THE SETTLEMENT OF THE POST-OFFICE.
Ten years after the removal of Docwray from his office in connexion with
the "Penny Post," another rival to the Government department sprung up
in the shape of a "Halfpenny Post." The arrangements of the new were
nearly identical with those of Docwray's post, except that the
charges, instead of a penny and twopence, were a halfpenny and penny
respectively. The scheme, established at considerable expense by a Mr.
Povey, never had a fair trial, only existing a few months, when it was
nipped in the bud by a law-suit instituted by the Post-Office
authorities.
In 1710, the Acts relating to the Post-Office were completely
remodelled, and the establishment was put on an entirely fresh basis.
The statutes passed in previous reigns were fully repealed, and the
statute of Anne, c. 10, was substituted in their place, the latter
remaining in force until 1837. The preamble of the Act just mentioned
sets forth, that a Post-Office for England was established in the reign
of Charles II. and a Post-Office for Scotland in the reign of King
William III.; but that it is now desirable, since the two countries are
united, that the two offices should be united under one head. Also, that
packet-boats have been for some time established between England and the
West Indies, the mainland of North America, and some parts of Europe,
and that more might be settled if only proper arrangements were made "at
the different places to which the packet-boats are assigned." It is
further deemed necessary that the existing rates of postage should be
altered; that "with little burthen to the subject some may be increased"
and other new rates granted, "which additional and new rates," it is
added, "may in some measure enable Her Majesty to carry on and furnish
the present war." Suitable powers are also needed for the better
collecting of such rates, as well as provision for preventing the
illegal trade carried on by "private posts, carriers, higlers, watermen,
drivers of stage-coaches, and other persons, and other frauds to which
the revenue is liable."
As these alterations and various improvements cannot be well and
properly made without a new Act for the Post-Office, the statutes
embodied in 12 Charles II. and the statutes referring to the Scotch
Post-Office passed in the reign of William and Mary, entitled "An Act
anent the Post-Office," and every article, clause, and thing therein,
are now declared repealed, and the statute of 9 Anne, c. 10, called "An
Act for establishing a General Post-Office in all Her Majesty's
dominions, and for settling a weekly sum out of the revenue thereof for
the service of the war, and other Her Majesty's occasions," is
substituted. This Act, which remained in force so long, and may be said
to have been the foundation for all subsequent legislation on the
subject, deserves special and detailed notice.
1. By its provisions a General Post and Letter-Office is established
within the City of London, "from whence all letters and packets
whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the
kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to North America and the West
Indies, or any other of Her Majesty's dominions, or any country or
kingdom beyond the seas," and "at which office all returns and answers
may be likewise received." For the better "managing, ordering,
collecting, and improving the revenue," and also for the better
"computing and settling the rates of letters according to distance, a
chief office is established in Edinburgh, one in Dublin, one at New
York, and other chief offices in convenient places in her Majesty's
colonies of America, and one in the islands of the West Indies, called
the Leeward Islands."
2. The whole of these chief offices shall be "under the control of an
officer who shall be appointed by the Queen's Majesty, her heirs and
successors, to be made and constituted by letters patent under the Great
Seal, by the name and stile of Her Majesty's _Postmaster-General_." "The
Postmaster-General shall appoint deputies for the chief offices in the
places named above, and he, they, and their servants and agents, and no
other person or persons whatsoever, shall from time to time, and at all
times, have the receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching, sending
post with all speed, carrying and delivering of all letters and packets
whatsoever." The only exceptions to this clause must be--[34]
(_a_) When common known carriers bear letters concerning the goods
which they are conveying, and which letters are delivered with the
goods without any further hire or reward, or other profit or
advantage.
(_b_) When merchants or master-owners of ships send letters in ships
concerning the cargoes of such ships, and delivered with them under
the self-same circumstances.
(_c_) Letters concerning commissions or the returns thereof,
affidavits, writs, process or proceeding, or returns thereof,
issuing out of any court of justice.
(_d_) Any letter or letters sent by any private friend or friends in
their way of journey or travel.
3. The Postmaster-General, and no other person or persons whatever,
shall prepare and provide horses or furniture to let out on hire to
persons riding post on any of Her Majesty's post-roads, under penalty of
100_l._ per week, or 5_l._ for each offence.[35] The rates of charge for
riding post are settled as follows:--The hire of a post-horse shall be
henceforth 3_d._ a mile, and 4_d._ a mile for a person riding as guide
for every stage. Luggage to the weight of 80 pounds allowed, the guide
to carry it with him on his horse.
4. The rates of postage under the present Act are settled.
_s._ _d._
For any single letter or piece of paper to any place in
England not exceeding 80 miles 0 3
" double letter 0 6
" packet of writs, deeds, &c. per ounce 1 0
" single letter, &c. exceeding 80 miles, or as far
north as the town of Berwick 0 4
" double letter 0 8
" packet, per ounces 1 4
From London to Edinburgh and all places in Scotland
south of Edinburgh, per single letter 0 6
" " double letter 1 0
" " packets, per ounce 2 0
The other Scotch posts were calculated from Edinburgh, and charged
according to the distance as in England.
_s._ _d._
From London to Dublin, single letter 0 6
" " double letter 1 0
" " packets, per ounce 2 0
From Dublin to any Irish town the charge was according to distance, at
the English rate.
Any letter from any part of Her Majesty's dominions for London would be
delivered free by the penny post, and if directed to places within a
circuit of ten miles from the General Post-Office, on payment of an
extra penny over and above the proper rate of postage.
