CHAPTER XII_The Early History of the Post in Grant and Farm

As compared with the sober and temperate style of official

correspondence in the present day, when a civilly expressed request is

generally held to convey all the force of a direct command, Whitley's

letters to his deputies savour of smartness and incisiveness that are

somewhat striking. Mr. Pye, the deputy at Morpeth, having quarrelled

with some of the postmasters at neighbouring post stages, by sending

travellers bound for Scotland by the road through Owler (Wooler)

instead of by Belford and Berwick, Whitley had to fall upon him. One of

Whitley's letters to Mr. Pye is as follows:--"I understand you well and

your designs, but you shall not prevail with me (for all your specious

arguments or applications to great persons) to countenance you in your

indirect ways. As for the Scottish lord that _pufft_ at my letter,

I value it not. I would rather he did so than applaud me for doing

otherwise," etc. The postmasters were very tenacious of their rights as

to the posting work, which was probably the most remunerative part of

their business, and they did not stick at trifles in asserting these

rights. The postmaster of Dartford, Mr. Glover, got into trouble in

December 1675 by laying hands upon several French gentlemen of quality,

Monsieur Vendome among the rest. It appears that these persons had

hired horses in London for their journey; but on reaching Dartford they

were pulled off their horses, and forced to take post horses from the

deputy.

Down to the year 1673, Liverpool was without a horse post.

Correspondence took place in that year between Whitley and the Mayor

of the town with the view of improving the service. In one letter

Whitley writes:--"I agree with you that the trade of that industrious

place ought to have quicker despatch in its correspondence, and may

deserve a horse post as well for expedition of letters as conveniency

of travellers; but if the charge be imposed on the office, the benefit

will not balance the expense." Negotiations were thereafter entered

upon with Alderman Chanler of Liverpool, with a view to his taking up

the work. The proposal was "to carry the Preston mail from Warrington

to Wigan (as it is now done), to send to Liverpool by a horse post,

also to Prescod and Ormskirk (if a foot post will not be as convenient

to this latter), and to carry the mail back again to Knutsford; and I

hope you will do this for forty pounds per annum." Previous to 1673

Irish letters from Manchester were carried up to London, to be thence

forwarded to their destination by way of Chester and Holyhead, from

which latter place the Irish packets sailed. In this year, however,

a more direct circulation was arranged: the Manchester letters being

carried south to Stone in Staffordshire, where, striking the post road

for Holyhead, they were carried forward with the London mails for

Ireland. Between London and South Wales the transit of letters was of

the slowest possible kind, and gave rise to much complaint. On the

24th July 1673, Mr. Courcy, postmaster of Pembroke, is written to on

the subject in these terms:--"Yours of the 16th came not to hand till

the 23rd, the usual despatch of the South Wales posts, 7 or 8 days

in the way; if you can tell me who opens your bag I know how to have

satisfaction, but without that discovery I am in the dark, and know not

what to do."

In London at this period there must have been but one delivery a day by

letter-carrier. This appears by the terms of a complaint made to the

postmaster of Harwich concerning the late arrival of the mails, which

resulted either in the keeping the "letter-carriers in the office to

attend your bag, or not issue out your letters till the next morning."

The country mails were at this time due to arrive in the very early

hours of the morning. In 1676, there were at least seven branch post

offices in London for the receipt of letters for the mails, and from

these offices letters were required to be sent up to the central office

nightly as despatches were made every week-day for one or other of the

roads, or for foreign parts.

