[1] In 1516 a regular line of posts was established in the Tyrol,
connecting Germany and Italy, by Roger, Count of Thurn and Taxis. His
successors received from the Emperor of Germany repeated _enfeoffments_
of the imperial post, and extended it over the greatest part of Germany
and Italy. Venice, Genoa, Leghorn, and Naples were thus connected with
Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, and Frankfort-on-the-Main; and the active
commerce which had sprung up between these cities became facilitated by
such postal advantages as the system afforded. The Counts of Thurn and
Taxis retained their postal monopoly till the fall of the German Empire.
[2] Ambassadors and heralds—those sacred ministers of the kings of
Greece in that primitive age of civilization and the cultivation of the
arts—were the “posts” by which demands were made by one power from
another, and redresses and grievances settled. These heralds were
equally respected by friends and foes. They travelled in safety through
the midst of embattled hosts, proclaimed to the silent warriors the
commissions with which they were intrusted, or demanded, in return,
truce, or time to consult and settle disputes, &c.
[3] “And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed it with the
king’s ring, and sent letters _by posts_ on horseback, and riders on
mules, camels, and young dromedaries.”—_Esther_ viii. 10.
“There is no doubt every available means of conveyance were adopted to
carry these important letters throughout the kingdom, as the greatest
speed was needful in the emergency. He sent men on horseback, and upon
other creatures as swift as horses, and upon mules, both young and old,
according as the places were nearer or farther off. So he ordered the
letters to be sent by post.”—_Bp. Patrick._
[4] The ruins of the palace of Persepolis are still to be seen near
Istaker, on the right bank of the united waters of the Medus and the
Araxes. Travellers speak of them with admiration, not unmixed with awe.
Many pillars still remain standing,—a melancholy monument of the wealth,
taste, and civilization of the Persians, and, in this instance, of the
barbarian vengeance of the Greeks.
[5] See Oddy’s European Commerce; Anderson’s History of Commerce, and
Historical Disquisitions of India.
[6] Dr. James Mease. 1811.
[7] Historical Sketch of the Progress of Trade (1811).
[8] To Cadmus, who founded the kingdom of Thebes [1448 B. C.], is
ascribed the introduction of alphabetical writing into Greece. At least
sixteen letters of their alphabet claim him as the author. But as the
order, names, and form of the characters greatly correspond with the
Phœnician, it seems very probable that the Greek letters were formed
from them, and that Cadmus did not invent, but copy them.
[9] And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto
the first: and I will write upon _these_ tables the words that were in
the first tables, which thou brakest.—Exodus xxxiv. 1.
In the ark of the covenant, so carefully preserved by the Jews, was
Moses required to put the two tables of stone on which the Ten
Commandments were written with the finger of God. We are expressly told
that the ark contained nothing besides these tables. Aaron’s rod, the
pot of manna, and the copy of the law were _by_, but not _within_ the
ark.—1 Kings viii. 9.
[10] Meerman, well known as a writer upon the antiquities of printing,
offered a reward for the earliest manuscript upon linen paper; and, in a
treatise upon the subject, fixed the date of its invention between 1270
and 1300. But Mr. Schwandner, of Vienna, is said to have found in the
imperial library a small charter bearing the date of 1243 on such paper.
But more than one Arabian writer asserts the manufacture of linen paper
to have been carried on at Samarcand early in the eighth century, having
been brought thither from China; and, what is more conclusive, Casiri
positively declares many manuscripts in the Escurial of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries to be written on this substance.—_Bibliotheca
Hispanica Arabica_, t. 11, p. 9.
[11] The scuttle-fish emits a liquid strongly resembling ink.
[12] The Rosetta stone, or rather a fragment of it, was discovered by a
French officer of engineers, Mons. Bouchard, in August, 1799, when
digging the foundations of Fort St. Julien, erected on the western bank
of the Nile, between Rosetta and the sea, not far from the mouth of the
river. It was deposited in the British Museum in 1802.
[13] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book 1, chap. iv.
[14] These epistles of Solomon and Hiram are those in 1 Kings v. 3-9,
and in 2 Chronicles ii. 3-16.