_s._ _d._
The postage of a single letter to France was 0 10
" " Spain 1 6
" " Italy 1 3
" " Turkey 1 3
" " Germany, Denmark 1 0
" " Sweden 1 0
" " from London to New York 1 0
Other rates were charged to other parts of the American continent,
according to the distance from New York, at something less than the
English rate.
5. The principal deputy postmasters are empowered to erect _cross-posts_
or stages, so that all parts of the country may have equal advantage as
far as practicable, but only in cases where the postmasters are assured
that such erections will be for "the better maintainance of trade and
commerce, and mutual correspondences."
6. A survey of all the post-roads shall be made, so that the distances
between any place and the chief office in each country "shall be settled
by the same measure and standard." These surveys must be made regularly,
"as necessity showeth;" and when finished, the distances must be fairly
shown by "_books of surveys_" one of which must be kept in each of the
head offices, and by each of the surveyors themselves. The surveyors who
shall be appointed and authorized to measure the distances must swear to
perform the same to the best of their skill and judgment.[36]
7. Letters may be brought from abroad by private ship, but must be
delivered at once into the hands of the deputy postmasters at the
respective ports, who will pay the master of such ship a penny for every
letter which he may thus deliver up to them. It is hoped that, by these
arrangements, merchants will not suffer as they had previously done, by
having their letters "_imbezilled_ or long detained, when they had been
given into the charge of ignorant and loose hands, that understandeth
not the ways and means of speedy conveyance and proper deliverance, to
the great prejudice of the affairs of merchants and others."
8. The Postmaster-General and the deputy postmasters must qualify
themselves, if they have not already done so, by receiving the
_sacrament_ according to the usage of the Church of England; taking,
making, and subscribing the test, and the oaths of allegiance,
supremacy, and adjuration. It is also decided that the Post-Office
officials must not meddle with elections for members of Parliament. The
officers of the Post-Office must also qualify themselves for the duties
of their office by observing and following such orders, rules,
directions, and instructions, concerning the settlements of the posts
and stages, and the management of post-horses, and the horsing of all
persons riding by royal warrant, as Her Majesty shall see fit from time
to time to make and ordain.
A short proviso follows concerning the time-honoured privileges of the
two English Universities, and guaranteeing the same; and then we come to
an arrangement for the attainment of which object, it would appear
(almost exclusively), the Post-Office was remodelled in the manner we
have shown.
9. "Towards the establishment of a good, sure, and lasting fund, in
order to raise a present supply of money for carrying on the war, be it
enacted that from the present time, and during the whole term of 32
years, the full, clear, and entire weekly sum of 700_l._ out of
the duties and revenues of the Post-Office shall be paid by the
Postmaster-General into the receipts of the Exchequer on the Tuesday of
every week."
Whatever else was arranged permanently, the increased rates of postage
were only meant to be temporary; for at the end of thirty-two years, it
was provided that the old rates shall be resorted to. The clause was
simply inserted as a war measure, for the purpose of raising revenue,
but we shall see that, so far from returning to the old postages, fresh
burdens were imposed at the end of that period and from time to
time.[37]
The improvements introduced by the bill of 1710 had the natural effect
of increasing the importance of the Post-Office institution, and of
adding to the available revenue of the country considerable sums each
year. For ten years no further steps were taken to develop the resources
of the service; but in 1720 Ralph Allen appears, another and perhaps the
most fortunate of all the improvers of the Post-Office. Up to this year,
the lines of post had branched off, from London and Edinburgh
respectively, on to the principal roads of the two kingdoms; but the
"cross-posts," even when established, had not been efficient, the towns
off the main line of road not being well served, whilst some districts
had no direct communication through them. The Post-Office Bill had given
facilities for the establishment of more "cross-posts;" but, till 1720,
the authorities did not avail themselves of its provisions to any great
extent. Mr. Allen, at that time the postmaster of Bath, and who must,
from his position, have been well aware of the defects of the existing
system, proposed to the Government to establish cross-posts between
Exeter and Chester, going by way of Bristol, Gloucester, and Worcester,
connecting in this way the west of England with the Lancashire districts
and the mail route to Ireland, and giving independent postal
intercommunication to all the important towns lying in the direction to
be taken. Previous to this proposal, letters passing between
neighbouring towns were conveyed by circuitous routes, often requiring
to go to the metropolis and to be sent back again by another post-road,
thus, in these days of slow locomotion, causing serious delay. Allen
proposed a complete reconstruction of the cross-post system, and
guaranteed a great improvement to the revenue as well as better
accommodation to the country. By his representations, he induced the
Lords of the Treasury to grant him a lease of the cross-posts for life.
