no doubt, is true if rate be compared
+with rate according to the distance; but the fact we have mentioned very
+materially qualifies the force of the remark.
+
+  [7] The term "postage," in the sense of a charge upon a letter, is
+  comparatively modern. The Act of 1764 is the first so to use it. The
+  term is indeed used in the Act of 1660, but there it signifies the hire
+  of a horse for travelling. "Each horse's hire or postage."
+
+On foreign letters the rates ranged from 4d., the lowest rate for a
+single letter, to 2s., the highest rate for a double letter, and from
+1s. 6d. to 4s. an ounce for letters of greater bulk. No provision was
+made for any charge except on letters from Europe. Letters came indeed
+from other parts; but as the Post Office did not bring them and paid
+nothing for their carriage, no postage was demanded. From India, for
+instance, a letter brought to England and posted there would pay only
+the home postage.
+
+For post-horses the charge was fixed at 3d. a mile for each horse,
+besides 4d. to the guide of every stage. Two concessions were made to
+the public. Horses were no longer to be seized without the consent of
+the owners; and a traveller if kept waiting half an hour without being
+supplied might hire a horse wherever he could. That the seizure of
+horses had been a source of intense annoyance seems beyond question. In
+a Proclamation of 1603, as a reason for helping the postmasters to keep
+horses in sufficient number for the service of the posts, the townships
+are reminded of "the ease and quiet they reape thereby"; and long after
+the immunity from seizure had been granted, the allusions to the former
+practice leave no room for doubt that, though the sore was healed, the
+recollection of it still rankled.
+
+According to Lord Macaulay, a part of the Post Office revenue was
+derived from post-horses.[8] With all deference to that eminent
+authority, and with all modesty we venture to think that such was not
+the case. The Proclamation of 1603, which was the origin of the
+monopoly, while giving to those who horsed the posts "the benefit and
+preheminence of letting horses" to all comers, expressly provided that,
+except for the service of the posts or for the use of persons travelling
+on affairs of State, no postmaster need keep horses unless he pleased,
+and that, if he did so, he should be at liberty to make his own terms.
+On this last point the words are, "But of all others riding Poste with
+horne and guide about their private businesses, the hire and prices are
+left to the parties discretions to agree and compound within
+themselves." Again, an account is still extant, dated 1623, or twenty
+years after the monopoly had been established, and giving in minute
+detail the particulars of the expenses of the posts as they then were;
+records also exist extending in almost unbroken succession over more
+than eighty years of the period during which the monopoly lasted, and
+dealing with every variety of Post Office question; and neither in the
+records nor the account is there the remotest allusion to the receipt of
+any sums on account of post-horses. Yet one reason more for the opinion
+we hold. About the middle of the eighteenth century, as the result of
+legislation which then took place, the roads were measured, and the
+measured mile proved to be shorter than the computed mile. As a
+consequence of this discovery the charge for post-horses was raised. A
+distance which had hitherto been reckoned as eight miles proved to be
+ten miles, and a charge as for ten instead of eight miles was made.
+Travellers were up in arms, and complained that the Post Office had
+raised its charges. The answer was that the Post Office had nothing to
+do with the matter; that the postmasters were entitled by law to so much
+a mile; and that the whole of the charge went into their own pockets.
+For these reasons we think that no part of the Post Office revenue was
+derived from the letting of post-horses. Indirectly, no doubt, the
+monopoly was a source of profit because, except for it, those who horsed
+the posts would not have been content with the wages they received.
+These, according to the account of 1623, ranged from 3s. a day to 6d. a
+day. To supplement the postmasters' pay without expense to the Crown
+was, we make bold to suggest, the object with which the monopoly was
+granted. And, of course, the better the object was secured, the more
+carefully would the monopoly be guarded.
+
+  [8] Lord Macaulay's words are:--"The revenue of this establishment was
+  not derived solely from the charge for the transmission of letters. The
+  Post Office alone was entitled to furnish post-horses; and, from the
+  care with which this monopoly was guarded, we may infer that it was
+  found profitable."
+
+In May 1660 Clement Oxenbridge, to whose exertions the Act of 1657 would
+seem to have been largely due, petitioned the Council of State to
+reimburse him the expenses to which he had been put in improving the
+posts, and the Council of State, after investigating the claim, reported
+the particulars to the House of Commons for directions. It was not,
+however, until after William and Mary had ascended the throne that any
+further step was taken. Oxenbridge, whose necessities had become greater
+as his age advanced, was then by the King's direction given an
+appointment under the Post Office of the annual value of L100; and this
+salary he continued to draw, although too old to discharge the duties
+for which it was paid, until his death in 1696.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WILLIAM DOCKWRA
+
+1660-1685
+
+
+At the Restoration the Post Office was leased to Henry Bishopp of
+Henfield in Sussex, for the term of seven years at a rent of L21,500 a
+year, or more than double the amount which had been paid by the previous
+farmer. Before three years had elapsed, however, Bishopp surrendered his
+lease, and was succeeded for the remainder of his term and at the same
+rent by Daniel O'Neile, Groom of the King's Bedchamber. O'Neile had
+loyally adhered to Charles during his exile, had attended his Sovereign
+on his visit to Scotland, had been banished that kingdom, and in
+connection with his banishment had achieved a singular distinction. He
+had given a written undertaking consenting to his own death if he ever
+returned.
+
+Even at a rent of L21,500, as the Court had doubtless by this time
+learned, the Post Office was not a bad investment. O'Neile, like
+Bishopp, was to enjoy a monopoly of the carrying of letters, and to make
+what he could out of it; but he was rigidly to adhere to the rates of
+postage prescribed by the Act, charging neither more nor less. Old posts
+were not to be altered nor new posts erected, without the sanction of
+the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State was to possess a veto
+on appointments and, as occasion might require, to "have the survey and
+inspection of all letters." To these conditions was afterwards added
+another. This was that no postmaster or other officer was to remain in
+the service who should not within six months obtain and forward to the
+postmaster-general a certificate, under the hand and seal of the Bishop
+of the diocese, to the effect that he was "conformable to the discipline
+of the Church of England."
+
+In 1667, O'Neile's lease having expired, Lord Arlington, Secretary of
+State in the Cabinet known as the Cabal, was appointed postmaster-general;
+and, after a while, the office was again let out to farm, this time at a
+rent of L43,000 a year. Rapidly as the rent had grown, the public
+demands had grown more rapidly still, and little, if any, effort had
+been made to satisfy them. How inadequate the posts were, about this
+time, to meet the public requirements may be judged from a circumstance
+connected with Bishopp's appointment. The letters patent appointing him
+were to take effect from the 25th of June 1660, but their validity was to
+depend on an Act of Parliament, the Act reconstituting the General Post
+Office, which did not pass until some months afterwards. Meanwhile a whole
+crop of posts had sprung up between London and the country, which could
+not be suppressed until the Act was passed. As compensation for the loss
+he sustained by this encroachment on his monopoly between the 25th of June
+and the 29th of September Bishopp claimed and received no less than L500.
+
+There is preserved in the Guildhall Library a letter from the Duke of
+Buckingham, to which the following note is appended:--"The great fire of
+London broke out on the 2nd of September 1666. It is seen by the date of
+this letter that the Duke of Buckingham, at that time in the highest
+position at Court and in the zenith of his power, was at Worthing, and
+did not receive intelligence of the awful calamity until after the city
+had been burning for five days." We do not know by what means the Duke
+was informed of the calamity, nor is it material to our present purpose
+that we should do so. All we desire now to observe is that if, as is not
+improbable, he was informed of it by letter, the letter--as we proceed
+to shew--reached him in due course of post. The fire broke out at
+midnight on the 2nd of September, and the 2nd of September was a
+Saturday, after which, except to the Downs and to places abroad, there
+was no post out of London until Tuesday the 5th, or rather, as the mails
+started after midnight, until early in the morning of Wednesday the 6th.
+Arundel was then the post-town for Worthing, and for the first part of
+the distance the course of post was, as it continued to be until the day
+of railways, through Tooting, Ewell, Epsom or Ebbesham as it was still
+called, Leatherhead, and Dorking. Continuing thence, not, as in later
+times, through Horsham, but through the hamlet of Coldharbour, the
+post-road skirted the foot of Leith Hill and passed through Stone
+Street, Billinghurst, and Amberley to Arundel, which would be reached
+late in the afternoon of Wednesday. Between Arundel and Worthing the
+distance is ten miles, and the postmaster would not, at the earliest,
+take out the letter for delivery until the morning of Thursday the 7th,
+or five days after the fire had broken out. Indeed, it may be permitted
+to us to doubt whether the letter, if letter there was, would have been
+delivered as early as the 7th, had it been for a less important
+personage.
+
+Meagre as the means of communication were in those days, even such means
+as existed were not matter of common knowledge. The Post Office did not
+advertise its wares; and no newspapers then existed to do for the Post
+Office what the Post Office omitted to do for itself. What towns
+possessed post-houses of their own, and how these towns stood in
+relation to other towns which did not enjoy the same advantage, might
+well be considered essential information; yet even of this no public
+announcement was given. Blome, in his _Britannia_, printed in 1671,
+remarks upon this defect, and for the benefit of his readers proceeds to
+supply it. After commenting upon the convenience which the Post Office
+affords, and lamenting that this convenience is not more generally
+known, he gives a list of the post towns which each county possesses,
+and supplements it with a series of county maps, so that, as he
+explains, persons desirous of writing to any particular place may be
+able to find out for themselves where the nearest post-house stands. As
+late as the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth
+centuries separate maps appear to have been published with the same
+object, as a matter of private enterprise. In these maps the post towns
+are indicated by a castle surmounted by the royal standard.
+
+But it was within the metropolis itself that the public need was
+greatest. Between London and the country posts went at unequal intervals
+indeed, and at intervals in some cases unduly long, and yet with
+regularity. To Kent and the Downs there was a post daily; to other parts
+of England and to Scotland a post every other day; and to Wales and to
+Ireland a post twice a week. But between one part of London and another
+there was no post at all. A resident in London having a letter for
+delivery within the metropolitan area had only one choice, to take the
+letter himself or to send it by another. And let the bearer of a letter
+be who he might, there was an inconvenience to which he was constantly
+exposed. The houses were not numbered, and were mainly to be recognised
+by the signs they bore. Later on, men who delivered letters over the
+same ground day after day complained that it was not always easy to find
+the address. Without local knowledge it must have been sometimes
+impossible.
+
+Happily, in England the spirit of enterprise is such that an
+acknowledged want affecting any considerable section of the public is
+seldom suffered to endure very long. And so it proved in the present
+instance. The man who now undertook to relieve the capital from the
+intolerable inconvenience under which it laboured was William Dockwra, a
+merchant of the city of London. Dockwra had been a sub-searcher in the
+Custom House, and through some little interest he possessed at Court had
+been allowed to dispose of his place. The idea of the penny post is said
+indeed to have originated with Robert Murray, an upholsterer in
+Paternoster Row; but, be that as it may, to Dockwra belongs the credit
+of giving it practical shape. A man of less resolution or less convinced
+of the inherent merits of his undertaking might well have been daunted
+by the difficulties he had to encounter. The undertaking had been
+conceived in so bold a spirit that to carry it out would involve an
+expense which Dockwra's unaided resources were altogether unable to
+bear. A difficulty still greater than the want of funds was the
+determined opposition of the Duke of York. In 1663 the profits of the
+Post Office had been settled on the Duke for his support and
+maintenance, and, with an eye ever intent on his own interests, he
+discerned or thought he discerned in the new project an infringement of
+his rights.
+
+Undeterred by these difficulties, Dockwra persevered in the task he had
+taken in hand. At length the appointed day arrived. On the 1st of April
+1680,[9] London, which had hitherto had no post at all, suddenly found
+itself in possession of one in comparison with which even the post of
+our own time is cast into the shade. For the purposes of the undertaking
+London and its suburbs were divided into seven districts with a sorting
+office in each. From Hackney in the north to Lambeth in the south, from
+Blackwall in the east to Westminster in the west, there was not a point
+within the bills of mortality which the new post did not reach. Between
+four and five hundred receiving offices were opened in a single morning.
+Placards were distributed and advertisements inserted in the public
+intelligences announcing where these offices were. Messengers called
+there for letters every hour. These, if for the country, were carried to
+the General Post Office, and if for the town, to the respective sorting
+offices. From the sorting offices, after being sorted and entered in
+books kept for the purpose, they were sent out for delivery, to the Inns
+of Court or places of business ten or twelve times a day, and to other
+places according to distance from four to eight times. Nor was the
+service confined to letters. It extended also to parcels, the only
+condition being that neither parcel nor letter should exceed one pound
+in weight,[10] or ten pounds in value. Subject to these limitations the
+charge between one part of London and another was one penny. An
+exception indeed was made in the case of Hackney, Islington, Newington
+Butts, and Lambeth, which were then separate towns. There one penny
+carried only to the receiving office, and for delivery at a private
+house the charge was one penny more. Delivery in the street was not
+allowed.
+
+  [9] Curiously enough, the Post Office Report for 1854 gives the year as
+  1683; but this is an error.
+
+  [10] Here also the Post Office Report for 1854 is in error. It says that
+  at first there was no limit to the weight of a packet.
+
+But it was not only in the matter of weight and frequency of delivery
+that the new undertaking was conceived in the most liberal spirit.
+Provided a letter or parcel was securely tied and sealed and its
+contents endorsed on the outside, the charge of one penny covered not
+only cost of conveyance but insurance as well, up to a limit of ten
+pounds. That is to say, subject to this limit, if a parcel or a letter
+or its contents were lost, Dockwra would, the conditions being observed,
+make the value good.
+
+There is yet another novelty which Dockwra introduced. As a check upon
+his messengers he supplied the seven sorting offices with stamps bearing
+their own initial letters and denoting the several hours of the day.
+With one of these stamps all letters and parcels were impressed as they
+passed through the post, and if in the busy parts of the capital they
+were not delivered within little more than an hour from the time denoted
+by the impression, the public were encouraged to complain. The following
+are specimens of the stamps which Dockwra used:--
+
+[Illustration: Three stamps]
+
+This was the introduction of postmarks. In the first and last
+impressions Mor. 8 signifies of course 8 o'clock in the morning, and Af.
+4, 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In the second or middle impression the
+initial letter L signifies Lyme Street, where the principal office of
+the penny post was held at Dockwra's private dwelling-house, formerly
+the dwelling-house of Sir Robert Abdy.
+
+The General Post Office, until lately in Bishopsgate Street, stood at
+this time in Lombard Street, where it occupied a site on part of which
+the branch office now stands. There the persons employed, all told,
+numbered 77. In the country and dependent on the chief office were 227
+postmasters, viz. 182 in England and Scotland and 45 in Ireland. Twelve
+persons were also employed in the office in Dublin. Altogether and
+throughout the whole of the kingdom the General Post Office, in 1680,
+gave employment to 316 persons, a number very much less than that which
+Dockwra employed in London alone.
+
+On Saturday nights the penny post closed, in winter at six, and in
+summer at seven. On other nights of the week, Sundays excepted, it must
+have remained open to at least 9 o'clock, for at that hour the country
+letters were collected from the receiving offices and carried to the
+General Post Office. Besides Sundays, there were eight days in the year
+on which the post did not go, viz. three days at Christmas, two days at
+Easter, two days at Whitsuntide, and also the 30th of January, the
+anniversary of the death of King Charles the First.
+
+In spite of the enormous advantages it conferred, the penny post was not
+at first received with unqualified satisfaction. Some fanatics denounced
+it as a Popish contrivance; and Lord Macaulay tells us how the porters
+complained that their interests were attacked, and tore down the
+placards on which the scheme was announced to the public. Even
+unprejudiced persons and persons who had no interests to protect
+complained that a large number of things were posted and not delivered.
+This Dockwra himself admitted, explaining that it was due to the
+illegible writing of the address or to the omission of some important
+particular by which the persons addressed might be identified, the
+omission of their trade, or of the signs which their houses bore, or of
+some well-known place or object in their vicinity. The manifest utility
+of the enterprise, however, soon bore down all opposition; and in little
+more than a year from its introduction the penny post, though weighted
+with a scheme of insurance, was very nearly paying its own expenses.
+
+The establishment of the penny post had one effect which had probably
+not been contemplated. It increased largely the number of letters for
+the country. Every man had now a post office at his own door. It is true
+that Dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices were intended
+primarily for town letters; but country letters might be posted there,
+and, as we have seen, were collected at a stated hour every evening.
+Hitherto the case had been very different. Up to the 1st of April 1680,
+incredible as it may appear, the General Post Office in Lombard Street
+was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of London. There and
+nowhere else could letters be posted. Little wonder if, before 1680,
+persons whom the cost of postage might not deter from writing were yet
+deterred by their distance from the Post Office.
+
+Dockwra might reasonably now expect to reap some of the rewards of
+success. A small band of citizens who had joined in the original venture
+had afterwards deserted him, and for six months he had carried it on at
+his sole charge. Others had then come to his aid, and a fresh
+partnership had been formed. The undertaking prospered, became
+self-supporting, and at length gave promise of large returns. This very
+promise excited the greed of the Duke of York. So long as the outgoings
+exceeded the receipts Dockwra remained unmolested; but no sooner had the
+balance turned than the Duke complained of his monopoly being infringed,
+and the Courts of Law decided in his favour. Not only was Dockwra cast
+in damages, but the undertaking which he had impoverished himself to
+establish was wrested out of his hands, and the penny post, in less than
+five years from its introduction, was incorporated into the General Post
+Office.[11]
+
+  [11] The exact date of incorporation is uncertain. The decision in the
+  Court of King's Bench was given in Michaelmas term 1682; but the first
+  public advertisement of the penny post does not appear to have been
+  issued by the Postmaster-General until the 11th of March 1684/5.
+
+Generosity formed no part of James's character, and, so long as he sat
+on the throne, Dockwra's services remained without the slightest
+recognition. In 1690, however, upon an address from the House of
+Commons, William and Mary granted him a pension of L500 for seven years,
+and in 1697 the grant was renewed for three years longer. In the same
+year as the renewal of the grant, but a little earlier, he was appointed
+comptroller of the penny post at a salary of L200, and this appointment
+he retained until 1700. Then, both appointment and grant came to an
+abrupt termination together, for, on charges brought against him by his
+own subordinates, Dockwra, like Witherings, was dismissed. Such was the
+tribute paid to the man who had conferred on his country benefits which
+he never tired of predicting would endure to all posterity.
+
+Of the charges against Dockwra two deserve special notice, as shewing
+that the penny post, after its acquisition by the State, continued to be
+conducted on the same principles as before. These two charges were--1st,
+that, contrary to his duty, he "forbids the taking in any band-boxes
+(except very small) and all parcels above a pound"; and 2nd, that he
+takes money out of letters and "makes the office pay for it," thereby
+clearly indicating that at that time the State carried on a parcel post
+and continued the practice of making losses good. A third charge, the
+truth of which it is more easy to credit, imputed to Dockwra that he
+spoke and acted as if his object were to get the penny post into his own
+hands again. It is worthy of remark, as characteristic of the times in
+which he lived, and may perhaps be regarded as affording some
+presumption of his innocence, that Dockwra appears to have been at less
+pains to refute the charges than to prove that he had taken the oath of
+supremacy, or the oath which had been recently substituted for it, and
+that he had received the Holy Sacrament.
+
+We have said that to us who live at the end of the nineteenth century it
+may appear incredible that up to April 1680 the General Post Office in
+Lombard Street was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of
+London. But it is by no means certain that our descendants may not think
+it more incredible still that London, with all its boasted progress, has
+only now recovered a post which, in point of convenience and cheapness,
+at all approaches that which an enterprising citizen established more
+than two hundred years ago. When and under what circumstances this post
+lost its original features will have to be considered hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+COTTON AND FRANKLAND
+
+_Inland Service_
+
+1685-1705
+
+
+In 1685, on the death of Charles the Second, the revenue of the Post
+Office was settled on James, his heirs and successors. Rochester, the
+High Treasurer, became postmaster-general; and for the actual discharge
+of the duties a deputy was appointed under the title of Governor.
+
+Two years before, the panic caused by the discovery of the Rye-House
+Plot had led to the issue of a Proclamation which, if differing little
+from others that had gone before, acquires importance from the
+circumstances under which it appeared. Unauthorised posts had again
+sprung up in all directions, simply, no doubt, because there was a
+demand for the accommodation they afforded; but the Government, no less
+than the persons who denounced Dockwra's undertaking as a Popish
+contrivance, seem to have been possessed with the idea that these posts
+were mere vehicles for the propagation of treason. To prevent
+treasonable correspondence was the avowed object of the present
+Proclamation, and the means by which the object was sought to be
+attained was the suppression of private and irregular posts, for by
+these, the Proclamation went on to declare, the conspirators had been
+materially assisted in their designs. Mayors, sheriffs, justices of the
+peace, constables and others were enjoined to make diligent search for
+letters passing otherwise than through the regular post. Special
+officers were to be appointed for the same purpose. All such letters,
+wherever discovered, were to be deemed to be "of dangerous consequence";
+and not only were they to be seized and carried to the Secretary of
+State or the Privy Council for the purpose of being opened and
+inspected, but both the bearers and senders of them were to be proceeded
+against at law.
+
+On James's accession to the throne the Proclamation of 1683 was
+succeeded by another in almost identical terms; and it is certain that
+during his reign the liberties taken with post letters were hardly less
+than they had been in the worst days of the Commonwealth. Only a few
+months before Rochester's dismissal, for no better reason than to
+gratify curiosity, orders were given that the bags from Scotland should
+be transmitted to Whitehall, and during a whole week not a single
+private letter from beyond the Tweed was delivered in London. Happily,
+however, this state of things was soon to cease. After the Revolution
+the appointment of postmaster-general was conferred upon persons who
+were otherwise unconnected with affairs of State, and the effect of this
+change was, as William no doubt intended, at once to lift the Post
+Office out of the region of politics. In the eyes of the Rochesters, the
+Arlingtons, and the Thurloes, busied as they were in the detection of
+conspiracies against the State, the Post Office had been little else
+than an instrument which might be usefully employed as a means to that
+end. With plain citizens unversed in the ways of government, the only
+consideration was how best they could accomplish the object for which
+they had been appointed; and this object was so to manage and improve
+the posts of the country as to secure to their Sovereign the highest
+possible revenue.
+
+But, before William could give effect to his views, there was an
+adherent to be provided for. This was Colonel John Wildman, who was
+appointed postmaster-general in July 1689. Of Wildman's career at the
+Post Office little is known, except that he was profuse in making
+promises which he never performed. He might, perhaps, himself have
+pleaded that he was not given time to perform them, for after eight
+months' tenure of the appointment he was dismissed for some reason which
+is, and will probably continue to be, a mystery. Far different is the
+record left behind them by Wildman's immediate successors. These were
+Sir Robert Cotton and Mr.--afterwards Sir Thomas--Frankland, who became
+joint postmasters-general in March 1690, and served in that capacity for
+nearly twenty years. They had sat in James's Parliament, the one for
+Cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of Thirsk, and these seats
+they retained under William. From the writings they have left behind
+them we are able to see these two men not as a biographer might dress
+them up, but as they really were. Everything about them, their virtues,
+their foibles, their habits, their ailments, their devotion to duty,
+their unwillingness to believe evil of any one, their hatred of
+injustice or oppression, their unbounded credulity, their anxiety about
+their re-election, their gratitude for any little scrap of news which
+they might carry to Court, their fondness for a glass of port wine,
+their attacks of gout, their habit of taking snuff, even the hour of
+their going to bed--all this and more is there revealed, and makes up a
+record of simplicity and benevolence which it is a delight to read.
+
+The establishment over which these two simple gentlemen were called upon
+to preside had recently received a considerable addition. Out of London,
+the Post Office servants remained much as they had been ten years
+before, at about 239 in number, of whom all but twelve were postmasters;
+but in London the force employed at the General Post Office had been
+raised from 77 to 185. The Penny Post Office, which had now been wrested
+out of Dockwra's hands, accounts for the greater part of the difference.
+This gave employment, exclusive of receivers, to 74 persons--a
+comptroller, an accomptant, and a collector, 14 sorters and 57
+messengers--at a total charge for salaries of L2000 a year. Another part
+of the establishment, and by no means the least important or the least
+difficult to manage, consisted of the packet boats. These, in 1690,
+were eleven in number, viz.--two for France, two for Flanders, two for
+Holland, two for the Downs, and three for Ireland. Owing to the war,
+however, the boat-service to France was now in abeyance.
+
+Little more than half a century had elapsed since the introduction of
+postage, and meanwhile the revenue had risen by strides which were for
+those times prodigious. In 1635 the posts were maintained at a cost to
+the Crown of L3400 a year. Within fifteen years not only had they become
+self-supporting, but a rent was paid for the privilege of farming them.
+This rent was, in 1650, L5000 a year; in 1653, L10,000; in 1660,
+L21,500; and some time before 1680, L43,000. In 1690 the net revenue was
+probably about L55,000. In 1694, according to a return made to the House
+of Commons two years later, it was L59,972.
+
+The headquarters of the Post Office were at this time in Lombard Street.
+Here the postmasters-general resided; and here, far from shutting
+themselves up, they were to be found at all hours by any one who might
+wish to consult them on business connected with their office. Freedom of
+communication with those among whom they lived, and not inaccessibility,
+appears indeed to have been a part of their policy. With the foreign
+merchants especially they maintained the most friendly intercourse, and
+were wont to defer to their wishes and suggestions in the arrangement of
+the packets. Besides giving constant attendance during the day, the
+postmasters-general sat as a Board every morning and night. To these
+Board-meetings they attached the highest importance, especially on the
+nights of Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, when mails were despatched
+into all parts of the country. These were known as the "Grand Post
+Nights," and the others as "Bye-Nights."
+
+The Post Office building appears to have been not ill adapted to its
+purpose. A massive gate opened into a court of oblong shape. This court
+was paved from end to end for the merchants to walk in while waiting to
+receive their letters. On the right was the Board-room with the
+residence of the postmasters-general attached; on the left the office
+for foreign letters; and in front, immediately facing the entrance, was
+the sorting office. The office for the letter-carriers was in the
+basement. The rest of the building was devoted to the use of the Post
+Office servants, who, owing to their unseasonable hours of attendance,
+were required to live in the office itself or else in its immediate
+vicinity.
+
+The machinery for the dispersion of letters was very simple. For Post
+Office purposes the kingdom was divided into six roads--the North Road,
+the Chester or Holyhead Road, the Western Road, the Kent Road, and the
+Roads to Bristol and to Yarmouth; and these roads were presided over by
+a corresponding number of clerks in London whose duty it was to sort the
+letters and to tax them with the proper amount of postage. At the
+present time, when, owing to the system of prepayment, there is
+comparatively little taxing to be done, no less than 2800 clerks and
+sorters are engaged every evening in despatching the letters into the
+country. Two hundred years ago the whole operation was performed, both
+sorting and taxing together, by the six clerks of the roads, and they
+had not even a sorter to assist them until 1697.
+
+The letters, as soon as they had been sorted, were despatched into the
+country, the usual hour of despatch being shortly after midnight; but,
+of course, with a force to prepare them of only six persons, a rigid
+punctuality such as that which now distinguishes the operations of the
+Post Office could hardly be observed. An instance remains on record of
+the disturbance caused by any unusual pressure. The 25th of February
+1696, we are told, was a foreign post night, and it happened that the
+letters for the country as well as abroad were more than ordinarily
+numerous. On this occasion the mails which should have gone out before
+three o'clock in the morning could not be despatched until between six
+and seven.
+
+Once clear of London, the letters passed into the hands of the
+postmasters, who were alone concerned in their transmission and
+distribution. At the present time, multifarious as the duties of a
+postmaster are, it is not one of them to transport the mails from town
+to town. But such was not the case in 1690. The post roads were then
+divided into sections or, as they were commonly called, stages; and
+these stages were presided over by a corresponding number of
+postmasters, whose duty it was to carry the mails each over his own
+stage. This had been the original object of their appointment, the
+object for which they had been granted the monopoly of letting
+post-horses, and it still remained their primary duty, to which every
+other was subordinate. And yet traces of this original function were
+already beginning to disappear. The posts settled on the six main roads
+of the kingdom had not been long in extending themselves to other roads;
+and on these branch roads one postmaster would be charged with the
+carrying of the mails over two or more stages, leaving another without
+any transport duty at all. Kendal, for instance, lay on a branch road
+leaving the Holyhead Road at Chester; and from Wigan the letters for
+Kendal were fetched by the postmaster of Preston, who passed not only
+his own town but the town of Lancaster on his way.
+
+In 1690 no provincial town had a letter-carrier of its own, as that term
+is now understood. Even at Bristol and at Norwich, which ranked next to
+the capital in size and importance, there was for all Post Office
+purposes one single agent, and that was the postmaster. Upon him and him
+alone devolved all the duties which now, at all but the smallest towns,
+a body of sorters and letter-carriers is maintained to perform. Whether
+out of London there was any settled mode of delivery is uncertain; but
+there seems little doubt that, soon after the establishment of the Post
+Office, to deliver letters in his own town had come to be a part, though
+a secondary part, of a postmaster's duty. At Maidstone, indeed, the
+delivery appears to have reached a high state of perfection. The
+postmaster there fetched the mails from Rochester and carried them to
+Ashford, dropping the letters for his own town as he passed through.
+These were at once taken out by two men of his own and delivered, so
+that, as he took pride in relating, a letter from London arriving by the
+morning post at noon could he answered by the return post, which left
+Maidstone at six o'clock in the evening.
+
+But this must have been an exceptional case. Except perhaps at the
+largest towns, letters were yet too few to make such an arrangement
+necessary; and it seems probable that the hour at which the delivery was
+made and the area over which it extended were very much in the
+postmaster's discretion. One check there was, and, so far as appears,
+one only. This was the letter bill which accompanied the letters, and in
+which was inserted the postage which a postmaster had to collect and
+bring to account; but it frequently happened that he advanced the amount
+himself, and of course, where this was so, there was nothing to shew
+that any particular letter had been delivered, still less that it had
+been delivered within a particular time. Far more effective, it may well
+be believed, than any official check was the desire, the natural desire,
+to stand well with his neighbours; and the substantial marks of kindness
+which they seldom failed to bestow upon him whenever he was so
+unfortunate as to get into trouble, preclude the idea that, in the
+matter of delivery or otherwise, remissness or inattention can have been
+at all general.
+
+In London, owing to recent malpractices there, attention had been
+directed to the salaries, and these had been improved. The six clerks of
+the roads received four of them L60 a year, one L50, and one as much as
+L100. The sorters received L40 a year, and the general post
+letter-carriers 11s. a week. The wages of the penny post letter-carriers
+or messengers, as for distinction's sake they were called, were 8s. In
+addition to their salaries the clerks of the roads enjoyed the privilege
+of franking newspapers or, as they were then called, gazettes. This
+privilege, which dated from the first establishment of the Post Office,
+had arrested the attention of James when Duke of York, and he had
+desired to take it away; but, on learning that compensation would have
+to be given, he decided to let it continue. By post the gazettes would
+have cost from 4d. to 6d. apiece. The clerks of the roads supplied them
+for 2d. The emoluments from this source kept steadily growing during
+William's reign. At first the longer and more frequent sessions of
+Parliament, and, later on, the war in which England was engaged, excited
+an appetite for news to which the two previous reigns afford no
+parallel. A statement which the postmasters-general made to the Treasury
+about this time, while evincing perhaps some little credulity, evinces
+also how keen, in the judgment of two shrewd and intelligent men, was
+the hunger after early intelligence. "In England," they say, "there are
+many postmasters, who some of them serve without salary, others for less
+than they would otherwise do, in consideration of their being allowed
+gazets by the office ffrank."
+
+Another curious custom prevailed in 1690, and continued indeed for
+nearly a century afterwards. This was the distribution among the Post
+Office servants in London of a certain sum annually as "drink and feast
+money." The sum so distributed in 1685 had been no less than L60; and
+this was in addition to two "feasts" which were given them at the
+expense of the Crown, one at midsummer and the other at Christmas.
+
+In the country, where there was no one to watch over the postmasters'
+interests, the salaries were merely nominal. The postmaster of Sudbury
+in Suffolk received a salary of L26 a year; and for this he had, three
+times a week, to carry the letters to Braintree and back, a distance of
+thirty-two miles, over a road that was barely passable. At Maidstone, in
+order to keep the delivery up to his own standard of excellence, the
+postmaster expended 2s. a day in what he called "horse-meate and
+man's-meate," yet his salary was only L5. Many postmasters received no
+salary at all. Even at Bristol, which stood next to London in population
+and wealth, the salary was only L60, having been recently raised to that
+amount from L50.
+
+Nor was it only in the matter of salary that the postmasters were
+objects of compassion. The disturbed state of the country during the
+last few years had brought back old abuses. Officers of the army and
+others who had not the officers' excuse of urgency would override the
+post-horses, and when, as frequently happened, these were lamed or
+killed, no compensation appears to have been given. Another class of
+persons infested the roads, persons who, taking advantage of the general
+confusion, would hire post-horses and not return them. During the last
+twelve or thirteen years of the seventeenth century many postmasters
+were languishing in prison through inability to pay what they owed for
+postage; and among these there were few who did not trace their
+misfortunes to the fact that immediately before and after William's
+accession to the throne their horses had been killed or spoiled through
+reckless riding or else run away with.
+
+But neither the loss of their horses nor the inadequacy of their
+remuneration was so galling to the postmasters as the liability to which
+they now became subject, of having soldiers quartered upon them. A
+standing army had been recently authorised, and there was little or no
+barrack accommodation. Hence a liability, which in our own time might be
+little more than nominal, was, in 1690, tantamount to a heavy tax. Under
+Charles and James[12] the postmasters had been exempt from this
+annoyance; but the exemption had been granted by virtue of the royal
+prerogative, and William could not be induced to continue it. In vain it
+was urged that, if a burden were cast upon them as novel as it was
+oppressive, justice demanded that their salaries should be increased.
+The King resolutely refused to make a distinction which the law did not
+recognise, and, except in a few isolated cases, the salaries remained
+unchanged.
+
+  [12] In the reigns of Charles II. and James II. the practice of
+  billeting, illegal as it then was, was necessarily resorted to in order
+  to provide quarters for the troops they maintained in time of peace; and
+  even billeting in private houses was not unknown. An Act of 1689, the
+  second Mutiny Act, as it is called, while forbidding billeting in
+  private houses, authorised it at "inns, livery stables, ale houses,
+  victualling houses, and all houses selling brandy, strong waters, cyder
+  or metheglin, by retaile, to be dranke in their houses."
+
+Despite these drawbacks, there is no reason to think that the
+appointment of postmaster was not eagerly sought for, or that when
+obtained there was any general disposition to throw it up. The
+explanation is obvious. In the first place the appointment carried with
+it the exclusive right of letting post-horses. This monopoly, at all
+events on the more frequented roads, must have been remunerative; and it
+must have been especially remunerative where, as appears to have been
+generally the case, the postmaster was also innkeeper. Travellers were
+drawn to his house, for it was only there that they could procure horses
+to pursue their journey. He was, in a word, assured of custom. Other
+sources of emolument were--1st, gratuities, varying according to
+distance, from 1d. to 3d., on every letter he collected or delivered;
+and 2nd, what were technically called "Bye-letters." This term, whatever
+may have been the case a century before, had now a distinctive meaning.
+It meant letters which stopped short of London,[13] letters upon which
+at that time there was no check. In 1690 the postage on these letters
+was probably not large; but, large or small, the whole or all but the
+whole of it found its way into the pockets of the postmasters, and it
+was one of the first cares of the new postmasters-general to consider
+how the diversion might be stopped.
+
+  [13] In the agreement with Ralph Allen, dated thirty years later,
+  bye-letters are defined to be "letters not going or coming from, to, or
+  through London."
+
+Such, in England, was the condition of the Post Office when Cotton and
+Frankland assumed the direction of it in the month of March 1690. In
+Scotland the posts were under separate direction, the direction of the
+Secretary of State for that part of the kingdom, and subject to the
+control of the Scotch Parliament. For purposes of convenience, however,
+an arrangement had been made between the two Post Offices. On letters
+between London and Edinburgh in both directions the English Post Office
+took not only its own share of the postage but the whole; and, in
+return, it paid the salaries of all the postmasters and defrayed the
+cost of all expresses between the Border town of Berwick-on-Tweed and
+Edinburgh. The correspondence at this time passing between the two
+capitals was of the slightest. It is true that for the three years
+ending March 1693 the amount due to the London office for postage on
+letters to Edinburgh was L1500, or at the rate of L500 a year; but the
+correspondence of the Secretary of State for Scotland, or "Black-box" as
+it was called, from the colour of the box in which it was carried, would
+probably account for nearly the whole. In 1707, which no doubt was a
+busy year in consequence of the Act of Union, the cost of carrying this
+box to and fro averaged L66 a month.
+
+In Ireland the Post Office was managed by a deputy-postmaster, who was
+directly responsible to the postmasters-general in London. The method of
+business was the same as in England. Instead, however, of six "roads,"
+there were only three--the Munster Road, the Ulster Road, and the
+Connaught Road. The Dublin establishment, clerks and letter-carriers
+included, consisted of twelve persons, of whom five received L20 a year,
+and no one, the deputy-postmaster excepted, more than L80. The
+deputy-postmaster himself received L400. Such at least was the normal
+establishment; but all was now confusion. The battle of the Boyne had
+not yet been fought, and Tyrconnel was still Lord Deputy. By his
+direction the Post Office servants in Dublin, down to the youngest
+letter-carrier, had been turned out of their appointments; and the mails
+from England, instead of being opened at the Post Office, were being
+carried to the castle and opened there.
+
+The new postmasters-general had not long taken up their quarters in
+Lombard Street before they began to feel serious alarm for the revenue
+committed to their charge. It was in the matter of bye-letters that
+their apprehensions were first aroused. London, as the metropolis, sent
+and received more letters than any other town, more probably than all
+the other towns of the kingdom put together. Through London, too, as the
+centre of the Post Office system, many letters passed in those days
+which would not so pass now, because there were no cross-posts. Still
+there was a residue, a residue considerable in the aggregate,
+consisting of letters which did not touch London in any part of their
+course; and of these comparatively few were accounted for. Some thirty
+years later, after a check had been established, the revenue derived
+from bye-letters was only a little over L3000 a year. At the end of the
+seventeenth century it probably did not amount to as many hundreds.
+
+It was, however, not the letters that fell into the post, but those that
+were kept out of it, the illicit traffic in fact, that caused the
+greatest concern. This traffic was assuming larger proportions every
+day. Under Charles and James searchers had been appointed, men who
+searched for letters as baggage is searched at the Custom House. No
+suspected person, no suspected vehicle, was safe from inspection. But
+there was no legal sanction for the practice, and it had ceased on
+William's accession. Early in the present reign it had been mooted
+whether a prosecution should not be undertaken, at all events against
+the principal offenders; but the King refused to consent to a step which
+he regarded as impolitic and calculated to excite discontent. License
+waxed bolder with impunity. Along the road from Bristol to Worcester and
+from Worcester to Shrewsbury men might be seen openly collecting and
+delivering letters in defiance of the law. Openly or clandestinely the
+same thing was being done in other parts. "Wherever," wrote the
+postmasters-general, "there are any townes which have commerce one with
+another so as to occasion a constant intercourse by carryer or
+tradesman, there we do find it a general practice to convey at the same
+time a considerable number of letters."
+
+But the illicit traffic between one part of the country and another,
+large as were the dimensions it had assumed, was insignificant as
+compared with that which was taking place between the country and
+London. This was the natural result of the establishment of the penny
+post. At the first introduction of postage care had been taken so to fix
+the rates that for single letters the post should be cheaper than the
+common carrier. But the common carrier, in competition with the State,
+had one enormous advantage. He could reduce his terms at will. So long,
+therefore, as there was a profit to be made, the relative cheapness of
+the post had proved only an imperfect check.
+
+A far more efficient check, in the case of the metropolis at least, had
+been the difficulty of dispersion. It was one thing to bring letters to
+London and another to deliver them. In a maze of streets consisting of
+houses which bore no numbers, a comparative stranger to the town
+attempting anything in the shape of a general delivery would have been
+simply bewildered. But all this was now altered. The penny post supplied
+the very machinery, the want of which had hitherto kept the illicit
+traffic within bounds. Once within the orbit of that post, a letter
+consigned to any one of Dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices
+would be delivered in any part of what was then known as London for 1d.,
+and in the suburbs for 2d. And these charges would carry up to one pound
+in weight; whereas a quarter of one pound by the general post, even from
+places no further distant from London than Croydon or Kingston, would be
+charged 2s. 8d.
+
+Of course, under such conditions, to carry letters across the
+border-line, the line which separated the general post from the penny
+post, had soon become a regular traffic; and this traffic, in
+consequence of the impunity it enjoyed, was now being carried on with
+little concealment. No stage-coach entered London without the driver's
+pockets being stuffed with letters and packets, and he was moderate
+indeed if he had not a bagful besides. The waggoner outstripped his
+waggon and the carrier his pack-horse; and each brought his
+contribution. The higgler's wares were the merest pretext. It was to the
+letters and packets he carried that he looked for profit. So notorious
+had the abuse become that two private persons, unconnected with the Post
+Office, offered their services with a view to its correction. These
+persons were gentlemen by birth, and yet it is difficult to conceive an
+office more odious than the one which they were prepared to assume.
+They proposed to erect stands or barriers in Westminster, Southwark, and
+other places in the outskirts of London, and there to demand of
+suspected persons as they passed any letters they might have about them
+which did not concern their private business. They further proposed to
+deliver these letters by messengers of their own, and to collect the
+postage, and to proceed against the bearers of them for the recovery of
+the penalties. It is significant of the extent to which the traffic had
+grown, that in return for their services they asked no more than
+two-thirds of the postage they should collect, and even pleaded the
+heavy expenses to which they would be put as an apology for asking so
+much. The remaining third they would undertake to make over to the
+postmasters-general. They did not explain, however, how it was proposed
+to distinguish letters which concerned the private business of the
+bearers from those which did not, or how, while checking others, they
+were to be checked themselves. Nor indeed was any such explanation
+needed, for the postmasters-general very clearly discerned that the
+proposed remedy would be worse, far worse, than the disease.
+
+Cotton and Frankland were sorely perplexed. They knew perfectly well
+that the true policy was to supplant and not to suppress; and experience
+had taught them that to facilitate correspondence was to increase it.
+These views they never ceased to inculcate; but their power of giving
+effect to them was extremely limited. They could not lower the rates of
+postage, for these were fixed by Act of Parliament. They could not set
+up a new post nor alter an old one without the King's permission.
+Neither was this permission so easy to obtain as it had been. The Post
+Office revenue was settled upon William just as it had been settled upon
+James; but while James kept the control in his own hands William left it
+to his ministers.[14] Constitutionally sound as the change of practice
+was, it had its drawback. James might care little for the convenience of
+trade and commerce; but self-interest would prompt him not to withhold
+facilities where these might be given at small cost and with the
+prospect of comparatively large returns. Ministers, on the contrary,
+even the most enlightened, concerned themselves mainly with the
+balance-sheet of the year, and no promise of future and remote profit
+would easily reconcile them to a diminution of present receipts. That
+the Post Office must sow before it can reap is a truism which those who
+hold the purse-strings have, at all times, found it hard to accept.
+
+  [14] Occasionally, even after William's accession, the
+  postmasters-general addressed the King direct. The remonstrance against
+  quartering soldiers upon postmasters was so addressed. This document is
+  dated the 1st of February 1692/3.
+
+The ministers charged with the control of the Post Office were the Lords
+of the Treasury. How little the postmasters-general were left to act on
+their own responsibility will best be shewn by examples. Warwick,
+according to the computation of those days, was sixty-seven miles from
+London; but letters for that town passed through Coventry, thus
+traversing a distance of eighty miles. And not only was the route a
+circuitous one but it involved an additional charge for postage, the
+rates for a single letter being, for eighty miles, 3d., and for less
+than eighty, 2d. The postmasters-general desired to send the letters
+direct; but even so simple a matter as this they were not competent to
+decide for themselves. A change of route involved a reduction of charge;
+and a reduction of charge might affect the King's receipts. Before,
+therefore, the route could be altered, the King's assent had to be
+signified through his appointed ministers. In 1696 a post was
+established between Exeter and Bristol. This was the first cross-post
+set up by authority in the British Isles. It ran twice a week, leaving
+Exeter on Wednesdays and Saturdays at four in the afternoon, and
+arriving at Bristol at the same hour on the following days. From Bristol
+the return post, which went on Mondays and Fridays, started at ten in
+the morning. But in this case as in the other, the postmasters-general
+had not the power to act of their own motion. Hitherto letters between
+the two towns had passed through London, and so had been liable to a
+double rate of postage, to one rate of 3d. from Exeter to London, and to
+another rate of equal amount from London to Bristol, or 6d. altogether.
+For the future, the towns being less than eighty miles apart, the charge
+would be 2d. Large as this reduction was, the postmasters-general
+strongly advocated it. The existing post, they said, was both tedious
+and costly, and had been little used in consequence. A direct post, it
+was true, would require a small outlay to start it; but, this outlay
+notwithstanding, the post was certain to prove remunerative. Increase
+facilities for correspondence, and correspondence would assuredly
+follow. Besides, it would promote trade and be an inestimable boon to
+the public generally. To these representations the Treasury yielded; and
+before three years were over, the postmasters-general had the
+satisfaction of reporting that the new post was producing a clear profit
+of more than L250 a year. But complaisant as the Treasury had been on
+this occasion, their co-operation was fitful and uncertain. The Post
+Office could not advance a step without incurring some trifling expense;
+and the Treasury only too often acted as if to save expense, however
+trifling, were the highest proof of statesmanship.
+
+The postmasters-general were indeed heavily handicapped. Even with a
+free hand their position would have been one of great embarrassment. But
+bound hand and foot as they were, what could they do? They did what was
+perhaps the very best thing that could have been done in the
+circumstances. They grouped large numbers of post offices together and
+let them out to farm. These groups, or branches as they were called,
+spread over a wide area. The Buckingham branch, for instance, not only
+included the county of Bucks but extended as far as Warwick. The
+Hungerford branch comprised sixteen post offices in the counties of
+Berks, Wilts, and Somerset. The Chichester branch covered a large part
+of Surrey as well as Sussex; and the six remaining branches, for
+eventually there were nine altogether, were equally extensive.
+
+This, though by no means a perfect remedy for the existing evils, went
+far to mitigate them. The farmer, of course, could not alter the rates
+of postage; but with this single exception he was free from the
+restraints which hampered the postmasters-general. Within the area over
+which his farm extended he had only to consult his own interests; and,
+happily, his own interests and the interests of the public were
+identical. He improved and extended the posts, because to improve and
+extend the posts added to the number of letters and made his farm more
+profitable. He stopped the practice of levying gratuities on the
+delivery of letters, because this practice, by adding to the cost of the
+post, and so deterring persons from using it, diminished his own
+receipts. For the same reason he took good care that no agent of his own
+should omit to account for bye-letters, and, if other than his own
+agents continued to send letters by irregular means, that it should not
+be for want of facilities which he could himself supply.
+
+To this community of interest as between himself and the public may be
+ascribed the exceptional feelings with which, at the close of the
+seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, the Post Office
+farmer was regarded. The very name of farmer in connection with other
+branches of the revenue had become a by-word for all that was rapacious
+and extortionate. Only recently the farmer of the customs and the farmer
+of the hearth money had been stamped out as moral pests. The Post Office
+farmer, on the contrary, was welcomed wherever he came as a public
+benefactor. In his case outrages and exactions such as had disgraced the
+others were impossible. Before he could collect a single penny he had a
+service to perform; and according as this service was performed well or
+ill, he repelled or attracted custom.
+
+The real secret of his welcome, however, was that he supplied an urgent
+demand; and how urgent this demand was may best be judged by the
+conditions on which he was glad to accept his farm. These conditions
+were a lease of no more than three years, and a rent equivalent to the
+highest amount which the post offices included in his farm had in any
+one year produced. For his profits he had nothing to look to but the
+increase of revenue resulting from his own management; and even of this
+he received the whole only in the first year, when he would, presumably,
+be establishing his plant. In subsequent years he received two-thirds,
+the remaining third going to the Post Office. If under such conditions
+as these it were possible to toil and grow rich, great indeed must have
+been the field of operation.
+
+Among those who were commissioned to supply the accommodation which the
+postmasters-general were precluded from supplying themselves was one who
+deserves to be specially mentioned. This was Stephen Bigg of Winslow, in
+Buckinghamshire. Bigg farmed the Buckingham branch. He appears to have
+possessed and to have deserved the confidence of the postmasters-general.
+Of ample means, and endowed with no ordinary powers of organisation,
+he had probably embarked on his undertaking less with a view to
+profit than from a desire to improve the posts. Be that as itmay,
+the same means which conduced to the one end conduced also to the
+other; and when the time arrived for him to render an account of his
+proceedings, he not only made over to the Post Office a handsome sum as
+one-third share of the profits, but had earned for himself the gratitude
+of the large district over which his farm extended.
+
+His success in his own county encouraged him to enlarge the sphere of
+his operations. Passing through Lancashire in the last year of the
+century, he was struck with the wretched accommodation which the posts
+afforded. As compared with those under his own control, they were slow,
+irregular, and, owing to the system of gratuities, costly. On his return
+to London he offered to take in farm the post offices of the whole
+county. The offer was accepted, and a lease was signed fixing the rent,
+as ascertained in the usual manner, at L2826. The history of this farm
+is curious. Bigg had not long been engaged in his new undertaking before
+the cross-post which had some few years before been set up between
+Exeter and Bristol was extended to Chester. It is not very clear how
+this interfered with Bigg's proceedings; but, as a matter of fact, it
+appears to have tapped an important source of supply. On this being
+pointed out to the postmasters-general, they at once, with that high
+sense of justice which distinguished all their proceedings, released him
+from his engagement and cancelled the lease.
+
+The next county to which Bigg turned his attention was Lincolnshire. If
+Lancashire had bad posts, Lincolnshire had next to none. Five post towns
+were all of which Lincolnshire could boast--Stamford and Witham and
+Grantham, Lincoln and Boston; and of these only two were off the great
+north road which ran through the extreme west of the county. It is true
+that other towns received letters; but they received them only by virtue
+of a private arrangement, and heavily had they to pay for the luxury.
+From Lincoln, for instance, the postmaster went twice a week to
+Gainsborough and to Brigg, to Horncastle, Louth, and Grimsby, charging
+as his own perquisite on each letter he collected or delivered the sum
+of 3d. over and above the postage; but, so far as depended on any
+official post, these and all the intervening towns were absolutely cut
+off from the rest of the world.[15] Bigg procured a farm of the district
+in favour of his son, and the lease was signed on the 4th of August
+1705. On the 1st of October in the same year posts began to run, and
+gratuities on the delivery of letters had become a thing of the past.
+One penny on each letter collected was the only charge that remained
+over and above the postage.
+
+  [15] In the case of Grimsby it is the more surprising that this should
+  have been so, because out of the only five towns in the kingdom which
+  the Act of 1660 mentions by name Grimsby is one. According to this Act
+  the post was to go there once a week.
+
+It would be less than justice not to recognise the important part which
+about this period the farmer played in the history of the Post Office;
+nor is it possible not to admire the sagacity of those who, when they
+found the posts to be slipping through their fingers, summoned this
+extraneous agency to their aid. It was no mere venture which by a happy
+accident happened to turn out well. The postmasters-general had foreseen
+and foretold exactly what would be the result--that under a system of
+farming the public would be better served, letters would become more
+numerous, and the revenue, when it should revert to the Crown at the
+termination of the lease, would be higher than when the lease began.
+
+Next to Lincolnshire in poverty of the means of correspondence stood
+Cornwall. Until 1704 the post to Falmouth, after leaving Exeter, ran
+through Ashburton to Plymouth and thence along the south coast. Of the
+towns in Mid Cornwall Launceston alone possessed a post office. At
+others, indeed, letters were delivered, but only by virtue of a private
+arrangement and on payment of a gratuity of 2d. apiece. No farmer,
+unfortunately, offered his services here. But, what was perhaps the next
+best thing, the gentry of the county, headed by Lord Granville, took the
+matter up. Thus supported, the postmasters-general proceeded to concert
+their arrangements. They desired the postmasters of Exeter, Plymouth,
+and Launceston to meet together and prepare some scheme for facilitating
+the correspondence of the midland towns. Such a scheme was soon
+submitted, and, although it involved a cost of L260 a year, authority
+for its adoption was not withheld. Henceforth the post for the extreme
+west of England was to go, not by way of Plymouth, but direct from
+Exeter to St. Columb, and thence through Truro to Falmouth. A single
+post through a wide extent of country might ill accord with our present
+views of what the public convenience requires; and yet at the beginning
+of the eighteenth century Mid Cornwall, by the mere alteration of the
+route for the Falmouth mails, obtained facilities for correspondence not
+inferior to those enjoyed by other parts of the country.
+
+The speed at which the post travelled at the end of the seventeenth
+century only slightly exceeded four miles an hour. This slow rate of
+progress, added to the fact that, except to the Downs, the post left
+London only on alternate days, gave occasion for the not infrequent use
+of expresses. These were mounted messengers sent specially for the
+occasion. Whether for expresses there was any prescribed rate of speed
+is not known; but it seems probable that their instructions were to go
+as fast as they could. The charge for an express was 3d. a mile and 6d.
+a stage, a stage being on the average about twelve miles. The total sum
+which the Post Office received on this account during the half-year
+which ended the 29th of September 1685 was L337.
+
+Occasionally several expresses would be required at one time. In 1696,
+on the discovery of Barclay's plot to assassinate the King, orders were
+given to close the ports; and these orders the postmasters-general sent,
+as they were instructed to do, by express. Some twenty years afterwards
+similar orders were given, and an account is still extant shewing how on
+the later, and probably the earlier, occasion they were carried into
+effect. The English ports were sixty-two in number; and to only ten of
+these were expresses sent direct from Lombard Street, the others being
+either taken by the way or reached by branch expresses furnished by the
+towns through which the expresses from London passed. Altogether the
+distance traversed was 2526 miles, the number of stages 202, and the sum
+which the Post Office received for the service from the Commissioners of
+Customs L36:12:6.
+
+From expresses it seems almost natural to pass to flying packets,
+although between the two there is, so far as we are aware, no necessary
+connection. What was a flying packet? The term "flying," at the end of
+the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, was, no
+doubt, used in the sense of running. For this season, writes Lord
+Compton's private tutor to Lady Northampton, under date September 1734,
+"the coach has done flying." In like manner "flying post," a term as old
+as the Post Office itself,[16] meant nothing more than what in Scotland
+was called a runner. Possibly because the idea of expedition was
+conveyed by the term "flying," flying packet came to be regarded as
+synonymous with express. "I despatch this by a flying pacquett," writes
+Lord Townshend to the Duke of Argyll in 1715; and again, "My lord, after
+writing what is above, a flying packet brings letters from Edinburgh of
+the 12th." "By the flying pacquett which arrived last night," writes
+Secretary Stanhope about the same date, "I received the honour of your
+Grace's of the 21st inst." Here, by flying packet is obviously meant
+express. And yet, curiously enough, this is a sense in which the
+postmasters-general never employed the term. By them it was always
+designed to signify the thing transmitted, and not the means of
+transmission. What they called a flying packet might be sent by ordinary
+post no less than by express; and when sending one by express they never
+failed to state that it was being so sent. "You are therefore," they
+write in 1706, "on the receipt of the bag so delivered to your care
+[_i.e._ a small bag containing letters for the Court], to dispatch the
+same imediately by a flying packet from Harwich to this office, and to
+send a labil therewith expressing the precise time of the arrival and
+your having dispatched the same per express." On receipt of the Holland
+mail, they write again in the following year, "You are to take out the
+Court letters, and to forward the same express by a flying packet
+directed to Mr. Frankland at the Post Office at Newmarket." "The
+inclosed box being recommended to our care by His Grace the Duke of
+Queensberry, one of Her Majesty's principall Secretarys of State, we do
+send the same by a flying pacquet.... You are to send us advice by the
+first post of the safe comeing of this pacquet to your hands." In
+short, flying packet, in its original sense, appears to have meant
+simply a packet of which the enclosures were designed for some other
+person than the one whose address the packet bore. Within the Post
+Office it is occasionally necessary to employ technical terms which
+would not be intelligible to persons without; but this, so far as we are
+aware, is the only instance of the same term being used within and
+without in two totally different senses.
+
+  [16] 1661. Feb. 3rd. Robert Reade to Charles Spellman. "Att the right
+  honourable my Lord Townshend's in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster." The
+  writer says that he has as yet received no command from Mr. Spellman or
+  from Lord Townshend, "nor do I wonder at it, because the flying post lay
+  drunke last Friday at Fakenham (being the day that he should have binn
+  at Thetford to take those letters then there which he should bring
+  hether on Saterday), and had not changed his quarter yesterday as I am
+  informed by one of Scott's men who saw him pittyfully drunke. The cuntry
+  complaines of him."--Historical Manuscripts Commission, Eleventh Report,
+  Appendix, Part iv. p. 25.
+
+Of the state of the roads about this period the Highway Act 1691
+affords, perhaps, not the least trustworthy evidence. To incidents which
+have resulted in nothing more than temporary inconvenience travellers
+are apt to give a touch of humorous exaggeration. An Act of Parliament,
+on the contrary, deals with facts as they are, and concerns itself not
+with imaginary ills. What, then, is to be thought of the condition of
+the roads when provisions such as these were necessary?--No causeway for
+horses was to be less than three feet in breadth, nor was the breadth of
+any cartway leading to a market town to be less than eight feet. In
+highways of less breadth than twenty feet no tree was to be permitted to
+grow, or stone, timber, or manure to be heaped up so as to obstruct
+progress; and hedges were to be kept trimmed, and boughs to be lopped
+off, so as to allow a free passage to travellers, and not to intercept
+the action of the sun and wind. Of any breach of these and other
+provisions the road-surveyor was, on the Sunday next after it became
+known to him, to give public notice in the parish church immediately
+after the conclusion of the sermon.
+
+Long after the passing of the Act of 1691, and perhaps in consequence of
+it, the causeway formed an important feature of the roads. This
+causeway, or bridle-track, ran down the middle; while the margin on
+either side was little better than a ditch, and being lower than the
+adjoining soil, and at the same time soft and unmade, received and
+retained the sludge. But, in truth, the state of the roads concerned the
+Post Office far less at the close of the seventeenth century than it
+did at the close of the eighteenth. The mails were carried on horseback;
+and, even so, they were carried mainly over the six great roads of the
+kingdom. These roads, as compared with others, were good; and execrably
+bad as we might now think them, they were probably not altogether ill
+adapted to riding. The disasters which history refers to this period, as
+illustrating the difficulties of travelling, occurred generally on the
+cross-roads, and always with wheel traffic. For both wheel traffic and
+horse traffic the six great roads had, probably from the earliest times,
+been kept in some sort of repair. On the great Kent Road, nearly a
+hundred years before, a young Dane, with his attendants, had on
+horseback accomplished the distance between Dover and London in a single
+day.[17] In 1642 couriers had ridden from London to York and back, a
+distance of about 400 miles, in thirty-four hours,[18] a feat barely
+possible except on the assumption that the road was in tolerable order.
+Now and again, indeed, some postmaster, pleading for the remission of
+his debt to the Crown, would urge the losses he had sustained in
+horse-flesh by reason of the badness of the roads; but these roads were
+always cross-roads--roads along which, if he had delivered letters, he
+had delivered them on his own account. Of the six great roads as a means
+of transit for the mails there were no complaints.
+
+  [17] The Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public
+  Records, Appendix ii. p. 69.
+
+  [18] _Clarendon's Life_, vol. i. p. 135.
+
+It was when the Post Office required something to be done which involved
+transmission from place to place otherwise than on horseback that its
+troubles began. Such an event occurred in 1696. Sir Isaac Newton was
+then busy at the mint, devoting to the coinage those powers of intellect
+which were soon to astonish the world. The clipping of the coin had gone
+to such lengths that within the space of one year no less than four Acts
+of Parliament were passed with a view to abate the evil. Milled money
+was to take the place of hammered money. The clipped pieces had already
+been withdrawn from circulation, and now a date was fixed after which no
+broad pieces were to be received in payment of taxes except by weight.
+This date was the 18th of November, and collectors of the public revenue
+were allowed until the 18th of the following month to pay them over to
+the Exchequer. If not paid over by the 18th of December they were to be
+taken by weight and not by tale, and the collectors were to lose the
+difference.
+
+Here was a clear month's grace, and the postmasters were under a strong
+inducement to see that the period was not exceeded. From Oxford the
+hammered money was sent by barge. No sooner had it started than a severe
+frost set in, and lasted for six weeks, the consequence being to delay
+the arrival in London until the 7th of January. To take the money by
+weight and not by tale would have been equivalent to a fine of about
+L23. From this, however, the postmaster was excused on the ground that
+the barge was the safest means of conveyance he could have employed. As
+a "flying coach"--a coach which travelled at the speed of about four
+miles an hour--had for many years been running between Oxford and
+London, it must be assumed either that it had stopped for the winter or
+else that for some cause or other, possibly on account of highwaymen, it
+was not considered safe. From Sandwich, in Kent, the hammered money was
+sent by hoy, which did not reach the Thames until the 20th of January.
+Again the postmasters-general urged that the delay might be overlooked
+on the ground that no earlier means of conveyance would have been safe.
+Altogether, when the 18th of December arrived, more than L1000 of
+hammered money was still outstanding in the postmasters' hands; and in
+every case the want of conveyance or the badness of the roads was
+assigned as the cause.
+
+The penny post office, since it had passed into the hands of the
+Government, had undergone but little change. Its headquarters had been
+removed from Dockwra's house to seven rooms prepared for the purpose,
+not, indeed, at the Post Office in Lombard Street, where want of space
+was already beginning to be felt, but probably in the immediate
+neighbourhood. It had also, in the language of the time, been eased from
+a multitude of desperate debts. But the conditions on which it was
+conducted remained as they had been,--the same limit of weight, the same
+frequency of delivery, and the same rule as to compensation in case of
+loss. Dockwra, with the view, no doubt, of propitiating the authorities,
+had provided for the conveyance to Lombard Street of all general post
+letters left at his receiving offices; and this duty, when he was
+dispossessed, passed to the persons by whom those offices were kept. The
+result was not satisfactory. The receivers, in their desire to get the
+work done as cheaply as possible, employed to do it the most needy and
+most worthless persons, persons who could not get employment elsewhere.
+At length the miscarriages and losses became so frequent that the Post
+Office appointed its own messengers to go round and collect the letters.
+Nor is it by any means certain that the character of the receivers
+themselves was above suspicion. The plain truth is that they were, with
+few exceptions, keepers of public-houses. The collector who called there
+periodically to adjust accounts complained that often four and even five
+visits were necessary before he could obtain payment, and that the
+opportunity was taken to pass upon him bad money.
+
+Times have changed indeed. With public-houses for receiving offices,
+with inn-keepers for postmasters, and with a considerable sum expended
+annually on drink and feast money, it can hardly be denied that the Post
+Office at the end of the seventeenth century was a good friend to the
+licensed victualler. At the present time no postmaster may keep an inn;
+no receiving office may be at a public-house; and not many years ago,
+when a hotel with its stock-in-trade was purchased with a view to the
+extension of the Post Office buildings in St. Martin's-le-Grand, some
+excellent persons were shocked because, under the sanction of the
+postmaster-general, were exposed for sale by auction some few dozen
+bottles of port.
+
+Of the extent to which the penny post was used at this period we are
+not, so far as the suburbs are concerned, without some means of judging.
+According to the original plan, which had been adhered to in its
+integrity, one penny was to carry a letter within such parts of London
+as lay within the bills of mortality. Beyond these limits one penny more
+was charged; and this penny, which was technically called the second or
+deliver penny, constituted the messengers' remuneration. As this soon
+proved to be more than enough for its purpose, the messengers were put
+on fixed wages, and the second pennies were carried to the credit of the
+Post Office. Of the amounts derived from this source during the sixteen
+years from 1686 to 1702 a record is still extant. The lowest amount for
+any one year was L310, and the highest L377, the average being L336. It
+would hence appear that for such parts of London as lay outside the
+bills of mortality, for what in fact were at that time the suburbs, the
+number of letters at the end of the seventeenth century was about 80,640
+a year, or, counting 306 working days to the year, about 263 a day.
+
+On one point the postmasters-general were determined, that the penny
+post office should not be let out to farm. All overtures to this effect
+they resolutely declined. The penny post and the general post had become
+so interwoven, and, outside London, so short a distance separated the
+limits within which the one ceased and the other began to operate, that
+it was considered of the highest importance, both on the score of
+convenience and as a protection against fraud, that the two posts should
+not be under different management. The same considerations were not held
+to apply to Dublin. In Dublin, rapidly as that city was now growing in
+size[19] and population, a penny post, it was thought, could not
+possibly answer. Yet in 1703 a spirited lady sought permission to set
+one up. This was Elizabeth, Countess-Dowager of Thanet. A desire to
+supplement a jointure, originally slender and now reduced by the
+taxation consequent on the war, was the simple reason assigned for the
+enterprise, and yet with the highest professions of public spirit it
+might have been difficult to render to the community a more signal
+service. The Duke of Ormonde, who was then Lord Lieutenant, approved the
+proposal, and the postmasters-general had made preparations for carrying
+it into effect. The new post was to extend for ten or twelve miles in
+and around Dublin; no receiving office was to be within two miles of the
+first stage of the general post; the lease was to be for fourteen years;
+and one-tenth part of the clear profits was to go to the Crown. At the
+last moment, however, the Treasury withheld their assent, and for no
+less than seventy years from this time Dublin remained without a penny
+post.
+
+  [19] Writing in 1709, Mr. Manley, the postmaster-general's deputy in
+  Dublin, says, "There are not less than a thousand more houses now than
+  there were at my first coming here [_i.e._ in 1703]. Besides, there are
+  many new streets now laid out and buildings erecting every day."
+
+Of the internal affairs of the Post Office during the first fifteen
+years of Cotton and Frankland's administration of it little need be
+said. At first their only assistant was a clerk at L40 a year to copy
+their letters. In 1694 they procured a new appointment to be created,
+the appointment of Secretary to the Post Office. The Secretary to the
+Post Office at the present time has duties to discharge, of the variety
+and importance of which his mere title gives a very inadequate idea. In
+1694 he was little more than a private secretary. One thing indeed he
+had to do, to which a private secretary of our own time might perhaps
+demur. During the night, if an express were wanted, he had to rise from
+his bed and prepare the necessary instructions. The salary of the
+appointment, originally L100, was raised to L200 in 1703. In this year a
+solicitor was appointed, also at a salary of L200.
+
+Two years later a transaction was completed on which the
+postmasters-general had long set their hearts. This was the purchase of
+a part of the Post Office premises in Lombard Street. As far back as
+1688 Sir Robert Viner, the owner, had offered the freehold for sale, but
+the Revolution had put a stop to further proceedings. In 1694, after
+Sir Robert's death, his nephew and executor again proposed to sell, and
+Sir Christopher Wren, on behalf of the Crown, surveyed the property with
+a view to its purchase. On examination, however, the title proved to be
+defective, and it was not until 1705, after the defect had been remedied
+by Act of Parliament, that the Crown secured the freehold for the sum of
+L6500. At the present time it matters not where Post Office servants
+reside, so long as they attend punctually. At the beginning of the
+eighteenth century it was considered important on account of the
+unseasonable hours of attendance that they should reside "in and about"
+the Post Office. The Post Office was, in effect, a barrack, and, except
+the premises in Lombard Street, there were none in the immediate
+neighbourhood that would well answer the purpose. Hence the anxiety to
+purchase the freehold; and the anxiety was all the greater because it
+had been threatened that if not purchased by the Crown the property
+would be sold to the speculative builder or, as he was then called, the
+projector.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+COTTON AND FRANKLAND
+
+_Packet Service_
+
+1686-1713
+
+
+Of the packet service prior to 1686 we have no particulars; but that
+some such service had long existed, though probably on a very limited
+scale, hardly admits of a doubt. To Ireland, as to other parts of the
+kingdom, a regular post had been established in 1635; and it is
+difficult to suppose that a mail on arriving at Holyhead would be left
+to a chance vessel to carry it across the Channel. The probability of
+some organised means of transport is still stronger in the case of
+Dover. Dover was the town through which all letters for the Continent
+passed; and our trade with the Continent had for a century and more been
+considerable. Hence it was that the post through the county of Kent had
+been carefully nursed while as yet no other part of the country had any
+post at all. But if, as seems certain, both Dover and Holyhead were
+packet stations long prior to 1686, it is almost equally certain that
+these were the only two in the kingdom.
+
+In that year the arrangements, whatever they were, for carrying the
+mails between England and France came to an end, and a new service was
+established between Dover and Calais and between Dover and Ostend or
+Nieuport. This was succeeded in the following year by a similar service
+between England and Holland. Both services were to be carried on by
+contract. In the one case the contractor was to receive L1170 a year,
+and also to have the management of the letter office at Dover. In the
+other the payment was to be L900 a year, for which sum three hoys were
+to be maintained, two of sixty and one of forty tons, and carrying six
+men each. For the service to Holland the packet stations were, on this
+side of the water, Harwich, and, on the other, the Brill.
+
+To the letters which came to this country by regular packet must be
+added those that were technically termed ship letters--letters which
+were brought by ships arriving at uncertain times from any part of the
+world. These letters, according to the provisions of the Act of 1660,
+were to be given up to the postmaster at the port of arrival, so that
+they might be forwarded to London, and thence despatched to their
+destination after being charged with the proper amount of postage. In
+this particular, however, the Act proved of little effect. Masters of
+ships were offered no inducement to deliver the letters to the
+postmaster, and incurred no penalty for omitting to do so. The Post
+Office was then in farm; and desirous as the farmers were to make what
+they could out of their undertaking, they soon found that it would be
+well worth their while to incur some expense which should secure
+obedience to the law. Accordingly they undertook that for every letter
+which a shipmaster should bring to this country, and deliver to the
+postmaster at the port of arrival, he should receive the sum of one
+penny. This was the origin of ship letter money--a form of payment which
+has since received legal sanction, and exists at the present day.
+
+It was into the port of London that ship letters chiefly came, and here
+the number which found their way to the Post Office in Lombard Street
+was seriously affected by the establishment of the penny post. That this
+was only natural will appear from a simple illustration. From Marseilles
+to London the postage was 1s. for a single letter. On one hundred such
+letters, therefore, the charge would be L5. But if, instead of taking
+these hundred letters to the General Post Office, a shipmaster on his
+arrival in the Pool dropped them into the penny post, they would all be
+delivered for 8s. 4d. It is true that he would thus lose his gratuity of
+one penny a letter; but the difference between the two rates of postage
+was such as to leave an ample margin of profit, even after making him
+full--and more than full--compensation for his loss. Indeed, if he had
+been bent on cheating his employer as well as the Post Office, he might
+with very little risk of detection have put the whole of the difference
+into his own pocket. In 1686 the number of ship letters accounted for to
+the Post Office was 60,447,[20] a number which, forming as it did the
+basis of a payment, may be taken as absolutely correct, because the Post
+Office would take good care not to pay more, and shipmasters not to
+receive less, than was absolutely due. It is to be regretted that no
+similar account is forthcoming for previous years, so that it might be
+seen what was the extent of the influence which the penny post
+exercised; but that this influence was considerable is certain from the
+continual references made to it by successive postmasters-general during
+a long series of years. It is to be observed, however, that they always
+speak of it as a thing that was past and gone, a thing baneful enough
+while it lasted, but as having been of only short duration. The
+explanation is no doubt to be found in the fact that in 1696 two
+officers were appointed, whose duty it was to collect letters from all
+vessels arriving in the port of London. The boat employed in this
+service had assigned to it special colours of its own, on which was
+depicted a man on horseback blowing a post horn.[21]
+
+  [20] "To divers Masters of Shipps for 60447 letters by them brought from
+  forreigne parts this year at one penny each according to the
+  usage--L251:17:3."--Extract from writ of Privy Seal for passing the
+  accounts of "our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Couzen and
+  Councellor Lawrence Earle of Rochester, Late our High Treasurer of
+  England."
+
+  [21] "This is to give notice that Lancellot Plumer and William Barret
+  are appointed by the Postmaster-General of England to receive all such
+  letters and pacquets from masters of ships and vessels, mariners and
+  passengers as shall be by them hereafter brought in any ships or vessels
+  into the Port of London, to the end the same may be delivered with speed
+  and safety according to their respective directions and the laws of this
+  kingdom; and that all masters of ships or vessels and all mariners and
+  passengers may the better take notice thereof, the Right Honourable the
+  Lords of the Admiralty have directed that the boat employed in this
+  service do carry colours, in which there is to be represented a man on
+  horseback blowing a post horn."--_London Gazette_, No. 3247, from Monday
+  21st December to Thursday 24th December 1696.
+
+In 1689, on the breaking out of the war with France, the Dover boats
+ceased to run, and, in order to provide for the letters to Spain which
+had hitherto passed through that country, a service was established
+between Falmouth and the Groyne. On this service two boats were employed
+of two or three hundred tons each. They carried from eighty to ninety
+men besides twenty guns, and ran once a fortnight.
+
+The Harwich boats were at the same time increased both in number and in
+strength. The three hoys were replaced by four boats--boats of force as
+they were called, carrying fifty men each. It may well be believed that,
+with so large a crew under his command, the captain of a well-armed
+vessel was loth to confine himself to the monotonous task of carrying
+the mails to and fro, and went in quest of adventure. But be that as it
+may, William, who since his accession to the throne had taken an
+extraordinary interest in the Harwich service, was not satisfied with
+the performances of these boats. It was his opinion that the first
+requisite in a mail packet was speed and not strength. Strength might
+indeed enable it to engage an enemy, but speed would enable it to avoid
+one. Accordingly, by the King's direction, the Post Office with the
+assistance of Edmund Dummer, the Surveyor of the Navy, built four small
+boats of its own--boats "of no force," but remarkable for their speed.
+The change was not carried out without much grumbling. The boats were
+low built, and, except in the calmest weather, shipped a good deal of
+water. The sailors complained that they seldom, from one end of the
+voyage to the other, had a dry coat to their backs. The absence of any
+armament was still more unpalatable to them. They dared not leave the
+harbour, at least so they said, when the enemy was to windward; and, as
+though to confirm their words, they sometimes after leaving returned. We
+shall probably do them no wrong if we distrust these excuses. No
+British sailor, or soldier either, cares to turn his back on the foe,
+and that this was expected of them, that they were required to run and
+not to fight, we suspect to have been the real grievance. Eventually,
+but not until some had refused to serve and others had deserted, matters
+quieted down. An increase of wages was given all round, raising the pay
+above that given in the Royal Navy, and, in order to compensate for the
+additional cost, the complement of the crew was reduced from thirty to
+twenty-one. It is a striking confirmation of the soundness of William's
+view that during the next twenty-four years, although no less than
+nineteen of them were years of war, only two of these boats were taken.
+
+Until 1689 the Harwich packets had been self-supporting, the receipts
+from freight and passengers being enough to cover the cost. In that
+year, as a consequence of the war, the fares were raised. Passengers to
+Holland who had hitherto paid 12s. were now to pay 20s., and those who
+had paid 6s. were to pay 10s. Recruits and indigent persons passed free.
+In 1695 the carriage of goods and merchandise was prohibited. This
+prohibition afterwards became common in times of war, but in the present
+instance it was imposed in the vain hope of stopping the exportation of
+silver. In exchange for silver, gold had long been pouring into the
+country, as much as 200 ounces coming by a single packet; and advices
+had been received from Amsterdam and Rotterdam that future consignments
+would not be restricted even to that quantity. The reform of the
+currency, which alone could check this movement of the precious metals,
+was expeditiously accomplished; but the prohibition against the carriage
+of merchandise remained.
+
+On the conclusion of peace in 1697 the service between Dover and Calais
+and between Dover and Ostend recommenced, but only to be discontinued
+again on the resumption of hostilities in 1702. During these five years
+the relations between the English and French Post Offices had at no time
+been friendly, and latterly had become very highly strained. Under the
+terms of a Treaty concluded with France in 1698, the mails, as soon as
+they arrived on this side at Dover and on the other at Calais, were to
+be forwarded to the respective capitals by express. England faithfully
+fulfilled her part of the engagement. By France the engagement was
+treated as a dead letter. The mails from England, on their arrival at
+Calais, instead of being forwarded to Paris by express, were kept back
+for the ordinary post; and this post went only once a day, leaving at
+three in the afternoon. If, therefore, the packet arrived at four or
+five o'clock, the letters were detained for the best part of twenty-four
+hours. At Lyons the letters between England and Italy were being treated
+after much the same fashion. On arrival in that town--such at least was
+the complaint in the city--instead of being forwarded with all despatch,
+they were forwarded seldom in due course and sometimes not at all.
+
+M. Pajot was then director of the French posts; and in this capacity he
+had signed the Treaty. In vain Cotton and Frankland called his attention
+to the breach of its provisions. Their letter was not even acknowledged.
+For the transit of British mails across French territory England had
+agreed to pay to France the sum of 36,000 livres[22] a year, and a
+remittance in payment of the instalment due was sent to Paris; but not
+even of this could an acknowledgment be obtained. Let the nature of the
+communication to him be what it would, Pajot maintained an obstinate
+silence. When war broke out afresh, all intercourse between the two Post
+Offices had ceased for nearly three years, and the debt due to France
+had accumulated to the amount of 105,600 livres.
+
+  [22] Equal, at the then rate of exchange, to L2437:10s.
+
+The cessation of the Dover packets in 1702 was soon followed by that of
+the packets between Falmouth and the Groyne, but the want of any regular
+means of communication with the Peninsular proved so inconvenient that,
+before many months had passed, the service was re-established in a
+slightly altered form. The boats, instead of stopping short at the
+Groyne, were to run on to Lisbon; and two years later their number was
+increased from two to five. This increase was due to political rather
+than commercial reasons. It is true that an important commercial treaty
+was about this time concluded with Portugal; but, what was considered of
+far greater moment, the Archduke Charles after passing through London
+had recently proceeded to that country in furtherance of his pretensions
+to the throne of Spain. It was at once resolved that communication with
+Lisbon should henceforth be weekly instead of only once a fortnight, and
+for this purpose less than five boats were deemed insufficient.
+
+But of all the packet services in existence at the beginning of the
+eighteenth century none perhaps possesses more features of interest than
+the service to the West Indies. In James the Second's reign a Post
+Office had been established in Jamaica, and rates of postage had been
+settled not only within the island itself but between the island and the
+mother country. This was a new departure. In the original scheme of
+postage as propounded by Witherings no charge had been imposed except in
+return for some service. The same principle had been scrupulously
+adhered to in the Acts of 1657 and 1660. Under these Acts, except where
+a service was rendered or where payment for a service was made to
+another country, no charge was provided for. Yet between England and
+Jamaica, although the Crown was not at the cost of maintaining means of
+transport, postage rates were fixed of 6d. a single letter, 1s. a double
+letter, and 2s. an ounce. This was a pure tax, and the precedent, bad as
+it was and of questionable legality, was soon extended to the case of
+letters to America.
+
+The war of 1702, while deranging other services, called the service to
+the West Indies into being. The West India merchants, a designation even
+then in vogue, were a large and important body, and, as opportunities of
+intercourse by private ship became rare and uncertain, a demand arose
+for some established means of communication. With the assistance of
+Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy, sloops were provided to carry mails to
+the Plantation Islands, and by way of helping to defray the cost, the
+postage rates were increased by about one-half. The vessels sailed at
+uncertain intervals, but otherwise the service was performed with
+regularity, the voyage out and home occupying from 90 to 116 days.
+
+Dummer was so well satisfied with the result of his management that,
+rather than continue as mere agent for the postmasters-general, he
+desired to perform the service on his own account. For the sum of
+L12,500 a year he undertook to provide a monthly communication, and for
+this purpose to build and equip five boats of 140 tons each, and
+carrying twenty-six men and ten guns. These boats were to have two
+decks, and any of them that should be lost or taken by the enemy were to
+be replaced at his own cost. Of the L12,500 no more than L4500 was to be
+paid down. Freight, which was limited to five tons out and ten tons
+home, passenger fares, and postage were to go in part payment, and from
+these Dummer expected to make up the difference. Postage alone he set
+down at L6000; and that it might produce this sum he made it an express
+stipulation that the rates to the West Indies should be raised to the
+same level as those to Portugal, namely 1s. 3d. a single letter, 2s. 6d.
+a double letter, and 6s. an ounce. To double the postage, he took for
+granted, was to double the returns. Abler men than he and men living
+nearer to our own times have fallen into the same error; but seldom,
+probably, has it been sooner or more strikingly exposed.
+
+The new rates came into operation in England in March, and in the West
+Indies in April. The effect of the alteration, as would now be predicted
+with confidence, was only slightly to increase the amount of postage and
+largely to reduce the number of letters. It is so seldom that in matters
+of this kind cause and effect are brought into such close approximation,
+that we offer no apology for giving the postage which the correspondence
+produced immediately before and immediately after the change:--
+
+                   _To the West Indies._
+
+  Date on which the Packet
+    sailed from England.       Amount of Postage.
+
+      Jan. 25, 1705               L44   1   4
+      Feb. 22   "                  59  10   7
+      Mar. 29   "                 100   5   3 (New rates)
+      Apr. 26   "                 129   2   6
+      May 31    "                  93   7   9
+      June 28   "                  75  19   3
+      July 26   "                  62   2   0
+
+                   _From the West Indies._
+
+  Date on which the Packet
+     arrived in England.       Amount of Postage.
+
+      Feb. 10, 1705              L316  19  0
+      Apr. 18   "                 622  11  6 (New rates)
+      Aug. 6    "                 629  15  6
+      Sept. 3   "                 384  19  6
+      Oct. 1    "                 369   6  6
+
+Of course, the mails immediately after the change would carry what may
+be called surprised letters, letters which had been posted before the
+issue of the new regulations or before these regulations had become
+generally known; and the mail arriving in August would bring also the
+letters which had accumulated since the preceding April.
+
+What at the present time is calculated to excite surprise is not that
+the aggregate amounts of postage should not have increased in proportion
+to the rates, but that these amounts should have been as high as they
+were. Trade with the West Indies was, no doubt, considerable. And yet,
+after making ample allowance on that score, of what sort can the
+correspondence have been to produce postage of between L300 and L400 by
+a single mail; and why should the amount in one direction have been
+nearly five times as heavy as the amount in the other? The answer, we
+think, is to be found in a letter which the postmasters-general wrote
+about this time. A small box for the Commissioners for the Sick and
+Wounded had come from Lisbon charged with postage of L26:2s. From this
+charge the Commissioners sought to be relieved on the ground that the
+box contained nothing but office accounts, which, besides being of no
+intrinsic value, were on Her Majesty's business. To such arguments,
+however, the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. With the contents of
+the box they were not concerned. All they knew or cared to know was that
+it weighed eighty-seven ounces, and this weight, at the rate of 6s. an
+ounce, gave L26:2s. Forego the charge in the present instance, and how,
+they asked, could charges be any longer maintained on other packets not
+less on Her Majesty's business than this box, packets from the Prize
+Office, the Salt Office, the Customs and the Navy, and also, they added,
+on the large bundles of muster-rolls from the regiments stationed in the
+West Indies? In short, we entertain little doubt that the postage by the
+homeward mails was largely derived from official correspondence,
+correspondence which at the present time bears no postage at all.
+
+The good fortune which had attended Dummer while acting as manager for
+the postmasters-general entirely deserted him as soon as the service
+came into his own hands. During the first twelve months the postage fell
+short of his expectations by about one-third; and freight and
+passengers, which he had estimated to produce L2000, produced little
+more than one-sixth of that amount. Nor was this the worst. The very
+first packet that sailed under his contract was taken by the enemy.
+Another, not many months later, was cast away on the rocks off the
+Island of Inagua; and a third fell into the hands of a privateer in the
+Channel. A series of disasters which would have daunted most men seems
+only to have inspired Dummer with fresh energy. Of the ultimate success
+of his undertaking he entertained no doubt. He held as strongly as we
+can hold at the present day, that trade and correspondence act and react
+upon each other; and that these should thrive he considered nothing more
+to be necessary than speed and regularity of communication.[23] With
+good heart, therefore, he applied himself to replace the boats which
+had been lost, fully determined that on his part no efforts should be
+wanting to supply the conditions on which alone he conceived success to
+depend.
+
+  [23] "It being a certain maxim," he wrote to the postmasters-general on
+  the 15th of February 1707, "that as Trade is the producer of
+  correspondence, so trade is governed and influenced by the certainty and
+  quickness of correspondence."
+
+The packet stations at this time were four in number. Dover was closed.
+Harwich and Falmouth were in full activity. Holyhead was a mere home
+station for the transmission of the Irish correspondence; and, the
+service being under contract, suffice it to say that the mails to Dublin
+went twice a week and were transported with marked regularity. Of the
+Harwich and Falmouth stations, managed as they were by the
+postmasters-general, we propose to give some account.
+
+Each station was presided over by an agent, whose province it was to see
+that the packets were properly equipped and victualled, to arrange the
+order of sailing, to keep the captains to their duty, and generally to
+maintain order and regularity among the unruly spirits of which the
+establishment was composed. The outward mails, on their arrival from
+London, were to be despatched, if for Holland or for Portugal,
+immediately, and if for the West Indies, within two days; and, as soon
+as they were put on board, weights were to be attached to them so that
+they might be sunk at once if in danger of being taken by the enemy. So
+important was this precaution held to be that, although enjoined in the
+general instructions, it was continually insisted upon in particular
+cases. "Be sure," write the postmasters-general to one of their agents,
+"that before the captain sails, he prepares everything to sink the mail
+in case he shall be attacked by the enemy that he can't avoid being
+taken"; and to another, "We would have you take care to affix a
+sufficient weight to the mail so soon as 'tis on board"; and to a third,
+"We do not doubt but the mails will be ready slung with weights
+sufficient to sink them in case of danger of falling into the enemy's
+hands." Another rule to which the postmasters-general attached great
+importance was that more than two mails were not to go by the same boat.
+This rule, however, could not always be observed, for the boats had an
+awkward habit of finding themselves on the wrong side, and, by the time
+one had arrived, there was an accumulation of mails to be disposed of.
+
+The inward mails, as soon as they reached the port of arrival, were
+forwarded to London by express. From Harwich the letters for the Court,
+or State letters,[24] as they were now beginning to be called, were sent
+in advance of the ordinary mail, arrangements having been made at the
+Brill to put these letters into a special bag by themselves. From
+Falmouth, where no provision had been made for distinguishing one class
+of correspondence from another, the same express carried the whole.
+When, as was sometimes the case, packets of documents reached the port
+unenclosed with the rest of the letters, these were to be chained to the
+"grand mail"; and on the label was always to be inserted the number of
+passengers that had arrived by the boat, so that the postmasters along
+the line of road might know for how many persons they had to provide
+horses. Between Falmouth and London the mails when sent express
+travelled at the rate of about five miles an hour; and this speed
+appears to have been regularly maintained. Expresses to carry a single
+letter or a message, or to overtake the Lisbon mail, were continually
+passing to and fro, and these of course went faster. From Harwich the
+mails would sometimes reach London in eleven hours, being at the rate of
+six and a half miles an hour; but on this line of road there was so much
+irregularity that the time ordinarily occupied in the journey cannot be
+stated with certainty.[25]
+
+  [24] In 1706, Court or State letters, for at this time the terms were
+  used indiscriminately, were defined to be letters directed to "the
+  Queen, His Royal Highness the Prince, the Lord High Treasurer, and the
+  two principal Secretarys of State and their clarks." Sometimes, but more
+  rarely, they were called "Queen's letters."
+
+  [25] Here is one among many similar complaints addressed by the
+  postmasters-general to the packet agent at Harwich: "We admire to find
+  the two Bags with the States letters brought over by the Prince and
+  Dispatch which arrived at Harwich June 21st at 7 in the morning should
+  not be dispatcht till 10 the same day; as also at the comeing in of the
+  Mayls, one of which being dispatcht at 12 arrived here at 11 at night,
+  yet the other came not till 7 next morning."
+
+The seamen on board the packets were paid in no case more than 30s. a
+month and generally less; but the employment carried with it one great
+advantage. This was exemption from impressment. Even the carpenters
+hired to do odd jobs when the boats were in harbour were furnished with
+protection orders.[26] Partly on this ground, and partly, no doubt, on
+account of the gains to be derived from contraband traffic, admission to
+the packet service appears to have been eagerly sought. At one time,
+indeed, it threatened to become a matter of patronage; but the
+consequences of a first step in that direction effectually prevented
+another. The _Godolphin_ packet had been taken and carried by the enemy
+into St. Malo. Her captain, a brave and experienced officer, did not
+hesitate to attribute the loss of his vessel to sheer cowardice on the
+part of the crew. One, at the first shot that was fired, had run down to
+the doctor and declared that he was wounded, whereas no sign of a wound
+was to be found upon him; another had taken shelter behind the mainmast;
+a third had been heard to declare that he would not hazard the loss of
+his little finger to save the packet. This conduct, as unprecedented as
+it was scandalous, led to a searching investigation, when it transpired
+that the so-called sailors were, many of them, no sailors at all, but
+mere landlubbers who had been taken on out of complaisance to the local
+gentry.
+
+  [26] The following is a specimen of the protection order given:--
+
+  To all Commanders and Officers of our Shipps, Pressmasters and others
+      whome it may concerne.
+
+  JAMES R.
+
+  You are not to imprest into our service any of the six persons hereunder
+  named belonging to the Jane of Dover, whereof Richard Moone is master,
+  the said vessell being employed in our service as a pacquett boate at
+  Dover. Given at our Court at Whitehall the 6th of October 1688.
+
+                                        By His Majesty's Command.
+
+                                                                PEPYS
+
+  1. Anth. Deleau.
+  2. Jasper Moore.
+  3. David Williams.
+  4. Pet. Foster.
+  5. Dennis Matthew.
+  6. Wm. Ambross.
+
+
+Each packet boat carried its own surgeon. A surgeon was also provided
+for the care of the sick on shore. This medical supervision was
+remunerated by means of a capitation allowance, an allowance of so much
+per head; but whereas it would now be in respect to all persons under
+the surgeon's charge, whether well or ill, it was then only in respect
+to those that were ill--1s. a day for each sick person and 6s. 8d. for
+each cure--a mode of payment which did not perhaps conduce to a speedy
+recovery. To provide for casualties, a fund was established, towards the
+support of which each seaman contributed 10d. a month out of his pay. If
+he were killed in action, provision was made for his widow, and, if he
+were wounded, he received a small annuity or, as it was called, Smart
+and Bounty money, the amount of which was nicely apportioned to the
+nature of his injury. Thus--
+
+  For each arm or leg amputated above the elbow
+   or knee he would receive                       L8  0  0 a year.
+  For each arm or leg amputated below the elbow
+   or knee                                         6 13  4    "
+  For the loss of the sight of one eye             4  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the pupil of the eye             5  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the sight of both eyes          12  0  0    "
+  For the loss of the pupils of both eyes         14  0  0    "
+
+It is a ghastly bill of fare; and yet the sailors laid great store by
+it. On one occasion, indeed, until assured that the transfer of a boat
+to Dummer's management would not affect their claim to these annuities,
+they absolutely refused to go to sea.
+
+With few exceptions, no passenger was allowed on board a packet boat
+without a pass from the Secretary of State. The exceptions were
+shipwrecked seamen, recruits, and officers in charge of recruits.
+Shipwrecked seamen went free, free from any charge for passage-money or
+for maintenance. Recruits and officers in charge of recruits not being
+above the rank of lieutenant were charged for maintenance but not for
+passage-money. All others, though furnished with a passport, paid or
+were expected to pay for both.
+
+Of these rules, however, there would seem to have been no public
+announcement, and this led to constant dispute and bickerings. An
+interesting event was expected in one of the many English families
+which at this time flocked to the Court of Portugal, and Dr. Crichton
+was despatched to Lisbon with a cow. Furnished with a pass by the
+Secretary of State he stoutly maintained his right to a free passage;
+and this right the postmaster-general as stoutly disputed. Nor, assuming
+the right to exist, could they conceal their surprise that under the
+circumstances it should have been claimed. To demur to a paltry charge
+of L4 indeed! Was it not notorious that for his mission to Portugal he
+was to receive L1000? Lord Charlemont with a number of attendants had
+crossed from Lisbon to Falmouth. The passage-money had been paid, and,
+pleased with his entertainment, he desired to gratify the captain. The
+captain's answer was to present a bill shewing what the entertainment
+had cost, and, on payment being refused, he detained some valuable silks
+which Lord Charlemont had consigned to his care. Lord Charlemont, on his
+arrival in London, at once proceeded to Lombard Street and complained of
+this treatment, when he learned for the first time that the
+passage-money, which he had supposed to cover everything, was simply the
+Queen's due, and that his entertainment had been provided at the
+captain's own cost.
+
+Even the packet agents themselves appear to have been insufficiently
+instructed. On one occasion the Queen's domestic servants on their
+return from Lisbon, whither they had been despatched in attendance on
+the Archduke Charles, were allowed to pass free. On another,
+passage-money was omitted to be collected from some workmen who had been
+sent to Portugal by the Board of Ordnance. In both cases the act of
+their subordinate was repudiated by the postmasters-general. Proper as
+it might be that the Queen's domestic servants should have their passage
+provided--was this to be done at the expense of the Post Office? Forego
+payment in this instance, and where were they to stop? They must press
+their demand; and the demand was eventually satisfied. From the Board of
+Ordnance they did not even attempt to recover, aware probably of the
+futility of any such step; but the act of their agent in letting the
+workmen pass free evoked an earnest remonstrance. Does not the Board of
+Ordnance, they asked, charge us for the very powder we use; and yet,
+forsooth, you take upon yourself to give to their workmen a free
+passage. "Every office," they added--and the maxim might still, perhaps,
+be observed with advantage--"ought to keep its own accompt distinct."
+
+But it was with officers of the army who were continually passing to and
+fro that the most frequent disputes arose. They apparently did not
+understand, and possibly the Post Office might have had some difficulty
+in explaining, why lieutenants in charge of recruits should be exempt
+from payment of fare and not officers of higher rank when employed on
+similar business; or why indeed officers engaged in fighting their
+country's battles should not have a free passage on board Her Majesty's
+packets. It had been the custom not to collect the fares until the end
+of the voyage; but it was found that, the voyage once accomplished,
+payment of the fares was not uncommonly refused. Accordingly it was
+determined that they should be collected beforehand, and that no officer
+not being a recruiting officer and producing a certificate to that
+effect should be received on board on trust. Recourse was thereupon had
+to every sort of artifice in order to evade payment. Officers above the
+rank of lieutenant would represent themselves as being of that rank, and
+they would even enrol their own servants as recruits to make it appear
+that they were engaged in recruiting business.
+
+Through Harwich, now that Dover was closed, lay the only route to the
+Continent; and among the passengers frequenting this route were some to
+whom, for one reason or another, special attention was given. Baron
+Hompesch and Brigadier-General Cadogan are on their way to Holland. The
+packet is to be detained "till Thursday noon, at which time they think
+to reach Harwich." M. Rosenerantz, the Danish envoy, is returning to his
+own country. No passengers are to be admitted on board until he and his
+suite have been accommodated. A Queen's messenger is coming with "one
+Castello," who is in custody. This person is to be made over to the
+captain of the packet that sails next, and on arrival at the Brill is to
+be set on shore. Dirick Wolters is expected from Holland, if indeed he
+be not already arrived and secreted in Harwich. No pains are to be
+spared to discover and apprehend him, and to secure the sealed box he
+carries "directed to a person of note in London."
+
+Goods, like passengers, were not allowed to be carried by the packets
+without the express permission of the Secretary of State; and this
+permission was seldom given except in the case of presents to royal
+personages and of articles for the use of persons of note residing
+abroad. Hence, such things as the following were being continually
+consigned to the care of the postmasters-general, with a request that
+they might be forwarded by the next boat:--
+
+     Fifteen couple of dogs for the King of the Romans.
+
+     Necessaries for Her Majesty the Queen-Dowager's service at Lisbon.
+
+     Three pounds of tea from Lady Arlington for the use of Her Majesty
+         the Queen-Dowager of England.
+
+     Two cases of trimming for the King of Spain's liveries.
+
+     Two bales of stockings for the use of the Portuguese Ambassador.
+
+     Three suits of clothes for some nobleman's ladies at the Court of
+         Portugal.
