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diff --git a/38328-h/38328-h.htm b/38328-h/38328-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..132c713 --- /dev/null +++ b/38328-h/38328-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,20683 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of the Post Office, by Herbert Joyce</title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + margin: 3em auto 3em auto; + height: 0px; + border-width: 1px 0 0 0; + border-style: solid; + border-color: #dcdcdc; + width: 500px; + clear: both; +} + +hr.hr2 { + width: 250px; + margin: 3em auto 3em auto; +} + +ins {text-decoration:none; + border-bottom: thin dotted gray; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + + +table.toc { + margin: auto; + width: 50%; +} + +td.c1 { + text-align: right; + vertical-align: top; + padding-right: 1em; +} + +td.c2 { + text-align: left; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-right: 1em; + vertical-align: top; +} + +td.c3 { + text-align: right; + padding-left: 1em; + vertical-align: bottom; +} + +td { padding: 0em 1em; } +th { padding: 0em 1em; } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: #999; +} /* page numbers */ + + +.blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .gap { margin-top: 1em; } + +/* Images */ + .figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +p.caption { + margin-top: 0; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: left; +} + +p.caption2 { + margin-top: 0; + font-size: 70%; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Transcriber Notes */ +div.tn { + background-color: #EEE; + border: dashed 1px; + color: #000; + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + padding: 1em; +} + +ul.corrections { + list-style-type: circle; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +div.fn { + background-color: #EEE; + border: dashed 1px; + color: #000; + margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-top: 5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; + padding: 1em; +} + + .footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + + .footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + + .fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +/* Poetry */ + .poem { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: left; +} + + .poem br { display: none; } + + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + + .poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + .signature { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 5%; +} + + .signature2 { + text-align: right; + margin-right: 15%; +} + +/* INDEX */ +ul.index { list-style-type: none; + width: 20em; + margin: 2em auto; +} + +ul.index2 { list-style-type: none; } + +li.pad { padding-top: 2.0%; } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<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> </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> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </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 & 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—Master of the Posts—Posts centred in the Sovereign—Instructions</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">for their Regulation—Travelling Post—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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER II</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Post through the County of Kent—This Post put under the care of De</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Quester—Stanhope of Harrington, as Master of the Posts, asserts his</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rights—Vacillating Decisions of the Privy Council—Sir John Coke—Thomas</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Witherings</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER III</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Decadence of the Posts—Witherings's Plan—Introduction of Postage—Concessions</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to the common Carrier—Post-haste—Witherings appointed</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Master of the Inland as well as the Foreign Posts—His Dismissal—Philip</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Burlamachi—Dissensions between the Lords and Commons—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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER IV</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Prideaux's Activity—Unauthorised Post set up to Scotland—System of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Farming—Prideaux ceases to be Master of the Posts—Secretary Thurloe—The</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Posts become the Subject of Parliamentary Enactment—Rates of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Postage—Letters circulate through London—The Travelling Post not a</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Source of Revenue—Clement Oxenbridge</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </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—Tediousness of the Course of Post—Existence</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Posts not a matter of common Knowledge—Dockwra's Penny</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post—Introduction of Postmarks—Penny Post incorporated into the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">General Post—Dockwra's Dismissal</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VI</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Posts regarded as Vehicles for the Propagation of Treason—Wildman—Cotton</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and Frankland—Post Office Establishment—Revenue—Building in</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lombard Street—Dispersion of Letters—Salaries and Wages—Newspapers—Drink</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and Feast Money—Post-horses—Quartering of Soldiers—Postmasters'</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Emoluments—Scotland—Ireland—Bye-letters—Illicit</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Traffic—Treasury Control—Post Offices grouped together and let out to</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">farm—Stephen Bigg—Expresses—Flying Packets—State of the Roads—Progress</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Penny Post—Appointment of Secretary and Solicitor—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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">State of the Packet Service—Ship Letters—Special Boats built for the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Harwich Station—M. Pajot, Director of the French Posts—Establishment</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of West India Packets—Edmund Dummer, Surveyor of the Navy—Regulations</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">for the Management of the Packet Stations—Conditions</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Employment—Smart and Bounty Money—Passes required for Passengers—and</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">for Goods—Regulations habitually infringed—Smuggling—Packets</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">forbidden to give Chase—Practice on Capture of a Prize—Packet</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Stations at Falmouth and at Harwich conducted on different Principles—Packets</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">employed to carry Recruits—Letters not to be carried in Foreign</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bottoms—Court-Post—Restoration of Packet Service with Flanders—John</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Macky, Packet Agent at Dover—The Postmasters-General act as</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Purveyors of News to the Court—Their Interview with Godolphin—Posts</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">set up for the Army in Flanders—Packet Establishment placed on</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">a Peace Footing—Dummer's Bankruptcy and Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER VIII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">American Posts—Thomas Neale—Andrew Hamilton—Ocean Penny Postage—Posts</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">transferred to the Crown—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> </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—Inaction</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the English Post Office—Charles Povey—William Lowndes—Diversion</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Postage from the Crown to the Public—Postage Rates increased—Electoral</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Disabilities—Restrictions on the common Carrier—Modification</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Penny Post—Post-horses—Franking—Illicit Traffic in Letters—Treasury</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Inconsistency—Post Office Farmers converted into Managers—Treaty</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">with France—Matthew Prior—Single and Double Letters—Change</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Postmasters-General—Disagreements with Merchants—Twopenny</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post—Comparative Statement of Revenue—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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER X</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Allen's Contract—General Review—The Secretary's Dismissal—Earl of Abercorn's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Complaint—Sketch of Allen's Plan—His Qualifications for carrying</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">it into effect—His local Knowledge—His Difficulties with Postmasters—Post-boys—Illegal</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Conveyance of Letters—Contrast between Allen's Mode</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Procedure and that of the Post Office—Posts increased in Frequency—Opening</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Letters—Falmouth Packets—Late Delivery of Foreign</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Letters—Erection of Milestones—Letters containing Patterns and Writs—Apertures</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to Letter-boxes—Expresses—Highwaymen—Bank Notes—Decadence—Allen's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XI</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Penny Post—Franking—Newspapers—Clerks of the Roads—Numbering of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Houses—Scotch and Irish Posts—Receiving Offices—Gratuities on Delivery—Appeal</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to the Courts—Appointment of Letter-carriers—Attempt</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to curtail the Limits of the Penny Post frustrated—Benjamin Franklin—Post</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Office Monopoly in matter of Horses abolished—Disfranchising Act—Causes</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Disquietude</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Palmer's Plan—Objections—First Mail-coach—Post-coach—Increase in Rates</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Postage—Restrictions upon Franking—Obstruction alleged—Anthony</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Todd—Transitional Period—Stages—Earlier Closing of the General</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post Office—Emoluments from Bell Ringing—Internal