[15] Letters were generally in the form of rolls, round a stick, or, if
a long letter, round two sticks, beginning at each end and rolling them
until they met in the middle. Books of every size were called _rolls_.
Our word volume means just the same thing in its original signification.
Jer. xxxvi. 2; Ps. xl.; Isa. xxxiv. 4. The roll, book, or letter was
commonly written on one side: that which was given to Ezekiel, in
vision, was written on both, within and without.—Ezek. ii. 10. Letters
then, as is the custom in the East at present, were sent in most cases
without being sealed; while those addressed to persons of distinction
were placed in a valuable purse, or bag, which was tied, closed over
with clay or wax, and so stamped with the writer’s signet. The Roman
scrinium, or book-case, a very costly cabinet, shows how these rolls
were preserved. They were put in lengthwise, and labeled at top.
[16] The mail was carried on horseback with the ancient pack-saddle,
vulgarly called “saddle-bags.” In passing along, he announced his
approach by blowing a “ram’s horn.”
[17] The number of letters annually transmitted throughout the kingdom
is estimated at about 77,000,000; the gross receipts for postage (1837)
were £2,339,737 18_s._ 3_d._; the total cost of management and
transportation, £698,632 2_s._ 2_d._,—leaving a balance of £1,641,105
10_s._ 1_d._ as the revenue received by the government from the
department. The number of franked letters was 7,000,000,—and 44,500,000
newspapers, which were free of postage.
[18] Since the text was written,—namely, on the evening of Monday, the
6th of June,—the Lord Chancellor in the one house and Viscount
Palmerston in the other communicated a message of the queen of her
majesty’s gracious intention to confer on Sir Rowland Hill a sum of
£20,000, and asking her faithful Commons to make provision for the same.
[19] Condensed from a work entitled “Her Majesty’s Mails: an Historical
and Descriptive Account of the British Post-Office.” By William Lewins.
London, Sampson Low, Son & Marston, 14, Ludgate Hill. 1864.
[20] “He fills his mind with a vain or idle picture;” or, “He feeds his
mind with empty representations. He dwells with eagerness upon the
painted semblance,” &c.
[21] “A mind regardless of life [if sacrificed in a good cause].”
[22] Hinton.
[23] That such scenes should have taken place here is not so strange,
when we take into consideration the fact that all England was witch-mad,
and the epidemic raged there subsequent to those atrocities which
disgraced our colonial history. Even now the blush of shame reflects its
hue on those pages devoted to witchcraft in New England, from the cheeks
of those who cannot read our country’s history without referring to
them. During the seventeenth century 40,000 persons are said to have
been put to death for witchcraft in England alone. In Scotland the
number was probably, in proportion to the population, much greater; for
it is certain that even in the last forty years of the sixteenth century
the executions were not fewer than 17,000. In 1643 the madness
may be said to have reached its highest pitch; for in that year occurred
the celebrated case of the Lancashire witches, in which eight innocent
persons were deprived of their lives by the inherent falsehoods of a
mischievous urchin. The civil war, far from suspending the prosecution,
seemed to have redoubled it. In 1644-45 the infamous Matthew Hopkins was
able to earn a livelihood by the profession of witch-finder, which he
exercised, not indeed without occasional suspicion, but still with
general success. And even twenty years later the delusion was still
sanctioned by the most venerable name of the English law!
[24] It was enlarged in 1737, burned down in 1776, rebuilt in 1778. The
present building has a steeple 198 feet high.
[25] The building occupied by the post-office originally belonged to the
corporation of the Middle Dutch Church, and was their place of worship
from the close of the seventeenth century until 1844. Up to that period
it was the oldest church-edifice remaining in the city. A great part of
the wood-work of the steeple, completely wrought, was brought from
Holland. The building itself was of stone. During the Revolution it was
near the upper verge of the city, its location being upon Nassau, Cedar,
and Liberty Streets. When the British took possession of the city in
1776, they used it as a barracks for the soldiers. It was afterwards
converted into a hospital, and finally the pews were removed and it was
made a riding-school. In 1790 it was repaired, and again devoted to the
worship of God. It was purchased by the General Government in 1861, for
the purpose of a post-office, for $250,000.