His engagements were to bear all the cost of his new service, and pay a
fixed rental of 6,000_l._ a-year, on which terms he was to retain all
the surplus revenue. From time to time the contract was renewed, but of
course at the same rental; each time, however, the Government required
Allen to include other branches of road in his engagement, so that at
his death, in 1764, the cross-posts had extended to all parts of the
country. Towards the last, the private project had become so gigantic as
to be nearly unmanageable, and it was with something like satisfaction
that the Post-Office authorities saw it lapse to the Crown. At this time
it was considered one of the chief duties of the surveyors--whose
business it was to visit each deputy postmaster in the course of the
year--to see that the distinction between the bye-letters of the
cross-posts, the postage of which belonged to Mr. Allen, and the postage
of the general post letters, which belonged to the Government, was
properly kept up. The deputies were known to hold the loosest notions on
this subject, some of them preferring to appropriate the revenues of one
or the other post rather than make mistakes in the matter. The disputes
and difficulties lasted to the death of Allen.[38] Notwithstanding the
losses he must have suffered through the dishonesty or carelessness of
country postmasters, the farmer of the cross-posts, in an account which
he left at his death, estimated the net profits of his contract at the
sum of 10,000_l._ annually, a sum which, during his official life,
amounted in the total to nearly half a million sterling! Whilst, in
official quarters, his success was greatly envied, Mr. Allen commanded,
in his private capacity, universal respect. In the only short account we
have seen of this estimable man, a contemporary writer states[39] that
"he was not more remarkable for the ingenuity and industry with which he
made a very large fortune, than for the charity, generosity, and
kindness with which he spent it." It is certain that Allen bestowed a
considerable part of his income in works of charity, especially in
supporting needy men of letters. He was a great friend and benefactor of
Fielding; and in _Tom Jones_, the novelist has gratefully drawn Mr.
Allen's character in the person of _Allworthy_. He enjoyed the
friendship of Chatham and Pitt; and Pope, Warburton, and other men of
literary distinction, were his familiar companions. Pope has celebrated
one of his principal virtues, unassuming benevolence, in the well-known
lines:--
"Let humble _Allen_, with an awkward shame,
Do good by stealth, and blush to find its fame."
On the death of Allen, the cross-posts were brought under the control of
the Postmaster-General. An officer, Mr. Ward, was appointed to take
charge of the _Bye-letter Office_, as the branch was now called, at the
salary of 300_l._ a-year. The success of the amalgamation scheme was so
complete, that at the end of the first year, profits to the amount of
20,000_l._ were handed over to the Crown. Afterwards, the proceeds
continued to increase even still more rapidly; so much so, that when, in
1799, the "Bye-letter Office" was abolished, and its management
transferred to the General Office, they had reached the enormous yearly
sum of 200,000_l._!
At the revision of the Post-Office in 1710, the bounds of the penny post
were extended, as we have seen, to a district within ten miles of the
General Post-Office. This extension was granted on a memorial from
several townships in the London district, who volunteered, if such
extension were made, that they would pay an extra penny for every letter
delivered beyond "the boundaries of the cities of London and
Westminster, and the borough of Southwark." Numerous disputes having
arisen owing to the _wording_ of the Act, and many inhabitants claiming
in consequence to have their letters delivered free within the ten-mile
circuit, a supplementary Act was passed in 1727, "_for the obviating and
taking away such doubts_," as to what was the proper charge, and
directing that the "penny postmen" must not deliver any letters out of
the original limits, but may detain or delay such letters or packets,
unless an extra penny were paid for each on delivery.
The statute of Queen Anne provided that a weekly payment of 700_l._
should be made to the Exchequer from the Post-Office for a period of
thirty-two years. This term having expired in 1743, an Act was passed in
that year making the payment _perpetual_, and all clauses, powers, &c.
in the Act of 1711 were also made perpetual. In order to keep up this
source of revenue, which was too good to relinquish, the rates of
postage, instead of being lowered again as stipulated, were kept up, and
several times during subsequent years, as we shall see, fresh additions
were made to the burdens of letter-writers. While on this subject, we
may simply state the clause of Queen Anne's Act relating to the disposal
of the _surplus_ revenue. All pensions were to be paid out of it, and
the remainder retained by the Queen "for the better support of Her
Majesty's household, and for the honour and dignity of the Crown of
Great Britain." On the accession of George I. a bill, granting the same
rights and privileges during the King's lifetime, was passed in the
first session of Parliament. In the first year of the reign of George
II. and his grandson George III. the same rights and privileges were
obtained under the self-same conditions. Though the conditions of the
following Act were, in reality, carried out several years previously,
when a salary of 700,000_l._ a-year was granted to the King for the
support of his household, section 48 of 27 George III. enacts that, for
the King's lifetime, "the entire _net_ revenue of the Post-Office shall
be carried to and made part of the fund, to be called 'the Consolidated
Fund.'" It is scarcely needful to say that this arrangement has existed
from 1787 to the present time.
From the date of Allen's improvement in 1720 to the year 1761, when the
postage of letters was again disturbed and many other alterations made,
little of special importance was done in the Post-Office, and we cannot
do better than take advantage of this quiet time to give some account of
the internal arrangements of the establishment, and to notice certain
minutiæ, which, though trifling in themselves, will serve to give the
reader an insight into the details, the way and means, of this early
period.[40] In the time of George I. the officers of the Post-Office in
London consisted of _two_ Postmasters-General, with a secretary and a
clerk. There were four chief officers in the Inland-office--viz. a
controller, a receiver, an accountant, and a solicitor. The staff of
clerks consisted of seven for the different roads--Chester, North West,
Bristol, Yarmouth, Kent, and Kent night-road. Thirteen clerks were
engaged in other duties, and three more clerks attended at the window to
answer inquiries and deliver letters. The foreign office, which was a
separate department, included a controller and an alphabet keeper, with
eight assistant clerks. The whole London establishment, which at the
present day numbers several thousand officers of different grades, was
then, without counting letter-carriers, worked with a staff of
thirty-two.