The packet service was the occasion of much trouble and anxiety. The

French and Flanders packet boats sailed from Dover, and those for

Holland from Harwich. Whitley had a great deal of correspondence

with the agents at these two ports on the subject of their irregular

proceedings. To the agent at Dover he writes:--"There is an

information that the boats stay at Calais (sometimes) 24 hours after

the mail is on board to take in goods, and that occasions the irregular

coming over of the mails." The agent at Harwich is informed that "the

Commissioners of Customs complain that you refuse to enter and pay

custom for some rack wine which you (or some of your masters) lately

took up at sea; they are much offended at it." The same agent has

conveyed to him, "Lord Arlington's command to require the masters of

the Holland packet boats not to refuse passage to any English soldiers

that shall desire to come over in their boats; but that care be taken,

as soon as they arrive in England, to secure them and put them into

safe custody. This you are to give them in charge and see it strictly

observed." The soldiers here referred to were doubtless deserters

from the English force in Holland, with which country we were then

(1672) at war. Peace, following this war, was proclaimed in London on

the 28th February 1674, and the same night an express was despatched

to the Duke of Lauderdale, a member of the Cabal, then at Edinburgh.

It no doubt contained tidings of the peace. The instructions issued

to the postmasters for the special urgency of the express were as

follows:--"All postmasters between London and Edinburgh are hereby

required to forward this express with all possible expedition, and not

detain it in any stage for the ordinary maile, but hast itt away as

soon as received, as they will answer the contrary.

"Dated at the Generall Letter Office in London past six att night this

28th Feb. 1674."

Colonel Whitley was greatly annoyed by the neglect to secure letters

from the merchant fleets when they arrived off our coasts. On this

subject he writes to the agent at Deal:--"I am much troubled to

find so small an account of letters from the great merchant fleet

that came lately into the Downs. Such a fleet was wont to allow me

7 or 8000 letters, and now I have not so many hundreds. There was

certainly a great neglect in your boats, which, turning so much to my

loss, I know not how to pass by." In a similar matter the agent at

Dover is remonstrated with. "I wonder," says Whitley, "how I came to

be disappointed of the great abundance of ship letters that came in

with the last fleet, and were brought on shore at Dover by the pursers

and others--great bags and portmantlesfull. Here they are carried to

the Exchange and round the town in great quantities, and those they

cannot get off they bring to this office. The parties confess that they

brought them on shore at Dover without control." Dissatisfaction was

also given through the irregular carriage of freight by the packet

boats. "I have yours of the 3rd," says Whitley to the Dover agent, "but

do not understand why your masters should pretend to such a privilege

as to carry over silver or any commodities in the packet boats without

giving me account thereof. I find that that practice hath been longer,

and is more used than you mention. I expect satisfaction. The Harwich

packet boats would not carry over oysters without my order, and give

me account of all they do; but I know it much otherwise at Dover." The

good opinion thus expressed of the virtues of the Harwich people was

not of long duration, for a few days later we find Whitley writing the

agent there in the following very irate fashion:--"You are very brisk

in yours of the 6th; perhaps I may be so too when I see you. I deny

that you ever told me of your bringing over any goods in the Packet

Boats upon your own or any merchant's account without paying for them;

and why should you do it? Are not the boats mine? Should I suffer

you or others to drive so profitable a trade in my boats, and by the

assistance and management of my servants (as those seamen are that I

pay wages to), and I to have no benefit for freight, nor thanks, but

the contrary? I need not tell you how this comes to be a prejudice to

me; you are not so ignorant as to require information in the case; you

are free to follow any lawful callings, but not at my charges, in my

boats, and with my seamen. You cannot justify it (as you say you can);

but I will justify that in this and other things you are ungrateful,

and (perhaps I shall make it appear) unjust too. I have deserved better

from you."

On the 21st September 1675, a letter is written to the agent at Deal,

wherein Whitley puts his finger on the cause of the neglects at that

port. "I am daily tormented," says he, "with the complaints of the

merchants, and my ears are filled with the noise of seamen's wives

and others concerning the neglect of their letters, who are now fully

resolved to redress themselves to His Majesty.... It will be proved

that your boats very seldom go on board with letters, to force the

seamen to come ashore to drink at your house.... They go on board other

ships with brandy and other liquors."