Dissensions—Tankerville's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span>Dismissal—Corruption—Surveyors—Conditions of Palmer's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Appointment—Abuses—Fees and Perquisites—Expresses—Registration—Palmer's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Improvements—Packet Service—Smuggling—Flagitious Expenditure—Todd's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Emoluments—Pitt's Indisposition to expose Abuses—Lord</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Walsingham—Daniel Braithwaite—Essays in Cause of Economy—Milford</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Haven and Waterford Packets—Pitiable Condition of the Clerks</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Roads—The King's Coach—His Illness and Prayer for his Recovery—Strange</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Treatment of Official Papers—George Chalmers—Palmer's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jealousy—Mail Guards—Creation of a Newspaper Office—Walsingham</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">attempts to check Irregularities—His inveterate Habit of Scribbling—Exposes</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">an Attempt at Imposition—Curious Practice as regards the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Delivery of Foreign Letters—Earl of Chesterfield—Insubordination on</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Palmer's Part—Appeal to Pitt—Charles Bonnor—Palmer's Suspension—Chesterfield's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Letter—Interview with Pitt—A Second Interview—Palmer's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dismissal—Bonnor's Promotion</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIII</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Model of Mail coach—Patent Coaches—Thomas Hasker—His pithy Instructions—Roof-loading—The</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">King's Interest in his Coach—General Result</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Palmer's Plan—Condition of the country Post Offices—Francis Freeling—Enlargement</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the General Post Office—Communication with</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">France—Bank Notes cut in half—Letter-carriers put into Uniform—Grant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to Post Office Servants—Development of the Penny Post—Edward</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Johnson—Excessive Absence among the Letter-carriers—By the Penny</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post prepayment ceases to be compulsory—The Ten-mile Limit—Origin</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Twopenny Post—Dead Letter Office—American and West Indian</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Correspondence—Correspondence for the India House—Post with the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Channel Islands—Further Restrictions on Franking—Bankers' Franks—Patterns</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and Samples—Metropolitan Cart Service—Horse and Cross</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Posts—Rates of Postage increased—Mysterious doings of the Packets—Brilliant</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Engagements—Post Office Usage—Counsels' Fees—New Years'</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gifts—Todd's Indifference to Censure—His Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XIV</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ship-letter Office—Increase in Rates of Postage—Abolition of the Penny</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post—Invoices and Bills of Lading—Convention Posts—Prosecutions—Auckland's</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pleasantries—Repressive Powers—Guarding the Horse-mails—Recovery</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of stolen Mail Bag—Troubles with Contractors—Surveyors</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">deprived of their Post Offices—Rates of Postage again increased—Threepenny</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post—Post Office Revenue—William Cobbett—Early or Preferential</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Delivery—Treatment of Foreign Newspapers—Newspaper Summaries—The</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Times</i>—Olney Post—-Death-blow to Convention Posts—Turnpike</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Trusts—Exemption from Toll—Roads discoached—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—Bewildering Complications—Want of</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Publicity—Exemption from Toll abolished in Scotland—Returned-letter</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Office—New Ship-letter Act—Mail Service to India and the Cape—Generosity</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the East India Company—Eulogistic Letter</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_328">328</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XV</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">The Irish Post Office—British Mail Office—Earl of Clancarty—Edward Smith</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lees—Abuses—Express Clerks and Clerks of the Roads—Alphabet—Provision</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">for Soldiers' Wives—Thomas Whinnery, Postmaster of Belfast—Charles</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bianconi—Holyhead Packets—Opposition Packets started by</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lees—Steam Packets—Competition—Land Communication with Ireland—London</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">and Holyhead Coach—Sir Arthur Wellesley—State of the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Roads—Road between Holyhead and Shrewsbury—Thomas Telford—John</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">London Macadam—Road between Shrewsbury and London—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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">CHAPTER XVI</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Appointment of Second Postmaster-General abolished—Other Economies—Transfer</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Falmouth Packets to the Admiralty—Speed of Mail-coaches—Mail-coaches</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">the Disseminators of News—Newspapers—Sir</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Henry Parnell—Royal Commission—General Review—Gerrard Street—Headquarters</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the General Post Office removed to St. Martin's-le-Grand—Branch</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Offices—Morning Delivery expedited—First Mail sent by Railway—Duke</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of Richmond—Incorporation of the Irish Post Office with</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">the Post Office of Great Britain—Lord Althorp—Limits of the General</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post Delivery—Packet Service put up to public Competition—Abolition</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">of the Newspaper Privilege—Dissatisfaction with the Post Office—Money</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Order Office—Unsatisfactory Returns to the House of Commons—Indisposition</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">to carry out Reforms—More unsatisfactory Returns—New Contract</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">for Mail-coaches—Freeling's Despondency—and Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_396">396</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">APPENDIX</td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_429">429</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </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;">" 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—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,—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—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—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—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:—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates1"> +<tr><td align="left"> </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. "</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Above 140 miles</td><td align="left">6d.</td><td align="left">12d.</td><td align="left">12d. "</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—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:—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates2"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> On</td><td align="left"> On</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> From Berwick within Scotland—</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">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"> From Dublin 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">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:—"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<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:—</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—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.—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.</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—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,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +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.</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—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—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—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—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—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?—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—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"—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.</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,—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—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.</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—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,<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—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<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—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.</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>—</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"> sailed from England.</td><td align="right">Amount</td><td align="left">of 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 "</td><td align="right">59</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mar. 29 "</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 "</td><td align="right">129</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">6</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">May 31 "</td><td align="right">93</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">9</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">June 28 "</td><td align="right">75</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">3</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">July 26 "</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"> arrived in England.