[26] “Ten Years among the Mail-Bags.” By J. Holbrook. 1856.
[27] Thomas Makin appears to have been one of the most early settlers in
the province of Pennsylvania. In 1689 he was second master of the
Friends’ grammar-school in Philadelphia, which was the first of the kind
in the province, and instituted about that time. In 1699 he was clerk
for the Assembly, at four shillings per day. He was called “a good
Latinist.”
In the “Mercury” of November, 1733, his death is thus announced:—“Last
Tuesday night, Mr. Thomas Makin, a very ancient man, who for many years
was a schoolmaster in this city, stooping over a wharf-end to get a pail
of water, unhappily fell in, and was drowned.”
[28] Watson’s Annals.
[29] This building, known for many years as “The London Coffee-House,”
stood at the southwest corner of Front and Market Streets. It was
erected in 1701 by Charles Reed, and was first used as a “coffee-house”
by William Bradford, the printer.
[30] On very meagre authority it is stated that there was a “play-house”
in New York in 1733. In an advertisement in “Bradford’s Gazette” of that
period, a merchant gives his place of business as being “next door to
the play-house.” This reference is all that has been found respecting
it. What kind of a play-house is alluded to here remains a secret to
those who take an interest in dramatic reminiscences.
[31] This gentleman was mayor of the city in the years 1750 and 1755.
[32] The play on this occasion was “George Barnwell.”
[33] This lady was drowned, together with her maid-servant, in the
winter of 1767.
[34] A manuscript note in the file of the American Mercury, preserved in
the City Library, says that Franklin wrote the first five numbers and
part of the eighth of this series. The rest were written by J. B.,
probably Joseph Breintnail, a member of the _junto_, whom Franklin
describes as a “good-natured, friendly, middle-aged man, a great lover
of poetry, reading all he could meet with, and writing some that was
tolerable; very ingenious in making little nicknackeries, and of
sensible conversation.”
[35] As an improvement on the above, cartridge-paper of a peculiar kind
was used in 1778. When the American army entered Philadelphia, in June,
1778, upon the evacuation of the English troops, there was a want of
paper fitted for the construction of cartridges. It was advertised for,
and but a small quantity procured. An order was then issued demanding
its instant production by all people in that city who had it. This
produced but little, and most probably on account of its scarcity. A
file of soldiers was then ordered to make search for it in every place
where any was likely to be found. Among other places visited in July,
1778, was a garret in a house in which Benjamin Franklin had previously
had his printing-office. Here were discovered about twenty-five hundred
copies of a sermon which the Rev. Gilbert Tennent had written (printed
by Franklin) upon “Defensive War,” to rouse the colonists during the
French troubles. They were all taken and used as cases for
musket-cartridges, and at once sent to the army; and most of them were
used at the battle of Monmouth. The requisites in cartridge-paper were,
of course, thinness, strength, pliability, and inflammability; and such
paper was necessarily scarce then.
[36] In 1776 was adopted the standard to be used by the
commander-in-chief of the American navy, “being a yellow field, with a
lively representation of a rattlesnake in the middle, in the attitude of
striking;” underneath were the words, “_Don’t tread on me_.”
The same year the cruisers of the colony of Massachusetts hoisted a
white flag, with a green pine-tree and the motto, “_Appeal to Heaven_.”
[37] The author is indebted for the chief sources of information
contained in this table, to that admirable and useful annual entitled
“The Old Franklin Almanac,” a title as modest as its contents are useful
and instructing. It should be found in every house.
[38] This article appeared about the time Judge McLean was a candidate
for the Presidency, and was brought out to bear upon his success. There
is no denying the fact but what there was more truth than poetry in the
charges.
[39] A man by the name of Carroll, residing in Charleston, South
Carolina, was accused of being intimate with slaves, and also as a
receiver of stolen goods, particularly the article of cotton. He was
dragged from his house (August, 1835), and received twenty lashes; he
was then stripped from his waist upwards, tarred and feathered; he was
then marched in procession through the streets and lodged in the jail;
he was also compelled to leave the city. The law, it seemed, sanctioned
the action of the mob; for he was actually received in the prison from
this self-constituted authority.