"To show the method, diligence, and exactness of our General
Post-Office," says a writer of the period, "and the due despatch of the
post at each stage, take this specimen." And for our purpose we cannot
do better than take Stowe's advice, and insert here a copy of a
Post-Office proclamation to postmasters and time-bill, given in his
_History of London_:--
"Whereas the management of the postage of the letters of Great
Britain and Ireland is committed to our care and conduct: these are
therefore in His Majesty's name to require you in your respective
stages to use all diligence and expedition in the safe and speedy
conveyance of this mail and letters: that you ride five miles an
hour according to your articles from London to East Grinstead, and
from thence to return accordingly. And hereof you are not to fail,
as you will answer the contrary at your perils.
Signed, CORNWALLIS.
JAMES CRAGGS."[41]
TO THE SEVERAL POSTMASTERS BETWIXT LONDON AND EAST GRINSTEAD.
Haste, Haste, Post Haste!
+--------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| | From the Letter-Office at _half an hour past two in the_ |
|_Miles._| _morning_, July 17, 1719. |
| | |
| 16 | Received at Epsom half an hour past six, and sent away |
| | three-quarters past. ALEXANDER FINDLATER. |
| | |
| 8 | Received at Dorking half an hour after eight, and sent |
| | away at nine. CHAS. CASTLEMAN. |
| | |
| 6 | Received at _Rygate_ half an hour past ten, and sent away |
| | again at eleven. JOHN BULLOCK. |
| | |
| 16 | Received at East Grinstead at half an hour after three |
| | in the afternoon. |
+--------+-----------------------------------------------------------+
The speed at which the East Grinstead mail travelled was greater than
usual: few post-boys, in the provinces at any rate, were required to go
at a greater rate than three or four miles an hour. Not only this, but
the boys as a rule were without discipline; difficult to control;
sauntered on the road at pleasure, and were quite an easy prey to any
robber or ill-disposed persons who might think it worth their while to
interfere with them. About this time, we find the Post-Office surveyor
complaining dolorously to headquarters, that the gentry "doe give much
money to the riders, whereby they be very subject to get in liquor,
_which stopes the males_." Expresses at that time travelled somewhat
quicker, but still not quick enough for some persons. On one occasion,
Mr. Harley (afterwards Lord Oxford) complained of delay in an express
which had been sent to him; but the Postmasters-General thought there
were no grounds for complaint, inasmuch "as it had travelled 136 miles
in 36 hours, which," added they, "is the usual rate of expresses."
In the year 1696, the Treasury sanctioned an arrangement for conveying
the mails between Bristol and Exeter, twice a week, under the
stipulation that the distance of sixty-five miles should be performed in
twenty-four hours!
In Scotland, about the same time, this work was done even slower, and
with greater hardships. The post-boy walked all distances under twenty
miles; longer distances required that the messenger should be mounted,
though no relays of horses were allowed, however long and tedious the
journey might be.[42]
At this time, it was only a secondary consideration, _when_ or _how_
letters should be delivered. For a number of years the authorities were
simply bent on raising revenue out of the Post-Office. Thus, about the
period of which we are speaking, a request was made to the authorities
from certain inhabitants of Warwick, that the London letters for that
place should be sent direct to Warwick and not through Coventry, by
which latter route a great many hours were lost. A decided negative was
returned to this very reasonable request, and for the following cogent
_official_ reason, which exhibits well the exacting tendencies of the
Government. "From London to Warwick, through Coventry, is more than
_eighty_ miles," say the Postmasters-General; "so that we can charge
6_d._ per letter going that way, whereas we could only charge 3_d._ if
they went direct." No doubt this reply is given to the Lords of the
Treasury, through whom all such applications as the foregoing had then,
and still have, to pass; for it cannot be imagined that they gave this
reply to the people of Warwick themselves. "Perhaps, however," add the
Post-Office officials, with some glimmering idea of the true business
principle, "we might get _more letters_ at the cheaper rate." Present
profits, nevertheless, could not be sacrificed, even though there should
be a prospect of increased future revenue. Another instance is on
record, proving that in this respect the Post-Office authorities of the
period were wiser than the executive that held them in check. The
Postmasters-General apply (fruitlessly however) to the Treasury to lower
the rates of postage in a particular district, and in urging their
request, state that "we have, indeed, found by experience, that where we
have made the correspondence more easie and cheape, the number of
letters has been thereby much increased, and therefore we do believe
such a settlement may be attended with a like effect in these parts."
The Treasury Lords are slow to sanction what appeared to them to be a
sacrifice of revenue, and from the frequent applications which were made
to them by deputy postmasters in the early part of last century to
settle accounts of long standing, or remit the arrears owing to the
Government, we may imagine that their hands were full and their temper
soured. Many postmasters in the West of England now petitioned the
Treasury to the effect that they had been nearly ruined in the times of
His Majesty King William, "through much spoiling of their horses by
officers riding-post in the late blessed Revolution." Others grumble at
the lowness of their salaries. It was all very well, they argued, that
the deputies, during the civil wars or at the Revolution, should be
contented with low salaries, because they were exempted from having
soldiers quartered upon them, but now that the time of peace had come,
they submitted that their salaries should be raised.