+
+     A box of medicines for the use of the Earl of Galway.
+
+As the packets and everything on board of them were exempt from
+examination by the Customs authorities, there are no means of knowing
+how far a pass, where a pass had been obtained, was confined to its
+ostensible object. But it is impossible not to entertain suspicions on
+the subject. On one occasion the Portuguese envoy obtained permission to
+send by the packet six cases, which he certified to contain arms for the
+use of his Sovereign. The lightness of the packages when brought to the
+scale excited suspicion, and on examination they were found to contain
+not arms but dutiable goods. To a tradesman at Truro, in exception to
+rule, a pass had been granted which authorised him to send by the Lisbon
+packet ten tons of hats. Ten tons weight of hats, or what purported to
+be hats, had long been exported, and yet more and more hats were being
+regularly despatched by every packet.
+
+But although without passes goods and passengers were prohibited on
+board the packets, it is certain that the prohibition was habitually
+infringed. The packet agents' instructions were to keep a record of the
+names and quality of all passengers, and to transmit a copy to London.
+Even if this were a complete and faithful record, the postmasters-general
+could not know that each passenger had produced his pass. The
+Secretaries of State, however, appear to have possessed some means
+of information unknown to the Post Office, and, in the matter of
+passengers, they were continually complaining of the regulations being
+broken. At one time it is Mr. Joseph Percival, a merchant of Lisbon, who
+comes over without a passport--which, from the tenor of Lord
+Sunderland's letter, the postmasters-general apprehend to be "an affair
+of moment." At another it is a Mr. Jackson who, also without a passport,
+crosses from Harwich to Holland. In this case Mr. Secretary Boyle
+affirms that the packet agent received a bribe of two guineas. To let
+passengers come by the Harwich packets without passports, he declares
+later on, has become a common practice.
+
+In the matter of goods the evidence of irregularity is still stronger.
+Captain Culverden of the _Queen_ packet boat brings into Falmouth
+thirty-six bags and seven baskets of salt, and there lands it
+clandestinely. Captain Rogers smuggles over twenty bags and one cask of
+the same material. Captain Urin from the West Indies makes Plymouth
+instead of Falmouth. Stress of weather is pleaded in excuse; but the
+postmasters-general feel sure that he might have made Falmouth, had he
+not "had private instructions otherwise." "We are uneasie," they say,
+"thus to find the West India boats for the most part driven to Plymouth,
+or to Liverpool or some port contrary to what is prescribed by our
+instructions."
+
+But of all the captains there was none who in the audacity of his
+proceedings equalled Francis Clies. Clies had recently succeeded his
+father in the command of the _Expedition_ packet boat. On his very first
+voyage home from Lisbon he was much behind time, having according to his
+own account been driven upon the coast of Ireland. On his second voyage
+he was later still. The time of his arrival at Falmouth had long passed,
+and serious apprehensions began to be entertained for his safety. At
+length a letter came from him dated at Kinsale, explaining that want of
+provisions had obliged him to put in there. "We have," wrote the
+postmasters-general, "very impatiently expected the arrival of the
+_Expedition_, which has been very long wanting, and are much concerned
+to find the second voyage even more tedious than the first; but are glad
+to find her at last safe arrived." "We would know," they added, "for how
+many days provisions had been put on board, and whether the _Expedition_
+sails not as well as formerly." Before a reply could be received to this
+pertinent inquiry, the Commissioners of Customs had lodged at the Post
+Office a formal complaint, in which Captain Clies was charged with
+bringing over from Ireland several bales of friezes and other woollen
+manufactures. The postmasters-general were deeply shocked. Not only was
+this a breach of the packet boat regulations, but to transport goods
+from what would now be one part of the United Kingdom to another was at
+that time prohibited by law under heavy penalties. If this charge be
+proved, they wrote to their packet agent at Falmouth, "we shall not be
+much to seek why the captain should be two succeeding voyages forced
+upon the coast of Ireland, when we have not had above one instance of
+that kind besides himself during this war." Narrow as was Clies's escape
+on this occasion, not four months elapsed before the postmasters-general
+were again condoling with him on another "very tedious voyage."
+
+It may here be mentioned, as an instance of the inconsistency of human
+nature, that, although the packets were not provided with chaplains,
+there were two boats on board of which prayers were regularly said
+every morning and evening, and that of these two boats the _Expedition_
+was one.
+
+Outwards as well as inwards the packet boats were, at the beginning of
+the eighteenth century, carrying goods in defiance of regulation and of
+law. Sir Paul Methuen, the author of the famous Commercial Treaty which
+bears his name, was at that time our ambassador to Portugal. His
+attention had been arrested by the large quantities of merchandise which
+the packet boats were continually bringing over from England, and in
+1705 he made to the postmasters-general a formal representation on the
+subject. "In Lisbon," he stated, "there is a public market for English
+goods as often as the boats come in." Nor was the allegation denied by
+the persons implicated. They must, they said, live somehow. And this
+plea, generally the refuge of the idle and worthless, had in it in the
+present instance more force than might at first be supposed. The crews
+of the packets were paid only once in six months, and, as a check upon
+their conduct, six months' pay was always kept in arrear. Thus, before
+receiving any pay at all they had to work twelve months, and even at the
+expiration of twelve months there was not always money at hand with
+which to pay them.
+
+At Harwich, there can be no doubt, the same malpractices were going on
+as at Falmouth; but, owing to the almost unequalled facilities which the
+east coast affords for clandestine traffic, detection less speedily
+followed. In the movements of the packet boats there was much that was
+mysterious. Their frequent disappearance for long periods together when
+the wind was blowing from the quarter most favourable to their return,
+and their occasional punctuality when the wind was contrary and they
+were least expected, involved a contradiction which the
+postmasters-general found it hard to reconcile. "In our whole
+experience," they wrote to the packet agent on the 3rd of October 1704,
+"the passage of the mails was never so unconstant as it has been this
+last year." "You must be very sensible what reproach we have been
+brought under" in consequence. The ink was hardly dry on their pen
+before information reached them that on the 2nd of the month two packet
+boats had returned to Harwich, of which one had been gone since the 10th
+and the other since the 19th of September. Meanwhile the winds had been
+fair, and had carried out the men-of-war and transports from Spithead.
+"We have writ you so often," wrote the postmasters-general to the
+laggard captains, "upon these neglects of yours," and you have paid so
+little regard to our admonitions, that "you may expect to find when too
+late that we are not to be trifled with." The effect of this caution, if
+effect it had, was of short duration. "We are," they wrote only a few
+months later, "under a perpetual uneasiness and distrust," on account of
+the irregularity of the Harwich boats. "Our reputation has very much
+suffered in consequence, and we are looked upon at Court as remiss in
+our duty." Hitherto we have ever been ready to "take any appearance of
+reason or probability to excuse the commanders, but do now, having had
+these frequent provocations so often repeated, resolve to do justice to
+ourselves, and to have no other regard than the merit of the service."
+"Pray make inquiries," they say on another occasion, when no less than
+three boats are unaccountably behind time. It is of no use writing to
+Mr. Vanderpoel, "for he always favours the captains' pretences." Mr.
+Vanderpoel was packet agent at the Brill. He had stood high in William's
+favour, and was still drawing an allowance of L100 a year which, as an
+act of grace, that King had bestowed upon him in addition to his salary.
+"When we last waited on the Lord High Treasurer and Secretary of State,"
+wrote the postmasters-general again on the 14th of June 1705, "we found
+them in their former opinion that there must be some secret more than
+ordinary that the boats should so frequently when least expected make
+their passage, and when the winds have in all appearance been most
+favourable, the mails then most delayed." A secret no doubt there was;
+but, profoundly dissatisfied as the postmasters-general were, no
+suspicion appears to have crossed their minds that the packet boats were
+engaged in other and more exciting pursuits than the transport of
+mails.
+
+The captains of the packet boats were strictly forbidden to give chase.
+Their instructions were to fight, if fight they must, to avoid fighting
+wherever possible, and in no case to go in quest of adventure. In the
+case of the Falmouth boats, carrying as they did a considerable number
+of men and of guns, there can be little doubt that the prohibition was
+habitually infringed. Even Cotton and Frankland, with all their
+credulity, would seem to have entertained suspicions on the point; and
+yet when notice was given them that a fat prize had been captured, their
+instincts as Englishmen prevailed, and with a chuckle of satisfaction
+they would accept the result of their servants' prowess without too
+minutely inquiring into the circumstances under which that result had
+been achieved. "Well done," they would say in effect. "We heartily
+congratulate you. It has indeed been a tedious voyage; but of course you
+did not pursue. This, as you are aware, would be contrary to our
+instructions, which are to do nothing that might retard or endanger Her
+Majesty's mails. We shall make known your gallantry to the Lord High
+Treasurer, and move His Royal Highness the Prince to bestow on you some
+signal mark of favour." The Prince was at this time Lord High Admiral,
+and the captains of the packet boats having only sailing commissions,
+were not, like the captains in the Royal Navy and the commanders of
+letters of marque, entitled as of right to the prizes they took. These
+were the perquisites of the Lord High Admiral, and were by him resigned
+to the Queen.
+
+When a prize was captured, it was seldom taken in tow. This would have
+retarded the progress of the mails. The practice was for the two
+captains, the victor and the vanquished, to agree upon the amount of
+ransom, and to give and receive bills for the amount, one or more
+hostages being taken as security for payment. The agreement was reduced
+to writing and made out in duplicate, so that each captain might have a
+copy, and it set forth where and to whom the money was to be paid. As a
+rule, the conditions appear to have been honourably observed. Some few
+exceptions, no doubt, there were. In 1708 the _James_ packet was
+captured, and, after the amount of ransom had been inserted in the
+agreement, the French captain fraudulently altered the figures. A still
+worse case occurred on the English side. The _Prince_ packet boat
+captured a vessel which was ransomed for 2500 pieces of eight.[27] This
+vessel, as it afterwards transpired, was plundered both before and after
+the ransom was agreed upon; and, more than this, the English captain
+refused or neglected to give her a protection order, the consequence
+being that, subsequently falling in with some merchant ships, she was
+taken and plundered again. But these were exceptions, and it is some
+satisfaction to know that the last-mentioned captain was soon driven out
+of the service.[28]
+
+  [27] Equal to L562:10s.
+
+  [28] This captain had long been noted for his truculent conduct. Here is
+  a letter which the postmasters-general had written to him two or three
+  years before:--
+
+                                   GENERAL POST OFFICE, _May 13, 1704_.
+
+  CAPTAIN CHENAL--We received the mail from Portugal brought over by you
+  in the _Mansbridge_ packet boat which arriv'd here on Wednesday last. We
+  yesterday received your letter and journal of the said voyage, with the
+  certificate from the sailors who remained in the service the last
+  voyage. We are concern'd to find such differences among persons imploy'd
+  under us, but do think the best way to compose them is to advise every
+  one to mind their proper business and duty. We do think you may keep all
+  your officers and sailors to strict duty without so rugged a treatment
+  as is complain'd of. As we are desirous of good discipline, so are we of
+  good agreement, to which we would have our agent and yourself to
+  contribute your endeavours.
+
+  We herewith send you a specimen of a method to keep an abstract of your
+  journal by which you would save yourself and us much trouble by
+  observing.--We are, your loving friends,
+
+                                                          R. COTTON.
+                                                          T. FRANKLAND.
+
+
+Pending payment of the ransom, the hostages were kept in prison.
+Ordinarily, their confinement was not of long duration; and if we cite
+an instance to the contrary, it is because it aptly illustrates the
+rough-and-ready sort of justice which was administered in those days.
+Clies, the captain of the _Expedition_, after many desperate
+engagements in which he had come off victorious, had been forced at last
+to strike his colours. Four French men-of-war had surrounded him, and
+having lost his masts, he had no choice but to yield. The ransom agreed
+upon was L550, and as security for payment of this amount the master of
+the _Expedition_ and Clies's son, who was a midshipman on board the same
+vessel, were taken as hostages. This was in February, and they did not
+return to England until November. Meanwhile they had been imprisoned at
+Cadiz, where they endured the severest privations. Cold and damp and the
+want of the common necessaries of life, while affecting the health of
+both, had permanently disabled the master and brought him to the point
+of death. This appeared to the postmasters-general to be a case for
+compensation. And yet whence was compensation to come? They were not
+long in solving the question. It was a mere accident, they argued, that
+these particular hostages had been selected. The selection might have
+fallen upon any others of the ship's company. Yet these others had been
+receiving their pay and enjoying their liberty. Surely it was for them
+to compensate those at whose cost they had themselves escaped captivity
+and its attendant horrors. Accordingly the ship's company were mulcted
+in a whole month's pay, amounting to L118, of which sum the midshipman
+received L20 and the master L98; and the decision appears to have evoked
+neither murmur nor remonstrance.
+
+In one respect the two packet stations were conducted on different
+principles. At Falmouth the agent was also victualler. At Harwich
+victuals and all other necessaries were provided by the Post Office.
+Neither plan was entirely free from objection. Where the agent was
+victualler, he naturally desired to make what he could out of his
+contract; and hence arose frequent complaints from the seamen as to both
+the quantity and quality of their food. Nor were such undertakings well
+adapted to those days of violent fluctuations of prices. The years 1709
+and 1710 were years of scarcity, during which the cost of all
+provisions was nearly doubled. Fortunately, when the first of these
+years arrived, the packet agent's contract to victual for a daily
+allowance of 7d. a head had just expired, or the consequences to him or
+to the seamen must have been disastrous. But, from a public point of
+view, the chief drawback to the union of the offices of agent and
+victualler was that the victualling arrangements were apt to interfere
+with the movements of the boats. The _Prince_ packet boat was due to
+start on a particular day, and to an inquiry whether she would not be
+ready, the answer which the postmasters-general received was, "No; our
+beer is not yet brewed."
+
+At Harwich the inconvenience of a contrary system, a system under which
+the Post Office undertook its own victualling, was illustrated in a
+striking manner. There no bill for provisions represented what the
+provisions had really cost. To the actual cost was habitually added a
+further sum, which, under the name of percentages, went into the pockets
+of those by whom the order had been given. Of the extent to which these
+overcharges were carried we are not informed in the particular case of
+victuals; but other cases in which information is given will perhaps
+serve as a guide. Holland-duck for the use of the packet boats was
+brought over from Holland freight-free. Yet in Harwich the Post Office
+was charged for it 2s. 2d. a yard. In London a yard of the same
+material, freight included, cost 2s. In London the price of 1 cwt. of
+cordage was 30s.; in Harwich it was 40s. For piloting a packet boat from
+Harwich to the Downs the Post Office was charged L7. Inquiry at the
+Admiralty elicited that for ships of the same size belonging to the
+Royal Navy the charge never exceeded L3:15s. The plain truth seems to be
+that both at Harwich and at Falmouth the packet agents were in the power
+of the captains, and the captains in the power of the packet agents, and
+that they all combined to impose upon the postmasters-general.
+
+Of the number of letters which the Harwich and Falmouth packets carried
+we know little or nothing. In the one case we have absolutely no
+information. In the other there remains on record a single letter-bill
+applicable to a particular voyage. Of this letter-bill we will only
+observe that, for reasons immaterial to the present purpose, it became
+the subject of a good deal of correspondence, and it is not unreasonable
+to suppose that, had the number of letters entered in it been much above
+or much below the average, the point could hardly have escaped remark.
+The document is as follows:--
+
+                       28 April 1705.
+
+     Received on board the _Prince_ Packet Boat the following Packets
+     and letters.
+
+                  Zech: Rogers ... Commander.
+
+  From my Lord Ambassador ... a Bag of Letters directed to Mr.
+  Jones.[29]
+
+        Sixteen Packetts and letters for Her Majestie's Service.
+
+  From the King of Spain ... a very large Packett.
+  For London and Holland ... Double and Single letters ... Two
+  hundred and ninety six.
+
+        Thirteen Packetts Do.
+
+  Devonshire letters ... Double and Single ... Twenty nine ... and
+  three Packetts.
+  For Falmouth ... Double and Single letters ... six.
+  Two mails for London.
+
+                       Outward-bound.
+                       No Passengers.
+
+                       Homeward-bound.
+                    One English Merchant.
+                    Three Dutch Gentlemen.
+  Four poor sailors discharged from Her Majestie's Ship _Antelope_
+  being incapable for the Service.
+
+
+  [29] The packet agent at Falmouth.
+
+There were persons who thought that the packet boats might well be
+employed to do something more than carry to and fro a mere handful of
+letters. Among those who held this opinion was Colonel Stanwix. He
+contended that the Lisbon packets should be required to carry not only
+the mails, but recruits for the English forces in Portugal. By transport
+the fixed charge for each recruit was L4. This expense would be saved to
+the public, and the regiments would receive additions to their strength
+not fitfully, but at regular intervals. Subject to certain conditions,
+the postmasters-general resolved to give the plan a trial. The
+conditions were that not more than fifty recruits should go in one boat,
+and that, instead of passing free, as Colonel Stanwix had proposed, they
+should be charged L1 apiece--that is, 10s. for victualling, and 10s. for
+freight. The experiment was attended with deplorable results. It was
+midwinter. The recruits had been huddled together in Pendennis Castle,
+under a strong guard, to prevent desertion. Half-naked and only half-fed
+they were led or driven to the boat, and hardly were they on board
+before the distemper broke out among them. Many fell victims to it; many
+others, on arrival at Lisbon, were carried to the hospital, and even the
+strongest among them were barely able to stagger ashore. The return
+voyage was hardly less disastrous. The crew now took the disease, and as
+they lay dying and dead upon the deck, a vessel of French build was to
+be seen bearing down upon them. Resistance in the circumstances was out
+of the question, and nothing remained but to save the guns. These, ten
+in number, were with difficulty thrown overboard, and no sooner was the
+task accomplished than the vessel, which had by this time come within
+speaking distance, proved to be Her Majesty's ship _Assurance_.
+
+The liberty allowed to the Royal Navy to employ for its own purposes
+prizes taken at sea did not extend to the packet service. The Post
+Office was forbidden, under severe penalties, to use foreign bottoms.
+Often had convenience and economy to yield to the stern dictates of the
+law. Now it is a French shallop, admirably adapted for a packet boat,
+which has to be discarded simply because it is French; and now an
+express to Lisbon is on the point of being delayed because the regular
+packets are on the wrong side, and the only boat to be hired in Falmouth
+is not English built.
+
+On the 20th of September 1707 the Queen, attended by her Court, set out
+for Newmarket. In this visit there was nothing unusual, but it will
+serve as well as any other to demonstrate that the close connection
+which had once subsisted between the posts and the Crown was not yet
+completely severed. In attendance upon his royal mistress was
+Court-post. This office, to which appointment was made by patent, had
+until lately been held by Sir Thomas Dereham. Court-post's duty was to
+carry letters between the Court and the nearest stage or post-town, a
+duty deemed so arduous that his stipend had been recently doubled, and
+now stood at L365 a year. At Newmarket and at Windsor, indeed, he had no
+long distance to traverse, these towns being post-towns; but when the
+Court was in London or at Hampton his journey was longer. In London he
+had to carry the letters between Kensington or Whitehall and Lombard
+Street; and when at Hampton, Hampton not being a post-town, he had to
+carry them to and from Kingston.
+
+Besides Court-post there was now in the royal train the comptroller of
+the London sorting office, William Frankland, son of one of the
+postmasters-general. What Frankland's precise functions were we are not
+informed, but he was, in the language of the time, "in attendance on Her
+Majesty in the care of her letters." At Harwich, as soon as the mail
+arrived from Holland, the seals of the bags were to be broken, and the
+letters for the Court to be picked out and sent to Newmarket by express.
+This was, in effect, to establish a cross-post at a time when
+cross-posts did not exist. Moments, which would now be judged precious,
+appear to have been then of little account. Of the letters before they
+left Harwich the addresses were to be copied; and on arrival at
+Newmarket the express was to take them, not to the Palace, but to the
+Post Office, whither they were to be addressed under cover to Frankland.
+The Post Office once reached, how Frankland and Court-post were to
+adjust their respective duties is a point as obscure as it is, perhaps,
+unimportant. At the present day, when the palace possesses no postal
+facilities which are not enjoyed by the cottage, a single provision in
+the Statute-book is all that is left to remind us that at one time the
+posts were centred in the Sovereign. This provision, in exception to the
+practice which jealously excludes the Sovereign's name from all parts
+of an Act of Parliament except, indeed, the preamble, prescribes that
+the posts shall be settled, not as the Secretary of State or the Lords
+Commissioners of the Treasury may direct, but according to the
+directions of Her Majesty. To Her Majesty alone the law still leaves the
+supreme control over the posts, although it may well be believed that
+the ministers would claim to act on her behalf.[30]
+
+  [30] The provision is as follows: "And for the better management of the
+  Post Office, be it enacted that the postmaster-general shall observe
+  such orders and instructions concerning the settlement of Posts and
+  stages upon the several roads, Cross roads, and Byeways within the
+  United Kingdom and other Her Majesty's Dominions, as Her Majesty shall
+  from time to time give in that behalf."--1 Vic. cap. xxxiii. sec. 8.
+
+After the battle of Ramillies, which put the Confederates in possession
+of Ostend, the packet service between England and Flanders, which had
+been suspended four years before, was re-established. The result
+disappointed expectations. The Government appear to have thought that it
+was only necessary to revive the service and the correspondence would at
+once resume its old proportions. But meanwhile the letters from Flanders
+to England had found a new channel. No sooner had Ostend been closed
+than they were diverted through Holland. To reverse this arrangement,
+involving as it would a readjustment of the internal posts, must, in any
+case, have been a work of time; and it was a work on which the Flemish
+authorities were little likely to embark so long as the neighbourhood of
+Ostend or any considerable portion of it remained in the enemy's hands.
+Of all this the postmasters-general were perfectly well aware, and they
+can have felt no disappointment that, on the first reopening of the
+Ostend route, the letters passing that way were extremely few; but the
+ministers, who had not the postmaster-generals' experience to guide
+them, grew impatient with a service which was maintained at heavy cost,
+and produced little or no return. Accordingly, having restored the
+service in June, they discontinued it in August; and no sooner were the
+boats dispersed than orders were given to restore it again.
+
+This sudden change of purpose, we think there can be little doubt, was
+due to the influence of the Duke of Marlborough, who began about this
+time to take a lively interest in the postal communication with
+Flanders. Though not surprised at the meagreness of the correspondence,
+the postmasters-general were little prepared to find that, after the
+Confederates became masters of Ostend, the passage between that port and
+Dover would be even less safe than it had been before. Yet such was the
+case. The Flemish seamen, no longer able to obtain employment at home,
+flocked across the French border and joined with their foes of yesterday
+in preying upon the English shipping. As a consequence the Channel now
+swarmed with privateers. On the 25th of January a Dover packet, named
+_Ostend_ after the port to which she ran, was taken by a Nieuport
+privateer of ten guns and eighty men. The captain who brought this
+intelligence had himself had a narrow escape. Five privateers had
+extended themselves from Nieuport to Ostend in order to intercept him,
+and, after a sharp engagement, in which he was nearly captured, had
+forced him to make Harwich.
+
+In this conjuncture the postmasters-general acted with remarkable
+energy, but with little regard to what would now be considered official
+propriety. Not content with making representations to the Secretary of
+State, they wrote direct to the English ambassador at the Hague,
+desiring him to urge upon the States of Flanders and Brabant the
+necessity of at once fitting out three or four ships of the Ostend
+squadron, with the twofold object of recalling the seamen to their duty
+and of clearing the coast. They at the same time waited upon M. Van
+Vrybergh, the envoy extraordinary from the States-General to the Court
+of St. James', and exacted from him a promise that he would exercise his
+influence in the same direction. But relief was soon to come, and from
+an unexpected quarter. Lewis the Fourteenth, by way of creating a
+diversion in the Netherlands, resolved to assist the Pretender in making
+a descent upon Scotland, and with this view he assembled a squadron
+before Dunkirk. England had no choice but to follow suit. Within an
+incredibly short space of time she equipped a fleet, and this fleet,
+under the command of Sir George Byng, left Deal for Dunkirk in the
+spring of 1708. How the Pretender evaded Byng, and how Byng pursued the
+Pretender and frustrated his object, are matters of history; but what
+concerns us at the present moment is that, before starting in pursuit,
+Byng detached a squadron for the purpose of bringing over some of the
+English troops which were about to be embarked at Ostend. It is probable
+that this squadron, after its immediate object had been accomplished,
+remained in or about the Channel, for after this time we hear no more of
+depredations on the Post Office packets.
+
+Experience shews that there is a class, and not an inconsiderable class,
+of persons who, in time of war, find it hard to reconcile themselves to
+the pursuits of peace. John Macky, the packet agent at Dover, was one of
+these. The proximity of the battle-field, its easy access from Dover,
+and the stirring accounts arriving by every packet fired his imagination
+and filled him with martial ardour. Under the influence of this
+excitement he addressed a memorial to the postmasters-general, praying
+that he might be commissioned to go over to Flanders and settle posts
+for the army. This application he appears to have supported by the most
+unfortunate arguments. He urged not that it was a thing in itself
+reasonable and proper that the army should have posts of its own, and
+that his experience might be useful in establishing them, but that at
+Dover, though his salary was comparatively high, he had little or
+nothing to do, and that the commission for which he asked would give him
+employment more congenial to his tastes. The postmasters-general could
+not conceal their astonishment at the audacity of the proposal and the
+grounds on which it was based. "We were never before made sensible,"
+they wrote, "that the business of the agent to the packet boats at Dover
+was so very inconsiderable as you have represented it to be, nor do we
+think that for so inconsiderable a business so high a salary can be
+needed." "We can only say," they added, "that if the present allowance
+be too much for the work, or if the employ be too mean for your
+expectations, we doubt not but that we shall be able to find those who
+will thankfully accept the post with an allowance that is much less."
+
+But Macky's restlessness was not to be subdued by a mere admonition. As
+he could not prevail on the postmasters-general to send him to Flanders
+on official business, he asked to be allowed to go on his own account.
+This permission they readily gave, accompanying it, however, with a
+remarkable caution. "We must expect," they said, "that you do not
+intermeddle in any ways upon the business of the Flanders
+correspondence, or enter into any sort of treaty for the port of letters
+or jobbing of places which may bring us under any inconveniencys or our
+authority under any disreputation. We expect you take particular caution
+of these matters and wish you a good journey."
+
+Within four months from the date of this caution Macky's relations to
+the Post Office had greatly altered. To the position of packet agent he
+now added that of contractor, having undertaken himself to provide for
+the Dover and Ostend service. For the sum of L2000 a year he was to
+supply four boats between twenty and thirty tons each, and to be at all
+risks from sea and enemy. One effect of this arrangement, by which Macky
+the contractor was to be controlled by Macky the packet agent, was to
+prolong his visit to Flanders. Under the pretext of keeping the captains
+to their duty he remained there until March or April 1708, when he
+returned to England, after an absence of eight or nine months. Meanwhile
+the packets to Ostend, like those to Holland and to Portugal, had been
+engaged in illicit practices. According to a complaint received from the
+Commissioners of Customs immediately before Macky's return, clandestine
+traffic was being systematically carried on, and the very last boat that
+had arrived had brought parcels of lace concealed in the flap of the
+mail. The postmasters-general were deeply annoyed. "Let this go on,"
+they exclaimed, "and the mails themselves will be searched, to the great
+scandal of the office and of our management."
+
+We have been thus particular in recording Macky's movements, because in
+connection with the service under his control an incident now occurred
+which brought the Post Office into serious discredit. The
+postmasters-general, in virtue of their office, which gave them control
+over the communications of the country, were in the habit of receiving
+priority of intelligence; and this at a time when intelligence travelled
+slowly and the means of disseminating it did not exist or existed only
+in the rudest form. Hence they acquired an importance which the mere
+office of postmaster-general, as that office is now understood, would
+not have conferred. An interest attached to them as to men who were
+reputed to possess exclusive information. They were welcome at Court,
+and not only welcome but often anxiously expected. Indeed, to act as
+purveyor of news to the Court had come to be regarded as one and by no
+means the least important of their duties; and with a view to its more
+effectual discharge their agents throughout the country had standing
+orders to send to headquarters the earliest intimation of any remarkable
+event that might happen in their locality. When any one of these persons
+was venturesome enough to send to his chiefs a present, the thanks he
+received were of the coldest,--"We thank you for the snuff," or, "We
+thank you for the port wine," and then was pretty sure to follow a sharp
+rebuke for some trifling irregularity, which, except for the present,
+would probably have passed unnoticed. But when a piece of news was sent,
+the thanks were warm and hearty; and woe betide the unfortunate agent
+who had news to send and omitted to send it. "We observe you give us no
+advice of the fleet under Sir George Byng being seen off Falmouth the
+28th, tho' we saw letters from Falmouth which advised thereof. We are
+desirous to have the first advice of any remarkable news." "We received
+two Flanders mails on Sunday morning, and therewith your letter of the
+5th advising of the Duke of Marlborough's being arrived at Flushing, for
+which account we thank you." "We do heartily congratulate your safe
+return, and do thank you for being so full and particular in the
+advices you have given us of what occurrences have come to your
+knowledge." "We are obliged to you for the news of the Nassau and
+Burford's prizes of which we had received advice before by some galleys
+from Gibraltar, and for your kind promise of communicating to us any
+considerable occurrences that may happen in your parts." "We thank you
+for sending us an account of all news and remarkable occurrences in your
+letters which we desire may be sent in the mails or annext to the
+labels." "We cannot but take very ill the captain's conduct on this
+occasion, for Mr. Bowen's intentions in sending his son over to bring so
+great a piece of news as that of the victory[31] to us ought to be
+esteemed as a great piece of civility, and, if the captain had not
+refused to sail when Mr. Bowen pressed him, we might have had the
+satisfaction of carrying the first account of that victory."
+
+  [31] The victory at Oudenarde. Who Mr. Bowen was we are not informed.
+
+It was in the early summer of 1709, when this greed after news was at
+its height, that intelligence of vast import to the country was expected
+to arrive in London. Preliminaries of peace, after being arranged in
+Flanders, had been forwarded to Paris for confirmation. Would the King
+sign them? Or must the war which had already lasted more than six years
+be continued? A period of anxious suspense followed. The exhaustion of
+France, and the humiliating terms which were sought to be imposed upon
+her, made it certain that there would be neither ready acceptance nor
+ready rejection; and yet the latest date had passed on which a decision
+was expected and none had arrived. London was in a fever of expectation.
+Each mail from Ostend, as it reached the Post Office in Lombard Street,
+was eagerly seized and opened. The month of May was drawing to a close.
+On Saturday the 28th there was not only no news but no mail. Sunday came
+and, to the consternation of the postmasters-general, there was still no
+mail. The wind was in the right quarter. At Harwich the packets from
+Holland were arriving regularly. What could hinder the passage from
+Ostend? At length on Monday the 30th a mail arrived, and with it the
+news. The King had refused to sign the preliminaries of peace. Frankland
+and Evelyn[32] hurried off to the Lord Treasurer. Little were they
+prepared for the reception that awaited them. Godolphin's words have
+unfortunately not been preserved, but we know the substance of them. The
+news, he said, had reached the city the day before, having been conveyed
+there clandestinely. The packet agent or sub-agent at Ostend had sent
+it. Of this he held in his hand conclusive evidence. What means had been
+employed, and whether others were concerned in the nefarious
+transaction, it was for his hearers to ascertain; and the sooner they
+addressed themselves to the task the better. In short, the power of the
+purse had again prevailed, and the Post Office had been outwitted by the
+Stock Exchange.
+
+  [32] Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Evelyn had recently succeeded Sir Robert
+  Cotton as postmaster-general.
+
+It is difficult to suppose that the intelligence can have been conveyed
+from Ostend to London without Macky's connivance. And yet Frankland and
+Evelyn believed or affected to believe that he had had no hand in the
+business. Their position was, no doubt, one of embarrassment. Organised
+as the Post Office then was, they possessed no means of making an
+independent investigation. They contented themselves, therefore, with
+calling upon Macky to ascertain and report how it was that a letter from
+Ostend had reached London on Sunday, although on that day there had been
+no mail. The result might easily have been foreseen. Brown, the
+sub-agent at Ostend, whose letter it was, stood self-condemned, and
+Macky was required to dismiss him. And here the scandal ended. Macky's
+own character, with himself as reporter, may be presumed to have been
+cleared. At all events he appears to have been taken back into
+confidence, and, before many weeks were over, the postmasters-general
+had despatched him on an important mission.
+
+This mission was no other than to lay down posts for the army in
+Flanders. The tardiness with which intelligence arrived from the seat of
+war had long been matter of complaint. In the city especially the
+dissatisfaction had been intense, and the recent scandal had not been
+calculated to allay it. With a view to remedy this state of things,
+Godolphin called upon the postmasters-general to devise some means for
+securing more rapid communication. The army was now in the neighbourhood
+of Lisle, and operations were about to begin anew. There was, therefore,
+no time to be lost. The postmasters-general had recourse to Macky, and
+in a few days he produced a plan with which Godolphin expressed himself
+highly pleased. Between Lisle and Ostend, and between Ostend and other
+places where the army might be, stages were to be settled; at each stage
+were to be relays of horses with postilions ready to start at any
+moment; responsible persons were to be appointed to collect and deliver
+the letters and to receive the postage; and the postage was to be
+regulated by distance and to be at the same rates as in England, and to
+go to the English Post Office.
+
+Macky, to his extreme gratification, was commissioned to carry out his
+own plan. He was to repair at once to Flanders, to report himself to the
+Duke of Marlborough, and, having obtained his sanction, to proceed with
+the arrangement of details. Above all, he was to keep a close watch upon
+the sailing of the packets from Ostend, and to insist upon a rigid
+punctuality. From this time no more complaints were heard of the tardy
+arrival of intelligence from the seat of war. As postilions were
+employed on one side of the water, so expresses were employed on the
+other; and these, with punctual sailings between port and port,
+constituted a service which for those days might be considered
+excellent.
+
+At first, indeed, the employment of expresses from Dover to London
+appears to have been a little overdone, and the postmasters-general,
+eager as they were to obtain early intelligence, found it necessary to
+regulate the practice. An express had arrived bringing a letter from
+Macky in Flanders. "Altho' we should be very well satisfied," they wrote
+to his deputy at Dover, "to receive an extraordinary piece of good news
+by a messenger hired for greater dispatch' sake, yet on ordinary
+occasions it might be more warrantable and make less noise and
+expectation to have the same sent by a flying pacquet under cover to us
+annext to the labell." This was written in August 1709, within six weeks
+of Macky's arrival in Flanders; and we know of no passage in the whole
+of the Post Office records which more forcibly brings home to us the
+difference between the London of to-day and the London of 180 years ago.
+Crowds no longer congregate at the doors of the Post Office eagerly
+waiting for news; nor is the neighbourhood of St. Martin's-le-Grand
+transported with excitement at the approach of a man on horseback.
+
+On the cessation of hostilities at sea, which took place in the summer
+of 1712, although the Treaty of Utrecht was not signed until the
+following year, the postmasters-general proceeded to put the packets on
+a peace footing. The boats from Harwich to the Brill and from Dover to
+Ostend were reduced in number. The routes between Dover and Calais and
+between Dover and Dunkirk were reopened. The service between Falmouth
+and Lisbon, which during the war had been once a week, was now to be
+only once a fortnight; and the five boats engaged on this service, as
+carrying more hands than would any longer be necessary, were to be
+disposed of by public sale and their place to be taken by three of the
+largest from Harwich. The result of these several changes was to reduce
+the establishment, in point of numbers, by rather more than 120 men,
+and, in point of cost, from L21,960 to L15,632. As affecting the cost,
+hardly less important than the reduction of numbers was the permission
+now given to the packet boats to resume the carriage of merchandise.
+This was a source of profit to which the postmasters-general had long
+been looking as some set-off against the heavy expense.
+
+Meanwhile Dummer's contract for the West India service had come to an
+abrupt termination. That contract had not been long in force before he
+began to realise how onerous was the condition that, out of a total sum
+of L12,500, he should receive only L4500 in money, and depend, for the
+difference on fares, freight, and postage. The postage, which from the
+first had fallen short of his expectations, did not increase; and the
+fact of his having, within a few months from the commencement of his
+undertaking, lost three of his boats, procured for him--what in the
+world of commerce is almost incompatible with success--the reputation of
+an unlucky man. The West India merchants enjoined their correspondents
+on no account to send goods by Dummer's boats. Thus the profits which he
+had expected to derive from freight had no more existence in fact than
+the profits from postage. Hoping against hope, Dummer struggled on; but
+ill-luck continued to pursue him. In little more than five years he lost
+no less than nine boats. In order to replace them he mortgaged his
+property to the full extent of its value and obtained advances on his
+quarterly allowance. This, of course, could not go on, and at length the
+crash came. The day had arrived for the West India mail to be
+despatched, and there was no boat to carry it. The whole of Dummer's
+property, boats included, had been seized for debt. The rest is soon
+told. The mortgagees, believing that they had the postmasters-general in
+a corner, refused to continue the service except at a preposterous
+charge, which Frankland and Evelyn declined to pay. Fortunately three
+private ships with consignments for the West Indies were then loading at
+Teignmouth and other ports in the south-west of England, and these
+relieved the Post Office from what might otherwise have been a serious
+dilemma.
+
+Bankrupt and broken-hearted, Edmund Dummer died in April 1713, within
+eighteen months of the termination of his contract. It is his honourable
+distinction that he succeeded in all that he undertook for others, and
+that it was only in what he undertook for himself that he failed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+AMERICAN POSTS
+
+1692-1707
+
+
+American progress has long been the wonder of the world, and in nothing
+perhaps has it displayed itself more remarkably than in the matter of
+the posts. The figures which the United States Post Office presents to
+us year after year--figures as compared with which even those of the
+Post Office of Great Britain fall into insignificance--make it difficult
+to believe that only two hundred years ago an enterprising Englishman
+was struggling to erect a post between New York and Boston.
+
+An Order in Council dated the 22nd of July 1688, after prescribing the
+rates of postage to be charged not only between England and the island
+of Jamaica, but within the island itself, ended with these words: "And
+His Majesty is also pleased to order that letter offices be settled in
+such other of His Majesty's plantations in America as shall by the said
+Earle of Rochester be found convenient for His Majesty's service, and
+the ease and benefitt of his subjects, according to the method and rates
+herein settled for His Majesty's island of Jamaica."
+
+Nearly four years later, namely, in February 1692, Thomas Neale obtained
+a grant from the Crown authorising him to set up posts in North America.
+The grant was secured by letters patent, which were to hold good for
+twenty-one years. Neale, who appears never to have set foot out of
+England, appointed as his representative in America Andrew Hamilton; or
+rather, as the patent required, Neale nominated and the
+postmasters-general appointed him. The patent also required that at the
+expiration of three years Neale should render an account showing his
+receipts and expenditure; but it was not until the year 1698 that this
+condition was fulfilled, and in the same year Hamilton came to England
+to report progress.
+
+By this time a post, to run once a week, had been established along
+seven hundred miles of road, from Boston to New York, and from New York
+to Newcastle in Pennsylvania. What the postage rates were we do not
+know, except indeed that the charge on a letter between New York and
+Boston was 1s. On other points the account which Hamilton furnished on
+Neale's behalf gives full information. A salary of L20 a year is paid to
+"Mr. Sharpus that keeps the letter office at New York." Mr. Sharpus also
+receives two allowances, one of L110 a year "for carrying the mail
+half-way to Boston," and another of L60 "for carrying the mail from New
+York to Philadelphia." Of the former allowance, Hamilton states that
+after the 4th of November 1696 he "retrenched" it from L110 to L90.
+There is also a salary of L10 "allowed to him that keeps the letter
+office at Philadelphia"; and "an allowance of L100 sterling per annum
+given by Mr. Neale himself to Peter Hayman, deputy-postmaster of
+Virginia and Maryland." Hamilton's own salary was L200, and his
+travelling expenses are thus stated in his account:--
+
+  To my expense of a journey from New York to Road
+    Island, Boston, and eastward of it and back again,
+    when I settled the Post Office there                L50   0   0
+
+  To my expense of a journey from New York to Maryland
+    and Virginia and back again to settle the
+    office there                                         50   0   0
+
+  To several other journeys and incident charges relating
+    to the Post Office                                   16  18   0
+
+In America as in England, from the first erection of the posts, the
+correspondence went on steadily increasing year after year. Thus, in the
+first year beginning the 1st of May 1693 the "New York Post" produced
+L61; in the second, L82; in the third, L93; and in the fourth year,
+ending the 1st of May 1697, it produced L122. The same progress is to be
+seen in what were called the "Boston, Road Island, Connecticut and
+Piscataway Posts." In the first two years beginning also in May 1693
+these produced L296 or at the rate of L148 a year; in the third year
+they produced L227; and in the fourth, L298. The returns of the
+Philadelphia post also kept improving; but here Hamilton encountered
+difficulties of management, as will be seen by his own entries:--
+
+  By the produce of the Philadelphia post from the 22nd
+    of August 1693 to the 23rd of April 1694, at
+    which time I was forced to change the Postmaster       L10  9  6
+
+  By the produce of the same post from the 23rd of April
+    1694 to the 13th of February 1697, at which time
+    I was forced to change the Postmaster again            105  3  7
+
+The Virginia and Maryland posts were the single exception. Of these
+Hamilton records "The Virginia and Maryland posts never yielded
+anything, but cost Mr. Neale near L600." However much these posts might
+be improved, he dared not reckon upon the correspondence exceeding one
+hundred letters a year.
+
+There is only one more entry which we will quote from Hamilton's
+account. It is this:--
+
+By cash which the Postmaster of New York gathered
+  up upon the road in Connecticut for letters        L6  16  0
+
+Promising as the prospect was on the whole, Neale's receipts from the
+posts fell far short of his expenses in erecting and maintaining them.
+His expenses up to May 1697 were L3817, and his receipts L1457, leaving
+him not only out of pocket to the amount of L2360, but with his means
+and his credit exhausted. It was admitted on all hands that the posts
+must before long become self-supporting, even if they should not prove
+remunerative. But meanwhile how were they to be carried on? Hamilton had
+his own plan to propose. This was first that within America the postage
+rates should be raised, and "that the post and his horse should go
+fferry-free"; and second, that between England and America rates should
+be settled, and that shipmasters should be required on the other as on
+this side of the Atlantic to take their letters at once to the Post
+Office of the port at which they first touched, and hand them to the
+postmaster, receiving as remuneration one penny a letter.
+
+For inland letters the increased rates which Hamilton proposed were as
+follows, all but the first two entries being in his own words:--
+
+                                                            Pence.
+
+  Where the distance from New York does not exceed 80 miles     6
+  Where it exceeds 80, and does not exceed 150 miles            9
+  To and from Boston and New York, 300 miles                   12
+  To and from Boston and Jersey, 370 miles                     18
+  To and from Boston and Philadelphia, 390 miles               20
+  To and from Boston and Annapolis in Maryland, 550 miles      36
+  To and from Boston and James Towne in Virginia, 680 miles    42
+  To and from New York and Annapolis, 250 miles                24
+  To and from New York and James Towne, 380 miles, and many
+    broad and dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over     30
+
+It may surprise our readers to learn that between England and America
+there actually existed, 200 years ago, what now is little more than the
+dream of the postal reformer,--an ocean penny postage. Yet such is the
+fact. In 1698 it was the custom of the masters of ships bound for
+America to hang up bags in coffee-houses, and any letters that might be
+dropped into these bags they carried, and were glad to carry, over for
+one penny or twopence a letter, according as it was a single or a double
+one. This custom, as Hamilton pointed out, was liable to abuse. In the
+first place, any one who had put a letter into a coffee-house bag might,
+under pretence of wanting his own letter back, possess himself of the
+letter of somebody else. And secondly, on arrival in America, the
+shipmasters being under no obligation to make a prompt delivery, were
+apt to deliver the letters, not when they reached a port, but when they
+were on the point of leaving it, and after they had disposed of their
+lading. All this would be remedied if rates of postage were settled
+between England and America. The letters would then be in the custody of
+the Post Office until delivered to the shipmaster, and the shipmaster
+would be bound to restore them to the same custody as soon as he
+arrived at his destination.
+
+But Hamilton's main argument in favour of establishing sea-rates of
+postage was the impossibility of things remaining as they were. Neale
+was without resources, and the posts were not self-supporting. Unless,
+therefore, some means should be devised for increasing the receipts, the
+posts must be given up. Let sea-rates be imposed, and the receipts would
+be increased at once, for all letters from Europe, which on arrival in
+America were now being delivered by private hand, would then fall into
+the post, and be forced to pay American postage. It was true that
+between the mother country and her colonies a packet service did not
+exist, and that to impose a charge where no service was rendered in
+return would be contrary to Post Office usage; but the object to be
+gained was too important to allow this consideration to prevail. Such
+were the arguments by which Hamilton supported his proposal that on
+letters between England and America postage should be charged--of 6d.
+for a single letter, 1s. for a double letter, and 1s. 6d. for "a
+packet."
+
+There were one or two points on which Cotton and Frankland did not agree
+with Hamilton. Experience had taught them, as they stated on another
+occasion, that the way to improve the Post Office revenue was to "make
+the intercourse of letters easy to people." So now, in their
+representation to the Treasury, they condemned the inland rates which
+Hamilton proposed as altogether too high. They had been long enough at
+the Post Office, they said, to know that "the easy and cheap
+corresponding doth encourage people to write letters, and that this
+revenue was but little in proportion to what it is now till the postage
+of letters was reduced from 6d.[33] to 3d."
+
+  [33] This is an allusion to the period antecedent to 1657.
+
+Hamilton had contemplated the passing of a fresh Act of Parliament in
+order to impose sea-rates and to oblige shipmasters to give up their
+letters as soon as they reached port. Cotton and Frankland were not
+satisfied that a fresh Act of Parliament was necessary; nor did they
+express any opinion as to the particular rates which should be imposed.
+They recommended, however, the appointment of an officer whose duty it
+should be "to take care of" all letters for America, and to put them
+into a special bag to be sealed with the office seal. Public notice
+should at the same time be given prohibiting the collection of such
+letters by other persons. To the shipmaster to whom the bag might be
+delivered the inducement to take it without delay to the Post Office of
+the port at which he should first arrive would be that he would there
+receive one penny for each letter the bag might contain. Hitherto, under
+the coffee-house arrangement, the penny had been paid in England; for
+the future, it would be paid in America. In other words, the shipmaster,
+instead of receiving his recompense in advance, would receive it after
+his work was done and only provided it was done properly.
+
+On one point the postmasters-general held a decided opinion. Towards the
+support of the posts the Government of New York had made an annual
+contribution of L50, in consideration of which the Government letters
+appear to have been carried free; but otherwise Neale's undertaking had
+not received from the authorities that countenance and support which, in
+Cotton and Frankland's opinion, were essential to its success. They
+expressed themselves convinced that, for want of due encouragement, the
+posts would never prosper in private hands, and recommended that they
+should be transferred to the Crown.
+
+Whether any, and if so, what action was taken upon the
+postmaster-general's representation we do not know. There is some reason
+to think that between England and America sea-rates of postage were
+settled, as had been done a few years before in the case of Jamaica; but
+we possess no certain information on the point. All we know is that,
+upon Neale being informed of the postmaster-general's opinion that the
+inland posts should be transferred to the Crown, he immediately offered
+to surrender his patent, and that the offer was not accepted. The
+payment he demanded was either a capital sum of L5000 or else L1000 a
+year for life or for the unexpired term of his grant.
+
+Hamilton returned to America. The next we hear of him is in 1700. Neale
+was then dead, having shortly before his death assigned his interest in
+the posts as security for his debts. To Hamilton he owed L1100, and to
+an Englishman of the name of West he owed for money advanced L200; and
+into the hands of these two persons, in default of any one willing to
+act as Neale's executor or administrator, the posts now came. In April
+1703 Hamilton also died; and for three or four years his widow carried
+on the posts at her own charge.
+
+In 1706 Mrs. Hamilton and West urged that their patent, which had seven
+and a half years yet to run, might be enlarged for a further term of
+twenty-one years, and that they might have permission to set up packet
+boats between England and America. To this Cotton and Frankland were
+opposed, being still of opinion that the posts should not remain in
+private hands; and they recommended, as a more politic measure, that the
+patent should be purchased for L1664, a sum which the patentees had
+expressed themselves willing to accept. Whether this was the sum
+actually given we know not; but in the following year the patent was
+surrendered and the posts of America became vested in the Crown.
+
+In connection with the transfer John Hamilton, Andrew's son, was
+appointed to his father's place of deputy postmaster-general, and this
+appointment he retained until 1722, when he resigned. It was then and
+not until then that the posts became self-supporting. "We have now,"
+write the postmasters-general on the 10th of August in that year, "put
+the Post Office in North America and the West Indies upon such a foot
+that for the future, if it produce no profit to the revenue, it will no
+longer be a charge to it, but we have good reason to hope there will be
+some return rather from thence."
+
+Such, hardly 200 years ago, were the humble beginnings of a Post Office
+with which, in the magnitude and diversity of its operations, no other
+in the world can now compare.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE POST OFFICE ACT OF 1711
+
+
+In 1707, on the passing of the Act of Union between England and
+Scotland, the first step taken by the postmasters-general was to alter
+the colours of the packets. The cross of St. Andrew, with its blue
+ground, united with the red cross of St. George, now became the national
+ensign; and the packets no less than the ships of the Royal Navy were
+under obligation to carry it.
+
+The Post Office in Scotland was at this time held in farm at a rent of
+L1194 a year. The lease expired on the 11th of November, and from that
+date the postmasters-general held themselves responsible for the Scotch
+no less than the English posts. They at once proceeded to frame an
+establishment. George Main, the farmer, was appointed deputy-postmaster
+of Edinburgh at a salary of L200, this being the amount which one year
+with another he had made out of his contract. Three persons were
+appointed to assist him, an accomptant and two clerks. These, with three
+letter-carriers at a crown a week each, and a postmaster at the foot of
+the Canongate, constituted the Edinburgh establishment.
+
+In the country there were thirty-four postmasters, of whom only twelve
+were paid by salary, the remaining twenty-two receiving as their
+remuneration a certain proportion of the postage on inland letters.
+Thus, three had one-half of this postage, one had one-third, and
+eighteen had one-fourth. The highest salaries were given to the
+postmasters of Haddington and Cockburnspath, who received L50 apiece,
+the reason being no doubt that these two towns were on the direct line
+of road between Edinburgh and London. At Aberdeen, the postmaster's
+salary was L28; at Glasgow, L25; at Dundee, Montrose, and Inverness,
+L15; and at Dumfries and Ayr, L12. Runners[34] at a fixed charge were
+maintained between town and town--as, for instance, between Edinburgh
+and Aberdeen at L60 a year, between Aberdeen and Inverness at L30 a
+year, and between Inverness and Thurso at L18 a year: but except at
+Edinburgh there was no letter-carrier, and except between Edinburgh and
+Berwick there was no horse-post north of the Tweed. The establishment
+charges for the whole of Scotland, Edinburgh included, were less than
+L1000 a year.
+
+  [34] These runners or post-boys carried the mail through the whole
+  journey, resting by the way. It was not, according to common repute,
+  until about the year 1750 that the mail began to be carried from stage
+  to stage by different post-boys.
+
+But something more was necessary than to frame an establishment and to
+alter the colours of the packets. Serious doubts had arisen whether, as
+the law stood, the postmasters-general of England were competent to deal
+with the posts of Scotland; and, this vital consideration apart, between
+the two divisions of the kingdom certain inequalities existed which only
+fresh legislation could redress. Under the Scotch Act of 1695 the
+postage on a single letter between Edinburgh and Berwick was 2d. Under
+the English Act of 1660, 2d. would carry a single letter from Berwick
+northwards for only forty miles, and considerably more than forty miles
+separated Berwick from Edinburgh. This difference arose no doubt from
+mere inaccuracy of reckoning on the English side; and yet it was one
+which nothing less than a new Act, an Act by the united Parliament,
+would adjust.
+
+It is the more singular that at this time the postmasters-general should
+not have taken steps to promote legislation, because, in connection with
+the English no less than the Scotch Post Office, there were several
+matters on which fresh legislation had become necessary. The statute on
+which the very existence of the Post Office itself depended had been
+found difficult to deal with, on account of its loose and ambiguous
+wording. The postage to America and the West Indies rested on no legal
+sanction. For the pence paid upon ship-letters the postmasters-general
+had no authority to produce, and the auditors had threatened to
+disallow, the payment. Even the penny post was of doubtful legality. The
+Courts had indeed decided that Dockwra's undertaking was an infraction
+of the rights of the Crown; but they had not decided, nor had they been
+called upon to decide, whether in the hands of the Crown the same
+undertaking would be legal. The law, as it stood, prescribed no postage
+lower than twopence. By the penny post the postage was one half of that
+amount.
+
+With these and other matters requiring adjustment, it might well be
+supposed that the postmasters-general would have been glad of the
+opportunity which the Act of Union afforded to set their house in order.
+Yet, so far from taking any steps in that direction, they now remained
+perfectly passive. Of the reason for this inaction we are not informed;
+but we venture to suggest an explanation. Cotton and Frankland were
+advocates of cheap postage. Should fresh legislation be entered upon,
+what guarantee had they that postage would not be made dearer? So far,
+indeed, as they could judge, such was much more likely than not to be
+the case. As early as William's reign they had been asked to estimate
+how much an additional penny of postage would produce; and the
+necessities of the Civil List which had prompted the inquiry had since
+become more and more pressing.
+
+It is not impossible that there was another, though subordinate, reason.
+Between Whitehall and Lombard Street communications had been passing
+from time to time, which might fairly raise the presumption that
+advantage would be taken of any fresh Act to insert a clause under which
+all Post Office servants, the postmasters-general included, would be
+disfranchised. Cotton and Frankland, who still retained their seats, the
+one for Cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of Thirsk, were
+not the men to be deterred by personal considerations from doing what
+they conceived to be their duty; but if on principle they objected to an
+increase in the rates of postage, it was little calculated to reconcile
+them to a measure which they regarded as mischievous that, as a probable
+consequence of its introduction, they would lose their seats. But be the
+reason what it might, the fact remains that, whereas at one time they
+were continually suggesting the propriety of fresh legislation in order
+to clear up ambiguities in the existing statute, no such suggestion had
+been recently made, and they now remained perfectly silent.
+
+Thus matters stood when, in October 1708, or a year and a half after the
+Act of Union had passed, an incident occurred which made silence no
+longer possible. Letters of Privy Seal had been issued granting salaries
+payable out of the revenue of the Scotch Post Office to certain
+professors of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and warrants
+for payment of these salaries were sent to Lombard Street to be signed.
+The postmasters-general, being in doubt whether their signature would be
+valid, took the precaution of consulting the law officers. The law
+officers' opinion, which was not given until the end of December, must
+have struck dismay into the hearts of those who sought it. It was to the
+effect that the postmasters-general of England could not act as
+postmasters-general of Scotland until they had been to Edinburgh and
+taken the oaths prescribed by the Scotch law. A journey to Edinburgh in
+those days, especially in the depth of winter, was no light undertaking.
+But this was not all. And as soon--the opinion proceeded--as they have
+taken the oaths and qualified as postmasters-general of Scotland, they
+will cease to be postmasters-general of England.
+
+The warrants were returned to the Treasury unsigned. And now that
+silence had once been broken, the postmasters-general offered suggestion
+after suggestion, each having for its object to remove the difficulty.
+Might not a clause be inserted in some bill now before Parliament, a
+clause under which they should be constituted postmasters-general of
+Great Britain, and be given jurisdiction over the Scotch as over the
+English Post Office? Would not the Scotch bill for drawbacks answer the
+purpose, or if that were likely to be displeasing to the North British
+members, some one of the many money-bills that were then pending? Would
+not the requirements of the law be satisfied if for the management of
+the Scotch Post Office some one were appointed by letters patent under
+the Privy Seal of Scotland, and placed under the orders of the
+postmasters-general of England? Or in view of a recent Act passed by the
+united Parliament, might not the English postmasters-general themselves
+be so appointed? To these suggestions, of which the first was made in
+December 1708, and the last in April 1710, the Lord Treasurer returned
+no reply. It was clear that Godolphin had other intentions.
+
+Meanwhile events had taken place in London which must have gone far to
+convince the postmasters-general that, impolitic as an increase in the
+rates of postage might be, the need for fresh legislation was urgent.
+Charles Povey had set up a halfpenny post or, as he called it himself, a
+"half-penny carriage." For the sum of one halfpenny he undertook to do
+what Dockwra had done, and what the postmasters-general were now doing,
+for the sum of one penny. There were indeed points of difference. The
+penny post extended not only over the whole of London proper, but to the
+remote suburbs; the halfpenny post was confined to the busy parts of the
+metropolis, to the cities of London and Westminster and to the borough
+of Southwark. For the halfpenny post, again, letters were collected by
+the sound of bell. That is to say, Povey's men carried bells, which they
+rang as they passed along the streets, and so gave notice of their
+approach. This, though no doubt intended merely as an advertisement,
+possessed the merit of convenience. People had only to await the coming
+of one of these bell-ringers, and letters and parcels which they must
+otherwise have carried to the post themselves were carried for them.
+
+Povey fancied himself a second Dockwra; but the two men were as unlike
+as the circumstances under which their undertakings were launched.
+Dockwra was gentle and conciliatory. Povey was violent and aggressive.
+Dockwra disclaimed all intention of transgressing the law. It was only
+necessary that his undertaking should become better known, and His Royal
+Highness, he felt sure, would withdraw his opposition. Povey expressed
+the utmost indifference whether his undertaking was legal or illegal,
+and defied the law to do its worst. Dockwra was a pioneer. When he
+established his penny post, there was nothing in existence at all
+resembling it, nothing with which it competed, and by supplying an
+acknowledged want he conferred an inestimable boon upon the community.
+Povey, on the contrary, was a mere adventurer. His halfpenny carriage
+was in direct opposition to an institution already existing and in full
+activity, an institution which supplied every reasonable want, and which
+it was the sole purpose of his enterprise to supplant for his own
+advantage.
+
+So impudent an infringement of the rights of the Crown could not, of
+course, be tolerated, and the postmasters-general called upon Povey to
+desist from his undertaking. Povey's reply must have extinguished any
+hope they may have entertained of avoiding an appeal to the Courts. He
+should certainly not, he said, be so unjust to himself as to lay down
+his undertaking at their demand. If they were resolved on trying the
+matter at law, he was quite content. And happily, he added, we live not
+under such a constitution as Dockwra lived, a constitution made up of an
+arbitrary government and bribed judges. Thus defied, the
+postmasters-general had only one course to pursue, and that was to bring
+an action. As a preliminary step Povey and the keepers of the shops at
+which he had opened offices were served with notices setting forth the
+illegality of their proceedings. The shopkeepers closed their offices at
+once, and Povey was left alone with his bell-ringers.
+
+The man now revealed himself in his true character. When first informed
+that an information would be filed against him, he published a pamphlet
+in which, after loading the postmasters-general with ridicule and abuse,
+he dared them to proceed to trial, declaring that a trial in the Court
+of Exchequer was the very thing he desired; but as time drew on and he
+found them to be in earnest, he became alarmed and desired to effect a
+compromise. With this object he attended at the Post Office and pleaded
+his cause in person. If only his bell-ringers might continue to collect
+letters for the general post and "such as pass between man and man," he
+would pay to the Crown one-tenth more than had yet been received from
+the penny post. Or let him take the penny post to farm, and he would pay
+double what that post had ever produced. Or was it to his bells that
+exception was taken? If so, and if only proceedings were stayed, his
+bells should cease to-morrow. But even if at one time such overtures
+could have been listened to, it was now too late, and the
+postmasters-general so informed him. At this announcement, and while
+they were still speaking, Povey bounced from his chair and flung himself
+out of the room. The case came on for hearing in Easter term 1710, and
+Povey was fined L100.
+
+It may here be mentioned that the practice of collecting letters by the
+sound of bell did not cease with the halfpenny carriage. It was adopted
+by the Post Office, became general throughout the kingdom, and continued
+down to a time well within the recollection of persons still living.[35]
+
+  [35] In London the practice continued until the end of 1846; and in
+  Dublin, which was the last town in the United Kingdom to give it up,
+  until September 1859.
+
+Although the postmasters-general had won their suit, they were not
+altogether satisfied. What Povey had done might be done by others, and
+his proceedings, they did not attempt to conceal, had caused them great
+annoyance. As soon as he found them bent on suppressing his undertaking,
+he had had recourse to artifice. In order that his bell-ringers might
+escape molestation, he had changed them about from place to place and
+made them assume fictitious names, so that the man who appeared in
+Holborn to-day under one name might appear in Westminster to-morrow
+under another. The task of fixing evidence had thus been made extremely
+difficult, and the postmasters-general had at one time almost given it
+up in despair. They also bitterly complained of the law's delays. For no
+less than seven months--from the 4th of October 1709 to the 4th of May
+1710--the halfpenny post had been in full activity, to the serious
+injury of the penny post. Must the institution which had been committed
+to their charge remain, for periods of longer or shorter duration, at
+the mercy of any unscrupulous person who might choose to follow Povey's
+example? Or against future assaults of the same kind was it not possible
+to provide themselves with some less cumbrous weapon than they had now
+to their hands?
+
+Whether the Act which subsequently passed conferred upon the
+postmasters-general all the powers they desired may be open to question,
+but there can be no doubt that, after the experience of the past few
+months, the prospect of fresh legislation, if not actually welcome, had
+lost half its terrors. For fresh legislation, however, the time had not
+even yet arrived. It is true that Povey's case, pending the
+consideration of which nothing of course could be done, had been heard
+and determined; but now political difficulties arose. Godolphin, the
+Lord Treasurer, gave way to Harley; and Harley's advent to power was
+followed by a general election. It was not until the beginning of
+November, or three weeks before the Houses met, that a decision was at
+last announced. Subject to the consent of Parliament, the rates of
+postage were to be increased, and a bill to carry out the object was to
+be prepared at once.
+
+The office of Secretary to the Treasury was at this time held by William
+Lowndes, member of Parliament for the borough of Seaford. Lowndes had
+written a silly book on the currency, a book in which he endeavoured to
+prove that an Act of Parliament, by calling a sixpence a shilling, can
+double its purchasing power. He had seriously believed, when the
+postmasters-general recommended that the course of post to Warwick
+should be direct instead of by way of Coventry, that the recommendation
+was due to a bribe. When the postmasters-general were at their wits' end
+to put a stop to the illicit traffic in letters, he had suggested--and
+it was the only consolation which he had had to offer them--that in
+order to defray the expenses of the Civil List every letter passing
+through the post should be charged with an additional rate of 1d. Such
+was the man to whom was now entrusted the oversight of the Post Office
+bill. If confidence in the merits of the measure which the bill was
+designed to promote were any recommendation, a better selection could
+not have been made. Lowndes had long advocated an increase in the rates
+of postage. He had, there can be little doubt, brought Godolphin over to
+his views, and now, under Godolphin's successor, he obtained permission
+to carry them into effect.
+
+At the Post Office, unfortunately, there was at this time no one to
+sound a note of alarm. Cotton was no more. Evelyn, Cotton's successor,
+was new to his duties. Frankland was old and gouty. Between Frankland
+and Lowndes, moreover, relations we suspect were somewhat strained. At
+all events, the fact remains that the postmasters-general, who never
+tired of inculcating as the result of experience that low postage
+attracts correspondence and high postage repels it, received notice of
+the intention to raise the rates without even an attempt to avert the
+mischief.
+
+By the middle of December, or little more than six weeks from the time
+of the Post Office receiving notice to prepare for fresh legislation,
+the bill was in Lowndes's hands. Containing as it did some fifty
+clauses, and dealing with a matter of no little complexity, such
+despatch might do no discredit even to our own days of high pressure. At
+the beginning of the eighteenth century it was out of the common. But
+the explanation is simple. Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, who
+was profoundly dissatisfied with the law as it stood, had for years past
+employed his leisure moments in framing clauses founded upon his
+conception of what the law ought to be, less probably in the hope of
+seeing them passed than with the view of giving relief to his feelings.
+These clauses he now collected, arranged, and added to, producing what
+he conceived to be a model measure. But while the bill had taken only
+six weeks to prepare, nearly double that period was occupied in revising
+it. Whatever may be thought of Lowndes's understanding, there can be no
+question about his industry. Day after day during the next three months
+he devoted to the task he had undertaken every moment he could snatch
+from his numerous other engagements. In conjunction with Swift, who now
+passed most of his time at Whitehall, he went through the bill clause by
+clause, discussing and arguing every point, and not seldom making
+alterations. Swift, as the representative of the Post Office, knew well
+what the Post Office wanted; but Lowndes knew, or thought that he knew,
+better, and in this as in other instances superior authority passed
+current for superior knowledge. It was not, however, to what for
+distinction's sake may be called the Post Office clauses of the bill
+that the chief interest attached. To these Lowndes added others, of
+which one, while dealing with a matter of the most delicate character,
+revealed an intention of which the Post Office had had no previous
+notice. The preparation of this clause severely taxed the abilities of
+its framers.
+
+As the Post Office revenue was at this time vested in the Crown, the
+Crown would, of course, in the absence of express provision to the
+contrary, reap the benefit of any increase which additions to the rates
+of postage might produce. To divert the increase, or part of the
+increase, from the Crown to the public was the object of the clause on
+which Lowndes and Swift were now engaged. This clause having at length
+been settled to their satisfaction, the bill came before Parliament, and
+was with some modifications passed. The new rates as compared with the
+old were as follows:--
+
++------------------+--------------------------+------------------------+
+|                  |            1660.         |           1711.        |
+|FROM LONDON.      +---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+|                  | Single. |Double. |Ounce. |Single. |Double. |Ounce.|
++------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+|80 miles and under|   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |  3d.   |  6d.   | 12d. |
+|Above 80 miles    |   3d.   |  6d.   |  12d. |  4d.   |  8d.   | 16d. |
+|To Edinburgh      |   5d.   | 10d.   |  20d. |  6d.   | 12d.   | 24d. |
+|To Dublin         |   6d.   | 12d.   |  24d. |  6d.   | 12d.   | 24d. |
++------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+
+
++-----------------------------------+--------------------------+
+|                                   |           1711.          |
+|FROM EDINBURGH, within Scotland.   +---------+--------+-------+
+|                                   | Single. |Double. |Ounce. |
++-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+
+|50 miles and under                 |   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |
+|Above 50 and not exceeding 80 miles|   3d.   |  6d.   | 12d.  |
+|Above 80 miles                     |   4d.   |  8d.   | 16d.  |
+|                                   |         |        |       |
+|    FROM DUBLIN, within Ireland.   |         |        |       |
+|40 miles and under                 |   2d.   |  4d.   |  8d.  |
+|Above 40 miles                     |   4d.   |  8d.   | 16d.  |
++-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+
+
+The old rates during the year ending the 29th of September 1710 had
+produced L111,461, and the new rates were estimated to produce L36,400
+more. Of this increase the whole was to be paid into the Exchequer by
+weekly instalments of L700, so that a fund might be established for the
+purpose of carrying on the war; and of the surplus, if any, over and
+above L147,861, one-third was to be reserved to the disposal of
+Parliament for the use of the public. These provisions were to hold good
+for thirty-two years, after which the old rates were to be reverted to.
+
+We have already seen how difficult the postmasters-general had found it,
+even with the lower rates of postage, to prevent the smuggling of
+letters; and of course, in exact proportion as the rates should be
+increased, the temptation to smuggle would become greater. This
+consequence had been foreseen and provided for. After declaring in the
+preamble that, as a condition of the new rates, provision must be made
+"for preventing the undue collecting and delivering of letters by
+private posts, carriers, higglers, watermen, drivers of stage-coaches,
+and other persons," the bill went on to give to the postmasters-general
+large powers of search. This clause was regarded as of the highest
+importance. Without it, indeed, even Lowndes would hardly have ventured
+to suggest that the rates should be increased. To his dismay, however,
+and, truth compels us to add, to the dismay also of the Post Office, the
+House of Commons, while passing the rates, rejected the searching
+clause. Only the declaration in the preamble remained, an enduring
+monument of a foolish intention.
+
+Another clause must also be regarded as peculiarly Lowndes's own. This
+clause--which, unlike the foregoing, was not rejected--prohibited the
+postmasters-general and all persons serving under them from
+intermeddling in elections. They were forbidden under heavy penalties
+"to persuade any one to give or to dissuade any one from giving his vote
+for the choice" of a member of Parliament. Lowndes can hardly have
+believed it possible thus to padlock men's mouths. It is still more
+difficult to suppose that the clause can have been aimed at Frankland;
+and yet assuredly Frankland was the only person whom it affected.
+Postmasters and others, it may well be believed, continued to talk and
+to argue exactly as they had argued and talked before; but Frankland had
+to give up his seat. At the general election in October he had, there
+can be little doubt, received a hint of what was coming, for after
+sitting for his pocket borough of Thirsk for more than twelve years he
+retired from the representation.
+
+So much of the new Act as originated with the Post Office was mainly
+directed to clearing up doubts, to supplying omissions, and to making
+that legal for which the law had not yet provided. Thus, legal sanction
+was given to the penny post, and competition with it was forbidden under
+severe penalties. Pence upon ship-letters were not only authorised but
+directed to be paid. The rates of postage to America and to the West
+Indies were confirmed; and power was given to impose rates upon letters
+to other places with which communication might be opened. The Act of
+1660 had conferred upon the postmasters-general the exclusive right of
+"receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching, sending post or with
+speed, and delivering of all letters and packets whatsoever"; but it was
+silent on the subject of carrying. This omission the Act of 1711
+supplied. The later Act also imposed restrictions on the common carrier.
+Hitherto it had been left in doubt what letters he might carry. These
+were now defined to be letters which concerned the goods in his waggon
+or cart; and they were to be delivered at the same time as the goods and
+without hire or reward.
+
+It was not enough that the penny post should receive legal sanction. By
+this post, from its first establishment, a single penny had carried only
+within London proper. For delivery in the outskirts--as, for instance,
+at Islington, Lambeth, Newington, and Hackney, all of which were at this
+time separate towns--the Post Office received one penny more. So long,
+therefore, as the charge by the general post for a distance not
+exceeding eighty miles stood at 2d., it was a mere question of
+convenience whether towns in the neighbourhood of London should be
+served by that post or by the penny post. In either case the postage on
+a single letter was the same, namely 2d. But now that the initial charge
+by the general post was raised from 2d. to 3d., it became necessary to
+assign a limit beyond which the penny post should not extend; and this
+limit was fixed at ten miles, measured from the General Post Office in
+Lombard Street.
+
+How little the Post Office had at this time entered into the inner life
+of the people may be judged by the fact that such restriction was
+possible. In 1711 there were towns distant nearly twenty miles from
+London--for instance, Walton-on-Thames, Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, and
+Tilbury in Essex--which had long been served by the penny post; and the
+penny post carried up to one pound of weight for the same charge for
+which the general post carried a single letter. Yet these towns were now
+deprived of the facilities which the penny post afforded without, so
+far as appears, exciting a murmur.[36]
+
+  [36] Even the notice to the public announcing the change was as
+  unapologetic as it well could be:--"These are to give notice that by the
+  Act of Parliament for establishing a General Post Office all letters and
+  packets directed to and sent from places distant ten miles or above from
+  the said office in London, which before the second of this instant June
+  were received and delivered by the officers of the penny post, are now
+  subjected to the same rates of postage as general post letters; and that
+  for the accommodation of the inhabitants of such places their letters
+  will be conveyed with the same regularity and dispatch as formerly,
+  being first taxed with the rates and stamped with the mark of the
+  General Post Office; and that all parcels will likewise be taxed at the
+  rate of 2s. per ounce, as the said Act directs."
+
+Under the new Act the Post Office retained the monopoly of furnishing
+post-horses. It is to be observed, however, that the charge for each
+horse, although remaining the same as before--namely, 3d. a mile, with
+4d. a stage for the guide--was now re-enacted apologetically, as though
+some compunction had begun to be felt at the interference with the
+freedom of contract. The explanation is perhaps to be found in the
+recent introduction of stage-coaches and the low prices at which these
+vehicles carried passengers. "There is of late," writes an author of the
+period, "an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of better
+quality, to travel from London to almost any town of England and to
+almost all the villages near this great city, and that is by
+stage-coaches, wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltered
+from foul weather and foul ways; and this is not only at a low price, as
+about 1s. for every five miles, but with such speed, as that the posts
+in some foreign countries make not more miles in a day."[37] If a mode
+of travelling so luxurious as this appears to have been thought could be
+secured for less than 2-1/2d. a mile, a charge of 3d. a mile for a horse
+besides a guerdon to the guide may well have appeared to require
+justification.
+
+  [37] Chamberlayne's _State of England_, 1710.
+
+It may here be noticed that, although the postmasters-general were under
+obligation to supply horses on demand, and, failing to do so, became
+liable to a penalty, the control which they exercised over the
+travelling post appears to have been of the slightest. It is true that
+they would now and again complain of a postmaster for keeping bad
+horses; but the badness would always be with reference to the horses'
+capacity to carry the mails. Whether they were fit or unfit for the use
+of travellers appears never to have troubled headquarters. Except,
+indeed, for some little exertion of authority on rare occasions and in
+circumstances out of the common,[38] it would almost seem that the
+postmasters-general had ceased to regard the travelling post as a matter
+in which they had any concern. It is not very clear why this should have
+been so. But perhaps the explanation is that in the case of the
+travelling post, unlike that of the letter post, a postmaster's interest
+and duty were identical; if horses were wanted, he was under the
+strongest inducement to supply them; and the danger to be apprehended
+was not that travellers would be neglected, but that they might be
+accommodated at the expense of the mails.
+
+  [38] The following letter affords an instance of the exertion of
+  authority referred to in the text:--
+
+             To the DEPUTIES between LONDON and TINMOUTH.
+
+                                                 GENERAL POST OFFICE,
+                                                     _April 6, 1708_.
+
+  GENTLEMEN--The bearer hereof, Mr. John Farra, being directed by order of
+  the Lord High Treasurer to proceed to Tinmouth on the publick affairs of
+  the Government, I am ordered by the postmasters-general to require you
+  to furnish the said gentleman with a single horse [_i.e._ a horse
+  without a guide] if required through your several stages, he being well
+  acquainted with the roads and coming recommended by such authority,
+  which by their order is signified by, Gentlemen, your most humble
+  servant,
+
+                                                      B. WATERHOUSE,
+                                                        _Secretary_.
+
+
+On one point, no doubt because it involved a question of prerogative
+rather than law, the new Act was silent; and yet it was a point of high
+importance and, as it afterwards became the subject of legal enactment,
+this may be a convenient time to mention it. We refer to the privilege
+conceded to certain persons to send and receive their letters free of
+postage, or, to use the term by which it was commonly known, the
+franking system. The persons who enjoyed this privilege were the Chief
+Officers of State and the members of the two Houses of Parliament. The
+Chief Officers of State, or ministers as they had now begun to be
+called, were entitled to send and receive their letters free at all
+times and without limit in point of weight. The members of the two
+Houses were so entitled only during the session of Parliament and for
+forty days before and after, and in their case the weight was limited to
+two ounces.
+
+The privilege had already been greatly abused. Secretaries of State
+would not scruple to send under their frank the letters of their friends
+and their friends' friends as well as their own. In 1695 Blaithwaite,
+who was then Secretary of War, carried the practice to such an extent as
+to evoke from the postmasters-general a vigorous remonstrance. "We
+cannot deny," they said, "but this has been too much a practice in all
+tymes, and we are sure you will not blame us for wishing itt were
+amended, being soe very prejudicial to His Majestye's revenue under our
+management." The practice extended, and in 1705 a warrant under the
+sign-manual, after enumerating afresh the Officers of State who were
+entitled to frank, expressly charged them not "to cover any man's
+letters whatsoever other than their own," and, as regards any letters
+which might come addressed to their care for private persons, to send
+them to the Post Office to be taxed and delivered.
+
+The abuses identified with the letters of members of Parliament were of
+wider scope. Lavishly as members might use their names as a means of
+franking, the use was not confined to themselves and their friends. On
+the part of the London booksellers and other persons who might hesitate
+to incur the risk of imitating another man's signature it had become a
+common practice to assume the name of some member of Parliament, and
+under that name to have their letters addressed to them at particular
+coffee-houses; and as their correspondents in the country adopted a
+similar device, the letters passing to and fro escaped postage. Cotton
+and Frankland had not been long at the Post Office before this practice
+arrested their attention, and in 1698 the warrant which granted to the
+members of the new Parliament the usual exemption from postage was
+expressly designed to check the abuse. "To prevent abuses," thus the
+warrant ran, "that were formerly practised[39] to the prejudice of our
+revenue by divers persons who, though they were not members, yet
+presumed to indorse the names of members of Parliament on their letters
+and direct their letters to members of Parliament which really did not
+belong to them," our will and pleasure is that members "will constantly
+with their owne hands indorse their names upon their owne letters, and
+not suffer any other letters to pass under their ffrank, cover, or
+direction but such as shall concerne themselves." Successive warrants
+issued between 1698 and 1711 were expressed in the same or nearly the
+same terms, what little variations there were only serving to shew that
+the practice against which the warrants were directed had become more
+general.
+
+  [39] In documents intended for the public eye it was the practice of the
+  postmasters-general--and it was by them that these warrants were
+  prepared--to speak of an existing abuse as an abuse that was past. This
+  was, of course, to avoid giving offence.
+
+But now the postmasters-general could no longer conceal from themselves
+that, unwarrantable as might be the liberties taken with members' names,
+the members themselves were by no means blameless. That they were
+scattering their franks with boundless profusion was beyond doubt; and
+the question which the postmasters-general set themselves to solve was,
+How was this profusion to be checked? As the best expedient they could
+devise, they prepared for the Queen's signature a fresh warrant which,
+as a hint to members for the regulation of their own conduct, referred
+to Her Majesty's condescension in allocating a portion of the Post
+Office revenue towards defraying the expenses of the war. Of previous
+warrants copies had been posted up in the lobby of the House and in the
+Speaker's chamber. Of the present warrant copies were to be distributed
+with the votes so as to secure that every member should have a copy.
+
+The immediate effect of the Act of 1711 was, as might have been
+foreseen, enormously to stimulate clandestine traffic. The Post Office
+could do little to check it. In London officers were appointed whose
+duty it was to frequent the roads leading into the capital and keep a
+watch on all higglers and drivers of coaches who were notoriously
+carrying letters in defiance of the law. In the country the
+postmasters-general could get nothing done. In vain they urged upon the
+Treasury the paramount importance of appointing officers who should
+travel about the country and be authorised to open the mail bags at odd
+times and unexpectedly. By no other means, they declared, was it
+possible to keep any check upon either the London or the country
+letters. The London letters might not be charged correctly by the clerks
+of the roads; and of the country letters, it was perfectly well known,
+only a very small proportion was charged at all. But all to no purpose.
+The officers whom the postmasters-general proposed to appoint were to
+receive for remuneration and travelling expenses together L1 a day, and
+the Treasury declined to sanction the expense.
+
+This, even for the Treasury, has always appeared to us a masterpiece of
+perversity. That large sums were being diverted into the pockets of the
+postmasters had been admitted in the Act itself;[40] nor could it be
+denied that the tendency of the Act was to make these sums larger. And
+yet the abuse was to be allowed to go on unchecked because its
+correction would involve a small outlay. For four years this penny-wise
+and pound-foolish policy continued, and it was not until 1715, as the
+consequence of a strong representation from Frankland and Evelyn's
+successors, that the officers whose appointment these two
+postmasters-general had consistently advocated were added to the
+establishment under the title of surveyors. To surprise the mail bags in
+course of transit and to check their contents--such was the humble
+function originally assigned to officers who have since become as
+indispensable to the Post Office as the mainspring is to a watch or the
+driving wheel to a steam engine.
+
+  [40] "And whereas divers deputy postmasters do collect great quantities
+  of post letters called by or way letters and, by clandestine and private
+  agreements amongst themselves, do convey the same post in their
+  respective mails, or by bags, according to their several directions,
+  without accounting for the same or endorsing the same on their bills, to
+  the great detriment of Her Majesty's revenues."--9 Anne, cap. x. sec.
+  18.
+
+It may here be noticed that the decisions which the postmasters-general
+received were not all of them conceived in the same spirit. So different
+indeed was the treatment of questions relating to home communications
+and communications with foreign parts as almost to suggest that they had
+been referred to different tribunals. Was the packet service which had
+come to an end through Dummer's misfortunes to be re-established or not?
+The cost was far, very far, in excess of the receipts; and yet the
+direction to the Post Office was to consult the West India merchants,
+and to be guided by their wishes. The two packets between Falmouth and
+the Groyne, which had been left running at the close of the war, were
+after a time discontinued. They cost L1600 a year to maintain, and the
+annual receipts from the letters and passengers they carried were less
+than L450. Yet upon a representation from the merchants trading with
+Spain pointing out the inconvenience which the stoppage had caused them,
+the boats were restored at once. But all such questions were decided by
+the Lord Treasurer himself, and his decisions were communicated under
+his own signature, or else under the sign-manual.
+
+Very different was it with questions affecting intercourse within the
+kingdom. These, urgently as the postmasters-general might press them,
+received little or no attention. They would seem indeed to have been
+relegated to subordinates, who having been instructed to keep down
+expense proceeded to obey their orders without discrimination. Whether
+the packet agent at Dover had in his cups refused to drink to the health
+of the ministers, or whether the postmaster of Chester had said that
+Queen Anne, had she pursued the same course as was pursued by Charles
+the First, would have met with the same fate--these were questions of
+vital importance which must be investigated with all convenient speed;
+but when the question was merely one of improving the internal posts of
+the country, it was treated at leisure, and no considerations of public
+convenience, or even of prospective gain, were allowed to weigh against
+the bugbear of present expense. In 1710, for instance, the Lord Provost
+and magistrates of Glasgow had petitioned that the foot-post to
+Edinburgh might be converted into a horse-post. The mail would thus
+arrive sooner and leave later, and, as the petitioners pointed out,
+letters would fall into it which had heretofore been sent by private
+hand. Between a horse-post and a foot-post the difference in point of
+cost was L20 a year; and for the sake of this small sum the Treasury had
+refused the request, just as they now refused to sanction the
+appointment of surveyors, although the postmasters-general clearly
+demonstrated that by no other means could the misappropriation of
+postage be checked, and that within a few months the cost would be
+covered many times over.
+
+But the addition to the establishment of a few appointments more or less
+was not the most serious charge which the Act of 1711 entailed. The Post
+Offices over a great part of England were then in farm. How, within the
+area over which these Post Offices extended, was the State to derive any
+benefit from the higher postage? The postage, whatever it might be, was
+under their leases secured to the farmers; and the farmers were under no
+obligation to pay any higher rent than that for which they had
+stipulated. This difficulty, which had without doubt been overlooked,
+took a most unexpected turn. The farmers had had only a short experience
+of the new rates before they found that these rates, far from bringing
+them a golden harvest, were fast contributing to their ruin; that they
+were in effect prohibitive rates; that the letters passing to and fro
+were getting fewer and fewer; and that the increase of charge by no
+means made up for the decrease in number. In short, the Crown or those
+who represented the Crown had taken for granted that under the new
+rates the returns would be relatively higher than under the old, whereas
+the farmers found to their cost that the returns were actually lower.
+Never, perhaps, has there been a more striking demonstration of the
+unwisdom of high rates of postage. In this dilemma the postmasters-general
+had recourse to an expedient which appears to have been considered
+satisfactory on both sides. They cancelled all the leases, nine
+in number,[41] and under the title of managers, appointed the
+farmers to superintend the Post Offices embraced within the area
+over which their farms extended. The managers who had heretofore been at
+the cost of the postmasters' salaries were to be relieved from this and
+all other payments; and as remuneration for their services they were to
+receive one-tenth part of the net produce derived from the postage.
+
+  [41] The leases of seven out of the nine branches were cancelled in
+  1716; and those of the other two the postmasters-general expressed their
+  intention of cancelling with as little delay as possible. And yet as
+  regards one of the number, viz. the Chichester branch, there is reason
+  to doubt whether it did not survive until the year 1769.
+
+Two questions may here be asked, to neither of which is it easy to give
+even a plausible reply. Of these the first is, How did it happen that
+the postmasters-general, who without authority from Whitehall could not
+even convert a foot-post into a horse-post, were able on their own
+motion to sanction an arrangement, the practical effect of which was to
+add to the establishment not only a large number of small salaries,
+amounting in the aggregate to a formidable total, but also a dead-weight
+annuity of nearly L2000 a year? This is an obscurity which we confess
+ourselves unable to penetrate. We can only record the fact, a fact the
+more surprising because only recently Godolphin had laid it down under
+his own hand that in the Post Office "all extraordinary payments or
+allowances are to be vouched by warrant from Her Majesty or myself, or
+from the Lord High Treasurer or the Commissioners of the Treasury for
+the time being." The second question is hardly less perplexing. How,
+except in name, did managers differ from surveyors, whose appointment
+the postmasters-general were urging, and urging in vain? Or what could
+surveyors have done which it was not equally competent to managers to
+do? This question also we cannot answer. We only know that the very men
+who as farmers had rendered signal service to the Post Office, and
+earned the gratitude of the districts over which their farms extended,
+were found as managers to be of little use, even if they did not league
+themselves with the postmasters to intercept the postage.
+
+Difficulties from an unexpected quarter added to the confusion into
+which, as the result of the Act of 1711, the Post Office was drifting.
+As soon as peace was declared, it became necessary to arrive at an
+agreement with France as to the conditions on which the British mails
+should pass through French territory. M. Pajot was still comptroller of
+the posts in Paris; and he proved to be hardly less untractable than
+before the war. Frankland and Evelyn committed their case to the care of
+Matthew Prior, who was at that time minister plenipotentiary to the
+Court of France. Prior, who had hated his commissionership of customs
+because, as Swift tells us, he was ever dreaming of cockets and dockets
+and other jargon, could hardly be expected to give his mind to anything
+so prosaic as postage and letter bills. The matter, moreover, was one of
+a highly technical character, and, without fuller information than could
+be contained in the most precise instructions, a far abler negotiator
+than Prior could claim to be might easily have found himself
+overmatched. Pajot, presuming on his superior knowledge, put forward the
+most extravagant demands; and it was not until an expert had been sent
+from London, upon whom it would have been useless to attempt to impose,
+that he abated his pretensions. Extravagant demands were now followed by
+frivolous objections, and at the last moment, when the conditions were
+practically settled, he actually refused to proceed further unless "Her
+Britannic Majesty," an expression employed in the Post Office treaty,
+were altered to "The Queen of Great Britain."
+
+Vexatious as these proceedings were, the result was more vexatious
+still. Before the war a lump sum of 36,000 livres a year had been paid
+for the transit of the British mails across French territory. Pajot now
+refused to accept any lump sum at all. He insisted that each letter
+passing through France should be charged for separately, according to
+the French postage; and high as the English postage was, the French
+postage was higher still. In vain the postmasters-general pointed out
+that by virtue of such an arrangement they would on many letters have to
+pay more than Act of Parliament permitted them to receive. Pajot replied
+in effect that this was their affair and not his; and no better terms
+could they get. The treaty was eventually signed, and its onerous
+provisions will best be shewn by an example. On a single letter from
+Italy the postage prescribed by the Act of 1711 was fifteenpence, and on
+a letter weighing one ounce sixty pence. This was all which the Act
+permitted the postmasters-general to collect; and yet, under the terms
+of the treaty, the postage for which they had to account to the French
+Post Office was in the one case twenty-one sous and in the other
+eighty-four.
+
+To this treaty we are indeed indebted for one piece of information. It
+gives us--what is not to be found elsewhere--a definition of the terms
+single and double as applied to letters. It is strange that the Acts of
+1660 and 1711, while imposing distinctive rates on single and double
+letters, nowhere define what single and double letters are. This
+omission the treaty of 1713 supplies. "That piece," the treaty provides,
+"is to be esteemed a single letter which hath no sealed letter inclosed,
+and that to be esteemed a double letter which hath inclosures and is
+under the weight of an ounce." It will be interesting to note how far
+the Post Office adhered to its own definition.
+
+On the accession of George the First, when almost every place of honour
+and profit under the Crown changed hands, the Post Office did not
+escape; and Frankland and Evelyn were succeeded by Cornwallis and
+Craggs. The natural tendency of the provision which had made members of
+the House of Commons ineligible for the office of postmasters-general
+was to throw the office into the hands of peers; and although this
+tendency did not fully develop itself until later in the century, the
+appointment of Lord Cornwallis was a first move in that direction. Peers
+have in our own time been among the ablest of the many able
+administrators who have presided over the Post Office; but at the
+beginning of the eighteenth century the conditions attaching to the
+appointment were in some respects different from what they are to-day.
+The postmasters-general had to write their own letters; their attendance
+was both early and late and during fixed hours; and they were expected
+to reside at the Post Office. Whether from a disinclination to satisfy
+these conditions, or on the score of health, which he was constantly
+pleading, Cornwallis had not been long in Lombard Street before he
+retired into the country, and left the conduct of affairs pretty much to
+his colleague. Craggs--or Craggs senior as he was commonly called, to
+distinguish him from his son, the Secretary of State--was an
+industrious, plain-spoken man; and deeply as he afterwards became
+implicated in the South Sea Scheme, there is no reason to suppose that
+his proceedings as postmaster-general would not bear inspection.
+
+Cornwallis and Craggs had been only a short time at the Post Office
+before they became profoundly impressed with what they found there. The
+managers withholding the postmasters' salaries, the postmasters
+recouping and a good deal more than recouping themselves out of the
+postage, the post-boys--for so they had begun to be called--clandestinely
+carrying letters for what they could get, the inordinate number
+of franked letters--these were among the abuses which arrested
+the new postmaster-generals' attention; but what excited their
+most lively surprise was that there should exist a branch of the King's
+revenue upon the subordinate agents of which there was absolutely no
+check. At length, on a representation from them as to the scandal of
+allowing such a state of things to continue, consent was obtained to the
+appointment of surveyors; and the dismissal of the managers speedily
+followed.
+
+These remedial measures, though good as far as they went, affected only
+the internal administration of the Post Office. Of its troubles from
+without, and how they had been increased by recent legislation,
+Cornwallis and Craggs were no less sensible than their predecessors; but
+here they had no remedy to apply. "The additional penny," they wrote in
+March 1716, within eighteen months of their appointment, "has never
+answered in proportion, and we find by every day's experience that it
+occasions the people to endeavour to find out other conveyances for
+their letters." "The additional tax," they wrote again two years later,
+"has never answered in proportion to the produce of the revenue at the
+time it took place, the people having found private conveyances for
+their letters, which they are daily endeavouring to increase,
+notwithstanding all the endeavours that can be used to prevent them."
+
+As with the clandestine traffic, so with the abuse of the franking
+privilege. In isolated cases, where the abuse was more than usually
+glaring, the postmasters-general would write to the erring member a
+letter of mild expostulation, affecting to believe him more sinned
+against than sinning;[42] but even if this had any effect in the
+particular instance, to stem the torrent was beyond their power. In
+Great Britain alone the postage represented by the franked letters,
+excluding those which were or which purported to be on His Majesty's
+service, amounted in 1716 to what was for that time, relatively to the
+total Post Office revenue, the enormous sum of L17,500 a year. In
+Ireland the members followed the example of their English colleagues, if
+indeed they did not improve upon it. In 1718 the Irish Parliament sat
+for three months, and in 1719 it sat for nine months; and it was only
+during the session, and for forty days before and after, that letters
+could be franked. Cornwallis and Craggs had now been some years at the
+Post Office; and yet, with all their experience of the extent to which
+the abuse of franking was carried, they were startled to see the effect
+which the duration of Parliament had upon the receipts. In 1718 the
+gross revenue of the Irish Post Office--and in the gross revenue was
+reckoned the postage on members' letters, the postage which these
+letters would have paid if they had not been franked--amounted to
+L14,592, and the net revenue to L3066. In 1719, although the gross
+revenue rose to L19,522, an amount higher by L4930 than in the preceding
+year, the net revenue fell from L3066 to L753. Such was the effect upon
+the revenue of a difference of six months in the duration of the two
+Parliaments.
+
+  [42] Here are two letters they wrote:--
+
+                               To Mr. CULVERT.
+
+                                                      _Nov. 1, 1714._
+
+  SIR--As the three inclosed letters are directed to you in several places
+  we have reason to think that some persons have presumed to take the
+  liberty of your name. This practice is so great an abuse upon this
+  office, and so very prejudicial to His Majesty's revenue, that we must
+  desire you'll be pleased to send such letters inclosed that don't belong
+  to you to the office to be charged; and we are very well assured you'll
+  discourage the like practice for the future.
+
+  --We are, sir, your most humble servants,
+
+                                                         T. FRANKLAND
+                                                         J. EVELYN.
+
+                         To Sir RICHARD GROSVENOR, Bart.
+
+                                                    _April 29, 1715._
+
+  SIR--Having observed a letter directed to the Rev. Mr. Harwood at
+  Billingsgate that arrived here yesterday in an Irish mail frank't with
+  your name in Ireland, and knowing that you are in England, we have
+  reason to think that somebody in that kingdom has taken the liberty of
+  signing your name to the prejudice of His Majesty's revenue, which is a
+  practice that we are convinced you will discourage, and it is in order
+  thereunto that you have this trouble from your most humble servants,
+
+                                                          CORNWALLIS.
+                                                          JAMES CRAGGS.
+
+To add to the postmaster-generals' troubles, the merchants of London,
+groaning under the onerous rates of postage, had recourse to an
+expedient in order to evade them. They associated themselves together,
+and all those who had occasion to write to a particular place, though to
+different persons, would write on the same piece of paper and under the
+same cover. The postmasters-general contended that these several
+writings should be charged as separate letters; the merchants contended
+that there was but one letter, and that it should pass for a single rate
+of postage.
+
+Their next step was to dispute the postmaster-generals' reading of the
+statute. Under the law as passed in 1660, and re-enacted in 1711,
+merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, and all bills of
+exchange, invoices, and bills of lading, were "to be allowed without
+rate in the price of letters"; in other words, the weight of these
+documents was not to be reckoned in the weight of a letter for the
+purpose of charging it with postage. This exemption, however, had
+hitherto been allowed only in the case of foreign letters; and the
+postmasters-general held that such was the intention of the statute. The
+merchants retorted that no such intention was expressed, and that to act
+as though it had been brought about this anomaly--that on a letter
+containing any one of the documents in question the charge from
+Constantinople was actually less than from Bristol. Was it possible that
+the Legislature could ever have enacted such an absurdity? It was an old
+contention, as old as the Post Office itself,[43] and the merchants took
+the present opportunity to revive it. On both questions Northey, the
+Attorney-General, advised that the Post Office should adhere to its
+ancient practice as the best expositor of the meaning of the new law;
+but excellent as this advice may have been, its adoption failed to
+satisfy the merchants and it was not until a declaratory Act had been
+passed that they ceased to contest the points.
+
+  [43] A strongly-worded petition on the subject was presented to
+  Parliament only a year or two after the Restoration. This petition,
+  after calling the charge an "abuse and extortion," goes on to say that
+  "it cannot be imagined the Parliament should either so far forget
+  themselves, or the countrey for which they served, or the necessary and
+  convenient correspondence, as well as the trade of His Majesties
+  dominions, as to put them upon worse and harder tearms than foreigners,
+  or foreign trade, to the prejudice of the kingdom...."
+
+Much the same sort of thing occurred a few years later in connection
+with the penny post. From the first establishment of this undertaking
+1d. had carried only within the bills of mortality; for delivery beyond
+those limits had been charged 1d. more. Some persons now refused to pay
+the additional penny, on the ground that it was not prescribed by law.
+This was perfectly true. The penny post owed its legal sanction to the
+Act of 1711; and this Act merely provided that "for the post of all and
+every the letters and packets passing or repassing by the carriage
+called the penny post, established and settled within the cities of
+London and Westminster and borough of Southwark and parts adjacent, and
+to be received and delivered within ten English miles distant from the
+General Letter Office in London [shall be demanded and received the sum
+of] 1d." Again an Act of Parliament had to be passed in order to
+assimilate law and practice. This Act, which was not obtained until
+1730, made legal the twopenny post, just as the penny post was made
+legal by the Act of 1711; although, as a matter of fact, both posts had
+been in existence since April 1680.