</td><td align="right">Amount</td><td align="left">of 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 "</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 "</td><td align="right">629</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">6</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sept. 3 "</td><td align="right">384</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">6</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Oct. 1 "</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—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—</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 </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—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—and the maxim might still, +perhaps, be observed with advantage—"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:—</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—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:—</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—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,—"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—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.</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—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.</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:—</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:—</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:—</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:—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Letters"> +<tr><td align="left"> </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,—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—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—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—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.</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—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?</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—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.</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>—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates5"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td> </td><td align="right">1660.</td><td> </td><td> </td><td align="right">1711.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From London.</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </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"> </td><td align="right">Single.</td><td align="right">Double.</td><td align="right">Ounce.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </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—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.</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—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.</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—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<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—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."<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—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—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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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,—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—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—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.</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—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—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.</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,—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—and here we speak not of those alone +who traded with Portugal—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—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<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—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—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.</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—"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,—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—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—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<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—</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—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. +<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—a +thing that was impossible before—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—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<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—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<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—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.</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—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;<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:—</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>—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,</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>—</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>—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,</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 "maîtres 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—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<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—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—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—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.</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—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.</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>—</p> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates6"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">1765</td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right"> </td><td align="right">1784.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </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"> </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"> </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"> </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"> </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"> </td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td><td align="center">.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> 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"> 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"> 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> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">{ The Irish Post Office had only</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">{ recently been placed under the</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left">{within Ireland, but between Ireland</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">{ and Great Britain, were awaiting</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">{ revision.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </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"> 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"> 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"> 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—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,—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.</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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—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 +<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—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<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—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."</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 subpœnaed 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—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—a +power which by the postmaster-generals' patent was vested in +themselves alone—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—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—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—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—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'<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 Cæsar; and to Cæsar 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—thus the letter ran—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—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.</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—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—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—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"—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<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—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—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—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.</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,—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—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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—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—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.</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 versâ</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—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.</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—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—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.</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—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<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—</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"> </td><td align="right">Single</td><td align="right">Double</td><td align="right">Treble</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> 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"> 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"> 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"> 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.—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.</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—what was the highest compliment of all—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:—</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>—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.,</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>—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.—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—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.</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—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.