The boats sailing in the packet service to and from Holland were

Galiot-Hoys, of which three were regularly engaged--two of 60 tons

and one of 40 tons, and in each six men were employed. The tonnage of

these boats was not greater than that of a decently-sized Stonehaven

fishing boat; yet they were supposed to provide adequate accommodation

for passengers. In 1675, the passenger fare from Harwich to Holland was

12s. In February 1674, a proposal was on foot for conveying letters

from Flanders and Holland to Spain and Portugal by way of England, but

it does not appear that the plan was given effect to. The idea was to

set up a packet service for this purpose from Plymouth to some port in

Spain, the boats to be employed being of 40, 50, or 60 tons, "with good

conveniency of cabins, and able to encounter storms," and furnished

with crews of not under seven or eight good men. In one of his letters

on this subject Whitley writes, that "the gentleman that demands £50

per mensem for a vessel of 60 tons is much out of the way"; and he

adds, "I have two of that burthen to Holland at a less rate." A service

of this kind from Plymouth is stated to have been kept up in Cromwell's

time; but possibly the reference is to the packets set up by Charles I.

when he was in the West of England and at war with the Parliamentary

party. The port of despatch then was Weymouth.

Whitley was very sympathetic over the hardships to which the seamen

were exposed in his service. To the agent at Dover he writes, on the

occasion of a disaster:--"I am very much afflicted for the loss of Mr.

Lambert, who had the character of an honest, able man. It was a great

mercy that the rest were preserved. I pray God send us good accounts

of our other boats, with better weather. We must resign ourselves and

all our concernments to the will of God, and depend on His providence."

On another occasion, he expresses himself thus:--"I pray God keep our

men and boats in safety these terrible storms; I assure you my heart

aches often for them." About the same period, Whitley deplores the

loss of the captain of one of the Dublin packet boats, who was washed

overboard.

Reference has been made to the packet boats conveying passengers

as well as mails. These, it seems, were not always kept in a tidy

condition, and the Deputy Postmaster-General had to speak his mind on

the subject, drawing an unpleasant contrast between his own countrymen

and foreigners. "Your boats," says Whitley to the agent at Harwich,

"are also rendered so contemptible, so nasty, ill provided, and out

of order, that we do not only lose many passengers, that will not

venture with them, but it is a reproach to our nation to have such bad

accommodation, when our neighbours are so neat and exact in theirs." In

some respects the reproachful contrast is one not confined to Whitley's

days.

Not only was it the case that separate rooms were not always

provided at the country post offices for the treatment and safe

custody of letters, but the following complaints from the Deputy

Postmaster-General prove that at certain places the letters were

very carelessly dealt with. To the postmaster of Rochester, Whitley

writes:--"I hear there is great neglect in your sending out of letters,

and that there is a great abundance of them scattered about your house,

especially in your chamber and upon the tester of your bed. This shows

want of order in your business. You should get some room apart to be

your office, in which only you should bring your mails, open and close

them, and where you should sort letters, and let nobody come into it

but yourself." The position of affairs at Hereford was perhaps worse.

In June 1675, the postmaster, Mr Philpotts, is thus written to:--"I

have complaints from persons of very good credit, that their letters

are not safe in your hands; they do not directly accuse you, but allege

that your office being kept in the prison, it gives opportunity to

prisoners, by countenance with some of your servants, to intercept

letters of business with writings, and whereby the parties concerned

are much damnified and the office abundantly scandalized."