+
+In 1721 Lowndes, who was still at the Treasury, called for a return of
+the Post Office income and expenditure. Ten years had now elapsed since
+the imposition of the new rates. Of these ten years eight, as compared
+with the eight which preceded them, had been years of prosperity and
+peace; the population had increased, and the reductions in the packet
+service had effected a saving of many thousand pounds a year. Certainly
+the circumstances had not on the whole been unfavourable for testing the
+results of the new policy. The return was rendered. During the year
+ending the 29th of September the gross Post Office revenue was, in 1721,
+L168,968, and in 1710, L111,461, being an increase of L57,507; in 1721
+the cost of management was L69,184, as against L44,639 in 1710; and the
+net revenue, which in 1710 had been L66,822, was in 1721 L99,784, an
+increase of L32,962. But the case does not end here. Under the terms of
+the Act the sum of L700 a week, or L36,400 a year, was to be allocated
+to a specific object. This sum had been regularly paid into the
+Exchequer, and, after deducting it from the net revenue, there remained
+for the use of the Sovereign a balance of L63,384, or less than in 1710
+by L3438.
+
+While the contingency of a loss to the Civil List had not been either
+foreseen or provided against, elaborate precautions had been taken for
+the disposal of a surplus. If the gross Post Office revenue should
+exceed the sum of L147,861, the excess was to be divided between the
+Sovereign and the public in the proportion of one-third to the public
+and two-thirds to the Sovereign. As a matter of fact, the gross Post
+Office revenue in 1721 had exceeded, and exceeded by a considerable
+amount, the sum of L147,861; and yet there was no excess to divide. The
+plain truth is that, in preparing the Act of 1711, Lowndes had forgotten
+the cost of management. It must have sounded strange in the ears of an
+assistant Chancellor of the Exchequer to be told, as Cornwallis and
+Craggs did not scruple to tell him, that he had confounded gross and net
+revenue, and that by this blunder Parliament had been misled.
+
+The Act of 1711, disastrous as it proved in its effects on the wellbeing
+and morality of the nation, is only one more instance of the mischief
+which may be done with the best intentions; and it was perhaps meet that
+its author should have remained long enough at his post to witness the
+results of his own handiwork.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+RALPH ALLEN
+
+1720-1764
+
+
+There was one who realised not less fully than the postmasters-general
+themselves the difficulties by which they were beset. He knew well, even
+better than they, how letters were being kept out of the post and
+transmitted clandestinely, and how even on letters which fell into the
+post the postage was being intercepted. But while the postmasters-general
+regarded the evil as incurable, he thought that it might at all
+events be mitigated. This was Ralph Allen, the postmaster of
+Bath. Allen's experience in postal matters was probably unrivalled.
+He had, it might almost be said, been cradled and nursed in the Post
+Office. The son of an innkeeper at St. Blaise, he had, at eleven years
+of age, been placed under the care of his grandmother, who, on the post
+road being diverted from South to Mid-Cornwall, was appointed
+postmistress of St. Columb. Here the regularity and neatness with which
+the lad kept the accounts gained for him the approval of the district
+surveyor when on a tour of inspection; and shortly afterwards, probably
+through the surveyor's influence, he obtained a situation in the Post
+Office at Bath. It is said that while in this situation, intelligence
+having reached him that a waggon-load of arms was on its way from the
+West for the use of the disaffected, he placed himself in communication
+with General Wade, who was then quartered at Bath with his troops, and
+that it was by this service that he first brought himself into notice;
+but be that as it may, it is certain that when Quash the old postmaster
+died, Allen was appointed in Quash's room.
+
+In 1719 Allen offered to take in farm the bye and cross-post letters,
+giving as rent half as much again as these letters had ever produced. It
+was a bold offer, and, coming as it did from a young man only twenty-six
+years of age, and presumably without capital, not one to be accepted
+precipitately. Allen proceeded to London and had frequent interviews
+with the postmasters-general. The earnestness of his convictions and the
+modest assurance with which he expressed them invited confidence, and on
+the 12th of April 1720 a contract was signed, the conditions of which
+were to come into operation on the Midsummer Day following.
+
+Much as we desire to avoid the employment of technical terms, it is
+necessary here to explain that letters, exclusive of those passing
+through the penny post, were technically divided into four
+classes--London letters, country letters, bye or way letters, and
+cross-post letters. For purposes of illustration we will take Bath, the
+city in which Allen resided. A letter between Bath and London would be a
+London letter, and a letter from one part of the country to another
+which in course of transit passed through London would be a country
+letter. A bye or way letter would be a letter passing between any two
+towns on the Bath road and stopping short of London--as, for instance,
+between Bath and Hungerford, between Hungerford and Newbury, between
+Newbury and Reading, and so on; while a cross-post letter would be a
+letter crossing from the Bath road to some other--as, for instance, a
+letter between Bath and Oxford. It was only with the last two classes of
+letters that Allen had to do. The London and country letters were
+outside the sphere of his operations.
+
+On the bye and cross-post letters the postage for the year 1719 had
+amounted to L4000. Allen was to give L6000 a year; and in consideration
+of this rent he was for a period of seven years to receive the whole of
+the revenue which these letters should produce. Some letters indeed
+were excepted, namely Scotch letters, Irish letters, packet letters,
+"all Parliament men's letters during the privilege of Parliament," and
+such letters as "usually goe free," that is, letters for the High
+Officers of State or, as we should now say, letters on His Majesty's
+service. No post under Allen's control, whether a new or an old one, was
+to go less than three times a week; and the mails were to be carried at
+a speed of not less than five miles an hour. He was also to keep in
+readiness "a sufficient number of good and able horses with convenient
+furniture," not only for the mails but for expresses and for the use of
+travellers. One condition of the contract may seem a little hard.
+Allen's own officers were to be appointed and their salaries to be fixed
+by the postmasters-general, and to these officers he was to give no
+instructions which had not first been submitted for the
+postmaster-generals' approval.
+
+Allen by his sterling qualities had won the confidence of his
+fellow-townsmen at Bath, and there can be little doubt that they now
+gave him practical proof of the estimation in which he was held. It is
+difficult to understand how else he can have raised the funds necessary
+for the purposes of his undertaking. In the very first quarter, between
+the 24th of June and the 29th of September 1720, he expended in what may
+be called his plant as much as L1500, and made himself responsible for
+salaries to the amount of L3000 a year. But heavy as the expenses were,
+the receipts bore a most gratifying proportion. From the bye and
+cross-post letters the postmasters-general had received, at the highest,
+L4000 a year. Allen in his first quarter received L2946. These
+first-fruits, while viewed by Allen with equanimity, threw the
+postmasters-general into transports of delight, such delight as men feel
+when they find themselves to have been true prophets. "See," they said
+in a letter to the Treasury dated the 10th of November, "how right we
+were. We told you that the greater part of the postage on these letters
+was going into the pockets of the postmasters, and that to accept Mr.
+Allen's proposal was the only way to check the malversation." But the
+promise of the first quarter was not fulfilled. The system of check and
+countercheck on which Allen relied for the success of his plan depended
+largely, as the postmasters were not slow to discover, on their own
+co-operation; and this they refused to give.
+
+Nor can we feel surprise that it should have been so. Of the postmasters
+some received no salary at all, while others received the merest
+pittance. It could not in reason be expected that they would give their
+services gratuitously or, as the postmasters-general were pleased to
+think, in return for the copy of a newspaper once a week. Postmasters,
+like other men, must live, and they no doubt reasoned that, as the State
+did not pay them, they were forced to pay themselves. It must also be
+remembered that the offence of intercepting postage, heinous as it would
+now be considered, may in those days have been regarded in a somewhat
+different light. Some postmasters, as remuneration for their services,
+were authorised to withhold a certain proportion of the postage; and
+numerous were the complaints that in this particular the liberty
+accorded to some was not extended to others. It is probable, therefore,
+that many a postmaster, when accounting for less postage than he had
+actually received, excused himself on the plea that he was only doing
+without authority that for which authority had been given to others, and
+which should not in his judgment have been denied to himself.
+
+But whatever apologies they may have found for their conduct, the fact
+remains that Allen's contract had been only a few months in operation
+before the postmasters resumed their old practices, and, seeing clearly
+enough that his plan when once fairly floated would deprive them of a
+profitable source of income, they not only withheld all co-operation but
+obstructed him by every means in their power. To such an extent indeed
+was this obstruction carried that at the end of three years Allen, far
+from realising the promise of the first quarter, found himself a loser
+to the amount of L270. Although things now began to improve, the
+improvement was slow, and in June 1727, when the contract expired,
+Allen had established his plan completely on only four out of the six
+main roads of the kingdom. On the Yarmouth road he had established it
+only partially, and on the Kent road not at all.
+
+Circumstances so far favoured Allen that the demise of the Crown, which
+must in any case have terminated his contract, took place within a
+fortnight of the date on which the contract would have expired in the
+ordinary course. The period of seven years for which it was made expired
+on the 24th of June 1727, and the King died on the 11th. A renewal of
+the contract could not in justice be refused. Not only had Allen been
+obstructed in the execution of his plan and put to heavy expenses which,
+except for such obstruction, would not have been necessary, but in
+fixing the amount of his rent a mistake had been made to his prejudice.
+He had agreed to pay half as much again as the bye and cross-road
+letters had ever produced, and it is true that the postage represented
+by these letters had amounted to L4000 a year; but it had been
+overlooked that the whole of this amount had not been collected, and
+that for the purpose of fixing the rent the sum of L300 should have been
+deducted on account of letters which could not be delivered, and on
+which, therefore, no postage had been received. Allen, while making no
+claim for the return of the amount overpaid, pleaded the fact of
+overpayment as an additional reason for enlarging his term. The
+postmasters-general were not less solicitous than Allen himself that his
+services should be continued. They had, during the last seven years,
+received on account of bye and cross-post letters L6000 a year, where
+before they had received only L4000, or, allowing for the sum not
+collected, L3700; and during the same period the country letters, far
+from falling off as had been predicted, had improved to the extent of
+L735 a year, a result which was attributed to the vigilance of Allen's
+surveyors. These reasons were regarded as conclusive, and, subject to
+the condition that he should appoint an additional surveyor and lose no
+time in completing his plan, Allen's contract was extended for a further
+period of seven years.
+
+While Allen is perfecting his arrangements, it may not be amiss to
+glance at the condition of affairs as he found them. Houses were still
+unnumbered. On letters even to persons of position the addresses could
+be indicated only by their proximity to some shop or place of public
+resort. "For the R^{t.} Hon^{able.} the Lady Compton next door to Mr.
+Massy's Wachmaker in Charles Street near S^{t.} James's Square, London."
+"To the Right Hon^{ble.} Lady Compton next door to the Dyall in Charles
+Street near S^{t.} James Squir--London." "Pray derickt for me att my
+Lady norrise near the Theater in Oxford."[44] To the Court and the Downs
+the post went every day; but to no town, however large, did it go more
+than thrice a week. Of cross-posts there were only two in the kingdom,
+the post from Exeter to Chester and the post from Bath to Oxford.
+Outside London, Chester was the only town in England which could boast
+of two Post Offices; and these two Post Offices were not for letters in
+the same direction. One was for general post letters, and the other for
+letters by the Exeter cross-road, an arrangement which presupposed a
+knowledge of topography not probably possessed even in the present day.
+The cathedral town of Ripon had no Post Office at all. Not many years
+before, the inhabitants had asked for one and the request had been
+regarded as little less than audacious. "We could not think it
+reasonable," wrote the postmasters-general, "to put Her Majesty to the
+expense of a salary to a Deputy att Ripon." The utmost concession that
+could be obtained was that the letters for that town should be made up
+into a packet by themselves and put into the mouth of the Boroughbridge
+bag, and, on arrival at Boroughbridge, be despatched to Ripon at once by
+a messenger on horseback. This messenger was to deliver them with all
+expedition, and to remain at Ripon for replies, leaving only in time to
+catch the return-mail from the North. Charges on letters over and above
+the legal postage were general. Not a single letter passed between
+Yarmouth and the Great North Road without a charge of 3d. as the
+postmaster's perquisite. At Gosport a perquisite of similar amount was
+claimed on every bye-letter. In the neighbourhood of Chesterfield the
+inhabitants paid for every letter they received in no case less than 2d.
+in addition to the postage, and in some cases as much as 4d.; and so it
+was, with variations as to the amount, in every part of the kingdom.
+Only the wealthy could afford to use the post, and even they, on account
+of the want of facilities, used it sparingly. How far the post was at
+this time removed from being a matter of common concern might, if other
+evidence were wanting, be inferred from one solitary fact. In 1728 a
+book was published,[45] one chapter of which professed to give a
+detailed account of the posts of the period, and assuredly the account
+it gave was detailed enough; but of the posts as we understand them,
+that is to say, as a vehicle for the transmission of letters, there was
+from the beginning to the end of the chapter not a single word. By the
+term posts nothing more was meant than the post for travellers, and, for
+anything that appeared to the contrary, the letter post might have had
+no existence.
+
+  [44] Historical Manuscripts Commission, Appendix to Eleventh Report,
+  Part iv. pp. 233, 234.
+
+  [45] _British Curiosities in Art and Nature, likewise an Account of the
+  Posts, Markets, and Fair-Towns_, 1728.
+
+And perhaps this may be a convenient place to say a few words about
+those who had presided over the Post Office during the first five or six
+years of Allen's connection with it. Edward Carteret and Galfridus
+Walpole, who had succeeded Cornwallis and Craggs in 1721, possessed in a
+high degree the qualities which endear men to their subordinates,--a
+sense of justice, consideration for others, and a rooted dislike to
+high-handed proceedings. In these respects they bore a striking contrast
+to their immediate predecessors. We will give instances.
+
+When Cornwallis and Craggs assumed the direction of the Post Office,
+their first step was to dismiss the secretary, Henry Weston. The
+circumstances were peculiarly hard. Weston's father had been
+receiver-general for the county of Surrey, and in this capacity he had
+contracted a heavy debt to the Crown. It was the son's ambition to pay
+off this debt and to provide a home for his mother and sisters. By force
+of industry and self-denial he had just succeeded in securing both
+objects when a change of postmasters-general resulted in his summary
+dismissal. Weston naturally appealed against so arbitrary an act.
+Cornwallis and Craggs, to whom his antecedents were well known, while
+commending the young man as an object worthy of the royal benevolence,
+resented as unreasonable and little short of impertinent his reluctance
+to give up a situation which they desired for a nominee of their own.
+
+Far different was the treatment accorded by Carteret and Walpole to
+those who were committed to their charge. Mary Lovell had for more than
+thirty years kept the receiving office in St. James's Street. On the
+11th of March 1725 the Earl of Abercorn entered this office, holding in
+his hand a letter addressed to his son at Cambray, and inquired what
+postage had to be paid upon it. The woman replied that there was only
+1d. to pay, this being the charge by the penny post, and that the
+remaining postage of 3s. would be payable on delivery. Abercorn
+questioned the accuracy of this information, and insisted on paying the
+entire sum at once. Lovell, feeling sure that a mistake had been
+committed, and anxious about the consequences, hurried to the Post
+Office, and having there ascertained that she should have received only
+1d., called at Abercorn's residence, and with a humble apology refunded
+the difference.
+
+Nothing more was heard of the matter until the following July, when a
+second very similar mistake appears to have revived the recollection of
+the first. Abercorn, who was then at Tunbridge Wells, took to the Post
+Office there a letter addressed to his son at Luneville and handed it to
+Comer, the postmaster, impressing upon him the importance of its prompt
+despatch, and desiring him to pay whatever postage might be required. It
+should be explained that at that time letters for Germany had to be
+prepaid, or else they were returned to the writers, whereas letters for
+France could not be paid except on delivery. Comer, jumping to the
+conclusion that Luneville was in France, paid no more than the inland
+postage of 6d., the consequence being that three or four days afterwards
+the letter, after being opened in London, was returned as insufficiently
+paid. Abercorn, naturally enough, was very angry, and, as is apt to be
+the case with angry persons, was not altogether reasonable. Luneville,
+without the addition of Lorraine or Germany, was an incomplete address.
+For this he would make no allowance; neither would he admit that it was
+necessary to open the letter in order to return it, and that the
+impression on the seal, a coronet and coat of arms, was not sufficient
+indication of the writer.
+
+All this was natural enough; but it was strange that he should have
+reverted to the earlier of the two mistakes, and directed his resentment
+less against Comer than against Mary Lovell. He now charged her with
+insolence and an attempt at imposition, and declared that nothing would
+satisfy him except her dismissal. In pursuance of this object Abercorn
+proceeded to the Post Office, where he was received by Carteret and
+Walpole. Walpole said little, and what little he said was said
+courteously. Carteret spoke in both their names. He expressed surprise
+that the return of the amount overcharged on the letter to Cambray,
+accompanied as it had been by Lovell's humble apology, had not been
+considered satisfactory, and inquired what further satisfaction could be
+expected. Abercorn replied that he expected her to be turned out of her
+office as a person unfit to retain it. Carteret expostulated. Such a
+step, he said, would not be in accordance with Post Office usage; she
+was a poor and unprotected woman, no previous complaint had been made
+against her during the thirty years she had held the office; he had seen
+her himself, and felt sure that her professions of regret that she had
+given offence to his lordship were sincere. Impatient of what he
+afterwards described as an irksome expostulation, Abercorn rose to
+leave. Carteret and Walpole rose also, and accompanied him to the door.
+"I owe it to the North British peers," said Abercorn, turning on the
+threshold, "to acquaint some of their representatives with the treatment
+that I, their peer, have met with." "And I," haughtily retorted
+Carteret, "should care not if all the sixteen North British representing
+peers were present at this moment."
+
+Allen's plan consisted in a system of vouchers and what he called
+post-bills, by means of which the postmasters might act as a check upon
+each other. The post-bill which accompanied the letters throughout their
+course was designed to distinguish the bye-letters from others, and to
+shew the total amount of postage to be collected; the voucher appears to
+have been nothing more than the acknowledgment which each postmaster
+gave of the amount to be collected by himself; and these two documents
+were sent periodically, once a month or once a quarter, to Allen's
+office in Bath, where they underwent a rigid scrutiny. Simple as this
+check was, it was only by ceaseless vigilance on Allen's part that he
+could get it carried out. To make in the post-bills entries which should
+have been made in the vouchers, to omit to send the vouchers to
+headquarters, to confound the bye-letters with the London and country
+letters--these were only some of the devices to which recourse was had
+in order to defeat the check.
+
+Allen was better qualified probably than any other man living for the
+task he had set himself to perform. Of a temper which nothing could
+ruffle, with ample means at his command, and accountable to no one but
+himself for their disposal, and possessed of an amount of local
+knowledge which even at the present day is perhaps unrivalled, he
+enjoyed a combination of advantages which might have been sought
+elsewhere in vain. His patience indeed was inexhaustible. No subterfuge,
+not even a transparent attempt at imposition, would call forth more than
+a passing rebuke. "'Tis faulty," he would write, "'tis blameable"; and
+then, perhaps, from the following words would peep out, in spite of
+himself, a gleam of merriment at the clumsiness of the contrivance.
+
+To a man of less easy temperament even the conditions under which he
+worked would have been intolerable. Under the terms of his contract
+Allen's surveyors were to be the officers of the postmasters-general,
+and to do as the postmasters-general bid them. This was no mere nominal
+condition. When Allen wanted something done, it may be in the extreme
+north or the extreme west of England, he might find that the surveyor
+whose business it would have been to do it had been summoned to London
+to wait upon the postmasters-general in Lombard Street. Hardly less
+provoking must have been the condition that the surveyors, though
+Allen's servants, were not to receive from him any instructions which
+the postmasters-general had not first approved. Ordinarily Allen was at
+Bath, and it was there that the instructions were prepared; yet they had
+to be sent to London for approval, and were seldom despatched thence to
+their destination until seven or eight days after the dates they bore.
+
+But to any one of less modest and retiring disposition the severest
+trial would have been the manner in which the postmasters-general took
+credit to themselves for improvements which were exclusively his own. It
+was always "our" surveyors who had been instructed to do this, that, and
+the other, without the slightest acknowledgment that the instruction had
+come from Allen, and that it was he who supplied the money to pay and
+the wit to direct them. Only when the cost of some new arrangement had
+to be stated to the Treasury did his name appear, and then it was put
+prominently forward. "Your Lordships," the postmasters-general would
+write, with a confidence which must have possessed all the pleasure of a
+new sensation, "will of course approve our proposals. It is true that
+the cost they involve is considerable, but the whole of this will fall
+upon Mr. Allen, the farmer." But so placid was Allen's temper that these
+petty annoyances, irritating as they might have been to some men, passed
+unheeded.
+
+As a qualification for the task he had undertaken, hardly less important
+than placidity of temper was the possession of ample means and his
+unaccountability to others for their disposal. With no one to please
+but himself, he enjoyed facilities in dealing with postmasters which the
+Post Office, under the most favourable circumstances, could never hope
+to possess. To one he would give what he called a complimentary salary;
+to another he would give, over and above his salary, a certain
+proportion of the postage; and a third would receive a substantial
+increase, not for what he had done or was doing, but for what he might
+do in the future. All, in short, who could control the actions of others
+Allen bound to himself by a community of interest.
+
+But it was the extent of his local knowledge that constituted Allen's
+chief qualification for the task he had set himself to perform. This
+knowledge, acquired probably during the struggle to introduce his plan,
+may appear almost marvellous. There was hardly a town in England, and
+certainly no town of importance, with the trade and manufactures of
+which, and even with the character and disposition of its postmaster, he
+was not acquainted. At the present day it is the district surveyor who
+in Post Office matters affecting the provinces takes the initiative. In
+Allen's time the initiative came from Bath. In a single letter he would
+treat of some thirty or forty towns, and not only prescribe the order in
+which they were to be taken and the roads by which they were to be
+reached, but give the minutest instructions as to what was to be said
+and done on arrival there. In respect to only one town, a town without a
+Post Office, does Allen appear to have been uninformed, and that was
+Stowmarket. "When in that neighbourhood," he wrote to one of his
+surveyors, as though half ashamed of his own ignorance, "go over to
+Stowmarket and ascertain and let me know the distance of that town from
+Ipswich and from Eye, and also the nature and extent of its trade."
+
+Lest we should be thought to exaggerate the difficulties with which
+Allen had to contend, Allen himself shall be our witness. The
+postmasters were strictly enjoined to stamp the bye and cross-post
+letters. This was their first duty, for without stamping no check was
+possible. "I need not tell you," Allen writes to one of his surveyors,
+"the mischief which has already attended the omission of this necessary
+part of their duty, nor the difficulty which I have hitherto met with to
+get this order observed; but when they find that their neglect will for
+the future hurt themselves, this evil will be stopped."
+
+Hardly less difficult did he find it to make the postmasters send in
+their vouchers with even decent regularity. We will give a few instances
+out of many. Of Bodmin and St. Columb he writes, "Both these deputies
+are exceeding backward in transmitting their vouchers. Order them
+strictly to send them hither for the future within a week after every
+quarter." Richmond, Yorkshire, "instead of sending me his vouchers at
+the end of every month sends them considerably over the quarter and then
+in so great disorder as to be of little use to me in fixing my cheque
+account." Gosport, again, "persistently neglects to send his vouchers,
+without which, as you know, it is not in my power to state an exact
+account nor to fix the cheques which are necessary to prevent abuses."
+Grantham is little better, and as for Wolverhampton, Allen writing in
+April says, "He has sent me no vouchers since last Michaelmas, and by
+this obstinacy destroys my cheque and puts my affairs into great
+disorder."
+
+The dead and missent letters were a source of continual trouble. How to
+dispose of dead letters and how to get back into their proper channel
+letters that had been missent were questions which not seldom perplexed
+even Allen himself. But it is not of this particular difficulty that we
+propose now to speak. Our present concern is with these two classes of
+letters only so far as they affected the relations between Allen and the
+postmasters. According to his instructions a postmaster who should find
+himself in possession of a dead or missent letter was to send it to Bath
+in order that allowance might be made for the postage with which,
+otherwise, he would stand charged. Hence arose various attempts at
+imposition, attempts to palm off, as though they were dead or missent,
+letters which were neither the one nor the other. But let Allen again
+speak for himself. "From Lancaster," he writes, "go through Kendal and
+Penrith to Carlisle, where I believe you will meet with a very great
+abuse. 'Tis thus: His dead letters for a good while since much exceed
+what can be rationally accounted for at that stage, and upon enquiry the
+greatest number of those letters appear to be sham letters all written
+by one hand and sent from different parts of the kingdom, which plainly
+shews it to be only a blameable contrivance by some people in that
+office to expect money from me for bits of paper never sent by the post
+but made by themselves. Some instances you will receive with these
+instructions. Be sure to suppress this dangerous abuse. Cause me a
+redress for the injury I have received and leave with Mr. Pattison a
+copy of my letter relating to stamps, which is the only method I can
+think of for an effectual cure of this evil."
+
+The method to which Allen here refers afterwards became a rule of the
+office. It was to the effect that no allowance would be made in respect
+to any dead or missent letters which should not bear on their covers the
+name of the office whence the postmaster by whom the allowance was
+claimed had received them. If at that office they had been stamped, that
+was enough; but if they had been forwarded unstamped--and the stamping
+was as often omitted as not--the postmaster who received the letters was
+to write the name upon them. Allen's first experience of the working of
+this rule was a little singular. Mrs. Wainwright, the old postmistress
+of Ferrybridge, had sent up for allowance a number of unstamped letters
+without shewing whence she had received them. Allen returned the
+letters, explaining that as such information had not been given no
+allowance could be made. If Mrs. Wainwright felt any impatience at what
+she no doubt regarded as new-fangled ways, no evidence of it was allowed
+to appear. She simply sent the letters back with the name of the office
+whence they had reached her neatly written upon each. To Allen's dismay,
+the letters had all been opened and the information obtained from the
+inside.
+
+The new rule, though good as far as it went, proved insufficient to
+check imposition; and Allen felt constrained to add an additional
+safeguard. For the future no postmaster was to have his claim allowed
+unless he should verify it on oath. This obligation brought its own
+troubles. By one the oath was omitted, by another it was objected to on
+conscientious grounds, a third would treat it as of small account, and
+all this meant additional work for Allen. "This officer," he writes of
+the postmaster of Salisbury, "constantly makes large deductions for
+missent letters" and on other grounds "without sending me the
+particulars of his demand or the office oath to the truth of his claim."
+The postmaster of Newark had conscientious scruples and objected to the
+oath in any form. "You have already," writes Allen, "been fully
+acquainted how tender I am in this respect; but if he still refuses to
+claim his demand for allowances by an oath framed in any shape, 'tis
+directly necessary to appoint an officer in that place who will obey
+their Honours' commands, for if his obstinacy should be suffered the
+rest of the kingdom who have readily complyed may raise new objections."
+No such scruples afflicted the postmaster of Stone in Staffordshire.
+Until lately "the errors made to my injury considerably exceeded those
+made to the hurt of that deputy"; but now "the articles to my hurt are
+dwindled to a trifle and the others much augmented, which causes Mr.
+Barbor to make constant and large claims on me for the difference. Only
+lately I received from him a statement of his demands on this head, with
+an oath at the bottom of it that the several articles to his prejudice
+were all true. But if it be the case, as I have always understood, that
+he never concerns himself with the bye-letters but leaves this business
+to his uncle, pray enquire of him how he came to send me such an oath."
+
+The postmasters had been allowed to receive their correspondence free of
+postage; but Allen soon found that the privilege was being abused. The
+covers addressed to them would contain letters not for themselves alone
+but also for their neighbours in trade. Indeed the neighbours' letters
+would predominate, and, ordinarily, the address was a mere subterfuge.
+To check this abuse Allen established a rule that when addressed to
+postmasters none but single letters--letters without enclosures, were to
+pass free, and that all others were to be charged with full postage. The
+postage, however, was to be afterwards remitted in the case of any
+postmaster who should make oath that the letters in respect to which he
+claimed remission were on his private business. Here again Allen's
+belief in the efficacy of an oath was rudely shaken. The number and
+magnitude of the claims made upon him from Lancaster had arrested his
+attention, and he had laid them aside to be examined at leisure.
+Meanwhile the explanation came in a curious manner. He received a
+circular from a man of the name of Bracken asking him to subscribe
+towards the publication of a book relating to the treatment of
+horses.[46] This circular, as announced in the document itself, was
+being issued to all the postmasters in the kingdom; and it was in his
+capacity of postmaster of Bath that Allen received it. It further
+announced that answers should be sent under cover to the postmistress of
+Lancaster, the reason given being that they would thus escape postage.
+
+  [46] The book was afterwards published--_The Gentleman's
+  Pocket-Farrier_, by Doctor Henry Bracken of Lancaster, 1735.
+
+Other malpractices were less easy of detection. All the claims, before
+they were passed, came under Allen's personal inspection; and to
+determine whether these were fraudulent or not needed no special
+aptitude. But whether at some distant part of the country two or more
+postmasters were in collusion, or whether without collusion they were
+bringing to account less postage than they collected, were questions the
+solution of which demanded qualifications of a different order. As the
+result of reflection or observation, or more probably of both combined,
+Allen laid down for his own guidance certain propositions as simple as
+they were no doubt sound. Of these one was that the correspondence
+passing between two given places, far from being liable to violent
+fluctuations, might be relied on to maintain a nearly uniform level. It
+is certain that in our own days, when locomotion is easy and the
+movements of large parts of the population are influenced by the weather
+and other considerations, the principle which this proposition embodies
+would not hold good; but in the earlier half of the eighteenth century
+Allen regarded it, and probably not without reason, as a safe guide.
+When, therefore, the correspondence passing between two places during a
+certain period had once been ascertained, he adopted this as a standard,
+and any variation of the amount immediately excited his suspicions. "At
+Christchurch and Ringwood," he writes, "fully inform yourself why the
+letters which formerly were sent between those places and Salisbury are
+now almost entirely sunk." At York, during the quarter ending Midsummer
+1734, the postage on bye-letters amounted to L165, as against L176
+during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. This he affirms
+must proceed, not from "deadness in trade," but from "some mismanagement
+in the office." Between Appleby and Brough the letters passing in
+December were fifteen, whereas in the two preceding months they had been
+only three. "Let me know at once," he writes, "the cause of the
+difference."
+
+Another proposition which Allen established as a rule of conduct was
+that between two trading towns in the same neighbourhood there must
+almost of necessity be correspondence. He noticed with surprise that
+between Stone and Coventry, according to the vouchers sent him, not a
+single letter had passed during a whole quarter. "I will not say it is
+impossible," he writes to the surveyor, "that no letters should during
+this time pass between such trading places, but during your stay at
+Stone I must in a particular manner desire you will examine whether you
+receive none."
+
+A third proposition was that there could not be what, if it be not a
+contradiction in terms, we will call a one-sided correspondence. He
+regarded it as an absolute certainty, amounting almost to an axiom, that
+whatever number of letters a town might receive, it would send the same
+or nearly the same number in reply. If, therefore, as between two towns,
+he found from his vouchers that one was sending to the other more
+letters than the other sent in return, he immediately concluded that
+something was wrong. It is interesting to note how his views on this
+point were confirmed by experience. During the year 1732 the postage on
+letters sent from Nottingham to Newark amounted to L25, whereas on those
+sent from Newark to Nottingham it amounted to only L13. Surely, writes
+Allen, the amounts should be nearly equal. Ascertain whether this comes
+"from faults, errors, or a real deadness in the correspondence," and to
+enable him to do this the surveyor was to take the Newark office under
+his care for a week or a fortnight. Here Allen speaks with confidence
+indeed, and yet as though some doubt might exist; but a few years later
+there is no doubt at all. "In the Chipping Norton vouchers," he writes,
+"another remarkable oddness is that the letters received by that deputy
+appear to be double the number sent from that office, which is not only
+different from any other well-managed office, but 'tis out of all rules
+of proportion with respect to correspondence." And again, "The receipt
+of Chipping Norton's letters are still double the number of what Mr.
+Mackerness in his vouchers enters as sent from his stage. I can't
+conceive how 'tis possible for this difference to arise where an office
+is justly managed. Fully examine into the cause of it."
+
+But there were other irregularities which, as being further removed from
+observation, were still more difficult to check. Between Worcester and
+Bewdley there had been great delay. "The account sent me," writes Allen,
+"is that, tho' both these deputys are paid for riding their whole
+stages, by a private arrangement between themselves they exchange the
+mails at an alehouse on the road, and neither of them will ride beyond
+that place, tho' one of them should happen to arrive there several hours
+before the other can reach it." The postmaster of Lynn, in Norfolk, who
+was paid by Allen to keep a check upon other postmasters in the
+neighbourhood, calls his attention to their remissness in delivering
+letters. Sometimes, he states, they keep letters several days. On this
+account letters that would otherwise go by post are sent by friend or
+carrier. "I am perfectly ashamed," he adds, and when I remonstrate and
+"set forth the complaints of our gentlemen," the postmasters plead that
+they are not paid for delivery, "and therefore think themselves not
+obliged to send out their letters even to persons inhabiting within
+their own towns."
+
+The post-boys were a constant source of trouble. "By the enclosed letter
+from Mr. Floyer of Worcester," Allen writes to his surveyor, "you will
+find that the post-boys on the cross-road convey letters between that
+city and Bristol by exchanging them from one hand to another without
+ever suffering them to be put into the mayl or baggs. Pray thank Mr.
+Floyer for his letter, diligently search the boys, and make whatever
+other inspection you find to be necessary. Mr. Lumley by the last post
+writ me that at Exeter he had made another new and great discovery of
+this kind, having found nineteen letters on the Oakhampton rider." "At
+Plymouth," he writes on another occasion, "formerly there was a
+particular house where the post-boys frequently met to exchange their
+letters, which they collected throughout the country from Exon to Truro.
+Inquire if this is still going on, and, if so, endeavour to detect
+them." On the cross-road between Bristol and Tiverton "several of the
+letters have been actually taken out of the baggs and delivered in some
+of the trading towns by the post-boys instead of the proper officers.
+This could not be if, according to instructions, these bags were always
+chained and sealed." At Wells, in Somersetshire, the postmaster has
+deprived the Bristol riding-boys of their perquisite of 1d. a letter
+"for dropping of letters" at the towns and villages through which they
+pass; and as to his own boys, he allows them no wages. This "must drive
+those unhappy boys to almost a necessity to rob the mails for their
+subsistence." "Then proceed to Rawcliff, in Yorkshire, where Mr.
+Carrack, the deputy of that place, will tell you that the riders of the
+branch between Doncaster and Hull embezzle great numbers of the
+bye-letters. Take his assistance to detect and then punish those
+fellows."
+
+Heretofore we have spoken only of the difficulties with which Allen had
+to contend in dealing with persons more or less under his own control.
+But he had troubles from without as well as within. "Everywhere," he
+writes, "endeavour to inform yourself of and suppress all illegal
+conveyance of letters." "At Birmingham," he writes again, "endeavour to
+detect the carriers who, I am told, in the most open manner convey
+letters from that place to all the trading towns in that country." "Use
+your utmost vigilance to suppress the illegal collection of letters
+which, I am informed, is now carried on by one Twopotts and other
+persons, to the injury of the revenue, between Derby and Nottingham."
+Between Cowes and Southampton the illegal conveyance of letters "is now
+such a custom that we have seldom any go in the bag." "At every stage
+which you pass through cause to be fixed to the most public places some
+of the printed advertizements against the carriers and wherrymen, and
+take every other reasonable methode to surprize all private, illegal,
+conveyances of letters, and always have a particular regard of the
+followers employed in the dispersing of news from the country presses."
+This last injunction is best explained by another given a year or two
+later. A printer at Northampton was employing a large number of persons
+ostensibly to disperse newspapers, but really, as Allen affirmed, to
+collect letters. These persons, he wrote, no longer confine their
+operations to short distances, but "by meeting at the extremity of their
+divisions the servants of other printers exchange their letters." "Pray,
+therefore," he adds, "wherever country presses are erected, do your best
+to suppress this evil."
+
+Allen when dealing with the posts displayed a degree of self-reliance
+which was hardly to be expected from one of his modest and retiring
+disposition. We will give an instance, and with the less hesitation
+because it will serve to shew his general way of transacting business.
+In 1736 the Duke of Devonshire, who had been spending the summer at
+Chatsworth, was much struck with the length of time which letters took
+to pass between Chesterfield and Manchester, and he begged the
+postmasters-general to apply a remedy. These two towns are about
+forty-six miles apart, and in 1736 there was no post between them. Not
+very long before, indeed, letters from one to the other would have had
+to pass through London, and even now they were taking a circuitous
+course by Ferribridge, Doncaster, and Rotherham. The Duke's application
+was referred to Allen; and Allen, without waiting to consult the local
+surveyor, proceeded at once to give his instructions. Between Manchester
+and Chesterfield there should certainly be a post; but this would not be
+enough. Derby must also share the benefit; and this could not be
+compassed without erecting a stage between that town and Nottingham,
+Nottingham being already in direct communication with Chesterfield.
+Lincolnshire must also be considered. True, there was a post from
+Nottingham to Newark; but between Newark and Lincoln, though only about
+seventeen miles apart, there was no communication except through
+Grantham, nor between Newark and Horncastle and Boston except through
+Stilton. The letters, moreover, on reaching the Great North Road had to
+await the arrival of the London mail. Not only did Allen determine that
+all this must be altered, but he sketched out the particular alterations
+that were to be made, and merely referred to the district surveyor with
+a view to ascertain what their effect upon the correspondence was likely
+to be.
+
+The particulars which this officer furnished were curious. At
+Chesterfield, he reported, not a letter was delivered except on payment
+of a fee of 2d. or 3d., and sometimes even of 4d., over and above the
+postage. On each letter sent to the post it was the custom to pay 1d.
+The entire district, including not Chesterfield alone, but Sheffield,
+Nottingham, and Mansfield, was doing a very considerable trade in
+Manchester wares; but the letters which passed between these towns and
+Manchester were chiefly sent with the goods by carrier. Of post letters
+there were few, the postage for a whole year amounting to only L23. The
+correspondence might possibly increase by as much as one-third or
+L7:13:4 a year, if a post were put on between Manchester and
+Chesterfield; but this was doubtful, and the annual cost, owing partly
+to the badness of the road, would be L80. Between Derby and Nottingham a
+new stage could not be erected for less than L26. Nor could the
+Lincolnshire posts be improved as desired for less than L102, making
+altogether an increased annual charge of L208; and there was no
+probability of this increase of cost being covered, or nearly covered,
+by increase of correspondence. Allen was not to be deterred by any such
+consideration. The whole of the alterations were carried into effect;
+the postmasters-general received from the Duke a warm expression of
+thanks for their admirable arrangements; and Allen, who had devised
+them, and at whose expense they were made, did not so much as appear in
+the transaction.
+
+In striking contrast with Allen's proceedings were those of the Post
+Office in the few instances in which it acted independently. Allen's
+energy, far from communicating itself to Lombard Street, appears to have
+extinguished what little energy had existed there before. Why should the
+postmasters-general exert themselves to do that which was done better
+and without expense to the Crown by another? And yet there were some,
+though rare, occasions on which independent action was called for. One
+such occasion presented itself in 1733, and it serves to shew how
+wanting the Post Office was in the local knowledge which Allen possessed
+in so remarkable a degree. Application had been made for a post to
+Aylsham in Norfolk. Among those who had lent their influence in support
+of the application was Lord Lovell, who had just been appointed
+postmaster-general in conjunction with Carteret, but who had not yet
+entered upon his duties; and Carteret, to oblige his new colleague, sent
+an officer specially from London with a view to facilitate arrangements.
+This officer, John Day by name, was furnished with written
+instructions. He was to proceed to Norwich, and there ascertain certain
+facts, any one of which could have been supplied by Allen at Bath
+without rising from his chair in Lilliput Alley. These were--how far
+Aylsham was from Norwich; whether the road between the two towns was a
+good or a bad one; whether under existing arrangements Aylsham ever
+received any letters, and, if so, how and whence; and particularly--an
+instruction which could hardly have been given except under the belief
+that Aylsham was south and not north of Norwich--whether the setting up
+of a post between the two towns would be a "hindrance to the grand mail
+betwixt Norwich and London." Day, having described the position of
+Aylsham, appears to have considered it unnecessary to give this last
+piece of information; but he told as news, which perhaps it was, that
+the London mail left Norwich on Mondays and Wednesdays at midnight, and
+on Saturdays at four in the afternoon.
+
+Even where local knowledge was not wanting, the lack of funds which they
+could dispense at discretion placed the postmasters-general as compared
+with Allen at a serious disadvantage. We have seen how Allen dealt with
+the application from Chatsworth. Not many years later it devolved upon
+the postmasters-general to deal with a somewhat similar one from
+Kimbolton; and it is interesting to note the difference of procedure.
+From Kimbolton and St. Neots the course of post had been through
+Biggleswade and Hitchin, and in 1758 the inhabitants of the counties of
+Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire petitioned that it should be through
+Caxton. The effect of the alteration would be that letters for the two
+first-mentioned towns coming from the north or from Norfolk and Suffolk
+would, regularly three times a week, be brought to the towns themselves,
+and not, as had hitherto been the case, be left at Huntingdon, to be
+forwarded thence as opportunity offered by carriers and market people.
+St. Neots had a further interest in the matter. A considerable
+corn-market was held there on Thursdays; and the dealers complained
+that, leaving as the post did at twelve mid-day, they had no time to
+write their letters, whereas, by way of Caxton, it need not leave until
+five in the afternoon. On the score of convenience the change had
+everything to recommend it; but there was one drawback. To carry it into
+effect would involve a cost of L25; and this, the postmasters-general
+expressed their apprehension, the Treasury would not feel justified in
+incurring, as the increase of expense might be only partially covered by
+the increase of correspondence. Whether the Treasury consent was given
+or withheld we know not; but the mere fact that such an apprehension
+should have been expressed, and that the convenience of towns and
+extensive districts should have been made to depend upon the paltry
+consideration of a few pounds, goes far to shew that the Post Office,
+without the aid of private enterprise, would have made but little
+progress.
+
+Allen's contract expired every seven years. In order to obtain a renewal
+of it he did not, according to a practice not uncommon with reformers,
+stoop to the pretence that he was on the point of introducing some
+important measure, which would be lost to the country unless his
+services were retained. On the contrary, he treated it as a pure
+business matter, and each time offered higher terms. Thus, in 1741,
+which was the first year of a new septennial period, he guaranteed the
+country letters to produce L17,500; in 1748 he guaranteed them to
+produce L18,000; and in 1755, L18,500. This being the class of letters of
+which it had been and continued to be predicted that with the extension
+of cross-posts the number must diminish, the postmasters-general
+regarded the advance as not unhandsome.
+
+But, in consideration of his contract being renewed, there was another
+and far more important condition, which Allen undertook to perform. This
+was to convert tri-weekly posts into posts six days a week, and to take
+the whole expense upon himself. Accordingly, in 1741, the post began to
+run every day of the week except Sunday between London and Bristol,
+between London and Norwich, and between London and Yarmouth; and of
+course all the intervening towns participated in the benefit. In 1748 a
+further instalment followed. This time it was the Midlands and the west
+of England that were to be benefited; and on and after Monday the 26th
+of December the post went on the three days on which it had not gone
+hitherto to Birmingham, through Oxford, and to Exeter through Bristol.
+In 1755, the beginning of another septennial period, the six-day service
+was widely extended. Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham, Shrewsbury and
+Chester, Warrington, Liverpool, and Manchester were among the towns
+which were now to receive letters from London on every day of the week
+except Sunday. From Liverpool and Manchester the cross-post service to
+almost every part of the kingdom was at the same time improved. At the
+close of the nineteenth century, postridden as some of us think
+ourselves to be, we may find it sometimes difficult to believe that less
+than 150 years ago there was not a town in the kingdom which received a
+post from London on more than alternate days.
+
+And yet Allen's activity, untiring as it was, went only a short way to
+regain for the Post Office the popularity it had lost. Various causes
+had contributed to this result. The chief of them, however, as it was
+the earliest in point of time, was of itself enough and more than enough
+to account for the distrust and hostility with which the Post Office
+appears to have been regarded towards the middle of the last century. As
+early as 1735 members of Parliament had begun to complain that their
+letters bore evident signs of having been opened at the Post Office,
+alleging that such opening had been frequent and was become matter of
+common notoriety; but it was not until six years later, in the course of
+inquiries which were being made into the conduct of Sir Robert Walpole
+during the last ten years of his administration, that the state of the
+case became fully known. It then transpired that in the Post Office
+there was a private office, an office independent of the
+postmasters-general and under the immediate direction of the Secretary
+of State, which was expressly maintained for the purpose of opening and
+inspecting letters. It was pretended, indeed, that these operations were
+confined to foreign letters, but, as a matter of fact, there was no
+such restriction. The office appears to have been established in 1718,
+and its cost, which was defrayed out of the secret service money, had
+since increased more than tenfold, and now reached the prodigious sum of
+L4700 a year. The establishment, exclusive of a door-keeper, consisted
+of nine persons, with salaries ranging from L200 to L1000; the head of
+the office or "Chief Decypherer," as he was called, being Dr. Willes,
+Dean of Lincoln. It was in June 1742 that these shameful facts became
+known, through the report of a committee of the House of Commons; and,
+in the August following, Willes was gazetted Bishop of St. Davids.
+
+To ourselves it may seem strange that the State monopoly of letters
+should have survived so terrible a revelation. It must be remembered,
+however, that in the middle of the last century the Post Office, owing
+mainly to the heavy charges it levied, had hardly become matter of
+general concern; that public opinion, as we now understand it, was only
+beginning to exist; and, above all, that the very conditions under which
+Post Office work was done precluded the idea of privacy. These
+conditions were absolutely inconsistent with the sanctity which now
+surrounds a letter. Letters were divided into two classes,--single and
+double; and to determine whether a letter was the one or the other
+demanded a close scrutiny, a scrutiny such as could not be exercised
+except by the strongest light that candles could give. In 1719 it had
+been laid down that a letter, however small, was to be charged as a
+double one if two or more persons joined in writing it. How could it be
+ascertained that the whole of a letter was in one and the same
+handwriting except by prying? Even the law itself, by the meagre
+protection it vouchsafed to letters, discouraged the idea of sanctity.
+For an offence of the pettiest kind, as for instance for stealing a
+pocket-handkerchief in a dwelling-house, the penalty was death. For
+opening or embezzling a letter the highest penalty which the law allowed
+was a fine of L20. It is significant of the change which has since taken
+place in the public sentiment that while in the case of almost every
+other description of offence the penalty has been enormously reduced, in
+the case of opening and embezzling letters it has been enormously
+increased.
+
+Horace Walpole, writing more than twenty-five years later, never tired
+of mentioning the elaborate precautions he had taken to secure his
+correspondence against inspection. "I shall send this letter by the
+coach," he says, "as it is rather free-spoken and Sandwich[47] may be
+prying." "I always say less than I could, because I consider how many
+post-house ordeals a letter must pass"; and similar observations occur
+in a hundred different places. All this was sheer nonsense. It tickled
+the exquisite vanity of the man to affect to believe that his
+correspondence was of sufficient importance to attract the attention of
+the State. And yet truth compels us to admit that the infamous practice
+which the committee exposed did not cease with the exposure. The
+Treasury, while grudging every 6d. expended on the posts, continued
+regularly to remit more than L4000 a year for the maintenance of their
+inquisitors in Lombard Street; and it was not until George the Third had
+sat some years on the throne, probably under the Rockingham
+administration, that the corps was finally disbanded.
+
+  [47] Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general in 1768.
+
+Apart from the grave cause of offence we have mentioned, it is a curious
+fact that during the last eighteen or twenty years of George the
+Second's reign hardly anything occurred in which the Post Office was
+concerned that did not in one way or another cause dissatisfaction to
+some section of the community. The Post Office, no doubt, was often to
+blame, sometimes deeply so; but even where this was not the case, where
+no blame attached either to itself or to any other office or person, it
+in no single instance, so far as we are aware, escaped a certain amount
+of obloquy.
+
+This unfortunate result first shews itself in the case of the Falmouth
+and Lisbon packets. During the war with Spain it had only been
+necessary, as a defence against some Spanish privateers which infested
+the Channel, to provide the Dover and Harwich packets with arms and to
+make a small addition to their complement of men; but in 1744, when
+Spain was joined by France, a good deal more had to be done. The Dover
+and Calais packets, after the six months' grace allowed by the treaty of
+Utrecht, were taken off; the packets to the West Indies which had been
+discontinued since 1711 were revived; and the Falmouth and Lisbon
+packets were put on the same footing as during the last war. This the
+merchants trading with Portugal, an important body representing
+forty-eight firms, protested was not enough. The packets, they argued,
+afforded the only available means for remitting gold to Lisbon in
+exchange for commodities, and should, therefore, be of at least 300 tons
+and carry 100 men. It was true that this would be in excess by about
+seventy tons and forty men of what was provided during the last war; but
+the fact that during the last war some of the packets fell into the
+hands of privateers was of itself a proof that they were not of force
+and burthen sufficient. Besides, we had then an army in Spain, and the
+number of soldiers and passengers passing to and fro made fewer sailors
+necessary. Moved by these arguments, the Duke of Newcastle decided to
+comply with the merchants' request; but Pelham, on learning that the
+building and equipment alone would cost L34,800, revoked the Duke's
+decision. His Majesty's opinion he declared to be that the main object
+of a packet was to carry letters, and that for the carriage of letters
+light and swift vessels were the fittest. This, it will be remembered,
+was the opinion which had been expressed by William the Third more than
+fifty years before, and events had proved its soundness. Nevertheless,
+the merchants were highly displeased; and, of course, at that time they
+were no more able than they are now to distinguish between a refusal
+which originated with the Post Office and one that was imposed upon it
+by superior authority.
+
+But the merchants--and here we speak not of those alone who traded with
+Portugal--had other and more serious cause of complaint. Their foreign
+letters were not delivered until twelve o'clock in the day, and, if a
+mail arrived by as much as a few minutes after twelve, it was not at the
+earliest delivered until the same hour on the following day. And if on
+this day a second mail chanced to arrive shortly before noon, the
+letters by the first mail were kept back so as to be delivered with
+those of the second in the evening. Thus, foreign letters received at
+the Post Office in Lombard Street a few minutes after mid-day on
+Saturday might not be delivered even in Lombard Street itself until the
+evening of Monday. To make matters worse, the foreign ministers residing
+in London had their letters delivered soon after the mail arrived, so
+that any persons whom these ministers might please to favour enjoyed an
+undue advantage.
+
+The merchants now urged that this might be altered. Did not Sir Harry
+Furness, they asked, during the last war obtain permission to have his
+letters delivered immediately after the arrival of a mail? And was not
+this permission afterwards revoked on the ground that it had led to
+abuse? Matters were better managed abroad. At Amsterdam, for instance,
+if a mail arrived as late as nine o'clock in the evening, the letters
+were delivered to those who might call for them at any time before
+midnight, or else sent out for delivery early the next morning. At
+Rotterdam--this also was urged as an instance of better management--the
+English letters were never delivered till twelve hours after the mail
+had arrived, about which time those which had come by the same mail
+would be in course of delivery at Amsterdam. Equality of treatment was
+thus secured, and neither city had priority of intelligence. At Hamburg,
+again, as soon as a mail arrived--if in the day, a notice to that effect
+was fixed up at the Post Office and at the Exchange, the letters being
+delivered about three hours later; and if at night, the clerks were
+called out of bed, so that the letters might be sorted and ready for
+delivery the first thing in the morning. Sundays, moreover, were not
+excepted. As regards foreign gazettes, too, these all over Europe were
+delivered within a quarter of an hour after their arrival; yet in
+London the merchants had to wait for them many hours. And this was all
+the more hard to bear because the clerks in the Post Office, to whom
+gazettes were addressed, received them at once and communicated the
+contents to their friends. What could be more calculated to promote
+fraudulent insurance, one-sided bargains, and a system of overreaching
+generally? Such was the representation made by the merchants; and they
+concluded by asking that henceforth, except on Sundays, no longer
+interval should be allowed to elapse between the arrival and delivery of
+a foreign mail than was absolutely necessary for the purpose of sorting.
+The postmasters-general had no choice but to refuse the request. To have
+granted it would have defeated the object with which the Treasury were
+maintaining an office of their own within the Post Office building.
+
+About this time, three or four years short of the middle of the century,
+the Post Office got into disgrace with travellers. Under the provisions
+of the numerous Turnpike Acts which had recently passed, the trustees of
+the roads were to measure distances and to erect milestones; and on
+these provisions being carried into effect the statute mile proved to be
+shorter, much shorter, than the reputed or Post Office mile.[48] So
+great indeed was the difference that the Post Office may be said to have
+been almost ridiculously out of its reckoning. Thus, from London to
+Berwick-upon-Tweed the distance, according to Post Office computation,
+was 262 miles; according to measurement, it proved to be 339 miles. To
+Holyhead the actual distance proved to be 269 miles; the Post Office had
+computed it at 208 miles. To Manchester the distance, according to the
+Post Office, was 137 miles; the actual distance was 165. Bristol, which
+proved to be 115 miles from London, had been reckoned as 94; Birmingham
+as 89 instead of 116; Warwick as 67 instead of 84; and so it had been
+throughout the kingdom. In every case the Post Office mile proved to be
+an unduly long one; and of course, as soon as milestones were erected
+authoritatively recording the statute miles, the postmasters charged
+accordingly. This change excited many murmurs. The traveller to Warwick
+who, at the rate of 3d. a mile, exclusive of a guide, had hitherto paid
+for the use of a horse 16s. 9d., had now to pay 21s. To Birmingham he
+had now to pay 29s. instead of 22s. 3d.; to Bristol, 28s. 9d. instead of
+23s. 6d.; and so on.
+
+  [48] This, although unknown probably to the postmasters until now, was
+  no new discovery. As far back as 1674 John Ogilby had called attention
+  to the erroneous reckonings in vogue. Ogilby had been commissioned by
+  Charles the Second to survey and measure the principal roads of England,
+  and having performed his task he published the result of his labours in
+  a large folio volume. In the preface to an abridgment of this work,
+  published in 1711, he thus wrote: "The distances are all along reckoned
+  in measur'd miles and furlongs, beginning from the Standard in Cornhil,
+  so that the reader must not be surprized when he finds the number of
+  miles set down here exceed the common computation. For example, from
+  London to York are computed but 150 miles, whereas by measure the
+  distance is 192 miles. And computation being very uncertain, it must be
+  granted that no exactness could be observed but [by] adhering constantly
+  to the standard-mile of 1760 yards, which contains eight furlongs."
+
+The King's messengers fought hardest against the innovation, but without
+success. Finding the expense of their journeys to Berwick and Holyhead
+appreciably increased, they appealed to the Treasury for redress, and
+the Treasury invited the postmasters-general to explain under what
+authority they had raised their charges. The postmasters-general
+replied, as they had replied scores of times before on occasions of
+complaint from the public, that they had really nothing to do with the
+matter; that it was the postmasters who made the charges; and that in
+the opinion of the Attorney-General these officers were clearly entitled
+to be paid according to the new measurements. It had been expressly
+provided by Act of Parliament that all persons riding post should pay
+after the rate of 3d. for every British mile, and the British mile was a
+known statute measure common to all His Majesty's dominions. The
+Treasury were not satisfied, and insisted that the King's messengers
+should be charged according to the old scale. But this, as the
+postmasters-general pointed out, was not feasible, the Act of Parliament
+by which they were governed making no exception in favour of particular
+persons, but on the contrary enacting that all persons without
+distinction should pay at the rate of 3d. a mile.
+
+At the headquarters in Lombard Street it was long feared that, on
+finding that the reputed mile exceeded the statute mile, those
+postmasters whose remuneration had been fixed according to the distance
+over which they carried the mails would claim an increased mileage
+allowance; but this, to their credit be it said, they never did. Such
+forbearance, however, had one ill effect. It tended to perpetuate error.
+For many years afterwards two sets of distances remained in vogue, the
+one right and the other wrong; the new set applicable to travellers, and
+the old set to mails and to expresses sent on the service of the
+State.[49]
+
+  [49] This explains why in the Road Books of the time the distance
+  between two places is stated differently in two parallel columns under
+  the initials C and M, the one being the computed and the other the
+  measured distance.
+
+The feeling against the Post Office, which had long been gathering
+force, now displayed itself in a remarkable manner. It had been the
+constant and uniform practice ever since the Post Office was established
+to charge letters containing patterns or samples with double postage. To
+this the merchants now demurred. They did not deny that such letters if
+weighing as much as an ounce should be charged as for an ounce weight;
+but they contended that if weighing less than an ounce they should be
+charged as single and not double letters. This contention was founded on
+the wording of the Act of Anne, which, after prescribing the postage
+which "every single letter or piece of paper" not being of the weight of
+one ounce was to pay, enacted that "a double letter" should pay twice
+that amount. Was a letter to be charged double because it had in it any
+enclosure--a sample of grain, for instance, or a pattern of cloth or of
+silk? or to constitute a double letter must not the enclosure be of
+paper?
+
+This question the merchants now resolved to try; and accordingly at
+Bristol, at Manchester, and at Cirencester proceedings were commenced
+against the local postmasters for demanding and receiving more than the
+legal postage. It affords striking evidence of the widespread
+dissatisfaction then existing that in 1753 a practice as old as the Post
+Office itself should have been challenged for the first time, still more
+that it should have been challenged at three separate places, distant
+from one another, simultaneously. The action against the postmaster of
+Cirencester came on first. It was tried at the Gloucester Assizes before
+a special jury, when a special verdict was found upon the words of the
+statute, whether a letter containing a pattern or sample and not being
+of the weight of one ounce ought to pay double or single postage. The
+postmasters-general, anxious to avoid a multiplicity of suits, now
+opened communications with the merchants of Bristol and Manchester.
+Would it not be well that their suits should be abandoned? One special
+verdict would serve as well as a hundred such verdicts would do to
+settle the point of law between the Crown and the subject. Having
+succeeded in one county, what more could they expect in another? Or what
+advantage would follow that had not been already secured? These
+overtures came too late. The merchants were determined to fight to the
+bitter end. The suits came on both at Bristol and at Manchester; and at
+each of those places a special verdict was given in almost identical
+terms with that which had been returned at Gloucester.
+
+Meanwhile the attorneys both in London and the country had passed
+resolutions to the effect that, if the point of law were decided in the
+merchants' favour, they would refuse to pay double postage on letters
+containing writs. The postmasters-general became alarmed. Single instead
+of double postage on letters containing writs as well as patterns and
+samples meant, according to the most moderate computation, a reduction
+of the Post Office revenue by L10,000 or L12,000 a year. This was a
+serious reduction, and how to prevent it was the question to which the
+postmasters-general now addressed themselves. It is characteristic of
+the time that the first expedient they devised with this object was
+simply to refuse to carry any more letters containing patterns and
+samples unless the senders of them should agree beforehand to pay double
+postage. They argued that, in view of the importance to the merchant to
+have his letters carried, any unwillingness on his part to enter into
+such an agreement would be easily overcome. A notice to give effect to
+their intention was already prepared; but before issuing it they took
+the precaution to consult the Attorney-General. His advice to them was
+that, admirable as the expedient might be, it was distinctly illegal.
+Should they, then, bring one of the special verdicts on to be argued in
+Westminster Hall and abide by the judicial decision? To this the
+Attorney-General could raise no objection, but he warned them that the
+decision was pretty sure to be against the Crown. Driven thus into a
+corner, the postmasters-general adopted a most questionable course. They
+advocated the passing of an Act which should declare a letter containing
+any enclosure, even though not of paper and not weighing as much as an
+ounce, to be a double letter; and this advice was followed. In a bill
+then before Parliament, having for its object to prevent the fraudulent
+removal of tobacco, a clause was inserted which effectually prevented
+the merchants from sending their patterns or samples and the lawyers
+their writs for single postage.[50]
+
+  [50] 26 Geo. II. cap. xiii. sec. 7.
+
+It would be difficult to conceive a more irritating course. No doubt
+there was precedent for it. Early in the reign of George the First an
+Act had been passed enacting that bills of exchange written on the same
+piece of paper as a letter, and also letters written on the same piece
+of paper and addressed to different persons, should be charged as
+distinct letters: and, possibly enough, it might have been difficult to
+explain why a bill of exchange should pay double postage and not a
+pattern or a writ. It is also true that the fact of three several judges
+and three several juries in distant parts of the kingdom having been
+unable to agree as to the intent and meaning of a statute implied a
+real doubt. And yet it can hardly be denied that to solve that doubt by
+the brute force of an Act of Parliament, instead of bringing one of the
+special verdicts before the Courts to be argued, was a most provoking
+step. Nor would it have been calculated to appease the merchants if they
+had known, as the postmasters-general knew, that the entire rates of
+postage, as they then existed, rested on no legal sanction. The existing
+rates were imposed by the Act of Anne; and that Act imposed them for a
+period of thirty-two years, a period which had now expired, and after
+which it was expressly provided that the former and lower rates were to
+revive. It is true that early in the reign of George the First a further
+Act had passed, making perpetual the Post Office contribution of L700 a
+week to the Exchequer; but by a clumsiness of legislation, which is not
+unknown even in our own day, the latter Act, while making perpetual both
+the contribution and the power to levy it, had omitted to re-enact the
+rates out of which the contribution was to be paid. Virtually,
+therefore, these rates had lapsed through effluxion of time.
+
+And what during the last forty or fifty years had the Post Office
+done--done, that is, independently of Allen--to promote the public
+convenience or to make amends for so much that had given offence? It had
+done four things, and, so far as we are aware, four things only. It had
+introduced the contrivance, with which we are all familiar, of external
+apertures in Post Offices, so that letters could be posted from the
+outside. It had brought the system of expresses up to a standard which,
+compared with what it was at the beginning of the century, might perhaps
+be considered high. It had, indirectly, been the means of eliciting from
+the Courts of Law an important decision. And it had accelerated the
+course of post between London and Edinburgh. In 1758 the time which the
+mail took to accomplish the distance was, at the instance of the royal
+boroughs, reduced between London and Edinburgh from 87 hours to 82, and
+between Edinburgh and London from 131 hours to 85.
+
+The date at which apertures on the outside of Post Offices were first
+introduced is unknown to us even approximately. All we can do is to fix
+two distant dates at one of which the contrivance existed, and at the
+other it existed not. On the 3rd of November 1712 Oxford, the Lord
+Treasurer, received an anonymous letter, and, being anxious to discover
+the writer, he invoked the assistance of the postmasters-general with a
+view to ascertain where and by whom it had been posted. Any such inquiry
+at the present time would be absolutely futile. One hundred and eighty
+years ago the postmasters-general, after an interval of twenty-four
+hours, were able to reply not only that the letter had been posted "at
+the receiving office of Mrs. Sandys, a threadshop two doors within
+Blackfryars Gateway," but that it had been posted "by a youth of about
+seventeen years old, in a whitish suit of cloathes, who was without a
+hat." It is difficult to believe that apertures can have existed then,
+and that the letter was not posted inside the office. That in 1757 the
+contrivance had come into existence, though possibly in a rude form, is
+beyond question. In that year an unfortunate woman was put on her trial
+for stealing a letter, and the sender was called upon to prove the
+posting. "On Tuesday the 7th of December 1756," he said, "I put this
+letter into the Post Office at the house of Mrs. Jeffreys at Bloomsbury,
+at about nine o'clock at night.... There is a window and a slip to put
+it into a little box from out of the street. I was not in the house. It
+is a very narrow box, and I was afraid my letter was gone down to the
+ground.[51] I asked Mrs. Jeffreys if my letter was safe after I had
+dropped it into the slip. She said your letter is safe and gone into the
+box." If the value of a contrivance depended upon the amount of
+ingenuity displayed in devising it, these apertures would be hardly
+deserving of mention; but in view of the convenience they afford, this
+short notice of them may not perhaps be considered out of place.
+
+  [51] The box into which the letters fell was at this time an open one,
+  _i.e._ without a cover and movable. It was not until 1792 that the
+  letter-box was closed, fixed, and locked.
+
+The Rebellion of 1745, while disarranging the posts, brought into vogue
+the system of expresses; and this system once established was not long
+in extending itself. An express cost 3d. a mile, and, no doubt,
+travelled faster than at the beginning of the century. The roads had
+since been improved; and it may well be believed that the postmasters,
+as their custom increased, kept better horses. It was probably the speed
+of the express as compared with the tardiness of the post which induced
+the wealthy, about the middle of the last century, largely to employ
+this mode of conveyance for their letters. It had indeed one drawback, a
+drawback such as in our own time has attended the use of telegrams. It
+was apt to excite alarm. "Let me," writes the good-natured Charles
+Townshend to his sister-in-law, Lady Ferrers, under date September
+1759--"Let me now desire you to conclude whenever you receive an express
+that it brings you good news, for otherwise I shall be obliged to defer
+one day sending you any such account if it should not come to me on a
+post day, least the express should alarm you. I should not chuse to
+detain you one minute from the news I know your heart beats for, and yet
+I should not chuse to frighten you by the sudden manner of its arrival,
+for which reason I desire you will remember to receive whatsoever
+express I send with confidence and as a friend."
+
+But the purpose for which an express might be employed was jealously
+restricted. A man might employ an express to carry a letter; but woe
+betide him if he employed the same agency for the purpose of
+disseminating news. The licensed carriers at Cambridge had recently been
+prosecuted and the postmasters on the Great West Road taken severely to
+task for doing this very thing. What are we to think of the intolerable
+state of bondage in which men were content to live when even the gentle
+Allen could give the following instruction? "At every stage," he writes
+to one of his surveyors, "you must forbid the deputies to send any
+express except to the General Post Office in London, unless it be for
+His Majesty's immediate service; and all other intelligence must be
+conveyed either by the common post or particular messenger."
+
+In the middle of the last century, and for about thirty years before and
+after, the mails were being continually stopped and robbed by
+highwaymen. The reward which the Post Office offered on these occasions
+for the apprehension of the robber was invariably L200, this being in
+addition to the reward of L40 prescribed by Act of Parliament; and if
+the robbery took place within five miles of London, there was a third
+reward of L100 by proclamation. Numerous and diverse as the
+robberies[52] were, there is only one of which we propose to speak; and
+in this case an exception may well be made on account of the important
+decision which it was the means of evoking from the Courts. A highwayman
+had stopped the Worcester mail at Shepherd's Bush and rifled it of its
+contents. Finding himself in possession of a large number of Bank of
+England notes he adopted a novel expedient for disposing of them. He
+hired a chaise and four and proceeded along the Great North Road as far
+as Caxton, passing the notes as he went; and in order to give himself a
+wider field of operations he took the precaution of going one way and
+returning another. To Caxton he went through Barnet, Hatfield,
+Stevenage, and Bugden, and he returned by way of Royston, Ware, and
+Enfield. Except at Barnet, which was probably thought to be dangerously
+near to London, there was hardly a postmaster along the whole line of
+road who had not one or more of the notes passed upon him. The question
+now arose who was to bear the loss,--the person by whom the notes had
+been sent by post or the postmasters who had changed them into cash. At
+the present time the law on the subject is so well ascertained that no
+doubt could exist as to the answer; but such was not then the case. In
+order to try the point, it was arranged that the notes should be
+stopped, and that the sender of them should bring an action against the
+Bank of England to recover their value. The trial came on before the
+King's Bench in 1758, and, after learned pleadings on both sides, the
+Lord Chief Justice pronounced the decision of the Court. This was that
+any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank note to bearer in
+a fair course of business is unquestionably entitled to recover the
+money from the Bank.
+
+  [52] Among these robberies there was, so far as we are aware, only one
+  which possessed any feature of interest; and in this case the interest
+  was of a psychological nature. Gardner, a postman, was stopped by three
+  highwaymen on Winchmore Hill, and, on his refusing to give up his
+  letters, they murdered him. Atrocities of this kind had been frequent,
+  and executions had failed to check them. But the resources of
+  civilisation were not exhausted. Lord Lovell--or the Earl of Leicester,
+  as he had now become--waited upon the King and procured His Majesty's
+  assent that, after execution, the highwaymen's bodies should be hung in
+  chains. To be hanged was one thing; after hanging, to have one's body
+  suspended in chains was another. This was an indignity to which no
+  respectable criminal should be called upon to submit. Such would seem to
+  be the idea conveyed in the following letter which Leicester received:--
+
+  To the Right Hon. the EARL OF LEICESTER, at HOLKHAM, NORFOLK.
+
+                                               THURSDAY, _Oct. 1753_.
+
+  MY LORD--I find that it was by your orders that Mr. Stockdale was hung
+  in chains. Now, if you don't order him to be taken down, I will set fire
+  to your house and blow your brains out the first opportunity.
+
+  Stockdale was clerk to a proctor in Doctors Commons.
+
+
+An important legal decision, with which the Post Office had only the
+remotest concern, an improved system of expresses following as a natural
+consequence from circumstances over which the Post Office had no
+control, a simple contrivance to facilitate the posting of letters, and
+an acceleration of the mail between London and Edinburgh--this as the
+record of forty or fifty years' progress is assuredly meagre enough; and
+yet we are not aware of any omission. The plain truth is that during
+these years, except in the matter of bye and cross-post letters, the
+Post Office had retrograded rather than advanced. The rates of postage
+were higher now than at the beginning of the century. More, probably,
+than one-half of the public Acts of Parliament which passed during the
+reigns of the first two Georges were Acts for repairing and widening the
+roads. The roads had kept steadily improving; and the posts had failed
+to keep pace with them. While travellers travelled faster than in the
+reign of Queen Anne, letters were still being conveyed at a speed not
+exceeding five miles an hour. The friendly relations which had existed
+between the postmasters-general and the merchants existed no longer.
+These had been replaced by feelings of estrangement and animosity. Under
+Cotton and Frankland and under Frankland and Evelyn the Post Office
+enjoyed a reputation for personal integrity; but even this claim to
+distinction had now disappeared. Barbutt, the secretary, had recently
+retired under a cloud. Bell, the comptroller of the inland office, had
+been arrested on a charge of fraud.[53] Denzil Onslow, the
+receiver-general, had been declared a defaulter to the amount of
+L10,000; and Stone, Onslow's successor, after two or three years' tenure
+of the appointment, had died in debt to the Crown. The Post Office, when
+George the Third ascended the throne, was thoroughly discredited, and,
+despite Allen's exertions, men were beginning to ask themselves, Why
+cumbereth it the ground?
+
+  [53] Elsewhere we have expressed a desire to avoid, as far as possible,
+  the use of technical terms, and the propriety of this course will
+  probably not be disputed when we state that the charge against Bell was
+  that having "crowned the advanced letters" he failed to account for the
+  proceeds. An "advanced" letter was one on which the postage had been
+  advanced, a letter which, having been undercharged in the country, was
+  surcharged in London. To "crown" a letter was to impress it with the
+  stamp of the Crown, denoting that the surcharge had been made.
+  Virtually, therefore, the charge against Bell was that he had embezzled
+  the surcharges.
+
+Allen died in 1764, leaving behind him a name which is still venerated,
+and justly venerated, in the city of Bath. For many years before his
+death he is reputed to have made out of his contract with the Post
+Office not less than L12,000 a year; and the greater part of this noble
+fortune he spent in acts of benevolence. As early as 1735 riches must
+have come pouring in upon him, for in that year he built for himself the
+stately house of Prior Park, not indeed for ostentation's sake, but in
+order to prove that the stone dug from his quarries on Combe Down was
+not the sorry stuff which interested persons in London had represented
+it to be. That house still stands; but, as was said at the time--and the
+statement holds good to this day--"his charity is seen further than his
+house, though it stands on a hill, aye, and brings him more honour too."
+In 1742 Allen served as Mayor of Bath; and in 1745, the year of the
+Rebellion, he raised a company of volunteers, which he clothed at his
+own cost. At Prior Park he dispensed a more than decent hospitality,
+numbering among his guests Pitt, Pope, and Fielding, Charles Yorke, and
+Warburton. Fielding has immortalised Allen's character but not his name
+in the person of Squire Allworthy; and Pope has immortalised both his
+name and his character in the lines--
+
+  Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame,
+  Do good by stealth and blush to find it fame.
+
+Among Post Office reformers Allen stands absolutely alone in one
+particular. His connection with the Post Office, long as it endured, was
+not abruptly terminated. This we attribute partly to a natural sweetness
+of disposition, which provoked no enemies, and still more to that which
+on the part of reformers is the rarest of virtues, an entire abnegation
+of self. So long as a thing which he thought desirable was done, he
+cared not that others received the credit.[54]
+
+  [54] Of Allen's personal appearance the only account, so far as we are
+  aware, is to be found in the correspondence of Samuel Derrick, Master of
+  the Ceremonies at Bath. Derrick writes, under date May 10, 1763: "I have
+  had an opportunity of visiting Mr. Allen in the train of the French
+  Ambassador. He is a very grave, well-looking old man, plain in his
+  dress, resembling that of a Quaker, and courteous in his behaviour. I
+  suppose he cannot be much under seventy."--Vol. ii. p. 94.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION
+
+1764-1782
+
+
+Brighter days were in store for the Post Office, but not yet. Meanwhile
+the clouds grew darker and darker. During the twenty years that followed
+Allen's death, partly as the result of ill-considered legislation and
+still more through the incompetence and helplessness of its rulers, the
+Post Office sank to a depth which, in England, probably no other public
+institution, or at all events none that still exists, has ever reached.
+
+In 1764 and 1765 two Acts of Parliament were passed, one having for its
+object to prevent the abuses of franking, and the other to improve the
+posts. It would be hardly too much to say that both of these Acts had an
+exactly opposite effect to that which was intended. The first, far from
+preventing the abuses of franking, largely extended them; and the second
+imposed a deplorable restriction, a restriction for which any little
+advantages conferred at the same time afforded very inadequate
+compensation.
+
+Under the Act of 1765, to take the later one first, the postage rates
+were reduced for short distances. Since 1711 the charge for carrying a
+single letter had been 3d. for eighty miles or under. Now it was to be
+1d. for one stage and 2d. for two stages. For longer distances the
+charge was to remain unaltered. The speed of the post was raised from
+five to six miles an hour. Power was given to the postmasters-general to
+erect penny Post Offices in country towns; and--a provision which we
+have pronounced deplorable--the weight to be carried by the penny post
+was restricted to four ounces. Compensation for losses by the penny post
+had long ceased to be given.[55]
+
+  [55] _The Present State of Great Britain and Ireland_, published in
+  1742, states that at that time compensation was still given for losses
+  sustained in the penny post. The words are: "If a parcel happen to
+  miscarry, the value thereof is to be made good by the office, provided
+  the things were securely inclosed and fast sealed up under the
+  impression of some remarkable seal." This is an error; and that an error
+  should be made on the point serves to confirm the view that little was
+  known of the Post Office and its doings even 150 years ago. That
+  compensation was not at that time given for losses is beyond all
+  question. It happens that in that very year, 1742, a Mr. Vavasour
+  appealed to Whitehall to grant him compensation for the loss of bank
+  notes to the amount of L20 which had been stolen from a letter in its
+  transit through the post; and the postmasters-general, after stating
+  that no precedent existed for granting compensation, implored the
+  Treasury not to create one. "All persons," they write under date the 4th
+  of August 1742, "that for their own convenience send notes or bills of
+  value by the post inclosed in letters do so at their own risque without
+  any foundation that we know of for recovery of this office in case they
+  should be stolen or lost by robbery or other accidents. And this we take
+  to be not only reasonable but just in all construction of law." Again,
+  in 1778 an action for compensation was brought against the Post Office,
+  and Lord Mansfield, after delivering the unanimous opinion of the Court
+  of King's Bench that the postmasters-general were not responsible for
+  losses sustained in their department, proceeded to observe that no
+  similar action had been brought since the year 1699. Giles Jacob, in his
+  _Law Dictionary_, published in the last century, gives this account of
+  the matter: "It was determined so long ago as 13 Will. III., in the case
+  of _Lane_ v. _Cotton_, by three judges of the Court of King's Bench,
+  though contrary to Lord Chief Justice Holt's opinion, that no action
+  could be maintained against the postmasters-general for the loss of
+  bills or articles sent in letters by the post."
+
+Such was the end of Dockwra's post as Dockwra had established it. With
+that eminent man it had been an object of the first importance that the
+penny post should carry up to one pound in weight; and now the weight
+was to be reduced to four ounces. And why? Because the penny post was
+little used for packets and parcels above four ounces? Exactly the
+contrary. It was because packets and parcels above four ounces were
+being largely sent by the penny post that the limit of weight was to be
+reduced.[56] These missives had been found a little inconvenient to
+manipulate and it was resolved, therefore, to exclude them. Such was the
+wretched policy of the time. Even in matters vitally affecting their own
+interests the public had as yet no voice and their wishes were not
+considered. On account of some trifling inconvenience, which a very
+little amount of ingenuity would have sufficed to overcome, the
+inhabitants of London and its suburbs were now deprived of accommodation
+which they had enjoyed uninterruptedly for eighty-five years.
+
+  [56] The reason for the provision was thus given in the preamble:
+  "Whereas many heavy and bulky packets and parcels are now sent and
+  conveyed by such carriage which by their bulk and weight greatly retard
+  the speedy delivery thereof...."--5 Geo. III. cap. xxv. sec. 14.
+
+In 1764 franking became for the first time the subject of Parliamentary
+enactment. To send and receive letters free of postage had been a
+privilege enjoyed by members of the two Houses of Parliament from the
+first establishment of the Post Office; but whereas it had hitherto been
+a concession granted by the Crown, it was now to be a right conferred by
+statute. The reason will be obvious. The revenue of the Post Office had
+recently been surrendered to the public during the life of the
+Sovereign, in exchange for a Civil List charged upon the Consolidated,
+or, as it was then called, the Aggregate Fund; and the Crown, having
+dispossessed itself of all property in the Post Office, was no longer
+competent to remit postage without the authority of Parliament. The Act
+which was now passed was designed to correct the abuses which experience
+had shewn to exist. The limits of weight and of time remained as before;
+that is to say, only letters not exceeding the weight of two ounces were
+to be franked, and these only during the session of Parliament and for
+forty days before and after. In other respects the conditions were
+slightly altered. Hitherto it had been enough, in the case of letters
+sent by a member, that he should sign his name on the outside; for the
+future not only was the outside to bear his signature, but the whole of
+the address was to be in his own handwriting. In the case of letters
+addressed to a member, none were to be exempt from postage unless
+directed to the place of his usual residence or to the place where he
+was actually residing, or, of course, to the House of Parliament. It had
+been hoped that these alterations of practice would check the abuses of
+franking. Vain expectation! No sooner had the concession been converted
+into a right than what little scruples existed before appear to have
+vanished, and franks were scattered broadcast over the country. Before
+eight years were over, the number of franks passing through the London
+office alone had nearly doubled, the postage from which they carried
+exemption being in 1765, the first year after the change, L34,734, and
+in 1772, L65,053; and this, be it observed, was no mere estimate, but
+the actual result as ascertained by the careful examination of each
+letter.
+
+Another effect of the change of practice was to embroil the Post Office.
+The Post Office, in its efforts to protect itself against imposition,
+would charge letters when addressed to a member at a place where he was
+supposed not to be; and hence constant disputes and altercations.
+Members, again, who were bankers or were engaged in trade insisted that
+letters addressed to them at their counting-houses, even though they did
+not reside there, should pass free. On these the Post Office claimed
+postage, and the members refused to pay it.
+
+But it was in Ireland that the rage for franking broke out into the
+wildest excesses. In 1773 an inspector of franks was sent to several
+towns on the cross and bye roads, in order that he might ascertain and
+report to the postmasters-general the extent to which the abuse had
+grown. This officer visited nine towns altogether, and was absent from
+Dublin for sixty-three days, being at the rate of seven days at each
+town. At Waterford, during his stay there, 588 letters passed through
+the local Post Office purporting to be franked. The franks on only 354
+of these were genuine; the rest were counterfeit. At Kilkenny there were
+425 counterfeit franks to 510 that were genuine. At Clonmel, 526
+counterfeit and 509 genuine. At Gowran, 212 counterfeit and 195
+genuine; and so with the remaining towns. Altogether the number of
+letters with counterfeit franks was nearly as large as the number with
+genuine franks, and far exceeded all the other letters combined. However
+clear might be the evidence of fraud, and however conclusively it might
+be brought home to particular persons, it was of no use attempting to
+prosecute. Hear what Mr. Lees says on this point. Mr. Lees was Secretary
+to the Post Office in Ireland, and he had, under direction from Lord
+North, received instructions to take proceedings against a firm of
+solicitors in Londonderry who had been sending letters under forged
+franks. "A prosecution," wrote Mr. Lees, "will not be of the slightest
+avail. It has been tried over and over again, and, in the face of the
+clearest evidence, without success." "There is scarcely a magistrate to
+be found in Ireland who will take examinations on the Post Office laws;
+and certainly in no instance has this office prevailed in getting the
+bills of indictment found by a Grand Jury. This being so universally
+known, counterfeiting franks is drawn into such general practice that I
+believe there are very few merchants or attorneys' clerks throughout the
+kingdom who do not counterfeit in the name of one member or other. Nay,
+if I classed with them almost every little pretty Miss capable of
+joining her letters, I should not exaggerate the abuse." "As I have
+observed," he wrote further on in the same letter, "in every town of
+consequence throughout the kingdom the members resident, under their
+address, cover the correspondence of the principal merchants.... The
+postage arising on counterfeit covers alone amounts to more than a third
+of the revenue of this office."
+
+Under the terms of the Franking Act newspapers were to go free which
+should bear a member's signature on the outside or which should be
+directed to a member at any place of which he had given notice in
+writing to the postmasters-general. This provision seriously affected
+the Post Office, though in a different way from the liberties which were
+being taken with letters. From the first establishment of the Post
+Office the six clerks of the roads had enjoyed the privilege of
+franking newspapers, and the emoluments derived from this source,
+originally insignificant, had been continually increasing. In 1764 they
+were certainly not less than L8000 a year, and may have been more. The
+Franking Act sapped this source of emolument. No sooner had that Act
+passed than the members served the Post Office with notice of the places
+to which they wished newspapers to be directed. These places did not in
+the first instance extend beyond the member's own residence and the
+residences of his constituents and friends; but after a while no such
+moderation was observed. The booksellers and printers, or news-agents as
+they would now be called, soon recognised the advantage it would be to
+them if they could get their customers' addresses put on the Post Office
+Register, and they experienced little difficulty in finding members who
+were ready to do them this service. There were four who were noted for
+their complaisance. These were Sir Robert Bernard, member for
+Westminster; Brass Crosby, member for Honiton and alderman for the City
+of London; Richard Whitworth, member for Stafford; and Richard
+Hiver.[57] These four members in little more than eighteen months served
+upon the Post Office no less than 744 separate notices. Altogether, at
+the close of the year 1772, there were 2024 such notices registered in
+Lombard Street, of which 765 were on behalf of constituents and friends,
+and 1259 on behalf of printers and booksellers.
+
+  [57] For what constituency Richard Hiver sat we have been unable to
+  discover. His name does not appear in the return of members of
+  Parliament presented to the House of Commons in 1878.
+
+As the natural result the clerks of the roads found their emoluments
+rapidly dwindling. Heretofore they had been, virtually, the great
+news-agents of the kingdom. Enjoying, in common with a few clerks at
+Whitehall, the exclusive privilege of sending newspapers through the
+post free, they had been exposed to little, if any, competition; but now
+that in the matter of postage the terms were equal, the advantage was
+all on the side of the private dealer. The private dealer procured his
+newspapers in the open market, whereas the clerks of the roads were
+required to procure them from a particular officer designated by the
+postmasters-general; and this officer was authorised not only to charge
+for the newspapers he supplied 1-1/2d. a dozen more than he gave for
+them, but to retain as his own perquisite one out of every twenty-five
+copies.
+
+It may seem of little moment that, as the result of legislation, six
+persons more or less should find themselves in reduced circumstances.
+Such an event, unhappily, is not so rare as to call for special remark.
+But there was a good deal more than this in the present case. The
+profits which the clerks of the roads derived from the sale of
+newspapers had never been devoted to the exclusive use of the
+recipients. On the contrary, they were to a large extent common
+property. Out of these profits pensions were provided for Post Office
+servants who were past work; and from the same source inadequate
+salaries were raised to something like a decent maintenance. In
+additional salaries to brother officers and in pensions to officers who
+had retired, the clerks of the roads had in 1764 contributed as much as
+L6600; and even now, reduced as their profits were, they were
+contributing a little over L2000. They were, in effect, the mainstay of
+the establishment, and the falling off of their emoluments was being
+watched by the postmasters-general, hardly less than by those who were
+more immediately interested, with the gravest concern.
+
+Nor was it calculated to reconcile the Post Office servants to the
+deprivations which they were already beginning to suffer that the
+members of other public offices, who had lost from the same cause as the
+clerks of the roads, but to a much less extent, had received
+compensation in full. The clerks in the offices of the Principal
+Secretaries of State, like the clerks of the roads, had been privileged
+to frank both letters and newspapers. By the Act of 1764 the privilege
+had, as regards letters, been taken away in both cases; and in both
+cases, as regards newspapers, it remained. Yet to the clerks in the
+offices of the Principal Secretaries of State was secured, by special
+Act of Parliament, compensation to the amount of L1500 a year, while the
+clerks of the roads received nothing; and, as though to add to the
+aggravation, this sum of L1500 a year was to be paid by the Post Office.
+
+In Dublin the same difficulties were being experienced as in London and
+from the same cause. Emoluments were falling off and obligations could
+not be met. Among these obligations, however, there was one which was
+peculiar to Dublin. Before 1764 the clerks at the castle, like the
+clerks of the roads, had enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers,
+and the exercise of this privilege by the two bodies simultaneously had
+been attended with so much friction that advantage had been taken of the
+passing of the Franking Act to effect a compromise. In consideration of
+the sum of L350 a year to be paid by the clerks of the roads the clerks
+at the castle undertook to abandon their privilege absolutely. A deed to
+this effect was prepared, and, in order that nothing might be wanting to
+give it formality, it was signed by the Earl of Northumberland, the Lord
+Lieutenant, on behalf of the castle, and by Lord Clermont, the Deputy
+Postmaster-General of Ireland, on behalf of the Post Office. Whence was
+the sum of L350 to come when the emoluments should be gone? Was a price
+to continue to be paid for the surrender of a privilege which had ceased
+to be of value? The Attorney-General for Ireland advised that the clerks
+of the roads were still liable to the last farthing of their salaries;
+and the clerks at the castle refused to abate one jot of their claim.
+
+But we are anticipating. In 1767 the statute-book received an addition
+which, though differing widely both in intention and effect from the
+Franking Act and the Postage Act, cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed.
+This was an Act for the better paving, lighting, and regulating the
+streets of London, a first step in fact towards converting the London
+of Hogarth into the London of to-day. The mere preamble[58] of the Act
+brings home to us, hardly less vividly than Hogarth's pencil, the
+intolerable inconveniences under which our forefathers were content to
+live; but what concerns us at the present moment is that one section
+provided not only that the names of the streets should be put up but
+that the houses should be numbered. This numbering of houses quickly
+spread, and, although unnoticed by the Post Office at the time, was
+destined very materially to assist its future operations. As a
+consequence, too, and at no long interval, arose a new industry, namely
+the compilation of Directories--a thing that was impossible before--and
+hence the Post Office derived still further assistance.
+
+  [58] "Whereas the several streets, lanes, squares, yards, courts,
+  alleys, passages and places within the city of London and the liberties
+  thereof are in general ill-paved and cleansed and not duly enlightened,
+  and are also greatly obstructed by posts and annoyed by signs, spouts,
+  and gutters projecting into and over the same, whereby and by sundry
+  other encroachments and annoyances they are rendered incommodious and in
+  some parts dangerous not only to the inhabitants but to all others
+  passing through the same or resorting thereto...."
+
+About this time considerable improvements took place both in the Scotch
+and Irish posts. Between London and Edinburgh communication had been
+only thrice a week. In 1765 it was increased in frequency to five days a
+week, and posts on six days a week were at the same time established
+between Edinburgh and the chief towns of Scotland. The result was an
+immediate increase of revenue which much more than covered the increase
+of expense. Two or three years later the course of post between London
+and Dublin came under review. By virtue of an arrangement, which the
+fact of the communication being only thrice a week goes but a short way
+to explain, letters from England to Ireland were kept lying two whole
+days in the London Office and, similarly, letters from Ireland to
+England were kept lying two whole days in the Dublin Office. The packet
+which was due in Dublin on Saturday night rarely arrived before Sunday,
+and, unless it did so, the letters from England for the interior of
+Ireland did not leave Dublin until Wednesday morning. Nor was this all.
+The number of packets was extremely limited, and, owing to their
+constant employment by Government as express boats, it frequently
+happened that two and sometimes three and even four mails were sent by
+the same packet. In 1767 this was altered. Additional packet boats were
+placed on the station, and the post between London and Dublin and
+between Dublin and Belfast in one direction and Cork in another was
+increased in frequency from three to six days a week.
+
+Between London and the chief provincial towns in England Allen had, as
+we have seen, established posts six days a week instead of three; but it
+was not until 1769, or nearly five years after Allen's death, that
+within the metropolis arrangements were made to correspond. Meanwhile
+the offices for the receipt of general post letters were kept open and
+the bellmen went about ringing their bells on only three nights of the
+week, namely Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and on the other three
+nights, except at the General Post Office, letters could not be posted
+gratuitously. On the nights of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday a receiver
+if called upon to take in letters was entitled to charge a fee of 1d.
+apiece, and this fee he retained as his own perquisite. Beginning with
+1769 the receiving offices were kept open and the bellmen rang their
+bells on every night of the week, Sundays excepted.
+
+An event or rather a series of events now took place, the result of
+which was largely to alter the character of the Post Office and to
+extend its usefulness. Recent legislation had done little for the public
+convenience. It had indeed provided that Penny Post Offices might be
+established out of London, and advantage had been taken of the provision
+in one single instance. In Dublin a Penny Post Office had been opened on
+the 10th of October 1773, or seventy years after the Countess of Thanet
+desired to open one and was refused permission at the last moment. But
+in other respects legislation had accomplished little beyond promoting
+the very abuses it was designed to prevent, and impairing the utility
+of Dockwra's post. Litigation was now to have its turn; and it is
+interesting to note the result.
+
+The machinery for the dispersion of letters remained much as it had been
+since the first establishment of the Post Office. In London, in
+Edinburgh, and in Dublin there was, as there is now, a body of men whose
+duty it was to deliver from house to house; but with these three
+exceptions there was not, 120 years ago, a single town in the kingdom
+which could boast of its own letter-carrier. The postmaster was the sole
+Post Office agent in the place; it was he who delivered the letters if
+they were delivered at all; and for this service he was left to charge
+pretty much as he pleased. The public had grown tired of this state of
+things and strenuous efforts were now made to alter it.
+
+The crusade began in the little town of Sandwich in Kent. It had been
+the practice of the postmaster there, at some former time, to deliver
+free the letters arriving by the bye and cross posts, and on the
+delivery of the London letters to charge a fee as his own perquisite. In
+1772 a fee was being charged on the delivery of all letters. This charge
+the inhabitants now determined to contest. The case came on for trial in
+the Court of King's Bench and was decided against the postmaster, the
+Court being of opinion that wherever the usage had been to deliver free,
+there the usage should be adhered to. The postmasters-general were very
+uneasy. Out of the 440 post towns of the kingdom there were known to be
+not less than seventy-six which were in the same case as Sandwich and to
+which the decision of the Court must apply, towns where letters had at
+one time been delivered free and where they were so no longer; and not a
+day passed without bringing fresh and unexpected additions to the list.
+At Birmingham and at Ipswich, for instance, where a charge was now being
+made for delivery, old inhabitants could remember how forty or fifty
+years before letters had been delivered free. Was the Crown to be at the
+expense of letter-carriers at all of these towns, or were the
+postmasters, who were already complaining of the inadequacy of their
+remuneration, to forego their perquisites and make a house-to-house
+delivery as part of their duty?
+
+The question was still under consideration when the town of Ipswich
+commenced an action. The point raised in this case was whether on the
+delivery of letters addressed to the inhabitants of the town the
+postmaster could legally demand any sum over and above the postage, and,
+if so, whether in the event of the demand being refused he could oblige
+the inhabitants to fetch their letters. Again the decision, this time by
+the Court of Common Pleas, was in favour of the public and against the
+Post Office. The postmasters-general were more than uneasy now. No
+sooner had the decision in the Ipswich case become known than town after
+town where letters had never yet been delivered free demanded a free
+delivery and threatened the postmasters-general with actions in the
+event of their demand being refused. Bath and Gloucester did more than
+threaten. They, like Ipswich, proceeded to trial; and again, for the
+third and fourth time, the decision was against the Post Office.
+
+Thurlow was at this time Attorney-General. He held a strong opinion that
+in order to comply with the statute it was enough to deliver letters at
+the Post Office of the town to which they were addressed, and that there
+was no obligation to deliver them at the houses of the inhabitants.
+Still clinging to the belief that the decisions of the Courts must have
+proceeded more or less on the usage of delivery, he now determined to
+try the question in the case of a town where the usage had been for no
+delivery to be made without payment. The town of Hungerford in Berkshire
+was selected for the purpose. There, it could be proved, ever since the
+beginning of the century, letters had not been delivered except on
+payment of a fee of 1d. apiece.
+
+The case came on before the Court of King's Bench in Michaelmas term
+1774. Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, was the first to deliver
+judgment. He was surprised, he said, the several Acts being so ambiguous
+and the usage so contradictory, that the Post Office had not applied to
+Parliament to explain the matter. That was the view of the Court when,
+in the other cases, it avoided the general question. He never liked to
+avoid general questions, for to decide them tended to prevent further
+litigation; but an important question of this kind, arising out of Acts
+that had "not yet spoke," and, whichever way it might be decided,
+involving more or less inconvenience, was essentially one for
+Parliament. And in the Bath case there were grounds on which the general
+question could, without impropriety, be avoided. There the postmaster
+when delivering a letter had demanded a certain sum as a duty. Now, a
+duty it certainly was not. If on the delivery of a letter Parliament had
+intended to impose a duty, it would have fixed the amount and made it
+part of the Post Office revenue; and not have left every postmaster free
+to fix what amount he pleased or might prevail upon people to give. And
+what a monstrous inconvenience it would be if every one had to go to the
+Post Office to fetch his own letters! How could the Court have laid down
+such a proposition as that? The thing was impossible. And it must be
+remembered that there could be no middlemen--men between the inhabitants
+and the postmaster--who for gain could set up an office to distribute
+the letters, because by law the postmaster could not deliver them except
+to the persons to whom they were addressed. These were the
+considerations which in the Bath ease induced him to avoid the general
+question, and he had been glad to feel able to do so, never doubting
+that the postmasters-general would apply to Parliament for a
+determination; but this, unfortunately, they had not done. Then there
+was the Gloucester case. He remembered it well. There the question was
+not whether there should be a free delivery, for at Gloucester letters
+had always been delivered free, but whether certain houses should fall
+within the limits of that delivery. All that the Court then decided was
+that in the case of these houses, forming as they unquestionably did a
+part of what was known as the town of Gloucester, the Post Office could
+not depart from its own practice. But the present case was different.
+Here the contention was that in the town of Hungerford there was not a
+single house at which the Post Office was required to deliver letters
+without being paid for it. Practically, no doubt, it was the Bath case
+over again; but the Court could not well avoid the general question a
+second time. The Post Office, in effect, sought to impose a duty; and
+this, he said it emphatically, the Post Office had not the power to do
+without the authority of Parliament, which authority had not been given.
+His mind was perfectly clear that within the limits of a post-town the
+Post Office was bound to deliver free; but how far these limits should
+extend was a question upon which he did not feel called upon to express
+an opinion.
+
+The other judges were equally emphatic. The Post Office had urged in
+support of its contention that it sometimes happened--as, for instance,
+at Hartford Bridge---that the stage or post-house was a single house
+with no other houses near. There, at all events, as soon as it had
+deposited the letters at the post house, the Post Office had discharged
+its duty. And if there, it was asked, why not elsewhere? If, said Mr.
+Justice Aston, the post house was a single house with no other houses
+near, the question did not arise; but, in the case, of towns, surely it
+would not be contended that each individual inhabitant was to resort to
+the post house every day in order to inquire whether there was a letter
+for him or not. To demand this penny within the limits of a post town,
+said Mr. Justice Willes, was contrary to the whole tenor and spirit of
+the Acts of Parliament; and where the post town was a small one like
+Hungerford, the demand was far more unreasonable than it would be in the
+case of London and Westminster. Yet in London and Westminster letters
+were delivered free. He should pay more regard to the usage of the city
+of London than to that of fifty such towns as Hungerford. Mr. Justice
+Ashurst was of opinion that even to usage too much importance might be
+attached. If it were really the case that at Hungerford, ever since the
+passing of the Act of Anne, a man living next door to the Post Office
+had had to pay over and above the postage 1d. for every letter he
+received, this in his opinion was a bad usage, an usage for which the
+Act afforded no justification, and the sooner it was laid aside the
+better.
