Her Majesty's Mails Part 4

5. The princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sured 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 inst.i.tution, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.sing 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 princ.i.p.al virtues, una.s.suming 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 minutiae, 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 a.s.sistant 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 pa.s.s; 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 pet.i.tioned 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 pa.s.sengers shall be raised, though "recruits and indigent persons shall still have their pa.s.sage 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 n.o.bles. 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-pa.s.senger, 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 pa.s.s.

"_Item._ Two maid servants, going as laundresses to my Lord Amba.s.sador Methuen.

"_Item._ Doctor Crichton, carrying with him _a cow_ and divers necessaries.

"_Item._ Two bales of stockings, for the use of the Amba.s.sador 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sing 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 quant.i.ties. 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 pa.s.sed through the Post-Office with forged signatures of members.[44] To such an extent did this and kindred abuses acc.u.mulate, that, in 1763, the worth of franked correspondence pa.s.sing through the post was estimated at 170,000_l._ During the next year--viz. in 1764--Parliament enacted that no letter should pa.s.s 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 pa.s.senger 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.