POST-OFFICE, a place for the reception of letters, and the management of the various departments connected with their dispatch and conveyance. The name originated in the posts (from Lat. poitum, placed, fixed) placed at intervals along the roads of the Roman empire, where couriers were kept in readiness to bear dispatches and intelligence; but the posts of ancient times were never used for the conveyance of private correspond ence. The first letter-post seems to have been established in the Manse towns iu the early part of the 13th century. A. line of letter-posts followed, connecting Austria with Lombardy, in the reign of the emperor Maximilian, which are said to have been organ ized by the princes of Thum and Taxis; and the representatives of the same house estab lished another line of posts from Vienna to Brussels, connecting the most distant parts of the dominions of Charles V. This family continue to the present day to hold certain rights with regard to the German postal system, their posts dieing entirely distinct from those established by the crown, and sometimes in rivalry to them.
In England, in early times, both public and private letters were sent by messengers, who, in the reign of Henry III., wore the royal livery. They had to provide themselves with horses until the reign of Edward I., when posts were established where horses were to be had for hire. Edward IV., when engaged in war with Scotland, had dispatches conveyed to his camp with great speed by means of a system of relays of horses, which, however, fell into disuse on the restoration of peace. Camden mentions the office of " Mas ter of the Postes" as existing iu 1581, but the duties of that officer were probably con nected exclusively with the supply of post-horses. The posts were meant for the con veyance of government dispatches alone, and it was only by degrees that permission was extended to private individuals to make use of them. A foreign post for the conveyance of letters between London and the continent seems to have been established by foreign merchants in the 15th c.; and certain disputes which arose between the Flemings and Italians, regarding the right of appointing a postmaster, and were referred to the privy council, led to the institution of a " chief-postmaster," who should have charge both of the English and the foreign post. Thomas Randolph was the first chief postmaster of
England. The first proper postal communication for private letters in England came into operation 100 years after the institution of the foreign post. The increased inter course between the English and Scottish capitals, brought about by king James's acces sion, led to a great improvement in the system of horse-posts, hut their services were still confined to the conveyance of government dispatches. That king, however. insti tuted a foreign post for letters going abroad from England, and conferred the office of postmaster of England for foreign parts on "Mathewe de Quester the elder, and Mathewe de Quester the younger." This appointment was considered by lord Stanhope, the English chief-postmaster, to interfere with his functions, and a dispute and law-plea between the heads of the two establishments was settled in 1632, after Charles I. had become king, by the retirement of lord Stanhope, and au assignment of, their office by the De Questers, under royal sanction, to William Frizell and Thomas Withering. In 1635 Witherings was authorized to run a post night and day between London and Edin burgh, "to go thither and back again in six days." Eight main postal lines throughout England were at the same time instituted, and the post was allowed to carry inland letters. Two years later, a monopoly of letter-carrying was established, which has been preserved in all the subsequent regulations of the post-olliee. The rates of postage were 2c1. for a single letter for a distance less than 80 m., 4d. up to 140 m., 6d. for any longer distance in England, and 8d. to any place in Scotland. An attempt, in 1649, by the common council of London to set up a rival pest-oftice for inland letters, was suppressed by the house of commons. A practice of farming the post-office revenues, which began in 1650, continued, as regards sotne of the by-posts, till the close of last century.