[40] Constitution of the United States, art. ii. sect. 2.
[41] This took place on the 1st of July, 1857, by which the mails were
to be conveyed between Washington and New Orleans in four days and a
half, by way of Richmond and Lynchburg, Virginia, Bristol, Knoxville,
Chattanooga, and Grand Junction, Tennessee, and Jackson,
Mississippi,—all by railroad, with the exception of a gap of ninety
miles in Mississippi.
[42] See Addenda.
[43] The postal money-order system was approved by Congress, May 17,
1864. It went into operation July 4, 1864.
[44] February 1, 1864.
[45] Other classes of carriers receive higher salaries and other
considerations from the government, which renders the office one of
considerable importance, and requiring influence to obtain.
[46] At this present writing a soldier who lost a leg at the battle of
Gettysburg occupies this position.
[47] The returns from 1846 to 1851 are for the six years under the law
of March 3, 1845. Those from 1852 to 1863 are under the reduced rates
established by the acts of March 3, 1851, and March 3, 1855.
[48] Volney.
[49] The postal history of Russia, like that of all other countries, is
based upon its trade and commerce. Its railroads and canals, running
through its vast extent of country, afford equal facility for its mails.
Russia has her distributing cars for mails, and from its every post they
are rapidly carried throughout the kingdom.
Recently the French Government has introduced mail-cars on the routes
from Paris to Brest and from Paris to Calais. Mails to Germany, or at
least to certain portions of its postal latitude, are thrown out at a
point between Paris and Calais, at what is termed the “Junction Road.”
To follow up this portion of postal history would furnish a most
interesting account of the whole system, and show to the world how
insignificant are all other policies of rule, political, scientific, and
military, when compared with that of TRADE AND COMMERCE.
[50] In connection with the English post-office there is a savings-bank,
which is also a money-order office. This bank is open for business
during the same hours as for money-orders.
[51] The island is situated in the Ohio River, one hundred and
eighty-eight miles below Pittsburg, and two and a half miles from the
beautiful little town of Parkersburg.
[52] We were told by an officer of the department that the meaning of
this section of the postal law is not made sufficiently clear, but it is
generally understood by those who have control of an office. This is not
the case; for we know one large newspaper (weekly) proprietor who,
taking the section literally, sends a very large edition of his paper
through the Philadelphia post-office to all his subscribers, and defends
himself under this order from the general post-office:— “_Weekly
newspapers (one copy only) sent by the publisher to actual subscribers
within the county where printed and published, free._”
[53] New York Review.
[54] For a number of these addresses the author is indebted to that
excellent paper entitled the “United States Mail.”
[55] There is a small paper published in Albany, New York, entitled the
“Stamp Collector’s Record.” It is entirely devoted to the _cause_ of
stamps and their collectors. It furnishes also considerable information
upon the subject in connection with foreign stamps.
[56] The number of individuals employed in the English post-office is
very considerable. On the 31st of December, 1857, it gave employment to
twenty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty-one persons, while the
number has been since considerably increased. More than two thousand of
these clerks are employed in the chief office in London. The number of
persons employed in the post-office of France amounts to twenty-six
thousand and seventy-one; but then it should be remembered that the
extent and population of France are greater than the extent and
population of Great Britain.
[57] It may be added here that these deliveries are distinct from what
is termed the “general delivery.” As all the principal mails arrive in
London in the morning, there are but three deliveries a day by the
carriers of the general post. These carriers are distinguished from
those belonging to the two-penny post or city delivery by wearing the
livery of the department, viz.: a scarlet coat with a blue collar, and
buttons stamped with an impression of the royal arms.
[58] Persons anxious to examine more closely into this subject, which,
however, is now settled, no doubt finally, by a compromise with the
parties, are referred to the opinion of the court, “United States _vs._
Kochersperger,” in report of the postmaster-general for the year 1860.