+
+The decision of the Court burst upon the postmasters-general like a
+thunderbolt. They had been assured that it would certainly be in the
+opposite direction; and now, to their dismay, they found themselves face
+to face with the prospect of, what they called, an universal delivery.
+What was to be done? The Post Office would be ruined. Of course the
+Attorney-General would advise an appeal to the House of Lords. As a
+matter of fact the Attorney-General advised nothing of the sort.
+Thurlow's private opinion continued to be what it had always been, that
+the Post Office was not bound to deliver letters beyond the stage or
+post house. He even went so far as to admit that, if once the Act were
+construed to require more than that, he knew of no manner of
+construction that would entitle the postmasters-general to refuse to
+carry letters into every hole and corner of the kingdom. Still, as two
+Courts had decided against the Post Office, he regarded it as useless to
+appeal to the House of Lords, where, no doubt, the opinion of the same
+judges would be taken and acted on. Then, inquired the postmasters-general,
+might not a writ of error be brought with a view to hang up the judgment
+of the Court of King's Bench until the matter should be settled by
+Parliament. "No," replied Thurlow, "I do not approve a writ of error
+being brought by an office of revenue avowedly to suspend a question."
+
+Thus ended a controversy which in one form or another had extended over
+a period of more than two years. The postmasters-general urged indeed
+that Parliament should be asked to avert what they regarded as little
+short of a catastrophe; but the recommendation was not adopted, and the
+decision of the Court was left to take effect.
+
+We have dwelt upon this matter at some length, because it was, in
+effect, a turning-point in the history of the Post Office. The
+enterprising spirit of the small towns, the independence of the judges,
+and the conspicuous fairness of the Attorney-General, make up no doubt a
+combination which it is pleasing to contemplate; and yet, if this were
+all, a shorter notice would have sufficed. It is because the Post Office
+was now to assume a new character, the character in which it is known to
+us at the present time, that we have thought it best not to omit any
+important particular. And how great the change was to be a moment's
+consideration will shew. Cotton and Frankland had, early in the century,
+done what little they could to make the Post Office popular. They had
+lost no opportunity of advocating cheap postage; they had lived among
+the merchants, and, as far as duty would allow, had consulted their
+wishes; and within the limits assigned to them had spared no efforts to
+promote the public convenience. But since then a different spirit had
+prevailed. By Cotton and Frankland's successors much had been done in
+restraint of correspondence and nothing, or next to nothing, in
+promotion of it. The Post Office had become, insensibly perhaps, but
+none the less surely, a mere tax-gatherer, and, like other
+tax-gatherers, its policy had been to exact as much and to give as
+little as possible. All this was now to be altered. An appeal had been
+made to the Courts; and the Courts in the most deliberate and solemn
+manner had affirmed this principle--a principle now so universally
+recognised and acted on as to excite our wonder that it should ever have
+been otherwise--that the Post Office was to wait upon the people, and
+not the people upon the Post Office.
+
+It might be supposed that the decision of the Courts would have been
+immediately followed by the appointment of letter-carriers throughout
+the country, or else by additions to the salaries of the postmasters in
+consideration of their undertaking to make a house-to-house delivery
+gratuitously. Such, however, was not the case. At the towns which had
+taken a foremost part in the fray--at Hungerford and Sandwich, at Bath,
+Ipswich, and Birmingham--as well indeed as at other towns which were
+spirited enough to assert their rights, letter-carriers were no doubt
+appointed; but there was no sudden and general alteration of practice.
+On the contrary, the obedience which the Post Office yielded to the law
+as laid down by the Courts was a tardy and grudging obedience. As much
+as ten or eleven years later we find the postmasters-general
+acknowledging indeed the obligation under which they lay to appoint
+letter-carriers at any towns that might demand it, and yet taking credit
+to themselves that, as a matter of fact, no such appointments had been
+made except where the inhabitants had refused to continue the accustomed
+recompense for delivery.
+
+The Courts of Law were at this time the best friends of the people. No
+sooner had they decided that every town which possessed a Post Office of
+its own was entitled to a gratuitous delivery at the door than a
+somewhat similar question came before them in connection with the penny
+post. For every letter delivered by the penny post the inhabitants of
+Old Street, St. Luke's, of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, of Bethnal Green,
+and Spitalfields were required to pay an additional penny, that is a
+penny over and above the one which had been paid on posting; and this
+they had long regarded as an imposition. According to Dockwra's plan the
+second or delivery penny was to be confined to Islington, Hackney,
+Newington Butts, and South Lambeth, which in his day formed separate
+towns; but in course of time, as buildings extended, the Post Office
+appears to have exacted the same charge at intermediate places. Jones, a
+wealthy distiller of Old Street, now determined to try the question.
+Again the decision of the Courts was against the Post Office, and not
+only in Old Street, but in Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, and Spitalfields
+the additional penny had to be abandoned.
+
+While these proceedings were taking place before the Courts, the Post
+Office had forced upon it a step which, even in those days of
+indifference, cannot have been taken without a pang. This was the
+dismissal of its most distinguished servant or rather of its only
+servant with any claim to distinction, and that of the highest. We refer
+to Benjamin Franklin. This eminent man had been appointed postmaster of
+Philadelphia in 1737, and after being employed in several positions of
+trust, had been promoted to be one of the joint postmasters-general of
+America in 1753. He had recently been sent to England with the object of
+averting war between the mother country and her transatlantic colonies,
+and, his mission having failed, he was now dismissed. The letter in
+which the decision was announced was as follows:--
+
+                         To DOCTOR FRANKLIN.
+
+                                   GENERAL POST OFFICE, _Jan. 31, 1774_.
+
+       SIR--I have received the commands of His Majesty's
+       postmasters-general to signify to you that they find it necessary
+       to dismiss you from being any longer their deputy for America. You
+       will therefore cause your accounts to be made up as soon as you can
+       conveniently.--I am, sir, your most humble servant,
+
+                                                       ANTHONY TODD,
+                                                        _Secretary_.
+
+
+Curt as this communication was, it was perhaps the best of which the
+circumstances admitted. Indeed, we are by no means sure that the terms
+of it were not arranged with Franklin himself. He was in London at the
+time. His relations with the Post Office had always been of the most
+cordial character. He did not, after receiving the letter, cease to
+visit Lombard Street; and before his return to America he wrote to the
+Post Office intimating that he would cheerfully become security for his
+colleague, who, as a consequence of his own dismissal, had to enter into
+fresh bond. At all events, whether Franklin had any hand in the
+preparation of the letter or not, the less said the better would seem to
+have been the opinion of the writer; just as a desire to let bygones be
+bygones is plainly shewn in the first letter which passed after
+correspondence was resumed. This letter is a curiosity in its way. It is
+dated the 25th of June 1783, and, ignoring all that had happened during
+the preceding seven years, begins as follows:--
+
+                          To DOCTOR FRANKLIN at PARIS.
+
+                                GENERAL POST OFFICE, _June 25, 1783_.
+
+     DEAR SIR--I must confess I have taken a long time to acknowledge
+     the last letter you were pleased to write me the 24th of March 1776
+     from New York. I am happy, however, to learn from my nephew, Mr.
+     George Maddison, that you enjoy good health, and that as the French
+     were about to establish five packet boats at L'Orient, Port Louis,
+     for the purpose of a monthly correspondence between that port and
+     New York, you were desirous of knowing the intentions of England on
+     that subject....--I am, dear sir, with the greatest truth and
+     respect, your most obedient and most humble servant,
+
+                                                         ANTHONY TODD.
+
+
+In 1780, as part of a Licensing Act, the monopoly of letting post-horses
+which the Post Office had enjoyed uninterruptedly since 1603 was taken
+away. It is curious to note that a measure which 177 years before had
+been deemed essential to the maintenance of the posts was now withdrawn
+without, so far as we are aware, exciting a murmur; and, by a strange
+coincidence, at the very time the measure was being withdrawn in the
+United Kingdom, the deputy postmaster-general of Canada, who had
+recently arrived in London, was urging upon the Government a similar
+expedient as an indispensable condition without which the "maitres de
+poste" between Quebec and Montreal would be constrained to throw up
+their appointments. Such is the difference between a new institution and
+an institution that is well established.
+
+It should here be remarked that with the extinction of this monopoly
+passed away one of the original functions of the postmasters-general.
+Hitherto, lightly as the responsibility had rested upon them for the
+last hundred years or more, they had been masters of the travelling-post
+as well as the letter-post. For the future they were to be masters of
+the letter-post alone.
+
+Little remains to be told of the eighteen years of which this chapter
+treats. In 1782, in consequence of a hint dropped by the Lord Chief
+Justice in the course of a trial, the Post Office did an eminently
+useful thing. It issued an advertisement counselling the public when
+sending bank notes by post to cut them into two parts and to send one
+part by one post and another by another. The counsel was adopted, and in
+an incredibly short space of time the practice became general. In the
+same year the Post Office servants were disfranchised. By an Act passed
+in the reign of Queen Anne they were forbidden either to persuade or to
+dissuade others in the matter of voting; and now they were forbidden to
+vote themselves. The only point of interest connected with the two Acts
+is perhaps their termination. While the later Act was repealed in 1868,
+the earlier one was not repealed until 1874; and meanwhile the
+postmaster-general sat in the House of Commons and offered himself for
+election. Little, probably, did he think that for every vote he
+solicited he rendered himself not only liable to a penalty of L100 but
+"incapable of ever bearing or executing any office or place of trust
+whatsoever under Her Majesty, her heirs, or successors."
+
+The internal condition of the Post Office during the last few years of
+Lord North's administration was simply deplorable. The profits from the
+sale of newspapers kept growing less and less. The clerks of the roads,
+after paying the salaries and pensions which formed the first charge on
+their receipts, had left for themselves the merest pittance. These men,
+to whom an appeal for help had never been made in vain, were now in sore
+need of help themselves. The prospect was alarming, for if the clerks of
+the roads should fail to meet their engagements they would drag down
+with them a not inconsiderable part of the establishment. It was in
+1778, when apprehension was highest, that the Commissioners of Land Tax
+for the city of London made a new assessment, and suddenly, without a
+note of warning, every Post Office servant in the metropolis found
+himself assessed to the land tax to the amount of 4s. in the pound. Not
+even the letter-carriers or maid-servants were excepted. At this time
+and during the two or three following years a general bankruptcy was
+imminent. Eventually the abatements were remitted and the salaries and
+pensions which had been charged to the clerks of the roads were in part
+transferred to the State; but not before many of the Post Office
+servants had compounded with their creditors and all had endured the
+severest privations.
+
+Meanwhile the postmasters from America, ejected from their offices, had
+been flocking to this country and pleading for pensions on the English
+establishment. The packets were meeting with a series of disasters so
+far beyond the experience of former wars as to excite the most hostile
+comment. During the seven years ending August 1782 no less than
+thirty-seven were captured by the enemy. Of these four belonged to the
+Post Office, and sums for that time prodigious were expended to replace
+them. The others were owned by the captains who commanded them, and the
+owners received as compensation for their loss the sum of L85,000. Even
+the fabric of the buildings partook of the general decay. In Edinburgh
+the Post Office had had to be abandoned at a moment's notice, the arch
+which supported the main part of the structure having given way. In
+Dublin the roof had fallen in. In both Dublin and Edinburgh new Post
+Offices were being erected at heavy expense; while in London search was
+being made for new premises on the plea that those in Lombard Street
+were insufficient for present requirements.
+
+To crown all, ugly rumours were afloat, rumours imputing corruption in
+the highest quarters. The postmasters-general were indeed to be pitied.
+The Post Office in more senses than one was falling about their ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JOHN PALMER
+
+1782-1792
+
+
+The apathy of the Post Office about this time is incomprehensible. More
+than twenty years before, the General Convention of the Royal Boroughs
+of Scotland had called the attention of the postmasters-general to the
+intolerable slowness of the post on the Great North Road. "Every common
+traveller," they wrote, "passes the King's mail on the first road in the
+kingdom." At the present time the clerks of the roads were giving as one
+of the reasons why they were undersold in the matter of newspapers that,
+whereas they sent their wares by post, the booksellers and printers
+availed themselves of the more expeditious conveyance by stage-coach.
+Yet it seems never to have occurred to the postmasters-general that what
+was being done by others they might do themselves. The lesson that was
+lost upon the postmasters-general was to be learnt and applied by John
+Palmer, proprietor of the theatre at Bath.
+
+Palmer had, while yet at school, been distinguished for a love of
+enterprise, an indomitable perseverance, and an activity of body which
+knew no fatigue and set distance at defiance. He had, through sheer
+persistency, obtained a patent for his theatre at Bath, which thus
+became the first Theatre-Royal out of the metropolis. At a time when the
+mail leaving London on Monday night did not arrive at Bath until
+Wednesday afternoon, he had been in the habit of accomplishing the
+distance between the two cities in a single day. He had made journeys
+equally long and equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result
+of observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the horses kept at
+the post-houses it was always the worst that were set aside to carry the
+mail, and that the post was the slowest mode of conveyance in the
+kingdom. He had also observed that, where security or despatch was
+required, his neighbours at Bath who might desire to correspond with
+London would make a letter up into a parcel and send it by
+stage-coach,[59] although the cost by stage-coach was, porterage
+included, 2s. and by post 4d. Not seldom, indeed, the difference would
+be more than 1s. 8d., for to prevent delay on the part of the porters in
+London one of these clandestine letters would as often as not have
+written on the back, "An extra sum will be given the porter if he
+delivers this letter immediately."
+
+  [59] Thus, Mrs. Thrale to Doctor Johnson. Writing from Bath on the 4th
+  of July 1784, she says: "I write by the coach the more speedily and
+  effectually to prevent your coming hither."--Hayward's _Autobiography of
+  Mrs. Piozzi_, vol. i. p. 241.
+
+Starting from these premises Palmer, with characteristic energy, set
+himself to devise a plan for the reform of the Post Office. This plan
+was simply that the mails--which, to use his own words, had heretofore
+been trusted to some idle boy without character, mounted on a worn-out
+hack, who, so far from being able to defend himself against a robber,
+was more likely to be in league with one--should for the future be
+carried by coach. The coach should be guarded, and should carry no
+outside passenger. For guard no one could be better than a soldier, who
+would be skilled in the use of firearms. He should carry two short guns
+or blunderbusses, and sit on the top of the coach with the mail behind
+him. From this position he could command the road and observe suspicious
+persons. The coachman also should carry arms; but in his case they
+should be pistols. A speed should be maintained of eight or nine miles
+an hour. Thus, the distance between London and Bath would, stoppages
+included, be accomplished in sixteen hours instead of thirty-eight; and
+these stoppages should, in point of time, be largely reduced. As the
+coach arrived at the end of each stage there would be little more for
+the postmaster to do than to put into the mail bag the outgoing letters
+and to take out of the bag the letters that were coming in. Surely a
+quarter of an hour would be ample for the purpose. He must indeed be an
+inexpert postmaster who could not change his letters as soon as the
+ostler changes his horses. Strict punctuality should be observed. Each
+postmaster should be on the spot and to the moment to receive the mail
+when it arrived; and if it did not arrive to time, a man on horseback
+should be despatched to ascertain the cause of delay. This, in the event
+of the coach having been stopped by highwaymen, would secure immediate
+pursuit.
+
+And how little would be the cost of the proposed reform. It was doubtful
+indeed whether there would be any additional cost at all. The mails were
+now being conveyed at a charge for boy and horse of 3d. a mile. It was
+certain that men might be found who for this rate of payment would be
+glad to convey them by coach. Especially would this be the case if the
+coaches which carried the mails were exempt, as they ought to be, from
+toll. Between London and Bath, for instance, the toll was, for a
+carriage and pair, 9s., and for a carriage and four, 18s. Exemption from
+this impost would of itself be no inconsiderable boon to the
+contractors. Besides, the speed and security of a mail coach would
+attract passengers. At all events something, it was clear, must be done.
+As matters stood it was an intolerable hardship that persons sending
+letters by coach should be subject to penalties. A coach might go at a
+time when there was no post; and a letter might require immediate
+despatch. Yet, rather than make use of the coach and pay half a crown,
+one was obliged to hire an express, which was less expeditious, at a
+cost of two or three guineas. Surely, if no other change were made, this
+at least should be conceded--that any one taking a letter to the Post
+Office and paying the proper amount of postage upon it according to its
+address should, after the letter had been impressed with the postmark
+and signed by the postmaster, be at liberty to send it by what channel
+he pleased.
+
+Such were the main features of Palmer's plan. As a subsidiary, though by
+no means a necessary, part of it he made two suggestions which it may be
+well to mention, if only because they were afterwards adopted. These
+were--1st, that the mails, which from the first establishment of the
+Post Office had not left London until between midnight and three o'clock
+in the morning, should start at eight in the evening; and 2nd, that they
+should not be kept waiting for the Government letters when these
+happened to be late. This keeping the mails waiting for the Government
+letters had, at the beginning of the century, been a constant source of
+complaint. "We take this occasion of representing to your Lordship,"
+wrote the postmasters-general to Lord Dartmouth on the 16th of March
+1710, "the great inconvenience which happened to the business of this
+office on Tuesday's night's post by the inland mails having all been
+detained here till the receipt of the Court letters, which were not
+brought by the messenger from Whitehall before half-past six on
+Wednesday morning." A similar letter of remonstrance was at the same
+time addressed to Mr. Secretary St. John. But, of late years, so
+profound had been the supineness which reigned at the Post Office that
+it may, probably enough, have been considered of little consequence
+whether the mails were delayed or not. Palmer was unable to take this
+view. To him it appeared in the highest degree improper that, for the
+sake of a few letters which after all might be of no great importance,
+the Post Office business of the whole country should be thrown out of
+gear. Far better, he urged, that the mail should leave at the proper
+hour, and that these letters, if behind time, should be sent after it by
+express. A third suggestion he made, a suggestion admirable in itself,
+and yet one that at that time was little likely to be adopted. This was
+that the Post Office should take the public into its confidence, and
+invite them to make known their wants and suggest how best these wants
+might be supplied.
+
+In October 1782, through the intervention of his friend John Pratt,
+afterwards Lord Camden, Palmer's plan was brought under the notice of
+Pitt; and Pitt, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer in the
+administration of Lord Shelburne, at once discerned its merits. Nothing,
+however, could be done until the Post Office had had an opportunity of
+offering its opinion on the matter, and when this opinion was
+given--which was not until July 1783--Pitt was out of office; and,
+although he returned to power as minister in the following December, the
+struggle in which he then became engaged with an unruly Parliament, and
+afterwards a general election, effectually precluded him from giving
+attention to the posts until the summer of 1784.
+
+Meanwhile Palmer devoted himself to the perfection of his plan. He
+traversed the whole of the kingdom by stage-coaches, noting down the
+time they occupied in accomplishing their journeys, the time they
+unnecessarily lost, and how they might be better regulated and made
+serviceable for the transport of the mails. He took the same opportunity
+of acquainting himself with the course of the post and carefully
+observed its defects and delays. Nor did he trust to his own exertions
+alone. In order to test the extent of clandestine traffic, he employed
+persons to watch the Bath and Bristol coaches as they started for
+London, and to count the number of parcels which appeared to contain
+letters. These persons assured him that the number was never less than
+several hundreds in the week, and in some weeks was as high as 1000.
+
+The office of postmaster-general was at this time held by Lords Carteret
+and Tankerville. Carteret had only recently been raised to the peerage.
+Appointed thirteen years before as Henry Frederick Thynne in conjunction
+with Lord le Despencer, he had, amid the conflict of parties and the
+fall of successive ministries, contrived to retain his post.
+Tankerville, on the contrary, had come in and gone out with a change of
+Government. Called upon to preside over the Post Office in 1782, he had
+left it in 1783 and had returned in January of the following year. The
+part which these two peers took in connection with Palmer's plan appears
+to have been not injudicious. Without expressing any opinion of their
+own as to its feasibility or otherwise, they contented themselves with
+collecting and forwarding to Pitt the opinions of such of their
+subordinates as were presumably qualified to judge. These were the
+district surveyors, and their verdict was unanimously against the plan.
+Of the reasons for this judgment a specimen or two will suffice. By one
+it was objected that there could be no need for the post to be the
+swiftest conveyance in the kingdom; by another, that to employ firearms
+for the protection of the mail would encourage their use on the other
+side, and thus murder might be added to robbery; by a third, that not
+only did the posts as they stood afford all reasonable accommodation,
+but it was beyond the power of human ingenuity to devise a better
+system.
+
+Of these and other objections Pitt made short work. He summoned a
+conference at the Treasury, at which were present the postmasters-general,
+Palmer, and the objectors; and having patiently listened to all that
+could be urged against the plan, he desired that it should be tried
+on what was commonly called the Bath road, the road between Bristol
+and London. This conference was held on the 21st of June 1784. On
+Saturday the 31st of July an agreement was signed under which,
+in consideration of a payment of 3d. a mile, five innholders--one
+belonging to London, one to Thatcham, one to Marlborough, and two to
+Bath--undertook to provide the horses; and on Monday the 2nd of August
+the first mail-coach began to run.
+
+It is unfortunate that of the early performances of this coach no record
+remains. We only know that on the first journey it started from Bristol
+and not from London, and that Palmer was present to see it off; that,
+ordinarily, the distance was accomplished in seventeen hours, being at
+the rate of about seven miles an hour; and that, as a result, the
+expresses to Bristol, which before 1784 had been as many as 200 in the
+year, ceased altogether. Ten or twelve years later, indeed, the
+expresses for the whole of the kingdom were not one-fifth of what,
+before 1784, was the number for the city of Bristol alone.
+
+Palmer's plan, once introduced, made rapid progress. Mail-coaches began
+to run through Norfolk and Suffolk in March 1785; and on the cross-road
+between Bristol and Portsmouth in the following May. On the 25th of July
+the plan was extended to Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool, and during
+the next two months to Gloucester and Swansea; to Hereford, Carmarthen,
+and Milford Haven; to Worcester and Ludlow; to Birmingham and
+Shrewsbury; to Chester and Holyhead; to Exeter; to Portsmouth; to Dover
+and other places. The Great North Road was reserved to the last, and
+here the plan was carried into effect in the summer of 1786.
+
+It may be convenient here to say a few words on the subject of
+nomenclature. Post-coach, a term in vogue about this time,[60] might not
+unnaturally be supposed to denote a coach in use by the Post Office.
+Such, however, was not the case. The term post-coach, like the kindred
+term post-chaise, was introduced probably early in the last century,
+and, so far as we are aware, was never employed in the sense of
+mail-coach. It should further be noticed that the term mail-coach,
+although we have employed it to make our meaning clear, did not come
+into use until after 1784. In that year, and for some little time
+afterwards, coaches which carried the mails were called diligences or
+machines, and the coachmen were called machine-drivers.
+
+  [60] Thus, the Act 20 Geo. III. cap. li. sec. 2--an Act passed four
+  years before the mails were carried by coach:--
+
+"That every person who shall keep any four-wheeled chaise or other
+machine commonly called a diligence or post-coach, or by what name
+soever such carriages now are or hereafter shall be called or known...."
+
+That the term post-coach, as distinguished from mail-coach, was in vogue
+as late as 1827 appears from evidence taken in that year before the
+Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry--"(Q.) Are you acquainted with the
+post-coaches? (A.) Not any very great deal. (Q.) Comparing them with
+mail-coaches, which do you think are the best formed? (A.) Decidedly the
+mail-coaches, I think."--Appendix to Eighteenth Report, p. 443.
+
+The plan of carrying letters by mail-coach was, on its introduction,
+sadly marred by a simultaneous or almost simultaneous increase in the
+rates of postage. Pitt had brought forward his budget on the 30th of
+June; and among the measures he proposed with a view to replenish an
+exhausted Exchequer was a tax upon coals. The proposal was not well
+received by the House, and it was afterwards withdrawn in favour of an
+increase of postage. Palmer took credit to himself that he had proposed
+the substitution. If, as would appear to be the case, the claim is well
+founded, one can only regret that he should thus wantonly have
+handicapped his own proceedings. It is true, no doubt, that he was about
+to make the post both quicker and more secure; that he would have a
+better article to dispose of, an article that would fetch a higher
+price. It is also true that his plan, weighted as it was, proved an
+unqualified success. And yet it is impossible to deny that his
+reputation as a Post Office reformer, high as it stands, would have
+stood still higher if his counsel had been on the side of reduction.
+
+The rates prescribed by the Act of 1784, as compared with those of 1765,
+were as follows:--
+
++-----------------------------+-------------------++-------------------+
+|                             |        1765.      ||        1784.      |
+|                             +----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+|         DISTANCE.           | S  | D  | T  | O  || S  | D  | T  | O  |
+|                             | i  | o  | r  | u  || i  | o  | r  | u  |
+|                             | n  | u  | e  | n  || n  | u  | e  | n  |
+|                             | g  | b  | b  | c  || g  | b  | b  | c  |
+|                             | l  | l  | l  | e  || l  | l  | l  | e  |
+|                             | e  | e  | e  | .  || e  | e  | e  | .  |
+|                             | .  | .  | .  |    || .  | .  | .  |    |
++-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+|                             |_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._||_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._|
+|Not exceeding one post stage |  1 |  2 |  3 |  4 ||  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 |
+|Exceeding one and not        |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding two post stages  |  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 ||  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 |
+|Exceeding two post stages    |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  and not exceeding 80 miles |  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 ||  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 |
+|Exceeding 80 and not         |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding 150 miles        |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
+|Exceeding 150 miles          |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 |
+|To and from Edinburgh        |  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 ||  7 | 14 | 21 | 28 |
+|                             |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|                                                                      |
+|                              { The Irish Post Office had only        |
+|                              { recently been placed under the        |
+|                              { authority of the Irish Parliament;    |
+|To and from Dublin            { and the rates of postage, not only    |
+|                              { within Ireland, but between Ireland   |
+|                              { and Great Britain, were awaiting      |
+|                              { revision.                             |
+|                                                                      |
+|     Within Scotland.        |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+| (Measured from Edinburgh.)  |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|Not exceeding one post stage |  1 |  2 |  3 |  4 ||  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 |
+|Exceeding one post stage and |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  not exceeding 50 miles     |  2 |  4 |  6 |  8 ||  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 |
+|Exceeding 50 miles and not   |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|  exceeding 80 miles         |  3 |  6 |  9 | 12 ||  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 |
+|Exceeding 80 and not         |    |    |    |    ||    |    |    |    |
+|   exceeding 150 miles       |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  5 | 10 | 15 | 20 |
+|Exceeding 150 miles          |  4 |  8 | 12 | 16 ||  6 | 12 | 18 | 24 |
++-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+
+
+The same Act which increased the rates of postage imposed, or sought to
+impose, additional restrictions upon franking. Some concessions indeed
+were made. Letters from members of Parliament, in order to secure
+exemption, need no longer be limited, in point of weight, to two ounces
+and, in point of time, to the session of Parliament and forty days
+before and after. As part of the superscription, however, were now to be
+given the full date of the letter, the day, the month, and the year, all
+in the member's handwriting; and the letter was to be posted on the date
+which the superscription bore. These restrictions, it was confidently
+expected, would correct the worst abuses and render the concessions
+harmless. But, curiously enough, like the restrictions of 1764, they had
+an exactly contrary effect to that which was intended. The members sent
+to their constituents and friends, for use as occasion should serve,
+franks that were post-dated. These the Post Office charged, as coming
+from places where the members were known not to be. The members
+remonstrated, demanding to be informed in what respects the conditions
+of the Act had not been satisfied. The dispute waxing warm, the matter
+was referred to Pitt; and Pitt, after testing the opinion of the House,
+decided that pending fresh legislation the charges should be abandoned.
+Practically, therefore, the abuses which the Act was designed to prevent
+were not only not prevented but were given wider scope.
+
+Palmer maintained to the end of his life that during the two years which
+followed the starting of the first mail-coach he was thwarted and
+opposed by the Post Office. This charge, so far as it refers to those by
+whom the Post Office was managed and controlled, we believe to be
+groundless. That he had difficulties with contractors and postmasters is
+beyond question. Contractors were at all times troublesome persons to
+deal with, but they were not Post Office servants; and postmasters might
+well be excused if they looked askance at the new plan. Their salaries,
+low as they were, had long been shamefully reduced by exactions at
+headquarters under the name of fees; and what little they had been able
+to make out of their allowances for riding-work was now threatened by a
+system under which that work was to be done by contract. But the charge
+was not confined to contractors and postmasters. It extended to those
+who controlled and directed the Post Office, to Carteret and Tankerville
+and to their confidential adviser, the secretary; and, as we believe,
+with very insufficient reason. Carteret was indifferent. Tankerville was
+sincerely desirous of a reform of the posts, from whatever quarter it
+might come. Anthony Todd, the secretary, was eminently a man of peace.
+Appointed to the Post Office in 1738, he had arrived at a time of life
+when to most men ease and quiet are essential; and not only was he well
+advanced in years but it was not in his nature to thwart or oppose any
+one. All he wanted was to be left alone; and he was shrewd enough to
+know that the best way to secure this object was not to molest others.
+
+Between Todd and Palmer, indeed, there was little in common. Palmer, in
+everything he undertook, was intensely in earnest. Todd, on the
+contrary, could with difficulty get up even an appearance of earnestness
+about anything which did not concern himself. Even of his duty Todd took
+a view which must have been absolutely repugnant to Palmer. Lloyds's
+coffee-house was supplied by the Post Office with the arrivals and
+sailings of British ships, and it paid for the information no less than
+L200 a year. One-half of this amount went into Todd's own pocket; and
+yet, according to him, the giving of the information was a concession,
+an indulgence. "The merchants," he would write, "are indulged with ship
+news." To the Mayor of Shrewsbury, who had asked on behalf of the
+inhabitants for an earlier post, he deliberately wrote, "The arrival of
+the mail a few hours sooner or later can be of no great consequence."
+Not many years before, a despatch sent by express from Lord North to the
+Duke of Newcastle had been lost. Even to the minister Todd was not
+ashamed to write, "I dare to say there is no roguery in the case, but
+[that the letter has been] lost and trampled under foot in the dirty
+roads." Between a man who could take this view of his duty and Palmer,
+who was burning to perfect his plan, there could be little sympathy; but
+there was certainly no active antagonism. That, as Palmer extended his
+plan, doubts as to its merits arose at headquarters is perfectly true;
+but they were honest doubts, doubts which might excusably be entertained
+and which, if entertained, the Post Office was bound to express. Palmer,
+who regarded every one who was not for him as being against him,
+construed the expression of a doubt into an act of hostility.
+
+Let us see what some of these doubts were, and whence they originated.
+In London, before the introduction of Palmer's plan, it had been the
+practice to wait for the arrival of all the mails before any one of them
+was delivered, so that in the event of a single mail being behind time,
+no delivery at all might take place until three or four o'clock in the
+afternoon or even later. Palmer, of course, altered this. But now his
+interest in the Bristol coach led him to an opposite extreme. The
+Bristol mail was delivered the moment it arrived; and all other mails,
+by how little soever they might be later, were kept waiting. Again,
+before 1784 the post was frequently diverted from the high road in order
+that adjacent villages might be served. On the Bath road, for instance,
+although on this road there were fewer diversions than on any other in
+the kingdom, the post left the turnpike road between Hungerford and
+Marlborough in order to go through Ramsbury. Under the new arrangement
+it would have defeated Palmer's object to leave the direct track, if
+indeed the state of the roads would have admitted of it; and as the
+coaches could not go to the villages, the villages had to send to the
+coaches. Not in these cases alone was there, at first, a very general
+failure to effect a junction. Along every road on which a mail-coach was
+started the bye and cross posts were deranged and thrown into confusion;
+and, as a consequence, the Post Office was swamped with complaints from
+those whose letters had been delayed.
+
+Had this been all, it would have been little more than might be expected
+in the course of transition from one system to another; but other causes
+of dissatisfaction arose. The Act of Parliament regulated the rates of
+postage according to stages--2d. in the case of a single letter, for one
+stage, 3d. for two stages, and beyond two stages and not exceeding
+eighty miles 4d.; but what was meant by the term stage the Act nowhere
+defined. Virtually it was in the power of one man, by the simple
+expedient of reducing the length of the stages and so increasing their
+number, to raise the rate of postage between any two towns in the
+kingdom that were not more than a certain number of miles apart. And
+this is exactly what Palmer did. From Rochester to Dartford, for
+instance, had been one stage. The single stage was replaced by two
+stages; and the postage, which had been 2d., became 3d. From Newbury to
+Devizes had been two stages. The two stages were increased to three; and
+the postage was raised from 3d. to 4d. And so it was throughout the
+kingdom. Well might the postmasters-general write, as they wrote under
+date the 7th of December 1785, "We are now at a loss in many instances
+how to rate letters and what to call by the name of a stage."
+
+But not even the increase of postage which resulted from shortening the
+stages gave so much offence as the earlier closing of the Post Office in
+Lombard Street. The Post Office had from the earliest times been kept
+open to at least twelve o'clock at night, and probably a little later.
+It now closed at seven o'clock in the evening, so as to admit of the
+mails starting at eight o'clock. Palmer had foreseen that objections
+might be raised to the change; but he was little prepared for the storm
+of indignation that followed. The first merchants in London, some of
+them bearing names still honoured in the city,--Thellusson, Lubbock and
+Bosanquet, Herries, Quentin Dick and Hoare,--protested in writing and
+afterwards waited on the postmasters-general in a body to support their
+protest. The leather-dealers followed suit, a body representing more
+than sixty firms. Some held that the Post Office should be kept open
+till nine o'clock, and others till ten or even eleven o'clock; but all
+were of opinion that seven was too early an hour to close. At a meeting
+held at the London Tavern, and presided over by one of the sheriffs,
+resolutions were passed, copies of which were afterwards presented to
+Pitt in person, not only condemning the early hour of closing but
+calling for the adoption of measures with a view "to remove the
+inconveniences which had hitherto been experienced from the
+establishment of mail-coaches." No wonder if the postmasters-general
+doubted the merits of a plan which exposed them to these complaints.
+
+Nor was it only from without that troubles came. The letter-carriers
+were grumbling and more than grumbling; and not without reason. For more
+than seventy years they had been ringing bells in the streets after the
+receiving houses were shut--until 1769 on the three nights of the week
+called grand post nights, and since that date on the bye-nights as
+well--receiving as their own perquisite 1d. on each letter they
+collected. Hence the men had made a comfortable addition to their wages
+of 12s. a week; and now, owing to the closing of the Post Office at
+seven, the emoluments derived from this source were rapidly dwindling
+and promised soon to disappear altogether.
+
+Between Carteret and Tankerville differences now arose which, in view of
+subsequent events, it is impossible to pass unnoticed. On the break-up
+of the Shelburne administration in 1783, when Tankerville left the Post
+Office and Carteret remained, the two postmasters-general had parted
+with mutual expressions of regard and goodwill. A questionable
+transaction in which Carteret had been concerned, a transaction
+partaking of the nature of a corrupt bargain, had indeed come under
+Tankerville's notice; but he willingly attributed it to the malign
+influence exercised by his predecessor, Lord le Despencer. This
+favourable construction his later experience had induced him to modify.
+One case in particular which occurred soon after his return to the Post
+Office had aroused the most painful suspicions. On Monday the 2nd of
+August 1784, the same day as that on which the first mail-coach started,
+the Post Office of Ireland was separated from the Post Office of
+England. Into the reasons of this separation, being as they were
+political, we do not propose to enter. Suffice it to say that the
+Government of Ireland took advantage of the occasion to displace Armit,
+the secretary to the Irish Post Office, and to reappoint John Lees, who
+had been secretary from 1774 to 1781, when he was promoted to the War
+Office. On his reappointment Lees wrote to the postmasters-general in
+London recapitulating the conditions on which he had been appointed ten
+years before, and stating that to those conditions, onerous as they
+were, he proposed in the main to adhere. He was indeed under no
+obligation in the matter, for he owed his reappointment to the Irish
+Government; but of this circumstance he had no desire to avail himself.
+Armit had taken over the conditions from Lees; and Lees would now resume
+them from Armit. Let us see what the conditions were. In 1774 Barham,
+the packet agent at Dover, being compelled by ill-health to retire, was
+succeeded by Walcot, the secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, and
+Walcot was succeeded by Lees, who was new to the service. Barham, though
+superannuated, was during his life to receive from Walcot the full
+salary and emoluments of the packet agency, and Walcot was during the
+same period to receive from Lees the full salary and emoluments of the
+secretaryship. Lees was meanwhile to receive from Walcot a small
+allowance for acting as secretary. Thus far there was nothing unusual in
+the arrangement. On the contrary, it was an arrangement which in those
+days was very commonly made. That which was unusual, and which nowhere
+appeared in the official records, was an undertaking into which Lees had
+entered to the effect that, after Barham's death, he would make to a
+fourth person during that person's life an annual payment of L350. This
+engagement Lees, when reappointed in 1784, expressed himself unwilling
+to renew. He was quite prepared to resume the payment to Walcot, reduced
+only to the same extent as by recent legislation the secretary's
+emoluments had been reduced; but the reversionary payment to the
+gentleman whom he would designate by the initials A. B. rested on
+different grounds. From this he must beg to be released.
+
+Now, who was A. B.? This was the question which Tankerville asked; and
+asked in vain. He could obtain no information on the subject. Meanwhile
+Carteret, who was extremely displeased and disquieted at the disclosure,
+caused an expression of his severe displeasure to be conveyed to Lees
+that he should have presumed to make public a transaction which was
+obviously designed to be private. Lees replied that, as he would be
+unable to keep the engagement, he was bound in honour to state so; that
+he had made known nothing more than was absolutely necessary in order
+to obtain an acquittance, namely, that after Barham's death an annuity
+of L350 had been agreed to be paid to some one; but who this some one
+was had been, and would continue to be, a profound secret. In London it
+had been whispered, and more than whispered, that A. B. was Carteret
+himself. On this point Lees was emphatic. The transaction, he said,
+concerns no postmaster-general, either living or dead. "With Lord
+Carteret it has personally no more to do than with the King of France."
+
+Tankerville, though profoundly dissatisfied, resolved to let the matter
+drop; and during the next eighteen months the feeling of distrust with
+which he regarded Carteret did not prevent the two postmasters-general
+from working together harmoniously. It was not until June 1786 that an
+open rupture occurred. Some furniture had been ordered for the
+housekeeper's apartments, and Tankerville, regarding it as of too
+luxurious a nature, refused to countersign the bill unless the secretary
+could produce a precedent for the expense. This Todd might have had some
+difficulty in doing, as no housekeeper had resided on the Post Office
+premises since the year 1740; but instead of offering an explanation to
+that effect he waited for the next Board meeting, and, having already
+procured Carteret's signature to the bill, put it before Tankerville
+without remark. Tankerville, who never signed a document without
+examining its contents, inquired whether this was not the housekeeper's
+bill to which he had taken exception, and, on being answered in the
+affirmative, told Todd that he had been guilty of a gross impropriety.
+Carteret, who had made no secret of his opinion that it was no part of a
+postmaster-general's duty to check tradesmen's accounts, took Todd's
+part; whereupon Tankerville, whose temper was always running away with
+him, observed that he would do no jobs, and that if a good understanding
+between himself and Carteret were only to be procured by such means he
+would rather that they should continue on their present terms.
+
+The next business set down for discussion had a termination still more
+unfortunate. The office of comptroller of the bye and cross roads had
+become vacant, and Carteret, whose turn it was to appoint, had appointed
+Staunton, the postmaster of Isleworth. In addition to a salary of L500 a
+year, the appointment carried a residence in the Post Office building;
+and as the residence occupied by the late comptroller had by Pitt's
+desire been given to Palmer, Carteret proposed that Staunton should be
+recommended to the Treasury for an allowance of L100 a year as
+compensation. Tankerville, who had been in personal communication with
+Pitt and ascertained that he would object to an allowance for such a
+purpose, declined to join in the recommendation, explaining the reason.
+Carteret's remarks implied, or seemed to imply, a doubt whether Pitt had
+really been seen on the subject, as alleged. Tankerville again lost his
+temper. High words ensued, and the Board broke up, Carteret declaring
+that it was impossible they should continue to act as joint
+postmasters-general, and that he should at once wait upon Pitt and
+inform him to that effect.
+
+Carteret was as good as his word. In three days from the date of the
+Board meeting at which the altercation had taken place he waited upon
+Pitt; and Pitt, after labouring in vain to effect a reconciliation, at
+length dismissed Tankerville. Tankerville, who had been in constant
+communication with the minister on the subject of the abuses at the Post
+Office, and had sedulously applied himself to their correction, was
+hardly less surprised than he was indignant; and restating the origin of
+the disagreement between himself and his colleague, he demanded to be
+informed in what respects he had been to blame. Pitt replied that he
+could not enter into the merits of the question; that all it concerned
+him to know was that Carteret was necessary to him in the House of
+Lords; and that, as Carteret had expressed himself unable to act any
+longer with Tankerville, it had become essential to make another
+arrangement.
+
+This decision as between two colleagues, of whom one was as clearly
+actuated by honesty of purpose as the other was not, a decision given
+too by a minister who had already established a character for purity of
+administration, seems so extraordinary that we must look for some
+further explanation. The truth we believe to be that owing to an
+ungovernable temper Tankerville was simply intractable, and had shewn
+himself to Pitt to be so. Even Todd, who with all his faults was
+essentially a man of peace, was unable to get on with him. "I am sorry
+to say," he wrote on one occasion, "your Lordship is the only
+postmaster-general I have not had the happiness to serve under with his
+perfect approbation." On another occasion he wrote to Carteret: "I have
+had a very unpleasant day of it. His Lordship is so completely jealous
+and wrong-headed, so that without entering into unpleasing particulars I
+had better leave him to his own thoughts." Tankerville's own letters
+afford evidence to the same effect. "I shall not be disposed to talk
+coolly on the subject of Mr. Dashwood, or hear anything you may have to
+say, unless you can prove him guilty of fraud, which I do not admit, but
+now tell you distinctly that I believe Lord Carteret has been indebted
+to you for that forced construction." Again, "I do not find that I cool
+very fast," Tankerville wrote from Brighton a week or so after the
+incident which had excited his ire. Ever his own worst enemy, he now
+spoiled a good ease, so far as it was possible to spoil it, by
+intemperate writing. Instead of keeping to the main question, he rambled
+off into side-issues which were all but irrelevant. Carteret had spoken
+of one interview with Pitt. Pitt had expressed himself as though there
+had been more than one. The point was absolutely unimportant. Yet
+Tankerville fastened upon it, and, declaring that one or the other must
+have been guilty of untruth, called upon them as men of honour to
+reconcile the discrepancy.
+
+Intemperate as Tankerville's language had been, it was impossible that
+things should remain as they were. Nothing but a public inquiry would
+satisfy the justice of the case; and on this he was resolved. It was a
+matter of regret to him to impeach Carteret's conduct; but there was no
+other method of vindicating his own. "The causes of my removal," he
+wrote, "shall be made as public as the injury; and, however gratified
+your Lordship and those in concert with you may at present feel by the
+success of your measures, I will take upon me to foretell that the
+triumph will soon be at an end. I have been removed; others will be
+disgraced." "When your Lordship," replied Carteret, "shall think proper
+to bring this matter before the public, I flatter myself my conduct will
+be unimpeached."
+
+A Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry was granted, and met for the first
+time on the 16th of May 1787. The session terminated on the 30th of the
+same month. Short as the interval was, evidence enough was taken to
+substantiate all and more than all that Tankerville had alleged. The
+Committee reported that a payment of L350 a year had been exacted from
+Lees as a condition of his appointment as secretary to the Post Office
+in Ireland; that a payment of L200 a year had been similarly exacted
+from Dashwood, the postmaster-general of Jamaica; that, while Lees had
+engaged to pay only in a future event, the payment in Dashwood's case
+had begun from the date of his appointment; that both payments were in
+favour of the person who had been designated by the initials A. B.; that
+the transactions, though protested against at the time, had been
+insisted upon by Lords Carteret and Le Despencer; and that not only had
+no record of them been made in the official books, but they had been
+kept carefully concealed. The Committee further reported that scandalous
+abuses had been found to exist at the Post Office, abuses which should
+be examined into and corrected forthwith; and that of many of these the
+First Lord of the Treasury had been specifically informed by Lord
+Tankerville before the latter was dismissed.
+
+The chief interest of the inquiry, however, centred in the question--who
+was A. B.? A. B. proved to be one Peregrine Treves, a so-called friend
+of Carteret's, who had never performed any public service either in the
+Post Office or elsewhere. "Are you not a Jew and a foreigner?" asked the
+inexorable Committee. "Yes," was the reply. "In consideration of what
+services," the Committee continued, "did you receive these grants?"
+"From friendship entirely," answered Treves.
+
+Tankerville's prediction had been amply fulfilled. It was not he that
+was disgraced. Yet, curiously enough, Carteret made no sign. And even
+Pitt did nothing more than expedite the proceedings of a Royal
+Commission which was already sitting. This Commission had been appointed
+at his instigation some years before to inquire into the duties and the
+pay of certain public departments, of which the Post Office was one. It
+was now arranged that the Post Office was to be the next to come under
+review.
+
+During these dissensions at headquarters Palmer's plan had made steady
+progress. Many of the irregularities inseparable from the introduction
+of a new system had been corrected. The cross-posts had been fitted to
+the mail-coaches, so that failures of connection were daily becoming
+fewer; and when the merchants found that answers to their letters were
+being received in less than half the usual time, and with a degree of
+punctuality never experienced before, their complaints respecting the
+early closing of the Post Office appear to have died away. The Post
+Office revenue bore evidence to the improved state of things, the net
+receipt during the quarter ending the 5th of January 1787 being L73,000,
+as against L51,000 during the corresponding quarter of 1784. According
+to all experience, the increase in the rates of postage should have had
+the effect of reducing the number of letters; but so far was this from
+being the case that the number of letters had increased in spite of the
+increase of rates. The truth is that clandestine correspondence had to a
+large extent ceased. There was no longer any temptation to send by
+irregular means, at a cost of two or three shillings, and at the risk of
+detection, a letter which would be conveyed at least as expeditiously
+and for one-third of that amount by mail-coach.
+
+Palmer, who had to this time been assisted by persons selected by
+himself and not belonging to the Post Office, now bestirred himself to
+procure for them an established position. Public and private interests
+were for once identical. Hitherto there had been only three surveyors
+for the whole of England; and of these one had resided in London. At
+Palmer's instigation, England was now divided into six postal districts,
+and a surveyor allotted to each. A seventh or spare surveyor was held in
+readiness to be detached to any part of the kingdom where his services
+might be required. Each surveyor was to reside in the centre of his
+district, and his functions, shortly stated, were to keep an accurate
+record of the posts and of the persons under his charge, to see that
+these persons did their duty, to facilitate correspondence and to remedy
+complaints. The resident surveyorship, an appointment which had been
+created in 1742, was abolished as no longer necessary, Palmer himself
+being at hand to give what advice the postmasters-general might require.
+The mode of remuneration was also altered. Hitherto the surveyors had
+received a salary of L300 a year without any allowance for travelling,
+the consequence being of course that they had travelled as little as
+possible. For the future the salary was to be only L100; but as an
+inducement to them to move about within their own districts, they were
+to have one guinea a day when absent from their headquarters. The whole
+of the additional appointments were conferred upon Palmer's nominees,
+and for the seventh or spare surveyorship he selected Francis Freeling,
+a young man of promise, who during the last two years had been actively
+engaged in regulating the mail-coaches throughout the country.
+
+It was about this time or a little earlier that the conditions of
+Palmer's own employment were, at length, definitely settled, but not by
+any means to his own satisfaction. His first stipulation was that,
+besides being absolutely free from the control of the postmasters-general,
+he should have a commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon all increase in
+the net Post Office revenue, which should follow as the result of
+his own plan. Thus, the net Post Office revenue before August 1784
+being estimated at L150,000, he stipulated for one-fortieth part of
+the excess over that amount. To this Pitt agreed; but freedom from the
+control of the postmasters-general was a point which it was out of his
+power to concede. The Act of Parliament constituting the Post Office
+would not admit of it. Even nominal subjection to the postmasters-general
+was so irksome to Palmer that he was constantly pressing that a
+special Act might be passed to give him perfect freedom. Nor was
+this all. The increase in the rates of postage which came into
+operation one month after the starting of the first mail-coach was
+estimated to produce L90,000 a year, and Pitt deemed it only reasonable
+that this amount should be added to the previous revenue of L150,000,
+making L240,000 altogether, before Palmer could be allowed to draw his
+percentage. Of this variation of the original understanding Palmer
+bitterly complained, not seeing apparently that, as the increase of
+rates had been recommended by himself, the complaint reflected on his
+own singleness of purpose in making the recommendation.
+
+Eventually it was decided that, in addition to a commission of 2-1/2 per
+cent upon the net revenue in excess of L240,000, Palmer should receive a
+salary of L1500; but even this settlement was not arrived at without
+grumbling on Palmer's part, and without serious misgiving on the part of
+the Post Office. Pitt highly approved the percentage, holding that it
+would serve as a constant incentive to exertion. Tankerville, while not
+denying the expediency of such a mode of remuneration, questioned its
+legality. Under the Act of Anne, which a subsequent Act had made
+perpetual, the Post Office revenue was appropriated to certain specific
+purposes; and he doubted the propriety of diverting any part of it as a
+reward for services, however meritorious. Clarendon, Tankerville's
+successor, entertained the same scruples; and except by the
+postmasters-general no appointment within the Post Office could be
+made. Palmer's objection, on the contrary, was to the amount of salary,
+on the ground that L1500 did not represent the fortieth part of L90,000.
+Pitt declined, however, to give way; and on the 11th of October 1786
+Palmer was appointed comptroller-general of the Post Office on the terms
+prescribed by the minister.
+
+There can be no question that Palmer bargaining for terms is Palmer seen
+in his least pleasing aspect. The best that can be said is that he was
+candid enough not to disguise his object, which was to amass a fortune.
+At Bath he had in his boyhood seen Ralph Allen living in a large house
+and dispensing hospitality on an extensive scale, and he could not bring
+himself to understand why the difference between his own and Allen's
+remuneration should be in the inverse ratio to the value of their
+improvements. And not only did Palmer exhibit an unworthy jealousy of
+Allen, but he did that good man, as we think, an injustice. When urging
+his own claims on the minister, he constantly insisted that Allen, on
+the introduction of his plan, had no difficulties to contend with, and
+that he kept that plan a secret. Never was there a more untenable
+position. That Allen had difficulties to contend with and how he
+overcame them we have seen in a preceding chapter; and the charge of
+keeping his plan a secret is refuted by the conditions of his contract,
+which prevented him from giving an instruction even to his own servants
+until it had been submitted to headquarters. No doubt it was not known
+until after his death that Allen had derived from the Post Office an
+income of L12,000 a year. His wealth had been supposed to come from the
+stone-quarries he possessed on Combe Down. But this was not the
+contention. What Palmer insisted upon was that, while he had disclosed
+his plan, Allen had kept his plan secret, and that, if only on that
+ground, the balance of merit was on his own side.
+
+In December 1787 the Commission of Inquiry commenced its labours.
+Exactly a century had elapsed since the Post Office had undergone a
+similar ordeal, a period too long for any public department to be left
+to itself; and meanwhile abuses had taken root and flourished. One
+hundred years before there had been no sinecures. Now the principal
+officers attended, some of them only occasionally and others not at all;
+and attendance, when attendance was given, often extended no later than
+to one or two o'clock in the afternoon. The receiver-general, for
+instance, attended on three days a week; and the accountant-general
+attended once or twice in three months, when the quarterly balance had
+to be made up. Court-post employed a deputy, to whom, out of a salary of
+L730, he made an annual allowance of L58. The solicitor, like
+court-post, was an absentee, but, unlike him, was careful not to part
+with even a fraction of his salary. In this case the deputy received as
+remuneration one-third part of the law charges incurred--a form of
+payment calculated more perhaps than any other to promote litigation. In
+the Penny Post Office were three principal officers--a comptroller, an
+accountant, and a collector. Of these the first two gave no attendance,
+and the third attended only occasionally, their duties being imposed
+upon the chief sorter, who, in all but salary, was practically the head
+of the department.
+
+Meagre salaries were bolstered up by fees and perquisites, many of them
+of an outrageous character. While the senior letter-carrier was rigidly
+restricted to 312 candles in the year, a number not perhaps in excess of
+his actual requirements, there was hardly an officer reputed to be of
+any position in the Post Office, whether an absentee or otherwise, who
+was not provided with coals and candles for his private use. Although to
+some the supply of these articles was greater than to others, the usual
+annual allowance was, in the case of a subordinate, four, and, in the
+case of the head of a department, ten chaldron of coals, and in both
+cases thirty-two dozen pounds of candles. As the holder of two
+appointments, although he discharged the duties of only one of them, the
+comptroller of the bye and cross roads received a double allowance. Many
+commuted with the tradesmen whose duty it was to supply the articles for
+a money payment. Altogether the allowance to Post Office servants for
+their private use in town and country, and irrespective of what was
+consumed in the official apartments, exceeded in a single year 300
+chaldron of coals and 20,000 pounds of candles.
+
+The postmasters-general had long ceased to reside in the Post Office
+building; and yet to them was supplied, besides coals and candles, what
+was euphoniously termed tinware, by which is to be understood kitchen
+utensils. The expenditure on their account under the three heads during
+two years and a half was, for coals L2230, for candles L700, and for
+pots and pans L150.
+
+Of stationery there was also a gratuitous supply for private as well as
+official use. One fee was a peculiarly cruel one, exacted as it was from
+a class of public servants who were unable to protect themselves. All
+postmasters whose salaries amounted to as much as L20 were forced to
+renew their deputations every three years, with no other object than to
+enrich the harpies at headquarters. On each renewal the same fee had to
+be paid as on appointment, namely L4:11s.; and of this amount 30s. went
+to each of the postmasters-general, 10s. to the secretary, 10s. to the
+solicitor, and 1s. to the door-keeper. The remainder was for stamp duty.
+Postmasters were also required to pay a fee of half a guinea before
+receiving a warrant to exempt them from serving in public offices.
+Christmas-boxes given by the merchants, and designed for the
+letter-carriers and other subordinates, were to a large extent
+appropriated by their superiors. From this source the comptroller of the
+foreign office, with an official income of L1300, was not ashamed to
+derive L34 a year. Others from the same source derived smaller amounts.
+Newspapers for reading were supplied in profligate profusion. One head
+of department was allowed for his own use two morning and five evening
+papers; another was paid L42:16s. a year to supply himself with what
+papers he pleased. All, whether absentees or not, received an annual
+payment under the title of drink and feast money, the lowest amount
+being L1:17s. and the highest L3:17s., and this was in addition to
+three or four so-called feasts given annually at the cost of the
+department. These with percentages on tradesmen's bills were some of the
+fees and perquisites which were now dragged to the light.
+
+Out of the whole number there was only one which, besides being moderate
+and unobjectionable, possessed a certain interest as denoting the
+connection which had at one time subsisted between the Post Office and
+the Crown. This was a fee of 1s. received by the chief sorter at the
+General Post Office on the occasion of a birthday in the Royal Family;
+and as the Royal Family now consisted of twenty-one members, his
+emoluments from this source amounted to one guinea in the year.
+
+There were two points on which the Royal Commissioners appear to have
+received less than full information. These were expresses and registered
+letters. Expresses, according to the old custom of the post, were still
+going at the rate of only six miles an hour, while the mail-coaches were
+going at the rate of eight. To this difference the Commissioners called
+attention; but they were silent as to the fees which some expresses
+paid, being apparently under the impression that all were treated alike.
+As a matter of fact, however, expresses had by this time been divided
+into two kinds--the public express and the private express. The public
+express, that is the express on public affairs, was allowed to pass
+without a fee, no doubt because the Post Office dared not impose one;
+but on every private express, in addition to the authorised mileage, was
+charged, if from London, a fee of 12s. 6d., and if from the country, a
+fee of 2s. 6d.; and of course in this, as in every other case, the fees
+were for the benefit of individuals.
+
+On the subject of registered letters addressed to places abroad the
+Commissioners merely expressed the opinion that the registration fee,
+instead of being any longer treated as a perquisite, should be applied
+to the use of the public; but they nowhere stated, and perhaps had not
+been informed, what this fee was. It may be interesting if we supply the
+omission. The fee for registering a packet of value was, outwards[61]
+21s., and inwards 5s. It seems incredible, and yet such is the
+unquestionable fact. For every letter registered for abroad the
+comptroller of the foreign office received 10s. 6d., the
+deputy-comptroller 4s. 6d., and six clerks 1s. apiece. One guinea for
+registration! And it was all the more monstrous because there can be
+little doubt that at one time letters had been practically registered
+without any fee at all. An Order in Council dated as far back as July
+1556 had ordained "that the poste between this and the Northe should
+eche of them keepe a booke and make entrye of every letter that he shall
+receive, the tyme of the deliverie thereof unto his hands with the
+parties names that shall bring it unto him, whose handes he shall also
+take to his booke, witnessing the same note to be trewe." In 1603
+another Order in Council passed, requiring that "every post shall keepe
+a large and faire leger paper booke, to enter our packets in as they
+shalbe brought unto him, with the day of the moneth, houre of the day or
+night, that they came first to his handes, together with the name of him
+or them, by whom or unto whom they were subscribed and directed." In
+1680 Dockwra, when establishing his penny post, was careful to provide
+that letters on reaching any one of his seven sorting offices should be
+"entered"; and in a mere detail of treatment, it may well be believed,
+he followed the practice of the general post. In 1707 letters from
+abroad arriving at Harwich were not to be forwarded to the Court at
+Newmarket until the addresses had been copied. And more than this. In
+1709 two letters between London and Ostend had been delayed, and it
+became important to discover where the delay had occurred. "We find
+them," wrote the postmasters-general, "both duly entered in Mr. Frowde's
+books, and are satisfy'd they were regularly dispatched from this
+office." Now Mr. Frowde was comptroller of the foreign office. It may
+be added that, small as was the force employed at the end of the
+seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, it is difficult
+to account for the length of time which was then occupied in dealing
+with a mere handful of letters except on the hypothesis that there was a
+good deal more to be done than to sort and to tax them. And now the Post
+Office, upon no better authority than its own will, was exacting a fee
+of 21s. and 5s., according as the letter was outwards or inwards, for
+doing what some eighty years before had been done for nothing. The sums
+extorted from the public under this head were in 1783 L121, and in the
+following year L240.
+
+  [61] A foreign registered letter _outwards_ would be a letter registered
+  as far as Dover or Harwich or Falmouth for transmission abroad, and
+  possibly on board ship. A foreign registered letter _inwards_ would not
+  be the exact converse, for there would be no registration from the port
+  of arrival to London. The fee of 5s. covered the registration of a
+  letter only from London to its destination.
+
+As regards the working arrangements, Palmer, in virtue of the power he
+possessed as comptroller-general, had already corrected those that were
+most faulty. Until lately, the letter-carriers' walks had been so
+extensive that many of the deliveries could not be accomplished within
+five or six hours. Palmer had arranged that no delivery should occupy
+more than two hours or two hours and a half at the utmost, counting from
+the time of despatch from the General Post Office. It had been the
+practice for the junior clerks, the clerks with the least experience, to
+sort the letters for delivery, the consequence being that they reached
+the letter-carriers' hands in so confused a state that they had to be
+sorted again. Hence it had been by no means unusual for an interval of
+four or five hours to elapse between the arrival of the last mail and
+the going out of the letter-carriers. By appointing some of the most
+intelligent letter-carriers to sort the letters in the first instance,
+Palmer had reduced the interval to one hour on ordinary, and to one hour
+and a half on extraordinary occasions. As many as 400 postmasters had
+returned their letter-bills in one week, and on the plea of having been
+overcharged had claimed and been allowed deductions. Palmer had checked
+this abuse by arranging that in the case of those postmasters who were
+in the habit of returning their letter-bills the charges should be twice
+told. He had also reduced the amount expended on extra duty by L2000 a
+year. Heretofore, if a man had chosen to absent himself, the Post Office
+had provided a substitute. For the future the substitute was to be
+provided at the absentee's own expense.
+
+But although Palmer had already corrected the most faulty of the
+arrangements, some still existed which could not be pronounced good. The
+accountant-general was intended to be a check upon the receiver-general;
+yet, instead of keeping an independent record of the sums received, he
+merely transcribed or caused to be transcribed the entries from the
+receiver-general's books. The accountant-general, again, was required to
+certify every bill before the postmasters-general passed it for payment;
+but as he was not empowered to call for vouchers or for the authority
+under which the expenditure had been incurred, his certificate conveyed
+nothing more than that the bill had been rightly cast. The accounts
+themselves appear to have been rendered in the strangest manner. The
+article "Dead Letters," for instance, was made to serve a variety of
+purposes. Under this article postmasters were accustomed to claim
+chaise-hire, law charges, and even pensions to private persons.
+
+The packet service was a part of the Post Office which the Commissioners
+would fain have avoided if they could; but the public voice was too
+strong for them. The enormous expenditure which this service involved
+had long excited murmurs, and the opportunity which now offered of
+investigating the causes of it was one which could not with any regard
+to propriety be missed. Accordingly the inquiry was entered upon; but
+with a desire to restrict it as far as possible the Commissioners did
+not extend their investigations beyond the packet station at Falmouth,
+where more than three-fourths of the expenditure was incurred. To
+ourselves, who are under no obligation to observe a similar limit,
+perhaps a little more latitude may be allowed.
+
+The continental mails by way of Dover and Harwich went at this time only
+twice a week; and by a curious arrangement these mails started from the
+General Post Office at midnight, although the inland mails for the same
+towns and going by the same route started at eight o'clock in the
+evening. At Harwich the packet station had abandoned itself to
+smuggling. In 1774 two packets, the _Bessborough_ and the _Prince of
+Wales_, were seized for having contraband goods on board. Not a single
+voyage had these packets made during the last two years without
+committing a similar infringement of the law. The Commissioners of
+Customs, whose patience was exhausted, now commenced proceedings in the
+Court of Exchequer, and were prevailed upon to abandon them only upon
+the captains, who were also owners of the vessels, paying by way of fine
+two-third parts of their appraised value--amounting to L306 in one case
+and to L272 in the other--of which sums one-half was to go to the Crown
+and one-half to the officer by whom the goods had been discovered. This
+high reward was not long in reproducing the occasion on account of which
+it had been given. In November 1777 another seizure took place, this
+time of three packets simultaneously, two of them being the same as had
+been seized in 1774. The third was the _Dolphin_. On this occasion the
+Commissioners of Customs determined that the vessels should be
+prosecuted to condemnation. In vain the postmasters-general urged that
+the law was a hard one which made the captains responsible for offences
+which, it was alleged, they had done their best to check. The customs
+authorities were inexorable. It was not long, however, before the Post
+Office became possessed of certain facts which, when investigated,
+proved beyond a doubt that there had for years past been collusion of
+the grossest character. On every voyage contraband goods--chiefly tea,
+coffee, and gin--had, with the connivance of the local officers of
+customs, been imported in large quantities; and of these only a part, a
+comparatively small part, had been seized. Thus, the Post Office
+servants received from the goods that were left to them ample, and more
+than ample, compensation for those that were taken away; and the
+servants of the customs received from their Board in London both credit
+and reward for their vigilance. Nor was it by any means certain that the
+seizure of the packets in 1774 and again in 1777 was not another phase
+of the same collusive arrangement.
+
+At Falmouth the case was somewhat different. Smuggling, indeed, was
+going on there just as it was at Harwich. As far back as 1744 the
+customs had issued process against the captains of two of the Falmouth
+packets for having contraband goods on board. The case is only worthy of
+mention as shewing the loose notions which at that time prevailed even
+in high quarters on the subject of clandestine traffic. The
+postmasters-general of the day, Lord Lovell and Sir John Eyles, told the
+Board of Customs in so many words that their conduct was unhandsome. It
+was vain, they urged, to endeavour to prevent "these little clandestine
+importations and exportations" on board the packets; and if violent
+measures were to be resorted to, as in the present instance, no captain
+"of real worth and character" would be found to command, and "no fit and
+able" seamen to serve. Again, in 1776 the _Greyhound_ packet was seized
+at the port of Kingston in Jamaica for attempting to smuggle spirits.
+Early in 1788 the _Queen Charlotte_ packet was condemned and sold at the
+same port and for the same cause. In 1786 a special agent sent down to
+Falmouth by Tankerville reported that, according to common repute, no
+packet either proceeded on a voyage or returned from one without
+hovering about the coast for the purpose of shipping or unshipping
+goods.
+
+But, rife as smuggling was, it was something more than an infringement
+of the customs laws that now brought the packet station at Falmouth into
+notoriety. During the seventeen years ending the 5th of April 1787, the
+cost of the packets had exceeded L1,038,000; and of this amount about
+L800,000 had been expended at Falmouth. At the present day, when a
+single mail steamer costs perhaps as much as L300,000, the sum of
+L1,000,000 sterling would not go far to create and maintain a fleet; but
+a century ago it was considered, even when spread over a period of
+seventeen years, an enormous expenditure, an expenditure such as, in the
+language of the Royal Commissioners, almost to surpass credibility. And
+certainly there seems to have been good ground for this opinion. The
+packets altogether were only thirty-six in number, of which twenty-one
+were stationed at Falmouth. These were of no more than 200 tons burthen,
+and were navigated with thirty men, five of them being the property of
+the Post Office and fifteen being hired. For each of the hired boats was
+paid the annual sum of L2129, and for each of the others the annual sum
+of L1529, these sums including the charge of manning and victualling.
+The sixteen packets stationed elsewhere than at Falmouth were hired at
+ridiculously low prices, at Dover for L412 a year each, at Harwich for
+L469, and at Holyhead for L350. To expend upon the packets under such
+conditions as these more than L1,000,000 sterling in the course of
+seventeen years required no small amount of ingenuity. How was it
+managed? This was the question which the Royal Commissioners now set
+themselves to solve.
+
+The grossest abuses were found to exist. The hire of the packets had
+been paid when they were under seizure for smuggling, and under repair,
+and even when they were building. In the case of packets that were
+building and under repair the victualling allowance paid when there were
+no men to victual had amounted in twelve years and a half to L56,000.
+When packets had been taken by the enemy the hire of them had been paid
+for months beyond the date of their capture; and this was in addition to
+compensation to the owners, which, however old and rotten the packet
+might be, was fixed at her original value when taken into the service.
+Compensation to the captains had also been given for the loss of their
+private property and of provisions. For provisions the compensation had
+always been as for six months' supply, although the supply that was
+actually on board might not be enough for one month; and for their
+private property the captains had been compensated at their own
+valuation. Whatever they had asked they had received without examination
+and without question. This astounding prodigality indulged in at the
+expense of the State is easily explained. The Post Office servants in
+London, down even to the chamber-keeper, had shares in the packets; and
+of these servants the one who possessed by far the largest number of
+shares was Anthony Todd, the secretary. Todd also received a commission
+of 2-1/2 per cent upon the entire sum expended on the packet
+establishment of the kingdom. Thus, the very man whose duty it was to
+check the expenditure had a direct personal interest in making the
+expenditure as high as possible.
+
+The salary of the Secretary to the Post Office remained, as it was fixed
+in 1703, at L200 a year; and whatever Todd received over and above that
+amount, he received without authority. Let us see what his actual
+receipts were. In addition to his proper salary of L200, he had what was
+called a bye salary of L75. Bye had at one time meant out of course or
+clandestine; and this meaning would perhaps not be inappropriate here.
+He had for coach hire L100 a year. He had another L100 a year from
+Lloyds's coffee-house. He had from fees on commissions and deputations
+L154 a year. He had every year twenty chaldron of coal and twelve dozen
+of wax and sixty-four dozen of tallow candles, valued by himself at
+L103. He had an unfurnished residence with stables in the Post Office
+building; and he received annually from the East India Company eight
+pounds of tea and two dozen of arrack. But this was by no means all. As
+former clerk in the foreign branch, an appointment which he still
+retained, he had a salary of L50 and an allowance of L100 a year for
+so-called disbursements, which he never made. He had also, in his
+capacity of clerk, L15 a year for coach-hire and ten chaldron of coal
+and thirty-two dozen of candles, valued at L40. Besides all this, he had
+his commission of 2-1/2 per cent upon the entire packet expenditure of
+the country, from which source he derived in the year 1782 no less than
+L2136. Altogether, Todd's modest salary of L200 a year had, by his own
+unaided exertions, been converted into an annual income of more than
+L3000.
+
+The extent of Todd's emoluments, his commission on the packet
+expenditure, the outrageous character of some of the fees and
+perquisites which he and others were receiving, the absenteeism, the
+abuses generally--all this had long been known to Pitt. Much he had
+heard from Tankerville, and still more, probably, from Palmer. But
+before either Palmer or Tankerville became connected with the Post
+Office, Pitt had been aware of many, if not most, of the abuses which
+prevailed there. As early as 1782 one of his first acts after becoming
+Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Shelburne administration was to give
+peremptory orders that no more packets were to be either built or
+purchased without Treasury authority. For such authority it had hitherto
+been the practice to ask before setting up new packets, but not before
+replacing old ones--packets that were worn out or alleged to be worn
+out, or that had been lost or captured. This was a distinction which had
+existed since packets were first established, and to which, nearly a
+hundred years before, Cotton and Frankland had attached great
+importance. It was now to exist no longer. In 1783 Pitt called for a
+return of the fees and perquisites received at the Post Office, and it
+was not until after this return had been furnished and possibly in
+consequence of it that the Commission of Inquiry was appointed. "Did you
+ever communicate this transaction to Mr. Pitt," inquired the
+Parliamentary Committee in 1787. "I did," replied Tankerville, "but
+found him not ill-informed on the subject in general."
+
+It may seem strange that with the knowledge which he unquestionably
+possessed respecting the prevalent abuses Pitt should have allowed them
+to go on so long uncorrected. The explanation we believe to be twofold.
+In the first place he was unwilling to do or suffer to be done anything
+which might interfere with the introduction of Palmer's improvements.
+This was a point on which Pitt never ceased to betray the utmost
+anxiety. To embark on any general system of reform might conflict with
+the new plan. Let the plan be established first and the abuses could be
+corrected afterwards. Hence it was, no doubt, that of all the public
+offices to be inquired into, the Post Office, in spite of the notoriety
+which its abuses had acquired, was taken last. But this, although the
+primary explanation, was not, we suspect, the only one. Incorrupt
+himself, Pitt was extraordinarily tolerant of corruption in others.
+Witness his defence of Melville. Even of Carteret's transaction with
+Peregrine Treves he could never be brought to admit more than that it
+was not a proper one. This tolerance in others of what he would have
+scorned to do himself we attribute to a conviction on his part that
+abuses were less to be charged against individuals than as the result of
+a bad system which made the abuses possible; and what, if we mistake
+not, Pitt had proposed to himself was to bring to bear upon this system
+the force of public opinion. A ruthless exposure, we have little doubt,
+had been in contemplation; and yet when the time for exposure came, Pitt
+held back. Whether it was that the abuses proved too flagrant to be
+published with safety or that their correction would involve more time
+or more money than could then be spared, the fact remains that, after
+receiving the report of the Commission, Pitt locked it up in his
+despatch box and kept it there for the space of four years; and not even
+the postmasters-general could procure a copy.
+
+But secret as the report of the Commission was kept, the procedure at
+the Post Office was about to undergo a radical change. A change indeed
+had already begun. Tankerville, on his dismissal in August 1786, had
+been succeeded by Lord Clarendon; and Clarendon died in the following
+December. Then followed an interval of eight months, during which
+Carteret alone administered the Post Office and, as was usual on such
+occasions, drew the double salary. At length, as Carteret's colleague,
+Pitt appointed Lord Walsingham; and from that moment irregularity and
+disorder were at an end. Nothing escaped Walsingham's vigilant eye. To
+neglect or evasion of work he shewed no mercy. The man honestly
+striving to do his duty had no better friend. His industry and power of
+work were simply amazing. All instructions were prepared by him. Not a
+single letter of any importance was received at the Post Office without
+the answer to it being drafted in his own hand. Generous to a fault with
+his own money, he regarded the money of the public as a sacred trust, a
+trust which could not be discharged too scrupulously. Carteret's opinion
+was well known, that it was no part of a postmaster-general's duty to
+check accounts. Walsingham, on the contrary, would allow no account to
+be passed until he had checked it; and his checking went a good deal
+beyond the casting. Unless the articles were necessary and the charges
+reasonable, and unless they were proved to be so to his satisfaction,
+the account had a sorry chance of being passed. The official hours of
+attendance had hitherto been pretty much what each man chose to make
+them. To Walsingham all hours were alike; and at all hours he exacted
+attendance from others. "It is utterly impossible," wrote the head of
+one department, "for the accounts to be ready for your inspection
+to-morrow evening." "I will not fail," wrote the head of another, "to do
+myself the honour of waiting upon your Lordship to-morrow morning at
+eight precisely."
+
+Walsingham, on entering upon his duties at the Post Office, was
+concerned to find that to documents requiring to be signed by the two
+postmasters-general Carteret attached his signature first. Carteret's
+peerage dated from 1784, and Walsingham's from 1780. Surely the peer of
+older creation should sign first; and such, Walsingham found on inquiry,
+had been the practice hitherto. Pitt, though overwhelmed with business,
+was called upon to decide the momentous question. He was sorry, he said,
+that in the preparation of the patent the practice of the Post Office
+had been overlooked. It was a strange practice, a practice different
+from that of all other public offices. There the senior, the one who was
+first to enter the office, took precedence of the junior whatever his
+rank; and Carteret having been mentioned first in the patent must
+unquestionably sign first. But this, he added, need not be drawn into a
+precedent, and, on a new patent passing, the old practice of the office
+might be reverted to. We may here mention that a few years later the
+Earl of Chesterfield became Walsingham's colleague; but on that occasion
+Walsingham does not appear to have raised the question again or to have
+been unwilling to conform to the new practice. And, indeed, whether
+Walsingham signed before or after Carteret must to every one except
+himself have appeared of the least possible importance. Sign in what
+order he might, Walsingham's influence soon became paramount. Carteret
+might give what instruction he pleased, but unless endorsed by
+Walsingham a Post Office servant obeyed it at his peril. Walsingham, on
+the contrary, gave instructions without reference to his colleague, and
+exacted prompt and implicit obedience.
+
+With many of the qualities of a great man, Walsingham was strangely
+wanting in one particular. He had no sense of proportion. A trivial
+point hardly deserving of a moment's consideration he would elaborate as
+carefully as a measure involving large and important issues; and a
+clerical error or a slight indiscretion he would visit as severely as
+misconduct of the gravest character. Nor must we omit to mention a habit
+in which he indulged to an extent that has probably never been
+surpassed. This was a habit of annotating. Nothing came officially
+before him, whether a letter or a report or a book, without being
+covered in the margin and every available space with notes and queries;
+and, to add to the distraction which this mode of criticism seldom fails
+to cause, they were in so small and crabbed a hand as to be always
+difficult, and sometimes even with the aid of a magnifying-glass
+impossible, to decipher.
+
+There was only one person that had the slightest influence with
+Walsingham. This was Daniel Braithwaite, who, holding nominally the
+situation of clerk to the postmasters-general, was really their private
+secretary. Braithwaite was a Fellow of the Royal Society. Of consummate
+tact and judgment, and endowed with a peculiar sweetness of disposition,
+he contrived during difficult times to tone down asperities and to
+accommodate many a dissension which promised to become acute. Passing
+through his hands a harsh admonition was turned into a gentle reproof,
+and an imperious command into a courteous message. But under this
+softness of manner and a deference of language so profound that even
+Walsingham quizzed him on the number of "Lordships" he would introduce
+into a single letter, there lay concealed a solidity of character which
+few would have suspected. Honest Braithwaite he was called, and well he
+deserved the epithet. By a simple inquiry, a request for information or
+the expression of a doubt, he would nip some wild project in the bud,
+and, where occasion required, he would not hesitate to speak his mind
+freely. A young man, Stokes by name, who had been appointed to assist
+Braithwaite, had miscopied a date in one of Walsingham's numerous
+drafts, or rather, feeling sure that the date as it stood was wrong, had
+altered it to what he believed to be the right one. Walsingham, who was
+absent from London at the time, wrote back that Stokes was to be
+suspended. Braithwaite's sense of justice was shocked, and he refused to
+carry the order into effect. "If a mistake in copying," he wrote,
+"deserves so severe a punishment as suspension, what am I not to fear
+for disobedience, and yet I really cannot execute the task your Lordship
+has imposed upon me. For God's sake, my dear lord," he proceeded, "let
+me most earnestly entreat you to mitigate the severity of this sentence,
+and, if a reprimand at the Board is not sufficient, give poor Stokes a
+holiday and impose the fine for a substitute upon me. At any rate," he
+added, "pray leave the case to be decided at a Board or refer it to Mr.
+Todd." Walsingham did refer the case to Todd, but not before he had
+sternly demanded of his refractory henchman whether he had never read
+Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments. "No," replied Braithwaite, "I have
+not read Beccaria on Crimes and Punishments; but Beccaria, say what he
+may, will never convince me that it can be right to punish a mistake as
+though it were a crime." Honest Braithwaite! He prevailed in the end,
+and stood in Walsingham's confidence even higher than before.
+
+At a Board meeting on the 20th of July 1787, less than a fortnight after
+taking up his appointment, Walsingham in the presence of the captains
+who were ashore, and who had been summoned to London for the occasion,
+gave notice of his intention to reduce the packet establishment at
+Falmouth. That establishment consisted of twenty-one boats of 200 tons
+each, and manned by thirty men. It was proposed that for the future
+there should be twenty boats of 150 tons each, and with a complement of
+eighteen men. These boats would cost about L3000 apiece to build, and
+would not be the property of the Government. The Government would simply
+hire them, giving as the price of hire L1350 a year, which was to cover
+everything, wages and victualling included. The owners would also have
+the passage money, estimated at L150, for each boat. Large as this
+reduction was, the Treasury desired that it should be carried further,
+that only the boats to America should be of as much as 150 tons, and
+that those for the West Indies and for Lisbon should be of 100. The
+captains, who had not relished the proposed reduction even to 150 tons,
+were half-amused and half-indignant. Why, they asked, should the boats
+for America be the largest? Were hurricanes unknown in the West Indies?
+And could not the Bay of Biscay boast of tremendous seas? Boats of 100
+tons would be positively dangerous. No passenger would go by them; nor
+would any merchant trust them with bullion, from the freight of which
+the Post Office derived a considerable income.
+
+The postmasters-general had also on their side the result of experience.
+In 1745, when the packet service to the West Indies, which had ceased in
+1711, was re-established, boats of 100 tons had been tried and had
+proved to be altogether insufficient. Moreover, it was in the highest
+degree important, as a means of checking smuggling, that the boats
+should not be restricted to one route. The intention was that they
+should be interchangeable, so that their port of destination should be
+uncertain; and to this end the tonnage of one should be the tonnage of
+all. The Treasury appear to have remained unmoved by these
+representations. At all events no decision was received; and Walsingham,
+after waiting for what he no doubt considered an unreasonable time, took
+silence for assent and proceeded to carry his recommendations into
+effect.
+
+The economical results which had been looked for were not immediately
+realised. The boats hitherto in use may not perhaps have been built with
+the view of facilitating smuggling; and yet, crowded as they were
+between decks with cupboards, they could hardly have been better adapted
+to the purpose. In the new boats no receptacles were to be allowed in
+which clandestine goods could be concealed; the holds were to be only
+large enough to contain the stores and provisions for the voyage; the
+seamen were no longer to remain unrestricted as to the size and number
+of their boxes; and in other respects stringent regulations were laid
+down to prevent illicit traffic. Finding what they called their ventures
+stopped, the crews of the packets refused to go to sea without an
+increase of pay all round. These ventures, they contended, had been
+recognised from time immemorial and went in place of so much wages. How
+else would it have been possible for them, many of them men with wives
+and families, to subsist on a pittance of 23s. a month? The Post Office
+was forced to yield to the demand; and as the immediate result of his
+first essay in the cause of economy, Walsingham had the mortification of
+seeing the cost of the packet establishment increased by more than L2300
+a year.
+
+From Falmouth Walsingham turned his attention to other ports where
+packets were stationed. At Dover and at Harwich the establishments were
+too small to admit of any reduction. At the latter port, indeed, what
+little change took place was on the side of increase, the victualling
+allowance being raised from 7-1/2d. a day for each man to 9d., so as to
+be uniform with that given at Falmouth; and for the same reason the
+seamen's wages were raised from 23s. a month to 28s.
+
+With Holyhead the case was different. Here Walsingham had resolved upon
+making a reduction, and it was only on an earnest remonstrance from the
+Marquis of Buckingham, the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, that he abandoned
+his intention. The Holyhead packets were at this time five in number,
+and they were of seventy tons each and carried twelve hands. Walsingham
+held that this tonnage and complement of men were more than enough; and
+Buckingham maintained a directly contrary opinion. Between England and
+Ireland, he urged, the number of passengers was increasing every year,
+and surely this was not a time to lessen the confidence of the public in
+the security of the packets. The danger of navigation in those seas
+could not, he felt sure, be appreciated. He had himself crossed the
+Channel in all weathers. Once he had been nearly lost, and not on that
+occasion alone he had seen the crews, though at their full complement,
+absolutely prostrate with their exertions. Could it be known that, for
+purposes of passenger traffic, the captains of the Holyhead packets had
+recently built and fitted out at their own expense a sloop named the
+_Duchess of Rutland_; and that for this sloop, which, although vastly
+superior in point of accommodation to any one of the packets, was of no
+higher tonnage, the complement had been fixed at twelve hands? This
+would shew what was the opinion on the point of those who were most
+competent to judge. The fact, moreover, that Ireland had undertaken to
+pay to Great Britain the sum of 2d. on every letter passing to and fro
+placed the English Post Office under a sort of moral obligation not to
+reduce the amount of accommodation and security existing at the time the
+undertaking was given. Such were the arguments by which Buckingham
+prevailed upon Walsingham to abandon his intention. He at the same time
+hinted that there were other objects to which Walsingham's energies
+might more properly be directed. "Does your Lordship know," he asked,
+"that an immense communication of letters is kept up by the Liverpool
+packets[62] which sail weekly to Dublin?"
+
+  [62] _i.e._ boats. At Liverpool packets, in the sense of boats
+  commissioned by Government to carry letters, did not at this time
+  exist.
+
+One line of packets remains, the line between Milford Haven and
+Waterford. Here five boats were employed, of which three were of eighty
+tons and the others somewhat less; and the service was six days a week.
+This, though the youngest of the packet stations, was by no means the
+least interesting. It had been opened in April 1787; and in the first
+year the proceeds from passengers alone amounted to more than L1200. No
+doubt had been entertained that in the matter of letters there would be
+an equally satisfactory account to render; but it soon became evident
+that all hopes on this score must be given up. The Irish Post Office was
+no longer subject to the Post Office of England; and in the supposed
+interests of Dublin, which regarded with jealousy the postal facilities
+enjoyed by the southern towns, advantage was taken of this freedom from
+control to checkmate the new service. From Waterford the post for Cork
+had been used to start at two o'clock in the afternoon, an hour most
+convenient for the packets. Under orders from Dublin it was now to start
+at twelve; and, as shewing the vexatiousness of the proceeding, an
+express leaving Waterford as late as four o'clock would overtake the
+mail at Carrick, a distance of no more than fifteen miles. Under the
+same orders Limerick was forbidden to send letters by way of Waterford;
+and the post between this town and Clonmel was reduced from six days a
+week to three. This was a state of things which, under the system of
+Home Rule then existing, Walsingham was powerless to remedy. He could
+only lift his hands in amazement that such perversity should be
+possible.
+
+But it was not exclusively or even mainly to the packet establishment
+that Walsingham's attention was directed. There was no part of the Post
+Office with which he did not make himself thoroughly acquainted; and in
+the course of his investigations nothing struck him more than the
+pitiable condition of the clerks of the roads. The case of these men had
+been gradually getting worse and worse. It is true that ten years before
+a part of the salaries and pensions for which they were responsible had
+been transferred to the State; but the relief thus afforded had been
+neutralised and more than neutralised by the decrease which had since
+taken place in their emoluments from the franking of newspapers. Of
+these emoluments, indeed, little now remained. In the seventeen years
+from 1772 to 1789 the notices served upon the Post Office by members of
+Parliament to send newspapers into the country free had risen from a
+little more than 2000 to 7000, and the number of newspapers which these
+7000 notices covered amounted to no less than 65,760 a week. In the face
+of such competition the special privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the
+roads was practically valueless, and Walsingham and Carteret clearly
+discerned that to compensate them for the loss of their emoluments by an
+increase of salary was an act dictated no less by justice than policy.
+
+The case indeed was urgent if a catastrophe were to be averted; and
+Carteret, whose experience led him to believe that the salaries would
+not be increased with the consent of the Treasury, proposed to increase
+them without. Walsingham was shocked at the audacity of the proposal,
+and read his colleague a homily on the constitutional proprieties. "I
+know," replied Carteret, "we shall have the power of increasing salaries
+with the consent of the Treasury, but many may starve before that
+consent comes." Even Walsingham admitted the gravity of the occasion;
+and with the full knowledge that at this time no representation from the
+Post Office reached the Treasury which did not come under Pitt's own
+observation, the two peers, after recommending a substantial measure of
+relief, concluded their letter thus: "We shall find ourselves compelled,
+if the present weight of Parliamentary and official duties shall make
+it impossible for your Lordships to give us the authority we request in
+the course of a week, to take it upon ourselves to issue the money at
+our own risk, or the persons who are the object of this relief will be
+unable to attend their duty, and the business of the office will be
+literally at a stand." Whatever Pitt may have thought of the somewhat
+unusual terms of this address, he allowed no sign of dissatisfaction to
+escape him, and the authority sought was given.
+
+As long as Walsingham confined his attention to the packets and the
+clerks of the roads, there was no danger of a collision with Palmer.
+Palmer, on the contrary, offered his congratulations to Walsingham on
+the improvement which he had been instrumental in making in these
+officers' condition. It was when Walsingham gave an instruction which
+even indirectly affected the inland posts that Palmer's jealousy was
+aroused. This he regarded as his own peculiar domain, a domain upon
+which even the postmasters-general themselves were trespassers; and a
+trespass or what he considered as such he never lost an opportunity of
+resenting. The earliest and not the least curious illustration of these
+pretensions appears in the case of the King's coach. In the summer of
+1788 the King repaired to Cheltenham for the purpose of drinking the
+waters, and Walsingham, who was above all things a courtier, had
+arranged that during the royal visit a mail-coach should be stationed at
+that town for the exclusive use of His Majesty. The coach was to be a
+new one, sent down from London for the occasion, and the leading
+contractor on the Cheltenham road, one Wilson by name, was to provide
+the horses. The royal visit at an end, the contractor's bill was sent
+in, and Palmer, in forwarding it to Walsingham, professed to be
+extremely dissatisfied with the magnitude of the charge. On the sale of
+the horses and harness alone, after only a month's use, there had been a
+loss of L550. "Nothing," he said, "could have been more absurdly or
+extravagantly conducted." But the thing was done. It would be useless to
+dispute the payment. Besides, it would "soil the compliment" designed
+to His Majesty. "We must," he added, "take more care next time, for, had
+it been properly settled, the loss at most could not have exceeded
+L300."
+
+The actual arrangement for the coach had been made not through Palmer
+but through Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant; and to him Walsingham now
+applied for further information. Bonnor's reply was a strange compound
+of candour and insolence. It was indeed not to be wondered at, he said,
+that his Lordship's indignation should be roused by the magnitude of the
+bill. Had the matter been left as originally settled under Mr. Palmer's
+orders, Wilson could never have made so monstrous a claim. By those
+orders he had been given to understand that, the coach being designed as
+a mere compliment to the King, not more than 1d. a mile would be allowed
+at the outside. And "so the undertaking stood 'till your Lordship
+ordered the circular letter to the horse-keepers respecting Sir George
+Baker's[63] being accommodated with the mail horses if he had occasion.
+Your Lordship will recollect that I remonstrated against it, and urged
+the impossibility of Wilson ever allowing his mail horses to be taken
+out of his stables for posting, and the regularity of the work
+destroyed, and the cattle drove along by people he knew nothing of; to
+which your Lordship was pleased to say that Wilson had no business to
+trouble his head about that; that, whatever his expenses were, he should
+be paid; and that no feelings of his about his horses or anything else
+should prevent the thing being done in the best possible style."...
+"Thinking as little in the delivery of the message as your Lordship did
+in sending it that such an advantage would be taken, I of course obeyed
+the directions, and it seems that this is the ground upon which the
+charge is made out as it is."
+
+  [63] The King's physician.
+
+Walsingham was not satisfied, and resolved to contest the bill. Palmer
+now took alarm, and urged every consideration he could think of to
+dissuade Walsingham from his purpose. To have recourse to a Court of Law
+might seriously damage his infant undertaking. A legal dispute had been
+avoided hitherto, and, with a cunning and refractory set of persons such
+as the contractors were, might have the effect of raising the present
+terms of conveyance. These terms were low, lower than the Post Office
+was likely to obtain again; and the mail-coaches were running smoothly.
+It would be a thousand pities to introduce an element of disturbance.
+Besides, how unpleasant it would be to his Lordship to be subpoenaed as
+a witness; and, in the hands of an expert counsel, how supremely
+ridiculous the whole business might be made to appear! The King's jaunt
+with a mail-coach in attendance! For his own part, when he had been
+unfortunate enough to be imposed upon, he generally found it best to put
+up with the imposition and to take more care another time. Nor should it
+be forgotten that the matter might have been much worse. When first he
+had heard of the arrangement, he had rebuked Bonnor for his
+extravagance; and Bonnor had produced two letters from his Lordship in
+justification. These letters shewed not only that no expense was to be
+spared, but that it had originally been in contemplation to have two
+coaches, and that it was only owing to Bonnor's earnest expostulation
+that the idea of a second coach had been given up. Surely it was cause
+for congratulation that the bill was no higher. Had two coaches been
+established instead of one, Wilson might have clapped on another L1000.
+As the bill stood, it was a gross imposition, an imposition which must
+condemn him in the eyes of all honest men; and yet it would be pure
+madness to go to law. These arguments prevailed, and Walsingham
+abandoned his intention of contesting the bill. He did not at this time
+see, what he saw clearly enough some years later, that in retaliation
+upon himself for presuming to interfere Wilson had been cajoled or
+coerced into making an exorbitant demand, and that of the several
+persons who were concerned in the transaction Wilson himself was the
+least to blame.
+
+This may be a convenient place to notice a point in which the practice
+of 1788 differed from that of the present time. It was only a few
+months after his return from Cheltenham that the King was taken with the
+serious illness which so nearly proved fatal. On the 9th of November the
+accounts from Windsor were such as to leave little room for hope. On the
+10th intelligence reached the Post Office at three o'clock in the
+afternoon that, contrary to all expectation, the King was still living;
+and on the 14th a form of prayer was issued, to be used in all churches,
+for His Majesty's recovery. At the present time a circular of this kind
+would reach the Post Office already addressed to the persons for whom it
+was intended, and the Post Office would do nothing more than carry and
+deliver it like an ordinary letter. But such was not the case in 1788.
+The form of prayer, as it was issued by the printer, was sent to the
+Post Office in bulk, and the Post Office despatched fifty copies to the
+postmaster of each town with instructions to distribute them "with all
+possible expedition to the rectors, vicars, or resident ministers of
+your town and all places in your delivery." The point is hardly
+deserving of mention, for, of course, it would make little difference to
+the postmaster whether the copies were sent in bulk or as single
+letters. He would be bound to deliver them in either case. It is more
+worthy of note that, as the number of Post Offices in England was at
+this time only 608, and the area subordinate to each of correspondingly
+wide extent, to go over the whole of his delivery at one time as these
+instructions obliged the postmaster to do was no slight undertaking, and
+one which, owing to the paucity of letters, he had probably not been
+required to perform on any previous occasion. In this instance, however,
+we may feel sure that a sense of loyalty alone precluded all disposition
+to murmur. With far other feelings, it may well be believed, was an
+order regarded which had been issued rather more than thirty years
+before. The year 1756 was a year of scarcity; and, under direction from
+Whitehall, postmasters were to frequent the local markets and to
+ascertain and report the price of corn. This is the first instance on
+record of postmasters having been employed outside their own proper
+duties as such. It may be added that two years later the Duke of
+Newcastle sent down in hot haste to Lombard Street to inquire the latest
+prices, when it was explained to His Grace that, despite the course
+which had been adopted in 1756, the Post Office was not an office for
+the collection of agricultural returns.
+
+It is a common practice to laugh at public offices for their rigid
+adherence to routine. This, we think, is not quite reasonable. No doubt
+it is calculated to excite ridicule, and indeed to irritate beyond all
+endurance when a course obviously proper in itself is condemned because,
+forsooth, there is no precedent for it; and we are by no means sure that
+some public servants would not be all the better for taking to heart the
+maxim--Wise men make precedents, only fools require them. But, without
+the order and regularity which a strict adherence to routine can alone
+produce, the business of a Government department must inevitably drift
+into a state of hopeless confusion. This is a truth which persons
+outside the public service have always found it hard to accept; as well
+indeed as persons inside who have entered late in life or after their
+habits are formed. Palmer was of the latter class; and a striking
+instance now occurred of his inability to adapt himself to the
+requirements of his new situation. Walsingham had asked whether the
+surveyors were keeping their journals regularly. These officers, besides
+a small salary, were now receiving an allowance of one guinea a day when
+travelling; and not only was a journal indispensable in order to shew
+whether they had been travelling or not, but the keeping of one had been
+made an express condition of the allowance being given. No subordinate
+cared to pass on the inquiry to Palmer, implying, as this might seem to
+do, a doubt. Walsingham had no such scruple and wrote to Palmer asking
+that the journals might be sent to him for examination. Palmer's reply
+will explain how it is that the records which now exist respecting
+himself and his achievements are so surprisingly few. There were no
+journals, he said. The surveyors' own letters, with their bills of
+expenses attached, were sufficient evidence of the journeys they had
+made. And these bills and letters, he added, as soon as the charges
+which they represent have been paid, "are and must be useless paper, for
+if I did not constantly clear my office both of their as well as my own
+and the other officers' rubbish, I should be buried under it." The
+auditors of the imprests had recently made good progress, but,
+fortunately for the Post Office, they were still many years in
+arrear.[64]
+
+  [64] The Post Office accounts for the year 1749 were not passed until
+  1784; and then only through the exertions of Lord Mountstuart, who had
+  succeeded Mr. Aislabie as one of the auditors of His Majesty's imprests.
+
+Among Walsingham's correspondents was George Chalmers, a merchant of
+Edinburgh. Chalmers was no mere maker of crude and impracticable
+suggestions. He had thirty years before been instrumental in shortening
+the course of post between Edinburgh and London. Before 1758 the Great
+North Mail, as it was called, went three days a week and occupied
+eighty-seven hours in going from London to Edinburgh, and 131 hours in
+going from Edinburgh to London. Thus, a mail leaving Edinburgh at twelve
+at night on Saturday did not reach London until eleven o'clock on Friday
+morning. Chalmers, in a paper of singular ability, dwelt upon the
+absurdity of the various detentions, ranging from three hours at Berwick
+to twenty-four hours at Newcastle, which made the course of post longer
+by nearly two days in one direction than in the other, and shewed how,
+by avoiding these unnecessary delays and getting rid of a diversion of
+twelve miles to York, the distance might be accomplished between London
+and Edinburgh in eighty-two hours, and between Edinburgh and London in
+eighty-five. The plan was adopted, and some years later, in recognition
+of its merits, Chalmers received from the Government a gratuity of L600.
+More recently he had prevailed upon the Post Office to increase from
+three to six days a week the service between London and Edinburgh, and
+from Edinburgh to the principal towns in Scotland; and in London, at
+his suggestion, the letter-carriers who collected letters by the sound
+of bell, or bellmen as they had begun to be called, were being employed
+after nine o'clock at night.