</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—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:—</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"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> " 30 " 60 "</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"> " 60 " 100 "</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"> " 100 " 150 "</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"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </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"> " 30 " 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"> " 50 " 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"> " 80 " 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"> " 120 " 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"> " 170 " 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"> " 230 " 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"> " 300 " 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"> " 400 " 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"> " 500 " 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"> " 600 " 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—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—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.</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—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.</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—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—</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—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.</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—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.</p> + +<p>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:—</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>—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.—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—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.</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—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,<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—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.</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—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<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—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"—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.</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—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.</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—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,<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—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—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—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—language such as two months +before had brought the <i>Times</i> 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<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—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—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:—</p> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Rates12"> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Not</td><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left"> </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—as, for instance, at Brighton—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—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.</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—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.</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—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"—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.</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:—</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—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.</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—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.</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—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<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—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—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—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—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—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—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—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.</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—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;<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—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<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—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.<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—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>—</p> + +<div class="center"> +1821.<br /> +<br /> +</div> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Travel"> +<tr><td align="center"> </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"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">M. F.</td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">travelling</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Edinburgh</td><td align="right">59 4</td><td align="center">—</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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">Post Office</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Glasgow</td><td align="right">103 2</td><td align="center">—</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">—</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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </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"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left"> </td><td align="left">nine miles an</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Yarmouth</td><td align="right">54 2</td><td align="center">—</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:—</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:—</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—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—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.</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—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—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—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—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—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.</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—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."</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—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.</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"—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.</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,"—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—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—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.</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—</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:—"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. "See Jemmy Twitcher shambles—stop, +stop, thief"—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 /> +Maîtres 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. & Co.</div> + +<div class="center"><i>Printed by <span class="smcap">R. & 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.—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.</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. Læper, 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.</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:—"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."—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—£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."</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."—<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:— +</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:— +</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>—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.—We +are, your loving friends, +</p> + +<div class="signature"> +<span class="smcap">R. Cotton. </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."—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:—"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:— +</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. </i><br /> +</div> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>—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>. + +</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—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.</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."—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:— +</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>—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> +—We are, sir, your most humble servants, +</p> + +<div class="signature"> +<span class="smcap">T. Frankland.<br /> +J. Evelyn. </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>—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. <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—<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—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:— +</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>—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."—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...."—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."—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—an Act passed four years +before the mails were carried by coach:— +</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—"(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.</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:— +</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> </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"> </td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">to Jan. 24, 1782.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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"> </td><td align="left">{</td><td align="left">to July 6, 1787.</td></tr> + +<tr><td> </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."—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:— +</p> + +<blockquote> +<div class="signature"> +<span class="smcap">Treasury Chambers</span>, <i>June 8, 1703</i>. +</div> + + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>—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, +</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:— +</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:— +</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:— +</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"> </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."—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:— +</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"> </td><td align="right">—</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">13d.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td><td align="right">—</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:— +</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>—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., +</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:— +</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:— +</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—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. </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> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 38328-h.txt or 38328-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/3/2/38328">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/3/2/38328</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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