The Act of Queen Anne provided for one Postmaster-General. How it came
to be altered is not clear; but it is nevertheless certain that, for the
greater part of the eighteenth century, the office was jointly held by
two chiefs. All letters and mandates bore the signature of both of them;
though it seems probable that the work of the office was equitably
divided between the two gentlemen, the one taking charge principally of
the inland business, while the other managed the packets. The duties of
the latter department were much more onerous than might be supposed,
when viewed in the light of the history of that period. As we have not
yet directed attention to this department of the Post-Office, we may
here state that some curious accounts survive of the infancy of the
postal sea-service, during the former part of last century, when Sir
Robert Cotton and Sir Thomas Frankland shared its management. In those
sad times when war was raging, and French privateers covered every sea,
our Postmasters-General were anxious, though shrewd and active men. The
general orders to the captains of the vessels under their control were
such as, under the circumstances, they ought to be: "You must run while
you can, fight when you can no longer run, and throw the mails overboard
when fighting will no longer avail." Notwithstanding such an order, and
on account of so many mails travelling short of their destination, the
Postmasters-General resolve to build swift packet-boats that shall
escape the enemy; but in their inexperience, they get them built so low
in the water, that shortly afterwards, "we doe find that in blowing
weather they take in soe much water that the men are constantly wet
through, and can noe ways goe below, being obliged to keep the hatches
shut to save the vessel from sinking." It is clear that better and
stronger boats must be built, and stronger boats are built accordingly.
To make up for the expense, they order that the freight of passengers
shall be raised, though "recruits and indigent persons shall still have
their passage free." It is noteworthy here, that about this time no
political refugee seeking an asylum in England is ever hard pressed for
a fare on the continental packet-boats, but an entry is made in the
agent's letter-book that so and so "have not wherewithal to pay their
charges," and are sent on their path to liberty without further
question.
Every provision is supplied by the authorities in London, and salaries
and pensions of all kinds are granted. Thus, in one place, a chaplain is
appointed for the crew of one of the packets, with a small stipend, "for
doing their offices of births, marriage, and burial." Pensions for
wounds received in the service are granted with nice discrimination of
the relative parts of the body. In a letter to their agent at Falmouth,
the Postmasters-General send a scale of pensions to be granted according
to the kind of wound--thus: "For every arm or leg amputated above the
elbow or knee, L.8 per annum; below the arm or knee, twenty nobles. Loss
of the sight of one eye must be L.4; of the pupil of the eye, L.5; of
the sight of both eyes, L.12; of the pupils of both eyes, L.14; and
according to these rules, we _consider also how much also the hurts
affect the body_, and make the allowances accordingly." The duties
devolving upon the chief Post-Office officials seem not only to have
been onerous and heavy--some of their instructions to their agents
bearing dates from the middle of the night and other extraordinary
hours--but curiously varied. Many of their letters are preserved among
the old records in the vaults under the General Post-Office, and some of
them are quite sad and plaintive in their tone. "We are concerned," they
say to one agent, "to find the letters brought by your boat [one from
the West Indies] _to be so consumed by the ratts_, that we cannot find
out to whom they belong." Another letter to their agent at Harwich is
evidently disciplinary, and runs as follows:--
"MR. EDISBURY--The woman whose complaint we herewith send you,
_having given us much trouble upon the same_, we desire you will
inquire into the same, and see justice done her, believing she may
have had her brandy stole from her by the sailors.--We are your
affectionate friends[!],
R. C., T. F."
It would be difficult to fancy such a letter as the above proceeding
from officialdom in the year of grace eighteen hundred and sixty-four.
In another letter we find the authorities affectionately scolding an
agent because "he had not provided a sufficiency of pork and beef for
the prince" (who this pork-loving prince was does not appear); in
another, because "he had bought powder at Falmouth that would have been
so much cheaper in London." In other cases they act as public guardians
of morality and loyalty, suspending one because "he had stirred up a
mutiny between a captain and his men, _which was unhandsome conduct in
him_;" bringing one Captain Clies to trial, inasmuch as "he had spoken
words reflecting on the royal family, which the Postmasters-General
_took particular unkind of him_," and can by no means allow; and
reprimanding another captain for "breaking open the portmanteau of a
gentleman-passenger, and spoiling him of a parcel of snuff." What with
all these cares and duties, the Postmasters-General of those days could
scarcely have had an easy time of it.
This sole control over the resources of the packet-service explains much
in the history of the _franking system_, which would be quite
unintelligible without the information just given. The Treasury warrants
of that day franked the strangest commodities--articles which certainly
would not be dropped into any letter-box, and which would neither be
stamped nor sorted in the orthodox way. The following list of a few
franked commodities is culled from a still larger number of such in the
packet "agent's book," found amongst the old records to which reference
has already been made:--
"_Imprimis._ Fifteen couple of hounds, going to the King of the
Romans with a free pass.
"_Item._ Two maid servants, going as laundresses to my Lord
Ambassador Methuen.
"_Item._ Doctor Crichton, carrying with him _a cow_ and divers
necessaries.
"_Item._ Two bales of stockings, for the use of the Ambassador to
the Crown of Portugal.[43]
"_Item._ A deal case, with ffour flitches of bacon, for Mr.
Pennington of Rotterdam."
Whilst referring to the subject of letter-franking, we may as well
notice here, that before the control of the packet-service passed out of
the hands of the Post-Office authorities, and when the right of franking
letters became the subject of legislative enactments, we hear no more of
these curious consignments of goods. The franking system was henceforth
confined to passing free through the post any letter which should be
indorsed on the cover with the signature of a member of either House of
Parliament. As it was not then made a rule absolute that Parliament
should be in session, or that the correspondence should necessarily be
on the affairs of the nation in order to insure immunity from postage,
this arrangement led to various forms of abuse. Members signed huge
packets of covers at once, and supplied them to friends and adherents in
large quantities. Sometimes they were sold. They have been known to have
been given to servants in lieu of wages, the servants selling them again
in the ordinary way of business. Nor was this all. So little precaution
seems to have been used, that thousands of letters passed through the
Post-Office with forged signatures of members.[44] To such an extent did
this and kindred abuses accumulate, that, in 1763, the worth of franked
correspondence passing through the post was estimated at 170,000_l._
During the next year--viz. in 1764--Parliament enacted that no letter
should pass free through the Post-Office unless the whole address was in
the member's own handwriting and his signature attached likewise. Even
these precautions, though lessening the frauds, were not sufficient to
meet the evil, for fresh regulations were thought necessary in 1784.