+
+It was not, therefore, as a novice in Post Office matters that Chalmers
+now entered into correspondence with Walsingham. His present
+representation was in the nature partly of a suggestion and partly of a
+complaint. He had been staying some time in London, and was surprised to
+find that at the capital of the first commercial nation in the world the
+Post Office closed as early as seven o'clock in the evening. He
+contended that it ought not to close before ten. But it was in respect
+to his own native city of Edinburgh that he felt and expressed himself
+most warmly. Edinburgh was without a penny post. He was himself an old
+man or he would undertake to farm one, although, in his judgment, the
+farming of such an institution, until at least it was well established,
+was not for the public interests. But surely, whether farmed or not, a
+penny post should be opened without delay, and on his return to
+Edinburgh he would let Walsingham know how this could best be done. Nor
+was the want of such a convenience by any means the chief thing of which
+the inhabitants of Edinburgh had to complain. Since 1758 their post had
+not gone out until eight o'clock at night. Now, to suit Palmer's
+arrangements, it went out at half-past three in the afternoon; and, more
+than this, the diversion to York, which it had cost such pains to get
+rid of some thirty years before, had been revived. Thus, between
+Edinburgh and London the course of post was actually longer now than
+before the introduction of mail-coaches by as much as five hours. Were a
+little more consideration to be given to the correspondence of the
+country and a little less to the convenience of passengers, more than
+these five hours might be saved. At all events the mails might start
+from Edinburgh at eight o'clock as before, and from London at ten, and
+yet arrive at their destination no later than now. For himself, he
+thought it hardly decent that passengers should be allowed to travel by
+the same coaches as the mails, and predicted that a time would come when
+the mails would have coaches to themselves. Much of this, Chalmers
+added, he had pointed out to Palmer some time before, and the only
+result was an angry letter which had terminated a friendship of years.
+Even as he now wrote, another letter had come to hand in which Palmer
+told him, almost in so many words, to mind his own business.
+
+Walsingham was at this time at Old Windsor. Hither it was his habit to
+repair whenever he had anything of more than ordinary interest to engage
+his attention; and such was the case at the present moment. He had
+recently had lent to him, under a pledge of the strictest secrecy, a
+copy of the Report of the Royal Commission which had sat upon the Post
+Office in the preceding year; and this Report he was now having copied
+under his own eye with a view to the preparation of an elaborate
+criticism upon it. But though absent from London he relaxed not his hold
+upon the Post Office for a single moment. Each morning's post brought to
+Lombard Street its own budget of drafts, to be written out fair, of
+questions to be answered, of scoldings to be given, and of instructions
+to heads of departments in the minutest details of their duty.
+Walsingham absent was a far more important personage than Carteret
+present; and a mandate from Old Windsor superseded any that might be
+given on the spot. It was while Walsingham was thus engaged that he
+received one morning from Palmer a few hurried lines, of which the last
+were as follows: "You ought not, meaning as well as you do, to be
+unpopular anywhere. Nor must you. You fret me now and then, tho' you
+don't intend it, and I am angry with myself for it." A visit from Palmer
+on the following morning, especially as that morning was Sunday, was
+little calculated to lessen the surprise with which Walsingham must have
+read this letter. The truth is that Palmer had repaired to Windsor with
+the intention of resigning his appointment; but the courteous reception
+he met with from Walsingham disconcerted his plan, and he returned to
+London as he had come, with the letter of resignation in his pocket.
+
+The reasons which Palmer afterwards gave for his conduct on this
+occasion throw a flood of light upon his character. These reasons were:
+1st, That Walsingham was ready to listen to proposals for improving the
+Post Office, come from what quarter they might, thus leaving it to be
+inferred, as Palmer put it, either that he was himself incompetent to
+effect improvements or else that there was a sinister design to detract
+from his reputation. 2nd, That from himself, though vitally interested
+in its contents, a report was being kept which clerks from his own
+office had been sent down to Windsor to copy. 3rd, That the same feeling
+of distrust was evidenced in the constant pressure which was being put
+upon him to require the surveyors to keep journals. How hollow these
+reasons were, a very little consideration will shew. In the course of
+the correspondence with Chalmers, on which the first of Palmer's reasons
+was obviously founded, Walsingham had been careful to state that, while
+ready to consider proposals for establishing a penny post in Edinburgh,
+he must decline to interfere with any of Palmer's arrangements. The
+second reason, though more plausible, was the merest pretext. Not a
+month before, with the full knowledge of what was going on at Windsor,
+Palmer had offered to send down, if required, the whole of his office to
+assist. And more than this. Although Walsingham could not in honour
+disclose a document which had been lent to him under a pledge of
+secrecy, Palmer must have been perfectly well acquainted with so much of
+the Report of the Royal Commission as dealt with his own undertaking,
+for it is beyond all question that this part of the Report had been
+written by himself. There was no other man living who was capable of
+writing it; and even if there had been, the opinions, the
+recommendations, the mode of expression, the disparagement of Ralph
+Allen, all of which are common to the Report and Palmer's private
+writings, unmistakably betray the author. The third reason requires
+little remark. Walsingham would have neglected his obvious duty if he
+had not taken steps to establish some check upon the travelling expenses
+claimed by the surveyors; and the experience of the hundred years which
+have since elapsed has failed to devise any better check than the
+journal. The keeping of the journal, moreover, had been an express
+condition imposed by the Treasury when the allowance of a guinea a day
+was authorised.
+
+Walsingham treated Palmer on this occasion with great kindness. Rightly
+judging that jealousy was at the root of the whole matter, he followed
+up the conversation which had taken place at Windsor by a letter, in
+which he exhorted Palmer to speak out, to declare his sentiments freely,
+and to dismiss idle apprehensions. Then came a full statement from
+Palmer, written, as he expressly declared, "not as a justification but
+as an apology for my suspicions," and explaining the object and the
+motives of his visit on the preceding Sunday. "Your habits are not my
+habits," he concluded; "I would give a great deal for but a part of your
+correctness and inveterate attention to business and accounts."
+Walsingham's reply, which came by return of post, was an invitation to
+dinner. Palmer accepted it, and the courteous and hearty welcome he
+received called forth his warmest acknowledgments.
+
+The duty of the mail guards, as their title implies, was to guard and
+protect the mails. This body of men, as it existed during the first
+forty or fifty years of the present century, was one of which the Post
+Office might well be proud. The very nature of their employment
+engendered in them a habit of self-reliance and an independence of
+character which invested them with a peculiar interest. But it was not
+always so. When mail-coaches were first established, Palmer had it in
+contemplation to employ retired soldiers as mail guards, on the ground
+that soldiers would be accustomed to firearms; but constitutional
+objections prevailed and the contractors who furnished the mail-coaches
+with horses were required also to furnish firearms arms and the men to
+use them. The result was not satisfactory. For economy's sake men were
+employed of little or no character, and the weapons with which they were
+supplied were of the most worthless description. More than worthless,
+they were dangerous. "Cheap things;" they were declared to be, "that
+burst and often did mischief." Accordingly, at Palmer's suggestion, the
+Post Office undertook to appoint its own mail guards. Honest and
+faithful as these men always were, it was only by degrees that they grew
+into the fine body they afterwards became. At first the novelty of their
+position led them into little excesses such as were never heard of in
+later years. Thus, a statute passed in 1790 imposed a penalty of 20s. on
+any mail guard who should fire off the arms with which he was entrusted
+for any other cause than the protection of the mail; and even this
+enactment appears to have been insufficient to correct the abuse against
+which it was directed. "These guards," writes Pennant two years later,
+"shoot at dogs, hogs, sheep, and poultry as they pass the road; and even
+in towns, to the great terror and danger of the inhabitants."[65]
+
+  [65] A letter to a member of Parliament on mail-coaches, by Thomas
+  Pennant, Esq., 1792.
+
+It must not be supposed, because Palmer's name is associated with the
+establishment of mail-coaches, that to these his attention was
+exclusively confined. In virtue of his appointment as comptroller-general
+he exercised control, subject of course to the postmasters-general,
+over the whole of the Post Office, the offices of account excepted;
+and he now took advantage of this position to create a newspaper
+office. Newspapers had long been a source of trouble. By the clerks
+of the roads they were not only posted in good time but were tied
+up in bundles, covered with strong brown paper, and addressed to the
+postmasters of the respective towns, who took out the contents and had
+them delivered. So long as the newspapers were thus dealt with, no
+inconvenience resulted from their being mixed up with letters; but from
+the moment that the distribution passed into the hands of the printers
+and dealers the case was different. The newspapers were now posted at
+the last moment, and, being clumsily folded and still wet from the
+printing press, they damaged and defaced the addresses of the letters
+with which they came in contact in the mail bags. The inconvenience had
+been tolerated for years. As early as 1782 the postmasters-general had
+contemplated the creation of a newspaper office, an office in which
+newspapers might be dealt with separately from letters, but nothing had
+been done. Palmer now took the matter in hand and carried it through
+with his usual vigour. Having satisfied himself that a separate office
+was necessary, he forthwith established one, appointed to it eighteen
+sub-sorters and fixed their wages; and not even the postmasters-general
+were aware of what he was doing until it was done.[66]
+
+  [66] At this time the number of newspapers passing through the London
+  office averaged 80,000 a week, of which 78,000 were from London to the
+  country and 2000 from the country to London. Mixed, that is wet and dry
+  together, they were computed to weigh sixteen to the pound.
+
+Such an instance of energy, worthy as we may think it of imitation,
+would be impossible on the part of any one who had been brought up in
+the public service, because he would have learnt that no wages can be
+fixed or new offices created without the consent of the Treasury. In the
+Post Office, too, the postmasters-general alone were legally competent
+to make appointments. But to Palmer these were the merest trifles, if
+indeed he gave them a thought. To create a newspaper office was a right
+thing to do, and he had done it; and to haggle about the circumstances
+of the doing appeared to him sheer pedantry. Not so thought Walsingham.
+It ill accorded with his sense of propriety that a number of new places
+should have been created without the requisite authority which the
+Treasury alone could give; but that to these places, whether authorised
+or not, a subordinate should have presumed to make appointments--a power
+which by the postmaster-generals' patent was vested in themselves
+alone--struck him as little short of an outrage.
+
+Unfortunately for Palmer, another irregularity on his part came to light
+at the same time. The mail guards' wages had been fixed at 13s. a week;
+but of this sum Palmer paid only 10s., retaining the balance for the
+purpose of providing uniforms, pensions, and an allowance during
+sickness. Again, the plan was excellent; but it was unauthorised, and
+had the effect of leaving in Palmer's hands, without any means of
+checking it, a sum of liberated money amounting to about L900 a year.
+
+Walsingham now called upon Palmer to give the details of his plan, with
+a view to its being properly authorised, and to submit the names of
+those whom he had appointed to the newspaper office, so that their
+appointments might be confirmed. Palmer would do neither the one nor the
+other. Walsingham persisted in his demand, and Palmer persisted in his
+refusal. No course remained but to submit the matter for Pitt's
+decision; and Pitt decided in Walsingham's favour. Palmer, said the
+minister, had the power of suspending Post Office servants but not of
+appointing them, although the postmasters-general, it might well be
+believed, would consent as a matter of favour to accept his nominations.
+Pitt also agreed that the mode of dealing with the mail guards' wages
+was highly irregular. The decision of the minister was communicated to
+Palmer, but it had not the slightest effect upon his conduct. The mail
+guards' wages continued to be dealt with as before; and the appointments
+to the newspaper office remained unconfirmed.
+
+Pitt's decision was not given until the autumn of 1789; and meanwhile
+other matters had occurred to strain the relations between Walsingham
+and Palmer. Chief among these was Walsingham's inveterate habit of
+scribbling. Both men were endowed with an amount of energy which nothing
+could repress; but while Palmer expended himself by rushing from one
+part of the country to another as fast as horses could carry him,
+Walsingham's sphere of activity was restricted to writing. And well he
+exemplified the law that force asserts itself in proportion to the
+limits within which it is confined. His notes and questions were
+literally endless. At one time all the ingenuity of Lombard Street, with
+the assistance of erasers and acids, is being exercised to remove
+remarks he has written upon a document which, not being the property of
+the Post Office, had to be returned. At another, he has sent for a blank
+form of contract, of which only a single copy remains in the Office. "I
+implore your Lordship," writes the sender, "to let me have it back, and
+that the margin may not be written on." Palmer, to whom pens, ink, and
+paper were an abomination, would think nothing of posting a hundred
+miles and more to avoid the necessity of writing a letter; and by
+Bonnor, Palmer's lieutenant, who always aped his master as far as he
+dared, answers to the questions put to him would be withheld altogether
+or reserved for the next Board meeting. "I can perceive," wrote Todd to
+Walsingham about this time, "you are hurt that neither Mr. Palmer nor
+Mr. Bonnor pay a proper regard to your many observations."
+
+Another matter occurred at this time which, while only indirectly
+affecting Palmer, was not calculated to promote harmonious relations.
+Bonnor, who had sent some accounts to Windsor for Walsingham's
+signature, wrote two or three days later, urging that they might be
+signed and returned at once, and giving as a reason the importunity of
+the letter-carriers. "What these poor oppressed creatures will do," he
+said, "I know not. They all came in a body this morning and gave a most
+affecting description of the distresses with which their wives and
+families laboured, their credit exhausted, not a shilling to buy bread,
+and each having between L30 and L40 of hard-earned wages due to them
+from a public office whose revenues are every day increasing." This
+struck Walsingham as very strange. The letter-carriers were paid by
+weekly wages; and what, over and above their wages, they had earned for
+extra duty should also have been paid weekly. Besides, the accounts had
+been in his hands for only two or three days, whereas for the last
+twelve months and more he had been pressing for their production, and
+had only now succeeded in getting them.
+
+There was a mystery somewhere, and, as the best means of solving it,
+Walsingham called for the vouchers. Bonnor now lost himself in excuses.
+The vouchers were essential to his reputation. He could not part with
+them. If once they left his hands, they might be lost. It could not but
+be known to his Lordship how often this had happened with official
+papers passing to and fro. Besides, to inspect the vouchers would be to
+pry into his private concerns. This was enough for Walsingham, and he
+directed the accountant-general to look into the matter forthwith. The
+examination revealed a curious state of things. The amounts which the
+letter-carriers had earned for extra duty had not been paid for a whole
+year, and a part of the money which had been issued for that purpose had
+been applied to the payment of the persons irregularly appointed to the
+newspaper office. More than this. The accounts shewed, or professed to
+shew, that during the last eighteen months the mail-coach contractors
+had received in payment of their services the sum of L20,000; but the
+receipts for more than L16,000 of this amount bore no dates, and others
+were signed by Bonnor himself. "Signed," to use his own words, "by
+myself for money paid by myself to myself." In short, the so-called
+vouchers were no vouchers at all. Bonnor now made an apology, which, in
+point of abjectness, has probably seldom been equalled; and Walsingham,
+unwilling to force matters to extremities, let him off with a sound
+dressing. This disclosure did not tend to restore either harmony or
+confidence. Palmer, it is true, gave no heed to accounts; but Bonnor was
+under his protection, and Palmer resented a censure upon his lieutenant
+and friend even more than a censure upon himself.
+
+We doubt whether in England a public department has often been in so
+singular a position as that which the Post Office occupied during the
+six months beginning with September 1789. Carteret had been
+dismissed;[67] and Westmorland, Carteret's successor, whose patent had
+been delayed owing to the absence of the law officers from London, had
+not even entered upon his duties as postmaster-general before he wrote
+to announce his appointment as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Meanwhile
+Palmer resolutely withheld obedience from the orders of his chiefs,
+backed though those orders were by the minister; and Walsingham was
+powerless to act. Minutes indeed he prepared by the score, proposing the
+most drastic measures; but Carteret refused to sign because he was on
+the point of going out, and Westmorland refused to sign because he had
+only just come in, and had no intention of remaining. Walsingham's
+signature alone carried no legal force. It was not until the following
+March, the March of 1790, that the office of postmaster-general was
+again properly filled by the appointment of Lord Chesterfield as
+Walsingham's colleague.
+
+  [67] How Carteret managed to retain his appointment for more than
+  eighteen years is not the least perplexing of Post Office problems.
+  Meanwhile the joint postmaster-generalship had undergone the following
+  changes:--
+
+  Lord Le Despencer                               } From Jan. 16, 1771,
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Thynne (afterwards Carteret)}   to Dec. 11, 1781.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret (sometime Thynne)  { From Dec. 11, 1781,
+                                                  {   to Jan. 24, 1782.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From Jan. 24, 1782,
+  Viscount Barrington                             }   to April 25, 1782.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From April 25, 1782,
+  Earl of Tankerville                             }   to May 1, 1783.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret                    } From May 1, 1783,
+  Lord Foley                                      }   to Jan. 7, 1784.
+
+  Right Hon. Henry F. Carteret, created Lord      }
+    Carteret Jan. 29, 1784                        } From Jan. 7, 1784,
+  Earl of Tankerville (a second time)             }   to Sept. 19, 1786.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   } From Sept. 19, 1786,
+  Earl of Clarendon                               }   to Dec. 10, 1786.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   { From Dec. 10, 1786,
+                                                  {   to July 6, 1787.
+
+  Lord Carteret                                   } From July 6, 1787,
+  Lord Walsingham                                 }   to Sept. 19, 1789.
+
+
+At the risk of interrupting the course of our narrative we cannot
+refrain from mentioning here in its chronological order memorial which
+was at this time received from certain merchants of the city of London
+trading with foreign parts. This memorial, or rather the
+counter-memorial to which it gave rise, is interesting if only as
+serving to shew that the conservative instinct--an indisposition to
+change, is not confined to public offices. The delivery of inland
+letters had been recently expedited; but foreign letters continued to be
+delivered as of old. Lest the practice in the case of these letters
+should seem to be overstated, we give it in the memorialists' own words.
+"It is the practice of the Post Office," they write under date the 20th
+of January 1790, "if a mail does not arrive before one o'clock to
+withhold the delivery of the letters till the next day, and even to
+protract the delivery till after the same hour the succeeding day,
+provided any other mail be expected or due. This happening on a Saturday
+(a case by no means uncommon), the letters are kept back till the
+Monday, when three other mails being due, and they not arriving perhaps
+till the stipulated hour of one, the delivery of the mail which arrived
+on Saturday is not made till between three and four o'clock on the
+Monday and sometimes later. Thus the advice of property shipt to a great
+amount on which insurances should immediately have been made, the
+receipt of remittances on which the credit of many persons may depend,
+and the general information so essential in commercial affairs are
+cruelly withheld for upwards of fifty hours without the least apparent
+necessity." The remedy which the memorialists proposed was moderate
+enough. They asked nothing more than that, in the case of mails arriving
+before four o'clock in the afternoon, letters might be given out to
+persons who should call at the Post Office for them in two or three
+hours after the mail had come in, such as were not called for being, at
+the expiration of that interval, sent out by letter-carrier; and that,
+in the case of mails arriving after four o'clock, the letters might be
+delivered at ten o'clock on the following morning.
+
+The unfortunate merchants who signed this memorial little bethought
+themselves of the storm they were raising. Other merchants, also trading
+with foreign parts and more numerous than those who advocated an
+earlier delivery, put forward a counter-memorial strongly protesting
+against any change. The custom of postponing until the following day the
+delivery of all foreign letters arriving at the Post Office after one
+o'clock was, they said, a wise custom, a "custom recommended by our
+ancestors," and one that could not be altered save to their own great
+prejudice. The original memorial had been studiously kept from
+themselves, and "this most extraordinary proceeding" they could only
+ascribe to a well-founded apprehension on the part of the promoters that
+otherwise the impropriety of the "novelty" which they sought to
+introduce would be exposed. The remonstrants added that many and cogent
+reasons might be given in support of the existing usage; but, unhappily,
+they omitted to state what these reasons were. Doubtless, however,
+jealousy lest others should obtain priority of information was at the
+bottom of the protest; although it is not very clear how, under a
+regulation that was to be common to all, any one in particular would
+enjoy an undue advantage.
+
+The Post Office, unassisted in this instance by Palmer, declared the
+change to be, if only on account of want of space, impossible. The
+average number of letters arriving by each foreign mail were at this
+time--from France 2500, from Holland 2000, and from Flanders 1500, or
+6000 altogether. At the present day, when as many as 500 sacks full of
+letters come by a single mail, and several mails may arrive
+simultaneously, 6000 letters more or less make little appreciable
+difference. One hour at most is enough for three men to sort them. But
+in 1790 the office in which the foreign letters were sorted possessed
+but a single table and a single alphabet or sorting rack.
+
+Although want of space was the ostensible reason for refusing an earlier
+delivery, there was another, not avowed indeed, and yet which, there can
+be no doubt, materially influenced the decision. This will be best
+explained in the words of the comptroller of the foreign letter
+department. "The delivery of foreign letters," writes this officer to
+Walsingham, "is so complicated with _the secret office_[68] that any
+alteration will deserve the most serious consideration when you come to
+the Board."
+
+  [68] Sir Rowland Hill, in his _Autobiography_ (vol. ii. p. 28), does not
+  hesitate to write as follows: "Incredible as it may appear to my
+  readers, it is nevertheless true that so late as 1844 a system, dating
+  from some far distant time, was in full operation, under which clerks
+  from the foreign office used to attend on the arrival of mails from
+  abroad, to open the letters addressed to certain ministers resident in
+  England, and make from them such extracts as they deemed useful for the
+  service of Government."
+
+It would hardly excite surprise if Chesterfield, on entering upon his
+duties in Lombard Street, had fallen under the influence of a colleague
+who, besides being possessed of a strong will, had had some years'
+experience in Post Office administration; but, as a matter of fact, he
+does not appear to have surrendered his private judgment. On one point,
+indeed, he took a view somewhat different from Walsingham. Walsingham
+regarded Palmer, in so far as he withheld obedience from the
+postmaster-generals' orders, as simply an insubordinate servant. To
+Chesterfield, on the contrary, Palmer was an object of no common
+interest. That two peers of large social influence, deriving their
+authority direct from the Crown, and to some extent supported by the
+minister, should be held in check by one man, and that man a
+subordinate, was an incongruity which struck Chesterfield's imagination.
+It amused him. It interested him. He could not withhold his meed of
+admiration from the masterful spirit which fought single-handed against
+long odds, and not always without success. The very terms Chesterfield
+employed, while implying a consciousness of defeat, implied also a
+certain amount of homage to the victor. It was always as "our Master,"
+"our Dictator," "our Tyrant" that he referred to Palmer; and it is
+difficult to believe that a man who could thus playfully express himself
+would have proved implacable.
+
+For ourselves, we have little doubt that, if at this time Palmer had
+demeaned himself with only moderate reserve, all might yet have been
+well; but it must be admitted that, from now till the end of his
+official career, his conduct was strangely aggressive. We have already
+seen how he made appointments to the newspaper office without reference
+to the postmasters-general, and how, in their despite, he retained in
+his own hands a considerable balance arising out of deductions from the
+mail guards' wages. He now went further. He declined to attend the Board
+meetings: he not only omitted but refused to answer inquiries which the
+postmasters-general addressed to him; he persistently withheld the
+surveyors' journals, if, indeed, he had required journals to be kept; he
+claimed to make contracts and to introduce what measures he pleased
+without the postmasters-general being so much as consulted; and because
+Walsingham and Chesterfield would not admit the claim, he suffered the
+contracts to expire, and the mail-coaches were run on mere verbal
+agreements. "Except the warrants we have signed," wrote the
+postmasters-general in October 1790, "there is no record whatever in our
+possession of any of Mr. Palmer's proceedings since his appointment."
+
+From disobedience Palmer proceeded to defiance. We will give
+instances. The proprietors of the mail-coach between Carlisle and
+Portpatrick had demanded payment at the rate of 2d. a mile, and Palmer
+had agreed to the demand. This was just double the usual rate, and the
+postmasters-general, fearing that if given on one road it could not be
+refused on another, determined, before signing the warrant presented for
+payment, to obtain Treasury authority. Palmer, knowing that delay would
+thus be caused, protested that no such authority was necessary, and, in
+order to enforce his protest, stopped four mail-coaches, for which was
+being paid more than the usual allowance of 1d. a mile, namely, the
+coach to Falmouth, the coach to Bristol, the coach to Plymouth, and the
+coach to Portsmouth--coolly informing the postmasters-general that he
+had done so "under the idea that appears to influence their Lordships,
+that paying a higher rate to the proprietors on one road might induce
+others to make a similar demand." He next inquired whether the
+postmasters-general were to be understood as preferring a cart to the
+mail-coach, even though a cart should be the more expensive of the two.
+As nothing had been said about a cart, the postmasters-general remarked
+that this could only be meant for insult. Insult! rejoined Palmer, he
+was as little capable of offering an insult as he was of putting up with
+one; and then he proceeded to charge the postmasters-general with the
+grossest partiality. The postmasters-general had increased the salary of
+the postmaster of Tewkesbury beyond what Palmer conceived to be
+necessary. He denounced the transaction as extraordinary and ill
+advised, and, while himself professing to believe that it proceeded only
+from motives of benevolence, expressed his conviction that others would
+regard it as "a job." Smuggled goods had been found in the mail-box of
+the Dover coach; and coach, horses, and harness had, in consequence,
+been seized by the Commissioners of Customs. The same man who, in order
+to force a decision, had stopped four mail-coaches in a single morning,
+now rated the postmasters-general soundly because they did not at once
+and without inquiry take steps to get the Commissioners' proceedings
+reversed. "The comptroller-general," wrote Palmer on another occasion,
+"has informed their Lordships of his motives for not answering several
+of the postmaster-generals' minutes, which he trusts cannot but be
+satisfactory to them. The same reasons will prevent him from answering
+any others their Lordships may send but such as appear to him absolutely
+necessary."
+
+But the particular case which brought matters to a climax was connected
+with Scotland. Palmer had sent two officers to Edinburgh, not to promote
+the conveyance of mails by coach, but to reform the internal management
+of the Scotch Post Office; and these officers had given orders for
+various changes to be made. Robert Oliphant was at this time deputy
+postmaster-general for Scotland, and from him alone, according to the
+terms of his commission, were Post Office servants in Scotland to
+receive instructions. It was by mere accident that the postmasters-general
+heard of the proceedings of Palmer's agents in Edinburgh, and, as
+soon as they did so, they wrote to Oliphant desiring that the
+proposed changes might be suspended until he had reported his
+opinion upon them and received authority from London for carrying them
+into effect. They at the same time wrote to Palmer, sending him a copy
+of their letter to Oliphant, and giving him to understand that he had
+exceeded his powers.
+
+Palmer now threw off all restraint. He charged the postmasters-general
+with superseding his commission; he cautioned them against further
+interference with his regulations, and he appealed to the minister, to
+whom alone he declared himself to be responsible. It was true, he said,
+that he was nominally responsible to the postmasters-general, but,
+except for a legal difficulty connected with the constitution of the
+Post Office, he would have received an independent appointment. His
+commission had been made out as it stood merely as a matter of present
+necessity; and that in such circumstances they should venture to
+supersede it appeared to him a hasty and ill-advised measure--a measure
+not consistent with the judgment and temper which usually guided their
+proceedings. He had a profound veneration for the nobility of the
+country, and he could give no stronger proof of it than by stating that
+he still retained his respect and esteem for them in spite of their
+unhandsome conduct. The more he reflected on this conduct, the more he
+was struck at the haste and violence of it. Was it reasonable to suppose
+that he would consent to carry out his plan in trammels and fetters,
+and, liable as the postmasters-general were to change, to submit his
+regulations to them to be checked and controlled? The considerations for
+which he had received his appointment were twofold--for the good he had
+done in the past, and for the good he might do in the future. "When,
+therefore," he continued, "your Lordships from mistake or ill-advice
+shall send me any commands that I think may go to mischief instead of
+good, I shall most certainly not observe them; and if I apprehend ill
+consequences from any you may think proper to send to any of the
+officers under me, I shall take the liberty, for your Lordships' sake
+as well as my own and the public's, to contradict them."
+
+It was impossible that this state of things should continue. Palmer had
+appealed to Caesar; and to Caesar he should go. Such at least was the
+postmaster-generals' intention, and they so far carried it into effect
+as to state their case in writing; but an interview with the minister,
+though solicited over and over again, the minister always found some
+excuse for declining. "We shall wait with the utmost impatience to hear
+from you that you have found a leisure moment when we may wait upon you
+to explain the nature of the question between Mr. Palmer and us." "The
+postmasters-general," they wrote again after a long interval, "present
+their compliments to Mr. Pitt. He will see by the enclosed copy of a
+minute from Mr. Palmer how totally the business of this Office must
+stand still, as far as respects the comptroller-general's department,
+till they can have the honour of seeing Mr. Pitt." And again, a
+fortnight later, "the postmasters-general present their compliments to
+Mr. Pitt, and take the liberty to remind him of the comptroller-general's
+two last minutes, and desire to have the honour of waiting upon him
+on Wednesday next at any hour he may be pleased to appoint previous
+to their holding their usual Board."
+
+But all to no purpose. The truth is that Pitt was heartily tired of
+these unhappy dissensions. Palmer was doing, and doing admirably, the
+task which he had set himself to do. He might not indeed be all that
+could be desired. His conduct might be masterful and his pretensions
+absurd. Yet much allowance was to be made for a man who had undertaken a
+difficult business, and whose efforts had been crowned with success. And
+lamentable as the dissensions might be, there was no certainty that
+interference would effect a reconciliation. On the contrary, it might
+serve only to widen the breach, and, to judge from the past, this was
+the more likely result. And should the breach prove irreparable and a
+decision have to be given against the reformer who had done so much for
+his country, and from whom yet more was expected, it would be little
+short of a disaster. Better that matters should remain as they were than
+incur such a risk. We can well believe that some such considerations as
+these influenced Pitt in avoiding an interview; and doubtless he was
+confirmed in his decision by what he learned from another quarter.
+Palmer was a friend of Camden's, and Camden was a friend of Pitt's. To
+this common friend Palmer gave his own version of the differences
+between himself and his chiefs; and this version, which was altogether
+different from the one which the postmasters-general gave, was
+studiously impressed upon Pitt to their prejudice.
+
+Thus matters stood when, early in 1792, in consequence of some
+discrepancies in the accounts, the postmasters-general determined that
+letters for the city by the first or morning delivery should be checked.
+Care had been taken that the check should not be of a nature to retard
+the delivery; and yet, strangely enough, the delivery became later and
+later every day. At length a public advertisement appeared inviting the
+merchants and traders to meet at the London Tavern on Wednesday the 15th
+February in order to consider the subject. The meeting was held under
+the presidency of Alderman Curtis, one of the members of Parliament for
+the city; and strong resolutions were passed directing the
+postmaster-generals' attention to the delay, and calling upon them to
+explain and remove the cause.
+
+Charles Bonnor, the deputy comptroller-general, owed all he possessed to
+Palmer. It was by Palmer that he had been brought into the Post Office
+in July 1784, and the same influence procured for him shortly afterwards
+a salary of L500 and an allowance of L150 a year for a house. Warm in
+his attachments as he was fierce in his animosities, the great reformer
+extended to Bonnor a confidence which probably no other man possessed,
+and during his frequent absences from London kept up with him a
+correspondence in which he poured out his inmost thoughts. This person,
+stung with jealousy at some fancied coolness on Palmer's part, now
+published a pamphlet in which he charged his friend and benefactor with
+wilfully delaying the delivery of the morning letters, and then
+promoting the meeting at the London Tavern in order to protest against a
+mischief of his own making. According to Bonnor, Palmer had spared no
+effort to induce persons to attend the meeting, and had furnished
+Alderman Curtis, the chairman, with materials for denouncing the Post
+Office. All this, it was alleged, had been done in order to bring the
+postmasters-general into discredit, and to create a demand that Palmer
+might have larger powers given him and be left to deal with Post Office
+matters according to his unfettered judgment.
+
+The postmasters-general were overwhelmed with astonishment. At first
+they could not bring themselves to believe that the pamphlet was
+authentic, and it was not until they had been reassured on this point
+that they began to make inquiries. Palmer, of course, denied the charge,
+and Bonnor reaffirmed it. Meanwhile the resolutions passed at the London
+Tavern had been sent to the Post Office; and the postmasters-general,
+not knowing what to believe, simply referred them to Palmer, with a
+request that he would explain the cause of the late delivery. Palmer's
+reply shews the frame of mind he was in. "The cause of the late
+delivery," he answered, "as well as every other existing abuse in the
+Post Office, arises from the comptroller-general not having sufficient
+authority to correct it." The postmasters-general naturally inquired in
+what respects his authority was insufficient to prevent the late
+delivery, and to what other abuses he referred. Palmer, without
+specifying what these abuses were, replied that among the causes which
+had produced them were "an unfortunate difference in opinion, and an
+equally unfortunate interference in his office"; and then he proceeded
+to ask for larger powers, which the postmasters-general, consistently
+with the terms of their patent, were unable to give.
+
+A few days later Palmer did that which should perhaps have been done
+before. He suspended Bonnor. The postmasters-general also took action,
+but at the very moment when it might have been better if they had
+remained passive. They inquired the reason of Bonnor's suspension, and
+Palmer returned no reply. After waiting a week, the postmasters-general
+decided that, as no reason had been given, the suspension must be taken
+off; and Bonnor was directed to resume duty. On presenting himself for
+this purpose, however, Palmer refused to give up the key of his room,
+and sent him word that, if he dared to come to the Office again, the
+constables would have orders to turn him off the premises. The
+postmasters-general had put themselves in a false position. If their
+intention was to try conclusions with Palmer, they had selected the
+worst possible ground. Their only choice now was between submitting to
+defiance of their authority and supporting a worthless subordinate
+against his illustrious chief. They elected the latter alternative; and
+the suspension which had been imposed upon Bonnor was transferred to
+Palmer.
+
+An interview with the minister had now become indispensable; and at
+length, but not without a great deal of pressure, Pitt fixed the 2nd of
+May for the purpose. Chesterfield was at Bath, slowly recovering from an
+attack of the gout. He was reluctant to leave his colleague unsupported
+on the occasion; and yet for a man who was still far from well it was a
+long and tedious journey to London. Should he go or should he not? A
+decision could not be longer delayed, as the 1st of May had already
+arrived. He ordered horses to be put to his carriage, then he
+countermanded them, then he changed his mind again, and finally, in
+response to a sudden twinge of the gout, he finally abandoned his
+journey, and determined to write to Walsingham a letter such as he might
+shew.
+
+Chesterfield, unlike Walsingham, wrote a beautiful hand, a hand that was
+clear and easy to read; but on this particular occasion, in order that
+Pitt might have no excuse for not reading the letter, he wrote more
+clearly and legibly than usual. He had--thus the letter ran--been in
+fifty minds whether he should not repair to London and take part in the
+interview with Pitt; but he was still so lame that he durst not venture
+on so long a journey. His desire to be present had not indeed been
+prompted by the slightest doubt as to what Walsingham would do or say.
+On the contrary, he had the fullest confidence that his colleague would
+strictly adhere to the resolution which they had adopted, that on no
+consideration could Palmer remain with them at the Post Office. This
+resolution the experience which they had gained since his suspension had
+served to strengthen, for how much better and with how much greater
+regularity had they gone on since they had in fact as well as in name
+been postmasters-general. All this would doubtless be pressed upon Pitt,
+and, should he waver in the least, he must be informed of their
+ultimatum, which nothing could make them change. If, contrary to
+expectation, they should be driven to that option, they must be
+satisfied to retire from an office where they had done their duty and
+could do it no longer. To the full extent of the resolution they went
+hand in hand to Pitt, and this point could not be pressed upon him too
+strongly. Should he begin to propose any middle measures, Walsingham
+should stop him at once. It would be disgraceful to listen to them. "Our
+resolution once taken, no power, no persuasion, no influence ought to
+shake it, and I am confident nothing will."
+
+Walsingham waited upon the minister at the appointed time. Pitt received
+him courteously indeed, but coldly. Walsingham stated his case. Pitt
+said little, but that little clearly shewed that his leanings were in
+Palmer's favour. Palmer had done good service to the public. Was it
+impossible that he should be restored to duty? Or, much having been
+alleged and nothing proved, might not a court of inquiry be held by
+which the questions at issue between him and his chiefs should undergo a
+thorough and impartial investigation? After these and other questions
+had been put and answered, Walsingham produced Chesterfield's letter.
+Pitt read it from beginning to end, folded it up, and returned it.
+Formal civilities followed, and the interview was at an end. That night
+a letter from Walsingham informed Chesterfield that assuredly two
+persons would be dismissed from the Post Office, and that of these two
+persons Palmer would not be one.
+
+The postmasters-general were in a state of sore perplexity. Of Pitt's
+intentions they entertained not the slightest doubt. "The Post Office
+chair," wrote Chesterfield, "totters under us"; and again, "I see that
+can the ingenuity of man detect a flaw in our proceedings, we are to be
+the victims." The doubt which the postmasters-general felt concerned
+their own conduct. Rightly or wrongly, they believed that they were
+powerful enough to depose the minister, and the question which now
+agitated their minds was whether they should have recourse to so violent
+a measure, or whether they should simply resign. Bonnor saved them from
+the necessity of coming to a conclusion on the point. This person had
+hoarded up the private correspondence which, during years of close
+intimacy and friendship, had passed between himself and Palmer; and
+among the correspondence were many compromising letters. Such of these
+as he could readily lay his hands upon Bonnor, with incredible baseness,
+now carried to Walsingham, and Walsingham in an evil moment accepted
+them.
+
+The temptation was no doubt strong. Even in the eyes of the
+postmasters-general themselves it was a comparatively small matter that
+they were on the point of losing their places. But it was by no means
+immaterial to them that they should appear to Pitt, as they were
+conscious of appearing at the present time, in the light of false
+accusers, persons who had brought false charges, or at all events
+charges which they could not substantiate; and these letters would prove
+all, and more than all, that had been alleged or even suspected. They
+laid bare the story of the King's coach. They shewed how on that
+occasion the contractor had been cajoled into making an exorbitant
+charge in order that Walsingham might be deterred from again interfering
+in what Palmer regarded as his own peculiar province. They shewed also
+how, from that time to the present, a deliberate plot had existed at
+headquarters to hinder and thwart Walsingham in everything he
+undertook.
+
+And yet they were private letters, letters which had passed under the
+seal of confidence. It is by no means the least strange part of a
+strange and painful business that it appears never to have crossed the
+mind of either Walsingham or Chesterfield that this was a class of
+evidence which could not with propriety be used. Bonnor, not content
+with the letters he had already produced, searched his correspondence
+through from the time that he and Palmer became connected with the Post
+Office, and hailed any additional testimony he was able to collect
+against his former friend and benefactor with fiendish delight. He
+literally revelled in the shameless task he had set himself to perform.
+Evidence-hunting he called it. "We shall not only prove all that has
+been asserted," he wrote, "but a great deal more; and on the grand point
+of his premeditating a thorough and complete confusion in the business
+of the inland office, for the declared purpose of thereby disgracing the
+postmasters-general, I have proof that for strength and conviction no
+holy writ can exceed. But," he added, "I have a great deal to work up
+yet."
+
+As soon as the unholy brief was completed, a second interview took place
+with the minister. Pitt appears again to have said little, even less
+than on the previous occasion. He had been deceived. The
+postmasters-general must take their own course. The rest is soon told.
+Two official minutes were prepared, the one in Lombard Street and the
+other at Whitehall. By the postmaster-generals' minute Palmer, the
+insubordinate Post Office servant, was dismissed.[69] By the minister's
+minute Palmer, the distinguished Post Office reformer, was granted a
+pension equal to double the amount of his salary. His salary was L1500,
+and he derived another L1500 a year from his percentage. The pension
+which Pitt conferred upon him was L3000. To this was added later on,
+after an interval of many years, a Parliamentary grant of L50,000.
+
+  [69] Even in such a detail as the manner of dismissal, Pitt shewed his
+  usual consideration for Palmer. By the minister's direction Palmer was
+  not to be dismissed in so many words. The postmasters-general were
+  simply to make out another nominal list of the establishment, and from
+  this list Palmer's name was to be excluded.
+
+Bonnor--we blush to record it--received as the reward of his infamy the
+place of comptroller of the inland department. His promotion brought him
+little pleasure. The Post Office servants, with all their faults, were
+loyal to the backbone, and they could ill understand being presided over
+by one who was branded with the foulest of all private vices, with
+treachery to a friend and ingratitude to a benefactor. His subordinates
+would hold no communication with him beyond what their strict duty
+required. His equals shunned him. Outside the Post Office, go where he
+would, he received the cold shoulder. Never was man left more severely
+alone. At the end of two years fresh postmasters-general came who, under
+the plea of abolishing his appointment, dismissed him with a small
+pension. Then he became insolvent, and was thrown into prison. Released
+from confinement at the end of the century, he published pamphlet after
+pamphlet, having for their object to vindicate what he was pleased to
+call his good name; but these vindications, though replete with
+professions of honour, proved nothing more than that the writer was a
+poltroon as well as a traitor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE NINETIES: OR, ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
+
+
+The spirit of activity which Palmer had infused into the Post Office did
+not cease with the cessation of his official career. Those who served
+under him had been selected by himself; and they had been selected on
+account of qualities which the withdrawal of his dominating influence
+was calculated rather to stimulate than to check. These men now came to
+the fore, and not only ably sustained their late master's work but
+inaugurated important measures of their own.
+
+But before proceeding to chronicle the acts of Palmer's successors, we
+propose to give a few particulars which will serve better perhaps than a
+mere record of leading events to shew the state of the Post Office at
+the time that Palmer left it; and in this relation the project with
+which his name is mainly identified shall have precedence.
+
+In 1792 sixteen mail-coaches left London every day, and as many
+returned. These were in addition to the cross country mail-coaches, of
+which there were fifteen--as, for instance, the coach between Bristol
+and Oxford or, as it was commonly called, Mr. Pickwick's coach.[70]
+Those leaving London started from the General Post Office in Lombard
+Street at eight o'clock in the evening, and they travelled every day,
+Sundays included.
+
+  [70] Later on, Mr. Pickwick would seem to have extended his operations.
+  "(Q.) Are you in the habit of working coaches to any great distance from
+  London? (A.) I work them half-way to Bristol. With Mr. Pickwick of Bath
+  I work to Newbury."--Evidence of Mr. William Home, taken on the 2nd of
+  March 1819 before the Select Committee on the Highways of the Kingdom.
+
+There is still extant at the Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand the
+model of an old mail-coach, as fresh and as perfect as the day it was
+painted. This model bears upon its panels four devices--one a cross with
+the motto, _Honi soit qui mal y pense_; another a thistle with the
+motto, _Nemo me impune lacessit_; a third a shamrock under a star, with
+the motto, _Quis separabit?_ (ah! who indeed?); and a fourth, three
+crowns with the motto, _Tria juncta in uno_. It is commonly reputed to
+be the model of the first mail-coach, and as such we have seen it
+represented in foreign publications. We feel constrained in the
+interests of truth to expose this fiction. The first mail-coach ran
+between Bristol and London. The model bears upon it the words, "Royal
+Mail from London to Liverpool." The first mail-coach carried no outside
+passengers. The model has places for several passengers outside. The
+first mail-coach began to run on Monday the 2nd of August 1784. On the
+model, below one of the devices, appears in small yet legible figures
+the date 1783. But although certainly not the model of the first
+mail-coach, we are by no means sure that it is not still more
+interesting. We have little doubt that it is a model which, before
+mail-coaches began to run, was prepared for Pitt's inspection.
+
+In 1787, owing to the faulty construction of the original mail-coach and
+the wretched materials of which it was made, hardly a day passed without
+one or more accidents. Occasionally, indeed, the Post Office would
+receive notice of as many as three and even four upsets or breakdowns in
+a single morning. Palmer at once discerned the origin of the disease and
+the remedy; and the latter he proceeded to apply with his usual
+resolution. Having satisfied himself that a patent coach which was being
+constructed at this time fulfilled the necessary conditions more
+completely than any other, he agreed with the patentee, one Besant by
+name, to supply whatever number of coaches might be required. It was a
+mere verbal agreement, an agreement confirmed by no writing of any
+kind; yet no sooner was it made than Palmer addressed a circular to all
+the contractors of the kingdom, reproaching them with the shameful
+condition of their coaches. This, he told them, was due to the miserable
+sums they gave to the coach-maker, sums so low as to oblige him to use
+the most worthless materials; and as to repairs, even if they made him
+an allowance for these, it was so inadequate to the continual mending
+which vehicles constructed of such materials required that he merely put
+in a clip or a bolt where the fracture might happen to be, and then
+returned them in as dangerous a condition as before. Such a state of
+things, Palmer continued, would no longer be tolerated, and, as fast as
+Besant could turn them out, the new patent coaches would be sent down to
+replace those that were now in use. For providing them and keeping them
+in thorough repair, for which of course the contractors had to pay, the
+patentee's terms would be five farthings a mile or 2-1/2d. a mile out
+and in. After this summary fashion did Palmer clear the country of the
+mail-coaches of original construction.
+
+In 1792 the only mail-coaches on the road were those supplied by Besant.
+They were constructed to carry five passengers, four inside and one out.
+The coachman was not a Post Office servant; yet he, like the mail guard,
+was provided with uniform. The mail guard carried firearms. He carried
+also a timepiece; and this timepiece was regulated to gain about fifteen
+minutes in twenty-four hours, so that, when travelling eastwards, it
+might accord with real time. Of course, in the opposite direction, a
+corresponding allowance was made. The mail guard's position was one of
+no little responsibility. Not only were the mails under his personal
+charge, but he had to see that the coach kept time, that there was no
+undue delay for the purpose of obtaining refreshments, that the harness
+was in serviceable condition, and, generally, that matters along the
+road were conducted with order and propriety. If in any one or more of
+these respects there were any defect, it was the mail guard's duty to
+report the circumstance. Should the harness be reported as in had
+condition, and the contractors fail to replace it on demand, a new set
+was sent down from London at their expense; and should a coach
+persistently keep bad time, a superintendent from headquarters was
+deputed to travel by it until proper time was kept. This was equivalent
+to a heavy fine, as the superintendent travelled free, and for the seat
+he occupied a passenger would have been charged at the rate of 4d. a
+mile. The fees which at this time it was usual to pay to the mail guard
+and coachman were moderate enough, only 1s. apiece at the end of the
+"ground"; and if the "ground" was less than thirty miles, only 6d. Even
+at this rate the gentlemen of Devonshire bitterly complained that
+between Exeter and Taunton they had to pay two coachmen.
+
+The chief superintendent of mail-coaches at this time was Thomas Hasker,
+a man whose heart and soul were in his duties. Hasker has left behind
+him copies of letters written by himself or by his instructions; and
+these letters, though expressed in homely language, throw such a flood
+of light upon the ways of the road a century ago that we make no apology
+for quoting from them. "The Bristol coach," he writes to the postmaster
+of Marlborough, "is the fastest in the kingdom, and you must not detain
+it for the coach from Bath." Again, to the postmaster of Ipswich he
+writes, "Tell Mr. Foster to get fresh horses immediately, and that I
+must see him in town next Monday. Shameful work--three hours and
+twenty-two minutes coming over his eighteen miles." The Dover coach had
+long been keeping bad time. "I must beg you to attend to this directly,"
+writes Hasker to the contractors, "or we shall be obliged to put three
+fresh guards on the coach, and keep a superintendent constantly up and
+down till time is kept." The contractors for another coach had failed to
+replace their harness when desired, and a set had been sent down from
+London. "The harness," writes the indefatigable superintendent, "cost
+fourteen guineas, but as it had been used a few times with the King's
+royal Weymouth [coach], you will be charged only twelve, which sum
+please to remit to me." Thanks to the widening of the roads, it is only
+in thoroughfares more or less crowded that the device can now be
+practised to which the following refers: "Your coachman, Pickard, lost
+thirty-seven minutes last night coming up, and by so doing he always
+hinders the Manchester coach; he leaving Leicester first keeps on
+before, and prevents the other coach from passing. This is the case
+every night that Pickard comes up."
+
+But it is the instructions to the mail guards which bring home to us
+most vividly the ways of the road a hundred years ago. Thus, to the mail
+guards on the Exeter coach: "You are not to stop at any place whatever
+to leave any letters at, but to blow your horn to give the people notice
+that you have got letters for them; therefore, if they do not choose to
+come out to receive them, don't you get down from your dicky, but take
+them on to Exeter and bring them back with you on your next journey."
+And again to the mail guards on another coach: "If the coachman go into
+a public-house to drink, don't you go with him and make the stop longer,
+but hurry him out." This hurrying out had sometimes to be applied to
+passengers, and not always with success. "Sir," writes Hasker to a mail
+guard who had complained of the futility of his efforts in this
+direction, "stick to your bill, and never mind what passengers say
+respecting waiting overtime. Is it not the fault of the landlord to keep
+them so long? Some day when you have waited a considerable time (suppose
+five or eight minutes longer than is allowed by the bill), drive away
+and leave them behind. Only take care that you have witness that you
+called them out two or three times. Then let them get forward how they
+can. Let the innkeeper [of the house] where they dine know that you have
+received this letter."
+
+While thus urged to correct others, the mail guards had sometimes to be
+corrected themselves. Fines ranging from 2s. 6d. to 5s. were imposed for
+omitting to date the timetable or for dating it wrongly; and on one
+occasion an unfortunate guard was fined as much as one guinea because
+some bags for which he should have called at the Stafford Post Office
+were left behind. Also to delegate one's duties was strictly prohibited.
+"It has been reported to Mr. Hasker," writes Hasker's lieutenant, "that
+you send your mail to the Post Office by the person called Boots, and do
+not go with it yourself. You have been wrote to two or three times
+before on this subject. Therefore, if the irregularity be repeated, you
+will certainly be discharged." Occasionally advantage would be taken of
+a complaint to read a lesson to the complainant. A mail guard had been
+reported for impertinence by certain contractors who were notorious for
+the indifferent lights with which they supplied their coach. After
+replying that he had been severely rebuked for his conduct, Hasker slily
+adds, "but perhaps something may be said for the feelings of a guard
+that hears the continual complaints of passengers against bad lights and
+the disagreeable smell of stinking oil, especially when through such
+things the passengers withhold the gratuity which the guards expect."
+
+On the part of the mail guards, however, the commonest irregularity, and
+the irregularity most difficult to check, was the carrying of parcels
+and of passengers in excess of the prescribed number. "In
+consequence"--so runs a general order which was issued about this
+time--"of several of the mail guards having been detected in carrying
+meat and vegetables in their mail-box to the amount of 150 pounds weight
+at a time, the superintendents are desired to take opportunities to meet
+the coaches in their district at places where they are least expected,
+and to search the boxes to remedy this evil, which is carried to too
+great a length. The superintendents," the order proceeds, "will please
+to observe that Mr. Hasker does not wish to be too hard on the guards.
+Such a thing as a joint of meat or a couple of fowls or any other
+article for their own family in moderation he does not wish to debar
+them from the privilege of carrying." Truth compels us to add that at
+the time to which we refer it was not only meat and vegetables that the
+mail guards carried. They carried also game. In later years the country
+gentleman was probably the mail guards' best friend, but at the end of
+the last century he did not hesitate to charge them with being in league
+with poachers, and not infrequently threatened prosecution. The mail-box
+indeed was admirably adapted to purposes of secretion. Occupying a part
+of the space which even in these early days was known as the boot, it
+opened not, as the boot opened, from behind but from the top,
+immediately under the mail guard's feet; and no one but himself had
+access to it. Constant were the injunctions to the superintendents to
+meet the coaches at unexpected places for the purpose of search.
+"Search," writes Hasker, "as many mail-boxes as you can, and take away
+all game not directed and anything else beyond a joint for the guard's
+family, and send it to the chief magistrate to be disposed of for the
+benefit of the poor of the parish." The temptation to carry an extra
+passenger or two was even greater than to carry parcels. What degree of
+indulgence was shewn to this form of irregularity appears to have
+depended upon the part of the coach in which the extra seat was
+provided. To be detected in carrying a passenger on the mail-box was
+certain dismissal.
+
+Although it is not our intention to treat of mail-coaches otherwise than
+as vehicles for the transmission of letters, it may perhaps be permitted
+to us to pause here a moment and inquire where, at the end of the last
+century, the passengers' luggage can have been stowed. Of the boot a
+part, as we have seen, was given up to the mail-box; and the roof, upon
+which, within our own recollection, the luggage would be piled to nearly
+half the height of the coach itself, was forbidden, or almost forbidden,
+ground. "To load the roof of the coach," writes Hasker, "with large
+heavy baskets would not only be setting a bad example to other coaches,
+but in a very short time no passenger would travel with it." "Such a
+thing," he adds, "as a turtle tied on the roof directed to any gentleman
+once or twice a year might pass unnoticed, but for a constancy cannot be
+suffered." This objection to a load on the roof appears to have been
+common to the Sovereign and the subject. In 1796 the Court proceeded to
+Weymouth; and, as usual, a royal mail was in attendance. The King, who
+took the liveliest interest in the performances of this coach, and
+examined the way-bill daily, discountenanced roof-loads. The royal
+injunctions on this head Hasker, who was a plain-spoken man and no
+courtier, conveyed to, his subordinates thus: "Take care not to load the
+royal mail too high, and when any of His Majesty's servants travel by it
+do not load the roof upward, as you know he ordered that no luggage
+should be put on the top when his servants rode, and, indeed, at all
+times. Now upwards [_i.e._ on return from Weymouth to Windsor] there can
+be no occasion, for there are waggons and other conveyances to bring the
+luggage up." The possible use of waggons and other conveyances
+notwithstanding, we cannot help thinking that the traveller by coach of
+a hundred years ago must have been content with a far smaller quantity
+of luggage than would satisfy the traveller of to-day.
+
+That the roof of the coach, whether loaded or not, had its drawbacks for
+travellers is sufficiently evident from Hasker's correspondence. "The
+York coachman and guard," he writes after a spell of bad weather which
+had rotted the roads, "were both chucked from their seats going down to
+Huntingdon last journey, and coming up the guard is lost this morning,
+supposed from the same cause, as the passengers say he was blowing his
+horn just before they missed him."
+
+The King's interest in his mail-coach was not confined to the inspection
+of the way-bill. It was usual, before the Court repaired to Weymouth,
+for the coach to make a certain number of trial trips, and the King
+would go to the castle gates to see it pass. "His Majesty," writes
+Hasker, under date the 12th of August 1794, "came down to the park gate
+to see the mail-coach the first and second day, and told me he was much
+pleased to see it so well done and regular, and that he was glad Mr.
+White did not work it." Mr. White had worked it on a previous occasion,
+and had not given satisfaction. At the end of each season the King gave
+still more practical proof of the interest he took in his coach by
+sending thirty guineas for distribution among the mail guards and
+coachmen.
+
+But, gratified as Hasker must have been by these marks of royal
+condescension, there was one thing which, with his concurrence, even the
+King should not do, and that was, detain the mail. Owing to the letters
+from the Court being late, the coach, on several successive days, had
+not started from Weymouth until after the appointed hour. Chesterfield
+was the minister in attendance, and Hasker addressed to him a letter of
+respectful remonstrance. Of course he did not know, he said, whether the
+mail had been detained by His Majesty or by His Majesty's
+postmaster-general; but in either case he prayed it might be considered
+how bad an example it was, and what disorder was being introduced into
+the service. According to present arrangements, the coach should leave
+Weymouth at four in the afternoon. It might be appointed to leave at
+five or even six if desired, and yet reach London on the following day
+in time for the last delivery; but whatever hour might be fixed, he
+adjured his Lordship that it might be observed.
+
+How completely the mail-coach had by this time extinguished the express
+may be judged from the following instruction to the packet agent at
+Yarmouth:[71] "You will observe the reason why you keep the mail to send
+by the mail-coach is that, tho' you detain it four or five hours, it
+arrives as soon at the General Post Office as if sent by express, for
+the coach travels in sixteen or seventeen hours, and the express in not
+less than twenty or twenty-one, sometimes more." Nor is it less
+interesting to note the change of sentiment which had recently taken
+place as to the importance of despatch. Only a few years before, as we
+have seen, the inhabitants of Shrewsbury had been informed that it could
+be of no consequence whether their letters arrived four or five hours
+sooner or later. Now, in order to accelerate the letters contained in a
+single bag, no expense is to be spared. "If," the same instruction
+continues, "any mail arrives within an hour after the mail-coach is
+gone, perhaps a post-chaise and four might catch it at Ipswich."
+
+  [71] The packet agency had been removed from Harwich to Yarmouth during
+  the war. Yarmouth, by road, is 124 miles from London.
+
+But, to quit details, the broad results were these. Palmer, when
+introducing his plan, had promised security and despatch; but not
+economy. On the contrary, he had made no secret of his opinion that the
+use of mail-coaches would involve a considerable increase of expense.
+The result was a surprise even to himself. Before 1784 the annual
+allowance for carrying the mails ranged from L4 to L8 a mile, L8 being
+paid where the mails were heavy--as, for instance, on the Great North
+Road from London as far as Tuxford. In 1792 the terms on which the mails
+were carried were exemption from tolls and 1d. a mile each way, or an
+annual allowance of a little more than L3 a mile. Palmer had estimated
+the total cost of his plan at L30,000 a year. The actual cost only
+slightly exceeded L12,000.
+
+Hardly less reason had he to congratulate himself on the score of
+security and despatch. Before 1784 scarcely a week passed without the
+mails on one road or another being robbed. So great had the scandal
+become that the Post Office built a model cart--a cart wholly
+constructed of iron and reputed to be robber-proof. This cart had not
+long begun to run before it was stopped by highwaymen and rifled of its
+contents. In 1792 eight years had passed since the introduction of
+Palmer's plan; and during this period not a single mail-coach had been
+either stopped or robbed. This immunity from robbery was in more ways
+than one equivalent to a further saving. Before 1784 heavy expenses were
+incurred annually for prosecutions. One trial alone, a trial which made
+no little noise at the time, namely that of the brothers Weston, cost no
+less than L4000. This source of expense had now, of course, disappeared.
+As regards despatch, before 1784 the post travelled between five and six
+miles an hour. In 1792 the mail-coaches were travelling about seven
+miles an hour. Telford had not yet levelled the hills nor Macadam paved
+the roads; and rollers were unknown. A speed of seven miles an hour at
+the end of the last century was probably far more trying to horses than
+a speed of ten miles an hour later on.
+
+It would be beyond our province to inquire--interesting as the inquiry
+would be--to what extent the exchange of commodities between town and
+town dates from the introduction of mail-coaches; and whether it was not
+at this period that, with some noted exceptions, the local repute which
+certain towns enjoyed for the manufacture of particular articles began
+to spread. Ours is a humbler purpose; or we might be tempted even to
+contend that Palmer's plan, by the facilities it afforded for
+intercourse, exercised an influence--slow it may be, but none the less
+sure--upon the habits and condition of the people.
+
+We will illustrate our meaning. Before the introduction of mail-coaches
+in 1784 the town of Penzance in Cornwall was not indeed without a post;
+but the post it possessed was hardly worthy of the name. In 1790 letters
+were conveyed there by cart from Falmouth regularly six days a week.
+Now, of the condition of Penzance not many years before the earlier of
+these two dates we are informed on unimpeachable authority. "I have
+heard my mother relate," writes Sir Humphry Davy's brother and
+biographer, "that when she was a girl[72] there was only one cart in the
+town of Penzance, and that if a carriage occasionally appeared in the
+streets it attracted universal attention. Pack-horses were then in
+general use for conveying merchandise, and the prevailing manner of
+travelling was on horseback. At that period the luxuries of furniture
+and living enjoyed by people of the middle class at the present time
+were confined almost entirely to the great and wealthy; in the same
+town, where the population was about 2000 persons, there was only one
+carpet, the floors of rooms were sprinkled with sea-sand, and there was
+not a single silver fork. The only newspaper which then circulated in
+the west of England was the _Sherborne Mercury_, and it was carried
+through the country not by the post but by a man on horseback specially
+employed in distributing it." Penzance can never be otherwise than a
+most interesting town; but one finds it difficult to believe that, after
+being brought into communication with the outside world on six days of
+the week, it can long have retained its pristine charm and simplicity.
+
+  [72] Mrs. Davy was born in 1760.
+
+Let us now see what, at the time of Palmer's retirement, was the
+condition of the country Post Offices. Bristol, after long ranking next
+to London in wealth and population, had yielded place to other towns.
+Foremost among these stood Manchester. Manchester, following suit to the
+capital, had recently numbered its streets; it was publishing local
+directories; and it enjoyed the reputation of being, the capital itself
+not excepted, the dearest town in the kingdom. At the present time the
+Post Office at Manchester gives employment to about 1400 persons. In
+1792, with the exception of a single letter-carrier, the whole of the
+Post Office business there was conducted by an aged widow assisted by
+her daughter. Dame Willatt had recently achieved some little local
+notoriety. She had, as an inducement to persons to post early, imposed a
+late-letter fee. For this proceeding, not at that time uncommon and not
+disapproved at headquarters, she had been summoned to the Court of the
+Lord of the Manor, and had been cast in damages.
+
+Bath enjoyed a double distinction, a distinction due less probably to
+its population as compared with that of other towns than to the fact
+that, being Palmer's native place, it was constantly under his eye as it
+had been under the eye of Ralph Allen before. This highly-favoured town
+was, outside London, the only one in the kingdom which could boast of
+what, with any regard to the meaning of words, could be dignified by the
+name of a Post Office Establishment; and the postmaster's salary was in
+excess of that which any other postmaster received. This salary was L150
+a year, and the establishment, over which Ralph Allen's successor
+presided, consisted of one clerk and three letter-carriers.
+
+No other town had more than one letter-carrier; and many towns had not
+even this. Whether the accommodation was provided or not appears to have
+depended less upon the necessities of the place than upon the
+disposition of the inhabitants. Thus, the little towns of Sandwich in
+Kent and Hungerford in Berkshire, in recognition of the gallant conflict
+they had waged with the authorities, had each a letter-carrier of its
+own, while Norwich, York, Derby, Newcastle, and Plymouth had none.
+Besides Bath only four towns received an allowance for a clerk or
+assistant, namely Manchester, Norwich, York, and Leeds. Elsewhere the
+postmaster and a letter-carrier, if letter-carrier there was, were the
+sole Post Office representatives.
+
+At Bristol the postmaster's salary was L140,--the next highest after
+that given at Bath. At Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Chester
+the salary was L100; at Exeter, York, Newcastle, Leeds, and Plymouth
+L80; at Sheffield L60, to which amount it had been recently raised from
+L50; at Derby, Carlisle, and Gloucester L40; at Brighton and Nottingham
+L30; at Leicester L25; and at Southampton L20. At Tunbridge the
+postmaster, in addition to a salary of L20, received an allowance of
+equal amount for keeping an office at Tunbridge Wells. Ripon, despite
+the rebuke it had received in 1713 for its audacity in asking for a Post
+Office, had now been accommodated with one. At Chepstow pence were still
+being paid on the delivery of letters, not because the inhabitants had
+not discovered their rights but out of consideration to the aged
+postmistress, whose emoluments they were unwilling to diminish.
+Birkenhead, Torquay, and Bournemouth,[73] of course, did not exist.
+Eastbourne existed indeed, but not as we know it now. Hither the letters
+were carried three times a week from Lewes. At Ramsgate, then a village
+served from the neighbouring post-town of Sandwich, an office for the
+receipt of letters was kept at a cost of L6 a year. The whole of the
+Isle of Wight had but one postmaster and one letter-carrier. To the
+Channel Islands there was no post.
+
+  [73] As late as 1854 Bournemouth received its letters from Poole by
+  donkey and cart.
+
+On Palmer's retirement the office of chief adviser to the
+postmasters-general devolved almost naturally upon Francis Freeling, the
+surveyor located at headquarters. Todd still held the appointment of
+secretary, but after a service of more than fifty years he was unequal
+to the exertion which the exigencies of the time required. Between Todd
+and Walsingham, moreover, there was little in common. Their relations,
+indeed, had always been most friendly; but the views they entertained on
+Post Office questions were more often than not at variance. "It is a
+matter of great entertainment to me," wrote Walsingham, as early as
+October 1788, "to see how totally we differ in all our official
+opinions." From this time Todd took less and less part in the duties of
+his office, and confined himself almost exclusively to its social
+amenities. This was a sphere in which he excelled. At his table in
+Lombard Street the postmasters-general themselves and such as they might
+choose to meet them were frequent guests, and "his old hock in his old
+parlour" passed into a by-word.
+
+Freeling, on the contrary, possessed advantages which not only pointed
+him out as Todd's successor when Todd should be pleased to retire, but
+peculiarly fitted him to deal with the circumstances of the moment. In
+the prime of life, of good address and prepossessing appearance, and
+with a knowledge of every detail of Post Office organisation such as
+only constant visits to different parts of the kingdom could give, he
+soon contrived to make himself not only useful but indispensable; and
+before any long period had expired the postmasters-general appointed him
+joint secretary with Todd, an arrangement by virtue of which one was to
+be the acting and the other the sleeping partner; one was to do the work
+and the other to draw the pay. It was new to the postmasters-general to
+have about them some one who was not only able but willing and anxious
+to impart information on every official question as it arose, and they
+could ill conceal their glee at the altered state of affairs. "One of
+the complaints made by us of Mr. Palmer," they wrote about this time,
+"was that he did what he thought fit without making the least
+communication to the Board, or without there being a single record of
+anything which he did or objected to either before or after it was
+done"; ... but "Mr. Freeling reports distinctly to us upon every
+application that we refer to him, or that is made to the Board,
+amounting to above two hundred reports every quarter for the current
+business." Freeling was now exposed to a serious danger, a danger to
+which many a reputation has succumbed, namely, that of being transformed
+from a man of action into a mere scribe; but this was a temptation which
+he stoutly resisted. Without relaxing his efforts to maintain and
+improve upon Palmer's plan, he was careful not only to keep the
+postmasters-general informed of what he was doing, but to do nothing
+which had not first been duly authorised.
+
+The period immediately following Palmer's retirement was one rather of
+honest endeavour than of solid achievement. The first and most pressing
+question to arise was that of insufficiency of accommodation at
+headquarters. The inland office, this being the office in which the
+mails were made up for despatch, was not only close and ill-ventilated,
+but altogether too small for its purpose. More post-towns were required
+in various parts of the kingdom; but it was impossible to add to the
+number of towns for which bags would have to be made up until more space
+should be provided. Some persons thought it would be best at once to
+take a step which in any case would probably have to be taken in the not
+remote future, and to build a new Post Office on other and more
+extensive premises. Such, however, was not the opinion of the
+postmasters-general. They were naturally unwilling to advocate the heavy
+expenditure which such a measure would involve except upon proof of its
+absolute necessity. Mainly on this ground, but also partly because
+premises in so central and convenient a position as those which the
+present Post Office occupied were not to be had, authority was sought
+and obtained for nothing more than the erection of a new inland office.
+
+But, as the postmasters-general found to their cost, it is one thing to
+obtain an authority and another thing to carry it into effect. On part
+of the ground on which the office was to be erected stood two houses,
+the lease of which had not long to run; and the Drapers' Company, to
+whom the property belonged, declined to extend the term. This difficulty
+was at length overcome, and the houses were in course of demolition,
+when projecting into the very centre of the space designed for the new
+office was found the wall of an old house belonging to Sir Charles
+Watson, and this house he refused to let the Post Office have unless it
+would also take seven other houses which he possessed in the immediate
+neighbourhood. At the present time houses in and about Abchurch Lane
+would probably fetch twenty-five years' purchase. Fifteen years'
+purchase was the sum then demanded, and it was considered a hard
+bargain. Eventually Watson consented to grant a ninety-nine years'
+lease; but it was a lease not only of the single house that the Post
+Office wanted, but of all eight houses, seven of which it did not want.
+What they called their mortifications and disappointments at an end, the
+postmasters-general proceeded to build.
+
+Still more unsatisfactory was the result of an attempt that was made or
+intended to be made about this time to improve the post with the
+Continent. Communication with France was only twice a week, and
+Walsingham desired to treble it. In France, as in England, the post went
+to the water's edge on six days of the week, and he could see no reason
+why, except on two days, it should stop there. He entertained a strong
+opinion that between the two countries communication should be daily.
+
+There was also another matter to be settled with our neighbours. During
+a period of sixty-six years, namely, from 1713 to 1779, the postage on a
+single letter between London and Paris had been 10d.; and, to avoid the
+keeping of accounts, this sum had been collected and retained by the
+Post Office of the country in which the letter was delivered. In 1779,
+when owing to the war communication between Dover and Calais was
+stopped, letters from Paris reached England through Flanders, and on
+these letters when put into the post in Paris a charge of 4d. was made
+in addition to the 10d. to be paid on delivery in London. It had been
+thought that in 1783, on the termination of the war, this charge would
+be abandoned, and that the old postage of 10d. would be resumed. Such,
+however, was not the case. The Post Office authorities in France adhered
+to the 4d. charge and defended it. The old postage of 10d., they argued,
+was all very well when they had no packets of their own and England
+performed the sea service. But now France had her own packets, and the
+distance between Paris and Calais being far greater than between London
+and Dover, it could not in reason be expected that on a letter between
+the two capitals she would be content with no higher postage than that
+which England received. The charge of 4d. upon letters for London when
+put into the post in Paris must be maintained, even though they no
+longer went through Flanders. It was a matter of internal regulation
+with which England had no concern. Without contesting this view of the
+case, the home authorities regarded the 4d. charge as a most vexatious
+impost. Not only had it the effect of diminishing the correspondence,
+but many of the letters which still passed were carried by private hand
+from Paris to Dover and there posted, so that the British Post Office
+received upon them only 4d. apiece, this being the postage from Dover to
+London, instead of 10d., the postage from Paris. In 1787 Palmer had, by
+Pitt's direction, gone over to France in order to adjust the matter and
+to promote a six days' post between the two countries; but he returned
+without effecting either object.
+
+Circumstances now appearing more favourable, Walsingham determined to
+make fresh overtures. An emissary had already been selected for the
+purpose, and was on the eve of departure when a new and unexpected
+difficulty arose; the merchants of London, to whom the intention to
+increase the frequency of communication with France had become known,
+met to protest against the project. A hundred years before they would
+have gone to the Post Office, talked the matter over with the
+postmasters-general, and, after an exchange of opinions, an agreement
+would have been come to as to what was best to be done. Now they
+assembled in their numbers at the London Tavern and resolved "that any
+addition to the present number of post days to France or to any other
+part of the Continent is unnecessary, and would be highly inconvenient
+and injurious to the merchants of London." The resolution was unanimous,
+and copies were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. For
+the merchants of London Walsingham entertained a sincere respect; but in
+this particular matter, convinced that they did not know what was for
+their own good, he determined to proceed in their despite. Unhappily,
+however, at this conjuncture the resumption of hostilities with France
+extinguished for the time all hopes of improved communication with the
+Continent.
+
+Another project, in which the Post Office and the merchants possessed a
+common interest and a common desire, was also doomed to failure. The
+practice of cutting bank notes into two parts and sending one part by
+one post and another by another had now become general. The expedient,
+though efficacious, was a costly one. A letter with an enclosure,
+however light, paid double postage; and double postage between two
+places no farther apart than London and Birmingham was 10d. To send two
+halves of a bank note each in a separate letter would, of course, cost
+twice that amount. This was a heavy insurance to pay. The Post Office,
+in its desire not to discourage a practice which diminished temptation
+to dishonesty, was hardly less anxious than the merchants themselves
+that the amount should be reduced. Accordingly Walsingham proposed that
+in all cases where a bank note was sent by two separate posts the second
+letter, that is to say, the letter containing the second half, should,
+on proof being given of its contents, be charged with only single
+postage. A notice to the public announcing the change had already been
+prepared when he learnt to his chagrin that the proposed regulation
+would be illegal. In the case of a letter with an enclosure the law
+prescribed double postage, and it was no more in the power of the Post
+Office to reduce the amount than to forego it altogether.
+
+But these were failures which it is only interesting to record as
+evidence that at the Post Office, after Palmer had left it, there was no
+want of directing energy or of a desire to study the interests of the
+public. It is pleasant to turn to matters in respect to which good
+intentions were not unattended with results. But before leaving 1792,
+the year in which these disappointments occurred, we must not omit to
+notice that it was at the end of this year that the letter-carriers were
+for the first time put into uniform. Palmer, who was now playing the
+part of the outside critic, condemned the innovation as a piece of
+unnecessary extravagance. But Palmer did not know the reasons for it.
+The letter-carriers when in private clothes were exposed to temptation
+from which the wearing of uniform would protect them; and more than one
+recent case had brought the fact into painful prominence. Nor can it be
+denied that, so long as there was no distinctive dress, letter-carriers
+in want of a holiday were a little apt to take one without permission,
+supplying their place by persons of whose character they knew little or
+nothing. It was in order to check irregularity of this kind and as a
+means of protection to themselves and the public that uniform was now
+introduced. The uniform consisted of a scarlet cloth coat with blue
+lapels and blue linings of padua; a blue cloth waistcoat, and a hat with
+gold band.
+
+It should also be noticed that about this time the Post Office servants
+in London were in some measure relieved from the pecuniary cares by
+which they had long been oppressed. The Commissioners of Inquiry in
+their Report of 1788 had recommended for the Post Office a new
+establishment; and now, after an interval of nearly five years, this
+establishment was approved by the King in Council. The new salaries were
+not high. At the present time they would be considered low; but such as
+they were, they were higher than the salaries they replaced. Jamineau's
+recent death, moreover, by relieving the clerks of the roads from
+payment of the commission[74] which this officer received on all
+newspapers with which they dealt, enabled them to reduce their price for
+franking, the result being an immediate extension of sale. On the whole,
+the Post Office servants in London were, at this time, in comparatively
+comfortable circumstances, or at all events above the reach of actual
+want. The starvation and bankruptcy with which they had at one time been
+threatened had been staved off by a grant, which Pitt renewed year after
+year while the Commissioners' Report was under consideration. This grant
+amounted to L3000, of which L2000 were for distribution in the sorting
+office, and L1000 in the other offices.
+
+  [74] This was a commission of three halfpence on every dozen newspapers,
+  besides one newspaper in every quire.
+
+The year 1793 was signalised by a remarkable development of the penny
+post. This institution, which had as yet been established nowhere but in
+London and in Dublin, was now to be extended to Edinburgh, to
+Manchester, to Bristol, and to Birmingham. In Edinburgh the ground had
+been to some extent preoccupied. The keeper of a coffee-house in the
+hall of the Parliament House had sixteen years before set up an office
+from which letters were delivered throughout the city at 1d. apiece; and
+this office still remained open and prospered. To compare Williamson's
+undertaking with Dockwra's would be to compare a mouse with an elephant;
+and yet it may not be uninteresting to note the different treatment
+which the two men received. Dockwra was prosecuted, fined, and his
+undertaking confiscated. Williamson was granted a pension. "We have
+also," write the postmasters-general under date the 19th of July 1793,
+"to beg your Lordship's permission to authorise us to allow to Mr.
+Williamson of Edinburgh L25 per annum, he having long had the profits of
+1d. a letter on certain letters forwarded through his receiving house at
+Edinburgh, which he will lose by our having established a penny post
+there. We have made it a rule," they add, "always to propose that those
+who suffer in their incomes from regulations which are certainly
+beneficial to the public should receive compensation for the loss they
+sustain."
+
+At Manchester the establishment of the penny post followed upon other
+and important alterations. The inhabitants of that town had long
+complained of the inadequacy of their postal arrangements; and measures
+had recently been taken, the very extent of which serves to shew how
+serious must have been the defects which they were designed to supply.
+The aged postmistress was granted a pension of L120, with the reversion
+of one-third of that amount to her daughter; and in her room an active
+postmaster was appointed at a salary of L300. Four clerks were at the
+same time appointed, at salaries ranging from L50 to L100, and five
+additional letter-carriers, making six altogether, at wages of 12s. a
+week. Thus, Manchester suddenly found itself in possession of a Post
+Office establishment with which, outside London, that of no other town
+in the kingdom could compare. As a sequel to this important extension of
+force a penny post was opened in July 1793; and no sooner had the boon
+been conferred upon Manchester than it was extended to Bristol and to
+Birmingham.
+
+It is interesting to note what at these three towns was the financial
+effect of giving postal facilities. During the year 1794-95 the penny
+post brought a clear gain to the revenue--in Manchester, of L586; in
+Bristol, of L469; and in Birmingham, of L240. It is a curious fact that,
+with this experience to guide them and with an anxious desire to extend
+the system, the Post Office authorities, after sparing no pains to
+inform themselves on the subject, came to the conclusion that neither
+at Liverpool nor at Leeds nor at any other town in England would a penny
+post defray its own expenses.
+
+But it was in London that the penny post attained its highest
+development. This branch of Post Office business had long been
+shamefully neglected. Of the officers concerned in it those above the
+rank of sorter were only three in number--a comptroller, an accountant,
+and a collector. Of these the collector attended only occasionally, and
+the accountant and comptroller not at all. This neglect had its natural
+effect upon the receipts. During the last twenty years and more,
+notwithstanding the increase which had during this period taken place in
+the population and trade of the metropolis, the revenue of the penny
+post had remained almost stationary. Up to 1789 the highest sum it had
+ever produced in one year was L5157 net. This was in 1784, and for the
+five following years the receipts went on decreasing until, attention
+having been called to the decline, there was a sudden rebound. In 1792
+the revenue was--gross L10,825, and net L5561.
+
+Palmer, who was well aware of the discreditable condition into which the
+Penny Post Office had fallen, proposed to take it in farm, and offered
+as a consideration to forego his salary and percentage; but this was a
+proposal the acceptance of which was strongly deprecated by the
+Commissioners of Inquiry who sat in 1788 no less than by the
+postmasters-general. It was their unanimous opinion that the penny post
+should be retained in the hands of the State. Palmer, still clinging to
+the hope that other counsels might prevail, put off effecting
+improvements which would afford the strongest arguments against the
+adoption of his own proposal; and in 1793, in spite of the changes which
+had been going on all around, the Penny Post Office remained much as it
+had been during the last twenty years.
+
+The man who now took the reform of the penny post in hand was Edward
+Johnson. Johnson was a letter-carrier. He had been appointed by Palmer
+or on Palmer's recommendation; and he soon gave proof of more than
+ordinary ability. Palmer not infrequently exposed him to a severe
+ordeal. When unable or unwilling to attend the postmasters-general
+himself, he would send Johnson in his stead, a substitution which they
+resented as unseemly; and thus some little prejudice had been excited
+against him. This prejudice, however, had disappeared with the cause of
+it, and Johnson now stood high, deservedly high, in the
+postmaster-generals' favour.
+
+In 1793, in addition to the numerous receiving houses where letters for
+the penny post might be taken in, there were in London five principal
+offices--one known as the chief Penny Post Office, and situated in
+Throgmorton Street, opposite Bartholomew Lane; another called the
+Westminster Penny Post Office, and situated in Coventry Street,
+Haymarket; a third, the Hermitage Office in Queen Street, Little Tower
+Hill; a fourth, the Southwark Office in St. Saviour's Churchyard,
+Borough; and a fifth, the St. Clement's Office, in Blackmore Street.
+Between these five offices there was little or no connection; at no two
+of them were the number of collections or deliveries the same or the
+hours at which they were made; the letter-carriers were altogether too
+few for the ground which they had to cover, so that punctuality and
+despatch were impossible; and even those whose walks lay near the
+ten-mile limit, before proceeding to deliver their letters, had to come
+to London to fetch them.
+
+Johnson proposed to change all this. He proposed to reduce the number of
+principal offices from five to two, retaining only the chief office and
+the office in Coventry Street; to increase the number of collections and
+deliveries; to give the same number to all parts served by the penny
+post, namely, six in the town and three in the suburbs, or, as the
+suburbs were then called, "the country," and everywhere, as far as
+possible, to observe the same hours; to post these hours up in every
+receiving house, so that the public might be made acquainted with them
+and act as a check upon their being observed; and, instead of requiring
+the letter-carriers in the remoter parts to come to London for their
+letters, to send their letters to them by mounted messengers.
+
+Johnson's last proposal, though following almost naturally from what had
+gone before, well-nigh staggered the postmasters-general. It was that,
+in order to carry his plan into effect, the number of penny post
+letter-carriers should be more than doubled. The existing number was
+eighty-two, and the number which Johnson proposed was 181. This, even at
+the present time--large as are the numbers with which the Post Office
+has been accustomed to deal--would be considered a heavy, an
+exceptionally heavy, increase. In 1793 it was regarded as portentous,
+and the postmasters-general anxiously sought means to reduce it; but
+Johnson, besides being perfect master of his subject, possessed two
+faculties which by no means always go together. He possessed the faculty
+of devising a good scheme and the faculty of explaining it; and the
+lucid explanation he now gave convinced the postmasters-general that
+they could not do better than adopt his plan in its entirety.
+Contrasting the time which a letter took to pass between various parts
+of London with the time which it would take if his suggestions were
+adopted, Johnson had no difficulty in shewing that from his plan the
+public would derive facilities for intercourse to which they had
+hitherto been strangers.
+
+There were, perhaps, no two places between which the course of post was
+more difficult to manage than Marylebone and Limehouse. Under the
+existing plan a letter from one of these two places, however early it
+might be posted, might not reach the other on the same day, and, even if
+it did so, an answer could not be received before the afternoon of the
+following day. Under Johnson's plan a letter might be received, an
+answer returned, and the answer answered, all on the same day. Places
+less inconveniently situated in relation to each other were to receive a
+still larger measure of benefit. Between persons residing in Lombard
+Street and the Haymarket, for instance, five letters might pass to and
+fro between the hours of eight in the morning and seven in the evening.
+This was within the town limits. Within the country limits the general
+effect of Johnson's plan may be stated thus: that to letters from London
+answers might be returned sooner by two posts if the letters were for
+places not more than five miles distant, and, if for places distant
+between five and ten miles, sooner by a period ranging from one to three
+days. The last-mentioned places, moreover, were to have three posts a
+day instead of one post.
+
+Pitt was no less favourably impressed with Johnson's plan than the
+postmasters-general were; but before sanctioning it he resolved to await
+the passing of an Act for the redress of certain anomalies, or what were
+considered to be anomalies, in the practice of the penny post. This Act
+was passed in 1794; and immediate steps were taken for carrying the plan
+into effect. A proud day for Johnson must have been the 8th of
+September. On that day a public notice appeared announcing the changes
+that were about to take place; and this notice bore his signature. Only
+the other day he had been a letter-carrier, and now, by reason of a
+promotion which did hardly more honour to himself than to the
+postmasters-general who made it, he signed as deputy-comptroller of the
+Penny Post Office.
+
+The financial results of Johnson's plan exceeded all expectation. For
+the last year of the old system the gross revenue of the penny post was
+L11,000. For the first year of the new system it was L28,560; and for
+the second year L29,623. Johnson had proceeded on the principle--a
+principle which from the first establishment of the Post Office has
+never yet been known to fail--increase facilities for correspondence and
+correspondence itself increases.
+
+Johnson had made one mistake, a mistake which he frankly acknowledged
+and did his best to repair. He had fixed the wages of the
+letter-carriers too low. It was not that he had been indifferent to the
+interests of the class from which he had recently emerged, but that he
+had feared to overweight a measure which, even as it stood, he had
+almost despaired of carrying. The wages, as fixed on his
+recommendation, ranged from 9s. to 16s. a week. Then came that terrible
+winter--the winter of 1794-95. We have ourselves been witness to an
+excessive absence from duty on the part of Post Office servants during
+the epidemic of influenza in 1890. But the number that were absent then,
+relatively to the whole force, were not to be compared to the number
+that were absent in the spring of 1795; neither was their absence due to
+so grievous a cause.
+
+In the spring of 1795 the penny post letter-carriers, unlike the
+letter-carriers of the general post, had not yet been supplied with
+uniform, and, through sheer inability to supply themselves with such
+articles of clothing and of food as the severity of the weather
+required, nearly one-half of the whole number were unable to follow
+their employment. Johnson took great blame to himself for what he had
+done; nor did he rest until he had procured for the letter-carriers a
+substantial increase all round. This increase ranged from about 2s. to
+6s. a week for each man, and involved a total cost of L1600 a year. Also
+in matters of detail Johnson effected several improvements, of which we
+will mention only one. The receptacle for letters at the receiving
+houses in London had hitherto been an open and movable box. The box was
+now, on his recommendation, to be fixed and provided with a key. The key
+was to be kept by the receiver, and he alone was to have access to the
+letters.
+
+The Act of 1794 contained provisions which it is impossible to pass
+unnoticed. The penny post from its first establishment in 1681 had
+differed from the general post in this--that letters sent by it had to
+be prepaid. By the general post prepayment had not indeed been
+prohibited, but it had been discouraged; by the penny post it had been
+compulsory. This was now altered, and it was left to the option of
+persons using the penny post whether they would prepay their letters or
+not. It is difficult to repress a pang at the disappearance of a
+provision to which Dockwra, the founder of the penny post, attached the
+highest importance; and yet it must be admitted that the change was not
+made without a reason. Messengers and servants entrusted with letters
+to post would destroy the letters for the sake of the pence which had
+been given them to pay the postage; and to such an extent had the abuse
+been carried that some persons made it a rule not to use the penny post
+at all unless they could post their own letters.
+
+Another provision of the Act of 1794 was to relax a restriction imposed
+by the Act of Anne. Before 1711 the penny post had been so extended as
+to include many places distant from London as much as eighteen and
+twenty miles. Then came the Act of Anne, restricting the penny post to a
+circuit of ten miles. And now the ten-mile limit was abolished, and the
+postmasters-general were empowered, not in London alone but also in
+country towns wherever the penny post might be established, to extend it
+at their discretion.
+
+A third provision of the Act of 1794 was designed to correct what was
+considered a flaw in a previous Act. It is interesting to note what this
+flaw was. When Dockwra established his post, he insisted that on letters
+going by it the postage should be 1d. and no more. This penny, however,
+in the case of letters for places situated beyond the bills of
+mortality, was to carry only to the receiving house; for delivery at a
+private house was to be paid a second penny, commonly called the
+delivery-penny. The Act of Anne merely provided that letters by the
+penny post should be charged 1d., and was silent on the subject of the
+second or delivery-penny; and a subsequent Act, passed in 1731, made the
+delivery-penny legal.
+
+Now what was the consequence of all this? The consequence was that as
+between two letters, the one passing from London to a place outside the
+bills of mortality and the other passing from a place outside the bills
+of mortality to London, there was a difference of postage. In the one
+direction the postage was 2d. and in the other 1d. The Act of 1794
+imposed a postage of 2d. in both directions; and here we see not indeed
+the origin of the twopenny post but the twopenny post fully established.
+
+The reform of the penny post was soon followed by that of the dead
+letter office. This office was established in 1784. How, before that
+year, dead letters were treated is perhaps one of the obscurest points
+of Post Office practice. We know that letters which could not be
+delivered and letters which had been missent were always treated
+together. We know that in 1716 these letters had become so numerous that
+an officer was specially appointed to check them. We know that to Ralph
+Allen, fertile as he was in resources, how to deal with this class of
+letters was a constant source of perplexity. We know that Todd, writing
+to Foxcroft, the deputy postmaster-general of America, in February 1775,
+says: "Amongst other regulations made here of late the dead, refused,
+and unknown letters returned to this office have been opened by the
+proper officers, and returned to the writers"; but without adding who
+"the proper officers" were. And we know that as late as 1783 there was
+in London a letter-carrier whose special duty it was to "take care of
+the unknown and uncertain letters."
+
+But when we have stated this, we have stated all. Whether there was any
+recognised mode of dealing with dead letters, or whether any one into
+whose hands these letters came dealt with them as he judged best,
+according to circumstances, are questions upon which we have absolutely
+no information. In 1784 only a part of the dead letters and letters that
+had been missent went to the newly-created dead letter office. Another
+and larger part, consisting of bye-letters or letters that in the
+ordinary course would not reach London, were dealt with in the
+bye-letter office. No letter was returned to the writer until after the
+expiration of six months, and on its return no postage was charged. In
+1790 Palmer reduced from six months to two the period before which
+letters were returned, and on his own motion, without reference to the
+postmasters-general, charged them with postage. Grave doubts were
+entertained as to the legality of this charge, and Pitt, as soon as he
+heard of it, ordered it to be discontinued.
+
+In 1793 Barlow, a clerk in the secretary's office, who had charge of the
+dead letter office, introduced two changes of practice which, obvious
+as they may now appear, were then regarded as evidence of no little
+merit. He arranged that missent letters, instead of being sent to London
+to be dealt with in the dead letter office, should be forwarded to their
+destination from the place where the missending was discovered; and
+also--a change which gave great satisfaction in naval and military
+circles--that letters for the army and navy should be sent where the
+army and navy were known to be, and not to stations and quarters which
+they were known to have left simply because the letters were addressed
+there.
+
+About the same time the dead letter office received most valuable help
+in the discharge of its duties from the publication of what was,
+virtually, the first County Directory. For some years past three Post
+Office servants had been engaged in compiling a list of all the names
+and addresses they could collect throughout the different counties of
+England. This list, though still far from complete, now filled six large
+folio volumes. The venture which had been undertaken with a view to
+profit was financially a failure; but as a means of helping to forward
+letters with imperfect addresses it proved an unqualified success.
+
+Thus matters stood in 1795, when Barlow proposed a further reform. The
+inspector of the "bye, dead, and missent letters," as they were called,
+had neglected his duties. These letters were not sent to London until
+they had lain for three months in the country offices, and after their
+arrival he had suffered a still longer period to elapse before
+proceeding to dispose of them. Barlow now proposed that these letters
+also should be placed under his control, and the proposal being
+approved, the dead letter office began to assume the shape in which,
+though under another name, we know it to-day. To the general practice
+one exception was made. On the first opening of penny post offices in
+country towns many letters could not be delivered on account of their
+imperfect addresses. The novelty and cheapness of the post, it may well
+be believed, induced persons to use it who possessed little skill in
+writing, and no knowledge of the mode in which superscriptions should be
+prepared. It was a duty imposed on the surveyor who was engaged in
+establishing the post to open these letters and return them to the
+writers on the spot.
+
+Another office was established about this time, an office for dealing
+with the American and West Indian letters. The merchants had recently
+complained that these letters were continually missent, letters for one
+of the West India Islands being sent to another, and letters for places
+served from Halifax being sent to Quebec and _vice versa_. The truth is
+that until lately some profit had been derived from the sorting of these
+letters; and the most experienced officers, who knew the circulation
+abroad almost as well as they knew the circulation at home, had been
+glad to sort them. The comptroller of the inland department--for,
+curiously enough, it was there and not in the foreign department that
+the letters were dealt with--had received one guinea a night and the
+clerks 5s. a night for dealing with them; but these unauthorised
+additions to salaries had now been stopped, and the West Indian and
+American mails were left to be sorted, just as any other mails were
+sorted, by seniors and juniors in common.
+
+It was impossible that mistakes should not occur. To assist in the
+disposal of inland mails there were what were called circulation lists,
+lists shewing to what towns letters for particular places were to be
+sent; but in the case of the American and West Indian mails there were
+no such aids to inexperience, and the letters were to a large extent
+sent haphazard. Freeling now altered this. He procured from abroad
+circulation lists corrected to the latest date. Four experienced
+officers were selected, who were made specially responsible for the West
+Indian and American correspondence; they were to devote to it two hours
+a night over and above their ordinary hours; and for this extra
+attendance they were each to receive a special allowance of L30 a year.
+
+Freeling's last safeguard is interesting as shewing what may be done
+with a limited correspondence. Two books were to be kept, of which one
+was to be reserved for Government letters. In this book were to be
+entered the date on which each individual letter was posted, the date on
+which it was forwarded to Falmouth, and the name of the packet by which
+it was despatched. The second book was, in Freeling's own words, "to
+contain observations of different kinds to enable the clerks the better
+to satisfy the merchants applying for information" respecting the
+letters they had posted. It would perhaps be hardly an exaggeration to
+say that between England on the one hand and America and the West Indies
+on the other there are at the present time more sackfuls of letters
+passing than there were single letters one hundred years ago.
+
+About the same time, but a little later, an important change took place
+in the treatment of letters arriving from the East Indies in the ships
+of the East India Company. These letters came to the India House in
+boxes addressed to the directors, and so escaped all but the inland
+postage. Some of them indeed did not pay even that, for if addressed to
+persons in or near London they were delivered by the Company's servants,
+who charged and retained as their own perquisite a fee varying from 2s.
+6d. to 10s. 6d. on each letter. The practice was of old date, as old
+probably as the East India Company itself, and was held to be not
+illegal. It is true that a vessel was forbidden under a penalty of L20
+to break bulk or to make entry into port until all letters brought by
+the master or his company should be delivered to some agent of the
+postmasters-general; but both the captain and the directors were held to
+be exempt from liability under this provision, the captain because he
+was presumably ignorant of what the boxes contained, and the directors
+because the penalty attached to the captain and not to them.
+
+The legality of the practice not being contested, nothing remained but
+to make overtures to the directors; and, on this being done, they
+readily consented that for the future all letters arriving by their
+ships, except such as were for themselves and their friends, should be
+forthwith sent to the Post Office to be dealt with as ship letters. The
+public derived no little advantage from the change. The postage from
+India was actually less than what the company's servants had been
+accustomed to exact as fees; and the letters were now delivered at once,
+whereas the company's servants would seldom deliver them under three or
+four days after their arrival at the India House, and sometimes not for
+a whole month.
+
+Contemporaneously with the Act of Parliament regulating the penny post
+was passed another establishing a post to the Channel Islands. This was
+essentially a war post, a post which, except for the war between England
+and France, might have been postponed far into the present century.
+Hitherto letters for the Channel Islands had been charged with postage
+only as far as Southampton, and from Southampton they had been carried
+to their destination by private boat. Again and again had the Post
+Office been urged by those who wanted employment for their vessels to
+establish a line of packets to the islands; but to all such overtures
+the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. Boats were passing to and fro
+regularly four or five times a week, and the owners of these boats were
+ready and glad to carry the letters for the ship-letter postage of 1d. a
+letter. Why then, it was asked, should the Post Office be at the expense
+of maintaining a line of packets which, unless it were put on a footing
+out of all proportion to the importance of the service, would give
+absolutely less accommodation than that which existed already?
+
+Thus matters stood when war broke out and all communication with the
+islands was stopped. Even now the postmasters-general had grave doubts
+as to the propriety of establishing a line of packets. It was true that
+the correspondence with the Channel Islands was considerable. During the
+year 1792 the number of letters on which ship-letter postage had been
+paid was 21,570, namely, 20,070 at Southampton and 1500 at Dartmouth and
+other ports on the south coast--making, on the assumption that the
+letters were as many in the opposite direction, a total correspondence
+for the year of about 43,000 letters.
+
+And yet there were serious considerations on the other side. Unless an
+Act of Parliament were passed providing a packet rate of postage between
+the mainland and the islands, the Post Office would have no exclusive
+right of carrying the letters, and the moment the war ceased the packets
+might be deserted in favour of the private boats. If, on the other hand,
+such an Act were passed, popular as the measure might be while the war
+lasted, it could not fail to be unpopular as soon as the war ceased.
+Private boats would then be an illegal means of conveyance, and
+correspondence would be restricted to the packets, however few these
+might be in number, and however wide the intervals between the
+despatches.
+
+Another expedient remained, but this was one which had been tried during
+the last war, and the postmasters-general were not prepared to repeat
+it. The _Express_ packet, Captain Sampson, belonging to the Dover
+station, had been temporarily detached to Southampton to keep
+communication with the Channel Islands open. As some set-off against the
+cost, the Post Office had counted upon saving the ship-letter pence; but
+here again the want of an authorised packet postage made itself felt.
+Sampson, though in receipt of a salary and at no expense for the boat he
+commanded, claimed and received the ship-letter pence, the
+postmasters-general regarding themselves apparently as legally
+incompetent to resist the demand. Without denying that a line of packets
+might be necessary for purposes of State, the postmasters-general now
+declined to promote one on Post Office grounds. Of the necessities of
+the State they were not the judges, and, if the State required the
+adoption of such a measure, it was for others to take the initiative.
+
+The decision at which the Government arrived appears in the Act of 1794,
+which established a line of packets between England and the Channel
+Islands. The packet station was to be at Weymouth, the passage from
+Weymouth being shorter than from Southampton, and Southampton Water
+being difficult to leave when the wind was contrary. For a single
+letter the postage, over and above all other rates, was fixed at 2d.,
+and for a double and treble letter in proportion. Thus the cost of a
+single letter from London to the Channel Islands would remain the same
+as before. Hitherto there had been paid 4d. for postage from London to
+Southampton, 1d. to a factor at Southampton, 1d. for conveyance across,
+and 1d. to the island post office--for the islands had a post office,
+although it was a private one, and not under the control of the
+postmasters-general--making 7d. altogether. Now the charge would be the
+same, namely, postage to Weymouth 5d., and 2d. for the packet postage.
+By the same Act of Parliament rates of postage were imposed within the
+islands similar to those which existed in England.
