limited to the period during which Parliament was sitting. These messengers were required to carry letters for private individuals at the following rates:—
| For a single letter | 10 | deniers |
| For a packet of three or four letters | 15 | " |
| For packets of letters weighing an ounce or more | 20 | " |
irrespective of distance.[184]
Under Richelieu the ordinary posts were given a regular organization. Fixed days of departure and arrival were appointed; offices were established in the towns; and in 1627 the first general table of rates was issued.[185] Previously the rate was fixed mutually between the couriers and the senders or receivers of letters.[186]
For single letters the tariff of 1627 prescribed rates of 2 sous for transmission between Paris and Dijon, and 3 sous for transmission between Paris and Lyons, Paris and Bordeaux, Paris and Toulouse. For letters composed of more than one sheet, but less than ½ ounce in weight, the rate varied from 3 to 5 sous; and for larger packets the rate was from 5 to 8 sous per ounce. In 1637 the posts were given the monopoly of the carriage of letters.[187]
In the first years the posts had been a charge on the State, but at about this time they were let at farm, and proved a fruitful and growing source of revenue to the State. By 1672 the annual rent of the farm had risen to 1,700,000 livres, and in 1791, the last year of the farm, the net revenue was about 12,000,000 fr.
A new tariff was established in 1676, as follows:—
| Distance. | Letters | Packets. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single. | With Envelope. | Double. | Per ounce. | |||||
| Less than 25 leagues | 2 | sous | 3 | sous | 4 | sous | 6 | sous |
| From 25 to 60 | 3 | " | 4 | " | 5 | " | 9 | " |
| From 60 to 80 | 4 | " | 5 | " | 6 | " | 12 | " |
| Above 80 leagues | 5 | " | 6 | " | 9 | " | 15 | " |
The progression for distance was in decreasing proportion.