This time it was ordered that all franks should be dated, the month to
be given in full; and further, that all such letters should be put into
the post on the day they were dated. From 1784 to the date of penny
postage no further regulations were made concerning the franked
correspondence, the estimated value of which during these years was
80,000_l._ annually.
The rates of postage ordered by the Government of Queen Anne continued
in force for eighteen years after it was designed by the Act that they
should cease, and it was only in 1761, at the commencement of the reign
of George III., that any alteration was made. Even then the rates were
increased instead of diminished. 1 Geo. III. c. 25 provides, that the
improvement of correspondence is a matter of such great concernment and
so highly necessary for the extension of trade and commerce, that the
statutes of Queen Anne need repealing to some extent, and especially as,
through vast accessions of territory, no posts and post-rates are
arranged to all his Majesty's dominions. The improvements and
alterations made at this time may thus be summed up, viz.:--
1. Additions are made to the vessels on the American station. Other and
cheaper rates of postage are established between London and North
America and all his Majesty's territories in America.
2. Concerning letters brought by private ships from any foreign part, no
ship or vessel shall be permitted to make entry in any port of Great
Britain, or to unload any of its cargo, until all letters and packets
brought by such ship, or any passenger on board such ship, are
delivered into the hands of the deputy-postmaster of the port, and until
the captain shall receive the deputy's receipt for the same. In cases
where the vessel "is liable to the performance of quarantine," the first
step must be to deliver the letters into the hands of the superintendent
of the quarantine, to be by him despatched to the Post-Office. A penalty
of 20_l._ with full costs to be inflicted on any master not delivering a
letter or packet of letters according to this Act, one moiety to go to
the King and the other to the person informing.
3. The roads are to be re-surveyed, under the arrangements laid down in
Queen Anne's Act, for the purpose of settling the rates of postage
afresh.
4. Letters to be charged according to the post-stages travelled, or
shorter distances to be paid for; thus:--
_s._ _d._
For the conveyance of every single letter not exceeding
15 miles 0 1
" " double letter 0 2
" " ounce 0 4
" " single letter, 30 miles and
under 40 miles 0 2
" " double letter 0 4
" " ounce 0 8
" " single letter, 40 miles and
under 80 miles 0 3
" " double letter 0 6
" " ounce 1 0
And so on.
These rates were again altered in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of
George III. for the raising of revenue to defray his Majesty's expenses,
the alteration, which took effect on the introduction of mail-coaches,
consisting of the addition of one penny to every existing charge.[45]
5. Permission is given to settle penny post-offices in other towns in
England, on the same basis as the London penny-post establishment. The
permission thus granted was soon applied, and long before the
establishment of uniform penny-postage, there were at least a thousand
penny-posts in existence in different towns. The principle which guided
the Department in establishing penny-posts was to select small towns and
populous neighbourhoods not situated in the direct line of general post
conveyances, which were desirous of obtaining extra facilities, and
granting such posts provided that they did not afford the means for
evading the general post. The only requisite was, that the authorities
should have a reasonable hope that the proposed post would yield
sufficient to pay for its maintenance--a thing considered settled if the
receipts on its first establishment would pay two-thirds of the entire
charges.
6. The weight of any packet or letter to be sent by the London
penny-post, or any of the new penny-posts to be established under this
improved Act, must not now exceed _four ounces_.
In 1749, the Act restraining any other but officers of the Post-Office
from letting out horses to hire for the purpose of riding post, is
stated not to refer to cases where chaises, "calashes," or any other
vehicles, are furnished. Vehicles to drive may be provided on either
post-roads or elsewhere by any person choosing to engage in the trade.
In 1779, all Acts giving exclusive privileges to the Postmaster-General
and his deputies as to the letting of post-_horses_ for hire are
henceforth repealed.
In the year 1766 the first penny-post was established in Edinburgh by
one Peter Williamson, a native of Aberdeen. He kept a coffee-shop in the
hall of the Parliament House, and as he was frequently employed by
gentlemen attending the courts in sending letters to different parts of
the city, and as he had doubtless heard something of the English
penny-posts, he began a regular post with hourly deliveries, and
established agents at different parts of the city to collect letters. He
employed four carriers, who appeared in uniform, to take the letters
from the different agents, and then to deliver them as addressed. For
both these purposes they were accustomed to ring a bell as they
proceeded, in order to give due notice of their approach. The
undertaking was so successful, that other speculators were induced to
set up rival establishments, which, of course, led to great confusion.
The authorities saw the success of the undertaking, and, aware of its
importance, they succeeded in inducing Williamson to take a pension for
the good-will of his concern, and then merged it in the general
establishment.