+
+The abuses of franking now came under notice again. Ten years had
+elapsed since the passing of the Act which provided that a letter, to be
+exempt from postage, must bear on the outside, as part of its
+superscription, its full date written in the member's own handwriting,
+and be posted on the date which the superscription bore. Of course, the
+object of the provision was to confine the privilege to members
+themselves, and to prevent them from obliging their friends at a
+distance with franks; but this object was almost universally defeated by
+the simple expedient of sending to their friends franks that were
+post-dated. It was a common occurrence for franks dated on the same day
+and by the same member to be sent from places three or four hundred
+miles apart.
+
+The bankers who sat in Parliament were the chief offenders. Little did
+they think that an exact account was being kept of every frank that
+passed through the London Post Office, or assuredly they would hardly
+have ventured to keep their friends and customers supplied, as it was
+their practice to do, with the means of evading postage. How many
+bankers sat in Parliament in 1794 we are not informed; but whatever the
+number was, we know that during the three months ending the 10th of
+October in that year there passed through the London Post Office no
+less than 103,805 letters franked by them, a number larger by one-fifth
+than the letters of the Court and all the public offices of the State
+combined.[75] During the same period those members of Parliament who
+were merchants and not bankers contented themselves with the
+comparatively modest number of 27,111. Two or three years before it had
+leaked out that the Government were considering whether a strenuous
+effort should not be made to abolish the franking privilege altogether,
+and it was no secret to the Post Office that in anticipation of such an
+event the banking houses which had a partner in Parliament had concerted
+arrangements for sending their letters by the coaches in boxes.
+
+  [75] From this time the expression "banker's frank" passed into a
+  by-word, and was used to denote any frank, whether given by a banker or
+  not, which was in excess of the prescribed number.
+
+The Government were now resolved that, if the abuses of franking could
+not be stopped, they should at all events be restricted, and with this
+object a bill was brought in which passed into law in 1795. Under this
+statute the weight which a member could frank was reduced from two
+ounces to one ounce; no letter was to be considered as franked unless
+the member whose name and superscription it bore was within twenty miles
+of the town at which it was posted either on the day of posting or on
+the day before; and in the course of one day no member was to send free
+more than ten letters or to receive free more than fifteen.
+
+The same statute which restrained the abuses of franking made a not
+unimportant concession. In an Act passed in 1753 a clause had been
+inserted providing that a letter containing patterns or samples, if it
+did not weigh as much as one ounce, was to be charged as a double letter
+and no more. This was now improved upon. Under the Act of 1795 a packet
+of patterns or samples might, on certain conditions, pass as a single
+letter. These conditions were that it did not exceed one ounce in
+weight, that it was open at the sides, and that it contained no writing
+other than the name and address of the sender and the prices of the
+articles of which he sent specimens.
+
+A few months later another advance was made. At Lombard Street great
+inconvenience had been caused by the late arrival of the letters from
+the West End. The sorting began at five o'clock in the evening, and the
+mails were despatched at eight; but it was not until nearly seven that
+the bulk of the letters from the West End were brought in by the
+runners. Thus, while the first two hours of the evening were hours of
+comparative idleness, the last hour was one of extreme pressure.
+Occasionally, we are told, there would at a quarter before seven o'clock
+be lying on the sorting table as many as 14,000 letters, all of which
+had to be disposed of by eight. At the present day 14,000 letters would
+be regarded as a mere handful. In 1796 it was a number which it taxed
+the utmost resources of the Post Office to dispose of within the
+allotted time.
+
+How to relieve the pressure between the hours of seven and eight was now
+the question to be solved; and the presidents who had succeeded to
+Bonnor's place when this person was got rid of suggested that the object
+might be attained if, instead of the letters from the West End being
+brought to the General Post Office by runners, light carts were employed
+to bring them. Two carts would be enough for the purpose. One might
+start from Charing Cross and the other from Duke Street, Oxford Street,
+picking up bags at the different offices on their way. Thus the letters
+would reach Lombard Street earlier by some thirty minutes than
+heretofore, and there would be more time to sort and charge them. The
+drivers should, of course, be armed. The plan was adopted, and answered
+well; and this was the origin of what is called the London Mail-Cart and
+Van Service, a service in which are now employed daily as many as 550
+vehicles.
+
+Since the introduction of mail-coaches the robbery of mails on the main
+roads of the kingdom had entirely ceased. Now and then, but very rarely,
+there had been pilfering from a mail-coach as, through the default of
+those in charge, it stood at an inn door unguarded; and there had, no
+doubt, been one serious case of theft. On the 24th of October 1794 a
+man, giving the name of Thomas Thomas, went down by the mail-coach from
+London to Bristol, and returned on the following day. This journey he
+repeated on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of November, and on the last-mentioned
+date, when the guard's back was turned, he took advantage of the
+mail-box being left unlocked to steal the mails. But this was a case of
+theft, and not of robbery.
+
+During the twelve years which had elapsed since Palmer's plan was
+established there had not been one single instance in which a mail-coach
+had been molested by highwaymen. Far otherwise was it with the horse and
+cross-post mails. In 1796 the distance over which these mails travelled
+was, in England, about 3800 miles, and hardly a week passed without
+intelligence reaching headquarters that in some part or other of their
+course they had been stopped and robbed. Some roads enjoyed an
+unenviable notoriety in this respect, as, for instance, the road between
+Barton Mills and Lynn in Norfolk, the road between Bristol and
+Portsmouth, and, above all, the road between Chester and Warrington.
+Between these two places, indeed, the mail had only recently been robbed
+on four different occasions.
+
+Manchester and other towns now took the matter up, and urged that
+mail-coaches might be established on the roads where the robberies took
+place, not because coaches were necessary to carry the letters, but on
+account of the security which they afforded. Freeling proposed as an
+alternative that the horse and cross-post mails should be guarded. To
+supply the existing post-boys, or riders, as they were then termed, with
+firearms would have been worse than useless. They were mere boys--many
+of them not yet fourteen years of age--and with firearms in their
+possession they would have been more likely to shoot themselves than
+their assailants. Accordingly, Freeling proposed that no riders should
+be employed who, besides being of approved character, were not between
+the ages of eighteen and forty-five; that they should each be furnished
+with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a strong cap for the defence of
+the head; and that, in consideration of an increased allowance to be
+made by the Post Office, the postmasters whose servants the riders were
+should be required to provide them with better horses than those
+hitherto in use.
+
+Of all the plans which, through a long course of years, were submitted
+to Pitt for the improvement of the posts this was the only one to which
+he demurred. He did not, indeed, deny its efficacy; but it would involve
+a cost of at least L6000 a year, and, pressed as he was for money, he
+declined to say more than that the plan might be carried out if the
+persons interested were willing to bear the additional expense, but not
+otherwise. For us with our present knowledge it is easy enough to see
+that the surest and most popular way of transferring the expense to the
+public would have been to cheapen the postage. In 1796 no other way
+appeared feasible than to make the postage dearer. To this object the
+postmasters-general now devoted themselves, and before many months were
+over they had prepared a bill which, with some modifications, was
+adopted by the Government and passed into law.
+
+In the new Act, which came into operation on the 5th of January 1797,
+the ambiguous term "stage" was dropped, and the whole of the rates were
+fixed according to distance, thus--
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|             ON AND AFTER THE 5TH OF JANUARY 1797.                |
++-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+
+|                               | Single | Double | Treble |       |
+|                               | Letter.| Letter.| Letter.| Ounce.|
+|                               +--------+--------+--------+-------+
+|                               |  _d._  |  _d._  |  _d._  |  _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles         |   3    |   6    |   9    |  12   |
+|Exceeding 15 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  30 miles                     |   4    |   8    |  12    |  16   |
+|Exceeding 30 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  60 miles                     |   5    |  10    |  15    |  20   |
+|Exceeding 60 and not exceeding |        |        |        |       |
+|  100 miles                    |   6    |  12    |  18    |  24   |
+|Exceeding 100 and not exceeding|        |        |        |       |
+|  150 miles                    |   7    |  14    |  21    |  28   |
+|Exceeding 150 miles            |   8    |  16    |  24    |  32   |
+|To and from Edinburgh          |   8    |  16    |  24    |  32   |
++-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+
+
+Within Scotland the rates were raised by 1d. for a single letter, by 2d.
+for a double letter, and so on. Another important change was made.
+Hitherto, in the case of letters from Portugal and America, the packet
+postage had carried them to their destination. For the future these
+letters were to be subject to the inland rates as well as the packet
+rates. Thus the packet rate from Lisbon had been, on a single letter,
+1s. 6d. It was now to be 1s.; but if for London the letter would be
+charged with the inland rate of 8d.--this being the postage from
+Falmouth--and if for Edinburgh with 8d. more, or 2s. 4d. altogether. As
+the packet postage from America remained unchanged, namely, 1s. for a
+single letter, the inland rate was in this case a pure addition.
+
+The postmasters-general were now doomed to a serious disappointment.
+Their proposal to raise the rates of postage was, there can be no doubt,
+dictated, at all events in part, by a desire to carry out the project of
+guarding the horse and cross-post mails. Pitt had stated that he would
+approve this project if the persons interested would bear the expense of
+it; and unquestionably the expense, and much more than the expense, was
+thrown upon the persons interested by the higher sums which they had now
+to pay for their letters. The postmaster-generals' object, however, had
+not been avowed, and no understanding had been arrived at. Their
+proposal to raise the rates of postage had met with ready acceptance.
+Their proposal to guard the horse and cross-post mails, though repeated
+again and again, continued to be rejected.
+
+Although much had been done during the last few years to introduce order
+and regularity among the packets, some little mystery still surrounded
+their proceedings. In March 1798, out of twenty packets on the Falmouth
+station there was not one in port to carry the mails to Jamaica and the
+Leeward Islands; and this was the second time within twelve months that
+the same thing had occurred. The West India merchants waited on the
+postmasters-general to complain. On this occasion an armed cutter was
+borrowed from the Admiralty to take out the mails; but the fact remained
+that between the 5th of April 1793 and January 1798 no less than
+nineteen packets, all of them belonging to the Falmouth station, had
+been captured by the enemy, and that the Post Office had had to replace
+them at a cost of close upon L50,000.
+
+The merchants demanded, as they had done a year before, that the packets
+should be armed. Armed indeed in some sort they were already, but only
+with six four-pounders apiece, and with small arms so as to be able to
+resist row-boats and small privateers. The merchants urged that this was
+not enough. The postmasters-general replied that they could do no more,
+that the true policy was not to arm the packets with a view to their
+engaging the enemy, but so to construct them that they might outsail
+him. The merchants met to consider the reply which had been given, and,
+as the result of their deliberations, they prepared a memorial, copies
+of which were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. In this
+memorial misgivings were expressed which, even at this distance of time,
+it is impossible not to share. During the last three years the average
+duration of voyage had been, from Falmouth to Jamaica, forty-five days,
+and from Jamaica to Falmouth, fifty-two days. These, as the memorialists
+pointed out, were not quick voyages; still less were they quick voyages
+for vessels which had been specially constructed with a view to
+expedition. It was extraordinary, too, built and equipped as the packets
+were, that out of nine that had been recently captured eight should have
+fallen a prey to private ships of war, which presumably enjoyed far less
+advantages in point of sailing. The conclusion at which the merchants
+felt constrained to arrive was that "in the mode of loading or
+navigating the packets some abuses exist sufficient to counteract the
+advantages of their construction."
+
+And yet, mysterious as their proceedings were, ample evidence is at hand
+that the packets were both willing and able to fight as occasion
+required. Indeed, to this period belong some of their smartest
+engagements. We will give one or two instances. On the evening of the
+17th of October 1797 the _Portland_ packet, Captain Taylor, was lying
+becalmed off the island of Guadeloupe when a French privateer, the
+_Temeraire_, bore down upon her. The privateer carried sixty-eight men
+and the packet thirty-two. A light breeze springing up, the _Portland's_
+head was got off shore, and for the time she contrived to elude her
+antagonist, who followed her all night under easy sail. At daybreak the
+same distance separated the two ships as on the preceding evening; but
+as the _Temeraire_ began to overtake the _Portland_, Taylor fired the
+first shot. The shot was returned, and the privateer hoisting the bloody
+flag grappled the _Portland_ and boarded her on the lee quarter. Laying
+hold of the jib-stay Taylor ordered it to be lashed to the packet, and
+called upon the passengers and crew to open their musketry. A fierce
+engagement ensued, which ended in favour of the _Portland_. Out of
+sixty-eight men on board the privateer no less than forty-one were
+either killed or wounded. A treacherous shot fired after she had struck
+her colours carried off the captain of the packet in the moment of
+victory, and as he was endeavouring to allay the carnage.
+
+Among the passengers on board the _Portland_ were four military
+officers, captains in the English army. That these officers in no small
+measure contributed to the result may be taken for granted; but silent
+as to their own deeds they extolled in the highest terms the prowess of
+the captain and crew, and it was from the independent testimony which
+they and the other passengers bore that the gallant action became known
+to the postmasters-general.
+
+Another and still more brilliant engagement had taken place a few years
+before. On the 27th of November 1793 the _Antelope_ packet, Captain
+Curtis, sailed from Port Royal in Jamaica with twenty-nine men. She,
+like the _Portland_, had on board a few passengers, among whom were
+Colonel Loppinott, an independent witness to the events that followed,
+and a young man of the name of Nodin. Nodin had been a midshipman in
+the Royal Navy, and, having resigned his commission, was on his way home
+to England to seek for other employment.
+
+On the morning of the 1st of December, when the _Antelope_ was about
+five leagues off Cumberland harbour in the island of Cuba, the
+_Atalanta_, a French privateer, hove in sight and immediately gave
+chase. The privateer carried eight carriage-guns and sixty-five men. The
+packet carried the usual six four-pounders, and out of her crew of
+twenty-nine men four had died of fever and two others were prostrate
+from the same cause, so that her complement was practically reduced to
+twenty-three. The pursuit continued until the morning of the 3rd, when,
+the _Atalanta_ coming within gunshot and hoisting French colours and the
+bloody flag, broadsides were exchanged. The two ships now grappled, and
+on the part of the privateer an attempt was made to board both fore and
+aft. Fore, the assailing party, fifteen in number, were swept away by
+the guns; aft, where there were no guns, the assault was also repulsed
+but at a cost of life which made the disproportion between the numbers
+on the two sides even greater than before. Among those that were killed
+in this sally was the captain of the packet; and the mate having been
+severely wounded, the command devolved upon John Pascoe, the boatswain.
+Another attempt was now made to board, and, like the first, was
+successfully resisted.
+
+This result was largely due to Nodin's intrepidity. Standing by the helm
+and armed with a pike and a musket he alternately used these weapons
+with deadly effect. As the men climbed the sides, he sprang forward and
+cut them down with his pike; then he returned to the helm and righted
+the ship; then seizing his musket he loaded it and flew to quarters; and
+as he was cool and collected and a sure marksman every shot told. On the
+repulse of the second attempt to board, the privateer's grappling-rope
+was cut and she tried to sheer off; but this Pascoe prevented by lashing
+her square sail-yard to the fore-shrouds of the packet. The privateer's
+fire now began to slacken, which was only a signal to the others to
+renew their energies. The _Antelope_ poured in volley after volley of
+small-arms; and at length the marauders cried out for mercy and,
+expecting none, some of them jumped into the sea and were drowned.
+Altogether, when the bloody flag was torn down from the mast-head of the
+_Atalanta_, only thirty men remained out of the sixty-five with which
+she had begun the combat; and of these thirty one-half were wounded. The
+troubles of the packet were not yet at an end. As the smoke cleared away
+she was found to be on fire; and it was not until the mainsail, quarter
+cloths, and hammocks had been cut away that she was able to carry her
+prize into Anotta Bay.
+
+The officers and crew of the _Antelope_ did not go unrewarded. For
+distribution among the survivors and the families of those who had been
+killed the House of Assembly in Jamaica voted the sum of 500 guineas;
+375 guineas were afterwards presented for the same purpose by the
+Society for Encouraging the Capture of French Privateers; the
+postmasters-general showered small pensions and gratuities; and--what
+was the highest compliment of all--the _Atalanta_, though a droit of
+admiralty, was given up to the captors.
+
+It was always when passengers were on board that the Post Office heard
+of these brilliant achievements on the part of the packets. We are not
+sure that this fact may not help us to unravel the mystery which
+perplexed the merchants. May it not be that, when the check exercised by
+the presence of passengers was removed, the packets at the end of the
+last century, like those of a hundred years before, went in quest of
+adventure and matched themselves against superior force or otherwise
+engaged in illicit operations? The series of captures which the
+merchants could not understand, and, where there were no captures, the
+dilatoriness of the voyages, would thus be explained.
+
+The usage of the Post Office one hundred years ago differed in not a few
+particulars from the usage of to-day. At the present time no
+postmaster-general would think of calling for a daily return of the
+number of letters passing through the London office with the amount of
+postage paid or to be paid upon them. Yet such a return was, a century
+ago, sent to the postmasters-general regularly every morning, and it was
+esteemed the most important paper of the day. At the present time any
+instruction which may have to be given to the sorting office is entered
+in what is called the Order Book; and this book is signed by all whom it
+concerns. One hundred years ago, all instructions were made known by the
+presidents reading them aloud in the sorting office on Mondays and
+Saturdays, when the men were assembled for the purpose. It was thus that
+appointments, promotions, and punishments were also announced. One
+hundred years ago, when a letter-carrier's walk became vacant, a bell
+was rung, and, the letter-carriers being collected together, the vacancy
+was offered to the senior, and if the senior declined it, to the next in
+rotation, and so on. When a Post Office servant died, his salary was
+paid not only to the date of death but to the end of the current
+quarter.
+
+Another practice then existed, a practice dictated, as some may think,
+by convenience and common sense. It was that counsel engaged in Post
+Office cases gave receipts for their fees. In connection with this
+practice a curious incident occurred. Walsingham had ordered an
+independent inquiry to be made into the solicitor's accounts, and, in
+the course of the investigation, the inspector came across a heap of
+receipts signed, or purporting to be signed, by some of the most eminent
+lawyers of the day. Walsingham had suspected imposition before, and now
+he was sure of it. The solicitor, had he been asked, would no doubt have
+explained, as indeed was the case, that the practice dated from 1703,
+and originated with Godolphin, who, failing to see why counsel engaged
+by public offices should be exempt from doing what all other persons
+were required to do, issued peremptory injunctions that in legal cases
+no more fees should be paid by the Post Office for which receipts were
+not given.[76] Instead, however, of addressing himself to the solicitor,
+Walsingham referred to Kenyon, the Lord Chief Justice; and Kenyon's
+reply, as Walsingham himself admitted, filled him with astonishment. It
+was simply that when attorney-general he had always given receipts for
+fees from public offices, understanding when he was appointed that such
+was the practice, and that it had long been so.
+
+  [76] This is Godolphin's letter:--
+
+                                   TREASURY CHAMBERS, _June 8, 1703_.
+
+  GENTLEMEN--My Lord Treasurer hath commanded me to signify to you his
+  Lordship's direction that whenever your Sollicitor shall pay any fees to
+  any Serjeant or Councellor at law, or give any sum or sums of money for
+  coppys to any Clerk or Clerks or Officers in any Court or Courts of
+  Record at Westminster, he shall take a ticket subscribed with the hand
+  and name of the same Serjeant or Councellor or from the Clerk or Officer
+  testifying how much he hath received for his fee or hath been paid by
+  him for coppys, and at what time and how often, according to the statute
+  in the third year of the reign of King James the First, made and
+  provided in that behalf, and His Lordship directs you to take care that
+  what money shall be hereafter expended for law charges relating to the
+  Revenue under your management, the same be so expressed in the Bill of
+  Incidents, that it may appear to His Lordship that the above-mentioned
+  directions have been duly comply'd with.--I am, gentlemen, your most
+  humble servant,
+
+                                                     WILLIAM LOWNDES.
+
+  Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and
+      Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.
+
+
+One more custom we may mention as existing a century ago, a custom which
+was then abandoned, but not without manifest reluctance on the part of
+those whose interest it was to keep it alive. At the present time our
+friends at the Treasury are credited with taking advantage of the
+accident of their position to get themselves appointed to the best
+situations in all the public offices of the State. One hundred years ago
+the blackmail which these gentlemen levied upon the public offices took
+another form, a form a little coarser perhaps but less provoking. At the
+beginning of each year they exacted tribute which, disguised under the
+name of New Year's gifts, were really New Year's extortions. The
+correspondence which passed between the Treasury and the Post Office,
+when these extortions ceased, unlike official correspondence generally,
+is so short and to the point that we cannot do better than give it in
+full:--
+
+                      The TREASURY to the POST OFFICE.
+
+                                  TREASURY CHAMBERS, _Oct. 10, 1797_.
+
+     MY LORDS--The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury having
+     had under their consideration a Report of the Select Committee of
+     the House of Commons on Finance in the last session of Parliament
+     respecting this office, I am commanded by their Lordships to
+     acquaint you that they have determined that the practice of
+     receiving New Year's gifts by any person in this department shall
+     be discontinued, and that your Lordships may not send them as
+     heretofore.--I am, my Lords, etc.,
+                                                         GEORGE ROSE.
+
+                       The POST OFFICE to the TREASURY.
+
+                                GENERAL POST OFFICE, _Jan. 13, 1798_.
+
+     MY LORDS--We beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Rose's
+     letter of the 10th of October acquainting us of your Lordships'
+     determination that the practice of receiving New Year's gifts by
+     any person in your department must be discontinued, to which we
+     shall pay proper attention.
+
+     It is necessary to state to your Lordships that Mr. Rose's letter,
+     although dated the 10th of October 1797, was not brought to this
+     office until the 1st of January 1798; but it was received in due
+     time to enable us to attend to the purport of it.--We are, my
+     Lords, etc.,
+
+                                                        CHESTERFIELD.
+                                                        LEICESTER.
+
+It is needless to add that hitherto these New Year's gifts had been
+despatched from the Post Office on the evening of the 31st of December.
+
+Nine years had now passed since the Royal Commissioners had reported
+upon the condition of the public offices; and four years had passed
+since the Report had seen the light. Pitt had been deliberate enough in
+approving the recommendations; but having done so, he had no intention
+that they should remain inoperative. And yet he had little confidence
+that such would not be the case unless some external influence were
+brought to bear. Accordingly recourse was had to an expedient which
+might perhaps with advantage be sometimes adopted at the present day.
+At Pitt's instigation a Special Committee of the House of Commons was
+appointed to ascertain and report how far the recommendations of the
+Royal Commissioners had been carried into effect.
+
+The Post Office, on the whole, came well out of the ordeal. Abuses had
+been corrected; useless offices had been abolished; and men were no
+longer drawing salaries for duties which they did not perform. There
+was, however, one notable exception. Todd, the secretary, had during
+many years ceased to do any work; yet he had not ceased to draw his full
+salary; neither had he ceased to retain his shares in at least one of
+the Post Office packets. The Committee denounced his conduct in terms
+which far exceeded the ordinary bounds of parliamentary usage. Their
+language indeed, as applied to a man of more than eighty years of age,
+might even be pronounced to be cruel. And yet scathing as the censure
+was, it fell upon callous ears. With a tenacity worthy of a better cause
+the old man still clung to his place and his shares. The
+postmasters-general now brought pressure to bear. As regards the shares,
+which Todd had held unknown to his masters, they insisted upon his
+selling them; but his place of secretary they were either unwilling or
+unable to wrest from his grasp.
+
+Death at length put an end to the scandal. In June 1798 Todd yielded up
+at once his life and his office; and Francis Freeling, according to a
+long-standing promise, became Secretary to the Post Office in his
+stead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+FRANCIS FREELING
+
+1798-1817
+
+
+The name of Francis Freeling has been placed at the head of this
+chapter, not because, in devising new means of correspondence or
+extending means that already existed, he is to be classed with the
+distinguished men who preceded him--with Palmer and Allen, with Dockwra
+and Witherings--but because for more than a generation he exercised a
+paramount influence in Post Office matters, and during this long period
+whatever was done affecting the communications of the country was done
+upon his advice.
+
+The first act of importance in which Freeling was concerned after his
+appointment as secretary was the establishment of the ship letter
+office, an office which owed its origin to the suggestion of Frederick
+Bourne, a clerk in the foreign department. Hitherto the packet boats,
+where packet boats existed, had been the only means by which
+correspondence could be legally sent out of the kingdom; and yet in the
+neighbourhood of the Exchange there was hardly a place of public resort
+at which letters for America and the West Indies, as well as other
+places abroad, were not collected for despatch by private ship. There
+was no concealment about the matter. At Lloyds, and the Jamaica, the
+Maryland, the Virginia and other coffee-houses, bags were openly hung
+up, and all letters dropped into these bags, including those for places
+to which there was communication by packet, were taken on board ship,
+and, without the intervention of the Post Office, despatched to their
+destination, the captains receiving for their transport a gratuity of
+2d. apiece.
+
+Illegal as the practice was, Pitt was unwilling to suppress it. The Act
+which made it illegal to send by private ship letters which might be
+sent by packet had been passed in the time of Queen Anne, and he could
+not reconcile it to himself to enforce a law some ninety years old which
+had never yet been set in motion. Bourne's idea was to sweep all
+ship-letters into the post, and to charge them inwards with a fixed sum
+of 4d. and outwards with half the packet rate of postage. If with the
+place to which a letter was addressed there was no communication by
+packet, the rate was to be fixed at what presumably it would be if such
+communication existed. Pitt favoured the idea and adopted it--subject,
+however, to one important qualification. Instead of being compulsory the
+Act, should an Act be passed, was to be permissive. On this point Pitt
+was determined. It was only in return for some service that the Post
+Office was entitled to make a charge. And what was the service here? To
+seal the bags? This he could not regard as a substantial service--a
+service for which a charge should be made. The ship was a private ship,
+her commander was not a servant of the Post Office, and the bag of
+letters he carried might be, and not infrequently was, for countries in
+which neither the Post Office nor any other branch of the British
+Government had an accredited agent.
+
+Surely in such circumstances anything in the shape of compulsion was out
+of the question, and all that should be done was to invite the merchants
+to bring their letters to the Post Office, when the Post Office would
+undertake to find a private ship that would carry them. A bill on these
+lines was brought in and passed; and on the 10th of September 1799 the
+ship letter office was opened, Bourne being appointed to superintend it
+under the title of inspector. The new measure failed of its object. On
+letters entering the kingdom fourpences were no doubt collected,
+because, until these letters had been deposited at the local Post
+Office, no vessel was allowed to make entry or to break bulk. But
+letters leaving the kingdom left it just as they had been used to leave
+it before the ship letter office was established. It was in vain that
+the Post Office tempted the keepers of coffee-houses by the offer of
+high salaries to become its own agents. All overtures to this end were
+resolutely declined; and during many years the letters by private ship
+that were sent through the post stood to those that were received
+through the same agency in no higher proportion than one to eighteen.
+
+In 1801 the Post Office was called upon to make to the Exchequer a
+further contribution to the amount of L150,000. What would have struck
+consternation to the hearts of most men was to Freeling a source of
+unmixed pleasure. Not only had he a perfect craze for high rates of
+postage, but it had long been with him a subject of lament that under
+the law as it stood no higher charge was made for a distance of 500
+miles than for a distance of 150. This in his view was a glaring defect,
+and he now set himself to remedy it. The new rates--which, as he lost no
+opportunity of making known, were exclusively of his own devising--were
+adopted by the Government, and having passed the Houses of Parliament
+came into operation on the 5th of April. As compared with the old rates,
+they were as follows:--
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|                  BEFORE THE 5TH OF APRIL 1801.                   |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |   3   |    6  |    9  |  12  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles|   4   |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|  "   30         "         60   "  |   5   |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   60         "        100   "  |   6   |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "  100         "        150   "  |   7   |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|Exceeding 150 miles                |   8   |   16  |   24  |  32  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
++------------------------------------------------------------------+
+|               ON AND AFTER THE 5TH OF APRIL 1801.                |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |    3  |    6  |    9  |  12  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 30 miles|    4  |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|  "   30         "         50   "  |    5  |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   50         "         80   "  |    6  |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "   80         "        120   "  |    7  |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|  "  120         "        170   "  |    8  |   16  |   24  |  32  |
+|  "  170         "        230   "  |    9  |   18  |   27  |  36  |
+|  "  230         "        300   "  |   10  |   20  |   30  |  40  |
+|  "  300         "        400   "  |   11  |   22  |   33  |  44  |
+|  "  400         "        500   "  |   12  |   24  |   36  |  48  |
+|  "  500         "        600   "  |   13  |   26  |   39  |  52  |
+|  "  600         "        700   "  |   14  |   28  |   42  |  56  |
+|Exceeding 700 miles                |   15  |   30  |   45  |  60  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
+Thus the postage on a single letter was--from London to Brighton, 6d.;
+from London to Liverpool, 9d.; and from London to Edinburgh, 1s. A
+letter weighing one ounce is now carried from London to Thurso for 1d.
+In 1801 the charge was 5s.
+
+On letters to or from places abroad, "not being within His Majesty's
+dominions," the postage was at the same time raised by 4d., 8d., 1s.,
+and 1s. 4d., according as the letter was single, double, treble, or of
+the weight of one ounce.
+
+But there was worse to come. By the Act of 1801 the London penny
+post--that post which had been established 120 years before, and which,
+its founder had predicted, would endure to all posterity--was swept out
+of existence. For us who are now living it is difficult to conceive that
+such an enormity should have been possible. Yet there is the fact. After
+the passing of the Act of 1801 the London penny post had ceased to be.
+Where 1d. had been charged before, the sum of 2d. was to be charged now.
+
+The same Act contained another provision, which it is impossible to
+regard otherwise than as a wanton interference with trade. The
+Legislature, from the earliest days of the Post Office, had shewn
+indulgence to merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, to
+bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading. All these, in the
+language of the Act establishing the Post Office--the Act of 1660--were
+to be "without rate in the price of the letters"; and a similar
+provision was contained in the Act of Anne. Owing, however, to a faulty
+construction of the clause it was doubtful whether the exemption was
+confined to foreign letters or whether it applied to inland letters as
+well. The merchants contended that inland letters were included;
+otherwise, as they pointed out, a letter might "go cheaper to
+Constantinople than to Bristol." The postmasters-general, on the other
+hand, insisted that the exemption applied only to foreign letters, and,
+in order to set doubts at rest, they early in the reign of George the
+Second procured an Act to be passed declaring their interpretation to be
+the right one. As regards foreign letters, therefore, there had never
+been the slightest doubt as to either the intention or the practice.
+When enclosed in letters going or coming from abroad, merchants'
+accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills of exchange, invoices,
+and bills of lading had from the first establishment of the Post Office
+been exempt from postage; and now after an interval of more than 140
+years this exemption, like the penny post, was swept away. Henceforth
+these documents were to be charged as so many several letters.
+
+Yet one more provision in the Act of 1801 it is necessary to notice as
+introducing a novel principle. This Act gave power to the
+postmasters-general to grant postal facilities to towns and villages
+where no Post Offices existed, provided the inhabitants were prepared to
+pay such sums as might be mutually agreed upon. As the postmasters-general
+were already authorised to establish Penny Post Offices wherever
+they might see fit out of London, the object of this fresh power
+may not be very clear. It was not that the Post Office might be
+able to charge for the local service more than 1d. a letter, for in
+no single instance, so far as we are aware, was more than 1d. charged,
+but that in arranging the local service the Post Office might have a
+freedom of action which it did not possess under the statute empowering
+it to establish penny posts. In short, the object of the power was to
+enable the Post Office, in concert with the inhabitants of the towns and
+villages concerned, to try experiments.
+
+As a natural consequence of the high rates of postage, the illegal
+conveyance of letters now became general. This was an offence to which
+Freeling gave no quarter. Wherever information could be obtained that
+letters were being conveyed otherwise than by post, there a prosecution
+was instituted. The extent to which the policy of repression was carried
+less than a century ago may seem incredible. In Scotland, for instance,
+every carrier and every master of a stage-coach as well as many others
+were served with notice of prosecution. In that part of the kingdom
+alone no less than 1200 prosecutions were instituted simultaneously.
+Even Parkin, the solicitor to the Post Office in England, was absolutely
+aghast at the zeal of his colleague over the Border, and counselled
+moderation. Freeling, on the other hand, expressed entire approval,
+declaring that the Scotch solicitor was to be encouraged and not
+restrained. Nor were the prosecutions merely nominal. An unfortunate
+Post Office servant, or rider as he was called, had been detected in
+carrying forty unposted letters. This man, whose wages did not exceed a
+few shillings a week, was sued upon each letter, and adjudged to pay
+forty separate penalties of 10s. apiece.
+
+Lord Auckland and Lord Charles Spencer were at this time
+postmasters-general. Spencer had been only recently appointed. Auckland
+had held his appointment for a couple of years, and by virtue of his
+seniority took the lead. Seldom, perhaps, has there been a more kindly
+postmaster-general, or one who to an equal extent enlivened by sprightly
+sallies the dull monotony of official work. The postmaster of Tring had
+opened a letter from Freeling to Sir John Sebright. The postmaster
+pleaded that the opening was accidental; Freeling maintained that it was
+wilful, and recommended the man's dismissal. Auckland ordered him to be
+reprimanded for culpable negligence. It may, no doubt, he said, have
+been a wilful act; but it may also have been an act of inadvertence.
+And then, in order to remove any feeling of soreness which Freeling may
+have entertained at his recommendation being set aside, he
+good-naturedly added, "_Multi alii hoc fecerunt etiam et boni_." "I
+have," he continued, "a fellow-feeling on the occasion. My appetite for
+reading is as much sickened as that of any man-cook for the tasting of
+high sauces; and yet so lately as last night I tore the envelope of a
+letter which a little attention would have shewn was not for me."
+
+On another occasion two postmistresses--the postmistress of Faversham
+and the postmistress of Croydon--simultaneously announced their
+intention of marrying, each for the third time, and asked that their
+offices, which as married women they would be incompetent to continue to
+hold, might be transferred to their future husbands. Auckland gave the
+permission sought, adding, in the case of the postmistress of Faversham,
+"I meet the repeated applications of this active deputy with great
+complacency, and in the words of Lady Castlemaine's answer to our
+mutton-eating monarch--
+
+  'Again and again, my liege, said she,
+  And as oft as shall please your Majesty.'"
+
+Bennett, the man to whom the postmistress of Croydon was engaged, had
+been known to her for some time, and she bore testimony to his
+qualifications for the post to which he aspired. "The Croydon lady, who
+is also laudably prone to a reiteration of nuptials," wrote Auckland,
+"rests her case on grounds less solid. I have no doubt of her judgment
+and testimony respecting the ability of Mr. Robert Thomas Bennett; but
+for the sake of the precedent the sufficiency should be certified either
+by the surveyor of the district, or by the vicar or some principal
+inhabitant."
+
+With such pleasantries as these Auckland beguiled the tediousness of
+official work; but in serious matters, matters affecting the interests
+of the public, he appears to have exerted little will of his own. Once,
+indeed, he expressed some misgiving as to the propriety of the course
+pursued. It was in the case of the Scotch prosecutions. "I own," he
+said, "that I was a little surprised to find that so large a measure as
+that of commencing 1200 prosecutions has been undertaken without our
+special cognisance; but this circumstance," he added, "is in some degree
+explained." The reproof, if reproof it can be called, could hardly have
+been milder; and yet as coming from Auckland it was a severe one. It had
+not the effect, however--nor probably was it designed to have the
+effect--of checking the general policy on which Freeling had embarked.
+That policy was one of repression, and in England hardly less than in
+Scotland prosecutions went merrily on.
+
+Indeed, the repressive powers of the Post Office, large as they were
+already, were yet not large enough to satisfy headquarters. Freeling
+discerned clearly enough that, if only a sufficiently high consideration
+were offered, persons would always be found to carry letters
+clandestinely. Might it not be possible to strike at the source of the
+mischief, and make it penal for persons clandestinely to send them? The
+tempters would thus be reached as well as the tempted. At all events the
+experiment should be tried.
+
+With this object Freeling now devoted himself to the preparation of a
+bill, one clause of which rendered liable to penalties persons sending
+letters otherwise than by the post. The bill, which was throughout of a
+highly penal character, eventually passed into law,[77] but not without
+grave misgivings on the part of Eldon, the Lord Chancellor, and
+Ellenborough, the Chief Justice. It was only in deference to the urgent
+representations of the Post Office that these two eminent men consented
+to the introduction of the measure, and, while waiving their objections
+to it, they strongly recommended that "great lenity should be used in
+its execution." It will be interesting to note how far this
+recommendation was acted on.
+
+  [77] 42 George III. cap. lxxxi. (June 20, 1802).
+
+Having settled the postage rates to his satisfaction, Freeling obtained
+permission to carry out his favourite project of guarding the
+horse-mails. The arguments in favour of this measure were overwhelming.
+During the five years which had elapsed since the Treasury had refused
+their assent, these mails had been stopped and rifled of their contents
+on fifteen different occasions; and on the last of these--when the Lewes
+mail was robbed in the neighbourhood of East Grinstead--bills had been
+stolen to the amount of nearly L14,000. During the same period seven
+persons had been executed for participation in these felonies; three
+were awaiting trial; and the cost of prosecutions amounted to L2000 or
+L3000 a year. The annual cost of Freeling's plan, as he now proposed to
+modify it, would not exceed L1500. Moved by these considerations, the
+Treasury gave at length the necessary authority, and the horse-posts
+throughout the country, except on the less important roads, were
+provided with a strong cap for the protection of the head, a jacket, a
+brace of pistols, and a hanger.
+
+We have said that during the last five years--the five years ending in
+August 1801--the horse-mails had been robbed on fifteen different
+occasions. One of these robberies occurred between the towns of Selby
+and York. It was a commonplace robbery enough, with little or nothing to
+distinguish it from any other; and yet for a reason which will presently
+appear we give a copy of the letter in which the particulars were
+reported to headquarters:--
+
+                         To FRANCIS FREELING, Esq.
+
+                                  POST OFFICE, YORK, _Feb. 22, 1798_.
+
+     SIR--I am sorry to acquaint you the post-boy coming from Selby to
+     this city was robbed of his mail between six and seven o'clock this
+     evening. About three miles on this side of Selby he was accosted by
+     a man on foot with a gun in his hand, who asked him if he was the
+     post-boy, and at the same time seized hold of the bridle. Without
+     waiting for any answer he told the boy he must immediately unstrap
+     the mail and give it him, pointing the muzzle of the gun at him
+     whilst he did it. When he had given up the mail, the boy begged he
+     would not hurt him, to which the man replied he need not be afraid,
+     and at the same time pulled the bridle from the horse's head. The
+     horse immediately galloped off with the boy, who had never
+     dismounted.
+
+     He was a stout man dressed in a drab jacket, and had the appearance
+     of being a hicklar. The boy was too much frightened to make any
+     other remark on his person, and says he was totally unknown to him.
+
+     The mail contained the bags for Howden and London, Howden and York,
+     and Selby and York. I have informed the surveyor of the robbery,
+     and have forwarded hand-bills this night to be distributed in the
+     country, and will take care to insert it in the first papers
+     published here.--Waiting your further instructions, I remain with
+     respect, sir, your obliged and obedient humble servant,
+
+                                                     THOMAS OLDFIELD.
+
+Let us now go forward to the year 1876. In that year this identical bag,
+for which a reward had been offered at the time without result, was
+placed in our hands, having been found concealed in the roof of an old
+wayside public-house situated not far from the scene of the robbery, and
+then in course of demolition. The original documents were called for and
+produced; and thus, after an interval of nearly eighty years, the bag
+and the official papers in which its loss was reported have come
+together and found one common resting-place. Of the identity of the bag
+there is no question. Not only do the form and texture proclaim it to be
+of the last century, but it bears upon it the word "Selby," and a
+medallion with the letters "G. R."[78]
+
+  [78] This experience is not to be compared with that of Inspector
+  Dicker, who in 1839 wrote to the Secretary of the Post Office as
+  follows:--
+
+  "HONOURED SIR ... On arriving at Caxton, in the course of conversation
+  with the landlord of the Crown Public-House respecting the loss of the
+  above-mentioned bag, he informed me he had found a mail bag secreted
+  under an oak floor between the joists that supported the floor in one of
+  the upper rooms of his house, and that the letters it contained were of
+  very ancient date, as far back as the year 1702. I requested to be
+  allowed to see them, and, on his producing them, discovered it to be a
+  London bag labelled Tuxford. I desired to be allowed to take two of the
+  letters with me and a bit of the bag, which I gave to Mr. Peacock the
+  solicitor. The only intelligence I could gain as to the probable cause
+  of the bag being found there was that a post-rider was robbed and
+  murdered about the date of the above-mentioned letters." The two letters
+  are still with the official papers. One of them is undecipherable. The
+  other is nearly as legible as on the day it was written. In it the
+  writer announces to his uncle the death of his mother from "the Small
+  Pox and purples," and states that this disease is devastating the town
+  of Kirtlington.
+
+The troubles which had long been brewing with the mail-coach contractors
+now came to a climax. In 1797 an Act of Parliament had been passed
+imposing a duty of 1d. a mile upon all public carriages. The mail-coach
+contractors bitterly complained of this impost, and not without reason.
+A penny a mile was all they received for carrying the mails, and the new
+statute virtually took this 1d. away, leaving them without any payment
+at all for their services. It had been overlooked that the mail-coach
+was not as other coaches were. The ordinary stage-coach was at liberty
+to carry as many passengers as its proprietor pleased, and it was no
+unusual thing for eight or nine and even ten to be carried inside, the
+number outside being limited only by considerations of safety. The
+mail-coach, on the contrary, was rigidly restricted to five
+passengers--four inside and one out--and the Post Office rejected all
+proposals for so altering the construction of the coach as to admit of
+its carrying more.
+
+Then came the year 1799, a year of scarcity, during which all kinds of
+horse provender reached unprecedented prices. The Government refused to
+bring in a bill exempting the mail-coaches from the new duty; and it
+only remained for the Post Office to raise the allowance which the
+contractors received from 1d. to 2d. a mile, a measure involving an
+additional payment of L12,000 a year. The second penny, however, was
+granted only as a temporary allowance, terminable at the end of one year
+and three-quarters, and, unlike most allowances given under a similar
+condition, it actually ceased at the appointed time.
+
+The clamour of two years before now broke out afresh and with redoubled
+force. The tax on public carriages remained; and horse provender had
+become no cheaper. Did not justice demand that the additional penny
+should continue to be paid? The Post Office was disinclined to contest
+the claim; but acting under orders from above--orders which assuredly
+would not have been given had Pitt remained minister--it proceeded to
+bargain, and at length, after much haggling, the contractors were
+prevailed upon to accept one-half of the temporary allowance or an
+additional 1/2d. a mile for a further period of eighteen months, viz.
+from the 10th of October 1802 to the 5th of April 1804, when the
+question was to be again considered. A temporary expedient of this
+nature seldom answers; and the present was no exception to the rule.
+Eventually the Post Office had to give rather more than need have been
+given in the first instance, and after 1804 the mails were carried at an
+average rate of 2-1/8d. the single or 4-1/4d. the double mile.
+
+Other alterations followed. To the postmasters' salaries an increase was
+made all round, an increase small indeed individually but large in the
+aggregate. What had been done for Manchester eight years before was now
+done for Liverpool. The Post Office there was remodelled and a penny
+post established. An end was, about the same time, put to a most
+objectionable arrangement. As a reward for their services in promoting
+Palmer's plan, three of the surveyors had been appointed to
+postmasterships, and these appointments they held in addition to their
+own proper appointments as surveyor. Thus, one of their number was
+postmaster of Gloucester, another postmaster of Honiton, and a third
+postmaster of Portsmouth.
+
+These appointments were now taken away, but under circumstances
+calculated to leave the least possible soreness among those from whom
+they were taken. Not only were the salaries of all three raised from
+L100 to L150 a year, but the son of the surveyor who was postmaster of
+Gloucester was appointed to Gloucester, and the daughter of the one who
+was postmaster of Honiton was appointed to Honiton. The postmaster of
+Portsmouth, who had neither son nor daughter to succeed him, was, in
+accordance with a practice then very common, assigned the sum of L80 a
+year out of his successor's salary. This sum he received in addition to
+his own salary of L150 as surveyor.
+
+In 1805, for the third time within eight years, the Post Office was
+called upon to make a further contribution to the Exchequer; and again
+Freeling devoted himself to the congenial task of revising and
+increasing the postage rates. Unwilling to destroy the symmetry of his
+own handiwork, he simply suggested that to the rates as prescribed by
+the Act of 1801 should be added--1d. for a single letter, 2d. for a
+double letter, 3d. for a treble letter, and 4d. for a letter weighing as
+much as one ounce. The suggestion was adopted, and after the 12th of
+March, the date on which the new Act was passed, the postage on a single
+letter was--from London to Brighton, 7d. instead of 6d.; from London to
+Liverpool, 10d. instead of 9d.; and from London to Edinburgh, 1s. 1d.
+instead of 1s.
+
+But this was by no means all. In London, as we have seen, the penny post
+had, four years before, been converted into a twopenny post; and now the
+twopenny post, in respect to letters for places beyond the general post
+limits, was converted into a threepenny one. Thus, Abingdon Street,
+Westminster, was within the limits of the general post delivery, but
+Millbank was beyond them. Accordingly, a letter for Millbank, even
+though posted no farther off than Charing Cross, was to be charged 3d.,
+while the charge on a letter to Abingdon Street remained at 2d. as
+before.
+
+The Act of 1805 introduced a still further complication. Letters from
+the country addressed to any part of London that was outside the limits
+of the general post were to be consigned to the twopenny post, and, in
+addition to all other postage, to be charged with the sum of 2d. Thus,
+of two letters of the same weight delivered at the same time and by the
+same person, one, originating in the country, would have to pay 2d., and
+the other, originating in London, would have to pay 3d.
+
+To record, therefore, that in 1805 the postage on a single letter--as,
+for instance, between London and Plymouth--was 10d., although in one
+sense correct, would give an imperfect idea of the real state of the
+case. Plymouth was one of the towns which possessed village or
+convention posts. Suppose a letter from one of the villages to which
+these posts extended to have been addressed to Knightsbridge or any
+other part of London situated outside the general post boundary. The
+postage would have been not 10d. but 10d. + 2d. + whatever might have
+been agreed upon for the village accommodation.
+
+But more than this. There were certain towns through which, though lying
+off the direct road, the mail-coaches passed for a consideration. Such
+towns were Hinckley in Leicestershire, Atherstone in Warwickshire, and
+Tamworth in Staffordshire. Here, in consideration of the accommodation
+afforded by the mail-coach passing through, the inhabitants undertook to
+pay in addition to all other postage 1d. on each letter. A day came when
+they sought to be relieved from this impost. Vain aspiration! Had they
+not agreed for a penny a letter? And, for any relief that the Post
+Office would give, a penny a letter they should pay to the end of time.
+
+It may safely be affirmed that at the present day no increase of postage
+would produce a corresponding increase of revenue. Such, unhappily, was
+not the case at the beginning of the century. People did not then write
+unless they had something to say which could not be left unsaid without
+loss or inconvenience. Trade, moreover, was rapidly expanding, and, as a
+consequence of the war, the ports were closed. Thus, correspondence was
+driven inland; and upon inland correspondence, unlike correspondence
+with foreign parts, the Government received the whole of the postage.
+But be the cause what it might, it must be owned that, in respect to the
+returns which they brought to the Exchequer, the three increases of
+postage made in 1797, 1801, and 1805 answered expectation. This, though
+not a justification, is perhaps their best excuse. In 1796, the year
+before the first of the three increases was made, the net Post Office
+revenue was L479,000; in 1806, the year after the last of them, it was
+L1,066,000. The same result is apparent in the case of what, for
+distinction's sake, we will still call the London penny post, although
+the London penny post had become a twopenny and threepenny one. In 1796
+the net revenue derived from this source was L8000; in 1806 it was
+L41,000.
+
+Among those who about this time criticised the doings of the Post
+Office was William Cobbett. Cobbett was regarded by Freeling as a base
+calumniator with whom no terms were to be kept; and yet on a
+dispassionate retrospect it is impossible to deny that on the whole his
+criticisms were just, and that such of them as appeared in print[79]
+were expressed in not intemperate language. At the present time far
+stronger language is used every day under far less provocation. Of
+Cobbett's numerous subjects of complaint we will mention only two--the
+so-called "early delivery" of letters and the treatment of foreign
+newspapers; and these have been selected because they serve to
+illustrate, better perhaps than any others, the practice of the Post
+Office eighty or ninety years ago. The latter of the two subjects serves
+also to explain much that would otherwise be inexplicable.
+
+  [79] _Weekly Political Register_, Nos. 25 and 26, 21st and 28th Dec.
+  1805.
+
+The "early delivery"--a species of accommodation confined to London--was
+not what its name would seem to imply, because no letters were even
+begun to be delivered before nine o'clock in the morning. It was really
+a preferential delivery, a delivery restricted to those who chose to pay
+for it. For a fee or, as the Post Office preferred to call it, a
+subscription of 5s. a quarter or L1 a year, any one residing within
+certain limits, including the whole of the city and extending westward
+as far as Hamilton Place, could get his letters in advance of the
+general delivery. It was managed thus. At nine o'clock or a little after
+the letter-carriers started from Lombard Street; and those for the
+remoter districts, in addition to their own letters, took letters for
+the districts through which they passed in proceeding to their own and,
+without waiting for the postage, dropped them at the houses of
+subscribers. The postage was collected in the course of the week by the
+regular letter-carrier of the district.
+
+Against this preferential delivery, a delivery purchased by individuals
+at the expense of the general public, Cobbett very justly inveighed.
+Freeling, on the other hand, defended it as a priceless boon to
+merchants and traders who desired to receive their letters before the
+appointed hour. He omitted to explain, however, why a boon which could
+be bought by some could not be given gratuitously to all. It is a
+curious fact that this early delivery, essentially unfair as it was,
+continued to exist for more than thirty years after the period of which
+we are now writing. As late as 1835 and 1836 it was still in vogue, and
+not only the merchants and traders of London but the denizens of the
+squares were largely availing themselves of it. But it was chiefly in
+the city that the practice flourished. Thus, on the morning of the 9th
+of May 1828, out of a total of 637 letters for the Lombard Street
+district no less than 570 were "delivered early."
+
+The second of Cobbett's complaints, or rather the second which we
+propose to notice, had reference to the treatment of foreign newspapers.
+What this treatment was at the beginning of the present century may
+appear hardly credible to us who live at the end of it. Except at the
+letter rate of postage, no newspapers could either enter or leave the
+kingdom unless they were franked;[80] and the power of franking them was
+restricted to Post Office servants. This power was as old as the Post
+Office itself; and so was the practice of exercising it for a
+consideration. What was new was an arrangement or understanding between
+Freeling and Arthur Stanhope, the head of the foreign department, by
+virtue of which Stanhope in conjunction with his subordinates franked
+newspapers for the Continent, and Freeling franked those for America and
+the British possessions abroad.
+
+  [80] What we have here called "franked" newspapers went free in both
+  directions; but of course it was only newspapers outwards that bore a
+  signature on the superscription. On those inwards a signature was
+  immaterial, as they would in any case go, without being charged, direct
+  from the port of arrival to Lombard Street. Abroad, special arrangements
+  for their transit and delivery were made from London. Thus, the London
+  Office by means of its private agency could get an English newspaper
+  delivered in Paris for 2d. By post, the charge between Calais and Paris
+  would have been from 3s. to 4s.
+
+Here was a mine of wealth. Newspapers were rapidly increasing in number
+and postage was rapidly rising. Of course, so long as the price charged
+for franking was kept well below the cost of postage, the demand for
+franks would be brisk. Before the century was sixteen years old Freeling
+and Stanhope were drawing from this source more than L3000 a year each.
+Cobbett had had personal experience of the system. He had paid a visit
+to America, and having while there been supplied with a newspaper from
+England, he had on his return been presented with a bill for nine
+guineas as the price of franking. Not only did he refuse to pay the
+bill, and persist in his refusal in spite of repeated applications, but
+he inveighed in his paper against the practice which made such a charge
+possible. This was in 1802. He now, in December 1805, renewed his attack
+upon the Post Office; but this time it was in respect to the manner in
+which newspapers were treated on their arrival in England, a treatment
+still more extraordinary than that which they received on despatch.
+
+The matter is somewhat complicated, and in order to explain it we must
+go back a few years. Till the breaking out of the French Revolution and
+the Continental wars which succeeded it, foreign intelligence had long
+been uninteresting and was little sought after. The few newspapers that
+were published in London had confined themselves almost exclusively to
+domestic matters. Then came a sudden change. Domestic matters fell into
+the background. The whole country was eager to learn what was taking
+place on the other side of the Channel. Newspapers multiplied apace.
+Where there was one before, there were now half a dozen, all hungering
+for foreign intelligence. Here was an opportunity for the clerks in the
+foreign department of the Post Office. These clerks, in conjunction with
+their comptroller, had the exclusive right of franking newspapers for
+the Continent, just as newspapers circulating within Great Britain were
+franked by the clerks of the roads. They had also, by virtue of their
+position, unequalled facilities for getting newspapers from abroad, and
+of these facilities they now availed themselves to the utmost.
+
+It would not be correct to state that at this time they established a
+foreign news-agency, for this they had done long ago; but what had
+hitherto been an insignificant business now became a large and important
+one. It may be interesting to trace its progress. At the time of which
+we are writing--from 1789 onwards--the foreign correspondence was seldom
+in course of distribution in London till the afternoon, owing to the
+then established custom of waiting till two o'clock for any mail that
+might be due. Thus, a foreign mail arriving at three o'clock in the
+afternoon of one day might not be delivered until the same hour in the
+afternoon of the following day.
+
+Another curious custom prevailed at this time. It was considered right,
+as a matter of international courtesy, that no foreign newspapers should
+be delivered until the foreign ministers had received their
+correspondence; and this correspondence, though delivered separately
+from the general correspondence, was seldom delivered earlier. Meanwhile
+the newspapers were held in reserve by the clerks, ready to be delivered
+to their customers as soon as delivery was permissible by the rule of
+the office. This was a state of things which readily lent itself to
+malpractices. The person whom the comptroller appointed to distribute
+the foreign newspapers was an old woman of the name of Cooper, and in
+her custody they remained during the close time, the time during which
+the foreign ministers' correspondence was preparing for delivery. This
+woman had a son who assisted her in the distribution, a young man of
+some ability and of no principle. He was not slow to take advantage of
+his position. From the foreign newspapers, while in his mother's
+custody, he jotted down the points of interest and sold his jottings to
+the London newspapers. The profits he derived from this source assumed
+such proportions that in the course of a few years he was reputed to
+have amassed a not inconsiderable fortune. From one newspaper alone, the
+_Courier_, he received no less than L200 in a single year.
+
+Thus matters went on, save only that owing to the establishment of a
+second delivery of foreign correspondence the interval during which
+newspapers lay at the Post Office was shortened, until the year 1796,
+when Stanhope's appointment as comptroller put an end to one scandal
+merely to establish another. No sooner had Stanhope taken up his
+appointment than the clerks, who had long protested in vain against
+Cooper's conduct, broke out into fresh complaints; and the arrangement
+was then made which called forth Cobbett's invective. Why, argued
+Stanhope, should not that which Cooper has been doing clandestinely be
+done openly and under official sanction? It is true a rule exists that
+foreign newspapers must not be delivered in advance of the foreign
+ministers' correspondence; but a carefully-compiled summary of the
+contents of a newspaper is a very different thing from the newspaper
+itself. This, surely, might be delivered to the London editors without a
+breach either of the rule itself or of the considerations on which it
+was founded.
+
+Such were Stanhope's arguments, and he proceeded to put them into
+practice. With few if any exceptions, the editors of the London
+newspapers, both morning and evening, fell into the plan. French and
+Dutch translators were engaged, and into their hands the foreign
+newspapers were placed as soon as they arrived at the Post Office. For
+each summary the charge was one guinea, and as there were generally two
+summaries a week, the sum which each editor paid was a little over L100
+a year. The entire proceeds, after payment of expenses, were divided in
+certain proportions between Stanhope and his subordinates.
+
+In 1801 and again in 1802 Cobbett had inveighed against a practice which
+thus amerced the editors of the London newspapers; but he might as well
+have preached to the winds. The practice was far too remunerative to be
+abandoned without a struggle. It is true that no one need take a summary
+unless he liked; but if he omitted to take one, it was at the cost of
+having only stale news to publish.
+
+At the close of 1805 circumstances were somewhat altered, and Cobbett
+renewed his attack. Communication by Dover was closed, and
+correspondence from the Continent could reach England only by Holland
+and Gravesend. The best arrangements of which the circumstances admitted
+were made for keeping up the supply of foreign newspapers and summaries;
+but after a while they broke down, and the Post Office was forced to
+seek the assistance of the Alien Office. This office had agents at
+Gravesend, and undertook during the emergency to do what had hitherto
+been done by the Post Office. Cobbett saw his opportunity, and was not
+slow to take advantage of it. It had been dinned into his ears that it
+was through the Post Office alone that foreign newspapers could be
+legally obtained, and that the department could make what arrangements
+it pleased for their distribution. But arrangements which in the hands
+of the Post Office were tolerated only because they had, or were
+supposed to have, legal sanction had now been transferred to the Alien
+Office. What, then, asked Cobbett, had become of the law? To this
+inquiry the Post Office did not find it convenient to vouchsafe a reply.
+
+But a still more formidable antagonist than Cobbett was about to deliver
+an assault. This was the _Times_ newspaper. The _Times_, although among
+what Cobbett called "the guinea-giving papers," seldom made use of the
+summaries which the guineas purchased, regarding them as meagre and
+unsatisfactory. Drawing from other and more fertile sources, it
+contrived in the matter of priority of intelligence to distance all
+competitors. On one occasion, indeed--a remarkable feat for those
+days--it even forestalled the "Court," or, as they were now called, the
+"State" letters, which, unlike the ordinary letters, were delivered the
+moment the mail arrived. It was in 1807, when George Canning was Foreign
+Secretary. Canning had not yet opened his despatches, and was amazed to
+find in his morning's paper information of which he had received no
+previous notice, and which, as he afterwards found, the despatches
+contained. Indignant that his intelligence should have been thus
+anticipated, he instantly wrote to the Post Office demanding an
+explanation. Angry as Canning was, the reply he received can hardly
+have failed to evoke a smile. This reply was that the Continental
+newspapers from which the _Times_ had derived its information had been
+obtained not from the Post Office but from the Foreign Office, and that
+they had reached this office in Canning's own bag under a cover
+addressed to himself.
+
+The _Times_ had long protested against the intolerable delay which
+foreign newspapers sustained at the Post Office. Especially had it
+protested against the absurdity of a system which, while withholding the
+newspapers themselves, yet permitted a summary of their contents to be
+published. But it had still more personal grounds of complaint. Letters
+for the _Times_, sealed letters addressed by permission to the
+Under-Secretaries of State, were excluded from the Foreign Office bag
+and kept back for the general delivery because, forsooth, the clerks at
+the Post Office were pleased to feel sure that these letters contained
+foreign newspapers, and feared that by forwarding them they would damage
+their own interests.
+
+Such were the amazing liberties taken with correspondence in those days.
+No wonder that the _Times_ proceeded to resent the outrage. In its issue
+of the 9th of May 1807 appeared an article which, after charging the
+Post Office with extortions and with sacrificing public convenience to
+the avarice of individuals, proceeded to declare that its administration
+was a disgrace to the Government. Freeling's indignation knew no bounds.
+That the charge was just never seems to have occurred to him. In his
+view it was nothing less than a libel--a libel of the most malignant
+character. Never had man been more cruelly wronged than himself. The
+postmasters-general, Lords Sandwich and Chichester, had been only four
+days in office, and their chief-officer was as yet unknown to them.
+Obviously the intention was to damage this officer's reputation in the
+eyes of his new masters. But this intention should be frustrated. A
+criminal information should be filed. No; not a criminal information,
+for thus the aggressor's mouth would be closed. It should be a civil
+suit or action at law; and then the aggressor would be at liberty to
+tell his own tale, and all the world should see how little justification
+there was for his aspersions.
+
+At this time it was not known to Freeling that letters for the _Times_
+sent under cover to the Under-Secretaries of State were being diverted
+from the ordinary course; and when, a little later on, the fact of
+diversion became known to him, the terms in which he expressed his sense
+of the impropriety were such as even the aggrieved newspaper would
+probably have held to leave nothing to be desired. But to apologise and
+arrest proceedings--these were things which would appear not to have
+come within the sphere of contemplation. An action had been begun, and
+it must proceed to the bitter end. A righteous cause is not necessarily
+one that can be defended at law. Such would seem to have been the case
+in the present instance, for when the action came on for trial, the
+_Times_ failed to appear, and judgment went by default.
+
+Freeling was jubilant over the result. Here was a triumphant vindication
+of his own and Stanhope's proceedings. A charge had been brought--a
+charge as serious as any that could be levelled against a public
+department, and not even an attempt had been made to substantiate it.
+This was a happy termination of an unhappy business. So, at least,
+thought Freeling; but, as a matter of fact, the business was far from
+being terminated yet.
+
+On the 27th of July, within three weeks of his reporting to the
+postmasters-general the result of the action at law, appeared a second
+article headed "Post Office," in which the iniquities of the system were
+ruthlessly exposed. Strong language, indeed--language such as two months
+before had brought the _Times_ within the meshes of the law--was
+carefully avoided, and the article confined itself to a bare narrative
+of facts. But the case against the Post Office lost nothing on this
+account. The facts spoke for themselves, and these, stated in their
+naked simplicity, constituted an indictment, to the weight of which no
+words could add. We can well believe that from this period the _Times_
+received its foreign newspapers in due course; but in other respects the
+only effect which the appearance of the second article had upon the Post
+Office was to spoil the triumph which it was celebrating over the result
+of the first. As to changing their practice and setting their house in
+order, this appears not to have occurred to either Freeling or Stanhope.
+On the contrary, they regarded themselves as deeply-injured persons,
+and, by dint of sheer importunity, induced the postmasters-general to
+consent to a second prosecution. Wiser counsels, however, prevailed. The
+attorney-general, to whom the official papers were sent, took care not
+to return them, and to the present day the Post Office is without these
+interesting records.
+
+It is time we inquired what measure of success had attended the
+experimental posts--the posts by which, under mutual agreement between
+the Post Office and the inhabitants, small towns and villages were to be
+connected with post towns. Village posts, they were sometimes called;
+but more commonly fifth-clause posts, from the clause of the Act under
+which they were established. At first they answered well, but in 1807 an
+authoritative decision to the effect that franked letters and newspapers
+conveyed by a fifth-clause post were exempt from charge tended
+materially to disconcert arrangements. Franked letters, though exempt
+from charge by the general post, were not exempt either by the penny
+posts in the country or by the twopenny post in London; and it had been
+taken for granted that they, as well as newspapers, would not be exempt
+by the fifth-clause posts.
+
+But it had now been decided otherwise, and this made all the difference.
+In arranging these posts nothing more had been aimed at than to make
+them self-supporting, and in adjusting the receipts and expenditure
+franks and newspapers had been counted as so many letters; but if these
+were to be eliminated, the balance would be on the wrong side. A service
+that was not self-supporting was, at the beginning of the century,
+regarded by the Post Office authorities as an abomination; and saddled
+as they were with a number of fifth-clause posts which had ceased to
+pay their own expenses, it became a serious question what was best to be
+done.
+
+A decision was precipitated by the action of the little town of Olney in
+Buckinghamshire. Olney had at one time received from headquarters in
+Lombard Street what was called "an allowance in aid of its post"; but
+when fifth-clause posts were introduced this allowance ceased, and the
+inhabitants, in consideration of their being supplied with an official
+messenger from Newport Pagnel, agreed to pay over and above all other
+postage the sum of 1d. on each letter delivered. This agreement had now
+existed for several years, and the inhabitants had grown a little tired
+of it, being of opinion that a private messenger of their own could be
+procured on easier terms. Accordingly they petitioned headquarters to
+reduce the rate they were paying from 1d. to 1/2d. a letter, and, the
+request being refused, they proceeded to consider whether their
+agreement should not be terminated.
+
+This having come to Freeling's ears, he stopped the post at once, and
+the inhabitants were left to get their letters as best they could. Not
+even notice of his intention had been given. Nor was this all. These
+capricious and discontented people, he said, should have imposed upon
+them a penny post. Under a penny post they would still have their pence
+to pay; and the pence would be payable, not, as under the fifth-clause
+post, only on the letters delivered, but on those collected as well.
+This, while operating as a punitive measure, would have the incidental
+advantage of adding to the revenue. Freeling was a bold man, and yet,
+bold as he was, his courage deserted him in this instance. At the last
+moment, after arrangements had been made for converting the fifth-clause
+post into a penny post, the order for conversion was revoked. To impose
+a penny post, he argued, would be no injustice; it would not even be a
+hardship, and yet these unreasonable people would be sure to represent
+it as such. They would urge that at one time their town had received an
+allowance in aid of its post; that then a foot-messenger had been
+established, and they paid 1d. on each letter delivered; and that now
+because they proposed to replace this messenger, as the Act of
+Parliament gave them power to do, by a messenger of their own, who would
+perform the service at a cheaper rate, an older Act was brought to bear
+upon them which, while obliging them to pay 1d. on each letter collected
+as well as delivered, made the employment of their own messenger
+illegal.
+
+Such were the arguments by which Freeling excused himself to the
+postmasters-general, as though an excuse were necessary, for not going
+on with the high-handed proceeding he had originally contemplated. In
+the result, Olney was given a Post Office of its own, being made in
+technical language a sub-office under Newport Pagnel, the post town. A
+rule was at the same time laid down to the effect that fifth-clause
+posts should no longer be maintained except in the case of small towns.
+To connect these with post towns fifth-clause posts might still be
+continued; but, in the case of villages and hamlets, they were to be
+replaced by penny posts. From this rule the fifth-clause posts received
+their death-blow. Such of them as were village posts were promptly
+converted into penny posts; and such as were town posts, as the small
+towns acquired Post Offices of their own, became gradually merged in the
+general posts of the kingdom.
+
+The Post Office, which during the last ten or fifteen years had done
+much to impair its own utility, was now to receive a check from without;
+and this in respect to a branch of its service which was perhaps least
+open to criticism. The mail-coach system had continued to prosper. In
+1811 the number of mail-coaches constantly running in Great Britain was
+about 220, and the extent of road over which they travelled was between
+11,000 and 12,000 miles a day. The country gentry and the commercial
+classes vied with each other in demanding an extension of the system.
+Towns lying off the main road were glad to pay 1d. a letter in addition
+to the postage on condition of the mail-coach passing through them on
+its way. The mail-coach, moreover, apart from the facilities it
+afforded for communication, brought traffic in its train. It gave, in
+the language of the time, publicity to the roads. Palmer had, more than
+twenty years before, noticed this result and commented upon it. He found
+as a matter of experience that wherever a mail-coach was set up other
+traffic followed, and the post-chaises along the road were furbished up
+and better conducted.
+
+But popular as the new system was on the whole, there was one class of
+persons with whom it was distinctly the reverse. These were the trustees
+of the roads. With them the exemption from toll which the mail-coaches
+enjoyed was a constant source of complaint. Nor was it calculated to
+abate their discontent that the Post Office, in whose favour the
+exemption was granted, possessed the power, a power which it constantly
+exercised, of indicting the roads if they were not kept in proper
+repair. The state of the trusts was at this time far from flourishing.
+In the neighbourhood of London and other large towns where traffic was
+considerable the tolls were low and the receipts high; but in the
+remoter and less populous parts of the kingdom the exact converse held
+good. There the tolls were high and the receipts low.
+
+To take the kingdom as a whole, the case stood thus: In very few
+instances indeed had any part of the debt on the turnpike trusts been
+discharged, and in fewer instances still had a sinking fund been
+established with a view to extinction of debt by process of time. With
+these rare exceptions, nothing more had been done than to keep up
+payment of the interest agreed upon, while in many instances no interest
+at all was being paid or interest at a reduced rate. In some instances
+indeed, the receipts from the tolls were not enough to defray even the
+cost of maintenance and repairs.
+
+It is not to be wondered at if in these circumstances the trustees of
+the roads looked with longing eyes to the L50,000 a year which was the
+estimated value of the tolls that, except for their exemption, the
+mail-coaches would have had to pay. Of course the postmasters-general
+were strongly opposed to the surrender of this large amount; and yet
+there was one consideration which told heavily against them. It was
+this, that in Ireland the mails were not exempt from toll. Under an Act
+passed by the Irish Legislature in 1798, an Act which still remained in
+force, an account was kept of all tolls leviable at the turnpike gates
+through which the mail passed, and this account was paid quarterly by
+the Post Office authorities in Dublin. Why, it was asked, could not a
+similar system be adopted in Great Britain? It was also urged, and not
+without force, that in the matter of weight the mail bore to the coach
+which carried it a very small proportion. The coach with its loading
+complete weighed from thirty-three to forty cwts., while the mail seldom
+weighed more than one cwt. For the sake of so small a proportion was it
+equitable that exemption should extend to the whole?
+
+A strenuous and united effort was now made to force the mail-coaches to
+pay toll. The question came before Parliament, and a Committee was
+appointed to inquire and report. The result could hardly have been in
+doubt. It was by the landed proprietors, the men who had seats in
+Parliament, that the turnpike roads had been made, and they were
+generally the creditors on the turnpike funds. The Committee was
+unanimous in recommending that the exemption from toll which the
+mail-coaches enjoyed should absolutely cease and determine.
+
+On the Committee's report no action was taken in the session of 1811;
+but if the Post Office supposed that the matter would be allowed to
+drop, it was doomed to disappointment. Early in the following year
+Spencer Perceval forwarded to Lombard Street for any observations the
+postmasters-general might have to offer upon it a bill having for its
+object to repeal the exemption. The postmasters-general suggested
+certain alterations, but upon the subject-matter of the bill, coming as
+it did from the Prime Minister, and their views being already well
+known, they confined themselves to once more expressing a doubt whether
+such a measure could be necessary. In May Perceval was assassinated;
+and now the postmasters-general fondly hoped that the matter was at an
+end. What then was their dismay at learning a month or two later that
+the Government was resolved to proceed with the bill. The same letter
+that conveyed this intelligence contained a suggestion as strange as it
+was original. This was that, in order to meet complaints, the
+mail-coaches on certain roads should be withdrawn. The postmasters-general,
+little supposing that such a suggestion could take practical shape,
+simply replied that not a whisper had yet reached them to the effect
+that mail-coaches were considered in excess; that, on the contrary,
+they were being constantly urged to increase the number.
+
+The bill was finally withdrawn; but heavy was the price which had to be
+paid. With those who were advocating the measure Vansittart, the new
+Chancellor of the Exchequer, effected a compromise behind the back of
+the Post Office. There was indeed ample room for a satisfactory
+adjustment. For the conveyance of the mails the mail-coach proprietors
+received from the Post Office L30,000 a year; they paid to the
+Government for stamp duty L40,000 a year; and the exemption which they
+enjoyed from toll was estimated to represent L50,000 a year. These
+figures seem almost to suggest a feasible arrangement; yet the
+compromise actually effected took another form. It was that, in
+accordance with the suggestion of a few months before, mail-coaches
+should be withdrawn.
+
+Nor was this mere empty talk; Vansittart had pledged himself to specific
+performance. And now began a general dis-coaching of the roads. The
+mail-coaches running between Warwick and Coventry, between Shrewsbury
+and Aberystwith, between Aberystwith and Ludlow, between Edinburgh and
+Dalkeith, between Edinburgh and Musselburgh, between Chichester and
+Godalming, between Dorchester and Stroudwater--all were discontinued at
+once. Notice to quit was served upon the mail-coaches between Worcester
+and Hereford, between Hereford and Gloucester, between Hereford and
+Brecon, between Alton and Gosport, and between Plymouth and Tavistock.
+And, what was hardly less important, numerous applications for
+mail-coaches which, except for Treasury interference, would have been
+granted, were refused. By Pitt the mail-coach had been regarded as a
+pioneer of civilisation; in the eyes of Pitt's successors it was a
+mischievous encumbrance.
+
+Vansittart, having dealt one deadly blow at the Post Office, now
+proceeded to deal another. The war with France had exhausted the
+Exchequer, and, as part of the ways and means, he called upon the Post
+Office for a further contribution of L200,000 a year. Once more the
+screw was turned; and, oppressive as the postage rates were already,
+they were as from the 9th of July 1812 increased as follows:--
+
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |Single.|Double.|Treble.|Ounce.|
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|                                   |  _d._ |  _d._ |  _d._ | _d._ |
+|                                   +-------+-------+-------+------+
+|Not exceeding 15 miles             |    4  |    8  |   12  |  16  |
+|Above 15 and not exceeding 20 miles|    5  |   10  |   15  |  20  |
+|  "   20         "         30   "  |    6  |   12  |   18  |  24  |
+|  "   30         "         50   "  |    7  |   14  |   21  |  28  |
+|  "   50         "         80   "  |    8  |   16  |   24  |  32  |
+|  "   80         "        120   "  |    9  |   18  |   27  |  36  |
+|  "  120         "        170   "  |   10  |   20  |   30  |  40  |
+|  "  170         "        230   "  |   11  |   22  |   33  |  44  |
+|  "  230         "        300   "  |   12  |   24  |   36  |  48  |
+|  "  300         "        400   "  |   13  |   26  |   39  |  52  |
+|  "  400         "        500   "  |   14  |   28  |   42  |  56  |
+|  "  500         "        600   "  |   15  |   30  |   45  |  60  |
+|  "  600         "        700   "  |   16  |   32  |   48  |  64  |
+|Above 700 miles                    |   17  |   34  |   51  |  68  |
++-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+
+
+This is the highest point to which the rates of postage have ever
+attained in this country. Freeling would have resented so much as a
+suggestion that the institution which had now for some years been under
+his exclusive management was not in the most perfect order to which
+human foresight and ingenuity could raise it; and yet to the
+dispassionate observer it may be permitted to doubt whether eighty years
+ago the Post Office was not in some important particulars more open to
+criticism than at any time since its first establishment.
+
+Let us compare for a moment the beginning of the nineteenth with the
+end of the seventeenth century. In 1695 the postage from London to
+Liverpool or to York or to Plymouth was, for a single letter, 3d.; in
+1813 it was 11d. In 1695, wherever letters were being carried
+clandestinely, the policy was to supplant; in 1813 the policy was to
+repress. In 1695 the King would not consent to a single prosecution even
+for the sake of example; in 1813, when the Post Office revenue had
+passed from the King to the people, prosecutions were being conducted
+wholesale. In 1695 a circuitous post would be converted into a direct
+one, even though the shorter distance carried less postage; in 1813 a
+direct post in place of a circuitous one was being constantly refused on
+the plea that a loss of postage would result. In 1695 London enjoyed the
+advantage of a penny post, and this post carried up to one pound in
+weight; in 1813 the penny post had been replaced by a twopenny and
+threepenny one, and, except in the case of a packet passing through the
+general post, the weight was limited to four ounces. In 1813, moreover,
+the complications were bewildering. In some places there were
+fifth-clause posts, and in others penny posts; and the charge by these
+posts was in addition to the charge by the general post. Some towns,
+over and above all other charges, paid an additional 1d. on each letter
+for the privilege of the mail-coach passing through them. Of two
+adjoining houses one might receive its letters free of any charge for
+delivery and not the other. This difference was to be found in towns
+where building was going on--as, for instance, at Brighton--old houses
+being considered within, and new houses without, what was called the
+usage of delivery.
+
+In London itself the complications, if possible, were more bewildering
+still. The threepenny post began where the twopenny post ended. Thus far
+the practice was simple enough. But the general post limits did not
+coincide with the limits of the twopenny post: and the limits of both
+the twopenny post and the general post differed from those of the
+foreign post. Indeed, it is probably not too much to say that in 1813
+there was not a single town in the kingdom at the Post Office of which
+absolutely certain information could have been obtained as to the charge
+to which a letter addressed to any other town would be subject. More
+than ten years later Post Office experts examined before a Committee of
+the House of Commons were unable to state what, even on letters
+delivered in London, would in certain cases be the proper postage.
+
+It may here be asked how it was that with rates so oppressive and so
+vexatiously levied the public were induced to tolerate them. The
+mail-coaches were popular except with the road trustees; and there is
+reason to think that even these, or at all events the principal persons
+among them, only professed a dislike which they did not really feel. The
+Post Office packets were also popular, and well they deserved to be,
+distinguishing themselves as they were about this time by deeds of even
+more than usual daring.
+
+But these considerations, added to the personal popularity which
+Freeling himself enjoyed, are altogether insufficient to account for the
+extraordinary patience of the public under the treatment which eighty or
+ninety years ago they endured at the hands of the Post Office. The
+explanation we believe to be that the heavy rates of postage, and not a
+few of the vexations incidental to the levying of them, were tacitly
+accepted as a part, a necessary part, of the load of taxation which the
+people were called upon to bear as a consequence of the war in which
+England was engaged. We further believe that, in respect to its acts of
+aggression, the Post Office escaped criticism mainly because its
+proceedings, irritating as they were to individuals, were not generally
+known. This want of publicity is specially noticeable in the matter of
+prosecutions. At the present day a single prosecution undertaken by the
+Post Office would be the subject of comment in every newspaper in the
+kingdom. Eighty or ninety years ago, numerous as the Post Office
+prosecutions were, there was not a newspaper in the kingdom that
+gratuitously published particulars or even announced the fact. Often
+did the postmasters-general lament this reticence, believing as they did
+that to make known their repressive measures, and the amount of
+penalties inflicted, must have a deterrent effect upon the illicit
+traffic; and at length, for want of any better means of securing
+publicity, they gave directions that, wherever a prosecution took place,
+hand-bills giving full particulars were to be struck off and affixed to
+the doors of the local inns.
+
+The question which two years before had agitated the minds of the road
+trustees was now revived in Scotland. Among those who pressed for the
+establishment of mail-coaches none were more persistent than the large
+landed proprietors north of the Tweed; and as soon as their demands were
+acceded to, none were louder in their denunciations of the injustice
+which exempted mail-coaches from toll. The Government yielded at length
+to the pressure that was brought to bear, and in 1813 an Act was passed
+repealing, so far as Scotland was concerned, exemption from toll in the
+case of mail-carriages with more than two wheels. The same Act, in order
+to indemnify the Post Office for the loss it would thus sustain, imposed
+an additional postage of 1/2d. upon every letter conveyed by mail-coach
+in Scotland.
+
+The Post Office was not quite fairly treated in this matter. No sooner
+had the Act passed than the trustees of the roads raised the tolls. At
+the old rates the mail-coaches, had they not been exempt, would have had
+to pay L6865 a year; at the new rates, now that they were exempt no
+longer, they had to pay L11,759 a year, or more by nearly L6000 than the
+additional 1/2d. of postage had been estimated to yield. Nor was this
+all. Some of the Road Acts contained a clause empowering the trustees to
+demand the sum of 1d. for every outside passenger. This power had never
+yet been exercised; but now the demand was rigorously enforced in the
+case of passengers by the mail-coaches, and by these coaches only.
+
+Thus unhandsomely dealt with, the Post Office proceeded to do in
+Scotland what under other circumstances it had done two years before in
+England. It reduced the number of its coaches. This excited many
+murmurs. From Glasgow, for instance, a mail-coach had been running
+through Paisley to Greenock. This was now replaced by a horse post, and
+the district was not only relieved from the payment of the additional
+postage of 1/2d. a letter, but--a boon which had long been earnestly
+sought--was given three posts a day instead of two. Yet all three towns
+refused to be comforted, and bitterly reproached the postmasters-general
+for depriving them of their mail-coach. The convenience of travellers,
+however, was not a matter of which the Post Office took any account. The
+Post Office was concerned with the transmission of letters; and wherever
+these could be transmitted with the same or nearly the same expedition
+and at less expense by other means, the mail-coaches were discarded.
+
+About this time two measures were introduced which shew a strange
+forgetfulness of what had gone before. Of these one was a reorganisation
+of the returned letter office, and the other the passing of a fresh Ship
+Letter Act. Hitherto, of the letters which could not be delivered only
+those had been returned to the writers which contained property or
+enclosures of apparent importance. The others had been torn up and sold
+as waste paper. Now all were to be presumed to be of importance to the
+writers and to be returned accordingly. The propriety and even the
+legality of charging such letters had been questioned in Palmer's time,
+and Pitt had decided that they were not to be charged. This was now
+forgotten, and the Post Office proceeded not only to return every letter
+that could not be delivered, but to charge it with postage. To Freeling,
+who regarded the Post Office as a mere engine of taxation, the
+temptation was no doubt a strong one. The measure, before being
+definitively adopted, had been tried experimentally for one year; and it
+was found that out of 189,000 letters returned to the writers more than
+135,000 were accepted, producing a clear revenue of L4421.
+
+By the new Ship Letter Act the charge on a single letter arriving by
+private ship was raised from 4d. to 6d., and, what was far more
+important, no letters were to be sent by private ship except such as had
+been brought to the Post Office to be charged. The directors of the East
+India Company, who would seem to have strangely overlooked the bill
+during its passage through the House, implored the Government to get the
+Act repealed. It was true, they urged, that their official
+correspondence was exempted from the operation of the Act; but dependent
+on them in the East was a small army of servants whose private letters
+had hitherto gone free, and, under the provisions of the Act, would go
+free no longer. With the East Indies there was no communication by
+packet, and surely it was introducing a new principle for the Post
+Office to make a charge where it did not perform a service. Did not the
+charge in such a case become a mere tax upon letter-writing?
+
+Freeling, on the other hand, maintained that no new principle was
+involved, inasmuch as the previous Act, the Act of 1799, recognised the
+sending of letters by ships other than packet boats and charging them
+with postage. This was perfectly true; but he forgot to add that,
+whereas the Act of 1799 was permissive, the Act of 1814 was compulsory,
+that under the one Act it was optional with the senders of letters
+whether they would take them to the Post Office or not; and under the
+other, if they did not take them to the Post Office, they rendered
+themselves liable to severe penalties. He might indeed have gone
+further, and said that in 1799 Pitt and the whole of the administration
+of which Pitt was the head scouted the very idea of anything in the
+shape of compulsion being employed in the matter.
+
+The Ship Letter Act of 1814 proved a complete failure. It contained no
+provision obliging private ships to carry letters, and the private ships
+between England and India were almost entirely in the hands of the East
+India Company. No wonder, therefore, that the Company, when asked
+whether it might be announced to the public that bags would be made up
+at the Post Office to be conveyed by their ships, replied in the
+negative. The Court of Directors, their letter said, are not without
+hopes that Parliament will consent to revise the Act, and meanwhile they
+"do not see fit to authorise the commanders or owners of any of their
+ships to take charge of any bag of letters from the Post Office
+subjected to a rate of postage for sea conveyance." Freeling was filled
+with dismay. "A vital impediment," he exclaimed, "to the execution of
+the Act."
+
+The expectations of the India House were not disappointed. In the next
+session of Parliament the Act of 1814 was replaced by another which
+granted larger exemptions to the Company and disarmed its opposition.
+The later Act gave power to the Post Office to establish a line of
+packets to India and the Cape of Good Hope, and, until a line should be
+established, to employ as packets any ships it pleased, including ships
+of war. The mails were to go once a month. By packet--in which term is
+included the ship which the Post Office might be pleased to designate as
+packet for the occasion--the postage on a single letter was fixed at 3s.
+6d.; by private ship it varied according to direction, outwards 1s. 2d.
+and inwards 8d.
+
+Such were the main provisions of the Act of 1815; but there were others
+which introduced new principles. As a result of the action of the East
+India Company in the preceding year, it was now for the first time made
+compulsory upon private ships to carry letters when required to do so by
+the Post Office,[81] and the Post Office was empowered to pay for their
+carriage a reasonable sum. This sum was to go by way of remuneration to the
+owners of the vessels, and to be in addition to a gratuity of 2d. a letter
+which the commander was to receive as his own perquisite. A still more
+important provision, a provision which assuredly could not have emanated
+from the Post Office, was one in favour of newspapers. By packet the
+postage on a letter to India or the Cape weighing as much as one ounce was
+to be 14s.; on a newspaper of no greater weight, if stamped and in a cover
+open at the side or end, it was to be 3d. This was the first enactment
+that provided for newspapers going outside the limits of the United
+Kingdom for less than the letter rate of postage.
+
+ [81] One of the first, if not the very first, against whom proceedings
+  were taken under this provision of the statute was Robert Wetherall,
+  master of the ship _Albinia_, from Gravesend to the Cape of Good Hope.
+  Wetherall had at the last moment refused to take the mails on board,
+  consisting of 173 letters. On the advice of the law officers the Post
+  Office contemplated proceeding against him by indictment; but the
+  Government decided to proceed by information, with a view apparently to
+  give to the case greater importance and notoriety.
+
+What was virtually a most interesting experiment was now about to be
+tried. To India and the Cape the Post Office had no packets of its own;
+and before private ships could be employed as packets, the consent of
+the owners had to be obtained and the amount of payment to be agreed
+upon. Practically, the Post Office was at the mercy of others. Mails had
+to be sent once every month; ships of war could not always be employed;
+and should the shipping interest combine, the postmasters-general would
+have to pay pretty much what owners chose to demand. To the credit of
+that interest nothing in the shape of combination took place. During the
+first sixteen months the mails were despatched five times by His
+Majesty's ships, four times by ships of the East India Company, and
+seven times by ships belonging to private owners. His Majesty's ships
+carried the mails, of course, without charge. The East India Company,
+with admirable generosity, placed their ships at the disposal of the
+Post Office and refused to receive any payment. And the ships belonging
+to private owners were engaged, the first of them for L500 and the other
+six for sums ranging from L50 to L150. Altogether, the sum expended
+during more than a year and a quarter in transporting the mails to India
+and the Cape of Good Hope did not exceed L1250; and the postage during
+the same period amounted to L11,658. In the following year, the year
+1817, even better terms were obtained, the owners of private ships
+engaged as packets receiving in no case more than L125, and in one case
+as little as L25.
+
+The East India Company's generosity was not reciprocated by the Post
+Office. His Majesty's ship _Iphigenia_, which was lying at Portsmouth,
+had been appointed to carry out the mails, and the India House had sent
+down its despatches to be put on board. In strictness these despatches
+should have been sent through the Post Office, inasmuch as the
+_Iphigenia_ had been appointed a packet for the occasion; but as the
+India House paid no postage on its correspondence, whether sent by
+packet or by ships of its own, it was a mere technical irregularity.
+
+Freeling maintained, however, that there was an important distinction
+which ought to be observed. It was true that no question of postage was
+involved. It was also true that the India House would have been at
+liberty to put its despatches on board the _Iphigenia_ had she been
+sailing for India without being appointed a packet boat; but as she had
+been so appointed, the intervention of the Post Office was necessary,
+and without that intervention the commander ought not to have received
+them. Accordingly, Freeling urged upon the Government, though happily
+without success, that orders should be sent to Portsmouth to have the
+despatches removed from the ship to the local Post Office, to be there
+kept until instructions should be received from Lombard Street that they
+might be again taken on board.
+
+On the close of hostilities in 1815 domestic matters began once more to
+occupy a place in men's thoughts; and it was next to impossible that the
+Post Office should escape attention. Its heavy and capricious charges,
+its high-handed proceedings, its disregard of the public requirements,
+its prosecutions, its constant indictment of roads which it largely used
+and yet contributed nothing to maintain, and, above all, the fact that
+its administration was virtually in the hands of one man, and that man
+not the nominal head, who could be reached by constitutional
+means--signs were not wanting that these and other matters had created
+an amount of dissatisfaction which must sooner or later find
+expression. Yet Freeling either could not or would not see. Were not his
+immediate superiors, the postmasters-general, satisfied with his
+management, so satisfied indeed that they seldom, if ever, found it
+necessary to pay a visit to Lombard Street? And had not the
+contributions which, under his guidance, the Post Office kept pouring
+into the Exchequer raised him high in the Chancellor's favour? If so,
+what more could a loyal and industrious public servant desire?
+
+That Freeling was elated with what he considered his unbounded success
+is clear from a letter which about this time was written to the
+Treasury, enclosing a return of the Post Office revenue, and shewing how
+it had responded to the successive increases of rate which had been
+imposed during his tenure of the office of secretary. This letter,
+drafted by himself, as all the official letters were, though signed by
+the postmasters-general, concluded thus: "We flatter ourselves that we
+shall not be considered as exceeding the limits of our duty in drawing
+your Lordships' attention to a circumstance which has made a strong
+impression on ourselves in the course of our inquiry, namely, that the
+office of secretary during the whole of this flourishing period has been
+executed by the same faithful and meritorious servant of the Crown." The
+return, with a copy of this letter appended, was afterwards presented to
+Parliament.
+
+There is no more tolerant assembly in the world than the House of
+Commons; and yet even the House of Commons is intolerant of egotism. It
+may have been, and probably was, a mere coincidence, but the fact
+remains that from the date of the presentation of this return Freeling's
+influence began to wane.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+IRELAND
+
+1801-1828
+
+
+At the Union with Ireland the Irish Post Office was not merged into the
+Post Office of England as the Scotch Post Office was merged at the Union
+with Scotland. The existence of two separate establishments, presided
+over by different heads, who had not always the same objects in view,
+and were influenced by different considerations, was not unattended with
+inconvenience.
+
+Between the Post Offices of the two parts of the kingdom, moreover,
+there were differences not only of practice but of law, the statutes
+passed during the seventeen years that the Post Offices were separate
+not having been repealed at the time of the Union. Thus, the law which
+regulated franking was stricter in Ireland than in England, although, it
+must be confessed, the practice was looser. The law prohibiting the
+illicit conveyance of letters was also stricter. In England the Post
+Office was not empowered to search for letters; in Ireland the Post
+Office might search both vehicles and houses from sunrise to sunset. In
+England the mail-coaches were exempt from toll; in Ireland no such
+exemption was allowed. In Ireland, again, the Post Office was legally
+bound not, as in England, to deliver letters but only to carry them; and
+except in Dublin there was not a single letter-carrier in the kingdom.
+Even the constitution of the two Post Offices, though apparently
+similar, was really different. In Ireland, as in England, there were
+two heads commonly called joint postmasters-general; but whereas in
+England the assent of both was necessary to make a decision operative,
+in Ireland the assent of one was sufficient. This, while probably
+designed to facilitate the despatch of public business, was, as will be
+seen later on, attended with a curious result, a result which the
+framers of the statute can have little contemplated.
+
+Of such differences of practice as were not rendered necessary by any
+difference of law it may be sufficient to mention a few. In England the
+mail-coach contractors supplied horses only; in Ireland they supplied
+coaches as well. In England the contract was for short periods and for
+short distances, seldom for more than one or two stages; in Ireland,
+where there was little or no competition, the contract was for the whole
+of the road over which the coach travelled, and for as much as twenty
+and even thirty years. Meanwhile no alteration was possible except with
+the contractors' assent. In England the horse-posts were provided upon
+the most advantageous terms of which each particular case would admit;
+in Ireland the obligation to provide them was imposed upon the local
+postmasters, who received for the service, cost what it might, one
+uniform rate of 5d. a mile. In London there was no despatch on Sundays;
+in Dublin the mails were despatched on Sundays as on other days. In
+Dublin, again, the men who collected letters by the sound of bell,
+bellmen as they were now called, received not as in London 1d. a letter
+but 1d. a house, a difference of which the inhabitants were wont to shew
+their appreciation by sending to a single house for delivery to the
+letter-carrier the letters of an entire street.
+
+In Dublin there was one institution to which there was no counterpart in
+London. This was the British Mail Office, an office set apart for the
+management of the mails passing between England and Ireland. Other mails
+were dealt with in the Inland Office; but those to and from England were
+considered of such paramount importance as to deserve exceptional
+treatment. At the present day the term "office" as applied to the public
+service conveys the notion possibly of a palace and certainly of a
+building or part of a building consisting of several rooms. The British
+Mail Office, though destined to play a not unimportant part in the
+history of the Irish Post Office at the beginning of the present
+century, consisted of one room only, and this room was exactly six feet
+square.
+
+The establishment of this office was one of many measures which owed
+their origin to Lord Clancarty, who was joint postmaster-general with
+Lord O'Neill from 1807 to 1809. Clancarty enjoyed an honourable
+distinction. Other postmasters-general were habitual absentees, their
+visits to the Post Office, if visits they made, being confined to the
+rare occasions on which they passed through Dublin on their way to
+London and back. Clancarty, on the contrary, devoted to his official
+duties all the powers of a keen intellect and a singularly energetic
+nature. Shortly after his appointment he proceeded to London, and having
+made himself master of the system pursued in the Inland Office in
+Lombard Street, returned to Dublin, resolved that, as far as
+circumstances would permit, a similar system should be established
+there.
+
+A formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the different
+hours of attendance in the London and Dublin offices. In London the
+attendance was daily, on every night and every morning; in Dublin it was
+only on alternate days, on every other night and every other morning.
+How to get rid of this difference was the question which Clancarty now
+set himself to solve. There was at this time in the Inland Office a
+clerk of the name of Donlevy, whose parts pointed him out as qualified
+to take the lead among his fellows. Clancarty sent for this young man,
+and told him that under the plan which was about to be introduced he
+would have to attend daily. Donlevy objected that a plan which would
+involve such attendance was an unreasonable, an oppressive plan, and
+that no man's constitution, strong as he might be, would stand it.
+"But," said Clancarty, "I will make you vice-president." "My Lord,"
+replied Donlevy, "I am very much obliged to you; but under the
+conditions proposed I would not accept even the office of president."
+"Very well," rejoined Clancarty, laying his watch on the table, "I will
+give you three hours to consider of it." Long before the three hours had
+expired, Donlevy, who knew the character of the man with whom he had to
+do, and what would be the penalty of refusal, had accepted the
+vice-presidentship, and opposition to the introduction of daily
+attendance was at an end.[82]
+
+  [82] Clancarty was afterwards appointed joint postmaster-general of
+  England. This appointment he held from 30th September 1814 to 6th April
+  1816, but he never took it up. Between the dates mentioned he was
+  employed on missions abroad.
+
+But Clancarty was an exception to the general rule. Lord Rosse, who
+succeeded him and remained postmaster-general in conjunction with
+O'Neill for more than twenty years, was, like his colleague, an habitual
+absentee; and the consequence was to place large power in the hands of
+the chief permanent officer on the spot. This was Edward Smith Lees, who
+had been appointed joint secretary with his father in 1801, and who on
+his father's death some years afterwards became sole secretary. The
+power which Lees must in any case have possessed as chief resident
+officer was enormously increased by the fact to which we have already
+referred, that the signature of either of the two postmasters-general
+was sufficient. Of this fact Lees took advantage to an extent which may
+seem incredible. If the particular postmaster-general to whom the case
+was referred agreed to the course recommended, no reference to the other
+appears to have been considered necessary; but if he did not agree, a
+reference to the other took place without the fact of disagreement being
+made known, or even an intimation that his colleague had been consulted.
+By thus playing off one postmaster-general against the other, Lees
+generally contrived to secure approval of his own recommendations; but
+when, as occasionally happened, such approval could not be obtained from
+either, he claimed and exercised the right, as chief officer on the
+spot, to take his own course.
+
+Thus Lees, like Freeling, was an autocrat within his own domain; but the
+means by which the two men attained this result were essentially
+different. Freeling kept the postmasters-general informed of every
+incident, however trivial. Lees gave no information which could with
+decency be withheld. Freeling supported his views by a perfect wealth of
+explanation. Lees explained no more than enough to carry his point.
+Freeling's candour, like his loyalty, knew no bounds. It is to his
+candour, indeed, that we owe our materials for criticising his own
+proceedings. Lees's candour and loyalty, on the contrary, so far as
+these can be said to have had any existence, were held in rigid
+subjection to considerations of expediency and personal advantage.
+
+The circumstances attending the appointment of Lees's brother, a
+searcher in the Customs at Wexford, to a position in the secretary's
+office only inferior in point of rank and emolument to his own, well
+exemplify the mode in which the business of the Irish Post Office was
+conducted during the first two or three decades of the present century.
+The minute appointing him was signed, not by O'Neill and Rosse, nor by
+either of them, but by one of Lees's own subordinates, and purported to
+embody a decision come to at a Board at which the two postmasters-general
+were present. "At the Board"--so ran the minute--"present the Earls."
+The whole thing was a fiction from beginning to end. The Earls had
+not been present, and there had been no Board. Indeed, as Lees was
+afterwards forced to admit before a Committee of the House of Commons,
+during a period of twenty years that O'Neill and Rosse had been
+joint postmasters-general and he their secretary, he had seen them
+only once together in the same room, and that was in the drawing-room
+at Parsonstown.
