If there were more than one sheet of paper, postage must be paid according to the above rate for every separate sheet or enclosure. For instance, a letter or packet composed of two sheets was called a double letter and paid 4d. for any distance under 80 miles. A letter of three sheets was called a triple letter and paid 6d. if conveyed under 80 miles, and so in proportion.[566] In 1638, the rules concerning the imposition of rates were changed slightly. The rates themselves remained the same for single and double letters. Letters above double letters were to be charged according to weight as follows:—

Under 80 miles6d. an ounce.
From 80 to 140 miles 9d.
Above 140 miles12d.
For Ireland6d. if over two ounces.[567]

This expedient must have been adopted from the difficulty in discovering the number of enclosures when there were more than two. It is impossible to say how long these rates continued, probably not later than Witherings' régime. During Prideaux' management the maximum postage on a single letter was 6d., reduced later to 3d.[568]

The Council of State gave orders in 1652 for the imposition of the following rates for a single letter:—

Within 100 miles from London2
To remoter parts of England and Wales 3
To Scotland4
To Ireland6 [569]

Whether these rates were actually collected is questionable. The postage which the farmers of the Posts were allowed to collect in the following year was fixed by the Council of State for single letters as follows:—

d.
Under 80 miles from London2
Above 80 miles from London 3
To Scotland4
To Ireland6

These rates are in effect lower than those of Witherings, for he had inserted a 3d. rate for letters delivered between 80 and 140 miles from London, had charged 4d. for all letters going farther than 140 miles, and had charged 8d. and 9d. for letters to Scotland and Ireland respectively. They were a little higher than those of 1652, for by them 2d. had carried a letter 100 miles.[570]

In 1657, the first act of Parliament was passed, fixing rates for letters and establishing the system for England, Ireland, and Scotland. The domestic rates were:—