We cannot attempt more than a short _résumé_ of the incidents in the
previous history of the Scotch Post-Office, although the annals of the
seventeenth century contain little of interest, and might, therefore,
soon be presented to the reader. The first regular letter-post was
established in the reign of James I. (of England). In 1642, owing to the
sending of forces from Scotland to put down the Irish Rebellion, it was
found that the post arrangements in the south-west of Scotland were
defective in the extreme. The Scotch Council proposed to establish a
line of posts between Edinburgh and Portpatrick, and Portpatrick and
Carlisle, and the English, being more immediately concerned in the
Rebellion, agreed to bear the whole expense.[46] In the Privy Council
records of the period, we find a list of persons recommended by the
Commissioners for appointment on the two lines of road as postmasters,
"such persons being the only ones fit for that employment, as being
innkeepers and of approved honesty." Seven years afterwards we find the
Post-Office at Edinburgh was under the care of John Mean, husband of the
woman who discharged her stool at the bishop's head when the
service-book was introduced into St. Giles's in 1637. He seems to have
himself borne the charges of attending to the office "without any
reasonable allowance therefor;" and petitioning the Committee of Estates
to that effect, they allowed him to retain the "eighth penny on all
letters sent from Edinburgh to London (no great number), and the fourth
penny upon all those coming from London to Edinburgh." At the
Restoration the office was bestowed on Robert Main, and considerable
improvements were made under his management, although only with existing
posts. Little was done for other parts of Scotland. A traveller in
Scotland so late as 1688, commenting on the absence of stage or other
coaches on most Scotch roads, says,[47] that "this carriage of persons
from place to place might be better spared, were there opportunities and
means for the speedier conveyance of business by letters. They have no
horse-posts besides those which ply between Berwick and Edinburgh, and
Edinburgh and Portpatrick for the Irish packets.... From Edinburgh to
Perth, and so on to other places, they use foot-posts and carriers,
which, _though a slow way of communicating our concerns to one another,
yet is such as they acquiesce in till they have a better_." Our
traveller is somewhat wrong in his date, for in 1667 a horse-post to
Aberdeen from Edinburgh, twice a week, was started, with the consent of
Patrick Graham, of Inchbrakie, his Majesty's Postmaster-General, "for
the _timous_ delivery of letters and receiving returns of the _samen_."
Two years afterwards Inverness got dissatisfied with the want of postal
communication, when Robert Main, the Edinburgh postmaster, was
commissioned to establish a constant foot-post between Edinburgh and
Inverness, going once a week, "wind and weather serving."[48] "Wind and
weather serving" is an amusing qualification, as pointed out by Mr.
Chambers, considering that there was only one ferry of six or seven
miles, and another of two miles, to cross. In 1661, we find the
Edinburgh postmaster useful in another capacity, for in that year the
Privy Council grant a warrant to him "to put to print and publish _ane
diurnal weekly_, for preventing false news which may be invented by evil
and disaffected persons."
We must now pass over many years, as not offering any incidents of any
moment. In the year 1730 we find that the Scotch establishment yielded
the sum of 1,194_l._ as the whole gross revenue. From about the year
1750, the mails began to be carried from stage to stage, as in England,
by relays of fresh horses and different post-boys, though not entirely
to the exclusion of the post-runners, of whom we have previously spoken.
In 1723, the Edinburgh Post-Office occupied the first-floor of a house
near the cross, above an alley which still bears the name of the
Post-Office Close. It was afterwards removed to a floor on the south
side of the Parliament Square, which was fitted up shop-fashion, and
where the letters were given out from behind an ordinary shop counter,
one letter-carrier doing all the out-door work. The Post-Office was
removed to its present situation in 1821. Towards the close of 1865, it
is expected, the handsome building now rising up near the old office
will be finished and opened for postal purposes.[49]
Even less interest attaches to the early annals of the Irish
Post-Office. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was
certainly more remunerative than the Scotch, though much less
remunerative than the English departments. Previous to the introduction
of mail-coaches, all mails were conveyed, or supposed to be conveyed, by
the postmasters, to whom certain special allowances were made for each
particular service. "There were no contracts, and no fixed rules as to
time. Three miles and a half (per hour) seems to have been the pace
acknowledged to have been sufficient. The bags were usually conveyed by
boys. In the immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis, some sort of
cart was used, but with this exception the bags were carried either on
ponies or mules, or on foot."[50] The same authority tells us further
that, "at this time, the bags were carried to Cork, Belfast, Limerick,
and Waterford, six days a week; and three days a week to Galway,
Wexford, and Enniskillen. There were three posts to Killarney; but for
this the Government refused to pay anything. The postmaster had a salary
of 3_l._ a-year, but the mail was carried by foot-messengers, who were
maintained at the cost of the inhabitants and of the news-printers in
Cork. Carrick-on-Shannon was the only town in county Leitrim receiving a
mail, and this it did twice a week. Now it has two every day. Except at
the county-town, there was no post-office in the whole county of Sligo;
and there were but sixteen in the province of Connaught, where there are
now one hundred and seventy-one."
FOOTNOTES:
[34] These exceptions were again made in the Act 1 Vic. c. 33. s. 2, and
still remain the law.
[35] This clause was repealed in the reign of George II.
[36] The office of Post-Office Surveyor, of which we here see the
origin, still exists (though the officers now so designated have very
different duties) among the most responsible and lucrative appointments
in the Department.
[37] "There cannot be devised," says Blackstone, "a more eligible method
than this of raising money upon the subject; for therein both the
Government and the people find a mutual benefit. The Government requires
a large revenue, and the people do their business with greater ease,
expedition, and cheapness than they would be able to do if no such tax
existed."--_Com._ vol. i. p. 324.