+
+The example set in high quarters was not without its effect below. Every
+one seems to have been left to do pretty much as he liked. The force was
+maintained at a level very far in excess of the actual requirements, and
+it was no uncommon thing for one-half of the entire number to absent
+themselves without notice in a single morning. Some of the clerks never
+attended at all, while others gave to their Post Office duties only such
+fragments of their time as they could snatch from other and more
+lucrative employments. Thus, one was a clerk in a private bank, another
+a clerk in a merchant's office, a third was a surgeon, several held
+appointments under the Customs or the Imprest Office, and many were
+practising attorneys. To most of these the object of holding an
+appointment in the Post Office appears to have been not so much the
+salary attaching to it as the privilege which they enjoyed, or rather
+which they assumed to themselves, of sending and receiving their letters
+free. The attorneys, indeed, were credited with a still less respectable
+motive. All, as soon as a mail arrived, helped themselves to their own
+letters and the letters of the firms in which they were interested. The
+president of the Inland Office held a valuable appointment in the Bank
+of Ireland, and was not in a position to check on the part of his
+subordinates a license which he allowed to himself. The
+receiver-general, the highest financial officer on the establishment,
+was a private banker and money-lender, and, beyond signing the
+balance-sheet at stated periods, the only Post Office function he
+performed was to frank his own correspondence.
+
+That in Ireland the Post Office arrangements were made subservient to
+private interests does not admit of a doubt. A suspicion will indeed now
+and again cross the mind that even in England the readiness to raise the
+rates of postage, and the hostility shewn to newspapers except when
+supplied by the clerks of the roads, were not unconnected with personal
+considerations; but what in the case of England is at best only a matter
+of suspicion becomes in the case of Ireland an absolute certainty. In
+Ireland, as in England, the clerks of the roads had from the first
+establishment of the Post Office enjoyed the privilege of franking
+newspapers; but soon after the British Mail Office had been established
+by Clancarty, two other clerks, styling themselves express clerks,
+undertook to supply newspapers express. Their plan was very simple. In
+London the newspapers were made up in a parcel addressed to the express
+clerks; and these clerks had in readiness messengers of their own, who
+proceeded to deliver the newspapers as soon as they arrived in Dublin
+and without waiting, as others had to do, for the sorting of the mail.
+This alone would have given to the express clerks a considerable
+advantage over the ordinary news-vendor. But, more than this, the
+British mail was irregular in its arrival, and the latest hour in the
+evening at which a delivery by letter-carrier took place in Dublin was
+seven o'clock. The express clerks delivered the English newspapers by
+their own messengers as late as eleven o'clock.
+
+In the case of the country the advantage which the express clerks
+enjoyed was still greater. The mails for the interior of Ireland left
+the Inland Office in Dublin at seven o'clock in the evening; but under a
+rule, on the observance of which the authorities rigidly insisted, no
+mails from the British Mail Office were to be received in the Inland
+Office for despatch the same evening unless they were brought there
+ready sorted full twenty minutes before that hour. Practically,
+therefore, as the sorting occupied about twenty-five minutes, mails from
+England arriving later than a quarter past six were detained until the
+following evening. No such detention, however, was sustained by the
+express newspapers, which, addressed as they were to the express clerks,
+could be forwarded up to the last moment. It may readily be supposed
+that, with such advantages in their favour, the express clerks and the
+clerks of the roads, for the two bodies had amalgamated and formed one
+common purse, found many customers. That they realised and fully
+appreciated their position will be seen from the following advertisement
+which was issued no longer ago than April 1822:--
+
+                       BRITISH NEWSPAPER OFFICE, GENERAL POST OFFICE.
+
+     The clerks of roads and clerks of express newspapers having, under
+     the authority of the postmasters-general, reformed their
+     establishment in this department for the transmission of British
+     and foreign newspapers, lottery, commercial, army and navy lists,
+     periodical and other publications, the nobility and gentry of
+     Dublin are respectfully informed that they can be supplied with
+     those articles either by an express delivery (which is made by
+     special messengers immediately on the arrival of the packets) or by
+     the regular course of post.
+
+     Country correspondents will have a peculiar advantage, as upon all
+     occasions when a packet arrives before the despatch of the inland
+     mails but too late for general transmission, their newspapers will
+     be forwarded at the last possible moment.
+
+     Newspapers exchanged at pleasure any time during the period of
+     subscription.
+
+     Subscriptions to be paid in advance.
+
+     Further particulars known by application to Messrs. Leet and De
+     Joncourt, General Post Office, who will receive subscriptions.
+
+     Daily attendance from twelve till four o'clock.
+
+     London daily newspapers to Dublin by general delivery, L10:17:6 per
+     annum.
+
+Leet and De Joncourt were the two express clerks; but among the clerks
+of the roads, on whose behalf they wrote as well as their own, was Lees,
+the secretary, who participated in the profits derived from the sale of
+newspapers, and received the lion's share.
+
+The news-vendors bitterly complained. That the newspapers supplied by
+the express clerks and clerks of the roads should be exempt from
+postage[83] was bad enough; but that they should also enjoy priority of
+transmission and delivery was past all endurance. How was it possible to
+compete under such conditions as these? The booksellers also complained,
+for the express service, though originally confined to newspapers, had
+now extended to periodicals as well. On a _Quarterly_ or _Edinburgh
+Review_, for instance, when sent by coach from Dublin into the country,
+the bookseller's customers had to pay for carriage from 1s. 8d. to 2s.
+6d., whereas the express clerks and clerks of the roads sent it, through
+the medium of the post, carriage free. A heavier indictment remains. The
+law permitted the examination of newspapers passing through the post
+with a view to ascertain whether they contained unauthorised enclosures;
+and it was confidently alleged that of this power the Post Office
+servants took advantage in order to retard the transmission and delivery
+of newspapers that were not supplied by themselves. A ring, the
+news-vendors maintained, had been formed at the Post Office, and they
+were the victims.
+
+  [83] At one time the express newspapers went all the way from London to
+  Dublin post free; but this, at the date of the advertisement, had been
+  stopped, and as far as Holyhead their carriage was now being provided
+  for under an arrangement with the London agents. From Holyhead to
+  Dublin, however, they still went in the mail free of postage, and on
+  arrival in Dublin such of them as were destined for the country were
+  franked by the clerks of the roads.
+
+The management of what was technically termed the alphabet appears to
+have been influenced by similar considerations. This was nothing more
+than a rack with divisions corresponding to the letters of the alphabet,
+into which might be sorted ready for delivery all correspondence
+addressed to the Post Office to be called for. Such was its primary
+object; but in course of time the bankers and merchants, finding that
+through the alphabet they could get their letters sooner than if
+delivered by letter-carrier--as soon indeed as the mail arrived--made
+use of this expedient for their ordinary correspondence, readily paying
+for the accommodation a fee ranging from three to five guineas a year.
+This had gone on for a considerable period, when Lees appears to have
+been suddenly seized with compunction at the unfairness of a practice
+which, in the matter of delivery, gave to one man an advantage over
+another; and he issued instructions that henceforth, after the arrival
+of each mail, there should be a certain interval during which letters
+should not be delivered from the alphabet. The pretence imposed upon no
+one. Men readily discerned that in proportion as the advantages of the
+alphabet were restricted the express service was rendered more valuable.
+
+It would be unjust to the memory of the Irish Post Office of seventy
+years ago not to mention here one good practice and, as far as we know,
+the only good one that then existed. By virtue of an arrangement with,
+the War Office, soldiers' wives, on presentation of a formal document
+with which the military authorities provided them, could draw from any
+Post Office in the kingdom a certain sum of small amount until the
+entire sum mentioned in the document was exhausted. Thus, a soldier's
+wife desirous of joining her husband could pass from one end of the
+country to another, and, without carrying anything in her pocket, could
+be supplied with money on her way. Of this practice, curiously enough,
+not a vestige now remains.
+
+It is also pleasant, amid so much indifference as was at that time
+exhibited to the convenience of the public, to be able to record one
+instance to the contrary. Thomas Whinnery, the postmaster of Belfast,
+had read an account of the alphabet at Liverpool--how the letters were
+sorted into a rack according to the initials of the merchants to whom
+they were addressed, so as to be ready to be delivered when they should
+be called for--and he resolved to introduce something of the same kind
+into his own office. Instead, however, of adopting the alphabetical
+order he assigned to each merchant a particular number, letting him know
+what his number was, and instead of a fixed rack as at Liverpool he
+contrived a revolving one; and this, with the numbers conspicuously
+exhibited over each division, he placed in full view of a window opening
+to the street. Thus, any one looking through the window could see for
+himself whether there were any letters for him, and was saved the
+trouble of inquiring.
+
+Equality of treatment as between man and man had not yet become one of
+the canons of the Post Office, and even Whinnery, well-meaning as he
+was, made a distinction as remarkable as it was invidious. Belfast not
+being supplied with an official letter-carrier, he employed a man of his
+own to deliver the letters, and charged on their delivery 1d. apiece.
+The letters, however, instead of all being delivered at one time, were
+arbitrarily divided into two classes, termed particular letters and
+ordinary letters; and the delivery of the ordinary letters was not begun
+until that of the particular letters was finished, a difference in point
+of time of two and a half hours. In order to maintain the distinction,
+the man had actually to go over the same ground twice. Particular
+letters were defined to be letters for merchants and other busy men,
+letters to which it was presumably of importance that replies should be
+given promptly.
+
+We have said that in Ireland the mail-coach contracts were not, as in
+England, for short distances but for the whole of the road over which
+the coach travelled. The explanation is that, while in England the local
+inn-keepers were eager to horse the mail for one or two stages, in
+Ireland, where the coach had to be provided as well as the horses, the
+venture was too serious to be undertaken lightly, and the contracts fell
+into the hands of a few persons of means who dictated pretty much their
+own terms. Thus, in Ireland the cost of conveying the mails by coach was
+considerably higher than in England, though forage and labour were
+cheaper.[84]
+
+  [84] In 1823 the Irish mail-coaches travelled daily a distance of 1450
+  miles at a cost to the Post Office of more than L30,000 a year, while in
+  England the cost over the same number of miles would have been only
+  L7500. From this, however, it is not to be understood that in one
+  country the cost was four times as heavy as in the other, because the
+  Irish mile was longer than the English one by about two furlongs, and in
+  England the contractors did not, as they did in Ireland, provide the
+  coaches.
+
+All this was soon to be changed. In one of the early years of the
+century a young lad had arrived in Dublin, a lad without means and
+without friends, a foreigner who was unable to speak one word of
+English, and yet who, despite these drawbacks, did for the country of
+his adoption more probably than was accomplished by all the legislation
+that took place during the fourscore years and more over which his life
+extended. This was Charles Bianconi, a man to whom the Post Office owes
+a debt of gratitude which, as it seems to us, has never been
+sufficiently recognised. After serving an eighteen months'
+apprenticeship to a foreign print-seller in a small way of business,
+Bianconi passed the next two or three years of his life in hawking
+prints about the country on his own account, and in 1806, at the age of
+twenty, he turned carver and gilder and opened a shop at
+Carrick-on-Suir. From Carrick he removed shortly afterwards to
+Waterford, and finally settled down at Clonmel.
+
+The experience of these few years determined Bianconi's future career.
+While roaming over the country with his prints for sale, he had had
+forcibly impressed upon him the difference between a pedlar like himself
+who was doomed to tramp on foot and his more fortunate fellow who could
+post or ride on horseback. At Carrick the want of facilities for
+travelling had been brought home to him in a hardly less cogent manner.
+Gold-leaf for the supply of his shop he had to fetch from Waterford, and
+Waterford is distant from Carrick twelve or thirteen miles. Between the
+two towns, however, the only means of communication was by water, and by
+water, owing to the windings of the river, the distance is twenty-four
+miles. A single boat, moreover, was then the only public conveyance,
+and, besides being obliged to wait for the tide, it took from four to
+five hours to accomplish the journey. From this time Bianconi appears to
+have become possessed with the idea that his mission in life was to
+devise some cheap and easy means of communication between town and town.
+Imbued with this notion, he gave up his shop in the summer of 1815, and
+started a single-horse car for the conveyance of passengers from Clonmel
+to Cahir, a distance of about eight miles. At the end of the same year
+he started similar cars from Clonmel to Cashel and Thurles, and from
+Clonmel to Carrick and Waterford. From such humble beginnings sprang
+that splendid service of cars which, extending from Sligo and
+Enniskillen in the north to Bandon and Skibbereen in the south, and from
+Waterford and Wexford in the east to Galway and Belmullet in the west,
+carried passengers daily over more than 4000 miles of road at an average
+cost to each passenger of 1-1/4d. a mile.
+
+But we are anticipating. The Post Office, largely as it availed itself
+in later years of the means of communication which Bianconi placed at
+its disposal, was slow to perceive the advantage which his enterprise
+offered. The country postmasters were wiser in their generation. Located
+on the spot, and with their perception quickened by the motive of
+self-interest, they made use of the cars as fast as these were put on
+the roads. No sooner had a car been started from Clonmel than the
+postmaster sent by it the mails which he had been used to send by
+horse-post. For this service he received an allowance of 5d. a mile.
+Bianconi performed the service for him for an allowance of 2-1/2d. a
+mile. The same thing took place elsewhere. It was not until the year
+1831, when the Post Office of Ireland was amalgamated with that of
+England, that Bianconi was brought into direct relations with
+headquarters. Meanwhile, through a strange lack of vigilance on the part
+of the Irish authorities, his very existence was ignored, and the
+postmasters continued to receive 5d. a mile for a service which,
+wherever Bianconi's cars extended, they were getting done for one-half
+of that amount.
+
+But it is not only with the Irish Post Office in relation to its
+internal affairs that this chapter proposes to deal. The communication
+between England and Ireland or rather between the capitals of the two
+countries had, since the Act of Union, been under constant review, and
+it becomes important to see how, during the first two or three decades
+of the present century, this communication stood both by sea and by
+land.
+
+By the Act of 1784, which made the Irish Post Office independent of that
+of Great Britain--an Act not repealed by the Union--Great Britain and
+Ireland were to receive, in respect to letters passing between the two
+countries, each its own proportion of the postage. The Channel service
+remained; and with this Ireland was to have nothing to do, at all events
+in the first instance. Great Britain was to provide the packets and to
+receive the packet postage. Ireland, on the other hand, until she should
+have established packets of her own, was to receive from Great Britain
+the sum of L4000 a year "in lieu as well of the profits of the said
+packets as in compensation for other purposes." This arrangement appears
+to have worked smoothly enough until after 1801, when, owing to the
+increase of correspondence as a consequence of the Union, the Irish Post
+Office began to complain that the conditions were hard, and that Great
+Britain had the best of the bargain. Surely, under the very terms of the
+statute, Ireland was entitled to have packets of her own; and if this
+were denied her, did not justice demand that the conditions should be
+reconsidered? The question had come before successive Governments and
+always with the same result--that the existing arrangement was not to be
+disturbed. What Pitt and Portland and Perceval had decided was not to be
+done Lees now proceeded to do on his own account.
+
+We doubt whether travellers of the present day who cross from Holyhead
+to Dublin in the magnificent boats which modern science has provided
+have any idea of the misery to which our grandfathers were exposed in
+making the passage. His Majesty's packets afforded the best, if not the
+only means of transit; and these were six in number, and ranged from 80
+to 100 tons in burthen. Customs duties were at this time levied on goods
+passing between the two countries, and passengers' luggage was subjected
+to strict examination. Thus, to the discomforts of a sea-passage made in
+vessels of light tonnage were added the vexations incidental to a
+rigorous search of personal baggage; and these vexations were rendered
+all the greater by faulty arrangements. Passengers were unnecessarily
+detained, and often, even after detention, had to proceed on their
+journey leaving their luggage behind. In course of time, indeed, an
+exception was made in the case of peers and members of Parliament. After
+December 1819, as the result of incessant complaints, the luggage of
+these privileged persons was allowed to pass unexamined on their giving
+a certificate on honour that it contained no articles liable to duty;
+but at the time of which we are writing, the year 1813, all travellers,
+whether of high or low degree, were treated alike.
+
+Despite conditions which at the present day would be considered
+intolerable, the number of passengers carried to and fro by the Holyhead
+packets was between 14,000 and 15,000 a year;[85] and there can be no
+doubt that the advantage which the British Post Office derived from
+this traffic was considerable. It is true that the fares went to the
+captains; but of course, except for the fares, the Post Office would
+have had to pay more for its packets. These were supplied at an annual
+cost of L365 apiece, or L2190 altogether; and such being the terms on
+which boats could be hired, Lees was confirmed in his opinion that
+Ireland would do better if, instead of receiving from Great Britain a
+compensation allowance of L4000 a year, she were to provide her own
+packets and share the packet postage.
+
+  [85] The exact number of passengers in the year 1814 was 14,577, made up
+  as follows: Cabin passengers, 12,142; passengers' servants, 1136; hold
+  passengers, 1299.
+
+Freeling took a different view. The better the bargain was for the
+British Post Office, the more determined he was that with his consent
+the terms should not be altered. And, more than this, he little relished
+the prospect of competition between English and Irish packets. Indeed,
+so long had he been accustomed to deal with a monopoly that the very
+name of competition was hateful to him. At this very time he tried, and
+tried in vain, to repress a boat which had been set up between Weymouth
+and the Channel Islands in opposition to the packets. Another similar
+attempt which he made a little later was hardly more successful. The War
+Office had chartered vessels to convey troops between Bristol and
+Waterford, and these vessels had assumed the title of "Government
+Packets," a title which, according to Freeling, induced persons to go by
+them who would otherwise have gone by the Post Office packets from
+Milford. Lord Palmerston was then Secretary at War, and we think we see
+the twinkle in his eye as he replied to Freeling's letter of
+remonstrance. Freeling's objection was of course to the Bristol boats
+being styled packets, but he had spoken of them by the title by which
+they were known of "Government Packets." The contractors, wrote Lord
+Palmerston, had been directed to drop the word Government forthwith, and
+the boats would henceforth be called War Office packets, to distinguish
+them from the packets employed by the Post Office.
+
+Attached to the Irish Post Office, by virtue of a contract which had
+yet some years to run, were boats called wherries. Originally designed
+to carry between the two countries special messengers and despatches
+during the period immediately succeeding the Union, they had long lost
+their original character, and were now being employed in picking up what
+goods and passengers they could, and transporting them across the
+Channel in opposition to the packets. These boats were not ill adapted
+to the purpose which Lees had in hand. On the 19th of July 1813 he
+despatched a letter to Freeling, incidentally mentioning that "as the
+intended packet station at Howth had sufficient depth of water for the
+vessels belonging to the Irish Post Office, it was in contemplation,
+until such time as the regular packets should be stationed there, that
+the mails from Ireland should be despatched in its own vessels, and
+that, as soon as the arrangements now in progress should be completed,
+the measure would take effect." This letter was received in London on
+the 23rd of July, and on the next day intelligence reached Lombard
+Street that the mail from Ireland had been refused to the British packet
+and had been given to the Irish wherry.
+
+And now might be witnessed a most unedifying spectacle--in Dublin Lees
+placarding the walls of the city with advertisements,[86] vaunting the
+merits of his own packets; at Holyhead the authorised packets arriving
+without the mails, and the mails being brought by boats which did not
+arrive until after the mail-coach for London had started; and in London
+Freeling wringing his hands and invoking the aid of the Government to
+check the vagaries of his brother-secretary on the other side of the
+Channel. "For the first time," he wrote, "the postmasters-general of
+Great Britain have not the means of redressing grievances connected with
+their own department, and the most serious remonstrances may be expected
+from the merchants and traders of London on this alarming and
+unnecessary evil."
+
+  [86] The following are copies of the advertisements referred to:--
+
+  "The Howth Royal Mail-Coach sets out every evening at seven o'clock from
+  the Cork Coach Office, 12 Dawson Street, where passengers and luggage
+  will be booked, and arrives at Howth at a quarter after eight, when the
+  packet will immediately sail (independently of the tide) with the Irish
+  mails and passengers for Holyhead. From the admirable construction of
+  these vessels for fast sailing and excellent accommodation the passage
+  from the pier at Howth to Holyhead will on the average be performed in
+  one-third less time than by the _Pigeon House_. Besides, as no more than
+  eight or ten passengers will be admitted into any one of these packets,
+  the public, on the score of expedition and comfort, will soon experience
+  the advantage of going to Holyhead by Howth.
+
+  "Passengers by the mail-coach have a preference as to berths in the
+  packets.
+
+  "_July 21, 1813._"
+
+  "Howth Royal Mail-Coach, well guarded, sets out from the Cork Coach
+  Office, No. 12 Dawson Street, at seven o'clock every evening with mails
+  and passengers to His Majesty's express packets at Howth, from whence
+  one of these excellent vessels sails at half after eight o'clock every
+  night for Holyhead.
+
+  "_July 31, 1813._"
+
+The prediction was a safe one. Not only were the mails often one day
+behindhand in arriving in London, but the letters they brought were
+charged with an additional rate of postage in respect of the distance
+between Dublin and Howth. The merchants flocked to the Post Office to
+inquire the reason. No reason could be given them, and they were invited
+to let their applications for a return of the charge stand over until
+the postmasters-general should have informed themselves on the subject.
+Some assented; others accused the postmasters-general of trifling, and
+demanded instant redress. Matters had thus gone on for a fortnight when
+Lord Liverpool, to whom an appeal had been made, directed that the
+wherries should be withdrawn. One is left to suppose that this direction
+cannot have been communicated in the proper quarter, for as a matter of
+fact it had no result. In vain the captains of the packets applied at
+the Dublin Post Office for the British mails. All such applications met
+with a flat refusal, and the mails continued to be sent by the wherries
+as before. At length an end was put to the scandal, but not until it had
+lasted for more than six weeks.
+
+The question now arose whether for the forty-four days during which the
+wherries had acted as packets the compensation of L4000 a year which
+Ireland received from Great Britain should not be withheld. Freeling had
+not only taken it for granted that such would be the case, but had been
+unable to conceal his regret that this was the only penalty of which the
+circumstances would admit. Liverpool, however, decided otherwise. Lees
+might have been wrong-headed and even perverse, but there could be no
+doubt that law was on his side. Accordingly, the compensation was paid
+for the period during which the packets had not carried the mails, and
+not long afterwards the Government brought in a bill raising the amount
+which Ireland was to receive from L4000 a year to L6000.
+
+We now pass over six years. In July 1819 a curious invention, which had
+for some little time been in practical operation on the Thames between
+London and Margate, was brought into use between Holyhead and Dublin.
+This was no other than a vessel propelled by steam. Two vessels of this
+class were now set up by private individuals styling themselves the
+Dublin Steam Packet Company; and of this company, to the amazement of
+the authorities in Lombard Street, Lees had become a director. The
+quality which the new vessels possessed of being able to go against wind
+and tide, and the comparative speed with which they accomplished the
+passage, soon commended them to the favour of the public; and the
+consequence was a reduction to the extent of nearly one-half in the
+number of passengers by the Post Office packets.[87] The matter was
+serious, for it was in consequence of the fares which the captains
+received that they let their boats to the Post Office at little more
+than a nominal sum: and of course this sum would have to be increased
+according as the fares diminished.
+
+  [87] By the Post Office packets the number of passengers between
+  Holyhead and Dublin during the years 1818-20 was as follows:--
+
+  Year.    Number of
+          Passengers.
+  1818      13,128
+  1819      12,956
+  1820       7,468
+
+  Private steam packets began to ply in July 1819.
+
+We now see the Post Office at its best. Not possessing in the case of
+passengers a monopoly such as influenced and often perverted its action
+in the case of letters, the department proceeded to do much as private
+persons with sufficient capital at command would have done in similar
+circumstances, namely to build better boats than those already employed,
+and endeavour by the superior excellence of its service to recover the
+custom it had lost. Orders were given for two steam packets, the best
+that Boulton and Watt could build; and on the 31st of May 1821 the
+_Royal Sovereign_, of 206 tons burthen, with engines of 40 horse-power,
+and the _Meteor_, of somewhat smaller dimensions, began to ply.
+"Hitherto," wrote the postmasters-general eight days later, "they have
+answered the most sanguine expectations that had been formed of them;
+the letters have been delivered in Dublin earlier than was ever yet
+known, and Ireland has expressed herself grateful for the attention that
+has been shewn to her interests."
+
+The Post Office behaved in this matter with a moderation which was
+altogether wanting where its monopoly was concerned. To be outdone by a
+private company, to employ inferior boats, boats of an obsolete type and
+of a low rate of speed--this would not be creditable to a public
+department, still less to a department whose special function it was to
+carry the correspondence of the country at the highest speed attainable;
+and properly enough the Post Office might take steps to establish its
+pre-eminence. But it would be quite another thing for a public
+department to undersell a private company, and, by charging lower fares,
+to run its boats off the line. This, it appeared to the authorities in
+Lombard Street, would exceed the bounds of fair competition. Accordingly
+the fares by the Post Office steam packets were fixed at the same
+amounts as those charged by the company; and these fares were somewhat
+higher than those which had been charged by the sailing packets. By
+sailing packet, for instance, the charge for a cabin passenger had been
+one guinea, by steam packet it was L1:5s.; for a horse the steam packet
+charge was L1:10s. as against one guinea by sailing packet, and for a
+coach L3:5s. as against three guineas.
+
+These charges, which were fixed with the express object of not exposing
+the company to undue competition, had not been long in force before
+Parliament intervened. The Select Committee on Irish Communication
+protested in the interests of the public against the raising of the
+fares, and the Post Office was constrained to submit. The substitution
+of steam packets for sailing packets bore immediate fruit. The number of
+passengers carried by the Post Office between Holyhead and Dublin, which
+in 1820 had sunk to 7468, rose in 1821 to 13,737 and in 1822 to more
+than 16,000; and for some years the Holyhead packets were not only
+self-supporting but produced a clear gain to the revenue of more than
+L6000 a year.
+
+The change which had been made at Holyhead was not long in extending
+itself to other packet stations from which there was communication with
+Ireland. Between Milford and Waterford sailing packets were replaced by
+steam packets in April 1824, and between Portpatrick and Donaghadee in
+May 1825. By sailing packet the average duration of voyage between the
+last-mentioned stations had been seven hours and forty-eight minutes.
+During the winter of 1825-26, a winter unexampled for the derangement of
+sea-communication, the average time which the little Post Office
+steamers _Arrow_ and _Dasher_ took to perform the voyage was less than
+three hours and a half.
+
+And yet, despite these exertions to maintain its superiority, the Post
+Office was not to remain in undisputed possession of the Irish traffic.
+Private steamers had begun to ply between Liverpool and Dublin, and the
+fares by these steamers were lower than by the Post Office packets from
+Holyhead. As a natural consequence, the passenger traffic to which the
+Post Office looked to recoup itself for the heavy expense to which it
+had been put in replacing sailing packets by steam packets was diverted
+to Liverpool.
+
+Nor was it only in the matter of passengers that the Post Office lost by
+the competition. Its reputation also suffered. The mails for Ireland
+left Liverpool at three o'clock in the afternoon, before the Exchange
+was closed, and reaching Holyhead by way of Chester and Llangollen at
+six o'clock on the following morning, did not arrive in Dublin until the
+afternoon. The private steamers, on the contrary, did not leave
+Liverpool until the business of the day was over, and arrived in Dublin
+on the following morning. Hence comparisons were drawn not favourable to
+the Post Office; and it by no means tended to allay dissatisfaction that
+the owners of the private steamers were refused permission to carry the
+mails. This they had offered to do, in one case for nothing more than
+exemption from harbour and light dues; but at that time, strange as it
+may appear to us with our present experience, it was a fixed principle
+with the Post Office that private firms even of the highest eminence
+were not to be entrusted with the carriage of the public correspondence.
+Accordingly it was decided that between Liverpool and Dublin the Post
+Office should run its own packets, and the new service began on the 29th
+of August 1826. The opening was marred by a lamentable disaster. Early
+in September the _Francis Freeling_ packet, a recently-built cutter
+named after the secretary, and reputed to be the finest vessel of its
+kind afloat, foundered during a heavy gale and all the passengers and
+crew were lost.
+
+The new service, while an unquestionable convenience to the public, did
+not altogether satisfy the Post Office. It is true that, as a
+consequence of the increased accommodation, the letters for Ireland
+passing through Liverpool nearly doubled in number; but this
+satisfactory result was not without alloy. During the past few years the
+art of building as applied to steamboats had made rapid progress; and
+not only were the packets on the Liverpool station larger than those
+stationed at Holyhead, the horse-power of the engines being 170 in the
+one case as against 40 in the other, but they were altogether better
+equipped. The fares by the Liverpool route as fixed by the Post Office
+were also relatively lower, and to any one proceeding from London or the
+large manufacturing towns of the North the distance to be travelled by
+road was shorter. As a consequence, the diversion of traffic from
+Holyhead to Liverpool, notwithstanding the longer sea voyage, proceeded
+still more rapidly than when the steamers from the latter port were in
+private hands; and the Holyhead service, which had for some years
+produced a clear profit of many thousand pounds a year, was now carried
+on at a loss.
+
+To the Post Office authorities, indeed, there was in connection with the
+four packet stations in communication with Ireland only one thing which
+gave them unqualified satisfaction. It was this--that to the Post Office
+belonged the credit of being first to demonstrate by practical
+experience that, to use Freeling's words, "steam vessels could force
+their way at all seasons of the year and in weather in which no sailing
+vessel, be her qualities what they might, would attempt to put to sea."
+Whether the claim is well founded or not we have no means of judging; we
+only know that it was made.
+
+By land, at the beginning of the present century, communication with
+Ireland was in a more backward state than it was by water; and since the
+Union a very general opinion had prevailed that this communication
+should be improved. It would perhaps be too much to say that the British
+Post Office proved obstructive in the matter; but there can be no doubt
+that it did not lend the assistance it might have done, and the reasons
+are obvious. In the first place, a little soreness existed. No sooner
+had the Act of Union passed than the Government decided that between
+London and Dublin there must be an express in both directions daily.
+This, as the postmasters-general pointed out, would cost more than L4000
+a year, and, as it was not required for Post Office purposes, the Post
+Office should not bear the cost. Accordingly the question as to the
+source from which the cost should be defrayed was reserved for future
+consideration; but after the express was well established, the Post
+Office received notice that it must defray the cost itself, and it
+continued to do so for twenty years and more. This was always a sore
+point with Freeling, and he constantly adduced it as an instance of
+unremunerative work.
+
+Another reason which kept Lombard Street back from assisting to improve
+the communication with Ireland was that the British and Irish Post
+Offices approached the subject from different points of view. With the
+British Post Office the main object, an object which in its judgment was
+sufficiently well attained already, was the transmission of letters;
+with the Irish Post Office, as indeed with that section of the public
+which could best make its voice heard, the main object was the transport
+of passengers. Yet a third reason, we can well believe, was the
+conviction that for any improvement that might be made, though primarily
+for the sake of Ireland, the British and not the Irish Post Office would
+have to pay. These three reasons, we cannot doubt, were at the root of
+the manifest indisposition displayed by the British Post Office to meet
+what had gradually become a very general demand.
+
+The first strenuous effort to induce the authorities in Lombard Street
+to improve the communication with Ireland was made in 1805, the prime
+mover in the matter being John Foster, the Chancellor of the Irish
+Exchequer. At this time the mail-coach between London and Holyhead went
+by a circuitous route through Chester. Foster maintained that it should
+go direct through Coventry and Shrewsbury. By Coventry the distance was
+264 miles, and by Chester 278 miles--a difference, in point of time, of
+more than two hours.
+
+It was alleged that by the shorter route other delays which now took
+place might be avoided; but how important was a saving of even two hours
+may be judged from the fact that the time of the mail-coach leaving
+Holyhead was fixed with reference, not to the arrival of the packet
+from Dublin, but to the arrival of the coach in London. All the
+mail-coaches were timed to reach London early in the morning, so that
+the letters they brought might go out by the morning delivery. To effect
+this object, the mail-coach by the Chester route had to leave Holyhead
+at seven o'clock in the morning, an hour by which it was barely possible
+for the packet from Dublin to have arrived. During the whole of the year
+1804, for instance, the Dublin mails arrived at Holyhead in time to
+catch the coach to London on only twelve occasions; and, of course, when
+the mails did not catch the coach, they had to remain idle at Holyhead
+until the following morning.
+
+If, argued Foster, the route be by Shrewsbury and Coventry, the coach
+can leave Holyhead so much later that the occasions on which the Dublin
+mail does not arrive in time to catch it will be not as now the rule but
+the exception. Freeling set the suggestion aside as impracticable. The
+coach, he maintained, must go through Chester. At Chester centred all
+the correspondence from the great manufacturing towns of the North, from
+Liverpool and Manchester, from Hull, Halifax, and Leeds, indeed from all
+parts of Yorkshire and many other counties besides. Was this
+correspondence of no account? Or was it suggested that a second
+mail-coach should be established? Already the Post Office was paying
+many thousand pounds a year for an express service between London and
+Holyhead which it did not require. Could it in reason be expected to
+incur the further expense which a second mail-coach would involve? The
+thing was impossible, and the project could not be entertained.
+
+Foster, though silenced for the time, was not convinced. In 1808 the
+subject was mooted again. Clancarty, who had recently been appointed
+joint postmaster-general with O'Neill, had arrived in London, prepared
+to argue the point with all the energy of his energetic nature. Foster
+was unable to come; but he had sent a memorandum which no one who was
+not thorough master of the subject could have produced. A meeting was
+appointed at Lord Hawksbury's office. Freeling poured out all the old
+objections, and proceeded to contend, as he had contended three years
+before, that the project was impracticable. But one was present there
+who did not believe in impracticabilities. This was the new Chief
+Secretary for Ireland, Sir Arthur Wellesley. Wellesley's opinion was
+emphatic--that all other considerations must be made subordinate to the
+one grand purpose of facilitating communication between the two capitals
+of London and Dublin. Freeling had encountered a stronger will than his
+own. What had been impossible before was possible now, and that very
+evening arrangements were begun to be devised for accelerating the Irish
+mails.
+
+Even now, what little was done was done grudgingly. The mail-coach from
+London which ran through Oxford and Birmingham to Shrewsbury was
+extended from Shrewsbury to Holyhead, and was met at Llangollen by an
+express from Chester bringing the cross-post correspondence. Thus
+matters remained for nine years, when, under pressure which the Post
+Office could no longer resist, the Coventry route was adopted. The Post
+Office opposed the change to the last, even though a Parliamentary
+Committee had recommended it, and an address in its favour had been
+presented to the Prince Regent. At length Vansittart, the Chancellor of
+the Exchequer, brought his authority to bear, and in July 1817 a
+mail-coach by way of Coventry began to run, accomplishing the distance
+between London and Holyhead in thirty-eight hours.
+
+But in order to facilitate communication between England and Ireland a
+good deal more was required than to set up an additional coach or to
+send an existing coach by another and shorter route. The roads of the
+country were still in a state to make rapid travelling impossible. Much,
+no doubt, had been done to improve them. Between the years 1760 and 1809
+no less than 1514 Turnpike Acts had been passed, and under the turnpike
+system the roads were better than before. Still the making of them had
+been entrusted to incompetent hands, and they were constructed on false
+principles. For the bed or foundation of the roads improper or
+insufficient materials had been used. Little or no attention had been
+paid to drainage. Few roads were provided with side channels. Not
+seldom, indeed, the sides were encumbered with huge banks of mud which
+had accumulated to the height of six, seven, and even eight feet. Not
+only had convexity of surface, as a means of carrying off the water,
+been disregarded, but the road was frequently hollow in the middle and
+everywhere cut into deep ruts. High hedges and trees were still allowed
+to intercept the action of the sun and wind, the importance of a rapid
+evaporation of moisture being as yet unrecognised. Even the roads
+themselves had been laid out on no fixed principle. Their lines of
+direction were, almost without exception, identical with the footpaths
+of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country; and these, doubtless to
+avoid the bogs and marsh lands, and possibly also for purposes of
+observation, had invariably followed the hills.
+
+Hence it came to pass that almost every road of any importance was both
+steep and crooked. Where there were no hills and the roads passed across
+wet and flat land, they were almost always below the level of the
+adjacent fields, the mud having been carried away by constant use. While
+such was the general state of the roads during the first twenty years of
+the present century, the road between Shrewsbury and Holyhead, over
+which a mail-coach had been travelling since the summer of 1808, was
+notoriously one of the worst in the kingdom. "To Kenneage,[88] six miles
+of narrow road; scarcely room for two carriages to pass, and much out of
+repair; in winter, the drivers say, the ruts are up to the bed of the
+coach." "From Kenneage to Capel Curig, road narrow and wants walling to
+prevent carriages falling down precipices 300 or 400 yards
+perpendicular." "From Capel Curig to Bangor, side of the road unguarded,
+and many accidents may happen to passengers by the coach running off the
+road as the mail passes here in the dark." Thus wrote the assistant
+superintendent of mail-coaches in 1808, and nothing had since been done
+to remedy defects.
+
+  [88] _i.e._ Kinniogga, the old name for Cernioge.
+
+The mail along this line, of road was now to be carried at a higher rate
+of speed than before, and, if only on this ground, it would have been
+necessary at least to remove actual causes of danger. Even before 1817,
+however, Parliamentary Commissioners had been appointed for the
+improvement of the Holyhead road; and these Commissioners had summoned
+to their aid the first of that line of illustrious men who, during the
+last eighty years, have transformed the face of England. This was Thomas
+Telford, who had already achieved distinction by the roads he had made
+in the Highlands of Scotland.
+
+Telford commenced operations in the autumn of 1815; and now for the
+first time in England, or at all events for the first time since the
+ancient ways were laid down by the Romans, a road was to be constructed
+on scientific principles. "Every valley shall be exalted, and every
+mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made
+straight, and the rough places plain." This--we say it without
+irreverence--is what literally came to pass. Easy inclinations, ample
+breadth, perfect drainings, complete protection, and a smooth and hard
+surface--these were the distinguishing characteristics of the road which
+Telford now made between Holyhead and Shrewsbury. A road that had been
+one of the worst in the kingdom was now the very best. In summer it was
+not even dusty, and in winter was free from dirt. Frost and rain
+produced upon it but trifling and superficial effects. To crown all, the
+Menai Straits were spanned by a noble bridge, where before there had
+been only an inconvenient ferry.
+
+While Telford was thus raising the business of road-making to the level
+of an art, John Loudon Macadam was demonstrating of what materials the
+surface of a road should be made. Macadam had travelled about the
+kingdom much as John Palmer had travelled about some thirty years before
+in pursuit of a different object, and, as the result of long
+observation, he had come to the conclusion that the surface of roads
+should be made of broken stones; and having in 1816 been appointed
+general surveyor of roads in the British district he proceeded to put
+his views into practice. With success to recommend it, the new system
+spread like wildfire, and "a macadamised road" soon became a household
+word.
+
+Nor was it to the business of road-making alone that science now lent
+her aid. What force of traction or power is required to draw carriages
+over different kinds of road, in what line of direction the power can be
+best applied--what, in other words, is the proper angle for the traces,
+and what in the case of hills is the highest inclination up which horses
+can go at a trot and down which they can with safety be driven at full
+speed--these were some of the questions which now engaged the attention
+of the scientific world. Some thirty years before, Walsingham and
+Chesterfield when postmasters-general had dabbled in matters of the
+kind;[89] but now they were reduced to the form of mathematical problems
+and received a mathematical solution.
+
+  [89] "God knows whether we are to remain postmen or not, or whether all
+  the lights which philosophy is now throwing upon coach-making are not to
+  be left by us as an official legacy to some more pliant
+  successors."--Chesterfield to Walsingham, 22nd April 1792.
+
+The excellence of the road constructed between Holyhead and Shrewsbury
+brought into bold relief the imperfections of the road between
+Shrewsbury and London. To this road, which, in comparison with the
+other, had at one time been pronounced good and was now pronounced
+execrable, Telford proceeded to apply the same principles as before. He
+raised the valleys, lowered or avoided the hills, and corrected
+deviations. To give only one instance--an instance taken from the second
+stage out of London--the old road from Barnet to South Minims ascended
+three steep and long hills; the new road avoided two of these hills
+altogether, and at the same time was shorter than the old one by more
+than 600 yards. And so it was in a greater or less degree all the way
+from London through St. Albans to Coventry, and thence through
+Birmingham and Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury.
+
+It should also be mentioned that at this time, while the country roads
+were hollow in the centre instead of convex, the roads in and about
+London within a radius of about ten miles were the exact contrary. Here
+convexity, as a means of carrying off water, had been pushed to so
+absurd an extent that the road was in the form of a slanting roof, and a
+carriage, unless kept in the centre, was on a dangerous slope. This,
+which had been a prolific source of accidents, Telford now altered. The
+effect of his operations upon the first stage out of London, the
+Highgate Archway Road as it was called, is perhaps best described in the
+words of one of the principal mail-coach contractors. Before Telford
+took this road in hand, he wrote, "It was all we could do to walk up
+both sides of the archway with six horses, and now we can trot up with
+our heaviest loads with four."
+
+The road from London to Shrewsbury, in continuation of the one from
+Shrewsbury to Holyhead, was completed in 1828, and, corresponding
+alterations having been made in the eight miles of road which connect
+Howth and Dublin, a line of communication was established between the
+capitals of England and Ireland such as, until the days of railways,
+could hardly have been improved. Some few years before, when the Post
+Office had received orders to accomplish the distance between London and
+Holyhead in thirty-eight hours, Hasker, the experienced superintendent
+of mail-coaches, while zealously applying himself to carry the orders
+into effect, had felt it incumbent upon him as a loyal servant to make a
+protest in writing against the "extraordinary expedition projected." It
+would, he urged--and no doubt rightly so as the road then was--be
+inhuman to horses and dangerous to life. This extraordinary expedition
+was at the rate of seven miles an hour. Along the Parliamentary Road the
+distance was accomplished, without hurt to horses and with perfect
+safety, at the rate of ten miles an hour, and the London and Holyhead
+coach soon became one of what were known as the "crack" coaches of the
+kingdom.
+
+Meanwhile the Post Office had shewn its appreciation of Telford's
+achievement in a remarkable manner. It had imposed an additional charge
+of 1d. upon every letter carried over Conway Bridge, and a second penny
+for carriage over the Menai Straits.[90]
+
+  [90] The postage between Liverpool and Dublin by way of Holyhead was
+  13d., as thus made up:--
+
+  Inland postage to Holyhead  9d.
+  For the Conway Bridge       1d.
+  For the Menai Bridge        1d.
+  Sea postage                 2d.
+                             ----
+                             13d.
+                             ----
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE BEGINNING OF THE END
+
+1817-1836
+
+
+We must now go back a few years. On the cessation of hostilities with
+France the state of the finances occupied a large share of men's
+thoughts, and among the plans for relieving the burden upon the taxpayer
+none perhaps was more obvious than to abolish sinecures and useless
+offices.
+
+On the 16th of February 1817 Mr. Lambton, member for the county of
+Durham, gave notice of motion for a return shewing the number of Boards
+which had been held by the postmasters-general during the last twenty
+years, and distinguishing the names of the places where such Boards had
+been held and the persons by whom they were attended. The Post Office
+was in a flutter. Just twenty years before, the Commissioners of Inquiry
+into Public Offices had recommended, and the recommendation had been
+approved by the House, that a Board should be held by the
+postmasters-general at least once a week; and from that date to the
+present not a single Board had been held. The position was no doubt
+embarrassing, and not the less so because the postmasters-general, Lords
+Chichester and Salisbury, were the one at Stanmer and the other at
+Hatfield. Nothing could be done without the concurrence of both, and at
+such distances, little as would be thought of them now, it was a tedious
+process eighty years ago to arrive at a common understanding.
+
+Freeling, who regarded it as little short of an outrage that the two
+noble peers, his masters, should be thus called to account, appealed to
+the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have the terms of the motion altered;
+but Vansittart refused, and the return was granted and ordered to be
+laid on the table of the House. Of course it was necessary to admit that
+no Boards had been held; but the work of the Post Office, the return
+went on to state, did not lend itself to Boards. Boards could be held
+only at intervals, and the work of the Post Office was so continuous and
+pressing that, without detriment to the public interests, it could not
+be kept waiting for a single day. A daily transmission of papers to the
+postmasters-general was, therefore, necessary; and by such means the
+business was better conducted than it would be by any system of Boards.
+Such was the substance of the return which was now laid before the
+House. Eventually the matter was referred to a friendly Committee, and
+the appointment of second postmaster-general escaped for a time.
+
+But it was for a time only. In May 1822, on the motion of Lord Normanby,
+an address to the throne was adopted in the following terms: "His
+Majesty's faithful Commons, relying upon His Majesty's gracious
+disposition expressed in answer to former addresses of that House to
+concur in all such measures of economy as the exigencies of the time
+require, and in such reductions in the civil department of the State as
+may be consistent with due consideration for the public service, humbly
+pray that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions that
+the office of one of the postmasters-general may be abolished and the
+salary thereby saved to the revenue." It was Lord Salisbury, as the
+junior of the two postmasters-general, that was affected by the
+resolution of the House. Many men, incensed by such treatment, would
+have thrown up their appointments in disgust. Lord Salisbury did nothing
+of the kind. The very day he received official intimation that the
+address had been acceded to by the King he gave directions that his
+salary should be stopped;[91] but the appointment of postmaster-general
+he retained, and to the duties of it he gave at least as much attention
+as before. It was not until his death a year later that Lord Chichester
+was appointed sole postmaster-general, and the Post Office received the
+constitution under which it still remains.
+
+  [91] The official intimation was received at the Post Office on the 28th
+  of May. On the same day Lord Salisbury wrote to the receiver-general as
+  follows:--
+
+                                 GENERAL POST OFFICE, _May 28, 1822_.
+
+  SIR--I have received instructions from the Lords Commissioners of His
+  Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you that on the 5th of July next you are
+  to retain in your hands the salary of L2500 hitherto paid to me as joint
+  postmaster-general.--I am, etc.,                         SALISBURY.
+
+  R. Willimott, Esq., Receiver-General.
+
+Other economies followed. All periodical increases of salary were
+suspended and salaries were for the first time made subject to abatement
+in order to provide a superannuation fund.[92] The effect of these two
+measures was to reduce the Post Office servants to a state of
+destitution not very far short of that from which Pitt had rescued them
+some thirty years before. It must not be thought, however, that
+ministers imposed upon others conditions to which they were unwilling to
+submit themselves. On the contrary, they procured an Order in Council to
+be passed reducing their own salaries and those of all the great
+officers of State by 10 per cent, and the reduction was to continue for
+five years. The desire to be just and equal was present; the one thing
+wanting was a due sense of the difference between superfluity and need.
+
+[92] The sums abated were afterwards returned. It was not until 1834
+that abatements towards superannuation were imposed by statute.
+
+And now a blow which had long been impending fell. This was the transfer
+from the Post Office to the Admiralty of the packets stationed at
+Falmouth. The question had been discussed again and again during the
+war; but how it came to be revived at this particular time is not very
+clear. There had indeed been a mutiny among the seamen at Falmouth, and
+the packets had been temporarily removed to Plymouth; but many years
+had since elapsed, and now, so far as appeared, matters were perfectly
+quiet. We only know that at the instance of Lord Liverpool a memorandum
+was prepared by Lord Melville, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and that
+after a sharp paper-warfare between him and Freeling the arguments in
+favour of the change prevailed. At Falmouth thirty packets were
+employed, nearly double the number at all the other stations put
+together; and these thirty packets with their crews of 600 seamen, whose
+deeds of daring had often shed lustre on the Post Office, were now made
+over to another department. Freeling was in despair. This little fleet
+had, next perhaps to the mail-coaches, been the object of his keenest
+solicitude; and it gave him little consolation that the packets at the
+other stations--at Dover and Harwich, at Weymouth, Milford, Holyhead,
+and Portpatrick, were to remain under the charge of the Post Office.
+
+Some little comfort, however, was at hand. Steam packets being beyond
+the means of the captains to purchase, the Government provided them and
+purchased the sailing packets, which they replaced, at a valuation. Thus
+the Post Office became once more absolute owner of its own boats. This,
+though by no means reconciling Freeling to the loss of the Falmouth
+packets, was at all events some compensation. "The steam flotilla
+belonging to the Post Office," he was able to write in 1827, "consists
+of no less than nineteen vessels complete, to the aggregate amount of
+4000 tons, with machinery equal on the whole to the power of 1540
+horses."
+
+Exaggerated opinions have been expressed as to the speed of the
+mail-coaches during the first two decades of the present century. In
+1821 few mail-coaches travelled as much as eight miles an hour, and only
+one mail-coach attained to a speed of nine miles, and that for only part
+of the journey. The exact rates of travelling are shewn in the following
+table:--
+
+1821.
+
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+|               | Number|  Hour   |   Hour   | Rate of  |             |
+|  MAIL COACH   |   of  |   of    |    of    |Travelling|  Remarks.   |
+|FROM LONDON TO | Miles.|Despatch.| Arrival. | per hour.|             |
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+|               |  M. F.|         |          |    M.    |             |
+|Berwick        | 341 6 | 8.0 P.M.| 6.15 P.M.|  7-13/16 | The rates of|
+|Berwick to     |       |         |          |          |travelling   |
+|  Edinburgh    |  59 4 |    --   | 2.55 A.M.|  7-2/16  |include      |
+|Birmingham     | 110 2 | 8.0 P.M.|10.0  A.M.|  7-13/16 |stoppages for|
+|Bristol        | 122 4 |    "    |    "     |  8-10/16 |change of    |
+|Carlisle by    |       |         |          |          |horses, but  |
+|  Manchester   | 311 4 |    "    | 1.30 P.M.|  8-5/16  |not stoppages|
+|Carlisle by    |       |         |          |          |for refresh- |
+|  Boroughbridge| 302 6 |    "    | 1.40 P.M.|  7-10/16 |ment and for |
+|Carlisle to    |       |         |          |          |Post Office  |
+|  Glasgow      | 103 2 |    --   | 4.50 A.M.|  7-4/16  |business.    |
+|Chester        | 191 0 | 8.0 P.M.|10.50 P.M.|  7-8/16  |             |
+|Chester to     |       |         |          |          |             |
+|  Holyhead     |  88 0 |    --   | 7.5  A.M.|  7-7/16  |             |
+|Dover          |  73 4 | 8.0 P.M.| 6.45 A.M.|  7       |  For a      |
+|Exeter         | 176 2 |    "    | 7.40 P.M.|  7-11/16 |considerable |
+|Exeter by Bath | 194 0 |    "    | 7.50 P.M.|  8-7/16  |part of the  |
+|Gloucester     | 111 0 |    "    |10.0  A.M.|  8-3/16  |distance the |
+|Holyhead       | 264 6 |    "    | 6.50 A.M.|  7-15/16 |London and   |
+|Leeds          | 196 0 |    "    |11.25 P.M.|  7-8/16  |Bristol      |
+|Liverpool      | 207 4 |    "    |12.10 A.M.|  7-6/16  |coach        |
+|Norwich by     |       |         |          |          |travelled at |
+|  Ipswich      | 114 4 |    "    |11.0  A.M.|  7-14/16 |the rate of  |
+|Ipswich to     |       |         |          |          |nine miles an|
+|  Yarmouth     |  54 2 |    --   |11.56 A.M.|  7-15/16 |hour.        |
+|Poole          | 117 4 | 8.0 P.M.|11.20 A.M.|  7-14/16 |             |
+|Portsmouth     |  72 6 |    "    | 6.45 A.M.|  7-1/16  |             |
+|Worcester      | 114 4 |    "    |10.40 A.M.|  8-7/16  |             |
++---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+
+
+It was not until some fourteen or fifteen years later, when the main
+roads of the kingdom had passed under Telford's hands and vehicles of
+lighter build had been introduced, that mail-coaches attained the speed
+which is very commonly ascribed to an earlier period. In 1836 there were
+in England 104 mail-coaches, all drawn by four horses. Of these the
+fastest was the Liverpool and Preston coach, which travelled at the rate
+of ten miles and five furlongs an hour; and the slowest was the coach
+between Canterbury and Deal, which travelled at the rate of only six
+miles an hour. The average speed of all the mail-coaches in 1836, namely
+eight miles and seven furlongs an hour, was actually higher than the
+highest speed attained by any one mail-coach in 1821. It should be
+added that in 1821, as in 1836, the number of passengers by a mail-coach
+was limited to four inside and four out. On some mail-coaches, indeed,
+no more than three outside passengers were allowed.
+
+But the mail-coach at the beginning of the present century did something
+more than carry mails and passengers. It was the great disseminator of
+news. In times of excitement men would stand waiting along the mail
+roads and learn the latest intelligence as shouted to them from the tops
+of the coaches. It may well be believed that this mode of communication
+did not tend to either accuracy or completeness of statement. We cannot,
+therefore, be surprised that on important occasions or occasions on
+which false or inexact intelligence might lead to mischief recourse
+should have been had to the expedient of printing hand-bills, and
+sending them to the postmasters with instructions to distribute them in
+their respective towns. The following are specimens of hand-bills which
+were so distributed:--
+
+                                         LONDON, _February 10, 1817_.
+
+     The statement in the morning papers that several persons have been
+     arrested by warrants from the Secretary of State is true.
+
+     The meeting was held this morning at Spa Fields; but the arrests
+     which have taken place and the precautions adopted by Government
+     caused everything to end peaceably and the town is perfectly quiet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+                                                _17th November 1818._
+     Her Majesty the Queen expired at one o'clock this day.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following hand-bill sent to the different ports where vessels from
+Jamaica were likely to arrive is interesting in so far as it shews the
+exceptional facilities which, even seventy or eighty years ago, the Post
+Office possessed for making inquiries:--
+
+                          GENERAL POST OFFICE, _February 10th, 1821_.
+
+     Mr. Freeling requests the postmaster to make inquiries of the
+     master of any ship arriving from Jamaica into the state of the Duke
+     of Manchester's health, and inform him of the result by the first
+     post.
+
+Of the reason of this solicitude we are not aware.
+
+Police notices, notices giving particulars of crimes which had been
+committed and offering rewards for the apprehension of the criminals,
+were similarly dealt with. These, like the hand-bills of which specimens
+have been given, were sent from Lombard Street under cover to the
+postmasters with instructions to circulate them in their respective
+towns. The propriety of this proceeding is not free from doubt. Of
+course, every department of the State is interested in the detection and
+punishment of crime; and yet it may be a question whether by taking an
+active part in the distribution of these documents the Post Office was
+not to some extent identifying itself with a class of business from
+which, for obvious reasons, it had better hold itself aloof.
+
+While changes were taking place in other directions, the regulations for
+the transmission of newspapers through the post remained as they had
+been at the beginning of the century. Within the United Kingdom
+newspapers could not pass free except under the frank of either members
+of Parliament or of the clerks of the roads. To the Continent of Europe
+and to the colonies they could pass only at the letter rate of postage
+unless they were franked, in the case of the Continent, by the
+comptroller or clerks of the foreign department, and, in the case of the
+colonies, by Freeling. This privilege of franking was to the Post Office
+servants who possessed it a source of considerable profit. Freeling's
+share alone amounted to nearly L3000 a year; but he, unlike his
+subordinates, claimed to frank not newspapers alone but the _Edinburgh_
+and _Quarterly Reviews_ and other publications of a like nature.
+
+The West India merchants had long writhed under this exaction, and now
+at their instance Joseph Hume, the member for Montrose, brought the
+matter under the notice of the House of Commons. The practice had only
+to be made known in order to secure condemnation. A bill was brought in
+and passed extinguishing the privilege so far as the colonies were
+concerned, empowering the Treasury to grant compensation for the loss of
+it, and providing for the transmission of newspapers at easy rates.
+These rates were, from the United Kingdom to the colonies, 1-1/2d. and,
+from the colonies to the United Kingdom, 3d. for each newspaper, the
+reason for the difference of charge being that the paper would bear a
+stamp-duty in one direction and not in the other.
+
+In the case of newspapers for the Continent the franking privilege
+remained untouched. It may seem strange that this should have been so;
+indeed, not more than two or three years had elapsed before members of
+Parliament were expressing surprise that the Act which had taken away
+the privilege in respect to one class of newspapers had not taken it
+away also in respect to the other. But the explanation, we think, is
+simple. Some nine or ten years before it had been rumoured that in the
+case of all Post Office servants the franking privilege was to be
+abolished, and those who would have been injured by its abolition
+proceeded to shew cause why in their own case an exception should be
+made. Only by those who franked to the Continent were even plausible
+reasons given; and there can be little doubt that, at all events to some
+extent, the same reasons operated now. These were that over a great part
+of the Continent, except for the arrangements made by the Post Office
+servants in Lombard Street, English newspapers could not circulate at
+all or could circulate only under most onerous conditions. In France
+their circulation was prohibited. To Holland they could not be sent
+unless ordered by some postmaster there. In Germany and Sweden, unless
+so ordered, they could not pass through the post except at the letter
+rate of postage. In Portugal the letter rate of postage was always
+charged. In Russia, besides being charged 7s. 6d. apiece, they were
+generally delayed and not seldom suppressed altogether. These obstacles
+had been overcome by the private arrangements made from Lombard Street,
+and, if these should be disallowed, the transmission of newspapers to
+the Continent, instead of being facilitated, would be rendered more
+difficult and costly. Thus in 1816 argued those who were interested in
+the maintenance of the privilege, and we can well understand that in
+1825 much the same considerations prevailed.
+
+The same Act of Parliament which imposed upon newspapers to the colonies
+a postage of 1-1/2d. allowed newspapers within the United Kingdom to
+pass through the post free from any postage at all. This was the effect
+of the Act, but it was accomplished in a roundabout manner. By a statute
+passed early in the century[93] a member of Parliament was required, in
+order to send his newspapers free, to sign his name on the outside in
+his own handwriting, and, in order to receive them free, to have them
+addressed to some place of which he had given previous notice in writing
+at the Post Office. By the present statute these provisions were
+repealed. A newspaper, to be exempt from postage, need no longer bear
+the signature of a member of Parliament and need no longer be addressed
+to a place of which previous notice had been given. In other words,
+newspapers might pass through the post free; and as a consequence the
+franking privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads was at an end.
+
+  [93] 42 George III. cap. lxiii. sec. 10.
+
+This, it might naturally be supposed, was a signal epoch in the history
+of the Post Office. As a matter of fact, it was nothing of the kind. For
+many years past the law had been disregarded. It had indeed been
+insisted upon that a newspaper, in order to pass free, must bear a
+member's name, without which the full letter rate of postage would be
+charged; but by whom the name was written, whether it was written at all
+or only printed, and whether the use of it had been authorised, had long
+ceased to be considered material. So well was this understood that some
+of the largest news-vendors in the kingdom adopted a member's name
+without the slightest reference to the member himself, and had it
+printed on their newspaper-covers.
+
+This laxity in the case of newspapers may appear all the more
+extraordinary in view of the stringency which was observed in other
+matters. The Chelsea pensioners had by statute enjoyed the privilege of
+sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage. Freeling never
+rested until the statute was repealed. At the close of hostilities with
+France letters which had been detained in Paris since the war broke out
+in 1803 were forwarded to London, and the merchants urged that they
+might be delivered free. The Treasury were in favour of granting the
+request; but Freeling energetically opposed it. The delivery of such
+letters free, he insisted, would be a plain breach of the law. On a
+dissolution of Parliament those who had been members lost their
+privilege in the matter of franking; and yet it might be supposed that a
+short period of grace would have been allowed, a period sufficient to
+admit of letters which were already in the post being delivered free.
+Nothing of the kind. These letters were surprised in course of transit
+and charged with postage.[94]
+
+  [94] This is the circular which was issued to postmasters on the
+  occasion of a dissolution:--
+
+"The Parliament is dissolved. The franks of this evening are necessarily
+charged with postage, and you will immediately charge all letters and
+packets excepting the letters franked by such public officers as are by
+law at all times exempted from postage. Full instructions will be sent
+to-morrow."
+
+Lord Salisbury when at the Post Office contrasted the stringency of
+later years with the laxity which prevailed in his early manhood. "In
+the year 1778," he wrote, "and in many succeeding ones while I took the
+field with the militia it was the constant practice to write on all
+regimental papers the words, 'On His Majesty's service,' which insured a
+free delivery; but in process of time the Post Office became rather
+stricter and more attentive, and then such a superscription was charged
+except when addressed to peers and members of Parliament, and I have
+frequently paid for such letters overweight without getting any
+redress."
+
+When such strictness was observed in other matters, one can only wonder
+at the liberties which were allowed to be taken with newspapers, and it
+appears all the more strange because the very act which in the case of
+newspapers was countenanced and encouraged was in the case of letters a
+highly penal offence. Was it not for forging a single frank, the frank
+of Sir William Garrow, that the clerical impostor, Halloran, was in 1818
+sentenced to seven years' transportation? The plain truth would seem to
+be that vested interests were so deeply involved in the matter of
+newspapers that there was on the part of the Post Office the utmost
+indisposition to make them the subject of legislative enactment; and
+yet, without some concessions to the news-vendors, it would have been
+impossible to resist the pressure which would have been brought to bear.
+This, we doubt not, is the true explanation; and it will account for
+much that is otherwise dark and obscure. It will explain why that which
+was regarded as a heinous offence in the case of letters was sanctioned
+and encouraged in the case of newspapers; why, enormously as the
+circulation of newspapers within the United Kingdom increased during the
+first quarter of the present century, we look in vain for any
+legislative enactment regulating the conditions under which, except when
+sent or received by members of Parliament, they might pass through the
+post; and why in 1825, when at length they had conceded to them the
+right to pass free, the concession was enacted in an indirect and
+circuitous manner.
+
+So far, therefore, as inland newspapers were concerned, the practical
+effect of the statute which now passed was little more than to make law
+correspond with usage. During many years newspapers had been passing
+through the post, as they were to pass for the future, free. The only
+difference was that, in order to secure exemption, it was no longer
+necessary to go through the farce of either writing or printing the name
+of some member of Parliament on the outside of the cover. The clerks of
+the roads were unaffected by the statute. The advantage which these
+officers had at one time derived from their franking privilege had
+already been lost to them through the action of the Post Office in
+evading the law; and we can well believe that even so they considered
+themselves fortunate in being permitted to escape with their
+newspaper-business. This business, long after they had begun to compete
+with the news-vendors on equal terms, was of large dimensions. During
+the year 1829, out of 11,862,706 newspapers despatched from London into
+the country, 1,207,794 or more than one-tenth of the whole number were
+despatched by the clerks of the roads.
+
+But it was not only in respect to newspapers that the House of Commons
+began about this time to manifest in the proceedings of the Post Office
+an interest such as it had never taken before. Committee after Committee
+was appointed to report upon the communications of the country, upon
+roads, mail-coaches, and steam packets; but without any definite result.
+Obviously the House was not satisfied with things as they were, and yet
+did not well see how to improve them. Only one man appears to have had a
+clear perception of what he wanted, and to have been possessed of the
+requisite ability to carry his object. This was Sir Henry Parnell,
+chairman of the Select Committee on the Holyhead Road, a Committee the
+title of which only inadequately denotes either its scope or importance.
+Parnell, presuming on the authority which this position gave him, and
+convinced no doubt of the feasibility of his scheme of improvement,
+adopted towards the Post Office an air of superiority which was
+peculiarly galling to Freeling, who for the first time in his life found
+himself dictated to in respect to matters in which he had hitherto been
+regarded as supreme. The effect of this Committee was not only to keep
+the Post Office busily employed in the preparation of returns but to put
+it on the defensive.
+
+Another inquiry which was going on contemporaneously contributed to the
+same result. Early in the reign of George the Fourth a Commission had
+been appointed to inquire into the state of the revenue, and this
+Commission, which began with the Post Office in 1823, did not report the
+result of its labours until 1829. Meanwhile the Post Office, which was
+practically on its trial, put forward as few proposals as possible; and
+even from those that were put forward the Treasury withheld assent on
+the pretext that the Commission had not yet reported. Hence followed
+the somewhat curious result that the very period during which the House
+of Commons began to manifest an interest in the Post Office was on the
+part of the Post Office itself a period of more than ordinary inaction.
+
+And yet the period in question, though not remarkable for Post Office
+progress, is by no means an uninteresting one if only because within its
+limits the old and the new are brought together in striking contrast. In
+1818 the express office in the Haymarket is closed, an office which had
+been established in 1797 for the purpose of facilitating the receipt and
+despatch of Government expresses. In 1821 gas, or oil-gas as it was then
+called, is introduced into the Post Office, and at once asserts its
+superiority over oil in point not only of illuminating power but of
+cheapness as well. In 1822 the Post Office, by virtue of a warrant under
+the royal sign-manual, is cleared of its irrecoverable debts. These have
+been accumulating during a period of 137 years--since 1685, when the
+Post Office was first taken out of farm, and now amount to L62,141.
+
+About the same time Thomas Gray, writing from Brussels, advocates the
+introduction of steam engines on iron railways and predicts that, once
+established, they will absorb the carrying trade of the kingdom and
+displace mail-coaches. In 1823 Brunel, who has already achieved
+distinction, offers his services in the construction of a steam engine
+which shall prove as efficient and as safe at sea as when employed on
+land. The brilliant engineer receives no encouragement, and Gray
+receives not even the courtesy of an answer. In the same year passes
+away at Tunbridge Wells, James Sprange, the courtly old postmaster, who
+up to the date of his last illness might be seen pacing the Pantiles
+scrupulously dressed in the costume of the reign of George the Second,
+even to the long ruffles. In 1825 Glasgow is pleading, and pleading in
+vain, for a Post Office which shall not be kept at a shop. In 1828 the
+Roman Catholic peers are once more protesting against the outrage which
+precludes them, on the score of their religion, from exercising the
+privilege of franking. In 1829 Waghorn is vainly striving to induce the
+Post Office to co-operate in facilitating communication with the East.
+
+The inferiority of sailing vessels to vessels propelled by steam has now
+been conclusively established, and steam packets are being placed on
+every station. Not the Holyhead Road alone but all the great roads of
+the kingdom have passed under Telford's hands and are beginning to
+assume the condition in which we see them to-day. And all this while
+postage remains at the ridiculously high level at which it was fixed in
+1812. To Windsor the charge on a single letter is still 6d., to
+Birmingham 9d., and to Liverpool 11d. Letters are still held up to a
+strong light to see whether they contain an enclosure or not, and are to
+be charged as single or as double. The first general delivery in St.
+James' Square is not begun before twelve o'clock in the day or finished
+much before one. Offices for the receipt of general post letters are
+still kept separate and distinct from those for the receipt of letters
+for the twopenny post. By the twopenny post the postage is not
+necessarily 2d., but, according as it is a twopenny post letter, a
+general post letter, or a foreign letter, may be 3d., 2d., or nothing.
+On a letter for abroad the fee for registration is still one guinea.[95]
+An additional penny is still charged upon every letter that crosses the
+Conway or the Menai Bridge. Two hundred and seventy-five post towns
+still remain without a free delivery, and--what proves a constant source
+of contention between the Post Office and the inhabitants--even in those
+towns in which the letters are delivered free, the limits of the free
+delivery are not defined.
+
+  [95] Since 1814 receipts had been given for registered letters. In that
+  year Mr. H. M. Raikes, of 4 Portman Square, represented that he
+  frequently sent valuable parcels of diamonds between this country and
+  Holland, and that these parcels he insured, but that, to be certain of
+  recovering his insurance should any casualty happen, "the London
+  merchant ought to have some proof in his possession of his having
+  delivered such a packet into the charge of the Post Office." If, he
+  added, the clerks would give a receipt, the merchant would gladly give
+  them for their trouble an additional guinea. The suggestion to charge a
+  second guinea was not adopted; but from that time a receipt had been
+  given for a registered letter in the following form:--
+
+                         FOREIGN POST OFFICE.
+
+                                                           LONDON 181
+
+  It is hereby certified that ......... has registered at this office a
+  sealed packet said to contain .......... addressed to ...............
+  which will be forwarded to ............. by the mail of this evening;
+  but for its safe conveyance this office is not responsible.
+
+                                     (_Signature_) ....................
+
+Twenty years before, the office in Gerrard Street, the headquarters of
+the twopenny post in Westminster, had been enlarged. Of this office,
+which ranked next in importance to the General Post Office in Lombard
+Street, the postmasters-general wrote in 1809--not, surely, without a
+touch of exaggeration: "The sorting office, where fourteen persons are
+generally employed at a time and nearly one-half of which is occupied by
+tables, is only seventeen feet long by thirteen wide"; and, again, "The
+letter-carriers' office, in which fifty persons are employed at a time
+and one-fourth of which is occupied by tables, is but eighteen feet by
+sixteen." Such were the conditions under which, until lately, the Post
+Office servants had been accustomed to work; and now on a site rich in
+historical associations is rapidly approaching completion a stately
+edifice which not only provides ample and even lavish accommodation for
+the present, but will, it is confidently predicted, suffice for all
+time.
+
+The new Post Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand was opened on the 23rd of
+September 1829. Little more than sixty years have since elapsed, and the
+building has been shorn of its chief attraction, the central hall, and
+has otherwise been so altered internally that even the accomplished
+architect, were he to revisit us, would probably fail to recognise his
+own handiwork. Of the old Post Office in Lombard Street, with its courts
+and its alleys and its interesting associations, not a fragment remains.
+Part of the site was retained for Post Office purposes, and is now
+occupied by what is known as the Lombard Street Branch Office; part was
+thrown into the street then forming, and to be called after the King,
+King William Street; and the remainder was sold, and has long been
+covered with banks and counting-houses.
+
+It were much to be wished, if only for his own reputation and peace of
+mind, that Freeling had now retired. Full of years, recently created a
+baronet, of ample means, and enjoying the confidence of the Government
+as probably civil servant had never enjoyed it before, he could not have
+selected a better moment for relinquishing the duties of his arduous
+post. But a man who has been accustomed to exercise power is seldom
+willing to give it up. And in Freeling's case we suspect there was an
+additional reason. Of the large income which he derived from the Post
+Office, exceeding L4000 a year, considerably more than two-thirds was
+compensation for the loss of the franking privilege; and this
+compensation, according to a well-understood rule, was not to count for
+pension. As the fees which had been received for the exercise of the
+privilege must have ceased on retirement, so the compensation was to
+cease also.
+
+That Freeling would have received a special pension is beyond doubt; but
+even a special pension, with the utmost goodwill on the part of the
+Government, could not have approached the amount of his official income.
+And of this Freeling must have been well aware, for grumblings were
+already to be heard. The Commissioners of Revenue Inquiry, indeed, had
+gone so far as to question his right to receive any fees at all, and,
+even assuming such right to exist, had impugned the conduct of the
+Government in fixing the amount of his compensation at close upon L3000
+a year.
+
+The removal into the new building was celebrated by two important steps
+in advance. Two branch offices were opened, one at Charing Cross and the
+other in Oxford Street, where letters were received without a fee until
+half-past six o'clock in the evening. Up to this time, except in Lombard
+Street, no office for the receipt of letters had been kept open later
+than five o'clock. A still more important step was the earlier delivery
+of letters in the morning. This was accomplished within the city by the
+employment of additional letter-carriers, and in the more distant parts
+by conveying the men to their walks in vehicles. A whole hour was thus
+gained. In the west end of London the delivery had not been completed
+until between twelve and one o'clock. It was now to be completed, except
+on Mondays, when the greater number of letters caused delay, between
+eleven and twelve.
+
+It will be convenient here to notice, though not strictly in
+chronological order, a third step in advance which took place about a
+year later, a step regarded as of little moment at the time, and yet one
+which, in view of subsequent events, was of the highest importance. On
+the 11th of November 1830 the first mail was sent by railway, this being
+the mail between Liverpool and Manchester. Except as the opening of a
+new era, the fact would hardly deserve to be recorded, for many years
+had yet to pass before railways became sufficiently general to afford to
+the Post Office any sensible relief. Meanwhile the roofs of the
+mail-coaches groaned under the weight of the mails. Time had been when
+no mail was allowed to be put on the roof or elsewhere than in the
+mail-box; but, as the correspondence increased, the Post Office was
+forced to countenance a practice of which it highly disapproved. What,
+except for the railways, would have happened on the introduction of
+penny postage is a question into which, happily, we need not inquire.
+
+The new Post Office had not been long occupied before the Government
+changed hands, and Earl Grey came into power with the Duke of Richmond
+as postmaster-general. It is not often that a change of Government
+affects the proceedings of the Post Office. One postmaster-general may
+be more active than another, or he may take a more lively and personal
+interest in the questions with which he has to deal; but there must,
+from the nature of the case, be a continuity of policy which can seldom
+be broken. Nor was there in this respect any exception to rule in the
+present instance. And yet the peer who now assumed the direction of the
+Post Office adopted a mode of procedure so different from that of his
+immediate predecessors that it is impossible to pass over the occasion
+in silence.
+
+Richmond on his appointment as postmaster-general declined to receive
+any salary; and having formed this determination on the ground that the
+office was notoriously a sinecure, he straightway proceeded to shew that
+a sinecure was the very thing which in his hands the office was not to
+be. He devoted himself heart and soul to his new duties. Early and late,
+at his private residence as well as the Post Office, he was in constant
+and personal communication with officers of all classes from the highest
+to the lowest. Nothing like it had been seen since the days of
+Walsingham. He frequented the sorting office, saw for himself how the
+work was done, and with many a kindly word encouraged the men to do
+their best. With his own hands he on one occasion opened a bag for the
+colonial office, and, in confirmation of the suspicion which had
+prompted the act, found it full of letters for bankers, army agents, and
+others, representing postage to the amount of L60.
+
+Yet hard as he laboured, the Duke's repugnance to receive remuneration
+for his services could not be overcome. Learning that his salary
+remained undrawn, the Treasury addressed to him a letter of gentle
+remonstrance. To this letter he returned no reply. Fourteen months later
+the Treasury wrote again. To gratuitous service there were, in their
+Lordships' opinion, serious objections. The Lord Privy Seal had declined
+to receive the salary annexed to his office, and a Select Committee of
+the House of Commons had expressed disapproval of the step as being
+inconsistent with the wishes and the dignity of the country. Could that
+be right on the part of the postmaster-general which had been held to be
+wrong in the case of the Lord Privy Seal? Richmond now yielded, feeling
+that it would be indelicate, if not disrespectful to the House, to force
+gratuitous service where he was authoritatively informed gratuitous
+service would not be welcome; but while yielding he managed to draw as
+little of the arrears of salary as possible. His appointment as
+postmaster-general bore date the 14th of December 1830, and the views
+of the Committee were for the first time made known to him at the end of
+April. The end of April, he was pleased to say, was an inconvenient time
+to begin. It was a broken quarter. He would, in deference to the opinion
+of the Committee, draw salary from the 5th of July but not before.
+
+Richmond had been only a short time at the Post Office when he had a
+most invidious task to perform. This was the carrying out of the
+arrangements consequent upon the consolidation of the Irish Post Office
+with the Post Office of Great Britain. The state of things arising from
+the maintenance within the United Kingdom of two independent Post
+Offices had long been felt to be intolerable. Until four or five years
+before, not only had the rates of postage in Ireland been different from
+those in England, but on a letter passing from one part of the kingdom
+to another both the English and the Irish rates had been charged. This
+had now been altered,[96] but the inconvenience of the dual control
+remained. A letter from Ireland might have miscarried or been delayed.
+The postmaster-general of England could not answer for its course except
+on this side of the Channel, and for further particulars the complainant
+had to be referred to Dublin. The English packets were timed to arrive
+in Ireland at a particular hour; but on the goodwill of the authorities
+in Dublin it depended whether the Irish posts corresponded or whether,
+as had not been unknown to be the case, their times were perversely
+fixed so as to keep the English mails waiting.
+
+[96] 7 and 8 George IV. cap. xxi.
+
+Nor was this all. The Revenue Inquiry Commissioners had recently
+reported upon the Irish Post Office, and the evidence, on which their
+report was based, revealed the existence of scandalous abuses such as no
+Government could suffer to continue. For nearly fifty years the Irish
+Post Office had been independent of the Post Office of Great Britain,
+and it was now determined that this independence should cease. In 1831
+an Act was passed incorporating the two Post Offices into one, and
+Richmond's patent as postmaster-general of Great Britain had hardly
+been completed before another passed constituting him postmaster-general
+of the United Kingdom.
+
+Upon Richmond as postmaster-general of Ireland as well as England and
+Scotland it now devolved to sweep out the Augean stable; and his stern
+sense of duty peculiarly qualified him for the task. Rosse and O'Neill
+had ceased to be postmasters-general of Ireland upon the Act of
+incorporation passing. Lees, their secretary, was removed from Dublin to
+Edinburgh. Only those who had performed their duties in person were
+retained. All others were summarily dismissed and pensions were refused
+to them. In the result the Irish establishment was reduced in point of
+numbers by one-half, and in point of cost by nearly L10,000 a year; and
+this after the salaries of those who were retained had been increased
+all round.
+
+One important function had yet to be performed. This was to audit the
+Irish accounts, which had not been audited for fourteen years, and were
+known to be in a state of the utmost confusion. The receiver-general,
+who carried on the private business of banker and money-lender, had
+recently died, and speculation was high as to what further scandals the
+audit would reveal. All preparations had been made, and the persons
+selected for the task were on the point of starting for Dublin when
+intelligence reached London that the receiver-general's bond was not
+forthcoming. It had, shortly after his death, been surrendered under an
+instruction from Lees which, like the instruction which conferred upon
+his brother a valuable appointment, purported to have been given at a
+Board at which were present "the earls." The earls, as a matter of fact,
+had not been present and had never been consulted on the point. As it
+was felt that in the absence of the bond an audit would be of little
+use, the Government abandoned their intention, and the Irish Post Office
+accounts from 1817 to 1831 remain unaudited to the present day.
+
+Lord Althorp was at this time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the
+position which he assumed towards the Post Office was probably unique.
+Ordinarily, between the Treasury and the Post Office there is a certain
+amount of antagonism which, deplorable as it may be, is not difficult to
+understand. The Post Office wants to spend money; the Treasury wants to
+save it. The Post Office knows by experience that it must sow before it
+can reap; the Treasury, while ready enough to reap, has a rooted
+aversion to sowing, and resolutely shuts its eyes to the fact that
+between the two processes there is a direct and necessary connection.
+All this was reversed in Althorp's time. Often, during his tenure of
+office, might be witnessed the strange spectacle of a Chancellor of the
+Exchequer urging the Post Office to adopt some improvement, and the Post
+Office attempting to frighten him with the bogey of cost.
+
+The first matter on which Althorp brought his authority to bear was the
+boundary of the general post delivery. The limits of this delivery were
+irregular and capricious in the extreme. Of two streets, possibly
+adjoining streets, one might receive its general post letters for the
+general post rate alone, while the other, though at no greater distance
+from St. Martin's-le-Grand, had to pay the twopenny rate as well.
+
+The question now forced itself into prominence. Belgrave Square had been
+laid out, and the houses were being occupied as fast as they could be
+built. Those of the occupiers who were members of Parliament found to
+their chagrin that every letter they received cost them 2d., for the
+franking privilege did not clear the twopenny post; and, of course, by
+those who were not members of Parliament, 2d. had to be paid in addition
+to any other postage to which their letters might be liable. Althorp
+insisted that the general post limits should be not only extended but
+fixed on some definite principle. But what was the principle to be?
+Contiguity of building? This was held to be impracticable. A line drawn
+on such a basis would extend beyond Brentford on the west to Hampstead
+and Highgate on the north, and beyond Clapham on the south. A line drawn
+according to parishes would be little better. The parish of St.
+Pancras, which nearly touched Holborn in its southern extremity,
+extended as far as Finchley in the north, and the parish of Lambeth
+reached nearly to Croydon.
+
+Another course would be to draw a circle of which the Post Office should
+be the centre, and let all letters within this circle be delivered free;
+but even with a radius of no more than three miles, the additional cost
+would be L25,000 a year. This was an outlay which the Post Office could
+not recommend, and, if it were incurred, the Government must take the
+responsibility. Althorp was not to be daunted, and after April 1831 the
+general post limits extended for a distance of three miles from St.
+Martin's-le-Grand. A little later, the threepenny post was extended to a
+radius of twelve miles. This, boon as it was considered to be sixty
+years ago, was shorter by some miles than the radius of the penny post
+when Queen Anne ascended the throne.
+
+Althorp was hardly less determined on the subject of the packets. It had
+been a matter of principle with Freeling, that to all places beyond the
+sea to which there was regular communication the Post Office should
+carry its own mails. That they should be carried in vessels belonging to
+private persons, however respectable these persons might be, appeared to
+him to be unworthy of the English Government, and on this ground many an
+advantageous offer had been refused.
+
+Althorp held a different opinion, and an opportunity soon offered of
+carrying his own view into effect. From Harwich the mails to Holland and
+to Hamburg were still carried by sailing packet, and the merchants of
+London, regarding this as an anachronism, urged that the sailing packets
+might be replaced by steam packets. The request was not unreasonable,
+but, unwilling that the Government should be at the cost of substituting
+one description of packet for the other, Althorp directed that the
+service should be put up to public competition. Here we see the first
+application of a principle which in the result has furnished us with a
+fleet of packets such as no other country in the world can produce. The
+tender of the General Steam Navigation Company was accepted, though
+saddled with the condition that its vessels should start from the
+Thames. This was a death-blow to Harwich. The sailing packets for Sweden
+were, indeed, still retained there; but in little more than eighteen
+months the Swedish Government contracted for the mails to be forwarded
+from Hull, and Harwich as a packet station was closed.
+
+But of all the changes which Althorp introduced perhaps the most
+important, and certainly the one which excited most opposition at the
+Post Office, was the abolition of the newspaper privilege. The number of
+newspapers sent by post from London into the country had, within the
+last fifty or sixty years, increased enormously. In 1764 they averaged
+3160 a day, in 1790 the daily average was 12,600, and in 1830 it had
+risen to 41,412. The rate of increase, moreover, was advancing. In 1829
+the total number of such newspapers was 11,862,000, and in 1830
+12,962,000; and more than one-tenth part of the whole number was
+supplied by the clerks of the roads.
+
+The news-vendors now took the matter up in earnest. A general meeting
+was held to protest against the Post Office servants being any longer
+allowed to compete with the private dealers, and a petition to the same
+effect was presented to Parliament. This called forth a vigorous
+rejoinder from Freeling, and it is interesting to note by what arguments
+he defended his position. So far, he said, from the news-vendors having
+any ground of complaint against the Post Office servants, it is the Post
+Office servants who have reason to complain of the news-vendors. For
+their own interest and advantage a few persons engaged in a trade of
+modern creation are endeavouring by clamour to deprive others of the
+remains of an old and long-established privilege, which they exercise
+not only under the sanction of immemorial usage, but by the direct
+authority of Acts of Parliament. It is not as though the public were
+interested in the question. The public have absolutely no interest in
+it, except indeed to this extent--that, if what remains of the
+privilege be withdrawn, they will be asked to compensate those whose
+incomes are reduced in consequence, and to provide higher salaries for
+their successors; and this "for the sole purpose of transferring their
+authorised official remuneration to the pockets of a few individuals
+who, having been admitted to a participation in what was originally an
+exclusive privilege, have now thought proper to set up a claim to the
+whole."
+
+Such were Freeling's arguments, but Althorp was not convinced by them.
+By his direction the privilege was withdrawn as from the 5th of April
+1834, and those whose incomes suffered were handsomely compensated. Thus
+ended a practice which had existed from the first establishment of the
+Post Office, and which, while the Post Office was still in its infancy,
+may perhaps have had this to justify it--that except for the franking
+privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads the provinces would
+probably have had to go without even the few copies of newspapers which
+at that time found their way there.
+
+It may appear strange that, while Althorp was thus applying his sturdy
+common sense to the affairs of the Post Office, no steps were taken to
+correct what most needed correction--the exorbitant rates of postage.
+Our own belief is that in a very short time, had the Government of which
+he was a member remained in office, a reduction would have been made,
+and that it was to this result that he and Richmond, who worked hand in
+hand together, were preparing the way. As to Richmond's views on the
+matter there can be little doubt. Under previous Governments the Post
+Office had been accustomed in exceptional cases to appeal to the
+Chancellor of the Exchequer to mitigate the severity of its own rates by
+the exercise of a dispensing power; but Richmond set his face against
+the practice, insisting that the law should be obeyed until it was
+altered; and, after being released from the trammels of office, he was
+one of the first to propose an alteration.
+
+But if such were indeed Althorp and Richmond's intention, we cannot
+regret that it was not carried into effect. The illustrious man who
+gave us penny postage had not yet directed his attention to the subject;
+and, as he tells us himself, it was with him a matter of long and
+careful consideration whether he should devote his energies to the
+reform of the Post Office or to the improvement of the printing machine.
+If in 1834 only a moderate reduction had been made in the extortionate
+rates of postage which were then in force, Rowland Hill might not have
+embarked upon his plan, and, even if he had done so, that plan might
+have failed to evoke from the public sufficient support to overcome
+opposition in high quarters. In proportion to the extent of the evil did
+men welcome the remedy.
+
+Meanwhile, although the demand for cheap postage had not yet taken
+shape, profound dissatisfaction existed with the conduct of the Post
+Office. This, under the reformed Parliament, was perhaps to be expected
+in any case; but there were special circumstances which contributed to
+the result. Nearly five years had elapsed since the Royal Commission of
+Inquiry had reported upon the Post Office, and nothing had since been
+done to carry its recommendations into effect.
+
+It is not difficult to understand this inaction. In Freeling's view the
+Post Office had been brought to a pitch of perfection such as it had
+never reached before, and he regarded it as little short of sacrilege
+that a body of outside novices should presume to lay its hands upon the
+sacred ark which he had now for more than a generation been moulding
+into form. Of the change of opinion which the labours of the Commission
+had wrought he appears to have been utterly unconscious. Hitherto the
+Post Office had been regarded as a marvellous mystery, which none but
+experts could understand. This mystery had now been invaded, and men
+were beginning to wonder, not, as in the past, at the things which the
+Post Office was able to do, but how it was that these things were not
+done better.
+
+The Commission had also brought to light the existence of abuses, and
+these on one pretext or another had remained uncorrected. We will give a
+single instance. The Money Order Office had been established in 1792
+with the object of facilitating the transmission of small sums from one
+part of the country to the other by means of orders drawn on the
+different postmasters. The plan was excellent and deserved success. The
+only objection to it was that the enterprise was a private one,
+undertaken by a few Post Office servants for their own benefit, and that
+to make it remunerative to the projectors required from the authorities
+an amount of favour which they had no right to bestow. Originally there
+had been no limit to the amount for which a money order might be
+drawn;[97] but long before 1829, in order to prevent interference with
+the banking interest, the limit had been fixed at L5:5s.; and the
+commission chargeable was at the rate of 8d. in the L1 on the sum
+remitted. Of this amount 3d. went to the postmaster who issued the
+order, 3d. to the postmaster who paid it, and the residue to the
+proprietors.[98]
+
+  [97] At the outset in 1792 the limit had indeed been fixed at L5:5s.;
+  but even in the first year this limit was largely exceeded. During the
+  three months ending the 10th of October 1800, 697 money orders were
+  issued, viz. 220 in London and 477 in the country, representing an
+  aggregate amount of L8863, or at the rate of more than L12 apiece.
+
+  [98] Among the records of the Post Office is still preserved a money
+  order drawn by one postmaster upon another at the beginning of the
+  century. A facsimile of it is given in the Appendix.
+
+Seeing that the postage on a single letter between two towns no farther
+apart than London and Bristol was at this time 10d., it will be obvious
+that in respect to orders for small sums the enterprise would have been
+conducted at a loss unless the correspondence on money order business
+had been exempt from postage. And such indeed was the case. All letters
+passing from London to the country were impressed with the official
+stamp, and those passing from the country to London were enclosed in
+printed covers addressed to the secretary, and bearing, immediately
+below the secretary's name, that of the proprietors, "Stow and Company."
+For correspondence between themselves on money order business the
+postmasters were supplied with franks sent down from London in blank.
+Strongly as the Commission of Inquiry had animadverted on this abuse,
+nothing had been done to correct it, and the franking privilege was, for
+money order purposes, being as freely used as ever.
+
+The returns which the House of Commons called for about this time, and
+the returns which the Post Office furnished, shew, more forcibly perhaps
+than anything else, in what direction men's minds were tending, and how
+hollow was the foundation on which a part of the Post Office system
+rested. More than sixty years had elapsed since the Law Courts decided
+that inhabitants of post towns were entitled to a gratuitous delivery of
+their letters. The House now inquired at how many post towns a charge on
+delivery was still being made, and by what authority. The return
+furnished by the Post Office shewed the number of towns to be
+eighty-nine, and after giving as the authority for the charge
+"immemorial usage," went on to state that "the payment is not compulsory
+if the parties choose to object."
+
+It was still the practice to hold up to a strong lamplight every letter
+that passed through the post in order to see whether it was a single or
+a double one; and the House called upon the Post Office to state by what
+authority this was done. The Post Office, having no authority to adduce,
+returned an evasive reply. The House next called for the number of
+persons who had been prosecuted in the course of the year for the
+illegal conveyance of letters. The Post Office return shewed that on
+this ground, during the last twelve months, as many as 341 prosecutions
+had taken place, many of them involving a large, and some of them a very
+large, number of persons, and that the cases were still more numerous in
+which, in order to avoid prosecution, the transgressors had submitted to
+fines. And how had the revenue been prospering meanwhile? A return
+called for by the House in April 1834 answers the question. During the
+last ten years, despite the increase of population, the net Post Office
+revenue had actually declined. In 1824 the receipts were L2,055,000
+gross and L1,438,000 net, as against L1,391,000 net and L2,062,000 gross
+in 1833.
+
+In 1834 Earl Grey was succeeded by Viscount Melbourne; and one of the
+first acts of the new Government was to appoint another Commission of
+Inquiry into the Post Office, with directions to ascertain and report
+how it was that the recommendations of the former Commission had not
+been carried out. These recommendations were now set down one by one,
+and the Post Office was called upon to explain, opposite to each,
+whether any and, if so, what steps had been taken to give effect to it.
+One or two of them had indeed been adopted--such, for instance, as the
+recommendation that Post Office servants should cease to deal in
+newspapers--but only under compulsion. Others affecting the internal
+administration of the Post Office were certainly not feasible. But there
+remained not a few which, while excellent in themselves, had been
+discarded on the merest pretext.
+
+The Commissioners had recommended that the "early," that is the
+preferential, delivery of letters should be discontinued. The Post
+Office replied that it was impossible. The Commissioners had recommended
+that, instead of the receiving houses for general post letters being
+separate and distinct from those for the letters of the twopenny post,
+every receiving house should take in letters of both kinds. The Post
+Office replied that the existing arrangement was the best adapted not
+only to the convenience of the public but to the business of the
+department. The Commissioners had recommended that the letter-carriers,
+instead of being separated into general post, twopenny post, and foreign
+letter-carriers, should all form one corps and deliver letters of every
+description. The Post Office replied--a reply all the more extraordinary
+inasmuch as the very arrangement which the Commissioners recommended was
+already in force both in Edinburgh and Dublin--that "it would be
+productive of the greatest confusion and delay."
+
+The last of the recommendations to which we shall refer was that "the
+total charge upon all letters should be expressed in one taxation." The
+Post Office replied that it was "not possible for country postmasters to
+know the precise line of demarcation between the general post and
+twopenny post deliveries." In other words, no postmaster could know
+what, in the case of letters for London--and, it might have been added,
+for any other town than his own--the proper charge should be. This was
+no pretext. It was, on the contrary, perfectly true; and perhaps no more
+striking testimony could be afforded to the unsoundness of the system
+then in vogue.
+
+It is impossible to conceive that on Freeling's part there can have been
+anything in the shape of contumacy, still less of defiance; but we are
+by no means sure that the House of Commons did not incline to that view.
+Be that as it may, however, the Post Office was in bad odour, and an
+unfortunate series of incidents which occurred about this time little
+tended to remove the unfavourable impression which the unwillingness to
+carry out the Commissioners' recommendations had created. The House, at
+the instance of the Select Committee on Steam Navigation, had called for
+a return of the casualties which within a given period had happened to
+the Irish packets. The return furnished by the Post Office omitted two
+accidents in which one of the members of the Committee had himself
+assisted; and the Committee forthwith ordered the attendance of a
+witness from the Post Office to explain the omission. Another return
+contained obvious errors, and was sent back to the Post Office to be
+corrected.
+
+But the two returns which excited most comment referred to the mileage
+allowance received by the mail-coach contractors, and to the Money Order
+Office. As regards the mileage allowance the only reply vouchsafed by
+the Post Office was that it "has not the means of furnishing any account
+of the amount paid." The return as regards the Money Order Office was
+still more unfortunate. The ground on which this office had been
+condemned by the Revenue Inquiry Commissioners was that it was carried
+on for the benefit of individuals, and yet in so far as its
+correspondence was exempt from postage, at the expense of the revenue.
+Several years had since passed, and the House, not doubting that the
+abuse had been corrected, called for a return shewing the amount of
+postage derived from letters containing money orders, and to what
+purpose it was applied. "The Money Order Office"--thus ran the return
+which the Post Office furnished--" is a private establishment, and the
+business is carried on by private capital under the sanction of the
+postmaster-general; but as no accounts connected in any degree with it
+are kept at the Post Office, no return can be made by the
+postmaster-general to the order of the House of Commons." The House was
+highly incensed, and ordered that, both as regards the Money Order
+Office and the mileage allowance, proper returns should be rendered at
+once.
+
+The energy of the new Commission had now nearly brought the Post Office
+into trouble. The contract for the supply of mail-coaches was in the
+hands of Mr. Vidler of Millbank, who had held it for more than forty
+years, and little had been done during this period to improve the
+construction of the vehicles he supplied. Designed after the pattern in
+vogue at the end of the last century, they were, as compared with the
+stage-coaches, not only heavy and unsightly but inferior both in point
+of speed and accommodation. Moreover, the charge made for them, namely,
+2-1/2d. a mile in England and 2d. a mile in Scotland, was considered to
+be high; and the Commissioners, altogether dissatisfied with the manner
+in which the contract had been performed, arranged with the Government
+not only that the service should be put up to public tender, but that
+Vidler should be excluded from the competition. This decision was
+arrived at in July 1835, and the contract expired on the 5th of January
+following. To invite tenders would occupy time, and, after that
+mail-coaches would have to be built sufficient in number to supply the
+whole of England and Scotland. A period of five or six months was
+obviously not enough for the purpose, and overtures were made to Vidler
+to continue his contract for half a year longer. Vidler, incensed at the
+treatment he had received, flatly refused. Not a day, not an hour,
+beyond the stipulated time would he extend his contract, and on the 5th
+of January 1836 all the mail-coaches in Great Britain would be withdrawn
+from the roads.
+
+A man less loyal than Freeling or endued with less generous instincts
+might have felt a twinge of satisfaction at this result of interference
+with what he considered his own domain. But such emotion, if indeed he
+felt it, was not suffered to appear. With a difficulty to overcome, some
+of his old energy returned, and when the 5th of January arrived there
+was not a road in the kingdom from Wick to Penzance on which a new
+mail-coach was not running.
+
+It was now that the mail-coaches reached their prime. Eight or nine
+miles an hour had hitherto been their highest speed, and now, with
+vehicles of lighter build, the speed was advanced to ten miles an hour
+and even more. Truth compels us to add that while the fastest mail-coach
+on the road, the coach between Liverpool and Preston, travelled at the
+rate of ten miles and five furlongs an hour, a private coach
+accomplished within the hour rather more than eleven miles. This was the
+coach between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, of which Captain Barclay of Ury
+was the proprietor. Besides coachman and guard it carried fifteen
+passengers, namely, four inside and eleven outside, while a mail-coach
+carried four in and four out or eight altogether. Nor would Captain
+Barclay admit that, in order to attain this high rate of speed, recourse
+need be had to anything like furious driving. Nothing more, he
+maintained, was necessary than to keep the horses at a "swinging trot."
+
+Freeling's success in averting a breakdown with the mail-coaches did
+little or nothing to arrest the tide which had set in against him. After
+exercising an influence such as probably no civil servant had exercised
+before, he found himself discredited and the object of vehement and not
+over-scrupulous attack. Of the ministers under whose orders he had acted
+not a few had passed away, and none were in a position to share his
+responsibility, while their successors only knew him as identified with
+a system which had become unpopular. Owing to an unusually rapid
+succession of postmasters-general,[99] he was without even the solace
+and support which a chief of some years' standing might have given him.