At Witham, on one occasion, the mail was allowed to lie at the stage

from ten o'clock at night till six the next morning, "the servants

refusing to rise out of their beds to forward it." At times the mail

seems to have been intrusted to anyone who could ride a horse. For

carelessness in a matter of this kind the postmaster of Sittingbourne

was challenged, in July 1675, in the following terms:--"Now have you

completed the score of your neglects and miscarriages, in sending the

Flanders mail yesterday by a stranger, a Dutchman (without any guide

or servant of your own), who suffered it to be broke open on the way,

the Secretaries of States' packets and letters to be visited and tore,

and many letters lost," etc. About the same time, the postmaster of

Rochester offended in a like fashion. "You sent the mail," writes

Whitley, "by a seaman last Saturday, who rid alone, thinking he had

some gentleman's portmantle behind him; but coming to Dartford, and

understanding it to be the mail of letters, he presently swore that if

he had known what it had been, he would have cast it into some ditch

by the way, for he scorned to be a post-boy." The post-boys employed

were not certainly of high character in all cases. In an inquiry

respecting the opening of a mail by the way, Whitley writes thus to the

postmaster of Colchester:--"I have made inquiry what has become of the

Post Boy that formerly lived at Whitechapel, whom you rendered such a

notorious rogue, whose father was hanged, and he deserved the same; and

I find you have got him to your house, which I much wonder at, you

knowing him to be such a wicked villain. I cannot conceive any place

to be more likely for such rogueries to be committed than where such

are employed." The boys employed were in some cases very young. About

delays at Sarum, Whitley writes:--"I am apt to believe the boys that

ride are very little, and so discouraged in a dark night, which may be

the chief occasion of the slow coming of the mails." Well might the

little fellows be discouraged in a midwinter's night, riding through

lonely country, along ill-kept roads lying at times under water and

full of ruts and stones. Frequent mention is made at this time of the

waters being out covering the ways, and one postmaster was desired to

provide "able and high horses" in order to secure the forwarding of

the mails. In one of Whitley's letters, the road from London to Dover

is described as the "best and fairest in England," although, compared

with our own fine system of highways, it may have been a very sorry

affair. But relatively it carried the palm at the time we are dealing

with. The horses supplied for riding the posts were at some places very

poor creatures, and in certain cases the postmasters appear not to have

had any horses of their own. On the 1st December 1674, the postmaster

of Berwick was complained of for not having a horse and boy to carry

the mail for Edinburgh, and for having sent it forward to Cockburnspath

by carriers, thus causing great delay. On the 15th January 1675, the

following letter on this subject was written to Mr. Glover, postmaster

of Dartford:--"This day your boy brought the mail on his back to the

office, about one o'clock in the afternoon. His horse, as he says, died

on the way; which was, as I understand, one that was hired, and very

unfit for His Majesty's service, your boy having been often forced to

drive him before him. I am also informed that you keep your own horses

for posters, and hire one for the mail, though never so bad." The Post

Office certainly did not get the best of the animals.

During the time of Whitley's control of the posts, the Foreign mails

were closed not only by means of a seal, but also by a chain which in

some way rendered them more secure.

Great care was taken to avoid complaints from Members of Parliament. On

occasions when Parliament was about to assemble, or to break up, the

postmasters were put upon their guard by means of a circular-letter

addressed to them. On 11th March 1675, the following letter was sent

out on the subject:--"These are to advise you that the Parliament being

speedily to assemble, it is probable that many members may come up by

Post, wherefore I desire your especial care for the speedy and well

accommodating of them for their satisfaction, and the honour of your

employment. Also to receive and deliver their letters free during their

time of privilege."

On the 30th July 1675, the agent at Dover was instructed to facilitate

the bringing over from the Continent of certain tradesmen, as

follows:--"His Majesty being informed that there are several weavers

and other handy craftsmen that are desirous of transporting themselves

for England, to whom His Majesty (being desirous to give encouragement)

has commanded me to order you to give directions to your masters of

the packet boats to give passage to such of these weavers and handy

craftsmen as shall bring passes with them from Mr. Linch, Consul of

Ostend, or His Majesty's Minister at Brussels, and are desirous to come

and inhabit here in England."

