General Postal History
The need of communication was doubtless one of the earliest activities of the Ancient World, not for public use but for government purpose. In Holy Writ we learn that the Israelitish Nation made early use of the means at hand. In the first Book of Kings it is stated that Queen Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed with the King’s seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles in the city. In the Book of Esther mention is made of sending letters by posts to all the King’s provinces. There are also evidences that the Assyrian and Persian nations established stations, or posts a day’s journey apart, at which horses were kept ready saddled with waiting couriers for the transmission of public orders and edicts. Xenophon mentions that Cyrus employed posts throughout his dominions and Herodotus speaks of the large structures erected for post stations. The mail service of China dates far back into antiquity. It is said that in the fourteenth century there were 10,000 mail stations in the empire. Peru, remarkable for its early evidences of civilization, had according to the historian Prescott, communication established from one end of the country to the other. There is, however, nothing to show that ordinary human affairs received any attention at this early period, the activities of rulers being devoted entirely to governmental interest and concern. The affairs of commerce and trade were probably carried on by personal enterprise, by voyages of trade discovery by water or expeditions on land.
The method of using couriers for transmitting intelligence was evidently long continued, being the only means known by which such need could be met, or the one which most naturally suggested itself. The Romans employed couriers for the promulgation of military and public orders to their scattered provinces, private letters being sent by slaves or by such opportunity as occasion afforded. It is said that Charlemagne employed couriers for public purposes, but the practice was discontinued after his death, special messengers being used when occasion required. England employed couriers for public purposes in the thirteenth century, and in the fourteenth century Louis XI returned to the practice of employing mounted couriers and established stations but only for government purposes.
The Beginning of Personal Communication
As early as the beginning of the thirteenth century the need of personal communication was recognized and the University of Paris arranged for the employment of foot-messengers to bear letters from its thousands of students to the various countries in Europe from whence they came. This plan lasted until 1719. In the fifteenth century an attempt was made and the custom prevailed for some time, of sending letters by traveling tradesmen or dealers who made regular trips in certain directions for barter, purchase or sale. The tremendous stimulus given to the development of commercial conditions by the crusades, made business intercourse necessary, and the post riders who had surplus horses soon found use for them in the conveyance of passengers and ultimately in the transmission of general information which finally resulted in a fixed compensation and which method remained in use for a considerable period.
The real beginning of letter posts for private and business purposes, dates from the year 1516, when Roger, Count of Thurn, established riding posts in the Tyrol, connecting Germany and Italy. A letter post had been established in the Hanse towns in the thirteenth century, but the actual commencement of such activities dates from the year 1516. The Emperor Charles V made these riding posts general throughout his dominions and appointed Leonard, Count of Thurn, his postmaster general. The Counts of Thurn and Taxis held this monopoly by regular succession for many years afterward. The rapid growth of English civilization made postal progress necessary for its people and this brings us to the period of most interest to students as well as the average reader.
The Postal History of England
As much of our postal system is naturally based on that of England from our early Colonial dependence, it is of interest to note the various steps of English progress and development in connection with the subject.
The first English postmaster general of whom any account can be given was Sir Brian Tuke, who is described on the records of the year 1533 as “Magister Nuncrorum, Cursorum, Sire, Postarum,” but long subsequent to this appointment of a postmaster general the details of the service were frequently regulated by proclamation and by orders in council. During the earlier years of Queen Elizabeth, most of the business of the postal service to and from England was managed by the incorporated “Merchant Strangers” who appointed special postmasters among themselves.
The accession of James I, necessitating more frequent communication between London and Scotland, led to many improvements in the postal service. It was ordered that the posts should travel not less than 7 miles an hour in summer and 5 miles in winter. In 1619 a separate postmaster general for foreign parts was created. Thomas Witherings was one of the successors in this office and entitled to rank as one of the many conspicuous postal reformers in the continental service. All letters were then carried by carriers or footpads 16 or 18 miles a day. It required two months to get answers from Scotland or Ireland to London. He directed that all northern mail be put into one “portmantle” directed to Edinburgh and separate bags to such postmasters as lived upon the road near to any city or town corporate, which was the first step in the separation of mail since carried to such perfection here and elsewhere.