+Single-handed, the old man had maintained a gallant defence; but his
+spirit was now broken. In the midst of his exertions to prevent any
+interruption of travelling facilities the House of Commons had called
+for a return which was calculated to wound him deeply. This return
+implied not only that he had been guilty of gross mismanagement, but
+that his salary was higher than he was entitled to receive, that he was
+drawing unauthorised emoluments, and that the Post Office was made
+subordinate to his personal interests.
+
+  [99] Five within a single year. The Duke of Richmond ceased to be
+  postmaster-general in July 1834; and he was followed by Lord Conyngham,
+  Lord Maryborough, Lord Conyngham a second time, and Lord Lichfield, the
+  last of whom was appointed in May 1835.
+
+To the outside world Freeling maintained much the same demeanour as
+before, and few would have suspected the weight that pressed at his
+heart; but in the solitude of his study he was an altered man. There he
+brooded over the past and contrasted it with the present. Notes jotted
+down haphazard on official papers that chanced to be on his table reveal
+the inner workings of his mind. We know few sadder records. He recalls
+the time when Governments consulted him and he stood high in favour with
+the public. He cannot forget how, in the course of debate in the House
+of Commons, his own proficiency and devotion to duty were urged as
+reasons for not retaining the second appointment of postmaster. In the
+recollection of those happy days he endeavours to find consolation for
+the calumny and detraction of the present. He repudiates as unfounded
+the charge that he has long ceased to consult the interests of the
+public, and affirms that in this cause he has of late years laboured
+even more abundantly than he did of old.
+
+Then there is a break, after which he takes up his pen again. "Cheap
+postage,"--to this effect he writes. "What is this men are talking
+about? Can it be that all my life I have been in error? If I, then
+others--others whose behests I have been bound to obey. To make the Post
+Office revenue as productive as possible was long ago impressed upon me
+by successive ministers as a duty which I was under a solemn obligation
+to discharge. And not only long ago. Is it not within the last six
+months that the present Chancellor of the Exchequer[100] has charged me
+not to let the revenue go down? What! You, Freeling, brought up and
+educated as you have been, are you going to lend yourself to these
+extravagant schemes? You, with your four-horse mail-coaches too. Where
+else in the world does the merchant or manufacturer have the materials
+of his trade carried for him gratuitously or at so low a rate as to
+leave no margin of profit?"
+
+  [100] The Right Hon. Thomas Spring Rice.
+
+Here the manuscript abruptly ends. It is dated the 24th of June 1836.
+Within sixteen days from that date Francis Freeling was no more.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have done. From 1836 downwards the story of the Post Office is told,
+far better than we could tell it, in the Autobiography of Sir Rowland
+Hill and the reports which, since 1854, the department has issued
+annually. The story of the preceding period is less well known, if
+indeed it be known at all. To tell the earlier story--to trace the Post
+Office from its humble beginnings down to the time when the illustrious
+reformer took it in hand--this has been the extent of our object, and no
+one perhaps is more conscious than ourselves how imperfectly it has been
+accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+
+SUCCESSION OF POSTMASTERS-GENERAL FROM 1660 TO 1836
+
+From 1660 to 1667 the Post Office was in farm, the farmers being--
+
+1660 to 1663.
+Henry Bishopp. Rent, L21,500.
+Bishopp surrendered his patent, which was for seven years, in 1663.
+
+1663 to 1667.
+(Being residue of Bishopp's term.)
+Daniel O'Neile. Rent, L21,500.
+
+1667 to 1685.
+Henry, Earl of Arlington.
+Rent for later part of the term, L43,000.
+Office managed, at first, by Sir John Bennet, Lord Arlington's
+brother, and afterwards by Colonel Roger Whitley.
+
+1685 to 1689.
+Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester.
+(For part of the time Lord Treasurer.)[101]
+Office managed by Philip Frowde, Esq., under the title of Governor.
+
+  [101] The concentration of the offices of Lord Treasurer and
+  Postmaster-General in one person served to facilitate the transaction of
+  Post Office business in a manner which those who have had experience of
+  the present system will not be slow to understand. Take, for instance,
+  the question of increasing a Post Office servant's salary. At the
+  present time the Postmaster-General may be thoroughly convinced himself
+  that an increase is called for, but--what is a very different matter--he
+  has also to convince the Treasury. In 1686 the Postmaster-General's own
+  conviction was enough. The following will serve as an illustration.
+  Thomas Cale, Postmaster of Bristol, applies for an increase of salary,
+  and Frowde, the Governor, satisfies Rochester that an increase will be
+  proper. Forthwith issues a document, of which the operative part is as
+  follows:--"You are therefore of opinion that the said salary (L50) is
+  very small considering the expense the petitioner is att, and his
+  extraordinary trouble, Bristoll being a greate Citty, but you say that
+  you doe not think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt
+  ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for
+  (as you informe me) you doe not allow either candles, packthread, wax,
+  ink, penns or paper to any of the Postmasters, nor office-rent, nor
+  returnes of mony, you are therefore of opinion that tenn pounds per
+  annum to his former salary of L50 will be a reasonable allowance, and
+  the petitioner will be therewith satisfied, these are therefore to pray
+  and require you" to raise his salary from L50 to L60 accordingly.
+                                                             ROCHESTER.
+
+  WHITEHALL TREASURY CHAMBERS, _Dec. 13, 1686_.
+
+July 1689 to March 1690.
+Colonel John Wildman.
+
+1690 to 1708.
+Sir Robert Cotton, Knight, and
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.
+
+1708 to 1715.
+Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., and
+Sir John Evelyn, Bart.
+
+1715 to 1721.
+Charles, Lord Cornwallis, and
+James Craggs, Esq.
+
+1721 to 1725.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Galfridus Walpole, Esq.
+
+1725 to 1732.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Edward Harrison, Esq.
+
+Christmas 1732.
+Edward Carteret alone to Midsummer 1733.
+
+1733 to 1739.
+Edward Carteret, Esq., and
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, afterwards Earl of Leicester.
+
+1739 to 1744.
+Thomas, Lord Lovell, and
+Sir John Eyles, Bart.
+
+1744 to 1745.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester (sometime Lord Lovell) alone.
+
+1745 to 1758.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, and
+Sir Everard Fawkener, Knight.
+
+1758 to 1759.
+Thomas, Earl of Leicester, alone.
+
+June 2, 1759 to November 27, 1762.
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+November 27, 1762 to September 23, 1763.
+John, Earl of Egmont, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+September 23, 1763 to July 19, 1765.
+Thomas, Lord Hyde, and
+Hon. Robert Hampden.
+
+July 19, 1765 to December 29, 1766.
+William, Earl of Bessborough, and
+Thomas, Lord Grantham.
+
+December 29, 1766 to April 26, 1768.
+Wills, Earl of Hillsborough, and
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.
+
+April 26, 1768 to January 16, 1771.
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer.
+
+January 16, 1771 to December 11, 1781.
+Francis, Lord Le Despencer, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Thynne, afterwards Carteret.
+
+December 11, 1781 to January 24, 1782.
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret (sometime Thynne) alone.
+
+January 24 to April 25, 1782.
+William, Viscount Barrington, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+April 25, 1782 to May 1, 1783.
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+May 1, 1783 to January 7, 1784.
+Thomas, Lord Foley, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret.
+
+January 7, 1784 to September 19, 1786.
+Charles, Earl of Tankerville, and
+Right Hon. Henry Frederick Carteret. (Created Baron Carteret,
+January 29, 1784.)
+
+September 19 to December 10, 1786.
+Thomas, Earl of Clarendon, and
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret.
+
+December 10, 1786 to July 6, 1787.
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, alone.
+
+July 6, 1787 to September 19, 1789.
+Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret, and
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham.
+
+September 19, 1789 to March 13, 1790.
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and
+John, Earl of Westmorland.
+
+March 13, 1790 to July 28, 1794.
+Thomas, Lord Walsingham, and
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield.
+
+July 28, 1794 to March 1, 1798.
+Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, and
+George, Earl of Leicester.
+
+March 1, 1798 to February 27, 1799.
+George, Earl of Leicester, and
+William, Lord Auckland.
+
+February 27, 1799 to March 31, 1801.
+William, Lord Auckland, and
+George, Lord Gower.
+
+March 31, 1801 to July 19, 1804.
+William, Lord Auckland, and
+Lord Charles Spencer.
+
+July 19, 1804 to February 20, 1806.
+Lord Charles Spencer and
+James, Duke of Montrose.
+
+February 20, 1806 to May 5, 1807.
+Robert, Earl of Buckinghamshire, and
+John Joshua, Earl of Carysfort.
+
+May 5, 1807 to June 6, 1814.
+John, Earl of Sandwich, and
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.
+
+June 6 to September 30, 1814.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, alone.
+
+September 30, 1814 to April 6, 1816.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and
+Richard, Earl of Clancarty.
+
+April 6, 1816 to June 13, 1823.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester, and
+James, Marquess of Salisbury.
+
+Since Lord Salisbury's death on the 13th of June 1823, no second
+Postmaster-General has been appointed.
+
+June 13, 1823 to July 4, 1826.
+Thomas, Earl of Chichester.
+
+July 4, 1826 to September 17, 1827.
+Lord Frederick Montague.
+
+September 17, 1827 to December 14, 1830.
+William, Duke of Manchester.
+
+December 14, 1830 to July 5, 1834.
+Charles, Duke of Richmond.
+
+By his first patent, dated the 14th of December 1830, the Duke was
+appointed Postmaster-General of Great Britain; and by a second patent,
+dated the 14th of April 1831, he was appointed Postmaster-General of
+Great Britain and Ireland.
+
+July 5 to December 31, 1834.
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.
+
+December 31, 1834 to May 8, 1835.
+William, Lord Maryborough.
+
+May 8 to May 30, 1835.
+Francis Nathaniel, Marquess Conyngham.
+
+May 30, 1835, to September 15, 1841.
+Thomas William, Earl of Lichfield.
+
+
+SUCCESSION OF SECRETARIES TO THE POST OFFICE DOWN TO 1836.
+
+The appointment of Secretary was created by Treasury Warrant
+dated the 20th of June 1694.
+
+1694 to 1700.
+Name uncertain; but probably Willboyl.
+
+  [In 1694 the Postmasters-General urge the creation of the appointment of
+  Secretary; in 1697 they speak of "having sent our Secretary down to
+  Worcester"; and in October 1701, when reporting on a paper which had
+  been referred to them as far back as June 1699, they explain that "by
+  the death of our late Secretary y^e paper has been mislaid and but very
+  lately recovered." That there was a Secretary during this period is,
+  therefore, beyond doubt.
+
+  During the same period the Post Office letter books are written in a
+  handwriting as peculiar as it is good; and in the same handwriting, of
+  the identity of which there can be no question, there is in the
+  Frankland-Blaithwaite correspondence, until lately in the possession of
+  Sir Thomas Phillipps, a letter from the General Post Office dated the
+  27th of May 1697, and docketed thus, the docket having obviously been
+  written at the time of receipt:--"From Mr. Willboyl, Commissioner of the
+  Post Office." Now, Commissioner of the Post Office he certainly was not,
+  there being at that time no such appointment; but it is probable that he
+  was Secretary, and that with this official title, which had been only
+  recently given, Blaithwaite was not acquainted.]
+
+1700 to 1714.
+Benjamin Waterhouse.
+
+1714 to 1715.
+Henry Weston.
+
+1715 to 1721.
+James Craggs.
+
+1721 to (about) 1730.
+Joseph Godman.
+
+(About) 1730 to 1737.
+W. Rouse.
+
+1737 to 1738.
+Thomas Robinson.
+
+September 1738 to July 1742.
+John David Barbutt.
+
+July 1742 to December 1762.
+George Shelvocke.
+
+December 1762 to July 1765.
+Anthony Todd.
+
+July 1765 to January 1768.
+Henry Potts.
+
+January 1768 to June 1798.
+Anthony Todd (again).
+
+June 1798 to July 1836.
+Francis Freeling.
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILES OF FRANKS written before and after 1784, when
+the obligation to date was imposed.
+
+_Before._
+
+The Duke of Grafton, First Lord of the Treasury from 1766 to 1770,
+commonly called Junius Grafton from the attacks made upon him by
+Junius.]
+
+[Illustration: _After._
+
+The Earl of Sandwich, nicknamed by the satirists of the period Jemmy
+Twitcher. "See Jemmy Twitcher shambles--stop, stop, thief"--an allusion
+to his shambling gait.
+
+Lord Sandwich was postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, and afterwards
+First Lord of the Admiralty.]
+
+[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A PAID MONEY ORDER of the year 1802.]
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+  Abdy, Sir Robert, 38
+
+  Abercorn, James, Earl of, his unreasonable complaint, 153
+
+  Absenteeism, in England, 231;
+    in Ireland, 371
+
+  Alien Office, assists the Post Office in procuring foreign newspapers,
+        347
+
+  Allen, Ralph, postmaster of Bath, takes in farm the bye and cross-post
+        letters, 147;
+    conditions of his contract, 147;
+    success of his enterprise, 148;
+    is thwarted by the postmasters, 149;
+    his contract renewed, 150;
+    nature of his plan and his special qualifications for carrying it into
+          effect, 155;
+    his local knowledge, 157;
+    his difficulties with the postmasters, 157 _seq._;
+    as a means of check lays down certain propositions, 161;
+    instances of imposition practised by postmasters, 163;
+    by post-boys, 164;
+    by carriers and others concerned in the illegal conveyance of letters,
+          165;
+    the liberality of his arrangements, 166;
+    his course of procedure contrasted with that of the
+          postmasters-general, 168;
+    pays higher rent and increases the frequency of the post every seven
+          years when his contract is renewed, 169;
+    his injunction about the use of expresses, 182;
+    his death, 185;
+    his character, 186;
+    is an object of jealousy to Palmer, 230
+
+  Alphabet, 374;
+    ingenious one in use at Belfast, 375
+
+  Althorp, John Charles, Viscount, urges on Post Office improvements, 415;
+    fixes the limits of the general post delivery, 416;
+    throws the packet service open to public competition, 417;
+    abolishes the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads,
+          418;
+    contemplates apparently a reduction of postage, 419
+
+  America, posts set up in, 110;
+    first postmaster of New York, 111;
+    and of Virginia and Maryland, 111;
+    establishment of what was virtually a penny post between England and
+          America, 113;
+    American posts become self-supporting, 116;
+    postmasters ejected from their offices, 207
+
+  Amsterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Anne, Queen, treatment of letters for, when in residence at Newmarket, 98
+
+  _Antelope_ packet, Captain Curtis, gallant action with privateer, 321
+
+  Apertures, introduction of, on the outside of post offices, 180
+
+  Argyll, John, Duke of, 64
+
+  Arlington, Henry Bennet, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general, 34
+
+  Armit, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, displaced by Lees, 221
+
+  Ashburnham manuscripts, 20
+
+  Ashurst, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of
+        letters, 200
+
+  Aston, Mr. Justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters,
+        200
+
+  Attorneys, their provisional resolution to withhold postage on writs,
+        178;
+    hold appointments in the Dublin Post Office, 371
+
+  Auckland, William Lord, postmaster-general, his pleasantries, 333
+
+  Auditors of the imprests, 256 _note_
+
+  Austria, liberties taken with post-horses by travellers in, 5 _note_
+
+  Aylsham, Norfolk, post established to in 1733, 167
+
+
+  Baker, Sir George, physician to George the Third, 252
+
+  Bank of England notes, robbery of, from mail evokes important legal
+        decision, 183;
+    origin of cutting bank notes when sent by post, 206;
+    contemplated reduction of postage on letters containing second halves
+          of bank notes, 298
+
+  Bankers' franks, meaning of term, 315 _note_
+
+  Barbutt, John David, secretary to the Post Office, 185
+
+  Barclay, Captain, of Ury, high speed of his coach, 426
+
+  Barclay's plot, expresses sent on discovery of, 63
+
+  Barham, Edmund, packet agent at Dover, terms of his agreement with
+        Walcot, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, 222
+
+  Barlow, clerk in the secretary's office, modifies the practice of the
+        Dead Letter Office, 308
+
+  Barnstaple, private post set up to Exeter in 1633, 17
+
+  Bath asserts its right to a free delivery, 198;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202;
+    slowness of post between Bath and London, 208;
+    amount of toll between the same towns, 210;
+    Post Office Establishment at Bath and amount of the postmaster's salary
+          in 1792, 292
+
+  Beccaria, Bonesana, his essay on Crimes and Punishments, 245
+
+  Belfast, ingenious "alphabet" in use at, 375;
+    peculiar usage of delivery, 375
+
+  Belgrave Square, included in the limits of the general post delivery, 416
+
+  Bell, Colonel, comptroller of the Inland Office, particulars of charge
+        against, 185 _note_
+
+  Bells, letters collected by ringing of, introduction of system, 121;
+    and its termination, 123 _note_;
+    bellmen in England and in Ireland paid on different principle, 367
+         (196, 221, 257)
+
+  Bernard, Sir Robert, 192
+
+  Besant's patent coaches, 282
+
+  Bethnal Green, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged
+        at, 203
+
+  Bianconi, Charles, his enterprise, 376
+
+  Bigg, Stephen, his enterprise as a farmer of the posts, 60
+
+  Billingsley, Henry, a broker, carries letters of foreign merchants, 13;
+    and is consigned to prison, 14
+
+  Bills of exchange and of lading to and from foreign parts exempt from
+        postage until 1801, exemption then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Birmingham, one of many towns in which a free delivery of letters had
+        ceased, 197;
+    free delivery restored and letter-carrier appointed, 202;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293;
+    penny post opened at, 300
+
+  Bishopp, Henry, farmer of the posts, 33, 34
+
+  "Black-box"; the box in which the correspondence of the Secretary of
+        State for Scotland was carried, 53
+
+  Blaithwaite, William, Secretary of War, remonstrated with on his abuse
+        of the franking privilege, 132
+
+  Blome's _Britannia_, 35
+
+  Bonnor, Charles, deputy comptroller-general of the Post Office, his
+        conduct in the matter of the king's coach, 252;
+    delays replies to the postmaster-general's inquiries, 264;
+    practises deception, 264;
+    his base ingratitude, 274;
+    is suspended by Palmer, 275;
+    suspension removed by the postmasters-general, 276;
+    his treachery, 278, 279;
+    receives the reward of infamy, 280
+
+  Boulton and Watt build the first steamboats used by the Post Office, 384
+
+  Bourne, Frederick, clerk in the foreign department of the Post Office;
+        suggests the establishment of a Ship Letter Office, 328
+
+  Bournemouth, mode of receiving its letters in 1854, 293 _note_
+
+  Bowen, passenger by packet; brings news of the victory at Oudenarde, 105
+
+  Boyle, Henry, Secretary of State, charges the packet agent at Harwich
+        with receiving a bribe, 89
+
+  Bracken, Henry, author of _The Gentleman's Pocket Farrier_, his device
+        to obtain exemption from postage, 161
+
+  Braithwaite, Daniel, clerk to the postmasters-general, his honesty of
+        purpose, 244
+
+  Brighton, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Brill, The, 73, 83, 88
+
+  Bristol, course of post between Bristol and Exeter in 1660, 29;
+    and in 1696, 57;
+    salary of the postmaster of, in 1690, 50;
+    and in 1792, 293;
+    first mail-coach starts from Bristol, 213;
+    penny post opened there, 300;
+    revision of postmaster's salary in 1686, Appendix, _note_
+
+  Brown, sub-agent of packets at Ostend, his clandestine letter, 106
+
+  Brunel, Sir Marc Isambard, offers to construct a steam engine for the
+        Post Office packets, 408
+
+  Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, letter endorsed by, in 1627, 20
+
+  Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding, tedious
+        course of letter addressed to, in 1666, 34.
+
+  Buckingham, George Grenville Nugent Temple, Marquis of, Lord Lieutenant
+        of Ireland, deprecates reduction of packet establishment at
+        Holyhead, 248
+
+  Burlamachi, Philip, is appointed Master of the Posts, 21;
+    his title contested, 21;
+    is consigned to prison, 22
+
+  Bye-letters, probable meaning of the term in Queen Elizabeth's
+        reign, 4;
+    its certain meaning in 1690 and after, 52, 147;
+    postage upon bye-letters intercepted, 52, 53, 134 _note_;
+    Bye-Letter Office, 308
+
+  Bye-nights, 46
+
+  Byng, Sir George, 102, 104
+
+
+  Cadogan, Brigadier-General, packet detained for, 87
+
+  Camden, John Jeffreys, Earl, promotes Palmer's plan, 212;
+    gives to Pitt Palmer's version of his differences with the
+          postmasters-general, 274
+
+  Candles, inordinate supply of, to Post Office servants, 231
+
+  Canning, George, charges the Post Office with forestalling his
+        intelligence, 347
+
+  Carlisle, salary of postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Carriers allowed to carry letters under restrictions, 19;
+    restrictions more clearly defined, 129
+
+  Carteret, Edward, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1739. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part IV.
+
+  Carteret, Henry Frederick, Lord, postmaster-general from January 1771
+        to September 1789. _See_ Postmasters-General, Parts V. and VI.
+
+  Carts, first employment of, in London for bringing letters to the
+        General Post Office, 316
+
+  Castello, a prisoner on board packet, 88
+
+  Chalmers, George, his suggestions, 256;
+    excites Palmer's jealousy, 259
+
+  Channel Islands without an official post in 1792, 294;
+    official post provided, 312;
+    rates of postage, 314
+
+  Charing Cross, opening of branch office at, 411
+
+  Charlemont, Lord, his misunderstanding as to packet charges, 86
+
+  Charles, Archduke, 78, 86
+
+  Chelsea pensioners, their privilege of sending and receiving letters at
+        low rates of postage withdrawn, 404
+
+  Chenal, captain of packet, rebuked by the postmasters-general, 94 _note_
+
+  Chepstow, the inhabitants of, though under no obligation, continue to pay
+        pence on the delivery of their letters, 293
+
+  Chester, in 1720 the only town outside London with two Post Offices, 151;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Chesterfield, Philip, Earl of, postmaster-general from March 1790 to
+        March 1798. _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VII.
+
+  Chichester, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from May 1807 to July
+        1826. _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
+
+  Christmas boxes, intercepted, 232
+
+  Clancarty, Richard, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1807 to
+        1809; and of England from September 1814 to April 1816. [This
+        latter appointment he did not take up.] His decision of character,
+        instance of, 368;
+    advocates facilities of communication between England and Ireland, 389
+
+  Clarendon, Thomas, Earl of, postmaster-general from September to December
+        1786, 229, 242
+
+  Clerks of the roads, their duties, 47;
+    their salaries, 49;
+    are allowed to frank newspapers, 49;
+    their franking privilege invaded, 191;
+    mischief resulting from a reduction of their emoluments, 193;
+    their financial troubles, 206, 250;
+    extent of their newspaper business after newspapers become exempt from
+          postage, 407
+
+  Clermont, William Henry, Earl of, deputy postmaster-general of Ireland,
+        194
+
+  Clies, Francis, captain of packet, his audacious smuggling, 90;
+    his attention to religious observances, 90;
+    strikes his colours, 94
+
+  Coals supplied to Post Office servants in profligate profusion, 231
+
+  Cobbett, William, inveighs against the early or preferential delivery,
+        342;
+    and against the treatment of foreign newspapers, 343
+
+  Coke, Sir John, his indignant protest against the claim of the foreign
+        merchants to have a post of their own, 12
+
+  Colours, special colours assigned to the Post Office boat employed in
+        the Pool, 74;
+    the colours of the packets altered at the Union with Scotland, 117
+
+  Comer, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells in 1725, 153
+
+  Common Council of London, The, sets up a post of their own to Scotland,
+        24
+
+  Compensation for losses by the penny post, 38;
+    when ceased to be given, 188
+
+  Conspiracies against the State, to check these the original object of the
+        Post Office monopoly, 7;
+    danger chiefly apprehended from the Continent, 9;
+    Coke's opinion on the subject, 13;
+    the same opinion expressed in the Act of 1657, 28
+
+  Constables, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the
+        service of the posts, 3, 6
+
+  Convention posts, establishment of, 332;
+    their failure and the reason, 350;
+    are gradually absorbed, 352
+
+  Conway Bridge, additional rate of postage on letters passing over, 395
+
+  Conyngham, Francis Nathaniel, Marquess of, postmaster-general from July
+        1834 to January 1835, and again from May 8 to May 30, 1835, 427
+        _note_
+
+  Cornwall, its posts improved in 1704, 62
+
+  Cornwallis, Charles, Lord, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part III.
+
+  Cotton, Sir Robert, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1708. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part I.
+
+  Counsel in Post Office cases required to give receipts for their fees,
+        324
+
+  Country letter, meaning of term, 147
+
+  _Courier_ newspaper, sum paid by the, for early intelligence from the
+        Post Office, 345
+
+  Couriers originally employed to carry letters on affairs of State, 2
+
+  Court, The, at one time the centre of all the posts, 3;
+    a trace of the old state of things to be found in an existing statute,
+    99
+
+  Court letters, definition of, in 1706, 83 _note_;
+    mails detained for the Court letters, 211;
+    these letters, unlike others, delivered the moment they arrived, 347
+
+  Court-post, his duties, 99;
+    duties performed by deputy, 231
+
+  Coventry, Sir Thomas, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Keeper, holds De
+        Quester's appointment to be valid, 11;
+    cajoles Stanhope into surrendering his patent, 23
+
+  Craggs, James, postmaster-general from 1715 to 1721. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part III.
+
+  Crichton, Doctor, refuses to pay his fare by packet, 86
+
+  Cromwell, Thomas, Brian Tuke's letter to, on the paucity of the posts, 1
+
+  Crosby, Brass, 192
+
+  Cross-posts, first post of the kind set up, 57;
+    cross-post letters, definition of the term, 147
+
+  Croydon, postmistress of, Auckland's pleasantry on her marriage for the
+        third time, 334
+
+  Culverden, captain of packet boat, engages in smuggling, 89
+
+  Culvert, member of Parliament, expostulated with as to the irregular use
+        of his frank, 141 _note_
+
+  Curtis, Alderman, 274, 275
+
+  Customs, Commissioners of, lodge a complaint against the captain of the
+        _Expedition_ packet, 90;
+    represent that smuggling is carried on by packet from Ostend, 103;
+    take proceedings against some of the Harwich packets, 237;
+    are charged by the postmasters-general with unhandsome conduct, 238;
+    seize the Dover mail-coach, 271
+
+
+  Dacre, Lord, superscription on Protector Somerset's letter addressed to,
+        20
+
+  Dartmouth, William, Lord, his attention called to the late arrival at the
+        Post Office of the Court letters, 211
+
+  Dashwood, Francis, postmaster-general of Jamaica, exaction from, as a
+        condition of his appointment, 226
+
+  Davy, Mrs., her account of the condition of Penzance before 1784, 291
+
+  Day, John, sent from London in 1733 to establish a post at Aylsham in
+        Norfolk, his instructions, 167
+
+  Dead letters, treatment of, a source of perplexity to Allen, 158;
+    irregular payments claimed under cover of, 236;
+    Dead Letter Office, 307;
+    returned letters charged with postage, 360
+
+  Decypherer, the chief, 171
+
+  De Joncourt, express clerk, 373
+
+  Delivery, claim made by several towns to have their letters delivered
+        free resisted by the Post Office and question tried at law, 197;
+    claim allowed by the Courts, 200;
+    decision carried out grudgingly, 203;
+    hour of delivery of foreign letters in 1790, 267;
+    early, that is preferential, delivery, 342;
+    hour of delivery in St. James's Square between 1820 and 1830, 409;
+    in the country, limits of free delivery not defined, 410;
+    morning delivery in London accelerated, 411;
+    limits of general post delivery fixed at three miles, 417;
+    recommendation of Royal Commission to abolish early or preferential
+        delivery not carried out, 423
+
+  Delivery penny, meaning of term, 69
+
+  Denmark, Frederick the Second, King of, his letter of complaint to Queen
+        Elizabeth, 8 _note_
+
+  De Quester, Matthew, appointed postmaster for foreign parts out of the
+        King's dominions, 10;
+    his appointment offends Lord Stanhope, 10;
+    is superseded by the Privy Council, 12;
+    is restored at the instance of Sir John Coke, 13;
+    assigns his patent, 14
+
+  Derby, salary of the postmaster of, in 1792, 293
+
+  Dereham, Sir Thomas, Court-post, his duties, 99
+
+  Derrick, Samuel, Master of the Ceremonies at Bath, his account of Ralph
+        Allen, 186 _note_
+
+  Despatch of mails, hour of, in 1690, 47;
+    and until 1784, 211;
+    indignation caused by the change then made, 220
+
+  Devonshire, William, Duke of, course of post between Chesterfield and
+        Manchester altered in 1736 at the instance of, 166
+
+  Directories, 195, 309
+
+  Distances, inaccuracy of, as computed by the Post Office, 175
+
+  Dockwra, William, establishes a penny post in London, 36;
+    his right contested and case decided against him, 40;
+    is granted a pension and, on the penny post being absorbed into the
+          Post Office, is appointed comptroller, 41;
+    is dismissed, 41;
+    provision made by, for the care of general post letters, 68;
+    contrast between Dockwra and Povey, 122
+
+  Donlevy, William, 368
+
+  Double letter, definition of, 139
+
+  Dover, a packet station, 73;
+    packets to Flanders provided by the packet agent, 103;
+    engage in smuggling, 103;
+    and bring news clandestinely, 106;
+    the Dover mail-coach seized by the Customs, 271
+
+  Drink and feast money, 50, 232
+
+  Dublin, Post Office establishment at, in 1690, 53;
+    penny post proposed at, in 1703, 69;
+    and opened in 1773, 196;
+    the clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, 194;
+    the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, 207;
+    office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, 367;
+    abuses, 370
+
+  Dummer, Edmund, Surveyor of the Navy, builds packets for the Harwich
+        station, 75;
+    also for the West India service, 78;
+    undertakes this service himself, 79;
+    his miscalculations, 79;
+    ill-fortune attends him, 81;
+    his bankruptcy and death, 109
+
+
+  Early, _i.e._ preferential, delivery, 342, 423
+
+  Eastbourne, mode of receiving its letters in 1792, 293
+
+  East India Company, send to the Post Office letters received at the India
+        House, 311;
+    object to the provisions of the Ship Letter Act, 361;
+    procure its alteration, 362;
+    their generosity, 363;
+    unhandsome return contemplated by the Post Office, 364
+
+  East Indies, rates of postage to the, in 1815, 362
+
+  Edinburgh, post to, set up by the city of London, 24;
+    Post Office establishment at, in 1707, 117;
+    horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow refused by the Treasury, 136;
+    course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, 180;
+    and increased in frequency in 1765, 195;
+    Edinburgh Post Office falls into decay, 207;
+    penny post established at, 300
+
+  Eldon, John, Lord, reluctantly assents to the giving of repressive
+        powers, 335
+
+  Elections, Parliamentary, Post Office servants prohibited from
+        intermeddling in, 128;
+    and from voting at, 206
+
+  Ellenborough, Edward, Lord, 335
+
+  Evelyn, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1708 to 1715. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part II.
+
+  Exeter, private post set up between, and Barnstaple in 1633, 17;
+    course of post between Exeter and Bristol in 1660, 29;
+    in 1696, 57;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Expresses, 63, 83;
+    when to be sent from Dover, 107;
+    employment of, becomes more general about the middle of the eighteenth
+          century, 182;
+    is jealously restricted, 182;
+    their number reduced on the establishment of mail-coaches, 214;
+    fees on expresses, 233;
+    express sent daily to and from Ireland after the Union, 387
+
+  Express clerks, 371
+
+  Express office, Haymarket, 408
+
+  Eyles, Sir John, postmaster-general from 1739 to 1744, 238
+
+
+  Falmouth, packet station opened at, in 1689, 75;
+    closed and reopened, 77;
+    packet regulations, 82;
+    systematic smuggling, 89, 238;
+    packet agent also victualler, 95
+
+  Fares, by packet to Holland before and after 1689, 76;
+    by steam packet and by sailing packet, comparative statement, 385
+
+  Farmers of the Post Office, their popularity and the reason of it, 59;
+    are ruined by increase of postage and converted into managers, 136;
+    as managers prove useless, 138
+
+  Farra, John, is supplied with a special travelling order, 131 _note_
+
+  Faversham, marriage of the postmistress, 334
+
+  Fees, exacted from postmasters, 232;
+    received by the chief sorter on the occasion of royal birthdays, 233;
+    on expresses, 233;
+    on the registration of foreign letters, 233
+
+  Ferrers, Countess, 182
+
+  Fielding, Henry, his tribute to Ralph Allen, 186
+
+  "Fifth-clause" posts, 350-352
+
+  Firearms, worthless quality of those originally supplied to mail guards,
+        261
+
+  Fire of London, intelligence of, takes five days to reach Worthing, 34
+
+  Flemings, resort to London, where they introduce the manufacture of wool
+        into cloth, 8;
+    instance of value set upon cloth made in London, 8 _note_
+
+  Flying coach, 63, 67
+
+  Flying packet, meaning of the term, 63 (108)
+
+  Flying-post, 63 _note_
+
+  Foreign bottoms, employment of, by the Post Office illegal, 98
+
+  Foreign merchants claim to set up a post of their own to the Continent,
+        9;
+    claim conceded by the Privy Council, 12;
+    and repudiated by Coke, 13
+
+  Foster, John, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, his efforts to improve
+        communication with Ireland, 388
+
+  France, Post Office treaty with, imperfectly observed, 77;
+    a new one made and its onerous conditions, 138;
+    postage on letters from, increased, 296;
+    improvement of communication with, deprecated by merchants of London,
+          298
+
+  Franking, abuses of, in 1711, and means taken to check them, 132;
+    effect of franking upon the Post Office revenue, 142;
+    becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 189;
+    conditions altered, 189;
+    franking in Ireland, 190;
+    of newspapers inland, 191;
+    franking privilege possessed by the clerks at Dublin Castle
+          surrendered, 194;
+    franks to be dated and are otherwise restricted, 216;
+    further restrictions imposed, 315;
+    franks do not clear either the penny, the twopenny, or the convention
+          posts, 350;
+    franking privilege withdrawn in the case of newspapers to and from the
+          Colonies, 402;
+    privilege remains in the case of newspapers to and from the Continent,
+          403;
+    and in the case of newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom
+          gradually disappears, 404;
+    franked letters charged immediately on dissolution of Parliament, 405;
+    franking privilege withheld from Roman Catholic Peers, 408;
+    abuse of franking in the case of the Money Order Office, 421;
+    specimens of franks, Appendix
+
+  Frankland, Sir Thomas, postmaster-general from 1690 to 1715. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part I.
+
+  Frankland, William, son of the preceding, Comptroller of the Inland
+        Office, in attendance upon the Queen at Newmarket, 99
+
+  Franklin, Benjamin, his dismissal, 203;
+    amicable relations with, not suspended, 204
+
+  Free delivery. _See_ Delivery
+
+  Freeling, Sir Francis, appointed surveyor, 228;
+    appointed joint secretary with Todd, 294;
+    devises new arrangements for the sorting of the American and West
+          Indian mails, 310;
+    his project for guarding the horse and cross-posts, 317, 335;
+    becomes sole secretary, 327;
+    his craze for high rates of postage, 330;
+    his zeal in repressing illicit correspondence, 333;
+    is checked by Auckland, 335;
+    procures additional measures of repression, 335;
+    recommends increase of postage rates, 340;
+    his estimate of Cobbett, 342;
+    his emoluments from franking newspapers, 344;
+    his indignation at criticisms in the _Times_ newspaper, 348;
+    brings an action, 348;
+    contemplates a high-handed proceeding towards the town of Olney in
+          Buckinghamshire, 351;
+    procures a charge to be made on returned letters, 360;
+    his contention with the India House in the matter of ship letters, 361;
+    urges a technical adherence to the provisions of the statute, 364;
+    his elation at the increase of the Post Office revenue, 365;
+    contrast between Freeling and Lees, 370;
+    his difference with Lees, 381;
+    his claim for the Post Office in the matter of steam vessels, 387;
+    opposes improvement of communication with Ireland, 389;
+    his interview with Sir Arthur Wellesley, 390;
+    attempts to get terms of a hostile motion altered, 397;
+    his dismay at the transfer of the Falmouth packets from the Post Office
+          to the Admiralty, 399;
+    his strictness in Post Office matters, 404;
+    is irritated by Sir Henry Parnell's assumption of superiority, 407;
+    the probable reason for not resigning on the opening of the new Post
+          Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, 411;
+    his view that the packet service should not be thrown open to public
+          competition opposed by Althorp, 417;
+    defends the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads,
+          418;
+    his attitude towards the Royal Commission, 420;
+    averts a breakdown with the mail-coaches, 426;
+    becomes the object of vehement attack, 426;
+    broods over the past, 427;
+    his death, 428
+
+  Frizell, William, 14
+
+  Frowde, Ashburnham, comptroller of foreign office, 234
+
+  Furness, Sir Harry, 174
+
+
+  Gardner, penny postman, murder of, 183 _note_
+
+  Garrow, Sir William, his frank forged, 406
+
+  Gas, introduction of, into the Post Office, 408
+
+  General Steam Navigation Company undertakes first packet contract, 418
+
+  George the Third, when at Cheltenham or at Weymouth is attended by a
+        mail-coach, 251;
+    his illness and distribution of a prayer for his recovery, 254;
+    his interest in his coach, 288;
+    objects to roof-loading, 288;
+    attends trial trip, 288;
+    distributes largesse among mail guards and coachmen, 289
+
+  Gerrard Street, crowded condition of Post Office in, 410
+
+  Glasgow petitions for a horse-post to Edinburgh, 136;
+    and for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop, 408
+
+  Gloucester protests against certain houses being excluded from the free
+        delivery, 199;
+    salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Godolphin, Sidney Godolphin, Earl of, his rebuke to the
+        postmaster-general, 106;
+    insists upon communication with the army in Flanders being improved,
+          107;
+    his instruction about extraordinary payments, 137;
+    directs that in Post Office cases Counsel shall give receipts for their
+          fees, 324 (121, 124, 125)
+
+  Grafton, Augustus Henry, Duke of, specimen of his frank, Appendix
+
+  Grand mail, 83
+
+  Grand Post Nights, 46, 221
+
+  Granville, Lord, urges improvement of the Cornish posts, 62
+
+  Gratuities, on delivery of letters, 52, 61, 62, 152, 166;
+    legality of, questioned in the case of towns, 197;
+    question decided in favour of the public, 200;
+    still being charged, 422
+
+  Gray, Thomas, his prediction that mail-coaches would be displaced by
+        railways, 408
+
+  Grey, Charles, Earl, 412, 423
+
+  Grosvenor, Sir Richard, member for Chester, expostulated with as to the
+        irregular use of his frank, 141
+
+  Groyne, The, 75, 77
+
+  Guide to accompany post-horses when two are taken, 18
+
+  Guildhall Library, letter preserved in, showing tardy course of post in
+        1666, 34
+
+
+  Halfpenny carriage set up by Povey, 121
+
+  Halloran, a clerical impostor, 406
+
+  Hamburg, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Hamilton, Andrew, acts as Neale's agent for setting up posts in North
+        America, 110;
+    his suggestions for improving the posts, 112;
+    acquires Neale's patent, 116;
+    dies and the patent is surrendered to the Crown, 116
+
+  Hamilton, John, son of the preceding, appointed deputy postmaster-general
+        of America, 116
+
+  Harley, Robert, afterwards Earl of Oxford, raises the rates of postage,
+        124;
+    attempts to trace the writer of an anonymous letter, 181
+
+  Harwich, a packet station, 73;
+    number and strength of its packets, 75;
+    packet regulations, 82;
+    a hot-bed of smuggling, 91, 237;
+    its exorbitant charges, 96;
+    is closed as a packet station, 418
+
+  Hasker, Thomas, chief superintendent of mail-coaches, his pithy
+        instructions, 284;
+    is complimented by the King, 288;
+    will not suffer even the King to detain the mail-coach, 289;
+    enters a protest against the speed of the Holyhead mail, 394
+
+  Hayman, Peter, first postmaster of Virginia and Maryland, 111
+
+  Heath, Sir Robert, Solicitor-General, 11
+
+  Hickes, Prideaux's servant, imprisonment of, 22
+
+  Highwaymen, rewards for apprehension of, 183;
+    refrain from attacks upon mail-coaches, 290;
+    confine their attention to horse and cross-posts, 317;
+    instances of the recovery of mail bags stolen by, 336
+
+  Hill, Sir Rowland, 269 _note_, 420, 428
+
+  Hippisley, Sir John, 20
+
+  Hiver, Richard, 192
+
+  Holt, Sir John, Chief Justice, his opinion respecting compensation for
+        losses by post, 188 _note_
+
+  Holyhead, packet service at beginning of eighteenth century performed
+        with regularity, 82;
+    contemplated reduction of the packet establishment deprecated by the
+          Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 248;
+    conditions of passage between Holyhead and Dublin in 1813, 379
+
+  Hompesch, Baron, packet detained for, 87
+
+  Horn, when to be blown, 4;
+    a man on horseback blowing a post-horn assigned as a device for Post
+          Office colours, 75 _note_
+
+  Horses, to be kept in readiness for affairs of State, 2;
+    two to be kept at every post-house, 4;
+    use of, obtained under false pretences, 5;
+    overridden, overladen, and not always paid for, 5, 51;
+    charge for post-horses in 1603, 6;
+    in 1635, 18;
+    in 1660, 30;
+    not to be supplied except at post-houses, 6;
+    to be attended by a guide when two are hired, 18;
+    not to be let when the post is expected, 18;
+    not to be taken without the consent of the owners, 30;
+    only indirectly a source of revenue, 30;
+    monopoly of letting horses continued to the Post Office by the Act of
+          1711, 130;
+    control exercised by the Post Office over horses for travellers merely
+          nominal, exception given, 131;
+    charges for post-horses increased by the erection of milestones, 176;
+    monopoly of letting post-horses withdrawn, 205
+
+  Horse and cross-posts, project for checking robberies of, 317;
+    authority withheld, 318;
+    eventually given, 335
+
+  Hostages taken on capture of a packet, 93;
+    instance of inhuman treatment of, 94
+
+  Houses numbered, 195;
+    their not being so a hindrance to the Post Office, 36, 151
+
+  Hume, David, 29
+
+  Hume, Joseph, 402
+
+  Hungerford selected to try the question of free delivery, 198;
+    question decided in favour of the public and a letter-carrier
+          appointed, 202, 293
+
+
+  Illicit conveyance of letters, between town and town and between the
+        country and London, 54;
+    is stimulated by increase in the rates of postage, 134, 141;
+    becomes less after the introduction of mail-coaches, 227;
+    prosecutions for, 333;
+    return to the House of Commons, 422
+
+  Impressment, persons employed on the packets exempt from, 84;
+    specimen of protection order, 84 _note_
+
+  Instructions to the sorting office communicated by word of mouth, 324
+
+  Insurance an essential condition of Dockwra's penny post, 38;
+    this condition abandoned, 188
+
+  Invoices to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801, exemption
+        then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Ipswich asserts its right to a free delivery, 198;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202
+
+  Ireland, tardiness of post to, before 1635, 16;
+    postage to, 18;
+    method of Post Office business in 1690, 53;
+    abuse of franking in 1773, 190;
+    clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, 194;
+    posts to and within Ireland improved, 195;
+    Penny Post Office opened in Dublin, 196;
+    the roof of the Dublin Post Office falls in, 207;
+    the Irish Post Office separated from that of England, 221;
+    effects of the separation in the case of correspondence by the Milford
+          Haven and Waterford route, 249;
+    between the Irish and English Post Offices differences in point of law,
+          366;
+    and of practice, 367;
+    office in Dublin styled British Mail Office, account of, 367;
+    and improper use made of it, 371;
+    Clancarty's energy and decision of character, 368;
+    Lees, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his mode of conducting
+          business, 369;
+    Lees contrasted with Freeling, 370;
+    the postmasters-general absentees, 370;
+    absence also of the subordinates and other abuses, 371;
+    the express clerks and clerks of the roads deal in newspapers and are
+          given undue advantages, 371;
+    account of the alphabet, 374;
+    ingenious one in use at Belfast, 375;
+    arrangement in favour of soldiers' wives, 374;
+    peculiar mode of delivery at Belfast, 375;
+    mail-coach contracts in Ireland different from those in England, 376;
+    Charles Bianconi, 376;
+    arrangement between Ireland and Great Britain in the matter of the
+          packets, 378;
+    Lees is dissatisfied with it, 380;
+    and sets it aside, 381;
+    Freeling's indignation, 382;
+    sailing packets replaced by steam packets, 383;
+    effect upon the number of passengers carried by the Post Office, 385;
+    Irish traffic diverted from Holyhead to Liverpool, 385;
+    and Liverpool made a packet station, 386;
+    except in the matter of the packets, indisposition of the British Post
+          Office to improve communication with Ireland, 387;
+    such improvement urged by Foster, Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer,
+          388;
+    and resisted by Freeling, 389;
+    Freeling forced to give way, 390;
+    the Irish Post Office consolidated with the Post Office of Great
+          Britain, 414;
+    and the Dublin establishment reformed, 415;
+    the auditing of the Irish accounts rendered futile, 415
+
+  Iron mail-cart stopped and rifled of its contents, 290
+
+  Isle of Wight, its Post Office establishment in 1792, 294
+
+
+  Jackson, a passenger by packet without a pass, 89
+
+  Jacob, Giles, 188 _note_
+
+  Jamaica, Post Office establishment in, and sea rates fixed, 78;
+    duration of voyage to and fro in 1798, 320;
+    House of Assembly vote sum of money in recognition of the gallant
+          defence of the _Antelope_ packet, 323
+
+  James, Duke of York, afterwards James II., opposes introduction of the
+        penny post, 37;
+    wrests it out of Dockwra's hands, 40;
+    suffers the clerks of the roads to retain their newspaper privilege,
+          49
+
+  Jamineau, Isaac, purveyor of newspapers to the clerks of the roads, 300
+
+  Jeffreys, Sir George, afterwards Lord, inflicts exorbitant fine upon
+        Edmund Prideaux, son of the Master of the Posts, 27
+
+  Johnson, Edward, letter-carrier, improves the penny post, 302;
+    is appointed deputy comptroller, 305
+
+  Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 209 _note_
+
+  Jones, distiller of Old Street, St. Luke's, his action against the Post
+        Office, 203
+
+
+  Kent, post through the county of, more carefully nursed than any other, 9
+
+  Kenyon, Lloyd, Lord, when Attorney-General, gives receipts for fees in
+        Post Office cases, 325
+
+  King's coach, deception practised on Walsingham in the matter of the, 251
+
+  King's messengers, their complaint against the Post Office on the
+        erection of milestones, 176
+
+
+  Lambton, John George, moves for a return of the number of Post Office
+        Boards, 396
+
+  Lancashire, the badness of its posts in 1699, 60
+
+  Le Despencer, Francis, Lord, postmaster-general from 1766 to 1781, 221,
+        226
+
+  Leeds, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Lees, Sir John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, his testimony to
+        the abuse of franking, 191;
+    having been transferred to the War Office, recapitulates conditions on
+          which he accepts reappointment to the Post Office, 221;
+    recapitulation gives offence to Carteret, 222;
+    and leads to Carteret's exposure, 226
+
+  Lees, Sir Edward Smith, son of the preceding, also secretary to the Post
+        Office in Ireland, his method of conducting business, 369;
+    deals in newspapers, 373;
+    his instruction respecting the alphabet, 374;
+    his difference with Freeling, 381;
+    becomes a director of the Dublin Steam Packet Company, 383;
+    is transferred to Edinburgh, 415;
+    his unauthorised surrender of the receiver-general's bond, 415
+
+  Leet, express clerk, 373
+
+  Leicester, the Corporation of, binds itself to keep post-horses for the
+        use of the Sovereign, 2;
+    salary of postmaster at, in 1792, 293
+
+  Leicester, George, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1794 to 1799, 326
+
+  Letter-carriers, their pay in 1690, 49;
+    as late as 1772, none employed except in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin,
+          197;
+    are appointed at certain other towns, 202;
+    in London their interests suffer from the earlier closing of the Post
+          Office, 221;
+    are put into uniform, 299;
+    the sufferings of some of their number during the winter of 1794-95,
+          306;
+    select their walks according to seniority, 324;
+    deliver letters according to classes, one class for general post
+          letters, another for penny or twopenny letters, and a third for
+          foreign letters, 423
+
+  Letters, on affairs of State originally sent by courier, 2;
+    particulars of, when sent by post, to be carefully recorded, 4;
+    letters on other than the affairs of State received at the post-houses,
+          4;
+    not, without the authority of the Master of the Posts, to be collected,
+          carried, or delivered, 6;
+    notice that none are to be sent except through the post served on the
+          merchants of London, 9;
+    letters detected in being illicitly conveyed to be sent to the Privy
+          Council, and their bearers apprehended, 10;
+    what letters excepted from monopoly, 18;
+    are given precedence over travellers, 18;
+    circulate mainly through London, 29;
+    their mode of distribution, 47;
+    clandestine conveyance of, 54;
+    number of penny post letters for the suburbs of London at the end of
+          the seventeenth century, 69;
+    letters for America and Jamaica charged with postage, although there
+          was no packet service, 78;
+    clandestine conveyance of, stimulated by increase of postage, 134;
+    definition of single and double letter, 139;
+    Allen's injunction to check illegal conveyance of, 165;
+    are examined by means of a strong light, 171, 409, 422;
+    penalty for opening letters, 171;
+    letters containing patterns or samples, whether to be charged as single
+         or double letters, 177;
+    right to make, on the delivery of letters, any charge beyond the
+          postage contested, 197;
+    memorials for and against the earlier delivery of foreign letters in
+          London, 267;
+    average number of letters for each foreign mail in 1790, 268;
+    treatment of dead and missent letters before and after 1793, 308;
+    return of the number of letters passing through the London Post Office
+          submitted to the postmasters-general daily, 324;
+    made penal not only to carry letters, but to send them otherwise than
+          through the post, 335;
+    on the delivery of letters, despite the decision of the Courts, a
+          charge beyond the postage continues to be made, 422;
+    owing to the complication of rates, not possible to express the total
+          charge upon a letter in one taxation, 423
+
+  Lewis XIV. assembles a squadron before Dunkirk, 101;
+    his delay in refusing to sign the preliminaries of peace, 105
+
+  Lichfield, Thomas William, Earl of, appointed postmaster-general May
+        1835, 427 _note_
+
+  Lincolnshire, the paucity of its posts before 1705, 61
+
+  Liverpool, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293;
+    penny post established at, 339;
+    is opened as a packet station, 386
+
+  Liverpool, Robert, Earl of, mediates between Freeling and Lees, 382;
+    transfers the Falmouth packets from the Post Office to the Admiralty,
+          399
+
+  Lloyds supplied by the Post Office with ship news, 218
+
+  Loppinott, Colonel, 321
+
+  Losses by post, compensation for, 38;
+    when ceased to be given, 188
+
+  Lovell, Mary, receiver in St. James's Street, Lord Abercorn's complaint
+        against, 153
+
+  Lovell, Thomas, Lord, afterwards Earl of Leicester, postmaster-general
+        from 1733 to 1759, 167;
+    receives a threatening letter, 183 _note_;
+    his loose notions about smuggling, 238
+
+  Lowndes, William, Secretary to the Treasury, takes charge of the Post
+        Office Bill of 1711, 124;
+    overbears Swift, the solicitor to the Post Office, 126;
+    confounds gross and net revenue, 145 (325 _note_)
+
+
+  Macadam, John Loudon, introduces new method of road-making, 392
+
+  Macaulay, Lord, his account of the fine inflicted upon Edmund Prideaux,
+        son of the Master of the Posts, 27;
+    his statement that a part of the Post Office revenue was derived from
+          post-horses questioned, 30 (39)
+
+  Mackerness, Thomas, postmaster of Chipping Norton, 163
+
+  Macky, John, packet agent at Dover, proceeds to Flanders, 102;
+    receives a remarkable caution, 103;
+    having become contractor for the Dover and Ostend packet service,
+          his boats engage in illicit operations, 103;
+    and bring news clandestinely, 106;
+    is commissioned to settle posts for the army, his excellent
+          arrangements, 107
+
+  Maddison, George, 205
+
+  Magistrates, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the
+        service of the posts, 3, 6;
+    are enjoined to see that horses are procured at the post-houses alone,
+          9
+
+  Maidstone, excellency of the delivery at, in the seventeenth century, 48;
+    amount of the postmaster's salary, 50
+
+  Mails, hour of despatch of the, from the General Post Office in 1690, 47;
+    after 1784, 220;
+    cost of conveyance of, before and after the introduction of
+          mail-coaches, 290;
+    are exempt from toll in Great Britain but not in Ireland, 354;
+    exemption withdrawn in Scotland, 359
+
+  Mail bags, curious instances of recovery of, 337
+
+  Mail-carts, mail-cart made of iron rifled of its contents, 290;
+    first used in London to bring letters to the General Post Office, 316
+
+  Mail-coaches, begin to run, 213;
+    rapid extension of the system, 214;
+    system deprecated by some of the leading merchants, 220;
+    their effect upon expresses, 214;
+    upon the illicit conveyance of letters, 227;
+    a mail-coach in attendance upon the King when at Cheltenham, 251;
+    are put off the road by Palmer, 270;
+    number of, in 1792, 281;
+    model of mail-coach preserved at the Post Office, 282;
+    mail-coaches of new pattern supplied, 283;
+    number of passengers by, restricted, 283, 401;
+    roof-loading, and objections to it, 287, 412;
+    roof not always safe, 288;
+    mileage allowance in the case of mail-coaches, 290;
+    their freedom from attacks by highwaymen, 317;
+    become liable to a duty of one penny a mile, 337;
+    are diverted from the direct route for a consideration, 341;
+    number of, in 1811, 352;
+    their unpopularity with road trustees, 353;
+    question considered of withdrawing their exemption from toll, 354;
+    mail-coaches withdrawn instead, 355;
+    in Scotland, are made liable to toll, 359;
+    and their number is reduced, 360;
+    speed of mail-coaches, 399, 426;
+    the mail-coach the great disseminator of news, 401;
+    supply of mail-coaches thrown open to public competition, immediate
+          result, 425
+
+  Mail guards, not originally Post Office servants, 260;
+    their little excesses, 261;
+    their wages, 263;
+    treatment of their wages a cause of difference between Walsingham
+          and Palmer, 263;
+    their position one of responsibility, 283;
+    their fees, 284;
+    specimens of instructions to, 285;
+    carry parcels and game, and suffer to be carried excess-passengers,
+          286, 287
+
+  Main, George, deputy-postmaster of Edinburgh, 117
+
+  Maitres de poste in Canada, 205
+
+  Managers, sometime farmers, of the Post Office, 137
+
+  Manchester, its Post Office establishment in 1792, 292;
+    establishment increased and Penny Post Office opened, 301
+
+  Manley, Captain John, Post Office farmed by, 27
+
+  Manley, Isaac, deputy-postmaster of Dublin, 69 _note_
+
+  Mansfield, William, Earl of, his opinion upon compensation for losses
+        by the post, 188 _note_;
+    his judgment as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of
+          delivering letters, 198
+
+  Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of, interests himself in the post with
+        Flanders, 101 (104, 107)
+
+  Maryborough, William, Lord, postmaster-general from December 31, 1834 to
+        May 8, 1835, 427 _note_
+
+  Master of the Posts, his duties, 2;
+    no one not authorised by, allowed to collect, carry, or deliver
+          letters, 6;
+    his salary and emoluments, 12
+
+  Melbourne, William, Viscount, 423
+
+  Melville, Robert, Viscount, advocates transfer of the Falmouth packets
+        to the Admiralty, 399
+
+  Menai Straits, additional rate of postage imposed on letters crossing
+        the, 395
+
+  Merchants' accounts to and from abroad exempt from postage until 1801,
+        exemption then withdrawn, 331
+
+  Merchant adventurers. _See_ Foreign Merchants
+
+  Methuen, Sir Paul, ambassador to Portugal, calls attention to the
+        irregular proceedings of the packets, 91
+
+  Mileage allowance, in case of mail-coaches, 290;
+    higher in Ireland than in England, 376;
+    flippant return to the House of Commons on the subject of, 424
+
+  Miles, difference between measured and computed miles, 175
+
+  Milestones, erection of, 175;
+    their effect upon the charge for post-horses, 176
+
+  Milford Haven and Waterford, packet service between, 249
+
+  Missent letters, treatment of, before and after 1793, 309
+
+  Money Order Office, 420;
+    the subject of a flippant return to the House of Commons, 424;
+    facsimile of a money order issued in 1802, Appendix
+
+  Monopoly of the Post Office, origin of, in the matter of letters and of
+        post-horses, 7;
+    confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, 9;
+    confirmed by Act of Parliament, 27;
+    withdrawn as regards post-horses, 205
+
+  Mountstuart, John, Viscount, 256 _note_
+
+  Murray, Robert, reputed to have been the first to suggest the penny post,
+        36
+
+
+  Neale, Thomas, obtains grants for setting up posts in North America,
+        110;
+    his pecuniary difficulties, 112;
+    offers to surrender his patent, 115;
+    patent passes on his death to Andrew Hamilton, 116
+
+  Newcastle, Thomas Holles Pelham, Duke of, his orders about the packets
+        countermanded by Pelham, 173;
+    sends to the Post Office to inquire the price of corn, 255
+
+  Newcastle, salary of the postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  News, hunger after, 50;
+    the postmasters-general the great purveyors of, 104;
+    news disseminated by the mail-coaches, 401
+
+  Newspapers, franking of, by the clerks of the roads, 49;
+    are received from abroad by Post Office servants in advance of the
+          general public, 175;
+    conditions of franking newspapers altered, effect of alteration, 191,
+          250;
+    copies of, supplied to Post Office servants, 232;
+    newspaper office established, 261;
+    number and weight of newspapers passing through the Post Office in
+          1788, 262 _note_;
+    treatment of foreign newspapers, 343;
+    newspaper agency at the Post Office largely developed, 344;
+    London newspapers supplied by the Post Office with early intelligence
+          from abroad, 346;
+    newspapers, though franked, not exempt from postage by the penny,
+          twopenny, and convention posts, 350;
+    postage on newspapers for the East Indies reduced below the letter
+          rate, 363;
+    improper dealing with newspapers in Ireland, 372;
+    on newspapers to and from the Colonies special rates established
+          and franking privilege withdrawn, 402;
+    this privilege retained in the case of newspapers for the Continent,
+          403;
+    newspapers circulating within the United Kingdom exempted from postage,
+          404;
+    extent of newspaper business conducted by the clerks of the roads in
+          1829, 407;
+    in 1830, 418;
+    newspaper business finally withdrawn, 419
+
+  Newton, Sir Isaac, 66
+
+  New Year's gifts, extortion of, 325
+
+  Nicholas, Sir Edward, 20
+
+  Nodin, passenger on board the _Antelope_ packet, his gallantry, 321
+
+  Normanby, Henry Constantine, Viscount, proposes abolition of the office
+        of second postmaster-general, 397
+
+  North, Frederick, Lord, 206;
+    receives singular reply from the Post Office, 218
+
+  Northampton, Countess of, 63
+
+  Northey, Sir Edward, 143
+
+  Northumberland, Hugh, Earl of, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 194
+
+  Nottingham, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+
+  Ogilby, John, calls attention to the difference between measured and
+        computed miles, 175 _note_
+
+  Oldfield, Thomas, postmaster of York, 337
+
+  Oldmixon, 26
+
+  Old Street, St Luke's, a second penny charged on penny post letters
+        addressed to, 203
+
+  Oliphant, Robert, deputy postmaster-general for Scotland, 271
+
+  Olney, Buckinghamshire, attempts to improve its post and the consequence,
+        351
+
+  O'Neile, Daniel, farmer of the posts, 33, 34
+
+  O'Neill, Charles Henry St. John, Earl, postmaster-general of Ireland
+        from 1807 to 1831, 368 _seq._, 415
+
+  Onslow, Denzil, 185
+
+  Opening of letters, during the Commonwealth, 28;
+    under James II., 44;
+    practice systematically carried on under Walpole's administration, 170;
+    continued, as regards foreign letters, until 1844, 269 _note_
+
+  Ordnance, Board of, 86
+
+  Ormonde, James, Duke of, 70
+
+  Oxenbridge, Clement, reduces postage, 29;
+    receives an appointment under the Post Office, 32
+
+  Oxford Street, branch post office opened in, 411
+
+
+  Packets (sailing), packet establishment in 1690, 45;
+    are forbidden to carry merchandise in times of war, 76;
+    regulations for control of, 82;
+    carry their own surgeon, 84;
+    are not, without a pass, to carry passengers, 85;
+    or goods, 88;
+    fares are not sufficiently made known and inconvenience arises,
+          instances given, 86;
+    curious assortment of goods sent free by packet, 88;
+    packets bring both passengers and goods without passes, 89;
+    engage in smuggling, 89;
+    are forbidden to give chase, 93;
+    are not entitled to the prizes they take, 93;
+    agreement with prizes honourably observed as a rule, exceptions given,
+          94;
+    are victualled at Falmouth and at Harwich on different principles,
+          objections to both systems, 95;
+    copy of letter-bill by the _Prince_ packet, 97;
+    transport recruits with disastrous results, 97;
+    must be of English build, 98;
+    engage with privateers, 101;
+    are placed on a peace footing, 108;
+    colours altered on Union with Scotland, 117;
+    sufficiency of the burthen and crew of the Falmouth packets questioned
+          by the merchants, 173;
+    the packets generally meet with a series of disasters, 207;
+    wholesale smuggling on the part of the Harwich packets, 237;
+    inordinate growth of the packet expenditure, 238;
+    and the reason, 239;
+    packets established between Milford Haven and Waterford, 249;
+    representation by the merchants as to the number of packets captured,
+          320;
+    their gallant actions with privateers, 321;
+    probable explanation of these actions occurring only when passengers
+          were on board, 323;
+    mode of procuring packets for the East Indies and the Cape in 1815, and
+          their cost, 363;
+    arrangement in the matter of packets between Great Britain and Ireland,
+          378;
+    steps taken by the Dublin Post Office to set the arrangement aside,
+          381;
+    sailing packets replaced by steam packets between Holyhead and Dublin,
+          384;
+    between Milford Haven and Waterford, 385;
+    between Portpatrick and Donaghadee, 385;
+    the Falmouth packets transferred to the Admiralty, 398
+
+  Packets (steam), between Holyhe ad and Dublin, charges by, as compared
+          with sailing packets, 385;
+    number of passengers before the introduction of steam, 383 _note_;
+    and after, 385;
+    number of steam packets possessed by the Post Office in 1827, 399;
+    packet service thrown open to public competition, 417;
+    Irish steam packets, defective return to the House of Commons in the
+          matter of, 424
+
+  Pajot, director of the French posts, his obstinacy, 77;
+    his unreasonableness, 138
+
+  Palmer, John, his activity, 208;
+    general sketch of his plan, 209;
+    his plan is brought to the notice of Pitt, 212;
+    and is tried on the Bath road, 213;
+    extends his plan, 214;
+    induces Pitt to raise the rates of postage, 215;
+    alleges obstruction, 217;
+    alters the length of the stages, 219;
+    his plan is opposed by the merchants, 220;
+    opposition dies away, 227;
+    procures appointment of his nominees, 228;
+    conditions of his own appointment, 228;
+    his jealousy of Allen, 230;
+    expedites the morning delivery in London, and introduces an improved
+          method of business, 235;
+    imposes upon Walsingham in the matter of the King's coach, 251;
+    his treatment of official papers, 256;
+    pays an unexpected visit to Walsingham at Old Windsor, 258;
+    betrays his jealousy, 259;
+    establishes, but without the necessary authority, a newspaper office,
+          261;
+    and a mail guards' fund, 263;
+    is called to account by Walsingham, 263;
+    takes umbrage at a rebuke administered to his deputy, Bonnor, 265;
+    disobeys orders, 266;
+    becomes aggressive and defiant, 270;
+    and appeals to Pitt, 272;
+    is charged by Bonnor with promoting a public meeting antagonistic to
+          the postmasters-general, 275;
+    suspends Bonnor, 275;
+    is suspended himself, 276;
+    is dismissed, 279;
+    receives a pension and, later on, a Parliamentary grant, 280;
+    general result of his plan, 290 (299, 302, 353)
+
+  Palmerston, Henry John, Viscount, his humorous reply to Freeling, 380
+
+  Parkin, Anthony, solicitor to the Post Office, 333
+
+  Parnell, Sir Henry, 407
+
+  Pascoe, John, boatswain of the _Antelope_ packet, his gallant resistance
+        to the attack of a privateer, 322
+
+  Patterns and samples, letters containing, and being less than one ounce
+        in weight, whether to be charged single or double, 177;
+    question tried at law, 178;
+    settled by Act of Parliament, 179;
+    concessions in favour of, 315
+
+  Pay. _See_ Wages
+
+  Pelham, Henry, countermands Newcastle's orders about the packets, 173
+
+  Pennant, Thomas, 261
+
+  Penny post, its introduction by Dockwra, 36;
+    general plan of, 37;
+    carries up to one pound in weight, 37;
+    includes a system of insurance, 38;
+    days on which it does not go, 39;
+    increases number of country letters, 40;
+    is absorbed into the General Post Office, 40;
+    establishment of, in 1690, 45;
+    stimulates the clandestine conveyance of letters into London, 54;
+    on its acquisition by the State its general conditions remain
+          unchanged, 67;
+    number of penny post letters for the suburbs at the end of the
+          seventeenth century, 69;
+    its contemplated extension to Dublin in 1703, 69;
+    affects the number of ship letters, 73;
+    is without legal sanction, 119;
+    legal sanction given, 128;
+    its limits restricted to ten miles, 129;
+    the charge of a second penny on all letters delivered outside the bills
+          of mortality made legal, 143;
+    weight carried by the penny post reduced from one pound to four ounces,
+          188;
+    compensation for losses by the, when ceased to be given, 188 _note_;
+    attempts made by the Post Office to charge a second penny within the
+          bills of mortality, 203;
+    principal officers of the penny post absentees, 231;
+    stagnation of the penny post, 302;
+    the post is improved by Johnson, a letter-carrier, 302;
+    financial result, 305;
+    prepayment, hitherto optional, made compulsory, 306;
+    restriction on limits withdrawn, 307;
+    the charge of a second penny, heretofore confined to letters delivered
+          at places outside the bills of mortality, imposed upon letters
+          coming therefrom, 307;
+    the penny post converted into a twopenny post, 331;
+    and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, 340. _See_ twopenny and
+          threepenny posts
+
+  Penzance, its post before and after 1784, 291
+
+  Pepys, Samuel, 84 _note_
+
+  Perceval Spencer, 354, 379
+
+  Percival, Joseph, a passenger by packet without a pass, 89
+
+  Pickwick, "Mr. Pickwick's coach," 281
+
+  Pitt, William, his attention is called to Palmer's plan, 212;
+    sweeps away frivolous objections and desires that it may be tried, 213;
+    raises the postage rates, 215;
+    relaxes the restrictions upon franking, 217;
+    dismisses Tankerville, 224;
+    settles conditions of Palmer's appointment, 229;
+    his knowledge of abuses at the Post Office and his unwillingness to
+          expose them, 241;
+    suppresses report of Royal Commission, 242;
+    authorises increase of salary to the clerks of the roads, 251;
+    declares Palmer's proceedings to be irregular, 263;
+    turns a deaf ear to the postmaster-general's request for an interview,
+          273;
+    interview at length granted, 277;
+    a second interview, 279;
+    acquiesces in Palmer's dismissal and grants him a pension, 279;
+    makes to Post Office servants a periodical grant pending a revision of
+          the establishment, 300;
+    promotes plan for improving the penny post, 305;
+    disallows practice of charging returned letters, 308;
+    modifies arrangements for dealing with ship letters, 329;
+    his precepts in this matter afterwards disregarded, 361
+
+  Plymouth, salary of the postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  _Political Register_, its criticisms on Post Office practice, 342
+
+  Pope, Alexander, his lines on Ralph Allen, 186
+
+  Portage, 29
+
+  Portland, William Henry, Duke of, 379
+
+  Portland Packet, Captain Taylor, its gallant action with privateer, 321
+
+  Postage, introduction of, 18;
+    settled by Act of Parliament, 27;
+    original meaning of term, 29 _note_;
+    rates of postage in 1635, 18;
+    in 1657 and 1660, 28;
+    in 1711, 127;
+    in 1765, 187;
+    in 1784, 216;
+    in 1797, 318;
+    in 1801, 331;
+    in 1805, 339;
+    in 1812, 356;
+    device resorted to in order to evade high rates of, 142;
+    rates lapse through effluxion of time, 180;
+    rates of postage between London and the Channel Islands and within the
+          islands themselves, 314;
+    from Portugal and America, 319;
+    financial result of increase of rates, 341;
+    bewildering complications, 357;
+    extraordinary toleration of the public, explanation suggested, 358;
+    an additional rate imposed in Scotland on withdrawal of exemption from
+          toll, 359;
+    and on letters passing over the Menai Straits or Conway Bridge, 395;
+    rates of postage to the East Indies in 1815, 363;
+    instances of exorbitant rates, 409
+
+  "Poste for the Pacquet," 5 _note_
+
+  Post-boys, 164
+
+  Post-coaches, 214
+
+  Post-haste, 20
+
+  Post-horn. _See_ Horn
+
+  Post-horses. _See_ Horses
+
+  Post-houses, to have horses in readiness, 4;
+    horses not to be let except at, 6;
+    pay of keepers of, in arrear, 15
+
+  Postilions, 107
+
+  Postmarks, introduction of, 38
+
+  Postmasters, their duties in 1690, 48;
+    their salaries, 50;
+    their grievances, 51;
+    their contingent advantages, 52;
+    intercept postage on bye-letters, 52, 53;
+    their correspondence exempt from postage, 160;
+    their moderation on the erection of milestones, 177;
+    are enjoined to frequent the local markets and report the price of
+          corn, 254;
+    salaries of certain postmasters in Scotland in 1707, 118;
+    in England in 1792, 293
+
+  Postmasters-General (I.) [Cotton and Frankland, 1690 to 1708], their
+        simple-mindedness, 45;
+    their accessibility, 46;
+    their concern about the illicit correspondence, 53;
+    their powerlessness to check it, 56;
+    let the posts out to farm, 58;
+    refuse to sublet the penny post, 69;
+    their difference with Pajot, minister of the French posts, 77;
+    remonstrate with captains of packets at Falmouth, 89;
+    and at Harwich, 91;
+    chuckle over the capture of a prize, 93;
+    their rebuke to the captain of a Falmouth packet, 94 _note_;
+    instance of their rough-and-ready justice, 95;
+    take vigorous measures to protect the packets from Flemish privateers,
+          101;
+    their admonition to the packet agent at Dover, 102;
+    act as purveyors of news to the Court, instances given, 104;
+    advocate cheap postage to America, 114;
+    become, at the Union with Scotland, responsible for the Scotch posts,
+          117;
+    their inaction, explanation suggested, 119;
+    action forced upon them, 120;
+    are contrasted with their successors, 185, 202
+
+  Postmasters-General (II.) [Frankland and Evelyn, 1708 to 1715], their
+        interview with Godolphin, 106;
+    their instruction about expresses from Dover, 107;
+    treat personally with Povey, 123;
+    Frankland ceases to be a member of Parliament, 128;
+    concern themselves only slightly about travellers, 130;
+    take measures to check the abuse of franking, 133;
+    in vain urge the appointment of surveyors, 134;
+    negotiate new treaty with France, 138;
+    quit office on accession of George the First, 139
+
+  Postmasters-General (III.) [Cornwallis and Craggs, 1715 to 1721], are
+        amazed at the absence of check in the Post Office, 140;
+    note how little the increase in the rates of postage has added to the
+          revenue, 141;
+    and how largely it has stimulated the abuse of franking, 142;
+    their dispute with the merchants, 142;
+    convict Lowndes of a ludicrous error, 145;
+    their harsh treatment of their secretary, 152
+
+  Postmasters-General (IV.) [Edward Carteret and Walpole, 1721 to 1725],
+        their kindness to subordinates, 152;
+    their interview with Abercorn, 154.
+    [From 1725 to 1733 Carteret had for his colleague Edward Harrison, and
+          from 1733 to 1739 Lord Lovell.]
+    Carteret establishes a post to Aylsham, 167
+
+  Postmasters-General (V.) [Henry Frederick, Lord Carteret and, for the
+        second time, Tankerville, 1784 to 1786], collect opinions on
+        Palmer's plan and submit them to Pitt, 213;
+    entertain doubts as to its feasibility, 218;
+    their differences between themselves, 221;
+    their open rupture, 223;
+    Tankerville is dismissed by Pitt, 224;
+    his ungovernable temper, 225
+
+  Postmasters-General (VI.) [Carteret and Walsingham, 1787 to 1789],
+        Walsingham's industry and thoroughness, 243;
+    questions Carteret's right to sign first, 243;
+    his preponderating influence, 244;
+    his habit of annotating and execrable handwriting, 244, 263;
+    reduces packet establishment at Falmouth, 246;
+    is dissuaded from carrying out a similar reduction at Holyhead, 248;
+    is powerless to control the correspondence by the Milford packets, 249;
+    in conjunction with Carteret procures increase of salary for the clerks
+          of the roads, 250;
+    is imposed upon in the matter of the King's coach, 251;
+    calls for the surveyors' journals, 255;
+    his correspondence with Chalmers, 256;
+    receives an unexpected visit from Palmer, 258;
+    detects Palmer's jealousy and endeavours to allay it, 260;
+    calls Palmer to account for acting without authority, 263;
+    exposes Bonnor's attempt at deception, 265;
+    Carteret's dismissal, 266;
+    Walsingham inquires into the solicitor's accounts, 324
+
+  Postmasters-General (VII.) [Walsingham and Chesterfield, 1790 to 1794],
+          Chesterfield's playful allusions to Palmer, 269;
+    Palmer sets the postmasters-general at defiance, 270;
+    they seek in vain an interview with Pitt, 273;
+    receive assurances from Bonnor of Palmer's disloyalty, 275;
+    remove Bonnor's suspension and suspend Palmer, 276;
+    Chesterfield's letter, 276;
+    Walsingham's interview with Pitt, 277;
+    feel confident of their own dismissal, 278;
+    are furnished with evidence by Bonnor, 278;
+    have a second interview with Pitt and dismiss Palmer, 279;
+    contrast Palmer's reticence in official matters with Freeling's wealth
+          of explanation, 295;
+    Walsingham attempts to improve communication with France, 296;
+    and to reduce postage on letters containing the second halves of bank
+          notes, 298;
+    give attention to coach-building, 393
+
+  Postmasters-General (VIII.) [Chichester and Salisbury, 1816 to 1823],
+        are called upon for a return of the number of Post Office Boards,
+        396;
+    address to the Throne praying that one of the two offices of
+          postmaster-general be abolished, 397;
+    Salisbury stops his own salary, and on his death Chichester becomes
+          postmaster-general sole, 398;
+    Salisbury's testimony to increase of stringency in Post Office matters,
+          405
+
+  Post Office, origin of its monopoly, 7;
+    monopoly confined in the first instance to the county of Kent, 9;
+    a Post Office opened in the city of London, 20;
+    dispute for its possession, 21;
+    becomes the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 27;
+    its position in 1680, 39;
+    is the only receptacle for letters in London, 40;
+    description of it, 46;
+    relations between the Post Office and the Treasury, 57;
+    the Post Office becomes unpopular and the reasons, 170 _seq._;
+    its retrogression, 184;
+    assumes a new character, 202;
+    loses monopoly of letting post-horses, 205;
+    Post Office buildings in Edinburgh and Dublin fall into decay, 207;
+    indignation caused by the earlier closing of the Post Office in London,
+          220;
+    this office enlarged, 295;
+    state of the Post Office as between the years 1695 and 1813 compared,
+          356;
+    the Post Office disseminates news, 401;
+    and police notices, 402;
+    becomes object of interest to the House of Commons, 407;
+    is cleared of more than a century of debt, 408;
+    a new post office opened in St. Martin's-le-Grand, 410
+
+  Post-runners, 118
+
+  Posts, paucity of, in time of Henry the Eighth, 1;
+    their close connection with the Sovereign, 3;
+    instructions for the regulation of, 4;
+    designed not only to carry the letters of the Sovereign, but for the
+          use of persons travelling on the Sovereign's concerns, 4;
+    posts originally maintained at loss to the Crown, 7;
+    at the beginning of the seventeenth century only four in number, 8;
+    of these the post to Dover the most important, precautions taken lest
+          this post should be used for designs against the State, 9;
+    decadence of the posts, 15;
+    improved by Witherings, 16;
+    to be self-supporting, 17;
+    thrown open to the public, 18;
+    let out to farm, 25;
+    rent paid in 1650, 25;
+    in 1653, 27;
+    in 1660, 33;
+    in 1667, 34;
+    in 1657 become the subject of Parliamentary enactment, 27;
+    their inadequacy to meet public demands, 34;
+    even where they existed, their existence not generally known, 35;
+    at what intervals they left London in 1680, 36;
+    regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason, 43;
+    again let out to farm, 58;
+    resumed by the State, 137;
+    as late as 1728, not of general concern, 152
+
+  Povey, Charles, sets up a halfpenny post, 121;
+    contrast between him and Dockwra, 122;
+    his insolence, 122;
+    is proceeded against and cast in damages, 123
+
+  Prideaux, Edmund, takes part with Burlamachi against Warwick, 21;
+    rescues the mail from Warwick's servants, 22;
+    brings the imprisonment of his own servant before the House of
+          Commons, 22;
+    becomes Master of the Posts, 23;
+    his activity, 24;
+    suppresses unauthorised post to Scotland, 25;
+    makes profit out of the posts and is called upon to pay rent, 25;
+    is dismissed, 25;
+    retains an interest in the posts, 26;
+    Oldmixon's estimate of his character, 26;
+    destination of a part of his wealth, 27
+
+  Prideaux, Edmund, son of the preceding, 27
+
+  Prior, Matthew, negotiates Post Office treaty with France, 138
+
+  Prior Park, 185
+
+  Prizes, practice observed on capture of, 93
+
+  Prosecutions, for the illicit conveyance of letters, 333;
+    measures taken to secure their publicity, 359;
+    return to the House of Commons on the subject of, 422
+
+  Protection order, specimen of, 84 _note_
+
+
+  Quartering of soldiers, a grievance to postmasters, 51
+
+  Quash, Ralph Allen's predecessor as postmaster of Bath, 147
+
+  Queen's letters, meaning of term in 1706, 83 _note_
+
+  Queen's servants not exempt from fare by packet, 86
+
+  Queensberry, James, Duke of, 64
+
+
+  Raikes, a diamond merchant, suggests the giving of receipts for
+        registered letters, 409 _note_
+
+  Railways, prediction concerning, 408;
+    first mail sent by railway, 412
+
+  Ramsgate, cost of Post Office at, in 1792, 293
+
+  Randolph, Thomas, Master of the Posts to Queen Elizabeth, 3
+
+  Receiving offices, first opened in London, 37;
+    generally kept at public-houses, 68;
+    to remain open on six nights a week instead of three, 196;
+    letter-boxes at, to be closed and fixed, 306;
+    receiving offices for twopenny post letters separate and distinct from
+          offices for letters by the general post, 409, 423
+
+  Recruits, exemption of, from fare by packet, 85;
+    disputes with officers in charge of, 87;
+    packets employed for transport of, 97
+
+  Registration, exorbitant fees for, of foreign letters, 233;
+    amount of these fees in 1783 and 1784, 235;
+    receipts for foreign registered letters begin to be given, 409 _note_
+
+  Returned Letters. _See_ Dead letters
+
+  Revenue of the Post Office, surrendered by the Crown to the public,
+        in part, in 1711, 126;
+    and wholly, in exchange for a Civil List, in 1760, 189;
+    amount of, from 1635 to 1694, 46;
+    in 1710 and 1721, 144;
+    in 1787 as compared with 1784, 227;
+    in 1796 and 1806, 341;
+    in 1824 and 1833, 422
+
+  Richmond, Charles, Duke of, postmaster-general from December 1830 to July
+        1834, declines to receive salary, 413;
+    his industry, 413;
+    becomes postmaster-general of Ireland as well as Great Britain, and
+         reforms the Dublin establishment, 414;
+    contemplates, apparently, a reduction of postage, 419
+
+  Ripon, Post Office at, refused in 1713, 151;
+    in possession of one in 1792, 293
+
+  Roads, condition of, in 1691, 65;
+    during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, 390;
+    begin to be constructed on scientific principles, 392;
+    Macadam's plan for dealing with the surface of, 392;
+    difference between roads in the country and roads in the neighbourhood
+         of London, 394
+
+  Rochester, Lawrence Hyde, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1685 to 1689,
+        43, 74 _note_, 110, Appendix _note_
+
+  Rogers, captain of packet, engages in smuggling, 89
+
+  Roof-loading of mail-coaches, 287, 412
+
+  Rosencrantz, the Danish envoy, to be specially accommodated on board
+        Harwich packet, 87
+
+  Rosse, Laurence, Earl of, postmaster-general of Ireland from 1809 to
+        1831, 369, 415
+
+  Rotterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, 174
+
+  Royal boroughs of Scotland, 208
+
+  Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Post Office in 1787, 227, 230;
+    in 1823, 407;
+    recommendations of this last Commission not carried into effect, 420;
+    another Commission appointed to ascertain the reason, 423;
+    this Commission procures the contract for mail-coaches to be thrown
+          open to public competition, 425
+
+  Runners, 118
+
+  Rye-House Plot, the cause of a Post Office proclamation, 43
+
+
+  Sailors on board the packets, their conditions of service, 83;
+    receive pensions for wounds, 85;
+    their wages withheld, 91;
+    their wages increased, 248
+
+  St. John, Henry, afterwards Viscount Bolingbroke, 211
+
+  St. Leonards, Shoreditch, a second penny on penny post letters improperly
+        charged at, 203
+
+  St. Martin's-le-Grand, opening of Post Office at, 410
+
+  Salaries. _See_ Wages
+
+  Salisbury, James, Marquess of, postmaster-general from 1816 to 1823.
+        _See_ Postmasters-General, Part VIII.
+
+  Samples. _See_ Patterns
+
+  Sampson, captain of packet, 313
+
+  Sandwich, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from 1768 to 1771, 172;
+    specimen of his frank, Appendix
+
+  Sandwich, John, Earl of, son of the preceding, postmaster-general from
+        1807 to 1814, 348
+
+  Sandwich, Kent, asserts its right to a free delivery, 197;
+    right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, 202, 293
+
+  Scotland, tardiness of communication with, before 1635, 16;
+    communication expedited by Witherings, 16;
+    postage to Scotland, 18;
+    post to Edinburgh set up by the City of London, 24;
+    extent of correspondence with Scotland in 1690, 53;
+    Scotch posts placed under the postmasters-general of England, 117;
+    salaries of Scotch postmasters, 118;
+    course of post between London and Edinburgh accelerated in 1758, 180,
+          256;
+    in 1765 posts to and within Scotland increased in frequency, 195;
+    Post Office in Edinburgh no longer habitable, 207;
+    internal administration of Scotch Post Office revised by Palmer, 271;
+    penny post established in Edinburgh, 300;
+    postage rates within Scotland raised, 319;
+    wholesale prosecutions for illicit correspondence, 333;
+    exemption from toll withdrawn and an additional postage rate imposed,
+          359;
+    unhandsome conduct of the road trustees, 359;
+    roads discoached, 360
+
+  Search, powers of, refused by the House of Commons, 128
+
+  Sebright, Sir John, his letter accidentally opened, 333
+
+  Secretary of State, clerks in the office of, compensated for the loss of
+        the newspaper privilege, 193
+
+  Secretary of the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1694, 70
+
+  Secret Office, 170, 269
+
+  Sharpus, postmaster of New York, 111
+
+  Sheffield, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Shelburne, William, Earl of, 212
+
+  Ship letters, origin of ship letter money, 73;
+    by means of the penny post evade full postage, 73;
+    number of, in 1686, 74;
+    pence paid upon, without legal sanction, 119;
+    legal sanction given, 128;
+    ship letter office established, 328;
+    rates on, increased and restrictions imposed, 361;
+    restrictions modified, 362;
+    made compulsory upon private ships to carry mails, 362
+
+  Ship news supplied by the Post Office to Lloyds, 218
+
+  Shipwrecked seamen pass free by packet, 85
+
+  Shrewsbury, curious reply to petition from, for earlier post, 218
+
+  Single letter, definition of, 139
+
+  Smart and bounty money, 85
+
+  Smuggling, on board the packets at Falmouth, 89, 238;
+    at Harwich, 91, 237;
+    at Dover, 103;
+    in the Dover mail-coach, 271
+
+  Soldiers' wives, when travelling supplied with money through the medium
+        of the Post Office, 374
+
+  Solicitor to the Post Office, appointment of, created in 1703, 70;
+    an absentee and his duties performed by deputy, 231;
+    his accounts inspected by Walsingham's direction, 324
+
+  Somerset, Protector, superscription of his letter to Lord Dacre, 20
+
+  Sorters, pay of, in 1690, 49
+
+  Southampton, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Speed of post in Queen Elizabeth's time, 4;
+    in time of James the First, 6;
+    at the end of the seventeenth century, 62;
+    between London and Falmouth and London and Harwich, at the beginning
+          of the eighteenth century, 83;
+    under Allen's contract, 148;
+    in 1765, 187;
+    after 1784, 290;
+    speed of Holyhead mail-coach before and after Telford's improvement
+          of the road, 394;
+    of mail-coaches generally in 1821 and 1836, 399, 426
+
+  Spencer, Lord Charles, postmaster-general from 1801 to 1806, 333
+
+  Spitalfields, a second penny improperly charged on penny post letters
+        addressed to, 203
+
+  Sprange, James, postmaster of Tunbridge Wells, 408
+
+  Spring Rice, Thomas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 428
+
+  Stage, inconvenience resulting from term not being defined, 219;
+    term dropped as unit of charge, 318
+
+  Stanhope of Harrington, John, Lord, Master of the Posts, 10;
+    resents what he conceives to be an invasion of his patent, 10;
+    dies and is succeeded as Master of the Posts by his son, 11
+
+  Stanhope of Harrington, Charles, Lord, Master of the Posts, son of the
+        preceding, vigorously asserts his rights, 11;
+    vacillating decisions of the Privy Council, 12;
+    surrenders his patent, 20;
+    alleges cajolery, 23
+
+  Stanhope, Arthur, comptroller of the foreign department, his emoluments
+        from franking, 344;
+    supplies newspapers with summaries of foreign intelligence, 346
+
+  Stanhope, James, Secretary of State, 64
+
+  Stanwix, Colonel, 97
+
+  State letters, 83 _note_
+
+  Staunton, John, postmaster of Isleworth; appointed comptroller of the
+        bye and cross-roads, 224
+
+  Steam packets, first employment of, by the Post Office, 384
+
+  Stock Exchange, The, outwits the Post Office, 106
+
+  Stockdale, a highwayman, execution of, 183 _note_
+
+  Stokes, William, 245
+
+  Stone, George, Receiver-General, a defaulter, 185
+
+  Stowmarket, its position and its trade unknown to Allen, 157
+
+  Strangers' post. _See_ Foreign merchants
+
+  Sudbury, duties and salary of postmaster in 1690, 50
+
+  Sunderland, Charles, Earl of, 89
+
+  Surveyors, appointment of, refused by the Treasury, 134;
+    afterwards sanctioned, 140;
+    their original functions, 134;
+    their functions and emoluments after 1786, 228;
+    their journals, 255, 259;
+    cease to hold postmasterships in addition to their appointments as
+        surveyors, 339
+
+  Swift, Richard, solicitor to the Post Office, prepares Post Office bill
+        of 1711, 125;
+    is overborne by Lowndes, secretary to the Treasury, 126
+
+
+  Tankerville, Charles, Earl of, postmaster-general from April 1782 to May
+        1783, and again from January 1784 to September 1786. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part V.
+
+  Telford, Thomas, takes in hand the road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury,
+        392;
+    between Shrewsbury and London, 393;
+    other roads, 409
+
+  Thanet, Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of, undertakes to establish a penny
+        post in Dublin, 69
+
+  "Thorough poste," 5 _note_
+
+  Thrale, Mrs., 209 _note_
+
+  Threepenny post, 340, 417
+
+  Thurloe, John, secretary, assumes direction of the Post Office in
+        1655, 27;
+    intercepts letters, 28
+
+  Thurlow, Edward, Attorney-General, afterwards Lord Chancellor; his
+        opinion as to the duty of the Post Office in the matter of
+        delivering letters, 198, 201
+
+  Thynne, Henry Frederick, afterwards Carteret. _See_ Postmasters-General,
+        Parts V. and VI.
+
+  Timepieces, mode of regulating mail-guards', 283
+
+  _Times_ newspaper, its priority of intelligence, 347;
+    its criticisms on Post Office procedure, 348;
+    proceedings against, taken by Freeling, 349
+
+  Tinware, supply of, to the postmasters-general, 232
+
+  Todd, Anthony, secretary to the Post Office; his correspondence with
+        Benjamin Franklin, 204;
+    his indifference, 218;
+    comments upon Tankerville's temper, 225;
+    his compromising position in respect to the packets, 240;
+    his emoluments, 240;
+    his remark upon Bonnor's dilatory replies, 264;
+    devotes himself to social amenities, 294;
+    unknown to the postmasters-general, retains his shares in the packets,
+          327;
+    his death, 327
+
+  Toll, mail-coaches exempt from, in England and Scotland but not in
+        Ireland, 354;
+    exemption withdrawn in Scotland, 359
+
+  Townshend, Horatio, Lord, 64
+
+  Townshend, Charles, deprecates alarm because a letter is sent by express,
+        182
+
+  Travellers, obtain use of post-horses under false pretences, 5;
+    are not to be supplied with horses except at the post-houses, 6;
+    paucity of travellers, 15;
+    are not to be supplied with horses when the post is expected, 18;
+    have to pay more for horses after the erection of milestones, 176;
+    their restriction to post-houses for a supply of horses withdrawn, 205
+
+  Treasury, its relations to the Post Office, 57, 416;
+    refuses the appointment of surveyors, 134;
+    refuses a horse-post between Edinburgh and Glasgow, 136;
+    experience of its ways a bar to the suggestion of improvements, 169;
+    extorts blackmail, 325
+
+  Treves, Peregrine, the recipient of Carteret's bounty, 226
+
+  Tring, the postmaster of, opens a letter addressed to Sir John Sebright,
+        333
+
+  Tuke, Sir Brian, Master of the Posts to Henry the Eighth, his letter to
+        Thomas Cromwell, 1;
+    his duties, 2;
+    explanation suggested of statement in his letter, 4
+
+  Tunbridge, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+  Tunbridge Wells, old-fashioned postmaster of, in 1823, 408
+
+  Turnpikes, condition of the trusts at the beginning of the nineteenth
+        century, 353;
+    number of Turnpike Acts passed between 1760 and 1809, 390
+
+  Twopenny post, a second penny charged by Dockwra on delivery of letters
+        in the outskirts of London, 38;
+    this second penny not legally sanctioned until 1730, 143;
+    the twopenny post thus established in one direction established also
+          in the other, 307;
+    the penny post converted into a twopenny post, 331;
+    and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, 340;
+    the revenue of the twopenny post as compared with that of the penny
+          post, 341;
+    the crowded condition of the twopenny Post Office in Westminster, 410
+
+  Tyrconnel, Richard Talbot, Earl of, opens the mails at Dublin Castle, 53
+
+
+  Uniform, letter-carriers put into, 299
+
+  Urin, captain of packet, makes wrong port, 89
+
+
+  Vanderpoel, packet agent at the Brill, 92
+
+  Vansittart, Nicholas, Chancellor of the Exchequer, insists upon
+        mail-coaches being withdrawn from the roads, 355;
+    raises the rates of postage, 356;
+    changes the route of the Holyhead coach, 390;
+    refuses to get the terms of a hostile motion altered, 397
+
+  Van Vrybergh, Envoy Extraordinary from the States-General, 101
+
+  Venetian Ambassador, the, protests against the opening of his letters, 28
+
+  Vidler, his contract for the supply of mail-coaches terminated, 425
+
+  Village posts. _See_ Convention posts
+
+  Viner, Sir Robert, 70
+
+
+  Wade, General, 146
+
+  Wages and salaries, of Post Office servants in 1690, 49;
+    of seamen on board the packets, 83;
+    of certain postmasters in England, 50, 293, and in Scotland, 117;
+    of mail-guards, 263
+
+  Waghorn, Thomas, 409
+
+  Wainwright, postmistress of Ferrybridge, her original mode of supplying
+        an omission, 159
+
+  Walcot, John, secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, terms of his
+        agreement with Barham, packet agent at Dover, 222
+
+  Walpole, Sir Robert, maintains an office for the opening of letters,
+        170
+
+  Walpole, Galfridus, postmaster-general from 1721 to 1725. _See_
+        Postmasters-General, Part IV.
+
+  Walpole, Horace, precautions taken by, to secure his correspondence
+        against inspection, 172
+
+  Walsingham, Thomas, Lord, postmaster-general from July 1787 to July
+        1794. _See_ Postmasters-General, Parts VI. and VII.
+
+  Warwick, Robert, Earl of, acquires Witherings's patent and claims
+        possession of the letter office, 21;
+    attempts to obtain it by force, 22;
+    continues to assert his claim, 23
+
+  Warwick, course of post to, altered in 1695, 57
+
+  Waterhouse, Benjamin, Secretary to the Post Office, 131 _note_
+
+  Watson, Sir Charles, 296
+
+  Way letter, meaning of term, 147
+
+  Weights to be attached to sea-borne mails, 82
+
+  Wellesley, Sir Arthur, sets aside objections to improving communication
+        with Ireland, 390
+
+  West Indies, packets to the, established, 78;
+    amount of correspondence in 1705, 80;
+    service discontinued in 1711, 109;
+    resumed in 1745, 173;
+    improved arrangements for disposing of the West Indian mails, 310
+
+  Westmorland, John, Earl of, postmaster-general from September 1789 to
+        March 1790, 266
+
+  Weston, Henry, secretary to the Post Office, harsh treatment of, 152
+
+  Weston brothers, trial of, 290
+
+  Wetherall, Robert, master of ship _Albinia_, proceedings against, for
+        refusing to take mails on board, 362 _note_
+
+  Weymouth, constituted a packet station, 313
+
+  Whinnery, Thomas, postmaster of Belfast, his revolving "alphabet," 375;
+    his mode of delivery, 375
+
+  Whitworth, Richard, 192
+
+  Wildman, Colonel John, postmaster-general from July 1689 to March
+        1690, 44
+
+  Willatt, Dame, postmistress of Manchester in 1792, 292;
+    granted a pension, 301
+
+  Willes, Doctor, Dean of Lincoln, afterwards Bishop of St. Davids; the
+        "chief Decypherer," 171
+
+  Willes, Mr. Justice, his judgment upon the question of free delivery, 200
+
+  William III., confers a pension upon Dockwra, 41;
+    refuses to exempt postmasters from the quartering of soldiers, 51;
+    is unwilling to prosecute for the illegal conveyance of letters, 54;
+    his opinion as to the requirements of a mail packet, 75;
+    the soundness of that opinion confirmed, 76
+
+  Williamson, Peter, sets up an office for the delivery of letters in
+        Edinburgh, 300
+
+  Willimott, Receiver-General, 398 _note_
+
+  Wilson, mail-coach contractor, his exorbitant bill for horsing the
+        King's coach, 251
+
+  Witherings, Thomas, succeeds De Quester as foreign postmaster, 14;
+    is commissioned to examine into the inland posts, 14;
+    suggests a scheme of reorganisation, 16;
+    introduces postage, 17;
+    contemplates posts being self-supporting, 17;
+    but not, apparently, a source of revenue, 19;
+    becomes postmaster for both inland and foreign letters, 20;
+    his appointment is sequestered, 21;
+    assigns his patent, 21
+
+  Wolters, Dirick, a suspected person, to be searched for at Harwich, 88
+
+  Worthing, course of post from London to, in 1666, 34
+
+  Wren, Sir Christopher, surveys the Post Office premises in Lombard
+        Street, 71
+
+
+  York, salary of postmaster in 1792, 293
+
+[Illustration: Bugler on galloping horse]
+
+_J. D. & Co._
+
+_Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh._
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of
+October 1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802
+according to context.
+
+Two changes were made according to the errata:
+
+Page 324 "that the practice dated from 1713" changed to 1703.
+
+Page 339 "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the 10th of October
+    1892 to the 5th of April 1804" changed to October 1802 according to
+    context.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***
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