Whitley had a long and troublesome correspondence with Mr. Mein, the

postmaster at Edinburgh, on the subject of settling the remuneration

to be made to the latter as agent for the English correspondence. Mein

held an independent appointment from the king as head of the Letter

Office in Edinburgh, and Whitley was not his master. The terms on

which the business was arranged are set forth in a letter to Mein of

the 8th August 1674, to this effect:--"I am content to allow you your

full 1/8th of unpaid letters from hence, with your £20 salary from the

commencement of my time till our late agreement of £100 per annum takes

place; and upon examination you will find that it exceeds what you have

now contracted for and are content to accept of." At this time two boys

were employed in Edinburgh to deliver the letters; and the rate of

postage for one ounce weight from London to Edinburgh was 2s. 2d.

Whenever the king went to reside at Newmarket, Windsor, or elsewhere,

daily posts were put on between London and the Court, the deputy

postmasters being required to keep additional horses at call for the

service.

It is recorded that in the Midlands of England more irregularities

happened with the post riders than elsewhere. This appears by a letter

to the postmaster of Lichfield in 1675, wherein it is stated that

"your riders are oftener lost in the night, and have more unfortunate

accidents happen to them on your road, than half England besides."

Undelivered letters were returned by the deputies to the head office

in London once in three months. At this early period (1677), the term

"Dead Letters" was already applied to these returns. Whitley had reason

to suspect unfair dealing in connection with returned letters at the

office of a certain deputy, to whom, in December 1672, he wrote the

following letter, which explains itself:--"This day Mr. Lambe brought

me a parcell of Returned Letters from you to ye damage of above eight

pounds; ye losse being soe considerable and unusuall made me more

inquisitive into the particulars; and opening 3 or 4 bundles, I found

that almost all of them had bin apparently opened; which causes my

greater admiration (wonder), comeing from soe discreete a person (and

one of soe much integrity and reputation as Mr. Gloyne is esteemed to

be). If they were opened by ye partyes to whom they were directed,

they ought to have bin first payd for; when ye contents are read, most

letters are of small use afterwards. Perhaps ye persons you imploy may

buy such letters at easy rates, and so impose them on you. I cannot

tell how to understand it, but under one of these notions, and soe

must returne them to you; resolving not to submit to such a practise,

whether it proceed from ye ignorance, corruption (or perhaps want of

care and diligence) of your officers; the respect I have for you keeps

me from any reflection on your selfe; onely I must oblige you to more

circumspection hereafter, for if the like were done in other stages,

wee should not be able to support ye charge of ye office."

Notwithstanding the sharp and severe terms of many of Whitley's

admonitions to the postmasters, his letters contain repeated offers to

serve and oblige them, if only they would do their duty to the office;

and the same spirit of kindly disposition is shown towards persons

outside the service. In reply to an application from the agent at

Harwich, in the matter of finding employment for a relative, Whitley

writes:--"By yours of the 13th, I understand that a relative of yours

will be in London this summer, with a design to get some employment,

wherein I should think myself happy could I be serviceable to him; but

the world is so altered of late to the disadvantage of young gentlemen

in point of education, that there is little encouragement to be had.

In times past (before the wicked rebellion), a nobleman, or great

officer of State or Court, would have half a score or a dozen gentlemen

to attend him, but now all is shrunk into a _valet de chambre_, a page,

and 5 or 6 footmen; and this is part of our cursed Reformation. If I

can serve you in this or anything else, you shall always find me to

be," etc. In the matter of a lost horse, belonging to a private friend,

Whitley engages the services of a postmaster in the West of England,

with a view to its recovery. He writes thus to the postmaster:--"Sir

John Hanmer (a worthy gentleman) hath lately lost a large white

gelding, about 15 hand fulls high, with a blew velvett saddle, silke

and silver fringe, silver nailes, etc.; the horse trots and gallops,

but not pace. Me was stole from Chester, and heares is seised on at

Bristoll. I pray enquire after it; and if it be there, secure it, and

give me speedy notice, whereby you will oblige," etc.

This kindly spirit was not altogether on the side of the Deputy

Postmaster-General, for repeated instances are given of good offices

performed for Whitley, and of presents made to him by the postmasters.