[38] At this time, and for some years subsequently, the mails were
carried on horseback in charge of post-boys. Some of these post-boys
were sad rogues, who, besides taking advantage of confusion in the two
posts, were accustomed to carry letters themselves concealed upon them
and for charges of course quite unorthodox. In old records of the
Post-Office, principally the Surveyor's Book, referring to country
post-offices from the year 1735, there are long complaints from the
surveyor on this head. The following, "exhibiting more malice than good
grammar," may be taken as a specimen, and will suffice to show the way
things were managed at that date:--"At this place (Salisbury) found the
post-boys to have carried on vile practices in taking the _bye-letters_,
delivering them in this cittye and taking back answers, especially the
_Andover_ riders. On the 15th found on Richard Kent, one of the Andover
riders, 5 bye-letters, all for this cittye. Upon examining the fellow,
he confessed he had made it a practice, _and persisted to continue in
it_, saying he had noe wages from his master. I took the fellow before
the Magistrate, proved the facts, and he was committed, but pleading to
have no money or friends, desired a punishment to be whipped, which
accordingly _he was to the purpose_. Wrote the case to Andover and
ordered the fellow to be dismissed, but no regard was had thereto, but
the next day the same rider came post, ran about the cittye for letters
_and was insolent_. Again he came post with two gentlemen, made it his
business to take up letters; the fellow, however, instead of returning
to Andover, gets two idle fellows and rides off with three horses, which
was a return for his master not obeying my instructions." Our shrewd
surveyor thus amply got his revenge, and the Post-Office and Mr. Allen
suffer no more from the delinquencies of Richard Kent.--_From Mr.
Scudamore's Notes._
[39] _Gentleman's Magazine_, August, 1760.
[40] Mr. Scudamore, of the General Post-Office, to whom we are indebted
for much of the _minutiæ_ in question, has been successful in his
efforts to preserve permanently some of the old records of the
Post-Office; and the result of his labours may be found in the Appendix
to the Postmaster-General's First Report.
[41] Son of the James Craggs who succeeded Addison as Secretary of
State, and who obtained such an unusual portion of the poetical praise
of Pope. The son came in for a share also, as, for example:--
"Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere,
In action faithful, and in honour clear."
[42] Campbell, in his _Tales of the Highlands_, relates two or three
incidents which show that little improvement had taken place in post
communications in some part of Scotland even a hundred years later. The
English order of posts and express posts seem there to have been
reversed, express work being done the worst. For instance: "Near
Inverary, we regained a spot of comparative civilization, and came up
with the post-boy, whose horse was quietly grazing at some distance,
whilst Red Jacket himself was immersed in play with other lads. 'You
rascal,' I said to him, 'are you the post-boy and thus spending your
time?' 'Nae, nae, sir,' he answered, 'I'm no the post, I'm only an
Express!'"
[43] What the Right Hon. John Methuen wanted with two bales of stockings
is, of course, a mystery, if he was not embarking in the haberdashery
line. It may be he was desirous of regaining the favour of the
Portuguese Court, by supplying the whole with English stockings. This
was the Methuen who gave his name to a well-known treaty, which, by the
way, was found so distasteful to the Portuguese that when, in 1701, he
carried it to Pedro II. for his signature, that monarch gave vent to his
displeasure by kicking it about the room.--_Marlborough Despatches_,
vol. v. p. 625.
[44] At the investigation in 1763 it was related that "one man had, in
the course of five months, counterfeited 1,200 dozens of franks of
different members of Parliament."
[45] As an example of the summary proceedings of those days, we may here
just note the remarks which Mr. Pitt made in his place in Parliament
when he proposed this increase, calculating that the change would
produce at least 120,000_l._ additional revenue out of the Post-Office.
The tax upon letters, said he, could be calculated with a great degree
of certainty, and the changes he had to propose would _by no means
reduce the number sent. It was idle to suppose that the public would
grumble in having to pay just one penny additional for valuable letters
safely and expeditiously conveyed._ He proposed "to charge all letters
that went one stage and which now paid one penny in future the sum of
2_d._, and this would bring in the sum of 6,230_l._ All that now pay
2_d._ paying an additional penny would yield 8,923_l._ Threepenny
letters paying another penny would produce 33,963_l._ The increase of
fourpenny letters would produce 34,248_l._" The cross-roads he could not
speak of with great certainty, but he thought they might calculate on at
least 20,000_l._ from that source, and so on, till the estimated sum was
reached.
[46] _Domestic Annals of Scotland._ By Mr. R. Chambers. Vol. ii. p. 142.
[47] _A Short Account of Scotland_, published in London in 1702.
[48] The wording of the qualifying clauses in the proclamations of
stage-coaches, &c. are very various, and sometimes exceedingly amusing.
In England the Divine Hand was generally recognised in the formula of
"God willing," or, "If God should permit." On the contrary, the human
element certainly preponderated--whether it was meant so or not--in the
announcement made by a carrying communication between Edinburgh and a
northern burgh, when it was given out that "a waggon would leave the
Grass market for Inverness every Tuesday, God willing, but on Wednesday
_whether or no_."
[49] It will be remembered that the late lamented Prince Consort laid
the foundation-stone of this structure in 1862, being the last occasion
on which he assisted at any public ceremony. For further information of
the Scotch Office, see Mr. Lang's _Historical Summary of the Post-Office
in Scotland_.
[50] Appendix to Postmaster-General's Third Report, supplied by Mr.
Anthony Trollope, then one of the Post-Office Surveyors for Ireland.