In 1635, a proclamation was made " for settling of the letter-office of England and Scotland." It sets forth " that there hath been no certain or constant intercourse between the kingdoms of England and Scotland ;" and commands " Thomas Witherings, Esq., his Majesty's postmaster of England for foreign parts, to settle a running post or two, to run night and day between Edinburgh and Scotland and the City of London, to go thither and come back in six days." Directions are given for the management of the correspondence between post towns on the line of road, and other towns which are named, and likewise in Ireland. All postmasters are commanded "to have ready in their stables one or two horses : " 2ild. for a single horse, and 5d. for two horses per mile were the charges settled for this service. A monopoly was established, with the exceptions in favour of common known carriers and particular messengers sent on purpose, most of which have been preserved in all subsequent regulations of the Post-Office. In 1640, a proclamation was made concerning the seques tration of the office of postmaster for foreign parts, and also of the letter-office of England, into the hands of Philip Burlamachy, of London, merchant; but, in 1642, it was resolved by a committee of the House of Commons, that such sequestration was "a grievance and illegal, and ought to be taken off," and that Mr. Wytherings ought to be restored. As late as 1644, it appears that the postmaster's duties were not connected directly with letters. A parliamentary resolution entered on the Journals of the Commons states that, " the Lords and Commons, finding by experience that it is most necessary, for keeping of good intelligence between the parliament and their forces, that post stages should be erected in several parts of the kingdom, and the office of master of the posts and couriers being at present void, ordain that Edmund Prideaux, Esq., a member of the House of Commons, shall be, and is hereby constituted, master of the poets, messengers, and couriers." "He first established a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the nation, thereby saving to the public the charge of maintaining postmasters to the amount of 7,000/. per annum." (Blackstone.) An attempt of the Common Council of London to set up a separate Post-Office, in 1649, was checked by a resolution of the House of Commons, which declared "that the office of postmaster is, and ought to be, in the sole power and disposal of parliament." But the most complete step in the establishment of a Post-Office was taken in 1656, when an act was passed " to settle the postage of England, Scotland, and Ireland." This having been the model of all subsequent measures, induces us to give something more than a passing notice of it. The preamble sets forth "that the erecting of one general Post-Office for the speedy conveying and recarrying of letters by post to and from all places within England, Scotland, and Ireland, and into sevoral parts beyond the seas, hath been and is the best means not only to maintain a certain and constant intercourse of trade and commerce between all the said places, to the great benefit of the people of these nations, but also to convey the publique de spatches, and to discover and prevent many dangerous and wicked designs which have been, and are, daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of escript." It also enacted that, "there shall be one Clenerall Post-Office, and one officer stiled the postmaater-generall of England and comptroller of the Post-Office." This officer was to have the horsing of all "through" posts and persons "riding in post." Prices for letters, whether English, Scotch, Irish, or foreign, and for post-horses, were fixed. All other persons were forbidden to "set up or imploy any foot-posts, horse-posts, or pacquet-boats." These arrangements were confirmed in the first year of the Restoration, by an act which was repealed 9 Anne, c. 11. In 1683, a metropolitan penny-post was set up, the history of which is given at length in the Ninth Report of the Commissioners of Post Office Inquiry.' From 1711 to 1838, upwards of 150 acts affecting the regulations of the Post-Office were passed. In the first year of her present Majesty, ninety-nine of these were repealed, either wholly or partially, and the following acts were passed, by which the whole department of the Post-Office was regulated :— For the management of the Post-Office, c. 33.
The regulation of the duties of postage, c. 34.
For regulating the sending and receiving of letters and packets by the post, free from the duty of postage, e. 35.
For consolidating the laws relative to offences the Post Office, and explaining certain terms and expressions, c. 36.
A mere enumeration of the titles of all the acts affecting the Post Office would occupy a considerable space. An account even of these four last-mentioned acts must be dispensed with, and the reader re ferred to the acts themselves. Their enactments have been abro gated, to a great extent, by the adoption of Mr. Rowland Hill's plan of uniform postage, which we shall notice hereafter. This measure was carried into effect by an act passed in 1839, 2 & 3 Vie. cap. 52, which conferred temporary powers on the Lords of the Treasury to do so, and was subsequently confirmed by an act 3 & 4 Vie., c. 96, passed IOth August, 1840.
Rates of Postage.—The first establishment of a rate of postage for carrying letters occurs in ]635, in the proclamation already (le Neribed. The rates were fixed as follows : Linder 80 mile* . . !d. single letter.
retween 60 tulles and 140 take . . . 4 „ Above 140 tulles . . . . 0 „ On the borders and In F•cotland . . . 8 „ "Two, three, four, or five letters in one packet, or more, to pay according to the bigness of the said packet." The rates, both inland and foreign, fixed by the ordinance of the Commonwealth in ]656, are therein fully detailed. Letters above two sheets were charged by weight. In most cases, the rates vary but little from those fixed in the 12 Car. I., the principal of which were as follows: Letter not exceeding one sheet, to or from any place not exceeding SO miles, 2d.; above 80 miles, 3d. From London to Berwick, 3d.; to Dublin, 6(1. Letters of two sheets were charged double. By the 9 Anne, c. 11, a penny was added to several of the rates previously established ; a letter from London to Edinburgh was charged 6d. Additions were subsequently made; but the principle of the rating was to charge according to the distance which the conveyance travelled, until the year 1839, when the direct distance only was charged. A single letter was interpreted to mean a single piece of paper, provided it did not exceed an ounce in weight. A second piece of paper, how ever small, 'or any inelosure constituted a double letter. A single sheet above an ounce was Charged with fourfold postage. After a fourfold charge, the additional charges advanced by weight.
In Scotland, letters, when conveyed by mail-coaches only, were subject to an additional halfpenny. Letters passing between Great Britain and Ireland were subject to the rates of postage charged in Great Britain, besides packet rates, and Menai, Conway Bridge, or Milford rates.
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The postmaster-general had authority to establish penny posts for letters not exceeding in weight four ounces, in, from, or to, any city, town, or place in the United Kingdom (other than London or Dublin), without any reference to the distance to which the letters are con veyed.
The principle which guided the department in establishing penny pasts was, to select small towns and populous neighbourhoods, not situated in the direct lines of general-post conveyances, and desirous of obtaining that facility, wherever such penny post did not afford the means of evading the general post, and promised to yield a return that would pay for its maintenance. The rule was to consider whether the receipts on the first setting up of the post would pay about two-thirds of the charge. The Post-Office took its chance of the remainder being made good.
The London Twopenny Post extended to all letters transmitted by the said post in the limits of a circle of three miles radius, the centre being the General Post-Office in St. Martin's-le-Grand, which limits the postmaster-general had authority to alter. The London Three penny Poet extended to all letters transmitted by the said post beyond the circle of three miles radius, and within the limits of a circle of twelve miles' radius, the centre being the General Post-Office.