In many cases Whitley's letters commence with an acknowledgment in

brief terms, thus: "With thanks for your kind present." It may be

ungenerous to put a meaning upon these presents apart from mere

feelings of kindness on the side of the postmasters; but there is

reason to suspect that the presents often took the shape of money,

and were the complement of expectation on the part of the Deputy

Postmaster-General. In one acknowledgment Whitley says: "I have

received your token, and thank you for it, as coming from an honest man

for whom I have a great respect and kindness." The "honest man" was

the postmaster of Manchester. Replying to a letter of the postmaster

of Doncaster, he remarks: "I thought the seven guineas you sent by Mr.

Butcher had been in recompence for the damage done me last year in

your stage in the matter of By-Letters; or a present upon some other

account; but it seems you intend it to clear what you owed to the

office at midsummer."

Reference has been made to the exaction of fines upon the

postmasters at the time of Lord Arlington's assuming the position

of Postmaster-General. The deputations received by the postmasters

were generally for a term of a few years; and on their renewal, the

practice appears to have been to make a present to the Head of the Post

Office, or at anyrate a present was expected. This seems very clear

by some letters of instruction sent by Whitley to his confidential

servant, Saladine, when on a visit of inspection in the West of

England. In one letter he says: "Haste the settling all my business

(but on safe terms), that you may haste homewards; get the £10, and

what you can for the expense of this journey, and get what you can

for me from the several Postmasters by way of Fine, or Gratuity, for

renewing their Deputations." The meaning here is plain enough, but in

a further letter Saladine is given more particular instructions how to

proceed in the matter:--"I think," says Whitley, "I shall renew (the

deputations) but for a year, because Lord Arlington hath no more time

in the farm, but doubtless the Postmasters will be continued if they

deserve it. Get what Gratuities you can from them, without lessening

their salaries; or if any will increase their salaries, they must fine

proportionably--this to yourself." "At Sarum nothing is to be done. Let

him know I am so sensible of his civilities that he shall be continued

as long as I have to do in the office. If he offers of his own accord

to make me a present, receive it; or you may drop some words as if

others did it, and is usual upon renewing Deputations; but not propose

it; and make him sensible that I have a greater kindness for him than

any of the rest. If you can prevail fairly with Mr. Westcombe to make

a Present, I pray do it; but he is a touchy person, and must be gently

handled."

Some of the presents and civilities were, however, of a less

questionable character. From Beccles he receives a red-painted box

containing a turkey; from Shrewsbury, a cheese; from Newcastle, a

salmon; and he sends his humble thanks to the gentlemen of Amsterdam

for their kind present. To Captain Langley, the agent at Harwich,

Whitley writes: "I have received a single barrel of oysters by a

Colchester waggon, for which I thank you." The carriage of the barrel

is stated to have been 9d. At another time he acknowledges to have

received from Harwich ten lobsters; and to the agent at Edinburgh he

writes: "I thank you heartily for your kind present of herring. I

will send to look after them, and they shall be disposed of as you

desire." To the postmaster of Colchester, Mr Hollister, the following

request is made:--"I desire you to send me every week two barrels of

Oysters, and keep an account of them, and you shall be allowed for

them in your account. But let them be the best; or when you cannot get

the best, send none." The best were not always forthcoming; for some

months later, 20th March 1677, Mr Hollister is informed that: "The last

oysters you sent me were so bad they could not be eaten, and one of the

last was but half full; if you cannot help me with better, and better

ordered, I desire to have no more; but if you could get such as are

very good, and contrive some way to seal the barrels, that they may

not be abused, you would oblige me to send me 4 barrels a week for a

month to come." To the postmaster of Hull, Mr Mawson, Colonel Whitley

makes the following request:--"I pray do me the kindness to bespeak two

barrels of Ale (as good as you can get), and send it with as much speed

as you can to Monsieur Muilman, at the Post Office in Amsterdam. Let it

be sent by an honest, careful (_man_), that will not suffer it to be

wronged by the way, and presented from me to him. Pray take care that

it be excellent, and speedily sent, and let me know the cost; I will

remit the money."

