“No single letter, directed to any such seamen, or private, upon his own private concerns, only whilst such seaman, or private, shall be employed on his majesty’s service, and not otherwise, shall be charged with a higher rate of postage than one penny for each such letter, which penny shall be paid at the time of the delivery thereof.
“Provided, that no such letter shall be exempted from the rates of postage chargeable upon letters, unless any such letter shall be directed to such seaman, or private, specifying the ship, vessel, regiment, troop, corps, company, or detachment to which he may belong: and provided also, that it shall not be lawful for the deputy postmaster of the town or place to which such letter shall be sent to be delivered, to deliver such letter to any person except to the seamen or private to whom such letter shall be directed, or to any person appointed to receive the same by the commanding officer of the ship, &c. to which the seaman, or private to whom such letter shall be directed, shall belong.
“The exemptions do not extend to letters sent to or received from countries independent of England: they do extend to the West India Islands and British America.
“All postmasters are desired to take particular notice that double letters to and from soldiers and sailors and their families, are liable to the full double rates, the same as letters in general; and some postmasters having conceived that letters containing money orders might pass under the exemptions of the act, they are desired to understand, that such letters are chargeable with full double rates also.
“Recruiting serjeants, who may carry on a correspondence with their officers on the recruiting service, cannot send or receive their letters on that service under the exemptions granted by this act.
“The above exemptions granted by the legislature do not extend in the navy to any other than seaman, and not to officers of any description whatever; and in the army, only the privates, with serjeants and serjeant-majors are included. Many officers, both in the army and navy, having construed the act to extend to their own correspondence, it is hereby publicly stated that such a construction is altogether inapplicable.”
The act in its literal meaning includes in this indulgence all non-commissioned officers, although they are excluded by this official interpretation.
According to a letter issued from the post office, dated the 18th Sept, 1799, to all postmasters, in addition to the rates above-mentioned, these letters are chargeable with inland postage to and from London, excepting single letters to and from soldiers and sailors, and it is to be left to the opinion of the writers to pay the postage or not on putting them into any post office.
POSTE, Fr. a word generally used in the plural number to signify small shot, viz. Son fusil étoit chargé de douze ou quinze postes; his gun or musquet was loaded with twelve or fifteen shot.
Poste, Fr. This word is always used in the masculine gender when it relates to war, or to any specific appointments; as, poste avancé, an advanced post. Poste avantageux, an advantageous post. Mauvais poste, an unfavorable post. The French say figuratively, un poste est jaloux; thereby meaning, that a post is extremely open to an attack, and that the troops in it may be easily surprised.