The sums due to the country postmasters for conveying expresses on

His Majesty's special service were claimed every six months by the

deputies, whose accounts under this head had to be accompanied by an

affidavit sworn before a Master in Chancery or other Magistrate.

The amounts were afterwards obtained from the Exchequer; but it is

mentioned that the claims for 1674 were only paid shortly before

January 1677, while those for 1675 were still outstanding at that

period (1677).

Whitley's correspondence in 1677 discloses a very curious fact, and

one that has been entirely overlooked or forgotten, namely, that the

Duke of York, afterwards James II., had at one time the Post Office in

his own hands; and he has a claim, therefore, to be ranked as one of

the early Postmasters-General. On the 12th April of that year, Whitley

wrote the following circular-letter to 155 postmasters, probably the

whole number of postmasters at the time:--

"The Farm of this office expiring at Midsummer, and his R.H. the Duke

of York having declared his pleasure to take it then into his own

management, commands me to give you notice of it, requiring you (if

you intend to continue your employment as Postmaster of ----) to come

yourself, or authorize some other to appear for you at this office,

before the 10th of May next ensuing, in order to your future contract;

and in the mean time to send me the names, quality, and abode of your

security, that there may be time to enquire after their sufficiency. If

you fail herein, care will be taken to provide another for your stage,

that the Public may not suffer by your neglect. I expect your speedy

answer, and remain," etc.

Some of the postmasters thought the occasion favourable for asking an

increase of pay; but Whitley gave them no hopes of success, to one

of them writing that "his R. Highness will expect all Postmasters

should serve him on their present terms." Three months after the first

intimation of the proposed change, a further circular-letter was issued

to all the deputies as follows:--"This is to give you notice, that as

money grows due to the office since Midsummer last, you are to order

payment thereof, by bill or otherwise, to Sir Allen Absley, his R.Hs.

the Duke of York's Treasurer and Receiver-General, making your bills

payable to him or his order, enclosing them under cover directed to

him; herein you are not to fail." These letters seem to leave no doubt

that the Duke of York actually entered upon the management of the Post

Office, and carried it on (it may be nominally) for a time in his own

hands.

In connection with this royal direction of the posts, however, the

historical records produce a strange complication; because, according

to the Patent Rolls of 29 Charles II., a grant of the office of

Postmaster-General for life was made to the Earl of Arlington, dating

from June 1677, the period when his previous grant for ten years

expired. Lord Arlington died on the 28th July 1685. Whether it be that

the Duke of York had entered upon the new situation in the belief

that he could draw to himself the whole profits of the affair without

bearing any serious personal burden of troubles and anxieties, and

found it far otherwise; or whether the new duties interfered in an

unexpected way with his pursuits of hunting, hawking, and love-making,

and that he threw aside the more troublesome business in consequence,

does not appear. We know from the correspondence that Whitley, after

his term expired, was to continue the management of the office for

the Duke of York; and as (according to Evelyn), Arlington was "now

beginning to decline in favour (the Duke of York being no great

friend of his)," it may be that the Duke was dissatisfied with the

returns from the office, and entered into it in the position of Deputy

Postmaster-General, aided by Whitley in the practical management.

As regards Arlington's extended tenure of the position of

Postmaster-General, it should be remembered that he had not only been

intimately associated with the King as a Minister of State, but had

become nearly connected in another way--through the marriage of his

only daughter and heiress, when an infant, in 1672, to the natural son

of Charles II. by the Duchess of Cleveland. The son-in-law afterwards

became the Duke of Grafton; and Arlington's continued connection with

the Post Office may have been arranged by the king with a view to

enhancing the Postmaster-General's fortune in the interests of the Duke

and Duchess of Grafton. All this, however, will remain for elucidation

when the history of the period is better known.

MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.